WImpiBLAST: web interface for mpiBLAST to help biologists perform large-scale annotation using high performance computing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parichit Sharma

Full Text Available The function of a newly sequenced gene can be discovered by determining its sequence homology with known proteins. BLAST is the most extensively used sequence analysis program for sequence similarity search in large databases of sequences. With the advent of next generation sequencing technologies it has now become possible to study genes and their expression at a genome-wide scale through RNA-seq and metagenome sequencing experiments. Functional annotation of all the genes is done by sequence similarity search against multiple protein databases. This annotation task is computationally very intensive and can take days to obtain complete results. The program mpiBLAST, an open-source parallelization of BLAST that achieves superlinear speedup, can be used to accelerate large-scale annotation by using supercomputers and high performance computing (HPC clusters. Although many parallel bioinformatics applications using the Message Passing Interface (MPI are available in the public domain, researchers are reluctant to use them due to lack of expertise in the Linux command line and relevant programming experience. With these limitations, it becomes difficult for biologists to use mpiBLAST for accelerating annotation. No web interface is available in the open-source domain for mpiBLAST. We have developed WImpiBLAST, a user-friendly open-source web interface for parallel BLAST searches. It is implemented in Struts 1.3 using a Java backbone and runs atop the open-source Apache Tomcat Server. WImpiBLAST supports script creation and job submission features and also provides a robust job management interface for system administrators. It combines script creation and modification features with job monitoring and management through the Torque resource manager on a Linux-based HPC cluster. Use case information highlights the acceleration of annotation analysis achieved by using WImpiBLAST. Here, we describe the WImpiBLAST web interface features and architecture

WImpiBLAST: web interface for mpiBLAST to help biologists perform large-scale annotation using high performance computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Parichit; Mantri, Shrikant S

2014-01-01

The function of a newly sequenced gene can be discovered by determining its sequence homology with known proteins. BLAST is the most extensively used sequence analysis program for sequence similarity search in large databases of sequences. With the advent of next generation sequencing technologies it has now become possible to study genes and their expression at a genome-wide scale through RNA-seq and metagenome sequencing experiments. Functional annotation of all the genes is done by sequence similarity search against multiple protein databases. This annotation task is computationally very intensive and can take days to obtain complete results. The program mpiBLAST, an open-source parallelization of BLAST that achieves superlinear speedup, can be used to accelerate large-scale annotation by using supercomputers and high performance computing (HPC) clusters. Although many parallel bioinformatics applications using the Message Passing Interface (MPI) are available in the public domain, researchers are reluctant to use them due to lack of expertise in the Linux command line and relevant programming experience. With these limitations, it becomes difficult for biologists to use mpiBLAST for accelerating annotation. No web interface is available in the open-source domain for mpiBLAST. We have developed WImpiBLAST, a user-friendly open-source web interface for parallel BLAST searches. It is implemented in Struts 1.3 using a Java backbone and runs atop the open-source Apache Tomcat Server. WImpiBLAST supports script creation and job submission features and also provides a robust job management interface for system administrators. It combines script creation and modification features with job monitoring and management through the Torque resource manager on a Linux-based HPC cluster. Use case information highlights the acceleration of annotation analysis achieved by using WImpiBLAST. Here, we describe the WImpiBLAST web interface features and architecture, explain design

Computer-based literature search in medical institutions in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kalita Jayantee

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: To study the use of computer-based literature search and its application in clinical training and patient care as a surrogate marker of evidence-based medicine. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire comprising of questions on purpose (presentation, patient management, research, realm (site accessed, nature and frequency of search, effect, infrastructure, formal training in computer based literature search and suggestions for further improvement were sent to residents and faculty of a Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGI and a Medical College. The responses were compared amongst different subgroups of respondents. Results: Out of 300 subjects approached 194 responded; of whom 103 were from PGI and 91 from Medical College. There were 97 specialty residents, 58 super-specialty residents and 39 faculty members. Computer-based literature search was done at least once a month by 89% though there was marked variability in frequency and extent. The motivation for computer-based literature search was for presentation in 90%, research in 65% and patient management in 60.3%. The benefit of search was acknowledged in learning and teaching by 80%, research by 65% and patient care by 64.4% of respondents. Formal training in computer based literature search was received by 41% of whom 80% were residents. Residents from PGI did more frequent and more extensive computer-based literature search, which was attributed to better infrastructure and training. Conclusion: Training and infrastructure both are crucial for computer-based literature search, which may translate into evidence based medicine.

The Imperative Of Literature Search For Research In Nigeria | Madu ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper while advancing reasons for literature search described how the library can assist in literature search. It finally discussed the various approaches and levels of search especially on the web and the problems researchers are most likely to encounter. Keywords: Research, Literature Search, Nigeria. The Information ...

blastjs: a BLAST+ wrapper for Node.js.

Science.gov (United States)

Page, Martin; MacLean, Dan; Schudoma, Christian

2016-02-27

To cope with the ever-increasing amount of sequence data generated in the field of genomics, the demand for efficient and fast database searches that drive functional and structural annotation in both large- and small-scale genome projects is on the rise. The tools of the BLAST+ suite are the most widely employed bioinformatic method for these database searches. Recent trends in bioinformatics application development show an increasing number of JavaScript apps that are based on modern frameworks such as Node.js. Until now, there is no way of using database searches with the BLAST+ suite from a Node.js codebase. We developed blastjs, a Node.js library that wraps the search tools of the BLAST+ suite and thus allows to easily add significant functionality to any Node.js-based application. blastjs is a library that allows the incorporation of BLAST+ functionality into bioinformatics applications based on JavaScript and Node.js. The library was designed to be as user-friendly as possible and therefore requires only a minimal amount of code in the client application. The library is freely available under the MIT license at https://github.com/teammaclean/blastjs.

[Systematic literature search in PubMed : A short introduction].

Science.gov (United States)

Blümle, A; Lagrèze, W A; Motschall, E

2018-03-01

In order to identify current (and relevant) evidence for a specific clinical question within the unmanageable amount of information available, solid skills in performing a systematic literature search are essential. An efficient approach is to search a biomedical database containing relevant literature citations of study reports. The best known database is MEDLINE, which is searchable for free via the PubMed interface. In this article, we explain step by step how to perform a systematic literature search via PubMed by means of an example research question in the field of ophthalmology. First, we demonstrate how to translate the clinical problem into a well-framed and searchable research question, how to identify relevant search terms and how to conduct a text word search and a search with keywords in medical subject headings (MeSH) terms. We then show how to limit the number of search results if the search yields too many irrelevant hits and how to increase the number in the case of too few citations. Finally, we summarize all essential principles that guide a literature search via PubMed.

The impact of PICO as a search strategy tool on literature search quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksen, Mette Brandt; Frandsen, Tove Faber

2018-01-01

Objective: This review aimed to determine, if the use of the PICO model (Patient Intervention Comparison Outcome) as a search strategy tool affects the quality of the literature search. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library...... and three studies were included, data was extracted, risk of bias was assessed and a qualitative analysis was conducted. The included studies compared PICO to PIC or link to related articles in PubMed; PICOS and SPIDER. One study compared PICO to unguided searching. Due to differences in intervention...

Comparison of PubMed and Google Scholar literature searches.

Science.gov (United States)

Anders, Michael E; Evans, Dennis P

2010-05-01

Literature searches are essential to evidence-based respiratory care. To conduct literature searches, respiratory therapists rely on search engines to retrieve information, but there is a dearth of literature on the comparative efficiencies of search engines for researching clinical questions in respiratory care. To compare PubMed and Google Scholar search results for clinical topics in respiratory care to that of a benchmark. We performed literature searches with PubMed and Google Scholar, on 3 clinical topics. In PubMed we used the Clinical Queries search filter. In Google Scholar we used the search filters in the Advanced Scholar Search option. We used the reference list of a related Cochrane Collaboration evidence-based systematic review as the benchmark for each of the search results. We calculated recall (sensitivity) and precision (positive predictive value) with 2 x 2 contingency tables. We compared the results with the chi-square test of independence and Fisher's exact test. PubMed and Google Scholar had similar recall for both overall search results (71% vs 69%) and full-text results (43% vs 51%). PubMed had better precision than Google Scholar for both overall search results (13% vs 0.07%, P PubMed searches with the Clinical Queries filter are more precise than with the Advanced Scholar Search in Google Scholar for respiratory care topics. PubMed appears to be more practical to conduct efficient, valid searches for informing evidence-based patient-care protocols, for guiding the care of individual patients, and for educational purposes.

Human Injury Criteria for Underwater Blasts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel M Lance

Full Text Available Underwater blasts propagate further and injure more readily than equivalent air blasts. Development of effective personal protection and countermeasures, however, requires knowledge of the currently unknown human tolerance to underwater blast. Current guidelines for prevention of underwater blast injury are not based on any organized injury risk assessment, human data or experimental data. The goal of this study was to derive injury risk assessments for underwater blast using well-characterized human underwater blast exposures in the open literature. The human injury dataset was compiled using 34 case reports on underwater blast exposure to 475 personnel, dating as early as 1916. Using severity ratings, computational reconstructions of the blasts, and survival information from a final set of 262 human exposures, injury risk models were developed for both injury severity and risk of fatality as functions of blast impulse and blast peak overpressure. Based on these human data, we found that the 50% risk of fatality from underwater blast occurred at 302±16 kPa-ms impulse. Conservatively, there is a 20% risk of pulmonary injury at a kilometer from a 20 kg charge. From a clinical point of view, this new injury risk model emphasizes the large distances possible for potential pulmonary and gut injuries in water compared with air. This risk value is the first impulse-based fatality risk calculated from human data. The large-scale inconsistency between the blast exposures in the case reports and the guidelines available in the literature prior to this study further underscored the need for this new guideline derived from the unique dataset of actual injuries in this study.

BLAST-EXPLORER helps you building datasets for phylogenetic analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claverie Jean-Michel

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The right sampling of homologous sequences for phylogenetic or molecular evolution analyses is a crucial step, the quality of which can have a significant impact on the final interpretation of the study. There is no single way for constructing datasets suitable for phylogenetic analysis, because this task intimately depends on the scientific question we want to address, Moreover, database mining softwares such as BLAST which are routinely used for searching homologous sequences are not specifically optimized for this task. Results To fill this gap, we designed BLAST-Explorer, an original and friendly web-based application that combines a BLAST search with a suite of tools that allows interactive, phylogenetic-oriented exploration of the BLAST results and flexible selection of homologous sequences among the BLAST hits. Once the selection of the BLAST hits is done using BLAST-Explorer, the corresponding sequence can be imported locally for external analysis or passed to the phylogenetic tree reconstruction pipelines available on the Phylogeny.fr platform. Conclusions BLAST-Explorer provides a simple, intuitive and interactive graphical representation of the BLAST results and allows selection and retrieving of the BLAST hit sequences based a wide range of criterions. Although BLAST-Explorer primarily aims at helping the construction of sequence datasets for further phylogenetic study, it can also be used as a standard BLAST server with enriched output. BLAST-Explorer is available at http://www.phylogeny.fr

A beginner's guide to the literature search in medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, S; Hussain, Z; Boyle, J G

2017-05-01

Conducting a literature search can be a daunting prospect if you have not done it before. This article aims to provide a beginner's guide to searching the medical education literature, by describing how to construct an effective search strategy, the resources that are available and the basics of how searching works.

PIE the search: searching PubMed literature for protein interaction information.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sun; Kwon, Dongseop; Shin, Soo-Yong; Wilbur, W John

2012-02-15

Finding protein-protein interaction (PPI) information from literature is challenging but an important issue. However, keyword search in PubMed(®) is often time consuming because it requires a series of actions that refine keywords and browse search results until it reaches a goal. Due to the rapid growth of biomedical literature, it has become more difficult for biologists and curators to locate PPI information quickly. Therefore, a tool for prioritizing PPI informative articles can be a useful assistant for finding this PPI-relevant information. PIE (Protein Interaction information Extraction) the search is a web service implementing a competition-winning approach utilizing word and syntactic analyses by machine learning techniques. For easy user access, PIE the search provides a PubMed-like search environment, but the output is the list of articles prioritized by PPI confidence scores. By obtaining PPI-related articles at high rank, researchers can more easily find the up-to-date PPI information, which cannot be found in manually curated PPI databases. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/IRET/PIE/.

Full text and figure display improves bioscience literature search.

Science.gov (United States)

Divoli, Anna; Wooldridge, Michael A; Hearst, Marti A

2010-04-14

When reading bioscience journal articles, many researchers focus attention on the figures and their captions. This observation led to the development of the BioText literature search engine, a freely available Web-based application that allows biologists to search over the contents of Open Access Journals, and see figures from the articles displayed directly in the search results. This article presents a qualitative assessment of this system in the form of a usability study with 20 biologist participants using and commenting on the system. 19 out of 20 participants expressed a desire to use a bioscience literature search engine that displays articles' figures alongside the full text search results. 15 out of 20 participants said they would use a caption search and figure display interface either frequently or sometimes, while 4 said rarely and 1 said undecided. 10 out of 20 participants said they would use a tool for searching the text of tables and their captions either frequently or sometimes, while 7 said they would use it rarely if at all, 2 said they would never use it, and 1 was undecided. This study found evidence, supporting results of an earlier study, that bioscience literature search systems such as PubMed should show figures from articles alongside search results. It also found evidence that full text and captions should be searched along with the article title, metadata, and abstract. Finally, for a subset of users and information needs, allowing for explicit search within captions for figures and tables is a useful function, but it is not entirely clear how to cleanly integrate this within a more general literature search interface. Such a facility supports Open Access publishing efforts, as it requires access to full text of documents and the lifting of restrictions in order to show figures in the search interface.

Full text and figure display improves bioscience literature search.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Divoli

Full Text Available When reading bioscience journal articles, many researchers focus attention on the figures and their captions. This observation led to the development of the BioText literature search engine, a freely available Web-based application that allows biologists to search over the contents of Open Access Journals, and see figures from the articles displayed directly in the search results. This article presents a qualitative assessment of this system in the form of a usability study with 20 biologist participants using and commenting on the system. 19 out of 20 participants expressed a desire to use a bioscience literature search engine that displays articles' figures alongside the full text search results. 15 out of 20 participants said they would use a caption search and figure display interface either frequently or sometimes, while 4 said rarely and 1 said undecided. 10 out of 20 participants said they would use a tool for searching the text of tables and their captions either frequently or sometimes, while 7 said they would use it rarely if at all, 2 said they would never use it, and 1 was undecided. This study found evidence, supporting results of an earlier study, that bioscience literature search systems such as PubMed should show figures from articles alongside search results. It also found evidence that full text and captions should be searched along with the article title, metadata, and abstract. Finally, for a subset of users and information needs, allowing for explicit search within captions for figures and tables is a useful function, but it is not entirely clear how to cleanly integrate this within a more general literature search interface. Such a facility supports Open Access publishing efforts, as it requires access to full text of documents and the lifting of restrictions in order to show figures in the search interface.

Searching for Grey Literature for Systematic Reviews: Challenges and Benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Mahood, Quenby; Van Eerd, Dwayne; Irvin, Emma

2014-01-01

There is ongoing interest in including grey literature in systematic reviews. Including grey literature can broaden the scope to more relevant studies, thereby providing a more complete view of available evidence. Searching for grey literature can be challenging despite greater access through the Internet, search engines and online bibliographic…

Searching the scientific literature: implications for quantitative and qualitative reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yelena P; Aylward, Brandon S; Roberts, Michael C; Evans, Spencer C

2012-08-01

Literature reviews are an essential step in the research process and are included in all empirical and review articles. Electronic databases are commonly used to gather this literature. However, several factors can affect the extent to which relevant articles are retrieved, influencing future research and conclusions drawn. The current project examined articles obtained by comparable search strategies in two electronic archives using an exemplar search to illustrate factors that authors should consider when designing their own search strategies. Specifically, literature searches were conducted in PsycINFO and PubMed targeting review articles on two exemplar disorders (bipolar disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and issues of classification and/or differential diagnosis. Articles were coded for relevance and characteristics of article content. The two search engines yielded significantly different proportions of relevant articles overall and by disorder. Keywords differed across search engines for the relevant articles identified. Based on these results, it is recommended that when gathering literature for review papers, multiple search engines should be used, and search syntax and strategies be tailored to the unique capabilities of particular engines. For meta-analyses and systematic reviews, authors may consider reporting the extent to which different archives or sources yielded relevant articles for their particular review. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Small-Group Activity Introducing the Use and Interpretation of BLAST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter D. Newell

2013-08-01

Full Text Available As biological sequence data are generated at an ever increasing rate, the role of bioinformatics in biological research also grows. Students must be trained to complete and interpret bioinformatic searches to enable them to effectively utilize the trove of sequence data available. A key bioinformatic tool for sequence comparison and genome database searching is BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool. BLAST identifies sequences in a database that are similar to the entered query sequence, and ranks them based on the length and quality of the alignment. Our goal was to introduce sophomore and junior level undergraduate students to the basic functions and uses of BLAST with a small group activity lasting a single class period. The activity provides students an opportunity to perform a BLAST search, interpret the data output, and use the data to make inferences about bacterial cell envelope structure. The activity consists of two parts. Part 1 is a handout to be completed prior to class, complete with video tutorial, that reviews cell envelope structure, introduces key terms, and allows students to familiarize themselves with the mechanics of a BLAST search. Part 2 consists of a hands-on, web-based small group activity to be completed during the class period. Evaluation of the activity through student performance assessments suggests that students who complete the activity can better interpret the BLAST output parameters % query coverage and % max identity. While the topic of the activity is bacterial cell wall structure, it could be adapted to address other biological concepts.

A student's guide to searching the literature using online databases

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Casey W.; Belyea, Dustin; Chabot, Michelle; Messina, Troy

2012-02-01

A method is described to empower students to efficiently perform general and specific literature searches using online resources [Miller et al., Am. J. Phys. 77, 1112 (2009)]. The method was tested on multiple groups, including undergraduate and graduate students with varying backgrounds in scientific literature searches. Students involved in this study showed marked improvement in their awareness of how and where to find scientific information. Repeated exposure to literature searching methods appears worthwhile, starting early in the undergraduate career, and even in graduate school orientation.

SciRide Finder: a citation-based paradigm in biomedical literature search.

Science.gov (United States)

Volanakis, Adam; Krawczyk, Konrad

2018-04-18

There are more than 26 million peer-reviewed biomedical research items according to Medline/PubMed. This breadth of information is indicative of the progress in biomedical sciences on one hand, but an overload for scientists performing literature searches on the other. A major portion of scientific literature search is to find statements, numbers and protocols that can be cited to build an evidence-based narrative for a new manuscript. Because science builds on prior knowledge, such information has likely been written out and cited in an older manuscript. Thus, Cited Statements, pieces of text from scientific literature supported by citing other peer-reviewed publications, carry significant amount of condensed information on prior art. Based on this principle, we propose a literature search service, SciRide Finder (finder.sciride.org), which constrains the search corpus to such Cited Statements only. We demonstrate that Cited Statements can carry different information to this found in titles/abstracts and full text, giving access to alternative literature search results than traditional search engines. We further show how presenting search results as a list of Cited Statements allows researchers to easily find information to build an evidence-based narrative for their own manuscripts.

A comprehensive literature review reflecting fifteen years of debate regarding the representativity of reverse circulation vs blast hole drill sampling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engström, Karin

2017-01-01

Blast hole sampling is widely used for grade control by the mining industry all over the world, both in precious and base metal open pit mining. Blast hole (BH) samples are often regarded as inferior in comparison to “proper drill sampling” like reverse circulation (RC) and diamond (core) drilling...... (DD), and are accused of lacking representativity by the sampling community. The present paper aims at collecting all peer reviewed publications from 2000 onwards that concern open pit mine sampling performance of BH, RC and/or DD drill sampling. This will form a comprehensive literature review...

muBLASTP: database-indexed protein sequence search on multicore CPUs.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jing; Misra, Sanchit; Wang, Hao; Feng, Wu-Chun

2016-11-04

The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) is a fundamental program in the life sciences that searches databases for sequences that are most similar to a query sequence. Currently, the BLAST algorithm utilizes a query-indexed approach. Although many approaches suggest that sequence search with a database index can achieve much higher throughput (e.g., BLAT, SSAHA, and CAFE), they cannot deliver the same level of sensitivity as the query-indexed BLAST, i.e., NCBI BLAST, or they can only support nucleotide sequence search, e.g., MegaBLAST. Due to different challenges and characteristics between query indexing and database indexing, the existing techniques for query-indexed search cannot be used into database indexed search. muBLASTP, a novel database-indexed BLAST for protein sequence search, delivers identical hits returned to NCBI BLAST. On Intel Haswell multicore CPUs, for a single query, the single-threaded muBLASTP achieves up to a 4.41-fold speedup for alignment stages, and up to a 1.75-fold end-to-end speedup over single-threaded NCBI BLAST. For a batch of queries, the multithreaded muBLASTP achieves up to a 5.7-fold speedups for alignment stages, and up to a 4.56-fold end-to-end speedup over multithreaded NCBI BLAST. With a newly designed index structure for protein database and associated optimizations in BLASTP algorithm, we re-factored BLASTP algorithm for modern multicore processors that achieves much higher throughput with acceptable memory footprint for the database index.

Search of medical literature for indoor carbon monoxide exposure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brennan, T.; Ivanovich, M.

1995-12-01

This report documents a literature search on carbon monoxide. The search was limited to the medical and toxicological databases at the National Library of Medicine (MEDLARS). The databases searched were Medline, Toxline and TOXNET. Searches were performed using a variety of strategies. Combinations of the following keywords were used: carbon, monoxide, accidental, residential, occult, diagnosis, misdiagnosis, heating, furnace, and indoor. The literature was searched from 1966 to the present. Over 1000 references were identified and summarized using the following abbreviations: The major findings of the search are: (1) Acute and subacute carbon monoxide exposures result in a large number of symptoms affecting the brain, kidneys, respiratory system, retina, and motor functions. (2) Acute and subacute carbon monoxide (CO) poisonings have been misdiagnosed on many occasions. (3) Very few systematic investigations have been made into the frequency and consequences of carbon monoxide poisonings.

Blast overpressure after tire explosion: a fatal case.

Science.gov (United States)

Pomara, Cristoforo; D'Errico, Stefano; Riezzo, Irene; Perilli, Gabriela; Volpe, Umberto; Fineschi, Vittorio

2013-12-01

Fatal blast injuries are generally reported in literature as a consequence of the detonation of explosives in war settings. The pattern of lesion depends on the position of the victim in relation to the explosion, on whether the blast tracks through air or water, and whether it happens in the open air or within an enclosed space and the distance from the explosion. Tire explosion-related injuries are rarely reported in literature. This study presents a fatal case of blast overpressure due to the accidental explosion of a truck tire occurring in a tire repair shop. A multidisciplinary approach to the fatality involving forensic pathologists and engineers revealed that the accidental explosion, which caused a series of primary and tertiary blast wave injuries, was due to tire deterioration.

prfectBLAST: a platform-independent portable front end for the command terminal BLAST+ stand-alone suite.

Science.gov (United States)

Santiago-Sotelo, Perfecto; Ramirez-Prado, Jorge Humberto

2012-11-01

prfectBLAST is a multiplatform graphical user interface (GUI) for the stand-alone BLAST+ suite of applications. It allows researchers to do nucleotide or amino acid sequence similarity searches against public (or user-customized) databases that are locally stored. It does not require any dependencies or installation and can be used from a portable flash drive. prfectBLAST is implemented in Java version 6 (SUN) and runs on all platforms that support Java and for which National Center for Biotechnology Information has made available stand-alone BLAST executables, including MS Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It is free and open source software, made available under the GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3) and can be downloaded at www.cicy.mx/sitios/jramirez or http://code.google.com/p/prfectblast/.

Thick-film analysis: literature search and bibliography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gehman, R.W.

1981-09-01

A literature search was conducted to support development of in-house diagnostic testing of thick film materials for hybrid microcircuits. A background literature review covered thick film formulation, processing, structure, and performance. Important material properties and tests were identified and several test procedures were obtained. Several tests were selected for thick film diagnosis at Bendix Kansas City. 126 references

An Analysis of Literature Searching Anxiety in Evidence-Based Medicine Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui-Chin Chang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM is hurtling towards a cornerstone in lifelong learning for healthcare personnel worldwide. This study aims to evaluate the literature searching anxiety in graduate students in practicing EBM. Method The study participants were 48 graduate students who enrolled the EBM course at aMedical Universityin central Taiwan. Student’s t-test, Pearson correlation and multivariate regression, interviewing are used to evaluate the students’ literature searching anxiety of EBM course. The questionnaire is Literature Searching Anxiety Rating Scale -LSARS. Results The sources of anxiety are uncertainty of database selection, literatures evaluation and selection, technical assistance request, computer programs use, English and EBM education programs were disclosed. The class performance is negatively related to LSARS score, however, the correlation is statistically insignificant with the adjustment of gender, degree program, age category and experience of publication. Conclusion This study helps in understanding the causes and the extent of anxiety in order to work on a better teaching program planning to improve user’s searching skills and the capability of utilization the information; At the same time, provide friendly-user facilities of evidence searching. In short, we need to upgrade the learner’s searching 45 skills and reduce theanxiety. We also need to stress on the auxiliary teaching program for those with the prevalent and profoundanxiety during literature searching.

Literature search strategies for conducting knowledge-building and theory-generating qualitative systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Finfgeld-Connett, Deborah; Johnson, E Diane

2013-01-01

To report literature search strategies for the purpose of conducting knowledge-building and theory-generating qualitative systematic reviews. Qualitative systematic reviews lie on a continuum from knowledge-building and theory-generating to aggregating and summarizing. Different types of literature searches are needed to optimally support these dissimilar reviews. Articles published between 1989-Autumn 2011. These documents were identified using a hermeneutic approach and multiple literature search strategies. Redundancy is not the sole measure of validity when conducting knowledge-building and theory-generating systematic reviews. When conducting these types of reviews, literature searches should be consistent with the goal of fully explicating concepts and the interrelationships among them. To accomplish this objective, a 'berry picking' approach is recommended along with strategies for overcoming barriers to finding qualitative research reports. To enhance integrity of knowledge-building and theory-generating systematic reviews, reviewers are urged to make literature search processes as transparent as possible, despite their complexity. This includes fully explaining and rationalizing what databases were used and how they were searched. It also means describing how literature tracking was conducted and grey literature was searched. In the end, the decision to cease searching also needs to be fully explained and rationalized. Predetermined linear search strategies are unlikely to generate search results that are adequate for purposes of conducting knowledge-building and theory-generating qualitative systematic reviews. Instead, it is recommended that iterative search strategies take shape as reviews evolve. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Clinical leadership and nursing explored: A literature search.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanley, David; Stanley, Karen

2017-10-27

To explore what we know of the concept of clinical leadership and what the term means. Clues to the definition of clinical leadership, the attributes of effective and less effective clinical leaders, models of clinical leadership and the barriers that hinder clinical leadership development were explored. While nursing leadership and healthcare leadership are terms that have been evident in nursing and health industry literature for many decades, clinical leadership is a relatively new term and is may still be misunderstood. A search was undertaken of formal and informal literature using a library database and a range of search engines for the words "clinical leadership" and "clinical leadership in nursing." In each case, the full search parameters were employed with searches between 1974-2016. Full-text articles were requested, and English was the preferred language. In total, 3,259 publications were located through seven database search tools, although these included a large number of duplications. Following further informal searches and removing irrelevant material, 27 research or literature review focused papers were retained that included 17 qualitative studies, one quantitative study, one mixed method study, one Delphi study and two that compared other research studies. As well, five literature reviews were retained in the synthesis. The data synthesis resulted five categories: definitions of clinical leadership, characteristics most likely or least associated with clinical leadership, models applied to clinical leadership and limits to clinical leadership development. Clinical leaders are recognised for having their values and beliefs parallel their actions and interventions. They are found across the spectrum of health organisations, often at the highest level for clinical interaction, but not commonly at the highest management level in a ward or unit team and they are seen in all clinical environments. Clinical Leadership and an understanding on how

Searching the online biomedical literature from developing countries

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrator

This commentary highlights popular research literature databases and the use of the internet to obtain valuable research information. These literature retrieval methods include the use of the popular. PubMed as well as internet search engines. Specific websites catering to developing countries' information and journals' ...

Searching the online biomedical literature from developing countries ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This commentary highlights popular research literature databases and the use of the internet to obtain valuable research information. These literature retrieval methods include the use of the popular PubMed as well as internet search engines. Specific websites catering to developing countries' information and journals' ...

Semi-automating the manual literature search for systematic reviews increases efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Andrea L; Morgan, Laura C; Gartlehner, Gerald

2010-03-01

To minimise retrieval bias, manual literature searches are a key part of the search process of any systematic review. Considering the need to have accurate information, valid results of the manual literature search are essential to ensure scientific standards; likewise efficient approaches that minimise the amount of personnel time required to conduct a manual literature search are of great interest. The objective of this project was to determine the validity and efficiency of a new manual search method that utilises the scopus database. We used the traditional manual search approach as the gold standard to determine the validity and efficiency of the proposed scopus method. Outcome measures included completeness of article detection and personnel time involved. Using both methods independently, we compared the results based on accuracy of the results, validity and time spent conducting the search, efficiency. Regarding accuracy, the scopus method identified the same studies as the traditional approach indicating its validity. In terms of efficiency, using scopus led to a time saving of 62.5% compared with the traditional approach (3 h versus 8 h). The scopus method can significantly improve the efficiency of manual searches and thus of systematic reviews.

FastBLAST: homology relationships for millions of proteins.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morgan N Price

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: All-versus-all BLAST, which searches for homologous pairs of sequences in a database of proteins, is used to identify potential orthologs, to find new protein families, and to provide rapid access to these homology relationships. As DNA sequencing accelerates and data sets grow, all-versus-all BLAST has become computationally demanding. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We present FastBLAST, a heuristic replacement for all-versus-all BLAST that relies on alignments of proteins to known families, obtained from tools such as PSI-BLAST and HMMer. FastBLAST avoids most of the work of all-versus-all BLAST by taking advantage of these alignments and by clustering similar sequences. FastBLAST runs in two stages: the first stage identifies additional families and aligns them, and the second stage quickly identifies the homologs of a query sequence, based on the alignments of the families, before generating pairwise alignments. On 6.53 million proteins from the non-redundant Genbank database ("NR", FastBLAST identifies new families 25 times faster than all-versus-all BLAST. Once the first stage is completed, FastBLAST identifies homologs for the average query in less than 5 seconds (8.6 times faster than BLAST and gives nearly identical results. For hits above 70 bits, FastBLAST identifies 98% of the top 3,250 hits per query. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: FastBLAST enables research groups that do not have supercomputers to analyze large protein sequence data sets. FastBLAST is open source software and is available at http://microbesonline.org/fastblast.

75 FR 25239 - Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS); Announcement of Availability of Literature Searches...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-07

... Information System (IRIS); Announcement of Availability of Literature Searches for IRIS Assessments AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency. ACTION: Notice; Announcement of availability of literature searches for IRIS... the availability of literature searches for four IRIS assessments and requesting scientific...

75 FR 76982 - Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS); Announcement of Availability of Literature Searches...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-10

... Information System (IRIS); Announcement of Availability of Literature Searches for IRIS Assessments AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency. ACTION: Announcement of availability of literature searches for IRIS... the availability of literature searches for four IRIS assessments, acetaldehyde (CAS No. 75-07-0...

76 FR 13402 - Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS); Announcement of Availability of Literature Searches...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-11

... Information System (IRIS); Announcement of Availability of Literature Searches for IRIS Assessments AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency. ACTION: Announcement of availability of literature searches for IRIS... the availability of literature searches for cobalt (CASRN 7440-48-4) and inorganic cobalt compounds...

77 FR 20817 - Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS); Announcement of Availability of Literature Searches...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-06

... System (IRIS); Announcement of Availability of Literature Searches for IRIS Assessments AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency. ACTION: Announcement of availability of literature searches for IRIS... the availability of literature searches for acetaldehyde (75-07-0) and 1,2,3-trimethlybenzene (526-73...

The Role of Google Scholar in Evidence Reviews and Its Applicability to Grey Literature Searching.

Science.gov (United States)

Haddaway, Neal Robert; Collins, Alexandra Mary; Coughlin, Deborah; Kirk, Stuart

2015-01-01

Google Scholar (GS), a commonly used web-based academic search engine, catalogues between 2 and 100 million records of both academic and grey literature (articles not formally published by commercial academic publishers). Google Scholar collates results from across the internet and is free to use. As a result it has received considerable attention as a method for searching for literature, particularly in searches for grey literature, as required by systematic reviews. The reliance on GS as a standalone resource has been greatly debated, however, and its efficacy in grey literature searching has not yet been investigated. Using systematic review case studies from environmental science, we investigated the utility of GS in systematic reviews and in searches for grey literature. Our findings show that GS results contain moderate amounts of grey literature, with the majority found on average at page 80. We also found that, when searched for specifically, the majority of literature identified using Web of Science was also found using GS. However, our findings showed moderate/poor overlap in results when similar search strings were used in Web of Science and GS (10-67%), and that GS missed some important literature in five of six case studies. Furthermore, a general GS search failed to find any grey literature from a case study that involved manual searching of organisations' websites. If used in systematic reviews for grey literature, we recommend that searches of article titles focus on the first 200 to 300 results. We conclude that whilst Google Scholar can find much grey literature and specific, known studies, it should not be used alone for systematic review searches. Rather, it forms a powerful addition to other traditional search methods. In addition, we advocate the use of tools to transparently document and catalogue GS search results to maintain high levels of transparency and the ability to be updated, critical to systematic reviews.

Automated Literature Searches for Longitudinal Tracking of Cancer Research Training Program Graduates.

Science.gov (United States)

Padilla, Luz A; Desmond, Renee A; Brooks, C Michael; Waterbor, John W

2018-06-01

A key outcome measure of cancer research training programs is the number of cancer-related peer-reviewed publications after training. Because program graduates do not routinely report their publications, staff must periodically conduct electronic literature searches on each graduate. The purpose of this study is to compare findings of an innovative computer-based automated search program versus repeated manual literature searches to identify post-training peer-reviewed publications. In late 2014, manual searches for publications by former R25 students identified 232 cancer-related articles published by 112 of 543 program graduates. In 2016, a research assistant was instructed in performing Scopus literature searches for comparison with individual PubMed searches on our 543 program graduates. Through 2014, Scopus found 304 cancer publications, 220 of that had been retrieved manually plus an additional 84 papers. However, Scopus missed 12 publications found manually. Together, both methods found 316 publications. The automated method found 96.2 % of the 316 publications while individual searches found only 73.4 %. An automated search method such as using the Scopus database is a key tool for conducting comprehensive literature searches, but it must be supplemented with periodic manual searches to find the initial publications of program graduates. A time-saving feature of Scopus is the periodic automatic alerts of new publications. Although a training period is needed and initial costs can be high, an automated search method is worthwhile due to its high sensitivity and efficiency in the long term.

Medical literature searches: a comparison of PubMed and Google Scholar.

Science.gov (United States)

Nourbakhsh, Eva; Nugent, Rebecca; Wang, Helen; Cevik, Cihan; Nugent, Kenneth

2012-09-01

Medical literature searches provide critical information for clinicians. However, the best strategy for identifying relevant high-quality literature is unknown. We compared search results using PubMed and Google Scholar on four clinical questions and analysed these results with respect to article relevance and quality. Abstracts from the first 20 citations for each search were classified into three relevance categories. We used the weighted kappa statistic to analyse reviewer agreement and nonparametric rank tests to compare the number of citations for each article and the corresponding journals' impact factors. Reviewers ranked 67.6% of PubMed articles and 80% of Google Scholar articles as at least possibly relevant (P = 0.116) with high agreement (all kappa P-values PubMed searches and Google Scholar searches often identify different articles. In this study, Google Scholar articles were more likely to be classified as relevant, had higher numbers of citations and were published in higher impact factor journals. The identification of frequently cited articles using Google Scholar for searches probably has value for initial literature searches. © 2012 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2012 Health Libraries Group.

77 FR 41784 - Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS); Announcement of Availability of Literature Searches...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-16

... System (IRIS); Announcement of Availability of Literature Searches for IRIS Assessments AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency. ACTION: Notice of availability of a literature search for benzo(a)pyrene... availability of a literature search for benzo(a)pyrene (CASRN 50- 32-8). EPA is also requesting scientific...

Protein structure database search and evolutionary classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jinn-Moon; Tung, Chi-Hua

2006-01-01

As more protein structures become available and structural genomics efforts provide structural models in a genome-wide strategy, there is a growing need for fast and accurate methods for discovering homologous proteins and evolutionary classifications of newly determined structures. We have developed 3D-BLAST, in part, to address these issues. 3D-BLAST is as fast as BLAST and calculates the statistical significance (E-value) of an alignment to indicate the reliability of the prediction. Using this method, we first identified 23 states of the structural alphabet that represent pattern profiles of the backbone fragments and then used them to represent protein structure databases as structural alphabet sequence databases (SADB). Our method enhanced BLAST as a search method, using a new structural alphabet substitution matrix (SASM) to find the longest common substructures with high-scoring structured segment pairs from an SADB database. Using personal computers with Intel Pentium4 (2.8 GHz) processors, our method searched more than 10 000 protein structures in 1.3 s and achieved a good agreement with search results from detailed structure alignment methods. [3D-BLAST is available at http://3d-blast.life.nctu.edu.tw].

The Role of Google Scholar in Evidence Reviews and Its Applicability to Grey Literature Searching

Science.gov (United States)

Haddaway, Neal Robert; Collins, Alexandra Mary; Coughlin, Deborah; Kirk, Stuart

2015-01-01

Google Scholar (GS), a commonly used web-based academic search engine, catalogues between 2 and 100 million records of both academic and grey literature (articles not formally published by commercial academic publishers). Google Scholar collates results from across the internet and is free to use. As a result it has received considerable attention as a method for searching for literature, particularly in searches for grey literature, as required by systematic reviews. The reliance on GS as a standalone resource has been greatly debated, however, and its efficacy in grey literature searching has not yet been investigated. Using systematic review case studies from environmental science, we investigated the utility of GS in systematic reviews and in searches for grey literature. Our findings show that GS results contain moderate amounts of grey literature, with the majority found on average at page 80. We also found that, when searched for specifically, the majority of literature identified using Web of Science was also found using GS. However, our findings showed moderate/poor overlap in results when similar search strings were used in Web of Science and GS (10–67%), and that GS missed some important literature in five of six case studies. Furthermore, a general GS search failed to find any grey literature from a case study that involved manual searching of organisations’ websites. If used in systematic reviews for grey literature, we recommend that searches of article titles focus on the first 200 to 300 results. We conclude that whilst Google Scholar can find much grey literature and specific, known studies, it should not be used alone for systematic review searches. Rather, it forms a powerful addition to other traditional search methods. In addition, we advocate the use of tools to transparently document and catalogue GS search results to maintain high levels of transparency and the ability to be updated, critical to systematic reviews. PMID:26379270

Finding "hard to find" literature on hard to find groups: A novel technique to search grey literature on refugees and asylum seekers.

Science.gov (United States)

Enticott, Joanne; Buck, Kimberly; Shawyer, Frances

2018-03-01

There is a lack of information on how to execute effective searches of the grey literature on refugee and asylum seeker groups for inclusion in systematic reviews. High-quality government reports and other grey literature relevant to refugees may not always be identified in conventional literature searches. During the process of conducting a recent systematic review, we developed a novel strategy for systematically searching international refugee and asylum seeker-related grey literature. The approach targets governmental health departments and statistical agencies, who have considerable access to refugee and asylum seeker populations for research purposes but typically do not publish findings in academic forums. Compared to a conventional grey literature search strategy, our novel technique yielded an eightfold increase in relevant high-quality grey sources that provided valuable content in informing our review. Incorporating a search of the grey literature into systematic reviews of refugee and asylum seeker research is essential to providing a more complete view of the evidence. Our novel strategy offers a practical and feasible method of conducting systematic grey literature searches that may be adaptable to a range of research questions, contexts, and resource constraints. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Manned-Unmanned Teaming of Aircraft - Literature Search

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-01

restricted to 2003 2013. Literature searches were conducted in eight databases Aerospace and High Technology, Scopus , NTIS, Inspec, Compendex, DTIC, Jane’si...Buddy Unmanned wingman Manned-Unmanned Teaming Dec 2013 Page 35 of 37 7.1.2 Sources Online databases • Scopus • Aerospace and High Technology

The PARIGA server for real time filtering and analysis of reciprocal BLAST results.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Massimiliano Orsini

Full Text Available BLAST-based similarity searches are commonly used in several applications involving both nucleotide and protein sequences. These applications span from simple tasks such as mapping sequences over a database to more complex procedures as clustering or annotation processes. When the amount of analysed data increases, manual inspection of BLAST results become a tedious procedure. Tools for parsing or filtering BLAST results for different purposes are then required. We describe here PARIGA (http://resources.bioinformatica.crs4.it/pariga/, a server that enables users to perform all-against-all BLAST searches on two sets of sequences selected by the user. Moreover, since it stores the two BLAST output in a python-serialized-objects database, results can be filtered according to several parameters in real-time fashion, without re-running the process and avoiding additional programming efforts. Results can be interrogated by the user using logical operations, for example to retrieve cases where two queries match same targets, or when sequences from the two datasets are reciprocal best hits, or when a query matches a target in multiple regions. The Pariga web server is designed to be a helpful tool for managing the results of sequence similarity searches. The design and implementation of the server renders all operations very fast and easy to use.

Evaluation of hospital staff's perceived quality of librarian-mediated literature searching services.

Science.gov (United States)

McKeown, Sandra; Konrad, Shauna-Lee; McTavish, Jill; Boyce, Erin

2017-04-01

The research evaluated the perceived quality of librarian-mediated literature searching services at one of Canada's largest acute care teaching hospitals for the purpose of continuous quality improvement and investigation of relationships between variables that can impact user satisfaction. An online survey was constructed using evidence-based methodologies. A systematic sample of staff and physicians requesting literature searches at London Health Sciences Centre were invited to participate in the study over a one-year period. Data analyses included descriptive statistics of closed-ended questions and coding of open-ended questions. A range of staff including clinicians, researchers, educators, leaders, and analysts submitted a total of 137 surveys, representing a response rate of 71%. Staff requested literature searches for the following "primary" purposes: research or publication (34%), teaching or training (20%), informing a policy or standard practice (16%), patient care (15%), and "other" purposes (15%). While the majority of staff (76%) submitted search requests using methods of written communication, including email and search request forms, staff using methods of verbal communication, including face-to-face and telephone conversations, were significantly more likely to be extremely satisfied with the librarian's interpretation of the search request ( p =0.004) and to rate the perceived quality of the search results as excellent ( p =0.005). In most cases, librarians followed up with staff to clarify the details of their search requests (72%), and these staff were significantly more likely to be extremely satisfied with the librarian's interpretation of the search request ( p =0.002). Our results demonstrate the limitations of written communication in the context of librarian-mediated literature searching and suggest a multifaceted approach to quality improvement efforts.

The importance of species name synonyms in literature searches

Science.gov (United States)

Guala, Gerald

2016-01-01

The synonyms of biological species names are shown to be an important component in comprehensive searches of electronic scientific literature databases but they are not well leveraged within the major literature databases examined. For accepted or valid species names in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) which have synonyms in the system, and which are found in citations within PLoS, PMC, PubMed or Scopus, both the percentage of species for which citations will not be found if synonyms are not used, and the percentage increase in number of citations found by including synonyms are very often substantial. However, there is no correlation between the number of synonyms per species and the magnitude of the effect. Further, the number of citations found does not generally increase proportionally to the number of synonyms available. Users looking for literature on specific species across all of the resources investigated here are often missing large numbers of citations if they are not manually augmenting their searches with synonyms. Of course, missing citations can have serious consequences by effectively hiding critical information. Literature searches should include synonym relationships and a new web service in ITIS, with examples of how to apply it to this issue, was developed as a result of this study, and is here announced, to aide in this.

The Importance of Species Name Synonyms in Literature Searches.

Science.gov (United States)

Guala, Gerald F

2016-01-01

The synonyms of biological species names are shown to be an important component in comprehensive searches of electronic scientific literature databases but they are not well leveraged within the major literature databases examined. For accepted or valid species names in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) which have synonyms in the system, and which are found in citations within PLoS, PMC, PubMed or Scopus, both the percentage of species for which citations will not be found if synonyms are not used, and the percentage increase in number of citations found by including synonyms are very often substantial. However, there is no correlation between the number of synonyms per species and the magnitude of the effect. Further, the number of citations found does not generally increase proportionally to the number of synonyms available. Users looking for literature on specific species across all of the resources investigated here are often missing large numbers of citations if they are not manually augmenting their searches with synonyms. Of course, missing citations can have serious consequences by effectively hiding critical information. Literature searches should include synonym relationships and a new web service in ITIS, with examples of how to apply it to this issue, was developed as a result of this study, and is here announced, to aide in this.

The Importance of Species Name Synonyms in Literature Searches.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerald F Guala

Full Text Available The synonyms of biological species names are shown to be an important component in comprehensive searches of electronic scientific literature databases but they are not well leveraged within the major literature databases examined. For accepted or valid species names in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS which have synonyms in the system, and which are found in citations within PLoS, PMC, PubMed or Scopus, both the percentage of species for which citations will not be found if synonyms are not used, and the percentage increase in number of citations found by including synonyms are very often substantial. However, there is no correlation between the number of synonyms per species and the magnitude of the effect. Further, the number of citations found does not generally increase proportionally to the number of synonyms available. Users looking for literature on specific species across all of the resources investigated here are often missing large numbers of citations if they are not manually augmenting their searches with synonyms. Of course, missing citations can have serious consequences by effectively hiding critical information. Literature searches should include synonym relationships and a new web service in ITIS, with examples of how to apply it to this issue, was developed as a result of this study, and is here announced, to aide in this.

Evaluating the efficacy of a structure-derived amino acid substitution matrix in detecting protein homologs by BLAST and PSI-BLAST.

Science.gov (United States)

Goonesekere, Nalin Cw

2009-01-01

The large numbers of protein sequences generated by whole genome sequencing projects require rapid and accurate methods of annotation. The detection of homology through computational sequence analysis is a powerful tool in determining the complex evolutionary and functional relationships that exist between proteins. Homology search algorithms employ amino acid substitution matrices to detect similarity between proteins sequences. The substitution matrices in common use today are constructed using sequences aligned without reference to protein structure. Here we present amino acid substitution matrices constructed from the alignment of a large number of protein domain structures from the structural classification of proteins (SCOP) database. We show that when incorporated into the homology search algorithms BLAST and PSI-blast, the structure-based substitution matrices enhance the efficacy of detecting remote homologs.

Evidence-based medicine - searching the medical literature. Part 1.

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ann Burgess

password for access via HINARIa2 use that to log in. Then you can retrieve articles from the 6000 journals that will be available to you. You cannot retrieve the full text from journals that do not allow free access or HINARI access. How to search the literature on the internet. Before you start your search take a moment to think ...

Connecting Archaeological Data and Grey Literature via Semantic Cross Search

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Douglas Tudhope

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Differing terminology and database structure hinders meaningful cross search of excavation datasets. Matching free text grey literature reports with datasets poses yet more challenges. Conventional search techniques are unable to cross search between archaeological datasets and Web-based grey literature. Results are reported from two AHRC funded research projects that investigated the use of semantic techniques to link digital archive databases, vocabularies and associated grey literature. STAR (Semantic Technologies for Archaeological Resources was a collaboration between the University of Glamorgan, Hypermedia Research Unit and English Heritage (EH. The main outcome is a research Demonstrator (available online, which cross searches over excavation datasets from different database schemas, including Raunds Roman, Raunds Prehistoric, Museum of London, Silchester Roman and Stanwick sampling. The system additionally cross searches over an extract of excavation reports from the OASIS index of grey literature, operated by the Archaeology Data Service (ADS. A conceptual framework provided by the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM integrates the different database structures and the metadata automatically generated from the OASIS reports by natural language processing techniques. The methods employed for extracting semantic RDF representations from the datasets and the information extraction from grey literature are described. The STELLAR project provides freely available tools to reduce the costs of mapping and extracting data to semantic search systems such as the Demonstrator and to linked data representation generally. Detailed use scenarios (and a screen capture video provide a basis for a discussion of key issues, including cost-benefits, ontology modelling, mapping, terminology control, semantic implementation and information extraction issues. The scenarios show that semantic interoperability can be achieved by mapping and extracting

Calculation of driling and blasting parameters in blasting performance

OpenAIRE

Dambov, Risto; Karanakova Stefanovska, Radmila; Dambov, Ilija

2015-01-01

In all mining technology drilling and blasting parameters and works are one of the main production processes at each mine. The parameters of drilling and blasting and explosives consumption per ton of blasting mass are define economic indicators of any blasting no matter for what purpose and where mining is performed. The calculation of rock blasting should always have in mind that the methodology of calculation of all drilling and blasting parameters in blasting performance are performed for...

