Analysis of the Impacts of Cochlear Implants in the Adults of Sensorineural Hearing Loss: What Is New and Not So New: A Literature Review

PURPOSE: the purpose of this systematic review is to advise on advantages and clinical outcomes of Cochlear implants in adult population with sensorineural hearing loss. Methods: A systematic search of several electronic databases, including PubMed and Embase, was used to identify relevant studies for inclusion. RESULTS: 16 articles were included in our study most of the studies showed better speech recognition, quality of life, speech perception and social interactions. Consistent use of implant showed better results as well as early implantation. CONCLUSION: Early intervention and consistent use of implant is necessary for desired outcome. Sensorineural hearing loss have many different causes from simple infection to genetic mutations. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/93-05 Publication date:September 30th 202

LSSVM Model for Penetration Depth Detection in Underwater Arc Welding Process

Abstract. For underwater arc welding, it is much more complexity and difficulty to detect penetration depth than land arc welding. Based on least squares support vector machines (LSSVM), welding current, arc voltage, travel speed, contact-tube-to-work distance, and weld pool width are extracted as input units. Penetration depth is predicted in underwater flux-cored arc welding (FCAW). For improvement prediction performance, the LSSVM parameters are adaptively optimized. The experimental results show that this model can achieve higher identification precision and is more suitable to detect the depth of underwater FCAW penetration than back propagation neural networks (BPNN)

Tracking dynamics of plant biomass composting by changes in substrate structure, microbial community, and enzyme activity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Understanding the dynamics of the microbial communities that, along with their secreted enzymes, are involved in the natural process of biomass composting may hold the key to breaking the major bottleneck in biomass-to-biofuels conversion technology, which is the still-costly deconstruction of polymeric biomass carbohydrates to fermentable sugars.</p> <p>However, the complexity of both the structure of plant biomass and its counterpart microbial degradation communities makes it difficult to investigate the composting process.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, a composter was set up with a mix of yellow poplar (<it>Liriodendron tulipifera</it>) wood-chips and mown lawn grass clippings (85:15 in dry-weight) and used as a model system. The microbial rDNA abundance data obtained from analyzing weekly-withdrawn composted samples suggested population-shifts from bacteria-dominated to fungus-dominated communities. Further analyses by an array of optical microscopic, transcriptional and enzyme-activity techniques yielded correlated results, suggesting that such population shifts occurred along with early removal of hemicellulose followed by attack on the consequently uncovered cellulose as the composting progressed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The observed shifts in dominance by representative microbial groups, along with the observed different patterns in the gene expression and enzymatic activities between cellulases, hemicellulases, and ligninases during the composting process, provide new perspectives for biomass-derived biotechnology such as consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) and solid-state fermentation for the production of cellulolytic enzymes and biofuels.</p

A study on the multi-objective optimization method and characteristic analysis of installation locations of submersible mixer for sewage

In this study, the performance of submersible mixers in sewage treatment was improved by optimizing the installation position parameters of the mixer. The aim was to enhance the average flow velocity and mixing efficiency in the pool. The study employed ISIGHT software, integrated with Creo Parametric 6.0 software and ANSYS Workbench 2020 software, to analyze the factors affecting mean flow velocity and completed a multi-objective optimized design using Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II). The study used the ISIGHT software to analyze the factors affecting mean flow velocity in the pool. The installation position parameters of the submersible mixer were selected as design variables. The study employed Creo Parametric 6.0 software to create a three-dimensional model of the pool and the submersible mixer. ANSYS Workbench 2020 software was used to simulate fluid flow in the pool. The Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) was used for multi-objective optimization. The results of the study indicated an increase of approximately 0.021 m/s in average flow velocity and an improvement of approximately 0.47% in mixing efficiency compared to pre-optimization values. The effective axial propulsion distance and effective radial diffusion radius were significantly increased by 6.71% and 8.33%, respectively, after optimization. The fluid distribution in the pool became more uniform, and the low-speed zone was greatly reduced, resulting in an enhanced flow state of the fluid in the pool and a strengthened mixing effect. The study provides insights into the control of the submersible mixer’s installation position to improve the average flow velocity inside the pool. Automatic optimization of submersible mixer installation locations using the ISIGHT software can effectively improve mixing efficiency, overall plant operating efficiency, and economic benefits in sewage treatment plants. The multi-objective optimization platform based on the ISIGHT platform for wastewater treatment mixer installation location can be successfully applied in engineering practice

Influence of installation height of a submersible mixer on solid‒liquid two‒phase flow field

