Implications of evidence-based understanding of benefits and risks for cancer prevention strategy

No abstract available

Taking a multidisciplinary team approach to better healthcare outcomes for society

No abstract available

Manipulation of magnetization reversal of Ni81Fe19 nanoellipse arrays by tuning the shape anisotropy and the magnetostatic interactions

Two series of highly ordered two-dimensional arrays of Ni81Fe19 nanoellipses were nanofabaricated with different aspect ratios, R, and element separations, S, to investigate the influence of the self-demagnetization and the magnetostatic interaction upon the magnetization reversal. For nanostructures with low shape anisotropy, an additional magnetic easy axis was induced orthogonal to the shape-induced easy axis by reducing the separations along both axes. For the structures with larger shape anisotropy, the switching field distribution/coercivity (SFD/Hc ) was reduced, and for the array with the smallest separations (20 nm and 35 nm along the long and short axes, respectively), coherent rotation of the whole array occurred. The magnitude of both the shape anisotropy and a configurational anisotropy induced by the magnetostatic interactions have been estimated. These results provide some useful information for the design of potential magnetic nanodot logic and for high-density magnetic random access memory

Hepatitis B virus subgenotype C2 is the most prevalent subgenotype in northeast China

AbstractThe geographical distribution of hepatitis B virus (HBV) subgenotypes and their clinical implications in patients with acute and chronic hepatitis B in the Heilung-kiang province of northeast China were investigated. Nested PCR and multiplex PCR were performed with genotype-specific primers and with subgenotype-specific primers to identify genotypes and subgenotypes from serum samples of 412 HBV infections including 69 with acute self-limited hepatitis (ASH) and 343 with chronic hepatitis (CH). A total of 361 samples were genotyped and 304 were further subgenotyped. The most common HBV genotype was C (93.63%, 338/361), with subgenotype group C2 (83.73%, 283/338) predominating. Genotype B was also found and subgenotype B2 predominated within this genotype. Out of 69 infected patients with ASH, 48 were identified as genotype C and all belonged to subgenotype C2. Of 343 infected patients with CH, 313 were genotyped and 256 were subgenotyped; amongst these, C2 (91.80%, 235/256), B2 (7.42%, 19/256) and mixed subgenotypes B2 and C2 (0.78%, 2/256) were found. In HBV subgenotype C2 infections, ASH had a higher ratio of women than CH patients. These results show that HBV subgenotypes C2 and B2 were found in Heilung-kiang province of northeast China. In ASH and CH groups, the distributions of subgenotypes were coincident with C2, the predominant subgenotype. Analysis of the association between subgenotype and the outcomes of HBV infection was inconclusive in our study

A mixed-methods evaluation of patients’ views on primary care multi-disciplinary teams in Scotland

BackgroundExpanding primary care multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) was a key component of the 2018 Scottish GP contract, with over 4,700 MDT staff appointed since then.AimTo explore patients’ views on primary care MDT expansion in Scotland.Design and methods(1) Survey of patients recently consulting a GP in deprived-urban, affluent-urban and remote/rural areas, assessing awareness of five MDT roles and attitudes towards receptionist signposting; (2) 30 individual interviews exploring MDT-care experiences.ResultsOf 1,053 survey respondents, most were unaware of the option of MDT rather than GP consultations for three out of five roles (69% unaware of link worker appointments; 68% mental health nurse; 58% pharmacist). Reception signposting was less popular in deprived-urban areas (34% unhappy vs 29% in remote/rural vs 21% affluent-urban; p&lt;0.001), and in patients with multimorbidity (31% unhappy vs 24% in non-multimorbid; p&lt;0.05).Two-thirds of interviewees had multimorbidity and almost all reported positive MDT-care experiences. However, MDT-care was generally seen as a supplement rather than a substitute for GP care. Around half of patients expressed concerns about reception signposting. These patients were more likely to also express concerns about GP access in general. Both of these concerns were more common in deprived-urban areas than in remote/rural or affluent-urban areas.ConclusionMDT-care has expanded in Scotland with limited patient awareness. Although patients understand its potential value, many are unhappy with reception signposting to first-contact MDT care, especially those in deprived-urban areas living with multimorbidity. This represents a barrier to the aims of the new GP contract.<br/

