Cognitive impairments are a core feature of psychotic disorders, but their long-term trajectory remains contentious. Previous meta-analyses focused on the first 5 years following psychosis onset. Here, we evaluated the change in cognitive impairments in psychotic disorders with a meta-analysis of studies with follow-ups of 5+ years. Following preregistration, databases were searched for relevant articles until July 2024. Two authors screened the reports for studies reporting on the change in cognitive impairments in global cognition, verbal learning and memory, visual learning and memory, working memory, attention, speed of processing, reasoning and problem-solving, and verbal fluency in individuals with psychotic disorders, with a minimum follow-up of 5 years. Three authors extracted data, and the PRISMA guidelines were followed. Random-effects meta-analyses and moderator analyses were conducted. Twenty-four studies comprising 2,633 patients and 1,019 controls were included in the study. Over an average of 8.46 years, cognitive impairments remained stable in all eight measures: global cognition (g = 0.09; 95% CI = 0.03–0.20), verbal memory (g = 0.05; 95% CI = −0.11, 0.21), visual memory (g = −0.16; 95% CI = −0.35, 0.03), working memory (g = 0.03; 95% CI = −0.09, 0.14), attention (g = 0.22; 95% CI = −0.36, 0.80), speed of processing (g = 0.10; 95% CI = −0.14, 0.35), reasoning and problem-solving (g = 0.16; 95% CI = −0.03, 0.35), and verbal fluency (g = 0.08; 95% CI = −0.03, 0.19). We conclude that cognitive impairments remain stable over time, consistent with the neurodevelopmental view of psychotic disorders.

Overconsumption of unhealthy, discretionary, foods and beverages are associated with an increased risk of weight gain and non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. This cross-sectional study explored preferences for setting goals to reduce discretionary food and beverage consumption. The online survey included items about discretionary food and beverage intake, goal setting preferences to reduce intake, habit strength, personality traits, and demographic characteristics. A total of 2664 Australian adults completed the survey. The sample was mostly female (65.9%), half (52.8%) were aged between 30–49 years, and the median intake of discretionary food and beverages was 4.9 (IQR: 3.6 to 7.2) serves per day. Multinomial logistic regression and ordinal logistic regression models were used to explore demographic and psychological predictors of the helpfulness of long-term and short-term goals, elimination and gradual goals, specific food goals, specific eating occasion and food goals, self-set goals, collaboratively set goals, and assigned goals. The results showed participants with higher habit strength had greater odds of finding short-term (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.06–1.86), gradual (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.01–1.29), specific (OR 1.35, 95% CI 0.84–1.76), assigned (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.14–1.66) and collaborative goals (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.01–1.53) helpful. The results also indicated that age and gender were important predictors of goal setting preferences, particularly for long-term goals, elimination goals, broad goals, and collaborative goals. Interventions to reduce discretionary food and beverage intake are needed and consideration of goal setting preferences could be a novel way to developing more tailored and effective dietary interventions.

Boundary points on the moduli space of pointed curves corresponding to collisions of marked points have modular interpretations as degenerate curves. In this paper, we study degenerations of orbifold projective curves corresponding to collisions of stacky points from the point of view of noncommutative algebraic geometry.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant public health concern in China. Using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2021, we analyzed trends in age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), prevalence rate (ASPR), mortality rate (ASMR), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for TB from 1990 to 2021. Over this period, HIV-negative TB showed a marked decline in ASIR (AAPC = −2.34%, 95% CI: −2.39, −2.28) and ASMR (AAPC = −0.56%, 95% CI: −0.62, −0.59). Specifically, drug-susceptible TB (DS-TB) showed reductions in both ASIR and ASMR, while multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) showed slight decreases. Conversely, extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) exhibited upward trends in both ASIR and ASMR. TB co-infected with HIV (HIV-DS-TB, HIV-MDR-TB, HIV-XDR-TB) showed increasing trends in recent years. The analysis also found an inverse correlation between ASIRs and ASMRs for HIV-negative TB and the Socio-Demographic Index (SDI). Projections from 2022 to 2035 suggest continued increases in ASIR and ASMR for XDR-TB, HIV-DS-TB, HIV-MDR-TB, and HIV-XDR-TB. The rising burden of XDR-TB and HIV-TB co-infections presents ongoing challenges for TB control in China. Targeted prevention and control strategies are urgently needed to mitigate this burden and further reduce TB-related morbidity and mortality.

The trap vowel /æ/ is known to display a complex variable duration in many English dialects, but this phenomenon is understudied in Australian English. Previous analyses suggest that trap duration is sensitive to the effects of following phonetic environments in complex ways, but that a lexically specific effect may also operate in determining duration. This study aims to investigate phonetic and lexical effects through an acoustic analysis of trap duration in Australian English. Speakers from a range of areas in Sydney that vary in their ethnic and linguistic diversity produced the trap vowel in select phonetic contexts. Results suggest that trap exhibits a complex hierarchy of durations which are conditioned by the characteristics of the following coda, as well as a notably long duration in the affective adjectives mad and sad compared to other words with coda /d/ that were tested. However, these effects were found to be relatively less pronounced among speakers from more ethnically and linguistically diverse regions of Sydney. This may be attributed to high levels of language and dialect contact occurring in more diverse areas resulting in a gradual reduction in the degree of trap durational variability.

