Essentially yours: the protection of human genetic information in Australia

ALRC Report 96 (tabled May 2003)  was the product of a two-year inquiry by the ALRC and the Australian Health Ethics Committee (AHEC) of the NHMRC, involving extensive research and widespread public consultation.The inquiry was the most comprehensive ever undertaken into these issues in Australia or overseas. The report covers an extensive range of activities in which genetic information plays—or soon will play—an important role. The two-volume, 1200 page report makes 144 recommendations about how Australia should deal with the ethical, legal and social implications of the New Genetics. This Report reflects the law as at 14 March 2003

Scalable Interactive Volume Rendering Using Off-the-shelf Components

This paper describes an application of a second generation implementation of the Sepia architecture (Sepia-2) to interactive volu-metric visualization of large rectilinear scalar fields. By employingpipelined associative blending operators in a sort-last configuration a demonstration system with 8 rendering computers sustains 24 to 28 frames per second while interactively rendering large data volumes (1024x256x256 voxels, and 512x512x512 voxels). We believe interactive performance at these frame rates and data sizes is unprecedented. We also believe these results can be extended to other types of structured and unstructured grids and a variety of GL rendering techniques including surface rendering and shadow map-ping. We show how to extend our single-stage crossbar demonstration system to multi-stage networks in order to support much larger data sizes and higher image resolutions. This requires solving a dynamic mapping problem for a class of blending operators that includes Porter-Duff compositing operators

The Bryophytes of Fox Ridge State Park, Coles County, Illinois

A survey of Fox Ridge State Park in Coles County, Illinois revealed a total of 72 bryophyte species. Of these 68 were mosses and 4 were liverworts. Habitat and frequency for each species were recorded. Voucher specimens for each species have been placed in the Stover Herbarium at Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois. As a result of this survey Astomum muhlenbergionum (Sw.) Grout. is a new addition to the list of Illinois bryophytes. In addition ten species are new reports for Coles County, Illinois. These are the mosses Amblystegium fluviatle (Hedw.) BSG, Brachythecium digastrum C. M. & Kindb. ex. Macoun & Kindb., Entodon brevisetus (Hook & Wils. ex. Wils.) Kindb., Fissidens bushii (Card. & Ther.) Card. & Ther., Haplohymenium triste (Ces. ex. DeNot) Kindb., Plagiothecium cavifolium (Brid.) Iwat., Pylaisella selwynii (Kindb.) Crum, Steere & Anderson, Taxiphyllum taxirameum (Mitt.) Fl., Thuidium abietinum (Hedw.) BSG and the liverwort Lophocolea minor Nees

A preliminary examination of the deployment of lean and reverse logistics within the pharmaceutical supply chain (PSC) UK

Drug treatment is the most common form of healthcare intervention and represents the highest non-staff revenue cost in the UK National Health Service (NHS).The annual drugs bill in the UK equates to just about 10% of NHS expenditure (McKee, 2012). Demand for NHS healthcare is effectively infinite (Lodge and Bamford, 2008); there are constant efforts to increase capacity and operational budgets are constrained. One area where hospital pharmacies are looking for cost saving and better services is through improving their Supply Chain Management (SCM) (AT Kearney, 2009). However, they have not only to manage the forward components of the logistics process to minimise waste and maximise patient wellbeing, but to manage the reverse components as well (Jamali et al., 2010). Success in this area can be realised through the application of a Lean Philosophy which focuses on eliminating waste by defining value (Brandao, 2009)

Cross-sectional study of the provision of interventional oncology services in the UK

Objective: To map out the current provision of interventional oncology (IO) services in the UK. Design: Cross-sectional multicentre study. Setting: All National Health Service (NHS) trusts in England and Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland health boards. Participants: Interventional radiology (IR) departments in all NHS trusts/health boards in the UK. Results: A total of 179 NHS trusts/health boards were contacted. We received a 100% response rate. Only 19 (11%) institutions had an IO lead. 144 trusts (80%) provided IO services or had a formal pathway of referral in place for patients to a recipient trust. 21 trusts (12%) had plans to provide an IO service or formal referral pathway in the next 12 months only. 14 trusts (8%) did not have a pathway of referral and no plans to implement one. 70 trusts (39%) offered supportive and disease-modifying procedures. One trust had a formal referral pathway for supportive procedures. 73 trusts (41%) provided only supportive procedures (diagnostic or therapeutic). Of these, 43 (59%) had a referral pathway for disease-modifying IO procedures, either from a regional cancer network or through IR networks and 30 trusts (41%) did not have a referral pathway for disease-modifying procedures. Conclusion: The provision of IO services in the UK is promising; however, collaborative networks are necessary to ensure disease-modifying IO procedures are made accessible to all patients and to facilitate larger registry data for research with commissioning of new services

