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Crystallization behavior and electrical conductivity of fluorosilane-modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes/polymethyl methacrylate/polyvinylidene fluoride ternary composite
Get PDFIn order to increase the compatibility with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were modified by trimethoxy (1H, 1H, 2H, 2H heptadecafluorodecyl) silane to obtain the fluorosilane-modified MWCNTs (F-MWCNTs). The as-prepared F-MWCNTs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) to confirm the successful surface modification of MWCNTs by fluorosilane. The F-MWCNTs were further blended with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and PVDF to prepare the MWCNTs/PMMA/PVDF ternary composites containing 1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, and 10% F-MWCNTs by solution mixing, and the as-prepared MWCNTs/PMMA/PVDF composites were characterized SEM, WAXD, FTIR, and alternating current (AC) electrical conductivity testing. It was confirmed that the F-MWCNTs were homogeneously distributed in the PMMA/PVDF matrix. Moreover, the existence of F-MWCNTs contributed to the improvement of the crystallization degree (Xc) and β crystalline content [F(β)] of PVDF as well as the AC electrical conductivity (σAC) for the MWCNTs/PMMA/PVDF composites. The values of Xc, F(β), and σAC at 100 Hz of the MWCNTs(10%)/PMMA/PVDF composite were 47.4%, 56.5%, and 2.40 × 10–1 Sm−1, respectively, while the corresponding values of pure PVDF were only 42.2%, 27.8%, and 1.85 × 10–9 Sm−1, respectively. The enhanced performances of MWCNTs/PMMA/PVDF composites in comparison with those of pure PVDF can be attributed to the interface interactions among F-MWCNTs, PVDF, and PMMA as well as the phase separation of PMMA and PVDF
Investigating the prevalence of fungi in diabetic ulcers: an under-recognised contributor to polymicrobial biofilms
Get PDFDiabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are common complications for diabetic patients, often exacerbated by complex polymicrobial biofilm infections. While the majority of DFU studies are bacterial focused, fungi have also been identified. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of fungi in DFUs, as well as their potential role and influence on persistence and wound healing. Consecutive DFU swabs were collected from 128 patients (n = 349). Fungal positivity was assessed using enhanced culture and real-time qPCR. Routine microbiology cultures were carried out as part of standard care in the clinics, and their results were then compared to our laboratory investigation. Routine and enhanced culture resulted in similar rates of fungal detection (~9%), whereas qPCR resulted in a higher rate of detection (31%). Notably, the predominant yeast Candida parapsilosis was present in ischaemic and penetrating bone wounds. These findings support existing evidence of fungal presence in DFUs. We demonstrated that routine diagnostic methods are sufficient for fungal detection, but enhanced culture methods allow for more precise fungal identification. Finally, while fungal presence does not appear to impact patient outcomes in our study, their role within these infections remains poorly understood, and further studies are needed to fully understand their relationship to the microbiome
School Assessment in an inclusive education system – do we measure what we value or do we value what we can measure?
Get PDFThis section will explain why we have focused on school-level assessment of inclusion. We will discuss different approaches to school assessment and how they can support inclusive practice in the light of diverse understandings of inclusion across schools and countries. We will show why assessments designed and conducted by individual school communities can be particularly effective in supporting inclusive practice.
