Archaeological evaluation report : Exchange Court, Greengate, Salford

In April 2016, Salford Archaeology, within the Centre for Applied Archaeology at the University of Salford, was commissioned by Renaker Build Ltd to carry out an archaeological evaluation of a plot of land currently used as a car park, situated between Greengate and Trinity Way in Salford city centre (centred on NGR 383553 399050). The work was carried out to inform the planning process for the proposed development of Exchange Court, and were intended to determine the presence, extent, depth, state of preservation and significance of the archaeological resource to enable informed recommendations to be made for the future treatment of any surviving remains, in line with the guidance provided by the National Planning Policy Framework. The evaluation comprised the excavation of eight trial trenches, and revealed archaeological remains dating to the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The remains appeared to relate to the former industrial use of the site variously as textile-finishing works, a hat manufactory and a later rubber works, although there was no surviving physical evidence for any medieval activity or the buildings shown on eighteenth-century mapping to have occupied the Greengate street frontage. Historical mapping suggests that these structures were domestic houses and shops, together with a hat manufactory in the eastern corner of the site. By 1850, the footprint of the buildings along the Greengate frontage remained largely unchanged, but the hat manufactory had expanded to occupy a much larger area, which essentially remained unchanged until at least 1908. By 1922, this building had been subsumed by a rubber works, which expanded to occupy the entire site. The evaluation revealed archaeological remains which confirmed and expanded on historical research and mapping. By comparing the results of the excavations with historical mapping it was possible to identify three phases of development dating from the late eighteenth century through to the early twentieth century, together with four structures relating to the hat manufactory and rubber works. Following consultation with the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service, in their capacity as archaeological advisors to Salford City Council, it is concluded from the results obtained from the evaluation that whilst buried archaeological remains do survive, these are of a fragmentary nature. As such, further archaeological investigation in advance of development is not merited

Light Sneutrino Dark Matter at the LHC

In supersymmetric (SUSY) models with Dirac neutrino masses, a weak-scale trilinear A-term that is not proportional to the small neutrino Yukawa couplings can induce a sizable mixing between left and right-handed sneutrinos. The lighter sneutrino mass eigenstate can hence become the lightest SUSY particle (LSP) and a viable dark matter candidate. In particular, it can be an excellent candidate for light dark matter with mass below ~10 GeV. Such a light mixed sneutrino LSP has a dramatic effect on SUSY signatures at the LHC, as charginos decay dominantly into the light sneutrino plus a charged lepton, and neutralinos decay invisibly to a neutrino plus a sneutrino. We perform a detailed study of the LHC potential to resolve the light sneutrino dark matter scenario by means of three representative benchmark points with different gluino and squark mass hierarchies. We study in particular the determination of the LSP (sneutrino) mass from cascade decays involving charginos, using the mT2 variable. Moreover, we address measurements of additional invisible sparticles, in our case the lightest neutralino, and the question of discrimination against the MSSM.Comment: 25 pages, 16 figure

Do acute elevations of serum creatinine in primary care engender an increased mortality risk?

Background: The significant impact Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) has on patient morbidity and mortality emphasizes the need for early recognition and effective treatment. AKI presenting to or occurring during hospitalisation has been widely studied but little is known about the incidence and outcomes of patients experiencing acute elevations in serum creatinine in the primary care setting where people are not subsequently admitted to hospital. The aim of this study was to define this incidence and explore its impact on mortality. Methods: The study cohort was identified by using hospital data bases over a six month period. Inclusion criteria: People with a serum creatinine request during the study period, 18 or over and not on renal replacement therapy. The patients were stratified by a rise in serum creatinine corresponding to the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria for comparison purposes. Descriptive and survival data were then analysed. Ethical approval was granted from National Research Ethics Service (NRES) Committee South East Coast and from the National Information Governance Board. Results: The total study population was 61,432. 57,300 subjects with ‘no AKI’, mean age 64.The number (mean age) of acute serum creatinine rises overall were, ‘AKI 1’ 3,798 (72), ‘AKI 2’ 232 (73), and ‘AKI 3’ 102 (68) which equates to an overall incidence of 14,192 pmp/year (adult). Unadjusted 30 day survival was 99.9% in subjects with ‘no AKI’, compared to 98.6%, 90.1% and 82.3% in those with ‘AKI 1’, ‘AKI 2’ and ‘AKI 3’ respectively. After multivariable analysis adjusting for age, gender, baseline kidney function and co-morbidity the odds ratio of 30 day mortality was 5.3 (95% CI 3.6, 7.7), 36.8 (95% CI 21.6, 62.7) and 123 (95% CI 64.8, 235) respectively, compared to those without acute serum creatinine rises as defined. Conclusions: People who develop acute elevations of serum creatinine in primary care without being admitted to hospital have significantly worse outcomes than those with stable kidney function

