We report a preliminary exploration on the low-pressure Ar-O2 plasma generated by low-frequency alternating current (AC) power supply in the low-temperature Plasma Experimental Power Supply (CTP-2000S) for the first time. The electron density 〖(n〗_e), the electron temperature 〖(T〗_e) and the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) are measured by the single Langmuir probe in this experiment. Experimental results show that the ne increases with gas pressure rising, while the ne decreases with the oxygen concentrations rising. And, a plasma density peak is also observed with the AC power supply increase. A comparison between this work and the previous results by RF source suggests that the low-frequency AC power supply may be very fruitful exploration to generate the low-pressure plasma.

BACKGROUND: To present a new method of urethral pressures examination, and to evaluate diagnostic capabilities of three dimensional profilometry , as an alternative to classical urethral profile (UPP) .Using four channel catheters and dedicated software global urethral pressures image is obtained. The method eliminates the main limitation of classical urethral profilometry where the catheter orientation determines the pressures picture limited to only one point in the uretral circumference while we observed even 50% differences in pressure measures depending on the point of measurement. METHODS: This is a preliminary study containing method presentation and analisys of the use in varied clinical cases of either healthy patients and patients with LUTS. The article includes technique and equipment decription, full evaluation of selected cases, including three dimensional urethral pressures distribution graphics. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:Three dimensional profilometry compared to classical technique is comparable regarding the time, cost, technical difficulty and patient discomfort. At the same time we obtain much more data on the urethral pressures and its distribution.The results are easy for interpretation due to 3D movable graphics created automatically through the dedicated software.

To compare surgical and refractive outcomes between phacotrabeculectomy (P-Trab) and phaco with Ex-PRESS (P-Ex-PRESS) for glaucoma at 6-month follow-up. This prospective randomized controlled trial included 81 eyes; 43 (53%) and 38 (47%) were assigned to the P-Ex-PRESS and P-Trab groups, respectively. Refraction, intraocular pressure (IOP), and best-corrected visual acuity were measured. Refractive change was described by analyzing the magnitude of the cylinder, and polar analysis assessed the change in trend of astigmatism [with-the-rule, against-the-rule (ATR), oblique] evaluating mean astigmatism in centroid form. All patients showed statistically significant postsurgical decrease in IOP (P<0.05). There were no differences neither between the groups for postoperative IOP or visual outcomes, nor in astigmatism before or after surgery (P=0.61, P=0.74). In both groups, the mean pre- and postoperative astigmatism was ATR and OBL, respectively. Pre- and postoperative centroids in the P-Ex-PRESS group were 0.44±1.32 D at 177˚ and 0.35±1 D at 8˚, respectively, (P=0.5) and in the P-Trab group, 0.16±1.5 D at 141˚ and 0.39±1.38 D at 29˚, respectively (P=0.38). Both P-Ex-PRESS and P-Trab showed comparable antihypertensive efficacy in treating open-angle glaucoma in a 6-month period. Pre- and postoperative astigmatism did not differ between groups. The groups showed comparable results for final visual acuity.

Controlling injection parameters is paramount when it comes to producing high-quality green parts using powder injection molding. This work combines experimental and numerical approaches to study the impact of injection parameters on mold in-cavity pressure and on the overall quality of green parts produced by low-pressure powder injection molding. The properties of two low-viscosity feedstocks (formulated from a water-atomized stainless-steel powder and wax-based binder system) were measured and implemented in an Autodesk Moldflow numerical model to quantify the molding pressures, which were finally validated using experimental real-scale injections. The results confirmed that an increase in mold temperature, an increase in feedstock temperature, and a decrease in solid loading decrease the mold in-cavity pressure, which was correlated with the feedstock viscosity. As a key result, real-scale injections confirmed that a minimum flow rate was required to avoid atypical high in-cavity pressure leading in several visual defects such as weld lines, flow marks, cracks, sinks, and incomplete filling. Due to differences in its thermal transfer properties, this flow rate threshold value decreases as the feedstock solid loading increases. For injection speeds higher than this value, the injection pressure measured experimentally was linearly correlated with the injection flow rate.

This paper investigates if the polar groups induced by a plasma treatment can increase the lap shear strength of laser joined metal and plastic hybrids. Optimal laser joining parameters for cold-rolled AISI304 – Polyamide 6.6 and sandblasted AISI304 - Polypropylene hybrids are developed. The OWRK-method was utilized to identify the change in surface free energy of a low-pressure plasma treatment. Plasma treated samples were joined and tested. The fractured surfaces were investigated via light microscopy and SEM. The arithmetic means of the plasma treated hybrids lap shear strength with polyamide 6.6 varied slightly but all measured values were within the range of the untreated samples. The lap shear strengths of the polypropylene hybrids were significantly reduced. This was attributed to an overaging and the development of low molecular weight oxidized materials which lead to a weak boundary layer. No correlation between surface free energy and the lap shear strength could be found.

Purpose: To compare ab interno trabeculectomy by trabecular meshwork excision to plasma-mediated ablation in primary open-angle glaucoma. Methods: Retrospectively collected data of TrabEx+ (TEx, n=56) and Trabectome (T, n=99) were compared by coarsened exact matching to reduce confounding and matched based on baseline IOP and age. Primary outcomes were IOP and number of glaucoma medications. Complications and need for additional glaucoma surgery were assessed. Patients were followed for up to one year. Results: 53 TEx could be matched to T. Baseline IOP was 16.5±4.6 mmHg in both; age was 73.7±8.8 and 71.5±9.9 years in TEx and T, respectively. TEx were taking more medications than T (p<0.001). IOP was reduced to 14.8±4.3 in TEx and to 13.4±3.4 in T at 6 months, and to 14.9±6.0 (p=0.13) in TEx and to 14.1±3.8 mmHg (all p<0.05) in T at 12 months. Medications were reduced at both 6 and 12 months (p< 0.05). No differences were seen between TEx and T at 6 and 12 months. In TEx, only one serious complication occurred, and two patients required further glaucoma surgery. Conclusion: Although both groups had a baseline IOP considered low for ab-interno trabeculectomy, IOP and medications were reduced further at 6 and 12 months. IOP reduction did not reach significance in TEx at 12 months. The inter-group comparison did not reveal any significant differences. Both had a low complication rate.

In this article, a novel hybrid welding process called plasma-TIG coupled arc welding was proposed to improve the efficiency and quality of welding by utilizing the full advantage of plasma and TIG welding processes. The two arcs of plasma and TIG were pulled into each other into one coupled arc under the effect of Lorentz force and plasma flow force during welding experiments. The arc behavior of coupled arc was studied by means of it’s arc profile, arc pressure and arc force conditions. The coupled arc pressure distribution measurements were performed. The effects of welding conditions on coupled arc pressure were evaluated and the maximum coupled arc pressure was improved compared with single-plasma arc and single-TIG arc. It was found that the maximum arc pressure was mainly determined by plasma arc current and plasma gas flow. According to the results, the proposed coupled arc welding process have both advantages of plasma arc and TIG method, and it has a broad application prospect.

Using co-precipitation to synthesize (CeO2)0.95(Y2O3)0.05 (YDC) and solid reaction method to synthesize (CeO2)0.75(ZrO2)0.25 (ZDC), and the characterization for both crystal structure and micro-structure of the two materials was conducted with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) methods. Prepare the YDC and ZDC based limited current O2 sensor by employing platinum pasting bonding method. Sensing characteristics of the sensor were obtained at different conditions and study on the impact of temperature, O2 concentration as well as water vapor pressure on the sensing characteristics had been conducted. XRD results show that the phase structure of both YDC and ZDC is cubic phase. SEM results show that both YDC and ZDC layers are dense layers, which are then qualified to be the composition materials of the sensor. This limited current O2 sensor shows good sensing performance and conforms to the Knudsen model. Log(IL•T) depends linearly on 1000/T with R2 of 0.9904, IL depends linearly on x(O2) with R2 of 0.9726 and sensing characteristics are not affected by p(H2O).

We conducted an in-situ crystal structure analysis of ferroselite at non-ambient conditions. The aim is to provide a solid ground to further the understanding of the properties of this material in a broad range of conditions. Ferroselite, marcasite-type FeSe2, was studied under high pressures up to 46 GPa and low temperatures, down to 50 K using single-crystal microdiffraction techniques. High pressure and low temperatures were generated using a diamond anvil cell and a cryostat. We found no evidences of structural instability in the explored P-T space. The deformation of the orthorhombic lattice is slightly anisotropic. As expected, the compressibility of the Se-Se dumbbell, the longer bond in the structure, is larger than that of the Fe-Se bonds. Less obvious is the behavior of the octahedral bonds, the shorter bond is the most compressible determining a small increase in the octahedron distortion with pressure. We also achieved a robust structural analysis of ferroselite at low temperature in the diamond anvil cell. Structural changes upon temperature decrease are small but qualitatively similar to those produced by pressure.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is utilized to study entropy generation for the rarefied steady state laminar 2-D flow of air-Al2O3 nanofluid in square cavity equipped with two solid fins at the hot wall. Such flows are of great importance in industrial applications, such cooling of the electronic equipment’s and nuclear reactors. In the current study, effects of Knudsen number (Kn), Rayleigh number (Ra) and the nano solid particles volume fraction (ϕ) on the entropy generation are investigated. The values of parameters considered in this work are as follows: 0≤Kn≤0.1, 〖10〗^3≤Ra≤〖10〗^6,0≤ϕ≤0.2. Length of the fins (LF) is considered to be fixed and equals to 0.5 m, whereas the location of the fins with respect to the lower wall (HF) is set to 0.25 and 0.75 m. Simulations demonstrate that there is an inverse direct effect of Kn on the entropy generation. Moreover, it is found that when Ra is less than 104, the entropy generation, due to the flow, increases as ϕ increases. In addition, the entropy generation due to the flow will decrease at Ra greater than 104 as ϕ increases. Moreover, the entropy generation due to heat will increase as both the ϕ and Ra increase. In addition, a correlation model of the total entropy generation as a function of all of the investigated parameters in this study is proposed. Finally, an optimization technique is adapted to find out the conditions at which the total entropy generation is minimized

Utilizing NCEP/NCAR monthly reanalysis data alongside precipitation observations from 1936 monitoring stations across China spanning from 1966 to 2022, this study establishes a location index for the thermal low-pressure center situated over the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Temporal variations in the location index and summer (July) precipitation patterns in China were studied. Over the past six decades, thermal low-pressure centers have been predominantly positioned near 90°E and 32.5°N on the plateau, with their distribution extending from east to west rather than from south to north. The longitudinal and latitudinal position indices exhibit contrasting linear trends, with a positive trend observed during the 1970s and early 21st century and a negative trend in subsequent decades. Mutation analysis highlights pronounced weakening mutations occurring in 1981 and 1973, with the longitudinal index transitioning from an inter-annual cycle of approximately 6-8 years, while the latitudinal index displays quasi-cyclic oscillations of 5 and 8 and 12-14 years. Strong negative correlations are evident between the location indices and precipitation along the southeastern edge of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and in Southern China, contrasting with the positive correlations observed in the central-eastern plateau, northwest China, North China, and the Huang-Huai region. The influence of southerly airflow predominates over much of China east of the plateau, while northwest China experiences convergence between northerly and southerly airflow. Higher location indices correspond to weaker surface cold air masses and strengthened Western Pacific Subtropical and South Asian Highs south of the Yangtze River Basin, resulting in significantly reduced rainfall in the southern Yangtze River region and increased rainfall in northwest China.

Medical institutions, where several patients are treated and medical workers engaged, are always exposed to secondary viral and bacterial infections. It is critical to prevent infection transmission by indirect as well as direct contact through air or splash. The infections of most diseases can be transmitted through the air. HEPA filters installed in air conditioning equipment are used to prevent infection transmission through air in medical institutions, but air circulation takes a long time in a large space. Virus and bacteria smaller than 0.3 μm cannot be removed by the HEPA filter; hence, those microbes remain alive throughout the air ventilation. A plasma sterilizer has the capability to provide environmental friendly sterilization by employing reactive oxide species and reactive nitrogen species at a low cost. We developed an excellent plasma sterilizer by using a non-thermal atmospheric-pressure biocompatible plasma (NBP). Ozone concentration in plasma sources has been derived by Kuhn et al. [1]. The diffusion coefficients inside (D₀) and outside (D₁) the plasma sterilizer have been calculated to be 0.0641 m² s^-1 and 0.717 m² s^-1, respectively. To sustain high O₃ concentrations over 121 ppm inside the plasma source and low O₃ concentrations below 0.05 ppm outside the sterilizer, it is necessary to keep O₃ concentrations at the exit of plasma sterilizer below 0.28 ppm. so that diffusion coefficient D₁ has been designed to be as large as 11 times of D₀.

