Open Phase Research Articles

Shape-Memory Effect Enabled by Ligand Substitution and CO2 Affinity in a Flexible SIFSIX Coordination Network.

We report that linker ligand substitution involving just one atom induces a shape-memory effect in a flexible coordination network. Specifically, whereas SIFSIX-23-Cu,[Cu(SiF6)(L)2]n, (L = 1,4-bis(1-imidazolyl)benzene, SiF62- = SIFSIX) has been previously reported to exhibit reversible switching between closed and open phases, the activated phase of SIFSIX-23-CuN, [Cu(SiF6)(LN)2]n (LN = 2,5-bis(1-imidazolyl)pyridine), transformed to a kinetically stable porous phase with strong affinity for CO2. As-synthesized SIFSIX-23-CuN, α, transformed to less open, γ, and closed, β, phases during activation. β did not adsorb N2 (77 K), rather it reverted to α induced by CO2 at 195, 273 and 298 K. CO2 desorption resulted in α', a shape-memory phase which subsequently exhibited type-I isotherms for N2 (77 K) and CO2 as well as strong performance for separation of CO2/N2 (15/85) at 298 K and 1 bar driven by strong binding (Qst = 45-51 kJ/mol), high CO2 capacity (209 cm3/g) and excellent CO2/N2 selectivity (up to 700). Interestingly, α' reverted to β after resolvation/desolvation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations provide insight into the properties of SIFSIX-23-CuN.

Shape‐Memory Effect Enabled by Ligand Substitution and CO2 Affinity in a Flexible SIFSIX Coordination Network

AbstractWe report that linker ligand substitution involving just one atom induces a shape‐memory effect in a flexible coordination network. Specifically, whereas SIFSIX‐23‐Cu, [Cu(SiF6)(L)2]n, (L=1,4‐bis(1‐imidazolyl)benzene, SiF62−=SIFSIX) has been previously reported to exhibit reversible switching between closed and open phases, the activated phase of SIFSIX‐23‐CuN, [Cu(SiF6)(LN)2]n (LN=2,5‐bis(1‐imidazolyl)pyridine), transformed to a kinetically stable porous phase with strong affinity for CO2. As‐synthesized SIFSIX‐23‐CuN, α, transformed to less open, γ, and closed, β, phases during activation. β did not adsorb N2 (77 K), rather it reverted to α induced by CO2 at 195, 273 and 298 K. CO2 desorption resulted in α′, a shape‐memory phase which subsequently exhibited type‐I isotherms for N2 (77 K) and CO2 as well as strong performance for separation of CO2/N2 (15/85) at 298 K and 1 bar driven by strong binding (Qst=45–51 kJ/mol) and excellent CO2/N2 selectivity (up to 700). Interestingly, α′ reverted to β after re‐solvation/desolvation. Molecular simulations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations provide insight into the properties of SIFSIX‐23‐CuN.

FRI689 First-line F18-choline PET/CT Versus Tc99m-sestaMIBI SPECT/CT In The Surgical Management Of Primary Hyperparathyroidism: The Multicentre APACH2 Phase III Trial

