bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Experiences of families post treatment for childhood brain tumours during medical clinic consultations regarding health‐related quality of life, unmet needs and communication barriers: A qualitative exploration
Authors: Bull Kim S. , Stubley Shelly , Freeman Anita , Liossi Christina , Darlington Anne‐Sophie E. , Grootenhuis Martha A. , Hargrave Darren , Morris Christopher , Walker David A. , Kennedy Colin R.
Published: August 2024

Background

Many studies highlight poor health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in children treated for brain tumours and their parents. However, little is known about the extent to which their informational, healthcare and communication needs regarding HRQoL are met during medical outpatient consultations.

Aim

To explore the experiences of families regarding communication with physicians about HRQoL issues during consultations after treatment for childhood brain tumours.

Methods

Interviews were conducted with 18 families of children and adolescents aged 8–17 years after completion of brain tumour treatment. Participants had completed treatment within the last 5 years and were receiving regular outpatient follow‐up care. Thematic analysis was undertaken using the Framework Method.

Results

Five main themes were identified: (i) unmet emotional and mental health needs; (ii) double protection; (iii) unmet information needs; (iv) communication barriers within consultations; and (v) finding a new normal.

Conclusion

There was a need to improve communication between clinicians and these families, improve information provision, and overcome barriers to conversing with children within these outpatient consultations. Children and their parents should be supported to voice their current needs and concerns regarding their HRQoL. These findings will inform further development of the UK version of the ‘KLIK’ patient‐ and parent‐reported outcome (PROM) portal.
Successful treatment of young childhood standard‐risk hepatoblastoma with cisplatin monotherapy using a central review system
Authors: Saeki Isamu , Ida Kohmei , Kurihara Sho , Watanabe Kenichiro , Mori Makiko , Hishiki Tomoro , Yokoi Akiko , Fujimura Junya , Honda Shohei , Nogami Yuki , Iehara Tomoko , Kazama Takuro , Sekiguchi Masahiro , Kitagawa Norihiko , Matsumura Risa , Nomura Motonari , Yamada Yohei , Hanaki Ryo , Kaneda Hide , Takama Yuichi , Inoue Takeshi , Tanaka Yukichi , Miyazaki Osamu , Nagase Hiroki , Takimoto Tetsuya , Yoshimura Kenichi , Hiyama Eiso
Published: August 2024

Background

The JPLT3‐S (Japanese Study Group for Pediatric Liver Tumors‐3) study, conducted cisplatin (CDDP) monotherapy for young children (<3 years old) with standard‐risk hepatoblastoma (HB) using a central review system in Japan. In the previous JPLT2 study, cases with resectable tumors without any annotation factors in the PRETEXT (PRETreatment EXTent of disease) classification (standard‐risk HB) showed favorable outcomes with treatment consisting of CDDP and pirarubicin, but showed toxicities and late complications. In the JPLT3‐S trial, a less intense regimen consisting of CDDP alone was evaluated.

Methods

Patients who were less than 3 years of age and with PRETEXT I, II, or III HB without any annotation factors (e.g., E1, E1a, E2, E2a, H1, N1, P2, P2a, V3, and V3a) were eligible for inclusion in this study. In this trial, the central radiological and pathological features of all patients were reviewed. The primary outcome was the 3‐year progression‐free survival (PFS).

Results

A total of 38 patients (23 female) were included. The median patient age was 12 months (range: 2–34). Two patients discontinued treatment because of progressive disease, and five patients discontinued treatment for other reasons. The 3‐year PFS rate was 93.9% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 86.4%–100%). All 38 patients survived (follow‐up period 38–98 months), and the OS rate was 100% (CI: 100). Eighteen of the 38 patients (47.4%) experienced ototoxicity as a late complication.

Conclusion

CDDP monotherapy regimen is feasible in young patients with localized HB, as classified by a central review.
Registration of provitamin A‐enriched tropical maize inbred lines
Authors: Menkir Abebe , Meseka Silvestro , Gedil Melaku , Ojo Tayo , Mengesha Wende
Published: August 2024

Vitamin A deficiency and its associated disorders are pervasive in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) including many middle‐ and low‐income countries across the world. Provitamin A‐enriched maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines with desirable agronomic and adaptive traits have been developed and used to generate and commercialize maize varieties with medium to high levels of provitamin A in a few countries to curb vitamin A deficiency. Nonetheless, these inbred lines have not been made widely available to the public and private sector breeders in many countries. The main purpose for releasing the 21 provitamin A‐enriched tropical maize inbred lines (PI 705424–PI 705444, Reg. nos. GP‐624–GP‐644) is to supply maize breeders with elite source germplasm for increasing provitamin A and other carotenoids to much higher levels to offset losses during storage, natural degradation, and processing. These inbred lines were developed at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) from backcrosses of high β‐carotene temperate lines as donors and elite tropical lines as recipients. These inbred lines were developed through repeated self‐pollination with rigorous visual selection among and within lines for plant vigor, synchronous silk emergence and pollen shedding, low ear placement, and resistance to lodging and major tropical diseases, followed by selection for bright yellow to orange kernel color with semi flint to flint kernel texture after harvest. The released maize inbred lines will be diverse sources of favorable alleles to accelerate genetic gain in provitamin A and other beneficial carotenoid enrichment for human health.
Correlation of dopant solution on doping mechanism and performance of F4TCNQ‐doped P3HT
Authors: He Jiaxin , Shan Hongtao , Zhu Bingyan , Cao Xueting , Zhou Jianjun , Huo Hong
Published: August 2024

