Intermittent Periods Research Articles

Optimization of DIC-Tripolium Ecofriendly Extraction Process: Recovery of Hesperidin from Orange Byproducts, Antioxidant and α-Amylase Inhibition of Extracts.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of an innovative ecofriendly process-instant controlled pressure drop technology, also known as "détente instantanée contrôlée" or DIC-coupled with Tripolium extraction (DIC-Tripolium), on the hesperidin recovery, and antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of orange byproduct extracts. A DIC pretreatment was applied to partially dried orange byproducts (~16% wet basis). A central composite rotatable design (CCRD), composed of 13 experimental trials (four factorial points, four-star points, and five repetitions for the central point), was followed by a Tripolium process consisting of successive intermittent extraction periods using ethanol/water solvent at 20 ± 1 °C, 5 kPa for 5 min and m/v ratio = 5 g/50 mL. The DIC pretreatment, coupled with the Tripolium process, increased the extractability of hesperidin (from 1.55- to 4.67-fold compared to untreated DIC orange byproducts). The radical scavenging activities of the extracts were also enhanced or preserved in different DIC-Tripolium extracts. The α-Amylase inhibition percentage varied between 55.6 ± 0.02 and 88.30 ± 0.01% according to DIC-Tripolium conditions. The multi-criteria optimized condition of DIC-Tripolium extraction, allowing for the maximization of the hesperidin content, radical scavenging activities, iron chelating activity, and α-amylase inhibition of extracts, corresponds to a DIC saturated steam pressure of 599.4 kPa and a DIC pretreatment time of 38 s.

1820-PUB: To Compare the Average TIR Metric in Type 2 DM Population across Two Specialty Centers in Urban India Using Different Strategies for CGM Guided Management

Methodology: We analyzed FGM Libre pro data of 394 patients from Centre - 1 and 200 patients from Centre - 2 over last 1 year for Type 2 DM patients visiting 2 different specialty clinics. Centre - 1 was analyzing the data for the blinded CGM at the end of 14 days and capturing the TIR data and making management decisions. Centre - 2 was calling the patient on day 7, analyzing the data, making therapeutic changes and capturing the TIR data at end of 14 days period and making further therapeutic changes. Discussion/Conclusion: Use of CGM in type 2 DM patients in routine clinic practice is used at very few centers across India due to various challenges including cost of monitoring in a self-pay market. There is a constant search for innovating means to economize cost of treatment and optimize the use of resources. Hence, the practice of calling patients at least once in the intermittent period back to the clinic, while on the blinded CGM to analyze the data and make lifestyle and therapeutic changes, the benefits of which may be seen at the end of 14 days period may seem feasible in Indian settings. This strategy often results in improving TIR metrics at the end of 14 day period as most type 2 patients doing CGM in India may not repeat the same more than 1-2 times per year. Disclosure A.Sowani: None. P.M.Chawla: None. M.S.Chawla: None.

Distal fluvial to lacustrine/palustrine carbonate facies of the El-Ris Formation (Late Miocene?) at the Bahariya Depression, Western Desert, Egypt: Depositional model and controls

