The process of full-thickness skin regeneration is complex and has many parameters involved, which makes it difficult to use a single dressing to meet the various requirements of the complete regeneration at the same time. Therefore, developing hydrogel dressings with multifunction, including tunable rheological properties and aperture, hemostatic, antibacterial and super cytocompatibility, is a desirable candidate in wound healing. In this study, a series of complex hydrogels were developed via the hydrogen bond and covalent bond between chitosan (CS) and alginate (SA). These hydrogels exhibited suitable pore size and tunable rheological properties for cell adhesion. Chitosan endowed hemostatic, antibacterial properties and great cytocompatibility and thus solved two primary problems in the early stage of the wound healing process. Moreover, the sustained cytocompatibility of the hydrogels was further investigated after adding FGF and VE-cadherin via the co-culture of L929 and EC for 12 days. The confocal 3D fluorescent images showed that the cells were spherical and tended to form multicellular spheroids, which distributed in about 40-60μm thick hydrogels. Furthermore, the hydrogel dressings significantly accelerate defected skin turn to normal skin with proper epithelial thickness and new blood vessels and hair follicles through the histological analysis of in vivo wound healing. The findings mentioned above demonstrated that the CS/SA hydrogels with growth factors have tremendous potential as multifunctional hydrogel dressings for full-thickness skin regeneration incorporated with hemostatic, antibacterial, sustained cytocompatibility for 3D cell culture and normal skin repairing.

This study examines the effect of a hyaluronic acid (HyAc) containing tricalcium phosphate putty scaffold material (TCP-P) and of a particulate tricalcium phosphate (TCP-G) graft on bone formation, volume stability and osteogenic marker expression in biopsies sampled 6 months after bilateral sinus floor augmentation (SFA) in 7 patients applying a split-mouth design. Biopsies were processed for immunohistochemical analysis of resin embedded sections. Sections were stained for collagen type I (Col I), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OC) and bone sialoprotein (BSP). Furthermore, the bone area and particle area fraction were determined histomorphometrically. Cone-beam CT data recorded after SFA and 6 month later were used for calculating the graft volume at these two time points. TCP-P displayed more advantageous surgical handling properties and a significantly greater bone area fraction and smaller particle area fraction. This was accompanied by significantly greater expression of Col I and BSP and in osteoblasts and osteoid and a less pronounced reduction in grafting volume with TCP-P. SFA using both types of materials resulted in formation of sufficient bone volume for facilitating stable dental implant placement with all dental implants having been in function without any complications for 6 years. Since TCP-P displayed superior surgical handling properties and greater bone formation than TCP-G, without the Hyac hydrogel matrix having any adverse effect on bone formation or graft volume stability, TCP-P can be regarded as excellent grafting material for SFA in a clinical setting.

We aimed to determine whether A-mode ultrasound (US) can provide accurate and reliable measurements comparable to those obtained through B-mode US, under diverse conditions. Thirty healthy participants (15 female, 15 male) underwent measurements of subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT), muscle thickness (MT), and muscle quality (MQ) in the trapezius and biceps brachii muscle with both US modes after and before exercises designed to stimulate the respec-tive muscles. In three key indices, the results demonstrated high validity of A-mode, with min-imal mean differences between the two devices less than 0.91mm and intraclass correlation coef-ficients exceeding 0.95 at all measures. Also, Correlation coefficients between error scores and average scores for the trapezius and biceps brachii muscles suggested no evidence of systematic error. The trapezius MT and MQ significantly increased, and biceps brachii MT significantly in-creased after exercise (p<0.05). Notably, both A-mode and B-mode exhibited the same tendency in these post-exercise changes in muscle. This study suggests that low-cost and low-resolution A-mode US provides measurements of SFT, MT, and MQ similar to more expensive, high-resolution B-mode imaging. A-mode US can serve as an affordable and portable alternative for muscle assessment.

Superconducting split ring resonator arrays allow to overcome two main limitations affecting metallic metamaterial resonating in the Terahertz (THz) range: Ohmic losses and tunability of their optical response. In this work, we design and experimentally realize direct and complementary square arrays of superconducting YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) split ring resonators working in the THz spectral range. The main purpose of this paper is to show how the metamaterial resonances can be tuned by temperature (T) when crossing the superconducting transition temperature Tc of YBCO. The tuning property can be quantified by describing the THz transmittance of the patterned YBCO films vs. T through a model of coupled resonators. This model allows us to estimate the THz resonances of split-ring arrays and their interaction, showing how the kinetic inductance Lk in the superconducting state is the main parameter affecting the metamaterial properties.

Purpose: Physical activity (PA) is likely the most important modifiable element for the growth of skeletal muscle. However, a detailed investigation of PA’s impact on preschoolers’ of skeletal muscle development is lacking. This study aimed to determine whether PA level is related to skeletal muscle thickness among preschool children. Methods: 275 healthy preschoolers between the ages 4–6 were instructed to wear an accelerometer for 4 consecutive days. The daily steps and minutes spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and total PA (TPA) were examined. Muscle thickness (MT) was measured by B-mode ultrasonography. The MT was measured at the anterior (AT) and posterior thigh (PT) and the anterior (AL) and posterior lower leg (PL). Results: Boys were more physically active and engaged in significantly more TPA and MVPA on weekdays compared with girls. Compared with that on the weekends, more physical activity, and significantly greater number of daily steps and higher TPA and MVPA were recorded for both boys and girls on the weekdays. Multivariable regression analyses, after adjusting for daylight duration, indicated that a daily increase in the TPA and MVPA would lead to higher muscle size in AT (β=1.11 and β=1.37, p<0.05), and PL (β=1.18 and β=0.94, p<0.05) among preschool children. Conclusions: The time spent involved in most of the different categories of MVPA was significantly higher for boys than for girls on the weekdays and weekends. MVPA was positively correlated with greater skeletal muscle development in the lower body.

By using directed dimensional analysis and data fitting, an explicit universal scaling law for the velocity of dominoes toppling motion is formulated. The scaling law shows that domino propagational velocity is linearly proportional to the 1/2 power of domino separation and thickness, and -1/2 power of domino height and gravitation. The study also proved that dominoes width and mass have no influence on the domino wave traveling velocity. The scaling law obtained in this Letter is very useful to the dominoes game and will help the domino player to place the dominoes for fast speed and have a quick estimation on the speed without doing complicated multi-bodies dynamical simulation.

Recent advances in embedded antenna and sensor technologies for 5G communications have galvanized a response toward the investigation of their electromagnetic (EM) performance for urban context and civil engineering applications. This article quantitatively investigates the effects of material loading on an evolved antecedent-based design of a hexagonal-stubbed Complementary Split-Ring Resonator (CSRR)-loaded antenna through simulation and experimentation. The optimized antenna design is first conceptualized within a simulation environment to achieve EM resonance at 3.50 GHz before delving into the analysis of operational performance characteristics. As a proof-of-concept, a physical antenna prototype is fabricated on a printed circuit board for the in-situ evaluation of S11 parameter plot. Subsequently, a simulation-based parametric study is conducted on antenna prototypes embedded into Ordinary Portland Cement pastes with varying weight percentages of iron(III) oxide. Simulation-derived and experimental results are mutually verified, achieving a systemic downward shift in resonant frequency and corresponding variations in impedance matching induced by changes in the loading reactance. Finally, an inversion modeling procedure is employed using perturbation theory to extrapolate the relative permittivity of the dielectric embedding materials. Our proposed analysis contributes to optimizing concrete-embedded 5G antenna sensor designs and establishes a foundational framework for estimating unknown EM parameters of cement-based composites.

In this paper, we establish the necessary and sufficient conditions for solving a dual split quaternion matrix equation AXB=C, and present the general solution expression when solvability is achieved. As an application, we delve into the necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of Hermitian solution to this equation by using a newly defined real representation method. Furthermore, we obtain the solutions for the dual split quaternion matrix equations AX=C and XB=C. Finally, we provide a numerical example to demonstrate the findings of this paper.

This work investigates the influence of strain rate on the stress/strain behaviour of Scalmalloy. This material is an aluminium-scandium-magnesium alloy, specifically developed for additive manufacturing. The bulk yield stress of the material processed by Selective Laser Melting is approximately 340 MPa which can be increased by heat-treating to approximately 530 MPa. These numbers, combined with the low mass density of 2.7 g/cm3, make Scalmalloy an interesting candidate for lightweight crash-absorbing structures. As this application is inherently dynamic, it is of interest to study the loading rate sensitivity, which is difficult to predict: Al-Sc alloys exhibit classic strain rate sensitivity with an increased yield stress at elevated strain rates. However, Al-Mg alloys are known to show the contrary effect, they exhibit less strength as strain rate is increased. To answer the question how these effects combine, we study the dynamic behaviour at four different strain rates ranging from 10−3 /s to 1000 /s using servo-hydraulic and Split-Hopkinson testing methods. The resulting data is analysed in terms of strain rate sensitivity of tensile strength and failure strain. A constitutive model based on a simplified Johnson-Cook approach is employed to simulate the tensile tests and provides good agreement with the experimental observations.

Hidradenitis suppurativa and Langerhans cell histiocytosis are rare disorders that can reveal similar clinical manifestations, making differential diagnosis difficult. A definitive diagnosis requires biopsy and histological confirmation in suspicious cases. The complex pathophysiology of these diseases has still not been understood, therefore the treatment is still a challenge for physicians. It is seen with predilection in the intertriginous areas of the body, predominantly in the axillary region, rarely requiring a surgical procedure. However perineal, perianal, and gluteal HS usually necessitates some form of surgical treatment. Langerhans cell histiocytosis (histiocytosis X) is a very rare systemic disease manifested by clonal cell proliferation of histiocytic-dendritic nature, with pseudonodular manifestation that deeply infiltrates the hypodermis and ulcerates the epidermis on the surface. Langerhans cells are dendritic, antigen-presenting cells localized in the suprabasal regions of the squamous epithelium of the skin and mucous membranes, which help regulate the immune system. In this report, we present our experience with extensive gluteal, perineal, and perianal hidradenitis suppurativa and Langerhans cell histiocytosis cases, including our treatment methods and outcomes.

The purpose of the study was to determine the “retinal thickness deviation” (RTD) in diabetic macular edema (DME) eyes treated with intravitreal therapy and to establish associations be-tween RTD and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). We conducted a retrospective study, in-cluding consecutive DME eyes undergoing intravitreal therapy with two years of follow-up. BCVA and central subfield thickness (CST) were collected at baseline, 12 months and 24 months of follow-up. RTD was calculated as the absolute difference between measured and normative CST values at each time point. Linear regression analyses were performed between RTD and BCVA and between CST and BCVA. One hundred and four eyes were included in the analysis. The RTD was 177.0 (117.2) μm at baseline, 97.0 (99.7) μm at 12 months and 89.9 (75.3) μm at 24 months of follow-up (P < .001). RTD showed a moderate association with BCVA at baseline (R2=0.134, p<0.001) and 12 months (R2=0.197, p<0.001), and a substantial association at 24 months (R2=0.272, p<0.001). The CST showed a moderate association with BCVA at baseline (R2=0.132, p<0.001) and 12 months (R2=0.136, p<0.001), while the association was weak at 24 months (R2=0.065, p=0.009). In conclusion, RTD showed a good association with visual outcome in DME eyes undergoing intravitreal treatment.

A better study of the postnatal retinal development is not only essential for the in-depth understanding of the nature of the vision system but also may provide insights for treatment developments of eye conditions, such as retinopathy of premature (ROP). To date, quantitative analysis of postnatal retinal development is primarily limited to endpoint histological examination. This study is to validate in vivo optical coherence tomography (OCT) for longitudinal monitoring of postnatal retinal development in developing mouse eyes. Three-dimensional (3D) frame registration and super averaging were adopted to investigate the fine structure of the retina. Interestingly, a hyporeflective layer (HRL) between the nerve fiber layer (NFL) and inner plexiform layer (IPL) was observed in developing eyes and gradually disappeared with aging. To interpret the observed retinal layer kinetics, a model based on eyeball expansion, cell apoptosis, and retinal structural modification was proposed.

The existence of the hole on a plate affects the calculation of eddy current problems. Consequently, the accuracy for the prediction of the material properties decreases if the effect of the hole is not taken into account. In this paper, a novel analytical method based on the modified integration range is proposed which can address the presence of the hole. Due to the presence of the hole, the conventional Dodd-Deeds analytical solution cannot be used to calculate the inductance change. Therefore, a revised upper integration limit is introduced to replace the original limit -- ∞ when using the co-axially air-core electromagnetic sensor. With the presence of the hole, the magnitude of the received signal reduces, and the peak frequency feature changes. The analytical method is validated by measured and numerical simulation results. It is found that the upper limit is related to the radius of the open hole. With the new technique, the thickness of sample plates with holes can be estimated based on the peak frequency feature.

A millimeter-wave microstrip leaky-wave antenna array based on the substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) and the complementary split-ring resonator (CSRR) is proposed in this paper. The slow wave characteristics of the SIW are enhanced by etching two rows of symmetrical CSRR-type slots on the surface of the SIW layer. The magnetic coupling between the CSRR-SIW layer and equally spaced circular patches array on the upper layer realizes the radiation of electromagnetic energy. In the 23~30 GHz (relative bandwidth 26.4%) operating frequency band, the horizontal polarization radiation beam scanning from -62° to -2° is realized, with a peak gain of 9.6~11.7 dBi, and the cross-polarization ratio is more than 43.8 dB.

The ductile behavior of strain hardening cement-based composites (SHCC) under direct tensile load makes them promising solutions for applications where high energy dissipation is needed, such as earthquake, impact by a projectile, or blast. However, the superior tensile ductility of SHCC due to multiple cracking does not necessarily entail compressive and shear ductility. As an effort to characterize the behavior of SHCC under impact compressive and shear loading, relevant to the mentioned high-speed loading scenarios, the paper at hand studies the performance of a SHCC and its constituent cement-based matrices using the split-Hopkinson bar method. For compression experiments, cylindrical specimens with a length-to-diameter ratio (l/d) of 1.6 were used. The selected length of the sample led to similar failure modes under the quasi-static and impact loading conditions, which was necessary for a reliable comparison of the obtained compressive strengths. The impact experiments were performed in a split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) at a strain rate that reached 110 s-1 at the moment of failure. For shear experiments, a special adapter was developed for a split-Hopkinson tension bar (SHTB). The adapter enabled performing impact shear experiments on planar specimens using the tensile wave generated in the SHTB. Results showed a dynamic increase factor (DIF) of 2.3 and 2.0 for compressive and shear strength of SHCC, respectively. As compared to the non-reinforced constituent matrix, the absolute value of the compressive strength was lower for the SHCC. Contrarily, under shear loading, the SHCC yielded the higher shear strength than the non-reinforced matrix.

