Average Sample Research Articles

Determination of dimethyl oxalate and diethyl oxalate in workplace air by high performance liquid chromatography

Objective: To establish a high performance liquid chromatography method for the simultaneous determination of dimethyl oxalate (DMO) and diethyl oxalate (DEO) in workplace air. Methods: From January 2022 to January 2023, air samples were collected by silica gel tubes, desorbed by acetonitrile, separated by C18 chromatographic column, detected by photo-array detector, and retention time was used to characterize and peak area was used to quantify at 210 nm wavelength. Results: The linear relationships of DMO and DEO were good, r>0.999. The detection limits of DMO and DEO were 0.39 and 0.52 μg/ml, respectively. The quantitative limit was 1.28 μg/ml for DMO and 1.72 μg/ml for DEO. Average desorption efficiency for DMO was 82.40%-92.72%, and DEO was 94.13%-97.69%. The intra-assay precision of DMO was 1.87%-6.18%, and DEO was 2.25%-3.31%. Inter-assay precision of DMO was 3.29%-5.73%, and DEO was 1.38%-2.94%. Average sampling efficiencies were 100% for both DMO and DEO. Breakthrough capacity of DMO was 37.61 mg (200 mg solid adsorbent), DEO was >28.11 mg (200 mg solid adsorbent). Samples should be stored at 4 ℃ for at least 7 days. Conclusion: This method is easy to operate and has strong practicability. All indicators meet the requirements of the specification, and it is suitable for the simultaneous determination of DMO and DEO in the workplace air.

Current evidence for lung ultrasound elastography in the field of pneumology: a systematic review.

Elastography is a technology that has strongly impacted several medical specialties; however, it is not yet applied as part of standard clinical practice in the field of pulmonology. The objective of this systematic review is to analyse the evidence available to date in relation to pleuropulmonary ultrasound elastography, focusing on the three pathologies with the most publications: subpleural consolidations, interstitial lung diseases and pleural effusion. Original in vivo studies published up until 12 August 2023 in the Embase, MEDLINE or Web of Science databases were included. The QUADAS-2 tool was applied to analyse bias. We found 613 records in database search. After duplicates removal, we screened 246 records and finally included 18 papers. The average cohort sample size was 109 patients. The elastography modes most frequently used were strain (22.2%), transient elastography (22.2%), point shear-wave elastography (38.9%) and two-dimensional shear-wave elastography (22.2%). The possibility of a meta-analysis was ruled out because of the heterogeneity of the studies included. The currently available literature indicates that pleuropulmonary ultrasound elastography produces promising and consistent results, although the lack of standardisation in the use of the technique and in the elastography modes employed still impedes its use in daily clinical pneumology practice. The development of a clinical guideline establishing a common nomenclature and standardised techniques for pleuropulmonary elastography will be imperative to generate quality scientific evidence in this field.

Understanding Clinician Preferences for Treatment Attributes in Oncology: A Discrete Choice Experiment of Oncologists' and Urologists' Preferences for First-Line Treatment of Locally Advanced/Unresectable Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma in Five European Countries.

Prior discrete choice experiments (DCE) in oncology found that, on average, clinicians rank survival as the most important treatment attribute. We investigate heterogeneity in clinician preferences within the context of first-line treatment for advanced urothelial carcinoma in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, and the UK. The online DCE included 12 treatment choice tasks, each comparing two hypothetical therapy profiles defined by treatment attributes: grade 3/4 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs), induction and maintenance administration schedules, progression-free survival, and overall survival (OS). We used a random parameters logit model to estimate attribute relative importance (RI) (0-100%) and generate preference shares for four treatment profiles. Results were stratified by country. Preference heterogeneity was evaluated by latent class analysis. In August and September 2022, 498 clinicians (343 oncologists and 155 urologists) completed the DCE. OS had the strongest influence on clinicians' preferences [RI = 62%; range, 51.6% (Germany) to 63.7% (Spain)] followed by frequency of grade 3/4 TRAEs (RI = 27%). Among treatment profiles, the chemotherapy plus immune checkpoint inhibitor maintenance therapy profile had the largest preference share [51%; range, 38% (Italy) to 56% (UK)]. Four latent classes of clinicians were identified (N = 469), with different treatment profile preferences: survival class (30.1%), trade-off class (22.4%), no strong preference class (40.9%), and aggressive treatment class (6.6%). OS was not the most important attribute for 30.0% of clinicians. While average sample results were consistent with those of prior DCEs, this study found heterogeneity in clinician preferences within and across countries, highlighting the diversity in clinician decision making in oncology.

