Hospital to community in Wales: What is the value of optometrists playing a greater role in managing neovascular AMD and glaucoma in primary care?

Purpose: To evaluate the value of enhanced optometric services for managing neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and glaucoma in primary care optometry services, instead of hospital eye services (HES).

Methods: Seven enhanced optometric service pathways in primary care in Wales were assessed with a mixed-methods approach: three for nAMD and four for glaucoma. The methods were a patient-related experience measure (PREM), a Realist Review and Evaluation involving both patients and staff, a discrete event simulation model estimating the economic impact of the pathways and a workforce survey of optometrists to gauge capability and capacity.

Kinship practices in Early Iron Age southeast Europe: genetic and isotopic analysis of burials from the Dolge njive barrow cemetery, Dolenjska, Slovenia.

DNA analysis demonstrates that all seven individuals buried in an Early Iron Age barrow at Dolge njive, southeast Slovenia, are close biological relatives. Although group composition does not suggest strict adherence to a patrilineal or matrilineal kinship system, the funerary tradition appears highly gendered, with family links through both the male and female line being important in structuring communities. We explore the implications for our understandings of kinship and funerary practices in Early Iron Age southeast Europe.

Revealing solid electrolyte interphase formation through interface-sensitive Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

The solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) that forms on Li-ion battery anodes is critical to their long-term performance, however observing SEI formation processes at the buried electrode-electrolyte interface is a significant challenge. Here we show that operando soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy in total electron yield mode can resolve the chemical evolution of the SEI during electrochemical formation in a Li-ion cell, with nm-scale interface sensitivity. O, F, and Si K-edge spectra, acquired as a function of potential, reveal when key reactions occur on high-capacity amorphous Si anodes cycled with and without fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC).

The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe.

By sequencing 727 ancient individuals from the Southern Arc (Anatolia and its neighbors in Southeastern Europe and West Asia) over 10,000 years, we contextualize its Chalcolithic period and Bronze Age (about 5000 to 1000 BCE), when extensive gene flow entangled it with the Eurasian steppe. Two streams of migration transmitted Caucasus and Anatolian/Levantine ancestry northward, and the Yamnaya pastoralists, formed on the steppe, then spread southward into the Balkans and across the Caucasus into Armenia, where they left numerous patrilineal descendants. Anatolia was transformed by intra-West Asian gene flow, with negligible impact of the later Yamnaya migrations.

Ancient DNA from Mesopotamia suggests distinct Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic migrations into Anatolia.

We present the first ancient DNA data from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia (Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq), Cyprus, and the Northwestern Zagros, along with the first data from Neolithic Armenia. We show that these and neighboring populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to Anatolian, Caucasus, and Levantine hunter-gatherers, forming a Neolithic continuum of ancestry mirroring the geography of West Asia. By analyzing Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic populations of Anatolia, we show that the former were derived from admixture between Mesopotamian-related and local Epipaleolithic-related sources, but the latter experienced additional Levantine-related gene flow, thus documenting at least two pulses of migration from the Fertile Crescent heartland to the early farmers of Anatolia.

A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia.

Literary and archaeological sources have preserved a rich history of Southern Europe and West Asia since the Bronze Age that can be complemented by genetics. Mycenaean period elites in Greece did not differ from the general population and included both people with some steppe ancestry and others, like the Griffin Warrior, without it. Similarly, people in the central area of the Urartian Kingdom around Lake Van lacked the steppe ancestry characteristic of the kingdom's northern provinces.

A community-based initiative to improve transgender mental health in Canterbury, New Zealand.

Background and context The transgender community experiences high levels of mental distress. In the Canterbury region of New Zealand, transgender care was fragmented and there were gaps in service provision. Assessment of problem In 2019, a working group co-designed a model to coordinate and improve health care for the Canterbury transgender community.

Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age.

Present-day people from England and Wales have more ancestry derived from early European farmers (EEF) than did people of the Early Bronze Age. To understand this, here we generated genome-wide data from 793 individuals, increasing data from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age in Britain by 12-fold, and western and central Europe by 3.5-fold.

Study Protocol for a Randomized Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Trial Exploring the Effectiveness of a Micronutrient Formula in Improving Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression.

Anxiety and depression are conferring an increasing burden on society. Although treatments exist for both conditions, side effects, and difficulties accessing treatment prevent many people from receiving adequate assistance. Nutritional approaches have demonstrated some success in treating anxiety and depression.

Nanoscale momentum-resolved vibrational spectroscopy.

Vibrational modes affect fundamental physical properties such as the conduction of sound and heat and can be sensitive to nano- and atomic-scale structure. Probing the momentum transfer dependence of vibrational modes provides a wealth of information about a materials system; however, experimental work has been limited to essentially bulk and averaged surface approaches or to small wave vectors. We demonstrate a combined experimental and theoretical methodology for nanoscale mapping of optical and acoustic phonons across the first Brillouin zone, in the electron microscope, probing a volume ~10 to 10 times smaller than that of comparable bulk and surface techniques.

Correction to: Treatment patterns in patients with osteoporosis at high risk of fracture in Japan: retrospective chart review.

In this article it was mistakenly stated that Akimitsu Miyauchi is affiliated with both Miyauchi Medical Center, Osaka and Amgen Astellas BioPharma K.K., Tokyo.

Treatment patterns in patients with osteoporosis at high risk of fracture in Japan: retrospective chart review.

