bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessing ostomates' quality of life in the Republic of Ireland
Authors: Chandler Pip , Buckley Mary , Canty Tina , O'Sullivan Laura , Stuart AnneMarie
Published: March 2017

The Republic of Ireland's two-tier health-care system is different to that of the UK, and this includes provision for people with a stoma. In 2015, the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) increased the number of stoma products available to patients for the first time in 7 years. To find out how this would affect the quality of life (QoL) of Irish ostomates, a working party of HSE and commercially sponsored stoma care nurses undertook a survey to obtain data on the QoL of Irish ostomates before and after the introduction of new products. Data was collected 2 weeks after the baseline reading, after the patient had been using the innovative products and experiencing increased interaction with a stoma nurse. The results are discussed in light of other similar studies undertaken across Europe. This data is used to discuss examples of stoma care practice elsewhere in Europe and the world and how they could be applied to the Irish health system to improve the QoL of Irish ostomates.
Research roundup: March 2017
Authors: Lally Sheila , Thurtle Val , Murray Joy
Published: March 2017

In this section, a range of brief synopses of recently published articles that may be of interest to health visitors is presented. The aim of this roundup is to provide an overview, rather than a detailed summary, of the research papers selected. Should you wish to look at any of the papers in more detail, a full reference is provided.
Common childhood ailments: Head lice
Authors: Tinsley Elizabeth
Published: March 2017

Head lice are a common problem, particularly in school children aged 4–11. The severity of infestation on an individual child can vary from a few lice (fewer than 10) to over 1000 in severe cases. Head lice infestation is known as pediculosis capitis, and ‘nits’ are the empty egg cases attached to hair from which head lice hatch. This article provides advice for health visitors and parents on preventing and treating head lice.
Monkey business
Authors: Williams Brenda
Published: March 2017

Use Brenda Williams' original poem as an action rhyme to develop children's interest in the different types of animals that live in the jungle, and spark a life-long interest in wild life and the natural world.
In a safe house
Authors: Rawstrone Annette
Published: March 2017

Annette Rawstrone provides a guide to ensuring the home environment is as safe as it possibly can be for young children – particularly those who are just beginning to find their feet and explore.
Shouting it out!
Authors: Hart Karen
Published: March 2017

Let children test their vocal cords by giving them opportunities to shout out loud. Explore ideas of loud and quiet with action rhymes and Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are.
Changes in Eastern US Sawmill Employment and Estimated Hardwood Lumber Production from 2001 to 2015
Authors: Luppold William G. , Bumgardner Matthew S.
Published: March 2017

Sawmills are an important component of the hardwood industry, developing value-added products derived from the timber resources of the eastern United States. Employment in eastern sawmills has declined during the 21st century, reaching its lowest point in 2009 and 2010. Employment declines in the North and South Central regions of the United States were less than declines in the Northeast and Southeast regions, but East-wide employment was over 30 percent lower in 2010 than in 2001. The number of sawmills also has declined in the East, but since 2010, average employment in those mills has been increasing. Eastern hardwood lumber production followed sawmill employment for the four eastern subregions between 2001 and 2008; the last year estimates were available by state. Initial estimates of hardwood lumber production in 2009 based on production-to-employment ratios for the 2001 to 2008 period appeared higher than US Department of Agriculture estimates from timber product output data. A potential cause of this discrepancy was sawmills maintaining key employees during the Great Recession. After adjusting for these differences, eastern hardwood lumber production for 2009 was estimated to be 6.5 billion board feet (BBF), which was consistent with estimates of hardwood lumber consumption, net exports, and inventory adjustments. Eastern hardwood lumber production had increased to 9.2 BBF by 2015 but still was 28 percent less than the peak production year of 1999.
Transcutaneous billirubinometry to estimate total serum bilirubin in neonatal jaundice
Authors: Kurnianto Andra , Bermawi Herman , Darmawanti Afifa , Bahar Erial
Published: March 2017

Background The gold standard for diagnosis of neonatal jaundice is total serum bilirubin (TSB) measurement. This method, however, is invasive, painful, and costly in terms of workload, time, and money. Moreover, repeated blood sampling may lead to significant blood loss, which is of particular concern in preterm infants. To overcome these drawbacks, non-invasive methods of bilirubin measurement have been proposed. Transcutaneous bilirubinometry (TcB) determines the yellowness of the subcutaneous tissue of a newborn infant by measuring the difference between optical densities for light in the blue and green wavelength regions.Objective To evaluate the accuracy of transcutaneous bilirubinometry for estimating TSB levels in neonatal jaundice.Methods Subjects were infants aged < 28 days with jaundice who had never been treated with phototherapy or exchange transfusion. The study was done from February to July 2016 in Mohammad Hoesin Hospital. Subjects underwent transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) and TSB assays, with a maximum interval of 15 minutes between tests.Results One hundred fifty patients were included in this study. The TcB values > 5 mg/dL were correlated to TSB > 5 mg/dL, with 100% sensitivity and 83.3% specificity. This cut-off point was obtained from a receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve with AUC 99.3% (95%CI 97.9 to 100%; P< 0.001).The correlation coefficients (r) for TSB and TcB measurements on the forehead were 0.897 (P<0.001).Conclusion Transcutaneous bilirubinometry can be used to accurately estimate TSB levels in neonatal jaundice, and may be useful in clinical practice as a non-invasive method to reduce blood sampling.
Estudo de desdobramentos do valor semântico de itens lexicais em letras de funk: uma análise na perspectiva da Linguística Cognitiva
Authors: De Camargo Gislene Souza de Oliveira , Campos Lucas Santos
Published: March 2017

