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Mapping the landscape of mycological organizations in europe: where citizen science meets professional mycology
No full textFungi have been used by humans since prehistoric times. Informal structures or groups for knowledge exchange regarding mushrooms and lichens probably existed for ages. Only recently, mycological activities have been structured in formal organizations. And where until a few centuries ago there were only learned societies and naturalists’ clubs, nowadays also mycological societies and citizen scientists have joined the landscape. However, the history of mycological organizations and activities in Europe is difficult to track. Here, we initiated two surveys to characterize the current landscape of mycological organizations focused on fungal diversity across Europe and to collate citizen science activities mapping fungi. The surveys were shared on social media and sent to mycologists in 49 countries in Europe. Responses of the surveys allowed us to present the history, geographical distribution, and structure of mycological organizations in Europe as well as their types of activities, including the publication of journals and magazines, the organization of meetings and educational initiatives, and citizen science projects. In addition to the surveys, local mycologists presented expert knowledge for a more comprehensive overview. Our data show that the mycological landscape in Europe is diverse and heterogeneous. We discuss ways to overcome economic, cultural, and linguistic barriers towards better integration of mycological communities, activities, and data in Europe. Mycological societies focused on studying fungal diversity can be leveraged towards common goals that include raising public awareness, data integration, uniting academics and non-academics, and developing common standards for research and communication
H&E-based MSI/MMR testing with AI in colorectal cancer: a multi-centred blinded evaluation
No full textMismatch repair (MMR) deficiency occurs in 10-20% of colorectal cancer (CRC) cases, leading to microsatellite instability (MSI). Although MSI/MMR testing is critical for CRC management, high costs and long turnaround times limit testing rates and clinical utility, highlighting the need for more accessible, cost-effective alternatives. PANProfiler Colorectal (PPC) is an artificial intelligence (AI)-based biomarker test that determines MSI/MMR status directly from haematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained slides. We conducted a blinded, multi-centred validation to assess PPC's performance against standard testing. The study included 3,576 whole slide images from 1,243 CRC patients across three United Kingdom institutions. PPC produced definitive results for 86.55% of slides, achieving an overall agreement of 93.83%, positive agreement of 92.54%, and negative agreement of 94.02%. PPC accurately determined MSI/MMR status from routine H&E slides, offering a rapid, scalable alternative to conventional diagnostic methods
LCA studies of fruit and vegetables production, storage and transportation using different packagings in consideration of food waste and energy consumption
No full textPackaging significantly affects the loss and waste rate of fresh fruit and vegetables (FV), and thus the environmental impact. The usage of reusable plastic crate (RPC) can reduce food loss and waste (FLW), energy consumption, and thus the relevant environmental impact. However, studies combining FV and all these considerations are limited. This article applies life cycle assessment (LCA), from farm to store shelf, to evaluate the environmental impact of FV and their packaging, including Global Warming Potential (GWP), Freshwater Eutrophication Potential (EP), Freshwater Ecotoxicity Potential (FETP) and Water consumption Potential (WCP). It shows that the RPC usage can significantly reduce environmental impacts. Considering the food loss and waste reduction and energy optimisation brought by RPC usage, RPC usage can reduce GWP increase by 32.36 %–50.38 % as compared to cardboard (CB) packaging, FETP by 3.1 %–16.8 %, EP by 1.9 %–13.4 % and WCP by 3.4 %–16.9 %. The most notable reduction in GWP and FETP is observed for cabbage among the selected FV due to the highest loss rate. When combining food and packaging two life cycles together, the RPC usage can reduce GWP by 4.50 %–16.61 % compared to CB, . Electricity and FLW rate are identified as highly sensitive factors to total environmental impact, while electricity and fertilizer demonstrated a high sensitivity for GWP and FETP, respectively. The study shows that RPC has coupling advantages over CB in terms of indirect and direct impacts on GHG emissions and other environmental impacts. The results support a further deployment of RPC as a means to reduce the environmental influence and waste.<br/
Clinical remission in severe asthma treated with biologics and macrolides: Definition, prevalence, associated factors, and future perspectives
