192815 research outputs found
Sort by
Nondestructive testing for composite materials: methods, challenges, and future outlook
No full textComposite materials offer superior specific properties, enabling improved efficiency and cost-effectiveness across a wide range of industries. To ensure safety and reduce maintenance costs, these structures require reliable nondestructive testing (NDT) for effective structural health monitoring (SHM). Various NDT techniques—including microwave sensing, ultrasonic testing, acoustic emission, guided waves, thermography, optical methods, and eddy current testing—are employed to detect deformations, cracks, flaws, and other defects in carbon- and glass-fiber-reinforced polymer composites. This work examines the operational principles, historical evolution, standard procedures, instrumentation, and performance of these methods, highlighting their respective strengths, limitations, and suitability for different defect types. Comparative analysis is provided to identify the most appropriate techniques for specific SHM scenarios. Finally, future trends are discussed, emphasizing automated, intelligent inspection systems with enhanced accuracy, data processing capabilities, and integration potential for next-generation composite monitoring solutions
An inclusive economy classification of British Local Authority Districts and assessment of its association with life expectancy and lifespan variation
No full textUsing primarily open-source data, we curated 13 indicators to consistently capture the concept of the inclusive economy across Local Authority Districts in Great Britain. We used unsupervised k-means clustering to identify clusters of similar Local Authority Districts with respect to their economic inclusivity. We identified four distinct clusters of Local Authority Districts, those which are: (1) more economically inclusive; (2) less economically inclusive; (3) closest to the national average; and (4) a mix of extremes and mostly represented within the London metropolitan area. For Local Authority Districts of all clusters, we then explored the relationship between life expectancy and lifespan variation. Here, results clearly indicated a key role of economic inclusivity for average population health alongside population health inequality: the least inclusive cluster had the lowest life expectancy and the highest lifespan variation, while the most inclusive cluster had the highest life expectancy and the lowest lifespan variation. This points towards a double disadvantage among the economically less inclusive cluster
Assessing Atlantic subpolar gyre influence on the northern North Sea during the Holocene: a marine palaeoenvironmental reconstruction from the Fetlar Basin (Shetland, UK)
No full textKnowledge of the variability of Atlantic water inflow is critical for understanding the hydrography and ecology of the northern North Sea. However, long term records of this variability, which can be used to refine model projections of future environmental change in the region, are limited. The Fetlar Basin, located to the east of the Shetland Islands (UK), is a depositional basin situated at the intersection of the North Atlantic and northern North Sea, making it ideally placed for studying variability in Atlantic inflow. Datasets have been generated from a marine sediment core spanning the Late glacial and Holocene (c. 13 k cal a BP to present), including benthic foraminiferal assemblages, stable isotopes (δ18O and δ13C of Quinqueloculina seminulum), grain size, and sediment total organic carbon. Cluster and principal component analyses of benthic foraminiferal assemblages enabled the definition of five foraminiferal zones. The two basal zones (c. 12.9–11.0 k cal a BP) contain cold water, sea ice and glaci-proximal species typical of the Late glacial, as well as high abundances of juvenile forms. A transition from cool to warmer Holocene conditions occurs from c. 11.5 k cal a BP in a well-mixed water column. During the mid Holocene, high abundances of F. fusiformis are coincident with lower δ18O. These coincide with the Mid Holocene Climatic Optimum, and or indicate fresher, more nutrient rich water associated with higher contributions of Modified North Atlantic Water in relation to an expansion of the subpolar gyre. From c. 4.2 k cal a BP to the present, foraminiferal δ18O values indicate cooler and potentially more saline conditions, which align with a general late Holocene cooling pattern in Northern Europe, and or increasing salinity due to a retraction of the subpolar gyre. Our findings provide potential long-term evidence for recent studies which emphasize the role of subpolar gyre variability in regulating North and Norwegian Sea salinity. This variability should thus be considered in the modelling and management of this region
Frailty measurement in research and clinical practice: an updated review
No full textFrailty is a highly prevalent geriatric condition, affecting between 12–24% of older adults globally. It remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in older adults. Incorporating frailty measurement into clinical decision making can guide optimal patient care. This updated review presents an outline of current frailty definitions and measurement approaches in both research and clinical practice, including: Fried’s frailty phenotype; Rockwood and Mitnitski’s Frailty Index (FI) of cumulative deficits; Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS); Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illness and Loss of weight (FRAIL) scale; Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS); electronic Frailty Index (eFI); Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS); Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) Index; Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI); Groningen Frailty Indictor (GFI); Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI); the Kihon Checklist (KCL); Geriatric 8 (G8) for oncology; the Essential Frailty Toolset (EFT) for cardiology; plus gait speed and grip strength. The main strengths and limitations of existing frailty measurements are summarised, including how well these measurements operationalise frailty in terms of their accuracy in identifying frailty, their basis on biological causative theory, and their ability to reliably predict patient outcomes and response to potential therapies
The self-regulation in China's securities markets: practice and evaluation
No full textIn the Chinese securities markets, where interventionist-style government regulation is pervasive and dominant, self-regulation is believed trivial and inactive. However, there are seven major associations which have been organised by participants from different segments of the market and have been assigned legally recognised self-regulatory functions. Although these associations have been operating for one or two decades, their roles in securities regulation are not adequately valued or analysed. This paper fills this gap by providing a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the association-led self-regulation in the Chinese securities industry. Based on the observation over the self-regulation in Chinese securities markets, implications for general theory of self-regulation are concluded
Same-day versus rapid ART initiation in people with HIV and symptoms of tuberculosis (SaDAPT): a randomised, non-inferiority trial in Lesotho and Malawi
No full textBackground:
Whether same-day antiretroviral therapy (ART) should be offered to people with HIV with tuberculosis symptoms or whether ART should be initiated only after tuberculosis diagnostic results are available is unknown. This randomised trial aimed to determine whether same-day ART initiation for people with tuberculosis symptoms is non-inferior to deferral until tuberculosis diagnostic results are available in achieving viral suppression at 6 months.
