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Influence of exercise training on nitric oxide pathways and their physiological effects
No full textNitric oxide (NO) is a critical signalling molecule in cardiovascular, metabolic, and muscular function. Endogenous NO production occurs via two primary metabolic pathways: 1) the classical nitric oxide synthases (NOS) pathway, and 2) the alternative (nitrate–nitrite–NO) pathway, in which inorganic nitrate (NO3-) is sequentially reduced to nitrite (NO2-) and other NO intermediates (e.g., S-nitrosothiol). The latter pathway relies heavily on the oral microbiota, which catalyze the two-electron partial reduction of NO3- to NO2-, which is influenced by oral physiology, microbial composition and salivary flow. While the role of exercise training in enhancing NOS-derived NO is well established, emerging evidence suggests that it may also augment NO bioavailability through the NO3-–NO2-–NO pathway. Furthermore, exercise training may influence the composition and functionality of oral microbiota, thereby indirectly modulating NO metabolism and oral health. However, the synergistic effects of exercise and oral microbiota on NO production remain underexplored. This review synthesises current evidence on how physical exercise may modulate both NO pathways and discusses the broader physiological implications.</p
Scaling resilience: leveraging energy resources towards community resilience
No full textIn an era marked by increasing vulnerability to natural disasters, economic instability, and the uncertainties of climate change, increasing resilience has become a critical objective for sustainable development. This study investigates the concept of scaling community resilience, focusing on the strategies that support communities thriving under uncertainty. It employs a multi-disciplinary approach, integrating perspectives from engineering, social sciences, and environmental studies, to develop a comprehensive understanding of resilience at the community level. The study conceptualizes community energy resilience and explores its characteristic components, including energy diversity, redundancy, decentralization, and social equity. It examines the challenges and opportunities associated with scaling these components within community contexts, with particular emphasis on rural and underserved areas. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative approach, taking into consideration the need for establishing contextual nuances. The qualitative analysis provides insights into factors that can influence resilience outcomes and drive scaling objectives. The Sitolo Solar PV system developed in rural Malawi provided the suitable case study for this research. Findings reveal that although technological advancements play a vital role in improving community resilience, scaling is not a straightforward task, especially under the considerations of resilience. This requires an intentional, guided approach heavily dependent on community engagement, policy frameworks, and cross-sectoral collaboration. Several key enablers of scaling were identified, including the importance of local governance, the role of public-private partnerships, and the need for adaptive regulatory environments. Furthermore, the study highlights the challenges of scaling resilience, such as financial constraints, regulatory barriers, and the complex interplay of socio-technical systems. This study advances existing knowledge in two key dimensions: (1) it examines the role of innovation in enhancing resilience across different community spatial scales, and (2) it introduces a novel support model for assessing and scaling community resilience, providing a framework to guide the design and implementation of large-scale resilience strategies. It emphasizes the importance of a community-centered approach to resilience, advocating for strategies that are not only technically robust but also socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable.</p
Understanding the associations between motivational properties of identity and eating behaviours
No full textIntroduction. Identity refers to an individual's unique characteristics, social roles and affiliations, which are proposed to contain motivational features that influence human behaviour. This implies that the motivational aspects of one's identity can influence eating behaviours and, therefore, may be useful in eating behaviour change interventions. The present thesis aims to investigate this proposal through a systematic review and three empirical studies.Methods. The research presented in Chapter Two (Study One; a systematic review) aimed to synthesise and analyse the diverse array of identity, motivation and eating behaviour theories, constructs, and research outcomes in the studies eligible for inclusion. The identity theories and eating behaviours in each study were systematically classified, and study type and quality were assessed using a recognised tool. Study findings were then analysed to enable recommendations to be made about the theories and perspectives that offer the most promise for use in future eating behaviour change interventions. The methods used in the empirical studies are outlined in Chapter Three. In Chapter Four (Study Two), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and measurement invariance analysis of two-wave participant data (346 participants) aimed to create a measurement model which can be used to analyse the relationships between identity, motivational self (operationalised as aspirations) and eating behaviours. Using the same sample as Chapter Four, Chapter Five (Study Three) aimed to analyse the relationships in the model using structural equation modelling (SEM) to establish the relationships between factors. Finally, Chapter Six (Study Four), which uses a subset of the sample used in Studies Two and Three (250 participants), aimed to establish the precise associations between factors using multiple linear regression analysis. Results. Chapter Two (Study one) identified that self-determination