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Search for heavy neutral leptons in π+ decays to positrons
Get PDFA search for heavy neutral lepton (N) production in π+→e+N in-flight decays using data collected by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 2017–2024 is reported. Upper limits for the extended neutrino mixing matrix element |Ue4|2 are established at the level of 10−8 for heavy neutral leptons with mass in the range 95–126 MeV/c2 and lifetime exceeding 50 ns.<br/
Do Risky Banks Pay Their Employees More?
No full textThis study examines how bank risk influences employee wage compensation, disentangling the effects of risk exposure and leverage. Using data from U.S. commercial banks (1990–2022), we find that higher bank risk—measured by earnings volatility, default probability, and credit risk—is associated with higher wages, alongside wage effects linked to monitoring incentives from greater capitalization. This relationship is most pronounced in smaller, less-capitalized banks, under favorable economic conditions, and when bank concentration is low—contexts where employees have greater bargaining power. Overall, bank wages reflect both compensation for job insecurity and monitoring-related incentives, offering insight into employee pay as a signal of bank fragility
Impact of Nutritional and Radiomic Index of Sarcopenia in Retroperitoneal Sarcoma
No full textBackground: Sarcopenia, characterised by loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength and function, negatively impacts surgical outcomes in oncology, including complications, prolonged hospitalisations and reduced survival. This study investigated the relationship between nutritional and radiomic indices and tumour burden in sarcopenic versus non-sarcopenic patients with retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcoma (STS).Method: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients with retroperitoneal STS treated at the Midlands Abdominal Retroperitoneal Sarcoma Unit (MARSU) between June 2023 and December 2024. Nutritional status and sarcopenia were evaluated using body mass index (BMI), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), skeletal muscle index (SMI) and total psoas index (TPI). Correlations were explored between sarcopenia, tumour burden (volume and weight) and clinical outcomes including survival.Results: The study included 73 patients: 57 with liposarcoma (LPS) and 16 with leiomyosarcoma (LMS). Most had an ECOG performance status of 0. Sarcopenia was present in 57.9% of LPS and 37.5% of LMS patients preoperatively. Among LPS patients, sarcopenia was significantly associated with a lower PNI (p = 0.05), suggesting poorer nutritional status. Sarcopenia showed no significant correlation with tumour volume or weight in either cohort. Similarly, it did not significantly affect hospital stay length in LPS (p = 0.475) or LMS (p = 0.328). Median follow-up was 14.6 months (range: 6.5–37.8). Recurrence was more common in sarcopenic patients; however, disease-free survival (DFS) in sarcopenic LPS cases did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.117). Survival analysis in LMS was limited due to censored data.Conclusions: PNI serves as a reliable marker for identifying sarcopenic patients and may guide preoperative nutritional and physical rehabilitation strategies to enhance surgical outcomes. Although early recurrence trends were observed, larger cohorts and extended follow-up are necessary to validate associations with overall survival (OS) and further define prognostic implications
Sex Differences in Measures of Energy Expenditure and Body Composition in Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults
Get PDFBackground Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is vital for energy balance and cardiometabolic health, yet its trajectory across the lifespan, particularly in females, remains poorly understood. Objectives We sought to examine the effects of aging and sex on body composition and TDEE. Methods In a cross-sectional analysis of data from research centers across 9 European Countries and the United States from the International Atomic Energy Agency database, TDEE and body composition measures of 2326 participants (1560W/766M; 50.7 ± 12 .6 y) were stratified across age groups: young (30–39 y; YOUNG), middle-aged (40–54 y; MID), and old (55–70 y; OLD). Doubly labeled water was used to estimate TDEE and fat-free mass (FFM). Fat mass (FM) was calculated as the difference between body mass and FFM, and %fat was ratio between FM and body mass as a percentage. Linear models were used for analysis. Results Females demonstrated greater FM and lower FFM with each age group, compared with males (P < 0.001). In females, OLD had lower absolute TDEE than YOUNG (−217 kcal/d, P < 