Utilising Hyperspectral Autofluorescence Imaging in the Objective Assessment of Disease State and Pain in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease resulting in joint swelling and pain. Treatment options can be reliant on disease activity scores (DAS) incorporating patient global assessments, which are quantified via visual analogue scales (VAS). VAS can be subjective and not necessarily align with clinical symptoms, such as inflammation, resulting in a disconnect between the patient's and practitioners' experience.

Effects of Mild and Moderate Monoclonal Antibody Dose on Inflammation, Bone Loss, and Activation of the Central Nervous System in a Female Collagen Antibody-induced Arthritis Mouse Model.

Induction of severe inflammatory arthritis in the collagen antibody-induced arthritis (CAIA) murine model causes extensive joint damage and pain-like behavior compromising analysis. While mild models are less severe, their reduced, variable penetrance makes assessment of treatment efficacy difficult. This study aimed to compare macroscopic and microscopic changes in the paws, along with central nervous system activation between a mild and moderate CAIA model.

Assessing the Effects of Parthenolide on Inflammation, Bone Loss, and Glial Cells within a Collagen Antibody-Induced Arthritis Mouse Model.

Rheumatoid arthritis is characterised by a chronic inflammatory response resulting in destruction of the joint and significant pain. Although a range of treatments are available to control disease activity in RA, bone destruction and joint pain exist despite suppression of inflammation. This study is aimed at assessing the effects of parthenolide (PAR) on paw inflammation, bone destruction, and pain-like behaviour in a mild collagen antibody-induced arthritis (CAIA) mouse model.

Exploring How the Home Environment Influences Eating and Physical Activity Habits of Low-Income, Latino Children of Predominantly Immigrant Families: A Qualitative Study.

Unlabelled: Latinos are the largest and fastest growing minority population group in the United States, and children in low-income Latino families are at elevated risk of becoming overweight or having obesity. A child’s home is an important social environment in which he/she develops and maintains dietary and physical activity (PA) habits that ultimately impact weight status. Previous research suggests the parents are central to creating a home environment that facilitates or hinders the development of children’s early healthy eating and PA habits.

Trajectories of Maintenance and Resilience in Healthful Eating and Exercise Behaviors in Older Adults.

Objective: Our objective was to describe behavioral change trajectories for healthful eating and exercise in a group of community-dwelling older adults. A secondary aim was to determine predictors of maintenance and resilience.

Method: Subjects were participants in the Study of Exercise and Nutrition in Older Rhode Islanders (SENIOR) I study who had achieved postaction stage of change for at least one behavior by its end.

The epidemiology of adults with severe sepsis and septic shock in Scottish emergency departments.

Background: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) promotes a bundle approach to the care of septic patients to improve outcome. Some have questioned the capability of delivering the bundle in emergency departments (EDs). The authors report the epidemiology and 6 h bundle compliance of patients with severe sepsis/septic shock presenting to Scottish EDs.

Using focus groups to identify factors affecting healthful weight maintenance in Latino immigrants.

Objective: To explore (1) how migration influenced physical activity and dietary behaviors among Latino immigrants and (2) participants' perception of concepts related to a Health at Every Size (HAES) approach to weight maintenance (mindful eating, taking care of oneself).

Methods: Four focus groups (n = 35), homogenous by sex, were conducted in Spanish.

Results: Male and female participants spoke of being less physically active and eating less healthful diets since immigrating.

Procedural sedation and analgesia in a large UK Emergency Department: factors associated with complications.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the delivery of procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA) in an urban teaching hospital Emergency Department (ED) over a 2-year period, and identify factors associated with complications.

Methods: Consecutive ED patients requiring PSA were prospectively enrolled onto the Registry of Emergency Procedural Sedation. Data collected included: patient and procedural characteristics; process times; physiological parameters; agents; sedation depth; and composition of staff team and complications.

Maintaining exercise and healthful eating in older adults: the SENIOR project II: study design and methodology.

The Study of Exercise and Nutrition in Older Rhode Islanders (SENIOR) Project II is an intervention study to promote the maintenance of both exercise and healthful eating in older adults. It is the second phase of an earlier study, SENIOR Project I, that originally recruited 1277 community-dwelling older adults to participate in behavior-specific interventions designed to increase exercise and/or fruit and vegetable consumption. The general theoretical framework for this research is the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of Health Behavior Change.

The relationship between obesity, physical activity, and physical function in older adults.

Objective: This study investigated the relationship between overweight and obesity, age, and gender with physical activity and physical function in community-dwelling older men and women.

Method: Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze differences between normal weight, overweight, and obese adults (n = 821) above the age of 60 years.

Results: Obesity but not overweight was associated with lower levels of physical activity and physical function.

Clinical observations associated with proven and unproven cases in the ESCRS study of prophylaxis of postoperative endophthalmitis after cataract surgery.

Purpose: To describe cases of postoperative endophthalmitis in the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) study of the prophylaxis of endophthalmitis, compare characteristics of unproven cases and cases proven by culture or polymerase chain reaction, and compare the characteristics with those in other reported series.

Setting: Twenty-four ophthalmology units in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Methods: Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyze data for statistical association of signs and symptoms in cases with proven or unproven endophthalmitis.

Temporal and spatial variations in lice numbers on salmon farms in the Hardanger fjord 2004-06.

The long and narrow Hardanger fjord in western Norway has a high density of salmon farms and has had severe salmon lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, problems. In the years 2004-06, salmon lice numbers were recorded in selected salmon farms in the fjord as part of a larger research project. Most farm sites participated in a strategic control programme and were deloused between November and January in each year.

