Public responses to precautionary information from the Department of Health (UK) about possible health risks from mobile phones

Understanding public perceptions of health information is of increasing importance in the light of the growing imperatives upon regulators to communicate information about risk and uncertainty. Communicating the possible health risks from mobile telecommunications is a domain that allows consideration of both public perceptions of uncertain public health information and public responses to precautionary advice. This research reports the results of a nationally representative survey in the UK (n=1742) that explored public responses to a leaflet issued by the Department of Health (DoH) in 2000 providing information about the possible health risks of mobile phones. The aims of the study were two-fold: (a) to assess awareness of the leaflet and the extent to which participants could identify the precautionary advice that the leaflet contained as coming from the Government; and (b) to examine publics' responses to the current Government precautionary advice about mobile phone health risks; was this associated with increased concern or reassurance? The results indicate the importance of policy makers developing a clear understanding of the possible effects of communicating precautionary advice.     

Evaluation of two methods of deliberative participation of older people in food-policy development

This paper reports on an evaluation study of two deliberative methods of public participation of the "hard-to-reach" in food-policy development--the citizens' workshop and the citizens' jury. The participation was conducted on a live food-policy topic (food retailing) and the specific hard-to-reach group of older people was recruited. The evaluation of the two methods was based on an assessment of the participants' and observers' perceptions of the processes and outcomes of the methods, against a set of evaluation criteria, spanning both the individual and group level of analysis. The evaluation used a quasi-experimental, between groups, pre- and post-participation design. The study showed that the properties of the methods alone, such as availability of extra information, had little impact on both satisfaction with the process and the actual task outcomes. It further emphasised the importance of group debate for the perceived satisfaction with the process and the subjective outcomes of the event. The study illustrated that the high level of process satisfaction was not contemporaneous with the perceived impact of participation, such as its perceived influence of policy decision-making, suggesting that the relationship between participation outcomes (i.e. impact of participation) and processes was a complex one. It is argued here that this relationship should be considered in the light of identity processes and the context of public participation.     

Multiple antimelanoma potential of dry olive leaf extract

Various constituents of the olive tree (Olea europaea) have been traditionally used in the treatment of infection, inflammation, prevention of chronic diseases, cardiovascular disorders and cancer. The anticancer potential of dry olive leaf extract (DOLE) represents the net effect of multilevel interactions between different biologically active compounds from the extract, cancer cells and conventional therapy. In this context, it was of primary interest to evaluate the influence of DOLE on progression of the highly malignant, immuno‐ and chemoresistant type of skin cancer—melanoma. DOLE significantly inhibited proliferation and subsequently restricted clonogenicity of the B16 mouse melanoma cell line in vitro. Moreover, late phase tumor treatment with DOLE significantly reduced tumor volume in a syngeneic strain of mice. DOLE‐treated B16 cells were blocked in the G₀/G₁ phase of the cell cycle, underwent early apoptosis and died by late necrosis. At the molecular level, the dying process started as caspase dependent, but finalized as caspase independent. In concordance, overexpression of antiapoptotic members of the Bcl‐2 family, Bcl‐2 and Bcl‐XL, and diminished expression of their natural antagonists, Bim and p53, were observed. Despite molecular suppression of the proapoptotic process, DOLE successfully promoted cell death mainly through disruption of cell membrane integrity and late caspase‐independent fragmentation of genetic material. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that DOLE possesses strong antimelanoma potential. When DOLE was applied in combination with different chemotherapeutics, various outcomes, including synergy and antagonism, were observed. This requires caution in the use of the extract as a supplementary antitumor therapeutic.     

Alumina-on-alumina ceramic versus metal-on-highly cross-linked polyethylene bearings in total hip arthroplasty: a comparative study

The aim of the study was to evaluate the reliability and durability of alumina-on-alumina ceramic in comparison to metal-on-highly cross-linked polyethylene (CoCr/HXLPE) bearing couples. This prospective randomised study involved 150 patients (157 hips). All patients (mean age: 54.7 years) obtained an identical fibre metal midcoat femoral stem and fibre metal-coated acetabular shell. In 78 patients (82 hips) we used alumina, while in 72 patients (75 hips) metal-polyethylene bearing couples were used. During a mean 50.4-month follow-up period (51 ± 8 alumina and 50 ± 8.9 metal-polyethylene) no statistically significant changes in clinical and radiographic parameters were noted between the two groups. There was no ceramic breakage and no need for revision surgery due to the ceramic liner. The alumina bearing couples proved to be as reliable as CoCr/HXLPE.