A theoretical investigation on neutral excitons confined to a mono-layer (ML) semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) materials under the influence of elliptically deformed gate induced confining potential is presented. It has been shown that the anisotropy of the confinement induces the anisotropy of linear response of the system on in-plane external electric field. The linear response is expressed in terms of principal moments of the static dipole polarizability tensor. In this manner the direction-dependent polarizability of the system can be fully controlled by tuning the parameters of gate-induced confining potential. The components of the polarizability tensor are determined using finite-field method based on the exact diagonalization of the electron-hole Hamiltonian including confining potential, Coulomb electron-hole interaction and an external electric field, within effective mass approximation, close to the K-points of the first Brillouin zone of a single-layer MX In the case of GNRs, the electronic states strongly depend on the width and on the edge structure of the ribbon. In the case of CNTs the electrical properties essentially depend on the diameter and on the shape of the edges. One of the most recognized examples of ballistic transport devices exhibiting correlation between geometry and electronic properties is the geometric diode. In the geomeric diode the electric current rectification is obtained due to geometrical asymmetry4. In many materials, energy bands posses a discrete number of inequivalent local minima or maxima for specific values of momenta. The minima usually known as valleys seem to be promising candidates for components of pseudospin or a binary variable6. The separation of charge current composed of electron states belonging to only one valley can be regarded to as valley polarization. For graphene in particular, several schemes have been proposed to achieve valley-current filtering depending on geometrical deformation. At the field of geometry-induced effects also strain-induced effects in graphene has been the topic of a large number of theoretical works aimed at understanding the impact of controlled geometrical deformations on electronic properties13.The correlation between geometry and electronic properties in two-dimensional semiconductor structures has recently become an active area of theoretical and experimental research due to its potential application for electronic purposes. The interplying between electronic properties and geometry appears as an efficient tool for manipulation of band structure or transport properties what allows for the design of electronic nano-devices with a desired functionality. In graphene systems, the coupling between geometry and the electronic band structure is the most visible for graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs)16. They are considered as ideal materials for next-generation electronics, photonic and opto-electronic devices, relying on ultimate atomic thicknesses18. The bandgap of semiconducting TMDCs can be sized by varying the number of layers, and it can be changed from indirect to direct approaching the single layer. This tunable bandgap in TMDCs is accompanied by a strong photoluminescence and large exciton binding energy, making them promising candidate for a variety of opto-electronic devices, including solar cells, photo-detectors, light-emitting diodes, and photo-transistors22. Similarly to traditional semiconductor heterostructures quantum dots (QDs) can be formed on atomically thin ML TMDCs materials by applying a gate voltage to tune the local band structure23. Gate-defined QDs, in addition provide an efficient tool to tune electrically the confinement geometry and the strength. The realization of a quantum dot device has been obtained from the nanosheet on a Si/SiO24. The fabrication of single quantum dots defined by gates has been reported recently for bilayer and monolayer WSe26. The Coulomb blockade in single and coupled dots in high quality single layer MoS24. Intrinsic exciton-state mixing and nonlinear optical properties, particulary the mechanism of second harmonic generation in TMDCs monolayers have been recently investigated on the basis of symmetry analysis27. Many other investigations based on several approaches including tight binding method, ab initio calculations, a many-body Bethe-Salpeter equation, 35. One should be also added that the Coulomb-exchange interaction, having an important influence on the energy structure of the 2D excitons, can be separated into the long-range and the short-range parts. In particular, the long-range exchange interaction has quantum electrodynamic nature, by the analogy to the exchange interaction in a positronium36. A theoretical study on the long-range exchange interaction in excitons has been performed treating the bright exciton as a microscopic dipole which produces an electric field and the backaction of this field on the exciton leads to the long-range electron-hole exchange interaction. Formally this treatment corresponds to the decomposition of the Coulomb interaction up to the dipole term and calculation of matrix element of the dipole term using the antisymmetrized Bloch functions28.Recent advances in the epitaxial growth of 2D crystals have opened up new opportunities towards novel devices based on van der Waals heterostructures in which TMDCs play a major role. Two-dimensional TMDC materials, such as MoS26. The electrodes generate the confining potential trapping additional electron added into conduction band (CB) as well as the hole in the valence band (VB). We model the confinement using non-centrosymmetric parabolic potential with the deformation of an elliptic type. In particular, we study the effect of the dot geometry on quantum properties of the Mott-Wannier exciton in terms of static dipole polarizability tensor and correlated probability distribution function of the electron-hole pair confined to the dot. Although obtained results can be directly linked with any ML TMDC system, due to relevant scalling relations derived in this paper, we explicitly demonstrate the dependence of static dipole polarizabilities on the dot geometry using material parameters appropriate for MoS32. Moreover, the dipole polarizability is related to the dielectric constant and the reflection coefficient. Thus, in order to determine these parameters theoretically, the excitonic contribution to the total dielectric polarization should also be taken into account37.The purpose of this paper is a theoretical investigation of anisotropic quantum confinement effect on the linear response on external electric field of a neutral Mott-Wannier exciton formed inside the gate-defined quantum dot, for different geometries of the dot. The dot shape can be controlled electrostatically by appropriate system of metallic electrodesThe system under study is sketched in Fig. m is supposed in the form of anisotropic parabolic potential,zero-point energy in the energy scale, relatively to which the energy bands edges s), due to the Coulomb interaction between the electron and a hole. The eigenvalue problem,38. The scaling  and y direction, with the same degree). We can see that in this case the polarizability is simply rotated by the angle x-extended quantum dot, that is a consequence of the symmetry transformation of the confining potential connecting the cases ’a’ and ’1/a’. One can also see that the polarizability increases with decreasing confinement strength.Figure 38. We can note that, similarly to the effect of increasing atomic number Figure critical point, corresponding to the maximum of It is worth to note that contrary to the electron confined in the atom due to Coulomb interaction with a nucleus, the gate-defined confinement opens up the possibility of controlling the polarizability of the excitonic system by changing confinement strength and its geometry. More precisely, one can be observed the existence of a competition between the effective Coulomb interaction between electron and hole and the geometric confinement in producing polarizability. We note that pure Coulomb attraction between electron and hole is effectively modified by material parameters nt}ε see . This cont}ε see  and 15)\document42x direction reduces the extension of y direction. The extension in the y direction reduces the electron-hole Coulomb attraction, relatively to the x direction, that leads in turn to increase of the linear response of the exciton on external electric field, stretching the electron-hole pair more effectively in the y direction (due to weaker confinement), that is expressed in the difference in magnitudes of principal moments of the polarizability tensor.In Fig. Figure In the paper, we have presented an realistic example of the interplaying between stable external system and the quantum system subject to it. The exact theoretical study on the influence of the geometry of external quantum confinement on static dipole polarizability of Mott-Wannier exciton, formed close to the K-points of the first Brillouin zone of the TMDC monolayer material, has been presented. The properties of the quantum system expressed in terms of the static dipole polarizability as a linear response on the external electric field and the electron-hole density function have been linked with geometry of the external confinement. In particular, we have shown how both the magnitude and the anisotropy of the dipole polarizability may be effectively defined by the proper chose of the confinement strength and its geometry. One should be also noted that results obtained in this paper are universal in the sense that they are applicable for any MXSupplementary Information.


Understanding the predictors of the willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 may aid in the resolution of current and future pandemics.Understanding the predictors of the willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 may aid in the resolution of current and future pandemics.We aim to investigate how the readiness to believe conspiracy theories and the three dimensions of health locus of control affect the attitude towards vaccination.A cross-sectional study was conducted based on data from an online survey of a sample of Czech university students (n=866) collected in January 2021, using multivariate linear regression models and moderation analysis.Sixty-six percent of Czech students wanted to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Forty percent of the variance of willingness to get vaccinated was explained by the belief in covid-related conspiracy theories and the powerful others dimension of health locus of control. One sixth of the variance of the willingness to get vaccinated was explained by health locus of control, cognitive reflection, and digital health literacy.Health locus of control and conspiracy mentality and its predictors are valid predictors of a hesitancy to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Campaigns promoting vaccination should target groups specifically vulnerable to conspiracy theories and lacking health locus of control related to powerful others.No significant relationships.


There was and still is much speculation about the COVID-19 pandemic impact on suicide rates. We aimed to assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide rates around the world.We sourced real-time suicide data from countries or countries areas through a systematic internet search , recourse to our networks (e.g. ICSPRC) and the published literature (a living systematic review). We used an interrupted time-series analysis to model the trend in monthly suicides before COVID-19 in each country or country area, comparing the expected number of suicides derived from the model with the observed number of suicides in the early months of the pandemic . We have now updated this work to cover the first 15 months of the pandemic and stratified analyses by age and sex and method. We will present findings from the new updated data (35 countries) at the conference.Initially we sourced data from 21 countries (16 high-income and five upper-middle-income countries). Rate ratios (RRs) and 95% CIs based on the observed versus expected numbers of suicides showed no evidence of a significant increase in risk of suicide since the pandemic began in any country or area. There was statistical evidence of a decrease in suicide compared with the expected number in 12 countries or areas.This was the first study to examine suicides occurring in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in multiple countries. Early on high-income and upper-middle-income countries, suicide numbers remained largely unchanged or declined compared with the expected levels based on the pre-pandemic period. We need to remain vigilant and be poised to respond as the longer-term mental health and economic effects of the pandemic unfold. We will present updated findings with more recent data.


