Biaxially textured cobalt-doped BaFe2As2 films with high critical current density over 1 MA/cm2 on MgO-buffered metal-tape flexible substrates

High critical current densities (Jc) > 1 MA/cm2 were realized in cobalt-doped BaFe2As2 (BaFe2As2:Co) films on flexible metal substrates with biaxially-textured MgO base-layers fabricated by an ion-beam assisted deposition technique. The BaFe2As2:Co films showed small in-plane crystalline misorientations (delta fai BaFe2As2:Co) of ~3o regardless of doubly larger misorientaions of the MgO base-layers (delta fai MgO = 7.3o), and exhibited high self-field Jc up to 3.5 MA/cm2 at 2 K. These values are comparable to that on MgO single crystals and the highest Jc among iron pnictide superconducting tapes and wires ever reported. High in-field Jc suggests the existence of c-axis correlated vortex pinning centers.Comment: Published in Appl. Phys. Let

Tragic choices in intensive care during the COVID-19 pandemic: on fairness, consistency and community

Tragic choices arise during the COVID-19 pandemic when the limited resources made available in acute medical settings cannot be accessed by all patients who need them. In these circumstances, healthcare rationing is unavoidable. It is important in any healthcare rationing process that the interests of the community are recognised, and that decision-making upholds these interests through a fair and consistent process of decision-making. Responding to recent calls (1) to safeguard individuals’ legal rights in decision-making in intensive care, and (2) for new authoritative national guidance for decision-making, this paper seeks to clarify what consistency and fairness demand in healthcare rationing during the COVID-19 pandemic, from both a legal and ethical standpoint. The paper begins with a brief review of UK law concerning healthcare resource allocation, considering how community interests and individual rights have been marshalled in judicial deliberation about the use of limited health resources within the National Health Service (NHS). It is then argued that an important distinction needs to be drawn between procedural and outcome consistency, and that a procedurally consistent decision-making process ought to be favoured. Congruent with the position that UK courts have adopted for resource allocation decision-making in the NHS more generally, specific requirements for a procedural framework and substantive triage criteria to be applied within that framework during the COVID-19 pandemic are considered in detail

Normothermic versus hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass in children undergoing open heart surgery (thermic-2):study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: During open heart surgery, patients are connected to a heart-lung bypass machine that pumps blood around the body (“perfusion”) while the heart is stopped. Typically the blood is cooled during this procedure (“hypothermia”) and warmed to normal body temperature once the operation has been completed. The main rationale for “whole body cooling” is to protect organs such as the brain, kidneys, lungs, and heart from injury during bypass by reducing the body’s metabolic rate and decreasing oxygen consumption. However, hypothermic perfusion also has disadvantages that can contribute toward an extended postoperative hospital stay. Research in adults and small randomized controlled trials in children suggest some benefits to keeping the blood at normal body temperature throughout surgery (“normothermia”). However, the two techniques have not been extensively compared in children. OBJECTIVE: The Thermic-2 study will test the hypothesis that the whole body inflammatory response to the nonphysiological bypass and its detrimental effects on different organ functions may be attenuated by maintaining the body at 35°C-37°C (normothermic) rather than 28°C (hypothermic) during pediatric complex open heart surgery. METHODS: This is a single-center, randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness and acceptability of normothermic versus hypothermic bypass in 141 children with congenital heart disease undergoing open heart surgery. Children having scheduled surgery to repair a heart defect not requiring deep hypothermic circulatory arrest represent the target study population. The co-primary clinical outcomes are duration of inotropic support, intubation time, and postoperative hospital stay. Secondary outcomes are in-hospital mortality and morbidity, blood loss and transfusion requirements, pre- and post-operative echocardiographic findings, routine blood gas and blood test results, renal function, cerebral function, regional oxygen saturation of blood in the cerebral cortex, assessment of genomic expression changes in cardiac tissue biopsies, and neuropsychological development. RESULTS: A total of 141 patients have been successfully randomized over 2 years and 10 months and are now being followed-up for 1 year. Results will be published in 2015. CONCLUSIONS: We believe this to be the first large pragmatic study comparing clinical outcomes during normothermic versus hypothermic bypass in complex open heart surgery in children. It is expected that this work will provide important information to improve strategies of cardiopulmonary bypass perfusion and therefore decrease the inevitable organ damage that occurs during nonphysiological body perfusion. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN Registry: ISRCTN93129502, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN93129502 (Archived by WebCitation at http://www.webcitation.org/6Yf5VSyyG)

COMT Val(158)Met genotypes differentially influence subgenual cingulate functional connectivity in healthy females

Brain imaging studies have cons stently shown subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortical (sgACC) involvement in emotion processing. catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val(158) and Met(158) polymorphisms may influence such emotional brain processes in specific ways. Given that resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) may increase our understanding on brain functioning, we integrated genetic and rsfMRI data and focused on sgACC functional connections. No studies have yet investigated the influence of the COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism (rs4680) on sgACC resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in healthy individuals. A homogeneous group of 61 Caucasian right-handed healthy female university students, all within the same age range, underwent isfMRI. Compared to Met158 homozygotes, Val(158) allele carriers displayed significantly stronger rsFC between the sgACC and the left parahippocampal gyrus, ventromedial parts of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and the nucleus accumbens (NAc). On the other hand, compared to Val(158) homozygotes, we found in Met(158) allele carriers stronger sgACC rsFC with the medial frontal gyrus (MEG), more in particular the anterior parts of the medial orbitofrontal cortex. Although we did not use emotional or cognitive tasks, our sgACC rsFC results point to possible distinct differences in emotional and cognitive processes between Val(158) and Met(158) allele carriers. Hovvever, the exact nature of these directions remains to be determined

Closed Loop Control Compact Exercise Device for Use on MPCV

Long duration space travel to Mars or to an asteroid will expose astronauts to extended periods of reduced gravity. To combat spaceflight physiological deconditioning, astronauts will use resistive and aerobic exercise regimens for the duration of the space flight to minimize the loss of bone density, muscle mass and aerobic capacity that occurs during exposure to a reduced gravity environment. Unlike the International Space Station (ISS), the mass and volume available for an exercise device in the next generation of spacecraft is limited. Therefore, compact exercise device prototypes are being developed for human in the loop evaluations. The NASA Human Research Program (HRP) is managing Advanced Exercise Concepts (AEC) requirements development and candidate technology maturation for all exploration mission profiles from Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) exploration missions (e.g., EM-2, up to 21 day) to Mars Transit (up to 1000 day) missions. Numerous technologies have been considered and evaluated against HRP-approved functional requirements and include flywheel, pneumatic and closed-loop microprocessor-controlled motor driven power plants. Motor driven technologies offer excellent torque density and load accuracy characteristics as well as the ability to create custom mechanical impedance (the dynamic relationship between force and velocity) and custom load versus position exercise algorithms. Further, closed-loop motor-driven technologies offer the ability to monitor exercise dose parameters and adapt to the needs of the crewmember for real time optimization of exercise prescriptions. A simple proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller is demonstrated in a prototype motor driven exercise device with comparison to resistive static and dynamic load set points and aerobic work rate targets. The resistive load term in the algorithm includes a constant force component (Fcmg) as well as inertial component (Fima) and a discussion of system tuning is presented in terms of addressing key functional requirements and human interfaces. The device aerobic modality is modelled as a rowing exercise using ground data sets obtained from Concept 2 rowers as well as competitive rowing1. A discussion of software and electronic implementations are presented which demonstrate unique approaches to meeting the constrained mass, volume and power requirements of the MPCV. . In addition to utilizing traditional PID control, controllers utilizing state feedback with gains solved using a Linear Quadratic Regulator will be developed. Controllability and observability will be utilized to investigate the need for state measurement in the design. As the control system directly interacts with human test subjects, robust methods such as H-infinity are also being investigated.1. Kleshnev V. Biomechanics. In: Rowing, Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science. ed. by Secher N., Voliantis S. IOC Medical Commission, Blackwell Pub. pp. 22-34, 200

