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Tools for standardized data collection: Speech, Language and Hearing measurement protocols in the PhenX Toolkit
No full textThe PhenX Toolkit (https://www.phenxtoolkit.org/) is an online catalog of recommended measurement protocols to facilitate cross-study analyses for biomedical research. An expert review panel (ERP) reviewed and updated the PhenX Toolkit Speech and Hearing domain to improve the precision and consistency of speech, language, and hearing disorder phenotypes. A three-member ERP convened in August 2018 to review the measurement protocols in the PhenX Speech and Hearing domain. Aided by three additional experts in voice assessment, vertigo, and stuttering, the ERP updated the 28 protocols to reflect the latest science and technology. ERP recommendations include six new protocols, five updated protocols (from the same source), and one retired protocol. New additions include two voice-related, three hearing-related, and two speech-related protocols. Additions reflect new phone/tablet applications for hearing and language, and clinical evaluations of voice. “Language” was added to the domain name, which is now “Speech, Language, and Hearing,” to represent language-related protocols. These protocols can facilitate the assessment of speech, language, and hearing in clinical and population research. Common data elements (i.e., use of the same variables across studies) used by geneticists, otolaryngologists, audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and in other disciplines can lead to cross-study data integration and increased statistical power when studies are combined
FREE OBJECTS IN TRIANGULAR MATRIX VARIETIES AND QUIVER ALGEBRAS OVER SEMIRINGS
No full textWe study the free objects in the variety of semigroups and variety of monoids generated by the monoid of all n×n upper triangular matrices over a commutative semiring. We obtain explicit representations of these, as multiplicative subsemigroups of quiver algebras over polynomial semirings. A case of particular interest is where n = 2 and the semiring is the tropical semifield, where the variety coincides with that generated by the bicyclic monoid (or equivalently, by the free monogenic inverse monoid); here we are obtain faithful representations of the free objects in this variety inside a semidirect product of a commutative monoid acting on a semilattice. We apply these representations to answer several questions, including that of when the given varieties are locally finite
Electrolyte Salts and Additives Regulation Enables High Performance Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries: a Mini Review
No full textAqueous zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) are regarded as one of the most ideally suited candidates for large-scale energy storage applications owning to their obvious advantages, i.e., low cost, high safety, high ionic conductivity, abundant raw material resources and eco-friendliness. Much effort has been devoted to the exploration of cathode materials design, cathode storage mechanisms, anode protection as well as failure mechanisms, while inadequate attentions are paid on the performance enhancement through modifying the electrolyte salts and additives. Herein, to fulfil a comprehensive aqueous ZIBs research database, a range of recently published electrolyte salts and additives researches are reviewed and discussed in this mini review. Furthermore, the remaining challenges and future directions of electrolytes in aqueous ZIBs are also suggested, which could provide insights to push ZIBs’ commercialization
Superconvergence of the MINI mixed finite element discretization of the Stokes problem: An experimental study in 3D
No full textStokes flows are a type of fluid flow where convective forces are small in comparison with viscous forces, and momentum transport is entirely due to viscous diffusion. Besides being routinely used as benchmark test cases in numerical fluid dynamics, Stokes flows are relevant in several applications in science and engineering including porous media flow, biological flows, microfluidics, microrobotics, and hydrodynamic lubrication. The present study concerns the discretization of the equations of motion of Stokes flows in three dimensions utilizing the MINI mixed finite element, focusing on the superconvergence of the method which was investigated with numerical experiments using five purpose-made benchmark test cases with analytical solution. Despite the fact that the MINI element is only linearly convergent according to standard mixed finite element theory, a recent theoretical development proves that, for structured meshes in two dimensions, the pressure superconverges with order O(h3/2), as well as the linear part of the computed velocity with respect to the piecewise-linear nodal interpolation of the exact velocity. The numerical experiments documented herein suggest a more general validity of the superconvergence in pressure, possibly to unstructured tetrahedral meshes and even up to quadratic convergence which was observed with one test problem, thereby indicating that there is scope to further extend the available theoretical results on convergence
Enabling professional and personal growth among home care nurses through using the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool Intervention - an interpretive descriptive study
No full textBackground: The Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool Intervention can provide guidance for discussions with family caregivers in specialised home care concerning their specific support needs. Little attention has been paid to how nurses experience the use of the intervention in their everyday practice.Aim: To explore nurses’ experiences of supporting family caregivers in specialised home care while learning to use the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool Intervention.Design: This longitudinal study adopted an inductive qualitative approach using interpretive description.Methods: Interviews were conducted at two time points. A total of 22 interviews took place with 12 nurses, recruited from six specialised home care services. Data were analysed using interpretive description. The COREQ checklist was used in reporting the study.Findings: Nurses’ everyday clinical practice changed while learning to use the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool Intervention and they experienced professional and personal growth. Their supportive inputs shifted from being reactive towards being more proactive. Their approach changed from taking on great professional responsibility, towards a shared responsibility with family caregivers. The support altered from ad hoc contacts in the hallway, towards scheduled trustful conversations. Nurses were concerned about the amount of time and energy this kind of support might require. They pointed to the importance of holding good nursing skills to conduct this new way of having conversations.Conclusion: Nurses’ everyday clinical practice can be further developed through use of the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool Intervention. Nurses may develop both professionally and personally, increasing their ability to provide person-centred support