Oracle Database 10g: a platform for BLAST search and Regular Expression pattern matching in life sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Susie M; Chen, Jake Y; Davidson, Marcel G; Thomas, Shiby; Trute, Barry M

2005-01-01

As database management systems expand their array of analytical functionality, they become powerful research engines for biomedical data analysis and drug discovery. Databases can hold most of the data types commonly required in life sciences and consequently can be used as flexible platforms for the implementation of knowledgebases. Performing data analysis in the database simplifies data management by minimizing the movement of data from disks to memory, allowing pre-filtering and post-processing of datasets, and enabling data to remain in a secure, highly available environment. This article describes the Oracle Database 10g implementation of BLAST and Regular Expression Searches and provides case studies of their usage in bioinformatics. http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/index.html.

MOMFER: A Search Engine of Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk Literature

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Karsdorp, F.B.; van der Meulen, Marten; Meder, Theo; van den Bosch, Antal

2015-01-01

More than fifty years after the first edition of Thompson's seminal Motif-Indexof Folk Literature, we present an online search engine tailored to fully disclose the index digitally. This search engine, called MOMFER, greatly enhances the searchability of the Motif-Index and provides exciting new

Grey Literature Searching for Health Sciences Systematic Reviews: A Prospective Study of Time Spent and Resources Utilized.

Science.gov (United States)

Saleh, Ahlam A; Ratajeski, Melissa A; Bertolet, Marnie

To identify estimates of time taken to search grey literature in support of health sciences systematic reviews and to identify searcher or systematic review characteristics that may impact resource selection or time spent searching. A survey was electronically distributed to searchers embarking on a new systematic review. Characteristics of the searcher and systematic review were collected along with time spent searching and what resources were searched. Time and resources were tabulated and resources were categorized as grey or non-grey. Data was analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests. Out of 81 original respondents, 21% followed through with completion of the surveys in their entirety. The median time spent searching all resources was 471 minutes, and of those a median of 85 minutes were spent searching grey literature. The median number of resources used in a systematic review search was four and the median number of grey literature sources searched was two. The amount of time spent searching was influenced by whether the systematic review was grant funded. Additionally, the number of resources searched was impacted by institution type and whether systematic review training was received. This study characterized the amount of time for conducting systematic review searches including searching the grey literature, in addition to the number and types of resources used. This may aid searchers in planning their time, along with providing benchmark information for future studies. This paper contributes by quantifying current grey literature search patterns and associating them with searcher and review characteristics. Further discussion and research into the search approach for grey literature in support of systematic reviews is encouraged.

Auditory Workload Assessment. Volume II: Non-Copyrighted Literature Search Results

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Rench, Michael

2000-01-01

In support of the US Army Research Laboratory, Human Research and Engineering Directorate, HSIAC, the Human Systems Information Analysis Center, conducted an extensive search of scientific literature...

Searching and synthesising 'grey literature' and 'grey information' in public health: critical reflections on three case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Jean; Hillier-Brown, Frances C; Moore, Helen J; Lake, Amelia A; Araujo-Soares, Vera; White, Martin; Summerbell, Carolyn

2016-09-29

Grey literature includes a range of documents not controlled by commercial publishing organisations. This means that grey literature can be difficult to search and retrieve for evidence synthesis. Much knowledge and evidence in public health, and other fields, accumulates from innovation in practice. This knowledge may not even be of sufficient formality to meet the definition of grey literature. We term this knowledge 'grey information'. Grey information may be even harder to search for and retrieve than grey literature. On three previous occasions, we have attempted to systematically search for and synthesise public health grey literature and information-both to summarise the extent and nature of particular classes of interventions and to synthesise results of evaluations. Here, we briefly describe these three 'case studies' but focus on our post hoc critical reflections on searching for and synthesising grey literature and information garnered from our experiences of these case studies. We believe these reflections will be useful to future researchers working in this area. Issues discussed include search methods, searching efficiency, replicability of searches, data management, data extraction, assessing study 'quality', data synthesis, time and resources, and differentiating evidence synthesis from primary research. Information on applied public health research questions relating to the nature and range of public health interventions, as well as many evaluations of these interventions, may be predominantly, or only, held in grey literature and grey information. Evidence syntheses on these topics need, therefore, to embrace grey literature and information. Many typical systematic review methods for searching, appraising, managing, and synthesising the evidence base can be adapted for use with grey literature and information. Evidence synthesisers should carefully consider the opportunities and problems offered by including grey literature and information

SS-Wrapper: a package of wrapper applications for similarity searches on Linux clusters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lefkowitz Elliot J

2004-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Large-scale sequence comparison is a powerful tool for biological inference in modern molecular biology. Comparing new sequences to those in annotated databases is a useful source of functional and structural information about these sequences. Using software such as the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST or HMMPFAM to identify statistically significant matches between newly sequenced segments of genetic material and those in databases is an important task for most molecular biologists. Searching algorithms are intrinsically slow and data-intensive, especially in light of the rapid growth of biological sequence databases due to the emergence of high throughput DNA sequencing techniques. Thus, traditional bioinformatics tools are impractical on PCs and even on dedicated UNIX servers. To take advantage of larger databases and more reliable methods, high performance computation becomes necessary. Results We describe the implementation of SS-Wrapper (Similarity Search Wrapper, a package of wrapper applications that can parallelize similarity search applications on a Linux cluster. Our wrapper utilizes a query segmentation-search (QS-search approach to parallelize sequence database search applications. It takes into consideration load balancing between each node on the cluster to maximize resource usage. QS-search is designed to wrap many different search tools, such as BLAST and HMMPFAM using the same interface. This implementation does not alter the original program, so newly obtained programs and program updates should be accommodated easily. Benchmark experiments using QS-search to optimize BLAST and HMMPFAM showed that QS-search accelerated the performance of these programs almost linearly in proportion to the number of CPUs used. We have also implemented a wrapper that utilizes a database segmentation approach (DS-BLAST that provides a complementary solution for BLAST searches when the database is too large to fit into

SS-Wrapper: a package of wrapper applications for similarity searches on Linux clusters.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chunlin; Lefkowitz, Elliot J

2004-10-28

Large-scale sequence comparison is a powerful tool for biological inference in modern molecular biology. Comparing new sequences to those in annotated databases is a useful source of functional and structural information about these sequences. Using software such as the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) or HMMPFAM to identify statistically significant matches between newly sequenced segments of genetic material and those in databases is an important task for most molecular biologists. Searching algorithms are intrinsically slow and data-intensive, especially in light of the rapid growth of biological sequence databases due to the emergence of high throughput DNA sequencing techniques. Thus, traditional bioinformatics tools are impractical on PCs and even on dedicated UNIX servers. To take advantage of larger databases and more reliable methods, high performance computation becomes necessary. We describe the implementation of SS-Wrapper (Similarity Search Wrapper), a package of wrapper applications that can parallelize similarity search applications on a Linux cluster. Our wrapper utilizes a query segmentation-search (QS-search) approach to parallelize sequence database search applications. It takes into consideration load balancing between each node on the cluster to maximize resource usage. QS-search is designed to wrap many different search tools, such as BLAST and HMMPFAM using the same interface. This implementation does not alter the original program, so newly obtained programs and program updates should be accommodated easily. Benchmark experiments using QS-search to optimize BLAST and HMMPFAM showed that QS-search accelerated the performance of these programs almost linearly in proportion to the number of CPUs used. We have also implemented a wrapper that utilizes a database segmentation approach (DS-BLAST) that provides a complementary solution for BLAST searches when the database is too large to fit into the memory of a single node. Used together

Evaluation of hospital staff’s perceived quality of librarian-mediated literature searching services*,†

Science.gov (United States)

McKeown, Sandra; Konrad, Shauna-Lee; McTavish, Jill; Boyce, Erin

2017-01-01

Objective The research evaluated the perceived quality of librarian-mediated literature searching services at one of Canada’s largest acute care teaching hospitals for the purpose of continuous quality improvement and investigation of relationships between variables that can impact user satisfaction. Methods An online survey was constructed using evidence-based methodologies. A systematic sample of staff and physicians requesting literature searches at London Health Sciences Centre were invited to participate in the study over a one-year period. Data analyses included descriptive statistics of closed-ended questions and coding of open-ended questions. Results A range of staff including clinicians, researchers, educators, leaders, and analysts submitted a total of 137 surveys, representing a response rate of 71%. Staff requested literature searches for the following “primary” purposes: research or publication (34%), teaching or training (20%), informing a policy or standard practice (16%), patient care (15%), and “other” purposes (15%). While the majority of staff (76%) submitted search requests using methods of written communication, including email and search request forms, staff using methods of verbal communication, including face-to-face and telephone conversations, were significantly more likely to be extremely satisfied with the librarian’s interpretation of the search request (p=0.004) and to rate the perceived quality of the search results as excellent (p=0.005). In most cases, librarians followed up with staff to clarify the details of their search requests (72%), and these staff were significantly more likely to be extremely satisfied with the librarian’s interpretation of the search request (p=0.002). Conclusions Our results demonstrate the limitations of written communication in the context of librarian-mediated literature searching and suggest a multifaceted approach to quality improvement efforts. PMID:28377674

Development of a PubMed Based Search Tool for Identifying Sex and Gender Specific Health Literature.

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Song, Michael M; Simonsen, Cheryl K; Wilson, Joanna D; Jenkins, Marjorie R

2016-02-01

An effective literature search strategy is critical to achieving the aims of Sex and Gender Specific Health (SGSH): to understand sex and gender differences through research and to effectively incorporate the new knowledge into the clinical decision making process to benefit both male and female patients. The goal of this project was to develop and validate an SGSH literature search tool that is readily and freely available to clinical researchers and practitioners. PubMed, a freely available search engine for the Medline database, was selected as the platform to build the SGSH literature search tool. Combinations of Medical Subject Heading terms, text words, and title words were evaluated for optimal specificity and sensitivity. The search tool was then validated against reference bases compiled for two disease states, diabetes and stroke. Key sex and gender terms and limits were bundled to create a search tool to facilitate PubMed SGSH literature searches. During validation, the search tool retrieved 50 of 94 (53.2%) stroke and 62 of 95 (65.3%) diabetes reference articles selected for validation. A general keyword search of stroke or diabetes combined with sex difference retrieved 33 of 94 (35.1%) stroke and 22 of 95 (23.2%) diabetes reference base articles, with lower sensitivity and specificity for SGSH content. The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center SGSH PubMed Search Tool provides higher sensitivity and specificity to sex and gender specific health literature. The tool will facilitate research, clinical decision-making, and guideline development relevant to SGSH.

An artificial functional family filter in homolog searching in next-generation sequencing metagenomics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruofei Du

Full Text Available In functional metagenomics, BLAST homology search is a common method to classify metagenomic reads into protein/domain sequence families such as Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins (COGs in order to quantify the abundance of each COG in the community. The resulting functional profile of the community is then used in downstream analysis to correlate the change in abundance to environmental perturbation, clinical variation, and so on. However, the short read length coupled with next-generation sequencing technologies poses a barrier in this approach, essentially because similarity significance cannot be discerned by searching with short reads. Consequently, artificial functional families are produced, in which those with a large number of reads assigned decreases the accuracy of functional profile dramatically. There is no method available to address this problem. We intended to fill this gap in this paper. We revealed that BLAST similarity scores of homologues for short reads from COG protein members coding sequences are distributed differently from the scores of those derived elsewhere. We showed that, by choosing an appropriate score cut-off, we are able to filter out most artificial families and simultaneously to preserve sufficient information in order to build the functional profile. We also showed that, by incorporated application of BLAST and RPS-BLAST, some artificial families with large read counts can be further identified after the score cutoff filtration. Evaluated on three experimental metagenomic datasets with different coverages, we found that the proposed method is robust against read coverage and consistently outperforms the other E-value cutoff methods currently used in literatures.

Brain injuries from blast.

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Bass, Cameron R; Panzer, Matthew B; Rafaels, Karen A; Wood, Garrett; Shridharani, Jay; Capehart, Bruce

2012-01-01

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) from blast produces a number of conundrums. This review focuses on five fundamental questions including: (1) What are the physical correlates for blast TBI in humans? (2) Why is there limited evidence of traditional pulmonary injury from blast in current military field epidemiology? (3) What are the primary blast brain injury mechanisms in humans? (4) If TBI can present with clinical symptoms similar to those of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), how do we clinically differentiate blast TBI from PTSD and other psychiatric conditions? (5) How do we scale experimental animal models to human response? The preponderance of the evidence from a combination of clinical practice and experimental models suggests that blast TBI from direct blast exposure occurs on the modern battlefield. Progress has been made in establishing injury risk functions in terms of blast overpressure time histories, and there is strong experimental evidence in animal models that mild brain injuries occur at blast intensities that are similar to the pulmonary injury threshold. Enhanced thoracic protection from ballistic protective body armor likely plays a role in the occurrence of blast TBI by preventing lung injuries at blast intensities that could cause TBI. Principal areas of uncertainty include the need for a more comprehensive injury assessment for mild blast injuries in humans, an improved understanding of blast TBI pathophysiology of blast TBI in animal models and humans, the relationship between clinical manifestations of PTSD and mild TBI from blunt or blast trauma including possible synergistic effects, and scaling between animals models and human exposure to blasts in wartime and terrorist attacks. Experimental methodologies, including location of the animal model relative to the shock or blast source, should be carefully designed to provide a realistic blast experiment with conditions comparable to blasts on humans. If traditional blast scaling is

CrocoBLAST: Running BLAST efficiently in the age of next-generation sequencing.

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Tristão Ramos, Ravi José; de Azevedo Martins, Allan Cézar; da Silva Delgado, Gabrielle; Ionescu, Crina-Maria; Ürményi, Turán Peter; Silva, Rosane; Koca, Jaroslav

2017-11-15

CrocoBLAST is a tool for dramatically speeding up BLAST+ execution on any computer. Alignments that would take days or weeks with NCBI BLAST+ can be run overnight with CrocoBLAST. Additionally, CrocoBLAST provides features critical for NGS data analysis, including: results identical to those of BLAST+; compatibility with any BLAST+ version; real-time information regarding calculation progress and remaining run time; access to partial alignment results; queueing, pausing, and resuming BLAST+ calculations without information loss. CrocoBLAST is freely available online, with ample documentation (webchem.ncbr.muni.cz/Platform/App/CrocoBLAST). No installation or user registration is required. CrocoBLAST is implemented in C, while the graphical user interface is implemented in Java. CrocoBLAST is supported under Linux and Windows, and can be run under Mac OS X in a Linux virtual machine. jkoca@ceitec.cz. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

BlastKOALA and GhostKOALA: KEGG Tools for Functional Characterization of Genome and Metagenome Sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanehisa, Minoru; Sato, Yoko; Morishima, Kanae

2016-02-22

BlastKOALA and GhostKOALA are automatic annotation servers for genome and metagenome sequences, which perform KO (KEGG Orthology) assignments to characterize individual gene functions and reconstruct KEGG pathways, BRITE hierarchies and KEGG modules to infer high-level functions of the organism or the ecosystem. Both servers are made freely available at the KEGG Web site (http://www.kegg.jp/blastkoala/). In BlastKOALA, the KO assignment is performed by a modified version of the internally used KOALA algorithm after the BLAST search against a non-redundant dataset of pangenome sequences at the species, genus or family level, which is generated from the KEGG GENES database by retaining the KO content of each taxonomic category. In GhostKOALA, which utilizes more rapid GHOSTX for database search and is suitable for metagenome annotation, the pangenome dataset is supplemented with Cd-hit clusters including those for viral genes. The result files may be downloaded and manipulated for further KEGG Mapper analysis, such as comparative pathway analysis using multiple BlastKOALA results. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

BLAST-based structural annotation of protein residues using Protein Data Bank.

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Singh, Harinder; Raghava, Gajendra P S

2016-01-25

In the era of next-generation sequencing where thousands of genomes have been already sequenced; size of protein databases is growing with exponential rate. Structural annotation of these proteins is one of the biggest challenges for the computational biologist. Although, it is easy to perform BLAST search against Protein Data Bank (PDB) but it is difficult for a biologist to annotate protein residues from BLAST search. A web-server StarPDB has been developed for structural annotation of a protein based on its similarity with known protein structures. It uses standard BLAST software for performing similarity search of a query protein against protein structures in PDB. This server integrates wide range modules for assigning different types of annotation that includes, Secondary-structure, Accessible surface area, Tight-turns, DNA-RNA and Ligand modules. Secondary structure module allows users to predict regular secondary structure states to each residue in a protein. Accessible surface area predict the exposed or buried residues in a protein. Tight-turns module is designed to predict tight turns like beta-turns in a protein. DNA-RNA module developed for predicting DNA and RNA interacting residues in a protein. Similarly, Ligand module of server allows one to predicted ligands, metal and nucleotides ligand interacting residues in a protein. In summary, this manuscript presents a web server for comprehensive annotation of a protein based on similarity search. It integrates number of visualization tools that facilitate users to understand structure and function of protein residues. This web server is available freely for scientific community from URL http://crdd.osdd.net/raghava/starpdb .

Introducing PALETTE: an iterative method for conducting a literature search for a review in palliative care.

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Zwakman, Marieke; Verberne, Lisa M; Kars, Marijke C; Hooft, Lotty; van Delden, Johannes J M; Spijker, René

2018-06-02

In the rapidly developing specialty of palliative care, literature reviews have become increasingly important to inform and improve the field. When applying widely used methods for literature reviews developed for intervention studies onto palliative care, challenges are encountered such as the heterogeneity of palliative care in practice (wide range of domains in patient characteristics, stages of illness and stakeholders), the explorative character of review questions, and the poorly defined keywords and concepts. To overcome the challenges and to provide guidance for researchers to conduct a literature search for a review in palliative care, Palliative cAre Literature rEview iTeraTive mEthod (PALLETE), a pragmatic framework, was developed. We assessed PALETTE with a detailed description. PALETTE consists of four phases; developing the review question, building the search strategy, validating the search strategy and performing the search. The framework incorporates different information retrieval techniques: contacting experts, pearl growing, citation tracking and Boolean searching in a transparent way to maximize the retrieval of literature relevant to the topic of interest. The different components and techniques are repeated until no new articles are qualified for inclusion. The phases within PALETTE are interconnected by a recurrent process of validation on 'golden bullets' (articles that undoubtedly should be part of the review), citation tracking and concept terminology reflecting the review question. To give insight in the value of PALETTE, we compared PALETTE with the recommended search method for reviews of intervention studies. By using PALETTE on two palliative care literature reviews, we were able to improve our review questions and search strategies. Moreover, in comparison with the recommended search for intervention reviews, the number of articles needed to be screened was decreased whereas more relevant articles were retrieved. Overall, PALETTE

Managing the Grey Literature of a Discipline through Collaboration: AgEcon Search

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Julia; Letnes, Louise

2005-01-01

AgEcon Search, http://www.agecon.lib.umn.edu, is an important and ground-breaking example of an alternative method of delivering current research results to many potential users. AgEcon Search, through a distributed model, collects and disseminates the grey literature of the fields of agricultural and resource economics. The development of this…

Effects of air blast on power plant structures and components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kot, C.A.; Valentin, R.A.; McLennan, D.A.; Turula, P.

1978-10-01

The effects of air blast from high explosives detonation on selected power plant structures and components are investigated analytically. Relying on a synthesis of state of the art methods estimates of structural response are obtained. Similarly blast loadings are determined from compilations of experimental data reported in the literature. Plastic-yield line analysis is employed to determine the response of both concrete and steel flat walls (plates) under impulsive loading. Linear elastic theory is used to investigate the spalling of concrete walls and mode analysis methods predict the deflection of piping. The specific problems considered are: the gross deformation of reinforced concrete shield and containment structures due to blast impulse, the spalling of concrete walls, the interaction or impact of concrete debris with steel containments and liners, and the response of exposed piping to blast impulse. It is found that for sufficiently close-in detonations and/or large explosive charge weights severe damage or destruction will result. This is particularly true for structures or components directly exposed to blast impulse

Primary blast survival and injury risk assessment for repeated blast exposures.

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Panzer, Matthew B; Bass, Cameron R Dale; Rafaels, Karin A; Shridharani, Jay; Capehart, Bruce P

2012-02-01

The widespread use of explosives by modern insurgents and terrorists has increased the potential frequency of blast exposure in soldiers and civilians. This growing threat highlights the importance of understanding and evaluating blast injury risk and the increase of injury risk from exposure to repeated blast effects. Data from more than 3,250 large animal experiments were collected from studies focusing on the effects of blast exposure. The current study uses 2,349 experiments from the data collection for analysis of the primary blast injury and survival risk for both long- and short-duration blasts, including the effects from repeated exposures. A piecewise linear logistic regression was performed on the data to develop survival and injury risk assessment curves. New injury risk assessment curves uniting long- and short-duration blasts were developed for incident and reflected pressure measures and were used to evaluate the risk of injury based on blast over pressure, positive-phase duration, and the number of repeated exposures. The risk assessments were derived for three levels of injury severity: nonauditory, pulmonary, and fatality. The analysis showed a marked initial decrease in injury tolerance with each subsequent blast exposure. This effect decreases with increasing number of blast exposures. The new injury risk functions showed good agreement with the existing experimental data and provided a simplified model for primary blast injury risk. This model can be used to predict blast injury or fatality risk for single exposure and repeated exposure cases and has application in modern combat scenarios or in setting occupational health limits. .Copyright © 2012 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Textpresso Central: a customizable platform for searching, text mining, viewing, and curating biomedical literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, H-M; Van Auken, K M; Li, Y; Sternberg, P W

2018-03-09

The biomedical literature continues to grow at a rapid pace, making the challenge of knowledge retrieval and extraction ever greater. Tools that provide a means to search and mine the full text of literature thus represent an important way by which the efficiency of these processes can be improved. We describe the next generation of the Textpresso information retrieval system, Textpresso Central (TPC). TPC builds on the strengths of the original system by expanding the full text corpus to include the PubMed Central Open Access Subset (PMC OA), as well as the WormBase C. elegans bibliography. In addition, TPC allows users to create a customized corpus by uploading and processing documents of their choosing. TPC is UIMA compliant, to facilitate compatibility with external processing modules, and takes advantage of Lucene indexing and search technology for efficient handling of millions of full text documents. Like Textpresso, TPC searches can be performed using keywords and/or categories (semantically related groups of terms), but to provide better context for interpreting and validating queries, search results may now be viewed as highlighted passages in the context of full text. To facilitate biocuration efforts, TPC also allows users to select text spans from the full text and annotate them, create customized curation forms for any data type, and send resulting annotations to external curation databases. As an example of such a curation form, we describe integration of TPC with the Noctua curation tool developed by the Gene Ontology (GO) Consortium. Textpresso Central is an online literature search and curation platform that enables biocurators and biomedical researchers to search and mine the full text of literature by integrating keyword and category searches with viewing search results in the context of the full text. It also allows users to create customized curation interfaces, use those interfaces to make annotations linked to supporting evidence statements

Manual for the prediction of blast and fragment loadings on structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1980-11-01

The purpose of this manual is to provide Architect-Engineer (AE) firms guidance for the prediction of air blast, ground shock and fragment loadings on structures as a result of accidental explosions in or near these structures. Information in this manual is the result of an extensive literature survey and data gathering effort, supplemented by some original analytical studies on various aspects of blast phenomena. Many prediction equations and graphs are presented, accompanied by numerous example problems illustrating their use. The manual is complementary to existing structural design manuals and is intended to reflect the current state-of-the-art in prediction of blast and fragment loads for accidental explosions of high explosives at the Pantex Plant. In some instances, particularly for explosions within blast-resistant structures of complex geometry, rational estimation of these loads is beyond the current state-of-the-art.

Literature search on Kickers and Septa for the Amsterdam Pulse Stretcher

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuijt, J.; Linden, A. v.d.

1988-01-01

Literature search has yielded a qualitative and quantitative view on kickers. Quantitatively specifications on designs in literature have been collected. The UPDATE-kickers have been given the following specs: deflection angle 2 mrad, pulsewidth 2 μs, falltime 70 ns, available length about 2 m. Undertaken is a comparison of characteristic parameters: kick strength (energy x angle), pulse characteristics (pulsewidth/falltime) and required peak power. Realisation of the pulse characteristics will impose the greatest requirements on the UPDATE-kicker design. The comparison has shown correspondence with two ferrite kicker designs (CERN-CPS and ELSA), the Los Alamos TEM-kicker and the electrostatic kicker from Saskatoon. On account of the relative simplicity of construction and pulse forming network the Saskatoon kicker has been chosen as the starting point for a design study. Design calculations will proceed from a length of 1.6 m and a gap of 4 cm between two parallel plates at a potential difference of 50 kV. Literature search on septa resulted in an overview on septum magnets and electrostatic wire septa. 72 refs.; 14 figs.; 2 tabs

[Titanium or steel as osteosynthesis material : Systematic literature search for clinical evidence].

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Joeris, Alexander; Goldhahn, Sabine; Rometsch, Elke; Höntzsch, Dankward

2017-02-01

The selection of the appropriate implant material, stainless steel or titanium, is still the decision of the surgeon and/or the affiliated institution. Additionally, remarkable international differences can be found between the different markets, which cannot really be explained. A systematic literature search was performed to verify whether there is clinical evidence for the preference of one material over the other. The systematic literature search was performed utilizing the internet databases PubMed, Cochrane and Web of Science. Comparative studies were included that reported on adult patients with osteosynthesis of extremities after trauma using either stainless steel or titanium implants. Information was extracted about infection rates, incidence of clinically relevant allergies, problems with implant removal and other complications. A total of 18 publications were identified to be eligible and 2 referenced articles were added. In summary, there is insufficient clinical evidence that the use of titanium or steel implants has a positive or negative effect on fracture healing, shows different rates of allergies, different rates of infections or mechanical failure. No supporting evidence could be identified for the difficulties with removal of titanium implants reported by surgeons. This systematic literature search did not provide any clinical evidence for material-related differences between titanium or stainless steel implants for fracture fixation. Based on the current clinical evidence both titanium and steel implants can be considered to be of equal value. The reported difficulties with implant removal are not reflected in the published literature.

Google Scholar as replacement for systematic literature searches: good relative recall and precision are not enough.

Science.gov (United States)

Boeker, Martin; Vach, Werner; Motschall, Edith

2013-10-26

Recent research indicates a high recall in Google Scholar searches for systematic reviews. These reports raised high expectations of Google Scholar as a unified and easy to use search interface. However, studies on the coverage of Google Scholar rarely used the search interface in a realistic approach but instead merely checked for the existence of gold standard references. In addition, the severe limitations of the Google Search interface must be taken into consideration when comparing with professional literature retrieval tools.The objectives of this work are to measure the relative recall and precision of searches with Google Scholar under conditions which are derived from structured search procedures conventional in scientific literature retrieval; and to provide an overview of current advantages and disadvantages of the Google Scholar search interface in scientific literature retrieval. General and MEDLINE-specific search strategies were retrieved from 14 Cochrane systematic reviews. Cochrane systematic review search strategies were translated to Google Scholar search expression as good as possible under consideration of the original search semantics. The references of the included studies from the Cochrane reviews were checked for their inclusion in the result sets of the Google Scholar searches. Relative recall and precision were calculated. We investigated Cochrane reviews with a number of included references between 11 and 70 with a total of 396 references. The Google Scholar searches resulted in sets between 4,320 and 67,800 and a total of 291,190 hits. The relative recall of the Google Scholar searches had a minimum of 76.2% and a maximum of 100% (7 searches). The precision of the Google Scholar searches had a minimum of 0.05% and a maximum of 0.92%. The overall relative recall for all searches was 92.9%, the overall precision was 0.13%. The reported relative recall must be interpreted with care. It is a quality indicator of Google Scholar confined to

Applying systematic review search methods to the grey literature: a case study examining guidelines for school-based breakfast programs in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Godin, Katelyn; Stapleton, Jackie; Kirkpatrick, Sharon I; Hanning, Rhona M; Leatherdale, Scott T

2015-10-22

Grey literature is an important source of information for large-scale review syntheses. However, there are many characteristics of grey literature that make it difficult to search systematically. Further, there is no 'gold standard' for rigorous systematic grey literature search methods and few resources on how to conduct this type of search. This paper describes systematic review search methods that were developed and applied to complete a case study systematic review of grey literature that examined guidelines for school-based breakfast programs in Canada. A grey literature search plan was developed to incorporate four different searching strategies: (1) grey literature databases, (2) customized Google search engines, (3) targeted websites, and (4) consultation with contact experts. These complementary strategies were used to minimize the risk of omitting relevant sources. Since abstracts are often unavailable in grey literature documents, items' abstracts, executive summaries, or table of contents (whichever was available) were screened. Screening of publications' full-text followed. Data were extracted on the organization, year published, who they were developed by, intended audience, goal/objectives of document, sources of evidence/resources cited, meals mentioned in the guidelines, and recommendations for program delivery. The search strategies for identifying and screening publications for inclusion in the case study review was found to be manageable, comprehensive, and intuitive when applied in practice. The four search strategies of the grey literature search plan yielded 302 potentially relevant items for screening. Following the screening process, 15 publications that met all eligibility criteria remained and were included in the case study systematic review. The high-level findings of the case study systematic review are briefly described. This article demonstrated a feasible and seemingly robust method for applying systematic search strategies to

Water in blast holes can improve blasting efficiency and cut costs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Regan, G.

1983-08-01

Water in blast holes has been a traditional problem faced by blasting engineers and foremen in surface mining. Presently accepted techniques for blasting in water-filled holes include the use of more expensive water-gel explosives which are denser than water, dewatering of holes by pumping, and blowing out the water with a small charge before loading the main ANFO charge column. These methods involve considerable expense and delay to the normal charge-loading procedure. The author describes a method of using the water in blast holes to improve blasting efficiency and reduce the consumption of explosive.

Primary blast-induced traumatic brain injury: lessons from lithotripsy

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Nakagawa, A.; Ohtani, K.; Armonda, R.; Tomita, H.; Sakuma, A.; Mugikura, S.; Takayama, K.; Kushimoto, S.; Tominaga, T.

2017-11-01

Traumatic injury caused by explosive or blast events is traditionally divided into four mechanisms: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary blast injury. The mechanisms of blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) are biomechanically distinct and can be modeled in both in vivo and in vitro systems. The primary bTBI injury mechanism is associated with the response of brain tissue to the initial blast wave. Among the four mechanisms of bTBI, there is a remarkable lack of information regarding the mechanism of primary bTBI. On the other hand, 30 years of research on the medical application of shock waves (SWs) has given us insight into the mechanisms of tissue and cellular damage in bTBI, including both air-mediated and underwater SW sources. From a basic physics perspective, the typical blast wave consists of a lead SW followed by shock-accelerated flow. The resultant tissue injury includes several features observed in primary bTBI, such as hemorrhage, edema, pseudo-aneurysm formation, vasoconstriction, and induction of apoptosis. These are well-described pathological findings within the SW literature. Acoustic impedance mismatch, penetration of tissue by shock/bubble interaction, geometry of the skull, shear stress, tensile stress, and subsequent cavitation formation are all important factors in determining the extent of SW-induced tissue and cellular injury. In addition, neuropsychiatric aspects of blast events need to be taken into account, as evidenced by reports of comorbidity and of some similar symptoms between physical injury resulting in bTBI and the psychiatric sequelae of post-traumatic stress. Research into blast injury biophysics is important to elucidate specific pathophysiologic mechanisms of blast injury, which enable accurate differential diagnosis, as well as development of effective treatments. Herein we describe the requirements for an adequate experimental setup when investigating blast-induced tissue and cellular injury; review SW physics

Paramedic literature search filters: optimised for clinicians and academics.

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Olaussen, Alexander; Semple, William; Oteir, Alaa; Todd, Paula; Williams, Brett

2017-10-11

Search filters aid clinicians and academics to accurately locate literature. Despite this, there is no search filter or Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) term pertaining to paramedics. Therefore, the aim of this study was to create two filters to meet to different needs of paramedic clinicians and academics. We created a gold standard from a reference set, which we measured against single terms and search filters. The words and phrases used stemmed from selective exclusion of terms from the previously published Prehospital Search Filter 2.0 as well as a Delphi session with an expert panel of paramedic researchers. Independent authors deemed articles paramedic-relevant or not following an agreed definition. We measured sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and number needed to read (NNR). We located 2102 articles of which 431 (20.5%) related to paramedics. The performance of single terms was on average of high specificity (97.1% (Standard Deviation 7.4%), but of poor sensitivity (12.0%, SD 18.7%). The NNR ranged from 1 to 8.6. The sensitivity-maximising search filter yielded 98.4% sensitivity, with a specificity of 74.3% and a NNR of 2. The specificity-maximising filter achieved 88.3% in specificity, which only lowered the sensitivity to 94.7%, and thus a NNR of 1.48. We have created the first two paramedic specific search filters, one optimised for sensitivity and one optimised for specificity. The sensitivity-maximising search filter yielded 98.4% sensitivity, and a NNR of 2. The specificity-maximising filter achieved 88.3% in specificity, which only lowered the sensitivity to 94.7%, and a NNR of 1.48. A paramedic MeSH term is needed.

Searching for religion and mental health studies required health, social science, and grey literature databases.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Judy M; Cottrell, David J; Mir, Ghazala

2014-07-01

To determine the optimal databases to search for studies of faith-sensitive interventions for treating depression. We examined 23 health, social science, religious, and grey literature databases searched for an evidence synthesis. Databases were prioritized by yield of (1) search results, (2) potentially relevant references identified during screening, (3) included references contained in the synthesis, and (4) included references that were available in the database. We assessed the impact of databases beyond MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO by their ability to supply studies identifying new themes and issues. We identified pragmatic workload factors that influence database selection. PsycINFO was the best performing database within all priority lists. ArabPsyNet, CINAHL, Dissertations and Theses, EMBASE, Global Health, Health Management Information Consortium, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Sociological Abstracts were essential for our searches to retrieve the included references. Citation tracking activities and the personal library of one of the research teams made significant contributions of unique, relevant references. Religion studies databases (Am Theo Lib Assoc, FRANCIS) did not provide unique, relevant references. Literature searches for reviews and evidence syntheses of religion and health studies should include social science, grey literature, non-Western databases, personal libraries, and citation tracking activities. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The use of computer blast simulations to improve blast quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Favreau, R.F.; Kuzyk, G.W.; Babulic, P.J.; Tienkamp, N.J.

1989-01-01

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited is constructing an Underground Research Laboratory (URL) as part of a comprehensive program to evaluate the concept of nuclear fuel waste disposal deep in crystalline rock formations. Careful blasting methods have been used to minimize damage to the excavation surfaces. Good wall quality is desirable in any excavation. In excavations required for nuclear waste disposal, the objective will be to minimize blast-induced fractures which may complicate the sealing requirements necessary to control subsequent movement of groundwater around a sealed disposal vault. The construction of the URL has provided an opportunity for the development of controlled blasting methods, especially for drilling accuracy and optimization of explosive loads in the perimeter and cushion holes. The work has been assisted by the use of blast simulations with the mathematical model Blaspa. This paper reviews the results of a recent project to develop a controlled method of full-face blasting, and compares the observed field results with the results of a blast simulator called Blaspa. Good agreement is found between the two, and the Blaspa results indicate quantitatively how the blasting may induce damage in the final excavation surface. In particular, the rock in the final wall may be stressed more severely by the cushion holes than by the perimeter holes. Bootleg of the rock between the perimeter and cushion rows occurs when the burst-out velocity imparted to it by the explosive loads in the perimeter holes is inadequate. In practice, these findings indicate that quantitative rock stress and rock burst-out velocity criteria can be established to minimize wall damage and bootleg. Thus, blast simulations become an efficient way to design controlled blasting and to optimize quality of the excavation surface

PubMed and beyond: a survey of web tools for searching biomedical literature

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Zhiyong

2011-01-01

The past decade has witnessed the modern advances of high-throughput technology and rapid growth of research capacity in producing large-scale biological data, both of which were concomitant with an exponential growth of biomedical literature. This wealth of scholarly knowledge is of significant importance for researchers in making scientific discoveries and healthcare professionals in managing health-related matters. However, the acquisition of such information is becoming increasingly difficult due to its large volume and rapid growth. In response, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is continuously making changes to its PubMed Web service for improvement. Meanwhile, different entities have devoted themselves to developing Web tools for helping users quickly and efficiently search and retrieve relevant publications. These practices, together with maturity in the field of text mining, have led to an increase in the number and quality of various Web tools that provide comparable literature search service to PubMed. In this study, we review 28 such tools, highlight their respective innovations, compare them to the PubMed system and one another, and discuss directions for future development. Furthermore, we have built a website dedicated to tracking existing systems and future advances in the field of biomedical literature search. Taken together, our work serves information seekers in choosing tools for their needs and service providers and developers in keeping current in the field. Database URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/search PMID:21245076

PubMed and beyond: a survey of web tools for searching biomedical literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Zhiyong

2011-01-01

The past decade has witnessed the modern advances of high-throughput technology and rapid growth of research capacity in producing large-scale biological data, both of which were concomitant with an exponential growth of biomedical literature. This wealth of scholarly knowledge is of significant importance for researchers in making scientific discoveries and healthcare professionals in managing health-related matters. However, the acquisition of such information is becoming increasingly difficult due to its large volume and rapid growth. In response, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is continuously making changes to its PubMed Web service for improvement. Meanwhile, different entities have devoted themselves to developing Web tools for helping users quickly and efficiently search and retrieve relevant publications. These practices, together with maturity in the field of text mining, have led to an increase in the number and quality of various Web tools that provide comparable literature search service to PubMed. In this study, we review 28 such tools, highlight their respective innovations, compare them to the PubMed system and one another, and discuss directions for future development. Furthermore, we have built a website dedicated to tracking existing systems and future advances in the field of biomedical literature search. Taken together, our work serves information seekers in choosing tools for their needs and service providers and developers in keeping current in the field. Database URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/search.

Evaluation of hospital staff’s perceived quality of librarian-mediated literature searching services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra McKeown, MLIS

2017-04-01

Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the limitations of written communication in the context of librarian-mediated literature searching and suggest a multifaceted approach to quality improvement efforts.

Conducting systematic reviews of intervention questions I: Writing the review protocol, formulating the question and searching the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, A M; Anderson, K M; Goodell, C K; Sargeant, J M

2014-06-01

This article is the fourth of six articles addressing systematic reviews in animal agriculture and veterinary medicine. Previous articles in the series have introduced systematic reviews, discussed study designs and hierarchies of evidence, and provided details on conducting randomized controlled trials, a common design for use in systematic reviews. This article describes development of a review protocol and the first two steps in a systematic review: formulating a review question, and searching the literature for relevant research. The emphasis is on systematic reviews of questions related to interventions. The review protocol is developed prior to conducting the review and specifies the plan for the conduct of the review, identifies the roles and responsibilities of the review team and provides structured definitions related to the review question. For intervention questions, the review question should be defined by the PICO components: population, intervention, comparison and outcome(s). The literature search is designed to identify all potentially relevant original research that may address the question. Search terms related to some or all of the PICO components are entered into literature databases, and searches for unpublished literature also are conducted. All steps of the literature search are documented to provide transparent reporting of the process. © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Factors affecting the diffusion of online end user literature searching.

Science.gov (United States)

Ash, J S

1999-01-01

The aim of this study was to identify factors that affect diffusion of usage of online end user literature searching. Fifteen factors clustered into three attribute sets (innovation attributes, organizational attributes, and marketing attributes) were measured to study their effect on the diffusion of online searching within institutions. A random sample of sixty-seven academic health sciences centers was selected and then 1,335 library and informatics staff members at those institutions were surveyed by mail with electronic mail follow-up. Multiple regression analysis was performed. The survey yielded a 41% response rate with electronic mail follow-up being particularly effective. Two dependent variables, internal diffusion (spread of diffusion) and infusion (depth of diffusion), were measured. There was little correlation between them, indicating they measured different things. Fifteen independent variables clustered into three attribute sets were measured. The innovation attributes set was significant for both internal diffusion and infusion. Significant individual variables were visibility for internal diffusion and image enhancement effects (negative relation) as well as visibility for infusion (depth of diffusion). Organizational attributes were also significant predictors for both dependent variables. No individual variables were significant for internal diffusion. Communication, management support (negative relation), rewards, and existence of champions were significant for infusion. Marketing attributes were not significant predictors. Successful diffusion of online end user literature searching is dependent on the visibility of the systems, communication among, rewards to, and peers of possible users who promote use (champions). Personal image enhancement effects have a negative relation to infusion, possibly because the use of intermediaries is still seen as the more luxurious way to have searches done. Management support also has a negative relation to

BEST: Next-Generation Biomedical Entity Search Tool for Knowledge Discovery from Biomedical Literature.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunwon Lee

Full Text Available As the volume of publications rapidly increases, searching for relevant information from the literature becomes more challenging. To complement standard search engines such as PubMed, it is desirable to have an advanced search tool that directly returns relevant biomedical entities such as targets, drugs, and mutations rather than a long list of articles. Some existing tools submit a query to PubMed and process retrieved abstracts to extract information at query time, resulting in a slow response time and limited coverage of only a fraction of the PubMed corpus. Other tools preprocess the PubMed corpus to speed up the response time; however, they are not constantly updated, and thus produce outdated results. Further, most existing tools cannot process sophisticated queries such as searches for mutations that co-occur with query terms in the literature. To address these problems, we introduce BEST, a biomedical entity search tool. BEST returns, as a result, a list of 10 different types of biomedical entities including genes, diseases, drugs, targets, transcription factors, miRNAs, and mutations that are relevant to a user's query. To the best of our knowledge, BEST is the only system that processes free text queries and returns up-to-date results in real time including mutation information in the results. BEST is freely accessible at http://best.korea.ac.kr.

Comparison of Some Blast Vibration Predictors for Blasting in Underground Drifts and Some Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Bhagwat, Vaibhab Pramod; Dey, Kaushik

2016-04-01

Drilling and blasting are the most economical excavation techniques in underground drifts driven through hard rock formation. Burn cut is the most popular drill pattern, used in this case, to achieve longer advance per blast round. The ground vibration generated due to the propagation of blast waves on the detonation of explosive during blasting is the principal cause for structural and rock damage. Thus, ground vibration is a point of concern for the blasting engineers. The ground vibration from a blast is measured using a seismograph placed at the blast monitoring station. The measured vibrations, in terms of peak particle velocity, are related to the maximum charge detonated at one instant and the distance of seismograph from the blast point. The ground vibrations from a number of blast rounds of varying charge/delay and distances are monitored. A number of scaling factors of these dependencies (viz. Distance and maximum charge/delay) have been proposed by different researchers, namely, square root, cube root, CMRI, Langefors and Kihlstrom, Ghosh-Daemon, Indian standard etc. Scaling factors of desired type are computed for all the measured blast rounds. Regression analysis is carried out between the scaling factors and peak particle velocities to establish the coefficients of the vibration predictor equation. Then, the developed predictor equation is used for designing the blast henceforth. Director General of Mine Safety, India, specified that ground vibrations from eight to ten blast rounds of varying charge/delay and distances should be monitored to develop a predictor equation; however, there is no guideline about the type of scaling factor to be used. Further to this, from the statistical point of view, a regression analysis on a small sample population cannot be accepted without the testing of hypothesis. To show the importance of the above, in this paper, seven scaling factors are considered for blast data set of a hard-rock underground drift using burn

Brazilian academic search filter: application to the scientific literature on physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanz-Valero, Javier; Ferreira, Marcos Santos; Castiel, Luis David; Wanden-Berghe, Carmina; Guilam, Maria Cristina Rodrigues

2010-10-01

To develop a search filter in order to retrieve scientific publications on physical activity from Brazilian academic institutions. The academic search filter consisted of the descriptor "exercise" associated through the term AND, to the names of the respective academic institutions, which were connected by the term OR. The MEDLINE search was performed with PubMed on 11/16/2008. The institutions were selected according to the classification from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for interuniversity agreements. A total of 407 references were retrieved, corresponding to about 0.9% of all articles about physical activity and 0.5% of the Brazilian academic publications indexed in MEDLINE on the search date. When compared with the manual search undertaken, the search filter (descriptor + institutional filter) showed a sensitivity of 99% and a specificity of 100%. The institutional search filter showed high sensitivity and specificity, and is applicable to other areas of knowledge in health sciences. It is desirable that every Brazilian academic institution establish its "standard name/brand" in order to efficiently retrieve their scientific literature.

A literature search tool for intelligent extraction of disease-associated genes.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Jae-Yoon; DeLuca, Todd F; Nelson, Tristan H; Wall, Dennis P

2014-01-01

To extract disorder-associated genes from the scientific literature in PubMed with greater sensitivity for literature-based support than existing methods. We developed a PubMed query to retrieve disorder-related, original research articles. Then we applied a rule-based text-mining algorithm with keyword matching to extract target disorders, genes with significant results, and the type of study described by the article. We compared our resulting candidate disorder genes and supporting references with existing databases. We demonstrated that our candidate gene set covers nearly all genes in manually curated databases, and that the references supporting the disorder-gene link are more extensive and accurate than other general purpose gene-to-disorder association databases. We implemented a novel publication search tool to find target articles, specifically focused on links between disorders and genotypes. Through comparison against gold-standard manually updated gene-disorder databases and comparison with automated databases of similar functionality we show that our tool can search through the entirety of PubMed to extract the main gene findings for human diseases rapidly and accurately.

Membranes replace irradiated blast cells as growth requirement for leukemic blast progenitors in suspension culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nara, N.; McCulloch, E.A.

1985-01-01

The blast cells of acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) may be considered as a renewal population, maintained by blast stem cells capable of both self-renewal and the generation of progeny with reduced or absent proliferative potential. This growth requires that two conditions be met: first, the cultures must contain growth factors in media conditioned either by phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated mononuclear leukocytes (PHA-LCM), or by cells of the continuous bladder carcinoma line HTB9 (HTB9-CM). Second, the cell density must be maintained at 10(6) blasts/ml; this may be achieved by adding irradiated cells to smaller numbers of intact blasts. The authors are concerned with the mechanism of the feeding function. They present evidence that (a) cell-cell contact is required. (b) Blasts are heterogeneous in respect to their capacity to support growth. (c) Fractions containing membranes from blast cells will substitute for intact cells in promoting the generation of new blast progenitors in culture. (d) This membrane function may be specific for AML blasts, since membranes from blasts of lymphoblastic leukemia or normal marrow cells were inactive

What is lost when searching only one literature database for articles relevant to injury prevention and safety promotion?

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, D W

2008-12-01

To assess what is lost if only one literature database is searched for articles relevant to injury prevention and safety promotion (IPSP) topics. Serial textword (keyword, free-text) searches using multiple synonym terms for five key IPSP topics (bicycle-related brain injuries, ethanol-impaired driving, house fires, road rage, and suicidal behaviors among adolescents) were conducted in four of the bibliographic databases that are most used by IPSP professionals: EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. Through a systematic procedure, an inventory of articles on each topic in each database was conducted to identify the total unduplicated count of all articles on each topic, the number of articles unique to each database, and the articles available if only one database is searched. No single database included all of the relevant articles on any topic, and the database with the broadest coverage differed by topic. A search of only one literature database will return 16.7-81.5% (median 43.4%) of the available articles on any of five key IPSP topics. Each database contributed unique articles to the total bibliography for each topic. A literature search performed in only one database will, on average, lead to a loss of more than half of the available literature on a topic.

