Eastern Research Group (United States)

In sub-Saharan Africa, community outreach for snakebite prevention is lacking or faces significant challenges due to logistical, cultural, and financial constraints. Building on experiences from grassroots activities in rural Zambia, this viewpoint emphasises the importance of centering activities around the conditions and needs of at-risk communities and suggests ways to advance snake-related education and empowerment. To be truly effective, such interventions should be accompanied by structural improvements, such as better access to medical care in case of snakebite, and means for the safe resolution of human-snake conflict.

Abstract Material removal (wear) mechanism models of the chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) on integrated circuits are incomplete. Models typically must assume that wear results from two-body abrasion from particles that are “pinned” between the pad asperity contacts and the substrate being polished. The contribution of the particles “swept” in front of the pad asperities possibly contributed by three-body abrasion is largely ignored. Modeling applied to the CMP friction measurements has recently separated the overall friction from the contributions of the pinned and swept particles while removing the confounding friction of the bare pad asperity to substrate contacts. This article extends these friction contributions to wear. This article proposes a novel model to identify the slurry particles affecting wear by interpreting experimental data of polishing friction and wear with novel variations of pad materials. This novel model extends a previous friction model by incorporating a modified Preston relation to isolate the wear done by the friction forces of pinned and swept slurry particles. Data were collected from pin-on-disk tribometer experiments performed on fused silica wafers with various polymer polishing pads and flooded with a silica nanoparticle slurry. The independent wear factors for the pinned and swept slurry particles were 5.1 × 10−11 m3/N·m and −6.3 × 10−12 m3/N·m respectively. It is concluded that wear occurs only from the pinned particle at pad asperity contact sites and that the swept particles do not meaningfully contribute to wear.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a contact-free continuous monitoring system on clinical outcomes including unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) transfer (primary), length of stay (LOS), code blue, and mortality. A secondary aim was to evaluate the return on investment associated with implementing the contact-free continuous monitoring program during the COVID public health emergency. An interrupted time series evaluation was conducted to examine the association between the use of contact-free continuous monitoring and clinical outcomes. A cost-benefit analysis was planned to evaluate the return on investment. Use of contact-free continuous monitoring was not significantly associated with unplanned ICU transfers, deaths, ICU LOS, and or rapid response team calls. However, there were significant increases in code blue events ( P = 0.02) and mean hospital LOS ( P = 0.01) in the postimplementation period when compared with the preimplementation period. Due to the lack of improvement, costs were calculated but a cost-benefit analysis was not conducted. Contact-free continuous monitoring bed use during the COVID-19 public health emergency was not associated with improvements in clinical outcomes, although there was substantial confounding. Future studies should include large randomized controlled trials to control for factors not under direct experimental control including unit staffing, staff turnover, and differences in the patient population related to surges in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lifecycle analysis was used to estimate well-to-wheel greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the production, transport, and use of oxygenated gasoline in Colombia, Japan, and France. The study evaluated fuel blends containing ethanol and/or ethyl tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE) that aligned with oxygen and octane specifications currently in place or under consideration for each country. For Colombia, fuel blends meeting a 3.7 wt.% oxygen specification were analyzed using ethanol sourced and produced in the U.S. from corn and in Colombia from sugarcane, and ETBE processed in the U.S. Gulf Coast. For Japan, blends with 1.3, 2.7 and 3.7 wt.% oxygen were analyzed using ethanol sourced and produced in the U.S. and Brazil, and ETBE processed in the U.S. Gulf Coast. For France, oxygenated gasoline blends with 3.7 to 8.0 wt.% oxygen content were analyzed with ethanol produced locally from corn, beet, and wood and imported sugarcane ethanol. Data were populated from both publicly available secondary data sources and new primary data developed for ETBE production in the U.S. and Europe. This study also accounted for distinct lifecycle emissions among gasoline components, focused on aromatic-rich reformate used to boost octane in non-oxygenated fuels. Across each country, results indicate that the replacement of reformate in ethanol-free (E0) gasoline with oxygenates up to 3.7 wt.% oxygen reduces lifecycle GHG emissions by 6–9%, with the highest GHG reduction provided when ETBE alone is used for oxygenate. For higher oxygen blends modeled for France, the highest GHG reduction (19%) was for a blend of 51 vol.% ETBE to achieve 8.0 wt.% oxygen, the equivalent of E23 (gasoline with 23 vol.% ethanol). Overall, displacing ethanol with ETBE to achieve a fixed oxygen level increased GHG benefits relative to ethanol-only blends, owing to the greater volume of the carbon-intensive reformate displaced.

