All Faculty Deposits
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The "All Faculty Deposits" collection contains works deposited by faculty and appointed delegates from the Elements (EFARs) system. For help with Elements, see Frequently Asked Questions on the Provost's website. In general, items can only be deposited if the item is a scholarly article that is covered by Virginia Tech's open access policy, or the item is openly licensed or in the public domain, or the item is permitted to be posted online under the journal/publisher policy, or the depositor owns the copyright. See Right to Deposit on the VTechWorks Help page. If you have questions email us at vtechworks@vt.edu.
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- Implementation and Utility of the Da Vinci SP (Single Port) in Pediatric UrologyArney, Lucas A.; Bissette, Randall G.; Smith, Jordan M.; Bayne, Christopher E. (Springer, 2024-10-03)Purpose of Review: Detail the evolution, utility, and future directions of the da Vinci SP® in pediatric urology, focusing on perioperative outcomes and intraoperative details. Recent Findings: The SP has been safely and successfully utilized in various pediatric urological procedures, from pyeloplasty to nephroureterectomy to appendicovesicostomy. Reports indicate mixed operative times but similar hospital stays and postoperative outcomes compared to multiport (MP) robotic surgery. The learning curve for transitioning from MP to SP systems in pediatric patients appears manageable, though the smaller abdominal circumference in children poses a notable challenge. This review assumes that SP systems will primarily be acquired for adult services, not considering initial and ongoing costs to hospital systems. Summary: The SP serves as a complementary option, rather than a replacement, for MP robotic surgery in pediatric urology, offering potential advantages in specific scenarios. Cosmetic outcomes with the SP appear at least as favorable as MP surgery, but further research is needed. Future research should focus on patient-centered outcomes to optimize SP robotic surgery use in pediatric patients.
- Diagnosis and Management of Pediatric Varicocele: A Modern Update for the Practicing PediatricianBissette, Randall G.; Edelson, Mia P.; Campbell, Kevin J.; Bayne, Christopher E. (Springer, 2024-12-16)Purpose of Review: Pediatric varicoceles are common, yet the paucity of data on long-term fertility outcomes does not establish recommendations for conservative management and reassurance versus pediatric urology referral for consideration of surgical intervention. This review incorporates recent literature to generate pragmatic, objective methodology for the evaluation and management of pediatric varicoceles. Recent Findings: The initial evaluation of pediatric varicoceles includes focused history, physical exam, and use of an orchidometer or ultrasound for volume assessment. In early puberty, asynchronous testicular growth may be transient and monitored serially via ultrasound. Further workup may include semen analysis (SA), ultrasound of spermatic veins to determine peak retrograde flow (PRF), and hormonal analysis. Pediatric varicoceles may be managed with observation and reassurance or referral to pediatric urology for consideration of surgical intervention. In patients presenting before Tanner V stage, management is typically expectant, with pain warranting referral. Definitive indications for referral once Tanner V is reached include pain, undesirable appearance, bilateral varicoceles, persistent testicular atrophy, low total testicular volume (TTV), elevated peak retrograde flow on Doppler ultrasonography, persistently low total mobile sperm count (TMSC) on repeat SA, or infertility. Summary: Most pediatric and adolescent patients with varicocele may be reassured and monitored serially. Straightforward and objective assessment tools should be used when further workup is warranted, providing clear guidance on elevation of care from pediatricians to pediatric urologists.
- Stratified soilless substrates decrease the vertical gravitational water gradient altering Helianthus root morphologyCriscione, Kristopher S.; Owen, James S., Jr.; Fields, Jeb S. (2025-04-02)Background and aims: Containerized soilless substrates are highly porous to ensure adequate air storage to overcome the “container” effect- the lower part of the container nears saturation which can decrease root health and growth. Substrate porosity is dynamic, evolving over time. As roots fill pores, substrate decomposition and in-situ particle movement change the physical structure, shifting its storage properties and performance. Research is sparse in understanding how developing roots change their morphology throughout production (temporally) and while growing throughout the three-dimensional substrate matrix (spatially). Thus, it would be beneficial to understand how root development impacts container moisture characteristics. This study aimed to quantify root morphological development and water storage (θ) spatiotemporally in conventional or engineered soilless substrate systems. Methods: Helianthus annus ‘Rio Carnival’ was grown in 30.5 cm tall PVC columns in a conventional (non-stratified; 100% of the container is filled with a single composite) bark- or peat-based substrates or engineered (stratified; fine-bark atop coarse-bark; peatlite layered over pine bark) systems. Columns were frozen after roots were partially- (22 d) or fully-grown (43 d) and were separated in five vertical sections. Root morphology and θ were measured within each layer. Results: The results showed that stratified systems overall stored less water, especially in coarser sub-stratas. Partially rooted columns generally stored more water and fully rooted columns drained more. Plants grown in stratified systems had greater fine root development than when grown conventionally. Conclusion: Container-grown roots can be engineered to produce more fibrous root systems by spatially manipulating substrate θ.
