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The Business of Quantum Technologies:From Theory to Innovation Strategy
No full textQuantum technologies (QT) are rapidly advancing from scientific propositions to commercial realities. QT leverage quantum mechanics, the physics of sub-atomic particles, to deliver functionalities and performance that are otherwise impossible to obtain. QT have already transformed our daily life but the next generation goes further by manipulating previously unexploited quantum phenomena to enable a wide range of new applications, which will have a transformative effect on production, business ecosystems and the innovation strategy of the coming decades. This open access book aims to provide the conceptual frameworks to better understand the economic and managerial implications of this dawning phenomenon. Chapters include discussions of quantum computers, quantum communications, and sensing, imaging and timing technologies, providing succinct descriptions of the technology and theory and devoting analysis to the expected business and organisational impact of these breakthroughs. Also exploring strategy and innovation management, sustainability potential and ethics, it will be of great interest to scholars of innovation, strategy and entrepreneurship, as well as practitioners and policymakers looking to better understand the future of business
A medicines information department simulation for final year MPharm undergraduates
Get PDFBackground: Final year pharmacy students in the UK need to demonstrate competence in a range of learning outcomes including working in partnership, communication skills, working collaboratively, appraising the evidence base, critically evaluating guidelines, effective leadership, and responding to complaints. Medicines Information (MI) departments in the UK provide support for all aspects of medication related queries and working in MI requires these skills to ensure the safe and effective use of medicines. Educational activity: An MI themed simulation was developed for final year MPharm students at the University of East Anglia as an opportunity for them to develop in a range of skills and utilise previously taught clinical knowledge. Students were divided into two teams of five students, each tasked with managing their own MI department. During the four-hour simulation each team received a total of 12 telephone enquiries from a variety of simulated health professionals and simulated patients. Evaluation findings: All 10 students participated in a focus group exploring their experience of the simulation. A thematic analysis identified three themes; realism, management and teamwork, and preparation for practice. Analysis of educational activity: Students felt the simulation was realistic and challenging. They did not see management skills as integral to the task at the outset, however there was evidence of a change in approach as the simulation progressed. The session supported development of research and communication skills and was an opportunity for students to apply clinical knowledge. As such, an MI department simulation activity may be a useful addition to pharmacy curricula
The impact of the matrix and buffer properties on residual stresses in TRISO particles during manufacture and early life
Get PDFA three-dimensional finite-element model was developed using Abaqus to simulate the fabrication and initial power ramp-up of a tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) particle, featuring a UO2 kernel, encapsulated in either a SiC or graphite matrix. After sintering, the residual compressive hoop stress in the SiC coating layer reached -540 MPa when encapsulated in a graphite matrix, 94 MPa more compressive than in a SiC matrix. However, following the initial power ramp-up, the predicted compressive hoop stresses in the SiC layer of a particle embedded in a SiC matrix (-388 MPa) were significantly greater than in a graphite matrix (-222 MPa), emphasizing the matrix material's critical role in the stress state of the SiC layer. Model validation attempts were made with the experimental measurements of the residual stresses of a zirconia-kernel surrogate particle. We found that in a fully-bonded surrogate TRISO particle, the stress state of the SiC layer is highly sensitive to the buffer porosity with compressive SiC layer hoop stresses ranging from up to -1.06 GPa at a porosity of 0.14 to -0.77 GPa at a porosity of 0.60. Partial kernel/buffer delamination simulations revealed a significantly varied geometric stress distribution, with tensile stresses reaching up to +54 MPa and compressive stresses up to -546 MPa at different axes of the sectioned plane in the model. This finding suggests that contrary to the common assumption of complete delamination at the kernel/buffer interface during fabrication, partial delamination is a more plausible explanation for the high compressive stresses observed in the SiC layer experimentally
Nature's rights for threatened tropical coasts
No full textExploring nature's rights for coasts is urgent as rising seas, marine heatwaves, and storms increasingly threaten ecosystems, biodiversity, and livelihoods. New legal propositions currently under discussion in the Brazilian Congress will have important consequences for coastal ecosystems and the people that rely on them (i.e., Proposed Constitutional Amendment, PEC 3/2022). Here, we navigate through some of these recent debates to highlight opportunities for pioneering legislation reforms that target coastal conservation in Brazil. The successful case of public engagement to resist PEC 3/2022 sheds light on the potential of Brazilian people’s support to advance nature protection, starting from the littoral zones. Given the fragility of coastal protection in the country, integrating ethical dimensions through the lens of rights of nature provides a powerful framework for more effective science-based conservation. The key takeaway is that granting rights to coasts, backed by civic engagement, could foster their ecological resilience to escalating human threats
Conformational Switching Modulates Excited-State Pathways in a Cofacial Perylene Dimer