This chapter will support schools to reflect on why evaluation might support their inclusive practice, what key areas they might wish to explore, what indicators of inclusive practice might be used within particular key areas, and how effective school system assessment might be explored through an action research model. We believe teachers are “‘meaning makers’; they bring creativity and commitment” (Ball et al., 2012) to the work of envisioning, enacting and assessing inclusive practice. Our chapter will support school communities in developing forms of assessment that reflect their values of inclusion, in planning assessment that help school communities to answer questions that are important and meaningful for them (drawing on resources like the Index for Inclusion (Ainscow & Booth, 2002), the Framework for Inclusion (Scottish Universities Inclusion Group, 2022) and the many resources available through the UN and the EU in collecting and analysing useful data and – most importantly – in putting this new information to work in improving inclusive practice in schools
Improved effectiveness of vaccination campaigns against rabies by reducing spatial heterogeneity in coverage
Get PDFVaccination programs are the mainstay of control for many infectious diseases. Heterogeneous coverage is hypothesized to reduce vaccination program effectiveness, but this impact has not been quantified in real systems. We address this gap using fine-scale data from two decades of rabies contact tracing and dog vaccination campaigns in Serengeti district, Tanzania. We also aimed to identify drivers of the continued circulation of rabies in the district despite annual vaccination campaigns. Using generalized linear mixed models, we find that current focal (village-level) dog rabies incidence decreases with increasing recent focal vaccination coverage. However, current focal incidence depends most on recent incidence, both focally and in the wider district, consistent with high population connectivity. Removing the masking effects of prior non-focal incidence shows that, for the same average prior non-focal (wider-district) vaccination coverage, increased heterogeneity in coverage among the non-focal villages leads to increased focal incidence. These effects led to outbreaks following years when vaccination campaigns missed many villages, whereas when heterogeneity in coverage was reduced, incidence declined to low levels (<0.4 cases/1,000 dogs annually and no human deaths) and short vaccination lapses thereafter did not lead to resurgence. Through transmission-tree reconstruction, we inferred frequent incursions into the district each year (mean of 7). Inferred incursions substantially increased as a percentage of all cases in recent years, reaching 50% in 2022, suggesting regional connectivity is driving residual transmission. Overall, we empirically demonstrate how population connectivity and spatial heterogeneity in vaccination can impact disease outcomes, highlighting the importance of fine-scale monitoring in managing vaccination programs
Superconducting Nb x Ti1− x N prepared at high deposition rates with plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition and substrate biasing
Get PDFSuperconducting films ranging from a few to hundreds of nanometers thickness are integral to a wide range of quantum devices. The further development of quantum technologies hinges on material advances. With its atomic-scale growth control, plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) is very promising as an enabling technique for the growth of superconducting thin films. This work demonstrates high deposition rates of ∼30–60 nm/h in PEALD of superconducting NbxTi1−xN films through a supercycle process with accurate composition control. The film thicknesses vary from 4 to 97 nm. All prepared films are face-centered cubic polycrystalline with low ∼1 at. % O content. Accurate ion-energy control by means of RF substrate biasing yields an improved electrical resistivity for 30 nm Nb0.5Ti0.5N films from 497 ± 45 μΩ cm (grounded substrate) down to 184 ± 19 μΩ cm (−81 V bias) through its impact on structural properties. Substrate biasing results in an increase in film disorder while enhancing mass density. A 6–7 K critical temperature (Tc) of superconductivity is measured for 30 nm Nb0.5Ti0.5N films, which does not show strong variations with substrate bias. The tunability and high deposition rate of the NbxTi1−xN deposition process puts forward PEALD as a promising technique to tackle material challenges in quantum technology
Epidemiological and genomic characterisation of an outbreak of Streptococcus pyogenes emm5.23
Get PDFObjectives:
This retrospective cross-sectional study examined the epidemiology, clinical presentations, and genomics of Streptococcus pyogenes genotype emm5.23, linked to severe outcomes in Scotland.
Methods:
Between 2014 and 2022, 58 cases of invasive Group A Streptococcus (iGAS) disease associated with emm5.23 were reported in Scotland. Surveillance data from 45 cases were analysed for clinical characteristics and risk factors. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) included all available emm5.23 strains from Scotland (n=58), a subset from England (n=29), and emm5 strains of non-5.23 subtypes from Scotland (n=10), England (n=2), and Canada (n=1).
Results:
Nearly all cases (96%, 43/45) were hospitalised, of whom 33% (15/45) required intensive care and 20% (9/45) died with iGAS. The most common presentations were bacteraemia (51%, 23/45) and pneumonia (24%, 11/45). WGS identified an emerging emm5.23 clade in Scotland, encompassing most isolates, which shared highly similar genomes and three non-synonymous polymorphisms.
