1,855 research outputs found
Intrarectal Foley catheter-assisted high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation for benign uterine diseases beyond the treatment region
No full textAbstractObjective To evaluate the feasibility of using an intrarectal Foley catheter during ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (US-HIFU) in patients with benign uterine diseases of the posterior wall beyond the HIFU therapeutic range.Methods Patients were treated with US-HIFU and lesion changes were monitored using contrast-enhanced MRI from June 2020 to September 2021. A Foley catheter was inserted into the rectum to facilitate a successful US-HIFU ablation. Complications and lesion responses were recorded during the treatment and follow-up.Results Thirteen patients with 14 lesions beyond the device’s treatable area were enrolled. The average placement time and insertion depth of the intrarectal Foley catheter was 7.6 ± 2.7 min and 23.2 ± 7.6 cm, respectively. A median of 50 mL degassed water was injected into the Foley catheter balloon. All 14 lesions were successfully pushed into a treatable area and subjected to HIFU. The average treatment time, irradiation time, and total therapeutic energy of HIFU were 44.2 ± 17.3 min, 394.4 ± 295.7 s, and 73.3 ± 46.6 kJ, respectively. The mean non-perfusion volume (NPV) in all treated lesions was 23.2 ± 19.2 cm3, and the mean NPV ratio was 57.8 ± 16.9%. Major complications were not observed.Conclusion Intrarectal Foley catheter-assisted US-HIFU is effective and safe. Its clinical application could benefit patients with benign uterine diseases outside the HIFU therapeutic range
Replication Data for: Conservation implications of Sabellaria spinulosa reef patches in a dynamic sandy-bottom environment
No full textThis dataset consists of three folders:
Bathymetry_Data (split up into two zip files per campaign year, due to large file sizes)
Endobenthos_Data
Epifauna_Data
Raw video footage is added as separate files per transect, per campaign year. Note that some video files are currently not available due to upload file size limitation; these can be requested by contacting the first author
Episodic encoding is more than the sum of its parts: An fMRI investigation of multifeatural contextual encoding
No full textEpisodic memories are characterized by their contextual richness, yet little is known about how the various features comprising an episode are brought together in memory. Here we employed fMRI and a multidimensional source memory procedure to investigate processes supporting the mnemonic binding of item and contextual information. Volunteers were scanned while encoding items for which the contextual features (color and location) varied independently, allowing activity elicited at the time of study to be segregated according to whether both, one, or neither feature was successfully retrieved on a later memory test. Activity uniquely associated with successful encoding of both features was identified in the intra-parietal sulcus, a region strongly implicated in the support of attentionally mediated perceptual binding. The findings suggest that the encoding of disparate features of an episode into a common memory representation requires that the features be conjoined in a common perceptual representation when the episode is initially experienced
Environmental and Parental Influences on Offspring Health and Growth in Great Tits (Parus major)
No full textPMCID: PMC3728352This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Experimental investigation on the aerodynamic characteristics of a bio-mimetic flapping wing with macro-fiber composites
No full textThis study describes the development of a bio-mimetic flapping wing and the aerodynamic characteristics of a flexible flapping wing. First, the flapping wing is designed to produce flapping, twisting, and camber motions by using a bio-mimetic design approach. A structural model for a macro-fiber composite (MFC) actuator is established, and structural analysis of a smart flapping wing with the actuator is performed to determine the wing configuration for maximum camber motion. The analysis model is verified with the experimental data of the smart flapping wing. Second, aerodynamic tests are performed for the smart flapping wing in a subsonic wind tunnel, and the aerodynamic forces are measured for various test conditions. Additionally, the effects of camber and chordwise wing flexibility on unsteady and quasi-steady aerodynamic characteristics are discussed. The experimental results demonstrate that the effect of the camber generated by the MFC produces sufficient aerodynamic benefit. It is further found that chordwise wing flexibility is an important parameter in terms of affecting aerodynamic performance, and that lift produced in a quasi-steady flow condition is mostly affected by the forward speed and effective angle of attack.This work was supported by grant No. R01-2005-000-
10848-0 from the Basic Research Program of the Korea
Science & Engineering Foundation. The first author
would like to thank the Brain Korea 21 Project in 2006
Central Europe in search of (lost) identity. Literary and legal findings
No full textWhy Central, and not Eastern Europe? This is the question that people from the West often ask. Central Europeans, on the other hand, do not doubt that they are not a part of the East. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the notion of Central Europe and to investigate whether a common Central European identity exists, both in the general and legal aspect. In the first, introductory part of the paper the author ventures to define the idea of Central Europe. The second part of the paper is devoted to the question of a general Central European identity. The author approaches the problem through the analysis of four authors describing the region – Milan Kundera, György Konrád, Czesław Miłosz, and Timothy Garton Ash. In the third part of the paper the author focuses on the concept of a potential Central European legal identity, whose existence is still widely debated, comparing and contrasting two opposite approaches to this problem. In the final, concluding part of the paper the author outlines the ideas for further research into the intersections between the countries of the region
