Abstract STUDY QUESTION Can the priorities for future research in infertility be identified? SUMMARY ANSWER The top 10 research priorities for the four areas of male infertility, female and unexplained infertility, medically assisted reproduction and ethics, access and organization of care for people with fertility problems were identified. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Many fundamental questions regarding the prevention, management and consequences of infertility remain unanswered. This is a barrier to improving the care received by those people with fertility problems. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION Potential research questions were collated from an initial international survey, a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines and Cochrane systematic reviews. A rationalized list of confirmed research uncertainties was prioritized in an interim international survey. Prioritized research uncertainties were discussed during a consensus development meeting. Using a formal consensus development method, the modified nominal group technique, diverse stakeholders identified the top 10 research priorities for each of the categories male infertility, female and unexplained infertility, medically assisted reproduction and ethics, access and organization of care. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Healthcare professionals, people with fertility problems and others (healthcare funders, healthcare providers, healthcare regulators, research funding bodies and researchers) were brought together in an open and transparent process using formal consensus methods advocated by the James Lind Alliance. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE The initial survey was completed by 388 participants from 40 countries, and 423 potential research questions were submitted. Fourteen clinical practice guidelines and 162 Cochrane systematic reviews identified a further 236 potential research questions. A rationalized list of 231 confirmed research uncertainties was entered into an interim prioritization survey completed by 317 respondents from 43 countries. The top 10 research priorities for each of the four categories male infertility, female and unexplained infertility (including age-related infertility, ovarian cysts, uterine cavity abnormalities and tubal factor infertility), medically assisted reproduction (including ovarian stimulation, IUI and IVF) and ethics, access and organization of care were identified during a consensus development meeting involving 41 participants from 11 countries. These research priorities were diverse and seek answers to questions regarding prevention, treatment and the longer-term impact of infertility. They highlight the importance of pursuing research which has often been overlooked, including addressing the emotional and psychological impact of infertility, improving access to fertility treatment, particularly in lower resource settings and securing appropriate regulation. Addressing these priorities will require diverse research methodologies, including laboratory-based science, qualitative and quantitative research and population science. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION We used consensus development methods, which have inherent limitations, including the representativeness of the participant sample, methodological decisions informed by professional judgment and arbitrary consensus definitions. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS We anticipate that identified research priorities, developed to specifically highlight the most pressing clinical needs as perceived by healthcare professionals, people with fertility problems and others, will help research funding organizations and researchers to develop their future research agenda. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) The study was funded by the Auckland Medical Research Foundation, Catalyst Fund, Royal Society of New Zealand and Maurice and Phyllis Paykel Trust. G.D.A. reports research sponsorship from Abbott, personal fees from Abbott and LabCorp, a financial interest in Advanced Reproductive Care, committee membership of the FIGO Committee on Reproductive Medicine, International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies, International Federation of Fertility Societies and World Endometriosis Research Foundation, and research sponsorship of the International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies from Abbott and Ferring. Siladitya Bhattacharya reports being the Editor-in-Chief of Human Reproduction Open and editor for the Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility Group. J.L.H.E. reports being the Editor Emeritus of Human Reproduction. A.W.H. reports research sponsorship from the Chief Scientist’s Office, Ferring, Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research and Wellbeing of Women and consultancy fees from AbbVie, Ferring, Nordic Pharma and Roche Diagnostics. M.L.H. reports grants from Merck, grants from Myovant, grants from Bayer, outside the submitted work and ownership in Embrace Fertility, a private fertility company. N.P.J. reports research sponsorship from AbbVie and Myovant Sciences and consultancy fees from Guerbet, Myovant Sciences, Roche Diagnostics and Vifor Pharma. J.M.L.K. reports research sponsorship from Ferring and Theramex. R.S.L. reports consultancy fees from AbbVie, Bayer, Ferring, Fractyl, Insud Pharma and Kindex and research sponsorship from Guerbet and Hass Avocado Board. B.W.M. reports consultancy fees from Guerbet, iGenomix, Merck, Merck KGaA and ObsEva. E.H.Y.N. reports research sponsorship from Merck. C.N. reports being the Co Editor-in-Chief of Fertility and Sterility and Section Editor of the Journal of Urology, research sponsorship from Ferring and retains a financial interest in NexHand. J.S. reports being employed by a National Health Service fertility clinic, consultancy fees from Merck for educational events, sponsorship to attend a fertility conference from Ferring and being a clinical subeditor of Human Fertility. A.S. reports consultancy fees from Guerbet. J.W. reports being a statistical editor for the Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility Group. A.V. reports that he is a Statistical Editor of the Cochrane Gynaecology & Fertility Review Group and the journal Reproduction. His employing institution has received payment from Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for his advice on review of research evidence to inform their ‘traffic light’ system for infertility treatment ‘add-ons’. N.L.V. reports consultancy and conference fees from Ferring, Merck and Merck Sharp and Dohme. The remaining authors declare no competing interests in relation to the present work. All authors have completed the disclosure form. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER N/A.