0.001) and MID (−208 kcal/d, P < 0.001). Male absolute TDEE was lowered across all age groups (OLD compared with YOUNG: −334 kcal/d; OLD compared with MID: −210 kcal/d; MID compared with YOUNG: −124 kcal/d; P < 0.001). Adjusted TDEE was similar within age groups between females and males. Conclusions These results suggest that age influences changes in body composition and energy expenditure similarly between males and females. The most significant change in TDEE occurs as individuals transition from middle age to older adulthood. Females generally have a higher percentage of %fat and FM, along with lower FFM, compared with males across all age groups. These findings are important for understanding how aging affects metabolism and body composition, which could inform sex-specific health strategies and interventions
Divergent iron dissolution pathways controlled by sulfuric and nitric acids from the ground-level to the upper mixing layer
Get PDFIron (Fe) plays a crucial role in the global biogeochemical cycle, marine ecosystems, and human health. Despite extensive research on Fe dissolution, the understanding of the mechanism of the Fe acidification process remains highly controversial. Here, we revealed significant differences in Fe acid dissolution between the upper mixing layer and the ground-level of a megacity. The results showed that air masses with elevated n[SO2−4] / n[NO−3] ratios (5.4 ± 3.7) yielded more enhanced iron solubility (%FeS, 8.7 ± 2.4 %) in the upper mixing layer after atmospheric aging compared to those (1.6 ± 0.7 and 3.3 ± 0.4 %, respectively) at the ground level near source regions of acidic gases. Further analysis suggested that Fe dissolution is primarily driven by sulfuric acid in the upper mixing layer different from nitric acid at the ground-level, attributing to the aging processes of acidic species during long-range transport. %FeS also exhibits a clear size dependence: sulfuric-acid dominates in submicron aerosols (Dp < 1 µm), leading to elevated %FeS (3.5 ± 3.9 %), whereas alkaline mineral dust in supermicron particles (Dp > 1 µm) neutralizes nitric acid and suppresses Fe dissolution (1.8 ± 2.2 %). This finding highlighted that sulfuric acid dominates Fe acidification process in the upper layer and submicron particles, but the contribution of nitric acid to Fe dissolution at the ground-level is equally important. Our study provides new data sets for testing atmospheric model’s capability to simulate dissolved Fe concentration and deposition and will help to improve the accuracy of Fe solubility predictions.</p
Figment / Ornament / Glow
No full textFigment / Ornament / Glow is an extended exploration on ideas of ornamentation. This includes ornaments in the traditional musical sense of figurations before or around the ‘real’ notes, but at times the piece tests the boundaries of those distinctions. At what point do the main notes disappear? When does an ornament become music in its own right, detached from its target? The electronic sounds are generated through a process of machine listening, casting a computer in the role of imagined auditor, responding both with a resonant glow around the music, and ornaments of its own, echoing off composed and improvised materials. Towards the end we hear something like an imagined song, improperly remembered. ‘Reverse engineered’ from the rest of the piece’s material, it explores another idea of ornamentation – the notion of musical variations – albeit turning it on its head. This theme is derived only after the fact from its presumed variants through a sort of contrived musical archaeology, sifting about in the traces of fractured ornaments, like fading musical embers losing their glow
Influence of Landscape and Lake Characteristics on Long-Term Water-Level Responses in Shallow Lakes of the Sub-Humid Boreal Plains, Canada
Get PDFShallow lakes are important ecosystems highly susceptible to water-level fluctuations and desiccation caused by climate cycles and anthropogenic pressures. To better predict and manage the impacts of disturbance we examined the natural variability over a 20-year period, that spans the range of long-term (decadal) weather cycles, and the controls on water-level deviation (WLD) of 26 shallow lakes that include all configurations of lake types and glacial landscapes typical in the Boreal Plains (BP) of Canada. Water budgets and hydrochemical analyses show that dominant lake water-budget components vary spatially and temporally with different geological settings and land covers that influence the scale and magnitude of lake-groundwater connectivity and surface-water inflow. However, over decadal weather cycles similar ranges in WLD were observed across all glacial geologies and shallow lake types. Lake geometry and evaporation interacted with lake-catchment characteristics to further impact the dynamics and memory of water levels to interannual and decadal weather patterns. In all lake-catchment types, lake bathymetry and outflow sill elevation determined overall storage which controls maximum water level elevation during wet years and extent of desiccation during drought years. This research demonstrates that in sub-humid glaciated continental landscapes, such as the BP, lake management strategies founded on lake permanence and fluctuation magnitudes are of limited value. Rather, focus should be placed on documenting the long-term WLD and considering the interaction of landscape characteristics and internal lake mechanisms that enable different lake types in such heterogeneous landscapes to recover and persist over decadal meteorological cycles.</p
Developing a novel typology of unprofessional behaviours between healthcare staff:a best fit framework synthesis
Get PDFBackground: Unprofessional behaviours such as bullying, harassment, and microaggressions negatively affect patient safety and staff psychological wellbeing in healthcare systems globally. These behaviours do so by: (i) inhibiting health care professionals’ abilities to speak up to raise safety concerns; (ii) impairing team communication and individuals’ concentration; and (iii) promoting tolerance of bad practice. Unfortunately, there is little consensus in practice or academia about how these behaviours are defined. This can lead to an underestimation of the prevalence of these behaviours, inhibition of speaking up by victims and bystanders, and reduced accountability by those who enact these behaviours. We aimed to map definitions of unprofessional behaviours between staff to understand their similarities and differences and to develop a useful typology for theory-informed interventions.Methods: We used a six-step modified best-fit framework synthesis methodology to formulate our new typology, as a part of a wider realist review project. We employed a systematic approach to develop a framework for understanding UB. First, we identified relevant literature through a systematic search of Embase, CINAHL and MEDLINE databases (and more) (n = 146 sources). An initial framework outlining the dimensions of unprofessional behaviours was then constructed based on extracted definitions. Terms from included studies were then coded against this framework, with new dimensions introduced as needed to accommodate terms that did not align with existing categories. The resulting framework was refined iteratively and validated through stakeholder engagement, enhancing its relevance and validity.Results: We identified 37 behaviours drawing on 146 literature sources and found little consensus in how unprofessional behaviours between staff are defined in the academic literature. By collating definitions, we identified five dimensions inherent to unprofessional behaviours between staff namely: visibility; inherent frequency; whether they are highly targeted; if behaviours target protected characteristics (personal attributes that are legally safeguarded against discrimination in the UK and many other countries, such as race, sex or religion); if behaviours are physical; and if hierarchy is required. These dimensions enabled formulation of the typology with increased understanding of the differences between unprofessional behaviour types.Conclusions: We found that poor and inconsistent understanding of unprofessional behaviour could undermine interventions by inhibiting speaking up, enabling instigators to avoid accountability, and inhibiting ability to measure unprofessional behaviour and address it. Our typology provides a useful resource for academics, healthcare organisations, intervention architects, and individuals who are seeking to understand and clarify the range of unprofessional behaviours that may be encountered in healthcare settings
Emotional geographies and migration:memory and movement
No full textThis chapter draws in and on the wealth of scholarship on mobility and movement, in what has been termed an ‘age of migration’. With every migration/refugee ‘crisis’, questions arise about how and where migrants settle, integrate and encounter intolerance, and how place-based contingencies matter in that settlement and integration. Whether these migrations are forced or voluntary, understanding migration as a process, and one fraught with and wrapped up in a multitude of emotions and emotional encounters, is a crucial and timely intervention in this research agenda. In this chapter, we draw focus on how the emotional geographies of migration articulate in everyday settings, by homing in on the practices and contexts of migration as already experienced and felt by migrants
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