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Sulfitolysis and alkaline extraction of feather keratin
No full textThe poultry industry generates millions of tons of feathers every year, creating environmental challenges but also offering opportunities for keratin recovery. This study optimized two cost-effective keratin extraction methods, alkaline and sulfitolysis. Factorial design analysis was utilized to assess the effects of process parameters on the feather dissolution rate. For alkaline extraction, NaOH concentration, temperature, and time were varied. Optimal conditions (0.5 M NaOH, 80 °C, 30 min) achieved a dissolution rate of 99.67 ± 0.09% and a keratin yield of 53.62 ± 1.62%. In the sulfitolysis method, parameters including sulfite type and concentration, urea concentration, SDS concentration, temperature, and solid-to-liquid ratio were analyzed. The highest dissolution rates were obtained with 0.5 M Na₂SO₃, 8 M urea, 0.25 g SDS/g feathers at 100 °C for 6 h and 1:15 solid-to-liquid ratio, yielding 98.30 ± 0.30% dissolution and a keratin yield of 64.48 ± 7.72%. Characterization indicated molecular weights of 10–20 kDa, preservation of secondary protein structures, and thermal stability comparable to feathers. XRD showed greater crystallinity in alkaline keratin, while SEM confirmed complete feather dissolution. Both methods provide low-cost, effective alternatives to alternative methods. However, differences in yield and material properties suggest sulfitolysis keratin is more suitable for thermally processed biopolymers, while alkaline keratin is better for cosmetic and food applications
Using adaptive-optics assisted MUSE observations to measure galaxy distances with the Planetary Nebula luminosity function
No full textThanks to its characteristic bright cut-off, the planetary nebulae luminosity function (PNLF) has now become a well-established extragalactic distance indicator that is in principle applicable to all types of galaxies. Most recently, several studies have demonstrated how the use of integral-field spectroscopy can lead to even more precise PNLF measurements, in particular as it allows to probe the central regions of galaxies and obtain well-sampled PNLF distributions. In this respect, adaptive optics (AO) is expected to further increase the scope and reach of PNLF measurements, as it should allow for the detection of even more and more distant PNe. This proceeding presents first results of the investigation of the MUSE-AO performance in relation to the detection of PNe in external galaxies, based on all galaxies with wide-field mode AO observations in the ESO archive.<br/
Nanocrystal-loaded dissolving microneedles: a novel transdermal strategy for long-acting tizanidine administration
No full textSpasticity is commonly managed with tizanidine (TZN), a centrally acting α2-adrenergic agonist. However, its clinical application is limited by poor oral bioavailability and a short elimination half-life, necessitating frequent dosing and thereby reducing patient adherence. In this study, a trilayer dissolving microneedle array patch (MAP) incorporating TZN was developed as an alternative minimally invasive platform for long-acting transdermal delivery. TZN nanocrystals (NCs) with a mean particle size of 243 ± 21 nm and a polydispersity index (PDI) < 0.2 were successfully prepared, resulting in supersaturated solubility and an increased dissolution rate. Ex vivo permeation studies demonstrated that MAP-mediated skin penetration is essential for transdermal delivery and that NC-loaded formulations provide markedly enhanced delivery efficiency. Importantly, the in vivo pharmacokinetic evaluation in Sprague-Dawley® rats demonstrated that MAPs incorporated with NCs (Cmax = 229.23 ± 72.34 ng/mL, mean retention time (MRT) (52.46 ± 13.72 h)) achieved markedly improved systemic exposure (7682.36 ± 1784.77 ng/mL∗h) compared with coarse drug-loaded MAPs (AUC0–28 days = 4936.06 ± 882.51 ng/mL∗h, p < 0.05) and intramuscular (IM) injection (AUC0–28 days = 795.99 ± 146.94 ng/mL∗h, p < 0.05). These findings suggest that the integration of TZN NCs into dissolving MAPs represents a novel and effective transdermal strategy for the sustained systemic delivery of TZN. In addition to improving patient adherence and therapeutic outcomes in spasticity management, this platform offers a generalisable approach for enhancing the transdermal delivery of poorly soluble drugs and may inform the future design of long-acting delivery for other compounds.<br/
A narrative review of cancer-related loneliness in those living with and beyond cancer, and their close persons
