7 CFR 4290.360 - Initial review of Applicant's management team's qualifications.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Initial review of Applicant's management team's...'s management team's qualifications. The Secretary will review the information submitted by the Applicant concerning the qualifications of the Applicant's management team to determine in his or her sole...

A review of calixarene applications in nuclear industries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bahram Mokhtari; Iranian Offshore Oil Company, Lavan Island; Kobra Pourabdollah; Naser Dallali

2011-01-01

Calixarenes has been subject to extensive research in development of many extractants, transporters, stationary phases, electrode ionophores and optical and electrochemical sensors over the past four decades. In this paper, the nuclear applications of calixarenes are summarized in six fields including complexation studies, solvent extraction, membrane transport, chromatography, luminescent and colorimetric applications, and electroanalytical applications. In the first to fourth sections, the extractability, extraction equilibria and extraction constants of lanthanide, actinide and other nuclear waste cations ions, which were subjected to solvent extraction by the macrocyclic ligands, are reviewed. In two last sections, the analytical applications of calixarene complexes towards nuclear waste cations, including spectroscopic and electroanalytic sensors, are discussed. The examples described in this review illustrate the potential of calixarene derivatives in the rapidly growing field of cations recognition in nuclear wastes. (author)

Applications of Smartphone-Based Sensors in Agriculture: A Systematic Review of Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suporn Pongnumkul

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Smartphones have become a useful tool in agriculture because their mobility matches the nature of farming, the cost of the device is highly accessible, and their computing power allows a variety of practical applications to be created. Moreover, smartphones are nowadays equipped with various types of physical sensors which make them a promising tool to assist diverse farming tasks. This paper systematically reviews smartphone applications mentioned in research literature that utilize smartphone built-in sensors to provide agricultural solutions. The initial 1,500 articles identified through database search were screened based on exclusion criteria and then reviewed thoroughly in full text, resulting in 22 articles included in this review. The applications are categorized according to their agricultural functions. Those articles reviewed describe 12 farming applications, 6 farm management applications, 3 information system applications, and 4 extension service applications. GPS and cameras are the most popular sensors used in the reviewed papers. This shows an opportunity for future applications to utilize other sensors such as accelerometer to provide advanced agricultural solutions.

Validity and reliability of an application review process using dedicated reviewers in one stage of a multi-stage admissions model.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeeman, Jacqueline M; McLaughlin, Jacqueline E; Cox, Wendy C

2017-11-01

With increased emphasis placed on non-academic skills in the workplace, a need exists to identify an admissions process that evaluates these skills. This study assessed the validity and reliability of an application review process involving three dedicated application reviewers in a multi-stage admissions model. A multi-stage admissions model was utilized during the 2014-2015 admissions cycle. After advancing through the academic review, each application was independently reviewed by two dedicated application reviewers utilizing a six-construct rubric (written communication, extracurricular and community service activities, leadership experience, pharmacy career appreciation, research experience, and resiliency). Rubric scores were extrapolated to a three-tier ranking to select candidates for on-site interviews. Kappa statistics were used to assess interrater reliability. A three-facet Many-Facet Rasch Model (MFRM) determined reviewer severity, candidate suitability, and rubric construct difficulty. The kappa statistic for candidates' tier rank score (n = 388 candidates) was 0.692 with a perfect agreement frequency of 84.3%. There was substantial interrater reliability between reviewers for the tier ranking (kappa: 0.654-0.710). Highest construct agreement occurred in written communication (kappa: 0.924-0.984). A three-facet MFRM analysis explained 36.9% of variance in the ratings, with 0.06% reflecting application reviewer scoring patterns (i.e., severity or leniency), 22.8% reflecting candidate suitability, and 14.1% reflecting construct difficulty. Utilization of dedicated application reviewers and a defined tiered rubric provided a valid and reliable method to effectively evaluate candidates during the application review process. These analyses provide insight into opportunities for improving the application review process among schools and colleges of pharmacy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

40 CFR 725.370 - EPA review of the TME application.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... unreasonable risk of injury to health and the environment as a result of test marketing. ... Marketing § 725.370 EPA review of the TME application. General procedures for review of all submissions... with test marketing activities after receipt of EPA approval. (c) In approving a TME application, EPA...

Healthcare Applications of Smart Watches. A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Tsung-Chien; Fu, Chia-Ming; Ma, Matthew Huei-Ming; Fang, Cheng-Chung; Turner, Anne M

2016-09-14

The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize research studies involving the use of smart watch devices for healthcare. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was chosen as the systematic review methodology. We searched PubMed, CINAHL Plus, EMBASE, ACM, and IEEE Xplore. In order to include ongoing clinical trials, we also searched ClinicalTrials.gov. Two investigators evaluated the retrieved articles for inclusion. Discrepancies between investigators regarding article inclusion and extracted data were resolved through team discussion. 356 articles were screened and 24 were selected for review. The most common publication venue was in conference proceedings (13, 54%). The majority of studies were published or presented in 2015 (19, 79%). We identified two registered clinical trials underway. A large proportion of the identified studies focused on applications involving health monitoring for the elderly (6, 25%). Five studies focused on patients with Parkinson's disease and one on cardiac arrest. There were no studies which reported use of usability testing before implementation. Most of the reviewed studies focused on the chronically ill elderly. There was a lack of detailed description of user-centered design or usability testing before implementation. Based on our review, the most commonly used platform in healthcare research was that of the Android Wear. The clinical application of smart watches as assistive devices deserves further attention. Smart watches are unobtrusive and easy to wear. While smart watch technology supplied with biosensors has potential to be useful in a variety of healthcare applications, rigorous research with their use in clinical settings is needed.

Trends in HFE Methods and Tools and Their Applicability to Safety Reviews

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Hara, J.M.; Plott, C.; Milanski, J.; Ronan, A.; Scheff, S.; Laux, L.; and Bzostek, J.

2009-09-30

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) conducts human factors engineering (HFE) safety reviews of applicant submittals for new plants and for changes to existing plants. The reviews include the evaluation of the methods and tools (M&T) used by applicants as part of their HFE program. The technology used to perform HFE activities has been rapidly evolving, resulting in a whole new generation of HFE M&Ts. The objectives of this research were to identify the current trends in HFE methods and tools, determine their applicability to NRC safety reviews, and identify topics for which the NRC may need additional guidance to support the NRC's safety reviews. We conducted a survey that identified over 100 new HFE M&Ts. The M&Ts were assessed to identify general trends. Seven trends were identified: Computer Applications for Performing Traditional Analyses, Computer-Aided Design, Integration of HFE Methods and Tools, Rapid Development Engineering, Analysis of Cognitive Tasks, Use of Virtual Environments and Visualizations, and Application of Human Performance Models. We assessed each trend to determine its applicability to the NRC's review by considering (1) whether the nuclear industry is making use of M&Ts for each trend, and (2) whether M&Ts reflecting the trend can be reviewed using the current design review guidance. We concluded that M&T trends that are applicable to the commercial nuclear industry and are expected to impact safety reviews may be considered for review guidance development. Three trends fell into this category: Analysis of Cognitive Tasks, Use of Virtual Environments and Visualizations, and Application of Human Performance Models. The other trends do not need to be addressed at this time.

