Range Of Coefficients Research Articles

Investigating the Mechanical Properties and Water Permeability of Recycled Pervious Concrete Using Three Typical Gradation Schemes

This study aims to investigate the influence of three typical gradation schemes, including continuous gradation, discontinuous gradation, and single gradation, on the mechanical properties and water permeability of pervious concrete using recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) as aggregates. The changes in compressive strength, flexural strength, failure mode, connected porosity, and permeability coefficient of Recycled Pervious Concrete (RPC) using different gradation schemes and the correlations among these factors were investigated. The results indicate that the RPC prepared with discontinuous gradation RCA achieves optimal compressive and flexural strengths of 15.70 MPa and 4.22 MPa, respectively. Furthermore, RPC with discontinuous gradation and single gradation exhibits superior water permeability compared to that made with continuous gradation RCA, and its optimal range of the permeability coefficient can reach between 6.36 and 8.32 mm·s−1. The RPC prepared using multi-gradation RCA is effective in enhancing the stability of changes in connected porosity and permeability coefficients. Furthermore, the relationship between connected porosity and permeability coefficients of RPC using different gradation schemes can be effectively characterized through nonlinear fitting, and the correlation coefficients R2 of RPC using continuous gradation, discontinuous gradation, and single gradation are 0.94, 0.92, and 0.90, respectively. This study focuses on the influence of several typical gradation schemes on RPC performance and provides valuable data support for further optimization of its properties.

Deviations of Boundary Layer Height and Meteorological Parameters Between Ground-Based Remote Sensing and ERA5 over the Complex Terrain of the Mongolian Plateau

This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of the vertical accuracy of ERA5 reanalysis data for boundary layer height and key meteorological variables, based on high-precision observational data from Baotou, located on the Mongolian Plateau, during the winter (January–March) and summer (July–August) months of 2021. Results indicate that ERA5 exhibits significant biases in horizontal wind speed, with deviations ranging from −5 to 8 m/s at 50 m, primarily driven by sandstorms in winter and convective weather in summer. The most pronounced errors occur below 500 m. Vertical wind speeds are consistently underestimated in both seasons, with biases reaching up to 1 m/s, particularly during active summer convection. ERA5 also struggles to reproduce low-level wind directions accurately. In winter, correlation coefficients range from 0.43 to 0.64 below 200 m and improve to above 0.7 at 500 m. In summer, correlation coefficients are lower, ranging from 0.3 to 0.5 below 200 m, with reduced accuracy at 500 m compared to winter. Temperature deviations increase above 2000 m, with a relative overestimation of 3% at 3000 m. Relative humidity is generally overestimated by 5–20% between 1000 and 2000 m in winter and by 10–30% in summer. For boundary layer heights, ERA5 overestimates daytime mixed-layer heights by up to 2000 m in summer and 500–800 m in winter. In contrast, ERA5 captures nocturnal stable boundary layer heights well during winter. This comprehensive evaluation of the vertical structure accuracy of ERA5 reanalysis data, conducted in a heavily industrialized city on the Mongolian Plateau, offers essential insights for improving meteorological studies and refining climate models in the region. The findings provide valuable reference data for enhancing weather forecasting and supporting climate change research, particularly in complex terrain areas.

OP34 Mirikizumab demonstrates rapid improvements in bowel urgency severity, bowel urgency frequency, and stool deferral time in patients with moderately-to-severely active Ulcerative Colitis: 12-week interim results from the phase 3b LUCENT-URGE trial

