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Cancer Variant Interpretation Group UK (CanVIG-UK): An exemplar National Subspecialist Multidisciplinary Network
No full textAdvances in technology have led to a massive expansion in the capacity for genomic analysis, with a commensurate fall in costs. The clinical indications for genomic testing have evolved markedly, the volume of clinical sequencing has increased dramatically and the range of clinical professionals involved in the process has broadened. There is general acceptance that our early dichotomous paradigms of variants being pathogenic-high-risk and benign-no-risk are overly simplistic. There is increasing recognition that the clinical interpretation of genomic data requires significant expertise in disease-gene-variant associations specific to each disease area. Inaccurate interpretation can lead to clinical mismanagement, inconsistent information within families and misdirection of resources. It is for this reason that ‘National Subspecialist Multidisciplinary Meetings’ (MDMs) for genomic interpretation have been articulated as key for the new NHS Genomic Medicine Service, of which CanVIG-UK (Cancer Variant Interpretation Group UK) is an early exemplar. CanVIG-UK was established in 2017 and now has >100 UK members, including at least one clinical diagnostic scientist and one clinical cancer geneticist from each of the 25 Regional Molecular Genetics Laboratories of the UK and ROI. Through CanVIG-UK, we have established national consensus around variant interpretation for cancer susceptibility genes (CSGs) via monthly national teleconferenced MDMs and collaborative data-sharing using a secure online portal. We here describe the activities of CanVIG-UK, include exemplar outputs and feedback from the membership
Evolving characteristics of the high-speed railway network structure in the Yangtze River Delta, China:the perspective of passenger flows
No full textChina’s high-speed railway (HSR) network is the largest planned network operating globally. Compared to other HSR networks, it has a unique and complicated structure. Multiple studies explored the supply side network structure of HSR services through train frequency data. However, due to data collection difficulties, there is limited research that studies the evolving characteristics of HSR development by using passenger flow data on the demand side network. This paper explores the evolving characteristics of the HSR network in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), one of the most developed megaregions of China. HSR passenger flow data from the timeframe of 2014 to 2018 are used to examine the evolution of topological structure, hierarchical structure, and the spatial structure of the HSR network. Results indicate that the topological structure of the HSR network has been relatively stable, and has a roughly normal distribution. Although it is a relatively stable HSR network, a hierarchical structure exists, and there is a certain degree of variability among the third-tier cities. Based on the weighted degree centrality, and structural holes of passenger flow network in the YRD, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Hefei, were identified. Correspondingly, four network communities were formed, and they varied across the evolutionary characteristics over the study period. The study proposed that in the planning of the HSR network, more focus should be given to connections between sub-regional nodes, in addition to connecting the core nodes. Additional relevant planning strategies are proposed based on the conclusions reached
Treatment of mental illness prior to suicide: a national investigation of 12,909 patients, 2001-2016
No full textMeasuring the Hubble constant from the cooling of the CMB monopole
No full textThe cosmic microwave background (CMB) monopole temperature evolves with the inverse of the cosmological scale factor, independent of many cosmological assumptions. With sufficient sensitivity, real-time cosmological observations could thus be used to measure the local expansion rate of the Universe using the cooling of the CMB. We forecast how well a CMB spectrometer could determine the Hubble constant via this method. The primary challenge of such a mission lies in the separation of Galactic and extra-Galactic foreground signals from the CMB at extremely high precision. However, overcoming these obstacles could potentially provide an independent, highly robust method to shed light on the current low-/high-z Hubble tension. We find that a 3% measurement of the Hubble constant requires an effective sensitivity to the CMB monopole temperature of approximately 60 pKpyr throughout a 10-year mission. This sensitivity would also enable high-precision measurements of the expected CDM spectral distortions, but remains futuristic at this stage
Load balancing routing for wireless mesh network with energy harvesting
No full textCentralized routing is beneficial as it provides a global network view to plan and achieve the best and effective path for real-time traffic. With the rapid development of software defined networking, centralized routing has aroused more and more concern of researchers. An effective centralized load balancing routing (LBR) for wireless mesh network considering energy harvesting is proposed in this letter. LBR can provide flexible and optimal routes for real-time traffic. To minimize the long-term weighted sum cost which includes load and energy condition, LBR considers the queue length, channel condition, energy cost and energy harvesting. The problem of making dynamic decisions based on real-time traffic conditions is solved by the dynamic programming approach. Simulation results demonstrate the advantages of LBR
