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Systematic review and meta-analysis of cognitive assessments used to detect deficits in the bilateral carotid artery stenosis model for vascular cognitive impairment
No full textHypoperfusion via bilateral carotid artery stenosis is the most common mouse model of vascular cognitive impairment,
but the literature varies surrounding which behavioural tests are most appropriate to detect cognitive deficits in this
model. We aimed to address this via a systematic review and meta-analysis. We also aimed to provide a recommendation
that also considers how the tests cover the different cognitive domains. We identified 1714 publications and extracted
data from 56. Interestingly, only six cognitive behavioural tests were employed across the literature with the most
common being the Morris water and radial arm mazes, followed by the Y maze, novel object recognition, open field, and
the Barnes maze. While all examined tests were able to detect cognitive impairments in hypoperfused mice, there was
a high degree of heterogeneity across the publications, highlighting that not all research groups consistently observed
cognitive deficits in the model. There was also evidence of publication bias, and occasionally some publications with
extremely high effect sizes were influential. We recommend all tests, but ideally experiments should be complemented
with additional approaches that examine a greater range of cognitive functions
Further integrating social context into comparative and environmental physiology
Get PDFEnvironmental factors such as temperature and oxygen are well established modulators of animal physiology, but the influence of social context remains under-integrated into comparative and environmental physiology. Althoughnumerous studiesacross behavioural, ecological and biomedical fields show that social interactions alter metabolic, hormonal, immune and stress-related traits, these insights are not routinely incorporated into physiological study design or interpretation. Social effects arise through mechanisms such as isolation, dominance hierarchies, altered energy use and social buffering, and can amplify or dampen responses to abiotic stressors. Because metabolic and hormonal pathways regulate multiple physiological systems, socially induced shifts can cascade to affect cardiovascular, immune, neural, digestive, osmoregulatory and reproductive function over both acute and evolutionary time scales. Thus, overlooking social context places researchers at risk of taking two critical missteps in comparative and environmental physiology: (1) measuring animals under socially unrealistic or uncontrolled conditions, which can yield unrepresentative physiological estimates; and (2) extrapolating these findings to natural populations where trait expression is influenced by social dynamics that are absent from the experimental context. Together, these issues might bias estimates of physiological trait values, plasticity and heritability, and limit the ecological relevance and predictive power of physiological research. Here, we outline general strategies to incorporate social context into experimental design, including the use of emerging tools that allow physiological measurements in naturalistic social settings. Integration of social context, alongside abiotic drivers, will improve our capacity to predict organismal responses to environmental change through comparative physiological research
Healthcare accessibility to rabies post-exposure prophylaxis in rural Kenya: Implications for vaccine placement and travel time
Get PDFBackground: Rabid animal bites are a medical emergency, requiring immediate post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent human deaths. This study modeled geographical accessibility to health facilities stocking rabies vaccines and assessed the impact of optimizing vaccine placement within a rural Kenyan healthcare network.
Methods: We used geocoordinates of Kenyan health facilities from an open-access inventory and identified those stocking PEP in Makueni County. Using population distribution data and a travel time friction surface, we estimated travel times to all health facilities, including those stocking PEP. We assessed the proportion of the population within 30 min, 1, 1.5, 2, and >2 h of these facilities. We further used dog-bite data from contact-tracing studies (2017–2021) to estimate the shortest distance and travel time for patients accessing PEP.
Results: Two-thirds (66.6%) of the population lived within a 30-min walk to any health facility, but only 7.4% had similar access to a PEP facility. Using the non-motorized travel scenario, 66.6, 29.4, 3.5, 0.3, and 0.2% of the population were within 30 min, 1 h, 1.5 h, 2 h, and more than 2 h of walking time, respectively, to any health facility. Among 931 bite patients identified through contact tracing, 376 (40.4%) could reach any health facility within 10 min, while only 289 (35.4%) had similar access to a PEP facility. Additionally, 27 (2.9%) required over 60 min to reach any health facility, while 26 (3.2%) needed over 60 min specifically to access PEP. When considering motorized travel, the entire population was within 30 min of both any facility and a PEP facility.
Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that increased geographic distance and longer travel times to health facilities substantially reduce accessibility to rabies PEP, particularly in rural settings where reliance on non-motorized travel is common. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide quantitative, county-specific estimates of travel time impacts on PEP access in rural Kenya, filling a critical evidence gap for planning PEP distribution under Kenya’s Stepwise Approach to Rabies Elimination (SARE). Optimizing the placement of PEP within existing healthcare networks can increase the proportion of the population able to reach services within recommended time thresholds. Expanding vaccine availability at strategically located facilities would therefore improve timely PEP to bite victims and support efforts to prevent human rabies deaths. These results highlight the importance of incorporating geographic accessibility analyses into planning for rabies elimination programs
Queer New Scots? On migration, queerness and Scottish exceptionalism
No full textSince the early 2000s, the Scottish Government has discursively positioned Scotland as a queer-friendly country with a progressive stance on LGBT+ rights. Beating the UK government to repeal the infamous section 28 in 2002, LGBT rights have remained high on the political agenda since, as evidenced by the introduction of family rights for same-sex couples, the mainstreaming of LGBT+ inclusive education and support for the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. At one point Scotland was rated ‘the most gay-friendly country in Europe’, consolidating a self-image of Scottish queer exceptionalism.
