bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using HPIR Class Composite Pipeline Systems to Overcome the Challenges of Rehabilitating or Replacing a Pipeline Across a Navigable Waterway and Environmentally Sensitive Wetlands
Authors: McIntosh Robin , Littlestar Gary , Ekelund Aron
Published: December 2014

One of the biggest challenges that Pipeline Operators face is the rehabilitation or replacement of long, old pipeline segments that have restrictive right-of-way access, such as those crossing a major waterway or highway or through an environmentally sensitive area where traditional dig and replacement is not an option. Typically, these projects have limited options and have high associated costs. Pipeline downtime is also a major factor in the project planning. Horizontal Directional Drilling and lengthy environmental impact studies are two examples of costly and/or time-consuming activities common to these projects. Self-monitoring, high-pressure internal replacement (HPIR class) composite pipeline systems are a viable alternative for replacing these hard to access pipelines, with little disruption to the pipeline right-of-way. HPIR class composite systems are installed into the old pipeline in very long lengths, negating the requirement for multiple excavations along the pipeline.

Although inserted inside the old pipeline, they are not a simple plastic “liner”. They are fully structural, transporting high-pressure oil, gas and hazardous materials, with no dependence on the corroded steel pipeline. State and federal regulatory codes mandate the replacement of pipelines under certain conditions as part of the integrity management programs implemented as a result of the United States 2002 Pipeline Safety Act. However, these codes do not always consider the impact that traditional trenching and replacement has on public safety, nor on environmentally sensitive areas such as wetlands, national parks or endangered species habitats. This paper will address the following aspects of pipeline replacement, in hard-to-access areas, such as those that cross navigable waterways: 1) The traditional methods and limitations related to replacing the pipeline segments in hard-to-access areas 2) Composite technologies available today 3) Case study of replacement of regulated pipeline segments using HPIR class composite pipeline systems.
Pipeline Mechanical Damage Excavation Process Review and Recommendations
Authors: Fredj Abdelfettah , Dinovitzer Aaron , Vignal Geoff , Tiku Sanjay
Published: December 2014

In order to perform pipeline maintenance it is often necessary to excavate the pipeline. To support excavation safety, the pipeline condition and other factors that can promote failure are considered in establishing a safe excavation process. For pipelines that include mechanical damage features, consideration must be given to the response of the pipe during the excavation process. The combination of previously developed and validated mechanical damage and soil structure interaction numerical simulation techniques have been used to simulate the response of operating pipelines to the excavation process. This paper presents a preliminary overview of the application of these numerical simulation tools to establish a safe excavation process for pipeline systems with mechanical damage features characterized by in-line-inspection tool data. The research work described in this paper considers a range of mechanical damage feature geometries, restraint conditions, burial/excavation conditions, pipe geometries and materials, and internal pressures. As a result of applying this work, preliminary excavation procedure and further research recommendations are made to support mechanical damage maintenance programs.
Fitness-for-Service of Unconstrained Shallow Dents
Authors: Bratton Joseph P. , Glass Mitch , Cote Edgar , Gallagher Andy , Harper William V.
Published: December 2014

Current federal regulations in the U.S. require excavation of plain dents identified through in line inspection surveys based primarily on depth. Industry experience, and previous research, has shown that the depth of the dent, alone, is not sufficient to assess dent severity and that releases could occur at dents below the excavation threshold (Dawson, 2006). Canada’s National Energy Board released a safety advisory on June 18, 2010, to all companies under their jurisdiction regarding two incidents involving shallow dents. The safety advisory stated that all integrity management programs should be reviewed and updated where appropriate to address the threat posed by shallow dents. Similar incidents have raised awareness in the United States and elsewhere around the world.

This paper focuses on an extensive multi-year effort to analyze the fitness for service of unconstrained shallow dents on multiple pipeline systems. Fatigue and strain analyses were performed to determine the serviceability and estimate the remaining service life. The dents in this study included both topside dents and bottomside dents that were previously evaluated through excavation to be unconstrained. Results of the fatigue and strain assessments are presented, along with field results of dents that were chosen for excavation.

Comparison of the fitness for service results and subsequent excavation findings were performed to improve an ongoing campaign to prioritize several hundred in-service unconstrained dents. Maximum strain levels of the dents were calculated based on the geometry of the dent as determined by radial sensor measurements from in line inspection surveys. The results of the in-line inspection and field measurement comparisons were analyzed to determine the accuracy and possible adjustments of strain assessments for the ongoing fitness-for-service program.
Laboratory and Numerical Simulations of Pipeline Leakage Behaviour: Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Migration Through Porous Media and Subsequent Atmospheric Dispersion
Authors: Brydie J. R. , Trottier S. , Jafari A. , Rizwan Tania , Derakhshesh Marzie
Published: December 2014

The transport of diluent (i.e. condensate blend) and/or diluted bitumen (i.e. dilbit) using buried pipelines is common practice. Aerial surveys are conducted on a regular basis as a part of the leak detection strategy at Enbridge Pipelines. During these surveys, the pilot flies over the right-of-way to visually inspect the pipeline for leakage along the pipeline corridor. Beyond visual inspection, the detection of proximal indicators of leakage by using remote sensors mounted on the aircraft is proposed in order to further enhance visual aerial leak detection methods. These sensors are designed to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are expected to evolve, even from small liquid leaks within the shallow subsurface and subsequently reach the atmosphere. If these VOCs can be detected in the local atmosphere in the vicinity of a leak during aerial surveys, then small liquid leaks may be more easily identified, characterized and remediated. This study is aimed to characterize and model VOC movement through soil to quantify the amount of VOC concentration expected to diffuse into the atmosphere within the vicinity of leakage.

