Analysis of vaginal microbicide film hydration kinetics by quantitative imaging refractometry

We have developed a quantitative imaging refractometry technique, based on holographic phase microscopy, as a tool for investigating microscopic structural changes in water-soluble polymeric materials. Here we apply the approach to analyze the structural degradation of vaginal topical microbicide films due to water uptake. We implemented transmission imaging of 1-mm diameter film samples loaded into a flow chamber with a 1.5×2 mm field of view. After water was flooded into the chamber, interference images were captured and analyzed to obtain high resolution maps of the local refractive index and subsequently the volume fraction and mass density of film material at each spatial location. Here, we compare the hydration dynamics of a panel of films with varying thicknesses and polymer compositions, demonstrating that quantitative imaging refractometry can be an effective tool for evaluating and characterizing the performance of candidate microbicide film designs for anti-HIV drug delivery. © 2014 Rinehart et al

Dry Needling for Spine Related Disorders: a Scoping Review

Introduction/Background: The depth and breadth of research on dry needling (DN) has not been evaluated specifically for symptomatic spine related disorders (SRD) from myofascial trigger points (TrP), disc, nerve and articular structures not due to serious pathologies. Current literature appears to support DN for treatment of TrP. Goals of this review include identifying research published on DN treatment for SRD, sites of treatment and outcomes studied. Methods: A scoping review was conducted following Levac et al.’s five part methodological framework to determine the current state of the literature regarding DN for patients with SRD. Results: Initial and secondary search strategies yielded 55 studies in the cervical (C) region (71.43%) and 22 in the thoracolumbar-pelvic (TLP) region (28.57%). Most were randomized controlled trials (60% in C, 45.45% in TLP) and clinical trials (18.18% in C, 22.78% in TLP). The most commonly treated condition was TrP for both the C and TLP regions. In the C region, DN was provided to 23 different muscles, with the trapezius as treatment site in 41.88% of studies. DN was applied to 31 different structures in the TLP region. In the C region, there was one treatment session in 23 studies (41.82%) and 2–6 treatments in 25 (45.45%%). For the TLP region, one DN treatment was provided in 8 of the 22 total studies (36.36%) and 2–6 in 9 (40.9%). The majority of experimental designs had DN as the sole intervention. For both C and TLP regions, visual analogue scale, pressure pain threshold and range of motion were the most common outcomes. Conclusion: For SRD, DN was primarily applied to myofascial structures for pain or TrP diagnoses. Many outcomes were improved regardless of diagnosis or treatment parameters. Most studies applied just one treatment which may not reflect common clinical practice. Further research is warranted to determine optimal treatment duration and frequency. Most studies looked at DN as the sole intervention. It is unclear whether DN alone or in addition to other treatment procedures would provide superior outcomes. Functional outcome tools best suited to tracking the outcomes of DN for SRD should be explored.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-020-00310-

SIMULATION MODELLING PRACTICE AND THEORY

This paper proposes a simulation optimization based solution approach for the integrated Berth Allocation and Quay Crane Scheduling Problems (BAP and QCSP) considering simultaneously, for the first time, multi-quay hybrid berth layout, dynamic arrivals of vessels, stochastic handling times and non-crossing constraints of quay cranes. Initially, a Conflict-Free Quay Crane Scheduling Algorithm is proposed considering stochastic handling times. Then, a general parametric simulation model which represents the seaside operations of a typical container terminal is built. Finally, a Simulated Annealing based optimization procedure is integrated with this parametric simulation model to minimize the latest vessel departure time (i.e., makespan). The proposed simulation optimization procedure is applied to a real world inspired case problem. The results revealed that the proposed simulation optimization procedure can be used to solve large-sized real-port BAPs and QCSPs for the objective of minimizing makespan. Furthermore, the output of this simulation optimization procedure gives the decision maker the estimated berthing/unberthing times, berthing locations and quay crane schedules for each vessel for the most probable scenario

Data for: SIMULATED ANNEALING BASED SIMULATION OPTIMIZATION METHOD FOR SOLVING INTEGRATED BERTH ALLOCATION AND QUAY CRANE SCHEDULING PROBLEMS

SIMAN code of the simulation mode

Data for: SIMULATED ANNEALING BASED SIMULATION OPTIMIZATION METHOD FOR SOLVING INTEGRATED BERTH ALLOCATION AND QUAY CRANE SCHEDULING PROBLEMS

Data of the problem instances in section 3.5

Data for: SIMULATED ANNEALING BASED SIMULATION OPTIMIZATION METHOD FOR SOLVING INTEGRATED BERTH ALLOCATION AND QUAY CRANE SCHEDULING PROBLEMS

Data of the problem instances in section 3.5.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Data for: SIMULATED ANNEALING BASED SIMULATION OPTIMIZATION METHOD FOR SOLVING INTEGRATED BERTH ALLOCATION AND QUAY CRANE SCHEDULING PROBLEMS

SIMAN code of the simulation modelTHIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV