An Impulsive Approach to State Estimation for Multirate Singularly Perturbed Complex Networks Under Bit Rate Constraints

In this article, the problem of ultimately bounded state estimation is investigated for discrete-time multirate singularly perturbed complex networks under the bit rate constraints, where the sensor sampling period is allowed to differ from the updating period of the networks. The facilitation of communication between sensors and the remote estimator through wireless networks, which are subject to bit rate constraints, involves the use of a coding-decoding mechanism. For efficient estimation in the presence of periodic measurements, a specialized impulsive estimation method is developed, which aims to carry out impulsive corrections precisely at the instants when the measurement signal is received by the estimator. By employing the iteration analysis method under the impulsive mechanism, a sufficient condition is established that ensures the exponential boundedness of the estimation error dynamics. Furthermore, an optimization algorithm is introduced for addressing the challenges related to bit rate allocation and the design of desired estimator gains. Within the presented theoretical framework, the correlation between estimation performance and bit rate allocation is elucidated. Finally, a simulation example is provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed estimation approach.10.13039/501100019033-Key Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (Grant Number: 2021B0101410005); 10.13039/501100003453-Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China (Grant Number: 2021A1515011634 and 2021B1515420008); 10.13039/501100001809-National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: U22A2044 and 62206063); Local Innovative and Research Teams Project of Guangdong Special Support Program of China (Grant Number: 2019BT02X353); 10.13039/501100004543-China Scholarship Council (Grant Number: 202208440312)

Incorporating acute HIV infection screening, same‐day diagnosis and antiretroviral treatment into routine services for key populations at sexual health clinics in Indonesia: a baseline analysis of the INTERACT prospective study

Data Availability Statement: Data are available upon reasonable request. Requests for data sharing can be made by submission of a study concept to the INTERACT Study Group for evaluation of the scientific value, relevance, design, feasibility and overlap with existing projects.Introduction: Indonesia has an escalated HIV epidemic concentrated among key populations. To strengthen the care cascade, we implemented a care pathway for the screening of individuals for acute HIV infection (AHI), to achieve prompt diagnosis and antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiation, at three non-governmental sexual health clinics in Jakarta and Bali. We assessed the AHI testing uptake, yield and prevalence, and the care cascade. Methods: This is a cross-sectional baseline analysis of individuals (≥16 years) who presented for HIV testing and were consecutively enrolled (May 2023−November 2024). We used an AHI risk-score self-assessment and test algorithm comprising a fourth-generation antibody/p24 antigen rapid diagnostic test (4gRDT; Abbott Determine HIV Early Detect) and, if negative/discordant, followed by HIV-PCR (Cepheid Xpert) (either individual or pooled-sample testing). AHI was pragmatically defined as having negative/discordant RDT results with positive HIV-PCR (ISRCTN41396071). Results: Three thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven (44.0%) of 8665 individuals were screened for study eligibility, and 3689 (97.2%) were enrolled. Median age was 28 years, and 78.2% were male. Men who have sex with men (MSM) accounted for 53.3%, clients of sex workers 19.2%, persons having a sex partner living with HIV 8.9% and sex workers 4.1%. We diagnosed 229 (6.3%; 229/3662) persons with RDT-positive (chronic) HIV, and we additionally identified 13 persons with AHI—that is a diagnostic yield of 5.6% (95% CI 3.1−9.5; 13/229) overall, and 6.1% (95% CI 3.2−10.3; 12/198) among MSM. AHI prevalence was 0.38% (95% CI 0.20−0.65; 13/3429) overall, and 0.72% (95% CI 0.37−1.2; 12/1677) among MSM. The number of persons needed to test to identify one person with AHI was 264 (3429/13) overall and 140 (1677/12) among MSM. The 4gRDT's performance to detect AHI was poor (2/13). Most participants received their HIV-PCR results on the same day (84.8%, 2907/3429) or within 24 hours (92.8%, 3182/3429). Of the 242 newly HIV-diagnosed individuals, 236 (97.5%) started ART, of whom 158 (67.0%) on the same day and 215 (91.1%) within 1 week. Conclusions: We successfully implemented prompt AHI diagnosis and treatment, and identified a high AHI prevalence among Indonesian MSM. Prioritizing access to AHI testing can create opportunities for enhanced interventions to curb the HIV epidemic among key populations.Wellcome Africa Asia Programme Vietnam; UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)

