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Laser-engineered interfacial-dielectrophoresis aligned nanowire networks for transparent electromagnetic interference shielding films
Get PDFNanowires (NW) hold substantial promise for high-performance electronics; however, the lack of programmable, deterministic control and alignment strategies limits their seamless integration onto flexible target substrates, posing challenges to manufacturing reliability, efficiency, and scalability. Herein, we propose a scalable and adaptable interfacial dielectrophoresis (i-DEP) method for precise translational and rotational (0–150°) manipulation of NWs on thin polymer films. A subsequent noncontact picosecond laser post-treatment is introduced to effectively enhance electrical and optical properties by welding NW junctions through controlled thermal diffusion and localized-field confinement. The laser-welded silver nanowires (AgNW) network has attained ∼46× reduction in sheet resistance and a 10% enhancement in transmittance. The i-DEP aligned, laser-treated ultrathin AgNW/polyimide film achieves 35 dB electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness, demonstrating over 1000× improvement compared to randomly oriented drop-cast AgNW networks. The additional shielding contribution arises from the capacitively coupled interwire network in the predefined aligned-NWs structure, realizing performance beyond that attainable by conductivity alone. This work presents a laser-engineered, i-DEP-aligned NW network that reinforces interfacial NW network quality and provides a systematic fabrication and optimization strategy for advancing wireless, flexible, and high-performance transparent electronic devices
Human genetics implicate thromboembolism in the pathogenesis of long COVID in individuals of European ancestry
No full textSARS-CoV-2 infection can result in long COVID, characterized by post-acute symptoms from multiple organs. Current hypotheses on mechanisms underlying long COVID include persistent inflammation and thromboembolism; however, compelling evidence from humans is limited and causal associations remain unclear. In this study, we tested the association of thromboembolism-related genetic variants with long COVID in the Long COVID Host Genetics Initiative (ncases = 3,018; ncontrols = 994,582). Primary analyses revealed that each unit increase in the log odds of genetically predicted venous thromboembolism risk was associated with 1.21-fold odds of long COVID (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08−1.35; P = 1.2 × 10−3). This association was independent of acute COVID-19 severity, was robust across various sensitivity analyses and was replicated in external datasets. Downstream analyses using gene-specific instruments, along with protein and gene expression data, suggested the protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR-1) as a potential molecular contributor to long COVID. These findings provide human genetic evidence implicating shared pathogenetic pathways in thromboembolism and long COVID
Incidence of diabetes mellitus following hospitalisation for COVID-19 in the United Kingdom: A prospective observational study
Get PDFBackground: People hospitalised for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) have elevated incidence of diabetes. However, it is unclear whether this is due to shared risk factors, confounding or stress hyperglycaemia in response to acute illness.
Methods: We analysed a multicentre prospective cohort study (PHOSP‐COVID) of people ≥18 years discharged from NHS hospitals across the United Kingdom following COVID‐19. Individuals were included if they attended at least one research visit with a HbA1c measurement within 14 months of discharge and had no history of diabetes at baseline. The primary outcome was new onset diabetes (any type), as defined by a first glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) measurement ≥6.5% (≥48 mmol/mol). Follow‐up was censored at the last HbA1c measurement. Age‐standardised incidence rates and incidence rate ratios (adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, length of hospital stay, body mass index, smoking, physical activity, deprivation, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia/hypercholesterolaemia, intensive therapy unit admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, corticosteroid use and C‐reactive protein score) were calculated using Poisson regression. Incidence rates were compared with the control groups of published clinical trials in the United Kingdom by applying the same inclusion and exclusion criteria, where possible.
Results: Incidence of diabetes was 91.4 per 1000 person‐years and was higher in South Asian (incidence rate ratios [IRR] = 3.60; 1.77, 7.32; p < 0.001) and Black ethnic groups (IRR = 2.36; 1.07, 5.21; p = 0.03) compared with White ethnic groups. When restricted to similar characteristics, the incidence rates were similar to those in UK clinical trials data.