The experimental study consisted of the characterization of three organic fluids, and one type of soil material representative of that used in pipeline construction. Two types of dilbit with different viscosities, as well as a typical diluent (i.e. condensate), were used because these types of organic fluids are commonly transported using pipelines. Batch laboratory tests were conducted using glass screw top vessels in order to determine the concentration and organic species evolving from these fluids. Headspace VOC and other gas species were characterized after 24 hours following the addition of the fluid to the sealed vessel. Custom designed laboratory-based columns were constructed, based upon scaled down field dimensions, and were used to simulate fluid leakage. Fluid was injected at the base of each column, over which porous media was suspended. Each test characterized the migration of VOCs through the porous medium, VOC breakthrough at the surface and data allowed the calculation of VOC flux into the overlying headspace.

Columns were operated under closed and flow through modes. Data obtained from the laboratory experiments defined bounding parameters for numerical simulations comprising of decoupled subsurface and atmospheric models. Subsurface modelling of the experimentally simulated leakage event was refined and validated using experimental data and a larger scale field leak scenario was modeled. Data from the laboratory testing and subsurface numerical simulations was used to construct atmospheric dispersion models of a potential field leak simulation. All atmospheric dispersion modelling used a Gaussian Dispersion Model within the Polair Software package (Odotech Inc.).
Application of Tensile Strain Models to Multiple Grades of Pipelines
Authors: Zhang Wenwei , Zhang Zhenyong , Zhang Jinyuan , Yang Peng
Published: December 2014

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has constructed large-diameter high-strength pipelines (X70 and X80) in the past decades in areas of seismic activities, mine subsidence, and slope movement using strain-based design (SBD) technology. More pipelines being constructed now traverse regions of active seismic activities, mine subsidence, slope movement, and discontinuous permafrost. CNPC is also interested in moving to linepipe grades higher than X80. In view of the recent development of various tensile strain models, work was undertaken to evaluate those models and determine the most appropriate models for current and future applications.

In this paper, selected tensile strain models are reviewed and evaluated against an experimental database. The database of 80 tests from public-domain publications contains both full-scale pipe tests and curved wide plate tests with 46 tests from high strength pipes (X80 and above). The calculated tensile strain capacity from the selected models was compared with the test data. The models were evaluated and the applicability of the models to the linepipes of different strength levels was discussed.
Dual Threshold Analysis and its Tuning Tool Development for Leak Detection
Authors: Gao Jianping , Chen Mike
Published: December 2014

Dual threshold setting in CPM (Computational Pipeline Monitoring) systems is a concept to apply two kind of thresholds, namely steady state threshold and transient threshold setting to improve sensitivity during steady state operating period and reduce false alarm rate during transient operating period. Dual threshold implementation in CPM systems is not a trivial task since a real time pipeline may go through very complicated hydraulic scenarios. During design phase of dual threshold, the data set evaluated needs to cover on operational scenario long enough to represent the typical operation of the pipeline. The design process needs to include the design of transient/steady state switching, transient and steady state threshold, waiting time etc and tuning of those design parameter to achieve the optima. This calls for effective analysis to ensure its validity and a tuning tool development with user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) to facilitate the tuning efforts from leak detection engineers.

This paper details the process from dual threshold design and analysis to tuning tool development and application of the tool in real time CPM systems. At first, the concept of dual threshold and its design process being employed in CPM systems are reviewed; Secondly the paper discusses an analysis approach in testing and evaluation of dual threshold design in current CPM systems with identification of room for improvement. Next, the paper elaborates the design and development of a dual threshold tuning tool to simplify the process with intensive application of the tool during the threshold tuning of real time CPM systems to improve the detectability of the current leak detection system, finally concludes with some closing remarks.
Overall Framework of Strain-Based Design and Assessment of Pipelines
Authors: Wang Yong-Yi , Liu Ming , Horsley David , Salama Mamdouh , Sen Millan
Published: December 2014

Significant progress has been made in recent years in the development of tensile and compressive strain capacity models. These models, along with various methods of strain demand determination, form the basic building blocks for the strain-based design and assessment (SBDA) of pipelines. At the same time, gaps exist between the current industry practice and the data needed for the proper application of those models. Furthermore the current practice of independently determining the tensile strain capacity, compressive strain capacity, and strain demand may not accurately represent field conditions as these elements interact and influence each other as opposed to act independently.