This article aims to discuss the distal fluvial to lacustrine/palustrine carbonate facies of the El-Ris Formation (Late Miocene?) in the Bahariya Depression (Western Desert, Egypt), in terms of their depositional evolution and factors (base-level, climate, tectonics) controlling deposition. The El-Ris Formation disconformably overlies the Lower Cenomanian Bahariya Formation. It is up to 11 m thick, and includes siliciclastic facies, followed upward by carbonate facies. The siliciclastic facies consist of greenish-white, fine-grained calcareous sandstones interbedded with subordinate yellowish-brown mudrocks having insects ichnofossils reflecting deposition in a distal fluvial distributary system. The carbonate facies include the fossiliferous (mostly ostracods and a few dispersed gastropods, Lanistes carinatus,) fine crystalline lacustrine/palustrine carbonates, and calcretes-dolocretes. The lacustrine/palustrine beds are grey to pale-yellow colored massive dolomitic beds, with exposure features, reflecting deposition in a shallow, low-gradient (marginal) lake with frequent base-level changes. Calcretes-dolocretes are nodular to massive orange beds, developed at the expense of siliciclastic facies, that formed a fringe between the distal alluvial and central lacustrine-palustrine environments. Palustrine carbonate and duricrust (calcrete/dolocrete) facies increase progressively toward the top of the studied rock unit. The development of silica nodules in the palustrine facies is a result of intense evaporation just above the water table. Silica could have been released by silicate dissolution from the host alluvial deposits into the groundwater. δ13C and δ18O data indicate a hydrologically closed palustrine/lacustrine environment fed by meteoric waters, that originally precipitated calcite. Progressive evaporation of freshwater in this closed system led to dolomitization. The upward increase of carbonates in the El-Ris Formation reflects a progressive decrease of a terrigenous clastic supply in the source area and a dominance of carbonate development in the study area. During the deposition of the El-Ris Formation, the climate had marked more arid seasons with fewer intermittent humid periods. Also, the tectonic influence cannot be ruled out, since tectonic instability led to the creation of the basin depression and subsequent accommodation space that made the deposition of the El-Ris Formation.

The Role of RNA Sensors in Regulating Innate Immunity to Gammaherpesviral Infections.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are double-stranded DNA oncogenic gammaherpesviruses. These two viruses are associated with multiple human malignancies, including both B and T cell lymphomas, as well as epithelial- and endothelial-derived cancers. KSHV and EBV establish a life-long latent infection in the human host with intermittent periods of lytic replication. Infection with these viruses induce the expression of both viral and host RNA transcripts and activates several RNA sensors including RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs), Toll-like receptors (TLRs), protein kinase R (PKR) and adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADAR1). Activation of these RNA sensors induces the innate immune response to antagonize the virus. To counteract this, KSHV and EBV utilize both viral and cellular proteins to block the innate immune pathways and facilitate their own infection. In this review, we summarize how gammaherpesviral infections activate RNA sensors and induce their downstream signaling cascade, as well as how these viruses evade the antiviral signaling pathways to successfully establish latent infection and undergo lytic reactivation.

Soft tissue dimensional change using customized titanium healing abutment in immediate implant placement in posterior teeth

BackgroundThe morphologic and dimensional alveolar bone is significant for resorption in the first 3 months after tooth removal because they restrict treatment outcomes with respect to function and esthetic. Following teeth extraction, the width and height of the alveolar ridge contour are reduced in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions. Following implant placement, the gingival morphology should be changed minimally compared to pre-extraction. Surrounding natural-like tissue is also an ultimate goal of the dental implant treatment, which is correlated with the cervical third contour on the anatomical tooth, for comfortable cleansing, food impaction avoidance, and esthetics.PurposeTo evaluate the peri-implant soft tissue changes after immediate implant placement (IIP) with the use of a customized titanium healing abutment in the posterior teeth.MethodDigital impressions using the intraoral scanner (MEDIT i500) were taken from 30 patients. Customized titanium healing abutments were designed and milled before extraction. Flapless extractions were done using surgical guides, 32 immediate implants placement were done in posterior areas, and healing abutments were placed. Soft tissues were scanned during pre-operation, and post-surgery during the 1st, 3rd, and 6th months. A 3D analysis program (Final Surface) evaluated the gingival margin distance, height, contour width, and volume in each period. SPSS was used to analyze the data with a p-value = 0.05. The between-time interval comparisons were done and the analysis was done using a Multivariate test.ResultsCustomized titanium healing abutments used in immediate implantation maintained optimal peri-implant mucosa. In intermittent periods, there was no significant reduction in all aspects of the margin distances and heights. During the entire period, the margin height reduction on the buccal, lingual, mesial, and distal was 0.63 mm, 0.93 mm, 0.08 mm, and 0.24 mm, respectively, and contour width reduction on the buccal, lingual, and buccolingual was 0.59 mm, 0.43 mm, and 1.03 mm, respectively. There was a significant reduction in the total buccolingual contour width in the 1st month and total volume in the 3rd to 6th months.ConclusionsImmediate implant placement with customized titanium healing abutment can achieve the optimal peri-implant mucosa and this protocol is an alternative for soft tissue management.

