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The role of inflammation in myopic retinopathy
No full textHigh myopia is a global health concern, often leading to degenerative retinal changes known as myopic retinopathy. Although mechanical stress, hypoperfusion, extracellular matrix remodeling, and growth factor dysregulation have been implicated in the pathogenesis of myopic retinopathy, emerging evidence highlights the critical role of chronic low-grade inflammation. Both innate and adaptive immune systems participate in myopic retinopathy through systemic and local inflammation. Systemically, immune dysregulation is marked by elevated levels of complement proteins C3, autoantibodies anti-LIM and senesce nt cell antigen-like-containing domain protein 1 (anti-LIMS1), and altered circulating immune cells (increased neutrophils and basophils). Locally, retinal homeostasis disruption triggers intraocular inflammation, evidenced by higher levels of interleukin-6 (IL−6), IL−8, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF−α), C-C motif chemokine ligand-2 (CCL2), C−X−C motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) and activating the complement system. The inflammatory response involves signaling pathways such as JAK-STAT and complement cascades. This review summarizes recent advances in understanding immunological mechanisms underlying myopic retinopathy, offering insights to guide future research.</p
Policy brief on how to foster Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial Planning in Campania
No full textAs part of the MarinePlan project, we have created policy briefs on how to foster Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial Planning in each of the project's study sites. This policy brief is for the Italian region of Campania
Assessing clinical competence of postgraduate dental specialty trainees: a scoping review
No full textBackgroundAssessment is essential to ensure that trainees meet competency standards in delivering patient care. However, a comprehensive summary of the literature on clinical assessment in postgraduate dental education is largely absent. Filling this gap is essential for developing effective assessment processes to help support competency-based education at the postgraduate level. To address this gap, this scoping review aims to map the published literature on the assessment of clinical competence for postgraduate dental specialty trainees to identify knowledge gaps and future research areas.MethodsGuided by Arskey and O'Malley's framework, a comprehensive search was conducted across four databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS and Google Scholar) from 2005 until March 2025. The search was focused on subheadings related to assessment and postgraduate dental specialty training. Two researchers independently screened the literature for eligibility using inclusion/exclusion criteria, extracted key data and analysed data thematically. The research report strategy followed the most recent PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews.ResultsThirty-three articles met the inclusion criteria, with almost equal distribution between Asia, the United States and Canada and Europe. The articles covered diverse aspects of assessment in postgraduate dental specialty training, such as individual assessment tools, WBA, assessment systems, EPA and assessment format. The number of published articles on this topic increased over fourfold in the 2015–2025 decade compared to the previous decade. Qualitatively, four themes were identified in the analysis: (1) assessment concept: the why, what and who? (2) methods and tools used in assessment; (3) challenges, opportunities and areas for future research and (4) users' perceptions of assessment.ConclusionResearch on clinical competence assessment in postgraduate dental education is currently limited, particularly in terms of synthesis of assessment information for making progression decisions on individual trainees. Future research should focus on assessment systems that align with competency-based education principles, leverage digital enhancements and are contextually relevant. This review underscores the complexities involved in designing and implementing a competency-based assessment system within a clinical context and the need for user involvement and feedback to improve the effective utility of assessments and ensure engagement of all stakeholders.<br/
Investigating the factors influencing antibiotic use practices and their association with antimicrobial resistance awareness among poultry farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria
No full textObjective:Effectively addressing poultry farmers’ antibiotic use and its role in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) presents a significant challenge, but improving their knowledge and practices is crucial for mitigating AMR risks and safeguarding public health. This study aimed to assess farmers’ understanding and behaviors to identify public health risks and inform targeted interventions.Design:Survey-based cross-sectional study.Setting:200 poultry farms in Enugu State, Nigeria.Participants:Poultry farmers.Methods:A cross-sectional survey of 200 poultry farms in Enugu State, Nigeria, was conducted using a validated questionnaire targeting farmers responsible for key farm decisions. The questionnaire covered sociodemographic data, AMR knowledge, and antibiotic use practices. Ethical approval was obtained, and participants provided oral consent.Results:Findings showed that 90.5% of farmers used antibiotics, primarily for treating infections (80.5%) and for growth promotion or prophylaxis (61%). Ampicillin (75%), ciprofloxacin (71.5%), and doxycycline (71%) were the most commonly used antibiotics, with monthly administration being prevalent (48%). Additionally, 89% of respondents believed antibiotics promote poultry growth. Alarmingly, 65% were unaware of AMR, and only 16% recognized its health risks.Conclusion:The heavy reliance on antibiotics, particularly ampicillin, raises concerns about beta-lactamase selection amid Nigeria’s carbapenem resistance issues. The significant knowledge gap among farmers highlights the urgent need for targeted education and stricter antibiotic regulation to mitigate AMR risks in poultry farming.<br/
Integrated rumen-animal-manure analysis of dairy emission mitigation by feeding apple pomace and hempseed cake
