Operational research

The gel-state grease plays a vital and indispensable role in the long-term operation of wind turbines. To reduce carbon emissions and increase the reliability of wind turbines, this paper takes the gel-state Mobil SHC 461WT grease as the study object. Firstly, the rheological properties of the gel-state Mobil SHC 461WT grease were investigated using the Anton Paar MCR302 rotational rheometer. Secondly, the rheological characteristics of three different gel states of the Mobil SHC 461WT grease (additive content of 0...

The rapid deployment of virtual primary care visits served as a first-line response to COVID-19 and can now be examined for insights, particularly as virtual care is playing an ongoing role in patient care and consultations. Input from primary care providers directly responsible for virtual care delivery is needed to inform policies and strategies for quality care and interactions. The overarching goal of this research study was to examine the use of virtual care as a mechanism for primary healthcare delivery...

Hermetia illucens has received a lot of attention as its larval stage can grow on organic substrates, even those that are decomposing. Black soldier fly breeding provides a variety of valuable products, including frass, a mixture of larval excrements, larval exuviae, and leftover feedstock, that can be used as a fertilizer in agriculture. Organic fertilizers, such as frass, bringing beneficial bacteria and organic materials into the soil, improves its health and fertility. This comprehensive review delves into a comparative analysis of frass derived from larvae fed on different substrates...

Factors responsible for species distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates, including responses at different spatial scales, have been previously investigated. The aim of the present research was to review the most relevant factors explaining chironomid species distribution focusing on factors operating at different spatial scales, such as latitude, longitude, altitude, substrate, salinity, water temperature, current velocity, conductivity, acidity, dissolved oxygen, nutrient content etc. acting at regional levels and at a large or small water basin level...

As a globally invasive quarantine pest, the cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis , is spreading rapidly, posing serious threats against agricultural and forestry production and biosecurity. In recent years, the niche conservatism hypothesis has been widely debated, which is particularly evident in invasive biology research. Identifying the niche dynamics of P. solenopsis , as well as assessing its global invasion risk, is of both theoretical and practical importance. Based on 462 occurrence points and 19 bioclimatic variables, we used n -dimensional hypervolume analysis to quantify the multidimensional climatic niche of this pest in both its native and invasive ranges...

Due to the high pollution of the transportation sector, nowadays the role of electric vehicles has been noticed more and more by governments, organizations, and environmentally friendly people. On the other hand, the problem of electric vehicle routing (EVRP) has been widely studied in recent years. This paper deals with an extended version of EVRP, in which electric vehicles (EVs) deliver goods to customers. The limited battery capacity of EVs causes their operational domains to be less than those of gasoline vehicles...

Deep learning technology has been widely adopted in the research of automatic arrhythmia detection. However, there are several limitations in existing diagnostic models, e.g., difficulties in extracting temporal information from long-term ECG signals, a plethora of parameters, and sluggish operation speed. Additionally, the diagnosis performance of arrhythmia is prone to mistakes from signal noise. This paper proposes a smartphone-based m-health system for arrhythmia diagnosis. First, we design a cycle-GAN-based ECG denoising model which takes real-world noise signals as input and aims to produce clean ECG signals...

RNA is an important information and functional molecule. It can respond to the regulation of life processes and is also a key molecule in gene expression and regulation. Therefore, RNA detection technology has been widely used in many fields, especially in disease diagnosis, medical research, genetic engineering and other fields. However, the current RT-qPCR for RNA detection is complex, costly and requires the support of professional technicians, resulting in it not having great potential for rapid application in the field...

Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory process of the gastrointestinal tract defined by flares and periods of remission, is increasing in incidence. Despite advances in multimodal medical therapy, disease progression often necessitates multiple operations with high morbidity. The inability to treat Crohn's disease successfully is likely in part because the etiopathogenesis is not completely understood; however, recent research suggests the gut microbiome plays a critical role. How traditional perioperative management, including bowel preparation and preoperative antibiotics, further changes the microbiome and affects outcomes is not well described, especially in Crohn's patients, who are unique given their immunosuppression and baseline dysbiosis...

INTRODUCTION: The use of autologous blood transfusions in oncologic surgeries is somewhat controversial due to the potential risk of disease dissemination through the salvage process. On the other hand, autologous blood transfusion can prevent the potential negative effects of allogenic blood transfusions and reduce use of valuable resources. METHODS: This study included 106 adult patients who underwent oncologic liver surgery at our institution between December 2015 and June 2019...

