How artificial intelligence and machine learning can help healthcare systems respond to COVID-19

Machine Learning - The COVID-19 global pandemic is a threat not only to the health of millions of individuals, but also to the stability of infrastructure and economies around the world. The...     

Environmental stress cracking resistance of blow moded poly(ethylene terephthalate) containers

A method is developed for determining the environmental stress cracking resistance (ESCR) of blow molded poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) containers. By this method, the internal chamber of a container is presurized in 68.9 kPa (10 psi) increments while the outside of the base is being exposed to an environmental stress cracking (ESC) agent. The base of the container is examined after each 68.9 kPa of pressurization if crazing has occurred. The process is continued until a threshold value of craze initiation pressure (CIP) can be determined. Low CIP for the type of containers tested generally corresponds to a high rate of field failures. The method does not only gage the susceptibility of different types of one-piece PET containers to ESC but also provides helpful information to improve the container designs.     

The effect of dietary lipid on polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolism in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) undergoing parr-smolt transformation

The aim of this study was to measure the changes in lipid metabolism which occur during smoltification and seawater transfer in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Duplicate groups of Atlantic salmon parr were fed diets containing either fish oil (FO) or a blend of linseed and rapeseed oils, vegetable oil (VO), from October (week 0) to seawater transfer in May (week 26). From May to August (weeks 26–43), all fish were fed a fish oil-containing diet. Fatty acyl desaturation and elongation activity were followed in isolated hepatocytes incubated with radioactive 18:3n−3 and 18:2n−6. Metabolism of 18:3n−3 was consistently around 5-fold greater than metabolism of 18:2n−6, and total metabolism of both substrate polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) was increased in fish fed both VO and FO up to seawater transfer after which desaturation activities were reduced. Desaturation activities with both 18:3n−3 and 18:2n−6 were significantly greater in fish fed VO, compared to fish fed FO, at 22 and 26 wk. Arachidonic acid (20:4n−6; AA) in liver polar lipids (PL) of fish fed VO increased consistently from weeks 0–22 but varied after seawater transfer. In fish fed FO, AA in liver PL remained constant up to week 17 before increasing at seawater transfer and leveling off thereafter. Eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n−3; EPA) in liver PL of fish fed VO decreased significantly from week 0–22 before rising at seawater transfer and increasing rapidly posttransfer. EPA in liver PL of fish fed FO showed a similar trend except EPA was always greater in the freshwater phase compared to fish fed VO. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels in liver PL of fish fed VO remained constant in the freshwater phase before increasing following seawater transfer. In fish fed FO, DHA in liver PL increased from weeks 0–17 reducing and leveling off postseawater transfer. The levels of PGF_2α and PGF_3α were measured in isolated gill cells stimulated with calcium ionophore A23187. PGF_2α production in fish fed VO increased significantly between 0–7 wk before decreasing toward seawater transfer. After transfer, PGF_2α production increased to a peak at 35 wk. PGF_2α production in fish fed FO was not significantly altered during the trial period. The changes in PGF_3α production were broadly similar to those occurring with PGF_2α, but the latter was always in excess of the former (2-to 4-fold). Plasma chloride concentrations in fish subjected to seawater challenge at 20 wk were significantly lower in fish fed VO compared to those fed FO. This study has provided new information on the changes in lipid metabolism which accompany parr-smolt transformation and suggests that diets which have a fatty acid composition more similar to that in aquatic invertebrates may be beneficial in effecting successful seawater adaptation.     

Electrohydrodynamic Precipitator Flow with a Barbed Plate Discharge Electrode

The nonuniform corona discharge in the wire-plate electrostatic precipitator results in a rotational electric body force which is a source of large-scale secondary flows and turbulence within the flow channel. The electrically induced flow causes large increases in diffusivities detrimental to the particle collection process. Since the electrode geometry and the structure of the corona discharge define the magnitude and character of the electric body force, it is theoretically possible to design a discharge electrode which minimizes electrohydrodynamic flow disturbances. As a first step in this direction, a novel planar electrode design in which electrical discharges are configured to reduce the inhomogeneities of the electric body force is experimentally studied in a negative polarity laboratory electrostatic precipitator. Hot-film anemometer measurements of the electrohydrodynamic turbulent velocity field downstream of the plate electrode are compared to those of a conventional wire-plate precipitator. Results confirm that electrode geometry has a significant role in turbulence production. Although there is some evidence that secondary flows are reduced in the planar geometry, spectral analysis of the flow downstream of the electrodes indicate that the barbed plate design increases turbulence intensity as much as 50% without reducing eddy size. Continued experimentation is necessary to fully assess the possible benefits of such a design.     