- Courageous Followership Amid UncertaintyKaufman, Eric K.; Oyedare, Israel; Olowoyo, Olamide (2025-03-25)Guest lecture on courageous followership for Virginia Tech's undergraduate course on "Toxic Leadership." Guiding Questions: How do we view leadership? What are the priorities with followership? When might courage be necessary?
- Gun Violence in the COVID-19 Era: Using Multiple Databases to Describe the Experience in Buffalo, NYL'Huillier, Joseph C.; Nordin, Andrew B.; Nair, Veer V.; Cantor, Brittany L.; Tadlock, Bryan; Friend, Brianna; Boccardo, Joseph D.; Yu, Jihnhee; Lukan, James; Lillvis, Denise F.; Bass, Kathryn D. (Sage, 2024-12-24)Objectives: In 2020, the public health crises of gun violence and novel coronavirus (COVID-19) collided and interventions to decrease COVID-19 transmission displaced millions of Americans from normal activity. We analyzed the effects of COVID-19 and its resultant shutdowns on gun violence in Buffalo, NY. Methods: We queried the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) and the hospital databases from the 2 level 1 trauma centers which serve Buffalo firearm victims between March 15th and June 24th, 2020 ("COVID") and the same time period for years 2013 (hospital data)/2014 (GVA data) through 2019 ("pre-COVID") and 2021 through 2022 ("post-COVID"). Data points collected included number of daily victims, victim age, gender, and morbidity/mortality. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to compare gun violence in these 3 periods. Results: There were 518 and 913 victims in the GVA and hospital data sets, respectively. Bivariate analyses showed fewer incidents on Saturdays during the pandemic in both data sets (P < 0.05). Multivariate analyses demonstrated no association between number of gun violence victims and time period in either data set (P > 0.05). Conclusions: There was no change in number of gun violence victims during the COVID-19 shutdowns compared to pre-COVID and post-COVID periods in Buffalo, NY. However, there was a change in the weekly temporality of gun violence during the COVID pandemic. Multiple databases are needed to accurately capture gun violence from an epidemiologic perspective.
- Earned Credit Could be Lost CreditRichardson, Amy Jo; Knight, David B. (Sage, 2024-11-14)Beginning the path to a bachelor’s degree in community college has the potential to be a more cost-effective higher education option. Previous research on transfer students has focused broadly on curriculum alignment, articulation policies, and academic advising in efforts to reduce credit loss. Credit loss can significantly impact transfer students and result in unnecessary time and costs for them. Minimal research quantifies and visualizes credit loss or explains in detail how and why it occurs throughout students’ entire education trajectories. This study visualizes credit loss for bachelor’s programs seeking engineering transfer students who began at in-state community colleges using data from the sending and receiving institutions. Findings revealed that credit loss can occur throughout the entire degree pathway, including high school dual enrollment and advanced placement credits to community college credits. This work has implications for informing degree pathways and policies that promote successful transfer and degree completion.
