159370 research outputs found
Sort by
Curriculum development for Postgraduate UK Veterinary General Practice Training:A rapid review and documentary analysis
No full textDevelopment of a Novel 7-DOF Position-Orientation Decoupled Microsurgical Robot with Motorized Instruments for Microvascular Anastomosis
Get PDFThis work introduces a novel compact 7-degree-of-freedom (7-DOF) microsurgical robot with position-orientation decoupling capacity for microvascular anastomosis. The proposed system employs a modular architecture combining a proximal displacement platform for 3D small-stroke translation and a distal compact remote center of motion (RCM) mechanism for wide-range orientation adjustment. This design meets the workspace requirements for microvascular anastomosis, requiring extensive orientation adjustments with minimal positional movement and reducing the system footprint. The parasitic motion reverse self-compensation method has been developed for motorized surgical instruments, effectively reducing operational resistance to improve precision. Theoretical analysis has been performed on both the RCM mechanism and motorized surgical instruments, and kinematics-based parameter optimization and data-driven calibration have been conducted to enhance superior performance. A prototype has been constructed, and its experimental validation demonstrated that the system achieved repeatability of 11.24 ± 2.31 μm (XY) and 12.46 ± 4.48 μm (YZ), and absolute positioning accuracy of 29.80 ± 12.27 μm (XY) and 37.02 ± 19.47 μm (YZ), meeting super-microsurgical requirements. Experiments that include needle-threading and stamen peeling tasks demonstrate the robot's superior dexterity and manipulation capabilities
Synergistic interactions of ruthenium-based carbon monoxide-releasing molecules and antibiotics in their effects on Escherichia coli
Get PDFThe emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria poses a major and growing public health risk. Because antibiotics act on specific molecular targets, bacteria may evolve resistance mechanisms that alter or bypass these targets. This work investigated the antimicrobial effects of carbon monoxide-releasing molecules (CORMs) and their potential for co-administration with a variety of commonly used antibiotics against Escherichia coli. CORMs, commonly transition metal carbonyls, release carbon monoxide under certain conditions. Interestingly, CORMs have been shown to exert antimicrobial activity against bacteria both in vitro and in vivo. However, to effectively treat patients with antibiotic-resistant infections, combination therapies involving two or more antimicrobial agents may be a useful approach. Herein, we report the antimicrobial activity of CORM-2 and CORM-3 against E. coli and, importantly, that sub-inhibitory concentrations of either compound in combination with antibiotics showed a significant increase in efficacy of the conventional antibiotics as assessed by inhibition of bacterial growth and reduced viability. Furthermore, administration of sub-inhibitory concentrations of CORMs increased the antimicrobial activity of multiple antibiotics with a range of modes of action when measured by E-tests and microdilution broth assays. The minimal bactericidal concentrations were reduced 2- to 8-fold and 10- to 63-fold for CORM-2 and CORM-3, respectively. Drug interactions between CORMs and antibiotics were also assessed using checkerboard microdilution methods, providing evidence that CORM activity is synergistic with a wide range of conventional antibiotics tested with fractional inhibitory concentration indices between 0.31 and 0.45. These findings demonstrate the antibacterial activity of CORMs and their synergy with a range of commonly used antibiotics, opening potential avenues for CORMs to be used as adjuvants to traditional antibiotic treatments
The law of thin processes: A law of large numbers for point processes
Get PDFIf you take a superposition of n IID copies of a point process and thin that by a factor of 1 / n , then the resulting process tends to a Poisson process as n → ∞ . We give a simple proof of this result that highlights its similarity to the law of large numbers and to the law of thin numbers of Harremoës et al
A systematic review evaluating pain assessment strategies for patients with dementia in the emergency department: the geriatric ED guidelines 2.0
Get PDFObjectives
Pain is common among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) but is frequently underdetected and undertreated in older people living with dementia (PLWD). This systematic review examined whether dementia-specific pain assessment tools improve pain management compared with usual care in the ED.
Methods
We conducted a systematic review and have reported the methods and results following PRISMA (PROSPERO: CRD420251044828). Eligible studies included randomized, quasi-experimental, and observational designs enrolling ED patients aged ≥ 65 years with dementia or cognitive impairment. Interventions were pain assessment tools developed for PLWD, and comparisons were with standard pain scales. Primary outcomes were patient-reported outcome measures and analgesia administration; secondary outcomes included repeated pain scores, ED revisits, functional decline, mortality, and adverse events. Five databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycInfo) and two clinical trial registries were searched without language or date restrictions on April 22, 2025, and December 16, 2025, respectively. Two reviewers independently screened, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias using Cochrane RoB-2.
