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Health economic model to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of smoking cessation services integrated within lung cancer screening in the United Kingdom
Full text linkIntroduction: Integrating smoking cessation supports into lung cancer screening can improve abstinence rates. However, healthcare decision-makers need evidence of cost-effectiveness to understand the cost/benefit of adopting this approach.Methods: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions, and service delivery, we used a cohort-based Markov model, adapted from previous National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on smoking cessation. This uses long-term epidemiological data to capture the prevalence of the smoking-related illnesses, updated through targeted literature searches as required from the core NICE model, with costs extracted from publicly recognised UK sources.Results: All smoking cessation interventions appeared cost-effective at a threshold of £20 000 per quality-adjusted life year, compared with no intervention or behavioural support alone. Offering immediate smoking cessation as part of lung cancer screening appointments, compared with usual care (onward referral to stop smoking services), was also estimated to be cost-effective with a net monetary benefit of £2198 per person, and a saving of between £34 and £79 per person in reduced workplace absenteeism among working age attendees. Estimated healthcare cost savings were more than four times greater in the most deprived quintile compared with the least deprived, alongside a fivefold increase in quality adjusted life years accrued.Conclusions: Smoking cessation interventions within lung cancer screening are cost-effective and should be integrated, so that treatment is initiated during screening visits. This is likely to reduce overall costs to the health service, and wider integrated care systems, improve quality and length of life, and may lessen health inequalities
Experimental study on thermal characteristics of a state of art hairpin winding permanent magnet motor for automotive applications
Full text linkThis study investigates the thermal characteristics of the end-windings of a state-of-the-art hairpin winding permanent magnet motor designed for automotive applications. Hairpin windings offer advantages in terms of higher fill factors and automated manufacturing processes, making them ideal for high-performance motors. Water jacket cooling is used in the present study as it is one of the cost-efficient, reliable and commonly used techniques for mass-production. The experiments are conducted over a wide range of Reynolds numbers (ReDH = 425–3610) covering a typical range of flow rates used in automotive industries. The influence of coolant fluid properties on the thermal characteristics of end-windings is investigated by varying Prandtl number (Pr = 12.5 to 91). The results demonstrate that cooling characteristics are strongly influenced by gravitational forces. A distinct pattern of heat transfer is noticed for co-current (where gravity and flow direction are same) and counter-current direction (where gravity opposes the flow direction). This leads to variation in the heat transfer in the circumferential direction. A due consideration of the gravitational forces while designing the water jacket can minimize these thermal gradients. Heat transfer increases with the increment in the flow Reynolds number but rate of increment is higher towards the lower Reynolds number. Fluid properties have a significant influence on the heat transfer characteristics. A higher thermal diffusivity fluid leads to better heat transfer despite the higher Prandtl number
Goal-Oriented Adaptive Modeling: Oden’s Legacy, Recent Results, and Future Trends
Full text linkThis article is meant to be not only a tribute to the many contributions by J. Tinsley Oden to the field of goal-oriented error estimation and adaptivity, but also a laudation for being a visionary leader in computational mechanics, sciences, and engineering. Oden was a kind and generous person, making him an effective mentor for many young scholars, always willing to share his knowledge and foster new collaborations. He was also recognized as a very effective speaker, whose lectures have inspired generations of research scientists over his long career
Bioelectrochemical detection of viable but non-culturable bacterial cells on screen-printed carbon electrodes
Full text linkBacterial cells in a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state are metabolically active, but cannot be cultivated using a routine growth medium, which poses a challenge to identifying VBNC contamination in food and the health sector. Non-growth assays for VBNC identification based on membrane integrity and metabolic monitoring are either costly or lead to ambiguous results. Nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) amplification techniques are effective, but their higher cost and complexity prevent routine applications. Bioelectrochemical assays might be a viable alternative for VBNC detection, due to their low cost and rapid analysis time. However, conventional bioelectrochemical methods, in which electrodes are polarized at constant electrochemical potential, are not suitable for monitoring planktonic non-growing cells like VBNC.To circumvent this issue, culturable and VBNC Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells were embedded in hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) coating and exposed to alternated cathodic and anodic potentials for a short-time. The resulting current output was interpreted in terms of charge/discharge of the bacterial membrane at the polarized electrode, which is a proxy for bacterial viability. P. aeruginosa cells were induced into the VBNC state by either UV-C or NaOCl. In the presence of 5 mM K3[Fe(CN)6] and 20 mM glucose, the current output correlates inversely with the VBNC cells concentration. For cells inactivated by heat or 4% paraformaldehyde, the current output was not significantly different from the blank electrode, indicating the ability of the proposed bioelectrochemical method to detect changes in cellular viability before the loss of culturability
Baseline characteristics of patients recruited to the mannitol for cerebral oedema after acute intracerebral haemorrhage (MACE-ICH) trial
