A microfluidic chip based model for the study of full thickness human intestinal tissue using dual flow

© 2016 Author(s). The study of inflammatory bowel disease, including Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease, has relied largely upon the use of animal or cell culture models; neither of which can represent all aspects of the human pathophysiology. Presented herein is a dual flow microfluidic device which holds full thickness human intestinal tissue in a known orientation. The luminal and serosal sides are independently perfused ex vivo with nutrients with simultaneous waste removal for up to 72 h. The microfluidic device maintains the viability and integrity of the tissue as demonstrated through Haematoxylin & Eosin staining, immunohistochemistry and release of lactate dehydrogenase. In addition, the inflammatory state remains in the tissue after perfusion on the device as determined by measuring calprotectin levels. It is anticipated that this human model will be extremely useful for studying the biology and tes ting novel interventions in diseased tissue

Glycotope structures and intramolecular affinity factors of plant lectins for Tn/T antigens

B

Aircraft noise and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality near Heathrow Airport: A case-crossover study

Aircraft noise causes annoyance and sleep disturbance and there is some evidence of associations between long-term exposures and cardiovascular disease (CVD). We investigated short-term associations between previous day aircraft noise and cardiovascular events in a population of 6.3 million residing near Heathrow Airport using a case-crossover design and exposure data for different times of day and night. We included all recorded hospitalisations (n = 442,442) and deaths (n = 49,443) in 2014–2018 due to CVD. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the ORs and adjusted for NO2 concentration, temperature, and holidays. We estimated an increase in risk for 10 dB increment in noise during the previous evening (Leve OR = 1.007, 95% CI 0.999–1.015), particularly from 22:00–23:00 h (OR = 1.007, 95% CI 1.000–1.013), and the early morning hours 04:30–06:00 h (OR = 1.012, 95% CI 1.002–1.021) for all CVD admissions, but no significant associations with day-time noise. There was effect modification by age-sex, ethnicity, deprivation, and season, and some suggestion that high noise variability at night was associated with higher risks. Our findings are consistent with proposed mechanisms for short-term impacts of aircraft noise at night on CVD from experimental studies, including sleep disturbance, increases in blood pressure and stress hormone levels and impaired endothelial function

Prognostic Significance of Lymph Node Metastases in Small Intestinal Neuroendocrine Tumors

Background/Aims: Current staging guidelines for small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors (SI-NETs) differentiate between the presence (N1) and absence (N0) of lymph node (LN) metastases. However, the prognostic significance of the extent of LN involvement remains unknown. In this study, we used data from a population-based cancer registry to examine whether involvement of a higher number of LNs is associated with worse survival. Methods: We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to identify patients with histologically confirmed, surgically resected SI-NETS diagnosed between 1988 and 2010. Patients were classified into three groups by the LN ratio (number of positive LNs/number of total LNs examined, LNR):0.2-0.5, and \u3e0.5. We used the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox models to assess NET cancer-specific survival differences (up to 10 years from diagnosis) according to LNR status. Results: We identified 2,984 surgically resected patients with stage IIIb (N1, M0) SI-NETs with detailed LN data. More than half of the NETs were located in the ileum. A higher LNR was significantly associated with worse NET cancer-specific survival (p \u3c 0.0001). Ten-year NET-specific survival was 85, 77, and 74% for patients in the0.2-0.5, and \u3e0.5 LNR groups, respectively. In stratified analyses, higher LNR groups had worse survival only in early tumor (T1, T2) disease (p \u3c 0.0001). Conclusions: The extent of LN involvement provides independent prognostic information on patients with LN-positive SI-NETs. This information may be used to identify patients at high risk of recurrence and inform decisions about the use of adjuvant therapy. (C) 2015 S. Karger AG, Base

Thermal resistance characteristics of early life history stages of finfish from Long Island waters