Results
Of 987 records identified, 18 underwent full-text review, and one study met eligibility criteria. Fry et al. (2017) conducted a multicenter, cluster-randomized controlled trial of 602 older adults with suspected long bone fractures, comparing the Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) tool with standard pain scales. No significant differences were observed in median time to first analgesia (83 vs. 82 min, p = 0.42) or proportion receiving analgesia within 60 min (28% vs. 32%, p = 0.19). Evidence certainty was rated very low.
Conclusions
Evidence on dementia-specific pain assessment tools in the ED is extremely limited. Available data suggest PAINAD does not improve timeliness of analgesia, underscoring the urgent need for rigorous studies to guide pain management for PLWD in the ED
BICC1 Interacts with PKD1 and PKD2 to drive cystogenesis in ADPKD
Get PDFAutosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is primarily of adult-onset and caused by pathogenic variants in PKD1 or PKD2. Yet, disease expression is highly variable and includes very early-onset PKD presentations in utero or infancy. In animal models, the RNA-binding molecule Bicc1 has been shown to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of PKD. To study the interaction between BICC1, PKD1 and PKD2 we combined biochemical approaches, knockout studies in mice and Xenopus, genetic engineered human kidney cells carrying BICC1 variants as well as genetic association studies in a large ADPKD cohort. We first demonstrated that BICC1 physically binds to the proteins Polycystin-1 and -2 encoded by PKD1 and PKD2 via distinct protein domains. Furthermore, PKD was aggravated in loss-of-function studies in Xenopus and mouse models resulting in more severe disease when Bicc1 was depleted in conjunction with Pkd1 or Pkd2. Finally, in a large human patient cohort, we identified a sibling pair with a homozygous BICC1 variant and patients with very early onset PKD (VEO-PKD) that exhibited compound heterozygosity of BICC1 in conjunction with PKD1 and PKD2 variants. Genome editing demonstrated that these BICC1 variants were hypomorphic in nature and impacted disease-relevant signaling pathways. These findings support the hypothesis that BICC1 cooperates functionally with PKD1 and PKD2, and that BICC1 variants may aggravate PKD severity highlighting RNA metabolism as an important new concept for disease modification in ADPKD
Differential and resonant solidarities: a materialist approach to the early career experience
Get PDFNavigating academia as early career academics (ECAs) is increasingly challenging, with many facing structural inequities, the rise of precarious work, and the increased marketisation of higher education in the United Kingdom and beyond. The purpose of this article is to provide a platform for learnings and insights gleaned from our experiences as five ECAs who worked together to lead the ‘early career network’ for a learned association between 2021 and 2023. In the article, we explore some of the challenges, opportunities, and call for actions that come out of our own encounters with the neoliberal higher education landscape as both students and workers in the social sciences. We propose a dual conceptualisation of solidarity as both resonant and differential, and mobilise this theoretical contribution to reflect on themes of community, materiality, care, knowledge, and labour as key strands which shape the interface between ECAs and complex higher education ecologies. Theoretically and practically, we aim to facilitate solidarity in early career communities, mobilising ‘ECA’ as more than a purely temporal category. Finally, we make recommendations to colleagues across the discipline for forging and nourishing collaborative, healthy, and inclusive environments in which ECAs can thrive
Assessing the success of a horizon scanning approach in predicting invasive non‐native species arrival
Get PDF1. Despite increasing awareness of invasive non-native species (INNS) and enhanced biosecurity controls in many countries, INNS are still arriving and establishing in new destinations, remaining a globally acknowledged threat to native biodiversity. Preventing the introduction of INNS, as opposed to controlling them once they have arrived, is recognised as the most effective approach to their management. Horizon scanning represents one of the key tools to identify high-risk INNS that have yet to arrive within a region and has been applied in many contexts around the world, but to date there have been no studies that systematically assess the effectiveness of this approach.
2. Here, we revisit the horizon scan for Great Britain conducted in 2013 that assessed the likelihood of high-risk INNS arriving within the next 10 years, establishing and having an impact on biodiversity and ecosystems. We evaluated the success of this exercise in predicting arrival of these species within the subsequent 10 years.
3. Ninety-two species were shortlisted in the 2013 horizon scan. In total, 31 of the 92 species identified in the 2013 horizon scan had arrived by 2023. We found that 12 of the top 20 species had arrived within 10 years. In predicting arrival, there was a significant effect of species having arrived previously to Great Britain, and the number of countries in Western Europe and Baltic countries in which an INNS was found prior to 2013.
4. Policy implications: We conclude that horizon scanning provides a rapid, affordable and successful mechanism to predict the arrival of high-risk INNS. We highlight the importance of citizen science, including biological recording, and of local expertise for detecting and documenting arrival of INNS. We discuss knowledge gaps that could help inform and improve future horizon scanning. In addition, we recommend regularly repeating horizon scanning exercises to support biosecurity and awareness raising for INNS
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Open Research Online? Become a CORE Member to access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard! 👇