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Jamie Bryant,1,2 Elise Mansfield,1,2 Allison W Boyes,1,2 Amy Waller,1,2 Rob Sanson-Fisher,1,2 Timothy Regan1,2 1Health Behaviour Research Group, Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour, 2Hunter Medical Research Institute, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia Abstract: Caregivers of individuals with COPD have a key role in maintaining patient adherence and optimizing patient function. However, no systematic review has examined how the caregiver role has been operationalized in interventions to improve outcomes of individuals with COPD or the quality or effectiveness of these interventions. The aims of this review were to 1) determine whether caregivers have been involved as part of interventions to improve outcomes of individuals with COPD; 2) determine the risk of bias within included intervention studies; and 3) examine the effectiveness of interventions that have involved caregivers in improving outcomes of individuals with COPD. The electronic databases of Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library were searched from January 2000 to November 2015. Experimental studies testing interventions that involved a caregiver to improve COPD patient outcomes were eligible. Nine studies involving caregivers met inclusion criteria. No studies reported any intervention components targeted solely at caregivers, with most instead including caregivers in dyadic or group education sessions about COPD delivered by health care professionals. The risk of bias identified in included studies was mixed. Seven of the nine studies were effective in improving a broad range of outcomes. These findings highlight that there is an urgent need for methodologically rigorous interventions to examine the effectiveness of strategies to assist caregivers to provide direct care, encourage adherence to health care provider recommendations, act as a health care advocate, and provide emotional and psychosocial support to individuals with COPD. Keywords: COPD, carer, support persons, intervention studies

We study variational systems for space curves, for which the Lagrangian or action principle has a Euclidean symmetry, using the Rotation Minimising frame, also known as the Normal, Parallel or Bishop frame. Such systems have previously been studied using the Frenet-Serret frame. The Rotation Minimising frame has many advantages, however, and can be used to study a wider class of examples. We achieve our results by extending the powerful symbolic invariant calculus for Lie group based moving frames, to the Rotation Minimising frame case. To date, the invariant calculus has been developed for frames defined by algebraic equations. By contrast, the Rotation Minimising frame is defined by a differential equation. In this paper, we derive the recurrence formulae for the symbolic invariant differentiation of the symbolic invariants. We then derive the syzygy operator needed to obtain Noether's conservation laws as well as the Euler-Lagrange equations directly in terms of the invariants, for variational problems with a Euclidean symmetry. We show how to use the six Noether laws to ease the integration problem for the minimising curve, once the Euler-Lagrange equations have been solved for the generating differential invariants. Our applications include variational problems used in the study of strands of proteins, nucleid acids and polymers., Comment: 28 pages, 22 figures

BACKGROUND:There are growing calls for elder abuse screening to be conducted by a range of community-based service providers, including general practitioners (GPs), practice nurses, home care workers and lawyers. Improved screening may be a valuable first step towards improving elder abuse detection and response; however, practitioners need evidence-based strategies for screening and follow-up. OBJECTIVE:This article summarises several brief screening tools for various forms of elder abuse. Screening tool properties and evidence gaps are noted. As elder abuse often requires multidisciplinary responses, initiatives to connect health, legal and other service providers are highlighted. DISCUSSION:GPs are trusted professionals who are well placed to identify older patients at risk of, or experiencing, various forms of abuse. They should be aware of available screening tools and consider how best to incorporate them into their own practice. They also play an important role in multidisciplinary action to address elder abuse. .

In this second part of the paper, we consider finite difference Lagrangians which are invariant under linear and projective actions of $SL(2)$, and the linear equi-affine action which preserves area in the plane. We first find the generating invariants, and then use the results of the first part of the paper to write the Euler--Lagrange difference equations and Noether's difference conservation laws for any invariant Lagrangian, in terms of the invariants and a difference moving frame. We then give the details of the final integration step, assuming the Euler Lagrange equations have been solved for the invariants. This last step relies on understanding the Adjoint action of the Lie group on its Lie algebra. We also use methods to integrate Lie group invariant difference equations developed in Part I. Effectively, for all three actions, we show that solutions to the Euler--Lagrange equations, in terms of the original dependent variables, share a common structure for the whole set of Lagrangians invariant under each given group action, once the invariants are known as functions on the lattice.