Understanding the doping mechanism between the dopants and the conjugated polymers (CPs) is crucial for efficiently utilizing the doping process in a controllable manner. In this work, we doped the poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) films with 2,3,5,6‐tetrafluoro‐7,7,8,8‐tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4TCNQ) from a chlorobenzene/acetonitrile (CB/AN) solvent blend and pure AN solvent by using the common sequential doping method. We found that the dissolution ability of the dopant solvent to P3HT and the concentration of the dopant solution were two critical factors to determine the doping process (solution doping or sequential doping) and the doping region (the amorphous or the crystalline phase). When the concentration of the dopant solution was low, solution doping was dominant in the P3HT film doped with F4TCNQ CB/AN solution, and the amorphous regions were doped in the P3HT film doped with F4TCNQ AN solution. With the increase of the dopant solution concentration, the ratio of ordered integer charge transfer (ICT) species, which formed from sequentially doped crystalline domains in the P3HT precast film, increased. Based on the above doping mechanism, a P3HT film with good electrical and tensile performance could be constructed by doping from F4TCNQ CB/AN solution with a relatively low concentration. Our work indicates that the dissolution or swelling ability of the dopant solvent to CP is an important factor in determining not only the doping mechanism but also the electrical and mechanical performances of doped CP films.
Bayesian inference for two populations of Lomax distribution under joint progressive Type‐II censoring schemes with engineering applications
Authors: Hasaballah Mustafa M. , Tashkandy Yusra A. , Balogun Oluwafemi Samson , Bakr Mahmoud E.
Published: August 2024

The joint progressive Type‐II censoring scheme is an advantageous cost‐saving strategy. In this paper, investigated classical and Bayesian methodologies for estimating the combined parameters of two distinct Lomax distributions employing the joint progressive Type‐II censoring scheme. Maximum likelihood estimators have been derived, and asymptotic confidence intervals are presented. Bayesian estimates and their corresponding credible intervals are calculated, incorporating both symmetry and asymmetry loss functions through the utilization of the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. The simulation aspect has employed the MCMC approximation method. Furthermore, discussed the practical application of these methods, providing illustration through the analysis of a real dataset.
Novel CYLD Pathogenic Variant Associated with Multiple Cylindromas of the Scalp—A Case Report
Authors: Amaral Inês P. , Soares Ivânia , Correia Madalena P. , Correia Catarina , Vasconcelos Pedro , Almeida Luis S. , Filipe Paulo
Published: August 2024

Cylindromas are rare, benign adnexal neoplasms primarily found on the scalp and face, with a higher incidence in women and typically manifesting in the second or third decade of life. These tumours can present as single or multiple nodules, with the latter form often linked to CYLD gene mutations, particularly in the context of CYLD cutaneous syndrome. Here, we report a case of a 61-year-old male presenting with multiple cylindromas of the scalp, prompting genetic testing that revealed a novel pathogenic variant in the CYLD gene.
Predictive roles of cognitive biases in health anxiety: A machine learning approach
Authors: Shi Congrong , Du Xiayu , Chen Wenke , Ren Zhihong
Published: August 2024

Prior work suggests that cognitive biases may contribute to health anxiety. Yet there is little research investigating how biased attention, interpretation, and memory for health threats are collectively associated with health anxiety, as well as the relative importance of these cognitive processes in predicting health anxiety. This study aimed to build a prediction model for health anxiety with multiple cognitive biases as potential predictors and to identify the biased cognitive processes that best predict individual differences in health anxiety. A machine learning algorithm (elastic net) was performed to recognise the predictors of health anxiety, using various tasks of attention, interpretation, and memory measured across behavioural, self‐reported, and computational modelling approaches. Participants were 196 university students with a range of health anxiety severity from mild to severe. The results showed that only the interpretation bias for illness and the attention bias towards symptoms significantly contributed to the prediction model of health anxiety, with both biases having positive weights and the former being the most important predictor. These findings underscore the central role of illness‐related interpretation bias and suggest that combined cognitive bias modification may be a promising method for alleviating health anxiety.
Curating 1000 flowers as they bloom: Leveraging pluralistic initiatives to diffuse social innovations
Authors: Leibel Esther
Published: August 2024

Research Summary

Social and environmental challenges in our society offer opportunities for innovation. Having a strong mission can enhance both opportunity recognition and strategic alignment; however, aligning strategy and mission can be challenging when an organization pursues its social mission in pluralistic ways. How can mission‐driven organizations manage pluralistic local initiatives while cohering to their missions? Using an inductive field study, I trace how Slow Money, an organization fostering sustainable local food systems by connecting food entrepreneurs with local investors, translated its core mission into different mission‐oriented local initiatives. I find that mission‐oriented local initiatives were recombined to create novel strategies curated and diffused by the central leadership, and I show how, rather than derail an organization's mission, pluralistic local initiatives can foster strategies for social innovation.

