Brunel University London

About: Brunel University London is a education organization based out in London, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 10918 authors who have published 29515 publications receiving 893330 citations. The organization is also known as: Brunel & University of Brunel.

Assessing the costs of healthcare technologies in clinical trials.

Abstract: s were read and included where inclusion criteria were met. Articles were then skim read and included in the review where inclusion criteria were met. The aim was not to record the frequencies with which issues were raised but to be compre- hensive in identifying issues, so the final list of references represents all issues rather than all relevant articles discussing the issues. In-house search The second stage of the review was an in-house search of the relevant literature. The in-house database was organised by researchers in the field of economic evaluation in health care, so it pro- vided a useful starting point for the identification of articles for review, search terms and methodo- logical issues. The in-house database at the Health Economics Research Group, Brunel University, holds over 5000 references organised by using bibliographic software (Pro-cite version 2.21). The basic search terms used for the in-house searches were economic*, cost* or methodology* or trial* (where * indicates a truncated search term). Articles were retrieved when the inclusion criteria were met. Manual searches Manual searching of journals was also conducted. All journals were searched manually from 1990 until October 1997 unless they were first estab- lished after 1990. Where this was the case, the first year is presented in parentheses. The following journals were included: • British Journal of Medical Economics (to vol. 11 (1)) • Controlled Clinical Trials (to vol. 18 (5)) • Drug Information Journal (to vol. 31 (3)) • Health Economics (from 1992 to vol. 6 (5)) • Health Policy (to vol. 41 (2)) • International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care (to vol. 13 (3)) • Journal of Clinical Epidemiology (to vol. 50 (10)) • Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (to vol. 51 (5)) • Journal of Health Economics (to vol. 16 (2)) • Medical Care (to vol. 35 (10)) • Medical Decision Making (to vol. 17 (3)) • PharmacoEconomics (from 1992 to vol. 12 (4)). Refinement of search strategy Following the in-house and manual searches, the articles retrieved were then skim read with a view to refining the search strategy and devising search terms. In developing the search strategy, use was made of truncated terms (*). Operators such as ‘and’, ‘or’ were also used and the operator ‘next to’ was used for expressions, such as economic evaluation, which became: economic ‘next to’ evaluation. The use of medical subject headings such as ‘costs and costs analysis’ and ‘economic’ were found to be too broad. The use of cost* in abstracts picked up too many articles concerned only with making minor comments about the cost implications of studies. The search terms were combined with their respective operators and further combined into sets: 001 cost* in title 002 cost-effective* in title or abstract 003 economic next to evaluation in title or abstract 004 methodology* in title or abstract 005 randomised controlled trial* in title or abstract 006 1 or 2 or 3 007 5 and 6 008 4 and 7 Electronic searches The search strategy detailed above was used for electronic searches, which were conducted simultaneously on MEDLINE, EMBASE and Healthstar (health administration database) via Dialog software. The simultaneous searching of the three databases permitted the easy identifi- cation of duplicate articles. Further searches were conducted on the Health Economic Evaluations Database (Office of Health Economics). The literature searches were limited to English language articles for the period 1986–1996 and excluded animal studies. Review of key articles and identification of key methodological issues The articles retrieved from the search were then reviewed in order to identify the methodo- logical issues. The issues were structured into four categories: study design, data collection, Health Technology Assessment 1999; Vol. 3: No. 6 53 data analysis and presentation of results. These categories also formed the outline of the report. Issue-specific searches The aim was to identify papers discussing a specific methodological issue or issues that are relevant to data collection and analysis for costing alongside clinical trials. This required a targeted search strategy; so, for each key issue, search terms were identified. Electronic searches were conducted for each issue on EMBASE, MEDLINE and Healthstar databases via Dialog. The issues identified were resource-use data collection and analysis issues (sample size, cost- effectiveness ratios, confidence intervals, sensitivity analysis, extrapolation and generalisation). The search strategy was as follows: 001 statistic* in title or abstract 002 stochastic in title or abstract 003 cost-effective* next to ratio* in title or abstract 004 extrapolat* in title or abstract 005 sensitivity next to analys* in title or abstract 006 generali* next to cost* in title or abstract 007 missing next to data in title or abstract 008 pool* next to data in title or abstract 009 cost-effective* in title or abstract 010 1 or 2 or 3 011 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 012 9 and 10 014 9 and 11 These search terms were then combined with those from the general search. Citation searches For each key issue, key articles were selected and used in the citation searches, which were conducted on EMBASE. The articles selected were those thought to be the earliest ones discussing the methodological issues. Identified articles were retrieved if they met the inclusion criteria and were not duplicates. Reference lists All reference lists from previously identified articles were reviewed in order to identify other relevant articles, subject to the inclusion criteria. Articles from experts In the consultation phase of the report, experts were asked whether any key articles were missing from those identified by the searches and, if so, to identify them. Review of articles The articles were photocopied and details entered on Pro-cite (a bibliographic software package) with keywords assigned for the source (in-house, handsearch, electronic search with database) and for the type of article (methodological, empirical, statistical, other review, data collection). The allocation of source keywords enabled easy cross- checking of in-house articles with those retrieved from the electronic searches. For each stage of the identification process, the number of articles identified and the number included were recorded. The results are shown in Table 2.