Cross-cultural perception of strength, attractiveness, aggressiveness and helpfulness of Maasai male faces calibrated to handgrip strength

Previous research has demonstrated that Maasai and Europeans tend to align in their ratings of the physical strength and aggressiveness of Maasai male faces, calibrated to hand grip strength (HGS). However, perceptions of attractiveness of these faces differed among populations. In this study, three morphs of young Maasai men created by means of geometric morphometrics, and depicting the average sample and two extrema (± 4 SD of HGS), were assessed by men and women from Tanzania, Czech Republic, Russia, Pakistan, China, and Mexico (total sample = 1540). The aim of this study was to test cross-cultural differences in the perception of young Maasai men’s composites calibrated to HGS, focusing on four traits: physical strength, attractiveness, aggressiveness, and helpfulness. Individuals from all six cultures were able to distinguish between low, medium, and high HGS portraits. Across all study populations, portrait of Maasai men with lower HGS was perceived as less attractive, more aggressive, and less helpful. This suggests that people from diverse populations share similar perceptions of physical strength based on facial shape, as well as attribute similar social qualities like aggressiveness and helpfulness to these facial images. Participants from all samples rated the composite image of weak Maasai men as the least attractive.

Quadrature formulas on combinatorial graphs

The goal of the paper is to establish quadrature formulas on combinatorial graphs. Three types of quadrature formulas are developed. Quadrature formulas of the first type are obtained through interpolation by variational splines. This set of formulas is exact on spaces of variational splines on graphs. Since bandlimited functions can be obtained as limits of variational splines we obtain quadrature formulas which are approximately exact on spaces of bandlimited functions. Accuracy of this type of quadrature formulas is given in terms of geometry of the set of nodes of splines and in terms of smoothness of functions which is measured by means of the combinatorial Laplace operator. Quadrature formulas of the second type are obtained through point-wise sampling for bandlimited functions and based on existence of certain frames in appropriate subspaces of bandlimited functions. The third type quadrature formulas are based on the average sampling over subgraphs. Our quadrature formulas which are based on sampling are exact on a relevant subspaces of bandlimited functions. The results of the paper have potential applications to problems that arise in data mining.

Analytical Validation of a Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (TERT) Promoter Mutation Assay.

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter-mutated thyroid cancers are associated with a decreased rate of disease-free and disease-specific survival. High-quality analytical validation of a diagnostic test promotes confidence in the results that inform clinical decision-making. This work aimed to demonstrate the analytical validation of the Afirma TERT promoter mutation assay. TERT promoter C228T and C250T variant detection in genomic DNA (gDNA) was analyzed by assessing variable DNA input and the limit of detection (LOD) of variant allele frequency (VAF). The negative and positive percentage agreement (NPA and PPA) of the Afirma TERT test was examined against a reference primer pair as was the analytical specificity from potential interfering substances (RNA and blood gDNA). Further, the intrarun, interrun, and interlaboratory reproducibility of the assay were tested. The Afirma TERT test is tolerant to variation in DNA input amount (7-13 ng) and can detect expected positive TERT promoter variants down to 5% VAF LOD at 7 ng DNA input with greater than 95% sensitivity. Both NPA and PPA were 100% against the reference primer pair. The test remains accurate in the presence of 20% RNA or 80% blood gDNA for an average patient sample that typically has 30% VAF. The test also demonstrated a 100% confirmation rate when compared with an external next-generation sequencing-based reference assay executed in a non-Veracyte laboratory. The analytical robustness and reproducibility of the Afirma TERT test support its routine clinical use among thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology that are Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier suspicious or among Bethesda V/VI nodules.

Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Review of Research From 2011 to 2021.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) has historically been one of the most controversial topics in the study of psychopathology. Building on a previous review of empirical research on DID from 2000 to 2010, the present review examined DID research from 2011 to 2021. The research output included 56 case studies and 104 empirical studies. Within the empirical studies, approximately 1354 new cases of DID emerged, which resulted in an average samples of approximately 20. Reanalysis of previous samples was standard in the literature with only 40% of reported cases being new. Studies emerged from dozens of countries across the world, but the majority of cases were from Western counties, especially the United States. Diagnosis primarily relied upon validated measures, but 74% of all new cases came from six research groups. Overall, research on DID is steady but methodologically limited in ways that make generalization, especially about etiology, difficult.

Dietary Factors for Premature Skin Aging in Adult Students of the Faculty of Medicine, YARSI University, Class of 2021 Reviewed From Medicine and Islam

Premature Skin Aging is a change in the skin that occurs as a result of the aging process. The occurrence of aging on the skin is based on the physiological aging process of the organs, which can ultimately cause skin aging. The main factor causing premature skin aging is lifestyle, one of which comes from nutrition. This research uses a quantitative research method and a cross-sectional analytical observation method. The population used in this research were individuals studying at the Faculty of Medicine, YARSI University, class of 2021, with the age group 20-25 years. The sampling technique used in this research is a purpose sampling technique. From the existing population, 20 students were taken as samples. The type of data used in this research is primary data. The data analysis technique used in this research is the Chi-Square Test. This research found that the average sample of students at the Faculty of Medicine, Yarsi University class of 2021, had a suitable and sufficient diet. Ten students (50%) had an adequate diet, and the other 10 (50%) had a good diet. Hypothesis testing using the Chi-Square test produces Asymp values. Sig. (2-sided) of 0.037, this value is smaller than 0.05 (0.037 < 0.05), so H1 is accepted. The conclusion is that there is an influence between diet and the process of premature skin aging

Indoor-Outdoor Oxidative Potential of PM2.5 in Wintertime Fairbanks, Alaska: Impact of Air Infiltration and Indoor Activities.

The indoor air quality of a residential home during winter in Fairbanks, Alaska, was investigated and contrasted with outdoor levels. Twenty-four-hour average indoor and outdoor filter samples were collected from January 17 to February 25, 2022, in a residential area with high outdoor PM2.5 concentrations. The oxidative potential of PM2.5 was determined using the dithiothreitol-depletion assay (OPDTT). For the unoccupied house, the background indoor-to-outdoor (I/O) ratio of mass-normalized OP (OPmDTT), a measure of the intrinsic health-relevant properties of the aerosol, was less than 1 (0.53 ± 0.37), implying a loss of aerosol toxicity as air was transported indoors. This may result from transport and volatility losses driven by the large gradients in temperature (average outdoor temperature of -19°C/average indoor temperature of 21 °C) or relative humidity (average outdoor RH of 78%/average indoor RH of 11%), or both. Various indoor activities, including pellet stove use, simple cooking experiments, incense burning, and mixtures of these activities, were conducted. The experiments produced PM2.5 with a highly variable OPmDTT. PM2.5 from cooking emissions had the lowest OP values, while pellet stove PM2.5 had the highest. Correlations between volume-normalized OPDTT (OPvDTT), relevant to exposure, and indoor PM2.5 mass concentration during experiments were much lower compared to those in outdoor environments. This suggests that mass concentration alone can be a poor indicator of possible adverse effects of various indoor emissions. These findings highlight the importance of considering both the quantity of particles and sources (chemical composition), as health metrics for indoor air quality.

A low-overhead and high-reliability physical unclonable function (PUF) for cryptography

Silicon Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) are regarded as emerging hardware security primitives that can be used for generating secret keys for cryptographic algorithms. Unfortunately, the reliability issues greatly limit the applications of most PUFs since ambient noises and aging issues may alter the output responses of the PUFs. In this paper, a novel error calibration technique (ECT) based on average sampling circuit (ASC) and self-checking circuit (SCC) is proposed for significantly boosting the reliability of PUFs. The primary role of ASC is filtering the ambient noises that may affect the output responses of the PUFs. In contrast, SCC rehabilitates the PUFs once aging issues damage the process mismatches within the PUFs. As shown in the result, a PUF with the proposed ECT is able to achieve a 99% reliability with a 50 Mbps throughput.

Investigation on the Attitudes and Perspectives of Medical and Nursing Staff About Euthanasia: Data From Four Regional Greek Hospitals.

The good and benefit of the patient are the main drivers of the decisions that health professionals are asked to make. However, the definition of the good and the actions required for benefit are not always simple and self-evident. The intractable ethical dilemma of euthanasia has been the subject of extensive debates over the years, and numerous studies have been carried out in an attempt to record the attitudes and opinions of both health professionals and the general population. This research aims to investigate the opinions and perspectives of the medical and nursing staff of the four regional hospitals regarding euthanasia and to detect the factors that advocate for and against it. Two hundred and eighteen medical and nursing staff members from four regional hospitals in Lasithi participated in the research, whose opinions and influencing factors were investigated using a questionnaire consisting of four sections. The first included demographic and general characteristics questions; the second was the Euthanasia Attitude Scale (EAS); the third was the Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R); and the last was the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES). The SPSS software version 25.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) was used to analyse the data. Of the total, 78.0% of the participants were women, with an average sample age of 44.5 years. 65.1% were married, 23.4% were physicians, while 76.6% were nurses. The mean Euthanasia Attitude score (70.89) is moderate, ranging from 30 to 120, with higher scores suggesting more favourable sentiments. Euthanasia was viewed positively by 24.3% of respondents. There was no significant difference in positive attitudes between medical and nursing staff. However, the nursing staff had significantly lower average levels of General Orientation for Euthanasia, for the Role of Healthcare Professionals in Euthanasia, Values & Ethics, or Daily Spiritual Experience, and conversely higher levels of scores on Patients' Rights Issues for Euthanasia or Death Acceptance. Health professionals were found to have moderate attitudes about euthanasia, with no significant difference between them, as well as moderate degrees of death and everyday spiritual experience. Overall, a more favourable euthanasia attitude was shown to be strongly associated with individuals who were single, divorced, or widowed, with less death acceptance or more neutral acceptance, but not with daily spiritual experience.

Imperfect detection and misidentification affect inferences from data informing water operation decisions

AbstractObjectiveManagers can modify river flow regimes using fish monitoring data to minimize impacts from water management infrastructure. For example, operation of the gate‐controlled Delta Cross Channel (DCC) in California can negatively affect the endangered Sacramento River winter‐run Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Although guidelines have been developed for DCC operations by using real‐time juvenile fish sampling count data, there is uncertainty about how environmental conditions influence fish occupancy and the extent to which those relationships are affected by sampling and identification error.MethodsWe evaluated the effect of environmental conditions, imperfect detection, and misidentification error on salmon occupancy by analyzing data using hierarchical multistate occupancy models. A total of 14,147 trawl tows and beach seine hauls were conducted on 1058 sampling days between October and December from 1996 to 2019. During these surveys, 2803 juvenile winter‐run Chinook Salmon were identified, and approximately 29% of the sampling days had at least one winter‐run juvenile detected.ResultThe probability of misidentifying an individual juvenile winter‐run Chinook Salmon in the field was estimated to be 0.056 based on fish identification examinations and genetic sampling. Occupancy varied considerably and was related to flow characteristics, water clarity, weather, time of year, and whether occupancy was detected during the previous sampling day. However, these relationships and their significance changed considerably when accounting for imperfect detection and the probability of misidentifying individual juvenile salmon. Detection was <0.3 under average sampling conditions during a single sample and was influenced by flow, water clarity, site, and volume sampled.ConclusionOur modeling results indicate that DCC gate closure decisions could occur on fewer days when imperfect detection and misidentification error are not accounted for. These findings demonstrate the need to account for identification and detection error while using monitoring data to assess factors influencing fish occupancy and inform future management decisions.

