Lidar Measurements of On-Shore Wind Diffusion

The concept to place electric power generating stations on the oceans off the coast of the United States has instilled new efforts in research for improved understanding of the diffusion properties of the atmosphere in the ocean-air interface. The Atomic Energy Commission has instigated a program by the Meteorology Group at Brookhaven National Laboratory to investigate the low level, on-shore wind systems that dominate many of the coastal regions. Analytical techniques and specialized instrumentation from previous studies at Brookhaven are being used in this new program. The Brookhaven Lidar system is used to measure some of the physical properties of the oil-fog plume originating from a portable smoke generator on a boat off the coast. The oil-fog plume is used as a tracer which can be observed, photographed and measured to determine the diffusive power of the atmosphere associated with the ocean-air interface and the discontinuities found in the ocean-land boundary. This paper will describe the program rather briefly and the oil-fog scattering measurements that have been made with the Lidar system

Molecular detection of occult disseminated disease in breast cancer patients.

A major clinical dilemma in the management of patients with early stage breast cancer is determining which patients are at risk of subsequent recurrence so that these patients may be offered adjuvant therapies. Currently, the major prognostic factors used in determining prognosis including nodal status and tumour size fail to identify up to 30% of patients classified as having low risk disease who subsequently recur with breast cancer. Therefore, there is a great need for new methodologies that can sensitively and specifically identify disseminated disease. During this study, the major aims were to use immunobead-based and methylation-based methods for the detection of occult disseminated disease in peripheral blood samples obtained from breast cancer patients. Firstly, an RT-PCR assay was developed that identified a panel of gene specific markers that could be used for sensitive and specific detection of any circulating epithelial cells with minimal risk of false positive results from contaminating haematopoietic compartment cells. These gene markers were used to assess breast cancer patients using immunobead enrichment prior to RT-PCR (IB RT-PCR) and resulted in the detection of circulating epithelial cells in 21157 peripheral blood samples. Importantly, some of these patients had been deemed lymph node negative and at low risk of relapse. Furthermore, it was decided to screen for gene promoter region methylation in freely circulating DNA in the plasma fraction, and in DNA from the nuclei of epithelial cells captured using the immunomagnetic enrichment method. The analysis of gene loci methylation of patient samples was conducted concurrently with the analysis of the frequency of gene loci methylation in mononuclear cells from normal individuals. Surprisingly, a high proportion of normal individuals were methylated at high frequency at gene loci that have previously been reported to be tumour specific. This finding had implications for the concurrent study using methylation as a marker of occult disseminated disease in breast cancer patients. The analysis of blood samples using the methodology presented in this thesis for the early detection of breast cancer dissemination, has the potential to be developed to a point where it can be introduced into the clinical setting. Once fully developed and validated, this minimally invasive methodology, that causes little discomfort to the patient, could help to improve breast cancer staging, and provide important prognostic information ensuring the identification of those early stage breast cancer patients with the greatest risk of relapse and in most need of adjuvant therapies.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Medicine, 200

Methylation profiling of normal individuals reveals mosaic promoter methylation of cancer-associated genes

Epigenetic silencing by promoter methylation of genes associated with cancer initiation and progression is a hallmark of tumour cells. As a consequence, testing for DNA methylation biomarkers in plasma or other body fluids shows great promise for detection of malignancies at early stages and/or for monitoring response to treatment. However, DNA from normal leukocytes may contribute to the DNA in plasma and will affect biomarker specificity if there is any methylation in the leukocytes. DNA from 48 samples of normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells was evaluated for the presence of methylation of a panel of DNA methylation biomarkers that have been implicated in cancer. SMART-MSP, a methylation specific PCR (MSP) methodology based on real time PCR amplification, high-resolution melting and strategic primer design, enabled quantitative detection of low levels of methylated DNA. Methylation was observed in all tested mononuclear cell DNA samples for the CDH1 and HIC1 promoters and in the majority of DNA samples for the TWIST1 and DAPK1 promoters. APC and RARB promoter methylation, at a lower average level, was also detected in a substantial proportion of the DNA samples. We found no BRCA1, CDKN2A, GSTP1 and RASSF1A promoter methylation in this sample set. Several individuals had higher levels of methylation at several loci suggestive of a methylator phenotype. In conclusion, methylation of many potential DNA methylation biomarkers can be detected in normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and is likely to affect their specificity for detecting low level disease. However, we found no evidence of promoter methylation for other genes indicating that panels of analytically sensitive and specific methylation biomarkers in body fluids can be obtained

Identification of circulating tumour cells in early stage breast cancer patients using multi marker immunobead RT-PCR

Introduction The ability to screen blood of early stage operable breast cancer patients for circulating tumour cells is of potential importance for identifying patients at risk of developing distant relapse. We present the results of a study of the efficacy of the immunobead RT-PCR method in identifying patients with circulating tumour cells. Results Immunomagnetic enrichment of circulating tumour cells followed by RT-PCR (immunobead RT-PCR) with a panel of five epithelial specific markers (ELF3, EPHB4, EGFR, MGB1 and TACSTD1) was used to screen for circulating tumour cells in the peripheral blood of 56 breast cancer patients. Twenty patients were positive for two or more RT-PCR markers, including seven patients who were node negative by conventional techniques. Significant increases in the frequency of marker positivity was seen in lymph node positive patients, in patients with high grade tumours and in patients with lymphovascular invasion. A strong trend towards improved disease free survival was seen for marker negative patients although it did not reach significance (p = 0.08). Conclusion Multi-marker immunobead RT-PCR analysis of peripheral blood is a robust assay that is capable of detecting circulating tumour cells in early stage breast cancer patients

Exploring the dynamics of compliance with community penalties

In this paper, we examine how compliance with community penalties has been theorized hitherto and seek to develop a new dynamic model of compliance with community penalties. This new model is developed by exploring some of the interfaces between existing criminological and socio-legal work on compliance. The first part of the paper examines the possible definitions and dimensions of compliance with community supervision. Secondly, we examine existing work on explanations of compliance with community penalties, supplementing this by drawing on recent socio-legal scholarship on private individuals’ compliance with tax regimes. In the third part of the paper, we propose a dynamic model of compliance, based on the integration of these two related analyses. Finally, we consider some of the implications of our model for policy and practice concerning community penalties, suggesting the need to move beyond approaches which, we argue, suffer from compliance myopia; that is, a short-sighted and narrowly focused view of the issues

Veterinarians’ knowledge and experience of avian influenza and perspectives on control measures in the UK

Background: The scale of the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in 2021–23 due to the influenza A/H5N1 virus is unprecedented. Methods: An online survey was designed to explore veterinarians’ experiences of and confidence in treating avian species, experiences of dealing with suspected HPAI and perspectives on control measures in the UK. The survey ran between December 2021 and March 2022. Results: Survey responses were received from 26 veterinarians. Although veterinarians are well placed to communicate HPAI-related information and guidance, a lack of confidence around treating birds and dealing with suspected cases of HPAI represent key barriers for non-specialist practices, and this limits opportunities to educate clients. Limitations: This study presents the views of a small group of self-selected respondents and may over-represent veterinarians with existing interests in avian species and/or avian influenza and who engage with online fora. Conclusions: Improved training and resources designed to increase confidence with avian species, along with guidance on diagnosing and reporting notifiable diseases, are needed for first opinion practices. Governing bodies should clarify regulations on treating birds in veterinary practices when HPAI outbreak numbers are high

Readability of American Online Patient Education Materials in Urologic Oncology: A Need for Simple Communication

To determine readability levels of reputable cancer and urologic websites addressing bladder, prostate, kidney and testicular cancers

Data mashups: potential contribution to decision support on climate change and health.

notes: PMCID: PMC3945564This is a freely-available open access publication. Please cite the published version which is available via the DOI link in this record.Linking environmental, socioeconomic and health datasets provides new insights into the potential associations between climate change and human health and wellbeing, and underpins the development of decision support tools that will promote resilience to climate change, and thus enable more effective adaptation. This paper outlines the challenges and opportunities presented by advances in data collection, storage, analysis, and access, particularly focusing on "data mashups". These data mashups are integrations of different types and sources of data, frequently using open application programming interfaces and data sources, to produce enriched results that were not necessarily the original reason for assembling the raw source data. As an illustration of this potential, this paper describes a recently funded initiative to create such a facility in the UK for use in decision support around climate change and health, and provides examples of suitable sources of data and the purposes to which they can be directed, particularly for policy makers and public health decision makers.UK Medical Research CouncilUK Natural Environment Research CouncilEuropean Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 to 2013European Social Fund Convergence Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scill

Prevention and management of complications following robot-assisted radical cystectomy: lessons learned after >250 consecutive cases

An increasing number of case series of robot-assisted radical cystectomy describe complication rates comparable to open series. Conflicting reports describe various pre-operative factors as predictors of post-operative complications. Furthermore, learning curves complicate these predictors and should also be taken into account. Despite these variables, there are a number of considerations, including patient selection, peri-operative care pathway, intra-operative technique and equipment choice that we have found to decrease post-operative complications and improve patient outcomes. In this topic paper, we briefly review the literature surrounding complication rates following robot-assisted radical cystectomy as well as describe our experience after >250 cases, outlining our suggestions for avoidance of surgical complications when building a practice that incorporates this technique

Digital dynamic frequency dividers for broad band application up to 60 GHz

A broadband dynamic frequency divider based on pseudomorphic Al0.2Ga0.8As/In0.25Ga0.75As MODFETs and passive loads is presented. Stable operation from 28 GHz up to 51 GHz with a power consumption of 440 mW could be shown. SPICE network simulation predicts operation in the 35 GHz - 60 GHz range for a divider circuit using an advanced E/D AlGaAs/InGaAs MODFET process