Height Values Research Articles

Effect of sand gradations on the fresh properties of 3D printable concrete

Sand is frequently used as a fine aggregate in concrete mixtures, but the performance of concrete can be considerably impacted by regional variations in sand gradation. In this work, the effect of sand gradations on the fresh properties of three-dimensionally printable concrete (3DPC) mixtures was systematically investigated. The binder combinations (cement, fly ash, silica fume, limestone powder, ground granulated blast-furnace slag) and the water/binder ratio were kept constant throughout the trials. The sands used in the mixtures were standard Ennore sand (ES) (grades I, II and III) and locally available river sand (RS). The mini-slump heights and flow values of mixes made with RS and with optimal packing of binary and ternary combinations of the standard ESs were evaluated and compared with those of the unary packing of ESs and RS. A correlation between the fineness modulus of different sand gradations and printable flow time was determined. The influence of sand gradations and fineness modulus on buildability, shape retention, open time and extrudability were evaluated. It was found that the performance of the fresh 3DPC was influenced by the aggregate's gradation and grain size in addition to its fineness. In conclusion, different fine aggregate specifications must be chosen depending on the various 3D printing building conditions and design requirements.

Design of fluorine-free foam extinguishing agent with high surface activity, foam stability and pool fire suppression by optimization of surfactant composition and foam system

To meet the environmental requirement of foam extinguishing agent, a novel fluorine-free surfactant named amino-terminated polyether modified silicone (ATPMS) was successfully synthesized, and then in combination with hydrocarbon surfactant prepared fluorine-free foam extinguishing agent. The study carefully investigated surface tension, foamability, foam stability and fire extinguishing performance of fluorine-free foam extinguishing agent. The results indicate that ATPMS has a low surface tension of 21.17 mN/m, which combined with hydrocarbon surfactant at the mass concentration ratio of 1:1 imparts high surface activity. The sodium lauryl ether sulfate (AES)/ATPMS system owes the optimal comprehensive performance with an initial foam height value of 85.8 mm, a surface tension value of 24.76 mN/m and a foam stability value (the ratio of foam height between initial foam and five-minute foam) of 64.0 % at critical micelle concentration (CMC), respectively. Fire suppression test shows that the obtained fluorine-free foam extinguishing agent is effective in fighting diesel pool fires. The firefighting efficiency of foam agent links to the mixing chamber structure of compressed air foam fire extinguishing system (CAFS). When the mixing chamber of CAFS has a recurrent segment length of 50 mm and the filled particle size of 10 mm, the firefighting efficiency of fluorine-free foam extinguishing agent is optimal with a fire extinguishing time of 33 s and a temperature drop rate of 6.49 °C/s.

Effects of removing superficial layer of cartilage on the surface morphology and mechanical behavior of cartilage

Superficial cartilage defect is an important factor that causes osteoarthritis. Therefore, it is very important to investigate the influence of superficial cartilage defects on its surface morphology and mechanical properties. In this study, the knee joint cartilage samples of adult pig were prepared, which were treated by enzymolysis with chymotrypsin and physical removal with electric friction pen, respectively. Normal cartilage and surface treated cartilage were divided into five groups: control group (normal cartilage group), chymotrypsin immersion group, chymotrypsin wiping group, removal 10% group with electric friction pen, and removal 20% group with electric friction pen. The surface morphology and structure of five groups of samples were characterized by laser spectrum confocal microscopy and environmental field scanning electron microscopy, and the mechanical properties of each group of samples were evaluated by tensile tests. The results show that the surface arithmetic mean height and fracture strength of the control group were the smallest, and the fracture strain was the largest. The surface arithmetic mean height and fracture strength of the removal 20% group with electric friction pen were the largest, and the fracture strain was the smallest. The surface arithmetic mean height, fracture strength and fracture strain values of the other three groups were all between the above two groups, but the surface arithmetic mean height and fracture strength of the removal 10% group with electric friction pen, the chymotrypsin wiping group and the chymotrypsin soaking group decreased successively, and the fracture strain increased successively. In addition, we carried out a study on the elastic modulus of different groups, and the results showed that the elastic modulus of the control group was the smallest, and the elastic modulus of the removal 20% group with electric friction pen was the largest. The above study revealed that the defect of the superficial area of cartilage changed its surface morphology and structure, and reduced its mechanical properties. The research results are of great significance for the prevention and repair of cartilage injury.

PLANES4LOD2: Reconstruction of LoD-2 building models using a depth attention-based fully convolutional neural network

Level of detail (LoD)-2 reconstruction is an inevitable task in digital twin-related applications such as disaster management, flood simulation, landslide simulation and solar panel recommendation. However, there is a lack of capable methods that can exploit fine details in RGB imagery and mitigate noise in photogrammetric digital surface models (DSMs). Our investigation is focused on the use of roof planes to achieve a geometrically complete and correct, and topologically consistent LoD-2 building reconstruction. Using UNet with the EfficientNet-B3 backbone, the developed approach starts with jointly predicting building sections and roof planes from the orthorectified RGB imagery and a photogrammetric DSM. The detected sections and planes are then vectorized by employing tree search and simplified with the Douglas Peucker algorithm. Subsequently, height values from the noisy input DSM and the vectorized image-based (and simplified) roof planes are used to derive 3D-planes. Finally, the building model is formed by computing plane intersections as the ridge lines. This study demonstrates that a well-designed depth attention module (DAM), which is the bottleneck of the UNet, can achieve a very good use of both spectral and depth features. The resultant 1-to-n correspondence between building section and roof plane benefits accurate and consistent building model reconstruction. Furthermore, it leads to a superior generalization capability of the proposed method. Experiments with 1437 buildings from the cities Cologne and Braunschweig, Germany, demonstrate the success of the proposed workflow in reconstructing compound buildings with complex roof structures. The achieved geometric mean absolute error (MAE) is 1.06m and 0.24m respectively. Comprehensive comparative evaluations showcase the superiority of the approach in terms of geometric completeness and accuracy, and topological consistence with. The improvement over SAT2LOD2 (Gui and Qin, 2021) is 1.12m in Cologne (data accessible at https://github.com/dlrPHS/GPUB) and 0.47m in Braunschweig in geometrical MAE.

Numerical study on hydrodynamic impacts of 3D excavation pit on tsunami-like wave at fringing reef

In recent years, dredging reef sand and aggregate as building materials for infrastructures has become a common practice in many atoll islands, which can significantly reshape the wave hydrodynamic environment at the fringing reef. Hence, it becomes necessary to evaluate the hydrodynamic impacts of excavation pits at fringing reef. However, previous research adopted a simplified two-dimensional (2D) excavation pit model, which ignores the influences of 3D geometric characteristics of excavation pit. This study performs a three-dimensional (3D) numerical study on the hydrodynamic impacts of 3D excavation pit on tsunami-like wave at fringing reef by using a nonhydrostatic wave model (NHWAVE). Impacts of several main factors, such as water depth, wave height, pit location, geometric dimensions of pit, the spacing between two serially connected pits and the spacing between two parallel connected pits are carefully discussed. Research results reveal that 3D excavation pit can significantly reshape the wave hydrodynamic environment at the fringing reef, especially the local wave height at the pit. In addition to wave breaking at the reef edge, the 3D excavation pit can further damp out a portion of energy of the breaking surge bore, which can reduce the maximum value of wave runup height at centerline of computational domain. However, maximum value of wave runup height near the two sides of pit are slightly increased to some extent.

