Publications by authors named "Rigby S"

This research investigates the mechanical properties of Portland Cement Concrete (PCC), incorporating recycled brick powder (RBP) and steel fibers and addressing sustainability and performance enhancement in concrete materials. The experimental design systematically varied RBP content (0-15 %) and incorporated crimped steel fibers of two lengths (20 and 50 mm) at dosages of 0 %, 0.5 %, and 1 %.

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The philosophy of herbal medicines is that they contain multiple active components that target many aspects of a given disease. This is in line with the recent multiple-target strategy adopted due to shortcomings with the previous "magic bullet", single-target strategy. The complexity of biological systems means it is often difficult to elucidate the mechanisms of synergistic, additive, and/or multi-target (SAM) effects.

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This review considers the use of fractal concepts to improve the development, fabrication, and characterisation of catalytic materials and supports. First, the theory of fractals is discussed, as well as how it can be used to better describe often highly complex catalytic materials and enhance structural characterisation via a variety of different methods, including gas sorption, mercury porosimetry, NMR, and several imaging modalities. The review then surveys various synthesis and fabrication methods that can be used to create catalytic materials that are fractals or possess fractal character.

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Article Synopsis
  • Estonia has a high cervical cancer death rate despite a long-standing screening program, leading to urgent reforms to improve participation and test quality.
  • Key reforms include expanding eligibility for screenings, allowing family physicians to conduct tests, and switching to HPV testing as the primary method.
  • Early signs show increased participation, but further efforts are needed to overcome barriers; the establishment of the National Cancer Screening Group aims to ensure accountability and equitable access.
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Objective: Following the release of the Australian National Safety and Quality Digital Mental Health (NSQDMH) Standards in November 2020, our objective was to ensure effective implementation of the Standards. This included the development of an accreditation scheme to allow digital mental health services to be formally assessed against the Standards and provide service users with an assurance of safe and high-quality services.

Method: The accreditation scheme was adapted from the one used for the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards.

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Reductive dehalogenases are corrinoid and iron-sulfur cluster-containing enzymes that catalyze the reductive removal of a halogen atom. The oxygen-sensitive and membrane-associated nature of the respiratory reductive dehalogenases has hindered their detailed kinetic study. In contrast, the evolutionarily related catabolic reductive dehalogenases are oxygen tolerant, with those that are naturally fused to a reductase domain with similarity to phthalate dioxygenase presenting attractive targets for further study.

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Background: Cervical cancer is a preventable and inequitably distributed disease. Screening plays a vital role in prevention, but many women face barriers to participation. The aims of this scoping review, undertaken to inform the co-design of interventions to equitably increase screening uptake, were to: (1) identify barriers and facilitators to cervical cancer screening for underserved populations, and (2) identify and describe the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving participation in cervical cancer screening among underserved groups in Europe.

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Tooth extraction is the most common hospital procedure for children aged 6-10 years in England. Tooth decay is almost entirely preventable and is inequitably distributed across the population: it can cause pain, infection, school absences and undermine overall health status.An oral health programme (OHP) was delivered in a hospital setting, comprising: (1) health promotion activities; (2) targeted supervised toothbrushing (STB) and (3) staff training.

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This review focuses on disordered, or amorphous, porous heterogeneous catalysts, especially those in the forms of pellets and monoliths. It considers the structural characterisation and representation of the void space of these porous media. It discusses the latest developments in the determination of key void space descriptors, such as porosity, pore size, and tortuosity.

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Titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs were diverse and abundant throughout the Cretaceous, with a global distribution. However, few titanosaurian taxa are represented by multiple skeletons, let alone skulls. , from the lower Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia, was heretofore represented by three specimens, including one that preserves a braincase and several other cranial elements.

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The design of blast-resistant structures and protective systems requires a firm understanding of the loadings imparted to structures by blast waves. While empirical methods can reliably predict these loadings in the far field, there is currently a lack of understanding on the pressures experienced in the very near field, where physics-based numerical modelling and semi-empirical fast-running engineering model predictions can vary by an order of magnitude. In this paper, we present the design of an experimental facility capable of providing definitive spatially and temporally resolved reflected pressure data in the extreme near field (Z<0.

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In the present study, biomass from the Chromolaena odorata plant's stem was activated using sulfuric acid to adsorb crystal violet (CV) dye. The adsorption operation of CV dye was studied considering the effect of variables like pH, initial dye concentration, time, adsorbent dosage, and temperature. The pseudo-second-order equation best fitted the kinetic study.

