bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis on Ultimate Load Capacity of Cylinder With Local Discontinuity Under High Temperature Gradient
Authors: Li Yuebing , Zhu Jianwei , Bao Shiyi , Gao Zengliang
Published: November 2014

A severe accident management concept, known as ‘in-vessel retention (IVR)’, is widely used in advanced pressurized water reactor, such as AP600, AP1000, and so on. The severe accident management strategy is to flood the reactor cavity, submerging the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). In such condition, the temperature on the inside of RPV may exceed the melting point (about 1327 °C) of RPV material, and results in the localized wall thinning. On the outside, the temperature is remained at about 127 °C, by assuming the flow regime is kept to be nucleate boiling. So it will form a high temperature gradient on the wall, and caused high thermal stress.

It will bring about the local discontinuity on the PRV wall because of the wall molten under the elevated temperature. A cylinder model is established to simulate the local discontinuity. The model is composed of the cylinder with the same external radius, but different wall thickness in the local discontinuity zone. Two elastic perfectly plastic models are used to analyze the stress and strain distributions on the wall and ultimate load capacity, based on the hot tensile curves and isochronous stress-strain curves at 100 hour with the change of temperature. The effect of local discontinuity is discussed, under the case of high temperature gradient and internal pressure. The results show that the Mises stress on the whole wall-thickness in the region of local discontinuity will achieve yield stress, under the high thermal stress. Appling internal pressure, the stress decreases in the zone of local discontinuity. The weakest link takes place in the thin segment of the cylinder model, and the ultimate pressure is obtained.
Review of Zion Station Active Decommissioning Project
Authors: Roth Donald F.
Published: November 2014

Review of Zion Station Active Decommissioning Project

The paper will provide a review of project activities at the Zion Station during the forty-five months of active decommissioning. A discussion of project planning strategy, project successes and unanticipated project challenges experienced to date will be provided. A discussion of construction, demolition and waste handling issues, including compliance with railroad car loading rules will also be provided. Innovations and management techniques enlisted to address project challenges will be discussed.
Steam Blowing Techniques for Large Solar Thermal Power Plants
Authors: Brenner Matthew J. , Babel Paul J. , Jarvis Julie M. , Vieira Allen T. , Singh Jyoti
Published: November 2014

Steam line blowing is an operational cleaning method used to clean steam piping and reheaters prior to turbine powering for steam power plants. This paper focusses on the application and challenges associated with the steam blowing of large solar thermal collection power plants.

The boiler configuration, located atop an over 400 foot tall tower, in a large solar thermal collection plant poses some challenges not associated with other steam supply methods. As a result of the flow path configurations and steam mass required for blowing the cold reheat, reheater, and hot reheat portions of the plant, attemperation is required to control temperatures in the reheater. The use of multiple flow paths and stages through the reheater also requires some additional consideration. Where in a fossil powered plant the losses through the reheater are based on the inlet vs. outlet conditions, additional vendor data is required to model the internal sections of the reheater in greater detail.

Methodologies developed for fossil powered plants can be applied to large solar thermal collectors with special consideration for the unique configurations and constantly changing solar conditions associated with the plants. The smaller margins associated with these plants requires more rigorous modeling of the system components.
Seismic Analysis of Above Ground Piping in Process Plant
Authors: Bhende Gaurav P.
Published: November 2014

The recent natural calamities, especially earthquakes, are making engineering design requirements stringent. The Process Plant Piping is no exception to it. Analyzing the seismic effect by ‘Static Equivalent Method’ is a common practice compared to performing ‘Dynamic Analysis’. This paper starts with the basic reason of earthquake and its effect on the above ground piping system. Further it compares between the results opted based on computer based ‘Spectrum Analysis (Dynamic Analysis) Method’ and ‘Static Equivalent Method’ as per the requirements of ASCE 7. One of the assumptions in Static or Dynamic seismic analysis is — ‘Pipe supports are rigid’. However, in reality the supports, especially structural supports, show elastic behavior based on their material and geometric properties. At the end, this paper compares between the results of seismic analysis performed by considering ‘Supports as rigid’ and ‘Supports as elastic’ and comments on it along with minimum requirements for safe design.
Cerebrospinal Fluid-Structure Interactions: The Development of Mathematical Models Accessible to Clinicians
Authors: Elliott Novak S. J.
Published: November 2014

Physical scientists work with clinicians on biomechanical problems, yet the predictive capabilities of mathematical models often remain elusive to clinical collaborators. This is due to both conceptual differences in the research methodologies of each discipline, and the perceived complexity of even simple models. This limits expert medical input, affecting the applicability of the results. Moreover, a lack of understanding undermines the medical practitioner’s confidence in modeling predictions, hampering its clinical application. In this paper we consider the disease syringomyelia, which involves the fluid-structure interaction of pressure vessels and pipes, as a paradigm of the nexus between the modeling approaches of physical scientists and clinicians. The observations made are broadly applicable to cross-disciplinary research between engineers and non-technical specialists, such as may occur in academic-industrial collaborations.
Case Study on a Complex Seal Design for a High Pressure Vessel Application
Authors: Slee Adam J. , Stobbart John , Gethin David T. , Hardy Stephen J.
Published: November 2014

The results from a project to investigate the design and optimisation of a metallic seal ring as part of an end cap for a 140 tonne pressure vessel are presented. A vessel loading condition of 4483 bar (65,000 psi) internal pressure was stipulated. The design of a metallic seal of 762 mm (30″) bore diameter provided a challenging task, due to the extremely high pressure application.

