The Myoshirt, an active exosuit, provides gravity compensation for the shoulders. This study evaluated the impact of the Myoshirt on range of motion (ROM), endurance, and activities of daily living (ADLs) performance through tests involving nine participants with varying levels of arm impairments and diverse pathologies. Optical motion capture was used to quantify ROM of the shoulder and elbow joints during isolated movements and functional tasks. Endurance was quantified through a timed isometric shoulder flexion task, and a battery of ADL tasks was used to measure the perceived support of the exosuit, along with changes in movement quality. Feedback and usability insights were gathered with surveys. The Myoshirt did not significantly improve ROM during isolated movements (shoulder flexion, shoulder abduction, and elbow flexion/extension), but during the reaching phase of a functional drinking task elbow extension increased significantly by 13.5% (t = 7.52, p = .002). Participants could also keep their arms elevated 78.7% longer (t = 1.942, p = .047). Patients also reported less perceived difficulty with ADLs while using the device, and a therapist reported improved execution quality. Participants who self-reported severe impairment levels tended to derive greater benefits compared to those with milder impairments. These findings highlight the potential of the Myoshirt as an assistive device, particularly for individuals with severe impairments, while emphasizing the need for further refinement.

Several million years of natural evolution have endowed marine animals with high flexibility and mobility. A key factor in this achievement is their ability to modulate stiffness during swimming. However, an unresolved puzzle remains regarding how muscles modulate stiffness, and the implications of this capability for achieving high swimming efficiency. Inspired by this, we proposed a self-propulsor model that employs a parabolic stiffness-tuning strategy, emulating the muscle tensioning observed in biological counterparts. Furthermore, efforts have been directed towards developing the nonlinear vortex sheet method, specifically designed to address nonlinear fluid–structure coupling problems. This work aims to analyse how and why nonlinear tunable stiffness influences swimming performance. Numerical results demonstrate that swimmers with nonlinear tunable stiffness can double their speed and efficiency across nearly the entire frequency range. Additionally, our findings reveal that high-efficiency biomimetic propulsion originates from snap-through instability, which facilitates the emergence of quasi-quadrilateral swimming patterns and enhances vortex strength. Moreover, this study examines the influence of nonlinear stiffness on swimming performance, providing valuable insights into the optimisation of next-generation, high-performance, fish-inspired robotic systems.

This abstract was awarded the student prize for best poster presentation.

Online nutrition information is an important point of reference for the general population, with the potential to influence food choices and dietary behaviours (1). Current lack of regulation of nutrition and health content on social media (SM) allows the rapid spread of inaccurate, contradictory and often poor-quality information (2). Autism is a complex spectrum of neurodevelopmental differences that has been increasingly diagnosed in recent years (3). Dietary approaches are popular for symptom management, but neurodivergent brains may find it challenging to navigate and filter the huge volume of nutrition information available on SM. This study aimed to explore the quality and tone of online written nutrition information around diet and autism on the SM platform X to better support those with autism to find good quality nutrition information on SM.

Keyword searches were conducted systematically using synonyms for 'diet’ and 'autism’ and related X posts were captured for a ten-day period in April 2024. A validated online quality assessment tool (OQAT)(4) was used to classify the source and content type and to assess the quality of shared written nutrition information articles. Ten questions

covering currency, credibility and reliability criteria were each scored manually to give a total score per article between 0-10, with higher scores equating to better quality (poor 0-2: satisfactory 3-6: high 7-10). A web-based sentiment detection tool, 'Sentigem (5)', was used to analyse the text of data, indicating its polarity as positive, negative or neutral.

The search strategy returned a total of 596 X posts, with most being classified as irrelevant short-form SM discourse. Application of inclusion/exclusion criteria identified 10 relevant news articles and 18 blogs for OQAT analysis. News articles had a higher mean total OQAT score than blogs at 6.6 (SD 1.65) and 5.3 (SD 2.05) respectively (p=0.09), although both were of satisfactory quality (3-6/10). Individual post OQAT data suggested that nutrition writers might improve article quality by including an author biography, quoting a specialist and linking to peer reviewed science articles. A predominantly negative sentiment (52%) was conveyed by the data.