Trends in HFE Methods and Tools and Their Applicability to Safety Reviews

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Hara, J.M.; Plott, C.; Milanski, J.; Ronan, A.; Scheff, S.; Laux, L.; Bzostek, J.

2009-01-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) conducts human factors engineering (HFE) safety reviews of applicant submittals for new plants and for changes to existing plants. The reviews include the evaluation of the methods and tools (M and T) used by applicants as part of their HFE program. The technology used to perform HFE activities has been rapidly evolving, resulting in a whole new generation of HFE M and Ts. The objectives of this research were to identify the current trends in HFE methods and tools, determine their applicability to NRC safety reviews, and identify topics for which the NRC may need additional guidance to support the NRC's safety reviews. We conducted a survey that identified over 100 new HFE M and Ts. The M and Ts were assessed to identify general trends. Seven trends were identified: Computer Applications for Performing Traditional Analyses, Computer-Aided Design, Integration of HFE Methods and Tools, Rapid Development Engineering, Analysis of Cognitive Tasks, Use of Virtual Environments and Visualizations, and Application of Human Performance Models. We assessed each trend to determine its applicability to the NRC's review by considering (1) whether the nuclear industry is making use of M and Ts for each trend, and (2) whether M and Ts reflecting the trend can be reviewed using the current design review guidance. We concluded that M and T trends that are applicable to the commercial nuclear industry and are expected to impact safety reviews may be considered for review guidance development. Three trends fell into this category: Analysis of Cognitive Tasks, Use of Virtual Environments and Visualizations, and Application of Human Performance Models. The other trends do not need to be addressed at this time.

Review on Micro- and Nanolithography Techniques and Their Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Werayut Srituravanich

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This article reviews major micro- and nanolithography techniques and their applications from commercial micro devices to emerging applications in nanoscale science and engineering. Micro- and nanolithography has been the key technology in manufacturing of integrated circuits and microchips in the semiconductor industry. Such a technology is also sparking a magnificent transformation of nanotechnology. The lithography techniques including photolithography, electron beam lithography, focused ion beam lithography, soft lithography, nanoimprint lithography and scanning probe lithography are discussed. Furthermore, their applications are reviewed and summarized into four major areas: electronics and microsystems, medical and biotech, optics and photonics, and environment and energy harvesting.

A review of thermoelectric cooling: Materials, modeling and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Dongliang; Tan, Gang

2014-01-01

This study reviews the recent advances of thermoelectric materials, modeling approaches, and applications. Thermoelectric cooling systems have advantages over conventional cooling devices, including compact in size, light in weight, high reliability, no mechanical moving parts, no working fluid, being powered by direct current, and easily switching between cooling and heating modes. In this study, historical development of thermoelectric cooling has been briefly introduced first. Next, the development of thermoelectric materials has been given and the achievements in past decade have been summarized. To improve thermoelectric cooling system's performance, the modeling techniques have been described for both the thermoelement modeling and thermoelectric cooler (TEC) modeling including standard simplified energy equilibrium model, one-dimensional and three-dimensional models, and numerical compact model. Finally, the thermoelectric cooling applications have been reviewed in aspects of domestic refrigeration, electronic cooling, scientific application, and automobile air conditioning and seat temperature control, with summaries for the commercially available thermoelectric modules and thermoelectric refrigerators. It is expected that this study will be beneficial to thermoelectric cooling system design, simulation, and analysis. - Highlights: •Thermoelectric cooling has great prospects with thermoelectric material's advances. •Modeling techniques for both thermoelement and TEC have been reviewed. •Principle thermoelectric cooling applications have been reviewed and summarized

47 CFR 1.104 - Preserving the right of review; deferred consideration of application for review.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Preserving the right of review; deferred... Actions Taken by the Commission and Pursuant to Delegated Authority; Effective Dates and Finality Dates of Actions § 1.104 Preserving the right of review; deferred consideration of application for review. (a) The...

Review of Recent Type-2 Fuzzy Controller Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin Tai

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Type-2 fuzzy logic controllers (T2 FLC can be viewed as an emerging class of intelligent controllers because of their abilities in handling uncertainties; in many cases, they have been shown to outperform their Type-1 counterparts. This paper presents a literature review on recent applications of T2 FLCs. To follow the developments in this field, we first review general T2 FLCs and the most well-known interval T2 FLS algorithms that have been used for control design. Certain applications of these controllers include robotic control, bandwidth control, industrial systems control, electrical control and aircraft control. The most promising applications are found in the robotics and automotive areas, where T2 FLCs have been demonstrated and proven to perform better than traditional controllers. With the development of enhanced algorithms, along with the advancement in both hardware and software, we shall witness increasing applications of these frontier controllers.

Designed graphene-peptide nanocomposites for biosensor applications: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Li; Zhang, Yujie; Wu, Aiguo; Wei, Gang

2017-01-01

The modification of graphene with biomacromolecules like DNA, protein, peptide, and others extends the potential applications of graphene materials in various fields. The bound biomacromolecules could improve the biocompatibility and bio-recognition ability of graphene-based nanocomposites, therefore could greatly enhance their biosensing performances on both selectivity and sensitivity. In this review, we presented a comprehensive introduction and discussion on recent advance in the synthesis and biosensor applications of graphene-peptide nanocomposites. The biofunctionalization of graphene with specifically designed peptides, and the synthesis strategies of graphene-peptide (monomer, nanofibrils, and nanotubes) nanocomposites were demonstrated. On the other hand, the fabrication of graphene-peptide nanocomposite based biosensor architectures for electrochemical, fluorescent, electronic, and spectroscopic biosensing were further presented. This review includes nearly all the studies on the fabrication and applications of graphene-peptide based biosensors recently, which will promote the future developments of graphene-based biosensors in biomedical detection and environmental analysis. - Highlights: • A comprehensive review on the fabrication and application of graphene-peptide nanocomposites was presented. • The design of peptide sequences for biofunctionalization of various graphene materials was presented. • Multi-strategies on the fabrication of biosensors with graphene-peptide nanocomposites were discussed. • Designed graphene-peptide nanocomposites showed wide biosensor applications.

Nanotechnology applications in urology: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Maddox, Michael; Liu, James; Mandava, Sree Harsha; Callaghan, Cameron; John, Vijay; Lee, Benjamin R

2014-11-01

The objectives of this review are to discuss the current literature and summarise some of the promising areas with which nanotechnology may improve urological care. A Medline literature search was performed to elucidate all relevant studies of nanotechnology with specific attention to its application in urology. Urological applications of nanotechnology include its use in medical imaging, gene therapy, drug delivery, and photothermal ablation of tumours. In vitro and animal studies have shown initial encouraging results. Further study of nanotechnology for urological applications is warranted to bridge the gap between preclinical studies and translation into clinical practice, but nanomedicine has shown significant potential to improve urological patient care. © 2014 The Authors. BJU International © 2014 BJU International.

10 CFR 2.102 - Administrative review of application.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... proceeding to confer with the NRC staff informally. In the case of docketed application for a limited work... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Administrative review of application. 2.102 Section 2.102... ORDERS Procedure for Issuance, Amendment, Transfer, or Renewal of a License, and Standard Design Approval...

