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Forum papers are thought-provoking opinion pieces or essays founded in fact, sometimes containing speculation, on a civil engineering topic of general interest and relevance to the readership of the journal. The views expressed in this Forum article do not necessarily reflect the views of ASCE or the Editorial Board of the journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transit time‐based water quality models using StorAge Selection (SAS) functions are crucial for nitrate (NO3−) management. However, relying solely on instream NO3− concentration for model calibration can result in poor parameter identifiability. This is due to the interaction, or correlation, between transport parameters, such as SAS function parameters, and denitrification rate, which challenges accurate parameters identification and description of catchment‐scale hydrological processes. To tackle this issue, we conducted three Monte‐Carlo experiments for a German mesoscale catchment by calibrating a SAS‐based model with daily instream NO3− concentrations (Experiment 1), monthly instream stable water isotopes (e.g. δ18O) (Experiment 2) and both datasets (Experiment 3). Our findings revealed comparable ranges of SAS transport parameters and median water transit times (TT50) across the experiments. This suggests that, despite their distinct reactive or conservative nature, and sampling strategies, the NO3− and δ18O time series offer similar information for calibration. However, the absolute values of transport parameters and TT50 time series, as well as the degree of parameter interaction differed. Experiment 1 showed greater interaction between certain transport parameters and denitrification rate, leading to greater equifinality. Conversely, Experiment 3 yielded reduced parameters interaction, which enhanced transport parameters identifiability and decreased uncertainty in TT50 time series. Hence, even a modest effort to incorporate only monthly δ18O values in model calibration for highly frequent NO3−, improved the description of hydrological transport. This study showcased the value of combining NO3− and δ18O model results to improve transport parameter identifiability and model robustness, which ultimately enhances NO3− management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: The clinical frailty scale (CFS) evaluates the level of frailty based on clinical examination, comorbidities, and functional and activity levels of older patients. However, there are many difficulties for internists in evaluating frailty with this scale. Therefore, simplifying the CFS with good design and application is required for better treatment outcomes. Our study was conducted to design and evaluate the correlation of a simplified clinical frailty scale (sCFS) with CFS in older patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We undertook a cross-sectional analysis involving 279 older patients, which comprised two steps. Step 1 involves the implementation of sCFS, a protocol that has been endorsed by the Geriatrics Professional Council (GPC). Step 2 entails the enrollment of older patients for frailty assessment using sCFS, comparing it with CFS. RESULTS: The study was conducted on 279 older patients; the average age was 75.7 ± 8.4 (years old), and men accounted for 34.8%. There was a high correlation between the sCFS and CFS (Pearson's r = 0.996; p < 0 .001). The similarity of the sCFS to the CFS was very high, with Kappa coefficient = 0.984 (p < 0.001). Compared with the CFS, the sCFS had a Youden index of 98% with 100% sensitivity and 98% specificity assessed through the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) with the CFS threshold of 5. CONCLUSIONS: The sCFS can be used to assess frailty with high sensitivity and specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the switching dynamics of a 75°-canted Spin–orbit torque (SOT) device with an in-plane easy axis using the micro-magnetic simulation. The switching time (τ) is evaluated from the time evolution of the magnetization. The device with a strong out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy (μ0Hkeff = −0.08 T) shows τ = 0.19 ns while a device with a strong in-plane magnetic anisotropy (μ0Hkeff = −0.9 T) shows τ = 0.32 ns. The increase of the damping constant (α) results in the increase of τ for both devices and the sub-nanosecond switching could be retained as α < 0.14 in the device with μ0Hkeff = −0.08 T, while this was achieved as α < 0.04 in the device with μ0Hkeff = −0.9 T. Furthermore when the field-like coefficient (β) is increased, it leads to a decrease in τ, which can be reduced to 0.03 ns by increasing β to 1 in the device with μ0Hkeff = −0.08 T. In order to achieve the same result in the device with μ0Hkeff = −0.9 T, β must be increased to 6. These results indicate a way to achieve ultrafast field-free SOT switching of a few tens of picoseconds in nanometer-sized magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]