Efficient evidence generation to assess the clinical and economic impact of medical therapies is critical amid rising healthcare costs and aging populations. However, drug development and clinical trials remain far too expensive and inefficient for all stakeholders. On October 25–26, 2023, the Duke Clinical Research Institute brought together leaders from academia, industry, government agencies, patient advocacy, and nonprofit organizations to explore how different entities and influencers in drug development and healthcare can realign incentive structures to efficiently accelerate evidence generation that addresses the highest public health needs. Prominent themes surfaced, including competing research priorities and incentives, inadequate representation of patient population in clinical trials, opportunities to better leverage existing technology and infrastructure in trial design, and a need for heightened transparency and accountability in research practices. The group determined that together these elements contribute to an inefficient and costly clinical research enterprise, amplifying disparities in population health and sustaining gaps in evidence that impede advancements in equitable healthcare delivery and outcomes. The goal of addressing the identified challenges is to ultimately make clinical trials faster, more inclusive, and more efficient across diverse communities and settings.

Diagnosing the evolution of laser-generated high energy density (HED) systems is fundamental to develop a correct understanding of the behavior of matter under extreme conditions. Talbot–Lau interferometry constitutes a promising tool, since it permits simultaneous single-shot X-ray radiography and phase-contrast imaging of dense plasmas. We present the results of an experiment at OMEGA EP that aims to probe the ablation front of a laser-irradiated foil using a Talbot–Lau X-ray interferometer. A polystyrene (CH) foil was irradiated by a laser of 133 J, 1 ns and probed with 8 keV laser-produced backlighter radiation from Cu foils driven by a short-pulse laser (153 J, 11 ps). The ablation front interferograms were processed in combination with a set of reference images obtained ex situ using phase-stepping. We managed to obtain attenuation and phase-shift images of a laser-irradiated foil for electron densities above ${10}^{22}\;{\mathrm{cm}}^{-3}$. These results showcase the capabilities of Talbot–Lau X-ray diagnostic methods to diagnose HED laser-generated plasmas through high-resolution imaging.

Admiralty Bay on the King George Island hosts the Brazilian, Polish and Peruvian research stations as well as the American and Ecuadorian field stations. Human activities in this region require the use of fossil fuels as an energy source, thereby placing the region at risk of hydrocarbon contamination. Hydrocarbon monitoring was conducted on water and sediment samples from the bay over 15 years. Fluorescence spectroscopy was used for the analysis of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in seawater samples and gas chromatography with flame ionization and/or mass spectrometric detection was used to analyse individual n-alkanes and PAHs in sediment samples. The results revealed that most sites contaminated by these compounds are around the Brazilian and Polish research stations due to the intense human activities, mainly during the summer. Moreover, the sediments revealed the presence of hydrocarbons from different sources, suggesting a mixture of the direct input of oil or derivatives and derived from hydrocarbon combustion. A decrease in PAH concentrations occurred following improvement of the sewage treatment facilities at the Brazilian research station, indicating that the contribution from human waste may be significant.

Nançay radio astronomy station teams are involved in several aspects of the Research and Development (R&D) for radio astronomy detectors and systems: i) Microelectronics: Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA), receiver on chip and system in package. The long-term goal is to provide sub-systems for the future Square Kilometer Array and its Pathfinders. A beamformer chip has been integrated in the FP6 SKADS dense aperture array technology demonstrator EMBRACE. Wide band SiGe LNAs are developed, beamformers with in-chip control are studied and more complex integrated receivers are designed for the european Aperture Array Verification Programme demonstrator. ii) Digital signal processing: EMBRACE beamforming has been implementedin the digital backend and RFI-mitigation oriented signal processing has been designed for realtime systems,including work for FP6 SKADS and FP7 PrepSKA. iii) A study of Phased Array Feeds has started in 2008, in order to study the radio electric properties of PAFs at the focus of large F/D telescopes, such as the Nançay Radio Telescope, as well as to test PAFsystems in collaboration with the SPP/IRFU and LAL/IN2P3 laboratories.