Analysis on the capacitance-voltage characteristics of metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitors based on thermally evaporated WOx on n- and p- type crystalline silicon

Tungsten oxide (WOx) thin films were deposited on n- and p-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers by thermal evaporation technique at room temperature. The electrical characterization of Ag/WOx/n-Si and Ag/WOx/p-Si metal–insulator-semiconductor (MIS) capacitors were examined by the capacitance- and conductance-voltage measurements as a function of applied frequency in the 10 kHz 10 MHz range. The admittance properties of both MIS devices have been evaluated by analyzing the interfacial nature and bulk c-Si in accumulation, depletion, and inversion regimes. The capacitance responses of interface traps, bulk c-Si, depletion, and shallow states at the WOx/c-Si interface indicated the appearance of the capacitance peaks in depletion and inversion regimes for Ag/WOx/n-Si and Ag/WOx/p-Si devices. From C-V characterization, various parameters such as the depletion layer width, depletion capacitance, flat-band voltage, total charge density, and net ionized state density were calculated as a function of applied frequency. For Ag/WOx/n-Si device, the total charge density and barrier height values of 7.642 × 10−9 C and 1.119 eV at 1 MHz, respectively, were obtained. The same parameters were calculated to be 5.887 × 10−8 C and 1.107 eV for Ag/WOx/p-Si. The results demonstrated that interfacial nature of WOx film significantly governs the electronic characteristics of the c-Si based MIS devices.

Influence of Elicitors on Growth and Yield of Black Cumin (Nigella sativa L.) Varieties

Black cumin is a miracle herb, an emerging seed spice and a medicinal plant of great demand. Black cumin has been used since thousands of years as a spice and food preservative as well as a protective and curative remedy for several disorders. A field experiment was conducted at the Department of Plantation, Spices, Medicinal and Aromatic Crops, College of Horticulture, UHS Campus, GKVK, Bengaluru, from November 2018 to March 2019. The experiment followed a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications and included two factors: varieties and elicitors. Among the various treatment combinations, foliar application of methyl jasmonate at 100 ppm resulted in the highest recorded values for plant height (46.7 cm), primary branches (5.43), stem diameter (4.62 mm), dry weight of plants (8.42 g), and plant spread (397 cm2) when applied with nitric oxide (Sodium Nitroprusside (SNP)) at 2 mM on Pant Krishna variety. Conversely, the significantly highest chlorophyll content in leaves was observed in the Azad Kalonji variety sprayed with salicylic acid at 100 ppm. Furthermore, the significantly highest numbers of capsules (22.60), seeds per capsule (84.28), and seed yield per hectare (12.40 q) were recorded in Pant Krishna sprayed with methyl jasmonate at 100 ppm. The present study concludes that all varieties, including Azad Kalonji, AN-20, and Pant Krishna, performed equally well regarding growth and yield attributes in this location. Among the elicitors tested, methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid at 100 ppm show promise for commercial cultivation of black cumin.

Biomechanical Features of the Double Back Tuck on the Floor Exercises in Gymnastics in Male Artistic Gymnastics

This study aims to identify the characteristics of the takeoff and landing in the round off performance followed by followed by a double back tuck. One gymnast participated in this study, and the data was captured using an camera at a speed of 240 fps and perpendicular to the plane of movement. Data were extracted using the analytical software SkillSpector and Kinovea. The data revealed that the vertical velocity, which was when takeoff (5.9 m/s). This was evident at the maximum height of the center of mass, which was measured (2.3 m). The higher values for the maximum height of the center of mass were the result of a combination of several performance factors, such as the contact angle and the takeoff on the floor with horizontal and faster leg extension. The horizontal velocity at contact was (5.7 m/s) and decreased to (-2.5 m/s) at takeoff. The results of the study indicate that the double back tuck movement involves a reduction in horizontal velocity and an increase in vertical velocity. This is because the horizontal velocity is converted into vertical velocity to raise the body to a great height so that the gymnast can get the time required to execute the skill while flying in the air. The leg muscles also played the dominant role in takeoff and landing through contact angles and takeoff and landing.