With the increasingly severe situation of water pollution control, optimal design of the mixing flow field of submersible mixers and improving the mixing uniformity of activated sludge have become key research issues. At present, the research on the submersible mixer is mostly focused on water as the medium, and the flow field characteristics of solid-liquid two-phase flow, which is closer to the actual scene, still need more systematic research. This paper presented numerical simulations of the solid‒liquid two‒phase flow problem at various installation heights based on the coupled CFD‒DEM method in the Euler‒Lagrange framework. The velocity distribution, dead zone distribution, particles’ velocity development, particles’ mixing degree, and particles’ aggregation of the flow field were compared and analyzed for different installation heights. The results show that the flow field has two flow patterns: single‒ and double‒circulation, due to different installation heights, in which the velocity and turbulent kinetic energy of the flow field of the double‒circulation flow pattern are more uniform. The installation height affects the moment particles enter the impeller and the core jet zone, thus affecting the degree of particle mixing and the mixing time. The adjustment of the installation height also has an impact on particle aggregation. These findings indicate that the installation height significantly affects the flow field characteristics and the particle motion distribution. The coupled CFD‒DEM method can analyze the macroscopic phenomenon of the solid‒liquid two‒phase flow field of the submersible mixer from the scale of microscopic particles, which provides a theoretical approach for the optimal design of the mixing flow field. It can provide better guidance for engineering practice

Millennial-scale variations in sedimentary oxygenation in the western subtropical North Pacific and its links to North Atlantic climate

The deep-ocean carbon cycle, especially carbon sequestration and outgassing, is one of the mechanisms to explain variations in atmospheric CO2 concentrations on millennial and orbital timescales. However, the potential role of subtropical North Pacific subsurface waters in modulating atmospheric CO2 levels on millennial timescales is poorly constrained. An increase in the respired CO2 concentration in the glacial deep-ocean due to biological pump generally corresponds to deoxygenation in the ocean interior. This link thus offers a chance to study oceanic ventilation and coeval export productivity based on redox-controlled sedimentary geochemical parameters. Here, we investigate a suite of geochemical proxies in a sediment core from the Okinawa Trough to understand sedimentary oxygenation variations in the subtropical North Pacific over the last 50 000 years (50 ka). Our results suggest that enhanced mid-depth western subtropical North Pacific (WSTNP) sedimentary oxygenation occurred during cold intervals and after 8.5 ka, while oxygenation decreased during the Bölling-Alleröd (B/A) and Preboreal. The enhanced oxygenation during cold spells is linked to the North Pacific IntermediateWater (NPIW), while interglacial increase after 8.5 ka is linked to an intensification of the Kuroshio Current due to strengthened northeast tradewinds over the tropics. The enhanced formation of the NPIW during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1) was likely driven by the perturbation of sea ice formation and sea surface salinity oscillations in the high-latitude North Pacific. The diminished sedimentary oxygenation during the B/A due to a decreased NPIW formation and enhanced export production, indicates an expansion of the oxygen minimum zone in the North Pacific and enhanced CO2 sequestration at mid-depth waters, along with the termination of atmospheric CO2 concentration increase. We attribute the millennial-scale changes to an intensified NPIW and enhanced abyss flushing during deglacial cold and warm intervals, respectively, closely related to variations in North Atlantic Deep Water formation

Critical roles of edge turbulent transport in the formation of high-field-side high-density front and density limit disruption in J-TEXT tokamak

This article presents an in-depth study of the sequence of events leading to density limit disruption in J-TEXT tokamak plasmas, with an emphasis on boudary turbulent transport and the high-field-side high-density (HFSHD) front. These phenomena were extensively investigated by using Langmuir probe and Polarimeter-interferometer diagnostics

In Silico Prediction of Estrogen Receptor Subtype Binding Affinity and Selectivity Using Statistical Methods and Molecular Docking with 2-Arylnaphthalenes and 2-Arylquinolines

Over the years development of selective estrogen receptor (ER) ligands has been of great concern to researchers involved in the chemistry and pharmacology of anticancer drugs, resulting in numerous synthesized selective ER subtype inhibitors. In this work, a data set of 82 ER ligands with ERα and ERβ inhibitory activities was built, and quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) methods based on the two linear (multiple linear regression, MLR, partial least squares regression, PLSR) and a nonlinear statistical method (Bayesian regularized neural network, BRNN) were applied to investigate the potential relationship of molecular structural features related to the activity and selectivity of these ligands. For ERα and ERβ, the performances of the MLR and PLSR models are superior to the BRNN model, giving more reasonable statistical properties (ERα: for MLR, Rtr2 = 0.72, Qte2 = 0.63; for PLSR, Rtr2 = 0.92, Qte2 = 0.84. ERβ: for MLR, Rtr2 = 0.75, Qte2 = 0.75; for PLSR, Rtr2 = 0.98, Qte2 = 0.80). The MLR method is also more powerful than other two methods for generating the subtype selectivity models, resulting in Rtr2 = 0.74 and Qte2 = 0.80. In addition, the molecular docking method was also used to explore the possible binding modes of the ligands and a relationship between the 3D-binding modes and the 2D-molecular structural features of ligands was further explored. The results show that the binding affinity strength for both ERα and ERβ is more correlated with the atom fragment type, polarity, electronegativites and hydrophobicity. The substitutent in position 8 of the naphthalene or the quinoline plane and the space orientation of these two planes contribute the most to the subtype selectivity on the basis of similar hydrogen bond interactions between binding ligands and both ER subtypes. The QSAR models built together with the docking procedure should be of great advantage for screening and designing ER ligands with improved affinity and subtype selectivity property