Camera-Based Visual Feedback Learning Aid for Recovering Sense of Smell and Taste in COVID-19 Survivors: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Introduction: A significant proportion of people report persistent COVID 19-related anosmia, hyposmia or parosmia, often accompanied with ageusia, hypogeusia or dysgeusia. Here, we present a proof-of-concept study that assessed the feasibility and acceptability of a new Camera-Based Visual Feedback Learning Aid (CVFLA) and explored its potential to restore or improve persistent COVID-19-related smell and/or taste impairment. Methods: Fifteen adult participants with persistent smell and/or taste impairment were randomly allocated to 7-, 14-, or 21-days baseline of symptom monitoring before receiving the intervention in up to 10 sessions (length and frequency determined by participant’s preference and progress) using a specialised CVFLA apparatus (patent no. 10186160). Smell and taste were assessed pre- and post intervention subjectively, and also objectively using the ODOFIN Taste Strips and Sniffin Sticks. Participant feedback about their experience of receiving CVFLA was obtained via a semi-structured interview conducted by someone not involved in delivering the intervention. Results: The intervention was extremely well received, with no dropouts related to the intervention. There was also a significant improvement in smell and taste from pre- to post-CVFLA intervention (mean number of sessions = 7.46, SD = 2.55; total duration = 389.96 min, SD = 150.93) both in subjective and objective measures. All participants, except one, reported experiencing some improvement from the 2nd or 3rd session. Discussion: This new CVFLA intervention shows promise in improving COVID-19 related impairment in smell and taste with a very high level of acceptability. Further studies with larger samples are required to confirm its potential in restoring, improving or correcting smell and/or taste impairment in relevant clinical and non-clinical groups.Brunel University London, and the European Research Development Fund (EDRF) and Learning JBE Ltd. via Anglia Ruskin University. Learning JBE Ltd. owns the patent on the camera-based feedback learning technique used in the study. Learning JBE Ltd. was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication

Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in Patients with Abdominal Sepsis

Kryvoruchko I. A., Antonova M. S., Tonkoglas O. A., Goni S.-K. T. Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in Patients with Abdominal Sepsis. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2017;7(3):449-456. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.399313 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/4362 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part B item 1223 (26.01.2017). 1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eISSN 2391-8306 7 © The Author (s) 2017; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 21.03.2017. Revised 22.03.2017. Accepted: 23.03.2017. Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in Patients with Abdominal Sepsis I. A. Kryvoruchko, M. S. Antonova, O. A. Tonkoglas, S.-K. T. Goni Kharkov National Medical University Ministry of Health of Ukraine Abstract Investigations were carried out in 53 patients who were operated on in 2015 about abdominal sepsis (AS). All patients were assigned according the severity of the condition, which was determined depending on the severity of the systemic inflammatory response and multiple organ failure: I group - patients with AS (28); II group - patients with severe AS (14); III group - patients with septic shock (11). Surgical management of all patients included two major components: control source of infection (source control) and control of organ damaged and the protective mechanisms system (damage control). In the first group, the laparotomy ended by suturing the wounds tightly with traditional drainage; in groups II and III surgical treatment were supplemented by the use of techniques aimed at the prevention and reduction of elevated intra-abdominal pressure. Studies have shown that 100 % of patients with AS showed an increase in intra-abdominal pressure and the development of intra-abdominal hypertension. While ACS developed in 18.9 % of cases (4 patients with severe sepsis and 6 - with septic shock). The highest mortality rate was observed among patients with grade III and IV intra-abdominal hypertension (11 of 25 patients). Key words: intra-abdominal pressure, abdominal sepsis, abdominal compartment syndrome, treatment

Development of simulation model of continuous casting machine with dry change of steel ladles