Changing the film thickness to manipulate the microstructural properties has been considered as a potential method in practical application. Here, we report that atomic-scale structural properties regulated by film thickness in NiCO2O4(NCO)/CuFe2O4(CFO) bilayer heterostructure prepared on (001)-MgAl2O4 (MAO) substrate by means of aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The misfit dislocations at NCO/CFO interface and antiphase boundaries (APBs) bound to dislocations within the films both are found in NCO (40 nm)/CFO (40 nm)/MAO heterostructure to contribute to relaxation of mismatch lattice strain. In addition, the non-overlapping a/4[101]-APB is found and the structural transformation of this kind of APB is resolved at atomic scale. In contrast, only the interfacial dislocations form at interface without the formation of APBs within the films in NCO (10 nm)/CFO (40 nm)/MAO heterostructure. Our results provide evidence that formation of microstructural defects can be regulated by changing film thickness to tune magnetic properties of epitaxial bilayer spinel oxide films.

This study was to explore the effects of glabridin and gymnemic acid on the structural changes of the choroidal layer as well as the expression of VEGF and CD31 in diabetic rats. The animals were separated into five groups: the control group (C), the diabetic group (DM), the diabetic rats treated with glabridin 40 mg/kg body weight (DM+GB), the diabetic rats treated with gymnemic acid 400 mg/kg body weight (DM+GM), and the diabetic rats treated with glyburide 4 mg/kg body weight (DM+GR). There has been an increase in the thickness of both the choroid layer and the wall of the arteries in the diabetic group. A decrease in vascularity and choroidal neovascularization can be found in DM rats. After eight weeks of experimentation, the choroidal thickness and wall of choroid arteries, as well as the diameter of the lumen of choroid arteries in the DM+GB, DM+GM, and DM+GR groups, had improved. The expression of VEGF and CD31 was lower compared to the DM group. According to the findings of the current research, glabridin and gymnemic acid can improve and reduce the damage to the choroid, which is a factor that can sometimes result in vision loss.

For the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), the separator thickness plays an important role to determine the weight, the volume and the costs of the PEFC. In addition, thermal management, i.e. temperature distribution is also important for the PEFC system to obtain higher performance. However, there were few reports investigating the relationship between the temperature distribution and the power generation performance such as current density distribution of PEFC operated at higher temperature (HT-PEFC). The aim of this study is to clarify the impact of separator thickness on the relationship between the temperature distribution and the current density distribution of HT-PEFC. This study has also investigated the impact of separator thickness on the relationship between the temperature distribution and the gases such as H2, O2 and the current density distribution of HT-PEFC numerically using CFD software COMSOL Multiphysics. The separator thicknesses of 2.0 mm, 1.5 mm and 1.0 mm were studied. In the study, the operation temperature and the relative humidity (RH) of supply gas were also changed. As a result, it was revealed that the optimum separator thickness was 2.0 mm to obtain higher power generation of HT-PEFC. Since the heat capacity in the case of the separator thickness of 2.0 mm was the largest among the separators investigated in this study, the dehydration of PEM and catalyst layer was smaller compared with the thinner separator thicknesses. It was also revealed that the impacts of separator thickness on distribution of gases, e.g. O2, H2O, and current density distribution became larger under higher temperature and lower RH conditions. This study also concluded that the tendency of temperature distribution matched those of O2, H2O and current density distributions.

This paper reassesses the detrimental effect on fatigue performance due to thicker sections based on extensive fatigue strength test database, taken from research program worldwide over the past half of a century in offshore oil &amp; gas and renewable industry. The data entries in the database have been evaluated to ensure its data integrity. Statistical analyses on these S-N data are performed with or without the thickness correction at different exposure level to corrosive environment, in order to re-evaluate the suitability of current standards in regard to the thickness effect. The study has concentrated on T-joint, transverse butt welded joint and tubular joint as these are the most commonly used joint types in the offshore wind industry. The analysis indicates general agreement of fatigue strength with the thickness effects in current standard for in air conditions but great conservatism for corrosive environment.

Abstract In order to reduce the failure accidents of conventional packers, a kind of sealing structure of retrievable packers is designed, which can provide reference for optimizing the sealing performance and pressure capacity of packers. And theoretical calculation and experimental research on its sealing performance and pressure capacity are carries out through the finite element analysis on the contact with large deformation based on Abaqus and experimental. The results show that when the rubber cylinder of retrievable packers in the sealing process, the upper packer is subjected to greater stress and mainly plays a sealing role. In order to improve the sealing performance of packer, the height of upper and lower packer should be preferentially selected about 60 mm, the height of middle rubber cylinders should be about 50 mm, and the thickness of packer should be about 21 mm. The newly designed rubber cylinders can meet 150 ℃. Sealing and pressure-bearing function under the condition of 10000 Psi. The rubber cylinder of newly designed can satisfy the function of sealing and pressure-bearing under 140 ℃ and 10000 Psi. The whole experiment shows that the capacity of bearing pressure and sealing is stable, which can better meet the requirements of field use.

Recently published structural analysis and galvanomagnetic studies of a large number of different bulk and mesoscopic graphite samples of high quality and purity reveal that the common picture assuming graphite samples as a semimetal with a homogeneous carrier density of conduction electrons is misleading. These new studies indicate that the main electrical conduction path occurs within 2D interfaces embedded in semiconducting Bernal and/or rhombohedral stacking regions. This new knowledge incites us to revise experimentally and theoretically the diamagnetism of graphite samples. We found that the $c$-axis susceptibility of highly pure oriented graphite samples is not really constant but can vary several tens of percent for bulk samples with thickness $t \gtrsim 30~\mu$m, whereas by a much larger factor for samples with smaller thickness. The observed decrease of the susceptibility with sample thickness resembles qualitatively the one reported for the electrical conductivity and indicates that the main part of the $c-$axis diamagnetic signal is not intrinsic of the ideal graphite structure but it is due to the highly conducting 2D interfaces. The interpretation of the main diamagnetic signal of graphite agrees with the reported description of its galvanomagnetic properties and provides a hint to understand some magnetic peculiarities of thin graphite samples.

To compare the quality of low-energy VMIs obtained with three DECT platforms according to phantom diameter. Three sections of the Mercury Phantom 4.0 were scanned on two generations of split-filter CTs (SFCT-1st and SFCT-2nd) and on one Dual-source CT (DSCT). Noise power spectrum (NPS), task-based transfer function (TTF) and detectability index (d’) were assessed on VMIs from 40 to 70keV. Highest noise magnitude values were found with SFCT-1st and noise magnitude was higher with DSCT than with SFCT-2nd for 26-cm (10.2±1.3%) and 31-cm (7.0±2.5%), and the opposite for 36-cm (-4.2±2.5%). The highest average NPS spatial frequencies and TTF values at 50% (f50) values were found with DSCT. For all energy levels, f50 values were higher with SFCT-2nd than SFCT-1st for 26-cm (3.2±0.4%) and the opposite for 31-cm (-6.9±0.5%) and 36-cm (-5.6±0.7%). The lowest d’ values were found with SFCT-1st. For all energy levels, d’ values were lower with SFCT-2nd than with DSCT for 26-cm (-6.2±0.7%), similar for 31-cm (-0.3±1.9%) and higher for 36-cm (5.4±2.7%). In conclusion, compared to SFCT-1st, SFCT-2nd exhibited lower noise magnitude and higher detectability values. Compared with DSCT, SFCT-2nd had lower noise magnitude and higher detectability for the 26-cm but the opposite was true for the 36-cm.

Weaning is a critical period in the pig’s life. Piglets are confronted with abrupt changes to their physical and social environment, as well as management and nutritional changes. Weaning was always associated with a growth check and was frequently accompanied by post-weaning diarrhea in piglets. However, rapid increases in litter size, in the last decade, has increased within-litter piglet weight variation, with piglets now generally lighter at weaning, making the challenges associated with weaning even greater. Many interventions can be employed during the suckling period to ease the weaning transition for piglets. Pre-weaning strategies such as supervised farrowing (assistance with suckling, oxytocin provision), provision of pain relief to sows around farrowing, split-suckling, early oral supplementation with glucose, bovine colostrum, fecal microbiota transplantation, feed additives, solid and liquid creep feeding (milk and liquid feed) have all been investigated. The objective of these strategies is to stimulate earlier maturation of the digestive tract, improve immunity, reduce latency to the first feed post-weaning and increase early post-weaning feed intake and growth. This review focuses in particular on: 1) pain relief provision to sows around farrowing, 2) split-suckling of piglets, 3) pre-weaning provision of supplementary milk and/or liquid feed, 4) other strategies to stimulate earlier enzyme production (e.g. enzyme supplementation) and 5) other nutritional strategies to promote improved gut structure and function (e.g. L-glutamine supplementation). Correctly implementing these strategies can not only increase post-weaning growth and reduce mortality but also maximize lifetime growth in pigs.

The aim of this work is to propose two different and complementary sensors for the structural health monitoring of concrete beams. In particular, a diffused sensing element and a split ring resonator network are presented. The first sensor is able to detect the variation of the dielectric properties of the concrete along the whole beam length, for a diffuse monitoring both during the important concrete curing phase and also for the entire life cycle of the concrete beams. The resonators instead work punctually, in their surroundings, allowing an accurate evaluation of the permittivity both during the drying phase and after. This allows the continuous monitoring of any presence of water both inside the concrete beam and in points that can be critical, in the case of beams in dams, bridges or in any case subject to a strong presence of water which could lead to deterioration, or worse, cause serious accidents. Moreover, the punctual sensors are able to detect the presence of cracks in the structure and to localize them.

The performance of a normal-strength SHCC under impact loading was studied using the results obtained from a split Hopkinson tension bar (SHTB). The focus of the investigation is to explain the mechanisms behind the peculiar rate-dependent behavior of SHCC under tensile loading. With the help of frames obtained by high-speed cameras and the subsequent Digital Image Correlation (DIC) analysis, the stress-strain relation of the SHCC obtained in SHTB was analyzed. The investigation of the composite’s behavior was supported by constituent-level experiments on the non-reinforced matrix of the SHCC and on the fiber-matrix bond. In the case of the constituent matrix, the well-known apparent increase in the tensile strength of the cement-based matrix and its influence on the behavior of SHCC was studied. For this purpose, experiments on the SHCC specimens with different geometries were performed in the SHTB. The results obtained from these experiments and those obtained by DIC show that commonly used analytical models, in which the specimen is assumed elastic, cannot capture the effects of structural inertia on the results. Thus, an alternative novel method based on the results of DIC has been used to explain and quantify the contribution of structural inertia. The rate-dependent behavior of the fiber-matrix bond was studied by performing high-speed single fiber pullout tests in a miniaturized split Hopkinson tension bar. This novel experimental technique enabled explanation of the rate-dependent bridging action of the fibers in SHCC. Based on the results, the enhanced behavior of SHCC under impact loading is explained.

The spread of charging infrastructure (CIS) for battery electric vehicles is crucial for coping with the increasing number of electric vehicles. Therefore, the selection of ideal (fast-) charging locations determines acceptance, utilization and, thus, the economic viability of a single site or the whole charging network. The methodology of the Integrated Model Approach STELLA[1] for site identification of CIS uses proven methods of traffic modeling such as the classic four-step traffic modeling in a new context to enable statements regarding the positioning of CIS. Based on different spatial analyzes and characterizations of urban quarters, traffic generated by individuals is calculated using the FGSV approach of 2010. Because only (electric) motorized individual traffic is of importance for CIS, the share of trips is calculated by differentiating the modal split between various transport groups. One approach is to concretize the modal split share of public transport based on analyzes of different criteria and data sets, e.g. the accessibility of stops. The model approach STELLA, which also combines various extensive data (e.g. transport networks and traffic volumes, settlement structures, vehicle characteristics, power supply data and user requirements), is currently developed for a planning area covering the entire territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. [1] STELLA is the acronym for the German term "STandortfindungsmodell für ELektrische LAdeinfrastruktur”.

Epitaxial lithium ferrite (LiFe5O8) films with different thicknesses have been successfully fabricated on SrTiO3 (001) substrates by magnetron sputtering deposition technique. The microstructural and magnetic properties are characterized by advanced transmission electron microscope and magnetic measurement device. It was found that the formation of structural defects can be influenced by the thickness of the film. Apart from the misfit dislocations, the orientation domains form in thinner film and twin boundaries appear in thicker film, respectively, contributing to the misfit strain relaxation in the heterosystem. The magnetic measurement shows that the thinner films have enhanced magnetization and a relatively lower coercive field compared with the thicker films containing the antiferromagnetic twin boundaries. Our results provide a way for tuning the microstructure and magnetic properties of lithium ferrite films by changing the film thickness.

With the rapid development of electronic and communication technology in military radar, the demand for microwave absorbing materials in low-frequency with thin layer is growing increasingly. In this study, flexible Co3O4/CC (carbon cloth) composites derives from Co-MOFs (metal-organic frameworks)/CC are prepared by hydrothermal and thermal treatment processes. The flexible precursors of Co-MOFs/CC are calcined with different calcination temperatures, which the material structure, dielectric properties and microwave absorption performance are changed. With the increase of calcination temperature, the minimum reflection loss of the corresponding Co3O4/CC composites gradually moves to the lower frequency with thinner thickness. In addition, the Co3O4/CC composites with 25 wt% filler loading ratio exhibit the minimum reflection loss (RL) of -46.59 dB at 6.24 GHz with 4.2 mm thickness. When the thickness is 3.70 mm, the effective absorption bandwidth is 3.04 GHz from 5.84 to 8.88 GHz. This study not only proves that the composite Co3O4/CC is a kind of outstanding microwave absorbing material with better flexibility, but also provides a useful inspiration for the low frequency and broadband microwave absorbing material.