Managerial Summary

Organizations addressing social and environmental challenges often are mission driven. Though a mission can help guide strategy decisions, it also can lead to strategy confusion, especially when an organization consists of many local groups with different interpretations of the mission. I use the case of Slow Money, a nonprofit supporting sustainable local food systems, to understand how an organization can transform an assortment of mission‐based strategies into an asset rather than a liability. I find that by promoting an open exchange of local initiatives and strategies, Slow Money's central leadership validated strategy diversity. It also provided its local groups with the opportunity to borrow and repurpose other groups' initiatives. In this way, diverse local strategies created mission unity while also increasing organizational social innovation.
Breaking the Temperature Limit of Lithium‐Ion Batteries With Carbon Nanotube‐Based Electrodes and “Constructive Alliance” Electrolyte Strategy
Authors: Hong Zixin , Tian Hui , Fang Zhenhan , Luo Yufeng , Wu Hengcai , Zhao Fei , Yu Wei , Liu Changhong , Li Qunqing , Fan Shoushan , Wang Jiaping
Published: August 2024

Lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) are paramount in energy storage in consumer electronics and electric vehicles. However, a narrow operating temperature range severely constrains their evolution. In this study, a wide‐temperature operating LIB system is constructed utilizing carbon nanotube (CNT)‐based electrodes and a “constructive alliance” electrolyte. The unique microstructure of the CNT current collector, with high electrical and thermal conductivity, accelerates the reaction kinetics of active materials at subzero temperatures and optimizes the thermal management of the entire electrode at elevated temperatures. Furthermore, a strategy employing the “constructive alliance” electrolyte is proposed, demonstrating that a simple combination of commercially available electrolytes can enhance resilience to harsh thermal conditions. Molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations reveal that the hybrid electrolyte predominantly adopts aggregate solvation structures and possesses low Li+ desolvation barriers regardless of thermal variations. Consequently, the assembled Li4Ti5O12//LiCoO2 full cell, with a negative/positive electrode material ratio of 1.2, exhibits outstanding electrochemical performance in the wide temperature range of −40 and 60 °C. This innovative strategy overcomes challenges in wide‐temperature electrolyte research and offers promise for next‐generation wide‐temperature LIBs.
Influence of the Polymer Binder Composition on the Charge Transfer Resistance, Morphology, and Crystallinity of LiFePO4 Electrodes Revealed by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy and Grazing Incidence Small‐ and Wide‐Angle X‐ray Scattering
Authors: Apfelbeck Fabian A. C. , Heger Julian E. , Zheng Tianle , Guan Tianfu , Schwartzkopf Matthias , Roth Stephan V. , Müller‐Buschbaum Peter
Published: August 2024

Electrode materials for application in lithium‐ion batteries are commonly probed by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) to investigate their crystalline structure. Grazing incidence wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (GIWAXS) is an extension to XRD since in‐plane structures are also accessible. Additionally, with grazing incidence small‐angle X‐ray scattering (GISAXS), morphological information on the nanoscale can be revealed. In this work, the nanostructure of battery electrodes, which consist of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) as active material, carbon black (CB) as conducting agent, and the polymeric binders polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) and poly((trifluoromethane) sulfonimide lithium styrene) (PSTFSILi) is studied by performing GISAXS and GIWAXS. The chemical nature of the binder is tuned by blending PVDF and PSTFSILi. Specifically, a series of LiFePO4 electrodes with polymer blends of the common, non‐conducting PVDF and the single‐ion conducting PSTFSILi with different weight ratios as binders is investigated to understand the influence of the binder on the structure of the electrode in detail. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) complement these studies to correlate the morphology and structure with the electrochemical behavior. It is found that LiFePO4 crystallites do not exhibit any preferred orientation with respect to the substrate, irrespective of the binder composition, but their size depends on the binder composition.
Deep Learning‐Based Classification of Histone–DNA Interactions Using Drying Droplet Patterns
Authors: Vaez Safoura , Dadfar Bahar , Koenig Meike , Franzreb Matthias , Lahann Joerg
Published: August 2024

