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Traversing the data landscape: insights and recommendations from a case study using novel linkage of care home and health data
Get PDFThe insights available from linking routine health data have transformative potential for understanding and improving population health and well-being. However, cross-sectoral data linkage in the UK remains challenging, with persistent barriers around governance, interoperability and data quality.
This Perspective paper draws on the experiences of the Developing research resources And minimum data set for Care Homes Adoption and use (DACHA) study which linked administrative health and social care records with records from care home software providers for over 700 older adult care home residents, an underserved population in research, in England to build a proof-of-concept minimum dataset.
From our learning, we make eight recommendations for researchers, research funders, data owners, data controllers and policymakers to strengthen future data linkage across health and social care. We recommend: (1) sharing metadata to support transparency and efficient reuse; (2) clarifying purposes for data sharing; (3) streamlining information governance processes; (4) recognising the health and social care system as a research partner; (5) resourcing data quality at the point of collection; (6) acknowledging the work needed to adapt routine data for research; (7) standardising core variables for interoperability; and (8) designing linkage for wider public benefit and safe data reuse.
Implementing these recommendations would help create a more coherent, efficient and equitable data landscape, realising the potential of existing data to improve care quality, research capacity and population health
Scotland’s twin referendums: revealing regional divides behind national votes
No full textScotland’s 2014 independence referendum and the 2016 EU referendum are often interpreted as politically aligned at the national scale, reinforcing a simplified narrative of a strongly pro-independence, pro-EU portion of the Scottish electorate. This regional graphic challenges that view using a bivariate, population-weighted cartogram that jointly visualises both votes across parliamentary constituencies. By correcting for uneven population distributions and revealing sub-regional variation, the graphic exposes multi-scalar political cleavages within cities, regions and economic hinterlands. The visualisation demonstrates how national aggregates obscure regional political heterogeneity and highlights the value of spatially explicit graphics for interpreting constitutional and electoral change
A new occurrence of Britanniclus (Pancrustacea, Multicrustacea) from Blairskaith Quarry, East Dunbartonshire, and a redescription of Cyclidae from Trearne, North Ayrshire, from the Lower Limestone Formation (Brigantian, Visean, Carboniferous) of Scotland
Get PDFA recent discovery of Brittaniclus rankini from below the Blackhall Limestone at Blairskaith Quarry, near Torrance is described and two old-collection specimens of Cyclidae from the Hurlet Limestone at Trearne, near Beith are re-evaluated. This is the first record of Brittaniclus from the Lower Limestone Formation. Brittaniclus is already well known from the Limestone Coal Formation (Serpukhovian, Carboniferous) of the Glasgow area and from the Glencartholm Volcanic Beds (Visean, Carboniferous) and appears to represent a free-swimming marine pancrustacean that is best preserved in non-marine lagoonal shales. One of the specimens from Trearne is incomplete and is here referred to Cyclus radialis due to the well-defined thoracic ridges on the dorsal carapace. The other specimen is the first record of a new species of Magnitocyclus , a genus which has previously only been found from the Visean to Serpukhovian of Russia. It is named here as M. trearnensis sp. nov
Policy biases in a model with labor market frictions
Get PDFWe develop a model with labor-market matching frictions that is subject to a range of shocks, including shocks to matching efficiency and bargaining power, and use the model to examine how monetary policy should respond to such shocks. We show that optimal monetary policy is highly efficient at responding to these labor market shocks, producing outcomes that are close to the flex-price equilibrium. Moreover, this efficiency remains if monetary policy is conducted with discretion, indicating that time-inconsistency and forward-guidance are not central to the policy response. We also show that several popular simple rules are also effective at responding to these labor market shocks
Democratising Spy Watching: Public Oversight of Intelligence-driven Surveillance in Southern Africa
No full textDigitisation has provided intelligence agencies with the capabilities to conduct surveillance at an unprecedented scale. Using a range of digital surveillance technologies and practices, and unprecedented public-private collaborations, intelligence agencies have extended their ability to collect, store and analyse data for intelligence purposes. Effective oversight is required to limit the potential for abuse. However, across Southern Africa – where digital surveillance is expanding – official oversight institutions typically lack the power and resources to monitor and review surveillance capabilities in order to ensure that intelligence agencies behave effectively and lawfully. Consequently, oversight in these countries typically is conducted by the public, through, for instance, challenging unjustifiable secrecy, publicising abuses and organising campaigns to rein these agencies in.
Through comparative case study research exploring lessons from key moments in the region, this volume explores public oversight of intelligence-driven digital surveillance in eight Southern African countries and examines cases where this oversight either succeeded, failed, or achieved mixed outcomes. Authored by researchers and journalists from the fields of law, communication and media studies, this book offers lessons for academics and activists, suggesting that a new model of public oversight of surveillance is possible, and, arguably, functions better than extant approaches to surveillance. It will be of global significance, as surveillance abuses are a worldwide problem, as is the problem of oversight failing to keep pace with expanding surveillance capabilities
Incidence and predictors of non-hepatic cancers in biopsy-proven alcohol-related liver disease.