Whether resurfacing or not resurfacing the patella during total knee arthroplasty (TKA) still is a challenge to orthopedic surgeons. A significant reason for this controversy is the far from perfect outcomes of both techniques, resulting from inadequate knowledge of normal patellar dimensions in a diseased one. The primary purpose of the current study is to find the pre-diseased patellar dimensions and the ethnic differences in patellar dimensions. We measured the patella's dimensions on 927 normal young adult knee MRIs from seven different ethnicities. Besides comparing the dimensions between sexes, ages, and sides, we analyzed the differences among ethnic groups. The average thickness was 25.12±2.33 mm; the average width was 44.57±4.32 mm, the average articular surface length was 32.69±3.75 mm, with significant gender, age, and ethnic differences. There were also significant differences in dimensions among ethnic groups, except for between the Indians and Far Eastern Asians and between the Arabs and North Africans. We could also find a robust mathematical relationship between the patella's width, length, and thickness. The ethnic differences in patellar dimensions found in this study can help optimize surgical technique and implant designs for patellar resurfacing. The mathematical equation will help the surgeons find the normal, pre-diseased patella thickness to prevent over-or under-stuffing during the patellar resurfacing.

An effort was made to find a relationship between the ratio of average asperities height and lubricant thickness at the point of contact of rolling element ball bearings, and empirical equations to predict the life for bearings under constant motion. Two independent failure mechanisms were considered, fatigue failure and lubricant failure resulting in seizing of the roller bearing. A theoretical formula for both of these methods was established for the combined probability of failure using both of these failure mechanisms. Fatigue failure was modeled with the empirical equations of Lundberg and Palmgren and standardized in DIN/ISO281. The seizure failure, which this effort sought to investigate, was predicted using Greenwood and Williamson's theories on surface roughness and asperities during lubricated contact. These two mechanisms were combined, and compared to predicted cycle lives of commercial roller bearing, and a clear correlation was demonstrated. This effort demonstrated that the Greenwood-Williams theories on the relative height of asperities versus lubricant film thickness can be used to predict the probability of a lubricant failure resulting in a roller bearing seizing during use.

An effort was made to find a relationship between the predicted tribological conditions at the point of contact of ball bearings, and empirical equations to predict the life for bearings under constant motion. The model was modified to predict the temperature dependence, and compare rapid accelerations and decelerations with empirical extrapolations.

Ship speeds extracted from AIS data vary with ice conditions. We extrapolated this variation with SAR data to a chart of expected icegoing speed. The study is for the Gulf of Bothnia in March 2013 and for ships with ice class 1A Super that are able to navigate without icbreaker assistance. The speed was normalized to 0-10 for each ship. As the matching between AIS and SAR was complicated by ice drift during the time gap, from hours to two days, we calculated a set of local SAR statistics over several scales. We used random tree regression to estimate the speed. The accuracy was quantified by mean squared error (MSE), and the fraction of estimates close to the actual speeds. These depended strongly on the route and the day. MSE varied from 0.4 to 2.7 units² for daily routes. 65 % of the estimates deviated less than one unit and 82 % less than 1.5 units from the AIS speeds. The estimated daily mean speeds were close to the observations. Largest speed decreases were provided by the estimator in a dampened form or not at all. This improved when ice chart thickness was included as one predictor.

In this paper, the single event burnout(SEB) and reinforcement structure of 1200V SiC MOSFET (SG-SBD-MOSFET) with split gate and schottky barrier diode(SBD) embedded were studied. The device structure was established using Sentaurus TCAD, and the transient current changes of single event effect(SEE), SEB threshold voltage, as well as the regularity of electricfield peak distribution transfer were studied when heavy ions were incident from different regions of the device. Based on SEE analysis of new structural device, two reinforcement structure designs for SEB resistance were studied, namely the expansion of P+body contact area and the design of multi-layer N-type interval buffer layer. Firstly, two reinforcement schemes for SEB were analyzed separately, and then comprehensive design and analysis were carried out. The results showed that the SEB threshold voltage of heavy ions incident from the N+source region was increased by 16% when using the P+body contact area extension alone; When the device is reinforced with multi-layer N-type interval buffer layer alone, the SEB threshold voltage increases by 29%; The comprehensive use of P+body contact area expansion and multi-layer N-type interval buffer layer reinforcement increased the SEB threshold voltage by 33%. Overall, the breakdown voltage of the reinforced device decreased from 1632.935V to 1403.135V, which can be seen as reducing the remaining redundant voltage to 19%. The device performance was not significantly affected.

Fastener holes are among the most common natural stress concentrators in metal structures. The life cycles of various structural elements, such as those in aircraft structures, automobiles, and rail-end bolt joints are limited by fatigue damage around the holes. An effective approach to delay the formation and growth of fatigue macrocracks is to introduce residual hoop compressive stresses around the holes. Two methods have become established in the prestressing of fastener holes in aircraft components: split sleeve and split mandrel, which implement one-sided processes. The common disadvantage of both methods is the complex procedure due to the need for high accuracy of the initial holes. This article presents a new modified split mandrel method providing the same tightness (interference fit) with a wide tolerance of the pre-drilled hole diameters reducing the number of technological cycle steps and production costs. То implement the new method, a functionally connected tool and a device with a hydraulic drive were developed. An extensive experimental study of 2024-T3 AA specimens was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the method under a high scattering of the pre-drilled holes. The new method provided a deep zone of residual hoop compressive stresses on both faces of the specimens after cold working and after hole final reaming. The removal of a plastically deformed layer around the hole of suitable thickness during the final reaming decreased the axial gradient of residual hoop stress distribution. Fatigue tests on a tensile pulsating cycle verified the effectiveness of the modified split mandrel method to significantly increase the fatigue life by 6.6 times based on cycle fatigue strength compared to the conventional case of machining the holes. The obtained S-N curves for three groups of samples with initial hole diameters of 8.0, 8.1, and 8.2 mm which were cold worked with the same tightness of 0.32 mm and final reamed, aligned well indicating that the new method can provide constant fatigue strength for a given stress amplitude.

Since the conventional split-merge algorithm is sensitive to the object scale variance and splitting starting point, a piecewise split-merge polygon approximation method is proposed to extract the object contour features. Specifically, the contour corner is used as the starting point for the contour piecewise approximation to reduce the sensitivity of the contour segment on the starting point; then, the split-merge algorithm is used to implement the polygon approximation for each contour segments. Both the distance ratio and the arc length ratio instead of the distance error are used as the iterative stop condition to improve the robustness to the object scale variance. Both the angle and length as two features describe the shape of the contour polygon, and affect each other along the contour order relationship. Since they have a strong coupling relationship. To improve the description correction of the contour, these two features are combined to construct a Coupled Hidden Markov Model to detect the object by calculating the probability of the contour feature. The proposed algorithm is validated on ETHZ Shape Classes and INRIA Horses standard datasets. Compared with other contour-based object detection algorithms, the proposed algorithm reduces the complexity of contour description, improves the robustness of contour features to scale variance, and has a higher object detection rate.

Significant efforts are being made across academia and industry to better characterize lithium-ion battery cells as reliance on the technology for applications ranging from green energy storage to electric mobility increases. The measurement of short-term and long-term volume expansion in lithium-ion battery cells is relevant for several reasons. For instance, it provides information about the quality and homogeneity of battery cells during charge and discharge cycles, as well as aging over it’s lifetime. The expansion measurements are useful for the evaluation of new materials and the improvement of end-of-line quality tests during cell production. These measurements may also indicate the safety of battery cells by aiding in predicting state of charge and state of health over the lifetime of the cell. Expansion measurements can also assess inhomogeneities on the electrodes and defects such as gas accumulation and lithium plating. In this review, we first establish the known mechanisms through which short term and long term volume expansion in lithium-ion battery cells occurs. We then explore the current state-of-the-art for both contact and non-contact measurements of volume expansion. This review compiles existing literature to outline the various options available to researchers aiming to make ex situ volume expansion measurements by doing post mortem analyses on individual components and in operando measurements on entire battery cells. Finally, we discuss the different considerations when selecting an appropriate measurement technique. The selection of the optimal method for measuring battery cell expansion depends on the objective of the characterization, duration, required resolution, and repeatability of results. Costs and required space for the measurement equipment are also considered.

Prosthetic device is designed to function as a replacement for a missing limb and typically consists of suspension, liner, socket, pylon and foot components. The objectives of this research are to design a pylon component of a transtibial prosthetics by implementing auxetic metamaterial and to also validate performance of the designed pylon under quasi-static and dynamic conditions. The design and analysis processes are conducted using the finite element analysis and its effectiveness is validated by experimental testing of the prototype pylon sample. In the design process, the pylon structure is formulated by rearranging 2D re-entrant hexagon model into 3D model. It is identified from the design evaluation that the pylon exhibits the stiffness of the value of 79.24, 2371.6, and 13344 kN/m for the ligament thickness variation of 0.3 mm, 1 mm, and 2 mm, respectively. This directly indicates a capability of the stiffness tuning of the pylon by changing the ligament thickness. It is evaluated that the pylon with the ligament thickness of 0.3 mm causes the deformation of 0.53 cm during a single period of gait cycle, while the ligament thickness of the 1 mm causes the deformation of 0.4 cm. The deformation physically indicates the energy absorption of the pylon structure and hence the thinner ligament, the higher energy absorption provides. It is also found from the deformation transition of the primary and secondary bends, the negative Poisson’s ratio is occurred in 3D model transformed from 2D re-entrant hexagon.

The study focuses on conducting a quantitative comparison of sea ice thickness data obtained through satellite-based remote sensing and in-situ observations in the eastern Arctic Ocean from September 2013 to September 2015 as part of the Nansen and Amundsen Basins Observational System (NABOS) program. Upward-looking sonar observations from an oceanographic mooring at the northern slope of the Laptev Sea (78°25’N, 125°04’E) were used for comparing instrumental measurements of ice thickness with data from the remotely sensed CryoSat-2 and CryoSat2/SMOS datasets. The comparison results indicate a significant tendency for satellite products to overes-timate sea ice thickness by more than 40 cm, particularly for moderate and thick ice conditions. Caution is advised when using these satellite-based measurements. Sea ice ridging is identified as one of the possible factors contributing to the observed discrepancy. The continental slope of the Laptev Sea experienced a prevalence of ridged ice over level ice during the period from 2013 to 2015. In the spring season (March-May), ridged ice was observed approximately 60% of the time, while level ice was observed around 40% of the time. However, the most significant relative contribution of ridging to ice thickness was observed during the initial ice formation period (from October through December) when sea ice is thin (<1 m). During these months, the relative difference between the mean and modal ice thickness, which reflects the mean variation between the deformed and thermodynamically grown level sea ice, could be as high as 70%.

Brain hemispheres develop rather symmetrically except in the case of pathology or intense training. As school experience is a form of training, the current study tested the influence of pedagogy on morphological development through the cortical thickness (CTh) asymmetry index (AI). First, we compared CTh AI of 111 students aged 4 to 18 with 77 adults aged > 20. Second, we investigated CTh AI in the students, as a function of schooling background (Montessori or traditional). At the whole-brain level, CTh AI was not different between the adult and student groups, even when controlling for age. However, the pedagogical experience was found to impact CTh AI in the temporal lobe, within the parahippocampal (PHC) region. The PHC has a functional lateralization, with the right PHC having a stronger involvement in spatiotemporal context encoding, while the left PHC is involved in semantic encoding. We observed CTh asymmetry toward the left PHC for participants enrolled in Montessori schools and toward the right for participants enrolled in traditional schools. As these participants were matched on age, intelligence, home life, and socioeconomic conditions, we interpret this effect found in memory-related brain regions to reflect differences in learning strategies. Pedagogy modulates how new concepts are encoded, with possible long-term effects on knowledge transfer.

Background: To examine the effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy on central corneal thickness (CCT) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) followed for 12 months. Methods: Participants were patients with OSA and an indication for CPAP who were enrolled after diagnosis and graded according to the apnea hypopnea index (AHI) determined in an overnight polysomnography. Each subject underwent a full ophthalmologic examination including ultrasound pachymetry (USP) with an SP3000 USP (Tomey Inc) at the time points just before CPAP onset, and after 3 and 12 months of CPAP treatment. Results: The study sample comprised 40 eyes of 20 patients. Adherence to CPAP was adequate (5.23 ± 1.77 h/night). After receiving 12 months of CPAP, positive correlation was observed between hours of CPAP use and CCT (r = 0.382, p = 0.015). Intermittent hypoxemia pre-CPAP or hypoxia severity pre-CPAP were also positively correlated with the CCT recorded after 12 months of CPAP (r = 0.394, p = 0.012; r = 0.324, p = 0.041). Significant correlations were, however, not observed after only 3 months of CPAP treatment. In addition, compared to measurements at 3 months, intraocular pressure was higher after 12 months of treatment. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that 12 months of correct adherence to CPAP are needed to detect significant CCT thickening, and that the greater the pre-CPAP hypoxemia, the greater the capacity for an increase in CCT to be produced in response to 12 months of this therapy.

The practical application of a multi-objective optimization strategy based on evolutionary algorithms was proposed to optimize the plastics thermoforming process. For that purpose, the various steps of the process were considered individually and the optimization strategy was applied to the determination of the final part thickness distribution with the aim of demonstrating the validity of the methodology proposed. The preliminary results obtained considering three different theoretical initial sheet shapes indicates clearly that the methodology proposed is valid, as it provides solutions with physical meaning and with a great potential to be applied in real practice.

A heat transfer model, has determined millimeter crude oil thicknesses on saltwater at night. Model inputs are calibrated thermographic imagery, weather station data, metrological observations, and crude oil thermal conductivity. Outdoor field-testing was performed at the National Oil Spill Response & Renewable Energy Test Facility (Ohmsett) to determine model accuracy. Alaskan North Slope (ANS), Hoover Offshore Oil Pipeline System Blend (HOOPS), and ROCK crude oils were placed at varying mm depths. A roof-top mounted thermal camera measured the average oil surface temperature for each target and converted to oil spill thickness. The fidelity of the thickness measurements is dependent on the accurate measurement of the atmospheric and weather parameters, sea state, heat transfer constants, crude oil evaporation rates, and calibration and stability of the thermal camera.

