Modifying monolayer behaviour by incorporating subphase additives and improving Langmuir–Blodgett thin film deposition on optical fibres

Experiments showing the possibility of modifying the behaviour of calix[4]resorcinarene monolayers at the air–water interface and optimising the deposition of multilayer coatings onto optical fibres are presented. The nature of the subphase is fundamental to the behaviour of monolayers and their utility in coating and sensing applications. Here we show initial studies exploring the modification of the calix[4]resorcinarene monolayer–water interaction through the introduction of dipole altering alcohol additives to the aqueous subphase. We explored the effect of this modification for three small alcohols. The resulting isotherms of the materials showed a reduction in the surface pressure and area per molecule required in order for the monolayer to reach its point of collapse. Incorporation of alcohols shifted the point of collapse, leading to the application of ethanol being successful in improving the transfer of material via Langmuir–Blodgett coating onto optical fibres at lower pressures. This method may prove useful in allowing greater control over future sensor surface coatings

Cost-effectiveness of Simvastatin plus Ezetimibe for Cardiovascular Prevention in CKD:Results of the Study of Heart and Renal Protection (SHARP)

Background Simvastatin, 20 mg, plus ezetimibe, 10 mg, daily (simvastatin plus ezetimibe) reduced major atherosclerotic events in patients with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the Study of Heart and Renal Protection (SHARP), but its cost-effectiveness is unknown. Study Design Cost-effectiveness of simvastatin plus ezetimibe in SHARP, a randomized controlled trial. Setting & Population 9,270 patients with CKD randomly assigned to simvastatin plus ezetimibe versus placebo; participants in categories by 5-year cardiovascular risk (low, = 20%) and CKD stage (3, 4, 5 not on dialysis, or on dialysis therapy). Model, Perspective, & Timeline Assessment during SHARP follow-up from the UK perspective; long-term projections. Intervention Simvastatin plus ezetimibe (2015 UK 1.19 pound per day) during 4.9 years median follow-up in SHARP; scenario analyses with high-intensity statin regimens (2015 UK 0.05- pound 1.06 pound per day). Outcomes Additional health care costs per major atherosclerotic event avoided and per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. Results In SHARP, the proportional reductions per 1 mmol/L of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol reduction with simvastatin plus ezetimibe in all major atherosclerotic events of 20% (95% CI, 6%-32%) and in the costs of vascular hospital episodes of 17% (95% CI, 4%-28%) were similar across participant categories by cardiovascular risk and CKD stage. The 5-year reduction in major atherosclerotic events per 1,000 participants ranged from 10 in low-risk to 58 in high-risk patients and from 28 in CKD stage 3 to 36 in patients on dialysis therapy. The net cost per major atherosclerotic event avoided with simvastatin plus ezetimibe compared to no LDL-lowering regimen ranged from 157,060 pound in patients at low risk to 15,230 pound in those at high risk (30,500- pound 39,600 pound per QALY); and from 47,280 pound in CKD stage 3 to 28,180 pound in patients on dialysis therapy (13,000- pound 43,300 pound per QALY). In scenario analyses, generic high-intensity statin regimens were estimated to yield similar benefits at substantially lower cost. Limitations High-intensity statin-alone regimens were not studied in SHARP. Conclusions Simvastatin plus ezetimibe prevented atherosclerotic events in SHARP, but other less costly statin regimens are likely to be more cost-effective for reducing cardiovascular risk in CKD. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the National Kidney Foundation, Inc

‘Trust me I am a Football Agent’. The discursive practices of the players’ agents in (un)professional football

While the public and media attention is largely focused on the corruption scandals of high-ranking officials in international football, FIFA’s decision in April 2015 to deregulate football agents raises further concerns about its ability for self-regulation and governance. FIFA’s introduction (2006) and subsequent updating (2008, 2015) of its regulations and legal frameworks governing the activity of agents in professional football has important implications on the inner workings of international football. In this regard, FIFA’s decision to deregulate the industry is perhaps a reflection of the neoliberal influences surrounding the organisation to let the agents govern themselves and deal with the wrongdoings of the alleged bribery, exploitation and trafficking of young players. However, the deregulation of agents by FIFA can also be seen as the organisation’s inefficiency to maintain the primacy of self-regulation and self-governance in serious matters of the industry, such as agents’ global leadership and regulation of practices. This paper, using qualitative data collected from players, agents and managers from professional football leagues in the UK and Ireland, aims to uncover the unethical, extremely complex and deceptive sides of the agents’ industry. By doing so, it aims to emphasise the need for gold standards of practice and leadership in the regulation of international football, which desperately needs to restore its integrity. Two key issues are unpacked: (i) the alleged (un)ethical behaviour of football agents that provokes so much hostility in the football world; (ii) the power shift(s) from clubs and managers to agents and players and the implications these may have on the ethics of the business practices in football