Abstract Disclosure: E. Quak: None. A. Lasne-cardon: None. M. Cavarec: None. B. Lireux: None. V. Bastit: None. N. Roudaut: None. P. Salaun: None. N. Keromnes: None. G. Potard: None. P. Vaduva: None. A. Esvant: None. F. Jegoux: None. O. Crouy-chanel: None. A. Devillers: None. C. Guery: None. C. Lasnon: None. R. Ciappuccini: None. M. Sali dauda: None. B. Legrand: None. A. Estienne: None. J. Grellard: None. S. Bardet: None. B. Clarisse: None. Introduction: Whether F18-choline PET/CT (FCH PET/CT) should replace Tc99m-sestaMIBI SPECT/CT (MIBI SPECT/CT) as a first-line imaging technique for preoperative localisation of parathyroid adenomas in primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is unclear. Methods: We conducted a multicentre randomized open diagnostic intervention phase III trial in adults with primary hyperparathyroidism and indication for surgical treatment. Patients were assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive first-line FCH PET/CT (FCH1) or MIBI SPECT/CT (MIBI1). In case of negative or inconclusive first-line imaging, patients received second-line FCH PET/CT (FCH2) after MIBI1 or MIBI SPECT/CT (MIBI2) after FCH1. The main aim of the trial was to compare the proportions of patients in whom the first-line imaging method resulted in successful mini-invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) and cure, defined as the normalisation of serum calcium and parathyroid hormone levels at 1 month. We hypothesized a 30% superiority of FCH1 over MIBI1 for sample size determination (Quak et al, BMC Endocr Disord. 2021, PMID: 33413316). Results: From 11/2019 to 05/2022, 58 patients were assigned to receive FCH1 (n=30) or MIBI1 (n=28). Baseline patient characteristics were similar between groups. FCH1 was positive in 23/29 patients and led to successful MIP and cure in 22/23 patients. MIBI1 was positive in 18/28 and led to MIP in 16/17 operated patients, and video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) in 1/17 patient. Cure was obtained in 15/17 patients. The proportion of patients in whom the first-line imaging exam led to successful MIP and cure was 22 (76%) for FCH1 and 13 (50%) for MIBI1 (p=0.047). Diagnostic performances were superior for FCH1 than for MIBI1: sensitivity (92% vs 68%), specificity (100% vs 75%), positive predictive value (100% vs 94%), negative predictive value (67% vs 30%), and area under the ROC curve (96% vs 71%, p=0.022), respectively. Ten patients received FCH2 and 6 patients received MIBI2. FCH2 was positive in 8/10 patients, leading to 7/9 MIP and 2/9 bilateral cervical explorations (surgery recused in 1 patient), and cure in 9/9 patients. MIBI2 was positive in 2/6 patients, leading to 1 MIP and 1 VATS; all 6 patients were cured. No adverse events related to imaging and 4 adverse events related to surgery were reported. Conclusions: The proportion of patients who underwent correct imaging-guided MIP leading to cure was higher for FCH1 than for MIBI1, 76% vs 50% respectively. Diagnostic performances were better for FCH1 than for MIBI1. Cost-benefit analyses should elucidate whether first-line FCH PET/CT in pHPT management is justified. Presentation: Friday, June 16, 2023

A Fault-Tolerant Control Method for a PMSM Servo Drive System with a Four-Leg Inverter

In this paper, a fault tolerant control method is proposed for a permeant magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) servo drive system with four leg inverters to cope with the open phase fault. As one of common faults in the motor drive system, the open phase fault will degrade the control performance and efficiency. Even serious damage is caused in some extreme cases. Hence, it is meaningful to realize the fault tolerance of the drive system with open phase fault. The proposed method includes three parts: a torque-producing current calculator, phase voltage determination and voltage distributor. The torque-producing current calculator is designed by taking the third harmonic flux into consideration to calculate the torque-producing current. In the phase voltage determination, it is proved that the third harmonic flux has no influence on the line voltage equation. For healthy operation and fault operation, the voltage requirements in remaining healthy phases are determined based on the line voltages. Finally, two voltage distributors are designed to distributor the phase voltages into remaining inverter leg. The main difference of two voltage distributors is the polarity of two remaining voltage. Compared to the conventional method, the proposed method can reduce the torque ripple under a postfault condition. In addition, the controller structure will not be changed under a pre-fault and postfault condition. The proposed method has been validated by simulated results and experimental results.

Under What Conditions Can People With Severe Dementia in Nursing Homes Benefit From a Multicomponent Psychosocial Intervention?

The majority of psychosocial interventions are considered effective in the treatment of dementia symptoms. However, there are hardly any evaluated concepts for people with severe dementia. An RCT study of patients with severe dementia in nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic found no effect of the newly developed multi-component intervention MAKS-s (motor, activities of daily living, cognitive, social version for persons with severe dementia) on patients' quality of life, behavioural and psychological symptoms. At the end of the controlled phase, 6 months after beginning of the study, the nursing staff of the control groups were also trained in MAKS-s. They were then free to decide whether and how often they wanted to use MAKS-s (open phase). By means of a written follow-up survey, conducted with trained therapists, after another 6 months, predictors for positive effects of the intervention on people with severe dementia were to be identified. The survey also aimed to identify predictors of therapy fidelity. Data acquisition based on a self-developed questionnaire, assessing the therapists' subjective ratings of the three areas of structure, process and outcome quality of the MAKS-s intervention. Apart from descriptive evaluations, the predictors of benefit for people with severe dementia were analysed using a linear regression model and the predictors of therapy fidelity by using a binary logistic regression model. The more pronounced the normative restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic were, the more frequently manual deviations were observed. Fewer deviations from the manual were significantly associated with positive effects on people with severe dementia. The results indicate the importance of therapy fidelity for the success of MAKS-s intervention. Therapy fidelity is decisive for the extent of the positive effects of MAKS-s, experienced by the therapists. Furthermore, the survey results show that activity-restricting pandemic policies in nursing homes negatively influenced the perceived effectiveness.