Este artigo consiste na apresentação de resultados do estudo piloto da dissertação em andamento, desenvolvida no âmbito do Programa de Mestrado Profissional em Letras (PROFLETRAS) da Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia. Tem como objetivo analisar o valor semântico de itens lexicais empregados em letras de funk, com base nos pressupostos teóricos da Linguística Cognitiva. Para isso, foram coletados dados de letras mais populares entre os estudantes do 8º ano da Instituição Educacional Municipal Professora Marias das Graças Assis Correia, localizada na cidade de Brumado, Bahia. Os dados foram analisados com base em Abreu (2010), Ferrari (2011) e Castilho (2014), que dialogam com Lakoff e Johnson (1980), Lakoff (1987), Filmore (1982) e Croft e Cruse (2004); assim como nos estudos sobre gêneros textuais, com base em Marcuschi (2002) e nos estudos da teoria lexical baseados em Basilio (1987).
Consciência fonológica: a utilização de jogo digital como estratégia para o ensino de Língua Portuguesa
Authors: Freitas Ana Mara Alves de , Alves Gilson Chicon
Published: March 2017

Esta pesquisa apresenta um jogo digital como ferramenta de avaliação diagnóstica da consciência fonológica em crianças no processo de alfabetização, tendo em vista a dificuldade em conciliar os conhecimentos linguísticos e tecnológicos à prática docente a partir da realidade do aluno. Objetivamos propor ao professor o uso de instrumento didático-pedagógico que o auxilie na avaliação diagnóstica de maneira objetiva para que, com isso, ele possa planejar suas aulas a partir da união entre teoria, tecnologia e realidade do aluno. Esta proposta está vinculada à linha de pesquisa teorias da linguagem e ensino, do PROFLETRAS. Para os procedimentos metodológicos, fizemos estudos bibliográficos a partir dos estudos fonológicos de Cagliari (2002), Silva (2007), Matzenauer (2005), Henriques (2012) e Seara, Nunes e Lazzarotto-Volcão (2011), mostrando o funcionamento e a estrutura sonora da língua. Para o suporte técnico-didático, apoiamo-nos nas discussões de Barrera e Maluf (2003), Capovilla e Capovilla (2000), Lopes (2004), Santamaria, Leitão e Assencio-Ferreira (2004), Bernardino Jr. et al. (2006), Adams (2006) e Paraná (2010), no que tange à importância da avaliação e treino de consciência fonológica em crianças para o sucesso do processo de alfabetização e no que diz respeito à construção do jogo digital. Esta pesquisa também se caracteriza como intervencionista, pois aplicamos o jogo em turmas do 1º, 2º, 4º e 6º anos do Ensino Fundamental, em uma escola municipal de Mossoró/RN. O jogo revelou a possibilidade de diagnosticar dadas habilidades de consciência fonológica de cada criança.
Occupational Health and Safety legislative compliance in the construction sites in Windhoek, Namibia
Authors: Nghitanwa Emma Maano , Zungu Lindiwe I
Published: March 2017

Non compliances towards occupational health and safety legislations has been on increase globally which leads to higher incidence of occupational accidents, injuries and diseases. The aim of the study is to determine the presence of occupational hazards in the construction industry and to investigate the occupational health and safety provision and compliance among construction sites in Windhoek. A quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive design was used to conduct the study. Census sampling was used to include ten construction sites with project running during data collection time and whose site managers agreed to participate in the study. Data was collected in ten construction sites with the site inspection checklist to assess the occupational hazards and OHS compliance in participated construction sites. Data was analysed with SPSS software. The study findings indicated that occupational hazards are prevalent in the construction industry, but there is poor mechanism to control hazards and to prevent hazard exposures. Furthermore, most construction sites are non compliant towards OHS legislations. It is recommended that OHS legislations should be enforced to promote the OHS in the construction industry.
Hip region muscular dystrophy and emergence of motor deficits in dysferlin‐deficient Bla/J mice
Authors: Nagy Nadia , Nonneman Randal J. , Llanga Telmo , Dial Catherine F. , Riddick Natallia V. , Hampton Tom , Moy Sheryl S. , Lehtimäki Kimmo K. , Ahtoniemi Toni , Puoliväli Jukka , Windish Hillarie , Albrecht Douglas , Richard Isabelle , Hirsch Matthew L.
Published: March 2017

