192815 research outputs found
Sort by
Change for the sake of continuity? Élite politics in post-Nazarbayev Kazakhstan (2019-2023)
Get PDFFocusing on the case of Kazakhstan, this article offers novel insights
on élite politics in post-personalist regime settings. By presenting
an in-depth analysis of ruler–élite relations in the post-Nazarbayev
years (2019–2023), we highlight striking continuities with cadre
management modalities consolidated in Kazakhstan during the
long Nazarbayev era (1992–2019), suggesting that the replication
of élite management strategies is the direct consequence of authoritarian continuity beyond leadership change. Our findings address
mainstream scholarly conversations on transitions out of personalist rule within and beyond post-Soviet Eurasia, while bringing new
evidence to the ongoing debates on the nature of authoritarianism
in post-Nazarbayev Kazakhstan
The association between Collagen 1a1, NTproBNP and echocardiographic markers in patients with or at risk of HFpEF
No full textAim:
Plasma collagen 1a1 (Col-1a1), part of the α1 chain of collagen type-1, may be a marker of fibrosis in patients with heart failure (HF) and at increased risk of HF. We assessed associations amongst Col-1a1, NT-proBNP and echocardiographic parameters of cardiac structure and function and their relationship to prognosis in HFpEF.
Methods:
We assessed 461 patients with HFpEF enrolled from the MEDIA-DHF cohort (mean age 74 [68, 80], 63 % women) and 516 those at risk of HF from the HOMAGE trial (mean age 73 [69, 79], 26 % women). Crude and adjusted linear regression models were used to evaluate the relationships amongst Col-1a1 (measured using proximity extension assay), NT-proBNP and echocardiographic measures. For the MEDIA-DHF study, the main outcome of interest was cardiovascular hospitalization and all-cause mortality.
Results:
In both cohorts, patients with higher Col-1a1 levels were more likely to have poorer renal function, lower hemoglobin, higher NT-proBNP and lower prevalence of diabetes. In the MEDIA-DHF cohort, higher Col-1a1 was associated with higher NT-proBNP (β = 1.39; 95 %CI 1.08–1.80; p = 0.012), left atrial volume index (LAVi) (β = 4.57; 95 %CI 1.00–8.14; p = 0.013) and pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PAPs) (ß = 4.42; 95 %CI 1.47–7.37; p = 0.004). These results were corroborated in the HOMAGE trial: higher Col-1a1 was associated with higher NT-proBNP (ß = 0.20; 95 %CI 0.05–0.34; p = 0.009) and LAVi (ß = 2.32; 95 %CI 0.25–4.39; p = 0.028). Col-1a1 was not associated with the risk of the composite outcome in the MEDIA-DHF cohort.
Conclusion:
Col-1a1 was associated with NT-proBNP and LAVi in HFpEF as well as in patients at high risk of HF but not with outcomes in HFpEF. Further studies are needed to understand what role, if any, Col-1a1 has as a marker of fibrosis or prognosis in patients with HFpEF
How natural are the sediments on our beaches? Characterising urban anthropogenic mixed beaches in Scotland
Get PDFMixed beaches containing anthropogenic geomaterials such as bricks, concrete, glass, ceramics, tarmac and slag are globally understudied. These materials enter natural beach systems through erosion or dumping, and rising sea levels and increased storminess are expected to intensify coastal erosion, reworking and re-exposing previously dumped debris. Studying such beaches is vital to understanding and managing the impacts of anthropogenic geomaterials on coastal environments. This study investigated six beaches with clear bimodal sediment distributions in the Firth of Forth, Scotland, examining surface sediment composition and geomorphology using grain-size analysis, Wolman pebble counts and visual classification. Anthropogenic geomaterials were found in both coarse (>11 mm to 256 mm) and fine (>2 mm to 11 mm) sediment at all sites, comprising 2 to 48% (average 22%) of coarse sediment weight, with brick being dominant at five beaches. Anthropogenic geomaterials averaged 22% of coarse and <1% of fine sediments and influenced grain-size distributions in both fractions. The largest median grain size correlated moderately with total percentage weight of anthropogenic geomaterials and consistently appeared in the mid to upper beach zones for all studied beaches. The degree of surface incorporation from coarse to fine fractions was limited (max ratio 0.22), generally increasing (except Granton) along an inner-to-outer estuary morphodynamic gradient. Digital Terrain Models from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle surveys showed varied shoreface widths (25 to 50 m) and similar surface slopes (0.09 to 0.11) across sites, with no clear morphological impact from anthropogenic geomaterials. These beaches are geomorphologically comparable to each other and to Mixed Sand and Gravel beaches. Based on their morphological and sedimentological characteristics, these are classified as a variant: Anthropogenic Mixed Sand and Gravel beaches. These findings provide essential first-order insights into the nature of anthropogenic mixed beaches and establish a foundation for further research into their evolution under sea level rise and shifting hydrodynamic regimes
Leveraging viscosity to unlock the osteogenic potential of BMP-2 mimetic DWIVA
Get PDFGrowth factor mimetics offer great potential for osteogenic biomaterials; yet, their use remains limited, likely due to an incomplete understanding of the effects of the microenvironment on their activity. The extracellular matrices (ECMs) where growth factors are presented in vivo are viscoelastic environments, where dynamic receptor-ligand interactions drive cellular responses. Here, supported lipid bilayers of varying viscosity are used as 2D dynamic ECM models, where the bone morphogenetic 2 (BMP-2) mimetic DWIVA is presented to mesenchymal stem cells alongside the adhesive peptide RGD. DWIVA is demonstrated to have no impact on mechanotransductive processes, including actin organisation, focal adhesion formation and YAP localisation, which are exclusively controlled by viscosity via RGD. Interestingly, DWIVA promotes osteogenic markers’ expression only on a viscous bilayer, through a process that involves non-canonical BMP-2 pathways; on a mobile bilayer or on a static control, it lacks osteogenic activity. Crucially, osteogenesis is accompanied by a translocation of BMP receptor 1a to the cell edge, where it colocalises with focal adhesions. Our ECM models hence reveal that both a viscosity-enabled threshold of cell-generated forces and a dynamic environment are necessary to harness the osteogenic potential of DWIVA, uncovering key microenvironment properties for the design of DWIVA-based biomaterials