The use of prevalence as a measure of lice burden: a case study of Lepeophtheirus salmonis on Scottish Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., farms.

This study investigates the benefits of using prevalence as a summary measure of sea lice infestation on farmed Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L. Aspects such as sampling effort, the relationship between abundance and prevalence arising from the negative binomial distribution, and how this relationship can be used to indicate the degree of aggregation of lice on a site at a given time point are discussed. As a case study, data were drawn from over 50 commercial Atlantic salmon farms on the west coast of Scotland between 2002 and 2006.

Long-term effects of a stage-based intervention for changing exercise intentions and behavior in older adults.

Purpose: We examined the efficacy of an intervention tailored to the individual's stage of change for exercise adoption on exercise stage of change, physical activity, and physical function in community-dwelling older adults.

Design And Methods: We randomized participants to a print and telephone intervention or a contact comparison group. Through the use of longitudinal analyses we examined the intervention's effectiveness in promoting stage progression, altering decisional balance and the processes of change, increasing self-efficacy and physical activity, and improving physical function among older adults who completed the 24-month study (N = 966).

Changes in epidemiological patterns of sea lice infestation on farmed Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., in Scotland between 1996 and 2006.

Analyses of a unique database containing sea lice records over an 11 year period provide evidence of changing infestation patterns in Scotland. The data, collected from more than 50 commercial Atlantic salmon farms, indicate that both species of sea lice commonly found in Scotland, Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus, have declined on farms over the past decade. Reductions for both species have been particularly marked since 2001 when more effective veterinary medicines became available.

Accumulation of behavioral validation evidence for physical activity stage of change.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to accumulate behavioral validity evidence for physical activity Stage of Change (SOC).

Design: Nine studies used a common physical activity SOC measure and examined self-report, objective, and performance physical activity indicators to accumulate behavioral validity evidence for SOC. Type of measure, the strength of the expected relationship between the measure and SOC, and the predicted SOC differences were examined.

The efficacy of emamectin benzoate against infestations of Lepeophtheirus salmonis on farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L) in Scotland, 2002-2006.

Background: Infestations of the parasitic copepod Lepeophtheirus salmonis, commonly referred to as sea lice, represent a major challenge to commercial salmon aquaculture. Dependence on a limited number of theraputants to control such infestations has led to concerns of reduced sensitivity in some sea lice populations. This study investigates trends in the efficacy of the in-feed treatment emamectin benzoate in Scotland, the active ingredient most widely used across all salmon producing regions.

Recruiting and retaining older adults for health promotion research: the experience of the SENIOR Project.

This paper examines recruitment and retention efforts utilized by a community-based health promotion intervention with older adults (N = 1,277). Recruitment strategies were classified as either involving or not involving personal interaction with project staff. There was no difference by recruitment method in demographic characteristics, but a greater proportion of participants recruited using strategies without personal interaction were in the earlier stage of change (SOC) for fruit and vegetable consumption compared with those recruited using strategies involving personal contact.

Clustering of parasites within cages on Scottish and Norwegian salmon farms: alternative sampling strategies illustrated using simulation.

Within the literature, most discussion of sampling protocols for monitoring aquatic parasites is based on the assumptions of simple random sampling. Recent research has shown that in monitoring parasite abundance on fish farms composed of discrete cages, care must be taken to properly account for the clustering which naturally occurs. This paper illustrates the effect of clustering in the context of monitoring ectoparasitic sea lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus in salmon farms.

ESCRS study of prophylaxis of postoperative endophthalmitis after cataract surgery: Preliminary report of principal results from a European multicenter study.

Purpose: To report results in the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) multicenter study of the prophylaxis of endophthalmitis after cataract surgery.

Setting: Twenty-four ophthalmology units and eye clinics in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, with an administrative office in Ireland, coordinating center in England, and data management and statistical unit in Scotland.

Methods: This partially masked randomized placebo-controlled multinational clinical study to evaluate prospectively the prophylactic effect of intracameral cefuroxime injection and/or perioperative levofloxacin eyedrops on the incidence of endophthalmitis after phacoemulsification cataract surgery began in September 2003 and was terminated early in January 2006.

ESCRS study of prophylaxis of postoperative endophthalmitis after cataract surgery: Case for a European multicenter study.

Purpose: To present the development and design of the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons multicenter study of the prevention of postsurgical infective endophthalmitis after phacoemulsification and to describe the process for its successful implementation and conduct.

Setting: Twenty-four ophthalmology units and eye clinics in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, with an administrative office in Ireland, coordinating center in England, and data management and statistical unit in Scotland.

Methods: This partially masked randomized placebo-controlled multinational clinical study was designed to evaluate prospectively the prophylactic effect of intracameral cefuroxime and/or perioperative topical levofloxacin on postoperative endophthalmitis after cataract surgery.

Intervening on exercise and nutrition in older adults: the Rhode Island SENIOR Project.

Presented are the basic design, methods, and baseline data analyses for the Study of Exercise and Nutrition in Older Rhode Islanders (SENIOR Project) an experimental study to investigate the relative effectiveness of a 12-month, stage of readiness to change-based multiple-behavior intervention (exercise and nutrition) compared to single-behavior interventions in a community-dwelling population of 1,277 older adults. Relationships between stage of readiness to change in the two target behaviors, as well as the relationship between stage of readiness and self-reported exercise levels and fruit and vegetable consumption, were examined using a combination of Pearson chi-squares, analyses of variance (ANOVA), and Spearman's rank order correlations. Stage of change (SOC) for fruit and vegetable consumption was significantly associated with the dietary measure, and SOC for exercise was associated with both the three physical activity measures and servings of fruits and vegetables per day.