The West Midlands Space Cluster Development Programme: Regional LEP and Policy Overview

This report details the current regional policy strategy that steers regional policy interventions and subsequent spending and business support packages. The region’s Industrial strategy is the primary framework for this, but individual LEPs have their own strategies that support investment allocation. This is important for several reasons. Importantly, mapping regional strategies can foster a greater understanding of the region’s current assets and strengths, including future opportunities into which growth in the significance of a space cluster can comfortably slot in. Listing ongoing and funded business support programmes as well as capital investment projects across LEP geographies can help shape the scope of future business support programmes for any future regional space strategy.The project was led by WMREDI/City-REDI) and supported by Professor Kai Bongs (Director ofInnovation – College for Engineering and Physical Sciences) and Tariq Ali (Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for Strategic Partnerships, University of Birmingham, and Vice-Provost for Research & Innovation)The report was developed in partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority, GBSLEP, the Black Country LEP and Coventry and Warwickshire LEP, under the UKSA Local Space Sector Cluster and Supply Chain Development Funding Call.This means that the success of our regional space strategy is dependent on our vision aligning closely with key regional strategies and priorities. Therefore, this report aims to provide a Regional LEP and Policy Overview for the West Midlands Combined Authority Area

Midlands Engine Observatory Academic Insights:Infrastructure: Connecting Places

An academic insight paper for the Midlands Engine Economic Observatory looking at infrastructure, connecting communities to jobs, services and opportunities and businesses to customers, suppliers and employees in the Midlands

Advanced Ceramics Sector - An Industry of the Future:Sector Profile for the Midlands (UK) – 2021

This sector profile evidences demand for the rapid expansion of advanced ceramics, and the Midlands is well positioned to grow and create jobs in this industry.This report was commissioned by the Midlands Industrial Ceramics Group (MICG) (an academic and industrial consortium) in partnership with the Midlands Engine Observatory. . Its purpose is to raise awareness of the importance of advanced ceramics to UK industry and highlight the opportunities for growth in the Midlands.<br/

Advanced Ceramics Sector - An Industry of the Future:Sector Profile for the Midlands (UK) – 2021

This sector profile evidences demand for the rapid expansion of advanced ceramics, and the Midlands is well positioned to grow and create jobs in this industry.This report was commissioned by the Midlands Industrial Ceramics Group (MICG) (an academic and industrial consortium) in partnership with the Midlands Engine Observatory. . Its purpose is to raise awareness of the importance of advanced ceramics to UK industry and highlight the opportunities for growth in the Midlands.<br/

The West Midland Space Sector Strengths, Underpinning Assets, and Market

This report outlines the key findings from the West Midlands Space Cluster project. The project has:• mapped regional space activities in industry, academia and beyond • developed a vision for how the region could become a major player in space industry – identified the regional specialisms and networking opportunities• assessed the opportunities for the regional supply chain to join these developments and hence the realise growth potential for the regionThere have been four key stages of research, these are:• Phase 1 – Secondary Data Analysis of Space Sector Firms in the Region • Phase 2 – Secondary Data Analysis of Underlying Assets in the Region • Phase 3: Interviews with Key Stakeholders • Phase 4: Local Space Leadership GroupThe project was led by WMREDI/City-REDI and supported by Professor Kai Bongs (Director of Innovation – College for Engineering and Physical Sciences) and Tariq Ali (Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for Strategic Partnerships, University of Birmingham, and Vice-Provost for Research &amp; Innovation).This report developed in partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority, Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP), the Black Country LEP and Coventry and Warwickshire LEP, under the UKSA Local Space Sector Cluster and Supply Chain Development Funding Call

Urinary Albumin Excretion is Associated with Pulmonary Hypertension in Sickle Cell Disease: Potential Role of Soluble Fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase-1

Pulmonary hypertension (PHT) is reported to be associated with measures of renal function in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the relationship between albuminuria and both clinical and laboratory variables in SCD

‘I’ll always find a perfectly justified reason for not doing it’: Challenges for disability sport and physical activity in the United Kingdom

