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CSI Compression Beyond Latents:End-to-End Hybrid Attention-CNN Networks with Entropy Regularization
No full textEffect of lubricant contamination with water on friction modifier properties
Get PDFFriction and wear are unavoidable in mechanical systems with moving parts; however, their impact can be mitigated with the appropriate use of chemical additives in lubricants. Under severe conditions, these additives undergo tribochemical reactions, creating a low-shear strength tribofilm that reduces friction and wear. However, the tribofilm's growth and effectiveness can be adversely affected by the presence of water in the lubricant. This study proposes a new method for in-situ analysis of the effect of water on tribofilm chemical composition and growth, and its impact on friction and wear. A fully formulated oil containing Molybdenum dialkyldithiocarbamate (MoDTC) inorganic friction modifier has been tested using a bespoke pin-on-disc tribometer integrated with Raman spectroscopy. A cross-sectional analysis of in-situ grown tribofilm was carried out using Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and TEM-EDS to obtain the chemical information and thickness of the tribofilm. The results indicate that the presence of water not only negatively affects the tribological performance of MoDTC but also hampers the growth of MoDTC-derived low-friction tribofilm
How accurate are witnesses of first suspected seizures in recalling semiology at clinically relevant timepoints? A UK experimental study with a pilot intervention
Get PDFObjective
A key diagnostic challenge at “first seizure” clinic appointments is determining whether the reported event was epileptic. Witness accounts are often critical, yet such appointments typically occur weeks after the event. Guidelines recommend review within 2 weeks. Wait times are however often longer, with a median of 7 weeks in countries such as the UK. The accuracy of witness recall at these clinically relevant intervals and whether their confidence predicts accuracy have never been determined. This study addressed these fundamental questions. It also piloted a potential intervention: whether asking witnesses a set of systematic questions immediately after viewing a suspected seizure improves recall at follow-up, compared to the usual free recall approach used by first responders.
Methods
In this UK-based experimental study, adults (≥18 years old) viewed a video of an epileptic seizure and were randomized into four conditions: A (immediate free recall + 2-week follow-up), B (immediate free recall + 7-week follow-up), C (immediate systematic questions + 2-week follow-up), and D (immediate systematic questions + 7-week follow-up). The primary outcome was accuracy on 15 standardized questions addressing key semiological features, scored against consensus ratings from five neurologists.
Results
Of a representative sample of 304 participants, 295 (97%) fully viewed the video, and 94.7% completed follow-up. At 2 weeks, participants answered 54.4% of questions correctly—only 3.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] = .52–7.3) more than those at 7 weeks. Confidence was poorly correlated with accuracy. Immediate systematic questioning improved later recall by 6.7% (95% CI = 3.3–10.0). A definitive trial of this intervention would require 926 participants.
Significance
This is the first evidence on the accuracy of witness recall at clinically relevant intervals. Recall is modest even within recommended timeframes and declines only slightly by 7 weeks. Witness confidence does not predict accuracy. Immediate structured questioning may enhance later recall and thus support seizure diagnoses
A protocol to develop a quality assessment tool for realist synthesis (QUATRES)
Get PDFA realist synthesis or review is a theory-driven, realist-informed interpretive approach to synthesizing secondary data, informing evidence-based practice, and explaining social phenomena. Realist syntheses use flexible and iterative methods to achieve this goal, including drawing on stakeholders’ knowledge. Thus, realist syntheses require robust planning to be conducted and reported. Similarly, owing to their complex and iterative nature, they also need assessment guidelines so that knowledge practitioners and policymakers can appraise the value of the evidence they produce. While some current tools guide the conduct and reporting of realist syntheses, little comprehensive guidance exists on effectively assessing the quality of realist syntheses. To this end, we aim to develop a Quality Assessment Tool for Realist Synthesis (QUATRES) to encourage the transparent reporting of the review methods, the explicit assessment of the quality of reviews and the reliability of their findings. To achieve this, we will employ a multi-method study design consisting of three work packages: an audit of peer-reviewed articles to identify strengths and weaknesses in a sample of papers reporting realist syntheses, a methodological review of realist synthesis methodology guidance to identify quality markers, and a Delphi consensus to refine and validate quality markers
“No more proletariat, or unhappy people, or oppressed”: living besides and the collective sensibilities of “urban popular territories”
Get PDFIf not resilience, rebellion, or redemption; if not the last will become first; if not the romance with the wretched, how to characterize the places where the poor inhabit if the intent is to exceed the terms of victimhood and underdevelopment? While fully embracing the need for comprehensive genealogies about how popular territories—those places of low-income inhabitation—got to be way they are, and engaging the material underpinnings of impoverishment and the adverse power relations at work, how might these popular territories be understood as more complex iterations of calculations aimed at navigating disparate orientations, affective economies, and ambiguous affordances? How to see them as continuous works in progress that exceed assessments of household income, political viability, crime rates, and general social dissolution? Here, notions of precarity—as both volatile exposures to uncertainty and destitution and all the tentative experimentations with livelihood and collective living that offer no guarantees—might offer a socio-poetics capable of grasping the intricate yet fraught methods of problem-solving, even social computation, that is at work day in and day out across such popular territories. Based on the author’s experiences with multiple popular territories across the world over many decades, this article examines the doubleness of precarity as an atmosphere of both how life is made marginal and how life exceeds the margins imposed
