British Gynaecological Cancer Society Recommendations for Evidence Based, Population Data Derived Quality Performance Indicators for Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer survival in the UK lags behind comparable countries. Results from the ongoing National Ovarian Cancer Audit feasibility pilot (OCAFP) show that approximately 1 in 4 women with advanced ovarian cancer (Stage 2, 3, 4 and unstaged cancer) do not receive any anticancer treatment and only 51% in England receive international standard of care treatment, i.e., the combination of surgery and chemotherapy. The audit has also demonstrated wide variation in the percentage of women receiving anticancer treatment for advanced ovarian cancer, be it surgery or chemotherapy across the 19 geographical regions for organisation of cancer delivery (Cancer Alliances). Receipt of treatment also correlates with survival: 5 year Cancer survival varies from 28.6% to 49.6% across England. Here, we take a systems wide approach encompassing both diagnostic pathways and cancer treatment, derived from the whole cohort of women with ovarian cancer to set out recommendations and quality performance indicators (QPI). A multidisciplinary panel established by the British Gynaecological Cancer Society carefully identified QPI against criteria: metrics selected were those easily evaluable nationally using routinely available data and where there was a clear evidence base to support interventions. These QPI will be valuable to other taxpayer funded systems with national data collection mechanisms and are to our knowledge the only population level data derived standards in ovarian cancer. We also identify interventions for Best practice and Research recommendations

Surface properties of recycled titanium oxide recovered from paint waste

Aluminium oxide coated rutile pigment was extracted from a paint matrix by means of a thermal recycling process. The objective was to investigate the effect of the recycling process on the surface properties of the pigment. The pigment was analysed using powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area measurements (BET), laser diffraction for particle size analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) before and after the recycling process. Investigations on the zeta potential and the surface charge were performed as well. It was concluded that the rutile crystalline core and the aluminium oxide coating of the pigment were still intact after the recycling process. The particle size distribution of the recycled pigment was slightly broader compared to the virgin pigment. The measured magnitude in zeta potential of the recycled pigment was lower than for the virgin pigment. This difference is thought to be caused by alteration in the surface hydroxyl concentration. Surface charge titrations showed differences between the virgin and the recycled pigment at alkaline pH and at low salt concentrations

Statistical and functional convergence of common and rare genetic influences on autism at chromosome 16p

The canonical paradigm for converting genetic association to mechanism involves iteratively mapping individual associations to the proximal genes through which they act. In contrast, in the present study we demonstrate the feasibility of extracting biological insights from a very large region of the genome and leverage this strategy to study the genetic influences on autism. Using a new statistical approach, we identified the 33-Mb p-arm of chromosome 16 (16p) as harboring the greatest excess of autism’s common polygenic influences. The region also includes the mechanistically cryptic and autism-associated 16p11.2 copy number variant. Analysis of RNA-sequencing data revealed that both the common polygenic influences within 16p and the 16p11.2 deletion were associated with decreased average gene expression across 16p. The transcriptional effects of the rare deletion and diffuse common variation were correlated at the level of individual genes and analysis of Hi-C data revealed patterns of chromatin contact that may explain this transcriptional convergence. These results reflect a new approach for extracting biological insight from genetic association data and suggest convergence of common and rare genetic influences on autism at 16p

Statistical and functional convergence of common and rare genetic influences on autism at chromosome 16p

The canonical paradigm for converting genetic association to mechanism involves iteratively mapping individual associations to the proximal genes through which they act. In contrast, in the present study we demonstrate the feasibility of extracting biological insights from a very large region of the genome and leverage this strategy to study the genetic influences on autism. Using a new statistical approach, we identified the 33-Mb p-arm of chromosome 16 (16p) as harboring the greatest excess of autism’s common polygenic influences. The region also includes the mechanistically cryptic and autism-associated 16p11.2 copy number variant. Analysis of RNA-sequencing data revealed that both the common polygenic influences within 16p and the 16p11.2 deletion were associated with decreased average gene expression across 16p. The transcriptional effects of the rare deletion and diffuse common variation were correlated at the level of individual genes and analysis of Hi-C data revealed patterns of chromatin contact that may explain this transcriptional convergence. These results reflect a new approach for extracting biological insight from genetic association data and suggest convergence of common and rare genetic influences on autism at 16p.publishedVersio