It is unknown whether postprandial plasma glucose measured from blood taken between 4 and 7.9 h (PPG4-7.9h) is associated with mortality from hypertension, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study aimed to investigate these associations in 4,896 US adults who attended the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of PPG4-7.9h for mortality. This cohort was followed up for 106,300 person-years (mean follow-up, 21.7 years). A 1-natural-log-unit increase in PPG4-7.9h was associated with a higher risk of mortality from hypertension (HR, 3.50; 95% CI, 2.34-5.24), diabetes (HR, 11.7; 95% CI, 6.85-20.0), and CVD (HR, 2.76; 95% CI, 2.08-3.68) after adjustment for all the tested confounders except hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). After further adjustment for HbA1c, PPG4-7.9h remained positively associated with mortality from hypertension (HR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.13-4.08) and CVD (HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.05-2.51), but was no longer associated with diabetes mortality. Subgroup analyses showed that similar results were obtained in the sub-cohort of participants without a prior diagnosis of myocardial infarction or stroke. In conclusion, PPG4-7.9h predicts mortality from hypertension and CVD independent of HbA1c.

It was demonstrated during the past decade that ultra-short intense laser pulse tightly focused deep inside a transparent dielectric generates the energy density in excess of several MJ/cm$^3$. Such energy concentration with extremely high heating and quenching rates leads to unusual solid-plasma-solid transformation paths overcoming kinetic barriers to formation of previously unknown high-pressure material phases, which are preserved in the surrounding pristine crystal. These results were obtained with the pulse of Gaussian shape in space and in time. Recently it was shown that the Bessel-shaped pulse could transform much larger amount of a material and allegedly create even higher energy density than that was achieved with the Gaussian (GB) pulses. Here we present a succinct review of previous results and discuss the possible routes for achieving higher energy density employing the Bessel beams (BB) and take advantage of its unique properties.

The electronic structural evolution of LLM-105 crystal and the (101) plane of LLM-105 crystal under different pressures is investigated by the density functional theory (DFT) calculations and the surface properties of seven low-Miller-index planes of LLM-105 crystal were investigated in this study. The result demonstrates that the surface energy of (101) plane of LLM-105 is much smaller when compared with other low-Miller-index planes of LLM-105.In order to further investigate the stability of crystal structure and (101) plane of LLM-105 under different pressures, a series of pressures ranged from 0 GPa to 55 GPa were applied during the DFT calculation, and the result shows that the electronic structures of LLM-105 crystal and the (101) plane changed with the increase of external pressure and the evolution process of (101) plane is different from that of LLM-105 crystal structure.

Existing Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes based transition models do not accurately predict separation induced transition for low pressure turbines. Therefore, in this study, a novel framework based on computational fluids dynamics driven machine learning coupled with multi-expression and multi-objective optimization is explored to develop models which can improve the transition prediction for the T106A low pressure turbine at an isentropic exit Reynolds number of Re2is=100,000. Model formulations are proposed for the transfer and laminar eddy viscosity terms of the laminar kinetic energy transition model using seven non-dimensional pi groups. The multi-objective optimization approach makes use of cost functions based on the suction-side wall-shear stress and the pressure coefficient. A family of solutions is thus developed, whose performance is assessed using Pareto analysis and in terms of physical characteristics of separated-flow transition. Two models are found which bring the wall-shear stress profile in the separated region at least two times closer to the reference high-fidelity data than the baseline transition model. As these models are able to accurately predict the flow coming off the blade trailing edge, they are also able to significantly enhance the wake-mixing prediction over the baseline model.

UV-digital printing belongs to the commonly used method for custom large-area substrate decoration. Despite low surface energy and adhesion, transparent polymer materials, such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC), represent an ideal substrate for such purposes. The diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge (DCSBD) in a novel compact configuration was used for substrate activation to improve ink adhesion to the polymer surface. This industrially applicable version of DCSBD was prepared, tested, and successfully implemented for the UV-digital printing process. Furthermore, wettability and surface free energy measurement, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force and scanning electron microscopy evaluated the surface chemistry and morphology changes. The changes in adhesion of the surface and of ink were analyzed by a peel-force and a crosscut test, respectively. A short plasma treatment (1-5 s) enhanced the substrate's properties of PMMA and PC while providing the pre-treatment suitable for further in-line UV-digital printing. Furthermore, we did not observe damage or significant change of roughness affecting the substrate's initial transparency.

In this study, the on-going research into the improvement of micro-gas turbine propulsion system performance and the suitability for application as propulsion systems for small tactical UAVs (<600 kg) is investigated. The study is focused around the concept of converting existing micro turbojet engines to turbofan with the use of a continuously variable gearbox, thus maintaining a single spool configuration and relative design simplicity. This is an effort to reduce the initial engine development cost, whilst improving propulsive performance. The BMT 120 KS micro turbojet engine is selected for performance evaluation of the conversion process using gas turbine performance software, GasTurb13. The preliminary design of a matched low-pressure compressor (LPC) for the proposed engine is then performed using meanline calculation methods. According to the analysis carried out, an improvement in the converted micro gas turbine engine performance in terms of thrust and specific fuel consumption is achieved. Furthermore, with the introduction of a CVT gearbox, fan speed operation may be adjusted independently of the core, allowing increased thrust generation or better fuel consumption. Therefore, enabling a wider gamut of operating conditions and enhances the performance and scope of tactical UAV.

Many spectroscopic diagnostics are routinely used as a technique to infer the plasma parameters from line emission spectra but their accuracy depends on the numerical model or code used for the fitting process. However, the validation of a line shape code requires some steps : comparison of the line shape code with other similar codes for some academic (simple) cases and then more complex ones, comparison of the fitting parameters obtained from the best fit of the experimental spectra with those obtained with other diagnostic techniques and/or comparison of the fitting parameters obtained by different codes to fit the same experimental data. Here we compare the profiles of the hydrogen Balmer β line in a helium plasma computed by six codes for a selected set of plasma parameters and we report on the plasma parameters inferred by each of them from the fitting to a number of experimental spectra measured in a helium corona discharge where the pressure was in the range 1- 5 bar.

Pastes containing reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and LiCl-Mn(NO3)2·4H2O are screen-printed on a carbon cloth substrate and then calcined using a nitrogen atmospheric-pressure-plasma jet (APPJ) for conversion into rGO-LiMnOx nanocomposites. The APPJ processing time is within 300 s. RGO-LiMnOx on carbon cloth is used to sandwich H2SO4, LiCl, or Li2SO4 gel electrolytes to form hybrid supercapacitors (HSCs). The areal capacitance, energy density, and cycling stability of the HSCs are evaluated using electrochemical measurement. The Li2SO4 gel electrolyte HSC exhibits the highest areal capacitance and energy density but lower cycling stability. By contrast, the H2SO4 gel electrolyte HSC exhibits better cycling stability but lower areal capacitance and energy density.

This article introduces a novel payload structure, which has been experimentally proven to have smaller impact force while the carried internal electronics remains intact. The study describes in details how materials and geometric structures were chosen based on information analysis. It is clarified how possible geometric structures and materials can be chosen to yield optimal efficiency. Finite element method simulations were carried out to investigate the mechanical properties of several geometric structures, which has led to the dodecahedron form. For the frame, Polylactic Acid were chosen as an optimal material. A low air pressure test for parts of the structure, and also the whole structure were carried out with successful results. Drop tests, with force measuring sensors and high speed videos, were carried out for measuring and comparing the maximal impact force of classical payloads and the novel one. Laboratory and real life tests demonstrated that the developed new structure is safer and it is applicable.

Transitioning to clean cooking fuels is not only part of achieving SDG7, but also makes a significant contribution to mitigating climate change by reducing carbon emissions. The paper contradicts the conventional wisdom that electricity is too expensive to cook with. The paper explores the energy required to cook dishes using different technologies and fuels by analysing data from Cooking Diaries and Controlled Cooking tests conducted under the MECS programme. Electric pressure cookers (EPCs) use least energy when compared with electric hotplates, and a detailed description of how the EPC works explains why this should be. The paper draws out distinctions between African and Asian dishes, notably the impact of energy intensive dishes prepared mostly in Africa. Standard efficiency based approaches to comparing the performance of stoves are not appropriate to modern electric cooking devices so an alternative approach based on specific energy consumptions is proposed e.g. charcoal stoves use 15 times as much energy as EPCs to cook African dishes. Energy ratios provide a basis for estimating carbon emission reductions associated with transitioning to modern cooking fuels. Historical costs show that the cost of cooking with an EPC can be only 20% of the cost of cooking with charcoal, which highlights the potential for modern, energy efficient electric cooking devices to defy the conventional wisdom of the energy ladder.

In order to solve the problem of the poor oil displacement effect of high molecular weight alkali/surfactant/polymer (ASP) solution in low permeability reservoirs, Daqing Oilfield uses a partial quality tool to improve the oil displacement effect in low permeability reservoirs. Without changing the oil displacement capability of high molecular weight ASP solution in high permeability oil layers, the ASP solution is actively sheared in low permeability oil layers by using a partial quality tool to increase the injection capability of the solution and improve the overall oil recovery. In order to study the ability of the partial quality tool to improve the oil displacement effect, firstly, the matching degree of high molecular weight ASP solution to low permeability cores is studied, and the ability of quality control tools to change the molecular weight is studied. Then, experimental research on the pressure and oil displacement effect of high molecular weight ASP solution before and after the actions of the partial quality tool is carried out. The results show that ASP solutions with molecular weights of 1900 × 104 and 2500 × 104 have a poor oil displacement effect in low permeability reservoirs. After the action of the partial quality tool, the injection pressure is reduced by 5.22 MPa, and the oil recovery is increased by 7.79%. The injection pressure of the ASP solution after shearing by the partial quality tool is lower than that of the ASP solution with the same molecular weight and concentration without shearing, but the oil recovery is lower. On the whole, the use of the partial quality tool can obviously improve the oil displacement effect in low permeability reservoirs.

A novel plasma source of pulsed electrolyte cathode atmospheric pressure discharge (pulsed-ECAD) driven by an alternating current (AC) power supply coupled with a high voltage diode was generated, and the discharge was generated in the open-to-air atmosphere between a metal electrode and a small-sized flowing liquid cathode. The spatial distribution of plasma temperatures (excitation, vibrational and rotational) of the pulsed-ECAD were investigated. The electron excitation temperature of H T_exc(H), vibrational temperature of N₂ T_vib(N₂), and rotational temperature of OH T_rot(OH) were measured as 4900±36-6800±108 K, 4600±86-5800±100 K and 1050±20-1140±10 K, respectively. Meanwhile, the temperature characteristics of dc solution cathode glow discharge (dc-SCGD) were also studied for comparison with pulsed-ECAD. The effects of operating parameters, including discharge voltage and discharge frequency, on the plasma temperatures were investigated. The electron number density determined in the discharge system and dc-SCGD were within the range (3.8–18.9) ×10¹⁴ cm^-3 and 2.6×10¹⁴-17.2×10¹⁴ cm^-3, respectively.

Carbon dioxide (CO2)miscible fracturing huff and puff technology plays a pivotal role in enhancing the recovery rate of crude oil, particularly in reservoirs with challenging physical properties, strong water sensitivity, high injection pressure, and complex water injection dynamics. In this study, the oil-increasing mechanism and huff and puff effect of CO2 miscible fracturing fluid are investigated through a comprehensive experimental approach. Specifically, experiments on PVT gas injection expansion, minimum miscible pressure, and CO2 miscible fracturing huff and puff are conducted on the G fault block reservoir in J Oilfield. The findings demonstrate that injecting CO2 into reservoirs leads to oil volume expansion, viscosity reduction, and saturation pressure increase. Additionally, the inclusion of solubilizers and viscosity reducers further enhances the efficiency of crude oil extraction. Solubilizers not only improve oil recovery but also reduce the minimum miscible pressure required for effective CO2 dispersion. Furthermore, the shut-in time, permeability, and huff and puff method all have considerable impacts on huff and puff recovery rate. This study offers valuable technical insights, supporting the application of CO2 miscible fracturing huff and puff technology to enhance oil recovery in low-permeability reservoirs.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a lifelong pathogen characterized by asymptomatic latent infection in the trigeminal ganglia (TG) with periodic outbreaks of cold sores caused by virus reactivation in the TG and subsequent replication in the oral mucosa. While antiviral therapies can provide relief from cold sores, they are unable to eliminate HSV-1. We provide experimental results that highlight non-thermal plasma (NTP) as a new alternative therapy for HSV-1 infection that would resolve cold sores faster and reduce the establishment of latent infection in the TG. Additionally, this study is the first to explore the use of NTP as a therapy that can both treat and prevent human viral infections. We investigated the antiviral effect of NTP using an in vitro model for HSV-1 cold sores, involving the application of NTP from two separate devices to cell-free HSV-1, HSV-1-infected cells, and uninfected cells. We found NTP reduced the infectivity of cell-free HSV-1, reduced viral replication in HSV-1-infected cells, and diminished the susceptibility of uninfected cells to HSV-1 infection. This triad of antiviral mechanisms of action suggest the potential of NTP as a therapeutic agent effective against HSV-1 infection.

A qualitative analysis of pressure acting within the human eye is presented. The situation emerging within the human eye in rest and human eye of accelerated/training person should be distinguished. When the person is in rest, the hydrostatic pressure is much larger than the Laplace pressure. The dynamic (Bernoulli pressure) emerging from intraocular flows in this case is negligible. The situation is rather different for accelerated or decelerated person. In this case, the dynamical pressure and the water hammer pressure become dominant. Under certain circumstances, the water hammer pressure may be larger than the ultimate tensile strength of retina, choroid and the Bruch membrane‐choroid complex, which may possibly affect the retina. As a recommendation: physical training, which is not accompanied with ultimate acceleration/acceleration of the body, may be performed after posterior vitreous detachment; however, potentially traumatic activities such as boxing or competitive diving should be avoided.

