Enhancing performance of ionic liquid property prediction with molecular dynamics.

Molecular dynamics have been used to predict thermodynamic and transport properties of eight room-temperature ionic liquids. Simulation parameters including box size and van der Waals cutoffs were varied. The density, heat capacity, and self-diffusion coefficients of the ionic liquids were computed and compared to experimental data and to previously published simulations. Predicted properties were generally close to their experimentally observed values. It was determined that the prediction of ionic liquid properties via molecular dynamics simulations could be accelerated several-fold by using less stringent integration parameters and smaller simulation sizes. The properties of density and heat capacity did not change significantly even with the least computationally expensive parameters tested, whereas diffusion coefficients were impacted by smaller box sizes. These results indicate that several important properties of ionic liquids can be predicted much more quickly than previously thought, thus improving large-scale computational screening of ionic liquids and other novel solvents.[JW1] [JW1]Andrew informed me this will have to be trimmed to 150 words. So I reduced its size

Management of Pain, Agitation, and Delirium in Mechanically Ventilated Oncology Patients

Attention has heightened over the last several years to the importance of managing pain, agitation, and delirium in mechanically ventilated patients due to the multiple long‐term adverse effects patients experience after an intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Furthermore, clinical practice is being molded not just by the guidelines and randomized controlled trials, but also by the information gathered from real patient experiences to improve care at the bedside. The literature continues to remain sparse for providing guidance specifically in the oncology population. Therefore, several resources have been combined to better assist clinicians on making sound decisions for keeping patients comfortable on the ventilator while recognizing the differences in treatment that may need to be employed due to these patients’ medical condition

Perceptions of Political Violence

Recently, political violence in the United States has been an increasingly salient public issue. Previous statistical connections have been made between low yearly income, low education, and right-wing political affiliation to a higher acceptance of political violence (Jasko et al., 2022). Using a dataset published through Harvard, this study aims to address the white population and their beliefs regarding current issues. The dataset was previously assembled by researchers studying the connection of people’s faith to political tendencies. Data is currently being analyzed and results will be presented at BURS

The influence of divided attention on directed forgetting

In list-method directed forgetting (DF) paradigm, participants study two lists of items, with half of them being told to forget List 1 before studying List 2. The typical findings involve impaired List 1 memory in the forget group compared to the remember group (known as DF costs), and enhanced List 2 memory in the forget group compared to the remember group (known as the DF benefits). Previous research suggests that dividing attention during List 2 learning eliminates DF thereby serving as a boundary condition for obtaining DF (e.g., Conway et al., 2000). This study re-examined this claim, and included additional conditions not previously employed in prior research. In this study, attention was divided by holding a concurrent load of six-digits during encoding of List 1 or List 2, during both lists, or none of the lists. Contrary to the previous reports, DF was unaffected when attention was divided during List 2. This was observed across two experiments, where the lists were tested separately (Experiment 1) or simultaneously (Experiment 2). In contrast, the novel finding was that dividing attention during List 1 reduced DF costs compared to the undivided conditions (Experiment 1). DF benefits were overall unaffected by divided attention manipulation. The results were interpreted by proposing that divided attention impacted the strength of item-to-context associations formed encoding

Pharmacologic Considerations in Oncology Critical Care

Critical care in the oncology population consists of diverse levels of diseases, syndromes, and emergencies that are not observed in typical medically-ill patients and, with it, comes even more specialized treatment strategies. Therefore, the uncommon or less well-understood pharmacologic considerations in this population must be discussed to better assist any clinician at the bedside. This chapter outlines some of the situations commonly encountered in this setting such as the challenge of treating and preventing infectious diseases when the patient lacks the ability to mount appropriate immune responses to conventional therapy, the paradigm of treating thromboembolism in the group of patients who are at highest risk for both bleeding and clotting and treatment of acute and long-term consequences of cancer or chemotherapy requiring escalation of care to the intensive care unit (ICU)

Effect of lens care system on silicone hydrogel contact lens wettability

Purpose: The purpose was to compare the effect of the repeated usage of two care systems (one hydrogen peroxide cleaning and disinfecting system and one polyaminopropyl biguanide (PHMB) containing multi-purpose system) with silicone hydrogel contact lenses worn for three months on a daily wear modality. A specific aspect of interest was of the effect of the care systems on contact lens wettability. Methods: Seventy-four symptomatic contact lens wearers, habitually wearing either ACUVUE® OASYS® (n = 37) or PureVision™ (n = 37), constituted the study population. The study was a two-arm prospective, investigator-masked, bilateral study of three-month duration to evaluate the effects of CLEAR CARE® compared with renu® fresh™. The subjects were randomized to one of the two lens care systems. Contact lens wettability and surface cleanliness were assessed with the Tearscope and reported in terms of pre-lens non-invasive break-up time (PL-NIBUT) and visible deposits. Baseline assessments at enrollment were with the subjects’ own contact lenses worn for at least 6 h when using their habitual PHMB-preserved care system and at the dispensing visit with new contact lenses. At the follow-up visits, the contact lenses were worn for at least 6 h, and were at least 11 days old for ACUVUE® OASYS® and 25 days old for PureVision™. Results: The results obtained showed that: (i) with CLEAR CARE®, a significant improvement in contact lens wettability was recorded compared with the habitual care system at the three-month follow-up visit (mean median PL-NIBUT 5.8 vs. 4.0 s, p < 0.001). Further, with this same lens care system a significant increase in wettability was observed at the three-month follow-up visit compared with dispensing (mean median PL-NIBUT 5.8 vs. 4.5 s, p = 0.022). (ii) Whereas no difference in contact lens wettability was observed at dispensing between the two lens care groups (mean PL-NIBUT: 4.5 vs. 4.2 s, p = 0.518), a significantly more stable pre-lens tear film was observed with CLEAR CARE® than with renu® fresh™ at both the two-month (mean PL-NIBUT: 4.6 vs. 3.7 s, p = 0.005) and three-month (mean PL-NIBUT: 5.8 vs. 4.2 s, p = 0.028) visits. iii. With renu® fresh™, no significant differences were observed at the end of three months of use compared with either the habitual care system or the new contact lens solution (mean PL-NIBUT: 3 M 4.2 vs. Disp 4.2 s (p = 0.420) vs. enrolment habitual care solution 5.1 s (p = 0.734)). iv. With CLEAR CARE® significant increases in the incidence of surfaces free of both mucus (3 month 95%. vs. habitual solution 82% enrolment; p = 0.005) and lipid (3 month 87% vs. habitual solution 72% enrolment; p = 0.009) were observed. Conclusion: Significantly better contact lens wettability and surface cleanliness were achieved for ACUVUE® OASYS® and PureVision™ with CLEAR CARE® than with renu® fresh™ at the end of three months of use

Rotor Shape Manipulation for the Design of an Alternator-Based Regenerative Braking System

To widen the scope of hybrid technology, Team DRIVE studied the implementation of an alternator-based regenerative braking system onto an automobile’s drive shaft. The team hypothesized that salient rotors were more ideal for an alternator-based regenerative braking system than the standard Lundell rotor due to their improved efficiency at lower angular velocities. The team conducted computer simulations and physical experiments to evaluate the performance of three electromagnet rotors: a 4-pole and 8-pole salient rotor, and a Lundell rotor. ANSYS Maxwell was used to optimize the geometry of the salient rotors. A test apparatus was designed to test the Lundell rotor by simulating driving conditions. Recommendations were made for the implementation of a salient rotor in an alternator-based regenerative braking system

Multi-Institutional Study Validates Safety of Intraoperative Cesium-131 Brachytherapy for Treatment of Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer

Introduction: Surgery is the primary treatment for resectable, non-metastatic recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We explore the safety and oncologic benefit of intraoperative Cesium-131 (Cs-131) brachytherapy combined with salvage local and/or regional surgical resection. Methods and materials: Findings were reported from a single arm multi-institutional prospective phase 1/2 trial involving surgery plus Cs-131 (surgery + Cs-131) treatment. The results of two retrospective cohorts-surgery alone and surgery plus intensity modulated radiation therapy (surgery + ReIMRT)-were also described. Included patients had recurrent HNSCC and radiation history. Safety, tumor re-occurrence, and survival were evaluated. Results: Forty-nine patients were enrolled in the surgery + Cs-131 prospective study. Grade 1 to 3 adverse events (AEs) occurred in 18 patients (37%), and grade 4 AEs occurred in 2 patients. Postoperative percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes were needed in 10 surgery + Cs-131 patients (20%), and wound and vascular complications were observed in 12 patients (24%). No cases of osteoradionecrosis were reported in the surgery + Cs-131 cohort. We found a 49% 2-year disease-free survival at the site of treatment with a substantial number of patients (31%) developing metastatic disease, which led to a 31% overall survival at 5 years. Conclusions: Among patients with local/regional recurrent HNSCC status-post radiation, surgery + Cs-131 demonstrated acceptable safety with compelling oncologic outcomes, as compared to historic control cohorts. Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifiers NCT02794675 and NCT02467738

Exercise is medicine in oncology: Engaging clinicians to help patients move through cancer

A compelling evidence base supports exercise as a safe, effective intervention to improve many cancer related health outcomes among cancer patients and survivors. Oncology clinicians play a key role in encouraging their patients to move more. Therefore, the oncology clinical care team is urged to do the following at regular intervals: ASSESS exercise levels, ADVISE patients to become more active, and REFER patients to specific exercise programming. It is recommended that a process be developed to incorporate these steps into the standard care of oncology patients. A simple, straightforward approach is recommended to discern whether patients should be referred to outpatient rehabilitation versus community based exercise programming. The exponential growth of exercise oncology research has driven the need for revised cancer exercise guidelines and a roadmap for oncology clinicians to follow to improve physical and psychological outcomes from cancer diagnosis and for the balance of life. This paper serves as a call to action and details pathways for exercise programming (clinical, community and self-directed) tailored to the different levels of support and intervention needed by a given cancer patient or survivor. Preserving activity and functional ability is integral to cancer care and oncology clinicians are key to providing these referrals