Editor's choice - exercise therapy for chronic symptomatic peripheral artery disease: a clinical consensus document of the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Aorta and Peripheral Vascular Diseases in collaboration with the European Society of Vascular Medicine and the European Society for Vascular Surgery

All guidelines worldwide strongly recommend exercise as a pillar in the management of patients affected by lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD). Exercise therapy in this setting presents different modalities, and a structured programme provides optimal results. This clinical consensus paper is intended to promote and assist the set up of comprehensive exercise programmes and best advice for patients with symptomatic chronic PAD. Different exercise training protocols specific for patients with PAD are presented. Data on patient assessment and outcome measures are described based on the current best evidence. The document ends by highlighting supervised exercise programme access disparities across Europe and the evidence gaps requiring further research

A statistical model for inference of recent and incident HIV infection using surveillance data on individuals newly diagnosed with HIV infection in Scotland

Background: To inform global ambitions to end AIDS, evaluation of progress toward HIV incidence reduction requires robust methods to measure incidence. Although HIV diagnosis date in routine HIV/AIDS surveillance systems are often used as a surrogate marker for incidence, it can be misleading if acquisition of transmission occurred years before testing. Other information present in data such as antibody testing dates, avidity testing result, and CD4 counts can assist, but the degree of missing data is often prohibitive. Methods: We constructed a Bayesian statistical model to estimate the annual proportion of first ever HIV diagnoses in Scotland (period 2015-2019) that represent recent HIV infection (ie, occurring within the previous 3-4 months) and incident HIV infection (ie, infection within the previous 12 months), by synthesizing avidity testing results and surveillance data on the interval since last negative HIV test. Results: Over the 5-year analysis period, the model-estimated proportion of incident infection was 43.9% (95% CI: 40.9 to 47.0), and the proportion of recent HIV infection was 21.6% (95% CI: 19.1 to 24.1). Among the mode of HIV acquisition categories, the highest proportion of recent infection was estimated for people who inject drugs: 27.4% (95% CI: 20.4 to 34.4). Conclusions: The Bayesian approach is appropriate for the high prevalence of missing data that can occur in routine surveillance data sets. The proposed model will aid countries in improving their understanding of the number of people who have recently acquired their infection, which is needed to progress toward the goal of HIV transmission elimination.</p

Mental health, well-being and resilience in agricultural areas: a research agenda for the Global North

This paper offers an overview of research perspectives, gaps, and priorities within the field of mental health and well-being among farming communities in the Global North. Developed by an international working group of scholars with expertise in the mental health and well-being of agricultural and rural communities, it outlines the importance of developing an international research agenda in this subject area by presenting five propositions. Each of the propositions addresses current research gaps and/or highlights potential advancements in investigations into one of the following areas of study: i) who is being researched, ii) what is being researched, iii) geographical gaps in research, iv) informal and formal support systems, and v) methodological approaches and issues. The purpose of this paper is to encourage discussion and present a potential agenda around which new studies might be inspired and developed, as well as to help drive forward more focussed, joined-up research across the Global North to facilitate more effective outcomes for individuals belonging to agricultural communities

Communovirus: ethical community for social work in a ‘post’-COVID world

The chapter explores the prospects of a radically revitalised ethics of community for social work from a communitarian perspective, drawing on the influential writings of Jean Luc Nancy. It focuses on how community - in its making and renewal - as ‘being-in-common’ can offer more meaningful engagement with service users if social work attends to and extends care, inclusion and prevention from an ethical standpoint. It asks how we can appeal to an ethics that is not always gestural but can have significant impacts at a national and international level. The chapter offers a critique of prevailing liberal conceptions of social work ethics considering COVID-19 and calls for a ‘great reset’ by our international professional organisations, such as IFSW and IASSW.</p

The strategies and skills political leaders need to manage global crises

This chapter examines the skills and political management strategies required for managing global crises at a national level. It provides an overview of the key political management tasks, tensions and challenges for leaders in times of crisis. Three case studies are covered: 1) New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic; 2) German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s management of the 2015 EU refugee crisis; 3) Prime Minister Theresa May’s management of the 2018 Salisbury poisonings in the UK. The chapter concludes by arguing that political leaders at all levels would benefit from accessing a clear and easily comprehensible set of guidelines which will enhance their capacity to manage their way through such events. A toolkit for political leaders is identified, comprising ‘sense-making’, ‘getting the right team in place’, ‘crisis decision-making’, ‘multi-directional coordination’, ‘meaning-making’, ‘communication’, ‘accountability’ and ‘learning’

An Englishman abroad: evening land and the struggles of Peter Watkins within Scandinavian film culture of the 1970s

This article analyses Aftenlandet (Evening Land), a film made for the Danish Film Institute in 1976 by Peter Watkins, one of the world’s most politically radical directors and a pioneer of docudrama. The aim is to provide a detailed historical account of the life cycle of a key but hitherto critically neglected film in the director’s career: his last to be professionally funded for nearly 25 years and one that saw Watkins working within the very particular milieu of Denmark, investigating, often controversially, the perceived political fault lines of Danish society during the 1970s. The article traces how this English-born filmmaker came to be working in Scandinavia, details the production of Evening Land and provides a close critical reading of the film’s various themes and techniques as well as considering its reception and aftermath. Correspondence and production files from Watkins’ own personal archive reveal the difficulties the filmmaker clearly experienced as something of ‘an Englishman abroad’ attempting to find a place for himself within Scandinavian film culture of the period. The article asserts that this experience eventually contributed to Watkins’ decision to quit Scandinavia altogether following the completion of Evening Land, a decision that would inadvertently propel Watkins out of the world of professional filmmaking for nearly a quarter century. The article argues, however, that Evening Land, a film long obscure and critically neglected, still has cultural resonance and applicability to our own times in the twenty-first century

CRISP-DM user mobility determined IoT placement within a real-world smart building for resource efficient fog computing environments

The introduction of Fog computing to the traditional Cloud computing architecture addresses the limitations of Cloud computing by optimising resource efficiencies such as energy consumption, latency, and network bandwidth utilisation. This research focuses on Fog computing in a smart building environment where heterogeneous Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors are placed in a standard way across the smart building. Research trends indicate that Fog computing optimises resource efficiency. However, this study determines how resource efficiency can be optimised using physical and spatial methods through enhanced smart IoT devices and sensor placements. CRISP-DM methodology was selected for its standardised format and 6-step iterative process to validate this study in a real-world smart building, with real-world smart IoT devices and sensors generating real-world data usage. IFogSim2 network simulation toolkit also supports and validates this study. The evaluation and analysis of the results demonstrated that the data management’s impact on resources was further optimised through physical and spatial adjustments of smart IoT devices and sensor placements. The results indicate that using multiple heterogeneous metrics simultaneously and real-world data achieved a maximum percentage saving of 1.66% and 39% for energy consumption and network bandwidth utilisation. In comparison, latency was 88.51% savings for CCTV data management, including user GPS movement data, and enhanced and optimised resource efficiency. On that basis, it is recommended that smart building design and planning adopt this method to improve resource efficiency further in a smart building and Fog computing environment. The limitations of this study are limited user sample movements

The ‘Playing Together, Apart Framework’: a framework for communication in networked music performance

The 'Playing Together, Apart Framework' is a framework for understanding communication between musicians in networked music performance (NMP). Previous research has largely focused on technical issues such as latency and synchronization, and this framework aims to extend this research into further understanding of the experiences of, and the communication between, musicians in NMP, and the factors affecting this. The framework is based on duo musicians, working in informal NMP situations, playing acoustic instruments. The framework shows the audio and video communication paths, and the influences on both the transmission and reception elements of the communication chain in NMP. General issues in NMP, such as the rhythmic content of the music, the expertise and experience of the musicians when dividing attention, the use of video and the socio-emotional and professional relationships between musicians, are examined in further detail. This framework is proposed as a basis for further research into NMP, and for expansion and development by researchers

Carburization-induced surface modification of Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy and its characterization

The Ti-6Al-7 Nb alloy and its carbide possess a wide range of engineering applications, therefore, it is utmost required to fabricate high-quality carburized layers on the alloy surface. In this study, the carburization of Ti-6Al-7 Nb alloy was conducted using molten salts (including Carbon Nano Tubes, LiCl, KCl, and KF) in a planetary ball mill, followed by placement in an alumina tube furnace under a nitrogen atmosphere at 1050 °C for various durations. Several characterization techniques were employed to analyze the results, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The XRD results reveal that as the carburization duration increased, the alloy achieved complete carburization, forming a 120 µm thick layer of TiC0.3N0.7. After 24 h of carburization, the crystallite size of TiC0.3N0.7 increased, and the micro-strain decreased, indicating improved structural quality. The morphology of the carburized layer at shorter durations exhibits micro-cracks and defects due to incomplete carburization, where carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) could not effectively occupy in the grain boundaries of alloy. After 24 h, an agglomerated, cauliflower-like layer of TiC0.3N0.7 formed, enhancing the alloy's engineering properties. XPS confirmed the presence of carbon and nitrogen in the carburized sample, which contributed to the formation of the TiC0.3N0.7 layer on the alloy surface. AFM analysis supported the SEM findings, revealing broad islands with microgrooves on the carburized layer. These features indicate a thick and well-formed carburized layer, confirming the successful carburization of Ti-6Al-7 Nb. Overall, the study demonstrates that a 24-h carburization process at 1050 °C in molten salts under a nitrogen atmosphere effectively produces a high-quality, thick, and adherent TiC0.3N0.7 layer on Ti-6Al-7 Nb alloy, significantly enhancing its engineering properties