No full textControlling excited-state pathways in supramolecular chromophore assemblies is key to designing next-generation optoelectronic and photonic materials. Here we elucidate the conformation-dependent photophysics of a flexible perylene diimide (PDI) dimer, valPDI2, which undergoes reversible solvent-driven switching between two distinct dimer geometries, within the same structure. Exciton-coupling calculations and ultrafast spectroscopy show that in chloroform the dimer adopts an open, weakly coupled geometry that supports slow, partial excimer formation due to structural inhomogeneity within the excited state potential. In contrast, in polar DMSO/water the dimer collapses into a cofacial stacked conformer that enables barrierless, sub-200 femtosecond excimer formation, a subset of which forms a multiexciton state over tens of picoseconds. Half-broadband 2D electronic spectroscopy reveals conformation-dependent vibrational coherences, with nuclear wavepacket motion along the π-stacking coordinate promoting vibrationally coherent excimer formation in the closed conformer.These findings demonstrate that environmentally driven conformational control offers a powerful non-covalent strategy to modulate excimer and multiexciton dynamics in PDI assemblies. More broadly, they establish supramolecular switching as general design principles for tuning excited-state behaviour in flexible organic chromophore arrays, with implications for the development of responsive optoelectronic and energy-conversion materials
Public Participation in Tropical Conservation and Environmental Management Research: Toward a Locally Grounded and Reflexive Practice
Get PDFPublic participation in scientific research (PPSR) is the intentional engagement of the public in scientific inquiry and is increasingly popular in conservation and related fields. It advances knowledge, participant learning opportunities, local innovation and empowerment, and more equitable natural resource management. While the published literature recognizes various PPSR types, many reviews—especially those labeled “citizen science”—have overlooked comparable experiences in tropical regions. Consequently, our current knowledge of PPSR in the tropics is limited to disparate case studies, hindering broader connections and lessons. This review aims to clarify PPSR and the interactions between institutions, the environment, and local and non-local actors by drawing from a bibliometric review and authorial experiences to illustrate the role of PPSR across the tropics. Results show that public participation has significantly contributed to tropical conservation and environmental management for at least 50 years. However, international authorities and scholarly sources only began recognizing its value and potential in the early 1990s. Most publications reviewed (383/453 papers) describe one place-based research activity, with high representation from terrestrial- oriented research, in the field of resource management, and developed countries (e.g., Australia and British, French, and US territories). We follow with vignettes to illustrate participation and make recommendations from our synthesis of lessons. These recommendations present public participation as an opportunity for tropical conservation and environmental management to better value the local context and contributions from diverse communities. This approach encourages embedding participation in more reflexive practices to enhance the overall effectiveness and inclusivity of conservation efforts
Tenures, tithes and the management of a small ecclesiastical manor: Kingston (Suffolk) in the fourteenth century
No full textFew-Shot Video Object Segmentation in X-Ray Angiography Using Local Matching and Spatio-Temporal Consistency Loss
Get PDFWe introduce a novel FSVOS model that employs a local matching strategy to restrict the search space to the most relevant neighboring pixels. Rather than relying on inefficient standard im2col-like implementations (e.g., spatial convolutions, depthwise convolutions and feature-shifting mechanisms) or hardware-specific CUDA kernels (e.g., deformable and neighborhood attention), which often suffer from limited portability across non-CUDA devices, we reorganize the local sampling process through a direction-based sampling perspective. Specifically, we implement a non-parametric sampling mechanism that enables dynamically varying sampling regions. This approach provides the flexibility to adapt to diverse spatial structures without the computational costs of parametric layers and the need for model retraining. To further enhance feature coherence across frames, we design a supervised spatio-temporal contrastive learning scheme that enforces consistency in feature representations. In addition, we introduce a publicly available benchmark dataset for multi-object segmentation in X-ray angiography videos (MOSXAV), featuring detailed, manually labeled segmentation ground truth. Extensive experiments on the CADICA, XACV, and MOSXAV datasets show that our proposed FSVOS method outperforms current state-of-the-art video segmentation methods in terms of segmentation accuracy and generalization capability (i.e., seen and unseen categories). This work offers enhanced flexibility and potential for a wide range of clinical applications
The role of equatorial waves in triggering precipitation extremes in the Maritime Continent
Get PDFThis review offers a comprehensive analysis of convectively coupled equatorial waves (CCEWs) and their pivotal role in driving precipitation extremes across the Maritime Continent. It examines the current understanding of CCEWs, evaluates the performance of numerical models and forecasting techniques in predicting these phenomena, and pinpoints critical areas for improvement. The discussion centers on three key types of equatorial waves: equatorial Rossby waves, Kelvin waves, and mixed Rossby–gravity waves. By connecting scientific insights with practical forecasting applications, the review sheds light on the challenges of predicting these waves while identifying opportunities to advance both fundamental knowledge and forecasting accuracy. Designed as an educational resource, it targets operational forecasting centers, meteorologists, and researchers, aiming to enhance the prediction of extreme weather events in the region