Development of a micro-combined heat and power powered by an opposed-piston engine in building applications.

Residential homes and light commercial buildings usually require substantial heat and electricity simultaneously. A combined heat and power system enables more efficient and environmentally friendly energy usage than that achieved when heat and electricity are produced in separate processes. However, due to financial and space constraints, residential and light commercial buildings often limit the use of traditional large-scale industrial equipment.

Prioritization and Resource Allocation in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommendations for Colorectal and Pancreatic Cancer in Germany.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a scarcity of resources with various effects on the care of cancer patients. This paper provides an English summary of a German guideline on prioritization and resource allocation for colorectal and pancreatic cancer in the context of the pandemic. Based on a selective literature review as well as empirical and ethical analyses, the research team of the CancerCOVID Consortium drafted recommendations for prioritizing diagnostic and treatment measures for both entities.

Potential of prehabilitation in hepatocellular carcinoma: a narrative review of available evidence.

Background And Objective: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer deaths. Patients with HCC are often significantly affected by sarcopenia and cancer cachexia. Prehabilitation, a multimodal pre-operative exercise and nutritional intervention, has been implemented with varying degrees of success in enhancing outcomes among other gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies.

Improving T2*-weighted human cortico-spinal acquisitions with a dedicated algorithm for region-wise shimming.

Cortico-spinal fMRI acquisitions aim to investigate direct interactions between brain and spinal cord, e.g. during motor output or pain processing, by covering both regions in a single measurement.

Dataset of ultralow temperature refrigeration for COVID 19 vaccine distribution solution.

Most COVID-19 vaccines require temperature control for transportation and storage. Two types of vaccine have been developed by manufacturers (Pfizer and Moderna). Both vaccines are based on mRNA and lipid nanoparticles requiring low temperature storage.

Towards a representative reference for MRI-based human axon radius assessment using light microscopy.

Non-invasive assessment of axon radii via MRI bears great potential for clinical and neuroscience research as it is a main determinant of the neuronal conduction velocity. However, there is a lack of representative histological reference data at the scale of the cross-section of MRI voxels for validating the MRI-visible, effective radius (r). Because the current gold standard stems from neuroanatomical studies designed to estimate the bulk-determined arithmetic mean radius (r) on small ensembles of axons, it is unsuited to estimate the tail-weighted r.

COVID 19 vaccine distribution solution to the last mile challenge: Experimental and simulation studies of ultra-low temperature refrigeration system.

Most COVID-19 vaccines require ambient temperature control for transportation and storage. Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are based on mRNA and lipid nanoparticles requiring low temperature storage. The Pfizer vaccine requires ultra-low temperature storage (between -80 °C and -60 °C), while the Moderna vaccine requires -30 °C storage.

Analysis of Adherence to Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation in Patients with Cancer.

The need for cancer rehabilitation is expected to continue to dramatically increase with the aging population and increasing number of cancer survivors. These survivors experience a wide range of physical limitations and symptoms that negatively affect their health and quality of life. Research is needed to determine the rate of adherence, reasons for non-adherence, and interventions to improve adherence to acute inpatient rehabilitation among patients with cancer.

Revealing the growth of copper on polystyrene--poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer thin films with GISAXS.

Copper (Cu) as an excellent electrical conductor and the amphiphilic diblock copolymer polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) as a polymer electrolyte and ionic conductor can be combined with an active material in composite electrodes for polymer lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). As interfaces are a key issue in LIBs, sputter deposition of Cu contacts on PS-b-PEO thin films with high PEO fraction is investigated with in situ grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) to follow the formation of the Cu layer in real-time. We observe a hierarchical morphology of Cu clusters building larger Cu agglomerates.

Nanocellulose-Assisted Thermally Induced Growth of Silver Nanoparticles for Optical Applications.

Optically responsive materials are present in everyday life, from screens to sensors. However, fabricating large-area, fossil-free materials for functional biocompatible applications is still a challenge today. Nanocelluloses from various sources, such as wood, can provide biocompatibility and are emerging candidates for templating organic optoelectronics.

Dataset of low global warming potential refrigerant refrigeration system for fault detection and diagnostics.

