Engine Driven Pumps - Vibration Problem Resolution Using Specialized Testing Techniques

Case StudyOutline: Problem description and approach overview. Specialized testing to characterize the problem. Conclusions and recommendations based on the test results. Implementing the solution. Lessons learned

Diabetic ketoacidosis in an adolescent and young adult population in the UK in 2014: a national survey comparison of management in paediatric and adult settings:Special Issue on Diabetes and Childhood

Aims: To assess the management of diabetic ketoacidosis in young people, which differs in the UK between paediatric and adult services, and to evaluate outcomes and extent to which national guidelines are used. Methods: A standardized questionnaire was sent to all paediatric and adult diabetes services in England, requesting details of all diabetic ketoacidosis admissions in young people aged > 14 years in paediatric services (‘paediatric’ patients), and in young adults up to the age of 22 years in adult services (‘adult’ patients). Results: A total of 64 adult patients aged ≤ 22 years (mean age 19.2 years) were reported, of whom seven were aged between 10 and 16 years. A total of 71 paediatric patients were reported [mean (range) age 14.9 (11–18) years]. We found that 85% of paediatric and 69% of adult patients were treated according to national guidelines, 99% of paediatric and 89% of adult patients were treated with 0.9% saline and fixed-rate insulin infusions and 16% of adult patients received an insulin bolus. Insulin treatment was initiated later in paediatric patients than in adult patients (100 vs 39 min; P < 0.001). In 23% of adult patients and 8.8% of paediatric patients, potassium levels were < 3.5 mmol/l (P < 0.005). The lowest mean potassium levels were 3.8 mmol/l in paediatric and 3.5 mmol/l in adult patients (P < 0.005). Hypoglycaemia occurred in 42.3% of paediatric and 36% of adult patients. Time to resolution was similar in paediatric and adult patients (16.0 vs 18.2 h), as was duration of hospital stay (2.35 vs 2.53 days). Conclusions: Young people were treated according to national guidelines, but the quality of monitoring was variable in both paediatric and adult settings. The incidence of hypoglycaemia and hypokalaemia was unacceptably high

Characterisation of retrotransposon insertion polymorphisms in whole genome sequencing data from individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The genetics of an individual is a crucial factor in understanding the risk of developing the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). There is still a large proportion of the heritability of ALS, particularly in sporadic cases, to be understood. Among others, active transposable elements drive inter-individual variability, and in humans long interspersed element 1 (LINE1, L1), Alu and SINE-VNTR-Alu (SVA) retrotransposons are a source of polymorphic insertions in the population. We undertook a pilot study to characterise the landscape of non-reference retrotransposon insertion polymorphisms (non-ref RIPs) in 15 control and 15 ALS individuals’ whole genomes from Project MinE, an international project to identify potential genetic causes of ALS. The combination of two bioinformatics tools (mobile element locator tool (MELT) and TEBreak) identified on average 1250 Alu, 232 L1 and 77 SVA non-ref RIPs per genome across the 30 analysed. Further PCR validation of individual polymorphic retrotransposon insertions showed a similar level of accuracy for MELT and TEBreak. Our preliminary study did not identify a specific RIP or a significant difference in the total number of non-ref RIPs in ALS compared to control genomes. The use of multiple bioinformatic tools improved the accuracy of non-ref RIP detection and our study highlights the potential importance of studying these elements further in ALS

Validity and responsiveness to change of the Active Australia Survey according to gender, age, BMI, education, and physical activity level and awareness

© 2019 The Author(s). Background: This study aimed to investigate the validity of the Active Australia Survey across different subgroups and its responsiveness to change, as few previous studies have examined this. Methods: The Active Australia Survey was validated against the ActiGraph as an objective measure of physical activity. Participants (n = 465) wore the ActiGraph for 7 days and subsequently completed the Active Australia Survey. Moderate activity, vigorous activity and total moderate and vigorous physical activity were compared using Spearman rank-order correlations. Changes in physical activity between baseline and 3-month assessments were correlated to examine responsiveness to change. The data were stratified to assess outcomes according to different subgroups (e.g., gender, age, weight, activity levels). Results: With regards to the validity, a significant correlation of ρ = 0.19 was found for moderate physical activity, ρ = 0.33 for vigorous physical activity and ρ = 0.23 for moderate and vigorous physical activity combined. For vigorous physical activity correlations were higher than 0.3 for most subgroups, whereas they were only higher than 0.3 in those with a healthy weight for the other activity outcomes. With regards to responsiveness to change, a correlation of ρ = 0.32 was found for moderate physical activity, ρ = 0.19 for vigorous physical activity and ρ = 0.35 for moderate and vigorous physical activity combined. For moderate and vigorous activity combined correlations were higher than 0.4 for several subgroups, but never for vigorous physical activity. Conclusions: Little evidence for the validity of Active Australia Survey was found, although the responsiveness to change was acceptable for several subgroups. Findings from studies using the Active Australia Survey should be interpreted with caution. Trial registration: World Health Organisation Universal Trial Number: U111-1119-1755. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000157976. Registration date: 8 March 2011

