Projecting prevalence by stage of care for prostate cancer and estimating future health service needs: protocol for a modelling study

Introduction Current strategies for the management of prostate cancer are inadequate in Australia. We will, in this study, estimate current service needs and project the future needs for prostate cancer patients in Australia. Methods and analysis First, we will project the future prevalence of prostate cancer for 2010-2018 using data for 1972-2008 from the New South Wales (NSW) Central Cancer Registry. These projections, based on modelled incidence and survival estimates, will be estimated using PIAMOD (Prevalence, Incidence, Analysis MODel) software. Then the total prevalence will be decomposed into five stages of care: initial care, continued monitoring, recurrence, last year of life and long-term survivor. Finally, data from the NSW Prostate Cancer Care and Outcomes Study, including data on patterns of treatment and associated quality of life, will be used to estimate the type and amount of services that will be needed by prostate cancer patients in each stage of care. In addition, Central Cancer Registry episode data will be used to estimate transition rates from localised or locally advanced prostate cancer to metastatic disease. Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits data, linked with Prostate Cancer Care and Outcomes Study data, will be used to complement the Cancer Registry episode data. The methods developed will be applied Australia-wide to obtain national estimates of the future prevalence of prostate cancer for different stages of clinical care. Ethics and dissemination This study was approved by the NSW Population and Health Services Research Ethics Committee. Results of the study will be disseminated widely to different interest groups and organisations through a report, conference presentations and peer-reviewed articles.This work is supported by the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (grant number: PCFA – YI 0410). Both David Smith and Xue Qin Yu are supported by an Australian NHMRC Training Fellowship (Ref 1016598, 550002). Mark Clements is supported by an Australian NHMRC Career Development Award (Ref 471491)

Life Test Based on Progressively Group-Censored Samples From Exponential Distribution With Periodic Change in Failure Rate

A life test experiment based on progressively group censored sample with periodic change in the failure rate of an exponential distribution is considered. Estimates of the two failure rates under different conditions of usage of an item together with their asymptotic standard error are obtained by the method of maximum likelihood. A numerical example is given using the data available in the form of grouped observations under two conditions of usage during alternate time intervals of fixed lengths T/Sub1 and T/Sub2

Activation of the P2Y2 receptor regulates bone cell function by enhancing ATP release

Bone cells constitutively release ATP into the extracellular environment where it acts locally via P2 receptors to regulate bone cell function. Whilst P2Y2 receptor stimulation regulates bone mineralisation, the functional effects of this receptor in osteoclasts remain unknown. This investigation used the P2Y2 receptor knockout (P2Y2R−/−) mouse model to investigate the role of this receptor in bone. MicroCT analysis of P2Y2R−/− mice demonstrated age-related increases in trabecular bone volume (≤48%), number (≤30%) and thickness (≤17%). In vitro P2Y2R−/− osteoblasts displayed a 3-fold increase in bone formation and alkaline phosphatase activity, whilst P2Y2R−/− osteoclasts exhibited a 65% reduction in resorptive activity. Serum cross-linked C-telopeptide levels (CTX, resorption marker) were also decreased (≤35%). The resorption defect in P2Y2R−/− osteoclasts was rescued by the addition of exogenous ATP, suggesting that an ATP deficit could be a key factor in the reduced function of these cells. In agreement, we found that basal ATP release was reduced up to 53% in P2Y2R−/− osteoclasts. The P2Y2 receptor agonists, UTP and 2-thioUTP, increased osteoclast activity and ATP release in wild-type but not in P2Y2R−/− cells. This indicates that the P2Y2 receptor may regulate osteoclast function indirectly by promoting ATP release. UTP and 2-thioUTP also stimulate ATP release from osteoblasts suggesting that the P2Y2 receptor exerts a similar function in these cells. Taken together, our findings are consistent with the notion that the primary action of P2Y2 receptor signalling in bone is to regulate extracellular ATP levels

A pilot survey of junior doctors’ attitudes and awareness around medication review: time to change our educational approach?

© 2015, BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.Objectives Our aim was to explore junior doctors attitudes and awareness around concepts related to medication review, in order to find ways to change the culture for reviewing, altering and stopping inappropriate or unnecessary medicines. Having already demonstrated the value of team working with senior doctors and pharmacists and the use of a medication review tool, we are now looking to engage first year clinicians and undergraduates in the process. Method An online survey about medication review was distributed among all 42 foundation year one (FY1) doctors at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in November 2014. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis. Results Twenty doctors completed the survey (48%). Of those, 17 believed that it was the pharmacists duty to review medicines; and 15 of 20 stated the general practitioner (GP). Sixteen of 20 stated that they would consult a senior doctor first before stopping medication. Eighteen of 20 considered the GP and consultant to be responsible for alterations, rather than themselves. Sixteen of 20 respondents were not aware of the availability of a medication review tool. Seventeen of 20 felt that more support from senior staff would help them become involved with medication review. Conclusions Junior doctors report feeling uncomfortable altering mediations without consulting a senior first. They appear to be building confidence with prescribing in their first year but not about the medication review process or questioning the drugs already prescribed. Consideration should be given to what we have termed a bottom-up educational approach to provide early experience of and change the culture around medication review, to include the education of undergraduate and foundation doctors and pharmacists

Techniques for the Synthesis of Reversible Toffoli Networks

This paper presents novel techniques for the synthesis of reversible networks of Toffoli gates, as well as improvements to previous methods. Gate count and technology oriented cost metrics are used. Our synthesis techniques are independent of the cost metrics. Two new iterative synthesis procedure employing Reed-Muller spectra are introduced and shown to complement earlier synthesis approaches. The template simplification suggested in earlier work is enhanced through introduction of a faster and more efficient template application algorithm, updated (shorter) classification of the templates, and presentation of the new templates of sizes 7 and 9. A novel ``resynthesis'' approach is introduced wherein a sequence of gates is chosen from a network, and the reversible specification it realizes is resynthesized as an independent problem in hopes of reducing the network cost. Empirical results are presented to show that the methods are effective both in terms of the realization of all 3x3 reversible functions and larger reversible benchmark specifications.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Evolution of the far-infrared luminosity functions in the Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic Legacy Survey

