Publications by authors named "Bacon A"

Purpose: Second primary cancer (SPC) risks after breast cancer (BC) in pathogenic variant (PV) carriers are uncertain. We estimated relative and absolute risks using a novel linkage of genetic testing data to population-scale National Disease Registration Service and Hospital Episode Statistics electronic health records.

Methods: We followed 25,811 females and 480 males diagnosed with BC and tested for germline PVs in NHS Clinical Genetics centers in England between 1995 and 2019 until SPC diagnosis, death, migration, contralateral breast/ovarian surgery plus 1 year, or the 31st of December 2020.

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Outbreaks of suspected tick-borne disease (redwater fever) have been reported in captive deer of the Scottish Highlands. In this pilot study, polymerase chain reaction and amplicon sequencing were used to detect tick-borne pathogens in opportunistically collected blood and spleen samples from 63 (healthy, n = 44; diseased, n = 19) cervids, and 45 questing and feeding ticks () from the outbreak sites in 2021-2022. Potentially pathogenic species were detected in deer but not identified in ticks, was detected in both deer and ticks, and was detected in ticks but not in deer.

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Background: Since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, over 10 million Ukrainians have been displaced from their homes. This has contributed to an increase in post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms in both refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Previous research has suggested that refugees may experience higher levels of PTS due to additional stressors inherent in migration to a new country, language barriers and separation from family and social support.

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The objective was to compare the symptom networks of long-COVID and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in conjunction with other theoretically relevant diagnoses in order to provide insight into the etiology of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). This was a cross-sectional comparison of questionnaire items between six groups identified by clinical diagnosis. All participants completed a 65-item psychological and somatic symptom questionnaire (GSQ065).

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We report 1- and 5-year survival after acute myeloid leukemia (AML) diagnosis and early mortality within 30 days of systemic anticancer therapy (SACT) treatments, using national cancer registry data in England. Patients aged 18 to 99 years diagnosed between 2013 and 2020 were included. Overall survival (OS) was calculated using Kaplan-Meier methodology, and adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs; adjusted for intensity of treatment, age at diagnosis, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic deprivation, comorbidity, and year of diagnosis) using Cox proportional hazards regression.

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Complex (CpCe)(TCNQ)(CeCp) (1) was prepared by reducing neutral TCNQ (tetracyanoquinodimethane) with CpCe(THF). Two types of cerium centres with a dianionic TCNQ moiety are present in 1, wherein each of the four cyano-groups are bound by a cation. Formation of this trapped-valent organocerium compound 1 is facilitated by metal-ligand redox cooperativity.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Scottish population of the European wildcat is critically endangered and was declared functionally extinct in 2019 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
  • A study reviewed health issues and deaths in captive wildcats from 2000 to 2021, finding that most health problems affected younger cats, primarily related to gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal issues.
  • Mortality was mostly linked to gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases, with a significant number of neonatal deaths highlighting ongoing challenges in managing the wildcat population's health and sustainability.
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Examples of stable 3d transition metal methylidene complexes are extremely rare. Here we report an isolable and stable vanadium methylidene complex, [(PNP)V(=NAr)(=CH)] (PNP = N[2-PPr-4-methylphenyl], Ar = 2,6-PrCH), via H atom transfer (HAT) from [(PNP)V(NHAr)(CH)] or [(PNP)V(=NAr)(CH)] using two or one equivalents of the TEMPO radical (TEMPO = (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl), respectively. Alternatively, the vanadium methylidene moiety can also be formed via the treatment of transient [(PNP)V=NAr] with the Wittig reagent, HCPPh.

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Background: Second primary cancers (SPCs) after breast cancer (BC) present an increasing public health burden, with little existing research on socio-demographic, tumour, and treatment effects. We addressed this in the largest BC survivor cohort to date, using a novel linkage of National Disease Registration Service datasets.

Methods: The cohort included 581,403 female and 3562 male BC survivors diagnosed between 1995 and 2019.

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Objective: The objective was to determine the validity of the Targeted Motor Control (TMC) screening tool with the Neurosensory Motor Developmental Assessment (NSMDA) in 4-year-old children.

Methods: In this single cohort observational study, children (3 years 9 months to 4 years 5 months) completed the TMC and the NSMDA in a randomized order 5 to 14 days apart.

Results: Seventy-six children (mean age = 4 years 2 months; standard deviation = 2.

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Most investigations on the immune cell-activating potency of IgA used purified total IgA and/or specific isolated cell populations. As IgA2 has been reported to be more pro-inflammatory than IgA1, we aimed to employ a fast and convenient whole blood-based assay to individually probe the capacity of the two IgA subclasses to activate immune cells in close physiological conditions. To this end, whole blood from healthy donors ( = 10) was stimulated with immobilized IgA1, IgA2m1 or IgA2m2 (the two main allotypic variants of IgA2).

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Electron-rich organocerium complexes (CMeH)Ce and [(CMe)Ce(-oxa)], with redox potentials = -0.82 V and = -0.86 V versus Fc/Fc, respectively, were reacted with fullerene (C) in different stoichiometries to obtain molecular materials.

