Vision-based extraction of industrial information from legacy Programmable Logic Controllers

Technological advancements in manufacturing are increasingly driven by connectivity and information that can be collected about manufacturing processes. Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are a valuable source of process information which can help inform operations. However, many factories use legacy PLCs with restricted connection and data extraction capabilities. This paper presents a novel vision-based PLC monitoring method for extracting the input and output (I/O) states of a PLC in real time. Four case studies in industry and laboratory settings are presented; in each case study, vision-based PLC monitoring was used to extract I/O data successfully and provide data for applications such as operation monitoring, process monitoring, production counting and fault detection. Vision-based monitoring is evaluated and compared to other PLC monitoring methods using a set of key requirements. The vision-based monitoring method showed several improvements over existing PLC data extraction methods; these include no PLC control system interference, minimal disruption during installation, system security, and cost-effective design. This new vision-based PLC monitoring method has the potential to provide manufacturers with a method to retrofit PLCs to access new valuable sources of information that can be used to improve their operation or create a smart factory at a lower cost

The Importance of Frailty in Stroke and How to Measure It.

The term ‘frailty’ is used frequently in healthcare and has become topical for both research and clinical care. Although many clinicians report an intuition for identifying frailty, there is often uncertainty over what it actually represents, how it can be assessed, and what it may mean for the patient. This article provides a focused introduction to frailty for the stroke clinician-in-training (and for those more experienced), in particular the different approaches to evaluating frailty in the stroke setting

The greater implications of Bartelson’s Becoming International

Of all major International Relations (IR) scholars active today, it is Jens Bartelson who has done the most in terms of getting us to rethink our assumptions about the basic building blocks of our field. In a series of very significant books — A Genealogy of Sovereignty (1993), The Critique of the State (2001) and Sovereignty as Symbolic Form (2014)— as well as numerous articles, he has changed our understanding of both the concept of sovereignty and its conceptual history, with serious implications also for the history of ‘the state.’ His 2017 book War in International Thought has led the reader through the evolution of the thinking about war. And his most recent book Becoming International (2024), which is the subject of this review essay, joins Visions of World Community (2009) in getting us to rethink the very basic notion of ‘the international’ and how it came about

Connexin 43 is downregulated in advanced Parkinson’s disease in multiple brain regions which correlates with symptoms

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition with the greatest increase in disability globally. Dysfunction of dopaminergic neurons is a well-known PD hallmark; however, changes in astrocytes also accompany PD progression. One aspect of astrocyte biology not yet investigated in PD is their network coupling. To assess this, we focussed on the major astrocytic gap junctional protein connexin 43 (Cx43, GJA1). A dataset of 20 post-mortem late-stage PD brain tissue samples from the cortex and basal ganglia alongside 20 age-matched control sets was collected, accompanied by clinical histories and data on -synuclein, tau, and amyloid-beta pathology. Protein levels and intracellular distribution of Cx43 and other key markers were measured. Computational re-analysis of open-source mRNA sequencing datasets from the striatum and midbrain complemented the original findings. Two novel observations were made: first, profound Cx43 loss in late-stage PD, and second, differential manifestation of this pathology in different brain areas, including those outside of the midbrain substantia nigra – the region that is most commonly used in PD research. Cx43 downregulation in specific regions correlated with non-motor symptoms of PD such as depression and sleep disturbance. Astrocytic tree simplification in the frontal cortex was further observed. In conclusion, astrocytic network decoupling through Cx43 downregulation in PD may contribute to astrocytic dysfunction and PD symptom development

Towards critical, anti-colonial and anti-racist education in national and global contexts

The fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. With over 122.6 million people worldwide forcibly displaced, and the number of refugees globally reaching 43.7 million by mid-2024, focusing on the importance of refugees accessing lifelong learning has become more urgent than ever. Despite this, refugees have been excluded from SDG-related national development plans, monitoring and reporting, raising questions about how the targets agreed in the Global Compact on Refugees and the SDGs are being implemented and met. Education, migration regulation and border regimes that reproduce injustices are fundamental elements of colonial education and have implications for lifelong learning. Education is often presented as crucial to the “integration” of migrants, including refugee people who have come to England. Nevertheless, the British government’s austerity policies, regarded by some as a form of racism, have underfunded the education system. This has made it more challenging for all learners from low-income families, and specifically refugee people, to access adequate education, amongst other rights. This article begins with a look at the assimilationist and apparent neutrality of approaches to education as sponsored by global and national commitments. The author then briefly discusses education as a practice of oppression, with colonial implications, including presenting perspectives from England and Brasil drawn from qualitative and mixed-methods doctoral and postdoctoral research. The article concludes by proposing approaches to enact education and lifelong learning as a practice of liberation rooted in critical, anti-racist and anti-colonial thinking and praxis

XENOPHANES B6 DK: ETHICS, RECIPROCITY AND THE MYSTERY OF THE TRAVELLING MEAT

Uncertainty about the pragmatic context, the fundamental content and hence the philosophical significance of Xenophanes B6 DK prevents this comparatively extensive fragment from playing much of a role in scholarly discussions. This essay reviews interpretations of that difficult text and then offers a new reading which arguably better accords with the preserved Greek, Xenophanes’ other fragments and ritual custom. It is also suggested how B6 fits in with Xenophanes’ philosophical and specifically ethical concerns as evidenced in other fragments

