Practical Benefits Research Articles

Controllable synthesis of high-entropy alloys.

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) involving more than four elements, as emerging alloys, have brought about a paradigm shift in material design. The unprecedented compositional diversities and structural complexities of HEAs endow multidimensional exploration space and great potential for practical benefits, as well as a formidable challenge for synthesis. To further optimize performance and promote advanced applications, it is essential to synthesize HEAs with desired characteristics to satisfy the requirements in the application scenarios. The properties of HEAs are highly related to their chemical compositions, microstructure, and morphology. In this review, a comprehensive overview of the controllable synthesis of HEAs is provided, ranging from composition design to morphology control, structure construction, and surface/interface engineering. The fundamental parameters and advanced characterization related to HEAs are introduced. We also propose several critical directions for future development. This review can provide insight and an in-depth understanding of HEAs, accelerating the synthesis of the desired HEAs.

Assessing soil productivity potential in arid region using remote sensing vegetation indices

Remote sensing techniques offer practical benefits, particularly in sensitive ecosystems or areas with limited accessibility. However, field surveys allow for more accurate and detailed information about soil properties and productivity. Therefore, it is often recommended to combine remote sensing techniques with field surveys in order to obtain comprehensive and reliable results. The underlying basis of this study involves analyzing vegetation indices, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), and Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), as indicators of soil productivity. By utilizing biomass density as an additional indicator, the study aims to provide valuable insights into the productivity potential of agricultural areas. The results demonstrate a positive association between the Soil Productivity Rating (SPR) and wheat yield values for the year 2022, as evidenced by a coefficient of determination (r2) value of 0.8214. This value indicates a moderately strong correlation between the SPR classes and wheat yields. Throughout the Ripening period, the NDVI and EVI indices exhibited a relatively strong correlation coefficient (r2 = 0.987 and 0.873, respectively). On the other hand, the SAVI index displayed moderate to strong accuracy in estimating crop yield, with a coefficient of determination (r2) ranging from 0.819 to 0.908. These results suggest that the NDVI index serves as the most dependable predictor of yield during all vegetation periods. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of soil productivity, but further research using controlled trial patterns with differential reference plants is needed for validation and improvement.

A NEW INSTRUMENT TO SUPPORT EXAMINATION OF DISTAL RADIUS ON WRIST RADIOGRAPH

Objectives: To construct an instrument that supports wrist position control according to a number of shooting angles in anteroposterior and lateral position during X-ray examination. Materials and methods: Term such as criteria for evaluating wrist X-ray films, current technical status, some concepts about posture have been scientifically researched. Based on those things to provide research directions and design tool samples. A male volunteer, 36 years old agree to participate in the study, X-rays were taken in an anteroposterior and lateral position for investigation. Results and Conclusion: Initial evaluation shows that this tool is easy to use and only takes a little time to get used to the adjustment operations. The benefit that the device brings is that it helps stabilize the wrist position during X-rays, helping to adjust the angles within the range of motion of a normal person, produces more accurate wrist X-ray results, without having to take multiple scans, saving effort, machine wear and tear costs, creating practical benefits for patients, medical staff, researchers and hospital.

Determinants of Farmers’ Perceptions towards Socioecological Benefits of Agroforestry Practices in Northwestern Ethiopia

