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THE AVOIDING LATE DIAGNOSIS OF OVARIAN CANCER (ALDO) PROJECT; A PILOT NATIONAL SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM FOR WOMEN WITH PATHOGENIC GERMLINE VARIANTS IN BRCA1 AND BRCA2.
No full textBackgrounds To establish ‘real-world’ performance and cost-effectiveness of Ovarian Cancer (OC) surveillance in women with pathogenic germline BRCA1/2 variants deferring risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO). Methods875 female BRCA1/2-heterozygotes were recruited at 13 UK centres and via an online media campaign, with 767 undergoing at least one 4-monthly surveillance test with the Risk of Ovarian Cancer Algorithm (ROCA® Test). Surveillance performance was calculated with modelling of occult cancers detected at RRSO. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated using Markov population cohort simulation. Results 8 OCs occurred during 1277 women screen years: 2 occult OCs at RRSO (both stage 1a), and 6 screen-detected; 3 of 6 (50%) were ≤stage 3a and 5 of 6 (83%) were completely surgically cytoreduced. Modelled sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV for OC were 87.5% (95%CI, 47.3-99.7), 99.9% (99.9-100), 75% (34.9-96.8) and 99.9% (99.9-100) respectively. The predicted number of quality-adjusted life-years gained by surveillance was 0.179 with an ICER cost-saving of -£102,496/QALY. ConclusionOC surveillance for women deferring RRSO in a ‘real-world’ setting is feasible and demonstrates similar performance to research trials; it down-stages OC, leading to a high complete cytoreduction rate and is cost-saving in the UK setting. Whilst RRSO remains recommended management, ROCA-based surveillance may be considered for BRCA-heterozygotes deferring such surgery
A Petrological and Spectral Characterisation of the NU-LHT-2M Lunar Highlands Regolith Simulant in preparation for the PROSPECT payload ground testing campaign.
No full textIn preparation for the upcoming missions to the south polar region of the Moon, the Package for Resource Observation and in-Situ Prospecting for Exploration Commercial exploitation and Transportation (PROSPECT) underwent a series of tests to ensure its suitability for polar regolith and volatile analysis. A lunar regolith simulant, NU-LHT-2M, was used for geotechnical validation and volatile extraction testing. Therefore, the physical, chemical/mineralogical, and spectral properties of separate batches of this simulant have been characterised to better understand the results of the instrument laboratory testing phase. Here we compare measurements from two different batches of the simulant to Apollo bulk regolith samples in order to understand the suitability and representativeness of the simulant to the properties of surface highlands regolith. Based on our measurements, we recommend that the physical, mineralogical, and spectral properties of simulants be analysed both before and after space instrument testing campaigns. These bookended measurements would allow for a more detailed understanding of the test phase, including how the simulants have been altered by the test and, therefore, how the lunar surface may be affected by mission extraction and sampling processes
Dry heterometallic resist processing based on thermal sublimation deposition and development
No full textA negative tone heterometallic ring resist (HRR) based on a supramolecular assembly [NH2(allyl)2][Cr7NiF8(piv)16] with previously demonstrated resolution down to sub-10nm lines is evaluated in terms of its flexibility to be processed either ‘wet’ (spin-cast, solvent-developed) or ‘dry’ (deposition and development by vacuum sublimation). The implemented sublimation hardware fits easily in the wafer load-lock chamber of EUV and electron beam exposure systems dedicated to R&D activities and allows for HRR films to be uniformly deposited or developed in the same vacuum environment. The HRR shows a sublimation rate dependence on temperature that obeys a Clausius-Clapeyron relation, with thermal stability up to 275°C. Flood exposures of the HRR show identical sensitivity between wet and dry deposited films, while contrast degradation is observed when dry development is initiated by increasing the temperature prior to system pump down. A modified sublimation setup allows for the dry development of exposed HRR samples inside the electron beam tool without breaking vacuum. In this case, nominally patterned 25nm L/S are identically resolved at 30 keV for wet- or dry-developed HRR
Trends and projections in sexually transmitted infections in people aged 45 and older in England: analysis of national surveillance data
No full textAimsWe describe the epidemiology of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV in people aged ≥45 years in England and provide future projections about the burden of STIs in this age group.MethodsAnalysis of national surveillance data in England from 2014 to 2019 for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, herpes, syphilis, anogenital warts and HIV. Time trends were assessed by Poisson regression and reported using incidence rate ratios (IRR). Two scenarios were modelled to predict the number of new STI diagnoses and associated costs in 2040.Results In 2019, there were 37,692 new STI diagnoses in people ≥45 years in England. Between 2014-2019 there was a significant increase in the rate of new STI diagnoses in men (IRR 1.05, p=0.05) and those aged 45-64 (IRR 1.04, p= 0.05). Absolute numbers of new STI diagnosis in men who have sex with men increased by 76% between 2014 and 2019 (IRR 1.15, p<0.001). In adults aged ≥50 the number of episodes of care for HIV increased over time (age 50-64 IRR 1.10; 65+ IRR 1.13; p<0.001). The modelled scenarios predicted an increase in STI diagnoses and costs in older people by 2040.ConclusionsSTI rates in England are increasing in people aged ≥45 years. The population is ageing and older people will contribute an increasing burden to STI costs if this trend continues. The reasons for this trend are not fully understood and further longitudinal epidemiological research is needed. Sexual health promotion campaigns and healthcare interventions targeted at older people should be prioritised.<br/