A detailed Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was carried out to evaluate a proposed seal and the initial conclusion was that it required complete re-design. In this work, analysis and interpretation were used to establish the modelling method for the seal. The FEA model that was developed for seal optimisation contained elasto-plastic material response, frictional contact modelling and advanced pressure field application.

To maintain sealing contact pressure, the seal has to overcome differential radial deflections between the vessel and the end cap during pressure loading. The optimisation process developed a novel profiled seal contact that reduced contact stresses by 48%. This eliminated seat damage occurring during pressure loadings, whilst maintaining an adequate contact pressure ratio during a complete loading cycle.

Structural deformations cause the seal contact point to shift, providing the opportunity for liquid to penetrate up to the contact point. Limitations were recognised within the FE software, which allowed unidirectional pressure penetration only. To overcome this limitation, a bespoke user subroutine was written to revise the contact algorithms within the Abaqus FE program. This enabled the model to capture ‘contact pressure zones’ to correctly progress by opening and (for the first time) close in response to seal and seat deflections.
Cyclic Loading Test and Numerical Analysis of Flange Joint and Reducer of RHR Piping Systems
Authors: Lai Zih-Yu , Liu Yan-Fang , Yu Ching-Ching , Chai Juin-Fu , Lin Fan-Ru , Wu Wen-Fang , Huang Yin-Nan , Shen Ming-Yi
Published: November 2014

According to the seismic risk assessment results presented in the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) for a nuclear power plant in Taiwan, the failure of Residual Heat Removal (RHR) piping system occurs in both of the two accident sequences with the highest contributions for core damage. The seismic performance of RHR piping system depends on the capacity of its components, such as supports, flanged joints and reducers. For the need of seismic response-history analysis of RHR piping systems, we developed detailed numerical models of flanged joint and reducer using finite element analysis software (ABAQUS and SAP2000). The proposed finite element models were verified by the experimental results. The pure bending tests with four-point cyclic loading were conducted for sample flanged joint and reducer to investigate their mechanical behaviors. The displacement and rotation responses identified from the tests are in good agreement with the results of numerical analysis. A preliminary simplified model of flanged joints was also proposed in this study to improve the efficiency of numerical analysis for RHR piping system.
Experimental Study on Seismic Behavior of a Typical Sprinkler Piping System in Hospitals
Authors: Lin Fan-Ru , Chang Kuo-Chun , Chai Juin-Fu , Lin Zhen-Yu , Liao Wen-I , Huang Jhen-Gang , Jheng Hao-Ze , Chung Ming-Fong
Published: November 2014

Based on the immediate needs of emergency medical services provided by hospitals after strong earthquakes, this paper is to introduce a research program on assessment and improvement strategies for typical configuration of sprinkler piping systems in hospitals. The study involved component tests and subsystem tests. Cyclic loading tests were conducted to investigate inelastic behavior of components including concrete anchorage, screwed fittings of small bore piping and mechanical couplings. Parts of horizontal piping systems of the aforementioned seismic damaged sprinkler piping system were tested using shaking table tests. Furthermore, the horizontal piping subsystems with seismic resistant devices such as braces, flexible pipes and mechanical couplings were tested.

The test results show that the main cause of the damaged case is the poor shear capacity of the screwed fitting of the small-bore tee branch. The optimum improvement strategy to achieve higher nonstructural performance level for the horizontal piping subsystem is to strengthen the main pipe with braces and to decrease shear demands on the tee branch by flexible pipes. The hysteresis loops and failure modes of components were further discussed and will be used to conduct numerical analysis of sprinkler piping systems in future studies.
Full-color reflective display system based on high contrast gratings
Authors: Liu He , Yao Yuhan , Wang Yifei , Wu Wei
Published: November 2014

A full-color reflective display system with potentially unprecedented performances on brightness, color saturation, and contrast ratio is proposed. A three-layer architecture is employed to achieve maximum brightness, wherein the key components of every layer are reflective color filters based on high-contrast gratings that are designed and fabricated. The reflective filters exhibit both high reflectance and high color saturation. Switching of each color filter using electrowetting is proposed, and the feasibility of switching is proved. Finite-difference time-domain-based simulations are used in the design of the filters as well as to evaluate their performance. The fabrication process, which combines interference lithography, nanoimprint lithography, linewidth tuning, and reactive ion etching, is developed and optimized. The blue and the green filters are both fabricated and characterized experimentally.
Surface structure and surface kinetics of InN grown by plasma-assisted atomic layer epitaxy: A HREELS study
Authors: Acharya Ananta R. , Thoms Brian D. , Nepal Neeraj , Eddy Charles R.
Published: November 2014

The surface bonding configuration and kinetics of hydrogen desorption from InN grown by plasma-assisted atomic layer epitaxy have been investigated. High resolution electron energy loss spectra exhibited loss peaks assigned to a Fuchs–Kliewer surface phonon, N-N and N-H surface species. The surface N-N vibrations are attributed to surface defects. The observation of N-H but no In-H surface species suggested N-terminated InN. Isothermal desorption data were best fit by the first-order desorption kinetics with an activation energy of (0.88 ± 0.06) eV and pre-exponential factor of (1.5 ± 0.5) × 105 s−1.
High-voltage energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry using a low-energy primary beam
Authors: Wu Ying , Klyachko Dimitri , Davilla Scott , Spallas James , Indermuehle Scott , Muray Lawrence P.
Published: November 2014