Key elements related to SBDA are provided for the planning and execution of life-time integrity management of pipelines subjected to high longitudinal strains. The paper places emphasis on two aspects of SBDA: (1) overall framework and (2) considerations that are not adequately covered in the current general industry practices. The entire processes of SBDA, including but not limited to design, material specifications, construction, post-construction field monitoring, and mitigation are covered at high-levels to assist decision-making in practical projects. Detailed methodologies for executing components of SBDA are not covered in this paper, but can be found in the cited references.
First-principles study of nitric oxide oxidation on Pt(111) versus Pt overlayer on 3d transition metals
Authors: Arevalo Ryan Lacdao , Escaño Mary Clare Sison , Kasai Hideaki
Published: December 2014

Catalytic oxidation of NO to NO2 is a significant research interest for improving the quality of air through exhaust gas purification systems. In this paper, the authors studied this reaction on pure Pt and Pt overlayer on 3d transition metals using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations coupled with density functional theory based first principles calculations. The authors found that on the Pt(111) surface, NO oxidation proceeds via the Eley–Rideal mechanism, with O2 dissociative adsorption as the rate-determining step. The oxidation path via the Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism is very slow and does not significantly contribute to the overall reaction. However, in the Pt overlayer systems, the oxidation of NO on the surface is more thermodynamically and kinetically favorable compared to pure Pt. These findings are attributed to the weaker binding of O and NO on the Pt overlayer systems and the binding configuration of NO2 that promotes easier N-O bond formation. These results present insights for designing affordable and efficient catalysts for NO oxidation.
Touchy Subject: A Foucauldian Analysis of Coaches’ Perceptions of Adult-Child Touch in Youth Swimming
Authors: Lang Melanie
Published: December 2014

It has been suggested that child safety discourses are creating an environment in which safety from abuse defines every act of adult-child touch as suspicious, resulting in adults who work with children being positioned as ‘risky’ and child-related settings becoming no-touch zones. Research on the impact of these discourses on coaches is limited and there have been few attempts to theorize coaches’ behaviors to better understand how child safety concerns impact on their practice. Focusing on coaches’ avoidance of child touch, this paper uses a Foucauldian perspective to explore coaches’ embodied disciplinary and emancipatory responses to child protection discourses in competitive youth swimming. It also discusses the implications of coaches’ apprehension about child touch on swimming practice and young athletes.
Not Just Playing the Game: Possibilities of Empowerment Through an Alternative Type of Engagement With Sport in International Development
Authors: Lindsey Iain , O’Gorman Jimmy
Published: December 2014

This paper examines the potential benefits of an alternative type of engagement with sport than is commonly considered in the literature on sport and international development. The research explored the extent to which students from one UK and two Ghanaian universities were empowered through working together to identify proposals for sports equipment in Ghana. A multimethod research design used video diaries and e-mail, text message, verbal and focus group interviews. The findings indicate a number of project design factors that constrained the empowerment of Ghanaian students. However, both Ghanaian and UK students were strongly motivated by, and developed new skills because of, the innovative nature of the project. Similar projects in the future can contribute further to the empowerment of young adults, if designed appropriately.
A successful spontaneous pregnancy in abetalipoproteinemia: Amsterdam or the art of vitamin replacement?
Authors: Ferreira Francisca , Patel Vinod , Matts Suzy
Published: December 2014

Abetalipoproteinemia is a rare metabolic disorder that causes disturbed lipid absorption with consequent hypocholesterolaemia and liposoluble avitaminosis. The broad spectrum of presentations includes malabsorption, failure to thrive and acanthocytosis in children, while later in life expected manifestations include coagulopathy, myopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, peripheral neuropathy, hyporeflexia and ataxia. These neurological complications stem from demyelination secondary to vitamin E deficiency. Another complication is reduced fertility in women. In the event of a successful conception, issues arise in vitamin supplementation, the mainstay of treatment of abetalipoproteinemia. The skilful clinician must master the delicate balance between the teratogenic effects on the fetus of over as well as under replacement of vitamins, pregnancy complications such as premature rupture of membranes and eclampsia, and, finally, maternal complications such as corneal ulcers. We describe the management of a patient ranging from pubertal growth to bearing a successful spontaneous pregnancy with an outcome of a completely healthy mother and child.
Davallia bilabiata Inhibits TNF-α-Induced Adhesion Molecules and Chemokines by Suppressing IKK/NF-kappa B Pathway in Vascular Endothelial Cells
Authors: Yang Rong-Chi , Chang Cheng-Chieh , Sheen Jer-Ming , Wu Hsiao-Ting , Pang Jong-Hwei S. , Huang Sheng-Teng
Published: December 2014

