Publications by authors named "Leeming R"

Fine chemicals produced via batch crystallization with properties dependent on the crystal size distribution require precise control of supersaturation, which drives the evolution of crystal size over time. Model predictive control (MPC) of supersaturation using a mechanistic model to represent the behavior of a crystallization process requires less experimental time and resources compared with fully empirical model-based control methods. Experimental characterization of the hexamine-ethanol crystallization system was performed in order to collect the parameters required to build a one-dimensional (1D) population balance model (PBM) in gPROMS FormulatedProducts software (Siemens-PSE Ltd.

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Purpose: We examined the interaction between common genetic bladder cancer variants, diet quality, and bladder cancer risk in a population-based case-control study conducted in New England.

Methods: At the time of enrollment, 806 bladder cancer cases and 974 controls provided a DNA sample and completed a diet history questionnaire. Diet quality was assessed using the 2010 Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI-2010) score.

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Nutrition may impact bladder cancer survival. We examined the association between diet quality and overall and bladder cancer-specific survival. Bladder cancer cases from a population-based study reported pre-diagnosis diet.

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Cancer treatments are often more successful when the disease is detected early. We evaluated the feasibility and safety of multicancer blood testing coupled with positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) imaging to detect cancer in a prospective, interventional study of 10,006 women not previously known to have cancer. Positive blood tests were independently confirmed by a diagnostic PET-CT, which also localized the cancer.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on identifying disease-causing variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes within a large research group to aid in cancer prevention and diagnosis.
  • Conducted on over 50,000 adult volunteers, it utilized exome sequencing to assess the prevalence of these variants and their impact on personal and family cancer history.
  • Results showed that only 0.5% were BRCA1/2 carriers, with a significant portion of these individuals having no previous clinical testing for their variants.
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CD137L (4-1BBL) is a costimulatory molecule whose signaling can promote monocyte/macrophage functions; however, CD137L-mediated microglial response and its role in neuropathic pain remain unknown. We investigated CD137L following peripheral nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain using a spinal nerve L5 transection (L5Tx) murine model in both sexes. First, C57BL/6_CD137L knock-out (KO) mice displayed decreased mechanical and diminished heat hypersensitivity compared to wild-type (WT) controls, beginning on day 3 to up to day 35 post-L5Tx.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chronic morphine treatment was found to worsen cognitive function in mice infected with LP-BM5/murine AIDS (MAIDS), indicating that opioid use can negatively impact brain health in HIV/AIDS patients.
  • Research showed that morphine reduced pro-inflammatory factors and cognitive performance, leading to higher viral load in the hippocampus and a weaker immune response.
  • In contrast, morphine decreased viral load in the striatum while increasing type 1 interferon (IFN-α) expression, suggesting that the effects of opioids vary by brain region.
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PurposeThe clinical utility of screening unselected individuals for pathogenic BRCA1/2 variants has not been established. Data on cancer risk management behaviors and diagnoses of BRCA1/2-associated cancers can help inform assessments of clinical utility.MethodsWhole-exome sequences of participants in the MyCode Community Health Initiative were reviewed for pathogenic/likely pathogenic BRCA1/2 variants.

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The Antarctic Treaty permits the discharge of wastewater into Antarctic marine waters providing that conditions exist for initial dilution and rapid dispersal. We investigated the dilution and dispersal of macerated wastewater around Australia's Davis Station in East Antarctica and examined sediments for evidence of contaminants. Methods used to examine hydrodynamic conditions included current meters, dye release experiments and measurement of sewage-associated microbial markers and surfactants in the water column.

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Purpose: To investigate the effect of live and recorded perioperative music therapy on anesthesia requirements, anxiety levels, recovery time, and patient satisfaction in women experiencing surgery for diagnosis or treatment of breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Between 2012 and 2014, 207 female patients undergoing surgery for potential or known breast cancer were randomly assigned to receive either patient-selected live music (LM) preoperatively with therapist-selected recorded music intraoperatively (n=69), patient-selected recorded music (RM) preoperatively with therapist-selected recorded music intraoperatively (n=70), or usual care (UC) preoperatively with noise-blocking earmuffs intraoperatively (n=68).

Results: The LM and the RM groups did not differ significantly from the UC group in the amount of propofol required to reach moderate sedation.

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An argument is put forward for environmental modulators of photolabile or photosynthetic vitamins mediating autism risk via a complex downstream interaction of genetic/epigenetic phenomena that provide an explanation for seasonality in this and other developmentally originated disorders.

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Purpose: Administering adjuvant chemotherapy before breast radiotherapy decreases the risk of systemic recurrence, but delays in radiotherapy could yield higher local failure. We assessed the feasibility and efficacy of placing radiotherapy earlier in the breast-conserving treatment course for lymph node-positive breast cancer.

Methods And Materials: Between June 2000 and December 2004, 44 women with node-positive Stage II and III breast cancer were entered into this trial.

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Purpose: Taxanes have effects on angiogenesis causing difficulties in separating biological effects of chemotherapy from those due to angiogenesis inhibitors. This randomized phase II trial was designed to evaluate the additional biomarker effect on angiogenesis when bevacizumab is added to docetaxel.

Experimental Design: Patients with inoperable breast cancer were randomized to either 2 cycles of preoperative docetaxel (D) 35 mg/m(2) i.

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Autism is increasing-but why? Birth defect prevention trials were based on the teleological assumption that folic acid could prevent neural tube defects without consideration of long-term effects, some of which could be beneficial, some of which might be harmful. We therefore ask-Is it impossible to look again at these cohorts?

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Background: Although sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is the standard technique for staging the axilla of clinically node-negative breast cancer, the optimal number of radioactive SLNs to remove to ensure accuracy and minimize morbidity is still actively debated. The purpose of this study was to determine the minimum number of SLNs to excise to ensure accurate axillary staging of SLN-positive patients.

Methods: A total of 126 patients with invasive breast cancer underwent SLN biopsy by periareolar injection of radiolabeled technetium sulfur colloid on the day of surgery.

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A field study was conducted to investigate sewage inputs at popular anchorages in Moreton Bay, a sub-tropical, semienclosed embayment system in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Sterol biomarkers were quantified in sediments revealing low levels over a spatial and temporal scale consistent with a shallow, oligotrophic, highly dynamic, sand dominated system. Despite low concentrations (ng/g) and high variability, relevant sterol/stanol pairs remained well-correlated and were successful in identifying an unexpected once-off pollution event from a point source at Moreton Bay Island.

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Organic marker compounds (biomarkers) can be used to identify the sources of waterborne pollutants. This paper examines sterols and other alcohols in overland flow from pasture-based grazing systems, possible agricultural source materials and water extracts of these source materials as a preliminary step to developing chemical profiles that can be used for tracing pollutants. The biomarkers were quantified using gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques.

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Background: That sweat gland type tumors occur occasionally in the breast is not surprising, as the breast and cutaneous sweat glands are embryologically related. Cylindromas present most commonly as solitary and sporadic dermal nodules on the face and scalp. Cases of multiple cylindromas are dominantly inherited, and the neoplasms are referred to as "turban tumors" when multiple lesions cover the scalp.

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The supply of unfiltered disinfected drinking water from Melbourne's fully protected catchments means that the water-quality managers must ensure that the source water poses no public health risk. High turbidity is currently used as a surrogate of pathogens, and harvesting of water is based on its measurement. The work presented here summarises suspended particle and associated pathogen, microbial indicator and faecal biomarker concentrations collected to (a) quantify turbidity in an Australian water supply system and (b) assess the possibility of increasing water harvesting from selected tributaries.

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Standard solutions containing a mixture of seven sterols and 5alpha-cholestane as internal standard, and sample mixtures that comprised varying ratios of sterol and stanols from green lip mussel tissue and dried cow faeces were analysed by using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC). Quantitative results were compared with single-column GC analysis. The latter samples included sterols of interest, but which cannot be readily obtained elsewhere.

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Several reports indicate that biopterin and folate pathways may interact. We examined folate metabolism in PKU patients where hyperphenylalaninaemia leads to a likely excess of THB. We found an increase in total HPLC determined red cell folate in PKU (p=0.

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Transmissible pathogens in source-separated human urine, intended for reuse in agriculture, mainly originate from faeces that cross-contaminate the urine. The health risks associated with the enteric pathogens will largely be dependent on their initial concentration and their inactivation during storage in the urine. Faecal sterols have proven stable in urine and can, rather than indicator bacteria, be used to quantify the faecal cross-contamination.

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