Search Results (20)

Background/Objectives: Institutional Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs) are designed to enhance the quality of care for long-term nursing facility (NF) residents. However, utilization patterns vary significantly, and their broader impact remains only partially understood. This rapid review aims to identify, map, and synthesize the existing literature on the use of I-SNPs in nursing homes. Methods: Following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we conducted a comprehensive search of academic and gray literature using a predefined Boolean string. The extracted data were organized and analyzed thematically. Results: The synthesized literature (n = 12 studies) revealed four primary themes: (1) Market Penetration and Enrollment; (2) Models of Care Application; (3) Impact on Clinical and Financial Outcomes; and (4) Barriers to Utilization. Conclusions: I-SNP utilization represents a shift from fragmented FFS payment models toward integrated managed care within nursing facilities. Evidence shows a reduction in acute care transfers, although findings for other outcomes are mixed, underscoring the need for further research and policy development. Full article

Background/Objectives: Plexiform neurofibromas (pNFs) are one of the cardinal presentations of NF1 patients, often arising during early childhood. Since selumetinib was approved by the FDA in 2020, the long-term side effects and various responses of mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors (MEKi) in pediatric patients necessitate a new strategy. We propose that combining selumetinib with heat shock protein 90 inhibitors (HSP90i) can enhance the inhibitory effects as well as reduce the dosage of selumetinib in combination. We validated the synergistic effects and the significantly improved treatment effects of the combination of selumetinib and HSP90i in pNFs. Methods: We used drug screen data mining to predict the combination of selumetinib and HSP90i. Using cell lines and in vivo mouse models for pNFs, we tested a series of combinations with different concentrations. We validated the in vivo inhibitory effects using the transplanted tumors from DhhCreNf1^f/f mouse models. Results: We demonstrated that combining selumetinib and SNX-2112 or retaspimycin can achieve better tumor inhibition with synergistic effects. The combination significantly delays the progression of mouse pNFs. Conclusions: The combination of selumetinib and HSP90i has significant synergistic effects, provides therapeutic inhibitor effects, and reduces the selumetinib dosage in combination. Full article

Accelerating climate change poses significant risks to water security and ecological stability in arid regions due to the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events. As a climate-sensitive area, the inland river basin (IRB) of Northwest China—a critical water source for local ecosystems and socioeconomic activities—remains insufficiently studied in terms of future extreme precipitation dynamics. This study evaluated the spatiotemporal evolution of extreme precipitation in the IRB under a new low radiative forcing scenario (SSP1-1.9) by employing four global climate models (GCMs: GFDL-ESM4, MRI-ESM2, MIROC6, and IPSL-CM6A-LR). Eight core extreme precipitation indices were analyzed to quantify changes during the near future (NF: 2021–2050) and far future (FF: 2071–2100) periods. Our research demonstrated that all four models were capable of capturing seasonal patterns and exhibited inherent uncertainty. The annual total precipitation (PRCPTOT) in mountainous regions showed minimal variation, while desert areas were projected to experience a 2-6-fold increase in precipitation in the NF and FF. The Precipitation Intensity Index (SDII) weakened by approximately −10% in mountainous areas but strengthened by around +10% in desert regions. Most mountainous areas showed an increase in the maximum consecutive dry days (CDD), whereas desert regions exhibited extended maximum consecutive wet days (CWD). Moderate rainfall (P1025) variations primarily ranged between −5% and +20%, with greater fluctuations in desert areas. Heavy rainfall (PG25) fluctuated between −40% and +40%, reflecting stark contrasts in extreme precipitation between arid basins and mountainous zones. The maximum 1-day precipitation (Rx1day) and maximum 5-day precipitation (Rx5day) both showed significant increases, which indicated heightened risks from extreme rainfall events in the future. Moreover, the IRB region experienced increased total precipitation, enhanced rainfall intensity, more frequent alternations between drought and precipitation, more frequent moderate-to-heavy rainfall days, and higher daily precipitation extremes in both the NF and FF periods. These findings provide critical data for regional development planning and emergency response strategy formulation. Full article