Blast-Induced Acceleration in a Shock Tube: Distinguishing Primary and Tertiary Blast Injury

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-01

injury conditions (blast and acceleration vs acceleration alone) undergo neurobehavioral and histopathological assessments to comprehensively... reversal . To facilitate mid-air blasts, a release mechanism was devised. Balls were attached to the bail of the mechanism. The blast wave would cause

Literature search strategies for interdisciplinary research a sourcebook for scientists and engineers

CERN Document Server

Ackerson, Linda G

2006-01-01

The amount of published literature can be overwhelming for scientists and researchers moving from a broad disciplinary research area to a more specialized one, particularly in fields that use information from more than one discipline. Without a focused inquiry, the researcher may find too little information or may be overcome by too much. Striking the correct balance of information is the focus of Literature Search Strategies for Interdisciplinary Research. This useful reference tool studies diverse interdisciplinary areas revealing the general and individual qualities that dictate the strateg

pSort search result - KOME | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available switchLanguage; BLAST Search Image Search Home About Archive Update History Data ...name: kome_psort_search_result.zip File URL: ftp://ftp.biosciencedbc.jp/archive/kome/LATEST/kome_psort_searc...abase Description Download License Update History of This Database Site Policy | Contact Us pSort search result - KOME | LSDB Archive ...

Blast Injury: Translating Research Into Operational Medicine (Preprint)

Science.gov (United States)

2008-05-20

better body armor, automobile safety systems, and less injurious nonlethal weapons. Many of the key findings of the MOMRP blast re- search program have... Proton MRS also has mood disorders.127–133 MRS imaging has cor- related with functional independence measure,134 Glasgow Outcome Scale, and...Pennsylvania in the Battle of the Crater: A Regimen of Coal Miners Who Tunneled Under the Enemy. Jef- ferson, NC: McFarland & Company ; 2006. 2

Comparison of Four Search Engines and their efficacy With Emphasis on Literature Research in Addiction (Prevention and Treatment).

Science.gov (United States)

Samadzadeh, Gholam Reza; Rigi, Tahereh; Ganjali, Ali Reza

2013-01-01

Surveying valuable and most recent information from internet, has become vital for researchers and scholars, because every day, thousands and perhaps millions of scientific works are brought out as digital resources which represented by internet and researchers can't ignore this great resource to find related documents for their literature search, which may not be found in any library. With regard to variety of documents presented on the internet, search engines are one of the most effective search tools for finding information. The aim of this study is to evaluate the three criteria, recall, preciseness and importance of the four search engines which are PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar and federated search of Iranian National Medical Digital Library in addiction (prevention and treatment) to select the most effective search engine for offering the best literature research. This research was a cross-sectional study by which four popular search engines in medical sciences were evaluated. To select keywords, medical subject heading (Mesh) was used. We entered given keywords in the search engines and after searching, 10 first entries were evaluated. Direct observation was used as a mean for data collection and they were analyzed by descriptive statistics (number, percent number and mean) and inferential statistics, One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc Tukey in Spss. 15 statistical software. P Value search engines had different operations with regard to the evaluated criteria. Since P Value was 0.004 search engines. PubMed, Science Direct and Google Scholar were the best in recall, preciseness and importance respectively. As literature research is one of the most important stages of research, it's better for researchers, especially Substance-Related Disorders scholars to use different search engines with the best recall, preciseness and importance in that subject field to reach desirable results while searching and they don't depend on just one

LITERATURE SEARCH FOR METHODS FOR HAZARD ANALYSES OF AIR CARRIER OPERATIONS.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MARTINEZ - GURIDI,G.; SAMANTA,P.

2002-07-01

Representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and several air carriers under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121 developed a system-engineering model of the functions of air-carrier operations. Their analyses form the foundation or basic architecture upon which other task areas are based: hazard analyses, performance measures, and risk indicator design. To carry out these other tasks, models may need to be developed using the basic architecture of the Air Carrier Operations System Model (ACOSM). Since ACOSM encompasses various areas of air-carrier operations and can be used to address different task areas with differing but interrelated objectives, the modeling needs are broad. A literature search was conducted to identify and analyze the existing models that may be applicable for pursuing the task areas in ACOSM. The intent of the literature search was not necessarily to identify a specific model that can be directly used, but rather to identify relevant ones that have similarities with the processes and activities defined within ACOSM. Such models may provide useful inputs and insights in structuring ACOSM models. ACOSM simulates processes and activities in air-carrier operation, but, in a general framework, it has similarities with other industries where attention also has been paid to hazard analyses, emphasizing risk management, and in designing risk indicators. To assure that efforts in other industries are adequately considered, the literature search includes publications from other industries, e.g., chemical, nuclear, and process industries. This report discusses the literature search, the relevant methods identified and provides a preliminary assessment of their use in developing the models needed for the ACOSM task areas. A detailed assessment of the models has not been made. Defining those applicable for ACOSM will need further analyses of both the models and tools identified. The report is organized in four chapters

NOBLAST and JAMBLAST: New Options for BLAST and a Java Application Manager for BLAST results.

Science.gov (United States)

Lagnel, Jacques; Tsigenopoulos, Costas S; Iliopoulos, Ioannis

2009-03-15

NOBLAST (New Options for BLAST) is an open source program that provides a new user-friendly tabular output format for various NCBI BLAST programs (Blastn, Blastp, Blastx, Tblastn, Tblastx, Mega BLAST and Psi BLAST) without any use of a parser and provides E-value correction in case of use of segmented BLAST database. JAMBLAST using the NOBLAST output allows the user to manage, view and filter the BLAST hits using a number of selection criteria. A distribution package of NOBLAST and JAMBLAST including detailed installation procedure is freely available from http://sourceforge.net/projects/JAMBLAST/ and http://sourceforge.net/projects/NOBLAST. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Beyond PubMed: Searching the "Grey Literature" for Clinical Trial Results.

Science.gov (United States)

Citrome, Leslie

2014-07-01

Clinical trial results have been traditionally communicated through the publication of scholarly reports and reviews in biomedical journals. However, this dissemination of information can be delayed or incomplete, making it difficult to appraise new treatments, or in the case of missing data, evaluate older interventions. Going beyond the routine search of PubMed, it is possible to discover additional information in the "grey literature." Examples of the grey literature include clinical trial registries, patent databases, company and industrywide repositories, regulatory agency digital archives, abstracts of paper and poster presentations on meeting/congress websites, industry investor reports and press releases, and institutional and personal websites.

Research on Effects of Blast Casting Vibration and Vibration Absorption of Presplitting Blasting in Open Cast Mine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Ma

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The impact energy produced by blast casting is able to break and cast rocks, yet the strong vibration effects caused at the same time would threaten the safety of mines. Based on the theory of Janbu’s Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM, pseudo-static method has been incorporated to analyze the influence of dynamic loads of blasting on slope stability. The horizontal loads produced by blast vibrations cause an increase in sliding forces, and this leads to a lower slope stability coefficient. When the tensile stresses of the two adjacent blast holes are greater than the tensile strength of rock mass, the radical oriented cracks are formed, which is the precondition for the formation of presplit face. Thus, the formula for calculating the blast hole spacing of presplit blasting can be obtained. Based on the analysis of the principles of vibration tester and vibration pick-up in detecting blast vibrations, a detection scheme of blast vibration is worked out by taking the blast area with precrack rear and non-precrack side of the detection object. The detection and research results of blast vibration show that presplit blasting can reduce the attenuation coefficient of stress wave by half, and the vibration absorption ratio could reach 50.2%; the impact of dynamic loads on the end-wall slope stability coefficient is 1.98%, which proves that presplit blasting plays an important role in shock absorption of blast casting.

PubMed vs. HighWire Press: a head-to-head comparison of two medical literature search engines.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanhecke, Thomas E; Barnes, Michael A; Zimmerman, Janet; Shoichet, Sandor

2007-09-01

PubMed and HighWire Press are both useful medical literature search engines available for free to anyone on the internet. We measured retrieval accuracy, number of results generated, retrieval speed, features and search tools on HighWire Press and PubMed using the quick search features of each. We found that using HighWire Press resulted in a higher likelihood of retrieving the desired article and higher number of search results than the same search on PubMed. PubMed was faster than HighWire Press in delivering search results regardless of search settings. There are considerable differences in search features between these two search engines.

An analysis of the heap construction by long hole blasting for in-situ leaching of blasted ore

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Shijiao

1999-01-01

The author establishes specific requirements for heap construction by blasting on the basis of the mechanism for in situ leaching of blasted ore, analyses the feasibility of heap construction by long hole blasting, selection of the blast plan and the relevant technological problems, and gives a case of heap construction by long hole blasting in Renhua uranium mine

Rock fragmentation control in opencast blasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P.K. Singh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The blasting operation plays a pivotal role in the overall economics of opencast mines. The blasting sub-system affects all the other associated sub-systems, i.e. loading, transport, crushing and milling operations. Fragmentation control through effective blast design and its effect on productivity are the challenging tasks for practicing blasting engineer due to inadequate knowledge of actual explosive energy released in the borehole, varying initiation practice in blast design and its effect on explosive energy release characteristic. This paper describes the result of a systematic study on the impact of blast design parameters on rock fragmentation at three mines in India. The mines use draglines and shovel–dumper combination for removal of overburden. Despite its pivotal role in controlling the overall economics of a mining operation, the expected blasting performance is often judged almost exclusively on the basis of poorly defined parameters such as powder factor and is often qualitative which results in very subjective assessment of blasting performance. Such an approach is very poor substitutes for accurate assessment of explosive and blasting performance. Ninety one blasts were conducted with varying blast designs and charging patterns, and their impacts on the rock fragmentation were documented. A high-speed camera was deployed to record the detonation sequences of the blasts. The efficiency of the loading machines was also correlated with the mean fragment size obtained from the fragmentation analyses.

[The smile line, a literature search].

Science.gov (United States)

van der Geld, P A; van Waas, M A

2003-09-01

Beautiful teeth, visible when smiling, are in line with the present ideal of beauty. The display of teeth when smiling is determined by the smile line: the projection of the lower border of the upper lip on the maxillary teeth when smiling. On the basis of a literature search the determining methods of the smile line are discussed, demographic data of the position of the smile line are given, and factors of influence are examined. There is no unequivocal method for determining the position of the smile line. A rough distinction can be made between qualitative and (semi)-quantitative methods. The (semi)-quantitative methods have clear advantages for research purposes, but their reliability is unknown. It was demonstrated that among minimally 40% of subjects the maxillary gingiva was not visible when smiling. The mandibular gingiva was not visible when smiling among more than 90% of subjects. Furthermore, it appeared that among women the smile line was on average higher situated than among men and that it has not yet been proven that the smile line will be situated lower when growing older.

Dynamic Response and Optimal Design of Curved Metallic Sandwich Panels under Blast Loading

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Shu; Han, Shou-Hong; Lu, Zhen-Hua

2014-01-01

It is important to understand the effect of curvature on the blast response of curved structures so as to seek the optimal configurations of such structures with improved blast resistance. In this study, the dynamic response and protective performance of a type of curved metallic sandwich panel subjected to air blast loading were examined using LS-DYNA. The numerical methods were validated using experimental data in the literature. The curved panel consisted of an aluminum alloy outer face and a rolled homogeneous armour (RHA) steel inner face in addition to a closed-cell aluminum foam core. The results showed that the configuration of a “soft” outer face and a “hard” inner face worked well for the curved sandwich panel against air blast loading in terms of maximum deflection (MaxD) and energy absorption. The panel curvature was found to have a monotonic effect on the specific energy absorption (SEA) and a nonmonotonic effect on the MaxD of the panel. Based on artificial neural network (ANN) metamodels, multiobjective optimization designs of the panel were carried out. The optimization results revealed the trade-off relationships between the blast-resistant and the lightweight objectives and showed the great use of Pareto front in such design circumstances. PMID:25126606

Dynamic response and optimal design of curved metallic sandwich panels under blast loading.

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Chang; Yang, Shu; Yang, Li-Jun; Han, Shou-Hong; Lu, Zhen-Hua

2014-01-01

It is important to understand the effect of curvature on the blast response of curved structures so as to seek the optimal configurations of such structures with improved blast resistance. In this study, the dynamic response and protective performance of a type of curved metallic sandwich panel subjected to air blast loading were examined using LS-DYNA. The numerical methods were validated using experimental data in the literature. The curved panel consisted of an aluminum alloy outer face and a rolled homogeneous armour (RHA) steel inner face in addition to a closed-cell aluminum foam core. The results showed that the configuration of a "soft" outer face and a "hard" inner face worked well for the curved sandwich panel against air blast loading in terms of maximum deflection (MaxD) and energy absorption. The panel curvature was found to have a monotonic effect on the specific energy absorption (SEA) and a nonmonotonic effect on the MaxD of the panel. Based on artificial neural network (ANN) metamodels, multiobjective optimization designs of the panel were carried out. The optimization results revealed the trade-off relationships between the blast-resistant and the lightweight objectives and showed the great use of Pareto front in such design circumstances.

Dynamic Response and Optimal Design of Curved Metallic Sandwich Panels under Blast Loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chang Qi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available It is important to understand the effect of curvature on the blast response of curved structures so as to seek the optimal configurations of such structures with improved blast resistance. In this study, the dynamic response and protective performance of a type of curved metallic sandwich panel subjected to air blast loading were examined using LS-DYNA. The numerical methods were validated using experimental data in the literature. The curved panel consisted of an aluminum alloy outer face and a rolled homogeneous armour (RHA steel inner face in addition to a closed-cell aluminum foam core. The results showed that the configuration of a “soft” outer face and a “hard” inner face worked well for the curved sandwich panel against air blast loading in terms of maximum deflection (MaxD and energy absorption. The panel curvature was found to have a monotonic effect on the specific energy absorption (SEA and a nonmonotonic effect on the MaxD of the panel. Based on artificial neural network (ANN metamodels, multiobjective optimization designs of the panel were carried out. The optimization results revealed the trade-off relationships between the blast-resistant and the lightweight objectives and showed the great use of Pareto front in such design circumstances.

Blasting agents and initiation systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fiscor, S.

2000-01-01

Although blasting differs between and within each industry, as a whole, the mines and quarries are making a shift from a purely ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO) mixture to a blend of emulsion and ANFO on a straight emulsion. Non-electric (shock tube) initiation systems have provided a viable alternative to the electric detonator (blasting cap). Explosives manufacturers are seeing their roles changes to being blasting contractors or consultants rather than just suppliers. The article discusses these trends and gives examples of typical blasting techniques and amounts of blasting agent used at large USA surface coal mines. Electric caps are still used in blasting underground coal. The Ensign Bickford Co. (EBCo) is developing electronic detonators and has been field testing an electronic initiator, the DIGIDET detonator, for the last four years. When commercially available, electronic detonators will be accurate but will come with a hefty price tag. 2 photos.

Low-cost blast wave generator for studies of hearing loss and brain injury: blast wave effects in closed spaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, Andrew J; Hayes, Sarah H; Rao, Abhiram S; Allman, Brian L; Manohar, Senthilvelan; Ding, Dalian; Stolzberg, Daniel; Lobarinas, Edward; Mollendorf, Joseph C; Salvi, Richard

2015-03-15

Military personnel and civilians living in areas of armed conflict have increased risk of exposure to blast overpressures that can cause significant hearing loss and/or brain injury. The equipment used to simulate comparable blast overpressures in animal models within laboratory settings is typically very large and prohibitively expensive. To overcome the fiscal and space limitations introduced by previously reported blast wave generators, we developed a compact, low-cost blast wave generator to investigate the effects of blast exposures on the auditory system and brain. The blast wave generator was constructed largely from off the shelf components, and reliably produced blasts with peak sound pressures of up to 198dB SPL (159.3kPa) that were qualitatively similar to those produced from muzzle blasts or explosions. Exposure of adult rats to 3 blasts of 188dB peak SPL (50.4kPa) resulted in significant loss of cochlear hair cells, reduced outer hair cell function and a decrease in neurogenesis in the hippocampus. Existing blast wave generators are typically large, expensive, and are not commercially available. The blast wave generator reported here provides a low-cost method of generating blast waves in a typical laboratory setting. This compact blast wave generator provides scientists with a low cost device for investigating the biological mechanisms involved in blast wave injury to the rodent cochlea and brain that may model many of the damaging effects sustained by military personnel and civilians exposed to intense blasts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fragment Size Distribution of Blasted Rock Mass

Science.gov (United States)

Jug, Jasmin; Strelec, Stjepan; Gazdek, Mario; Kavur, Boris

2017-12-01

Rock mass is a heterogeneous material, and the heterogeneity of rock causes sizes distribution of fragmented rocks in blasting. Prediction of blasted rock mass fragmentation has a significant role in the overall economics of opencast mines. Blasting as primary fragmentation can significantly decrease the cost of loading, transport, crushing and milling operations. Blast fragmentation chiefly depends on the specific blast design (geometry of blast holes drilling, the quantity and class of explosive, the blasting form, the timing and partition, etc.) and on the properties of the rock mass (including the uniaxial compressive strength, the rock mass elastic Young modulus, the rock discontinuity characteristics and the rock density). Prediction and processing of blasting results researchers can accomplish by a variety of existing software’s and models, one of them is the Kuz-Ram model, which is possibly the most widely used approach to estimating fragmentation from blasting. This paper shows the estimation of fragmentation using the "SB" program, which was created by the authors. Mentioned program includes the Kuz-Ram model. Models of fragmentation are confirmed and calibrated by comparing the estimated fragmentation with actual post-blast fragmentation from image processing techniques. In this study, the Kuz-Ram fragmentation model has been used for an open-pit limestone quarry in Dalmatia, southern Croatia. The resulting calibrated value of the rock factor enables the quality prognosis of fragmentation in further blasting works, with changed drilling geometry and blast design parameters. It also facilitates simulation in the program to optimize blasting works and get the desired fragmentations of the blasted rock mass.

DYNAMIC TIME HISTORY ANALYSIS OF BLAST RESISTANT DOOR USING BLAST LOAD MODELED AS IMPACT LOAD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. A. Pranata

2012-06-01

Full Text Available A blast resistant single door was designed to withstand a 0.91 bar blast pressure and 44 ms blast duration. The analysis was done using Dynamic Time History Analysis using Blast Load modeled as Impact Load for given duration. The material properties used have been modified to accommodate dynamic effects. The analysis was done using dynamic finite element method (fem for time of the blast duration, and the maximum/minimum internal forces and displacement were taken from the time history output, in order to know the behavior under blast load and estimate the safety margin of the door. Results obtained from this research indicated that the maximum z-displacement is 1.709 mm, while in the term of serviceability, the permitted is 25 mm. The maximum reaction force is 73,960 N, while the maximum anchor capacity is 82,069 N. On blast condition, the maximum frame stress is 71.71 MPa, the maximum hinge shear stress is 45.28 MPa. While on rebound condition, the maximum frame stress is 172.11 MPa, the maximum hinge shear stress is 29.46 MPa. The maximum door edge rotation is 0.44 degree, which is not exceed the permitted boundary (1.2 degree. Keywords: Dynamic time history, blast resistant door, single door, finite element method.

Compliance of systematic reviews in veterinary journals with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) literature search reporting guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Toews, Lorraine C

2017-07-01

Complete, accurate reporting of systematic reviews facilitates assessment of how well reviews have been conducted. The primary objective of this study was to examine compliance of systematic reviews in veterinary journals with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines for literature search reporting and to examine the completeness, bias, and reproducibility of the searches in these reviews from what was reported. The second objective was to examine reporting of the credentials and contributions of those involved in the search process. A sample of systematic reviews or meta-analyses published in veterinary journals between 2011 and 2015 was obtained by searching PubMed. Reporting in the full text of each review was checked against certain PRISMA checklist items. Over one-third of reviews (37%) did not search the CAB Abstracts database, and 9% of reviews searched only 1 database. Over two-thirds of reviews (65%) did not report any search for grey literature or stated that they excluded grey literature. The majority of reviews (95%) did not report a reproducible search strategy. Most reviews had significant deficiencies in reporting the search process that raise questions about how these searches were conducted and ultimately cast serious doubts on the validity and reliability of reviews based on a potentially biased and incomplete body of literature. These deficiencies also highlight the need for veterinary journal editors and publishers to be more rigorous in requiring adherence to PRISMA guidelines and to encourage veterinary researchers to include librarians or information specialists on systematic review teams to improve the quality and reporting of searches.

NCBI BLAST+ integrated into Galaxy.

Science.gov (United States)

Cock, Peter J A; Chilton, John M; Grüning, Björn; Johnson, James E; Soranzo, Nicola

2015-01-01

The NCBI BLAST suite has become ubiquitous in modern molecular biology and is used for small tasks such as checking capillary sequencing results of single PCR products, genome annotation or even larger scale pan-genome analyses. For early adopters of the Galaxy web-based biomedical data analysis platform, integrating BLAST into Galaxy was a natural step for sequence comparison workflows. The command line NCBI BLAST+ tool suite was wrapped for use within Galaxy. Appropriate datatypes were defined as needed. The integration of the BLAST+ tool suite into Galaxy has the goal of making common BLAST tasks easy and advanced tasks possible. This project is an informal international collaborative effort, and is deployed and used on Galaxy servers worldwide. Several examples of applications are described here.

HIGH PRODUCTIVITY VACUUM BLASTING SYSTEM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McPhee, William S.

1999-01-01

The objective of this project is to improve the productivity and lower the expense of existing vacuum blasting technology. This technology is used to remove radioactive contamination, PCBs, and lead-based paint and provides worker protection by continuously recycling the material and dust for the decontamination tasks. The proposed work would increase the cleaning rate and provide safe and cost-effective decontamination of the DOE sites. This work focuses on redesigning and improving existing vacuum blasting technology including blast head nozzles, ergonomic handling of the blast head by reducing its weight; brush-ring design, vacuum level regulator, efficiency of the dust separator, and operational control sensors. The redesign is expected to enhance the productivity and economy of the vacuum blasting system by at least 50% over current vacuum blasting systems. There are three phases in the project. Phase I consists of developing and testing mathematical models. Phase II consists of pre-prototype design and fabrication and pre-prototype unit testing. Phase III consists of prototype design and field verification testing. In phase I, mathematical models are developed and analyzed for the nozzle, blast head, wind curtain, and dust separator, first as individual devices and then combined as an integrated model. This allows study of respective airflow and design parameters. The Contractor shall, based on the results of the mathematical modeling studies, design experimental models of the components and test these models. In addition, the Contractor shall develop sensors to detect the relationship of the blast head to the blast surfaces and controls to minimize the dependency on an operator's skill and judgment to obtain optimum positioning, as well as real-time characterization sensors to determine as the blast head is moving the depth to which coatings must be removed, thereby improving production and minimizing waste. In phase II, the Contractor shall design and

Blast-induced traumatic brain injury: a new trend of blast injury research.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yan; Wang, Zheng-Guo

2015-01-01

Blast injury has become the major life- and function-threatening injuries in recent warfares. There is increased research interest in the mental disorders caused by blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI), which has been proved as one of the "signature wounds" in modern battlefield. We reviewed the recent progresses in bTBI-related researches and concluded that the new era of blast injury research has shifted from the traditional physical impairments to cognitive dysfunctional/mental disorders that are proved to be more related to the outcome of combat casualty care.

Blast management

OpenAIRE

Shouraki, Mohammad Kargar; Naserkheil, Ali Asghar

2011-01-01

Blast Management (BM) is composed of the combination of human resources management (HRM) principles and concepts and various methods of quality management (QM) with a financial approach. BM is made up of three aspects: hard, soft and concept and BLAST means an explosive shift in organization's mindset and thought and rapid action against it. The first aspect, hard, includes a set of managerial toots and philosophies to improve the quality and productivity with a financial approach.

Distinguishing Realistic Military Blasts from Firecrackers in Mitigation Studies of Blast Induced Traumatic Brain Injury

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moss, W C; King, M J; Blackman, E G

2011-01-21

In their Contributed Article, Nyein et al. (1,2) present numerical simulations of blast waves interacting with a helmeted head and conclude that a face shield may significantly mitigate blast induced traumatic brain injury (TBI). A face shield may indeed be important for future military helmets, but the authors derive their conclusions from a much smaller explosion than typically experienced on the battlefield. The blast from the 3.16 gm TNT charge of (1) has the following approximate peak overpressures, positive phase durations, and incident impulses (3): 10 atm, 0.25 ms, and 3.9 psi-ms at the front of the head (14 cm from charge), and 1.4 atm, 0.32 ms, and 1.7 psi-ms at the back of a typical 20 cm head (34 cm from charge). The peak pressure of the wave decreases by a factor of 7 as it traverses the head. The blast conditions are at the threshold for injury at the front of the head, but well below threshold at the back of the head (4). The blast traverses the head in 0.3 ms, roughly equal to the positive phase duration of the blast. Therefore, when the blast reaches the back of the head, near ambient conditions exist at the front. Because the headform is so close to the charge, it experiences a wave with significant curvature. By contrast, a realistic blast from a 2.2 kg TNT charge ({approx} an uncased 105 mm artillery round) is fatal at an overpressure of 10 atm (4). For an injury level (4) similar to (1), a 2.2 kg charge has the following approximate peak overpressures, positive phase durations, and incident impulses (3): 2.1 atm, 2.3 ms, and 18 psi-ms at the front of the head (250 cm from charge), and 1.8 atm, 2.5 ms, and 16.8 psi-ms at the back of the head (270 cm from charge). The peak pressure decreases by only a factor of 1.2 as it traverses the head. Because the 0.36 ms traversal time is much smaller than the positive phase duration, pressures on the head become relatively uniform when the blast reaches the back of the head. The larger standoff implies

The use of computer blast simulations to improve blast quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Favreau, R.F.; Kuzzyk, G.W.; Babulic, P.J.; Morin, R.A.; Tienkamp, N.J.

1987-01-01

An underground research laboratory (URL) has been constructed as part of a comprehensive program to evaluate the concept of nuclear fuel waste disposal in deep crystalline rock formations. Careful blasting methods have been used to minimize damage to the excavation surfaces. This paper reviews the results of the program to develop controlled blasting for the full-face method, comparing the field observed results achieved with the simulated theoretical results. The simulated results indicate how the blasting may damage the excavation surface. Results suggest that the rock around the final wall is stressed more severely by the cushion holes than by the perimeter holes and that bootleg of the rock between the perimeter and cushion rows occurs when the burst-out velocity imparted to it by the explosive loads in the perimeter holes is inadequate

30 CFR 780.13 - Operation plan: Blasting.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Operation plan: Blasting. 780.13 Section 780.13... SURFACE MINING PERMIT APPLICATIONS-MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR RECLAMATION AND OPERATION PLAN § 780.13 Operation plan: Blasting. (a) Blasting plan. Each application shall contain a blasting plan for the proposed...

Control blasting of reinforced concrete

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagase, Tetsuo

1981-01-01

With the need of decommissioning nuclear power plants, it is urgently required to establish its methods and standards. In Shimizu Construction Co., Ltd., experimental feasibility studies have been made on explosive demolition method i.e. the controlled blasting for the massive concrete structures peculiar to nuclear power plants, considering low radiation exposure, safety and high efficiency. As such, four techniques of line drilling, cushion blasting, pre-splitting and guide hole blasting, respectively, are described with photographs. Assuming the selective demolition of activated concrete structures, the series of experiments showed the good results of clear-cut surfaces and the effect of blasting was confined properly. Moreover, the scattering of debris in blasting was able to be entirely prevented by the use of rubber belts. The generation of gas and dust was also little due to the small amount of the charge used. (J.P.N.)

Water-Depth-Based Prediction Formula for the Blasting Vibration Velocity of Lighthouse Caused by Underwater Drilling Blasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenbin Gu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Lighthouses are the most important hydraulic structures that should be protected during underwater drilling blasting. Thus, the effect of blasting vibration on lighthouse should be studied. On the basis of the dimensional analysis, we deduced a revised formula for water depth based on Sodev’s empirical formula and established the linear fitting model. During the underwater reef project in the main channel of Shipu Harbor in the Ningbo–Zhoushan Port, the blasting vibration data of the lighthouse near the underwater blasting area were monitored. The undetermined coefficient, resolvable coefficient, and F value of the two formulas were then obtained. The comparison of the data obtained from the two formulas showed that they can effectively predict the blasting vibration on the lighthouse. The correction formula that considers water depth can obviously reduce prediction errors and accurately predict blasting vibration.

Consideration on local blast vibration control by delay blasting; Danpatsu happa ni yoru kyokuchiteki shindo seigyo ni kansuru ichikosatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mogi, Gento; Adachi, Tsuyoshi; Yamatomi, Jiro [The University of Tokyo School of Engineering Department of Geosystem Engineering, Tokyo (Japan); Hoshino, Tatsuya [Mitsui Mining and Smelting Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

1999-10-31

In this research, local blast vibration control based on the theory of superposition of waves was investigated. Firstly, the influence of delay time errors of conventional electric detonators upon the level of local blast vibration was examined. Secondly, for a further effective local blast vibration control, a new delay blasting design concept 'combined delay blasting' that postulates the use of electronic detonators, which virtually have no delay time errors, is proposed. For a delay blasting with uniform detonation time intervals, an optimum time interval to minimize the local PPV (Peak Particle Velocity) is obtained based on the relationship between the PPV and the time interval, which is derived by superposing identical vibration time histories of each single hole shot. However, due to the scattering of the actual delay time caused by errors, PPV of a production blast seldom coincides with the estimated one. Since the expected value and the variance of PPV mainly depend on sensitivity of PPV around the nominal delay time, it is proposed that not only the optimum but also several sub-optimum candidates of delay time should be examined taking error into consideration. Concerning the 'combined delay blasting', its concept and some simulation results are presented. The estimated reduction effect of blast vibration of a delay blast based on this concept was quite favorable, indicating a possibility for further effective local blast vibration control. (author)

Risk factors for bladder cancer: challenges of conducting a literature search using PubMed.

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Ashish; Preslan, Elicia

2011-04-01

The objective of this study was to assess the risk factors for bladder cancer using PubMed articles from January 2000 to December 2009. The study also aimed to describe the challenges encountered in the methodology of a literature search for bladder cancer risk factors using PubMed. Twenty-six categories of risk factors for bladder cancer were identified using the National Cancer Institute Web site and the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) Web site. A total of 1,338 PubMed searches were run using the term "urinary bladder cancer" and a risk factor term (e.g., "cigarette smoking") and were screened to identify 260 articles for final analysis. The search strategy had an overall precision of 3.42 percent, relative recall of 12.64 percent, and an F-measure of 5.39 percent. Although search terms derived from MeSH had the highest overall precision and recall, the differences did not reach significance, which indicates that for generalized, free-text searches of the PubMed database, the searchers' own terms are generally as effective as MeSH terms.

BLEVE blast by expansion-controlled evaporation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berg, A.C. van den; Voort, M.M. van der; Weerheijm, J.; Versloot, N.H.A.

2006-01-01

This report presents a new method to calculate the blast effects originating from an exploding vessel of liquefied gas. Adequate blast calculation requires full knowledge of the blast source characteristics, that is, the release and subsequent evaporation rate of the flashing liquid. Because the

Damage Curves of a Nuclear Reactor Structure exposed to Air Blast Loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brandys, I.; Ornai, D.; Ronen, Y.

2014-01-01

Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) radiological hazards due to accidental failure or deliberated attacks are of most concern due to their destructive and global consequences: large area contaminations, injuries, exposure to ionizing radiation (which can cause death or illness, depends on the levels of exposure), loss of lives of both humans and animals, and severe damage to the environment. Prevention of such consequences is of a global importance and it has led to the definition of safety & design guidelines, and regulations by various authorities such as IAEA, U.S. NRC, etc. The guidelines define general requirements for the integrity of a NPP’s physical barriers (such as protective walls) when challenged by external events, for example human induced explosion. A more specific relation to the design of a NPP is that its structures and equipment (reactor building, fuel building, safeguards building, diesel-generator building, pumping station, nuclear auxiliaries building, and effluent treatment building) must function properly: shutdown the reactor, removal of decayed heat, storage of spent fuel, and treatment and containment of radioactive effluents) under external explosion. It requires that the NPP’s structures and equipment resistance to external explosion should be analyzed and verified. The air blast loading created by external explosion, as well as its effects & consequences on different kinds of structures are described in the literature. Structural elements response to the air blast can be analyzed in general by a Single Degree of Freedom (SDOF) system that converts a distributed mass, loads, and resistance to concentrated mass, force, and stiffness located at a representative point of the structure's element where the displacements are the highest one. Proper shielding should be designed if the explosion blast effects are greater than the resistance capacity.External explosion effects should be considered within the Screening Distance Value (SDV) of the NPP

30 CFR 75.1323 - Blasting circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...) Blasting circuits shall be protected from sources of stray electric current. (b) Detonators made by different manufacturers shall not be combined in the same blasting circuit. (c) Detonator leg wires shall be... used between the blasting cable and detonator circuitry shall— (1) Be undamaged; (2) Be well insulated...

Blast wave parameters at diminished ambient pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Silnikov, M. V.; Chernyshov, M. V.; Mikhaylin, A. I.

2015-04-01

Relation between blast wave parameters resulted from a condensed high explosive (HE) charge detonation and a surrounding gas (air) pressure has been studied. Blast wave pressure and impulse differences at compression and rarefaction phases, which traditionally determine damage explosive effect, has been analyzed. An initial pressure effect on a post-explosion quasi-static component of the blast load has been investigated. The analysis is based on empirical relations between blast parameters and non-dimensional similarity criteria. The results can be directly applied to flying vehicle (aircraft or spacecraft) blast safety analysis.

Experimental investigation of blast mitigation and particle-blast interaction during the explosive dispersal of particles and liquids

Science.gov (United States)

Pontalier, Q.; Loiseau, J.; Goroshin, S.; Frost, D. L.

2018-04-01

The attenuation of a blast wave from a high-explosive charge surrounded by a layer of inert material is investigated experimentally in a spherical geometry for a wide range of materials. The blast wave pressure is inferred from extracting the blast wave velocity with high-speed video as well as direct measurements with pressure transducers. The mitigant consists of either a packed bed of particles, a particle bed saturated with water, or a homogeneous liquid. The reduction in peak blast wave overpressure is primarily dependent on the mitigant to explosive mass ratio, M/C, with the mitigant material properties playing a secondary role. Relative peak pressure mitigation reduces with distance and for low values of M/C (pressure levels in the mid-to-far field. Solid particles are more effective at mitigating the blast overpressure than liquids, particularly in the near field and at low values of M/C, suggesting that the energy dissipation during compaction, deformation, and fracture of the powders plays an important role. The difference in scaled arrival time of the blast and material fronts increases with M/C and scaled distance, with solid particles giving the largest separation between the blast wave and cloud of particles. Surrounding a high-explosive charge with a layer of particles reduces the positive-phase blast impulse, whereas a liquid layer has no influence on the impulse in the far field. Taking the total impulse due to the blast wave and material impact into account implies that the damage to a nearby structure may actually be augmented for a range of distances. These results should be taken into consideration in the design of explosive mitigant systems.

Complementary Value of Databases for Discovery of Scholarly Literature: A User Survey of Online Searching for Publications in Art History

Science.gov (United States)

Nemeth, Erik

2010-01-01

Discovery of academic literature through Web search engines challenges the traditional role of specialized research databases. Creation of literature outside academic presses and peer-reviewed publications expands the content for scholarly research within a particular field. The resulting body of literature raises the question of whether scholars…

A systematic literature search on psychological first aid: lack of evidence to develop guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Dieltjens, Tessa; Moonens, Inge; Van Praet, Koen; De Buck, Emmy; Vandekerckhove, Philippe

2014-01-01

Providing psychological first aid (PFA) is generally considered to be an important element in preliminary care of disaster victims. Using the best available scientific basis for courses and educational materials, the Belgian Red Cross-Flanders wants to ensure that its volunteers are trained in the best way possible. To identify effective PFA practices, by systematically reviewing the evidence in existing guidelines, systematic reviews and individual studies. Systematic literature searches in five bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, The Cochrane Library, PILOTS and G-I-N) were conducted from inception to July 2013. Five practice guidelines were included which were found to vary in the development process (AGREE II score 20-53%) and evidence base used. None of them provides solid evidence concerning the effectiveness of PFA practices. Additionally, two systematic reviews of PFA were found, both noting a lack of studies on PFA. A complementary search for individual studies, using a more sensitive search strategy, identified 11 237 references of which 102 were included for further full-text examination, none of which ultimately provides solid evidence concerning the effectiveness of PFA practices. The scientific literature on psychological first aid available to date, does not provide any evidence about the effectiveness of PFA interventions. Currently it is impossible to make evidence-based guidelines about which practices in psychosocial support are most effective to help disaster and trauma victims.

A systematic literature search on psychological first aid: lack of evidence to develop guidelines.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tessa Dieltjens

Full Text Available Providing psychological first aid (PFA is generally considered to be an important element in preliminary care of disaster victims. Using the best available scientific basis for courses and educational materials, the Belgian Red Cross-Flanders wants to ensure that its volunteers are trained in the best way possible.To identify effective PFA practices, by systematically reviewing the evidence in existing guidelines, systematic reviews and individual studies.Systematic literature searches in five bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, The Cochrane Library, PILOTS and G-I-N were conducted from inception to July 2013.Five practice guidelines were included which were found to vary in the development process (AGREE II score 20-53% and evidence base used. None of them provides solid evidence concerning the effectiveness of PFA practices. Additionally, two systematic reviews of PFA were found, both noting a lack of studies on PFA. A complementary search for individual studies, using a more sensitive search strategy, identified 11 237 references of which 102 were included for further full-text examination, none of which ultimately provides solid evidence concerning the effectiveness of PFA practices.The scientific literature on psychological first aid available to date, does not provide any evidence about the effectiveness of PFA interventions. Currently it is impossible to make evidence-based guidelines about which practices in psychosocial support are most effective to help disaster and trauma victims.

Experimental investigation of blast mitigation and particle-blast interaction during the explosive dispersal of particles and liquids

Science.gov (United States)

Pontalier, Q.; Loiseau, J.; Goroshin, S.; Frost, D. L.

2018-05-01

The attenuation of a blast wave from a high-explosive charge surrounded by a layer of inert material is investigated experimentally in a spherical geometry for a wide range of materials. The blast wave pressure is inferred from extracting the blast wave velocity with high-speed video as well as direct measurements with pressure transducers. The mitigant consists of either a packed bed of particles, a particle bed saturated with water, or a homogeneous liquid. The reduction in peak blast wave overpressure is primarily dependent on the mitigant to explosive mass ratio, M/ C, with the mitigant material properties playing a secondary role. Relative peak pressure mitigation reduces with distance and for low values of M/ C (compaction, deformation, and fracture of the powders plays an important role. The difference in scaled arrival time of the blast and material fronts increases with M/ C and scaled distance, with solid particles giving the largest separation between the blast wave and cloud of particles. Surrounding a high-explosive charge with a layer of particles reduces the positive-phase blast impulse, whereas a liquid layer has no influence on the impulse in the far field. Taking the total impulse due to the blast wave and material impact into account implies that the damage to a nearby structure may actually be augmented for a range of distances. These results should be taken into consideration in the design of explosive mitigant systems.

Numerical Simulation of Rock Mass Damage Evolution During Deep-Buried Tunnel Excavation by Drill and Blast

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jianhua; Lu, Wenbo; Hu, Yingguo; Chen, Ming; Yan, Peng

2015-09-01

Presence of an excavation damage zone (EDZ) around a tunnel perimeter is of significant concern with regard to safety, stability, costs and overall performance of the tunnel. For deep-buried tunnel excavation by drill and blast, it is generally accepted that a combination of effects of stress redistribution and blasting is mainly responsible for development of the EDZ. However, few open literatures can be found to use numerical methods to investigate the behavior of rock damage induced by the combined effects, and it is still far from full understanding how, when and to what degree the blasting affects the behavior of the EDZ during excavation. By implementing a statistical damage evolution law based on stress criterion into the commercial software LS-DYNA through its user-subroutines, this paper presents a 3D numerical simulation of the rock damage evolution of a deep-buried tunnel excavation, with a special emphasis on the combined effects of the stress redistribution of surrounding rock masses and the blasting-induced damage. Influence of repeated blast loadings on the damage extension for practical millisecond delay blasting is investigated in the present analysis. Accompanying explosive detonation and secession of rock fragments from their initial locations, in situ stress in the immediate vicinity of the excavation face is suddenly released. The transient characteristics of the in situ stress release and induced dynamic responses in the surrounding rock masses are also highlighted. From the simulation results, some instructive conclusions are drawn with respect to the rock damage mechanism and evolution during deep-buried tunnel excavation by drill and blast.

Ultra Safe And Secure Blasting System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hart, M M

2009-07-27

The Ultra is a blasting system that is designed for special applications where the risk and consequences of unauthorized demolition or blasting are so great that the use of an extraordinarily safe and secure blasting system is justified. Such a blasting system would be connected and logically welded together through digital code-linking as part of the blasting system set-up and initialization process. The Ultra's security is so robust that it will defeat the people who designed and built the components in any attempt at unauthorized detonation. Anyone attempting to gain unauthorized control of the system by substituting components or tapping into communications lines will be thwarted in their inability to provide encrypted authentication. Authentication occurs through the use of codes that are generated by the system during initialization code-linking and the codes remain unknown to anyone, including the authorized operator. Once code-linked, a closed system has been created. The system requires all components connected as they were during initialization as well as a unique code entered by the operator for function and blasting.

Literatura chicana: Vida en busca de forma (Chicano Literature: Life in Search of Form).

Science.gov (United States)

Rivera, Tomas

The Chicano culture is searching for appropriate expression in art forms and literature. The Chicano novel and essay, often written in English, seem directed toward the North American public. The short story is the most varied in viewpoint and most versatile in form. Poetry captures the Chicano sensitivity. It is almost impossible to note the…

Acute myeloid leukemia associated with t(10;17)(p13-15;q12-21) and phagocytic activity by leukemic blasts: a clinical study and review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Seung Hwan; Park, Tae Sung; Cho, Sun Young; Kim, Min Jin; Huh, Jungwon; Kim, Bomi; Song, Sae Am; Lee, Ja Young; Jun, Kyung Ran; Shin, Jeong Hwan; Kim, Hye Ran; Lee, Jeong Nyeo

2010-10-01

Translocation (10;17)(p13-15;q12-21) in acute leukemia is rarely reported in the literature. Here, we present both a novel t(10;17) case study and a review of relevant literature on t(10;17) in acute leukemia (10 cases). In summary, we came to the following preliminary conclusions: t(10;17) is associated with poorly differentiated acute leukemia subtype [90%; eight cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML M0, M1) and one case of acute undifferentiated leukemia], phagocytic activity by blasts occurs (30%), and the survival time was short in three of the seven t(10;17) cases for whom follow-up data were available (median, 8 months). More clinical studies concerning the prognosis, treatment response, and survival of patients with t(10;17) are necessary. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Porcine head response to blast.

Science.gov (United States)

Shridharani, Jay K; Wood, Garrett W; Panzer, Matthew B; Capehart, Bruce P; Nyein, Michelle K; Radovitzky, Raul A; Bass, Cameron R 'dale'

2012-01-01

Recent studies have shown an increase in the frequency of traumatic brain injuries related to blast exposure. However, the mechanisms that cause blast neurotrauma are unknown. Blast neurotrauma research using computational models has been one method to elucidate that response of the brain in blast, and to identify possible mechanical correlates of injury. However, model validation against experimental data is required to ensure that the model output is representative of in vivo biomechanical response. This study exposes porcine subjects to primary blast overpressures generated using a compressed-gas shock tube. Shock tube blasts were directed to the unprotected head of each animal while the lungs and thorax were protected using ballistic protective vests similar to those employed in theater. The test conditions ranged from 110 to 740 kPa peak incident overpressure with scaled durations from 1.3 to 6.9 ms and correspond approximately with a 50% injury risk for brain bleeding and apnea in a ferret model scaled to porcine exposure. Instrumentation was placed on the porcine head to measure bulk acceleration, pressure at the surface of the head, and pressure inside the cranial cavity. Immediately after the blast, 5 of the 20 animals tested were apneic. Three subjects recovered without intervention within 30 s and the remaining two recovered within 8 min following respiratory assistance and administration of the respiratory stimulant doxapram. Gross examination of the brain revealed no indication of bleeding. Intracranial pressures ranged from 80 to 390 kPa as a result of the blast and were notably lower than the shock tube reflected pressures of 300-2830 kPa, indicating pressure attenuation by the skull up to a factor of 8.4. Peak head accelerations were measured from 385 to 3845 G's and were well correlated with peak incident overpressure (R(2) = 0.90). One SD corridors for the surface pressure, intracranial pressure (ICP), and head acceleration are

Alkaline carbonates in blast furnace process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Besta

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The production of iron in blast furnaces is a complex of physical, chemical and mechanical processes. The input raw materials contain not only metallic components, but also a number of negative elements. The most important negative elements include alkaline carbonates. They can significantly affect the course of the blast furnace process and thus the overall performance of the furnace. As a result of that, it is essential to accurately monitor the alkali content in the blast furnace raw materials. The article analyzes the alkali content in input and output raw materials and their impact on the blast furnace process.

Linking blast physics to biological outcomes in mild traumatic brain injury: Narrative review and preliminary report of an open-field blast model.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Hailong; Cui, Jiankun; Simonyi, Agnes; Johnson, Catherine E; Hubler, Graham K; DePalma, Ralph G; Gu, Zezong

2018-03-15

Blast exposures are associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and blast-induced TBIs are common injuries affecting military personnel. Department of Defense and Veterans Administration (DoD/VA) reports for TBI indicated that the vast majority (82.3%) has been mild TBI (mTBI)/concussion. mTBI and associated posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) have been called "the invisible injury" of the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. These injuries induce varying degrees of neuropathological alterations and, in some cases, chronic cognitive, behavioral and neurological disorders. Appropriate animal models of blast-induced TBI will not only assist the understanding of physical characteristics of the blast, but also help to address the potential mechanisms. This report provides a brief overview of physical principles of blast, injury mechanisms related to blast exposure, current blast animal models, and the neurological behavioral and neuropathological findings related to blast injury in experimental settings. We describe relationships between blast peak pressures and the observed injuries. We also report preliminary use of a highly reproducible and intensity-graded blast murine model carried out in open-field with explosives, and describe physical and pathological findings in this experimental model. Our results indicate close relationships between blast intensities and neuropathology and behavioral deficits, particularly at low level blast intensities relevant to mTBI. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Novel citation-based search method for scientific literature: application to meta-analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Janssens, A Cecile J W; Gwinn, M

2015-10-13

Finding eligible studies for meta-analysis and systematic reviews relies on keyword-based searching as the gold standard, despite its inefficiency. Searching based on direct citations is not sufficiently comprehensive. We propose a novel strategy that ranks articles on their degree of co-citation with one or more "known" articles before reviewing their eligibility. In two independent studies, we aimed to reproduce the results of literature searches for sets of published meta-analyses (n = 10 and n = 42). For each meta-analysis, we extracted co-citations for the randomly selected 'known' articles from the Web of Science database, counted their frequencies and screened all articles with a score above a selection threshold. In the second study, we extended the method by retrieving direct citations for all selected articles. In the first study, we retrieved 82% of the studies included in the meta-analyses while screening only 11% as many articles as were screened for the original publications. Articles that we missed were published in non-English languages, published before 1975, published very recently, or available only as conference abstracts. In the second study, we retrieved 79% of included studies while screening half the original number of articles. Citation searching appears to be an efficient and reasonably accurate method for finding articles similar to one or more articles of interest for meta-analysis and reviews.

MememxGATE: Unearthing Latent Content Features for Improved Search and Relevancy Ranking Across Scientific Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, B. D.; McGibbney, L. J.; Mattmann, C. A.; Ramirez, P.; Joyce, M.; Whitehall, K. D.

2015-12-01

Quantifying scientific relevancy is of increasing importance to NASA and the research community. Scientific relevancy may be defined by mapping the impacts of a particular NASA mission, instrument, and/or retrieved variables to disciplines such as climate predictions, natural hazards detection and mitigation processes, education, and scientific discoveries. Related to relevancy, is the ability to expose data with similar attributes. This in turn depends upon the ability for us to extract latent, implicit document features from scientific data and resources and make them explicit, accessible and useable for search activities amongst others. This paper presents MemexGATE; a server side application, command line interface and computing environment for running large scale metadata extraction, general architecture text engineering, document classification and indexing tasks over document resources such as social media streams, scientific literature archives, legal documentation, etc. This work builds on existing experiences using MemexGATE (funded, developed and validated through the DARPA Memex Progrjam PI Mattmann) for extracting and leveraging latent content features from document resources within the Materials Research domain. We extend the software functionality capability to the domain of scientific literature with emphasis on the expansion of gazetteer lists, named entity rules, natural language construct labeling (e.g. synonym, antonym, hyponym, etc.) efforts to enable extraction of latent content features from data hosted by wide variety of scientific literature vendors (AGU Meeting Abstract Database, Springer, Wiley Online, Elsevier, etc.) hosting earth science literature. Such literature makes both implicit and explicit references to NASA datasets and relationships between such concepts stored across EOSDIS DAAC's hence we envisage that a significant part of this effort will also include development and understanding of relevancy signals which can ultimately

Extensive literature searches soil and growing media inventories : (RC/EFSA/PLH/2013/01-SC1)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bremmer, J.; Holeva, M.; Breukers, M.L.H.; Brouwer, J.H.D.

2015-01-01

In this project two inventories by means of extensive literature searches have been executed: Inventory 1 of all types of soil and growing media (if relevant components thereof) to be elaborated considering (i) the soil and growing medium imported as commodities (i.e. not in association with plants

HDAPD: a web tool for searching the disease-associated protein structures

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background The protein structures of the disease-associated proteins are important for proceeding with the structure-based drug design to against a particular disease. Up until now, proteins structures are usually searched through a PDB id or some sequence information. However, in the HDAPD database presented here the protein structure of a disease-associated protein can be directly searched through the associated disease name keyed in. Description The search in HDAPD can be easily initiated by keying some key words of a disease, protein name, protein type, or PDB id. The protein sequence can be presented in FASTA format and directly copied for a BLAST search. HDAPD is also interfaced with Jmol so that users can observe and operate a protein structure with Jmol. The gene ontological data such as cellular components, molecular functions, and biological processes are provided once a hyperlink to Gene Ontology (GO) is clicked. Further, HDAPD provides a link to the KEGG map such that where the protein is placed and its relationship with other proteins in a metabolic pathway can be found from the map. The latest literatures namely titles, journals, authors, and abstracts searched from PubMed for the protein are also presented as a length controllable list. Conclusions Since the HDAPD data content can be routinely updated through a PHP-MySQL web page built, the new database presented is useful for searching the structures for some disease-associated proteins that may play important roles in the disease developing process for performing the structure-based drug design to against the diseases. PMID:20158919

Analysis of ways to control the supply of the blast, and their impact on gas-dynamic processes in the blast furnace

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Віктор Петрович Кравченко

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The article presents the analysis of two methods of control over hot blast supply into a blast furnace with constant pressure and constant amount (consumption. The analysis of these two methods was performed with the aim of determining their influence upon changes in gas pressure in the blast furnace top. The blast furnace was considered as a unity of vessels (furnace hearth, the top and gas-dynamic resistance (a column of charge materials. A differential equation was obtained, with regard to the dynamic balance of gas flow at the inlet and outlet of the top; the equation relates the pressure and gas consumption at the top to the pressure and hot blast consumption at the inlet and outlet of the furnace and to the resistance of the column of charge materials. The column of charge materials is considered as n-th number of channels through which gas flow inside the furnace moves and which resist to the flow. By the analysis of this equation at steady state (automatic stabilization of gas pressure in the top, the conditions were obtained to be satisfied with the specified value of gas pressure in the top. This value is equal to a half of the sum of the value of hot blast pressure at the inlet into the furnace and the value of pressure inside the collector of blast furnace gas. This conclusion is verified by the operation practice of blast furnaces in Ukraine. While analyzing the second method of controlling the supply of blast supply-stabilization of consumption (amount of hot blast supplied into the furnace it has been shown that the method could be realized in condition of stabilization of the amount of blast furnace gas, going out of the furnace. As the resistance of the column of charge materials constantly changes it is necessary to change the hot blast pressure in order to ensure the constant amount of blast, supplied into the furnace. It is often connected with possible substantial pressure fluctuations of hot blast at the inlet of the

Modeling and simulation of blast-induced, early-time intracranial wave physics leading to traumatic brain injury.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ford, Corey C. (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM); Taylor, Paul Allen

2008-02-01

The objective of this modeling and simulation study was to establish the role of stress wave interactions in the genesis of traumatic brain injury (TBI) from exposure to explosive blast. A high resolution (1 mm{sup 3} voxels), 5 material model of the human head was created by segmentation of color cryosections from the Visible Human Female dataset. Tissue material properties were assigned from literature values. The model was inserted into the shock physics wave code, CTH, and subjected to a simulated blast wave of 1.3 MPa (13 bars) peak pressure from anterior, posterior and lateral directions. Three dimensional plots of maximum pressure, volumetric tension, and deviatoric (shear) stress demonstrated significant differences related to the incident blast geometry. In particular, the calculations revealed focal brain regions of elevated pressure and deviatoric (shear) stress within the first 2 milliseconds of blast exposure. Calculated maximum levels of 15 KPa deviatoric, 3.3 MPa pressure, and 0.8 MPa volumetric tension were observed before the onset of significant head accelerations. Over a 2 msec time course, the head model moved only 1 mm in response to the blast loading. Doubling the blast strength changed the resulting intracranial stress magnitudes but not their distribution. We conclude that stress localization, due to early time wave interactions, may contribute to the development of multifocal axonal injury underlying TBI. We propose that a contribution to traumatic brain injury from blast exposure, and most likely blunt impact, can occur on a time scale shorter than previous model predictions and before the onset of linear or rotational accelerations traditionally associated with the development of TBI.

Evaluating the efficacy of a structure-derived amino acid substitution matrix in detecting protein homologs by BLAST and PSI-BLAST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nalin CW Goonesekere

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Nalin CW GoonesekereDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Northern iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, USAAbstract: The large numbers of protein sequences generated by whole genome sequencing projects require rapid and accurate methods of annotation. The detection of homology through computational sequence analysis is a powerful tool in determining the complex evolutionary and functional relationships that exist between proteins. Homology search algorithms employ amino acid substitution matrices to detect similarity between proteins sequences. The substitution matrices in common use today are constructed using sequences aligned without reference to protein structure. Here we present amino acid substitution matrices constructed from the alignment of a large number of protein domain structures from the structural classification of proteins (SCOP database. We show that when incorporated into the homology search algorithms BLAST and PSI-blaST, the structure-based substitution matrices enhance the efficacy of detecting remote homologs. Keywords: computational biology, protein homology, amino acid substitution matrix, protein structure

Raydet non-electric blast initiation system for efficient and environment-friendly surface blasts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sarathy, M.O. [IDL Chemicals Ltd., Hyderabad (India). Technical Services Cell

1995-08-01

This paper discusses the advantages of using the Raydet shock tube based blast initiation system and reviews research work carried out on release of explosive energy in the drillhole, effect of stemming retention (stemming effectiveness) and advantages of `true bottom hole initiation` of drillholes in surface blasting. Some case studies are presented. 6 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.

The second generation of electronic blasting systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hammelmann, F.; Petzold, J. [Dynamit Nobel GmbH (Germany)

2001-07-01

8 years after the market introduction of the first commercial electronic detonator - DYNATRONIC - the paper describes a new area of electronic blasting systems Made in Germany: i-kon. The results of a joint development between Dynamit Nobel and Orica is a unique universal electronic detonator, which is as simple to use as a standard non-electric detonator. The delay time or delay interval is not factory preprogrammed and the system is not based on a numbered system like conventional detonators. The miner or Blaster decides on site which delay timing he likes to use and is programming the whole blast on site. The new i-kon system allows delay times between 0 and 8000 ms by increments of 1 ms. With the control equipment it is possible to blast up to 1600 detonators in a single blast. The paper describes the construction and functionality of this new electronic blasting system - manufactured and developed by Precision Blasting Systems, a joint venture between Orica and Dynamic Nobel. (orig.)

30 CFR 75.1316 - Preparation before blasting.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... two working faces are approaching each other, cutting, drilling and blasting shall be done at only one... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Preparation before blasting. 75.1316 Section 75... HEALTH MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Explosives and Blasting § 75.1316 Preparation...

Exploring genomic dark matter: A critical assessment of the performance of homology search methods on noncoding RNA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Freyhult, E.; Bollback, J. P.; Gardner, P. P.

2006-01-01

Homology search is one of the most ubiquitous bioinformatic tasks, yet it is unknown how effective the currently available tools are for identifying noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). In this work, we use reliable ncRNA data sets to assess the effectiveness of methods such as BLAST, FASTA, HMMer, and Infer......Homology search is one of the most ubiquitous bioinformatic tasks, yet it is unknown how effective the currently available tools are for identifying noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). In this work, we use reliable ncRNA data sets to assess the effectiveness of methods such as BLAST, FASTA, HMMer......, and Infernal. Surprisingly, the most popular homology search methods are often the least accurate. As a result, many studies have used inappropriate tools for their analyses. On the basis of our results, we suggest homology search strategies using the currently available tools and some directions for future...

Condition for Contur Blasting use on Openpit Mines

OpenAIRE

Krsmanovic, I; Dambov, Risto

2010-01-01

For purpose of obtaining a stable final slope in open pit mines practice, the most common approach is the contour blasting method and investigation of possible applications of various primary blasting methods for purpose of gaining the optimal techno-economical effects. This paper presents one of the contour blasting methods, drilling and blasting parameters, construction of explosive charges and method of initiation.

Nineteen-Foot Diameter Explosively Driven Blast Simulator; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

VIGIL, MANUEL G.

2001-01-01

This report describes the 19-foot diameter blast tunnel at Sandia National Laboratories. The blast tunnel configuration consists of a 6 foot diameter by 200 foot long shock tube, a 6 foot diameter to 19 foot diameter conical expansion section that is 40 feet long, and a 19 foot diameter test section that is 65 feet long. Therefore, the total blast tunnel length is 305 feet. The development of this 19-foot diameter blast tunnel is presented. The small scale research test results using 4 inch by 8 inch diameter and 2 foot by 6 foot diameter shock tube facilities are included. Analytically predicted parameters are compared to experimentally measured blast tunnel parameters in this report. The blast tunnel parameters include distance, time, static, overpressure, stagnation pressure, dynamic pressure, reflected pressure, shock Mach number, flow Mach number, shock velocity, flow velocity, impulse, flow duration, etc. Shadowgraphs of the shock wave are included for the three different size blast tunnels

Place Attachment, Place Identity and the Development of the Child's Self-Identity: Searching the Literature to Develop an Hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Spencer, Christopher

2005-01-01

This is part of a campaign to encourage educational researchers, geographers in particular, to spread their literature searches beyond their immediate subject area. The question of place attachment and identity is reviewed through the psychologistal literature. The hypothesis is offered and supported, that place, in a geographical sense is also…

CO2 pellet blasting studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Archibald, K.E.

1997-01-01

Initial tests with CO 2 pellet blasting as a decontamination technique were completed in 1993 at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). During 1996, a number of additional CO 2 pellet blasting studies with Alpheus Cleaning Technologies, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Pennsylvania State University were conducted. After the testing with Alpheus was complete, an SDI-5 shaved CO 2 blasting unit was purchased by the ICPP to test and determine its capabilities before using in ICPP decontamination efforts. Results of the 1996 testing will be presented in this report

Simulating geometrically complex blast scenarios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian G. Cullis

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The effects of blast waves generated by energetic and non-energetic sources are of continuing interest to the ballistics research community. Modern conflicts are increasingly characterised by asymmetric urban warfare, with improvised explosive devices (IEDs often playing a dominant role on the one hand and an armed forces requirement for minimal collateral effects from their weapons on the other. These problems are characterised by disparate length- and time-scales and may also be governed by complex physics. There is thus an increasing need to be able to rapidly assess and accurately predict the effects of energetic blast in topologically complex scenarios. To this end, this paper presents a new QinetiQ-developed advanced computational package called EAGLE-Blast, which is capable of accurately resolving the generation, propagation and interaction of blast waves around geometrically complex shapes such as vehicles and buildings. After a brief description of the numerical methodology, various blast scenario simulations are described and the results compared with experimental data to demonstrate the validation of the scheme and its ability to describe these complex scenarios accurately and efficiently. The paper concludes with a brief discussion on the use of the code in supporting the development of algorithms for fast running engineering models.

Attenuation of blast pressure behind ballistic protective vests.

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Garrett W; Panzer, Matthew B; Shridharani, Jay K; Matthews, Kyle A; Capehart, Bruce P; Myers, Barry S; Bass, Cameron R

2013-02-01

Clinical studies increasingly report brain injury and not pulmonary injury following blast exposures, despite the increased frequency of exposure to explosive devices. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of personal body armour use on the potential for primary blast injury and to determine the risk of brain and pulmonary injury following a blast and its impact on the clinical care of patients with a history of blast exposure. A shock tube was used to generate blast overpressures on soft ballistic protective vests (NIJ Level-2) and hard protective vests (NIJ Level-4) while overpressure was recorded behind the vest. Both types of vest were found to significantly decrease pulmonary injury risk following a blast for a wide range of conditions. At the highest tested blast overpressure, the soft vest decreased the behind armour overpressure by a factor of 14.2, and the hard vest decreased behind armour overpressure by a factor of 56.8. Addition of body armour increased the 50th percentile pulmonary death tolerance of both vests to higher levels than the 50th percentile for brain injury. These results suggest that ballistic protective body armour vests, especially hard body armour plates, provide substantial chest protection in primary blasts and explain the increased frequency of head injuries, without the presence of pulmonary injuries, in protected subjects reporting a history of blast exposure. These results suggest increased clinical suspicion for mild to severe brain injury is warranted in persons wearing body armour exposed to a blast with or without pulmonary injury.

A systematic literature search to identify performance measure outcomes used in clinical studies of racehorses.

Science.gov (United States)

Wylie, C E; Newton, J R

2018-05-01

Racing performance is often used as a measurable outcome variable in research studies investigating clinical diagnoses or interventions. However, the use of many different performance measures largely precludes conduct of meaningful comparative studies and, to date, those being used have not been collated. To systematically review the veterinary scientific literature for the use of racing performance as a measurable outcome variable in clinical studies of racehorses, collate and identify those most popular, and identify their advantages and disadvantages. Systematic literature search. The search criteria "((racing AND performance) AND (horses OR equidae))" were adapted for both MEDLINE and CAB Abstracts databases. Data were collected in standardised recording forms for binary, categorical and quantitative measures, and the use of performance indices. In total, 217 studies that described racing performance were identified, contributing 117 different performance measures. No one performance measure was used in all studies, despite 90.3% using more than one variable. Data regarding race starts and earnings were used most commonly, with 88.0% and 54.4% of studies including at least one measure of starts and earnings, respectively. Seventeen variables were used 10 times or more, with the top five comprising: 'return to racing', 'number of starts', 'days to first start', 'earnings per period of time' and 'earnings per start'. The search strategies may not have identified all relevant papers, introducing bias to the review. Performance indices have been developed to improve assessment of interventions; however, they are not widely adopted in the scientific literature. Use of the two most commonly identified measures, whether the horse returned to racing and number of starts over a defined period of time, would best facilitate future systematic reviews and meta-analyses in advance of the development of a gold-standard measure of race performance outcome. © 2017 EVJ Ltd.

Blasting in hot zone - a case study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nabiullah, B.M.P.; Pingua, J.; Dhar, B.B. [Central Mining Research Institute, Dhanbad (India)

1997-12-31

A significant quantity of coking coal reserves in the country are under fire particularly in Jharia coalfield. To control the fire and prevent loss of coal, an opencast mining method is adopted. The main problem with these opencast mines is drilling in hot strata and selection of suitable explosives and blasting in the fire zone. Trial blasts were conducted at two open cast mines. The problem was tackled by quenching the hot blast holes with water. Temperature of blast holes were recorded soon after drilling, after quenching with water and just before charging with explosives. The rise in temperature of charged explosives with time was also recorded until blasting. The thermal behaviour of commercially available explosives (including slurry, emulsion, ANFO and detonating cord) was investigated in laboratory and field simulated conditions. Emulsion, slurry compositions and detonating cord were found safe to use in hot holes up to 120{degree}C for duration of two hours. This paper describes the blasting practices adopted in the fire zones. 4 refs., 6 figs., 8 tabs.

29 CFR 1926.906 - Initiation of explosive charges-electric blasting.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

...) After firing an electric blast from a blasting machine, the leading wires shall be immediately... 29 Labor 8 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Initiation of explosive charges-electric blasting. 1926.906... Use of Explosives § 1926.906 Initiation of explosive charges—electric blasting. (a) Electric blasting...

Modelling human eye under blast loading.

Science.gov (United States)

Esposito, L; Clemente, C; Bonora, N; Rossi, T

2015-01-01

Primary blast injury (PBI) is the general term that refers to injuries resulting from the mere interaction of a blast wave with the body. Although few instances of primary ocular blast injury, without a concomitant secondary blast injury from debris, are documented, some experimental studies demonstrate its occurrence. In order to investigate PBI to the eye, a finite element model of the human eye using simple constitutive models was developed. The material parameters were calibrated by a multi-objective optimisation performed on available eye impact test data. The behaviour of the human eye and the dynamics of mechanisms occurring under PBI loading conditions were modelled. For the generation of the blast waves, different combinations of explosive (trinitrotoluene) mass charge and distance from the eye were analysed. An interpretation of the resulting pressure, based on the propagation and reflection of the waves inside the eye bulb and orbit, is proposed. The peculiar geometry of the bony orbit (similar to a frustum cone) can induce a resonance cavity effect and generate a pressure standing wave potentially hurtful for eye tissues.

Numerical simulation of muzzle blast

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tyler-Street, M.

2014-01-01

Structural design methods for naval ships include environmental, operational and military load cases. One of the operational loads acting on a typical naval vessel is the muzzle blast from a gun. Simulating the muzzle blast load acting on a ship structure with CFD and ALE methods leads to large

Predictive control of thermal state of blast furnace

Science.gov (United States)

Barbasova, T. A.; Filimonova, A. A.

2018-05-01

The work describes the structure of the model for predictive control of the thermal state of a blast furnace. The proposed model contains the following input parameters: coke rate; theoretical combustion temperature, comprising: natural gas consumption, blasting temperature, humidity, oxygen, blast furnace cooling water; blast furnace gas utilization rate. The output parameter is the cast iron temperature. The results for determining the cast iron temperature were obtained following the identification using the Hammerstein-Wiener model. The result of solving the cast iron temperature stabilization problem was provided for the calculated values of process parameters of the target area of the respective blast furnace operation mode.

Water-Depth-Based Prediction Formula for the Blasting Vibration Velocity of Lighthouse Caused by Underwater Drilling Blasting

OpenAIRE

Gu, Wenbin; Wang, Zhenxiong; Liu, Jianqing; Xu, Jinglin; Liu, Xin; Cao, Tao

2017-01-01

Lighthouses are the most important hydraulic structures that should be protected during underwater drilling blasting. Thus, the effect of blasting vibration on lighthouse should be studied. On the basis of the dimensional analysis, we deduced a revised formula for water depth based on Sodev’s empirical formula and established the linear fitting model. During the underwater reef project in the main channel of Shipu Harbor in the Ningbo–Zhoushan Port, the blasting vibration data of the lighthou...

FASTERp: A Feature Array Search Tool for Estimating Resemblance of Protein Sequences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macklin, Derek; Egan, Rob; Wang, Zhong

2014-03-14

Metagenome sequencing efforts have provided a large pool of billions of genes for identifying enzymes with desirable biochemical traits. However, homology search with billions of genes in a rapidly growing database has become increasingly computationally impractical. Here we present our pilot efforts to develop a novel alignment-free algorithm for homology search. Specifically, we represent individual proteins as feature vectors that denote the presence or absence of short kmers in the protein sequence. Similarity between feature vectors is then computed using the Tanimoto score, a distance metric that can be rapidly computed on bit string representations of feature vectors. Preliminary results indicate good correlation with optimal alignment algorithms (Spearman r of 0.87, ~;;1,000,000 proteins from Pfam), as well as with heuristic algorithms such as BLAST (Spearman r of 0.86, ~;;1,000,000 proteins). Furthermore, a prototype of FASTERp implemented in Python runs approximately four times faster than BLAST on a small scale dataset (~;;1000 proteins). We are optimizing and scaling to improve FASTERp to enable rapid homology searches against billion-protein databases, thereby enabling more comprehensive gene annotation efforts.

LTC vacuum blasting machine (concrete): Baseline report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

The LTC shot blast technology was tested and is being evaluated at Florida International University (FIU) as a baseline technology. In conjunction with FIU's evaluation of efficiency and cost, this report covers the evaluation conducted for safety and health issues. It is a commercially available technology and has been used for various projects at locations throughout the country. The LTC 1073 Vacuum Blasting Machine uses a high-capacity, direct-pressure blasting system which incorporates a continuous feed for the blast media. The blast media cleans the surface within the contained brush area of the blast. It incorporates a vacuum system which removes dust and debris from the surface as it is blasted. The safety and health evaluation during the testing demonstration focused on two main areas of exposure: dust and noise. Dust exposure during maintenance activities was minimal, but due to mechanical difficulties dust monitoring could not be conducted during operation. Noise exposure was significant. Further testing for each of these exposures is recommended because of the outdoor environment where the testing demonstration took place. This may cause the results to be inaccurate. It is feasible that the dust and noise levels will be higher in an enclosed environment. In addition, other safety and health issues found were ergonomics, heat stress, tripping hazards, electrical hazards, lockout/tagout, and arm-hand vibration

Proceedings of the eighteenth annual conference on explosives and blasting technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1993-01-01

This edition of the Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Techniques is the eighteenth in a series published by the International Society of Explosives Engineers. The papers cover a wide variety of explosives and blasting techniques, including: rock mechanics, rock drilling, perimeter control handling and documenting blasting complaints, blast vibration frequencies, blasting techniques for surface and underground coal mines, explosives for permafrost blasting, lightning detection, use of slow motion video to analyze blasts, tunneling, and close-in blasting control. Papers have been processed individually for inclusion on the data base

New techniques for improved performance in surface blasting operation and optimisation of blast design parameters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roy, P.P. [Central Mining Research Institute, Dhanbad (India). Blasting Dept.

1999-02-01

Experimental blasts were conducted for optimisation of blasting parameters using separate technologies involving non-electric initiation systems, air decking accessories in conjunction with different explosive products like emulsion (cartridge and site-mixed), slurries (cartridge and site-mixed) and ANFO. The cost associated with each such technology was then compared with the conventional methods of drilling and blasting operations. The results of cost analyses are given. Theoretical and practical aspects of such technologies and their best possible usage in order to establish the desired fragmentation, muck profile, wall control and ultimately the accepted level of costs are mentioned in subsequent sections. 16 refs., 17 figs., 8 plates, 11 tabs.

Analysis of In-Flight Collision Process During V-Type Firing Pattern in Surface Blasting Using Simple Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Chouhan, Lalit Singh; Raina, Avtar K.

2015-10-01

Blasting is a unit operation in Mine-Mill Fragmentation System (MMFS) and plays a vital role in mining cost. One of the goals of MMFS is to achieve optimum fragment size at minimal cost. Blast fragmentation optimization is known to result in better explosive energy utilization. Fragmentation depends on the rock, explosive and blast design variables. If burden, spacing and type of explosive used in a mine are kept constant, the firing sequence of blast-holes plays a vital role in rock fragmentation. To obtain smaller fragmentation size, mining professionals and relevant publications recommend V- or extended V-pattern of firing sequence. In doing so, it is assumed that the in-flight air collision breaks larger rock fragments into smaller ones, thus aiding further fragmentation. There is very little support to the phenomenon of breakage during in-flight collision of fragments during blasting in published literature. In order to assess the breakage of in-flight fragments due to collision, a mathematical simulation was carried over using basic principles of physics. The calculations revealed that the collision breakage is dependent on velocity of fragments, mass of fragments, the strength of the rock and the area of fragments over which collision takes place. For higher strength rocks, the in-flight collision breakage is very difficult to achieve. This leads to the conclusion that the concept demands an in-depth investigation and validation.

Blasting at a Superfund chemical waste site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burns, D.R.

1991-01-01

During the summer of 1989, Maine Drilling and Blasting of Gardiner, Maine was contracted by Cayer Corporation of Harvard, Massachusetts to drill and blast an interceptor trench at the Nyanza Chemical Superfund Site in Ashland, Massachusetts. The interceptor trench was to be 1,365 feet long and to be blasted out of granite. The trench was to be 12 feet wide at the bottom with 1/1 slopes, the deepest cut being 30 feet deep. A French drain 12 feet wide by 15 to 35 feet deep was blasted below the main trench on a 2% slope from its center to each end. A French drain is an excavation where the rock is blasted but not dug. The trench would be used as a perimeter road with any ground water flow going through the French drain flowing to both ends of the trench. Being a Superfund project turned a simple blasting project into a regulatory nightmare. The US Environmental Protection Agency performed all the chemical related functions on site. The US Army Corps of Engineers was overseeing all related excavation and construction on site, as was the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering, the local Hazardous Wastes Council, and the local Fire Department. All parties had some input with the blasting and all issues had to be addressed. The paper outlines the project, how it was designed and completed. Also included is an outline of the blast plan to be submitted for approval, an outline of the Safety/Hazardous Waste training and a description of all the problems which arose during the project by various regulatory agencies

Blasting as a method for abandoned mine land reclamation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Workman, J.L.; Fletcher, L.R.

1991-01-01

Blasting methods have been proposed for reclaiming abandoned underground coal mine sites having unstable conditions. The objective of blasting is twofold: the permanent stabilization of an area by the collapse of underground workings to prevent any future subsidence, and the use of blasting to close existing sinkholes. This paper presents the results of two research projects funded by the Bureau of Mines Abandoned Mine Land Research Program to investigate the feasibility of blasting to assist in the reclamation of shallow abandoned coal mine sites. Blasting tests were conducted at Beulah, North Dakota and at Scobey, Montana, involving different configurations. The first test was a 10-acre site where blasting was used to collapse regular room and pillar panels for which good mine layout information was available. The second test involved a one acre site containing very irregular workings for which there was little available information. Finally, blasting techniques were used to close 13 individual vertical openings. The depths to the coal seams were 60 feet or less at all sites. When blasting for Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation, material must be cast downward into the abandoned developments or laterally into the sinkhole. Designs based on cratering concepts and spherical charges worked well. The blasting techniques successfully collapsed and stabilized the test areas. Cost of reclamation for the two test sites are presented. Data from blast vibration monitoring are presented because control of vibrations is of concern when mitigation efforts are conducted near homes

Impact of librarians on reporting of the literature searching component of pediatric systematic reviews*

Science.gov (United States)

Meert, Deborah; Torabi, Nazi; Costella, John

2016-01-01

Objective A critical element in conducting a systematic review is the identification of studies. To date, very little empirical evidence has been reported on whether the presence of a librarian or information professional can contribute to the quality of the final product. The goal of this study was to compare the reporting rigor of the literature searching component of systematic reviews with and without the help of a librarian. Method Systematic reviews published from 2002 to 2011 in the twenty highest impact factor pediatrics journals were collected from MEDLINE. Corresponding authors were contacted via an email survey to determine if a librarian was involved, the role that the librarian played, and functions that the librarian performed. The reviews were scored independently by two reviewers using a fifteen-item checklist. Results There were 186 reviews that met the inclusion criteria, and 44% of the authors indicated the involvement of a librarian in conducting the systematic review. With the presence of a librarian as coauthor or team member, the mean checklist score was 8.40, compared to 6.61 (plibrarian. Conclusions Findings indicate that having a librarian as a coauthor or team member correlates with a higher score in the literature searching component of systematic reviews. PMID:27822147

Blast densification trials for oilsands tailings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Port, A. [Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd., Vancouver, BC (Canada); Martens, S. [Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada); Eaton, T. [Shell Canada Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2010-07-01

The Shell Canada Muskeg River Mine External Tailings Facility (ETF) is an upstream constructed tailings facility located near Fort McMurray, Alberta. Raises have incrementally stepped out over the beach since construction of the starter dam and deposition within standing water has left some parts of the beach in a loose state. In order to assess the effectiveness of blast densification, a blast densification trial program that was conducted in 2006 at the ETF. The primary purpose of the test program was to determine the effectiveness of blast densification in tailings containing layers and zones of bitumen. The paper described the site characterization and explosive compaction trial program, with particular reference to test layout; drilling methodology; and blasting and timing sequence. The paper also described the instrumentation, including the seismographs; high pressure electric piezometers; low pressure electric piezometers; vibrating wire piezometers; inclinometers; settlement gauges; and surveys. Trial observations and post-trial observations were also presented. It was concluded that controlled blasting techniques could be used to safely induce liquefaction in localized areas within the tailings deposit, with a resulting increase in the tailings density. 5 refs., 1 tab., 14 figs.

Full-scale testing of leakage of blast waves inside a partially vented room exposed to external air blast loading

Science.gov (United States)

Codina, R.; Ambrosini, D.

2018-03-01

For the last few decades, the effects of blast loading on structures have been studied by many researchers around the world. Explosions can be caused by events such as industrial accidents, military conflicts or terrorist attacks. Urban centers have been prone to various threats including car bombs, suicide attacks, and improvised explosive devices. Partially vented constructions subjected to external blast loading represent an important topic in protective engineering. The assessment of blast survivability inside structures and the development of design provisions with respect to internal elements require the study of the propagation and leakage of blast waves inside buildings. In this paper, full-scale tests are performed to study the effects of the leakage of blast waves inside a partially vented room that is subjected to different external blast loadings. The results obtained may be useful for proving the validity of different methods of calculation, both empirical and numerical. Moreover, the experimental results are compared with those computed using the empirical curves of the US Defense report/manual UFC 3-340. Finally, results of the dynamic response of the front masonry wall are presented in terms of accelerations and an iso-damage diagram.

Environmental problems associated with blasting in mines: public apprehensions of damage due to blast vibrations - case studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Padhi, S.N. [DGMS, Bhubaneswar (India)

1994-12-31

Blast vibrations may be felt in intensities as small as 1/100 of that required to cause any damage to structures. Therefore, the public response and thus complaints regarding damages are often imaginary. The paper deals with three case studies, involving alleged damage from blasting in surface and underground coal mines where public litigations and agitations resulted due to such apprehensions. The paper is written in simple technical language as the situations warranted that the blast vibration studies should be understood by the general public. 7 tabs.

Massive injection of coal and superoxygenated blast into the blast furnace

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toxopeus, H.L.; Danloy, G.; Franssen, R.; Havelange, O. [Corus, IJmuiden (Netherlands)

2002-07-01

The aim of the present project was to demonstrate the industrial feasibility of a massive injection of coal, {+-}270 kg/tHM, combined with a high O{sub 2} enrichment of the blast. The coke rate would thus be reduced to well below 250 kg/tHM. A reference level of 200-220 kg coal/tHM was successfully accomplished. However, the technical condition of the blast furnace hearths overruled all ambitions, the anticipated trial scheme had to be abandoned and no further trials were performed. A very short trial was aborted shortly after reaching an injection level of around 265 coal/tHM, due to excessive generation of very fine sludge originating from incomplete combustion. This forced the operators to investigate the merits of combustion more in depth. At the aimed low coke-rate detailed information about the gas distribution is of utmost importance. Therefore, in conjunction with the industrial tests, CRM designed a gas tracing method. Measurement of the transfer time between the injection point (a tuyere) and the sampling points (on an above-burden probe) would allow deduction of the radial gas distribution. CRM made the design and the start-up of an installation built by Hoogovens on blast furnace 7 of IJmuiden. Since then, repeated measurements have shown that the gas transfer time profiles are consistent with the data measured at the blast furnace top and at the wall. The modifications of the moveable armour position are reflected better and faster on the gas distribution as measured by helium tracing than on the skin flow temperatures.

Blast response of corroded steel plates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eslamimajd, Alireza; RahbarRanji, Ahmad [AmirKabir University of Technology, Tehran (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

Numerical results for one- and both-sided corroded steel plates subjected to blast loading are presented. Finite element analysis, with ABAQUS software, is employed to determine the deformation and stress distributions. The results for the case of triangular pulse pressure on un-corroded plates are validated against literature-based data and then, detailed parametric studies are carried-out. The effects of influential parameters including, plate aspect ratio, degree of pit and different ratio of pit depth at each sides of the plate are investigated. The results show that position of pitted surface in respect to applied pressure is the most influential parameter on reduction of dynamic load carrying capacity of pitted plates. By increasing degree of pitting, reduction of dynamic load carrying capacity decrease more.

Blast noise classification with common sound level meter metrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Cvengros, Robert M; Valente, Dan; Nykaza, Edward T; Vipperman, Jeffrey S

2012-08-01

A common set of signal features measurable by a basic sound level meter are analyzed, and the quality of information carried in subsets of these features are examined for their ability to discriminate military blast and non-blast sounds. The analysis is based on over 120 000 human classified signals compiled from seven different datasets. The study implements linear and Gaussian radial basis function (RBF) support vector machines (SVM) to classify blast sounds. Using the orthogonal centroid dimension reduction technique, intuition is developed about the distribution of blast and non-blast feature vectors in high dimensional space. Recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE) is then used to eliminate features containing redundant information and rank features according to their ability to separate blasts from non-blasts. Finally, the accuracy of the linear and RBF SVM classifiers is listed for each of the experiments in the dataset, and the weights are given for the linear SVM classifier.

Bomb blast imaging: bringing order to chaos.

Science.gov (United States)

Dick, E A; Ballard, M; Alwan-Walker, H; Kashef, E; Batrick, N; Hettiaratchy, S; Moran, C G

2018-06-01

Blast injuries are complex, severe, and outside of our everyday clinical practice, but every radiologist needs to understand them. By their nature, bomb blasts are unpredictable and affect multiple victims, yet require an immediate, coordinated, and whole-hearted response from all members of the clinical team, including all radiology staff. This article will help you gain the requisite expertise in blast imaging including recognising primary, secondary, and tertiary blast injuries. It will also help you understand the fundamental role that imaging plays during mass casualty attacks and how to avoid radiology becoming a bottleneck to the forward flow of severely injured patients as they are triaged and treated. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

On firework blasts and qualitative parameter dependency.

Science.gov (United States)

Zohdi, T I

2016-01-01

In this paper, a mathematical model is developed to qualitatively simulate the progressive time-evolution of a blast from a simple firework. Estimates are made for the blast radius that one can expect for a given amount of detonation energy and pyrotechnic display material. The model balances the released energy from the initial blast pulse with the subsequent kinetic energy and then computes the trajectory of the material under the influence of the drag from the surrounding air, gravity and possible buoyancy. Under certain simplifying assumptions, the model can be solved for analytically. The solution serves as a guide to identifying key parameters that control the evolving blast envelope. Three-dimensional examples are given.

A Literature Review of Indexing and Searching Techniques Implementation in Educational Search Engines

Science.gov (United States)

El Guemmat, Kamal; Ouahabi, Sara

2018-01-01

The objective of this article is to analyze the searching and indexing techniques of educational search engines' implementation while treating future challenges. Educational search engines could greatly help in the effectiveness of e-learning if used correctly. However, these engines have several gaps which influence the performance of e-learning…

Children's Search Engines from an Information Search Process Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Broch, Elana

2000-01-01

Describes cognitive and affective characteristics of children and teenagers that may affect their Web searching behavior. Reviews literature on children's searching in online public access catalogs (OPACs) and using digital libraries. Profiles two Web search engines. Discusses some of the difficulties children have searching the Web, in the…

Drilling-and-blasting method of demolition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sinitsyn Denis

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the experience and gives the examples of dismantling and demolition of the construction structures of the buildings and facilities using the drilling-and-blasting method. The drilling-and-blasting method is widely used in construction and reconstruction. The demolition means may be classified according to impact on a material of structures to be demolished and to forces application, where, by virtue of an impact energy type, we choose the blasting method. This method is used during the complete demolition or fragmentation of concrete, reinforced concrete, masonry structures, of old buildings and facilities demolition to their base or in the intended direction. Blasting method may be used as well during the steel and reinforced concrete structures demolition to the smaller easy-to-move parts. Reviewed are the organizational-process activities, which are performed during the various structures dismantling. Given are the areas of application for the various methods of structures demolition. Given is the example of demolition of “Sevemaya” boiler house brick chimney at the territory of Murmansk DSK using the blast in confined spaces of the operating company. Subject of research: methods of construction structures demolition in alarm situations and acts of God. Objects: determination of the most efficient demolition methods in the present conditions of construction operations development. Materials and methods: the developed activities on the construction structures dismantling are given. Results: the most efficient methods and ways of construction structures demolition are defined. Conclusions: it is required for improvement of methods and ways of the structures drilling-and-blasting demolition.

Ground granulated blast furnace slag efficiency coefficient (k value) in concrete. Applications and limits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanjuan, M. A.; Pineiro, A.; Rodriguez, O.

2011-01-01

Recently, a k-value for ground granulated blast-furnace slag or k-value has been added to the revision of the European standard EN 206-1:2000. The proposed values during the discussions in the working groups were very different because in most of cases the compressive strength was the only characteristic considered; while only in few cases the concrete durability was taken into account when ground granulated blast-furnace slag is added directly to the mix. Advantages and disadvantages of the k-values found in the literature are discussed in this paper. The final conclusion may be summarised suggesting a logical proposal of addressing to each country the choice of the k-value in function of the concrete application, environment and placing conditions selected according to their own experience. (Author) 15 refs.

Ground granulated blast furnace slag efficiency coefficient (k value) in concrete. Applications and limits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanjuan, M. A.; Pineiro, A.; Rodriguez, O.

2011-07-01

Recently, a k-value for ground granulated blast-furnace slag or k-value has been added to the revision of the European standard EN 206-1:2000. The proposed values during the discussions in the working groups were very different because in most of cases the compressive strength was the only characteristic considered; while only in few cases the concrete durability was taken into account when ground granulated blast-furnace slag is added directly to the mix. Advantages and disadvantages of the k-values found in the literature are discussed in this paper. The final conclusion may be summarised suggesting a logical proposal of addressing to each country the choice of the k-value in function of the concrete application, environment and placing conditions selected according to their own experience. (Author) 15 refs.

Proceedings of the twenty-seventh annual conference on explosives and blasting techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-07-01

Various aspects of explosives and blasting techniques are covered. Those of particular interest to the coal industry buffer blasting versus cast blasting, post-blast cast profile shape prediction, fragmentation model to estimate ROM size distribution of soft rocks, blasting accidents, blast vibrations, ANFO explosives and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Blast mitigation experimental and numerical studies

CERN Document Server

2013-01-01

Presents experimental methods of material and structural response to dynamic blast loads Includes computational analysis of material and structural response to dynamic blast loads Offers mitigation measures for structures in various environments Relates lab experiments to larger field tests Features more than 150 illustrations

Experimental Study and Engineering Practice of Pressured Water Coupling Blasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. X. Yang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Overburden strata movement in large space stope is the major reason that induces the appearance of strong mining pressure. Presplitting blasting for hard coal rocks is crucial for the prevention and control of strong pressure in stope. In this study, pressured water coupling blasting technique was proposed. The process and effect of blasting were analyzed by orthogonal test and field practice. Results showed that the presence of pressure-bearing water and explosive cartridges in the drill are the main influence factors of the blasting effect of cement test block. The high load-transmitting performance of pore water and energy accumulation in explosive cartridges were analyzed. Noxious substances produced during the blasting process were properly controlled because of the moistening, cooling, and diluting effect of pore water. Not only the goal of safe and static rock fragmentation by high-explosive detonation but also a combination of superdynamic blast loading and static loading effect of the pressured water was achieved. Then the practice of blasting control of hard coal rocks in Datong coal mine was analyzed to determine reasonable parameters of pressured water coupling blasting. A good presplitting blasting control effect was achieved for the hard coal rocks.

Literature search, review, and compilation of data for chemical and radiochemical sensors: Task 1 report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

During the next several decades, the US Department of Energy is expected to spend tens of billions of dollars in the characterization, cleanup, and monitoring of DOE's current and former installations that have various degrees of soil and groundwater contamination made up of both hazardous and mixed wastes. Each of these phases will require site surveys to determine type and quantity of hazardous and mixed wastes. It is generally recognized that these required survey and monitoring efforts cannot be performed using traditional chemistry methods based on laboratory evaluation of samples from the field. For that reason, a tremendous push during the past decade or so has been made on research and development of sensors. This report contains the results of an extensive literature search on sensors that are used or have applicability in environmental and waste management. While restricting the search to a relatively small part of the total chemistry spectrum, a sizable body of reference material is included. Results are presented in tabular form for general references obtained from data base searches, as narrative reviews of relevant chapters from proceedings, as book reviews, and as reviews of journal articles with particular relevance to the review. Four broad sensor types are covered: electrochemical processes, piezoelectric devices, fiber optics, and radiochemical processes. The topics of surface chemistry processes and biosensors are not treated separately because they often are an adjunct to one of the four sensors listed. About 1,000 tabular entries are listed, including selected journal articles, reviews of conference/meeting proceedings, and books. Literature to about mid-1992 is covered

Literature search, review, and compilation of data for chemical and radiochemical sensors: Task 1 report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1993-01-01

During the next several decades, the US Department of Energy is expected to spend tens of billions of dollars in the characterization, cleanup, and monitoring of DOE`s current and former installations that have various degrees of soil and groundwater contamination made up of both hazardous and mixed wastes. Each of these phases will require site surveys to determine type and quantity of hazardous and mixed wastes. It is generally recognized that these required survey and monitoring efforts cannot be performed using traditional chemistry methods based on laboratory evaluation of samples from the field. For that reason, a tremendous push during the past decade or so has been made on research and development of sensors. This report contains the results of an extensive literature search on sensors that are used or have applicability in environmental and waste management. While restricting the search to a relatively small part of the total chemistry spectrum, a sizable body of reference material is included. Results are presented in tabular form for general references obtained from data base searches, as narrative reviews of relevant chapters from proceedings, as book reviews, and as reviews of journal articles with particular relevance to the review. Four broad sensor types are covered: electrochemical processes, piezoelectric devices, fiber optics, and radiochemical processes. The topics of surface chemistry processes and biosensors are not treated separately because they often are an adjunct to one of the four sensors listed. About 1,000 tabular entries are listed, including selected journal articles, reviews of conference/meeting proceedings, and books. Literature to about mid-1992 is covered.

Effect of blasting on output increase of bucket wheel excavators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Musil, P.

1987-12-01

In brown coal surface mines, consolidated sediments become a problem as mining operations advance into greater depth below the original terrain. Owing to higher digging resistance, the output of bucket wheel excavators drops. This problem may be solved by blasting technology and using drilling machines with higher digging force. This paper describes the blasting operations at the Nastup Mines in Tusmice, Czechoslovakia. About 60% of blasting explosives used is a simple mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel (ANFO), the rest falls on classic blasting gelatines and blasting explosives plasticized by slurry. It is found that blasting improves output by 30% while electric energy consumption is reduced.

Effectiveness of eye armor during blast loading.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailoor, Shantanu; Bhardwaj, Rajneesh; Nguyen, Thao D

2015-11-01

Ocular trauma is one of the most common types of combat injuries resulting from the interaction of military personnel with improvised explosive devices. Ocular blast injury mechanisms are complex, and trauma may occur through various injury mechanisms. However, primary blast injuries (PBI) are an important cause of ocular trauma that may go unnoticed and result in significant damage to internal ocular tissues and visual impairment. Further, the effectiveness of commonly employed eye armor, designed for ballistic and laser protection, in lessening the severity of adverse blast overpressures (BOP) is unknown. In this paper, we employed a three-dimensional (3D) fluid-structure interaction computational model for assessing effectiveness of the eye armor during blast loading on human eyes and validated results against free field blast measurements by Bentz and Grimm (2013). Numerical simulations show that the blast waves focused on the ocular region because of reflections from surrounding facial features and resulted in considerable increase in BOP. We evaluated the effectiveness of spectacles and goggles in mitigating the pressure loading using the computational model. Our results corroborate experimental measurements showing that the goggles were more effective than spectacles in mitigating BOP loading on the eye. Numerical results confirmed that the goggles significantly reduced blast wave penetration in the space between the armor and the eyes and provided larger clearance space for blast wave expansion after penetration than the spectacles. The spectacles as well as the goggles were more effective in reducing reflected BOP at higher charge mass because of the larger decrease in dynamic pressures after the impact. The goggles provided greater benefit of reducing the peak pressure than the spectacles for lower charge mass. However, the goggles resulted in moderate, sustained elevated pressure loading on the eye, that became 50-100% larger than the pressure loading

22 CFR 121.11 - Military demolition blocks and blasting caps.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Military demolition blocks and blasting caps... blasting caps. Military demolition blocks and blasting caps referred to in Category IV(a) do not include the following articles: (a) Electric squibs. (b) No. 6 and No. 8 blasting caps, including electric...

Investigations of primary blast-induced traumatic brain injury

Science.gov (United States)

Sawyer, T. W.; Josey, T.; Wang, Y.; Villanueva, M.; Ritzel, D. V.; Nelson, P.; Lee, J. J.

2018-01-01

The development of an advanced blast simulator (ABS) has enabled the reproducible generation of single-pulse shock waves that simulate free-field blast with high fidelity. Studies with rodents in the ABS demonstrated the necessity of head restraint during head-only exposures. When the head was not restrained, violent global head motion was induced by pressures that would not produce similar movement of a target the size and mass of a human head. This scaling artefact produced changes in brain function that were reminiscent of traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to impact-acceleration effects. Restraint of the rodent head eliminated these, but still produced subtle changes in brain biochemistry, showing that blast-induced pressure waves do cause brain deficits. Further experiments were carried out with rat brain cell aggregate cultures that enabled the conduct of studies without the gross movement encountered when using rodents. The suspension nature of this model was also exploited to minimize the boundary effects that complicate the interpretation of primary blast studies using surface cultures. Using this system, brain tissue was found not only to be sensitive to pressure changes, but also able to discriminate between the highly defined single-pulse shock waves produced by underwater blast and the complex pressure history exposures experienced by aggregates encased within a sphere and subjected to simulated air blast. The nature of blast-induced primary TBI requires a multidisciplinary research approach that addresses the fidelity of the blast insult, its accurate measurement and characterization, as well as the limitations of the biological models used.

Oil injection into the blast furnace

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dongsheng Liao; Mannila, P.; Haerkki, J.

1997-12-31

Fuel injection techniques have been extensively used in the commercial blast furnaces, a number of publications concerning the fuels injection have been reported. This present report only summarizes the study achievements of oil injection due to the research need the of authors, it includes the following parts: First, the background and the reasons reducing coke rate of oil injection are analyzed. Reducing coke rate and decreasing the ironmaking costs are the main deriving forces, the contents of C, H and ash are direct reasons reducing coke rate. It was also found that oil injection had great effects on the state of blast furnace, it made operation stable, center gas flow develop fully, pressure drop increase, descent speed of burden materials decrease and generation of thermal stagnation phenomena, the quality of iron was improved. Based on these effects, as an ideal mean, oil injection was often used to adjust the state of blast furnace. Secondly, combustion behavior of oil in the raceway and tuyere are discussed. The distribution of gas content was greatly changed, the location of CO, H{sub 2} generation was near the tuyere; the temperature peak shifts from near the raceway boundary to the tuyere. Oxygen concentration and blast velocity were two important factors, it was found that increasing excess oxygen ratio 0.9 to 1.3, the combustion time of oil decreases 0.5 msec, an increase of the blast velocity results in increasing the flame length. In addition, the nozzle position and oil rate had large effects on the combustion of oil. Based on these results, the limit of oil injection is also discussed, soot formation is the main reason limiting to further increase oil injection rate, it was viewed that there were three types of soot which were generated under blast furnace operating conditions. The reason generating soot is the incomplete conversion of the fuel. Finally, three methods improving combustion of oil in the raceway are given: Improvement of oil

The use of blast furnace slag

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Václavík

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the results of experimental research that dealt with the substitution of finely ground blast furnace slag for Portland cement in the course of simple concrete manufacturing. Physical and mechanical properties of experimental concrete mixtures based on finely ground blast furnace slag were observed.

30 CFR 56.6312 - Secondary blasting.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR METAL AND NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-SURFACE METAL AND NONMETAL MINES Explosives Use § 56.6312 Secondary blasting. Secondary blasts fired at the same time in the same work area shall be initiated from...

Muscle Logic: New Knowledge Resource for Anatomy Enables Comprehensive Searches of the Literature on the Feeding Muscles of Mammals.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert E Druzinsky

Full Text Available In recent years large bibliographic databases have made much of the published literature of biology available for searches. However, the capabilities of the search engines integrated into these databases for text-based bibliographic searches are limited. To enable searches that deliver the results expected by comparative anatomists, an underlying logical structure known as an ontology is required.Here we present the Mammalian Feeding Muscle Ontology (MFMO, a multi-species ontology focused on anatomical structures that participate in feeding and other oral/pharyngeal behaviors. A unique feature of the MFMO is that a simple, computable, definition of each muscle, which includes its attachments and innervation, is true across mammals. This construction mirrors the logical foundation of comparative anatomy and permits searches using language familiar to biologists. Further, it provides a template for muscles that will be useful in extending any anatomy ontology. The MFMO is developed to support the Feeding Experiments End-User Database Project (FEED, https://feedexp.org/, a publicly-available, online repository for physiological data collected from in vivo studies of feeding (e.g., mastication, biting, swallowing in mammals. Currently the MFMO is integrated into FEED and also into two literature-specific implementations of Textpresso, a text-mining system that facilitates powerful searches of a corpus of scientific publications. We evaluate the MFMO by asking questions that test the ability of the ontology to return appropriate answers (competency questions. We compare the results of queries of the MFMO to results from similar searches in PubMed and Google Scholar.Our tests demonstrate that the MFMO is competent to answer queries formed in the common language of comparative anatomy, but PubMed and Google Scholar are not. Overall, our results show that by incorporating anatomical ontologies into searches, an expanded and anatomically comprehensive

Muscle Logic: New Knowledge Resource for Anatomy Enables Comprehensive Searches of the Literature on the Feeding Muscles of Mammals.

Science.gov (United States)

Druzinsky, Robert E; Balhoff, James P; Crompton, Alfred W; Done, James; German, Rebecca Z; Haendel, Melissa A; Herrel, Anthony; Herring, Susan W; Lapp, Hilmar; Mabee, Paula M; Muller, Hans-Michael; Mungall, Christopher J; Sternberg, Paul W; Van Auken, Kimberly; Vinyard, Christopher J; Williams, Susan H; Wall, Christine E

2016-01-01

In recent years large bibliographic databases have made much of the published literature of biology available for searches. However, the capabilities of the search engines integrated into these databases for text-based bibliographic searches are limited. To enable searches that deliver the results expected by comparative anatomists, an underlying logical structure known as an ontology is required. Here we present the Mammalian Feeding Muscle Ontology (MFMO), a multi-species ontology focused on anatomical structures that participate in feeding and other oral/pharyngeal behaviors. A unique feature of the MFMO is that a simple, computable, definition of each muscle, which includes its attachments and innervation, is true across mammals. This construction mirrors the logical foundation of comparative anatomy and permits searches using language familiar to biologists. Further, it provides a template for muscles that will be useful in extending any anatomy ontology. The MFMO is developed to support the Feeding Experiments End-User Database Project (FEED, https://feedexp.org/), a publicly-available, online repository for physiological data collected from in vivo studies of feeding (e.g., mastication, biting, swallowing) in mammals. Currently the MFMO is integrated into FEED and also into two literature-specific implementations of Textpresso, a text-mining system that facilitates powerful searches of a corpus of scientific publications. We evaluate the MFMO by asking questions that test the ability of the ontology to return appropriate answers (competency questions). We compare the results of queries of the MFMO to results from similar searches in PubMed and Google Scholar. Our tests demonstrate that the MFMO is competent to answer queries formed in the common language of comparative anatomy, but PubMed and Google Scholar are not. Overall, our results show that by incorporating anatomical ontologies into searches, an expanded and anatomically comprehensive set of results

Safety management system during rock blasting at FRFCF construction site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vijayakumaran, C.; Kandasamy, S.; Satpathy, K.K.

2016-01-01

Blasting is an important activity during rock excavation to reach required depth for obtaining stability of the civil structure. For the construction of various Plant Buildings of Fast Reactor Fuel Cycle Facility (FRFCF), IGCAR at Kalpakkam, based on the geological survey it is required to reach a depth of 21.4 meters from existing ground level. This paper details about the procedures and precaution adopted during the rock blasting activities at FRFCF site. The volume of rock removed by blasting was 3 lakh cubic meters. The total number of blasting carried out was 304 using 105.73 tons of blasting material. The entire blasting work could be completed within 174 days without any incident. (author)

Injuries to the colon from blast effect of penetrating extra-peritoneal thoraco-abdominal trauma.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Om P; Oswanski, Michael F; White, Patrick W

2004-03-01

Although rare, blast injury to the intestine can result from penetrating thoraco-abdominal extra-peritoneal gunshot (and shotgun) wounds despite the absence of injury to the diaphragm or to the peritoneum. Injuries of the spleen, small intestine and the mesentery by this mechanism have been previously reported in the world literature. This paper reports the first two cases of non-penetrating ballistic trauma to the colon.

Application of Carbon Composite Bricks for Blast Furnace Hearth

Science.gov (United States)

Zuo, Haibin; Wang, Cong; Zhang, Jianliang; Zhao, Yongan; Jiao, Kexin

Traditional refractory materials for blast furnace hearth lining are mainly composed of carbon bricks and the ceramic cup. However, these materials can't meet the demands for long service life design of blast furnaces. In this paper, a new refractory called carbon composite brick (CCB) was introduced, which combined the advantages of carbon bricks and the ceramic cup. In this case, the resistance of the CCB against corrosion was equal to the ceramic cup and the thermal conductivity of the CCB was equal to carbon bricks. From the results of more than 20 blast furnaces, the CCB could be well used in small blast furnaces and large blast furnaces. In the bad condition of low grade burden and high smelting intensity, the CCB gave full play to the role of cooling system, and effectively resisted the erosion of hot metal to improve the service life of blast furnaces.

Blast effects physical properties of shock waves

CERN Document Server

2018-01-01

This book compiles a variety of experimental data on blast waves. The book begins with an introductory chapter and proceeds to the topic of blast wave phenomenology, with a discussion Rankine-Hugoniot equations and the Friedlander equation, used to describe the pressure-time history of a blast wave. Additional topics include arrival time measurement, the initiation of detonation by exploding wires, a discussion of TNT equivalency, and small scale experiments. Gaseous and high explosive detonations are covered as well. The topics and experiments covered were chosen based on the comparison of used scale sizes, from small to large. Each characteristic parameter of blast waves is analyzed and expressed versus scaled distance in terms of energy and mass. Finally, the appendix compiles a number of polynomial laws that will prove indispensable for engineers and researchers.

Literature search on Light Water Reactor (LWR) fuel and absorber rod fabrication, 1960--1976

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sample, C.R.

1977-02-01

A literature search was conducted to provide information supporting the design of a conceptual Light Water Reactor (LWR) Fuel Fabrication plant. Emphasis was placed on fuel processing and pin bundle fabrication, effects of fuel impurities and microstructure on performance and densification, quality assurance, absorber and poison rod fabrication, and fuel pin welding. All data have been taken from publicly available documents, journals, and books. This work was sponsored by the Finishing Processes-Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Studies program at HEDL

Literature search on Light Water Reactor (LWR) fuel and absorber rod fabrication, 1960--1976

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sample, C R [comp.

1977-02-01

A literature search was conducted to provide information supporting the design of a conceptual Light Water Reactor (LWR) Fuel Fabrication plant. Emphasis was placed on fuel processing and pin bundle fabrication, effects of fuel impurities and microstructure on performance and densification, quality assurance, absorber and poison rod fabrication, and fuel pin welding. All data have been taken from publicly available documents, journals, and books. This work was sponsored by the Finishing Processes-Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Studies program at HEDL.

A computational model of blast loading on the human eye.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhardwaj, Rajneesh; Ziegler, Kimberly; Seo, Jung Hee; Ramesh, K T; Nguyen, Thao D

2014-01-01

Ocular injuries from blast have increased in recent wars, but the injury mechanism associated with the primary blast wave is unknown. We employ a three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction computational model to understand the stresses and deformations incurred by the globe due to blast overpressure. Our numerical results demonstrate that the blast wave reflections off the facial features around the eye increase the pressure loading on and around the eye. The blast wave produces asymmetric loading on the eye, which causes globe distortion. The deformation response of the globe under blast loading was evaluated, and regions of high stresses and strains inside the globe were identified. Our numerical results show that the blast loading results in globe distortion and large deviatoric stresses in the sclera. These large deviatoric stresses may be indicator for the risk of interfacial failure between the tissues of the sclera and the orbit.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE STABILITY OF SURROUNDING ROCK IN TUNNEL BLASTING CONSTRUCTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongxian Fu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In this study, criteria and blasting technologies are introduced in order to control the stability of surrounding rock of tunnel built using drill-and-blast safety. The paper is composed of three parts, namely, a blast vibration propagation law in roof surrounding rock in close proximity to tunnel face, two formulae to calculate particle critical vibration velocity of shotcrete and key structural element at the roof of tunnel, and innovative technologies of tunnel blasting. The blast vibration propagation law is the base to control the stability of surrounding rock during tunnel blasting. Based on Morhr-Coulomb criterion and the dynamic analysis, two formulae to calculate the critical particle vibration velocity are proposed. Based on a series of trial blasts using electronic detonators, two innovative blasting technologies are derived. One is the blast holes detonated one by one by using electronic detonator, and another is the blast holes detonated by combining initiation system of electronic detonators and nonel detonators. The use of electronic detonators in tunnel blasting not only leads to a smaller blast vibration but also to a smaller extent of the EDZ (excavation damaged zone.

[Advanced online search techniques and dedicated search engines for physicians].

Science.gov (United States)

Nahum, Yoav

2008-02-01

In recent years search engines have become an essential tool in the work of physicians. This article will review advanced search techniques from the world of information specialists, as well as some advanced search engine operators that may help physicians improve their online search capabilities, and maximize the yield of their searches. This article also reviews popular dedicated scientific and biomedical literature search engines.

[How do authors of systematic reviews restrict their literature searches when only studies from Germany should be included?

Science.gov (United States)

Pieper, Dawid; Mathes, Tim; Palm, Rebecca; Hoffmann, Falk

2016-11-01

The use of search filters (e. g. for study types) facilitates the process of literature searching. Regional limits might be helpful depending on the research question. Regional search filters are already available for some regions, but not for Germany. Our aim is to give an overview of applied search strategies in systematic reviews (SRs) focusing on Germany. We searched Medline (via Pubmed) applying a focused search strategy to identify SRs focusing on Germany in January 2016. Study selection and data extraction were performed by two reviewers independently. The search strategies with a focus on Germany were analyzed in terms of reasonableness and completeness relying on the Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies (PRESS) criteria. A narrative evidence synthesis was performed. In total, 36 SRs (13 written in English) were included. 78% were published in 2012 or later. The majority (89%) of SRs utilized at least two different sources for their search with databases and checking references being the most common. 17 SRs did not use any truncations, ten SRs did not restrict their search to Germany, six SRs reported to have searched for German OR Germany. Only ten articles searched for the term Germany (occasionally jointly with the term Deutschland) without any use of an adjective such as German. There is a high interest in regionally focused SRs. The identified search strategies revealed a need for improvement. It would be helpful to develop a regional search filter for Germany that is able to identify studies performed in Germany. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Literature database aid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wanderer, J.A.

1991-01-01

The booklet is to help with the acquisition of original literature either after a conventional literature search or in particular after a database search. It bridges the gap between abbreviated (short) and original (long) titel. This, together with information on the holdings of technical/scientific libraries, facilitates document delivery. 1500 short titles are listed alphabetically. (orig.) [de

An overview of biomedical literature search on the World Wide Web in the third millennium.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Prince; Goel, Roshni; Jain, Chandni; Kumar, Ashish; Parashar, Abhishek; Gond, Ajay Ratan

2012-06-01

Complete access to the existing pool of biomedical literature and the ability to "hit" upon the exact information of the relevant specialty are becoming essential elements of academic and clinical expertise. With the rapid expansion of the literature database, it is almost impossible to keep up to date with every innovation. Using the Internet, however, most people can freely access this literature at any time, from almost anywhere. This paper highlights the use of the Internet in obtaining valuable biomedical research information, which is mostly available from journals, databases, textbooks and e-journals in the form of web pages, text materials, images, and so on. The authors present an overview of web-based resources for biomedical researchers, providing information about Internet search engines (e.g., Google), web-based bibliographic databases (e.g., PubMed, IndMed) and how to use them, and other online biomedical resources that can assist clinicians in reaching well-informed clinical decisions.

Comprehensive Numerical Modeling of the Blast Furnace Ironmaking Process

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Chenn; Tang, Guangwu; Wang, Jichao; Fu, Dong; Okosun, Tyamo; Silaen, Armin; Wu, Bin

2016-05-01

Blast furnaces are counter-current chemical reactors, widely utilized in the ironmaking industry. Hot reduction gases injected from lower regions of the furnace ascend, reacting with the descending burden. Through this reaction process, iron ore is reduced into liquid iron that is tapped from the furnace hearth. Due to the extremely harsh environment inside the blast furnace, it is difficult to measure or observe internal phenomena during operation. Through the collaboration between steel companies and the Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation, multiple computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models have been developed to simulate the complex multiphase reacting flow in the three regions of the furnace, the shaft, the raceway, and the hearth. The models have been used effectively to troubleshoot and optimize blast furnace operations. In addition, the CFD models have been integrated with virtual reality. An interactive virtual blast furnace has been developed for training purpose. This paper summarizes the developments and applications of blast furnace CFD models and the virtual blast furnace.

Survey of rice blast race identity for blast resistance gene identification in the USA and Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

Rice blast disease is a significant threat to stable rice production in the USA and worldwide. The major resistance gene (Pi-ta) located within a cluster of resistance genes on rice chromosome 12 has been demonstrated to confer resistance to the rice blast disease. Katy, a rice cultivar released in ...

Acid slag injection into the blast furnace tuyere zone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tervola, K.; Haerkki, J.

1996-12-31

The possibility of acid slag injection and its effect on the slag formation and on the melting behaviour of the charge materials are studied in the present work. The work is partly based on the literature evaluating the slag formation, slag properties and the basic slag injection. The possibility of acid slag injection is first examined by studying changes in the composition of the primary slag if the share of the acid slag component (Kostamus pellet/RR) of the charge material is lowered. Phase diagrams and viscosity charts are used to evaluate the viscosity, and solidus/liquids temperature in the slag phase. The share of the slag phase of the pellet is evaluated by calculating the amount of the acid slag injection. The injection rate of some injectants is also examined. The primary slag formed of the sinter and the coke ash is in liquid form and its viscosity is close to the viscosity of the blast furnace slag. It is possible that the liquid slag phase can be formed in the blast furnace without the presence of the acid pellet because the melting point and the viscosity of the slag is lowered by alkalies, sulfur and the dissolved ironoxide of the slag. If high SiO{sub 2} content materials alone are used for injection there is a risk that the slag phase of the tuyere zone becomes too viscous. Olivine and some iron containing components such as fayalite are possible injection material. More information is needed to evaluate the effect of acid slag injection on the operation of the blast furnace. (orig.) (14 refs.)

Acid slag injection into the blast furnace tuyere zone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haerkki, J.; Tervola, K. [Oulu Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Process Engineering

1996-12-31

The possibility of acid slag injection and its effect on the slag formation and on the melting behaviour of the charge materials are studied in the present work. The work is partly based on the literature evaluating the slag formation, slag properties and the basic slag injection. The possibility of acid slag injection is first examined by studying changes in the composition of the primary slag if the share of the acid slag component (Kostamus pellet/RR) of the charge material is lowered. Phase diagrams and viscosity charts are used to evaluate the viscosity, and solidus/liquidus temperature in the slag phase. The share of the slag phase of the pellet is evaluated by calculating the amount of the acid slag injection. The injection rate of some injectants is also examined. The primary slag formed of the sinter and the coke ash is in liquid form and its viscosity is close to the viscosity of the blast furnace slag. It is possible that the liquid slag phase can be formed in the blast furnace without the presence of the acid pellet because the melting point and the viscosity of the slag is lowered by alkalies, sulfur and the dissolved ironoxide of the slag. If high SiO{sub 2} content materials alone are used for injection there is a risk that the slag phase of the tuyere zone becomes too viscous. Olivine and some iron containing components such as fayalite are possible injection material. More information is needed to evaluate the effect of acid slag injection on the operation of the blast furnace. (orig.) SULA 2 Research Programme; 2 refs.

Acid slag injection into the blast furnace tuyere zone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haerkki, J; Tervola, K [Oulu Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Process Engineering

1997-12-31

The possibility of acid slag injection and its effect on the slag formation and on the melting behaviour of the charge materials are studied in the present work. The work is partly based on the literature evaluating the slag formation, slag properties and the basic slag injection. The possibility of acid slag injection is first examined by studying changes in the composition of the primary slag if the share of the acid slag component (Kostamus pellet/RR) of the charge material is lowered. Phase diagrams and viscosity charts are used to evaluate the viscosity, and solidus/liquidus temperature in the slag phase. The share of the slag phase of the pellet is evaluated by calculating the amount of the acid slag injection. The injection rate of some injectants is also examined. The primary slag formed of the sinter and the coke ash is in liquid form and its viscosity is close to the viscosity of the blast furnace slag. It is possible that the liquid slag phase can be formed in the blast furnace without the presence of the acid pellet because the melting point and the viscosity of the slag is lowered by alkalies, sulfur and the dissolved ironoxide of the slag. If high SiO{sub 2} content materials alone are used for injection there is a risk that the slag phase of the tuyere zone becomes too viscous. Olivine and some iron containing components such as fayalite are possible injection material. More information is needed to evaluate the effect of acid slag injection on the operation of the blast furnace. (orig.) SULA 2 Research Programme; 2 refs.

Computational modeling of blast induced whole-body injury: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Chanda, Arnab; Callaway, Christian

2018-02-01

Blast injuries affect millions of lives across the globe due to its traumatic after effects on the brain and the whole body. To date, military grade armour materials are designed to mitigate ballistic and shrapnel attacks but are less effective in resisting blast impacts. In order to improve blast absorption characteristics of armours, the first key step is thoroughly understands the effects of blasts on the human body itself. In the last decade, a plethora of experimental and computational work has been carried out to investigate the mechanics and pathophysiology of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). However, very few attempts have been made so far to study the effect of blasts on the various other parts of the body such as the sensory organs (eyes and ears), nervous system, thorax, extremities, internal organs (such as the lungs) and the skeletal system. While an experimental evaluation of blast effects on such physiological systems is difficult, developing finite element (FE) models could allow the recreation of realistic blast scenarios on full scale human models and simulate the effects. The current article reviews the state-of-the-art in computational research in blast induced whole-body injury modelling, which would not only help in identifying the areas in which further research is required, but would also be indispensable for understanding body location specific armour design criteria for improved blast injury mitigation.

Functional MRI in the Investigation of Blast-Related Traumatic Brain Injury

Science.gov (United States)

Graner, John; Oakes, Terrence R.; French, Louis M.; Riedy, Gerard

2012-01-01

This review focuses on the application of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to the investigation of blast-related traumatic brain injury (bTBI). Relatively little is known about the exact mechanisms of neurophysiological injury and pathological and functional sequelae of bTBI. Furthermore, in mild bTBI, standard anatomical imaging techniques (MRI and computed tomography) generally fail to show focal lesions and most of the symptoms present as subjective clinical functional deficits. Therefore, an objective test of brain functionality has great potential to aid in patient diagnosis and provide a sensitive measurement to monitor disease progression and treatment. The goal of this review is to highlight the relevant body of blast-related TBI literature and present suggestions and considerations in the development of fMRI studies for the investigation of bTBI. The review begins with a summary of recent bTBI publications followed by discussions of various elements of blast-related injury. Brief reviews of some fMRI techniques that focus on mental processes commonly disrupted by bTBI, including working memory, selective attention, and emotional processing, are presented in addition to a short review of resting state fMRI. Potential strengths and weaknesses of these approaches as regards bTBI are discussed. Finally, this review presents considerations that must be made when designing fMRI studies for bTBI populations, given the heterogeneous nature of bTBI and its high rate of comorbidity with other physical and psychological injuries. PMID:23460082

Study of the action of blast deck charge in rocky soils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boiko V.V.

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Blasting (B in the industry, including the mining extraction of minerals, are carried out mostly with the use of blasthole charges that systematically distributed on the block that is undermined, by individual groups. The latter are blasted according to the scheme of short-delay firing (SDF through the intervals that are accepted not less than 20 Ms. Thus, the seismic effect of group charge explosion, consisting of individual blasthole charges and that actually is a group located charge determined by the formula of concentrated charge. Blast deck charges are effectively used in the driving of the trenches in the mining, formation of screens and cracks near the security objects. Only this method of performing blasting allows to define seismic effect in the transition from one diameter of a charge to another, as well as to determine the actual number of detonated charges in one group, which may differ from the calculated in drilling and blasting project. The work analyzes the physical essence of processes happened while blasting of blast deck charges. The effect of the orientation of the seismic action of blasting of blast deck charges towards the allocation line of charges is investigated. The results of generalized dependence of the speed of the displacement of the ground by the blast parameters and epicentral distance are obtained. We demonstrate with specific examples that blast deck charges that blasting simultaneously make a major chain of the career massive explosions at mining. Keywords: seismic fluctuations; the number of charges; the interaction of charges; the distance between the charges; the coefficients of the seismicity and the attenuation of the intensity of the waves; the unit charge; blast deck and blasthole charges; phase shifting; effective charge.

Ice blasting device for washing pump

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirose, Yasuo.

1992-01-01

In a nuclear power plant, when the inside of a pump casing such as a recycling pump is scrubbed, since operator's safety should be ensured, it requires a large-scaled operation. Then, a cover is attached to a flange of the pump casing, in which a driving portion is disposed passing through the cover vertically movably and rotatably, an arm is disposed bendably to the top end of the arm, and a blast nozzle is disposed to the top end of the arm for jetting ice particles, with a camera being disposed to the blast nozzle. The inside of the casing can be scrubbed safely and rapidly by an ice blast method by remote operation while monitoring the state of scrubbing for the inside of the casing by a camera. Further, since the flange of the pump casing for installing the ice blast device is covered by the cover, mists are not scattered to the outside. In addition, mists may be sucked and removed by an exhaustion duct. (N.H.)

ORGANISATIONAL-TECHNOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BLASTING WORKS ON THE GRIČ TUNNEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zvonimir Deković

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The paper describes organisational-technological characteristics of blasting works during the excavation of the Grič Tunnel. The significance of blasting works during the excavation of the tunnel is shown through adjustment of blasting parameters taking into consideration the dynamics of the works, cost-effectiveness and influence of geological circumstances. Successfulness of blasting directly influences the subsequent tunnel excavation cycle both in terms of duration as well as eventually in terms of influence on the entire tunnel investment. Comparison of changes of basic blasting parameters during tunnel excavation ensured optimal excavation progress with minimal price per meter of tunnel progress.

Determination of Destress Blasting Effectiveness Using Seismic Source Parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Wojtecki, Łukasz; Mendecki, Maciej J.; Zuberek, Wacaław M.

2017-12-01

Underground mining of coal seams in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin is currently performed under difficult geological and mining conditions. The mining depth, dislocations (faults and folds) and mining remnants are responsible for rockburst hazard in the highest degree. This hazard can be minimized by using active rockburst prevention, where destress blastings play an important role. Destress blastings in coal seams aim to destress the local stress concentrations. These blastings are usually performed from the longwall face to decrease the stress level ahead of the longwall. An accurate estimation of active rockburst prevention effectiveness is important during mining under disadvantageous geological and mining conditions, which affect the risk of rockburst. Seismic source parameters characterize the focus of tremor, which may be useful in estimating the destress blasting effects. Investigated destress blastings were performed in coal seam no. 507 during its longwall mining in one of the coal mines in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin under difficult geological and mining conditions. The seismic source parameters of the provoked tremors were calculated. The presented preliminary investigations enable a rapid estimation of the destress blasting effectiveness using seismic source parameters, but further analysis in other geological and mining conditions with other blasting parameters is required.

Evaluation of blast-induced vibration effects on structures 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jong Rim; Jeon, Gyu Shick; Lee, Dae Soo; Joo, Kwang Ho; Lee, Woong Keon [Korea Electrotechnology Research Inst., Changwon (Korea, Republic of); Ryu, Chang Ha; Chung, So Keul; Lee, Kyung Won; Shin, Hee Soon; Chun, Sun Woo; Park, Yeon Jun; Synn, Joong Ho; Choi, Byung Hee [Korea Inst. of Geology Mining and Materials, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1995-12-31

Due to the difficulties of obtaining construction site for new plants, following ones are inevitably being built in the site adjacent to existing power plants. Therefore considerable thought has been recently given to the dynamic loading generated by blasting works near the plants to maintain the safety of structures and facilities in power plants. Our own standard for safety level of blast vibration is not prepared yet, and foreign standards have been generally employed without theoretical and experimental verification. Safety-related structures of power plants and facilities have to be protected against the effects of possible hazards due to blast vibration. Earthquakes have been considered a major dynamic design loading as a requirement of plant design, but the effects of blast-induced vibration are not. In order to ensure the safety, rational safe criterion should be established and blast design should be satisfy it, which requires the development of a model for prediction of vibration level through more systematic measurement and analysis. The main objectives of the study are : to provide background data for establishing the rational safe vibration limits, to develop models for prediction of blast vibration level, to establish safe blast design criterion, and to accumulate techniques for field measurements, data acquisition and analysis (author). 80 refs., 347 figs.

A multiscale approach to blast neurotrauma modeling:Part II: Methodology for inducing blast injury to in vitro models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gwen B. Effgen

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Due to the prominent role of improvised explosive devices (IEDs in wounding patterns of U.S. war-fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan, blast injury has risen to a new level of importance and is recognized to be a major cause of injuries to the brain. However, an injury risk-function for microscopic, macroscopic, behavioral, and neurological deficits has yet to be defined. While operational blast injuries can be very complex and thus difficult to analyze, a simplified blast injury model would facilitate studies correlating biological outcomes with blast biomechanics to define tolerance criteria. Blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI results from the translation of a shock wave in air, such as that produced by an IED, into a pressure wave within the skull-brain complex. Our blast injury methodology recapitulates this phenomenon in vitro, allowing for control of the injury biomechanics via a compressed-gas shock tube used in conjunction with a custom-designed, fluid-filled receiver that contains the living culture. The receiver converts the air shock wave into a fast-rising pressure transient with minimal reflections, mimicking the intracranial pressure history in blast. We have developed an organotypic hippocampal slice culture model that exhibits cell death when exposed to a 530  17.7 kPa peak overpressure with a 1.026 ± 0.017 ms duration and 190 ± 10.7 kPa-ms impulse in-air. We have also injured a simplified in vitro model of the blood-brain barrier, which exhibits disrupted integrity immediately following exposure to 581  10.0 kPa peak overpressure with a 1.067 ms ± 0.006 ms duration and 222 ± 6.9 kPa-ms impulse in-air. To better prevent and treat bTBI, both the initiating biomechanics and the ensuing pathobiology must be understood in greater detail. A well-characterized, in vitro model of bTBI, in conjunction with animal models, will be a powerful tool for developing strategies to mitigate the risks of bTBI.

Numerical analysis of blast flow-field of baffle type muzzle brake

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, D.H. [Graduate School, Chungnam National University, Taejon (Korea); Ko, S. [Chungnam National University, Taejon (Korea)

1998-11-01

A three-dimensional unsteady, inviscid blast flow-field of a baffle type muzzle brake has been simulated by solving the Euler equation. The blast flow-field includes the effect of the free air blast, precursor blast flow and the propellant blast gas flow. Chimera grid scheme was used to generate 9 multi-block volume grids for the complex geometry. The evolution of the blast flow-field is presented by showing the contours of pressure, density and Mach number for certain time step. The comparison of the calculated and measured peak pressures on the surfaces of the muzzle brake is also presented. (author). 4 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.

Blast-Resistant Improvement of Sandwich Armor Structure with Aluminum Foam Composite

OpenAIRE

Yang, Shu; Qi, Chang

2013-01-01

Sandwich armor structures with aluminum foam can be utilized to protect a military vehicle from harmful blast load such as a landmine explosion. In this paper, a system-level dynamic finite element model is developed to simulate the blast event and to evaluate the blast-resistant performance of the sandwich armor structure. It is found that a sandwich armor structure with only aluminum foam is capable of mitigating crew injuries under a moderate blast load. However, a severe blast load causes...

Control of City Shallow Buried Tunnel Blasting Hazard to Surface Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Deqiang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Combining with the blasting test of an under-construction tunnel, this paper optimizes the overall blasting construction scheme. The optimized blasting scheme is used in the site construction test and the peak particle vibration velocity is strictly controlled under working conditions through blasting vibration monitoring to ensure the safety of surrounding buildings and structures in the construction process. The corresponding control measures are proposed to reduce the blasting vibration which brings certain guiding significance to the following construction project.

A Blast Wave Model With Viscous Corrections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Z; Fries, R J

2017-01-01

Hadronic observables in the final stage of heavy ion collision can be described well by fluid dynamics or blast wave parameterizations. We improve existing blast wave models by adding shear viscous corrections to the particle distributions in the Navier-Stokes approximation. The specific shear viscosity η/s of a hadron gas at the freeze-out temperature is a new parameter in this model. We extract the blast wave parameters with viscous corrections from experimental data which leads to constraints on the specific shear viscosity at kinetic freeze-out. Preliminary results show η/s is rather small. (paper)

Behavior of coke in large blast furnaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakamura, N

1978-01-01

Three blast furnaces were quenched in operation and the contents were examined; the temperature distribution was also measured, using Tempil pellets. The furnaces examined included a low productivity one, which was examined to see what was wrong. Changes in the quality of coke as it descends in the furnace, and coke behavior in the raceway and hearth are reported. The functions required of coke, and the effects of poor coke quality, are explained, together with the coke quality required in large blast furnaces. A theoretical study of the role of coke in large blast furnaces is included.

A Blast Wave Model With Viscous Corrections

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Z.; Fries, R. J.

2017-04-01

Hadronic observables in the final stage of heavy ion collision can be described well by fluid dynamics or blast wave parameterizations. We improve existing blast wave models by adding shear viscous corrections to the particle distributions in the Navier-Stokes approximation. The specific shear viscosity η/s of a hadron gas at the freeze-out temperature is a new parameter in this model. We extract the blast wave parameters with viscous corrections from experimental data which leads to constraints on the specific shear viscosity at kinetic freeze-out. Preliminary results show η/s is rather small.

Collapse of rocks by blasting. Razrusheniye gornykh porod Vzryvom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sukhanov, A F; Kutuzov, B N

1983-01-01

Information is provided about drilling boreholes and wells, explosives and the means for initiating them, storage, transporting and calculation of the explosive materials. Physical essence of the destructive, scientific and air effect of the blast are presented, principles of arrangement and calculation of the charges, reasons for malfunctions and methods of eliminating them, measures for protecting the surrounding objects from harmful effect of the industrial blast. Questions are examined of planning, organization and safety of the blasting operations. The second edition (first edition 1967) has been revised with regard for changes that occurred in the field of blasting operations.

Lateral blasts at Mount St. Helens and hazard zonation

Science.gov (United States)

Crandell, D.R.; Hoblitt, R.P.

1986-01-01

Lateral blasts at andesitic and dacitic volcanoes can produce a variety of direct hazards, including ballistic projectiles which can be thrown to distances of at least 10 km and pyroclastic density flows which can travel at high speed to distances of more than 30 km. Indirect effect that may accompany such explosions include wind-borne ash, pyroclastic flows formed by the remobilization of rock debris thrown onto sloping ground, and lahars. Two lateral blasts occurred at a lava dome on the north flank of Mount St. Helens about 1200 years ago; the more energetic of these threw rock debris northeastward across a sector of about 30?? to a distance of at least 10 km. The ballistic debris fell onto an area estimated to be 50 km2, and wind-transported ash and lapilli derived from the lateral-blast cloud fell on an additional lobate area of at least 200 km2. In contrast, the vastly larger lateral blast of May 18, 1980, created a devastating pyroclastic density flow that covered a sector of as much as 180??, reached a maximum distance of 28 km, and within a few minutes directly affected an area of about 550 km2. The May 18 lateral blast resulted from the sudden, landslide-induced depressurization of a dacite cryptodome and the hydrothermal system that surrounded it within the volcano. We propose that lateral-blast hazard assessments for lava domes include an adjoining hazard zone with a radius of at least 10 km. Although a lateral blast can occur on any side of a dome, the sector directly affected by any one blast probably will be less than 180??. Nevertheless, a circular hazard zone centered on the dome is suggested because of the difficulty of predicting the direction of a lateral blast. For the purpose of long-term land-use planning, a hazard assessment for lateral blasts caused by explosions of magma bodies or pressurized hydrothermal systems within a symmetrical volcano could designate a circular potential hazard area with a radius of 35 km centered on the volcano

Impact of Drill and Blast Excavation on Repository Performance Confirmation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keller, R.; Francis, N.; Houseworth, J.; Kramer, N.

2000-01-01

There has been considerable work accomplished internationally examining the effects of drill and blast excavation on rock masses surrounding emplacement openings of proposed nuclear waste repositories. However, there has been limited discussion tying the previous work to performance confirmation models such as those proposed for Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This paper addresses a possible approach to joining the available information on drill and blast excavation and performance confirmation. The method for coupling rock damage data from drill and blast models to performance assessment models for fracture flow requires a correlation representing the functional relationship between the peak particle velocity (PPV) vibration levels and the potential properties that govern water flow rates in the host rock. Fracture aperture and frequency are the rock properties which may be most influenced by drill and blast induced vibration. If it can be shown (using an appropriate blasting model simulation) that the effect of blasting is far removed from the waste package in an emplacement drift, then disturbance to the host rock induced in the process of drill and blast excavation may be reasonably ignored in performance assessment calculations. This paper proposes that the CANMET (Canada Center for Mineral and Energy Technology) Criterion, based on properties that determine rock strength, may be used to define a minimum PPV. This PPV can be used to delineate the extent of blast induced damage. Initial applications have demonstrated that blasting models can successfully be coupled with this criterion to predict blast damage surrounding underground openings. The Exploratory Studies Facility at Yucca Mountain has used a blasting model to generate meaningful estimates of near-field vibration levels and damage envelopes correlating to data collected from pre-existing studies conducted. Further work is underway to expand this application over a statistical distribution of geologic

Diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia from intracerebral hemorrhage and blast crisis. A case report and review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Naunheim, Matthew R; Nahed, Brian V; Walcott, Brian P; Kahle, Kristopher T; Soupir, Chad P; Cahill, Daniel P; Borges, Lawrence F

2010-09-01

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) contributes significantly to the morbidity and mortality of patients suffering from acute leukemia. While ICH is often identified in autopsy studies of leukemic patients, it is rare for ICH to be the presenting sign that ultimately leads to the diagnosis of leukemia. We report a patient with previously undiagnosed acute precursor B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who presented with diffuse encephalopathy due to ICH in the setting of an acute blast crisis. The diagnosis of ALL was initially suspected, because of the hyperleukocytosis observed on presentation, then confirmed with a bone marrow biopsy and flow cytometry study of the peripheral blood. Furthermore, detection of the BCR/ABL Philadelphia translocation t(9:22)(q34:q11) in this leukemic patient by fluorescent in situ hybridization permitted targeted therapy of the blast crisis with imatinib (Gleevec). Understanding the underlying etiology of ICH is pivotal in its management. This case demonstrates that the presence of hyperleukocytosis in a patient with intracerebral hemorrhage should raise clinical suspicion for acute leukemia as the cause of the ICH.

Seismic safety in conducting large-scale blasts

Science.gov (United States)

Mashukov, I. V.; Chaplygin, V. V.; Domanov, V. P.; Semin, A. A.; Klimkin, M. A.

2017-09-01

In mining enterprises to prepare hard rocks for excavation a drilling and blasting method is used. With the approach of mining operations to settlements the negative effect of large-scale blasts increases. To assess the level of seismic impact of large-scale blasts the scientific staff of Siberian State Industrial University carried out expertise for coal mines and iron ore enterprises. Determination of the magnitude of surface seismic vibrations caused by mass explosions was performed using seismic receivers, an analog-digital converter with recording on a laptop. The registration results of surface seismic vibrations during production of more than 280 large-scale blasts at 17 mining enterprises in 22 settlements are presented. The maximum velocity values of the Earth’s surface vibrations are determined. The safety evaluation of seismic effect was carried out according to the permissible value of vibration velocity. For cases with exceedance of permissible values recommendations were developed to reduce the level of seismic impact.

Proceedings of the seventeenth annual conference on explosives and blasting technique. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1991-01-01

Papers from this conference dealt with the following topics: surface and underground mine blasting, control of blast effects in sensitive areas, blasthole deviation, regulatory impact when blasting at Superfund sites, computer-aided blast design and monitoring, tunneling techniques, shaft excavations, video camera analysis of blasting operations, soil densification, cost optimization, mine blasting accidents, non-electric initiation systems, and delay detonators. Papers have been indexed separately for inclusion on the data base

High-speed measurement of firearm primer blast waves

OpenAIRE

Courtney, Michael; Daviscourt, Joshua; Eng, Jonathan; Courtney, Amy

2012-01-01

This article describes a method and results for direct high-speed measurements of firearm primer blast waves employing a high-speed pressure transducer located at the muzzle to record the blast pressure wave produced by primer ignition. Key findings are: 1) Most of the lead styphnate based primer models tested show 5.2-11.3% standard deviation in the magnitudes of their peak pressure. 2) In contrast, lead-free diazodinitrophenol (DDNP) based primers had standard deviations of the peak blast p...

Assessment of Blasting Operations Effects During Highway Tunnel Construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valašková Veronika

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Blasting operations are one of the fundamental parts of daily civil engineering. Drilling and blasting still remain the only possible ways of tunnelling in very adverse geological conditions. However, this method is a source of various disadvantages, the main one being tremors propagating through the geological environment which not only affect buildings, but also disturb the comfort of living in the vicinity of the source. Designing this procedure is mostly done using standardized empirical relations. This article shows the possibility of using a FEM technique in predicting blast effects. This approach is demonstrated in a simple case study on the impact of blasting operations on steel pipes.

Bomb blast mass casualty incidents: initial triage and management of injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Goh, S H

2009-01-01

Bomb blast injuries are no longer confined to battlefields. With the ever present threat of terrorism, we should always be prepared for bomb blasts. Bomb blast injuries tend to affect air-containing organs more, as the blast wave tends to exert a shearing force on air-tissue interfaces. Commonly-injured organs include the tympanic membranes, the sinuses, the lungs and the bowel. Of these, blast lung injury is the most challenging to treat. The clinical picture is a mix of acute respiratory distress syndrome and air embolism, and the institution of positive pressure ventilation in the presence of low venous pressures could cause systemic arterial air embolism. The presence of a tympanic membrane perforation is not a reliable indicator of the presence of a blast injury in the other air-containing organs elsewhere. Radiological imaging of the head, chest and abdomen help with the early identification of blast lung injury, head injury, abdominal injury, eye and sinus injuries, as well as any penetration by foreign bodies. In addition, it must be borne in mind that bomb blasts could also be used to disperse radiological and chemical agents.

The fate of injectant coal in blast furnaces: The origin of extractable materials of high molecular mass in blast furnace carryover dusts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dong, S.N.; Wu, L.; Paterson, N.; Herod, A.A.; Dugwell, D.R.; Kandiyoti, R. [University of London Imperial College of Science & Technology, London (United Kingdom). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

2005-07-01

The aim of the work was to investigate the fate of injectant coal in blast furnaces and the origin of extractable materials in blast furnace carryover dusts. Two sets of samples including injectant coal and the corresponding carryover dusts from a full sized blast furnace and a pilot scale rig have been examined. The samples were extracted using 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) solvent and the extracts studied by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The blast furnace carryover dust extracts contained high molecular weight carbonaceous material, of apparent mass corresponding to 10{sup 7}-10{sup 8} u, by polystyrene calibration. In contrast, the feed coke and char prepared in a wire mesh reactor under high temperature conditions did not give any extractable material. Meanwhile, controlled combustion experiments in a high-pressure wire mesh reactor suggest that the extent of combustion of injectant coal in the blast furnace tuyeres and raceways is limited by time of exposure and very low oxygen concentration. It is thus likely that the extractable, soot-like material in the blast furnace dust originated in tars is released by the injectant coal. Our results suggest that the unburned tars were thermally altered during the upward path within the furnace, giving rise to the formation of heavy molecular weight (soot-like) materials.

Blast casting requires fresh assessment of methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pilshaw, S.R.

1987-08-01

The article discusses the reasons why conventional blasting operations, mainly that of explosive products, drilling and initiation methods are inefficient, and suggests new methods and materials to overcome the problems of the conventional operations. The author suggests that the use of bulk ANFO for casting, instead of high energy and density explosives with high velocity detonation is more effective in producing heave action results. Similarly the drilling of smaller blast holes than is conventional allows better loading distribution of explosives in the rock mass. The author also suggests that casting would be more efficient if the shot rows were loaded differently to produce a variable burden blasting pattern.

What methods do reviews of normative ethics literature use for search, selection, analysis, and synthesis? In-depth results from a systematic review of reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Mertz, Marcel; Strech, Daniel; Kahrass, Hannes

2017-12-19

(Semi-)systematic approaches to finding, analysing, and synthesising ethics literature on medical topics are still in their infancy. However, our recent systematic review showed that the rate of publication of such (semi-)systematic reviews has increased in the last two decades. This is not only true for reviews of empirical ethics literature, but also for reviews of normative ethics literature. In the latter case, there is currently little in the way of standards and guidance available. Therefore, the methods and reporting strategies of such reviews vary greatly. The purpose of the follow-up study we present was to obtain deeper methodological insight into the ways reviews of normative literature are actually conducted and to analyse the methods used. Our search in the PubMed, PhilPapers, and Google Scholar databases led to the identification of 183 reviews of ethics literature published between 1997 and 2015, of which 84 were identified as reviews of normative and mixed literature. Qualitative content analysis was used to extract and synthesise descriptions of search, selection, quality appraisal, analysis, and synthesis methods. We further assessed quantitatively how often certain methods (e.g. search strategies, data analysis procedures) were used by the reviews. The overall reporting quality varies among the analysed reviews and was generally poor even for major criteria regarding the search and selection of literature. For example, only 24 (29%) used a PRISMA flowchart. Also, only 55 (66%) reviews mentioned the information unit they sought to extract, and 12 (14%) stated an ethical approach as the theoretical basis for the analysis. Interpretable information on the synthesis method was given by 47 (60%); the most common methods applied were qualitative methods commonly used in social science research (83%). Reviews which fail to provide sufficient relevant information to readers have reduced methodological transparency regardless of actual methodological

Control of blast overpressure and vibrations at the Underground Research Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuzyk, G.W.; Onagi, D.P.; Mohanty, B.

1991-01-01

AECL Research (AECL) has constructed an Underground Research Laboratory (URL) as a facility for research and development in the Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program. The objectives of the program are to develop and evaluate the technology to ensure safe, permanent disposal of Canada's nuclear fuel waste. Several multidisciplinary experiments and engineering demonstrations are planned for the URL over the next ten years. In 1989, AECL excavated a test room for the Buffer/Container Experiment at the 240 Level. The blasts were designed to limit vibration and overpressure damage because the excavation was located close to existing furnishings and services that were very susceptible to blast-induced vibration and overpressure. An experimental room, which contained sensitive instrumentation, was located within 30 m of the initial blasts. A concrete floor slab, timber curtains and a bulkhead were installed to protect furnishings and services from fly-rock and overpressure. Five of the initial blasts were monitored. This paper describes the results of the monitoring program and the effectiveness of the blast design, floor slab and timber curtains and bulkhead in reducing blast overpressure and vibrations at the blast site. It is shown that greater than a 20-fold reduction in both blast vibrations and air overpressures can be achieved with specific combinations of blast design, installation of timber curtains and construction of a concrete floor slab

Evaluation of Blast Resistance of Fiber Reinforced Composite Specimens under Contact Blast Load

Science.gov (United States)

Janota, O.; Foglar, M.

2017-09-01

This paper presents results of experimental programme which took place in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Experiments were focused on the resistance of full scale concrete panels subjected to contact blast loading. Specimens were loaded by contact blast by plastic explosive. All specimens were reinforced concrete slabs made of fiber concrete. Basalt mesh and textile sheets were added to some of the experiments for creating more heterogeneous material to achieve better resistance of the specimens. Evaluation of experiments was mainly focused on the damaged area on the contact side and soffit of the specimens. Dependency of the final damage of concrete panels on the weight of explosive and concrete strength was assessed.

Blasting Damage Predictions by Numerical Modeling in Siahbishe Pumped Storage Powerhouse

Science.gov (United States)

Eslami, Majid; Goshtasbi, Kamran

2018-04-01

One of the popular methods of underground and surface excavations is the use of blasting. Throughout this method of excavation, the loading resulted from blasting can be affected by different geo-mechanical and structural parameters of rock mass. Several factors affect turbulence in underground structures some of which are explosion, vibration, and stress impulses caused by the neighbouring blasting products. In investigating the blasting mechanism one should address the processes which expand with time and cause seismic events. To protect the adjoining structures against any probable deconstruction or damage, it is very important to model the blasting process prior to any actual operation. Efforts have been taken in the present study to demonstrate the potentiality of numerical methods in predicting the specified parameters in order to prevent any probable destruction. For this purpose the blasting process was modeled, according to its natural implementation, in one of the tunnels of Siahbishe dam by the 3DEC and AUTODYN 3D codes. 3DEC was used for modeling the blasting environment as well as the blast holes and AUTODYN 3D for modeling the explosion process in the blast hole. In this process the output of AUTODYN 3D, which is a result of modeling the blast hole and is in the form of stress waves, is entered into 3DEC. For analyzing the amount of destruction made by the blasting operation, the key parameter of Peak Particle Velocity was used. In the end, the numerical modeling results have been compared with the data recorded by the seismographs planted through the tunnel. As the results indicated 3DEC and AUTODYN 3D proved appropriate for analyzing such an issue. Therefore, by means of these two softwares one can analyze explosion processes prior to their implementation and make close estimation of the damage resulting from these processes.

Scale testing of a partially confined blast chamber

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Grundling, W

2012-10-01

Full Text Available in pressure readings. A scale model of the blast chamber, Emily, was constructed with the addition of a pendulum plate hanging concentrically covering 65% of the open area. PURPOSE OF SCALED BLAST CHAMBER The purpose of this particular test is to evaluate... PHASE Illustrated in Figure 3 and 4 are the results obtained during testing of the scaled blast chamber. In both cases the pressure dissipates over time, showing pulsating behaviour as the shockwaves reflect off the chamber walls. By looking...

Controlled blasting experiments in a small drift at the CANMET experimental mine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lizotte, Y.C.

1994-03-01

Experiments on controlled blasting conducted at the CANMET Experimental Mine to develop suitable controlled blasting techniques for small development headings are described. The methods selected for study must maintain the drill-blast-muck cycle achieved each work shift. The experiments also examine blast damage mechanisms to formulate criteria for dilution minimization with blast designs in stopes. The drift faces are 2.4 m square, with 34 to 43 holes drilled 2.4 m deep. Cartridged water gels, emulsions, and semi-gelatin dynamite were used in the cuts and as primers, ANFO as the main explosive, and semi- gelatin dynamite in 19 mm diameter cartridges was used in perimeter holes. The results of the first set of experiments show the efficiency of controlled blasting techniques to reduce blast damage. 60 refs., 71 figs., 9 tabs.

29 CFR 1926.904 - Storage of explosives and blasting agents.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

..., electric blasting caps, detonating primers, and primed cartridges shall not be stored in the same magazine... feet of explosives and detonator storage magazine. (d) No explosives or blasting agents shall be... 29 Labor 8 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Storage of explosives and blasting agents. 1926.904 Section...

Blasting Impact by the Construction of an Underground Research Tunnel in KAERI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, S.; Cho, W. J.

2005-12-01

The underground research tunnel, which is under construction in KAERI for the validation of HLW disposal system, is excavated by drill and blasting method using high-explosives. In order not to disturb the operation at the research facilities such as HANARO reactor, it is critical to develop a blasting design , which will not influence on the facilities, even though several tens of explosives are detonated almost simultaneously. To develop a reasonable blasting design, a test blasting at the site should be performed. A preliminary analysis for predicting the expected vibration and noise by the blasting for the construction of the underground research tunnel was performed using a typical empirical equation. From the study, a blasting design could be developed not to influence on the major research facilities in KAERI. For the validation of the blasting design, a test blasting was carried out at the site and the parameters of vibration equation could be determined using the measured data during the test blasting. Using the equation, it was possible to predict the vibration at different locations at KAERI and to conclude that the blasting design would meet the design criteria at the major facilities in KAERI. The study would verify the applicability of blasting method for the construction of a research tunnel in a rock mass and that would help the design and construction of large scale underground research laboratory, which might be carried out in the future. It is also meaningful to accumulate technical experience for enhancing the reliability and effectiveness of the design and construction of the HLW disposal repository, which will be constructed in deep underground by drill and blasting technique

Blast resistance behaviour of steel frame structrures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mediavilla Varas, J.; Soetens, F.

2010-01-01

The effect of a blast explosion on a typical steel frame building is investigated by means of computer simulations. The simulations help to identify possible hot spots that may lead to local or global failure. Since the blast energy is transferred to the structure by means of the façade, it is

Blast resistance behaviour of steel frame structures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Varas, J.M.; Soetens, F.

2010-01-01

The effect of a blast explosion on a typical steel frame building is investigated by means of computer simulations. The simulations help to identify possible hot spots that may lead to local or global failure. The blast energy is transferred to the structure by means of the façade. In particular

Storage stability of flour-blasted brown rice

Science.gov (United States)

Brown rice was blasted with rice flour rather than sand in a sand blaster to make microscopic nicks and cuts so that water can easily penetrate into the brown rice endosperm and cook the rice in a shorter time. The flour-blasted American Basmati brown rice, long grain brown rice, and parboiled long...

Control buildings for blast resistance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, G.A.

1982-08-01

Offers advice on interior design for blast-resistant control buildings. Suggests that for the comfort and safety of occupants, special attention must be paid to internal finishes and color schemes. Considers external treatment (e.g. panels, cladding fixings, thermal insulation), air intakes and exhausts, internal finishes (e.g. stud lining method), and internal walls and partitions. Presents diagrams showing construction method for a control building; elimination of ''cold bridge'' at eaves level; staggering door openings to minimize blast effects; and flexure of concrete walls without affecting the inner lining.

Close in blasting and rock support at the Bhumibol Powerhouse, Thailand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murray, L.

1997-01-01

Blasting-related aspects of constructing a pump turbine unit addition to the Bhumibol hydroelectric power plant in Northwest Thailand as part of a retrofit pump storage scheme was described. The work was of particular interest because blasting frequently had to be carried out within one metre of the operating powerhouse for excavation and demolition of 50,000 cubic metre of rock and 5,000 cubic metre of reinforced concrete. Site conditions, work methods, and results of blast vibration monitoring and blast designs were summarized. Although there were severe constraints on the allowable peak particle velocities at the powerhouse electrical equipment, modern time delay blasting techniques were safely used to produce excellent results in a tightly controlled environment. The powerhouse was fully operational during the entire entire blasting phase of the construction project. 5 refs., 4 tabs., 8 figs

Proceedings of the seventh annual symposium on explosives and blasting research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1991-01-01

Papers from this symposium dealt with the following topics: advanced primer designs, seismic effects of blasting, systems for velocity of detonation measurement and pressure measurement, toxic fumes from explosions, blast performance, blasting for rock fragmentation, computer-aided blast design, characteristics of liquid oxygen explosives, and correlations of performance of explosives with ground vibration, partitioning of energy, and firing time scatter effects. Papers have been indexed separately for inclusion on the data base

Development of a Continuous Drill and Blast Tunneling Concept, Phase II

Science.gov (United States)

1974-05-01

A spiral drilling pattern is described which offers high efficiency drill and blast tunnelling via frequent small blasts rather than occasional large blasts. Design work is presented for a machine which would stay at the face to provide essentially c...

Alkali-activated blast furnace slag-zeolite cements and concretes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rakhimov, R.; Rakhimova, N.

2012-01-01

The aim of this work has been the study of alkali-activated slag-zeolite cements and concretes based on them. Various compositions have been tested and some characteristics such as the compressive strength have been measured versus zeolite additions. A table lists the specific surface area and particle size distributions of different cements. The conclusions of the study are the following. First, alkali-activated slag cements and concretes based on them are effective for immobilization of radioactive wastes and the production of building structures, designed for high radiation load. Secondly, zeolite-containing mineral additions are able to increase the immobilization capacity and radiation resistance of alkali-activated blast furnace slag cements and concretes. Thirdly, the efficiency of different zeolite-containing additions - 10% to increase alkali-activated blast furnace slag-zeolite cement strength was established. It is with alkaline components of water-glass, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate. Fourth, the effective way of introducing zeolite additions in alkali-activated blast furnace slag-zeolite cement is inter-grinding of the slag and addition. Increase in strength of alkali-activated blast furnace slag-zeolite cement stone is 40% higher than that of the stone of a mixture of separately milled components. Fifth, Alkali-activated blast furnace slag-zeolite cements with zeolite-containing additions with a compressive strength of 10.1 to 140 MPa; alkali-activated blast furnace slag-zeolite cements mortars with compressive strength from 35.2 to 97.7 MPa; alkali-activated blast furnace slag-zeolite cements concretes with compressive strength up to 84.5 MPa and frost resistant up to 800 cycles were obtained

Spalling of concrete walls under blast load

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kot, C.A.

1977-01-01

A common effect of the detonation of explosives in close proximity of concrete shield walls is the spalling (scabbing) of the back face of the wall. Spalling is caused by the free surface reflection of the shock wave induced in the wall by high pressure air blast and occurs whenever the dynamic tensile rupture strength is exceeded. While a complex process, reasonable analytical spall estimates can be obtained for brittle materials with low tensile strengths, such as concrete, by assuming elastic material behavior and instantaneous spall formation. Specifically, the spall thicknesses and velocities for both normal and oblique incidence of the shock wave on the back face of the wall are calculated. The complex exponential decay wave forms of the air blast are locally approximated by simple power law expressions. Variations of blast wave strength with distance to the wall, charge weight and angle of incidence are taken into consideration. The shock wave decay in the wall is also accounted for by assuming elastic wave propagation. For explosions close-in to the wall, where the reflected blast wave pressures are sufficiently high, multiple spall layers are formed. Successive spall layers are of increasing thickness, at the same time the spall velocities decrease. The spall predictions based on elastic theory are in overall agreement with experimntal results and provide a rapid means of estimating spalling trends of concrete walls subjected to air blast. (Auth.)

Control technology for crystalline silica exposures in construction: wet abrasive blasting.

Science.gov (United States)

Golla, Vijay; Heitbrink, William

2004-03-01

This study was designed to document the effect that wet abrasive blasting has on reducing worker exposure to crystalline silica, which has been associated with silicosis and premature death. In this study, worker exposure to respirable crystalline silica was monitored during wet abrasive blasting on the exterior walls of a parking garage to remove surface concrete and expose the underlying aggregate. In this process a wet sand mix comprised of 80% dry sand and 20% water was used. Sampling and analysis revealed that the geometric mean respirable quartz concentration was 0.2 mg/m(3) for workers conducting abrasive blasting and 0.06 mg/m(3) for helpers. When abrasive blasting was conducted in areas that apparently had reduced natural ventilation, dust exposures appeared to increase. When compared with other published data, this case study suggests that wet abrasive blasting causes less exposure to crystalline silica than dry abrasive blasting.

The BLAST experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hasell, D.; Botto, T.; van den Brand, J.F.J.

2009-01-01

The Bates large acceptance spectrometer toroid (BLAST) experiment was operated at the MIT-Bates Linear Accelerator Center from 2003 until 2005. The detector and experimental program were designed to study, in a systematic manner, the spin-dependent electromagnetic interaction in few-nucleon systems.

Blasting agent package

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fox, R.

1971-03-17

A protected preassembled package for blasting agents susceptible to desensitization by water consists of, in combination: (1) an inner rigid and self-supporting tube, the upper end of which is suited to be connected, or attached, to the discharge end of a loading hose for a blasting agent and the lower end of which is open; and (2) a flexible tubular liner made of water-resistant film, having a diameter greater than that of the inner tube and a length at least equal to the desired depth of its insertion into the borehole, the liner being sleeved over the length of the inner tube, the upper end of the liner being attached to the inner tube and the lower end of the liner being closed so as to prevent substantial discharge of the explosive mixture therefrom when the latter is pumped into it. (24 claims)

Spectrum of abdominal organ injury in a primary blast type

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amin Abid

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Abdominal organ injury in a primary blast type is always challenging for diagnosis. Air containing abdominal viscera is most vulnerable to effects of primary blast injury. In any patient exposed to a primary blast wave who presents with an acute abdomen, an abdominal organ injury is to be kept in a clinical suspicion. Aim Study various abdominal organ injuries occurring in a primary type of blast injury. Material and methods: All those who had exploratory laparotomy for abdominal organ injuries after a primary blast injury for a period of 10 years from January 1998 - January 2008 were included in this retrospective study. Results Total 154 patients had laparotomy for abdominal organ injuries with a primary blast type of injury. Small intestine was damaged in 48 patients (31.1% followed by spleen in 22.7% cases. 54 patients (35.06% had more than one organ injured. Liver laceration was present in 30 patients (19.48%. Multiple small gut perforations were present in 37 patients (77.08%. Negative laparotomy was found in 5 patients (3.24% whereas 3 (1.94% had re-exploration. Mortality was present in 6 patients (3.89%. Conclusions Primary blast injury causes varied abdominal organ injuries. Single or multiple organ damage can be there. Small intestine is commonest viscera injured. Laparotomy gives final diagnosis.

30 CFR 57.6605 - Isolation of blasting circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND METAL AND NONMETAL MINES Explosives Extraneous Electricity-Surface and Underground § 57.6605 Isolation of blasting circuits. Lead wires and blasting lines shall be isolated and insulated from power conductors, pipelines, and railroad tracks, and...

Model for small arms fire muzzle blast wave propagation in air

Science.gov (United States)

Aguilar, Juan R.; Desai, Sachi V.

2011-11-01

Accurate modeling of small firearms muzzle blast wave propagation in the far field is critical to predict sound pressure levels, impulse durations and rise times, as functions of propagation distance. Such a task being relevant to a number of military applications including the determination of human response to blast noise, gunfire detection and localization, and gun suppressor design. Herein, a time domain model to predict small arms fire muzzle blast wave propagation is introduced. The model implements a Friedlander wave with finite rise time which diverges spherically from the gun muzzle. Additionally, the effects in blast wave form of thermoviscous and molecular relaxational processes, which are associated with atmospheric absorption of sound were also incorporated in the model. Atmospheric absorption of blast waves is implemented using a time domain recursive formula obtained from numerical integration of corresponding differential equations using a Crank-Nicholson finite difference scheme. Theoretical predictions from our model were compared to previously recorded real world data of muzzle blast wave signatures obtained by shooting a set different sniper weapons of varying calibers. Recordings containing gunfire acoustical signatures were taken at distances between 100 and 600 meters from the gun muzzle. Results shows that predicted blast wave slope and exponential decay agrees well with measured data. Analysis also reveals the persistency of an oscillatory phenomenon after blast overpressure in the recorded wave forms.

FEATURES OF DRILLING-AND-BLASTING AT CONSTRUCTION OF BESKIDSKIY TUNNEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. D. Petrenko

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. In this article it is necessary to analyze the possibility of developing technology and increasing its efficiency during the Beskidskiy tunnel construction in difficult engineering and geological conditions. Methodology. The authors have performed analysis of the technological level of mining and construction works, new technique, equipment and production. One of the important issues of blasting operation is to ensure the seismic safety, acting at a distance of 30 m in the axes of single-track tunnel, as the distance to it will be 20 m from the nearest charge in the laying tunnel. This problem was solved by applying the combined blasting of blast-hole charges with delay-action and long-delay ways. Herewith the total mass of charges in the stope was divided into three groups, in which the first group is exploded by short-delay firing with, and the second one is exploded by short-delay firing too with intervals of 200…400 ms, the third is exploded by long-delay blasting at intervals of 500…10000 ms. The combined blasting of short-delay charges and delay action ones let significantly reduce seismic action at a mass explosion of charges when driving of double-track railway tunnel of a large cross-section. Findings. The paper presents the developed technology model, describing dependence of the machines from engineering and geological conditions. The methodology of drilling and blasting works at the construction of the tunnel callote and stross as well as a technique of arrangement determination and intervals of shot-delay and delay blasting of blasthole explosive charges was developed. Maximum permissible concentration of gases and vapours at blasting was presented. The calculations showed that the maximum level of gas contamination of the working area in Beskidskiy tunnel is achieved at blast operations. In accordance with this ventilation of the tunnel when driving is carried out by independent systems with mechanical ventilation by

Building and evaluating an informatics tool to facilitate analysis of a biomedical literature search service in an academic medical center library.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinton, Elizabeth G; Oelschlegel, Sandra; Vaughn, Cynthia J; Lindsay, J Michael; Hurst, Sachiko M; Earl, Martha

2013-01-01

This study utilizes an informatics tool to analyze a robust literature search service in an academic medical center library. Structured interviews with librarians were conducted focusing on the benefits of such a tool, expectations for performance, and visual layout preferences. The resulting application utilizes Microsoft SQL Server and .Net Framework 3.5 technologies, allowing for the use of a web interface. Customer tables and MeSH terms are included. The National Library of Medicine MeSH database and entry terms for each heading are incorporated, resulting in functionality similar to searching the MeSH database through PubMed. Data reports will facilitate analysis of the search service.

Characterization of viscoelastic materials for low-magnitude blast mitigation

Science.gov (United States)

Bartyczak, S.; Mock, W.

2014-05-01

Recent research indicates that exposure to low amplitude blast waves, such as IED detonation or multiple firings of a weapon, causes damage to brain tissue resulting in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Current combat helmets are not sufficiently protecting warfighters from this danger and the effects are debilitating, costly, and long-lasting. The objective of the present work is to evaluate the blast mitigating behavior of current helmet materials and new materials designed for blast mitigation using a test fixture recently developed at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division for use with an existing gas gun. The 40-mm-bore gas gun was used as a shock tube to generate blast waves (ranging from 0.5 to 2 bar) in the test fixture mounted on the gun muzzle. A fast opening valve was used to release helium gas from the breech which formed into a blast wave and impacted instrumented targets in the test fixture. Blast attenuation of selected materials was determined through the measurement of stress data in front of and behind the target. Materials evaluated in this research include polyurethane foam from currently fielded US Army and Marine Corps helmets, polyurea 1000, and three hardnesses of Sorbothane (48, 58, and 70 durometer, Shore 00). Polyurea 1000 and 6061-T6 aluminum were used to calibrate the stress gauges.

Gray literature: An important resource in systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Paez, Arsenio

2017-08-01

Systematic reviews aide the analysis and dissemination of evidence, using rigorous and transparent methods to generate empirically attained answers to focused research questions. Identifying all evidence relevant to the research questions is an essential component, and challenge, of systematic reviews. Gray literature, or evidence not published in commercial publications, can make important contributions to a systematic review. Gray literature can include academic papers, including theses and dissertations, research and committee reports, government reports, conference papers, and ongoing research, among others. It may provide data not found within commercially published literature, providing an important forum for disseminating studies with null or negative results that might not otherwise be disseminated. Gray literature may thusly reduce publication bias, increase reviews' comprehensiveness and timeliness, and foster a balanced picture of available evidence. Gray literature's diverse formats and audiences can present a significant challenge in a systematic search for evidence. However, the benefits of including gray literature may far outweigh the cost in time and resource needed to search for it, and it is important for it to be included in a systematic review or review of evidence. A carefully thought out gray literature search strategy may be an invaluable component of a systematic review. This narrative review provides guidance about the benefits of including gray literature in a systematic review, and sources for searching through gray literature. An illustrative example of a search for evidence within gray literature sources is presented to highlight the potential contributions of such a search to a systematic review. Benefits and challenges of gray literature search methods are discussed, and recommendations made. © 2017 Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Grey literature: An important resource in systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Paez, Arsenio

2017-12-21

Systematic reviews aid the analysis and dissemination of evidence, using rigorous and transparent methods to generate empirically attained answers to focused research questions. Identifying all evidence relevant to the research questions is an essential component, and challenge, of systematic reviews. Grey literature, or evidence not published in commercial publications, can make important contributions to a systematic review. Grey literature can include academic papers, including theses and dissertations, research and committee reports, government reports, conference papers, and ongoing research, among others. It may provide data not found within commercially published literature, providing an important forum for disseminating studies with null or negative results that might not otherwise be disseminated. Grey literature may thusly reduce publication bias, increase reviews' comprehensiveness and timeliness and foster a balanced picture of available evidence. Grey literature's diverse formats and audiences can present a significant challenge in a systematic search for evidence. However, the benefits of including grey literature may far outweigh the cost in time and resource needed to search for it, and it is important for it to be included in a systematic review or review of evidence. A carefully thought out grey literature search strategy may be an invaluable component of a systematic review. This narrative review provides guidance about the benefits of including grey literature in a systematic review, and sources for searching through grey literature. An illustrative example of a search for evidence within grey literature sources is presented to highlight the potential contributions of such a search to a systematic review. Benefits and challenges of grey literature search methods are discussed, and recommendations made. © 2017 Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Numerical Study on Blast Wave Propagation Driven by Unsteady Ionization Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogino, Yousuke; Sawada, Keisuke; Ohnishi, Naofumi

2008-01-01

Understanding the dynamics of laser-produced plasma is essential for increasing the available thrust and energy conversion efficiency from a pulsed laser to a blast wave in a gas-driven laser-propulsion system. The performance of a gas-driven laser-propulsion system depends heavily on the laser-driven blast wave dynamics as well as on the ionizing and/or recombining plasma state that sustains the blast wave. In this study, we therefore develop a numerical simulation code for a laser-driven blast wave coupled with time-dependent rate equations to explore the formation of unsteady ionizing plasma produced by laser irradiation. We will also examine the various properties of blast waves and unsteady ionizing plasma for different laser input energies

Minimization of Blast furnace Fuel Rate by Optimizing Burden and Gas Distribution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dr. Chenn Zhou

2012-08-15

The goal of the research is to improve the competitive edge of steel mills by using the advanced CFD technology to optimize the gas and burden distributions inside a blast furnace for achieving the best gas utilization. A state-of-the-art 3-D CFD model has been developed for simulating the gas distribution inside a blast furnace at given burden conditions, burden distribution and blast parameters. The comprehensive 3-D CFD model has been validated by plant measurement data from an actual blast furnace. Validation of the sub-models is also achieved. The user friendly software package named Blast Furnace Shaft Simulator (BFSS) has been developed to simulate the blast furnace shaft process. The research has significant benefits to the steel industry with high productivity, low energy consumption, and improved environment.

30 CFR 75.1310 - Explosives and blasting equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... for use so long as the present approval is maintained. (e) Electric detonators shall be compatible... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Explosives and blasting equipment. 75.1310... SAFETY AND HEALTH MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Explosives and Blasting § 75.1310...

Protecting the lower extremity against a/p blast mines

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

van Dyk, T

2006-09-01

Full Text Available the Lower Extremity against a/p Blast Mines J T van Dyk DEFENCE, PEACE, SAFETY AND SECURITY LANDWARDS SCIENCES COMPETENCY AREA Slide 2 © CSIR 2006 www.csir.co.za Contents • R&D overview • Effect of a/p blast mines • Basic... explosive principles – Shock effect (brisance) – Blast effect • Test methods • Protection concepts • Test results Slide 3 © CSIR 2006 www.csir.co.za Goals: Compare LEAP study results with field injuries Investigate energy...

Effect of Surface Blasting on Subway Tunnels- A Parametric Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Entezari Zarch

2017-01-01

Full Text Available During wars and crises, the underground tunnels are used as a safe space. Therefore, the stability and safety of them under a blast is of particular importance. In this paper, the Finite Difference Method has been used to study the influence of the change in geotechnical parameters and depth on surface blasting on subway tunnels. Results showed that increasing the internal friction angle, modulus of elasticity and cohesion of the soil reduced the effects of blast loads on the vertical displacement and bending moment in the center of tunnel crown. Furthermore, the results showed that increasing the depth of the tunnel reduced the effects of blast loading. Comparing all parameters collectively showed that the increase in the modulus of elasticity of the soil and depth of the tunnel is the most effective in reducing the influence of the blast loads on the vertical displacement and bending moment of the tunnel crown, respectively.

Remote operated vehicle with carbon dioxide blasting (ROVCO{sub 2})

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Resnick, A.M. [Oceaneering International, Inc., Upper Marlboro, MD (United States)

1995-10-01

The Remote Operated Vehicle with Carbon Dioxide Blasting (ROVCO{sub 2}), as shown in a front view is a six-wheeled remote land vehicle used to decontaminate concrete floors. The remote vehicle has a high pressure Cryogenesis blasting subsystem, Oceaneering Technologies (OTECH) developed a CO{sub 2} xY Orthogonal Translational End Effector (COYOTEE) subsystem, and a vacuum/filtration and containment subsystem. The cryogenesis subsystem performs the actual decontamination work and consists of the dry ice supply unit, the blasting nozzle, the remotely controlled electric and pneumatic valves, and the vacuum work-head. The COYOTEE subsystem positions the blasting work-head within a planar work space and the vacuum subsystem provides filtration and containment of the debris generated by the CO{sub 2} blasting. It employs a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration unit to separate contaminants for disposal. All of the above systems are attached to the vehicle subsystem via the support structure.

Confirmation of the decontamination ability using the dry blasting device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Izuka, Hirotaka; Tsuhara, Yuuki; Ito, Hajime; Fukuda, Kazuhiro; Sugahara, Yasuhiro; Kanamori, Yoji

2017-01-01

The decontamination method of metallic waste was considered to reduce the radioactive waste in decommissioning a nuclear power plant. Stainless steel occupies most for the material of the system equipment of PWR. The contamination by radioactive materials is stuck in the surface in the equipment as the metal oxide (e.g. chromium oxide, iron oxide). The method of efficient abrasion by the dry blasting device was considered to remove metal oxide from stainless steel. The kind of blasting abrasives material and the abrasive operation condition (the blasting angle, rate) were considered to investigate the abrasion ability to stainless steel. The abrasive condition which was appropriate abrasive ability was investigated and appropriate blasting abrasives was selected to stainless steel. The decontamination test by selected blasting abrasives and abrasive operation condition was performed using samples and the relation between abrasive rate and activity concentration was confirmed. The metallic radioactive waste was confirmed to be able to decontaminate to the clearance level. (author)

Evolution of Modularity Literature

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frandsen, Thomas

2017-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review and analyze the modularity literature to identify the established and emerging perspectives. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature search and review was conducted through the use of bibliometrics and network analysis. The analysis...... identified structure within the literature, which revealed how the research area evolved between 1990 and 2015. Based on this search, the paper establishes the basis for analyzing the structure of modularity literature. Findings Factors were identified within the literature, demonstrating how it has evolved...... from a primary focus on the modularity of products to a broader view of the applicability of modularity. Within the last decade, numerous research areas have emerged within the broader area of modularity. Through core-periphery analysis, eight emerging sub-research areas are identified, of which one...

Viscoelastic Materials Study for the Mitigation of Blast-Related Brain Injury

Science.gov (United States)

Bartyczak, Susan; Mock, Willis, Jr.

2011-06-01

Recent preliminary research into the causes of blast-related brain injury indicates that exposure to blast pressures, such as from IED detonation or multiple firings of a weapon, causes damage to brain tissue resulting in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Current combat helmets are not sufficient to protect the warfighter from this danger and the effects are debilitating, costly, and long-lasting. Commercially available viscoelastic materials, designed to dampen vibration caused by shock waves, might be useful as helmet liners to dampen blast waves. The objective of this research is to develop an experimental technique to test these commercially available materials when subject to blast waves and evaluate their blast mitigating behavior. A 40-mm-bore gas gun is being used as a shock tube to generate blast waves (ranging from 1 to 500 psi) in a test fixture at the gun muzzle. A fast opening valve is used to release nitrogen gas from the breech to impact instrumented targets. The targets consist of aluminum/ viscoelastic polymer/ aluminum materials. Blast attenuation is determined through the measurement of pressure and accelerometer data in front of and behind the target. The experimental technique, calibration and checkout procedures, and results will be presented.

The importance of systemic response in the pathobiology of blast-induced neurotrauma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibolja eCernak

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Due to complex injurious environment where multiple blast effects interact with the body, parallel blast-induced neurotrauma is a unique clinical entity induced by systemic, local, and cerebral responses. Activation of autonomous nervous system; sudden pressure-increase in vital organs such as lungs and liver; and activation of neuroendocrine-immune system are among the most important mechanisms that contribute significantly to molecular changes and cascading injury mechanisms in the brain. It has been hypothesized that vagally mediated cerebral effects play a vital role in the early response to blast: this assumption has been supported by experiments where bilateral vagotomy mitigated bradycardia, hypotension, and apnea, and also prevented excessive metabolic alterations in the brain of animals exposed to blast. Clinical experience suggests specific blast-body-nervous system interactions such as 1 direct interaction with the head either through direct passage of the blast wave through the skull or by causing acceleration and/or rotation of the head; and 2 via hydraulic interaction, when the blast overpressure compresses the abdomen and chest, and transfers its kinetic energy to the body’s fluid phase, initiating oscillating waves that traverse the body and reach the brain. Accumulating evidence suggests that inflammation plays important role in the pathogenesis of long-term neurological deficits due to blast. These include memory decline, motor function and balance impairments, and behavioral alterations, among others. Experiments using rigid body- or head protection in animals subjected to blast showed that head protection failed to prevent inflammation in the brain or reduce neurological deficits, whereas body protection was successful in alleviating the blast-induced functional and morphological impairments in the brain.

Blast overpressure induced axonal injury changes in rat brainstem and spinal cord

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Srinivasu Kallakuri

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Blast induced neurotrauma has been the signature wound in returning soldiers from the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of importance is understanding the pathomechansim(s of blast overpressure (OP induced axonal injury. Although several recent animal models of blast injury indicate the neuronal and axonal injury in various brain regions, animal studies related to axonal injury in the white matter (WM tracts of cervical spinal cord are limited. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the extent of axonal injury in WM tracts of cervical spinal cord in male Sprague Dawley rats subjected to a single insult of blast OP. Materials and Methods: Sagittal brainstem sections and horizontal cervical spinal cord sections from blast and sham animals were stained by neurofilament light (NF-L chain and beta amyloid precursor protein immunocytochemistry and observed for axonal injury changes. Results: Observations from this preliminary study demonstrate axonal injury changes in the form of prominent swellings, retraction bulbs, and putative signs of membrane disruptions in the brainstem and cervical spinal cord WM tracts of rats subjected to blast OP. Conclusions: Prominent axonal injury changes following the blast OP exposure in brainstem and cervical spinal WM tracts underscores the need for careful evaluation of blast induced injury changes and associated symptoms. NF-L immunocytochemistry can be considered as an additional tool to assess the blast OP induced axonal injury.

Analysis of MINIE2013 Explosion Air-Blast Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schnurr, Julie M. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa, HI (United States); Rodgers, Arthur J. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Kim, Keehoon [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Ford, Sean R. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Ramirez, Abelardo L. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2016-10-14

We report analysis of air-blast overpressure measurements from the MINIE2013 explosive experiments. The MINIE2013 experiment involved a series of nearly 70 near-surface (height-ofburst, HOB, ranging from -1 to +4 m) low-yield (W=2-20 kg TNT equivalent) chemical highexplosives tests that were recorded at local distances (230 m – 28.5 km). Many of the W and HOB combinations were repeated, allowing for quantification of the variability in air-blast features and corresponding yield estimates. We measured canonical signal features (peak overpressure, impulse per unit area, and positive pulse duration) from the air-blast data and compared these to existing air-blast models. Peak overpressure measurements showed good agreement with the models at close ranges but tended to attenuate more rapidly at longer range (~ 1 km), which is likely caused by upward refraction of acoustic waves due to a negative vertical gradient of sound speed. We estimated yields of the MINIE2013 explosions using the Integrated Yield Determination Tool (IYDT). Errors of the estimated yields were on average within 30% of the reported yields, and there were no significant differences in the accuracy of the IYDT predictions grouped by yield. IYDT estimates tend to be lower than ground truth yields, possibly because of reduced overpressure amplitudes by upward refraction. Finally, we report preliminary results on a development of a new parameterized air-blast waveform.

Water in the blast hole

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pilshaw, S.R. [Pilshaw Associates, KS (United States)

1995-10-01

Water in the blast area is a considerable problem in US opencast coal mining. While gelatin dynamite was reasonably water resistant, Anfo is not. All potential solutions to this problem: the use of Anfo and emulsion (Heavy Anfo), pumping, draining, and the use of water bags, involve considerable extra cost. With small amounts of water an alternative solution has been formulated: the use of a self inflating gas bag to exclude water, and loading the Anfo from the water line up to the stemming level of the blasthole. Quite substantial water columns may be sealed off in this manner, with little or no deleterious effect on blast effects.

Greener durable concretes through geopolymerisation of blast furnace slag

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajamane, N P; Nataraja, M C; Jeyalakshmi, R; Nithiyanantham, S

2015-01-01

The eco-friendliness of concrete is quantified by parameters such as ‘embodied energy’ (EE) and ‘embodied CO 2 emission’ (ECO 2 e), besides duration of designed ‘service life’. It may be noted that ECO 2 e is also referred as carbon footprint (CF) in the literature. Geopolymer (GP) is an inorganic polymeric gel, a type of amorphous alumino-silicate product, which can be synthesised by polycondensation reactions. The concrete reported in this paper was prepared using industrial wastes in the form of blast furnace slag, fly ash as geopolymeric source materials and sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide as activators. Many mechanical properties such as compressive strength, chloride diffusion, steel corrosion, rapid chloride permeability test and rapid migration test are compared with Portland cement. (paper)

The tank's dynamic response under nuclear explosion blast wave

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Mei; Wang Lianghou; Li Xiaotian; Yu Suyuan; Zhang Zhengming; Wan Li

2005-01-01

To weapons and equipment, blast wave is the primary destructive factor. In this paper, taken the real model-59 tank as an example, we try to transform the damage estimation problem into computing a fluid structure interaction problem with finite element method. The response of tank under nuclear explosion blast wave is computed with the general-coupling algorithm. Also, the dynamical interaction of blast wave and tank is reflected in real time. The deformation of each part of the tank is worked out and the result corresponds to the real-measured data. (authors)

A simple grid implementation with Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing using BLAST as a model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Watthanai Pinthong

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Development of high-throughput technologies, such as Next-generation sequencing, allows thousands of experiments to be performed simultaneously while reducing resource requirement. Consequently, a massive amount of experiment data is now rapidly generated. Nevertheless, the data are not readily usable or meaningful until they are further analysed and interpreted. Due to the size of the data, a high performance computer (HPC is required for the analysis and interpretation. However, the HPC is expensive and difficult to access. Other means were developed to allow researchers to acquire the power of HPC without a need to purchase and maintain one such as cloud computing services and grid computing system. In this study, we implemented grid computing in a computer training center environment using Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC as a job distributor and data manager combining all desktop computers to virtualize the HPC. Fifty desktop computers were used for setting up a grid system during the off-hours. In order to test the performance of the grid system, we adapted the Basic Local Alignment Search Tools (BLAST to the BOINC system. Sequencing results from Illumina platform were aligned to the human genome database by BLAST on the grid system. The result and processing time were compared to those from a single desktop computer and HPC. The estimated durations of BLAST analysis for 4 million sequence reads on a desktop PC, HPC and the grid system were 568, 24 and 5 days, respectively. Thus, the grid implementation of BLAST by BOINC is an efficient alternative to the HPC for sequence alignment. The grid implementation by BOINC also helped tap unused computing resources during the off-hours and could be easily modified for other available bioinformatics software.

Exposure to a predator scent induces chronic behavioral changes in rats previously exposed to low-level blast: Implications for the relationship of blast-related TBI to PTSD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georgina Perez-Garcia

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI has been unfortunately common in veterans who served in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The postconcussion syndrome associated with these mTBIs has frequently appeared in combination with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD. The presence of PTSD has complicated diagnosis since clinically PTSD and the postconcussion syndrome of mTBI have many overlapping symptoms. In particular establishing how much of the symptom complex can be attributed to the psychological trauma associated with PTSD in contrast to the physical injury of TBI has proven difficult. Indeed some have suggested that much of what is now being called blast-related postconcussion syndrome is better explained by PTSD. The relationship between the postconcussion syndrome of mTBI and PTSD is complex. Association of the two disorders might be viewed as additive effects of independent psychological and physical traumas suffered in a war zone. However we previously found that rats exposed to repetitive low-level blast exposure in the absence of a psychological stressor developed a variety of anxiety and PTSD-related behavioral traits that were present months following the last blast exposure. Here we show that a single predator scent challenge delivered 8 months after the last blast exposure induces chronic anxiety related changes in blast-exposed rats that are still present 45 days later. These observations suggest that in addition to independently inducing PTSD-related traits, blast exposure sensitizes the brain to react abnormally to a subsequent psychological stressor. These studies have implications for conceptualizing the relationship between blast-related mTBI and PTSD and suggest that blast-related mTBI in humans may predispose to the later development of PTSD in reaction to subsequent psychological stressors.

Microstructural Consequences of Blast Lung Injury Characterized with Digital Volume Correlation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hari Arora

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on microstructural changes that occur within the mammalian lung when subject to blast and how these changes influence strain distributions within the tissue. Shock tube experiments were performed to generate the blast injured specimens (cadaveric Sprague-Dawley rats. Blast overpressures of 100 and 180 kPa were studied. Synchrotron tomography imaging was used to capture volumetric image data of lungs. Specimens were ventilated using a custom-built system to study multiple inflation pressures during each tomography scan. These data enabled the first digital volume correlation (DVC measurements in lung tissue to be performed. Quantitative analysis was performed to describe the damaged architecture of the lung. No clear changes in the microstructure of the tissue morphology were observed due to controlled low- to moderate-level blast exposure. However, significant focal sites of injury were observed using DVC, which allowed the detection of bias and concentration in the patterns of strain level. Morphological analysis corroborated the findings, illustrating that the focal damage caused by a blast can give rise to diffuse influence across the tissue. It is important to characterize the non-instantly fatal doses of blast, given the transient nature of blast lung in the clinical setting. This research has highlighted the need for better understanding of focal injury and its zone of influence (alveolar interdependency and neighboring tissue burden as a result of focal injury. DVC techniques show great promise as a tool to advance this endeavor, providing a new perspective on lung mechanics after blast.

Numerical Investigation of Structural Response of Corrugated Blast Wall Depending on Blast Load Pulse Shapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jung Min Sohn

Full Text Available Abstract Hydrocarbon explosions are one of most hazardous events for workers on offshore platforms. To protect structures against explosion loads, corrugated blast walls are typically installed. However, the profiles of real explosion loads are quite different depending on the congestion and confinement of Topside structures. As the level of congestion and confinement increases, the explosion load increases by up to 8 bar, and the rising time of the load decreases. This study primarily aims to investigate the structural behavior characteristics of corrugated blast walls under different types of explosion loadings. Four loading shapes were applied in the structural response analysis, which utilized a dynamic nonlinear finite element method.

Blasting Standards for the Ghanaian Mining Industry | Amegbey ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ghana is a well known mining nation and hard rock mining has been going on since the 10th century. Mining companies in Ghana are well aware of the regulatory requirements to carry out blasting activities such that neighbouring communities are protected from excessive impact as a result of blast vibrations amongst other ...

Study of consumer fireworks post-blast residues by ATR-FTIR.

Science.gov (United States)

Martín-Alberca, Carlos; Zapata, Félix; Carrascosa, Héctor; Ortega-Ojeda, Fernando E; García-Ruiz, Carmen

2016-03-01

Specific analytical procedures are requested for the forensic analysis of pre- and post-blast consumer firework samples, which present significant challenges. Up to date, vibrational spectroscopic techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) have not been tested for the analysis of post-blast residues in spite of their interesting strengths for the forensic field. Therefore, this work proposes a simple and fast procedure for the sampling and analysis of consumer firework post-blast residues by a portable FTIR instrument with an Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) accessory. In addition, the post-blast residues spectra of several consumer fireworks were studied in order to achieve the identification of their original chemical compositions. Hence, this work analysed 22 standard reagents usually employed to make consumer fireworks, or because they are related to their combustion products. Then, 5 different consumer fireworks were exploded, and their residues were sampled with dry cotton swabs and directly analysed by ATR-FTIR. In addition, their pre-blast fuses and charges were also analysed in order to stablish a proper comparison. As a result, the identification of the original chemical compositions of the post-blast samples was obtained. Some of the compounds found were potassium chlorate, barium nitrate, potassium nitrate, potassium perchlorate or charcoal. An additional study involving chemometric tools found that the results might greatly depend on the swab head type used for the sampling, and its sampling efficiency. The proposed procedure could be used as a complementary technique for the analysis of consumer fireworks post-blast residues. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Faster Smith-Waterman database searches with inter-sequence SIMD parallelisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rognes, Torbjørn

2011-06-01

The Smith-Waterman algorithm for local sequence alignment is more sensitive than heuristic methods for database searching, but also more time-consuming. The fastest approach to parallelisation with SIMD technology has previously been described by Farrar in 2007. The aim of this study was to explore whether further speed could be gained by other approaches to parallelisation. A faster approach and implementation is described and benchmarked. In the new tool SWIPE, residues from sixteen different database sequences are compared in parallel to one query residue. Using a 375 residue query sequence a speed of 106 billion cell updates per second (GCUPS) was achieved on a dual Intel Xeon X5650 six-core processor system, which is over six times more rapid than software based on Farrar's 'striped' approach. SWIPE was about 2.5 times faster when the programs used only a single thread. For shorter queries, the increase in speed was larger. SWIPE was about twice as fast as BLAST when using the BLOSUM50 score matrix, while BLAST was about twice as fast as SWIPE for the BLOSUM62 matrix. The software is designed for 64 bit Linux on processors with SSSE3. Source code is available from http://dna.uio.no/swipe/ under the GNU Affero General Public License. Efficient parallelisation using SIMD on standard hardware makes it possible to run Smith-Waterman database searches more than six times faster than before. The approach described here could significantly widen the potential application of Smith-Waterman searches. Other applications that require optimal local alignment scores could also benefit from improved performance.

Blast Shock Wave Mitigation Using the Hydraulic Energy Redirection and Release Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yun; Huang, Wei; Constantini, Shlomi

2012-01-01

A hydraulic energy redirection and release technology has been developed for mitigating the effects of blast shock waves on protected objects. The technology employs a liquid-filled plastic tubing as a blast overpressure transformer to transfer kinetic energy of blast shock waves into hydraulic energy in the plastic tubings. The hydraulic energy is redirected through the plastic tubings to the openings at the lower ends, and then is quickly released with the liquid flowing out through the openings. The samples of the specifically designed body armor in which the liquid-filled plastic tubings were installed vertically as the outer layer of the body armor were tested. The blast test results demonstrated that blast overpressure behind the body armor samples was remarkably reduced by 97% in 0.2 msec after the liquid flowed out of its appropriate volume through the openings. The results also suggested that a volumetric liquid surge might be created when kinetic energy of blast shock wave was transferred into hydraulic energy to cause a rapid physical movement or displacement of the liquid. The volumetric liquid surge has a strong destructive power, and can cause a noncontact, remote injury in humans (such as blast-induced traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder) if it is created in cardiovascular system. The hydraulic energy redirection and release technology can successfully mitigate blast shock waves from the outer surface of the body armor. It should be further explored as an innovative approach to effectively protect against blast threats to civilian and military personnel. PMID:22745740

GPS network observation of traveling ionospheric disturbances following the Chelyabinsk meteorite blast

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Ding

2016-11-01

Full Text Available We use the Global Positioning System (GPS network in northwest China and central Asia to monitor traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs, which were possibly excited by the large meteorite blast over Chelyabinsk, Russia, on 15 February 2013. Two TIDs were observed. The first TID was observed 13 min after the blast within a range of 270–600 km from the blast site. It propagated radially from the blast site with a mean velocity and period of 369 m s−1 and 12 min, respectively. The second TID was found in northwest China, 1.5 h after the time of the blast, at  ∼  2500–3100 km from the blast site. This latter TID propagated southeastward with a velocity and period of 410 m s−1 and 23 min, respectively. Severe dissipation of the perturbation total electronic content (TEC amplitude was observed. Any TIDs propagating in a global range was not found after the meteorite blast. Features of TIDs were compared with those excited by early nuclear explosion tests. It is inferred from our analysis that the energy release of the Chelyabinsk meteorite blast may not be large enough to excite such ionospheric disturbances in a global range as some nuclear explosions did.

Damage to underground coal mines caused by surface blasting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fourie, A.B.; Green, R.W.

1993-01-01

An investigation of the potential damage to underground coal workings as a result of surface blasting at an opencast coal mine is described. Seismometers were installed in a worked out area of an underground mine, in the eastern Transvaal region of South Africa, and the vibration caused by nearby surface blasting recorded. These measurements were used to derive peak particle velocities. These velocities were correlated with observed damage underground in order to establish the allowable combination of the two blasting parameters of charge mass per relay, and blast-to-gage point distance. An upper limit of 110mm/sec peak particle velocity was found to be sufficient to ensure that the damage to the particular workings under consideration was minimal. It was further found that a cube-root scaling law provided a better fit to the field data than the common square-root law. 11 refs., 6 figs., 5 tabs

Equipment Specific Optimum Blast-Design Using Genetic Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahul Upadhyay

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Design of blasting parameters plays an important role in the optimization of mining cost as well as cost of subsequent processing of ore. Drilling and handling costs are the major mining cost. This work presents an indirect optimization model for mining cost through optimization of blasting parameters for a particular set of drilling and loading equipment.

Blast Load Response of Steel Sandwich Panels with Liquid Encasement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dale Karr; Marc Perlin; Benjamin Langhorst; Henry Chu

2009-10-01

We describe an experimental investigation of the response of hybrid blast panels for protection from explosive and impact forces. The fundamental notion is to dissipate, absorb, and redirect energy through plastic collapse, viscous dissipation, and inter-particle forces of liquid placed in sub-structural compartments. The panels are designed to absorb energy from an impact or air blast by elastic-plastic collapse of the panel substructure that includes fluid-filled cavities. The fluid contributes to blast effects mitigation by providing increased initial mass and resistance, by dissipation of energy through viscosity and fluid flow, and by redirecting the momentum that is imparted to the system from the impact and blast impulse pressures. Failure and deformation mechanisms of the panels are described.

Pathological Fingerprints, Systems Biology and Biomarkers of Blast Brain Injury

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-01

changes after blast injury. J. Trauma 56, 393–403. Murthy, J.M., Chopra, J.S., and Gulati, D.R. (1979). Subdural hematoma in an adult following a blast...neuronal damage), diffuse brain injury, and subdural hemorrhage. It is still controversial whether primary blast forces directly damage the brain, and if...emboli, leading to infarction (Guy et al., 2000a; Guy et al., 2000b). The most common types of TBI are diffuse axonal injury, contusion, and subdural

Controlled blasting and its implications for the NNWSI project exploratory shaft

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Eeckhout, E.M.

1987-09-01

This report reviews controlled blasting techniques for shaft sinking. Presplitting and smooth blasting are the techniques of principal interest. Smooth blasting is preferred for the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations exploratory shaft. Shaft damage can be monitored visually or by peak velocity measurements and refractive techniques. Damage into the rock should be limited to 3 ft. 40 refs., 22 figs., 7 tabs

HangOut: generating clean PSI-BLAST profiles for domains with long insertions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Bong-Hyun; Cong, Qian; Grishin, Nick V

2010-06-15

Profile-based similarity search is an essential step in structure-function studies of proteins. However, inclusion of non-homologous sequence segments into a profile causes its corruption and results in false positives. Profile corruption is common in multidomain proteins, and single domains with long insertions are a significant source of errors. We developed a procedure (HangOut) that, for a single domain with specified insertion position, cleans erroneously extended PSI-BLAST alignments to generate better profiles. HangOut is implemented in Python 2.3 and runs on all Unix-compatible platforms. The source code is available under the GNU GPL license at http://prodata.swmed.edu/HangOut/. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

De-MetaST-BLAST: a tool for the validation of degenerate primer sets and data mining of publicly available metagenomes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher A Gulvik

Full Text Available Development and use of primer sets to amplify nucleic acid sequences of interest is fundamental to studies spanning many life science disciplines. As such, the validation of primer sets is essential. Several computer programs have been created to aid in the initial selection of primer sequences that may or may not require multiple nucleotide combinations (i.e., degeneracies. Conversely, validation of primer specificity has remained largely unchanged for several decades, and there are currently few available programs that allows for an evaluation of primers containing degenerate nucleotide bases. To alleviate this gap, we developed the program De-MetaST that performs an in silico amplification using user defined nucleotide sequence dataset(s and primer sequences that may contain degenerate bases. The program returns an output file that contains the in silico amplicons. When De-MetaST is paired with NCBI's BLAST (De-MetaST-BLAST, the program also returns the top 10 nr NCBI database hits for each recovered in silico amplicon. While the original motivation for development of this search tool was degenerate primer validation using the wealth of nucleotide sequences available in environmental metagenome and metatranscriptome databases, this search tool has potential utility in many data mining applications.

Blasting vibrations control: The shortcomings of traditional methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vuillaume, P.M.; Kiszlo, M. [Institut National de l`Environnement Industriel et des Risques, Verneuil en Halatte (France); Bernard, T. [Compagnie Nouvelle de Scientifiques, Nice (France)

1996-12-31

In the context of its studies for the French ministry of the environment and for the French national coal board, INERIS (the French institute for the industrial environment and hazards, formerly CERCHAR) has made a complete critical survey of the methods generally used to reduce the levels of blasting vibrations. It is generally acknowledged that the main parameter to control vibrations is the so-called instantaneous charge, or charge per delay. This should be reduced as much as possible in order to diminish vibration levels. On account of this, the use of a new generation of blasting devices, such as non-electric detonators or electronic sequential timers has been developed since the seventies. INERIS has collected data from about 900 blasts in 2 quarries and 3 open pit mines. These data include input parameters such as borehole diameter, burden, spacing, charge per hole, charge per delay, total fired charge, etc ... They also include output measurements, such as vibration peak particle velocities, and main frequencies. These data have been analyzed with the help of multi variable statistical tools. Blasting tests were undertaken to evaluate new methods of vibrations control, such as the superposition of vibration signals. These methods appear to be accurate in many critical cases, but certainly would be highly improved with a better accuracy of firing delays. The development of electronic detonators seems to be the way of the future for a better blasting control.

Blast tests of expedient shelters in the DICE THROW event

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kearny, C.H.; Chester, C.V.