COSINE-100 full dataset challenges the annual modulation signal of DAMA/LIBRA
Get PDFFor over 25 years, the DAMA/LIBRA collaboration has claimed to observe an annual modulation signal, suggesting the existence of dark matter interactions. However, no experiment using different target materials has observed a dark matter signal consistent with their result. To address this puzzle, the COSINE-100 collaboration conducted a model-independent test using sodium iodide crystal detectors, the same target material as DAMA/LIBRA. Analyzing data collected over 6.4 years by the effective mass of 61.3 kilograms, with improved energy calibration and time-dependent background modeling, we found no evidence of an annual modulation signal, challenging the DAMA/LIBRA result with a confidence level greater than 3σ. This finding represents a substantial step toward resolving the long-standing debate surrounding DAMA/LIBRA’s dark matter claim, indicating that the observed modulation is unlikely to be caused by dark matter interactions
Autonomous optimisation of biocatalytic reactions: enzymatic synthesis of N-benzyl acetoacetamide in continuous flow
Get PDFBiocatalysis represents an invaluable tool for developing more sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. However, the optimisation of these complex transformations remains challenging when using traditional methods. Recent advances in the field of chemical reaction optimisation have employed Bayesian optimisation, which has been successfully integrated into automated flow reactors to develop self-optimising reactor platforms. Although self-optimisation has been applied to chemical transformations with great effect, it has not yet been applied to biocatalytic reactions. In this work, we report the first application of multiobjective and mixed variable Bayesian optimisation for the automated development of a biocatalytic transformation. Using this approach, we develop a significantly improved process for the direct amidation of a β-ketoester in just 31 hours of experimental time, while also extracting insights from the black-box models to understand solvent-dependent effects and interactions among the reaction conditions
Effectiveness and safety of home-based versus centre-based exercise programmes for pulmonary hypertension: a systematic review with meta-analysis.
Get PDFIntroduction
Pulmonary hypertension is a pathophysiological disorder with poor prognosis. Exercise intolerance and lower physical activity levels are common features of pulmonary hypertension and affect patients' quality of life. Exercise training effectively improves clinical outcomes in this population, but access to rehabilitation centres is often limited. A home-based exercise training component could be an accessible and cost-effective alternative, but the efficacy and safety of this approach in pulmonary hypertension remain unclear.
Methods
We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies retrieved from six international databases. The studies evaluated home-based exercise interventions in patients with pulmonary hypertension, including both stand-alone and hybrid setups, and assessed safety, efficacy (exercise capacity, cardiorespiratory outcomes and functional class) and adherence.
Results
We included 19 studies. Compared with inactive controls, home-based exercise training improved the 6-min walk distance (mean difference (MD) 54.85 m, p<0.01), peak oxygen uptake (standardised MD 0.83 mL·kg−1·min−1, p<0.01), ventilatory efficiency (MD −3.93, p<0.01) and quality of life scores. Improvements in clinical outcomes were comparable between home-based and centre-based interventions. No clinical worsening or exercise training-related severe adverse events were reported; however, most studies did not report health-related self-monitoring strategies at home. The level of adherence was generally high, and the drop-out rates were comparable between home-based and centre-based interventions.
Conclusion
Home-based exercise interventions appear to be viable alternatives to centre-based programmes for patients with pulmonary hypertension, showing comparable improvements in clinical outcomes. However, limited reporting on self-monitoring may affect the overall safety assessment. Further research is needed to determine the optimal implementation of these interventions
Comparison of the mechanical properties of amorphous FeSiB and FeGaSiB films
Get PDFAs technology gets smaller, the need to understand how the mechanical as well as functional properties of thin magnetic films change as a function of thickness and substrate is required. This then allows for better material selection for applications, as thin amorphous and nanocrystalline magnetic films are used in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), such as actuators, field and strain sensors. This work used the nanoindentation technique to study the mechanical properties (hardness, Young’s modulus and yield strength) of amorphous FeGaSiB and FeSiB thin films to determine how the thickness, substrate and composition influence these properties. Along with understanding how the addition of Ga changed the amorphicity of the films with thickness. It was found that the Young’s Modulus and hardness decreased by ∼15% with the addition of Ga, plus the films were less elastic compared to the FeSiB films. The yield strength was 30% higher for the films grown on glass compared to silicon, while the hardness and Young’s modulus of both FeSiB and FeGaSiB films increased with decreasing film thickness. Further, these results helped to gain understanding on the role of film thickness to the amorphicity of the film
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