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Musculoskeletal prevention is a key priority in public health and for national health systems due to the increasing number of people living with persistent conditions, including musculoskeletal (MSK) complaints. There is no robust review of the evidence on COP interventions and MSK prevention, such as what the current state of conceptual debate is about a possible role of COP interventions in prevention, where and how this has been studied, and what the evidence for effectiveness is. A scoping review was conducted to chart and appraise the available evidence regarding primary and secondary prevention in MSK care in the chiropractic, osteopathic and physiotherapy (COP) professions. The review was prospectively registered (https://osf.io/bqe5x/). Studies were eligible if they were primary quantitative research on COP interventions for primary and secondary prevention, delivered in clinical settings, and to patients of any age who were asymptomatic or had any MSK pain or disability. Screening, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were conducted in duplicate by independent reviewers. The data was synthesised narratively. Twenty-one articles were included in the final synthesis: 17 randomized controlled trials, 3 cross sectional studies, and 1 experimental study. Studies were mostly moderate-quality clinical trials (n = 17) on manual therapy (n = 14) for low back pain (n = 10) that measured prevention by assessing healthcare use (n = 14) or symptom recurrence (n = 11). Heterogeneity of methods, low numbers, and mixed quality did not allow for conclusions about the effectiveness of COP interventions in preventing MSK complaints. The evidence base is heterogeneous and of moderate quality making clinical recommendations challenging, but future research priorities have been identified, including a need for further research into primary, but mostly in secondary and tertiary prevention in COP; future research in COP should be designed in line with best practices and existing guidelines; and a need for the development and validation of reliable tools to stratify risks and management options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteopaths are expected to keep up to date with research evidence relevant to their clinical practice and to integrate this knowledge with their own experience and their patients' values and preferences. One of the potential challenges when engaging with research is to make sense of it, to decide if it is trustworthy, and if it is applicable to the complex and context-sensitive nature of clinical practice and the care of individual people. Clinicians are increasingly exposed to (deliberate and undeliberate) misinformation and overstatements which propagate easily, including via social media. This masterclass aims to facilitate critical thinking and engagement in research for clinicians to make better-informed decisions with their patients. It was developed to support osteopaths facing these questions with the aim of empowering them to judge research themselves, detect common fallacies in the conduct and reporting of different research designs, and to increase researchers' accountability. Ultimately, we hope that by reading and considering the guidance and examples in this paper, clinicians will be better equipped to optimise the use of their (and their patients') time when facing potential sources of evidence. Mistakes, misinterpretation, misrepresentation and misinformation are discussed for each of these methods/methodologies: case reports, clinical trials, qualitative research, and reviews. • This Masterclass helps osteopaths to make sense of research. • It helps osteopaths decide how/when to apply research findings in their clinical practice. • A simple framework to assess the literature is provided. • Case reports, clinical trials, qualitative research, and reviews are detailed specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One control strategy to increase power production in wind farms is angling wind turbine rotors, in order to steer wakes away from downwind turbines. Although rotor yaw is the most common approach to wake steering, tilting the rotor vertically to steer the wake downward can also increase total farm power. In this study, large eddy simulations of a 15 MW turbine are performed for rotor tilt angles of 0°, 15°, and 30° with below-rated turbulent inflow. Wake characteristics are analyzed, including using circulation to quantify the curled wake's counter-rotating vortex pair and quantifying wake shapes by fitting Legendre polynomials to wake edge polar coordinates. Tilting the rotor causes downward wake steering, wider and vertically compressed wake cross-sections, and stronger counter-rotating vortices. Although the wake velocity deficit recovers similarly for tilted and non-tilted wakes, the power available to a downwind rotor recovers faster because the tilted wake is steered away from the downwind rotor area and is replaced by high-speed air from above. This also causes higher effective wind shear across the downwind rotor. Additional simulations double the gap between the ground surface and the rotor bottom, which affects the wake geometry as well as the downwind