1978-03-01

To determine the worst blast environments that eight types of expedient shelters can withstand, we subjected a total of 18 shelters to the 1-kiloton blast effects of Defense Nuclear Agency's DICE THROW main event. These expedient shelters included two Russian and two Chinese types. The best shelter tested was a Small-Pole Shelter that had a box-like room of Russian design with ORNL-designed expedient blast entries and blast doors added. It was undamaged at the 53-psi peak overpressure range; the pressure rise inside was only 1.5 psi. An unmodified Russian Pole-Covered Trench Shelter was badly damaged at 6.8 psi. A Chinese ''Man'' Shelter, which skillfully uses very small poles to attain protective earth arching, survived 20 psi, undamaged. Two types of expedient shelters built of materials found in and around most American homes gave good protection at overpressures up to about 6 psi. Rug-Covered Trench Shelters were proved unsatisfactory. Water storage pits lined with ordinary plastic trash bags were proven practical at up to 53 psi, as were triangular expedient blast doors made of poles

DNA tagging of blast resistant gene(s in three Brazilian rice cultivars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.S. Sandhu

2003-12-01

Full Text Available Rice blast is the most important fungal disease of rice and is caused by Pyricularia oryzae Sacc. (Telomorph Magnoporthe grisea Barr.. Seven randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD markers OPA5, OPG17, OPG18, OPG19, OPF9, OPF17 and OPF19 showed very clear polymorphism in resistant cultivar lines which differed from susceptible lines. By comparing different susceptible lines, nine DNA amplifications of seven primers (OPA5(1000, OPA5(1200, OPG17(700, OPG18(850, OPG19(500, OPG19(600, OPF9(600, OPF17(1200 and OPF19(600 were identified as dominant markers for the blast resistant gene in resistant cultivar lines. These loci facilitate the indirect scoring of blast resistant and blast susceptible genotypes. The codomine RAPDs markers will facilitate marker-assisted selection of the blast resistant gene in two blast resistant genotypes of rice (Labelle and Line 11 and will be useful in rice breeding programs.

Proceedings of the seventeenth annual conference on explosives and blasting technique. Volume 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1991-01-01

Papers from this conference dealt with the following topics: surface and underground mine blasting, ground vibrations and blast effects, design for explosive fracturing of rock, sequential timing for blasting control, design for production optimization, use of blasting for abandoned mine reclamation, chemical explosives, lightning warning systems, magazine security, fire safety, and drilling equipment. Papers have been indexed separately for inclusion on the data base

Inheritance of blast resistance and identification of SSR marker ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2013-08-02

Aug 2, 2013 ... arm of chromosome 6 and in close proximity of blast resis- ... resistance to a M. oryzae race in a gene-for-gene manner. DNA markers have been ... order to identify the new sources of resistance against blast, there is need for ...

HIGH PRODUCTIVITY VACUUM BLASTING SYSTEM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McPhee, William S.

2001-01-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) needs improved technologies to decontaminate large areas of both concrete and steel surfaces. The technology should have high operational efficiency, minimize exposures to workers, and produce low levels of secondary waste. In order to meet the DOE's needs, an applied research and development project for the improvement of a current decontamination technology, Vacuum Blasting, is proposed. The objective of this project is to improve the productivity and lower the expense of the existing vacuum blasting technology which has been widely used in DOE sites for removing radioactive contamination, PCBs, and lead-based paint. The proposed work would increase the productivity rate and provide safe and cost-effective decontamination of the DOE sites

Optimization long hole blast fragmentation techniques and detonating circuit underground uranium mine stope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Qin; Yang Lizhi; Song Lixia; Qin De'en; Xue Yongshe; Wang Zhipeng

2012-01-01

Aim at high rate of large blast fragmentation, a big difficulty in long hole drilling and blasting underground uranium mine stope, it is pointed out at the same time of taking integrated technical management measures, the key is to optimize the drilling and blasting parameters and insure safety the act of one that primes, adopt 'minimum burden' blasting technique, renew the stope fragmentation process, and use new process of hole bottom indirect initiation fragmentation; optimize the detonating circuit and use safe, reliable and economically rational duplex non-electric detonating circuit. The production practice shows that under the guarantee of strictly controlled construction quality, the application of optimized blast fragmentation technique has enhanced the reliability of safety detonation and preferably solved the problem of high rate of large blast fragments. (authors)

SITUATIONAL CONTROL OF HOT BLAST STOVES GROUP BASED ON DECISION TREE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. I. Kobysh

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper was developed the control system of group of hot blast stoves, which operates on the basis of the packing heating control subsystem and subsystem of forecasting of modes duration in the hot blast stoves APCS of iron smelting in a blast furnace. With the use of multi-criteria optimization methods, implemented the adjustment of control system conduct, which takes into account the current production situation that has arisen in the course of the heating packing of each hot blast stove group. Developed a situation recognition algorithm and the choice of scenarios of control based on a decision tree.

Partitioning of a scaled shallow-buried near-field blast load

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Reinecke, J David

2015-07-01

Full Text Available and target force response to a shallow and deep buried blast loads and the initial loading phase contribution to the blast load were quantified. There is no separate precursor air shock for shallow buried blast load and the initial loading phase impulse... stream_source_info Reinecke_2015.pdf.txt stream_content_type text/plain stream_size 24459 Content-Encoding UTF-8 stream_name Reinecke_2015.pdf.txt Content-Type text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Partitioning of a Scaled Shallow...

Study of wet blasting of components in nuclear power stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, J.

1999-12-01

This report looks at the method of wet blasting radioactive components in nuclear power stations. The wet blaster uses pearl shaped glass beads with the dimensions of 150-250 μm mixed with water as blasting media. The improved design, providing outer operator's positions with proper radiation protection and more efficient blasting equipment has resulted in a lesser dose taken by the operators. The main reason to decontaminate components in nuclear power plants is to enable service on these components. On components like valves, pump shafts, pipes etc. oxides form and bind radiation. These components are normally situated at some distance from the reactor core and will mainly suffer from radiation from so called activation products. When a component is to be decontaminated it can be decontaminated to a radioactive level where it will be declassified. This report has found levels ranging from 150-1000 Bq/kg allowing declassification of radioactive materials. This difference is found between different countries and different organisations. The report also looks at the levels of waste generated using wet blasting. This is done by tracking the contamination to determine where it collects. It is either collected in the water treatment plant or collected in the blasting media. At Barsebaeck the waste levels, from de-contaminating nearly 800 components in one year, results in a waste volume of about 0,250 m 3 . This waste consists of low and medium level waste and will cost about 3 600 EURO to store. The conclusions of the report are that wet blasting is an indispensable way to treat contaminated components in modern nuclear power plants. The wet blasting equipment can be improved by using a robot enabling the operators to remotely treat components from the outer operator's positions. There they will benefit from better radiation protection thus further reduce their taken dose. The wet blasting equipment could also be used to better control the levels of radioactivity on

Study of wet blasting of components in nuclear power stations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hall, J

1999-12-01

This report looks at the method of wet blasting radioactive components in nuclear power stations. The wet blaster uses pearl shaped glass beads with the dimensions of 150-250 {mu}m mixed with water as blasting media. The improved design, providing outer operator's positions with proper radiation protection and more efficient blasting equipment has resulted in a lesser dose taken by the operators. The main reason to decontaminate components in nuclear power plants is to enable service on these components. On components like valves, pump shafts, pipes etc. oxides form and bind radiation. These components are normally situated at some distance from the reactor core and will mainly suffer from radiation from so called activation products. When a component is to be decontaminated it can be decontaminated to a radioactive level where it will be declassified. This report has found levels ranging from 150-1000 Bq/kg allowing declassification of radioactive materials.This difference is found between different countries and different organisations. The report also looks at the levels of waste generated using wet blasting. This is done by tracking the contamination to determine where it collects. It is either collected in the water treatment plant or collected in the blasting media. At Barsebaeck the waste levels, from de-contaminating nearly 800 components in one year, results in a waste volume of about 0,250 m{sup 3}. This waste consists of low and medium level waste and will cost about 3 600 EURO to store. The conclusions of the report are that wet blasting is an indispensable way to treat contaminated components in modern nuclear power plants. The wet blasting equipment can be improved by using a robot enabling the operators to remotely treat components from the outer operator's positions. There they will benefit from better radiation protection thus further reduce their taken dose. The wet blasting equipment could also be used to better control the levels of

Reducing Drill and Blast Cost through Blast Optimisation – A Case ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Michael O. Mensah

2015-12-02

Dec 2, 2015 ... Case Study* ... using the proposed blast parameters increased by 14.3 to 50.0% for ore zones and 12.5 ... of gold, compels technologists in the industry to .... 127. Bench Height (H), m. 4. 4. 4.5. 4.5. 4.5. 4.5. Sub-drill (U), m. 0.5.

An RES-Based Model for Risk Assessment and Prediction of Backbreak in Bench Blasting

Science.gov (United States)

Faramarzi, F.; Ebrahimi Farsangi, M. A.; Mansouri, H.

2013-07-01

Most blasting operations are associated with various forms of energy loss, emerging as environmental side effects of rock blasting, such as flyrock, vibration, airblast, and backbreak. Backbreak is an adverse phenomenon in rock blasting operations, which imposes risk and increases operation expenses because of safety reduction due to the instability of walls, poor fragmentation, and uneven burden in subsequent blasts. In this paper, based on the basic concepts of a rock engineering systems (RES) approach, a new model for the prediction of backbreak and the risk associated with a blast is presented. The newly suggested model involves 16 effective parameters on backbreak due to blasting, while retaining simplicity as well. The data for 30 blasts, carried out at Sungun copper mine, western Iran, were used to predict backbreak and the level of risk corresponding to each blast by the RES-based model. The results obtained were compared with the backbreak measured for each blast, which showed that the level of risk achieved is in consistence with the backbreak measured. The maximum level of risk [vulnerability index (VI) = 60] was associated with blast No. 2, for which the corresponding average backbreak was the highest achieved (9.25 m). Also, for blasts with levels of risk under 40, the minimum average backbreaks (<4 m) were observed. Furthermore, to evaluate the model performance for backbreak prediction, the coefficient of correlation ( R 2) and root mean square error (RMSE) of the model were calculated ( R 2 = 0.8; RMSE = 1.07), indicating the good performance of the model.

Main: Nucleotide Analysis [KOME

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available Nucleotide Analysis Japonica genome blast search result Result of blastn search against jap...onica genome sequence kome_japonica_genome_blast_search_result.zip kome_japonica_genome_blast_search_result ...

Knowing How Good Our Searches Are: An Approach Derived from Search Filter Development Methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Hayman

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Objective – Effective literature searching is of paramount importance in supporting evidence based practice, research, and policy. Missed references can have adverse effects on outcomes. This paper reports on the development and evaluation of an online learning resource, designed for librarians and other interested searchers, presenting an evidence based approach to enhancing and testing literature searches. Methods – We developed and evaluated the set of free online learning modules for librarians called Smart Searching, suggesting the use of techniques derived from search filter development undertaken by the CareSearch Palliative Care Knowledge Network and its associated project Flinders Filters. The searching module content has been informed by the processes and principles used in search filter development. The self-paced modules are intended to help librarians and other interested searchers test the effectiveness of their literature searches, provide evidence of search performance that can be used to improve searches, as well as to evaluate and promote searching expertise. Each module covers one of four techniques, or core principles, employed in search filter development: (1 collaboration with subject experts; (2 use of a reference sample set; (3 term identification through frequency analysis; and (4 iterative testing. Evaluation of the resource comprised ongoing monitoring of web analytics to determine factors such as numbers of users and geographic origin; a user survey conducted online elicited qualitative information about the usefulness of the resource. Results – The resource was launched in May 2014. Web analytics show over 6,000 unique users from 101 countries (at 9 August 2015. Responses to the survey (n=50 indicated that 80% would recommend the resource to a colleague. Conclusions – An evidence based approach to searching, derived from search filter development methodology, has been shown to have value as an online learning

Experimental and Theoretical Study on Influence of Different Charging Structures on Blasting Vibration Energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenbin Gu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available As an important parameter in blasting design, charging structure directly influences blasting effect. Due to complex conditions of this blasting and excavating engineering in Jiangsu, China, the authors carried out comparative researches with coupling structure, air-decoupling structure, and water-decoupling structure. After collecting, comparing, and analyzing produced signals on blasting vibration, the authors summarized that when proportional distances are the same, water-decoupling structure can reduce instantaneous energy of blasting vibration more effectively with more average rock fragmentation and less harm of dust. From the perspective of impedance matching, the present paper analyzed influence of charging structure on blasting vibration energy, demonstrating that impedance matching relationship between explosive and rock changes because of different charging structures. Through deducing relationship equation that meets the impedance matching of explosive and rock under different charging structures, the research concludes that when blasting rocks with high impedance, explosive with high impedance can better transmits blasting energy. Besides, when employing decoupling charging, there exists a reasonable decoupling coefficient helping realize impedance matching of explosive and rock.

Effects of low-level blast exposure on the nervous system: Is there really a controversy?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregory A Elder

2014-12-01

Full Text Available High-pressure blast waves can cause extensive CNS injury in humans. However, in combat settings such as Iraq and Afghanistan, lower level exposures associated with mild TBI (mTBI or subclinical exposure have been much more common. Yet controversy exists concerning what traits can be attributed to low-level blast, in large part due to the difficulty of distinguishing blast-related mTBI from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD. We describe how TBI is defined in humans and the problems posed in using current definitions to recognize blast-related mTBI. We next consider the problem of applying definitions of human mTBI to animal models, in particular that TBI severity in humans is defined in relation to alteration of consciousness at the time of injury, which typically cannot be assessed in animals. However, based on outcome assessments a condition of low-level blast exposure can be defined in animals that likely approximates human mTBI or subclinical exposure. We review blast injury modeling in animals noting that inconsistencies in experimental approach have contributed to uncertainty over the effects of low-level blast. Yet animal studies show that low-level blast pressure waves are transmitted to the brain. In brain low-level blast exposures cause behavioral, biochemical, pathological and physiological effects on the nervous system including the induction of PTSD-related behavioral traits in the absence of a psychological stressor. We review the relationship of blast exposure to chronic neurodegenerative diseases noting the paradoxical lowering of Abeta by blast, which along with other observations suggest that blast-related TBI is pathophysiologically distinct from non-blast TBI. Human neuroimaging studies show that blast-related mTBI is associated with a variety of chronic effects that are unlikely to be explained by co-morbid PTSD. We conclude that abundant evidence supports low-level blast as having long-term effects on the nervous system.

Structural Response to Blast Loading: The Effects of Corrosion on Reinforced Concrete Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hakan Yalciner

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Structural blast design has become a necessary part of the design with increasing terrorist attacks. Terrorist attacks are not the one to make the structures important against blast loading where other explosions such as high gas explosions also take an important place in structural safety. The main objective of this study was to verify the structural performance levels under the impact of different blast loading scenarios. The blast loads were represented by using triangular pulse for single degree of freedom system. The effect of blast load on both corroded and uncorroded reinforced concrete buildings was examined for different explosion distances. Modified plastic hinge properties were used to ensure the effects of corrosion. The results indicated that explosion distance and concrete strength were key parameters to define the performance of the structures against blast loading.

Implementations of BLAST for parallel computers.

Science.gov (United States)

Jülich, A

1995-02-01

The BLAST sequence comparison programs have been ported to a variety of parallel computers-the shared memory machine Cray Y-MP 8/864 and the distributed memory architectures Intel iPSC/860 and nCUBE. Additionally, the programs were ported to run on workstation clusters. We explain the parallelization techniques and consider the pros and cons of these methods. The BLAST programs are very well suited for parallelization for a moderate number of processors. We illustrate our results using the program blastp as an example. As input data for blastp, a 799 residue protein query sequence and the protein database PIR were used.

Quality of computerized blast load simulation for non-linear dynamic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Quality of computerized blast load simulation for non-linear dynamic response ... commercial software system and a special-purpose, blast-specific software product to ... depend both on the analysis model of choice and the stand-off distances.

Drill and blast tunnelling; Konvensjonell drift av tunneler

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roenn, Paal-Egil

1997-12-31

This thesis treats drill and blast tunnelling. The rapid technological advance necessitates revised and updated design criteria, quality requirements and quality control. In situ blast experiments were carried out in order to test new methods and improve the basis for calculation and design. The main topics of the experiments were (1) longer rounds and increased drillhole diameter, (2) emulsion slurry as explosives in tunnelling, and (3) electronic detonators in contour blasting. The experiments show that it is technically feasible to blast rounds of up to 8.6 m length. Using current technology, the economical optimum round length is substantially shorter. Dust, low visibility, noise and toxic fumes are occupational environmental strains for the tunnel workers. Several of the environmental factors are strongly influenced by the type of explosives used. For example, emulsion slurry resulted in 4 to 5 times better visibility than Anolit and the concentration of respirable dust and total dust was reduced by 30-50 %. Electronic detonators were tested and found to give a higher percentage of remaining drillholes in the contour than Nonel detonators. The thesis includes a chapter on economic design of hydropower tunnels. 42 refs., 83 figs., 45 tabs.

Open cast blasting of coal in Australia; Goshu rotenbori tanko kengakuki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hashizume, K. [Nippon Kayaku Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

1997-06-30

Introduced in this report are blastings performed for surface coal mining in the southeastern part of Australia. The Liddell coal mine began mining in 1990. This mine enjoys an annual raw coal yield of 2-million ton, removing approximately 11-million m{sup 3} of rocks consuming 5000 ton of anfo and emulsion explosives. The explosives are carried by a pump truck to the site where mixing is carried out, and non-electrical primers are used for detonation. The other mine described here is the Camberwell mine that yields 3.5-million ton of raw coal annually. For each blasting, 100-200 ton of explosive is consumed. A pump truck reciprocates between the material plant near the mine and the location of blasting, and charges the explosive directly. One of the anfo, emulsion, and heavy-anfo explosives is chosen, dependent upon conditions such as rock hardness. Also mentioned in this report are general blasting specifications relating to blasting at these two mines

Integration of Tuyere, Raceway and Shaft Models for Predicting Blast Furnace Process

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Dong; Tang, Guangwu; Zhao, Yongfu; D'Alessio, John; Zhou, Chenn Q.

2018-06-01

A novel modeling strategy is presented for simulating the blast furnace iron making process. Such physical and chemical phenomena are taking place across a wide range of length and time scales, and three models are developed to simulate different regions of the blast furnace, i.e., the tuyere model, the raceway model and the shaft model. This paper focuses on the integration of the three models to predict the entire blast furnace process. Mapping output and input between models and an iterative scheme are developed to establish communications between models. The effects of tuyere operation and burden distribution on blast furnace fuel efficiency are investigated numerically. The integration of different models provides a way to realistically simulate the blast furnace by improving the modeling resolution on local phenomena and minimizing the model assumptions.

MEGGASENSE - The Metagenome/Genome Annotated Sequence Natural Language Search Engine: A Platform for 
the Construction of Sequence Data Warehouses.

Science.gov (United States)

Gacesa, Ranko; Zucko, Jurica; Petursdottir, Solveig K; Gudmundsdottir, Elisabet Eik; Fridjonsson, Olafur H; Diminic, Janko; Long, Paul F; Cullum, John; Hranueli, Daslav; Hreggvidsson, Gudmundur O; Starcevic, Antonio

2017-06-01

The MEGGASENSE platform constructs relational databases of DNA or protein sequences. The default functional analysis uses 14 106 hidden Markov model (HMM) profiles based on sequences in the KEGG database. The Solr search engine allows sophisticated queries and a BLAST search function is also incorporated. These standard capabilities were used to generate the SCATT database from the predicted proteome of Streptomyces cattleya . The implementation of a specialised metagenome database (AMYLOMICS) for bioprospecting of carbohydrate-modifying enzymes is described. In addition to standard assembly of reads, a novel 'functional' assembly was developed, in which screening of reads with the HMM profiles occurs before the assembly. The AMYLOMICS database incorporates additional HMM profiles for carbohydrate-modifying enzymes and it is illustrated how the combination of HMM and BLAST analyses helps identify interesting genes. A variety of different proteome and metagenome databases have been generated by MEGGASENSE.

Acceleration-based methodology to assess the blast mitigation performance of explosive ordnance disposal helmets

Science.gov (United States)

Dionne, J. P.; Levine, J.; Makris, A.

2018-01-01

To design the next generation of blast mitigation helmets that offer increasing levels of protection against explosive devices, manufacturers must be able to rely on appropriate test methodologies and human surrogates that will differentiate the performance level of various helmet solutions and ensure user safety. Ideally, such test methodologies and associated injury thresholds should be based on widely accepted injury criteria relevant within the context of blast. Unfortunately, even though significant research has taken place over the last decade in the area of blast neurotrauma, there currently exists no agreement in terms of injury mechanisms for blast-induced traumatic brain injury. In absence of such widely accepted test methods and injury criteria, the current study presents a specific blast test methodology focusing on explosive ordnance disposal protective equipment, involving the readily available Hybrid III mannequin, initially developed for the automotive industry. The unlikely applicability of the associated brain injury criteria (based on both linear and rotational head acceleration) is discussed in the context of blast. Test results encompassing a large number of blast configurations and personal protective equipment are presented, emphasizing the possibility to develop useful correlations between blast parameters, such as the scaled distance, and mannequin engineering measurements (head acceleration). Suggestions are put forward for a practical standardized blast testing methodology taking into account limitations in the applicability of acceleration-based injury criteria as well as the inherent variability in blast testing results.

Dry ice blasting as a substitution for the conventional electroplating pre-treatments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uhlmann Eckart

2016-01-01

Full Text Available For high quality electroplated products, surfaces must be thoroughly pre-treated. For this purpose electroplating currently needs a variety of chemical baths. The used chemicals are injurious to health and harmful to the environment. In addition, the conventional pre-treatment has a long process time which results in high costs. Dry ice blasting alone or in combination with other processes has the potential to completely substitute these conventional pre-treatment processes. Three process sequences as pre-treatment methods prior to electroplating were investigated on the aluminium alloys AlSi12 and AlMg3. The used processes are dry ice blasting, tempering during dry ice blasting and glass bead blasting followed by dry ice blasting. The influence of the parameters on the surface roughness, surface topography and surface tension of the workpieces was examined. A model to describe the correlation between the dry ice blasting parameters and surface parameters was developed. Finally, an adhesion test of electroplated specimen was conducted in order to determine the suitability of these alternative pre-treatment processes.

Spalling of concrete subjected to blast loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Foglar M.

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents outcomes of the blast field tests of FRC and reinforced concrete specimens, which were performed in cooperation with the Czech Army corps and Police of the Czech Republic in the military training area Boletice. The numerical evaluation of the experiments focused on the spalling of concrete subjected to blast loading started after the first set of the tests, took almost 3 years and required further small-scale experiments performed in the labs of the Czech Technical University.

Chronic caffeine exposure attenuates blast-induced memory deficit in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Ning, Ya-Lei; Yang, Nan; Chen, Xing; Zhao, Zi-Ai; Zhang, Xiu-Zhu; Chen, Xing-Yun; Li, Ping; Zhao, Yan; Zhou, Yuan-Guo

2015-01-01

To investigate the effects of three different ways of chronic caffeine administration on blast- induced memory dysfunction and to explore the underlying mechanisms. Adult male C57BL/6 mice were used and randomly divided into five groups: control: without blast exposure, con-water: administrated with water continuously before and after blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI), con-caffeine: administrated with caffeine continuously for 1 month before and after bTBI, pre-caffeine: chronically administrated with caffeine for 1 month before bTBI and withdrawal after bTBI, post-caffeine: chronically administrated with caffeine after bTBI. After being subjected to moderate intensity of blast injury, mice were recorded for learning and memory performance using Morris water maze (MWM) paradigms at 1, 4, and 8 weeks post-blast injury. Neurological deficit scoring, glutamate concentration, proinflammatory cytokines production, and neuropathological changes at 24 h, 1, 4, and 8 weeks post-bTBI were examined to evaluate the brain injury in early and prolonged stages. Adenosine A1 receptor expression was detected using qPCR. All of the three ways of chronic caffeine exposure ameliorated blast-induced memory deficit, which is correlated with the neuroprotective effects against excitotoxicity, inflammation, astrogliosis and neuronal loss at different stages of injury. Continuous caffeine treatment played positive roles in both early and prolonged stages of bTBI; pre-bTBI and post-bTBI treatment of caffeine tended to exert neuroprotective effects at early and prolonged stages of bTBI respectively. Up-regulation of adenosine A1 receptor expression might contribute to the favorable effects of chronic caffeine consumption. Since caffeinated beverages are widely consumed in both civilian and military personnel and are convenient to get, the results may provide a promising prophylactic strategy for blast-induced neurotrauma and the consequent cognitive impairment.

Controlled Blasting for Deconstruction of a Railway Bridge Near Sahibganj

Science.gov (United States)

Mandal, S. K.; Ghosh, A. K.; Oraon, S.

2018-06-01

Some of the Indian Railway bridges require reconstruction for electrification and expansion of railway tracks. Dismantling of bridge within time schedule in densely populated area requires controlled and pre-planned blasting methodology for safe pulling down of the structure and quick removal of blasted debris for fast restoration of tracks and smooth plying of trains. The three arched railway bridge (Bridge No. 61) located between Sahibganj and Karamtola cases one such example where the bridge was dismantled and the track was restored within 4 h of blasting, though the stipulated block period for demolition and restoration of tracks was 6 h. The 25.48 m long three-arched bridge was drilled and blasted with 225 number of blastholes (32 mm diameter) and 100 kg explosive (25 mm diameter). Length of blastholes varied between 0.5 and 1.8 m with blast geometry of 0.3-0.35 m burden and 0.33 m spacing. This paper deals with the conceptual and theoretical model developed for identification of the key locations for drilling and implementation of the same. It also discusses about the precautionary measures and the drilling pattern adopted for quick demolition and speedy restoration of tracks.

Controlled Blasting for Deconstruction of a Railway Bridge Near Sahibganj

Science.gov (United States)

Mandal, S. K.; Ghosh, A. K.; Oraon, S.

2018-02-01

Some of the Indian Railway bridges require reconstruction for electrification and expansion of railway tracks. Dismantling of bridge within time schedule in densely populated area requires controlled and pre-planned blasting methodology for safe pulling down of the structure and quick removal of blasted debris for fast restoration of tracks and smooth plying of trains. The three arched railway bridge (Bridge No. 61) located between Sahibganj and Karamtola cases one such example where the bridge was dismantled and the track was restored within 4 h of blasting, though the stipulated block period for demolition and restoration of tracks was 6 h. The 25.48 m long three-arched bridge was drilled and blasted with 225 number of blastholes (32 mm diameter) and 100 kg explosive (25 mm diameter). Length of blastholes varied between 0.5 and 1.8 m with blast geometry of 0.3-0.35 m burden and 0.33 m spacing. This paper deals with the conceptual and theoretical model developed for identification of the key locations for drilling and implementation of the same. It also discusses about the precautionary measures and the drilling pattern adopted for quick demolition and speedy restoration of tracks.

Finite Element Simulation of Medium-Range Blast Loading Using LS-DYNA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuzhen Han

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the Finite Element simulation of blast loading using LS-DYNA. The objective is to identify approaches to reduce the requirement of computation effort while maintaining reasonable accuracy, focusing on blast loading scheme, element size, and its relationship with scale of explosion. The study made use of the recently developed blast loading scheme in LS-DYNA, which removes the necessity to model the explosive in the numerical models but still maintains the advantages of nonlinear fluid-structure interaction. It was found that the blast loading technique could significantly reduce the computation effort. It was also found that the initial density of air in the numerical model could be purposely increased to partially compensate the error induced by the use of relatively large air elements. Using the numerical approach, free air blast above a scaled distance of 0.4 m/kg1/3 was properly simulated, and the fluid-structure interaction at the same location could be properly duplicated using proper Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE coupling scheme. The study also showed that centrifuge technique, which has been successfully employed in model tests to investigate the blast effects, may be used when simulating the effect of medium- to large-scale explosion at small scaled distance.

Modelling of turbulent combustion in the blast furnace raceway

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karvinen, R.; Maekiranta, R. [Tampere Univ. (Finland). Energy and Process Engineering

1996-12-31

The phenomena concerning coke-gas -suspension and simultaneous combustion of solid coke particles and residual fuel oil in a blast furnace raceway are modelled. The flow field of suspension is predicted by using the two fluid model, which is based on the Eulerian method, in the Phoenics code. The standard k-e -model of turbulence is used. Pyrolysis of oil droplets is calculated with the own coded subroutine, which is based on the Lagrangian approach. Gas phase reaction rate is assumed to be controlled by chemical kinetics. Radiative heat transfer is calculated by using the six-flux method. Heterogenous surface reactions are used for the coke particles. Calculations without coke combustion show that due to a poor mixing in the hot blast, pyrolysis gases of residual fuel oil have not time enough to react with oxygen. It is obvious that if combustion of coke particles is taken into account, the oxygen content in the blast decreases to such a level, that unburnt pyrolysis gases can flow out of the raceway causing problems. The distribution of coke void fraction has been succeeded to predict in the raceway domain. Coke particles fall from the upper part of the raceway to the hot blast forming locally high concentrations, which affect very strongly the oxygen distribution of the hot blast. (orig.) SULA 2 Research Programme; 10 refs.

Modelling of turbulent combustion in the blast furnace raceway

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karvinen, R; Maekiranta, R [Tampere Univ. (Finland). Energy and Process Engineering

1997-12-31

The phenomena concerning coke-gas -suspension and simultaneous combustion of solid coke particles and residual fuel oil in a blast furnace raceway are modelled. The flow field of suspension is predicted by using the two fluid model, which is based on the Eulerian method, in the Phoenics code. The standard k-e -model of turbulence is used. Pyrolysis of oil droplets is calculated with the own coded subroutine, which is based on the Lagrangian approach. Gas phase reaction rate is assumed to be controlled by chemical kinetics. Radiative heat transfer is calculated by using the six-flux method. Heterogenous surface reactions are used for the coke particles. Calculations without coke combustion show that due to a poor mixing in the hot blast, pyrolysis gases of residual fuel oil have not time enough to react with oxygen. It is obvious that if combustion of coke particles is taken into account, the oxygen content in the blast decreases to such a level, that unburnt pyrolysis gases can flow out of the raceway causing problems. The distribution of coke void fraction has been succeeded to predict in the raceway domain. Coke particles fall from the upper part of the raceway to the hot blast forming locally high concentrations, which affect very strongly the oxygen distribution of the hot blast. (orig.) SULA 2 Research Programme; 10 refs.

Rapid release of tissue enzymes into blood after blast exposure: potential use as biological dosimeters.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peethambaran Arun

Full Text Available Explosive blast results in multiple organ injury and polytrauma, the intensity of which varies with the nature of the exposure, orientation, environment and individual resilience. Blast overpressure alone may not precisely indicate the level of body or brain injury after blast exposure. Assessment of the extent of body injury after blast exposure is important, since polytrauma and systemic factors significantly contribute to blast-induced traumatic brain injury. We evaluated the activity of plasma enzymes including aspartate aminotransferase (AST, alanine aminotransferase (ALT, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH and creatine kinase (CK at different time points after blast exposure using a mouse model of single and repeated blast exposures to assess the severity of injury. Our data show that activities of all the enzymes in the plasma were significantly increased as early as 1 h after blast exposure. The elevated enzyme activity remained up to 6 h in an overpressure dose-dependent manner and returned close to normal levels at 24 h. Head-only blast exposure with body protection showed no increase in the enzyme activities suggesting that brain injury alone does not contribute to the systemic increase. In contrast to plasma increase, AST, ALT and LDH activity in the liver and CK in the skeletal muscle showed drastic decrease at 6 h after blast exposures. Histopathology showed mild necrosis at 6 h and severe necrosis at 24 h after blast exposures in liver and no changes in the skeletal muscle suggesting that the enzyme release from the tissue to plasma is probably triggered by transient cell membrane disruption from shockwave and not due to necrosis. Overpressure dependent transient release of tissue enzymes and elevation in the plasma after blast exposure suggest that elevated enzyme activities in the blood can be potentially used as a biological dosimeter to assess the severity of blast injury.

Effect of surface conditions on blast wave propagation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Seung Ho; Li, Yi Bao; Lee, Chang Hoon; Choi, Jung Il

2016-01-01

We performed numerical simulations of blast wave propagations on surfaces by solving axisymmetric two-dimensional Euler equations. Assuming the initial stage of fireball at the breakaway point after an explosion, we investigated the effect of surface conditions considering surface convex or concave elements and thermal conditions on blast wave propagations near the ground surface. Parametric studies were performed by varying the geometrical factors of the surface element as well as thermal layer characteristics. We found that the peak overpressure near the ground zero was increased due to the surface elements, while modulations of the blast wave propagations were limited within a region for the surface elements. Because of the thermal layer, the precursor was formed in the propagations, which led to the attenuation of the peak overpressure on the ground surface

Preliminary comparison of the Essie and PubMed search engines for answering clinical questions using MD on Tap, a PDA-based program for accessing biomedical literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Sutton, Victoria R; Hauser, Susan E

2005-01-01

MD on Tap, a PDA application that searches and retrieves biomedical literature, is specifically designed for use by mobile healthcare professionals. With the goal of improving the usability of the application, a preliminary comparison was made of two search engines (PubMed and Essie) to determine which provided most efficient path to the desired clinically-relevant information.

PRESSURE-IMPULSE DIAGRAM OF MULTI-LAYERED ALUMINUM FOAM PANELS UNDER BLAST PRESSURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CHANG-SU SHIM

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Anti-terror engineering has increasing demand in construction industry, but basis of design (BOD is normally not clear for designers. Hardening of structures has limitations when design loads are not defined. Sacrificial foam claddings are one of the most efficient methods to protect blast pressure. Aluminum foam can have designed yield strength according to relative density and mitigate the blast pressure below a target transmitted pressure. In this paper, multi-layered aluminum foam panels were proposed to enhance the pressure mitigation by increasing effective range of blast pressure. Through explicit finite element analyses, the performance of blast pressure mitigation by the multi-layered foams was evaluated. Pressure-impulse diagrams for the foam panels were developed from extensive analyses. Combination of low and high strength foams showed better applicability in wider range of blast pressure.

Synthesising the literature as part of a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Wakefield, Ann

2015-03-18

This article examines how to synthesise and critique research literature. To place the process of synthesising the research literature into context, the article explores the critiquing process by breaking it down into seven sequential steps. The article explains how and why these steps need to be kept in mind if a robust comprehensive literature search and analysis are to be achieved. The article outlines how to engage in the critiquing process and explains how the literature review needs to be assembled to generate a logical and reasoned debate to examine a topic of interest or research in more detail.

Faster Smith-Waterman database searches with inter-sequence SIMD parallelisation

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Rognes Torbjørn

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Smith-Waterman algorithm for local sequence alignment is more sensitive than heuristic methods for database searching, but also more time-consuming. The fastest approach to parallelisation with SIMD technology has previously been described by Farrar in 2007. The aim of this study was to explore whether further speed could be gained by other approaches to parallelisation. Results A faster approach and implementation is described and benchmarked. In the new tool SWIPE, residues from sixteen different database sequences are compared in parallel to one query residue. Using a 375 residue query sequence a speed of 106 billion cell updates per second (GCUPS was achieved on a dual Intel Xeon X5650 six-core processor system, which is over six times more rapid than software based on Farrar's 'striped' approach. SWIPE was about 2.5 times faster when the programs used only a single thread. For shorter queries, the increase in speed was larger. SWIPE was about twice as fast as BLAST when using the BLOSUM50 score matrix, while BLAST was about twice as fast as SWIPE for the BLOSUM62 matrix. The software is designed for 64 bit Linux on processors with SSSE3. Source code is available from http://dna.uio.no/swipe/ under the GNU Affero General Public License. Conclusions Efficient parallelisation using SIMD on standard hardware makes it possible to run Smith-Waterman database searches more than six times faster than before. The approach described here could significantly widen the potential application of Smith-Waterman searches. Other applications that require optimal local alignment scores could also benefit from improved performance.

Primary Blast Injury Criteria for Animal/Human TBI Models using Field Validated Shock Tubes

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

acute hemorrhage characterized by partial filling of small groups of alveoli by blood . 240 kPa: Mild multifocal pools of acute hemorrhage which...Neurotrauma, Blast TBI, Primary blast brain injury, Blast overpressure, Blood -brain barrier, Neuroinflammation, Oxidative stress, Neuroproteomics 16...stress, neuroinflammation and BBB damage as a result of blast overpressure in the acute phase (0, 4 and 24 hours post-exposure). Our group

Blast Exposure, White Matter Integrity, and Cognitive Function in Iraq and Afghanistan Combat Veterans

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Erin A. Hazlett

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The long-term effects of blast exposure are a major health concern for combat veterans returning from the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We used an optimized diffusion tensor imaging tractography algorithm to assess white matter (WM fractional anisotropy (FA in blast-exposed Iraq and Afghanistan veterans (n = 40 scanned on average 3.7 years after deployment/trauma exposure. Veterans diagnosed with a blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI were compared to combat veterans with blast exposure but no TBI diagnosis. Blast exposure was associated with decreased FA in several WM tracts. However, total blast exposure did not correlate well with neuropsychological testing performance and there were no differences in FA based on mTBI diagnosis. Yet, veterans with mTBI performed worse on every neurocognitive test administered. Multiple linear regression across all blast-exposed veterans using a six-factor prediction model indicated that the amount of blast exposure accounted for 11–15% of the variability in composite FA scores such that as blast exposure increased, FA decreased. Education accounted for 10% of the variability in composite FA scores and 25–32% of FA variability in the right cingulum, such that as level of education increased, FA increased. Total blast exposure, age, and education were significant predictors of FA in the left cingulum. We did not find any effect of post-traumatic stress disorder on cognition or composite FA. In summary, our findings suggest that greater total blast exposure is a contributing factor to poor WM integrity. While FA was not associated with neurocognitive performance, we hypothesize that FA changes in the cingulum in veterans with multiple combat exposures and no head trauma prior to deployment may represent a marker of vulnerability for future deficits. Future work needs to examine this longitudinally.

D-BLAST OFDM with Channel Estimation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Du Jianxuan

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO systems formed by multiple transmit and receive antennas can improve performance and increase capacity of wireless communication systems. Diagonal Bell Laboratories Layered Space-Time (D-BLAST structure offers a low-complexity solution for realizing the attractive capacity of MIMO systems. However, for broadband wireless communications, channel is frequency-selective and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM has to be used with MIMO techniques to reduce system complexity. In this paper, we investigate D-BLAST for MIMO-OFDM systems. We develop a layerwise channel estimation algorithm which is robust to channel variation by exploiting the characteristic of the D-BLAST structure. Further improvement is made by subspace tracking to considerably reduce the error floor. Simulation results show that the layerwise estimators require 1 dB less signal-to-noise ratio (SNR than the traditional blockwise estimator for a word error rate (WER of when Doppler frequency is 40 Hz. Among the layerwise estimators, the subspace-tracking estimator provides a 0.8 dB gain for WER with 200 Hz Doppler frequency compared with the DFT-based estimator.

Verification of wet blasting decontamination technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsubara, Sachito; Murayama, Kazunari; Yoshida, Hirohisa; Igei, Shigemitsu; Izumida, Tatsuo

2013-01-01

Macoho Co., Ltd. participated in the projects of 'Decontamination Verification Test FY 2011 by the Ministry of the Environment' and 'Decontamination Verification Test FY 2011 by the Cabinet Office.' And we tested verification to use a wet blasting technology for decontamination of rubble and roads contaminated by the accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of the Tokyo Electric Power Company. As a results of the verification test, the wet blasting decontamination technology showed that a decontamination rate became 60-80% for concrete paving, interlocking, dense-grated asphalt pavement when applied to the decontamination of the road. When it was applied to rubble decontamination, a decontamination rate was 50-60% for gravel and approximately 90% for concrete and wood. It was thought that Cs-134 and Cs-137 attached to the fine sludge scraped off from a decontamination object and the sludge was found to be separated from abrasives by wet cyclene classification: the activity concentration of the abrasives is 1/30 or less than the sludge. The result shows that the abrasives can be reused without problems when the wet blasting decontamination technology is used. (author)

Accelerated Profile HMM Searches.

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Sean R Eddy

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Profile hidden Markov models (profile HMMs and probabilistic inference methods have made important contributions to the theory of sequence database homology search. However, practical use of profile HMM methods has been hindered by the computational expense of existing software implementations. Here I describe an acceleration heuristic for profile HMMs, the "multiple segment Viterbi" (MSV algorithm. The MSV algorithm computes an optimal sum of multiple ungapped local alignment segments using a striped vector-parallel approach previously described for fast Smith/Waterman alignment. MSV scores follow the same statistical distribution as gapped optimal local alignment scores, allowing rapid evaluation of significance of an MSV score and thus facilitating its use as a heuristic filter. I also describe a 20-fold acceleration of the standard profile HMM Forward/Backward algorithms using a method I call "sparse rescaling". These methods are assembled in a pipeline in which high-scoring MSV hits are passed on for reanalysis with the full HMM Forward/Backward algorithm. This accelerated pipeline is implemented in the freely available HMMER3 software package. Performance benchmarks show that the use of the heuristic MSV filter sacrifices negligible sensitivity compared to unaccelerated profile HMM searches. HMMER3 is substantially more sensitive and 100- to 1000-fold faster than HMMER2. HMMER3 is now about as fast as BLAST for protein searches.

Considering Bone Marrow Blasts From Nonerythroid Cellularity Improves the Prognostic Evaluation of Myelodysplastic Syndromes.

Science.gov (United States)

Arenillas, Leonor; Calvo, Xavier; Luño, Elisa; Senent, Leonor; Alonso, Esther; Ramos, Fernando; Ardanaz, María Teresa; Pedro, Carme; Tormo, Mar; Marco, Víctor; Montoro, Julia; Díez-Campelo, María; Brunet, Salut; Arrizabalaga, Beatriz; Xicoy, Blanca; Andreu, Rafael; Bonanad, Santiago; Jerez, Andrés; Nomdedeu, Benet; Ferrer, Ana; Sanz, Guillermo F; Florensa, Lourdes

2016-09-20

WHO classification of myeloid malignancies is based mainly on the percentage of bone marrow (BM) blasts. This is considered from total nucleated cells (TNCs), unless there is erythroid-hyperplasia (erythroblasts ≥ 50%), calculated from nonerythroid cells (NECs). In these instances, when BM blasts are ≥ 20%, the disorder is classified as erythroleukemia, and when BM blasts are < 20%, as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In the latter, the percentage of blasts is considered from TNCs. We assessed the percentage of BM blasts from TNCs and NECs in 3,692 patients with MDS from the Grupo Español de Síndromes Mielodisplásicos, 465 patients with erythroid hyperplasia (MDS-E) and 3,227 patients without erythroid hyperplasia. We evaluated the relevance of both quantifications on classification and prognostication. By enumerating blasts systematically from NECs, 22% of patients with MDS-E and 12% with MDS from the whole series diagnosed within WHO categories with < 5% BM blasts, were reclassified into higher-risk categories and showed a poorer overall survival than did those who remained in initial categories (P = .006 and P = .001, respectively). Following WHO recommendations, refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB)-2 diagnosis is not possible in MDS-E, as patients with 10% to < 20% BM blasts from TNCs fulfill erythroleukemia criteria; however, by considering blasts from NECs, 72 patients were recoded as RAEB-2 and showed an inferior overall survival than did patients with RAEB-1 without erythroid hyperplasia. Recalculating the International Prognostic Scoring System by enumerating blasts from NECs in MDS-E and in the overall MDS population reclassified approximately 9% of lower-risk patients into higher-risk categories, which indicated the survival expected for higher-risk patients. Regardless of the presence of erythroid hyperplasia, calculating the percentage of BM blasts from NECs improves prognostic assessment of MDS. This fact should be considered in future

Analysis of effect of aluminized canfo on fragmentation and economics of quarry blast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shoukat, M.R.; Akram, M.

2016-01-01

Reducing the explosive cost for drilling and blasting operations conducted at limestone quarries is a major concern for every mine operator. In Pakistan, to reduce explosive cost, Calcium Ammonium Nitrate with Fuel Oil (CANFO) is commonly used in explosive column charge in place of Ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO). However, fragmentation of the blast has to be compromised over cost reduction. Hence it is desired to enhance the performance of CANFO. In this study, Aluminum (AL) is added into Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) to analyze its effect on fragmentation and economics of blast at a limestone quarry. Experimental shots were held using rectangular drilling pattern (current practice), using CANFO and ALCANFO in separate shots, while all other blast design factors were kept constant. Post blast analysis for all shots was done in terms of fragmentation and cost. The shots using ALCANFO proved to be better fragmentation wise, and also assured a saving of 1.6% in drilling and blasting costs. (author)

Controlled Low-Pressure Blast-Wave Exposure Causes Distinct Behavioral and Morphological Responses Modelling Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Comorbid Mild Traumatic Brain Injury-Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuckerman, Amitai; Ram, Omri; Ifergane, Gal; Matar, Michael A; Sagi, Ram; Ostfeld, Ishay; Hoffman, Jay R; Kaplan, Zeev; Sadot, Oren; Cohen, Hagit

2017-01-01

The intense focus in the clinical literature on the mental and neurocognitive sequelae of explosive blast-wave exposure, especially when comorbid with post-traumatic stress-related disorders (PTSD) is justified, and warrants the design of translationally valid animal studies to provide valid complementary basic data. We employed a controlled experimental blast-wave paradigm in which unanesthetized animals were exposed to visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile effects of an explosive blast-wave produced by exploding a thin copper wire. By combining cognitive-behavioral paradigms and ex vivo brain MRI to assess mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) phenotype with a validated behavioral model for PTSD, complemented by morphological assessments, this study sought to examine our ability to evaluate the biobehavioral effects of low-intensity blast overpressure on rats, in a translationally valid manner. There were no significant differences between blast- and sham-exposed rats on motor coordination and strength, or sensory function. Whereas most male rats exposed to the blast-wave displayed normal behavioral and cognitive responses, 23.6% of the rats displayed a significant retardation of spatial learning acquisition, fulfilling criteria for mTBI-like responses. In addition, 5.4% of the blast-exposed animals displayed an extreme response in the behavioral tasks used to define PTSD-like criteria, whereas 10.9% of the rats developed both long-lasting and progressively worsening behavioral and cognitive "symptoms," suggesting comorbid PTSD-mTBI-like behavioral and cognitive response patterns. Neither group displayed changes on MRI. Exposure to experimental blast-wave elicited distinct behavioral and morphological responses modelling mTBI-like, PTSD-like, and comorbid mTBI-PTSD-like responses. This experimental animal model can be a useful tool for elucidating neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effects of blast-wave-induced mTBI and PTSD and comorbid mTBI-PTSD.

Proceedings of the fourteenth annual symposium on explosives and blasting research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-12-31

Subjects covered include: ground vibration effects on structures; open-pit blast vibration prediction; effects of velocity of detonation and gas pressurization on fragmentation in layered rock; thermal ignition for emulsion powder explosives and emulsion matrix; effect of cut-off pressure on energy partition and blast design; new burden and spacing formulae for optimum blasting; calculated risk of experiencing lightning caused unplanned detonation; predicting explosive toxic fumes; and stemming techniques for loading angled holes charged with Anfo.

Fragmentation, Cost and Environmental Effects of Plaster Stemming Method for Blasting at A Basalt Quarry

Science.gov (United States)

Cevizci, Halim

2014-10-01

In this study, the plaster stemming application for blasting at a basalt quarry is studied. Drill cuttings are generally used in open pits and quarries as the most common stemming material since these are most readily available at blast sites. However, dry drill cuttings eject very easily from blastholes without offering much resistance to blast energy. The plaster stemming method has been found to be better than the drill cuttings stemming method due to increased confinement inside the hole and better utilization of blast explosive energy in the rock. The main advantage of the new stemming method is the reduction in the cost of blasting. At a basalt quarry, blasting costs per unit volume of rock were reduced to 15% by increasing burden and spacing distances. In addition, better fragmentation was obtained by using the plaster stemming method. Blast trials showed that plaster stemming produced finer material. In the same blast tests, +30 cm size fragments were reduced to 47.3% of the total, compared to 32.6% in the conventional method of drill cuttings stemming. With this method of stemming, vibration and air shock values increased slightly due to more blast energy being available for rock breakage but generally these increased values were small and stayed under the permitted limit for blast damage criteria unless measuring distance is too close.