This discursive exceptionalism is replicated in the Scottish Government’s stance on overseas migration. Migration is an area of policy ‘reserved’ for the UK government which has become increasingly restrictive, with the introduction of a points-based visa system for; attempts to reduce arrivals and increase deportations through a punitive approach known as the ‘hostile environment’; Brexit; and the ongoing overhaul of the asylum system. Yet the Scottish Government has generally emphasised the economic, social and demographic benefits of overseas migration to Scotland, mainstreaming the term ‘New Scots’ in official documents to refer to migrants of any nationality who have settled in Scotland.
This chapter interrogates how discourses of Scottish exceptionalism play out in the experiences of queer ‘New Scots’, a highly diverse population, stratified along the lines of migration status, ‘race’, class, gender and nationality. Drawing on Lubhéid (2005, 2008) I interrogate the ‘commonsense’ narrative of queer migration as a journey from repression to liberation. I explore the discrepancies between the expectations and realities of queer migration, and ask to what extent queer migrants can benefit from greater legal protection of LGBT+ rights in Scotland
Intrinsic energy and time resolution of the Jefferson Lab Hall C Neutral Particle Spectrometer
No full textThe Neutral Particle Spectrometer (NPS) is an advanced calorimeter designed to measure neutral electromagnetic particles with high precision in energy, time, and position, under conditions of high luminosity and significant background. Integrated into the experimental setup of Hall C at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, the NPS plays a critical role in studies of nucleon structure through exclusive and semi-inclusive reaction channels. This paper presents an assessment of the detector’s performance characteristics, specifically its energy and timing resolution, derived from elastic electron–proton scattering data. We report an energy resolution between 1.2% and 1.3% in the 4.5–7.3 GeV range, and an intrinsic timing resolution better than 200 ps for energies above 500 MeV. These results serve as a reference for current and future precision measurements in hadronic physics
Entering self-employment as opportunity-driven entrepreneurship: evidence from ethnic enclaves in the United Kingdom
No full textPurpose:
This study aims to examine the entry of ethnic minority groups into opportunity-driven self-employment in the United Kingdom (UK) through the lens of ethnic enclave theory. In doing so, it challenges the dominant view in this stream of inquiry, which posits that such entrepreneurship is primarily driven by necessity, by highlighting the role of ethnic enclaves in shaping entrepreneurial transitions.
Design/methodology/approach:
A quantitative approach using comprehensive UK household data is adopted to analyse the relationship between ethnic enclaves and self-employment transitions, thereby advancing the predominant case-study-based approach in this field.
Findings:
The findings confirm that ethnic enclaves promote the transition of ethnic minorities into opportunity-driven self-employment in the UK; the degree of this impact varies across ethnic groups and depends on individual-level factors, such as prior entrepreneurial experience and skill sets. These results demonstrate that enclaves can serve as incubators for opportunity-driven ventures and highlight the interplay between ethnic actors and their immediate contexts.
Originality/value:
By empirically identifying opportunity-driven self-employment within enclaves, this study extends the scope of ethnic enclave theory beyond survival-oriented venturing, reframing enclaves as contexts that can foster growth-oriented entrepreneurship. It offers new insights into the interplay between ethnic enclaves and entrepreneurial agencies, discussing how enclave structures can facilitate business entry for ethnic minorities under specific conditions
Using agent-based models to simulate the electric vehicle driving behaviours in Great Britain
Get PDFWith the growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and the green transition of transport sectors, understanding the behaviours and charging demand of EV drivers has become increasingly important, particularly for the efficient deployment of public charging infrastructure. While previous studies have used Agent-Based Models (ABMs) to explore these patterns, many studies rely on hypothetical networks or city-scale road systems. This limits their ability to capture long-distance, inter-city travel, which has been a key concern given EV's range limitations and limited charging infrastructure. Additionally, there is limited consideration from previous models about the behavioural heterogeneity of drivers and missing validation against real-world data. This paper presents a validated ABM that simulates the driving and charging behaviours of private EV drivers across Great Britain, incorporating diverse psychological and financial preferences, and covering both inner- and inter-city trips. The results indicate that, despite concerns about the limited driving range of EVs, enroute charging is less necessary for drivers with short to medium distance trips, resulting in limited demand for more enroute public chargers. The presence of range anxiety among EV drivers often prompts them to charge their vehicles while parked at destinations and can further reduce the need for enroute charging. However, future expansion of the EV charging network is still necessary to accommodate the high charging demand from EV drivers undertaking long-distance trips. The simulation results can improve our understanding of EV driver behaviours and their charging demand distribution, providing insights for the future development of charging infrastructures
SUBCUT HF II: rationale and design of a multicentre randomized controlled trial of SUBCUTaneous furosemide to support early discharge in patients admitted to hospital due to Heart Failure
No full textIntroduction: Heart failure (HF) hospitalizations are frequent and lengthy, and usually involve treatment with intravenous diuretics to relieve congestion. SUBCUT HF II is evaluating the safety and efficacy of an alternative ambulatory care strategy using a novel subcutaneous formulation of furosemide delivered via a wearable pump.
Methods :The SUBCUT HF II trial is a multicentre, randomized, active comparator trial involving 20 hospitals in the UK. Eligible participants are patients with HF receiving inpatient treatment with intravenous loop diuretic. Patients are randomized to either early supported discharge, using a novel formulation of subcutaneous furosemide (SQIN-Furosemide) administered by a wearable pump (SQIN-Infusor), or continued inpatient treatment using intravenous furosemide.
Results :The primary endpoint is days spent alive and out of hospital at 30 days. As of October 2025, 168 of 170 patients have been randomized.
Conclusion: The SUBCUT HF II trial is testing the safety and efficacy of an ambulatory care approach to managing patients presenting to the hospital with HF
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