Genetic algorithm for supply restoration and optimal load shedding in power system distribution networks

Abstract: A genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to search for the optimal supply restoration strategy in distribution networks. An 'integer permutation' encoding scheme is adopted in which each chromosome is a list of indices of switches. The status of each of these switches is decided according to graph theory subject to the radiality constraint of the distribution networks. Each chromosome then maps to a feasible network topology. A special gene '0' is also introduced into the chromosome. Instead of representing a switch, this is a flag that keeps some parts of the network disconnected enabling the GA to find the optimal load shedding strategy where necessary. The proposed algorithm has been tested on a practical system and shown to find an optimal post-fault supply restoration strategy, and also the optimal load shedding point when total demand cannot be supplied.

Combination of Searches for Higgs Boson Pair Production in Proton-Proton Collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract: This Letter describes a search for Higgs boson pair production using the combined results from four final states: bbγγ, bbττ, bbbb, and bbVV, where V represents a W or Z boson. The search is performed using data collected in 2016 by the CMS experiment from LHC proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb-1. Limits are set on the Higgs boson pair production cross section. A 95% confidence level observed (expected) upper limit on the nonresonant production cross section is set at 22.2 (12.8) times the standard model value. A search for narrow resonances decaying to Higgs boson pairs is also performed in the mass range 250–3000 GeV. No evidence for a signal is observed, and upper limits are set on the resonance production cross section.

Consensus recommendations on training and competing in the heat: Training and competing in the heat

Abstract: Exercising in the heat induces thermoregulatory and other physiological strain that can lead to impairments in endurance exercise capacity. The purpose of this consensus statement is to provide up‐to‐date recommendations to optimize performance during sporting activities undertaken in hot ambient conditions. The most important intervention one can adopt to reduce physiological strain and optimize performance is to heat acclimatize. Heat acclimatization should comprise repeated exercise‐heat exposures over 1–2 weeks. In addition, athletes should initiate competition and training in a euhydrated state and minimize dehydration during exercise. Following the development of commercial cooling systems (e.g., cooling vest), athletes can implement cooling strategies to facilitate heat loss or increase heat storage capacity before training or competing in the heat. Moreover, event organizers should plan for large shaded areas, along with cooling and rehydration facilities, and schedule events in accordance with minimizing the health risks of athletes, especially in mass participation events and during the first hot days of the year. Following the recent examples of the 2008 Olympics and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, sport governing bodies should consider allowing additional (or longer) recovery periods between and during events for hydration and body cooling opportunities when competitions are held in the heat.