In recent years, detailed studies of three-pion systems have become possible in lattice QCD. This has in turn led to interest in 3-to-3 scattering of pions in the chiral perturbation theory framework. In addition to being an interesting study of multi-meson dynamics in its own right, it provides a valuable handle on finite-volume effects and the pion mass dependence, thus complementing the lattice

This book is about how distinctions are drawn between civilians and combatants in modern warfare and how the legal principle of distinction depends on the technical means through which combatants make themselves visibly distinguishable from civilians. The author demonstrates that technologies of visualisation have always been part of the operation of the principle of distinction, arguing that the

The podocyte is a specialized cell type critically involved in maintaining the selective filtration barrier of the kidney. Podocytes are primary or secondary targets for a multitude of kidney diseases. Despite intense investigation, the transcriptome and proteome of human podocytes remain incompletely characterized. Here, we analyzed publicly available RNA-Seq data from human kidneys (n = 85) to c

Aim: Global interspecific body size distributions have been suggested to be shaped by selection pressures arising from biotic and abiotic factors such as temperature, predation and parasitism. Here, we investigated the ecological and evolutionary drivers of global latitudinal size gradients in an old insect order. Location: Global. Taxon: Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies). Methods: We compiled

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, truckers and female sex workers (FSWs) have high HIV risk and face challenges accessing HIV testing. Adding HIV self-testing (HIVST) to standard of care (SOC) programs increases testing rates. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. HIVST may decrease barriers (inconvenient clinic hours, confidentiality concerns) and thus we would expect a gr

While the eddy covariance (EC) technique is a well-established method for measuring water fluxes (i.e., evaporation or 'evapotranspiration’, ET), the measurement is susceptible to many uncertainties. One such issue is the potential underestimation of ET when relative humidity (RH) is high (>70%), due to low-pass filtering with some EC systems. Yet, this underestimation for different types of EC sy

Nanoparticles (NPs) mixed at the atomic scale have been synthesized by atmospheric-pressure spark ablation using pairs of Pd and Hf electrodes. Gravimetric analysis of the electrodes showed that the fraction of each material in the resulting mixed NPs can be varied from ca. 15-85 at% to 85-15 at% by employing different combinations of electrode polarities and thicknesses. These results were also q

Around the world today, universities are expected to play a unique role as creators of regional growth and innovation. While there appears to be a consensus that the role of universities has been expanded, critiques show that the contribution of universities to their regions is still not well defined. There have been some developments in the literature on the concept of modern universities such as

This article sheds light upon the cultural politics of fear in post-war Nepal by narrowing in on the Nepal banda–a recurring political spectacle in which the organizers seek to shut down Nepalese society through violent means–tracing both how it shapes and is appropriated in (offline and online) everyday life. In doing so I demonstrate how the online tactics that people employ to navigate the Nepa

Background: There are two primary phenotypic models of comorbidity between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and drug use disorder (DUD), i.e. self-medication (PTSD precedes and causes DUD) and susceptibility (DUD precedes and causes PTSD). We sought to clarify the longitudinal relationship between PTSD and DUD, while examining sex differences. Method: We used approximately 23 years of longitu

Events, occasions on which people gather for a particular purpose, represent a well-established tourism-based distribution channel. Given recent technological advances, virtual tourism events offer a growing platform. As a particular virtual tourism event subtype, e-sports gaming events are online sports-based video-gaming competitions. During COVID-19, the number of e-sports game players and -spe

Aims: Data on sex and left ventricular assist device (LVAD) utilization and outcomes have been conflicting and mostly confined to US studies incorporating older devices. This study aimed to investigate sex-related differences in LVAD utilization and outcomes in a contemporary European LVAD cohort. Methods and results: This analysis is part of the multicentre PCHF-VAD registry studying continuous-f

Antiferromagnetic (AF) materials offer a route to realising high-speed, high-density data storage devices that are robust against magnetic fields due to their intrinsic dynamics in the THz-regime and the lack magnetic stray fields. The key to functionality and efficiency is the control of AF domains and domain walls. Although AF domain structures are known to be sensitive to magnetoelastic effects

Importance: Blood phosphorylated tau (p-tau) and amyloid-β peptides (Aβ) are promising peripheral biomarkers of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology. However, their potential alterations due to alternative mechanisms, such as hypoxia in patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest, are not known. Objective: To evaluate whether the levels and trajectories of blood p-tau, Aβ42, and Aβ40 following cardiac a

Atomic layer deposited (ALD) TiO2 thin films have a wide range of applications in photonics which are, however, limited by the chemical instability of the amorphous as-deposited TiO2. Post-deposition annealing is required for improving the performance by inducing phase transitions and oxide defects. ALD precursor traces remaining in the TiO2 film affect the thermally-induced processes but the unde

In this didactic paper, we present a theoretical modeling framework, called the G-function, that integrates both the ecology and evolution of cancer to understand oncogenesis. The G-function has been used in evolutionary ecology, but has not been widely applied to problems in cancer. Here, we build the G-function framework from fundamental Darwinian principles and discuss how cancer can be seen th

In this work, we use attosecond time-resolved techniques to investigate photoionization dynamics on its natural timescale, employing both high harmonic generation and seeded free-electron lasers to generate extreme ultraviolet attosecond pulse trains for our studies. With the former approach, we examine the role of nuclear motion in molecular photoionization dynamics, while with the latter we intr

Background and Objective: The number of reports on suspected drug-induced memory impairment submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration increased 30-fold from 2000 to 2022. Drugs are the most common cause of reversible dementia. However, there is very little research on drug-induced cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to investigate if and how an assessment of cognitive safety was

Objective: To examine the associations between the American Heart Association scores (“Life's Essential 8” [LE8] and “Life's Simple 7” [LS7]) and 2 subclinical coronary atherosclerosis indicators: coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA)-stenosis and coronary artery calcium (CAC). Patients and Methods: We included a population-based sample, aged 50 to 64 years, recruited between 2013 and 2