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Staying hooked: effective science engagement and communication in recreational fisheries
No full text● This abstract summarizes the results of two expert consultations conducted to gather insights into effective communication and engagement strategies in recreational fisheries.● Effective science communication fosters knowledge, understanding, and trust in both science and management decisions.● Public involvement and stakeholder engagement are essential for effective management.● Simplifying complex research findings and using diverse communication tools enhance awareness and understanding.● Strong communication strategies are necessary to implement sustainable recreational fisheries management frameworks.● Funding for communication efforts is often insufficient but remains crucial for success.● Participatory workshops and data-sharing arrangements enhance collaboration and involvement.● Multi-stakeholder consortiums and tailored communication strategies strengthen stakeholder engagement and promote adaptive governance. Interdisciplinary outreach and strategic social media use play vital roles in raising environmental awareness
Metal interdiffusion enhanced WOx/CuOx heterojunction optoelectronic memristive synapses for face recognition application
No full textAnnealing improves the switching and synaptic performance of ITO/WOx/CuOx/ITO transparent devices. The device has low SET and RESET voltages, stable and robust AC endurance of up to 106 cycles, and can retain the states for more than 104 s. The device demonstrates synaptic capabilities by emulating neural functions under both electrical and light stimuli. The behaviors including long-term potentiation/depression, paired-pulse facilitation, spike-timing-dependent plasticity, and fully tunable relaxation time of short-term memory, mimicking the temporal dynamics of the biological neuron, are declared. A convolutional neural network operation is conducted by exploiting the synaptic functions of the device. The high accuracy of 96.67% with high noise tolerance (close to an ideal synapse) can be achieved. Material analyses are conducted, and switching/synaptic mechanisms are proposed to explain such phenomena
Stories from the bottom up: emergent narratives with composable story sifting patterns
No full textEmergent Narratives (EN) are a popular approach in game design where stories naturally emerge from players' interactions with the game world. Story sifting is an EN technique where the player’s attention is drawn to particularly interesting narrative patterns, but these story sifting patterns can be complex and difficult to create. To address this, we have developed an event-based rules system that supports composable patterns: building blocks that allow higher-level stories to be constructed from lower level ones. We demonstrate our approach through a simulation (of an alien invasion scenario) alongside a powerful incremental story sifter that curates compound events. We conduct agent ratio and stability testing to demonstrate the system's robustness, and a complexity test to show how the performance of the sifter scales with agent numbers and map size. Our findings show that the system remains stable throughout. Our work demonstrates that an event-based rules approach can effectively support composite patterns, ultimately enabling the curation of more complex EN stories
Large-area electrodeposited WSe<sub>2</sub> over graphene electrodes for optoelectronics
No full textIntegrating graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) into layered material heterostructures brings together the exciting properties that each constituent 2D material offers. However, scaling the growth of graphene-TMD and related heterostructures remains a major challenge. In this work, we demonstrate the use of electrodeposition with a single source precursor (SSP), WSeCl4, to grow few-layer WSe2 using graphene as an electrode. Through characterization via photoluminescence, X-ray photoelectron, and Raman spectroscopy, we show that the electrodeposited WSe2 is stoichiometric and exhibits semiconducting and light-emitting properties. TEM imaging was also performed to show the ordering of the stacked layers of WSe2 over graphene, demonstrating the polycrystalline structure of WSe2. This work paves the way toward utilizing electrodeposition to stack multiple TMDs, including MoS2, WS2, and WSe2 over graphene for electronic and optoelectronic applications
Neoadjuvant PARP inhibitor scheduling in BRCA1 and BRCA2 related breast cancer: PARTNER, a randomized phase II/III trial