No full textCancer-related loneliness is a feeling of social disconnection caused by a diagnosis of cancer, and it is associated with individuals’ cancer-related social expectations. It is conceptually distinct when compared with loneliness in a general population due to the unique challenges of cancer. Cancer-related loneliness also impacts close persons including caregivers and dependent youth, with both these populations reporting experiences of loneliness. Given that loneliness is related to a range of harmful psychological and physical outcomes, and there is a paucity of interventions to address cancer-related loneliness in patients and close persons, it is vital for healthcare professionals to be aware of loneliness in these populations. This review provides key takeaways for healthcare professionals to best support patients and close persons experiencing cancer-related loneliness and provides recommendations for future research directions.<br/
Co-producing data-intensive research with an underserved group: a case study and evaluation identifying pathways to impact
No full textIntroductionCo-production of research, where researchers and experts by experience work as equal partners throughout a research project, can improve the quality, relevance, implementation and impact of research. However, there is limited evidence on methods for successful co-production in data-intensive research with underserved groups. In partnership with the charity Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC) and a group of care experienced young people, the Administrative Data Research Centre Northern Ireland (ADRC NI) piloted and evaluated a co-production approach in a research project that used linked administrative data to examine the association between care experience and mental ill health and mortality.ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to report the impact of co-production using the pilot as a case study, and assess the mechanisms involved against published principles of co-production. Additionally, we consider if co-production in this context is a special case that warrants bespoke guidance.MethodsTwo participatory workshops and three semi-structured 1-1 interviews were conducted to collect the perspectives of pilot participants. Deductive thematic analysis was used to sort data into three predetermined categories: 1) impact; 2) barriers; and 3) enablers. To formally assess pathways to implementing co-production and achieving impact, mechanisms were mapped against the five National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) principles of co-production.ResultsPositive impacts were identified for individuals, the research and organisations involved. Common barriers to co-production, like representativeness and resource constraints were identified, alongside challenges specific to data-intensive research, such as balancing power-sharing with data access constraints. Key enablers included genuine power sharing, valuing diverse knowledge, and partnership working. Special considerations needed to support successful co-production in this context include extra effort to achieve inclusion and address support needs. Partnerships with voluntary and community organisations support an inclusive, trauma-informed approach.ConclusionThis case study and evaluation can be utilised to support co-production with underserved groups in other data-intensive research contexts. Embedding co-production of data research with underserved groups will require changes to the broader research eco-system, including tailored guidance and resources, and funding partnerships rather than only pre-specified research projects
Morphine for chronic breathlessness (MABEL) in the UK: a health economic evaluation of a multisite, parallel-group, dose titration, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial
No full textObjectives: To compare costs and health consequences and to assess the cost-effectiveness of using low-dose oral long-acting morphine in people with chronic breathlessness. Design: Within-trial planned cost-consequences and cost-effectiveness analysis of data from a multisite, parallel-group, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of low-dose, long-acting morphine. Setting: 11 hospital outpatients across the UK. Participants: Consenting adults with chronic breathlessness due to long-term cardiorespiratory conditions. Intervention: 5–10 mg two times a day oral long-acting morphine with a blinded laxative for 56 days. Primary outcome measures: Mean and SD of healthcare resource use (HRU) by trial arm; mean differences and 95% CI of costs between trial arms. Secondary outcome measures: Mean differences in 28- and 56-day quality-adjusted life years (QALYs based on EuroQol five-dimension five-level score), Short Form-six dimensional scores and ICEpop CAPability-Supportive Care Measure scores; cost-utility of long-acting morphine for chronic breathlessness. Results: 143 participants (75 morphine and 67 placebo) were randomised; 140 (90% power, males 66%, mean age 70.5 (SD 9.4)) formed the modified intention-to-treat population (participants receiving at least one dose of study medication). There were more inpatient and fewer outpatient services used by the morphine group versus the placebo. In the base-case analysis at 56 days, long-acting morphine was associated with similar mean per-patient costs and QALYs. There was an increase of £24 (95% CI −£395 to £552) and 0.002 (95% CI −0.004 to 0.008) QALYs. Hospitalisations were the main driver of cost differences. The corresponding incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was £12 000/QALY, with a probability of cost-effectiveness of 54% at a £20 000 willingness-to-pay threshold. In the scenario analysis that excluded costs of adverse events considered unrelated to long-acting morphine by site investigators and researchers, the probability of cost-effectiveness increased to 73%. Conclusion: Oral morphine for chronic breathlessness is likely to be a cost-effective intervention provided adverse events are minimised, but the effect on outcome is small and cautious interpretation is warranted. Trial registration number: ISRCTN87329095
