Multicentre individual randomised controlled trial of screening and brief alcohol intervention to prevent risky drinking in young people aged 14-15 in a high school setting (SIPS JR-HIGH): study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Drinking has adverse impacts on health, well-being, education and social outcomes for adolescents. Adolescents in England are among the heaviest drinkers in Europe. Recently, the proportion of adolescents who drink alcohol has fallen, although consumption among those who do drink has actually increased. This trial seeks to investigate how effective and efficient an alcohol brief intervention is with 11-15 years olds to encourage lower alcohol consumption. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is an individually randomised two-armed trial incorporating a control arm of usual school-based practice and a leaflet on a healthy lifestyle (excl. alcohol), and an intervention arm that combines usual practice with a 30 min brief intervention delivered by school learning mentors and a leaflet on alcohol. At least 30 schools will be recruited from four regions in England (North East, North West, London, Kent and Medway) to follow-up 235 per arm. The primary outcome is total alcohol consumed in the last 28 days, using the 28 day Timeline Follow Back questionnaire measured at the 12-month follow-up. The analysis of the intervention will consider effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. A qualitative study will explore, via 1:1 in-depth interviews with (n=80) parents, young people and school staff, intervention experience, intervention fidelity and acceptability issues, using thematic narrative synthesis to report qualitative data. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was granted by Teesside University. Dissemination plans include academic publications, conference presentations, disseminating to local and national education departments and the wider public health community, including via Fuse, and engaging with school staff and young people to comment on whether and how the project can be improved. TRIAL REGISTRATION TRIAL: ISRCTN45691494; Pre-results.

CT findings and mistopathology of intratumoral steatosis in focal nodular hyperplasia: case report and review of the literature.

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is a benign hepatic lesion characterized by homogeneous enhancement following intravenous contrast. The authors report a patient with a markedly heterogeneous FNH due to extensive intratumoral fat.

Product formation and phosphoglucomutase activities in Lactococcus lactis: cloning and characterization of a novel phosphoglucomutase gene.

Maltose metabolism in Lactococcus lactis involves the conversion of beta-glucose 1-phosphate to glucose 6-phosphate, a reaction which is reversibly catalysed by a maltose-inducible and glucose-repressible beta-phosphoglucomutase (beta-PGM). The gene encoding beta-PGM (pgmB) was cloned from a genomic library of L. lactis using antibodies. The nucleotide sequence of a 5695 bp fragment was determined and six ORFs, including the pgmB gene, were found. The gene expressed a polypeptide with a calculated molecular mass of 24210 Da, which is in agreement with the molecular mass of the purified beta-PGM (25 kDa). A short sequence at the N-terminus was found to be similar to known metal-binding domains. The expression of beta-PGM in L lactis was found to be induced also by trehalose and sucrose, and repressed by lactose in the growth medium. This indicates that beta-PGM does not serve solely to degrade maltose, but that it is also involved in the metabolism of other carbohydrates. The specific activity of beta-PGM during fermentation was dependent on the maltose concentration in the medium. The maximum specific activity of beta-PGM increased by a factor of 4.6, and the specific growth rate by a factor of 7, when the maltose concentration was raised from 0.8 to 11.0 g l-1. Furthermore, a higher amount of lactate produced relative to formate, acetate and ethanol was observed when the initial maltose concentration in the medium was increased. The specific activity of alpha-PGM responded similarly to beta-PGM, but the magnitude of the response was lower. Preferential sugar utilization and alpha- and beta-PGM suppression was observed when L. lactis was grown on the substrate combinations glucose and maltose, or lactose and maltose; maltose was the least-preferred sugar. In contrast, galactose and maltose were utilized concurrently and both PGM activities were high throughout the fermentation.