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Real-world evidence on the CamAPS FX hybrid closed-loop system in people living with type 1 diabetes
No full textBackground: We analysed real-world data to evaluate the performance of the CamAPS FX hybrid closed-loop system I people living with type 1 diabetes. Methods: Users from 19 countries across different age groups who used the system between 1 January 2024, and 31 December 2024, and who had ≥ 60 days of continuous glucose monitor data with ≥ 30% of closed-loop usage were included in the current analysis (N = 35,714). Results: Time in target glucose range (3.9–10 mmol/l) was median (IQR) 69.6% (61.3–77.2) for all users and varied across the different age groups from 62.5% (53.4–71.2) for young adult users aged 18–22 years old to 76.1% (68.9–82.4) for users aged ≥ 65 years. Median (IQR) time spent in hypoglycaemia (< 3.9 mmol/l) was 2.5% (1.4–3.9) overall, and was < 4% across all age groups. Mean glucose and glucose management indicator overall were 8.7 ± 1.2 mmol/l and 7.1 ± 0.5% (53.6 ± 5.8 mmol/mol), respectively. Median (IQR) time in closed-loop was high at 95.7% (92.9‒97.3). Conclusions: This retrospective observational analysis of real-world data demonstrates the performance of the CamAPS FX hybrid closed-loop system with outcomes comparable to those reported from previous randomised controlled studies. Graphical Abstract
Ontology of active and passive environmental exposure
No full textExposure is a central concept of the health and behavioural sciences needed to study the influence of the environment on the health and behaviour of people within a spatial context. While an increasing number of studies measure different forms of exposure, including the influence of air quality, noise, and crime, the influence of land cover on physical activity, or of the urban environment on food intake, we lack a common conceptual model of environmental exposure that captures its main structure across all this variety. Against the background of such a model, it becomes possible not only to systematically compare different methodological approaches but also to better link and align the content of the vast amount of scientific publications on this topic in a systematic way. For example, an important methodical distinction is between studies that model exposure as an exclusive outcome of some activity versus ones where the environment acts as a direct independent cause (active vs. passive exposure). Here, we propose an information ontology design pattern that can be used to define exposure and to model its variants. It is built around causal relations between concepts including persons, activities, concentrations, exposures, environments and health risks. We formally define environmental stressors and variants of exposure using Description Logic (DL), which allows automatic inference from the RDF-encoded content of a paper. Furthermore, concepts can be linked with data models and modelling methods used in a study. To test the pattern, we translated competency questions into SPARQL queries and ran them over RDF-encoded content. Results show how study characteristics can be classified and summarized in a manner that reflects important methodical differences
Large-eddy simulation of tropical cyclone-like vortex in confined-rotating convection
No full textRayleigh-B´enard convective (RBC) flows in rotating cylindrical domain with three
value of aspect ratios, ϵ = 0.05,0.1 and 0.2 are investigated using large-eddy simu-
lation (LES) with dynamic Smagorinsky closure to study the genesis of large scale
vortex with poloidal circulation. This vortex is similar to a tropical cyclone in struc-
ture and hence it is called as tropical-cyclone-like vortex (TCLV). The Ekman number
measuring rotational influence and Rayleigh number related to thermal forcing are
varied systematically over six and sixteen orders of magnitude respectively. Three
values of Prandtl number, 0.025, 0.1 and 0.7, are considered. The analyses of simula-
tion results identify two characteristic timescales for vortex evolution: intensification
time ti ∼Ω−1 Re1/2
t and saturation time ts ∼Ω−1 E−1/2
t , where Ω is the background
rotation rate and, Ret and Et are turbulent Reynolds and Ekman numbers respec-
tively. The TCLV with eye and eyewall is observed to form only when ti <ts, which
gives a condition 2 ϵ√Ro≲ 1, where Ro is the global Rossby number, for the TCLV
formation. The effects of moisture, latent heat release, and wind shear are excluded
here, so the above condition is a purely hydrodynamic one
The DesignMind toolkit
No full textIntegrating empirical evidence into architectural design has the potential to create more humane, legible, and inclusive spaces. Yet, the fast-paced nature of the design process, limited proficiency in scientific terminology, and a natural reliance on design intuition limit architects' ability to effectively apply empirical findings to inform their design decisions. To address this gap, this paper presents DesignMind, a toolkit for evidence-based, cognitively-informed, and human-centred architectural design. DesignMind has four complementary modules: (1) evidence-based design flashcards, (2) topological and geometric analysis, (3) agent-based simulation, and (4) cognitive walkthrough in virtual reality. The effectiveness of DesignMind was evaluated in an academic context where architecture and STEM students used it to analyse and design healthcare and workplace layouts. Initial results show that DesignMind is effective in integrating evidence-based design into the architectural design process and providing students with tools to test their designs for human-centred design criteria such as wayfinding, social communication potential and nursing efficiency. These preliminary results underscore the challenges and opportunities of DesignMind to fuel parallel efforts in evidence-based design, calling for a critical discussion around the notion of evidence in architecture and its interplay with design intuition
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Land Use Planning for Optimal Biodiversity Net Gain in England
No full textThe integration of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements into land use planning, as stipulated by the Environment Act 2021, signifies significant efforts towards conserving and enhancing biodiversity in England. This integration facilitates the distribution of resources for enhancing biodiversity under diverse conditions. The BNG approach under the Act obligates developers to increase on-site biodiversity levels through various measures relative to levels before project development, including on-site or off-site actions or the purchase of biodiversity credits. Incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) in land use planning offers substantial potential to revolutionize traditional approaches through advanced predictive modelling, spatial analysis, and
stakeholder engagement. By leveraging AI to implement BNG requirements, planners can efficiently anticipate future land use trends and ensure that development projects contribute positively to biodiversity conservation. However, it is crucial to address challenges such as data privacy, security, and bias. To optimize BNG in England through AI, this paper recommends enacting dedicated AI legislation, integrating fairness and transparency protocols, investing in training, promoting collaboration, adopting inclusive stakeholder engagement and participation, and establishing robust monitoring mechanisms. These measures are essential for harnessing full potential of AI in optimizing BNG outcomes and ultimately contributing to overall biodiversity enrichment
Homogenized Optoelectronic Properties in Perovskites: Achieving High-Efficiency Solar Cells with Common Chloride Additives.
