116320 research outputs found
Sort by
The Radio Flare and Multiwavelength Afterglow of the Short GRB 231117A: Energy Injection from a Violent Shell Collision
No full textWe present the early radio detection and multiwavelength modeling of the short gamma-ray burst (GRB) 231117A at redshift z = 0.257. The Australia Telescope Compact Array automatically triggered a 9 hr observation of GRB 231117A at 5.5 and 9 GHz following its detection by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory just 1.3 hr post-burst. Splitting this observation into 1 hr time bins, the early radio afterglow exhibited flaring, scintillating and plateau phases. The scintillation allowed us to place the earliest upper limit ( 35 to Γ > 5 between ∼0.1 and 1 day. These results demonstrate the importance of rapid and sensitive radio follow-up of GRBs for exploring their central engines and outflow behaviour
Surfacing the Page: Experimental Visualisation and the Writing Process
No full textHow does this materiality change in the digital age? The way digital techniques and materialities transform our engagement with archives is highlighted and explored throughout Archival Materialities in a Digital Age
A Bourdieusian Approach to Protecting the Wellbeing of Intimate Partner Violence Research Teams.
Get PDFIntimate Partner Violence (IPV) (domestic violence or abuse) is a gendered, global issue. Scholarly interest has been stimulated by reported escalations in IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic with further impetus from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. IPV research is critical to improved interventions and service provision; however, it raises issues for researcher safety and wellbeing because of the risk of vicarious trauma. Nursing researchers may experience sustained exposure to distressing information during the data collection and data analysis phases of IPV research. This paper demonstrates the application of a Bourdieusian approach to protecting the wellbeing of an IPV research team. Through methods of reflection and synthesis we used Bourdieu's Theory of Practice framework and associated concepts of capital, field and habitus to develop a model to inform researcher wellbeing. Consideration of participant wellbeing is the foundation upon which researcher wellbeing is based. Researcher wellbeing is strengthened by an understanding of how vicarious trauma may manifest in researchers. Providing support through manageable workloads, self-care, and socialising is fundamental. As individual researchers have differential access to these resources, harnessing the collective resources of the team improves wellbeing. Including team members with lived experience of IPV contributes to team capital as do partnerships with service delivery organisations. Team processes to monitor workload, ensure debriefing, and provide specialised training are helpful. This paper has provided an understanding of a Bourdieusian approach to mitigating risk through the implementation of multi-faceted support strategies for the development of cultural and social capital within the research team
CLIC1 and CLIC4 demonstrate cell protective antioxidant activity against UV exposure.
Get PDFBACKGROUND: Redox homeostasis is critical for maintaining healthy biological systems. Under physiological conditions, the human antioxidant defence system relies on enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Recent studies have shown that members of the Chloride Intracellular Ion Channel (CLIC) protein family, particularly CLIC1 and CLIC4, also exhibit antioxidant and cytoprotective activities. Overexpression of these proteins confers cellular protection, whereas their knockdown increases susceptibility to oxidative stress. METHODS: This in vitro study investigated the antioxidant and cellular protective effects of CLIC1 and CLIC4 against UV-induced damage in human skin cells. Comparative analyses were performed using known endogenous antioxidant proteins, glutaredoxin (Grx) and Glutathione S-transferase-Omega (GST-Ω), as well as the antioxidant drug N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Recombinant purified CLIC proteins (rCLIC1 and rCLIC4) were added exogenously to skin cells, while CLIC knockdown models were used to assess loss-of-function effects. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Exogenous addition of rCLIC1 and rCLIC4 provided significant cellular protection against UV-induced oxidative damage, reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. In contrast, knockdown of CLIC1 or CLIC4 increased cellular vulnerability to oxidative stress. The protective and antioxidant activities of rCLIC1 and rCLIC4 were comparable to those of Grx, GST-Ω, and NAC. These findings highlight the potent antioxidant and cytoprotective roles of CLIC1 and CLIC4 in maintaining cellular redox balance. The ability of exogenously added recombinant CLIC proteins to mitigate oxidative and UV-induced damage suggests potential therapeutic applications for this protein family in oxidative stress-related conditions
Highly efficient single photon coupling via surface plasmons into single-mode optical fiber
No full textQuanta of light (single photon) play as one of the building blocks of photonic based quantum computations, sensing, and communications. This makes a necessity to develop practical approaches for tuning, guiding, and coupling of single photons in photonic circuits for viable applications. Interaction and coupling efficiency of single photon into optical fibers is a technical bottleneck of quantum optics and should be addressed by novel design and materials. Here, we introduce a fiber-based micro-photonic design to directly coupling of the emitted single-photon to the core of a single mode fiber (SMF). The results of the simulation indicate that the emission of single photon source on a D-shaped SMF coated by a thin plasmonic film, provide remarkable amplifying of the evanescent field by confined surface plasmons into the SMF. The numerical analysis of different types and thicknesses of plasmonic materials by finite element method (FEM) is conducted to study the propagation vectors along the SMF as a function of the emission angle and wavelength of the single photon source. The results revealed that by the optimum thickness of the tantalum layer as novel plasmonic material, the best record of coupling efficiency can be achieved in the fiber optics communication region (λ ∼ 1550 nm). This approach sheds light on novel plasmonic-assisted coupling and promises a functional strategy for single photon manipulation in various fields of quantum optics
Personality and impulsivity traits associated with problematic online gaming and poker playing.
