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Since starch is by far the major component of the mature wheat grain, it has been assumed that variation in the capacity for starch synthesis during grain filling can influence final grain weight. We investigated this assumption by studying a total of 54 wheat genotypes including elite varieties and landraces that were grown in two successive years in fields in the east of England. The weight, water content, sugars, starch, and maximum catalytic activities of two enzymes of starch biosynthesis, ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase and soluble starch synthase, were measured during grain filling. The relationships between these variables and the weights and starch contents of mature grains were analysed. Final grain weight showed few or no significant correlations with enzyme activities, sugar levels, or starch content during grain filling, or with starch content at maturity. We conclude that neither sugar availability nor enzymatic capacity for starch synthesis during grain filling significantly influenced final grain weight in our field conditions. We suggest that final grain weight may be largely determined by developmental processes prior to grain filling. Starch accumulation then fills the grain to a physical limit set by developmental processes. This conclusion is in accord with those from previous studies in which source or sink strength has been artificially manipulated.

Background: Data have indicated that the lymph node ratio (LNR) may be a better prognostic indicator than lymph node status in pancreatic cancer., Objectives: To analyse the value of the LNR in patients undergoing resection for periampullary carcinomas., Methods: A cut off value of 0.2 was assigned to the LNR in accordance with published studies. The impact of histopathological factors including a LNR was analysed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression methods., Results: In total, 551 patients undergoing a resection (January 2000 to December 2010) were analysed. The median lymph node yield was 15, and 198 (34%) patients had a LNR > 0.2. In patients with a LNR of > 0.2, the median overall survival (OS) was 18 versus 33 months in patients with an LNR < 0.2 (P < 0.001). Univariate analysis demonstrated a LNR > 0.2, T and N stage, vascular or perineural invasion, grade and resection margin status to be significantly associated with OS. On multivariate analysis, only a LNR > 0.2, vascular or perineural invasion and margin positivity remained significant. In N1 disease, a LNR was able to distinguish survival in patients with a similar lymph node burden, and correlated with more aggressive tumour pathological variables., Conclusion: A LNR > 0.2, and not lymph note status, is an independent prognostic factor for OS indicating the LNR should be utilized in outcome stratification., (© 2012 International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association.)

This paper reports on a health needs assessment that set out to elicit the perceived and expressed health and wellbeing needs of the residents of a former mining village in Kent. Data was principally collected from residents, professionals and stakeholders through focus groups and interviews. Open days enabled key themes to emerge and provided verification of the research findings. A wide range of services and improvements that would have an impact on wellbeing were identified, requiring a multi-agency approach to delivery, but primary health care services were regarded as the priority. The outcome of the study has been a commitment from the primary care trust to provide a part-time nurse practitioner/prescriber in the village and to employ a community centre manager to support health promotion activities and thereby address the concerns raised by the residents and stakeholders.

Aim: To assess for the first time the vasodilatory effect of testosterone in the human pulmonary circulation utilizing both isolated human pulmonary arteries and isolated perfused human lungs. In addition, a secondary aim was to determine whether there was any difference in the response to testosterone dependent upon gender., Methods: Isolated human pulmonary arteries were studied by wire myography. Vessels were preconstricted with U46619 (1 nM-1 microM) prior to exposing them to either testosterone (1 nM-100 microM) or ethanol vehicle (<0.1%). Isolated lungs were studied in a ventilated and perfused model. They were exposed to KCl (100 mM), prior to the addition of either testosterone (1 nM-100 microM) or ethanol vehicle (<0.1%)., Results: Testosterone caused significant vasodilatation in all preparations, but a greater response to testosterone was observed in the isolated perfused lungs, 24.9 +/- 2.2% at the 100 microM dose of testosterone in the isolated pulmonary arteries compared to 100 +/- 13.6% at the 100 microM dose in the isolated perfused lungs. No significant differences in the response to testosterone were observed between sexes., Conclusion: Testosterone is an efficacious vasodilator in the human pulmonary vasculature and this is not modulated by patient sex. This vasodilator action suggests that testosterone therapy may be beneficial to male patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

The effect of school meals on the rate of growth was assessed in two sets of children over one, two, and three-year periods in England and Scotland between 1973 and 1979. In all analyses children were subdivided into three groups: poor, not poor, and undefined, according to a set of questions on social circumstances. The rate of growth was assessed for children receiving school meals, lunches prepared at home, and those who changed scheme during the study period. No relation between rate of growth and uptake of school meals was found at any of the levels of poverty in England. In Scotland there was some indication in the poor group that children who received school meals had a smaller rate of growth than children having lunches prepared at home. There was inconclusive evidence that children from the poorer sectors of the community whose mother's worked outside the home may benefit from the school meals system. Although children selected for welfare support were smaller than other children, in so far as the design of the study allowed school meals during the 1970s did not increase the rate of growth of primary school children in any social stratum.

Associations between height and certain social factors are known to persist throughout the primary school years. To discover whether the height differences between social groups are increasing or diminishing during this time, heights of 7569 English and Scottish 5 to 10 year olds measured in 1972 and 1973 were examined, together with information about number of siblings, father's social class and father's employment status. With the exception of five year old children of unemployed fathers, any increases in height differentials were no more than would be expected from the dependence of height gain on initial height. No evidence was found of absolute decrease in height differences over one year, for any of the three social factors considered, but children from larger sibships grew more than expected given their starting heights. Thus associations between attained height and social factors in five to ten year old children arise almost entirely before the age of five and do not alter appreciably during the primary school years.