theory (SDT) and self-schema-based constructs are consistently associated with eating behaviour change. Based on this review, it was also proposed that identity can motivate behaviour both explicitly and indirectly via one's aspirations. As such, identity and an SDT construct (aspirations) were included in the measurement model developed in Chapter Four (Study Two). The measurement invariance analysis in Chapter Four resulted in eight separate invariant measurement models, each with a factor encompassing personal, social and relational aspects of identity, one intrinsic and one extrinsic aspiration factor and one of eight eating behaviour factors (e.g., satiety responsiveness or enjoyment of food). Chapter Five (Study Three) found that food fussiness negatively predicted intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations. In addition, extrinsic aspirations positively predicted satiety responsiveness. Chapter Six (Study Four) identified that food fussiness negatively predicts health aspirations but does not predict image aspirations, and that image aspirations positively predict satiety responsiveness.Discussion. The research in this thesis identified predictive relationships between aspirations and specific eating behaviours. Overall, there may be opportunity to incorporate support and encouragement to develop intrinsically oriented health goals into public health interventions to reduce food fussiness. However, this is dependent on further research clarifying the varied aetiology of food fussiness and ensuring that incorporating this support in eating behaviour interventions is relevant and appropriate. Raising awareness about the potential risks to healthy eating behaviours of pursuing image goals may be effective in reducing unhealthy eating behaviours. Developing interventions that support the pursuit of aspirations, based less on image-focused rewards from others, may also reduce unhealthy eating behaviours. Future research should confirm the findings of this thesis and identify other eating behaviours (in addition to satiety responsiveness) that may be suitable for such interventions.</p
The mountaineering expedition as a mental health support metaphor for European high-performance athletes
No full textWe describe a clinical, evidence-based metaphor of a mountaineering expedition to assist mental health professionals in supporting and caring for the mental health of high-performance athletes. Our work is based on a qualitative analysis of responses to open-ended questions provided to 318 elite athletes in six European countries: Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Our mountaineering expedition metaphor, which we outline in terms of practical strategies to adopt as part of interventions to foster mental health, encompasses six interrelated themes that reflect key mental health support components: (1) preparing the expedition, (2) packing the backpack, (3) setting up base camp, (4) turning on the walkie-talkie, (5) attacking the summit, and (6) debriefing. The mountaineering expedition metaphor provides practical and transferable language to facilitate discussion, reduce stigma, and improve mental health literacy. Practitioners are invited to explore metaphor-based approaches to supporting mental health.</p
Sensor fusion for cooperative perception using distance-weighted dempster’s rule of combination
No full textMany traffic collisions at urban intersections are caused by human misperception and delayed judgment. V2X (vehicle-to-everything) cooperative perception mitigates this limitation by enabling vehicles equipped with cameras and roadside units (RSUs) to share information about objects outside the driver’s field of view. Practical deployment requires incentives for data sharing and sensor fusion that reliably integrates uncertain observations. Our focus is on fusion using Dempster’s rule of combination from Dempster–Shafer evidence theory, which can explicitly represent an unknown state and is therefore well suited to occupancy grid maps with occlusions. However, conventional fusion does not account for distance-dependent degradation and may place too much trust in distant sensors. We propose a distance-weighted combination rule on an occupancy grid map and introduce a hybrid scheme to limit computational cost. Numerical experiments in an urban intersection scenario suggest reduced false alarms and missed detections, thereby improving occupancy reliability without significantly increasing processing time.</p
The narrative construction of a de-stigmatised identity: an Olympic athlete's stories of living with bipolar disorder
No full textThere is limited research offering experiential knowledge of severe mental illness in elite athletes. Adopting a narrative approach, this study explored how an Olympic athlete constructed his illness identity and how this construction shaped his experience of living with bipolar disorder. We conducted five semi-structured interviews with Darrel, a male Olympic athlete diagnosed with bipolar disorder, over a ten-month period in the lead-up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 10 hours of data were collected, with interviews an average of 90 minutes in duration. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using dialogical narrative analysis, attending to both the content of Darrel’s stories and the ways in which he told them. Through various storytelling strategies, Darrel constructed a de-stigmatised illness identity that reinforced his sense of self as an athlete. His narratives emphasised athletic accomplishment despite – and sometimes because of – his bipolar disorder. He distanced himself from the stigmatised stereotypes of severe mental illness by telling stories of his high functioning. Emotionally difficult moments were laced with humour, while manic episodes were portrayed in a glamourised way. These narrative strategies appeared to manage self-stigma and resist the potentially marginalising meanings associated with mental illness in elite sport. However, such storytelling also has implications for how others perceive and respond to athlete distress. For example, the glamourisation of mania may lead staff to underestimate the severity of the athlete’s mental illness. This study demonstrates the value of narrative methods for exploring how athletes make sense of severe mental illness and construct identities within the cultural context of elite sport.</p
