Position sensors with nanometer resolution are a key component of many precision imaging and fabrication machines. Since the sensor characteristics can define the linearity, resolution and speed of ...the machine, the sensor performance is a foremost consideration. The first goal of this article is to define concise performance metrics and to provide exact and approximate expressions for error sources including non-linearity, drift and noise. The second goal is to review current position sensor technologies and to compare their performance. The sensors considered include: resistive, piezoelectric and piezoresistive strain sensors; capacitive sensors; electrothermal sensors; eddy current sensors; linear variable displacement transformers; interferometers; and linear encoders.
This paper examines men's lifetime physical intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration across eight low- and middle-income countries to better understand key risk factors that interventions can ...target in order to promote gender equality and reduce IPV. We use data from men (n = 7806) that were collected as part of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), India, Mexico, and Rwanda. Results show that there is wide variation across countries for lifetime self-reported physical violence perpetration (range: 17% in Mexico to 45% in DRC), men's support for equal roles for men and women, and acceptability of violence against women. Across the sample, 31% of men report having perpetrated physical violence against a partner in their lifetime. In multivariate analyses examining risk factors for men ever perpetrating physical violence against a partner, witnessing parental violence was the strongest risk factor, reinforcing previous research suggesting the inter-generational transmission of violence. Additionally, having been involved in fights not specifically with an intimate partner, permissive attitudes towards violence against women, having inequitable gender attitudes, and older age were associated with a higher likelihood of ever perpetrating physical IPV. In separate analyses for each country, we found different patterns of risk factors in countries with high perpetration compared to countries with low perpetration. Findings are interpreted to identify key knowledge gaps and directions for future research, public policies, evaluation, and programming.
Protein design is a powerful tool for elucidating mechanisms of function and engineering new therapeutics and nanotechnologies. Although soluble protein design has advanced, membrane protein design ...remains challenging because of difficulties in modeling the lipid bilayer. In this work, we developed an implicit approach that captures the anisotropic structure, shape of water-filled pores, and nanoscale dimensions of membranes with different lipid compositions. The model improves performance in computational benchmarks against experimental targets, including prediction of protein orientations in the bilayer, ΔΔG calculations, native structure discrimination, and native sequence recovery. When applied to de novo protein design, this approach designs sequences with an amino acid distribution near the native amino acid distribution in membrane proteins, overcoming a critical flaw in previous membrane models that were prone to generating leucine-rich designs. Furthermore, the proteins designed in the new membrane model exhibit native-like features including interfacial aromatic side chains, hydrophobic lengths compatible with bilayer thickness, and polar pores. Our method advances high-resolution membrane protein structure prediction and design toward tackling key biological questions and engineering challenges.
There is a long history of research into body fluid biomarkers in neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases. However, only a few biomarkers in CSF are being used in clinical practice. One of ...the most critical factors in CSF biomarker research is the inadequate powering of studies because of the lack of sufficient samples that can be obtained in single-center studies. Therefore, collaboration between investigators is needed to establish large biobanks of well-defined samples. Standardized protocols for biobanking are a prerequisite to ensure that the statistical power gained by increasing the numbers of CSF samples is not compromised by preanalytical factors. Here, a consensus report on recommendations for CSF collection and biobanking is presented, formed by the BioMS-eu network for CSF biomarker research in multiple sclerosis. We focus on CSF collection procedures, preanalytical factors, and high-quality clinical and paraclinical information. The biobanking protocols are applicable for CSF biobanks for research targeting any neurologic disease.
In the 1830s, iron bacteria were among the first groups of microbes to be recognized for carrying out a fundamental geological process, namely the oxidation of iron. Due to lingering questions about ...their metabolism, coupled with difficulties in culturing important community members, studies of Fe-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) have lagged behind those of other important microbial lithotrophic metabolisms. Recently, research on lithotrophic, oxygen-dependent FeOB that grow at circumneutral pH has accelerated. This work is driven by several factors including the recognition by both microbiologists and geoscientists of the role FeOB play in the biogeochemistry of iron and other elements. The isolation of new strains of obligate FeOB allowed a better understanding of their physiology and phylogeny and the realization that FeOB are abundant at certain deep-sea hydrothermal vents. These ancient microorganisms offer new opportunities to learn about fundamental biological processes that can be of practical importance.
