Explore the vast range of titles available.

Wind propulsion for commercial ships has been identified as a key component in the energy transition for the maritime industry. The sailing hybrid ship will operate with leeway (drift) angles to produce a lateral force known as sideforce, for steady operation under sail. In this paper, experimental results for the sailing performance of ships fitted with bilge keel appendages are presented. Systematic variations in appendage height, length, and position were tested, including several special cases (multiple bilge keels). The appendage typology is shown to mitigate the strong ‘destabilizing’ yaw moment that is characteristic of wind-assisted commercial vessels and to promote the non-linear sideforce component. The working principal for bilge keels—promotion of flow separation—can be employed to specify the separation location for components of the vessel vortex wake to improve the sailing performance of the ship.

An advanced prototype of a digital pixel calorimeter, EPICAL-2, has been constructed using ALPIDE MAPS sensors. It has been successfully tested with cosmic muons and with test beams at DESY and the CERN SPS. We will report on recent updates of performance results, with good linearity and resolution. Comparisons to detailed MC simulations are made and show good understanding of the technology. The spatial precision of event-by-event measurements of the showers allows unprecedented studies of the shower shape. The detector features two-shower separation capabilities at extremely small distances. We will also discuss the limitations of the currently used sensor technology and perspectives for future development of digital calorimetry.

GridPix structures combine the high resolution of a pixel readout chip with a Micromegas as gas amplification stage. This detector has shown excellent performance before with the Timepix ASIC, but has been improved by using the successor ASIC, the Timepix3. This new version of the GridPix detectors has been used in test beams at the ELSA accelerator at Bonn, where 2.5 GeV electrons are available for tracking studies. It could be demonstrated that the spatial resolution in both transverse and longitudinal direction follows the diffusion function. Structures made of four GridPixes have been designed and constructed to cover larger areas. Also these devices called quads have been successfully tested with the electron beam giving similarly good results as the single GridPix detector.

High-intensity aerobic exercise might attenuate the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but high-quality evidence is scarce. Moreover, long-term adherence remains challenging. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of aerobic exercise—gamified and delivered at home, to promote adherence—on relieving motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease with mild disease severity who were on common treatment regimes. In this single-centre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial (Park-in-Shape), we recruited sedentary patients with Parkinson's disease from the outpatient clinic at Radboudumc, Nijmegen, Netherlands. Patients were made aware of the study either by their treating neurologist or via information in the waiting room. Patients could also contact the study team via social media. We included patients aged 30–75 years with a Hoehn and Yahr stage of 2 or lower, who were on stable dopaminergic medication. Patients were randomly assigned (in a 1:1 ratio) to either aerobic exercise done on a stationary home-trainer (aerobic intervention group) or stretching (active control group) by means of a web-based system with minimisation for sex and medication status (treated or untreated) and permuted blocks of varying sizes of more than two (unknown to study personnel). Patients were only aware of the content of their assigned programme. Assessors were unaware of group assignments. Both interventions were home based, requiring 30–45 min training three times per week for 6 months. Both groups received a motivational app and remote supervision. Home trainers were enhanced with virtual reality software and real-life videos providing a so-called exergaming experience (ie, exercise enhanced by gamified elements). The primary outcome was the between-group difference in the Movement Disorders Society—Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) motor section at 6 months, tested during the off state (≥12 h after last dopaminergic medication). The analysis was done on an intention-to-treat basis in patients who completed the follow-up assessment, regardless of whether they completed the assigned intervention. Patients reported adverse events directly to their coach and also after the 6-month visit retrospectively. A between-group difference of 3·5 points or more was deemed a-priori clinically relevant. The study is concluded and registered with the Dutch Trial Registry, NTR4743. Between Feb 2, 2015, and Oct 27, 2017, 139 patients were assessed for eligibility in person, of whom 130 were randomly assigned to either the aerobic intervention group (n=65) or the active control group (n=65). Data from 125 (96%) patients were available for the primary analysis; five patients were lost to follow-up (four in the intervention group; one in the control group). 20 patients (ten in each group) did not complete their assigned programme. The off-state MDS-UPDRS motor score revealed a between-group difference of 4·2 points (95% CI 1·6–6·9, p=0·0020) in favour of aerobic exercise (mean 1·3 points [SE 1·8] in the intervention group and 5·6 points [SE 1·9] for the control group). 11 patients had potentially related adverse events (seven [11%] in the intervention group, four [6%] in the control group) and seven had unrelated serious adverse events (three in the intervention group [vestibilar disorder, vasovagal collapse, knee injury during gardening that required surgery; 6%], four in the control group [supraventricular tachycardia, hip fracture, fall related injury, severe dyskinesias after suprathreshold dose levodopa in a patient with deep brain stimulation; 7%]). Aerobic exercise can be done at home by patients with Parkinson's disease with mild disease severity and it attenuates off-state motor signs. Future studies should establish long-term effectiveness and possible disease-modifying effects. Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development.

Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with a wide range of motor and non-motor symptoms. Despite optimal medical management, PD still results in a high disability rate and secondary complications and many patients lead a sedentary lifestyle, which in turn is also associated with a higher co-morbidity and mortality. Exercise has been explored as a strategy to reduce secondary complications and results suggests that it not only provides general health benefits, but may also provide symptomatic relief. If this holds true exercise would be a very attractive addition to the therapeutic arsenal in PD. The supportive evidence remains incomplete. Here, we describe the design of the Park-in-Shape study, which primarily aims to evaluate whether aerobic exercise affords clinically relevant improvements in motor symptoms in sedentary PD patients. A specific new element is the introduction of gaming to optimize compliance to the exercise intervention. Methods/Design The Park-in-Shape study is a randomized controlled, assessor- and patient-blinded single center study. Two parallel groups will include a total of 130 patients, receiving either aerobic exercise on a home trainer equipped with gaming elements (“exergaming”), or a non-aerobic intervention (stretching, flexibility and relaxation exercises). Both groups are supported by a specifically designed motivational app that uses gaming elements to stimulate patients to exercise and rewards them after having completed the exercise. Both interventions are delivered at home at least 3 times a week for 30–45 minutes during 6 months. Eligible patients are community-dwelling, sedentary patients diagnosed with mild-moderate PD. The primary outcome is the MDS-UPDRS motor score (tested in the off state ) after 6 months. Secondary outcomes include various motor and non-motor symptoms, quality of life, physical fitness, and adherence. Discussion This Park-in-Shape study is anticipated to answer the question whether high intensity aerobic exercise combined with gaming elements (“exergaming”) provides symptomatic relief in PD. Strong elements include the double-blinded randomized controlled trial design, the MDS-UPDRS as valid primary outcome, the large sample size and unique combination of home-based pure aerobic exercise combined with gaming elements and motivational aspects. Trial registration Dutch trial register NTR4743

The first evaluation of an ultra-high granularity digital electromagnetic calorimeter prototype using 1.0-5.8 GeV/c electrons is presented. The \\(25\\times10^6\\) pixel detector consists of 24 layers of ALPIDE CMOS MAPS sensors, with a pitch of around 30~\\(\\mu\\)m, and has a depth of almost 20 radiation lengths of tungsten absorber. Ultra-thin cables allow for a very compact design. The properties that are critical for physics studies are measured: electromagnetic shower response, energy resolution and linearity. The stochastic energy resolution is comparable with the state-of-the art resolution for a Si-W calorimeter, with data described well by a simulation model using GEANT and Allpix\\(^2\\). The performance achieved makes this technology a good candidate for use in the ALICE FoCal upgrade, and in general demonstrates the strong potential for future applications in high-energy physics.

A prototype of a new type of calorimeter has been designed and constructed, based on a silicon-tungsten sampling design using pixel sensors with digital readout. It makes use of the Alpide MAPS sensor developed for the ALICE ITS upgrade. A binary readout is possible due to the pixel size of \\(\\approx 30 \\times 30 \\, \\mu \\mathrm{m}^2\\). This prototype has been successfully tested with cosmic muons and with test beams at DESY and the CERN SPS. We report on performance results obtained at DESY, showing good energy resolution and linearity, and compare to detailed MC simulations. Also shown are preliminary results of the high-energy performance as measured at the SPS. The two-shower separation capabilities are discussed.

Polyethylene Naphtalate (PEN) is a mechanically very favorable polymer. Earlier it was found that thin foils made from PEN can have very high radio-purity compared to other commercially available foils. In fact, PEN is already in use for low background signal transmission applications (cables). Recently it has been realized that PEN also has favorable scintillating properties. In combination, this makes PEN a very promising candidate as a self-vetoing structural material in low background experiments. Components instrumented with light detectors could be built from PEN. This includes detector holders, detector containments, signal transmission links, etc. The current R\\&D towards qualification of PEN as a self-vetoing low background structural material is be presented.

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a proposed future high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider operating at three energy stages, with nominal centre-of-mass energies: 380 GeV, 1.5 TeV, and 3 TeV. Its aim is to explore the energy frontier, providing sensitivity to physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) and precision measurements of Standard Model processes with an emphasis on Higgs boson and top-quark physics. The opportunities for top-quark physics at CLIC are discussed in this paper. The initial stage of operation focuses on top-quark pair production measurements, as well as the search for rare flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) top-quark decays. It also includes a top-quark pair production threshold scan around 350 GeV which provides a precise measurement of the top-quark mass in a well-defined theoretical framework. At the higher-energy stages, studies are made of top-quark pairs produced in association with other particles. A study of ttH production including the extraction of the top Yukawa coupling is presented as well as a study of vector boson fusion (VBF) production, which gives direct access to high-energy electroweak interactions. Operation above 1 TeV leads to more highly collimated jet environments where dedicated methods are used to analyse the jet constituents. These techniques enable studies of the top-quark pair production, and hence the sensitivity to BSM physics, to be extended to higher energies. This paper also includes phenomenological interpretations that may be performed using the results from the extensive top-quark physics programme at CLIC.