Conclusions:
Although genomic traits known to increase GAS virulence potential were not found, polymorphisms that may affect the emm5.23 phenotype were detected. This suggests this emm5.23 genotype was transiently successful rather than hypervirulent, with low population-level immunity contributing to its spread. This study emphasises the need for integration of real-time genomic data in public health surveillance to enhance source attribution and guide interventions
The clinical teacher's viewpoint from classroom to clinic: supporting widening participation students across the continuum of medical education
No full textNo abstract available
Reconstructing Kath: memory, bereaved mind styles and plot manipulation in Penelope Lively’s The Photograph
No full textPenelope Lively’s The Photograph is a story which revolves around a dead woman, Kath, and the memories of her by those closest to her. Readers of the novel have to form a representation of her from information presented in the thoughts of the bereaved characters, then reconstruct this representation later in the story as more information accumulates. This chapter examines the “mind styles” of these bereaved characters, including stylistic features such as metalepsis, multiple-self metaphors and sentence fragmentation. In addition, this study examines how these presentation techniques create a sense of mystery about the dead woman and hide key facts for plot manipulation purposes, so that the revelations at the end of the story can then come as a surprise to readers
Ability and actuality
Get PDFThis paper gives a new account of the actuality entailments of ability claims. We observe that, in the environments which give rise to the actuality entailment, ability claims carry a presupposition of trying. We show that, given this presupposition, the actuality entailment is straightforwardly predicted by a conditional theory of ability. We give a theory of why this presupposition arises, showing how to derive it from a presupposition of strong settledness. We then show how to predict contextual variation in the precise content of our presupposition; how to extend our account to apparent deontic and teleological actuality entailments; and how to adapt our account to more sophisticated conditional accounts of ability
Machine learning to optimize use of natriuretic peptides in the diagnosis of acute heart failure
Get PDFAims B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) testing are guideline-recommended to aid in the diagnosis of acute heart failure. Nevertheless, the diagnostic performance of these biomarkers is uncertain. Methods and results We performed a systematic review and individual patient-level data meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic performance of BNP and MR-proANP. We subsequently developed and externally validated a decision-support tool called CoDE-HF that combines natriuretic peptide concentrations with clinical variables using machine learning to report the probability of acute heart failure. Fourteen studies from 12 countries provided individual patient-level data in 8493 patients for BNP and 3899 patients for MR-proANP, in whom, 48.3% (4105/8493) and 41.3% (1611/3899) had an adjudicated diagnosis of acute heart failure, respectively. The negative predictive value (NPV) of guideline-recommended thresholds for BNP (100 pg/mL) and MR-proANP (120 pmol/L) was 93.6% (95% confidence interval 88.4–96.6%) and 95.6% (92.2–97.6%), respectively, whilst the positive predictive value (PPV) was 68.8% (62.9–74.2%) and 64.8% (56.3–72.5%). Significant heterogeneity in the performance of these thresholds was observed across important subgroups. CoDE-HF was well calibrated with excellent discrimination in those without prior acute heart failure for both BNP and MR-proANP [area under the curve of 0.914 (0.906–0.921) and 0.929 (0.919–0.939), and Brier scores of 0.110 and 0.094, respectively]. CoDE-HF with BNP and MR-proANP identified 30% and 48% as low-probability [NPV of 98.5% (97.1–99.3%) and 98.5% (97.7–99.0%)], and 30% and 28% as high-probability [PPV of 78.6% (70.4–85.0%) and 75.1% (70.9–78.9%)], respectively, and performed consistently across subgroups. Conclusion The diagnostic performance of guideline-recommended BNP and MR-proANP thresholds for acute heart failure varied significantly across patient subgroups. A decision-support tool that combines natriuretic peptides and clinical variables was more accurate and supports more individualized diagnosis
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