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The International Social Survey Programme National Identity Module has been widely applied at sovereign state level, contributing to a large body of comparative literature on state identity conception. However, comparative identity survey studies at the territorial autonomy level, where the conception of sub-state identities is often highly contentious, remain rare. This study fills this research gap by testing the sources and consequences of sub-state identity conception in the context of territorial autonomies, using Hong Kong as the testing site. The results indicate that the Hongkonger identity is closely tied to cultural and political identity markers, with such a cultural-political identity conception significant in predicting people's aspiration for Hong Kong's autonomy. Fostering comparative identity survey studies beyond sovereign states, this study generates a new set of hypotheses to be further tested across territorial autonomies worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND This study aimed to investigate elite athletes' mental wellbeing, and to ascertain whether the personal factor resilience and the social factor social support can play a role in promoting mental well-being and life satisfaction. In addition, this is one of the first studies to investigate well-being among elite athletes who are from a region belonging to an unrecognised National Olympic Committee and are not eligible to join the Olympic Games. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE Eighty-four full-time elite athletes (37 males, 47 females) with mean age of 22.36 years old participated in this quantitative research study. Formal letters describing the purpose and organiser of the study were sent to the sport entities in Macao asking their permission for the researchers to contact the elite athletes to participate in this study. After gaining the permission, the elite athletes belonging to these entities were approached individually, to inform them of the purpose of the study and receive their consent. RESULTS Regression revealed that emotional support and adaptability of resilience were strong positive predictors of mental well-being. Additionally, mental well-being was found to be a strong positive predictor of life satisfaction. The results reflected that in elite athletes possessing high adaptability and receiving more emotional support could help to maintain their mental well-being. CONCLUSIONS Implications (based on the findings) are discussed in order to provide insights for policy makers or coaches how to promote elite athletes' mental well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) titanium disulfide (TiS 2) is the lightest transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD). It exhibits relatively better adsorption and diffusion of sodium (Na) and potassium (K) ions than other TMDs, such as MoS 2 (molybdenum disulfide) and ReS 2 (rhenium disulfide), making it a promising anode material for alkali-ion batteries. Previous studies have found that doping significantly enhances the adsorption and diffusion capabilities of 2D TMDs. For the first time, this work reports the adsorption of Na and K ions on doped TiS 2 monolayers using first-principles calculations, where the Ti atom is substituted by 3d-transition metals, including iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), and copper (Cu). Metal-atom doping induces remarkably stronger binding of alkali ions on the surface of TiS 2 , with adsorption energies ranging from − 2.07 to − 2.48 eV for Na and − 2.59 to − 3.00 eV for K. The diffusion barrier energies for alkali ions decrease in the proximity of the doping site and increase as the ions travel away from the doping site for Fe-, Co-, and Ni-doped TiS 2. The average open circuit voltage increases dramatically when Na ions are adsorbed on Fe-doped TiS 2 (by 62%) and Co-doped TiS 2 (by 61%), while K ions result in a moderate improvement of 9% and 8%, respectively. These findings suggest that metal-atom doping considerably improves the electrochemical properties of 2D TiS 2 , potentially enabling its use as anode materials in Na- and K-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeted delivery and specific activation of photosensitizers can greatly improve the treatment outcome of photodynamic therapy. To this end, we report herein a novel dual receptor‐mediated bioorthogonal activation approach to enhance the tumor specificity of the photodynamic action. It involves the targeted delivery of a biotinylated boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY)‐based photosensitizer, which is quenched in the native form by the attached 1,2,4,5‐tetrazine unit, and an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)‐targeting cyclic peptide conjugated with a bicycle[6.1.0]non‐4‐yne moiety. Only for cancer cells that overexpress both the biotin receptor and EGFR, the two components can be internalized preferentially where they undergo an inverse electron‐demand Diels–Alder reaction, leading to restoration of the photodynamic activity of the BODIPY core. By using a range of cell lines with different expression levels of these two receptors, we have demonstrated that this stepwise "deliver‐and‐click" approach can confine the photodynamic action on a specific type of cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeted delivery and specific activation of photosensitizers can greatly improve the treatment outcome of photodynamic therapy. To this end, we report herein a novel dual receptor‐mediated bioorthogonal activation approach to enhance the tumor specificity of the photodynamic action. It involves the targeted delivery of a biotinylated boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY)‐based photosensitizer, which is quenched in the native form by the attached 1,2,4,5‐tetrazine unit, and an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)‐targeting cyclic peptide conjugated with a bicycle[6.1.0]non‐4‐yne moiety. Only for cancer cells that overexpress both the biotin receptor and EGFR, the two components can be internalized preferentially where they undergo an inverse electron‐demand Diels–Alder reaction, leading to restoration of the photodynamic activity of the BODIPY core. By using a range of cell lines with different expression levels of these two receptors, we have demonstrated that this stepwise "deliver‐and‐click" approach can confine the photodynamic action on a specific type of cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The accumulation of soluble and insoluble aggregated amyloid-beta (Aβ) may initiate or potentiate pathologic processes in Alzheimer's disease. Lecanemab, a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds with high affinity to Aβ soluble protofibrils, is being tested in persons with early Alzheimer's disease.Methods: We conducted an 18-month, multicenter, double-blind, phase 3 trial involving persons 50 to 90 years of age with early Alzheimer's disease (mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease) with evidence of amyloid on positron-emission tomography (PET) or by cerebrospinal fluid testing. Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive intravenous lecanemab (10 mg per kilogram of body weight every 2 weeks) or placebo. The primary end point was the change from baseline at 18 months in the score on the Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB; range, 0 to 18, with higher scores indicating greater impairment). Key secondary end points were the change in amyloid burden on PET, the score on the 14-item cognitive subscale of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-cog14; range, 0 to 90; higher scores indicate greater impairment), the Alzheimer's Disease Composite Score (ADCOMS; range, 0 to 1.97; higher scores indicate greater impairment), and the score on the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living Scale for Mild Cognitive Impairment (ADCS-MCI-ADL; range, 0 to 53; lower scores indicate greater impairment).Results: A total of 1795 participants were enrolled, with 898 assigned to receive lecanemab and 897 to receive placebo. The mean CDR-SB score at baseline was approximately 3.2 in both groups. The adjusted least-squares mean change from baseline at 18 months was 1.21 with lecanemab and 1.66 with placebo (difference, -0.