Davallia bilabiata (D. bilabiata) is also called GuSuiBu in Taiwan and is used as a substitute for Drynaria fortunei J. Sm. It is often used for trauma and bone repair. The inhibitory effect of D. bilabiata on inflammatory activity has not been reported. In the present study, we aimed to study the mechanism of anti-inflammation of D. bilabiata on the adhesion of leukocytes to vascular endothelial cells. The results showed that D. bilabiata, at concentrations without cytotoxic effect, inhibited the adhesion of monocytes (THP-1) to the TNF-α-stimulated human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs). D. bilabiata suppressed the expression of the adhesion molecules ICAM, VCAM, and E-selectin at both the mRNA and protein level. In addition, both of the TNF-α-induced mRNA and protein expression of chemokines including fractalkine/CX3CL1, MCP-1 and RANTES as well as the level of secreted soluble fractalkine were decreased by D. bilabiata. We also verified that D. bilabiata inhibited the TNF-α-induced nuclear translocation of NF-κB through the inhibitory process on the TNF-α-activated phosphorylation of IKKα, IKKβ, IκB and NF-κB. All together, we concluded that the D. bilabiata affected the canonical pathway of TNF-α-induced NF-κB activation and down-regulated cell adhesion molecules and chemokine expression through inhibition of the NF-κB/IκBα/IKK signaling pathway. These findings strongly indicated that D. bilabiata might be a promising alternative/adjunct treatment for inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Development of Energy-aware Mobile Applications Based on Resource Outsourcing
Authors: Lee Byoung-Dai , Lim Kwang-Ho , Kim Namgi
Published: December 2014

Smart connected devices such as smartphones and tablets are battery-operated to facilitate their mobility. Therefore, low power consumption is a critical requirement for mobile hardware and for the software designed for such devices. In addition to efficient power management techniques and new battery technologies based on nanomaterials, cloud computing has emerged as a promising technique for reducing energy consumption as well as augmenting the computational and memory capabilities of mobile devices. In this study, we designed and implemented a framework that allows for the energy-efficient execution of mobile applications by partially offloading the workload of a mobile device onto a resourceful cloud. This framework comprises a development toolkit, which facilitates the development of mobile applications capable of supporting computation offloading, and a runtime infrastructure for deployment in the cloud. Using this framework, we implemented three different mobile applications and demonstrated that considerable energy savings can be achieved compared with local processing for both resource-intensive and lightweight applications, especially when using high-speed networks such as Wi-Fi and Long-Term Evolution.
Bones
Authors: Nugteren Cedric , Corporaal Henk
Published: December 2014

The shift toward parallel processor architectures has made programming and code generation increasingly challenging. To address this
programmability
challenge, this article presents a technique to fully automatically generate efficient and readable code for parallel processors (with a focus on GPUs). This is made possible by combining algorithmic skeletons, traditional compilation, and “
algorithmic species
,” a classification of program code. Compilation starts by automatically annotating C code with class information (the algorithmic species). This code is then fed into the skeleton-based source-to-source compiler
bones
to generate CUDA code. To generate efficient code,
bones
also performs optimizations including host-accelerator transfer optimization and kernel fusion. This results in a unique approach, integrating a skeleton-based compiler for the first time into an automated flow. The benefits are demonstrated experimentally for PolyBench GPU kernels, showing geometric mean speed-ups of 1.4× and 2.4× compared to
ppcg
and
Par4All
, and for five Rodinia GPU benchmarks, showing a gap of only 1.2× compared to hand-optimized code.
PEACH2
Authors: Kodama Yuetsu , Hanawa Toshihiro , Boku Taisuke , Sato Mitsuhisa
Published: December 2014

In recent years, heterogeneous clusters using accelerators are often used for high performance computing systems. In such clusters, inter-node communication between accelerators requires several memory copies via CPU memory, and the communication latency incurred severely reduces performance. To solve this problem, we have been proposing a Tightly Coupled Accelerators (TCA) architecture intended to reduce the communication latency between accelerators over different nodes. In the TCA architecture, PCI Express packets are used for communication among GPUs over nodes. We developed a communication chip that we call the named PEACH2 chip, to help implement the TCA architecture. In this paper, we describe the details of the design and implementation of the PEACH2 chip, with respect to its routing mechanism and its DMA controller using FPGA. We evaluated the PEACH2 on a new platform that uses the latest Xeon CPU, IvyBridge, and achieved 2.3 GBytes/sec between GPUs over nodes, while the performance was only 880 MBytes/sec on the previous platform with SandyBridge.
FPGA-based Custom Computing Architecture for Large-Scale Fluid Simulation with Building Cube Method
Authors: Sano Kentaro , Chiba Ryotaro , Ueno Tomoya , Suzuki Hayato , Ito Ryo , Yamamoto Satoru
Published: December 2014

We are designing a custom computing machine for large-scale flui simulation with the building-cube method (BCM). In BCM, parallel computation is performed with cubes, each of which is an orthogonal grid with a f xed resolution of cells. Although BCM is advantageous in balancing loads with cubes, it also has a problem of efficien y and scalability for comptuting with general-purpose supercomputers due to insufficien memory bandwidth and communication overhead of an interconnection network. In this paper, we present a custom computing architecture for FPGA-based scalable BCM computation with a dedicated network, called an accelerator domain network (ADN). We design a cube engine which allows bandwidth-efficien computation of cubes based on streamed stencil computation of the fractional-step method. Through prototype implementation, we evaluate the potential performance of the architecture. For ALTERA Stratix V 28nm FPGA, we estimate that a single FPGA has the peak performance of 107 GFlop/s in a single precision.
Finding Your Niche During the MOOC Revolution
Authors: Liljegren Donna Gardner , Trombetta Lisa
Published: December 2014