Uncertainty and coping in patients with newly diagnosed indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (iNHL).

7568 Background: iNHLs are a heterogenous group of incurable diseases with prolonged illness courses requiring intermittent periods of surveillance and treatment. Due to illness uncertainty, patients with iNHL struggle with immense psychological distress. Yet, studies exploring coping, prognostic uncertainty and distress in this population are limited. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study of adults (age ≥ 18) newly diagnosed with iNHL at a single academic center. We enrolled consecutive patients who were diagnosed ≤ 3 months prior to study enrollment. At baseline, we collected patient reported outcomes to assess QOL (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy), psychological symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), prognostic understanding (Prognostic Awareness Impact Scale), and coping (Brief COPE). We categorized coping as approach-oriented (active coping, use of emotional support, positive reframing, acceptance) and avoidant (behavioral disengagement, denial, and self-blame). We used median split to differentiate between low and high utilizers of approach or avoidant coping. Results: We enrolled 70.6% (48/68) of eligible patients newly diagnosed with iNHL (mean age 66.8 yrs; 39.6% chronic lymphocytic leukemia/ lymphoma; 33.3% follicular lymphoma). At baseline, nearly one-third (31.2%) experience clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression. 45.8% of patients identified prognostic uncertainty as the “the most stressful part of being a patient,” and 31.2% reported having “difficulty letting go of thoughts about their prognosis.” Notably, patients had significant misperceptions about their prognosis with incurable iNHL, as 47.9% reporting that a cure was at least ‘somewhat’ likely. Patients with iNHL most often used acceptance (56.3%), denial (47.9%), and emotional support (47.9%) as coping strategies. Patients who were high utilizers of multiple approach-oriented coping strategies experienced fewer anxiety (B = -2.66, p = 0.01) and depression (B = -1.73, p = 0.02) symptoms and improved QOL (B = 9.43, p = 0.001). Patients who highly utilized any avoidant-oriented coping strategies experienced increased anxiety symptoms (B = 2.16, p = 0.05), but no difference in depression symptoms or QOL. Conclusions: Patients with iNHL report immense prognostic uncertainty and psychological distress. Use of multiple approach oriented coping strategies was associated with decreased psychological distress and improved QOL. Interventions to address prognostic uncertainty and to promote approach oriented coping in patients with iNHL are sorely needed and have the potential to ameliorate psychological distress and improve QOL in this vulnerable population.

0580 Patient Experiences With Sodium Oxybate Therapy for Narcolepsy: A Social Listening Analysis

Abstract Introduction Narcolepsy is a disorder of hypersomnolence with intermittent periods of sleep, hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. Social listening (SL) analyzes real-world data on social media to provide information on disease symptoms and impacts to inform clinicians about a community’s unmet needs. This research used SL with a proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) engine, which leverages natural language processing (NLP) to understand experiences of people living with narcolepsy treated with sodium oxybate (SO), a twice-nightly medication. Methods Using the proprietary AI engine to analyze text-based conversations, we evaluated 25,018 posts/comments from 15,280 participants which occurred from August 2011 to October 2022 from the subreddit r/Narcolepsy and a private Facebook group. Using a clinical entity recognition tagger, leveraging medicine ontology, conversations were filtered by mentions of (1) second dosage (e.g., second dose, 2nd) and (2) sodium oxybate (e.g., Xyrem, SO) to build a co-occurrence network for conversations discussing second doses of SO. Surveys and interviews were used to document patient SO experiences (Facebook, Discord channels, other networked contacts). Results Of 4275 subreddit users who mentioned SO, 398 (9.3%) communicated challenges with taking a second SO dose. The co-occurrence network revealed that second SO dose was co-mentioned with physical (e.g., nausea, headache) and mental (e.g., anxiety, depression, eating disorder) conditions. Of survey participants (N = 87 completed: patients, n = 85; caregivers, n = 2), 75% reported missing the second SO dose; effects included poor sleep quality, increased daytime sleepiness, mental health issues (especially depression), muscle spasms, work/school absences, and brain fog. Injuries resulting from waking to take the second dose (e.g., falls, stitches, concussions) were reported by 32%. Taking the second dose late (>4 hours after) was reported by 59% of patients. Effects of late dosing included grogginess, headache, and oversleeping, leading to school/work tardiness and missed responsibilities. When asked if a once-at-bedtime, premeasured SO dose would be safer, 76% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed. Conclusion The second nightly SO dose is associated with sleep-related issues for people with narcolepsy and their caregivers. Both the SL analysis and survey revealed that a missed/delayed second dose of SO decreased daily functioning, quality of life, and physical health. Support (if any) Avadel Pharmaceuticals.