Multi-Alignment method coupled with phylogenetic analysis we disclosed the Nsp9 and Nsp10 non-structural proteins of Corona Virus as rRNA RlmH/K methyltransferases with similarities with bin recombinase and int-core integrase fold. Further, Nsp9 has similarities to S8 ribosomal protein and Nap10 has similarity to S10 ribosomal protein. Previously, we showed Nsp13, Nsp14, Nsp15 and Nsp16 are also different types of rRNA RlmE/N and Cfr-like methyltransferases-ribonuclease with RNA helicase domains. Two domains of Nsp13 astonishingly have similarities to ribosomal proteins L6 and L9. Taken together, Nsp9/10 and Nsp13-16 proteins could mimic host ribosome assembly and also could methylate rRNA of mitobibosome preventing mitochondrial protein synthesis and oxidative phosphorylation. Low ATP synthesis causes lowering blood pressure following coma but very ATP concentration (1-10nM) surely induces platelets aggregation through vWA, collagen and GpIIb/IIIa proteins followed by fibrin formation and blood clotting as recently have seen in the lung of many Corona virus infected patients. We have also postulated that two polyproteins itself resemble like 28S and 38S mitoribosome subunits and compete with rRNAs inhibiting the ribosome turnover and new protein synthesis due to their similarities with many ribosomal proteins. Such finding may be valuable in computer-based novel drug design against Corona virus.

Background: High blood pressure (BP) has been implicated as a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in several global populations, including in individuals of African ancestry. Despite the elevated burden of high BP-induced cardiovascular diseases in Africa and other global populations with African ancestry, limited genetic studies have been carried out to explore the genetic machinery driving this phenomenon. Methods: We performed univariate and multivariate analyses using Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and summary statistics data of 77,850 individuals of African ancestry for systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) traits. The six independent cohorts used included individuals derived from the African Partnership for Chronic Disease Research (APCDR), the UK Biobank, and the Million Veteran Program (MVP). Subsequently, we annotated, prioritized, visualized, and interpreted our meta-analyses results using FUMA, to gain further insight into the molecular mechanism(s) that contribute to the genetics of BP traits. Finally, loci attaining genome-wide significance, GWS (p<5x10-8) were also followed up with Bayesian fine-mapping to identify potential causal variants. Results: Our meta-analyses altogether identified 350 GWAS SNPs for SBP (166 SNPs) and DBP (184 SNPs, including two novel loci) whilst our multivariate GWAS method identified 166 SNPs (including three novel loci). Interestingly, in FUMA there was significant tissue enrichment of up-regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the sigmoid and transverse colon for SBP, as well as 10 significant gene sets from MAGMA gene set analyses, However, for DBP, no significant DEGs nor gene sets in MAGMA were found; instead, in DBP for gene property analysis for tissue specificity nine candidates were found to be significant and all nine were in different brain regions. Finally, Bayesian fine-mapping revealed that only 11 variants from the lead SNPs had >50% posterior probability (PP) of being causal and they included novel variant rs562545 (MOBP, PP = 77%) and 10 other previously published variants. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the importance of performing GWAS in large sample sizes of global populations of African ancestry, including continental Africans; which yield novel insights, from novel loci to novel pathways/tissue expression candidates. Large-scale genomic datasets are required to enhance further discovery and fine-mapping of high-risk loci/variants in highly susceptible groups for cardiovascular disease and other related traits. Our study highlights the need for diversity in genetic research and the importance of expanding large GWASs to include ancestrally diverse populations.

In China's mountainous coastal terrain, the storm badly damaged low-rise buildings. At present, it is not clear how the relative position of buildings and mountains affects the surface of a low-rise building’s fluctuating coefficient. The study compared these results with the wind pressure distribution without the surrounding environment. The primary objective of this study is to examine the fluctuating coefficient variation rule based on the spacing between hillsides and buildings under 0° wind angle. Additionally, the study analyzes the fluctuating wind pressure coefficient across wind angles between 0°~90°. The distribution of wind pressure in different common hillside landforms was examined through a wind tunnel experiment, which also compared with the distribution in an open environment. The study examined the fluctuating coefficient as the distance between the building and the hillside changed, specifically for wind blowing at a 0° angle. Next, an analysis is conducted on the changing pattern of the fluctuating coefficient for low-rise buildings ranging from a wind angle of 0° to 90°. Simultaneously, the investigation examined the power spectrum and wind pressure’s probability distribution, while considering the proximity of the building to an adjacent hill. The findings indicated that the changing wind pressure factor on the surface of the structure differed based on the relative location of the hillside and the building. The roof's wind pressure coefficient fluctuated and gradually increased until it reached its peak, unaffected by the surroundings. The low-frequency energy decreased in windward eaves, while the high-frequency energy progressively rose as the distance between the hillside and the building increased. The wind pressure on the leeward side exhibited Gaussian characteristics in its probability distribution.

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of athletes' respiratory muscle strength, as assessed through maximal inspiratory (MIP) and expiratory pressure (MEP), on aerobic endurance, as indicated by maximal oxygen consump-tion (Max VO2) kinetics. Respiratory muscle strength was assessed using a digital spirometer (Pony FX Cosmed, Italy), while maximal oxygen utilization capacity was measured using a breath-by-breath automatic portable gas analysis system (Cosmed K5, Italy). Statistical analysis was conducted utilizing SPSS 22.0. Based on the standardized regression coefficients (β), it was found that MEP (mean ± SD: 130.95 ± 42.82) and inspiratory diaphragmatic circumference values significantly influenced ventilatory equivalent (VE), oxygen consumption (VO2), and carbon dioxide pro-duction (VCO2). Conversely, the remaining predictor variables did not exhibit a sig-nificant effect on VE (mean ± SD: 134.80 ± 36.69), VO2 (mean ± SD: 3877.52 ± 868.47 ml), and VCO2 (mean ± SD: 4301.27 ± 1001.07 ml). In contrast, measurements of chest circumference (mean ± SD: 91.40 ± 10.72 cm), MEP, and diaphragmatic cir-cumference during inspiration (mean ± SD: 95.20 ± 10.21 cm) were found to signifi-cantly impact Max VO2 (mean ± SD: 58.52 ± 10.74 ml/kg/min), while the other pre-dictor variables did not demonstrate a significant effect on Max VO2. Conclusively, the study revealed that measured values of diaphragmatic circumference during inspiration and MEP exerted a notable influence on Max VO2, VE, VO2, and VCO2. Our findings underscore the importance of considering respiratory muscle strength in assessing and enhancing athletes' aerobic performance. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of the interplay between respiratory function and exercise capacity, offering potential avenues for optimizing training regimens and perfor-mance outcomes in athletic contexts.

1) Introduction: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is a frequently applied open abdomen (OA) treatment. There are only a few experimental data supporting this method and describing the optimal settings and pressure distribution in the abdominal cavity during this procedure. The aim of our study was to evaluate pressure values at different points of the abdominal cavity during NPWT in experimental abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) animal model. 2) Methods: In this study (permission Nr. 13/2014/UDCAR) 27 Hungahib pigs (15.4- 20.2 kg) were operated. ACS was generated by implanting a plastic bag in the abdomen through mini-laparotomy and filled with 2100- 3300 ml saline solution (37 C°) to an intraabdominal pressure (IAP) of 30 mmHg. After 3 hours, NPWT (Vivano Med ® Abdominal Kit, Paul Hartmann AG, Germany) or Bogota bag was applied. NPWT group was divided into -50, -100 and 150 mmHg suction group. Pressure distribution to the abdominal cavity was monitored at 6 different points of the abdomen via a multichannel pressure monitoring system. 3) Results: The absolute pressure levels were significantly higher above than below the layer. The values of the pressure were similar in the midline than laterally. Amongst the bowels, the pressure values changed periodically between 0 and -12 mmHg which might be caused by the peristaltic movements. 4) Conclusions: The porcine model of the present study seems to be well applicable for investigating ACS and NPWT. It was possible to provide valuable for clinicians. The pressure was well distributed by the protective layer to the lateral parts of the abdomen and this phenomenon did not change considerably during the therapy.

Purpose: Nycthemeral (24-hour) glaucoma inpatient intraocular pressure (IOP) monitoring has been used in Europe for more than 100 years to detect peaks missed during regular office hours. Data supporting this practice is lacking, partially because it is difficult to correlate manually drawn IOP curves to objective glaucoma progression. To address this, we deployed automated IOP data extraction tools and tested for a correlation to a progressive retinal nerve fiber layer loss on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT). Methods: We created and deployed a machine-learning image analysis software to extract IOP data from hand-drawn, nycthemeral IOP curves of 225 retrospectively identified glaucoma patients. The relationship between demographic parameters, IOP and mean ocular perfusion pressure (MOPP) data to SDOCT data was analyzed. Sensitivities and specificities for the historical cut-off values of 15 mmHg and 22 mmHg in detecting glaucoma progression were calculated. Results: IOP data could be extracted efficiently. The IOP average was 15.2±4.0 mmHg, nycthemeral IOP variation was 6.9±4.2 mmHg, and MOPP was 59.1±8.9 mmHg. Peak IOP occurred at 10 AM and trough at 9 PM. Disease progression occurred mainly in the temporal-superior and -inferior SDOCT sectors. No correlation could be established between demographic, IOP, or MOPP parameters and SDOCT disease progression. The sensitivity and specificity of both cut-off points (15 and 22 mmHg) were insufficient to be clinically useful. Outpatient IOPs were non-inferior to nycthemeral IOPs. Conclusion: IOP data obtained during a single visit make for a poor diagnostic tool, no matter whether obtained using nycthemeral measurements or during outpatient hours.

Background: Pressure ulcers (PU) affect millions of people worldwide and always occur over bony areas of the body where pressure and tissue distortion is greatest. The national pooled prevalence of pressure ulcer remains unknown. Hence, the aim of this meta-analysis was to determine the effect of position change on pressure ulcer among hospitalized clients in Ethiopia. Methods: Studies were retrieved through search engines in PubMed, Scopus, WHO afro library, Google Scholar, Africa journal online, PsycINFO and web-science following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P). Analysis was done using STATA version 14 software. We checked the between-study heterogeneity using the I² and examined a potential publication bias by visual inspection of the funnel plot and Egger’s regression test statistic. The random-effect model was fitted to estimate the summary effects, odds ratios (ORs), and 95% confidence interval (CIs) across studies. Results: Out of the reviewing 401 studies, 7 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The estimated pooled prevalence of pressure ulcer in Ethiopia was 11.7% (95% CI (7.28, 16.13%)). Based on the subgroup analysis, the estimated magnitude of pressure ulcer was 15.89% (95% CI: 35.34, 54.04) among studies their sample size were greater than or equals to 250. Those clients who have position change during hospitalization were 85% less likely to develop pressure ulcer [(OR 0.15, 95%CI (0.06, 0.4)] than their counter part. Conclusion: The overall prevalence of pressure ulcer in Ethiopia was relatively high. Position change of the client during hospitalization had paramount benefit to reduce the burden of pressure ulcer. Therefore, policymakers could give special attention to minimize the magnitude of pressure ulcer in order to improve the overall quality of healthcare service. Further meta-analysis study is need to identify individual and health care service related factors to the occurrence of pressure ulcer.

The diffusion coefficient (D) is a key parameter characterizing gas transport in coal seams. Usually, the D is calculated from the desorption curve of particle coal, which cannot accurately reflect the diffusion characteristics under the stress constraint conditions of in-situ coal seams. In this paper, based on Fick's law of counter diffusion, different metamorphic deformed coals of medium and high coal rank are taken as the research object. The change laws of D under different confining pressure, gas pressure, and temperature conditions are tested and analyzed, and the influencing mechanisms on the D are discussed. The results show that the D of different metamorphic deformed coals decreases exponentially with the increase of confining pressure, and increases exponentially with the increase of gas pressure and temperature. There is a limit diffusion coefficient. The influence of confining pressure on the D is essentially determined by the change of effective stress, and the D has a negative effect of effective stress similar to permeability. The effect of gas pressure on the D involves two mechanisms, namely, mechanical and adsorption effects, which are jointly restricted by effective stress and coal particle shrinkage and expansion deformation. The effect of temperature on the D is mainly achieved by changing the root mean square speed and average free path of gas molecules. Under the same temperature and pressure conditions, the D increases first and then decreases with the increase of deformation degree, and the D of fragmented coal is the largest. Under similar deformation conditions, the D of high-rank anthracite is greater than that of medium-rank fat coal. It is considered that porosity is the key factor affecting the change of D in different metamorphic deformed coals.