The quality of written nutrition information relating to diet and autism available on the SM platform X is variable. News articles tend to be of better quality than blogs, although results were statistically insignificant. Future challenges involve ensuring that SM users have access to clear, credible and consistent nutrition information. Regulation is needed, preferably via a multi-agency collaborative approach to limit the spread of false information. Nutrition professionals should be encouraged to develop their SM skills to create and share engaging, evidence-based content. Individuals with autism would be advised to seek out original nutrition articles written or shared by trusted nutrition professionals with appropriate qualifications.

The cortisol awakening response (CAR), the sharp rise in cortisol level upon awakening, represents a unique aspect of hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activity, combining features of circadian regulation and reactivity to awakening. Studies highlight that the CAR is influenced by state-like factors (e.g., subjective stress and poor sleep) and relates to health and ageing(1). Fluid regulation and the CAR share a common pathway, whereby hydration directly influences the secretion of arginine-vasopressin (AVP), which in-turn modulates HPA-axis activity and cortisol release. Studies have observed higher circulating and saliva cortisol in healthy, low drinking adults presenting with suboptimal hydration (e.g., elevated urine osmolality, UOsm); however, cortisol was only assessed at a single timepoint(2, 3). The study aim was to assess the influence of a change in daily fluid intake on the dynamic CAR.

From a sample of 71 eligible healthy adults (25 females, 46 males), 16 low drinkers (1315 ± 401 ml/day) and 16 high drinkers (4372 ± 1220 ml/day) were identified by adopting daily fluid intake thresholds from a matched UK population (4). In pairs, comprising a low and high drinker, participants underwent a 7-day habitual phase followed by a 7-day intervention phase. During the intervention phase low drinkers increased (+1953 ± 430 ml/day) and high drinkers reduced daily fluid intake (-3168 ± 1379 ml/day), adjusting only water intake. Saliva samples were collected at 0, 15, 30, and 45 minutes after awakening on the last two mornings of each phase, with compliance to sample timing (± 5 minutes) monitored as recommended (1). Saliva cortisol was assessed by ELISA and the CAR was reported as the area under the curve with respect to increase (AUCI) (1). Urine samples were collected the day before and the day of CAR sample collection (16:00-20:00) to assess UOsm.

Linear mixed model revealed a group (low drinkers, high drinkers)*phase (habitual drinking, intervention drinking) interaction for hydration (P < 0.01), whereby UOsm changed significantly in both low drinkers (mean ± SD: 582 ± 213 to 363 ± 200 mOsm/kg) and high drinkers (265 ± 153 to 612 ± 189 mOsm/kg), indicating the success of the intervention. However, no group*phase interaction was observed for the CAR (P = 0.9). The CAR was similar before and after the intervention in both low (AUCI: 15 ± 15 vs. 16 ± 8) and high drinkers (AUCI: 11 ± 14 vs. 12 ± 11), indicating that changing fluid intake did not affect the CAR. These findings remained when observations were restricted to participants who accurately complied to the CAR sampling protocol (N = 19).

These results suggest that the cortisol awakening response, which combines elements of circadian regulation and reactivity to awakening, is not influenced by daily fluid intake.

This is the second in a series of annual surveys of South African reference literature and follows the general pattern of the first review. Works published in 1963 which reached the compiler too late for inclusion in the earlier review are included in the present survey.

General Works. Among the generalia issued during the year was a second edition of E. Rosenthal'sEncyclopaedia of Southern Africa (London, Warne; R4-45 ). The South African Library Association issued aDirectory of Natal Libraries (Potchefstroom, The Association; 35c), one of a regional series, which will probably be superseded by a comprehensive “Directory of South African Libraries,” scheduled for publication by the State Library in 1965. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research published letters H and I ofPeriodicals in South African Libraries (Pretoria, The Council; R1O p. a.), which is a union list of serials held in South Africa.

Yearbooks. A very important reference work which appeared for the first time in 1964 was theStatistical Yearbook, compiled by the Bureau of Statistics (Pretoria, Government Printer; R4-15 overseas). The yearbook for 1964 contains 606 pages of statistical tables covering the period 1945-1963 and embracing the following subjects: population, migration, vital statistics, health, education, social security, judicial statistics, labor, prices, agriculture, fisheries, industry, trade, transport, communication, banking and finance. The last issue of theOfficial Yearbook of the Union of South Africa was No. 30 (1960), and later editions are still awaited. TheStatistical Yearbook fills a gap in this connection.

