Evaluation of Mid-Year Review of 2014 Seminars: A case study of the CSIR-Water Research Institute, Ghana

Scientific seminars are organized to provide forum for participants to discuss and also bring into the public domain current activities of an organization. To ascertain whether the seminars are achieving its aim, evaluation is usually done to assess the effectiveness. It is against this background that Water Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research organized 2014 mid-year seminar to review its research activities as well as communicate findings of research undertaken by its scientist for the year under review. Hence, the main thrust of this paper is to evaluate the success of 2014 mid-year review seminar. The evaluation for the purposes of quality assurance and future organization of similar seminars were conducted using descriptive statistics analysis of the evaluation questionnaire. The results of the study revealed that 71% of the participants were males while 29% of them were females. Most of the respondents were of the view that the topics presented were relevant and the overall performance of the seminar was good as it was in line with the objectives of the institute, that is, to generate and provide scientific information. Keywords: CSIR-Water Research Institute, Scientific Seminars, Scientific Informatio

Associations of common breast cancer susceptibility alleles with risk of breast cancer subtypes in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers

Introduction: More than 70 common alleles are known to be involved in breast cancer (BC) susceptibility, and several exhibit significant heterogeneity in their associations with different BC subtypes. Although there are differences in the association patterns between BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers and the general population for several loci, no study has comprehensively evaluated the associations of all known BC susceptibility alleles with risk of BC subtypes in BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers. Methods: We used data from 15,252 BRCA1 and 8,211 BRCA2 carriers to analyze the associations between approximately 200,000 genetic variants on the iCOGS array and risk of BC subtypes defined by estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and triple-negative- (TN) status; morphologic subtypes; histological grade; and nodal involvement. Results: The estimated BC hazard ratios (HRs) for the 74 known BC alleles in BRCA1 carriers exhibited moderate correlations with the corresponding odds ratios from the general population. However, their associations with ER-positive BC in BRCA1 carriers were more consistent with the ER-positive as

Associations of common breast cancer susceptibility alleles with risk of breast cancer subtypes in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers

Abstract Introduction More than 70 common alleles are known to be involved in breast cancer (BC) susceptibility, and several exhibit significant heterogeneity in their associations with different BC subtypes. Although there are differences in the association patterns between BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers and the general population for several loci, no study has comprehensively evaluated the associations of all known BC susceptibility alleles with risk of BC subtypes in BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers. Methods We used data from 15,252 BRCA1 and 8,211 BRCA2 carriers to analyze the associations between approximately 200,000 genetic variants on the iCOGS array and risk of BC subtypes defined by estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and triple-negative- (TN) status; morphologic subtypes; histological grade; and nodal involvement. Results The estimated BC hazard ratios (HRs) for the 74 known BC alleles in BRCA1 carriers exhibited moderate correlations with the corresponding odds ratios from the general population. However, their associations with ER-positive BC in BRCA1 carriers were more consistent with the ER-positive associations in the general population (intraclass correlation (ICC) = 0.61, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.45 to 0.74), and the same was true when considering ER-negative associations in both groups (ICC = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.42 to 0.72). Similarly, there was strong correlation between the ER-positive associations for BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers (ICC = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.52 to 0.78), whereas ER-positive associations in any one of the groups were generally inconsistent with ER-negative associations in any of the others. After stratifying by ER status in mutation carriers, additional significant associations were observed. Several previously unreported variants exhibited associations at P <10−6 in the analyses by PR status, HER2 status, TN phenotype, morphologic subtypes, histological grade and nodal involvement. Conclusions Differences in associations of common BC susceptibility alleles between BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers and the general population are explained to a large extent by differences in the prevalence of ER-positive and ER-negative tumors. Estimates of the risks associated with these variants based on population-based studies are likely to be applicable to mutation carriers after taking ER status into account, which has implications for risk prediction

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

Pressure drop, liquid holdup and mass transfer in a graphite fibre bed with upward co-current gas-liquid flow

The pressure drop, liquid holdup and overall mass transfer capacity have been studied in a graphite fibre electrode of porosity 0.90and fibre diameter 22 micrometer with cocurrent upward gas-liquid flow. A U-tube mercury manometer was used to measure the pressure drop in a graphite fibre bed 356 mm long by 38 mm wide by 3 mm thick. The gas and liquid were oxygen and water. For gas load 0 5 G 5 0.43kg/m2s and liquid load 1.46 5 L 5 7.30 kg/m2s, the pressure gradient ranged from 0.24 and 2.09 bar/m. The correlation for the pressure gradient is AP = L [ 0.36 + 1.182 (G/L ) 0.618 ]2 where AP = pressure gradient^bar/m L = liquid load^kg/m2s G = gas load^kg/m2s The quick closing valve method was used to measure the total liquid holdup in a graphite fibre bed 356 mm long by 38 mm wide by 3mm thick. Oxygen and 1M aqueous sodium hydroxide were the fluids used for the total liquid holdup measurements. For gas load 0 5 G 5 0.35 kg/m2s and liquid load 1.53 5 L 5 7.62 kg/m2s the liquid holdup ranged from 0.44 to 1.0. The correlation for the total liquid holdup is hL = 1 - 0.907 L 0.362 G 0.301 where hL = liquid holdup. The overall mass transfer capacity was determined by the electrochemical reaction method with the electro-reduction of oxygen to peroxide. The electrochemical reactor used consisted of graphite fibre cathode bed of dimension 89 mm long by 38 mm wide by3 mm thick. The cathode was separated from the anode by a cation membrane. Oxygen gas and 1M aqueous sodium hydroxide were the fluids used. For gas load 0.04 5 G 5 0.36 and liquid load 3.05 5L 5 7.62 the overall mass transfer capacity ranged from 3.4 to 9.0 -1 s . The correlation for the overall mass transfer capacity is Ka = 5 . 9 L0.371 G0.233 where K = overall mass transfer coefficient^m/s a = effective interfacial area for gas to solid^m-1 L = superficial liquid load^kg/m2s G = superficial gas load^kg/m2sApplied Science, Faculty ofChemical and Biological Engineering, Department ofGraduat