I read with great interest the article “Telehealth-Based Psychoeducation for Caregivers: The Family Intervention in Recent-Onset Schizophrenia Treatment Study” by Mueser et al .First, I would like to congratulate the authors for raising awareness of telehealth-based psychoeducation for informal caregivers of people with mental illness. The results of their study present important understandings and hope for continued progress in the web-based delivery of valuable family interventions within the field of psychiatry. Although this study did not show the family psychoeducation intervention to be advantageous at the level of exposure reached, explorations of future caregiver-focused, telehealth-based interventions in mental health are still needed.As we look toward future development in working with families and informal caregivers of people with mental illness, digital innovations, applications, and advancements in web-based interventions  suggest Compared to patient groups, telehealth-based interventions with family groups have been limited  despite In light of accelerating digital interventions within the field of psychiatry, I call on the research community to also draw more attention to the potential of telehealth-based psychoeducation for informal caregivers of people with mental illness. With the expected growth in the caregiver population coupled with significant caregiver needs and demands for help and support, notwithstanding those who are unable to join or have no access to these mental health services or best practices, taking advantage of the future potential of digital technologies and interventions for caregivers is inevitable.


When studying the multiple aspects of the problem of criminal offences of a sexual character committed by adult males towards teenage girls, the role of digital communication technologies is not taking into account.To reveal the negative aspects of social and family connections and the influence of digital communications on the formation of deviations in psycho-sexual development of teenage girls who had become victims of sexual delicts of a non-violent character.We have studied the specifics of psycho-sexual behavior of seventeen teenage girls, aged 12-16 and their Internet and SMS correspondence with adult males by analysis of semantics and pathos-psychological markers.Intellectually, all the teenage girls are within normal age limits. They were bringing up in full, materially well-off families. Most of the girls’ parents experience a formal attitude towards them. The disrupted emotional ties of the teenage girls with mother or both parents leads to deviations in the development of normal teenage reactions, sexual attitudes. Their feeling of loneliness within the family, forces them to turn towards support to Internet-society or other adults of the opposite sex to their parents’ acquaintances. The desire to ascertain perfectionist expectations and self-assertion leads the teenagers to the realization of various forms of auto-destructive sexual behavior. They actively demonstrate in the Internet obscene photos of their genitals. While trying out their sexual importance, they persistently urge adult males towards sexual contacts.Thus, the negative aspects of psycho-sexual development of teenage girls can disrupt their sexual behavior in adulthood.No significant relationships.


Owing to cognitive radar breaking the open-loop receiving–transmitting mode of traditional radar, adaptive waveform design for cognitive radar has become a central issue in radar system research. In this paper, the method of radar transmitted waveform design in the presence of clutter is studied. Since exact characterizations of the target and clutter spectra are uncommon in practice, a single-robust transmitted waveform design method is introduced to solve the problem of the imprecise target spectrum or the imprecise clutter spectrum. Furthermore, considering that radar cannot simultaneously obtain precise target and clutter spectra, a novel double-robust transmitted waveform design method is proposed. In this method, the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio and mutual information are used as the objective functions, and the optimization models for the double-robust waveform are established under the transmitted energy constraint. The Lagrange multiplier method was used to solve the optimal double-robust transmitted waveform. The simulation results show that the double-robust transmitted waveform can maximize SINR and MI in the worst case; the performance of SINR and MI will degrade if other transmitted waveforms are employed in the radar system. The concept of cognitive radar, first introduced in 2006 , is a syHowever, the above research was based on a known target spectrum or clutter spectrum. Accurate target and clutter spectrums are difficult to obtain in complex electromagnetic environments due to a lack of prior knowledge of target and clutter. To address this problem, the joint optimization of the radar transmitted waveform and the receive filter was considered in ,28. An iThe design of a robust transmitted waveform only considers one of the cases of target spectrum fuzzy or clutter spectrum fuzzy. Our research team previously only considered single-robust radar waveform designs with an uncertain target spectrum . In 33]33], the The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In The model for the random target is given in The energy spectrum variance (ESV) of a random target is written as Equation (1), which describes the average energy of the target signal in a finite duration.To effectively improve the detection performance of the radar systems, the output SINR of the matched filter in the radar receiver is adopted as the criterion for designing the transmitted waveform. Maximization of SINR means the best radar detection performance. Thus, the expression for the SINR can be represented by (2) SINRTo improve radar estimation performance on the target, the MI between the radar echo and the random target impulse response is utilized as the estimation criterion. The MI representation between the echo and the random target impulse response is (3) MI, for the right side of the inequality, the optimal transmitted waveform is the maximin optimal transmitted waveform when eference . It is aWhen the clutter spectrum is fuzzy, the maximin single-robust waveform design method should satisfy ,38(8)maBased on the theory of maximin robust signal processing , the maxIn the above Formula (9), for the right side of the inequality, the optimal transmitted waveform is the maximin optimal transmitted waveform when When the radar transmitted waveform is designed under the condition of a fuzzy target spectrum, the lower bound of the uncertain range of the target spectrum is taken as the target spectrum in the optimization problem, and where The maximin single-robust transmitted waveform optimization problem based on SINR under the condition of a fuzzy target spectrum should satisfyThe maximin single-robust waveform of the optimization problem (10) isAs shown in Equation (11), The maximin single-robust transmitted waveform optimization problem based on MI under the condition of a fuzzy target spectrum should satisfyThe maximin single-robust waveform of the optimization problem (15) isThe above design method of a single-robust transmitted waveform based on SINR and MI is the same as that for single target spectrum uncertainty in reference . This isWhen the radar transmitted waveform is designed under the condition of a fuzzy clutter spectrum, the upper bound of the uncertain range of the clutter spectrum is taken as the clutter spectrum in the optimization problem, and where The maximin single-robust transmitted waveform optimization problem based on SINR under the condition of a fuzzy clutter spectrum should satisfy.The maximin single-robust waveform of the optimization problem (20) isIn Equation (21), The maximin single-robust transmitted waveform optimization problem based on MI under the condition of a fuzzy clutter spectrum should satisfyThe maximin single-robust waveform of the optimization problem (25) isIn this subsection, considering that radar cannot simultaneously obtain precise target and clutter spectra, the design method for the double-robust transmitted waveform based on the SINR and MI is proposed. The SINR and MI optimization criteria for waveform design can be represented by The double-robust transmitted waveform is designed under the condition that radar cannot simultaneously obtain precise target and clutter spectra. The lower bound of the uncertain range of the target spectrum is taken as the target spectrum, and the upper bound of the uncertain range of the clutter spectrum is denoted as the clutter spectrum in the optimization problem. The detailed design process is shown as follows.The maximin double-robust transmitted waveform optimization problem based on SINR should satisfyThe maximin double-robust waveform of the optimization problem (31) isIn the above result of the double-robust transmitted waveform design based on SINR, by analyzing Equations (32)–(34), if we change the lower bound value of the target spectrum in the result to the value that can be accurately obtained, or if we change the upper bound value of the clutter spectrum in the result to the value that can be accurately obtained, then the double-robust transmitted waveform will degenerate into a single-robust transmitted waveform. The double-robust transmitted waveform design based on MI also has such characteristics.In order to prove the conclusion above, the optimal problem should satisfyAssume that the lower bound of the target spectrum and the upper bound of the clutter spectrum can be obtained. The uncertainty of the target and clutter spectra are considered under certain energy constraints. To maximize the output SINR of the matched filter in the worst-case scenario, the double-robust transmitted waveform based on SINR is designed. We use the Lagrange multiplier method to solve the optimization model of the double-robust transmitted waveform. The main idea is to introduce a new parameter  can also be written asTherefore, we obtain the following:Then, we approximate the integral computation by substituting the spectrum results into the output SINR expression:The maximin double-robust transmitted waveform optimization problem based on MI should satisfyThe maximin double-robust waveform of the optimization problem (48) isIn order to prove the conclusion above, the optimal problem should satisfyThe double-robust transmitted waveform based on MI is designed to maximize the MI between radar echo and random target impulse response in the worst-case scenario. The Lagrange multiplier method is also used to solve the optimization model.The Lagrange multiplier method is employed to construct the objective function based on MI:When the target and clutter spectra are uncertain simultaneously, the MI between radar echo and random target impulse response is a function of This is equivalent to maximizing Next, the first derivative of Let The expression (61) is further expressed asTherefore, we obtain the following:Then, we approximate the integral computation by substituting the spectrum results into the MI expression:From Equation (69), The simulation results in this section demonstrate the effectiveness and practicability of the double-robust transmitted waveforms based on SINR and MI criteria.The uncertain ranges of the target spectrum and clutter spectrum are shown in The results of the robust waveform designs (including single-robust waveforms and double-robust waveforms) based on SINR and MI criteria are depicted in (1) The amplitudes of the SRWs fluctuate around those of the OTWs. The two types of waveforms have the same energy allocation strategy. The SRWs with the worst CNR and the double-robust waveforms with the worst TCR also have the same characteristics see b,c, and (2) In the case of the worst TNR, the SRWs need to allocate more energy than the OTWs in the sub-frequency band where the target spectrum is strong. Since the radar cannot obtain the precise target spectrum in the worst TNR, it can only use the lower bound of the uncertain target spectrum to optimize the transmitted waveforms, which leads to the SRWs needing to allocate more energy than OTWs in the sub-frequency band with the strong target spectrum to ensure the improvement in MI and SINR, such as the energy allocation in the sub-frequency bands around the central frequencies of −0.2, 0, and 0.4 in (1) The SRWs allocate the most energy to the sub-frequency bands where the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum (the blue line in (2) The energy allocation of SRWs is more than that of OTWs in the sub-frequency band where the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum is less than the target spectrum. Since the precise clutter spectrum cannot be obtained by radar in an actual scene, radar can only use the data in the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum in the worst case; thus, the result is worse than it actually is. Meanwhile, the target spectrum is greater than the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum. SRWs must allocate more energy than OTWs to ensure the improvement in MI and SINR, such as the energy allocation in the sub-frequency band around the central frequency of 0.4 in (3) The energy allocation of the SRWs is less than that of the OTWs in the sub-frequency bands where the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum is greater than the target spectrum. This energy allocation strategy of SRWs is still aimed at maximizing SINR and MI in the worst CNR, because when the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum is much greater than the target spectrum in some sub-frequency bands, it means that the clutter echo interferes with the target echo more. Therefore, in these sub-frequency bands, the energy allocation of the SRWs is less than that of the OTWs to reduce the SINR and MI loss. Such as the energy allocation in the sub-frequency bands around the central frequency of −0.2 in (1) The DRWs also allocate the majority of energy to the sub-frequency bands with strong target spectrum features.(2) MI-based DRW allocates less energy than SINR-based DRW in the sub-frequency band where the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum is less than the lower bound of the uncertain target spectrum. On the contrary, MI-based DRW allocates more energy than SINR-based DRW in the sub-frequency band where the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum is greater than the lower bound of the uncertain target spectrum. This is because MI as an optimization criterion makes radar pay more attention to the acquisition of the target information than the influence of clutter on the radar.(3) Compared with the SRWs with the worst TNR, the DRWs allocate more energy than SRWs in the sub-frequency band where the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum is less than the lower bound of the uncertain target spectrum. On the contrary, the DRWs allocate less energy than SRWs in the sub-frequency band where the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum is greater than the lower bound of the uncertain target spectrum. Such as the energy allocation in the sub-frequency bands around the central frequencies of −0.2, 0, and 0.4 in (4) Compared with the SRWs with the worst CNR, the DRWs allocate more energy than the SRWs in the sub-frequency bands with strong target spectrum features regardless of whether the lower bound of the uncertain target spectrum is greater than the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum, such as the energy allocation in the sub-frequency bands around the central frequencies of −0.2, 0, and 0.4 in Assume that the total energy of the transmitted waveform increases from 1 to 10 J. The MIs and SINRs corresponding to the several transmitted waveforms are compared in the case of the worst TCR in In this paper, the double-robust transmitted waveform design based on SINR and MI is proposed in the presence of clutter, respectively. First, the single-robust transmitted waveforms are designed for the worst TNR and CNR cases. The single-robust transmitted waveforms with the worst TRN allocate more energy than the optimal transmitted waveforms with the best case in the sub-frequency band where the target spectrum is strong. The single-robust waveforms with the worst CNR allocate more energy than the optimal transmitted waveforms with the best case when the target spectrum is greater than the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum. On the contrary, they allocate less energy than the optimal transmitted waveforms with the best case when the target spectrum is less than the upper bound of the uncertain clutter spectrum. All single-robust waveforms allocate the majority of energy to the sub-frequency bands with strong target spectrum features. Since radar cannot obtain the precise target and clutter spectrum in an actual scene, the double-robust waveforms are proposed in the case of the worst TCR. The double-robust waveforms also allocate the majority of energy to the sub-frequency bands with strong target spectrum features. However, they can further improve the MI and SINR compared to the single-robust waveforms. Finally, the simulation results show that the double-robust transmitted waveforms can maximize SINR and MI. In the case of the worst TCR, the performance of SINR and MI will degrade if other transmitted waveforms are employed.The communication base station (BS) will be considered to be added to the existing model to form a joint radar and communication system. The orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveforms with N subcarriers will be considered to be used for radar and communication base stations to design the radar transmitted waveform.