Elmhurst College, a small, four-year, liberal arts college, identified its niche and used partnerships to develop and market a successful MOOC promoting its programs in geospatial science. The authors explain how the same process may help you to identify and launch MOOCs to a niche audience.
Approaches and Challenges in Database Intrusion Detection
Authors: Santos Ricardo Jorge , Bernardino Jorge , Vieira Marco
Published: December 2014

Databases often support enterprise business and store its secrets. This means that securing them from data damage and information leakage is critical. In order to deal with intrusions against database systems, Database Intrusion Detection Systems (DIDS) are frequently used. This paper presents a survey on the main database intrusion detection techniques currently available and discusses the issues concerning their application at the database server layer. The identified weak spots show that most DIDS inadequately deal with many characteristics of specific database systems, such as ad hoc workloads and alert management issues in data warehousing environments, for example. Based on this analysis, research challenges are presented, and requirements and guidelines for the design of new or improved DIDS are proposed. The main finding is that the development and benchmarking of specifically tailored DIDS for the context in which they operate is a relevant issue, and remains a challenge. We trust this work provides a strong incentive to open the discussion between both the security and database research communities.
Strategic Information Diffusion
Authors: Ajorlou Amir , Jadbabaie Ali , Kakhbod Ali
Published: December 2014

Frequent drops of prices to zero is a common phenomenon in price trends of many smartphone applications. The only means by which many of these apps spread is the word of mouth of their users. Motivated by these observations, we study the problem of optimal dynamic pricing in a social network where agents can only get informed about the product via word of mouth from a friend who has already bought the product. We show that for a durable product such as many apps, the optimal policy should drop the price to zero infinitely often, giving away the immediate profit in full to expand the informed network in order to exploit it in future. We further show that, beside the word of mouth nature of the information diffusion, this behavior crucially depends on the type of the product being offered. For a nondurable product, although the firm may initially make some free offers to expand its network, after a finite period, it will fix the price at a level that extracts the maximum profit from the already informed population.
A First Look at Colocation Demand Response
Authors: Ren Shaolei , Islam Mohammad A.
Published: December 2014

Large data centers can participate in demand response programs\ and receive financial benefits by reducing energy consumption upon utility's request. However, the existing research has only considered demand response by owner-operated data centers (e.g., Google), leaving out another distinctly different yet integral part of the data center industry --- multi-tenant colocation data centers (a.k.a., colocation or "colo"), where the space is shared by multiple tenants for housing self-owned servers. A major hurdle hindering colocation demand response is "split incentive": the colocation operator may desire demand response, but lacks control over the tenants' servers; the tenants, on the other hand, can reduce server energy consumption but may not desire demand response unless they are properly incentivized. In this paper, we present a first-of-its-kind study on colocation demand response and propose an incentive mechanism, called iCODE (incentivizing COlocation tenants for DEmand response), which breaks the split-incentive barrier for colocation demand response. iCODE allows the tenants to voluntarily bid for energy reduction when demand response is needed and receive monetary rewards if their bids are accepted. We formally model tenants' bids and how the colocation operator decides the winning bids to maximize total energy reduction without profit loss. We demonstrate the potential of colocation demand response by using a trace-based simulation to show that iCODE can significantly reduce energy consumption (e.g., up to over 50%) during demand response periods.
Screening Dementia in the Outpatient Department: Patients at Risk for Dementia
Authors: Tai Shu-Yu , Huang Shu-Wan , Hsu Chia-Ling , Yang Chiu-Hsien , Chou Mei-Chuan , Yang Yuan-Han
Published: December 2014

The targeted screening for individuals at the risks of having dementia would be crucial to the further public health issues for dementia. This study aimed to conduct a screening study in an outpatient department of a regional hospital to screen people who were at risk of developing comorbid dementia. Patients who visited Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital (KMTTH) clinics during the period from June 1, 2013, to May 31, 2014, were invited to participate in this screening voluntarily. The trained interviewer collected all participants’ demographic characteristics and used the instrument of ascertainment of dementia 8 (AD8) to find out suspected dementia ones. The result showed a higher ratio (24.1%) of suspected dementia in the outpatient department of a hospital, 500 out of 2017 subjects, than that in the general population. The median (interquartile range) age was significantly higher in the suspected dementia participants (70, (62, 77)) compared to that in nonsuspected dementia ones (65, (60, 73)), and the probability of suspected dementia was significantly increasing with age(P < 0.001). Instead of screening dementia in general population, screening people at the risk of dementia could be the practicable and important issues in the care of dementia.
Triad of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, Preeclampsia, and HELLP Syndrome in a Parturient: A Rare Confrontation to the Anesthetist
Authors: Mehta Tanu , Parikh Geeta P. , Shah Veena R.
Published: December 2014

Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) with HELLP represents a rare complication that requires combined care of obstetrician, anesthesiologist, hematologist, and neonatologist. At 37-week gestation a 35-year-old parturient (G2A1P0) a known case of chronic ITP presented with severe pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH), thrombocytopenia, and elevated liver enzymes. We describe successful anesthetic management of this patient who was taken for emergency caesarean section.
Episodic and Semantic Autobiographical Memory in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Authors: Múnera Claudia P. , Lomlomdjian Carolina , Gori Belen , Terpiluk Verónica , Medel Nancy , Solís Patricia , Kochen Silvia
Published: December 2014

Autobiographical memory (AM) is understood as the retrieval of personal experiences that occurred in specific time and space. To date, there is no consensus on the role of medial temporal lobe structures in AM. Therefore, we investigated AM in medial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients. Twenty TLE patients candidates for surgical treatment, 10 right (RTLE) and 10 left (LTLE), and 20 healthy controls were examined with a version of the Autobiographical Interview adapted to Spanish language. Episodic and semantic AM were analyzed during five life periods through two conditions: recall and specific probe. AM scores were compared with clinical and cognitive data. TLE patients showed lower performance in episodic AM than healthy controls, being significantly worst in RTLE group and after specific probe. In relation to semantic AM, LTLE retrieved higher amount of total semantic details compared to controls during recall, but not after specific probe. No significant differences were found between RTLE and LTLE, but a trend towards poorer performance in RTLE group was found. TLE patients obtained lower scores for adolescence period memories after specific probe. Our findings support the idea that the right hippocampus would play a more important role in episodic retrieval than the left, regardless of a temporal gradient.
The Use of D-Optimal Mixture Design in Optimising Okara Soap Formulation for Stratum Corneum Application
Authors: Borhan Farrah Payyadhah , Abd Gani Siti Salwa , Shamsuddin Rosnah
Published: December 2014

Okara, soybean waste from tofu and soymilk production, was utilised as a natural antioxidant in soap formulation for stratum corneum application. D-optimal mixture design was employed to investigate the influence of the main compositions of okara soap containing different fatty acid and oils (virgin coconut oil A (24–28% w/w), olive oil B (15–20% w/w), palm oil C (6–10% w/w), castor oil D (15–20% w/w), cocoa butter E (6–10% w/w), and okara F (2–7% w/w)) by saponification process on the response hardness of the soap. The experimental data were utilized to carry out analysis of variance (ANOVA) and to develop a polynomial regression model for okara soap hardness in terms of the six design factors considered in this study. Results revealed that the best mixture was the formulation that included 26.537% A, 19.999% B, 9.998% C, 16.241% D, 7.633% E, and 7.000% F. The results proved that the difference in the level of fatty acid and oils in the formulation significantly affects the hardness of soap. Depending on the desirable level of those six variables, creation of okara based soap with desirable properties better than those of commercial ones is possible.
The Relationship between Some Regular Subsemigroups ofHypG2
Authors: Wongpinit Weerapong , Leeratanavalee Sorasak
Published: December 2014

The concept of regular subsemigroups plays an important role in the theory of semigroup. In this work, we study the relationship between some regular subsemigroups on the monoid of all generalized hypersubstitutions of typeτ=(2).
Hippocampal Necrosis in a Cat from Australia
Authors: Adagra Carl , Piripi Susan Amanda
Published: December 2014

This paper reports findings from a feline case of hippocampal necrosis. A seven-year-old neutered female cat was seen with a history of behavioural change followed by complex focal seizures. The cat was severely pyrexic on presentation and anisocoria was present. It was treated with cooling, intravenous fluid, and phenobarbitone administration which was later changed to levetiracetam. An MRI was performed and revealed findings of a hypointense T1 and hyperintense T2 signal in the hippocampus and inferior temporal gyrus with mild gadolinium uptake, findings which were consistent with previous cases of hippocampal necrosis. The cat was witnessed to vomit and aspirate 24 hours after diagnosis leading to cardiac arrest and death. Postmortem examination revealed a subacute degenerative encephalopathy involving the hippocampus.
Temporal Variation and Concentration Weighted Trajectory Analysis of Lead in PM10 Aerosols at a Site in Central Delhi, India
Authors: Chandra Subhash , Kulshrestha Monika J. , Singh Ruchi
Published: December 2014