The identification of a dysferlin‐deficient animal model that accurately displays both the physiological and behavior aspects of human dysferlinopathy is critical for the evaluation of potential therapeutics. Disease progression in dysferlin‐deficient mice is relatively mild, compared to the debilitating human disease which manifests in impairment of particular motor functions. Since there are no other known models of dysferlinopathy in other species, locomotor proficiency and muscular anatomy through MRI (both lower leg and hip region) were evaluated in dysferlin‐deficient B6.A‐Dysfprmd/GeneJ (Bla/J) mice to define disease parameters for therapeutic assessment. Despite the early and progressive gluteal muscle dystrophy and significant fatty acid accumulation, the emergence of significant motor function deficits was apparent at approximately 1 year of age for standard motor challenges including the rotarod, a marble bury test, grip strength, and swimming speed. Earlier observations of decreased performance for Bla/J mice were evident during extended monitoring of overall exploration and rearing activity. Comprehensive treadmill gait analyses of the Bla/J model indicated significant differences in paw placement angles and stance in relation to speed and platform slope. At 18 months of age, there was no significant difference in the life expectancy of Bla/J mice compared to wild type. Consistent with progressive volume loss and fatty acid accumulation in the hip region observed by MRI, mass measurement of individual muscles confirmed gluteal and psoas muscles were the only muscles demonstrating a significant decrease in muscle mass, which is analogous to hip‐girdle weakness observed in human dysferlin‐deficient patients. Collectively, this longitudinal analysis identifies consistent disease parameters that can be indicators of efficacy in studies developing treatments for human dysferlin deficiency.
Genetic Insights into Ecological Succession from Oak- (Quercus robur L.) to Beech- (Fagus sylvatica L.) Dominated Forest Stands
Authors: Sandurska Elzbieta , Ulaszewski Bartosz , Burczyk Jaroslaw
Published: March 2017

Genetic diversity is often considered a major determinant of long term population persistence and its potential to adapt to variable environmental conditions. The ability of populations to maintain their genetic diversity across generations seems to be a major prerequisite for their sustainability, which is particularly important for keystone forest tree species. However, little is known about genetic consequences of demographic alterations occurring during natural processes of ecological succession involving changes in the species composition. Using microsatellites, we investigated genetic diversity of adult and offspring generations in beech (Fagus sylvaticaL.) and oak (Quercus roburL.) populations coexisting in a naturally established old-growth forest stand, showing some symptoms of ongoing ecological succession from oak- to beech-dominated forest. In general, adult generations of both species exhibited high levels of genetic diversity (0.657 for beech; 0.821 for oak), which, however, depended on the sets of selected genetic markers. Nevertheless, several symptoms such as differences in genetic diversity indices between generations, significant levels of inbreeding (up to 0.029) and low estimates of effective population size (48–80) confirmed the declining status of the oak population. On the other hand, the uniform distribution of genetic diversity indices across generations, low levels of inbreeding (0.004), low genetic differentiation among adults and offspring and, most importantly, large estimates of effective population size (119–716), all supported beech as a successive and successful tree species in the studied forest stand.
Bird ringing in Slovenia in 2015 and the occurrence of Parrot Crossbills Loxia pytyopsittacus
Authors: Vrezec Al , Fekonja Dare
Published: March 2017

In 2015, 170 bird species were recorded during bird ringing activities in Slovenia. We ringed 73,371 birds belonging to 162 species, there were 132 foreign recoveries of birds ringed in Slovenia, 120 recoveries of birds ringed abroad and found in Slovenia, as well as 1964 local recoveries. The most frequently ringed species were Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla and Great Tit Parus major. In ringed nestlings, Great Tits and Tree Sparrows Passer montanus predominated. In 2015, the first preliminary ringing of Scops Owls Otus scops during migration took place, resulting in the highest number of Scops Owls ringed so far. Concerning recoveries of birds ringed in Slovenia and later recorded abroad and birds ringed abroad and later recorded in Slovenia, the commonest were Mute Swans Cygnus olor and Black-headed Gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus. The longest-distance recovery concerned a Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniculus found in Sweden (2,144 km away). Among the interesting finds were also the first finds of ringed Pygmy Cormorants Microcarbo pygmeus so far from breeding sites in Hungary. Among rare species, Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus, Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis and a pair of Parrot Crossbills Loxia pytyopsittacus were caught and ringed, the latter for the very first time in Slovenia after more than 100 years. An overview of records of the Parrot Crossbill is given herein, as well as analysis of irruptive years of the Red Crossbills Loxia curvirostra between 1980 and 2015, when the probability of boreal Crossbill species occurrence is the highest. According to the ringers’ data, the irruptive years of Red Crossbills in Slovenia were 1984, 1985, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The article points to the probability that Parrot Crossbills have been overlooked in the past, since larger specimens of Crossbills were ringed mostly in irruptive years, but no specific bill measurements important for distinguishing between Parrot and Red Crossbill had been taken.
Assessment of the Possibility of Using Reclaimed Materials for Making Cores by the Blowing Method
Authors: Dańko R. , Dańko J. , Skrzyński M.
Published: March 2017

