Compositions and medical devices for controlled release of nitric oxide and methods of production thereof

The present disclosure describes compositions providing for controlled release of nitric oxide (NO) and methods for production of these compositions. In some embodiments, the compositions may include a biodegradable polymer and a nitric oxide-releasing material at least partially encapsulated by the biodegradable polymer. Nitric oxide-releasing materials may include, for example, diazeniumdiolates and nitric oxide contained within a zeolite, metal-organic framework or other porous material. In general, the compositions are spun into a porous fiber, which may be further annealed by heating in order to densify the fiber. Annealing may prolong the NO release profile. Medical devices containing the compositions described herein are also contemplated by the present disclosure. Medical devices include, for example, textiles, bandages and articles of clothing.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

Annotation-based meta-analysis of microarray experiments

We are developing software applications to perform meta-analysis of microarray experiments based on standardized experiment annotations aiming to identify similar experiments and cluster experiments. The applications were tested on files obtained from the ArrayExpress public repository. Annotation terms were used to compute experiment dissimilarities to find experiments related to a query experiment. These applications may motivate efforts of bench biologists to better annotate experiments

Numerical calculation of the internal flow field in a centrifugal compressor impeller

An iterative numerical method has been developed for the calculation of steady, three-dimensional, viscous, compressible flow fields in centrifugal compressor impellers. The computer code, which embodies the method, solves the steady three dimensional, compressible Navier-Stokes equations in rotating, curvilinear coordinates. The solution takes place on blade-to-blade surfaces of revolution which move from the hub to the shroud during each iteration

Assessing text readability and quality with language models

Automatic readability assessment is considered as a challenging task in NLP due to its high degree of subjectivity. The majority prior work in assessing readability has focused on identifying the level of education necessary for comprehension without the consideration of text quality, i.e., how naturally the text flows from the perspective of a native speaker. Therefore, in this thesis, we aim to use language models, trained on well-written prose, to measure not only text readability in terms of comprehension but text quality. In this thesis, we developed two word-level metrics based on the concordance of article text with predictions made using language models to assess text readability and quality. We evaluate both metrics on a set of corpora used for readability assessment or automated essay scoring (AES) by measuring the correlation between scores assigned by our metrics and human raters. According to the experimental results, our metrics are strongly correlated with text quality, which achieve 0.4-0.6 correlations on 7 out of 9 datasets. We demonstrate that GPT-2 surpasses other language models, including the bigram model, LSTM, and bidirectional LSTM, on the task of estimating text quality in a zero-shot setting, and GPT-2 perplexity-based measure is a reasonable indicator for text quality evaluation

Assessing text readability and quality with language models

Automatic readability assessment is considered as a challenging task in NLP due to its high degree of subjectivity. The majority prior work in assessing readability has focused on identifying the level of education necessary for comprehension without the consideration of text quality, i.e., how naturally the text flows from the perspective of a native speaker. Therefore, in this thesis, we aim to use language models, trained on well-written prose, to measure not only text readability in terms of comprehension but text quality. In this thesis, we developed two word-level metrics based on the concordance of article text with predictions made using language models to assess text readability and quality. We evaluate both metrics on a set of corpora used for readability assessment or automated essay scoring (AES) by measuring the correlation between scores assigned by our metrics and human raters. According to the experimental results, our metrics are strongly correlated with text quality, which achieve 0.4-0.6 correlations on 7 out of 9 datasets. We demonstrate that GPT-2 surpasses other language models, including the bigram model, LSTM, and bidirectional LSTM, on the task of estimating text quality in a zero-shot setting, and GPT-2 perplexity-based measure is a reasonable indicator for text quality evaluation

Development of the Motivation Assessment for Team Readiness, Integration, and Collaboration (MATRICx) Self-Scored Report Form: A Qualitative Study on Translating Measurement Findings for Team Development

