Application Of Test Research Articles

“Shifting goalposts” and “fishing expeditions”: police case preparation and the application of the full code test in cases of RASSO

Purpose Despite recent increases, the low level of convictions in cases of rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO), aligned with the subsequent lack of victim satisfaction with the process, has highlighted the various challenges and barriers throughout the criminal justice process. Whilst understanding the shortcomings of criminal justice processes in cases of RASSO requires a holistic approach, this paper focuses on case preparation and the application of the Full Code test. Its purpose is to explore the application of this test and preceding case preparation in police decision-making around submitting cases for charging decision, following the recommendations of the first year of Operation Soteria Bluestone. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a mixed-method approach, combining both interviews and case reviews of selected RASSO cases across five forces in England and Wales. Findings This research found a shift towards “threshold thinking”, whereby officers arguably no longer try to predict a prosecutor’s decision and instead focus on meeting the requirements for the application of the test. In terms of case preparation, the research demonstrates a move away from “fishing expeditions”, with a preference for more focused approaches to collecting evidence. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies looking at the use of full code test principles in police decision-making in RASSO cases.

Lack of robustness of hydrological models: a large-sample diagnosis and an attempt to identify hydrological and climatic drivers

Abstract. The transferability of hydrological models over contrasting climate conditions, also identified as model robustness, has been the subject of much research in recent decades. The occasional lack of robustness identified in such models is not only an operational challenge – since it affects the confidence that can be placed in projections of climate change impact – it also hints at possible deficiencies in the structures of these models. This paper presents a large-scale application of the robustness assessment test (RAT) for three hydrological models with different levels of complexity: GR6J, HYPE and MIKE SHE. The dataset comprises 352 catchments located in Denmark, France and Sweden. Our aim is to evaluate how robustness varies over the dataset and between models and whether the lack of robustness can be linked to some hydrological and/or climate characteristics of the catchments (thus providing a clue as to where to focus model improvement efforts). We show that, although the tested models are very different, they encounter similar robustness issues over the dataset. However, models do not necessarily lack robustness in the same catchments and are not sensitive to the same hydrological characteristics. This work highlights the applicability of the RAT regardless of model type and its ability to provide a detailed diagnostic evaluation of model robustness issues.

Removal of rhodamine B and methylene blue using waste fibers from Inga edulis Mart as bioadsorbent: kinetics and thermodynamic parameters

In the present work, the modification, characterization, and application of the adsorption tests of the Ingá edulis Mart peels were carried out in the adsorption in natura and modified form in basic medium (NaOH 3 mol L-1) to perform the adsorption of methylene blue dyes and rhodamine b. This material was applied for the study of adsorption in aqueous medium where the best conditions of the main parameters were found. The influence of several factors, such as solution pH, contact time, adsorbent mass, and dye concentration, was studied by batch experiments. The optimum contact time to reach equilibrium was 20 min for Ingá edulis Mart in natura and modified in methylene blue and 40 min for Ingá edulis Mart in natura and modified in rhodamine b. The optimal adsorbent dose was 200 mg for both dyes. The study of the adsorption kinetics revealed that the adsorption process was better adjusted to the pseudo-first order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm in all configurations of the studied systems. The results obtained show that the biosorbents from the bark of Ingá edulis Mart can be applied as a low-cost adsorbent for removing methylene blue and rhodamine b from effluents, since it showed good adsorption capacity with the maximum adsorption value Qm of 25,62 mg g-1 for Rb and 30,47 mg g-1 for MB for adsorption after modification. Thermodynamic studies in this research showed a spontaneous, favorable, and endothermic adsorption.