Agroforestry practices provide multiple ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. However, within the local context, local communities hold divergent perceptions regarding the various roles of agroforestry, particularly in the Afrotropical Region. Hence, understanding these drivers is critical for adopting and promoting sustainable agroforestry practices. Here, we examined the factors that influenced farmers’ perceptions towards the socioecological benefits of agroforestry practices. A multistage stratified random sampling technique was applied to select 90 households along an urban-rural gradient. The data were gathered through semi-structured questionnaires and key informant interviews and analyzed using a descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, general linear model, and redundancy analysis with the help of R software version 4.3.2. The findings showed that approximately 69.7% of the respondents strongly agreed that agroforestry practices had benefits for society and the environment. However, 11.1% were neutral, and the others disagreed. The results of the general linear model analysis showed that household age, agricultural experience, access to land certification books, and training on tree conservation had a significantly positive effect on farmers’ perceptions of the advantages of agroforestry practices. Furthermore, farmers’ perceptions of the benefits of agroforestry in terms of income generation, educational and cultural values, and climate change mitigation were dependent on household age and farming experience. Overall, this study provides useful insights into the drivers of farmers’ perceptions of the advantages of agroforestry practices in Northwest Ethiopia. The findings of this study underscore the need for policymakers and practitioners to consider sociodemographic and institutional factors that influence farmers’ perceptions when developing policies and plans to advance the adoption and promote sustainable management of agroforestry practices. This supports the widespread adoption of agroforestry practices in tropical agroecosystems.

“Activism is welcome as long as it’s peaceful”: athletic administrators’ perspectives on college athlete activism via stakeholder theory

The purpose of this study was to examine athletic department administrators’ perceptions of student-athlete activism via Stakeholder Theory. Since 2012, the United States has witnessed a resurgence of activism within sport, college sport including. While collegiate athletes’ point of views have been studied, college athletic administrators’ (e.g., an Athletic Director) point of view is missing. The researchers interviewed senior level athletic administrators utilizing Stakeholder Theory to identify key stakeholders athletic administrators find salient when a college athlete engages in activism. Results are broken down into sub-themes highlighting stakeholders with power (coaches, communications, campus administrators, and high-level campus leaders), legitimacy (proactive culture of accepted activism, personal investment, and type of activism), and urgency (public protest, real-life events of socio-cultural importance, and the athletes). This study’s importance lies in the practical benefit it provides athletic administrators and other stakeholders surrounding an athletic department as it relates to collegiate athlete activism.

Efficient and Flexible Long-Tail Recommendation Using Cosine Patterns

With the increasing use of recommender systems in various application domains, many algorithms have been proposed for improving the accuracy of recommendations. Among various dimensions of recommender systems performance, long-tail (niche) recommendation performance remains an important challenge in large part because of the popularity bias of many existing recommendation techniques. In this study, we propose CORE, a cosine pattern–based technique, for effective long-tail recommendation. Comprehensive experimental results compare the proposed approach with a wide variety of classic, widely used recommendation algorithms and demonstrate its practical benefits in accuracy, flexibility, and scalability in addition to the superior long-tail recommendation performance. 1 History: Accepted by Ramaswamy Ramesh, Area Editor for Data Science & Machine Learning. Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 72031001, 72072091, 72242101]. Supplemental Material: The software that supports the findings of this study is available within the paper and its Supplemental Information ( https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/suppl/10.1287/ijoc.2022.0194 ) as well as from the IJOC GitHub software repository ( https://github.com/INFORMSJoC/2022.0194 ). The complete IJOC Software and Data Repository is available at https://informsjoc.github.io/ .

Biomedical blockchain with practical implementations and quantitative evaluations: a systematic review.

Blockchain has emerged as a potential data-sharing structure in healthcare because of its decentralization, immutability, and traceability. However, its use in the biomedical domain is yet to be investigated comprehensively, especially from the aspects of implementation and evaluation, by existing blockchain literature reviews. To address this, our review assesses blockchain applications implemented in practice and evaluated with quantitative metrics. This systematic review adapts the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework to review biomedical blockchain papers published by August 2023 from 3 databases. Blockchain application, implementation, and evaluation metrics were collected and summarized. Following screening, 11 articles were included in this review. Articles spanned a range of biomedical applications including COVID-19 medical data sharing, decentralized internet of things (IoT) data storage, clinical trial management, biomedical certificate storage, electronic health record (EHR) data sharing, and distributed predictive model generation. Only one article demonstrated blockchain deployment at a medical facility. Ethereum was the most common blockchain platform. All but one implementation was developed with private network permissions. Also, 8 articles contained storage speed metrics and 6 contained query speed metrics. However, inconsistencies in presented metrics and the small number of articles included limit technological comparisons with each other. While blockchain demonstrates feasibility for adoption in healthcare, it is not as popular as currently existing technologies for biomedical data management. Addressing implementation and evaluation factors will better showcase blockchain's practical benefits, enabling blockchain to have a significant impact on the health sector.

