Dense mixtures of particles of varying size tend to segregate based on size during flow. Granular size segregation impacts many industrial and geophysical processes, but the development of coupled, continuum models capable of predicting the evolution of segregation dynamics and flow fields in dense granular media across different geometries remains a challenge. One reason is because size segregation stems from two driving forces: pressure gradients and shear-strain-rate gradients. Another reason is the challenge of integrating segregation models with rheological constitutive equations for dense granular flow. In this paper we develop a continuum model that accounts for pressure-gradient-driven and shear-strain-rate-gradient-driven segregation, coupled to rheological modelling of a dense granular medium across the quasi-static and dense inertial flow regimes. To calibrate and test the continuum model, we perform discrete element method (DEM) simulations of dense flow of bidisperse granular systems in two flow geometries in which both segregation driving forces are present: inclined plane flow and planar shear flow with gravity. Steady-state DEM data from inclined plane flow is used to determine the dimensionless material parameters in the pressure-gradient-driven segregation model for both spheres and disks. Then, predictions of the continuum model are tested against DEM data across different cases of inclined plane flow and planar shear flow with gravity, while varying parameters such as the size of the flow geometry, the flow speed and the initial conditions. We find that it is crucial to account for both driving forces to capture segregation dynamics across both flow geometries with a single set of parameters.

Clogauite, ideally PbBi4Te4S3 is the new n = 1 member of the aleksite series, PbnBi4Te4Sn+2, where n is the homologue number. Clogauite is named from the type locality, the Clogau gold mine, Dolgellau Gold belt, Gwynedd, North Wales, United Kingdom. The mineral and name have been approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA2023–062). The aleksite series is an accretional homologous series in which each member is derived from the same 5-atom tetradymite archetype. Clogauite crystallises in the trigonal crystal system (space group: P$\bar{3}$m1, #164). Three distinct polytypes of clogauite are recognised, corresponding to identical chemistry but different layer sequences, expressed as (57), (5559) and (557.559), respectively, in reference to the number of atoms in individual layer sequences. These are clogauite-12H, a = 4.277(4) Å, c = 23.46(14) Å, V = 371.598 Å3 and Z = 1; clogauite-24H, a = 4.278(4) Å, c = 46.88(31) Å, V = 743.053 Å3 and Z = 2; and clogauite-36H, a = 4.278(4) Å, c = 70.36(32) Å, V = 1115.283 Å3 and Z = 3. Clogauite is opaque, with a pale grey colour in reflected light. Reflectance is higher than tetradymite or galena. Bireflectance and anisotropy are strong. Structural data were determined from measurement of atomic-scale HAADF STEM imaging showing the internal arrangement of component atoms and characteristic selected area electron diffraction patterns for each polytype. The structures were then further constrained from ab initio total energy calculations and structure relaxation using density functional theory (DFT) using the measured parameters as input data. The relaxed crystal structure for each polytype was modelled to generate crystallographic information files (cif). STEM and electron diffraction simulations based on the crystallographic information data obtained from the DFT calculations show an excellent match to the empirical measurements.

Background: Elevated BMI has been proposed as a risk factor for the development of meningioma. The relationship between body mass index (BMI) and disease control in high-grade meningioma has not yet been examined. A retrospective cohort study was performed to assess the relationship between high-grade meningioma recurrence and BMI. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients with Grade 2 or Grade 3 meningioma at a single tertiary care center between 2008 and 2017. We collected clinical data including age, sex, BMI, location, Simpson grade, brain invasion, and radiation treatments. Disease control was monitored on followup MRI scans. We stratified patients by BMI greater than or less than 25. Results: A total of 45 patients were included. Recurrence was observed in 15 patients (33.3%). There were 32 (71.1%) patients with BMI > 25, and 13 (28.9%) patients with normal BMI. Patients with elevated BMI had higher risk of recurrence (p=0.04). Multivariate analysis identified BMI as an independent predictor of recurrence. Conclusions: Our results suggest that overweight patients with a Grade 2 or Grade 3 meningioma are at higher risk of recurrence than patients with normal BMI. The explanation for this association unknown. Further research is suggested to confirm and better characterize this association.

Background: Hyperacute stroke care demands rapid, coordinated care. Traditional metrics like Door-to-Needle time are pivotal but insufficient for capturing the complexity of endovascular stroke interventions. The SMILES collaboration aims to standardize and optimize protocols for door-to-intervention times, incorporating Crew Resource Management (CRM). Methods: The multidisciplinary initiative integrates both hospitals, ED, neurology, and QI teams. We employed a comprehensive approach: stakeholder engagement, simulation-based learning, process mapping, and literature review. Emphasis was placed on enhancing situational awareness, triage and prioritization, cognitive load management, role clarity, effective communication, and debriefing. Results: The collaboration led to PDSA cycles and development of refined stroke protocols. Interventions included: 1) A ’zero point survey’ for team pre-arrival briefings, enhancing situational awareness and role clarity; 2) Streamlined patient registration to reduce cognitive load and improve triage efficiency; 3) Direct transfer of patients to imaging. Additionally, digital tools were implemented to facilitate communication. Simulation sessions reinforced CRM principles, leading to improved team cohesion and operational performance. Conclusions: The SMILES initiative is grounded in CRM principles by standardizing protocols and emphasizing non-technical skills crucial for high-stakes environments. This improves outcomes but also fosters a culture of safety and efficiency. Future directions include an evaluation of these protocols’ impact on patient factors.

