Thermodynamics connects our knowledge of the world to our capability to manipulate and thus to control it. This crucial role of control is exemplified by the third law of thermodynamics, Nernst's unattainability principle, which states that infinite resources are required to cool a system to absolute zero temperature. But what are these resources and how should they be utilized And how does this r

Introduction and hypothesis: Long-term performance of mid-urethral slings (MUS) and potential differences between the retropubic and the transobturator technique for insertion are scarcely studied. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety 10 years after surgery and compare the two main surgical techniques used. Methods: Women who underwent surgery with a MUS between 2006 and 2010 were i

Objective and design: Fatigue is a prominent symptom in the general population and may follow viral infection, including SARS-CoV2 infection which causes COVID-19. Chronic fatigue lasting more than three months is the major symptom of the post-COVID syndrome (known colloquially as long-COVID). The mechanisms underlying long-COVID fatigue are unknown. We hypothesized that the development of long-CO

This special issue examines anti-gender politics in the specific geographical and cultural space of Eastern Europe. It investigates whether the region is just another battlefield for anti-gender politics, or a unique setting for specific developments and strategies, considering the impact and legacy of specific historical experiences and sociological and cultural characteristics. The contributions

Background: A multitude of operative trauma courses exist, most of which are designed for and conducted in high-resource settings. There are numerous barriers to adapting such courses to low- and low-middle-income countries (LMICs), including resource constraints and contextual variations in trauma care. Approaches to implementing operative trauma courses in LMICs have not been evaluated in a stru

This paper considers factors determining tax incentives and examines how effective they are using data from OCED and EU countries. It is well known that countries compete when it comes to setting the statutory corporate tax rate but do they also compete when it comes to providing tax incentives on the tax base side? The paper starts out by analyzing factors affecting different tax incentive measur

The degradation behaviour of textured CVD α-alumina has received significant attention within academic literature with regard to steel turning. In contrast, the research performed on Ni-based superalloys is yet to be brought up to the same level of understanding. Hence, the objective of this report will be to offer insights with regard to the degradation mechanisms of the textured alumina layer of

Few would argue that the difficulty in making legislative changes influences policy decisions and often results in less timely and responsive legislation. Despite this, economic research on corporate tax policy often excludes consideration of the political process. This study examines the impact of the political and economic factors on several measures of corporate tax rates and tax incentives off

In a strict sense, palaeoscolecids are a group of cycloneuralian worms (ecdysozoans) characterized by the tessellation of trunk sclerites, which are differentiated into plates, platelets, and microplates. The Wangcun section in western Hunan, South China, which represents the Furongian Series (upper Cambrian), has yielded a rich and diverse collection of palaeoscolecids. However, there is uncertai

This paper introduces a protocol for the verification of multi-physics wildfire evacuation models, including a set of tests used to ensure that the conceptual modelling representation of each modelling layer is accurately implemented, as well as the interactions between different modelling layers and sub-models (wildfire spread, pedestrian movement, traffic evacuation, and trigger buffers). This w

Purpose: After groin hernia repair (globally more than 20 million/year) 2–4% will develop persistent severe pain (PSPG). Pain management is challenging and may require multimodal interventions, including re-surgery. Quantitative somatosensory testing (QST) is an investigational psychophysiological tool with the potential to uncover the pathophysiological mechanisms behind the pain, ie, revealing n

Purpose: Tau pathology is associated with concurrent atrophy and decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but less is known about their temporal relationships. Our aim was therefore to investigate the association of concurrent and longitudinal tau PET with longitudinal changes in atrophy and relative CBF. Methods: We included 61 individuals from the Amsterdam Dementia Cohor

Fragmentation of habitat, for example by intensive agricultural practices, can be detrimental to local biodiversity. However, it often remains unclear whether such biodiversity declines are caused by loss of habitat area or increased fragmentation, and how habitat quality factors into it. In our study system, vegetated vineyards are typically small, and isolated from one another, potentially limit

Human-mediated changes in island vegetation are, among others, largely caused by the introduction and establishment of non-native species. However, data on past changes in non-native plant species abundance that predate historical documentation and censuses are scarce. Islands are among the few places where we can track human arrival in natural systems allowing us to reveal changes in vegetation d