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Radio-frequency interference (RFI) presents a significant obstacle to current radio interferometry experiments aimed at the Epoch of Reionization. RFI contamination is often several orders of magnitude brighter than the astrophysical signals of interest, necessitating highly precise identification and flagging. Although existing RFI flagging tools have achieved some success, the pervasive nature of this contamination leads to the rejection of excessive data volumes. In this work, we present a way to estimate an RFI emitter’s altitude using near-field corrections. Being able to obtain the precise location of such an emitter could shift the strategy from merely flagging to subtracting or peeling the RFI, allowing us to preserve a higher fraction of usable data. We conduct a preliminary study using a two-minute observation from the Murchison-Widefield Array (MWA) in which an unknown object briefly crosses the field of view, reflecting RFI signals into the array. By applying near-field corrections that bring the object into focus, we are able to estimate its approximate altitude and speed to be $11.7$ km and 792 km/h, respectively. This allows us to confidently conclude that the object in question is in fact an airplane. We further validate our technique through the analysis of two additional RFI-containing MWA observations, where we are consistently able to identify airplanes as the source of the interference.
This study explored how second language (L2) speakers’ use of multiword sequences in speech predicted perceived fluency ratings while controlling for their utterance fluency. A total of 102 Japanese speakers of English delivered an argumentative speech, which was analyzed for bigram and trigram measures (frequency, proportion, and mutual information) and utterance fluency measures capturing three subdimensions: speed, breakdown, and repair fluency (Tavakoli & Skehan, 2005). Perceived fluency was assessed by 10 experienced L2 raters. Mixed-effects regression analyses revealed that after establishing the parsimonious model solely by UF predictors (marginal R2 = .61), a frequency-based n-gram predictor––bigram proportion––slightly but significantly explained the remaining variance of fluency rating scores (0.8%). The results indicated that multiword sequences in speech had a small but systematic impact on perceived fluency, even controlling for the effects of utterance fluency. This finding contributes to the discussion concerning the role of multiword sequences in fluent speech production.
Children with congenital heart defects (CHD) are often short/lightweight relative to peers. Limited growth, particularly height, may reflect energy deficits impacting physical activity. Latent class analyses of growth from birth and Bruce treadmill exercise data retrospectively identified for height, weight, and body mass index z-scores growth trajectories. Linear regression models examined exercise parameters by growth trajectory, adjusting for age/sex/CHD severity. A total of 213 children with CHD (39% female, 12.1 ± 2.9 years) achieved 85.8 ± 10.1% of the predicted peak heart rate. Peak heart rate among children whose height was consistently below average (class 1) was 15.2 ± 4.9 beats/min lower than children with other height trajectories. These children also attained a lower percentage of predicted peak heart rate. Children whose weight (p = 0.03) or body mass index (p < 0.001) z-score increased throughout childhood had significantly lower exercise duration (mean difference 1–2 min) than children whose growth trajectories were stable or declined. Children with above-average weight or an increasing body mass index also used a higher percentage of their heart rate reserve at each submaximal exercise stage. A very low height z-score trajectory is associated with decreased exercise capacity that may increase the risk for morbidities associated with a sedentary lifestyle. Future studies should examine potential mechanisms for the observed height deficits, such as an inadequate energy supply that could impact physical activity participation, congestive heart failure, cyanosis, pubertal stage, supplemental feeding history, or familial growth patterns. Prospective studies examining growth in relation to objective measures of daily physical activity are required.
This re-evaluation of the Thetford hoard proposes a new date for its burial in the 5th c. CE (ca. 420s–40s), significantly later than the established date of the 380s–90s. The redating is based on comparative material from context-dated grave and hoard finds from across the western Roman Empire. At least 17 hoard artifacts are argued to have been made within the 5th c. The Thetford treasure is a key point of reference in dating artifacts, and therefore a new date, if accepted, will prompt further re-evaluation of material and significantly change our understanding of this key transition period.
