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Late-time growth of an inhomogeneous, turbulent mixing layer subjected to transient compression
No full textRecent engineering models of turbulent mixing layers under strain imply that there may be a permanent modification of important mixing layer physics following a temporary application of strain. This paper presents a set of Implicit Large-Eddy Simulations of a canonical Richtmyer-Meshkov instability to explore the validity of this model result. The well-characterised -group quarter scale case is modified to include a strain rate which halves domain widths in approximately five eddy turnover times. Following the removal of strain, the observed value of the growth rate exponent = 0.112 which is a 2.5 times reduction compared with the unstrained case. Whilst is slowly rising at late time, the actual change in is qualitatively in good agreement with the engineering model but is quantitatively a much greater change than expected. Mixedness also increases significantly, from Θ = 0.8 for the unstrained to Θ = 0.9 following the application of strain. Turbulent kinetic energy substantially rises during strain, but then dissipates more rapidly following the removal of strain due to the decreased turbulent length-scales. Overall these results demonstrate that modifications to engineering models, such as those proposed by Pascoe et al. (Phys. Rev. Fluids 10 (6), 064609, 2025) are needed to capture these significant variations in flow physics which persist even following the removal of strain. The engineering model further predicts more substantial impacts at high overall compression or expansion as expected in typical applications in inertial confinement fusion, supernovae or explosions.<br/
The roles of switching and inhibition in adult counterintuitive scientific thinking
No full textLearning science often appears to involve replacement of naïve, intuitive ideas with correct, counterintuitive ones. Recent studies indicate that the old naïve, intuitive ideas are not actually replaced but exist alongside the correct but often counterintuitive ones. On this account, newer knowledge for scientific thinking might involve inhibition of the old idea. However, instead of merely inhibiting old ideas, it is possible that switching is necessary to select between new and old scientific ideas. In this study, we explored the direct and indirect contributions of behavioural inhibition, cognitive inhibition and switching to intuitive and counterintuitive science reasoning in adults (N = 167). After replicating the commonly observed processing costs of counterintuitive items relative to intuitive ones, we find that individual differences in switching rather than in inhibition are most strongly associated with variation in the accuracy and speed of adult intuitive and counterintuitive science reasoning. These results suggest that adults switch between older and newer ideas when reasoning about science rather than suppressing one in favour of the other
Advances in drug-releasing vaginal rings
No full textIn recent years, there have been significant advances in the development of vaginal rings for administration of drugs aimed at improving women’s sexual and reproductive health, including the approval of two new products (DapiRing® and Annovera®). Much of the progress and innovation has been driven by efforts to develop new ring products for contraception, HIV prevention, and treatment/prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including multipurpose prevention technologies targeting multiple clinical indication. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the most recent advances in vaginal ring technology for drug delivery applications, focusing primarily on original research articles published within the past ten years. Initial sections of the review article are structured around the application of ring technologies to specific clinical indications, while later sections address next-generation devices, advances in ring testing methods, key challenges, and future opportunities and perspectives. This article will provide a useful reference source to academic, industrial and clinical researchers working in this field
Co-designed unguided internet cognitive behaviour therapy for grief in adolescence: a pilot randomised controlled trial
No full textThis pilot trial aimed to evaluate feasibility and acceptability of co-designed unguided internet CBT for grief. Efficacy was assessed for anxiety (primary outcome), well-being, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and prolonged grief (secondary outcomes), relative to four-week wait-list control. There were 88 participants, M age = 16.95 years, SD = 1.45, who had experienced the death of a person (n = 72; 81.82%) or other loss (e.g. parental divorce; n = 16; 18.81%). Participants were randomised to intervention (n = 49; 55.68%), or waitlist control (n = 39; 44.31%). Outcome measures included the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale, Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale Revised, Children’s Revised Impact of Events Scale, and the WHO-5 Well-Being Index. Findings suggest good feasibility, with acceptable recruitment and attrition (n = 9; 18.37% of 49 intervention participants at post-intervention). While no differences in anxiety, depression, PTSD, or prolonged grief were observed between intervention and waitlist control post-intervention, there was a significant small between groups effect on well-being in favour of intervention. There was a significant within group reduction for intervention participants in anxiety, depression and PTSD at follow-up. Acceptability was high, 97% (n = 33 of 34 completers) liked the program, however uptake was moderate.<br/
Visual Grounding in 2D and 3D: A unified perspective and survey
No full textVisual Grounding (VG), the task of localizing specific image or scene regions based on natural language descriptions, is crucial for bridging the semantic gap between vision and language in Artificial Intelligence. Despite substantial progress in both 2D and 3D domains, existing surveys often focus narrowly on one dimension, lacking a unified perspective. This survey provides the first comprehensive review offering such a unified viewpoint, systematically integrating and analyzing research across both 2D and 3D Visual Grounding. We provide a structured categorization of core methodologies, detailing the evolution of two-stage and one-stage paradigms and their representative techniques. Furthermore, we review emerging trends, including the integration of Large Language Models (LLM) for enhanced semantic reasoning and strategies for cross-dimensional knowledge transfer between 2D and 3D VG, as well as the nascent area of monocular 3DVG. The survey also encompasses an overview of benchmark datasets, a discussion of evaluation metrics, an analysis of current performance levels, and an articulation of open challenges. By offering this holistic and systematically organized review, we aim to provide researchers with a clear understanding of the current landscape, facilitate the identification of promising research avenues, and inspire further innovation in this dynamic and impactful cross-modal research area.</p