No full textSevere asthma is associated with persistent symptoms, frequent exacerbations, oral corticosteroid dependence, and reduced lung function. The emergence of biologic therapies targeting type 2 (T2) cytokines, including IL-5, IL-4, IL-13, thymic stromal lymphopoietin, and circulating IgE, has changed disease management and led to substantial improvement. This approach has also introduced the concept of clinical remission (defined as controlled symptoms, no maintenance corticosteroid use, no exacerbations, and optimized/stabilized lung function) as a potential treatment target. Although some guidelines propose remission criteria, no universally accepted definition exists, and reported prevalence varies depending on definitions, and therapies, and patient groups. Clinical remission has been achieved in approximately one-third of patients receiving T2-targeted biologics. Factors associated with achieving clinical remission include less severe disease (less symptoms, fewer exacerbations, and better lung function), fewer comorbidities (e.g. obesity, anxiety/depression), greater T2-disease activity (the presence of nasal polyps and higher T2 biomarkers), and early treatment response. Azithromycin therapy can also contribute to achieving remission in both T2-high and T2-low moderate to severe asthma phenotypes. Future perspectives on asthma remission include integrating a treatable traits approach, establishing and validating the definition of complete remission, and assessing the long-term benefits of achieving remission. Complete remission may encompass clinical remission, inflammatory remission (normalization of T2 biomarkers), and structural/functional remission (resolution of bronchial hyperresponsiveness, mucus plugging, and airway remodeling). Standardizing remission criteria will enable the identification of predictive factors and facilitate personalized, treat-to-target strategies. Early induction of clinical remission may be a promising strategy for optimizing outcomes in severe asthma
External evaluation of the Manchester score in a contemporary SCLC cohort
No full textOBJECTIVES: The Manchester Score, a prognostic model developed in 1987, was used to stratify patients with Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) by mortality risk, including stage, performance status, and three blood tests as risk factors. Many tools have since been developed for this purpose, but few have seen clinical use, with lack of robust external validation frequently cited as a barrier. In this study we apply a robust and pragmatic external validation approach to the Manchester Score to understand if it remains valid in an unselected modern patient cohort.METHODS: SCLC patients treated in an academic centre between 2013 and 2022 (N = 1783) were included in the validation cohort. Discrimination was assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves, AUC, and Harrell's C-index for the Manchester score and its underlying Cox model. Three levels of Cox model updating were used to address missing baseline hazard data: recalibration, recalibration with rescaling, and model refitting. Calibration was then evaluated with optimism adjustment at 6-, 12-, and 24-months post-diagnosis.RESULTS: The Manchester score shows good discrimination in the modern patient cohort. There is clear separation between risk groups in the Kaplan-Meier curves, with AUC = 0.75 and C-index = 0.68 for the Manchester Score and (AUC = 0.79, C-index = 0.70) for the underlying Cox model. Median survival in the 'good' prognostic group (meeting < 2/5 risk criteria) has increased compared to that from 1987. All model updating methods reported good calibration, with recalibration alone providing the best observed-to-expected ratio at 6 months (1.012 [0.978,1.045]).CONCLUSION: The original Manchester Score prognostic groups remain discriminative of survival, and when updated can predict survival probability at multiple timepoints.</p
Sum capacity characterization of pinching antennas-assisted multiple access channels
No full textPinching antenna system (PASS) has recently shown its promising ability to flexibly reconfigure wireless channels via dynamically adjusting the positions of pinching antennas over a dielectric waveguide, termed as pinching beamforming. This paper studies the fundamental limit of the sum rate for a PASS-assisted multiple access channel, where multiple users transmit individual messages to a base station under the average power constraint. To this end, a dynamic pinching beamforming setup is conceived, where multiple pinching beamforming vectors are employed in a transmission period and the capacity-achieving non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) based scheme is considered. For the ideal case with an asymptotically large number of pinching beamforming vectors, the optimal transmission scheme is unveiled to carry out alternating transmission among each user whose channel power gain is maximized with the tailored pinching beamforming. This implies that NOMA is not needed for achieving the sum capacity and the required optimal number of pinching beamforming vectors is equal to the number of users. With this insight, the corresponding sum rate is derived in closed-form expression, which serves as the upper bound of the sum rate. Inspired by this result, a lower bound of the sum rate under an arbitrarily finite number of pinching beamforming vectors is obtained. Numerical results validate our theoretical findings and also illustrate the practical significance of using dynamic pinching beamforming to improve the sum rate
