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How immersive and interactive technologies affect the user experience and cultural exchange in the museum and gallery sector
Get PDFAI Acknowledgment: The authors declare that generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were not used in any way to prepare, write, or complete essential authoring tasks in this manuscript.Recently, immersive and interactive technologies have brought about significant changes and developments in the museum and gallery sector. These technologies can transport their audiences to specific places, times, and points in history without the need for physical travel and provide them with valuable intellectual and emotional experiences. Through these experiences, museum and gallery audiences have the opportunity to better understand diverse cultures. Accordingly, museums and galleries in the UK and China are increasingly investing in immersive and interactive technologies to promote cultural exchange between the two countries. However, there is limited information about stakeholder awareness of the immersive and interactive technologies used in museum and gallery experiences for cultural exchange and the mechanisms for developing museum and gallery experiences utilizing such technologies. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative methods, such as questionnaire surveys, with qualitative methods involving case studies and interviews. This integrated approach allows for an exploration of mechanisms for leveraging and developing immersive and interactive experiences in museums and galleries while also providing an in-depth understanding of key stakeholders’ perspectives in both the UK and China. The research highlights the need to improve the acceptance and accessibility of immersive and interactive technologies for enhanced audience experiences and cultural exchange in the museum and gallery sector and the importance of improving stakeholder roles and relationships. The research outcomes have also resulted in recommendations at the operational (e.g.,technology deployment) and strategic levels (e.g., stakeholder roles, relationships, and approaches).AHR
Measurement of the production cross section for a W boson in association with a charm quark in proton–proton collisions at √s=13TeV
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This manuscript has no associated data or the data will not be deposited. [Authors’ comment: Release and preservation of data used by the CMS Collaboration as the basis for publications is guided by the CMS policy as stated in https://cms-docdb.cern.ch/cgi-bin/PublicDocDB/RetrieveFile?docid=6032 &filename=CMSDataPolicyV1.2.pdf &version=2. CMS data preservation, re-use and open access policy].A preprint version of the article is available at arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.02285 .The strange quark content of the proton is probed through the measurement of the production cross section for a W boson and a charm (c) quark in proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV . The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 138 fb-1 collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The W bosons are identified through their leptonic decays to an electron or a muon, and a neutrino. Charm jets are tagged using the presence of a muon or a secondary vertex inside the jet. The W + c production cross section and the cross section ratio Rc±=σ(W++c¯)/σ(W-+c) are measured inclusively and differentially as functions of the transverse momentum and the pseudorapidity of the lepton originating from the W boson decay. The precision of the measurements is improved with respect to previous studies, reaching 1% in Rc±=0.950±0.005(stat)±0.010(syst) . The measurements are compared with theoretical predictions up to next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics.SCOAP
Performance Evaluation of Retinal OCT Fluid Segmentation, Detection and Generalisation over Variations of Data Sources
Get PDF.Acknowledgement: The authors would like to thank Hrvoje Bogunovic for his invaluable support and advice during their participation in the RETOUCH competition, and also would like to thank the Department of Computer Science, Brunel University London for providing the computational resources to conduct the experiments.Retinal Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive cross-sectional scan of the eye that provides qualitative 3D visualization of the retinal anatomy. It is used to study the retinal structure and the presence of pathogens. The advent of retinal OCT has transformed ophthalmology and is currently paramount for the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of many eye diseases, including macular edema, which impairs vision severely, and glaucoma, which can cause irreversible blindness. However, the quality of OCT images can vary among device manufacturers. Deep learning methods have been successful in the medical image segmentation community, but it is not yet clear if the level of success can be generalized across images collected from different device vendors. In this study, we provide a comprehensive review of current deep learning segmentation methods applied to OCT images. Furthermore, to investigate the problem of variant of data sources from OCT device vendors, we analyse a selection of the most representative methods to address this problem, including those on the top of the RETOUCH competition such as nnUNet and its variant nnUNet_RASPP, SAM and its variant SAMedOCT, IAUNet_SPP_CL, alongside other state-of-the-art algorithms. The algorithms were validated on the RETOUCH challenge dataset, which was acquired from three device vendors across three medical centers from patients suffering from two retinal disease types. Experimental results show that for several tasks of segmentation, detection and generalisation performance from the retinal images, while fine-tuned large foundation models such as SAMedOCT have demonstrated promising performance, the specifically designed and trained models such as nnUNet and nnUNet_RASPP still offer a slight advantage overall. Also, the nnUNet_RASPP obtained the best performance of 82.3% of mean Dice score for fluid segmentation
Using genetics to investigate the association between lanosterol and cataract
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The data analyzed in this study is subject to the following licenses/restrictions: UK Biobank data are available to all bona fide researchers for all types of health-related research which is in the public interest. Requests to access these datasets should be directed to https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/enable-your-research/apply-for-access.Acknowledgements:
The authors of the paper would like to thank the UKBB staff and participants who provide and facilitate access to their dataSupplementary material:
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2024.1231521/full#supplementary-material .Background: Cataract is one of the most prevalent causes of blindness worldwide. Whilst surgery is the primary treatment for cataracts, it is not always an available option, particularly in developing countries. Non-surgical methods of treatment would increase treatment availability for more patients. Several studies have investigated how topical application of oxysterols, such as lanosterol, may break down aggregated proteins and restore lens transparency. However, the results are conflicting and inconclusive.