This paper proposes a way to do energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) at high accelerating voltages using a low-voltage field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). By biasing the sample to a positive voltage, the electron landing energy (also known as the x-ray excitation energy) is increased, effectively extending the EDS capabilities of the low-voltage SEM. This positive biasing reduces the signal-to-noise ratio of the FESEM image, but it also introduces scaling and offset errors. A one-time calibration procedure is shown to compensate for these distortions allowing the user to view the unbiased image, and then do a precise superposition of the low energy image, high energy image, and EDS elemental map. The proposed solution is implemented on a commercial low-voltage FESEM with an EDS energy resolution of 130 eV.
Impact of spot size on plan quality of spot scanning proton radiosurgery for peripheral brain lesions
Authors: Wang Dongxu , Dirksen Blake , Hyer Daniel E. , Buatti John M. , Sheybani Arshin , Dinges Eric , Felderman Nicole , TenNapel Mindi , Bayouth John E. , Flynn Ryan T.
Published: November 2014

Purpose:

To determine the plan quality of proton spot scanning (SS) radiosurgery as a function of spot size (in‐air sigma) in comparison to x‐ray radiosurgery for treating peripheral brain lesions.

Methods:

Single‐field optimized (SFO) proton SS plans with sigma ranging from 1 to 8 mm, cone‐based x‐ray radiosurgery (Cone), and x‐ray volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans were generated for 11 patients. Plans were evaluated using secondary cancer risk and brain necrosis normal tissue complication probability (NTCP).

Results:

For all patients, secondary cancer is a negligible risk compared to brain necrosis NTCP. Secondary cancer risk was lower in proton SS plans than in photon plans regardless of spot size (p = 0.001). Brain necrosis NTCP increased monotonically from an average of 2.34/100 (range 0.42/100–4.49/100) to 6.05/100 (range 1.38/100–11.6/100) as sigma increased from 1 to 8 mm, compared to the average of 6.01/100 (range 0.82/100–11.5/100) for Cone and 5.22/100 (range 1.37/100–8.00/100) for VMAT. An in‐air sigma less than 4.3 mm was required for proton SS plans to reduce NTCP over photon techniques for the cohort of patients studied with statistical significance (p = 0.0186). Proton SS plans with in‐air sigma larger than 7.1 mm had significantly greater brain necrosis NTCP than photon techniques (p = 0.0322).

Conclusions:

For treating peripheral brain lesions—where proton therapy would be expected to have the greatest depth‐dose advantage over photon therapy—the lateral penumbra strongly impacts the SS plan quality relative to photon techniques: proton beamlet sigma at patient surface must be small (<7.1 mm for three‐beam single‐field optimized SS plans) in order to achieve comparable or smaller brain necrosis NTCP relative to photon radiosurgery techniques. Achieving such small in‐air sigma values at low energy (<70 MeV) is a major technological challenge in commercially available proton therapy systems.
IP6K1 Sees the Light
Authors: Berndt Jason D.
Published: November 2014

UV light prevents the inhibition of the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex CRL4 by IP6K1.
The Sun Rises (and Sets) on Hamster Memories
Authors: McCartney Melissa
Published: November 2014

Memory impairment caused by disruption of circadian rhythms is restored by ablation of the suprachiasmatic nucleus.
Flagellin Gives Rotavirus a One-Two Punch
Authors: Mueller Kristen L.
Published: November 2014

Bacterial flagellin protein protects rotavirus-infected mice by stimulating cytokine production.
Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans Control Basal Inflammation
Authors: Gough Nancy R.
Published: November 2014

Macrophages that cannot produce the full complement of heparan sulfate proteoglycans are hyperresponsive to autocrine interferon signaling.
In Vitro
Cytotoxic Effects of Gold Nanoparticles Coated with Functional Acyl Homoserine Lactone Lactonase Protein from Bacillus licheniformis and Their Antibiofilm Activity against Proteus Species
Authors: Vinoj Gopalakrishnan , Pati Rashmirekha , Sonawane Avinash , Vaseeharan Baskaralingam
Published: November 2014

N-acylated homoserine lactonases are known to inhibit the signaling molecules of the biofilm-forming pathogens. In this study, gold nanoparticles were coated with N-acylated homoserine lactonase proteins (AiiA AuNPs) purified from
Bacillus licheniformis
. The AiiA AuNPs were characterized by UV-visible spectra, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The synthesized AiiA AuNPs were found to be spherical in shape and 10 to 30 nm in size. Treatment with AiiA protein-coated AuNPs showed maximum reduction in exopolysaccharide production, metabolic activities, and cell surface hydrophobicity and potent antibiofilm activity against multidrug-resistant
Proteus
species compared to treatment with AiiA protein alone. AiiA AuNPs exhibited potent antibiofilm activity at 2 to 8 μM concentrations without being harmful to the macrophages. We conclude that at a specific dose, AuNPs coated with AiiA can kill bacteria without harming the host cells, thus representing a potential template for the design of novel antibiofilm and antibacterial protein drugs to decrease bacterial colonization and to overcome the problem of drug resistance. In summary, our data suggest that the combined effect of the lactonase and the gold nanoparticles of the AiiA AuNPs has promising antibiofilm activity against biofilm-forming and multidrug-resistant
Proteus
species.
16S rRNA Gene Mutations Associated with Decreased Susceptibility to Tetracycline in Mycoplasma bovis
Authors: Amram E. , Mikula I. , Schnee C. , Ayling R. D. , Nicholas R. A. J. , Rosales R. S. , Harrus S. , Lysnyansky I.
Published: November 2014

