Use of Transient Time Response as a Measure to Characterize Phononic Crystal Sensors

Phononic crystals are periodic composite structures with specific resonant features that are gaining popularity in the field as liquid sensors. The introduction of a structural defect in an otherwise periodic regular arrangement can generate a resonant mode, also called defect mode, inside the characteristic band gaps of phononic crystals. The morphology, as well as the frequency in which these defect modes appear, can give useful information on the composition and properties of an analyte. Currently, only gain and frequency measurements are performed using phononic crystal sensors. Other measurements like the transient response have been implemented in resonant sensors such as quartz microbalances showing great results and proving to be a great complimentary measure to the gain and frequency measurements. In the present paper, a study of the feasibility of using the transient response as a measure to acquire additional information about the analyte is presented. Theoretical studies using the transmission line model were realized to show the impact of variations in the concentration of an analyte, in this case, lithium carbonate solutions, in the transient time of the system. Experimental realizations were also performed showing that the proposed measurement scheme presents significant changes in the resulting data, indicating the potential use of this measure in phononic crystal sensors. This proposed measure could be implemented as a stand-alone measure or as a compliment to current sensing modalities

Patient-individual hip cups: simulation-based design and sheet metal forming manufacturing

The revision of an hip prosthesis can have different reasons. One frequent cause, especialley after implantation of a conventional cup, is the so called stress-shielding effect which can lead to a migration or loosening. Patientspecific hip cups can be used to counteract this. However, individual hip cups are only implanted for the treatment of great deformations or tumours because of the cost-intensive manufacturing. Within this project a patient-specific hip cup prosthesis has to be developed and manufactured. Besides the numerical design by means of a coupling between multi-body simulation (MBS) and finite element method (FEM), an inovative concept for the production of patientindividual hip prosthesis out of titanium sheets is introduced in this study.DF

Use of Transient Time Response as a Measure to Characterize Phononic Crystal Sensors

Phononic crystals are periodic composite structures with specific resonant features that are gaining strength in the field as liquid sensors. The introduction of a structural defect in an otherwise periodic regular arrangement can generate a resonant mode, also called defect mode, inside the characteristic band gaps of phononic crystals. The morphology, as well as the frequency in which these defect modes appear, can give useful information on the composition and properties of an analyte. Currently, only gain, and frequency measurements are performed using phononic crystal sensors. Other measurements like the transient response have been implemented in resonant sensors such as quartz microbalances showing great results and proving to be a great complimentary measure to the gain and frequency measurements. In the present paper, a study of the feasibility of using the transient response as a measure to acquire additional information about the analyte is presented. Theoretical studies using the transmission line model were realized to show the impact of variations in the concentration of an analyte, in this case, lithium carbonate solutions, in the transient time of the system. Experimental realizations were also performed showing that the proposed measurement scheme presents significant changes in the resulting data, indicating the potential use of this measure in phononic crystal sensors. This proposed measure could be implemented as a stand-alone measure or as a compliment to current sensing modalities

Self-harm in primary school-aged children: Prospective cohort study

Introduction No prospective studies have examined the prevalence, antecedents or concurrent characteristics associated with self-harm in non-treatment-seeking primary school-aged children. Methods In this cohort study from Melbourne, Australia we assessed 1239 children annually from age 8–9 years (wave 1) to 11–12 years (wave 4) on a range of health, social, educational and family measures. Past-year self-harm was assessed at wave 4. We estimated the prevalence of self-harm and used multivariable logistic regression to examine associations with concurrent and antecedent factors. Results 28 participants (3% of the 1059 with self-harm data; 18 girls [3%], 10 boys [2%]) reported self-harm at age 11–12 years. Antecedent (waves 1–3) predictors of self-harm were: persistent symptoms of depression (sex-age-socioeconomic status adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 7.8; 95% confidence intervals [CI] 2.6 to 24) or anxiety (aOR: 5.1; 95%CI 2.1 to 12), frequent bullying victimisation (aOR: 24.6; 95%CI 3.8 to 158), and recent alcohol consumption (aOR: 2.9; 95%CI 1.2 to 7.1). Concurrent (wave 4) associations with self-harm were: having few friends (aOR: 8.7; 95%CI 3.2 to 24), poor emotional control (aOR: 4.2; 95%CI 1.9 to 9.6), antisocial behaviour (theft—aOR: 3.1; 95%CI 1.2 to 7.9; carrying a weapon—aOR: 6.9; 95%CI 3.1 to 15), and being in mid-puberty (aOR: 6.5; 95%CI 1.5 to 28) or late/post-puberty (aOR: 14.4; 95%CI 2.9 to 70)

Application of Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp. in the bioconversion of urban leachates into industrially relevant metabolites

This paper explores the ability of Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp. to convert landfill leachates into usable metabolites. Different concentrations (0.5, 1, 5, and 10% v/v) of leachate coupled with an inorganic carbon source (Na2CO3, and NaHCO3) were tested to improve biomass production, metabolites synthesis, and removal of NO3 and PO4 . The result shows that both strains can effectively grow in media with up to 5% (v/v) leachate, while significantly reducing the concentrations of NO3, and PO4 (80 and 50%, respectively). The addition of NaHCO3 as a carbon source improved the final concentration of biomass, lipids, carbohydrates, and the removal of NO3 and PO4 in both strains

Integrated multiple mediation analysis: A robustness–specificity trade-off in causal structure