Safety and Immunogenicity of Inactivated Whole Virion COVID-19 Vaccine CoviVac in Clinical Trials in 18-60 and 60+ Age Cohorts.

We present the results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center clinical trial phase I/II of the tolerability, safety, and immunogenicity of the inactivated whole virion concentrated purified coronavirus vaccine CoviVac in volunteers aged 18-60 and open multi-center comparative phase IIb clinical trial in volunteers aged 60 years and older. The safety of the vaccine was assessed in 400 volunteers in the 18-60 age cohort who received two doses of the vaccine (n = 300) or placebo (n = 100) and in 200 volunteers in 60+ age cohort all of whom received three doses of the vaccine. The studied vaccine has shown good tolerability and safety. No deaths, serious adverse events (AEs), or other significant AEs related to vaccination have been detected. The most common AE in vaccinated participants was pain at the injection site (p < 0.05). Immunogenicity assessment in stage 3 of Phase II was performed on 167 volunteers (122 vaccinated and 45 in Placebo Group) separately for the participants who were anti-SARS-CoV-2 nAB negative (69/122 in Vaccine Group and 28/45 in Placebo Group) or positive (53/122 in Vaccine Group and 17/45 in Placebo Group) at screening. On Day 42 after the 1st vaccination, the seroconversion rate in participants who were seronegative at screening was 86.9%, with the average geometric mean neutralizing antibody (nAB) titer of 1:20. A statistically significant (p < 0.05) increase in IFN-γ production by peptide-stimulated T-cells was observed at Days 14 and 21 after the 1st vaccination. In participants who were seropositive at screening but had nAB titers below 1:256, the rate of fourfold increase in nAB levels was 85.2%, while in the participants with nAB titers > 1:256, the rate of fourfold increase in nAB levels was below 45%; the participants who were seropositive at screening of the 2nd vaccination did not lead to a significant increase in nAB titers. In conclusion, inactivated vaccine CoviVac has shown good tolerability and safety, with over 85% NT seroconversion rates after complete vaccination course in participants who were seronegative at screening in both age groups: 18-60 and 60+. In participants who were seropositive at screening and had nAB titers below 1:256, a single vaccination led to a fourfold increase in nAB levels in 85.2% of cases. These findings indicate that CoviVac can be successfully used both for primary vaccination in a two-dose regimen and for booster vaccination as a single dose in individuals with reduced neutralizing antibody levels.

Tackling Efficiency Challenges and Exploring Greenhouse-Integrated Organic Photovoltaics

Organic solar cells offer benefits such as transparent characteristics, affordability in manufacturing, and the ability to tailor light absorption properties according to specific needs. This review discusses challenges and recent strategies to enhance the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells, such as bandgap tuning, molecular orbital alignment, active layer morphology engineering, electron-donating and -withdrawing group incorporation, side chain length engineering, a third additive’s insertion, and control of the solubility of materials. The good transparency of organic solar cells makes them ideal for greenhouse-integrated photovoltaics applications. By efficiently absorbing sunlight for photosynthesis and clean energy production, transparent organic solar cells optimize light management, enhance energy efficiency, and minimize overheating risks, resulting in more sustainable and efficient greenhouse operations. This review also evaluates organic solar cell integration in the greenhouse. The implementation of the strategies explored in this review can significantly impact a wide range of performance parameters in organic solar cells. These parameters include the optoelectronic properties, absorption spectrum, open circuit voltage, exciton dissociation, charge transport, molecular packing, solubility, phase separation, crystallinity, nanoscale morphology, and device stability. An optimized organic solar cell design is particularly beneficial for greenhouse-integrated photovoltaics, as it ensures efficient energy conversion and energy management, which are crucial factors in maximizing the performance of the greenhouse.

Acceptance and adherence to non-invasive positive pressure ventilation in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a grounded theory study.

