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Deepti Radia,1 Ibrahim Momoh,2 Richard Dillon,1 Yvonne Francis,1 Laura Cameron,1 Toni-Lee Fagg,1 Hannah Overland,1 Susan Robinson,1 Claire N Harrison11Haematology Department, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; 2Bupa Home Healthcare, Harlow, UKAbstract: This article describes the initiation and evolution of the Rapid-Access Anemia Clinic (RAAC) at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals, London, UK. This clinic was set up to provide diagnosis and treatment, and to coordinate investigative procedures, where necessary, into the underlying causes of anemia. Initially piloted with anemic preoperative orthopedic patients, the clinic now treats a wide range of conditions, deriving from both internal and external referrals. Treatment includes dietary advice, supplementation with iron, vitamin B12 and folate, and blood transfusion. Most patients at the RAAC need iron replacement, the majority of which require intravenous (IV) iron. Therefore the first-line IV iron-administration protocol is carefully considered to ensure viability of the service and patient satisfaction. Four IV irons available in the UK are discussed, with explanation of the benefits and drawbacks of each product and the reasoning behind the IV iron choice at different stages of the RAAC's development. Costs to the service, affected by IV iron price and administration regimen, are considered, as well as the product's contraindications. Finally, the authors reflect on the success of the RAAC and how it has improved patients' quality-of-treatment experience, in addition to benefiting the hospital and National Health Service in achieving specific health-care mandates and directives. Drawing from the authors' experiences, recommendations are given to assist others in setting up and providing a successful rapid-access anemia service or similar facility.Keywords: hemoglobin, iron deficiency, ferric carboxymaltose, iron sucrose, iron dextran, iron isomaltoside

This study focused on the cause-effect analysis of strategic planning and the performance of Small and Medium-size Enterprises in Kogi State. The study covered SMEs' cluster areas in three senatorial districts of Kogi State, and purposively selected 350 respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Logit and linear regression. Findings showed that SME owners lacked knowledge and skills on strategic planning, and that tradition-based thinking has significant and positive effect on strategic planning; while unavailability of resources has significantly negative effect on strategic planning of SMEs in Kogi State. Furthermore, finding showed that strategic planning has significantly positive effect on competitive edge and financial performance of SMEs in Kogi State. It was concluded that strategic planning is a crucial tool for firms' competitive and market situation. The study therefore recommended that SME owners should invest in knowledge and skills regarding strategic planning, and those SME owners, including the economic stakeholders, should establish a social network where resources can be pooled and tradition-based thinking can be redirected to favour strategic planning of enterprises in Kogi State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of polyethylene glycol [H(OCH2CH2)nOH] as quenchant was studied with a view to accessing the mechanical properties and microstructural evaluation of steel. The test samples were subjected to a conventional quenching treatment process using prepared polymer solution with a definite proportion as quenching medium. The samples were characterized using a microhardness tester, universal tensile tester for the mechanical properties and a metallurgical microscope used in analyzing its structural re-orientation. From the result, it was observed that the hardness increment of the quenched samples conform to literature review as there was also a rise in the tensile properties. This though, was at the expense of their ductility. The micrographs were found to have justified the reason for the increment recorded in some of the mechanical properties, as it displayed a high proportion of the martensitic phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determination of Silicon (Silica) in materials using the Molybdenum blue reaction was studied. The UV-Visible spectrophotometer scanning for the silicon molybdenum blue reaction was studied between a wavelength of 400nm and 800nm. The instrumental analytical procedure applied consists of four basic parts: the sample pretreatment, the instrument adjustment, the calibration and measurement and the calculations. The instrument was optimized using standard solution of KMnO4 with conventional calibration method applied. The performance characteristics of the spectrophotometer at a wavelength of maximum absorption (?max) of 825 ± 5nm for the silicon-molybdenum blue analysis are observed. The procedure was applied to amorphous silica produced from glass sand and the findings were observed to correspond with existing standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present research, the mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour of dual phase microstructures with medium carbon low alloy steel chemical composition was investigated. Intercritical heat-treatment was adopted for the production of dual phase microstructures of varied ferrite/martensite volume proportions within the range of 40-75 %. Hardness, tensile properties and fracture toughness were utilized to assess the mechanical properties of the steel. Mass loss and corrosion rate in 0.3M H2SO4 and 0.3M NaOH were also utilized to study the corrosion behaviour of the steels. From the result, it was observed that medium carbon low alloy steel when subjected to intercritical treatment at 7500C and 7900C resulted in a significant increase in the tensile, hardness and corrosion properties of the developed dual phase steel in comparison to the normalized specimen. The micrographs as well showed a uniformly distributed dual phase structure of ferrite and martensite at various volume fractions. Overall, specimen 7500C/60mins and 7900C/60mins were observed to posses the best combination of tensile properties, hardness and fracture toughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voltage stability enhancement with optimal placement of a unified power flow controller considering load-ability analysis is investigated in this paper. It is essential, because when voltage instability is left unattended, it leads to voltage collapse and, consequently, in a partial or total blackout of the whole network resulting from cascading effect. The optimization process is achieved by increasing the percentage load demand index to the maximum load-ability and under single contingency. This method will be of great benefits to bulk dispatcher of power to plan ahead of how to wheel and deliver power to the end-users during both normal and contingency conditions at the least cost and time. A grey wolf optimization technique is utilised to find the optimal location and sizing of UPFC on the network. The line’s voltage stability and load margin are then evaluated with and without UPFC under different loading conditions using optimal power flow technique. The approach’s effectiveness is carried out on 31-bus, 330kV Nigeria National Grid (NNG) based on two scenarios: load-ability analysis under maximum loading of the network and load-ability analysis under single contingency. The results show that power can be transmitted to meet the growing energy demand over an existing network during normal and contingency conditions without violating voltage stability by making use of the proposed method in this paper