The cumulative results of investigations of the possibility of using the reclaimed materials after the mechanical, thermal or mechanical-thermal reclamation for making cores by means of the blowing method in the alkaline CO2 technology, are presented in the paper. Three kinds of spent sands: with furfuryl resin, bentonite and alkaline phenolic resin, obtained from the foundry, were subjected to three kinds of reclamation: mechanical, thermal and combined mechanical-thermal, applying for this aim adequate experimental devices. The obtained reclaims were assessed with regard to the degree of the matrix liberation from the determined binding material. Reclaims of moulding sands with binders of the form of resin were assessed with regard to ignition loss values and pH reaction, while reclaims of moulding sands with bentonite with regard to the residual clay content and pH value. In all cases the results of the performed sieve analyses were estimated and the average characteristic diameter dl was determined. The reclaimed matrix was applied as a full substitute of the fresh high-silica sand in typical procedures of preparing core sands used for making shaped samples for bending strength investigations, Rgu.
Development of a New ATD-P Tester for Hard Wear Resistant Materials
Authors: Dojka M. , Dojka R. , Studnicki A.
Published: March 2017

The aim of presented studies was to develop a new geometry of the overflow part of standard ATD-C tester for derivative thermal analysis in a way that it would allow to obtain samples for abrasion and mechanical properties tests in the same mould without the need of cutting them from a block of material. The pattern of new ATD-P tester has parts reflecting implemented samples. Computer simulations regarding initial verification of new tester were performed in NovaFlow software. Chromium cast iron melts were made for testing the sampler in real conditions and TDA analysis for casting material were conducted. The sandmix was prepared on silica sand matrix per the ALPHASET technology. This new solution greatly simplifies the preparations of materials difficult to machine.
Studies on the Gases Emission under High Temperature Condition from Moulding Sands Bonded by Modified Starch CMS-Na
Authors: Kaczmarska K. , Bobrowski A. , Żymankowska-Kumon S. , Grabowska B.
Published: March 2017

Emission of gases under high temperature after pouring molten metal into moulds, which contain the organic binder or other additives (solvents or curing agent), may be an important factor influencing both on the quality of the produced castings, and on the state of environment. Therefore, a comprehensive study of the emitted gases would allow to determine restrictions on the use of the moulding sands in foundry technologies, eg. the probability of occurrence of casting defects, and identify the gaseous pollutants emitted to the environment. The aim of the research presented in this paper was to determine the amount of gases that are released at high temperatures from moulding sands bonded by biopolymer binder and the quantitative assessment of the emitted pollutants with particular emphasis on chemical compounds: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX). The water-soluble modified potato starch as a sodium carboxymethyl starch with low (CMS-NaL) or high (CMS-NaH) degree of substitution was a binder in the tested moulding sands. A tests of gases emission level were conducted per the procedure developed at the Faculty of Foundry Engineering (AGH University of Science and Technology) involving gas chromatography method (GC). The obtained results of the determination of amount of BTEX compounds generated during the decomposition process of starch binders showed lower emission of aromatic hydrocarbons in comparison with binder based on resin Kaltharz U404 with the acidic curing agent commonly used in the foundries.
Air Emissions of Selected Substances from Particular Sectors Including Metallurgy in Poland
Authors: Kargulewicz I.
Published: March 2017

This article presents data on the anthropogenic air emissions of selected substances (CO2, SO2, total suspended particles (TSP), dioxins and furans (PCDD/F), Pb and Cd) subject to reporting under the Climate Convention (UNFCCC) or the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (UNECE CLRTAP). It also presents the national emissions of these substances in 2014 by the major source categories and defines the share of metal production in these emissions. Analysis is based on national emission inventory reports. Most important source of air emission in case of CO2 and SO2 is 1.A.1 Energy industries category. TSP and PCDD/F are emitted mainly from fuel combustion in small sources (i.a. households). Emission of heavy metals (Pb and Cd) is connected mostly with 1.A.2. Manufacturing industries and construction category. Metallurgy is significant source of emission only for lead and cadmium from among all considered substances. The shares of particular sectors in the national emissions of given pollutants are important, in view of the possible reduction measures and the determination in which industries they could bring about tangible results.
Bending Strength of EN AC-44200 – Al2O3 Composites at Elevated Temperatures
Authors: Kurzawa A. , Kaczmar J. W.
Published: March 2017