Non-Invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation (NPPV) is an established treatment for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), but it is often improperly used or rejected. The patterns of acceptance and adherence to NPPV, conceiving constraints, and strengths related to its adaptation have not been explored from a qualitative perspective yet. This study aims to qualitatively explore patterns of adaptation to NPPV in people affected by COPD and to identify the core characteristics and the specific adaptive challenges during the adaptation process. Forty-two people with moderate or severe COPD were recruited and 336 unstructured interviews were conducted. A Constructivist Grounded Theory was used to gather and analyze data: the transcriptions were mutually gathered in open, selective, and theoretical phases, with open, selective, and theoretical coding, respectively. The analysis resulted in a non-linear and dynamic process, characterized by three phases: deciding, trying NPPV, and using NPPV. The patterns revealed that positive and negative NPPV experiences, together with beliefs, emotions, stressful mental states, and behaviors result in different acceptance and adherence rates. These findings may be helpful to implement new care strategies to promote acceptance and adherence to NPPV.

Relations of coral reef benthos composition and horseshoe crabs’ gut content

Intensive earlier studies on horseshoe crab feeding ecology are focused on the Atlantic species, Limulus polyphemus (Linnaeus, 1758). However, the distribution of species, food abundance, and availability of benthos in a particular environment might influence the horseshoe crab's preference for diet in a particular region. The aims of this research are to analyse the benthos composition in Tachypleus gigas spawning site and coral reefs located near the spawning ground in Cherok Paloh, Pahang, and compare it with the food composition inside the T. gigas digestive track. A total of 30 samples of male and female horseshoe crabs, T. gigas respectively, were harvested by using a fishing net during the incoming high tide. Their guts were dissected, and the contents were analysed according to Squires and Dawe criteria. Results showed that echinoderm was the main food composition in the gut of males (54.27%) and females (51.44%) during the open sea migration phase. Amuk-amuk coral reef (3°41'51"N 103°24'13"E), Raja Muda coral reef (3°38'01"N 103°28'23"E) and Air Leleh coral reef (3°35'38"N 103°29'00"E) are the nearest sea urchin habitats to the sampling area. Benthos analysis showed higher echinoderm composition in those coral reefs (31.58 – 42.11%). There is no echinoderm composition found in the spawning site sediment. Further study is needed to provide reliable data on the significance of coral reefs in the horseshoe crab's foraging ecology.

An adaptable deep learning-based intrusion detection system to zero-day attacks

The main challenge of an intrusion detection system (IDS) is detecting novelties (i.e., zero-day attacks) in addition to generating a report about the known attacks (i.e., classifying known attacks). Another challenge of an IDS is the adaptation to the detected novelties. For this purpose, it needs sufficient labeled samples of the new attacks. On the other hand, the labeling procedure is a time-consuming task for the security expert teams.This paper proposes a DL-based IDS framework adaptable to new attacks, consisting of different phases. The first phase uses deep learning-based open set recognition methods to identify unknown samples (i.e., new attacks), and make a report from different known attacks simultaneously. Then, the novel samples are clustered by combining the deep model and clustering algorithms. These clusters are the main key to making the labeling procedure more practical and reducing the time and effort of the expert knowledge team. Finally, we use the labeled groups to update the model and make it adaptable to new traffic behaviors.To evaluate the proposed framework, we compare our proposed DOC++ alongside different algorithms (including DOC, OpenMax, AutoSVM, and CROSR) in the open set recognition phase of the framework and use both the CIC-IDS2017 and CSE-CIC-IDS2018 data sets for the evaluation. Our results show that DOC++ achieves the best performance among the other open set recognition approaches. Besides, the completeness and homogeneity of the clustering phase prove that the generated labeled groups are good enough for the supervised labeling and updating phases.

Technology-enabled clinical trials: Intentional capture of source data (IDC) in the electronic-health record (EHR) and direct transfer to trial database (electronic data capture [EDC]) in a phase II multicenter trial.