Superluminous supernovae: diverse rise times explain diverse spectra
No full textType I superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are a diverse class of exceptionally bright massive star explosions, which typically exhibit absorption from ionised oxygen in their early spectra. While their photometric properties (luminosity and duration) both span an order of magnitude, population studies suggest that these distributions are continuous. However, spectroscopic samples have shown some indications of distinct sub-types, either through similarity to certain prototype objects, or in terms of their velocity evolution. Here we show that a well-observed SLSN, PTF12dam, completely changes its O II absorption profile as it rises to maximum light, moving from one proposed sub-type to another. This supports an interpretation where spectroscopic diversity is driven by the ejecta temperature at maximum light, rather than fundamental differences in the explosion or progenitor. Motivated by this, we develop a new diagnostic, the Brightness-Timescale-Temperature-Radius diagram, and a simple toy model for the evolution of the photospheric velocity, to show that diversity in the light curve rise time (likely due to differences in ejected mass) naturally explains why SLSNe with broader light curves generally have weaker O II lines, lower photospheric velocities after maximum, and slower changes in photospheric velocity over time. We show that the velocity distribution of the known SLSN population favours a relatively flat ejecta density profile, consistent with a hot bubble inflated by a central engine
Frequency-constrained dispatch for integrated power and transportation system considering frequency response from EV charging stations
No full textThe increasing penetration of renewable energy threatens frequency security in future power systems, while electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) can provide flexible and fast frequency response (FR). This paper develops a frequency-constrained dispatch scheme for the integrated power–transportation system (IPTS) considering FR from EVCSs to co-optimize unit commitment, generation dispatch, FR, and traffic routing. The IPTS dispatch model incorporates the constraints of the power system, transportation system, and EVCSs, and assesses the impacts of EVCS-provided FR on both systems. To address the model’s nonconvexities, tailored model reformulation methods are designed to transform the original model into a mixed-integer second-order cone programming (MISOCP) form. Case studies on two test systems show that the proposed scheme maintains frequency security while reducing operating cost and carbon emissions
The relationship between acceptance and commitment therapy processes and the well-being of adults with acquired facial palsy
No full textPsychological flexibility, a key process in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), underpins adaptive coping and well-being in chronic conditions but has not been examined in adults with facial palsy (FP). This study explored associations between psychological flexibility processes, functioning, and well-being in this population. A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 124 adults with acquired facial palsy (FP) across the UK and Northern Ireland. Measures included psychological flexibility processes (valued action, openness to experience, behavioural awareness), social and physical functioning, well-being, anxiety, and depression. Hierarchical multiple regressions examined covariates of well-being, anxiety, and depression, entering demographics (age, gender) at Step 1, functioning at Step 2, and psychological flexibility at Step 3. Social functioning was the most consistent covariate across models, associated with greater well-being and lower anxiety and depression. Psychological flexibility processes contributed to well-being and anxiety, with valued action, behavioural awareness, and openness to experience predicting greater well-being, while openness to experience and behavioural awareness predicted greater anxiety. Psychological flexibility was not associated with depression. Findings suggest that psychological flexibility processes contribute uniquely to well-being and anxiety among adults with FP, beyond demographic and functional factors. In contrast, depressive symptoms were primarily associated with reduced social functioning. ACT-informed interventions that strengthen valued action and behavioural awareness, alongside support targeting social functioning, may be beneficial for this population.</p