Developing scalable and accurate predictive analytical methods for the classification of protein‐DNA binding is critical for advancing our understanding of molecular biology, disease mechanisms, and a wide spectrum of biotechnological and medical applications. It is discovered that histone–DNA interactions can be stratified based on stain patterns created by the deposition of various nucleoprotein solutions onto a substrate. In this study, a deep‐learning neural network is applied to categorize polarized light microscopy images of drying droplet deposits originating from different histone–DNA mixtures. These DNA stain patterns featured high reproducibility across different species and thus enabled comprehensive DNA categorization (100% accuracy) and accurate prediction of their respective binding affinities to histones. Eukaryotic DNA, which has a higher binding affinity to mammalian histones than prokaryotic DNA, is associated with a higher overall prediction accuracy. For a given species, the average prediction accuracy increased with DNA size. To demonstrate generalizability, a pre‐trained CNN is challenged with unknown images that originated from DNA samples of species not included in the training set. The CNN classified these unknown histone‐DNA samples as either strong or medium binders with 84.4% and 96.25% accuracy, respectively.
Pushing the Limits of Lateral Flow Immunoassay by Digital SERS for the Ultralow Detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 Virus
Authors: González‐Cabaleiro Lara , Fernández‐Lodeiro Carlos , Vázquez‐Iglesias Lorena , Soriano‐Maldonado Pablo , van Raaij Mark J. , Bodelón Gustavo , Pérez‐Juste Jorge , Pastoriza‐Santos Isabel
Published: August 2024

Lateral flow immunoassays (LFIAs) are easy‐to‐use antigen tests that provide different signal readouts, with colorimetric readouts being the most commonly used. However, these analytical devices have relatively low sensitivity and produce semiquantitative results, limiting their diagnostic applications. Herein, we address these challenges by implementing a digital surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)‐based LFIA for the accurate and ultrasensitive quantitative detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleocapsid (N) protein. Compared with average SERS intensity measurements, the digital approach allowed to overcome fluctuations in Raman scattering signals, thereby increasing the analytical sensitivity of the assay. Our method exhibited a quantification range of the viral protein in nasal swabs from 0.001 to 10 pg mL−1, and a limit of detection down to 1.9 aM (0.9 fg mL−1), improving colorimetric LFIAs and conventional‐SERS‐based LFIAs by several orders of magnitude. Importantly, this approach shows an analytical sensitivity of 0.03 TCID50 mL−1, which is greater than that reported by other immunoassays. In conclusion, we successfully demonstrate the robust detection and quantification of SARS‐CoV‐2N protein in nasal swabs at ultralow concentrations. The improvement in the sensitivity of LFIA by digital SERS may pave the way to translate this technology into the diagnostic arena for the ultrasensitive detection of microbes and disease biomarkers.
Study on Strain Hardening and Cryogenic Toughness of Marine 10Ni5CrMoV Steel during Tempering
Authors: Zou Tao , Dong Yan‐Wu , Jiang Zhou‐Hua , Liu Li‐Meng
Published: August 2024

The tempering process is applied in marine 10Ni5CrMoV steel to study microstructure, and mechanical properties by multi‐scale characterizations, strain hardening behavior, and cryogenic toughening mechanism are further investigated. As the tempering temperature increases from 590 to 630 °C, the dislocation density decreases by up to 25% and the austenite volume fraction decreases by up to 35%. Additionally, the morphology of austenite changes from strip to bulk, which weakened the pinning effect on the laths, leading to a coarsened martensite and an increase in the equivalent grain size. Based on the modified Crussard–Jaoul analysis, the specimens at different tempering temperatures exhibit a single‐stage strain hardening behavior during plastic deformation. The increase in strength is attributed to the continuous transformation‐induced plasticity effect and the increasing dislocation density. Furthermore, high austenite volume fraction and the proportion of grain boundary misorientation above 45° promote the release of stress concentration and hinder the propagation of cracks. This results in an increase in the ductile–brittle transition temperature (DBTT) of the specimens from −105 to −135 °C. At a tempering temperature of 610 °C, the specimen demonstrates an outstanding balance between yield strength (868 MPa) and cryogenic toughness (DBTT of −135 °C).
Effect of Electroplating Sludge on the Iron Ore Sintering: Mineralization, Yield and Gaseous Emission
Authors: Tang Yinhua , Ding Chengyi , Wang Xuchao , Xu Xiaoqing , Sun Yue , Long Hongming , Chang Rende , Xue Sheng , Fan Chunlong
Published: August 2024