Optimizing the nitrogen (N) timings and rate can improve nutrient uptake, and nutrient-efficiencies, especially of N in wheat under the changing climate scenario. Climatic stress in the form of high temperature and drought resulted in the decreased crop physiology and, ultimately, grain yield. Taking the example of rainfed wheat, we quantified the impact of N application rates as full and split-dose at three variable sites of rainfed Pothwar, Pakistan by conducting field experiments for two years (2013-14 and 201-15). Treatments include, T1 = Control (No fertilizer applied), full dose of N applied at the time of crop sowing, i.e. T2 = 50 kg N ha^-1, T3 = 100 kg N ha^-1 and T4 = 150 kg N ha^-1 and split application of N at different timings during different stages of the crop called as split application of N, i.e. T5: Application of 50 kg N ha^-1 (15 kg N ha^-1 (Sowing) : 20 kg N ha^-1 (Tillering) :15 kg N ha^-1 (Anthesis), T6: Application of 100 kg N ha^-1 (30 kg N ha^-1 (Sowing): 40 kg N ha^-1 (Tillering) : 30 kg N ha^-1 (Anthesis) and T7: Application of 150 kg N ha^-1(45 kg N ha^-1 (Sowing) : 60 kg N ha^-1 (Tillering) : 45 kg N ha^-1 (Anthesis). Three study sites include viz. Islamabad (High rainfall with optimum temperature), University Research Farm (URF)-Koont (Medium rainfall with moderate temperature), and Talagang (low rainfall with high temperature). Results showed that the highest stomatal conductance (0.80 mole m^-2 sec^-1), net photosynthetic rate (20.07 μmole m^-2s^-1), transpiration rate (9.58 mmole m^-2s^-1), intercellular CO2 concentration (329.25 μmole CO₂ mol^-1 air), SPAD values (58.86 %) and proline contents (35.42 μg g^-1) were obtained for split application of N (T6 = Split N100) compared to control and full dose of N treatments. Among sites, these physiological traits remained highest at Islamabad and lowest at Talagang, while among years, maximum values of the measured parameters were obtained in 2013-14. A similar trend was observed for crop total N, N efficiencies, and agronomic traits of the crop. Our results suggest that optimum N application rate and its suitable timings can help to harvest real benefits of N as in our findings, split dose resulted in the maximum performance of the crop from physiological parameters to the agronomic traits of the rainfed wheat crop.

Optimizing the nitrogen (N) timings and rate can improve nutrient uptake, and nutrient-efficiencies, especially of N in wheat under the changing climate scenario. Climatic stress in the form of high temperature and drought resulted in the decreased crop physiology and, ultimately, grain yield. Taking the example of rainfed wheat, we quantified the impact of N application rates as full and split-dose at three variable sites of rainfed Pothwar, Pakistan by conducting field experiments for two years (2013-14 and 201-15). Treatments include, T₁ = Control (No fertilizer applied), full dose of N applied at the time of crop sowing, i.e. T₂ = 50 kg N ha^-1, T₃ = 100 kg N ha^-1 and T₄ = 150 kg N ha^-1 and split application of N at different timings during different stages of the crop called as split application of N, i.e. T₅: Application of 50 kg N ha^-1 (15 kg N ha^-1 (Sowing) : 20 kg N ha^-1 (Tillering) :15 kg N ha^-1 (Anthesis), T₆: Application of 100 kg N ha^-1 (30 kg N ha^-1 (Sowing): 40 kg N ha^-1 (Tillering) : 30 kg N ha^-1 (Anthesis) and T₇: Application of 150 kg N ha^-1(45 kg N ha^-1 (Sowing) : 60 kg N ha^-1 (Tillering) : 45 kg N ha^-1 (Anthesis). Three study sites include viz. Islamabad (High rainfall with optimum temperature), University Research Farm (URF)-Koont (Medium rainfall with moderate temperature), and Talagang (low rainfall with high temperature). Results showed that the highest stomatal conductance (0.80 mole m^-2 sec^-1), net photosynthetic rate (20.07 μmole m^-2s^-1), transpiration rate (9.58 mmole m^-2s^-1), intercellular CO₂ concentration (329.25 μmole CO₂ mol^-1 air), SPAD values (58.86 %) and proline contents (35.42 μg g^-1) were obtained for split application of N (T₆ = Split N₁₀₀) compared to control and full dose of N treatments. Among sites, these physiological traits remained highest at Islamabad and lowest at Talagang, while among years, maximum values of the measured parameters were obtained in 2013-14. A similar trend was observed for crop total N, N efficiencies, and agronomic traits of the crop. Our results suggest that optimum N application rate and its suitable timings can help to harvest real benefits of N as in our findings, split dose resulted in the maximum performance of the crop from physiological parameters to the agronomic traits of the rainfed wheat crop.

This study evaluated the effect of low-level laser irradiation induces by diode laser on the speed of orthodontic tooth movement of canines submitted to initial retraction. Twenty-four mandibular canines were retracted by using NiTi spring (force of 150 g/side). Thirteen of those were irradiated with a diode laser 980-nm diode laser (Wiser Laser Doctor Smile, Lambda) operating at an 810-nm wavelength (1 W of output power, continuous wave of 66.7 J/cm2) that was equipped with a 0.6-mm optical fiber in continuous-wave mode. The canine retraction was accomplished by using prefabricated coil springs. The right of the mandible was chosen to be irradiated with the laser, whereas the left side was considered the control without laser irradiation. The laser was applied with 0-, 3-, 7-, and 14-day intervals. The amount of canine retraction was measured with a digital electronic caliper while the pain level was prompted by a patient questionnaire. The speed of tooth movement was significantly greater in the laser group than in the control group. The pain intensity was also at a lower level in the laser group. Our findings suggest that diode laser therapy can highly accelerate tooth movement during orthodontic treatment and can also effectively reduce pain level.

Land Surface Temperature (LST) is routinely retrieved from remote sensing instruments using semi-empirical relationships between top of atmosphere (TOA) radiances and LST, using ancillary data such as total column water vapor or emissivity. These algorithms are calibrated using a set of forward radiative transfer simulations that return the TOA radiances given the LST and the thermodynamic profiles. The simulations are done in order to cover a wide range of surface and atmospheric conditions and viewing geometries. This work analyses calibration strategies, considering some of the most critical factors that need to be taken into account when building a calibration dataset, covering the full dynamic range of relevant variables. A sensitivity analysis of split-windows and single channel algorithms revealed that selecting a set of atmospheric profiles that spans the full range of surface temperatures and total column water vapor combinations that are physically possible seems beneficial for the quality of the regression model. However, the calibration is extremely sensitive to the low-level structure of the atmosphere indicating that the presence of atmospheric boundary layer features such as temperature inversions or strong vertical gradients of thermodynamic properties may affect LST retrievals in a non-trivial way. This article describes the criteria established in the EUMETSAT Land Surface Analysis – Satellite Application Facility to calibrate its LST algorithms applied both for current and forthcoming sensors.

In pediatric burn care, achieving swift healing with minimal complications remains paramount. This investigation assesses polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB)'s role in managing superficial partial-thickness burns in children, focusing on the effects of various patient-specific factors on recovery. Through a retrospective analysis of 27 pediatric cases treated with PHMB, we explored the impact of age, burn size, dressing frequency, treatment delay, cold therapy application, and analgesic usage on the duration until reepithelialization. Notably, the majority of patients benefited from early cold therapy, yet only 1 in 3 patients received analgesics. The study reveals a mean healing time of 8.78 days, with the extent of the burn showing a strong correlation to recovery speed. Most treatments were managed outpatient, evidenced by a negligible average hospital stay. Impressively, the intervention recorded no complications. Our findings endorse PHMB as a promising treatment for second-degree burns in young patients, offering healing efficiency on par with or surpassing traditional methods, without increasing complication risks. This investigation underscores the necessity for continued exploration into the optimal application of prehospital interventions and the comprehensive benefits of PHMB in pediatric burn management, advocating for future research aimed at assessing long-term outcomes, including scar quality and patient satisfaction.

This paper aims to investigate the coal thickness change area of the combined rock strata energy accumulation law. The method of connecting a uniaxial compression experiment with a theoret-ical analysis is used in this work. We employ a combination of coal and rock to carry out our studies. We investigate how different lithologies and ratios of coal-rock height affect the me-chanical properties of the mixture and the law governing energy accumulation. We have deter-mined the following facts: (1) The combination's peak strength and elastic modulus exceed that of coal and are inferior to that of rock but are nearer to that of coal. (2) When the coal-rock height ratios are dissimilar, the peak strength and modulus of elasticity of the combination show a negative correlation with the coal-thickness share, and the pre-peak energy accumulation and impact energy index of the combination shows a positive correlation with the coal-thickness share. (3) For the combination with the same coal-rock height ratio, the peak strength, elastic modulus, pre-peak energy accumulation, and impact energy index all increase with greater rock strength and elastic modulus. The presence of a hard rock layer affects the accumulation of pre-peak energy. ( 4 ) The stress in the surrounding rock gradually decreases as the coal thick-ness increases. In the area where coal thickness declines, the stress in surrounding rock is higher than that in the region where it thickens. The energy stored in the surrounding rock is directly proportional to the coal in the zone. Conversely, areas with thinner coal deposits exhibit a lower energy storage capacity in the surrounding rock than those with thicker coal deposits. The stress distribution of surrounding rock in coal thickness change is abnormal; substantial energy accu-mulation can swiftly initiate dynamic disasters, such as rock bursts. This study has important reference significance for preventing and controlling rock burst in coal thickness change areas.

A flexible structure is applied to improve the lubrication performance of a misaligned journal bearing. The journal bearing is representative sliding bearing and there are damages due to metal-to-metal contact by misalignment. Since misalignment is an unavoidable phenomenon, a journal bearing with a flexible structure was proposed as a way to improve it. The lubrication characteristics of the bearing are evaluated numerically under steady-state condition. EHL (elastohydrodynamic lubrication) analysis considering elastic deformation was performed. The lubrication performance is compared in accordance with variation of the geometry of the flexible structure and evaluated based on the minimum film thickness. Moreover, the results of the journal bearing with flexible structure are compared with those of the journal bearing without the flexible structure. The flexible structure is then applied in the form of a groove to the area supporting high load on the journal bearing; it is elastically deformed by the generated oil-film pressure, which helps to obscure a larger oil film. Through numerical analysis, it is found that the journal bearing with flexible structure can improve the lubrication performance in the misaligned condition.

This research was conducted to manufacture thermally expandable microspheres (TEMs) for vehicles’ underbody coating and to apply them on an industrial scale. TEMs heat resistance was studied depending on the ratios of a cross-linking agent and an initiator. This research focused on the content of a cross-linking agent and how it affected the results. The TEMs’ outer shell was thickened to solve the problem of the foam expansion ratio’s reduction that occurred due to the shrinkage after the maximum expansion (Tmax) was reached. After foaming, the cross-sectional thickness and surface of the sample with thickened outer shell were observed. The TEMs with the thickened shell showed the least shrinkage, which indicated excellent shrinkage stability, even after prolonged exposure to heat.

Long-term safety of a nutraceutical combination based on agnus castus and magnolia extracts combined with soy isoflavones (SI) and lactobacilli, and effectiveness on vasomotor symptoms and sleep disorders in postmenopausal women, were assessed. A controlled study was carried-out in menopausal women comparing this nutraceutical combination (ESP group) with formulation containing isoflavones alone (C group), at the dosage recommended. Kuppermann index, PSQI, and SF-36 were determined at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months. Endometrial thickness, mammary density and liver function were evaluated at baseline and after 12 months. 180 women (100 in ESP group and 80 in C group, mean age 55.5 years, in menopause for about 36 months) were enrolled in the study. At the treatment end, mammary density, endometrial thickness, and hepatic function did not show substantial differences between groups. Kuppermann index, and particularly hot flushes, were progressively and significantly decreased in frequency and severity during ESP versus C treatment. No adverse events were observed. Agnus castus and magnolia, combined with SI + lactobacilli, can effectively and safely be used in symptomatic postmenopausal women, mainly when quality of sleep is the most disturbing complaint. Endometrium, mammary glands and liver function, were unaffected after 12 months treatment.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the bacterial viability of the initial biofilm on the surface of experimental modified dental resin composites. Twenty-five healthy individuals with good oral hygiene were included in this study. In a split-mouth design, they received acrylic splints with five experimental composite resin specimens. Four of them were modified with either a novel polymeric hollow beads delivery system or methacrylated polymerizable Irgasan (Antibacterial B), while one specimen served as unmodified control (ST). The delivery system based on Poly-Pore® was loaded with one of the active agents Tego® Protect 5000 (Antiadhesive A), Dimethicone (Antiadhesive B) or Irgasan (Antibacterial A). All study subjects refrained from toothbrushing during the study period. Specimens were detached from the splints after 8h and given a live/dead staining before fluorescence microscopy. Friedman test and post-hoc Nemenyi test were applied with significance level at p &lt; 0.05. In summary all materials but Antibacterial B showed a significant antibacterial effect compared to ST. In conclusion dental resin composites with Poly-Pore loaded active agents show antibacterial effectiveness in situ.

Marine renewable energy is emerging as one of the fast-growing industry in the last decades, as modern society pushes for technologies that can convert energy contained from winds, waves, tides and stream flows. The implementation of renewable energy technologies impose high demands on both structural and environmental engineering, as the energy converters have to work under extreme conditions where parameters such as sea-bottom configuration, water transparency and depth, sea-states and prevailing winds are harsh. Constant monitoring of the marine environment is crucial in order to keep this sector reliable. Active acoustics is becoming a standard tool to collect multi-dimensional data from physical, geological and biological properties of the marine environment. The Div. of Electricity of Uppsala University have been developing an environmental monitoring platform based on sonar (Sound Navigation And Raging) systems. This platform aims to monitor the installation, operation and decommissioning of marine renewable energy converters. The focus will be given the observations of behaviours of marine animals in vicinity of energy converters but also structural inspection and monitoring of MRETs. This paper describes how this multifunctional environmental monitoring platform come to existence from the design to the deployment phase.

In recent years, cemented tailings/paste backfill (CPB) become more and more important to maintain mine structure and keep mining stope to be stable in deep underground mining. Deep mining process often accompanied by blasting, rock burst and other high-speed dynamic loading. So it’s important to make research on dynamic behavior and characteristics of CPB. In this paper, a series of dynamic loading tests on CPB specimens by SHPB were taken to study the characteristic of stress-strain, dynamic strength, deformation and failure of CPB. The experimental results revealed that some CPB specimens have 1~2 lower stress peaks after reaching the peak stress before getting completely failed. The greater the cement-sand ratio was, the more obvious of strain reaction was. This property mainly showed like follows. The greater the cement-sand ratio was, the greater the dynamic compressive strength was under similar velocity impact; the dynamic compressive strength and the average strain rate were quadratic equation relationship, and the greater the cement-sand ratio was, the higher increase rate of dynamic compressive strength caused by strain rate. The dynamic compressive strength enhancement factor increased with the increase of the strain rate, and is larger than that of rock samples. The failure forms of CPB specimens under low-speed impact were almost the same as them under static uniaxial and triaxle compression. The CPB specimens were crushed broken under the critical strain rate, similar to the failure mode of low strength concrete. The experimental research results will improve our understanding the dynamic mechanical property of CPB and help to guide the strength design of deep mining backfill.

The present article investigates the threshold analysis of yielding in a variable thickness rotating disk based on the Tresca criterion. The analysis is conducted on a Functionally Graded Material (FGM) constructed from tailored materials, following the theory of small deformations and for the case of plane stress. The elasticity modulus, density, and yield stress are assumed to be power functions of the radial coordinate. Poisson’s ratio is considered constant due to small variations in different materials. Additionally, the governing equation for the rotating disk is solved analytically. Besides the material type, another factor affecting the distribution of effective stress magnitudes is the cross-sectional shape (profile) of the disk. The thickness of the cross-sectional disk varies radially as a power function. In the current analysis, different conditions for the onset of yielding and the evolution of plastic flow are considered. For evaluation and validation, the obtained results are compared and validated against similar results for specific cases (homogeneous disk and constant thickness graded disk) available in previous references. The results indicate that considering variable thickness for the disk section significantly affects the stresses and the location of the initiation of yielding

The superficial quality of the strip is a very important issue in steel production; the profile, flat-ness, and geometry of strip are indicators of supreme quality. Considering the dimensions, the thickness is one of the most important variables in the production of strip. In the present study the elastic curve of Back Up Rolls (BUR) is analyzed, considering them as simply supported beams as well as the effect of rolls on the profile of the strip, specifically in the strip edge pro-ducing edge drop. The analysis is simulated with a model in 3D using a Finite Element Method (FEM) considering +0.039mm crown on Back Up Roll and +0.101mm crown on Work Roll (WR). The results showed that there is an instability zone of 76mm in the strip edge, this geometry is symmetrical in both ends of the strip, it was validated with the results of compact X-ray thick-ness gauge from a 4-high cold mill. This study not only provides a theoretical basis for the edge drop, but also provides the basis for the understanding of deformation on rolls used in rolling mill processes and their effect on the thickness, profile, shape, and dimensional quality of strips.

Despite the fact that SMA restrainers exhibit a superelastic strain capacity of 7%, this capacity appears inadequate for isolated bridges due to the typically greater than 20cm relative dis-placements between girders during intense seismic events. In order to perform such a stroke, a SMA restrainer of greater than 3 metres in length might be required. In order to reduce the length of restrainers, a novel honeycomb damper constructed from superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) is proposed. The proposed device, denoted as the superelastic SMA honeycomb damper (SHD), is comprised of steel plates to prevent the SMA plane from collapsing and superelastic SMA honeycomb to provide self-centering capability. By incorporating the large strain capacity of SMA and the geometrically nonlinear deformation of honeycomb structures, SHD has been developed to satisfy the requirements of bridge restrainers with large strokes. It is capable of functioning as a restrainer and energy dissipation device when subjected to dynamic tension and compression loads. The SHD was initially investigated from a theoretical perspective. Following this, a mul-ti-cell SHD specimen was manufactured. The specimen underwent axial tensile and compressive experiments in order to examine the mechanical properties of SHDs. Finally, experimental results were investigated through numerical simulation analyses of the SHDs using a three-dimensional high-fidelity finite element model. Additionally, a method for enhancing SHD was proposed. The findings indicate that SHD is capable of exhibiting superior self-centering capability and sta-ble hysteretic responses when subjected to earthquakes.

Background Most of the Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) cases are bilateral and sequential, how-ever there are rare unilateral examples, or those in which the delay of onset of vision loss between one and the other eye is longer. In the case of presumed childhood amblyopia in one eye, the vision loss in the good eye may be the only symptom of bilateral disease, that was unnoticed in previ-ously amblyopic eye, or a preexisting episode of LHON on the “amblyopic” eye. Clinical decision in such cases may be difficult and suggestive for other forms of atypical optic neuropathy until confirmed by genetic testing. Case series We present three genetically confirmed (MT-ND1:m.3700G>A, MT-ND6:m14484 T>C, and MT-ND4:m.11778G>A) patients with subacute vision loss in previously good eye with the other eye believed to be amblyopic from the childhood, and their features different of what would be expected in true amblyopia. In all, electrophysiology testing showed bilaterally reduced ampli-tude of PERG with low VEP P100 wave amplitudes and prolonged peak time in both eyes, also unusual for amblyopia. During the follow-up, pallor of the optic discs progressed in all eyes. Significant thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer around the optic disc (pRNFL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC) in the macular region was present. All three patients had peculiar history. First patient was treated for presumed hyperopic amblyopia that did not improve since child-hood and experienced visual loss on the good eye at the age of 17 and was negative for the three typical LHON mutations. Extended testing confirmed atypical pathogenic variant MT-ND1:m.3700G>A in homoplasmy. The second patient with presumed strabismic amblyopia had unusual presentation of vision loss only at the age of 61 and after exclusion of other causes, typical MT-ND4:m.11778G>A pathogenic variant was found in homoplasmy. The third case was peculiar as he had presumed strabismic amblyopia since childhood and had some degree of disc pallor in the amblyopic eye upon presenting with loss of vision on the good eye at the age of 21 and typical pathogenic variant m14484 T>C, p.Met64Val was subsequently confirmed. However, one year after the disease onset, he started to experience significant spontaneous functional im-provement in the non-amblyopic up to 1.0 Snellen, whilst improvement in the presumed amblyop-ic eye was modest, suggesting preexisting amblyopia. This interestingly extensive improvement was carefully followed by electrophysiology as well as visual acuity and fields. Conclusion This report shows three different scenarios of presentation of LHON in patients with presumed uniocular amblyopia from childhood. In such cases, the diagnosis may be difficult and detailed structural and functional evaluation of the optic nerve head is necessary to assess whether earlier LHON episode was misdiagnosed as amblyopia or whether LHON presented bilaterally on both eyes whilst only being noticed in the previously good eye.

In this paper we overview all analytical engineering solutions for corrosion problems in pressure vessels delivered over the past 60 years. We briefly detail strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches, thus demonstrating the need for novel uniform corrosion analysis methods for both current and new applications. To complement the review, we also present a new analytical model allowing to estimate the lifetime of pressured elastic vessels with mechanically assisted corrosion. Both internal/external pressure and internal/external corrosion are captured and dissolution driven corrosion is also considered. The readily implemented method improves existing analytical approaches and is shown to be effective for thin and thick shells, as well as various loading and corrosion intensity and geometrical conditions.

Introdução: Os fatores de risco vasculares são decisivos na evolução da doença aterosclerótica e a ecografia Doppler carotídea e vertebral permite acompanhar o seu aparecimento e evolução. A medida do espessamento da parede arterial permite o diagnóstico precoce da doença potencializando seu tratamento e controle dos fatores de risco vasculares. Objetivo: Analisar a presença de doença ateromatosa em indivíduos com idade > 65 anos e compreender sua transformação com fatores de risco vascular. Materiais e Métodos: Estudo observacional transversal, em indivíduos com idade > 65 anos manifestados ao ecoDoppler carotídeo entre 1º de janeiro de 2012 e 31 de dezembro de 2021. Foi calculado o índice médio-intimal, a presença de placas ateromatosas, sua repercussão hemodinâmica e fatores de risco vascular foram registrados. Resultados: Obteve-se uma amostra de 5885 indivíduos, sendo 41,8% do sexo feminino e 58,2% do sexo masculino. A média de idade foi de 76,59 anos, variando entre 65 e 98 anos (+6,69). A hipertensão arterial foi a mais prevalente 81,3%. Houve relação positiva significativa entre índice médio-intimal, idade e história pessoal de doenças cardiovasculares e cerebrovasculares (p=0,001). Na presença de placas, sexo masculino, hipertensão arterial, diabetes, dislipidemia, tabagismo e história pessoal de doenças cardiovasculares e cerebrovasculares apresentadas de forma positiva. Conclusões: Nesta amostra, fatores de risco vascular não modificáveis ​​parecem ser determinantes na presença de aumento da espessura da parede arterial. Na presença de sinais de um estágio mais avançado da doença aterosclerótica, os fatores de risco vascular modificáveis ​​​​são decisivos,

In past years, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) can be found in every aspect of life, and batteries, as energy storage systems (ESSs), need to offer electric vehicles (EVs) more competition to be accepted in markets for automobiles. Thick electrode design could reduce the use of non-active materials in batteries that its energy density would be improved and its cost would be cut. However, thick electrodes are limited by their weak mechanical stability and poor electrochemical performance, these limitations could be classified as the critical cracking thickness (CCT) and the limited penetration depth (LPD). The understanding of the CCT and the LPD have been proposed and the recent works on breaking the CCT and improving the LPD are listed in this article. By comprising these attempts, some thick electrodes could not offer higher mass loading or higher accessible areal capacity that would defeat the purpose.

Hyperplastic dental follicles (HDFs) represent odontogenic hamartomatous lesions originating from pericoronal tissues and are often associated with impacted or embedded teeth. These lesions may occasionally feature unique calcifying bodies, known as calcifying whorled nodules (CWN), characterized by stromal cells arranged in a whorled or spiral fashion. CWNs are typically observed in multiple calcifying hyperplastic dental follicles or regional odontodysplasia. In our study, we examined 40 cases of HDFs, including nine instances with characteristics of CWNs, which were infrequently accompanied by odontodysplasia. Histological examination was conducted on all 40 cases, with immunohistochemical analysis performed on 21 of them. Among the cases with CWN, nine affected a single embedded tooth, with one exception. CWNs exhibited diverse calcifications featuring sparse or entirely deposited psammoma bodies, and some displayed dentinoid formation. Immunohistochemically, stromal cells of HDFs were frequently positive for CD56 and nestin. In contrast, CWNs were negative for CD56 but positive for nestin and HES1, with a few DSP-positive calcified bodies. Our results revealed that hamartomatous calcifying HFDs can impact multiple and single-embedded teeth. CWNs composed of nestin and HES1-positive ectomesenchymal cells demonstrated the potential to differentiate into odontoblasts and contribute to dentin matrix formation under the influence of HES1. This study is the first report documenting odontoblastic differentiation in HDFs.

This article is devoted to the results of in-depth analysis of the system of binary-oppositional structures in DNA n-plet alphabets and their algebraic-matrix representations. These results show that the molecular complementary replication of DNA strands is accompanied by the presence of an algebraic version of the principle "like begets like" in matrix representations of DNA alphabets having internal structures. This algebraic version is based on binary-oppositional structures in the genetic molecular system, which can be represented by binary numbers and corresponding matrices of DNA alphabets. The received results allow thinking that the phenomenon "like begets like" (or a complementary replication in a wide sense) is systemic in the genetic organization and is connected with algebraic features of biological organization. Correspondingly, the biological principle "like begets like" can be additionally modeled by algebraic-matrix methods and approaches. Such algebra-matrix modeling of the genetic coding system gives new ways for studying and understanding the key role of the named principle in genetic and other inherited physiological complexes. On this way, the author discovered general rules of stochastic organization of information binary sequences of genomic DNAs of eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The presented rules are connected with information dichotomies of probabilities and corresponding fractal-like trees of probabilities, which fundamentally differ from constructional dichotomies in biological bodies. The received phenomenological data and rules lead to new biological ideas.

Influenza virus imprinting is now understood to significantly the influence immune responses and clinical outcome of influenza virus infections that occur later in life. Due to the yearly cycling of influenza viruses, humans are imprinted with the circulating virus of their birth year to subsequently build a complex influenza virus immune history but very little is known about how the imprinting strain influences vaccine responses. To investigate the imprinted host immune responses to split-virion vaccination, we imprinted ferrets with a sublethal dose of the historical seasonal H1N1 strain A/USSR/90/1977. After a +60 day recovery period was given to build immune memory, ferrets were immunized and the challenge at Day 123. Samples were collected throughout the time course and immunological assays were performed to investigate recall mechanisms. The preimmune-vaccinated ferrets did not experience significant disease during challenge while naïve-vaccinated ferrets had severe disease. Hemagglutination inhibition assays showed preimmune ferrets had a more robust antibody response post vaccination, increased virus neutralization activity. Virus specific immunoglobulins were of predominantly the IgG isotype suggesting B cell maturity and plasticity at vaccination. These results are important and should be considered for vaccine design.

Aim: To evaluate the panmacular subthreshold micropulse laser treatment results among patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and their correlation with functional and morphological parameters. Material and methods: The examined group included 10 non-treated and 41 treated patients with acute, recurrent, and chronic CSC (13 F, 38 M, mean age 44.11±6.5) and 14 healthy controls (6 F, 8 M, mean age 45±9.3). The BCVA examination, ophthalmoscopy, microp-erimetry, angio-OCT and OCT were performed. The medical history regarding chronic general disorders and known risk factors were recorded. Results: Complete resorption of SRF was obtained in 100% aCSC, 86.66% cCSC, and 63.63% r CSC. BCVA and RetSens significantly improved most of the patients treated in aCSC. The lowest BCVA and RetSens, but the largest pachyvessel and disease duration, were found in rCSC. A strong negative correlation between final BCVA and disease duration was found. No patient demonstrated laser lesions following treatment. Conclusions: The panmacular MPLT therapy leads to long-term enhancement of functional and morphological parameters in all CSC patients. The acute CSC patients showed the most significant improvement. The procedure is safe and could be considered a preferred treatment option for all active CSC cases. Timely treatment is crucial for beneficial outcomes.

