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IMAGE: Simple RC network model of ventilator system and patient, with linear resistance (Rv) and compliance (Cv) for the ventilator tubing system, and linear resistance (R) and compliance (C) for the. view more
Credit: University of Bath
As Covid-19 continues to put pressure on healthcare providers around the world, engineers at the University of Bath have published a mathematical model that could help clinicians to safely allow two people to share a single ventilator.
Members of Bath s Centre for Therapeutic Innovation and Centre for Power Transmission and Motion Control have published a first-of-its-kind research paper on dual-patient ventilation (DPV), following work which began during the first wave of the virus in March 2020.
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Dramatic changes were seen in the delivery of radiotherapy treatments for cancer during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in England.
Much shorter radiotherapy courses were delivered, treatments were delayed where it was safe to do so and some increases were seen in order to compensate for reduced surgical capacity.
Experts believe the changes reflect an impressive adaption of services by the NHS, and that the overall impact on cancer outcomes is likely to be modest.
The new research, led by the University of Leeds, with Public Health England and the Royal College of Radiologists, reveals that there was a decrease in radiotherapy treatment courses of 19.9% in April, 6.2% in May, and 11.6% in June 2020, compared with the same months the previous year.
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1 Crucial document: The draft Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) should spur discussion in the scientific and non-scientific communities. PTI
Amitabha Bhattacharya
Former Bureaucrat
Government policies are often marked by characteristics that normally stem from the processes followed. First, the draft is prepared in the ministry concerned by its officials or a committee formed for this purpose. It is then circulated to other ministries, which examine it from their own perspective. Based on such feedback, the draft is modified and placed in the public domain for comments. On receipt of responses from individuals and institutions, the draft is further refined and placed before the Cabinet for approval.
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A brain pressure disorder that especially affects women, causing severe headaches and sometimes permanent sight loss, has risen six-fold in 15 years, and is linked to obesity and deprivation, a new study by Swansea University researchers has shown.
Rates of emergency hospital admissions in Wales for people with the disorder were also five times higher than for those without.
The condition is called idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). It causes increased pressure in the fluid surrounding in the brain. This can lead to severely disabling headaches as well as vision loss, which can be permanent.
The research team, from Swansea University Medical School, used anonymised health records of Welsh patients held in the SAIL databank, a national healthcare database managed by the University. They analysed 35 million patient years of data from 2003 to 2017. They identified 1,765 people with IIH during that time, 85% of whom were women.
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Scientists have created a highly detailed map of skin, which reveals that cellular processes from development are re-activated in cells from patients with inflammatory skin disease. The researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Newcastle University and Kings College London, discovered that skin from eczema and psoriasis patients share many of the same molecular pathways as developing skin cells. This offers potential new drug targets for treating these painful skin diseases.
Published on 22nd January in
Science, the study also provides a completely new understanding of inflammatory disease, opening up new avenues for research on other inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.