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Optimising diffusion models for histopathology image synthesis
No full textOropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OPSCC) is a sub-type of head and neck cancer linked to human papillomavirus infection (HPV). HPV-positive OPSCC patients have an improved prognosis compared to HPV-negative OPSCC patients however, the reasoning for this is unknown. Visualising the clinical and molecular differences in HPV status would be highly interpretable and could aid our understanding of the impact these distinguishing features have on patient prognosis. A generative model trained to de-lineate features of HPV status provides both a synthetic visualisation of HPV-related OPSCC and a classification of HPV status. Conditional diffusion models (CDMs) have been shown to produce state-of-the-art (SOTA) quality and fidelity in the image synthesis domain. Furthermore, they can generate representative Haematoxylin and Eosin(H&E) stained histopathology images of cancerous tissue. This paper proposes two novel weighting schemes, one of which is designed to prioritise spatial features during training which enables the model to learn important pathological markers associated with HPV-related OPSCC tissue. Through experimental analysis of histological data, we demonstrate that our proposed approach improves the performance of CDMs and provides insightful, interpretable features that aid our understanding of HPV-related OPSCC
Collective vision-making practice: a long-run dynamic process model for geothermal market transitioning
No full textMichael Porter’s work on competition highlights how firms can become stagnant or ‘stuck.’ This study extends that concept to markets or fields of institutional activity, examining what occurs when an entire market becomes 'stuck.' Focusing on the geothermal energy market, the research investigates achieving long-term collective action by cultivating a shared vision and mutual understanding among stakeholders with diverse interests. The study employs a longitudinal ethnographic approach, presenting a long-run dynamic process model of collective vision-making practice. This model consists of six first-order dimensions and twelve second-order interactive behavioural practice, illustrating how stakeholders can collaboratively construct and enfold a long-term collective vision. The findings demonstrate the institutional capacity to engage stakeholders and strategically consider whole market possibilities, enabling the creation of a broadly defined collective vision. The research advances a dynamic process model that emphasises sustained institutional interactional practice. The study’s implications are to motivate thought leaders and policymakers, prompting two strategic questions: First, “How can market actors collaborate to unlock value co-creation and shape the future of a ‘stuck’ market?” This involves engaging diverse stakeholder perspectives and exploring future market-making opportunities. Second, “How can all market actors pivot in harmony with a collective vision, fostering long-term shared understandings and commitments in pursuit of market-making efforts?” This alignment is important for progressing from research and development to the successful implementation of pilot projects and the realisation of sustainable market opportunities.<br/
Testicular self-examination: the role of anticipated relief and anticipated regret
No full textObjectiveAnticipated regret has been implicated in health-related decision-making. Recent work on influenza vaccination has suggested that anticipated relief, too, may influence individuals' decisions to engage in positive health behaviours. To explore these affective components further and address the generality of possible mechanisms underlying these associations, we examined whether anticipated relief and anticipated regret independently predict testicular self-examination (TSE) intention and behaviour. Given claims about differences in their nature and function, we distinguished between counterfactual relief (relief that a worse outcome did not obtain) and temporal relief (relief that an unpleasant experience is over).DesignProspective correlational.MethodsAt Time 1 (July 2022), 567 cis-gendered males were asked to complete measures of anticipated regret, anticipated counterfactual and temporal relief, measures of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and measures of anxiety and shame. One month later, the same participants were recontacted and asked about their engagement in TSE in the previous month.ResultsAnticipated counterfactual relief and anticipated regret are independent, positive, predictors of intention to engage in TSE and, indirectly, TSE behaviour itself. Interestingly, anticipated temporal relief was negatively associated with intention to engage in TSE and, indirectly, behaviour.ConclusionsOur results suggest that it may be the counterfactual nature of anticipated regret and anticipated relief that underlies their positive association with TSE and other health-promoting behaviours. Interventions designed to increase engagement in preventive health behaviours, such as TSE, may benefit from the consideration of both positively and negatively valenced counterfactual emotions.<br/
Esoteric exploration: commercial geography and occult secrets in the fiction of Verney Lovett Cameron