64 p. : ill. ; 28 cm. Bibliography. From the abstract, Eggs and larvae of finfish from Long Island (New York) waters were subjected to elevated temperature shocks in a square wave exposure experimental design to determine their thermal resistance characteristics. Ten, fifty, and ninety percent mortality thermal resistance curves were drawn for egg and larval stages of weakfish (Cynoscion regalis), striped searobin (Prionotus evolans), and scup (Stenotomus chrysops), and egg stages of summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus ) and blackfish (Tautoga onitis). In general, thermal resistance was found to be related to acclimation (base) temperature prior to experimentation and age of the life history stage used. For each species, resistance to thermal stress increased with age and with increasing acclimation temperature. As the thermal stress increased, the variation of response of similarly acclimated organisms decreased

Prey naiveté and risk-sensitive courtship

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o The assimilation of behavioral and evolutionary processes into conservation management provides insights into how invasive predators affect native fauna. The Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans) has caused extensive reduction in the abundance of small-bodied reef fish within their introduced range. One possible mechanism facilitating this high predation rate may be due to prey exhibiting evolutionary naiveté toward this invasive predator. Here, we tested for the potential role of prey naiveté by examining the behavioral response of a prey species, the beaugregory damselfish (Stegastes leucostictus), toward this invasive predator. Damselfish demonstrated invasive predator recognition and subsequent anti-predator behavior, which may attenuate the impact posed by this invasive predator. However, damselfish under predation threat failed to modulate courtship behavior in the presence of lionfish. Therefore, benefits derived from the ability to recognize and respond appropriately to lionfish may be of little consequence if damselfish are unable to curtail high-risk courtship behavior in their presence

Impact of short-term aircraft noise on cardiovascular disease risk in the area surrounding London Heathrow airport: the RISTANCO epidemiological study.

BACKGROUND: Long-term exposure to aircraft noise has been associated with small increases in cardiovascular disease risk, but there are almost no short-term exposure studies. OBJECTIVES: Research questions were: Is there an association between short-term changes in exposure to aircraft noise and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality? What are the key effect modifiers? Is there variability in risk estimates between areas with consistent versus changing patterns of noise exposure? Do risk estimates differ when using different noise metrics? DESIGN: Descriptive analyses of noise levels and variability at different times of day, analyses of inequalities in noise exposure and case-crossover analyses of cardiovascular events in relation to aircraft noise exposure. SETTING: Area surrounding London Heathrow airport. TIME PERIOD: 2014-18. PARTICIPANTS: Whole population in study area. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cardiovascular disease hospitalisations and mortality. DATA SOURCES: Aircraft noise levels modelled using a standard noise model for: (1) daily equivalent continuous sound levels at different times of day; (2) daily number of events above defined noise thresholds (2018 only). National Health Service digital hospital admission records and Office for National Statistics mortality records for 2014-18 for cardiovascular outcomes, plus individual-level confounders available from healthcare records. Confounder data including road traffic noise (Leicester modelled), rail noise and air pollution (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), area level deprivation and ethnicity (UK Census). RESULTS: The morning shoulder period (06.00-07.00 hours) was the noisiest of all eight bands (mean: 50.92 dB). The morning shoulder period also had the third highest number of noisy events (flights) > 60 dB per day, with three events across postcodes on average. However, the highest number of noisy events occurred in daytime (highest between 07.00 and 15.00 hours, second highest 15.00 and 19.00 hours). To identify areas with high variability in aircraft noise exposure (due to changes in flight paths because of wind direction and airport operations), we used coefficients of variation (CoV). The period 24.00-04.30 hours had the highest mean CoV (67.33-74.16), followed by 04.30-06.00 hours and 23.00-24.00 hours. Postcodes in the least deprived quintiles of Carstairs index or avoidable death rate had the lowest noise levels. In case-crossover analyses, we observed increased risk for cardiovascular disease hospital admissions for evening noise 19.00-23.00 hours (odds ratio 1.005, 95% confidence interval 1.000 to 1.010 per 5 dB), but not for other periods or mortality. Further analyses suggested that increased risks were occurring in postcodes with low CoV for noise. We found effect modification by age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation and season. LIMITATIONS: The industry standard noise model, the Aviation Environmental Design Tool, used does not take account of wind direction, which may have led to some exposure misclassification. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a comprehensive dataset of daily aircraft noise variability. We found small associations between cardiovascular hospitalisations (but not deaths) and evening aircraft noise levels, particularly in areas with low variability of noise. FUTURE WORK: More studies are needed to understand the effect of noise variation and respite/relief on cardiovascular disease. FUNDING: This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme (NIHR award ref: 15/192/13) and is published in full in Public Health Research; Vol. 12, No. 13. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information

Inequality in exposure to daily aircraft noise near heathrow airport: An empirical study.