power recovery and wind shear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoporosis is an underdiagnosed and undertreated disease worldwide. Recent studies have highlighted the use of simple vertebral trabecular attenuation values for opportunistic osteoporosis screening. Meanwhile, machine learning has been used to accurately segment large parts of the human skeleton. To evaluate a fully automated deep learning-based method for lumbar vertebral segmentation and measurement of vertebral volumetric trabecular attenuation values. A deep learning-based method for automated segmentation of bones was retrospectively applied to non-contrast CT scans of 1008 patients (mean age 57 years, 472 female, 536 male). Each vertebral segmentation was automatically reduced by 7 mm in all directions in order to avoid cortical bone. The mean and median volumetric attenuation values from Th12 to L4 were obtained and plotted against patient age and sex. L1 values were further analyzed to facilitate comparison with previous studies. The mean L1 attenuation values decreased linearly with age by −2.2 HU per year (age > 30, 95% CI: −2.4, −2.0, R2 = 0.3544). The mean L1 attenuation value of the entire population cohort was 140 HU ± 54. With results closely matching those of previous studies, we believe that our fully automated deep learning-based method can be used to obtain lumbar volumetric trabecular attenuation values which can be used for opportunistic screening of osteoporosis in patients undergoing CT scans for other reasons. • Attenuation values can be obtained from vertebrae using a convolutional neural network. • An automated, deep learning-based approach matches results of previous studies. • Artificial Intelligence could be used for opportunistic osteoporosis screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mosses-Watt's action semantics aids the development of a new procedure for compiler synthesis. Specific 'analysis functions' such as binding-time and typing exist for each and every action of action semantics notation. The language in action semantics forms binding-time and typing analyses for individual actions. The new compiler incorporates type checker and static semantics processor in the analyses.

To this day, immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) remains a clinical diagnosis made by exclusion of other causes for thrombocytopenia. Reliable detection of platelet autoantibodies would support the clinical diagnosis, but the lack of specificity and sensitivity of the available methods for platelet autoantibody testing limits their value in the diagnostic workup of thrombocytopenia. The introduction of methods for glycoprotein-specific autoantibody detection has improved the specificity of testing and is acceptable for ruling in ITP but not ruling it out as a diagnosis. The sensitivity of these assays varies widely, even between studies using comparable assays. A review of the relevant literature combined with our own laboratory's experience of testing large number of serum and platelet samples makes it clear that this variation can be explained by variations in the characteristics of the tests, including in the glycoprotein-specific monoclonal antibodies, the glycoproteins that are tested, the platelet numbers used in the assay and the cutoff levels for positive and negative results, as well as differences in the tested patient populations. In our opinion, further standardization and optimization of the direct autoantibody detection methods to increase sensitivity without compromising specificity seem possible but will still likely be insufficient to distinguish the often very weak specific autoantibody signals from background signals. Further developments of autoantibody detection methods will therefore be necessary to increase sensitivity to a level acceptable to provide laboratory confirmation of a diagnosis of ITP. • Diagnosis of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) by exclusion of other causes for thrombocytopenia lacks sensitivity and specificity. • Glycoprotein-specific autoantibody detection is very specific and should be recommended in ITP guidelines for ruling in ITP. • Antiplatelet autoantibodies are present in the large majority of ITP patients but are often weakly reactive, and the available detection methods are not sensitive enough for their specific detection. • Varying sensitivity percentages are published, mainly depending on the assay specifics. • Detection of platelet antibodies is a powerful diagnostic tool; however, these testing assays must be further developed and standardized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) affects approximately 1 per 1000 persons annually. Although patients are increasingly treated with direct oral anticoagulants, many patients continue to be anticoagulated with vitamin K antagonists (VKA). The most important adverse events during VKA treatment, bleeding and the risk of recurrent VTE, are difficult to predict. Global haemostatic assays, such as thrombin generation assays and the viscoelastic whole blood tests thromboelastography (TEG) and thromboelastometry (ROTEM), allow a comprehensive assessment of haemostasis and could potentially predict such side effects. In the present study we