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.67 to -0.23; P<0.001). In a substudy involving 698 participants, there were greater reductions in brain amyloid burden with lecanemab than with placebo (difference, -59.1 centiloids; 95% CI, -62.6 to -55.6). Other mean differences between the two groups in the change from baseline favoring lecanemab were as follows: for the ADAS-cog14 score, -1.44 (95% CI, -2.27 to -0.61; P<0.001); for the ADCOMS, -0.050 (95% CI, -0.074 to -0.027; P<0.001); and for the ADCS-MCI-ADL score, 2.0 (95% CI, 1.2 to 2.8; P<0.001). Lecanemab resulted in infusion-related reactions in 26.4% of the participants and amyloid-related imaging abnormalities with edema or effusions in 12.6%.Conclusions: Lecanemab reduced markers of amyloid in early Alzheimer's disease and resulted in moderately less decline on measures of cognition and function than placebo at 18 months but was associated with adverse events. Longer trials are warranted to determine the efficacy and safety of lecanemab in early Alzheimer's disease. (Funded by Eisai and Biogen; Clarity AD ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03887455.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on cyclostationarity properties of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing with Offset Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (OFDM/OQAM) signal, a novel blind signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) estimation method for OFDM/OQAM system in the presence of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) is proposed. By analyzing the power distribution of cyclic correlation of transmitted signal, RFI and AWGN, by appropriately selecting the time delay variable and cyclic frequency of the OFDM/OQAM signal, the signal and interference plus noise power could be efficiently isolated in the power domain, which formed the SINR estimation method. Computer simulation results verify that the performance of the proposed method is superior to that of second-order and fourth-order moments (M2M4) method and the complexity of the new method is also lower than that of M2M4 method. The proposed method can effectively estimate SINR under the fast-fading Rayleigh channel and is robust to the density of RFI signal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of overburden stress on the rock mass deformation modulus is a known issue. However, the effect of overburden stress has been studied less with empirical methods due to the lack of appropriate data. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effect of overburden stress on rock mass deformation modulus using artificial neural network (ANN). Four ANN models have been developed in accordance with the purpose of the study. Two of these models do not contain the overburden stress parameter, but the other two models contain the overburden stress parameter. The prediction performance of the models containing the overburden stress parameter was obtained drastically higher than the others. In other words, the value account for (VAF) and root-mean-square error (RMSE) indices of the model having the inputs of rock mass rating (RMR) and elasticity modulus of intact rock (Ei) are 73.3% and 462, respectively, while those of the model having the inputs of RMR, Ei and overburden stress are 90% and 265. The other models developed in the present study yielded similar results. Consequently, with the ANN models developed in this study, the effect of overburden stress on Em is revealed, clearly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the incidence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo subtype by hospital visit type (i.e. out-patient department vs emergency room), in a single tertiary referral centre. Methods: A total of 772 consecutive patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo were included. Using head-roll and Dix–Hallpike tests, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo subtype was determined as canalolithiasis posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, geotropic horizontal semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo or apogeotropic benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Results: The posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo patients who were evaluated via the out-patient department outnumbered those evaluated via the emergency room, while those with horizontal semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo who were evaluated via the emergency room outnumbered those evaluated via the out-patient department. Conclusion: A significantly higher proportion of patients who visited the emergency room had horizontal semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo than posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. These results suggest that the true incidence of horizontal semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo might be higher than previously reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: total knee arthroplasty has gained popularity over decreasing pain, restoring mobility and improving patients' quality of life. At the institutional level, there is no multidisciplinary model in the treatment of our patients, and in our environment, physical rehabilitation starts late, making it difficult for patients to reincorporate and attain adequate pain control. Material and methods: a controlled, randomized, prospective and longitudinal study was conducted, 55 patients underwent total knee arthroplasty, assigned to two study groups: the ERAS (enhanced recovery after surgery) group (n = 27) and the usual group (n = 28). Inclusion criteria were patients with Kellgren-Lawrence classification grade 4 gonarthrosis, age between 30-70 years and follow-up for six months. Descriptive statistics were performed using medians and interquartile range, while inferential statistics were performed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: the results obtained at six months showed no statistically significant differences in age (p = 0.327) and gender (p = 0.588). The results obtained in the scales of VAS, WOMAC and IKDC showed statistically significant difference (p = 0.000). The rapid recovery group with a 120o flexion median and the usual group with 90o flexion, both groups with 0o extension. Conclusions: the enhanced recovery after surgery pathway in joint replacement procedures showed good results on pain, function, mobility and complications compared to patients undergoing usual management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physics of ion cyclotron heating (ICH) relevant to the steady-state linear machine MPEX (Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment) has been explored in its predecessor, short-pulse device: Proto-MPEX. MPEX will utilize fundamental ICH to increase heat flux at the target and produce ion temperatures and velocity distributions with improved fidelity to those found in a tokamak divertor region, in comparison to those produced by substrate biasing. In the experiments on Proto-MPEX described here, bulk ion temperatures up to ∼ 15 eV have been achieved with 20 kW net ICH power at 6.5 MHz, using ICH heating of a deuterium plasma produced by a helicon plasma source. The heat flux at the target has been observed to increase throughout the plasma cross section, including in the core region. Core Ti and target heat flux are observed to scale linearly with injected ICH power. Measurements of plasma loading and target heat flux as a function of the magnetic field strength at the antenna, together with modeling of the wave propagation from the antenna to the ion cyclotron resonance using the ANTENA and COMSOL codes with a warm plasma dielectric tensor, indicate that power is coupled to the core plasma via fast wave excitation of a kinetic Alfvén wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isoetids are slow growing ecosystem-engineers that maintain an oligotrophic environment through high radial oxygen losses (ROL) from their roots. This ROL could potentially reduce methane (CH4) emission by maintaining sediment redox conditions unfavourable for methanogenesis. Isoetids have declined in many European countries as an effect of eutrophication and inorganic carbon enrichment. To assess the effect of sudden disappearance of isoetids on biogeochemical carbon and nutrient cycling in organic rich sediments, we set up a greenhouse experiment. Intact vegetated sediment patches with Lobelia dortmanna and Littorella uniflora were collected from ten boreal Norwegian softwater lakes. From half of the patches, isoetids were manually removed. We determined the effect of removal on sediment redox potential, pore water chemistry and CH4 emission. In addition, germination success of L. dortmanna seeds was tested on the sediments where isoetids were removed. The absence