Licensing & treatment variability among WWTPs in the monitoring criteria for priority chemicals leading to emission factors project

A system for the licensing of waste water discharges from areas served by local authority sewer networks was introduced in 2007 and will require all WWTP to obtain a waste water discharge licence from the EPA by set dates depending on the population equivalent (PE) of the area served by the sewer network. The licensing gives effect to a number of EU Directives, imposing restrictions or prohibitions on the discharge of dangerous substances to receiving water bodies

Devising a risk index for priority substance emissions from WWTPs

A review was used to identify the major factors leading to priority substances (PS) & priority hazardous substances (PHS) loading from WWTPs, integrated and conceptualised into a basic conceptual model. The focus is on readily-available data relevant to major PS/PHS risk factors identified by conceptual modelling, developing appropriate indicators. Databases were compiled for Local Authority and EPA licensed discharges, and agglomeration traffic. Results from these databases were integrated into the risk model for agglomeration PS/PHS loading, combined with basic WWTP (e.g. capacity and treatment level) and agglomeration (e.g. population and area) data, and finally expressed as elevated risk in a national context following normalisation procedures

Priority and hazardous substances

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC) was transposed into Irish law in 2003 as the European Communities (Water Policy) The level of priority substances present in water bodies is most commonly judged against set environmental quality standards (EQSs) . These standards dictate the maximum allowable concentrations (MAC EQS) or range of concentrations (Annual Average or AA EQS) of specific pollutants allowed to ensure compliance with the EC guidelines. The EU WFD was transposed into Irish Law in 2003 and as such these EQS values now form the basis of priority substance water monitoring in Ireland

Priority & hazardous occurrence in domestic wastewater from small scale systems in Ireland

A wide range of household sources may potentially contribute to contaminant loads in domestic wastewater. Typically domestic wastewater is combined and transported as a single waste stream, however, there is considerable variation in the pollutant and pathogen content of wastewater derived from different activities within the home (e.g. toilet flushing, dish washing, bathing etc.). In Ireland, the issue of unsewered wastewater treatment systems often located in rural areas and estimated to number over 400,000, constitutes a significant diffuse risk to both surface & groundwater. DCU & CIT have teamed up with DkIT and their project partners to carry out a preliminary investigation into the levels of priority & hazardous substances in domestic wastewater from a number of single dwelling houses within the Lough Muckno Catchment, Co. Monaghan and an integrated constructed wetland (ICW) on the grounds of the Castle Leslie Estate in Glaslough, Co. Monaghan

BLOOM: A 176B-Parameter Open-Access Multilingual Language Model

Large language models (LLMs) have been shown to be able to perform new tasks based on a few demonstrations or natural language instructions. While these capabilities have led to widespread adoption, most LLMs are developed by resource-rich organizations and are frequently kept from the public. As a step towards democratizing this powerful technology, we present BLOOM, a 176B-parameter open-access language model designed and built thanks to a collaboration of hundreds of researchers. BLOOM is a decoder-only Transformer language model that was trained on the ROOTS corpus, a dataset comprising hundreds of sources in 46 natural and 13 programming languages (59 in total). We find that BLOOM achieves competitive performance on a wide variety of benchmarks, with stronger results after undergoing multitask prompted finetuning. To facilitate future research and applications using LLMs, we publicly release our models and code under the Responsible AI License

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Mutational analysis of the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor tyrosine kinase domain in non-small cell lung cancer patients

