Individualized Functional Brain System Topologies and Major Depression: Relationships Among Patch Sizes and Clinical Profiles and Behavior.

Background: Neuroimaging studies of major depression have typically been conducted using group-level approaches. However, given interindividual differences in brain systems, there is a need for individualized approaches to brain systems mapping and putative links toward diagnosis, symptoms, and behavior.

Methods: We used an iterative parcellation approach to map individualized brain systems in 328 participants from a multisite, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Point of care detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and neutralisation capacity-lateral flow immunoassay evaluation compared to commercial assay to inform potential role in therapeutic and surveillance practices.

Introduction: As the COVID-19 pandemic moves towards endemic status, testing strategies are being de-escalated. A rapid and effective point of care test (POCT) assessment of SARS-CoV-2 immune responses can inform clinical decision-making and epidemiological monitoring of the disease. This cross-sectional seroprevalence study of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Irish healthcare workers assessed how rapid anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing can be compared to a standard laboratory assay, discusses its effectiveness in neutralisation assessment and its uses into the future of the pandemic.

Towards optical frequency geopotential difference measurements via a flying drone.

Geopotential and orthometric height differences between distant points can be measured via timescale comparisons between atomic clocks. Modern optical atomic clocks achieve statistical uncertainties on the order of 10, allowing height differences of around 1 cm to be measured. Frequency transfer via free-space optical links will be needed for measurements where linking the clocks via optical fiber is not possible, but requires line of sight between the clock locations, which is not always practical due to local terrain or over long distances.

Adaptive optics LEO uplink pre-compensation with finite spatial modes.

Adaptive optics pre-compensation of free-space optical communications uplink from ground to space is complicated by the "point ahead angle" due to spacecraft velocity and the finite speed of light, as well as anisoplanatism of the uplink beam and the wavefront beacon. This Letter explores how pre-compensation varies with the number of spatial modes applied and how it varies with a beacon at the point-ahead angle versus a downlink beacon. Using a w = 16 cm Gaussian beam propagating through a modified Hufnagel-Valley model as an example, we find pre-compensation performance plateaus beyond ∼100 applied modes regardless of integrated turbulence strength, and that a point ahead beacon provides a 1-4 dB gain in median received power and an order-of-magnitude reduction in scintillation over a downlink beacon at wavelengths typical of optical communications.

SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology, antibody dynamics, and neutralisation capacity in Irish healthcare workers in the era of booster COVID-19 vaccinations.

Background: The PRECISE Study, a multi-phase cross-sectional seroprevalence study of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Irish healthcare workers (HCW) investigated: (1) risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity, (2) the durability of antibody responses in a highly vaccinated HCW cohort, and (3) the neutralisation capacity of detected antibodies, prior to booster COVID-19 vaccination.

Materials And Methods: Serology samples were collected across two hospital sites in November 2021 and analysed using the Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2/Elecsys-S Anti-SARS-CoV-2 assays to detect anti-nucleocapsid (N) and anti-spike (S) antibodies respectively. Paired serology results from prior study phases were used to analyse changes in individual HCW serostatus over time.

Demonstration of 100 Gbps coherent free-space optical communications at LEO tracking rates.

Free-space optical communications are poised to alleviate the data-flow bottleneck experienced by spacecraft as traditional radio frequencies reach their practical limit. While enabling orders-of-magnitude gains in data rates, optical signals impose much stricter pointing requirements and are strongly affected by atmospheric turbulence. Coherent detection methods, which capitalize fully on the available degrees of freedom to maximize data capacity, have the added complication of needing to couple the received signal into single-mode fiber.

Angle-of-arrival variability of retroreflected lasers despite atmospheric reciprocity.

Corner cube retroreflectors are commonly used as cooperative targets in free-space laser applications. The previous literature suggests that due to path reciprocity, a retroreflected beam is self-corrected across a turbulent atmosphere and should show no angle-of-arrival variability in the near field. This is at odds with recent experiments that rely on angle-of-arrival measurements in retroreflected beams for effective tip/tilt correction.

Vulnerability of Satellite Quantum Key Distribution to Disruption from Ground-Based Lasers.

Satellite-mediated quantum key distribution (QKD) is set to become a critical technology for quantum-secure communication over long distances. While satellite QKD cannot be effectively eavesdropped, we show it can be disrupted (or 'jammed') with relatively simple and readily available equipment. We developed an atmospheric attenuation and satellite optical scattering model to estimate the rate of excess noise photons that can be injected into a satellite QKD channel by an off-axis laser, and calculated the effect this added noise has on the quantum bit error rate.

Prostate carcinoma with positive margins at radical prostatectomy: role of tumour zonal origin in biochemical recurrence.

Objective: To assess the influence of tumour zonality on biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP) with a histologically confirmed positive surgical margin (PSM).

Patients And Methods: Data from 382 patients that underwent RP with either transition zone (TZ) or peripheral zone (PZ) tumours involving PSMs between 1998 and 2010 were retrieved from the Abbott West Australian Prostatectomy Database. Statistical analysis was used to evaluate the relationship of various tumour clinicopathological parameters, e.

Reliable identification of transition zone prostatic adenocarcinoma in preoperative needle core biopsy.

Prostatic adenocarcinomas arising within the transition zone (Tz) are distinct from peripheral zone (Pz) tumors as regards biological aggression and mechanism of extraprostatic extension. Reliable biopsy identification of Tz tumors would allow targeted surgical approaches more likely to preserve erectile function without compromising surgical margins. Previous studies have demonstrated the presence of eosinophilic cytoplasmic granules (prostate secretory granules, or PSGs) after glutaraldehye fixation, with apparent depletion in neoplasia.