Full text linkBackground Mannitol, an osmotic diuretic and free radical scavenger might decrease cerebral oedema after acute intracerebral haemorrhage. Aims The Mannitol for cerebral oedema after acute intracerebral haemorrhage trial is testing the feasibility of performing a phase II trial to define the optimal approach for a phase III trial of testing mannitol in patients with cerebral oedema or at risk of it to improve outcome. Methods MACE-ICH is a multicentre, prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded-endpoint outcome assessment trial. Participants presenting within 72 h of ictus were randomised to one of three groups: 1:1 g/kg 10 % single dose mannitol infusion at 10 ml/min, in addition to standard care; 1 g/kg 10 % mannitol at 10 ml/min followed by a second dose 1 g/kg repeated 24 h later (providing serum osmolality '320 mOsm/Kg and sodium'160 mmol/L), in addition to standard care or standard care alone. The trial was registered prospectively: ISRCTN15383301. Results 46 (of planned 45) participants were recruited from 8 sites between February 2024-April 2025. Baseline characteristics: mean age 74.7 years (standard deviation 12.0); male 69 %; onset-to-randomisation 22.9 h; severity (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale) 12.1 (8.3); blood pressure 155.3 (29.0)/78.9 (16.5) mmHg. Haematoma characteristics: lobar 58 %, mass effect 58.7 %, midline shift (34.8 %). The mean maximum haemorrhage diameter was 4.3 cm. Conclusion MACE-ICH successfully enroled patients with cerebral oedema after acute intracerebral haemorrhage to assess the feasibility and safety of intravenous mannitol. The trial is novel with a dose-comparative approach with assessment of single and repeated mannitol dosing regimens, addressing an important gap in clinical practice
Dual end-functionalisation of poly(beta-amino ester) gene delivery vectors using multicomponent chemistry
Full text linkThe use of RNA therapeutics provides a potent tool to enhance patient outcomes, but successful RNA delivery requires efficient and safe vectors. Cationic polymers provide one technology platform for this delivery and among these materials, poly(beta-amino esters) (PBAEs) have emerged as efficient and well tolerated vectors. Changing the end group of these materials can have a profound impact on their physical and biological properties, and the development of new pathways for end-group functionalisation can provide access to untapped material libraries for further development. We therefore developed a synthetic pathway that exploits the Passerini 3-component reaction as a means to incorporate aldehyde and isocyanide materials into the end-groups of an acid terminated PBAE. Polyplexes were then prepared and studied for encapsulation efficiencies, formulation properties and gene transfectability in vitro. Select polymers demonstrated high mRNA transfection efficiency in HEK293T cells. Our findings indicate that this synthetic pathway provides a versatile and adaptable pathway for the further modification of PBAEs and that this modification serves to provide new materials with enhanced nucleic acid delivery properties
fMRI responses to horizontal and vertical symmetry axes in ascending visual hierarchy
Full text linkVisual regularities such as reflection and translation are known to engage extrastriate visual cortex, but how regularity type, axis orientation, and task demand jointly shape these responses remains unclear. We used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to measure univariate and multivariate responses to reflection and translation patterns with vertical or horizontal axis of orientation while participants (n = 24, 6 male) performed either a regularity discrimination task or an orientation discrimination task.Univariate analysis showed that stimulus-evoked responses increased from V3 onwards, with minimal responses in V1-V2. Contrary to classical salience accounts, early dorsal regions (V3, V3a, V3b) responded more strongly to translation than reflection. Orientation effects dissociated across regions: V3a and V3b showed stronger responses to horizontal than vertical axes, whereas LO2 showed the opposite preference. Task effects were limited, with no overall enhancement of responses during regularity discrimination.Multivariate (searchlight MVPA) analysis revealed reliable decoding of regularity in extrastriate regions and decoding of axis orientation in early visual cortex. Orientation information was reduced in extrastriate regions during regularity discrimination relative to orientation discrimination.These findings show that responses to visual regularities in human visual cortex depend on regularity type, axis orientation, and task demands, with dorsal and ventral regions showing distinct response profiles
Responsible Generative AI for SMEs in UK and Africa (RAISE): A Financial Investment AI Case Study
Full text linkThis report presents a series of case studies developed under the Responsible Generative AI for SMEs in the UK and Africa (RAISE) project, examining how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) understand, adopt, and operationalise generative AI in practice. Drawing on in-depth qualitative engagement with participating organisations across diverse sectors, the case studies explore anticipated benefits, technical and organisational challenges, and the ethical, legal, and social considerations shaping AI integration. The RAISE case studies demonstrate how responsible AI principles are interpreted pragmatically by SMEs and illustrate the value of context-sensitive, actionable guidance in supporting responsible adoption. Collectively, the cases provide empirical insight into the realities of generative AI use in resource-constrained environments and inform the development of practical frameworks for responsible AI implementation in SMEs
Mapping undergraduate pharmacy curricula in Saudi Arabia against a national competency framework: A case study of two PharmD programmes
Full text linkIntroduction: Pharmacy education in Saudi Arabia has expanded rapidly, with most colleges transitioning to the PharmD as the entry-level degree. A proposed national competency framework for foundation-level pharmacists was recently developed to support curricular reform and improve graduate preparedness. However, the extent to which current PharmD programmes align with this framework appears to be variable. Methods: Curriculum mapping was employed to evaluate two undergraduate PharmD programmes as a case study. Intended curricular content, including course descriptions and learning outcomes, was analysed against behavioural statements from the proposed national competency framework using qualitative content analysis. Competency coverage, subject domain weighting, and curricular emphasis were visualised through heat maps, radar charts, and descriptive statistics. Results: Both programmes incorporated most of the proposed competencies, with greater emphasis on technical areas such as medicines information, compounding, and communication skills, and less coverage of organisational management and public health competencies. One programme exhibited a physical science-focused orientation, while the other was more practice-oriented. Gaps were identified in leadership, continuing professional development, and patient consultation competencies. Although both programmes were PharmD degrees, the findings revealed differences in curricular structure and content, suggesting limited differentiation from traditional BPharm models. Conclusion: This study presents a replicable method for assessing curriculum alignment with national competencies. The findings highlight the need for more balanced competency-based curricula to better prepare graduates for expanded professional roles aligned with national healthcare priorities
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