Impact of Protracted War Crisis on Dental Students: A Comparative Multicountry Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: The impact of conflict and war crisis on dental students is poorly understood. Given the prolonged conflicts and political instability in the Arabic-speaking countries, it is crucial to investigate the effect of these conditions on dental students. This study aimed to assess the impact of protracted war on dental students by comparing the personal, university, and wider context challenges they face across war-affected and unaffected countries. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted including a convenience sample of dental students from 13 universities in 12 Arabic-speaking countries. Respondents were those at entry and exit points of their undergraduate dental training. A self-administered paper questionnaire collected anonymized data on sociodemographics, and personal, university, and wider context challenges that students were facing. Multivariable Poisson regression analyses were carried out. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 64.8%. The mean age was 21.2 (standard deviation = 2.1) years, with 68% of participants being female. After adjusting for age and sex, dental students in Arabic-speaking countries affected by protracted war crisis were significantly more likely to report wider context challenges compared to their counterparts in unaffected countries (n = 2448; beta = 1.12; 95% confidence interval: 1.10-1.13; P < 0.001). DISCUSSION: Dental students in Arabic-speaking countries affected by protracted war crisis were more likely to suffer from wider context challenges such as difficulties in attendance due to the deterioration of security and lack of flexibility of teaching time to accommodate the different circumstances induced by the war crisis. Supporting dental students in areas affected by protracted war crises is needed and may include developing online dental education programs

Perceived preparedness of dental academic institutions to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-country survey

Dental academic institutions are affected by COVID-19. We assessed the perceived COVID19 preparedness of these institutions and the characteristics of institutions with greater perceived preparedness. An international cross-sectional survey of dental academics was conducted from March to August 2020 to assess academics’ and institutional attributes, perceived preparedness, and availability of infection prevention and control (IPC) equipment. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified perceived preparedness components. Multilevel linear regression analysis assessed the association between perceived preparedness and fixed effect factors (academics’ and institutions’ attributes) with countries as random effect variable. Of the 1820 dental academics from 28 countries, 78.4% worked in public institutions and 75.2% reported temporary closure. PCA showed five components: clinic apparel, measures before and after patient care, institutional policies, and availability of IPC equipment. Significantly less perceived preparedness was reported in lower-middle income (LMICs) (B = −1.31, p = 0.006) and upper-middle income (UMICs) (B = −0.98, p = 0.02) countries than in high-income countries (HICs), in teaching only (B = −0.55, p &lt; 0.0001) and in research only (B = −1.22, p = 0.003) than teaching and research institutions and in institutions receiving ≤100 patients daily than those receiving &gt;100 patients (B = −0.38, p &lt; 0.0001). More perceived preparedness was reported by academics with administrative roles (B = 0.59, p &lt; 0.0001). Academics from low-income countries (LICs) and LMICs reported less availability of clinic apparel, IPC equipment, measures before patient care, and institutional policies but more measures during patient care. There was greater perceived preparedness in HICs and institutions with greater involvement in teaching, research, and patient care

Recent inventions in additive manufacturing: holistic review

This general review paper presents a condensed view of recent inventions in the Additive Manufacturing (AM) field. It outlines factors affecting the development and commercialization of inventions via research collaboration and discusses breakthroughs in materials and AM technologies and their integration with emerging technologies. The paper explores the impact of AM across various sectors, including the aerospace, automotive, healthcare, food, and construction industries, since the 1970s. It also addresses challenges and future directions, such as hybrid manufacturing and bio-printing, along with socio-economic and environmental implications. This collaborative study provides a concise understanding of the latest inventions in AM, offering valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and decision makers in diverse industries and institutions

Ultra-Low-Noise W-Band MMIC Detector Modules

A monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) receiver can be used as a building block for next-generation radio astronomy instruments that are scalable to hundreds or thousands of pixels. W-band (75-110 GHz) low-noise receivers are needed for radio astronomy interferometers and spectrometers, and can be used in missile radar and security imagers. These receivers need to be designed to be mass-producible to increase the sensitivity of the instrument. This innovation is a prototyped single-sideband MMIC receiver that has all the receiver front-end functionality in one small and planar module. The planar module is easy to assemble in volume and does not require tuning of individual receivers. This makes this design low-cost in large volumes

Knowledge of dental academics about the COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-country online survey

Background: COVID-19 is a global pandemic affecting all aspects of life in all countries. We assessed COVID-19 knowledge and associated factors among dental academics in 26 countries. Methods: We invited dental academics to participate in a cross-sectional, multi-country, online survey from March to April 2020. The survey collected data on knowledge of COVID-19 regarding the mode of transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, protection, and dental treatment precautions as well as participants’ background variables. Multilevel linear models were used to assess the association between dental academics’ knowledge of COVID-19 and individual level (personal and professional) and country-level (number of COVID-19 cases/ million population) factors accounting for random variation among countries. Results: Two thousand forty-five academics participated in the survey (response rate 14.3%, with 54.7% female and 67% younger than 46 years of age). The mean (SD) knowledge percent score was 73.2 (11.2) %, and the score of knowledge of symptoms was significantly lower than the score of knowledge of diagnostic methods (53.1 and 85.4%, P &lt; 0.0001). Knowledge score was significantly higher among those living with a partner/spouse than among those living alone (regression coefficient (B) = 0.48); higher among those with PhD degrees than among those with Bachelor of Dental Science degrees (B = 0.48); higher among those seeing 21 to 30 patients daily than among those seeing no patients (B = 0.65); and higher among those from countries with a higher number of COVID-19 cases/million population (B = 0.0007). Conclusions: Dental academics had poorer knowledge of COVID-19 symptoms than of COVID-19 diagnostic methods. Living arrangements, academic degrees, patient load, and magnitude of the epidemic in the country were associated with COVD-19 knowledge among dental academics. Training of dental academics on COVID-19 can be designed using these findings to recruit those with the greatest need

Knowledge of dental academics about the COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-country online survey.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is a global pandemic affecting all aspects of life in all countries. We assessed COVID-19 knowledge and associated factors among dental academics in 26 countries. METHODS: We invited dental academics to participate in a cross-sectional, multi-country, online survey from March to April 2020. The survey collected data on knowledge of COVID-19 regarding the mode of transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, protection, and dental treatment precautions as well as participants' background variables. Multilevel linear models were used to assess the association between dental academics' knowledge of COVID-19 and individual level (personal and professional) and country-level (number of COVID-19 cases/ million population) factors accounting for random variation among countries. RESULTS: Two thousand forty-five academics participated in the survey (response rate 14.3%, with 54.7% female and 67% younger than 46 years of age). The mean (SD) knowledge percent score was 73.2 (11.2) %, and the score of knowledge of symptoms was significantly lower than the score of knowledge of diagnostic methods (53.1 and 85.4%, P <  0.0001). Knowledge score was significantly higher among those living with a partner/spouse than among those living alone (regression coefficient (B) = 0.48); higher among those with PhD degrees than among those with Bachelor of Dental Science degrees (B = 0.48); higher among those seeing 21 to 30 patients daily than among those seeing no patients (B = 0.65); and higher among those from countries with a higher number of COVID-19 cases/million population (B = 0.0007). CONCLUSIONS: Dental academics had poorer knowledge of COVID-19 symptoms than of COVID-19 diagnostic methods. Living arrangements, academic degrees, patient load, and magnitude of the epidemic in the country were associated with COVD-19 knowledge among dental academics. Training of dental academics on COVID-19 can be designed using these findings to recruit those with the greatest need

An Ultra-Compact X-Ray Free-Electron Laser

In the field of beam physics, two frontier topics have taken center stage due to their potential to enable new approaches to discovery in a wide swath of science. These areas are: advanced, high gradient acceleration techniques, and x-ray free electron lasers (XFELs). Further, there is intense interest in the marriage of these two fields, with the goal of producing a very compact XFEL. In this context, recent advances in high gradient radio-frequency cryogenic copper structure research have opened the door to the use of surface electric fields between 250 and 500 MV/m. Such an approach is foreseen to enable a new generation of photoinjectors with six-dimensional beam brightness beyond the current state-of-the-art by well over an order of magnitude. This advance is an essential ingredient enabling an ultra-compact XFEL (UC-XFEL). In addition, one may accelerate these bright beams to GeV scale in less than 10 meters. Such an injector, when combined with inverse free electron laser-based bunching techniques can produce multi-kA beams with unprecedented beam quality, quantified by ~50 nm-rad normalized emittances. These beams, when injected into innovative, short-period (1-10 mm) undulators uniquely enable UC-XFELs having footprints consistent with university-scale laboratories. We describe the architecture and predicted performance of this novel light source, which promises photon production per pulse of a few percent of existing XFEL sources. We review implementation issues including collective beam effects, compact x-ray optics systems, and other relevant technical challenges. To illustrate the potential of such a light source to fundamentally change the current paradigm of XFELs with their limited access, we examine possible applications in biology, chemistry, materials, atomic physics, industry, and medicine which may profit from this new model of performing XFEL science.Comment: 80 pages, 24 figure

Predicting the environmental suitability for onchocerciasis in Africa as an aid to elimination planning

Recent evidence suggests that, in some foci, elimination of onchocerciasis from Africa may be feasible with mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin. To achieve continental elimination of transmission, mapping surveys will need to be conducted across all implementation units (IUs) for which endemicity status is currently unknown. Using boosted regression tree models with optimised hyperparameter selection, we estimated environmental suitability for onchocerciasis at the 5 × 5-km resolution across Africa. In order to classify IUs that include locations that are environmentally suitable, we used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to identify an optimal threshold for suitability concordant with locations where onchocerciasis has been previously detected. This threshold value was then used to classify IUs (more suitable or less suitable) based on the location within the IU with the largest mean prediction. Mean estimates of environmental suitability suggest large areas across West and Central Africa, as well as focal areas of East Africa, are suitable for onchocerciasis transmission, consistent with the presence of current control and elimination of transmission efforts. The ROC analysis identified a mean environmental suitability index of 0.71 as a threshold to classify based on the location with the largest mean prediction within the IU. Of the IUs considered for mapping surveys, 50.2% exceed this threshold for suitability in at least one 5×5-km location. The formidable scale of data collection required to map onchocerciasis endemicity across the African continent presents an opportunity to use spatial data to identify areas likely to be suitable for onchocerciasis transmission. National onchocerciasis elimination programmes may wish to consider prioritising these IUs for mapping surveys as human resources, laboratory capacity, and programmatic schedules may constrain survey implementation, and possibly delaying MDA initiation in areas that would ultimately qualify

Is self-reported depression, HIV status, COVID-19 health risk profile and SARS-CoV-2 exposure associated with difficulty in adhering to COVID-19 prevention measures among residents in West Africa?

Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether self-reported depression, coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) health risk profile, HIV status, and SARS-CoV-2 exposure were associated with the use of COVID-19 prevention measures.Methods: This survey collected data electronically between June 29 and December 31, 2020 from a convenient sample of 5050 adults 18 years and above living in 12 West African countries. The dependent variables were: social distancing, working remotely, difficulty obtaining face masks and difficulty washing hands often. The independent variables were self-reported depression, having a health risk for COVID-19 (high, moderate and little/no risk), living with HIV and COVID-19 status (SARS-CoV-2 positive tests, having COVID-19 symptoms but not getting tested, having a close friend who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and knowing someone who died from COVID-19). Four binary logistic regression models were developed to model the associations between the dependent and independent variables, adjusting for socio-demographic variables (age, gender, educational status, employment status and living status).Results: There were 2412 (47.8%) male participants and the mean (standard deviation) age was 36.94 (11.47) years. Respondents who reported depression had higher odds of working remotely (AOR: 1.341), and having difficulty obtaining face masks (AOR: 1.923;) and washing hands often (AOR: 1.263). People living with HIV had significantly lower odds of having difficulty washing hands often (AOR: 0.483). Respondents with moderate health risk for COVID-19 had significantly higher odds of social distancing (AOR: 1.144) and those with high health risk had difficulty obtaining face masks (AOR: 1.910). Respondents who had a close friend who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (AOR: 1.132) and knew someone who died of COVID-19 (AOR: 1.094) had significantly higher odds of social distancing. Those who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 had significantly lower odds of social distancing (AOR: 0.629) and working remotely (AOR: 0.713). Those who had symptoms of COVID-19 but did not get tested had significantly lower odds of social distancing (AOR: 0.783) but significantly higher odds of working remotely (AOR: 1.277).Conclusions: The study signifies a disparity in the access to and use of COVID-19 preventative measures that is allied to the health and COVID-19 status of residents in West Africa. Present findings point to risk compensation behaviours in explaining this outcome.</p

European Strategy for Particle Physics -- Accelerator R&D Roadmap

The 2020 update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics emphasised the importance of an intensified and well-coordinated programme of accelerator R&D, supporting the design and delivery of future particle accelerators in a timely, affordable and sustainable way. This report sets out a roadmap for European accelerator R&D for the next five to ten years, covering five topical areas identified in the Strategy update. The R&D objectives include: improvement of the performance and cost-performance of magnet and radio-frequency acceleration systems; investigations of the potential of laser / plasma acceleration and energy-recovery linac techniques; and development of new concepts for muon beams and muon colliders. The goal of the roadmap is to document the collective view of the field on the next steps for the R&D programme, and to provide the evidence base to support subsequent decisions on prioritisation, resourcing and implementation.Comment: 270 pages, 58 figures. Editor: N. Mounet. LDG chair: D. Newbold. Panel chairs: P. V\'edrine (HFM), S. Bousson (RF), R. Assmann (plasma), D. Schulte (muon), M. Klein (ERL). Panel editors: B. Baudouy (HFM), L. Bottura (HFM), S. Bousson (RF), G. Burt (RF), R. Assmann (plasma), E. Gschwendtner (plasma), R. Ischebeck (plasma), C. Rogers (muon), D. Schulte (muon), M. Klein (ERL