Mycoplasma bovis
isolates with decreased susceptibilities to tetracyclines are increasingly reported worldwide. The acquired molecular mechanisms associated with this phenomenon were investigated in 70 clinical isolates of
M. bovis
. Sequence analysis of the two 16S rRNA-encoding genes (
rrs3
and
rrs4
alleles) containing the primary binding pocket for tetracycline (Tet-1 site) was performed on isolates with tetracycline hydrochloride MICs of 0.125 to 16 μg/ml. Mutations at positions A965T, A967T/C (
Escherichia coli
numbering) of helix 31, U1199C of helix 34, and G1058A/C were identified. Decreased susceptibilities to tetracycline (MICs, ≥2 μg/ml) were associated with mutations present at two (A965 and A967) or three positions (A965, A967, and G1058) of the two
rrs
alleles. No
tet
(M),
tet
(O), or
tet
(L) determinants were found in the genome of any of the 70
M. bovis
isolates. The data presented correlate (
P
< 0.0001) the mutations identified in the Tet-1 site of clinical isolates of
M. bovis
with decreased susceptibility to tetracycline.
Daptomycin plus Fosfomycin, a Synergistic Combination in Experimental Implant-Associated Osteomyelitis Due to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Rats
Authors: Lingscheid Tilman , Poeppl Wolfgang , Bernitzky Dominik , Veletzky Luzia , Kussmann Manuel , Plasenzotti Roberto , Burgmann Heinz
Published: November 2014

The aim of this study was to evaluate the combination of daptomycin and fosfomycin in experimental chronic implant-associated osteomyelitis due to methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA). Infection was induced in the tibiae of rats by the insertion of a bacterial inoculum (1 to 5 × 10
8
CFU/ml) of a clinical MRSA isolate and a titanium wire. Four weeks after infection, each animal was assigned to a treatment group: daptomycin monotherapy at 60 mg/kg of body weight once daily (
n
= 10), fosfomycin monotherapy at 40 mg/kg once daily (
n
= 10), or daptomycin and fosfomycin combined at 60 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg, respectively, once daily (
n
= 9). Ten animals were left untreated. After a 3-week treatment period, the animals were euthanized, and the infected tibiae and implants were processed for quantitative bacterial cultures. The bacterial cultures from bones were positive for MRSA in all animals in the untreated group, the daptomycin group, and the fosfomycin group, with median bacterial counts of 2.34 × 10
6
CFU/g bone, 1.57 × 10
6
CFU/g bone, and 3.48 × 10
2
CFU/g bone, respectively. In the daptomycin-fosfomycin group, 6 out of 9 animals were positive for MRSA, with a median count of 7.92 CFU/g bone. Bacterial cultures derived from the titanium wires were negative in the fosfomycin- and daptomycin-fosfomycin-treated groups. Based on bacterial counts in bones, treatment with daptomycin-fosfomycin was statistically significantly superior to all that of the other groups (
P
≤ 0.003). Fosfomycin was superior to daptomycin and no treatment (
P
< 0.0001). No development of resistance was observed in any treatment arm. The combination of daptomycin and fosfomycin demonstrated synergism against MRSA in experimental implant-associated osteomyelitis.
Comparative Genomics of DtxR Family Regulons for Metal Homeostasis in Archaea
Authors: Leyn Semen A. , Rodionov Dmitry A.
Published: November 2014

The DtxR family consists of metal-dependent transcription factors (DtxR-TFs) that regulate the expression of genes involved in metal homeostasis in the cell. The majority of characterized DtxR-TFs belong toBacteria. In the current work, we applied a comparative genomics approach to predict DNA-binding sites and reconstruct regulons for DtxR-TFs inArchaea. As a result, we inferred 575 candidate binding sites for 139 DtxR-TFs in 77 genomes from 15 taxonomic orders. Novel DNA motifs of archaeal DtxR-TFs that have a common palindromic structure were classified into 10 distinct groups. By combining functional regulon reconstructions with phylogenetic analysis, we selected 28 DtxR-TF clades and assigned them metal specificities and regulator names. The reconstructed FetR (ferrous iron), MntR (manganese), and ZntR (zinc) regulons largely contain known or putative metal uptake transporters from the FeoAB, NRAMP, ZIP, and TroA families. A novel family of putative iron transporters (named Irt), including multiple FetR-regulated paralogs, was identified in iron-oxidizingArchaeafrom theSulfolobalesorder. The reconstructed DtxR-TF regulons were reconciled with available transcriptomics data inArchaeoglobus,Halobacterium, andThermococcusspp.
Renal actinomycosis
Authors: Agrawal Parimal , Vaiphei Kim
Published: November 2014

Actinomycosis of the kidney is rare and less than 50 cases have been reported in the English literature. Reported presentations are pyelonephritis, renal abscesses or pyonephrosis. To date, one case of actinomycosis associated necrotising papillitis has been reported. We describe the second case of such a rare association of actinomycosis with papillary necrosis.
Ultrasound-guided shoulder girdle injections are more accurate and more effective than landmark-guided injections: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Aly Abdel-Rahman , Rajasekaran Sathish , Ashworth Nigel
Published: November 2014

Objective

To compare the accuracy and efficacy of ultrasound (US)-guided injections versus landmark-guided injections of the subacromial space, biceps tendon sheath, acromioclavicular (AC) joint and glenohumeral (GH) joint.

