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New and emerging technologies for the treatment of inherited retinal diseases: a horizon scanning review.
The horizon scanning review aimed to identify new and emerging technologies in development that have the potential to slow or stop disease progression and/or reverse sight loss in people with inherited retinal diseases (IRDs). Potential treatments were identified using recognized horizon scanning methods. These included a combination of online searches using predetermined search terms, suggestions from clinical experts and patient and carer focus groups, and contact with commercial developers. Twenty-nine relevant technologies were identified. These included 9 gene therapeutic approaches, 10 medical devices, 5 pharmacological agents, and 5 regenerative and cell therapies. A further 11 technologies were identified in very early phases of development (typically phase I or pre-clinical) and were included in the final report to give a complete picture of developments 'on the horizon'. Clinical experts and patient and carer focus groups provided helpful information and insights, such as the availability of specialised services for patients, the potential impacts of individual technologies on people with IRDs and their families, and helped to identify additional relevant technologies. This engagement ensured that important areas of innovation were not missed. Most of the health technologies identified are still at an early stage of development and it is difficult to estimate when treatments might be available. Further, well designed trials that generate data on efficacy, applicability, acceptability, and costs of the technologies, as well as the long-term impacts for various conditions are required before these can be considered for adoption into routine clinical practice
Prevalence and clinical characteristics of left ventricular dysfunction among elderly patients in general practice setting: cross sectional survey
Objective: To assess the prevalence and clinical characteristics of left ventricular dysfunction among elderly patients in the general practice setting by echocardiographic assessment of ventricular function.
Design: Cross sectional survey.
Setting: Four centre general practice in Poole, Dorset.
Subjects: 817 elderly patients aged 70-84 years.
Main outcomes: Echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular systolic function including measurement of ejection fraction by biplane summation method where possible, clinical symptoms, and signs of left ventricular dysfunction.
Results: The overall prevalence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction was 7.5% (95% confidence interval 5.8% to 9.5%); mild dysfunction (5.0%) was considerably more prevalent than moderate (1.6%) or severe dysfunction (0.7%). Measurement of ejection fraction was possible in 82% of patients (n=667): in patients categorised as having mild, moderate, or severe dysfunction, the mean ejection fraction was 48% (SD 12.0), 38% (8.1), and 26% (7.9) respectively. At all ages the prevalence was much higher in men than in women (odds ratio 5.1, 95% confidence interval 2.6 to 10.1). No clinical symptom or sign was both sensitive and specific. In around half the patients with ventricular dysfunction (52%, 32/61) heart failure had not been previously diagnosed.
Conclusions: Unrecognised left ventricular dysfunction is a common problem in elderly patients in the general practice setting. Appropriate treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors has the potential to reduce hospitalisation and mortality in these patients, but diagnosis should not be based on clinical history and examination alone. Screening is feasible in general practice, but it should not be implemented until the optimum method of identifying left ventricular dysfunction is clarified, and the cost effectiveness of screening has been shown
Non-LTE Abundances of Magnesium, Aluminum and Sulfur in OB Stars Near the Solar Circle
Non-LTE abundances of magnesium, aluminum and sulfur are derived for a sample
of 23 low-v \sin i stars belonging to six northern OB associations of the
Galactic disk within 1 kpc of the Sun. The abundances are obtained from the
fitting of synthetic line profiles to high resolution spectra. A comparison of
our results with HII region abundances indicates good agreement for sulfur
while the cepheid abundances are higher. The derived abundances of Mg show good
overlap with the cepheid results. The aluminum abundances for OB stars are
significantly below the cepheid values. But, the OB star results show a
dependence with effective temperature and need further investigation. The high
Al abundances in the cepheids could be the result of mixing. A discussion of
the oxygen abundance in objects near the solar circle suggests that the current
mean galactic oxygen abundance in this region is 8.6-8.7 and in agreement with
the recently revised oxygen abundance in the solar photosphere. Meaningful
comparisons of the absolute S, Al and Mg abundances in OB stars with the Sun
must await a reinvestigation of these elements, as well as the meteoritic
reference element Si, with 3D hydrodynamical model atmospheres for the Sun. No
abundance gradients are found within the limited range in galactocentric
distances in the present study. Such variations would be expected only if there
were large metallicity gradients in the disk.Comment: 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, needs aa.st
Crystallographic analysis of polypyrimidine tract-binding protein-Raver1 interactions involved in regulation of alternative splicing.
Accepted versio
Plural-wavelength flame detector that discriminates between direct and reflected radiation
A flame detector employs a plurality of wavelength selective radiation detectors and a digital signal processor programmed to analyze each of the detector signals, and determine whether radiation is received directly from a small flame source that warrants generation of an alarm. The processor's algorithm employs a normalized cross-correlation analysis of the detector signals to discriminate between radiation received directly from a flame and radiation received from a reflection of a flame to insure that reflections will not trigger an alarm. In addition, the algorithm employs a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) frequency spectrum analysis of one of the detector signals to discriminate between flames of different sizes. In a specific application, the detector incorporates two infrared (IR) detectors and one ultraviolet (UV) detector for discriminating between a directly sensed small hydrogen flame, and reflections from a large hydrogen flame. The signals generated by each of the detectors are sampled and digitized for analysis by the digital signal processor, preferably 250 times a second. A sliding time window of approximately 30 seconds of detector data is created using FIFO memories
Systematically Asymmetric Heliospheric Magnetic Field: Evidence for a Quadrupole Mode and Non-axisymmetry with Polarity Flip-flops
Recent studies of the heliospheric magnetic field (HMF) have detected
interesting, systematic hemispherical and longitudinal asymmetries which have a
profound significance for the understanding of solar magnetic fields. The in
situ HMF measurements since 1960s show that the heliospheric current sheet
(HCS) is systematically shifted (coned) southward during solar minimum times,
leading to the concept of a bashful ballerina. While temporary shifts can be
considerably larger, the average HCS shift (coning) angle is a few degrees,
less than the tilt of the solar rotation axis. Recent solar
observations during the last two solar cycles verify these results and show
that the magnetic areas in the northern solar hemisphere are larger and their
intensity weaker than in the south during long intervals in the late declining
to minimum phase. The multipole expansion reveals a strong quadrupole term
which is oppositely directed to the dipole term. These results imply that the
Sun has a symmetric quadrupole S0 dynamo mode that oscillates in phase with the
dominant dipole A0 mode. Moreover, the heliospheric magnetic field has a strong
tendency to produce solar tilts that are roughly opposite in longitudinal
phase. This implies is a systematic longitudinal asymmetry and leads to a
"flip-flop" type behaviour in the dominant HMF sector whose period is about 3.2
years. This agrees very well with the similar flip-flop period found recently
in sunspots, as well as with the observed ratio of three between the activity
cycle period and the flip-flop period of sun-like stars. Accordingly, these
results require that the solar dynamo includes three modes, A0, S0 and a
non-axisymmetric mode. Obviously, these results have a great impact on solar
modelling.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, Solar Physics, Topical Issue of Space Climate
Symposium, in pres
Preliminary interpretation of Titan plasma interaction as observed by the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer: Comparisons with Voyager 1
The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) instrument observed the plasma environment at Titan during the Cassini orbiter's TA encounter on October 26, 2004. Titan was in Saturn's magnetosphere during the Voyager 1 flyby and also during the TA encounter. CAPS measurements from this encounter are compared with measurements made by the Voyager 1 Plasma Science Instrument (PLS). The comparisons focus on the composition and nature of ambient and pickup ions. They lead to: A) the major ion components of Saturn's magnetosphere in the vicinity of Titan are H+, H-2(+) and O+/CH4+ ions; B) finite gyroradius effects are apparent in ambient O+ ions as the result of their absorption by Titan's extended atmosphere; C) the principal pickup ions are composed of H+, H-2(+), N+/CH2+, CH4+, and N-2(+); D) the pickup ions are in narrow energy ranges; and E) there is clear evidence of the slowing down of background ions due to pickup ion mass loading
Algorithm Selection Framework for Cyber Attack Detection
The number of cyber threats against both wired and wireless computer systems
and other components of the Internet of Things continues to increase annually.
In this work, an algorithm selection framework is employed on the NSL-KDD data
set and a novel paradigm of machine learning taxonomy is presented. The
framework uses a combination of user input and meta-features to select the best
algorithm to detect cyber attacks on a network. Performance is compared between
a rule-of-thumb strategy and a meta-learning strategy. The framework removes
the conjecture of the common trial-and-error algorithm selection method. The
framework recommends five algorithms from the taxonomy. Both strategies
recommend a high-performing algorithm, though not the best performing. The work
demonstrates the close connectedness between algorithm selection and the
taxonomy for which it is premised.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, accepted to WiseML '2
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