No full textVerney Lovett Cameron (1844–1894) has now lapsed into relative obscurity, but in the late nineteenth century he was among the premier British explorers, having established his credentials by completing a transcontinental African expedition (1872–76) from present-day Tanzania to Angola. This article, however, focuses on Cameron's status as the most prolific of a range of explorers who turned to the affordances of prose fiction. Imaginative literature provided supplements or alternatives to the expeditionary narrative that operated outside the parameters of institutional science and were not regulated by the same protocols. Drawing on Gérard Genette's narrative taxonomy of the “sequel” and the “serious transposition,” I argue that Cameron's fiction extended his preoccupations with “commercial geography” and private enterprise while also opening the way to surprising alternative conceptualizations of geographical travel. The Adventures of Herbert Massey (1887) uses fictional adventure to invite capitalist venture and specifically to advertise East Africa as amenable to administration by chartered company. The highly esoteric plot of The Queen's Land (1886), by contrast, offers a geographical allegory that at once celebrates the explorer's expertise and casts expeditions as the source of secret knowledge.<br/
Enhanced antifouling and anti-swarming properties poly (sulfobetaine methacrylate-co-2-hydroxy-3-phenoxypropyl acrylate) hydrogel coatings for urinary catheters
No full textCatheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) remains an unsolved challenge to date, particularly with the emergence and rapid spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial pathogens. Despite extensive research, a catheter coating that can offer intrinsic resistance to host protein deposition, bacterial biofilm formation, and swarming is still urgently required. Zwitterionic hydrogel coatings due to their superior lubricity and antifouling properties represent a promising candidate, but their weak mechanical stability in water and poor resistance to bacterial swarming migration limit their application in urinary catheters for infection control. In this research, we describe the fabrication of a multifunctional catheter coating by copolymerizing zwitterionic sulfobetaine methacrylate (SBMA) polymers and a swarming inhibitor material, 2-hydroxy-3-phenoxypropyl acrylate (HPA). The introduction of polyHPA (PHPA) effectively impeded the uncontrolled swelling behavior of the zwitterionic PSBMA hydrogel, resulting in enhanced mechanical stability. Moreover, the copolymer coating retains the antifouling and anti-swarming properties of the homopolymers when challenged with fibrinogen, Escherichia coli, and Proteus mirabilis. The HPA content significantly correlated with its anti-adhesion activity against fibrinogen and biofilm, and the coating with an SBMA: HPA monomer feed molar ratio of 4:1 showed the best antifouling activity, reducing fibrinogen deposition by about 40 % and biofilm coverage by around fourfold compared to the uncoated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface. Furthermore, the copolymer coating also exhibited no cytotoxicity, suggesting it as a promising catheter coating for preventing CAUTI.<br/
Global certification of visual impairment registries: a scoping review
No full textBackgroundVisual impairment is a global problem which is predicted to rise in the coming years. Some of the biggest causes of visual impairment globally include uncorrected refractive error, cataract and age-related macular degeneration. People with a visual impairment often require support and so many countries hold registers of visual impairment. These registers can sit at a national, regional or local level. This scoping review aims to identify which countries hold visual impairment registries and have published data from them.MethodsMedline All, Embase and EBSCOHost were searched using several search terms after consulting an information specialist. All papers after the year 2000 were included in the scoping review. All results are shown using a PRISMA diagram and presented narratively.ResultsThe total number of articles and papers identified was 1266; after screening and review, 57 articles were included in the review from 2000 to 2024. These articles came from 19 different countries and encompassed national, regional and local visual impairment databases. Many countries cited age-related macular degeneration as the major cause of blindness with diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma following. In less economically developed countries, refractive error was the main cause of sight loss. There were papers which focused on specific eye conditions such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy or on specific cohorts including working-age population and children. The leading causes of blindness in children appeared to be inherited retinal diseases, albinism and cerebral visual impairment.ConclusionCertification of visual impairment is held differently across the world. There is commonality among different countries regarding the major causes of visual impairment in both adults and children. The importance of holding visual impairment registers to support people with a visual impairment and to plan services is essential.<br/
Implementing vocational rehabilitation for people with multiple sclerosis in the UK National Health Service: A mixed-methods feasibility study