Static-Aperture Synthesis Method in Remote Sensing and Non-Destructive Testing Applications

The study is dedicated to the statistical optimization of radar imaging of surfaces with the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technique, assuming a static surface area and applying the ability to move a sensor along a nonlinear trajectory via developing a new method and validating its operability for remote sensing and non-destructive testing. The developed models address the sensing geometry for signals reflected from a surface along with the observation signal–noise equation, including correlation properties. Moreover, the optimal procedures for coherent radar imaging of surfaces with the static SAR technology are synthesized according to the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE). The features of the synthesized algorithm are the decoherence of the received oscillations, the matched filtering of the received signals, and the possibility of using continuous signal coherence. Furthermore, the developed optimal and quasi-optimal algorithms derived from the proposed MLE have been investigated. The novel framework for radio imaging has demonstrated good overall operability and efficiency during simulation modeling (using the MATLAB environment) for real sensing scenes. The developed algorithms of spatio–temporal signal processing in systems with a synthesized antenna with nonlinear carrier trajectories open a promising direction for creating new methods of high-precision radio imaging from UAVs and helicopters.

Comprehensive Search for Genes Involved in Thalidomide Teratogenicity Using Early Differentiation Models of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Potential Applications in Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity Testing

Developmental toxicity testing is essential to identify substances that may harm embryonic development. This study aimed to establish a protocol for evaluating developmental toxicity using human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by analyzing cellular activity and gene expression changes. Two ICH S5(R3) positive substances, valproic acid (VPA), which is a substance previously detected as positive by other test methods, and thalidomide (Thalido), were examined during early trichoderm differentiation without fetal bovine serum. RNA-seq analysis identified seven candidate genes, including TP63, associated with altered expression following exposure to VPA or Thalido. These genes were implicated in pathways related to tissue development, cell growth, and molecular interactions. While the assay effectively detected VPA and Thalido, its limitations include testing only soluble substances and focusing on early differentiation stages. Nevertheless, the protocol demonstrates potential for the classification and evaluation of emerging modality drugs based on physical properties such as solubility, polarity, and pH. Integration with AI analysis may enhance its capacity to uncover genetic variations and evaluate previously uncharacterized substances. This study provides a foundation for alternative developmental toxicity testing methods, with further refinements in the culture method expected to improve accuracy and applicability in regulatory toxicology.

A Soft Robotic Textile‐Actuated Anthropomorphic Artificial Shoulder Mechanism

Replicating the human shoulder in anthropomorphic systems is notoriously challenging due to its complex combination of mobility and strength. This study presents the design, fabrication, and control of a new soft artificial shoulder that achieves a broad range of motion, torque, and compliance. Powered by soft robotic textiles consisting of a network of hydraulic artificial muscles, the engineered shoulder effectively mimics intricate shoulder movements, including flexion/extension, abduction/adduction, and medial/lateral rotation. Experiments demonstrate that the artificial shoulder can generate a peak torque of 9.6 ± 0.1 Nm, covering 65.3% of the human shoulder workspace. The artificial shoulder capability is demonstrated through several experimental testbeds. First, it is employed to develop a gesture‐controlled telemanipulation robotic system, applicable to robot‐assisted surgery, hazardous environment operations, gaming, and rehabilitation. Second, it serves as a platform for simulating and studying neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. This approach offers a reliable in vitro testing ground for wearable device validation, providing a crucial intermediary step before progressing to user studies. The artificial shoulder marks a significant advancement in next‐generation anthropomorphic systems, closely mimicking the human musculoskeletal system, with promising applications in wearable assistive devices, haptics, orthopedic testing, and medical technologies.

Fatigue characterisation of structural steel by means of the small punch test: Development of a methodology

Knowledge of the fatigue behaviour of materials is fundamental to the safe design of structures. Standardised tests are used for this purpose, but their application requires a considerable amount of material, which in many cases is not available. To overcome this problem, the use of miniature tests would be the optimal solution. This work analyses the application of the Small Punch Test (SPT) to characterise the fatigue behaviour of structural steels. To this end, an experimental methodology has been developed to analyse not only where SPT-fatigue damage initiates and how it propagates, but also its relationship with changes in specimen compliance. Based on this methodology, different SPT-N iso-damage curves and the SPT-fatigue limit have been obtained for two structural steels. By comparing these results with those obtained from rotating beam fatigue tests, a simple correlation has been proposed between the fatigue limits obtained from SPT and rotating beam fatigue tests.