PURPOSE: To assess the safety and feasibility of direct vitrectomy-sparing subretinal injection for gene delivery in a large animal model. METHODS: The experimental Liběchov minipigs were used for subretinal delivery of a plasmid DNA vector (pS/MAR-CMV-copGFP) with cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter (copGFP) and a scaffold/matrix attachment region (S/MAR) sequence. The eyes were randomized to subretinal injection of the vector following pars plana vitrectomy (control group) or a direct injection without prior vitrectomy surgery (experimental group)...

Anion exchange polymers (AEPs) play a crucial role in green hydrogen production through anion exchange membrane water electrolysis. The chemical stability of AEPs is paramount for stable system operation in electrolysers and other electrochemical devices. Given the instability of aryl ether-containing AEPs under high pH conditions, recent research has focused on quaternized aryl ether-free variants. The primary goal of this review is to provide a greater depth of knowledge on the synthesis of aryl ether-free AEPs targeted for electrochemical devices...

BACKGROUND: Periprosthetic fracture is a rare complication of arthroplasty but can have devastating consequences for the patient and presents a complex surgical challenge. Locking compression plate and retrograde intramedullary nail are both widely accepted surgical fixation techniques for distal femoral periprosthetic fractures around a total knee arthroplasty. Although there is still a need for further high-quality research into both techniques, there is even less literature concerning the use of distal femoral replacement to treat distal femoral periprosthetic fractures...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Parental separation, fear, and exposure to the operating room environment lead to stress and anxiety in pediatric patients. This study aims to identify the research gaps in the effect of video distraction on pediatric patients of Indian origin. We hypothesized that video distraction along with parental presence would reduce preoperative anxiety in pediatric patients undergoing ophthalmic procedures under general anesthesia compared with parental presence alone. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this prospective randomized trial, 145 patients aged 2-8 years, ASA I-II, with at least one functional eye undergoing elective ophthalmic daycare procedures were enrolled...

BACKGROUND: Pure germinomas account for 40% of pineal tumors and are characterized by the lack of appreciable tumor markers, thus requiring a tumor biopsy for diagnosis. MicroRNAs (miRNA) have emerged as potential non-invasive biomarkers for germ cell tumors and may facilitate the non-invasive diagnosis of pure pineal germinomas. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed on all patients treated at the Children's Cancer Hospital Egypt diagnosed with a pineal region tumor between June 2013 and March 2021 for whom a research blood sample was available...

INTRODUCTION: Chimerism is closely correlated with disease relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). However, chimerism rate is dynamic changes, and the sensitivity of different chimerism requires further research. METHODS: To investigate the predictive value of distinct chimerism for relapse, we measured bone marrow (BM), peripheral blood (PB), and T-cell (isolated from BM) chimerism in 178 patients after allo-HSCT. RESULTS: Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that T-cell chimerism was more suitable to predict relapse after allo-HSCT compared with PB and BM chimerism...

Particle accelerators play a crucial role in scientific research, enabling the study of fundamental physics and materials science, as well as having important medical applications. This study proposes a novel graph learning approach to classify operational beamline configurations as good or bad. By considering the relationships among beamline elements, we transform data from components into a heterogeneous graph. We propose to learn from historical, unlabeled data via our self-supervised training strategy along with fine-tuning on a smaller, labeled dataset...

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is frequently seen in the Western population. Laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery (LARS) is effective in managing this condition. Obesity is strongly associated with GERD, and with the rising rate of obesity, there is, therefore, a concurrently increasing frequency of LARS performed. We aim to review the outcomes of LARS in patients with obesity, including the recurrence of GERD symptoms and peri-operative complications. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed for articles from June 1992 to June 2022...

The vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation (VGAM) is a rare congenital arteriovenous fistula of the embryonic median prosencephalic vein of Markowski, resulting in its pathological dilation. If left untreated, it can lead to multiple severe complications in the neonatal period, among which obstructive hydrocephalus. We present a case report of a six-year-old male patient with severe status epilepticus and a clinical history of VGAM and obstructive hydrocephalus, diagnosed via an MRI and an MR-angiography. The hydrocephalus was treated via a ventriculostomy at the age of six months, while the VGAM underwent a partial transarterial endovascular embolization when the patient was four years old...

This comprehensive study analyzes 346 surgically treated intracranial aneurysms, emphasizing the importance of understanding risk factors and prevalent characteristics in patients. Intracranial aneurysms, primarily of the saccular or berry type, significantly contribute to nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhages and demonstrate a rising incidence due to advances in imaging techniques. The study highlights a gender discrepancy in aneurysm occurrence and a higher prevalence in individuals over 30 years old. The research delves into various aspects, including aneurysm localization, diameter, neck dimensions, and rupture status, with a focus on the anterior communicating artery and middle communicating artery as predominant locations...