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Evidence of high fluorine ion conductivity in SrF2-rich SrF2-TiO2 based compounds
No full textMaterials based on Sr–Ti–O have shown remarkable properties and have been used in a wide diversity of applications. However, very little investigation has gone into the Sr–Ti–O–F system, mainly due to the very high stability of its constituents such as SrF2 and TiO2. In this work, solid-state reactions under reducing atmospheres on SrF2 and TiO2 showed highly interesting properties for the system, including high mixed electronic and ionic conductivity. XPS data further illuminate the results with the Ti 2p peaks shifting to higher binding energy due to fluorine interaction, possibly hinting at the formation of a TiOxFy phase. Testing using both ion blocking and electron blocking layers allowed the distinction between the ionic and electronic conductivity of the materials, showing very high ionic conductivity compared to most SrF2-based compounds. Ionic conductivities of up to 1 mS cm–1 for 2SrF2:TiO2 samples near room temperature were obtained. The ionic transport numbers were found to be 20–60% over the 50–300 °C temperature range. The apparent activation energy for ionic conduction was surprisingly low with Ea (ionic) = 0.05–0.10 eV for the different samples, whereas for electronic conductivity, Ea (electron) = 0.11–0.32 eV
Mapping the landscape of breast cancer care in Bulgaria: a scoping review
No full textBackground: Breast cancer ranks as one of the most common cancer types in the
world, and in Bulgaria, it represents a quarter of all malignant diagnoses in women.
Breast cancer screening in Bulgaria is the lowest among all European Union (EU)
countries. Existing literature on breast cancer care in Bulgaria is scarce. This study
aims to explore the current trends, patterns, and gaps in breast cancer care in
Bulgaria.
Methods: This study is a scoping review from peer-reviewed databases and grey
literature. The results were screened against the SPIDER methodology's inclusion and
exclusion criteria. Covidence was used in screening and full-text review. The study
included 39 sources.
Results: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in Bulgaria and the
incidence remains lower than the European average due to underreporting. Bulgaria
lacks a structured breast cancer screening programme, leading to low service use,
although essential prophylactic exams are covered by the National Health Insurance
Fund. Barriers like the underuse of treatment and significant delays in reimbursement
of new cancer therapies exist. with lower survival rates compared to the rest of the EU.
While policies focus on increasing screening and improving prevention, practical steps
towards achieving this have not yet been taken.
Conclusion: There is low screening and underreporting of breast cancer rates in
Bulgaria. The lack of full reimbursement of diagnostic methods, limited adoption of the
multidisciplinary approach, and complex market access processes are barriers to
developing efficient treatment plans. Efficient screening and prevention are crucial for
positive outcomes
Trends and disparities in inflammatory bowel disease and cardiovascular disease-related mortality in the United States from 1999-2023: a CDC WONDER analysis
No full textBackground
Individuals with inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) may face an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to chronic systemic inflammation and vascular dysfunction. While advancements in treatment have improved IBD management, its impact on cardiovascular mortality remains unclear. This study aims to analyze trends in IBD- and CVD-related mortality in the U.S. from 1999 to 2023, identifying high-risk populations based on age, sex, race, and geography.
Methods
Mortality data for individuals aged 25 years and older from 1999 to 2023 were obtained from the CDC WONDER database. Crude mortality rates (CMRs) and age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMRs) per 100,000 persons were calculated. Temporal trends were assessed using Joinpoint regression analysis to estimate the annual percent change (APC) and average annual percent change (AAPC) in mortality rates.