No full textAgri-food by-products are underused feed resources with the potential to reduce dairy emissions, yet most studies examined rumen and manure stages separately, which mask whole-system effects and shift environmental burdens between stages. This study is the first to assess the effects of incorporating apple pomace (AP) and hempseed cake (HC) into dairy cow diets on nitrogen and methane (CH4) emissions, across the entire milk production chain, from rumen fermentation to downstream manure storage. A 3 (treatments) x 3 (Periods) Latin square design was used with 15 cows, treatment diets included (1) CON (control diet): basal diets with forage and concentrates; (2) AP: 10 % of AP replacing forage; (3) HC: 10 % of HC replacing concentrates. Faeces and urine outputs were collected separately from animals, for manure storage experiment. Feeding AP and HC decreased (P < 0.01), respectively, enteric CH4 production by 6.3 % and 6.7 %, CH4/feed intake by 10.6 % and 10.1 %, and CH4/milk yield by 9.8 % and 10.9 %. Inclusion of AP decreased urine N /total N intake, compared to CON and HC (P < 0.05). In manure storage, the AP decreased the cumulative ammonia (NH3) and CH4 emissions by 24.8 % and 27.4 % than CON, respectively (P < 0.05). The above mitigation actions through feeding AP and HC, when working together in implementation for feeding dairy cows, could decrease annual CO2 equivalent emissions by 13 % and 10 % respectively. This is the first integrated study combining rumen fermentation with manure impacts, showing that AP and HC inclusion can be a practical approach to mitigate emissions in dairy farming.<br/
Little fish in big ponds: the pathways to inclusion for micro-minorities in power-sharing societies
No full textEmergent critique of consociations has focused on how micro-minority ‘others’ are frequently excluded from the opportunities presented by power-sharing systems, with dominant elites shutting them out. Therefore, a key question is: how do the political elites of micro-minorities gain more meaningful inclusion by adopting or navigating the formal and informal institutions? Based on interviews, the paper compares micro-minorities in four consociations – Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Lebanon and Northern Ireland – which differ regarding two variables: the presence of informal institutions and the position on the corporate-liberal axis. We argue that while liberal rules put micro-minority ‘others’ in a ‘better’ position on paper, the liberal-corporate distinction is not enough to explain their ‘exclusion amid inclusion’. Only by understanding the relative formality-informality of the consociational systems can a full picture be painted.<br/
Observations of flare induced Doppler shifts in the Si iii 1206 Å line
No full textDoppler shifts in chromospheric and transition-region lines during solar flares are often interpreted as chromospheric condensation or evaporation. However, alternative sources of Doppler-shifted emission have been suggested, such as filament eruptions, jets or chromospheric bubbles. We analyse high-cadence scans from SORCE/SOLSTICE, which provide one-minute resolution profiles of the transition-region Si III (1206 Å, T = 104.6 K) line. 11X-, M-, and C-class events observed during these scans with clear impulsive phase Si III enhancements were identified. By subtracting a quiet-Sun profile and fitting Gaussian profiles to the Si III line, measurements of flare-induced Doppler shifts were made. After correcting for a systematic trend in these shifts with solar longitude, two of the 11 events were found to exhibit a significant Doppler shift, one with a 201.36 ± 21.94 km s−1 redshift and the other with a −39.75 ± 11.00 km s−1 blueshift. Intriguingly, SDO/AIA 304 Å and 1600 Å imaging revealed a bright eruption coincident with the event that exhibited a blueshift, suggesting the shift may have resulted from the eruption rather than evaporation alone. Our results highlight Si III as a useful diagnostic of flaring dynamics at a temperature that has received limited attention to date. Future comparisons of these observations with radiative hydrodynamic simulations, along with new observations from state-of-the-art spectrometers such as SOLAR-C/EUVST and MUSE, should clarify the mechanisms behind the observed shifts in this study.<br/
Multiple target detection in OTFS-ISAC
No full textIn this paper, we propose a hybrid beamforming design for multiple target detection in an orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS)-based integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system. The proposed hybrid beamformer allows spatial separation of the beams for communication and sensing, thereby eliminating inter-beam interference (IBI), while reducing the number of required radio frequency (RF) chains. More specifically, in addition to the beams allocated for communication users, multiple beams are assigned for target scanning and detection. By applying a combiner to the received echo signals, information about the target's existence, along with its angular, range, and Doppler characteristics, can be directly obtained across different RF chains. To shed light on the system performance, we analyze the signal-to-interference-plusnoise ratio (SINR) and discuss the effect of the beamformer in the on-grid and off-grid cases, respectively. Our simulation results indicate that accurate sensing can be achieved with integer delay and Doppler indices; however, in the cases of fractional delay and Doppler, the sensing accuracy depends on the resolution of these parameters
Shopfloor apprentices under a lean labour process: insights from a British car plant
No full textThis article considers how lean production changes the shopfloor learning experience of apprentices. Insights from labour process and communities of practice literature are used to interrogate the study. Evidence derives from apprentices’ experiences in a British car assembly plant across several decades. The study compares pre-lean apprentices’ experiences with those who learn under lean, considering how lean might reshape apprentices’ shopfloor interactions with the plant community of practice. It finds that lean appears unfavourable to apprentices’ integration into the community of practice by debilitating learning opportunities with mentors. The article concludes by theorising how inefficiency and waste may aid on-the-job learning for workplace apprentices.<br/
Ontological violence in the case of the ‘Paiter Suruí Carbon Credit REDD+ Project’
No full textSustainability initiatives are increasingly engaging with Indigenous realities across the world. Developed through a diversity of frameworks and supported by public and private actors, sustainability initiatives involve claims of conservation and development. However, such development notions often presume common ground between Indigenous realities and sustainability initiatives, neglecting foundational differences that can lead to contemporary forms of colonization and violence. In this paper, we explore how sustainability initiatives and Indigenous realities engage with each other by empirically engaging with the ‘Paiter Suruí Carbon Credit REDD+ Project’ in Rondônia - Brazil. Drawing from a political ontology lens, we examine ethical imposition and ontological violence over the life of this program, describing their mechanisms. We argue that despite the positive potentials of such programs, sustainability initiatives can lead to a process by which indigenous modes of life are disrupted by the imposition of external discourses and practices