Temporal-spatial parameters of Gait in Youths with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) is a disorder that affects connective tissues, primarily the skin, joints, and blood vessel walls. Symptoms include overly flexible joints that can dislocate, creating joint instability and problems with balance. There is currently a lack of knowledge on the effect of these symptoms on the gait of youths with hEDS. This study will fill that gap by quantifying temporal-spatial parameters of gait in children. Participants, ages 8-18 years old, with hEDS, will be recruited from the Genetics Center at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. The subjects will undergo motion analysis using a 15 camera Vicon system and 14 retro-reflective markers following the Vicon lower-extremity Plug-in Gait model. The subjects will walk on 4 force plates, embedded in and level with the lab floor, at both a self-selected and a slow pace. Data from the motion analysis will be labeled, filtered, and modeled using Vicon Nexus software. Temporal-spatial parameters, such as stride length, step width and double vs single leg support time will be calculated for 3 gait cycles per subject for each task. The group average of the hEDS participants will then be compared to healthy gait data from the literature. Identification of differences between those with hEDS and healthy individuals may provide insight to balance issues while walking and thus the potential for fall risk and the development of pain and injury increase over time. With this knowledge physical therapists may be able to work with hEDS patients to improve balance, effectively decreasing their risk of fall and injury. This study is a part of a larger ongoing project to define the biomedical phenotype in youths with hEDS to increase our understanding of the disease to improve diagnosis and treatment planning

Applying a Statistical Approach to Develop a Sustainable Technology for Capturing Phosphorous from an Agricultural Tile Drainage System Using By-Product Phosphorous Sorbing Materials (PSM)

Due to nutrient pollution, agriculture is one of the major sources of pollution in water bodies. Every time it rains, fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste wash nutrients and pathogens—such as bacteria and viruses—into waterways. As rainfall increases due to climate change, the water problem will worsen. One of the nutrients that extensively contributes to the degradation of water quality is phosphorous (P). In this research, the performance of electric arc furnace (EAF) steel slag was investigated as a P sorbing materials (PSM) according to the conditions present in a P removal structure designed for treating water discharge from an agricultural tile drainage system. Unlike the successful trials of removing P from water runoff, this promising PSM has not been successfully applied for removing phosphorous from water discharge from an agricultural tile drainage system. Consequently, this research aims to study the applicability of this material for this specific application. A simulated flow-through experiment was used to evaluate the P removal efficiency of the slag in different conditions. The effects of slag particle size distribution, presence of bucarbonate in inflow solution, incubation in an anaerobic condition, and chemical treatment on the adsorption capacity of the steel slag were studied. A statistical approach was used to determine the significant predictor variables, the empirical models of the design curves according to each condition, and the type of correlation among the predictor variables and the response variable, namely, maximum removal capacity (mgP/Kg). The results show that reducing the slag particle size distribution and the presence of bicarbonate decrease the P removal capacity of the slag, while the aluminum treatment increases the P removal capacity and reduces the negative effect of bicarbonate on the P removal. Additionally, incubation in water with or without alkalinity does not seem to affect the P removal of the regular steel slag. The result of this study shed light on the reasons and potential solutions for the challenges regarding the application of the P removal structure filled with by-product PSM for treating water discharge from agricultural tile drainage systems

Optimization of Ni-P-Zn electroless bath and investigation of corrosion resistance of as-plated coatings

Ni-P coating is well-known for its excellent corrosion and wear resistance. The electrochemical and mechanical properties of these coatings can be improved by incorporating Zn. The electrochemical properties of Ni-P-Zn coatings are highly related to bath parameters. In this research the effect of Ni-P-Zn electroless bath parameters, such as concentration of reactants, pH level and deposition time on corrosion characteristics of as-plated coatings were investigated. An energy Dispersive Analysis of x-ray (EDAX) was performed to calculate the chemical composition of the deposited coatings. To study surface morphology, SEM images were used. Finally, corrosion resistances of the obtained coatings were tested via potentiodynamic polarization experiment. According to the results, the optimal bath is comprised of 10 g l(-1) and 15 g l(-1) of reducing agent and zinc agent, respectively. The pH value is 10.5 and deposition time is 60 min. The optimal solution results in an excellent corrosion resistant layer with corrosion current density of 0.23 mu A cm(-2)

A Statistical Analysis to Study the Effect of Silicon Content, Surface Roughness, Droplet Size and Elapsed Time on Wettability of Hypoeutectic Cast Aluminum–Silicon Alloys

In this study, the effect of silicon content, surface roughness, water droplet size, and elapsed time on contact angle (CA) of Aluminum-Silicon alloys were examined. To study wettability the static water contact angle was measured on a given sample using a goniometer. A laser confocal microscopy was used for measuring surface roughness. A full factorial design was utilized for the design of the experiment that includes all possible combinations of the independent factors and their levels (120 combinations). CA for each combination was measured three times, so in total 360 CA measurements were performed. To find the significant factors in CA variation and correlation between the significant factors and CA, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Regression Analysis were performed, respectively. A significance level (α) of 0.05 was used for all statistical analyses. Contact angle values averaged 77° ± 5° with maximum value of 90º and minimum value of 64º, respectively. ANOVA results show that surface roughness and droplet size are significant factors. Regression analysis shows that CA increases by increasing surface roughness and water droplet size

Data-Driven Modeling of Wetting Angle and Corrosion Resistance of Hypereutectic Cast Aluminum-Silicon Alloys Based on Physical and Chemical Properties of Surface

In the present study, a data-driven approach was applied to study the effect of silicon percentage, surface roughness, elapsed time, and water droplet size on contact angle (CA) of hypereutectic cast Al-Si alloys. In addition, corrosion resistance of the alloys was studied as a function of silicon content and the surface roughness. A factorial design was utilized for the design of experiment, and statistical analysis, including General Linear Model (GLM) and Polynomial Regression, were performed for the interpretation of the CA values. Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter contact angles were also calculated and compared with the corresponding measured contact angles to study which regime was followed. The statistical analysis results show that surface roughness, droplet size, and elapsed time are significant factors in the variation of contact angle. In addition, CA was observed to increase with surface roughness, droplet size, and elapsed time. It was observed that the experimental CA values follow a quasi Cassie-Baxter regime in which CA increases by increasing surface roughness. Si % turned out to be a statistically non-significant factor. It is possibly due to a trade-off between the increase in CA as a result of a change in surface chemistry and decrease in CA because of the smoother surface of Si compared to the eutectic phase in a given surface finish

Effect of Temperature, Syngas Space Velocity and Catalyst Stability of Co-Mn/CNT Bimetallic Catalyst on Fischer Tropsch Synthesis Performance

The effect of reaction temperature, syngas space velocity, and catalyst stability on Fischer-Tropsch reaction was investigated using a fixed-bed microreactor. Cobalt and Manganese bimetallic catalysts on carbon nanotubes (CNT) support (Co-Mn/CNT) were synthesized via the strong electrostatic adsorption (SEA) method. For testing the performance of the catalyst, Co-Mn/CNT catalysts with four different manganese percentages (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20%) were synthesized. Synthesized catalysts were then analyzed by TEM, FESEM, atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), and zeta potential sizer. In this study, the temperature was varied from 200 to 280 °C and syngas space velocity was varied from 0.5 to 4.5 L/g.h. Results showed an increasing reaction temperature from 200 °C to 280 °C with reaction pressure of 20 atm, the Space velocity of 2.5 L/h.g and H2/CO ratio of 2, lead to the rise of CO % conversion from 59.5% to 88.2% and an increase for C5+ selectivity from 83.2% to 85.8%. When compared to the other catalyst formulation, the catalyst sample with 95% cobalt and 5% manganese on CNT support (95Co5Mn/CNT) performed more stable for 48 h on stream

Effect of Manganese on Co–Mn/CNT Bimetallic Catalyst Performance in Fischer–Tropsch Reaction

Cobalt (Co) catalyst is supported by carbon nanotubes (CNT) using a strong electrostatic adsorption (SEA) method. To promote activity and selectivity as well as find the optimum loading percentage and its effect on catalyst performance, manganese (Mn) has been added to the Co/CNT catalyst. Samples were characterized by a scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDX), transmission electron microscope (TEM), hydrogen temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR), Zeta potential, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray spectroscopy (XPS). TEM images illustrated an intake of metal particles which were highly dispersed, having a narrow particle size distribution of 6-8 nm to the external and internal CNT support. H2-TPR showed a lower temperature reduction with Mn at 420 °C for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) reaction. The Co-Mn/CNT catalyst performance test for FTS was performed at a temperature of 240 °C in a fixed-bed micro-reactor at a pressure of 2.0 MPa. The addition of manganese resulted in a lower methane selectivity and a higher C5+ product with an optimum percentage of 5% of manganese. CO conversion was 86.6% and had a C5+ selectivity of 81.5%, which was higher than the catalysts obtained using only Co on pretreated CNT. © 2019 by the authors

Effect of Pressure, H2/CO Ratio and Reduction Conditions on Co–Mn/CNT Bimetallic Catalyst Performance in Fischer–Tropsch Reaction

The effects of process conditions on Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) product distributions were studied using a fixed-bed microreactor and a Co–Mn/CNT catalyst. Cobalt and Manganese, supported on Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) catalyst were prepared by a Strong Electrostatic Adsorption (SEA) method. CNT supports were initially acid and thermally treated in order to functionalize support to uptake more Co clusters. Catalyst samples were characterized by Transmitted Electron Microscope (TEM), particle size analyzer, and Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA). TEM images showed catalyst metal particle intake on CNT support with different Co and Mn loading percentage. Performance test of Co–Mn/CNT in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) was carried out in a fixed-bed micro-reactor at different pressures (from 1 atm to 25 atm), H2/CO ratio (0.5–2.5), and reduction temperature and duration. The reactor was connected to the online Gas Chromatograph (GC) for product analysis. It was found that the reaction conditions have the dominant effect on product selectivity. Cobalt catalyst supported on acid and thermal pre-treated CNT at optimum reaction condition resulted in CO conversion of 58.7% and C5+ selectivity of 59.1%