Bioscience Reports at the request of the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board following receipt of a notification from a reader alerting the Editorial Board to duplicated panels of figure 4c between this article and an article by Zhao et al (2016) (https://doi.org/10.1186/s40659-016-0086-3). The authors have been contacted with regards to the retraction but have not responded to the Journal's queries or the concerns raised. Given the extent of the issues raised, the Editorial Board stand by the decision to retract the article.This Retraction follows an Expression of Concern relating to this article previously published by Portland Press. This article is being retracted from


A project designed to examine, for the first time, the health records of adult prisoners in Northern Ireland and their linkage to other available health data: the test case of prisoner post-release mortality riskThe linkage of routinely collected administrative data for research purposes has the potential to improve knowledge and public benefit. We describe a novel data linkage study between the Northern Ireland (NI) Healthcare in Prisons and Business Services Organisation (BSO). This work is undertaken within the Administrative Data Research Centre-NI (ADRC-NI).This joint project between ADRC-NI Queen’s University Belfast and NI Healthcare in Prisons  will test linkage of prisoner health records to health data held in the BSO and the potential to generate a population-based cohort for a retrospective analysis of prisoner health (2012-2021) that will attempt to characterise prisoners according to socio-demographic, health and committal factors, compare post-release mortality rates with a reference group from the NI population using indirect standardisation and estimate post-release mortality risk using Cox proportional hazards models.Using novel data-linkages, a dataset will be created to examine the health of prisoners (and former prisoners) in NI. Ethics and governance approvals are in place for this data-linkage. The linkage will be undertaken via the Honest Broker Service (HBS) in NI and the dataset will be accessed in the safe setting at the BSO. The processes involved, experiences including significant delays or difficulties, and recommendations for future data-linkage studies will be discussed. In addition, a key deliverable of this project will be an assessment of access and linkage capabilities of the prisoner health data, with metadata created and made available to future researchers. In addition, we plan to present preliminary results relating to the test research question.We will describe the processes involved and first-hand research experience in the development of a novel data-linkage project, in addition we will detail access and linkage capabilities in relation to this new dataset to examine health in prisoners (and former prisoners) in NI.


Guanglun Zhou J Laparoendosc Adv Surg Tech A. 2022 Apr 18; Online ahead of print.The high abdominal undescended testis is a challenging situation in pediatric urology. The surgery to put the testicle in the scrotal region without harming its vascularization is very important for the treatment of these cases. Fowler-Stephens surgery performed in two times is the best strategy to preservation of vascular supply to the testis. In this important paper the authors shows the benefits of performing open versus laparoscopic gubernaculum-sparing second-stage Fowler-Stephens orchiopexy (FSO). The gubernaculum is the most important structure in the inguinoscrotal stage of testicular migration , 2. The


The EU-funded X-eHealth project aims to lay the foundations for a common framework for medical imaging, discharge letters, laboratory results and rare diseases to advance an interoperable Common European Health Data Space for citizens and healthcare providers in accordance with privacy and cybersecurity regulations. To ensure sustainability of the project, it is crucial to assess whether X-eHealth is achieving its planned objectives and delivers tangible results. A key challenge in evaluating project outcomes lies in the partial lack of visibility of direct impacts due to a time lag of effects or attribution problems . In X-eHealth, we address this problem by defining a framework of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that allows the monitoring of project outcomes. In addition, qualitative interviews with a focus on the following questions are conducted towards the end of the project to complement the evaluation:• Does X-eHealth advance the integration process of eHealth services in Europe?• Will X-eHealth lead to increased use of the new European Electronic Health Record Exchange Format (EEHRxF) specifications?Although final results are not yet available, we expect X-eHealth to have a positive impact at all stakeholder levels by accelerating the implementation of EEHRxF through the harmonisation of health data, thus providing patients, health professionals and institutions with increased quality, safety and efficiency. There is little evidence to analyse the impact of eHealth policy interventions. For this reason, the present evaluation makes a significant contribution to impact research in this area. X-eHealth highlights the importance of international cooperation in creating a common framework for the future development of digital health in the EU. The continuous evaluation, moreover, facilitates a more efficient management of resources through KPI observance and the implementation of project results.• X-eHealth aims to accelerate the implementation of the European eHealth Record exchange Format (EEHRxF) through the standardisation and harmonisation of health data.• By evaluating and monitoring the project processes, it is possible to ensure the progress of the project and to measure the potential impacts of the outcomes on stakeholders and other target groups.


