Horiba (Japan)

OBJECTIVE: To explore the experiences of people with hip osteoarthritis who participated in a lifestyle intervention involving exercise and, for those with overweight or obesity, an additional weight loss diet. DESIGN: Qualitative study underpinned by Interpretive Description paradigm embedded in a randomised controlled trial. METHODS: Semi-structured individual interviews with 20 people with hip osteoarthritis who completed a 6-month physiotherapist-prescribed exercise program and, for those with overweight/obesity, an additional dietitian-prescribed weight loss diet (very low energy diet). We conducted inductive reflexive thematic analysis to develop themes and sub-themes from the data, with the overarching goal of informing clinical practice and future research. RESULTS: Just over half (55%) of participants completed the combined exercise and diet program, while 45% (ineligible for the diet program) completed the exercise program only. Five themes were developed: (1) clinician guidance was paramount to success (provided accountability; provided encouragement and support); (2) ease and convenience of program (weight loss diet and meal replacements; video consultations); (3) challenges with exercise program (difficult exercises; cuff weights were difficult to use; adherence was a challenge for some; preference for some in-person contact with physiotherapist); (4) useful resources; (5) favourable outcomes (reduced hip pain and improved mobility; weight loss; increased knowledge and confidence). CONCLUSION: Participants had positive experiences with the intervention, particularly valuing clinician support, its overall ease and convenience, and the useful resources. Some found engaging with the exercise program to be challenging.

Abstract For almost two years community structure, characterization and identification of the main fish species from the largest estuaries of Coiba have been the focus of our research interest. Among selachii elasmobranchs (sharks), three common species ( Carcharhinus limbatus , Carcharhinus leucas and Sphyrna lewinii ) have been collected during our fish collection campaigns in San Juan, Rio Negro and Boca Grande estuaries. These three species plus the white tip reef shark, Triaenodon obesus , have been previously listed as frequent along the islands of Coiba archipelago base on visual census and environmental DNA list provided by UNESCO in collaboration with COIBA AIP Scientific Station. From February to October of 2025, seven young of the year (YOY) individuals of the lemon shark ( Negaprion brevirostris ), a species non-reported in this area before, were collected in Boca Grande estuary (two individuals during our dry season sampling campaign (February) and five individuals during the wet season (August-Cctober). Taxonomic and genetic data analysis support that collected individuals corresponded to lemon sharks, N. brevirostris . To corroborate taxonomic identification, genetic identification of two individuals was conducted using PCR amplification and product sequencing of two mitochondrial gene segments (COI and Control Region). Sequences from both genes showed a 99.17% and 99.83% similarity with GenBank referenced sequences for N. brevirostris . One unique haplotype (accession number: PX453691 and PX453712) was obtained from Boca Grande N. brevirostris samples. This is the first confirmed report of the presence of this species in waters of Coiba National Park. Therefore, these are the first reported DNA sequences deposited on GeneBank of this species for Panama Pacific waters. This information will allow scientists to compare these sequences with others deposited in GenBank as references for Eastern Tropical Pacific and unravel the existence of philopatry as well as local and regional connectivity patterns. These results will be key to establishing new management and surveillance strategies in Coiba National Park such as declaring Boca Grande estuary as nursery area and potentially a shark sanctuary.

The performance of Silicon Drift Detectors (SDD), including the pre-amplifier, is constantly improving. Recently the energy resolution was improved even at short shaping time, allowing high throughput measurements in X-ray analysis [1][2]. As a direct consequence the measurement time becomes shorter and industrial applications are expanding. To reduce the measurement time further, the active area and hence the solid angle of the detector also can be increased. However, in a SDD with large active area, the drift time of the signal charge becomes longer, and it makes the rise time of the signal longer, and then the signal processing time longer. Although using multiple detectors simultaneously is one of the good solutions, the aligned detectors have dead space in peripheral areas of the respective detectors. In a SDD array, multiple SDD elements are fabricated monolithically to achieve both high throughput and large solid angle [3][4]. In such a SDD array if X-ray photons come into the boundary area between the different channels, generated charges divide and travel towards different adjacent anodes (charge sharing), or parts of the charges is not collected because of weak electric fields near the border areas. This phenomenon causes an unexpected tailing and background in the acquired spectrum. We're trying to reduce these boundary areas with weak electric fields. We add electrodes (drift rings) in these border areas on the radiation-entrance side to enhance a high electric field which drives signal charges to the read-out electrode swiftly. Our preliminary results from a single SDD prototype indicated that the added drift rings on the entrance side improve the tailing of the spectrum by 12%. Effects and technical problems of the drift rings on the entrance side will be reported and discussed.