De ontwikkeling van een meest optimale draagstructuur betreffende project KJ-plein te den Haag
No full textProject Koningin Julianaplein omvat een nieuw te bouwen hoogbouwproject naast Den Haag CS. Voor zover bekend heeft het bouwwerk (nog) geen officiële naam, zodat wordt volstaan met een plaatsgebonden aanduiding: project KJ – plein. Het project vormt een onderdeel van de toekomstvisie van het stationsgebied, welke weer een onderdeel vormt van het Masterplan Den Haag Nieuw Centraal. Het gebied rondom Den Haag CS profileert zich vooralsnog tot een onaantrekkelijk overgangszone tussen het historische stadcentrum en een modern kwartaal. De gemeente Den Haag schreef voor de nieuw te bouwen hoogbouw naast Den Haag CS een prijsvraag uit. Dit gebeurde in samenwerking met NS Poort en Multi Vastgoed. Het winnende ontwerp kwam van O.M.A., het architectenbureau van Rem Koolhaas. Deze ontwierp hiertoe een spraakmakende stationsentree die perfect aansluit op de stedenbouwkundige richtlijnen voor dit gedeelte van de stad. Het ontwerp omvat ruim 100.000 m² waarvan 42.000 m² is bestemd voor kantoren, 34.000 m² voor woningen en 4.300 m² voor commercie en overige voorzieningen. Daarnaast wordt onder het koningin Julianaplein parkeergelegenheid gesitueerd (11.500 m2), tezamen met een fietsenstalling (7.300 m2). Hoewel het ontwerp één geheel vormt, bestaat er een duidelijk onderscheid tussen een woon- en kantoorgedeelte. Laatstgenoemde steunt hierbij af op de woonvleugel en geldt zodoende als afhankelijk. Voor de uitvoering betekent dit dat het woongebouw voldoende gereed dient te zijn alvorens de koppeling gemaakt kan worden. Architectonisch gezien vormen beide gebouwdelen een volledige harmonie. Constructief gezien gelden echter grote verschillen. De uitdaging bevindt zich hierbij vooral in het kantoorgedeelte. Deze wordt gekenmerkt door 22 verdiepingen met aan weerszijde twee enorme overstekken. Ter versterking van het beoogde dynamische karakter kraagt het overstek, terzijde van gebouw Stichthage, over deze heen uit.Design and ConstructionCivil Engineering and Geoscience
How self-talk helps or hinders your resilience and wellness: Strategies to unlock the inherent healing power of your brain and body
No full textThe idea that self-talk has an influence on wellness, motivation, success and learning has been in public awareness for many years. Advancing studies in neuroscience have helped us better understand how deep-seated memories and trauma mould present beliefs and attitudes that affect how we deal with stress and prepare for new learning. With a variety of interactive suggestions, the presentation raises awareness of common types of negative self-talk and presents research- supported strategies.resiliencewellnessself-talkPresented at: Vancouver Community College Teaching, Learning, and Research Symposium, February 25-26, 202
Hydronium ion and water interactions with SiOSi, SiOAl, and AlOAl tetrahedral linkages
No full textThe minimum energy structures of H₆Si₂O₇, H₇SiAlO₇, and H₈Al₂O₇ have been calculated using quantum mechanical molecular orbital techniques. The calculated bond lengths and angles of H₆Si₂O₇ and H₇SiAlO₇ agree with those found in silicate and aluminosilicate minerals, but no such comparison is possible for H₈Al₂O₇ since we know of no aluminates having such an underbonded bridging oxygen (Pauling bond strength sum of 1.5). The total energies of the three molecules were used to model the stability of the SiOAI unit relative to the SiOSi and AIOAI units in framework aluminosilicates such as the feldspars and the zeolites. The calculated electronic energy for the reaction
H₆Si₂O₇ + H₈Al₂O₇ = 2H₇SiAlO₇
is positive (ca. + 20 kJ mol⁻¹). This result docs not adequately model the "aluminum avoidance rule," but the value is closer than previous calculations performed on energy optimized molecules (which gave ΔE = - 484 kJ moI⁻¹) to experimental enthalpies of mixing for the reaction
2M1/nn+AlO₂ + 2SiO₂ = 2M1/nn+AlSiO₄.
For this reaction ΔHmix = -100.4 kJ mol⁻¹ for M = Na, and ΔHmix = -75.6 kJ mol⁻¹ for M = Ca.
The calculated relative order of stability for reactions of water and hydronium ion with the hydroxyacid molecules used in this study was found to be
H₃O⁺ + SiOSi > H₃O⁺ + SiOAl
> H₂O + SiOAl
> H₃O⁺ + AlOAl
≃ H₂O + AlOAl
> H₂O + SiOSi
The results model the hydrophilic nature of aluminosilicate zeolites and the hydrophobic nature of the silicate zeolite silicalite.M.S
Current sheet axial dynamics of 2.5 kJ KSU-DPF under high pressure regime
No full textIn dense plasma focus (DPF) machines, the high-pressure (HP) regime of operation can be used as alternative technique to short-circuit (SC) test as the current sheet motion is minimal. The SC test was performed to get the right values for the static parameters of the machine. HP shots of more than 30 mbar were performed on the 2.5-kJ Kansas State University DPF machine to determine the deviation of HP values from SC values in computed static inductance and resistance. The test was performed using various gases over a wide range of molecular/atomic mass, starting from hydrogen as the lightest gas up to argon. It was found that the deviation in static inductance and resistance computed from HP method is inversely proportional to gas molecular mass at a certain pressure. The heavy gases like neon and argon were found to give the most accurate results. At 60 mbar of argon, the inductance deviation was 6.5%, and the resistance deviation was 14%. It was found also that increasing gas pressure over 30 mbar using heavy gases like Ar or Ne gives no effective improvement on the computed static impedance. Snowplow model was used to predict the axial position and the axial speed of the current sheet during the HP regime. The model showed that the average axial speed in heavy gases like argon was 0.8 cm/ μs, whereas in hydrogen, it was 1.6 cm/μs
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