Development and optimization of a photoautotrophic phycoerythrin production process

Data availability: The experimental data underlying this work have been uploaded here: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.17633/rd.brunel.25880428.v1.Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge the excellent technical team at Brunel University London in particular Mr. Paul Josse, Mr. Paul Barrett, Mr. William Pierce and Mr. William Schkzamian for their assistance in constructing the photobioreactors.Supplementary Information is available onlineat: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10811-025-03524-x#Sec9 .Phycoerythrin is a pink pigment produced by photosynthetic microorganisms which has potential to be used as a sustainable colorant in the food, cosmetics and textile industries. In order for this to happen it is necessary to identify suitable strains for large-scale production and develop and optimize production processes. Relatively few species of red algae have been evaluated for their biotechnological potential and to address this gap this work examined five different species of red algae and three cyanobacteria to identify the most suitable candidates for phycoerythrin production. Results from initial screening experiments found a wide range of specific phycoerythrin contents (0.75–28 mg g−1). The four most promising species (Porphyridium purpureum, Rhodella violacea, Timspurckia oligopyrenoides and Flintiella sanguinaria) were grown in 3-L photobioreactors; of the species examined it was found that P. purpureum and R. violacea had the highest growth rate (approximately 0.6 day^−1). As part of the scale-up process it was found that ensuring sufficient nitrate was available in the medium was key in maintaining a high specific phycoerythrin content, with maximum values being 170 ± 34 mg g^−1 for P. purpureum and 120 ± 60 mg g^−1 for R. violacea. Increasing the applied light intensity led to increases in the cell density (to a maximum of 3.46 ± 0.36 g L^−1 for P. purpureum), while the specific phycoerythrin content was generally constant. Applying these insights led to a final volumetric phycoerythrin concentration of 360 ± 37 mg L^−1 for P. purpureum this being a 50-fold improvement over the original values. Results from this work provide valuable data about the growth and phycoerythrin productivity of diverse species of red algae as well as providing valuable insights into how the phycoerythrin production can be optimized.Not applicable

Dual beam and dual circular polarized multiplexing reflectarray for Ku band satellite communication

Data availability: All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.In this letter, a broadband low-profile dual circularly polarized reflectarray (dual-CP RA) for Ku-band satellite communications is proposed. A novel single-layer metasurface unit cell consisting of a functional layer, an air layer and a metal plate is investigated first. The functional layer is a metal structure printed on the F4B substrate. The air layer can effectively extend the bandwidth, and the overall profile is only 0.12λ0, where λ0 represents the wavelength at 11.725 GHz. To independently control the phase of left-handed circularly polarized (LHCP) and right-handed circularly polarized (RHCP) waves, Dynamic phase and Berry phase methods are employed by either changing the size of microstrip lines or the rotating of the cells. Finally, a dual-CP RA with 1600 cells is designed to realize two beams at 20° for LHCP wave and − 20° for RHCP wave at 11.725 GHz. The measured gain for LHCP wave is 29.1 dB with the aperture efficiency (AE) of 47% and 1-dB gain bandwidth of 37.4%, while the gain, AE, and bandwidth for RHCP wave are 29.22 dB, 48.3% and 37% respectively.This work was supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Shaanxi under Grant 2024GX-ZDCYL-01-29 and in part by the Science and Technology Project of Xi’an City under Grant 24KPZT0010

Investigating socioeconomic deprivation and antibiotic prescribing among older medicare patients using an instrumental variable approach

Supplementary material is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1017/ash.2025.185 .Background: Socioeconomic deprivation has been associated with antibiotic overprescription in the US; however, prior studies could not quantify a causal relationship due to endogeneity. This study examines how socioeconomic deprivation is related to the rate of antibiotic days supplied to older Medicare Part D beneficiaries, utilizing an Instrumental Variable (IV) approach. Methods: Data from the Medicare Part D and the Social Deprivation Index (SDI) repositories were analyzed. To address potential endogeneity and omitted variable bias in the relationship between SDI and antibiotic prescribing, we used the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit as an IV. Bivariate Moran’s I assessed the spatial correlation between SDI and antibiotic prescribing across geographic regions. The IV analysis then examined the relationship between predicted SDI and antibiotic days supplied (ln). Linear regression models estimated associations between SDI and its components, and antibiotic days supplied, adjusting for prescriber, beneficiary, and geographic factors. Results: Among 161,164, there was no significant spatial dependence between SDI and antibiotic days supplied (P = 0.0656). In the IV model, a one-unit increase in SDI was associated with a 0.582 (SE = 0.164, P < 0.0005) increase in antibiotic days supplied (ln). Higher unemployment and single-parent family rates were linked to increased antibiotic days supplied, while crowded housing was associated with a reduction. Conclusion: This study identified that socioeconomic deprivation may influence antibiotic days supplied to Medicare Part D beneficiaries. Findings highlight the need for targeted public health interventions to address the socioeconomic factors contributing to excess antibiotic use.None reported