1568 Background: Traditional data collection for clinical trials can be cumbersome and inefficient. FDA guidance now promotes capturing clinical trial source data in electronic form and transmitting it to the EDC, recognizing that this should reduce double data entry and improve data quality and timeliness. Electronic data originators can include the EHR, which can be used during routine clinical care and for gathering data during a clinical investigation. We evaluated a pilot of structured EHR data transfer to EDC in a clinical trial setting. Methods: IDC capability in the EHR was developed and applied to a subset of patients for an open label prospective Phase II study. EHR variables, that include free text, standard dictionaries (eg CTCAEv5, CDISC, First Databank), and derived responses, were mapped to the electronic case report form (eCRF). Bulk transmission of IDC clinical data (adverse events, AEs; concomitant medications, CMs; past medical history, PMH) from the EHR to EDC was executed at a designated time point during study conduct. We assessed the quantity (records) and quality (queries) of data captured and transferred, and timeliness of entry. Data to be used for the production analysis of the trial was collected via eCRF in an EDC system in parallel per usual standards. Results: Data for 102 patients across 8 sites of care by 99 different users was captured in the EHR via IDC from 3/1/2021 to 9/9/2022 and transferred from EHR to EDC in bulk on 9/9/22. 3,958 data records were transferred (852 AEs; 1,581 CMs; 1,525 PMHs). Of the AEs, 99% had an associated grade. Of the CMs and PMHs, none were copy-forwarded (all were entered de novo). Regarding queries in the EDC for transcription error validation among matching records, EHR data produced 205 opened edit check queries from 12 edit checks across all domains (149 AEs, 0 CMs, and 56 PMHs). Regarding timeliness, 95% of matched records were entered in IDC prior to entry in the production EDC. Conclusions: For an open label Phase II study, clinical trial source data was captured electronically through IDC using the EHR as the data originator, and directly bulk-transmitted to EDC. This may enable the elimination of transcription of source data entry into eCRF and result in more timely access to the data in the EDC. Additional investigation into how IDC with EHR-to-EDC compares in quality to traditional EDC is warranted. Planned follow up research includes interviewing site users to evaluate their experiences with IDC data entry.

Types of work young adults perform to adjust to a cancer diagnosis and treatment.

e24179 Background: Patients and their caregivers perform work (i.e., demanding and arduous labor that takes resources and coordination to address) to manage their illness, relationships, and lives. A growing body of psychosocial research has investigated the communication work performed by young adults (18-39 years old at diagnosis; YAs) and their caregivers as they adjust to cancer treatment and survivorship. However, to our knowledge, no studies have examined how the four types of work identified through Theory of Illness Trajectories (i.e., everyday, illness-related, biographical, and communication) interact within cancer survivorship. Thus, the study purpose was to investigate how and why YAs describe their efforts to manage life along the cancer trajectory as work or labor. Methods: We conducted a qualitative secondary analysis leveraging three separate qualitative interview datasets that sought to describe and explain similar psychosocial aspects of the YA cancer experience. Two specific interview questions: 1) “What advice would you give to another person your age who received a similar diagnosis?” and 2) “What did you learn from your cancer experience that you wish you knew when you were diagnosed?” shaped our thematic analysis. We applied the Theory of Illness Trajectories in the open coding phase, where everyday-life work referred to recurring existing responsibilities (e.g., employment, childcare); illness work related to cancer-management tasks like taking medication and seeing physicians; biographical work involved one’s cognitive efforts to reconstruct their identity, and communication work involved the demanding use of communication to manage identities, share information, or solicit support. During axial coding, each author reviewed one-third of the data individually, making note of units that could be classified as themes related to each type of work. Results: A total of 112 participants completed qualitative interviews across the three studies. Most (71%) were female, and mean age was 26 years. Most received a diagnosis of lymphoma (33.0%), leukemia (17.9%), and breast cancer (11.6%). Data analyses are still ongoing; we are currently meeting regularly to reach consensus on our axial codes. Our final abstract will include findings from our selective coding phase, which will allow us to examine comparisons and interactions between types of work. Conclusions: Additional goals of our innovative qualitative secondary analysis are to a) to identify the most salient subtypes of biographical, illness-related, everyday, and communication work in the YA cancer context and b) to better understand how the four types of work described by theory of illness trajectories interact and whether they facilitate or hinder the performance of additional types of work.