The Motivation Assessment for Team Readiness, Integration, and Collaboration (MATRICx) has been shown to provide information on intrapersonal readiness to collaborate within a team. This study aims to understand and develop an innovative approach to presenting a self-scoring format for the MATRICx and to determine how results of the assessment tool could be interpreted to understand individual motivation in collaborative healthcare and biomedical teams. The MATRICx Report Form is a self-scoring version of the MATRICx that can help users interpret their own motivational profile. A qualitative study was conducted to examine user’s experience with the report form, ways of interpreting results, and insights into how participants might apply what is learned through this self-scoring format to their personal development. Understanding the user experience and identifying features of the report form found to be helpful can provide information about how to improve the usefulness of the form for end-users. Initial analysis suggests that the Report Form format was confusing and will require revisions including the placement of the information on the form and format for reporting transformed calibrations. Participants also reported detailed instructions on scoring would facilitate the use of the report form. A revised Report Form was developed and future directions for using the forms to enhance team effectiveness is discussed

Reaction Mechanisms for Long-Life Rechargeable Zn/MnO 2 Batteries

Rechargeable aqueous Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) are very promising for large-scale grid energy storage applications owing to their low cost, environmentally benign constituents, excellent safety, and relatively high energy density. Their usage, however, is largely hampered by the fast capacity fade. The complexity of the reactions has resulted in long-standing ambiguities of the chemical pathways of Zn/MnO 2 system. In this study, we find that both H + /Zn 2+ intercalation and conversion reactions occur at different voltages and that the rapid capacity fading can clearly be ascribed to the rate-limiting and irreversible conversion reactions at a lower voltage. By limiting the irreversible conversion reactions at â1.26 V, we successfully demonstrate ultrahigh power and long life that are superior to most of the reported ZIBs or even some lithium-ion batteries

Effect of high temperatures on sandstone: a computed tomography scan study

The impact of high temperatures on rocks is a topic of growing importance in geotechnical engineering due to its relevance to applications such as underground nuclear fuel storage, geothermal energy resource exploration and underground coal gasification. This paper presents results from tests performed on samples of sandstone treated to a range of temperatures between 20 and 1000°C. Sandstone samples obtained from underground coal gasification trial sites in Poland were selected for the tests. Multistage triaxial tests were used to determine the mechanical properties of the samples. X-ray diffraction and thermal analyses were performed to investigate the changes in physical and chemical properties of the samples under increasing temperature. Micro-computed tomography analyses were carried out on selected samples in order to show the microstructural changes that take place as a result of the heating process. Three-dimensional characterisation of sample porosity and pore-size distribution was performed to obtain a quantitative comparison between samples subjected to different temperature treatments. The relationship between microstructure and macro-mechanical characteristics of sandstone at high temperatures is discussed. The results illustrate that the mechanical properties of sandstone are closely related to alterations of microstructure that result from increased temperatures

Performance of high-altitude, long-endurance, turboprop airplanes using conventional or cryogenic fuels

An analytical study has been conducted to evaluate the potential endurance of remotely piloted, low speed, high altitude, long endurance airplanes designed with 1990 technology. The baseline configuration was a propeller driven, sailplane like airplane powered by turbine engines that used JP-7, liquid methane, or liquid hydrogen as fuel. Endurance was measured as the time spent between 60,000 feet and an engine limited maximum altitude of 70,000 feet. Performance was calculated for a baseline vehicle and for configurations derived by varying aerodynamic, structural or propulsion parameters. Endurance is maximized by reducing wing loading and engine size. The level of maximum endurance for a given wing loading is virtually the same for all three fuels. Constraints due to winds aloft and propulsion system scaling produce maximum endurance values of 71 hours for JP-7 fuel, 70 hours for liquid methane, and 65 hours for liquid hydrogen. Endurance is shown to be strongly effected by structural weight fraction, specific fuel consumption, and fuel load. Listings of the computer program used in this study and sample cases are included in the report