Bridging the Digital Divide: The UNBIASED national study to unravel the impact of ethnicity and deprivation on diabetes technology disparities in the United Kingdom

While diabetes technology offers significant clinical and quality-of-life benefits to people with type 1 diabetes, persistent inequalities in technology use based on ethnicity and deprivation are becoming increasingly evident. To date, there is limited research into the challenges and barriers to accessing and using diabetes technology and concerns felt by end-users from racially minoritised and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Their views are often under-represented in the literature, and healthcare professionals’ perspectives on barriers to technology access have also been neglected. This article explores the nuanced relationship between ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and technology access. By understanding the parallels between health and technology inequalities, we can pave the way for targeted interventions to bridge the digital gap and create a more inclusive technological landscape. The UNBIASED study is currently being conducted across England, and is exploring the lived experiences of under-represented children and young people with type 1 diabetes regarding the (lack of) utilisation of life-changing diabetes technologies. The study is also consulting healthcare professionals who can act as gatekeepers to technology, with the ultimate goal of identifying and dismantling existing barriers and inequities to access. By synthesising the perspectives of both people with type 1 diabetes and healthcare providers, this research seeks to develop inclusive, practical, and implementable solutions to foster improved access to cutting-edge diabetes technologies within the National Health Service (NHS)

Interlaboratory evaluation of rat hepatic gene expression changes induced by methapyrilene.

Several studies using microarrays have shown that changes in gene expression provide information about the mechanism of toxicity induced by xenobiotic agents. Nevertheless, the issue of whether gene expression profiles are reproducible across different laboratories remains to be determined. To address this question, several members of the Hepatotoxicity Working Group of the International Life Sciences Institute Health and Environmental Sciences Institute evaluated the liver gene expression profiles of rats treated with methapyrilene (MP). Animals were treated at one facility, and RNA was distributed to five different sites for gene expression analysis. A preliminary evaluation of the number of modulated genes uncovered striking differences between the five different sites. However, additional data analysis demonstrated that these differences had an effect on the absolute gene expression results but not on the outcome of the study. For all users, unsupervised algorithms showed that gene expression allows the distinction of the high dose of MP from controls and low dose. In addition, the use of a supervised analysis method (support vector machines) made it possible to correctly classify samples. In conclusion, the results show that, despite some variability, robust gene expression changes were consistent between sites. In addition, key expression changes related to the mechanism of MP-induced hepatotoxicity were identified. These results provide critical information regarding the consistency of microarray results across different laboratories and shed light on the strengths and limitations of expression profiling in drug safety analysis

Transmission and Transport of Energy in the Western U.S. and Canada: A Law and Policy Road Map

This collection of short essays arose from the inaugural meeting of the Idaho Symposium on Energy in the West, which was held in November, 2014. The topic for this first Symposium was Transmission and Transport of Energy in the Western U.S. and Canada: A Law and Policy Road Map. The essays in this collection provide a notable introduction to the major energy issues facing the West today. Topics include: building a resilient legal architecture for western energy production; natural gas flaring; transmission planning for wind energy; utilities and rooftop solar; special considerations for western states and the Clean Power Plan; the Clean Power Plan\u27s implications for the western grid; siting renewable energy on public lands; and implications of utility reform in New York and Hawaii for the Northwest

The prevalence and clinical associations of mood instability in adults living in England : results from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007

Mood instability is underinvestigated but potentially clinically important. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of mood instability in adults living in England and test whether it is important in explaining the extent of symptoms of common mental disorders, suicidality and healthcare use. An analysis of data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007, a household survey of private households in England (N=7403), was completed. The prevalence of mood instability was 13.9%. In univariate analysis it was strongly associated with socio-demographic and clinical variables. In regression modelling mood instability was independently associated with non-psychotic psychopathology, increasing the odds by 9.89. It was also linked with suicidal ideas (odds ratios (OR): 2.04) but not suicidal acts, and associated with being in receipt of medication, counselling or therapy for mental health problems (OR: 1.88), independent of a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Mood instability is relatively common in the adult population, occurs frequently in common mental disorders and appears to be an important symptom in its own right. It is associated with two important measures in psychiatry, namely suicidal thinking and healthcare service use. It warrants more widespread recognition and further research is required to understand if, when and how to intervene

A surveillance sector review applied to infectious diseases at a country level

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The new International Health Regulations (IHR) require World Health Organization (WHO) member states to assess their core capacity for surveillance. Such reviews also have the potential to identify important surveillance gaps, improve the organisation of disparate surveillance systems and to focus attention on <it>upstream </it>hazards, determinants and interventions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We developed a <it>surveillance sector review </it>method for evaluating all of the surveillance systems and related activities across a sector, in this case those concerned with infectious diseases in New Zealand. The first stage was a systematic description of these surveillance systems using a newly developed framework and classification system. Key informant interviews were conducted to validate the available information on the systems identified.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified 91 surveillance systems and related activities in the 12 coherent categories of infectious diseases examined. The majority (n = 40 or 44%) of these were disease surveillance systems. They covered all categories, particularly for more severe outcomes including those resulting in death or hospitalisations. Except for some notifiable diseases and influenza, surveillance of less severe, but important infectious diseases occurring in the community was largely absent. There were 31 systems (34%) for surveillance of <it>upstream </it>infectious disease hazards, including risk and protective factors. This area tended to have many potential gaps and lack integration, partly because such systems were operated by a range of different agencies, often outside the health sector. There were fewer surveillance systems for determinants, including population size and characteristics (n = 9), and interventions (n = 11).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It was possible to create and populate a workable framework for describing all the infectious diseases surveillance systems and related activities in a single developed country and to identify potential surveillance sector gaps. This is the first stage in a review process that will lead to identification of priorities for surveillance sector development.</p

The retrospective analysis of Antarctic tracking data project

The Retrospective Analysis of Antarctic Tracking Data (RAATD) is a Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research project led jointly by the Expert Groups on Birds and Marine Mammals and Antarctic Biodiversity Informatics, and endorsed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. RAATD consolidated tracking data for multiple species of Antarctic meso- and top-predators to identify Areas of Ecological Significance. These datasets and accompanying syntheses provide a greater understanding of fundamental ecosystem processes in the Southern Ocean, support modelling of predator distributions under future climate scenarios and create inputs that can be incorporated into decision making processes by management authorities. In this data paper, we present the compiled tracking data from research groups that have worked in the Antarctic since the 1990s. The data are publicly available through biodiversity.aq and the Ocean Biogeographic Information System. The archive includes tracking data from over 70 contributors across 12 national Antarctic programs, and includes data from 17 predator species, 4060 individual animals, and over 2.9 million observed locations