This letter discusses the complex nature of plastics, why regulating plastics is a ‘wicked problem’, and the implications of a life cycle approach. The draft Global Plastics Treaty attempts to address two key problems: the cap on production and the problem of chemical additives in plastics. As a ‘wicked’ problem with many conflicting interests, dealing with plastics requires a holistic life cycle approach completely different from the Montreal Protocol. Strict and enforced limits on polymer production would reduce plastics pollution and also encourage a reduction in the range of additives, as limiting production would make mechanical or chemical recycling more viable. Used plastics need to be turned into a commodity rather than a waste, and reducing and standardising the number of different chemical formulations would help by reducing the number of chemicals to be regulated. To achieve these objectives, this letter argues for a regulatory approach based on a forensic analysis that applies extended environmental systems analysis to all the life cycle stages of the plastics value chain.

Recent advancements in wearable robots have focused on developing soft, compliant, and lightweight structures to provide comfort for the users and to achieve the primary function of assisting body motions. The interaction forces induced by physical human-robot interaction (pHRI) not only cause skin discomfort or pain due to relatively high localized pressures but also degrade the wearability and the safety of the wearer’s joints by unnaturally altering the joint reaction forces (JRFs) and the joint reaction moments (JRMs). Although the correlation between excessive JRFs/JRMs and joint-related conditions has been reported by researchers, the biomechanical effects of forces and moments caused by the pHRI of a wearable robot on the wearer’s joints remain under-analyzed. In this study, we propose a method of measuring and analyzing these interactions and effects, using a custom-designed soft, three-degree-of-freedom (DOF) force sensor. The sensor is made of four Hall effect sensors and a neodymium magnet embedded in a silicone elastomer structure, enabling simultaneous measurement of normal and two-axis shear forces by detecting the distance changes between the magnet and each Hall effect sensor. These sensors are embedded in contact pads of a commercial wearable robot and measure the interaction forces, used for calculating JRF and JRM. We also propose a modified inverse dynamics approach that allows us to consider the physical interactions between the robot and the human body. The proposed method of sensing and analysis provides the potential to enhance the design of future wearable robots, ensuring long-term safety.

English-language alchemical manuscript texts remain under-studied despite their potential for providing new insights into the textual histories of alchemy. In this article, I use close reading of one such Middle English alchemical text, which I name The Gracious Work, to examine how its alchemical metaphors create cohesion among a fragmented whole. This nameless and previously unstudied work, formerly attributed to Roger Bacon (c.1214–92?), is extant in four English-language manuscript witnesses. Three of them are from the late fifteenth century (Cambridge, University Library MS Dd.4.45; Cambridge, Trinity College MS R.14.45; Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Ashmole 1451) and one is from the seventeenth century (MS Ashmole 1452). On the surface, The Gracious Work looks like a typically ‘incoherent’ alchemical text; indeed, although exploring this work’s textual history is beyond the scope of this article, it was probably compiled from several sources. However, the coherence in The Gracious Work comes from its central metaphors – core alchemical metaphors drawn from family life. Metaphors linking alchemical processes and substances to concepts of daily life such as weddings and parenthood ease information transmission in this fragmentary work; in addition, the vagueness of the language acts as a marker of in-group language use.

This paper provides practical guidance to UK-based financial institutions (UKFIs) that are subject to the “operational resilience” guideline requirements of the Bank of England (BoE), Prudential Regulatory Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, issued in 2021, and fully effective for 31 March 2025. It contains practical suggestions and recommendations to assist UKFIs in implementing the guidelines. The scope of the paper covers issues related to (a) overviewing the latest equivalent operational resilience guidance in other countries and internationally (b) identifying key issues related to risk culture, risk appetite, information technology, tolerance setting, risk modelling, scenario planning and customer oriented operational resilience (c) identifying a framework for operational resilience based on a thorough understanding of these parameters and (d) designing and implementing an operational resilience maturity dashboard based on a sample of large UKIFs. The study also contains recommendations for further action, including enhanced controls and operational risk management frameworks. It concludes by identifying imperative policy actions to ensure that the implementation of the guidelines is more effective.

In this paper we adopt the probabilistic mean value theorem in order to study differences of the variances of transformed and stochastically ordered random variables, based on a suitable extension of the equilibrium operator. We also develop a rigorous approach aimed at expressing the variance of transformed random variables. This is based on a joint distribution which, in turn, involves the variance of the original random variable, as well as its mean residual lifetime and mean inactivity time. Then we provide applications to the additive hazards model and to some well-known random variables of interest in actuarial science. These deal with a new notion, called the ‘centred mean residual lifetime’, and a suitably related stochastic order. Finally, we also address the analysis of the differences of the variances of transformed discrete random variables thanks to the use of a discrete version of the equilibrium operator.

This commentary examines how early health technology assessment can mitigate risks during the development of innovative technologies.

This study investigates heritage speakers (HSs) of Spanish in the U.S. and potential areas of divergence in speech from homeland speakers. To examine the relative contribution of prosody and segments in perceived heritage accent, we conducted an accent rating task with speech samples of second language learners (L2s), HSs and homeland speakers presented in three conditions: original, prosody-only and segments-only. The stimuli were rated by two groups: HSs and homeland speakers. The results revealed that HSs and homeland speakers had similar global accent perceptions, rating HSs as more native-like than L2s but less native-like than homeland speakers. We found that both rater groups aligned with a dominant language ideology of Spanish; speakers who were judged as more native-like were perceived as residing in a Spanish-speaking country. Our findings also demonstrate that prosody contributes more to perceived heritage accent than segments, while segments contribute more to L2 foreign accent than prosody.