The article presents the results of comprehensive interpretation of new seismic materials and existing drilling data, which allowed for refining the geological structure of the Aral sedimentary basin. The Aral sedimentary basin has been studied geologically and geophysically, and through deep drilling, but very unevenly and generally insufficiently. The least studied area is characterized by the Aral Sea basin and the adjacent coastal areas. The sedimentary basin (SB) within the MesozoicCenozoic structural stage has a stepped structure submerging from east to west: the Kazalinsk, Uyalinsk, Kokaral, South Aral steps, and the Tadjin trough. The seismostratigraphic framework for the Paleozoic section in the Aral basin is based on the geological model of the region. The only stratigraphic tie within the sedimentary complex is the Pz horizon, representing a blurred surface of Jurassic deposits. As a result of seismic surveys conducted earlier by subsoil users, new structures have been identified in the sedimentary complex of the Aral oil and gas promising province. A forecast assessment of the hydrocarbon potential resources of the identified prospective objects in the Jurassic, Neocomian, and Eocene deposits is provided, carried out by specialists who conducted a comprehensive interpretation of geological-geophysical data in recent years.

The traditional technological process for creating highly porous materials from carbonaceous raw materials involves two stages of thermal treatment: carbonization (pyrolysis) and activation (gasification), aimed at forming a porous structure capable of adsorption. Combining both stages into a single process with chemical activation allows for efficient raw material utilization and control of the material's porous structure at different levels, providing the ability to customize its characteristics. The choice of a chemical activator depends on the type of raw material and the required characteristics of porous carbon materials. In this study, it is established that the analysis of surface properties of highly porous carbon materials synthesized from coal tar pitch, obtained by distillation of coal tar resin from JSC "Shubarkolkomir," confirms the outstanding operational characteristics of this material. The application of a combined process of carbonization and activation of coal tar pitch at an optimal temperature in an inert atmosphere leads to the formation of porous carbon materials with a high specific surface area: 561 (traditional method), 789 (chemical activation), and 881 m²/g (templating method), as well as a pore volume of 0.30; 0.40; and 0.48 cm³/g, respectively. This work not only expands the technological methods of obtaining carbon materials from coal tar resin but also underscores their potential for improving soil structure and increasing the efficiency of agricultural production.

Abstract. A new dynamical core, known as the Finite Volume Cubed-Sphere (FV3) and developed at both NASA and NOAA, is used in NOAA’s Global Forecast System (GFS) and in limited area models (LAMs) for regional weather and air quality applications. NOAA has also upgraded the operational FV3GFS to version 16 (GFSv16), and includes a number of significant developmental advances to the model configuration, data assimilation, and underlying model physics, particularly for atmospheric composition to weather feedback. Concurrent with the GFSv16 upgrade, we couple the GFSv16 with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to form an advanced version of the National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NAQFC) that will continue to protect human and ecosystem health in the U.S. Here we describe the development of the FV3GFSv16 coupling with a “state-of-the-science” CMAQ model version 5.3.1. The GFS-CMAQ coupling is made possible by the seminal version of the NOAA-ARL Atmosphere-Chemistry Coupler (NACC), which became the next operational NAQFC system (i.e., NACC-CMAQ) on July 20, 2021. NACC-CMAQ has a number of scientific advancements that include satellite- based data acquisition technology to improve land cover and soil characteristics, and inline wildfire smoke and dust predictions that are vital to predictions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations during hazardous events affecting society, ecosystems, and human health. The GFS-driven NACC-CMAQ has significantly different meteorological and chemical predictions than the previous operational NAQFC, where evaluation of NACC-CMAQ shows generally improved near-surface ozone and PM2.5 predictions and diurnal patterns, both of which are extended to a 72-hour (3-day) forecast with this system.

Intraoperative hypertension and hypotension are common and often related to adverse medication events (AMEs). The study objective is to estimate the annual additional fully allocated costs to the U.S. healthcare system related to AMEs associated with clinically significant intraoperative hypertension and hypotension. Using anesthesia-trained observers in randomly selected operating rooms, we estimated the rates of clinically significant intraoperative hypotension and hypertension. We conducted systematic literature reviews to estimate incidence and additional costs of acute kidney injury (AKI), acute myocardial injury, and stroke after intraoperative hypotension and hypertension. We used Monte Carlo simulation to estimate annual costs to the U.S. healthcare system. Intraoperative hypotension (mean arterial pressure <55 mm Hg for >6 minutes) occurred in 11 of 277 operations (3.97%), hypotension (>30% drop from baseline mean arterial pressure in patients with coronary artery disease) in 9 operations (3.25%) and hypertension in 14 operations (5.05%). After hypotension, incremental incidence of AKI was 1.46% (additional cost $17,289/case), acute myocardial injury was 0.75% ($21,340/case), and stroke was 0.05% ($19,903/case). After hypertension, incremental stroke incidence was 4.76% ($28,320/case). Annually in the United States, we estimated 11,513 cases of AKI, 5914 of acute myocardial injury, 345 of stroke after intraoperative hypotension, and 47,774 cases of stroke after intraoperative hypertension, costing the U.S. $1.7 billion (90% confidence interval, $1.4-$2.0 billion), of which $923 million (90% confidence interval, $763-$1101 million) is preventable. Adverse medication events related to blood pressure are frequent, costly, and can cause considerable patient harm. Cost estimates for these events may provide a means of prioritizing safety improvements to reduce cost of care and improve patient outcomes.