Identification of optimal flap types for color matching in free flap-based facial reconstruction in Asian population

Large soft tissue defects of the face often require free flap-based reconstruction. To avoid a conspicuous patch-like appearance, choosing flaps with a color similar to that of the adjacent facial skin is crucial. This study aimed to identify the flap types that show the best color match via objective color evaluation.Patients who underwent free flap-based facial reconstruction between 2013 and 2023 were retrospectively reviewed. Based on standardized photographs, average color samples of the flap skin paddle and adjacent skin were obtained. The color differences were compared by flap type at two different time points, early (within 1–3 months, post-operative) and late (after 1 year, post-operative), using the delta E value.Fifty-eight free flaps were analyzed, including 22 thoracodorsal artery perforator (TDAP) flaps, 17 anterolateral thigh (ALT) flaps, nine superficial circumflex iliac artery perforator (SCIP) flaps, and eight radial forearm (RF) flaps. In the analysis of early outcomes, the RF flaps showed the least color difference, followed by the SCIP and TDAP flaps, and the ALT flaps showed the greatest difference, with the differences being significant. Most cases showed generally improved color matching over time. Time-dependent changes were significant in the ALT and TDAP flap groups. In the analysis of late outcomes, all flap types showed delta E values less than 10, with the RF flaps showing the least color difference, followed by the SCIP flap. The four workhorse flaps provided acceptable outcomes with long-term improvements. The RF flaps provided the best color matching in the long run.

Role of Single Port Rigid Thoracoscopy in Undiagnosed Pleural Effusion.

In recent years, medical thoracoscopy has been well established to play an important role in undiagnosed pleural effusion; however, this procedure is underutilized due to limited availability of the instruments it requires. This study analysed the outcome of single port rigid thoracoscopy in patients with undiagnosed pleural effusions. This study retrospectively analysed the outcomes of all patients with undiagnosed pleural effusion presenting to our centre between 2016 to 2020 who underwent single port rigid medical thoracoscopy as a diagnostic procedure. In total, 92 patients underwent single port rigid medical thoracoscopy. The most common presenting symptom was shortness of breath. A majority of the patients had lymphocytic exudative pleural effusion. The average biopsy sample size was 18 mm, and no major complication was reported in any of the patients. Single port rigid thoracoscopy is a safe and well-tolerated procedure that yields a biopsy of a larger size with high diagnostic yield. Moreover, the low cost of the instruments required by this procedure makes it particularly suited for use in developing countries.

A sampling strategy for longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses using a large national claims database.

The United States (US) Medicare claims files are valuable sources of national healthcare utilization data with over 45 million beneficiaries each year. Due to their massive sizes and costs involved in obtaining the data, a method of randomly drawing a representative sample for retrospective cohort studies with multi-year follow-up is not well-documented. To present a method to construct longitudinal patient samples from Medicare claims files that are representative of Medicare populations each year. Retrospective cohort and cross-sectional designs. US Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes over a 10-year period. Medicare Master Beneficiary Summary Files were used to identify eligible patients for each year in over a 10-year period. We targeted a sample of ~900,000 patients per year. The first year's sample is stratified by county and race/ethnicity (white vs. minority), and targeted at least 250 patients in each stratum with the remaining sample allocated proportional to county population size with oversampling of minorities. Patients who were alive, did not move between counties, and stayed enrolled in Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) were retained in the sample for subsequent years. Non-retained patients (those who died or were dropped from Medicare) were replaced with a sample of patients in their first year of Medicare FFS eligibility or patients who moved into a sampled county during the previous year. The resulting sample contains an average of 899,266 ± 408 patients each year over the 10-year study period and closely matches population demographics and chronic conditions. For all years in the sample, the weighted average sample age and the population average age differ by <0.01 years; the proportion white is within 0.01%; and the proportion female is within 0.08%. Rates of 21 comorbidities estimated from the samples for all 10 years were within 0.12% of the population rates. Longitudinal cohorts based on samples also closely resembled the cohorts based on populations remaining after 5- and 10-year follow-up. This sampling strategy can be easily adapted to other projects that require random samples of Medicare beneficiaries or other national claims files for longitudinal follow-up with possible oversampling of sub-populations.

The study of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) waste utilization into particle board

This research discusses related to one of the processing of waste, especially HDPE waste. HDPE waste is another alternative besides wood to make particle board. HDPE particle board takes advantage of these properties to provide a strong and durable alternative. The use of HDPE particle board provides significant benefits in the context of sustainability and the environment. In the manufacture of particle board in this study there were differences in temperature variations, so the variable in this study was temperature. Sample A has a temperature of 130° and sample B has a temperature of 160°. The particle board is pressed for 20 minutes using a hot press machine using 1 x 1 m molding. Testing of this HDPE particle board includes testing of physical properties, namely in the form of Density and chemical testing in the form of Acidity resistance and Alkalinity resistance. The standards in this study refer to SNI 03-2105-2006 regarding Particle Boards, SNI 01-7201-2006 regarding Plywood and block boards with beautiful paper faces, and ASTM D543. The density test showed a value of 0.90 gr/cm3 in the average sample A and 0.75 gr/cm3 in the average sample A. The results of the ANOVA analysis on the Density test showed that there was a significant difference between each sample and each treatment. the results of the t-Test showed that the treatment of sample A did not meet the standard, while the treatment of sample B met the SNI 03-2105-2006 standard. The acidity and alkalinity resistance were tested visually with the results that the temperature at 130° was more susceptible to reaction than the temperature at 160° Objectives: To find out the result of Density test, Acidity, and Alkalinity resistance of HDPE Particle Board is it already fulfill the standard ; To determine the temperature that has the most significant impact on the performance of HDPE Particle Board. Method and results: 1) Process of making the Particle Board, the process are include material preparation, material weighing, shredding, cleaning, drying, and pressing. 2) Sample Testing, the treatment that used is about variation of temperature. Variable that be used in this study consist of Density, Acidity, &amp; Alkalinity. 3) Data Analysis, by using ANOVA Single Factor and t-Test. Conclusion: The results of Density test by t-Test analysis showed that the treatment of sample A did not meet the standard, while the treatment of sample B already fulfill the SNI 03-2105-2006. In Acidity and Alkalinity resistance there are indicators according to SNI 01-7201-2006 in the form of softening and open cracks in several samples. Density test results show the variable B (160°) is at 0.75 gr/cm3 and already fulfil the standard. Visual test results of Acidity and Alkalinity resistance show the variable B (160°) is more resistant to the effects of acids and bases. So that the optimal variable is at a temperature of 160°.

Investigating consumers’ reactions towards female-empowerment advertising (femvertising) and female-stereotypical representations advertising (sex-appeal)

PurposeThis study aims to explore the impact of women empowerment and gender-stereotypical advertising exposure on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intents.Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative research approach was used to assess the women-empowerment and gender-stereotypical advertising on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions, explicating the most effective approach in marketing communication in the Arab context, specifically Egypt. Administrated questionnaires were distributed online cross-gender through the use of convenience sampling. The targeted average sample size sought was minimum of 370. Once the data was acquired, partial least square path modelling of structural equation modelling was conducted to test the hypotheses.FindingsResults show that male consumers and female consumers react to a certain extent differently to women-empowerment and gender-stereotypical advertisings. For instance, gender-stereotypical advertisings effect attitude for both genders; it effects male consumers’ purchase intentions, but not female consumers. Women empowerment advertising is insignificant on brand attitude and purchase intention among male consumers; among female consumers, it has significant impact on brand attitude, but not purchase intention. Nevertheless, both categories of advertising contribute to male consumers’ and female consumers’ perception and attitude towards gender role portrayal.Originality/valueThis study provides noteworthy insights and perspectives on women-empowerment (Femvertising) and gender-stereotypical advertising effects on cross-gender consumers in the Arab region (a region of strong masculine culture values). The emerged conclusions aid as a reference and guide for scholars and practitioners to develop effective advertising that create prospect depictions and build inspired female customer base.

