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Comparison of multispectral singlet oxygen luminescence dosimetry and singlet oxygen explicit dosimetry in artificial phantom
Get PDFSignificance: Direct detection of singlet-state oxygen (
1O2
) is a critical objective
in Type II photodynamic therapy (PDT) due to its pivotal role in mediating therapeutic effects. Although multispectral singlet oxygen dosimetry (MSOLD) has
demonstrated the capability to detect 1O2
luminescence both in vitro and in vivo,
there remains no standardized method for accurately quantifying reactive singlet
oxygen, 1
½O2
rx, based on these measured signals. By contrast, the singlet oxygen
explicit dosimetry (SOED) model offers a robust framework for calculating 1
½O2
rx.
Demonstrating that 1O2
luminescence obtained through MSOLD can reliably
quantify 1
½O2
rx, as achieved by the SOED model, is essential for advancing the
accuracy and applicability of PDT dosimetry.
Aim: We aim to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of MSOLD in quantifying 1O2
concentrations from measured 1O2
luminescence in benzoporphyrin derivative
(BPD)-mediated PDT. The performance of MSOLD is assessed by comparing its
results with those derived from the SOED model.
Approach: A continuous-wave 690 nm laser was used to excite a nanoparticle formulation of BPD, tradename Visudyne®
in methanol at varying concentrations (2 to
6 mg∕L). The singlet oxygen luminescence was measured using an InGaAs spectrometer and analyzed using a singular value decomposition algorithm. Near-infrared
singlet oxygen emission at ∼1270 nm was extracted as 1O2
luminescence. Realtime singlet oxygen spectra were collected over 900 s using a 1.5 mm diameter fiber
optic. Ground-state oxygen concentration was measured with a commercial oxygen
probe, photosensitizer concentration was determined with a custom-made contact
probe, and photon fluence rate was assessed with an isotropic detector. 1
½O2
rx was
then calculated based on the SOED model.
Results: The extracted singlet oxygen (
1O2
) luminescence exhibited clear concentration-dependent trends, with higher BPD concentrations producing stronger 1O2
luminescence. Over time, the 1O2
luminescence decayed due to photosensitizer
bleaching. In addition, a strong linear correlation was observed between the 1O2
luminescence measured via MSOLD and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations calculated using the SOED model. We also investigated the impact of
tissue optical properties on singlet oxygen luminescence detection and developed
correction factors to account for their variations. Conclusions: We demonstrate that singlet oxygen (
1O2
) detected through MSOLD
can reliably quantify ROS concentrations in BPD-mediated PDT with accuracy comparable to the SOED model, which requires separate measurements of light fluence
rate, photosensitizer concentration, and oxygen availability, followed by modeling to
estimate the amount of reactive singlet oxygen. By contrast, MSOLD can also be a
more cost-effective, simpler, and faster alternative to SOED as it directly measures
the singlet oxygen luminescence to quantify reactive singlet oxygen. Under appropriate correction for tissue optical properties, MSOLD presents a promising, robust,
and direct dosimetry solution for clinical PDT applications
Assessing Disparities in Depression and Loneliness Between Older Immigrants and Natives: A SHARE Data Analysis for Luxembourg and Switzerland
Get PDFBackground:
Older immigrants face unique challenges impacting mental health, including modifiable risk factors for dementia, such as depression and loneliness. These issues are closely tied to social determinants of health, like income, education, social engagement, and housing conditions. The interaction between these determinants and migrant status may further increase vulnerability. Luxembourg and Switzerland, with significant aging immigrant populations, provide ideal contexts for exploring these phenomena.
This study examines disparities in depression and loneliness between older immigrants and non‐immigrants in Luxembourg and Switzerland, while exploring the influence of social determinants. We hypothesize that immigrants report poorer mental health outcomes, including higher levels of depression and loneliness.
Methods:
This study uses data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Wave 9, including immigrant and non‐immigrants in Luxembourg (N_immigrants = 264, N_non‐immigrants = 546; mean age = 72.30 ±7.99, females = 54.81%) and Switzerland (N_immigrants =289, N_non‐immigrants = 1539; mean age = 74.20 ±9.41, females = 55.15%). Mental health was assessed using the EURO‐D depression scale and the Three‐Item Loneliness Scale to examine differences in migrant status, as well as the influence of individual and social determinants of health (i.e., age, income, education, marital status, social network, housing conditions, and the length of time since migration) in interaction with migration status, through linear regression models adjusted for age.