Aircraft noise is an important source of environmental pollution and a burden on public health. We examined the association between three different area-level deprivation measures (Carstairs index 2011 only; yearly avoidable mortality rates 2014-2018 and yearly fuel poverty rates 2014-2018) and daily aircraft noise metrics (Lday, Leve, Lnight, and LAeq24) around London Heathrow Airport. Analyses were conducted for 2014-18 for ∼155,000 postcodes using a Random-Effects model with an autoregressive term for the temporal variability of daily noise. We found that the relationship between aircraft noise and deprivation was complex, varying by the measure of deprivation and aircraft noise metric. We observed gradient relationships between avoidable death rates and aircraft noise exposure for all noise metrics. For Carstairs index, a measure of area-based material deprivation, the least deprived quintile exhibited the lowest night-time noise levels, but no gradients were observed for this or other noise metrics. Similarly, we did not see clear patterns of association between fuel poverty and aircraft noise. When stratifying the data by % non-White population, the conclusions for avoidable death rates and fuel poverty remained similar, but an association of Carstairs index with noise metrics was seen in the two tertiles with the highest % non-white population. Our strengths include our large dataset with high temporal and spatial resolution, as well as use of multiple deprivation measures and daily noise metrics over five years, that can capture dynamic changes in noise exposure related to changes in flight paths and weather conditions. Limitations include that we looked at 2014-18 and noise levels have been changing over time due to action plans to reduce exposure, and activity changes due to the pandemic and post-pandemic periods. Heathrow Airport is sited near wealthy and densely inhabited communities so may not be representative of all airports

Aircraft noise and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality near Heathrow Airport: A case-crossover study.

Aircraft noise causes annoyance and sleep disturbance and there is some evidence of associations between long-term exposures and cardiovascular disease (CVD). We investigated short-term associations between previous day aircraft noise and cardiovascular events in a population of 6.3 million residing near Heathrow Airport using a case-crossover design and exposure data for different times of day and night. We included all recorded hospitalisations (n = 442,442) and deaths (n = 49,443) in 2014-2018 due to CVD. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the ORs and adjusted for NO2 concentration, temperature, and holidays. We estimated an increase in risk for 10 dB increment in noise during the previous evening (Leve OR = 1.007, 95% CI 0.999-1.015), particularly from 22:00-23:00 h (OR = 1.007, 95% CI 1.000-1.013), and the early morning hours 04:30-06:00 h (OR = 1.012, 95% CI 1.002-1.021) for all CVD admissions, but no significant associations with day-time noise. There was effect modification by age-sex, ethnicity, deprivation, and season, and some suggestion that high noise variability at night was associated with higher risks. Our findings are consistent with proposed mechanisms for short-term impacts of aircraft noise at night on CVD from experimental studies, including sleep disturbance, increases in blood pressure and stress hormone levels and impaired endothelial function

Polymorphisms within inflammatory genes and colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND: Chronic inflammation is a risk factor for colorectal cancer and polymorphisms in the inflammatory genes could modulate the levels of inflammation. We have investigated ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the following inflammation-related genes: TLR4 (Asp299Gly), CD14 (-260 T>C), MCP1 (-2518 A>G), IL12A (+7506 A>T, +8707 A>G, +9177 T>A, +9508 G>A), NOS2A (+524T>C), TNF (-857C>T), and PTGS1 (V444I) in 377 colorectal (CRC) cancer cases and 326 controls from Barcelona (Spain). RESULTS: There was no statistically significant association between the SNPs investigated and colorectal cancer risk. CONCLUSION: The lack of association may show that the inflammatory genes selected for this study are not involved in the carcinogenic process of colorectum. Alternatively, the negative results may derive from no particular biological effect of the analysed polymorphisms in relation to CRC. Otherwise, the eventual biological effect is so little to go undetected, unless analysing a much larger sample size