compared results from thrombin generation (Calibrated Automated Thrombogram and Innovance ETP assays) and TEG and ROTEM in 84 warfarin-treated patients with primary or recurrent VTE and 87 healthy controls. VKA treatment lead to lagtime prolongation and a lower overall thrombin production, which correlated strongly with INR (Pearson r = 0.89 and r = −0.85, respectively). The reduced thrombin generation of VKA-treated patients was accurately reflected by tissue-factor activated ROTEM (EXTEM) clotting time prolongation (vs. CAT lagtime, r = 0.87). Clot strength or clot formation kinetics were only weakly affected by thrombin generation. Intrinsic pathway activated TEG or ROTEM (INTEM) were not sensitive to the reduced thrombin generation. In conclusion, patients anticoagulated with VKA after VTE showed a reduced plasma thrombin generation that was accurately reflected by tissue factor activated ROTEM. ROTEM provided additional information to thrombin generation, including clot formation kinetics and strength. • VKA anticoagulation impaired total thrombin generation, correlating with INR. • A reduced thrombin generation was reflected by tissue-factor activated ROTEM. • Semi-automated thrombin generation showed similar results as a manual test. • ROTEM provided additional clot formation kinetics and strength parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Recent developments in flexible circuits and optoelectronic materials have the potential to provide innovative solutions for wearable sensing. The presented work explores how materials from these developments can reduce the complexity of developing flexible optoelectronics. The work uses simplified fabrication methods to develop a large area thin film optoelectronic device using conjugated polymers and Quantum Dots, with the goal of providing evidence that such devices can be developed outside of a clean room facility. Electroluminescence testing using a power source and an imaging spectrometer show that both conductive polymers and Quantum Dots in the functional layer contribute to light emission. High voltages needed for light emission are likely a result of the observed uneven thicknesses in the active layer, which should be the main focus for improvement in continued work. To study flexibility, the effects of cyclic bending using an Instron machine is observed. Visual analysis identifies four main flaw features that can occur from the fabrication process, and that cyclic bending causes cracking only at these flaw features. This work serves as evidence that use of clean room facilities are not necessary to provide significant contributions towards flexible optoelectronic materials development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work derives how the convergence of stochastic Lagrangian/Eulerian simulations depends on the number of computational parcels, particularly for the case of spray modeling. A new, simple, formula is derived that can be used for managing the numerical error in two or three dimensional computational studies. For example, keeping the number of parcels per cell constant as the mesh is refined yields an order one-half convergence rate in transient spray simulations. First order convergence would require a doubling of the number of parcels per cell when the cell size is halved. Second order convergence would require increasing the number of parcels per cell by a factor of eight. The results show that controlling statistical error requires dramatically larger numbers of parcels than have typically been used, which explains why convergence has been so elusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data from the ALOS-1 satellite to investigate the active movement of landslides along the Columbia River Gorge from 2007–2011. To increase the spatial extent of the deformation signal, we developed a coherence-based small-baseline subset (SBAS) method and derived the time series of the landslide movement. We find no significant movement on the previously mapped Washougal, Sakamania, Oregon Shore, and Wind Mountain landslides. However, we document the slow movement of the Redbluff landslide, which is part of the Cascade Landslide Complex. The InSAR data reveal up to approximately 25 cm of line-of-sight displacement over the 4-year observation period. The Redbluff landslide is seasonally activated, with accelerated movement observed during the early winter of each year. The amplitude of the seasonal signal is variable from year-to-year, with the greatest movement observed in early winter of 2009 and 2011. To assess the triggering mechanisms, we compared the displacement time series data with local precipitation data. The deformation correlated well with precipitation, implying the slow movement is controlled by rainfall that infiltrates to the base of the slide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Tensegrity has been proposed as a unifying mechanism between structures at cellular, connective tissue and whole body level. Originating in the fields of sculpture and architecture, tensegrity has recently received increasing attention from practitioners and researchers of manual therapy. Notwithstanding this, evidence regarding the role of the tensegrity principle to manual therapy practice