Party finance: Labour exploits its advantage

The 2024 General Election took place in the context of important legislative change related to party finance, together with Labour’s growing popularity ultimately being reflected in significant growth in its income as the election approached. The combination of increased campaign spending limits and Labour’s relative success in fundraising in the months leading up to the election meant that Labour was better able to exploit its ability to raise income and spend accordingly in the election campaign. By way of contrast, both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were financially far worse off than they had been in 2019

Research on local visual global localization method based on out-of-view reference of spatial point association

The global localisation of spatial points is a critical step in tasks such as object tracking, motion analysis and pose measurement. This paper addresses the critical issue of global localisation when spatial points are scattered and cannot be contained within the same field of view. It proposes a local visual global localisation method based on an out-of-view reference through spatial point association. By constructing a local measurement and localisation model using parallel binocular vision and a spatial coordinate transformation model that associates local regions with the global reference, the global localisation of spatial points inside and outside the field of view is achieved. Experimental results demonstrate that the localisation accuracy of spatial points is less than 0.1 mm in terms of distance measurement. This method is useful for cooperative multi-camera localization and multi-point measurement in large 3D spaces.The present study received financial support from the China Higher Education Society Project 23SZH0413, the National Higher Education Computer Basic Education Research Association Project 2024-AFCEC-460, and the Nankai University Educational Reform Project NKJG2025017

Judicial review of competition law decisions: an empirical study of the Lithuanian context

Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank the Competition Council of Lithuania for providing the requested information. All comments and observations expressed in this paper are the author’s.Commemorating the 20th anniversary since joining the European Union (EU) (together with an obligation to enforce EU competition law), this study evaluates national judgments reviewing the Lithuanian National Competition Council’s [known as Konkurencijos Taryba (KT)] decisions during the 2004–24 period. Building on comprehensive empirical research on judicial review of the KT’s decisions, which involved employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, this article aims to capture the main trends and patterns of judicial review in the Lithuanian context, with some comparison to other small European countries. The study covers the KT’s decisions in relation to the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (and domestic equivalents), pertaining not only to infringement decisions but also to settlements, commitments, as well as decisions not to launch an investigation or discontinue an investigation. The findings reveal a predominant focus on the national provisions, with only 27 per cent of appealed cases embracing the EU element. As far as the outcomes are concerned, this article notes that the administrative courts mostly confirmed the competition authority’s decisions, with any interventions being calibrated in a manner to avoid any encroachment upon the authority’s discretion, clearly upholding the concept of judicial deference

Applying Digital Spatial Profiling of the Transcriptome to Elucidate Disease Mechanisms of Psychosis in Alzheimer’s disease

Background: Psychosis occurs in 30-40% of individuals with AD. New insights into disease mechanisms may lead to novel pharmacological targets and treatments. Previous studies have focused on bulk tissue analysis with limited results. Digital spatial profiling (DSP) is a new technique for spatial analysis of RNA or proteins in fixed tissue. It allows quantitative profiling with spatial complexity to be collected from samples in a non-destructive manner. In this pilot study we used DSP to compare whole transcriptome data in amyloid beta and non-amyloid beta regions in participants with and without psychosis (AD+P; AD-P). Method: Six post-mortem brain samples from prefrontal cortex were provided by the Kings College London Brains for Dementia Research (BDR) brain bank. Frozen and formalin fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) sections were supplied in order to test the platform on each type. Psychosis positive and negative groups were selected based on Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) assessments. Samples were hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained as well as stained with fluorescent antibodies for AT8, NeuN, SYTO13 and Aβ. Regions of interest (ROIs) are selected based on morphology markers and tissue morphology (see Figure 1 for Amyloid ROI selection). Result: H&E staining revealed the frozen samples to be too badly degraded so the analysis was conducted on FFPE sections. AT8 staining showed widespread tau pathology to the extent that it was not possible to confidently select non-tau ROIs. Analysis of Aβ plaque containing and Aβ plaque free regions, comparing AD+P and AD-P groups, found 314 differentially expressed genes in plaque free regions, and 172 differentially expressed genes in plaque containing regions (Figure 2). Of these 172 genes, 28 were not differentially expressed in plaque free regions, forming a plaque-specific signature of genes differentially expressed in AD+P. Conclusion: This pilot study demonstrates the potential of the NanoString GeoMx™ DSP platform as an innovative spatial transcriptomics methodology for investigating AD+P with the potential to uncover differentially expressed genes that may be missed by bulk RNA sequencing studies. FFPE sections appear to be optimal. Analysing earlier stage disease and more sections per subject may help with better differentiation of tau and non-tau ROIs

