Feasibility and outcomes of Fibreoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing following prophylactic swallowing rehabilitation in head and neck cancer

Objectives Investigate the feasibility and outcomes of fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) following a programme of prophylactic swallowing exercises in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients treated with radiotherapy. Design Prospective, single cohort, feasibility study. Setting Three head and neck cancer centres in Scotland. Participants Pre‐radiotherapy HNC patients who consented to participate in a prophylactic swallowing intervention. Outcome measures FEES recruitment and retention rates, assessment acceptability and compliance, qualitative process evaluation. Results Higher rates of recruitment and retention were achieved in centres where FEES equipment was available on site. Travel and anticipated discomfort were barriers to recruitment. Data completion was high for all rating scales, with goo d reliability. Following radiotherapy, swallowing safety significantly deteriorated for liquid boluses (p=0.005‐0.03); pharyngeal residue increased for liquid and semi‐solid boluses. Pharyngo‐laryngeal oedema was present pre‐treatment and significantly increased post‐radiotherapy (p=0.001). Patients generally reported positive experience of FEES for their own learning and establishing a baseline. Conclusions FEES is an acceptable method of assessing patients for a prophylactic swallowing intervention and offers some additional information missing from VF. Barriers have been identified and should be taken into account in order to maximise recruitment for future trials

Crowdsourcing/Winter Operations Dashboard Upgrade

INDOT has recently completed the deployment of Parsons telematics-based dash-cameras, automatic vehicle locator (AVL) positions, and spreader rate monitoring across their winter operations fleet. The motivation of this study was to develop dashboards that integrate connected vehicle data into the real-time monitoring and after-action review of winter storms. Each month approximately 13 billion connected vehicle records are ingested for the state of Indiana and almost 99 billion weather data records are ingested nationwide in 15-minute intervals. This study developed techniques to utilize this connected vehicle data and weather data to monitor real-time mobility of interstates and post storm after-action assessments to identify improvement opportunities of winter operations activities. In multiple instances, these agile reviews have influenced operational changes in snow removal and maintenance around the state, leading to a marked improvement in observed mobility and safety

An expanded allosteric network in PTP1B by multitemperature crystallography, fragment screening, and covalent tethering

Abstract: Allostery is an inherent feature of proteins, but it remains challenging to reveal the mechanisms by which allosteric signals propagate. A clearer understanding of this intrinsic circuitry would afford new opportunities to modulate protein function. Here, we have identified allosteric sites in protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) by combining multiple-temperature X-ray crystallography experiments and structure determination from hundreds of individual small- molecule fragment soaks. New modeling approaches reveal ’hidden’ low-occupancy conformational states for protein and ligands. Our results converge on allosteric sites that are conformationally coupled to the active-site WPD loop and are hotspots for fragment binding. Targeting one of these sites with covalently tethered molecules or mutations allosterically inhibits enzyme activity. Overall, this work demonstrates how the ensemble nature of macromolecular structure, revealed here by multitemperature crystallography, can elucidate allosteric mechanisms and open new doors for long-range control of protein function

Disentangling Electron-Boson Interactions on the Surface of a Familiar Ferromagnet

We report energy renormalizations from electron-phonon and electron-magnon interactions in spin minority surface resonances on Ni(111). The different interactions are disentangled and quantified in strength $\lambda$, based on the characteristic shapes of their complex self-energies, and the largely different binding energies at which they occur. The observed electron-magnon interactions reveal a strong dependence on momentum and energy band position in the bulk Brillouin zone. In contrast, electron-phonon interactions from the same bands are observed to be practically momentum- and symmetry-independent. Additionally, a moderately strong ($\lambda>0.5$) electron-phonon interaction is observed from a `buried', near-parabolic spin majority band that does not cross the Fermi level.Comment: QuSpin 202

Salt Monitoring and Reporting Technology (SMART) for Salt Stockpile Inventory Reporting

Transportation agencies in northern environments spend a considerable amount of their budget on salt for winter operations. For example, in the state of Indiana, there are approximately 120 salt storage facilities distributed throughout the state and the state expends between 30 M USD and 60 M USD on inventory and delivery each year. Historical techniques of relying on visual estimates of salt stockpiles can be inaccurate and unhelpful for managing the supply chain during the winter or planning for re-supply during the summer months. This project report describes the implementation of a portable and permanent LiDAR system that can be used to inventory indoor stockpiles of salt in under 15 min and describes how this system has been deployed over 300 times at over 120 facilities. A quick and easy accuracy test, based on the conservation of volume, was used to provide an independent check on the system performance by repositioning portions of the salt pile. Those tests indicated stockpile volumes can be estimated with an accuracy of 1%–3% of indicated stockpile volumes. The report concludes by discussing how this technology can be permanently installed for systematic monitoring throughout the year