Background: The fragility index (FI) is the minimum number of patients whose status would have to change from a nonevent to an event to turn a statistically significant result to a non-significant result. We used this to measure the robustness of trials comparing carotid endarterectomy (CEA) to carotid artery stenting (CAS). Methods: A search was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, and PubMed on RCTs comparing CEA to CAS. The trials need to have statistically significant results and dichotomous primary endpoints to be included. Results: Our literature search identified 10 RCTs which included 9382 patients (4734 CEA, 4648 CAS). The primary end points of all included trials favoured CEA over CAS. The median FI was 9.5 (interquartile range 2.25 - 21.25). All of the studies that reported lost-to-follow-up (LTFU) had LTFU greater than its fragility index, which raises concern that the missing data could change the results of the trial from statistically significant to statistically insignificant. Conclusions: A small number of events (FI, median 9.5) were required to render the results of carotid artery stenosis RCTs comparing CEA to CAS statistically insignificant. All of the studies that reported LTFU had LTFU greater than its fragility index.

While there is a recognised role of optimising lifestyle behaviours such as diet and physical activity in the management of infertility, the best practice for lifestyle management of infertility remains unknown, and factors influencing the lifestyle behaviours of people with infertility are not well understood. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the barriers and enablers to a healthy lifestyle in people with infertility, from the perspectives of people with infertility and health professionals, in order to inform optimal behavioural change strategies for lifestyle management of infertility. Ovid MEDLINE(R), PsycINFO, EMBASE, EBM Reviews, and CINAHL Plus were searched from inception to 12th September 2022. Eligible studies were qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methods primary studies which explored barriers and/or enablers to lifestyle for infertility management, from the perspectives of people with infertility and/or health professionals. Two independent reviewers performed quality assessment, using the Centre for Evidence-Based Management Critical Appraisal of a Survey Tool (quantitative and mixed-methods studies) and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Qualitative Checklist (qualitative and mixed-methods studies). Data were analysed by inductive thematic analysis with themes mapped to the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behaviour (COM-B) model(1) and Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF)(2). Relevant behaviour change techniques (BCTs)(3) to target the identified enablers and barriers were suggested. After screening 10703 citations and 82 full-texts, 22 studies were included (12 quantitative, 7 mixed-methods and 3 qualitative) with 18 studies including women with infertility (n = 2442), 10 including men with infertility (n = 1372) and 6 including health professionals (n = 261). From the perspectives of people with infertility, themes related to capability (e.g. strategies for behaviour change), opportunity (e.g. limited time, resources and money) and motivation (e.g. interplay between lifestyle and emotional state); themes mapped to 8 TDF domains. From the perspectives of health professionals, themes related to capability (e.g. identification of patients appropriate for lifestyle intervention), opportunity (e.g. mode of delivery) and motivation (e.g. professional responsibility); themes mapped to 6 TDF domains. 34 BCTs were identified across the suggested interventions. This systematic review found that several interacting factors influence lifestyle in people with infertility as well as health professional behaviour with regards to provision of lifestyle interventions for infertility. These factors can be targeted for optimisation of interventions. In light of the limited number of qualitative studies, there is a need for more qualitative research to gain deeper insights into the perspectives of people with infertility and health professionals for further exploration of the complex and interacting factors which shape lifestyle during the fertility journey.

The importance of non-locality of mean scalar transport in two-dimensional Rayleigh–Taylor Instability (RTI) is investigated. The macroscopic forcing method is utilized to measure spatio-temporal moments of the eddy diffusivity kernel representing passive scalar transport in the ensemble averaged fields. Presented in this work are several studies assessing the importance of the higher-order moments of the eddy diffusivity, which contain information about non-locality, in models for RTI. First, it is demonstrated through a comparison of leading-order models that a purely local eddy diffusivity is insufficient to capture the mean field evolution of the mass fraction in RTI. Therefore, higher-order moments of the eddy diffusivity operator are not negligible. Models are then constructed by utilizing the measured higher-order moments. It is demonstrated that an explicit operator based on the Kramers–Moyal expansion of the eddy diffusivity kernel is insufficient. An implicit operator construction that matches the measured moments is shown to offer improvements relative to the local model in a converging fashion.