Nomogram for predicting post-therapy recurrence in BCLC A/B hepatocellular carcinoma with Child-Pugh B cirrhosis

IntroductionThis study conducts a retrospective analysis on patients with BCLC stage A/B hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accompanied by Child-Pugh B cirrhosis, who underwent transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in combination with local ablation therapy. Our goal was to uncover risk factors contributing to post-treatment recurrence and to develop and validate an innovative 1-, 3-, and 5-year recurrence free survival (RFS) nomogram.MethodsData from 255 BCLC A/B HCC patients with Child-Pugh B cirrhosis treated at Beijing You’an Hospital (January 2014 - January 2020) were analyzed using random survival forest (RSF), LASSO regression, and multivariate Cox regression to identify independent risk factors for RFS. The prognostic nomogram was then constructed and validated, categorizing patients into low, intermediate, and high-risk groups, with RFS assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves.ResultsThe nomogram, integrating the albumin/globulin ratio, gender, tumor number, and size, showcased robust predictive performance. Harrell’s concordance index (C-index) values for the training and validation cohorts were 0.744 (95% CI: 0.703–0.785) and 0.724 (95% CI: 0.644–0.804), respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) values for 1-, 3-, and 5-year RFS in the two cohorts were also promising. Calibration curves highlighted the nomogram’s reliability and decision curve analysis (DCA) confirmed its practical clinical benefits. Through meticulous patient stratification, we also revealed the nomogram’s efficacy in distinguishing varying recurrence risks.ConclusionThis study advances recurrence prediction in BCLC A/B HCC patients with Child-Pugh B cirrhosis following TACE combined with ablation. The established nomogram accurately predicts 1-, 3-, and 5-year RFS, facilitating timely identification of high-risk populations.

The Primary Care and Environmental Health e-Learning Course to Integrate Environmental Health in General Practice: Before-and-After Feasibility Study.

Environmental and behavioral factors are responsible for 12.6 million deaths annually and contribute to 25% of deaths and chronic diseases worldwide. Through the One Health initiative, the World Health Organization and other international health organizations plan to improve these indicators to create healthier environments by 2030. To meet this challenge, training primary care professionals should be the priority of national policies. General practitioners (GPs) are ready to become involved but need in-depth training to gain and apply environmental health (EH) knowledge to their practice. In response, we designed the Primary Care Environment and Health (PCEH) online course in partnership with the Occitanie Regional Health Agency in France. This course was used to train GP residents from the Montpelier-Nimes Faculty of Medicine in EH knowledge. The course was organized in 2 successive parts: (1) an asynchronous e-learning modular course focusing on EH knowledge and tools and (2) 1 day of face-to-face sessions. This study assessed the impact of the e-learning component of the PCEH course on participants' satisfaction, knowledge, and behavior changes toward EH. This was a pilot before-and-after study. Four modules were available in the 6-hour e-learning course: introduction to EH, population-based approach (mapping tools and resources), clinical cases, and communication tools. From August to September 2021, we recruited first-year GP residents from the University of Montpellier (N=130). Participants' satisfaction, knowledge improvements for 19 EH risks, procedure to report EH risks to health authorities online, and behavior change (to consider the possible effects of the environment on their own and their patients' health) were assessed using self-reported questionnaires on a Likert scale (1-5). Paired Student t tests and the McNemar χ2 test were used to compare quantitative and qualitative variables, respectively, before and after the course. A total of 74 GP residents completed the e-learning and answered the pre- and posttest questionnaires. The mean satisfaction score was 4.0 (SD 0.9) out of 5. Knowledge scores of EH risks increased significantly after the e-learning course, with a mean difference of 30% (P<.001) for all items. Behavioral scores improved significantly by 18% for the participant's health and by 26% for patients' health (P<.001). These improvements did not vary significantly according to participant characteristics (eg, sex, children, place of work). The e-learning course improved knowledge and behavior related to EH. Further studies are needed to assess the impact of the PCEH course on clinical practice and potential benefits for patients. This course was designed to serve as a knowledge base that could be reused each year with a view toward sustainability. This course will integrate new modules and will be adapted to the evolution of EH status indicators and target population needs.

