Correction to: Computational study on hemodynamic changes in patient-specific proximal neck angulation of abdominal aortic aneurysm with time-varying velocity

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Effect of glutaraldehyde based cross-linking on the viscoelasticity of mitral valve basal chordae tendineae

Background Mitral valve failure can require repair or replacement. Replacement bioprosthetic valves are treated with glutaraldehyde prior to implantation. The aim of this study was to determine the changes in mechanical properties following glutaraldehyde fixation of mitral valve chordae. Methods To investigate the impact of glutaraldehyde on mitral valve chordae, 24 basal chordae were dissected from four porcine hearts. Anterior and posterior basal (including strut) chordae were used. All 24 chordae were subjected to a sinusoidally varying load (mean level 2N, dynamic amplitude 2N) over a frequency range of 0.5–10 Hz before and after glutaraldehyde treatment. Results The storage and loss modulus of all chordal types decreased following glutaraldehyde fixation. The storage modulus ranged from: 108 to 119 MPa before fixation and 67.3–87.4 MPa following fixation for basal chordae; 52.3–58.4 MPa before fixation and 47.9–53.5 MPa following fixation for strut chordae. Similarly, the loss modulus ranged from: 5.47 to 6.25 MPa before fixation and 3.63–4.94 MPa following fixation for basal chordae; 2.60–2.97 MPa before fixation and 2.31–2.93 MPa following fixation for strut chordae. Conclusion The viscoelastic properties of mitral valve chordae are affected by glutaraldehyde fixation; in particular, the reduction in storage moduli decreased with an increase in chordal diameter

Efficiency and Patient-Reported Outcome Measures From Clinic to Home: The Human Empowerment Aging and Disability Program for Digital-Health Rehabilitation

Background: The recent exponential growth of Digital Health (DH) in the healthcare system provides a crucial transformation in healthcare, answering to alarming threats related to the increasing number of Chronic Neurological Diseases (CNDs). New long-term integrated DH-care approaches, including rehabilitation, are warranted to address these concerns. Methods: The Human Empowerment Aging and Disability (HEAD) rehabilitation program, a new long-term integrated care including DH-care system, was evaluated in terms of efficiency and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in 107 CND patients (30 with Parkinson's Disease, PD; 32 with Multiple Sclerosis, MS; 45 with stroke in chronic stage). All participants followed 1-month of HEAD rehabilitation in clinic (ClinicHEAD: 12 sessions, 3/week), then 1:3 patient was consecutively allocated to 3-months telerehabilitation at home (HomeHEAD: 60 sessions, 5/week). Efficiency (i.e., adherence, usability, and acceptability) and PROMs (i.e., perceived functioning in real-world) were analyzed. Results: The rate of adherence to HEAD treatment in clinic (≥90%) and at home (77%) was high. Usability of HEAD system was judged as good (System Usability Scale, median 70.00) in clinic and even more at home (median 80.00). Similarly, administering the Technology Acceptance Model 3 questionnaire we found high scores both in clinic/at home (Usefulness, mean 5.39 ± 1.41 SD/mean 5.33 ± 1.29 SD; Ease of use, mean 5.55 ± 1.05 SD/ mean 5.45 ± 1.17 SD, External Control, mean 4.94 ± 1.17 SD/mean 5.07 ± 1.01 SD, Relevance, mean 5.68 ± 1.29 SD/mean 5.70 ± 1.13 SD and Enjoyment, mean 5.70 ± 1.40 SD/mean 6.01 ± 1.08 SD). After ClinicHEAD, participation and autonomy in daily routine was maintained or even ameliorated (PD and stroke > MS). Whereas, increased functionality and participation in the MS group was found only after HomeHEAD intervention. Discussion: Our results suggest that a tele-health-based approach is both feasible and efficient in providing rehabilitation care to CNDs from clinic to home. Increasing and maintaining participation as well as autonomy in daily routine are promising findings that open up scenarios for the continuity of care at home through DH-care for CNDs

Design and Analysis of the Cis-Lunar Navigation for the ArgoMoon CubeSat Mission

In the framework of the Artemis-1 mission, 10 CubeSats will be released, including the 6U CubeSat ArgoMoon, built by the Italian company Argotec and coordinated by the Italian Space Agency. The primary goal of ArgoMoon is to capture images of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Then, ArgoMoon will be placed into a highly elliptical orbit around the Earth with several encounters with the Moon. In this phase, the navigation process will require a precise Orbit Determination (OD) and a Flight Path Control (FPC) to satisfy the navigation requirements. The OD will estimate the spacecraft trajectory using ground-based radiometric observables. The FPC is based on an optimal control strategy designed to reduce the dispersion with respect to the reference trajectory and minimize the total ΔV. A linear approach was used to determine the optimal targets and the number and location of the orbital maneuvers. A covariance analysis was performed to assess the expected OD performance and its robustness. The analysis results show that the reference translunar trajectory can be successfully flown and the navigation performance is strongly dependent on the uncertainties of the ArgoMoon’s Propulsion Subsystem and of the orbit injection

Radio Occultation Measurements of Europa's Ionosphere From Juno's Close Flyby

On 29 September 2022 the Juno spacecraft flew within 354 km of Europa's surface while several instruments probed the moon's surroundings. During the close flyby, radio occultations were performed by collecting single-frequency Doppler measurements. These investigations are essential to the study of Europa's ionosphere and represent the first repeat sampling of any set of conditions since the Galileo era. Ingress measurements resulted in a marginal detection with a peak ionospheric density of 4,000 ± 3,700 cm−3 (3σ) at 22 km altitude. A more significant detection emerged on egress, with a peak density of 6,000 ± 3,000 cm−3 (3σ) at 320 km altitude. Comparison with Galileo measurements reveals a consistent picture of Europa's ionosphere, and confirms its dependence on illumination conditions and position within Jupiter's magnetosphere. However, the overall lower densities measured by Juno suggest a dependence on time of observation, with implications for the structure of the neutral atmosphere

Spectroscopic, structural and computational analysis of [Re(CO)₃(dippM)Br]ⁿ⁺ (dippM = 1,1′-bis(diiso-propylphosphino)metallocene, M = Fe, n = 0 or 1; M = Co, n = 1)

[Re(CO)3(dippf)Br]+: the first structurally characterized complex of a coordinated bis(phosphino)ferrocenium ligand.</p

PARSIFAL: a toolkit for triple-GEM parametrized simulation

PARSIFAL (PARametrized SImulation) is a tool which reproduces a triple-GEM detector full response to the passage of a charged particle, taking into account most of the involved physical effects. A triple-GEM is a gaseous detector that amplifies the primary ionization, generated by the incoming radiation interacting with the gas, through three amplification stages, providing position measurement with a resolution around 100 micron, energy resolution better than 20% and time resolution below 10 ns. Despite well known and robust software such as GARFIELD++ can simulate the electron propagation in gas and the interaction with the electric field, considering the avalanche formation and signal creation, they are CPU-time consuming. The necessity to reduce the processing time while maintaining the precision of a full simulation is the main driver of this work. PARSIFAL takes into account the main processes involved in the signal formation, starting from ionization, spatial and temporal diffusion, the effect of the magnetic field, if any, and GEM amplification properties. The induction of the signal and the electronics response are also present. PARSIFAL parameters are evaluated by means of GARFIELD++ simulations; the results of the simulation are compared to experimental data from testbeam and tuning factors are applied to improve the matching.Comment: submitted to JINS