Effect of Time of Transplanting and Spacing on Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum)

An experiment investigating the impact of transplanting time and spacing on Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) was conducted over three Kharif seasons from 2018-19 to 2020-21 at AICRP on Medicinal, Aromatic Plants and Betelvine. Twenty treatment combinations were arranged in a FRBD design. Transplanting times varied from June to August, with spacing options ranging from 60x45 cm to 75 x 60 cm. Recorded observations included plant height, primary branches per plant, fresh herbage yield, and dry herbage yield. Results indicated significant differences across all parameters based on transplanting time and spacing. Transplanting during the first fortnight of July (D3) resulted in the highest values for plant height (98.20 cm), branches per plant (16.63), fresh herbage yield (99.98 q/ha), and dry herbage yield (18.91 q/ha). The treatment of transplanting during the second fortnight of June (D2) showed comparable results. Among spacing options, 60 x 45 cm (S1) demonstrated the most favorable outcomes. Notably, the combined treatment of transplanting during the first fortnight of July with 60 x 45 cm spacing (D3S1) yielded the highest plant height (99.21 cm), fresh herbage yield (122.54 q/ha), and dry herbage yield (23.02 q/ha). Economically, this treatment also proved superior, with a net monetary return of ₹91453/- and a B:C ratio of 1.99. Overall, findings suggest that transplanting Tulsi seedlings between the second fortnight of June and the first fortnight of July, coupled with 60 x 45 cm spacing, maximizes productivity and economic returns.

Exploring anthropometric characteristics, weight status, and posture among preschool children in Serbia

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the anthropometric characteristics, weight status, and posture of 6- and 7-year-old preschool-aged children. The sample of 922 children was divided by gender and age (monthly quartiles). Anthropometric characteristics were assessed using a battery of three variables: body height (BH), body mass (BM), and body mass index (BMI). BMI was categorized based on the World Health Organization (WHO) cutoff values, determining the degree of children’s weight status. Postural status was assessed by evaluating the following postural parameters: foot status, scoliosis, and dropped shoulders. Independent samples t-test showed no differences in anthropometric characteristics between boys and girls. According to ANOVA test, all three older groups (III, IV, and V) had significantly higher values in body height than the first two younger groups. In terms of body mass, IV and V groups had higher values than group I, and V had higher values than group II. Normal-weight children constituted 73.5%, while 14.4% were overweight and 8.8% were obese. Chi-square test revealed no difference in the degree of weight status by gender. Regarding postural status, 24.1% of children had scoliosis, 75.4% had abnormal foot status, and 59.8% had dropped shoulders. Chi-square test showed no difference between gender and postural deviations, except for foot status where boys significantly had more deviations than girls. This study contributed to diagnosing the anthropometric characteristics and posture of children and can be considered significant as the first study in this part of Serbia, serving as a starting point for future practical and research steps.

Comparative Performance of Different Fertilizer Recommendation Methods on Growth and Yield of Rice (Oryza sativa) in Old Brahmaputra Floodplain Soils

Improving rice productivity is the challenge for the farmer due to rapid soil health deterioration in intensive agricultural system. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate comparative performance of different nutrient management practices in rice production in Bangladesh. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. There were six treatments namely, T1 (Control-no fertilizer), T2 (Farmer’s Practice), T3 (Fertilizer Recommendation Guide-2018), T4 (BAU Soil Testing Kit), T5 (Soil Test Basis) and T6 (Rice Crop Manager). The results revealed that all the treatments showed better performances over control (T1). Treatment T4 (BAU Soil Testing Kit) produced the highest value of plant height (90.18 cm), panicle length (24.90), filled grains panicle-1 (122.60) and 1000-grain weight (26.67g) while T5 (Soil Test Basis) produced maximum effective tillers hill-1 (12.80). The highest grain yield (6.29 t ha-1) and straw yield (7.73 t ha-1) were recorded in treatment T4 (BAU Soil Testing Kit). Treatment T4 (BAU Soil Testing Kit) also showed the highest grain yield increase (61.49%) and straw yield increase (90.49%) over control. The highest total N, P and K uptake (108.84 kg ha-1, 24.54 kg ha-1 and 128.17 kg ha-1) were obtained in the treatment T4 (BAU Soil Testing Kit). Control treatment T1 (No fertilizers) showed minimum performances in all the cases compared to other treatments. The overall result demonstrated that the application of fertilizers following BAU Soil Testing Kit method of fertilizer application system is a better option for rice production.