The interpretation of the hoard is also revisited. The wide cultural connections that can be demonstrated in the jewelry reflect its assembly in a period of migration and displacement, and there is evidence that its economic value may have become paramount in the latest phase of the assemblage's use. Moreover, the revised date sets a new context for the hoard burial, after economic collapse and political breakdown in Britain. The article advocates for the potential role of wealthy religious sites like Thetford in filling the vacuum left by the collapse of Roman state authority in Britain.
Psychosis prediction has been a key focus of psychiatry research for over 20 years. The two dominant approaches to identifying psychosis risk have been the clinical high-risk (CHR) and the familial high-risk (FHR) approaches. To date, the real-world sensitivity of these approaches – that is, the proportion of all future psychotic disorders in the population that they identify – has not been systematically reviewed.
Methods
We systematically reviewed and meta-analysed studies in MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO, and Web of Science (from inception until September 2024) that reported data on the sensitivity of CHR and FHR approaches – i.e., individuals with a psychosis diagnosis preceded by a CHR diagnosis or a history of parental psychosis (PROSPERO: CRD42024542268).
Results
We identified four CHR studies and four FHR studies reporting relevant data. The pooled estimate of the sensitivity of the CHR approach was 6.7% (95% CI: 1.5–15.0%) and of the FHR approach was 6.5% (95% CI: 4.4–8.9%). There was a high level of heterogeneity between studies. Most FHR studies had a low risk of bias, but most CHR studies had a high risk of bias.
Conclusion
Pooled data suggest that CHR and FHR approaches, each, capture only about 6–7% of future psychotic disorders. These findings demonstrate the need for additional approaches to identify risk for psychosis.
Poor weight gain in infants with single ventricle cardiac physiology between stage 1 and stage 2 palliative surgeries is associated with worse outcomes. The growth of infants with single ventricle physiology, enrolled in home monitoring programmes in the United Kingdom, has not been widely described.
Aim:
To explore the growth of infants with single ventricle physiology supported by a home monitoring programme, at a tertiary centre in the South of England.
Methods:
A retrospective review of two cohorts, comparing weight gain amongst infants with single ventricle physiology, before and following the implementation of a home monitoring programme. Inclusion was dependent on a diagnosis compatible with single ventricle physiology during the interstage.
Results:
Enrolment into a home monitoring programme (cohort 2) was associated with 55% more infants being discharged home during the interstage period (p < 0.05). Interstage mortality did not differ between cohorts. There were no differences in interstage growth velocity between cohorts (cohort 1 23.98 ± 11.7 g/day and cohort 2 23.82 ± 8.3 g/day); however, infants in cohort 2 experienced less growth deceleration early in life, and achieved catch-up growth at 12-23 months. Interstage nasogastric feeding, regardless of the cohort, was associated with worse growth outcomes.
Conclusion:
A home monitoring programme for infants with single ventricle physiology provides the opportunity for infants to be safely discharged home to their families and cared for at home during the interstage. Infants in the home monitoring programme experienced better growth, achieving weight restoration at 12–23 months.
Antibiotic prophylaxis in children with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) remains controversial. We reviewed patients diagnosed with VUR after an index urinary tract infection (UTI) who subsequently received antibiotic prophylaxis. Recurrent UTIs in patients with and without urologic anomalies occurred in 57% and 33%, respectively. Multidrug-resistant organisms accounted for 25% of first UTI recurrences.
Public opinion surveys are vital for informing democratic decision-making, but responding to rapidly changing information environments and measuring beliefs within hard-to-reach communities can be challenging for traditional survey methods. This paper introduces a crowdsourced adaptive survey methodology (CSAS) that unites advances in natural language processing and adaptive algorithms to produce surveys that evolve with participant input. The CSAS method converts open-ended text provided by participants into survey items and applies a multi-armed bandit algorithm to determine which questions should be prioritized in the survey. The method’s adaptive nature allows new survey questions to be explored and imposes minimal costs in survey length. Applications in the domains of misinformation, issue salience, and local politics showcase CSAS’s ability to identify topics that might otherwise escape the notice of survey researchers. I conclude by highlighting CSAS’s potential to bridge conceptual gaps between researchers and participants in survey research.