The simplicity and ease of access of its website, has allowed YouTube to be embraced by the whole world and establish itself as the most prominent form of video sharing on earth. YouTube has become a widely used medium for individuals, corporations, and academic institutions alike. In the current work a W-index has been developed and applied to many academic institutions to evaluate the efficacy of the respective YouTube channel(s). This index was the creative product of the senior author who was inspired by the H-index developed by J.E. Hirsch (2005) to evaluate the productivity and impact of a researcher. The W-index will be used to evaluate the quantity and quality of a University’s channel that is different from the traditional staples that define popularity and video effectiveness on YouTube, such as total views. The methodology used would be to see that if this W-index would correlate well to existing indices used for the evaluation of universities. Eventually, the W-index could serve as an indicator of whether or not a university needs to invest time or money into the development of better videos or more videos for their YouTube channel to maximize its impact on the academic community. A correlation between W-Index and three well-established and well-defined cybermetric rankings; US Rank, Impact Rank, and Excellence Rank, is established and used as the basis for the Windex’s usefulness. The establishment of such a correlation indicates that the W-Index can also be used to evaluate the communication efficacy of individuals, despite the lack of any robust ranking system for individuals. The W-Index serves as a good indicator, based on consistent correlation coefficients among ranking systems analyzed, of a university or individual’s success and communication efficacy. Rankings are useful as single numbers that contribute to decision making, simply because of their simplicity.

Since the 2008 stock market crash in the United States of America (USA), with the multinational effects around most of the world, there has been job losses and financial insecurity felt by most working people. The lack luster recovery and the drop of oil prices in the last year (which has stabilized in recent months), have not improved much this sense and need for financial security. Financial security is largely obtained if one helps one’s young adult offspring select a well-paying profession. The paper by the authors in 2007, compared the financial wisdom of selecting STEM jobs as opposed to other fields of study. Their hypothesis that “science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related fields will have higher monthly income on average than communication, education, arts, and social science fields”, was demonstrated to be true. The monthly income based on specialty field was forecasted using 4 methods. Half of the methods were moving averages and exponential smoothing, and these were stationary series models. The other half was trend-based methods; regression analysis, and double exponential smoothing or Holt’s method. The authors showed that the moving averages forecast a difference in favor of STEM fields of $973.79 per month; exponential smoothing predicted a disparity of $934.18 per month. Further, a $1058.84 disparity in monthly income was foretold with linear regression analysis; a $1060.3 in monthly salary was forecast via Holt’s method. More recent data by Forbes shows that the top paying jobs are No. 1 Drilling Engineer with median pay of $113,900, No. 2 Petroleum Engineer with median pay of $97,300 and No.3 Mining Engineer with median pay $71,300 a year. These STEM jobs do lead to the same conclusion today that jobs outside the STEM fields do not pay as well.

An important question asked by academicians is whether students use Internet languages constructively to further themselves in their chosen field of study while in college, or merely use them for social networking and entertainment. The iSkills Test is a possible tool for assessment of students’ skills in using digital technology on the Internet. This paper seeks to investigate the test’s usefulness in helping to answer the question stated above and in the process, add positively to the reaffirmation of accredited universities where these students are enrolled. An original method has been shown to allow instructors/coaches and institutions to assess the effectiveness of their programs through the use of this test, even though the grading scheme has been changed between the initial and final assessment tests (in one term). The grading code of the iCritical Thinking Certification test (now updated as the iSkills test) has been found, at least for the present. After two years of testing data at the University of Miami, the University has been provided with three major strengths and three major weaknesses of the students. The undergraduate strengths are (1) shopping, (2) following directions, (3) using information ethically. The students’ weaknesses are (1) selecting resources, (2) researching, (3) knowing or understanding what they find. It is apparent that the areas of weaknesses are areas of opportunity for the University to improve their students’ digital skills. Some useful suggestions have been developed to help students improve their critical thinking abilities and thus perform better in the certification test. The iSkills tests involved organization of information, development of a search strategy, creating a slide, summarize researched information, creating a visual representation and constructing an advanced search. These tasks involved a variety of skill sets and they mimic real world tasks. This test is recommended for the assessment by universities of their students’ improvement in digital skills development while on the Internet, across the disciplines. The tests are used to help convince university accreditation bodies like Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in the U.S.A. International acceptance of the test is recommended since the use of the Internet is global, and digital skills development is an undeniably important asset.

Nanofluids are suspensions of nanoparticles in fluids that show significant enhancement of their properties at modest nanoparticle concentrations. Many of the publications on nanofluids are about understanding their behavior so that they can be utilized where straight heat transfer enhancement is paramount as in many industrial applications, nuclear reactors, transportation, electronics as well as biomedicine and food. Nanofluid as a smart fluid, where heat transfer can be reduced or enhanced at will, has also been reported. This paper focuses on presenting the broad range of current and future applications that involve nanofluids, emphasizing their improved heat transfer properties that are controllable and the specific characteristics that these nanofluids possess that make them suitable for such applications.

Nanotechnology is, according to some authorative sources, the new wave of the immediate future in science and technology. Many universities in the world do not have this topic taught at the college level in engineering. The objective of the current work is to prepare teaching materials in nanotechnology that could be used in a couple of lectures to be incorporated in a junior-level course of thermodynamics or other basic energy science course. The aim of preparing these modules is an effort to introduce our current undergraduate engineering students to some important concepts in nanotechnology. The modality of modules is so that many other college programs in the world can adopt these modules and incorporate in their curriculum easily; the result is that the education of our future engineers will be more complete and our engineers more competitive in the world market. The current work concentrates on the discussion and elaboration of the topics to be covered in nanotechnology in two one-hour and a-half lectures. Introductory items include the differences between nano-science and macro-science as well as atomic-level science theory. It cannot just be a survey of where nanotechnology has affected our modern lives. It should contain enough basics so that future courses/topics can build on these preliminary foundation lectures. The topics will tie in two existing lectures with nanotechnology applications. First, the principles of heat transfer relating to thermodynamics will be introduced. Second, an overview of nanotechnology will be presented. Third, students will be given an in-depth look at the various heat transfer processes. Finally, the nanotechnology applications relating to heat transfer shall be discussed, including a focus on nanofluids. This work will introduce some of the fundamental ideas regarding nanotechnology that relates to the energy sciences as it may be presented to a junior-level engineering class. This will include a discussion of some of the properties of nanoparticles, the synthesis of nanoparticles and the various materials used in fabrication, as well as the importance of nanofluids to complex thermal energy systems based on current and past research. After laying out the lesson plan integration in the current course curricula, several sample problems are presented in the appendix that would lend the students a greater grasp of the new material. An engineering upperclassman should understand the fundamentals of nanoscale engineering. Initial educational evaluation data based on a couple of lectures alone gave an average concept inventory, ([1] C.I., Foundation Coalition, 2007) score (geared for the two lectures) of 61.4% for a class of about twenty students (Spring 2007) in thermodynamics; the corresponding improvement in the average C.I. score for about ten students (Summer 2007) was from 43.7% to about 60%.

This paper surveys heat transfer in nanofluids. It summarizes and analyzes the theories regarding heat transfer mechanisms in nanofluids, and it discusses the effects of clustering on thermal conductivity. The heat transfer associated with conduction is presented through various experiments followed by a discussion of the theories developed. Relationships between thermal conductivity and various factors such as temperature, concentration, and particle size are also displayed along with a discussion on clustering. There is a brief discussion on convection where the number of studies is limited. There is research currently being performed on the manipulation of the properties governing the thermal conductivity of nanofluids—the particle size, shape, and surface area. Other factors that affect heat transfer are the material of the nanoparticle, particle volume concentration, and the fluid used. Although the interest in this relatively new class of fluids has generated many experimental studies, there is still disagreement over several aspects of heat transfer in nanofluids, primarily concerning the mechanisms behind the increased thermal conductivity. Although nanoparticles have greatly decreased the risks, there is still evidence of unwanted agglomeration which causes erosion and affect the overall conductivity. Research is currently being conducted to determine how to minimize this unwanted clustering.

Currently occupying only a small portion of the energy sector, nuclear power is increasingly becoming a promising contender for energy resources of the future. With growing concern of climate change and excessive carbon emissions from fossil fuels, nuclear is widely being pursued as an alternative energy resource that does not produce carbon dioxide. Nuclear power has been the source of environmentally hazardous byproducts of its own, however, and issues with radioactive waste have in many ways halted progress in nuclear power development and implementation. New advances now attempt to solve the many issues of the past, associated mostly with nuclear fission. Some of these developments, including the promising use of nuclear fusion, are evaluated as a means of solving the energy crises as well as the radioactive waste issues.

The main aim of this research is focused on determining the velocity and particle density profiles across the flame propagation of microlycopodium dust particles. In this model, it is tried to incorporate the forces acting on the particles such as thermophoretic, gravitational, and buoyancy in the Lagrangian equation of motion. For this purpose, it is considered that the flame structure has four zones (i.e., preheat, vaporization, reaction, and postflame zones) and the temperature profile, as the unknown parameter in the thermophoretic force, is extracted from this model. Consequently, employing the Lagrangian equation with the known elements results in the velocity distribution versus the forefront of the combustion region. Satisfactory agreement is achieved between the present model and previously published experiments. It is concluded that the maximum particle concentration and velocity are gained on the flame front with the gradual decrease in the distance away from this location.

Life in fast-paced mega-cities can be very challenging for young people trying to grow up normally. In developed countries like the United States of America (USA), fast-paced competitive conditions do produce psychological problems in the youth. The spiritual/religious vacuum left by ‘enlightened parents’ in the western world, leave youths available to extremist religious groups and easily accessible mind-altering drugs. Increased spiritual consciousness and religion are possible mechanisms to reverse this trend and to fill the vacuum left by lack of religious education of the young. A public case study is provided as proof of what might work between a parent and a child, to save the child from a life of drugs. Kindness, as exemplified by the actions of the leaders of the nation, can also set the tone for an easier time for everyone.

Anthropogenic heat generation in the world has been shown to be non-negligible, as it was a previous misconception. The scientific contribution of the current work is to urge scientists and engineers to develop technologies to reject heat from engineering systems to outer space. Outer space acts as a definitive heat sink since a statistical average temperature may be assigned to it as 3 K. This temperature is a lot lower than the average temperature anywhere on Earth, at any time of the year. Until recently, the concept was well known but not systematically developed nor advanced using modern engineering knowledge. Looking at recent figures of heat generated associated with power plants worldwide, a theoretical potential exists to reduce the amount of anthropogenic heat rejected in the world's environment by very significant amounts. Outer space is the ultimate sink for man's heat from engineered systems, and the upper limit is comfortably very large to not be of any concern at the present time.

Marijuana has been used medically to help relief neuropathic pain for some time now. Assistance in numbing or negating neuropathic pain is very commendable, but the ugly side of addiction (and associated negative consequences) tips the balance against the use of marijuana. The use of cannabidiol (CBD) rich marijuana, instead of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) rich marijuana, to calm a person’s mind needs to be explored more. There is an assumption that a calm person (internally as well as outwardly) is less interested in getting a high from smoking marijuana because s/he is in a better condition to make a good decision. The appeal of using one kind of marijuana to cure marijuana addiction seems attractive to the addict. The concept seems whimsical at best, but scientific proof is plentiful in the literature regarding the basic reactions of THC and CBD.