The feeling of becoming an adult plays the role of central new mental formation reflecting the specificities of emotional experience and whole new mental state during adolescent development that is often misaligned with present day society attitude to adolescents. The study was conducted to explore the relationship linking cognitive peculiarities of senior adolescents and the sense of emerging adulthoodThis research was conceptualized to explore the way cognitive development peculiarities affect the progress in solving tasks of the transition to adulthood from the point of view of objective growing-up and subjective assessment of feeling of becoming an adult.The study was based on Betensky’s Adolescent Window Triptych, Akimova’s Intelligence Test for Seniors, Landgarten’s Personality Collage, Sacks-Levy’s IST, Adolescent Social Self-Portrait Essay (D.B. Elkonin) and included 68 participants aged 15-17 years.Self-criticism degree in cognition of elder adolescents has an effect on the progress in solving specific tasks of the transition to adulthood  and cognitive autonomy , understanding importance of personal professional development  and high value of having a family . Also correlation regression analysis provides support for high correlation between self-esteem of personal autonomy, intellect , emotional autonomy and social/moral maturity variables.It was confirmed that cognitive peculiarities of elder adolescents  have an effect on the progress in solving specific tasks of the transition to adulthood.No significant relationships.


A widespread dissemination of effective evidence-based physical activity (PA) interventions is needed whether a greater proportion of the population, who could potentially benefit from it, wants to be reached . ‘Sigue la Huella' (Follow the Footprint), is one of the few effective evidence-informed PA school-based interventions conducted on adolescents in Europe, with the support of the family and the community . The main aim of this study is to describe and analyze the process of dissemination of this intervention program.The ‘Sigue la Huella' was implemented at one secondary school situated in Jaca/Huesca (Spain). The Replicating Effective Programs (REP) framework was used, because provides a roadmap for disseminating effective interventions . The intervention was delivered through workshops, ongoing technical assistance to the teachers, and the distribution of an instructional guide among the teachers and the school staff. A quasi-experimental design was adopted to examine the effect of ‘Sigue la Huella' after its dissemination process. PA was assessed using accelerometers at baseline and after the intervention of 14 weeks. In addition, we evaluated the dissemination process using the PRACTIS guide .From an initial evaluation of the dissemination process, several key learnings emerged:To identify strategies for effective stakeholders engagement;To overcome some barriers such as the excess workload of the teachers in charge of disseminating the intervention program;For better measures to determine the success of dissemination approaches .This study provides a comprehensive overview of the dissemination process of an effective school-based program identifying contextual barriers and facilitators that influence program implementation in new contexts and the direction of specific strategies to address those barriers.


Psychosocial rehabilitation is a challenge in a society with demands unsuitable for those with severe mental illness (SMI). The Mental Health Department of Matosinhos Local Health Unity (MHD-MLHU) has developed a solidarity project aiming to evaluate and elaborate individualized rehabilitative responses with people with SMI, including people from the community motivated for solidarity initiatives.To describe a psychosocial rehabilitation project focused on community integration of people with SMI, considering needs and resources of the population, and to present the individualized rehabilitation plans carried out for people with SMI.In January 2019, we began the home evaluation of people with SMI monitored in the MHD-MLHU. To develop solidary based play-occupational groups, we interviewed people from the community and from the common mental pathology outpatient clinic willing to participate.We present the description and evaluation of the psychosocial responses developed by the project. These responses include recreational-occupational groups, tailored to interests of each person with SMI, and using the community support group built for the purpose. These responses promote face-to-face activities, and enhance the destigmatization of SMI. The constraints resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic led to the creation of digital responses aimed at people with SMI and the community in general.This experience has revealed the great potential of rehabilitating the community context of people with SMI, rather than just contemplating pre-existing structured responses. The pandemic created specific challenges but made the initiative even more relevant for SMI people and for promoting the mental health of the general population.


The processing and analysis of medical rehabilitation information data in tertiary hospitals is a hot research topic. Combining medical data analysis with machine learning algorithms to improve data mining efficiency is a problem that needs to be solved at present. This paper proposes an autonomous perception model of sports medicine rehabilitation equipment based on a deep learning algorithm for sports medical rehabilitation data.  This paper cites a deep learning multi-dimensional perception model for medical rehabilitation equipment autonomous perception. The model utilizes the automatic overhaul of medical rehabilitation equipment based on deep belief networks. This paper extracts features through a multi-layer neural network and obtains fault location results of medical rehabilitation equipment through softmax.  In similarity prediction, the accuracy rate of the first three kinds of feedback containing the target answer is 77%. The accuracy rate of the target answers included in the top five kinds of feedback was 92%.  In this study, it is feasible to apply deep learning to the quality control information system of sports rehabilitation medical equipment. This improves the management efficiency of medical rehabilitation equipment to a certain extent. The medical equipment purchased and used by many tertiary hospitals is generally under the responsibility of the equipment department. The daily maintenance and management of this medical equipment mainly include the perception of its status in the medical equipment software system and the integration of data, self-judgment of equipment failure, and evaluation of equipment failure. The active early warning of faults also includes the equipment's identification of its faults and the automatic generation of relevant information. From the beginning of use to the scrapping of medical equipment, the medical equipment software system's perception of itself and the early warning of possible failures are significant . The sofThe specific architecture of the system is shown in The monitoring module collects the voltage, current, temperature and humidity, logs, and other internal operating status data of various medical equipment in real time by integrating different sensors and processors . It tranThe monitoring module transmits the collected operating status data of the medical equipment to the data analysis module through the built-in IoT card. At this time, we can set the transmission timing to ensure the timeliness of data collection and transmission.We use big data, an expert knowledge base, and other technologies to perform data mining and analysis on these parameters according to the received real-time status data of the equipment. This article judges whether the diagnostic equipment is regular by comparing the normal parameters of the equipment . We assem is used as an actor based on the complex and variable parameters of the medical equipment state data carrier and the multi-source heterogeneity. This paper uses a value network to fit the  function of playing the critic's role. The evaluation function of the pros and cons of the self-awareness strategy m of the multi-dimensional operation and maintenance state of medical equipment under the situation of dynamic topology change is as follows:We use the Puhws-how open-source dataset for large-scale equipment state awareness to construct an unstructured multi-source heterogeneous fault data sample pool for medical equipment . In thisQ network structures. Because the multiple Q network structure adopts a random strategy, to obtain the current action, it is necessary to sample the probability distribution of the optimal strategy [Q network. In this paper, the perception strategy is determined directly through the function according to the behaviour. m in the formula is generally understood as an optimal behaviour strategy at=μ(st|1 − θμ), and the optimal function for the distributed perception of multi-source heterogeneous data can be characterized as follows:Based on , this pastrategy . The entQ network structure can be expressed as formula  function to play the role of critic. This paper will integrate the early warning objective function of the deep deterministic policy gradient algorithm with the empirical buffer factor:We use policy network Q function is expressed as the reward expectation for choosing an action under a deterministic policy μ. In this paper, the empirical buffer factor is introduced in the coupling link between the policy network and the Q network. At this time, the iterative convergence speed of the algorithm is improved by orders of magnitude. We randomly sample mini-batch data from a pool of empirical buffer factors. Since different sub-policies will be executed in different rounds, we can get a memory replay pool for each training round. Finally, we solve the fusion objective function's gradient for each training round's sub-policy parameters [The rameters . At thisθQ in the multiple Q networks has better self-evolution performance. In this paper, the expected return value is obtained by selecting an action in the s state by using the μ strategy with the help of Qμ). At this time, the feature framework of autonomously constructing fault information can better realize autonomous and active early warning of fault information of large-scale multi-source heterogeneous operation and maintenance data [The parameter nce data .This paper uses the data text of the operation and maintenance status of medical equipment recorded in the hospital equipment department from the second quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2020 as the initial training data. In this paper, based on the PyTorch open-source framework, the model is simulated and verified in the GymTorcs environment. In this paper, the algorithm is simulated and verified from the simulation diagram of the autonomous perception performance of the model's operation and maintenance state under the multi-source heterogeneous operation and maintenance data and the simulation diagram of the model's operational early warning performance under the control of the deep reinforcement learning algorithm. At the same time, this paper conducts graphical schematic simulation in Keras2.2.2 and Gym0.10.8 environments [This paper constructs an autonomous perception and active early warning mechanism of medical equipment operation and maintenance status with engineering application significance, as shown in This paper uses the TensorFlow open-source training platform to verify model performance simulation in the PyCharm integrated development environment. At the same time, this paper analyzes the engineering application of the model with the equipment department of the People's Hospital as the model effectiveness verification carrier. The system can better realize real-time perception and early warning of large-scale multi-source heterogeneous fault data.


This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gross fixed capital formation across the euro area. The empirical analysis suggests that the intensity of the lockdown measures to contain the spread of the virus and the country-specific structure of the economy along with other traditional drivers, in particular falling output, can explain a large part of the contraction. The bold policy response at the national and EU level mitigated the impact of COVID-19 and supported the recovery. The faster-than-expected rebound in economic activity suggests that the negative economic impact of the pandemic will be more contained than initially feared. However, uncertainty over future health developments remains high, especially given the risks of new more transmissible variants.