A Multimodal Fusion System for Object Identification in Point Clouds with Density and Coverage Differences

Data fusion, which involves integrating information from multiple sources to achieve a specific objective, is an essential area of contemporary scientific research. This article presents a multimodal fusion system for object identification in point clouds in a controlled environment. Several stages were implemented, including downsampling and denoising techniques, to prepare the data before fusion. Two denoising approaches were tested and compared: one based on neighborhood technique and the other using a median filter for each “x”, “y”, and “z” coordinate of each point. The downsampling techniques included Random, Grid Average, and Nonuniform Grid Sample. To achieve precise alignment of sensor data in a common coordinate system, registration techniques such as Iterative Closest Point (ICP), Coherent Point Drift (CPD), and Normal Distribution Transform (NDT) were employed. Despite facing limitations, variations in density, and differences in coverage among the point clouds generated by the sensors, the system successfully achieved an integrated and coherent representation of objects in the controlled environment. This accomplishment establishes a robust foundation for future research in the field of point cloud data fusion.

Scheme design and flow performance analysis of double-bits combination wire-line coring technology for seafloor drill

In order to meet the requirement of high-quality samples for evaluating marine mineral resources reserves, a double-bits combination wire line coring scheme for seafloor drill is proposed. The Bernoulli math model reflecting the drilling fluid pressure variation inside the drilling tool is established. The influence of the drilling tool’s water circuit parameters on the drilling fluid pressure variation is clarified. The drilling fluid’s flow performance during the drilling process is analyzed. The drilling performance of this scheme is tested through engineering application. The application results indicate that: When the inner tube bit’s water channel cross-section A1 reaches 30mm2, A2 reaches 20mm2 and the A3 reaches 20mm2, the drilling fluid pressure ΔP in the drilling tool tends to stabilize. The influence of PVC tube outside diameter d8 on drilling fluid pressure ΔP is small within the allowable design range of 62–65mm. The simulation results show a high-speed area in the first section of the water channel in the inner tube bit. Selecting pump displacement in 50–90 L/min has more engineering application value. The engineering application in complex seabed strata shows that the average core sampling rate is more than 85% within the pump displacement of 50-90 L/min and rotation speed of 350–450 r/min.

Predicting Tacrolimus Concentrations in the Skin of Adult Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Feasibility Study.

Solid organ transplant recipients are at an increased risk of developing skin cancers due to chronic immunosuppression, particularly with calcineurin inhibitors. Tacrolimus is the most prescribed calcineurin inhibitor in this patient cohort, and understanding tacrolimus concentrations in the skin will facilitate the development of anti-cancer preventive and therapeutic strategies. Here, we show that in mice, tacrolimus blood levels peaked rapidly ∼1h post last oral dose while skin levels rose more slowly and remained high for at least 6h. Subsequently, tacrolimus skin and blood concentrations were assessed in 15 kidney transplant recipients. The mean age was 61years, the average time post-transplant was 7years (range 0-21years) and 87% were male. The average skin sampling time post tacrolimus dosing was 6h 32min. Skin tacrolimus concentrations ranged from 7.1ng/g to 71.2ng/g and correlated with blood concentrations (r = 0.6). Mouse and human mean skin concentrations were in a similar range. Our data suggests that tacrolimus measurements in the blood may be used to approximate tacrolimus concentrations in the skin of kidney transplant recipients, and further exploited for the delivery of anti-cancer therapies designed to antagonize the immunosuppressive effects of tacrolimus in the skin.