Self-report measures of secure attachment in adulthood: A systematic review:Self-report adult secure attachment measures
No full textBackground: Secure attachment in adulthood is associated with many markers of adaptive functioning. Valid and reliable self-report measures of attachment security could provide a practical tool to help advance strengths-based research and clinical work. Previous reviews have not specifically examined the psychometric properties of self-report instruments with respects to secure attachment, or systematically appraised the methodological quality of relevant validation studies. Method: A systematic review was completed in accordance with the COSMIN guidelines for reviews of patient-reported outcome measures. The methodological quality of individual studies was evaluated, and results were rated against criteria for good measurement properties. Results: 40 studies were included in the review, which collectively reported on 24 self-report instruments. The methodological quality of individual studies was variable, and no single instrument was identified as having sufficient evidence of a range of psychometric properties. However, the Attachment Style Questionnaire – Short Form (ASQ-SF), the Cartes-Modèles Individuels de Relations (CAMIR), Cartes-Modèles Individuels de Relations-Reduced (CAMIR-R), and the Psychological Treatment Inventory – Attachment Style Scales (PTI-ASS) had the most robust evidence for the properties assessed.Conclusion: Existing self-report measures assessing adult secure attachment have limited psychometric support. More methodologically robust studies of content validity, reliability, measurement invariance, and construct validity in particular are needed. <br/
Design of Flexible Meander Line Antenna for Healthcare for Wireless Medical Body Area Networks
No full texta flexible meander line monopole antenna (MMA) is presented in this paper. The antenna can be worn for on-and off-body applications. The overall dimension of the MMA is 37 mm 50 mm 2.37 mm3. The MMA was manufactured and measured, and the results matched with simulation results. The MMA design shows a bandwidth of up to 1282.4 (450.5) MHz and provides gains of 3.03 (4.85) dBi in the lower and upper operating bands, respectively, showing omnidirectional radiation patterns in free space. While worn on the chest or arm, bandwidths as high as 688.9 (500.9) MHz and 1261.7 (524.2) MHz, and the gains of 3.80 (4.67) dBi and 3.00 (4.55) dBi were observed. The experimental measurements of the read range confirmed the results of the coverage range of up to 11 meters
Nickel encapsulated in silicalite-1 zeolite catalysts for steam reforming of glycerol (SRG) towards renewable hydrogen production
No full textValorisation of crude glycerol via steam reforming, i.e., SRG, is a promising method to produce sustainable hydrogen. However, catalyst deactivation under harsh SRG conditions is still a main challenge which hinders the further development of practical SRG. In this work, the encapsulated Ni catalyst in siliceous silicalite-1 zeolite (Ni@Si-1) were developed to show the improved performance and enhanced anti-deactivation potentials in catalytic SRG as compared with the conventional impregnated Ni catalysts (i.e., Ni/Si-1). Importantly, the post-synthetic treatment of Ni@Si-1 using TPAOH solution formed the encapsulated Ni catalyst with the mesoporous hollow structure (i.e., Ni@HolSi-1), which demonstrate even better performance in SRG with glycerol conversion of >95%, H2 yield of ~70%, H2/CO2 molar ratio of > 2.33 and CO/CO2 molar ratio of <1 at 750 °C. Specifically, highly dispersed ultrasmall encapsulated Ni particles were retained within the hollow crystals of siliceous silicalite-1, as confirmed by XPS and HRTEM characterisation. The activation energy for glycerol conversion over Ni@HolSi-1 (i.e., Ea = ~ 19 kJ mol−1) was much lower than that of Ni/Si-1 and Ni@Si-1. 100-h longevity tests over the three catalysts were investigated at 750 °C, and the Ni@HolSi-1 catalyst exhibited an excellent stability and activity, as well as insignificant coke deposition, which could be due to the enhancement of highly dispersed yet accessible Ni NPs within the hollow Si-1 crystals. The findings of the work show the promise of the encapsulation strategy and mesoporous zeolites for developing the future reforming catalysts. <br/
Risk Assessment of Cascading Failures in Power Systems with Increasing Wind Penetration
No full textThe ever-growing penetration of renewable based gen-eration is leading to significant increases in the risk of cascading failures in low-inertia, and interconnection-rich, power systems. This paper proposes a framework for quantifying the risk of cas-cading failures in renewable-rich power systems with fast fre-quency response (FFR) services. This is achieved by developing a novel time-based dynamic model of cascading failures to capture the transient behaviours of the system response and quantify the risk of blackout. This dynamic cascading failure model is comple-mented by unit commitment for representative dispatch and in-cludes the provision of FFR. The proposed framework is illus-trated using a modified version of the Illinois 200-bus synthetic system. As key outputs, the results emphasize the importance of accurate modelling of ancillary services associated with fre-quency regulation in cascading failure analysis, and indicate that increased wind penetration can lead to a higher probability of power outages. Adopting FFR services can help to mitigate the cascading risk but may introduce rotor angle instability issues
