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There is a lack of knowledge about the accuracy of the Conventional Gait Model (CGM), compared to the true bone motion. Accuracy is hindered by both marker misplacement and soft-tissue artefact (STA). The effect of the lateral knee marker (KNE) misplacement and STA was determined from a secondary analysis of 13 subjects equipped with a total knee prothesis for which simultaneous dual-plane fluoroscopy and marker-based motion capture was available. In average, STA alone led to 3.3°, 2.9° and 6.7° errors for knee flexion, knee abduction, and the absolute hip rotation respectively. In comparison, marker misplacement led to 0.9°, 4.0° and 12.3° errors for the same kinematics. We showed that STA alone may lead to knee flexion-adduction cross-talk. This finding has clinical repercussions for the use of knee cross talk as a qualitative indicator of knee axis alignment. Our study showed that cumulative effects of marker misplacement and STA affect the transverse plane angles, making challenging to track internal/external rotation with less than 5° of errors.

A new approach for understanding the mechanism of monolayer adsorption is proposed. The Langmuir model, which does not take into account sorbate-sorbate bonds, is the most common one for interpreting monolayer adsorption.When using it, the assumption about the absence of sorbate-sorbate interactions between the sorbate molecules of the first layer is never checked. However, the sorbate-sorbate interactions can make an important contribution to the adsorption energy at physical adsorption. In this case, the formation of sorbate clusters in first layer is an energetically preferable process compared to the process of individual molecules adsorption. The monolayer cluster adsorption model, which takes into account sorbate-sorbate interactions, was introduced in our previous works. In present work, based on the experimental isotherms analysis, a criterion for the mechanism of monolayer adsorption (cluster or adsorption of individual molecules) is proposed. Examples are given of the this criterion application to the study of the mechanism of carbon dioxide adsorption by IRMOF-6, IRMOF-11 and IRMOF-1, ethane by highly activated carbon Saran and methane by mica. This work develops a new approach to the interpretation of monolayer adsorption mechanism.

We propose a robust method for constructing conditionally valid prediction intervals based on models for conditional distributions such as quantile and distribution regression. Our approach can be applied to important prediction problems, including cross-sectional prediction, k–step-ahead forecasts, synthetic controls and counterfactual prediction, and individual treatment effects prediction. Our method exploits the probability integral transform and relies on permuting estimated ranks. Unlike regression residuals, ranks are independent of the predictors, allowing us to construct conditionally valid prediction intervals under heteroskedasticity. We establish approximate conditional validity under consistent estimation and provide approximate unconditional validity under model misspecification, under overfitting, and with time series data. We also propose a simple “shape” adjustment of our baseline method that yields optimal prediction intervals.

Homeopathy is a system of therapeutics that treats disease with highly diluted substances based on the Law of Similars, which holds that “like cures like.” Despite widespread use, homeopathy lacks a comprehensive and robust evidence base. We examined the state of homeopathic clinical research by critically assessing the overall quality of peer-reviewed, recently published, English-language, homeopathic clinical research in terms of internal, external, and model validity using standard and homeopathic-specific instruments. Further, we convened an international panel of nine experts in research methods and homeopathy to identify gaps in homeopathic research and prioritize areas for future study. We reviewed 99 clinical research studies targeting a wide range of populations and conditions. Studies were conducted in Western and Asian countries, with the largest number (30 percent) conducted in India. Of the 99 studies reviewed, 85 were controlled trials; 79 of these were randomized. There were many areas where the quality of the studies could be improved. About two-thirds of the 85 controlled trials had either high (42 percent) or unclear (24 percent) risk of bias according to internationally recognized standards for internal validity. Of the 14 observational (cohort) studies, over one-third did not control for important confounders in the outcome analyses. Regarding external validity, adherence was reported in less than a third of studies (n=31). Forty percent of studies (79 % of observational studies) did not report on safety. Regarding model validity, fewer than two-thirds of the studies were consistent with homeopathic principles. Our expert panel was mixed on whether the homeopathic research literature was missing important populations and/or conditions, and they suggested a variety of priority areas. Panelists also expressed a variety of opinions about the types of homeopathy that should be prioritized for future study but also noted that since homeopathic practice differs by country, each country may have different priorities. Panelists agreed with the findings of the literature review that the research literature was at least somewhat deficient in all three types of validity. Although our assessment of validity was [by necessity] based only on what was reported, this assessment suggests the need for both better reporting and higher quality research. They recommended the use of reporting guidelines to improve all types of validity, the identification of exemplar studies to help guide researchers to improve internal validity, and, given the limitations of the instruments available to measure external and model validity, that these instruments be validated and configured to provide summary scores. Finally, substantial discussion addressed the need to bring more research expertise into homeopathic studies, both by better training homeopathic researchers and by collaborating with experienced conventional medicine research groups. •The validity of homeopathic research studies is reasonable but can be improved.•Adherence to standard and homeopathic-specific reporting guidelines would help.•Identify and target a few populations and conditions for replication studies.•All homeopathy studies should proactively monitor and report on adverse events.•Increase homeopathic research expertise through better training and collaborations.