XPS and ARXPS characterization of surface layers resulting from the functionalization of polymers such as PVC modified with MPTMS and APTES is challenging due to the signals overlap, deriving both from the substrate and the functionalized layers. In this work, a freshly cleaved, ideally flat gold surface was used as carbon-free model substrate functionalized with MPTMS and subsequently grafted with APTES. Avoiding the overlap of signals from carbon atoms present in the substrate, the signals in the C1s, O1s, Si2p, S2p and N1s high-resolution spectra could be assigned to the MPTMS / APTES functionalized layer only and the curve fitting parameters could be determined. Quantitative analysis was in very good agreement with the expected stoichiometry of the functionalized layer, confirming the adopted curve fitting procedure. In addition, it was found that one molecule of APTES grafted two MPTMS via silane groups. ARXPS allowed determining the thickness of the functionalized layers: MPTMS thickness was found to be 0.5 (0.2) nm, MPTMS + APTES thickness 1.0 (0.2) nm in good agreement with Avogadro model calculations. This approach can be considered a powerful tool for characterising functionalized surfaces of more complex systems by XPS.

Vulnerable carotid plaques are responsible for 20% of the ischemic strokes. The identification of those asymptomatic carotid plaques that will become symptomatic is essential but remains unclear. Our main goal was to investigate whether the amount of the peri-carotid adipose tissue, estimated by the extra-media thickness (EMT) is associated with the atherosclerotic characteristics at the carotid bifurcation in patients with PAD. An observational, prospective, single-center, longitudinal study was conducted. 177 patients performed carotid Doppler-ultrasound. The following data was collected: EMT, intima-media thickness (IMT), presence of carotid plaques, area of the highest plaque, and grade of internal carotid stenosis. From each carotid bifurcation a right and left EMT was determined. We analyzed both the mean EMT (calculated as the mean between the right and the left EMT) and the EMT ipsilateral to the carotid bifurcation. The presence of carotid plaques was associated with a higher mean EMT, [Median=1.14; IQR=0.66 versus Median=0.97; IQR=0.40; p=.001]. A positive correlation was found between mean EMT and IMT (right: ρ=.20; p=.010; left: ρ=.21; p=.007) and between mean EMT and area of the largest carotid plaque (right: ρ=.17; p=.036; left: ρ=.22; p=.004). Left carotid stenosis ≥ 70% was associated with higher mean EMT. [Median=1.55; IQR=0.68 versus Median=1.00; IQR=0.46; p=.019]. Patients with “acute culprit” carotid stenosis had a higher ipsilateral EMT [Left ipsilateral EMT: Median=1.46; IQR=0.63; “non-acute”: Median=0.94; IQR=0.43; p=.009; Right ipsilateral EMT: Median=2.25; IQR=0.62; “non-acute”: Median=1.00; IQR=0.51; p=.015]. This difference was not found in the contra-lateral EMT. Six months after the neurologic event, EMT ipsilateral to an “acute culprit” carotid stenosis decreased (p=.036). The amount of peri-carotid adipose tissue, estimated with EMT was associated with atherosclerosis at the carotid arteries. In particularly EMT could be a non-invasive marker of “acute culprit” carotid stenosis, easily determined in clinical practice. These findings may have implications in personalized medicine, for the determination of the best treatment approach.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials show advantages as surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate over traditional noble metals, such as chemically inert flat surface and uniform SERS signals. However, due to the low density of free electrons of 2D materials, the enhancement mechanism is mainly restricted to chemical enhancement instead of electromagnetic enhancement, resulting a relatively low enhancement factor. In this work, we reported a sensitive 2D SERS substrate based on chemical vapor deposited MoN nanosheets with electromagnetic enhanced mechanism. The maximum enhancement factor can be 3×105 with a limit of detected concentration of 4×10-8 M, which is comparable to those noble metal SERS substrates without hot spots. The MoN nanosheets show strong surface plasmon resonance in the visible range as evidenced by the UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and first principle calculation. The MoN nanosheets SERS substrates exhibit excellent Raman signal uniformity within the nanosheets. Meanwhile, Distinct thickness dependent sensitivity was observed in the MoN nanosheets, higher sensitivity can be achieved by decreasing the thickness of the nanosheets. Furthermore, the MoN nanosheets SERS substrate also show high thermal stability, which can be annealed in air for more than 300℃ and maintain its SERS activity. The high stability of MoN nanosheets allows it to be reused for 20 cycles without obvious signal decay. The high sensitivity, stability, reusability and Raman signal uniformity, makes MoN nanosheets an ideal 2D SERS substrate for practical applications.

Background: The role of NFATC genes expression in BAV progression is not fully understood. Aim of study is to determine the significance of NFATC1 and NFATC4 gene expression for myocardial changes in children with BAV. Methods: In 47 children with BAV the standard Doppler echocar-digraphic characteristics were detected and the expression of the NFATC1 and NFATC4 genes was studied. Results: PWTd, AoPPG, in BAV patients were significantly higher compared to healthy controls (PWTd median(min-max) 9 (7-10) mm vs 7 (6-8) mm), AoPPG median (min-max) 7,79 (2,98-15,09) mm Hg vs 2,94 (2,42-3,72) mm Hg. Expression of NFATC1 gene in BAV children was significantly higher compared to NFATC4 (NFATC1 median (min-max) 70,88 (8,79-106,51) e.u. vs 7,72 (1,74-22,67) e.u., respectively p<0,05). Significant correlation of NFATC1 expression with Ao found (R=+0,53, p<0,05). In BAV patients with PWTd > 8 mm and Ao> 21 mm the NFATC1 expression was significantly higher compare to those with PWTd< =8 mm and Ao<=21 mm NFATC1 median (min-max) 45,49 (5,01-101,52) e.u. vs 15,53 (2,36-44,40) e.u., p<0.05 and 81.11 (20.27-101.10) e.u. mm vs 12.16 (2,40-45.49) e.u., p<0.05, respectively) Conclusion: in children with BAV the high expression of the NFATC1 calcineurin signalling pathway gene is associated with elevated PWTd and Ao.

Background: Functional restoration of abdominal wall defects represent one of the fundamental challenges of reconstructive surgery. Synthetic grafts or crosslinked animal-derived biological grafts are characterized by significant adverse reactions, which are mostly observed after their implantation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the decellularization protocol to produce a completely acellular full-thickness abdominal wall scaffold. Methods: Full-thickness abdominal wall samples were harvested from Wistar rats and submitted to a 3 cylce decellularization process. Histological, biochemical and DNA quantification analyses were applied to evaluate the effect of the decellularization protocol. Mechanical testing and immunogenicity assessment were also performed. Results: Histological, biochemical and DNA analysis results showed the efficient decellularization abdominal wall samples after the 3rd cycle. Decellularized abdominal wall scaffolds were characterized by good biochemical and mechanical properties Conclusion: The data presented herein confirm the effective production of rat-derived full-thickness abdominal wall scaffold. Expanding this approach will allow the exploitation of the capacity of the proposed decellularization protocol in producing acellular abdominal wall scaffolds from larger animal models or human cadaveric donors. In this way, the utility of biological scaffolds with preserved in vivo remodelling properties may be one step closer to its application in clinical studies.

Aims:To update analytic formulas for the overall efficacy of corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) including both type-I and oxygen-mediated type-II mechanisms, the role of oxygen and the initiator regeneration. Study Design:modeling the kinetics of CXL in UV light and using riboflavin as the photosensitizer.Place and Duration of Study:New Taipei City, Taiwan, between June, 2021 and July, 2021.Methodology:Coupled kinetic equations are derived under the quasi-steady state condition for the 2-pathway mechanisms of CXL. For type-I CXL, the riboflavin (RF) triplet state [T] may interact directly with the stroma collagen substrate [A] to form radical (R) and regenerate initiator. For type-II process, [T] interacts with oxygen to form a singlet oxygen [¹O₂]. Both reactive radical (R) and [¹O₂], can relax to their ground state, or interact with the substrate [A]) for crosslinking. Based on a safety dose, the minimum corneal thickness formula is derived. Results:Our updated theory/modeling showed that oxygen plays a limited and transient role in the process, in consistent with that of Kamave [2]. In contrary, Kling et al [3] believed that type-II is the predominant mechanism, which however conflicting with the epi-on CXL results. For both type-I and type-II, a transient state conversion (crosslink) efficacy in an increasing function of light intensity (or dose), whereas, its steady state efficacy is a deceasing function of light intensity. RF depletion in type-I is compensated by the RF regeneration term (RGE) which is a decreasing function of oxygen. For the case of perfect regeneration case (or when oxygen=0), RF is a constant due to the catalytic cycle. Unlike the conventional Dresden rule of 400 um thickness, thin cornea CXL is still safe as far as the dose is under a threshold dose (E*), based on our minimum thickness formula (Z*). Our formula for thin cornea is also clinically shown by Hafez et al forultra thin (214 nm) CXL. Conclusion: For both type-I and type-II, a transient state conversion (crosslink) efficacy in an increasing function of light intensity (or dose), whereas, its steady state efficacy is a deceasing function of light intensity. Ultra thin cornea is still safe as far as it is under a threshold dose (E*), based on our minimum thickness formula.

In many advanced industrial applications, the thickness is a critical index, especially for metallic coatings. However, the variance of lift-off spacing between sensors and test pieces affects the measured voltage or impedance, which leads to unreliable results from the sensor. Massive research works have been proposed to address the lift-off issue, but few of them applies to the thickness measurement of planar metallic films with finite-size circular (disk) geometry. Previously, a peak-frequency feature from the swept-frequency inductance was used to compensate the measurement error caused by lift-offs, which was based on the slow-changing rate of impedance phase term in the Dodd-Deeds formulas. However, the phase of measured impedance is nearly invariant merely on a limited range of sample thicknesses and working frequencies. Besides, the frequency sweeping is time-consuming, where a recalibration is needed for different sensor setups applied to the online real-time measurement. In this paper, a single-frequency algorithm has been proposed, which is embedded in the measurement instrument for the online real-time retrieval of thickness. Owing to the single-frequency measurement strategy, the proposed method does not need to recalibrate for different sensor setups. The thickness retrieval is based on a triple-coil sensor (with one transmitter and two receivers). The thickness of metallic disk foils is retrieved from the measured electrical resistance of two transmitter-receiver sensing pairs. Experiments on materials of different electrical conductivities (from direct current), thicknesses and planar sizes (radii) have been carried out to verify the proposed method. The error for the thickness retrieval of conductive disk foils is controlled within 5 % for lift-offs up to 5 mm.

The building sector is the largest consumer of energy and there are still major scientific challenges in this field. The façade, being the interface between the exterior and interior space, plays a key role in the energy efficiency of a building. In this context, this paper focuses on a ventilated bioclimatic wall for NZEB zero energy buildings. The objective of this study is to investigate an experimental set-up based on a Hot Box allowing characterizing the thermal performances of the ventilated wall. A specific ventilated prototype and an original thermal metrology has been developed. This paper presents the ventilated prototype, the experimental set-up and experimental results on the thermal performances of the ventilated wall. The influence of the air space thickness and the air flow rate on the thermal performances of the ventilated wall is studied.

For the electromagnetic eddy current testing, various methods have been proposed for reducing the lift-off error on the measurement of samples. In this paper, instead of eliminating the measurement error caused by the lift-off effect, an algorithm has been proposed to directly measure the lift-off distance between the sensor and non-magnetic conductive plates. The algorithm is based on a sample-independent inductance (SII) feature. That is, under high working frequencies, the inductance is found sensitive to the lift-off distance and independent of the test piece under an optimal single high working frequency (43.87 kHz). Furthermore, the predicted lift-off distance is used for the thickness prediction of the non-magnetic conductive samples using an iterative method. Considering the eddy current skin depth, the thickness prediction is operated under a single lower frequency (0.20 kHz). As the inductance has different sensitivities to the lift-off and thickness, the prediction error of the sample thickness is different from that of the lift-off distance. From the experiments on three different nonmagnetic samples – aluminium, copper, and brass, the maximum prediction error of the lift-off distance and sample thickness is 1.1 mm and 5.42 % respectively at the lift-off of 12.0 mm.

Previously, various techniques have been proposed for reducing the lift-off effect on the thickness measurement of the non-magnetic films, including the peak-frequency feature and phase feature in the Dodd-Deed analytical formulation. To realise a real-time feedback response on the thickness monitoring, the phase term in the Dodd-Deeds formulation must be taken off the integration. Previous methods were based on the slow change rate of the phase term when compared to the rest of the term – the magnitude term. However, the change rate of the phase term is still considerable for a range of working frequencies. In this paper, a high-frequency feature has been found. That is, the ratio between the imaginary and real part of the phase term is proportional to the integral variable under high frequencies. Based on this proportion relationship, the phase term has been taken out; and a thickness algorithm has been proposed. By combing the measured impedance from the custom-built sensor (three coils), the thickness of the metallic film can be reconstructed. Experiments have been carried out for the verification of the proposed scenario. Results show that the thickness of the metal film can be reconstructed with a small error of less than 2 %, and immune to a reasonable range of lift-offs.

Diffusion bonding is often used on pre-machined parts to generate internal cavities, e.g. for cooling injection molding tools close to the mold cavity. Only then, the workpieces are finished to their final dimensions. In the case of micro-process devices, however, it is essential to precisely control the deformation, as otherwise uncontrollable pressure losses will occur with channel cross-sections in the sub-millimeter range. Post-processing is not possible. The most important process parameters for diffusion bonding are temperature, dwell time and contact pressure, with the bonding temperature and contact pressure acting in opposite directions and showing a strong non-linear dependence on deformation. In addition, the deformation is influenced by a number of other factors such as the absolute size of the cross-section and the aspect ratio of the parts, the dimensions and distribution of the internal cross sections and the overall percentage of the cross-section to be bonded. In micro process engineering, small material cross-sections in the range of the materials microstructure can facilitate additional deformation mechanisms such as grain boundary sliding, which are not relevant at all for larger structures. For parts consisting of multiple layers, tolerances in thickness and roughness of multiple surfaces must be levelled, contributing to the percentaged deformation. This makes it difficult, especially in micro process engineering and in single or small series production, to determine suitable joining parameters in advance, which on the one hand do not cause unforeseen large deformations, but on the other hand reliably produce highly vacuum-tight components. Hence, a definition of a fixed percentaged deformation does not work for all kinds of components. This makes it difficult to specify parameters for surely obtain high-vacuum tight parts. For successful diffusion bonding, atoms must diffuse over the bonding planes, forming a monolithic part in which the original layers are no longer visible. Only then, mechanical properties identical to those of the base material, which has been subjected to identical heat treatment, can be achieved. In this paper, the impacts of different material cross section widths as well as of the aspect ratio on deformation were investigated. By accident, it was found that also accuracy of the temperature measurement may have a serious impact in terms of deformation.