1039 The Progression of Sleep-Related Breathing Disorders in a Patient with Joubert syndrome

Abstract Introduction Joubert syndrome (JS) is a rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by malformations of the cerebellar vermis, hypotonia, developmental delay, and respiratory variability. Among the potential health challenges that children with congenital malformations of the central nervous system including JS, may face, sleep concerns are frequent and may include sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBDs). Report of case(s) A 17-month-old female with JS was referred to the pediatric pulmonary clinic due to disrupted and fragmented sleep. She had frequent nocturnal awakenings, snoring, mouth breathing, and witnessed apneas. There was no family history of SRBDs. Physical exam was notable for high-arched palate, diffuse hypotonia, and intermittent periods of tachypnea followed by apneas, even when awake. Her polysomnography (PSG) demonstrated an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 27.1/hour, with the obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (oAHI) of 18/hr with central apnea index (CAI) of 9.1/hr and nadir oxygen saturation (SpO2) of 87%. An attempt was made to initiate supplemental oxygen; however, the patient did not tolerate the cannula. At that time, neither adenoid nor tonsillar hypertrophy were noted and surgical intervention was not indicated. The repeat PSG one year later demonstrated AHI of 9.1/hour, oAHI of 4.7/hr with CAI of 4.4/hr and nadir SpO2 of 84%. At this time, she did demonstrate enlarged adenoids and tonsils and underwent adenotonsillectomy with some clinical improvement in snoring. Her mother noted continued pauses in breathing and post operative PSG demonstrated AHI of 12.8/hour, oAHI of 1.4/hr and CAI of 11.4/hr and nadir SpO2 of 79%. The patient had demonstrated worsening episodic tachypnea and central apneas and the decision was made to attempt initiation of a respiratory assist device to regulate breathing and ventilation. Due to the patient’s age, intensive therapy desensitization is required to allow her to tolerate positive airway pressure therapy. Conclusion Patients with JS are at high risk for complex SRBDs as part of their clinical presentation. It is therefore important to carefully monitor the character of sleep-disordered breathing, offering appropriate treatments where indicated. It is important to note the added challenges of young pediatric patients who often require deliberate desensitization interventions to proceed with successful treatment. Support (if any)

Experimental study of a low-cost ceiling cooling system in the north Algerian climate

This experimental study aimed to characterize the performance of a new type of radiant ceiling heating/cooling system in terms of thermal comfort and energy savings in a room of a building located in northeastern Algeria. Good insulation was applied to the room located on the ground floor after studying its heat losses and gains. Tests were conducted during the summer period, more precisely in June, to evaluate the thermal conditions of the room during the intermittent periods of operation of the radiant ceiling system. Results showed that the room's ambient temperature decreased by 1.1 °C after 15 min of operating the cooling system during the first day of the experiment and remained below 27.2 °C throughout all the experimental days regardless of the outdoor temperature. The system was highly efficient, did not require daily use, and reduced cooling energy consumption by 89%. Despite the primitive and simple materials and tools used to manufacture the radiant panels (diffusers), the system produced satisfactory results at 38 EU/m2.

Selective Evaporation at the Nozzle Exit in Piezoacoustic Inkjet Printing

``Ugh, not again! Something's wrong with this printer\dots{}'' In inkjet printing the nozzles in the printhead have intermittent idle periods, during which the ink can evaporate from the nozzle exit. Inks are usually multicomponent, and each component has its own characteristic evaporation rate, resulting in concentration gradients within the ink that can alter the jetting process. Through experiments, analytical modeling, and numerical simulations, the authors unravel the complex physicochemical hydrodynamics associated with the drying of ink at a printhead nozzle.

Research on the Flexible Heating Model of an Air-Source Heat Pump System in Nursery Pig Houses

Maximizing the utilization of renewable energy for heating is crucial for reducing energy consumption in pig houses and enhancing energy efficiency. However, the mismatch between peak solar radiation and peak heat load demand in nursery pig houses results in energy waste. Therefore, we investigated a flexible air-source heat pump system (F-ASHP) based on the hourly-scale energy transfer of solar energy. A theoretical calculation model for F-ASHPs in pig houses in the heating areas of northern China has been established through on-site testing and Simulink. This study investigated the heat storage and release of four energy storage materials in pens and the variation in heat load in the house, validating the accuracy of the model. The results show that the F-ASHP can effectively match the peak solar heat and peak heat load in the house. Among the four energy storage materials in pens, the magnesium oxide heat storage brick material performed the best. During intermittent solar periods, it released 3319.20 kJ of heat, reducing the heat load in the pig house by 10.1% compared with that by the air-source heat pump (ASHP). This study provides a theoretical model for flexible heating calculations in pig houses in northern China and aims to serve as a valuable resource for selecting energy-storage pens.

Rainfall intensity and intermittency over timescales of minutes: Measurement using low sampling-rate acoustic recording

The acoustic recording of rainfall is well established in marine research and monitoring, but less so for application on land. It has several advantages, including the capacity to record the arrival of rainfall at an acoustic sensor with zero latency, and to identify the start and end times of a period of rainfall with high temporal precision. Acoustic data can provide accurate raining time, and in combination with conventional TBRG data that provide rainfall amount, can allow intensity to be characterised significantly more accurately than can be done with a TBRG alone. Conventional acoustic recording generates very large data files (Gb per hour). The solution proposed here is to log the microphone signal much less often - say, only every 10 s. Including date and time stamping of each data point, the resulting files occupy only about 50 kb per hour, or ∼ 1.2 Mb per day. A logger equipped with a suitable SD card could thus store acoustic data covering many years, sufficient for long-term deployment. Using a 10 s sampling, the detection of short showers and brief periods of intermittency is also achieved at low cost. It is proposed here that an effective setup for data collection targeting the analysis of rainfall intensity and intermittency would consist of a standard TBRG (for rainfall amounts) co-located with an acoustic recording system as outlined here. Proof-of-concept data are presented.

Winter and summer sedimentary dynamic process observations in the sea area off Qinhuangdao in the Bohai Sea, China

Sedimentary processes in marginal seas play an important role in the biology, physics, and geochemistry as well as ecology of coastal environments and contain abundant information about the material transfer from land to ocean and the regional circulation. Due to the huge sediment discharge of the Yellow River, the Bohai Sea, China is one of the areas with the highest suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in the world. Interestingly, the SSC at the west of the Bohai Sea is low all year round. Thus, it is of great significance to examine the sedimentary dynamic process in this area for better understanding the circulation structure, material exchange and regional environment of the Bohai Sea. Using seabed base observation platform measurements obtained in February 2017 and August 2019, this study examines the winter and summer hydrography and suspended sediment concentration in the sea area off Qinhuangdao located to the west of the Bohai Sea. In summer, the relatively weak residual currents flowed northeastward and showed little correlation with the wind field, especially in the middle layer of the water column. In winter, the residual currents were strengthened, flowing to the northeast during strong wind periods, and predominantly to the southwest during intermittent periods. Moreover, driven by the pressure gradient force associated with the wind-induced sea surface height variations, the winter current was closely related to the wind speed, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.4 to 0.6 and a time lag of 10 h. The summer SSC was lower and mainly controlled by the tidal current, whereas in winter, owing to the enhanced Reynolds stress and turbulent kinetic energy, strong wind bursts triggered significant sediment resuspension and led to a higher SSC. For the suspended sediment flux (SSF), the advection terms contributed more than 80% in the winter and summer, while the vertical circulation terms contributed 13% in winter, and approximately half that much in summer. Generally, the suspended sediment is transported back and forth, with a little net northward and northeastward motions in winter and summer, respectively. This may explain the low SSC sustaining in coastal Qinhuangdao all year round. These results provide a reference for sedimentary studies conducted in other coastal waters, especially in monsoon-dominating shelf seas.

