Lisa X. Deng¹, Lacey P. Gleason², Katherine Awh², Abigail May Khan³, David Drajpuch^2,4, Stephanie Fuller⁵, Leah A. Goldberg², Christopher E. Mascio⁵, Sara L. Partington^2,4, Lynda Tobin^2,4, Adrienne H. Kovacs³, Yuli Y. Kim^2,4

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.4, pp. 534-540, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12778

Abstract Objective: To investigate the experiences and communication preferences of adult patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) in the domains of employment, insur‐ ance, and family planning.
Design: Patients ≥ 18 years of age completed a questionnaire about experiences and communication preferences regarding employment, health insurance, and family planning.
Results: Of 152 patients (median age = 33 years, 50% female, 35% with CHD of great complexity), one in four reported work‐related problems due to CHD and a quar‐ ter also recalled a previous gap in health insurance. Of females, 29% experienced an unplanned pregnancy. The median importance of discussion ratings (on… More >

Jill M. Steiner¹, James N. Kirkpatrick¹, Susan R. Heckbert², James Sibley³, James A. Fausto³, Ruth A. Engelberg³, J. Randall Curtis³

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.5, pp. 721-727, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12638

Abstract Objective: Overall health care resource utilization by adults with congenital heart disease has increased dramatically in the past two decades, yet little is known about utilization patterns at the end of life. The objective of this study is to better under‐ stand the patterns and influences on end‐of‐life care intensity for adults with con‐ genital heart disease.
Methods: We identified a sample of adults with congenital heart disease (n = 65), cancer (n = 10 784), or heart failure (n = 3809) who died between January 2010 and December 2015, cared for in one multi‐hospital health care system. We used… More >

Lindsay A. Edwards^1,2, Christine Bui^2,3, Antonio G. Cabrera^1,2, Jill Ann Jarrell^2,4,5

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.13, No.3, pp. 362-368, 2018, DOI:10.1111/chd.12579

Abstract Objective: To improve outpatient advanced care planning (ACP) for adults with congenital/pediatric heart disease followed in a pediatric heart failure (HF) and transplant clinic through quality improvement (QI) methodology.
Design: A one-year QI project was completed. We conducted quarterly chart reviews and incorporated feedback from the providers to direct subsequent interventions.
Patients and Setting: Patients ≥18 years of age seen in the HF and Transplant Clinic for followup visit were included in analysis.
Interventions: Interventions focused on five main areas: identifying and training providers to have ACP discussions, standardizing the ACP discussion, standardizing ACP and advance directive (AD) documentation in… More >

Jill M. Steiner¹, Karen Stout¹, Laurie Soine¹, James N. Kirkpatrick¹, J. Randall Curtis²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.14, No.3, pp. 403-409, 2019, DOI:10.1111/chd.12735

Abstract Background: Patients with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) report that ad‐ vance care planning (ACP) is important, and that they want information about prog‐ nosis. However, recognizing importance and being willing to participate are different constructs, and how and when to begin ACP and palliative care discussions remains ill‐defined.
Methods: We conducted a cross‐sectional survey of 150 consecutive outpatients to assess willingness to participate in ACP, with whom, and important barriers and facili‐ tators to these discussions.
Results: The majority of participants (69%) reported being willing to participate in ACP; 79% to have a meeting to discuss goals and care… More >

Yanbin Zhao^{1, *}, Bin Du², Shuang Li²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.122, No.1, pp. 235-257, 2020, DOI:10.32604/cmes.2020.08070

Abstract Satellite observation schedule is investigated in this paper. A mission planning algorithm of task clustering is proposed to improve the observation efficiency of agile satellite. The newly developed method can make the satellite observe more targets and therefore save observation resources. First, for the densely distributed target points, a pre-processing scheme based on task clustering is proposed. The target points are clustered according to the distance condition. Second, the local observation path is generated by Tabu algorithm in the inner layer of cluster regions. Third, considering the scatter and cluster sets, the global observation path is obtained by adopting Tabu… More >

Zhuanyuan Meng¹, Tao Ma², Zhihui Dong², Shengzhang Wang^1,*, Weiguo Fu²

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 60-60, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07253

Abstract Thoracic endovascular aortic repair has been widely applied to treat Stanford Type B aortic dissection. However, retrograde type A dissection can occur as a complication after thoracic endovascular repair for Stanford type B aortic dissection. In order to investigated the possible mechanical reasons of the new entry occurring when stent grafts were implanted into the true lumen of one type B aortic dissection, a framework of virtual implantation of stent-graft by using finite element simulations was developed in this paper. The animal experiments were adopted to verify the finite element simulation of stent-graft implantation. Moreover, the manufactured stent-grafts were implanted… More >

Ram P. Ghosh¹, Matteo Bianchi¹, Gil Marom², Oren M. Rotman¹, Brandon Kovarovic¹, Danny Bluestein^1,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, Suppl.2, pp. 12-14, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.07379

Abstract This article has no abstract. More >

Tuanjie Li^1,*, Yan Zhang¹, Jiaxing Zhou¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.118, No.3, pp. 583-598, 2019, DOI:10.31614/cmes.2018.04891

Abstract In order to satisfy the high efficiency and high precision of collaborative robots, this work presents a novel trajectory planning method. First, in Cartesian space, a novel velocity look-ahead control algorithm and a cubic polynomial are combined to construct the end-effector trajectory of robots. Then, the joint trajectories can be obtained through the inverse kinematics. In order to improve the smoothness and stability in joint space, the joint trajectories are further adjusted based on the velocity look-ahead control algorithm and quintic B-spline. Finally, the proposed trajectory planning method is tested on a 4-DOF serial collaborative robot. The experimental results indicate… More >

Jiayu Lu¹, Siqin Chang^1,*

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.118, No.1, pp. 91-109, 2019, DOI:10.31614/cmes.2019.04190

Abstract In this paper, a trajectory planning-based energy-optimal method is proposed to reduce the energy consumption of novel electromagnetic valve train (EMVT). Firstly, an EMVT optimization model based on state equation was established. Then, the Gauss pseudospectral method (GPM) was used to plan energy-optimal trajectory. And a robust feedforward-feedback tracking controller based on inverse system method is proposed to track the energy-optimal trajectory. In order to verify the effectiveness of the energy-optimal trajectory, a test bench was established. Finally, co-simulations based on MATLAB Simulink and AVL Boost were carried out to illustrate the effect of energy-optimal trajectories on engine performance. Experimental… More >

A. P. Chassiakos, C. I. Samaras, D. D. Theodorakopoulos¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.1, No.4, pp. 9-18, 2000, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2000.001.461

Abstract Time and cost to complete a project is an important tradeoff problem in project planning and control. Existing methods have not provided an accepted solution in terms of both accuracy and efficiency. In an attempt to improve the solution process, a method is presented for developing optimal project time-cost curves based on CPM analysis. Using activity succession information, project paths are developed and duration is calculated. Following that, duration is reduced in an optimal way employing integer programming. Two alternative formulations are proposed which lead to corresponding algorithms, a progressive duration reduction and a direct reduction to the desired level.… More >