‘We cows are in a very serious predicament’: Constructions of Land Girls and Cattle in Britain in the Second World War
No full textSensitivity of canopy phenology to local urban environmental characteristics in a tropical city
No full textCanopy phenology is sensitive to variability in local environmental settings. In temperate climates, urban phenological processes and their determinants are relatively well understood. Equivalent understanding of processes in tropical urban settings is, however, less resolved. In this paper, we explore the influence of local urban environmental characteristics (i.e. degree of urbanization, land cover and urban climate) on canopy phenology of two deciduous tree species (Jacaranda mimosifolia, n = 48: and Tabebuia rosea, n = 24) in a tropical city (Kampala, Uganda). Our study design involved ground monitoring and field sampling in 2017, with a focus on the dry season. We found that both species experienced significantly higher rates of canopy cover decline in heavily built-up neighborhoods (p<0.05 for both species). Moreover, Jacaranda was more sensitive to differences in the degree of urbanization than Tabebuia, both in terms of total percentage tree canopy cover (p<0.01) and net leaf loss (p<0.05). Total percentage tree canopy cover for Jacaranda, declined with increasing proportion of impervious cover (i.e. roads and paved cover) and was positively related to relative humidity (p<0.01), a variable correlated with soil moisture. Net leaf loss in Jacaranda increased with the decreasing proportion of pervious land cover and as night-time air temperature increased (p<0.01). In contrast, land cover and urban climate had no significant influence on either measure of phenological traits for Tabebuia. These results provide new evidence of the effect of urbanization on canopy phenology of different tree species in the tropics. Such knowledge offers new insights on the spatial and temporal differences in the physiological functional traits of trees and also serves as a proxy for possible species responses under future climate change
Heavy charged particle beam therapy and related new radiotherapy technologies: The clinical potential, physics and technical developments required to deliver benefit for patients with cancer
No full textIn the UK, one in two people will develop cancer during their lifetimes and radiotherapy (RT) plays a key role in effective treatment. High energy proton beam therapy commenced in the UK National Health Service in 2018. Heavier charged particles have potential advantages over protons by delivering more dose in the Bragg peak, with a sharper penumbra, lower oxygen dependence and increased biological effectiveness. However, they also require more costly equipment including larger gantries to deliver the treatment. There are significant uncertainties in the modelling of relative biolog- ical effectiveness and the effects of the fragmentation tail which can deliver dose beyond the Bragg peak. These effects need to be carefully considered especially in relation to long-term outcomes.In 2019, a group of clinicians, clinical scientists, engineers, physical and life scientists from academia and industry, together with funding agency stakeholders, met to consider how the UK should address new technologies for RT, espe- cially the use of heavier charged particles such as helium and carbon and new modes of delivery such as FLASH and spatially fractionated radiotherapy (SFRT).There was unanimous agreement that the UK should develop a facility for heavier charged particle therapy, perhaps constituting a new National Ion Research Centre to enable research using protons and heavier charged particles. Discussion followed on the scale and features, including which ions should be included, from protons through helium, boron, and lithium to carbon, and even oxygen. The consensus view was that any facility intended to treat patients must be located in a hospital setting while providing dedicated research space for physics, preclinical biology and clinical research with beam lines designed for both in vitro and in vivo research. The facility should to be able to investigate and deliver both ultra-high dose rate FLASH RT and SFRT (GRID, minibeams etc.). Discussion included a number of accel- erator design options and whether gantries were required. Other potential collaborations might be exploited, including with space agencies, electronics and global communications industries and the nuclear industry.In preparation for clinical delivery, there may be opportunities to send patients overseas (for 12C or 4He ion therapy) using the model of the National Health Service (NHS) Proton Overseas Programme and to look at potential national clinical trials which include heavier ions, FLASH or SFRT. This could be accomplished under the auspices of NCRI CTRad (National Cancer Research Institute, Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group).The initiative should be a community approach, involving all interested parties with a vision that combines discovery science, a translational research capability and a clinical treatment facility. Barriers to the project and ways to overcome them were discussed. Finally, a set of different scenarios of features with different costs and timelines was constructed, with consideration given to the funding environment (prer-Covid-19) and need for cross-funder collaboration
Fundamental Understanding of Frequency Response Analysis ‘U shape’ through Transformer Modelling
No full textFollow the people and the money: Effects of inward FDI on migrant remittances and the contingent role of new firm creation and institutional infrastructure in emerging economies
No full textWe explore how inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) influences migrant remittances in forty-six emerging economies. We develop and test new theory that not only explains the mechanisms underlying the above relationship, but also helps us understand how entrepreneurial migrants and investments made by multinational enterprises serve as foundations and determinants of remittances in recipient countries. The empirical evidence supports our hypotheses that inward FDI increases remittances, and that the relationship is positively mediated by new firm creation and negatively moderated by institutional infrastructure in recipient countries (namely, governance and corruption). Policy implications and avenues for new research are discussed