bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Individual‐Level Effect of Gender Matching in Representative Bureaucracy
Authors: Guul Thorbjørn Sejr 
Published: January 2018

AbstractA substantial literature links passive bureaucratic gender representation to better outcomes for represented citizens. However, because existing studies have been carried out primarily at the organizational level, it is not known whether these effects are caused by individual‐level interaction or by organizational processes. This article investigates whether gender matching in individual relationships affects citizen outcomes. The context of the study is a program in which young job seekers without vocational training were assigned to a job counselor for one‐on‐one meetings. The article finds that gender matching has a positive effect on citizen outcomes and that this effect is partly explained by an increased level of effort on the part of the citizen. This implies that citizen outcomes can be improved by matching bureaucrats and citizens of the same gender or by providing training to bureaucrats to enable them to better serve citizens of the opposite gender.
Exploration of experimental design and statistical methods using the stick‐on‐the‐wall spaghetti rule
Authors: Montangero Simone , Vittone Francesca , Olderbak Sally , Wilhelm Oliver 
Published: January 2018

SummaryWe present a versatile scenario to introduce students to statistics: the test that spaghetti sticks only if sufficiently done. The statistical analyses can be performed at different levels of complexity and formal correctness, adapting it to the students' age.
Current practices in perioperative blood management for patients undergoing liver resection: a survey of surgeons and anesthesiologists
Authors: Bennett Sean , Ayoub Abdul , Tran Alexandre , English Shane , Tinmouth Alan , McIsaac Daniel I. , Fergusson Dean , Martel Guillaume 
Published: January 2018

BACKGROUNDDevelopment of intraoperative techniques and blood management strategies in liver resection, and the multidisciplinary nature of perioperative transfusion decision making, creates an opportunity for practice variation. The aim of this study was to describe the current practices in perioperative blood management and explore differences between surgeons and anesthesiologists.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODSA Web‐based survey was developed, piloted, and circulated to Canadian liver surgeons and anesthesiologists. The survey focused on management of preoperative anemia, blood conservation strategies, estimation of blood loss, and transfusion decision making in a multidisciplinary setting.RESULTSA total of 198 physicians received the survey, with 117 responding (59%). Most responding surgeons (67%) perform more than 20 liver resections per year, while most responding anesthesiologists (90%) take part in fewer than 20. Anesthesiologists most commonly stated that preoperative anemia is managed by someone else (38%), while surgeons most commonly reported “no specific treatment” (45%). The most common intraoperative blood conservation technique used is administration of antifibrinolytics (63% used them at least occasionally). The most important factor for anesthesiologists when deciding on an intraoperative transfusion was hemoglobin value (47%); for surgeons, it was patient hemodynamics (33%). Compared to when they started their career, 60% of respondents felt that they were less likely to transfuse a patient now.CONCLUSIONThe results of our survey provide insights into current transfusion practice and decision making in liver resection, including a comparison between anesthesiologist and surgeon transfusion behavior. Management of preoperative anemia, increased use of intraoperative blood conservation techniques, and improved communication between providers were identified as targets for quality improvement.
Enteral nutrition for the intubated adult intensive care unit patient prior to general anesthesia: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Barrick Christy , Stewart Mary W. 
Published: January 2018

Review question:
The objectives of this scoping review are to examine and map fasting times for adult intubated intensive care unit (ICU) patients prior to general anesthesia and patient outcomes following the cessation of enteral nutrition, to examine and conceptually map the evidence, and identify any gaps.
Specifically, the review questions are:What fasting times are implemented prior to general anesthesia among adult intubated ICU patients?Do fasting times vary, depending on the type of surgical intervention?What outcomes, including but not limited to aspiration, malnutrition and mortality, have been reported following the cessation of enteral nutrition prior to general anesthesia among adult intubated ICU patients?
Vocational rehabilitation for emergency services personnel: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Alexander Lyndsay , Cooper Kay 
Published: January 2018

Review question:The objective of this scoping review is to examine and map the range of vocational rehabilitation available for law enforcement and emergency services personnel.More specifically, the scoping review questions are:1. What types of vocational rehabilitation for police fire, and emergency medical service personnel from developed countries have been reported?2. What are the characteristics of the vocational rehabilitation (such as but not limited to physical interventions, psychological interventions or mixed content interventions) reported for police, fire and emergency medical service personnel from developed countries?3. In what context (healthcare setting, work setting or rehabilitation setting) are the vocational rehabilitation programs provided for police, fire and emergency medical service personnel from developed countries?
Baseline Evaluation of Ignition Timing and Compression Ratio Configurations on Efficiency and Combustion Stability of a Small-Bore, Two-Stroke, Natural Gas Engine
Authors: Darzi Mahdi , Johnson Derek , Ulishney Chris , Bade Mehar , Zamani Nima 
Published: January 2018