Morphological characterization and the relationship between morphometric indices of a local Cyprus fat–tailed Sheep breed in Cyprus

With many local breeds in danger of extinction or genetic erosion, the loss of genetic variety in farm animal genetic resources is an increasingly critical concern. Conserving diverse sheep breeds is crucial for long–term agricultural sustainability and ecosystem health. The current research focused on the Cyprus fat–tailed sheep, which is important for both meat and milk production, particularly to produce Halloumi cheese. A study on a Cyprus sheep production farm was carried out with the aim to characterize the morphological traits of Cyprus fat–tailed sheep breed for its conservation. The study found that in female Cyprus fat–tailed sheep, white, white–black, and brown coat color patterns were the common ones recorded with proportions of 75, 12.5, and 12.5%, respectively. Sixty seven percent of males were white–black followed by white coat color in 33%. Male sheep are all characterized by white fleece, while females had a range of fleece colors with the majority in white (75%) followed by pale greyish brown in 18.75% and fawn fleece in 6.25%. On the other hand, male Cyprus fat–tailed sheep had higher values (P<0.05) for wither height, heart girth, chest width, hip height, foreleg length, compact index, area index, and body weight than females. Morphometric traits, such as head length, wither height, heart girth, chest depth, body length, and hip height, were significantly positively (P<0.01) correlated with body weight. The study concludes that the characterization of the Cyprus fat–tailed sheep breed’s physical and morphological traits is essential and useful for its conservation.

Vertical farming for lettuce production in limited space: a case study in Northern Thailand.

Greenhouse vertical farming under natural sunlight is an alternative farming technique that grows crops in a stacking column and extends in a vertical direction. Sunlight availability is one of the crucial factors for crop development in vertical farming. Therefore, this investigation aimed to examine the effect of sunlight availability on lettuce growth and yields at different levels of vertical shelves. Six shelves were constructed with three levels: upper, middle and lower levels. Lettuces (Lactuca sativa L.) as 'Baby Cos' and 'Green Oak' at 14 days after sowing were planted on the three levels. The photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) was recorded, and the PPFD values were then converted to the daily light integral (DLI). Plant height and canopy width were measured three times at 14, 21 and 28 days after transplanting. At maturity, fresh weight (FW) was directly monitored after harvest. The results showed that the highest PPFD and DLI values were found at the upper level (PPFD 697 μmol m-2 s-1 and DLI 29 mol m-2 d-1) in comparison to the middle (PPFD 391 μmol m-2 s-1 and DLI 16 mol m-2 d-1) and lower (PPFD 322 μmol m-2 s-1 and DLI 13 mol m-2 d-1) levels. The lowest plant height and canopy width values were observed on the upper levels for both lettuce varieties during the three measurement dates. The middle ('Baby Cos' = 123.8 g plant-1 and 'Green Oak' = 190.7 g plant-1) and lower ('Baby Cos' = 92.9 g plant-1 and 'Green Oak' = 203.7 g plant-1) levels had the higher values of FW in comparison to the upper level ('Baby Cos' = 84.5 g plant-1 and 'Green Oak' = 97.3 g plant-1). The values of light use efficiency (LUE) showed an increased trend from the upper to lower levels in both varieties, with values of 'Baby Cos' of 0.10 g mol-1 in the upper level, 0.28 g mol-1 in the middle level and 0.26 g mol-1 in the lower level and 'Green Oak' of 0.12 g mol-1 in the upper level, 0.44 g mol-1 in the middle level and 0.57 g mol-1 in the lower level. The findings of the study indicated the viability of utilizing vertical shelves for lettuce production.

