Prevalence of mixed genotype hepatitis C virus infections in the UK as determined by genotype‐specific PCR and deep sequencing

The incidence of mixed genotype hepatitis C virus infections in the UK is largely unknown. As the efficacy of direct acting antivirals is variable across different genotypes, treatment regimens are tailored to the infecting genotype, which may pose issues for the treatment of underlying genotypes within undiagnosed mixed genotype HCV infections. There is therefore a need to accurately diagnose mixed genotype infections prior to treatment. PCR-based diagnostic tools were developed to screen for the occurrence of mixed genotype infections caused by the most common UK genotypes, 1a and 3, in a cohort of 506 individuals diagnosed with either of these genotypes. The overall prevalence rate of mixed infection was 3.8% however this rate was unevenly distributed, with 6.7% of individuals diagnosed with genotype 3 harbouring genotype 1a strains and only 0.8% of samples from genotype 1a patients harbouring genotype 3 (p<0.05). Mixed infection samples consisted of a major and a minor genotype, with the latter constituting less than 21% of the total viral load and, in 67% of cases, less than 1% of the viral load. Analysis of a subset of the cohort by Illumina PCR-next generation sequencing resulted in a much greater incidence rate than obtained by PCR. This may have occurred due to the non-quantitative nature of the technique and despite the designation of false positive thresholds based on negative controls

Regulating DC link voltage fluctuations on a grid connected wave power system using energy storage

The fluctuating nature of power generated from waves combined with the weak nature of the network, makes the connection of arrays of wave energy converters (WECs) to the network a challenge. This paper investigates the research questions raised by the proposed development of a wave farm using coastal WECs, where the spatial layout of the WECs is restricted and cannot be used to damp the fluctuations in generated power. The concept of using energy storage on a common DC link to compensate for the fluctuations in real power, and ensure that the power quality on a weak, rural distribution network is not compromised, will also be discussed

From Master Plan to Mediocrity: Higher Education Performance & Policy in California

This study describes the political and economic context of California and provides an overview of higher education performance during the last two decades. Our aim is to explore the policies in place within the state and the relationship between these policies and California’s declining higher education performance, and to call for a reexamination of these policies by stakeholders in order to help California meet its current and future economic needs

Process Modeling Phase I Summary Report for the Advanced Gas Reactor Fuel Development and Qualification Program

This report summarizes the results of preliminary work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to demonstrate application of computational fluid dynamics modeling to the scale-up of a Fluidized Bed Chemical Vapor Deposition (FBCVD) process for nuclear fuels coating. Specifically, this work, referred to as Modeling Scale-Up Phase I, was conducted between January 1, 2006 and March 31, 2006 in support of the Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) Program. The objective was to develop, demonstrate and "freeze" a version of ORNL's computational model of the TRI ISOtropic (TRISO) fuel-particle coating process that can be specifically used to assist coater scale-up activities as part of the production of AGR-2 fuel. The results in this report are intended to serve as input for making decisions about initiating additional FBCVD modeling work (referred to as Modeling Scale-Up Phase II) in support of AGR-2. The main computational tool used to implement the model is the general-purpose multiphase fluid-dynamics computer code known as MFIX (Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges), which is documented in detail on the DOE-sponsored website http://www.mfix.org. Additional computational tools are also being developed by ORNL for post-processing MFIX output to efficiently summarize the important information generated by the coater simulations. The summarized information includes quantitative spatial and temporal measures (referred to as discriminating characteristics, or DCs) by which different coater designs and operating conditions can be compared and correlated with trends in product quality. The ORNL FBCVD modeling work is being conducted in conjunction with experimental coater studies at ORNL with natural uranium CO (NUCO) and surrogate fuel kernels. Data are also being obtained from ambient-temperature, spouted-bed characterization experiments at the University of Tennessee and theoretical studies of carbon and silicon carbide chemical vapor deposition kinetics at Iowa State University. Prior to the current scale-up activity, considerable effort has gone in to adapting the MFIX code to incorporate the unique features of fuel coating reactors and also in validating the resulting simulation features with experimental observations. Much of this work is documented in previous AGR reports and publications (Pannala et al., 2004, Pannala et al., 2005, Boyalakuntla et al., 2005a, Boyalakuntla et al., 2005b and Finney et al., 2005). As a result of the previous work described above, the ORNL coater model now has the capability for simulating full spatio-temporal details of the gas-particle hydrodynamics and gas-particle heat and mass transfer in the TRISO coater. This capability provides a great deal of information about many of the processes believed to control quality, but the model is not yet sufficiently developed to fully predict coating quality for any given coater design and/or set of operating conditions because the detailed chemical reaction kinetics needed to make the model fully predictive are not yet available. Nevertheless, the model at its current stage of development already provides the most comprehensive and detailed quantitative information available about gas flows, solid flows, temperatures, and species inside the coater during operation. This level of information ought to be highly useful in expediting the scale-up process (e.g., in correlating observations and minimizing the number of pilot-scale tests required). However, previous work had not yet demonstrated that the typical design and/or operating changes known to affect product quality at the lab scale could be clearly discriminated by the existing model. The Modeling Scale-Up Phase I work was initiated to produce such a demonstration, and two detailed examples are discussed in this report

A review of symbolic analysis of experimental data.