The medium river basins (MRBs) in Nepal originate from mid-hills. These medium-range rivers are typically non-snow-fed, relying on rain and other water sources. These rivers are typically small, and the sizes of medium river basins vary between 500 and 5000 km². These MRBs are often used for irrigation and other agricultural purposes. In this analysis, we first set up, calibrated, and validated three hydrological models (i.e., HBV, HEC HMS, and SWAT) at the Kankai River Basin (one MRB in eastern Nepal). Then, the best-performing SWAT hydrological model was forced with cutting-edge climate models (CMs) using thirteen CMIP6 models under four shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs). We employed ten bias correction (BC) methods to capture local spatial variability in precipitation and temperature. Finally, the likely streamflow alteration during two future periods, i.e., the near-term timeframe (NF), spanning from 2031 to 2060, and the long-term timeframe (FF), covering the years 2071 to 2100, were evaluated against the historical period (baseline: 1986–2014), considering the uncertainties associated with the choice of CMs, BC methods, or/and SSPs. The study results confirm that there will not be any noticeable shifts in seasonal variations in the future. However, the magnitude is projected to alter substantially. Overall, the streamflow is estimated to upsurge during upcoming periods. We observed that less deviation is expected in April, i.e., around +5 to +7% more than the baseline period. Notably, a higher percentage increment is projected during the monsoon season (June–August). During the NF (FF) period, the flow alteration will be around +20% (+40%) under lower SSPs, whereas the flow alteration will be around +30% (+60%) under higher SSPs during high flow season. Thus, the likelihoods of flooding, inundation, and higher discharge are projected to be quite high in the coming years. Full article

Plexiform neurofibroma (PNF) is an immune cell-rich peripheral nerve sheath tumor that develops primarily in individuals with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1). Granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor receptor-β (GM-CSFR-β^c) is a shared component of receptors for the cytokines GM-CSF, IL-3, and IL-5, ligands with immunomodulatory and tumor promoting roles. In the present study, we use genetically engineered mouse model of neurofibroma. We identified the expression of GM-CSFR-β^c and GM-CSFR-α on PNF cells and on macrophages and dendritic cells in the PNF, using the Nf1^f/f; DhhCre mouse model of neurofibroma formation. Genetic deletion of GM-CSFR-β^c in this model reduced the number of PNFs, which was associated with decreased numbers of tumor-associated Iba1+ macrophages and CD11c+ dendritic cells (DC), while loss of GM-CSFR-α had no effect. Deletion of GM-CSFR-α or GM-CSFR-β^c did not improve mouse survival or the structure of Remak bundles in peripheral nerves. Proteome analysis of tumor lysates showed altered levels of numerous cytokines after receptor loss, suggesting that the compensatory effects of other cyto/chemokines maintain a proinflammatory environment promoting neurofibroma. Thus, GM-CSFR-β^c signaling contributes modestly to neurofibroma formation, apparently independently of its ligand GM-CSF. Full article

This national-scale assessment explores the anticipated impact of climate change on stream temperature in Poland. Utilizing an ensemble of six EURO-CORDEX projections (2006 to 2100) under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5, the study employs the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to simulate stream temperature regimes. Validation against observed stream temperatures at 369 monitoring points demonstrates the reliability and accuracy of the SWAT model performance. Projected changes in air temperature reveal distinct seasonal variations and emission scenario dependencies. The validated stream temperature model indicates a uniform warming tendency across Poland, emphasizing the widespread nature of climate change impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Results show an increase in country-averaged stream temperature from the baseline (16.1 °C), with a rise of 0.5 °C in the near future (NF) and a further increase by 1 °C in the far future (FF) under RCP4.5. Under RCP8.5, the increase is more pronounced, reaching 1 °C in the NF and a substantial 2.6 °C in the FF. These findings offer essential insights for environmental management, emphasizing the need for adaptive strategies to mitigate adverse effects on freshwater ecosystems. However, as a preliminary study, this work uses a simplified temperature model that does not account for detailed hydrological processes and spatial variability, making it a good starting point for more detailed future research. Full article

Near-field (NF) integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) has the potential to revolutionize future wireless networks. It enables simultaneous communication and sensing operations on the same radio frequency (RF) resources using a shared hardware platform, maximizing resource utilization. NF-ISAC systems can improve communication and sensing performance compared to traditional far-field (FF) ISAC systems by exploiting the unique propagation characteristics of NF spherical waves with an additional distance dimension. Despite its potential, NF-ISAC research is still in its early stages, and a comprehensive survey of the technology is lacking. This paper systematically explores NF-ISAC technology, providing an in-depth analysis of both NF and FF systems, their applicability in various scenarios, and different channel models. It highlights the advantages and philosophies of ISAC, examining both narrow-band and wide-band NF-ISAC systems. Case studies and simulations offer deeper insights into NF-ISAC design philosophies. Additionally, the paper reviews the existing NF-ISAC literature, methodologies, potentials, and conclusions, and discusses future research areas, challenges, and applications. Full article