Aim: In this study, we focus on combining genetic evidence for associations between lanosterol related genetic variation and cataract to explore whether lanosterol is a potentially suitable drug treatment option.
Method: Using data from 45,449 available cataract cases from the UK Biobank, with participant ages ranging from 40–69, we conducted a genetic association study (GWAS) to assess the risk of cataract. Cataract cases were defined using diagnostic and operation codes. We focused on genetic variants in the lanosterol synthase gene region. We also compared our results with previously published genetic associations of phytosterol-to-lanosterol ratios. Finally, we performed a genetic risk score analysis to test the association between lanosterol within the cholesterol synthesis pathway and the risk of cataract.
Results: No statistically significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associations with cataract were observed in the gene region of lanosterol synthase at a multiple testing adjusted significance threshold of p < 0.05/13. The comparison between cataract risk and genetic association of 8 phytosterol-to-lanosterol GWAS results also showed no evidence to support lanosterol’s protective properties for cataract risk. No statistically significant association was found between the lanosterol within the cholesterol synthesis pathway genetic risk score and cataract outcomes (OR = 1.002 p = 0.568).
Conclusion: There was no evidence observed for genetic associations between lanosterol and cataract risk. Our results do not support lanosterol’s potential role in treating cataracts. Further research may be needed to address the effect of lanosterol on specific cataract subtypes
A molecular dynamics study on the boundary between homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation
Get PDFData Availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available within the article.Supplementary material: The supplementary material is available online at:
https://pubs.aip.org/jcp/article-supplement/3267965/zip/094702_1_5.0192069.suppl_material .The large discrepancy among the nucleation kinetics extracted from experimental measurements and computer simulations and the prediction of the classical nucleation theory (CNT) has stimulated intense arguments about its origin in the past decades, which is crucially relevant to the validity of the CNT. In this paper, we investigate the atomistic mechanism of the nucleation in liquid Al in contact with amorphous substrates with atomic-level smooth/rough surfaces, using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. This study reveals that the slightly distorted local fcc/hcp structures in amorphous substrates with smooth surfaces can promote heterogeneous nucleation through a structural templating mechanism, and on the other hand, homogeneous nucleation will occur at a larger undercooling through a fluctuation mechanism if the surface is rough. Thus, some impurities, previously thought to be impotent, could be activated in the homogeneous nucleation experiments. We further find that the initial growth of the nucleus on smooth surfaces of amorphous substrates is one order of magnitude faster than that in homogeneous nucleation. Both these factors could significantly contribute to the discrepancy in the nucleation kinetics. This study is also supported by a recent study of the synthesis of high-entropy alloy nanoparticles assisted with the liquid metal Ga [Cao et al., Nature 619, 73 (2023)]. In this study, we established that the boundary existed between homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation, i.e., the structural templating is a general mechanism for heterogeneous nucleation, and in its absence, homogeneous nucleation will occur through the fluctuation mechanism. This study provides an in-depth understanding of the nucleation theory and experiments.EPSRC of the UKRI under Grant Nos. EP/N007638/1 and EP/S35296/1. We are grateful to the UK Materials and Molecular Modeling Hub for computational resources, which is partially funded by the EPSRC (Grant Nos. EP/P020194/1 and EP/T022213/1), and maintained with support from Brunel University London
Efficacy and safety of autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation versus alemtuzumab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab or cladribine in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (StarMS): protocol for a randomised controlled trial
Get PDFSupplementary materials: Supplementary Data are available online at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-083582 .Introduction: Autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) is increasingly used as treatment for patients with active multiple sclerosis (MS), typically after failure of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). A recent phase III trial, ‘Multiple Sclerosis International Stem Cell Transplant, MIST’, showed that aHSCT resulted in prolonged time to disability progression compared with DMTs in patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS). However, the MIST trial did not include many of the current high-efficacy DMTs (alemtuzumab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab or cladribine) in use in the UK within the control arm, which are now offered to patients with rapidly evolving severe MS (RES-MS) who are treatment naïve. There remain, therefore, unanswered questions about the relative efficacy and safety of aHSCT over these high-efficacy DMTs in these patient groups. The StarMS trial (Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation versus Alemtuzumab, Ocrelizumab, Ofatumumab or Cladribine in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis) will assess the efficacy, safety and long-term impact of aHSCT compared with high-efficacy DMTs in patients with highly active RRMS despite the use of standard DMTs or in patients with treatment naïve RES-MS.