Real-World Safety and Outcome of First-Line Pembrolizumab Monotherapy for Metastatic NSCLC with PDL-1 Expression ≥ 50%: A National Italian Multicentric Cohort (“PEMBROREAL” Study)

Results from the phase III Keynote-024 clinical trial established pembrolizumab monotherapy as the first-line standard of care for patients with metastatic NSCLC who have PD-L1 expression ≥ 50%, EGFR, and ALK wild-type tumors. However, given the differences between patients treated in routine clinical practice and those treated in a clinical trial, real-world data are needed to confirm the treatment benefit in standard practice. Given the lack of data on large cohorts of patients with long follow-ups, we designed an observational retrospective study of patients with metastatic NSCLC who were treated with pembrolizumab, starting from its reimbursement eligibility until December 2020. The primary endpoints were PFS and OS, determined using the Kaplan–Meier method. Response and safety were also evaluated. We followed 880 patients (median follow-up: 35.1 months) until February 2022. Median PFS and OS were 8.6 months (95% CI: 7.6–10.0) and 25.5 months (95% CI: 21.8–31.6), respectively. We also found that ECOG PS, PD-L1 expression, and habitual smoking were prognostic factors for PFS, while age, sex, ECOG PS, habitual smoking and histology had an impact on OS. Multivariable analysis confirms the prognostic role of PD-L1 for PFS and of ECOG for both PFS and OS. 39.9% of patients reported an adverse event, but only 6.3% of patients discontinued therapy due to toxicity. Our results suggest a long-term benefit of pembrolizumab in the first-line setting, as well as a safety profile consistent with the results of Keynote-024. Many collected variables appear to influence clinical outcome, but results from these exploratory unadjusted analyses should be interpreted with caution.

A case report of ansa cervicalis to spinal accessory transposition graft: A new surgical technique to prevent shoulder dysfunction

Introduction and Importance: The spinal accessory nerve is at risk when performing neck dissections for head and neck cancers. Injury to this nerve can result in shoulder syndrome, which can be challenging to manage. Various nerve repair or grafting methods are available to prevent this condition. A safe, simple, and cost-effective option is the ansa cervicalis to spinal accessory transposition graft. Case Presentation: A 60-year-old Afro-Trinidadian female presented to the Outpatient clinic for evaluation of a scalp lesion and a large neck mass for a duration of one year. Preoperative tissue biopsies confirmed she had squamous cell cancer with metastatic spread to the cervical nodes. The patient underwent surgical excision of the scalp lesion and a left neck dissection with the sacrifice of the sternocleidomastoid and the left spinal accessory nerve due to tumour involvement. During the procedure, the ansa cervicalis was successfully joined to the distal remainder of the spinal accessory nerve. After the surgery, the patient fully recovered and achieved a good quality of life during the 24 months follow-up. Clinical Discussion: This is the first reported case of using the ansa cervicalis to reinnervate the trapezius muscle through the spinal accessory nerve. This procedure aims to prevent pain, muscle wasting, and adhesive capsulitis. A quality-of-life questionnaire and adequate range of motion proved the success of this procedure, demonstrating that this option provides practical, functional, and aesthetic benefits for patients. Conclusion The ansa cervicalis to spinal accessory transposition nerve graft is a valuable option for reinnervation. This case report highlights the effectiveness of this single-stage procedure in preventing shoulder syndrome. Keywords

Development and implementation of personal learning environment-based writing for publication scaffolding platform for Ph.D. Students

