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Renal arterial anatomy: implications for normothermic machine perfusion in renal transplantation
Get PDFNormothermic machine perfusion (NMP) is a novel technology that has shown potential in viability assessment and reconditioning of donor organs. Normothermic machine perfusion is technically more challenging in kidneys with multiple renal arteries (RAs). This study aimed to characterize the anatomical variation in RAs with a view to the development of optimal equipment for RA cannulation in NMP. Magnetic resonance angiograms obtained from all potential living donors at our centre between 2018 and 2022 were evaluated with PACS 3D with vessel analysis. Three independent reviewers measured RA characteristics (number, cross-sectional area, diameter, distance, angulation). A total of 618 kidneys were included for analysis. Kidneys were categorized into five groups based on the anatomical configuration of arteries. 75.4% had a single RA (group one). One quarter of kidneys were found to have multiple RAs, with inferior accessory arteries the commonest variation. Of the 139 kidneys with multiple RAs (24.6%): 5.3% had two equal sized RAs (group two), 5.5% had a superior accessory artery (group three), 11.7% an inferior accessory artery (group four), and 2.1% had three RAs (group five). Left RAs were of larger diameter, but right RAs were longer (p < 0.001). The number of arteries supplying the right kidney significantly predicted the number of arteries supplying the left kidney (β = 0.15). 23.7% of kidneys with two RAs and 30.8% with three RAs had distances between vessels > 28 mm (length of the existing clamp used for perfusion). 19.1% of main RAs had originated from the aorta at angles ≥ 135°. These findings highlight the insufficiencies with existing NMP equipment for cannulation of the RA. A larger clamp may facilitate perfusion of more kidneys with multiple vessels, whilst soft, flexible cannulae are likely to be needed to accommodate the wide range in angulation of RA origin demonstrated
Housing struggles challenging racial capitalism: the politics of the No Evictions network in Glasgow
Get PDFThis article engages with the struggles of the ‘No Evictions Network’ (NEN) in Glasgow, a migrant- and activist-led organisation set up to resist the eviction of 300 asylum seekers by the multinational company Serco, which held a £1 billion-pound contract to provide housing to 17,000 asylum seekers in the UK. The NEN constituted the coming together of migrants’ and tenants’ struggles in the city. Drawing on the NEN’s experiences, the article highlights how the political economies of the border and the outsourcing of asylum accommodation create powerful ‘asylum corporate landlords’ (ACLs) like Serco. We position the emergence of such ACLs in debates around racial capitalism, housing financialisation and the carceral economies of migration to explore how they extract value from the disposability of racialised migrant populations. Building on this, we analyse how a shared housing crisis and the experiences of dispossession choreographing lives across different communities and tenants shaped a fertile ground for the articulation of tenants’ unions and migrant groups in Glasgow. We analyse these struggles through the lens of racial capitalism, highlighting the common grounds enabling their convergence, the novel practices developed and the challenges faced. Linking the emergence of ACLs with the NEN’s experiences, the article insists that the logics of racial capitalism not only perpetuate dispossession and disposability but are also met with multifaceted forms of solidarity making and collective agency
SoTL Journeys - Creating a culture of scholarship in the School of Education
No full textIn this episode podcast editors Alison McCandlish and Marie McQuade interview Angela Japp (Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education) and Julie McAdam (Senior Lecturer in Culture, Literacies. Inclusion and Pedagogy) both from the School of Education at the University of Glasgow. Angela and Julie discuss their new joint role which aims to promote a culture of scholarship in the School of Education
Editorial for the special issue “Additive Manufacturing-Enabled Architected Materials”
No full textNo abstract available
The French duty of vigilance law: reconciling human rights and firm profitability
Get PDFConcerns have arisen that due diligence laws, which hold companies accountable for human rights abuses and environmental damage in their supply chains, will negatively impact firm performance. Critics have argued that compliance costs, increased scrutiny, and potential disruptions to supply chains will erode profitability. This study investigates these concerns by examining the impact of the 2017 French ‘loi de vigilance’ on the performance of 11,504 French firms. Employing a difference-indifference analysis, we find no evidence that the law significantly affected the likelihood of profit of regulated firms. Furthermore, we observe no discernible impact on key profit drivers. However, we find a slight decrease in the likelihood of profit for firms falling under the regulation in the years preceding it. In further analyses, we show that the law had also no significant impact on firms’ engagement with the UN Global Compact, suggesting that hard-law regulations and voluntary initiatives like the UN Global Compact may not be substitutes but rather complementary approaches to promoting sustainable business practices. Our findings challenge the prevailing narrative of significant negative consequences for businesses and provide valuable insights for policymakers considering similar legislation
Advanced vibration mitigation with novel stiffened inertial amplifier designs
Get PDFInertial amplifiers are receiving increasing attention due to their superior potential for vibration attenuation under a wide range of dynamic excitations. This paper proposes and subsequently analyzes new inertial amplifier designs capable of simultaneous amplification of the effective mass and stiffness of a resonant single-degree-of-freedom dynamic system. The inertial amplifier configuration is conceived through constrained link-bar mechanisms with masses and springs attached at selected points. Three new configurations, namely the compound, nested, and levered inertial amplifiers, are introduced. The mass and stiffness amplification factors for all the amplifiers are derived in closed form by analysing the dynamics of the underlying mechanisms. Based on the analytical expressions, parameter choices for superior amplification are obtained analytically. Numerical results demonstrate that it is possible to achieve several orders of magnitude of mass and
stiffness amplifications. Using the amplified effective mass and stiffness, the ability to tune the natural frequency of the inertially amplified dynamic system has been established. The inertial amplifiers proposed and designed here will deliver significantly higher effective mass and stiffness than what is used within the mechanisms. This will lead to superior passive vibration control opportunities, exploiting the ability to manipulate the resonance frequency of the underlying oscillatory system
Bridging the “sport/culture silo”: the Eurovision Song Contest and its lessons for sporting and cultural mega-events
Get PDFThe Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) uniquely exhibits features of both sporting and cultural events. Its tradition of awarding hosting rights to the previous year’s winning broadcaster has persisted even as its scale has approached that of sporting and cultural mega-events. Research on its politics of place has increasingly drawn on studies of sports mega-events, especially surrounding nation-branding and ‘soft power.’ Yet there has been little dialogue between research on the ESC and cultural mega-events such as Capital/City of Culture (CoC), despite their similar demands and opportunities for host cities. This disconnect leaves the ESC underappreciated in cultural policy research. The case of Liverpool’s hosting ESC 2023 on Ukraine’s behalf, however, demonstrates that insights from research into both sporting and cultural mega-events are needed to understand the ESC’s contemporary politics and impact. It also demonstrates that bridging the ‘sport/culture silo’ through studying this event invites wider shared learning between sporting and cultural domains
Vertical transmission of hepatitis B in the WHO African region: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Get PDFBackground:
More new infections with hepatitis B virus (HBV) occur annually in the WHO African region than in the rest of the world combined. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in pregnant women and vertical transmission events in the region.
Methods:
In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Africa Index Medicus, and Africa Journals Online for publications between Jan 1, 1992, and Jan 7, 2024, with no language restrictions. HBsAg prevalence and vertical transmission (HBsAg positivity in children aged 6–12 months) were estimated with the use of binomial mixed models with logit links, stratified by infant vaccination status. We estimated HBsAg prevalence for subregions of Africa and for the WHO African region by weighting by estimated livebirths for each subregion. We estimated transmission events using WHO and UNICEF vaccine coverage data and UN population estimates.
Findings:
We included 113 studies reporting on HBsAg prevalence from 190 983 pregnant women and 11 studies reporting on vertical transmission. HBsAg prevalence in women receiving antenatal care in the WHO African region (based on 2014–23 data) was 6·2% (95% CI 5·3–7·2). No relationship between risk of bias and HBsAg prevalence was observed. In 2022, an estimated 172 000 vertical transmission events (95% CI 82 000–383 000) occurred (0·4% of livebirths), a fall from a peak of 339 000 (149 000–634 000; 1·2% of all livebirths) in 2001. Increasing birth dose vaccination coverage to the WHO target of 90% could reduce vertical transmission by 43·7% (95% CI 11·6–78·0) to 97 000 events per year (95% CI 58 000–160 000). Adding maternal antiviral prophylaxis with 90% coverage could reduce transmission by 86·3% (95% CI 78·4–94·6) to 24 000 events per year (95% CI 14 000–39 000; 0·06% of livebirths) and achieve WHO elimination targets.