Methods and analysis: StarMS is a multicentre parallel-group rater-blinded randomised controlled trial with two arms. A total of 198 participants will be recruited from 19 regional neurology secondary care centres in the UK. Participants will be randomly allocated to the aHSCT arm or DMT arm in a 1:1 ratio. Participants will remain in the study for 2 years with follow-up visits at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months postrandomisation. The primary outcome is the proportion of patients who achieve ‘no evidence of disease activity’ during the 2-year postrandomisation follow-up period in an intention to treat analysis. Secondary outcomes include efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness and immune reconstitution of aHSCT and the four high-efficacy DMTs.
Ethics and dissemination: The study was approved by the Yorkshire and Humber—Leeds West Research Ethics Committee (20/YH/0061). Participants will provide written informed consent prior to any study specific procedures. The study results will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and abstracts will be submitted to relevant national and international conferences.
Trial registration number: ISRCTN88667898.Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme, an MRC and NIHR partnership
The influence of waiting times and sociopolitical variables on public trust in healthcare: A cross-sectional study of the NHS in England
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Replication code and data are available through the Harvard Dataverse at: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AQYYNK .
The data are in the public domain, under the terms of the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal deed.Objectives:
This study aims to assess factors influencing public trust in the National Health Service (NHS) in England, focusing on the impact of waiting times in Accident & Emergency (A&E) departments and for GP-to-specialist cancer referrals.
Study design:
A cross-sectional survey-based research design was employed, covering the period from July 2022 to July 2023.
Methods:
Data were collected through YouGov surveys, yielding 7415 responses. Our analysis is based on 6952 of these responses which we were able to aggregate to 42 NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) for A&E waiting times and 106 ICB sub-units for cancer referral times. Multiple regression analysis was conducted, with the dependent variable being trust in the NHS.
Results:
Waiting times for A&E and cancer referrals did not significantly affect trust in the NHS. However, other sociopolitical factors displayed significant influence. Specifically, being a member of an ethnic minority group, or having voted Conservative in the 2019 general election were associated with lower trust scores. Other variables such as age and local unemployment rate were also significant predictors.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that waiting times for healthcare services have no effect on public trust in the NHS. Instead, trust appears to be largely shaped by sociopolitical factors. Policymakers should therefore look beyond operational efficiency when seeking to bolster trust in the healthcare system.UKRI/ESRC (Grant reference ES/W011913/1) and the JSPS (Grant reference JPJSJRP 20211704)
Optimizing the Energy Efficiency Using Quantum Based Load Balancing in Open Radio Access Networks
Get PDFThe open radio access network (ORAN) aims to improve network efficiency by reducing latency through the distributed unit (DU) and virtualization in the central unit (CU). However, the deployment of additional DU servers increases power usage and competition among virtual machines for user data processing. This study proposes a novel approach to address these challenges by incorporating load balancing strategies and quantum physics concepts, particularly entanglement theory in classical communication systems. The methodology enables the production of quantum information units from a single classical information unit, aiming to conserve energy. A simplified yet effective power consumption (PC) model for the ORAN architecture captures traffic fluctuations and provides a comprehensive characterization of power usage within a virtualized system. An optimization problem is formulated to select ORAN servers for quantum load balancing that are less energy-efficient, maximizing user benefits. The Lagrange multiplier method is used to deal with nonlinear objective functions. The presented problem is addressed through the use of two numerical methods, namely sequential quadratic programming (SQP) and the active-set approach. It is shown that the SQP model exhibits superior energy efficiency compared to the active-set model, with a difference of approximately 45%.10.13039/501100007914-Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Brunel University London, U.K
Reluctance to lead: Conceptualization and contextualization
Get PDFRecent studies indicate a potential trend of waning enthusiasm for leadership positions. This increasing trend of avoiding leadership roles has prompted a new area of research, concentrating on agentic perspectives in leader emergence and self-selection biases. This study focuses on a key concept in this emerging field: “reluctance to lead” (RTL). Only recently has reluctance in the leadership context received limited attention from a few scholars. These efforts primarily concentrated on RTL before the role occupancy by defining it as individuals' hesitations to accept a leadership role when presented with the opportunity. This paper broadens the conceptualization of RTL by extending its definition as the hesitation of a high-potential individual both before and after role occupancy (i.e., individuals’ hesitations about their fit to the role while it is practiced). Prior studies also adopted a person-centered approach, focusing on identity- and competency-related factors while overlooking the contextual aspects in explaining RTL. This paper integrates contextual foci into the discussion of RTL, specifically exploring how spatial and technological, organizational, leadership, socio-cultural, and historical contexts (with a focus on Europe) interface with RTL. We conclude by proposing a research agenda and discussing the theoretical and practical implications of this new line of research
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