Application of BCI systems in neurorehabilitation: a scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bamdad, Mahdi; Zarshenas, Homayoon; Auais, Mohammad A

2015-01-01

To review various types of electroencephalographic activities of the brain and present an overview of brain-computer interface (BCI) systems' history and their applications in rehabilitation. A scoping review of published English literature on BCI application in the field of rehabilitation was undertaken. IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar and Scopus databases were searched since inception up to August 2012. All experimental studies published in English and discussed complete cycle of the BCI process was included in the review. In total, 90 articles met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Various approaches that improve the accuracy and performance of BCI systems were discussed. Based on BCI's clinical application, reviewed articles were categorized into three groups: motion rehabilitation, speech rehabilitation and virtual reality control (VRC). Almost half of the reviewed papers (48%) concentrated on VRC. Speech rehabilitation and motion rehabilitation made up 33% and 19% of the reviewed papers, respectively. Among different types of electroencephalography signals, P300, steady state visual evoked potentials and motor imagery signals were the most common. This review discussed various applications of BCI in rehabilitation and showed how BCI can be used to improve the quality of life for people with neurological disabilities. It will develop and promote new models of communication and finally, will create an accurate, reliable, online communication between human brain and computer and reduces the negative effects of external stimuli on BCI performance. Implications for Rehabilitation The field of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) is rapidly advancing and it is expected to fulfill a critical role in rehabilitation of neurological disorders and in movement restoration in the forthcoming years. In the near future, BCI has notable potential to become a major tool used by people with disabilities to control locomotion and communicate with surrounding

Evaluation of a Web-based Online Grant Application Review Solution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Daniel PETRISOR

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the evaluation of a web-based application used in grant application evaluations, software developed in our university, and underlines the need for simple solutions, based on recent technology, specifically tailored to one’s needs. We asked the reviewers to answer a short questionnaire, in order to assess their satisfaction with such a web-based grant application evaluation solution. All 20 reviewers accepted to answer the questionnaire, which contained 8 closed items (YES/NO answers related to reviewer’s previous experience in evaluating grant applications, previous use of such software solutions and his familiarity in using computer systems. The presented web-based application, evaluated by the users, shown a high level of acceptance and those respondents stated that they are willing to use such a solution in the future.

Bioadhesives for internal medical applications: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Wenzhen; Chuah, Yon Jin; Wang, Dong-An

2018-04-22

Bioadhesives such as tissue adhesives, hemostatic agents, and tissue sealants have gained increasing popularity in different areas of clinical operations during the last three decades. Bioadhesives can be categorized into internal and external ones according to their application conditions. External bioadhesives are generally applied in topical medications such as wound closure and epidermal grafting. Internal bioadhesives are mainly used in intracorporal conditions with direct contact to internal environment including tissues, organs and body fluids, such as chronic organ leak repair and bleeding complication reduction. This review focuses on internal bioadhesives that, in contrast with external bioadhesives, emphasize much more on biocompatibility and adhesive ability to wet surfaces rather than on gluing time and intensity. The crosslinking mechanisms of present internal bioadhesives can be generally classified as follows: 1) chemical conjugation between reactive groups; 2) free radical polymerization by light or redox initiation; 3) biological or biochemical coupling with specificity; and 4) biomimetic adhesion inspired from natural phenomena. In this review, bioadhesive products of each class are summarized and discussed by comparing their designs, features, and applications as well as their prospects for future development. Despite the emergence of numerous novel bioadhesive formulations in recent years, thus far, the classification of internal and external bioadhesives has not been well defined and universally acknowledged. Many of the formulations have been proposed for treatment of several diseases even though they are not applicable for such conditions. This is because of the lack of a systematic standard or evaluation protocol during the development of a new adhesive product. In this review, the definition of internal and external bioadhesives is given for the first time, and with a focus on internal bioadhesives, the criteria of an ideal internal

Usability evaluation techniques in mobile commerce applications: A systematic review

Science.gov (United States)

Hussain, Azham; Mkpojiogu, Emmanuel O. C.

2016-08-01

Obviously, there are a number of literatures concerning the usability of mobile commerce (m-commerce) applications and related areas, but they do not adequately provide knowledge about usability techniques used in most of the empirical usability evaluation for m-commerce application. Therefore, this paper is aimed at producing the usability techniques frequently used in the aspect of usability evaluation for m-commerce applications. To achieve the stated objective, systematic literature review was employed. Sixty seven papers were downloaded in usability evaluation for m-commerce and related areas; twenty one most relevant studies were selected for review in order to extract the appropriate information. The results from the review shows that heuristic evaluation, formal test and think aloud methods are the most commonly used methods in m-commerce application in comparison to cognitive walkthrough and the informal test methods. Moreover, most of the studies applied control experiment (33.3% of the total studies); other studies that applied case study for usability evaluation are 14.28%. The results from this paper provide additional knowledge to the usability practitioners and research community for the current state and use of usability techniques in m-commerce application.

The clinical application of PET/CT: a contemporary review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brady, Z.; Partridge, M.; Trapp, J.V.

2008-01-01

Full text: The combination of positron emission tomography (PET) scanners and x-ray computed tomography (CT) scanners into a single PET CT scanner has resulted in significant improvements in the diagnosis and staging of disease, particularly in the field of oncology. A decade on from the publication of the details of the first PET/CT scanner, we review the technology and applications of the modality. We examine the design aspects of combining two different imaging types into a single scanner, and the artefacts produced such as attenuation correction, motion and CT truncation artefacts. The article also provides a discussion and literature review of the applications of PET/CT to date, covering detection of tumours, radiotherapy treatment planning, patient management, and applications external to the field of oncology.

Reviews on the Japanese Patent Applications Regarding Nickel/Metal Hydride Batteries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taihei Ouchi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The Japanese Patent Applications filed on the topic of nickel/metal hydride (Ni/MH batteries have been reviewed. Patent applications filed by the top nine battery manufacturers (Matsushita, Sanyo, Hitachi Maxell, Yuasa, Toshiba, FDK, Furukawa, Japan Storage, and Shin-kobe, five component suppliers (Tanaka, Mitsui, Santoku, Japan Metals & Chemicals Co. (JMC, and Shin-Etsu, and three research institutes (Industrial Research Institute (ISI, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST, and Toyota R & D were chosen as the main subjects for this review, based on their production volume and contribution to the field. By reviewing these patent applications, we can have a clear picture of the technology development in the Japanese battery industry. These patent applications also provide insights, know-how, and future directions for engineers and scientists working in the rechargeable battery field.

Text mining applications in psychiatry: a systematic literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbe, Adeline; Grouin, Cyril; Zweigenbaum, Pierre; Falissard, Bruno

2016-06-01

The expansion of biomedical literature is creating the need for efficient tools to keep pace with increasing volumes of information. Text mining (TM) approaches are becoming essential to facilitate the automated extraction of useful biomedical information from unstructured text. We reviewed the applications of TM in psychiatry, and explored its advantages and limitations. A systematic review of the literature was carried out using the CINAHL, Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Cochrane databases. In this review, 1103 papers were screened, and 38 were included as applications of TM in psychiatric research. Using TM and content analysis, we identified four major areas of application: (1) Psychopathology (i.e. observational studies focusing on mental illnesses) (2) the Patient perspective (i.e. patients' thoughts and opinions), (3) Medical records (i.e. safety issues, quality of care and description of treatments), and (4) Medical literature (i.e. identification of new scientific information in the literature). The information sources were qualitative studies, Internet postings, medical records and biomedical literature. Our work demonstrates that TM can contribute to complex research tasks in psychiatry. We discuss the benefits, limits, and further applications of this tool in the future. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Gravimetry and its application to geohydrology: a review | Mahed ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The application of gravity to Geohydrology is reviewed. A short background and history related to the application of geophysics to Geohydrology is outlined. Multiple works related to ground based gravimetry applied to the hydrological sciences in general are examined. These include the possible errors which might occur ...

