Shaping the future for primary care education and training project. Finding the evidence for education & training to deliver integrated health and social care: the primary care workforce perspective

This report is one of a series of outputs from the Shaping the Future in Primary Care Education and Training project (www.pcet.org.uk) funded by the North West Development Agency (NWDA). It is the result of a collaborative initiative between the NWDA, the North West Universities Association and seven Higher Education Institutions in the North West of England. The report presents an evidence base drawn from the analysis of the experiences and aspirations of integrated health and social care, as reported by members of the current primary health and social care workforce working in or with Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in the North West region

Preliminary studies of electromagnetic sounding of cometary nuclei

The internal structure of a comet could be determined with a spacecraft borne electromagnetic sounder. A dielectric profile of the comet could be produced in direct analogy with terrestrial glacier and ice sheet sounding experiments. This profile would allow the detection of a rocky core or ice layers if they exist, just as layers in the ice and the bedrock interface have been clearly observed through the Greenland ice sheet. It would also provide a gross estimate of the amount of dust in the icy region. Models for the response of the nucleus and cometary plasma to electromagnetic sounding are developed and used to derive experimental parameters. A point system design was completed. Preliminary engineering study results indicate that the sounder is well within the bounds of current space technology

Estimating the aquatic risk from exposure to up to twenty-two pesticide active ingredients in waterways discharging to the Great Barrier Reef

Pesticides decrease the quality of water reaching the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. Up to 86 pesticide active ingredients (PAIs) were monitored between July 2015 to end of June 2018 at 28 sites in waterways that discharge to the GBR. Twenty-two frequently detected PAIs were selected to calculate their combined risk when they co-occur in water samples. Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) for the 22 PAIs to fresh and marine species were developed. The SSDs, the multi-substance potentially affected fraction (msPAF) method, Independent Action model of joint toxicity and a Multiple Imputation method were combined to convert measured PAI concentration data to estimates of the Total Pesticide Risk for the 22 PAIs (TPR22) expressed as the average percentage of species affected during the wet season (i.e., 182 days). The TPR22 and percent contribution of active ingredients of Photosystem II inhibiting herbicides, Other Herbicides, and Insecticides to the TPR22 were estimated. The TPR22 ranged from 22 estimates were >1 % — meaning they did not meet the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan's pesticide target for waters entering the GBR. There were marked spatial differences in TPR22 estimates — regions dominated by grazing had lower estimates while those with sugar cane tended to have higher estimates. On average, active ingredients of PSII herbicides contributed 39 % of the TPR22, the active ingredients of Other Herbicides contributed ~36 % and of Insecticides contributed ~24 %. Nine PAIs (diuron, imidacloprid, metolachlor, atrazine, MCPA, imazapic, metsulfuron, triclopyr and ametryn) were responsible for >97 % of TPR22 across all the monitored waterways.</p

Post-Pandemic, Translational Research, and Indigenous Communities

It is well documented that American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian/First Nations, known as Indigenous Peoples, have among the most significant health disparities in the world. Clinical services for these populations are typically underfunded, and Indigenous Peoples often have preexisting and co-occurring health conditions. These factors combined with a multitude of social inequities make Indigenous communities extremely susceptible to infectious diseases, including COVID- 19. This paper discusses perspectives on the post-pandemic frameworks and policies toward translational science as an approach to advance health promotion for community-based interventions, dissemination, and sustainability. The importance of exercising Indigenous self-determination, public health authority, and population health sovereignty is emphasized

Long line coupling models.

This report assembles models for the response of a wire interacting with a conducting ground to an electromagnetic pulse excitation. The cases of an infinite wire above the ground as well as resting on the ground and buried beneath the ground are treated. The focus is on the characteristics and propagation of the transmission line mode. Approximations are used to simplify the description and formulas are obtained for the current. The semi-infinite case, where the short circuit current can be nearly twice that of the infinite line, is also examined

Complete Reversible Refolding of a G-Protein Coupled Receptor on a Solid Support

The factors defining the correct folding and stability of integral membrane proteins are poorly understood. Folding of only a few select membrane proteins has been scrutinised, leaving considerable deficiencies in knowledge for large protein families, such as G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Complete reversible folding, which is problematic for any membrane protein, has eluded this dominant receptor family. Moreover, attempts to recover receptors from denatured states are inefficient, yielding at best 40-70% functional protein. We present a method for the reversible unfolding of an archetypal family member, the β1-adrenergic receptor, and attain 100% recovery of the folded, functional state, in terms of ligand binding, compared to receptor which has not been subject to any unfolding and retains its original, folded structure. We exploit refolding on a solid support, which could avoid unwanted interactions and aggregation that occur in bulk solution. We determine the changes in structure and function upon unfolding and refolding. Additionally, we employ a method that is relatively new to membrane protein folding; pulse proteolysis. Complete refolding of β1-adrenergic receptor occurs in n-decyl-β-D-maltoside (DM) micelles from a urea-denatured state, as shown by regain of its original helical structure, ligand binding and protein fluorescence. The successful refolding strategy on a solid support offers a defined method for the controlled refolding and recovery of functional GPCRs and other membrane proteins that suffer from instability and irreversible denaturation once isolated from their native membranes

From Sensor Readings to Predictions: On the Process of Developing Practical Soft Sensors.

Automatic data acquisition systems provide large amounts of streaming data generated by physical sensors. This data forms an input to computational models (soft sensors) routinely used for monitoring and control of industrial processes, traffic patterns, environment and natural hazards, and many more. The majority of these models assume that the data comes in a cleaned and pre-processed form, ready to be fed directly into a predictive model. In practice, to ensure appropriate data quality, most of the modelling efforts concentrate on preparing data from raw sensor readings to be used as model inputs. This study analyzes the process of data preparation for predictive models with streaming sensor data. We present the challenges of data preparation as a four-step process, identify the key challenges in each step, and provide recommendations for handling these issues. The discussion is focused on the approaches that are less commonly used, while, based on our experience, may contribute particularly well to solving practical soft sensor tasks. Our arguments are illustrated with a case study in the chemical production industry

Effects of biosolids application on pasture and grape vines in south-eastern Australia

Biosolids were applied to a pasture and a vineyard in south-eastern Australia. At both sites, soil Cd, Cu, and Zn concentrations linearly increased with biosolids application rates although not to the extent of exceeding soil quality guidelines. Biosolids marginally increased soil C and N concentrations at the pasture site but significantly increased P concentrations. With lower overall soil fertility at the vineyard, biosolids increased C, N, and P concentrations. At neither site did biosolids application affect soil microbial endpoints. Biosolids increased pasture production compared to the unfertilised control but had little effect on grape production or quality. Interestingly, over the 3-year trial, there was no difference in pasture production between the biosolids treated plots and plots receiving inorganic fertiliser. These results suggest that biosolids could be used as a fertiliser to stimulate pasture production and as a soil conditioner to improve vineyard soils in this regio