Methods

PubMed, Medline and Cochrane libraries were searched up to 31 July 2013. Two independent authors selected and evaluated randomised controlled trials comparing the accuracy and/or efficacy of US versus landmark-guided injection of the shoulder girdle. A meta-analysis of accuracy, pain Visual Analog Scale (VAS), function score and reported adverse events were performed.

Result

Four cadaveric studies (300 cadaveric shoulders) and nine live human studies (514 patients) were reviewed. Based on three studies for AC joint, the accuracy of US versus a landmark-guided injection was 93.6% vs 68.2% (p<0.0001). Based on single studies, the accuracy of US versus a landmark-guided injection was 65% vs 70% for the subacromial space (p>0.05), 86.7% vs 26.7% for the biceps tendon sheath (p<0.05), and 92.5% vs 72.5% for the GH joint (p=0.025). Based on three studies for the subacromial space, the US group had a significantly greater reduction in pain (mean difference (MD)=1.47, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.93), and improvement in function (standardised MD=0.70, 95% CI 0.39 to 1.01) at 6 weeks postinjection. Based on a single study for the biceps tendon sheath, the US group had a significantly greater reduction in pain (MD 1.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.6) and improvement in function (MD=10.9, 95% CI 6.57 to 15.23).

Conclusions

US-guided injections showed greater accuracy for all shoulder girdle injections, with the exception of the subacromial space. There was improved efficacy for the subacromial space and biceps tendon sheath injections.
Diabetes care and outcomes for American Indians and Alaska natives in commercial integrated delivery systems: a SUrveillance, PREvention, and ManagEment of Diabetes Mellitus (SUPREME-DM) Study
Authors: Schmittdiel Julie A , Steiner John F , Adams Alyce S , Dyer Wendy , Beals Janette , Henderson William G , Desai Jay , Morales Leo S , Nichols Gregory A , Lawrence Jean M , Waitzfelder Beth , Butler Melissa G , Pathak Ram D , Hamman Richard F , Manson Spero M
Published: November 2014

Objective

To compare cardiovascular disease risk factor testing rates and intermediate outcomes of care between American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) patients with diabetes and non-Hispanic Caucasians enrolled in nine commercial integrated delivery systems in the USA.

Research design and methods

We used modified Poisson regression models to compare the annual testing rates and risk factor control levels for glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and systolic blood pressure (SBP); number of unique diabetes drug classes; insulin use; and oral diabetes drug medication adherence between insured AI/AN and non-Hispanic white adults with diabetes aged ≥18 in 2011.

Results

5831 AI/AN patients (1.8% of the cohort) met inclusion criteria. After adjusting for age, gender, comorbidities, insulin use, and geocoded socioeconomic status, AI/AN patients had similar rates of annual HbA1c, LDL-C, and SBP testing, and LDL-C and SBP control, compared with non-Hispanic Caucasians. However, AI/AN patients were significantly more likely to have HbA1c >9% (>74.9 mmol/mol; RR=1.47, 95% CI 1.38 to 1.58), and significantly less likely to adhere to their oral diabetes medications (RR=0.90, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.93) compared with non-Hispanic Caucasians.

Conclusions

AI/AN patients in commercial integrated delivery systems have similar blood pressure and cholesterol testing and control, but significantly lower rates of HbA1c control and diabetes medication adherence, compared with non-Hispanic Caucasians. As more AI/ANs move to urban and suburban settings, clinicians and health plans should focus on addressing disparities in diabetes care and outcomes in this population.
Improving the percentage of electronic discharge summaries completed within 24 hours of discharge
Authors: Haycock Michael , Stuttaford Laura , Ruscombe-King Oliver , Barker Zoe , Callaghan Kathryn , Davis Timothy
Published: November 2014

EDSs are an important part of patient care and medical communication. The GWH has a financially motivated target stating that 95% of EDS are to be completed within 24 hours of patient discharge. On review of a six-week pre-intervention period, the medical ward mean weekly EDS completion rate within 24 hours was 74.3%.

EDSs form a significant part of junior doctor workload. We found that on a medical ward the mean completion time for one EDS was 18.25 minutes. In January 2014, 387 EDSs were written between four medical wards. This equates to 29.25 hours per week of junior doctor time spent completing EDSs on the four main medical wards.

Our aim was to improve the percentage of EDSs completed within 24 hours of discharge from medical wards in the GWH.

We proposed and implemented two interventions:

1) Five day EDS summary

2) Protected EDS hour.

The five day EDS summary was implemented on wards 1 and 2. The protected EDS hour on ward 3.

