A design concept of phase-separated amorphous nanocomposite thin films is presented that realizes interfacial resistive switching (RS) in hafnium-oxide-based devices. The films are formed by incorporating an average of 7% Ba into hafnium oxide during pulsed laser deposition at temperatures ≤400°C. The added Ba prevents the films from crystallizing and leads to ∼20-nm-thin films consisting of an amorphous HfOx host matrix interspersed with ∼2-nm-wide, ∼5-to-10-nm-pitch Ba-rich amorphous nanocolumns penetrating approximately two-thirds through the films. This restricts the RS to an interfacial Schottky-like energy barrier whose magnitude is tuned by ionic migration under an applied electric field. Resulting devices achieve stable cycle-to-cycle, device-to-device, and sample-to-sample reproducibility with a measured switching endurance of ≥104 cycles for a memory window ≥10 at switching voltages of ±2 V. Each device can be set to multiple intermediate resistance states, which enables synaptic spike-timing–dependent plasticity. The presented concept unlocks additional design variables for RS devices.

This study is established on the aim to analyse a game and determine differences in a shot efficacy in an offence the woman’s handball national teams at the Olympic games in Tokyo 2021. Four national teams were analysed: France, Russia, Norway and Sweden. To analyse a game in the offence, 12 variables were used: total number of shots (sut_uk), efficient number of shots (sut_usp), total number of shots from 6 meters (sut_m6_uk), efficient number of shots from 6 meters (sut_m6_us), total number of shots from wings (sut_kril_uk), the efficient number of shots from wings (sut_kr_us), total number of shots from 9 meters (sut_m9_uk), efficient number of shots from 9 meters (sut_m9_us), total number of shots from 7 meters (sut_m7_uk), efficient number of shots from 7 meters (sut_m7_us), total number of fast centres (brzc_uk) and total number of efficient fast centres (sut_brzc_us). All national teams had the approximal number of efficient shots on a goal. The highest number of efficient shots from 6 m had the French and Norwegian national teams. From the wing position, the highest number of efficient shots had the Norwegian national team, while the lowest number of efficient goals from the wing position had the Russian national team. The Norwegian and French national teams were approximately efficient in the shot’s realisation from 9 m. In a realisation of the fast centre, the Russian national team stands out with the highest number and the French national team had the lowest number of efficient shots. Key words: cumulative analysis, handball, woman, shooting accuracy, efficiency,Olympic games

Objective: To investigate the arterial stiffness and risk factors in adolescence. Arterial stiffness often (AS) results from the degenerative process of the media layer of elastic arteries causing rigidity of the arteries. Arterial stiffness increases with age and it is associated with several risk factors as a disease predictor. But, arterial stiffness can be also increased in a healthy arteries as well. The increased sympathetic activity promotes vasoconstriction of resistant blood vessels i.e. arteries and arterioles that result in peripheral vasoconstriction. Adolescence age is the most important period of life for promoting future health. The certain dynamic risk factors in adolescence like, emotional dysregulation, psychological family stress, education pressure, lack of sleep, gambling, substance abuse, smartphone overuse and obesity can cause arterial stiffness. Design and method: The prospective open randomized study was designed. Adolescence age between 10 and 19 years have been investigated for increased arterial stiffness and risk factors. The inclusion criteria was healthy adolescence, while exclusion criteria was any disorder present. Arterial stiffness, non-invasive blood pressure and pulse wave datas have been measured using Agedio device. The risk factors were evaluated in every subject. The vascular age have been outlined as the final measure. Results: The preliminary results indicate the increase of Augmentation Index and Coefficient of Reflection. The average percentage of Augmentation Index was 40% and Coefficient of Reflection 65% (normal value 28% and 60% respectively). The main risk factors were educational pressure, lack of sleep and smartphone influence. The vascular age was on average, 3 years higher than biological age. Conclusions: Arterial stiffness in adolescence is increased mainly by peripheral vasoconstriction, manifested with Augmentation index and Coefficient of wave Reflection.

Abstract In today’s increasingly connected and digitized business environment, brands face numerous challenges that can significantly affect their reputation and value, and one of the key challenges that many organizations across the world face is brand risk. Due to its role in many aspects of business, the main purpose of this paper is to revitalize this phenomenon by exploring it through bibliometric indicators, publishing trends and analyzing it through the current literature. In this sense, the paper adresses two research questions, both related to revealing the scope and nature of brand risk as the construct of a great relevance in many scientific fields, whereas a special attention has been given to the analysis of the most cited papers on this matter. The findings show that the construct although presented two decades ago is still in infancy phase, and quite neglected in the current body of knowledge.

Abstract Advances in robotic technology have improved standard techniques in numerous surgical and endovascular specialties, offering more precision, control, and better patient outcomes. Robotic-assisted interventional neuroradiology is an emerging field at the intersection of interventional neuroradiology and biomedical robotics. Endovascular robotics can automate maneuvers to reduce procedure times and increase its safety, reduce occupational hazards associated with ionizing radiations, and expand networks of care to reduce gaps in geographic access to neurointerventions. To date, many robotic neurointerventional procedures have been successfully performed, including cerebral angiography, intracranial aneurysm embolization, carotid stenting, and epistaxis embolization. This review aims to provide a survey of the state of the art in robotic-assisted interventional neuroradiology, consider their technical and adoption limitations, and explore future developments critical for the widespread adoption of robotic-assisted neurointerventions.