Cost of care for cancer patients in England: evidence from population-based patient-level data

background: Health systems are facing the challenge of providing care to an increasing population of patients with cancer. However, evidence on costs is limited due to the lack of large longitudinal databases. methods: We matched cost of care data to population-based, patient-level data on cancer patients in England. We conducted a retrospective cohort study including all patients age 18 and over with a diagnosis of colorectal (275 985 patients), breast (359 771), prostate (286 426) and lung cancer (283 940) in England between 2001 and 2010. Incidence costs, prevalence costs, and phase of care costs were estimated separately for patients age 18–64 and greater than or equal to65. Costs of care were compared by patients staging, before and after diagnosis, and with a comparison population without cancer. results: Incidence costs in the first year of diagnosis are noticeably higher in patients age 18–64 than age greater than or equal to65 across all examined cancers. A lower stage diagnosis is associated with larger cost savings for colorectal and breast cancer in both age groups. The additional costs of care because of the main four cancers amounts to £1.5 billion in 2010, namely 3.0% of the total cost of hospital care. conclusions: Population-based, patient-level data can be used to provide new evidence on the cost of cancer in England. Early diagnosis and cancer prevention have scope for achieving large cost savings for the health system

Archaeological evaluation : Dakota Manchester, Ducie Street, Piccadilly, Manchester

In May 2017, Salford Archaeology was commissioned by Evans Dakota Ltd to carry out an archaeological evaluation of a site situated off Ducie Street in the Piccadilly area of Manchester (centred on NGR SJ 84843 98193). The work was required to inform and support a planning application (Planning Ref 114818/FO/2016) for the proposed Dakota Hotel Development.The evaluation was carried out in the light of the conclusions drawn from an archaeological assessment of the site, and comprised the excavation of four trenches, which were placed across the footprint of a stable block and small industrial building associated with the Rochdale Canal, a row of 18th-/19th-century workers’ housing and an associated public house. The evaluation was intended to determine the presence, extent, depth, state of preservation and significance of the archaeological resource to enable informed recommendations to be made for the future treatment of any surviving remains, in line with the guidance provided by the National Planning Policy Framework

Post-excavation assessment : land at Land Gate, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, Greater Manchester

Bellway Homes Limited (Manchester Division) has obtained planning consent for alarge residential development at Land Gate, near Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan (centredon NGR SD 57140 01220). The consented scheme allows for the construction of 157dwellings, together with associated landscaping works and roads across 5.45 hectares ofagricultural land to the north of Ashton-in-Makerfield (Planning Ref:A/17/84450/MAJOR). In view of the extensive earth-moving works required to deliverthe scheme, a condition was attached to planning consent that required an appropriateprogramme of archaeological investigation to be carried out in advance of construction.The potential for archaeological remains to survive across the development site washighlighted in a desk-based assessment produced by The Environment Partnership (TEP)that was prepared to support the planning application in 2017. This identified that theprojected course of the Roman road from Warrington to Wigan crossed the site, andconcluded that intrusive investigation to establish the presence or absence ofarchaeological remains was merited. In the light of this conclusion, TEP on behalf ofBellway Homes Limited, commissioned an appropriate programme of archaeologicalinvestigation, which initially comprised a geophysical survey and subsequent trialtrenching that targeting the projected line of the Roman road.Whilst the results obtained from the geophysical survey were inconclusive, a section ofthe Roman road was exposed during the evaluation. Following consultation betweenTEP and Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service (GMAAS) it wasconcluded that the eastern part of the site had potential to contain buried archaeologicalremains of sufficient research interest to warrant more detailed investigation. GMAASrecommended that detailed archaeological investigation of two areas targeted on thecourse of the Roman road would constitute an appropriate strategy to mitigate theultimate loss of the archaeological remains.The excavation was undertaken by Salford Archaeology between March and April 2018,with invaluable support provided by members of the Wigan Archaeological Society,together with a watching brief that monitored development ground works in May 2018.The excavation revealed the fragmentary remains of the Roman road, together with itsassociated drainage ditches, one of which contained two sherds of Roman pottery. Theupper fill of one of these ditches contained an assemblage of pottery, to which a 12th- to14th-century date may ascribed, raising a possibility that the road remained in use for aconsiderable period after the collapse of Roman administration in Britain. In addition, adate returned from radiocarbon assay of material lying immediately beneath the Romanroad has indicated some activity on the site during the late Bronze Age.A post-excavation assessment of the dataset has been carried out following thecompletion of all elements of the fieldwork. This has concluded that whilst the resultsobtained from the archaeological investigation are of regional importance and merit anappropriate level of publication, the dataset has little potential for any further analysis