Brain network hubs are highly connected brain regions serving as important relay stations for information integration. Recent studies have linked mental disorders to impaired hub function. Provincial hubs mainly integrate information within their own brain network, while connector hubs share information between different brain networks. This study used a novel time-varying analysis to investigate whether hubs aberrantly follow the trajectory of other brain networks than their own. The aim was to characterize brain hub functioning in clinically remitted bipolar patients. We analyzed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 96 euthymic individuals with bipolar disorder and 61 healthy control individuals. We characterized different hub qualities within the somatomotor network. We found that the somatomotor network comprised mainly provincial hubs in healthy controls. Conversely, in bipolar disorder patients, hubs in the primary somatosensory cortex displayed weaker provincial and stronger connector hub function. Furthermore, hubs in bipolar disorder showed weaker allegiances with their own brain network and followed the trajectories of the limbic, salience, dorsal attention, and frontoparietal network. We suggest that these hub aberrancies contribute to previously shown functional connectivity alterations in bipolar disorder and may thus constitute the neural substrate to persistently impaired sensory integration despite clinical remission., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press.)

This article describes the initiation and evolution of the Rapid-Access Anemia Clinic (RAAC) at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals, London, UK. This clinic was set up to provide diagnosis and treatment, and to coordinate investigative procedures, where necessary, into the underlying causes of anemia. Initially piloted with anemic preoperative orthopedic patients, the clinic now treats a wide range of conditions, deriving from both internal and external referrals. Treatment includes dietary advice, supplementation with iron, vitamin B12 and folate, and blood transfusion. Most patients at the RAAC need iron replacement, the majority of which require intravenous (IV) iron. Therefore the first-line IV iron-administration protocol is carefully considered to ensure viability of the service and patient satisfaction. Four IV irons available in the UK are discussed, with explanation of the benefits and drawbacks of each product and the reasoning behind the IV iron choice at different stages of the RAAC's development. Costs to the service, affected by IV iron price and administration regimen, are considered, as well as the product's contraindications. Finally, the authors reflect on the success of the RAAC and how it has improved patients' quality-of-treatment experience, in addition to benefiting the hospital and National Health Service in achieving specific health-care mandates and directives. Drawing from the authors' experiences, recommendations are given to assist others in setting up and providing a successful rapid-access anemia service or similar facility.

Intravenous iron therapy is a useful treatment for the rapid correction of iron deficiency anaemia and can be used to avoid or reduce the requirement for allogeneic blood transfusion. Several intravenous iron preparations are available commercially which differ in cost, mode of administration and side effect profile. There are few data directly comparing the efficacy of these preparations. In this retrospective single-centre study, we present the results from two hundred and eight patients treated using three different iron preparations (iron dextran, iron sucrose and ferric carboxymaltose) and compare the effect on haemoglobin levels and other measures of iron deficiency six weeks after treatment. Within the limitations of our study design, we show a statistically and clinically significant difference in efficacy between these preparations.

Twenty-three mature dwarf goats were used to study whether there is a relationship between the decrease in feed intake for individual goats and infection with T.congolense and T. vivax. Furthermore, it was investigated how rectal temperatures and blood parameters were affected by the T. congolense infection and how changes in these parameters can be used to predict the effect of a T. vivax infection on feed intake. For individual goats a ranking correlation was found between relative dry matter intake and infection (r = 0.59; p < .05). Animals with the most marked decrease in dry matter intake during the T. congolense infection showed a smaller increase in urea and a higher increase in non esterified fatty acids and beta-hydroxy butyrate levels in their blood. Evidence was obtained that the relative decrease in dry matter intake for individual goats during a T. vivax infection can be predicted on the basis of urea and creatinine responses measured in the blood during a previous infection with T. congolense infection.