of ROL after isoetid removal led to a drop in sediment redox potential, resulting in anaerobic breakdown of organic matter using alternative electron acceptors, especially iron(hydr)oxides. Consequently, increased porewater concentrations of ammonium, iron, inorganic carbon and CH4 were observed in sediments where isoetids had been removed compared to the isoetid vegetated sediments. Moreover, over 20 times higher emission of CH4 was observed from the sediments where isoetids had been removed. On the highly reduced sediments, the germination of L. dortmanna was hampered. When isoetids are unable to recolonise after disturbance events, it is expected that the absence of ROL eventually results in a long-term increase in lake productivity and CH4 emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: According to the World Health Organization, probiotics have been defined as live microorganisms that when administered in the right amount provide health benefits to the host. This study aims to isolate lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from Sauerkraut and determine their anti-pathogenic potential and suitability as probiotics. Methodology: Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from fermented cabbage obtained from an open market in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria by inoculating the prepared cabbage suspension on triplet plates of Rogosa agar (Lactobacillus selecting agar) and incubating in an anaerobic jar with gaspaks at 37oC for 72 hours. The LAB isolates were presumptively identified phenotypically by colony morphology, Gram stain reaction, and catalase test. The antibacterial activity of the LAB isolates was then carried out using agar overlay and agar-well diffusion methods. The most efficient LAB isolate was selected based on its strong antibacterial activity, confirmed by 16S rRNA sequencing and further evaluated for probiotic activities including bile salt resistance, survival in low pH, hydrophobicity of the cell surface, auto-aggregation, and co-aggregation. The putative probiotic LAB isolate was also evaluated for its safety using in vitro tests (antibiotic susceptibility testing, haemolysis, and DNase tests) and in vivo assays (sub-acute oral toxicity tests in male albino rats). Results: A total of 5 LAB isolates were preliminarily identified from the cabbage. The LAB isolate that showed strong antibacterial activity was confirmed as Levilactobacillus brevis. The isolate showed 83.3% survival rate in low pH of 3 and 85.9% in 0.3% bile concentration indicating potential tolerance to gastrointestinal conditions. The cell surface hydrophobicity assay showed 51% and auto-aggregation of 60% which represents the adhesion properties of the isolate. The sub-acute oral toxicity evaluation of the putative probiotic strain in Wister albino rats showed no altered health condition. Conclusion: The findings in this study suggest that Levilactobacillus brevis isolated from Sauerkraut is suitable as probiotics and could be applied in the pharmaceutical and food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chater & Loewenstein make a persuasive case for focusing behavioural research and policy making on s- rather than i-interventions. This commentary highlights some conceptual and ethical issues that need to be addressed before such reform can be embraced. These include the need to adjudicate between different conceptions of "effectiveness," and accounting for reasonable differences between how people weight different values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility of ideography is an empirical question. Prior examples of graphic codes do not provide compelling evidence for the infeasibility of ideography, because they fail to satisfy essential cognitive requirements that have only recently been revealed by studies of representational systems in cognitive science. Design criteria derived from cognitive principles suggest how effective graphic codes may be engineered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of trauma in the future operating environment might be significantly different from the recent experience in the Middle East Region if it were to occur in the context of hostilities between coalition, including Australian forces and a near-peer or peer-level threat. Specifically, reliance on rotary-wing aeromedical evacuation may be compromised if air superiority is degraded or denied. Two alternative approaches may be considered in the context of constrained evacuation capability. First, enhanced treatment of the injured soldier on the ground at or near the point of injury by first responders may broaden the window during which a patient may survive on the battlefield awaiting evacuation. Alternatively, moving the surgical resources to the casualty may also improve the chances of survival for an injured soldier. However, this comes at the cost of risking higher-level assets. The first of these approaches is considered here with an exploration of what life-saving interventions (LSI) can be delivered by first responder soldiers. Numerically dropping as a result of tactical combat casualty care principles but persisting as causes of preventable battlefield death, exsanguinating extremity haemorrhage, tension pneumothorax and airway obstruction are areas where future gains may be possible with an expanded skillset deliverable by combat first aiders and health technicians. Earlier administration of blood products by health technicians to casualties with exsanguinating haemorrhage would align military trauma management principles with the civilian world, where blood products can now be administered en route by trained paramedics. Similarly, there is a shift towards managing tension pneumothorax with finger thoracostomy in preference to needle decompression in the hospital and pre-hospital environment in the civilian sector. Of much greater complexity, management of non-compressible truncal haemorrhage remains problematic on the battlefield. A highly specialised intervention with significant haemodynamic consequences that nevertheless has been shown to be achievable in both military and civilian contexts is REBOA (resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta). This technique is encumbered with a significant training burden but warrants discussion and is most relevant when evacuation times are expected to fall between 1 and 6 hours. Expanding the skillset deliverable by combat first aiders and health technicians may offset delays in evacuation and maintain battlefield casualty survival in the future operating environment and may be obtained leveraging existing Defence training programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black-faced impala (Aepyceros melampus ssp. petersi) are endemic to Namibia where conservation management involves immobilisation and translocation, and mortality with current protocols is common. Critically evaluated field immobilisation protocols are needed to maximise animal safety. This prospective study was done in two phases: the first compared etorphine- and thiafentanil-based combinations, the second evaluated the influence of oxygen in impala receiving the thiafentanil-based combination. Animals (10 per group) received 50 mg ketamine (K) and 10 mg butorphanol (B), with either 2.0 mg etorphine (E) or 2.0 mg thiafentanil (T). A third group of ten impala were anaesthetised using TKB with supplemental nasal oxygen (O) at a rate of 5 L/minute. Behavioural, metabolic and physiological variables were assessed within five minutes of recumbency and at 10, 15, and 20 minutes post-recumbency. Statistical analyses for non-parametric data were performed to compare the treatment groups as well as time points; p ≤ 0.05 considered significant. Following darting, 7/10 EKB animals were standing when approached, compared to 2/20 in the thiafentanil treatment groups. Time to first effect was significantly higher for EKB (155 ± 105.7 seconds) compared to TKBO (61.5 ± 21.4 seconds). Time to sternal after darting was significantly higher with EKB (411.6 ± 174 seconds) compared to TKB (160.5 ± 85.4 seconds) and TKBO (166 ± 77.3 seconds). This study builds on previous work investigating the effects of potent opioids on impala and is the first evaluating their use in a field setting. The thiafentanil combination had a faster onset and resulted in a smoother induction than the etorphine combination. Additionally, oxygenation improved in animals receiving oxygen supplementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep-learning frameworks can effectively forecast the air pollution