A specimen observed with a transmission electron microscope (TEM) was processed by focused ion beam (FIB) from a surface-micromachined polycrystalline silicon MEMS structure. Electron irradiation and in situ observation were performed on a selected grain boundary in the specimen. The grain boundary was observed and located by using lattice-oriented selective TEM photography. An evolution progress of amorphization of small silicon grain within the grain boundary and recrystallization of amorphous silicon were observed. A silicon grain turned into several smaller bar grains within the grain boundary. The mechanism of grain-boundary evolution inducing a change of conductivity of polycrystalline silicon has been revealed. The conductivity of polycrystalline silicon influenced by electron irradiation could be attributed to the change of grain boundary. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technologies are well suited for the needs of space applications due to their small size, low weight and low power consumption. One trend of space missions is to make technology smaller, faster and cheaper . DiffereThe mechanism of radiation effects on MEMS has been extended to polycrystalline materials using a grain-boundary evolution theory. This theory will help to estimate the long-term life of MEMS devices in radiation environments. One of the critical factors in the accelerated degradation experiments involving MEMS is that the failure mechanism should be the same. The observation of grain-boundary evolution in stress tests will help to determine the dose rate in accelerated degradation experiments and improve the acceleration factor. The theory will help to improve the fabrication processes of polycrystalline silicon in MEMS that are applied in radiation environments. The in situ observation of grain-boundary evolution in TEM provides a method to study the mechanism of radiation effects on different polycrystalline materials in MEMS. In addition, the further study of grain-boundary evolution will help construct the foundation of a numerical model of the radiation effects on polycrystalline silicon.The specimen was fabricated in a standard MEMS fabrication process. The fabrication process began with an n-type (100) silicon wafer. The surface of the wafer was first heavily doped with phosphorus in a standard diffusion furnace using a phosphosilicate glass (PSG) sacrificial layer as the dopant source, as shown in The scanning electron microscope (SEM) photograph of cross-section of the specimen is shown in The specimen observed with TEM in situ was processed by FIB from previously fabricated surface-micromachined polycrystalline silicon MEMS structure.An 8 μm (L) × 0.1 μm (W) × 0.5 μm (T) layer of platinum was deposited by electron beam deposition on the surface of polycrystalline silicon to protect the specimen beneath. The polycrystalline silicon beam was handled by a nano-handler and sectioned by FIB, and the sectioned beam was further reduced to 0.1 μm by FIB while it was protected by the platinum layer above.A low-resolution figure of the FIB processed specimen observed by TEM is shown in It is difficult to distinguish grains and grain boundaries of polycrystalline silicon since grains and grain boundaries are irregular in dimension. To observe and locate every grain and its boundaries, lattice-oriented selective TEM photography was performed, as shown in With the help of lattice-oriented selective TEM photography, grain boundaries are easily found and located for further high-resolution TEM photography. Moreover, specific grain boundary may be observed and relocated, as shown in The observation point was located in a certain grain boundary, and high-resolution photography was performed. Lattice of polycrystalline silicon could be clearly observed in a narrow field of view, as shown in With the help of photography of grain boundary, the point where the followed electron irradiation and in situ observation is performed was located. The photograph before electron irradiation is shown in The scale of crystalline silicon and amorphous silicon in the grain boundary ranges from several atoms to hundreds of atoms. The shape of crystalline silicon in grain boundary is usually stripe. Some of the small crystalline silicon grains in the grain boundary close to each other have the same lattice orientation. And some of the small grains have different lattice orientations.A grain boundary was selected for electron irradiation and in situ observation, as shown in Two-hundred snapshots of TEM figures were photographed in the electron irradiation experiment, and the snapshots were photographed every 2 s. Photographs at different doses were obtained from 0 to 398 krad, and the dose increment of electron irradiation was 2 krad. The grain boundary of polycrystalline silicon was observed in the snapshots, as shown in The grain-boundary evolution of polycrystalline silicon was considered as the progress of amorphization of small silicon grain within the grain boundary and recrystallization of amorphous silicon.The grain-boundary evolution is quite slow at the beginning of electron irradiation. In the first 200 s, the change of crystalline silicon and amorphous silicon in the grain boundary is small when the total dose of electron irradiation is limited to 200 krad. Between 200 s to 300 s, the crystalline silicon and amorphous silicon in the grain boundary start to change. The change of grain boundary slows down again when the time reaches 400 s.There are two typical grain-boundary evolution mechanisms shown in The second mechanism is shown in area II and area III, which are on the bottom right of the photograph. The shape of the amorphous silicon in area II and area III is short stripes before electron irradiation, as shown in The grain-boundary evolution is concluded as a small silicon grain turns into several smaller grains within the grain boundary, as shown in the bottom left area I in As shown in As shown in The segregated phosphorus atoms in the amorphous region could not be observed in the TEM photography; the interaction between phosphorus atoms and silicon atoms needs further study.According to the evolution of the grain boundary, two different mechanisms tend to decrease the volume of crystalline silicon within the grain boundary on average. Additionally, both mechanisms of grain-boundary evolution increase the defect density within the grain boundary.B, and a depletion region with a width of W in the grain is induced by the trapped charge in the grain boundary. A potential barrier with a height of EB in the grain boundary is induced by the trapped charge and the charge in the depletion region.The conductivity of the polycrystalline silicon is mainly contributed by a thermionic emission current other than the tunneling current due to high doping . The conB to Q′B according to the increase in defect density induced by grain-boundary evolution. The depletion region in the grain will be increased from W to W′ subsequently. And the height of the potential barrier in the grain boundary will be increased from EB to E′B.As shown in The conductivity of polycrystalline silicon is significantly influenced by the potential barrier, since the effective mobility of carriers is figured out by the potential barrier, as shown in Equations (1) and (2) ,14,15,16The effective mobility of carriers will decrease according to the increase in potential barriers. The conductivity of polycrystalline silicon will decrease subsequently. The grain-boundary evolution-induced potential barrier change will decrease the mobility of polycrystalline silicon, and it will increase resistivity. This conclusion provides a theoretical mechanism for the results of research on the electron irradiation-induced resistivity change of polycrystalline silicon .The increase in defect density and redistribution of defects due to the grain-boundary evolution will also affect the trap-assisted tunneling (TAT) in polycrystalline silicon ,18. The The evolution of grain boundary will influence the effective mobility of carriers in polycrystalline silicon, which is one of key factors in the conductivity mechanism of polycrystalline silicon. Most of the energy deposition of electron irradiation is in the surface of the polycrystalline silicon membrane, due to the small penetration depth of the electrons. The vertical imbalance of energy deposition should be considered when the quantitative analysis of the conductivity of polycrystalline silicon is performed.Lattice-oriented selective TEM photography was performed to observe and locate the boundary for further in situ observation. Grain-boundary evolution under electron irradiation from 0 to 398 krad was observed in 200 snapshots of TEM figures. The grain-boundary evolution is concluded as a small silicon grain turns into several smaller grains, or amorphous silicon expands due to the amorphization of the small silicon grain. Both grain-boundary evolutions tend to decrease the total volume of crystalline silicon within the grain boundary and increase the defect density within the grain boundary. The trapped charge in the grain boundary will increase according to the increase in defect density, and the depletion region in the grain will increase subsequently. The height of the potential barrier will also increase. The conductivity of polycrystalline silicon will decrease due to the decrease in the effective mobility of carriers induced by the higher potential barrier. The grain-boundary evolution theory will help to explain the mechanism of radiation effects on polycrystalline silicon in MEMS. Furthermore, the temperature environment can be introduced in the TEM observation to study the radiation effects under multi-field coupling and improve understanding of the grain-boundary evolution theory.


The antibiotic resistance crisis is a worldwide healthcare concern. World Health Organization (WHO) has projected that infections generated by multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria will most likely increase in the near future. This situation has encouraged scientists to develop and/or improve complementary strategies to fight this threat. In this context, bacterial viruses (bacteriophages or phages) have been proposed as a therapeutic alternative due to their specificity and different mechanism of action compared to antibiotics.Phages are the most abundant microbial entity in the environment (reaching ~10 e31), and the constant interplay with their bacterial hosts shapes both phage and bacterial evolution in the so-called arms race.Castledine et al.) and the dynamics of phage-bacteria coevolution in culture media was reported . In addition, the use of CRISPR-Cas genetic scars in the host genome as a tool to understand phage-host interplay in the human microbiome  and the characterization of novel phages able to infect and kill clinically relevant MDR pathogens was also highlighted . Altogether, these new findings increase our current understanding of phage-bacteria interactions and contribute to reinforcing the idea of a rational use of phage therapy and the identification of novel relevant aspects to consider when using phages as an antibacterial strategy for the treatment of MDR human and foodborne pathogens.This Research Topic aimed to provide an update on the impact of phage-host interactions in bacterial evolution and the cautions to consider for administering phage-based therapies. In this context, new research showing relevant aspects of phage biology during the interaction with their hosts, such as the effect of genotypic diversity and its impact on bacterial coevolution (All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.


