Between 1980 and 2000, a number of Sub-Saharan African countries entered into conditional structural adjustment lending arrangements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in response to economic crisis and decline. Despite the fact that the crises had been due in part to long-term overdependence on primary sector activities, such as cash crop agriculture and natural resource extraction, many

Concerns have been raised over the quality of evidence on the performance of medical artificial intelligence devices, including devices that are already on the market in the USA and Europe. Recently, the Medical Device Regulation, which aims to set high standards of safety and quality, has become applicable in the European Union. The aim of this article is to discuss whether, and how, the Medical

Epilepsy is one of the leading neurological disorders affecting not only patients who suffer from seizures but also people around them and society in general. The striking one third of patients not responding to pharmacological treatments implies the necessity of developing alternative options for controlling seizures in these individuals. Moreover, the possibility to stop the progression of the d

AIMS: Patients awaiting orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) can be bridged utilizing a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) that reduces left ventricular filling pressures, decreases pulmonary artery wedge pressure, and maintains adequate cardiac output. This study set out to examine the poorly investigated area of if and how pre-treatment with LVAD impacts right ventricular (RV) function foll

This paper discusses the characteristics of ZnO and ZnO:Ga ceramics fabricated by uniaxial hot pressing. The short-wavelength transmission limit of zinc oxide ceramics is in the 370-nm region; the long-wavelength limit is determined by the free-charge-carrier concentration and lies in the interval from 5 to 9 μm. The total transmittance of such ceramics in the visible and near-IR regions is about

In imaging, the detection of light originating from multiple scattering, indirect reflections and surrounding backgrounds are known to produce errors especially in intensity-ratio based measurements. SLIPI (Structured Laser Illumination Planar Imaging) is an imaging technique that significantly reduces the impact of such issues. In this study, SLIPI is combined with the two-color LIF (Laser Induce

High-efficiency microfocusing of multi-keV X-rays at synchrotron sources is highly profitable for spatially resolved structural analysis of many kinds. Because radiation from synchrotron sources is typically elongated along the horizontal dimension, generating a microbeam that is isotropic in size requires a carefully designed optics system. Here we report on using a combination of a horizontally

We report on THz time-domain spectroscopy measurements of flux grown KTiOPO4 in the frequency range 0.6–7.0 THz (20 to 240 cm−1). Our results compare well with earlier Raman and far-infrared measurements. We theorize that the differences between the optical phonon mode resonances reported in the literature are due to what growth parameters and melt compositions are used to grow the crystals. We al

Acquisition of entomological data with high-frequency lidar is an emerging research field in rapid development. The technique offers very high numbers of observations per time unit, suitable for statistical models. In this work, we use a near-infrared Scheimpflug lidar with a sampling frequency of 3.5 kHz to assess the activity of free flying organisms. In-situ measurements were done during the ra

This report highlights investigations since 2016 on the Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs), particularly based on their mafic dyke swarms (MDSs) and continental flood basalts (CFBs), from the Indian Shield. Recent research, particularly geochemistry, geochronology and paleomagnetism, allow identification and characterization of distinct generations of LIPs in space and time in the Indian Shield. This

We present a setup for producing and characterizing picosecond ultraviolet laser pulses for use in the MAX IV photocathode electron gun preinjector. Frequency-tripled laser pulses from a commercial laser system are shaped directly in the ultraviolet domain using a Fourier-domain pulse shaper. The pulses were characterized using a transient grating FROG. We discuss a proposed upgrade of the pulse s