Application of PDC Testing for Medium-Voltage XLPE Cable Joint Water Ingress Detection

Application of PDC Testing for Medium-Voltage XLPE Cable Joint Water Ingress Detection

Characteristics and outcomes of patients with early-onset versus average-onset small bowel neuroendocrine tumors.

670 Background: The global incidence of early-onset gastrointestinal cancers (GI) is increasing. Although patients with more common early-onset GI cancers, e.g. colorectal cancer, often present with more advanced disease and experience relatively worse outcomes; the characteristics and treatment outcomes for less common early-onset small bowel neuroendocrine tumors (SBNETs) have yet to be explored. Methods: We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to identify patients with SBNETs (2004-2021), using ICD-0-3 SEER histology codes (8240/3, 8241/3, 8243/3, 8244/3, 8249/3, 8246/3). Patients with poorly differentiated histology were excluded. We used the chi-square test to compare categorical variables between early-onset SBNETs (EO-SBNETs, aged 30-49 years) and average-onset SBNETs (AO-SBNETs, aged ≥ 50 years) patients. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method followed by application of the log-rank test to assess for differences in survival. A multivariable Cox regression analysis included early onset of disease, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, urban/rural residence, prior treatments, and disease extent as covariates. All tests were conducted with a significance threshold of p < 0.05 using RStudio. Results: A total of 3,713 patients were included, of which, 925 (25%) were EO-SBNETs. Compared to AO-SBNETs, EO-SBNETs patients were more likely to be females (51.1% vs 46.7%, p=0.02), non-Hispanic Black (20.8% vs 17.6%, p=0.04), Hispanic (13.6% vs 8.8%, p<0.0001) and less likely to be non-Hispanic White 60.8% vs 69.9%, p<0.0001). There were no differences in stage at diagnosis between the EO-SBNETs and AO-SBNETs, i.e,, localized disease (33.5% vs 31.0%, p=0.15), regional spread (41.9% vs 42.8%, p=0.64) and distant metastatic disease (20.9% vs 21.9%, p=0.50). There were no differences in receipt of surgical resection (90.5% vs 89.1%, p=0.25) or chemotherapy (5% vs 6.3%, p=0.15) comparing EO-SBNETs and AO-SBNETs respectively. In a multivariate cox regression analysis, early onset was associated with a significantly better overall survival (HR=0.49, 95% CI 0.41-0.59, p<0.0001). Conclusions: With this first of its kind analysis, significantly superior overall outcomes among EO-SBNETs despite no differences in stage and receipt of surgery establishes age at diagnosis as a significant prognostic factor for SBNETs. Further studies investigating the role of factors such as differences in tumor biology and patient preferences in receipt of other therapies besides surgery are needed.

Microfluidics Based Particle and Droplet Generation for Gene and Drug Delivery Approaches.

Microfluidics-based droplets have emerged as a powerful technology for biomedical research, offering precise control over droplet size and structure, optimal mixing of solutions, and prevention of cross-contamination. It is a major branch of microfluidic technology with applications in diagnostic testing, imaging, separation, and gene amplification. This review discusses the different aspects of microfluidic devices, droplet generation techniques, droplet types, and the production of micro/nano particles, along with their advantages and limitations. Passive and active methods for droplet formation are discussed, as well as the manipulation of droplet shape and content. This review also highlights the potential applications of droplet microfluidics in tissue engineering, cancer therapy, and drug delivery systems. The use of microfluidics in the production of lipid nanoparticles and polymeric microparticles is also presented, with emphasis on their potential in drug delivery and biomedical research. Finally, the contributions of microfluidics to vaccines, gene therapy, personalized medicine, and future perspectives are discussed, emphasizing the need for continuous innovation and integration with other technologies, such as AI and wearable devices, to further enhance its potential in personalized medicine and drug delivery. However, it is also noted that challenges in commercialization and widespread adoption still need to be addressed.