Results of development of a multiagent simulation model of continuous casting machine with dry change of steel ladles are presented. An algorithm for cutting slabs as well as implementation of this algorithm to the multiagent model of the resource conversion process has been described. The simulation model of the continuous casting machine work is implemented in a metallurgical enterprise information system. During experiments with the model, information is used on the duration of real production processes. This information is formed by the data preparation module of the information system. As a result of simulation-evolutionary modeling with the developed model, recommendations have been obtained for increasing number of units of products going to customers without rejection and reassignment. © 2020 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved.The reported study was funded by RFBR according to the research project № 18-37-00183

Analysis of the methods for accounting the renewable and non-renewable resources in scheduling

The paper discusses a scheduling problem taking into account the constraints on the renewable and non-renewable resources and availability of the works due dates. For the problem, an overview of the scheduling methods is given. The considered scheduling methods include approximate optimization algorithms and hybrid algorithms based on the genetic algorithm. It is concluded that it is necessary to use heuristic methods to find a solution. A new hybrid scheduling method based on multi-agent simulation is proposed. Application of agent-based simulation allows one to take into account the life cycle of the non-renewable resources and to distribute the renewable resources during scheduling. The genetic algorithm ensures search for the effective schedule with aim at the minimum cost of attracting the additional renewable resources in order to maintain the works deadlines. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

Looking for a Pulse: A Search for Rotationally Modulated Radio Emission from the Hot Jupiter, τ Boötis b

Hot Jupiters have been proposed as a likely population of low-frequency radio sources due to electron cyclotron maser emission of similar nature to that detected from the auroral regions of magnetized solar system planets. Such emission will likely be confined to specific ranges of orbital/rotational phase due to a narrowly beamed radiation pattern. We report on GMRT 150 MHz radio observations of the hot Jupiter τ Boötis b, consisting of 40 hr carefully scheduled to maximize coverage of the planet's 79.5 hr orbital/rotational period in an effort to detect such rotationally modulated emission. The resulting image is the deepest yet published at these frequencies and leads to a 3σ upper limit on the flux density from the planet of 1.2 mJy, two orders of magnitude lower than predictions derived from scaling laws based on solar system planetary radio emission. This represents the most stringent upper limits for both quiescent and rotationally modulated radio emission from a hot Jupiter yet achieved and suggests that either (1) the magnetic dipole moment of τ Boötis b is insufficient to generate the surface field strengths of >50 G required for detection at 150 MHz or (2) Earth lies outside the beaming pattern of the radio emission from the planet

Modern methods of stimulation of angiogenesis in patients with critical limb ischemia (review)

The term "critical ischemia of extremities" (critical limb ischemia) was first introduced by P.R.F. Bell in 1982 to refer to a group of diseases accompanied by pain in the legs at rest, trophic ulcers and distal necroses of the lower limbs. Critical ischemia of the lower limbs is a condition of almost complete cessation of arterial blood flow to the tissues of the lower limbs. If the arterial blood supply is not improved, limb amputation becomes inevitable for all patients. Treatment of ischemia of the lower extremities should be complex and differentiated depending on the stage and features of the course of the disease. Modern approaches to the therapy of lower limb ischemia include conservative and surgical methods of treatment, all of which are aimed at improving blood flow in the affected limbs. In the article modern methods of stimulating angiogenesis in patients with lower limb ischemia and results are shown

The article presents a clinical case of atopic dermatitis complicated by a secondary infection in an Indonesian boy of 8 years old. A review of literary sources.

The article presents a clinical case of atopic dermatitis complicated by a secondary infection in an Indonesian boy of 8 years old. Areviewofliterarysources

Petro- and paleomagnetic characteristics of the structural-material complexes of the diamond mining of the nyurbinskaya pipe (Middle Markha district, West Yakutia)