Electroplating sludge (ES), the inevitable by‐product of electroplating wastewater treatment processes, has been conventionally managed via solidification landfilling or thermal processing; these methods may engender secondary environmental pollutants. This study proposes an innovative approach using iron ore sintering for effective ES treatment. The study reveals that incorporating 1.0% ES reduces the yield quality of the sintered ore, yet it remains within acceptable thresholds. It is noteworthy that when the addition of ES is 0.5%, it not only increases the sinter yield from 68.57% to 69.23% but also enhances the productivity from 1.19 to 1.32 t (m2 h)−1. Furthermore, the consumption of solid fuel decreases to 48.01 kg t−1. Additionally, the treatment method significantly reduced the emissions of CO and NOx in the sintering flue gas, with the average concentrations decreasing from 12681.32 to 9744.51 ppm for CO and from 244.81 to 161.11 ppm for NOx. This study investigates the migration and transformation mechanisms of nickel and chlorine elements in ES by conducting inductively coupled plasma analysis on the sintered raw materials and their products, as well as scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy analysis on the sinter ash.
Red deer grazing pressure on agricultural grass meadows from broad to local scale
Authors: Hjermann Tilde Katrina Slotte , Bilet Nikolai Antonsen , Rivrud Inger Maren , Meisingset Erling L. , Thorvaldsen Pål , Mysterud Atle
Published: August 2024

Grazing by wildlife on agricultural land is widespread across geographical regions, and can cause human–wildlife conflicts due to reduced crop yield when the grazing pressure is high. Growing red deer Cervus elaphus populations in Europe call for an increased understanding of their grazing patterns to mitigate damages. We quantified how red deer grazing pressure (grazing presence and grazing level) on agricultural grass meadows (n = 60) in Norway varied across multiple spatial scales. We used a nested, hierarchical study design transcending from a broad scale (meadows across the landscape) to intermediate (between nearby meadows) and local (within‐meadow) scales, allowing us to identify at which scale the variation in grazing pressure was strongest. We estimated how grazing was determined by broad‐scale factors influencing forage availability and quality through population density, distance to coastline, and differences between the first versus second harvest, by intermediate‐scale factors in terms of meadow management causing differences in botanical composition and quality, and by local‐scale factors in terms of perceived predation risk and disturbance. At a broad scale, higher population densities were associated with higher grazing pressure, and more grazing occurred before the first compared to the second harvest. Intermediate‐scale factors explained the most variation of grazing pressure from red deer, with higher grazing pressure on newly renewed meadows compared to other nearby meadows. On a local scale, more grazing occurred closer to the forest edge, providing cover, and further away from infrastructure, with increased risk and disturbance. Overall, our study highlights how drivers of grazing pressure on agricultural land vary across spatial scales. Population reductions on a broader scale may have some effect in reducing the grazing pressure, but renewed meadows will nevertheless attract red deer, causing higher grazing pressure compared to neighbouring meadows. This insight is crucial for determining effective mitigation strategies facing rising red deer populations across Europe.
Co-creating Virtual Care for Chronic Disease
Authors: Cheers Jessica , Puri Gaurav , Knack Brent
Published: August 2024

For those living with chronic disease and multiple complex health conditions, regular appointments with multiple practitioners can become an incredible burden on their quality of life. The VOICeD telehealth service, or Virtual Outpatient Integration for Chronic Disease, was designed to meet the complex needs of people with diabetes by allowing them to see multiple healthcare practitioners in one virtual appointment. The service was designed alongside consumers and clinicians, exploring their needs through a series of experience design sessions, a participatory design workshop, and user testing. Following the success of the VOICeD model for Diabetes-Renal-Cardiac, the service has since expanded to meet the needs of additional multi-disciplinary contexts, including Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Child Development.
Co-designing the Palliative Care Hospital Experience with Clinicians, Patients, and Families: Reflections from a Co-design Workshop with Clinicians
Authors: Miller Evonne , Yates Patsy , Johnstone Sarah , Hargraves Maryanne
Published: August 2024

This chapter describes a design thinking workshop in a different context to most HEAL projects—that of a Palliative Care ward in a private hospital. The design team used various arts-based approaches, including empathy mapping, idea storming, and persona development to help staff take a positive approach to re-imagining how they could provide exceptional service to their consumers throughout their palliative care and end-of-life experience. The results showed that even small changes can make a big difference at the end of someone’s life.
Co-designing Design Thinking Workshops: From Observations to Quality Improvement Insights for Healthcare Innovation
Authors: Chamorro-Koc Marianella , Swann Levi , Haskell Natalie , Dwyer James , Wainwright Luke , Hosking Jodie
Published: August 2024

Healthcare innovation is the development of new or improved healthcare policies, systems, products, technologies, services or methods of delivery, which aim to improve outcomes for people within healthcare. The Clinical Skills Development Service (CSDS) is one of the world’s largest healthcare simulation and training providers, which works towards healthcare improvement through training, collaboration, and innovation. This project provided the opportunity for academics to contribute new knowledge in Design Thinking strategies for healthcare innovation to the CSDS team. This was achieved through: (i) delivering a new-to-the world Design Thinking approach with an Observation Strategy suitable for use in the context of healthcare practices and (ii) a workshop protocol that was tested through first-hand experience with the CSDS team. Through this project we learned that the healthcare context is highly regulated, and therefore constrained in the technologies they are approved to employ. From the design team perspective, the inability of the healthcare sector to use creative online tools such as Padlet or Miro highly constrains the opportunity to explore different creative interactions across team members. From a healthcare professionals’ perspective, it was evident that some Design Thinking workshops require a longer iterative process to effectively identify opportunities for innovation, which is an area of emphasis in the healthcare sector. Two key aspects of this collaboration were the opportunity to expand our understanding of how quality improvement in healthcare can be achieved through design, and how a team combining two different worlds of knowledge and processes can meet in the middle to develop and deploy improved experiences through a co-design approach.
Parrot Murals and Feather Floors: Co-designing playful wayfinding in the Queensland Children’s Hospital
Authors: Seevinck Jennifer , Miller Evonne , Baade Kirsten , Ridsdale Gillian , Seear Lynne , Douglas Matthew
Published: August 2024

