bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Experimental Study of the Effects of Biodiesel on the Performance of a Diesel Power Generator
Authors: Nedayali Amin , Shirneshan Alireza
Published: September 2016

Biodiesel can be used as an alternative fuel in diesel engines due to environmental and energy concerns. Considering the existing resources in Iran, interests on expansion of biodiesel production and application have been sped up by the Iranian government. So, in this study the effect of biodiesel from waste cooking oil and diesel fuel blends (B0, B20, B50, B80 and B100) on the performance characteristics (brake power, brake torque, BSFC and brake thermal efficiency) of a diesel power generator model CAT3412 was investigated. The experiments were conducted at rated engine speed 1530 r/min and various engine loads (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%). The results of the study showed an increase in brake power, brake torque and brake thermal efficiency and a reduction trend in brake-specific fuel consumption at higher engine loads for all the biodiesel-diesel blends. In addition, the research results indicated that B20 and B50 fuel blends in terms of performance characteristics could be recognised as the potential candidates to be certificated for usage in the diesel power generator.
Abstract ID: 4444
Authors: Marchant Elizabeth , Bywater Jean , Dias Esther , Neal Keith , de Burgh Jane , Bishop Louise , Mifsud Albert , Mackay Andrew , Kearns Angela , Cordery Rebecca
Published: September 2016

Introduction

Routine follow-up of a teenage child with a microbiologically confirmed Panton-Valentine Leucocidin-associated Staphylococcus aureus (PVL-SA) skin infection in January 2015 showed the child was a diver and that other children in the competitive club had had similar infections. The club confirmed that 5–10 children and a coach had been affected; at least two children remained symptomatic and the latest case was a new onset, suggesting ongoing transmission.

Methods

Information was sent to all parents of children attending the diving school. A site visit was undertaken and an online questionnaire was sent to all parents to allow case finding and to further elucidate risk factors for acquisition and transmission.

Results and discussion

Three confirmed cases (all spa type t034 PVL-MSSA), two probable and five possible cases, all with soft-tissue infection were identified in this outbreak. All confirmed and probable cases had onset in spring 2014 except one, with onset in January 2015. Ninety-nine questionnaires were completed (269 clients were emailed). Whilst numbers of cases were too small to allow multivariable analysis, several likely routes of transmission were identified: Sharing of shammy (diving) towels Piling shammy towels at poolside Infrequent washing of shammy towels Shared equipment, e.g. harnesses in dry gym, with no cleaning between use Control measures centred on reducing spread of infection by improving cleaning in the dry gym and at poolside. Further infection control measures focussed on education around washing and personalisation of shammy towels. Outcomes of the investigation were shared with the pool management team and diving club with a view to wider dissemination at national competitions.
Emergency treatment on facial laceration of dog bite wounds with immediate primary closure: a prospective randomized trial study
Authors: Rui-feng Chen , Li-song Huang , Ji-bo Zheng , Li-qiu Wang
Published: September 2016

Background

To investigate the emergency treatment on facial laceration of dog bite wounds and identify whether immediate primary closure is feasible.

Methods

Six hundred cases with facial laceration attacked by dog were divided into two groups randomly and evenly. After thorough debridement, the facial lacerations of group A were left open, while the lacerations of group B were undertaken immediate primary closure. Antibiotics use was administrated only after wound infected, not prophylactically given. The infection rate, infection time and healing time were analyzed.

Results

The infection rate of group A and B was 8.3% and 6.3% respectively (P>0.05); the infection time was 26.3±11.6h and 24.9±13.8h respectively (P>0.05), the healing time was 9.12±1.30d and 6.57±0.49d respectively (P<0.05) in taintless cases, 14.24±2.63d and 10.65±1.69d respectively (P<0.05) in infected cases.

Compared with group A, there was no evident tendency in increasing infection rate (8.3% in group A and 6.3% in group B respectively) and infection period (26.3±11.6h in group A and 24.9±13.8h in group B respectively) in group B. Meanwhile, in group B, the wound healing time was shorter than group A statistically in both taintless cases (9.12±1.30d in group A and 6.57±0.49d in group B respectively) and infected cases (14.24±2.63d in group A and 10.65±1.69d in group B respectively).

Conclusion

The facial laceration of dog bite wounds should be primary closed immediately after formal and thoroughly debridement. And the primary closure would shorten the healing time of the dog bite wounds without increasing the rate and period of infection. There is no potentiality of increasing infection incidence and infection speed, compared immediate primary closure with the wounds left open. On the contrary, primary closure the wounds can promote its primary healing. Prophylactic antibiotics administration was not recommended. and the important facial organ or tissue injuries should be secondary reconditioned.
A method for identification of highly conserved elements and evolutionary analysis of superphylum Alveolata
Authors: Rubanov Lev I. , Seliverstov Alexandr V. , Zverkov Oleg A. , Lyubetsky Vassily A.
Published: September 2016

Background

Perfectly or highly conserved DNA elements were found in vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants by various methods. However, little is known about such elements in protists. The evolutionary distance between apicomplexans can be very high, in particular, due to the positive selection pressure on them. This complicates the identification of highly conserved elements in alveolates, which is overcome by the proposed algorithm.