Influence of water content on clay deformation characteristics subjected to periodic intermittent loading

The influence of clay's drainage and reconsolidation behavior during the intermittent period on clay's deformation needs to be further studied. Dynamic loads, such as traffic and earthquake, etc., have a certain intermittent period during the loading process. This study examined the deformation behavior of the clay obtained from Nanchang under various cyclic stress ratios (CSR) and water content conditions. The results demonstrated that minor strain rebound occurs in all intermittent periods. Aside from that, drainage reconsolidation during intermittent periods alters the pattern of strain accumulation during subsequent loading periods, and cyclic stress levels and water content conditions can impact the intermittent effects. In contrast, the development of strain in the samples under intermittent loading is more negatively impacted by high CSR and low water content (deviation from optimal water content). The hysteresis curve continued to change throughout the test, the accumulation and dissipation of excess pore water pressure changed, and it was found that the samples' resilient modulus had increased, indicating an improvement in the samples' resistance to deformation.

Uncontrolled neural stem cell proliferation affects larval survival during dietary nutrient withdrawal.

Regulated stem cell proliferation during development is critical to produce and organize all the cell types required in the adult organism. In some developing organisms that experience intermittent periods of starvation, stem cell physiology adapts dynamically, presumably to ensure optimal development. In the developing Drosophila brain, there are two populations of neuroblasts (neural stem cells) that respond differently to dietary nutrient starvation: one subtype is sensitive to systemic nutrient levels and ceases dividing, while the other continues to divide regardless of dietary nutrient availability. Previous work has shown that this behavior is mediated by a cell-intrinsic genetic program involving the Eyeless and myc transcription factors. We set out to understand whether arrest of neuroblast proliferation plays a role in larval survival during starvation. We forced all neuroblasts in the developing brain to continue to proliferate during dietary nutrient withdrawal by overexpressing myc and Eyeless and measured larval survival over time. Larvae with abnormal enforced neuroblast proliferation died at a faster rate than control larvae, suggesting that the arrest of neuroblast proliferation is critical for larval survival during periods of starvation. Our results are consistent with the idea that neuroblasts which arrest their proliferation are involved in reallocating nutrients to the other persistently dividing neuroblast subtype in a form of nervous system sparing.

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Differential effects of continuous and intermittent daytime food deprivation periods on metabolism and reproductive performance in diurnal zebra finches

We investigated whether food availability effects on metabolism and reproduction are the result of the sum effect of daily feeding (food availability) and starvation (food deprivation) periods. Adult zebra finches were paired and subjected to a time-restricted feeding (TRF) regimen consisting of continuous and intermittent daytime food deprivation periods. Birds were given food during the 12-h day for a total of 4-h in the evening (1 *4-h, hour 8–12), or in 2 splits of 2 h each (2 * 2-h) or 4 splits 1 h each (4 * 1-h), with controls on food ad libitum, until they had the first egg clutch. TRF caused significant changes in hepatic expression of metabolism-associated sirt1, egr1, pparα and foxo1 genes despite no difference in the food intake, body mass and blood glucose levels. Importantly, TRF resulted in a significant reduction in plasma testosterone and estradiol levels, delayed nest-building and egg laying, and reduced clutch size. Concurrently, under TRF regimes, we found a significantly lower expression of th and mtr genes linked with motivation and affiliation (but not of dio2, dio3, gnrh1 and gnih genes linked with gonadal maturation) in the hypothalamus, and of star and hook 1 genes in the testes and star, cyp19 and erα genes in the ovary. These results demonstrate the importance of daily food deprivation times on the metabolism and reproduction, and suggest a possible provisioning of energy available from daily feeding for the maintenance of body condition at the expense of reproduction performance in diurnal animals.