This research tackles the challenges Ph.D. students face in academic publishing, which are not fully addressed by existing support systems. It introduces the personal learning environment-based writing for publication (PLE-WfP) platform, created to offer extensive support in academic writing and publication. Developed and tested over ten months with thirteen Year 1 Ph.D. Chinese students at a Thai university, the platform uses a mixed-methods approach encompassing development, intervention, and feedback analysis through reflective diaries. The PLE-WfP platform, structured in individual, group, and submission stages, guides students from beginning writing to collaborative research and final publication, addressing common publishing challenges. Participants expressed a strong preference for the platform’s personalized assistance over conventional methods, highlighting its relevance, adaptability, promptness, and thoroughness. The importance of the academic community in enhancing collaborative writing, confidence, emotional regulation, and resource sharing was also emphasized. This study highlights the need for emotional and financial support in addition to cognitive and technical assistance in academic writing. By providing a novel scaffolding approach, this research contributes valuable insights and solutions to the academic community, demonstrating significant theoretical and practical benefits for global academic discourse.

Understanding Sthanika Upakrama in Karna Rogas: A Traditional Approach to Ear Disorders

This article delves into the traditional Ayurvedic approach of Sthanika Upakrama in managing Karnagata Rogas, or ear disorders, through localized treatments aimed at restoring Doshic balance and alleviating related symptoms. The study explores the methodology and results of employing Sthanika Upakrama as a holistic ear health approach, highlighting its potential benefits in modern healthcare practices. Ayurvedic scholars have outlined specialized methods, such as Karna pramarjana, Karna abhyanaga, Karna poorana, and Karna dhoopana etc, which hold promise for addressing auditory impairments. Amidst a substantial burden of auditory impairment in India, these ancient interventions offer potential solutions to contemporary challenges in auditory health. The integrated approach of Sthanika Upakrama presents a comprehensive strategy to prevent and manage ear-related ailments.

PSVI-11 Effects of S-Abscisic Acid administration on the antioxidative status and glucose absorption in the gut of rats

Abstract S-Abscisic Acid (S-ABA) is known to show various physiological functions in plants, but little information is available regarding the role of S-ABA in animals. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of S-ABA administration on the antioxidative status and the function of the gut in rats. In the Experiment 1, male 5-wk-old Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (n = 40) were randomly divided into the four groups. All groups were fed a common basal diet (MF, Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). After a week of acclimation, either saline (CON) or S-ABA at 0.002 (LOW), 0.02 (MID), or 0.2 (HIGH) mg/kg body weight (BW) was administered intragastrically for 14 d. On d 14, all rats were weighed and euthanized for collection of plasma and gut mucosal tissues. The plasma concentration of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the content of glutathione in a reduced (GSH) and an oxidized (GSSG) form in the gut mucosa was determined. The BW gain during the experimental period was significantly greater for LOW, MID and HIGH than for CON (P &amp;lt; 0.01). The plasma SOD concentration did not differ among the treatments. The mucosal GSH was greater for LOW, MID and HIGH than for CON (P &amp;lt; 0.01). In the Experiment 2, male 4-week-old SD rats (n = 36) were randomly allotted into three groups. The control (CON) was fed the AIN-93G diet while the other two groups received the diet supplemented with either 1 ppm (LOW) or 5 ppm (HIGH) S-ABA. The experimental diets were fed for 56 d. On d 21, 4 rats per treatment were employed for the intraperitoneal glucose tolerant test (IPGTT). The remainder of the animals were euthanized on d 56 for determination of the content of GSH and GSSG in the gut mucosa, the glycogen content in the liver, and the serum insulin concentration. There was no significant difference in the BW gain during the experimental period. In the IPGTT, HIGH showed greater blood glucose concentrations than CON (P &amp;lt; 0.05) at 30 and 60 min after administration. Although there was no statistical significance, the mucosal GSH was numerically greater (P = 0.11) for HIGH than for CON or LOW. The liver glycogen or serum insulin did not differ among the treatments. Those results suggest that dietary S-ABA supplementation could improve the antioxidative status through stimulating the GSH production in the gut and consequently increase the absorption of glucose in animals. Although S-ABA was indicated to be beneficial in animals, further investigations are required to verify the practical benefits of feeding S-ABA to production animals.

Work-Life Satisfaction and Job Incentives Affect Turnover Intention Mediated by Employee Engagement

In today’s era, the proactive, aggressive, and goal-oriented nature of business requires active involvement and thorough dedication from employees that can increase turnover intention. However, this study argued that work-life balance can contribute to higher levels and more stable states, that is, from a life satisfaction lens. In addition, the researcher proposed a job incentive because, in various literature studies related to human resource management (HR), the incentive was an aspect that plays a central role but can also attract, motivate and retain the workforce. Furthermore, the authors developed the theory of interpersonal love to construct employee engagement as a mediator variable that implements the conceptual model among work-life satisfaction, job incentive, and turnover intention. Questionnaires were distributed to 133 respondents who worked in startup companies and were tested with Structural Equation Modeling. The outcomes depicted that employee engagement is vital in the linkages between work-life satisfaction and job incentives toward turnover intention. Theoretically, the theory of interpersonal love revealed that they can engage in creativity and autonomy with their jobs and realize steady will benefit the employee and stay with the company. The mediating variable hypothesis was a novelty from a theoretical aspect. At the same time, practical benefits can use mediation as an approach. Keywords: theory of interpersonal love, work-life satisfaction, job incentive, employee engagement, turnover intention

Adoption of Sustainable Farming Practices in the United States: A Study on Farmer Behavior

Purpose: The aim of the study was to analyze the adoption of sustainable farming practices in the United States: a study on farmer behavior. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: The study on the adoption of sustainable farming practices in the United States revealed that a significant number of farmers are increasingly adopting methods such as crop rotation, organic farming, and reduced use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, motivated by environmental concerns and economic incentives. However, barriers to adoption include the high initial costs and perceived risk of lower yields, which deter some farmers from fully committing to sustainable practices. Despite these challenges, there is a growing trend towards sustainability, supported by governmental incentives and an increasing market demand for organically produced goods. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Diffusion of innovations theory, theory of planned behavior (TPB) &amp; social cognitive theory (SCT) may be used to anchor future studies on analyze adoption of sustainable farming practices in the United States: a study on farmer behavior. Agricultural extension services should develop specialized programs that focus on the practical benefits of sustainable practices, tailored to specific farming contexts and crops. Governments should consider offering financial incentives, such as subsidies or tax breaks, for farmers who adopt and maintain sustainable practices.

Exploring factors that influence the efficacy of functional communication training.

Understanding factors that influence the efficacy of functional communication training has both practical and conceptual benefits. The current study extended research in this area by exploring data from 95 consecutive applications of functional communication training with extinction across two independent clinics. We selected candidate predictor variables based on conceptual analysis, conducted preliminary exploratory analyses, and then selectively applied quantitative methods that are used in precision medicine to examine their accuracy and predictive utility. Treatment outcomes were better when challenging behavior was maintained by a single function than they were when it was maintained by multiple functions; however, these differences were most apparent among cases with an escape function. We also analyzed within-session responding to explore the potential influence of unprogrammed establishing operations on decrements in treatment efficacy. Our within-session measure only distinguished responders from nonresponders when escape was one of the multiple functions. Additional research is needed to validate these findings with an independent sample and to address a number of clinical conceptual issues.

Enhancing reclaimed water distribution network resilience with cost-effective meshing