Static load test (SLT) and the Hybridnamic rapid load test (RLT) were carried out on an open-ended steel pipe pile (SPP) driven in sandy ground. The Hybridnamic RLT is a kind of falling mass type rapid load test, facilitating quick and efficient execution of multiple blows on a pile. SLT was carried out 25 days after pile driving, and RLT was carried out 8 days after the SLT. Static load-displacement curves were estimated from the RLT using various interpretation methods such as the UnLoading Point Connection (ULPC) method, the ULPC invoking Case method (ULPC_CM), and new methods (calleda aß method and aß_CM method). Static load-displacement curves from the SLT and the RLT with the various interpretation methods were compared to discuss the applicability of the various interpretation methods.

Identifying materials that are both active and durable remains at the frontier of research in electrocatalysis. Platinum alloys offer favorable kinetic properties for the oxygen reduction reaction and are heavily utilized in the deployment of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Nevertheless, the balance between the activity and durability of Pt alloys is an ongoing debate in the field. In this work, a thin-film approach is applied to explore the surface electrochemistry of finely tuned Pt–Ni near-surface formations. The extended thin-film surfaces were obtained by physical vapor deposition in a high-vacuum environment, and surface properties were controlled and tuned for geometric surface area, composition, and morphology. Thermal annealing followed by acid leaching was used to examine the impact on both activity and durability. Specific focus was placed on Pt-skin formation to explore its protective properties against dissolution while enhancing activity for the ORR.

Carbon coatings play an important role in enhancing the conductivity, stability, and electrochemical performance of battery electrode materials such as graphite, silicon, and lithium iron phosphate (LFP). In this study, we utilize Raman microscopy to perform large-area spectral mapping, enabling statistical analysis of carbon coatings across various battery materials. By applying peak fitting to thousands of Raman spectra per sample, we extract key structural parameters, including the D-to-G band intensity ratio (ID/IG) and the full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of the D and G bands. These metrics provide insights into the degree of disorder, graphitization, and defect density within the coatings. The statistical distribution of these parameters allows us to assess coating uniformity and identify processing variations that impact electrode performance. Raman intensity ratios between the core active material and the carbon coating serve as a non-destructive method for estimating coating thickness. This approach provides valuable information on thickness variations, complementing conventional characterization techniques such as electron microscopy. The statistical trends reveal correlations between coating quality, processing parameters, and electrochemical performance. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of Raman spectroscopy as a high-throughput tool for characterizing carbon coatings in battery materials, offering insights that can guide material optimization for improved energy storage applications.

In this work, we present a systematic study of the dependence of the gap-mode tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) response of the mono- and bilayer WS2 and MoS2 on silver as a function of the excitation laser energy in a broad spectral range from 473 to 830 nm. For this purpose, we collected consecutive TERS maps of the same area in the sample containing mono- and bilayer regions with the same TERS probe with 6 different excitation lasers. To decrease the number of collected TERS maps, we used for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, concurrent excitation and collection with two lasers simultaneously. We found that the E2g/A1g peak intensity ratio for the bilayer WS2@Ag and the ratio of the A′/A1g peak intensity of the out-of-plane mode for the mono- and the bilayer change in a significantly nonmonotonous way as the excitation laser energy is swept from 1.58 to 2.62 eV. The former ratio increases at energies corresponding to A and B excitons (∼2.0 and 2.4 eV, respectively) in bilayer WS2. The absolute intensity of the A′ peak in the monolayer, and correspondingly the A′/A1g ratio, is surprisingly high at lower excitation energies but dips dramatically at the energy corresponding to the A exciton, being restored partially in between A and B excitons, but still showing the descending trend as the excitation laser energy increases. A somewhat similar picture was observed in mono- and bilayers of MoS2@Ag, though the existing set of excitation lasers did not match the excitonic profile of this material as nicely as for the case of WS2. We attribute the observed behavior to the presence of intermediate (Fano resonance) or strong (Rabi splitting) coupling between the excitons in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and the plasmons in the tip–substrate nanocavity. This is akin to the so-called “Fano” (Rabi) transparency experimentally observed in far-field scattering from TMDs between two plasmonic metals. The possibility of the formation of intermediate/strong coupling between the excitonic resonances in TMDs and the nanocavity reevaluates the role of various resonances in gap-mode TERS, and should become an important factor to be considered by TERS practitioners during experiment planning. Finally, based on the observed phenomena and their explanation, we propose the “ideal” substrate for efficient TERS and tip-enhanced photoluminescence (TEPL) measurements.