Unlabelled: Osteoporosis (OP) causes reduced bone strength and increases risk of fractures. Medical records from specialist clinics in Japan of postmenopausal women with OP and high risk of fracture were analysed. Majority of patients were treated for OP as recommended and were prescribed OP medications soon after high-risk OP diagnosis.

Counting vacancies and nitrogen-vacancy centers in detonation nanodiamond.

Detonation nanodiamond particles (DND) contain highly-stable nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) centers, making it important for quantum-optical and biotechnology applications. However, due to the small particle size, the N-V concentrations are believed to be intrinsically very low, spawning efforts to understand the formation of N-V centers and vacancies, and increase their concentration. Here we show that vacancies in DND can be detected and quantified using simulation-aided electron energy loss spectroscopy.

Electronic Structure Modification of Ion Implanted Graphene: The Spectroscopic Signatures of p- and n-Type Doping.

A combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, and ab initio calculations is used to describe the electronic structure modifications incurred by free-standing graphene through two types of single-atom doping. The N K and C K electron energy loss transitions show the presence of π* bonding states, which are highly localized around the N dopant. In contrast, the B K transition of a single B dopant atom shows an unusual broad asymmetric peak which is the result of delocalized π* states away from the B dopant.

Crystal Structure of the ZrO Phase at Zirconium/Zirconium Oxide Interfaces.

Zirconium-based alloys are used in water-cooled nuclear reactors for both nuclear fuel cladding and structural components. Under this harsh environment, the main factor limiting the service life of zirconium cladding, and hence fuel burn-up efficiency, is water corrosion. This oxidation process has recently been linked to the presence of a sub-oxide phase with well-defined composition but unknown structure at the metal-oxide interface.

Morphology--composition correlations in carbon nanotubes synthesised with nitrogen and phosphorus containing precursors.

We have correlated the elemental composition with the structure of multi-wall carbon nanotubes synthesised with nitrogen and phosphorus containing precursors and identified two chemically distinct dominant morphologies. The first type are cone-structured tubes and the second are nanotubes with fewer walls which can accommodate N2 gas along their inner channel and contain up to ten times more nitrogen than the cone-structured nanotubes. Phosphorus was present in the catalyst particles but was not detected within the walls of either type of nanotube.

Identifying suboxide grains at the metal-oxide interface of a corroded Zr-1.0%Nb alloy using (S)TEM, transmission-EBSD and EELS.

Here we report a methodology combining TEM, STEM, Transmission-EBSD and EELS to analyse the structural and chemical properties of the metal-oxide interface of corroded Zr alloys in unprecedented detail. TEM, STEM and diffraction results revealed the complexity of the distribution of suboxide grains at the metal-oxide interface. EELS provided accurate quantitative analysis of the oxygen concentration across the interface, identifying the existence of local regions of stoichiometric ZrO and Zr3O2 with varying thickness.

WS₂ 2D nanosheets in 3D nanoflowers.

In this work it has been established that 3D nanoflowers of WS2 synthesised by chemical vapour deposition are composed of few layer WS2 along the edges of the petals. An experimental study in order to understand the evolution of these nanostructures shows the nucleation and growth along with the compositional changes they undergo.

Rationale and design of the Pan Australasian chemotherapy-induced emesis burden of illness study.

Background: Preventing and managing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) remain important goals. The objective of the Pan Australasian chemotherapy-induced emesis burden of illness (PrACTICE) study was to describe the incidence of CINV after highly or moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC or MEC) for cancer in current clinical practice in Australia and five Asian countries (China, India, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan).

Study Design: This prospective, observational study of CINV was conducted at 31 sites in these six countries from August 2011 through September 2012 and enrolled male and female adult patients (≥18 years of age) naïve to HEC and MEC who were scheduled to receive at least two cycles of single-day chemotherapy.

Disease status, patient quality of life and healthcare resource use for ulcerative colitis in the UK: an observational study.

Background: Ulcerative colitis is a lifelong, chronic, relapsing-remitting disease.

Objective: To assess the relationship between ulcerative colitis disease status and patient quality of life, and to determine the impact of ulcerative colitis on healthcare costs and work productivity, in the UK.

Methods: Clinicians assessed 173 adult patients' current disease status at a single study visit using the partial Mayo (pMayo) instrument.

The near edge structure of hexagonal boron nitride.

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is a promising material for a range of applications including deep-ultraviolet light emission. Despite extensive experimental studies, some fundamental aspects of hBN remain unknown, such as the type of stacking faults likely to be present and their influence on electronic properties. In this paper, different stacking configurations of hBN are investigated using CASTEP, a pseudopotential density functional theory code.

Relationship between disease severity and quality of life and assessment of health care utilization and cost for ulcerative colitis in Australia: a cross-sectional, observational study.

Background & Aims: The burden of ulcerative colitis (UC) in relation to disease severity is not well documented. This study quantitatively evaluated the relationship between disease activity and quality of life (QoL), as well as health care utilization, cost, and work-related impairment associated with UC in an Australian population.

Methods: A cross-sectional, noninterventional, observational study was performed in patients with a wide range of disease severity recruited during routine specialist consultations.

In situ engineering of NanoBud geometries.

NanoBuds exist in a variety of stable structures. Our studies show that engineering NanoBud geometries is indeed possible and we visualise the transformation of one Nanobud geometry to another using in situ aberration corrected imaging techniques. Such NanoBuds are precursors for generating nanotube junctions which could be used in composite and electronic applications.