UpWind: integrated wind turbine design - Salford final summary on WP 6.1, WP.6.2, WP 6.3 And WP 6.4

Within the Upwind project the University of Salford provided development work for SODAR instruments in relation to the next generation of wind turbines. The main focus of the work was on the identification and proposal of design improvements, the development of a calibration device and the novel design of a bi-static SODAR to overcome limitations in the use of remote sensing in complex terrain. Data accuracy and availability of SODARs suffers during rain. Therefore an algorithm to detect data affected by rain and to extract the wind information has been developed and successfully tested to determine the scope of the technique. In mountainous terrain another source of inaccurate wind estimates is the separation of measurement volumes which results in inaccuracy of up to 5%. A simple flow model has been proposed and evaluated for a case study showing that the applied corrections can improve accuracy. A calibration transponder and a new bi-static Sodar design with vertical transmission and three scanning receivers have been designed and successfully tested

Effects of liraglutide versus placebo on cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease

BACKGROUND: LEADER trial (Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes: Evaluation of CV Outcome Results) results demonstrated cardiovascular benefits for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at high cardiovascular risk on standard of care randomized to liraglutide versus placebo. The effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist liraglutide on cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease is unknown. Liraglutide's treatment effects in patients with and without kidney disease were analyzed post hoc. METHODS: Patients were randomized (1:1) to liraglutide or placebo, both in addition to standard of care. These analyses assessed outcomes stratified by baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; <60 versus ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2) and baseline albuminuria. The primary outcome (composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke) and secondary outcomes, including all-cause mortality and individual components of the primary composite outcome, were analyzed using Cox regression. RESULTS: Overall, 2158 and 7182 patients had baseline eGFR <60 or ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2, respectively. In patients with eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2, risk reduction for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome with liraglutide was greater (hazard ratio [HR], 0.69; 95% CI, 0.57-0.85) versus those with eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83-1.07; interaction P=0.01). There was no consistent effect modification with liraglutide across finer eGFR subgroups (interaction P=0.13) and when analyzing eGFR as a continuous variable (interaction P=0.61). Risk reductions in those with eGFR <60 versus ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2 were as follows: for nonfatal myocardial infarction, HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.55-0.99 versus HR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.77-1.13; for nonfatal stroke, HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.33-0.80 versus HR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.84-1.37; for cardiovascular death, HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.50-0.90 versus HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.67-1.05; for all-cause mortality, HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.60-0.92 versus HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.75-1.07. Risk reduction for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome was not different for those with versus without baseline albuminuria (HR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.71-0.97; and HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.79-1.07, respectively; interaction P=0.36). CONCLUSIONS: Liraglutide added to standard of care reduced the risk for major cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease. These results appear to apply across the chronic kidney disease spectrum enrolled. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ . Unique identifier: NCT01179048

Management of Febrile Neutropenia - a German Prospective Hospital Cost Analysis in Lymphoproliferative Disorders, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, and Primary Breast Cancer

Background: Febrile neutropenia/leukopenia (FN/FL) is the most frequent dose-limiting toxicity of myelosuppressive chemotherapy, but German data on economic consequences are limited. Patients and Methods: A prospective, multicentre, longitudinal, observational study was carried out to evaluate the occurrence of FN/FL and its impact on health resource utilization and costs in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), lymphoproliferative disorder (LPD), and primary breast cancer (PBC) patients. Costs are presented from a hospital perspective. Results: A total of 325 consecutive patients (47% LPD, 37% NSCLC, 16% PBC; 46% women; 38% age >= 65 years) with 68 FN/FL episodes were evaluated. FN/FL occurred in 22% of the LPD patients, 8% of the NSCLC patients, and 27% of the PBC patients. 55 FN/FL episodes were associated with at least 1 hospital stay (LPD n = 34, NSCLC n = 10, PBC n = 11). Mean (median) cost per FN/FL episode requiring hospital care amounted to (sic) 3,950 ((sic) 2,355) and varied between (sic) 4,808 ((sic) 3,056) for LPD, (sic) 3,627 ((sic) 2,255) for NSCLC, and (sic) 1,827 ((sic) 1,969) for PBC patients. 12 FN/FL episodes (LPD n = 9, NSCLC n = 3) accounted for 60% of the total expenses. Main cost drivers were hospitalization and drugs (60 and 19% of the total costs). Conclusions: FN/FL treatment has economic relevance for hospitals. Costs vary between tumour types, being significantly higher for LPD compared to PBC patients. The impact of clinical characteristics on asymmetrically distributed costs needs further evaluation