On-chip microwave sensing of nonequilibrium quasiparticles in -tantalum superconducting circuits on silicon for scalable quantum technologies
Get PDFThe performance and scalability of superconducting quantum circuits are fundamentally constrained by nonequilibrium quasiparticles, which induce microwave losses that limit resonator quality factors and qubit coherence times. Understanding and mitigating these excitations is therefore central to advancing scalable quantum technologies. Here, we demonstrate on-chip microwave sensing of quasiparticles in high-Q α-tantalum coplanar waveguide resonators on silicon, operated in the single-photon regime. Temperature-dependent measurements reveal persistent nonequilibrium quasiparticles at millikelvin temperatures, producing a measurable suppression of the internal quality factor (Qi) relative to theoretical expectations. By benchmarking across materials, we find that the quasiparticle density in α-Ta is approximately one-third that of NbN at equivalent normalized temperatures (T/Tc), directly correlating with reduced microwave loss. Our methodology establishes a scalable platform for probing quasiparticle dynamics and points toward new routes for engineering superconducting circuits with improved coherence, with impact on qubit readout resonators, kinetic-inductance detectors, and emerging quantum processors and sensors
Passively Mode-Locked 10 GHz Laser with Three Quantum Wells on Semi-insulating InP Substrate
No full textNo abstract available
The Role of Social Inequality in Parent Engagement: From Inequality to Social Justice in Education
No full textThis book highlights how social inequality shapes parent engagement, from resources available to parents and parenting logics to school responses to families and their engagement. It also provides multiple solutions that can help shift parent engagement from a source of inequality to an opportunity for social justice in education. The book embraces families’ funds of knowledge and advocates for family-centric rather than school-centric parent engagement. Parents’ experiences of engagement at home, in school, and in the community are inextricably tied to social class, race, gender, and immigration status, which are addressed in this collection. It draws on a rich array of theoretical frameworks and adopts a critical lens to the study of parent engagement in early years, K-12 schools, and in transition to higher education. The book brings together authors from North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia and will be of interest to teachers, school administrators, policymakers, and researchers
Cardiac arrest in adult patients following burn injury: a scoping review with expert recommendations on management
No full textBackground:
Cardiac arrest following severe burn injury is rare but devastating, reflecting profound systemic compromise from hypovolemia, hypoxia, toxic exposure, or metabolic derangement. Despite recognition of these mechanisms, data on incidence, causes, and outcomes remain limited, and no burn-specific resuscitation guidance exists.
Methods:
A scoping review was performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched to August 2025 for studies describing cardiac arrest in adult burn patients. Data were thematically synthesized by mechanism and setting. A modified Delphi process with a multidisciplinary expert panel established consensus recommendations for management (agreement ≥ 85%).
Results:
Nineteen studies met inclusion criteria (three cohort studies, ten case series, six case reports), all observational and of low quality. Burn-associated cardiac arrest occurred both out-of-hospital—most often due to asphyxia, electrocution, or inhalation injury—and in-hospital from hypovolemia, electrolyte imbalance, or multi-organ failure. Survival to discharge ranged from 0–67%, highest in electrical injuries. The Delphi process generated ten expert recommendations emphasizing: early airway control (including front-of-neck access), 100% oxygen for suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, empirical hydroxocobalamin for enclosed-space fires, avoidance of succinylcholine after 24 h, and individualized decisions on cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Conclusions:
Burn-associated cardiac arrest remains poorly characterized with uniformly poor outcomes except in electrical injury. These findings and consensus recommendations provide a structured foundation for future research and clinical guidance
Strategy and motivation, rather than fatigue, drive age-related differences in sustained attention performance: evidence for decoupled beta-band oscillations
Get PDFReduced vigilance can be captured as attentional lapses in sustained attention tasks, but just how these lapses relate to task-induced fatigue and motivation to maintain optimal performance across the age span is unclear. We induced fatigue in 18 young (mean age = 22.6 years) and 16 older participants (mean age = 66.5) using the Sustained Attention to Response Task while simultaneously recording electroencephalography (EEG). In the final block, we manipulated motivation levels in half of the participants by offering a financial incentive for best overall performance. We found that the young and older adults differed markedly in their response strategies from the outset (adopting distinct speed-accuracy trade-off strategies) with faster/more erroneous responses in the young adults and slower/more accurate responses in the older participants that remained stable over the experiment, while subjective fatigue increased irrespective of group. Poststimulus EEG activity showed two distinguishable beta signatures: a fronto-central topography as a marker of the age-specific response strategy and a fronto-parietal signal modulated by motivation per se. We speculate that these two signatures contribute to offsetting performance declines over time. Finally, although subjective fatigue or mind-wandering scores and prestimulus alpha power increased with time-on-task, we did not identify a correlation between these measures. Hence, strategy and motivation more than fatigue were associated with performance differences across age in a sustained attention task, reflected in decoupled beta signatures
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! 👇