Fault-tolerant switched reluctance motor propulsion system for eVTOLs

eVTOLs are receiving a lot of attention as a potential solution to urban air mobility challenges. Many configurations are multirotors, which are open loop unstable, therefore very susceptible to actuator failures. Due to their usually short mission duration (20-30 min), fault-tolerance of the propulsion system is of greater importance then reliability. Thus, novel approaches to enhance this capability are required. This study proposes a new fault-tolerant propulsion system using 4-phase switched reluctance motors. It is designed for an 8-10 kg scale multirotor eVTOL, to replace redundant coaxial brushless DC motors with a single fault-tolerant drive. Acknowledging the role of fault-tolerant control algorithms, the propulsion system is validated in terms of the loss of effectiveness metric, typically used in the evaluation of control solutions. The switched reluctance motor propulsion system was found to be highly resilient to open phase and current sensor faults, but susceptible to position sensor faults. This can, however, be mitigated with sensorless control solution. Extending the findings to full-scale eVTOLs is also discussed.

Penpulimab plus platinum-based chemotherapy combined with anlotinib in first-line treatment for persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer: A single-arm, open-label phase Ⅱ study (ALTN-AK105-II-06).

e17512 Background: Penpulimab is a novel human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) antibody. Anlotinib is a novel oral multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor and primary targeted to VEGFR, FGFR, PDGFR and c-Kit. ALTN-AK105-II-06 (ChiCTR2200062897) is a single-arm, open phase Ⅱ clinical trial aimed to assess the effiacy and safety of penpulimab plus chemotherapy combined with anlotinib as fist-line therapy for persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer. Methods: Eligible adults with persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer not previously treated with systemic chemotherapy and not amenable curative treatment, with CPS more than 1% PD-L1 expression, and ECOG 0-1 were considered eligible for enrolment. Patients received 2 cycles of penpulimab 200mg Q3W + chemotherapy (paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 + cisplatin 50 mg/m2 or carboplatin AUC 5) + anlotinib 10mg, following with penpulimab and anlotinib for maintenance therapy. Patients were treated on continuous 3 weeks of penpulimab for up to 2 years, until disease progression, or unacceptable toxicities. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), disease control rate (DCR), duration of response (DoR), overall survival (OS), 6-month PFS, safety and quality of life. Results: From Sep 2022 to Feb 2023, 9 patients were recruited with a median age of 56.4 years (range: 45-66), FIGO histopathological stage IIB (33.3%), III (44.5%) and IV (22.2%) were enrolled. 22.2% patients had ECOG PS 0. At data cutoff date (Feb 02, 2023), 8 patients had at least one post treatment anti-tumor assessment. 1 (12.5%) patient achieved CR, 6 (75%) patients achieved PR and 1 (12.5%) patient NE. The ORR was 87.5%. Median PFS and OS were not reached. Grade ≥3 TRAEs incidence was 44.44%. The most common grade ≥3 TRAEs were hypertension (22.22%), leukopenia (11.11%), neutropenia (11.11%) and hypertriglyceridemia (11.11%). Conclusions: This chemo-less therapy of only 2 cycles of chemotherapy combined with penpulimab + anlotinib in first-line treatment, maintaining with penpulimab and anlotinib showed promising efficacy with a favourable toxicity profile for patients with persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer. We will report more data in the future. Clinical trial information: ChiCTR2200062897 .

Rearing laying hens: the effect of aviary design and genetic strain on pullet exercise and perching behavior

IntroductionTo prepare laying hens for life in cage-free aviaries, they must be reared in aviaries that accustom them to the challenges of navigating a complex three-dimensional structure. Rearing aviaries vary in design and contain a brooding compartment in which chicks are confined during the first six weeks of age. These compartments vary greatly in their size and complexity. The present study aimed to examine the impact of environmental complexity during early life and birds’ genetic strain on their space use and forms/types of exercise.MethodsFour consecutive flocks of brown and white chicks were raised in three styles of rearing aviary with low, intermediate, or high complexity. Behavioral observations were performed at three ages during the brooding phase (weeks 1, 3, and 5) and the open phase when the brooding compartments were opened (weeks 7, 11, and 17). Behaviors observed were categorized as aerial locomotion, perching, dynamic load-bearing behavior (DLB), and wing-involved load-bearing behavior (WLB).ResultsDuring the brooding phase, chicks in aviaries of high complexity exercised most frequently (e.g., DLB events/minute: 1.75 in High vs 1.11 in Mid and 0.10 in Low, p&amp;lt;0.0001), and the effect remained for whites, but not the browns, during the open phase. White pullets exercised more than brown pullets both in brooding (e.g., 1.47 vs 1.28 DLB events/minute, p&amp;lt;0.0001) and open phases in High and Mid (e.g., 1.17 vs 0.93 DLB events/minute, housing x stain interaction p=0.009). Throughout rearing, whites had higher odds of perching than browns (brooding: 0.52 vs 0.45, p=0.04, open: 0.27 vs 0.17, p=0.0007).DiscussionWe concluded that rearing aviary design can affect behavior during the brooding phase; however, once the brooding compartments were opened, housing differences almost exclusively affected white pullets. The data suggest that genetic strain of birds must be considered in the design of pullet housing with the goal of maximizing space use and musculoskeletal development of laying hen pullets.