Abstract Background Bowel urgency (BU) is a common, under-recognized and debilitating symptom among patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). LUCENT-URGE is a Phase 3b, open-label, single-arm 28-week (W) study in adults with moderately-to-severely active UC and BU (Urgency Numeric Rating Scale [UNRS] ≥3) at baseline treated with mirikizumab (MIRI) (NCT05767021). BU was assessed using the validated UNRS1 and 2 new BU assessments: BU Frequency (BUF) and Stool Deferral Time (SDT). These 3 BU measures (UNRS, BUF, SDT) and clinical endpoints provide a more comprehensive understanding of BU and the impact of MIRI treatment. Here, we report W12 interim analysis results. Methods Patients were treated with intravenous (IV) MIRI 300 mg at W 0, 4 and 8, followed by 200 mg subcutaneous at W12 and every 4 weeks up to W28. The primary endpoint, BU severity (UNRS) at W12, was assessed by change from baseline. BUF improvement was assessed by change from baseline at W12. SDT was reported in minutes and categorized as (4) Severe: <1 min; (3) Moderate-Severe: 1-2 min: (2) Moderate: 2-5 min; (1) Mild: 5-15 min; (0) None: ≥15 minutes. Results 172 patients were enrolled from 8 countries. At baseline, mean (± standard deviation [SD]) modified Mayo score [MMS]) was 6.8±1.3; 64% of patients had severe disease activity (MMS 7-9), mean duration of UC was 8.0±8.2 years, mean UNRS score was 6.9 ±1.6, mean BUF was 6.9±3.7. UNRS, BUF, and SDT improved from baseline to W12 (Figure 1). At W12, 63% patients achieved clinical response and 44% achieved both clinical response and UNRS clinically meaningful improvement (≥3 point decrease). Correlations between UNRS and BUF, and between UNRS and SDT at baseline, W12, and W12 change from baseline were of similar magnitude (Spearman correlation coefficient range: 0.43-0.68). The safety profile of MIRI observed in LUCENT-URGE was consistent with the profile previously reported. Conclusion In patients with moderately-to severely active UC and BU, MIRI demonstrated improvement in BU measures with a decrease by more than 50% in BUF after 12W of treatment. Selecting patients with urgency and targeting BU improvement is a novel strategy to assess response to therapy for UC. Broader associations between BU and quality of life, UC symptoms, histopathologic findings, and gene expression data will be explored upon completion of the W28 LUCENT-URGE study.

First-Principles Study on the Physical Properties of Al-based Wide Bandgap Perovskites Cs3AlIxBr6-x for Optoelectronic Applications

Abstract This study aims at exploring the potential of inorganic wide-bandgap mixed-halide aluminum-containing perovskites of Cs3AlIxBr6-x in solar harvesting, by investigating their structural, electronic, and optical properties with density functional theory (DFT) using the APW+lo method. The structural properties were calculated with the PBE-GGA potential. Volume optimization and negative formation energies confirm the structural and thermal stability of the compounds. The electronic and optical properties were calculated using TB-mBJ potential. The TB-mBJ corrected bandgaps revealed that these materials belong to the wide bandgap (WBG) perovskites family, displaying bandgaps in the range of 3-5 eV. The electronic properties confirmed their direct bandgap nature with I-p and Br-p states mainly contribute to the formation of VB, and the Al-s, Al-p, and Cs-d states to CB. Absorption coefficients range from 10-140 x 104 per cm in the UV region thus making these WBG perovskites suitable for applications in this region. Optical properties show the absorption of light beyond 3 eV and validate the calculated electronic bandgaps. Absorption coefficients, optical conductivity, and dielectric function (real and imaginary) were calculated and revealed a peak shift from higher to lower energies with increasing I concentration. The above results suggest that these materials can be highly considered for use in photovoltaics (PVs), optoelectronic devices (LEDs, PDs), to power small batteries in IoT, in agrivoltaics, and in fabrication of semi-transparent solar cells.

First-Principles Study on the Physical Properties of Al-based Wide Bandgap Perovskites Cs3AlIxBr6-x for Optoelectronic Applications

