Analysis of plasmon modes in BiSe/graphene heterostructures via electron energy loss spectroscopy.

Topological Insulators (TIs) are promising platforms for Quantum Technology due to their topologically protected surface states (TSS). Plasmonic excitations in TIs are especially interesting both as a method of characterisation for TI heterostructures, and as potential routes to couple optical and spin signals in low-loss devices. Since the electrical properties of the TI surface are critical, tuning TI surfaces is a vital step in developing TI structures that can be applied in real world plasmonic devices.

Improving outcomes for very preterm babies in England: does place of birth matter? Findings from OPTI-PREM, a national cohort study.

Objective: Babies born between 27 and 31 weeks of gestation contribute substantially towards infant mortality and morbidity. In England, their care is delivered in maternity services colocated with highly specialised neonatal intensive care units (NICU) or less specialised local neonatal units (LNU). We investigated whether birth setting offered survival and/or morbidity advantages to inform National Health Service delivery.

Applications of Next-Generation Sequencing Technologies and Statistical Tools in Identifying Pathways and Biomarkers for Heat Tolerance in Livestock.

The climate change-associated abnormal weather patterns negatively influences the productivity and performance of farm animals. Heat stress is the major detrimental factor hampering production, causing substantial economic loss to the livestock industry. Therefore, it is important to identify heat-tolerant breeds that can survive and produce optimally in any given environment.

Ketoprofen Associated with Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel for Temporomandibular Disorder Treatment: An In Vitro Study.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a public health problem that affects around 12% of the global population. The treatment is based on analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, corticosteroids, anticonvulsants, or arthrocentesis associated with hyaluronic acid-based viscosupplementation. However, the use of hyaluronic acid alone in viscosupplementation does not seem to be enough to regulate the intra-articular inflammatory process.

Annual Research Review: How did COVID-19 affect young children's language environment and language development? A scoping review.

A diverse body of research conducted since the start of Covid-19 has investigated the impact of the pandemic on children's environments and their language development. This scoping review synthesises the peer-reviewed research literature on this topic between 2020 and 2023. Following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews, we searched five databases for studies that fulfilled the following inclusion criteria: studies with neurotypical (monolingual or multilingual) 0-6-year-old children; studies focusing on any area of language development, including sources describing literacy or educational practices that impacted language development; studies focusing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with no restrictions of geographical location or language used by participants.

Pelvis Or Involved Node Treatment: Eradicating Recurrence in Prostate Cancer (POINTER-PC) - study protocol paper for a phase III multicentre, open-label randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer in men. Recurrence may occur in up to half of patients initially treated with curative intent for high-risk localised/locally advanced PCa. Pelvic nodal recurrence is common in this setting, but no clear standard of care exists for these patients, with potential therapeutic approaches including stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) to the involved node(s) alone, extended nodal irradiation (ENI) to treat sites of potential micrometastatic spread in addition to involved node(s) and androgen deprivation therapy with or without additional systemic anticancer therapies.

Navigating UK internal medicine training applications: 10 essential tips.

Internal medicine training applications in the UK have become increasingly competitive. This article provides ten tips for optimizing internal medicine training applications covering portfolio development, teaching experience, project selection, and interview preparation. We outline strategies for maximizing application scores through efficient resource allocation, effective project selection, and structured interview preparation.

Material Cycles, Environmental Emissions, and Ecological Risks of Bisphenol A (BPA) in China and Implications for Sustainable Plastic Management.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a high-production-volume plastic chemical, with ∼98% of its usage in China allocated to producing polycarbonate and epoxy resin, and its fugitive release threatens ecosystems. However, knowledge of its anthropogenic cycles, environmental emissions, and ecological risks remains incomplete, hindering effective plastic lifecycle management. Herein, material flow analysis, multimedia environmental modeling, and ecological risk assessment were integrated to comprehensively map BPA dynamics in China.

Nonspherical Particle Stabilized Emulsions Formed through Destabilization and Arrested Coalescence.

To form nonspherical emulsion droplets, the interfacial tension driving droplet sphericity must be overcome. This can be achieved through interfacial particle jamming; however, careful control of particle coverage is required. In this work, we present a scalable novel batch process to form nonspherical particle-stabilized emulsions.

Biophysical Analysis of Therapeutic Antibodies in the Early Development Pipeline.

The successful progression of therapeutic antibodies and other biologics from the laboratory to the clinic depends on their possession of "drug-like" biophysical properties. The techniques and the resultant biophysical and biochemical parameters used to characterize their ease of manufacture can be broadly defined as developability. Focusing on antibodies, this review firstly discusses established and emerging biophysical techniques used to probe the early-stage developability of biologics, aimed towards those new to the field.

