University of Warwick

About: University of Warwick is a education organization based out in Coventry, Warwickshire, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & White dwarf. The organization has 26212 authors who have published 77127 publications receiving 2666552 citations. The organization is also known as: Warwick University & The University of Warwick.

PET-CT Surveillance versus Neck Dissection in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The role of image-guided surveillance as compared with planned neck dissection in the treatment of patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck who have advanced nodal disease (stage N2 or N3) and who have received chemoradiotherapy for primary treatment is a matter of debate. METHODS: In this prospective, randomized, controlled trial, we assessed the noninferiority of positron-emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT)-guided surveillance (performed 12 weeks after the end of chemoradiotherapy, with neck dissection performed only if PET-CT showed an incomplete or equivocal response) to planned neck dissection in patients with stage N2 or N3 disease. The primary end point was overall survival. RESULTS: From 2007 through 2012, we recruited 564 patients (282 patients in the planned-surgery group and 282 patients in the surveillance group) from 37 centers in the United Kingdom. Among these patients, 17% had nodal stage N2a disease and 61% had stage N2b disease. A total of 84% of the patients had oropharyngeal cancer, and 75% had tumor specimens that stained positive for the p16 protein, an indicator that human papillomavirus had a role in the causation of the cancer. The median follow-up was 36 months. PET-CT-guided surveillance resulted in fewer neck dissections than did planned dissection surgery (54 vs. 221); rates of surgical complications were similar in the two groups (42% and 38%, respectively). The 2-year overall survival rate was 84.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 80.7 to 89.1) in the surveillance group and 81.5% (95% CI, 76.9 to 86.3) in the planned-surgery group. The hazard ratio for death slightly favored PET-CT-guided surveillance and indicated noninferiority (upper boundary of the 95% CI for the hazard ratio, <1.50; P=0.004). There was no significant difference between the groups with respect to p16 expression. Quality of life was similar in the two groups. PET-CT-guided surveillance, as compared with neck dissection, resulted in savings of £1,492 (approximately $2,190 in U.S. dollars) per person over the duration of the trial. CONCLUSIONS: Survival was similar among patients who underwent PET-CT-guided surveillance and those who underwent planned neck dissection, but surveillance resulted in considerably fewer operations and it was more cost-effective.

Host-Parasite Coevolutionary Conflict Between Arabidopsis and Downy Mildew

Abstract: Plants are constantly exposed to attack by an array of diverse pathogens but lack a somatically adaptive immune system. In spite of this, natural plant populations do not often suffer destructive disease epidemics. Elucidating how allelic diversity within plant genes that function to detect pathogens (resistance genes) counteracts changing structures of pathogen genes required for host invasion (pathogenicity effectors) is critical to our understanding of the dynamics of natural plant populations. The RPP13 resistance gene is the most polymorphic gene analyzed to date in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Here we report the cloning of the avirulence gene, ATR13, that triggers RPP13-mediated resistance, and we show that it too exhibits extreme levels of amino acid polymorphism. Evidence of diversifying selection visible in both components suggests that the host and pathogen may be locked in a coevolutionary conflict at these loci, where attempts to evade host resistance by the pathogen are matched by the development of new detection capabilities by the host.

Modelling vaccination strategies against foot-and-mouth disease

Abstract: Vaccination has proved a powerful defence against a range of infectious diseases of humans and animals. However, its potential to control major epidemics of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in livestock is contentious. Using an individual farm-based model, we consider either national prophylactic vaccination campaigns in advance of an outbreak, or combinations of reactive vaccination and culling strategies during an epidemic. Consistent with standard epidemiological theory, mass prophylactic vaccination could reduce greatly the potential for a major epidemic, while the targeting of high-risk farms increases efficiency. Given sufficient resources and preparation, a combination of reactive vaccination and culling might control ongoing epidemics. We also explore a reactive strategy, ‘predictive’ vaccination, which targets key spatial transmission loci and can reduce markedly the long tail that characterizes many FMD epidemics. These analyses have broader implications for the control of human and livestock infectious diseases in heterogeneous spatial landscapes.

A systematic review of the impact of patient and public involvement on service users, researchers and communities.

Abstract: Objective Patient and public involvement (PPI) in research has expanded nationally and internationally over the last decade, and recently there has been significant attention given to understanding its impact on research. Less attention has been given to the impact of PPI on the people involved, yet it has been shown that the success of PPI in research can be reliant on the processes of engagement between these individuals and communities. This paper therefore critically explores the impact of PPI on service users, researchers and communities involved in health and social care research.

A marker-assisted backcross approach for developing submergence-tolerant rice cultivars.

Abstract: Submergence stress regularly affects 15 million hectares or more of rainfed lowland rice areas in South and Southeast Asia. A major QTL on chromosome 9, Sub1, has provided the opportunity to apply marker assisted backcrossing (MAB) to develop submergence tolerant versions of rice cultivars that are widely grown in the region. In the present study, molecular markers that were tightly linked with Sub1, flanking Sub1, and unlinked to Sub1 were used to apply foreground, recombinant, and background selection, respectively, in backcrosses between a submergence-tolerant donor and the widely grown recurrent parent Swarna. By the BC(2)F(2) generation a submergence tolerant plant was identified that possessed Swarna type simple sequence repeat (SSR) alleles on all fragments analyzed except the tip segment of rice chromosome 9 that possessed the Sub1 locus. A BC(3)F(2) double recombinant plant was identified that was homozygous for all Swarna type alleles except for an approximately 2.3-3.4 Mb region surrounding the Sub1 locus. The results showed that the mega variety Swarna could be efficiently converted to a submergence tolerant variety in three backcross generations, involving a time of two to three years. Polymorphic markers for foreground and recombinant selection were identified for four other mega varieties to develop a wider range of submergence tolerant varieties to meet the needs of farmers in the flood-prone regions. This approach demonstrates the effective use of marker assisted selection for a major QTL in a molecular breeding program.