Use of record-linkage to handle non-response and improve alcohol consumption estimates in health survey data: a study protocol

<p>Introduction: Reliable estimates of health-related behaviours, such as levels of alcohol consumption in the population, are required to formulate and evaluate policies. National surveys provide such data; validity depends on generalisability, but this is threatened by declining response levels. Attempts to address bias arising from non-response are typically limited to survey weights based on sociodemographic characteristics, which do not capture differential health and related behaviours within categories. This project aims to explore and address non-response bias in health surveys with a focus on alcohol consumption.</p> <p>Methods and analysis: The Scottish Health Surveys (SHeS) aim to provide estimates representative of the Scottish population living in private households. Survey data of consenting participants (92% of the achieved sample) have been record-linked to routine hospital admission (Scottish Morbidity Records (SMR)) and mortality (from National Records of Scotland (NRS)) data for surveys conducted in 1995, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (total adult sample size around 40 000), with maximum follow-up of 16 years. Also available are census information and SMR/NRS data for the general population. Comparisons of alcohol-related mortality and hospital admission rates in the linked SHeS-SMR/NRS with those in the general population will be made. Survey data will be augmented by quantification of differences to refine alcohol consumption estimates through the application of multiple imputation or inverse probability weighting. The resulting corrected estimates of population alcohol consumption will enable superior policy evaluation. An advanced weighting procedure will be developed for wider use.</p> <p>Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval for SHeS has been given by the National Health Service (NHS) Multi-Centre Research Ethics Committee and use of linked data has been approved by the Privacy Advisory Committee to the Board of NHS National Services Scotland and Registrar General. Funding has been granted by the MRC. The outputs will include four or five public health and statistical methodological international journal and conference papers.</p&gt

Science, society, and policy in the face of uncertainty: reflections on the debate around face coverings for the public during COVID-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has had enormous effects on health, wellbeing and economies worldwide. Governments have responded with rapid and sometimes radical public health interventions. As nations grapple with the question of how to regain normality without unnecessarily endangering lives or healthcare systems, some scientists have argued for policies to encourage or compel use of face coverings in community (non-clinical) settings, despite acknowledged gaps in the evidence base for the effectiveness of such a measure. This commentary has two objectives. First, in the face of strong arguments that face coverings are a commonsense intervention, with negligible downsides, that can only do good, we make the case for caution in changing policy. Many seemingly benign public health interventions have the potential to cause harm, and that harm is often socially differentiated. We present five arguments for caution in policy change. Second, we reflect on the wider implications of the increasingly overt approaches to policy advocacy taken by some scientists. Drawing from the theory of post-normal science, we argue that the science-policy interface in the case of face coverings has taken a surprisingly traditional form, falling short of interdisciplinary integration and failing to incorporate insights of the full range of relevant experts and affected stakeholders. We sketch a vision for an alternative, more mature, relationship between science and society that accepts uncertainty, embraces deliberation, and rises to the challenge of developing knowledge to improve public health

A physics-based life prediction methodology for thermal barrier coating systems

A novel mechanistic approach is proposed for the prediction of the life of thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems. The life prediction methodology is based on a criterion linked directly to the dominant failure mechanism. It relies on a statistical treatment of the TBC's morphological characteristics, non-destructive stress measurements and on a continuum mechanics framework to quantify the stresses that promote the nucleation and growth of microcracks within the TBC. The last of these accounts for the effects of TBC constituents' elasto-visco-plastic properties, the stiffening of the ceramic due to sintering and the oxidation at the interface between the thermally insulating yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) layer and the metallic bond coat. The mechanistic approach is used to investigate the effects on TBC life of the properties and morphology of the top YSZ coating, metallic low-pressure plasma sprayed bond coat and the thermally grown oxide. Its calibration is based on TBC damage inferred from non-destructive fluorescence measurements using piezo-spectroscopy and on the numerically predicted local TBC stresses responsible for the initiation of such damage. The potential applicability of the methodology to other types of TBC coatings and thermal loading conditions is also discussed

Phylogenomics of the adaptive radiation of Triturus newts supports gradual ecological niche expansion towards an incrementally aquatic lifestyle

Newts of the genus Triturus (marbled and crested newts) exhibit substantial variation in the number of trunk vertebrae (NTV) and a higher NTV corresponds to a longer annual aquatic period. Because the Triturus phylogeny has thwarted resolution to date, the evolutionary history of NTV, annual aquatic period, and their potential coevolution has remained unclear. To resolve the phylogeny of Triturus, we generated a c. 6,000 transcriptome-derived marker data set using a custom target enrichment probe set, and conducted phylogenetic analyses using: 1) data concatenation with RAxML, 2) gene-tree summary with ASTRAL, and 3) species-tree estimation with SNAPP. All analyses produce the same, highly supported topology, despite cladogenesis having occurred over a short timeframe, resulting in short internal branch lengths. Our new phylogenetic hypothesis is consistent with the minimal number of inferred changes in NTV count necessary to explain the diversity in NTV observed today. Although a causal relationship between NTV, body form, and aquatic ecology has yet to be experimentally established, our phylogeny indicates that these features have evolved together, and suggest that they may underlie the adaptive radiation that characterizes Triturus

