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Diagnosis by rapid antigen tests (RATs) is useful for early initiation of antiviral treatment. Because RATs are easy to use, they can be adapted for self-testing. Several kinds of RATs approved for such use by the Japanese regulatory authority are available from drug stores and websites. Most RATs for COVID-19 are based on antibody detection of the SARS-CoV-2 N protein. Since Omicron and its subvariants have accumulated several amino acid substitutions in the N protein, such amino acid changes might affect the sensitivity of RATs. Here, we investigated the sensitivity of seven RATs available in Japan, six of which are approved for public use and one of which is approved for clinical use, for the detection of BA.5, BA.2.75, BF.7, XBB.1, and BQ.1.1, as well as the delta variant (B.1.627.2). All tested RATs detected the delta variant with a detection level between 7500 and 75 000 pfu per test, and all tested RATs showed similar sensitivity to the Omicron variant and its subvariants (BA.5, BA.2.75, BF.7, XBB.1, and BQ.1.1). Human saliva did not reduce the sensitivity of the RATs tested. Espline SARS-CoV-2 N showed the highest sensitivity followed by Inspecter KOWA SARS-CoV-2 and V Trust SARS-CoV-2 Ag. Since the RATs failed to detect low levels of infectious virus, individuals whose specimens contained less infectious virus than the detection limit would be considered negative. Therefore, it is important to note that RATs may miss individuals shedding low levels of infectious virus., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Medical Virology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: The COVID‐19 pandemic has caused many adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) to lose their daily routines and social support, and as a result, many adults with IDD are increasingly reliant on their family caregivers. Siblings often play a crucial support role for their brothers and sisters with IDD. As such, this study aimed to describe the experiences of adult siblings of people with IDD during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods: The Sibling Collaborative worked with researchers to codesign an online survey, completed by 91 people, exploring sibling supports and concerns during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The survey also aimed to identify helpful resources for siblings during this time. Results: The results showed that the majority of siblings are supporting their brother or sister with IDD during the COVID‐19 pandemic and are concerned about the health and well‐being of their brother/sister. The most common concern related to disruption of their brother's or sister's routine and activities. Although responses of older and younger siblings did not differ from each other, siblings whose brother or sister with IDD lived with family had some unique concerns relative to those whose siblings no longer lived with family. Siblings described how their own self‐care and relationships with others, as well as support for their brother/sister, were particularly helpful during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Conclusions: Siblings are providing key support to their brother or sister with IDD during the COVID‐19 pandemic, and they too must be supported. Siblings should be included in efforts to disseminate resources targeting people with IDD and their feedback and input must be obtained. It is also important to include sibling mental wellness as caregiver supports are created and implemented. More research is needed to further understand how to support sibling caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We model the decomposition reaction of a solid powder into a solid plus gas in a mixed homogeneous open solar reactor and derive criteria for stability. Instability may occur via a feedback mechanism whereby gas produced in the decomposition reaction reduces the inflow, which leads to even higher reaction rate. For a variety of reactions proposed for solar application, we list the limits of stable operation as the maximum fraction of solid educt in the input carrier gas both for complete as well as for partial decomposition.

We consider volumetric thermal absorbers exposed to nonuniform irradiance. The fluid flows perpendicular to the absorber surface. The fluid transport from front to rear surface elements is connected in a parallel configuration. We investigate the optimum adjustment of the local mass flux or, equivalently, the local absorber temperature. Three different strategies are compared: (1) strategy of uniform mass flux, (2) strategy of uniform exit temperature, and (3) a strategy with a locally optimized temperature-flow profile. Significant improvement of strategy (2) compared to (1) and of strategy (3) compared to (2) is observed for the case of a black-body absorber which is isothermal in the direction normal to the absorber surface. We find it to be advantageous to include even regions where the stagnation temperature is below the desired exit temperature.

Thermal surface absorbers convert all incident radiation to heat at a single local temperature. The fluid flows perpendicular to the radiation's propagation direction. In contrast, in volumetric absorbers the fluid flows parallel to the radiation's propagation direction, and the absorber may exhibit temperature stratification along the radiation's direction. This raises the question whether reabsorption of parts of the thermal emission coming from the hotter absorber sections renders the volumetric absorber superior to the surface absorber. For the case of isotropic radiation, we compare the efficiency of the volumetric and the surface absorber with each other and with an isothermal absorber. We find that the nonselective volumetric absorber is less efficient than the nonselective surface absorber for the assumption of perfect heat transfer between absorber and fluid. Thus we conclude that in practical high-flux applications, the superiority of volumetric absorbers stems from the enhanced heat transfer area. If the fluid flows against the direction of radiation propagation the volumetric absorber is slightly more efficient than if it flows with this direction. We also discuss the effect of the two-flux approximation on simulation of isotropic volumetric absorbers.

The reradiation losses, inherent to every thermal receiver, can be significantly reduced by exposing the working fluid to monotonously increasing irradiance and preventing energy exchange between parts of the receiver that are at different temperatures. In this way the highest temperatures are reached only near the end of the working fluid's path. The improvement is much more pronounced for nonuniform as compared to uniform irradiance. For a Gaussian distribution of irradiance we calculate improvements exceeding a factor of two for the efficiency at a given temperature (0.8 of the peak stagnation temperature), and for the temperature at a given efficiency of 0.8. These results are independent of the peak irradiance and of the width of the distribution. Even a coarse partitioning into two mutually isothermal parts can already produce a significant improvement over the totally isothermal receiver.

Discusses a model of a solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) device both for improving the efficiency of one-band-gap photovoltaic cells by matching the photon energy to the band gap and for concentrating diffuse radiation. Definition of thermophotovoltaic; Investigation of a general SPTV system with ideal components; Characteristics of a one-band-gap photovoltaic cell.

The systematic review aimed to systematize the empirical literature on the psychological impact of disability on the siblings of persons with disabilities, to inform research and provide clinical recommendations. Two research questions addressed the review: (1) What are the main psychological constructs investigated in siblings of persons with disability? (2) What is the main role of each psychological construct in siblings of persons with disability experience? The electronic search was conducted in 7 databases and the PRISMA diagram was used. The inclusion criteria were: Papers published in English and in peer-reviewed journals; papers published between January 2014 and June 2024; qualitative, quantitative, and mixed studies; and papers on the psychological impact of disabilities and/or chronic illnesses on the experience of siblings of persons with disabilities. The standardized Mixed Method Appraisal Tool protocol was used to appraise the methodological quality of the studies. To summarize the findings, a narrative approach was adopted. A total of 60 studies have been reviewed. According to the methodological quality appraisal of studies, most of them reported a high (n = 45) and medium (n = 15) quality. They involved 10,146 participants. Findings revealed that sibling relationships, sibling-focused parentification, and emotional/behavioral adjustment are the main psychological constructs investigated by existing literature. Few studies focused on siblings' well-being. Studies exploring more than a psychological construct were included as a hybrid. Only one study examined the siblings' psychological experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The quality of the sibling relationship ranged from good to poor; the caregiver is the main role played by siblings of persons with disabilities; anxiety, depression, and aggressive behaviors are the main emotional/behavioral symptoms revealed. Most studies (n = 39) recruited participants with brothers or sisters with mental disorders. The findings of this systematic review may play a role in the clinical field, as they might help to design gender- and age-specific intervention programs., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing Interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Focuses on off-axis extra lines contained in powder sample electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum of Cr3+ ions in YAlO3 crystals. Orientation dependence of the EPR spectrum; Transition between the central Kramers doublet in the powder system; Angular variations of the EPR spectra.