The cornerstone of molecular magnetism is a detailed understanding of the relationship between structure and magnetic behaviour, i.e. the development of magneto-structural correlations. Traditionally, the synthetic chemist approaches this challenge by making multiple compounds that share a similar magnetic core but differ in peripheral ligation. Changes in the ligand framework induce changes in the bond angles and distances around the metal ions which are manifested in changes to magnetic susceptibility and magnetisation data. This approach requires the synthesis of series of different ligands and assumes that the chemical/electronic nature of the ligands and their coordination to the metal, the nature and number of counter ions and how they are positioned in the crystal lattice, and the molecular and crystallographic symmetry have no effect on the measured magnetic properties. In short, the assumption is that everything outwith the magnetic core is innocent, which is a huge oversimplification. The ideal scenario would be to have the same complex available in multiple structural conformations, and this is something that can be achieved through the application of external hydrostatic pressure, correlating structural changes observed through high pressure single crystal X-ray crystallography with changes observed in high pressure magnetometry, in tandem with high pressure inelastic neutron scattering (INS), high pressure electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and high pressure absorption/emission/Raman spectroscopy. In this review, which summarises our work in this area over the last 15 years, we show that the application of pressure to molecule-based magnets can (reversibly): (1) lead to changes in bond angles, distances and Jahn-Teller orientations; (2) break and form bonds; (3) induce polymerisation/depolymerisation; (4) enforce multiple phase transitions; (5) instigate piezochromism; (6) change the magnitude and sign of pairwise exchange interactions and magnetic anisotropy and (7) lead to significant increases in magnetic ordering temperatures.

The German government's ambitious goal of achieving CO2-neutrality by 2045 has prompted a focus on improving building insulation as a vital step toward energy efficiency. However, in this process, existing radiators and boilers are often left unchanged, leading to inefficiencies due to oversized heating systems. This paper presents various approaches to reduce the required radiator inlet temperature, drawing on data from 100 multifamily buildings. The approaches include heat reserve reduction, heat power shifting, uniform radiator usage, and heat requirement analysis. These approaches collectively aim to lower flow temperatures and decrease peak heat loads, reducing energy consumption, and minimizing waste in compliance with the user comfort temperature. The findings reveal that the application of these methods can lead to substantial temperature reductions, with an average decrease of 20.82 K and 7.28 K for the highest necessary flow temperature in the provided example. Furthermore, peak load reductions of 21.07% and 13.65% were achieved, demonstrating the potential to enhance energy efficiency. While each approach can be applied individually, their synergistic implementation can highly increase the efficiency of water to x heat pumps, due to the lower required flow temperatures.

Climate change is increasing air temperatures and altering the precipitation and hydrological re-gime on a global scale. Challenges arise when assessing the impacts of climate change on the local scale for water resources management proposes, especially for low mountain headwater catch-ments that not only serve as important water towers for local communities, but also have distinct hydrological characteristics. Until now, no low flow or hydrological drought studies have been carried out on the Lauter River. This study is unique in that it compares the Lauter River, a transboundary Rhine tributary with a nearby station on the River Rhine just below its confluence at the French-German border. The Lauter catchment is a mostly natural, forested catchment, however, its water course has been influenced by past and present cultural activities. Climate change disturbances cascade through the hydrologic regime right down to the local scale. As we are expecting more low flow events, the decrease in water availability could cause conflicts be-tween different water user groups in the Lauter catchment. However, the choice of different methods for identifying low flow periods may cause confusion for local water resources manag-ers. Using flow rate time series of the Lauter River between 1956 and 2022 we compare for the first time three low flow identification methods: the variable threshold method (VT), the fixed threshold method (FT), and the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI). Similar analyses are applied and compared to the adjacent Maxau station on the Rhine River for the same time period. This study aims at 1) interpreting the differences amongst the various low flow identification methods and 2) revealing the differences in low flow characteristics of the Lauter catchment compared to the Rhine River. It appears that the FT reacts faster to direct climate or anthropogenic impacts whereas VT is more sensitive to indirect factors such as decreasing subsurface flow which is typical for small headwater catchments, such as the Lauter where flow dynamics react faster to flow disturbances. Abnormally low flow during the early Spring in tributaries such as the Lauter can help predict low flow conditions of the Rhine River during the following half year and espe-cially for the summer. The results could facilitate Early Warning of hydrological droughts and drought management for water users in the Lauter catchment and further downstream along some of the Rhine.

As the PCIe 6.0 specification places higher requirements on signal integrity and transmission la-tency, it becomes especially important to improve signal transmission performance at the physical layer of the transceiver interface. Retimer circuit as a key component of high-speed serial interface, its delay and jitter size directly affect the overall performance of PCIe. For the conventional Retimer circuit with large latency and low jitter performance, this paper proposes a low latency and low jitter Retimer circuit based on CDR+PLL architecture for PCIe 6.0, using a jitter canceling filter circuit to eliminate the frequency difference between the retiming clock and data, reduce the retiming clock jitter, and improve the quality of Retimer output data; The data is sampled using the retiming clock and then output, avoiding the problem of large penetration latency of con-ventional Retimer circuits. The circuit is designed using CMOS 28nm process. Simulation results show that when 112Gbps PAM4 data is input to the Retimer circuit, the Retimer penetration la-tency is 27.3 ps, which is 83.5% lower than the conventional Retimer structure; the output data jitter is 741 fs, a 31.4% reduction compared to the conventional Retimer structure.

In order to realize the accurate measurement of wearable sphygmomanometer, this paper selects the micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) pressure sensor with small size, low cost and high accuracy, and proposes a flexible packaging method combining Parylene and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The flexible packaging sensor protects the sensor chip while ensuring the comfort of the measured person. It can be worn for a long time, and the encapsulated sensor has good accuracy and sensitivity. At the same time, the encapsulated MEMS pressure sensor was used to collect good pulse signals and extract multiple pulse wave characteristic parameters. A blood pressure measurement method based on the combination of arterial tonometry method and pulse wave parameters method was proposed, and multiple machine learning algorithms were compared and analyzed to select the algorithm model with the smallest error as the optimal regressor. The experimental results show that the blood pressure measurement method combining the arterial tonometry method and the pulse wave parameters method can effectively improve the accuracy of blood pressure measurement. The experimental results demonstrate that the combination of arterial tonometry and pulse wave parameter methods can effectively enhance the accuracy of blood pressure measurement, with the random forest model serving as the optimal regressor. The average deviation between the systolic blood pressure measured by our self-made sphygmomanometer and the commercial sphygmomanometer was 0.86mmHg, with a standard deviation of 4.04mmHg. The average deviation of diastolic blood pressure was 0.63mmHg, with a standard deviation of 5.15mmHg, meeting the AAMI standard for clinical practice.

Rocks are materials with a wide variety of structures and properties. These can be unprocessed conglomerates of conglomerated minerals as well as crystallized outcrop or metamorphic rocks. Their processing, especially shaping, poses many technological difficulties. Therefore, it is very important to answer the question of how these natural materials yield to high-pressure water jet and abrasive water. It is equally important to determine the effect of key process parameters such as pressure, water nozzle diameter and feed rate on cutting efficiency. The first two parameters determine the water output and power of the jet, while the third determines the jet erosion time per unit volume of material. Their interdependence, using appropriate evaluation indicators, allows to determine the energy intensity of processing and directions for its minimization.

Background Although high-density lipoprotein has cardioprotective effects, the association between serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and hypertension is poorly understood. Objective We investigated whether low and high concentrations of HDL-C are associated with hypertension using a large healthcare dataset. Methods In a community-based cross-sectional study of 1,493,152 Japanese people aged 40–74 years who underwent a health checkup, blood pressures and clinical parameters, including nine HDL-C concentrations (20–110 mg/dL or over) were investigated. Results A crude U-shaped relationship was observed between the nine HDL-C concentrations and blood pressure in males (n = 830,669), while a left-to-right inverted J-shaped relationship was observed in females(n = 662,483). An age-adjusted logistic regression analysis showed J-shaped relationships (left-to-right inversion in females) between HDL-C and odds ratios for hypertension (≥140/90 mmHg), with lower limits of 60–79 mg/dL in males and 90–99 mg/dL in females, which were unchanged after adjusting for smoking, habitual exercise, alcohol consumption, and pharmacotherapy for hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. However, further adjustment for body mass index and serum triglyceride concentration revealed latent positive linear associations between HDL-C and hypertension, although the association between extremely high HDL-C (≥100 mg/dL) and hypertension was attenuated in non-alcohol drinkers. Conclusion Both low and extremely high HDL-C concentrations are associated with hypertension. The former association may be dependent on excess fat mass, which is often concomitant with low HDL-C, whereas the latter association may be dependent on frequent alcohol consumption.

In the field of engineering, tracked vehicles play a significant role in accessing challenging terrains. Maintaining trafficability is of the utmost importance when it comes to tracked vehicles traversing rugged terrains; it provides stability, traction, and adaptability for a wide range of applications, including deep-sea exploration. The terrain characteristics pertain to the interactions that determine the mobility of tracked vehicles. Traditional Terramechanics models are in-adequate in depicting the correlation between tracks and soil. An important issue is the lack of consideration for the moisture content in the soil and the rate at which sinking occurs in these models. Examining sinkage speed helps describe the ability of tracked vehicles to move at high speeds. The focus is on the critical factors influencing the mobility of tracked vehicles, precisely the sinkage speed and its relationship with pressure. Experimental tests in a soil bin, utilizing Bentonite/Diatom sediment soil, aim to measure these terrain factors. The study introduces a rubber-tracked vehicle, pressure, and moisture sensors to monitor pressure sinkage and moisture, evaluating cohesive soils (Bentonite/Diatom) in combination with sand and gravel mixtures. Findings reveal that higher moisture content in Bentonite soil leads to increased track slippage and sinkage compared to Diatom soil. Regarding soil behavior, diatom soil exhibited notable compaction and sinkage characteristics in contrast to bentonite soil. The distinct behaviors of these soils underscore the complexity of terrains, emphasizing the need for a meticulous understanding of soil properties before applying them in natural environments. Furthermore, this study contributes precision in assessing natural terrains, enhancing tracked vehicle design, and advancing terrain mechanics comprehension for off-road exploration. This knowledge contributes to better vehicle design and a deeper comprehension of terrain mechanics.

Tracked vehicles play a vital role in accessing challenging terrains, offering stability, traction, and versatility for various applications, including deep-sea exploration. However, the seafloor and sediment contain valuable but poorly understood resources, making it a significant challenge for tracked vehicles during exploration. Consequently, it is imperative to conduct comprehensive studies before considering these terrains for off-road purposes. In this study, we developed a rigid, flexible track vehicle equipped with various sensors, focusing on monitoring pressure sinkage. Cohesive soils like Bentonite and Diatom soil, particularly when combined with sand and gravel mixtures, were used for the investigation and assessed for ground pressure, bearing capacity, and sinkage in rigid-flexible tracked vehicles on these characterized terrains under varying moisture conditions. Our findings indicated that increased moisture content in bentonite soil resulted in significantly higher track slippage and sinkage compared to diatomaceous earth soil. Regarding soil behavior, diatom soil exhibited notable compaction and sinkage characteristics compared to bentonite soil. These significant variations between these two soil types under changing moisture conditions highlight the complexity of such terrains. Therefore, understanding the soil and its physical properties is crucial before applying them to natural terrains. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the importance of precision in assessing the physical properties of natural terrains for the development of tracked vehicles for off-road exploration. This knowledge contributes to better vehicle design and a deeper comprehension of terrain mechanics.

Exposure to traffic-related air pollution is linked with acute alterations in blood pressure (BP). We examined the cumulative short-term effect of black carbon (BC) exposure on systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BP and assessed effect modification by participant characteristics. SBP and DBP were repeatedly measured on 152 traffic enforcers. Using a linear mixed-effects model with random intercepts, quadratic (QCDL) and cubic (CCDL) constrained distributed lag models were fitted to estimate the cumulative effect of BC concentration on SBP and DBP during the 10-hours (daily exposure) and 7-days (weekly exposure) before the BP measurement. Ambient BC was related to increased BP with QCDL models. An interquartile range change in BC cumulative during the 7-days before the BP measurement was associated with increased BP [1.2% change in mean SBP, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.1 to 2.3; and 0.5% change in mean DBP, 95% CI, –0.8 to 1.7]. Moreover, the association between the 10-hours cumulative BC exposure and SBP was stronger for females (4.0% change, 95% CI: 2.1–5.9) versus males, and for obese (2.9% change, 95% CI: 1.0–4.8) vs. non-obese traffic enforcers. Short-term cumulative exposure to ambient traffic-related BC could bring about cardiovascular diseases through mechanisms involving increased BP.