Attitude control for satellites flying in VLEO using aerodynamic surfaces
No full textThis paper analyses the use of aerodynamic control surfaces, whether passive or active, in order to carry out very low Earth orbit (VLEO) attitude maneuver operations.Flying a satellite in a very low Earth orbit with an altitude of less than 450 km, namely VLEO, is a technological challenge. It leads to several advantages, such as increasing the resolution of optical payloads or increase signal to noise ratio, among others. The atmospheric density in VLEO is much higher than in typical low earth orbit altitudes, but still free molecular flow. This has serious consequences for the maneuverability of a satellite because significant aerodynamic torques and forces are produced. In order to guarantee the controllability of the spacecraft they have to be analyzed in depth. Moreover, at VLEO the density of atomic oxygen increases, which enables the use of air-breathing propulsion (ABEP). Scientists are researching in this field to use ABEP it as a drag compensation system, and consequently an attitude control based on aerodynamic control could make sense. This combination of technologies may represent an opportunity to open new markets.In this work, several satellite geometric configurations were considered to analyze aerodynamic control:3 axis control with feather configuration and 2 axis control with shuttlecock configuration.The analysis was performed by simulating the attitude of the satellite as well as the disturbances affecting the spacecraft. The models implemented to simulate the disturbances were the following: Gravitational gradient torque disturbance, magnetic dipole torque disturbance (magnetic field model IGRF12), and aerodynamic torque disturbances (aerodynamic model DTM2013 and wind model HWM14).The maneuvers analyzed were the following: detumbling or attitude stabilization, pointing and demisability. Different VLEO parameters were analyzed for every geometric configuration and spacecraft maneuver. The results determined which of the analyzed geometric configurations suits better for every maneuver. This work is part of the H2020 DISCOVERER project. Project ID 737183
Kinetics of Water Gas Shift Reaction on Au/CeZrO4: A Comparison between Conventional Heating and Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) Plasma Activation
No full textThe kinetics of the low-temperature forward water gas shift (LT-WGS) reaction have been studied over a 2 wt% Au/CeZrO4 (Au/CZO) catalyst using both thermal and dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma heterogeneous catalyst systems. Using the energy density (Ɛ) the apparent activation energy has been calculated under plasma and thermally activated conditions. A substantially lower apparent activation energy is observed in the plasma activated system (9.5 kJ mol-1) compared with the thermal-catalysed reaction (132.9 kJ mol-1). Different kinetic isotope effect (KIE) values for water were found in thermal (1.43) and plasma (1.89) activated catalytic systems which infer different mechanisms between the two activation processes but also show the importance of water activation. Furthermore, negative and positive reaction orders with respect to CO and H2O are found for both conditions which are -1.30, 0.28 under thermal and -1.53, 0.35 under plasma processes, respectively. The reaction order with respect to H2O and KIE studies demonstrate that the bond cleavage in H2O molecule is a rate determining step in the plasma-assisted LT-WGS, similar to that in the thermal-assisted reaction. <br/
Inverse Radon method based on electrical field lines for dual modality electrical tomography
No full textUsually, the sensitivity matrix-based algorithms are used for image reconstruction in electrical tomography. In these algorithms it is assumed that the inverse problem is like those in the well-established medical CT, which is of great success. In the medical CT, rather than using the matrix-based algorithms, the inverse Radon transform and its derivatives dominate. However, these inverse transforms have not been introduced to electrical tomography because the link between the parallel projections and electrical distributions is unclear. This paper presents a map between the electric field lines and the parallel lines in the inverse Radon transform and a novel image reconstruction algorithm for dual modality electrical tomography using the inverse Radon transform. The transform is realized by mapping the coordinates in the electric field to the assumed parallel projections, where the points of intersections between electric field lines from different exciting electrodes are mapped to those of parallel lines from related projections in typical inverse Radon transform. Unlike the medical CT. Different excitation schemes are related to different equivalent projections, and iterative scanning is used to apply all available projected data. Both simulated and experimental data are used to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of this proposed algorithm. Dynamic flames are monitored using the proposed method. Dual modality images of both conductivity and permittivity distributions are obtained to capture the ignition and blowout of the flame evolution in a Bunsen burner