This study aimed to provide insight into the experiences of and attitudes to sport and physical activity for disabled people. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with eight facilitators and focus groups with 24 members across three disability support organisations. Using ableism as the primary sensitising concept, our iterative analysis revealed that although all facilitators and disabled people were aware of the physical and mental wellbeing benefits of sport and physical activity, only 2 of the 24 disabled participants met the UK Government guidelines for physical activity. Findings showed that participation was hampered by a number of external and internal barriers, including the cost of transport and activities, ineffective modes of communication and advertisement, preconceived images of sport as competitive and judgemental, and anxieties about sporting abilities. Importantly, this study highlighted that many of these barriers were a pretext for a lack of enjoyment, and makes suggestions for future practice

CropPol: a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination

Seventy five percent of the world's food crops benefit from insect pollination. Hence, there has been increased interest in how global change drivers impact this critical ecosystem service. Because standardized data on crop pollination are rarely available, we are limited in our capacity to understand the variation in pollination benefits to crop yield, as well as to anticipate changes in this service, develop predictions, and inform management actions. Here, we present CropPol, a dynamic, open and global database on crop pollination. It contains measurements recorded from 202 crop studies, covering 3,394 field observations, 2,552 yield measurements (i.e. berry weight, number of fruits and kg per hectare, among others), and 47,752 insect records from 48 commercial crops distributed around the globe. CropPol comprises 32 of the 87 leading global crops and commodities that are pollinator dependent. Malus domestica is the most represented crop (32 studies), followed by Brassica napus (22 studies), Vaccinium corymbosum (13 studies), and Citrullus lanatus (12 studies). The most abundant pollinator guilds recorded are honey bees (34.22% counts), bumblebees (19.19%), flies other than Syrphidae and Bombyliidae (13.18%), other wild bees (13.13%), beetles (10.97%), Syrphidae (4.87%), and Bombyliidae (0.05%). Locations comprise 34 countries distributed among Europe (76 studies), Northern America (60), Latin America and the Caribbean (29), Asia (20), Oceania (10), and Africa (7). Sampling spans three decades and is concentrated on 2001-05 (21 studies), 2006-10 (40), 2011-15 (88), and 2016-20 (50). This is the most comprehensive open global data set on measurements of crop flower visitors, crop pollinators and pollination to date, and we encourage researchers to add more datasets to this database in the future. This data set is released for non-commercial use only. Credits should be given to this paper (i.e., proper citation), and the products generated with this database should be shared under the same license terms (CC BY-NC-SA). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Efficacy and safety of autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation versus alemtuzumab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab or cladribine in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (StarMS): protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Introduction: Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) is increasingly used as treatment for patients with active multiple sclerosis (MS), typically after failure of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). A recent phase III trial, ‘Multiple Sclerosis International Stem Cell Transplant, MIST’, showed that aHSCT resulted in prolonged time to disability progression compared with DMTs in patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS). However, the MIST trial did not include many of the current high-efficacy DMTs (alemtuzumab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab or cladribine) in use in the UK within the control arm, which are now offered to patients with rapidly evolving severe MS (RES-MS) who are treatment naïve. There remain, therefore, unanswered questions about the relative efficacy and safety of aHSCT over these high-efficacy DMTs in these patient groups. The StarMS trial (Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation versus Alemtuzumab, Ocrelizumab, Ofatumumab or Cladribine in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis) will assess the efficacy, safety and long-term impact of aHSCT compared with high-efficacy DMTs in patients with highly active RRMS despite the use of standard DMTs or in patients with treatment naïve RES-MS. Methods and analysis: StarMS is a multicentre parallel-group rater-blinded randomised controlled trial with two arms. A total of 198 participants will be recruited from 19 regional neurology secondary care centres in the UK. Participants will be randomly allocated to the aHSCT arm or DMT arm in a 1:1 ratio. Participants will remain in the study for 2 years with follow-up visits at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months postrandomisation. The primary outcome is the proportion of patients who achieve ‘no evidence of disease activity’ during the 2-year postrandomisation follow-up period in an intention to treat analysis. Secondary outcomes include efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness and immune reconstitution of aHSCT and the four high-efficacy DMTs. Ethics and dissemination: The study was approved by the Yorkshire and Humber—Leeds West Research Ethics Committee (20/YH/0061). Participants will provide written informed consent prior to any study specific procedures. The study results will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and abstracts will be submitted to relevant national and international conferences. Trial registration number: ISRCTN88667898