Combustion parameters are the important aspects in the development and research of an internal combustion engines. Hence present work is an attempt to develop an artificial neural network (ANN) model for anticipating the combustion characteristics of computerized CI DI VCR, four strokes, single cylinder, and water cooled engine using mixture of two biodiesel and diesel blends as a fuel. The two biodiesel selected are Jatropha and Simarouba and mixed in the ratio of 75:25. Two biodiesel mixtures is used for the preparation of various blends with diesel. Experiments are carried out at different compression ratio, at different % load and blends B20, B40, B60and neat diesel (B00) fuel to accumulate the assorted combustion data. The input variables are % load, compression ratio, blends and crank angle. The outputs well thought-out are cylinder pressure (CP), net heat release rate (NHRR), cumulative heat release (CHR), rate of pressure rise (RPR), mass fraction burned (MFB) and maximum cylinder pressure. The assessment is focused on developing artificial neural network for the prediction and verifying the combustion characteristics of engine. MATLAB software is used for analysis of different combustion aspects of the engine. Multilayer neural network perceptions are used with Feed-Forward Back Propagation algorithm with performance function for mapping the input and output parameters. The experimental outcomes are compared with ANN estimated results for the analysis. The outcome from the study authenticate that experimental results are in match with ANN results. The accuracy of the ANN model shows the developed model can effectively predict the engine combustion characteristics with excellent regression coefficients ‘R’ and its values are close to unity and the mean square errors are extremely less. ANN model approach is competent towards predicting the combustion aspect of diesel engine with good accuracy

African scientific research faces formidable challenges, particularly with limited access to state-of-the-art measurement instruments. The high cost associated with these devices presents a significant barrier for regional research laboratories, impeding their ability to conduct sophisticated experiments and gather precise data. This predicament not only hampers the individual laboratories but also has broader implications for the African scientific community and the advancement of knowledge in developing nations—the financial cost barrier considerably impacts the research quality of these laboratories. Reflection on technical and economical solutions needs to be quickly found to help these countries advance their research. In civil Engineering, the thermal conductivity property is the most important measurement for characterising heat transfer in construction materials. Existing devices (i.e., conductometers) in a laboratory are expensive (approximately 30,000 euros) and unavailable for some African laboratories. The study proposes a new and affordable device to evaluate thermal conductivity in construction materials. The method involves establishing a thermal flux between a heat source ( from the Joule effect provided by steel wool where a current is circulating) and a cold source (generated by ice cube) under steady-state conditions. The development of the cylindrical prototype is based on the comparative flux-meter method outlined in the measuring protocol of the ASTM E1225 standard document. Experiments were conducted on four distinct materials (polystyrene, wood, agglomerated wood, and rigid foam). The results indicate a correct correlation between the experimental values obtained from the newly developed prototype and the reference values found in the literature. For example, concerning the experimental polystyrene study, the detailed case analysis reveals a good correlation, with a deviation of only 4%. The percent error found falls within the acceptable range indicated by the standards recommendations of the ASTM E1225 standard, i.e., within 5% acceptable error.

A novel low-power MOS-only voltage reference is presented. The Enz-Krummenacher-Vittoz (EKV) model is adopted to provide a new perspective on the operating principle. The normalized charge density, introduced as a new variable, serves as an indicator when trimming the output temperature coefficient. The proposed voltage reference consists of a specific current generator and a 5-bit trimmable load. Thanks to the well-match between the current source stage and the output stage, the non-linear temperature dependence of carrier mobility is automatically canceled out. The circuit is designed in 55 nm COMS technology. The operating temperature ranges from -40 ∘C to 120 ∘C. The average temperature coefficient of the output voltage can be reduced to 21.7 ppm/∘C by trimming. The power consumption is only 23.2 nW with a supply voltage of 0.8 V. The line sensitivity and the power supply rejection ratio at 100 Hz are 0.011 %/V and -89 dB respectively.

Background: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is associated with higher risk of mortality in general population however not studied in cancer population. The study aimed to assess the prevalence of OH in cancer patients compared to the non-cancer population. Methods: A total of 411 patients (mean age 63.5 ± 10.6 years) were recruited: patients with active cancer (n = 223) and patients hospitalized for other reasons but without cancer diagnosis (n = 188). Medical history was collected and an orthostatic challenge test was performed. OH was defined as blood pressure (BP) decrease on standing ≥ 20 mmHg for systolic or ≥ 10 mmHg for diastolic BP in 1 or 3 minutes; or systolic BP decrease &lt; 90 mmHg. Results: The prevalence of OH in cancer was significantly higher than in subjects without cancer- 28.7% vs. 16.5%, respectively, P = 0.003). OH was the most common in lung cancer, 57.5%. In single variable analysis, the predictors of OH were: cancer presence, age ≥ 65 years, and body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2. In the multivariable model, the strongest independent predictor of OH was cancer status doubling the risk of OH; BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 and diabetes. Conclusions: Cancer patients are characterized by a high prevalence of OH. In this population, the recommendation of routine orthostatic challenge tests should be considered.

Background: Several kinds of research say that adjuvant blood glucose and blood pressure are usual, but an efficient solution for medical application count remains. This review analyzes the pandemic blood pressure and blood glucose to identify the publications which tell about the clinical practices and research gaps in systematic research.Methods: A study guides to identify the research of Blood Pressure (BP) and Blood Glucose. In order to analyze the recent innovations and research on BP and Blood glucose, the relevant publications and literature from journals were identified.Results: Co-morbidity of BP and Blood glucose is reported as very high. The commonness of blood pressure is thrice as high in type I diabetes patients and almost two times higher in type II diabetes patients when compared to others without Diabetes. The pervasiveness of getting depression is more in the female when compared with men. A detailed study about the linkage of BP and blood glucose tells that the relationship between them is not exactly clear.Limitations: Nearly all reviews providing the linkage of BP and blood glucose are with some limitations and they are not providing any clear conclusion.Conclusions: Present research tells that people having high blood glucose will have a greater chance of getting high blood pressure. More research is needed to state the linkage between BP, blood glucose, and the growth of diabetes mellitus issues and to provide support for managing Diabetes.

Over the last two decades, microfluidics has received significant attention from both academia and industry, and researchers report thousands of new prototype devices each year for use in a broad range of environmental, pharmaceutical, and biomedical engineering applications. While lab-on-a-chip fabrication costs have continued to decrease, the hardware required for monitoring fluid flows within microfluidic devices themselves remains expensive and often cost prohibitive for researchers interested in starting a microfluidics project. As microfluidic devices become capable of handling complex fluidic systems, low-cost, precise and real time pressure and flow rate measurement capabilities has become increasingly important. While many labs use commercial platforms and sensor, these solutions can often cost thousands of dollars and can be too bulky for on-chip use. Here we present a new inexpensive and easy -to-use piezoresistive pressure and flow sensor that can be easily integrated into existing on-chip microfluidic channels. The sensor consists of PDMS-Carbon black conductive membranes and uses an impedance analyzer to measure impedance change due fluid pressure. The sensor costs several orders of magnitude less than existing commercial platforms and can monitor local fluid pressures and calculate flow rates based on pressure gradient.

Burn patients still represent an important challenge in critical care medicine today. These patients can develop significant neurological conditions up to intracranial hypertension, but as they find themselves hospitalized outside of neurocritical care and are often subjected to sedation for the complex management, they are sometimes underestimated. The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of non-invasive methods for the early diagnosis of intracranial hypertension in these patients. In this prospective observational study, adult burn patients admitted to intensive care within the first 8 hours of the event were enrolled. These patients were studied through ultrasound measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter and intracranial vessel velocimetry with transcranial Doppler. In the 20 patients studied, no frankly pathological values were identified in the 3 different measurement stages (within 8 hours of the burn, then at 48 and 96 hours) and no correlations were identified between the measured values and the extension of the burn with the related risk of mortality. However, this study, one of a kind, demonstrates that these non-invasive methods are applicable to this specific patient population, and can represent an effective method for reducing the incidence of complications that are dangerous for survival.

Approximately 2 TCF (Trillion Cubic Feet) of acid gas are projected to be injected into the Surmeh formation. The recommended injection rate is 180 MMSCFD (Million standard cubic feet per day), based on acid gas content and gas in place of the source of injection. The tight nature of the Surmeh formation limits injectivity, with a maximum achievable rate of 7 MMSCFD for permeability of 1 mD (millidarcy). However, higher porosity (12%) and permeability of 100 mD enable more efficient injection without fracturing the formation. This study provides valuable insights into the feasibility of AGI in saline aquifers, emphasizing reservoir characterization, geomechanics, caprock integrity, and rock properties. The findings contribute to the implementation of environmentally sustainable acid gas disposal at offshore reservoirs.

In a power plant that uses seawater as a coolant, a debris filter is required to remove foreign substances from the seawater, and differential pressure leads to a decrease in the coolant flow rate, leading to a decrease in power generation efficiency. In this study, analysis was performed under different initial flow velocity conditions of 1.5m/s, 2.0m/s, and 2.5m/s for a debris filter used in a power plant to understand flow characteristics in CTCS. The flow and differential pressure characteristics of a CTCS with an installed debris filter were considered in a comparative analysis of velocity, pressure, and turbulent kinetic energy distribution. The results confirmed that a vortex was generated in the pipe with the debris filter, apparently due to the collision of the flow with the bracket of the debris filter. As the flow rate increased, the range of the vortex increased, causing a loss in flow.

Pressure fluctuations beneath hydraulic jumps downstream of Ogee spillways potentially damage stilling basin beds. This paper deals with the extreme pressures underneath free hydraulic jumps along a smooth stilling basin. The experiments were conducted in a laboratory flume. From the probability distribution of measured instantaneous pressures, the pressures with different non-exceedance probabilities (P*a%) could be determined. It was verified that the maximum pressure fluctuations, as well as the negative pressures, are located at the positions closest to the spillway toe. The minimum pressure fluctuations are located at the downstream of hydraulic jumps. It was possible to assess the cumulative curves of P*a% related to the characteristic points along the basin, and different Froude numbers. To benchmark, the results, the dimensionless forms of mean pressures, standard deviations, and pressures with different non-exceedance probabilities were assessed. It was found that an existing methodology can be used to interpret the present data, and pressure distribution in similar conditions, by using a new third-order polynomial relationship for the standard deviation (σ*X) with the determination coefficient (R2) equal to 0.717. It was verified that the new optimized adjustment gives more accurate results for the estimation of the maximum extreme pressures than the minimum extreme pressures.

Low volatility ETFs have become popular in recent year because investors are starting to understand the advantages involved in investing in those ETFs compared to traditional index investment. In this research I have examined the performance of six popular low volatility ETFs, four of them invest in U.S stocks and the other two invest in other developed and emerging markets. Results have pointed out that not only five of the low volatility ETFs have exposed their investors to lower risk, four of them have also produced higher returns. The advantage of investing in low volatility ETFs is prominent in the U.S stock market. All three sizes of stocks categories (Large, Mid and Small Capitalization) low volatility ETFs have outperformed their indexes bench marks in terms of risk and returns. For the non U.S stock investing, while no advantage have been found for investing in low volatility ETFs for developed countries, significant lower risk was found for emerging markets.

The likelihood of pre-hypertensive young adults developing hypertension has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Despite the fact that aerobic exercise training (AET) has demonstrated positive results in lowering high blood pressure, the efficacy of different types of AET among pre-hypertensive young adults has not been well-established. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and continuous moderate-intensity training (CMT) on blood pressure (BP) of physically inactive pre-hypertensive young adults. 32 adults (age 20.0±1.1 years and BMI 21.5±1.8) were randomly assigned into 3 groups: HIIT, CMT and control (CON). HIIT and CMT groups participated in 5 weeks of AET; while the CON group followed a DASH diet plan only. The HIIT protocol consisted of 1:4 minute work to rest ratio of participants 80%-85% heart rate reserve (HR-reserve) and 40%-60% HR-reserve respectively for 20-minutes, CMT group exercised at 40%-60% of HR-reserve continuously for 20-minutes. In both HIIT and CMT groups, systolic blood pressure (SBP) (3.8±2.8 mmHg, P=0.002 VS 1.6±1.5 mmHg, P=0.011) was significantly reduced. While, significant reductions in the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (2.9±2.2 mmHg, P=0.002) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) (3.1±1.6mmHg, P<0.0005) were noted only in the HIIT group. No significant differences in SBP (-0.4±3.7 mmHg, P=0.718), DBP (0.4±3.4 mmHg, P=0.714), or MAP (0.1±2.5mmHg, P= 0.892) were observed in the CON group. Both HIIT and CMT decreased the BP in physically inactive pre-hypertensive young adults; however, HIIT yielded more beneficial results in terms of reducing the SPB, DBP and MAP.

Logistics industry has been found to be among the key sources of carbon emission. In Vietnam logistics industry, there is a considerable difference between the number of foreign and Vietnamese firms as well as the proportion of markets that they are taking. This study is to research the low-carbon emission measures conducted by domestic and foreign invested logistics service providers (LSPs) and compare the results of the two groups. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are applied. Literatures in relevant fields are reviewed and expert opinions are taken for structuring a questionnaire which was later distributed to 279 LSPs, with 166 returned and 159 being valid for data calculation. The results imply that there are differences in extension of applications of low-carbon practices between foreign and domestic firms. Except for transport mode switch and energy-saving lighting, the other practices witness that adoption levels of foreign LSPs are higher than their counterparts, which is possibly thanks to their global operation, more comfortable capital resources and awareness level of green initiative necessity. In conclusion, a comparison between the application conducted by foreign-invested firms and domestic ones, which has not been investigated before, was made.