The active layer thickness (ALT) is affected by local soil material and surface vegetation coverage in Tibetan plateau permafrost region. The human activities and engineering construction along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (QTH) destroyed the surface vegetation coverage, which have seriously influenced the ALT and heat exchange balance. Meanwhile, the changes of the detailed internal structure in the active layer will affect the stability of engineering infrastructure. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was used to detect the ALT in the permafrost region. However, researches on the detailed structure of the active layer and spatial variation information of ALT are rare, the main reason given for this is that the lack of advanced imaging techniques to enhance the GPR images. In this paper, the researchers focus on solving this problem by applying the reverse time migration (RTM) method to GPR field data acquired in the Beiluhe region. Analyses of the results led to conclusions as follows: a) The RTM algorithm is proved to be accurate for imaging the characteristics of the active layer through the dielectric constant model obtained by common midpoint and GPR data velocity analysis. b) The result of RTM profiles show the loose structure and graben-like fine internal structure. Combining with drill data and soil materials information, the researchers deduce the graben-like structure might be coarse gravel layer, which may be related to subgrade settlements in some local area. c) The 2D contour maps not only show the spatial variation feature of ALT at two sides of the highway, but also can compensate the defect of the research for single 2D survey line. The ALT is about 0.6~0.8 m in most areas, and about 0.8~0.9 m near the highway at west side of the QTH on the 2D contour maps. From the RTM interpretation profile, the closer to the plash, the deeper thawed active layer. The detailed internal structure of the active layer and 2D contour maps of ALT have great significance for the study of fine internal structure and the characteristic of ALT spatial variation in the Tibetan plateau under the background of climatic change.

Abstract: Hox gene clusters are crucial in Embryogenesis. It was observed that some Hox genes were located in order along the telomeric to centromeric direction of the DNA sequence: Hox1, Hox2, Hox3…. These genes were expressed in the same order in the ontogenetic units of the Drosophila embryo along the Anterior-Posterior axis. The two entities (genome and embryo) differ significantly in linear size and in-between distance. This strange phenomenon was named Spatial Collinearity (SP). Later, it was observed that, particularly in the Vertebrates, a Temporal Collinearity (TC) coexists: first is Hox1 expressed, later Hox2 and even later Hox3,…,. Hox clusters are irreversibly elongated along the force direction. According to a Biophysical Model (BM), pulling forces act at the anterior end of the cluster while a cluster fastening applies at the posterior end. During Evolution, the elongated Hox clusters are broken at variable lengths thus split clusters may be created. An Empirical Rule was formulated distinguishing development due to a complete Hox cluster from development due to split Hox clusters. BM can explain this Empirical Rule. In an accidental mutation where the cluster fastening is dismantled, a minimal pulling force can automatically shift the cluster inside the Hox activation domain. This cluster translocation can probably explain the absence of temporal collinearity in Drosophila.

Land Surface Temperature (LST) estimation has been studied for several purposes, while the optimal method of estimating the LST has not been criticized yet. This research explores the optimum method in Land Surface Temperature (LST) estimation using LANDSAT-8 imagery data. Four different LST retrieval approaches, the Radiative Transfer Equation-based method (RTE), the Improved Mono-Window method (IMW), the Generalized Single-Channel method (GSC), and the Split-Window algorithm (SW), were calculated to present the LSTs over Buriram Town Municipality, Thailand. The calculated LSTs from these four methods were compared with the ground-based temperature data, taken on the same date and time of the employed LANDSAT-8 images. For this reason, the optimum method of the LST calculation was justified by considering the lowest normalized root means square error (NRMSE) values. As a result, the SW algorithm presents an optimum method in LST estimation. Regarding the SW, this algorithm requires not only the atmospheric profiles during satellite acquisition but also the retrieval of several coefficients. Besides, the LST retrieval method based on the SW algorithm is sensitive to water vapor content and coefficients. Although the SW algorithm is an optimum method explored in this study, it is emphasized that the adjustable values of coefficient response to the atmospheric state may be recommended. With these conditions, the SW algorithm can generate the land-surface temperature over the mixed land-use and land cover on the LANDSAT-8 images.

Lamellar eutectic structure of Al_0.7CoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) is emerging as a promising candidate for structural applications because of its high strength-ductility combination. The alloy consists of a fine-scale lamellar fcc+B2 microstructure with high flow stresses >1500 MPa under quasi-static conditions. The response to shear loading was not investigated so far. This is the first report on the shear deformation of an eutectic structured HEA and effect of precipitation on shear deformation. The dynamic shear response (DSR) of the eutectic HEA was examined in two microstructural conditions, with and without the presence of L1₂ precipitates. A split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) was used to compress the hat-shaped specimens to study the local DSR of the alloy. The adiabatic shear bands (ASBs) in two different microstructural conditions were characterized after deformation at dynamic strain rates. The adiabatic shear localization occurs at low strains for the high strength material, and the eutectic microstructure does not delay cracking. The width of ASBs and the extent of plastic deformation around them has been correlated with the rate of straining. Dynamic recrystallization within ASBs and profuse twinning around it was observed. Local mechanical response of individual lamellae before and after shear deformation was examined using nano-indentation.

In the history of high-performance polymer composite parts with continuous in-plane fibre reinforcement, the comparatively moderate structural-mechanical properties in their out-of- plane-z-direction and the limited load carrying capability between individual reinforcement layers within the laminated structures have always been one of the greatest challenges. Plenty of research work has been carried out to improve load transfer capability as well as fracture toughness for crack opening events between the reinforcement layers by means of out-of-plane fibre reinforcement implementation, for example by sewing or z-pinning technologies. However, the results have not become established across a wide range of applications so far, because the technologies used have led to considerable losses of in-plane strength properties. In this paper first results are presented for a new method of a low fraction z-fibre reinforcement by means of very thin diameter laser drilled holes filled with short carbon fibres, demonstrating potential to improve Mode II fracture toughness.

Concrete is more stable than filler as a false roof in a downward approach type infill quarry, but the mechanical model of a concrete false roof is not clear. As a result, there has been limited application. Therefore, it is necessary to establish the mechanical model of a concrete artificial false roof to enhance the stability of the downward approach infill quarry. This paper combines theoretical analysis, model derivation, finite element analysis and field application methods. Firstly, the basic assumptions of thin plate theory and elasticity mechanics are used as the premise to establish the differential equations of the deflection curve of the concrete thin plate false roof. Then, the three types of bending moment generation of the concrete thin plate false roof are explored. Secondly, the relationship between the location of dangerous surface and dangerous point in hard-supported weak-slab structure and soft-supported weak-slab structure is analyzed, and the type of uniform load and calculation model of concrete thin-slab false roof are improved. Finally, according to the established mechanical model of thin slab false roof, finite element analysis and field application were carried out. The results show that there are three types of deflection curve differential equations in the concrete thin slab false roof perpendicular to the strike, and three extreme points exist in the middle section of the thin slab and on both sides of the surrounding rock. The hazardous surface of the hard-supported weak-slab structure is present at the intersection of the encircling rock and the thin-slab fake ceiling, with the perilous point situated on the top of this surface. The hazardous surface of the soft-supported weak-slab structure can be found in the centre section of the thin-slab fake ceiling, with the perilous point being located at the bottom of this surface. Moreover, the damage mode for both structures is that of maximum tensile stress damage. Upon conducting a finite element analysis, the results indicate that the concrete's maximum tensile stress is significantly high.

Scaling up the production of power devices involves, in the semiconductor industry, the use of large semiconductor 8” and 12” wafers of Si or SiC. Their use implicates a successful an effective monitoring and control of wafer warpage, as the geometrical size of the substrate increases, as well as a command control on the degeneration of non-linear warpage into critical phenomena known as bifurcation or buckling.To mitigate the warpage, the use of taiko wafers, which consists of wafers having a thicker region on the rim region of the wafer, has been generally adopted in the production lines. In a previous work [1] we investigated the warpage of taiko wafers by introducing the concept of equivalent thickness, in the linear approximation, for the case of a front side metalized taiko wafer. However, as the thickness of the central semiconductor substrate region decreases the possibility that also the taiko wafer bifurcates emerges. For this reason, in this work we have investigated the occurrence of bifurcation or buckling in a taiko wafer. In particular, we implemented a finite element analysis method by using ANSYS Mechanical Enterprise 2023/R2 to investigate the phenomenon of bifurcation in a taiko wafer. The investigated system consisted of a 200 mm Si (001) front side metalized (FSM) taiko wafer, having a substrate thickness ranging from 100 µm to 400 µm, with a step height fixed to 450 µm. The FSM layer consisted of an Al layer of 4.5 µm thin. The system was subjected to a thermal load such that, getting cooled from a nominal temperature T to 25°C, the metal layer can develop a residual stress. To investigate the bifurcation, an asymmetry was induced in the system by applying a slight force on a point of the circumferential region perpendicularly to the substrate. The temperature investigated ranged from 30 °C to 170 °C. From this investigation, it results that also the bifurcation is mitigated by the taiko structure. Indeed, the bifurcation emerges at higher values of the stresses with respect to the case of flat wafers having the same size and thickness of the substrate. Moreover, the concept of equivalent thickness needs to be reformulated by taking into account of the bifurcation phenomenon. Indeed, from the warpage at the bifurcation point of the taiko wafer, we can determine an overall equivalent thickness of the taiko wafer.

The study aimed to determine the relationship between glucose, C-peptide, BDNF, and leptin between mother and fetus and neonatal weight. Methods: In the prospective observational cohort study, we included 66 women with T1DM. According to the z-score for neonatal weight, patients were divided into Healthy weight neonates (n=42) and Overweight neonates (n=24). The maternal blood samples were taken during pregnancy and cesarean section when the umbilical vein blood sample was also withdrawn. The maternal vein sera were analyzed for fasting glucose, CRP, leptin, BDNF, TSH, FT3, and FT4. The umbilical vein sera were analyzed for glucose, C-peptide, leptin, TSH, FT3, FT4, and BDNF concentration. The neonatologist measured the skinfold thickness on the third day of neonatal life. Results: A strong correlation was confirmed between maternal and umbilical vein glucose concentration and maternal glucose and C-peptide in umbilical vein blood. A negative correlation was found between the concentration of BDNF in the umbilical vein and glucose in maternal blood. A strong correlation was seen between BMI and maternal blood leptin concentration, neonatal fat body mass, and umbilical vein blood leptin concentration. Increased odds for Overweight neonates were BMI, BDNF, and TSH in the first trimester of pregnancy. Maternal leptin concentration decreased the odds of Overweight neonates. Conclusions: Maternal glucose concentrations affect the fetus’s glucose, C-peptide, and BDNF concentrations. Leptin levels increase in maternal blood due to increased body mass index, and in the neonate, its fat body mass is responsible for increased leptin concentrations.

Abstract: Polylactic acid (PLA) is brittle in nature with extensive deformation property. For improvement of the end-use quality, it is of significant importance to enhance the producibility of fused deposition modeling (FDM)-printed objects in PLA. The purpose of this investigation is to boost toughness and to reduce the production cost of the FDM-printed tensile test samples with the desired part thickness. To attain the research purpose number of experiments are designed and analyzed by the Response Surface Method (RSM). The statistical analysis is performed to deal with this concern considering layer thickness, infill percentage, and extruder temperature as controlled factors. The tensile test specimens are printed based on the designed experiments, and the tensile strength tests are conducted by SANTAM 150 universal testing machine based on ASTM D638. The honeycomb internal fill pattern is applied for the production of light-weight and high-strength specimens. The area under Force- Extension curve up to fracture is acquired as the toughness of the printed specimens. This study also developed a modeling process using ANN and ANN-GA techniques for developing an accurate estimation for toughness, part thickness, and production cost as dependant variables. Results were evaluated by correlation coefficient and RMSE values. According to the modeling results, ANN-GA as a hybrid ML technique could successfully improve the accuracy of modeling about 7.5, 11.5 and 4.5 % for toughness, part thickness, and production cost, respectively, in comparison with those for the single ANN method. In the other side, the optimization results confirm that the optimized specimen is cost-effective and able to comparatively undergo deformation, which develops the usability of printed PLA objects. The research is accomplished under the constraints of PLA compatibility with existing fused deposition modeling setup without changing the functional hardware/software of the machine. Although the mechanical properties and dimensional accuracy of PLA have already been studied, there is little literature on the toughness of the printed PLA with honeycomb internal fill pattern.

The pharmaceutical market consists mainly of chemical and biological drugs. These drugs act on different types of targets and have distinct pharmacological properties. Generally, chemical drugs bind to the active site of target enzymes and easily penetrate the cell membrane owing to their small size; however, biological drugs can bind to the protein–protein interaction site but are less stable due to their protein properties. Cyclic peptides possess the pharmacological merits of both chemical and biological drugs, such as the ability to bind to the protein–protein interaction site and penetrate cell membranes. In this study, we developed a simple two-step system to generate a cyclic peptide library using the split intein of Npu DnaE and Gateway cloning. The first step is the PCR of Ready-to-use(R) template DNA having the coding sequences of random cyclic peptides between two split intein elements NpuC and NpuN and the recombination recognition site of Gateway cloning. The second step is the transformation of the PCR products via Gateway cloning to produce colonies with expression vectors to produce cyclic peptides comprising random amino acid sequences. The expression vectors in randomly chosen transformed colonies were confirmed to have random cyclic peptide sequences and all the clones, except ones having a stop codon in the cyclic peptide coding region, showed the expected protein splicing result. This simple two-step system for bacterial expression systems may be modified to suit various expression systems for cell-based assays.