Design, synthesis and antibacterial activity of minor groove binders: the role of non-cationic tail groups

he design and synthesis of a new class of minor groove binder (MGBs) in which, the cationic tail group has been replaced by a neutral, polar variant including cyanoguanidine, nitroalkene, and trifluoroacetamide groups. Antibacterial activity (against Gram positive bacteria) was found for both the nitroalkene and trifluoroacetamide groups. For the case of the nitroalkene tail group, strong binding of a minor groove binder containing this tail group was demonstrated by both DNA footprinting and melting temperature measurements, showing a correlation between DNA binding and antibacterial activity. The compounds have also been evaluated for binding to the hERG ion channel to determine whether non-cationic but polar substituents might have an advantage compared with conventional cationic tail groups in avoiding hERG binding. In this series of compounds, it was found that whilst non-cationic compounds generally had lower affinity to the hERG ion channel, all of the compounds studied bound weakly to the hERG ion channel, probably associated with the hydrophobic head groups

The Carina Nebula and Gum 31 molecular complex: II. The distribution of the atomic gas revealed in unprecedented detail

We report high spatial resolution observations of the HI 21cm line in the Carina Nebula and the Gum 31 region obtained with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The observations covered $\sim$ 12 deg$^2$ centred on $l= 287.5\deg,b = -1\deg$, achieving an angular resolution of $\sim$ 35 arcseconds. The HI map revealed complex filamentary structures across a wide range of velocities. Several "bubbles" are clearly identified in the Carina Nebula Complex, produced by the impact of the massive star clusters located in this region. An HI absorption profile obtained towards the strong extragalactic radio source PMN J1032--5917 showed the distribution of the cold component of the atomic gas along the Galactic disk, with the Sagittarius-Carina and Perseus spiral arms clearly distinguishable. Preliminary calculations of the optical depth and spin temperatures of the cold atomic gas show that the HI line is opaque ($\tau \gtrsim$ 2) at several velocities in the Sagittarius-Carina spiral arm. The spin temperature is $\sim100$ K in the regions with the highest optical depth, although this value might be lower for the saturated components. The atomic mass budget of Gum 31 is $\sim35 \%$ of the total gas mass. HI self absorption features have molecular counterparts and good spatial correlation with the regions of cold dust as traced by the infrared maps. We suggest that in Gum 31 regions of cold temperature and high density are where the atomic to molecular gas phase transition is likely to be occurring.Comment: 20 pages, 1 table, 16 Figures, Accepted for Publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Journa

The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of ablative therapies in the management of liver metastases: systematic review and economic evaluation

Background: Many deaths from cancer are caused by metastatic burden. Prognosis and survival rates vary, but survival beyond 5 years of patients with untreated metastatic disease in the liver is rare. Treatment for liver metastases has largely been surgical resection, but this is feasible in only approximately 20–30% of people. Non-surgical alternatives to treat some liver metastases can include various forms of ablative therapies and other targeted treatments.Objectives: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the different ablative and minimally invasive therapies for treating liver metastases.Data sources: Electronic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library were searched from 1990 to September 2011. Experts were consulted and bibliographies checked.Review methods: Systematic reviews of the literature were undertaken to appraise the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of ablative therapies and minimally invasive therapies used for people with liver metastases. Studies were any prospective study with sample size greater than 100 participants. A probabilistic model was developed for the economic evaluation of the technologies where data permitted.Results: The evidence assessing the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of ablative and other minimally invasive therapies was limited. Nine studies of ablative therapies were included in the review; each had methodological shortcomings and few had a comparator group. One randomised controlled trial (RCT) of microwave ablation versus surgical resection was identified and showed no improvement in outcomes compared with resection. In two prospective case series studies that investigated the use of laser ablation, mean survival ranged from 41 to 58 months. One cohort study compared radiofrequency ablation with surgical resection and five case series studies also investigated the use of radiofrequency ablation. Across these studies the median survival ranged from 44 to 52 months. Seven studies of minimally invasive therapies were included in the review. Two RCTs compared chemoembolisation with chemotherapy only. Overall survival was not compared between groups and methodological shortcomings mean that conclusions are difficult to make. Two case series studies of laser ablation following chemoembolisation were also included; however, these provide little evidence of the use of these technologies in combination. Three RCTs of radioembolisation were included. Significant improvements in tumour response and time to disease progression were demonstrated; however, benefits in terms of survival were equivocal. An exploratory survival model was developed using data from the review of clinical effectiveness. The model includes separate analyses of microwave ablation compared with surgery and radiofrequency ablation compared with surgery and one of radioembolisation in conjunction with hepatic artery chemotherapy compared with hepatic artery chemotherapy alone. Microwave ablation was associated with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of £3664 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained, with microwave ablation being associated with reduced cost but also with poorer outcome than surgery. Radiofrequency ablation compared with surgical resection for solitary metastases < 3 cm was associated with an ICER of –£266,767 per QALY gained, indicating that radiofrequency ablation dominates surgical resection. Radiofrequency ablation compared with surgical resection for solitary metastases ? 3 cm resulted in poorer outcomes at lower costs and a resultant ICER of £2538 per QALY gained. Radioembolisation plus hepatic artery chemotherapy compared with hepatic artery chemotherapy was associated with an ICER of £37,303 per QALY gained.Conclusions: There is currently limited high-quality research evidence upon which to base any firm decisions regarding ablative therapies for liver metastases. Further trials should compare ablative therapies with surgery, in particular. A RCT would provide the most appropriate design for undertaking any further evaluation and should include a full economic evaluation, but the group to be randomised needs careful selection.Source of funding: Funding for this study was provided by the Health Technology Assessment programme of the National Institute for Health Research