Abstract This study aims at exploring the potential of inorganic wide-bandgap mixed-halide aluminum-containing perovskites of Cs3AlIxBr6-x in solar harvesting, by investigating their structural, electronic, and optical properties with density functional theory (DFT) using the APW+lo method. The structural properties were calculated with the PBE-GGA potential. Volume optimization and negative formation energies confirm the structural and thermal stability of the compounds. The electronic and optical properties were calculated using TB-mBJ potential. The TB-mBJ corrected bandgaps revealed that these materials belong to the wide bandgap (WBG) perovskites family, displaying bandgaps in the range of 3-5 eV. The electronic properties confirmed their direct bandgap nature with I-p and Br-p states mainly contribute to the formation of VB, and the Al-s, Al-p, and Cs-d states to CB. Absorption coefficients range from 10-140 x 104 per cm in the UV region thus making these WBG perovskites suitable for applications in this region. Optical properties show the absorption of light beyond 3 eV and validate the calculated electronic bandgaps. Absorption coefficients, optical conductivity, and dielectric function (real and imaginary) were calculated and revealed a peak shift from higher to lower energies with increasing I concentration. The above results suggest that these materials can be highly considered for use in photovoltaics (PVs), optoelectronic devices (LEDs, PDs), to power small batteries in IoT, in agrivoltaics, and in fabrication of semi-transparent solar cells.

Estimating the distribution of fitness effects in aye-ayes ( Daubentonia madagascariensis ), accounting for population history as well as mutation and recombination rate heterogeneity.

The distribution of fitness effects (DFE) characterizes the range of selection coefficients from which new mutations are sampled, and thus holds a fundamentally important role in evolutionary genomics. To date, DFE inference in primates has been largely restricted to haplorrhines, with limited data availability leaving the other suborder of primates, strepsirrhines, largely under-explored. To advance our understanding of the population genetics of this important taxonomic group, we here map exonic divergence in aye-ayes ( Daubentonia madagascariensis ) - the only extant member of the Daubentoniidae family of the Strepsirrhini suborder. We further infer the DFE in this highly-endangered species, utilizing a recently published high-quality annotated reference genome, a well-supported model of demographic history, as well as both direct and indirect estimates of underlying mutation and recombination rates. The inferred distribution is generally characterized by a greater proportion of deleterious mutations relative to humans, providing evidence of a larger long-term effective population size. In addition however, both immune-related and sensory-related genes were found to be amongst the most rapidly evolving in the aye-aye genome.

SAR Radiometric Cross-Calibration Based on Multiple Pseudo-Invariant Calibration Sites with Extensive Backscattering Coefficient Range

SAR Radiometric Cross-Calibration Based on Multiple Pseudo-Invariant Calibration Sites with Extensive Backscattering Coefficient Range

Hydraulic oscillations and stability testing of a novel shaft coaxial surge chamber with small load disturbances in pumped storage power stations

Surge chambers play a critical role in moderating oscillations in pumped storage power stations after load disturbances. Owing to the high costs, increased risks, and extended construction times associated with conventional surge chambers (CSCs), we proposed a shaft coaxial surge chamber (SCSC) as an alternative, which was otherwise a compact, economical, and construction-friendly structural configuration. The present study aimed to investigate the hydraulic oscillations, stability, and flow characteristics of an SCSC compared to a CSC under disturbance conditions. Physical models of both types of surge chambers were developed and validated. The results indicated that the novel SCSC system could maintain stability before and after disturbances; its hydraulic fluctuations were slightly higher than those of the CSC, particularly under pumping conditions. During the disturbance, the water level fluctuation amplitudes in the SCSC were at least 1.43 and 2.24 times those of the CSC under different working conditions with 10% flow disturbance. As the disturbance frequency increased, the stability of the SCSC approached that of the CSC. Moreover, a new discharge coefficient range of 0.9–1.2 for the SCSC was proposed, increasing the conventional standard values by 1.5 times. In conclusion, the higher discharge coefficient and unstable flow patterns in the connecting pipe are critical mechanisms that influence the hydraulic oscillations of the SCSC. These findings provide valuable theoretical guidance for practical applications.

Validity and Reliability of the Indonesian Version of Anterior Knee Pain Scale in Measuring Functional Limitations of Army Soldiers with Anterior Knee Pain

Introduction: Anterior knee pain (AKP), also referred as patellofemoral pain, commonly affects physically active individuals. The underreporting of AKP in the military necessitates the need for reliable clinical outcome evaluation instruments, especially for military personnel. The Anterior Knee Pain Scale (AKPS) or Kujala Score is an instrument devised for assessing functional limitations in AKP sufferers. AKPS has been proven to be valid and reliable in Bahasa Indonesia for assessing functional limitations in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome. This study aims to test the validity and reliability of the Indonesian version of AKPS in measuring functional limitations of Army soldiers suffering from AKP. Methods: Cross-sectional study, validity assessment using Pearson correlation and reliability testing by assessing internal consistency and test-retest reliability. A total of 34 male soldiers with AKP who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Subjects provided informed consent, underwent history taking and physical examination, then completed the AKPS. Three day interval for test-retest. Results: Correlation coefficient range: 0.423-0.779, overall Cronbach's alpha: 0.806, ICC: 0.993 at 95% confidence level, p<0.05. Conclusion: The Indonesian version of the AKPS was valid and reliable for assessing functional limitations in Army soldiers with anterior knee pain. Keywords: Kujala score, AKPS, patellofemoral pain.

A new empirical equation for the gas/particle partitioning of OPFRs in ambient atmosphere.

Gas/particle (G/P) partitioning is a core process governing the atmospheric transport of organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs). However, accurately predicting the G/P partition performance of OPFRs remains a challenge. In this study, four independent models were employed to estimate the characteristics of OPFR G/P partitioning within the octanol-air partition coefficient range of 4.7 (TMP) to 14.2 (TMPP). The results showed that in the maximum partition domain, the Li-Ma-Yang steady-state model fitted the best, with 85.2% of the predicted G/P partition quotient (log KP) values within an acceptable deviation range of ±1 log units for OPFRs. Accordingly, no significant deviations were observed between the predicted (0.56 ± 0.32) and monitored (0.52 ± 0.11) values of the average particle-bound fraction (φP) for the Li-Ma-Yang model in the maximum partition domain. Large deviations were observed between the monitored values and predicted log KP values by these four models in the equilibrium domain. Several factors responsible for the significant deviations observed in G/P partitioning values of OPFRs were discussed. These identified factors were used to develop a new empirical equation, which substantially improved log KP predictions for OPFRs to 75.8% in the equilibrium domain.

Deep Depthwise Residual Network for Knee Meniscus Segmentation From Magnetic Resonance Imaging

ABSTRACTThe menisci within the knee are essential for various anatomical functions, including load‐bearing, joint stability, cartilage protection, shock absorption, and lubrication. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides highly detailed images of internal organs and soft tissues, which are indispensable for physicians and radiologists assessing the meniscus. Given the multitude of images in each MRI sequence and diverse MRI data, the segmentation of the meniscus presents considerable challenges through image processing methods. The region‐specific characteristics of the meniscus can vary from one image to another within the sequence. Consequently, achieving automatic and accurate segmentation of meniscus in knee MRI images is a crucial step in meniscus analysis. This paper introduces the “UNet with depthwise residual network” (DR‐UNet), a depthwise convolutional neural network, designed specifically for meniscus segmentation in MRI images. The proposed architecture significantly improves the accuracy of meniscus segmentation compared to different segmentation networks. The training and testing phases utilized fat suppression turbo‐spin‐echo (FS TSE) MRI sequences collected from 100 distinct knee joints using a Siemens 3 Tesla MRI machine. Additionally, we employed data augmentation techniques to expand the dataset strategically, addressing the challenge of a substantial training dataset requirement. The DR‐UNet model demonstrated impressive meniscus segmentation performance, achieving a Dice similarity coefficient range of 0.743–0.9646 and a Jaccard index range of 0.653–0.869, thereby showcasing its advanced segmentation capabilities.

Cabbage plant (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.) quantification culti-vated under different soil covers using aerial photographs

var. capitata L.) quantification cultivated under different types of mulching, using aerial images captured by RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System). Design/methodology/approach: The cabbage plantation used for the study was established under a completely randomized block design with different types of mulch as treatments: black plastic, white plastic, straw, and bare soil. Manual plant counts and automated estimates were performed using two agricultural artificial intelligence platforms (Platforms A and B). The relationship was evaluated using linear regression correlation (R²), and the following indicators were subsequently used: estimation accuracy (Ps), estimation error percentage (Es), mean absolute error (MAE), and root mean square error (RMSE). Results: Platform A showed a correlation coefficient range of R²=0.41 to 0.91. Platform B obtained R² values ranging from 0.77 to 0.88. Platform A exhibited the highest estimation accuracy (Ps) with 98.3% and an estimation error (Es) of -1.7% for straw mulch, with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 2.0% and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1 for bare soil. Both platforms showed underestimations in the number of detected plants, ranging from -6.7% to -1.7%. Limitations on study/implications: The use of RPAS was limited by atmospheric conditions such as wind and rain. Findings/conclusions: The effectiveness of counting cabbage plants using RPAS was validated.

Psychometric Validation of Sheffield Profile for Assessment and Referral to Care (SPARC) in Korean Cancer Patients.

Identifying the palliative care needs of patients with advanced cancer is important for maintaining quality of life and timely transition to palliative care. We aimed to validate the Korean Sheffield Profile for Assessment and Referral for Care (K-SPARC) in such patients and establish its psychometric properties, including reliability, validity, and responsiveness to change. We used the forward-back translated version of SPARC, which was verified through a pilot study, to assess the palliative care needs of patients with advanced cancer. Reliability was evaluated by internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha coefficients and test-retest reliability. Criterion validity was analyzed against other questionnaires, including the Korean versions of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G Korean) and Korean versions of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (K-ESAS). Factor analysis was used to assess construct validity. Two hundred fifty-nine patients were included from 2019 to 2022. Forty-nine percent of all patients were women, and the median age was 63 years. Cronbach's alpha coefficient (range, 0.642-0.903) and test-retest reliability (range, 0.574-0.749) indicated acceptable reliability. The correlation coefficients between K-SPARC and FACT-G Korean suggested significant criterion validity. The correlation coefficients for the physical, social, emotional, and functional domains were 0.701, 0.249, 0.718, and 0.511, respectively (p-value <0.001, all). Factor analysis demonstrated satisfactory construct validity of the tool. This study demonstrated the utility of K-SPARC as an evaluation tool for providing palliative care to patients with advanced cancer through psychometric validation; the tool had good internal consistency, reliability, and acceptable validity.

An Inversion-Coefficient Based Methodology for Optimizing the Performance of TIAs

ABSTRACT The transimpedance amplifier (TIA) can be found in several applications such as optical transceivers, biomedical circuits, and signal-processing circuits. In this paper, an investigation of two widely used transimpedance-amplifier configurations is presented. The two adopted configurations are the regulated cascode-based TIA (RGC-TIA) and the common-source based TIA (CS-TIA) with resistive feedback. These two configurations are studied in the following three inversion regimes; weak, moderate, and strong. A general model for the drain current of the MOSFET transistor, that is valid for all levels of inversion, is adopted. Through the study, the inversion coefficient (IC) of the amplifying device is systematically varied and its impact is investigated on various performance metrics such as gain, bandwidth, noise, distortion, and power consumption. Studying the inversion coefficient is crucial for precisely adjusting the amplifier biasing, thereby enabling the design of enhanced performance TIAs that effectively address the requirements of diverse applications. Compact-form expressions are derived for the performance metrics and compared with the simulation results. A figure of merit incorporating multiple performance metrics is proposed for performing a fair comparison for a wide range of the inversion coefficient. The simulation employs the 130-nm CMOS Predictive Technology Model (PTM) with a power-supply voltage, VDD , equal to 1.2 V.

How fast are viruses spreading in the wild?