Ambient levels of lead (Pb) in PM10 were studied at a site in Central Delhi for the period of one year during day and night. The annual mean concentration of lead has been observed as 625 and 1051 ng/m3 during day and night time, respectively. The seasonal averaged concentrations of Pb have followed the order winter > postmonsoon > summer > monsoon. Highest levels of lead have been observed in winter with 31% samples exceeding the CPCB-NAAQS value as 1000 ng/m3. Lead levels during winter have been found to be 5.7 times higher than in monsoon, which might be attributed to prevailing meteorological conditions and more biomass burning. The low levels of Pb during summer might be attributed to its higher dispersion in the atmosphere. A sharp rise of Pb during postmonsoon might be linked to the local nonpoint sources, more biomass burning, and shifting of boundary layer. However, the higher concentrations of lead were observed during night time in all the seasons of the year as compared to those of the day time. To identify the potential source regions of Pb, Concentration Weighted Trajectories (CWT) have been plotted which showed higher influence of local sources during winter and postmonsoon while showing distant sources during summer.
Ethyl Acetate Extract from Celastrus aculeatus Merr. Suppresses Synovial Inflammation in Adjuvant Arthritis Rats through Apoptosis Induction of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ T Cells
Authors: Bai Shu-tong , Chen Pei-hong , Chen Yu-yao , Lin Xiao-chun , Liu Jun-shan , Tong Li
Published: December 2014

Celastrus aculeatus Merr. has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in clinic. However, the main active fraction of this plant is still unclear. In this study, we attempted to evaluate the suppressive effect of ethyl acetate extract (EAE) from Celastrus aculeatus Merr. on synovial inflammation in adjuvant arthritis (AA) rats induced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra (Mtb) and to explore the underlying mechanisms. SD rats immunized with heat‐killed Mtb were fed with EAE and observed for erythema, swelling, and induration of each paw. The pathologic changes in joint synovium were tested by hematoxylin‐eosin staining. Apoptosis induction of synoviocytes was tested immunohistochemically. Apoptosis of peripheral lymphocytes and the level of regulatory T cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. After treatment with EAE, the joint inflammation in rats with AA was alleviated. Both apoptotic ratios of synoviocytes and peripheral lymphocytes and the ratio of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ to CD4 regulatory T cells were significantly increased. In summary, we first demonstrated that EAE of Celastrus aculeatus Merr. can inhibit synovial inflammation in AA rats through apoptosis induction of CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ T cells. Our study provides a rationale for the application of Celastrus aculeatus Merr. to treat RA.
Synthesis of Malononitrile-Condensed Disperse Dyes and Application on Polyester and Nylon Fabrics
Authors: Lams Yusuf Y. , Nkeonye P. O. , Bello K. A. , Yakubu M. K. , Lawal A. O.
Published: December 2014

An active methylene compound, malononitrile, was introduced into the structures of a series of disperse dyes previously prepared by coupling phloroglucinol, barbituric acid, and α and β-naphtho to 4-amino-3-nitrobenzaldehyde. The dyes were purified by recrystallization from ethanol. The purity of the dyes was examined by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and the dyes were characterized by visible absorption and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The malononitrile-condensed dyes produced deeper colours and shades with better fastness to wash, light, and perspiration on application to polyester and nylon fabrics when compared to their uncondensed analogue.
The Mind and Liver Test: A New Approach to the Diagnosis of Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy in Resource-Poor Settings
Authors: Das Saurav , Ali Sajjadh M. J. , Seward James , Venkataraman Jayanthi
Published: December 2014

Background and Aims. Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is diagnosed using neuropsychometric tests or neurophysiological tests that are either inapplicable to illiterate patient population in resource-poor settings or require sophisticated and expensive equipment. The available tests assess discrete domains of mental impairment. Our aim was (a) to design a neuropsychometric test that measures all domains of mental impairment in MHE using one metric; (b) to evaluate its sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility.Methods. The mind and liver test (MALT), a psychometric test assessing cognition, memory, and psychometric impairment, each on a scale of 20, was designed keeping in mind the requirements of a universal test. 40 cirrhotics and 36 controls were subjected to critical flicker frequency (CFF) and MALT in same sitting. ROC curve was plotted for MALT using CFF as gold standard. Bland-Altman plot was used to find test-retest agreement.Results. CFF values and MALT scores varied significantly between the cases and the controls(P< 0.05). MALT was 94% sensitive and 83% specific. Using ROC with CFF as gold standard, the AUC for diagnosis of MHE using MALT score was 0.89. Test-retest agreement was high (ICC = 0.89).Conclusion. In this pilot study, MALT proved to be highly sensitive, specific, inexpensive, and reproducible.
Clinical Evaluation of Various Thyroid Hormones on Thyroid Function
Authors: Li Hong , Yuan Xiaolan , Liu Lu , Zhou Jiaojiao , Li Chunyan , Yang Peng , Bu Le , Zhang Manna , Qu Shen
Published: December 2014