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Global guidelines for the management of high-cardiovascular-risk patients include aggressive goals for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Statin therapy alone is often insufficient to reach goals and nonstatin options have limitations. Here, we tested the lipid-lowering effects of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor drug obicetrapib in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in dyslipidaemic patients (n = 120, median LDL-C 88 mg dl) with background high-intensity statin treatment (NCT04753606).

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The Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia, has produced several partial sauropod skeletons, but cranial remains-including teeth-remain rare. Herein, we present the first description of sauropod teeth from this formation, based on specimens from three separate sites. An isolated tooth and a dentary fragment from the type locality are considered to be referable to that titanosaurian taxon.

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Reductive dehalogenases provide a possible route to the biotechnological remediation of widespread anthropogenic environmental organohalide contamination. These bacterial enzymes employ cobalamin and an internal electron transfer chain of two [4Fe-4S] clusters to remove halide ions from organohalides, leaving an organic molecule more amenable to further transformations. Detailed protocols for the cloning, heterologous expression, purification, crystallization and characterization of the catabolic dehalogenase from Nitratireductor pacificus pht-3B (NpRdhA) are presented, together with insight into enzyme turnover, substrate selectivity and the use of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy as an active site probe.

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The field of structural engineering is vast, spanning areas from the design of new infrastructure to the assessment of existing infrastructure. From the onset, traditional entry-level university courses teach students to analyse structural responses given data including external forces, geometry, member sizes, restraint, etc.-characterizing a problem (structural causalities structural response).

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High quality human tissue is essential for molecular research, but pre-analytical conditions encountered during tissue collection could degrade tissue RNA. We evaluated how prolonged exposure of non-diseased breast tissue to ambient room temperature (22±1°C) impacted RNA quality. Breast tissue received between 70 to 190 minutes after excision was immediately flash frozen (FF) or embedded in Optimal Cutting Temperature (OCT) compound upon receipt (T0).

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Nature employs high-energy metal-oxo intermediates embedded within enzyme active sites to perform challenging oxidative transformations with remarkable selectivity. Understanding how different local metal-oxo coordination environments control intermediate reactivity and catalytic function is a long-standing objective. However, conducting structure-activity relationships directly in active sites has proven challenging due to the limited range of amino acid substitutions achievable within the constraints of the genetic code.

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The Upper Cretaceous 'upper' Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia is world famous for hosting Dinosaur Stampede National Monument at Lark Quarry Conservation Park, a somewhat controversial tracksite that preserves thousands of tridactyl dinosaur tracks attributed to ornithopods and theropods. Herein, we describe the Snake Creek Tracksite, a new vertebrate ichnoassemblage from the 'upper' Winton Formation, originally situated on Karoola Station but now relocated to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History. This site preserves the first sauropod tracks reported from eastern Australia, a small number of theropod and ornithopod tracks, the first fossilised crocodyliform and ?turtle tracks reported from Australia, and possible lungfish and actinopterygian feeding traces.

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Alexithymia is a dimensional trait characterized by difficulties identifying and describing feelings and an externally oriented thinking (EOT) style. Here, we explored interrelationships between alexithymia and measures assessing how individuals process and regulate their responses to environmental and body-based cues. Young adults ( = 201) completed self-report questionnaires assessing alexithymia, sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), interoceptive accuracy (IA), sensory processing styles, and current levels of depression, anxiety, and stress.

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The UbiD family of reversible (de)carboxylases depends on the recently discovered prenylated-FMN (prFMN) cofactor for activity. The model enzyme ferulic acid decarboxylase (Fdc1) decarboxylates unsaturated aliphatic acids via a reversible 1,3-cycloaddition process. Protein engineering has extended the Fdc1 substrate range to include (hetero)aromatic acids, although catalytic rates remain poor.

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Background: Understanding the T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 is critical to vaccine development, epidemiological surveillance and disease control strategies. This systematic review critically evaluates and synthesises the relevant peer-reviewed and pre-print literature published from 01/01/2020-26/06/2020.

Methods: For this systematic review, keyword-structured literature searches were carried out in MEDLINE, Embase and COVID-19 Primer.

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Background: Progress in characterising the humoral immune response to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been rapid but areas of uncertainty persist. Assessment of the full range of evidence generated to date to understand the characteristics of the antibody response, its dynamics over time, its determinants and the immunity it confers will have a range of clinical and policy implications for this novel pathogen. This review comprehensively evaluated evidence describing the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 published from 01/01/2020-26/06/2020.

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