Doing Focus Groups and Interviews with Recent Migrants to Northern Ireland: A Dynamic Interplay of Ethics, Language and Access

This case describes a qualitative social science research project that was conducted in 2009 and that examined the experiences of recent migrants to Northern Ireland. While background to the research and key findings are presented, the topic forms a backdrop to the case. The following aspects of the study are presented: the theoretical context; formulating the research question, design and methodology; key methodological issues; data collection and analysis; project dissemination; and research funding and reporting. The case pays particular attention to the needs and impact of different groups including the researcher, the funding body, the researcher’s employer and the researched. The significance of access, language and ethics to this study are examined. Finally, the way in which the research unfolded in an often-unpredictable way throughout the implementation process is highlighted in the narrative.

Operator systems from discrete groups

We express various sets of quantum correlations studied in the theoretical physics literature in terms of different tensor products of operator systems of discrete groups. We thus recover earlier results of Tsirelson and formulate a new approach for the study of quantum correlations. To do this we formulate a general framework for the study of operator systems arising from discrete groups. We study in detail the operator system of the free group Fn on n generators, as well as the operator systems of the free products of finitely many copies of the two-element group Z2. We examine various tensor products of group operator systems, including the minimal, the maximal, and the commuting tensor products. We introduce a new tensor product in the category of operator systems and formulate necessary and sufficient conditions for its equality to the commuting tensor product in the case of group operator systems.

The solvable Lie group N_{6, 28}: an example of an almost C_0(\mathcal{K})-C*-algebra

Motivated by the description of the C*-algebra of the affine automorphism group N6,28 of the Siegel upper half-plane of degree 2 as an algebra of operator fields defined over the unitary dual View the MathML source of the group, we introduce a family of C*-algebras, which we call almost C0(K), and we show that the C*-algebra of the group N6,28 belongs to this class.

Sets of p-multiplicity in locally compact groups

We initiate the study of sets of p-multiplicity in locally compact groups and their operator versions. We show that a closed subset E of a second countable locally compact group G is a set of p-multiplicity if and only if E∗={(s,t):ts−1∈E} is a set of operator p-multiplicity. We exhibit examples of sets of p-multiplicity, establish preservation properties for unions and direct products, and prove a p-version of the Stone–von Neumann Theorem.

Ionic liquids containing secondary hydroxyl-groups and a method for their preparation.

The invention provides ionic liqs., [R'1CH(OH)CH2]NR'nX (X = anion, R' = alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, alkylcarbonylalkyl, alkoxy, haloalkyl, haloalkoxy, alkenyloxy, alkynyloxy, cycloalkyloxy, aryl), having a secondary hydroxyl group, and an atom-efficient method for the prepn. of these ionic liqs., by epoxidn. of a protonated nitrogen- contg. org. base (which can optionally be prepd. in situ) in the presence of an anion suitable for supporting ionic liq. formation. Thus, reaction of 1-methylimidazole with HCl in EtOH ∼ 25° followed by treatment with propylene oxide gave 1-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3-methylimidazolium chloride. [on SciFinder(R)]

Targeting of photooxidative damage on single-stranded DNA representing the bcr-abl chimeric gene using oligonucleotide-conjugates containing [Ru(phen)3](2+)-like photosensitiser groups