Safety evaluation review of the prototype license application safety analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-08-01

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff and consultants reviewed a Prototype License Application Safety Analysis Report (PLASAR) submitted by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for the belowground vault (BGV) alternative method of low-level radioactive waste disposal. In Volume 1 of NUREG-1375, the NRC staff provided the safety review results for an earth-mounded concrete bunker PLASAR. In the current report, the staff focused its review on the design, construction, and operational aspects of the BGV PLASAR. The staff developed review comments and questions using the Standard Review Plan (SRP), Rev. 1 (NUREG-1200) as the basis for evaluating the acceptability of the information provided in the BGV PLASAR. The detailed review comments provided in this report are intended to be useful guidance to facility developers and State regulators in addressing issues likely to be encountered in the review of a license application for a low-level-waste disposal facility. 44 refs

7 CFR 61.8 - Application for review.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Application for review. 61.8 Section 61.8 Agriculture... AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 AND THE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT (CONTINUED) COTTONSEED SOLD OR OFFERED FOR SALE FOR CRUSHING PURPOSES (INSPECTION, SAMPLING AND CERTIFICATION) Regulations Administrative and...

9 CFR 355.6 - Review of applications.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... CERTIFICATION CERTIFIED PRODUCTS FOR DOGS, CATS, AND OTHER CARNIVORA; INSPECTION, CERTIFICATION, AND... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Review of applications. 355.6 Section 355.6 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY...

A Comprehensive Review of Permanent Magnet Transverse Flux Machines for Direct Drive Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muljadi, Eduard [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Husain, Tausif [University of Akron; Hasan, Iftekhar [University of Akron; Sozer, Yilmaz [University of Akron; Husain, Iqbal [North Carolina State University

2017-11-07

The use of direct drive machines in renewable and industrial applications are increasing at a rapid rate. Transverse flux machines (TFM) are ideally suited for direct drive applications due to their high torque density. In this paper, a comprehensive review of the permanent magnet (PM) TFMs for direct drive applications is presented. The paper introduces TFMs and their operating principle and then reviews the different type of TFMs proposed in the literature. The TFMs are categorized according to the number of stator sides, types of stator cores and magnet arrangement in the rotor. The review covers different design topologies, materials used for manufacturing, structural and thermal analysis, modeling and design optimization and cogging torque minimization in TFMs. The paper also reviews various applications and comparisons for TFMs that have been presented in the literature.

Application of design review in the heavy power plant industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yound, N.

1977-01-01

The application of design review technique in a company engaged in the design and manufacture of turbo-generators for power stations, is described. One benefit arising from design review is its use as a means of design verification. (U.K.)

Cellulosic Nanomaterials in Food and Nutraceutical Applications: A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Avik; Wen, Yangbing; Huq, Tanzina; Ni, Yonghao

2018-01-10

Cellulosic nanomaterials (CNMs) are organic, green nanomaterials that are obtained from renewable sources and possess exceptional mechanical strength and biocompatibility. The associated unique physical and chemical properties have made these nanomaterials an intriguing prospect for various applications including the food and nutraceutical industry. From the immobilization of various bioactive agents and enzymes, emulsion stabilization, direct food additives, to the development of intelligent packaging systems or pathogen or pH detectors, the potential food related applications for CNMs are endless. Over the past decade, there have been several reviews published covering different aspects of cellulosic nanomaterials, such as processing-structure-property relationship, physical and chemical properties, rheology, extraction, nanocomposites, etc. In this critical review, we have discussed and provided a summary of the recent developments in the utilization of cellulosic nanomaterials in applications related to food and nutraceuticals.

Thermoelectric generators: A review of applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Champier, Daniel

2017-01-01

Highlights: • This paper reviews the state of the art of thermoelectric generators. • The latest thermoelectric modules are introduced. • Waste heat recovery in transport and industry with thermoelectric generators. • Domestic and industrial applications of thermoelectric generators. • Thermoelectric generators in space, micro-generation and solar conversion. - Abstract: In past centuries, men have mainly looked to increase their production of energy in order to develop their industry, means of transport and quality of life. Since the recent energy crisis, researchers and industrials have looked mainly to manage energy in a better way, especially by increasing energy system efficiency. This context explains the growing interest for thermoelectric generators. Today, thermoelectric generators allow lost thermal energy to be recovered, energy to be produced in extreme environments, electric power to be generated in remote areas and microsensors to be powered. Direct solar thermal energy can also be used to produce electricity. This review begins with the basic principles of thermoelectricity and a presentation of existing and future materials. Design and optimization of generators are addressed. Finally in this paper, we developed an exhaustive presentation of thermoelectric generation applications covering electricity generation in extreme environments, waste heat recovery in transport and industry, domestic production in developing and developed countries, micro-generation for sensors and microelectronics and solar thermoelectric generators. Many recent applications are presented, as well as the future applications which are currently being studied in research laboratories or in industry. The main purpose of this paper is to clearly demonstrate that, almost anywhere in industry or in domestic uses, it is worth checking whether a TEG can be added whenever heat is moving from a hot source to a cold source.

Wikis and Collaborative Writing Applications in Health Care: A Scoping Review Protocol

Science.gov (United States)

van de Belt, Tom H; Grajales III, Francisco J; Eysenbach, Gunther; Aubin, Karine; Gold, Irving; Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Kuziemsky, Craig E; Turgeon, Alexis F; Poitras, Julien; Faber, Marjan J; Kremer, Jan A.M; Heldoorn, Marcel; Bilodeau, Andrea; Légaré, France

2012-01-01

The rapid rise in the use of collaborative writing applications (eg, wikis, Google Documents, and Google Knol) has created the need for a systematic synthesis of the evidence of their impact as knowledge translation (KT) tools in the health care sector and for an inventory of the factors that affect their use. While researchers have conducted systematic reviews on a range of software-based information and communication technologies as well as other social media (eg, virtual communities of practice, virtual peer-to-peer communities, and electronic support groups), none have reviewed collaborative writing applications in the medical sector. The overarching goal of this project is to explore the depth and breadth of evidence for the use of collaborative writing applications in health care. Thus, the purposes of this scoping review will be to (1) map the literature on collaborative writing applications; (2) compare the applications’ features; (3) describe the evidence of each application’s positive and negative effects as a KT intervention in health care; (4) inventory and describe the barriers and facilitators that affect the applications’ use; and (5) produce an action plan and a research agenda. A six-stage framework for scoping reviews will be used: (1) identifying the research question; (2) identifying relevant studies within the selected databases (using the EPPI-Reviewer software to classify the studies); (3) selecting studies (an iterative process in which two reviewers search the literature, refine the search strategy, and review articles for inclusion); (4) charting the data (using EPPI-Reviewer’s data-charting form); (5) collating, summarizing, and reporting the results (performing a descriptive, numerical, and interpretive synthesis); and (6) consulting knowledge users during three planned meetings. Since this scoping review concerns the use of collaborative writing applications as KT interventions in health care, we will use the Knowledge to Action

Nanofluidic technology for biomolecule applications: a critical review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Napoli, M.; Eijkel, Jan C.T.; Pennathur, S.