Interpretation:
Vertical transmission is an important contributor to HBV transmission in the WHO African region. Scaling up of hepatitis B birth dose vaccination and antiviral prophylaxis is urgently needed, which could achieve elimination of vertical transmission
Longitudinal association between statins and changes in CT derived body composition in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm
Get PDFBackground:
Loss of skeletal muscle mass and systemic inflammation may offer prognostic value in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The longitudinal progression of abnormal body composition parameters and their determinants is poorly reported. Statins are widely used medications that improve the prognosis of cardiovascular disease and interact with both muscle tissue and systemic inflammation. The present study aimed to describe the association between statin therapy and both pre-operative and longitudinal CT-derived body composition in patients undergoing elective intervention for AAA.
Methods:
A total of 756 consecutive patients undergoing elective intervention for AAA at three centres were retrospectively recruited. Body composition analysis was performed on pre-operative and follow-up CTs at L3 to generate subcutaneous adipose tissue index, visceral adipose tissue index and skeletal muscle index and density (SMI and SMD). Systemic inflammation was assessed using the systemic inflammatory grade.
Results:
A total of 756 patients (702 [93%] males, median [interquartile range, IQR] age 73.0 [11.0] years) were included, with a median (IQR) follow-up of 67.0 (32) months and 235 deaths during the follow-up period. There were 582 patients (77%) receiving statin therapy and 174 patients (23%) not receiving statin therapy. Follow-up CTs were available for 273 patients. From pre-operative to follow-up CTs, there was a decrease in median SMI (P < 0.001) and SMD (P < 0.001) and an increase in the comparative prevalences of low SMI (43% vs. 50%, P < 0.01) and low SMD (64% vs. 88%, P < 0.001). There were no differences in baseline clinicopathological characteristics, systemic inflammation or pre-operative CT-derived body composition parameters between patients with and without >10% loss of skeletal muscle mass. In patients with ≤10% loss of SMI, mean (95% confidence interval) survival was 91.6 (87.2–95.9) months versus 89.3 (80.4–98.2) months in patients with >10% loss of SMI (P = 0.58). Patients receiving statin therapy had a higher American Society of Anesthesiologists grade (P < 0.001), a higher body mass index (BMI) (P < 0.05) and a greater prevalence of normal pre-operative SMI (P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
In patients with AAA, skeletal muscle mass and density appear to progressively decline despite treatment of AAA, though specific determinants of this are uncertain, and statin use does not appear to predispose to either muscle loss or preservation. Statin therapy appears to be associated with a lower rate of pre-operative low skeletal muscle mass, despite greater comorbidity and BMI. Further investigation of the progressive changes in muscle mass and quality, statin therapy and systemic inflammation is warranted
A secreted helminth microRNA suppresses gastrointestinal cell differentiation required for innate immunity
Get PDFPathogens have developed multiple strategies to modulate host immune defense mechanisms. Understanding how this is achieved has potential to inform novel therapeutics for diseases caused by immune dysfunction. Parasitic helminths are masters of immune evasion, via release of secreted products, resulting in chronic infection. Helminths secrete small regulatory microRNA (miRNAs), which can interact with host cells. Here we show that a single parasite miRNA (miR-5352), conserved across gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes, suppresses IL-13-induced GI epithelial cell differentiation and cytokine responses, and promotes stem cell maintenance. Mechanistically, this is achieved through targeted repression of critical host factors, including Klf-4 and the IL-22 receptor, together with modulation of Wnt and Notch signalling pathways. Nematode miR-5352 shows seed sequence conservation with mammalian miR-92a family members, indicating that through convergent evolution, GI nematodes exploit a host miRNA regulatory network to suppress host innate responses, promote tissue regeneration and establish a favourable environment for chronic infection
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