Reflection on remote teaching and learning of a final-year BPharm clinical training module during a pandemic

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Applications of aerospace technology in biology and medicine

Utilization of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) technology in medicine is discussed. The objective is best obtained by stimulation of the introduction of new or improved commercially available medical products incorporating aerospace technology. A bipolar donor/recipient model of medical technology transfer is presented to provide a basis for the team's methodology. That methodology is designed to: (1) identify medical problems and NASA technology that, in combination, constitute opportunities for successful medical products; (2) obtain the early participation of industry in the transfer process; and (3) obtain acceptance by the medical community of new medical products based on NASA technology. Two commercial transfers were completed: the Stowaway, a lightweight wheelchair that provides mobility for the disabled and elderly in the cabin of commercial aircraft, and Micromed, a portable medication infusion pump for the reliable, continuous infusion of medications such as heparin or insulin. The marketing and manufacturing factors critical to the commercialization of the lightweight walker incorporating composite materials were studied. Progress was made in the development and commercialization of each of the 18 currently active projects

Off-axis Electron Holography of Magnetotactic Bacteria: Magnetic Microstructure of Strains MV-1 and MS-1

Off-axis electron holography in the transmission electron microscope is used to characterize the magnetic microstructure of magnetotactic bacteria. The practical details of the technique are illustrated through the examination of single cells of strains MV-1 and MS-1, which contain crystals of magnetite (Fe3O4) that are ~50nm in size and are arranged in chains. Electron holography allows the magnetic domain structures within the nanocrystals to be visualized directly at close to the nanometer scale. The crystals are shown to be single magnetic domains. The magnetization directions of small crystals that would be superparamagnetic if they were isolated are found to be constrained by magnetic interactions with adjacent, larger crystals in the chains. Magnetization reversal processes are followed in situ, allowing a coercive field of between 30 and 45mT to be measured for the MV-1 cell. To within experimental error, the remanent magnetizations of the chains are found to be equal to the saturation magnetization of magnetite (0.60T). A new approach is used to determine that the magnetic moments of the chains are 7 and 5x10-16Am2 for the 1600-nm long MV-1 and 1200-nm long MS-1 chains examined, respectively. The degree to which the observed magnetic domain structure is reproducible between successive measurements is also addressed

Assessing the Representativeness of Population-Sampled Health Surveys Through Linkage to Administrative Data on Alcohol-Related Outcomes

Health surveys are an important resource for monitoring population health, but selective nonresponse may impede valid inference. This study aimed to assess nonresponse bias in a population-sampled health survey in Scotland, with a focus on alcohol-related outcomes. Nonresponse bias was assessed by examining whether rates of alcohol-related harm (i.e., hospitalization or death) and all-cause mortality among respondents to the Scottish Health Surveys (from 1995 to 2010) were equivalent to those in the general population, and whether the extent of any bias varied according to sociodemographic attributes or over time. Data from consenting respondents (aged 20–64 years) to 6 Scottish Health Surveys were confidentially linked to death and hospitalization records and compared with general population counterparts. Directly age-standardized incidence rates of alcohol-related harm and all-cause mortality were lower among Scottish Health Survey respondents compared with the general population. For all years combined, the survey-to-population rate ratios were 0.69 (95% confidence interval: 0.61, 0.76) for the incidence of alcohol-related harm and 0.89 (95% confidence interval: 0.83, 0.96) for all-cause mortality. Bias was more pronounced among persons residing in more deprived areas; limited evidence was found for regional or temporal variation. This suggests that corresponding underestimation of population rates of alcohol consumption is likely to be socially patterne

Coupled Numerical Analysis of Variations in the Capacity of Driven Energy Piles in Clay

Energy piles are an emerging alternative for the reduction of energy consumption to heat and cool buildings. Most of the research to date has focused on thermodynamic properties or axial and radial stress and strain of piles. This paper focuses on the effects of temperature fluctuation on the capacity of driven energy piles in clayey soils. Consolidation of clay surrounding driven piles affects the pile capacity (i.e., set up in clay). The heating and cooling periods of energy piles can create the excess pore-water pressure (EPWP, ue) or relax the existing one (e.g., due to pile driving or previous thermal loads) in clayey soils (due to the contraction and expansion of water) affecting the pile capacity. In the meantime, the thermal expansion and contraction of the pile also generate or relax the EPWP in the soil, which can be computed using the cavity-expansion theory. This paper studies the resulting changes in the pile capacity due to the daily and seasonal thermal cycles. The results show that thermal cycles in an energy pile can cause a decrease in the pile capacity leading to a delay in reaching the capacity after a complete clay set up