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Pleistocene Pongo teeth show substantial variation in size and morphology, fueling taxonomic debates about the paleodiversity of the genus. We investigated prominent features of the enamel-dentine-junction junction (EDJ)-phylogenetically informative internal structures-of 71 fossil Pongo lower molars from various sites by applying geometric morphometrics and conducted paleoproteomic analyses from enamel proteins to attempt to identify extinct orangutan species. Forty-three orangutan lower molars representing Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii were included for comparison.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in widespread anxiety, fear and depression, yet focussing only on these negative issues may obscure the opportunity to promote positivity and resilience. Traumatic events can often result in positive life changes (adversarial growth) though there is little evidence in the context of pandemics, and no previous studies in Covid-19 with the general public. The present research investigated whether adversarial growth was perceived in Covid-19 and whether this could account for variance in wellbeing, over and above effects of personality traits.

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Article Synopsis
  • Vaccination is essential for controlling COVID-19, but hesitancy is a challenge, especially among patients with severe asthma; this study explores their vaccination experiences.
  • A questionnaire was distributed to patients with severe asthma across 12 European countries, revealing that 88% of participants had been or planned to be vaccinated, while 9.5% hesitated and 3% refused; beliefs about vaccines influenced these decisions.
  • Most patients reported mild or no side effects and noted minimal impact on asthma symptoms post-vaccination, with nearly all vaccinated individuals recommending the vaccine to others in their situation.
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As the primary site of T-cell development, the thymus dictates immune competency of the host. The rates of thymus function are not constant, and thymus regeneration is essential to restore new T-cell production following tissue damage from environmental factors and therapeutic interventions. Here, we show the alarmin interleukin (IL) 33 is a product of Sca1 thymic mesenchyme both necessary and sufficient for thymus regeneration via a type 2 innate immune network.

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  • A billion tons of carbon is stored in deep soils of the Southeastern Coastal Plain, referred to as deep podzolized carbon (DPC), but its stabilization mechanisms are not well understood.
  • The main idea is that water table fluctuations slow down microbial degradation, helping carbon accumulate, although this hypothesis hasn’t been thoroughly tested yet.
  • Research methods included various analyses that showed DPC organic matter is more resistant to breakdown than surface soil, influenced by persistent water saturation and low redox conditions which help it stabilize over time.
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  • Secure environmental contexts are key for understanding hominin behaviors and habitats, with the Tam Ngu Hao 2 (Cobra) Cave providing important insights into Denisovan life around 164-131 ka.
  • The analysis reveals that while Denisovans were adapted to various landscapes, including forests and open areas, individuals from Cobra Cave primarily consumed resources from open forests and savannah despite nearby rainforests.
  • Additionally, as local rainforest expanded around 130 ka, the study raises questions about how Denisovans adapted to these changes, contrasting with early Homo sapiens, who were more capable of exploiting rainforest resources.
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Previous studies reported mixed findings on autistic individuals' pitch perception relative to neurotypical (NT) individuals. We investigated whether this may be partly due to individual differences in cognitive abilities by comparing their performance on various pitch perception tasks on a large sample (n = 164) of autistic and NT children and adults. Our findings revealed that: (i) autistic individuals either showed similar or worse performance than NT individuals on the pitch tasks; (ii) cognitive abilities were associated with some pitch task performance; and (iii) cognitive abilities modulated the relationship between autism diagnosis and pitch perception on some tasks.

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Introduction: The top research priority for cavernoma, identified by a James Lind Alliance Priority setting partnership was 'Does treatment (with neurosurgery or stereotactic radiosurgery) or no treatment improve outcome for people diagnosed with a cavernoma?' This pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to determine the feasibility of answering this question in a main phase RCT.

Methods And Analysis: We will perform a pilot phase, parallel group, pragmatic RCT involving approximately 60 children or adults with mental capacity, resident in the UK or Ireland, with an unresected symptomatic brain cavernoma. Participants will be randomised by web-based randomisation 1:1 to treatment with medical management and with surgery (neurosurgery or stereotactic radiosurgery) versus medical management alone, stratified by prerandomisation preference for type of surgery.

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The timing of the first arrival of Homo sapiens in East Asia from Africa and the degree to which they interbred with or replaced local archaic populations is controversial. Previous discoveries from Tam Pà Ling cave (Laos) identified H. sapiens in Southeast Asia by at least 46 kyr.

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The energetic content of the compounds MgTp, FeTp, MnTp, and TiTp is measured by bomb calorimetry and compared to theoretical calculations (Tp = trispyrazoylborate). TiTp had the largest heat of combustion of the four compounds. Comparison of the heat of combustion of the Ti complex to those of Mg and Mn complexes suggests an effective combustion energy of Ti of between 1400 and 3000 kJ/mol, affirming the role of Ti as a strong fuel atom.

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Background: Consensus guidelines outline that patients with primary retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS) should be managed within specialist sarcoma centres (SSC). There is, however, a paucity of population-based data detailing incidence and outcomes in these patients. Hence, we aimed to evaluate patterns of care among RPS patients in England and compare outcomes for those undergoing surgery in high-volume specialist sarcoma centres (HV-SSC), low-volume SSC (LV-SSC), and non-SSC (N-SSC).

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Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a cardiovascular genetic disease caused largely by sarcomere protein mutations. Gaps in our understanding exist as to how maladaptive sarcomeric biophysical signals are transduced to intra- and extracellular compartments leading to HCM progression. To investigate early HCM progression, we focused on the onset of myofilament dysfunction during neonatal development and examined cardiac dynamics, coronary vascular structure and function, and mechano-transduction signaling in mice harboring a thin-filament HCM mutation.

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