In this paper we study symmetry reductions of a class of nonlinear third order partial differential equations $u_t -\epsilon u_{xxt} +2\kappa u_x= u u_{xxx} +\alpha u u_x +\beta u_x u_{xx}$ where $\epsilon$, $\kappa$, $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are arbitrary constants. Three special cases of equation (1) have appeared in the literature, up to some rescalings. In each case the equation has admitted unusual travelling wave solutions: the Fornberg-Whitham equation, for the parameters $\epsilon=1$, $\alpha=-1$, $\beta=3$ and $\kappa=\tfr12$, admits a wave of greatest height, as a peaked limiting form of the travelling wave solution; the Rosenau-Hyman equation, for the parameters $\epsilon=0$, $\alpha=1$, $\beta=3$ and $\kappa=0$, admits a ``compacton'' solitary wave solution; and the Fuchssteiner-Fokas-Camassa-Holm equation, for the parameters $\epsilon=1$, $\alpha=-3$ and $\beta=2$, has a ``peakon'' solitary wave solution. A catalogue of symmetry reductions for equation (1) is obtained using the classical Lie method and the nonclassical method due to Bluman and Cole., Comment: 22 pages, tex, Mathematical and Computer Modelling (to appear)

We used a combination of cDNA selection, exon amplification, and computational prediction from genomic sequence to isolate transcribed sequences from genomic DNA surrounding the familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) locus. Eighty-seven kb of genomic DNA around D16S3370, a marker showing a high degree of linkage disequilibrium with FMF, was sequenced to completion, and the sequence annotated. A transcript map reflecting the minimal number of genes encoded within the approximately 700 kb of genomic DNA surrounding the FMF locus was assembled. This map consists of 27 genes with discreet messages detectable on Northerns, in addition to three olfactory-receptor genes, a cluster of 18 tRNA genes, and two putative transcriptional units that have typical intron-exon splice junctions yet do not detect messages on Northerns. Four of the transcripts are identical to genes described previously, seven have been independently identified by the French FMF Consortium, and the others are novel. Six related zinc-finger genes, a cluster of tRNAs, and three olfactory receptors account for the majority of transcribed sequences isolated from a 315-kb FMF central region (between D16S468/D16S3070 and cosmid 377A12). Interspersed among them are several genes that may be important in inflammation. This transcript map not only has permitted the identification of the FMF gene (MEFV), but also has provided us an opportunity to probe the structural and functional features of this region of chromosome 16.

The aim of this thesis was to assess the diffusive properties of functionalised and unfunctionalised nanomaterials in a variety of different media. The main goal was to gain an insight into the fundamental mechanisms underpinning nanoparticle diffusion and how\ud the surface properties of nanoparticles alter their net movement through different environments. Initially a library of polymer-functionalised silica nanoparticles were synthesised and characterised. The polymers chosen were; poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), poly(2-oxazolines) (POZ) and poly(n-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM). Firstly, the diffusion of different sized gold nanoparticles was assessed in concentrations of Pluronic F-127, in order to determine how the solution properties affected diffusion. It was found that as the solution undergoes a transition in response to environmental stimuli, there is an increase in diffusion coefficient; however the area they move in becomes more confined (assessed using a bespoke python script written for use with NTA). PNIPAM- and PNPOZ-silica nanoparticles were assessed for their aggregation and diffusion using DLS, NTA, and SANS. It was found that the position of a nitrogen atom in the amide group, present in both polymers, plays a key role in governing how the particles aggregate in solution, which in turn affects how they diffuse through solvents of varying polarities. POZ-silica nanoparticles were assessed for mucus penetration against a positive control\ud of PEGylated nanoparticles. It was found that POZ-silica was effective at enhancing nanoparticle mucus penetration, and the hydrophilicity of these polymers plays a key role in determining the degree of permeation (with methylated POZ significantly more diffusive than propylated POZ). These finding provide valuable insight into some of the molecular mechanisms governing\ud nanoparticle diffusion and how surface chemistry governs these effects.

International audience; Nanomaterials are versatile materials with a vast repertoire of properties and potential applications. It is expected that they will be used in progressively incremental quantities in the future, giving rise to concerns about to their potential impact on living beings and the environment. The science of studying these effects of nanomaterials can be termed as “Nanotoxicology.” Nanotoxicology has evolved to date based on a combination of several in vitro, in silico, and in vivo experimental studies. Epidemiological information on nanomaterials is still lacking, rendering our understanding of these new materials, incomplete. This chapter makes a case for taking this field one step further in terms of combining in vitro, in vivo, and in silico methods to obtain an in-depth understanding of safety aspects associated with broad classes of nanomaterials in a manner never tried before. This combined approach is especially necessary in light of evolving regulations pertaining to nanomaterials, and the possibility of avoiding epidemiological challenges through in silico predictions (also known as computer-based simulations of complex biological phenomena). An overview of approaches to characterize nanomaterials, and the regulations associated with them will also be presented in this chapter.