Creative industries research and innovation: Views from the United Kingdom and China regarding a future hub

This conversation piece focuses on the UK–China Creative Industries Research and Innovation Hub project. It explores the opportunities and challenges of collaboration between the two nations, and roles and functions of the future hub. The conversation took the form of a semi-structured interview with individuals from industry, academy, think tank and the government, from both the United Kingdom and China.<br/

A Bispecific Monoclonal Antibody Targeting Psl and PcrV Enhances Neutrophil-Mediated Killing of <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> in Patients with Bronchiectasis

Rationale:Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection is associated with worse outcomes in bronchiectasis. Impaired neutrophil antimicrobial responses contribute to bacterial persistence. Gremubamab is a bivalent, bispecific monoclonal antibody targeting Psl exopolysaccharide and the type 3 secretion system component PcrV. Objectives: This study evaluated the efficacy of gremubamab to enhance killing of P. aeruginosa by neutrophils from patients with bronchiectasis and to prevent P. aeruginosa-associated cytotoxicity. Methods:P. aeruginosa isolates from a global bronchiectasis cohort (n = 100) underwent whole-genome sequencing to determine target prevalence. Functional activity of gremubamab against selected isolates was tested in vitro and in vivo. Patients with bronchiectasis (n = 11) and control subjects (n = 10) were enrolled, and the effect of gremubamab in peripheral blood neutrophil opsonophagocytic killing (OPK) assays against P. aeruginosa was evaluated. Serum antibody titers to Psl and PcrV were determined (n = 30; 19 chronic P. aeruginosa infection, 11 no known P. aeruginosa infection), as was the effect of gremubamab treatment in OPK and anti-cytotoxic activity assays. Measurements and Main Results: Psl and PcrV were conserved in isolates from chronically infected patients with bronchiectasis. Seventy-three of 100 isolates had a full psl locus, and 99 of 100 contained the pcrV gene, with 20 distinct full-length PcrV protein subtypes identified. PcrV subtypes were successfully bound by gremubamab and the monoclonal antibody-mediated potent protective activity against tested isolates. Gremubamab increased bronchiectasis patient neutrophil-mediated OPK (+34.6 ± 8.1%) and phagocytosis (+70.0 ± 48.8%), similar to effects observed in neutrophils from control subjects (OPK, +30.1 ± 7.6%). No evidence of competition between gremubamab and endogenous antibodies was found, with protection against P. aeruginosa-induced cytotoxicity and enhanced OPK demonstrated with and without addition of patient serum. Conclusions: Gremubamab enhanced bronchiectasis patient neutrophil phagocytosis and killing of P. aeruginosa and reduced virulence.</p

Oil price, economic policy uncertainty and food prices in oil-exporting and oil-importing developing economies

Fluctuations in domestic food prices raise significant concerns about food and national security in developing countries. Previous studies established the link between oil prices and rising food prices, but the influence of economic structure and global economic uncertainties received less attention. Using monthly data from 2000:01 to 2023:11 and the cross-sectional dependence autoregressive distributed lag model, we examined the effect of oil prices and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on domestic food prices in 41 developing countries based on aggregate and disaggregate analyses. The empirical findings indicate that, while oil prices and EPU comove with food prices in the short run, oil price drives domestic food prices in the long run in oil-importing countries. This is valid for high-income oil-importing countries and low-income oil-exporting countries where both short- and long-run effects are ascertained. In addition to global oil prices, EPU is another channel which explains the dynamics of domestic food prices in developing countries. Therefore, the link between oil prices, EPU and food prices in developing countries is explained by the countries' economic structures, timing/period under consideration and the transmission channels associated with global uncertainties. We proffer some policy suggestions based on the empirical findings.</p

In the Beginning……:An Analysis of the Starting Topics in Introductory Economics Textbooks

From a pedagogical point of view, there are huge advantages in being able to attract the attention of your students from the very start of their degree. It would naturally be thought that introductory textbooks, and the many university courses using them, would have topics that, indeed, attracted students’ attention. However, the topics usually presented in the first chapters of economics textbooks are a mixed bag. They are often highly specialised, have few links to core economics and often seem outdated. Many seem to be included out of inertia or as a ritual of respect for the past. This chapter analyses the most popular of the topics and makes suggestions for how they can be changed

Trace DNA and its persistence on various surfaces:A long term study investigating the influence of surface type and environmental conditions - Part two, non-metals

The work presented herein is the second part of a large-scale persistence project aimed at identifying trends in trace DNA persistence. This study aims to show how different environmental storage conditions and target surface characteristics influence the persistence of cellular and cell free DNA (cfDNA) over time. To eliminate variation within the experiment, we used a proxy DNA deposit consisting of a synthetic fingerprint solution, cellular DNA, and/or cfDNA. Samples were collected and analysed from eight non-metal surfaces over the course of 1 year (27 time points) under three different environmental storage conditions. The results of this experiment show that surface characteristics in conjunction with DNA type greatly influence DNA persistence. Variation in the amount of DNA recovered over time was greatly influenced by surface porosity. CfDNA persisted at significantly higher levels on non-porous surfaces, and cellular DNA persisted at higher levels on porous items. Furthermore, statistically significant differences in DNA persistence were found among the items classified as non-porous surfaces and among the items classified as porous surfaces. Additionally, this study showed that the sample storage environment had a larger impact on DNA persistence than previously observed for metal surfaces [1]. When considering DNA type, cellular DNA was shown to persist for longer than cfDNA and persistence as a whole appears to be better when DNA is deposited alone rather than in mixtures. Unsurprisingly, it was found that the amount of DNA recovered from trace deposits decreased over time. However, DNA decay is highly dependent on the surface type and exhibits higher variability at short time points and on porous surfaces. For each of the surfaces tested, DNA persisted 1 year past deposition (in some combination of DNA type and environmental condition), except for wood, on which DNA did not persist in any capacity past four months. This data is intended to add to our understanding of DNA persistence and the factors which affect it.</p