Carbon dioxide blasting as a nondestructive method for nuclear material decontamination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norton, C.J.; Campbell, R.A.

1991-01-01

Many traditional methods of decontamination use chemicals that are inherently harmful and can be direct environmental hazards. These methods may generate large volumes of mixed waste and high disposal costs. Sandblasting grit disposal costs have dramatically increased. Also, the additional volume of contaminated waste generated by sandblasting affects facilities disposal quotas. Water blasting now requires expensive processing procedures. State and federal governments are developing regulations that restrict the use of these methods; therefore, alternative technologies are becoming increasingly important. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) blasting is an important break-through for nuclear decontamination because of its superior environmental characteristics. The CO 2 blasting method is waterless, waste free, noncorrosive, and nonreactive. Commercial CO 2 is primarily produced as a salvaged waste gas from the production of other industrial gases. In the blasting operation, the frozen CO 2 pellet is transformed into its gaseous state, which is a normal component of the earth's atmosphere. The CO 2 blasting system can solve many of the environmental and cost problems now facing managers responsible for nuclear contamination

X-ray diffractometry of steam cured ordinary Portland and blast-furnace-slag cements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camarini, G.; Djanikian, J.G.

1994-01-01

This work studies some aspects of the phases produced by hydration of ordinary and blast-furnace-slag cements, at normal conditions and steam cured (60 and 95 0 C), using an X-ray diffraction technique. The blast-furnace-slag cement was a mixture of 50% of ordinary Portland cement and 50% of blast-furnace-slag (separately grinding). After curing the X-ray diffraction reveals that, in relation to ordinary Portland cement, the main phases in blast-furnace-slag cement are hydrated silicates and aluminates, hydro garnet, etringitte and mono sulphate. After steam curing the hydration of blast-furnace-slag cement proceeds. This is a result of the slag activation by the curing temperature. (author). 8 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

A study on impulsive sound attenuation for a high-pressure blast flow field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Kuk Jeong; Ko, Sung Ho; Lee, Dong Soo

2008-01-01

The present work addresses a numerical study on impulsive sound attenuation for a complex high-pressure blast flow field; these characteristics are generated by a supersonic propellant gas flow through a shock tube into an ambient environment. A numerical solver for analyzing the high pressure blast flow field is developed in this study. From numerical simulations, wave dynamic processes (which include a first precursor shock wave, a second main propellant shock wave, and interactions in the muzzle blasts) are simulated and discussed. The pressure variation of the blast flow field is analyzed to evaluate the effect of a silencer. A live firing test is also performed to evaluate four different silencers. The results of this study will be helpful in understanding blast wave and in designing silencers

A study on impulsive sound attenuation for a high-pressure blast flow field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Kuk Jeong [Agency for Defence Development, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Ko, Sung Ho; Lee, Dong Soo [Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2008-01-15

The present work addresses a numerical study on impulsive sound attenuation for a complex high-pressure blast flow field; these characteristics are generated by a supersonic propellant gas flow through a shock tube into an ambient environment. A numerical solver for analyzing the high pressure blast flow field is developed in this study. From numerical simulations, wave dynamic processes (which include a first precursor shock wave, a second main propellant shock wave, and interactions in the muzzle blasts) are simulated and discussed. The pressure variation of the blast flow field is analyzed to evaluate the effect of a silencer. A live firing test is also performed to evaluate four different silencers. The results of this study will be helpful in understanding blast wave and in designing silencers

Application of full-face round by the sequential blasting machine in tunnel excavation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Y.D.; Park, B.K.; Lee, S.E.; Lim, H.U.

1995-12-31

Many methods and techniques have been developed to reduce ground vibrations. Some of them are an adoption of electric millisecond detonators with a sequential blasting machine and an improvement of initiating system with an adequate number of delay intervals. To reduce the level of ground vibration in tunnel excavation, the sequential blasting machine (S.B.M.) with decisecond detonators was adopted. A total of 134 blasts was recorded at various sites and the results were analyzed. The distances blast-to-structures were ranged from 20.3 to 42.0 meter, where charge weights were varied from 0.25 to 0.75kg per delay. It is proved that the sequential blasting in tunnel excavation is very effective to control ground vibration.

Myeloblastic and lymphoblastic markers in acute undifferentiated leukemia and chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis.

Science.gov (United States)

Shumak, K H; Baker, M A; Taub, R N; Coleman, M S

1980-11-01

Blast cells were obtained from 17 patients with acute undifferentiated leukemia and 13 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis. The blasts were tested with anti-i serum in cytotoxicity tests and with antisera to myeloblastic leukemia-associated antigens in immunofluorescence tests. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TDT) content of the blasts was also measured. Lymphoblasts react strongly with anti-i, do not react with anti-myeloblast serum, and have high levels of TDT; myeloblasts react weakly with anti-i, do not react with anti-myeloblast serum, and have very low levels of TDT. Of the 17 patients with acute undifferentiated leukemia, there were six with blasts which reacted like lymphoblasts, six with blasts which reacted like myeloblasts, and five with blasts bearing different combinations of these lymphoblastic and myeloblastic markers. Eight of the 11 patients with lymphoblastic or mixed lymphoblastic-myeloblastic markers, but only one of the six with myeloblastic markers, achieved complete or partial remission in response to therapy. Thus, in acute undifferentiated leukemia, classification of blasts with these markers may be of prognostic value. Of the 13 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crises, the markers were concordant (for myeloblasts) in only two cases. Three of the 13 patients had TDT-positive blasts, but the reactions of these cells with anti-i and with anti-myeloblast serum differed from those seen with lymphoblasts from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Although the cell involved in "lymphoid" blast crisis of chronic myelogenous leukemia is similar in many respects to that involved in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, these cells are not identical.

Analysis of the Blasting Effect on the Environment around Blasting Areas at Pt. Semen Baturaja Persero, Tbk.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jihan Farhan Lubis

2017-11-01

Full Text Available • Semen Baturaja Persero, Tbk is one of the companies engaged in the production of cement that takes raw materials through limestone mining process located in Baturaja City, OKU Regency, South Sumatera Province. Limestone mining activities use blasting activity that produces blasting effects and flyrock. Measurements of vibration and flyrock frequencies obtained a maximum value for vibration of 4.66 mm/s and predicted farthest distance of flyrock above 170 m when powder factor exceeds 0.1 kg/m3. The results of the data show that the level of emission has exceeded the standard limits for second class buildings (3 mm/s based on (SNI 7571: 2010. Blasting just 175-300 m from the nearest settlement and already exceed the save distance for equipment 300m and 500m for human activity based on USBM (United States Bureau of Mines. To reduce the vibration level, the maximum number of mass per delay is 43 kg/delay with PPV parameter 3 mm/s at 170m distance. Actual factor powder should not exceed 0.1 kg / m3 to minimize flyovers in safe zones not exceeding 150 m.

Osteogenic differentiation of periosteum-derived stromal cells in blast-associated traumatic loading

Science.gov (United States)

Sory, David R.; Amin, Harsh D.; Rankin, Sara M.; Proud, William G.

2017-06-01

One of the most recurrent medical complications resulting from blast trauma includes blast-induced heterotopic ossification. Heterotopic ossification refers to the pathologic formation of extraskeletal bone in non-osseous tissue. Although a number of studies have established the interaction between mechanics and biology in bone formation following shock trauma, the exact nature of the mechanical stimuli associated to blast-loading and their influence on the activation of osteogenic differentiation of cells remain unanswered. Here we present the design and calibration of a loading platform compatible with living cells to examine the effects of mechanical stress pulses of blast-associated varying strain rates on the activation of osteogenic differentiation of periosteum (PO) cells. Multiaxial compression loadings of PO cells are performed at different magnitudes of stress and ranges of strain rate. A proof of concept is presented so as to establish a new window to address fundamental questions regarding blast injuries at the cellular level. This work was conducted under the auspices of the Royal British Legion Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Royal British Legion.

Design and development of a quiet, self-thrusting blast hole

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ottermann, RW

2001-08-01

Full Text Available and demonstrated. The primary output of this project is a quiet, ergonomically, reliable blast hole drilling system, which is used to drill suitable blast holes by workers responsible for drilling these holes. The system has to be safe and reliable with reduced...

Dry blasting decontaminating method for radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishiwaki, Hitoshi.

1993-01-01

In the present invention, when abrasives are dry blasted on the surface of radioactive wastes and the recovered abrasives are classified for re-use, abrasives having a microvicker's hardness (HMV) of greater than 600 and a grain size of greater than 1mm are used in a case where the radioactive wastes to be abraded are stainless steels. This enables dry blasting decontamination for stainless steels which has been considered to be impossible. In addition since the amount of secondary wastes are reduced, it is extremely effective. (T.M.)

Atmospheric particulate emissions from dry abrasive blasting using coal slag

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bhaskar Kura; Kalpalatha Kambham; Sivaramakrishnan Sangameswaran; Sandhya Potana [University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA (United States). Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

2006-08-15

Coal slag is one of the widely used abrasives in dry abrasive blasting. Atmospheric emissions from this process include particulate matter (PM) and heavy metals, such as chromium, lead, manganese, nickel. Quantities and characteristics of PM emissions depend on abrasive characteristics and process parameters. Emission factors are key inputs to estimate emissions. Experiments were conducted to study the effect of blast pressure, abrasive feed rate, and initial surface contamination on total PM (TPM) emission factors for coal slag. Rusted and painted mild steel surfaces were used as base plates. Blasting was carried out in an enclosed chamber, and PM was collected from an exhaust duct using U.S. Environment Protection Agency source sampling methods for stationary sources. Results showed that there is significant effect of blast pressure, feed rate, and surface contamination on TPM emissions. Mathematical equations were developed to estimate emission factors in terms of mass of emissions per unit mass of abrasive used, as well as mass of emissions per unit of surface area cleaned. These equations will help industries in estimating PM emissions based on blast pressure and abrasive feed rate. In addition, emissions can be reduced by choosing optimum operating conditions. 40 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs.

Anatomical manifestations of primary blast ocular trauma observed in a postmortem porcine model.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherwood, Daniel; Sponsel, William E; Lund, Brian J; Gray, Walt; Watson, Richard; Groth, Sylvia L; Thoe, Kimberly; Glickman, Randolph D; Reilly, Matthew A

2014-02-24

We qualitatively describe the anatomic features of primary blast ocular injury observed using a postmortem porcine eye model. Porcine eyes were exposed to various levels of blast energy to determine the optimal conditions for future testing. We studied 53 enucleated porcine eyes: 13 controls and 40 exposed to a range of primary blast energy levels. Eyes were preassessed with B-scan and ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) ultrasonography, photographed, mounted in gelatin within acrylic orbits, and monitored with high-speed videography during blast-tube impulse exposure. Postimpact photography, ultrasonography, and histopathology were performed, and ocular damage was assessed. Evidence for primary blast injury was obtained. While some of the same damage was observed in the control eyes, the incidence and severity of this damage in exposed eyes increased with impulse and peak pressure, suggesting that primary blast exacerbated these injuries. Common findings included angle recession, internal scleral delamination, cyclodialysis, peripheral chorioretinal detachments, and radial peripapillary retinal detachments. No full-thickness openings of the eyewall were observed in any of the eyes tested. Scleral damage demonstrated the strongest associative tendency for increasing likelihood of injury with increased overpressure. These data provide evidence that primary blast alone (in the absence of particle impact) can produce clinically relevant ocular damage in a postmortem model. The blast parameters derived from this study are being used currently in an in vivo model. We also propose a new Cumulative Injury Score indicating the clinical relevance of observed injuries.

Blasting and Blast Effects in Cold Regions. Part 3. Explosions in Ground Materials

Science.gov (United States)

1989-05-01

121- York, Ontario: Technical Marketing Services- 123. Explosives, Canadian Industries, 6th edition. Gaffney, E.S. (1984b) Hugoniot of water ice. In...Mines, blasting. U.S. Bureau of Nlines , Report of Insesti- Report of lnsestigations RI 7751. gations 8507. Piekutoiski. A.J. (1974) I.aborator,, scale

Simulation for the powder movement and accumulation in the lower part of blast furnace

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sugiyama, Takashi [Mineral Resources Research Center, Nippon Steel Technoresearch, Futtsu-shi Chiba (Japan)

1998-12-31

The behavior of unburnt char and coke powder in the blast furnace becomes material for discussion with the increase in injection rate of pulverized coal into the blast furnace. An analysis was made as to the simulation of powder accumulation at the deadman and dripping zone of blast furnace by using a powder/gas two-phases flow experimental data. When an excessive powder has penetrated at a low gas velocity, it brings an increment in holdup and the controlling factors are powder/gas ratio and gas velocity. An empirical formula used for estimating the powder hold-up in the blast furnace internal conditions has proposed based on similarity. The controlling {pi} numbers are Floude number, powder/gas ratio and particle diameter ratio of powder/lump. This empirical formular was connected with Blast Furnace Total Model `BRIGHT` for the simulation of powder amount distribution in the lower part of blast furnace. When Powder diameter Dk exceeds 100 {mu} and gas velocity becomes lower than 0.7m/s at PC1OOkg/T, the powder tends to accumulate in the deadman. These results was available for the decision of optimum blast conditions and optimum powder diameter in the high amount of pulverized coal injection to the blast furnace. (author) 10 refs.

Simulation for the powder movement and accumulation in the lower part of blast furnace

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sugiyama, Takashi [Mineral Resources Research Center, Nippon Steel Technoresearch, Futtsu-shi Chiba (Japan)

1997-12-31

The behavior of unburnt char and coke powder in the blast furnace becomes material for discussion with the increase in injection rate of pulverized coal into the blast furnace. An analysis was made as to the simulation of powder accumulation at the deadman and dripping zone of blast furnace by using a powder/gas two-phases flow experimental data. When an excessive powder has penetrated at a low gas velocity, it brings an increment in holdup and the controlling factors are powder/gas ratio and gas velocity. An empirical formula used for estimating the powder hold-up in the blast furnace internal conditions has proposed based on similarity. The controlling {pi} numbers are Floude number, powder/gas ratio and particle diameter ratio of powder/lump. This empirical formular was connected with Blast Furnace Total Model `BRIGHT` for the simulation of powder amount distribution in the lower part of blast furnace. When Powder diameter Dk exceeds 100 {mu} and gas velocity becomes lower than 0.7m/s at PC1OOkg/T, the powder tends to accumulate in the deadman. These results was available for the decision of optimum blast conditions and optimum powder diameter in the high amount of pulverized coal injection to the blast furnace. (author) 10 refs.

Blast Testing Issues and TBI; Experimental Models that Lead to Wrong Conclusions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles E. Needham

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Over the past several years we have noticed an increase in the number of blast injury studies published in peer-reviewed biomedical journals that have utilized improperly conceived experiments. Data from these studies will lead to false conclusions and more confusion than advancement in the understanding of blast injury, particularly blast neurotrauma. Computational methods to properly characterize the blast environment have been available for decades. These methods, combined with a basic understanding of blast wave phenomena enable researchers to extract useful information from well documented experiments. This basic understanding must include the differences and interrelationships of static pressure, dynamic pressure, reflected pressure, and total or stagnation pressure in transient shockwave flows, how they relate to loading of objects, and how they are properly measured. However, it is critical that the research community effectively overcomes the confusion that has been compounded by a misunderstanding of the differences between the loading produced by a free field explosive blast and loading produced by a conventional shock tube. The principles of blast scaling have been well established for decades and when properly applied will do much to repair these problems.This paper provides guidance regarding proper experimental methods and offers insights into the implications of improperly designed and executed tests. Through application of computational methods, useful data can be extracted from well documented historical tests, and future work can be conducted in a way to maximize the effectiveness and use of valuable biological test data.

Blast exposure causes early and persistent aberrant phospho- and cleaved-tau expression in a murine model of mild blast-induced traumatic brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Bertrand R; Meabon, James S; Martin, Tobin J; Mourad, Pierre D; Bennett, Raymond; Kraemer, Brian C; Cernak, Ibolja; Petrie, Eric C; Emery, Michael J; Swenson, Erik R; Mayer, Cynthia; Mehic, Edin; Peskind, Elaine R; Cook, David G

2013-01-01

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is considered the 'signature injury' of combat veterans that have served during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This prevalence of mTBI is due in part to the common exposure to high explosive blasts in combat zones. In addition to the threats of blunt impact trauma caused by flying objects and the head itself being propelled against objects, the primary blast overpressure (BOP) generated by high explosives is capable of injuring the brain. Compared to other means of causing TBI, the pathophysiology of mild-to-moderate BOP is less well understood. To study the consequences of BOP exposure in mice, we employed a well-established approach using a compressed gas-driven shock tube that recapitulates battlefield-relevant open-field BOP. We found that 24 hours post-blast a single mild BOP provoked elevation of multiple phospho- and cleaved-tau species in neurons, as well as elevating manganese superoxide-dismutase (MnSOD or SOD2) levels, a cellular response to oxidative stress. In hippocampus, aberrant tau species persisted for at least 30 days post-exposure, while SOD2 levels returned to sham control levels. These findings suggest that elevated phospho- and cleaved-tau species may be among the initiating pathologic processes induced by mild blast exposure. These findings may have important implications for efforts to prevent blast-induced insults to the brain from progressing into long-term neurodegenerative disease processes.

Guidance of visual search by memory and knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Hollingworth, Andrew

2012-01-01

To behave intelligently in the world, humans must be able to find objects efficiently within the complex environments they inhabit. A growing proportion of the literature on visual search is devoted to understanding this type of natural search. In the present chapter, I review the literature on visual search through natural scenes, focusing on the role of memory and knowledge in guiding attention to task-relevant objects.

30 CFR 56.6404 - Separation of blasting circuits from power source.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... LABOR METAL AND NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-SURFACE METAL AND NONMETAL... when closed to fire the blast. (b) Lead wires shall not be connected to the blasting switch until the...

77 FR 31878 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Blasting...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-30

... requirements designed to protect covered employees working with and around blasting operations. Inventories of... for OMB Review; Comment Request; Blasting Operations and Use of Explosives Standard ACTION: Notice... (OSHA) sponsored information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Blasting Operations and Use of...

Liquid flow in the hearth of the blast furnace

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gauje, P.; Nicolle, R.; Steiler, J.M.; Venturini, M.J.; Libralesso, J.M.

1992-01-01

The hearth of a blast furnace is poorly known. Our approach to characterize the hearth involves classical methods of chemical engineering, assessing the flow conditions by means of radioactive tracer techniques. The most important feature of this study is to combine measurements on industrial blast furnaces, experiments on a small scale model and flow model. calculations. 8 refs., 16 figs

Influence of noxious products of blasting in mine air on miners' health

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zemlyakova, L F; Sukhanov, V V

1979-07-01

Changes in the percentage of carbon monoxide and nitric oxide in mine air as a result of blasting is analyzed as measured in coal mines of the Donbass in coal seams located from 500 m to 1000 m underground. It is stated that 15 minutes after blasting the concentration of carbon monoxide and nitric oxide drops to a permissible level. Fifty minutes after blasting the percentage of nitric oxide in mine air drops to such a level that it can not be detected. Carbon monoxide can be detected until the blasted rocks and coal are removed from the heading. The percentage of nitric oxide in mine air falls with growing depth of workings. The interdependence between state of miners' health and their contact with noxious gases is also analyzed. The analysis shows that miners working where blasting is used are ill more frequently than other miners, and their absence due to illness is longer. (In Russian)

Optimization and application of blasting parameters based on the "pushing-wall" mechanism

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Feng-yu; Sow, Thierno Amadou Mouctar; He, Rong-xing; Liu, Xin-rui

2012-10-01

The large structure parameter of a sublevel caving method was used in Beiminghe iron mine. The ores were generally lower than the medium hardness and easy to be drilled and blasted. However, the questions of boulder yield, "pushing-wall" accident rate, and brow damage rate were not effectively controlled in practical blasting. The model test of a similar material shows that the charge concentration of bottom blastholes in the sector is too high; the pushing wall is the fundamental reason for the poor blasting effect. One of the main methods to adjust the explosive distribution is to increase the length of charged blastholes. Therefore, the field tests with respect to increasing the length of uncharged blastholes were made in 12# stope of -95 subsection and 6# stope of Beiminghe iron mine. This paper took the test result of 12# stope as an example to analyze the impact of charge structure on blasting effect and design an appropriate blasting parameter that is to similar to No.12 stope.

Implementation of a user defined mine blast model in LSDYNA

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tyler-Street, M.; Leerdam, P.J.C.

2012-01-01

A user defined mine blast model has been developed and implemented into the explicit finite element code LS-DYNA to provide a numerically efficient method for simulating an antivehicular mine blast. The objective is to provide a simple and robust numerical method which is able to represent both the

The Blast Fungus Decoded: Genomes in Flux

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thorsten Langner

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Plant disease outbreaks caused by fungi are a chronic threat to global food security. A prime case is blast disease, which is caused by the ascomycete fungus Magnaporthe oryzae (syn. Pyricularia oryzae, which is infamous as the most destructive disease of the staple crop rice. However, despite its Linnaean binomial name, M. oryzae is a multihost pathogen that infects more than 50 species of grasses. A timely study by P. Gladieux and colleagues (mBio 9:e01219-17, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01219-17 reports the most extensive population genomic analysis of the blast fungus thus far. M. oryzae consists of an assemblage of differentiated lineages that tend to be associated with particular host genera. Nonetheless, there is clear evidence of gene flow between lineages consistent with maintaining M. oryzae as a single species. Here, we discuss these findings with an emphasis on the ecologic and genetic mechanisms underpinning gene flow. This work also bears practical implications for diagnostics, surveillance, and management of blast diseases.

The Blast Fungus Decoded: Genomes in Flux.

Science.gov (United States)

Langner, Thorsten; Białas, Aleksandra; Kamoun, Sophien

2018-04-17

Plant disease outbreaks caused by fungi are a chronic threat to global food security. A prime case is blast disease, which is caused by the ascomycete fungus Magnaporthe oryzae (syn. Pyricularia oryzae ), which is infamous as the most destructive disease of the staple crop rice. However, despite its Linnaean binomial name, M. oryzae is a multihost pathogen that infects more than 50 species of grasses. A timely study by P. Gladieux and colleagues (mBio 9:e01219-17, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01219-17) reports the most extensive population genomic analysis of the blast fungus thus far. M. oryzae consists of an assemblage of differentiated lineages that tend to be associated with particular host genera. Nonetheless, there is clear evidence of gene flow between lineages consistent with maintaining M. oryzae as a single species. Here, we discuss these findings with an emphasis on the ecologic and genetic mechanisms underpinning gene flow. This work also bears practical implications for diagnostics, surveillance, and management of blast diseases. Copyright © 2018 Langner et al.

A review of three cases of mobile blast: The new culprit of hand injury

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikunj B Mody

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Although blast injuries are common with war; cooking gas; firecracker, mobile phone blast cases are increasing in number in last couple of years. We present 3 cases of mobile blast in 3 children causing injury to dominant hand in them.

Experimental Study of Bilinear Initiating System Based on Hard Rock Pile Blasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yusong Miao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available It is difficult to use industrial explosives to excavate hard rock and achieve suitable blasting effect due to the low energy utilization rate resulting in large rocks and short blasting footage. Thus, improving the utilization ratio of the explosive energy is important. In this study, a novel bilinear initiation system based on hard rock blasting was proposed to improve the blasting effects. Furthermore, on the basis of the detonation wave collision theory, frontal collision, oblique reflection, and Mach reflection during detonation wave propagation were studied. The results show that the maximum detonation pressure at the Mach reflection point where the incident angle is 46.9° is three times larger than the value of the explosive complete detonation. Then, in order to analyze the crack propagation in different initiation forms, a rock fracture test slot was designed, and the results show that bilinear initiating system can change the energy distribution of explosives. Finally, field experiment was implemented at the hard rock pile blasting engineering, and experimental results show that the present system possesses high explosive energy utilization ratio and low rock fragments size. The results of this study can be used to improve the efficiency in hard rock blasting.

Injection of heavy fuel oil into the blast furnace

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paloposki, T. [Helsinki Univ. of Technology, Otaniemi (Finland); Hakala, J.; Mannila, P.; Laukkanen, J. [Oulu Univ. (Finland)

1996-12-31

This study deals with the injection and combustion of heavy fuel oil in blast furnaces. The injection of the oil was studied experimentally in a small-scale test rig. The combustion of the oil was analysed with a commercial computer program for flow and combustion simulations. Results from computer simulations show that the combustion of the oil can be improved by decreasing the size of the oil drops and by enhancing the mixing between the oil drops and the hot blast. The devolatilization rate of the oil mainly depends on the size of the oil drops. The combustion rate of the volatiles mainly depends on the effectiveness of turbulent mixing with combustion air. Methods to decrease the size of the oil drops were sought in the experimental part of the study. Experimental results show that the size of the oil drops increases with increasing mass flow rate of the oil and decreases with increasing velocity of the hot blast. Methods to improve the mixing between the oil drops and the hot blast are suggested but have not yet been experimentally tested. (author) (4 refs.)

Injection of heavy fuel oil into the blast furnace

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paloposki, T [Helsinki Univ. of Technology, Otaniemi (Finland); Hakala, J; Mannila, P; Laukkanen, J [Oulu Univ. (Finland)

1997-12-31

This study deals with the injection and combustion of heavy fuel oil in blast furnaces. The injection of the oil was studied experimentally in a small-scale test rig. The combustion of the oil was analysed with a commercial computer program for flow and combustion simulations. Results from computer simulations show that the combustion of the oil can be improved by decreasing the size of the oil drops and by enhancing the mixing between the oil drops and the hot blast. The devolatilization rate of the oil mainly depends on the size of the oil drops. The combustion rate of the volatiles mainly depends on the effectiveness of turbulent mixing with combustion air. Methods to decrease the size of the oil drops were sought in the experimental part of the study. Experimental results show that the size of the oil drops increases with increasing mass flow rate of the oil and decreases with increasing velocity of the hot blast. Methods to improve the mixing between the oil drops and the hot blast are suggested but have not yet been experimentally tested. (author) (4 refs.)

An ultra-fast fiber optic pressure sensor for blast event measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Nan; Tian, Ye; Wang, Xingwei; Zou, Xiaotian; Fitek, John; Maffeo, Michael; Niezrecki, Christopher; Chen, Julie

2012-01-01

Soldiers who are exposed to explosions are at risk of suffering traumatic brain injury (TBI). Since the causal relationship between a blast and TBI is poorly understood, it is critical to have sensors that can accurately quantify the blast dynamics and resulting wave propagation through a helmet and skull that are imparted onto and inside the brain. To help quantify the cause of TBI, it is important to record transient pressure data during a blast event. However, very few sensors feature the capabilities of tracking the dynamic pressure transients due to the rapid change of the pressure during blast events, while not interfering with the physical material layers or wave propagation. In order to measure the pressure transients efficiently, a pressure sensor should have a high resonant frequency and a high spatial resolution. This paper describes an ultra-fast fiber optic pressure sensor based on the Fabry–Perot principle for the application of measuring the rapid pressure changes in a blast event. A shock tube experiment performed in US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center has demonstrated that the resonant frequency of the sensor is 4.12 MHz, which is relatively close to the designed theoretical value of 4.113 MHz. Moreover, the experiment illustrated that the sensor has a rise time of 120 ns, which demonstrates that the sensor is capable of observing the dynamics of the pressure transient during a blast event. (paper)

EFFECTS OF BLAST-FURNACE SLAG ON NATURAL POZZOLAN-BASED GEOPOLYMER CEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MAHSHAD YAZDANIPOUR

2011-03-01

Full Text Available A number of geopolymer cement mixes were designed and produced by alkali-activation of a pumice-type natural pozzolan. Effects of blast-furnace slag on basic engineering properties of the mixes were studied. Different engineering properties of the mixes such as setting times and 28-day compressive strength were studied at different amounts of blast-furnace slag, sodium oxide content, and water-to-cement ratio. The mix comprising of 5 wt.% blast-furnace slag and 8 wt.% Na2O with a water-to-dry binder ratio of 0.30 exhibits the highest 28-day compressive strength, i.e. 36 MPa. Mixes containing 5 wt.% of ground granulated blast furnace slag showed the least efflorescence or best soundness. Laboratory techniques of X-ray diffractometry (XRD, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM were utilized for characterizing a number of mixes and studying their molecular and micro-structure. Investigations done by scanning electron microscopy confirm that smaller blast-furnace slag particles react totally while the larger ones react partially with alkaline activators and contribute to the formation of a composite microstructure.

Bomb blast, mild traumatic brain injury and psychiatric morbidity: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenfeld, Jeffrey V; Ford, Nick L

2010-05-01

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) arising from blast exposure during war is common, and frequently complicated by psychiatric morbidity. There is controversy as to whether mild TBI from blast is different from other causes of mild TBI. Anxiety and affective disorders such as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression are common accompaniments of blast injury with a significant overlap in the diagnostic features of PTSD with post-concussive syndrome (PCS). This review focuses on this overlap and the effects of mild TBI due to bomb blast. Mild TBI may have been over diagnosed by late retrospective review of returned servicemen and women using imprecise criteria. There is therefore a requirement for clear and careful documentation by health professionals of a TBI due to bomb blast shortly after the event so that the diagnosis of TBI can be made with confidence. There is a need for the early recognition of symptoms of PCS, PTSD and depression and early multi-disciplinary interventions focussed on expected return to duties. There also needs to be a continued emphasis on the de-stigmatization of psychological conditions in military personnel returning from deployment. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mathematical models of blast induced TBI: current status, challenges and prospects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raj K Gupta

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Blast induced traumatic brain injury (TBI has become a signature wound of recent military activities and is the leading cause of death and long-term disability among U.S. soldiers. The current limited understanding of brain injury mechanisms impedes the development of protection, diagnostic and treatment strategies. We believe mathematical models of blast wave brain injury biomechanics and neurobiology, complemented with in vitro and in vivo experimental studies, will enable a better understanding of injury mechanisms and accelerate the development of both protective and treatment strategies. The goal of this paper is to review the current state of the art in mathematical and computational modeling of blast induced TBI, identify research gaps and recommend future developments. A brief overview of blast wave physics, injury biomechanics and the neurobiology of brain injury is used as a foundation for a more detailed discussion of multiscale mathematical models of primary biomechanics and secondary injury and repair mechanisms. The paper also presents a discussion of model development strategies, experimental approaches to generate benchmark data for model validation and potential applications of the model for prevention and protection against blast wave TBI.

Seismic-safe conditions of blasting near pressure pipe-lines during power installation construction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smolij, N.I.; Nikitin, A.S.

1980-01-01

Seismic-safe conditions for performing drill-blasting operations in the vicinity of underground gas pipelines when constructing thermal- or nuclear power plants are discussed. It is shown that, for the determination of seismic-safe parameters, of drill-blasting operations, the maximum permissible level of seismic loads should be specified taking into account the mechanical properties of the pipeline.metal, structural parameters of the gas pipeline and the pressure of the medium transported. Besides, the seismic effect of the blast should be considered with regard to particular conditions of blasting and rock properties. The equations and diagrams used in the calculation are given

ChemSearch Journal: Submissions

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AFRICAN JOURNALS ONLINE (AJOL) · Journals · Advanced Search · USING ... SCOPE: ChemSearch Journal is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes ... Authors whose papers have been accepted for publication will be notified in writing. ... The literature cited must be discussed to show the relationships between the ...

Comparative genomics and association mapping approaches for blast resistant genes in finger millet using SSRs.

Science.gov (United States)

Babu, B Kalyana; Dinesh, Pandey; Agrawal, Pawan K; Sood, S; Chandrashekara, C; Bhatt, Jagadish C; Kumar, Anil

2014-01-01

The major limiting factor for production and productivity of finger millet crop is blast disease caused by Magnaporthe grisea. Since, the genome sequence information available in finger millet crop is scarce, comparative genomics plays a very important role in identification of genes/QTLs linked to the blast resistance genes using SSR markers. In the present study, a total of 58 genic SSRs were developed for use in genetic analysis of a global collection of 190 finger millet genotypes. The 58 SSRs yielded ninety five scorable alleles and the polymorphism information content varied from 0.186 to 0.677 at an average of 0.385. The gene diversity was in the range of 0.208 to 0.726 with an average of 0.487. Association mapping for blast resistance was done using 104 SSR markers which identified four QTLs for finger blast and one QTL for neck blast resistance. The genomic marker RM262 and genic marker FMBLEST32 were linked to finger blast disease at a P value of 0.007 and explained phenotypic variance (R²) of 10% and 8% respectively. The genomic marker UGEP81 was associated to finger blast at a P value of 0.009 and explained 7.5% of R². The QTLs for neck blast was associated with the genomic SSR marker UGEP18 at a P value of 0.01, which explained 11% of R². Three QTLs for blast resistance were found common by using both GLM and MLM approaches. The resistant alleles were found to be present mostly in the exotic genotypes. Among the genotypes of NW Himalayan region of India, VHC3997, VHC3996 and VHC3930 were found highly resistant, which may be effectively used as parents for developing blast resistant cultivars in the NW Himalayan region of India. The markers linked to the QTLs for blast resistance in the present study can be further used for cloning of the full length gene, fine mapping and their further use in the marker assisted breeding programmes for introgression of blast resistant alleles into locally adapted cultivars.

Assessing the performance of methodological search filters to improve the efficiency of evidence information retrieval: five literature reviews and a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lefebvre, Carol; Glanville, Julie; Beale, Sophie; Boachie, Charles; Duffy, Steven; Fraser, Cynthia; Harbour, Jenny; McCool, Rachael; Smith, Lynne

2017-11-01

Effective study identification is essential for conducting health research, developing clinical guidance and health policy and supporting health-care decision-making. Methodological search filters (combinations of search terms to capture a specific study design) can assist in searching to achieve this. This project investigated the methods used to assess the performance of methodological search filters, the information that searchers require when choosing search filters and how that information could be better provided. Five literature reviews were undertaken in 2010/11: search filter development and testing; comparison of search filters; decision-making in choosing search filters; diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) study methods; and decision-making in choosing diagnostic tests. We conducted interviews and a questionnaire with experienced searchers to learn what information assists in the choice of search filters and how filters are used. These investigations informed the development of various approaches to gathering and reporting search filter performance data. We acknowledge that there has been a regrettable delay between carrying out the project, including the searches, and the publication of this report, because of serious illness of the principal investigator. The development of filters most frequently involved using a reference standard derived from hand-searching journals. Most filters were validated internally only. Reporting of methods was generally poor. Sensitivity, precision and specificity were the most commonly reported performance measures and were presented in tables. Aspects of DTA study methods are applicable to search filters, particularly in the development of the reference standard. There is limited evidence on how clinicians choose between diagnostic tests. No published literature was found on how searchers select filters. Interviewing and questioning searchers via a questionnaire found that filters were not appropriate for all tasks but were

Centrifugal shot blast system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-02-01

This report describes a demonstration of Concrete cleaning, Inc., modified centrifugal shot blast technology to remove the paint coating from concrete flooring. This demonstration is part of the Chicago Pile-5 (CP-5) Large-Scale Demonstration Project (LSDP) sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE), office of Science and Technology (OST), Deactivation and Decommissioning Focus Area (DDFA). The objective of the LSDP is to select and demonstrate potentially beneficial technologies at the Argonne National Laboratory-East (ANL) CP-5 Research Reactor. The purpose of the LSDP is to demonstrate that using innovative and improved decontamination and decommissioning (D and D) technologies from various sources can result in significant benefits, such as decreased cost and increased health and safety, as compared with baseline D and D technologies. Potential markets exist for the innovative centrifugal shot blast system at the following sites: Fernald Environmental Management Project, Los Alamos, Nevada, Oak Ridge Y-12 and K-25, Paducah, Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion site, and the Savannah River Site. This information is based on a revision to the OST Linkage Tables dated August 4, 1997

Dynamics and stability of relativistic gamma-ray-bursts blast waves

Science.gov (United States)

Meliani, Z.; Keppens, R.

2010-09-01

Aims: In gamma-ray-bursts (GRBs), ultra-relativistic blast waves are ejected into the circumburst medium. We analyse in unprecedented detail the deceleration of a self-similar Blandford-McKee blast wave from a Lorentz factor 25 to the nonrelativistic Sedov phase. Our goal is to determine the stability properties of its frontal shock. Methods: We carried out a grid-adaptive relativistic 2D hydro-simulation at extreme resolving power, following the GRB jet during the entire afterglow phase. We investigate the effect of the finite initial jet opening angle on the deceleration of the blast wave, and identify the growth of various instabilities throughout the coasting shock front. Results: We find that during the relativistic phase, the blast wave is subject to pressure-ram pressure instabilities that ripple and fragment the frontal shock. These instabilities manifest themselves in the ultra-relativistic phase alone, remain in full agreement with causality arguments, and decay slowly to finally disappear in the near-Newtonian phase as the shell Lorentz factor drops below 3. From then on, the compression rate decreases to levels predicted to be stable by a linear analysis of the Sedov phase. Our simulations confirm previous findings that the shell also spreads laterally because a rarefaction wave slowly propagates to the jet axis, inducing a clear shell deformation from its initial spherical shape. The blast front becomes meridionally stratified, with decreasing speed from axis to jet edge. In the wings of the jetted flow, Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities occur, which are of negligible importance from the energetic viewpoint. Conclusions: Relativistic blast waves are subject to hydrodynamical instabilities that can significantly affect their deceleration properties. Future work will quantify their effect on the afterglow light curves.

Neuronal DNA Methylation Profiling of Blast-Related Traumatic Brain Injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Haghighi, Fatemeh; Ge, Yongchao; Chen, Sean; Xin, Yurong; Umali, Michelle U; De Gasperi, Rita; Gama Sosa, Miguel A; Ahlers, Stephen T; Elder, Gregory A

2015-08-15

Long-term molecular changes in the brain resulting from blast exposure may be mediated by epigenetic changes, such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation, that regulate gene expression. Aberrant regulation of gene expression is associated with behavioral abnormalities, where DNA methylation bridges environmental signals to sustained changes in gene expression. We assessed DNA methylation changes in the brains of rats exposed to three 74.5 kPa blast overpressure events, conditions that have been associated with long-term anxiogenic manifestations weeks or months following the initial exposures. Rat frontal cortex eight months post-exposure was used for cell sorting of whole brain tissue into neurons and glia. We interrogated DNA methylation profiles in these cells using Expanded Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing. We obtained data for millions of cytosines, showing distinct methylation profiles for neurons and glia and an increase in global methylation in neuronal versus glial cells (pDNA methylation perturbations in blast overpressure-exposed animals, compared with sham blast controls, within 458 and 379 genes in neurons and glia, respectively. Differentially methylated neuronal genes showed enrichment in cell death and survival and nervous system development and function, including genes involved in transforming growth factor β and nitric oxide signaling. Functional validation via gene expression analysis of 30 differentially methylated neuronal and glial genes showed a 1.2 fold change in gene expression of the serotonin N-acetyltransferase gene (Aanat) in blast animals (pDNA methylation induced in response to multiple blast overpressure exposures. In particular, increased methylation and decreased gene expression were observed in the Aanat gene, which is involved in converting serotonin to the circadian hormone melatonin and is implicated in sleep disturbance and depression associated with traumatic brain injury.

A review of blasting activity in the former Soviet Union

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leith, W. [Geological Survey, Reston, VA (United States); Bruk, L. [BRUK Hydrogeologcal Consulting, Inc., Rockville, MD (United States)

1994-12-31

Monitoring a comprehensive nuclear test ban by seismic means will require identification of seismic sources at lower magnitudes, where industrial explosions (primarily mining blasts) may comprise a significant fraction of the total number of events recorded and may, for some countries, dominate the seismicity. The USGS has recently obtained preliminary data on blasting activities in the former Soviet Union (FSU), one of the few countries in which the use of explosives exceeded that of the United States. A review of the Soviet data suggests that there are both similarities and differences in blasting practices between the U.S. and the FSU. These data are important because they provide some insight into variations form U.S. practice and because they can be used directly to estimate the assets needed to effectively monitor that country. Key findings include: (1) in 1988, approximately 2.6 million metric tons of high explosives were detonated in the FSu; this compares with 2.1 million metric tons in the U.S. in the same year; (2) about 80% of the explosives were used in mining, 10% in construction and 10% for other uses; (3) 84% of the explosives were consumed by only six Ministries of the FSU, and 66% were consumed in the three main mining industries: MinCherMet, MinTsvetMet and MinUgleProm; (4) in 1988 alone, the FSU conducted over 100 explosions in excess of 1 kt total charge (compare with one blast over 1 kt in the U.S. in 1987), and none of these were in the coal mining industry; (5) most very large blasts occurred on the surface, and in only a small number of mines; most underground blasts were less than 100 tons.

When is a search not a search? A comparison of searching the AMED complementary health database via EBSCOhost, OVID and DIALOG.

Science.gov (United States)

Younger, Paula; Boddy, Kate

2009-06-01

The researchers involved in this study work at Exeter Health library and at the Complementary Medicine Unit, Peninsula School of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD). Within this collaborative environment it is possible to access the electronic resources of three institutions. This includes access to AMED and other databases using different interfaces. The aim of this study was to investigate whether searching different interfaces to the AMED allied health and complementary medicine database produced the same results when using identical search terms. The following Internet-based AMED interfaces were searched: DIALOG DataStar; EBSCOhost and OVID SP_UI01.00.02. Search results from all three databases were saved in an endnote database to facilitate analysis. A checklist was also compiled comparing interface features. In our initial search, DIALOG returned 29 hits, OVID 14 and Ebsco 8. If we assume that DIALOG returned 100% of potential hits, OVID initially returned only 48% of hits and EBSCOhost only 28%. In our search, a researcher using the Ebsco interface to carry out a simple search on AMED would miss over 70% of possible search hits. Subsequent EBSCOhost searches on different subjects failed to find between 21 and 86% of the hits retrieved using the same keywords via DIALOG DataStar. In two cases, the simple EBSCOhost search failed to find any of the results found via DIALOG DataStar. Depending on the interface, the number of hits retrieved from the same database with the same simple search can vary dramatically. Some simple searches fail to retrieve a substantial percentage of citations. This may result in an uninformed literature review, research funding application or treatment intervention. In addition to ensuring that keywords, spelling and medical subject headings (MeSH) accurately reflect the nature of the search, database users should include wildcards and truncation and adapt their search strategy substantially to retrieve the maximum number of appropriate

Experimental studies on intake headloss of a blasted lake tap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, James; Billstein, Mats; Engström, Fredrik; Strand, Rikard

2014-01-01

In existing reservoirs, construction of an intake is sometimes achieved by so-called lake tapping, a submerged tunnel piercing by blasting out the rock plug at the intake. The blasting process involves phases of rock, water, air and gas released from the explosive charge; the resulting entrance profile often differs from design assumptions. The intake headloss is a factor of concern for power generation. For a vertical intake formed by lake tapping, experiments have been carried out in a 1:30 physical model to examine the effect of entrance shapes on intake headlosses. The purpose is that, if there is potential to reduce the headlosses, the originally blasted intake shape would be modified. In the model, five alternative shapes are evaluated. The test results show that to enlarge the vertical shaft area is the most effective way to reduce the intake headloss; to further blast out a narrow channel upstream does not give much effect. Bearing in mind the risk of free-surface vortex at the intake, the influence of the intake modifications on vortex is also checked

Remote operated vehicle with carbon dioxide blasting (ROVCO2)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Resnick, A.M.

1995-01-01

The Remote Operated Vehicle with Carbon Dioxide Blasting (ROVCO 2 ), as shown in a front view, is a six-wheeled remote land vehicle used to decontaminate concrete floors. The remote vehicle has a high pressure Cryogenesis blasting subsystem, Oceaneering Technologies (OTECH) developed a CO 2 xY Orthogonal Translational End Effector (COYOTEE) subsystem, and a vacuum/filtration and containment subsystem. Figure 2 shows a block diagram with the various subsystems labeled

Numerical investigation of particle-blast interaction during explosive dispersal of liquids and granular materials

Science.gov (United States)

Pontalier, Q.; Lhoumeau, M.; Milne, A. M.; Longbottom, A. W.; Frost, D. L.

2018-04-01

Experiments show that when a high-explosive charge with embedded particles or a charge surrounded by a layer of liquid or granular material is detonated, the flow generated is perturbed by the motion of the particles and the blast wave profile differs from that of an ideal Friedlander form. Initially, the blast wave overpressure is reduced due to the energy dissipation resulting from compaction, fragmentation, and heating of the particle bed, and acceleration of the material. However, as the blast wave propagates, particle-flow interactions collectively serve to reduce the rate of decay of the peak blast wave overpressure. Computations carried out with a multiphase hydrocode reproduce the general trends observed experimentally and highlight the transition between the particle acceleration/deceleration phases, which is not accessible experimentally, since the particles are obscured by the detonation products. The dependence of the particle-blast interaction and the blast mitigation effectiveness on the mitigant to explosive mass ratio, the particle size, and the initial solid volume fraction is investigated systematically. The reduction in peak blast overpressure is, as in experiments, primarily dependent on the mass ratio of material to explosive, with the particle size, density, and initial porosity of the particle bed playing secondary roles. In the near field, the blast overpressure decreases sharply with distance as the particles are accelerated by the flow. When the particles decelerate due to drag, energy is returned to the flow and the peak blast overpressure recovers and reaches values similar to that of a bare explosive charge for low mass ratios. Time-distance trajectory plots of the particle and blast wave motion with the pressure field superimposed, illustrate the weak pressure waves generated by the motion of the particle layer which travel upstream and perturb the blast wave motion. Computation of the particle and gas momentum flux in the multiphase

Numerical investigation of particle-blast interaction during explosive dispersal of liquids and granular materials

Science.gov (United States)

Pontalier, Q.; Lhoumeau, M.; Milne, A. M.; Longbottom, A. W.; Frost, D. L.

2018-05-01

Experiments show that when a high-explosive charge with embedded particles or a charge surrounded by a layer of liquid or granular material is detonated, the flow generated is perturbed by the motion of the particles and the blast wave profile differs from that of an ideal Friedlander form. Initially, the blast wave overpressure is reduced due to the energy dissipation resulting from compaction, fragmentation, and heating of the particle bed, and acceleration of the material. However, as the blast wave propagates, particle-flow interactions collectively serve to reduce the rate of decay of the peak blast wave overpressure. Computations carried out with a multiphase hydrocode reproduce the general trends observed experimentally and highlight the transition between the particle acceleration/deceleration phases, which is not accessible experimentally, since the particles are obscured by the detonation products. The dependence of the particle-blast interaction and the blast mitigation effectiveness on the mitigant to explosive mass ratio, the particle size, and the initial solid volume fraction is investigated systematically. The reduction in peak blast overpressure is, as in experiments, primarily dependent on the mass ratio of material to explosive, with the particle size, density, and initial porosity of the particle bed playing secondary roles. In the near field, the blast overpressure decreases sharply with distance as the particles are accelerated by the flow. When the particles decelerate due to drag, energy is returned to the flow and the peak blast overpressure recovers and reaches values similar to that of a bare explosive charge for low mass ratios. Time-distance trajectory plots of the particle and blast wave motion with the pressure field superimposed, illustrate the weak pressure waves generated by the motion of the particle layer which travel upstream and perturb the blast wave motion. Computation of the particle and gas momentum flux in the multiphase

INCREASED RELIABILITY OF ELECTRIC BLASTING

OpenAIRE

Kashuba, Oleh Ivanovych; Skliarov, L I; Skliarov, A L

2017-01-01

The problems of improving reliability of an electric blasting method using electric detonators with nichrome filament bridges. It was revealed that in the calculation of the total resistance of the explosive network it is necessary to increase to 24% of the nominal value

Monte Carlo simulation as a tool to predict blasting fragmentation based on the Kuz Ram model

Science.gov (United States)

Morin, Mario A.; Ficarazzo, Francesco