A Biomedically Enriched Collection of 7000 Human ORF Clones

We report the production and availability of over 7000 fully sequence verified plasmid ORF clones representing over 3400 unique human genes. These ORF clones were derived using the human MGC collection as template and were produced in two formats: with and without stop codons. Thus, this collection supports the production of either native protein or proteins with fusion tags added to either or both ends. The template clones used to generate this collection were enriched in three ways. First, gene redundancy was removed. Second, clones were selected to represent the best available GenBank reference sequence. Finally, a literature-based software tool was used to evaluate the list of target genes to ensure that it broadly reflected biomedical research interests. The target gene list was compared with 4000 human diseases and over 8500 biological and chemical MeSH classes in ∼15 Million publications recorded in PubMed at the time of analysis. The outcome of this analysis revealed that relative to the genome and the MGC collection, this collection is enriched for the presence of genes with published associations with a wide range of diseases and biomedical terms without displaying a particular bias towards any single disease or concept. Thus, this collection is likely to be a powerful resource for researchers who wish to study protein function in a set of genes with documented biomedical significance

The role of telematics in integrating Ireland into Europe\u27s information society

This article is an evaluation of Ireland’s participation in the Telematics Applications Programme (TAP), which was part of the European Commission’s Fourth Framework Programme for the period 1994–1998. TAP was primarily concerned with public sector bodies and their ability to adapt to the Information Society. The article explores Irish participation in the programme and examines the contribution of this participation to the clustering of telematics experimentation within Ireland and to the increasing integration with other European regions arising from project networks. The role of the TAP programme in furthering Europe’s information society in Ireland is assessed.This article is based on research commissioned by the European Commission, DGIII-F 1 (Industry RTD: Information Technologies) under the COHEN project (1998– 2000)

Irelands foreign-owned technology sector: evolving towards sustainability?

For some, Ireland¿s pursuit of an exogenous-led development model has proved to be the cornerstone of recent economic success. Others point to recent high-profile closures and argue that foreign-owned operations are attracted to Ireland solely because of the advantageous tax breaks and lucrative grants scheme offered by the Irish government.We pay tribute to both arguments by pushing the level of enquiry beyond that of supply and backward linkages to try and gauge the actual performance of affiliates themselves. This brings some interesting facets of the Irish foreign direct investment scene to light. We highlight complexity of process, attainment of broader investment remits, and the emergence of a managerial class as integral to the ability of affiliates to adapt to and exploit organisational change. By examining 10 case studies and making use of media searches and company interviews,we highlight evidence of Ireland¿s largest technology transnational corporation affiliates showing positive performance advances. With these movements come, what we term,increased nodal significance of Irish operations within the global production network of their corporations.We argue against policy and theories that see these movements as linear and provide evidence of how some Irish operations have leveraged control and gained significant regional and global remits that have resulted in their growing significance, both in the corporation and in the country in which they are based. In the same line we argue that embeddedness in terms of supply linkages does not fit the Irish case and instead employ the term ¿network anchoring¿ of affiliates as they increase their nodal weighting through increased mandates.Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI) Cycle 3 &

Cost competitive places: the winners and losers in the global flows of foreign direct investment

In the early days of 2009 the city of Limerick in the mid-west region of Ireland was dealt a massive blow by the PC manufacturer Dell. After months, if not years of speculation, the company had finally decided to move all its European manufacturing from Limerick to Lodz in Poland. Amongst the many reasons cited, from the global economic downturn to a shifting market, cost competitiveness became the clear determining factor. The media coverage was extensive with the headline "Dell Closes" bandied about in national and regional press. Though of little consolation to the 1,900 left without a job, the fact remains that Dell has not closed its Limerick operation, where it will continue to employ upwards of 1,000 in sales support and research and development. We use the Dell story as an exemplar of the Irish Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) story. Comparing it to other restructurings by foreign-owned technology companies both in Ireland and beyond we will attempt to uncover the complexity of shifting competitiveness and competencies among branches of global operations. While the case of Dell, among others, may serve to support the political economy view of large multinational corporations, we see the picture as being more complex and in this paper look at a mixture of globalist and localist viewpoints in attempting to uncover the shifting spatial dynamics of cost competitiveness.peer-reviewe