A systematic review of dialectical behaviour therapy, mentalisation-based treatment and internal family systems therapy for borderline personality disorder with comorbid depression and/or anxiety
No full textBorderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is highly comorbid with depression and anxiety, creating additional difficulty in treating the conditions and poorer prognosis than BPD alone. Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) and Mentalisation-Based Treatment (MBT) are specialised psychotherapies for BPD that have demonstrated positive effects for reducing BPD symptoms and scores on depression and anxiety measures. Although developed for treating PTSD, Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is effective for addressing past trauma that is also common in BPD. This systematic review investigated the effectiveness of DBT, MBT and IFS for treating BPD with comorbid depression and/or anxiety (BPD + D/A). Using the PRISMA protocol, five academic databases were searched for relevant studies and relevant treatment outcomes. Findings were extracted from 12 included studies. Only studies with a confirmed diagnosis of comorbid depression and/or anxiety disorders were included. This review found that DBT and MBT demonstrated significant reductions in BPD and depressive/anxious symptomatology, emotional and interpersonal difficulties, and impulsive behaviours. These therapeutic approaches also demonstrated reduced numbers of visits to emergency departments, reduced numbers of contacts with mental health services and reduced duration of contacts. None of the studies investigated IFS therapy outcomes for BPD + D/A. These findings are concordant with past research and have implications for increasing the use of DBT and MBT for BPD + D/A. Findings also demonstrate the effectiveness of brief DBT interventions as a more practical option for service users with BPD who experience frequent crisis periods and may struggle to commit to a traditional 12-month program. However, findings should be interpreted cautiously due to small and majority-female samples, mixed study designs and a lack of follow-up data
Microbes and medicines: interrelationships between pharmaceuticals and the gut microbiome
No full textThe human gut microbiome plays a critical role in modulating pharmacological and toxicological responses to medications. With a gene pool vastly exceeding that of the human host, the gut microbiome acts as a metabolically active organ capable of transforming, inactivating, or accumulating drugs. This review explores the bidirectional interplay between prescription medicines and the gut microbiome, encompassing three key mechanisms: direct biotransformation by microbial enzymes, indirect modulation of host metabolism and signaling pathways, and drug bioaccumulation within microbial cells. Particular attention is given to six major drug classes: immunotherapeutics, chemotherapeutics, antidepressants, statins, hypoglycemics, and antihypertensives. The ways in which individual microbial profiles can influence therapeutic outcomes are also reviewed. We examined how common non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals can significantly alter microbial diversity and promote antimicrobial resistance. Strategies to enhance drug efficacy through microbiome modulation, including probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), are critically assessed. Experimental models ranging from in vitro batch and chemostat systems to animal and clinical studies are compared in terms of their utility for studying drug‒microbiome interactions. Finally, emerging evidence suggesting the gut microbiota composition may serve as a predictive biomarker for personalized medicine and therapeutic success is highlighted. Understanding and harnessing the complex interrelationships between medicines and microorganisms could offer novel avenues to optimize treatment outcomes and mitigate adverse drug effects.<br/
Prognostic significance of beta‐adrenergic receptor expression in oesophageal adenocarcinoma
No full textExpression of the β‐adrenergic receptors' family has been associated with survival outcomes in multiple different cancer types, showing their potential to act as prognostic factors. No previous work has evaluated these receptors in relation to survival in oesophageal adenocarcinoma. We sought to analyse the expression of β1 and β2 adrenergic receptors in oesophageal adenocarcinoma and their association with survival outcomes. The expression of β1 and β2 adrenergic receptors was evaluated in a cohort of oesophageal adenocarcinoma patients treated with neo‐adjuvant chemotherapy prior to surgical resection at the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre between 2004 and 2012. Immunohistochemical staining for was assessed using a Tissue Microarray with triplicate tumour cores. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to investigate the association of β1 and β2 adrenergic receptor expression with survival outcomes, including adjustment for clinical factors. In total, 115 and 122 patients were assessed for β1 and β2 adrenergic receptor expression, respectively. In adjusted analysis, high β2 adrenergic receptor expression was associated with improved recurrence‐free [hazard ratio [HR] 0.57, 95% CI 0.33–0.97] and overall survival (HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.30–0.94) with restriction to gastro‐oesophageal junction tumours showing a stronger association with improved overall survival (HR 0.27, 95% CI 0.13–0.59). No significant association was observed for β1 adrenergic receptor expression and any survival outcome. In summary, we found that higher expression of the β2 adrenergic receptor was associated with a significant improvement in survival in oesophageal adenocarcinoma patients, and gastro‐oesophageal junction tumours in particular, treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgical resection.<br/