Western culture is experiencing a movement for death reform which includes aspects such as death acceptance and supporting individual choice concerning how one wishes to experience end-of-life (EOL). The underlying goal of this reform is to foster natural curiosity about death and dying in order to soothe death fears and anxiety. Over the past few decades in the U.S. there has been an increase in public support for the EOL option of medical-aid-in-dying (MAID), or legally prescribed pharmaceuticals intended to cause death. There have been mixed findings regarding the effects of age on attitudes and perspectives towards death and dying. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between age, death fears and anxiety, values and perspectives, demographic characteristics, and approval of MAID at EOL in a U.S. nationally representative sample (N = 1994), using a partially latent structural equation model (SEM). Results show that age has a curvilinear effect on death fears and anxiety, and that as death fears and anxiety increase support for MAID decrease. This suggests that the ability to provide person-and-family-centered care at EOL must address the biopsychosocial aspect of death fears and anxiety across the life course. These findings demonstrate the need for more research documenting changes in attitude and perspectives towards EOL for different populations . The potential benefits of this approach provide a basis for expanding education and awareness of both death and dying in general, and EOL needs and wants for older adult populations.


The corrected page range is e111-e114.The Publisher wishes to inform that the page range of the above-mentioned article has been updated. DOI of the article is


A 76-year-old man was hospitalized due to recurrent episodes of dizziness and a significant left-right blood pressure difference . Time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF-MRA) revealed a gradual decrease in the signal intensity of the left proximal intracranial vertebral artery (VA)  arrow. A(1). Because of the use of radio frequency pulses, the MRA exhibited greater signal loss proximal to the VA. Our findings support the evaluation of the signal intensities of intracranial VA on the MRA to achieve an early diagnosis of SSS.Blood flow in the affected VA of SSS is reversed and slow NoneTT wrote the first draft and managed all of the submission processes.We have obtained informed consent for this case report.


It is widely recognized that racial and ethnic minorities experience lower quality of care and worse health outcomes across a wide range of health services and long-term care settings. However, less is known about racial and ethnic differences in home and community-based services (HCBS). This study used the HCBS version of the Consumer Assessment of Health Providers Survey (CAHPS) to examine participant experience of care in a large, statewide Medicaid program. The CAHPS-HCBS is a validated measure of quality of HCBS that supplements measures of health outcomes and provides policy makers with critical data on system performance. As part of a larger evaluation of Pennsylvania’s transition to Managed care for users of HCBS, representative samples of older adults were interviewed before and after the program was implemented. This study takes advantage of the phased implementation of managed care to estimate the causal effect of the program on differences in participant experience by racial and ethnic group. In general, non-Hispanic whites rated their overall satisfaction with HCBS lower than non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic people. The implementation of Managed care was associated with improvements in non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic ratings of personal care and service coordination, but not that of non-Hispanic whites. One implication of these findings is that managed care organizations can have positive impact on participant experience. The CAHPS-HCBS instrument is publicly available and can be used by state agencies to monitor racial and ethnic disparities in participant experience.


Understanding the impact of cancer on the hopes and fears of older adult (age 60+), long-term (5 years +) survivors is important for assessing their quality of life after cancer. Prior quantitative research has shown the important role that cancer plays in the health and psycho-social well-being of survivors in the years and even decades after diagnosis and treatment. This presentation extends that research by examining both quantitative data and survivors’ narratives revealing important issues survivors face such as altered sense of self/identity, feelings of social isolation, key sources of social support as well as cancer and other health-related concerns. These are examined in the context of broader existential issues related to their hopes and fears for the future and differences by race, gender and cancer type are also presented. The data analyzed are from an NCI funded, 10-year longitudinal study based on in-person interviews with 321 survivors of breast, colorectal and prostate cancer to document how cancer-related factors have affected their aspirations for the future. The findings are discussed in the context of how the issues that survivors identified as affecting their hopes and fears may be integrated into the dialogue clinical staff can have with older survivors and their families as part of after-cancer care.


In several disciplines such as in biomedicine and social sciences the analysis of individual-level data or the co-analysis of data from different studies requires the pooling and the sharing of those data. However, sharing and combining sensitive individual-level data is often prohibited by ethico-legal constraints and other barriers such as the control maintenance and the huge sample sizes. The graphical illustration of microdata is also often forbidden as can potentially be unsecured on the identification of sensitive information. For example the plot of a standard scatterplot is disclosive as can explicitly specify the exact values of two measurements for each single individual.www.datashield.ac.uk) is a novel approach that allows the analysis of sensitive individual-level data and the co-analysis of such data from several studies simultaneously without physically pooling the data.DataSHIELD  and demonstrate a number of new functions including ds.scatterPlot and ds.boxPlot developed based on the application of different computational approaches like the k-Nearest Neighbours algorithm and ensuring privacy protected analysis.DataSHIELD graphical functionality has certain methodological features for the representation of the relationships between different variables preserving their statistical properties and assuring the data privacy protection. These graphical approaches can be used or enhanced for application in various areas where confidentiality and information sensitivity is considered, for example in longitudinal data and survival analysis, in epidemiological studies, in geospatial analysis and several others.


Health Psychology is a scientific branch that studies interpersonal relationships in the field of emotions and behavior in clinical settings. Violence against women is a gender-based action that alarmingly affects the population, with sexual violence (SV) being one of its main phenomena. The complexity of the care offered to SV patients by clinical professionals impacts themselves, affecting their personal lives and the quality of their work.To explore symbolic emotional meanings attributed by health professionals to care and follow-up of women victims of SV in state service of reference of the Unified Health System.Clinical-Qualitative design was used to guide semi-directed interviews with open-ended questions in-depth. Clinical-Qualitative Content Analysis was employed to treat data. Five participants make up the multi-professional team at the Hospital of the Woman of the State University of Campinas. Theoretical framework chosen to interpret categories was Balintian Medical Psychology.Three categories were selected for this presentation: The human anguishes as the main challenge and handling of working with sexual violence; “To see things progressing”: to the patient and together with the team, a facilitator of the work; and “I try to leave it on the three’s leaves”: the difficult attempt to separate work from personal life.Taking care of SV is a very emotionally demanding task. Working with the team and see expected outcomes help clinical professionals deal with negative feelings, avoiding, for example, compensatory traumas. New research about social-cultural impacts of working with SV is important to develop institutional approaches of coping for health teams.No significant relationships.


The COVID-19 pandemic has been a natural global epidemiological experiment unique to our century and a massive shock to older adults and to systems that care for them. There was a lack of a global unified plan to mitigate and control the spread of COVID-19. Several middle-or-high income nations struggled to control the viral spread resulting in increased mortality due to a combination of lack of public health measures and existing disparities which were magnified during the pandemic. The purpose of this review by a team of international experts is to (1) to examine reasons for the varied COVID-19 responses within U.S. and among other middle-or-high-income countries and the emergence of variants and vaccine inequities, and (2) to examine the country specific burden of cultural/structural/political determinants on access to care and mortality among older adults in various settings.


Depression is one of common comorbid states that accompany cardiovascular diseases. Risk of co-morbidity can rise when patients have to undergo heart surgery, which is an additional stress-factor.To specify psychological correlations between depressive manifestations in cardiac surgery patients based on the analysis of their time perspective profile.Using the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, we examined 60 cardiac surgery inpatients . We calculated the statistical estimation of the received data based on the comparison with the norm and the correlation analysis.The research revealed that cardiac surgery patients’ indices significantly exceeded the norm on three out of five scales – Negative-Past , Positive-Past , and Future . We also identified essential correlations between the level of depression and the indices of Negative-Past  and Positive-Past . We distinguished a positive correlation of the negative attitude to the past with cognitive-affective  and somatic  manifestations of depression, and a negative correlation with the level of education .The personal time perspective profile in cardiac surgery patients is unbalanced due to a high level of their negative attitude to the past with an optimal level in other time perspectives. The degree of the Negative-Past attitude correlates in the patients with a low level of education and a high risk of depression in all its manifestations. The given correlations should be taken into account when conducting preventive psychological interventions.No significant relationships.


The crosstalk between nervous systems and other body systems is complex and is not limited to the communication for neural pathways only. The key role of the nervous system in the control of many involuntary reflexes and reactions to other body systems is generally accepted. Due to the emergence of radiologically targeted neuroimaging technology and neurotropic virus-based transneuronal tracers in recent years, the access to neural connectivity in the other body systems has greatly been improved  signaling via glia-mediated control of BDNF maturation, and, therefore, support adaptive neuroplasticity.Between rich functionality and the rather invariant structural architecture of brain neuronal circuits remains one of the major mysteries in neuroscience. Recent progress in understanding the mechanisms of brain-other body systems crosstalk pinpoints the role of the adaptive neuroplasticity. The high incidence of patients with neural circuit-related diseases such as mental disorders, highlights the importance of fundamental research, among others with interventions stimulating adaptive neuroplasticity. Trans synaptic viral tract-tracing in the toolbox of neural labeling methods has been a significant development in the skeletal muscle-brain crosstalk (Huang et al., The above manuscripts discuss a number of “hot topics” in the crosstalk between nervous systems and other body systems , includiAll authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.