For paramagnetic and elastic materials in the presence of quasi-static magnetic field, there is correspondingly quasi-static magnetic pressure, in contrast to the radiational electromagnetic pressure associated with electromagnetic momentum density. A thermodynamic pressure demagnetization is demonstrated. For the elastic dielectrics in the presence of quasi-static electrical field, its dual effect can be easily obtained by variable transformation.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) as a semiconductor in its crystalline or amorphous form is still a promised material, especially under isobaric and isothermal ensembles. In this work, Parallel and Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics and DL_POLY_4 software are employed to predict the relationship between the behavior of ZnO chemical bonds and the phase transition literatures, using correlation function g(r) of Zn-Zn, Zn-O, and O-O pairs. Our system is composed of 5832 atoms of ZnO rocksalt structure (2916 atoms of Zn2+ and 2916 atoms of O2-), under the temperature of 300 (K) and the range of pressure 0-400 (GPa). The lengths of ZnO bonds, the standard error, standard deviation, the maximum of g(r), and the percentage of the variation of the bonds are analyzed. The interatomic interactions are modeled by the potential of Buckingham for short-range and Coulomb for long-range interactions. The calculations were run on the RAVEN Supercomputer of Cardiff University (UK). Our data are mostly in the vicinity of available information of bonds lengths; the rest can be deduced from the pressure of phase transition to use it as a new approach of phase transition confirmation. However, the rest of our results are still a prediction because of no results under extended pressure used in this work.

Unidirectional flow of a fluid with pressure-dependent viscosity through a porous structure is considered when the viscosity-pressure relationship is an exponential function of a pressure power function in order to investigate effects of the viscosity-pressure relation on the flow characteristics. The flow is governed by the generalized Brinkman’s equation with constant permeability, and a model flow domain of flow down an inclined porous channel is chosen for the sake of studying flow behaviour. Although the current work considers flow in a constant permeability porous structure, it does represent a first step in studying the more general, flow through a variable permeability porous channel. The arising governing equations are solved numerically using MATLAB and the flow is simulated to illustrate the effects of fluid properties as well as flow and medium parameters on the velocity profiles and shear stress.

5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) or serotonin plays a crucial role as a neuromodulator and/or neurotransmitter of several nervous system functions. Its actions are complex and depend on multiple factors, including the type of effector or receptor activated. Briefly, 5-HT can activate: (i) metabotropic (G-protein-coupled) receptors to promote inhibition (5-HT1, 5-HT5) or activation (5-HT4, 5-HT6, 5 HT7) of adenylate cyclase, as well as activation (5-HT2) of phospholipase C; and (ii) ionotropic receptors (5-HT3), which form a ligand-gated Na+/K+ channel. Regarding blood pressure regulation (and beyond the intricacy of central 5-HT effects), this monoamine also exerts direct postjunctional (on vascular smooth muscle and endothelium) or indirect prejunctional (on autonomic and sensory perivascular nerves) effects. At the prejunctional level, 5-HT can facilitate or preclude the release of autonomic (e.g., noradrenaline and acetylcholine) or sensory (e.g., calcitonin gene-related peptide) neurotransmitters facilitating hypertensive or hypotensive effects. Hence, we cannot formulate a specific impact of 5-HT on blood pressure level, since an increase or decrease in neurotransmitter release would be favoured depending on the type of prejunctional receptor involved. This review summarizes and discusses the current knowledge on the prejunctional mechanisms involved in blood pressure regulation by 5-HT and its impact on some vascular-related diseases.

Background of the Study: We investigated the link between hypertension and cancer since it has been suggested that hypertension may raise the long-term risk of cancer. Previous large observational cohort studies found that greater blood pressure (BP) was related to a higher risk of cancer. Mendelian randomization (MR) was utilized to produce less confounded blood pressure estimates (BP) on overall and site-specific malignancies. The study aims to draw conclusions on the relationship between high blood pressure and cancer. Methods: Studies on high blood pressure and various malignancies are inconclusive, except for renal cell carcinoma. However, given that most meta-analyses only contained a limited number of trials, some relative risks had small to moderate magnitudes, and several may have been impacted by residual confounding, careful interpretation is necessary. The study was conducted using the meta-analysis technique. Cochran's Q test and I2 test were used to assess statistical heterogeneity between studies in the current investigation for research involving two or more cause and outcome combinations. Results: Positive correlations were also reported between high blood pressure and esophageal adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, liver, and squamous cell carcinoma. However, most studies lacked multivariable adjustments. Physical and numerical risk of cardiovascular disease is linked to bowel cancer but no other cancers. According to a meta-analysis, hypertensive persons could also be at increased danger of gastrointestinal and breast cancer. Most meta-analyses comprised several trials with moderate or mild hazard ratios.ConclusionDifferent types of cancers have been noted to be directly caused by hypertension. In addition, some treatments have also been associated with the side effects of cancer treatments to cause hypertension. Women facing hypertension have an increased risk of getting breast cancer. Although some cancers showed a real relationship with hypertension, others had no connection at all.

The main aim of this work is to report an alternative energy efficient technique of fabricating flexible thermoelectric generators (TEGs) using printable ink. In this process, we have fabricated thermoelectric (TE) composite thick film and we are experimenting several ways to overcome the challenges of conventional and additive manufacturing methods. Two different mesh sizes of n-type bismuth particle, various binder to thermoelectric (TE) material weight ratio, and two different pressure (200 MPa and 300 MPa) were employed for optimizing the thermoelectric properties of TE composite films. We are also exploring naturally occurring chitosan as a binder. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) dissolved chitosan was used for the binder and less than 0.2 wt% of chitosan was sufficient for the fabrication of TE inks and composite films. Low energy intensive curing process was employed to evaporate the solvent from the drop casted inks. External uniaxial pressure not only eliminated high energy intensive curing processes but also increased the packing density of the film by removing pores and voids in the chitosan-bismuth composite film. The microstructure analysis reveals that bulk-like structure, which rarely has voids, pores and grain boundaries, was observed in the composite films pressed at sufficiently high pressures. The highest performing composite film was obtained with the conditions of 1:2000 binder to bismuth weight ratio, 100 mesh of particle size, and 300 MPa of pressure. The best performing bismuth chitosan composite film pressed at 300 MPa had the power factor as 4009 ± 391 μW/m·K² with high electrical conductivity value of 7337 ± 522 S/cm. The measured thermal conductivity of the best performing chitosan-bismuth composite film was 4.4 ± 0.7 W/m·K and the figure of merit calculated from the thermal conductivity was 0.27 at room temperature.

The purpose of this study is to determine the equilibrium conditions for the formation of a mixture of propane and normal butane hydrates including temperature, pressure and mole fraction. In order to prevent the formation of hydrates in the cooling path, it is necessary to examine the conditions of hydrate formation and provide solutions. Modeling of hydrate formation conditions was performed using Hydoff software and compared with experimental results in this field, which obtained an acceptable error percentage. The range of temperature is between 267-276 °C and the molar percentage of propane is 0.7,0.8 and 0.9 and the mathematical equation was presented to predict hydrate formation. By analyzing the results, it was found that by increasing the concentration of ethane in the presence of other compounds, hydrate growth increased and hydrates formed more stable, also by increasing the concentration of propane and normal butane the amount of equilibrium pressure will decrease.

Polymer-based composites reinforced with nanocarbonaceous materials can be tailored for functional applications. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNT) or graphene with different filler contents have been developed as potential piezoresistive materials. The mechanical properties of the nanocomposites depend of the PVDF matrix, filler type and filler content. PVDF 6010 is a relatively more ductile material, whereas PVDF-HFP shows larger maximum strain near 300% strain for composites with CNT, 10 times higher than the pristine polymer. This behaviour is similar for all composites reinforced with CNT. On the other hand, rGO/PVDF composites decrease the maximum strain compared to neat PVDF. It is shown that the use of different PVDF copolymers does not influence the electrical properties of the composites. On the other hand, CNT as filler leads to composites with percolation threshold around 0.5 wt.%, whereas reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites shows percolation threshold at ≈2 wt.%. Both nanocomposites present excellent linearity between applied pressure and resistance variation, with pressure sensibility (PS) decreasing with applied pressure, from PS≈ 1.1 to 0.2 MPa^-1. A proof of concept demonstration is presented, showing the suitability of the materials for industrial pressure sensing applications.

This manuscript discusses a novel method to map pressure results from one 3D surface shell mesh onto another. This technique is especially important when transferring results from one numerical analysis to another. This method works independent of the actual pressures, and only focuses on ensuring the surface areas consistently match. By utilizing this approach, the cumulative forces consistently match for all input pressures. This method is demonstrated to work for pressure profiles with precipitous changes in pressures, and with small quadrangular source elements being applied to a mix of large quadrangular and triangular target elements, and the forces at all pressure profiles match remarkably.

Expressions for the axial pressure profiles in a cylindrical channel and between parallel plates or a rectangular channel with large aspect ratio, with Maxwell slip gas flow are derived from first principles. The resulting expressions, which only involve the inlet and outlet pressures and the channel dimensions, will be useful in modelling or simulations of channel flows at Knudsen numbers in the range 0.001–0.1, such as in MEMS and NEMS. The expression for a cylindrical channel is validated by deriving from it an expression for the channel mass flow, which is shown to agree with a known expression for the mass flow through cylindrical channels with Maxwell slip flow. The expression for flow between parallel plates is found to agree with the zeroth order relation derived by Arkilic et al. using perturbation analysis. The effect of the accommodation coefficient on the pressure profile in a cylindrical channel is shown.

The financial equilibrium of the enterprise is an important company function ensuring by itself the maintenance of the enterprise of the competitive market. The financial equilibrium is analysed in numerous empirical studies. In this empirical study we highlight for the first time in a research the impact that taxation has on the financial equilibrium of some companies over ten years, period that includes the pre-crisis, the financial crisis and post-crisis periods.

This paper presents a piezoresistive pressure sensor with a shield layer for improved stability. Compared with the conventional piezoresistive pressure sensors, p-type piezoresistors are covered by an n-type shield layer, which is formed by ion implantation. The proposed pressure sensors have been successfully fabricated by bulk micromachining techniques. The impact of electrical field on piezoresistors is studied by simulation. The temperature drift of the pressure sensor has been investigated by both simulation and experimental measurement. Characteristics of developed pressure sensors are tested from -40 C to 125 C. A sensitivity of 0.022 mV/V/KPa and a maximum non-linearity of 0.085% FS are measured for the fabricated sensor in a pressure range of 1 MPa. The temperature coefficients of resistance of shielded piezoresistors are found to be smaller than those of un-shielded ones. It is demonstrated that the shield layer is able to reduce the drift caused by electrical field and ambient temperature variation.

As the demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) continues to increase worldwide, more LPG facilities are being constructed. However, the design and manufacture of pressure vessels used to store dangerous liquids or pressurised fluids, such as LPG, has been a major cause of hazards, including explosions and leakage. In this study, we aim to address this issue by designing and analysing a vertical pressure vessel with a capacity of 10 m3 of pressurised LPG in accordance with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) code. Safety is the primary concern in designing pressure vessels due to the potential risks posed by accidents. Therefore, the main objective of this project is to design a pressure vessel that is safe from failure. The vessel is cylindrical with two elliptical heads, two nozzles, a manway and four leg supports, and we used Autodesk Inventor Professional 2023 for geometric modelling and Inventor Nastran for FEA analysis. To investigate the displacements, deflections and Von-Mises stresses in the pressure vessel, we used the finite element method, and Autodesk Inventor Nastran was employed for the analysis. Our results showed that changes to the structure of the pressure vessel were needed to reduce stress in the structure. Specifically, the displacement showed an inverse relationship with the tank section shell thickness. Moreover, we observed that the factor of safety increased linearly with shell thickness. We carefully considered permissible pressures and determined the required wall thickness to ensure acceptable maximum stresses. Our results indicate that the design is safe from failure, and the highest stresses are experienced by the manway followed by the shell, while the heads, nozzles and legs support experienced the lowest stresses. We also performed a theoretical calculation for the entire model and checked the results to ensure they were within the acceptable limits. In summary, our study highlights the importance of designing pressure vessels in accordance with ASME codes to ensure safety and prevent hazards caused by improper design and manufacturing. By using the finite element method, we identified potential stress points in the pressure vessel and were able to make modifications to improve its safety.

Precise association of serum leptin with body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP; both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) is not well known for understanding their involvement in health and disease. Hence, the present study was planned to be conducted for investigating the association of BP, BMI and serum leptin levels in young normal weight (NW) and overweight (OW) male Saudi students. The NW (n: 198) and OW male subjects (n: 192) in the age range of 18-20 years were consulted. Blood pressure (BP) was measured with a mercury sphygmomanometer. Leptin Human ELISA Kits were employed for the determination of the serum leptin levels. The mean ± SD values of BMI (kg/m2), serum leptin (ng/ml), SBP (mmHg), and DBP (mmHg) all showed significant difference for young OW vs. NW male university students as: 27.52± 1.42 vs. 21.49± 2.03; 10.70± 4.67 vs. 4.68± 1.91; 121.37±2.59 vs.118.51±1.54 and 81.44±1.97 vs. 78.79±1.44 respectively. All associations (among BMI, leptin, SBP and DBP) showed positive linear and significant correlation except nonsignificant correlation of BMI and SBP for NW group. The present study in the young Saudi male students, presents significant variations for BP and serum leptin levels and significant positive linear association among serum leptin, BMI and BP.