Get PDFAlcohol-related liver disease (ALD) is a known contributor to non-hepatic cancers (NHC). We aimed to describe the incidence and predictors of NHC in patients with ALD. The WALDO study is a multicenter cohort study of patients with histologically characterized ALD. Participants are followed from the time of liver biopsy and outcomes are captured from health records. The primary outcome was the incidence of the first NHC. Risk factors for NHC were presented as unadjusted and adjusted sub-distribution hazards (SDH) based on competing risk analysis. Statistical analyses were done in R. 691 patients were included. The median age was 51 years (IQR 43- 59), 427 (62 %) patients were male and 406 (59 %) had cirrhosis on biopsy. During a median follow-up of 4.7 years (IQR 1.2-9.5 years), 76 patients (11 %) with ALD developed NHC. The cumulative incidence of NHC in ALD was 2.4 % (1.4-3.9 %) over five years. The most common NHC was respiratory (18 cases, 23 % of NHC) followed by digestive tract (17 cases, 22 %) and cancers of the head and neck (13 cases, 17 %). On multivariable analysis, increasing age (SDH 1.04; CI 1.01-1.06; p = 0.011), previous smoking (SDH 3.65, CI 1.44-9.65; p = 0.006) and current smoking (SDH 3.14; CI 1.27-7.74; p = 0.013) were associated with a higher risk of NHC. NHC is common and frequently fatal. However, NHC is an infrequent cause of morbidity or mortality in ALD compared to liver-related outcomes
The legal dimension of ‘corporate purpose’: a study of companies with a religious influence
No full textAgainst the background of a link between religion and corporate social responsibility evidenced in research in the business, management and ethics fields, this paper explores the legal dimension of ‘corporate purpose’ in organisations with a religious influence. By looking at the legal form, governing documentation and B-Corp certification status of a sample of organisations with a religious influence which pursue goals that do not (or do not solely) relate to profit we address the relevance of these interventions to the pursuit of corporate purpose. Drawing on the findings of our empirical study and literature review, we argue that corporate purpose can be pursued effectively without recourse to alternative corporate forms and without articulation in governing documentation. We contend further that B-Corp certification is a framework which can support purpose-driven companies to confidently pursue goals other than profit and attract socially responsible investors as well as committed employees and customers. To render the certification process more accessible and mitigate the risk of it being used as a tactic for greenwashing, we call for more resources to be deployed to support companies achieve certification and for sanctions to be introduced to enforce standards
Modelling antibiotic delivery from functionally graded materials to target biofilm-associated infections
No full textMedical implant-related infections remain notoriously difficult to treat due to the formation of bacterial biofilms. Systemic antibiotic delivery is often ineffective and antibiotic-eluting technologies remain immature in this field, at least in part due to limitations in adequately controlling the antibiotic release rate. A confounding factor is the lack of understanding of the most efficacious antibiotic release profile. In this paper, we introduce a novel theoretical framework that leverages functionally graded materials to achieve tunable, spatially controlled antibiotic delivery – addressing both of these key challenges. Specifically, we develop a new coupled nonlinear partial differential equation model that simultaneously captures antibiotic release from a functionally graded material coating and its transport dynamics within an evolving biofilm. Our results reveal that functionally graded material coatings can outperform homogeneous coatings in sustaining local antibiotic concentrations and suppressing biofilm growth. This study thus establishes functionally graded materials as a promising, previously underexplored design paradigm for infection-resistant medical implants and provides a quantitative basis for optimizing antibiotic release profiles in biofilm-prone environments
Black Holes and Prisoners: Understanding AS112 Deployment Characteristics
No full textAS112 is a distributed, volunteer-run, anycast DNS service that acts as a sink for leaked DNS queries for local resources, preventing them from overloading core DNS infrastructure. AS112 helps protect important parts of the Internet infrastructure, but there has been no comprehensive study of who runs the AS112 servers, where they are located, and whether they effectively capture leaked queries. Using RIPE Atlas and 33646 open recursive resolvers, we detect 469 AS112 sites, run by 97 operators, and compare the response time and query distances of AS112 to root server queries. AS112 performs well, with 23.21% lower median response times and 36.11% lower median distances than the root. However, AS112 is largely dependent on few large operators (one operator serves 41.71% of probes in our study), limiting its resilience
Polyetherureas as aqueous binders for Li ion batteries
Get PDFWe report here the application of polyetherureas as a new class of aqueous binder for the LiFePO4 positive electrode material in lithium-ion batteries. Polyetherureas have been synthesized using a greener route (avoiding conventionally used toxic diisocyanate feedstock) by ruthenium-catalyzed dehydrogenative coupling of polyethylene glycol diamine and methanol. The best binder performance was obtained when polyetherurea was used in combination with SBR (Styrene-Butadiene Rubber), exhibiting a coulombic efficiency of ~99.9% and a cell polarization of 30 mV. Remarkably, the combination of polyetherurea/SBR as a binder outperforms CMC (Carboxymethyl cellulose), which is a commonly used aqueous binder for lithium-ion batteries. Evidence of the involvement of polyetherureas in binder performance has been provided using IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Physical, electrochemical, and mechanical properties of the polyetherurea have been studied using TGA, DSC, powder XRD, cyclic voltammetry, nanoindentation, tensile testing, and 180o peel test that shed light on why this polymer acts as a good binder
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