Water Distribution Networks (WDNs) are critical infrastructures that ensure a continuous supply of safe water to homes. In the face of challenges, like water scarcity, establishing resilient networks is imperative, especially in regions vulnerable to water crises. This study evaluates the resilience of network designs through graph theory, including its hydraulic feasibility using EPANET software, an aspect often overlooked. Novel mathematical algorithms, including Resilience by Design (RbD) and Resilience-strengthening (RS) algorithms, provide cost-effective and resilient network designs, even with budget constraints. A novel metric, Water Availability (WA), is introduced to offer a comprehensive measure of network resilience, thereby addressing ongoing discrepancies in resilience evaluation methods. Practical benefits are illustrated through a case study in which a resilient-by-design reclaimed water network is created, and an existing equivalent non-resilient network is improved. The resilient-by-design network demonstrates remarkably better results compared to the equivalent non-resilient design, including up to a 36 % reduction in the probability of service disruptions and a nearly 65 % decrease in the annual average unserved water due to service disruptions. These findings underscore the enormous advantages of a resilience-focused network design approach. When compared to the equivalent non-resilient design, the resilient-by-design network generated effectively safeguards up to a significant 91,700m3 of water from the impacts of water disruption events over a 50-year operational period. In addition, the resilient-by-design WDN solution incurs a subtle decrease in overall costs compared to consuming tap water from the drinking WDN baseline over a 50-year operational period. These findings highlight the cost-effectiveness of the approach, even offering financial benefits. This paper builds on our previous research by expanding its scope to include resilience considerations, providing algorithms that can be easily adapted from reclaimed to drinking WDNs. Ultimately, we contribute to the enhancement of water resource management and infrastructure planning in ever-evolving urban environments.

Utilization of steel slag as partial replacement for coarse aggregate in concrete

The utilization of steel slag for industrial and construction purposes has gained significant attention in recent years due to its abundant availability and potential environmental benefits. This study explores the feasibility of utilizing steel slag as a coarse aggregate in concrete, aiming to determine the optimal replacement percentages for desired mechanical and structural properties. Experimental investigations were conducted, substituting steel slag for conventional coarse aggregate in varying proportions. The concrete mixtures were tested for compressive strength, flexural strength, workability, and other parameters. The results demonstrate the promising potential of incorporating steel slag as a partial replacement for coarse aggregate. The mixture with 30% steel slag replacement exhibited favorable strength properties and workability. Both compressive and flexural strengths showed significant improvement, highlighting the viability of steel slag as an alternative to conventional coarse aggregate. The findings provide valuable guidance for engineers, researchers, and decision-makers in the construction industry regarding the practical benefits and considerations of using steel slag in concrete mixtures. This utilization promotes resource efficiency, reduces environmental impact, and maintains or enhances the mechanical and workability properties of concrete.

Orthopaedic Sport Medicine Surgeons and Fellows Value Immersive Virtual Reality for Improving Surgical Training, Procedural Planning, and Distance Learning

BackgroundOverall, the potential utility of iVR technology in orthopaedic surgery is promising. The attitudes of medical students and surgical trainees on VR simulated surgical training have been overwhelmingly positive. However, further research and understanding of the attitudes of practicing orthopaedic surgeons and Fellows are needed to appreciate its benefits for clinical practice. PurposeThe purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes of Canadian orthopaedic surgeons and Fellows on the value of iVR for surgical training, clinical practice, and distance learning. MethodsForty-three orthopedic surgeons and Fellows attended a VRthrscopy™ Knee Module (Conmed Corporation, Largo, USA) demonstration. The view and audio from the lead headset were cast to a large screen so the audience could follow the procedure in real-time. Immediately after the presentation, the audience members were given a paper questionnaire assessing their perceptions and attitudes toward iVR or use in orthopaedic learning, clinical practice and distance education and mentoring. ResultsiVR was perceived to be valuable for the field of orthopaedic surgery. All 13 questions were rated with mean Likert scores of five or greater indicating observed value for all 13 questions. The respondents indicated that iVR had value (score of 5 or greater) in each questionnaire domain, with agreement ranging from 78-98% for teaching and learning, 66-97% for clinical practice, and 88-100% for distance education and mentoring questions. ConclusionThis study has demonstrated that a group of Canadian sport medicine orthopedic surgeons and Fellows had favourable attitudes towards, and perceived that iVR has value in, orthopaedic surgical training, clinical practice, and distance learning and mentorship. The potential for utilizing iVR technology for distance learning, mentorship and global education appears promising.