Results
Between 1999 and 2023, a total of 41,635 deaths were identified related to IBD and CVD among adults aged 25 years and older. The overall AAMR remained relatively stable from 1999 to 2018 before increasing sharply from 0.67 in 2018 to 1.03 in 2021 [APC: 15.63∗ (95 % CI: 11.66, 17.91); p = 0.0004], after which it plateaued through 2023. Males consistently exhibited higher AAMRs than females throughout the study period (Males: 1.10 vs. Females: 0.90 in 2023). When stratified by race, the highest AAMR was observed in NH White populations, followed by NH Black or African American individuals (1.21 vs. 0.64 in 2023). Regionally, the highest mortality was observed in the West, followed by the Midwest, the Northeast, and lastly, the South (AAMR of 1.02, 1.08, 0.87, and 0.97, respectively, in 2023). Rural areas (0.74) exhibited consistently higher AAMRs than urban areas (0.69) from 1999 to 2020. Mortality rates increased with age, with the highest burden observed in individuals aged 85 years and older.
Conclusion
IBD- and CVD-related mortality has risen in the U.S., with the highest burden among males, NH White individuals, and older adults. Targeted interventions and enhanced cardiovascular screening are needed to reduce mortality in high-risk populations
Generative modelling of Lévy area for high order SDE simulation
No full textIt is well known that, when numerically simulating solutions to SDEs, achieving a strong convergence rate better than O(√h) (where h is the step-size) usually requires the use of
certain iterated integrals of Brownian motion, commonly referred to as its “Lévy areas”. However, these stochastic integrals are difficult to simulate due to their non-Gaussian nature and for a d-dimensional Brownian motion with d > 2, no fast almost-exact sampling algorithm is known. In this paper, we propose LévyGAN, a deep-learning-based model for generating approximate samples of Lévy area conditional on a Brownian increment. Due to our “Bridge-flipping” operation, the output samples match all joint and conditional odd moments exactly. Our generator employs a tailored GNN-inspired architecture, which enforces the correct dependency structure between the output distribution and the conditioning variable. Furthermore, we incorporate a mathematically principled characteristic-function based discriminator. Lastly, we introduce a novel training mechanism termed “Chen-training”, which circumvents the need for expensive-to-generate training data-sets. This new training procedure is underpinned by our two main theoretical results. For 4-dimensional Brownian motion, we show that LévyGAN exhibits state-of-the-art performance across several metrics which measure both the joint and marginal distributions. We conclude with a numerical experiment on the log-Heston model, a popular SDE in mathematical finance, demonstrating that high-quality synthetic Lévy area can lead to high order weak convergence and variance reduction when using multilevel
Monte Carlo (MLMC)
Maternal plasma microRNAs as potential biomarkers for triaging pregnancies of unknown location and ectopic pregnancy diagnosis
No full textBackground
Pregnancy of unknown location (PUL) is classified if an early pregnancy is not visualised on transvaginal ultrasonography (TVUS). Biomarkers currently used to triage PUL outcomes have varying accuracy. Delayed or missed diagnosis of ectopic pregnancies (EP) continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality. We investigated whether maternal plasma microRNAs (miRNAs) can predict and differentiate high-risk EP from viable (VIUP) or non-viable (NVIUP) intrauterine pregnancies.
Methods
Plasma was collected from women with PUL/EP (n = 120), mostly between four to eight weeks’ gestation, where outcomes of EP (n = 39), VIUP (n = 58) and NVIUP (miscarriage, n = 23) were determined using TVUS. Nanostring nCounter miRNA assay was used to examine the expression of ∼800 miRNAs in 22 women. Differentially expressed miRNAs were validated using RT-qPCR in 98 women.
Results
Nanostring nCounter miRNA assay identified 19 miRNAs which were expressed significantly higher in EP/NVIUP compared with VIUP. Two miRNAs were validated in a second, separate validation cohort using RT-qPCR: hsa-miR-21-5p in EP was 2.8-fold higher than in VIUP (p = 0.03, ROC AUC = 0.64), and hsa-miR-411-5p had 0.2-fold decreased expression (p = 0.02, ROC AUC = 0.66). Combining the divergent miRNAs as a ratio improved discrimination of EP from VIUP (p < 0.001, ROC AUC = 0.74).