is lacking. Objective This qualitative study explored the conception of tensegrity amongst manual therapy practitioners and how knowledge of the physical principle of tensegrity may influence manual therapy practitioners' clinical decision-making. Methods Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from manual therapy, fascia research and/or manual therapy education fields, and analysed using grounded theory methods. Results Data from this study indicates that tensegrity may inform clinical decision-making in manual therapy. A theory has been constructed that may help to explain aspects of manual therapy practitioners' approaches to tensegrity. Four such approaches to tensegrity were identified and elaborated on. Conclusion This study suggests that apart from being of importance as a scientific model in the fields of architecture, engineering and biology, tensegrity may also be useful to the practice of manual therapy. Here, tensegrity may serve as a theoretical underpinning of previously conceived clinical models and subjective clinical experience, and may also inform decision-making processes by providing a biomechanical model of the human body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The diagnostic potential of whole blood viscoelastic tests thromboelastography (TEG®) and thromboelastometry (ROTEM®) to detect warfarin-induced INR elevation remains elusive. Methods Viscoelastic tests were performed in 107 patients on warfarin and 89 healthy controls. Tests were activated by kaolin for TEG, and ellagic acid (INTEM) or tissue factor (EXTEM) for ROTEM. Results Viscoelastic tests revealed significant differences in clotting profiles between controls and warfarin-treated patients. Compared with healthy controls, patients treated with warfarin had prolonged EXTEM clotting and TEG reaction time (p < 0.001), both of which were also increased beyond the reference range. Increased INR values correlated with EXTEM CT (Spearman rho = 0.87) and TEG R-time (rho = 0.73). EXTEM CT had a sensitivity and specificity of 0.89 and 1.00, respectively, to detect elevated INR above 1.2 units, with a positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) of 1.00 and 0.88, respectively. Similarly, TEG R-time had a sensitivity and specificity of 0.86 and 0.87, respectively, with a PPV of 0.89 and a NPV of 0.83. The corresponding receiver operator characteristic area under the curve was 0.99 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99 - 1.00) for EXTEM CT and 0.94 (95% CI, 0.91 - 0.97) for TEG R-time. Conclusions Tissue factor-activated viscoelastic testing (EXTEM) revealed individuals with warfarin-induced INR elevation accurately, while TEG - activated through the intrinsic pathway - still was of acceptable diagnostic value. Further studies are required to evaluate the diagnostic potential of viscoelastic tests in relation to standard laboratory tests in other mixed patient populations, where the PPV and NPV may be inferior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alstom Power and The Dow Chemical Company have jointly developed an Advanced Amine Process (AAP) utilizing Dow's advanced amine solvent formulation UCARSOL™ FGC-3000 for the capture of CO 2 from fossil fuel power plant-generated flue gas. This development effort includes the use of facilities to address operational issues such as energy efficiency and solvent management, along with environmental factors such as emissions and wastes. A new demonstration facility has been constructed in Le Havre, France, through a partnership between Alstom and Électricité de France (EDF) with support from ADEME, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency. This facility is designed to capture 25 tonnes of CO 2 /day at a 90% capture rate on a slip- stream flue gas from a hard coal-fired power plant. The EDF-Le Havre demonstration plant is equipped with flue gas conditioning for controlling the water content, temperature and SO x level of the incoming flue gas stream. The CO 2 absorber column contains structured packing selected for optimal CO 2 capture efficiency and fluid flow characteristics. The exiting flue gas passes through a water wash section designed to capture residual amine emissions. Amine solvent management comprises an amine reclamation system and assisted by an on-site amine solvent analytical laboratory. The quality of the incoming flue gas, the exiting flue gas and CO 2 product gas streams are assessed through various gas sample locations in the pilot plant. Amine solvent sampling is available at various locations throughout the amine circulation loop as well as the liquid discharge locations for waste assessment. Additionally, the EDF facility is also equipped with an oxygen stripper to study the impact on solvent degradation. The current status of the Alstom Advanced Amine Process at EDF will be discussed in this paper. The presented results include the performance of the UCARSOL™ FGC-3000 amine solvent evaluated under varied process conditions in an advanced flow scheme set-up. The test campaign comprised several series of tests, including energy consumption at varied liquid-to-gas flow ratios (L/G) in the absorber while maintaining 90% CO 2 removal, the effect of varying process conditions at