Evaluation of a hub-and-spoke model for the delivery of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery within the context of a large randomised controlled trial

AIMS: To test a hypothesis that cataract operating room (OR) productivity can be improved with a femtosecond laser (FL) using a hub-and-spoke model and whether any increase in productivity can offset additional costs relating to the FL. METHODS: 400 eyes of 400 patients were enrolled in a randomised-controlled trial comparing FL-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) with conventional phacoemulsification surgery (CPS). 299 of 400 operations were performed on designated high-volume theatre lists (FLACS=134, CPS=165), where a hub-and-spoke FLACS model (1×FL, 2×ORs=2:1) was compared with independent CPS theatre lists. Details of operative timings and OR utilisation were recorded. Differences in productivity between hub-and-spoke FLACS and CPS sessions were compared using an economic model including testing hypothetical 3:1 and 4:1 models. RESULTS: The duration of the operation itself was 12.04±4.89 min for FLACS compared with CPS of 14.54±6.1 min (P<0.001). Total patient time in the OR was reduced from 23.39±6.89 min with CPS to 20.34±5.82 min with FLACS (P<0.001)(reduction of 3.05 min per case). There was no difference in OR turnaround time between the models. Average number of patients treated per theatre list was 9 for FLACS and 8 for CPS. OR utilisation was 92.08% for FLACS and 95.83% for CPS (P<0.001). Using a previously established economic model, the FLACS service cost £144.60 more than CPS per case. This difference would be £131 and £125 for 3:1 and 4:1 models, respectively. CONCLUSION: The FLACS hub-and-spoke model was significantly faster than CPS, with patients spending less time in the OR. This enabled an improvement in productivity, but insufficient to meaningfully offset the additional costs relating to FLACS

Financial modelling of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery within the National Health Service using a 'hub and spoke' model for the delivery of high-volume cataract surgery

Aims To develop financial models which offset additional costs associated with femtosecond laser (FL)-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) against improvements in productivity and to determine important factors relating to its implementation into the National Health Service (NHS). Methods FL platforms are expensive, in initial purchase and running costs. The additional costs associated with FL technology might be offset by an increase in surgical efficiency. Using a ‘hub and spoke’ model to provide high-volume cataract surgery, we designed a financial model, comparing FLACS against conventional phacoemulsification surgery (CPS). The model was populated with averaged financial data from 4 NHS foundation trusts and 4 commercial organisations manufacturing FL platforms. We tested our model with sensitivity and threshold analyses to allow for variations or uncertainties. Results The averaged weekly workload for cataract surgery using our hub and spoke model required either 8 or 5.4 theatre sessions with CPS or FLACS, respectively. Despite reduced theatre utilisation, CPS (average £433/case) was still found to be 8.7% cheaper than FLACS (average £502/case). The greatest associated cost of FLACS was the patient interface (PI) (average £135/case). Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that FLACS could be less expensive than CPS, but only if increased efficiency, in terms of cataract procedures per theatre list, increased by over 100%, or if the cost of the PI was reduced by almost 70%. Conclusions The financial viability of FLACS within the NHS is currently precluded by the cost of the PI and the lack of knowledge regarding any gains in operational efficiency

Chandrasekhar-Kendall functions in astrophysical dynamos

Some of the contributions of Chandrasekhar to the field of magnetohydrodynamics are highlighted. Particular emphasis is placed on the Chandrasekhar-Kendall functions that allow a decomposition of a vector field into right- and left-handed contributions. Magnetic energy spectra of both contributions are shown for a new set of helically forced simulations at resolutions higher than what has been available so far. For a forcing function with positive helicity, these simulations show a forward cascade of the right-handed contributions to the magnetic field and nonlocal inverse transfer for the left-handed contributions. The speed of inverse transfer is shown to decrease with increasing value of the magnetic Reynolds number.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, proceedings of the Chandrasekhar Centenary Conference, to be published in PRAMANA - Journal of Physic

Brazilin Isolated from Caesalpinia sappan Suppresses Nuclear Envelope Reassembly by Inhibiting Barrier-to-Autointegration Factor Phosphorylation