Human iPSC-Derived Neural Crest Stem Cells Exhibit Low Immunogenicity

Recent clinical trials are evaluating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as a cellular therapy in the field of regenerative medicine. The widespread clinical utility of iPSCs is expected to be realized using allogeneic cells that have undergone thorough safety evaluations, including assessment of their immunogenicity. IPSC-derived neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) have significant potential in regenerative medicine; however, their application in cellular therapy has not been widely studied to date, and no reports on their potential immunogenicity have been published so far. In this study, we have assessed the expression of immune-related antigens in iPSC-NCSCs, including human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and II and co-stimulatory molecules. To investigate functional immunogenicity, we used iPSC-NCSCs as stimulator cells in a one-way mixed lymphocyte reaction. In these experiments, iPSC-NCSCs did not stimulate detectable proliferation of CD3+ and CD3+CD8+ T cells or induce cytokine production. We show that this was not a result of any immunosuppressive features of iPSC-NCSCs, but rather more consistent with their non-immunogenic molecular phenotype. These results are encouraging for the potential future use of iPSC-NCSCs as a cellular therapy

Human H5N1 influenza infections in Cambodia 2005-2011: case series and cost-of-illness.

BACKGROUND: Southeast Asia has been identified as a potential epicentre of emerging diseases with pandemic capacity, including highly pathogenic influenza. Cambodia in particular has the potential for high rates of avoidable deaths from pandemic influenza due to large gaps in health system resources. This study seeks to better understand the course and cost-of-illness for cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Cambodia. METHODS: We studied the 18 laboratory-confirmed cases of avian influenza subtype H5N1 identified in Cambodia between January 2005 and August 2011. Medical records for all patients were reviewed to extract information on patient characteristics, travel to hospital, time to admission, diagnostic testing, treatment and disease outcomes. Further data related to costs was collected through interviews with key informants at district and provincial hospitals, the Ministry of Health and non-governmental organisations. An ingredient-based approach was used to estimate the total economic cost for each study patient. Costing was conducted from a societal perspective and included both financial and opportunity costs to the patient or carer. Sensitivity analysis was undertaken to evaluate potential change or variation in the cost-of-illness. RESULTS: Of the 18 patients studied, 11 (61%) were under the age of 18 years. The majority of patients (16, 89%) died, eight (44%) within 24 hours of hospital admission. There was an average delay of seven days between symptom onset and hospitalisation with patients travelling an average of 148 kilometres (8-476 km) to the admitting hospital. Five patients were treated with oseltamivir of whom two received the recommended dose. For the 16 patients who received all their treatment in Cambodia the average per patient cost of H5N1 influenza illness was US$300 of which 85.0$45 per patient (15.0%) of total economic cost. CONCLUSION: Cases of avian influenza in Cambodia were characterised by delays in hospitalisation, deficiencies in some aspects of treatment and a high fatality rate. The costs associated with medical care, particularly diagnostic testing and pharmaceutical therapy, were major contributors to the relatively high cost-of-illness