Examining the potential for developing women-led solar PV enterprises in rural Myanmar

Access to electricity is limited in rural areas of Myanmar, where the majority of the population live. Myanmar's rich solar resource and the recent price drop in solar PV modules indicate initial suitability for rural solar electrification systems to meet the electricity demand. In many parts of Myanmar, women are responsible for supporting the family financially. The ability of rural women in Myanmar to take advantage of solar PV powered services to improve their lives depends on concurrent progress towards addressing the many dimensions of gender equality - empowerment, health, education, opportunity, voice, representation, and livelihood-in rural locations. This paper examines the barriers of solar PV applications and the potential for women led solar PV enterprise development in rural Myanmar. Although the entrepreneurial process is the same for men and women in theory, in practice different factors e.g. social/cultural, religion, economic and educational ultimately result in the disadvantaged status of women-led enterprises. Therefore, widespread and long-term eventuation of this potential in Myanmar depends on a government committed to renewable energy resources for rural electrification and to diligently and holistically addressing geographical, political, educational, financial, ethnic and technical barriers to the empowerment of a rural, female population

The effectiveness of non-pharmacological sleep interventions for people with chronic pain:a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: About two thirds of people with chronic pain report problems sleeping. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of non-pharmacological sleep interventions for improving sleep in people with chronic pain. DESIGN: We conducted a systematic review of non-pharmacological and non-invasive interventions to improve sleep quality or duration for adults with chronic non-cancer pain evaluated in a randomised controlled trial. Our primary outcome of interest was sleep; secondary outcomes included pain, health-related quality of life, and psychological wellbeing. We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and CINAHL from inception to April 2020. After screening, two reviewers evaluated articles and extracted data. Meta-analysis was conducted using a random effects model. Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane tool. RESULTS: We included 42 trials involving 3346 people randomised to 94 groups, of which 56 received an intervention targeting sleep. 10 studies were of fair and 32 of good methodological quality. Overall risk of bias was judged to be low in 11, high in 10 and unclear in 21 studies. In 9 studies with 385 people randomised, cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia showed benefit post-treatment compared with controls for improved sleep quality, standardised mean difference − 1.23 (95%CI -1.76, − 0.70; p < 0.00001). The effect size was only slightly reduced in meta-analysis of 3 studies at low risk of bias. The difference between groups was lower at 3 and 6 months after treatment but still favoured cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia. Pain, anxiety and depression were reduced post-treatment, but evidence of longer term benefit was lacking. There was no evidence that sleep hygiene interventions were effective in improving sleep and there was some evidence in comparative studies to suggest that cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia was more effective than sleep hygiene. Numerous other interventions were evaluated in small numbers of studies, but evidence was insufficient to draw conclusions about effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is an effective treatment to improve sleep for people with chronic pain, but further high-quality primary research is required to explore combined CBT content that will ensure additional improvements to pain, quality of life and psychological health and longer-term maintenance of benefits. Primary research is also needed to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for which insufficient evidence exists. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42019093799. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12891-022-05318-5

X-ray detection with zinc-blende (cubic) GaN Schottky diodes

The room temperature X-ray responses as functions of time of two n type cubic GaN Schottky diodes (200 μm and 400 μm diameters) are reported. The current densities as functions of time for both diodes showed fast turn-on transients and increases in current density when illuminated with X-ray photons of energy up to 35 keV. The diodes were also electrically characterized: capacitance, implied depletion width and dark current measurements as functions of applied bias at room temperature are presented. At −5 V reverse bias, the capacitances of the diodes were measured to be (84.05 ± 0.01) pF and (121.67 ± 0.02) pF, respectively. At −5 V reverse bias, the dark current densities of the diodes were measured to be (347.2 ± 0.4) mA cm−2 and (189.0 ± 0.2) mA cm−2, respectively. The Schottky barrier heights of the devices (0.52 ± 0.07) eV and (0.63 ± 0.09) eV, respectively, were extracted from the forward dark current characteristics

Effects of spatial dispersion in near-field radiative heat transfer between two parallel metallic surfaces

We study the heat transfer between two parallel metallic semi-infinite media with a gap in the nanometer-scale range. We show that the near-field radiative heat flux saturates at distances smaller than the metal skin depth when using a local dielectric constant and investigate the origin of this effect. The effect of non-local corrections is analysed using the Lindhard-Mermin and Boltzmann-Mermin models. We find that local and non-local models yield the same heat fluxes for gaps larger than 2 nm. Finally, we explain the saturation observed in a recent experiment as a manifestation of the skin depth and show that heat is mainly dissipated by eddy currents in metallic bodies.Comment: Version without figures (8 figures in the complete version

Student experiences with a remote laboratory and the potential for capacity building in developing countries

Student experiences with a remote laboratory and the potential for capacity building in developing countrie

The development of a remote laboratory for distance learning and its impact on student learning

Currently, there is an increase drive in the development of remote laboratories to compliment and sometimes replace physical and virtual laboratories. This drive is fuelled by the impact on the pedagogy of distance learning caused by the rapid advancements in information and communication technologies, especially the internet. In this paper we outline the systematic approach used in the development of the Photovoltaic Remote Laboratory at Loughborough University, highlighting challenges and successes. We also evaluate the impact the remote lab has on student learning to contribute to the growing debat

Applicability of control materials to support gene promoter characterization and expression in engineered cells using digital PCR