Ward 1: mean pre-intervention EDS completion rate: 81.1% (six months pre-intervention). This increased by 7.9% to 89% (four week mean EDS completion rate post-intervention)

Ward 2: mean pre-intervention EDS completion rate: 75.2%. This increased by 11.6% to 86.8%

Ward 3: mean pre-intervention EDS completion rate: 71%. This increased by 4.5% to 75.5%

Control ward: mean pre-intervention EDS completion rate: 85.1%. This increased by 5.1% to 90.2%

Our results show the five day EDS summary led to a mean 9.75% improvement and the protected EDS hour a mean 4.5% improvement in EDS completion rates. A 5.1% increase was seen on the control ward suggesting confounding factors in this data which are most likely the trust EDS working group, junior doctor experience and EDS project publicity.
4/3 problem, Poynting theorem, and electromagnetic energy–momentum tensor
Authors: Kholmetskii Alexander L. , Missevitch Oleg V. , Yarman Tolga
Published: November 2014

We show that the familiar 4/3 problem originates from the incorrect determination of the momentum of the electromagnetic field generated by an isolated charged particle, which results from an incorrect application of the Poynting theorem to the field. To demonstrate this, we consider a macroscopic problem: splitting a charged oil droplet into two identical smaller droplets in the rest frame K of the original droplet, and in another inertial frame [Formula: see text] moving with respect to K with some constant velocity, and arrive at a physically senseless solution in the framework of the standard approach. To solve this problem in a correct way, we suggest a modified Poynting theorem for an isolated charge and recalculate the momentum of the electromagnetic field of this charge, which yields the usual relativistic relationship between the field energy and momentum. Our approach is not at odds with the idea about “Poincaré stresses”; however, in contrast to the standard method, it provides a usual relationship between the “Poincaré stress–energy” and the associated momentum stress component. Finally, the continuity equation in four-dimensional form for the case of isolated moving charge is also proposed, which completely resolves the 4/3 problem.
The influence of habitat on body size and tooth wear in Scottish red deer (Cervus elaphus)
Authors: Pérez-Barbería F.J. , Ramsay S.L. , Hooper R.J. , Pérez-Fernández E. , Robertson A.H.J. , Aldezabal A. , Goddard P. , Gordon I.J.
Published: November 2014

Body size has profound implications for ecology and life-history traits of mammalian species. Tooth wear is an indicator of food-processing investment and diet properties, with fitness consequences through differences in comminution efficiency, nutrient gain, and senescence. We investigate the relationships between mandible length (a proxy of skeletal body size), molar dentine thickness (a measure of tooth wear), and faecal neutral detergent fibre with residual ash (NDF–ash, a combined proxy of fibre and mineral components in the diet) in 874 male and female red deer (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) from 21 locations in moorland and woodland habitats across Scotland. Significant differences in mandible length occurred between habitats: woodland deer having larger mandibles than moorland deer. Within habitats, larger mandibles were related to higher rates of dentine wear, suggesting increased body size was associated with greater intake and processing of food. Both dentine wear and faecal NDF–ash were higher in moorland deer than in woodland deer, suggesting that fibre and (or) mineral abrasives in the diet may have contributed towards habitat differences in dentine wear. Between habitats, higher dentine wear was not associated with larger mandibles, in contrast to the relationship within habitats, indicating the precedence of additional environmental factors between habitats.
The status of modern five-dimensional gravity (A short review: Why physics needs the fifth dimension)
Authors: Wesson Paul S.
Published: November 2014

Recent criticism of higher-dimensional extensions of Einstein's theory is considered. This may have some justification in regard to string theory, but is misguided as applied to five-dimensional (5D) theories with a large extra dimension. Such theories smoothly embed general relativity, ensuring recovery of the latter's observational support. When the embedding of spacetime is carried out in accordance with Campbell's theorem, the resulting 5D theory naturally explains the origin of classical matter and vacuum energy. Also, constraints on the equations of motion near a high-energy surface or membrane in the 5D manifold lead to quantization and quantum uncertainty. These are major returns on the modest investment of one extra dimension. Instead of fruitless bickering about whether it is possible to "see" the fifth dimension, it is suggested that it be treated on par with other concepts of physics, such as time. The main criterion for the acceptance of a fifth dimension (or not) should be its usefulness.
N-confused phlorin: a stable dihydroporphyrin isomer containing a confused pyrrole ring
Authors: Ishida Masatoshi , Nakahara Kensuke , Sakashita Ryuichi , Ishizuka Tomoya , Watanabe Motonori , Uno Hidemitsu , Osuka Atsuhiro , Furuta Hiroyuki
Published: November 2014

Synthesis of bona fide N -confused phlorin derivatives through simple chemical reduction of N -confused porphyrin precursors using sodium borohydride, p-toluenesulfonyl hydrazide, etc. is described. Spectroscopic, X-ray diffraction analyses and DFT-assisted calculations of these species support the nonaromatic phlorin electronic structure.
Asymmetric zinc phthalocyanines substituted with a single carboxyl and triethyleneoxysulfonyl groups: synthesis, characterization and validation for photodynamic therapy
Authors: Tekdaş Duygu Aydın , Gürek Ayşe G. , Ahsen Vefa
Published: November 2014

This work describes modular pathway towards the synthesis of new specific unsymmetrically (AB3) zinc phthalocyanines that contains three polyoxy ethylene and monocarboxylic acid groups as photosensitizers. Their photophysical and photochemical properties are studied. General trends are described for quantum yields of fluorescence, photodegradation and singlet oxygen quantum yields of these compounds. Therefore, these novel phthalocyanines could potentially be good photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy.
Piezoelectric properties of rhombohedral ferroelectric materials with phase transition
Authors: Zhao Xiaofang , Soh A. K.
Published: November 2014