Longitudinal ctDNA measurements for treatment response monitoring in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer undergoing systemic therapy: The ORCA trial.

220 Background: Precise monitoring of treatment response may support and improve treatment decision-making in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The PLCRC-ORCA study aimed to explore the clinical applicability of personalized ctDNA testing for treatment response monitoring in patients with mCRC. Methods: The prospective, observational ORCA study is a substudy of the Prospective Dutch ColoRectal Cancer cohort (PLCRC). After informed consent, blood samples were collected before initiating first line of treatment (baseline) and subsequently every 8-9 weeks during routine clinical care. ctDNA levels were analyzed using a clinically validated, personalized, tumor-informed 16-plex PCR NGS assay (Signatera™, Natera, Inc). Results: The majority of patients (45/49) had blood samples collected at both baseline and the first on-treatment time point. At baseline, 43/45 (95.6%) patients were ctDNA-positive with a median concentration of 63.5 mean tumor molecules per mL (MTM/mL; range 0.08 to 16,200). In a multivariate linear regression model including metastatic site at baseline and resection status of the primary tumor, ctDNA levels at baseline were lower in patients with metastatic disease limited to the lung (n = 4; p < 0.001) or peritoneum (n = 6; p = 0.002) compared to patients with liver-limited metastases. Moreover, primary tumor resection was independently associated with lower levels of ctDNA at baseline (p = 0.05). At the first measurement on-treatment, 13/45 patients (28.9%) were ctDNA-negative and 32/45 (71.1%) patients were ctDNA-positive with ctDNA levels ranging from 0.04 to 318 MTM/mL. Reduction in ctDNA levels relative to baseline was observed in 42/45 (85.7%) patients while two patients exhibited increased ctDNA levels. One patient had undetectable ctDNA levels at baseline and on treatment. Among the 30 patients with detectable but reduced ctDNA levels on treatment, the median ctDNA levels decreased 55-fold (95% CI: 26–600). Conclusions: The levels of ctDNA in patients with mCRC are influenced by the metastatic site and are lowest among patients with metastases limited to the lung and peritoneum. Our data suggest that clinical applications of ctDNA testing for treatment response monitoring should take the baseline ctDNA levels into account when interpreting ctDNA dynamics. Correlation of ctDNA status with radiological treatment response is underway and will be reported during the conference.

How have interventions targeting pregnant women from refugee, migrant and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds living in high-income countries been developed or tailored to meet community needs? A systematic scoping review of stillbirth-related literature

BackgroundPeople from migrant, refugee and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds experience significant disparities in pregnancy outcomes compared to the general population, including a higher risk of stillbirth. This study aimed to identify stillbirth-related programs or interventions for pregnant women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and explore how these interventions have been developed and/or tailored for culturally and linguistically diverse women.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, and Scopus for articles published from inception to 12 Jan 2023. We included studies that report on the development and/or evaluation of a program or intervention to reduce the risk of stillbirth which has been specifically developed or tailored for pregnant women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds living in high-income countries. Two independent reviewers conducted screening of the articles, data extraction, and quality appraisal. We first summarized the descriptive information of eligible studies using text and tables and then thematically grouped interventions based on approaches to meet community needs and synthesized data qualitatively.ResultsWe identified 1999 studies from the database search. After removing duplicates and screening for eligibility, 9 studies met our inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Studies were conducted in Australia, the UK, US and Denmark between 1986 and 2021, with multi-ethnic populations (n = 6) or specific cultural and language groups (n = 3) (e.g. Pakistani and Indian women; African American and Hispanic population groups). Approaches to tailoring included the use of interpreters and translated materials, linking women to existing community resources and networks and community outreach delivered to women outside of hospital settings. Training of staff in cultural competence and multi-component, multiagency interventions addressing the wider social determinants of health and system-based approaches to facilitate access to language services were also identified.ConclusionWhile there are currently few targeted interventions for pregnant women from migrant, refugee and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, approaches to cultural tailoring identified in this review can be used as a starting point for effectiveness testing and wider application. Ongoing work is needed to continue to address significant disparities in pregnancy outcomes for minoritised community groups. Protocol registrationThe protocol for this review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021289321).