a set solvent circulation rate, and the effect of different absorber intercooling and recirculation configurations on energy consumption. Results show that the advanced flow scheme effectively reduced power and energy demand by over 30% at a 90% CO 2 capture rate versus a conventional process scheme with MEA solvent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past Lagrangian/Eulerian modeling has served as a poor match for the mixing-limited physics present in many sprays. Though these Lagrangian/Eulerian methods are popular for their low cost, they are ill-suited for the physics of the dense spray core and suffer from limited predictive power. A new spray model, based on mixing-limited physics, has been constructed and implemented in a multi-dimensional CFD code. The spray model assumes local thermal and inertial equilibrium, with air entrainment being limited by the conical nature of the spray. The model experiences full two-way coupling of mass, momentum, species, and energy. An advantage of this approach is the use of relatively few modeling constants. The model is validated with three different sprays representing a range of conditions in diesel and gasoline engines. • A mixing-limited spray model with a two-way coupling with the gas phase. • ELMO is based on ideas of thermodynamic and inertial equilibrium in the dense spray core. • Minimal sensitivity to arbitrary input parameters. • Validated against ECN Spray A, Spray H, and Spray G. • ELMO can be applied to diesel and gasoline sprays without the need to adjust model constants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Monocyte-derived macrophages are critical in the host–foreign body response to biomaterials and have been studied extensively in various culture conditions in vitro, such as medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum (FBS) or autologous human serum (AHS). Since monocyte maturation into macrophages is highly plastic and may vary considerably depending on the surface, isolation procedures and in vitro culture conditions, we hypothesize that variations in protein adsorption and serum type will greatly impact monocyte behavior in a surface-dependent manner. The impact of xenoproteins on monocyte-surface interactions has not been well studied methodically and the use of AHS rather than FBS for macrophage-biomaterials studies in vitro is far from universal. The commonly used reference materials – tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) – were employed in this study and we found a 3-fold higher adherent monocyte density on TCPS when AHS was used vs. FBS-supplemented medium. On PEG hydrogels, an 8- to 10-fold higher adhesion density was observed when AHS was employed vs. FBS, while on PDMS no difference in adhesion density was observed between the two sera conditions. Additionally, the presence of lipopolysaccharide abrogated the serum-dependent effect on cell adhesion on TCPS. Significantly different variations in protein release were observed between the serum conditions on these surfaces; in particular, there was a 100-fold higher concentration of growth-related oncogene for the AHS condition on PDMS even though the adhesion levels were comparable between the two serum conditions. These results emphasize the combined impact of the surface type and FBS xenoproteins in mediating the observed monocyte response to biomaterials in vitro. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Angora Fire burned 1243ha of Jeffrey pine and mixed conifer forest in the Lake Tahoe Basin between June 24 and July 2, 2007. The Angora Fire burned at unusually high severity due to heavy fuels; strong winds; warm, dry weather; and unseasonably low fuel moistures. The fire destroyed 254 homes, and final loss and suppression cost estimates of $160,000,000 make the Angora Fire one of the ten costliest wildfires in US history. The Angora Fire burned into 194ha of fuel treatments intended to modify fire behavior and protect private and public assets in the Angora Creek watershed. The fire thus provides a unique opportunity to quantitatively assess the effects of fuel treatments on wildfire severity in an area of wildland–urban interface. We measured fire effects on vegetation in treated and adjacent untreated areas within the Angora Fire perimeter, immediately after and one year after the fire. Our measures of fire severity included tree mortality; height of bole char, crown scorch, and crown torch; and percent crown scorch and torch. Unlike most studies of fuel treatment effectiveness, our study design included replication and implicitly controlled for variation in topography and weather. Our results show that fuel treatments generally performed as designed and substantially changed fire behavior and subsequent fire effects to forest vegetation. Exceptions include two treatment units where slope steepness led to lower levels of fuels removal due to local standards for erosion prevention. Hand-piled fuels in one of these two units had also not yet been burned. Excepting these units, bole char height and fire effects to the forest canopy (measured by crown scorching and torching) were significantly lower, and tree survival significantly higher, within sampled treatments than outside them. In most cases, crown fire behavior changed to surface fire within 50m of encountering a fuel treatment. The Angora Fire underlines the important role that properly implemented fuel treatments can play in protecting assets, reducing fire severity and increasing forest resilience. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Wildfire behavior can be modified by altering the quantity, structure, and arrangement of fuel (flammable vegetation) by silvicultural treatments such as forest thinning and prescribed burning. The type and arrangement (including landscape location) of treated areas have been demonstrated to influence wildfire behavior. This study analyzes the response of several key fire behavior variables to variation in the type, amount, and spatial arrangement of fuel treatments for simulated wildfires in mixed-conifer forests of the southern Cascades in the Goosenest Adaptive Management Area (GAMA). NEXUS and BehavePlus were used to simulate pre- and post-treatment stand-level fire behavior. Fire area simulator (FARSITE) was used to simulate landscape-level wildfire behavior in both untreated and treated forest landscapes. In the forest landscape, treatment areas were placed in the landscape according to two strategically designed arrangements and one random treatment arrangement. Treatments included thinning by prescribed burning (burn-only), mechanical thinning (mechanical-only), mechanical thinning followed by burning (mechanical-burn), and no treatment (control). At the stand level, the mechanical-burn treatment most effectively reduced both surface fire (e.g., decreased flame length) and crown fire behavior (e.g., torching index). At the landscape level, treatment type, amount, and arrangement had important effects on both fire spread and fire intensity. In this landscape the most effective treatment arrangement was Finney''s optimal SPLATs design. This study shows that there is potential to efficiently reduce high-intensity fire behavior while treating less area by relying on strategically placed treatments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Fluid flow patterns and temperature profiles within cold wall, high pressure supercritical fluid (SCF) reactors were investigated by simulation and experiment at conditions relevant to the deposition of copper and other metals for applications in microelectronics. Steep thermal gradients between the heated platen, the bulk fluid, and the reactor walls produce large density gradients in the supercritical fluid. Rayleigh numbers are in excess of 1×1010 and the flow is highly turbulent. Natural convection and buoyancy forces dominate the flow within the reactor in both the batch (closed domain) and continuous flow (open domain) configurations. The situation is unlike that in low pressure chemical vapor deposition reactors in which thermal gradients do not give rise to significant density gradients, flow is laminar, and forced convection dominates natural convection. Temperature distributions and flow patterns within cylindrical cold wall reactors containing supercritical carbon dioxide were simulated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and conjugate heat transfer calculations. Good agreement with experiment was achieved. The implications of the results for reactor design are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Macrophages play a critical role in mediating the host response to biomaterials, perhaps most notably by guiding the host inflammatory response through the release of inflammatory molecules such as the cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1). The extent of the macrophage response following interaction with the biomaterial surface contributes greatly to device efficacy, yet the molecular mechanisms of this interaction are still unclear. The extracellular matrix (ECM) protein fibronectin (FN) is recognized by macrophages and frequently used in biomaterial modification to elicit greater cellular adhesion and tissue integration. Macrophage interaction with FN and other ECM molecules on the biomaterial surface has been shown to induce a variety of inflammatory responses, thus both FN and IL-1 can be utilized as model molecules to better understand the mechanisms of material-mediated macrophage responses. This literature review presents a comprehensive survey of past and current research on the interrelated role of IL-1, FN, and FN-derivatives in determining biomaterial-modulated macrophage function. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Motivated by Dennis Dams’ studies of over- and underapproximation of state-transition systems, we define a logical-relation calculus for Galois-connection building. The calculus lets us define overapproximating Galois connections in terms of lower powersets and underapproximating Galois connections in terms of upper powersets. Using the calculus, we synthesize Dams’ most-precise over- and underapproximating transition systems and obtain proofs of their soundness and best precision as corollaries of abstract-interpretation theory. As a bonus, the calculus yields a logic that corresponds to the variant of Hennessy–Milner logic used in Dams’ results. Following from a corollary, we have that Dams’ most-precise approximations soundly validate most properties that hold true for the corresponding concrete system. These results bind together abstract interpretation and abstract model checking, as intended by Dams. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Improved numerical methods and physical models have been applied to droplet collision modeling. Numerically, an adaptive collision mesh method is developed to calculate collision rate. This method produces a collision mesh that is independent of the gas phase mesh and adaptively refined according to local parcel number density. An existing model describing the satellite droplet formation during the collision process is improved to reflect the experimental findings that the satellite droplets are much smaller than the parent droplets. The adaptive collision mesh and the improved satellite model have been used to simulate three impinging spray experiments. The model was able to qualitatively predict the occurrence of small satellite drops and bi-modal post-collision drop size distributions. The effect of the collision mesh and the satellite droplet model on a high-speed non-evaporating diesel spray is also assessed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Women aged 35–37 years undergoing IVF-ET with fresh embryos at a university infertility center were analyzed to evaluate factors useful in determining whether two or three embryos should be transferred in this age group. Embryo quality and number, but not number of previous failed cycles, were important in determining outcome, and all triplet pregnancies could have been avoided at our program in this age group by limiting the transfer to two good-quality embryos, without reducing pregnancy rates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Forty-eight patients who met the criteria of poor response during prior gonadotropin stimulation were enrolled in a randomized prospective study comparing a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist protocol, using ganirelix acetate, with a microdose GnRH agonist protocol for in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). This pilot study contributes to the literature of poor response IVF treatment protocols because the use of ganirelix appears to be as effective as the microdose protocol and may be a superior choice in terms of cost and convenience for the patient. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To describe a case of a unicornuate uterus with a normal external uterine morphology.Case report.University-based fertility center.A 30-year-old nulligravid woman with a 1-year history of infertility found to have a right proximal tubal occlusion on hysterosalpingogram.Laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, and magnetic resonance imaging.External and internal morphology of the uterus.Laparoscopy showed a normal external uterine morphology and normal fallopian tubes and ovaries, but chromopertubation failed to demonstrate a fill and spill from the right fallopian tube. Hysteroscopy showed a single tubular uterine cavity projecting to the left with a single left tubal ostium, consistent with a unicornuate uterus. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed a normal external uterine fundal contour and an internal uterine morphology consistent with a unicornuate uterus.This is the first reported case of a unicornuate uterus presenting with a normal external uterine morphology and an internal morphology consistent with a unicornuate uterus, and we propose inclusion of this anomaly in the classification of müllerian anomalies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The lowest effective hCG dose in high responders during IVF–embryo transfer (ET) has not been established. This study was performed to confirm that a dose of 3,300 IU is sufficient to provide adequate oocyte maturation and fertilization.Retrospective review of IVF clinical data.Infertility center at a tertiary care university.Ninety-four IVF cycles were analyzed from high responders based on peak E2 levels. Demographics were compared including age, diagnosis, and stimulation protocol.On the day of hCG administration, if E2 levels were ≥2,500 but <4,000 pg/mL, patients received 5,000 IU (group A). For levels between 4,000 pg/mL and 5,500 IU pg/mL, they received 3,300 IU (group B).Number of oocytes retrieved, proportion of mature oocytes, fertilization rates, chemical and clinical pregnancy rates (PR). The incidence and severity of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) was also analyzed.Mean ages were 35.4 ± 0.7 and 33.2 ± 0.7 for groups A and B, respectively. Peak E2 levels differed significantly (2,907 ± 76 vs. 4,260 ± 129 pg/mL), as well as the mean number of eggs retrieved (15.9 ± 0.9 vs. 20.3 ± 1.2). Proportion of mature eggs (81.6% vs. 81.9%), fertilization rate (70.5% vs. 68.7%), chemical PR (58.7% vs. 58.7%), and clinical PR (50.0% vs. 43.5%) were similar. There was no difference in the incidence of mild, moderate, or severe OHSS.A reduced hCG dose of 3,300 IU results in a similar proportion of mature eggs, similar fertilization rates, and similar PRs compared to 5,000 IU. Reducing the dose of hCG does not eliminate the risk of OHSS in a high-risk group. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]