Addressing the gap for racially diverse research involvement: The King's Model for minority ethnic research participant recruitment.

Objectives: Ethnic minorities (EM) are still underrepresented in research recruitment. Despite wide literature outlining the barriers, enablers and recommendations for driving inclusion and diversity in research, there is still little evidence for successful diversity in research participation, which has a direct impact on the quality of care provided to ethnically diverse individuals. A new, comprehensive approach to recruitment strategies is therefore necessary. Study design: service improvement initiative. Methods: In the light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the key public health need to address the disparity in care provided to non-white populations, we used a novel, comprehensive approach (The King's Model) comprising of local and community actions to promote inclusive research recruitment. We then compared rates of diverse recruitment in studies where the novel approach, was applied to studies which had been closed to recruitment at the time of analysis and where ethnicity data was available. Results: Our results demonstrate that following the introduction of the King's Model for diverse recruitment, commercial interventional study diverse recruitment increased from 6.4% to 16.1%, and for non-commercial studies, from 30.2% to 41.0% and 59.2% in the selected studies. Conclusions: King's Model is potentially a useful tool in enhancing non-Caucasian recruitment to clinical research. Enriched by additional recommendations based on our experiences during the Covid-19 research recruitment drive, we propose the King's Model is used to support ethnically diverse research recruitment. Further evidence is needed to replicate our findings, although this preliminary evidence provides granular details necessary to address the key unmet need of validating clinical research outcomes in non-white populations.

Comparative analysis of FoxP3(+) regulatory T cells in the target tissues and blood in chronic graft versus host disease.

Activation and migration of regulatory T cells (Treg) into tissue is critical in control of inflammation, but has not been examined extensively in chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD). In parallel studies of tissues and blood, we determined that FoxP3(+) T cells increased in proportion to T effectors (Teff) in tissue infiltrates in oral and cutaneous lichenoid cGVHD. These FoxP3(+) cells expressed distinguishing phenotypic and functional markers of Treg (CD3(+), CD4(+), CD27(+), ICOS(+) and CD39(+)), not found on FoxP3(-) Teff. Both Teff and FoxP3(+) Treg expressed T-bet and the chemokine receptor CXCR3, however, consistent with a common mechanism of chemokine-mediated migration into tissue. Furthermore, functional markers (ICOS and CD39) and chemokine receptors (CXCR3) were both present in a higher proportion of FoxP3(+) cells in tissues than in peripheral blood, consistent with recruitment and activation of Treg in cGVHD target tissues. Finally, the 'activated' CD45RA(-)FoxP3(hi) subset of Treg cells, which highly express functional markers, were found in comparable frequencies in cGVHD patients and normal controls, despite a significant deficit in naive 'resting' Treg. These findings are consistent with Treg capacity to upregulate functional markers and traffick into tissue in cGVHD.

Changes in lipids and sterols during composting.

Pyrolysis-gas (Py-GC) chromatography was used to characterize organic [(diethyl ether (DEE) and chloroform (CHCl3)] extracts of raw and composted duck excreta enriched wood shavings from two finishing cycles (C1 and C2). Materials were collected on days 0, 8 and 23. C1 contained 1.7 % total N while C2 contained 0.9 % total N. Py-GC-MS (mass spectrometry) showed that the extracts contained n-alkanes (C12 to C32), alkenes (C12:1 to C33:1), n-fatty acids (C12 to C28), unsaturated fatty acids (C18:1 and C18:2), and sterols (cholestene, cholestadiene, stigmastene, stigmastadiene, stigmastatriene, cholesterol, stigmastanol, stigmastanone, stigmastadienone, 17-methyl dialkylsulfanyl decahydro-1H-cyclopenta [a] phenanthrene, 17-methyl dialkylsulfanyl dodecahydro-1H-cyclopenta [a] phenanthrene, and 17-methyl-17-dialkylsulfanyl decahydro-1H-cyclopenta [a] phenanthrene). Other components identified were prystene, squalene (precursor of cholesterol), phthalic acid, diphenylpropane, diphenylbut-2-ene and 1,3,6 triphenyl hex-4-ene. Our data showed significant changes in the lipid composition of duck excreta enriched wood shavings during composting, which appeared to be related to the total N content of the system.

Effect of inhibition of hepatic fatty acid oxidation on metabolic and hormonal responses to exercise in rats.

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of 2-mercaptoacetate (MA), an inhibitor of hepatic fatty acid oxidation, on the metabolic and pancreatic hormone response to a prolonged (3 h) swimming exercise. All rats were first adrenodemedullated and were either submitted for 3 weeks to a normal (5% fat) or a medium-fat diet (MF; 18% fat). After being submitted to an exercise swimming habituation programme for one week, rats under both dietary conditions were either injected with a bolus dose of MA (600 mumol/kg; ip) or with a saline solution. MA and saline injected rats were either sacrificed after a 3-h swimming exercise or after a 3-h resting period. Administration of MA was associated with a lower level of beta-hydroxybutyrate after exercise in rats fed the MF diet, higher resting and exercising blood glucose levels in rats fed the MF diet, and higher resting and exercising levels of hepatic glycogen in rats fed a normal diet. There were, however, no significant effects of MA on free fatty acid, insulin, glucagon, epinephrine, and norepinephrine concentrations in both dietary conditions either at rest or after exercise. Therefore, the present data do not provide any evidence that the administration of MA, an inhibitor of hepatic fatty acid oxidation, influences the pancreatic hormonal response to exercise. There was also no evidence of a lowering effect of MA on blood glucose levels during exercise.