This paper presents an original method of additive manufacturing of cylindrical parts with variable circumference thickness, which allows the control of the deposition of molten material using an algorithm for decomposing the part geometry into volumetric elements with known dimensional configuration. In the absence of a post-processor capable of controlling additive manufacturing on a 5-axis numerical control machine, control of the deposition of molten material is done using parameterized programs, which can control both the feed speeds of the machine tool axes and the specific functions of the printing equipment. Additive manufacturing can make a positive contribution to sustainable development compared to traditional manufacturing technologies, thus making a positive contribution for a sustainable future. The aim of the work is to make it possible to 3D print parts with variable wall thickness using a CNC machining centre. To obtain the variable thickness layer we have implemented an original method of deposition with molten material (FDM), the coordination of the system composed of physical elements respectively programmable elements, is realized through control functions materialized in parameterized part programs, the generated outputs being the variable speed of the machine axes on a circular trajectory, the angular positioning, the filament advance.

Background: Evaluating muscle mass and function among stroke patients is important. However, evaluating muscle volume and function is not easy due to the disturbance of consciousness and paresis. Temporal muscle thickness (TMT) has been introduced as a novel surrogate marker for muscle mass, function, and nutritional status. We herein performed a narrative literature review on temporal muscle and stroke to understand the current meaning of the TMT in the clinical stroke practice. Methods: The search was performed in PubMed, last updated in October 2021. Report on temporal muscle morphomics and stroke-related diseases or clinical entities were collected. Results: Four studies reported on TMT and subarachnoid hemorrhage, 2 intracerebral hemorrhage, 2 ischemic stroke, 2 standard TMT values, and 2 nutritional status. TMT was reported as a prognostic factor for several diseases, surrogate markers for skeletal muscle mass, and an indicator of nutritional status. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasonography were used to measure TMT. Conclusions: TMT is gradually used as a prognostic factor of stroke or surrogate marker for skeletal muscle mass and nutritional status. Establishing standard methods to measure TMT and large prospective studies to investigate the further relationship between TMT and diseases are needed.

In this work, we propose simple and robust technique for the retrieval of underlying surface spectral albedo using spaceborne observations. It can be used to process both multispectral moderate resolution satellite data and also multi - zone high spatial resolution data. The technique can work automatically for different types of land surfaces without using huge databases accumulated in advance. The new cloud discrimination and retrieval of the water vapor content in atmosphere procedures are presented. The key point of the proposed atmospheric correction technique is the suggested single-wavelength method for determining the atmospheric aerosol optical thickness without reference to a specific type of underlying surface spectrum. The retrievals of spectral albedo for various land surfaces with developed technique, performed using computer simulation and experimental data, have demonstrated a high retrieval accuracy.

Defect detection in ferromagnetic substrates is often hampered by non-magnetic coating thickness variation when using conventional eddy current testing technique. The lift-off distance between the sample and the sensor is one of the main obstacles for the thickness measurement of non-magnetic coatings on ferromagnetic substrates when using the eddy current testing technique. Based on the eddy current thin-skin effect and the lift-off insensitive inductance (LII), a simplified iterative algorithm is proposed for reducing the lift-off variation effect using a multi-frequency sensor. Compared to the previous techniques on compensating the lift-off error (e.g., the lift-off point of intersection) while retrieving the thickness, the simplified inductance algorithms avoid the computation burden of integration, which are used as embedded algorithms for the online retrieval of lift-offs via each frequency channel. The LII is determined by the dimension and geometry of the sensor, thus eliminating the need for empirical calibration. The method is validated by means of experimental measurements of the inductance of coatings with different materials and thicknesses on ferrous substrates (dual-phase alloy). The error of the calculated coating thickness has been controlled to within 3 % for an extended lift-off range of up to 10 mm.

In thermal friction drilling (TFD) operations, the geometrical dimensions of bushing shape, height and wall thickness are the most vital consequences, due to increasing the connecting length and strength. In this paper, AA7075-T651 aluminum alloys with 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mm in thicknesses were drilled with TFD process in order to investigate the density, the volume ratio, and height and wall thickness of the bushings. The experiments were conducted at constant spindle speed and feed rate conditions by using HSS conical tools of 5, 10, 15, and 20 mm in diameters. It was experimentally found that the bushing height and the wall thickness were tendency of increase linearly with increasing both material thickness and tool diameter. The effect of tool diameter was found to have much of influence on the measured values than the thickness of the drilled material. The density of the bushing was changed inconsiderably. Approximately 70-75 % percentages of the evacuated material composed the bushing shape, in TFD operations.

Hox gene clusters are crucial in Embryogenesis. It was observed that some Hox genes are located in order along the telomeric to centromeric direction of the DNA sequence: Hox1, Hox2, Hox3…. These genes are expressed in the same order in the ontogenetic units of the Drosophila embryo along the Anterior-Posterior axis. The two entities (genome and embryo) differ significantly in linear size and in-between distance. This strange phenomenon was named Spatial Collinearity (SP). Later, it was observed that, particularly in the Vertebrates, a Temporal Collinearity (TC) coexists: first is Hox1 expressed, later Hox2 and even later Hox3,…,. According to a Biophysical Model (BM), pulling forces act at the anterior end of the cluster while a cluster fastening applies at the posterior end. Hox clusters are irreversibly elongated along the force direction. During Evolution, the elongated Hox clusters are broken at variable lengths thus split clusters may be created. An Empirical Rule was formulated distinguishing development due to a complete Hox cluster from development due to split Hox clusters. BM can ‘explain’ this Empirical Rule. In a spontaneous mutation where the cluster fastening is dismantled, a minimal pulling force can automatically shift the cluster inside the Hox activation domain. This cluster translocation can probably explain the absence of Temporal Collinearity in Drosophila.

Two coupled climate models which participated the CMIP6 project (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6), the Earth System Model of Chinese Academy of Sciences version 2 (CAS-ESM2-0) and the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology Earth System Model version 3 (NESM3), were assessed in terms of the impact of four new sea ice parameterization schemes. These four new schemes are related to air-sea heat flux, radiation penetration and absorption, melt ponds, ice-ocean flux, respectively. To evaluate the effectiveness of these schemes, key sea ice variables with and without these new schemes, such as sea ice concentration (SIC) and sea ice thickness (SIT), were compared against observation and reanalysis product from 1980 to 2014. The simulations followed the design of historical experiments within the CMIP6 framework. The results revealed that both models demonstrated improvements in simulating Arctic SIC and SIT when the new parameterization schemes were implemented. The model bias of SIC in some marginal sea ice zones of Arctic was reduced, especially during March. The SIT was increased and the transpolar gradient of SIT was reproduced. The changes of spatial pattern of SIC and SIT after adding new schemes bear similarities between the two coupled models. This suggests that the new schemes have potential for broad application in climate models, especially for those with underestimated SIT.

Overhead power transmission line icing (PTLI) disasters are one of the most severe dangers to power grid safety. Automatic iced transmission line identification is critical in various fields. However, existing methods primarily focus on the linear characteristics of transmission lines, employing a two-step process involving edge and line detection for PTLI identification. Nonetheless, these traditional methods are often difficult when confronted with challenges such as background noise or variations in illumination, leading to incomplete identification of the target area, missed target regions, or misclassification of background pixels as foreground. We propose a new iced transmission line identification scheme to overcome this limitation. In the initial stage, we integrate the image restoration method with image filter enhancement to restore the image's color information. This combined approach effectively retains valuable information and preserves the original image quality, thereby mitigating noise presented during the image acquisition. Subsequently, in the second stage, we introduce an enhanced multi-threshold algorithm to separate background and target pixels. After image segmentation, we enhance the image and obtain the region of interest (ROI) through connected component labeling modification and mathematical morphology operations, eliminating background regions. Our proposed scheme achieves an accuracy value of 97.72%, a precision value of 96.24%, a recall value of 86.22%, and the specificity value of 99.48% based on the average value of test images. Through object segmentation and location, the proposed method can avoid background interference, effectively solve the problem of transmission line icing identification, and achieve 90% measurement accuracy compared to manual measurement on the collected PTLI dataset.

Several noninvasive vascular biomarkers have been suggested for improving the risk stratification for atherothrombotic events. To identify biomarkers suitable for detecting intermediate-risk individuals who might benefit from lipid-lowering treatment (L-LT) in primary prevention, the present study tested the association of plasma LDL-cholesterol with coronary artery calcification (CAC) Agatston score, high carotid and femoral intima-media thickness (IMT), low carotid distensibility and high carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity in 260 asymptomatic individuals at intermediate cardiovascular risk and free of diabetes and L-LT. High or low vascular biomarkers were considered when their value was above the 95th or below the 5th percentile, respectively, of the distribution in the healthy or in the study population. LDL-cholesterol was independently associated with the CAC score =0 (OR 0.67; 95%CI 0.48-0.92, P=0.01), CAC score >100 (1.59; 1.08-2.39, P=0.01) and with high femoral IMT (1.89; 1.19-3.06, P<0.01), but not with other biomarkers. Our data confirm that in the presence of CAC score =0 in individuals at intermediate risk, L-LT can be avoided, while it should be used in those with CAC score >100. Femoral artery IMT could represent a useful biomarker for decision regarding L-LT, however the reference values according to sex and age should be established in a large healthy population

Steam boiler has a significant role in the industrial sector. The failure in boiler tubes significantly reduces the availability of the plant. Furthermore, deposits on the inner tube wall contribute to such failure by changing the thermal resistance of the wall, which causes a significant increase in the tube wall's temperature and, consequently, lower allowable stress. The presented thermal-fluid model is developed for the water tube. The model is implemented using ANSYS FLUENT to estimate the wall maximum water tube wall temperature considering the deposits layer and then determine the minimum thickness of the tube wall via ASME standards to assure safe operation. The model is verified via a mesh independence test. The minimum tube thickness is recommended and justified given the thermo-mechanical performance of the water tubes at several operating loads of 50, 75, and 100 %. These loads are implemented by different convective heat transfer coefficients of flue gases under different deposit thicknesses, thermal conductivity, and flue gas temperature. The present work contributes to the literature by recommending the minimum thickness of the water wall tubes and highlighting the thermo-mechanical effect of the deposits on water tube resilience under different operating conditions.

We aim to investigate if serum levels of microRNAs: miR-126, mir-197 and mir-223, previously implicated in cardiometabolic disease, are reproducibly associated with incident-diabetes (inc-DM), incident-cardiovascular disease (inc-CVD) and with carotid atherosclerosis (measured for the maximum thickness of the intima-media of the carotid bulb (IMT)). The microRNAs were measured, one: in serum of 553 subjects from the baseline exam of the Swedish prospective cohort, Malmö Diet and Cancer Study (MDC-CC), with 169 subjects who developed CVD and 140 DM (16 years follow-up) and, two: in 1221 subjects from the Malmö Offspring Study (MOS), with 14 de-veloped CVD and 12 DM (3.7 years follow-up). Multivariate logistic and linear regression models were used to investigate the relationship of serum-concentrations of the microRNAs and inc-DM, inc-CVD, IMT-bulb respectively. In MDC-CC, miR-126 showed significant positive association with inc-DM (p= 0.01) whereas in fully adjusted model, the association was borderline significant (p= 0.05). The results were not replicated in MOS. There was no consistent significant association between the microRNAs with IMT or inc-CVD in any cohort. Our results do not support previous reports on significant associations between these microRNAs and the risk of CMD, as they were not reproducible in our cohorts. In addition, the directionality of any associations found were not consistent with those previously reported.

Low-temperature processed ITO thin films offer the potential of overcoming the doping limit by suppressing the equilibrium of compensating oxygen interstitial defects. To elucidate this potential, electrical properties of Sn-doped In₂O₃ (ITO) thin films are studied in dependence on film thickness. In-operando conductivity and Hall effect measurements during annealing of room temperature deposited films with different film thickness in different environments allow to discriminate between the effects of crystallization, grain growth, donor activation and oxygen diffusion on carrier concentrations and mobilities. At 200 °C, a control of carrier concentration by oxygen incorporation or extraction is only possible for very thin films. The electrical properties of thicker films deposited at room temperature are mostly affected by grain size. The remaining diffusivity of compensating oxygen defects at 200 °C is sufficient to screen the high Fermi level induced by deposition of Al₂O₃ using atomic layer deposition (ALD), which disables the use of defect modulation doping at this temperature. The results indicate that achieving higher carrier concentrations requires a control of the oxygen pressure during deposition in combination with seed layers to enhance crystallinity or the use of near room temperature ALD.

Hox gene clusters are crucial in Embryogenesis. It was observed that some Hox genes are located in order along the telomeric to centromeric direction of the DNA sequence: Hox1, Hox2, Hox3…. These genes are expressed in the same order in the ontogenetic units of the Drosophila embryo along the Anterior-Posterior axis. The two entities (genome and embryo) differ significantly in linear size and in-between distance. This strange phenomenon was named Spatial Collinearity (SP). Later, it was observed that, particularly in the Vertebrates, a Temporal Collinearity (TC) coexists: first is Hox1 expressed, later Hox2 and even later Hox3,…,. According to a Biophysical Model (BM), pulling forces act at the anterior end of the cluster while a cluster fastening applies at the posterior end. Hox clusters are irreversibly elongated along the force direction. During Evolution, the elongated Hox clusters are broken at variable lengths thus split clusters may be created. An Empirical Rule was formulated distinguishing development due to a complete Hox cluster from development due to split Hox clusters. BM can ‘explain’ this Empirical Rule. In a spontaneous mutation where the cluster fastening is dismantled, a weak pulling force automatically shifts the cluster inside the Hox activation domain. This cluster translocation can probably explain the absence of Temporal Collinearity in Drosophila.

In present paper, spatial Minkowski Pythagorean Hodograph (MPH) curves are characterized with Rational Rotation Minimizing Frames (RRMFs). We define Euler-Rodrigues Frame (ERF) for MPH curves and by means of this concept, we reach the definition of MPH curves of type (n, m). Expressing the conditions provided by these curves in the form of Minkowski-Hopf map that we define, it is aimed to establish a connection with the Lorentz force which occurs during the process of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) type sinker Electronic Discharge Machines (EDMs). This approach is reinforced by split quaternion polynomials. Finally, we give conditons satisfied by MPH curves of low degree to be type (n, m) and construct illustrative examples.