The goal of this article is to provide numerical and experimental assessments of an effective near-field to far-field transformation (NF–FF T) technique with planar spiral scanning for flat antennas under test (AUTs), which requires a non-redundant, i.e., minimum, number of NF measurements. This technique has its roots in the theory of non-redundant sampling representations of electromagnetic fields and was devised by suitably applying the unified theory of spiral scans for non-volumetric antennas to the case in which the considered AUT is modeled by a circular disk having its radius equal to half of the AUT’s maximum dimension. It makes use of a 2D optimal sampling interpolation (OSI) formula to accurately determine the massive amount of NF data required by the classical plane-rectangular NF–FF T technique from the non-redundant data gathered along the spiral. It must be emphasized that, when considering flat AUTs, the developed transformation allows one to further and significantly save measurement time as compared to that required by the previously developed NF–FF T techniques with planar spiral scans based on a quasi-planar antenna modeling, because the number of turns of the spiral and that of NF data to be acquired depend somewhat on the area of the modeling surface. The reported numerical simulations assess the accuracy of the proposed NF–FF T technique, whereas the experimental tests prove its practical feasibility. Full article

In passive localization techniques, as the scale of the array of the sensors used increases, the source distribution may be a coexistence of near-field (NF) and far-field (FF) sources. Most of the existing algorithms dedicated to the localization of mixed-field sources are based on a simplified model, which has model errors and cannot make good use of non-circular properties when non-circular signals are present in the sources. In this paper, we present a mixed-field circular and non-circular source localization algorithm based on exact spatial propagation geometry. First, we make an initial estimate of the source parameters using exact spatial geometry relations. The MUSIC algorithm is then used in combination with the non-circular properties of the signal to achieve an accurate estimate. The algorithm does not lose performance due to model mismatch and is able to make good use of the non-circular properties of the sources to improve the estimation accuracy. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can effectively distinguish between sources and that the algorithm performs satisfactorily. Full article

Although only a few of the ancient masonry arch bridges (MABs) are in fairly good condition today, many ancient arch bridges are still in use. Over time, the condition of the masonry bridges declines and the safety requirements change. Therefore, it is important to examine these bridges under different influences. The strengthening of MABs is generally not essential. The major cause of damage to MABs is their insufficient width and height, and thus, it is not the safety but the usability that has restricted the life-time of the MABs. Therefore, in this investigation, the effect of the arch height on the static and dynamic behavior of a single-span MAB was investigated. For this aim, the Ancient Tokatlı Bridge, built in Karabük, Türkiye, was selected for investigation under near-fault (NF) and far-fault (FF) ground motions (GMs). To observe the altitude of the arch warp on the ancient MAB, first, the finite element model (FEM) was utilized, using ANSYS and SAP 2000. Furthermore, to constitute the arch warp’s influence on a MAB, the FEM was remodeled considering the different arch warps between 7.0 and 9.0 m. Moreover, GMs were applied to the FEM to investigate the effect of dynamic behavior. Under these GMs, stresses and strains (compression and tensile) were observed and compared with each other. Consequently, at the end of these investigations, it was observed that the maximum motions were reduced, while the height of the one-span MAB was increased under NF and FF GMs, and this was also true for the contrary situations. The compression stresses were not observed to be hazardous at the point of destruction, while the altitude of the one-span MAB increased. Full article

Seismic isolation is a powerful tool for mitigating seismic risk and improving structural performance. However, some parameters, such as earthquake inputs and soil characteristics, influence the technology’s performance. This research aims to investigate the effects of soil–structure interaction (SSI) with regard to different moderate earthquakes associated with different distances of the source to the site, frequency content, and different soil characteristics on the seismic response of the isolated bridges. Near-fault (NF) and far-field (FF) records are applied to the conventional and isolated bridge with and without considering the underlying soil. For this reason, using the direct and simplified methods, three soil properties representing rock, dense, and stiff soils are modeled in Abaqus software. Nonlinear time history analysis (NLTHA) is carried out, and structural responses of both approaches in terms of maximum deck acceleration, base shear, and displacement of the deck and the isolation system are studied. Results demonstrate that the difference between the two approaches is significant. Using the simplified method is a rather simple approach that roughly captures the important features of the record characteristics and SSI. Furthermore, careful attention should be paid to the base shear responses and the isolator displacement demands, as they are significantly amplified in softer soils. In addition, the peak ground acceleration to peak ground velocity ratio (PGA/PGV) plays a decisive role in all dynamic responses. Records with a lower PGA/PGV ratio cause higher dynamic responses in terms of displacement and acceleration/force, regardless of the distance of the ruptured fault, while NF records show higher dynamic responses compared to FF records. Full article