Conclusion
Plasma miRNAs are differentially expressed in EP and VIUP and are detectable as early as four gestational weeks. Exploring miRNA targets may further understanding of EP pathophysiology, offering the potential to use miRNA as predictive and diagnostic markers in early pregnancy
Exposure to secondhand smoke from cigarettes and secondhand aerosol from tobacco and nicotine products in indoor and outdoor public spaces in the European Union: a cross-sectional study
No full textIntroduction In December 2024, the Council of the European Union (EU) adopted a recommendation to expand regulations on the use of nicotine-containing products both in indoor settings and specific outdoor areas. This study aimed to examine sociodemographic factors associated with exposure to conventional tobacco smoke and aerosols across the EU and support for relevant regulations.
Methods We performed a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the Special Eurobarometer 99.3 (n=26 358, May–June 2023) across 27 EU Member States (MS). We estimated the weighted prevalence of secondhand exposure to tobacco smoke and aerosols and support for bans on smoking, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products in public settings. Multilevel Poisson regression models explored associations between sociodemographic factors and these outcomes.
Results Exposure to secondhand smoke and aerosols varied across EU MS. Younger individuals, those with higher education, living with children, and current and former tobacco and nicotine users (prevalence ratio (PR) 1.16, 1.01–1.33; and PR 1.22, 1.05–1.41, respectively) were more likely to report exposure to both tobacco smoke and aerosol from emerging products. Women (PR 1.05, 1.02–1.08; and PR 1.03, 1.02–1.05, respectively), those living with children (PR 1.05, 1.02–1.07; and PR 1.04, 1.02–1.07, respectively) and those with higher education levels (PR 1.10, 1.04–1.15; and PR 1.10, 1.06–1.14) were more likely to support bans, whereas those with financial difficulties (PR 0.94, 0.89–0.99 and PR: 0.95, 0.91–0.99, respectively), as well as current and former smokers (PR 0.61, 0.55–0.67; and PR 0.78, 0.73–0.84, respectively) and emerging product users (PR 0.84, 0.76–0.92; and PR 0.69, 0.62–0.76, respectively), were less supportive.
Conclusion Our analysis found that both exposure to secondhand smoke and aerosol and support for bans in public spaces vary substantially between population subgroups and across countries. Our findings can support EU MS in implementing targeted interventions to increase population support for and implement the recent EU Council recommendations
Joints with angle dependent damping can help to reduce impact forces in robots
No full textThis paper investigates how a new angle-dependent damper design can help a robot to reduce collision
forces. We designed a fluid-viscous angle-dependent damper by smoothly changing the clearance
between the stationary and moving parts. Analytical and numerical simulation-based predictions
were experimentally tested. Analytical modelling shows that angle-dependent damping has a 48%
reduction in peak forces when compared to constant damping. Numerical simulations show that
variable-gap dampers can change damping by 134× during a 10× gap change. The experimental
findings confirm the analytical predictions by reducing collision force by up to 10%. These findings
suggest that the angle-dependent variable damping solution could be used for robots that experience
collisions such as industrial robotic manipulators, legged robots, perching robots, or robots that catch
moving objects
Natural killer cells are dispensable for virus control in Rag2-/- mice during primary RSV infection
No full textRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the major causes of severe lower respiratory tract infections, especially in children, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals. Complications arising from viral infections in these age groups can present therapeutic challenges as most of these individuals have impaired adaptive immunity. Using the T- and B cell-deficient Rag2-/- mice, the mechanisms that mediate protection in immunocompromised hosts during RSV infection can be investigated. RSV-infected Rag2-/- mice showed no symptoms of disease or chronic inflammation in the lungs and airways despite the presence of infectious virus in their lungs several months after infection. Interestingly, Natural Killer (NK) cells, the main innate cells with anti-viral cytotoxic effector functions, were recruited two days earlier in the lungs of Rag2-/- mice compared to wildtype mice, resulting in early production of IFN-. However, depletion of NK cells did not affect disease severity or viral load. Together, these results suggest that the NK cells are largely dispensable for virus control during primary RSV infection in Rag2-/- mice
Giving justice to listening: exploring the impact of a novel dialogical approach to mental wellbeing on healthcare staff
No full textIntroduction: A recent survey among health care workers in the United Kingdom revealed that over 75% experienced a mental health problem in the past year, with 42% reporting chronic stress. Poor mental wellbeing adversely affects patient outcomes and places a financial burden on the NHS. To address this issue, a novel dialogical approach called “Just Listening” (JL), originally used in community settings in Australia, has been introduced to train frontline workers in the United Kingdom. JL aims to maintain human-to-human connection and offers intentional listening. Evidence shows it to be effective in improving mental wellbeing of members in the community. It is unknown how effective this approach is in improving mental wellbeing when applied to training healthcare staff. This study aims to explore perceptions of JL training amongst a variety of health professionals and how JL can be utilised to improve mental health and wellbeing in a health care context.