- ROPES Hub Research Brief: Understanding Credit Mobility for Engineering Transfer StudentsRichardson, Amy Jo; Knight, David B. (2025-03-31)
- Formation of late-generation atmospheric compounds inhibited by rapid depositionBi, Chenyang; Isaacman-VanWertz, Gabriel (Nature Portfolio, 2025-02-17)Reactive organic carbon species are important fuel for atmospheric chemical reactions, including the formation of secondary organic aerosol. However, in parallel to atmospheric oxidation processes, deposition can remove compounds from the atmosphere and impact downstream environments. To understand the impact of deposition on atmospheric oxidation, we present a framework for predicting and visualizing the fate of a molecule on the basis of the physicochemical properties of compounds (Henry’s law constant, vapour pressure and reaction rate constants), which are used to estimate timescales for oxidation and deposition. By implementing our deposition rates in chemical models, we show that deposition substantially suppresses atmospheric reactivity and aerosol formation by removing early-generation products and preventing the formation of large fractions (up to 90%) of downstream, late-generation compounds. Deposition is frequently missing in the laboratory experiments and detailed chemical modelling, which probably biases our understanding of atmospheric composition.
- Trust at Your Own Peril: A Mixed Methods Exploration of the Ability of Large Language Models to Generate Expert-Like Systems Engineering Artifacts and a Characterization of Failure ModesTopcu, Taylan G.; Husain, Mohammed; Ofsa, Max; Wach, Paul (Wiley, 2025-02-21)Multi-purpose large language models (LLMs), a subset of generative artificial intelligence (AI), have recently made significant progress. While expectations for LLMs to assist systems engineering (SE) tasks are paramount; the interdisciplinary and complex nature of systems, along with the need to synthesize deep-domain knowledge and operational context, raise questions regarding the efficacy of LLMs to generate SE artifacts, particularly given that they are trained using data that is broadly available on the internet. To that end, we present results from an empirical exploration, where a human expert-generated SE artifact was taken as a benchmark, parsed, and fed into various LLMs through prompt engineering to generate segments of typical SE artifacts. This procedure was applied without any fine-tuning or calibration to document baseline LLM performance. We then adopted a two-fold mixed-methods approach to compare AI generated artifacts against the benchmark. First, we quantitatively compare the artifacts using natural language processing algorithms and find that when prompted carefully, the state-of-the-art algorithms cannot differentiate AI-generated artifacts from the human-expert benchmark. Second, we conduct a qualitative deep dive to investigate how they differ in terms of quality. We document that while the two-material appear very similar, AI generated artifacts exhibit serious failure modes that could be difficult to detect. We characterize these as: premature requirements definition, unsubstantiated numerical estimates, and propensity to overspecify. We contend that this study tells a cautionary tale about why the SE community must be more cautious adopting AI suggested feedback, at least when generated by multi-purpose LLMs.
- From booking to rating activities: A holistic analysis of online review behavior in a destinationNicolau, Juan Luis; Bigné, Enrique; Bulchand-Gidumal, Jacques; William, Edu (Elsevier, 2025-06-01)The objective of this study is to analyze the online review behavior of users in the context of a range of activities undertaken at a destination while considering the determinant factors at three stages, namely, reservation (booking time and price), consumption (experience), and post-consumption (online behavior). Drawing on expectancy–value theory and cognitive dissonance theory, the main contribution of this paper to the tourism literature lies in its argument that the timing of the characteristics that describe the above activities may have different effects on the final response of users, be it their qualitative decision of posting or their quantitative decision of rating. By taking advantage of a unique database containing information at different stages from booking to rating, results show that the prices, which are observed at the booking time, can affect the posting and rating decisions of users, while the moment of the activity, which is observed at the consumption stage, only affects their posting decision.
- Hunted hunter: the role of competitive comparison in product survivalCampayo-Sanchez, Fernando; Mas-Ruiz, Francisco; Nicolau, Juan Luis (Springer, 2025-03-07)This study proposes that competitive comparisons disseminated by rivals influence the market lifespan of a product. This paper bridges the following two fundamental aspects of strategy: product survival and competition analysis. Utilizing a framework that examines rivalry from two perspectives—organizations and products—we build on the awareness–motivation–capability theoretical approach to explore in detail the impact of competition on the commercial longevity of firms’ products. Our first hypothesis posits that when a rival competitively compares its product with the product of the focal firm, the latter firm is more likely to counterattack by carrying out competitive actions. The second one assumes that the survival of a focal firm’s product increases when another company compares the product of the focal firm with any of the products that are part of its portfolio. We employ a longitudinal database capturing dyadic competitive comparisons between automakers’ vehicles in the Spanish car market from 2008 and 2017. This market context is important because Spain was the eighth largest automobile producer worldwide (and the fifth one in Europe) and ranked twelfth in the worldwide ranking of countries (and the fifth one in Europe) with the most units registered in 2017. Consistent with our hypotheses, our analysis reveals the following: (i) competitive comparisons by a rival with a focal firm’s product led to increased subsequent actions by the focal firm, specifically in terms of pricing and advertising investments; and (ii) a focal company’s product remains in the market longer when it is identified as a comparison target by another organization.