Radar cross section (RCS) is a scattering measure of an object that scatters to the radar. However, existing methods for near-field (NF) measurement and data processing rarely extract amplitude characteristics, and there is a lack of effective verification of far-field (FF) data in the process of NF to FF transformation, which leads to inaccuracies in FF prediction accuracy. In this paper, we propose a method to establish the relationship between the NF and FF RCS using the state space method (SSM), which is based on accurate estimation of the NF amplitude in NF measurement, and then deriving the FF RCS from the NF scattering signal convolved with a near-to-far kernel. The proposed solution to address the uncertainty issue in reference FF data involves using the geometric theory of diffraction (GTD) scattering center model as the reference FF data and establishing a linear equation with the derived FF model. The negative gradient search (NGS) system identification concept is used to optimize the FF model in order to reduce the discrepancy between the reference and derived values. Finally, the corrected RCS error is provided as additional proof of the effectiveness of these techniques in enhancing near-to-far transformation accuracy by examining the outcomes of three experiments. Full article

An effective procedure to correct known 3D probe positioning errors affecting the near-field–far-field transformation (NF–FF) with non-conventional plane rectangular scanning, named planar wide-mesh scanning (PWMS), is developed in this paper. It relies on the non-redundant sampling representations of electromagnetic fields and related optimal sampling interpolation (OSI) expansions and has been devised when a quasi-planar antenna under test is considered as suitably modelled by either a double bowl or an oblate spheroid. Such an algorithm first makes use of the so-called k-correction to compensate for the errors occurring when the actual sampling points deviate from the acquisition plane and then adopts an iterative procedure to restore the NF samples at the points specified by the used non-redundant sampling representation from those obtained at the previous step and affected by 2D positioning errors. Finally, once the regularly arranged PWMS samples have been calculated, the NF data required to compute the classic plane-rectangular NF–FF transformation are accurately evaluated by using an effective 2D OSI algorithm. Several numerical results are presented in order to assess the effectiveness of the devised approach. Full article

A five-story moment frame structural model with a base isolation system was tested on a shaking table. The isolation system comprised both linear natural rubber bearing (LNR) and nonlinear viscous dampers (NLVDs). Seven ground motions were employed: including three far-fault (FF) and four near-fault (NF) earthquake ground motions. The performance of the isolation system was evaluated by measuring the displacement and base shear of the isolation bearings. Furthermore, the axial force and displacement of the NLVDs were measured. The evolution of the fundamental dynamic frequency of the frame during the test was also determined. During strong earthquakes, NF ground motions caused larger story drifts and floor accelerations of the superstructure than FF ground motions. The displacement and base shear of the isolation base was very large when the isolated structure was subjected to Kobe_TAK000 and ChiChi_TCU102/278 pulse-like NF ground motions. Furthermore, the LNR s experienced tension and uplift when the PGA of input earthquake ground motions was larger than 0.80 g. Although the NLVDs performed very well in combination with the LNRs, the severe responses of the isolation bearings were caused by NF ground motion with a pulse period T_p neighboring the fundamental period of the isolated structure. Full article

The Sittaung river basin (SRB) remains one of the least studied basins of Myanmar in terms of the assessment of the impact of climate change. As several reservoirs already exist in the basin, much research is needed to understand how projected climate change impacts rainfall, temperature, flows, domestic and agricultural demands, and hydropower generation. Given the limitation in observed data on the ground, a combination of satellite-derived meteorological data and digital elevation data is used to generate inputs to a Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model. Five CMIP5 GCMs are used in the WEAP to assess the impact of climate change on the water, food, and energy production of the SRB for the baseline (BL: 1985–2014), near future (NF: 2021–2050), and far future (FF: 2051–2080) periods. The results indicate that the average temperature and rainfall are likely to increase in the future for the SRB. December and January are expected to be drier and warmer, whereas rainy months are expected to be wetter and warmer in the future. The BL flows (1091 m³/s) are expected to increase by 7–10% during NF and by 16–19% during FF at the basin outlet. Meanwhile, the unmet domestic demand during BL (1.3 MCM) is expected to decrease further by approximately 50% in the future. However, the unmet agricultural demand (667 MCM) for food production is estimated to increase from the BL by 11–15% during NF and by 14–19% during FF. Similarly, the total energy generation of nine hydropower projects (4.12 million MWh) is expected to increase by 9–11% during NF and by 16–17% during FF. Thus, the riverine flows are expected to increase in the future, thus positively impacting the domestic and hydropower sectors, whereas the unmet demands in the agricultural sector likely remain unsatisfied. These results will help the water, agriculture, and energy sectors to develop strategies to maximize benefits and cope with the impacts of climate change in the near and long-term future. Full article