The paper presents results of bend tests at elevated temperatures of aluminium alloy EN AC-44200 (AlSi12) based composite materials reinforced with aluminium oxide particles. The examined materials were manufactured by squeeze casting. Preforms made of Al2O3 particles, with volumetric fraction 10, 20, 30 and 40 vol.% of particles joined with sodium silicate bridges were used as reinforcement. The preforms were characterised by open porosity ensuring proper infiltration with the EN AC-44200 (AlSi12) liquid alloy. The largest bending strength was found for the materials containing 40 vol.% of reinforcing ceramic particles, tested at ambient temperature. At increased test temperature, bending strength Rg of composites decreased in average by 30 to 50 MPa per 100°C of temperature increase. Temperature increase did not significantly affect cracking of the materials. Cracks propagated mainly along the interfaces particle/matrix, with no effect of the particles falling-out from fracture surfaces. Direction of cracking can be affected by a small number of agglomerations of particles or of non-reacted binder. In the composites, the particles strongly restrict plastic deformation of the alloy, which leads to creation of brittle fractures. At elevated temperatures, however mainly at 200 and 300°C, larger numbers of broken, fragmented particles was observed in the vicinity of cracks. Fragmentation of particles occurred mainly at tensioned side of the bended specimens, in the materials with smaller fraction of Al2O3 reinforcement, i.e. 10 and 20 vol.%.
SiMo Ductile Iron Crystallization Process
Authors: Stawarz M.
Published: March 2017

The article presents crystallization process of silicon molybdenum ductile cast iron (SiMo). The alloy with 5% silicon content and with variable amounts of Mo in a range of 0-1% was chosen for the research. The carbon content in the analysed alloys did not exceed 3,1%. The studies of crystallization process were based on thermal - derivative analysis (TDA). Chemical composition of all examined samples was analysed with the use of LECO spectrometer. Additionally, the carbon and the sulphur content was determined basing on carbon and sulphur LECO analyser. For metallographic examination, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with EDS analyser was used. Disclosed phases have been also tested with the use of X-ray diffraction. The results allowed the description of crystallization processes of silicon molybdenum ductile cast iron using thermal - derivative analysis (TDA). Conducted studies did not allow for the clear identification of all complex phases containing molybdenum, occurring at the grain boundaries. Therefore, the further stages of the research could include the use of a transmission electron microscope to specify the description of complex compounds present in the alloy.
The Aplication of Vibro – Abrasive Machining for Smoothing of Castings
Authors: Bańkowski D. , Spadło S.
Published: March 2017

The paper presents the production problems related to casting using precision casting methods. The essential adverse effect of the casting process is the presence of burrs understood as oversize material necessary to remove the next finishing operations. In addition, the surfaces of the cast often characterized by a porous structure. One of the methods to improve the smoothness of the area proposed by the authors is the use of vibro-abrasive finishing. This type of treatment is widely used in the treatment of finishing small objects as well as complex shapes. Objects in the form of casting in the first step was treated with aggressive deburring polyester matrix abrasive media. The second stage was polishing, with using smoothing porcelain media. The study evaluated the effect of vibro-abrasive machining typical cast on the basic parameters of the geometric structure of the surface. Observations using optical microscope Nicon Eclipse MA 200 compared changes in surface microstructure and the effect of deburring. Clearly we can say that vibro-abrasive machining an effective way of reducing the size of burrs, smoothing and lightening the surface of objects made by casting.
Investigation of Shrinkage Defect in Castings by Quantitative Ishikawa Diagram
Authors: Chokkalingam B. , Raja V. , Anburaj J. , Immanual R. , Dhineshkumar M.
Published: March 2017

Metal casting process involves processes such as pattern making, moulding and melting etc. Casting defects occur due to combination of various processes even though efforts are taken to control them. The first step in the defect analysis is to identify the major casting defect among the many casting defects. Then the analysis is to be made to find the root cause of the particular defect. Moreover, it is especially difficult to identify the root causes of the defect. Therefore, a systematic method is required to identify the root cause of the defect among possible causes, consequently specific remedial measures have to be implemented to control them. This paper presents a systematic procedure to identify the root cause of shrinkage defect in an automobile body casting (SG 500/7) and control it by the application of Pareto chart and Ishikawa diagram. with quantitative Weightage. It was found that the root causes were larger volume section in the cope, insufficient feeding of riser and insufficient poured metal in the riser. The necessary remedial measures were taken and castings were reproduced. The shrinkage defect in the castings was completely eliminated.
A Study of the Efficiency of Polish Foundries Using Data Envelopment Analysis
Authors: Stawowy A. , Duda J.
Published: March 2017

The article presents a study on the effectiveness of the foundries using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. The aim of the article is to analyze the usefulness of DEA method in the study of the relative efficiency of the foundries. DEA is a benchmarking technique based on linear programming to evaluate the effectiveness of the analyzed objects. The research was conducted in four Polish and two foreign plants. Evaluated foundries work in similar markets and have similar production technology. We created a DEA model with two inputs (fixed assets and employment) and one output (operating profit). The model was produced and solved using Microsoft Excel together with its Solver add-in. Moreover, we wrote a short VBA script to perform automating calculations. The results of our study include a benchmark and foundries’ ranking, and directions to improve the efficiency of inefficient units. Our research has shown that DEA can be a very valuable method for evaluating the efficiency of foundries.
2D Structural Acoustic Analysis Using the FEM/FMBEM with Different Coupled Element Types
Authors: Chen Leilei , Zhao Wenchang , Liu Cheng , Chen Haibo
Published: March 2017

