Search

It is currently unknown if injury risk is associated with genetic variation in academy soccer players (ASP). We investigated whether nine candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms were associated (individually and in combination) with injury in ASP at different stages of maturation. Saliva samples and one season's injury records were collected from 402 Caucasian male ASP from England, Spain, Uruguay, and Brazil, whose maturity status was defined as pre‐ or post‐peak height velocity (PHV). Pre‐PHV COL5A1 rs12722 CC homozygotes had relatively higher prevalence of any musculoskeletal soft tissue (22.4% vs. 3.0%, p = 0.018) and ligament (18.8% vs. 11.8%, p = 0.029) injury than T‐allele carriers, while VEGFA rs2010963 CC homozygotes had greater risk of ligament/tendon injury than G‐allele carriers. Post‐PHV IL6 rs1800795 CC homozygotes had a relatively higher prevalence of any (67.6% vs. 40.6%, p = 0.003) and muscle (38.2% vs. 19.2%, p = 0.013) injuries than G‐allele carriers. Relatively more post‐PHV EMILIN1 rs2289360 CC homozygotes suffered any injury than CT and TT genotypes (56.4% vs. 40.3% and 32.8%, p = 0.007), while the "protective" EMILIN1 TT genotype was more frequent in post‐ than pre‐PHV ASP (22.3 vs. 10.0%, p = 0.008). Regardless of maturity status, T‐alleles of ACTN3 rs1815739 and EMILIN1 rs2289360 were associated with greater absence following ankle injury, while the MMP3 rs679620 T‐allele and MYLK rs28497577 GT genotype were associated with greater absence following knee injury. The combination of injury‐associated genotypes was greater in injured vs. non‐injured ASP. This study is the first to demonstrate that a genetic association exists with injury prevalence in ASP, which differs according to maturity status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alexithymia is a personality trait frequently found in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and has been linked to impairments in emotion recognition and empathy. The presentation of alexithymia within ASD at younger ages remains unexplored, and was examined in the present study. Alexithymia rates were significantly elevated in ASD (55 %; 31/56 scoring above cut-off) versus non-ASD adolescents (16 %; 5/32 scoring above cut-off). Within individuals with ASD, alexithymia was associated with increased self-reported anxiety, parent-reported emotional difficulties, self-reported sensory processing atypicalities, and poorer emotion recognition, but was not associated with theory of mind ability. Overall, our results suggest that alexithymia is highly prevalent, and has selective cognitive correlates in young people with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research project ‘An Evaluation of Transformational Change in NHS North East’ examines the progress and success of National Health Service (NHS) organisations in north east England in implementing and embedding the North East Transformation System (NETS), a region-wide programme to improve healthcare quality and safety, and to reduce waste, using a combination of Vision, Compact, and Lean-based Method. This paper concentrates on findings concerning the role of leadership in enabling tranformational change, based on semi-structured interviews with a mix of senior NHS managers and quality improvement staff in 14 study sites. Most interviewees felt that implementing the NETS requires committed, stable leadership, attention to team-building across disciplines and leadership development at many levels. We conclude that without senior leader commitment to continuous improvement over a long time scale and serious efforts to distribute leadership tasks to all levels, healthcare organisations are less likely to achieve positive changes in managerial-clinical relations, sustainable improvements to organisational culture and, ultimately, the region-wide step change in quality, safety and efficiency that the NETS was designed to deliver. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Many causes of death are directly attributable to the toxic effects of alcohol and deaths from these causes are increasing in the United Kingdom. The aim of this study was to investigate variation in alcohol-related mortality in relation to socioeconomic deprivation, urban-rural location and age within a national context.Methods: An ecological study design was used with data from 8797 standard table wards in England and Wales. The methodology included using the Carstairs Index as a measure of socioeconomic deprivation at the small-area level and the national harmonised classification system for urban and rural areas in England and Wales. Alcohol-related mortality was defined using the National Statistics definition, devised for tracking national trends in alcohol-related deaths. Deaths from liver cirrhosis accounted for 85% of all deaths included in this definition. Deaths from 1999-2003 were examined and 2001 census ward population estimates were used as the denominators.Results: The analysis was based on 28,839 deaths. Alcohol-related