2010-01-01

In this review, we present nanofluidic phenomena, particularly as they relate to applications involving analysis of biomolecules within nanofabricated devices. The relevant length scales and physical phenomena that govern biomolecule transport and manipulation within nanofabricated nanofluidic

Review and update of the applications of organic petrology: Part 2, geological and multidisciplinary applications

Science.gov (United States)

Suarez-Ruiz, Isabel; Flores, Deolinda; Mendonça Filho, João Graciano; Hackley, Paul C.

2012-01-01

The present paper is focused on organic petrology applied to unconventional and multidisciplinary investigations and is the second part of a two part review that describes the geological applications and uses of this branch of earth sciences. Therefore, this paper reviews the use of organic petrology in investigations of: (i) ore genesis when organic matter occurs associated with mineralization; (ii) the behavior of organic matter in coal fires (self-heating and self-combustion); (iii) environmental and anthropogenic impacts associated with the management and industrial utilization of coal; (iv) archeology and the nature and geographical provenance of objects of organic nature such as jet, amber, other artifacts and coal from archeological sites; and (v) forensic science connected with criminal behavior or disasters. This second part of the review outlines the most recent research and applications of organic petrology in those fields.

Review of multi-layered magnetoelectric composite materials and devices applications

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Zhaoqiang; PourhosseiniAsl, MohammadJavad; Dong, Shuxiang

2018-06-01

Multiferroic materials with the coexistence of at least two ferroic orders, such as ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism, or ferroelasticity, have recently attracted ever-increasing attention due to their potential for multifunctional device applications, including magnetic and current sensors, energy harvesters, magnetoelectric (ME) random access memory and logic devices, tunable microwave devices, and ME antenna. In this article, we provide a review of the recent and ongoing research efforts in the field of multi-layered ME composites. After a brief introduction to ME composites and ME coupling mechanisms, we review recent advances in multi-layered ME composites as well as their device applications based on the direct ME effect, magnetic sensors in particular. Finally, some remaining challenges and future perspective of ME composites and their engineering applications will be discussed.

Biomedical applications of nanodiamond (Review)

Science.gov (United States)

Turcheniuk, K.; Mochalin, Vadym N.

2017-06-01

The interest in nanodiamond applications in biology and medicine is on the rise over recent years. This is due to the unique combination of properties that nanodiamond provides. Small size (∼5 nm), low cost, scalable production, negligible toxicity, chemical inertness of diamond core and rich chemistry of nanodiamond surface, as well as bright and robust fluorescence resistant to photobleaching are the distinct parameters that render nanodiamond superior to any other nanomaterial when it comes to biomedical applications. The most exciting recent results have been related to the use of nanodiamonds for drug delivery and diagnostics—two components of a quickly growing area of biomedical research dubbed theranostics. However, nanodiamond offers much more in addition: it can be used to produce biodegradable bone surgery devices, tissue engineering scaffolds, kill drug resistant microbes, help us to fight viruses, and deliver genetic material into cell nucleus. All these exciting opportunities require an in-depth understanding of nanodiamond. This review covers the recent progress as well as general trends in biomedical applications of nanodiamond, and underlines the importance of purification, characterization, and rational modification of this nanomaterial when designing nanodiamond based theranostic platforms.

The effectiveness of telemental health applications: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hailey, David; Roine, Risto; Ohinmaa, Arto

2008-11-01

To review the evidence of benefit from use of telemental health (TMH) in studies that reported clinical or administrative outcomes. Relevant publications were identified through computerized literature searches using several electronic databases. Included for review were scientifically valid articles that described controlled studies, comparing TMH with a non-TMH alternative, and uncontrolled studies that had no fewer than 20 participants. Quality of the evidence was assessed with an approach that considers both study performance and study design. Judgments were made on whether further data were needed to establish each TMH application as suitable for routine clinical use. Included in the review were 72 papers that described 65 clinical studies; 32 (49%) studies were of high or good quality. Quality of evidence was higher for Internet- and telephone-based interventions than for video conferencing approaches. There was evidence of success with TMH in the areas of child psychiatry, depression, dementia, schizophrenia, suicide prevention, posttraumatic stress, panic disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders, and smoking prevention. Evidence of success for general TMH programs and in the management of obsessive-compulsive disorder were less convincing. Further study was judged to be necessary or desirable in 53 (82%) of the studies. Evidence of benefit from TMH applications is encouraging, though still limited. There is a need for more good-quality studies on the use of TMH in routine care. The emerging use of Internet-based applications is an important development that deserves further evaluation.

Inulin, a flexible oligosaccharide. II: Review of its pharmaceutical applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Mensink, Maarten A; Frijlink, Henderik W; van der Voort Maarschalk, Kees; Hinrichs, Wouter L J

2015-12-10

Inulin is a flexible oligosaccharide which has been used primarily in food for decades. Recently new applications in the pharmaceutical arena were described. In a previous review (Mensink et al. (2015). Carbohydrate Polymers, 130, 405) we described the physicochemical characteristics of inulin, characteristics which make inulin a highly versatile substance. Here, we review its pharmaceutical applications. Applications of inulin that are addressed are stabilization of proteins, modified drug delivery (dissolution rate enhancement and drug targeting), and lastly physiological and disease-modifying effects of inulin. Further uses of inulin include colon specific drug administration and stabilizing and adjuvating vaccine formulations. Overall, the uses of inulin in the pharmaceutical area are very diverse and research is still continuing, particularly with chemically modified inulins. It is therefore likely that even more applications will be found for this flexible oligosaccharide. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

A Review on Virtual Hospital Concept and its Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hadi Hassankhani

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Virtual hospital is an informational-interactive system that seeks to ensure that the benefits of modern medicine are available to everyone. The aim of this non-systematic narrative study was to review virtual hospital concept and its applications. Information collecting was conducted by literature review and visiting virtual hospitals' websites. Most of the already existing articles were about virtual hospitals modeling and its application in patients' management. Present data show that virtual hospitals' websites had some role in education, decreasing hospital infection rate, improving patient outcome, etc. In general, virtual hospitals have both many advantages and disadvantages. As a result, all the outcomes should be considered when modeling this new technology. ​

NEA/CNRA Report of the Survey on the Review of New Reactor Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibson, Steve

2013-01-01

This presentation treats of the NEA/CNRA report of the survey on the review of new reactor application. It indicates that licensing is state specific and that timelines vary from 6 months to 4 years. In addition, review effort and documentation is significant and most states have explicit guidance for the reviews. All states include some form of public participation and regulatory oversight. Next steps include two reports, one on design reviews and another on the construction phase. The author also presented on licensing experience in the United Kingdom. He highlighted the importance of several practices for ensuring a successful project, including: early engagement and communication between applicant and regulatory, sharing of plans between applicant and regulator, establishing and monitoring good metrics on progress and quality for both the applicant and the regulator, identifying 'work streams' and monitoring those streams closely, identifying and addressing risks, ensuring high quality interactions between applicant and regulator, and using dashboards as a way to maintain openness, transparency and trust. He also emphasized the need for engagement at different levels within the organization, including management as necessary