Background The Critical Appraisal Tool for Homeopathic Intervention Studies (CATHIS) core is a streamlined appraisal tool for homeopathic intervention studies focusing on credibility, coherence, and clinical relevance. The aim of the research project was to evaluate its inter-rater reliability, feasibility, and face validity. Methods In a preregistered cross-sectional study, four raters independently applied CATHIS core to 28 trials (21 randomised controlled trials, 7 non-randomised studies on interventions) drawn from reviews on insomnia and hypertension; two external reviewers provided consensus ratings. Inter-rater reliability (IRR) was estimated using percent agreement, Fleiss’ κ, and Gwet’s AC2 (95% CIs). Feasibility was quantified as rating time and consensus time. Associations among the three domains were explored with correlation analyses and sensitivity checks. Results IRR varied markedly by domain. Credibility showed good agreement (Fleiss’ κ=0.66, 95% CI 0.57–0.74; AC2 =0.76, 0.71–0.82). Coherence yielded only poor-to-fair agreement (κ=0.28, 0.16–0.40; AC2 =0.41, 0.30–0.51). Clinical relevance was similarly limited (κ=0.32, 0.23–0.41; AC2 =0.36, 0.28–0.44). Individual ratings required on average 65.8 min, while consensus discussions averaged 17.7 min. Correlation analyses indicated heterogeneous and partly overlapping domain signals with limited interpretability. Face-validity responses reflected moderate-to-high acceptance but difficulties in consistent application. Conclusion CATHIS core yielded reproducible credibility ratings but only fair and operationally fragile agreement for coherence and clinical relevance, alongside non-trivial rating burden. Taken together, the current reliability profile is insufficient for confident use in systematic reviews. Targeted refinement appears warranted before broader implementation.

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a prevalent functional psychosis characterized by clinical behavioural symptoms and underlying abnormalities in brain function. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of schizophrenia have revealed many loci that do not directly identify processes disturbed in the disease. For this reason, the development of cellular models containing SZ-associated variations has become a focus in the post-GWAS research era. The application of revolutionary clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing tools, along with recently developed technologies for cultivating brain organoids in vitro, have opened new perspectives for the construction of these models. In general, cellular models are intended to unravel particular biological phenomena. They can provide the missing link between schizophrenia-related phenotypic features (such as transcriptional dysregulation, oxidative stress and synaptic dysregulation) and data from pathomorphological, electrophysiological and behavioural studies. The objectives of this review are the systematization and classification of cellular models of schizophrenia, based on their complexity and validity for understanding schizophrenia-related phenotypes.

Animal models are necessary to investigate the pathogenic features underlying motor neuron degeneration and for therapeutic development in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Measures of model validity allow for a critical interpretation of results from each model and caution from over-interpretation of experimental models. Face and construct validity refer to the similarity in phenotype and the proposed causal factor to the human disease, respectively. More recently developed models are restricted by limited phenotype characterization, yet new models hold promise for novel disease insights, thus highlighting their importance. In this article, we evaluate the features of face and construct validity of our new zebrafish model of environmentally-induced motor neuron degeneration and discuss this in the context of current environmental and genetic ALS models, including C9orf72, mutant Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase 1 and TAR DNA-binding protein 43 mouse and zebrafish models. In this mini-review, we discuss the pros and cons to validity criteria in each model. Our zebrafish model of environmentally-induced motor neuron degeneration displays convincing features of face validity with many hallmarks of ALS-like features, and weakness in construct validity. However, the value of this model may lie in its potential to be more representative of the pathogenic features underlying sporadic ALS cases, where environmental factors may be more likely to be involved in disease etiology than single dominant gene mutations. It may be necessary to compare findings between different strains and species modeling specific genes or environmental factors to confirm findings from ALS animal models and tease out arbitrary strain- and overexpression-specific effects.