The insulin‑like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) pathway plays an important role in the pathogenesis of non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and also provides a mechanism of resistance to targeted therapies. IGF1R is therefore an ideal therapeutic target and several inhibitors have entered clinical trials. However, thus far the response to these inhibitors has been poor, highlighting the importance of predictive biomarkers to identify patient cohorts who will benefit from these targeted agents. It is well‑documented that mutations and/or deletions in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase (TK) domain predict sensitivity of NSCLC patients to EGFR TK inhibitors. Single‑nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the IGF pathway have been associated with disease, including breast and prostate cancer. The aim of the present study was to elucidate whether the IGF1R TK domain harbours SNPs, somatic mutations or deletions in NSCLC patients and correlates the mutation status to patient clinicopathological data and prognosis. Initially 100 NSCLC patients were screened for mutations/deletions in the IGF1R TK domain (exons 16‑21) by sequencing analysis. Following the identification of SNP rs2229765, a further 98 NSCLC patients and 866 healthy disease‑free control patients were genotyped using an SNP assay. The synonymous SNP (rs2229765) was the only aberrant base change identified in the IGF1R TK domain of 100 NSCLC patients initially analysed. SNP rs2229765 was detected in exon 16 and was found to have no significant association between IGF1R expression and survival. The GA genotype was identified in 53.5 and 49.4% of NSCLC patients and control individuals, respectively. No significant difference was found in the genotype (P=0.5487) or allele (P=0.9082) frequencies between the case and control group. The present findings indicate that in contrast to the EGFR TK domain, the IGF1R TK domain is not frequently mutated in NSCLC patients. The synonymous SNP (rs2229765) had no significant association between IGF1R expression and survival in the cohort of NSCLC patients

A framework for understanding assessment practice in higher education

A source of contestation in higher education curricula is the multiplicity of demands they serve and purposes they seek to fulfil. In this paper, we see this contestation as actively shaping assessment theory and practice, resulting in paradoxes of valorisation and vilification of everyday assessment practices. We address the plethora of contestations in higher education assessment through the disruption of dichotomies in assessment discourse by re-querying assessment autonomy, logic and the basis of success. To this end, we apply Legitimation Code Theory to construct a new holistic framework for assessment inquiry, contributing to both extant and developing assessment theory by proposing a single sociological framework to analyse assessment practice cross-discipline, institution and geographical boundaries

Protocol of DREAM3R : DuRvalumab with chEmotherapy as first-line treAtment in advanced pleural Mesothelioma-a phase 3 randomised trial

Introduction: There is a strong theoretical rationale for combining checkpoint blockade with cytotoxic chemotherapy in pleural mesothelioma and other cancers. Two recent single-arm, phase 2 trials [DuRvalumab with chEmotherapy as first-line treAtment in advanced pleural Mesothelioma (DREAM) and Phase II multicenter study of anti-PD-L1, durvalumab, in combination with cisplatin and pemetrexed for the first-line treatment of unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma (PrE0505)] combining the programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) inhibitor durvalumab with standard first-line chemotherapy exceeded prespecified safety and activity criteria to proceed to a phase 3 confirmatory trial to assess this combination. We present the protocol of the DREAM3R trial. Methods and analysis: This multicentre open-label randomised trial will recruit 480 treatment-naïve adults with advanced pleural mesothelioma, randomised (2:1) to either 3-weekly durvalumab 1500 mg plus 3-weekly doublet chemotherapy (cisplatin 75 mg/m 2 or carboplatin, Area Under the Curve,AUC 5 and pemetrexed 500 mg/m 2) 4-6 cycles, followed by 4-weekly durvalumab 1500 mg until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity or patient withdrawal; OR doublet chemotherapy alone for 4-6 cycles, followed by observation. The target accrual time is 27 months, with follow-up for an additional 24 months. This provides over 85% power if the true HR for overall survival (OS) is 0.70, with two-sided alpha of 0.05, assuming a median OS of 15 months in the control group. Randomisation is stratified by age (18-70 years vs >70), sex, histology (epithelioid vs non-epithelioid), platinum agent (cisplatin vs carboplatin) and region (USA vs Australia/New Zealand vs Other). The primary endpoint is OS. Secondary endpoints include progression-free survival, objective tumour response (by mRECIST V.1.1 and iRECIST), adverse events, health-related quality of life and healthcare resource use. Tertiary correlative objectives are to explore and validate potential prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers (including features identified in the DuRvalumab with chEmotherapy as first-line treAtment in advanced pleural Mesothelioma (DREAM) and PrE0505 studies, PD-L1 expression, tumour mutational burden, genomic characteristics and human leukocyte antigen subtypes) in tissue and serial blood samples. An imaging databank will be assembled for validation of radiological measures of response, and studies of possible radiomic biomarkers in mesothelioma. Ethics and dissemination: The protocol was approved by human research ethics review committees for all participating sites. Results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and at scientific conferences. Drug Supply AstraZeneca. Protocol version CTC 0231/TOGA 18/001/PrE0506 3.0, 29 July 2021.</p