Two-stroke engines continue to dominate the small engine market based on cost and simplicity, though companies have incorporated small four-stroke engines into handheld equipment. On the other end of the displacement spectrum, two-stroke natural gas engines are common in large-bore applications within the natural gas compression industry. Nearly 60% of homes utilize natural gas and could therefore benefit from its use as fuel for decentralized power generation. Such use for home applications does not require significant investment in infrastructure, which has limited its penetration into the transportation sector. Companies already offer back-up power generation systems for home use fueled by either natural gas or propane. These systems are often cost prohibitive and rely on four-stroke engines.
The ultimate goal is to apply advanced technologies, such as direct fuel injection, to improve efficiency of small two-stroke engines. To establish a baseline, researchers developed a micro-engine test facility to examine effects of ignition timing, compression ratio, and intake and exhaust systems on efficiency and combustion stability. This research focuses on an air-cooled, spark-ignited, two-stroke engine converted to operate on natural gas. In addition to fuel conversion, an electronic ignition system replaced the stock magneto driven coil. The added trigger wheel provided a signal for control of ignition and injection timing, and for in-cylinder pressure time alignment. Engine displacement was 29-cc with a bore and stroke of 35 mm and 30 mm. Tests were performed on gasoline and a natural gas blend at an engine speed of 5400 RPM. Fuel flow was adjusted for each case to produce maximum brake torque. Two different fuel delivery methods were tested for natural gas — a mass flow controller and an electronic port fuel injector. Tests examined the effects of two compression ratios for spark timings of 15, 20, 25, and 30 CAD BTDC. Fumigation and port injection decreased efficiency compared to gasoline by 24 and 32%, respectively. Brake power also decreased by 64 and 65% on average. A similar trend occurred for delivery ratio due to the volume of fresh air displaced by natural gas. Delivery ratio of fumigation and port injection decreased compared to gasoline by 12 and 27%, respectively. The coefficient of variation in indicated mean effective pressure varied from six to 27% over compression ratio and ignition timing sweeps.
Three-Dimensional CFD Simulation of Prime Mover Stirling Engine
Authors: Rogdakis E. , Bitsikas P. , Dogkas G. 
Published: January 2018

A three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics - CFD simulation is conducted on a Stirling engine. The temperature in the engine spaces and the temperature profile along the regenerator are graphically presented, along with the density and the gas flow patterns in selected parts of the engine. The maximum value of pressure drop is slightly more than 6% of the mean engine pressure at the same instance. The maximum loss due to pressure drop is equal to 5 kW.
In addition, the CFD results are compared to those coming from a one-dimensional model. The comparison includes data regarding the pressure of the gas during the engine cycle, the gas mass flow-rate in all the engine spaces, the respective points of flow reversal and the gas pressure drop.
Finally, the net work output and efficiency of the engine are calculated. The net work output of the engine is equal to 6.7 kW and the engine’s efficiency is equal to 51%. The possible sources of further losses are discussed.
Effect of Molecular Weight and Concentration on Gel-Spun UHMWPE Fibers With Polybutene as a New Spin Solvent
Authors: Fang Xudong , Jing Weixuan , Zhao Libo , Zhao Yulong , Jiang Zhuangde 
Published: January 2018

Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers have been investigated for years to improve performance with gel spinning process for wide applications in industry. Various spin solvents have been attempted including paraffin oil, decahydronaphthalene (decalin), kerosene etc. However, more work still needs to be done because of environmental issues or long extraction process of the aforementioned solvents. Recently, polybutene was found to be an effective spin solvent for UHMWPE fibers, which is environmentally friendly and widely available on the market. Besides producing high strength fibers, compared to paraffin oil, polybutene can form a gel with UHMWPE showing stronger phase separation behavior at room temperature. Because of this property, more extraction solvents can be saved. It was also demonstrated with experiments that the extraction efficiency is higher than that of the gel fiber formed with paraffin oil. Thus, polybutene has high potential to be used in large-scale production of UHMWPE fibers, which deserves further study.
In this work, polybutene with different molecular weight was used to form spin dopes with UHMWPE. The dope concentration for each type of polybutene was also varied to check the effect of molecular weight and dope concentration on fiber properties. Viscoelastic properties of the spin dopes were obtained with parallel plate rheometry while thermodynamic properties of the dopes were characterized with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermal gravitational analysis (TGA). With optimized processing conditions, high strength fibers were collected and the crystalline structure was examined with wide angel X-ray diffraction (WAXD). DSC and TGA data also provided support for the effect of molecular weight and concentration of polybutene. It can be found that stronger fibers are obtained with lower concentration spin dopes. The viscosity of the dopes and corresponding spinning conditions are significantly affected by molecular weight of polybutene. Extraction efficiency is affected by both molecular weight and dope concentration. To obtain cost-effective superstrong UHMWPE fibers, an optimized design is needed based on the molecular weight of polybutene and the spin dope concentration.
Determination of a Pressure Drop in the Arteriovenous Fistula With Fluid Structure Interaction Simulations and In Vitro Methods
Authors: Jodko Daniel , Palczynski Tomasz , Reorowicz Piotr , Miazga Kacper , Obidowski Damian , Jozwik Krzysztof 
Published: January 2018

A pressure drop and its oscillations occurring in the arteriovenous fistula due to sudden changes in the velocity vector direction or the transitional or turbulent flow, related to its complicated geometry, can exert a significant impact on the blood vessel wall behaviour. On the other hand, the pressure drop cannot be precisely measured in vivo with non-invasive measurement methods.
The aim of this study is to assess the pressure drop with numerical and experimental methods in the patient-specific fistula model taking into account a pulsating nature of the flow and the elasticity of blood vessel walls. An additional target is to find a correlation between these two methods.
FSI and in vitro simulations of the blood flow were performed for a patient-specific model of the fistula. Basic geometrical data of the correctly functioning mature fistula were obtained with angio-computed tomography. Those data were applied to develop a spatial CAD model of the fistula, which allowed for creating a virtual model for computer simulations and an analogous in vitro model made with rapid prototyping techniques. The material used to build the in vitro model is characterised by mechanical properties similar to the arterial tissue. A non-stationary computer simulation was carried out with an ANSYS software package, keeping as many flow similarities to the experiments carried out on the test stand as possible, and where the blood mimicking fluid was a water solution of glycerine. During the experiments, the static pressure was measured downstream and upstream of the anastomosis with precise pressure transducers.
The pressure drop was determined with the numerical and experimental methods, which take into account the elasticity of blood vessels. This is a novel approach, since most of similar studies were conducted on the assumption of rigid blood vessel walls. The obtained results show that the pressure drop within the fistula is not so high as reported in the literature, which is correlated with the precision of measurement methods and the fact that a large portion of the fluid energy is accumulated by the elastic walls.
Effect of Thermal Treatment on Bioactivity of Experimental Dental Cement
Authors: Fialkova Svitlana , Flores Jair , Yarmolenko Sergey , Sankar Jagannathan , Ndungu Geoffrey , Wilkinson Kevin 
Published: January 2018

Objective. The purpose of this study was to characterize and to evaluate the effect of thermal treatment on properties and bioactivity of experimental dental cement.
Methods. Specimens of the dental cement (pellets 13 mm in diameter × 3 mm thick) were prepared by cold pressing of micronized powder of set Alborg White Portland cement. The thermo-gravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (TGA/DSC) were used to analyze the phase composition and determine the transition temperatures for sintering process. The effect of heat rate and dwell time on density, crystal morphologies, crystalline phases and elemental composition of cement was evaluated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and micro-Raman spectroscopy.
The bioactivity of set and heat-treated cements was evaluated by ability produce the hydroxyapatite (HA) layer on a surface of specimen immersed in a simulated body fluid (Dulbecco’s Phosphate-Buffered Saline (DPBS). The formation of hydroxyapatite was confirmed by SEM, X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), XRD and and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The amount of produced HA was measured by weight method after 1, 3, 7, and 14 days of immersion.
Results. The set of samples were sintered from experimental dental cement at various heating rate and dwell time. The highest density was obtained at slower heating rate and longer dwell time. The heat treatment changes the hydration phases without changing elemental composition. The heat treatment significantly improves biological performance of dental cement. The heat-treated cement produces 10 times more HA with immersion into simulated body fluid.
Non-Destructive Inspection of Surface Defects in Cylindrical Structures
Authors: Du Jikai 
Published: January 2018

