3D-printed digital pneumatic logic for the control of soft robotic actuators.

Soft robots are paving their way to catch up with the application range of metal-based machines and to occupy fields that are challenging for traditional machines. Pneumatic actuators play an important role in this development, allowing the construction of bioinspired motion systems. Pneumatic logic gates provide a powerful alternative for controlling pressure-activated soft robots, which are often controlled by metallic valves and electric circuits.

Short-term immune-checkpoint inhibition partially rescues perturbed bone marrow hematopoiesis in mismatch-repair deficient tumors.

Wide-spread cancer-related immunosuppression often curtails immune-mediated antitumoral responses. Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become a state-of-the-art treatment modality for mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) tumors. Still, the impact of ICI-treatment on bone marrow perturbations is largely unknown.

A case study for unlocking the potential of deep learning in asset-liability-management.

The extensive application of deep learning in the field of quantitative risk management is still a relatively recent phenomenon. This article presents the key notions of Deep Asset-Liability-Management ("Deep ALM") for a technological transformation in the management of assets and liabilities along a whole term structure. The approach has a profound impact on a wide range of applications such as optimal decision making for treasurers, optimal procurement of commodities or the optimization of hydroelectric power plants.

Automated enumeration of Eimeria oocysts in feces for rapid coccidiosis monitoring.

Coccidiosis represents a major driver in the economic performance of poultry operations, as coccidia control is expensive, and infections can result in increased feed conversion ratios, uneven growth rates, increased co-morbidities with pathogens such as Salmonella, and mortality within flocks. Shifts in broiler production to antibiotic-free strategies, increased attention on pre-harvest food safety, and growing incidence of anti-coccidial drug resistance has created a need for increased understanding of interventional efficacy and methods of coccidia control. Conventional methods to quantify coccidia oocysts in fecal samples involve manual microscopy processes that are time and labor intensive and subject to operator error, limiting their use as a diagnostic and monitoring tool in animal parasite control.

A State Health Department and Health Information Exchange Partnership: An Effective Collaboration for a Data-Driven Response for COVID-19 Contact Tracing in Maryland.

Background: Accurate, complete, timely data were essential to effective contact tracing for COVID-19. Maryland Department of Health partnered with Maryland's designated health information exchange, Chesapeake Regional Information System for Our Patients (CRISP), to establish data enhancement processes that provided the foundation for Maryland's successful contact tracing program.

Methods: Hourly, electronic positive COVID-19 test results were routed through CRISP to the contact tracing data platform.

Clinical characteristics of monkeypox virus infections among men with and without HIV: A large outbreak cohort in Germany.

Background: Since May 2022, increasing numbers of monkeypox virus (MPXV) infections have been reported from across Europe and North America. Studies, mainly from Africa, have suggested a higher risk for severe MPXV cases in people living with HIV.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of all confirmed MPXV infections observed in the participating centres since 19 May 2022.

Novel Motion Sequences in Plant-Inspired Robotics: Combining Inspirations from Snap-Trapping in Two Plant Species into an Artificial Venus Flytrap Demonstrator.

The field of plant-inspired robotics is based on principles underlying the movements and attachment and adaptability strategies of plants, which together with their materials systems serve as concept generators. The transference of the functions and underlying structural principles of plants thus enables the development of novel life-like technical materials systems. For example, principles involved in the hinge-less movements of carnivorous snap-trap plants and climbing plants can be used in technical applications.

Reactive Strength as a Metric for Informing Return-to-Sport Decisions: A Case-Control Study.

Objective: Current return-to-sport decisions are primarily based on elapsed time since surgery or injury and strength measures. Given data that show rates of successful return to competitive sport at around 55%, there is strong rationale for adopting tools that will better inform return to sport decisions. The authors' objective was to assess reactive strength as a metric for informing return-to-sport decisions.

Discrete-Time Signatures and Randomness in Reservoir Computing.

A new explanation of the geometric nature of the reservoir computing (RC) phenomenon is presented. RC is understood in the literature as the possibility of approximating input-output systems with randomly chosen recurrent neural systems and a trained linear readout layer. Light is shed on this phenomenon by constructing what is called strongly universal reservoir systems as random projections of a family of state-space systems that generate Volterra series expansions.

Fermentation Reveals Changes in Butyrate Production Dependent on Resistant Starch Source and Microbiome Composition.

One of the primary benefits associated with dietary resistant starch (RS) is the production of butyrate by the gut microbiome during fermentation of this fiber in the large intestine. The ability to degrade RS is a relatively rare trait among microbes in the gut, seemingly confined to only a few species, none of which are butyrate producing organisms. Thus, production of butyrate during RS fermentation requires a network of interactions between RS degraders and butyrate producers.

Influence of Poultry Litter Amendment Type and Irrigation Events on Survival and Persistence of Salmonella Newport.

Abstract: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Newport is a bacterial foodborne pathogen isolated from several environmental reservoirs on the Delmarva Peninsula and has been associated with several produce-related outbreaks. However, little is known about specific interactions between Salmonella Newport and soil amendments used as fertilizers.

Effectiveness of an Unexpected Disturbance Program in the Early Stage of Rehabilitation in Athletes With Unilateral Knee Ligament Injury.