The simultaneous optimization of many objectives (in excess of 3), in order to obtain a full and satisfactory set of tradeoff solutions to support a posteriori decision making, remains a challenging ...problem. The concept of coevolving a family of decision-maker preferences together with a population of candidate solutions is studied here and demonstrated to have promising performance characteristics for such problems. After introducing the concept of the preference-inspired coevolutionary algorithm (PICEA), a realization of this concept, PICEA-g, is systematically compared with four of the best-in-class evolutionary algorithms (EAs); random search is also studied as a baseline approach. The four EAs used in the comparison are a Pareto-dominance relation-based algorithm (NSGA-II), an ε-dominance relation-based algorithm ε-multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA), a scalarizing function-based algorithm (MOEA/D), and an indicator-based algorithm hypervolume-based algorithm (HypE). It is demonstrated that, for bi-objective problems, all of the multi-objective evolutionary algorithms perform competitively. As the number of objectives increases, PICEA-g and HypE, which have comparable performance, tend to outperform NSGA-II, ε-MOEA, and MOEA/D. All the algorithms outperformed random search.
Objectives To describe the incidence and extent of lying on the floor for a long time after being unable to get up from a fall among people aged over 90; to explore their use of call alarm systems in ...these circumstances.Design 1 year follow-up of participants in a prospective cohort study of ageing, using fall calendars, phone calls, and visits.Setting Participants’ usual place of residence (own homes or care homes), mostly in Cambridge.Participants 90 women and 20 men aged over 90 (n=110), surviving participants of the Cambridge City over-75s Cohort, a population based sample.Main outcome measures Inability to get up without help, lying on floor for a long time after falling, associated factors; availability and use of call alarm systems; participants’ views on using call alarms to summon help if needed after falling.Results In one year’s intensive follow-up, 54% (144/265) of fall reports described the participant as being found on the floor and 82% (217/265) of falls occurred when the person was alone. Of the 60% who fell, 80% (53/66) were unable to get up after at least one fall and 30% (20/66) had lain on the floor for an hour or more. Difficulty in getting up was consistently associated with age, reported mobility, and severe cognitive impairment. Cognition was the only characteristic that predicted lying on the floor for a long time. Lying on the floor for a long time was strongly associated with serious injuries, admission to hospital, and subsequent moves into long term care. Call alarms were widely available but were not used in most cases of falls that led to lying on the floor for a long time. Comments from older people and carers showed the complexity of issues around the use of call alarms, including perceptions of irrelevance, concerns about independence, and practical difficulties.Conclusions Lying on the floor for a long time after falling is more common among the “oldest old” than previously thought and is associated with serious consequences. Factors indicating higher risk and comments from participants suggest practical implications. People need training in strategies to get up from the floor. Work is needed on access and activation issues for design of call alarms and information for their effective use. Care providers need better understanding of the perceptions of older people to provide acceptable support services.
The quantitative and spatial coordination of stomatal pores in the epidermis and airspaces in the underlying mesophyll tissue is vital for efficient gas exchange in the leaf. The mechanisms that ...determine the distribution of stomata in the epidermis have been studied extensively, but how this relates to the regulation of mesophyll airspace configuration is poorly understood. Recent studies have investigated how development is coordinated between these tissue layers. The evidence suggests that multiple mechanisms are likely to work concurrently to coordinate stomatal and mesophyll development for optimal leaf gas exchange, and that both genetic and physiological factors contribute to this regulation. Such advances in our understanding of leaf development have important implications for potential improvement of crop water use efficiency.
The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Strategy Report provides clinicians with an annually updated evidence-based strategy for asthma management and prevention, which can be adapted for local ...circumstances (e.g., medication availability). This article summarizes key recommendations from GINA 2021, and the evidence underpinning recent changes. GINA recommends that asthma in adults and adolescents should not be treated solely with short-acting
-agonist (SABA), because of the risks of SABA-only treatment and SABA overuse, and evidence for benefit of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). Large trials show that as-needed combination ICS-formoterol reduces severe exacerbations by ⩾60% in mild asthma compared with SABA alone, with similar exacerbation, symptom, lung function, and inflammatory outcomes as daily ICS plus as-needed SABA. Key changes in GINA 2021 include division of the treatment figure for adults and adolescents into two tracks. Track 1 (preferred) has low-dose ICS-formoterol as the reliever at all steps: as needed only in Steps 1-2 (mild asthma), and with daily maintenance ICS-formoterol (maintenance-and-reliever therapy, "MART") in Steps 3-5. Track 2 (alternative) has as-needed SABA across all steps, plus regular ICS (Step 2) or ICS-long-acting
-agonist (Steps 3-5). For adults with moderate-to-severe asthma, GINA makes additional recommendations in Step 5 for add-on long-acting muscarinic antagonists and azithromycin, with add-on biologic therapies for severe asthma. For children 6-11 years, new treatment options are added at Steps 3-4. Across all age groups and levels of severity, regular personalized assessment, treatment of modifiable risk factors, self-management education, skills training, appropriate medication adjustment, and review remain essential to optimize asthma outcomes.
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