Effects of simulated glyphosate drift to native prairie plants and canola-compatible Brassicaceae species of North Dakota, United States

This study evaluated effects to native plant and weedy Brassicaceae species growing in areas potentially affected by drift of glyphosate used with glyphosate-resistant canola (Brassica napus). Ten native grass and forb species were selected based on importance in prairie areas of North Dakota, US; and four introduced Brassicaceae species (Brassica juncea, Brassica nigra, Brassica rapa, and Sinapis arvensis ssp. arvensis) were selected based on their ability to cross with B. napus. Greenhouse-grown seedlings were treated with 0 (carrier control), 0.00056, 0.0032, 0.018 and 0.1 × a field application rate (FAR) of 829 g ha−1 acid glyphosate (g acid equivalent or a.e. ha−1), along with no spray plants; with each treatment repeated in two experiments. Shoot dry weight and height were measured 14 days after treatment, and data were subjected to analysis of variance or covariance followed by a Dunnett's multiple comparison test to obtain No-Observed-Adverse-Effect-Rates (NOAERs) for both parameters. A Weibull regression was used to obtain the rate producing a 25% reduction (ER25) for shoot dry weight or height for a limited number of species and experiment combinations. Based on NOAER values for both shoot dry weight and height, most native species had reductions in growth with 0.1 × FAR resulting in NOAERs of 0.018 × FAR for at least one experiment. Nassella viridula was the most sensitive native species, with a NOAER of 0.0032 × FAR for shoot dry weight and one experiment for height. The Brassicaceae species responded similarly to glyphosate as the native species, with NOAER values ranging from 0.0032 to 0.018 × FAR. Only four species had valid regression analyses for shoot dry weight or height resulting in ER25 values between 0.007 and 0.054 × FAR. Pascopyrum smithii and Schizachyrium scoparium were not affected by glyphosate as indicated by NOAER values. This study indicated that drift concentrations between approximately 0.003, but more commonly ≥0.1 × FAR (2.49 and 82.9 g ha−1 acid glyphosate, respectively) may affect the growth and potential competitiveness of selected native plant species, and Brassicaceae species sexually compatible with glyphosate-resistant B. napus in North Dakota.

Effective mass function of radio meteoroids as a modulating factor in determining atmospheric scale height

Abstract A long-standing problem in meteor science has been the persistent presence of bias in the measured value of atmospheric scale heights obtained from radio meteor echoes. A common practice of fitting a linear function for bias correction follows the assumption that the systematic bias is devoid of seasonal asymmetry. This would be true if the mass and the velocity distribution of meteoroids remain invariant, both spatially and temporally. But so far no such convincing evidence has been published. On the contrary, fundamental arguments suggest that an universal mass function of radio meteoroids is counter-intuitive. This parameter cannot remain invariant due to the intrinsic variability in the meteor response function resulting from the Earth’s motion on the plane of ecliptic. In this paper, we show that an inverse relation exists between the width of meteor height distribution, expressed in unit of atmospheric scale height, and the exponent of the mass function. The overall mean of this exponent for the Sodankylä radar is 1.91 ± 0.02, modulated by a seasonal variation from the mean of the order of ∼±0.1. The stated inverse relation is applied to correct for the effect of mass distribution on the height distribution. Allowing for variable mass correction effectively removes the nonlinear bias in the measured scale heights in the meteor ionisation region.