Photooxidative damage was induced predominantly at a single guanine base in a target DNA by irradiation (lambda > 330 nm) in the presence of complementary oligodeoxynucleotide conjugates (ODN-5'-linker-[Ru(phen)3]2+) (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline). The target DNA represents the b2a2 variant of the chimeric bcr-abl gene implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic myeloid leukaemia, and the sequence of the 17mer ODN component of the conjugate (3' G G T A G T T A T T C C T T C T T 5') was complementary to the junction region of the sense strand sequence of this oncogene. Two different conjugates were prepared, both of them by reaction of the appropriate succinimide ester with 5'-hexylamino-derivatised 17mer ODN. In Ru-ODN-1 (7) the linker was -(CH2)6-NHCO-bpyMe (-bpyMe = 4'-[4-methyl-2,2'-bipyridyl]), whereas in Ru-ODN-2 (13) it was -(CH2)6-NHCO-(CH2)3-CONH-phen. Photoexcitation of either of the conjugates when hybridised with the 32P-5'-end-labelled target 34mer 5'T G A C C A T C A A T A A G G A A G A A G21 C C C T T C A G C G G C C 3' (ODN binding site underlined) led to an alkali-labile site predominantly (> 90%) at the G21 base, which is at the junction of double-stranded and single-stranded regions of the hybrid. Greater yields were found with Ru-ODN-1 (7) than with Ru ODN-2 (13). In contrast to this specific cleavage with Ru-ODN-1 (7) or Ru-ODN-2 (13), alkali-labile sites were generated at all guanines when the 34mer was photolysed in the presence of the free sensitiser [Ru(phen)3]2+. Since [Ru(phen)3]2+ was shown to react with 2'-deoxyguanosine to form the diastereomers of a spiroiminodihydantoin derivative (the product from 1O2 reaction), 1O2 might also be an oxidizing species in the case of Ru-ODN-1 (7) and Ru-ODN-2 (13). Therefore to determine the range of reaction, a series of 'variant' targets was prepared, in which G21 was replaced with a cytosine and a guanine substituted for a base further towards the 3'-end (e.g. Variant 3; 5'T G A C C A T C A A T A A G G A A G A A C C G23 C T T C A G C G G32 C C3'). While it was noted that efficient reaction took place at distances apparently remote from the photosensitiser (e.g at G32, but not G23 for Variant 3), this effect could be attributed to hairpinning of the single-stranded region of the target. These results are therefore consistent with the photooxidative damage being induced by a reaction close to the photosensitiser rather than by a diffusible species such as 1O2.

RMA with quantile normalization mixes biological signals between different sample groups in microarray data analysis

Quantile normalization (QN) is a technique for microarray data processing and is the default normalization method in the Robust Multi-array Average (RMA) procedure, which was primarily designed for analysing gene expression data from Affymetrix arrays. Given the abundance of Affymetrix microarrays and the popularity of the RMA method, it is crucially important that the normalization procedure is applied appropriately. In this study we carried out simulation experiments and also analysed real microarray data to investigate the suitability of RMA when it is applied to dataset with different groups of biological samples. From our experiments, we showed that RMA with QN does not preserve the biological signal included in each group, but rather it would mix the signals between the groups. We also showed that the Median Polish method in the summarization step of RMA has similar mixing effect. RMA is one of the most widely used methods in microarray data processing and has been applied to a vast volume of data in biomedical research. The problematic behaviour of this method suggests that previous studies employing RMA could have been misadvised or adversely affected. Therefore we think it is crucially important that the research community recognizes the issue and starts to address it. The two core elements of the RMA method, quantile normalization and Median Polish, both have the undesirable effects of mixing biological signals between different sample groups, which can be detrimental to drawing valid biological conclusions and to any subsequent analyses. Based on the evidence presented here and that in the literature, we recommend exercising caution when using RMA as a method of processing microarray gene expression data, particularly in situations where there are likely to be unknown subgroups of samples.

Arsenic trioxide and all-trans retinoic acid treatment for acute promyelocytic leukaemia in all risk groups (AML17): results of a randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial

BACKGROUND: Acute promyelocytic leukaemia is a chemotherapy-sensitive subgroup of acute myeloid leukaemia characterised by the presence of the PML-RARA fusion transcript. The present standard of care, chemotherapy and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), results in a high proportion of patients being cured. In this study, we compare a chemotherapy-free ATRA and arsenic trioxide treatment regimen with the standard chemotherapy-based regimen (ATRA and idarubicin) in both high-risk and low-risk patients with acute promyelocytic leukaemia.