Phase Modulation With Interferometric Detection as an Alternative to Intensity Modulation With Direct Detection for Analog-Photonic Links

We analyze the performance of analog-photonic links employing phase modulation with interferometric demodulation and compare it to intensity-modulation direct-detection links. We derive expressions for RF gain, RF noise figure, compression dynamic range, and spurious-free dynamic range for both architectures. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that phase-modulated links can outperform intensity-modulated links over substantial frequency ranges.     

Are there methodological and substantive roles for affectivity in job diagnostic survey relationships?

Latent variable models analogous to those developed by L. J. Williams, M. B. Gavin, and M. L. Williams (1996) were used to investigate the measurement and nonmeasurement relationships of negative affectivity (NA) and positive affectivity (PA) with the Job Diagnostic Survey scales. Reanalyses performed on data collected as part of an organizational assessment of nonfaculty university employees (N?=?644) showed NA and PA to have weak measurement and substantive relationships with the job characteristics and affective outcomes scales. The relationships between job characteristics and job outcomes were not associated with NA. However, PA showed a weak association with these relationships. Implications for future research on affectivity's roles as substantive and methodological variables in organizational assessment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relational perspectives and the supervisory triad.

Contemporary psychoanalytic perspectives, especially those broadly labeled relational, have significant implications for how supervision is understood and conducted. Perspectivist, 2-person models of psychoanalysis may be applied to the ways supervisors construct supervisory authority, knowledge, and the transmission of clinical technique to the trainee. Specifically, a dyadic model of psychoanalysis leads to a triadic view of the supervisory process. Clinical examples are used to expand traditional concepts of parallel process and illustrate ways in which supervisor, therapist, and patient are engaged in an inevitable and ongoing system of multidirectional influence. Relational concepts—such as the value of paradox and uncertainty, the interaction between mutuality and asymmetry, locating a balance between old and new object relationships, and attending to reciprocal influences in affective shifts—are highlighted as they apply to the supervisory triad. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stillingia oil

Results of an investigation made in 1929 on the oil expressed from combined samples of stillingia seed from California, Florida and Texas are given, along with those recently obtained from an imported sample of stillingia oil. The American oil gave an iodine number of 176.1, a saponification value of 211.7, and a thiocyanogen value of 102.7, and was found to contain the following percentages of acids: Oleic 7.7, linoleic 56.3, linolenic 24.6, palmitic 4.42, stearic 1.43 and arachidic acid 0.34. The sample of Chinese oil gave an iodine number of 169.0, a saponification value of 206.2, and a thiocyanogen value of 100.7, and was found to contain the following percentages of acids: Oleic 10.4, linoleic 49.9, linolenic 25.4, palmitic 5.89, stearic 2.64 and arachidic acid 0.14. From the characteristics and composition of these samples, it would appear that stillingia is suitable for use in the manufacture of paints and varnishes. Presented at the Twelfth Fall Meeting of the American Oil Chemists' Society, Chicago, Oct. 6th and 7th, 1938.     

Impairment of Coronary Arteriolar Endothelium-Dependent Dilation after Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Inhalation: A Time-Course Study

Engineered nanomaterials have been developed for widespread applications due to many highly unique and desirable characteristics. The purpose of this study was to assess pulmonary inflammation and subepicardial arteriolar reactivity in response to multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) inhalation and evaluate the time course of vascular alterations. Rats were exposed to MWCNT aerosols producing pulmonary deposition. Pulmonary inflammation via bronchoalveolar lavage and MWCNT translocation from the lungs to systemic organs was evident 24 h post-inhalation. Coronary arterioles were evaluated 24–168 h post-exposure to determine microvascular response to changes in transmural pressure, endothelium-dependent and -independent reactivity. Myogenic responsiveness, vascular smooth muscle reactivity to nitric oxide, and α-adrenergic responses all remained intact. However, a severe impact on endothelium-dependent dilation was observed within 24 h after MWCNT inhalation, a condition which improved, but did not fully return to control after 168 h. In conclusion, results indicate that MWCNT inhalation not only leads to pulmonary inflammation and cytotoxicity at low lung burdens, but also a low level of particle translocation to systemic organs. MWCNT inhalation also leads to impairments of endothelium-dependent dilation in the coronary microcirculation within 24 h, a condition which does not fully dissipate within 168 h. The innovations within the field of nanotechnology, while exciting and novel, can only reach their full potential if toxicity is first properly assessed.