The Impact of Bosu Training on The Development of Static and Dynamic Balance in Teenage Basketball Players

The study aimed to investigate the impacts of Bosu training on the development of static and dynamic balance in male basketball players aged 14-16 years who play actively in basketball clubs in Bingöl and train more than 7 hours weekly according to a training schedule. The study included 30 basketball players, 15 in the control group and 15 in the experimental group. The experimental group attended 30 minutes of Bosu training in addition to basketball training for 8 weeks. Anthropometric measurements, such as height, weight, BMI, and static and dynamic balance measurements, were taken before and after the training period. The data were analysed using the SPSS package. The distribution of the pre-test and post-test data was examined for each group. Normality of the data distribution and homogeneity of variances were checked using the Mauchly sphericity test and the Levene test. Then, the dependent variables within each group were compared using the paired-sample t-test. The study used a p-value of less than 0.05 to assess the significance of the results. The mean values of height, weight, and BMI of the experimental group after the 8-week Bosu training program showed no significant difference (p>0.05). The analysis results regarding the Bosu training program's static and dynamic balance measurements yielded a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-test comparisons of the experimental group for most of the static and dynamic balance variables (p<0.05). However, there was no statistical difference in the control group or between groups (p>0.05). It was concluded that Bosu training can positively contribute to the improvement of static and dynamic balance in young basketball players.

Arterial hypertension in infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia following surgical repair

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) and cardiac dysfunction are established comorbidities of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). However, there is very little data focusing on arterial hypertension in CDH. This study aims to investigate the incidence of arterial hypertension in neonates with CDH at hospital discharge. Archived clinical data of 167 CDH infants who received surgical repair of the diaphragmatic defect and survived for > 60 days were retrospectively analyzed. Blood pressure (BP) values were averaged for the last 7 days before discharge and compared to standard BP values for sex, age, and height provided by the AHA in 2004. BP values reaching or extending the 95th percentile were defined as arterial hypertension. The use of antihypertensive medication was analyzed at discharge and during hospitalization. Arterial hypertension at discharge was observed in 19 of 167 infants (11.3%) of which 12 (63%) were not receiving antihypertensive medication. Eighty patients (47.9%) received antihypertensive medication at any point during hospitalization and 28.9% of 152 survivors (n = 44) received antihypertensive medication at discharge, although in 45.5% (n = 20) of patients receiving antihypertensive medication, the indication for antihypertensive medication was myocardial hypertrophy or frequency control. BP was significantly higher in ECMO compared to non-ECMO patients, despite a similar incidence of arterial hypertension in both groups (13.8% vs. 10.1%, p = 0.473). Non-isolated CDH, formula feeding, and minimal creatinine in the first week of life were significantly associated with arterial hypertension on univariate analysis. Following multivariate analysis, only minimal creatinine remained independently associated with arterial hypertension. Conclusion: This study demonstrates a moderately high incidence of arterial hypertension in CDH infants at discharge and an independent association of creatinine values with arterial hypertension. Physicians should be aware of this risk and include regular BP measurements and test of renal function in CDH care and follow-up.What is Known:• Due to decreasing mortality, morbidity is increasing in surviving CDH patients.• Pulmonary hypertension and cardiac dysfunction are well-known cardiovascular comorbidities of CDH.What is New:• There is a moderately high incidence of arterial hypertension in CDH infants at discharge even in a population with frequent treatment with antihypertensive medication.• A more complicated hospital course (ECMO, higher degree of PH, larger defect size) was associated with a higher risk for arterial hypertension.

The Impact of Hemsball Training on Balance and Punto (Approaching) Scores in Boccia Athletes

