The two major stages of mammalian sleep—rapid eye movement sleep (REMs) and non-REM sleep (NREMs)—are characterized by distinct brain rhythms ranging from millisecond to minute-long (infraslow) ...oscillations. The mechanisms controlling transitions between sleep stages and how they are synchronized with infraslow rhythms remain poorly understood. Using opto- and chemogenetic manipulation in mice, we show that GABAergic neurons in the dorsomedial medulla (dmM) promote the initiation and maintenance of REMs, in part through their projections to the dorsal and median raphe nuclei. Fiber photometry revealed that their activity is strongly increased during REMs and fluctuates during NREMs in close synchrony with infraslow oscillations in the sleep spindle band of the electroencephalogram. The phase of this rhythm influenced the latency and probability with which dmM activation induced REMs. Thus, dmM inhibitory neurons strongly promote REMs, and their slow activity fluctuations may coordinate the timing of REMs episodes with infraslow brain rhythms.
•GABAergic neurons in the dorsomedial medulla (dmM) strongly promote REM sleep•Activating dmM neurons projecting to the dorsal/median raphe induces REM sleep•The activity of dmM neurons fluctuates during NREM sleep in sync with EEG sigma power•The sigma power oscillation influences the timing of REM sleep induction by the dmM
Stucynski et al. show that GABAergic neurons in the dorsomedial medulla (dmM) promote REM sleep, in part through projections to the dorsal/median raphe. During NREM sleep, these neurons fluctuate in close synchrony with an infraslow oscillation in the EEG sigma power. This infraslow rhythm influences the timing of REM sleep induction by the dmM.
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Biomass is the largest source of renewable energy carrier in the European Union (EU) contributing to over 60% of renewable energy, with the majority of supply coming from domestic sources. However, ...an increasing significant amount of feedstock is imported, either due to domestic undersupply or higher production costs within the country. This article provides an up-to-date view of bioenergy supply, demand and trade in Northwest Europe to 2030. Projections of the energy system model Green-X are compared to recent national studies concerning bioenergy imports. The results show that there is a sizeable gap of the projection bandwidths after the 2020 horizon. Projections might under- or overestimate biomass potential in certain cases, depending on whether they are derived from national reports or regional models, whether future policy developments were taken into account etc. The ranges of biomass consumption are multiple times apart by 2020 already, and the gap increases by 2030. Total biomass imports in the region can range between 14 and 44.3 Mt by 2020 and 18.5–60 Mt by 2030.
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This research aims at developing a universal methodology for automated calibration of microscopic properties of modelled granular materials. The proposed calibrator can be applied for different ...experimental set-ups. Two optimization approaches: (1) a genetic algorithm and (2) DIRECT optimization, are used to identify discrete element method input model parameters, e.g., coefficients of sliding and rolling friction. The algorithms are used to minimize the objective function characterized by the discrepancy between the experimental macroscopic properties and the associated numerical results. Two test cases highlight the robustness, stability, and reliability of the two algorithms used for automated discrete element method calibration with different set-ups.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
High-protein enteral nutrition is advised for patients who are critically ill. Options include immunonutrition formulas of various compositions and standard high-protein formulas (StdHP). Additional ...research is needed on the health economic value of immunonutrition in a broad cohort of severely ill hospitalized patients.
The study goal was to compare healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and cost between immunonutrition and StdHP using real-world evidence from a large US administrative database.
A retrospective cohort study was designed using the PINC AI™ Healthcare Database from 2015 to 2019. IMPACT® Peptide 1.5 (IP) was compared with Pivot® 1.5 (PC), and StdHP formulas. Inclusion criteria comprised patients age 18+ with at least 1 day's stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) and at least 3 out of 5 consecutive days of enteral nutrition. Pairwise comparisons of demographics, clinical characteristics, HCRU, and costs were conducted between groups. Multivariable regression was used to assess total hospital cost per day associated with enteral nutrition cohort.
A total of 5752 patients were identified across 27 hospitals. Overall, a median 7 days of enteral nutrition was received over a 16-day hospital and 10-day ICU stay. Median total and daily hospital costs were lower for IP vs PC ($71 196 vs $80 696,
<.001) and ($4208 vs $4373,
=.019), with each higher than StdHP. However, after controlling for covariates such as mortality risk, surgery, and discharge disposition, average total hospital cost per day associated with IP use was 24% lower than PC, and 12% lower than StdHP (
<.001). Readmissions within 30 days were less frequent for patients receiving IP compared with PC (
<.02) and StdHP (
<.001).
Choice of high-protein enteral nutrition for patients in the ICU has implications for HCRU and daily hospital costs. Considering these correlations is important when comparing formula ingredients and per unit costs. Among the enteral nutrition products studied, IP emerged as the most cost-saving option, with lower adjusted hospital cost per day than PC or StdHP.
Using a select immunonutrition formula for critically ill patients may provide overall cost savings for the healthcare system.
The design and development of an offshore port terminal is a complex task that involves distinctive design and decision challenges. In this paper, we propose the implementation of a floating, ...modular, platform that can act as an additional terminal of a port, with the aim of expanding its current container handling capacity. To this end, we introduce a generic methodology to tackle three aspects of an offshore terminal: terminal layout design, strategic logistics optimization, and operational process coordination. The terminal layout design includes the modular arrangements, handling on and between platform modules by the associated equipment. The layout design is chosen by evaluating the generated designs on criteria such as layout complexity, scalability, and the number of moves associated with the modular nature of the platform. The selected concept is subsequently given as input to a strategic logistics optimization approach that introduces a mixed-integer linear programming model. The proposed model minimizes the capital, operational, and maintenance costs for the floating modular terminal, i.e. number and size of modules, number, and type of equipment and capacities. In parallel, we develop a simulation of the floating terminal's hinterland connections, where the number and type of required vessels are specified for relevant destinations and transport configurations. At the operational level, we focus on the coordination of handling equipment on the offshore platform via the use of a tailored simulation/optimization approach. Our methodology is demonstrated on a case study that considers accommodating the growth of a port in the Hamburg-Le Havre range via the use of a modular, floating, transport, and logistics hub.