Neuroanatomical normative modelling in frontotemporal lobar degeneration: higher heterogeneity in the behavioural variant

Data availability: Data used in preparation of this article were obtained from the Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Neuroimaging Initiative (FTLDNI) and the 4-Repeat Tauopathy Neuroimaging Initiative (4RTNI) databases (https://4rtni-ftldni.ini.usc.edu/ and https://ida.loni.usc.edu/login.jsp). The investigators at FTLDNI and 4RTNI contributed to the design and implementation of FTLDNI and 4RTNI and/or provided data, but did not participate in analysis or writing of this report.Supplementary Information is available online at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00415-025-13378-5#Sec26 (DOCX 36194 KB).Introduction: Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) includes heterogenous diseases: behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), primary progressive aphasias (PPA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS). We applied neuroanatomical normative modelling to quantify individual atrophy patterns and heterogeneity within and between FTLD forms. Methods: We included 160 participants across FTLDNI and 4RTNI studies: controls (n = 15), bvFTD (n = 22), nfvPPA (n = 14), svPPA (n = 21), CBS (n = 43) and PSP (n = 45). Using cortical thickness and subcortical volumes from 3T MRIs, we applied normative modelling with a large healthy reference dataset (n = 58,836), further accounting for age, sex, and scanner. Outlier regions (z < – 1.96) were used to compute total outlier counts (tOC) and Hamming distances, capturing individual atrophy patterns and inter-subject dissimilarity. Results: bvFTD, svPPA, CBS and PSP showed significantly higher cortical tOC than controls, with all groups showing higher subcortical tOC than controls, especially svPPA and PSP. bvFTD, svPPA, CBS and PSP had significantly higher cortical Hamming distance scores than controls, with higher scores in bvFTD and svPPA than nfvPPA and PSP. svPPA and PSP had significantly higher subcortical scores than controls and CBS. Greater disease severity (measured using the Clinical Dementia Rating—CDR for PSP and CBS, and the CDR® plus NACC-FTLD global scores for FTD variants) was associated with increased tOC and dissimilarity, highlighting the link between clinical progression and neuroanatomical heterogeneity. Conclusions: The pronounced heterogeneity within and between FTLD subtypes (particularly in bvFTD) increases with disease progression and may reflect distinct underlying pathologies. This supports the development of subtype-specific biomarkers and emphasize the need for personalized diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.This work was primarily funded by the BRUNEL RESEARCH INITIATIVE & ENTERPRISE FUND (BRIEF) 2023/24 (12796115). M.B. was also supported by a Fellowship award from the Alzheimer’s Society, UK (AS-JF-19a-004-517) and a grant from Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK-PPG2023B-013). A.V. acknowledges the support by funding obtained under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3—Call for tender No. 341 of 15/03/2022 of the Italian Ministry of University and Research funded by the European Union-NextGenerationEU, Project code PE0000006, Concession Decree No. 1553 of 11/10/2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, CUP D93C22000930002, “A multiscale integrated approach to the study of the nervous system in health and disease” (MNESYS). Data collection and sharing for this project were funded by the Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Neuroimaging Initiative (National Institutes of Health Grant R01 AG032306) and by the 4-Repeat Tauopathy Neuroimaging Initiative (4RTNI) (National Institutes of Health Grant R01 AG038791) and through generous contributions from the Tau Research Consortium. FTLDNI and 4RTNI studies are coordinated through the University of California, San Francisco, Memory and Aging Center. FTLDNI and 4RTNI data are disseminated by the Laboratory for Neuro Imaging at the University of Southern California