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Measurement of hormones is essential to the understanding and diagnosis of endocrine diseases. White and her research group have developed unique antibodies that are widely used in diagnostic assays for adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and related peptides, including the first and only kit for measuring pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), the precursor of ACTH. These assays are used worldwide for diagnosis, decisions on treatment, monitoring for recurrence of tumours and prognosis in a number of patient groups with life-threatening endocrine disorders. Global sales of the ACTH Elecsys tests by Roche exceeded 6 million kits since 2008. AstraZeneca has used the POMC and ACTH assays in its drug discovery programmes in the cardiovascular and metabolic diseases therapy area. The antibodies therefore have had health impact in relieving suffering and in improving patient care, as well as commercial impact in worldwide sales of assays and influencing drug development strategies.
Bio-inspired computer algorithms, developed by Dr Stephen Smith at the University of York, have been integrated with commercially available hardware that analyse patients' movements to diagnose and monitor a range of neurodegenerative conditions including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Clinical studies undertaken in the UK and USA report a diagnostic accuracy exceeding 90% - a 15% improvement on current clinical practice. A new spinout company, ClearSky Medical Diagnostics Ltd, has licenced four products exploiting this technology to nine health centres in the UK, USA, Singapore, Australia and UAE, transforming clinical testing with improved diagnosis and monitoring of patients in hospitals and their own homes.
The transport of people, goods, and utilities (e.g. electricity, oil, gas and water) is essential to civilised life, and in turn depends on a robust, reliable and affordable infrastructure. Since 1995, the University of Southampton Geomechanics Group (SGG) has led the development of an enhanced, science-based framework for understanding the behaviour of geotechnical transport infrastructure through monitoring, modelling and analysis. The techniques we have developed have been used by the builders, owners and operators of transport infrastructure both nationally and internationally to develop improved understandings of infrastructure geotechnical behaviour both during construction and in service. This has led to substantial savings in build, maintenance and operational costs; the implementation of effective remediation and management strategies; and significantly improved infrastructure performance.
We addressed a serious mismatch between increasing rates of autism diagnosis across Europe and the shortage of professionals skilled in effective treatment provided by Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA; www.bacb.com). A parent-lead charity (PEAT) was established in N. Ireland (www.peatni.org); teams from 7 European countries adapted our multimedia training resources (www.stamppp.com); Masters and Certificate level courses were established. Government documents informing policy in Scotland and New Zealand were corrected. Schools and charities in the Republic of Ireland, Poland, and Portugal, and other Masters level courses subsequently appeared in Ireland (http://tinyurl.com/cxpo66m). Simple Steps NI Ltd. was established involving PEAT and Manleys (http://www.manleys.co.uk).
Research examining the best ways of identifying and diagnosing motor impairment in children has established a universal standard of assessment: the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC). Co-authored by Sugden (University of Leeds), a complete new edition was developed in 2007. The second edition contains a new standardised test of motor impairment, a new criterion referenced checklist and a new intervention manual based on participation and learning, all informed by the authors' theoretical, empirical and professional research. The MABC is used in educational, health, and psychological services globally to provide detailed and accurate profiling of children 3 - 16 years, and through assessing children's motor skills and providing guidelines for intervention, it is used to determine strategies across the world to improve participation in activities in daily living for children with movement difficulties.
This case study outlines the impact of Professor McNiff's career-long research programme aimed at supporting practitioners' action enquiries for social transformation, and finding ways collaboratively to:
The research has been undertaken internationally across multiple settings and sectors, and supported through the production of associated resources. The collective accounts constitute a global knowledge base that links impact and validity through critical self-enquiry.
Professor Jay Mitra's research has developed both a novel theory of entrepreneurship and a series of recommendations for effective teaching in entrepreneurship, with specific emphasis on how entrepreneurship education can help emerging economies. His research has informed his consultation work as a specialist in entrepreneurship training for the OECD's Local Economic and Employment Development Programme. Much of this research was conducted as part of a UK Government-sponsored Education Partnership in Africa programme, which established Mitra's links with education authorities and universities in Africa. The entrepreneurship education framework developed in the research has since been implemented nationwide in Nigeria as a result of these links.
This case study describes impacts on the professional practice of transport appraisal, and on investment planning at national and local levels, arising from an approach developed over the period 2005-2013 to estimate the Wider Economic Impacts (WEIs) of transport investments. The research instigated an important reform of the UK approach to Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) and provided key empirical evidence that has been formally incorporated in the UK Department for Transport (DfT) web based CBA guidance (WebTAG) since 2009. Governments and public authorities throughout the world subsequently adopted the models and techniques proposed as decision support tools for infrastructure investment and planning. Since 2007 Imperial staff and their industrial collaborators have applied the approach to approximately 150 Billion US Dollars of international transport investment, and its use and impact are now widespread globally. It is now a standard textbook approach for assessing the WEIs of transport investment. Recent applications of the approach in the UK include the official economic evaluations of CrossRail (2010) and High Speed 2 (2010, 2012).
Systematic quantitative reviews of epidemiological evidence linking parental smoking with adverse respiratory health effects in childhood were published in 1997-1999 in Thorax. These meta-analyses were updated as a contribution to the US Surgeon-General's report on Secondhand Smoking, published in 2006, and the UK Royal College of Physicians' report on Passive Smoking and Children, published in 2010.
Over this period the adverse health effects of environmental tobacco smoke achieved prominence in public health policy, through campaigns for smoke-free workplaces (including pubs and restaurants) and publicity against parental smoking in the presence of children, both in cars and in the home.
For Professor Marina Warner literature acts as a cultural ambassador to open up dialogue in a globalised world riven by ideological and military conflict. She has used her research, which culminated in her multi-award-winning book Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights, to make a historical and cultural contribution to understanding the Middle East from the point of view of literary and artistic inter-relationships. She has used the extraordinary success of the book to raise public awareness through a series of international engagements. In the process she has addressed millions and contributed to cultural capital and debate worldwide. She has also directed the selection strategy of a major New York publisher, the Library of Arabic Literature.