Response to androgen therapy in patients with dyskeratosis congenita

Dyskeratosis congenita (DC) is an inherited bone marrow failure syndrome and telomere biology disorder characterized by dysplastic nails, reticular skin pigmentation and oral leucoplakia. Androgens are a standard therapeutic option for bone marrow failure in those patients with DC who are unable to undergo haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, but there are no systematic data on its use in those patients. We evaluated haematological response and side effects of androgen therapy in 16 patients with DC in our observational cohort study. Untreated DC patients served as controls. Seventy percent of treated DC patients had a haematological response with red blood cell and/or platelet transfusion independence. The expected age-related decline in telomere length was noted in androgen-treated patients. All treated DC patients had at least one significant lipid abnormality. Additional treatment-related findings included a significant decrease in thyroid binding globulin, accelerated growth in pre-pubertal children and splenic peliosis in two patients. Liver enzymes were elevated in both androgen-treated and untreated patients, suggesting underlying liver involvement in DC. This study suggests that androgen therapy can be effectively used to treat bone marrow failure in DC, but that side effects need to be closely monitored

Changes in urinary metabolomic profile during relapsing renal vasculitis

Current biomarkers of renal disease in systemic vasculitis lack predictive value and are insensitive to early damage. To identify novel biomarkers of renal vasculitis flare, we analysed the longitudinal urinary metabolomic profile of a rat model of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) vasculitis. Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were immunised with human myeloperoxidase (MPO). Urine was obtained at regular intervals for 181 days, after which relapse was induced by re-challenge with MPO. Urinary metabolites were assessed in an unbiased fashion using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and analysed using partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and partial least squares regression (PLS-R). At 56 days post-immunisation, we found that rats with vasculitis had a significantly different urinary metabolite profile than control animals; the observed PLS-DA clusters dissipated between 56 and 181 days, and re-emerged with relapse. The metabolites most altered in rats with active or relapsing vasculitis were trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), citrate and 2-oxoglutarate. Myo-inositol was also moderately predictive. The key urine metabolites identified in rats were confirmed in a large cohort of patients using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Hypocitraturia and elevated urinary myo-inositol remained associated with active disease, with the urine myo-inositol:citrate ratio being tightly correlated with active renal vasculitis

Thermal degradation kinetics of real-life reclaimed plastic solid waste (PSW) from an active landfill site:The mining of an unsanitary arid landfill

Landfilling is viewed nowadays as a serious threat associated with various burdens and stressors on the urban environment. To date, there is little information available on actual value of landfilled waste namely plastic solid waste (PSW) resulting from mining operations. In this work, PSW reclaimed from an active unsanitary landfill site (MAB) has been studied with the aim of determining its thermal profile and degradation behaviour for future utilisation in thermo-chemical conversion (TCC) processes. The materials were characterised by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) in accordance with internationally approved test methods in a simulated pyrolytic environment. In addition, chemical analysis using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was applied to study the nature of the materials reclaimed. The degradation kinetics of the reclaimed PSW were studied with the aim of determining the apparent activation energy (Ea) of the pyrolytic reactions. The Ea values determined ranged from 199 to 266 kJ mol−1 which is in-line with pyrolytic reactions applicable for future use in fuel recovery units. TGA showed a clear shift in thermograms indicating a clear change in the degradation mechanism. The physico-chemical studies conducted on the materials also favours TCC treatment over other conventional end of life options such as physical (mechanical) recycling or incineration. The degradation mechanism was also determined from the Criado method showing that Avarami-Erofeve was the model that best represents PSW degradation. Overall, this work points towards future intervention schemes for reclaimed municipal solid waste (MSW) and in particular PSW favouring TCC technologies

Engine Driven Pumps - Vibration Problem Resolution Using Specialized Testing Techniques

Case StudyOutline: Problem description and approach overview. Specialized testing to characterize the problem. Conclusions and recommendations based on the test results. Implementing the solution. Lessons learned