- Are smelly toys more fun? Shelter dogs' preferences for toys, scents, and scented toysHoward, Skyler; Gunter, Lisa M.; Feuerbacher, Erica N. (Elsevier, 2024-09)As dogs reside in shelters awaiting adoption, it is critical that they remain behaviorally healthy. A variety of enrichment strategies improve the welfare of shelter dogs, including object (usually in the form of toys) and scent enrichment. However, for these interventions to be enriching, dogs must engage with the items and their welfare be positively affected. Thus, by identifying dogs’ preferences, shelters can improve the function of their enrichment. Using a 15 min free operant preference assessment, an assessment in which the subject is given free access to a variety of items and the duration of their engagement with each item is recorded, we investigated 34 shelter dogs’ preferences for four different toys: a stuffed toy, tennis ball, Nylabone, and flying disc. We also investigated dog’ preferences for four scents: hotdog, peppermint, duck, and an unfamiliar dog. Finally, we applied the dog's preferred scent to their most and least preferred toys to investigate whether adding their preferred scent would increase the amount of time they engaged with those items compared to unscented duplicates. During the toy preference assessment, we observed that dogs, on average, only interacted with toys 3.35 % of the 15 min session. However, we found that dogs engaged over eight times longer with the stuffed toy as compared to all other toys, F (1, 134) = 64.40, p <.001. There was a marginal effect of type during the scent assessment, F (3, 132) = 2.50, p =.062, but post hoc comparisons were not significant. When we applied each dog's preferred scent to their most and least preferred toys, we found statistically significant main effects for preference, F (1, 132) = 54.95, p <.001, and scent, F (1, 132) = 7.16, p =.008, and a significant preference-by-scent interaction, F (1, 132) = 4.66, p =.033. The addition of scent increased engagement with both toys, such that dogs spent 4.2 and 13.7 times more seconds with their most and least preferred toys, respectively. In addition to our results aligning with prior research demonstrating that dogs prefer soft versus hard toys, these findings suggest that combining objects and scents can increase dogs’ engagement with enrichment and may be especially impactful when providing shelter dogs with less preferred objects, such as hard toys.
- Functionalized Graphene-Based Biosensors for Early Detection of Subclinical Ketosis in Dairy CowsChick, Shannon; Kachouei, Matin Ataei; Knowlton, Katharine; Ali, Md Azahar (American Chemical Society, 2024-08-22)Precision livestock farming utilizing advanced diagnostic tools, including biosensors, can play a key role in the management of livestock operations to improve the productivity, health, and well-being of animals. Detection of ketosis, a metabolic disease that occurs in early lactation dairy cows due to a negative energy balance, is one potential on-farm use of biosensors. Beta-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) is an excellent biomarker for monitoring ketosis in dairy cows because βHB is one of the main ketones produced during this metabolic state. In this report, we developed a low-cost, Keto-sensor (graphene-based sensor) for the detection of βHB concentrations in less than a minute. On this device, graphene nanosheets were layered onto a screen-printed electrode (SPE), and then, a stabilized enzyme (beta-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, NAD+, and glycerol) was used to functionalize the graphene surface enabled by EDC-NHS conjugation chemistry. The Keto-sensor offers an analytical sensitivity of 10 nm and a limit of detection (LoD) of 0.24 nm within a detection range of 0.01 μm-3.00 mm. Spike testing indicates that the Keto-sensor can detect βHB in serum samples from bovines with subclinical ketosis. The Keto-sensor developed in this study shows promising results for early detection of subclinical ketosis on farms.
