Myocardial Infarction and Ischemic Stroke after Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Rationale: Previous studies have suggested that acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke.

Objectives: We aimed to quantify the increased risks of myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke risk associated with both moderate and severe acute exacerbation, and to investigate factors that may modify these risks.

Methods: We performed a self-controlled case series to investigate the rates of myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke after acute exacerbation compared with stable time, within individuals.

Inequities in exposure to occupational risk factors between Māori and non-Māori workers in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Background: Health inequities between indigenous and non-indigenous people are well documented. However, the contribution of differential exposure to risk factors in the occupational environment remains unclear. This study assessed differences in the prevalence of self-reported exposure to disease risk factors, including dust and chemicals, physical factors and organisational factors, between Māori and non-Māori workers in New Zealand.

Surgeons' assessment versus risk models for predicting complications of hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery (HPB-RISC): a multicenter prospective cohort study.

Background: Several studies advise the use of risk models when counseling patients for hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgery, but studies comparing these models to the surgeons' assessment are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess whether risk prediction models outperform surgeons' assessment for the risk of complications in HPB surgery.

Methods: This prospective study included adult patients scheduled for HPB surgery in three centers in the UK and the Netherlands.

How does the association of general and central adiposity with glycaemia and blood pressure differ by gender and area of residence in a Malawian population: a cross-sectional study.

Background: In high-income settings, body mass index (BMI) and measures of central adiposity, such as waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are associated with cardiometabolic risk, but evidence from low-income settings, particularly sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), is limited. We assessed whether there are differences between central and general adiposity in their associations with fasting glucose, diabetes, systolic and diastolic blood pressures and hypertension, and whether these associations differ with gender or rural/urban setting in Malawi.

Methods: We used data from a population-based study of 27 880 Malawian adults aged  ≥18 years, from both rural and urban areas.

First identification and characterization of Borrobol-type tephra in the Greenland ice cores: new deposits and improved age estimates.

Contiguous sampling of ice spanning key intervals of the deglaciation from the Greenland ice cores of NGRIP, GRIP and NEEM has revealed three new silicic cryptotephra deposits that are geochemically similar to the well-known Borrobol Tephra (BT). The BT is complex and confounded by the younger closely timed and compositionally similar Penifiler Tephra (PT). Two of the deposits found in the ice are in Greenland Interstadial 1e (GI-1e) and an older deposit is found in Greenland Stadial 2.

Carcinogenicity of glyphosate: why is New Zealand's EPA lost in the weeds?

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans". The New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority (NZEPA) rejected this and commissioned a new report, concluding that glyphosate was unlikely to be genotoxic or carcinogenic to humans. The NZEPA has argued that the difference arose because IARC is a "hazard-identification authority", whereas NZEPA is a "regulatory body that needs to cast the net more widely".

From ideas to studies: how to get ideas and sharpen them into research questions.

Where do new research questions come from? This is at best only partially taught in courses or textbooks about clinical or epidemiological research. Methods are taught under the assumption that a researcher already knows the research question and knows which methods will fit that question. Similarly, the real complexity of the thought processes that lead to a scientific undertaking is almost never described in published papers.

Proactive multi-modality treatment of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours (PNETs): Potential survival benefits.

Background/objectives: Primary and metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PNET) can be treated with combination of surgery, locoregional and systemic therapy. Survival benefits from individual treatments have been well reported, however, the combined outcome from multimodal treatments are not well described in the literature. We report outcomes in a cohort of PNET patients treated with proactive, multimodality therapy.

Prevalence of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, and cascade of care in sub-Saharan Africa: a cross-sectional, population-based study in rural and urban Malawi.

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa is in rapid demographic transition, and non-communicable diseases are increasingly important causes of morbidity and mortality. We investigated the burden of diabetes, overweight and obesity, hypertension, and multimorbidity, their treatment, and their associations with lifestyle and other factors in Malawi, a very poor country with a predominantly rural-but rapidly growing urban-population, to identify high-risk populations and inform appropriate interventions.

Methods: In this cross-sectional, population-based study, we enrolled all adults (≥18 years) residing in two defined geographical areas within Karonga District and Lilongwe city.

Determinants of hand dermatitis, urticaria and loss of skin barrier function in professional cleaners in New Zealand.

This study assessed the risk of dermatitis, urticaria and loss of skin barrier function in 425 cleaners and 281 reference workers (retail workers and bus drivers). Symptoms, atopy and skin barrier function were assessed by questionnaire, skin prick tests, and measurement of transepidermal water loss. Cleaners had an increased risk of current (past 3 months) hand/arm dermatitis (14.

Associations between fast food and physical activity environments and adiposity in mid-life: cross-sectional, observational evidence from UK Biobank.

Background: The built environment might be associated with development of obesity and related disorders. We examined whether neighbourhood exposure to fast-food outlets and physical activity facilities were associated with adiposity in UK adults.

Methods: We used cross-sectional observational data from UK Biobank.

Percutaneous hepatic perfusion with melphalan in uveal melanoma: A safe and effective treatment modality in an orphan disease.

Background: Metastatic uveal melanoma (UM) carries a poor prognosis; liver is the most frequent and often solitary site of recurrence. Available systemic treatments have not improved outcomes. Melphalan percutaneous hepatic perfusion (M-PHP) allows selective intrahepatic delivery of high dose cytotoxic chemotherapy.