Modeling of physical and geological properties of a study object is an integral part of geological surveys at each stage. Without a model of physical and geological properties (PhGM) it is impossible to obtain a complete set of reflection indicators of an object in physical fields. The models are useful in solving a wide range of tasks on substantiation of survey methods and routines for interpreting the field data. Generally, a mineral deposit FGM contains the main elements represented by structural-material complexes (SMC) characterized by specific values of geometrical and physical parameters. We attempted at developing an PhGM of the diamond deposits controlled by the Middle Paleozoic trappe magmatism zone of the Vilyui paleoaulacogen. With this goal, in the period from 2002 to 2016, we carried out petrographic, paleomagnetic and geochemical studies of the SMC of the Nyurbinskaya pipe of Nakyn kimberlite field located in the Middle Markha district, West Yakutia. We studied terrigenous-carbonate rocks of the Late Cambrian of the Morkokinskaya and Oldondinskaya suites (ϵ3mrk and ϵ3-O1ol, respectively), dolerites of the Vilyui- Markha intrusive complex (βPZ2vm), autolithic kimberlite breccias of the Nakyn intrusive complex (iPZ2nk), and sandstones of the Early Jurassic Ukugut suite (J1UK). Important information was obtained on a wide range of petromagnetic parameters and paleomagnetism of the deposit SMC, elemental chemical composition of ferromagnetic minerals, and other data that can prove useful in discovering promising kimberlite sites in the Vilyui-Markha dike belt. The position of the paleomagnetic pole for the Late Cambrian of the Siberian Platform was clarified: latitude Φ=-35°, longitude Λ=136°, and confidence intervals dp/dm=3.5/6.9°. The poles were estimated for kimberlites (Φ=-11.5°, Λ=111.2°, dp/dm=3.5/7.5°) and pre-pipe basites (Φ=-14.6°, Λ=117.4°, dp/dm=3.7/7.1°). According to the Nyurbinskaya deposit PhGM developed on the basis of the paleomagnetic data, there was the Late Silurian - Early Devonian (S2-D1) stage of kimberlite- and trappe formation. The results of our study can enhance the prospects for discovering new primary diamond deposits on the Siberian platform

Scintillator ageing of the T2K near detectors from 2010 to 2021

The T2K experiment widely uses plastic scintillator as a target for neutrino interactions and an active medium for the measurement of charged particles produced in neutrino interactions at its near detector complex. Over 10 years of operation the measured light yield recorded by the scintillator based subsystems has been observed to degrade by 0.9-2.2% per year. Extrapolation of the degradation rate through to 2040 indicates the recorded light yield should remain above the lower threshold used by the current reconstruction algorithms for all subsystems. This will allow the near detectors to continue contributing to important physics measurements during the T2K-II and Hyper-Kamiokande eras. Additionally, work to disentangle the degradation of the plastic scintillator and wavelength shifting fibres shows that the reduction in light yield can be attributed to the ageing of the plastic scintillator. The long component of the attenuation length of the wavelength shifting fibres was observed to degrade by 1.3-5.4% per year, while the short component of the attenuation length did not show any conclusive degradation.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación SEV-2016-0588, PID2019-107564GB-I00, PGC2018-099388-BI00European Union 713673, 754496, RISE-GA822070-JENNIFER2 2020, RISE-GA872549-SK2HKJSPS KAKENHI (JP16H06288, JP18K03682, JP18H03701, JP18H05537, JP19J01119, JP19J22440, JP19J22258, JP20H00162, JP20H00149, JP20J2030

The neutron 'thunder' accompanying the extensive air shower

Simulations show that neutrons are the most abundant component among extensive air shower hadrons. However, multiple neutrons which appear with long delays in neutron monitors nearby the EAS core ('neutron thunder') are mostly not the neutrons of the shower, but have a secondary origin. The bulk of them is produced by high energy EAS hadrons hitting the monitors. The delays are due to the termalization and diffusion of neutrons in the moderator and reflector of the monitor accompanied by the production of secondary gamma-quanta. This conclusion raises the important problem of the interaction of EAS with the ground, the stuff of the detectors and their environment since they have often hydrogen containing materials like polyethilene in neutron monitors. Such interaction can give an additional contribution to the signal in the EAS detectors. It can be particularly important for the signals from scintillator or water tank detectors at km-long distances from the EAS core where neutrons of the shower become the dominant component after a few mcsec behind the EAS front.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted by J.Phys.G: Nucl.Part.Phy