Methods:
We did an open-label, individually randomised, non-inferiority trial among people with HIV who were outpatients at 11 primary or secondary level health facilities in Lesotho and Malawi, were aged at least 12 years, were initiating or reinitiating ART with at least one tuberculosis symptom, and had no symptoms or signs of meningitis. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to be offered same-day ART or offered ART after tuberculosis was confirmed or refuted. Primary analysis was a non-inferiority comparison of viral suppression (<400 copies per mL) 26 weeks (measurement window 22–40 weeks) after enrolment, with a non-inferiority margin of 10%. The modified intention-to-treat analysis included all randomly assigned participants excluding those found ineligible after randomisation. The per-protocol analysis excluded participants who did not adhere to the randomly assigned intervention. The study is completed. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05452616).
Findings:
Between Oct 19, 2022, and Feb 21, 2024, 610 participants were enrolled. 590 participants were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis of whom 356 (60%) were male, median age 37 years (IQR 31–45), median CD4 count was 202 cells per μL (IQR 92–374); 573 in the per-protocol analysis. 212 (71%) of 297 in the ART-first group and 199 (72%) of 276 in the tuberculosis-results-first group had viral suppression at 26 weeks in the per-protocol population (absolute risk difference –1·6%, 95% CI –9·1 to 6·0) with similar results in the modified intention-to-treat population. Nine and six deaths, 11 and ten non-fatal serious adverse events, and six and five tuberculosis-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) events occurred in ART-first and in tuberculosis-results-first groups, respectively.
Interpretation:
Same-day initiation was non-inferior to ART initiation after tuberculosis investigations regarding viral suppression and there were no indications of safety concerns or increase in IRIS. Programmatic implementation considerations and individual patient preference should guide the decision for same-day ART initiation versus initiation after receipt of tuberculosis test results for people with HIV with tuberculosis symptoms
Auxin-inducible degradation of UNC-116 in C. elegans inhibits bidirectional dense core vesicle transport and worm locomotion on different timescales
Get PDFThe microtubule motor kinesin-1 is vital in neurons, with mutations being associated with neurological diseases. Deletion of the Caenorhabditis elegans kinesin-1 gene unc-116 is lethal, and viable mutants are uncoordinated. Here, we perform auxin-mediated degradation of the UNC-116 protein and monitor effects on worm locomotion and dense core vesicle (DCV) transport. UNC-116 is degraded within 1-3 hours of auxin treatment. Impaired swimming/thrashing and crawling are detected after 6-14 hours, depending on organismal age, and degradation of UNC-116 in neurons alone disrupts locomotion. Effects on DCV transport are observed sooner, with 4 hours of degradation strongly inhibiting both anterograde and retrograde movement. This motility recovers when worms are transferred to auxin-free plates for 24 hours, even though protein level recovery is incomplete. Rescue from a 10-hour auxin treatment completely restores crawling speed, but although swimming is initially unaffected, it becomes strongly inhibited during the rescue period, suggesting that UNC-116 has distinct roles in these locomotive gaits. Overall, by bypassing early developmental UNC-116 functions, we reveal that UNC-116 is essential for bidirectional DCV transport and crucial for worm locomotion
Digital Lending, Market Power, and the Future of Public Knowledge Access
No full textHow do Europe’s e-lending markets reveal a deeper struggle over who controls digital access to knowledge? Co-authors Martin Kretschmer and Magali Eben discuss
Developing global citizenship competencies through debate: supporting student learning of contentious issues
No full textIn the face of current 21st century challenges and areas of contention, to enable them to adapt and succeed, graduates must develop both mastery of subject-specific knowledge and attributes, such as critical thinking, effective communication, self-reflection, being confident, adaptable, and ethically and socially aware. Debate is used as a teaching method within the problem-based pedagogical paradigm to enhance student engagement and deeper learning. However, literature surrounding the use of debate as a pedagogy and method of teaching and assessing controversial issues is lacking. Reflecting on our practice of using debate as an assessment method to teach the contentious subject of integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning in delivering precision medicine healthcare, we argue that it aligns closely with global citizenship pedagogical frameworks. This offers a valuable method for teaching and assessing learning of contentious materials more broadly. We outline interconnections between debate, contentious materials and principles of global citizenship pedagogy. Drawing on each element of existing global citizenship frameworks, we discuss the advantages and potential challenges of using debate. Finally, we propose future directions and adaptations for addressing even more highly contentious subjects than our example. We conclude by offering key recommendations to guide educators in implementing debate effectively within their teaching practice to promote meaningful student engagement and the development of global citizenship competencies
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Open Research Online? Become a CORE Member to access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard! 👇