Log in
Condition monitoring instrumentation for high voltage plant has been developed at GCU under contract research for Doble Engineering (Headquarters in MA, USA), a global service provider for the electric power industry. The instruments are an important new line of products for Doble providing increased sales revenue and service provision. The instruments have been widely adopted by Doble's global client base to provide improved asset management. Other beneficiaries of the work include global contract electronic manufacturing companies. In 2012 Doble invested £1.2 million in an Innovation Centre at GCU to support their product development road map.
Innovative research at Strathclyde University, embodied in its spinout Diagnostic Monitoring Systems (DMS) Ltd, has enabled the Glasgow-based company to become the premier supplier of ultra-high frequency (UHF) systems for detecting harmful partial discharge (PD) activity in high-value gas insulated substations and power transformers. Annual sales rose from £6.7M in 2008 to £11M in 2012, and its staff doubled to 56 employees. DMS' equipment is utilised in 27 countries, with total exports over 2008 - 2013 exceeding £45M. A sustained partnership with Strathclyde has yielded new sensor technologies and secured mainstream international recognition for UHF PD detection techniques, which are being incorporated within a new IEC standard. Economic value of Strathclyde's UHF technology was further emphasised in 2009 when DMS was acquired by Qualitrol, part of the US $46B Danaher Corp that owns numerous global engineering brands including Tektronix, Fluke, Leica Microsystems and Gilbarco Veeder-Root.
People with personality disorders (PD) have enduring and serious difficulties in relating to others and their treatment remains one of the most challenging areas in psychiatry. Until recently, service provision for such individuals was extremely variable in both quality and quantity. Research at King's College London (KCL) has helped highlight the considerable public health and economic impacts of personality disorders and has had a significant impact on current treatment guidelines in the UK. KCL research also led to the development of a brief and simple screening test for personality disorders — the Standard Assessment of Personality Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS) — which is now recommended for use in the UK Government's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies initiative, under which nearly a million patients a year are seen.
More than 240,000 people with kidney failure are treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD) worldwide. Cardiff University pioneered novel test methods that identified deleterious dialysis solution components, leading directly to manufacturers introducing more biocompatible dialysis fluids that improve patient outcomes. Cardiff investigators designed and ran the early clinical studies on these new fluids, which now lead the PD solutions market worldwide, and are recommended in European clinical guidelines. Recent evidence suggests that their use reduces peritonitis severity, decreases peritonitis incidence by 40% and mortality by 30%, resulting in reduced hospitilsation and significant healthcare savings.
UK and international government and healthcare institutes have incorporated Cardiff University research findings relating to the management of intervention for individuals post-trauma into public healthcare policy, strategy and services. Results from a randomized controlled clinical trial of psychological debriefing (PD) following traumatic events delivered strong evidence against the (then) standard approach of advocating these one-off interventions post-trauma. The Cardiff findings led to the global understanding that by not providing PD post-trauma many tens of thousands would benefit, resulting in better patient care and reduced healthcare costs.
Innovative geochemical research led by Selby at Durham has permitted savings of up to $70M in global mineral and petroleum exploration programmes (e.g., Andes of S. America; West of Shetlands oilfields). Selby's research has developed a unique geochemical toolbox using rhenium, osmium, platinum and palladium that constrain more accurate geological models leading to better reserve predictions. The toolbox provides previously unavailable geological time constraints and source identification of resources (e.g., copper, gold, crude oil) that gives mineral and/or petroleum companies an enhanced economic advantage by improving reserve estimates and/or reducing exploration budgets and/or minimising the environmental impacts of exploration.
Research by Professors John Stein and Tipu Aziz at the University of Oxford has had a significant impact on advanced Parkinson's disease patients affected by freezing of gait and loss of balance. Since 2008 deep brain stimulation of the pedunculopontine nucleus has resulted in major improvements in both gait and posture in Parkinson's disease patients who have been treated with dopaminergic drugs for several years, but who had suffered the return of severely disabling movement problems. Around two hundred patients have been successfully treated worldwide through this pioneering surgery, with associated improvements in quality of life.
Research led by Professor Paul J Thornalley since 1993, (University of Warwick, 2007-present), revealed the formation of harmful reactive dicarbonyl compounds (also known as glucose degradation products, GDPs) within the glucose osmolyte of first-generation peritoneal dialysis (PD) fluids. Clinical studies confirmed the increased damage to proteins in patients on PD therapy. In response to these findings, major manufacturers of PD fluids changed their manufacturing processes to minimise GDP content by separating glucose and buffer components within two-compartment bags for heat sterilisation, and by using osmolyte that is resistant to thermal degradation. PD fluids with low GDP content have been associated with improved clinical outcomes for patients receiving dialysis, including maintained residual renal function, decreased peritonitis, and decreased fluid infusion pain. They have been widely implemented in clinical use since 2010. Globally, approximately 240,000 patients receive PD therapy.
Deployment of robust diagnostic techniques developed at the University of Strathclyde has improved the analysis of reactor core data and has directly supported the Safety Case for continued and extended operation of the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor nuclear power stations in the UK. The new diagnostic techniques have been used on a daily basis since 16/5/2008 (BETA) and 5/3/2009 (IMAPS) in four power stations: 1) providing improved support and confirmation of the manual assessment of reactor core data by graphite engineers; 2) informing and advising power station personnel making strategic decisions on channels requiring inspection during statutory outages, and 3) providing evidence and increased confidence for the monitoring stage of station Safety Cases.
The clinical research of the UCL Unit of Functional Neurosurgery has led to improvements in the operative technique of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) with clear and demonstrable impact on patient outcomes with respect to efficacy, safety, and adverse event profiles. Our published data have been described by an independent editorial as a new "Benchmark for Functional Neurosurgery". Our Unit's excellent safety record has led to an ever-growing number of referrals, has allowed us to trial DBS for new indications, and has prompted visits from a succession of international specialists who seek to learn and disseminate our practice in their centres.