Recent methodological developments in causal mediation analysis have addressed several issues regarding multiple mediators. However, these developed methods differ in their definitions of causal parameters, assumptions for identification, and interpretations of causal effects, making it unclear which method ought to be selected when investigating a given causal effect. Thus, in this study, we construct an integrated framework, which unifies all existing methodologies, as a standard for mediation analysis with multiple mediators. To clarify the relationship between existing methods, we propose four strategies for effect decomposition: two-way, partially forward, partially backward, and complete decompositions. This study reveals how the direct and indirect effects of each strategy are explicitly and correctly interpreted as path-specific effects under different causal mediation structures. In the integrated framework, we further verify the utility of the interventional analogues of direct and indirect effects, especially when natural direct and indirect effects cannot be identified or when cross-world exchangeability is invalid. Consequently, this study yields a robustness–specificity trade-off in the choice of strategies. Inverse probability weighting is considered for estimation. The four strategies are further applied to a simulation study for performance evaluation and for analyzing the Risk Evaluation of Viral Load Elevation and Associated Liver Disease/Cancer data set from Taiwan to investigate the causal effect of hepatitis C virus infection on mortality

Energy and emissions characterization of an eco‐efficient biomass cook stove at different altitudes

RESUMEN: Cerca de 2500 millones de personas dependen de la leña como su principal combustible para calefacción y cocción.En este trabajo se estudia el efecto de la altitud (678 y 1976 metros sobre el nivel del mar, msnm) en el desempeño energético y las emisiones de una estufa de cocción eco-eficiente con biomasa. Los experimentos se llevaron a cabo bajo las pruebas de ebullición de agua y cocción controlada. El rendimiento disminuyó 24% al aumentar la altitud en la prueba de ebullición, y el consumo específico de combustible aumentó 27,3% debido a los cambios en la densidad del aire. En la prueba de cocción controlada, el consumo específico de combustible y las emisiones específicas aumentaron 15,3% y 16%, respectivamente. La altitud afectó significativamente el desempeño de la estufa tipo "Plancha", por lo que es necesario el rediseño de las estufas de acuerdo a su ubicación geográfica con el fin de optimizar el proceso de cocción.ABSTRACT: Around 2.5 billion people depend on wood as their main fuel for heating and cooking.In this work is studied the effect of altitude (678 and 1976 meters above sea level) on energy performance and emissions of an improved wood stove under standardized cooking tests. The experiments were carried out under the Water Boiling (WBT)and Controlled Cooking (CCT) Tests. The efficiency decreased about 24% with increasing altitude in WBT, and specific fuel consumption increased 27.3% due to the air density changes. Regarding the controlled cooking test, the specific fuel consumption and specific emissions increased by 15.3% and 16 %, respectively. It is highlighted that altitude significantly affects the “Plancha” wood stove behavior. Specific emissions increased at higher altitudes, so it is necessary to redesign wood stoves according to their geographical location in order to optimize the cooking process

Characterization of Puberty in an Australian Population-Based Cohort Study

Purpose: Current knowledge of the characteristics of puberty beyond age at menarche and thelarche is limited, particularly within population-based cohorts. Secular trends and concerns of the health effects of early puberty reinforce the value of contemporary studies characterizing the timing, tempo, duration, and synchronicity of puberty. // Methods: The Childhood to Adolescence Transition Study is a unique Australian cohort of individuals followed annually from late childhood to late adolescence, with up to eight assessments of pubertal stage from 9 to 19 years of age (N = 1,183; 636 females). At each assessment, females reported their Tanner Stage of breast and pubic hair development, while males reported on genital/pubic hair development. Nonlinear mixed-effects models characterized pubertal trajectories and were used to derive each individual’s estimates of timing, tempo, and synchronicity. Parametric survival models were used to estimate the overall duration of puberty. // Results: Timing of mid-puberty (Tanner Stage 3) ranged from 12.5 to 13.5 years, with females developing approximately 6 months before males. Pubertal tempo (at mid-puberty) was similar across sex (between half and one Tanner Stage per year), but the overall duration of puberty was slightly shorter in males. Most females exhibited asynchronous changes of breast and pubic hair development. // Discussion: Estimates of pubertal timing and tempo are consistent with reports of cohorts from two or more decades ago, suggesting stabilization of certain pubertal characteristics in predominantly White populations. However, our understanding of the duration of puberty and individual differences in pubertal characteristics (e.g., synchronicity of physical changes) remains limited

Psychiatric genome-wide association study analyses implicate neuronal, immune and histone pathways

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of psychiatric disorders have identified multiple genetic associations with such disorders, but better methods are needed to derive the underlying biological mechanisms that these signals indicate. We sought to identify biological pathways in GWAS data from over 60,000 participants from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. We developed an analysis framework to rank pathways that requires only summary statistics. We combined this score across disorders to find common pathways across three adult psychiatric disorders: schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar disorder. Histone methylation processes showed the strongest association, and we also found statistically significant evidence for associations with multiple immune and neuronal signaling pathways and with the postsynaptic density. Our study indicates that risk variants for psychiatric disorders aggregate in particular biological pathways and that these pathways are frequently shared between disorders. Our results confirm known mechanisms and suggest several novel insights into the etiology of psychiatric disorders

Donor states in modulation-doped Si/SiGe heterostructures

We present a unified approach for calculating the properties of shallow donors inside or outside heterostructure quantum wells. The method allows us to obtain not only the binding energies of all localized states of any symmetry, but also the energy width of the resonant states which may appear when a localized state becomes degenerate with the continuous quantum well subbands. The approach is non-variational, and we are therefore also able to evaluate the wave functions. This is used to calculate the optical absorption spectrum, which is strongly non-isotropic due to the selection rules. The results obtained from calculations for Si/Si$_{1-x}$Ge$_x$ quantum wells allow us to present the general behavior of the impurity states, as the donor position is varied from the center of the well to deep inside the barrier. The influence on the donor ground state from both the central-cell effect and the strain arising from the lattice mismatch is carefully considered.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure