ZRT Laboratory

Weak soils present significant challenges for highway construction in seismic regions, often leading to instability issues such as settlements and slope failures. These conditions necessitate safe, effective, and cost-efficient solutions to ensure embankment stability. Despite the critical importance of embankment stability under dynamic loading, research on soil reinforcement techniques in seismic scenarios is limited. This study evaluated the seismic performance of conventional deep cement mixing (DCM) columns versus innovative T-shaped deep mixing (TDM) columns for highway embankments on soft soil through three-dimensional finite element analysis via PLAXIS 3D. After validation, a comprehensive parametric study investigated the effects of column type, spacing (1.67m, 2.14m, and 3.0m), and seismic loading on embankment response parameters, including settlement, lateral displacement, and excess pore water pressure. The results demonstrate that both reinforcement methods significantly enhance seismic stability compared with unreinforced conditions. Compared with unreinforced embankments, TDM columns achieved superior performance, with settlement reductions of 89.95% versus 36.11% for DCM columns. Under seismic loading, the TDM columns exhibited 88.31% less settlement than the DCM columns at the embankment crest. Parametric analysis revealed that closer column spacing (1.67m) reduced settlements to 0.0032m for TDM compared with 0.023m at wider spacing (3.0m). The TDM columns also demonstrated more controlled consolidation behavior with smoother settlement time histories and reduced excess pore water pressure fluctuations. The findings indicate that TDM columns provide superior seismic performance through enhanced load transfer mechanisms and improved soil‒structure interactions, making them the preferred solution for highway embankments in seismically active regions.

Abstract BACKGROUND Progress in automated volumetric segmentation of postoperative glioblastoma has been hindered by limited data availability, primarily related to patient privacy concerns. To overcome this, we developed the Federated Tumor Segmentation (FeTS) 2.0 initiative, which leveraged federated learning to enable training of an AI-based glioblastoma segmentation model by 53 global institutions without the need for data sharing. METHODS Multi-parametric MRI of 10,208 follow up timepoints from postoperative glioblastoma patients (8,100 training, 2,108 hold-out validation) were pre-processed and expertly annotated across the 53 contributing institutions. The provided annotation protocol comprised necrosis (NE), peritumoral edematous/infiltrated tissue (TIE), enhancing tumor (ET), and resection cavity (RC). Federated learning of an nnUNet model, executed through the MLCommons’ MedPerf orchestrator and Intel’s OpenFL framework, proceeded for over 600 epochs with trained model weights and validation scores being the only data shared between collaborators. RESULTS The best performing consensus model achieved hold-out validation Dice Similarity Coefficients (DSC) of 0.95, 0.94, 0.89, and 0.77 for TIE, ET, RC, and NE, respectively, indicating new record performance for postoperative glioblastoma segmentation. In comparison, the centralized BraTS 2024 postoperative glioma study was trained on 1,350 follow up timepoints and tested on 397 hold-out follow up timepoints, with class-specific corresponding DSC of 0.89, 0.79, 0.78, and 0.81 respectively. CONCLUSIONS The FeTS 2.0 initiative demonstrates that federated learning enables scaled, geographically diverse, de-centralized collaboration, expediting big data analysis, while obviating privacy concerns, and hence improves AI performance and generalizability. By enabling reliable and reproducible delineation of postoperative regions-of-interest, our AI model paves the way for large-scale retrospective and prospective analyses aimed at defining volumetric thresholds that correlate with clinical outcomes. Future studies will perform technical and clinical validation on out-of-sample clinical trial datasets, generating evidence to establish three-dimensional cutoff values that can be considered in future RANO criteria, thereby standardizing glioblastoma response assessment and supporting adaptive, data-driven therapeutic decision making worldwide.

Disclosure: O. Varlamov: None. S. Sureshchandra: None. B.M. Doratt: None. H. True: None. U. Avilla: None. C.M. McGuire: None. C. Zaro: None. T. Hodge: None. L.D. Martin: None. L. Bader: None. D.L. Takahashi: None. I. Messaoudi: None.Maternal obesity is a growing global concern, as nearly 30% of women of reproductive age have obesity in the United States. Maternal obesity is linked to pregnancy complications, including preeclampsia, a higher likelihood of cesarean delivery, postpartum hemorrhage, and infections. Additionally, it can negatively impact fetal development, increasing the risk of metabolic syndrome, obesity, and preterm birth in offspring. While studies have begun to uncover the impact of maternal obesity on the fetal immune system, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Therefore, we initiated a study involving two groups of adult rhesus macaques—lean and obese—classified by body fat content. All animals were maintained on a regular low-fat monkey chow diet. Following metabolic testing, timed mating was performed. During pregnancy, obese dams exhibited higher body fat percentage, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance compared to lean dams. Notably, obese dams showed signs of hypoglycemia in the third trimester. Additionally, fetuses from obese dams were significantly heavier than those from lean dams. Immunological analysis revealed that maternal obesity disrupts the development of myeloid and lymphoid immune cells in the fetus. Fetal spleen monocytes from obese dams showed increased production of IL-1 and IL-6. Single-cell analysis further revealed enhanced activation of B- and T-cells, as well as an expansion of monocytes and macrophages at the expense of hematopoietic stem cells. In conclusion, maternal obesity induces a proinflammatory state, prematurely activates fetal immune cells, and disrupts the differentiation of fetal hematopoietic stem cells. These immune alterations may contribute to the increased prevalence of infections and adverse outcomes observed in offspring of obese mothers. This study underscores the importance of maintaining a healthy weight during pregnancy across various dietary regimens.Presentation: Sunday, July 13, 2025

Disclosure: K.A. Sauter: None. D.L. Takahashi: None. H. Blomenkamp: None. M. Shallman: None. C. Mcguire: None. C. McArthur: None. M.A. Kirigiti: None. J. Lo: None. R.T. Turner: None. U.T. Iwaniec: None. P. Kievit: None.Background: Obesity in women of reproductive age is increasing and is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Surgical weight loss interventions, like RYGB, are utilized for the effective treatment of morbid obesity and its associated comorbidities pre-conception. However, RYGB is malabsorptive which can lead to micronutrient deficiencies that can potentially impact offspring outcomes such as healthy bone formation. Cases of Metabolic Bone Disease of Infancy have been reported in infants born to women who had previously undergone bariatric surgery. We developed a novel diet-induced obese rhesus macaque model of RYGB to determine the impact RYGB may have on offspring development, specifically bone health. Methods: Three cohorts of adult female macaques (n=10 each) were established to generate 6-month-old offspring: high fat diet (HFD) obese animals that underwent RYGB surgery, HFD obese animals, and lean control animals. Once RYGB females were weight stable, all females underwent timed mating breeding. To minimize maternal malnutrition post metabolic surgery, females received daily calcium and multivitamin supplementation. The dams produced 27 live offspring (n=8-10/cohort). Offspring were sent to necropsy at 6-months of age. Results: Post RYGB females were not deficient in vitamin B12, folate, ferritin, vitamin D or calcium throughout pregnancy. In utero, there were no significant differences in femur length, measured by ultrasound at gestational ages 65, 85, 135 and 155. Infants weighed at 1-week of age demonstrated no significant differences between cohorts. Interestingly, infants born to post RYGB mothers had significantly increased growth rate starting at 1-month of age versus control infants, which persisted until 6-months of age. At 5.5-months of age, post RYGB infants demonstrated greater lean and fat mass while no significant differences were observed in bone mineral content and density as measured by DEXA. Detailed micro-computed tomography (μCT) analysis of bone specimens from the axial (lumbar vertebra) and appendicular (femur) skeleton showed no discernable changes in cortical and cancellous bone microarchitecture. Additionally, circulating biochemical markers of bone resorption (C-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen (CTX)) and turnover (osteocalcin) demonstrated no differences between cohorts. Conclusion: This study investigated the possibility of altered bone growth/microarchitecture in offspring as a result of maternal RYGB prior to pregnancy. Pregnant females demonstrated circulating levels of vitamins and minerals within the suggested range for human pregnancies. Therefore, bone health in NHP offspring may be unaffected as proper maternal supplementation appeared sufficient. This study outcome suggests that maternal malnutrition, and not RYGB per se, could significantly contribute to cases of Metabolic Bone Disease of Infancy.Presentation: Saturday, July 12, 2025

Young adults experiencing psychosis are at high risk for disengagement from their daily lives. Occupational therapy (OT) services play an important role in fostering participation, yet their intervention efficacy in Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) remains poorly understood. To determine the commonly utilized OT interventions and measurement tools that require further research to determine their efficacy and effectiveness. Cross-sectional, mixed-methods survey study. Quantitative descriptive statistics were completed on Microsoft Excel and qualitative thematic analysis was completed by two researchers using Dedoose. Online survey. Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) working on EIP programs in the United States were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. The survey consisted of 24 closed and open-ended questions assessing use of interventions, outcomes tracked, and measurement tools. Study had 21 respondents. The most frequent interventions were self-regulation and activities of daily living (ADL). Self-regulation interventions were overwhelmingly sensory-based. Most commonly reported outcome measure was observation of participation in occupations. This study confirms the use of sensory and ADL-based interventions by OTPs in EIP programs. Findings suggest a strong sense of the role of OT within EIP as intervention use is relatively consistent across programs and focuses on client-centered, occupation-based interventions. Outcome tracking and quality improvement were gaps as most OTPs are not using standardized methods or not performing this. Additional study is required to determine the efficacy of commonly used interventions and to improve outcome measurement methods in EIP programs. Occupational therapy is an undervalued profession on teams that provide services to young adults dealing with the onset of a psychotic illness. This study is the first of many needed to demonstrate the impact OT services can have on the outcomes of the young adults who receive care for their psychotic illness. This study identifies what OT interventions are common, and what outcomes OT professionals track to determine their services' impact on these mental health care teams. These results will help to build the needed research on how helpful these common interventions are for young adults facing psychotic illnesses.

Herein, we report a high-yielding nickel/photoredox-catalyzed amidine arylation method that accommodates a wide range of aryl halides and amidines. The method exhibits good functional group tolerance enabling its successful application to both simple substrates and late-stage functionalization experiments. Mechanistic studies revealed the pivotal role of an in situ generated triazine co-catalyst. This information allowed us to further optimize the protocol, achieving faster reaction rates, milder conditions, and most importantly the substrate scope was expanded to sulfonamides and primary amines as well.

Background and aim We provide ethnographic, photovoice, and psychosocial stress data (food and water insecurity, potentially traumatic events, stress biomarkers) documenting the joys, hazards, and stressors of adolescents engaging in climate-sensitive pastoralist livelihoods in a global climate change hot spot. We aim to holistically capture socio-environmental relationships characterised by climate sensitive livelihoods and forms of precarity exacerbated by climate change. Subjects and methods Qualitative and quantitative methods were integrated to understand the embodied toll of hazards that Samburu pastoralists faced based on a sample of 161 young people. Quantitatively, we tested for associations of psychosocial stressors with both psychological distress and cell-mediated immune function (assessed through differences in IgG antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus). Results Qualitatively, young Samburu reported drought, food and water insecurity, wildlife encounters, and war exposure. Girls overall endorsed more posttraumatic stress symptoms, although boys reported relatively more stressors; girls overall and young people in the hotter subregion manifested more immune dysregulation. Conclusion In spite of important differences between climate subregions, the common elements throughout the Samburu pastoralist leanscape include food and water insecurity and overall precarity exacerbated by drought and climate change. Community-driven interventions are needed to reduce precarity for young people pursuing pastoralist livelihoods.

The purpose of this article is to investigate particular aspects of the STEM job market in the US. In particular, we ask: could the possession of high performance computing (HPC) skills enhance the chances of a person getting a job and/or increase starting salaries for people receiving an undergraduate or graduate degree and entering the technical workforce (rather than academia)? We also estimate the value to the US economy of practical experience offered to US students through training about HPC and the opportunity to use HPC systems funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and accessible nationally. Interviews and surveys of employers of graduates in STEM fields were used to gauge demand for STEM graduates with practical HPC experience and the salary increase that can be associated with the possession of such skills. We used data from the XSEDE project to determine how many undergraduate and graduate students it enabled to acquire practical proficiency with HPC. People with such skills who had completed an undergraduate or graduate degree received an initial median hiring salary of approximately 7%-15% more than those with the same degrees who did not possess such skills. XSEDE added approximately $10 million or more per year to the US economy through the practical educational opportunities it offered. Practical hands-on experience provided by the US federal government, as well as many universities and colleges in the US, holds value for students as they enter the workforce. Practical training in HPC during the course of undergraduate and graduate programs has the potential to produce positive individual labor market outcomes (i.e., salary boosts, signing bonuses) as well as to help address the shortage of STEM workers in the private sector of the US.

In this chapter, we’re going to see the benefits of combining multiple models together in order to create some fascinating results. As an avid podcast listener, I’ve often wondered what the scenery, the imagery, the characters, the subject, or the background looked like while listening to a very immersive story in audio format.