A FEM-BEM coupling approach is used for acoustic fluid-structure interaction analysis. The FEM is used to model the structure and the BEM is used to model the exterior acoustic domain. The aim of this work is to improve the computational efficiency and accuracy of the conventional FEM-BEM coupling approach. The fast multipole method (FMM) is applied to accelerating the matrix-vector products in BEM. The Burton-Miller formulation is used to overcome the fictitious eigen-frequency problem when using a single Helmholtz boundary integral equation for exterior acoustic problems. The continuous higher order boundary elements and discontinuous higher order boundary elements for 2D problem are developed in this work to achieve higher accuracy in the coupling analysis. The performance for coupled element types is compared via a simple example with analytical solution, and the optimal element type is obtained. Numerical examples are presented to show the relative errors of different coupled element types.
A Coupled Smoothed Finite Element-Boundary Element Method for Structural-Acoustic Analysis of Shell
Authors: Tian Wanyi , Yao Lingyun , Li Li
Published: March 2017

Nowadays, the finite element method (FEM) - boundary element method (BEM) is used to predict the performance of structural-acoustic problem, i.e. the frequency response analysis, modal analysis. The accuracy of conventional FEM/BEM for structural-acoustic problems strongly depends on the size of the mesh, element quality, etc. As element size gets greater and distortion gets severer, the deviation of high frequency problem is also clear. In order to improve the accuracy of structural-acoustic problem, a smoothed finite-element/boundary-element coupling procedure (SFEM/BEM) is extended to analyze the structural-acoustic problem consisting of a shell structure interacting with the cavity in this paper, in which the SFEM and boundary element method (BEM) models are used to simulate the structure and the fluid, respectively. The governing equations of the structural-acoustic problems are established by coupling the SFEM for the structure and the BEM for the fluid. The solutions of SFEM are often found to be much more accurate than those of the FEM model. Based on its attractive features, it was decided in the present work to extend SFEM further for use in structural-acoustic analysis by coupling it with BEM, the present SFEM/BEM is implemented to predict the vehicle structure-acoustic frequency response analysis, and two numerical experiments results show that the present method can provide more accurate results compared with the standard FEM/BEM using the same mesh. It indicates that the present SFEM/BEM can be widely applied to solving many engineering noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) problems with more accurate solutions.
Comparative Measurements on Loudspeaker Distortion: Current vs. Voltage Control
Authors: Meriläinen Esa
Published: March 2017

Modulation and harmonic distortion produced by ordinary moving-coil direct-radiator drive units are measured under current control and voltage control. A realistic two-tone test signal is used to investigate the detrimental effect of the voice coil electromotive forces on the voltage-to-current conversion that is critical with voltage control. Dramatic improvements in distortion performance are obtained with current control. Current nonlinearities in voltage-controlled speakers are shown to be the dominant source of modulation and odd harmonic distortions at signal frequencies above the fundamental resonance region. Currents in conductive voice coil formers also seem to be significant sources of distortion; with current control and non-conductive formers, odd harmonics and related modulation products virtually vanished in the upper midrange.
Theory of Red Blood Cell Oscillations in an Ultrasound Field
Authors: Johansen Kristoffer , Kimmel Eitan , Postema Michiel
Published: March 2017

Manipulating particles in the blood pool with noninvasive methods has been of great interest in therapeutic delivery. Recently, it was demonstrated experimentally that red blood cells can be forced to translate and accumulate in an ultrasound field. This acoustic response of the red blood cells has been attributed to sonophores, gas pockets that are formed under the influence of a sound field in the inner- membrane leaflets of biological cells. In this paper, we propose a simpler model: that of the compressible membrane. We derive the spatio-temporal cell dynamics for a spherically symmetric single cell, whilst regarding the cell bilayer membrane as two monolayer Newtonian viscous liquids, separated by a thin gas void.

When applying the newly-derived equations to a red blood cell, it is observed that the void inside the bilayer expands to multiples of its original thickness, even at clinically safe acoustic pressure amplitudes. For causing permanent cell rupture during expansion, however, the acoustic pressure amplitudes needed would have to surpass the inertial cavitation threshold by a factor 10.

Given the incompressibility of the inner monolayer, the radial oscillations of a cell are governed by the same set of equations as those of a forced antibubble. Evidently, these equations must hold for liposomes under sonication, as well.
Vibration Transmitted to the Human Body during the Patient’s Ride in a Wheelchair
Authors: Dziechciowski Zygmunt , Kromka-Szydek Magdalena
Published: March 2017

The study investigates the spectra of vibrations transmitted onto the body of a wheelchair user during the ride on typical floor surfaces in public buildings and in their vicinity. Three wheelchair types are considered in the study (universal and active ones). Selected factors are examined that determine the amplitude of vibration acceleration acting upon humans in the analysed frequency range (wheelchair type, user’s body mass, surface type). The spectral analysis gives an insight into some of the factors which lead to a change of the vibration parameters registered at the user’s seat.
Assessment of natural and cultural landscape capacity to proposals the ecological model of tourism development (case study for the area of the Zamagurie region)
Authors: Drábová-Degro Monika , Krnáčová Zdena
Published: March 2017