High pressure crystallization technique has been successfully used to prepare an elusive form II of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, Mefenamic acid. Single crystal of form II was grown at 0.3 GPa from an 4:1 methanol/ ethanol mixture as a solvent using Diamond Anvil Cell. Comparison of crystal structures show that the efficient packing of MA molecules in Form II results from the structural flexibility of MA acid molecules. Compression studies performed on the single crystal of form I resulted in 14 % decrease of unit cell volume up to 2.5 GPa. No phase transition was observed up to this pressure. A reconstructive phase transition is required to induce conformational changes in the structure, which is confirmed by crystallization at high pressure results.

An experimental study is carried out in a cavitation tunnel on a propeller operating downstream of a non-uniform wake. The goal of this work is to establish quantitative correlations between the near pressure field and the cavitation pattern that takes place on the propeller blades. The pressure field is measured at the walls of the test section and in the near wake of the propeller, and is combined with quantitative high-speed image recording of the cavitation pattern. Through simple harmonic analysis of the pressure data and image processing techniques that allow to retrieve the cavitation extension and volume, we discuss the potential sources that generate the pressure fluctuations. Time correlations are unambiguously established between pressure peak fluctuations and cavitation collapse events, based upon the Rayleigh collapse time. Finally, we design a model to predict the cavitation-induced pressure fluctuations from the derivation of the cavitation volume acceleration. This simple model demonstrates a remarkable agreement with the actual pressure field.

Digital-based differential amplifiers (DDA) are particularly suitable to low voltage digital integrated circuit technologies. This paper presents an exhaustive analysis of the digital-based analog amplifiers to take advantage of today's high-performance digital technologies and of computer-aided design (CAD) commonly employed to design integrated circuits. The operating principle and the main mathematical relations of the digital-based differential amplifiers are discussed along with an exhaustive explanation of its operating regions and of the corresponding power consumption. Finally, a detailed description of the design procedure of in UMC 180nm standard CMOS technology is shown.

HER2-low and ultra-low breast cancer (BC) have been recently proposed as new subcategories of HER2 BC, re-considering the immunohistochemical negative score of 0, 1+ or score of 2+/in situ hybridization (ISH) negative phenotype. In the present review we have outlined the needed criteria to exactly distinguish HER2 low and ultra-low BC. Recent clinical trials have demonstrated significant clinical benefits of novel HER2 directing antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in treating these group sof tumors. In particular, Trastuzumab-deruxtecan (T-Dxd), a HER2-directing ADC has been recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the first targeted therapy to treat HER2-low BC. Furthermore, ongoing trials, such as the DESTINY-Breast06, are currently evaluating ADCs in patients with HER2-ultra low BC. Finally we hope that new guidelines may help to codify HER2 low and ultra-low BC, increasing our knowledge of tumor biology and improving a targetable new therapeutical treatment.

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) is the most active field in the design of current complex system engineering, which is possessed with such two difficulties as subsystem information exchange and analytical and computational complexity of systems. Therefore, an improved collaborative optimization algorithm based on ANN (artificial neural network) response surface was proposed dependent on the consistency constraint algorithm and concurrent subspace algorithm. As an optimization method with secondary structure, it satisfied only local constraints in discipline layer, but provided a coordinated mechanism for interdisciplinary conflict in system layer. Finally, it was applied in the multidisciplinary design optimization of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). As shown from the result, the MDO convergence stability and reliability of low resistance, low noise and high maneuvering performance of the AUV shape can be ensured by the improved collaborative optimization algorithm, thus verifying the effectiveness of the algorithm.

This paper studies the evaporative heat transfer characteristics of R744 at low temperatures in a horizontal smooth tube as a cascade refrigeration system (CRS) among hybrid cascade refrigeration systems (HCRSs). There is a lack of research on the low-temperature evaporative heat transfer characteristics of R744 under the operating conditions of evaporators used in actual CRSs used in supermarkets. Therefore, this study aims to provide basic data on the evaporative heat transfer characteristics of R744 in the evaporators of refrigerators used in supermarkets. The tube used in the evaporation experiment conducted herein was a smooth horizontal copper tube with an inner diameter and length of 11.46 mm and 8000 mm, respectively. The experimental pa-rameters were as follows: heat fluxes of 12–21.5 kW/m2, mass fluxes of 75–225 kg/(m2·s), and saturation temperatures of −50–−30 °C. The main results are summarized as follows. (1) When designing the R744 evaporator, the mass and heat fluxes must be maximized within the operating conditions, and the saturation temperature must be designed to be as low as possible. (2) The evaporative heat transfer coefficient of R744 can be predicted well by using the correlation formula of Chen at the evaporation temperature of −40 °C in the CRS.

For underwater vehicles navigating in Arctic Sea ice-covered waters, fatigue damage is a crucial issue. Many scholars have conducted low-temperature fatigue analysis on low-temperature ma-terials and substrate platforms for ships, and the results show that low-temperature is beneficial for improving the mechanical properties of materials. However, they mainly focus on low-temperature performance experiments and simulation analysis of standard components of materials, and there are very few fatigue life experimental studies on underwater vehicle me-chanical structures. This paper conducts experimental investigations on a scaled model of an underwater vehicle rudder mechanism in a polar environment laboratory. Using a comparative analysis method involving simulations and experiments, the low-temperature fatigue test data of the scaled underwater vehicle rudder mechanism are analyzed, and the quantified analysis be-tween fatigue and different low-temperature loading cycles, as well as the influence of icing on the fatigue life, is explored. It is indicated that the arctic environment can decrease the fatigue life of the underwater vehicle rudder mechanism by deteriorating its material properties. The paper builds the foundation for the fatigue life of an underwater vehicle rudder mechanism in arctic low-temperature environments.

Poly(2,6-dimethyl phenyl oxide) (PPO) is known for its low dissipation factor. To achieve insulating materials with low dissipation factor for high-frequency communication application, a monomer-type benzoxazine (P-APPO) and a main-chain-type benzoxazine (BPA-APPO) were prepared from an amine end-capped oligo (2,6-dimethyl phenylene oxide) (APPO). The APPO was prepared from a nucleophilic substitution of a phenol-end capped oligo (2,6-dimethyl phenylene oxide) (a commercial product, SA 90) with fluoronitrobenzene, and followed by catalytic hydrogenation. After self-curing or curing with a dicyclopentadiene-phenol epoxy (HP 7200), thermosets with high-T_g and low-dissipation factor can be achieved. Furthermore, the resulting epoxy thermosets show better thermal and dielectric properties than those of epoxy thermoset cured from its precursor SA90, demonstrating it is a successful modification in simultaneously enhancing the thermal and dielectric properties.

The influence of the Fe2O3 addition amount on the dephosphorization of hot metal at 1623 K with the slag of the low basicity (CaO/SiO2) of about 1.5 was investigated by using high-temperature laboratorial experiments. With increasing the Fe2O3 addition amount, the contents of [C], [Si], [Mn] and [P] in hot metal at the end of dephosphorization decrease, and the corresponding removal ratios increase. The P2O5 content in slag increases, and the CaO and SiO2 contents in slag decrease. The phosphorus mainly exists in the form of the nCa2SiO4-Ca3(PO4)2 solid solution in the phosphorus-rich phase and the value of coefficient n decreases from 20 to 1 with increasing the Fe2O3 addition amount from 5 g to 30 g. With increasing the Fe2O3 addition amount, the oxygen potential and activity at the interface between the slag and hot metal increase. When the oxygen potential and the oxygen activity at the interface are greater than 0.72×10-12 and 7.1×10-3, respectively, the dephosphorization ratio begins to increase rapidly. With increasing the Fe2O3 addition amount to 30 g, the ratio of the Fe2O3 addition amount to theoretical calculation consumption is around 175%, and the dephosphorization ratio reaches the highest value of 83.3%.

Abstract: The promotion and development of healthy cities are vital for enhancing human habitats and fostering sustainable economic growth. Based on the core database of Web of Science and the knowledge graph software, this paper makes a quantitative analysis of the literature related to attention recovery abroad. It is found that in recent years, the research on attention recovery has developed rapidly, the number of related literature has been increasing, and the research content presents the characteristics of interdisciplinary integration. By further analyzing the characteristics of research literature, research context, and knowledge basis, this paper summarizes the empirical research based on the existing quantitative analysis, reviews the research field based on the mechanism of attention recovery, and analyzes the development process and trend based on the research basis of attention recovery. Due to the change of modern life style, human health problems are becoming more and more prominent. Attention restoration design provides a new research idea and method to balance the relationship between humans and the urban environment.

Abstract:High-pressure water jet technology has received extensive attention and application due to its high efficiency and environmental protection characteristics. The high-pressure water jet nozzle is its core component, and the research on the high-pressure water jet nozzle is conducive to improving the jet performance and improving the jet efficiency. This paper introduces the characteristics of water jet and the working principle of pure water jet, abrasive water jet, pulsed water jet and cavitation water jet, reviews the theoretical analysis and experiment of the predecessor's nozzle, briefly explains the application of high-pressure water jet and looks forward to the development trend of this technology.

Abstract Several studies have been conducted to strengthen weak road layers, regardless of whether they are un-der construction or are undergoing maintenance. Using substrates filled with different materials has proven effective for increasing the strength of these layers. In this study, I evaluated the coefficient of lateral soil pressure under various conditions when using reinforced and unreinforced piles filled with in-expensive material and the extent of their contribution to strengthening road layers. The results con-firmed that there was a difference in the coefficient of lateral soil pressure when the sand-filled piles were reinforced. The sand-filled piles were divided into several parts by arming. The maximum coeffi-cient of lateral soil pressure was 0.38 in the case of sand (1 mm) with reinforcement, whereas it was 0.29 in the same case without reinforcement as shown in Figure 1. The maximum coefficient of lateral soil pressure was 0.27 in the case of granite grain (2 mm) with reinforcement, whereas it was 0.17 in the same case without reinforcement. Moreover, the maximum lateral pressure coefficient was 0.26 in the case of granite grain (3 mm) with reinforcement, and it was 0.30 in the same case without reinforce-ment.

Compressed gas storage of hydrogen has emerged as the preferred choice for fuel cell vehicle man- ufacturers, as well as for various applications like road transport, and aviation. However, designers face increasing challenges in designing safe and efficient composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) for hydrogen storage. One challenge lies in the development of precise software that con- sider a multitude of factors associated with the filament winding process. These factors include layer thickness, stacking sequence, and the development of particularly robust models for the dome region. Another challenge is the formulation of predictive behavior and failure models to ensure that COPVs have optimal structural integrity. The present study offers an exploration of numerical methods used in modeling COPVs, aiming to enhance our understanding of their performance characteristics. The methods examined include finite element analysis in Abaqus, involving conventional shell elements, continuum shell elements, three-dimensional solid elements, and specialized homogenization tech- niques for multilayered composite pressure vessels. Through rigorous comparisons with type-III pressure vessels from the literature, the research highlights the most suitable choice for simulating COPVs and their practicality. Finally, we propose a new design for type-IV hydrogen composite pressure vessels using one explored method, paving the way for future developments in this critical field.

The well-known equations for the process of powder compaction (PCP) in a rigid die published over the period from the beginning of the last century to the present are considered. Most of the considered equations are converted into the dependence of the densification pressure on the relative density. The equations were analyzed and their ability to describe PCP was assessed by determining the coefficient of determination when approximating experimental data on the compaction of various powders. It is shown that most of the equations contain two constants, the values of which are determined by fitting the mathematical dependence to the experimental curve. Such equations are able to describe PCP with high accuracy in the case of compaction of powders up to a relative density of 0.9-0.95. It is also shown that different equations can describe PCP in the range of density change from the initial to 0.9 with the same and sufficiently high accuracy, but when the process of compaction is extrapolated to higher values of density, the curves diverge. This indicates the importance of equations that can unambiguously describe PCP to a relative density equal to or close to 1.0. For an adequate description of PCP to a relative density greater than 0.95, equations containing three or four constants have proven themselves well.

Ischemia, the inadequate blood flow, can arise from pre-existing or traumatic events, remain an undetectable issue, and impact the body's ability to provide oxygen to necessary limbs, organs, muscles, or tissue. New technology involving wearable ultrasonic devices allows medical professionals to gain real-time insight into the cardiovascular system of their patients. A non-invasive, postage-stamp-sized ultrasonic sensor can be attached to a patient, allowing for continuous monitoring of the patient’s blood pressure outside of the hospital. After reviewing 16 papers on ultrasonic sensors, this paper intends to review the current use of wearable ultrasonic sensors and the advantages and limitations of the technology used to obtain accurate blood pressure readings. This review will bring attention to the evolving and expanding world of wearable ultrasonic sensors for medical applications.

This research aims to investigate the effects of parental pressure on students' academic achievement at the school level. The research objectives include examining the relationship between parental pressure and academic achievement and identifying potential moderating variables. A sample of middle and high school students will be utilized in this study.