This chapter describes a collaborative project to improve the way that sick children and their families could find the various entertainment facilities located on Level 6 of the Queensland Children’s Hospital—Starlight Express Room, Kidzone, and Radio Lollipop studio. Wayfinding is an important part of the interior design considerations for hospitals, and this project paired designers and artists with hospital administrators and facilities management team members to create a playful way for each of the entertainment facilities to be easily found, while also making navigating the entire floor stress-free, including identifying the lifts, which are the main access point for the floor.
NICU Mum to PICU Researcher: A Reflection on Place, People, and the Power of Shared Experience
Authors: Ness Wilson Leighann
Published: August 2024

In this chapter, I reflect on my experience as a research student intern in the HEAL PICU Partnership Project. I explore the challenges and opportunities I found in working in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) alongside the importance of connection with staff and families and share what this project meant to me personally, as a designer, researcher and parent. Throughout the PICU Partnership Project I was able to draw not just on empathy in a general sense, but on the firsthand experience of having my own daughter born prematurely and being a parent at an intensive care bedside. This chapter will outline my involvement in the project; from the initial meeting where parents and families became our focus in line with the ideals of PICU Liberation, through the time spent observing the use of the physical spaces, establishing relationships, and gaining the trust and voice of PICU staff and families, to the formulation and recommendation of design concepts aimed at summarising key themes and providing a clear and informed way forward. I provide insight into my design process informed by theory, care, and intuition, and summarise the research outcomes and design concepts formulated. It is my hope that this summary demonstrates that, though the experience for families in PICU can never be easy, it can be improved, through good, informed design.
Designers as a Catalyst for ‘Designability’: Reflecting on the Origins of HEAL and Its Vital Role in Transforming Healthcare in Queensland
Authors: Chari Satyan
Published: August 2024

This chapter concludes the book and describes both the past and future of the Healthcare Excellence AcceLerator and its relationship between the QUT Design Lab and Queensland Health’s Clinical Excellence Queensland. Looking at the HEAL projects through the lens of the funder brings a healthcare clinician’s perspective to the stories told across the previous 20 chapters, and the broader work of the collaboration. The chapter makes the case for the importance of including designers in addressing the complex problems of healthcare, so as to drive innovation and the re-humanisation of solutions that are sorely needed.
Transforming the NICU Environment for Parent and Staff Wellbeing: A Holistic and Transdisciplinary Supportive Design Approach
Authors: Johnstone Sarah , Miller Evonne , Tyurina Anastasia , Ness Wilson Leighann , Winter Abbe
Published: August 2024

This chapter describes an interior and spatial design challenge at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital that occurred over the Summer of 2022–23. The QUT Design Lab team worked closely with nurse champions from the NICU to help re-vision how their space could be used more effectively to increase feelings of comfort and belonging, particularly for parents of children in the ward. From a long list of potential design solutions to the many issues faced, a short list of six were developed in detail so that the hospital’s facilities team could implement the proposed solutions to the most pressing concerns.
Prototyping for Healthcare Innovation
Authors: Chamorro-Koc Marianella
Published: August 2024

This chapter provides reflections from an experienced industrial designer on the importance of prototyping as part of the design process. She reflects on the criticality of creating low-fidelity prototypes in developing healthcare technologies with case examples of developing child-friendly PPE and a pain assessment device, including a frank discussion of the challenges involved in developing these projects to testable prototype stages. The chapter concludes with four principles for people-centred design making in healthcare—making for engaging, making meaning, making stories, and making language.
Agency and Access: Redesigning the Prison Health Care Request Process
Authors: Scharoun Lisa , Miller Evonne
Published: August 2024

This chapter describes the pain points experienced by many prisoners in trying to request medical attention, and the participatory co-design workshop process used by QUT Design Lab researchers to redevelop the Health Services Request Form into an easier-to-use, icon-based form that works for all prisoners, including those with low literacy or who have English as an additional language. The chapter details the international background of difficulties found in providing healthcare services to prisoners before detailing the local circumstances, including broad demographic categories of many incarcerated prisoners in Queensland. The designers then describe their research and participatory design process, before ending the chapter with the re-designed Health Services Request Form.
In a Heartbeat: Animation as a Tool for Improving Cultural Safety in Hospitals
Authors: Taboada Manuela , Leo Kirsty , Maher Sean , Brunner Thalia , Carson Sue , Da Costa Staché
Published: August 2024