Agricultural and industrial conditions are not favourable in the uphill and mountain areas of the Zamagurie region, and tourism is often the only opportunity to create new jobs, develop the habitation areas and avoid the emigration of local inhabitants. The Walachian and Sholtys colonization has transformed the landscape and created unique significant spatial landscape elements that are traditionally utilized for agricultural purposes, and create a unique esthetical landscape preserved till the present times. This case study has been aimed at developing and applying the new quantification methods using GIS tools for evaluation of localizing, selective realization and environmental preconditions of the landscape, representing recreational (cultural) services of the landscape ecological systems, based on selected indicators. To evaluate the localizing preconditions of the landscape, we referred to the landscape-ecological complex geo-databases (LEC) (Thematic maps - internal ground document of ZB GIS , 2013), completed with the field survey during the period 2013−2014 and identification of secondary landscape structure elements (SLS) and selected morphometric indicators. While evaluating the selected town-planning, demographical and social-economic indicators, we quantified the selective landscape preconditions of tourism development. The realization preconditions were reviewed according to communication accessibility and material-technical equipment. As for environmental preconditions, we reviewed the presence of protected territory and landscape environmental load.
Pattern-based methods for vulnerability discovery
Authors: Yamaguchi Fabian
Published: March 2017

Discovering and eliminating critical vulnerabilities in program code is a key requirement for the secure operation of
software systems. This task rests primarily on the shoulders of experienced code analysts who inspect programs in-depth to
identify weaknesses. As software systems grow in complexity, while the amount of security critical code increases,
supplying these analysts with effective methods to assist in their work becomes even more crucial. Unfortunately, exact
methods for automated software analysis are rarely of help in practice, as they do not scale to the complexity of
contemporary software projects, and are not designed to benefit from the analyst's domain knowledge. To address this
problem, we present pattern-based vulnerability discovery, a novel approach of devising assistant methods for
vulnerability discovery that are build with a high focus on practical requirements. The approach combines techniques of
static analysis, machine learning, and graph mining to lend imprecise but highly effective methods that allow analysts to
benefit from the machine's pattern recognition abilities without sacrificing the strengths of manual analysis.
Parallel MCNN (pMCNN) with Application to Prototype Selection on Large and Streaming Data
Authors: Susheela Devi V. , Meena Lakhpat
Published: March 2017

The Modified Condensed Nearest Neighbour (MCNN) algorithm for prototype selection is order-independent, unlike the Condensed Nearest Neighbour (CNN) algorithm. Though MCNN gives better performance, the time requirement is much higher than for CNN. To mitigate this, we propose a distributed approach called Parallel MCNN (pMCNN) which cuts down the time drastically while maintaining good performance. We have proposed two incremental algorithms using MCNN to carry out prototype selection on large and streaming data. The results of these algorithms using MCNN and pMCNN have been compared with an existing algorithm for streaming data.
MIDACO Parallelization Scalability on 200 MINLP Benchmarks
Authors: Schlueter Martin , Munetomo Masaharu
Published: March 2017

This contribution presents a numerical evaluation of the impact of parallelization on the performance of an evolutionary algorithm for mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP). On a set of 200 MINLP benchmarks the performance of the MIDACO solver is assessed with gradually increasing parallelization factor from one to three hundred. The results demonstrate that the efficiency of the algorithm can be significantly improved by parallelized function evaluation. Furthermore, the results indicate that the scale-up behaviour on the efficiency resembles a linear nature, which implies that this approach will even be promising for very large parallelization factors. The presented research is especially relevant to CPU-time consuming real-world applications, where only a low number of serial processed function evaluation can be calculated in reasonable time.
Long-term changes in the hydrological regime of high mountain Lake Morskie Oko (Tatra Mountains, Central Europe)
Authors: Ptak Mariusz , Wrzesiński Dariusz , Choiński Adam
Published: March 2017

The paper discusses changes in the hydrological regime of high mountain Lake Morskie Oko located in the Tatra Mountains, in the Tatra Mountains National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve (MaB). According to the research conducted in the years 1971–2015, its water stages decreased by 3.5 cm·dec−1, mean annual water temperature increased by 0.3°C·dec−1 and the duration of ice phenomena and ice cover was reduced by 10 day·dec−1. No considerable changes in maximum values of ice cover thickness were recorded. Such tendencies are primarily caused by long-term changes in climatic conditions – air temperature and atmospheric precipitation. The hydrological regime of the lake was also determined by changes in land use in the lake’s catchment and its location in high mountains.
Developing an index model for flood risk assessment in the western coastal region of Mazandaran, Iran
Authors: Sadeghi-Pouya Alireza , Nouri Jafar , Mansouri Nabiollah , Kia-Lashaki Ali
Published: March 2017

This paper represents an index model developed for the assessment of risk caused by river floods. The main purpose of this model is to evaluate the flood risk in the western coastal region of Mazandaran Province/Iran. The model assesses the risk at triple components, i.e. the flood occurrence probability, vulnerability and consequences, through identification and evaluation of effective criteria categorized into seven indexes (environmental, technical, economic, social, depth, population and sensitivity ones) that are involved in all stages of flooding (source, pathway and receptor). The flood risk in the developed model is defined by a dimensionless magnitude called as risk score between 0 and 100 for each zone of the area under assessment by calculating and combining of two newly defined factors: occurrence and vulnerability factor and impact factor. The model was applied in a case study, the Nowshahr flood in 2012. The results showed that: (i) the flood risk zoning was compared with observed data for aspect of the damages, and general agreement between them was obtained; (ii) for urban zones, which surrounded by two rivers, would easily be in critical condition and rescue operations face difficulties; and (iii) it is necessary to review the location of the emergency services, according the flood risk zoning.
Mathematical modeling of groundwater contamination with varying velocity field
Authors: Das Pintu , Begam Sultana , Singh Mritunjay Kumar
Published: March 2017

In this study, analytical models for predicting groundwater contamination in isotropic and homogeneous porous formations are derived. The impact of dispersion and diffusion coefficients is included in the solution of the advection-dispersion equation (ADE), subjected to transient (time-dependent) boundary conditions at the origin. A retardation factor and zero-order production terms are included in the ADE. Analytical solutions are obtained using the Laplace Integral Transform Technique (LITT) and the concept of linear isotherm. For illustration, analytical solutions for linearly space- and time-dependent hydrodynamic dispersion coefficients along with molecular diffusion coefficients are presented. Analytical solutions are explored for the Peclet number. Numerical solutions are obtained by explicit finite difference methods and are compared with analytical solutions. Numerical results are analysed for different types of geological porous formations i.e., aquifer and aquitard. The accuracy of results is evaluated by the root mean square error (RMSE).
A multi-parameter calibration method for the numerical simulation of morphodynamic problems
Authors: Evangelista Stefania , Giovinco Gaspare , Kocaman Selahattin
Published: March 2017

Calibration of parameters of mathematical models is still a tough task in several engineering problems. Many of the models adopted for the numerical simulations of real phenomena, in fact, are of empirical derivation. Therefore, they include parameters which have to be calibrated in order to correctly reproduce the physical evidence. Thus, the success of a numerical model application depends on the quality of the performed calibration, which can be of great complexity, especially if the number of parameters is higher than one. Calibration is traditionally performed by engineers and researchers through manual trial-and-error procedures. However, since models themselves are increasingly sophisticated, it seems more proper to look at more advanced calibration procedures. In this work, in particular, an optimization technique for a multi-parameter calibration is applied to a two-phase depth-averaged model, already adopted in previous works to simulate morphodynamic processes, such as, for example, the dike erosion by overtopping.
Electrodeposition of multicomponent Co–Cr–Fe–Mn–Ni alloy
Authors: Ivanová S. , Bárta J. , Pazderová M.
Published: March 2017

This work is focused on the initial realization of a multi-component coating deposition from the aqueous solution. The Coating composed of the elements Co-Cr-Fe-Mn-Ni was prepared by electroplating process. The chosen substrate was copper. The purpose of the work was to apply the high entropy alloy, which is defined as alloy with structure of a solid solution containing five or more elements in an approximately equal atomic ratio. The use of electrodeposition in this area is rare. The conditions of the plating process, the percentage of the metal ions and cohesion of the layers were studied. The morphology of the excluded coatings was monitored by scanning electron microscopy and their elemental composition was verified by the EDS analysis. The wear resistant features were examined approximately before and consequently also after the thermal resistance testing.
New bounds for the minimum eigenvalue of 𝓜-tensors
Authors: Zhao Jianxing , Sang Caili
Published: March 2017

A new lower bound and a new upper bound for the minimum eigenvalue of an 𝓜-tensor are obtained. It is proved that the new lower and upper bounds improve the corresponding bounds provided by He and Huang (J. Inequal. Appl., 2014, 2014, 114) and Zhao and Sang (J. Inequal. Appl., 2016, 2016, 268). Finally, two numerical examples are given to verify the theoretical results.
Learnheuristics: hybridizing metaheuristics with machine learning for optimization with dynamic inputs
Authors: Calvet Laura , Armas Jésica de , Masip David , Juan Angel A.
Published: March 2017

This paper reviews the existing literature on the combination of metaheuristics with machine learning methods and then introduces the concept of learnheuristics, a novel type of hybrid algorithms. Learnheuristics can be used to solve combinatorial optimization problems with dynamic inputs (COPDIs). In these COPDIs, the problem inputs (elements either located in the objective function or in the constraints set) are not fixed in advance as usual. On the contrary, they might vary in a predictable (non-random) way as the solution is partially built according to some heuristic-based iterative process. For instance, a consumer’s willingness to spend on a specific product might change as the availability of this product decreases and its price rises. Thus, these inputs might take different values depending on the current solution configuration. These variations in the inputs might require from a coordination between the learning mechanism and the metaheuristic algorithm: at each iteration, the learning method updates the inputs model used by the metaheuristic.