Carlos E. B. Branco¹, Roney O. Sampaio¹, Flavio Tarasoutchi¹, Justin P. Zachariah²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.6, pp. 1069-1071, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12676

Abstract In the 2017, “Cairo Accord on Rheumatic Heart Disease—From Molecules to The Global Community” experts from endemic areas enumerated an approach to reduce the population burden of rheumatic heart disease. The 10 key recommendations in‐ clude immediate logistical objectives as well as domains for further study. Echocardiographic population screening programs were relegated to research alone. Given the large body of supporting data, relegating echo screening to an investiga‐ tional modality is an opportunity lost. More >

Sarah Tweddell, Rohit S. Loomba, David S. Cooper, Alexis L. Benscoter

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.5, pp. 785-790, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12779

Abstract Introduction: Health care‐associated infections (HAIs) increase mortality, length of stay, and cost in hospitalized patients. The incidence of and risk factors for developing HAIs in the pediatric population after cardiac surgery have been studied. This study evaluates the impact of HAIs on length of stay, inpatient mortality, and cost of hospitalization in the pediatric population after cardiac surgery.
Methods: TheKids’InpatientDatabasewasqueriedforanalysis.Patientsunder18years of age who underwent cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2012 were included. HAIs were defined as central line‐associated blood stream infections, catheter‐associated urinary tract infections, ventilator‐associated pneumonias, and surgical wound infections. Univariate analysis compared admissions with and without a HAI.… More >

Patrick D. Evers^1,*, Tarek Alsaied^1,2,*, Jeffrey B. Anderson¹, James F. Cnota¹, Allison A. Divanovic¹

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.2, pp. 221-229, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12713

Abstract Objective: Maternal anti-Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies can lead to fetal complete heart block (CHB). Current guidelines recommend weekly echocardiographic screening between 16 and 28 weeks gestation. Given the cost of screening and the rarity of conduction abnormalities in fetuses of mothers with low anti-Ro levels (<50 U/mL), we sought to identify a strategy that optimizes resource utilization.
Design: Decision analysis cost-utility modeling was performed for three screening paradigms: “standard screening” (SS) in which mid-gestation mothers are screened weekly, “limited screening” (LS) in which fetal echocardiograms are avoided unless the fetus develops bradycardia, and “targeted screening by maternal antibody level” (TS)… More >

Haytham Ayoub, Ehab Hussein Bani-Hani^*

Energy Engineering, Vol.117, No.1, pp. 41-47, 2020, DOI:10.32604/EE.2020.010412

Abstract Offshore wind turbine is analyzed theoretically and experimentally for improving wind energy harvesting. The energy produced is calculated at different wind speeds. The wind speed curve is generated by measuring the wind speed on daily base for one year. Curves that show the power extraction for experimental study and from the theoretical calculations are generated. The energy production investigation is expanded over a period of 15 years after comparing the annual energy production in theory and practice. The study shows the cost of electricity over the same time period assuming different interest rates. Three time intervals are shown that are… More >

Rijia Ding¹, Xingyao Zhou^1,*, Rui Zhang¹, Wanqiu Lu²

Energy Engineering, Vol.117, No.1, pp. 27-39, 2020, DOI:10.32604/EE.2020.010372

Abstract Coal is the main energy source in China. At present, the coal overcapacity is still serious in China. Accurately measuring the degree of China’s coal overcapacity can scientifically resolve the overcapacity, and is the premise of guiding the healthy development of coal industry and energy system. Using the translog cost function and the panel data of coal industry in all provinces of China from 2002 to 2011 and from 2012 to 2016, the research measures and compares the coal production capacity of “golden decade” and “cold winter” in China. The results show that: (1) The change of coal production capacity… More >

Jimarez-Montiel MJ¹, A Robledo-Paz¹, VM Ordaz-Chaparro², LI Trejo-Tellez², JC Molina-Moreno¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.87, pp. 94-104, 2018, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2018.87.094

Abstract An alternative method for improving the production of habanero chili is the tissue culture technique; however, the gelling agent, the high salt and sucrose concentrations used in the culture media raise production costs and limit the adaptation of the regenerated plants to greenhouse or field conditions. In this study, the effect of the substrates perlite-coconut fiber, coconut fiber-volcanic rock, vermiculite-perlite, and perlite-volcanic rock in conjunction with various culture media in in vitro plant regeneration from embryos was evaluated. The differentiation of adventitious shoots on substrates was scarcely observed or non-existent. Inducing the formation of shoots on agar and their development… More >

NANCY RODRÍGUEZ, NORA MAYER, HÉCTOR F. GAUNA

BIOCELL, Vol.31, No.1, pp. 67-74, 2007, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2007.31.067

Abstract Prenatal stimulations have been shown to have long-term effects on at reproductive activity. We evaluated the influence of the prenatal stress on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonad (HPG) axis in male offsprings from mothers with high number of offsprings per litter (HNL) and low number of offsprings per litter (LNL) after hypothesizing that the number of offsprings per litter may modify the effect of the prenatal stress on the HPG of adult offsprings. Pregnant Wistar rats were used for this study. Immobilization (IMO) stress was used, 30 min, 3 times per week, from the 5th to 21st day of pregnancy. The weight of… More >

Raimund Rolfes, Steffen Czichon, Benedikt Kriegesmann, Heiko Kruger, Matthias Vogler, Eelco Jansen

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.16, No.3, pp. 69-70, 2011, DOI:10.3970/icces.2011.016.069

Abstract Recent work carried out at the Institute of Structural Analysis of the Leibniz University Hannover in the field of composite materials and composite structures is presented. Analysis tools for composite materials and structures are under development, which enable a robust and cost efficient design. Three key areas for design and analysis of composite structures will be covered in the presentation, namely strength, stability, and fatigue analysis.
Predicting the material properties of imperfect composite structures with manufacturing defects such as waviness defects or porosities is still an open challenge. Several analytical approaches exist to determine the reduction of elastic properties… More >

A. M. Mughal¹, K. Iqbal²

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.6, No.4, pp. 215-220, 2008, DOI:10.3970/icces.2008.006.215

Abstract Human voluntary movements are complex physical phenomenon and there are several physiological factors that control the movement and transient response, steady state position, speed of motion and other characteristics. Many experimentalists described variety of variables important for human balance and movement such as center of mass, center of pressure, ground reaction forces etc. In this study, we discuss a bipedal model for biomechanical sit to stand movement with optimal controller design. The cost optimization for gain scheduling is based upon physiological variables of center of mass, head position, and ground reaction forces. Our simulation results shows that movement profiles improve… More >

H.S. Lee¹, W.S. Chu¹, Y.C. Kang¹, H.J. Kang¹, S.H. Ahn²

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.4, No.3, pp. 195-200, 2007, DOI:10.3970/icces.2007.004.195

Abstract The fuel cell is one of promising environment-friendly energy sources for the next generation. The bipolar plate is a major component of the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack, and it takes a large portion of stack volume, weight and cost. In this study, as alternative materials for bipolar plate of PEM fuel cells, graphite composites were fabricated by compression molding and by machining. Graphite particles mixed with epoxy resin were used as the main substance to provide electric conductivity. Flow channels were fabricated by compression molding applying design of experiments (DOE) in order to evaluate moldability. The cost… More >