METHODS: In the randomised, controlled, multicentre, AML17 trial, eligible patients (aged ≥16 years) with acute promyelocytic leukaemia, confirmed by the presence of the PML-RARA transcript and without significant cardiac or pulmonary comorbidities or active malignancy, and who were not pregnant or breastfeeding, were enrolled from 81 UK hospitals and randomised 1:1 to receive treatment with ATRA and arsenic trioxide or ATRA and idarubicin. ATRA was given to participants in both groups in a daily divided oral dose of 45 mg/m(2) until remission, or until day 60, and then in a 2 weeks on-2 weeks off schedule. In the ATRA and idarubicin group, idarubicin was given intravenously at 12 mg/m(2) on days 2, 4, 6, and 8 of course 1, and then at 5 mg/m(2) on days 1-4 of course 2; mitoxantrone at 10 mg/m(2) on days 1-4 of course 3, and idarubicin at 12 mg/m(2) on day 1 of the final (fourth) course. In the ATRA and arsenic trioxide group, arsenic trioxide was given intravenously at 0·3 mg/kg on days 1-5 of each course, and at 0·25 mg/kg twice weekly in weeks 2-8 of course 1 and weeks 2-4 of courses 2-5. High-risk patients (those presenting with a white blood cell count >10 × 10(9) cells per L) could receive an initial dose of the immunoconjugate gemtuzumab ozogamicin (6 mg/m(2) intravenously). Neither maintenance treatment nor CNS prophylaxis was given to patients in either group. All patients were monitored by real-time quantitative PCR. Allocation was by central computer minimisation, stratified by age, performance status, and de-novo versus secondary disease. The primary endpoint was quality of life on the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 global health status. All analyses are by intention to treat. This trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN55675535.

FINDINGS: Between May 8, 2009, and Oct 3, 2013, 235 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to ATRA and idarubicin (n=119) or ATRA and arsenic trioxide (n=116). Participants had a median age of 47 years (range 16-77; IQR 33-58) and included 57 high-risk patients. Quality of life did not differ significantly between the treatment groups (EORTC QLQ-C30 global functioning effect size 2·17 [95% CI -2·79 to 7·12; p=0·39]). Overall, 57 patients in the ATRA and idarubicin group and 40 patients in the ATRA and arsenic trioxide group reported grade 3-4 toxicities. After course 1 of treatment, grade 3-4 alopecia was reported in 23 (23%) of 98 patients in the ATRA and idarubicin group versus 5 (5%) of 95 in the ATRA and arsenic trioxide group, raised liver alanine transaminase in 11 (10%) of 108 versus 27 (25%) of 109, oral toxicity in 22 (19%) of 115 versus one (1%) of 109. After course 2 of treatment, grade 3-4 alopecia was reported in 25 (28%) of 89 patients in the ATRA and idarubicin group versus 2 (3%) of 77 in the ATRA and arsenic trioxide group; no other toxicities reached the 10% level. Patients in the ATRA and arsenic trioxide group had significantly less requirement for most aspects of supportive care than did those in the ATRA and idarubicin group.

INTERPRETATION: ATRA and arsenic trioxide is a feasible treatment in low-risk and high-risk patients with acute promyelocytic leukaemia, with a high cure rate and less relapse than, and survival not different to, ATRA and idarubicin, with a low incidence of liver toxicity. However, no improvement in quality of life was seen.

Understanding barriers to cataract surgery among older persons in rural China through focus groups.

PURPOSE: To utilize focus groups (FGs) to identify barriers to cataract surgery specific to older persons in rural Guangdong, China. METHODS: Three focus groups in separate locations were carried out for persons aged 60 years and above with best-corrected vision <= 6/18 due to cataract, either accepting or refusing surgery. Participants also ranked responses to questions about acceptance of surgery among the elderly. FG transcripts were coded independently by two investigators using qualitative data management software. RESULTS: Twenty participants had a mean age of 72.7 ± 6.1 years, 14 (70.0%) were women and 17 (85.0%) were blind (best-corrected vision <= 6/60) in at least one eye. Cost was ranked by two of three groups as the main barrier to surgery, and all groups listed reducing cost as the best strategy to increase surgical uptake. Many respondents planned to use China's New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) health insurance to pay for surgery. Participants showed poor understanding of cataract, but ranked educational interventions low as methods of increasing uptake. Though opinions of local service quality were poor, respondents did not see quality as an important barrier to accepting service. Participants frequently depended on family members to pay for surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to some previous reports, cost may be an important barrier to cataract surgery in rural China, which NCMS may help to alleviate. Educational interventions to increase knowledge about cataract are needed, but may face skepticism among patients. Strategies to promote cataract surgery should target the entire family.