To date, many anticancer drugs have been developed by directly or indirectly targeting microtubules, which are involved in cell division. Although this approach has yielded many anticancer drugs, these drugs produce undesirable side effects. An alternative strategy is needed, and targeting mitotic exit may be one alternative approach. Localization of phosphorylated barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) to the chromosomal core region is essential for nuclear envelope compartment relocalization. In this study, we isolated brazilin from Caesalpinia sappan Leguminosae and demonstrated that it inhibited BAF phosphorylation in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, we demonstrated direct binding between brazilin and BAF. The inhibition of BAF phosphorylation induced abnormal nuclear envelope reassembly and cell death, indicating that perturbation of nuclear envelope reassembly could be a novel approach to anticancer therapy. We propose that brazilin isolated from C. sappan may be a new anticancer drug candidate that induces cell death by inhibiting vaccinia-related kinase 1-mediated BAF phosphorylation.X1153Ysciescopu

Theory of Star Formation

We review current understanding of star formation, outlining an overall theoretical framework and the observations that motivate it. A conception of star formation has emerged in which turbulence plays a dual role, both creating overdensities to initiate gravitational contraction or collapse, and countering the effects of gravity in these overdense regions. The key dynamical processes involved in star formation -- turbulence, magnetic fields, and self-gravity -- are highly nonlinear and multidimensional. Physical arguments are used to identify and explain the features and scalings involved in star formation, and results from numerical simulations are used to quantify these effects. We divide star formation into large-scale and small-scale regimes and review each in turn. Large scales range from galaxies to giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and their substructures. Important problems include how GMCs form and evolve, what determines the star formation rate (SFR), and what determines the initial mass function (IMF). Small scales range from dense cores to the protostellar systems they beget. We discuss formation of both low- and high-mass stars, including ongoing accretion. The development of winds and outflows is increasingly well understood, as are the mechanisms governing angular momentum transport in disks. Although outstanding questions remain, the framework is now in place to build a comprehensive theory of star formation that will be tested by the next generation of telescopes.Comment: 120 pages, to appear in ARAA. No changes from v1 text; permission statement adde

Zygosity diagnosis in young twins by parental report

this paper is twofold. First, the validity of zygosity classification across childhood is examined in a large sample. One might expect the physical dissimilarity between dizygotic twins to become more obvious as they grow up. If so, the accuracy of classification is likely to improve with increasing age of the participants. A few studies have reported on this issue by evaluating the precision of zygosity diagnosis between samples varying in age, 8,19,23 and by test--retest estimatio

Organotypic Brain Cultures for Metastasis Research

We thank members of Brain Metastasis Group for critical discussion. Research in the Brain Metastasis Group is supported by MINECO-Retos SAF2017-89643-R (M.V.), Cancer Research Institute CLIP Award 2018 (M.V.), AECC (GCTRA16015SEOA) (M.V.), Bristol-Myers Squibb Melanoma Research Alliance Young Investigator Award 2017 (M.V.), Beug Foundation’s Prize for Metastasis Research 2017 (M.V.), Worldwide Cancer Research (19-0177) (M.V.), H2020-FETOPEN (828972) (M.V.), Fundación Ramón Areces (CIVP19S8163), and La Caixa-Severo Ochoa International PhD Program Fellowship (L.Z.). M.V. is a Ramón y Cajal Investigator (RYC-2013-13365) and an EMBO YIP investigator.N

Multiple organism algorithm for finding ultraconserved elements

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ultraconserved elements are nucleotide or protein sequences with 100% identity (no mismatches, insertions, or deletions) in the same organism or between two or more organisms. Studies indicate that these conserved regions are associated with micro RNAs, mRNA processing, development and transcription regulation. The identification and characterization of these elements among genomes is necessary for the further understanding of their functionality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We describe an algorithm and provide freely available software which can find all of the ultraconserved sequences between genomes of multiple organisms. Our algorithm takes a combinatorial approach that finds all sequences without requiring the genomes to be aligned. The algorithm is significantly faster than BLAST and is designed to handle very large genomes efficiently. We ran our algorithm on several large comparative analyses to evaluate its effectiveness; one compared 17 vertebrate genomes where we find 123 ultraconserved elements longer than 40 bps shared by all of the organisms, and another compared the human body louse, <it>Pediculus humanus humanus</it>, against itself and select insects to find thousands of non-coding, potentially functional sequences.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Whole genome comparative analysis for multiple organisms is both feasible and desirable in our search for biological knowledge. We argue that bioinformatic programs should be forward thinking by assuming analysis on multiple (and possibly large) genomes in the design and implementation of algorithms. Our algorithm shows how a compromise design with a trade-off of disk space versus memory space allows for efficient computation while only requiring modest computer resources, and at the same time providing benefits not available with other software.</p