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Comparison of polymer-coated, drug-eluting self-expandable metal stents for the potential treatment of gastrointestinal cancers
No full textData source: Supplementary information, https://doi.org/10.1039/D4PM00312HComparison of self-expanding oesophageal and colonic metal stents coated with a 5-fluorouracil-loaded polyurethane-silicone basecoat and poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) topcoat highlights the influence of the stent structure on the release profile.</jats:p
Search for supersymmetry in final states with missing transverse momentum and charm-tagged jets using 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
No full textThe paper presents a search for supersymmetric particles produced in protonproton collisions at √ s = 13TeV and decaying into final states with missing transverse momentum and jets originating from charm quarks. The data were taken with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN from 2015 to 2018 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb⁻¹. No significant excess of events over the expected Standard Model background expectation is observed in optimized signal regions, and limits are set on the production cross-sections of the supersymmetric particles. Pair production of charm squarks or top squarks, each decaying into a charm quark and the lightest supersymmetric particle ˜χ⁰₁ , is excluded at 95% confidence level for squarks with masses up to 900 GeV for scenarios where the mass of ˜χ⁰₁ is below 50 GeV. Additionally, the production of leptoquarks with masses up to 900 GeV is excluded for the scenario where up-type leptoquarks decay into a charm quark and a neutrino. Model-independent limits on cross-sections and event yields for processes beyond the Standard Model are also reported.The ATLAS Collaboratio
Social capital and FinTech lending: international evidence
No full textFinTech credit has grown significantly in recent years and can have important economic and financial outcomes. Social capital can provide societal benefits which impact FinTech lending. There are three factors that influence this connection: the inequality of income, the prevalence of digital technology, and the quality of institutions. This paper examines the relationship between social capital and FinTech lending for a panel of 56 countries for 2013–19, focusing on these important conditioning factors. We find that that greater social capital results in higher levels of FinTech lending. These results are robust to different model specifications, after correcting for possible endogeneity issues, and over different indicators of social capital. This effect is more pronounced for countries with better institutions, higher internet penetration, and lower income inequality – highlighting the need for authorities to consider their impact when formulating policy
Assessing the Global Sustainability of the Nursing Workforce: A Survey of National Nurses' Association Presidents within the International Council of Nurses
No full textLink to a related website: https://www.icn.ch/resources/publications-and-reports/nna-presidents-survey, URL of industr
A systematic review and meta-analysis of pharmacological methods to manipulate experimentally induced secondary hypersensitivity
No full textUnderstanding the physiology of specific clinical features of persistent pain, such as secondary hypersensitivity, is crucial for developing effective treatments. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the effects of pharmacological manipulations on the magnitude (primary outcome) and surface area (secondary outcome) of experimentally induced secondary hypersensitivity. Following Cochrane Collaboration guidelines and a published and registered protocol, we conducted an electronic search on February 7, 2024. After screening articles in duplicate, we included 117 articles, consisting of 222 datasets. Risk of bias assessments identified potential flaws in methodological quality. Datasets were pooled by the mechanism of action of the manipulation and by outcome. Effect sizes were estimated using standardised mean difference (SMD). Most datasets (207 of 222) had an unclear risk of performance and detection bias for inadequate reporting of blinding procedures. Thirteen different methods were used to induce, and 23 different drug classes were used to manipulate secondary hypersensitivity. The pooled SMDs [95% CI] suggested that alpha-2-delta subunit of voltage-gated calcium channel ligands reduced both the magnitude (−0.24 [−0.39; −0.08]) and surface area (−0.38 [−0.59; −0.18]) of secondary hypersensitivity, and that both N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists (−0.36 [−0.55; −0.17]) and voltage-gated sodium channel blockers (−1.02 [−1.63; −0.42]) reduced only the surface area of secondary hypersensitivity. These results suggest a need to understand and compare the physiological underpinnings of magnitude and area of secondary hypersensitivity, and to clarify the relative importance of magnitude vs anatomical spread (ie, surface area) of secondary hypersensitivity to people living with pain.Gillian J. Bedwell, Luyanduthando Mqadi, Romy Parker, Prince C. Chikezie, Prenisha Moodley, Peter R. Kamerman, Mark R. Hutchinson, Andrew S. C. Rice, Victoria J. Madde
Creative Thinking and Non-Cognitive Factors in Science: Implications for Diversity in STEM Subjects
No full textEducational institutions worldwide are increasingly urged to recognize the significance of integrating creative thinking and other essential capabilities across different academic disciplines. Additionally, there is a growing focus on students' non-cognitive factors. However, relationships between creativity and non-cognitive factors, such as self-concept in subjects such as science, are not well understood. Given the global attempts to increase diversity in STEM subjects, this study explores the relationships between year 8 female students' non-cognitive factors in science and their creative thinking through a series of structural equation models (SEM). The findings identified a positive relationship between specific non-cognitive factors and creative thinking, which has significant implications for curriculum writers and teachers, who should consider these findings to potentially increase student creativity in STEM subjects. This is particularly pertinent in light of initiatives aimed toward fostering female students' engagement in STEM fields throughout their academic journey and into their future careers
Revisiting the monocrotaline-treated rat as a model of inflammatory lung disease: COVID-19 and future pandemic threats?