mortality rates were higher in men and increased with increasing age, generally reaching peak levels in middle-aged adults. The 45-64 year age group contained a quarter of the total population but accounted for half of all alcohol-related deaths. There was a clear association between alcohol-related mortality and socioeconomic deprivation, with progressively higher rates in more deprived areas. The strength of the association varied with age. Greatest relative inequalities were seen amongst people aged 25-44 years, with relative risks of 4.73 (95% CI 4.00 to 5.59) and 4.24 (95% CI 3.50 to 5.13) for men and women respectively in the most relative to the least deprived quintiles. People living in urban areas experienced higher alcohol-related mortality relative to those living in rural areas, with differences remaining after adjustment for socioeconomic deprivation. Adjusted relative risks for urban relative to rural areas were 1.35 (95% CI 1.20 to 1.52) and 1.13 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.25) for men and women respectively.Conclusions: Large inequalities in alcohol-related mortality exist between sub-groups of the population in England and Wales. These should be considered when designing public health policies to reduce alcohol-related harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to compare deliveries in women with HIV at Homerton University Hospital with those in the general antenatal hospital population. The study was a retrospective case-note review of deliveries from 1994 to 2004 at an Inner City London Hospital, UK (Homerton University Hospital). In all, 113 deliveries were studied in 98 women with HIV. Compared with the general antenatal population, women with HIV were more likely to be from African backgrounds, describe inadequate housing and be without the support of a partner or family; 79.8% of deliveries in women with HIV were by caesarean section in comparison with 22.4% in the overall hospital population. A majority of women with HIV received antiretroviral therapy in pregnancy. Intercurrent medical and antenatal complications were uncommon and in a majority the postpartum periods were uncomplicated. A significantly higher proportion of women with HIV infection described a previous history of depression than in the general hospital population. There were two instances of vertical transmission of HIV. In conclusion, our observations suggest that with appropriate monitoring and management strategies, successful pregnancy outcomes can be achieved in a complex HIV-positive patient population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The West Wansdyke is a major earthwork in the former County of Avon, now Bath and North-East Somerset, which is thought to date to either the late Roman or early post-Roman periods. A series of cross-sections excavated across the earthwork showed, firstly, that it originally existed in some areas where there are no longer any visible remains, but, secondly, that there are still some unexplained gaps. The research suggests that the monument was of a very consistent and uniform design and dimensions, a feature which implies strategic planning and co-ordinated management during construction. Evidence from two particular sites, Blackrock Lane and Compton Green, indicated that significant stretches of the dyke bank originally had a timber revetment, but that, where it was easily available, stone was used, as at Binces Lane, Stantonbury. Little artefactual dating evidence was recovered during the work, although the presencec of koniano-British and earlier pottery, and prehistoric flints from bank construction deposits does not preclude the established, post-Roman, context, but can also allow a late Roman date. Construction techniques indicate work in a Roman military tradition, possibly re-using an earlier structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the eighteenth century writing in England. Discovery of the Atterbury Conspiracy; Indepth look at the Sutherland Collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England; History of England; Examination of the work of some literary authors in the eighteenth century.

This article discusses the herbicide-induced abnormality in sugar beet which resulted in root constrictions. Symptoms were more severe when the herbicide was intimately mixed with the soil either after or immediately before sowing. The spiral twisting of roots of sugar beet test plants caused by residues of quintozene applied to the soil to control Longidorus elongatus on strawberry. Similar symptoms were observed in Scotland and England in field crops of sugar beet grown in soil treated with herbicides.

The article discusses the medical case of a 59-year-old Afro-Caribbean woman in England whose IUD, which was inserted 20 years prior to admission, was missing. The woman's ultrasound scan showed a normal sized uterus with a bright linear echo suggestive of an IUD at the fundus of the uterus. She underwent a hysterescopy and a large loop excision of the transformation zone.