Exploring user engagement with real-time verbal feedback from an exoskeleton-based virtual exercise coach.

Objective: Engaging users during physical exercise is crucial for fostering long-term commitment, however, sustaining that engagement remains a significant challenge. This study explores the design of a voice-enabled exoskeleton-based virtual exercise coach (VEC) that provides real-time verbal feedback to enhance user engagement. The objectives of this study are twofold: (i) to compare user engagement with real-time verbal feedback from both VEC and human exercise coach (HEC) during physical exercise, and (ii) to understand users' perceptions and gather their recommendations for improving future VEC technologies.

CFD investigations of a shape-memory polymer foam-based endovascular embolization device for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms.

The hemodynamic and convective heat transfer effects of a patient-specific endovascular therapeutic agent based on shape memory polymer foam (SMPf) are evaluated using computational fluid dynamics studies for six patient-specific aneurysm geometries. The SMPf device is modeled as a continuous porous medium with full expansion for the flow studies and with various degrees of expansion for the heat transfer studies. The flow simulation parameters were qualitatively validated based on the existing literature.

Potential of covalently linked tamoxifen hybrids for cancer treatment: recent update.

Cancer is a complex disease and the second leading cause of death globally, and breast cancer is still a leading cause of cancer death in women. Tamoxifen is the most commonly used drug for breast cancer (ER-positive) treatment and chemoprevention, saving the lives of millions of patients every year. In addition, the tamoxifen template has been explored extensively for the development of selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) applicable in breast cancer, osteoporosis, and postmenopausal symptom treatment.

Ensemble-Based Assimilation of Satellite All-Sky Microwave Radiances Improves Intensity and Rainfall Predictions for Hurricane Harvey (2017).

Ensemble-based data assimilation of radar observations across inner-core regions of tropical cyclones (TCs) in tandem with satellite all-sky infrared (IR) radiances across the TC domain improves TC track and intensity forecasts. This study further investigates potential enhancements in TC track, intensity, and rainfall forecasts via assimilation of all-sky microwave (MW) radiances using Hurricane Harvey (2017) as an example. Assimilating Global Precipitation Measurement constellation all-sky MW radiances in addition to GOES-16 all-sky IR radiances reduces the forecast errors in the TC track, rapid intensification (RI), and peak intensity compared to assimilating all-sky IR radiances alone, including a 24-hr increase in forecast lead-time for RI.

Reactive force fields for modeling oxidative degradation of organic matter in geological formations.

In an attempt to better explore organic matter reaction and properties, at depth, to oxidative fluid additives, we have developed a new ReaxFF potential to model and describe the oxidative decompositions of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in the presence of the oxychlorine ClO oxidizers. By carefully adjusting the new H/C/O/Cl parameters, we show that the potential energies in both training and validation sets correlate well with calculated density functional theory (DFT) energies. Our parametrization yields a reliable empirical reactive force field with an RMS error of ∼1.

Deep reefs are not refugium for shallow-water fish communities in the southwestern Atlantic.

The deep reef refugia hypothesis (DRRH) predicts that deep reef ecosystems may act as refugium for the biota of disturbed shallow waters. Because deep reefs are among the most understudied habitats on Earth, formal tests of the DRRH remain scarce. If the DRRH is valid at the community level, the diversity of species, functions, and lineages of fish communities of shallow reefs should be encapsulated in deep reefs.

The global interactome.

Bacteria play key roles in the function and diversity of aquatic systems, but aside from study of specific bloom systems, little is known about the diversity or biogeography of bacteria associated with harmful cyanobacterial blooms (cyanoHABs). CyanoHAB species are known to shape bacterial community composition and to rely on functions provided by the associated bacteria, leading to the hypothesized cyanoHAB interactome, a coevolved community of synergistic and interacting bacteria species, each necessary for the success of the others. Here, we surveyed the microbiome associated with during blooms in 12 lakes spanning four continents as an initial test of the hypothesized interactome.

Vocal divergence is concordant with genomic evidence for strong reproductive isolation in grasshopper mice ().

Behavioral barriers to gene flow often evolve faster than intrinsic incompatibilities and can eliminate the opportunity for hybridization between interfertile species. While acoustic signal divergence is a common driver of premating isolation in birds and insects, its contribution to speciation in mammals is less studied. Here we characterize the incidence of, and potential barriers to, hybridization among three closely related species of grasshopper mice (genus ).

Numerical accuracy comparison of two boundary conditions commonly used to approximate shear stress distributions in tissue engineering scaffolds cultured under flow perfusion.

Introduction: Flow-induced shear stresses have been found to be a stimulatory factor in pre-osteoblastic cells seeded in 3D porous scaffolds and cultured under continuous flow perfusion. However, due to the complex internal structure of the scaffolds, whole scaffold calculations of the local shear forces are computationally intensive. Instead, representative volume elements (RVEs), which are obtained by extracting smaller portions of the scaffold, are commonly used in literature without a numerical accuracy standard.

The effects of silver nanoparticles on intact wastewater biofilms.

Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) have strong antibacterial properties, which may adversely affect biological wastewater treatment processes. To determine the overall effect, intact biofilm samples were collected from the rotating biological contactor at the local wastewater treatment plant and treated with 200 mg Ag/L Ag-NPs for 24 h. The biofilm uptake of Ag-NPs was monitored with transmission electron microscopy.

An assessment of behavioral dynamic information processing measures in audiovisual speech perception.

Research has shown that visual speech perception can assist accuracy in identification of spoken words. However, little is known about the dynamics of the processing mechanisms involved in audiovisual integration. In particular, architecture and capacity, measured using response time methodologies, have not been investigated.