The sub-band structure of atomically sharp dopant profiles in silicon

This work was partly supported by the Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence funding scheme, Project Number 262633, ‘QuSpin’, and through the Fripro program, Project Numbers 250985 ‘FunTopoMat’, 262339 ‘NEAT’, and by the Villum Fonden through the Centre of Excellence for Dirac Materials (Grant No. 11744). J.A.M. acknowledges funding support from the Danish Council for Independent Research, Natural Sciences under the Sapere Aude program (Grant No. DFF-6108-00409) and the Aarhus University Research Foundation. P.D.C.K. acknowledges financial support from The Royal Society.The downscaling of silicon-based structures and proto-devices has now reached the single-atom scale, representing an important milestone for the development of a silicon-based quantum computer. One especially notable platform for atomic-scale device fabrication is the so-called Si:P δ-layer, consisting of an ultra-dense and sharp layer of dopants within a semiconductor host. Whilst several alternatives exist, it is on the Si:P platform that many quantum proto-devices have been successfully demonstrated. Motivated by this, both calculations and experiments have been dedicated to understanding the electronic structure of the Si:P δ-layer platform. In this work, we use high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to reveal the structure of the electronic states which exist because of the high dopant density of the Si:P δ-layer. In contrast to published theoretical work, we resolve three distinct bands, the most occupied of which shows a large anisotropy and significant deviation from simple parabolic behaviour. We investigate the possible origins of this fine structure, and conclude that it is primarily a consequence of the dielectric constant being large (ca. double that of bulk Si). Incorporating this factor into tight-binding calculations leads to a major revision of band structure; specifically, the existence of a third band, the separation of the bands, and the departure from purely parabolic behaviour. This new understanding of the band structure has important implications for quantum proto-devices which are built on the Si:P δ-layer platform.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Systematic review and meta-analysis of reduction in all-cause mortality from walking and cycling and shape of dose response relationship

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Walking and cycling have shown beneficial effects on population risk of all-cause mortality (ACM). This paper aims to review the evidence and quantify these effects, adjusted for other physical activity (PA). DATA SOURCES: We conducted a systematic review to identify relevant studies. Searches were conducted in November 2013 using the following health databases of publications: Embase (OvidSP); Medline (OvidSP); Web of Knowledge; CINAHL; SCOPUS; SPORTDiscus. We also searched reference lists of relevant texts and reviews. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND PARTICIPANTS: Eligible studies were prospective cohort design and reporting walking or cycling exposure and mortality as an outcome. Only cohorts of individuals healthy at baseline were considered eligible. STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS METHODS: Extracted data included study population and location, sample size, population characteristics (age and sex), follow-up in years, walking or cycling exposure, mortality outcome, and adjustment for other co-variables. We used random-effects meta-analyses to investigate the beneficial effects of regular walking and cycling. RESULTS: Walking (18 results from 14 studies) and cycling (8 results from 7 studies) were shown to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality, adjusted for other PA. For a standardised dose of 11.25 MET.hours per week (or 675 MET.minutes per week), the reduction in risk for ACM was 11% (95% CI = 4 to 17%) for walking and 10% (95% CI = 6 to 13%) for cycling. The estimates for walking are based on 280,000 participants and 2.6 million person-years and for cycling they are based on 187,000 individuals and 2.1 million person-years. The shape of the dose-response relationship was modelled through meta-analysis of pooled relative risks within three exposure intervals. The dose-response analysis showed that walking or cycling had the greatest effect on risk for ACM in the first (lowest) exposure interval. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The analysis shows that walking and cycling have population-level health benefits even after adjustment for other PA. Public health approaches would have the biggest impact if they are able to increase walking and cycling levels in the groups that have the lowest levels of these activities. REVIEW REGISTRATION: The review protocol was registered with PROSPERO (International database of prospectively registered systematic reviews in health and social care) PROSPERO 2013: CRD42013004266

A time-resolved multifocal multiphoton microscope for high speed FRET imaging in vivo

Imaging the spatio-temporal interaction of proteins in vivo is essential to understanding the complexities of biological systems. The highest accuracy monitoring of protein-protein interactions is achieved using FRET measured by fluorescence lifetime imaging with measurements taking minutes to acquire a single frame, limiting their use in dynamic live cell systems. We present a diffraction limited, massively parallel, time-resolved multifocal multiphoton microscope capable of producing fluorescence lifetime images with 55 ps time-resolution giving improvements in acquisition speed of a factor of 64. We present demonstrations with FRET imaging in a model cell system and demonstrate in vivo FLIM using a GTPase biosensor in the zebrafish embryo