A review of current sleep screening applications for smartphones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Behar, Joachim; Roebuck, Aoife; Domingos, João S; Gederi, Elnaz; Clifford, Gari D

2013-01-01

Sleep disorders are a common problem and contribute to a wide range of healthcare issues. The societal and financial costs of sleep disorders are enormous. Sleep-related disorders are often diagnosed with an overnight sleep test called a polysomnogram, or sleep study involving the measurement of brain activity through the electroencephalogram. Other parameters monitored include oxygen saturation, respiratory effort, cardiac activity (through the electrocardiogram), as well as video recording, sound and movement activity. Monitoring can be costly and removes the patients from their normal sleeping environment, preventing repeated unbiased studies. The recent increase in adoption of smartphones, with high quality on-board sensors has led to the proliferation of many sleep screening applications running on the phone. However, with the exception of simple questionnaires, no existing sleep-related application available for smartphones is based on scientific evidence. This paper reviews the existing smartphone applications landscape used in the field of sleep disorders and proposes possible advances to improve screening approaches. (topical review)

A review on phase change energy storage: materials and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farid, Mohammed M.; Khudhair, Amar M.; Razack, Siddique Ali K.; Al-Hallaj, Said

2004-01-01

Latent heat storage is one of the most efficient ways of storing thermal energy. Unlike the sensible heat storage method, the latent heat storage method provides much higher storage density, with a smaller temperature difference between storing and releasing heat. This paper reviews previous work on latent heat storage and provides an insight to recent efforts to develop new classes of phase change materials (PCMs) for use in energy storage. Three aspects have been the focus of this review: PCM materials, encapsulation and applications. There are large numbers of phase change materials that melt and solidify at a wide range of temperatures, making them attractive in a number of applications. Paraffin waxes are cheap and have moderate thermal energy storage density but low thermal conductivity and, hence, require large surface area. Hydrated salts have larger energy storage density and higher thermal conductivity but experience supercooling and phase segregation, and hence, their application requires the use of some nucleating and thickening agents. The main advantages of PCM encapsulation are providing large heat transfer area, reduction of the PCMs reactivity towards the outside environment and controlling the changes in volume of the storage materials as phase change occurs. The different applications in which the phase change method of heat storage can be applied are also reviewed in this paper. The problems associated with the application of PCMs with regards to the material and the methods used to contain them are also discussed

REVIEW ARTICLE: Spectrophotometric applications of digital signal processing

Science.gov (United States)

Morawski, Roman Z.

2006-09-01

Spectrophotometry is more and more often the method of choice not only in analysis of (bio)chemical substances, but also in the identification of physical properties of various objects and their classification. The applications of spectrophotometry include such diversified tasks as monitoring of optical telecommunications links, assessment of eating quality of food, forensic classification of papers, biometric identification of individuals, detection of insect infestation of seeds and classification of textiles. In all those applications, large numbers of data, generated by spectrophotometers, are processed by various digital means in order to extract measurement information. The main objective of this paper is to review the state-of-the-art methodology for digital signal processing (DSP) when applied to data provided by spectrophotometric transducers and spectrophotometers. First, a general methodology of DSP applications in spectrophotometry, based on DSP-oriented models of spectrophotometric data, is outlined. Then, the most important classes of DSP methods for processing spectrophotometric data—the methods for DSP-aided calibration of spectrophotometric instrumentation, the methods for the estimation of spectra on the basis of spectrophotometric data, the methods for the estimation of spectrum-related measurands on the basis of spectrophotometric data—are presented. Finally, the methods for preprocessing and postprocessing of spectrophotometric data are overviewed. Throughout the review, the applications of DSP are illustrated with numerous examples related to broadly understood spectrophotometry.

Applications of magnetohydrodynamics in biological systems-a review on the numerical studies

Science.gov (United States)

Rashidi, Saman; Esfahani, Javad Abolfazli; Maskaniyan, Mahla

2017-10-01

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluid flow in different geometries relevant to human body parts is an interesting and important scientific area due to its applications in medical sciences. This article performs a comprehensive review on the applications of MHD and their numerical modelling in biological systems. Applications of MHD in medical sciences are classified into four categories in this paper. Applications of MHD in simple flow, peristaltic flow, pulsatile flow, and drag delivery are these categories. The numerical researches performed for these categories are reviewed and summarized separately. Finally, some conclusions and suggestions for future works based on the literature review are presented. The results indicated that during a surgery when it is necessary to drop blood flow or reduce tissue temperature, it may be achieved by using a magnetic field. Moreover, the review showed that the trapping is an important phenomenon in peristaltic flows that causes the formation of thrombus in blood and the movement of food bolus in gastrointestinal tract. This phenomenon may be disappeared by using a proper magnetic field. Finally, the concentration of particles that are delivered to the target region increases with an increase in the magnetic field intensity.

Review of Wearable Device Technology and Its Applications to the Mining Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mokhinabonu Mardonova

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews current trends in wearable device technology, and provides an overview of its prevalent and potential deployments in the mining industry. This review includes the classification of wearable devices with some examples of their utilization in various industrial fields as well as the features of sensors used in wearable devices. Existing applications of wearable device technology to the mining industry are reviewed. In addition, a wearable safety management system for miners and other possible applications are proposed. The findings of this review show that by introducing wearable device technology to mining sites, the safety of mining operations can be enhanced. Therefore, wearable devices should be further used in the mining industry.

Cross-Linked Hydrogel for Pharmaceutical Applications: A Review

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Rabinarayan parhi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Hydrogels are promising biomaterials because of their important qualities such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, hydrophilicity and non-toxicity. These qualities make hydrogels suitable for application in medical and pharmaceutical field. Recently, a tremendous growth of hydrogel application is seen, especially as gel and patch form, in transdermal drug delivery. This review mainly focuses on the types of hydrogels based on cross-linking and; secondly to describe the possible synthesis methods to design hydrogels for different pharmaceutical applications. The synthesis and chemistry of these hydrogels are discussed using specific pharmaceutical examples. The structure and water content in a typical hydrogel have also been discussed.

Mixture design: A review of recent applications in the food industry

OpenAIRE

Yeliz Buruk Şahin; Ezgi Aktar Demirtaş; Nimetullah Burnak

2016-01-01

Design of experiments (DOE) is a systematic approach to applying statistical methods to the experimental process. The main purpose of this study is to provide useful insights into mixture design as a special type of DOE and to present a review of current mixture design applications in the food industry. The theoretical principles of mixture design and its application in the food industry, based on an extensive review of the literature, are described. Mixture design types, such as simplex-latt...

Mobile clinical decision support systems and applications: a literature and commercial review.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Pérez, Borja; de la Torre-Díez, Isabel; López-Coronado, Miguel; Sainz-de-Abajo, Beatriz; Robles, Montserrat; García-Gómez, Juan Miguel

2014-01-01

The latest advances in eHealth and mHealth have propitiated the rapidly creation and expansion of mobile applications for health care. One of these types of applications are the clinical decision support systems, which nowadays are being implemented in mobile apps to facilitate the access to health care professionals in their daily clinical decisions. The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to make a review of the current systems available in the literature and in commercial stores. Secondly, to analyze a sample of applications in order to obtain some conclusions and recommendations. Two reviews have been done: a literature review on Scopus, IEEE Xplore, Web of Knowledge and PubMed and a commercial review on Google play and the App Store. Five applications from each review have been selected to develop an in-depth analysis and to obtain more information about the mobile clinical decision support systems. Ninety-two relevant papers and 192 commercial apps were found. Forty-four papers were focused only on mobile clinical decision support systems. One hundred seventy-one apps were available on Google play and 21 on the App Store. The apps are designed for general medicine and 37 different specialties, with some features common in all of them despite of the different medical fields objective. The number of mobile clinical decision support applications and their inclusion in clinical practices has risen in the last years. However, developers must be careful with their interface or the easiness of use, which can impoverish the experience of the users.

