Odiham Cottage Hospital

Genome-scale screening experiments in cancer produce long lists of candidate genes that require extensive interpretation for biological insight and prioritization for follow-up studies. Interrogation of gene lists frequently represents a significant and time-consuming undertaking, in which experimental biologists typically combine results from a variety of bioinformatics resources in an attempt to portray and understand cancer relevance. As a means to simplify and strengthen the support for this endeavor, we have developed oncoEnrichR, a flexible bioinformatics tool that allows cancer researchers to comprehensively interrogate a given gene list along multiple facets of cancer relevance. oncoEnrichR differs from general gene set analysis frameworks through the integration of an extensive set of prior knowledge specifically relevant for cancer, including ranked gene-tumor type associations, literature-supported proto-oncogene and tumor suppressor gene annotations, target druggability data, regulatory interactions, synthetic lethality predictions, as well as prognostic associations, gene aberrations and co-expression patterns across tumor types. The software produces a structured and user-friendly analysis report as its main output, where versions of all underlying data resources are explicitly logged, the latter being a critical component for reproducible science. We demonstrate the usefulness of oncoEnrichR through interrogation of two candidate lists from proteomic and CRISPR screens. oncoEnrichR is freely available as a web-based service hosted by the Galaxy platform (https://oncotools.elixir.no), and can also be accessed as a stand-alone R package (https://github.com/sigven/oncoEnrichR).

BackgroundKnee osteoarthritis (KOA) is highly prevalent in older women, and previous studies suggest the involvement of hormonal factors play a role in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. KOA causes musculoskeletal impairment, resulting in decreased physical activity, muscle mass, and strength, which leads to sarcopenia and further increases the burden on healthcare systems. Oestrogen replacement therapy (ERT) improves joint pain and muscle performance in early menopausal women. Muscle resistance exercise (MRE) is a non-pharmacological method that preserves the physical functions of patients with KOA. However, data on short-term oestrogen administration combined with MRE in postmenopausal women, especially in those aged > 65 years, are limited. Therefore, this study presents a protocol of a trial aimed to examine the synergistic effect of ERT and MRE on lower-limb physical performance in older women with KOA.MethodsWe will conduct a double-blinded, randomised placebo-controlled trial in 80 Japanese women aged > 65 years living independently with knee pain. The participants will be randomly categorised into two groups: (1) 12-week MRE programme with transdermal oestrogen gel containing 0.54 mg oestradiol per push and (2) 12-week MRE programme with placebo gel. The primary outcome measured using the 30-s chair stand test, and secondary outcomes (body composition, lower-limb muscle strength, physical performance, self-reported measure of knee pain, and quality of life) will be measured at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months, and these outcomes will be analysed based on the intention-to-treat.DiscussionThe EPOK trial is the first study to focus on the efficacy of ERT on MRE among women aged > 65 years with KOA. This trial will provide an effective MRE to prevent KOA-induced lower-limb muscle weakness, confirming the benefit of short-term oestrogen administration.Trial registrationJapan Registry of Clinical Trials: jRCTs061210062. Registered 17th December 2021, https://jrct.niph.go.jp/en-latest-detail/jRCTs061210062.

The Countryside, Nature, and Swedish Agrarian Policies. Vilhelm Moberg from an Eco-Critical Perspective
 This study applies an eco-critical perspective on the agrarian utopia Vilhelm Moberg depicts in his fictional works. His autobiographical novels about Knut Toring from the 1930s and his emigrant series from the 1950s are put in the foreground. (Sänkt sedebetyg 1935, transl. Memory of Youth 1937; Sömnlös 1937, “Sleepless”, not translated into English; Giv oss jorden! 1939, transl. The Earth is Ours 1940; Utvandrarna 1949, transl. The Emigrants 1951; Invandrarna 1953, transl. Unto a Good Land 1954; Nybyggarna 1956, transl. The Settlers; Sista brevet till Sverige 1959, transl. The Last Letter Home 1961).
 These works can be read as variations on a theme which occupied Moberg throughout his life as a writer: the loss of rural Sweden. The study focuses on Moberg’s utopian concepts of how the countryside could be saved. The solution lies in increased productivity and growth. In both his fictional and journalistic works Moberg has come forward as a critic of modernity in general and more specific the emerging Swedish welfare state, the so called ”Folkhemmet”. But the study argues that Moberg’s novels, paradoxically enough, in certain respects are compatible with Swedish agrarian policies in the middle of the 20th century and the ideological ideas underpinning ”Folkhemmet”, with development, progress and growth as overriding goals. The eco-critical perspective puts this policy of growth in a historical and anthropological and ideological context, aiming to show that nature in the works of Moberg is primarily seen as a resource for man. Nature is a bottomless source of riches, and man is assigned to manage it.

The beneficial effect of recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) for renal anemia in patients with chronic hemodialysis has been established. EPO is reported to be effective against renal anemia when administered at a dose of 3, 000 units three times a week. However, only a few studies have been made on the therapy to maintain the anemia-improving effect of EPO. In the present study, we performed EPO maintenance therapy on 22 hemodialysis patients with renal anemia. EPO was initially administered at a dose of 3, 000 units three times a week, and maintenance therapy was initiated after 12 weeks of treatment. The patients were divided into two groups, with EPO being administered at a dose of 1, 500 units twice a week to one group and three times a week to the other. The duration of maintenance therapy was set at eight weeks. The anemia-improving effect of EPO was found to be satisfactorily maintained in both groups and no significant difference was noted between them. Accordingly, it may be better to use the lower dose regimen of 1, 500 units twice a week for the maintenance therapy of renal anemia.

n/a