To clarify the clinical value of serums total triiodothyronine (TT3), total thyroxine (TT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and free thyroxine (FT4) and provide a more eligible and economic strategy to assess thyroid function. A total of 2,673 participants (500 patients with hyperthyroidism, 500 patients with hypothyroidism, and 1,673 healthy people) were involved in our study. Serums TT3, TT4, FT3, and FT4 and thyrotropin (TSH) were measured with VIDAS fluorescent enzyme immunoassay. The Pearson correlation between TT3, TT4, FT3, and FT4 and TSH was determined to identify the most important indicator for thyroid function besides TSH. The correlation of TT4, and FT4 with TSH was statistically significant in healthy individuals (P< 0.01), and theR-values were −0.065 and −0.152, respectively. The correlation of TT4, FT4, TT3, and FT3 with TSH was statistically significant in patients with hyperthyroidism, and theR-values were −0.241, −0.225, −0.195, and −0.176, respectively. The correlation of TT4, FT4, TT3, and FT3 with TSH was statistically significant in patients with hypothyroidism, and theR-values were −0.322, −0.262, −0.179, and −0.136, respectively. In our opinion, TSH and FT4 are the most valuable indicators in assessing thyroid function in a healthy population, and TSH and TT4 are the most meaningful in hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.
Improving Hip Fracture Care in Ireland: A Preliminary Report of the Irish Hip Fracture Database
Authors: Ellanti Prasad , Cushen Breda , Galbraith Adam , Brent Louise , Hurson Conor , Ahern Emer
Published: December 2014

Introduction. Hip fractures are common injuries in the older persons, with significant associated morbidity and mortality. The Irish Hip Fracture Database (IHFD) was implemented to monitor standards of care against international standards.Methods. The IHFD is a clinically led web-based audit. We summarize the data collected on hip fractures from April 2012 to March 2013 from 8 centres.Results. There were 843 patients with the majority being (70%) female. The 80–89-year age group accounted for the majority of fractures (44%). Most (71%) sustained a fall at home. Intertrochanteric fractures (40%) were most common. Only 28% were admitted to an orthopaedic ward within 4 hours. The majority (97%) underwent surgery with 44% having surgery within 36 hours. Medical optimization (35%) and lack of theatre space (26%) accounted for most of the surgical delay. While 29% were discharged home, 33% were discharged to a nursing home or other long-stay facilities. There was a 4% in-hospital mortality rate.Conclusions. Several key areas in both the database and aspects of patient care needing improvement have been highlighted. The implementation of similar databases has led to improved hip fracture care in other countries and we believe this can be replicated in Ireland.
Motor Neuron Syndrome as a New Phenotypic Manifestation of Mutation 9185T>C in Gene MTATP6
Authors: Brum Marisa , Semedo Cristina , Guerreiro Rui , Pinto Marques José
Published: December 2014

Background.The mutation 9185T>C in ATP6 gene, associated with Leigh syndrome, was reported in only few families. Motor neuron disease (MND), both clinically and electrophysiologically, was not previously described in association with this mutation.Case Report.33-year-old male, with family history of mitochondrial disease, presented with cognitive impairment, exercise intolerance, and progressive muscle weakness. Examination revealed global hypotonia, and proximal tetraparesis, without atrophy or fasciculation, pyramidal signs, or sensory symptoms. The laboratory findings revealed an increase of lactate and lactate/pyruvate ratio; electromyogram showed chronic neurogenic compromise; muscle biopsy was suggestive of spinal muscular atrophy and mitochondriopathy; genetic study of SMN1 was negative but detected a homoplasmic mutation 9185T>C in ATP6 gene. His younger sister, with the same mutation, had cognitive impairment, ataxia, and muscle weakness. EMG showed axonal peripheral neuropathy.Conclusion.This case is unique because of the benignity and the coexistence of clinical, neurophysiological, and pathological findings suggestive of MND that, although described in mitochondrial disease, have not yet been reported in association with 9185T>C mutation. The present case contributes to the expansion of the phenotypic expressions of this particular mutation.
Force/Position Hybrid Control of 6PUS-UPU Redundant Driven Parallel Manipulator Based on 2-DOF Internal Model Control
Authors: Zheng Kuijing , Wang Chao
Published: December 2014

To improve control performance of parallel manipulator, servo control is optimized according to 2-DOF control with Internal Model Control. Position loop of the controller is redesigned based on the original current loop and speed loop. The hybrid force/position control strategy on the basis of cross-coupling is proposed. With mechatronic cosimulation system, it is proved that the force/position hybrid control on the basis of 2-DOF Internal Model Control has better stability and position precision compared with the traditional PID control. The control precision and stability of the parallel manipulator are improved effectively in actual experiment. Two types of compliance operation including peg in hole and surface tracking are realized in 6PUS-UPU parallel manipulator and both have good applicable effect.
Efficiency of High‐Order Accurate Difference Schemes for the Korteweg‐de Vries Equation
Authors: Poochinapan Kanyuta , Wongsaijai Ben , Disyadej Thongchai
Published: December 2014

Two numerical models to obtain the solution of the KdV equation are proposed. Numerical tools, compact fourth‐order and standard fourth‐order finite difference techniques, are applied to the KdV equation. The fundamental conservative properties of the equation are preserved by the finite difference methods. Linear stability analysis of two methods is presented by the Von Neumann analysis. The new methods give second‐ and fourth‐order accuracy in time and space, respectively. The numerical experiments show that the proposed methods improve the accuracy of the solution significantly.