Virtually all private international law systems now accept the principle of party autonomy, namely the notion that parties to a multistate contract may agree in advance, and within certain parameters and limitations, on which state’s law will govern the contract. The first part of this Article, corresponding to the word “then” in the title, traces the slow evolution of this principle through the centuries: From an isolated example in antiquity, to the academic literature of the Early Modern Era, to its accelerated acceptance and subsequent triumph in the second half of the twentieth century. The second part, corresponding to the word “now” in the title, discusses two important variations among contemporary legal systems regarding the permissible scope and appropriate public policy limitations of this principle. Finally, because this Article was written for a conference held in Bremen, Germany, the third part concludes with a brief discussion of the connection between a ship bearing the city’s name and a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that extended this principle to exclusive choice-of-court agreements.

Previous listings of African studies offered at American universities have appeared in theBulletin, most recently in March 1963. This year the information is given in a slightly different form, as it is now possible to describe the general pattern of most African Studies programs in the U.S. If more information is desired, inquiries should be addressed to the directors of the programs. The Editor thanks those who kindly supplied the information, welcomes additional information and will be happy to include it in a subsequent issue of theBulletin.

Most universities and colleges which have an organized African Studies Program have some or all of certain characteristics, which are for convenience listed here, with individual variations described for each institution. The organization generally consists of a “Program,” “Center,” or “Committee” which is largely an administrative device to bring together members of different disciplines, and to systematize and expand existing courses and seminars. Participating faculty members come mainly from the departments of Political Science, Anthropology, History, Economics, Geography and Sociology. They usually offer such general courses as “Government and Politics of Tropical Africa,” “Problems in Economic Anthropology,” “Peoples of East Africa,” “History of West Africa” and the like. In addition, many institutions have some specialization in discipline and in regional emphasis: such specialization is indicated.

We study the mixing of passive scalars in a velocity field generated by selected-eddy simulations (SES), an approach where only a randomly selected subset of spectrally distributed modes obey Navier–Stokes dynamics. The Taylor Reynolds number varies from 140 to 400 and the Schmidt number ($Sc$) varies from 0.25 to 1. By comparing the results with direct numerical simulations (DNS), we show that most statistics are captured with as low as $0.5\,\%$ of Navier–Stokes modes in the velocity field. This includes scalar gradients, spectra, structure functions and their departures from classical scaling due to intermittency. The results suggest that all modes need not be resolved to accurately capture turbulent mixing for $Sc\leqslant 1$ scalars.

The Erdős–Simonovits stability theorem is one of the most widely used theorems in extremal graph theory. We obtain an Erdős–Simonovits type stability theorem in multi-partite graphs. Different from the Erdős–Simonovits stability theorem, our stability theorem in multi-partite graphs says that if the number of edges of an $H$-free graph $G$ is close to the extremal graphs for $H$, then $G$ has a well-defined structure but may be far away from the extremal graphs for $H$. As applications, we strengthen a theorem of Bollobás, Erdős, and Straus and solve a conjecture in a stronger form posed by Han and Zhao concerning the maximum number of edges in multi-partite graphs which does not contain vertex-disjoint copies of a clique.

Scholars often use survey experiments to evaluate political messages’ persuasive effects, but messages developed in the lab do not always persuade in real-world campaigns. In this research note, we report three experiments on one central obstacle in lab-to-field messaging applications: getting people’s attention. We first analyze a large-scale direct mail campaign run by an established non-profit that promotes conservative solutions to climate change. In this experiment, postcards with messages based on extant survey-experimental research did not cause changes in key climate attitudes. In a follow-up survey experiment, identical postcards induced attitude change— Re but only when participants were required to pay attention to them. A final field experiment highlights the difficulty of inducing attention; in another real-world campaign, postcards with eye-catching scratch-off panels performed no better than standard postcards. These findings illustrate the crucial role of attention and the complexity of translating messages developed in survey experiments into effective real-world campaigns.