BRain health and healthy AgeINg in retired rugby union players, the BRAIN Study: study protocol for an observational study in the UK.

Introduction: Relatively little is known about the long-term health of former elite rugby players, or former sportspeople more generally. As well as the potential benefits of being former elite sportspersons, there may be potential health risks from exposures occurring during an individual's playing career, as well as following retirement. Each contact sport has vastly different playing dynamics, therefore exposing its players to different types of potential traumas.

Neuropsychological performance in solvent-exposed vehicle collision repair workers in New Zealand.

Objectives: To assess whether contemporary solvent exposures in the vehicle collision repair industry are associated with objectively measured neuropsychological performance in collision repair workers.

Methods: The RBANS battery and additional tests were administered to 47 vehicle collision repair and 51 comparison workers randomly selected from a previous questionnaire study.

Results: Collision repair workers performed lower on tests of attention (digit span backwards: -1.

Thionated naphthalene diimides: tuneable chromophores for applications in photoactive dyads.

Varying the degree of thionation of a series of naphthalene diimide (NDI) and naphthalic imide (NI) phenothiazine dyad systems affords a systematic approach for tuning the system's donor-acceptor energy gap. Each dyad was compared to model NDI/NI systems and fully characterised through single crystal X-ray diffraction, NMR, cyclic voltammetry, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), transient absorption spectroscopy (TA), time-resolved infra-red spectroscopy (TRIR) and DFT. The measurements reveal that thionation increases both electron affinity of the NDI/NI acceptor dyad component and accessibility of the singly or doubly reduced states.

A New Multielement Method for LA-ICP-MS Data Acquisition from Glacier Ice Cores.

To answer pressing new research questions about the rate and timing of abrupt climate transitions, a robust system for ultrahigh-resolution sampling of glacier ice is needed. Here, we present a multielement method of LA-ICP-MS analysis wherein an array of chemical elements is simultaneously measured from the same ablation area. Although multielement techniques are commonplace for high-concentration materials, prior to the development of this method, all LA-ICP-MS analyses of glacier ice involved a single element per ablation pass or spot.

Morbidity in New Zealand pesticide producers exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD).

Objectives: To conduct a cross-sectional morbidity survey among 245 former employees of a pesticide production plant exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in New Zealand.

Methods: Demographic factors and health information were collected in face-to-face interviews. TCDD, lipids, thyroid hormones, glucose and immunoglobulin G (IgG) were determined in non-fasting blood.

Prospective Investigation of Pesticide Applicators' Health (PIPAH) study: a cohort study of professional pesticide users in Great Britain.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to monitor the exposure and health of workers in Great Britain who use pesticides as a part of their job, and to gain a better understanding of the relationship between long-term exposure to pesticides and health.

Participants: Study participants are professional pesticide users who are certified in the safe use of pesticides or who were born before 1965 and apply pesticides under 'grandfather rights'. Overall response rate was 20%; participants are mostly male (98%) and the average age is 54 years, ranging from 17 to over 80 years.

Clinically Significant Differences in Ki-67 Proliferation Index Between Primary and Metastases in Resected Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors.

Objective: Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) (pNETs) have a varied prognosis according to their grade. The European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society grading system uses assessment of the proliferation index via Ki-67 immunohistochemistry to aid prognosis. There is evidence that the proliferation index can vary significantly within a single tumor, but it is not fully understood to what extent heterogeneity occurs between the primary and metastatic sites and how this may affect the grade.

Complexity of two-dimensional self-assembled arrays at surfaces.

The self-assembly of supramolecular arrays at solid surfaces is discussed with an emphasis on the degree of complexity that can be generated in such structures. The preparation of multi-component arrays is reviewed illustrating the approaches to generating many-component networks and the challenges that are encountered. The complexity of quasicrystalline and fractal molecular structures is also demonstrated along with recent developments in the synthesis of complexity perpendicular to the solid substrate through the formation of bilayer structures.

Modified hanging manoeuvre facilitates inferior vena cava resection and reconstruction during extended right hepatectomy: A technical case report.

Liver resections are safe when performed by specialized hepatobiliary teams. However, complex liver resections are accompanied by significant perioperative risk and they may require modifications of the conventional surgical techniques. We herein report the case of a 54-year-old male patient who underwent an extended right liver resection with en bloc resection and reconstruction of the inferior vena cava.

Risk of stomach cancer in Aotearoa/New Zealand: A Māori population based case-control study.

Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, experience disproportionate rates of stomach cancer, compared to non-Māori. The overall aim of the study was to better understand the reasons for the considerable excess of stomach cancer in Māori and to identify priorities for prevention. Māori stomach cancer cases from the New Zealand Cancer Registry between 1 February 2009 and 31 October 2013 and Māori controls, randomly selected from the New Zealand electoral roll were matched by 5-year age bands to cases.

The benefit of evolving multidisciplinary care in ALS: a diagnostic cohort survival comparison.

Background: Care for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has altered at King's College Hospital over the last 20 years. The clinic has been a multidisciplinary, specialist, tertiary referral centre since 1995 with a large team with integrated palliative and respiratory care since 2006. We hypothesised that these changes would improve survival.