The compelling advancements in systemic targeted therapies for cancer drastically changed the role of histopathological analyses in recent decades. Indeed, the identification and clinical application of new diagnostic and predictive markers for malignant neoplasms have become mandatory in order to offer the best standardization for patients’ prognosis and the best therapeutic options. The aim of this Special Issue was to focus on the identification, feasibility, and reproducibility of recent tissue markers in gastro-intestinal tumors.These advancements in common knowledge can be achieved in two ways: by enhancing diagnostic methodologies and by discovering brand new markers for diagnosis and predictivity. As for methodology, the review from Renzulli et al. visibly reflects this need for new diagnostic and therapeutic tools from a radiologist’s point of view : the autThe work of Okuno et al. explores the diagnostic process in liver and bile duct malignancies from a completely different point of view : the autThis Special Issue also focused on new and upcoming diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers: In this regard, the review by Pekarek et al. introduced a very comprehensive state-of-the-art analysis on various up-and-coming biomarkers that are useful in the diagnosis and therapy of pancreatic carcinoma . The autThe work by Salmikangas et al. brought us a new immunohistochemical (IHC) marker in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST): tensin-2 . This prPezzuto et al. aimed to validate a ddPCR assay for the 124G>A mutation of a TERT promoter in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a local cohort of resected patients . They coFinally, Fernandez-Palanca et al. performed a review and meta-analysis of the literature regarding the presence of Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) overexpression in IHC as a pejorative marker in colorectal cancers (CRCs) and in primary liver cancers ,12: TheyThe papers included in this Special Issue depict a wide range of neoplastic processes that comprehended the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and pancreas and different methodologies ranging from imaging techniques to cytology and molecular biology. The portrait that emerged from these works is a promising effort towards a personalized approach for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies, encompassing all aspects of the diagnostic and predictive processes.


The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions in services and necessitated innovation to continue care provision to the vulnerable population of older adults with psychiatric needs.The objective of this study was to examine the experiences of staff and patients using a hands-free electronic smart-hub (eSMART hub) intervention to keep patients connected with psychiatry of old age following COVID-19 restrictions.A risk stratification register was created of all patients known to the Psychiatry of Old Age service in the North-West of Ireland to identify those at highest risk of relapse. These patients were offered a smart-hub with remote communication and personal assistant technology to be installed into their homes. Smart-hubs were also installed in the team base to facilitate direct device to device communication. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 staff members and 15 patients at 6-12 months following the installation of the smart-hubs.The smart-hubs were utilized by the POA team to offer remote interventions over video including clinician reviews, regular contact with key workers and day-hospital based therapeutic interventions such as anxiety management groups and OT led physical exercises. Patients also used the personal assistant aspect of the hub to attend to personal hobbies such as accessing music and radio. Positive feedback related to companionship during isolation and connectivity to services. Negative feedback was mainly related to technology, particularly internet access and narrow scope of communication abilities.Electronic smart-hub devices may offer an acceptable avenue for remote intervention and communication for isolated high-risk older persons.The smart hub devices used in this study were donated by Amazon. However, the company was not involved in any other aspect of the study and the researchers have no significant financial interest, consultancy or other relationship with products, manufactur


The covid-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on the mental health of the entire population.To determine the dynamics of emotional disorders in medical students in the context of the covid-19 pandemic.Methods of research. An online survey of medical university students was conducted during the covid-19 pandemic. The Beck scale was used.Results and its discussion. According to a dynamic study of emotional disorders in medical students, which was held during 12 months of covid-19 pandemic, emotional disturbance in the form of depressive manifestations associated with the covid-19 pandemic did not reduced. In addition, the results of the study indicated a change in the structure of depressive manifestations in the surveyed in favor of milder depressive manifestations  and a decrease in the prevalence of moderate and severe manifestations of depression .The long-covid pandemic has a negative effect on the mental health of medical students and lead to emotional disturbances in the form of depressive manifestations of varying severity. The compensatory possibilities of mental activity proceed unilaterally with a change in the structure of emotional disorders; adaptation to a stress factor is not formed. Disclosure of interest.– The authors have not supplied a conflict of interest statement.No significant relationships.


One thing is certain though: back pain in children and adolescents greatly impacts the everyday lives of these young individuals and their medical care . Like ad“Why is there a need for special consideration of back pain in childhood and adolescence?”In the current absence of evidence, it is important to ensure that this population of young individuals are not exposed to under- (or over-) diagnosis or to over-treatment. This balance is truly difficult, as many questions regarding the origin and treatment of back pain remain unanswered. To guide clinical practice, Frosch et al.  have pro“What is the difference between back pain in younger children and in adolescents?”We see an increasing prevalence of “non-specific” back pain in adolescence ,5. Even Developing a reliable differential diagnosis of specific and non-specific back pain, including validating red flags;Clarifying the indications and procedure of imaging and multidisciplinary diagnostics;Optimizing non-drug treatments for non-specific back pain;Improving the prevention of back pain;Avoiding chronicity of back pain;Improving the self-management of non-specific back pain in children and adolescents.Despite numerous scientific efforts to emphasize the problem of back pain in children and adolescents and to improve diagnostics and therapy, many research questions remain unanswered . Future In this Special Issue, we address these challenges of back pain in children and adolescents and give an overview of the current state of knowledge and future needs.


The COVID-19 epidemic and mitigation actions had major impacts on health and healthcare use by the French population. Since 2004, the French public health agency daily collects individual data of visits in the emergency departments (ED) OSCOUR® network . We aimed to analyse the evolution of non-Covid ED visits from 2020 to March 2022, in order to identify potential indirect impact of the epidemic.The main medical diagnosis (MD) coded in ICD-10 from each ED visit from 2017 to March 2022 was classified into 17 ICD-10 chapters and in 95 disjoint subgroups of pathologies. The observed numbers of ED visits by age group and by chapters/subgroups were compared to expected numbers, estimated using an overdispersed Poisson regression model based on 2017-2019 data.The observed numbers of ED visits for all chapters and for a large part of subgroups were significantly lower than the expected numbers during the three lockdowns in all age groups and progressively returned to the expected level in 2021. A change in the pattern of a limited list of subgroups was observed: ED visits for purpura, chronic blood diseases and neurologic disorders in children decreased during the first lockdown and remained under the expected level until March 2022. Inversely the number of ED visits for mental health and wheezing in children, for pulmonary embolism in adults and for neoplams in the elderly increased and remained over the expected values until 2022.Syndromic ED system was a pillar of the French reactive surveillance of direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 epidemic. The changes observed for different subgroups of pathologies may reflect a negative impact of the epidemic, a positive effect of protective measures on the spread of other infectious diseases, a modification in the organization or in the use of health care in specific domains. Further studies using hospitalization data could explore these hypotheses.• Existing syndromic surveillance system implemented before the emergence of SARS-COV2 enabled to monitor non-Covid-19 visits to emergency departments and assess changes in patterns of pathologies.• An increase in the number of emergency department visits during the COVID-19 epidemic was observed for mental health in children, for pulmonary embolism in adults and for neoplams in the elderly.


This study will be helpful for scientific researchers interested in the chemistry of bifunctional versatile compounds as it provides a collection of all the methods for the preparation of 3-substituted-4-amino-5-mercaptotriazoles with aliphatic, aromatic, and heterocyclic moieties during the period from 2000 to mid-2020. 4-Amino-5-mercaptotriazole and its 3-substituted derivatives have proven to be of biological interest and provide access to a new class of biologically active heterocyclic compounds for biomedical applications. Numerous scientific researchers in the fields of chemistry and pharmaceutical science are interested in the study and utilization of these compounds as building blocks in the synthesis of important bioactive compounds.The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.


The research field of disability and mental health is politically and socially relevant, because the psychological well-being of people with intellectual disabilities has often been trivialized in therapy and legislation. Since the pursuit of mental health is coming into focus due to removal of stigma and emerging awareness, people with disabilities must have equal opportunities to choose their place of residence and get suitable psychosocial support.Our aim is to investigate the influence of assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) on the quality of life and resilience of people with intellectual disabilities who are living self-determined.A participatory mixed-methods design is chosen as it enables the greatest possible standardization and allows a high flexibility. The project will be divided into three parts: A systematic literature search to gain knowledge about the field and to estimate the sample size, a pre-post-comparison of the WHOQOL-BREF to evaluate AOT in terms of self-perceived quality of life and a focus-group of handicapped people to reflect the study results with attention on resilience.To foster the doctoral thesis, several questions can be discussed: 1) How is the relation of disability and mental health to be described? 2) What might be the pros and cons of self-determined living? 3) Which steps need to be taken to implement AOT more often?The topic is relevant in the public health sector and the results could help to sensitize professionals and the general society regarding to participation in everyday life. The recommendations developed may serve to implement comparable forms of housing.No significant relationships.