Results:
Immigrants reported poorer mental health compared to non‐immigrants, with higher levels of depression and loneliness across both countries ( p < 0.02). Furthermore, the influence of sex and area of residence (ranging from rural regions to major cities) on depression varied depending on migration status, while social network satisfaction showed distinct associations with loneliness across these groups ( p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
This study highlights significant disparities between older immigrants and non‐immigrants, with depression and loneliness emerging as key components of mental health in this population. The findings underscore the importance of considering factors such as sex, area of residence, and social network when developing policies and interventions to support the mental health of older immigrants. Addressing these mental health challenges may help mitigate the risk of dementia in this vulnerable group
Mothering discourses, parent engagement and social injustice in Scottish early years professions
No full textParent engagement is a contested concept, but can be constructed as a set of behaviours, informed by dominant discourses constituting perceived good parenting (Gross et al., Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(3), 747–760, 2020). This chapter challenges how mothering discourses and pressures to conform to “good mother” ideals reproduce inequality and social injustice in Scottish early years professions. Childcare practitioners are often parents themselves, with research indicating that traditionally caring professions recruit from working-class socio-economic backgrounds (Osgood, Narratives from the nursery: Negotiating professional identities in early childhood, Routledge, 2012). Gaiman (Wise and foolish virgins: White women at work in the feminized world of primary school teaching, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/gla/detail.action?docID=902593, 2012) argues that discursive rhetoric framing female-dominated professions as worthy occupations unfairly maintains low pay and status, thus perpetuating social injustice. This also legitimises good mother discourses, often attached to behaviours demonstrating the selfless, available working-class mother, negotiating suitable paid employment to prioritise childcaring responsibilities (Braun et al., Journal of Education Policy, 23(5), 533–548, 2008). In addition, many working-class mothers feel stigmatised by parent engagement, constantly striving to demonstrate expected standards of being good enough (Wilson & McGuire, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 42(5–6), 775–791, 2021). Whilst neoliberal policies are based on regulating perceived deficiencies (Gospel & Lewis, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 49(4), 601–622, 2011), arguably, professional upskilling can be discursively framed as a re-education of parents (Jensen, Parenting the crisis: The cultural politics of parent-blame, Policy Press, 2018). Government-led good mother behaviours reproduced by childcare practitioners during parent engagement are discursively framed as early intervention, which, as Westerling (Education, parenting, and mental health care in Europe: The contradictions of building autonomous individuals. Routledge, pp. 161–174, 2024) argues, are the “re-institutionalising of parenthood”
Results from the T2K experiment on neutrino mixing including a new far detector μ -like sample
Get PDFWe have made improved measurements of three-flavor neutrino mixing with 19.7 ( 16.3 ) × 10 20 protons on target in (anti-)neutrino-enhanced beam modes. A new sample of muon-neutrino events with tagged pions has been added at the far detector, as well as new proton and photon-tagged samples at the near detector. Significant improvements have been made to the flux and neutrino interaction modeling. T2K data continue to prefer the normal mass ordering and upper octant of sin 2 θ 23 with a near-maximal value of the charge-parity violating phase with best-fit values in the normal ordering of δ CP = − 2.18 − 0.47 + 1.22 , sin 2 θ 23 = 0.559 − 0.078 + 0.018 and Δ m 32 2 = ( + 2.506 − 0.052 + 0.039 ) × 10 − 3 eV 2
FSML – a modern Fortran statistics and machine learning library
Get PDFFSML is a Modern Fortran statistics and machine learning library suitable for contemporary research problems and teaching. It includes procedures for basic statistics, hypothesis tests, linear and non-linear methods, and statistical distribution functions
Examining the potential mediating role of maternal mental health in the association between socioeconomic deprivation and child development outcomes
Get PDFBackground:
Socioeconomic deprivation has been linked to negative child developmental outcomes including brain development, psychological well-being, educational attainment, and social-emotional well-being. Maternal mental health has also been linked to mothers’ parenting practices and their children’s developmental outcomes. However, limited evidence exists regarding the role of maternal mental health (prenatal and postnatal) in the association between socioeconomic deprivation and children’s developmental outcomes.
Methods:
We examined the potential role of maternal mental health in the association between socioeconomic deprivation (SED) and child development outcomes. We used a large linked administrative health dataset covering children born between 2011 and 2015 in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Scotland. Of the 76,483 participants, 55,856 mothers with matched children’s developmental outcome data were included. A mediation analysis model, adjusted for confounders and covariates, was used.
Results:
Maternal mental health assessed by a history of hospital admissions mediated, but to a small extent, the relationship between SED and children’s developmental outcomes. The average direct effect (ADE), of SED in the first model with a history of hospital admissions, was ADE: ES = − 0.0875 (95% CI = − 0.097, − 0.08; p < 0.001) and ACME: ES = − 0.0002 (95% CI = − 0.001, − 0.0001; p = 0.01). The proportion mediated by the history of mental health admission was 0.3%.