For any three circles in the plane where each circle is tangent to the other two, the Descartes’ theorem yields the existence of a fourth circle tangent to the starting three. Continuing this process by adding a new circle between any three tangent circles leads to Apollonian packings. The fractal structures resulting from infinite continuation of such processes are known as Apollonian gaskets. Close-packed dimer configurations on such structures are well modeled by perfect matchings in the corresponding graphs. We consider Apollonian gaskets for several types of initial configurations and present explicit expressions for the number of perfect matchings in such graphs

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Introduction Medical adhesives are adhesives used in medical devices to establish and maintain contact with the body over a period of time (usually by application to the skin) and are widely used in most care settings. Application of medical adhesives to the skin can lead to skin stripping, mild or severe allergic reactions and skin irritation that may manifest as redness, itching or rash. Adhesive-related skin injury can lead to infection, delayed wound healing and an increased risk of scarring. These injuries can cause severe discomfort and pain, and can affect the patient’s quality of life. A systematic review summarising patient’s experiences on this topic will contribute to informing adhesive producers and policy makers, and guiding further development and improvement of available technologies. Methods and analysis This systematic review protocol is based on the principles of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols guideline. A systematic search will be conducted in CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO. In addition, manual searches will be performed, reviewing the reference lists of relevant reviews and articles included for quality assessment. Qualitative studies using various methods will be considered for inclusion. Screening of title, abstract and full text will be done by two reviewers. The methodological quality of studies under consideration will be critically assessed by two reviewers using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tool for Qualitative Research. Data extraction will be performed independently by two reviewers using a predefined data extraction form. Meta-aggregation will be used to summarise the evidence. Ethics and dissemination No ethical approval or consent is required because no participants will be recruited. This systematic review protocol is published in an open access journal to increase transparency of the research methods used. Results will be disseminated at national and international conferences.

Sleep is extremely important for physical and mental health. Although polysomnography is an established approach in sleep analysis, it is quite intrusive and expensive. Consequently, developing a non-invasive and non-intrusive home sleep monitoring system with minimal influence on patients, that can reliably and accurately measure cardiorespiratory parameters, is of great interest. The aim of this study is to validate a non-invasive and unobtrusive cardiorespiratory parameter monitoring system based on an accelerometer sensor. This system includes a special holder to install the system under the bed mattress. The additional aim is to determine the optimum relative system position (in relation to the subject) at which the most accurate and precise values of measured parameters could be achieved. The data were collected from 23 subjects (13 males and 10 females). The obtained ballistocardiogram signal was sequentially processed using a sixth-order Butterworth bandpass filter and a moving average filter. As a result, an average error (compared to reference values) of 2.24 beats per minute for heart rate and 1.52 breaths per minute for respiratory rate was achieved, regardless of the subject’s sleep position. For males and females, the errors were 2.28 bpm and 2.19 bpm for heart rate and 1.41 rpm and 1.30 rpm for respiratory rate. We determined that placing the sensor and system at chest level is the preferred configuration for cardiorespiratory measurement. Further studies of the system’s performance in larger groups of subjects are required, despite the promising results of the current tests in healthy subjects.

Driven by co‐evolution with pathogens, host immunity continuously adapts to optimize defence against pathogens within a given environment. Recent advances in genetics, genomics and transcriptomics have enabled a more detailed investigation into how immunogenetic variation shapes the diversity of immune responses seen across domestic and wild animal species. However, a deeper understanding of the diverse molecular mechanisms that shape immunity within and among species is still needed to gain insight into—and generate evolutionary hypotheses on—the ultimate drivers of immunological differences. Here, we discuss current advances in our understanding of molecular evolution underpinning jawed vertebrate immunity. First, we introduce the immunome concept, a framework for characterizing genes involved in immune defence from a comparative perspective, then we outline how immune genes of interest can be identified. Second, we focus on how different selection modes are observed acting across groups of immune genes and propose hypotheses to explain these differences. We then provide an overview of the approaches used so far to study the evolutionary heterogeneity of immune genes on macro and microevolutionary scales. Finally, we discuss some of the current evidence as to how specific pathogens affect the evolution of different groups of immune genes. This review results from the collective discussion on the current key challenges in evolutionary immunology conducted at the ESEB 2021 Online Satellite Symposium: Molecular evolution of the vertebrate immune system, from the lab to natural populations.

Many large-scale systems are composed of subsystems operated by decentralized controllers, which are fixed in their structure, yet have parameters to tune. Initial tuning or subsequent adjustments dof those parameters ue to varying operating conditions or changes in the network of interconnected systems, while ensuring stability, performance, and security, pose a challenging task due to the overall complexity and size. Subsystems may not be willing or allowed to expose detailed information for safety and privacy reasons. In some cases, a comprehensive system model might not be available for global tuning, or the resulting problem might be computationally infeasible. To enable meaningful global parameter tuning while allowing for data privacy and security, we propose that the subsystems themselves should provide reduced-order models. These models capture the parametric dependency of the subsystem dynamics on the controller parameters. Specifically, we present a method to construct a region in the subsystems’ parameter space in which the deviation of the subsystem and the reduced-order model stays below a specified error bound and in which both systems are stable. A necessary and sufficient condition for such regions is derived using robust control theory. Notably, sufficiency can be expressed in terms of a linear matrix inequality. We demonstrate the approach by considering the temperature control of a large-scale building complex.