How elected representatives think about public opinion affects the degree to which policies are congruent with the public’s policy preferences. This is especially true for politicians occupying leadership positions, their perceptions matter even more. Extant work concluded that politicians in general do not exhibit a high perceptual accuracy, but direct evidence of the relative accuracy of leaders’ perceptions of public opinion is missing. Drawing on surveys among politicians and citizens in four countries, this study examines the accuracy of the public opinion perceptions of leaders and backbenchers. Irrespective of how leadership is defined and operationalized – executive or party leadership, formal or informal leadership, current or past leadership – we find low perceptual accuracy levels among leading politicians. Compared to backbenchers, and although politicians themselves consider leaders to have a special nose for public opinion, leading politicians do not possess a special public opinion rating skill.
Public dissertations allow doctoral students to engage a broader audience that is often already having conversations about our research topics, whether explicitly or not. The traditional dissertation is usually read by the committee (if you are lucky) and the author. Public projects allow early-career scholars to expand their marketability, relate their abstract topics to concrete discussions, and adapt to the changing demands of the academic space. This article includes a brief case study of the author’s public dissertation to suggest possible avenues for current graduate students and faculty mentors, along with a frank discussion about the pros and cons of such a project. Six tips provide a frank discussion of the pros and cons of such a project and possibilities for graduate students interested in a public project to consider.
We surveyed hand hygiene auditors to identify barriers to healthcare worker hand hygiene compliance in our health system. Most auditors reported being comfortable providing staff feedback on hand hygiene practices; however, there was substantial variability in their comfort level based on the occupation of the staff member receiving feedback.
To evaluate the impact of implementing a clinical care guideline for uncomplicated gram-negative bloodstream infections (GN-BSI) within a health system.
Design:
Retrospective, quasi-experimental study.
Setting:
A large academic safety-net institution.
Participants:
Adults (≥18 years) with GN-BSI, defined by at least one positive blood culture for specific gram-negative organisms. Patients with polymicrobial cultures or contaminants were excluded.
Interventions:
Implementation of a GN-BSI clinical care guideline based on a 2021 consensus statement, emphasizing 7-day antibiotic courses, use of highly bioavailable oral antibiotics, and minimizing repeat blood cultures.
Results:
The study included 147 patients pre-intervention and 169 post-intervention. Interrupted time series analysis showed a reduction in the median duration of therapy (–2.3 days, P = .0016), with a sustained decline (slope change –0.2103, P = .005) post-intervention. More patients received 7 days of therapy (12.9%–58%, P < .01), oral antibiotic transitions increased (57.8% vs 72.2%, P < .05), and guideline-concordant oral antibiotic selection was high. Repeat blood cultures decreased (50.3% vs 30.2%, P < .01) without an increase in recurrent bacteremia. No significant differences were observed in 90-day length of stay, rehospitalization, recurrence, or mortality.
Conclusions:
Guideline implementation was associated with shorter antibiotic therapy durations, increased use of guideline-concordant oral antibiotics, and fewer repeat blood cultures without compromising patient outcomes. These findings support the effectiveness of institutional guidelines in standardizing care, optimizing resource utilization, and promoting evidence-based practices in infectious disease management.
Cannabis is one of the most commonly used drugs globally, although its legal status varies across regions. Public support for its decriminalization has increased, but gaps in our understanding of the health consequences of cannabis use remain, particularly related to its impact on mental health. This article provides an updated systematic review and meta-analysis (previous being Lev-Ran et al., 2014) looking at the relationship between cannabis and depression.
