Noninvasive Monitoring of Changes in Cerebral Hemodynamics During Prolonged Field Care for Hemorrhagic Shock and Hypoxia-Induced Injuries With Portable Diffuse Optical Sensors.

Introduction: Achieving simultaneous cerebral blood flow (CBF) and oxygenation measures, specifically for point-of-care injury monitoring in prolonged field care, requires the implementation of appropriate methodologies and advanced medical device design, development, and evaluation. The near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) method measures the absorbance of light whose attenuation is related to cerebral blood volume and oxygenation. By contrast, diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) allows continuous noninvasive monitoring of microvascular blood flow by directly measuring the degree of light scattering because of red blood cell (RBC) movement in tissue capillaries.

Accurate Free Energies of Aqueous Electrolyte Solutions from Molecular Simulations with Non-polarizable Force Fields.

Non-polarizable force fields fail to accurately predict free energies of aqueous electrolytes without compromising the predictive ability for densities and transport properties. A new approach is presented in which (1) TIP4P/2005 water and scaled charge force fields are used to describe the interactions in the liquid phase and (2) an additional Effective Charge Surface (ECS) is used to compute free energies at zero additional computational expense. The ECS is obtained using a single temperature-independent charge scaling parameter per species.

Serum LH level prior to progestin administration is significant on pregnancy and live birth in programmed frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of serum LH levels prior to progestin administration on the outcomes of programmed frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study was conducted to compare the treatment outcomes between four groups based on the 25 percentiles of serum LH levels before progestin administration in 596 cycles of 518 patients undergoing artificial endometrial preparation protocols for FET. Primary outcome measures were ongoing and live birth rates.

Assessment of learning in simulator-based arthroscopy training with the diagnostic arthroscopy skill score (DASS) and neurophysiological measures.

Purpose: Virtual arthroscopic training has become increasingly popular. However, there is a lack of efficiency-based tracking of the trainee, which may be critical for determining the specifics of training programs and adapting them for the needs of each trainee. This study aims to evaluate and compare the measures obtained with a non-invasive neurophysiological method with The Diagnostic Arthroscopy Skill Score (DASS), a commonly used assessment tool for evaluating arthroscopic skills.

Solving Chemical Absorption Equilibria using Free Energy and Quantum Chemistry Calculations: Methodology, Limitations, and New Open-Source Software.

We developed an open-source chemical reaction equilibrium solver in Python (CASpy, https://github.com/omoultosEthTuDelft/CASpy) to compute the concentration of species in any reactive liquid-phase absorption system. We derived an expression for a mole fraction-based equilibrium constant as a function of excess chemical potential, standard ideal gas chemical potential, temperature, and volume.

Solubility of CO in Aqueous Formic Acid Solutions and the Effect of NaCl Addition: A Molecular Simulation Study.

There is a growing interest in the development of routes to produce formic acid from CO, such as the electrochemical reduction of CO to formic acid. The solubility of CO in the electrolyte influences the production rate of formic acid. Here, the dependence of the CO solubility in aqueous HCOOH solutions with electrolytes on the composition and the NaCl concentration was studied by Continuous Fractional Component Monte Carlo simulations at 298.

Vapor pressures and vapor phase compositions of choline chloride urea and choline chloride ethylene glycol deep eutectic solvents from molecular simulation.

Despite the widespread acknowledgment that deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have negligible vapor pressures, very few studies in which the vapor pressures of these solvents are measured or computed are available. Similarly, the vapor phase composition is known for only a few DESs. In this study, for the first time, the vapor pressures and vapor phase compositions of choline chloride urea (ChClU) and choline chloride ethylene glycol (ChClEg) DESs are computed using Monte Carlo simulations.

New Features of the Open Source Monte Carlo Software Brick-CFCMC: Thermodynamic Integration and Hybrid Trial Moves.

We present several new major features added to the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation code Brick-CFCMC for phase- and reaction equilibria calculations (https://gitlab.com/ETh_TU_Delft/Brick-CFCMC). The first one is thermodynamic integration for the computation of excess chemical potentials (μ).

Enhanced Water Purification Performance of Ionic Liquid Impregnated Metal-Organic Framework: Dye Removal by [BMIM][PF]/MIL-53(Al) Composite.

We incorporated a water-stable ionic liquid (IL), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, [BMIM][PF], into a water-stable metal-organic framework (MOF), MIL-53(Al), to generate the [BMIM][PF]/MIL-53(Al) composite. This composite was examined for water purification by studying its capacity for methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) removal from aqueous solutions having either single dye or a mixture of both. Data illustrated that the removal efficiency and the maximum adsorption capacity of MIL-53(Al) were increased several times upon [BMIM][PF] incorporation.

Effects of injectable trace element and vitamin supplementation during the gestational, peri-parturient, or early lactational periods on neutrophil functions and pregnancy rate in dairy cows.

The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of injectable trace element and vitamin combination on phagocytic, oxidative burst activity of neutrophils and reproductive outcomes in dairy cows. Cows were to assigned to the following groups: (1) injectable trace element supplementation (ITES, n = 44, containing zinc, manganese, copper, selenium); (2) injectable vitamin supplementation (VIT, n = 48, containing vitamins A, D, E); (3) ITES + VIT (n = 46); and (4) control (CON, n = 44). Cows were administered four injections between 230 and 260 days of the gestational period, on day of parturition, and 30 days postpartum.

Towards complete elucidation of structural factors controlling thermal stability of IL/MOF composites: effects of ligand functionalization on MOFs.

In this work, we incorporated an ionic liquid (IL), 1--butyl-3-methylimidazolium methyl sulfate ([BMIM][MeSO]) into two different metal organic frameworks (MOFs), UiO-66, and its amino-functionalized counterpart, NH-UiO-66, to investigate the effects of ligand-functionalization on the thermal stability limits of IL/MOF composites. The as-synthesized IL/MOF composites were characterized in detail by combining x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, x-ray fluorescence, infrared spectroscopies (FTIR), and their thermal stability limits were determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Characterization data confirmed the successful incorporation of the IL into each MOF and indicated the presence of direct interactions between them.

Improving CO Separation Performance of MIL-53(Al) by Incorporating 1--Butyl-3-Methylimidazolium Methyl Sulfate.

1--Butyl-3-methylimidazolium methyl sulfate is incorporated into MIL-53(Al). Detailed characterization is done by X-ray fluorescence, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Results show that ionic liquid (IL) interacts directly with the framework, significantly modifying the electronic environment of MIL-53(Al).

MIL-53(Al) as a Versatile Platform for Ionic-Liquid/MOF Composites to Enhance CO Selectivity over CH and N.

Five different imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) were incorporated into a metal-organic framework (MOF), MIL-53(Al), to investigate the effect of IL incorporation on the CO separation performance of MIL-53(Al). CO , CH , and N adsorption isotherms of the IL/MIL-53(Al) composites and pristine MIL-53(Al) were measured to evaluate the effect of the ILs on the CO /CH and CO /N selectivities of the MOF. Of the composite materials that were tested, [BMIM][PF ]/MIL-53(Al) exhibited the largest increase in CO /CH selectivity, 2.

The effects of EGF and IGF-1 on FSH-mediated in vitro maturation of domestic cat oocytes derived from follicular and luteal stages.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulin like growth factor-I (IGF-1) on the in vitro maturation of cat oocytes recovered from follicular and luteal stage ovaries. Oocytes from follicular (n=580) and luteal (n=209) stages were harvested and divided into four groups, which were cultured in FSH-mediated maturation medium supplemented with: (1) EGF alone (25ng/mL); (2) IGF-1 alone (100ng/mL); (3) EGF+IGF-1 (25ng/mL EGF+100ng/mL IGF-I); or (4) no growth factor (control). The proportion of follicular stage oocytes reaching the metaphase II stage was significantly higher than that of oocytes obtained at the luteal stage in both control and study groups (p<0.