High‐Throughput Ellipsometric Contrast Microscopy of Lateral 2D Heterostructures for Optoelectronics

AbstractCovalently‐bonded lateral 2D heterostructures offer unique (opto)electronic functionalities and can be deposited during a single growth process. However, the position of lateral junctions is typically uncontrolled due to random nucleation processes, which necessitates post‐growth identification of suitable heterojunction regions for device integration. Here, ellipsometric contrast microscopy (ECM) is demonstrated to evaluate 2D lateral monolayer MoSe2‐WSe2 and MoS2‐WS2 heterostructures, which enables rapid imaging with high material‐contrast down to sub‐nanometer thickness for high‐throughput characterisation of heterostructure domains. In addition, a computer vision algorithm provides precise identification of individual monolayer heterostructure junctions and their integration into rectifying devices and photodetectors. These results establish the advantages of ECM for reliable, fast characterization and large‐scale integration of atomically thin 2D heterostructures into advanced optoelectronic devices, with potential extension to other nanomaterials.</jats:p

Frailty and outcomes in adults undergoing systemic anticancer treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: It is increasingly recognized that frailty should be assessed and considered in treatment decision making in patients with cancer. This review and meta-analysis synthesizes existing evidence evaluating the association between baseline frailty and systemic anticancer treatment outcomes in adults with cancer. METHODS: Five databases were systematically searched from database inception to January 2023 to identify prognostic factor studies (cohort or case-control design) reporting the associations between validated frailty assessments (pretreatment) and follow-up outcomes in adults with solid-organ malignancy undergoing systemic anticancer treatment. Risk of bias was assessed via Quality of Prognosis Studies in Systematic Reviews tool. Where appropriate, associations between frailty and outcomes (survival, toxicity, treatment tolerance, functional decline/quality of life, and hospitalization) were synthesized in meta-analysis and presented as forest plots. RESULTS: A total of 58 studies met inclusion criteria. They were undertaken in a range of tumor sites and mainly in older patients and advanced and/or palliative disease settings. Most had low or moderate risk of bias. Nine frailty assessment tools were evaluated. Four outcomes were synthesized in meta-analysis, which demonstrated the prognostic value of 2 tools: Geriatric-8 (survival, treatment tolerance, hospitalization) and Vulnerable Elders Survey-13 (survival, toxicity, treatment tolerance). Overall pooled estimates indicate that frailty conveys an increased risk of mortality (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.68, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.41 to 2.00), toxicity (odds ratio [OR] 1.83, 95% CI = 1.24 to 2.68), treatment intolerance (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.32 to 2.12), and hospitalization (OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.32 to 2.83). CONCLUSION: Simple, brief frailty assessments including Geriatric-8 and Vulnerable Elders Survey-13 are prognostic for a range of important outcomes in patients undergoing systemic anticancer treatment. Risk estimates should be used to support shared decision making

Expression Atlas update: insights from sequencing data at both bulk and single cell level

Expression Atlas (www.ebi.ac.uk/gxa) and its newest counterpart the Single Cell Expression Atlas (www.ebi.ac.uk/gxa/sc) are EMBL-EBI’s knowledgebases for gene and protein expression and localisation in bulk and at single cell level. These resources aim to allow users to investigate their expression in normal tissue (baseline) or in response to perturbations such as disease or changes to genotype (differential) across multiple species. Users are invited to search for genes or metadata terms across species or biological conditions in a standardised consistent interface. Alongside these data, new features in Single Cell Expression Atlas allow users to query metadata through our new cell type wheel search. At the experiment level data can be explored through two types of dimensionality reduction plots, t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (tSNE) and Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP), overlaid with either clustering or metadata information to assist users’ understanding. Data are also visualised as marker gene heatmaps identifying genes that help confer cluster identity. For some data, additional visualisations are available as interactive cell level anatomograms and cell type gene expression heatmaps

Ultrasensitive Protein Aggregate Quantification Assays for Neurodegenerative Diseases on the Simoa Platform.

Nanoscale aggregates play a key role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. However, quantifying these aggregates in complex biological samples, such as biofluids and postmortem brain tissue, has been challenging due to their low concentration and small size, necessitating the development of methods with high sensitivity and specificity. Here, we have developed ultrasensitive assays utilizing the Quanterix Simoa platform to detect α-synuclein, β-amyloid and tau aggregates, including those with common posttranslational modifications such as truncation of α-synuclein and AT8 phosphorylation of tau aggregates. All assays had a detection limit in the low pM range. As a part of this work, we developed silica-nanoparticle calibrators, allowing for the quantification of all aggregates. These assays were validated for aggregate and target specificity through denaturation and cross-reactivity experiments. We then applied these assays to brain homogenate samples from Alzheimer's disease and control samples, demonstrating their applicability to postmortem tissue. Lastly, we explored the potential of these assays for blood-based diagnostics by detecting aggregates in serum samples from early Alzheimer's disease patients