Separating NO production and consumption in intact agricultural soil cores at different moisture contents and depths.

Agricultural soils are a major source of the potent greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substance, NO. To implement management practices that minimize microbial NO production and maximize its consumption (i.e.

Neonatal Autonomic Regulation as a Predictor of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Very Preterm Infants.

Infants born preterm are at a significantly higher likelihood of having autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Preterm birth and ASD are both associated with neurological differences, notably autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction, pointing to preterm ANS dysfunction as a potential pathway to ASD, particularly in VPT infants. In this study, a subset of very preterm (VPT) infants enrolled in a large, multisite clinical trial were enrolled in this study at birth (N=20).

Heterogeneity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strains Circulating in Panama's Western Region.

Tuberculosis remains a challenge in both rural and urban areas. Although a majority of countries display a higher burden in urban areas compared with rural areas, Panama continues to report the highest mortality rate in Central America. Urban areas, such as Panama City, report a high tuberculosis burden, whereas Panama's western region, including the provinces of Chiriquí, Bocas del Toro (both semiurban) and Ngäbe-Bugle (rural), show a lower burden.

Patient-centred outcomes following non-operative treatment or appendicectomy for uncomplicated acute appendicitis in children.

While non-operative treatment has emerged as an alternative to surgery for the treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis in children, comparative patient-centred outcomes are not well documented. We investigated these in a feasibility randomised trial. Of 57 randomised participants, data were available for 26.

A randomized, feasibility trial of an exercise and nutrition-based rehabilitation programme (ENeRgy) in people with cancer.

Background: Despite rehabilitation being increasingly advocated for people living with incurable cancer, there is limited evidence supporting efficacy or component parts. The progressive decline in function and nutritional in this population would support an approach that targets these factors. This trial aimed to assess the feasibility of an exercise and nutrition based rehabilitation programme in people with incurable cancer.

Developing an intervention to optimise the outcome of cardiac surgery in people with diabetes: the OCTOPuS pilot study.

Background: Cardiothoracic surgical outcomes are poorer in people with diabetes compared with those without diabetes. There are two important uncertainties in the management of people with diabetes undergoing major surgery: (1) how to improve diabetes management in the weeks leading up to an elective procedure and (2) whether that improved management leads to improved postoperative outcomes. The aim of this study was to develop and pilot a specialist diabetes team-led intervention to improve surgical outcomes in people with diabetes.

The Optimising Cardiac Surgery ouTcOmes in People with diabeteS (OCTOPuS) randomised controlled trial to evaluate an outpatient pre-cardiac surgery diabetes management intervention: a study protocol.

Introduction: Cardiothoracic surgical outcomes are poorer in people with diabetes compared with those without diabetes. There are two important uncertainties in the management of people with diabetes undergoing major surgery: (1) how to improve diabetes management in the weeks leading up to an elective procedure and (2) whether that improved management leads to better postoperative outcomes. We previously demonstrated the feasibility of delivering the Optimising Cardiac Surgery ouTcOmes in People with diabeteS (OCTOPuS) intervention, an outpatient intervention delivered by diabetes healthcare professionals for people with suboptimally managed diabetes over 8-12 weeks before elective cardiac surgery.

Conservative treatment for uncomplicated appendicitis in children: the CONTRACT feasibility study, including feasibility RCT.

Background: Although non-operative treatment is known to be effective for the treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis in children, randomised trial data comparing important outcomes of non-operative treatment with those of appendicectomy are lacking.

Objectives: The objectives were to ascertain the feasibility of conducting a multicentre randomised controlled trial comparing the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a non-operative treatment pathway with appendicectomy for the treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis in children.

Design: This was a mixed-methods study, which included a feasibility randomised controlled trial, embedded and parallel qualitative and survey studies, a parallel health economic feasibility study and the development of a core outcome set.

CONservative TReatment of Appendicitis in Children: a randomised controlled feasibility Trial (CONTRACT).

