The validity of the semiclassical method for the coupled channel atomic scattering problem

Stationary phase approximation for two-channel atomic scattering system amplitud

EcoBot-II: An artificial agent with a natural metabolism

In this paper we report the development of the robot EcoBot-II, which exhibits a primitive form of artificial symbiosis. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) were used as the onboard energy supply, which consisted of bacterial cultures from sewage sludge and employed oxygen from free air for oxidation at the cathode. EcoBot-II was able to perform sensing, information processing, communication and actuation when fed (amongst other substrates) with flies. This is the first robot in the world, to utilise unrefined substrate, oxygen from free air and exhibit four different types of behaviour

Foot Muscle Energy Reserves in Diabetic Patients Without and With Clinical Peripheral Neuropathy

Objective: To investigate changes in the foot muscle energy reserves in diabetic non-neuropathic and neuropathic patients. Research Design and Methods: We measured the phosphocreatinine (PCr)/inorganic phosphate (Pi) ratio, total $^{31}$P concentration, and the lipid/water ratio in the muscles in the metatarsal head region using MRI spectroscopy in healthy control subjects and non-neuropathic and neuropathic diabetic patients. Results: The PCr/Pi ratio was higher in the control subjects (3.23 $\pm$ 0.43) followed by the non-neuropathic group (2.61 $\pm$ 0.36), whereas it was lowest in the neuropathic group (0.60 $\pm$ 1.02) (P < 0.0001). There were no differences in total $^{31}$P concentration and lipid/water ratio between the control and non-neuropathic groups, but both measurements were different in the neuropathic group (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Resting foot muscle energy reserves are affected before the development of peripheral diabetic neuropathy and are associated with the endothelial dysfunction and inflammation

Feasibility study of the ultraviolet spectral analysis of the lunar surface

Ultraviolet spectral analysis of granite, gabbro, and serpentinite samples to determine feasibility of mapping surface composition of moo

Current Knowledge of Occupational Therapists in Wyoming Regarding the Affordable Care Act: A Quantitative Pilot Study

There is little information and research addressing occupational therapists’ knowledge level and ability to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This leads to the following problem statements: occupational therapists’ knowledge level of and ability to implement changes to practice is unknown; furthermore, it is unknown if there is a difference in knowledge level based on professional membership, years of practice, and area of practice; and it is also unknown which aspects or areas of the ACA occupational therapists would like to know more about, and if there is a difference based upon professional membership, years of practice or area of practice. The researchers created a quantitative, mail-based survey to gain insight to the problem statements. The researchers obtained approval from University of North Dakota’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) to administer this survey to occupational therapists licensed in Wyoming, and mailed the survey. The researchers utilized SPSS® version 22 to test correlational statistics and data. Independent samples t-tests and ANOVA were utilized to test significance and analyze possible correlations. The survey was sent to 281 Wyoming occupational therapists, with a total of 139 (49.47%) occupational therapists returning the survey. More of the occupational therapists (63 of 139 or 45.32%) rated their general knowledge of the ACA as a two on a scale of one to five than in any other area. When asked about specific areas of the ACA and its relationship to occupational therapy most occupational therapists (37%-46% or 52-64 of 139) rated themselves as having no knowledge or as a one out of five on each area. Additionally, most occupational therapists (approximately 49% or 67 of 139) rated their research habits at a one, indicating that they do not research current changes in legislation regarding the ACA. Furthermore, with the correlational statistics completed, relationships between variables were detected. Relationships were found with knowledge level of the ACA and occupational therapists working in orthopedics and geriatrics. Furthermore, pediatric practitioners reported a lower need for knowledge about the ACA than those in any other area (p\u3c.001); however, occupational therapists practicing in SNFs (33 of 130) reported a greater need for knowledge than those in other areas (p=.0465)

Modeling the evolution space of breakage fusion bridge cycles with a stochastic folding process

Breakage-Fusion-Bridge cycles in cancer arise when a broken segment of DNA is duplicated and an end from each copy joined together. This structure then 'unfolds' into a new piece of palindromic DNA. This is one mechanism responsible for the localised amplicons observed in cancer genome data. The process has parallels with paper folding sequences that arise when a piece of paper is folded several times and then unfolded. Here we adapt such methods to study the breakage-fusion-bridge structures in detail. We firstly consider discrete representations of this space with 2-d trees to demonstrate that there are 2^(n(n-1)/2) qualitatively distinct evolutions involving n breakage-fusion-bridge cycles. Secondly we consider the stochastic nature of the fold positions, to determine evolution likelihoods, and also describe how amplicons become localised. Finally we highlight these methods by inferring the evolution of breakage-fusion-bridge cycles with data from primary tissue cancer samples

Novel Analytical Microbial Fuel Cell Design for Rapid in Situ Optimisation of Dilution Rate and Substrate Supply Rate, by Flow, Volume Control and Anode Placement

© 2018 MDPI AG. All rights reserved. A new analytical design of continuously-fed microbial fuel cell was built in triplicate in order to investigate relations and effects of various operating parameters such as flow rate and substrate supply rate, in terms of power output and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency. This novel design enables the microbial fuel cell (MFC) systems to be easily adjusted in situ by changing anode distance to the membrane or anodic volume without the necessity of building many trial-and-error prototypes for each condition. A maximum power output of 20.7 ± 1.9 µW was obtained with an optimal reactor configuration; 2 mM acetate concentration in the feedstock coupled with a flow rate of 77 mL h−1, an anodic volume of 10 mL and an anode electrode surface area of 70 cm2 (2.9 cm2 projected area), using a 1 cm anode distance from the membrane. COD removal almost showed the reverse pattern with power generation, which suggests trade-off correlation between these two parameters, in this particular example. This novel design may be most conveniently employed for generating empirical data for testing and creating new MFC designs with appropriate practical and theoretical modelling

Current advances in ligand design for inorganic positron emission tomography tracers ⁶⁸Ga, ⁶⁴Cu, ⁸⁹Zr and ⁴⁴Sc

A key part of the development of metal based Positron Emission Tomography probes is the chelation of the radiometal. In this review the recent developments in the chelation of four positron emitting radiometals, 68Ga, 64Cu, 89Zr and 44Sc, are explored. The factors that effect the chelation of each radio metal and the ideal ligand system will be discussed with regards to high in vivo stability, complexation conditions, conjugation to targeting motifs and complexation kinetics. A series of cyclic, cross-bridged and acyclic ligands will be discussed, such as CP256 which forms stable complexes with 68Ga under mild conditions and PCB-TE2A which has been shown to form a highly stable complex with 64Cu. 89Zr and 44Sc have seen significant development in recent years with a number of chelates being applied to each metal – eight coordinate di-macrocyclic terephthalamide ligands were found to rapidly produce more stable complexes with 89Zr than the widely used DFO