Valved conduit reconstruction between the right ventricle (RV) and the pulmonary circulation is often necessary in the surgical treatment of complex congenital heart defects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term performance of the three types of conduits we have used and assess risk factors for conduit failure. Retrospective, single-center review of 455 consecutive pediatric patients

Efficient thermal management of lithium battery modules has become a thorny problem in the development of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), especially under high current discharge. In this article, the fin/phase change material (PCM) composite structure was proposed for AUV's battery thermal management with consideration of natural convection. The temperature behavior of the battery and the m

Background: Robot-assisted nephroureterectomy (RANU) is the primary treatment for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) at our hospital for patients with clinical stage less than T2, and for patients with invasive tumours, but unfit for major surgery. Objective: To assess peri-operative conditions and outcomes of RANU at our unit, and to evaluate the safety of the procedure. Methods: The medical

Purpose: A major challenge in osteoporosis is to identify individuals at high fracture risk. We investigated six bone turnover markers (BTMs) to determine association with specific fracture types; the time-frame for risk prediction and whether these are influenced by age at assessment. Methods: Population-based OPRA cohort (n = 1044) was assessed at ages 75, 80, 85 and fractures documented for up

Simultaneous planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) and Rayleigh scattering thermometry (RST) were applied to measure the key species and temperature fields of premixed ammonia/ hydrogen/air jet flames to investigate the effects of differential diffusion on flame structure. NH-PLIF technique was developed to properly characterize the reaction zone of ammonia flames. Three flames with similar lam

Advances in ultrafast spectroscopy can provide access to dynamics involving nontrivial quantum correlations and their evolutions. In coherent 2D spectroscopy, the oscillatory time dependence of a signal is a signature of such quantum dynamics. Here, we study such beating signals in electronic coherent 2D spectroscopy of CdSe quantum dots (CdSe QDs) at 77 K. The beating signals are analyzed in term

The International Water Association (IWA) Benchmark Simulation Models (BSM1 and BSM2) have been successfully used in both industry and academia to test and verify control strategies in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In this study, a new (plant- wide) benchmark simulation model, the BSM2-LT, is developed to evaluate monitoring algorithms. This platform provides opportunities to generate vario

The ability to pursue targets in visually cluttered and distraction-rich environments is critical for predators such as dragonflies. Previously, we identified Centrifugal Small-Target Motion Detector 1 (CSTMD1), a dragonfly visual neuron likely involved in such target-tracking behaviour. CSTMD1 exhibits facilitated responses to targets moving along a continuous trajectory. Moreover, CSTMD1 competi

Background and Aims: Substance use disorder (SUD) is related to widespread adverse consequences, including higher suicidality. Shared genetic liability has been demonstrated between SUD and suicidality. Here, we measured the factors that contribute to increased risk of non-fatal suicide attempt among individuals with SUD by focusing upon aggregate genetic risks and both childhood and past-year env

Tremor can be highly incapacitating in everyday life and typically fluctuates depending on motor state, medication status as well as external factors. For tremor patients being treated with deep-brain stimulation (DBS), adapting the intensity and pattern of stimulation according the current needs therefore has the potential to generate better symptomatic relief. We here describe a procedure for ho

The unique sandwich structure and favorable crystallization kinetics have endowed two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskites with excellent ambient stability and facile film formation compared to those of their three-dimensional counterparts. However, the heterogeneous crystallization of multiple n-value phases during solution-casting of 2D perovskite thin films results in random and disordered cryst

Sustainable agriculture relies on pollinators, and wild bees benefit yield of multiple crops. However, the combined exposure to pesticides and loss of flower resources, driven by agricultural intensification, contribute to declining diversity and abundance of many bee taxa. Flower plantings along the margins of agricultural fields offer diverse food resources not directly treated with pesticides.

The linear and nonlinear optical parameters and morphologic dependence of CsPbBr3 nanocrystals (NCs) are crucial for device engineering. In particular, such information in asymmetric nanocrystals is still insufficient. We characterized the OPLA (σ1) and TPA cross sections (σ2) of a series CsPbBr3 nanocrystals with various aspect ratios (AR) using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS)

Obesity constitutes a major global health threat and is associated with a variety of diseases ranging from metabolic and cardiovascular disease, cancer to neurodegeneration. The hallmarks of neurodegeneration include oxidative stress, proteasome impairment, mitochondrial dysfunction and accumulation of abnormal protein aggregates as well as metabolic alterations. As an example, in post-mortem brai

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) may hold therapeutic benefits for people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). SSRIs may perturb AD progression, or the conversion from MCI to AD, via increased neurogenesis, reduced oxidative stress and/or favourable Amyloid-β Precursor Protein (AβPP) processing. This study used iPSC derived cortical neuronal cells carrying 3 different PSEN1 mutations, to

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Optical nanoantennas are often based on plasmonic resonances in metal nanostructures, but their dynamic tunability is limited due to the fixed permittivity of conventional metals. Recently, we introduced PEDOT-based conducting polymers as an alternative materials platform for dynamic plasmonics and metasurfaces. Here, we expand dynamic organic plasmonic systems to a wider class of doped polythioph