Efficient Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation of Malus zumi (Matsumura) Rehd using leaf explant regeneration system

Malus zumi is known as an excellent dwarfing apple rootstock occurring in natural or arid/semiarid soil or salina. Gene manipulation of M. zumi through transgenic technology can modify plant feature for further improvement fruit tree production by grafting the scion on a transgenic rootstock. Here, we report the establishment of an efficient, in vitro, shoot regeneration system and Agrobacterium tumefaciens - mediated transformation from the leaf explants for Malus zumi (Matsumura) Rehd. Leaf explants were infected with Agrobacterium strains containing nptII and gus gene. The highest frequency of shoot regeneration was obtained on MS medium containing 500 mg l-1 Lactalbumin hydrolysate, 30 g l-1 fructose, supplemented with 3.0 mg l-1 BA, 0.2 mg l-1 NAA.Using fructose instead of sucrose significantly increases the shoot regeneration and decreases vitrification. This regeneration procedure was incorporated into an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation procedure in M. zumi. Kanamycin was an efficient selective agent for selection. Pre-selection (5 days after co-cultivation) improved the transformation efficiency. The emergence of expected bands by PCR analysis and Southern blot in transgenic plantlets confirmed the transformation of foreign DNA into plant genome

Modeling the competition between multiple Automated Mobility on-Demand operators: an agent-based approach

Automated Mobility-on-Demand (AMoD) systems, in which fleets of automated vehicles provide on-demand services, are expected to transform urban mobility systems. Motivated by the rapid development of AMoD services delivered by self-driving car companies, an agent-based model (ABM) has been developed to study the coexistence phenomena of multiple AMoD operators competing for customers. The ABM is used to investigate how changes in pricing strategies, assignment methods, and fleet sizes affect travelers' choice of different AMoD services and the operating performance of competing operators in the case-study city of The Hague, in the Netherlands. Findings suggest that an optimal assignment algorithm can reduce the average waiting time by up to 24% compared to a simple heuristic algorithm. We also find that a larger fleet could increase demand but lead to higher waiting times for its users and higher travel times for competing operators' users due to the added congestion. Notably, pricing strategies can significantly affect travelers' choice of AMoD services, but the effect depends strongly on the time of the day. Low-priced AMoD services can provide high service levels and effectively attract more demand, with up to 64.7% of customers choosing the very early morning service [5:30 AM,7:20 AM]. In the subsequent morning hours, high-priced AMoD services are more competitive in attracting customers as more idle vehicles are available. Based on the quantitative analysis, policies are recommended for the government and service operators. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.Industrial Ecolog

Assessing the potential of the strategic formation of urban platoons for shared automated vehicle fleets

This paper addresses the problem of studying the impacts of the strategic formation of platoons in automated mobility-on-demand (AMoD) systems in future cities. Forming platoons has the potential to improve traffic efficiency, resulting in reduced travel times and energy consumption. However, in the platoon formation phase, coordinating the vehicles at formation locations for forming a platoon may delay travelers. In order to assess these effects, an agent-based model has been developed to simulate an urban AMoD system in which vehicles travel between service points transporting passengers either forming or not forming platoons. A simulation study was performed on the road network of the city of The Hague, Netherlands, to assess the impact on traveling and energy usage by the strategic formation of platoons. Results show that forming platoons could save up to 9.6% of the system-wide energy consumption for the most efficient car model. However, this effect can vary significantly with the vehicle types and strategies used to form platoons. Findings suggest that, on average, forming platoons reduces the travel times for travelers even if they experience delays while waiting for a platoon to be formed. However, delays lead to longer travel times for the travelers with the platoon leaders, similar to what people experience while traveling in highly congested networks when platoon formation does not happen. Moreover, the platoon delay increases as the volume of AMoD requests decreases; in the case of an AMoD system serving only 20% of the commuter trips (by private cars in the case-study city), the average platoon delays experienced by these trips increase by 25%. We conclude that it is beneficial to form platoons to achieve energy and travel efficiency goals when the volume of AMoD requests is high.Industrial Ecolog