Conclusion:
The association between SED and children’s developmental outcomes appears to be partially mediated by maternal mental health, although the proportional-mediated effect was very small
How to…supervise open and efficient student research
Get PDFResearch projects that are conducted as part of a degree support students to develop essential skills in project management, data analysis, and scientific communication. However, these projects can be resource-intensive, place an undue burden on certain populations, such as those with rare conditions, and often make limited contributions to wider knowledge. Incorporating open research approaches into the design and delivery of student research projects can help address these challenges. This chapter uses case studies and practical examples to demonstrate how supervisors can enhance efficiency in data collection and analysis (e.g., pooling data and using pre-existing data). It also examines the role of openness and transparency in student research projects and considers potential ethical implications. The examples provided will be useful for supervisors seeking to enhance students’ dissertation experience and embed some aspects of Open Science into their supervision
Prophylaxis for renal patients at risk of COVID-19 infection: results from the intranasal niclosamide randomised, double blinded, placebo controlled arm of the PROTECT-V platform trial
Get PDFPurpose:
Despite vaccination, many patients remain vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and poorer outcomes, because of underlying health conditions resulting in sub-optimal vaccine responses. This study aims to demonstrate whether intranasal niclosamide confers additional protection against COVID-19 infection above standard preventative measures including vaccination.
Methods:
PROTECT-V (PROphylaxis for paTiEnts at risk of COVID-19 infecTion) is a platform trial testing multiple pre-exposure COVID-19 prophylactic agents in vulnerable patients. This paper reports results from the randomised, double blind, placebo controlled intranasal niclosamide arm.
1651 adult patients on dialysis, with a kidney transplant or renal autoimmune conditions on immunosuppression were randomised from 48 sites (37 UK; 11 Indian). Intranasal niclosamide or matched placebo was administered twice daily, for up to nine months. Primary outcome was time to symptomatic COVID-19 infection.
Results:
1651 patients were randomised (826 niclosamide;825 placebo) between February 2021 to November 2022. 655(39.7%) were dialysis patients, 622(37.7%) kidney transplant recipients and 374(22.7%) had renal autoimmune disease. 97.5% patients in the UK and 66.4% patients in India with comparable proportions in both treatment groups had received COVID-19 vaccinations. Despite no adverse safety signal, there was a high withdrawal rate (40% niclosamide;23.8% placebo) due to local upper airway irritation leading to a significantly shorter treatment duration in the niclosamide group). Symptomatic COVID-19 infection during study treatment was observed in 103 patients in the niclosamide group and 133 in the placebo group (estimated hazard ratio 1.02(95%CI 0.79–1.32)).
Conclusion:
Intranasal niclosamide did not reduce risk of symptomatic COVID-19 infection in this cohort compared to placebo.
Trial Registration:
This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04870333 (submitted 01/03/2021; posted 03/05/2021), EudraCT: 2020–004144-28 and the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI):#CTRI/2022/03/040802
Student mental wellbeing at critical times: normalising discussion and action
Get PDFStudent Academic Experience surveys evidenced that undergraduate students fare worse than the whole population in wellbeing measures. Several studies have found that students reported assessments as one of the top stressors. At the same time, research has shown that studying at a Higher Education Institutions (HEI) contributes to students’ personal growth and have lifelong benefits. This study explores how to support students at critical times during an academic year. In doing so, it proposes the use of psychoeducation through an unconventional, decentralised, and targeted intervention. This goes beyond counselling service provisions and focuses not only on disciplinary academic challenges but also embeds mental wellbeing in the curriculum. Its aim is to normalise talking about mental wellbeing at classroom level and bring the conversation about it out in the open. More specifically, this solution uses targeted newsletter (t-NL) to enhance students’ academic experience in a non-health-based course when students are more vulnerable to diminished mental wellbeing. The use of newsletter is intertwined with formative assessments which promotes students and staff collaboration as well as student engagement using play-based learning approach. In addition, this framework allows co-creation of resources by feeding forward diverse and multicultural students’ voices for future issues of the newsletter attending to students’ lived experience, required support and possible intersectionality. The findings of this research are supportive of such an intervention and indicate students’ interest in engaging with mental wellbeing content alongside academic activities
Voices in data: The power of public involvement in data research
Get PDFAdministrative data is collected about us every day - when we're paying tax, doing an exam or going to the doctor. These data sets are a powerful source of information to researchers, but with such complex analysis techniques, how can communities be effectively involved? This essay explores the challenges and offers practical advice and examples of involving people in data research in order to ensure it accurately captures and reports the experiences of the people behind the data
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