No full textImproving the bulk quality of perovskite films is critical for achieving higher-performance photovoltaic devices. Chloride-containing additives, including lead chloride (PbCl2) and methylammonium chloride (MACl)─standard additives widely adopted in perovskite photovoltaics─are effective for controlling crystallization kinetics and grain morphology. However, the distinct impacts of different forms of chloride additives on nanoscale phase uniformity and luminescence homogeneity remain underexplored. Here, we provide new insights into how the choice and combination of chloride additives influence phase transitions and spatially uniform carrier dynamics within perovskite films. We demonstrate that strategically combining MACl and PbCl2 improves crystallinity and optoelectronic uniformity across dimensions spanning micrometers to millimeters. Leveraging these findings, we fabricated inverted (p-i-n) perovskite solar cells achieving certified quasi-steady-state efficiencies of 26.4% and 24.5% at device areas of 0.05 and 1 cm2, respectively. Furthermore, these devices exhibit robust operational stability, retaining 88% of their initial performance after 1200 h of continuous maximum power point tracking at elevated temperatures (65 °C) under simulated AM1.5G illumination. Our results elucidate the mechanistic differences between chloride additive forms, providing a viable strategy for advancing large-area, high-efficiency, and thermally stable perovskite photovoltaics
HCI for Climate Change: Imagining Sustainable Futures
No full textAs the climate crisis is turning into one of the most critical issues of our time, HCI researchers keep reflecting on the role their work can play in reducing the impact of adverse environmental changes. Suggestions have been made to expand Sustainable HCI (SHCI)’s intervention area to policy design to have a larger impact, consider non-human actors’ perspective to incorporate the value of biodiversity, develop multidisciplinary competencies and work across disciplines to understand climate change, and finally make it understandable to citizens and pave the way for their action. This workshop calls to discuss the different angles from which the problem of climate change has been addressed by the CHI community so far. We believe these different angles have several contact points, and the convergence of these different perspectives would help HCI researchers better imagine sustainable futures
Update to the study protocol for a randomized controlled trial comparing mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with maintenance anti-depressant treatment depressive relapse/recurrence: the PREVENT trial.
No full textBACKGROUND: Depression is a common and distressing mental health problem that is responsible for significant individual disability and cost to society. Medication and psychological therapies are effective for treating depression and maintenance anti-depressants (m-ADM) can prevent relapse. However, individuals with depression often express a wish for psychological help that can help them recover from depression in the long-term. A recently developed treatment, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), shows potential as a brief group program for people with recurring depression.This trial asks the policy research question; is MBCT with support to taper/discontinue antidepressant medication (MBCT-TS) superior to m-ADM in terms of: a primary outcome of preventing depressive relapse/recurrence over 24 months; and secondary outcomes of (a) depression free days, (b) residual depressive symptoms, (c) antidepressant medication (ADM) usage, (d) psychiatric and medical co-morbidity, (e) quality of life, and (f) cost effectiveness? An explanatory research question also asks whether an increase in mindfulness skills is the key mechanism of change.The design is a single-blind, parallel randomized controlled trial examining MBCT-TS versus m-ADM with an embedded process study. To answer the main policy research question the proposed trial compares MBCT-TS with m-ADM for patients with recurrent depression. Four hundred and twenty patients with recurrent major depressive disorder in full or partial remission will be recruited through primary care. RESULTS: Depressive relapse/recurrence over two years is the primary outcome variable. Analyses will be conducted following CONSORT standards and overseen by the trial's Data Monitoring and Safety Committee. Initial analyses will be conducted on an intention-to-treat basis, with subsequent analyses being per protocol. The explanatory question will be addressed in two mutually informative ways: quantitative measurement of potential mediating variables pre- and post-treatment and a qualitative study of service users' views and experiences. CONCLUSIONS: If the results of our exploratory trial are extended to this definitive trial, MBCT-TS will be established as an alternative approach to maintenance antidepressants for people with a history of recurrent depression. The process studies will provide evidence about the effective components which can be used to improve MBCT and inform theory as well as other therapeutic approaches. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial registered 7 May 2009; ISRCTN26666654
Raymond ['Ray'] Stuart Bradley MCH (Making Climate History) Oral History Interview
No full textOral history interview with Raymond Stuart Bradley conducted by Sarah Dry on 21st July 2022 as part of the Making Climate History project.