The temporal evolution of domain structure and its piezoelectric behavior of ferroelectric material BaTiO 3 during the transition process from rhombohedral to tetragonal phase under an applied electric field have been studied by employing Landau–Ginzburg theory and the phase-field method. The results obtained show that, during the transformation process, the intermediate phase was monoclinic MA phase, and several peak values of piezoelectric coefficient appeared at the stage where obvious change of domain pattern occurred. In addition, by comparing the cases of applied electric field with different frequencies, it was found that the maximum piezoelectric coefficient obtained decreased with increasing frequency value. These results are of great significance in tuning the properties of engineering domains in ferroelectrics, and could provide more fundamentals to the design of ferroelectric devices.
HEAT TRANSFER ON PERIODICALLY DIMPLE-PROTRUSION PATTERNED WALLS IN TURBULENT CHANNEL FLOW
Authors: CHEN YU , CHEW T. , KHOO B. C.
Published: November 2014

In this study, heat transfer characteristics and flow structures over periodically dimple-protrusion patterned walls in a turbulent channel flow were systematically investigated using Detached Eddy Simulation method. The periodically patterned surface is applied to the bottom wall only in the test channel. It is found that larger depth/height induces higher friction factor and heat transfer. Furthermore, the highest Nusselt number is found to be located at the upstream portion of protrusion and the downstream portion of dimple. Additionally, the distributions of Nusselt number exhibit symmetrical features for the small depth/height configuration and asymmetric characteristics for the large depth/height configuration.
MODELLING OF BREAKING WAVES IN TSUNAMI AND SLOSHING WAVES BY A NEW PARTICLE METHOD
Authors: Gao Mimi , Koh Chan Ghee , Luo Min , Bai Wei
Published: November 2014

The recently developed Consistent Particle Method (CPM) is used to model breaking waves in tsunami and violent sloshing waves in a moving tank. Solving the Navier-Stokes equations in a semi-implicit time stepping scheme, the CPM eliminates the use of kernel function which is somewhat arbitrarily defined and used in other particle methods. It is demonstrated that the method is applicable to large amplitude free surface wave problems that involve breaking phenomenon. Tsunami wave impact on a fixed structure is modeled using CPM. The simulated results show fairly good agreement to the actual nonlinear wave motions including overturning and breaking of waves. Large amplitude sloshing waves in a moving tank are investigated with CPM. Experiment was conducted in the laboratory to verify the CPM solutions. The hydrodynamic pressure computed by the CPM agrees well with the experimental results.
STUDY ON WATER ENTRY PROBLEM USING A LEVEL-SET IMMERSED BOUNDARY METHOD
Authors: BAI WEI , HUO CHENGZHONG
Published: November 2014

Water entry of a solid through the free surface is a persisting field of research in ship hydrodynamics applications. Indeed, the knowledge of pressure forces acting on structures is necessary to ensure the verification of safety criteria in the design and operation. However, in water entry problems, jets can be generated, thus an effective numerical model is needed to capture this complicated breaking water surface. In this paper, the level set method is adopted, which has been shown to be capable of capturing interface evolution when the topological change of shape is extremely large, or merging, breaking and pinching occur. Moreover, the incorporation of an immersed boundary method with this free surface capture scheme implemented in a Navier-Stokes solver allows the interaction between fluid flow with free surface and moving bodies of almost arbitrary shape to be modeled. The developed Level-Set Immersed Boundary Method is applied to simulate the water entry of a rectangular body with different velocities into the still water. The complicated surface profile, velocity field and pressure are obtained. The simulation is also carried out for the same body exiting the water, and some preliminary results are presented.
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF FLOW INSTABILITY AND HEAT TRANSFER
Authors: DOU HUA-SHU , JIANG GANG
Published: November 2014

This paper numerically investigates the physical mechanism of flow instability and heat transfer of natural convection in a cavity with thin fin(s). The left and the right walls of the cavity are differentially heated. The cavity is given an initial temperature, and the thin fin(s) is fixed on the hot wall in order to control the heat transfer. The finite volume method with the SIMPLE scheme is used to simulate the flow. Distributions of the temperature, the pressure, the velocity and the total pressure are achieved. Then, the energy gradient method is employed to study the physical mechanism of flow instability and the effect of the thin fin(s) on heat transfer. Based on the energy gradient method, the energy gradient function K represents the characteristic of flow instability. It is observed from the simulation results that the positions where instabilities take place in the temperature contours accord well with those of higher K value, which demonstrates that the energy gradient method reveals the physical mechanism of flow instability. Furthermore, the effect of the fin length, the fin position, the fin number, and Ra on heat transfer is also investigated. It is found that the effect of the fin length on heat transfer is negligible when Ra is relatively high. When there is only one fin, the most efficient heat transfer rate is achieved as the fin is fixed at the middle height of the cavity. The fin blocks heat transfer with a relatively small Ra, but the fin enhances heat transfer with a relatively large Ra. The fin(s) enhances heat transfer gradually with the increase of Ra under the influence of the thin fin(s). Finally, it is observed that both Kmax and Ra can reveal the physical mechanism of natural convection from different approaches.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF GROUND EFFECT ON THREE-DIMENSIONAL INSECT-LIKE FLAPPING MOTION
Authors: ZHANG XIAOHU , LUA KIM BOON , CHANG RONG , LIM TEE TAI , YEO KHOON SENG
Published: November 2014

This paper focuses on an experimental investigation aimed at evaluating the aerodynamics force characteristics of three-dimensional (3D) insect-like flapping motion in the vicinity of ground. The purpose is to establish whether flapping wing insects can derive aerodynamic benefit from ground effect similar to that experienced by a fixed wing aircraft. To evaluate this, force measurements were conducted in a large water tank using a 3D flapping mechanism capable of executing various insect flapping motions. Here, we focus on three types of flapping motions, namely simple harmonic flapping motion, hawkmoth-like hovering motion and fruitfly-like hovering motion, and two types of wing planforms (i.e. hawkmoth-like wing and fruitfly-like wing). Results show that hawkmoth-like wing executing simple harmonic flapping motion produces average lift to drag ratio [Formula: see text] similar to that of fruitfly wing executing the same motion. In both cases, they are relatively independent of the wing distance from the ground. On the other hand, a hawkmoth wing executing hawkmoth flapping motion produces [Formula: see text] characteristic different from that of fruitfly wing executing fruitfly motion. While the [Formula: see text] value of the former is a function of the wing distance from the ground, the latter is minimally affected by ground effect. Unlike fixed wing aerodynamics, all the flapping wing cases considered here do not show a monotonic increase in [Formula: see text] with decreasing wing distance from the ground.
A Survey on Antispoofing Schemes for Fingerprint Recognition Systems
Authors: Marasco Emanuela , Ross Arun
Published: November 2014

Several issues related to the vulnerability of fingerprint recognition systems to attacks have been highlighted in the biometrics literature. One such vulnerability involves the use of artificial fingers, where materials such as Play-Doh, silicone, and gelatin are inscribed with fingerprint ridges. Researchers have demonstrated that some commercial fingerprint recognition systems can be deceived when these artificial fingers are placed on the sensor; that is, the system successfully processes the ensuing fingerprint images, thereby allowing an adversary to spoof the fingerprints of another individual. However, at the same time, several countermeasures that discriminate between live fingerprints and spoof artifacts have been proposed. While some of these antispoofing schemes are hardware based, several software-based approaches have been proposed as well. In this article, we review the literature and present the state of the art in fingerprint antispoofing.
Urban Sensing Using Mobile Phone Network Data: A Survey of Research
Authors: Calabrese Francesco , Ferrari Laura , Blondel Vincent D.
Published: November 2014

The recent development of telecommunication networks is producing an unprecedented wealth of information and, as a consequence, an increasing interest in analyzing such data both from telecoms and from other stakeholders' points of view. In particular, mobile phone datasets offer access to insights into urban dynamics and human activities at an unprecedented scale and level of detail, representing a huge opportunity for research and real-world applications. This article surveys the new ideas and techniques related to the use of telecommunication data for urban sensing. We outline the data that can be collected from telecommunication networks as well as their strengths and weaknesses with a particular focus on urban sensing. We survey existing filtering and processing techniques to extract insights from this data and summarize them to provide recommendations on which datasets and techniques to use for specific urban sensing applications. Finally, we discuss a number of challenges and open research areas currently being faced in this field. We strongly believe the material and recommendations presented here will become increasingly important as mobile phone network datasets are becoming more accessible to the research community.
Real-time shading-based refinement for consumer depth cameras
Authors: Wu Chenglei , Zollhöfer Michael , Nießner Matthias , Stamminger Marc , Izadi Shahram , Theobalt Christian
Published: November 2014

We present the first real-time method for refinement of depth data using shape-from-shading in general uncontrolled scenes. Per frame, our real-time algorithm takes raw noisy depth data and an aligned RGB image as input, and approximates the time-varying incident lighting, which is then used for geometry refinement. This leads to dramatically enhanced depth maps at 30Hz. Our algorithm makes few scene assumptions, handling arbitrary scene objects even under motion. To enable this type of real-time depth map enhancement, we contribute a new highly parallel algorithm that reformulates the inverse rendering optimization problem in prior work, allowing us to estimate lighting and shape in a temporally coherent way at video frame-rates. Our optimization problem is minimized using a new regular grid Gauss-Newton solver implemented fully on the GPU. We demonstrate results showing enhanced depth maps, which are comparable to offline methods but are computed orders of magnitude faster, as well as baseline comparisons with online filtering-based methods. We conclude with applications of our higher quality depth maps for improved real-time surface reconstruction and performance capture.
Locomotion control for many-muscle humanoids
Authors: Lee Yoonsang , Park Moon Seok , Kwon Taesoo , Lee Jehee
Published: November 2014

We present a biped locomotion controller for humanoid models actuated by more than a hundred Hill-type muscles. The key component of the controller is our novel algorithm that can cope with step-based biped locomotion balancing and the coordination of many nonlinear Hill-type muscles simultaneously. Minimum effort muscle activations are calculated based on muscle contraction dynamics and online quadratic programming. Our controller can faithfully reproduce a variety of realistic biped gaits (e.g., normal walk, quick steps, and fast run) and adapt the gaits to varying conditions (e.g., muscle weakness, tightness, joint dislocation, and external pushes) and goals (e.g., pain reduction and efficiency maximization). We demonstrate the robustness and versatility of our controller with examples that can only be achieved using highly-detailed musculoskeletal models with many muscles.