Results

A novel algorithm is developed to identify highly conserved DNA elements. It is based on the identification of dense subgraphs in a specially built multipartite graph (whose parts correspond to genomes). Specifically, the algorithm does not rely on genome alignments, nor pre-identified perfectly conserved elements; instead, it performs a fast search for pairs of words (in different genomes) of maximum length with the difference below the specified edit distance. Such pair defines an edge whose weight equals the maximum (or total) length of words assigned to its ends. The graph composed of these edges is then compacted by merging some of its edges and vertices. The dense subgraphs are identified by a cellular automaton-like algorithm; each subgraph defines a cluster composed of similar inextensible words from different genomes. Almost all clusters are considered as predicted highly conserved elements. The algorithm is applied to the nuclear genomes of the superphylum Alveolata, and the corresponding phylogenetic tree is built and discussed.

Conclusion

We proposed an algorithm for the identification of highly conserved elements. The multitude of identified elements was used to infer the phylogeny of Alveolata.
Quantitative estimation of intrinsic induced polarization and superparamagnetic parameters from airborne electromagnetic data
Authors: Macnae James
Published: September 2016

The primary aim of my research is to improve the characterization of induced polarization (IP) responses in airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey data. The principal objectives are to test alternative methodologies for quantitative modeling and inversion to extract the spatial variation of IP parameters using the inductively thin-sheet model. The methods tested first fit, by nonnegative least squares, an AEM decay to the early delay time data, using thin-sheet basis functions. This modeled AEM decay is assumed to represent the IP source. It is then convolved with a few Cole-Cole models spanning the range of parameter sensitivity to get IP basis functions appropriate for the AEM excitation. Method 1 fits a linear sum of several AEM basis functions plus one IP basis function at a time and chooses the model with least-fitting error at late delay times. Method 2 fits a linear sum of several IP and several AEM basis functions. Both methods fit IP affected airborne data well, with normalized fitting errors being reduced by a significant factor when IP affects the data and is taken into account. Using penalty weights, superparamagnetic (SPM) effects can be simultaneously estimated in the fitting process. Without such weighting, SPM and IP parameter estimations are unstable. Cole-Cole models predict that the sensitivity of inductive airborne IP collected at 25 or 30 Hz base frequency indicates little overlap with galvanic ground IP collected with a 0.125 Hz waveform. Many easy IP sulfide targets with IP physical properties determined by ground surveys are predicted not to have a detectable airborne IP response. Clays, however, are predicted to have a small detectable background response that for airborne data would not be well-fitted by a single Cole-Cole response.
“what Is Your Mother’s Name?”: Maternal Disavowal and the Reverberating Aesthetic of Black Women’s Pain in Black Nationalist Literature
Authors: Yates-Richard Meina
Published: September 2016

Building on black women’s critical negotiations of black nationalist discourse, this essay names the matrix of black maternal sounds, songs, and approximated womb-spaces as the site of production for black nationalist ideologies and black male identity. Listening to audible traces of black maternity in Frederick Douglass’s 1845 Narrative, Frances E. W. Harper’s Iola Leroy (1892), Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man (1952), and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon (1977), the essay unearths the sonic frameworks through which black male subjectivity and ideologies of black nationalism are formulated. Masculinist black nationalist texts use black women’s sounds to enact the subjective rebirths of men, who then abandon black women, thereby erasing their labors in the constitution of black nationalist ideology. However, embedded within these texts are the resonant echoes of black women’s pain, which both haunt and structure their respective nationalist discourses. The article reveals the extended history of maternal disavowal in black male-authored nationalistic texts, and counterpoises black women authors’ critical responses to these texts in order to reveal that maternal sacrifice proves endemic to masculinist forms of black nationalism.
Beckett in Purgatory: “Unspeakable”Wattand the Second World War
Authors: Teekell Anna
Published: September 2016

By reading Samuel Beckett’s famously “unreadable” novel Watt (1953) in context as a novel of the Irish Emergency, the neutral Irish Free State’s euphemism for World War II, this essay argues that Watt’s unreadability and encodedness are embodiments of the languages of post-traumatic stress and of Irish neutrality. Weaving together Beckett’s intertextual relationship with Dante’s Divine Comedy, the commonplace that Emergency-era Ireland was a cultural “purgatory,” and the language of trauma studies, this essay suggests that Watt can be productively read through the paradigm of purgatory. Beckett’s purgatory in the novel, however, is a failure by design: if purgatory represents the opportunity for expiation and for an eventual end of suffering, in Watt’s purgatory the possibility of such opportunity is a subject of mockery. “Beckett in Purgatory” thus offers Watt as a case study for how the trauma of war and, indeed, of neutrality, of missing the war, embeds itself in literary language that signs itself as “unreadable.”
Collectivism and Thatcher’s “Classless” Society in British Fiction and Film
Authors: McGlynn Mary
Published: September 2016

Focusing on one of the most frequent and explicit targets of Thatcher’s economic policies, working-class men in traditional heavy industries, I explore representations of the dissolution of both unions and private space under Thatcher. Looking at fiction, films, and screenplays by Barry Hines, James Kelman, Irvine Welsh, and David Peace, among others, I trace the destruction of a community-based form of masculinity, focusing on an evolution from earlier, more naturalistic treatments of the era into two divergent strains of late depictions: individualist, fantastic stories like Billy Elliot, and more collectivist, formally innovative texts like GB84.
Same-Sex Marriage Litigation and Children's Right to Be Queer
Authors: Rosky Clifford
Published: September 2016

This essay examines how lawyers and judges have framed the question of children's queerness in litigation over same-sex marriage. First, it argues that in United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges, the US Supreme Court invoked the tropes of dignity, injury, and immutability to set the outer limits of sexual liberty for both children and adults. Next, the essay looks back to the early work of queer theorists, legal scholars, and lawyers to unearth a more promising vision of law's relationship to children's queerness. By juxtaposing how two judges approached the possibility of the gay child in Utah and California, it develops a claim that has yet to be vindicated—that the US Constitution protects every child's right to be queer.
GeneBreak: detection of recurrent DNA copy number aberration-associated chromosomal breakpoints within genes
Authors: van den Broek Evert , van Lieshout Stef , Rausch Christian , Ylstra Bauke , van de Wiel Mark A. , Meijer Gerrit A. , Fijneman Remond J.A. , Abeln Sanne
Published: September 2016

Development of cancer is driven by somatic alterations, including numerical and structural chromosomal aberrations. Currently, several computational methods are available and are widely applied to detect numerical copy number aberrations (CNAs) of chromosomal segments in tumor genomes. However, there is lack of computational methods that systematically detect structural chromosomal aberrations by virtue of the genomic location of CNA-associated chromosomal breaks and identify genes that appear non-randomly affected by chromosomal breakpoints across (large) series of tumor samples. ‘GeneBreak’ is developed to systematically identify genes recurrently affected by the genomic location of chromosomal CNA-associated breaks by a genome-wide approach, which can be applied to DNA copy number data obtained by array-Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) or by (low-pass) whole genome sequencing (WGS). First, ‘GeneBreak’ collects the genomic locations of chromosomal CNA-associated breaks that were previously pinpointed by the segmentation algorithm that was applied to obtain CNA profiles. Next, a tailored annotation approach for breakpoint-to-gene mapping is implemented. Finally, dedicated cohort-based statistics is incorporated with correction for covariates that influence the probability to be a breakpoint gene. In addition, multiple testing correction is integrated to reveal recurrent breakpoint events. This easy-to-use algorithm, ‘GeneBreak’, is implemented in R (www.cran.r-project.org) and is available from Bioconductor (www.bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/GeneBreak.html).
The Actual Understanding Of Integration Issues In Education
Authors: ���������  , Savenkova L. , ��������  , Nikitina A.
Published: September 2016

The article provides an overview of the concepts devoted to problems of integration in pedagogic. Stages and levels of integration mechanisms, conditions of interaction of education and culture are considered in the context of polyart education. The special attention is paid to the techniques and practices of integration that emerged and developed in the Russian education and at the beginning of the XXI century. Integration is considered as part of the process of humanization and personalization of modern education. We introduce the notion of integration as a special education management technology. It involves: co-creation of teachers and students in a group, event, system-activity approach, which are aimed at creating a leading competencies: communication, science, research, language, social, multicultural.
CREATIVITY PRINCIPLES IN THE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISCIPLINE «INNOVATIONS IN PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY»
Authors: Афанасьев Олег , Afanasiev Oleg
Published: September 2016

In the modern conditions, teaching of university disciplines should be based on the creativity principles of expo- sition and presentation of educational material; it also should be problemoriented and should contain a lot of problem situations of different types and have a great part of problem discussion, both during lectures and training sessions (workshops). The article presents the experience of the program development of the discipline «Innova- tions in professional activity” based on the principles of creative teaching for students studying on training program «Tourism», «Hospitality», and «Service», and discloses the methods and techniques of lectures and workshops . The author provides and explains the cycle of tasks of the discipline, ensuring the formation of the essential educational competencies. The course concept is based on the assumption that innovativeness and creativity are connected; it creates «the formula of discipline». Awakening the creative consciousness by invigoration the students with successful examples of creative activities is the main goal of the course. The course includes a large number of examples (cases) of innovative approach in various fields and areas; training sessions for the formation of the sustainable needs for development of student’s creative resources and applying them in practice. The article presents the developed model of the trajectory of educational discipline in the form its thematic structure. The author justifies substantial component of lectures and workshops. The conclusion about the importance of creative and innovative approach and usage the problem principle of the organizing the teaching of the discipline at university of tourism and service profile is made.
Industrial Applications of Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescent Analyzers
Authors: Петришин  , Petrishin Aleksey
Published: September 2016

Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis (ED XRF) enables the qualitative and quantitative elemental material composition to be determined, as well as thicknesses of multilayer coatings to be measured. Nowadays this method has been implemented in modern equipment, which is widely used both in laboratory measurements and in industry. The article describes the basic principles of the method and gives an overview of its different applications. Special attention is paid to the following industrial applications: thickness measurement of immersion gold on circuit boards; thickness measurement and composition of electroless Nickel; thickness measurements of electroplated tin; measurements of silicate coatings; measurements of turbine blade heat-resistant coatings. Experimental researches were carried out; measurements were made with the FISCHERSCOPE X-RAY analyzer manufactured by the company “HELMUT FISCHER GmbH” (Germany). The experimental results for different samples are presented as well as the ways of solving the arising problems. The ED XRF method has proven to be highly efficient for abovementioned industrial applications.

The growth of scientific and technological progress is creating new possibilities for wider application of the ED XRF method including problems of non-destructive testing.
Calibrating and Cross-Sectional Equalizing of the Sensitivity of Ultrasonic Phased Array Inspection of Welds
Authors: Нурматов  , Nurmatov Islam , Лапидус  , Lapidus Aleks , Пасси  , Passi Garri
Published: September 2016

Introduction. The approach and practical implementation for the sensitivity calibration and its equalizing within entire insonified cross-section of the material have been presented in the article for 3 most common reference artificial reflectors, namely the flat bottom hole (FBH) situated at parallel to the weld bevel plane, the EDM notch (N), and the side drilled hole (SDH).

The method. The issue of inhomogeneous sensitivity over cross-section covered through phased array (PA) sectorial scan plan is due to several factors, which are highlighted and explained. 5 of them are independent on the reference reflector’s shape. In addition the FBH and N reference reflectors are characterized by the strong dependency of the echo amplitude on the angle, under which the ultrasonic wave hits their surface (factor 6, which differs the FBH and N from the omnidirectional SDH). The approach for equalizing the sensitivity over sectorial-scan-insonified cross-section of the material for all types of reference reflectors has been proposed and explained. It is based on the ability of ultrasonic PA flaw detector to implement each pulsing-receiving cycle among the plurality of the scan-plan-forming set of focal laws with individually and independently settled gain and other key settings including Distance Amplitude Correction / Time Corrected Gain (DAC / TCG). The Sonotron NDT’s ISONIC Series PA instruments (ISONIC 3510, ISONIC 2010, and ISONIC 2009 UPA Scope) are featured with the said ability uniquely: in the said units the DAC / TCG mechanism is used purely for compensating the dependency of echo amplitude on the material travel distance while the feature of varying Gain per Focal Law is utilized just for the forming of easy-reproducible Angle Gain Compensation (AGC) plan. Both the DAC / TCG and AGC plans are created independently on each other with use of the same reference reflectors.

The results. Combining of the independent DAC / TCG and AGC mechanisms for the first time ever provides the equalizing of the sensitivity for all types of reference reflectors independently on their X, Y position over the entire cross-section of the material — this is confirmed by a number of experimental results presented.

Conclusion. At last the single group sectorial scan only becomes sufficient for the complete coverage of the whole cross-section of the weld. This allows reducing the dimensions of required PA probes and wedges in use and the width of the area for the scanning along the fusion line. And finally this increases the maximal possible speed of scanning along with reducing of the inspection cost.
Validation of an Ultrasonic-Phased Array Method for Testing of Circumferential Welds at Thin-Walled Pipes
Authors: Бросиус  , Brosius David , Шуберт  , Schubert Frank , Хильманн  , Hillmann Susanne , Бор  , Bor Zsolt
Published: September 2016

Introduction. For testing of circumferential welds at thin-walled pipes with wall thickness lower than 6 mm using ultrasonic methods no standardization is available at the moment. Nevertheless, there are newest technologies available such as ultrasonic-phased-array technique and semi-automated handheld-scanner for pipes, with which it is possible to achieve promising and reliable results in that area. In order to bring the technique in operation in the field of coal-fired power plants or petrochemical industry a validation is needed, which will be approved by the inspecting authorities.

Method. In that article we will present a successful validation of an ultrasonic-phased- array method for testing circumferential welds at thin-walled pipes with a wall thickness lower than 6 mm. Therefore, the complete geometry area was divided into several clusters, and single elements of that matrix were validated. The procedure conforms to the guideline VGB R-516 and other established standards. Besides theoretical analysis including simulations of the sound paths and reflections, extensive practical tests were performed. For this purpose six typical types of defects were analyzed by using a large number of test samples and the probability of detection was determined using this practical method.

Result. The result of this work is a report for validation for each geometry cluster of the pipes including an inspection instruction and a qualification instruction for the testing equipment and the calibration samples.

Conclusion. Based on that validations the ultrasonic-phased-array method was accepted by the inspecting authorities and thereby allowed to use in the regulated area of coal-fired power plants by a NDT-service provider and was applied very successful at several thousand welds.
The Added Value of Infrared Thermography to Impact Damaging Assessment of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Composites
Authors: Карломаньо  , Carlomagno Giovanni , Монако  , Monako Ernesto , Боффа  , Boffa Natalino , Боккарди  , Bokkardi Simone , Меола  , Meola Carosena , Риччи  , Ricci Fabrizio
Published: September 2016

Introduction. The weakness of composites to impact load is a well known problem. In particular, their impact damaging happens through complex mechanisms which are still not completely understood also because of the multitude of materials that can be created by changing: matrix, reinforcement and/or stacking sequence. It is enough to change the direction of a layer of fibres to have a new composite material. Once a new material is created, it is important to assess its performance under impact, or its impact resistance. The scope of this work is to show how advantageous may be to use infrared thermography to monitor impact tests, which are performed to ascertain the resistance-to-impact of a new composite material.

Methods. Infrared thermography (IRT) and phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) are used. IRT is used with a twofold function:

• on-line monitoring the impact event to visualize thermal signatures which bear the witness for the existence of any occurred damage;

• non-destructive evaluation with lock-in thermography (LT) of the impacted specimens.

Results. Some results are reported in terms of:

• thermal images taken during impact tests on carbon/epoxy specimens;

• phase images taken on the impacted specimens with lock-in thermography;

• C-scan images taken with PAUT on the impacted surface of one specimen are compared with phase images obtained with lock-in thermography and also with thermal images taken during the impact.

Discussion. Both LT and PAUT are effective in detecting the impact damage; LT is fast and more effective to map large surfaces, conversely PAUT is better to get information along the thickness especially in case of thick parts. Then, an integrated use of both techniques would be advantageous. However, they are characterized by some uncertainty in discriminating very thin delaminations when they are compared with the thermal signatures visualized during monitoring of the impact event, especially in presence of composites with complex stacking sequence.

Conclusion. The obtained results show that, if the aim is to assess the performance under impact of composite materials for design purposes, monitoring the impact with an infrared imaging device appears to be the fastest and better solution.
Nozzle Diaphragms of Liquid Rocket Engines. Residual Life Estimation of the Blade with a Crack
Authors: Полянский  , Polyansky Aleksandr , Полянский  , Polyansky Vladislav
Published: September 2016

Introduction. The results of multiple tests of liquid rocket engines indicate that the engine with cracks in blades can "safely" work within a few launchings. Therefore, the resource estimation of the nozzle blade with a crack becomes highly relevant, especially for reusable rocket engines. The objective of this work was to determine the residual life of nozzle diapgragm blades with cracks. Method. For reliable residual life estimation of the blade with a crack the comprehensive approach was used: fractographic and material science studies on the one hand and fracture mechanics propositions on the other hand. Results. Fractographic and material science studies have shown that blade destruction occurs through the countergrowth of fatigue surface cracks from the blade pressure side and the blade suction face, which interconnects to form a "main" crack, whose growth is controlled by growth of surface cracks from the blade pressure side. Using the fracture mechanics propositions and the results of finite element calculations of the stress-strain state of nozzle diaphragm blades under gas and thermal loads in elasto-plastic formulation, equations of crack growth in nozzle blades were obtained. Finally the scheme of blade unstable fracture is proposed; the blade guaranteed residual life under certain conditions is evaluated and the maximum tolerable crack length in the blade suction face is determined. Conclusion. The method offered in this work makes it possible to evaluate the blade residual life as the number of loading cycles while fatigue crack propagation and as the tolerable number of firing tests. The method also enables the maximum permissible crack lenth to be determined.
Metal Coercivity as a Measure of Microdamages for Evaluation of Fatigue and Recovery of Mechanical Properties
Authors: Сорочинский  , Sorochinskiy Sergey , Казак  , Kazak Irina , Вакуленко  , Vakulenko Karina , Безлюдько  , Bezlyudko Gennadiy , Соломаха  , Solomakha Roman
Published: September 2016

Introduction. The problem of determining the current state of metal parts mechanical properties is always relevant. For its solution a simple, cheap and sufficiently informative NDT method is needed. Today the method of magnetic coercive force seems to be the most suitable. The purpose of this work was to determine patterns of change in a coercive force after cyclic loading of steel samples in the initial state and after surface plastic deformation (work hardening).

Method. Two batches of 40X steel cylindrical samples in the delivery condition were put to cyclic tests. The both batches were tested in the same range of tension amplitudes but for the second batch the tests were carried out in two steps with intermediate surface plastic deformation. The change in the level of accumulated fatigue damage was determined by the coercive force method.

Results. The most significant coercive force increase (up to 1.5%) was observed in the initial stages of the specimens’ elongation. For samples subjected to preliminary cyclic loading, surface plastic deformation leads to lower coercive force values (by 9%–17%) and to 2.8–3.4 times longer operating life. This effect can be explained by “healing” the accumulated defects by the surface treatment.

Discussion. The results indicate high sensitivity of the coercive force to changes in structural state of the metal as a result of both fatigue damage accumulation and partial recovery of the metal structure due to defect “healing”.
Data-Enabled Stochastic Modeling for Evaluating Schedule Robustness of Railway Networks
Authors: Khadilkar Harshad
Published: September 2016

This paper evaluates the robustness of a railway network with respect to operational delays. It assumes that trains in the network operate on fixed routes and with reference to a timetable. A stochastic delay propagation model is proposed for identifying primary (externally imposed) delays and for computing the resultant secondary (knock-on) delays. Delay probability distributions are computed for each train at each station on its journey, using timetable and infrastructure data for identifying potential station resource conflicts with other trains. The delay predictions are used to evaluate schedule robustness using two newly proposed metrics. Individual robustness measures the ability of trains to limit the adverse effects of their own primary delays. On the other hand, collective robustness measures the ability of the network as a whole, to limit the knock-on effects of primary delays imposed on a small fraction of trains. The two metrics provide stochastic guarantees on the punctuality of trains when the published schedule is put in operation. The applicability of the proposed methodology is validated using empirical data from a portion of the Indian Railways network, containing more than 38,000 train arrival/departure records. While a railway network is used as a case study, the same ideas can be applied to any scheduled transportation network.
The patient with left ventricular systolic dysfunction now and in the future
Authors: Kenworthy William , Guha Kaushik , Sharma Rakesh
Published: September 2016

This review provides a concise overview of the current understanding of chronic heart failure, focusing on the landmark clinical trials that form the basis of clinical management of patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction.
Quality improvement in health care: how to do it
Authors: Walsh Kieran , Helm Rufus , Aboshady Omar A
Published: September 2016

This article outlines the steps to success in quality improvement and explains how quality improvement can help you, your patients and your institution. Although many tactics can be used to drive quality improvement, some tactics deliver results that are short term and unsustainable and that fail to embed a culture of quality improvement within organizations. Consensus is emerging that a bottom-up approach may be better – where the intrinsic motivations of clinical staff are harnessed to drive quality improvement. This is an ideal opportunity for clinical staff at all levels to join in. The steps involved in quality improvement include choosing a topic, choosing tools to measure the problem, using plan, do, study, act cycles to drive improvement, and then writing up and sharing the project. Quality improvement projects can achieve multiple outcomes including improved patient experience and saved costs.
A systematic approach to the neurological examination of llamas and alpacas
Authors: Bedenice Daniela , Whitehead Claire
Published: September 2016

The clinical presentation of neurologic disorders in camelids varies widely depending on the underlying cause and localisation of the disease. Metabolic, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal conditions may also present with neurological signs and must thus be differentiated from those of true peripheral or central nervous system origin, through careful evaluation of history, clinical examination and diagnostic testing. Mentation and behaviour of camelids is generally evaluated from a distance, with subsequent assessment of cranial nerve function, gait, posture and postural reactions, spinal reflexes and muscle tone. Gait assessment often focuses on the differentiation between lower motor neuron weakness (LMN paresis) and general proprioceptive ataxia (with associated upper motor neuron weakness), in order to better localise spinal cord disorders. In this context, tail pull examinations may further aid in discerning upper versus lower motor neuron weakness. A thorough systematic neurological examination is thus paramount to achieve the following goals: determine the presence or absence of neurologic signs; localisation of the lesion (neuro-anatomic diagnosis); determine the etiology of a neurological condition.
Direct sinus endoscopy
Authors: Townsend Neil
Published: September 2016

The increasing availability of video-endoscopy has allowed direct sinus endoscopy to be performed through much smaller portals than traditional sinus trephination techniques. This has advantages of healing faster and with a better cosmetic result. Knowledge of the intra-sinus anatomy and the correct trephine sites is essential to perform direct sinus endoscopy.
Identification and management of tooth fractures
Authors: Barnett TP
Published: September 2016

Fractured teeth are regularly diagnosed in horses, ponies and donkeys. They can be clinically innocuous or can cause clinical signs of oral pain such as quidding, anorexia, and hypersalivation. Additionally, secondary problems such as bony swellings, draining tracts and sinusitis can result from more severe dental and periodontal disease initiated by the fracture. Thorough clinical examination, often using one or more imaging modalities, will allow as much of the dental and surrounding tissue to be examined as precisely as possible. There are now a number of strategies that can be employed in the management of fractured teeth including conservative treatment and monitoring, tooth extraction, and advanced endodontic therapy. The treatment chosen often depends on a number of factors; so accurate diagnosis of the fracture type, severity and any secondary disease is imperative in the decision making process.
EquineReview
Authors: Fiske-Jackson Andy
Published: September 2016

Introduction:

This edition of Equine Review considers the link between sesamoiditis and suspensory ligament branch desmitis, outcome following arthrodesis of the proximal interphalangeal joint, reasons for failure of neurectomy of the deep branch of the lateral plantar nerve and plantar fasciotomy for management of proximal suspensory desmitis, and the effect of perfusate volume during regional limb perfusion.
An era of ‘hyper-accountability’
Authors: Trafford Bernard
Published: September 2016

We work in an age of ‘hyper-accountability’ when exam results have come to assume a meaning far beyond reliability, says Dr Bernard Trafford
Software Announcement: Multichoice as a New Software for Decision Making with Analytic Network Process
Authors: Milkova Maria , Andreichikova Olga
Published: September 2016

This paper describes main features of Multichoice, a new version of software for multi-criteria decision analysis with ANP/AHP. Multichoice has been developed by authors at the Central Institute of Economics and Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow in 2016, and is the first software for ANP in Russia (available in Russian and English). The paper outlines the main steps of ANP technology: model constructing, relative and absolute evaluating, synthesizing, visualizing and importing the results, and sensitivity analysis. The authors also discuss further development of implementation of ANP-algorithms.
Searching for Sedgwick: resources for activists
Authors: Norman Nigel
Published: September 2016

This article argues for the continuing relevance of the work of scholar-activist Peter Sedgwick, author of Psychopolitics (1982) and translator of the works of Victor Serge, such as Memoirs of a revolutionary (1984). Apart from his theoretical work in the field of psychiatry, he left a body of political writing of high quality that can be usefully studied by activists today. This article introduces some archival and bibliographic information that may be of help to those who wish to pursue further research.
Prevalencia de depresión y factores asociados en hombres.
Authors: Londoño Pérez Constanza , González Rodríguez Manuel
Published: September 2016

El objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar la prevalencia de depresión, detectar el riesgo suicida e identificar los factores sociodemográficos y personales asociados a este trastorno. La muestra no aleatorizada estuvo conformada por 1525 hombres colombianos con edades entre 18 y 83 años procedentes de 22 departamentos y de distintos niveles educativos. Para evaluar la depresión se usó el Cuestionario de Depresión para Hombres (Álvarez y Londoño, 2012); para evaluar la comorbilidad con ansiedad se usó la Escala de Ansiedad HADS (Zigmond y Snaith, 1983) y el IMAFE (Lara, 1991); y para recolectar información acerca de los factores personales y sociodemográficos se usó una ficha de registro. Se analizaron los datos para calcular la prevalencia de corte, el riesgo suicida, la comorbilidad a través del uso del paquete estadístico SPSS. Se concluye que la prevalencia real reportada y el riesgo suicida en la población estudiada son más altos que los detectados usando un instrumento no sensible al género.
Frequência de déficits neuropsicológicos após traumatismo cranioencefálico.
Authors: Pereira Natalie , Holz Maila , Hermes Pereira Andressa , Bresolin Ana Paula , Zimmermann Nicolle , Fonseca Rochele Paz
Published: September 2016

O traumatismo cranioencefálico (TCE) pode acarretar mudanças no cotidiano e prejuízos social laboral comunicativo e cognitivo (dificuldades atencionais mnemônicas e executivas). Este estudo buscou caracterizar a ocorrência de déficits neuropsicológicos após o TCE em uma amostra de adultos e verificar se há impacto do nível de severidade do trauma no desempenho cognitivo dos pacientes. Participaram 96 adultos divididos em dois grupos: TCE leve (n=39) e grave (n=57). A gravidade do trauma foi classificada pela Escala de Coma de Glasgow pela duração da perda de consciência. ou pela amnésia pós-traumática. Não houve diferença nas variáveis sociodemográficas idade e escolaridade entre os grupos. Para a comparação entre grupos quanto a ocorrência de déficits neuropsicológicos. utilizou-se o Qui-quadrado. Tarefas verbais e visuoespaciais de funções executivas habilidades linguísticas. mnemônicas verbais compuseram uma bateria neuropsicológica flexível.Os pacientes com TCE leve tiveram menos déficits comparados aos com TCE grave (erros e categorias completadas do Wisconsin Teste de Classificação de Cartas; erros da parte B do Teste Hayling; e na interferência pró e retroativa do teste de aprendizagem verbal de Rey). A severidade do trauma parece diferenciar indivíduos no desempenho de memória episódica no contexto de maior sobrecarga de informações novas e no controle da interferência entre memórias; o mesmo se aplica às funções de flexibilidade e inibição. Fazse necessário um maior investimento em ações de políticas públicas de saúde priorizando intervenção neurognitiva remediativa e métodos de prevenção para acidentes relacionados a lesões traumáticas com alta ocorrência de sequelas.
Building Agent-Based Decision Support Systems for Word-of-Mouth Programs: A Freemium Application
Authors: Chica Manuel , Rand William
Published: September 2016

Marketers must constantly decide how to implement word-of-mouth (WOM) programs, and a well-developed decision support system (DSS) can provide them valuable assistance in doing so. The authors propose an agent-based framework that aggregates social network–level individual interactions to guide the construction of a successful DSS for WOM. The framework presents a set of guidelines and recommendations to (1) involve stakeholders, (2) follow a data-driven iterative modeling approach, (3) increase validity through automated calibration, and (4) understand the DSS behavior. This framework is applied to build a DSS for a freemium app in which premium users discuss the product with their social network and promote its viral adoption. After its validation, the agent-based DSS forecasts the aggregate number of premium sales over time and the most likely users to become premium in the near future. The experiments show how the DSS can help managers by forecasting premium conversions and increasing the number of premiums through targeting and implementing reward policies.
CAMEO: The Science in Art
Authors: Derrick Michele
Published: September 2016

What is Coade Stone? When was Bakelite invented? What is the chemical structure of indigo? Is it safe to use mineral spirits? The answer to all of these questions and much more can be found in CAMEO, the Conservation and Art Materials Encyclopedia Online, available at
Functions of you know and I mean in academic seminar discussions by ELF speakers
Authors: Xue Wu , Lei Lei
Published: September 2016

This study described the functions of
High corrosion resistance Ni-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite coating
Authors: Hosseini Khorasani Seyed Ali , Sanjabi Sohrab
Published: September 2016

This paper presents a high corrosion resistance Ni-graphene composite coating fabricated by co-electrodeposition on Cu substrate. First, GO was synthesized by improved Hummers’ method, and then different concentrations of GO aqueous solution were introduced to Ni Watt’s bath. During electrodeposition, GO and Ni ions were reduced simultaneously to form composite coating. The phase structure and morphology were covered by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analysis, respectively. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to identify the surface topography of the coatings. Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to study the synthesis of GO and its reduction during the plating process. Corrosion resistance of nanocomposite and that of pure Ni coating were compared by applying potentiodynamic polarization spectroscopy (PDS). The results showed that by increasing the amount of graphene oxide in solution, there has been a significant reduction in corrosion current density. As the EIS result showed, the high amount of GO reduction was obtained in GO concentration of 0.6 mg ml−1and current density of 8 A dm−2. It is in a good agreement with data obtained from PDS. Analyses showed that the corrosion current density of corresponding coating was improved up to 0.2 μA cm−2, which means an improvement of about 100 times compared to pure Ni coating.
Imaginaries and invariant types in existentially closed valued differential fields
Authors: Rideau Silvain
Published: September 2016

We answer three related open questions about the model theory of valued differential fields introduced by Scanlon.
We show that they eliminate imaginaries in the geometric language introduced by Haskell, Hrushovski and Macpherson and that they have the invariant extension property. These two results follow from an abstract criterion for the density of definable types in enrichments of algebraically closed valued fields. Finally, we show that this theory is metastable.
Sustainable wood waste management in Nigeria
Authors: Owoyemi Jacob Mayowa , Zakariya Habeeb Olawale , Elegbede Isa Olalekan
Published: September 2016

Wood industries produce large volumes of residues which must be utilized, marketed or properly disposed of. Heaps of wood residues are common features in wood industries throughout the year. In Nigeria, this residue is generally regarded as waste and this has led to open burning practices, dumping in water bodies or dumping in an open area which constitutes environmental pollution. Sawmills in Nigeria generated over 1,000,000 m3 of wood waste in 2010 while about 5000 m3 of waste was generated in plywood mills. Nigeria generates about 1.8 million tons of sawdust annually and 5.2 million tons of wood wastes. The impact of improper disposal of waste wood on the environment affects both the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Also burning of waste wood releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere causing various health issues. Reuse/recycling of these wood residues in Nigeria will reduce the pressure on our ever decreasing forests, reduce environmental pollution, create wealth and employment. The literature available on this subject was reviewed and this article, therefore, focuses on the various methods of wood waste disposal and its utilization in Nigerian wood industries, the effects of wood waste on the environment as well as on human health and the benefits of proper wood waste management practices.