120 research outputs found

    Music 2025 : The Music Data Dilemma: issues facing the music industry in improving data management

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    © Crown Copyright 2019Music 2025ʼ investigates the infrastructure issues around the management of digital data in an increasingly stream driven industry. The findings are the culmination of over 50 interviews with high profile music industry representatives across the sector and reflects key issues as well as areas of consensus and contrasting views. The findings reveal whilst there are great examples of data initiatives across the value chain, there are opportunities to improve efficiency and interoperability

    Hospital-presenting self-harm and ideation: Comparison of incidence, profile and risk of repetition

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    Objective: The aim of this study was to describe presentations to hospital as a result of self-harm or suicidal ideation and to examine patterns of repetition. Method: Presentations made to hospital emergency departments in Northern Ireland following self-harm and ideation between April 2012 and March 2017 were recorded by the Northern Ireland Registry of Self-harm. Person-based rates per 100,000 were calculated using national population estimates. Risk of repeat attendance to hospital was examined using Kaplan-Meier analyses. Results: A total of 62,213 presentations to emergency departments following self-harm or with ideation were recorded. The rate of self-harm was more than twice the rate of hospital-presenting ideation. Rates of ideation were higher among men, and both self-harm and ideation rates peaked for girls aged 15–19 and men aged 20–24 years. The cumulative probability of repeat attendance to hospital was higher following ideation (52% after 12 months), primarily because 12% of ideation presentations were followed by a subsequent self-harm presentation, whereas 4% of self-harm presentations were followed by ideation. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that hospital presenters with ideation are at high risk of future self-harm. The transition from ideation to suicidal behaviour is important to consider and research could inform effective and early intervention measures

    The effects of aerobic exercise training at two different intensities in obesity and type 2 diabetes: implications for oxidative stress, low-grade inflammation and nitric oxide production

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    Aims To investigate the effect of 16 weeks of aerobic training performed at two different intensities on nitric oxide (tNOx) availability and iNOS/nNOS expression, oxidative stress (OS) and inflammation in obese humans with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods Twenty-five sedentary, obese (BMI > 30 kg/m(2)) males (52.8 +/- 7.2 years); 12 controls versus 13 T2DM were randomly allocated to four groups that exercised for 30 min, three times per week either at low (Fat-Max; 30-40 % VO2max) or moderate (T-vent; 55-65 % VO2max) intensity. Before and after training, blood and muscle samples (v. lateralis) were collected. Results Baseline erythrocyte glutathione was lower (21.8 +/- 2.8 vs. 32.7 +/- 4.4 nmol/ml) and plasma protein oxidative damage and IL-6 were higher in T2DM (141.7 +/- 52.1 vs. 75.5 +/- 41.6 nmol/ml). Plasma catalase increased in T2DM after T-vent training (from 0.98 +/- 0.22 to 1.96 +/- 0.3 nmol/min/ml). T2DM groups demonstrated evidence of oxidative damage in response to training (elevated protein carbonyls). Baseline serum tNOx were higher in controls than T2DM (18.68 +/- 2.78 vs. 12.34 +/- 3.56 mu mol/l). Training at T-vent increased muscle nNOS and tNOx in the control group only. Pre-training muscle nNOS was higher in controls than in T2DMs, while the opposite was found for iNOS. No differences were found after training for plasma inflammatory markers. Conclusion Exercise training did not change body composition or aerobic fitness, but improved OS markers, especially when performed at T-vent. Non-diabetics responded to T-vent training by increasing muscle nNOS expression and tNOx levels in skeletal muscle while these parameters did not change in T2DM, perhaps due to higher insulin resistance (unchanged after intervention)

    The multiple sclerosis risk sharing scheme monitoring study - early results and lessons for the future

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    Background: Risk sharing schemes represent an innovative and important approach to the problems of rationing and achieving cost-effectiveness in high cost or controversial health interventions. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of risk sharing schemes, looking at long term clinical outcomes, to determine the price at which high cost treatments would be acceptable to the NHS. Methods: This case study of the first NHS risk sharing scheme, a long term prospective cohort study of beta interferon and glatiramer acetate in multiple sclerosis ( MS) patients in 71 specialist MS centres in UK NHS hospitals, recruited adults with relapsing forms of MS, meeting Association of British Neurologists (ABN) criteria for disease modifying therapy. Outcome measures were: success of recruitment and follow up over the first three years, analysis of baseline and initial follow up data and the prospect of estimating the long term cost-effectiveness of these treatments. Results: Centres consented 5560 patients. Of the 4240 patients who had been in the study for a least one year, annual review data were available for 3730 (88.0%). Of the patients who had been in the study for at least two years and three years, subsequent annual review data were available for 2055 (78.5%) and 265 (71.8%) patients respectively. Baseline characteristics and a small but statistically significant progression of disease were similar to those reported in previous pivotal studies. Conclusion: Successful recruitment, follow up and early data analysis suggest that risk sharing schemes should be able to deliver their objectives. However, important issues of analysis, and political and commercial conflicts of interest still need to be addressed