A review of wearable sensors and systems with application in rehabilitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patel Shyamal

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract The aim of this review paper is to summarize recent developments in the field of wearable sensors and systems that are relevant to the field of rehabilitation. The growing body of work focused on the application of wearable technology to monitor older adults and subjects with chronic conditions in the home and community settings justifies the emphasis of this review paper on summarizing clinical applications of wearable technology currently undergoing assessment rather than describing the development of new wearable sensors and systems. A short description of key enabling technologies (i.e. sensor technology, communication technology, and data analysis techniques that have allowed researchers to implement wearable systems is followed by a detailed description of major areas of application of wearable technology. Applications described in this review paper include those that focus on health and wellness, safety, home rehabilitation, assessment of treatment efficacy, and early detection of disorders. The integration of wearable and ambient sensors is discussed in the context of achieving home monitoring of older adults and subjects with chronic conditions. Future work required to advance the field toward clinical deployment of wearable sensors and systems is discussed.

A review of mobile applications to help adolescent and young adult cancer patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wesley KM

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Kimberly M Wesley,1 Philip J Fizur2 1Department of Psychology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 2Department of Psychology, La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA, USA Objective: To review research articles utilizing mobile applications with adolescent and young adult (AYA cancer patients. Materials and methods: We identified articles via online searches and reference lists (eg, PsycInfo, PubMed. Articles were reviewed by two study team members for target population, stated purpose, technological utilization, sample size, demographic characteristics, and outcome data. Strengths and weaknesses of each study were described. Results: Of 19 identified manuscripts, six met full inclusion criteria for this review (four smartphone applications and two tablet applications. One additional article that included an application not specific to oncology but included AYA patients with cancer within the target sample was also reviewed. Uses of these applications included symptom tracking, pain management, monitoring of eating habits following bone marrow transplant, monitoring of mucositis, and improving medication management. Utility results from pilot studies are presented. Conclusion: Mobile applications are growing in number and increasingly available to AYAs with and without chronic illness. These applications may prove useful in helping to support AYAs throughout their cancer treatment and beyond. However, few applications provide empirical data supporting their utility. Numerous strengths and benefits of these applications include increased accessibility to educational resources and self-management strategies, more frequent physical and emotional symptom tracking, and increased access to peer support. Despite these strengths, numerous limitations are identified, highlighting the need for future research in this area. Keywords: adolescent, young adult, cancer, smartphone, mobile, applications

Applications and Preparation Methods of Copper Chromite Catalysts: A Review

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Ram Prasad

2011-11-01

Full Text Available In this review article various applications and preparation methods of copper chromite catalysts have been discussed. While discussing it is concluded that copper chromite is a versatile catalyst which not only catalyses numerous processes of commercial importance and national program related to defence and space research but also finds applications in the most concerned problem worldwide i.e. environmental pollution control. Several other very useful applications of copper chromite catalysts are in production of clean energy, drugs and agro chemicals, etc. Various preparation methods about 15 have been discussed which depicts clear idea about the dependence of catalytic activity and selectivity on way of preparation of catalyst. In view of the globally increasing interest towards copper chromite catalysis, reexamination on the important applications of such catalysts and their useful preparation methods is thus the need of the time. This review paper encloses 369 references including a well-conceivable tabulation of the newer state of the art. Copyright © 2011 by BCREC UNDIP. All rights reserved.(Received: 19th March 2011, Revised: 03rd May 2011, Accepted: 23rd May 2011[How to Cite: R. Prasad, and P. Singh. (2011. Applications and Preparation Methods of Copper Chromite Catalysts: A Review. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, 6 (2: 63-113. doi:10.9767/bcrec.6.2.829.63-113][How to Link / DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.6.2.829.63-113 || or local:  http://ejournal.undip.ac.id/index.php/bcrec/article/view/829 ] | View in 

A review on the application of medical infrared thermal imaging in hands

Science.gov (United States)

Sousa, Elsa; Vardasca, Ricardo; Teixeira, Sérgio; Seixas, Adérito; Mendes, Joaquim; Costa-Ferreira, António

2017-09-01

Infrared Thermal (IRT) imaging is a medical imaging modality to study skin temperature in real time, providing physiological information about the underlining structures. One of the most accessible body sites to be investigated using such imaging method is the hands, which can reflect valuable information about conditions affecting the upper limbs. The aim of this review is to acquaint the successful applications of IRT in the hands with a medical scope, opening horizons for future applications based in the achieved results. A systematic literature review was performed in order to assess in which applications medical IRT imaging was applied to the hands. The literature search was conducted in the reference databases: PubMed, Scopus and ISI Web of Science, making use of keywords (hand, thermography, infrared imaging, thermal imaging) combination that were present at the title and abstract. No temporal restriction was made. As a result, 4260 articles were identified, after removal of duplicates, 3224 articles remained and from first title and abstract filtering, a total of 388 articles were considered. After application of exclusion criteria (non-availability, non-clinical applications, reviews, case studies, written in other languages than English and using liquid crystal thermography), 146 articles were considered for this review. It can be verified that thermography provides useful diagnostic and monitoring information of conditions that directly or indirectly related to hands, as well as aiding in the treatment assessment. Trends and future challenges for IRT applications on hands are provided to stimulate researchers and clinicians to explore and address them.

Future superconductivity applications in space - A review

Science.gov (United States)

Krishen, Kumar; Ignatiev, Alex

High temperature superconductor (HISC) materials and devices can provide immediate applications for many space missions. The in-space thermal environment provides an opportunity to develop, test, and apply this technology to enhance performance and reliability for many applications of crucial importance to NASA. Specifically, the technology development areas include: (1) high current power transmission, (2) microwave components, devices, and antennas, (3) microwave, optical, and infrared sensors, (4) signal processors, (5) submillimeter wave components and systems, (6) ultra stable space clocks, (7) electromagnetic launch systems, and (8) accelerometers and position sensors for flight operations. HTSC is expected to impact NASA's Lunar Bases, Mars exploration, Mission to Earth, and Planetary exploration programs providing enabling and cost-effect technology. A review of the space applications of the HTSC technology is presented. Problem areas in technology development needing special attention are identified.

Applicable or non-applicable: investigations of clinical heterogeneity in systematic reviews

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura E. Chess

2016-02-01

characteristics they initially chose as potential for clinical heterogeneity. Very few studies mentioned clinician training, compliance, brand, co-interventions, dose route, ethnicity, prognostic markers and psychosocial variables as covariates to investigate as potentially clinically heterogeneous. Addressing aspects of clinical heterogeneity was not different between Cochrane and non-Cochrane reviews. Conclusions The ability to quantify and compare the clinical differences of trials within a meta-analysis is crucial to determining its applicability and use in clinical practice. Despite Cochrane Collaboration emphasis on methodology, the proportion of reviews that assess clinical heterogeneity is less than those of non-Cochrane reviews. Our assessment reveals that there is room for improvement in assessing clinical heterogeneity in both Cochrane and non-Cochrane reviews.

