Common Variant Burden Contributes to the Familial Aggregation of Migraine in 1,589 Families

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. Complex traits, including migraine, often aggregate in families, but the underlying genetic architecture behind this is not well understood. The aggregation could be explained by rare, penetrant variants that segregate according to Mendelian inheritance or by the sufficient polygenic accumulation of common variants, each with an individually small effect, or a combination of the two hypotheses. In 8,319 individuals across 1,589 migraine families, we calculated migraine polygenic risk scores (PRS) and found a significantly higher common variant burden in familial cases (n = 5,317, OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.71–1.81, p = 1.7 × 10−109) compared to population cases from the FINRISK cohort (n = 1,101, OR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.25–1.38, p = 7.2 × 10−17). The PRS explained 1.6% of the phenotypic variance in the population cases and 3.5% in the familial cases (including 2.9% for migraine without aura, 5.5% for migraine with typical aura, and 8.2% for hemiplegic migraine). The results demonstrate a significant contribution of common polygenic variation to the familial aggregation of migraine. Gormley et al. use polygenic risk scores to show that common variation, captured by genome-wide association studies, in combination contributes to the aggregation of migraine in families. The results may have similar implications for other complex traits in general

Organizational aspects of e-referrals

Three different, well established systems for e-referral were examined. They ranged from a system in a single country handling a large number of cases (60,000 per year) to a global system covering many countries which handled fewer cases (150 per year). Nonetheless, there appeared to be a number of common features. Whether the purpose is e-transfer or e-consultation, the underlying model of the e-referral process is: the referrer initiates an e-request; the organization managing the process receives it, the organization allocates it for reply; the responder replies to the initiator. Various things can go wrong and the organization managing the e-referral process needs to be able to track requests through the system; this requires various performance metrics. E-referral can be conducted using email, or as messages passed either directly between computer systems or via a Web-link to a server. The experience of the three systems studied shows that significant changes in work practice are needed to launch an e-referral service successfully. The use of e-referral between primary and secondary care improves access to services and can be shown to be cost-effective

Comparative performance analysis of a dual-solenoid mechanical oscillator

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. An innovative dual-solenoid electro-mechanical-vibro-impact system has been constructed and experimentally studied. Comparative studies against a mechanical spring system and a permanent magnet system have been performed, where it is shown that the dual-solenoid system is able to produce oscillations better than the permanent magnet system and more energy efficiently. Comparison with a higher-powered dual solenoid system has also been conducted where a stationary solenoid has shown to be a more dominant parameter. In addition, it is also discovered that a mechanical oscillator in the dual-solenoid system is independent of the angular frequency

Techno-economic evaluation of 3G and beyond mobile business alternatives

3G, Business models, CDMA450, EDGE, UMTS, WiMAX,

On the economics of fixed-mobile convergence

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show that fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) has gathered much interest in the telecommunications industry lately. Integrated operators (who own both fixed and mobile networks), are keen to exploit FMC benefits in order to save costs and generate new revenues. This paper aims to analyze the effects of converged network and service environment on the business of existing telecommunication operators. Design/methodology/approach: After an introduction to the regulatory, market, and technology related issues of convergence, the authors focus on analyzing the role of FMC technologies and services in their businesses of an integrated operator with existing fixed and mobile operations in a large Western European country. Findings: Results reveal that an integrated operator can benefit from cost savings, customer retention and prevent revenue erosion by migrating to FMC. Originality/value: This paper examines the effects of fixed-mobile convergence to an integrated operator. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Technoeconomic evaluation of the major telecommunication investment options for European players

This article summarizes the major results from European projects drawing final conclusions and recommendations from the technoeconomic evaluation of three telecommunications market studies. It presents an analysis addressing a wide range of crucial telecommunications questions debated today. The business cases are: seamless mobile IP service provision, 3G mobile virtual network operators (MVNO), and fixed networks for broadband IP services. Extensive market analysis has been carried out for modeling demand, penetrations, and tariff structures for new mobile services and broadband services as an input to the business cases. Results show that over a 10-year study period, UMTS business is profitable in most cases for established operators with reasonable market share. The 3G MVNO business case is profitable under typical conditions when MVNO yields about 10 percent penetration, depending on the country type. Provision of fixed broadband services with a fiber to the curb solution is viable in dense urban and urban areas, but not in suburban environments, while fiber to the home is viable only in dense urban areas, despite the selection of protocol (ATM vs. Ethernet). Furthermore, broadband wireless access (BWA) systems, in dense urban and urban areas, show quite promising economic results. © 2006 IEEE

Consensus Statement on Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose in Diabetes

The consensus group recommends to perform self-monitoring of blood glucose in all types of treatment approaches in diabetes to achieve near-normal glucose control without increasing the risk of hypoglycaemia. The recommended frequency and pattern of self-monitoring of blood glucose depends on the type of diabetes, the treatment approach and the individually set targets of HbA(1c) and pre- and postprandial blood glucose