Genomic data collected from viral outbreaks can be exploited to reconstruct the dispersal history of viral lineages in a two-dimensional space using continuous phylogeographic inference. These spatially explicit reconstructions can subsequently be used to estimate dispersal metrics that can be informative of the dispersal dynamics and the capacity to spread among hosts. Heterogeneous sampling efforts of genomic sequences can however impact the accuracy of phylogeographic dispersal metrics. While the impact of spatial sampling bias on the outcomes of continuous phylogeographic inference has previously been explored, the impact of sampling intensity (i.e., sampling size) when aiming to characterise dispersal patterns through continuous phylogeographic reconstructions has not yet been thoroughly evaluated. In our study, we use simulations to evaluate the robustness of 3 dispersal metrics - a lineage dispersal velocity, a diffusion coefficient, and an isolation-by-distance (IBD) signal metric - to the sampling intensity. Our results reveal that both the diffusion coefficient and IBD signal metrics appear to be the most robust to the number of samples considered for the phylogeographic reconstruction. We then use these 2 dispersal metrics to compare the dispersal pattern and capacity of various viruses spreading in animal populations. Our comparative analysis reveals a broad range of IBD patterns and diffusion coefficients mostly reflecting the dispersal capacity of the main infected host species but also, in some cases, the likely signature of rapid and/or long-distance dispersal events driven by human-mediated movements through animal trade. Overall, our study provides key recommendations for the use of lineage dispersal metrics to consider in future studies and illustrates their application to compare the spread of viruses in various settings.

Novel benzophenone derivatives for low intensity visible light polymerization and multi-color 3D printing

Four novel benzophenone photoinitiators were synthesized by one-step reaction, including (4-(dimethylamino)phenyl)(10-ethyl-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)methanone (PEPM), (4-(dimethylamino)phenyl)(10-phenyl-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)methanone (PPPM), (10-allyl-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)(4-(dimethylamino)phenyl)methanone (PAPM) and (4-(dimethylamino)phenyl)(10-(hex-5-en-1-yl)-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)methanone (PHPM). Compared with benzophenone (BP), the absorption spectra of PIs are red-shifted to the visible light range, with a high molar absorption coefficient and wide absorption range from 365 nm to 475 nm. Surprisingly, under the irradiation of low intensity LED@405 nm (5 mW/cm2) and LED@440 nm (5 mW/cm2), PIs can initiate free radical polymerization and undergo rapid polymerization of PEGDA 400. Among them, the double bond conversion rate (DC) of PPPM reaches a stable value (98 %) within 20 s, which is much higher than that of BP (65 %). In addition, the curing depth of PPPM reaches 8.1 cm under the irradiation of LED@440 nm. Besides, PPPM can still perform multi-color 3D printing with 3 s/slice after adding different color (black, red, blue and yellow) dyes. At the same time, we explored the photopolymerization mechanism of the photoinitiator through photodegradation and ESR tests.

Spike Attention Coding for Spiking Neural Networks.

Spiking neural networks (SNNs), an important family of neuroscience-oriented intelligent models, play an essential role in the neuromorphic computing community. Spike rate coding and temporal coding are the mainstream coding schemes in the current modeling of SNNs. However, rate coding usually suffers from limited representation resolution and long latency, while temporal coding usually suffers from under-utilization of spike activities. To this end, we propose spike attention coding (SAC) for SNNs. By introducing learnable attention coefficients for each time step, our coding scheme can naturally unify rate coding and temporal coding, and then flexibly learn optimal coefficients for better performance. Several normalization and regularization techniques are further incorporated to control the range and distribution of the learned attention coefficients. Extensive experiments on classification, generation, and regression tasks are conducted and demonstrate the superiority of the proposed coding scheme. This work provides a flexible coding scheme to enhance the representation power of SNNs and extends their application scope beyond the mainstream classification scenario.

Does Tibial Plateau Slope and Depth Influence ACL Strain In Vivo?

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is loaded under tension when the tibia translates anteriorly relative to the femur. The shape of the articular surfaces of the tibiofemoral joint may influence the amount of anterior tibial translation under compressive loading. Thus, a steep lateral tibial plateau and a shallow medial plateau are thought to be risk factors for ACL injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether tibial plateau slope and depth influence peak ACL strain during a single-leg jump. We hypothesized that there would be a significant correlation between tibial plateau slope and depth with ACL strain. Descriptive laboratory study. A total of 17 healthy participants (8 male, 9 female) were assessed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and high-speed biplanar radiography to obtain peak ACL strain during a single-leg jump. Two orthopaedic surgeons used the sagittal plane MRI scans to measure the medial and lateral tibial plateau slopes and the medial tibial plateau depth. The intraclass correlation coefficient was used to assess measurement reliability, and the Spearman rank correlation was used to evaluate the relationship between measurements of tibial morphology and peak ACL strain during the single-leg jump. The overall range of intraclass correlation coefficients for intra- and interrater reliability of the medial and lateral tibial plateau slopes and medial plateau depth was 0.59 to 0.97. No significant correlations were found between peak ACL strain and any of the slope or depth measurements. In this cohort of healthy participants, correlations between any of the tibial plateau measurements with peak ACL strain during a single-leg jump were not detected. These findings are consistent with prior work, suggesting that tibial plateau slope and depth may not be linked to risk for ACL rupture. However, it is possible that tibial plateau morphology may interact with other factors to increase ACL injury risk or that individuals with extreme slope angles may produce differing results. This study enhances the knowledge of the loading mechanisms for the ACL and thus improves the understanding of risk factors for ACL injury.

Improving Prediction Model for Colorimetric Changes Due to Coating Processes with Oil-Based and UV Coatings

The measurability and predictability of the printing process are influenced by the impact of various coating methods. Besides enhancing and protecting the printed product, these methods can alter the colorimetric properties of spot colors across different wavelengths. Prediction models based on ink trapping formulas were analyzed, particularly those from Deshpande, Green, and Hoffstadt, designed to forecast colorimetric values in overprinted spot color scenarios. This study examined the influence of coating methods on the colorimetric properties of spot colors and evaluated the applicability of the prediction model for these conditions. Spectrophotometric and densitometric methods, combined with mathematical analysis, were used to quantify the degree of color change induced by different coatings. The findings clearly indicate the extent of colorimetric changes in spot colors resulting from various coating applications. They also highlight the potential, albeit limited, application of this model in predicting color changes for improved process repeatability and predictability. While the prediction method analyzed in this study proved inadequate for coating-over-spot-color scenarios, it remains useful for predicting colorimetric shifts in spot-on-spot-color overprinting. The model demonstrated that it is not entirely accurate, as some coatings show ∆E00 deviations of up to 10. To improve the model’s applicability, a varnishing coefficient, V, should be introduced, which can reduce ∆E00 variation for each color and substrate. The research showed that a coefficient range from 0.8 to 1.2 yields acceptable results, bringing ∆E00 below 2, thus making the model suitable for coating processes with oil-based and UV coatings.

Low Genetic Variation Among Trees in Cocoa Hand Pollination in the Offinso Municipality of Ghana Revealed by SSR Markers.

Cocobod introduced nationwide artificial hand pollination in Ghana in 2017 to supplement natural pollination of Theobroma cacao L. (cocoa) by insects (Forcipomyiamidges) to increase yield. Hybrid farms of 8-20years old are mostly selected. Pollen donor and receiver trees are selected based on morphological characteristics. This study analyzed the genetic diversity among donor and recipient trees of cocoa hand pollination in three farms in the Offinso Municipality of Ghana using SSR markers. Twelve forward and reverse primer pairs out of fifteen primers screened were used to evaluate genetic intraspecific and interspecific diversity among 25 accessions based on clear amplification and reproducible scorable bands. A total of 115 polymorphic bands were detected which ranged between 5.00 and 17.00 with a mean of 9.58 alleles per locus. Cluster analysis showed similarity coefficient range of 0.10 to 0.83. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed13% genetic variation between populations and 87% within populations of T. cacao. PhiPT value of 0.130 recorded showed weak genetic differentiation between populations. Gene diversity varied from 0.64 to 0.88 with primers MTcCIR33 and MTcCIR07 respectively. Highest observed heterozygosity (Ho) of 0.60 and least Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) of 0.57 were recorded. Pollen donor and recipient trees selected from the same or nearby farms accounts for present genetic structure of low genetic diversity between populations. Though hand pollination designs focus much on high yields, improving genetic diversity to prevent inbreeding in cocoa is recommended.