data for individual stations by decoding time series data. However, most of the existing time-series-based deep-learning models use offline spatial interpolation strategies and thus cannot reliably project the station-based forecast to the spatial region of interest. In this study, the station-based long short-term memory (LSTM) technique was extended for spatial air quality forecasting by combining a novel deep-learning layer, termed the broadcasting layer, which incorporates a learnable weight decay parameter designed for point-to-area extension. Unlike most existing deep-learning-based methods that isolate the interpolation from the model training process, the proposed end-to-end LSTM broadcasting framework can consider the temporal characteristics of the time series and spatial relationships among different stations. To validate the proposed deep-learning framework, PM 2.5 and O 3 forecasts for the next 48 h were obtained using 3D chemical transport model simulation results and ground observation data as the inputs. The root mean square error associated with the proposed framework was 40 % and 20 % lower than those of the Weather Research and Forecasting–Community Multiscale Air Quality model and an offline combination of the deep-learning and spatial interpolation methods, respectively. The novel LSTM broadcasting framework can be extended for air pollution forecasting in other regions of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermodynamic structure of the lower troposphere in the 37 standard levels ERA5 reanalysis has been evaluated against 2,186 high‐resolution upper air soundings collected over the Southern Ocean (SO). The reanalysis, which incorporated these soundings, was found to be skilled in depicting the general synoptic meteorology and thermodynamic structure as defined by the cluster analysis of Truong et al. (2020) Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 125, e2020JD033214. Using dew‐point depression as a proxy for cloud, however, we found a significant reduction in the number of inferred cloud layers, which is inherited from a bias in the specific humidity in the ERA5 reanalysis, most notably over the high latitudes of the SO, where a multilayer cloud structure is frequently observed. The reanalysis was also found to have thinner inferred cloud geometric layer and shallower cloud top heights. Further analysis showed that the reanalysis displays a greater percentage of soundings having no inversion with this bias being more pronounced at high latitudes that tends to be associated with the colder sea surface temperature. While the statistics of the main inversion height are largely consistent, the average inversion strength in the ERA5 reanalysis is found to be weaker than the observations. We anticipate the 137‐level ERA5 reanalysis simulation yields a smoothed vertical structure, from which the 37 standard levels ERA5 reanalysis is linearly interpolated. An examination of the sensitivity of the radiative transfer to cloud macrophysics suggests that the correct representation of thin multiple cloud layers can help reduce the amount of downward shortwave surface radiation over the SO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scanning microwave microscopy (SMM) is a novel metrological tool that advances the quantitative, nanometric, high-frequency, electrical characterization of a broad range of materials of technological importance. In this work, we report an inverted near-field scanning microwave microscopy (iSMM) investigation of a graphene oxide-based epoxy nanocomposite material at a nanoscopic level. The high-resolution spatial mapping of local conductance provides a quantitative analysis of the sample's electrical properties. In particular, the electrical conductivity in the order of ∼ 10 − 1 S/m as well as the mapping of the dielectric constant with a value of ∼4.7 ± 0.2 are reported and validated by the full-wave electromagnetic modeling of the tip–sample interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected cropping systems (PCS) alter the plant growing environment, though understanding of this in ventilated systems and how the new climate affects tree water uptake is limited. Sap flow sensors and weather stations were deployed in 16-year-old 'Lapins' on 'Colt' rootstock cherry trees under a ventilated Voen PCS and in an adjacent bird netted PCS. Average and maximum temperatures were consistently higher (14.7 °C and 22.9 °C) while total daily solar radiation and average wind were consistently lower (12.9 MJ/m2 and 0.2 m/s) in rain covered, in contrast to netted, PCS (13.9 °C, 21.3 °C, 13.7 MJ/m2 and 0.9 m/s). Over the season, a threefold lower daily sap flow rate was observed under rain covered PCS. Using generalised additive modelling (GAM), the influence of individual climate parameters on sap flow were predicted. Whilst sap flow was only slightly affected by relative humidity (RH) less than 60%, above this threshold sap flow rapidly declined under rain covered PCS whereas sap flow more gradually declined above 20% RH under netted PCS. Overall, our novel modelling approach led to the discovery of the 60% RH critical threshold on predicted sap flow and the indirect effect that wind speeds have on sap flow under PCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron-induced chemistry is relevant to many processes that occur when an ionizing source interacts with matter, as in the formation of complex molecules within frozen condensates in space. We explore in this paper the radiolysis and the desorption processes affecting iced mixtures of water and carbon monoxide subjected to electron irradiation in the sub-keV regime. The experiments have been performed with the Interstellar Energetic Process System (IEPS), an ultra-high vacuum chamber equipped with an electron gun. The irradiated ices have been monitored with infrared and mass spectroscopies. We derive the chemistry and determine cross-sections for relevant processes as functions of the energy of the impacting electrons. We quantify the electron-stimulated desorption of some significant species in terms of their desorption yields, and relate these quantities to the electron penetration depth and the desorption-relevant length. The results of this study have been compared with the outcomes of similar experiments performed using pure carbon monoxide ices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The past two decades have seen a widespread adoption of endoscopic skull base surgery with the use of nasoseptal flaps. Attention has been diverted in recent times to evaluate the quality of life of these patients. Objective: This systematic review aimed to evaluate the available literature to compare the quality of life after endoscopic skull base surgery with or without nasoseptal flaps. Methods: This systemic review was conducted using PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases for literature published after 2009. Results: The majority of studies concluded that there was no statistically significant difference in the quality of life associated with the use of nasoseptal flaps. Post-operatively, more extensive surgery, peri-operative radiotherapy, smoking and younger age were associated with poorer quality of life. Conclusion: While the use of nasoseptal flaps can have negative effects on patients' quality of life in terms of sinonasal symptoms, this systematic review found no difference in quality of life associated with the use or non-use of a nasoseptal flap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) play important roles as post-transcriptional regulators throughout the life activities of bacteria. To explore the roles of the regulatory sRNA rli41 identified in Listeria monocytogenes (LM), we analyzed the molecular characteristics and expression profiles of sRNA rli41 during cell infection. Then the deletion strain LM-Δrli41 and complementation strain LM-Δrli41-rli41 were constructed and used to investigate the effects of deficiency of rli41 gene on the adhesion, invasion and pathogenicity of LM. Furthermore, sRNA rli41-regulated potential target genes were predicted in silico, followed by the verification of sRNA-mRNA interaction using a dual plasmid reporter system. The results revealed that sRNA rli41 was highly conserved in LM and its expression level was 15.78-fold up-regulated during cell infection as compared to extracellular environment. Compared with the parental strain and complementation strain, cell adhesion and invasion of the deletion strain were significantly reduced. Moreover, LD50 of LM increased and the pathogenicity