This article rethinks ‘the global’ by analysing the emergence and growth of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF), an informal platform of multilateral counterterrorism co-operation which has been instrumental in the making of post-9/11 global security law and governance. It problematises and empirically analyses how global scale is enacted through the socio-material practices of translation and assemblage that have been deployed in the construction, maintenance and extension of the GCTF governance network. Drawing from interviews with policy experts and GCTF members, and from participant-observation in GCTF and UN events, the article contributes to the theme of the Special Issue and wider legal debates about the spatiotemporal dynamics of global law and governance by critically analysing how global scale is fabricated in practice and unpacking the politics of GCTF’s global scale-making processes. Focusing on specific techniques and norm-creation processes of the GCTF, like watch-listing toolkits and ‘good-practice’ documents on foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and countering violent extremism (CVE), the article analyses how translation, problematisation and enrolment practices have assembled the GCTF as an ‘apolitical’ global security governance body. Our approach opens novel possibilities for socio-legal research on the politics of scale-making and critiquing global security power in action through empirical attention to its assemblage practices.

In this study, we introduce a real-time pose estimation for a class of mobile robots with rectangular body (e.g., the common automatic guided vehicles), by integrating odometry and RGB-D images. First, a lightweight object detection model is designed based on the visual information. Then, a pose estimation algorithm is proposed based on the depth value variations within the target region that exhibit specific patterns due to the robot’s three-dimensional geometry and the observation perspective (termed as “differentiated depth information”). To improve the robustness of object detection and pose estimation, a Kalman filter is further constructed by incorporating odometry data. Finally, a series of simulations and experiments are conducted to demonstrate the method’s effectiveness. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm can achieve a speed over 20 Frames Per Second (FPS) together with a good estimation accuracy on a mobile robot equipped with an Nvidia Jetson Nano Developer KIT.

While weight loss is the primary focus of weight management programmes, it is important that service users establish healthier eating habits to support overall long-term health and weight loss maintenance. Many dietary plans and weight loss programmes are now available, particularly in the digital landscape, but few offer insights into their users’ dietary intakes while following these programmes, and whether they support individuals with meeting dietary recommendations. Slimming World Online, delivered through a website and app, supports members with weight loss through a healthy eating plan, an activity programme, and an online community. This research aims to evaluate the nutrient intakes of members following Slimming World’s digital programme, and compare intakes to UK dietary recommendations and current intakes of the general UK population.

Adults who had been members of Slimming World Online for at least 4 weeks were invited to complete a short survey and use a validated online dietary assessment tool, myfood24®, via an advert on the online member website. Food and drink intake over a 3-day period (2 weekdays and 1 weekend day) was collected and compared against UK dietary recommendations and mean general population intakes, as reported in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS)(1).

61 adults (95.1% female; mean age 51.7±10.5 years) who completed the survey and all food diaries were included in the analysis. Mean daily energy intake was 1424.0±457.8kcal. Compared to the UK general population, members were consuming a lower proportion of energy from fat (25.5% vs 34.1%) and saturated fat (8.6% vs 12.3%). Intakes were in line with UK recommendations of <35.0% and <11.0% of total daily energy respectively. Members were consuming a greater proportion of total daily energy from protein than the general population (25.4% vs 17.0%). Mean protein intake was 90.6±32.0g/day, higher than general population intakes of 76.0g/day. Members, on average, were consuming 8.4±4.9 portions of vegetables and fruit/day, with 68.9% meeting the ‘5 a day’ recommendation, compared to 33.0% of the general population. Mean fibre intake was higher than the general population (27.2±12.9g vs 19.7±8.4g/day), while mean salt intake was in line with UK recommendations of <6g/day and lower than the general population (5.3±2.6g vs 8.4±4.1g/day).

In addition to having a reduced energy intake necessary for weight loss, members of Slimming World’s digital programme are consuming a diet which meets current UK dietary guidelines and is of better nutritional quality than that of the general UK population. Limitations include potential underreporting of intakes, the small sample size for males and slight differences to the data collection methodology of the NDNS, who use a 4-day food diary. Further research will aim to address these limitations.