- Environmental stress reduces shark residency to coral reefsWilliamson, Michael J.; Tebbs, Emma J.; Curnick, David J.; Ferretti, Francesco; Carlisle, Aaron B.; Chapple, Taylor K.; Schallert, Robert J.; Tickler, David M.; Block, Barbara A.; Jacoby, David M. P. (Nature Portfolio, 2024-09-09)Coral reef ecosystems are highly threatened and can be extremely sensitive to the effects of climate change. Multiple shark species rely on coral reefs as important habitat and, as such, play a number of significant ecological roles in these ecosystems. How environmental stress impacts routine, site-attached reef shark behavior, remains relatively unexplored. Here, we combine 8 years of acoustic tracking data (2013-2020) from grey reef sharks resident to the remote coral reefs of the Chagos Archipelago in the Central Indian Ocean, with a satellite-based index of coral reef environmental stress exposure. We show that on average across the region, increased stress on the reefs significantly reduces grey reef shark residency, promoting more diffuse space use and increasing time away from shallow forereefs. Importantly, this impact has a lagged effect for up to 16 months. This may have important physiological and conservation consequences for reef sharks, as well as broader implications for reef ecosystem functioning. As climate change is predicted to increase environmental stress on coral reef ecosystems, understanding how site-attached predators respond to stress will be crucial for forecasting the functional significance of altering predator behavior and the potential impacts on conservation for both reef sharks and coral reefs themselves.
- Ecological interactions between 19 shark species in the Indian OceanGee, Emma; Romanov, Evgeny V.; Curnick, David; Block, Barbara; Ferretti, Francesco (IOTC, 2024-09-07)Apex predators such as sharks are a critical component of ocean ecosystems. Yet the ecosystem consequences of shark declines remain poorly understood, primarily because of a lack of population and community baselines. The Indian Ocean is especially data-poor in ecological data, and even moreso in historical data. We utilized a longline survey dataset from 1966 through 1989 that spanned the majority of the Indian Ocean and recorded 19 shark species. This time period corresponds to the start of large-scale industrial fishing in the region. Trends across the species were highly variable; life history and fishing pressure metrics were not able to explain differences in responses between species, suggesting that changes in ecological interactions such as competition and predation had a prevalent role historically. To further explore ecological interactions between the species, we conducted a literature review of the study species’ diets with a focus on intra-guild predation. We constructed an interaction web to identify keystone species. Several species were neither predator nor prey of other sharks, suggesting that competition may be the more salient relationship to other sharks. Overall, species with broader habitat preferences and smaller individuals are now a larger part of the pelagic shark community, whereas open-ocean species have declined. These results suggest that industrial fishing restructured shark communities and diminished the top-down control of sharks in pelagic ecosystems.
- SharkTrack: an accurate, generalisable software for streamlining shark and ray underwater video analysisVarini, Filippo; Gayford, Joel H.; Jenrette, Jeremy; Witt, Matthew J.; Garzon, Francesco; Ferretti, Francesco; Wilday, Sophie; Bond, Mark E.; Heithaus, Michael; Robinson, Danielle; Carter, Devon; Gumbs, Najee; Webster, Vincent; Glocker, Ben (2024-11-30)Elasmobranchs (shark sand rays) are critical components of coral reef ecosystems and are often considered indicators of reef health (Roff et al., 2016). Yet, they are experiencing global population declines and effective monitoring of these populations is essential to their protection. Underwater stationary videos, such as those from Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS), are critical for understanding elasmobranch spatial ecology and abundance. However, processing these videos requires time-consuming manual analysis. To address these challenges, we developed SharkTrack, a semi-automatic underwater video analysis software.SharkTrack uses Convolutional Neural Networks and Multi-Object Tracking to automatically detect and track elasmobranchs and provides an annotation pipeline to manually classify elasmobranch species and compute MaxN, the standard metric of relative abundance. We tested SharkTrack on BRUVS footage collected from threecoral reef locations unseen by the model during training, to demonstrate the model’sadaptability and effectiveness in different reef environments. SharkTrack computedMaxN with 89% accuracy over 207 hours of footage. The semi-automatic SharkTrackpipeline required two minutes of manual classification per hour of video, a 95%reduction of manual analysis time compared to traditional methods, estimated conservatively at 42 minutes per hour of video. These results suggest thatSharkTrack can be utilised to monitor elasmobranch populations across diverse coral reef ecosystems. Furthermore, the software’s flexible pipeline could serve as a blueprint for the development of species classifiers beyond elasmobranchs, enabling more comprehensive monitoring of coral reef biodiversity. We provide public access to SharkTrack, aiming to support future research in coral reef and marine conservation.