Developments in discrete element modelling (DEM) enable detailed modelling of granular flows in bulk handling equipment (BHE) but due to the computational expense of DEM, wide use in analysing ...equipment performance is not yet feasible. Metamodels are a viable option to effectively use DEM in analysing BHE performance. Metamodels are able to approximate the behaviour of BHE efficiently for a wide range of design parameter values. We present a methodology to construct and validate DEM-based metamodels as well as a discharging hopper case study illustrating the use and benefits of metamodels in combination with DEM. For three different metamodels trained on a DEM data set, the results show that the metamodel quality highly depends on the number of samples and finding proper hyper-parameter values. The constructed metamodels are found capable of adequately representing the relation between performance and design parameters. It is concluded that methodically constructed metamodels are a valuable addition in describing BHE behaviour.
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•Metamodels overcome computational expense of PBM in design exploration.•Proof of concept for three model fitting techniques applied to DEM data of a hopper.•Metamodel construction including selection, training and validation•Evaluation of metamodel reliability and accuracy for DEM data
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A 2014-2020 analysis of US births (with gestational ages ranging from 22 weeks 0 days to 25 weeks 6 days) showed that while the rate of active treatment has increased over time, neonates born to ...non-Hispanic black, Hispanic, and asian individuals were less likely to receive active treatment compared with neonates born to non-Hispanic white individuals.4 These findings highlight that while disparities in neonatal outcomes are partly a consequence of differential quality and access to high-quality care, there may also be provider and institution-related factors that shape the counselling and treatment of patients from minoritised populations. Loss-sensitive care for patients using AAPT must address structural inequities When considering efforts to address morbidity and mortality among preterm neonates, it is important to acknowledge structural racism as an upstream contributor to racial disparities in preterm birth.2 Structural racism perpetuates socioeconomic and educational disadvantages that expose black women to chronic stressors, including hazardous living and working conditions.6 These exposures limit black families’ access to health-promoting and life-saving resources, heightening the risks of extreme prematurity for black parents and their children.2 The advent of AAPT will not alleviate the pressures of structural racism and other forms of systemic oppression present in our healthcare systems or create opportunities for black women and neonates to receive state-of-the-art care. ...it is vital to consider how AAPT and other neonatal interventions might obscure structural racism and what might be done to avoid reinforcing ongoing health injustices.6 As we echo Romanis and Adkins in calling for loss-sensitive care pathways for families who use AAPT, we emphasise that such care paradigms must account for structural racism and the lived realities of black women. ...clinicians, researchers, ethicists and policy-makers must prioritise the needs and preferences of marginalised patients with limited agency, visibility and voice–especially pregnant persons who are most likely to experience preterm birth and its complications.6 Justice demands that loss-sensitive AAPT care recognise and address racial disparities in preterm birth or risk reinforcing long-standing health injustices.
This paper describes the large-scale experimental results from the Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) 2006 and the Iris Challenge Evaluation (ICE) 2006. The FRVT 2006 looked at recognition from ...high-resolution still frontal face images and 3D face images, and measured performance for still frontal face images taken under controlled and uncontrolled illumination. The ICE 2006 evaluation reported verification performance for both left and right irises. The images in the ICE 2006 intentionally represent a broader range of quality than the ICE 2006 sensor would normally acquire. This includes images that did not pass the quality control software embedded in the sensor. The FRVT 2006 results from controlled still and 3D images document at least an order-of-magnitude improvement in recognition performance over the FRVT 2002. The FRVT 2006 and the ICE 2006 compared recognition performance from high-resolution still frontal face images, 3D face images, and the single-iris images. On the FRVT 2006 and the ICE 2006 data sets, recognition performance was comparable for high-resolution frontal face, 3D face, and the iris images. In an experiment comparing human and algorithms on matching face identity across changes in illumination on frontal face images, the best performing algorithms were more accurate than humans on unfamiliar faces.
Discrete element method (DEM) is useful for simulating the behavior of bulk solids and corresponding interaction with handling equipment. Although DEM is widely used for simulation of bulk solids, ...there are no applications involving biomass handling. This study presents the first published attempt at DEM modeling of wood chips in a feeding system. The DEM model of a wood chip feeding system was first validated with experimental data. Thereafter, the validated DEM model from this study was applied to study the effect of the mounting position as well as design aspects of a horizontal agitator within a wood chip feeding system. The validation outcome demonstrates that DEM is a suitable method to compute relevant values of a wood chip system and that it can be applied to predict trends with regard to more efficient operation of the system. Results show that a sensibly chosen agitator mounting position can decrease the mass-related energy consumption by as much as 30%. In terms of design aspects, the agitator's rotational speed and the blade design are the most influential factors governing the feeding system's mass-related energy consumption. Altering the number of agitator blades and blade design can also decrease energy use by 30%. In conclusion, even simple design changes can have considerable influence when feeding wood chips, while maintaining the system's mass flow. Besides, future studies could focus on more elaborate particle shape representation in the DEM model to enable to prediction of critical flow situations, such as blocking.
•First published study at DEM modeling of wood chips in a feeding system.•Model of wood chip feeding system was successfully validated with experimental data.•Simple design changes lead to 30% reduction in mass-related energy consumption.
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