Introduction Cultural adaptations of healthcare interventions are widely advocated to improve effectiveness, acceptability, and equity for diverse populations. Despite the existence of several cultural adaptation frameworks, there remains a lack of practical, transferable guidance on how adaptations are undertaken in applied healthcare settings. Adaptation processes are frequently underreported, limiting transparency, reproducibility, and learning across studies, especially within a UK context. This paper addresses this gap by presenting a structured, step‐by‐step guide for culturally adapting healthcare interventions, using a healthcare toolkit, ‘I Manage My Meds’, as a case study for adaptation. Methods A methodological case study approach was used to develop an eight‐step, iterative guide for cultural adaptation. The guide integrates a phased structure model with the substantive domains of the Ecological Validity Model (EVM). Development was informed by collaboration with community stakeholders, patients, public contributors, translators, and researchers during the cultural adaptation of an existing healthcare intervention for older adults from a South Asian background in the UK. The guide was refined through repeated cycles of stakeholder engagement, pilot testing, and reflection, with adaptations systematically mapped to the eight EVM domains. Results The resulting step‐by‐step guide provides practical direction on how to plan, implement, document, and refine cultural adaptations across a healthcare intervention. Key reflections from the guide are that cultural adaptations should be considered as cyclical processes rather than linear; deep‐level adaptations often require reframing intervention assumptions; and sustained stakeholder collaboration is essential for maintaining intervention fidelity while improving cultural relevance. The guide is designed to be transferable across populations, settings, and intervention types. Conclusion This paper contributes practical methodological guidance to an underdeveloped area of implementation research. By offering a transparent and replicable step‐by‐step guide, it supports researchers and practitioners to move beyond superficial adaptations and to more consistently document cultural adaptation processes. Wider use of this guide may improve the quality, equity, and reproducibility of culturally adapted healthcare interventions. Patient or Public Contribution The guide was developed in collaboration with the Leeds Older People's Forum and community representatives from a South Asian background who formed a stakeholder group. Alongside our lay leader expert, a co‐author on the paper, they contributed to reviewing intervention content, identifying culturally relevant adaptations, testing pilot materials, and refining the step‐by‐step guide through iterative feedback and collaboration.

Leaf shape is an important leaf trait, with ovate leaves common in many floras. Recently, a new leaf shape model (referred to as the MLRF equation) derived from temperature-dependent bacterial growth was proposed and demonstrated to be valid in describing leaf boundaries of many species with ovate leaf shape. The MLRF model’s parameters can provide valuable information of leaf shape, including the ratio of lamina width to length and the lamina centroid location on the lamina length axis. However, the model wasn’t tested on a large sample of a single species, thereby limiting its overall evaluation for describing leaf boundaries, for evaluating lamina bilateral asymmetry and for calculating lamina centroid location. In this study, we further test the model using data from two Lauraceae species, Cinnamomum camphora and Machilus leptophylla , with >290 leaves for each species. The equation was found to be credible for describing those shapes, with all adjusted root-mean-square errors (RMSE) smaller than 0.05, indicating that the mean absolute deviation is smaller than 5% of the radius of an assumed circle whose area equals lamina area. It was also found that the larger the extent of lamina asymmetry, the larger the adjusted RMSE, with approximately 50% of unexplained variation by the model accounted for by the lamina asymmetry, implying that this model can help to quantify the leaf bilateral asymmetry in future studies. In addition, there was a significant difference between the two species in their centroid ratio, i.e., the distance from leaf petiole to the point on the lamina length axis associated with leaf maximum width to the leaf maximum length. It was found that a higher centroid ratio does not necessarily lead to a greater investment of mass to leaf petiole relative to lamina, which might depend on the petiole pattern.

A bstract Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s = 8 TeV. The analysis is performed in the H → γγ decay channel using 20.3 fb −1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The pp → H → γγ fiducial cross section is measured to be 43.2 ±9.4(stat.) − 2.9 + 3.2 (syst.) ±1.2(lumi)fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations.