GP participation in increasing uptake in a national bowel cancer screening programme: the PEARL project.

Background: The NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) in England does not involve general practitioners (GPs). Uptake is ∼58%. The Practice Endorsed Additional Reminder Letter (PEARL) study piloted a GP-endorsed reminder letter.

Infrared microscopy of epithelial cancer cells in whole tissues and in tissue culture, using synchrotron radiation.

Oral epithelial tumour tissue, and cultured cervical epithelial carcinoma cells have been studied using synchrotron infrared microspectroscopy. Mid infrared absorption spectra collected at cellular spatial resolution from within oral tumours were found to be sufficiently distinct, when analysed by principal component analysis, to distinguish between three different cell types within the tumour. The resulting data were sufficiently robust to allow correct classification of spectra from cells within subsequent tissue samples.

FTIR microspectroscopy study of composition fluctuations in extruded amylopectin-gelatin blends.

The spatial variation in the composition of nonexpanded biopolymer blends prepared by extrusion of mixtures of gelatin with either native or pregelatinized waxy maize starch was studied using a 30-microm aperture FTIR microspectroscopy technique. The ratio of the areas of the "saccharide" bands (953-1180 cm(-1)) and the amide I and II bands (1483-1750 cm(-1)) was used to monitor the relative distributions of the two components of the blend. Two calibration methods were used to obtain amylopectin concentration values from the ratios of the IR bands.

Natural and radiation-induced cataracts in man and mouse, and natural macular degeneration in man: proposed mechanisms.

A unified theory of growth and age-dependent disorders is applied to the interpretation of epidemiological data for natural and radiation-induced cataracts and natural macular degeneration in man. Using the same unified theory, mechanisms are also proposed to explain the experimental evidence for natural and radiation-induced lenticular opacities in the lens of the mouse. Epidemiological and experimental data are strikingly consistent with the hypothesis that natural cataract formation is an autoaggressive process but the details of pathogenesis differ greatly between the two species.

Mammalian cell survival and radiation quality: analysis with allowance for delta tracks.

The RBE for mammalian cell survival is analysed in relation to the distribution of LET. Complex target theory is described, together with a procedure for applying LET distributions to experimental findings in order to estimate the modes of cellular inactivation. Track segment theory is shown to have previously unrecognised limitations.

A critique of Katz's 'high LET constraint on low LET survival'.

Katz's interpretation of the connexion between RBE and LET is contrasted with a version published previously by Burch. The implications of Katz's model for dose-response relations apply only at ultra-high absorbed doses in Burch's model. In the latter, the shoulder on type-C survival curves for mammalian cells is explained in terms of Haynes' repair model.

Thyroid function in normal subjects in Iceland and Northeast Scotland.

A comparative study was made of thyroid function in samples of 'well' subjects, from separate geographical areas with dissimilar dietary iodine levels. In the area with the higher iodine level, Iceland, the prevalence of positive thyroid antibody tests and serum thyrotrophin levels were lower, while the capacity of the thyroid to respond to exogenous thyrotrophin was higher than in NE Scotland, an area with lower iodine levels. In contrast the prevalence of positive tests for another organ-specific antibody, gastric parietal cell antibody, was higher in Iceland.

Outcome of sub-total thyroidectomy for thyrotoxicosis in Iceland and Northeast Scotland.

A comparative study of the outcome of surgical treatment for thyrotoxicosis was carried out in two countries with dissimilar dietary iodine levels. In the area with a high iodine level (Iceland) the prevalence of post-operative hypothyroidism was five times lower, but recurrent hyperthyroidism was five times higher, than in the area with lower iodine levels (northeast Scotland). The total morbidity reached comparable levels in the two samples.

Comparison of propranolol and practolol in the management of hyperthyroidism.

Twenty-one hyperthyroid patients participated in an 8-week double-blind crossover trial of propranolol and practolol, and the effecte of these drugs on the clinical and metabolic features of the disease were studied. Propranolol was marginally more effective than practolol, as measured by the hyperthyroid diagnostic index and anxiety scale. Propranolol produced a significant reduction in the serum concentration ratio of tri-iodothyronine to thyroxine, compatible with partial inhibition of peripheral deiodination of thyroxine.

Effects of anticonvulsants and inactivity on bone disease in epileptics.

No significant biochemical or radiological features of vitamin D deficiency were found in groups of juvenile and adult epileptics and control groups of non-epileptic patients in hospitals for the mentally retarded. There was evidence of hepatic enzyme induction in patients on anticonvulsants, in that urinary D-glucaric acid concentration and excretion were raised. No effect was found of prolonged anticonvulsant therapy on bone densitometry, but in children immobility was closely associated with decreased bone density.

Surgical treatment of thyrotoxicosis.

A retrospective study of thyrotoxic patients treated by subtotal thyroidectomy between 2 and 21 years ago in the north-east of Scotland showed that 20% of the patients could not be identified or traced at the time of the survey. The thyroid status of 40% of patients followed up was abnormal.It is now accepted that radioiodine treatment of thyrotoxicosis is followed by a significant incidence of late onset hypothyroidism, and life-long follow-up is regarded as obligatory.