weakened significantly due to the deficiency of rli41 genes. Additionally, sRNA rli41 could complementarily base pairing with lmo2178 mRNA 5'-UTR, which could facilitate the expression of peptidoglycan-binding protein Lmo2178, which in turn promotes the cell adhesion, invasion and pathogenicity of LM. Taken together, these findings demonstrated for the first time that the regulatory sRNA rli41 is implicated in cell adhesion, invasion and pathogenicity by modulating the expression of virulence factor Lmo2178 in LM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We conducted a narrative review in six areas of obstetric emergencies: category‐1 caesarean section; difficult and failed airway; massive obstetric haemorrhage; hypertensive crisis; emergencies related to neuraxial anaesthesia; and maternal cardiac arrest. These areas represent significant research published within the last five years, with emphasis on large multicentre randomised trials, national or international practice guidelines and recommendations from major professional societies. Key topics discussed: prevention and management of failed neuraxial technique; role of high‐flow nasal oxygenation and choice of neuromuscular drug in obstetric patients; prevention of accidental awareness during general anaesthesia; management of the difficult and failed obstetric airway; current perspectives on the use of tranexamic acid, fibrinogen concentrate and cell salvage; guidance on neuraxial placement in a thrombocytopenic obstetric patient; management of neuraxial drug errors, local anaesthetic systemic toxicity and unusually prolonged neuraxial block regression; and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use in maternal cardiac arrest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presented two approaches to synthesize bio-surfactants using cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), an abundant natural resource. The different preparation conditions were investigated and optimized to obtain the surfactant products of maximum weight and desired characteristics. The anionic sodium anacardate surfactant was recommended to be synthesized by carrying out the saponification reaction between CNSL and NaOH in a weight ratio of 1 : 2 at 85°C for 1 h. Meanwhile, the amphoteric triethanolamine anacardate surfactant was prepared using the neutralization reaction between CNSL and triethanolamine in a weight ratio of 1 : 1 at 70oC in 3 h. All the surfactant products were examined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to confirm their chemical structure. In addition, characteristic properties of the surfactants including solubility, emulsifying ability and stability, foaming ability and stability, surface tension, and skin irritation were also explored. Both the sodium anacardate and triethanolamine anacardate demonstrated comparable foaming capacity and surface tension with commercial surfactants. In an attempt, sodium anacardate was utilized to make industrial soap and shoe polish of good sensory quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Data on the effectiveness of oral antivirals in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 are urgently needed. This retrospective cohort study aimed to evaluate the clinical and virological outcomes associated with molnupiravir or nirmatrelvir-ritonavir use in hospitalised patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 during a pandemic wave dominated by the omicron BA.2 subvariant.Methods: We analysed data from a territory-wide retrospective cohort of patients in Hong Kong who were hospitalised with a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection between Feb 26 and April 26, 2022. Data were extracted from the Hospital Authority, the Department of Health, and the Hong Kong Death Registry. Patients were eligible for inclusion if their admission date was within 3 days before or after confirmation of their COVID-19 diagnosis. Those who were admitted to hospital more than 5 days after symptom onset, were younger than 18 years, had a history of oral antiviral use before admission, required supplemental oxygen on admission, had drug-related contraindications to nirmatrelvir-ritonavir use, or had severe renal or severe liver impairment were excluded. Patients who received the oral antivirals molnupiravir or nirmatrelvir-ritonavir were matched with controls using propensity-score matching in a ratio of 1:1. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality and secondary outcomes included a composite outcome of disease progression (all-cause mortality, initiation of invasive mechanical ventilation [IMV], intensive care unit [ICU] admission, or the need for oxygen therapy) and each of these individual disease progression outcomes, and time to reaching a low viral burden (RT-PCR cycle threshold value ≥30). For each event outcome, crude incidence rates were calculated and hazard ratios (HRs) estimated using Cox regression models.Findings: We identified 40 776 patients hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the study period, with a mean follow-up of 41·3 days (total 925 713 person-days). After exclusions and propensity-score matching, we included 1856 molnupiravir recipients and 1856 matched controls, and 890 nirmatrelvir-ritonavir recipients and 890 matched controls. A lower risk of all-cause mortality was observed in molnupiravir recipients (crude incidence rate per 10 000 person-days 19·98 events [95% CI 16·91-23·45]) versus matched controls (38·07 events [33·85-42·67]; HR 0·48 [95% CI 0·40-0·59], p<0·0001) and in nirmatrelvir-ritonavir recipients (10·28 events [7·03-14·51]) versus matched controls (26·47 events [21·34-32·46]; HR 0·34 [0·23-0·50], p<0·0001). Oral antiviral recipients also had lower risks of the composite disease progression outcome (molnupiravir HR 0·60 [95% CI 0·52-0·69], p<0·0001; nirmatrelvir-ritonavir 0·57 [0·45-0·72], p<0·0001) and need for oxygen therapy (molnupiravir 0·69 [0·57-0·83], p=0·0001; nirmatrelvir-ritonavir 0·73 [0·54-0·97], p=0·032) compared with controls. Time to achieving a low viral burden was significantly shorter among oral antiviral recipients than matched controls (molnupiravir HR 1·38 [95% CI 1·15-1·64], p=0·0005; nirmatrelvir-ritonavir 1·38 [1·07-1·79], p=0·013). Significant differences in initiation of IMV and ICU admission were not found.Interpretation: During a wave of SARS-CoV-2 omicron BA.2, initiation of novel oral antiviral treatments in hospitalised patients not requiring oxygen therapy on admission showed substantial clinical benefit. Our findings support the early use of oral antivirals in this population of patients.Funding: Health and Medical Research Fund (Health Bureau, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region).Translation: For the Chinese translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) stigma has been found to be a major barrier to PrEP acceptability and uptake. Research has found that different ethnic/cultural groups display varying levels of PrEP stigma. This article studies sex conservatism and internalized homonegativity as two sexuality- and culture-related aspects that influence PrEP stigma and intention to use PrEP. An online survey of 279 young gay and bisexual men in Hong Kong found that internalized homonegativity was positively associated with PrEP stigma. Respondents who were more conservative about sex showed lower intention to use PrEP, whereas those who had higher income and more positive attitudes about PrEP were more likely to express intention to use PrEP. This study provides novel empirical evidence for understanding PrEP stigma and uptake from a sexuality and cultural perspective. The influence of sexuality- and culture-related factors on PrEP stigma and uptake warrants greater attention, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID‐19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to the world, creating significant impact on people's lives and subjective wellbeing. While previous studies have shown that students' wellbeing and how they manage their emotions are critical to students' learning, less research has considered their specific impacts on student engagement in online learning. Aims: The aim of this study is to examine how students' subjective wellbeing and emotion regulation strategies (viz cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) are associated with student engagement in online learning during the pandemic. Sample: A total of 965 students from a university in China participated in the study. Methods: The data were collected online during the COVID‐19 from March to July 2020, which included measures of wellbeing, emotion regulation strategie, and online learning engagement. Results: Structural equation modelling results showed that wellbeing was positively associated with both the use of reappraisal and suppression. Moreover, mediation analysis showed that reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between wellbeing and all types of online learning engagement (including cognitive, emotional and behavioural engagements). Conversely, suppression was found to have a small mediating effect between wellbeing and behavioural engagement of online learning only. No such effect was found on cognitive and emotional engagements. Conclusions: The findings provide evidence on the positive relationship between wellbeing and both the strategies of suppression and reappraisal during the pandemic. However, only reappraisal has positive impact on learning, suggesting the importance of effective regulation strategies on students' online engagement. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of COVID‐19 and its subsequent social distancing policies have profoundly impacted the lives of parents and children. Prolonged exposure to parenting‐related responsibilities and heightened levels of family conflict under stay‐at‐home orders coupled with reduced access to support systems and resources have rendered parents and children more prone to stress and mental health difficulties. Drawing on a transactional model of parent–child interactions, the present study applied an actor–partner interdependence model approach to examine the transactional relationship between COVID‐19‐related stress and mental well‐being among parents and children. Data from 109 Chinese parent–child dyads in Hong Kong were included in the study. Parents and their 8‐ to 10‐year‐old children completed a questionnaire on COVID‐19‐related stress, parent–child relationships, and mental well‐being. The results showed that 53.2% and 30.3% of the parents and children, respectively, showed poor mental well‐being, indicating possible emotional problems. Both actor and partner effects of parent COVID‐19‐related stress were found. Parent COVID‐19‐related stress was indirectly related to lower levels of parent and child mental well‐being, through the mediation of parent–child conflict. To facilitate psychological adjustment following the COVID‐19 outbreak, effective family‐based mental health and parenting interventions are needed to promote family cohesion and alleviate stress‐induced psychological symptoms. Even in the time of social distancing, telepsychotherapy and other online non‐psychotherapeutic interventions can serve as a valid alternative for parents and children who experience excessive distress. Implications for psychological services, family‐friendly policies, and social protection measures are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is commonly treated using high-dose radiotherapy. Careful radiotherapy planning is crucial for the eradication of cancer cells while avoiding injuries to normal structures. This balance is often delicate given the complex anatomic location in which NPC is situated. This article highlights the considerations, practical pearls, and recent advances in the precise delivery of radiotherapy in NPC patients. Radiotherapy is the primary treatment modality for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Successful curative treatment requires optimal radiotherapy planning and precise beam delivery that maximizes locoregional control while minimizing treatment-related side effects. In this article, we highlight considerations in target delineation, radiation dose, and the adoption of technological advances with the aim of optimizing the benefits of radiotherapy in NPC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterization of shear moduli of composite lamina by existing methods such as rail shear test, Arcan shear test, Iosipescu shear test, etc. has their disadvantages. Developing a simple and efficient method for characterizing the shear moduli of the composite lamina is the objective of this work. A composite specimen of unidirectional laminate clamped and suspended from one end and with a rod weight attached horizontally at the lower end was tested simply by twisting and releasing as a torsional pendulum. By measuring the period of the twisting oscillation, the shear modulus of the laminae can then be calculated via a theoretical relationship. Experiments were conducted on specimens with different widths and rod weights with different lengths. Data of period were fitted simultaneously, and the shear modulus was obtained with less than 4% errors in comparison with that offered by the material manufacturer. The sensitivities of the shear moduli to the measured period are discussed and evaluated. This work presents the technique of the torsional pendulum, a very simple and efficient technique for measuring the shear modulus of the composite lamina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless networks have been widely adopted and introduced in the areas of engineering, manufacturing, weather monitoring, transportation, etc., to collect data to improve the quality of decision making, but issues arise, such as large volumes of data, incomplete and incompatible data sets, and noise data that prevent from realizing the true value and exploiting their full potentials. Machine learning and deep learning methods have been used as powerful tools to perform feature detection/extraction and trend estimation/forecasting in wireless networks applications. Furthermore, the reinforcement learning methods, including generative adversarial networks (GANs) and deep Q-networks (DQNs) [[6]], are tools for generative networks and discriminative networks to optimize the contesting process in a zero-sum game framework. Topics covered in this issue are categorized into the following six themes: (1) networking optimization, (2) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications, (3) wireless sensor networks, (4) network security, (5) mobile positioning, and (6) image-based applications. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Non-seminoma testicular cancer survivors (TCS) have an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC) when they have been treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Previously we demonstrated that among Hodgkin lymphoma survivors (HLS) there is enrichment of rare mismatch repair (MMR) deficient (MMRd) CRCs with somatic hits in MMR genes. We speculate that this phenomenon could also occur among other cancer survivors. We therefore aim to determine the MMR status and its underlying mechanism in CRC among TCS (TCS-CRC).Methods: Thirty TCS-CRC, identified through the Dutch pathology registry, were analysed for MMR proteins by immunohistochemistry. Next-generation sequencing was performed in MMRd CRCs without MLH1 promoter hypermethylation (n = 4). Data were compared with a male cohort with primary CRC (P-CRC, n = 629).Results: MMRd was found in 17% of TCS-CRCs vs. 9% in P-CRC (p = 0.13). MMRd was more often caused by somatic double or single hit in MMR genes by mutation or loss of heterozygosity in TCS-CRCs (3/30 (10%) vs. 11/629 (2%) in P-CRCs (p < 0.01)).Conclusions: MMRd CRCs with somatic double or single hit are more frequent in this small cohort of TCS compared with P-CRC. Exposure to anticancer treatments appears to be associated with the development of these rare MMRd CRC among cancer survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective New classification criteria have been proposed to improve classification of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We aimed to evaluate their performance by determining their sensitivity, specificity and accuracy in a real-world rheumatology department. Methods SLE patients who were enrolled in the Australian Lupus Registry and Biobank were included and compared with controls recruited from other rheumatology clinics. Clinical and immunological features were reviewed, according to ACR 1997, SLICC 2012, EULAR/ACR 2019, or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Risk Probability Index (SLERPI). Performance of each set of criteria was evaluated for the overall cohort and in a subgroup of patients with early SLE. Results The study included 394 SLE and 123 control patients with other rheumatological conditions. Sensitivity was highest using SLICC 2012 or SLERPI 2020 criteria. Specificity was highest using ACR 1997 criteria. The SLICC 2012 criteria had the highest overall accuracy at 94.4% (95% CI: 91.7, 97.1%). In the subgroup analysis of SLE patients with early disease, SLICC 2012 performed similarly well. Conclusions The sensitivity and specificity of each set of classification criteria vary slightly, with SLICC 2012 and SLERPI 2020 having the highest sensitivities and the ACR 1997 criteria having the highest specificity in our patient cohort. All classification criteria serve as good instructional aids for clinicians to understand SLE manifestations. For the Australian Lupus Registry and Biobank, we will continue to use the ACR 1997 and/or SLICC 2012 as entry to the observational cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project-based learning (PBL) is one of most common teaching strategies in design education. With the complexity in design projects, PBL is usually accomplished in groups. The final project success depend on both technical capabilities and individual personalities: personality types and communication styles. Although previous studies have investigated the relationship between personalities and project success, the relationship between the composition of personalities and project success among design students has yet to be examined. Student personalities were studied based on students' response to the personality assessments, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the four-type communication model. Project success was recorded in both PBL and individual learning processes for comparisons. Results show that project success is positively correlated with group compositions that have a balanced proportion of Judging (J) and Perceiving (P) members, and negatively correlated with compositions that have an even proportion of Extrovert (E) and Introvert (I) members. Results also show that group compositions that have members with leadership qualities (the Rational temperament and the Director communication style) are more likely achieve success. Comparisons between project success in PBL and individual learning processes indicate that students with specific personalities (the Guardian and the Relator) perform significantly better in individual assignments than group assignments. The purpose of this study is therefore two-fold; first, to study how the different compositions of personalities could explain group dynamics and influence project success and second, to highlight that PBL might be more suitable for some students than others. This study concludes that with an understanding of students' personalities, teachers can create groupings to maximize the potential of PBL and, at the same time, provide individual learning activities to enable equal opportunities for all students to achieve success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Novel clinical challenges are faced by cardiac surgeons under the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. Amidst the uncertainties faced due to the socioeconomic and public health impact, there is little evidence surrounding COVID‐19 vaccination in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Timing of vaccination and postvaccination adverse effects are required parameters to discuss with cardiac surgical patients. Methods: This is a single‐center, retrospective observational study. All patients who underwent adult cardiac surgery at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong from January 2021 to December 2021 were included. Postoperative clinical outcomes, COVID‐19 vaccination status, and vaccination‐related adverse effects were collected. Results: A total of 426 patients; 117 (27%) underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting, 111 (26%) underwent valvular surgery, and 97 (23%) underwent aortic surgery. Patients received either Sinovac CoronaVac or Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine. Overall vaccination rate with at least 1 dose was 52% (n = 212), 15% (n = 63) received the first dose before surgery, 36% (n = 149) received the first dose vaccination after surgery. Rate of completion with second and third doses of vaccination were 22% (n = 89) and 4.9% (n = 20), respectively. The mean timing of first dose of vaccine after surgery was 216 ± 84 days from operation. Three (1.4%) patients recorded vaccination‐related complications. Conclusions: COVID‐19 vaccination is safe in patients who received major cardiac surgery, with low adverse effects recorded and no vaccine‐related mortality observed. A time frame of 3–6 months after cardiac surgery receiving COVID‐19 vaccination is reasonable and could serve as a guidance for future COVID‐19 vaccination booster programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Racial and ethnic disparities exist in gestational diabetes prevalence and risk of subsequent type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Postpartum engagement in healthy behaviours is recommended for prevention and early detection of T2DM, yet uptake is low among women from diverse cultural backgrounds. Greater understanding of factors impacting postpartum health behaviours is needed. Applying the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and Capability, Opportunity, Motivation‐Behaviour (COM‐B) model, our aim was to synthesise barriers to and enablers of postpartum health behaviours among women from diverse cultural backgrounds with prior GDM and identify relevant intervention components. Methods: Databases, reference lists and grey literature were searched from September 2017 to April 2021. Two reviewers screened articles independently against inclusion criteria and extracted data. Using an inductive–deductive model, themes were mapped to the TDF and COM‐B model. Results: After screening 5148 citations and 139 full texts, we included 35 studies (N = 787 participants). The main ethnicities included Asian (43%), Indigenous (15%) and African (11%). Barriers and enablers focused on Capability (e.g. knowledge), Opportunity (e.g. competing demands, social support from family, friends and healthcare professionals, culturally appropriate education and resources) and Motivation (e.g. negative emotions, perceived consequences and necessity of health behaviours, social/cultural identity). Five relevant intervention functions are identified to link the barriers and enablers to evidence‐based recommendations for communications to support behaviour change. Conclusions: We provide a conceptual model to inform recommendations regarding the development of messaging and interventions to support women from diverse cultural backgrounds in engaging in healthy behaviours to reduce risk of T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Youths disengaged from the education system and labour force (i.e. 'Not in Education, Employment, or Training' or 'NEET') are often at reduced capacity to flourish and thrive as adults. Developmental precursors to NEET status may extend back to temperamental features, though this – and possible mediators of such associations such as attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) symptoms and antisocial behaviours (ASB) – have yet to be directly tested. This study investigates if i) difficult temperament in toddlerhood associates with NEET status in adulthood and ii) different subdomains of ADHD (i.e. hyperactivity‐impulsivity vs. inattention) in late childhood and ASB in adolescence partially explain this pathway. Methods: Participants were 6,240 mother‐child dyads (60.7% female) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Mothers reported on their child's (a) difficult temperament (i.e. mood, intensity and adaptability) at age 2 and (b) ADHD symptoms at ages 8 and 10. Participants reported their own ASB at age 14 and NEET status in adulthood (ages 18, 20, 22 and 23). Results: First, higher levels of difficult temperament in toddlerhood directly associated with an increased probability of being NEET in adulthood. Second, this effect was carried through hyperactivity‐impulsivity, but not inattention, in late childhood, and ASB in adolescence; this demonstrates differential contribution to the pathway between the ADHD dimensions, with symptoms of hyperactivity‐impulsivity playing a prominent role. Conclusions: Early difficult temperament is a vulnerability factor for NEET status in adulthood. Our findings suggest that one developmental pathway for this vulnerability manifests through increased hyperactivity‐impulsivity in childhood and ASB in adolescence. Of note, difficult temperament, as measured here, reflects difficulties in emotional and behavioural self‐control (e.g. low adaptability and high intensity negative emotional expressions). Our results, therefore, suggest a prominent developmental role for lack of self‐control from toddlerhood onwards in increasing risk for NEET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The technical difficulty an operation creates for a surgeon is difficult to measure. Current measures are poor surrogates. In both research and teaching settings it would be valuable to be able to accurately measure this degree of difficulty. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA TLX) is a multi‐dimensional scale designed to obtain workload estimates relating to a task. This study aimed to evaluate the NASA TLX as an objective measure of technical difficulty of an operation. Methods: Seven surgeons performed 127 pre‐defined operations (minimally invasive right hemicolectomy & re‐do bariatric surgery) and recorded a NASA TLX score after each operation. These scores were compared to numerous clinical parameters and the score was correlated with the subjective measure of whether the surgeon categorized the operation as "easy", "moderate" or "difficult". Results: The NASA TLX score was significantly correlated with operative duration, blood loss, previous abdominal surgery and the surgeons' assessment of difficulty. It did not correlate with intra‐operative or post‐operative complications, conversion to open surgery or length of stay. Conclusions: The NASA TLX score provides a graded numerical score that that correlated significantly with the surgeon's assessment of the technical difficulty, and with operative duration, intra‐operative blood loss and previous abdominal surgery. This novel application of this tool could be employed in both research and teaching settings to score surgical difficulty and monitor a trainee's proficiency over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-classical states induced from coherent states (CS) α ⟩ via photon addition operations have useful non-classical properties that improve performances in quantum information processing. Two examples of such induced states are displaced n -photon Fock states (n -DPFS) and n -photon added coherent states (n -PACS). Quantum superposition of n -DPFS and n -PACS results in a new state, superposed- n -DPFS- n -PACS (n -SDP) which has better non-classicality. Specifically, n -SDP exhibits stronger quadrature squeezing, anti-bunching and sub-Poisson compared to n -DPFS and n -PACS. The general enhancements of n -SDP non-classicality over n -DPFS and n -PACS are due to quantum interference effects. For example, for average photon-number α 2 ≤ 1 and n = 1 , 1 -SDP has quadrature squeezing; however, 1 -DPFS and 1 -PACS did not. At the limit of α 2 ≫ 1 , n -SDP exhibits better quadrature squeezing, anti-bunching and sub-Poisson than n -DPFS and n -PACS. Furthermore, using input states of n -SDP and CS in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer enhance phase sensitivity beyond standard quantum limit. Finally, a possible generation of n -SDP by using a seeded optical parametric amplifier with conditional measurement is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: There was initially insufficient understanding regarding suitable pharmacological treatment for pediatric Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Lopinavir-ritonavir (LPV/r) was originally used for the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1) infection. It was also used in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) with positive results. Nonetheless, results from recent randomized controlled trials and observational studies on COVID-19 patients were unfavorable. We sought to evaluate the clinical outcomes associated with early treatment with LPV/r for pediatric COVID-19 patients. Study Design: A total of 933 COVID-19 patients aged ≤ 18 years were admitted between 21 January 2020 and 31 January 2021 in Hong Kong. Exposure was receiving LPV/r within the first two days of admission. Time to clinical improvement, hospital discharge, seroconversion and hyperinflammatory syndrome, cumulative costs, and hospital length of stay were assessed. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard and linear models were performed to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) of time-to-event and continuous outcomes, respectively. Results: LPV/r users were associated with longer time to clinical improvement (HR 0.51, 95% CI 0.38–0.70; p < 0.001), hospital discharge (HR 0.51, 95% CI 0.38–0.70; p < 0.001) and seroconversion (HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.43–0.80; p < 0.001) when compared with controls. LPV/r users were also associated with prolonged hospital length of stay (6.99 days, 95% CI 6.23–7.76; p < 0.001) and higher costs at 30 days (US$11,709 vs US$8270; p < 0.001) as opposed to controls. Conclusion: Early treatment with LPV/r for pediatric COVID-19 patients was associated with longer time to clinical improvement. Our study advocates the recommendation against LPV/r use for pediatric patients across age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The InAlN alloy system has bandgap energies that span the entire visible range and is a promising candidate for bandgap engineering. To facilitate bandgap engineering, the bandgap bowing for the entire composition range must be well characterized. In rich InxAl1−xN (x > 0.60), films were grown via plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy on freestanding GaN substrates. The InxAl1−xN film compositions were determined using high resolution X-ray diffraction. On-axis 0002 ω-2θ scans were used to determine the c spacing of the films, reciprocal space maps of the 1 ¯ 015 peaks were used to determine that the films were completely relaxed, and the film compositions were calculated from that information assuming Vegard's law. The bandgaps were independently measured using absorbance spectroscopy and fitting to the linear region of a Tauc plot (dependence of α2 hν on hν) as determined by interpolating the second derivative of the data and selecting a region of low curvature. Compared with the literature, the data were fit to a composition-independent bandgap bowing model, and a bowing parameter of b = 4.0 ± 0.2 eV was calculated, which is consistent with previous results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulations and experiments are reported for nonequilibrium steady-state assembly of small colloidal crystal clusters in rotating magnetic fields vs frequency and amplitude. High-dimensional trajectories of particle coordinates from image analysis of experiments and from Stokesian Dynamic computer simulations are fit to low-dimensional reaction coordinate based Fokker-Planck and Langevin equations. The coefficients of these equations are effective energy and diffusivity landscapes that capture configuration-dependent energy and friction for nonequilibrium steady-state dynamics. Two reaction coordinates that capture condensation and anisotropy of dipolar chains folding into crystals are sufficient to capture high-dimensional experimental and simulated dynamics in terms of first passage time distributions. Our findings illustrate how field-mediated nonequilibrium steady-state colloidal assembly dynamics can be modeled to interpret and design pathways toward target microstructures and morphologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A calculation is presented for the direct conversion of a measured luminescence signal to the implied open circuit voltage. The effects of re-absorption, spectral dependence, and interference with front and back interfaces are all included, so long as the optical properties of the structure are known. The method is validated through a comparison of the terminal open-circuit voltage with the photoluminescence intensity of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells, each as a function of illumination intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In conclusion, this Special Issue, "Targeted Radionuclide Therapy of Cancer and Infections", covers different aspects of developing and using TRT in preclinical and clinical settings, and, hopefully, will contribute to attracting interested readers to this topic and to enhancing the growth of TRT field. Targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) has been burgeoning worldwide, with several radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of metastatic cancers being approved for clinical use. Detailed knowledge of radiobiological mechanisms of action of TRT agents is very important for developing novel radiopharmaceuticals, as well as for designing more effective and safe treatment regimens. [Extracted from the article]