This review covers the group of data-analysis techniques collectively referred to as symbolization or symbolic time-series analysis. Symbolization involves transformation of raw time-series measurements (i.e., experimental signals) into a series of discretized symbols that are processed to extract information about the generating process. In many cases, the degree of discretization can be quite severe, even to the point of converting the original data to single-bit values. Current approaches for constructing symbols and detecting the information they contain are summarized. Novel approaches for characterizing and recognizing temporal patterns can be important for many types of experimental systems, but this is especially true for processes that are nonlinear and possibly chaotic. Recent experience indicates that symbolization can increase the efficiency of finding and quantifying information from such systems, reduce sensitivity to measurement noise, and discriminate both specific and general classes of proposed models. Examples of the successful application of symbolization to experimental data are included. Key theoretical issues and limitations of the method are also discussed

Are you feeling lucky?:lottery-based scheduling for public displays

Scheduling content onto pervasive displays is a complex problem. Researchers have identified an array of potential requirements that can influence scheduling decisions, but the relative importance of these different requirements varies across deployments, with context, and over time. In this paper we describe the design and implementation of a lottery-based scheduling approach that allows for the combination of multiple scheduling policies and is easily extensible to accommodate new scheduling requirements

Driven to Perform: Tennessee\u27s Higher Education Policies & Outcomes: A Case Study

This report presents a picture of how multiple converging state policies affect higher educaton performance in Tennessee as the state pursues an aggressive plan to improve the educational attainment of its residents. Policy is a powerful lever for advancing—or hindering—a state\u27s higher education attainment agenda. By taking into account Tennessee\u27s particular state context, we can better understand the factors influencing the content, formation, implementation, and ultimate success of higher education policy intended to improve performance and meet state attainment goals (Perna & Finney, 2014)

Uptake of the NICE osteoarthritis guidelines in primary care: a survey of older adults with joint pain

Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of pain and disability. NICE OA guidelines (2008) recommend that patients with OA should be offered core treatments in primary care. Assessments of OA management have identified a need to improve primary care of people with OA, as recorded use of interventions concordant with the NICE guidelines is suboptimal in primary care. The aim of this study was to i) describe the patient-reported uptake of non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments recommended in the NICE OA guidelines in older adults with a self-reported consultation for joint pain and ii) determine whether patient characteristics or OA diagnosis impact uptake. Methods A cross-sectional survey mailed to adults aged ≥45 years (n = 28,443) from eight general practices in the UK as part of the MOSAICS study. Respondents who reported the presence of joint pain, a consultation in the previous 12 months for joint pain, and gave consent to medical record review formed the sample for this study. Results Four thousand fifty-nine respondents were included in the analysis (mean age 65.6 years (SD 11.2), 2300 (56.7%) females). 502 (12.4%) received an OA diagnosis in the previous 12 months. More participants reported using pharmacological treatments (e.g. paracetamol (31.3%), opioids (40.4%)) than non-pharmacological treatments (e.g. exercise (3.8%)). Those with an OA diagnosis were more likely to use written information (OR 1.57; 95% CI 1.26,1.96), paracetamol (OR 1.30; 95% CI 1.05,1.62) and topical NSAIDs (OR 1.30; 95% CI 1.04,1.62) than those with a joint pain code. People aged ≥75 years were less likely to use written information (OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.40,0.79) and exercise (OR 0.37; 95% CI 0.25,0.55) and more likely to use paracetamol (OR 1.91; 95% CI 1.38,2.65) than those aged < 75 years. Conclusion The cross-sectional population survey was conducted to examine the uptake of the treatments that are recommended in the NICE OA guidelines in older adults with a self-reported consultation for joint pain and to determine whether patient characteristics or OA diagnosis impact uptake. Non-pharmacological treatment was suboptimal compared to pharmacological treatment. Implementation of NICE guidelines needs to examine why non-pharmacological treatments, such as exercise, remain under-used especially among older people

Numerical model for granular compaction under vertical tapping

A simple numerical model is used to simulate the effect of vertical taps on a packing of monodisperse hard spheres. Our results are in agreement with an experimantal work done in Chicago and with other previous models, especially concerning the dynamics of the compaction, the influence of the excitation strength on the compaction efficiency, and some ageing effects. The principal asset of the model is that it allows a local analysis of the packings. Vertical and transverse density profiles are used as well as size and volume distributions of the pores. An interesting result concerns the appearance of a vertical gradient in the density profiles during compaction. Furthermore, the volume distribution of the pores suggests that the smallest pores, ranging in size between a tetrahedral and an octahedral site, are not strongly affected by the tapping process, in contrast to the largest pores which are more sensitive to the compaction of the packing.Comment: 8 pages, 15 figures (eps), to be published in Phys. Rev. E. Some corrections have been made, especially in paragraph IV