The use of standardized components and processes in engineering underpins the design-build-test model, and the engineering of biological systems is no different. Substantial efforts to standardize both the components and the methods to validate the engineered biological systems is ongoing. This study has developed a panel of control materials encoding the commonly used reporter genes GFP and RFP as DNA or RNA molecules. Each panel contained up to six samples with increasingly small copy number differences between the two reporter genes that ranged from 1- to 2-fold differences. These copy number differences represent the magnitude of changes that may need to be measured to validate an engineered system. Using digital PCR (dPCR), we demonstrated that it is possible to quantify changes in both gene and gene transcript numbers both within and between samples down to 1.05-fold. We corroborated these findings using a simple gene circuit within a bacterial model to demonstrate that dPCR was able to precisely identify small changes in gene expression of two transcripts in response to promoter stimulation. Finally, we used our findings to highlight sources of error that can contributed to the measurement uncertainty in the measurement of small ratios in biological systems. Together, the development of a panel of control materials and validation of a high accuracy method for the measurement of small changes in gene expression, this study can contribute to the engineering biology “toolkit” of methods and materials to support the current standardization efforts

Maintaining independence in individuals with dementia at home after a fall: a protocol for the UK pilot cluster randomised controlled trial MAINTAIN

\ua9 Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Introduction Individuals with dementia face an increased risk of falls. Falls can cause a decline in the individual\u27s overall functionality. All types of falls, including those that do not result in injury, can lead to psychosocial consequences, such as diminished confidence and a fear of falling. Projections indicate a rising trend in dementia diagnoses, implying an increase in fall incidents. Yet, there is a lack of evidence to support interventions for people living with dementia who have fallen. Our objective is to test the feasibility of a falls intervention trial for people with dementia. Method and analysis This is a UK-based two-arm pilot cluster randomised controlled trial. In this study, six collaborating sites, which form the clusters, will be randomly allocated to either the intervention arm or the control arm (receiving treatment as usual) at a 1:1 ratio. During the 6 month recruitment phase, each cluster will enrol 10 dyads, comprising 10 individuals with dementia and their respective carers, leading to a total sample size of 60 dyads. The primary outcomes are the feasibility parameters for a full trial (ie, percentage consented, follow-up rate and cost framework). Secondary outcomes include activities of daily living, quality of life, fall efficacy, mobility, goal attainment, cognitive status, occurrence of falls, carer burden and healthcare service utilisation. Outcome measures will be collected at baseline and 28 weeks, with an additional assessment scheduled at 12 weeks for the healthcare service utilisation questionnaire. An embedded process evaluation, consisting of interviews and observations with participants and healthcare professionals, will explore how the intervention operates and the fidelity of study processes. Ethics and dissemination The study was approved by the NHS and local authority research governance and research ethics committees (NHS REC reference: 23/WA/0126). The results will be shared at meetings and conferences and will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration number ISRCTN16413728

The Digital MIQE Guidelines Update: Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Digital PCR Experiments for 2020

Digital PCR (dPCR) has developed considerably since the publication of the Minimum Information for Publication of Digital PCR Experiments (dMIQE) guidelines in 2013, with advances in instrumentation, software, applications, and our understanding of its technological potential. Yet these developments also have associated challenges; data analysis steps, including threshold setting, can be difficult and preanalytical steps required to purify, concentrate, and modify nucleic acids can lead to measurement error. To assist independent corroboration of conclusions, comprehensive disclosure of all relevant experimental details is required. To support the community and reflect the growing use of dPCR, we present an update to dMIQE, dMIQE2020, including a simplified dMIQE table format to assist researchers in providing key experimental information and understanding of the associated experimental process. Adoption of dMIQE2020 by the scientific community will assist in standardizing experimental protocols, maximize efficient utilization of resources, and further enhance the impact of this powerful technology

An instrument for quantifying heterogeneous ice nucleation in multiwell plates using infrared emissions to detect freezing

Low concentrations of ice nucleating particles (INPs) are thought to be important for the properties of mixed phase clouds, but their detection is challenging. While instruments to quantify INPs online can provide relatively high time resolution data, they typically cannot quantify very low INP concentrations. Furthermore, typical online instruments tend to report data at a single defined set of conditions. Hence, there is a need for instruments where INP concentrations of less than 0.01 L-1 can be routinely and efficiently determined. The use of larger volumes of suspension in drop assays increases the sensitivity of an experiment to rarer INPs or rarer active sites due to the increase in aerosol or surface area of particulates per droplet. Here we describe and characterise the InfraRed-Nucleation by Immersed Particles Instrument (IR-NIPI), a new immersion freezing assay that makes use of IR emissions to determine the freezing temperature of individual 50μL droplets each contained in a well of a 96-well plate. Using an IR camera allows the temperature of individual aliquots to be monitored. Freezing temperatures are determined by detecting the sharp rise in well temperature associated with the release of heat caused by freezing. In this paper we first present the calibration of the IR temperature measurement, which makes use of the freezing period after initial nucleation when wells warm and their temperature is determined by the ice-liquid equilibrium temperature, i.e. 0°C when the water activity is ~1. We then tested the temperature calibration using ~100 μm chips of K-feldspar, by immersing these chips in 1 μL droplets on an established cold stage (μL-NIPI) as well as in 50 μL droplets on IR-NIPI; the results were consistent with one another indicating no bias in the reported freezing temperature. In addition we present measurements of the efficiency of the mineral dust NX-illite and a sample of atmospheric aerosol collected on a filter in the city of Leeds. NX-illite results are consistent with literature data and the atmospheric INP concentrations were in good agreement with the results from the μL-NIPI instrument. This demonstrates the utility of this approach, which offers a relatively high throughput of sample analysis and access to low INP concentrations