Conclusion: Diabetes incidence following hospitalisation for COVID‐19 is high, but it remains uncertain whether it is disproportionately higher than pre‐pandemic levels
IL-33 is associated with alveolar dysfunction in patients with viral lower respiratory tract disease
Get PDFInterleukin (IL)-33 is released following tissue damage, causing airway inflammation and remodelling via reduced IL-33 (IL-33red)/serum stimulation-2 (ST2) and oxidised IL-33 (IL-33ox)/receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE)/epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathways. This study aimed to identify associations of IL-33 with clinical outcomes and pathological mechanisms during viral lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD). Ultra-sensitive immunoassays were developed to measure IL-33red, IL-33ox and IL-33/sST2 complexes in samples from patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Immunohistochemistry and multiomics were used to characterise lung samples. Elevated IL-33 in the airway and IL-33/sST2 complex in the circulation correlated with poor clinical outcomes (death, need for intensive care or mechanical ventilation). IL-33 was localised to airway epithelial and endothelial barriers, whereas IL1RL1 was expressed on aerocytes, alveolar endothelial cells specialised for gaseous exchange. IL-33 increased expression of mediators of neutrophilic inflammation, immune cell infiltration, interferon signalling and coagulation in endothelial cell cultures. Endothelial IL-33 signatures were strongly related with signatures associated with viral LRTD. Increased IL-33 release following respiratory viral infections is associated with poor clinical outcomes and might contribute to alveolar dysfunction. Although this does not show a causal relationship with disease, these results provide a rationale to evaluate pathological roles for IL-33 in viral LRTD
Beyond ACEs: When Trauma-Informed Care Misses Neurodivergent Children
No full textNo abstract available
Methods in a place: bringing together language, ecology and geography for a final-year undergraduate field course
Get PDFThe ability to work in interdisciplinary teams is becoming increasingly important in academic environments and the workplace. However, few university programmes deliver course content in truly interdisciplinary formats, instead structuring coursework around traditional disciplinary boundaries. This project’s aims were to:
Include student partners in designing an interdisciplinary, experiential course where content was structured around a shared physical place rather than disciplinary boundaries.
Embed authentic interactions with external stakeholders to enhance learning through an enquiry-based approach.
Staff and students from across three colleges within the University of Glasgow co-designed activities for a cross-disciplinary, final-year undergraduate field course, following Gibson et al.’s (2019) ‘three-faculty rule’. During spring 2024, a team of five staff and eight students representing the Schools of Geography and Earth Science, Biodiversity, One Health and Comparative Medicine, and Celtic and Gaelic Studies worked together to structure and then deliver lecture- and practical-based course content centred on the cultural heritage, language, landscape, and species conservation of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The programme consisted of a one-week intensive set of lectures delivered primarily by the student partners, followed by a one-week residential visit to this location. While on-site the team met with a range of stakeholders and visited locations that provided a central focus for student enquiry. After the course, student partners authored draft intended learning outcomes (ILOs), proposed assessment methods, and provided feedback on the stakeholders, locations, and sessions from their experience.
The informal spaces and novel surroundings created by the course facilitated learning and an awareness of the value of different disciplinary approaches to a shared problem (Chan and Wheeler, 2023) and deepened student appreciation of their discipline. Overall, this project demonstrated that interdisciplinary coursework at the final-year undergraduate level can be highly successful due to a more holistic approach and increased student confidence
Cardiac energetics in severe mitral regurgitation: relationship with eccentric hypertrophy, stroke volume, and effects of valve repair
Get PDFAIMS:
Understanding changes in ATP metabolism may lead to improved risk stratification in severe primary mitral regurgitation (MR). Here, we seek to compare the energetic phenotype of volume-overload pathological hypertrophy with athletic hypertrophy and with the normal heart under catecholamine stress.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Nineteen severe-MR patients underwent cardiac magnetic resonance and P-spectroscopy for energetics, including phosphocreatine to adenosine triphosphate ratio (PCr/ATP), the pseudo-first-order forward rate constant of the creatine kinase reaction ( ) and CK flux ( × [PCr]). When compared with 20 healthy controls, severe MR was associated with lower PCr/ATP (1.58 ± 0.32 vs. 2.08 ± 0.28, < 0.001). This is related to the severity of regurgitation ( -0.59, < 0.001) but not to LVEF ( -0.20, = 0.23) or LV systolic strain ( = 0.18). When compared to 17 athletes with similarly increased end-diastolic volume (athletes 107 ± 10 mL/m vs. 114 ± 22, = 0.29), severe MR had greater total cardiac output (by 42%, < 0.001), and lower PCr/ATP (by 28%, < 0.001) and CK flux (by 41%, = 0.04). When compared to normal hearts during dobutamine stress at matched cardiac output levels, median (by 45%, = 0.08) and CK flux (by 53%, = 0.02) were lower in severe MR. PCr/ATP increased (by 17%, = 0.04) following mitral valve repair (MVR) in a subset of patients ( = 14, median 7 months). Seven patients during MVR and six patients without volume loading donated LV biopsy, revealing that creatine was not lower in severe MR.
CONCLUSION:
Even with normal LVEF, severe MR is associated with reduced PCr/ATP, CK , and CK flux. PCr/ATP reduction resolved with MVR. Thus, targeting CK capacity and/or flux may be a therapeutic strategy to prevent/treat systolic failure in MR
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