Objective: To establish the feasibility of a multicentre randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a non-operative treatment pathway compared with appendicectomy in children with uncomplicated acute appendicitis.

Design: Feasibility randomised controlled trial with embedded qualitative study to inform recruiter training to optimise recruitment and the design of a future definitive trial.

Setting: Three specialist paediatric surgery centres in the UK.

Edaphic factors and plants influence denitrification in soils from a long-term arable experiment.

Factors influencing production of greenhouse gases nitrous oxide (NO) and nitrogen (N) in arable soils include high nitrate, moisture and plants; we investigate how differences in the soil microbiome due to antecedent soil treatment additionally influence denitrification. Microbial communities, denitrification gene abundance and gas production in soils from tilled arable plots with contrasting fertilizer inputs (no N, mineral N, FYM) and regenerated woodland in the long-term Broadbalk field experiment were investigated. Soil was transferred to pots, kept bare or planted with wheat and after 6 weeks, transferred to sealed chambers with or without KNO fertilizer for 4 days; NO and N were measured daily.

Immune reconstitution in children following chemotherapy for acute leukemia.

Although survival rates for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia are now excellent, this is at the expense of prolonged chemotherapy regimens. We report the long-term immune effects in children treated according to the UK Medical Research Council UKALL 2003 protocol. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and immunoglobulin levels were studied in 116 participants, at six time points, during and for 18-month following treatment, with 30-39 patients analyzed at each time point.

Engaging Community Networks to Improve Depression Services: A Cluster-Randomized Trial of a Community Engagement and Planning Intervention.

This paper explores the effects of a group-randomized controlled trial, Community Partners in Care (CPIC), on the development of interagency networks for collaborative depression care improvement between a community engagement and planning (CEP) intervention and a resources for services (RS) intervention that provided the same content solely via technical assistance to individual programs. Both interventions consisted of a diverse set of service agencies, including health, mental health, substance abuse treatment, social services, and community-trusted organizations such as churches and parks and recreation centers. Participants in the community councils for the CEP intervention reflected a range of agency leaders, staff, and other stakeholders.

Thirteen-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Protective Immunity Can Be Achieved on Completion of Treatment.

Background: Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are at increased risk of developing invasive pneumococcal disease. This study describes the immunogenicity of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) during and after chemotherapy.

Methods: Children with ALL were allocated to study groups and received a single dose of PCV13: group 1, maintenance chemotherapy; group 2, end of chemotherapy; group 3, 6 months after chemotherapy.

Community Engagement and Planning versus Resources for Services for Implementing Depression Quality Improvement: Exploratory Analysis for Black and Latino Adults.

Objective: Racial/ethnic minorities experience disparities in depression1 and there is a paucity of evidence-based interventions to improve depression care access and outcomes. Community Partners in Care (CPIC) is a community-partnered study of depression care quality improvement (QI) in under-resourced, urban communities: Community Engagement and Planning (CEP) for multi-sector coalitions, and Resources for Services (RS) for program technical assistance.2 CEP demonstrated benefits for the overall CPIC study population; effects for Black and Latino sub-populations are unknown.

Improved isotopic model based on N tracing and Rayleigh-type isotope fractionation for simulating differential sources of N O emissions in a clay grassland soil.

Rationale: Isotopic signatures of N O can help distinguish between two sources (fertiliser N or endogenous soil N) of N O emissions. The contribution of each source to N O emissions after N-application is difficult to determine. Here, isotopologue signatures of emitted N O are used in an improved isotopic model based on Rayleigh-type equations.

A Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Depression Collaborative Care: Subanalysis of Comorbid Anxiety.

The purpose of this exploratory subanalysis was to compare the effects of two depression quality improvement approaches on clinical outcomes and service utilization for individuals with comorbid depression/anxiety. This study used data from Community Partners in Care (CPIC), a cluster-randomized comparative effectiveness trial ( = 1,018; depression = 360; comorbid depression/anxiety = 658). Each intervention arm received the same quality improvement materials, plus either technical support (Resources for Services, RS) or support for collaborative implementation planning (Community Engagement and Planning, CEP).