No full textUNLABELLED: Online gambling and gaming are associated with Problematic Usage of the Internet (PUI) in subgroups of individuals. This study aimed to assess how different personality dimensions are associated with PUI scores of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) players and online poker players, and to characterize common and specific personality traits of both groups in their association with PUI. Participants (N = 1144) were recruited online and assessed with the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Big Five Inventory and the Short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale. Data were analyzed with multiple robust linear regression models. The first model tested the associations between personality and impulsivity traits with IAT scores, while controlling for age, gender, and type of online activity. The second model included interaction terms to assess whether these associations differed between MMORPG and poker players. In model 1, neuroticism, negative urgency, positive urgency and sensation seeking were significantly and positively associated with higher IAT scores after controlling for the other personality traits, age, gender, and type of online activity. Extraversion was negatively associated with IAT scores. In Model 2, no significant difference in how these personality traits relate to IAT scores was observed between the two groups. Results highlight that traits such as neuroticism, negative urgency, positive urgency, and sensation seeking constitute potential risk factors for PUI, while extraversion might constitute a protective factor against PUI. The identified associations could be useful in understanding players’ attitudes and supporting them in gaining insight into their difficulties. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-28965-9
Collaborative Learning Framework to Detect Attacks in Transactions and Smart Contracts
No full textThis paper presents a novel collaborative learning framework designed to detect attacks in blockchain transactions and smart contracts by analyzing transaction features. The proposed framework incorporates a unique tool that transforms transaction features into visual representations, facilitating efficient analysis and classification of low-level machine code for attack detection. Furthermore, we propose an advanced collaborative learning model to enable real-time detection of diverse attack types at distributed mining nodes. In order to evaluate the performance of our proposed framework, we deploy a pilot system based on a private Ethereum network and conduct multiple attack scenarios to generate a novel dataset. To the best of our knowledge, our dataset is the most comprehensive and diverse collection of transactions and smart contracts synthesized in a laboratory for cyberattack detection in blockchain systems. Our framework achieves a detection accuracy of approximately 94% in extensive simulations, which is about 22% higher than that of a centralized learning model. In real-time experiments, it achieves 91% accuracy with a throughput of over 2,150 transactions per second. These compelling results validate the efficacy of our framework and showcase its adaptability in addressing real-world cyberattack scenarios
Repurposing of ivacaftor shows potential to treat ROR1 expressing high-grade serous ovarian cancer.
Get PDFBACKGROUND: Drug repurposing has emerged as an effective strategy to accelerate drug discovery. Using the pipeline established from a large collaborative drug repurposing project focused on high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC), we identified ivacaftor, an FDA-approved cystic fibrosis medication, as a drug candidate predicted to interact with the receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1) which we have previously demonstrated as a therapeutic target in ovarian cancer. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to provide preclinical evidence supporting the potential repurposing of ivacaftor for HGSOC treatment. DESIGN: Ivacaftor was tested in 2D and 3D preclinical models as well as patient-derived organoid models in vitro. METHODS: Dose-response analysis was undertaken in ROR1 expressing HGSOC cell lines OVCAR4, KURAMOCHI, COV362 and COV318 in both 2D adherent and 3D bioprinted formats. Real-time live/dead and apoptosis cell staining were performed over a 72 h period using the IncuCyte live cell imaging platform. Flow cytometry was used to assess apoptosis, DNA damage and cell proliferation following treatment with either 15 µM ivacaftor or 30 µM carboplatin at 24, 48 and 72 h. Additionally, ROR1-expressing HGSOC patient-derived organoids (OC029, OC043 and OC058) underwent ivacaftor dose-response analysis. Cell apoptosis following 15 µM ivacaftor treatment was measured in real-time using an Annexin V assay in two additional organoid models (OC062 and OC075). Finally, the mechanisms associated with response to ivacaftor were explored in HGSOC cell lines through Western blotting. RESULTS: The IC50 for ivacaftor ranged from 6.5 to 13.2 µM in 2D cultures and 11.6 to 18.2 µM in 3D cultures. Treatment with 10 and 15 µM ivacaftor resulted in significantly increased cell death and reduced live cell counts compared to the vehicle control over 72 h. Organoids displayed IC50 values between 11.2 and 14.1 µM. Ivacaftor treatment induced apoptosis in organoids, with no significant impact on DNA damage or cell cycle in HGSOC cells. ROR1 signalling associated oncogenic pathways including the BMI-1 and the PI3K/AKT pathways were modulated following ivacaftor treatment. CONCLUSION: In summary, ivacaftor demonstrated significant anti-tumour potential in preclinical HGSOC models, supporting its further investigation as a repurposed therapy for ovarian cancer
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage OPUS? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!