No full textPurpose: To implement a job retention vocational rehabilitation (VR) intervention (MSVR) for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their employers in the UK National Health Service (NHS).Methods: Multicentre, single-arm feasibility study with post-intervention interviews. MSVR was delivered by an occupational therapist (OT). Feasibility was assessed by recruitment rates, compliance, and practicality of delivery. Acceptability was assessed with post-intervention interviews. A survey assessed change in eight vocational outcomes (e.g., vocational goals, work instability) immediately post-intervention and at 3-month follow-up. Results: Recruitment and training an OT was challenging. Twenty participants with MS, three employers, and three healthcare professionals were recruited. All participants but one completed the intervention. Factors affecting intervention adherence included annual leave and family responsibilities. MSVR was associated with improved vocational goal attainment post-intervention (t(18)=7.41, p=<.001) and at follow-up (t(17)=6.01, p= <.001). There was no change to the remaining outcomes. Interviews identified six themes: intervention impact, accessibility of support, the OT’s role, readiness for support, workplace supportiveness, and barriers to NHS delivery.Conclusion: Challenges with recruitment, identifying newly diagnosed MS participants, and understanding the OT’s training needs to deliver the intervention were identified. The intervention demonstrated acceptability, but participants wanted it to continue for longer to address further needs. <br/
Advanced near-field radar imaging approaches in security: an overview on signal processing challenges, opportunities and future directions
No full textNear-field (NF) microwave and millimeter-wave (mm-wave) imaging, extending into the terahertz (THz) frequency range, has seen remarkable advancements across diverse applications, particularly security screening. These technologies benefit from the unique properties of microwave, mm-wave, and THz (MMT) spectra, such as penetration, nonionizing radiation, material sensitivity and the capability to operate in all weather conditions. This article provides an overview of the evolution and current state of NF radar imaging, emphasizing the critical role of signal processing in overcoming challenges related to hardware complexity, long acquisition time, and image reconstruction quality. Advanced signal processing techniques—including Fourier-based algorithms, sparse imaging, low-rank matrix recovery, and deep learning—are highlighted for their contributions to enhancing image resolution and processing efficiency. The article also discusses recent innovations in antenna technologies, aperture configurations, and scanning methods that have significantly improved NF radar imaging capabilities. Future research directions are suggested to further advance the field, highlighting the importance of continued exploration and innovation in NF MMT imaging.<br/
A wolf in sheep’s clothing: evading robust aggregation in federated learning through in-distribution attacks
No full textFederated Learning (FL) allows a number of clients to collaboratively train powerful machine learning models without sharing private data by aggregating updates based on local training from clients in the system. However, malicious nodes can send poisoned updates to compromise the global model trained by the Federated Learning System (FLS). To defend against model/data poisoning attacks, robust aggregation schemes have been created that aim to exclude malicious updates to the global model by removing perceived outliers to the standard distribution of updates. In this paper, we question the assumptions that underline these defences and aim to produce targeted in-distribution attacks against FLS’s that evade robust aggregation schemes. We propose a new loss function used in local training to generate malicious updates within the benign distribution. We systematically evaluate our attacks against a range of state-of-the-art robust aggregation schemes, where we demonstrate how their defences can be circumvented by questioning their out-of-distribution assumptions.</p
Engineered multifunctional BioHJzyme via tuning D‐Band center for postoperative infected wound regeneration of tumor resection
No full textThe catalytic therapy for abundant •OH, 1O2, and •O2− provides an efficient tactic and methodology for rapid tumor/bacteria killing, whereas the limitation is focused on the catalytic efficiency owing to the in-built energy band of catalytic materials. Thus, d-band center tuning BioHJzyme is devised, which is composed of zinc tellurate/manganese dioxide anchored by glucose oxidase (GOx) with anti-tumor and anti-bacteria properties for postoperative infected wound regeneration of tumor. The GOx depletes glucose to produce H2O2, intercepting the glucose metabolism. The D-BioHJzyme can catalyze the produced H2O2 to highly lethal •OH with POD-mimetic activity owing to the tunned d-band center strategy decreasing the adsorption energy of the intermediate in the catalytical process, while the oxygen originated from H2O2 and Mn2+ can be catalyzed into 1O2. The GPx-mimetic activity of it can impair the antioxidant system of tumor. In vivo studies show that the BioHJzyme exhibits robust abilities against bacteria and tumors by •OH/1O2 production and promotes the apoptosis owing the Te. Besides, the BioHJzyme can accelerate cutaneous regeneration by M1/M2 regulation and the angiogenesis/collagen deposition. This work enlightens a powerful platform for the remedy of postoperative infected wound regeneration of tumor resection using an engineered BioHJzyme