HVAC and refrigeration system fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) has attracted extensive studies for decades; however, FDD of supermarket refrigeration systems has not gained significant attention. Supermarkets consume around 50 kWh/ft of electricity annually. The biggest consumer of energy in a supermarket is its refrigeration system, which accounts for 40%-60% of its total electricity usage and is equivalent to about 2%-3% of the total energy consumed by commercial buildings in the United States.

Medical Complications and Prognostic Factors for Medically Unstable Conditions During Acute Inpatient Cancer Rehabilitation.

Purpose: Acute inpatient rehabilitation provides concurrent medical care and intensive rehabilitation. We sought to describe the nature of types of medical complications and to identify the more frequent types of medical complications management in patients with cancer undergoing acute inpatient rehabilitation.

Methods: We reviewed the records of all consecutive patients admitted to acute inpatient rehabilitation from September 1, 2017, through February 28, 2018.

Programming nanopore ion flow for encoded multiplex microRNA detection.

Many efforts are being made in translating the nanopore into an ultrasensitive single-molecule platform for various genetic and epigenetic detections. However, compared with current approaches including PCR, the low throughput limits the nanopore applications in biological research and clinical settings, which usually requires simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers for accurate disease diagnostics. Herein we report a barcode probe approach for multiple nucleic acid detection in one nanopore.

A quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for the seagrass pathogen Labyrinthula zosterae.

The protist Labyrinthula zosterae (Phylum Bigyra, sensu Tsui et al. 2009) has been identified as a causative agent of wasting disease in eelgrass (Zostera marina), of which the most intense outbreak led to the destruction of 90% of eelgrass beds in eastern North America and western Europe in the 1930s. Outbreaks still occur today, albeit at a smaller scale.

Creating and enhancing radiology student interest groups.

Student interest groups are an important forum in which medical students learn about and develop interest in different medical specialties. To attract top students to radiology and promote understanding and appreciation of radiology among future physicians, it is important that radiology educators help to develop and sustain such groups at their institutions. This article reviews key considerations in creating and enhancing a radiology student interest group.

Population-specificity of heat stress gene induction in northern and southern eelgrass Zostera marina populations under simulated global warming.

Summer heat waves have already resulted in mortality of coastal communities, including ecologically important seagrass meadows. Gene expression studies from controlled experiments can provide important insight as to how species/genotypes react to extreme events that will increase under global warming. In a common stress garden, we exposed three populations of eelgrass, Zostera marina, to extreme sea surface temperatures, simulating the 2003-European heat wave.

Salivary cortisol and psychological mechanisms in patients with acute versus chronic low back pain.

This study was designed to explore whether the basal adrenocortical activity is related with pain-related coping, nonverbal pain behavior, depressive mood, and fatigue in patients with acute and chronic nonspecific low back pain. 19 patients with acute low back pain (ALBP) and 24 with chronic low back pain (CLBP) participated in the study. The adrenocortical activity was assessed through the cortisol awakening response.

The excitation energies, ionization potentials, and oscillator strengths of neutral and ionized species of Uuq (Z=114) and the homolog elements Ge, Sn, and Pb.

Multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock method is employed to calculate the excitation energies, ionization potentials, oscillator strengths, and radii for all neutral and up to four times ionized species of element Uuq, as well as the homolog elements Ge, Sn, and Pb. Using an extrapolative scheme, improved ionization potentials of Uuq were obtained with an uncertainty of less than 2000 cm(-1). Two relatively stronger resonance transitions are predicted for the element Uuq.

Upper airway volume segmentation analysis using cine MRI findings in children with tracheostomy tubes.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the airway dynamics of the upper airway as depicted on cine MRI in children with tracheotomy tubes during two states of airflow through the upper airway.

Materials And Methods: Sagittal fast gradient echo cine MR images of the supra-glottic airway were obtained with a 1.5T MRI scanner on seven children with tracheotomy tubes.

Individualized ventriculostomy in hydrocephalus: an intravital anatomical study.

Background: Ventriculostomy is a common neuroendoscopic operation but one with disastrous complications in rare cases.

Aims: The aim of this study was to perform an intravital analysis of the configuration at the floor of the third ventricle as a possible basis for selection of the ventriculostomy site.

Materials And Methods: The study population consisted of 32 patients who underwent ventriculostomy for the treatment of hydrocephalus.