Radboud University Nijmegen

The magnetic field is an outstanding experimental tool for physics. To go beyond the conventional commercially available superconducting (SC) magnets, very large infrastructures such as the ones gathered within the European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL) are necessary. The SuperEMFL project is a design study aiming at providing the European high field user community with much higher superconducting fields. This is meant to be achieved by combining high temperature superconductor (HTS) insert magnets, an emerging technology that can work in fields above 25T, with low temperature superconductor (LTS) outsert magnets, a technology limited to fields below 25 T. The project has two design magnetic field targets, 32+T and 40+T. The first design target proposed to combined a single stack of HTS pancakes in combination with a 19 T / 150 mm LTS magnet; the second either a similar arrangement at the sake of a narrower central space or a design with two nested HTS coils combined with a 15 T/ 250 mm LTS magnet. The particular choice of the project is to use no insulation but a metallic tape co-wound with the bare HTS tape. This so-called Metal as Insulation (MI) technology enables a self-protection feature of the HTS coil by allowing the electrical bypass of defects as well as better mechanical performances in a very compact winding. The use of HTS inserts introduces a change of paradigm by providing an unprecedented combination of high magnetic field and long measurement times whilst saving vast amounts of energy in operation.

Hospital inflation reflects changes in prices of labour, materials, energy, and capital. Depending on actual cost structures and contracts, individual hospitals may experience different price pressures on their budgets. If hospitals are compensated uniformly for inflation, high inflation can induce significant disparities in profitability. To analyse the differential impact of inflation on hospitals in the Netherlands. We test the hypothesis that differences in hospital-specific inflationary pressures were reflected in hospital compensation for inflation. Under this hypothesis, hospital-specific inflation rates correlate with overall budget growth. Using hospital financial data, we calculated hospital-specific inflation rates by combining cost categories with corresponding inflation rates for 2006-2023. Using linear regression analysis, we tested whether hospital-specific inflation rates correlated with reimbursements between 2006-2021. Next, we simulated differential impact for hospitals of high inflation in 2022-2023. Five stakeholder interviews validated results and explored inflation compensation mechanisms in practice. We found that inflation causes significant variance in individual hospital inflation rates, magnified after 2021 by high overall inflation. Linear regression showed no significant correlation between variation in observed hospital reimbursement and variation in hospital specific inflation rates, indicating that historically no differential inflation adjustments occurred. Interviewees stated that insurers do not explicitly take into account differential inflation impact between hospitals, and that hospitals were only partly compensated for general inflation. Dutch hospitals are not fully compensated for cost inflation and health insurers do not differentiate for differences in hospital-specific inflation rates. High inflation rates could thus induce significant disparities in hospital profitability.

Disfluencies in speech frequently occur before the production of longer and more complex speech content. Listeners are thought to use the distribution of disfluencies in the comprehension of speech to inform their predictions. Here, we investigated whether the presence of disfluencies in speech affects word processing also in naturalistic listening conditions. Participants (n = 36) listened to the spoken recall of the events of a television series while undergoing fMRI. We modelled word processing effort using parametric modulations for word length, frequency, entropy, as well as surprisal and presence/absence of a disfluency. To investigate the effects of disfluencies on word processing, we tested the interaction between disfluency and frequency, and disfluency and surprisal. Words preceded by a disfluency were associated with increased activity in the left and right superior temporal gyrus (STG). Lower word frequency was associated with an increase in activity in the left mid STG. Increased word surprisal elicited a similar distribution of activity, with bilateral superior temporal activation. The effect of surprisal was reduced after a disfluency in a cluster in the left posterior temporal lobe, while the effect of frequency increased following disfluencies in the left superior temporal gyrus and the left inferior frontal cortex. Therefore, the presence of a disfluency affects the response to upcoming input, suggesting that it prepares the listener for higher complexity in the upcoming speech, by potentially allocating increased attention resources that facilitate integration in context.

Open political dialogue is regarded as foundational to democratic health and our social fabric. Here, we study political dialogue by examining with whom we prefer to talk about politics and why. In so doing, we develop and test hypotheses about what random encounters (e.g., meeting similar versus dissimilar others, meeting friends or colleagues) foster political dialogue, pose and test conjectures about what features of extended networks facilitate political debate, and present a new unique factorial survey experiment to answer our questions. We incorporated this factorial survey experiment within the NEtherlands Longitudinal Lifecourse Study 2022 (NELLS) and presented to a large sample of Dutch citizens – including Dutch ethnic majority members as well as minoritized Dutch with a Turkish or Moroccan heritage – a choice to engage in political talk or not. Hierarchical linear models reveal that relationship strength, rather than identity similarity (e.g., gender, ethnic), is the primary driver of opting for political dialogue. However, in encounters lacking prior relationship history, gender similarity increases the willingness to engage, and similar political views do relate to engaging in substantive debate modeled dichotomously. Ethnic diversity within extended networks fosters political discussion, while network size has a nonlinear association – medium-sized networks are more conducive to dialogue than very small or very large ones. These findings contribute to debates on political polarization by highlighting the relational conditions that encourage political exchange. • Political conversations are key to democratic health and our social fabric. • We hypothesize that dyadic similarity, tie strength, network size, and network diversity facilitate political conversation. • We study political conversations through a unique survey experiment. • Political conversations are more likely among strong ties, medium-sized extended networks, and with more ethnic diversity. • These findings have implications for our understanding of choice homophily, extended network structure, and polarization.