Time-stamped Summary
[Track 1]
Growing up in Ellesmere Port, Wirral, his home, family and school [I: 01:15]
School achievements and plans to apply for university [I: 07:42]
Interest in geography at school and other outdoor pursuits [I: 11:30]
The geography course at Southampton, being taught by Roger Barry and Allen Perry, and then his move to the Colorado, USA, for Master’s study under Barry [I: 16:24]
His interest in weather and climatology from school-days onwards [I: 23:36]
First impressions and emotions of arriving in the USA and in Boulder, Colorado [I: 29:39]
The culture of INSTAAR, Boulder, the people he met, studied with and studied under [I: 36:17]
Undertaking his first serious fieldwork on Baffin Island under John Andrews [I: 42:28]
His changing interests whilst at INSTAAR, from urban climate to precipitation histories in the Rockies to paleoclimates [I: 49:22]
Meeting Murray Mitchill for the first time and his visit to the Smithsonian Institution, and elsewhere, gathering climatic data [I: 54:29]
The challenges of homogenising climatic data, especially temperatures, and meeting Fritts, Diaz, Kelly for the first time [I: 1:03:25]
The Tucson tree-ring meeting and the start of plans to seek funding to support the development of a worldwide data set [I: 1:10:42]
The technologies of data storge, transfer, mapping and curation, including early computers [I: 1:18:22]
Moving from Boulder to UMass, Amherst, and the award of his 1974 PhD [I: 1:23:20]
[Track 2]
His experience of interdisciplinary research cultures in the 1970s [II: 0:30]
NSF funded fieldwork on the glacial deposits of Ellesmere Island with John England [II: 2:39]
Conference visits to the University of East Anglia in the later 1970s [II: 6:15]
Collaborative DOE-funded work on temperature records with Diaz, Kelly and Jones [II: 9:43]
About the DOE funding arrangements, the geographical range and scope of this work on temperatures [II: 19:32]
Conducting other fieldwork in the late-70/early-80s [II: 24:28]
Relationship with DOE funder, the ‘operational’ nature of work and his involvement in GCOS [II: 28:54]
A 1979/90 sabbatical visit to Cambridge, UK and the Scott Polar Research Institute [II: 36:46]
His relationships and attitudes towards Nick Shackleton, Wally Broecker, his data technicians/analysts and his feelings of imposter syndrome [II: 40:06]
1980s visits to the USSR with Mike MacCracken and George Kukla [II: 48:41]
His views of the Russian idea of paleoclimate analogues, Mikhail Budyko and Andrei Velichko [II: 54:28]
Meeting Hubert Lamb and his attitudes towards Lamb’s work and influence; being interviewed for the CRU directorship [II: 57:30]
Changing DOE funding priorities, towards modelling, climate change detection and others applications; how funding opportunities influenced the work he did [II: 1:01:27]
Climategate, the hockey-stick, and working with Mike Mann [II: 1:13:16]
Continued fieldwork, training students, witnessing climate change first-hand [II: 1:19:12]
His attitudes towards the status and utility of the metric of global temperature [II: 1:22:57]
General reflections on his career and his continuing, ongoing work [II: 1:27:13
Discovery of a Gas-enshrouded Broad-line Active Galactic Nucleus at z ∼ 7
No full textThe Lyα absorption profile in star-forming galaxies serves as a powerful tracer of the extended, dense neutral hydrogen in their surroundings during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). We report a unique galaxy, A2744-z7DLA, at z ≈ 6.87, gravitationally lensed by the foreground galaxy cluster A2744, which exhibits both moderate Lyα emission and damped Lyα absorption, suggesting the presence of a dense neutral hydrogen environment. Our analysis suggests that the UV continuum turnover near Lyα is more likely shaped by a damped Lyα system rather than nebular continuum from the two-photon process. We analyze the physical properties of A2744-z7DLA with spectroscopic and photometric data from the JWST and the Hubble Space Telescope. The galaxy shows a compact morphology (re ∼ 0.3 kpc) and a broadened Hα emission line, suggesting possible active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity. The broad component of Hα has an FWHM of 2721 ± 200 km s−1, corresponding to a black hole mass of MBH=2.90−1.28+2.35×107M⊙ and a black hole to stellar mass ratio of log(MBH/M⊙)=−1.31−0.36+0.37 . The Balmer decrement (Hα/Hβ) yields a dust attenuation of AV ≈ 1.15 ± 0.23. Furthermore, we perform spectral energy distribution fitting using both stellar and AGN models. The results show that the UV and optical wavelengths are dominated by star-forming regions, while the AGN component contributes primarily at longer wavelengths. This work provides new insights into the interplay between star formation, neutral gas, and potential AGN activity in galaxies during the EoR