A public data-set for synchronous motor electrical faults diagnosis with CNN and LSTM reference classifiers

In the last two decades, motor operation monitoring tools have become a necessity, and many studies focus on the detection and diagnosis of motor electrical faults. However, at present, a core obstacle that prevents the direct comparison of such classification techniques is the lack of a standard database that can be used as a benchmark. In view of this, we offer here a public experimental data-set that has beendesigned specifically for the comparison of synchronous motor electrical fault classifiers. The data-set comprises five types of motor electrical faults: open phase between inverter and motor; short circuit/leakage current between two phases; short circuit/leakage current in phase-to-neutral; rotor excitation voltage disconnection; and variation of rotor excitation current. In addition, each fault has been recorded as a four-dimensional signal: three phase voltages; three phase currents; motor speed; and motor current. The package includes two deep-learning reference classifiers that are based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) and long short term memory (LSTM). Due to the good performance of these classifiers, we suggest that they can be used by the community as benchmarks for the development of new and better motor electrical fault classification algorithms. The database and the reference classifiers are examined and insights regarding different combinations of features and lengths of recording points are provided. The developed code is available online, and is free to use.

Toward Controlled Partial Desolvation of Guest-Responsive Metal–Organic Frameworks for Precise Porosity Control

Desolvation of guest-responsive metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) under dynamic vacuum often leads to the collapse of the pores, whereas supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2) drying is found to be the best alternative way to overcome the challenge of MOF desolvation. Nevertheless, some of the MOFs collapse during desolvation by the SC-CO2 drying method. SC-CO2 drying always leads to complete desolvation of the MOFs except the metal-coordinated solvent molecules. However, controlled and partial desolvation of the MOFs can be a possible way to restrict the pore collapse of the frameworks. The importance of nuanced desolvation is demonstrated for two isostructural tetracarboxylic acid-based Cu-MOFs (DUT-202, DUT-203). These MOFs switch to a contracted pore phase upon complete desolvation either by vacuum treatment or the SC-CO2 drying method. Therefore, a controlled desolvation technique has been used to desolvate DUT-202 and 203, while the strongly confined N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) remains coordinated, which is essential to retain the microporous nature of the framework. Acetone-exchanged Cu-MOFs were treated under an argon flow to remove the weakly connected solvent molecules inside the pores but not the strongly trapped guest molecules, and the desolvated phases were found to have an open pore phase with microporous nature. Interestingly, the contracted pore phase can be reopened by heating in DMF for several hours.

ESTIMation of the ABiLity of prophylactic central compartment neck dissection to modify outcomes in low-risk differentiated thyroid cancer: a prospective randomized trial

BackgroundProphylactic central neck dissection in clinically low-risk cT1bT2N0 papillary thyroid carcinoma is controversial, due to a large number of conflicting retrospective studies, some showing an advantage in terms of locoregional recurrence, others showing no advantage. These previous studies all show high rates of excellent response. We aim to demonstrate the non-inferiority of thyroidectomy alone as compared to total thyroidectomy with prophylactic central neck dissection in conjunction with adjuvant RAI 30 mCi with rTSH stimulation in terms of excellent response at 1 year.Trial design and methodsProspective randomized open multicenter phase III trial including patients with 11–40-mm papillary thyroid carcinoma (Bethesda VI) or suspicious cytology (Bethesda V) confirmed malignant on intra-operative frozen section analysis, with no suspicious lymph nodes on a specialized preoperative ultrasound examination. Patients will be randomized 1:1 into two groups: the reference group total thyroidectomy with bilateral prophylactic central neck dissection, and the comparator group total thyroidectomy alone. All patients will receive an ablative dose of 30mCi of radioactive iodine (RAI) within 4 months of surgery. The primary outcome is to compare the rate of excellent response at 1 year after surgery between the groups, as defined by an unstimulated serum thyroglobulin (Tg) level ≤ 0.2 ng/mL with no anti-Tg antibodies, an normal neck ultrasound and no ectopic uptake on the post-RAI scintiscan. Non-inferiority will be demonstrated if the rate of patients with excellent response at 1 year after randomization does not differ by more than 5%. Setting the significance level at 0.025 (one-sided) and a power of 80% requires a sample size of 598 patients (299 per group). Secondary outcomes are to compare Tg levels at 8 +/− 2 postoperative weeks, before RAI ablation, the rate of excellent response at 3 and 5 years, the rate of other responses at 1, 3, and 5 years (biochemical incomplete, indeterminate, and structurally incomplete responses), complications, quality of life, and cost-utility.Discussion (potential implications)If non-inferiority is demonstrated with this high-level evidence, prophylactic neck dissection will have been shown to not be necessary in clinically low-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma.Trial registrationNCT 03570021. June 26,2018