L-H transition studies on MAST: power threshold and heat flux analysis

Spherical tokamaks are known to differ from conventional tokamaks in a number of physics areas, but our understanding is limited by a comparative lack of experimental data. A comprehensive study of the density dependence of the H-mode power threshold P LH on the mega-amp spherical tokamak (MAST) is presented, mapping out the low-density and high-density branches, and describing different types of L-H transitions and intermediate behaviours. Transitions at low densities are characterised by longer preceding 3–4 kHz I-phase oscillations or intermittent periods. Commonly used P LH scalings underestimate the experimental values in this data set by at least an order of magnitude, and a fit to the high-density branch gives . To investigate the possibility of a critical edge ion heat flux, transitions of different densities and neutral beam heating powers were analysed with the interpretative transport code TRANSP, revealing that the heat flux possesses a density dependence independent of the net power. The density dependence of the electron heat flux and ion heat flux is caused by a decrease in beam heating efficiency for lower densities, with the fraction of injected power heating the plasma decreasing from 80% to 20% at low densities. Low-density discharges have greater fast ion orbit and charge-exchange losses, which are seen in Mirnov signals as chirping 50–20 kHz modes and broadband MHD at 150–250 kHz. The captured beam power estimate by TRANSP, which only corrects for shine-through losses, is a significant overestimate for low-density plasmas on MAST. If the P LH study is adjusted to account for all losses, the scatter in H-mode points is reduced and the density exponent is increased to . A residual low-density branch remains due to the variation.

Unintentional ingestion of putative delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol by two youth requiring critical care: a case report

BackgroundDelta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a psychoactive cannabinoid from the cannabis plant that can be synthetically converted from cannabidiol (CBD). Most states permit the full or restricted sale of hemp and hemp-derived CBD products, and therefore, delta-8 THC products are on the rise. Delta-8 THC consumption can cause intoxication. Products are often sold in edible form and occasionally in packaging that appears similar to candy. Clinical presentations for delta-8 THC ingestions are understudied and may differ from those described for delta-9 THC ingestions.Case presentationThis case report describes unintentional ingestions of putative delta-8 THC by two pediatric patients that results in admission to the pediatric intensive care unit. The ingestions were of putative delta-8 THC infused product that resembled popular candies. Both patients developed periods of bradypnea with continued intermittent periods of agitation. Medical intervention included observation, noninvasive positive pressure ventilation via high flow nasal cannula, and intubation—but was not needed for both patients. Although family noted ongoing irritability for the patients, both were discharged approximately 45 h after ingestion. Delta-8 THC ingestion is reliant on self-report.ConclusionsAs the availability of delta-8 THC increases, along with associated pediatric exposures, it is imperative for health care providers to quickly recognize and provide adequate treatment. While there is no specific antidote for THC intoxication beyond supportive care, providers can play an important role in prevention by educating parents and guardians on safe cannabis storage and by documenting cases for adverse event monitoring.

Influence of periodic cyclic loading and rest period on soft clay consolidation

Railways are often subjected to periodic cyclic loading and intermittent rest periods. Excessive consolidation settlements can affect the performance of railway tracks built on the soft subgrade. The consolidation behaviour under railway loading conditions with rest periods has not been evaluated thoroughly. In this study, laboratory testing was conducted to investigate the influence of periodic cyclic loading and rest periods on the consolidation of Holocene soft clay from Ballina NSW. The specimens were subjected to a loading frequency of 1 Hz for 54 h with multiple rest periods. The recorded settlements and excess pore-water pressures (EPWP) during cyclic consolidation were employed to determine the corresponding hydraulic gradient, void ratio, resilient (dynamic) modulus and damping ratio. The settlement and accumulated EPWP can be observed during cyclic loading. In contrast, settlements do not occur within a rest period, despite the rapidly dissipating EPWP at the start of a given rest period. The maximum EPWP and settlements decrease as the number of resting period increases. An analytical model capturing the effect of cyclic loading and rest period is proposed where the unique relationships between the hydraulic gradient and the flow rate are established.