No full textPoly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) exploit DNA repair deficiency in germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variant (gBRCAm) cancers. Haematological toxicity limits chemotherapy-PARPi treatment combinations. In preclinical models we identified a schedule combining olaparib and carboplatin that avoids enhanced toxicity but maintains anti-tumour activity. We investigated this schedule in a neoadjuvant, phase II-III, randomised controlled trial for gBRCAm breast cancers (ClinicalTrials.gov ID:NCT03150576; PARTNER). The research arm included carboplatin (Area Under the Curve 5, 3-weekly); paclitaxel (80 mg/m
2, weekly) day 1, plus olaparib (150 mg twice daily) day 3-14 (4 cycles), followed by anthracycline-containing chemotherapy (3 cycles); control arm gave chemotherapy alone. The primary endpoint, pathological complete response rate, showed no statistical difference between research 64.1% (25/39); control 69.8% (30/43) (p = 0.59). However, estimated survival outcomes at 36-months demonstrated improved event-free survival: research 96.4%, control 80.1% (p = 0.04); overall survival: research 100%, control 88.2% (p = 0.04) and breast cancer specific survival: research 100%, control 88.2% (p = 0.04). There were no statistical differences in relapse-free survival and distant disease-free survival, both were: research 96.4%, control 87.9% (p = 0.20). Similarly, local recurrence-free survival and time to second cancer were both: research 96.4%, control 87.8% (p = 0.20). The PARTNER trial identified a safe, tolerable schedule combining neoadjuvant chemotherapy with olaparib. This combination demonstrated schedule-dependent overall survival benefit in early-stage gBRCAm breast cancer. This result needs confirmation in larger trials.
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Photonics breakthroughs 2024: advances in B5G Radio-Power Over Fiber fronthaul
No full textSpecific demands of providing power to equipment in remote areas or hazardous environments, including populated areas, requiring high throughputs and ultra-low latency in beyond 5G (B5G) mobile communications that are based on Radio over Fiber (RoF) have made Power over Fiber (PoF) attractive. This paper reviews a breakthrough of a long-distance hollow core fiber (HCF) fronthaul (up to 11.1 km) able to meet the requirements of B5G optical mobile networks, where the transmission medium is common to both 5G NR and PoF signals. This work is placed in context and compared with results provided by other authors, showing the relevance of the outcomes and subsequent future possibilities. It also creates a discussion in which the performance of other fiber technologies may be compared, as new B5G fronthauls with special attention paid to transmission in a single fiber, avoiding noise transfer between high power laser PoF source and 5G-NR data that affects the signal quality. PoF energy delivery efficiencies are also analyzed, achieving up to 9.9 % efficiency (from launched optical power to electrical power on the load) for a 3.1 km HCF and 0.9 % for a 11.1 km HCF. The PoF signal is used to supply a Bluetooth Low-Energy load
Identifying one-inflation in regression models for ratio estimators in single-source capture-recapture problems
No full textRegression modelling of ratio estimators, in short ratio regression, has been developed as a flexible instrument to allow for a wide class of count data distributions. In particular, it turns out to be useful in zero-truncated count distributions as they typically arise in capture-recapture settings. One-inflation describes the occurrence of extra-ones relative to a base count distribution and is a phenomenon frequently occurring in capture-recapture studies caused, for example, by behavioural change. The work presented here shows how one-inflation can be incorporated into ratio regression modelling and how one-inflation can be assessed in ratio regression modelling. Population size estimation on the basis of ratio regression is discussed and applied to a case study on heroin users in Chiang Mai, Thailand. For all model-based estimators, computational inference is developed by means of the bootstrap. As several versions of the bootstrap are possible, a simulation study is included comparing the different approaches. One of the main results shows that integrating the model selection into the population size inference leads to favourable properties, such as good coverage probabilities
Outcome reporting in studies of paediatric achalasia: a systematic review