Design of the Prospective Comparison of Angiotensin Receptor-Neprilysin Inhibitor Versus Placebo in Patients With Congenital Systemic Right Ventricle Heart Failure (PARACYS-RV) Trial

The presence of a systemic right ventricle (sRV) with biventricular physiology (biV) is associated with increased patient morbidity and mortality. To date, no pharmacologic therapy for heart failure has been proven effective for patients with systolic dysfunction of the sRV-biV. We designed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial to compare sacubitril/valsartan treatment to placebo in adults (aged ≥ 18 years) with moderate-to-severe sRV-biV dysfunction and New York Heart Association functional class II to III symptoms. Two primary efficacy endpoints are assessed in the trial: exercise capacity (submaximal exercise duration) and neurohormonal activation (N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide). Secondary objectives include assessing a change in the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire score and evaluating the safety and tolerance of sacubitril/valsartan. A 6-week open run-in phase identifies the maximum tolerated dose of sacubitril/valsartan, up to 97 mg/103 mg twice daily. After a 2-week washout period, patients are randomized 1:1 to sacubitril/valsartan treatment vs placebo for a 24-week phase, followed by another 2-week washout period and subsequent crossover to the alternative treatment arm for an additional 24-week phase. Data to assess primary and secondary endpoints are collected at baseline and at the end of each phase. A total of 48 patients is required to provide > 80% power to detect a 30% difference in distance walked and in N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide levels with sacubitril/valsartan treatment vs placebo, each with a 2-sided P-value of 0.025. In summary, the Prospective Comparison of Angiotensin Receptor-Neprilysin Inhibitor vs Placebo in Patients With Congenital Systemic Right Ventricular Heart Failure Trial (PARACYS-RV) should determine the role of sacubitril/valsartan in treating heart failure in patients with sRV-biV and carries the potential to alter management of this patient population.

One Atom Can Make All the Difference: Gas-Induced Phase Transformations in Bisimidazole-Linked Diamondoid Coordination Networks.

Coordination networks (CNs) that undergo gas-induced transformation from closed (nonporous) to open (porous) structures are of potential utility in gas storage applications, but their development is hindered by limited control over their switching mechanisms and pressures. In this work, we report two CNs, [Co(bimpy)(bdc)]n (X-dia-4-Co) and [Co(bimbz)(bdc)]n (X-dia-5-Co) (H2bdc = 1,4-benzendicarboxylic acid; bimpy = 2,5-bis(1H-imidazole-1-yl)pyridine; bimbz = 1,4-bis(1H-imidazole-1-yl)benzene), that both undergo transformation from closed to isostructural open phases involving at least a 27% increase in cell volume. Although X-dia-4-Co and X-dia-5-Co only differ from one another by one atom in their N-donor linkers (bimpy = pyridine, and bimbz = benzene), this results in different pore chemistry and switching mechanisms. Specifically, X-dia-4-Co exhibited a gradual phase transformation with a steady increase in the uptake when exposed to CO2, whereas X-dia-5-Co exhibited a sharp step (type F-IV isotherm) at P/P0 0.008 or P 3 bar (195 or 298 K, respectively). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction, in situ powder XRD, in situ IR, and modeling (density functional theory calculations, and canonical Monte Carlo simulations) studies provide insights into the nature of the switching mechanisms and enable attribution of pronounced differences in sorption properties to the changed pore chemistry.