Follow-up of radiologically suspicious lung nodules from screening programs remains complex and unstandardized. This study analyses distribution and characteristics of solid and part-solid non-calcified nodules ≥100mm3 and non-solid nodules ≥8mm detected at baseline in the UK Lung cancer Screening (UKLS) trial, with insights into their relationship to screen-detected lung cancers. UKLS participants with baseline indeterminate and positive lung nodules were included. Nodule location was categorized by lobe and by attachment: intraparenchymal, juxta pleural or pleural-based. Solid and part-solid were classified based on semi-automated volume: 100-300mm3 and ≥300mm3, and non-solid nodules based on diameter ≥8mm. This measurement approach aligns with UKLS protocol and the British Thoracic Society (BTS) guideline. Their relationship to screen-detected lung cancer was based on histological outcomes after a 2-year follow-up period. 279 UKLS participants with 373 solid or part-solid lung nodules ≥100mm3 and 57 participants with 62 nonsolid nodules ≥8mm were included. Among solid and part-solid nodules, 233 were 100-300mm3, with 39.5% in upper lobes and 72.5% intraparenchymal; 140 nodules were ≥300mm3, with 51.4% in upper lobes and 53.6% intraparenchymal. Nodules ≥300mm3 group were more likely to be in the upper lobes (OR 1.97 [95% CI 1.12-3.48]). Within 2years, 34 solid or part-solid nodules were diagnosed as lung cancer, yielding a 2-year cancer probability of 9.1% (95% CI 6.6-12.5). The 2-year lung cancer probability was higher in nodules ≥300mm3 (RR 18.1, 95% CI 5.6-58.4; p<0.001) and in upper lobe nodules (RR 2.7, 95% CI 1.3-5.5; p=0.009). Solid and part-solid nodules with volume ≥300mm3 were more often found in the upper lobes and were associated with a higher probability of lung cancer within a two-year follow-up period.

People with HIV (PWH) using antiretroviral therapy are at increased risk to develop cardiovascular diseases (CVD). We hypothesized that residual viremia (RV; unquantifiable low, but detectable viral load) increases CVD risk. We enrolled 1895 virally suppressed PWH and compared CVD incidence in participants with and without RV. Extensive multi-omics characterization was performed. Incident CVD was registered after 2-year follow-up and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) calculated accounting for classical CVD risk factors. The numbers of expected and actual CVD events were compared using CVD risk scores. RV, detected in one-third of participants, strongly increased the risk of developing a first cardiovascular event (3.1% vs 1.2%, aOR 2.8,p=0.004). Participants with RV experienced twice the number of events predicted by the SCORE2 riskmodel. The association between RV and CVD was not driven by inflammation, immune activation, gut barrier dysfunction, or lipometabolic perturbations. Residual viremia independently associated with CVD development, highlighting the need for tailored prevention and examination of novel intervention strategies.

Reproducibility and standardization of methods are key approaches to microbiological research. However, laboratories differ widely in equipment, protocols, and operator expertise. These disparities are especially pronounced in fungal biology, since accurate spore counting and precise measurements of colony growth remain vulnerable to subjective bias and inconsistent technique. To standardize these foundational tasks, we developed two free, open-source image-analysis tools - SporeQuant and Orbisv2 - that automate hemocytometer spore counting and colony-area measurement, respectively. SporeQuant applies image thresholding and blob detection to identify individual spores and compute their concentration, while Orbisv2 segments colonies and calculates colony areas through thresholding and contour detection. Compared with manual analysis, SporeQuant and Orbis v2 markedly reduce analysis time by 63% and 76%, respectively, while achieving high measurement reliability, with MAE=0 for SporeQuant and R2>0.975 for Orbis v2. These tools reduce user-to-user variability, and achieve comparable or improved accuracy versus previously established methods. Furthermore, both tools can be accessed through a web page on both a computer or smartphone, requiring no specialized hardware, software, or prior knowledge. They provide accessible solutions for low-budget and high-throughput laboratories alike, enabling more consistent, scalable analysis of fungal growth and morphology in research and industrial settings.