Protocol of a feasibility randomised controlled trial of Empowered Conversations: training family carers to enhance their relationships and communication with people living with dementia. [version 1; peer review: 3 approved]

Background: Communication difficulties can cause frustration, low mood, and stress for people living with dementia and their carer. Carers should be offered training on adapting their communication skills. However, it is not common for skills-based education to examine emotional aspects of care and the effect of dementia on relationships. The Empowered Conversations (EC) training course was developed in response to a gap in service provision and has been adapted to a virtual format (Zoom). It addresses the specific psychological, relationship, and communication needs of informal and family dementia carers. The primary aim of the study is to investigate the feasibility of conducting a multi-centre randomised controlled evaluation trial of EC.  Secondary aims include exploring the acceptability of delivering the intervention online and examining the optimum way of establishing cost-effectiveness. Methods: The feasibility trial uses a pragmatic data-collector blind parallel two-group RCT design with two arms (EC intervention plus treatment as usual, and treatment as usual waitlist control). There will be a 2:1 allocation in favour of the EC-training intervention arm. 75 participants will complete baseline outcome measures exploring their role as a carer, including their physical and mental health, attitudes to caring, quality of life, and use of health and social care services. These will be repeated after six-months. Participants allocated to the treatment group who complete the course will be invited to participate in a qualitative interview discussing their experience of EC. Discussion: The study will investigate recruitment pathways (including facilitators and barriers to recruitment), estimate retention levels and response rates to questionnaires, obtain additional evidence regarding proof of concept, and consider the most appropriate primary outcome measures and methods for evaluating cost-effectiveness. The results of the feasibility study will be used to inform the development of a multicentre randomised controlled trial in the United Kingdom. Registration: ISRCTN15261686 (02/03/2022

The additional value of TGFβ1 and IL-7 to predict the course of prostate cancer progression

Background: Given the fact that prostate cancer incidence will increase in the coming years, new prognostic biomarkers are needed with regard to the biological aggressiveness of the prostate cancer diagnosed. Since cytokines have been associated with the biology of cancer and its prognosis, we determined whether transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1), interleukin-7 (IL-7) receptor and IL-7 levels add additional prognostic information with regard to prostate cancer

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Design and analysis of dual wound machine for electric ships

Integrated full electric propulsion systems eliminate the direct mechanical coupling between the prime mover and the propeller, enabling easier connection of multiple prime movers and allowing more equitable and fuel-efficient engine loading. These features are important in both cruise ship and naval warship design. Propulsion and ship service systems require different electrical ratings. The general solution is to use multiple electrical machine sets. To approach the most compact design and maximise the weight reduction, a dual wound machine is considered in this paper. It has dual two-layer windings which share the same slots and uses one prime mover, to produce two independent power supplies. This paper designs a dual wound machine with no electromagnetic coupling due to the airgap fields, by algebraically analyzing the harmonic distribution. Further verification of the nil electro-magnetic coupling due to both the airgap and slot leakage fluxes is provided by 2D finite element modeling. Both loaded and unloaded conditions are considered

Figure 4 in At the crossroads from Asia to Europe: spring migration of raptors and black storks in Dadia National Park (Greece)

Figure 4. Polar plot of the directions of migrating raptors and black storks in Dadia NP during spring 2003, 2004 and 2005. The average direction considering all species was 359°. Species are located along the radial axes (scale: log natural) according to the number of individuals observed, ranging from the lesser spotted eagle (n = 29) to the common buzzard (n = 715).Published as part of Schindler, Stefan, Poirazidis, Kostas, Ruiz, Carlos, Scandolara, Chiara, Cárcamo, Beatriz, Eastham, Chris & Catsadorakis, Giorgos, 2014, At the crossroads from Asia to Europe: spring migration of raptors and black storks in Dadia National Park (Greece), pp. 285-300 in Journal of Natural History 49 (5) on page 293, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2013.836760, http://zenodo.org/record/400406

At the crossroads from Asia to Europe: spring migration of raptors and black storks in Dadia National Park (Greece)

Schindler, Stefan, Poirazidis, Kostas, Ruiz, Carlos, Scandolara, Chiara, Cárcamo, Beatriz, Eastham, Chris, Catsadorakis, Giorgos (2014): At the crossroads from Asia to Europe: spring migration of raptors and black storks in Dadia National Park (Greece). Journal of Natural History 49 (5): 285-300, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2013.83676

Figure 2 in At the crossroads from Asia to Europe: spring migration of raptors and black storks in Dadia National Park (Greece)

Figure 2. Sampling units of the systematic raptor monitoring in Dadia National Park.Published as part of Schindler, Stefan, Poirazidis, Kostas, Ruiz, Carlos, Scandolara, Chiara, Cárcamo, Beatriz, Eastham, Chris & Catsadorakis, Giorgos, 2014, At the crossroads from Asia to Europe: spring migration of raptors and black storks in Dadia National Park (Greece), pp. 285-300 in Journal of Natural History 49 (5) on page 288, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2013.836760, http://zenodo.org/record/400406

Figure 1 in At the crossroads from Asia to Europe: spring migration of raptors and black storks in Dadia National Park (Greece)

Figure 1. Dadia National Park (GR) at the crossroads from Asia to Europe. Letters refer to locations mentioned in the text, A: Dardanelles (TR), B: Evros Delta (GR/TR), C: Dadia NP (GR). Arrows symbolize the main raptor migration routes in spring, 1: Bosphorus (TR), 2: Marmara Flyway (TR), 3: Dardanelles (TR), 4: Black Sea coast (TR/BG), 5: Hypothetical flyway connecting Bosphorus with Central Bulgaria, 6: Flyway connecting Bosphorus and the Evros Delta (TR), 7: Flyway from the Evros Delta northwards along the western fringe of the Evros river floodplain (GR).Published as part of Schindler, Stefan, Poirazidis, Kostas, Ruiz, Carlos, Scandolara, Chiara, Cárcamo, Beatriz, Eastham, Chris & Catsadorakis, Giorgos, 2014, At the crossroads from Asia to Europe: spring migration of raptors and black storks in Dadia National Park (Greece), pp. 285-300 in Journal of Natural History 49 (5) on page 287, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2013.836760, http://zenodo.org/record/400406