Context: Sensorimotor, proprioceptive, and neuromuscular programs are critical for the successful rehabilitation of injured athletes, and these decrease reinjury rates.

Objective: To investigate the effects of an unexpected disturbance program (UDP) on balance and unilateral strength metrics in athletes with unilateral knee ligament injury.

Design: A 3-week parallel-group experimental design consisting of 9 rehabilitation sessions.

Using stochastic resonance and strength training as part of a rehabilitation programme for recurrent low back pain treatment: a case study.

Low back pain (LBP) is a common disabling health problem that can cause decreased spine proprioception. Stochastic resonance (SR) can influence detection performance, besides improving patients with significant sensory deficits, but have not been thoroughly tested for LBP. This study aimed to examine the application of SR therapy (SRT) and strength training for LBP treatment.

Numerical simulations of different configured venous anastomosis in microvascular flap transfer.

Background: Free flap surgery is a well-established method for covering large defects in the head and neck region. Most cases of flap failure are caused by venous thrombosis. Thus, there is a lot of discussion about the ideal design of venous anastomosis and its impact on the hemodynamics in the vessels.

Tris(trichlorosilyl)tetrelide Anions and a Comparative Study of Their Donor Qualities.

Trichlorosilylated tetrelides [(Cl Si) E] have been prepared by adding 1 equiv of a soluble Cl salt to (Cl Si) Si (E=Si) or 4 Si Cl /GeCl (E=Ge). To assess their donor qualities, the anions [(Cl Si) E] (E=C, Si, Ge) have been treated with BCl , AlCl , and GaCl . Both BCl and GaCl give 1:1 adducts with the anionic centers.

Hand Perfusion in Patients with Physiological or Pathological Allen's Tests.

Background:  The Allen test (AT) is a widely used clinical tool for the preoperative assessment of sufficient dual vessel hand perfusion although the impact of a pathological AT on tissue perfusion of the hand is not entirely clear. This study reveals perfusion changes of the hand in patients with pathological and physiological AT after terminating the dual blood supply.

Methods:  Patients were distributed into 2 groups (physiological and pathological AT) that each contained 25 members.

Exhaustively Trichlorosilylated C and C Building Blocks: Beyond the Müller-Rochow Direct Process.

The Cl-induced heterolysis of the Si-Si bond in SiCl generates an [SiCl] ion as reactive intermediate. When carried out in the presence of CCl or ClC═CCl (CHCl solutions, room temperature or below), the reaction furnishes the monocarbanion [C(SiCl)] ([A]; 92%) or the vicinal dianion [(ClSi)C-C(SiCl)] ([B]; 85%) in excellent yields. Starting from [B], the tetrasilylethane (ClSi)(H)C-C(H)(SiCl) (HB) and the tetrasilylethene (ClSi)C═C(SiCl) (B; 96%) are readily available through protonation (CFSOH) or oxidation (CuCl), respectively.

Distress thermometer for preoperative screening of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.

In this study, we evaluate the association between distress, various demographic and medical variables, and the prevalence of psychosocial distress in preoperative patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. A total of 100 consecutive patients were recruited into the study and asked to complete the Distress Thermometer (DT) form with the Problem List questionnaire prior to surgical intervention; the average distress score was 5.7 ± 2.

Preoperative assessment of the risk of postoperative death in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: a consideration beyond age, sex, and stage of cancer.

Despite improvements in the management of patients in critical care, about 3% patients who have an operation with curative intent for oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) do not survive their stay in hospital. Our aim was to assess the risk factors for postoperative death that were independent of the stage of the cancer, or the age and sex of the patients. We screened 4760 consecutive inpatients at a maxillofacial tertiary care centre from 2011 to 2016, and 34 of them had died within the first three months after operation.

Silicon chemistry in zero to three dimensions: from dichlorosilylene to silafullerane.

Silylenes and silanides, prominent Si(ii) species, are not only interesting in their own right, but also constitute important building blocks in oligosilane and organosilane chemistry. The past decade has witnessed tremendous advances in the understanding of the ambiphilic behavior of silylenes and the nucleophilic properties of silanides, as well as the mutual relationships between both species. Especially the readily available SiCl/[SiCl] system is intriguing, because it features highly functionalized silicon centers, amenable to late-stage modifications.

Deca-chloro-cyclo-penta-silanes coordinated by pairs of chloride anions, with different cations, but the same solvent mol-ecules.

We have determined the crystal structures of two deca-chloro-cyclo-penta-silanes, namely bis-(tetra--butyl-ammonium) dichloride deca-chloro-cyclo-penta-silane di-chloro-methane disolvate, 2CHN·2Cl·SiCl·2CHCl, (I), and bis-(tetra-ethyl-ammonium) dichloride deca-chloro-cyclo-penta-silane di-chloro-methane disolvate, 2CHN·2Cl·SiCl·2CHCl, (II), both of which crystallize with discrete cations, anions, and solvent mol-ecules. In (I), the complete deca-chloro-cyclo-penta-silane ring is generated by a crystallographic twofold rotation axis. In (II), one cation is located on a general position and the other two are disordered about centres of inversion.