This multi-method longitudinal study sought to investigate linkage in parental neuroendocrine functioning – indicated by cortisol – over two measurement occasions. In addition, we examined how parental cortisol linkage may operate as an intermediate factor in the cascade of contextual risks and parenting. Participants were 235 families with a young child (Mage = 33.56, 36.00 years for mothers and fathers respectively), who were followed for two annual measurement occasions. Parental cortisol linkage was measured around a laboratory conflict discussion task at both measurement occasions (i.e., pre-discussion, 20- and 40-minute post-discussion for each measurement occasion). Maternal and paternal parenting behavior was observed during a parent-child discipline discussion task. Findings indicated similar levels of cortisol linkage between parents over the two measurement occasions. Furthermore, cortisol linkage between parents operated as an intermediate factor between contextual risks and more compromised parenting behavior. That is, greater contextual risks, indicated by greater neighborhood risk and interparental conflict, were linked to greater cortisol linkage between parents over time, which was in turn linked to greater authoritarian parenting during parent-child interaction. Findings highlighted the importance of understanding physiological-linkage processes with respect to the impact of contextual risks on family functioning and may have crucial implications for clinical work.

The Sinya Beds of the Amboseli Basin in Tanzania and Kenya consist largely of carbonate rocks and Mg-rich clays that are intensely deformed where exposed in and near former meerschaum mines. The carbonate rocks consist of limestone and dolomite in Tanzania, but only dolomite has been identified in Kenya. Sepiolite and mixed-layered kerolite/stevensite (Ke/St) are subordinate constituents of the carbonate rocks. The carbonate rocks and overlying bedded sepiolite were deposited in a semiarid lake basin at the foot of the large volcano Kilimanjaro. Calcite and dolomite of the carbonate rocks have δ18O values 4–6‰ lower than calcite and dolomite of the late Pleistocene Amboseli Clays, suggesting that the Sinya Beds were deposited in the middle or early Pleistocene under a different climatic regime when meteoric water had lower δ18O values than at present.

Mg-rich clay minerals form veins and fill cavities in the Sinya Beds. The principal clay minerals are sepiolite and Ke/St, some of which contains substantial Al and Fe (Al-Ke/St). NEWMOD® modeling and other X-ray diffraction (XRD) data suggest that most of the Ke/St contains 25–50 percent kerolite layers, but minor amounts of kerolite-rich Ke/St are present in some samples. Illite with an inferred high content of Fe or Mg is a minor constituent of the samples with Al-Ke/St. The cavity-filling clays were chemically precipitated, as shown by field relationships and SEM study. The early-deposited clays of veins and cavities are principally Ke/St with minor sepiolite, and the latest clay is sepiolite (meerschaum), generally with minor Ke/St.

The δ18O values of cavity-filling Ke/St range from 22.5–25.6‰ and correlate with mineral composition, with the highest values associated with the highest content of stevensite and the lowest values with the highest content of kerolite. This relation suggests that high salinities favored stevensite and low salinities favored kerolite. δ18O values of sepiolite (meerschaum) fall in the middle of the range for Ke/St, suggesting that salinity was not the main control on sepiolite precipitation. High values of $a_{Si{O}_2}/a_{M{g}^{2+}}$ may have been a major factor in sepiolite precipitation.

Different mixtures of dilute ground water and saline, alkaline lake water in pore fluids may largely account for the differences in clay mineralogy of cavity-filling clays. Sepiolite is the dominant clay mineral in lacustrine sediments of the Amboseli Basin, and the cavity-filling sepiolite may reflect a high proportion of lake water. The low-Al Ke/St may have formed from fluids with a higher proportion of ground water. Detrital clay was very likely a factor in forming the Al-Ke/St, for which δ18O values suggest a saline environment.

Grain-cooking traditions in Neolithic China have been characterised as a ‘wet’ cuisine based on the boiling and steaming of sticky varieties of cereal. One of these, broomcorn millet, was one of the earliest Chinese crops to move westward into Central Asia and beyond, into regions where grains were typically prepared by grinding and baking. Here, the authors present the genotypes and reconstructed phenotypes of 13 desiccated broomcorn millet samples from Xinjiang (1700 BC–AD 700). The absence in this area of sticky-starch millet and vessels for boiling and steaming suggests that, as they moved west, East Asian cereal crops were decoupled from traditional cooking practices and were incorporated into local cuisines.

To accelerate high-intensity heavy-ion beams to high energy in the booster ring (BRing) at the High-Intensity Heavy-Ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF) project, we take the typical reference particle 238U35+, which can be accelerated from an injection energy of 17 MeV/u to the maximal extraction energy of 830 MeV/u, as an example to study the basic processes of longitudinal beam dynamics, including beam capture, acceleration, and bunch merging. The voltage amplitude, the synchronous phase, and the frequency program of the RF system during the operational cycle were given, and the beam properties such as bunch length, momentum spread, longitudinal beam emittance, and beam loss were derived, firstly. Then, the beam properties under different voltage amplitude and synchronous phase errors were also studied, and the results were compared with the cases without any errors. Next, the beam properties with the injection energy fluctuation were also studied. The tolerances of the RF errors and injection energy fluctuation were dictated based on the CISP simulations. Finally, the effect of space charge at the low injection energy with different beam intensities on longitudinal emittance and beam loss was evaluated.