Special Issue: Innovative Material Design and Nondestructive Testing Applications for Infrastructure Materials

Construction materials play a vital role in the design, construction, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure, significantly impacting its safety, durability, and stability [...]

Commissioning an All-Sky Infrared Camera Array for Detection of Airborne Objects

To date, there is little publicly available scientific data on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) whose properties and kinematics purportedly reside outside the performance envelope of known phenomena. To address this deficiency, the Galileo Project is designing, building, and commissioning a multi-modal, multi-spectral ground-based observatory to continuously monitor the sky and collect data for UAP studies via a rigorous long-term aerial census of all aerial phenomena, including natural and human-made. One of the key instruments is an all-sky infrared camera array using eight uncooled long-wave-infrared FLIR Boson 640 cameras. In addition to performing intrinsic and thermal calibrations, we implement a novel extrinsic calibration method using airplane positions from Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) data that we collect synchronously on site. Using a You Only Look Once (YOLO) machine learning model for object detection and the Simple Online and Realtime Tracking (SORT) algorithm for trajectory reconstruction, we establish a first baseline for the performance of the system over five months of field operation. Using an automatically generated real-world dataset derived from ADS-B data, a dataset of synthetic 3D trajectories, and a hand-labeled real-world dataset, we find an acceptance rate (fraction of in-range airplanes passing through the effective field of view of at least one camera that are recorded) of 41% for ADS-B-equipped aircraft, and a mean frame-by-frame aircraft detection efficiency (fraction of recorded airplanes in individual frames which are successfully detected) of 36%. The detection efficiency is heavily dependent on weather conditions, range, and aircraft size. Approximately 500,000 trajectories of various aerial objects are reconstructed from this five-month commissioning period. These trajectories are analyzed with a toy outlier search focused on the large sinuosity of apparent 2D reconstructed object trajectories. About 16% of the trajectories are flagged as outliers and manually examined in the IR images. From these ∼80,000 outliers and 144 trajectories remain ambiguous, which are likely mundane objects but cannot be further elucidated at this stage of development without information about distance and kinematics or other sensor modalities. We demonstrate the application of a likelihood-based statistical test to evaluate the significance of this toy outlier analysis. Our observed count of ambiguous outliers combined with systematic uncertainties yields an upper limit of 18,271 outliers for the five-month interval at a 95% confidence level. This test is applicable to all of our future outlier searches.

Detection of Sub-pT Field of Magnetic Responses in Metals and Magnetic Materials by Highly Sensitive Magnetoresistive Sensors

We developed a measurement system capable of detecting magnetic responses in various material samples. The system utilizes an excitation coil to apply an alternating magnetic field within the frequency range of 1–10 kHz. The magnetic field generated in the samples was detected using a highly sensitive magnetoresistive sensor. The system demonstrated a detection lower limit in the sub-pT range for magnetic fields arising from magnetic responses such as eddy currents and magnetization changes. The frequency dependence of the detected signal intensities correlated well with the physical mechanisms underlying the magnetic responses. Notably, the distance between the excitation coil and the magnetic sensor was maintained at 300 mm. These results, which demonstrate the detection of a sub-pT magnetic field using a highly sensitive magnetic sensor, have not been previously reported and provide valuable insights for advancing practical applications in non-destructive testing and clinical diagnostic imaging.