- Position Statement on Shark Control Programs and Shark CullsIUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group; Ferretti, Francesco (IUCN SSG. Shark Specialist Group, 2024-01-15)The IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) is aware that lethal approaches to reducing the risk of human-shark interactions are increasingly being adopted around the world. Several governments either have active shark control programs (i.e., bather protection programs) or frequently implement shark culls in response to actual or perceived risk to humans. Hereby, the SSC outlines its position in relation to existing shark control programs and culls and provides context to allow managers and governments to make informed decisions when faced with delicate situations. We strongly encourage non-lethal approaches as a response and management option.
- Efficacy of a Rose Bengal-Embedded Antimicrobial Packaging Film in Inactivating Escherichia coli under Visible Light IrradiationJohnson, Andrea; Wu, Jian; Zhou, Zhe; Li, Yilin; Yin, Yun; Ponder, Monica A.; Kim, Young-Teck; Shuai, Danmeng; Huang, Haibo (American Chemical Society, 2024-02-24)Antimicrobial packaging reduces the extent of microbial contamination; however, conventional antimicrobial packaging, which releases antimicrobial agents into food, may experience rapid agent depletion and can adversely affect food flavors. In this study, a novel photocatalytic antimicrobial nanofiber film embedded with Rose Bengal (RB) dye that generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) in visible light was designed for inactivating microorganisms. The film’s antimicrobial properties under various light intensities and exposure times were evaluated, using Escherichia coli as a test microorganism. The results demonstrated that RB generates singlet oxygen as its principal ROS and has potent antimicrobial effects when incorporated into a film, achieving a 4.4 ± 0.1 log CFU reduction in E. coli after 45 h under a light intensity of 6500 lx. The film’s antimicrobial efficacy was dependent on light intensity, with significant E. coli inactivation occurring above 2000 lx. Overall, the RB-incorporated film effectively inactivates E. coli, providing a promising alternative to conventional antimicrobial packaging methods.
- A unique case of herpetic keratitis manifesting as recurrent preseptal cellulitisMiller, Emily; Ward, Maxwell; Fazili, Tasaduq; Bansal, Ekta (Elsevier, 2025-02-09)Preseptal cellulitis is typically caused by nasopharyngeal bacteria and can usually be treated with empiric antibiotics. We present a case of herpes simplex virus (HSV) 1 keratitis manifesting as recurrent and treatment refractory preseptal cellulitis. This is a rare presentation that is infrequently reported in the literature. Due to the potential for permanent vision loss, it is important to consider herpes viruses as an etiology in immunocompromised patients with preseptal cellulitis not responding to standard treatment.
- An expandable machine learning-optimization framework to sequential decision-makingYilmaz, Dogacan; Büyüktahtakın, İ. Esra (Elsevier, 2024-04)We present an integrated prediction-optimization (PredOpt) framework to efficiently solve sequential decision-making problems by predicting the values of binary decision variables in an optimal solution. We address the key issues of sequential dependence, infeasibility, and generalization in machine learning (ML) to make predictions for optimal solutions to combinatorial problems. The sequential nature of the combinatorial optimization problems considered is captured with recurrent neural networks and a sliding-attention window. We integrate an attention-based encoder–decoder neural network architecture with an infeasibility-elimination and generalization framework to learn high-quality feasible solutions to time-dependent optimization problems. In this framework, the required level of predictions is optimized to eliminate the infeasibility of the ML predictions. These predictions are then fixed in mixed-integer programming (MIP) problems to solve them quickly with the aid of a commercial solver. We demonstrate our approach to tackling the two well-known dynamic NP-Hard optimization problems: multi-item capacitated lot-sizing (MCLSP) and multi-dimensional knapsack (MSMK). Our results show that models trained on shorter and smaller-dimensional instances can be successfully used to predict longer and larger-dimensional problems. The solution time can be reduced by three orders of magnitude with an average optimality gap below 0.1%. We compare PredOpt with various specially designed heuristics and show that our framework outperforms them. PredOpt can be advantageous for solving dynamic MIP problems that need to be solved instantly and repetitively.