This chapter describes the development of an animated video to help clinicians become more aware of and sensitised to the cultural needs of Indigenous and First Nations consumers. Addressing a critical issue that faces many patients from the non-dominant culture, the QUT Design Lab team worked closely with an Aboriginal nurse who highlighted the critical need to gently make clinicians aware of their potential racism and cultural bias when dealing with consumers. The chapter tells the story of the development of the animation, from its initial conception as a trilogy of videos through various issues, into its final product as a single video with a singular animation style that is now being successfully used for clinician training.
Finite-volume scattering on the left-hand cut
Authors: Baião Raposo A. , Hansen M. T.
Published: August 2024

Abstract

The two-particle finite-volume scattering formalism derived by Lüscher and generalized in many subsequent works does not hold for energies far enough below the two-particle threshold to reach the nearest left-hand cut. The breakdown of the formalism is signaled by the fact that a real scattering amplitude is predicted in a regime where it should be complex. In this work, we address this limitation by deriving an extended formalism that includes the nearest branch cut, arising from single particle exchange. We focus on two-nucleon (NN → NN) scattering, for which the cut arises from pion exchange, but give expressions for any system with a single channel of identical particles. The new result takes the form of a modified quantization condition that can be used to constrain an intermediate K-matrix in which the cut is removed. In a second step, integral equations, also derived in this work, must be used to convert the K-matrix to the physical scattering amplitude. We also show how the new formalism reduces to the standard approach when the N → Nπ coupling is set to zero.
The prevalence, characteristics, and psychological wellbeing of unpaid carers in the United Kingdom
Authors: Redican Enya , Meade Richard , Harrison Craig , McBride Orla , Butter Sarah , Murphy Jamie , Shevlin Mark
Published: August 2024

Background

This study sought to describe the characteristics of unpaid carers in the UK and assess levels of depression, anxiety, and mental health treatment seeking behaviours in this population.

Methods

Data was derived from Wave 9 (n = 2790) of the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) study, a longitudinal survey of adults in the UK. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the characteristics of unpaid carers, association between caregiver status and psychological wellbeing, and caregiver-specific factors associated with risk of poor psychological wellbeing.

Results

Approximately 15% (n = 417) of the sample reported providing unpaid care. Younger age, having three or more children in the household, and lower income were identified as significant correlates of caregiver status. Unpaid caregivers were at increased risk of depression or anxiety and mental health help-seeking. Unpaid caregivers who were younger, lived in households with one or two children, and had a lower income were at greater risk of depression or anxiety and engaging in mental health help-seeking. Caring for an individual with a terminal illness, long-term illness, learning disability or difficulty, mental health problems, physical disability, and other were linked to increased risk of depression or anxiety, while caring for someone with a learning disability increased risk of mental health help-seeking.

Conclusions

This study indicates that at least one in eight people in the UK provide unpaid care, and that those who provide unpaid care have a far higher risk of experiencing depression or anxiety and seeking mental health treatment. The identification of risk factors associated with these mental health outcomes will facilitate the identification of those in most need of support.
Digital privacy and the law: the challenge of regulatory capture
Authors: Chomanski Bartlomiej , Lauwaert Lode
Published: August 2024

Digital privacy scholars tend to bemoan ordinary people’s limited knowledge of and lukewarm interest in what happens to their digital data. This general lack of interest and knowledge is often taken as a consideration in favor of legislation aiming to force internet companies into adopting more responsible data practices. While we remain silent on whether any new laws are called for, in this paper we wish to underline a neglected consequence of people’s ignorance of and apathy for digital privacy: their potential to encourage capture by industry interests. In particular, we argue that such laws may be at increased risk of capture because they are unlikely to be democratically responsive. We make this claim on a twofold basis: first, well-known theoretical mechanisms explaining how the absence of responsiveness leads to capture, identified in prior political science and political philosophy literature, yield the prediction that digital privacy legislation is likely to be unresponsive and thus captured; second, empirical data concerning the European Union’s digital privacy laws, with a special focus on the General Data Protection Regulation, appears to confirm these predictions: the bloc’s (world’s?) flagship privacy protection law seems more responsive to corporate than citizen interests.
Type 1 fimbria and P pili: regulatory mechanisms of the prototypical members of the chaperone-usher fimbrial family
Authors: Isidro-Coxca María I. , Ortiz-Jiménez Stephanie , Puente José L.
Published: August 2024