No full textObjectives: paediatric achalasia is a rare condition associated with significant morbidity. A core outcome set (COS) would standardise reporting, enable comparison of data sets, and focus research efforts; ultimately improving care for children with achalasia. We aimed to identify outcomes currently reported in studies of paediatric achalasia to inform outcomes for a COS.Methods: a systematic review was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines. Studies investigating children ≤18 years of age with a diagnosis of achalasia were included. Primary and secondary outcomes were recorded and assigned to OMERACT core areas. The study was pre-registered (PROSPERO: CRD42024509855).Results: sixty-two studies were included in this review, consisting of 54 retrospective and 8 prospective studies. Median cohort size was 20 patients (inter-quartile range: 13–28). Forty-eight unique outcomes were reported. The most common outcomes reported were intra-operative complications (65%, 40 studies), post-operative complications (58%, 36 studies) and length of stay (58%, 36 studies). A primary outcome was specified in 12 studies (19%), the most common was the Eckardt score (13%) in 8 studies. Studies least frequently reported outcomes in the death (21%, 13 studies) and pathophysiological manifestations (35%, 22 studies) core areas.Conclusions: the studies included in this review were predominantly small and retrospective. Of the few studies that specified a primary outcome, the majority used the Eckardt score, which is unvalidated in children. Outcomes relevant to pathophysiological manifestations, life impact and survival were under-reported. A COS for paediatric achalasia, involving key stakeholders, would ensure that patient-relevant outcomes were reported, reduce heterogeneity and facilitate meta-analysis
Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists improve MASH and liver fibrosis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
No full textBackground/Aims: There is uncertainty regarding the hepatic efficacy of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) or steatohepatitis (MASH). We performed a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to examine the efficacy of GLP-1RAs in treating MASLD or MASH.Methods: we systematically searched three electronic databases from inception until April 2025 to identify RCTs examining the efficacy of GLP-1RAs for the treatment of MASLD or MASH. The outcome measures included MASH resolution without worsening of fibrosis or improvement in at least one stage of fibrosis without worsening of MASH, along with reductions in liver fat content measured using magnetic resonance-based techniques. Meta-analysis was conducted using random-effects models.Results: we identified 13 phase 2 or phase 3 RCTs (1811 participants). These trials diagnosed MASLD or MASH through liver biopsy (n = 4) or magnetic resonance-based techniques (n = 9). Regardless of diabetes status, among individuals with MASH and moderate-to-advanced fibrosis, GLP-1RAs (especially semaglutide 2.4 mg/week) for up to 72 weeks were superior to placebo in achieving MASH resolution (n = 3 RCTs; pooled random-effects odds ratio 3.48, 95% CI 2.69–4.51; I2 = 0%), and in improving liver fibrosis (pooled odds ratio 1.79, 95% CI 1.37–2.35; I2 = 0%). Among individuals with MASH-related compensated cirrhosis (n = 1 RCT available only), semaglutide did not lead to MASH resolution or improved fibrosis compared to placebo. Furthermore, GLP-1RAs reduced magnetic resonance-measured liver fat content (n = 9; pooled mean difference: −4.50%, 95% CI −6.60 to −2.40%; I2 = 95.9%).Conclusions: GLP-1RAs are a promising treatment option for MASLD or MASH. Further research is needed to evaluate the long-term effects of GLP-1RAs on liver-related clinical events
Sexual assertiveness across cultures, genders, and sexual orientations: validation of the Short Sexual Assertiveness Questionnaire (SAQ-9)
No full textSexual assertiveness (SA) is an important concept in understanding sexual well-being and decision-making. However, psychometric evaluation of existing measures of SA in diverse populations is largely lacking, hindering cross-cultural and comparative studies. This study validated the short version of the Sexual Assertiveness Questionnaire (SAQ-9) and examined its measurement invariance across several languages, countries, genders, sexual orientations, and relationship statuses among 65,448 sexually-active adults (M
age = 32.98 years, SD = 12.08, 58% women, 2.74% gender-diverse individuals) taking part in the International Sex Survey. The scale demonstrated adequate psychometric properties. Measurement invariance tests indicated that the SAQ-9 is suitable for comparing individuals from different cultures, genders, sexual orientations, and relationship statuses, and significant group differences were also noted (e.g., gender-diverse individuals reported the highest levels of SA). Findings suggest that the SAQ-9 is a reliable and valid measure of SA and appropriate for use in diverse populations, with specific populations exhibiting varying levels of SA.</p
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