    Exploiting a Rose Bengal-bearing, oxygen-producing nanoparticle for SDT and associated immune-mediated therapeutic effects in the treatment of pancreatic cancer

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    Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is an emerging stimulus-responsive approach for the targeted treatment of solid tumours. However, its ability to generate stimulus-responsive cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS), is compromised by tumour hypoxia. Here we describe a robust means of preparing a pH-sensitive polymethacrylate-coated CaO2 nanoparticle that is capable of transiently alleviating tumour hypoxia. Systemic administration of particles to animals bearing human xenograft BxPC3 pancreatic tumours increases oxygen partial pressures (PO2) to 20 - 50 mmHg for over 40 min. RT-qPCR analysis of expression of selected tumour marker genes in treated animals suggests that the transient production of oxygen is sufficient to elicit effects at a molecular genetic level. Using particles labelled with the near infra-red (nIR) fluorescent dye, indocyanine green, selective uptake of particles by tumours was observed. Systemic administration of particles containing Rose Bengal (RB) at concentrations of 0.1 mg/mg of particles are capable of eliciting nanoparticle-induced, SDT-mediated antitumour effects using the BxPC3 human pancreatic tumour model in immuno-compromised mice. Additionally, a potent abscopal effect was observed in off-target tumours in a syngeneic murine bilateral tumour model for pancreatic cancer and an increase in tumour cytotoxic T cells (CD8+) and a decrease in immunosuppressive tumour regulatory T cells [Treg (CD4+, FoxP3+)] was observed in both target and off-target tumours in SDT treated animals. We suggest that this approach offers significant potential in the treatment of both focal and disseminated (metastatic) pancreatic cancer

    Review of the state of the art and future direction of the Survey, Deploy and Monitor policy.

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    This report reviews the state of the art of the Survey, Deploy and Monitor Licensing Policy Guidance in order to set the basis for its further development to all relevant technologies in the offshore renewable energy sector, including the adaptation of the policy as new technologies emerge. This comes as part of the RiCORE project, which aimed to promote the use of offshore renewable energy projects in the EU by streamlining consenting processes

    The tubulin repertoire of C. elegans sensory neurons and its context-dependent role in process outgrowth

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    Microtubules contribute to many cellular processes, including transport, signaling, and chromosome separation during cell division (Kapitein and Hoogenraad, 2015). They are comprised of αβ‐tubulin heterodimers arranged into linear protofilaments and assembled into tubes. Eukaryotes express multiple tubulin isoforms (Gogonea et al., 1999), and there has been a longstanding debate as to whether the isoforms are redundant or perform specialized roles as part of a tubulin code (Fulton and Simpson, 1976). Here, we use the well‐characterized touch receptor neurons (TRNs) of Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate this question, through genetic dissection of process outgrowth both in vivo and in vitro. With single‐cell RNA-seq, we compare transcription profiles for TRNs with those of two other sensory neurons, and present evidence that each sensory neuron expresses a distinct palette of tubulin genes. In the TRNs, we analyze process outgrowth and show that four tubulins (tba‐1, tba‐2, tbb‐1, and tbb‐2) function partially or fully redundantly, while two others (mec‐7 and mec‐12) perform specialized, context‐dependent roles. Our findings support a model in which sensory neurons express overlapping subsets of tubulin genes whose functional redundancy varies between cell types and in vivo and in vitro contexts

    Inflammatory biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease plasma.

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    INTRODUCTION: Plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis/stratification are a "Holy Grail" of AD research and intensively sought; however, there are no well-established plasma markers. METHODS: A hypothesis-led plasma biomarker search was conducted in the context of international multicenter studies. The discovery phase measured 53 inflammatory proteins in elderly control (CTL; 259), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; 199), and AD (262) subjects from AddNeuroMed. RESULTS: Ten analytes showed significant intergroup differences. Logistic regression identified five (FB, FH, sCR1, MCP-1, eotaxin-1) that, age/APOε4 adjusted, optimally differentiated AD and CTL (AUC: 0.79), and three (sCR1, MCP-1, eotaxin-1) that optimally differentiated AD and MCI (AUC: 0.74). These models replicated in an independent cohort (EMIF; AUC 0.81 and 0.67). Two analytes (FB, FH) plus age predicted MCI progression to AD (AUC: 0.71). DISCUSSION: Plasma markers of inflammation and complement dysregulation support diagnosis and outcome prediction in AD and MCI. Further replication is needed before clinical translation
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