Precision Medicine for Peritoneal Carcinomatosis—Current Advances in Organoid Drug Testing and Clinical Applicability

Peritoneal carcinomatosis from gastrointestinal tumours is considered a poor prognostic factor, with a median overall survival of six to nine months in the absence of intervention. The advent of patient-derived organoid cultures (PDOs) has provided a breakthrough in personalised medicine, allowing researchers and clinicians to model the complexity and heterogeneity of individual tumours in vitro. PDOs hold great promise in this field, as variations in the management of peritoneal carcinomatosis due to differences in the method of delivery of chemotherapeutics, drug selection, exposure duration, and tumour pathology make it impractical to use a single, standardised treatment regimen. We aim to summarise the methodologies and limitations of studies encapsulating organoids derived from peritoneal metastases to encourage design considerations that may improve future clinical relevance, standardise protocols, and address translational challenges in personalising treatment strategies.

Billion-Scale Expansion of Functional hiPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes in Bioreactors Through Oxygen Control and Continuous Wnt Activation.

Generation of upscaled quantities of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CM), for therapeutic or testing applications, is both expensive and time-consuming. Herein, a scalable bioprocess for hiPSC-CM expansion in stirred-tank bioreactors (STB) is developed. By combining the continuous activation of the Wnt pathway, through perfusion of CHIR99021, within a mild hypoxia environment, the expansion of hiPSC-CM as aggregates is maximized, reaching 4 billion of pure hiPSC-CM in 2L STB. In particular, the importance of i) controlling the dissolved oxygen at 10% O2 to reduce reactive oxygen species production and upregulate genes involved in cell proliferation, resulting in higher expansion rates (tenfold) compared to normoxic conditions, and ii) maintaining constant power input per volume as a scale-up criteria is demonstrated. After expansion, hiPSC-CM further mature in culture, revealing more mature transcriptional signatures, higher sarcomere alignment and improved calcium handling. This new bioprocess opens the door to time- and cost-effective generation of hiPSC-CM.

Positive-Definite Converging Kernel Estimation of Long-Run Variance

Kernel estimators have been popular for decades in long-run variance estimation. To minimize the loss of efficiency measured by the mean-squared error in important aspects of kernel estimation, we propose a novel class of converging kernel estimators with three major properties: (a) the optimal bandwidth choice is model-free; (b) positive-definiteness is ensured through a principle-driven aggregation technique with no loss of theoretical efficiency; and (c) potentially misspecified prewhitening models and transformations of the time series do not harm the asymptotic efficiency. A shrinkage prewhitening transformation is proposed for more robust finite-sample performance. The estimator has a positive bias that diminishes with the sample size so that it is more conservative compared with the typically negatively biased classical estimators. The proposal improves upon standard kernel functions and can be well generalized to the multivariate case. We discuss its performance through simulation results and a real-data application in the forecast breakdown test.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning in cell-free-DNA-based diagnostics.

The discovery of circulating fetal and tumor cell-free DNA (cfDNA) molecules in plasma has opened up tremendous opportunities in noninvasive diagnostics such as the detection of fetal chromosomal aneuploidies and cancers and in posttransplantation monitoring. The advent of high-throughput sequencing technologies makes it possible to scrutinize the characteristics of cfDNA molecules, opening up the fields of cfDNA genetics, epigenetics, transcriptomics, and fragmentomics, providing a plethora of biomarkers. Machine learning (ML) and/or artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that are known for their ability to integrate high-dimensional features have recently been applied to the field of liquid biopsy. In this review, we highlight various AI and ML approaches in cfDNA-based diagnostics. We first introduce the biology of cell-free DNA and basic concepts of ML and AI technologies. We then discuss selected examples of ML- or AI-based applications in noninvasive prenatal testing and cancer liquid biopsy. These applications include the deduction of fetal DNA fraction, plasma DNA tissue mapping, and cancer detection and localization. Finally, we offer perspectives on the future direction of using ML and AI technologies to leverage cfDNA fragmentation patterns in terms of methylomic and transcriptional investigations.

Expert consensus on genetic testing and clinical application of congenital heart disease in children (2025)

Expert consensus on genetic testing and clinical application of congenital heart disease in children (2025)