Maintaining Internal Validity in Community Partnered Participatory Research: Experience from the Community Partners in Care Study.

Objective: With internal validity being a central goal of designed experiments, we seek to elucidate how community partnered participatory research (CPPR) impacts the internal validity of public health comparative-effectiveness research.

Methods: Community Partners in Care (CPIC), a study comparing a community-coalition intervention to direct technical assistance for disseminating depression care to vulnerable populations, is used to illustrate design choices developed with attention to core CPPR principles. The study-design process is reviewed retrospectively and evaluated based on the resulting covariate balance across intervention arms and on broader peer-review assessments.

12-Month Cost Outcomes of Community Engagement Versus Technical Assistance for Depression Quality Improvement: A Partnered, Cluster Randomized, Comparative-Effectiveness Trial.

Objective: To compare community engagement and planning (CEP) for coalition support to implement depression quality improvement (QI) to resources for services (RS) effects on service-use costs over a 12-month period.

Design: Matched health and community programs (N=93) were cluster-randomized within communities to CEP or RS.

Setting: Two Los Angeles communities.

Comparative Effectiveness of Coalitions Versus Technical Assistance for Depression Quality Improvement in Persons with Multiple Chronic Conditions.

Significance: Prior research suggests that Community Engagement and Planning (CEP) for coalition support compared with Resources for Services (RS) for program technical assistance to implement depression quality improvement programs improves 6- and 12-month client mental-health related quality of life (MHRQL); however, effects for clients with multiple chronic medical conditions (MCC) are unknown.

Objective: To explore effectiveness of CEP vs RS in MCC and non-MCC subgroups.

Design: Secondary analyses of a cluster-randomized trial.

CONTRACT Study - CONservative TReatment of Appendicitis in Children (feasibility): study protocol for a randomised controlled Trial.

Background: Currently, the routine treatment for acute appendicitis in the United Kingdom is an appendicectomy. However, there is increasing scientific interest and research into non-operative treatment of appendicitis in adults and children. While a number of studies have investigated non-operative treatment of appendicitis in adults, this research cannot be applied to the paediatric population.

"Hot spots" of N and C impact nitric oxide, nitrous oxide and nitrogen gas emissions from a UK grassland soil.

Agricultural soils are a major source of nitric- (NO) and nitrous oxide (NO), which are produced and consumed by biotic and abiotic soil processes. The dominant sources of NO and NO are microbial nitrification and denitrification, and emissions of NO and NO generally increase after fertiliser application. The present study investigated the impact of N-source distribution on emissions of NO and NO from soil and the significance of denitrification, rather than nitrification, as a source of NO emissions.

Comparative Effectiveness of Two Models of Depression Services Quality Improvement in Health and Community Sectors.

Objective: The effectiveness of community coalition building and program technical assistance was compared in implementation of collaborative care for depression among health care and community sector clients.

Methods: In under-resourced communities, within 93 programs randomly assigned to coalition building (Community Engagement and Planning) or program technical assistance (Resources for Services) models, 1,018 clients completed surveys at baseline and at six, 12, or 36 months. Regression analysis was used to estimate intervention effects and intervention-by-sector interaction effects on depression, mental health-related quality of life, and community-prioritized outcomes and on services use.

A randomised controlled study of the effectiveness of breathing retraining exercises taught by a physiotherapist either by instructional DVD or in face-to-face sessions in the management of asthma in adults.

Background: Asthma control is suboptimal, resulting in quality of life (QoL) impairment and costs. Breathing retraining exercises have evidence of effectiveness as adjuvant treatment, but are infrequently used.

Objectives: To transfer the contents of a brief (three-session) physiotherapist-delivered breathing retraining programme to a digital versatile disc (DVD) and booklet format; to compare the effectiveness of the self-guided intervention with that of 'face-to-face' physiotherapy and usual care for QoL and other asthma-related outcomes; to perform a health economic assessment of both interventions; and to perform a process evaluation using quantitative and qualitative methods.