Methods
Literature available before March 2023 was screened for longitudinal studies that included cannabis use and depression. Cross-sectional studies and those only looking at special populations were excluded. Studies must have also controlled for depression at baseline to allow for investigation of a temporal relationship. Extracted data included cannabis measures, depression outcomes, adjusted odds ratios, and study settings. Meta-analysis employed a random effects model with multilevel meta-regression for effect size moderators.
Results
The search yielded 1,599 titles from various databases, resulting in 22 studies for meta-analysis, including 14 from Lev-Ran et al. Eleven studies were US-based, with participants mostly under 18. Meta-analysis showed a higher risk of depression among cannabis users (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.13–1.46). Risk of bias assessment showed medium risk across studies with exposure measurement being a key bias area. The funnel plot and Egger’s Sandwich test did not suggest publication bias.
Conclusions
This study underscores the association between cannabis use and depression but also emphasizes the need for further research, especially in understanding usage patterns, heavy use definitions, and long-term effects on depression risk amidst changing cannabis trends.
Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a common and often nosocomial infection associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Antibiotic use is the most important modifiable risk factor, but many patients require empiric antibiotics. We estimated the increased risk of hospital-onset CDI with one daily dose-equivalent (DDE) of various empiric antibiotics compared to management without that daily dose-equivalent.
Methods:
Using a multicenter retrospective cohort of adults admitted between March 2, 2020 and February 11, 2021 for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2, we used a series of three-level logistic regression models to estimate the probability of receiving each of several antibiotics of interest. For each antibiotic, we then limited our data set to patient-days at intermediate probability of receipt and used augmented inverse-probability weighted models to estimate the average treatment effect of one daily dose-equivalent, compared to management without that daily dose-equivalent, on the probability of hospital-onset CDI.
Results:
In 24,406 patient-days at intermediate probability of receipt, parenteral vancomycin increased risk of hospital-onset CDI, with an average treatment effect of 0.0096 cases per daily dose-equivalent (95% CI: 0.0053—0.0138). In 38,003 patient-days at intermediate probability of receipt, cefepime also increased subsequent CDI risk, with an estimated effect of 0.0074 more cases per daily dose-equivalent (95% CI: 0.0022—0.0126).
Conclusions:
Among common empiric antibiotics, parenteral vancomycin and cefepime appeared to increase risk of hospital-onset CDI. Causal inference observational study designs can be used to estimate patient-level harms of interventions such as empiric antimicrobials.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a rare bird in competition policy. Indeed, it is a hybrid framework incorporating the institutional setting of a regulatory tool as well as the conduct already targeted by antitrust authorities in proceedings against digital platforms. From a policy perspective, the DMA seeks to prevent some anticompetitive practices. To this end, the EU legislator has construed an intricate set of provisions pursuing different policy goals. After setting out these goals in relation to the proclaimed legal interests protected by the DMA (ie, contestability and fairness), the paper uncovers the policy goals underlying each of the provisions. Relying on the first round of compliance reports issued by gatekeepers in March and October 2024, the analysis aims at providing adequate pathways to measure the DMA’s success, based on the explicit legal interests and implict policy goals fleshed out by the regulation. The paper maps out market scenarios where policymakers can assert that the DMA’s enforcement has been effective.
We address a core partition regularity problem in Ramsey theory by proving that every finite coloring of the positive integers contains monochromatic Pythagorean pairs (i.e., $x,y\in {\mathbb N}$ such that $x^2\pm y^2=z^2$ for some $z\in {\mathbb N}$). We also show that partitions generated by level sets of multiplicative functions taking finitely many values always contain Pythagorean triples. Our proofs combine known Gowers uniformity properties of aperiodic multiplicative functions with a novel and rather flexible approach based on concentration estimates of multiplicative functions.
The impact of required durations of therapy for antibiotic orders at the time of order entry has not been reported. Requiring ordering clinicians to enter stop dates at the time of antibiotic order entry decreased DOT/1000 patient days for orders with empiric indication from 154 to 119 (–34.9 (–55.7 to –14)).