Cylindrical structures have been applied in various pressure vessels and weapon systems, which may be subjected to harsh environmental conditions such as large mechanical stresses and thermal stresses. As a result, non-destructive evaluation of such structures is critical in quality control. Among the various defects that may be generated during fabrication, transportation, operation/firing, and so on, surface crack is a critical one and needs to be quantitatively and accurately evaluated. In this study, both ultrasound phased array technique and eddy current technique are applied for the inspection of 120 mm steel test cylinder. In the cylinder, a total of nine sets of surface defects of various size, depth and orientation are fabricated and quantitatively evaluated.
In ultrasound phased array evaluation, simulations and experiments on standard aluminum block were carried out first to calibrate the system parameter setup. During this calibration, ultrasound propagation and its interaction with defects were simulated and studied. The dependence of ultrasound field on the ultrasound parameters and on the characteristics of defects was analyzed and optimized. Then simulations and experiments on steel test cylinder were carried out for the detection of the smallest detectable defects. Results showed that the optimization of the number of active elements can improve the distortion of defect images; the steering angles and the beam focusing laws may change the ultrasound beam intensity and uniformity, which has a significant influence on the sensitivity and resolution of the phased array technique; the geometry and material properties of cylindrical structures could distort the ultrasound beam, and as a result, calibration is necessary and important during practical inspections. Frequency is a key factor for phased array technique to improve its sensitivity.
In eddy current evaluation, a prototype for wireless eddy current system was designed, and an eddy current probe interface and a main unit interface were developed. The main advantages of such wireless probe are safety, economic benefits and maneuverability when compared to conventional wired probe. During testing, the signal at the probe interface was activated, measured, digitized and transmitted wirelessly to the main unit interface. Experimental results showed that the eddy current signals can be wirelessly communicated with main unit, and the results are comparable with the wired eddy current tester. Testing results also showed that the wireless signal is about 8 dB lower compared to wired signals and phase difference exists between the wired and wireless signals.
Comparative Energy Cost Analysis of Hybrid System and Diesel Generator in Powering Selected Base Transceiver Stations in Nigeria
Authors: Oviroh Peter Ozaveshe , Jen Tien-Chien , Idusuyi Nosa , Gbadeyan Olushola 
Published: January 2018

The rapid increase in global communication infrastructure in developing countries has drawn significant attention to the telecom sector. However, the dismal performance of the power sector in some countries like Nigeria poses a great challenge to the telecom industry which requires a reliable, efficient and environmentally friendly energy supply. Unstable electric grids, an erratic power supply, non-availability of trained and skilled personnel, and a prohibitive cost of site maintenance cumulatively have increased the need to harness abundant renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind. A comparative study of the viability of solar-diesel hybrid against diesel-only generator systems in powering a base station using the cost of kilowatt hour (kWh) self-generated electricity and levelised cost of energy (LCOE) was undertaken using data from some sites located in the Southwest (SW) and the Northeast (NE) regions of Nigeria. Homer Pro Software was used in data analysis.
The results obtained showed that with a hybrid energy system (solar and diesel generator), there were 79% savings in fuel consumption, 83.2% savings in operation and maintenance cost for the hybrid energy system in the SW. The savings on fueling as a result of the use of hybrid systems was 86%, and the carbon footprint reduction was 76%. Furthermore, the cost of operation was reduced by 51% for Northeast. The LCOE for the solar hybrid system was determined to be $1.44 for NE1A and NE1B while that of NE2A was $1.46 and NE2B $1.47.
A Study of a Non-API Flange
Authors: Alam Shah , Dakeev Ulan 
Published: January 2018

API rated flanges [1] are used in oil and gas industries frequently. The current practice is to select a flange and its seal/gasket from a tabulated range of load and area of application. Some applications may require a unique flange or seal for a pressure and temperature that is not listed on the table. To design such non-API flange (geometry such as thickness, number of bolts, bolts pattern, etc. are different from API flange) that meets system requirements is a challenge. Currently there is no standard available as per authors knowledge to design non-API flange. Therefore, in this study, a finite element analysis with new acceptance criterion for the 5”-15-ksi non-API flange connection for different pressure and temperature has been performed. Elastic-plastic finite element analysis method is used to check the leak tightness [2]. A fatigue calculation based on elastic-plastic analysis with twice yield method as per ASME Section VIII, Division 2 [3], sec. 5.5.4, has also been performed.
A new acceptance criterion based on industry practices are used for leak tightness. The contact pressure and contact pressure band width are used to check the leak tightness. The results showed that for all load cases seals have enough contact pressure and contact pressure band width to prevent leakage and they meet the acceptance criteria. The calculated fatigue life was found more than the required life for an application.