Fluoroquinolone resistance during 2000–2005 : An observational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Moxifloxacin is a respiratory fluoroquinolone with a community acquired pneumonia indication. Unlike other fluoroquinolones used in our healthcare system, moxifloxacin's urinary excretion is low and thus we hypothesized that increased use of moxifloxacin is associated with an increase in fluoroquinolone resistance amongst gram negative uropathogens.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All antibiograms for Gram negative bacteria were obtained for 2000 to 2005. The defined daily dose (DDD) for each fluoroquinolone was computed according to World Health Organization criteria. To account for fluctuation in patient volume, DDD/1000 bed days was computed for each year of study. Association between DDD/1000 bed days for each fluoroquinolone and the susceptibility of Gram negative bacteria to ciprofloxacin was assessed using Pearson's Correlation Coefficient, r.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During the study period, there were 48,261 antibiograms, 347,931 DDD of fluoroquinolones, and 1,943,338 bed days. Use of fluoroquinolones among inpatients decreased from 237.2 DDD/1000 bed days in 2000 to 115.2 DDD/1000 bed days in 2005. With the exception of <it>Enterobacter aerogenes</it>, moxifloxacin use was negatively correlated with sensitivity among all 13 Gram negative species evaluated (r = -0.07 to -0.97). When the sensitivities of all Gram negative organisms were aggregated, all fluoroquinolones except moxifloxacin were associated with increased sensitivity (r = 0.486 to 1.000) while moxifloxacin was associated with decreased sensitivity (r = -0.464).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Moxifloxacin, while indicated for empiric treatment of community acquired pneumonia, may have important negative influence on local antibiotic sensitivities amongst Gram negative organisms. This effect was not shared by other commonly used members of the fluoroquinolone class.</p

13kW Advanced Electric Propulsion Flight System Development and Qualification

The next phase of robotic and human deep space exploration missions is enhanced by high performance, high power solar electric propulsion systems for large-scale science missions and cargo transportation. Aerojet Rocketdynes Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) program is completing development, qualification and delivery of five flight 13.3kW EP systems to NASA. The flight AEPS includes a magnetically-shielded, long-life Hall thruster, power processing unit (PPU), xenon flow controller (XFC), and intrasystem harnesses. The Hall thruster, originally developed and demonstrated by NASAs Glenn Research Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, operates at input powers up to 12.5kW while providing a specific impulse over 2600s at an input voltage of 600V. The power processor is designed to accommodate an input voltage range of 95 to 140V, consistent with operation beyond the orbit of Mars. The integrated system is continuously throttleable between 3 and 13.3kW. The program has completed the system requirement review; the system, thruster, PPU and XFC preliminary design reviews; development of engineering models, and initial system integration testing. This paper will present the high power AEPS capabilities, overall program and design status and the latest test results for the 13.3kW flight system development and qualification program

The Impacts Of Simultaneous Disease Intervention Decisions On Epidemic Outcomes

The final publication is available at Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2016.01.027 © 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Mathematical models of the interplay between disease dynamics and human behavioural dynamics can improve our understanding of how diseases spread when individuals adapt their behaviour in response to an epidemic. Accounting for behavioural mechanisms that determine uptake of infectious disease interventions such as vaccination and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) can significantly alter predicted health outcomes in a population. However, most previous approaches that model interactions between human behaviour and disease dynamics have modelled behaviour of these two interventions separately. Here, we develop and analyze an agent based network model to gain insights into how behaviour toward both interventions interact adaptively with disease dynamics (and therefore, indirectly, with one another) during the course of a single epidemic where an SIRV infection spreads through a contact network. In the model, individuals decide to become vaccinated and/or practice NPIs based on perceived infection prevalence (locally or globally) and on what other individuals in the network are doing. We find that introducing adaptive NPI behaviour lowers vaccine uptake on account of behavioural feedbacks, and also decreases epidemic final size. When transmission rates are low, NPIs alone are as effective in reducing epidemic final size as NPIs and vaccination combined. Also, NPIs can compensate for delays in vaccine availability by hindering early disease spread, decreasing epidemic size significantly compared to the case where NPI behaviour does not adapt to mitigate early surges in infection prevalence. We also find that including adaptive NPI behaviour strongly mitigates the vaccine behavioural feedbacks that would otherwise result in higher vaccine uptake at lower vaccine efficacy as predicted by most previous models, and the same feedbacks cause epidemic final size to remain approximately constant across a broad range of values for vaccine efficacy. Finally, when individuals use local information about others' behaviour and infection prevalence, instead of population-level information, infection is controlled more efficiently through ring vaccination, and this is reflected in the time evolution of pair correlations on the network. This model shows that accounting for both adaptive NPI behaviour and adaptive vaccinating behaviour regarding social effects and infection prevalence can result in qualitatively different predictions than if only one type of adaptive behaviour is modelled.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Individual Discovery Gran