Methods: We employed qualitative methodology, gathering data through semi-structured interviews with healthcare workers who had undergone JL training in Westminster. We analysed 17 semi-structured interviews with a broad range of staff who had undergone training several months prior. We used self-determination theory and transformational learning theory as guiding conceptual frameworks. In addition, we applied thematic analysis to post-course feedback gathered from participants to explore if views of the training differ between the time of the training (post course feedback) and several months later when the interviews were carried out. Analysis was conducted using Nvivo 14.
Results: The study revealed five key themes: the power of listening, shifting perspectives, empowerment and professional development, enhanced work relationships and implementation. Themes across the immediate post-training feedback and structured interviews overlapped. Participants reported that JL training improved team and client relationships as well as their personal lives, leading to improved mental wellbeing. However, system constraints were identified as a challenge, emphasizing the need for support from senior management and policymakers to further enable its use.
Discussion: This was the first study to evaluate JL in the United Kingdom and in a healthcare setting. Our findings show that there was an overwhelming impression of positive impact of the training on the professional and personal lives of healthcare staff. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on mental health interventions for healthcare professionals, providing evidence that can inform future practices and policies. JL presents a viable model to improve staff wellbeing. Our findings reinforce growing calls for a culture shift towards human connection
Sex-specific body fat distribution predicts cardiovascular ageing
No full textBackground and Aims
Cardiovascular ageing is a progressive loss of physiological reserve, modified by environmental and genetic risk factors, that contributes to multi-morbidity due to accumulated damage across diverse cell types, tissues, and organs. Obesity is implicated in premature ageing, but the effect of body fat distribution in humans is unknown. This study determined the influence of sex-dependent fat phenotypes on human cardiovascular ageing.
Methods
Data from 21 241 participants in the UK Biobank were analysed. Machine learning was used to predict cardiovascular age from 126 image-derived traits of vascular function, cardiac motion, and myocardial fibrosis. An age-delta was calculated as the difference between predicted age and chronological age. The volume and distribution of body fat was assessed from whole-body imaging. The association between fat phenotypes and cardiovascular age-delta was assessed using multivariable linear regression with age and sex as co-covariates, reporting β coefficients with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Two-sample Mendelian randomization was used to assess causal associations.
Results
Visceral adipose tissue volume [β = 0.656, (95% CI, .537–.775), P < .0001], muscle adipose tissue infiltration [β = 0.183, (95% CI, .122–.244), P = .0003], and liver fat fraction [β = 1.066, (95% CI .835–1.298), P < .0001] were the strongest predictors of increased cardiovascular age-delta for both sexes. Abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue volume [β = 0.432, (95% CI, .269–.596), P < .0001] and android fat mass [β = 0.983, (95% CI, .64–1.326), P < .0001] were each associated with increased age-delta only in males. Genetically predicted gynoid fat showed an association with decreased age-delta.
Conclusions
Shared and sex-specific patterns of body fat are associated with both protective and harmful changes in cardiovascular ageing, highlighting adipose tissue distribution and function as a key target for interventions to extend healthy lifespan