Background: The mental state is important in the health/illness process. Including stress, depression and anxiety. Nature immersion therapies have been implemented as a valid method for reducing these disorders. The aim will evaluate the effect of forest intervention therapies on levels of stress, depression, and anxiety. Methods: We searched for randomized clinical trials related to stress, anxiety and depression levels. Risk of bias was assessed according to the guidelines of the Cochrane Handbook for International Systematic Reviews. Results: We identified and synthesized eight publications. Two studies for cortisol showed significant differences between the pre-test and post-test levels in the intervention groups. One study including Natural killer cells, that reported a significant decrease in the intervention group compared to the control group. Two studies used the Stress Response Inventory, indicated a significant reduction in stress levels in the intervention group compared to the control group. Regarding Restorative Out-come Scale, no significant differences were found. Three studies were selected for the evaluation of anxiety and depression levels according to the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Four studies used The Profile of Mood States scale; no significant difference was observed. Conclusions: There is limited evidence to recommend forest bathing for reducing these disorders.

Intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) elevation during capnoperitoneum can cause adverse cardiovascular and respiratory effects. This study aimed to determine if a sequentially increased IAP affects cardiovascular and respiratory variables in anesthetized dogs and evaluate the effects of constant rate infusion of dexmedetomidine (Dex) on cardiovascular and respiratory variables with increased IAP. Five dogs were anesthetized, instrumented, and the Veress needle was equipped to adjust the IAP using a carbonic anhydrase insufflator. Stabilization was conducted for 1 h, and physiological variables were measured in IAPs of 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mmHg and after desufflation. After the washout period, the dogs underwent similar procedures along with constant rate infusion of dexmedetomidine. Cardiovascular effects of increased IAP up to 20 mmHg were not significant in healthy beagle dogs and those administered with dexmedetomidine. In the control group, the arterial pressure slightly increased, but not statistically significant, at an IAP of 20 mmHg compared with that at baseline (mean arterial blood pressure, p = 0.399; systolic arterial blood pressure, p = 0.293; diastolic arterial blood pressure, p = 0.141). When comparing the control and dexmedetomidine groups, overall significant effects of dexmedetomidine were noted on heart rate, cardiac output, and systemic vascular resistance during the experiment. Respiratory effects were not affected by abdominal insufflation when compared between different IAPs and between the two groups. Overall, an increased IAP of until 20 mmHg did not significantly affect cardiovascular and respiratory variables in both control and dexmedetomidine groups. This study suggests that dexmedetomidine infusion administration is applicable in laparoscopic procedures in healthy dogs.

Background: Due to the importance of brain death (BD) diagnostic do not mistake, reliable confirmatory exams should be performed to enhance its security. This study aims to evaluate the intracranial pressure (ICP) pulse morphology behavior in brain-dead patients through a noninvasive monitoring system. Methods: A pilot case-control study was conducted in adults that met the BD national protocol criteria. Quantitative data from the ICP waveforms were extracted and analyzed comparing BD patients and health subjects. Results: Fifteen patients were included. ICP waveforms presented substantial differences amidst BD patients when compared to the control group. Moreover, pulse amplitude and time to peak variables values in the case group were also statistically significant. Conclusions: In this exploratory study, noninvasive ICP waveforms have shown potential as a screening method in patients with suspected brain death. Future studies should be carried out in a larger population.

Background: Hypertension is a condition of a person's blood pressure being at a level above normal, hypertension treatment can be done herbally using avocado leaves. Avocado leaves can lower blood pressure because they contain active substances, namely flavonoids and quercetin. This research was conducted in the working area of the Tilango Health Center. Objective: This study aims to determine the effect of giving boiled water of avocado leaves on reducing blood pressure in the elderly with hypertension. Methods: Design This study used a two-group quasi-experimental pre-test - post-test design. The sample is the elderly who have hypertension, amounting to 125 people with purposive sampling technique. The research instrument used a questionnaire. Results: Statistical test using T-Test on blood pressure before and after the intervention was given a significance value of 0.000 (p-value < 0.05 ). Conclusion : This study concludes that there is a significant effect between giving avocado leaf boiled water on reducing blood pressure in the elderly with hypertension in the working area of the Tilango Health Center.

Background: At altitudes beyond 2500 m the risk of developing high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) grows with the increases in pulmonary arterial pressure. HAPE is characterized by severe pulmonary hypertension, though the incidence and relevance of individual risk factors are not yet predictable. However, the systolic pulmonary pressure (SPAP) and peak in tricuspid regurgitation velocity (TVR) are crucial factors when diagnosing pulmonary hypertension by echocardiography. Methods: The SPAP and TVR of 27 trekkers aged 20-65 years en route in the Solu Khumbu region of Nepal was assessed. Echocardiograph measurements were performed at Lukla (2,860 m), Gorak Shep (5170 m), and the summit of Kala Patthar (5,675 m). The altitude profile and the participant’s characteristics were also compiled for correlation with the measured data. Results: The results showed a highly significant increase of SPAP and TVR after ascending Kala Patthar. The study revealed a lower increase of SPAP and TVR in the group of older participants, although the initial respective measurements in Gorak Shep were significantly higher for this group. A similar finding occurred in those using Diamox® as prophylaxis. There was an inverse relationship between TVR and SPAP, the peripheral capillary oxygen saturation and heart rate. Conclusions: The echocardiograph results indicate that older people are a risk group for developing a HAPE. The prophylactic use of acetazolamid led to higher initial SPAP values in Gorak Shep, and a lower increase of SPAP as well as TRV after ascending Kala Patthar. Arterial oxygen saturation measurements can provide an indicator for the self-assessment for the risk of developing HAPE and provide a rule of thumb for the altitude profile but does not replace a HAPE diagnosis. The collected data variables concerning backpack weight, sex, workload (actual ascent speed), and pre-existing diseases were not statistically significant factors related to SPAP and TVR (p=<0.05).

The formation of rock fractures in nature has a certain relationship with water seepage. In order to analyze the shape of rock fracture, we propose a rock deformation theoretical model in three-dimensional space considering with the condition of seepage water pressure, and establish the mass conservation equation, seepage equation, surrounding rock displacement equation, so as to deduce the rock deformation control equation under seepage pressure action. The numerical analysis of the nonlinear quadratic partial differential equation obtains the fracture deformation distribution in the example, and verifies with the calculated fracture morphology. And we further use this principle to analyze the fracture morphology in nature and prove the rationality of the theory.

Purpose: The evaluation of the efficacy of topical hypotensive treatment and/or systemic corticosteroids therapy in patients with elevated intraocular pressure and Graves’ orbitopathy (GO). Methods: 172 eyes in 86 individuals with duration of GO ≥ 3 months, intraocular pressure in either eye ≥ 25.0 mmHg and GO ranked ≥ 3 at least in one eye in modified CAS form, were included. The study subjects were divided into three treatment subgroups: subgroup I was administered latanoprost QD; subgroup II was administered a combined preparation of brimonidine and timolol BID; subgroup III was the control group, not receiving any topical hypotensive treatment. All the study participants received systemic treatment – intravenous corticosteroid therapy at the same dose, according to the EUGOGO guideline Results: On the final visit, the mean IOP value was significantly lower in all treatment subgroups comparing to the initial values. In both subgroups receiving topical treatment the IOP reduction was higher than in the control group receiving systemic corticosteroids only. However, the latanoprost eye drops decreased intraocular pressure more effectively than drops containing brimonidine and timolol. Conclusion: Topical ocular hypotensive treatment is effective in reducing intraocular pressure in GO and decreases intraocular pressure more effectively than systemic corticosteroid therapy alone.

While visual assessment is the standard technique for burn evaluation, computer-aided diagnosis is increasingly sought due to high number of incidences globally. Patients are increasingly facing challenges which are not limited to shortage of experienced clinicians, lack of accessibility to healthcare facilities, and high diagnostic cost. Certain number of studies were proposed in discriminating burn and healthy skin using machine learning leaving a huge and important gap unaddressed; whether burns and related skin injuries can be effectively discriminated using machine learning techniques. Therefore, we specifically use pre-trained deep learning models due to deficient dataset to train a new model from scratch. Experiments were extensively conducted using three state-of-the-art pre-trained deep learning models that includes ResNet50, ResNet101 and ResNet152 for image patterns extraction via two transfer learning strategies: fine-tuning approach where dense and classification layers were modified and trained with features extracted by base layers, and in the second approach support vector machine (SVM) was used to replace top-layers of the pre-trained models, trained using off-the-shelf features from the base layers. Our proposed approach records near perfect classification accuracy of approximately 99.9%.

Several common and functional genes are known to contribute to responsiveness to blood pressure (BP) therapy. BP therapy is typically guided by algorithms that do not include a patient’s genetic information. This study aimed to determine the impact of a multi-organ genetic panel on BP response to pharmacotherapy. Eighty-six patients completed one study visit consisting of a buccal swab collection, measurement of office BP, and a medical chart review for BP history. Genes analyzed included those that encode for one drug metabolizing enzyme, renal Na+ handling, vascular, and cardiac function. Relationships between genotype and control of BP (<140/<90), ∆ systolic BP, ∆ diastolic BP, and ∆ mean arterial BP were assessed. SLC12A3 resulted in a significant association between the target drug and the functional genotype for BP control (<140/<90 cut off) (p<0.05). Conversely, three of five renal genotypes were associated with BP control using 120/80 as a cut-off (p<0.05). Three of four cardiac genotypes were associated with the BP control at <140/<90, with one being statistically significant (position 49 of ADRB1). Only one vascular genotype was predictive of blood pressure control at <140/<90. We found a significant drop in mean BP from baseline in six genes, three important in the diuretic response and three in β-blockade (p<0.05 on target drug vs. not). These results demonstrate that a multi-gene panel for renal Na+ handling, vascular function, and cardiac output may influence the BP response to therapy, but larger studies with more statistical power are needed.

We previously reported how the loss of CHIP expression (Carboxyl terminus of Hsc70-Interacting Protein) during pressure overload resulted in robust cardiac dysfunction, accompanied by a failure to maintain ATP levels in the face of increased energy demand. In this study, we analyzed the cardiac metabolome after seven days of pressure overload and found an increase in long- and medium-chain fatty acid metabolites in wild-type hearts, a response that was attenuated in mice that lack expression of CHIP (CHIP^-/-). These findings suggest that CHIP may play an essential role in regulating oxidative metabolism, pathways that are regulated in part by the nuclear receptor PPARα (Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor alpha). Next, we challenged CHIP^-/- mice with the PPARα agonist, fenofibrate. Surprisingly, treating CHIP^-/- mice with fenofibrate for five weeks under non-pressure overload conditions resulted in a loss of skeletal muscle mass and a marked increase in cardiac fibrosis, accompanied by a decrease in cardiac function. Isolated CHIP^-/- cardiac fibroblasts treated with fenofibrate did not increase synthesis of collagen or TGFβ, suggesting that the fibrosis observed in CHIP^-/- hearts likely depends on signaling from other cell types or circulating factors. In conclusion, in the absence of functional CHIP expression, fenofibrate results in unexpected cardiac pathologies. These findings are particularly relevant to patients harboring loss-of-function mutations in CHIP and are consistent with a prominent role for CHIP in regulating cardiac metabolism.

We evaluated the association of blood pressure with blood levels of cadmium, lead, and cadmium and lead together (cadmium+lead) in a representative sample of adolescents from Korea by use of 2010-2016 data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). This cross-sectional study enrolled adolescents aged at 10-18 years-old who completed a health examination survey and had blood measurements of lead and cadmium. The association of adjusted mean differences in diastolic and systolic blood pressure with doubling of blood lead and cadmium were estimated by regression of blood pressure against log₂-transformed blood metals and their quartiles after covariate adjustment. Adjusted odds ratios for prehypertension were calculated for log₂-transformed blood levels of lead and cadmium and their quartiles. Our analysis of adolescents in Korea indicated that blood levels of lead and cadmium were not significantly associated with increased blood pressure or risk of pre-hypertension. However, the cadmium+lead level was associated with pre-hypertension. Previous studies showed that blood levels of lead and cadmium were associated with increased blood pressure and risk of hypertension in adult populations. We found no such effect in Korean adolescents, although the cadmium+lead level was associated with prehypertension. These differences may be because adolescents generally have lower levels of these blood metals or because adolescents only rarely have hypertension.

As shown in former papers, the nonadiabatic Heisenberg model presents a novel mechanism of Cooper pair formation generated by the strongly correlated atomic-like motion of the electrons in narrow, roughly half-filled "superconducting bands". These are energy bands represented by optimally localized spin-dependent Wannier functions adapted to the symmetry of the material under consideration. The formation of Cooper pairs is not the result of an attractive electron-electron interaction but can be described in terms of quantum mechanical constraining forces constraining the electrons to form Cooper pairs. There is theoretical and experimental evidence that only this nonadiabatic mechanism operating in superconducting bands may produce eigenstates in which the electrons form Cooper pairs. These constraining forces stabilize the Cooper pairs in any superconductor, whether conventional or unconventional. Here we report evidence that also the experimentally found superconducting state in bismuth at ambient as well as at high pressure is connected with a narrow, roughly half-filled superconducting band in the respective band structure. This observation corroborates once more the significance of constraining forces in the theory of superconductivity.