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Institution

University of Bedfordshire

EducationLuton, Bedford, United Kingdom
About: University of Bedfordshire is a education organization based out in Luton, Bedford, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Social work. The organization has 3860 authors who have published 6079 publications receiving 143448 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Luton.


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Journal ArticleDOI
10 Mar 2015-ACS Nano
TL;DR: A rapid and highly sensitive point-of-care lateral flow assay for phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is demonstrated in serum through the enzyme-triggered release of a new class of biotinylated multiarmed polymers from a liposome substrate, enabling the correct diagnosis of pancreatitis in diseased clinical samples against a set of healthy controls using PLA2 activity in a point of care device for the first time.
Abstract: A rapid and highly sensitive point-of-care (PoC) lateral flow assay for phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is demonstrated in serum through the enzyme-triggered release of a new class of biotinylated multiarmed polymers from a liposome substrate. Signal from the enzyme activity is generated by the adhesion of polystreptavidin-coated gold nanoparticle networks to the lateral flow device, which leads to the appearance of a red test line due to the localized surface plasmon resonance effect of the gold. The use of a liposome as the enzyme substrate and multivalent linkers to link the nanoparticles leads to amplification of the signal, as the cleavage of a small amount of lipids is able to release a large amount of polymer linker and adhesion of an even larger amount of gold nanoparticles. By optimizing the molecular weight and multivalency of these biotinylated polymer linkers, the sensitivity of the device can be tuned to enable naked-eye detection of 1 nM human PLA2 in serum within 10 min. This high sensitivity enabl...

92 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Apr 1989-Catena
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the chemical and physical speciation of metals in overbank fine sediment contaminated by heavy metals on floodplains in the Tyne basin, north-east England, during a major flood in 1986, and found that the principal source of metals appeared to be reworked alluvium contaminated by historic mining activity.
Abstract: Deposition of fine sediment contaminated by heavy metals on floodplains in the Tyne basin, north-east England, during a major flood in August 1986 provided an unusual opportunity to investigate the chemical and physical speciation of metals in overbank fines. Selective extractions and heavy-liquid analyses were used to assess the chemical forms of sediment-associated metal and the relationship between grain size, density and metal concentration and to identify sources of metalliferous material. Generally the highest concentrations of trace metals were found in the 500–250 μm size range and in the heavier density fractions (>3.3 gml−1), though more than 60% of metals reported to the lightest (<3.3 gml−1) density product. The principal source of metals appeared to be reworked alluvium contaminated by historic mining activity. Metal concentrations in flood sediment decrease downstream from former mining areas though at varying rates depending on the physical propeties and chemical phase of individual metals. With the exception of Cu (dominated by lithogenic fraction), metals are primarily associated with Fe/Mn oxides (Pb, Zn) and to a lesser extent with carbonates (Cd, Zn), organic matter (Zn, Cu) and an operationally defined exchangeable (Cd) component. In the upper and middle parts of the Tyne basin physical processes of downstream sediment metal content reduction were found to predominate, while in the lower reaches of the Tyne sediment metal transport appears to be governed by chemical sorption-desorption processes associated with Fe/Mn oxides and organic material. Finally the results of the study are discussed in a wider context of particulate metal transport in rivers and recommendations are made for refining density-based models of metal dispersal.

92 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results from alternative spatial nitrogen application studies are analysed in economic terms and compared to the costs of precision farming hardware, software and other services for cereal crops in the UK as mentioned in this paper.

91 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: There are complex barriers to statin prescribing and coronary prevention in general practice, which may explain some of the variation that exists, and further studies of patients' views of statins may provide more information.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Statin prescribing to prevent coronary heart disease is well below recommended levels. Studies suggest that the prescribing behaviour of doctors may be the biggest factor in the wide variation in statin prescribing in general practice. Understanding doctors' perceptions offers some insight into why variation occurs. AIM: To understand general practitioners' (GPs') views about barriers to statin prescribing, statin prescribing guidelines, and the successes and barriers to coronary prevention in primary care. DESIGN OF STUDY: Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews. SETTING: General practices in mid and south Bedfordshire. METHOD: Interviews with 26 GPs. RESULTS: GPs spoke of a variety of barriers to initiating statin treatment specifically, and coronary heart disease prevention generally. Barriers to statin prescribing included: concerns about cost; increased workload and adherence to treatment; variation in treatment targets for lowering cholesterol; and concerns about medicalisation, lifestyle, and health behaviour. GPs found it difficult to prioritize patients for statin treatment, their statin treatment targets varied, and many found primary prevention risk assessment tools difficult to interpret. Coronary prevention was limited by practice space and organisational issues, by problems with recording and retrieval of electronic data, and by limited doctor and nurse time. GPs suggested that funded nurse time, nurse-led heart disease clinics, and better use of electronic data would improve primary care coronary prevention. CONCLUSION: There are complex barriers to statin prescribing and coronary prevention in general practice, which may explain some of the variation that exists. Further studies of patients' views of statins may provide more information. More resources, improved guidance, and better dissemination of guidance may only address some of the issues.

91 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors explored three categories of markers: attitude, certainty, and common knowledge markers, and its main aim is to compile a taxonomy of the lexical and discourse-based realisations of these markers and their pragmatic functions, as they are manifested in RAs from the field of electronic and electrical engineering.

91 citations


Authors

Showing all 3892 results

NameH-indexPapersCitations
Jie Zhang1784857221720
Oscar H. Franco11182266649
Timothy J. Foster9842032338
Christopher P. Denton9567542040
Ian Kimber9162028629
Michael J. Gidley8642024313
David Carling8618645066
Anthony Turner7948924734
Rhys E. Green7828530428
Vijay Kumar Thakur7437517719
Dave J. Adams7328319526
Naresh Magan7240017511
Aedin Cassidy7021817788
David A. Basketter7032516639
Richard C. Strange6724917805
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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers from the Institution in previous years
YearPapers
20236
202248
2021345
2020363
2019323
2018329