Does Ethnicity affect the Rate of Suicide: A Statistical Comparison Analysis using Real Time Suicide Surveillance Data.

Background: Nationally, there is limited data available regarding the link between ethnicity and suicide. This is because ethnicity is not recorded consistently on official death certificates and therefore the potential variations between the rate of ethnicities, and any correlations, are not known or understood. This subject is understudied. This study was both a comparison study, and a feasibility study, using police data from one county in England to bring to light what the effect may be and highlight any evidence surrounding the topic. Methods: Data from the county’s’ Real Time Suicide Surveillance system (a partnership between the county police and county council) was analysed to examine the proportion of suspected suicides from each ethnic minority. This was compared to the ethnic profile of the county using local census data. The sample was 608 individuals from the county who had died by suicide between 2018-2022, and which included 37 individuals from an ethnic minority. Comparative analysis included demographic details such as age and gender, and wider factors such as whether the individual was known to secondary mental health (MH) services or had been impacted by domestic abuse. Results: Individuals from ethnic minorities accounted for 10.2% of the suspected suicides in the sample (where ethnicity was recorded), this compares to data from the county census which shows that 16.8% of county citizens are from ethnic minorities. When comparing individuals from ethnic minority communities who died by suicide, with the wider cohort of all suicide deaths in the county, there were several similarities as well as some interesting differences. The mean age of suicide for both the general population of the county and those of ethnic minorities are remarkably similar at 46.64 years and 46.43 years, respectively. In both groups there were more male suicides than female, however women made up 35% of deaths within the ethnic minority cohort compared to 25% within the overall population of suicides. Individuals within ethnic minorities were more likely to be known by MH services than the non-minority population (41% compared to 27%). Conclusions: This project has been a successful comparative feasibility study; it has demonstrated that it is possible to compare the proportion and characteristics of people from ethnic minorities who died by suicide with non-ethnic minority deaths. However, the small sample size and the fact that there were 245 entries where the ethnicity was not recorded in the data means that the results are inconclusive and cannot be considered reliable. Although no clear deductions or recommendations can be issued, other valuable insights regarding factors such as a higher proportion of female deaths, and an increased likelihood to be known to mental health services, have been identified which should be considered for examination in future research projects

Assessing the influence of pig slurry pH on the degradation of selected antibiotic compounds

Veterinary medicines are routinely used in animal husbandry and the environment may consequently be exposed to them via manure applications. This presents potential environmental and societal risks such as toxicological effects to aquatic/terrestrial organisms and the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Regulatory studies that assess the degradability of veterinary antibiotics during manure storage currently permit the use of just one manure per animal type although we speculate that heterogenic properties such as pH could be driving significant variability within degradation rates. To bridge this knowledge gap and assess degradation variability with pH, laboratory degradation studies were performed on a broad range of antibiotics (ceftiofur, florfenicol, oxytetracycline, sulfamethoxazole and tylosin) at three different environmentally relevant pH levels (5.5, 7, and 8.5). The effect of pig slurry pH on degradation rates was found to be significant and compound specific. Usually, acidic slurries were found to inhibit degradation when compared to neutral pH, for florfenicol, tylosin, and ceftiofur; the associated changes in DT50 (half-life) values were 2–209 h, 35.28–234 h, and 0.98–2.13 h, respectively. In some circumstances alkaline slurries were observed to enhance the degradation rate when compared to those for neutral pH, for tylosin, the respective changes in DT50 values were from 3.52 to 35.28 h. Comparatively, the degradation of sulfamethoxazole was enhanced by acidic conditions compared to neutral (DT50 20.6–31.6 h). Tentative identification of unknown transformation products (TPs) was achieved for sulfamethoxazole and florfenicol for the first time in pig slurries. These results reveal the importance of considering slurry pH when assessing the degradation of antibiotic compounds, which has implications for the acidification of manures and the environmental risk assessment for veterinary medicines. Environmental relevance and significance: Given the significant effect of pig slurry pH on degradation rates, manure degradation studies need to be harmonised and standardized, taking into account the influence of pH

Ability of Group IVB metallocene polyethers containing dienestrol to arrest the growth of selected cancer cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Monomeric Group IVB (Ti, Zr and Hf) metallocenes represent a new class of antitumor compounds. There is literature on the general biological activities of some organotin compounds. Unfortunately, there is little information with respect to the molecular level activity of these organotin compounds. We recently started focusing on the anti-cancer activity of organotin polymers that we had made for other purposes and as part of our platinum anti-cancer effort.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>For this study, we synthesized a new series of metallocene-containing compounds coupling the metallocene unit with dienestrol, a synthetic, nonsteroidal estrogen. This is part of our effort to couple known moieties that offer antitumor activity with biologically active units hoping to increase the biological activity of the combination. The materials were confirmed to be polymeric using light scattering photometry and the structural repeat unit was verified employing matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry and infrared spectroscopy results.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The polymers demonstrated the ability to suppress the growth of a series of tumor cell lines originating from breast, colon, prostrate, and lung cancers at concentrations generally lower than those required for inhibition of cell growth by the commonly used antitumor drug cisplatin.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These drugs show great promise in vitro against a number of cancer cell lines and due to their polymeric nature will most likely be less toxic than currently used metal-containing drugs such as cisplatin. These drugs also offer several addition positive aspects. First, the reactants are commercially available so that additional synthetic steps are not needed. Second, synthesis of the polymer is rapid, occurring within about 15 seconds. Third, the interfacial synthetic system is already industrially employed in the synthesis of aromatic nylons and polycarbonates. Thus, the ability to synthesize large amounts of the drugs is straight forward.</p

Evaluation of Asce/Sei 41-17 Nonlinear Procedures Using a Reinforced Concrete Building Case Study

This item is available only to currently enrolled UTSA students, faculty or staff. To download, navigate to Log In in the top right-hand corner of this screen, then select Log in with my UTSA ID.The nonlinear modeling and acceptance criteria in the national ASCE/SEI 41-17 standard "Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings" were developed based on often limited field and laboratory data, as well as engineering judgement. These limitations influence the accuracy of the standard in assessing potential seismic damage and ensuing retrofit needs in buildings at risk of earthquake loading. Moreover, the Standard was shown to produce varying levels of conservatism and accuracy in seismic assessment by several studies. This study evaluates the accuracy of estimates of global and local behaviors of a full-scale reinforced concrete building using the nonlinear dynamic procedures of ASCE/SEI 41-17. The full-scale, four-story reinforced concrete building was experimentally tested on the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED)/E-Defense shaking table in Japan. The building was designed to modern Japanese seismic standards and satisfied most ACI 318-11 provisions for regions of high seismicity. Three-dimensional lumped-plasticity and fiber-type models were generated for the building by strictly following the nonlinear modeling dynamic analysis procedures of ASCE/SEI 41-17. Where the standard is silent on modeling details, efforts were made to apply most commonly used practices on the west coast of the United-States. This study is part of a larger NIST funded project aimed at using data from instrumented buildings subjected to real earthquakes or shaking table motions to assess the accuracy of the ASCE/SEI 41-17 Standard. The accuracy of the Standard procedures in estimating story drifts, base shears, and member damage levels were evaluated, by comparing computational results with experimental measurements and observed damage levels. The study indicated that the Standard's provisions resulted in reasonable match with experimental peak roof drifts, base shear, and acceleration responses of the building. However, the study highlighted several deficiencies, mainly with respect to the modeling parameters of reinforced concrete structural walls and beams.Civil and Environmental Engineerin