Adherence to both cellular and abiotic surfaces is a crucial step in the interaction of bacterial pathogens and commensals with their hosts. Bacterial surface structures known as fimbriae or pili play a fundamental role in the early colonization stages by providing specificity or tropism. Among the various fimbrial families, the chaperone-usher family has been extensively studied due to its ubiquity, diversity, and abundance. This family is named after the components that facilitate their biogenesis. Type 1 fimbria and P pilus, two chaperone-usher fimbriae associated with urinary tract infections, have been thoroughly investigated and serve as prototypes that have laid the foundations for understanding the biogenesis of this fimbrial family. Additionally, the study of the mechanisms regulating their expression has also been a subject of great interest, revealing that the regulation of the expression of the genes encoding these structures is a complex and diverse process, involving both common global regulators and those specific to each operon.
Novel mimetic tissue standards for precise quantitative mass spectrometry imaging of drug and neurotransmitter concentrations in rat brain tissues
Authors: Watanabe Kenichi , Takayama Sayo , Yamada Toichiro , Hashimoto Masayo , Tadano Jun , Nakagawa Tetsuya , Watanabe Takao , Fukusaki Eiichiro , Miyawaki Izuru , Shimma Shuichi
Published: August 2024

Understanding the relationship between the concentration of a drug and its therapeutic efficacy or side effects is crucial in drug development, especially to understand therapeutic efficacy in central nervous system drug, quantifying drug-induced site-specific changes in the levels of endogenous metabolites, such as neurotransmitters. In recent times, evaluation of quantitative distribution of drugs and endogenous metabolites using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) has attracted much attention in drug discovery research. However, MALDI-MSI quantification (quantitative mass spectrometry imaging, QMSI) is an emerging technique, and needs to be further developed for practicable and convenient use in drug discovery research. In this study, we developed a reliable QMSI method for quantification of clozapine (antipsychotic drug) and dopamine and its metabolites in the rat brain using MALDI-MSI. An improved mimetic tissue model using powdered frozen tissue for QMSI was established as an alternative method, enabling the accurate quantification of clozapine levels in the rat brain. Furthermore, we used the improved method to evaluate drug-induced fluctuations in the concentrations of dopamine and its metabolites. This method can quantitatively evaluate drug localization in the brain and drug-induced changes in the concentration of endogenous metabolites, demonstrating the usefulness of QMSI.

Graphical Abstract
Word-representable graphs from a word’s perspective
Authors: Fleischmann Pamela , Haschke Lukas , Löck Tim , Nowotka Dirk
Published: August 2024

Word-representable graphs were introduced in 2008 by Kitaev and Pyatkin in the context of semigroup theory. Graphs are called word-representable if there exists a word with the graph’s nodes as letters such that the letters in the word alternate iff there is an edge between them in the graph. Until today numerous works investigated the word-representability of graphs but mostly from the graph perspective. In this work, we change the perspective to the words, i.e., we take classes of words and investigate the represented graphs. Our first subject of interest are the conjugates of words: we determine exactly which graphs are represented if we rotate the word. Afterwards, we look at k-local words introduced by Day et al. (FSTTCS LIPIcs, 2017) in order to gain more insights into this class of words. Here, we investigate especially which graphs are represented by 1-local words. Lastly, we prove that the language of all words representing a graph is regular. We were also able to characterise k-representable graphs, solving an open problem.
Unveiling the importance of the C-terminus in the sugar acid dehydratase of the IlvD/EDD superfamily
Authors: Ren Yaxin , Vettenranta Elias , Penttinen Leena , Blomster Andberg Martina , Koivula Anu , Rouvinen Juha , Hakulinen Nina
Published: August 2024

Microbial non-phosphorylative oxidative pathways present promising potential in the biosynthesis of platform chemicals from the hemicellulosic fraction of lignocellulose. An L-arabinonate dehydratase from Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the non-phosphorylative oxidative pathways, that is, converts sugar acid to 2-dehydro-3-deoxy sugar acid. We have shown earlier that the enzyme forms a dimer of dimers, in which the C-terminal histidine residue from one monomer participates in the formation of the active site of an adjacent monomer. The histidine appears to be conserved across the sequences of sugar acid dehydratases. To study the role of the C-terminus, five variants (H579A, H579F, H579L, H579Q, and H579W) were produced. All variants showed decreased activity for the tested sugar acid substrates, except the variant H579L on D-fuconate, which showed about 20% increase in activity. The reaction kinetic data showed that the substrate preference was slightly modified in H579L compared to the wild-type enzyme, demonstrating that the alternation of the substrate preference of sugar acid dehydratases is possible. In addition, a crystal structure of H579L was determined at 2.4 Å with a product analog 2-oxobutyrate. This is the first enzyme-ligand complex structure from an IlvD/EDD superfamily enzyme. The binding of 2-oxobutyrate suggests how the substrate would bind into the active site in the orientation, which could lead to the dehydration reaction.

Key points

• Mutation of the last histidine at the C-terminus changed the catalytic activity of L-arabinonate dehydratase from R. leguminosarum bv. trifolii against various C5/C6 sugar acids.

• The variant H579L of L-arabinonate dehydratase showed an alteration of substrate preferences compared with the wild type.

• The first enzyme-ligand complex crystal structure of an IlvD/EDD superfamily enzyme was solved.

Graphical Abstract