Acoustics is one of the most studied fields in the 21st century, encompassing underwater acoustics, architectural acoustics, engineering acoustics, physical acoustics, environmental acoustics, psychological acoustics, signal processing in acoustics, and so on. With the application of entropy and information theory in acoustics, many acoustic problems have been solved or improved. Additionally, the current trend seems to indicate that the role of entropy and information theory in the field of acoustics will also steadily increase and lead to many exciting new discoveries. This Special Issue of “Entropy and Information Theory in Acoustics II” aims to collect the latest research results and latest developments in the application of entropy and information theory in the field of acoustics. This collection contains eight papers representing the latest applications of entropy and information theory in the field of acoustics.In order to extract useful features from nonstationary and nonlinear ship-radiated noise signal (SNS), Xie et al. propose an SNS feature extraction method based on optimized variational mode decomposition, displacement entropy, and normalized Spearman correlation coefficient . The expLi et al. introduce slope entropy (SIEn) into feature extraction in ship-radiated noise signals for the first time, and proposed a single-feature extraction method based on slope entropy and a double feature extraction method based on SIEn combined with permutation entropy . By extrWasiq et al. propose an intelligent computing paradigm built on a nonlinear autoregressive exogenous (NARX) feedback neural network model with the strength of deep learning, presented for the accurate state estimation of an underwater passive target. To improve tracking accuracy, effective feature estimation, and minimizing the position error of dynamic passive objects, the strength of NARX-based supervised learning is exploited. The root mean square error between the estimated and real position of the passive target in rectangular coordinates is computed for evaluating the worth of the proposed NARX feedback neural network scheme .In order to improve the communication rate of existing bionic concealed-hydroacoustic communication (BC-UAC) and improve the concealment and effectiveness of the constructed bionic communication signal, Xie et al. proposed a bionic covert UAC method based on the time–frequency contour of the bottlenose dolphin whistle, which can overcome the security problems of traditional low-signal–noise-ratio covert communication and exclude detected communication signals such as marine biological noise . The perBased on the theory of fluid–solid coupling, combined with the aeroacoustics computational fluid dynamics method and the frequency domain acoustic wave equation, and using the track–wheel interaction noise software noise simulation prediction model, the rolling aerodynamic noise model of wheel–rail of a high-speed railway is established, and the vibration and noise characteristics of the wheel-rail area of a high-speed railway are analyzed, and the joint simulation and prediction of vibration, rolling noise, and aerodynamic noise of a wheel–rail system are realized. The field test data of the Beijing–Shenyang line is considered to verify the reliability of the model . By analWang et al. propose two spectral methods, the Chebyshev–tau and Chebyshev–collocation spectral methods, to solve the normal mode of atmospheric acoustics, and corresponding programs are developed. An artificial absorber layer is added above the atmosphere of interest to reduce the impact of the truncated half-space on the area of interest. Numerical experiments are examined for both downwind and upwind conditions to verify the effectiveness of the methods. The running time data indicated that both spectral methods proposed in this article are faster than the Legendre–Galerkin spectral method proposed previously .Wasiq et al. proposed an application of deep-learning-based neural computing for efficient the real-time state estimation of the Markov chain underwater-maneuvering object . State eMa et al. apply the Chebyshev–Galerkin and Chebyshev–collection spectral methods to directly solve the two-dimensional Helmholtz model equation; implement the parallel code of the collection method to effectively improve the calculation effectiveness; and use the analytical solution to verify the feasibility of the two methods for directly solving the two-dimensional ocean acoustic propagation problem .Entropy editorial board for facilitating this opportunity to present all of these works. The editors extend their sincerest gratitude toward all of the authors for their excellent contributions to this Special Issue. Special thanks go to all of the reviewers for their time and feedback provided to the authors. Additionally, we sincerely thank the publishers, editors, and all of the members of the


More specifically,we expect that it will have a naocif effect on the pregnant women’s mental health and their well being, since they are more likely to be hospitalized The aim of this work was to evaluate the evolution of depression symptoms in the time of pandemic and their associated factors.In the current work, we conducted a comparative in field cross-sectional study. We compared depressive scores and prevalences before and after the COVID-19 outbreak in Tunisia in pregnant women.The sampling period was outside the lockdown period to avoid quarantine bias. The sampling period was from September to October 2020.showed a significantly higher prevalence of depressive symptoms in expecting mothers during the pandemic. Multivariate analysis showed that the pandemic multiplied by 3 the risk of severe depression symptoms. The impact of the COVID-19 period on depression was independent of sociodemographic and obstetric changes related to the pandemic.These results highlighted the emergency of preparing strategies to avoid post-partum psychiatric disorders and to enable a healthy development of born. Screening the post-partum depression and assessing the mother-children early interactions should be considered in the up-coming births.No significant relationships.


In 2020, the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) started a twinning project with the long-term goal of establishing a Namibia Institute of Public Health (NIPH). A fundamental pillar of an NIPH is a fully operational Public Health laboratory system. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for strengthening the existing Namibian Laboratory system became eminent. Following the Intra-Action Review (IAR) of the COVID-19 response in Namibia in 2020, three regional diagnostic laboratories, at points of entry, were assessed. The major issues identified were long delays between sampling of both suspected cases and COVID-19 patients and receiving test results due to extended sample transport times to the central laboratory in Windhoek and the overload of the central capacities due to overwhelming numbers of samples during peak times. This led to the establishment of three SARS-CoV-2 PCR diagnostic laboratories through procurement and installation of equipment, provision of consumables/reagents, and on-site training of laboratory technicians with continued virtual technical support. Consequently, an important reduction of the diagnosis turnaround time was achieved. Of great value was the technical support given by the staff at the central laboratory during the trainings allowing for immediate validation of the newly established laboratories and to strengthen the communication between regional laboratories and the central laboratory. The Namibian molecular diagnostic capacities have increased in important regions in Namibia and will provide data to support the health policies of the future NIPH. New diagnostic protocols will be developed to foster the sustainability of the established laboratories and could support the implementation of genomic surveillance capacities. Finally, stronger relationships were built through these joint activities, which will support and the next steps of the establishment of the NIPH.• Supporting and Strengthening the Namibian Public Health Laboratory system.• Long-term goal of establishing a Namibia Institute of Public Health (NIPH).


Liu et al.) The key metabolic processes for orally delivered drugs were reviewed for the assessment of current experimental systems to evaluate drug metabolism and potential interactions. A supportive manuscript on drug metabolism in this Research Topic was written by Dong et al., which investigated the effects of X-ray radiation on the pharmacokinetics of apatinib in rats and how radiation alters absorption, tissue distribution, and excretion. They found that X-rays led to significantly decreased plasma concentrations of apatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that is used for advanced gastric cancer. The higher drug metabolic rates with X-rays are likely regulated by the expression of the cytochrome P450 or glucuronidation enzymes  isozymes were reviewed as a state-of-the-art roadmap for the metabolic fate of oral drugs  and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. While they did not specifically study the gut microbiome, the antibiotic might impact the liver-gut axis as indicated by ALT levels  that are used as ultrasound contrast agents in clinical diagnosis. The MBs could possibly be used in ultrasound-mediated therapy due to their drug-loading capabilities. The MBs offer the advantage of tissue-specific delivery, potentially leading to increased target-site exposure to relevant drugs.The last study included in the Research Topic was by In conclusion, the research presented in this Research Topic highlights the quality and diversity of early-stage researchers across the field of drug metabolism and transport and how drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes are affected and regulate the pharmacokinetics of experimental compounds and FDA-approved drugs. The topics covered were in areas such as metabolism and transport of drugs, endogenously formed compounds, and environmental chemicals.


Mental disorders are globally among the leading causes of disability in the working-age population. Psychotherapies have proven to be effective in the improvement of mental health. The current evidence on the benefits of psychotherapies is mainly based on randomized control trials and patient-reported outcomes, whereas the potential impact of long-term psychological therapy on work disability and income is not so well known. This emphasizes the need for longitudinal studies on the effects of psychological therapies in a ‘real-world study setting’, and on the distribution of the availability and the use of psychological therapies in different populations. In Finland, rehabilitative psychotherapy is the major single form of publicly provided psychological therapy. It is targeted at those aged 16 to 67 who are at risk of disability or not being able to study because of mental health problems. It is granted an annual period (maximum three years), a maximum of 80 sessions per year and 200 sessions per 3 years. From 2011 on this psychotherapy has been statutorily granted to all at risk of work disability due mental health disorders. The number of annual users has increased from 15 757 (2010) to 56 682 (2020). This workshop presents the results from a research project investigating the use and real-world effects of long-term psychotherapy in the Finnish working-age population in the 2010s. It shows 1) whether the use of psychotherapy is associated with subsequent work disability and labour market outcomes , 2) how the use of long-term psychotherapy differed between socio-demographic groups in the 2010s in Finland, and 3) the extent to which state-subsidized psychotherapy is linked to the distinctive profiles of mental health problems in the population. The five presentations offer new results from the Rise of Mental Vulnerability in Work Life Study drawn from the national registers. The presentations are mostly based on three randomly selected population cohorts which each included 33% of the 18-64-year-old permanent Finnish residents at the baseline. These data were sampled  by and derived from the Population Register maintained by Statistics Finland and included information on various socio-demographic characteristics . These were linked to the national health registers. Information on reimbursed psychotherapy and mental health indicators  were obtained from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland and complemented by the disability pension data from the Finnish Centre for Pensions. The data provide a unique opportunity to observe how the use of state-subsidized long-term psychotherapy was distributed across population groups in the 2010s, and to the extent to which disability trajectories and economic outcomes have developed in different groups during and after psychotherapeutic treatment.• Psychotherapy is likely to decrease the risk of work disability and improve labour market outcomes.• The provision of long-term psychotherapy is related to social inequality in the working population.


The authors regret the omission of a funding acknowledgement in the original article. This acknowledgement is given below.This research was supported by the ANR research grant (no. ANR-17-CE39-0014).The Royal Society of Chemistry apologises for these errors and any consequent inconvenience to authors and readers.