We present new observational determination of the evolution of the rest-frame 70 and 160 micron and total infrared (TIR) galaxy luminosity functions (LFs) using 70 micron data from the Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic Legacy Survey (SWIRE). The LFs were constructed for sources with spectroscopic redshifts only in the XMM-LSS and Lockman Hole fields from the SWIRE photometric redshift catalogue. The 70 micron and TIR LFs were constructed in the redshift range 0<z<1.2 and the 160 micron LF was constructed in the redshift range 0<z<0.5 using a parametric Bayesian and the vmax methods. We assume in our models, that the faint-end power-law index of the LF does not evolve with redshifts. We find the the double power-law model is a better representation of the IR LF than the more commonly used power-law and Gaussian model. We model the evolution of the FIR LFs as a function of redshift where where the characteristic luminosity, $L^\ast$ evolve as \propto(1+z)^{\alpha_\textsc{l}}. The rest-frame 70 micron LF shows a strong luminosity evolution out to z=1.2 with alpha_l=3.41^{+0.18}_{-0.25}. The rest-frame 160 micron LF also showed rapid luminosity evolution with alpha_l=5.53^{+0.28}_{-0.23} out to z=0.5. The rate of evolution in luminosity is consistent with values estimated from previous studies using data from IRAS, ISO and Spitzer. The TIR LF evolves in luminosity with alpha_l=3.82^{+0.28}_{-0.16} which is in agreement with previous results from Spitzer 24 micron which find strong luminosity evolution. By integrating the LF we calculated the co-moving IR luminosity density out to z=1.2, which confirm the rapid evolution in number density of LIRGs and ULIRGs which contribute ~68^{+10}_{-07} % to the co-moving star formation rate density at z=1.2. Our results based on 70 micron data confirms that the bulk of the star formation at z=1 takes place in dust obscured objects.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figure

Algorithms to automatically quantify the geometric similarity of anatomical surfaces

We describe new approaches for distances between pairs of 2-dimensional surfaces (embedded in 3-dimensional space) that use local structures and global information contained in inter-structure geometric relationships. We present algorithms to automatically determine these distances as well as geometric correspondences. This is motivated by the aspiration of students of natural science to understand the continuity of form that unites the diversity of life. At present, scientists using physical traits to study evolutionary relationships among living and extinct animals analyze data extracted from carefully defined anatomical correspondence points (landmarks). Identifying and recording these landmarks is time consuming and can be done accurately only by trained morphologists. This renders these studies inaccessible to non-morphologists, and causes phenomics to lag behind genomics in elucidating evolutionary patterns. Unlike other algorithms presented for morphological correspondences our approach does not require any preliminary marking of special features or landmarks by the user. It also differs from other seminal work in computational geometry in that our algorithms are polynomial in nature and thus faster, making pairwise comparisons feasible for significantly larger numbers of digitized surfaces. We illustrate our approach using three datasets representing teeth and different bones of primates and humans, and show that it leads to highly accurate results.Comment: Changes with respect to v1, v2: an Erratum was added, correcting the references for one of the three datasets. Note that the datasets and code for this paper can be obtained from the Data Conservancy (see Download column on v1, v2

Static & Thermal Analysis of Piston for Single Cylinder Diesel Engine by Ansys : A Review

The main objective of this present research work is to investigate and analyze the stresses which are acting on the piston. The parameter which is used for analysis is temperature, operating pressure and properties of materials. Piston in internal combustion engine play most important role because it transfers the force which is produced during the combustion of fuel to crankshaft due to which it converts the pressure energy into mechanical energy. Piston fails due to thermal and mechanical stresses which are produced under the running condition of engine. The boundary conditions are applied for static and thermal analysis which includes pressure on piston head during working period and uneven temperature distributions occurs from head of piston to skirt of piston. The 3D-model will be created using SOLIDWORKS2018.the 3D model will be imported in the Ansys software for geometry and meshing purposes then the FEM Analysis will be done on ANSYS software. Analysis will help to change the existing design for reduce the weight. Finite Element Analysis is the best method for analyzing the stresses in piston

Studies on variability of some morphological characters in fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) 1

Analysis of variability carried out for 15 characters in 36 diverse genotypes of fennel (Foeniculumvulgare) at Jagudan (Gujarat) revealed highly significant differences among genotypes for allthe characters studied. High genotypic and phenotypic variances were observed for days to50% flowering, days to 50% maturity, plant height, plant height up to main umbel, totalbranches plant-1, number of seeds main umbel-1&nbsp;and seed yield plant-1. The highest genotypiccoefficient of variation was observed for volatile oil content in seed followed by total branchesplant-1&nbsp;and number of seeds main umbel-1. Heritability estimates were high for seed yieldplant-1, days to 50% flowering, number of primary branches plant-1, total branches plant-1,test weight and volatile oil content. High genetic advance as &nbsp;percentage of mean was recordedfor seed yield plant-1, days to 50% flowering, primary branches plant-1, total branchesplant-1, effective umbels plant-1, number of umbellates umbel-1, number of seeds mainumbel-1, test weight and volatile oil content, suggesting that phenotypic selection for thesetraits would be effective. Overall, it is suggested that for improving yield in fennel, moreemphasis should be given to plant height, primary branches plant-1, total branches plant-1and effective umbels plant-1. &nbsp