This study aimed to investigate the impact of an 8-week hemsball training on the development of balance and punto (approaching the target) performance in athletes aged 12-14 who play boccia in Bingöl province teams and train for more than 7 hours per week. The sample consisted of athletes who met the aforementioned criteria. The study involved 30 athletes, with 15 in the control group and 15 in the experimental group, who voluntarily played boccia. The experimental group received 60 minutes of hemsball training followed by boccia training, while the control group only received boccia training. Anthropometric measurements, including height, body weight, and BMI, as well as measurements of static and dynamic balance and punto (approach to target) scores, were taken before and after the 8-week exercise period. The data was evaluated using the SPSS 25 package program. The pre-test and post-test distributions of the study data were examined for each group, and normality and homogeneity of variances were determined using the Mauchly Sphericity Test and Levene test. Based on the test results, the dependent variables within each group were compared using the Paired-Sample T-test. The significance of the results was evaluated at a p-value of less than 0.05. The study found no significant difference in the mean values of height, body weight, and BMI of the experimental group after the 8-week hemsball training program (p>0.05). According to the data analysis results regarding the static and dynamic balance measurements of the hemsball training application, a significant difference at the p<0.05 level was found in the pre-test and post-test comparisons of the experimental group in the majority of the static and dynamic balance variables. No statistical difference was found in the control group and the between-group comparisons. According to the data analysis results regarding the Punto score measurements, a significant difference at the p<0.05 level was found in the pre and post-test comparisons of the experimental group in the punto score variable. No difference was found for the control group. Similarly, no statistical difference was observed between the groups. As a result, it can be concluded that training with hemsball has a positive effect on the performance of young boccia athletes in static and dynamic balance and the punto score.

A method for estimating ship berthing angle based on 2D bird's eye view point cloud

The accurate estimation of berthing angle is essential for the parallel berthing of inshore ships. Herein, a new method for calculating the ship berthing angle using a shore-based LiDAR system is proposed. First, the LiDAR-scanned point cloud data is preprocessed, including coordinate conversion, noise filtering, and data downsampling. Then, the processed point cloud data is projected onto a two-dimensional (2D) plane, and the height value is used as the pixel value to generate bird's eye view (BEV) images. Finally, an improved Hough transform is proposed to detect the straight line representing the ship's nearshore profile in the BEV images and replace the ship midline with the detected line for calculating the berthing angle. The performance of the proposed method is verified by applying it on simulated and real ship data. Simulation experiment results show that the maximum absolute error of our method is only 0.151°. Real ship experiments were conducted at Dalian Port (China) to verify the reliability and stability of the method compared with other berthing angle estimation methods and the compass equipment. Overall, the proposed method can effectively obtain the berthing angle of ships, assist in parallel berthing, and improve berthing efficiency.

Optimizing fracturing techniques for enhanced hydrate dissociation in low-permeability reservoirs: Insights from numerical simulation

Natural gas hydrate represents an environmentally friendly alternative energy. However, the low-permeability hydrate reservoirs pose significant challenges to commercial production. To optimize hydrate production, reservoir stimulation methods like hydraulic fracturing, gas fracturing, and explosive fracturing are potential. In the investigation of the fracturing effect on hydrate dissociation behavior, we developed a three-dimensional model that comprehensively incorporates the arrangement of fracture planes, encompassing fracture permeability, spacing, and height. The model was implemented using a self-developed hydrate simulator which was validated at multiple scales. We firstly conducted a comparative analysis, contrasting the conventional depressurization method in horizontal wells with a combined depressurization and fracturing method. The comparison suggested that fracturing brings significant promotion (113.5%) on hydrate dissociation. Sensitivity analysis revealed fracture permeability and fracture height evidently exhibit an optimal value that facilitates the dissociation behavior. The optimal value of fracture permeability is dependent on the geological background. The optimal value of fracture height occurs just before penetrating the hydrate-bearing sediment layer and the overlying/underlying formations, i.e., near the thickness of the hydrate-bearing sediment layer. The impact of spacing on gas volume is limited while decreasing the spacing leads to more evident localized dissociation and differential subsidence of hydrate reservoir. It is necessary to balance production and geological risks when selecting the fracture spacing. The conclusions suggest that the fracturing operation need to be optimized by controlling the injection rate and the fracturing interval. It is not advisable to blindly pursue the effectiveness of reservoir stimulation but rather to consider the geological conditions. Additionally, we have found that it is preferable to establish barriers between the reservoir and overlying/underlying formations near the hydraulic fracturing section before reservoir stimulation, to prevent excessive early water production. In conclusion, this study would provide valuable insights for the optimization of fracturing techniques in stimulation of hydrate reservoir.