No full textThemed Issue: Emerging Roles of MicroRNAs and mRNA Vaccines in Neural Regeneration and Viral Disease PreventionThe COVID-19 pandemic posed a challenge for clinical management of a new lung disease that was characterized by inflammation, endothelial cell dysfunction, and thrombosis, which occur after the replication phase of infection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). There are many laboratory models of active SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice, reflecting an acute lung injury in an otherwise healthy animal, but there is a lack of accurate animal models of the postviral inflammatory phase of the COVID-19 lung reflecting severe disease. The monocrotaline (MCT)–treated rat is a widely used laboratory model of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Not often discussed, however, are the observed changes in inflammation, edema, fibrosis, and microthrombosis in the lung prior to PH. At the cellular level, there is loss of pneumocytes and endotheliopathy, and at the molecular level the MCT rat lung is characterized by a pro-inflammatory cytokine profile, namely elevated interleukin 6, transforming growth factor β and tumor necrosis factor, M1 macrophage phenotype, and dysregulation of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)/ACE2 balance. The systems-level pathophysiology of the MCT-treated rat includes progressive cardiopulmonary dysfunction. The MCT-treated rat clearly differs from the COVID-19 lung in terms of the triggers for pathology, but there are many parallels apparent in both the MCT-treated rat and the COVID-19 lung. The MCT-treated rat lung as a model of the COVID-19 lung may provide an in-depth understanding of the factors that drive the lung to more severe pathology, treatments that benefit lung recovery, or the factors that prove a useful research platform for future emerging respiratory threats of similar pathology.Luke P. Kris, Dani-Louise Dixon, Shailesh Bihari, Jillian M. Car
The impact of water flow rates on bioaerosol production from handwashing basins
No full textData source: Supplementary materials, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112624Bioaerosols within the built environment pose a potential risk to public health. In healthcare settings, aerosols generated from handwashing basins have been receiving increasing attention due to their role in healthcare-associated infection outbreaks. Currently, there is limited knowledge regarding the impact of hand basin design parameters on bioaerosol production and transmission routes to patients. This study used a model hand basin system to investigate the effect of different flow rate restrictors on the number, size and distribution of bioaerosols produced.
Source water was spiked with Escherichia coli and the hand basin drain seeded with Staphylococcus epidermis as indicator bacteria to facilitate tracking of the bioaerosol source. All three flow restrictors utilised generated bioaerosols of respirable size with no significant difference in the number of aerosols and droplets from the source water across different flow rates. However, lower flow rates led to a higher generation of aerosols from the drain and increased retrograde contamination from the drain to faucet compared to higher flow rates.
These findings suggest that modifying design elements, such as aerator design and flow rates, could potentially reduce infection risks, but the optimal configuration remains unclear. This highlights the need for future collaborative research between product designers, engineers and microbiologists to inform optimum design and ensure functional needs are met whilst protecting occupants in healthcare and other high health-risk built environments
Response to the 2025 Progress Report on Implementation of Aged Royal Commission Recommendations
No full textPollution transfer or industrial upgrading: the impact of energy conservation and emission reduction fiscal policy on urban green total factor productivity in China
No full textThe adoption of robust fiscal policies is a critical pathway for China to control pollution, promote green development, and advance ecological civilization. This study examines the “Comprehensive Demonstration City of Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Fiscal Policy” pilot project as a quasi-natural experiment. Employing the Slack-Based Measure Directional Distance Function (SBM-DDF) model and a multi-period Difference-in-Difference (DID) approach, we assess the impact of the energy conservation and emission reduction fiscal policy (ECERFP) on urban green total factor productivity (UGTFP). The results indicate that ECERFP significantly enhances UGTFP. This finding remains robust across multiple tests, including parallel trends, placebo tests, and the Goodman–Bacon decomposition. Mechanism analysis indicates that ECERFP enhances UGTFP mainly through technological innovation and improved energy efficiency. However, its effectiveness varies by geographical location, resource endowment, and city size. While ECERFP can promote urban energy conservation and end-of-pipe pollution control, it also carries the potential risk of inducing a “pollution haven” effect. To maximize the fiscal policy’s leverage and the resource allocation effects, a comprehensive strategy is required—one that advances energy efficiency, stimulates technological innovation, tailors energy conservation measures to local conditions, and nurtures the development of new productive forces to support sustainable urban growth