Supplementary information files for "Physiologically based pharmacokinetic model of magnesium implant absorption and distribution in tissue and organs"
No full textSupplementary files for article "Physiologically based pharmacokinetic model of magnesium implant absorption and distribution in tissue and organs"The long-term accumulation of magnesium (Mg(II)) ions in human patients resulting from the biodegradation of clinical Mg (alloy) implants is investigated using a physiologically-based pharmakinetic (PBPK) mathematical model. In severe cases, excess of Mg in blood (hypermagnesemia) causes a range of health concerns and potentially death. Studies investigating clinical Mg devices generally indicate that there is little risk in healthy patients, however there is concern that excessive Mg accumulation may occur in patients who are elderly, have osteoporosis and/or renal disease. The PBPK model describes the time evolution of Mg concentrations in blood, tissue and bone compartments in response to Mg sourced from diet and implant(s) devices, over the implant’s lifetime. It predicts that Mg absorption in the tissue and bone compartments is the key factor in modulating long-term serum levels due to their large volume and Mg load. Furthermore, the timescale of observable accumulation can take several months to years, suggesting that for vulnerable patients the Mg levels should be monitored throughout the lifespan of an Mg implant. Most of the model parameters can be estimated from simple patient measurements, thus the model is a first step towards a practical patient-specific framework for Mg and for other biodegradable implant devices to inform medical treatments in response to the potential long-term accumulation of biodegraded products.</p
Supplementary information files for "Autonomous in silico optimization framework for high-performance micromixers"
No full textSupplementary files for article "Autonomous in silico optimization framework for high-performance micromixers"Effective mixing at the microscale is essential for lab-on-a-chip systems, yet designing micromixers that achieve both high mixing efficiency and low pressure drop remains challenging and resource-intensive. Here, we introduce an autonomous in silico framework for designing obstacle-based micromixers through integrating 3D geometry generation, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and a multi-objective artificial intelli?gence optimization algorithm within a fully automated close-loop workflow. A constraint-aware NSGA-II variant is used, incorporating a repair operator to ensure design feasibility. Experimentally validated against hyper?spectral imaging-based mixing characterization and pressure-drop measurements, the framework eliminates manual trial-and-error workload and alleviates researchers from the tedious tasks of navigating across 3D modeling, CFD simulations, and optimization algorithms, reducing optimization time by 48% compared to the conventional simulation-assisted approach. By autonomously screening hundreds of designs, it identifies Pareto?optimal micromixers and generates an extensive database that supports inverse design and reveals the mixing structure-performance relationship, facilitating the establishment of general design guidelines. The framework is generally applicable to a wide range of passive micromixers.© The Author(s), CC BY 4.0</p
Enhancing incremental capacity and differential voltage diagnostics for lithium-ion battery cells connected in parallel
No full textVoltage profile diagnostic techniques such as Incremental Capacity Analysis (ICA) and Differential Voltage Analysis (DVA) are powerful tools that can extract degradation modes directly from cell voltage data using measured half-cell voltage profiles and simple models. As multiple individual cells are connected in parallel, cell-to-cell variations and cell interconnection resistances will alter the current distribution and measured voltage, blending and smoothing features in the voltage profile, impacting degradation diagnostics. This work experimentally investigates the application of voltage profile diagnostics on 16 NMC811/Graphite 21700 cells connected in parallel. Experimental results show that whilst the influence of cell-to-cell variation is small for unaged cells, the influence of cell interconnection resistance creates inhomogeneous current distribution between parallel cells which can significantly reduce the accuracy of ICA and DVA, even at low C-rates of C/25, due to reduced definition of degradation features caused by a distribution of phase transitions between cells. This effect is most significant in ‘U-shape’ parallel strings where the positive and negative connections are located close to the same cell compared to ‘Z-shape’ where the connections are at opposite ends. A numerical model is presented and validated to quantify inhomogeneous current distribution at low C-rates. A simple voltage fitting process is introduced and validated to compensate for these effects by conducting a resistance based voltage shift prior to fitting half-cell voltage profiles to obtain a corrected low C-rate voltage profile, improving the accuracy of degradation diagnostics in parallel cells.</p
Economic complexity thrives with academic freedom
No full textAcademic freedom allows the development of new and revolutionary ideas, which are expected to lead to innovation and the creation of diverse, unique and complex products. This study explores that relationship empirically and finds that academic freedom boosts not only economic complexity but also technological and research complexity. Hence, academic freedom is fundamental to enhance the development of a country’s productive capacity.</p