An Experimental and Analytical Approach to Understanding the Dynamic Leaching from Municipal Solid Waste Combustion Residue

This paper describes an experimental technique involving the use of small columns for generating significant quantities of leachate data from municipal solid waste (MSW) solid residues within a relatively short amount of time. Data analysis using the discretized mass balance equations descriptive of the system results in best estimates of governing transport parameters that can, in turn, be used to predict the long-term release of leachable components (As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cl, SO4) from the solid matrix. Results indicate that both chemical solubility and physical transport are important factors affecting the flux of contaminants from the solid to the solution phase

Ventricular Dysfunction: Tachycardia induced Cardiomyopathy

Tachycardia induced cardiomyopathy (TIC) is defined as atrial or ventricular dysfunction as a result of prolonged elevated heart rate that is reversible upon control of the arrhythmia. There may be no underlying structural heart disease primarily responsible for the cardiac dysfunction. We present some examples of arrhythmias causing TIC and the resolution of the ventricular dysfunction following their appropriate management. Included in the review are also the pathophysiology, clinical spectrum, diagnosis and appropriate management of the condition

Drug Therapy Considerations in Arrhythmias in Children

The understanding of the mechanisms of action and side effects of different antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD) are essential for their appropriate use. With the advent of effective and safe ablation therapy, AAD therapy has undergone dramatic changes. This review attempts to understand the rationale behind the clinical use of medical management of different arrhythmias

Multi-faceted Structure-Activity Relationship Analysis Using Graphical Representations

A core focus in medicinal chemistry is the interpretation of structure-activity relationships (SARs) of small molecules. SAR analysis is typically carried out on a case-by-case basis for compound sets that share activity against a given target. Although SAR investigations are not a priori dependent on computational approaches, limitations imposed by steady rise in activity information have necessitated the use of such methodologies. Moreover, understanding SARs in multi-target space is extremely difficult. Conceptually different computational approaches are reported in this thesis for graphical SAR analysis in single- as well as multi-target space. Activity landscape models are often used to describe the underlying SAR characteristics of compound sets. Theoretical activity landscapes that are reminiscent of topological maps intuitively represent distributions of pair-wise similarity and potency difference information as three-dimensional surfaces. These models provide easy access to identification of various SAR features. Therefore, such landscapes for actual data sets are generated and compared with graph-based representations. Existing graphical data structures are adapted to include mechanism of action information for receptor ligands to facilitate simultaneous SAR and mechanism-related analyses with the objective of identifying structural modifications responsible for switching molecular mechanisms of action. Typically, SAR analysis focuses on systematic pair-wise relationships of compound similarity and potency differences. Therefore, an approach is reported to calculate SAR feature probabilities on the basis of these pair-wise relationships for individual compounds in a ligand set. The consequent expansion of feature categories improves the analysis of local SAR environments. Graphical representations are designed to avoid a dependence on preconceived SAR models. Such representations are suitable for systematic large-scale SAR exploration. Methods for the navigation of SARs in multi-target space using simple and interpretable data structures are introduced. In summary, multi-faceted SAR analysis aided by computational means forms the primary objective of this dissertation

Laws and Ethics in relation to Medical Entrepreneurship

Some healthcare laws affect academic entrepreneurs who may also be practicing healthcare providers. Understanding the regulatory agencies and relevant laws is essential to avoiding legal entanglement with regulatory authorities and creating a successful health business venture. It is important to follow ethical standards in starting and managing a company. Ethical shortcuts may yield short-term benefits but pose substantial risk in the long run, including the potential for ethical and financial malfeasance

Predicting Groundwater Fluctuations in Hard Rock Watersheds – An Application of Data Visualizations and Machine Learning Algorithms

Groundwater sustainability is critical to the future of agriculture and food security. The challenges are not only technical but have important social, economic, institutional and policy implications. The objective of this research is to predict groundwater levels in rural wells, allowing farmers to use their groundwater more sustainably. Data visualizations and machine learning algorithms are used to examine data collected over a five-year period from rural rock water basins in the northwestern part of India. Preliminary examination shows that the weekly collected time variable proved to be the single most valuable predictor of groundwater level, as it included implied seasonal changes in weather patterns and pumping patterns. However, due to limited rainfall outside of the monsoon season, it proved a less potent variable than previously expected

Sports Analytics Research Collaborations: Connecting Business Schools with Athletic Departments

This panel focuses on building research collaborations between Business Schools and athletic programs at their respective universities. The panelists are representatives of four such collaborative research projects and will explain the process they used to engage the Athletic Departments; nature of projects that they initiated along with their status; kind of data they obtained; and some of the value-add they were able to provide for their Athletic Departments. The panel discussion will focus on “how to form collaborations” and will stimulate a discussion to engage and encourage the audience to reflect on their own opportunities and challenges in possibly building their own sports analytics projects

A proposed role for non-junctional transverse tubules in skeletal muscle as flexible segments allowing expansion of the transverse network

Using a variety of technical approaches, we have detected the presence of continuous triads that cover the entire length of T tubules in the main white body muscles of several small fish. This is in contrast to the discontinuous association of SR with T tubules in the red muscles from the same fish as well as in all other previously described muscles in a large variety of skeletal muscles. We suggest that continuous triads are permissible only in muscle fibers that are not normally subject to significant changes in sarcomere length during normal in vivo activity, as is the case for white muscles in the trunk of fish