Antioxidant Potential and Characterization of Polyphenol Compounds in Pods.

The aim of this investigation was to comparatively assess the antioxidant and polyphenol compounds in fresh moringa pods sourced from two different regions in Australia, namely Queensland (QLD) and Western Australia (WAU). Total polyphenol content varied between 1.64 and 5.

Advancing teleoperation for legged manipulation with wearable motion capture.

The sanctity of human life mandates the replacement of individuals with robotic systems in the execution of hazardous tasks. Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), a field fraught with mortal danger, stands at the forefront of this transition. In this study, we explore the potential of robotic telepresence as a safeguard for human operatives, drawing on the robust capabilities demonstrated by legged manipulators in diverse operational contexts.

The individuation of mathematical objects.

Against mathematical platonism, it is sometimes objected that mathematical objects are mysterious. One possible elaboration of this objection is that the individuation of mathematical objects cannot be adequately explained. This suggests that facts about the numerical identity and distinctness of mathematical objects require an explanation, but that their supposed nature precludes us from providing one.

From mere 'stability' to 'durability'-Revisiting intention dynamics from a self-regulatory perspective with intensive longitudinal methods.

Behavioral intentions predict behavior better if they are stable over time. A statistical argument suggests that this is due to less measurement error, but recent theoretical advances suggest self-regulatory effects: durable intentions remain temporally stable due to their persistence when faced with challenges. Here, we leverage intensive longitudinal data on adherence with non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 623; total assessments = 19,740; study duration: 6 months each).

PlutoNet: An efficient polyp segmentation network with modified partial decoder and decoder consistency training.

Deep learning models are used to minimize the number of polyps that goes unnoticed by the experts and to accurately segment the detected polyps during interventions. Although state-of-the-art models are proposed, it remains a challenge to define representations that are able to generalize well and that mediate between capturing low-level features and higher-level semantic details without being redundant. Another challenge with these models is that they are computation and memory intensive, which can pose a problem with real-time applications.

Brain functional imaging contributions in osteoarthritis-related pain: A viewpoint.

Objective: Neuroimaging investigations are critical to provide a more direct assessment of brain disturbances associated with osteoarthritis (OA)-related pain, and to better understand its pathophysiology to develop new treatment strategies. This viewpoint aims to summarize the importance of the brain in OA pain.

Method: A European working group on pain in osteoarthritis GO-PAIN (Going Inside Osteoarthritis-related Pain Phenotyping) has been created to work on a global assessment of the OA-related pain.

International consensus to define outcomes for trials of chemoradiotherapy for anal cancer (CORMAC-2): defining the outcomes from the CORMAC core outcome set.

Variation in outcomes definitions and reporting limit the utility of clinical trial results. The Core Outcome Research Measures in Anal Cancer (CORMAC) project developed a core outcome set (COS) for chemoradiotherapy trials for anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) through an international healthcare professional and patient consensus process. The CORMAC-COS comprises 19 outcomes across 4 domains (disease activity, survival, toxicity, life impact).

Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of the Reaction of CH with Formaldehyde (CHO) at Very Low Temperatures and Application to Astrochemical Models.

Rate coefficients for the reaction of CH with CHO were measured for the first time over the temperature range of 37-603 K, with the CH radicals produced by pulsed laser photolysis and detected by CH radical chemiluminescence following their reaction with O. The low temperature measurements (≤93 K) relevant to the interstellar medium were made within a Laval nozzle gas expansion, while higher temperature measurements (≥308 K) were made within a temperature controlled reaction cell. The rate coefficients display a negative temperature dependence below 300 K, reaching (1.

Carer strain in post-stroke emotionalism: a cross-sectional analysis.

Objectives: Post-stroke emotionalism (PSE) is a common, under-researched neurologic symptom of stroke, characterised by frequent crying episodes not under usual social control. Currently, there are no data on carer strain in the context of emotionalism after stroke. We aimed to explore the degree of carer strain in carers of individuals with diagnosed PSE compared with carers of individuals with stroke but no PSE to examine whether carer strain varies with particular characteristics of the cared for individual (patient age, sex, social deprivation, stroke type, functional status, mood status) and to quantify the impact of PSE on carer strain, after accounting for other factors.

PREVENTion and treatment of incontinence-associated dermatitis through a codesigned manual (PREVENT-IAD): a study protocol for a feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial with a nested process evaluation.

Introduction: Incontinence is commonly experienced by adults who receive care support in a residential facility or in their own home. These individuals are at risk of developing incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD), which is caused by prolonged and repeated exposure of the skin to urine or faeces. An IAD manual was developed providing an evidence-based clinical algorithm and an e-learning training programme for the prevention and treatment of IAD.