A hum- by any other name...:a trans/in/fusionist literary phonoaesthetics

What happens when the links between words make sound but not sense, butnevertheless a poetic world is built across the borderzones of these differentlinguistic and significatory origin points? What does this sort of etymological‘unmooring’ show us about trans/in/fusion’s way of thinking ‘tradition asentanglement’ (Ghosh 2021)? What can this tell us about the relationshipbetween noise, crosscultural aesthetics, and the c.21st human, ‘teetering on thebrink’ (Ghosh 2021) where normative modes of trans/lation do not operate?How, then does the production of reason operate, rootless? This essay takes atransinfusionist approach to the plastic, odic constructions of a specifically lyricmode of reason (see Yeung 2020), humming along with a Trans(in)fusionist modeof thinking, which this author hears as inherent in trans/languaging’ssonorousnesses as well as in its fundamental nature and its performances oflibidinal attachment. In order to do so, the essay reads by mobilizing andnavigating a phonoaesthetic constellation of 3 ‘hum-‘s: the hum of ‘humming’noises (the quasi-mimetic German-indebted hum, which can be tuneful orotherwise; with a repertoire spanning the human, non-human, or inhuman), the‘hum’ of the rising (lyric) bird (the Persian-indebted huma, akin to a phoenix),the ‘hum’ of the earth (the Greek-indebted humus – from khamai), to get to theidea of the hum of understanding, and its veil, or borderzone

Understanding cultural dynamics shaping clinical reasoning skills:A dialogical exploration

Our study examined the influence of national cultural predispositions on training medical professionals and doctor–patient dynamics using a dialogical approach, guided by Hofstede's framework. This framework provided valuable insights into how cultural tendencies shape the learning and application of clinical reasoning skills in different cultural contexts. We found that dimensions such as power distance and individualism versus collectivism significantly influenced clinical reasoning, while other dimensions had more nuanced effects. Junior doctors in Southern nations, despite initially lagging behind, developed advanced clinical reasoning skills with experience, eventually matching their Northern counterparts. The study highlighted the link between cultural norms and educational practices, variations in family involvement during reasoning, adherence to clinical guidelines and doctors' emotional engagement in clinical care between Southern and Northern contexts. Additionally, we recognised that effective clinical reasoning extends beyond technical knowledge, involving an understanding and integration of cultural dynamics into patient care. This highlights the pressing need to prioritise this topic.</p

Identification and Suppression of Point Defects in Bromide Perovskite Single Crystals Enabling Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy

Methylammonium lead tribromide (MAPbBr 3) stands out as the most easily grown wide-band-gap metal halide perovskite. It is a promising semiconductor for room-temperature gamma-ray (γ-ray) spectroscopic detectors, but no operational devices are realized. This can be largely attributed to a lack of understanding of point defects and their influence on detector performance. Here, through a combination of crystal growth design and defect characterization, including positron annihilation and impedance spectroscopy, the presence of specific point defects are identified and correlated to detector performance. Methylammonium (MA) vacancies, MA interstitials, and Pb vacancies are identified as the dominant charge-trapping defects in MAPbBr 3 crystals, while Br vacancies caused doping. The addition of excess MABr reduces the MA and Br defects and so enables the detection of energy-resolved γ-ray spectra using a MAPbBr 3 single-crystal device. Interestingly, the addition of formamidinium (FA) cations, which converted to methylformamidinium (MFA) cations by reaction with MA + during crystal growth further reduced MA defects. This enabled an energy resolution of 3.9% for the 662 keV 137Cs line using a low bias of 100 V. The work provides direction toward enabling further improvements in wide-bandgap perovskite-based device performance by reducing detrimental defects.</p

Identification and Suppression of Point Defects in Bromide Perovskite Single Crystals Enabling Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy

Methylammonium lead tribromide (MAPbBr 3) stands out as the most easily grown wide-band-gap metal halide perovskite. It is a promising semiconductor for room-temperature gamma-ray (γ-ray) spectroscopic detectors, but no operational devices are realized. This can be largely attributed to a lack of understanding of point defects and their influence on detector performance. Here, through a combination of crystal growth design and defect characterization, including positron annihilation and impedance spectroscopy, the presence of specific point defects are identified and correlated to detector performance. Methylammonium (MA) vacancies, MA interstitials, and Pb vacancies are identified as the dominant charge-trapping defects in MAPbBr 3 crystals, while Br vacancies caused doping. The addition of excess MABr reduces the MA and Br defects and so enables the detection of energy-resolved γ-ray spectra using a MAPbBr 3 single-crystal device. Interestingly, the addition of formamidinium (FA) cations, which converted to methylformamidinium (MFA) cations by reaction with MA + during crystal growth further reduced MA defects. This enabled an energy resolution of 3.9% for the 662 keV 137Cs line using a low bias of 100 V. The work provides direction toward enabling further improvements in wide-bandgap perovskite-based device performance by reducing detrimental defects.</p