Social distancing is a key factor for health during the COVID-19 pandemic. In many indoor spaces, such as elevators, it is difficult to maintain social distancing. This investigation used ...computational-fluid-dynamics (CFD) to study airborne particle exposure in riding an elevator in a typical building with 35 floors. The elevator traveled from the ground floor to the 35th floor with two stops on floor 10 and floor 20, comprising 114 s. The CFD simulated the dispersion of the aerosolized particles exhaled by an index person while breathing in both lobby and elevator areas. The study calculated the accumulated dose of susceptible riders riding in elevators with the index person under different conditions including different ventilation rates, air supply methods, and elevator cab geometries. This investigation also studied a case with a single cough from the index person as the person entered the elevator. The results show that, due to the short duration of the average elevator ride, the number of particles inhaled by a susceptible rider was low. For the reference case with a 72 ACH (air changes per hour) ventilation rate, the highest accumulated particle dose by a susceptible passenger close to the index person was only 1.59. The cough would cause other riders to inhale approximately 8 orders of magnitude higher particle mass than from continuous breathing by the index person for the whole duration of the ride.
•Ventilation rates, air supply methods, and elevator cab geometries influence particle exposure.•The number of particles inhaled by a susceptible rider was low due to the short duration.•The cough would cause much higher particle exposure than continuous breathing by the index person.
In this paper, a method is presented for correcting relative errors in the locations of individual sensors in a three-element bottom-moored array, using ambient signal arrivals recorded by the array. ...It has the benefit that knowledge of absolute source positions is not required to determine the relative shape of the array. The procedure is demonstrated using episodic ambient signal arrivals recorded by the southern array of the Wake Island hydrophone station, which is a component of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organization's (CTBTO) International Monitoring System (IMS). The original coordinates of sensors 2 and 3 were adjusted by 75 and 115 m, respectively, removing approximately 4° of error in estimating the arrival angles of signals. The estimated coordinates compared favorably with the results of a position revision by the CTBTO a year after the triad installation.
We propose a novel data-driven machine learning method using long short-term memory (LSTM)-based multi-stage forecasting for influenza forecasting. The novel aspects of the method include the ...following: 1) the introduction of LSTM method to capture the temporal dynamics of seasonal flu and 2) a technique to capture the influence of external variables that includes the geographical proximity and climatic variables such as humidity, temperature, precipitation, and sun exposure. The proposed model is compared against two state-of-the-art techniques using two publicly available datasets. Our proposed method performs better than the existing well-known influenza forecasting methods. The results offer a promising direction in terms of both using the data-driven forecasting methods and capturing the influence of spatio-temporal and environmental factors to improve influenza forecasting.
Although rodent glioblastoma (GBM) models have been used for over 30 years, the extent to which they recapitulate the characteristics encountered in human GBMs remains controversial. We studied the ...histopathological features of dog GBM and human xenograft GBM models in immune-deficient mice (U251 and U87 GBM in nude Balb/c), and syngeneic GBMs in immune-competent rodents (GL26 cells in C57BL/6 mice, CNS-1 cells in Lewis rats). All GBMs studied exhibited neovascularization, pleomorphism, vimentin immunoreactivity, and infiltration of T-cells and macrophages. All the tumors showed necrosis and hemorrhages, except the U87 human xenograft, in which the most salient feature was its profuse neovascularization. The tumors differed in the expression of astrocytic intermediate filaments: human and dog GBMs, as well as U251 xenografts expressed glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin, while the U87 xenograft and the syngeneic rodent GBMs were GFAP(-) and vimentin(+). Also, only dog GBMs exhibited endothelial proliferation, a key feature that was absent in the murine models. In all spontaneous and implanted GBMs we found histopathological features compatible with tumor invasion into the non-neoplastic brain parenchyma. Our data indicate that murine models of GBM appear to recapitulate several of the human GBM histopathological features and, considering their reproducibility and availability, they constitute a valuable in vivo system for preclinical studies. Importantly, our results indicate that dog GBM emerges as an attractive animal model for testing novel therapies in a spontaneous tumor in the context of a larger brain.
We examine 123 data sets from validation studies of a single five‐factor model‐based occupational personality measure for evidence of curvilinear relationships with job performance. Research has ...produced discrepant findings about whether and when to expect curvilinear relationships between normal range personality measures and job performance. Previous studies have relied on small and unsystematic sampling, a variety of noncomparable performance criteria, the use of personality inventories for which construct validity evidence is not immediately available, and a focus on only one or two of the Big Five personality factors. We report minimal evidence of curvilinearity, suggesting that these effects are unlikely to undermine typical uses of personality test scores in decision making. Any expected declines in performance at high ends of the predictor range were very small on average and would be highly unlikely to produce scenarios in which those passing a realistic cut score would underperform those screened out. Indices of job complexity and the importance of the personality trait did not moderate the forms of each personality–performance relationship. The results are useful for evaluating whether curvilinearity is likely to be an issue when self‐report personality assessments are used to make decisions with tangible employment consequences.
Retraction of /s/ to a more ʃ-like sound is a well-known sound change attested across many varieties of English for /stɹ/ words, e.g. street and strong. Despite recent sociophonetic interest in the ...variable, there remains disagreement over whether it represents a case of long-distance assimilation to /ɹ/ in these clusters or a two-step process involving local assimilation to an affricate derived from the sequence /tɹ/. In this paper, we investigate Manchester English and apply similar quantitative analysis to two contexts that are comparatively under-researched, but which allow us to tease apart the presence of an affricate and a rhotic: /stj/ as in student, which exhibits similar affrication of the /tj/ cluster in many varieties of British English, and /stʃ/ as in mischief. In an acoustic analysis conducted on a demographically-stratified corpus of over 115 sociolinguistic interviews, we track these three environments of /s/-retraction in apparent time and find that they change in parallel and behave in tandem with respect to the other factors conditioning variation in /s/-retraction. Based on these results, we argue that the triggering mechanisms of retraction are best modelled with direct reference to /t/-affrication and with /ɹ/ playing only an indirect, and not unique, role. Analysis of the whole sibilant space also reveals apparent-time change in the magnitude of the /s/–/ʃ/ contrast itself, highlighting the importance of contextualising this change with respect to the realisation of English sibilants more generally as these may be undergoing independent change.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes a variety of neuropsychiatric problems that pose diagnostic and treatment challenges for providers. In this report, we share our experience as a referral ...neuropsychiatry program to assist the general psychiatrist when adult TBI patients with psychiatric symptoms present for evaluation and treatment. We completed a retrospective study of patients with moderate-to-severe TBI and severe neuropsychiatric impairments. We collected information on demographics, nature of injury, symptomatology, diagnoses, and treatments. Data analysis indicates that mood stabilization was a key concern, often requiring aggressive pharmacological management. Cognitive dysfunction was a problem for the majority of patients, but was only medicated in a third, due to poor efficacy or behavioral side effects. The co-occurrence of multiple TBI-related symptoms and diagnoses in this patient cohort emphasizes the need for individualized psychopharmacological approaches and interventions.
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