Microneedle-integrated screen-printed electrode modified with gold nanoparticle-boron-doped diamond nanoparticle nanocomposites for electrochemical theophylline detection
No full textTheophylline is a drug with a narrow therapeutic index, with normal plasma levels ranging from 10 to 20 mg/L. Theophylline overdose can lead to several symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, headaches, pancreatitis, and death. Thus, it is important to monitor theophylline after its consumption. Microneedles (MNs) can be integrated with screen-printed electrodes (SPE) to enable the minimally invasive monitoring of theophylline. In this study, we developed a highly sensitive and accurate electrochemical sensor to detect theophylline based on a gold nanoparticle/boron-doped diamond nanoparticle nanocomposite-modified SPE (AuNP-BDDNP/SPE). In addition, this study aims to determine the feasibility of MN integration with AuNP-BDDNP/SPE for theophylline detection. UV–vis, TEM, and XPS confirmed the successful synthesis of AuNP-BDDNP, whereas FESEM images confirmed the successful modification of SPE. Theophylline detection was performed using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) with concentrations ranging from 20 to 140 μM, producing an R2 value of 0.999, an LOD of 0.14 μM, and an LOQ of 0.48 μM. AuNP-BDDNP/SPE was also selective in the presence of interferents. AuNP-BDDNP/SPE can accurately detect theophylline in urine, coffee, and capsule samples. Moreover, AuNP-BDDNP/SPE was successfully integrated with MNs, maintaining the accuracy for detecting theophylline in urine, coffee, and capsule samples. AuNP-BDDNP/SPE demonstrated excellent performance in theophylline detection and can potentially be successfully integrated with MNs
Ethical and humanistic dimensions of digital nursing
No full textAs nurses fundamentally work with people, families, and communities, their practice is grounded in both ethical and moral principles. These include the promotion of self, humanisation, and the provision of person-centred care. Yet how nurses deliver these is shifting in an increasingly technology-driven healthcare environment. This chapter examines key considerations when using technology in nursing care while emphasising the preservation of an equitable patient-centred, humanistic approach while not making assumptions that people and generations will inevitably use technology in the same way. Readers will explore strategies to balance the use of technology with compassionate care, ensuring patients remain at the heart of nursing practice. Furthermore, the chapter explores the importance of considering equity within digital developments, recognising that access and capability to engage in the digital world are not universal both in terms of the people we work with and the workforce. It explores the wider implication of this in terms of expanding the health divide, often for those with the poorest healthcare outcomes.</p
QL-PGD: An efficient defense against membership inference attack
No full textIn membership inference attacks (MIAs), attackers exploit the overfitting phenomenon when training deep learning models to identify whether a specific data sample was used to train a victim model. Consequently, many defenses have been introduced to mitigate the risk of being attacked by MIAs. However, state-of-the-art defenses against MIAs often suffer from poor privacy-utility balance and high training or inference computational time. To overcome these limitations, we propose Quantized Layer-wise Perturbed Gradient Descent (QL-PGD), a novel, lightweight and effective generalization method to protect machine learning models from Membership Inference Attacks. The key idea of QL-PGD is to regularize the model to prevent overfitting by adjusting the injected noise added to the gradient at each layer which explicitly regularizes the gradient passing through it to achieve a stronger privacy defense while maintaining similar levels of accuracy. Moreover, quantization is further performed on both model weight and gradient to reduce computational overhead. Extensive experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of our method compared to other state-of-the-art generalization defenses against multiple attacks. The results show that QL-PGD can withstand both black-box and white-box attacks and preserve the target model's utility with efficiency in terms of speed, memory and energy.</p
