The NICE OECD countries' geographic search filters: Part 2-validation of the MEDLINE and Embase (Ovid) filters.

OBJECTIVE: We previously developed draft MEDLINE and Embase (Ovid) geographic search filters for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries to assess their feasibility for finding evidence about the countries. Here, we describe the validation of these search filters. METHODS: We identified OECD country references from thirty National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines to generate gold standard sets for MEDLINE (n=2,065) and Embase (n=2,023). We validated the filters by calculating their recall against these sets. We then applied the filters to existing search strategies for three OECD-focused NICE guideline reviews (NG103 on flu vaccination, NG140 on abortion care, and NG146 on workplace health) to calculate the filters' impact on the number needed to read (NNR) of the searches. RESULTS: The filters both achieved 99.95% recall against the gold standard sets. Both filters achieved 100% recall for the three NICE guideline reviews. The MEDLINE filter reduced NNR from 256 to 232 for the NG103 review, from 38 to 27 for the NG140 review, and from 631 to 591 for the NG146 review. The Embase filter reduced NNR from 373 to 341 for the NG103 review, from 101 to 76 for the NG140 review, and from 989 to 925 for the NG146 review. CONCLUSION: The NICE OECD countries' search filters are the first validated filters for the countries. They can save time for research topics about OECD countries by finding the majority of evidence about OECD countries while reducing search result volumes in comparison to no filter use.

Behçet's disease in Wales: an epidemiological description of national surveillance data.

OBJECTIVES: Behçet's disease is a rare, chronic, incurable, multisystemic disease. It causes significant morbidity, with patients experiencing symptoms including mucous membrane ulcers, and joint pain and swelling. It is an important cause of avoidable blindness due to ocular involvement. The aetiology is unknown. The aims were to identify population prevalence of Behçet's disease in Wales in comparison to other endemic and non-endemic regions, and provide an epidemiological profile of a case series of adult patients. This is the first analysis of data from the Adult Rare Diseases Surveillance Registry for Wales, established in 2020 as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. RESULTS: Between 1995 and 2020, 347 adults and 5 children were recorded in Wales with a diagnosis of Behçet's disease. Population prevalence was calculated as 11.1 per 100,000 population. Of the adult cases, 76.9% were female, and 6.6% died before the end of the study period. When comparing genders, there were no statistically significant differences in age at diagnosis, mortality or socioeconomic status. There was no evidence that the age at which cases were diagnosed had changed over time. Survival analyses showed no significant differences in durations of survival between genders or individuals residing in different WIMD 2019 quintiles. Age at diagnosis was the only factor significantly and independently associated with poorer durations of survival (p < 0.001).

Defining clusters in APT reconstructions of ODS steels.

Oxide nanoclusters in a consolidated Fe-14Cr-2W-0.3Ti-0.3Y2O3 ODS steel and in the alloy powder after mechanical alloying (but before consolidation) are investigated by atom probe tomography (APT). The maximum separation method is a standard method to define and characterise clusters from within APT data, but this work shows that the extent of clustering between the two materials is sufficiently different that the nanoclusters in the mechanically alloyed powder and in the consolidated material cannot be compared directly using the same cluster selection parameters. As the cluster selection parameters influence the size and composition of the clusters significantly, a procedure to optimise the input parameters for the maximum separation method is proposed by sweeping the d(max) and N(min) parameter space. By applying this method of cluster parameter selection combined with a 'matrix correction' to account for trajectory aberrations, differences in the oxide nanoclusters can then be reliably quantified.

Anaerobic treatment of olive mill wastewater and piggery effluents fermented with Candida tropicalis.

Olive mill wastewater (OMW) contains high concentrations of phenolic compounds that are inhibitory to many microorganisms making it difficult to treat biologically prior to discharge in waterways. The total mono-cyclic phenol reduction in OMW in this study was carried out by aerobic pre-treatment using the yeast Candida tropicalis in a 18 L batch reactor at 30 degrees C for 12 days followed by anaerobic co-digestion. A COD removal of 62% and a reduction in the total mono-cyclic phenol content by 51% of the mixture was achieved in the aerobic pre-treatment. Pig slurry was added as co-substrate to supplement the low nitrogen levels in the olive mill wastewater. Subsequent anaerobic treatment was carried out in a 20L fixed-bed reactor at 37 degrees C and HRT between 11 and 45 days. After a long start-up period, the OLR was increased from 1.25 to 5 kg COD m(-3)day(-1) during the last 30 days, resulting in subsequent increase in overall COD removal and biogas production, up to maximum values of 85% and 29 L(biogas)L(reactor)(-1)day(-1), respectively. Methane content of the biogas produced from the anaerobic digestion ranged between 65% and 74%.

Spectroscopic studies of the biosorption of gold(III) by dealginated seaweed waste.

Gold biosorption by dealginated seaweed waste has been studied to elucidate the mechanisms of metal uptake from solution. Dealginated seaweed was able to retain up to 1 mmol g(-1) of Au from solution at pH 3. FT-IR showed the presence of carboxylate groups on the surface of the biosorbent; however, the changes observed for the Au-bound samples suggested very little sorption to the carboxyl moieties. Colloidal Au formed on the surface of dealginated seaweed by reduction of Au(III) to Au(0) was observed using ESEM and four different types of particles were clearly identified. The Au distribution matched closely that obtained for S atoms indicating a possible link between these elements. EXAFS measurements showed that colloidal Au is present on the surface of the biosorbent. Evidence of gold reduction from Au(III) to Au(I) and Au(0) was also confirmed by the measured bond distances characteristic of the metal. The coordination number obtained by EXAFS indicated that approximately 75% of the Au on the sample was present in the colloidal form and the remaining Au was bound to S as nearest neighbor. The proposed mechanisms for Au removal from solution are reduction of Au species by components on the surface of the biosorbent to form colloidal metal followed by retention of the ionic Au(I) species at the sulfur containing sites. The results show that dealginated seaweed can be used for the cleanup of gold-containing effluents.