Clinical applications of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy: a review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Newman, R.J. (Glasgow Western Infirmary (UK))

1984-09-01

The advantages and present limitations of the clinical applications of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy are reviewed in outline, with passing references to skeletal muscular studies, in particular a group of children with advanced Duchenne dystrophy, and the applications to the study of cerebral metabolism of neonates, excised kidneys, biopsy studies of breast and axillary lymph node samples, and NMR spectroscopy performed during chemotherapy of a secondary rhabdomyosarcoma in the skin.

Review and classification of variability analysis techniques with clinical applications

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Analysis of patterns of variation of time-series, termed variability analysis, represents a rapidly evolving discipline with increasing applications in different fields of science. In medicine and in particular critical care, efforts have focussed on evaluating the clinical utility of variability. However, the growth and complexity of techniques applicable to this field have made interpretation and understanding of variability more challenging. Our objective is to provide an updated review of variability analysis techniques suitable for clinical applications. We review more than 70 variability techniques, providing for each technique a brief description of the underlying theory and assumptions, together with a summary of clinical applications. We propose a revised classification for the domains of variability techniques, which include statistical, geometric, energetic, informational, and invariant. We discuss the process of calculation, often necessitating a mathematical transform of the time-series. Our aims are to summarize a broad literature, promote a shared vocabulary that would improve the exchange of ideas, and the analyses of the results between different studies. We conclude with challenges for the evolving science of variability analysis. PMID:21985357

Review and classification of variability analysis techniques with clinical applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Bravi, Andrea; Longtin, André; Seely, Andrew J E

2011-10-10

Analysis of patterns of variation of time-series, termed variability analysis, represents a rapidly evolving discipline with increasing applications in different fields of science. In medicine and in particular critical care, efforts have focussed on evaluating the clinical utility of variability. However, the growth and complexity of techniques applicable to this field have made interpretation and understanding of variability more challenging. Our objective is to provide an updated review of variability analysis techniques suitable for clinical applications. We review more than 70 variability techniques, providing for each technique a brief description of the underlying theory and assumptions, together with a summary of clinical applications. We propose a revised classification for the domains of variability techniques, which include statistical, geometric, energetic, informational, and invariant. We discuss the process of calculation, often necessitating a mathematical transform of the time-series. Our aims are to summarize a broad literature, promote a shared vocabulary that would improve the exchange of ideas, and the analyses of the results between different studies. We conclude with challenges for the evolving science of variability analysis.

Medical imaging technology reviews and computational applications

CERN Document Server

Dewi, Dyah

2015-01-01

This book presents the latest research findings and reviews in the field of medical imaging technology, covering ultrasound diagnostics approaches for detecting osteoarthritis, breast carcinoma and cardiovascular conditions, image guided biopsy and segmentation techniques for detecting lung cancer, image fusion, and simulating fluid flows for cardiovascular applications. It offers a useful guide for students, lecturers and professional researchers in the fields of biomedical engineering and image processing.

25 CFR 1001.4 - Application review and approval.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Application review and approval. 1001.4 Section 1001.4 Indians OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY, INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SELF-GOVERNANCE... package and determine whether or not it is complete. Upon determination that it is complete, the name of...

New agrophysics divisions: application of GIS and fuzzy multi attributive comparison of alternatives (review)

Science.gov (United States)

This review paper is devoted to review the new scientific divisions that emerged in agrophysics in the last 10-15 years. Among them are the following: 1) application of Geographic Information Systems, 2) development and application of fuzzy multi attributive comparison of alternatives. In recent yea...

Clinical applications of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newman, R.J.

1984-01-01

The advantages and present limitations of the clinical applications of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy are reviewed in outline, with passing references to skeletal muscular studies, in particular a group of children with advanced Duchenne dystrophy, and the applications to the study of cerebral metabolism of neonates, excised kidneys, biopsy studies of breast and axillary lymph node samples, and NMR spectroscopy performed during chemotherapy of a secondary rhabdomyosarcoma in the skin. (U.K.)

Telerehabilitation store and forward applications: a review of applications and privacy considerations in physical and occupational therapy practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Christopher; Watzlaf, Valerie

2014-01-01

An overview of store and forward applications commonly used in physical and occupational therapy practice is reviewed with respect to regulation, privacy, security, and clinical applications. A privacy and security checklist provides a clear reference of pertinent regulatory issues regarding these software applications. A case study format is used to highlight clinical applications of store and forward software features. Important considerations of successful implementation of store and forward applications are also identified and discussed.

Planar Bragg Grating Sensors—Fabrication and Applications: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. J. G. Sparrow

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We discuss the background and technology of planar Bragg grating sensors, reviewing their development and describing the latest developments. The physical operating principles are discussed, relating device operation to user requirements. Recent performance of such devices includes a planar Bragg grating sensor design which allows refractive index resolution of 1.9×10−6 RIU and temperature resolution of 0.03∘C. This sensor design is incorporated into industrialised applications allowing the sensor to be used for real time sensing in intrinsically safe, high-pressure pipelines, or for insertion probe applications such as fermentation. Initial data demonstrating the ability to identify solvents and monitor long term industrial processes is presented. A brief review of the technology used to fabricate the sensors is given along with examples of the flexibility afforded by the technique.

SOLAR ENERGY APPLICATION IN WASTE TREATMENT- A REVIEW

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This review is an exposure on the various ways that solar energy can be harnessed for numerous waste treatment processes. Almost all forms of waste treatment require energy which is scarcely available considering the global energy crisis. The objective of this study is to enumerate the solar energy applications in waste ...

Persuasive Technology in Mobile Applications Promoting Physical Activity: a Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Matthews, John; Win, Khin Than; Oinas-Kukkonen, Harri; Freeman, Mark

2016-03-01

Persuasive technology in mobile applications can be used to influence the behaviour of users. A framework known as the Persuasive Systems Design model has been developed for designing and evaluating systems that influence the attitudes or behaviours of users. This paper reviews the current state of mobile applications for health behavioural change with an emphasis on applications that promote physical activity. The inbuilt persuasive features of mobile applications were evaluated using the Persuasive Systems Design model. A database search was conducted to identify relevant articles. Articles were then reviewed using the Persuasive Systems Design model as a framework for analysis. Primary task support, dialogue support, and social support were found to be moderately represented in the selected articles. However, system credibility support was found to have only low levels of representation as a persuasive systems design feature in mobile applications for supporting physical activity. To ensure that available mobile technology resources are best used to improve the wellbeing of people, it is important that the design principles that influence the effectiveness of persuasive technology be understood.

Application of Higuchi's fractal dimension from basic to clinical neurophysiology: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kesić, Srdjan; Spasić, Sladjana Z

2016-09-01

For more than 20 years, Higuchi's fractal dimension (HFD), as a nonlinear method, has occupied an important place in the analysis of biological signals. The use of HFD has evolved from EEG and single neuron activity analysis to the most recent application in automated assessments of different clinical conditions. Our objective is to provide an updated review of the HFD method applied in basic and clinical neurophysiological research. This article summarizes and critically reviews a broad literature and major findings concerning the applications of HFD for measuring the complexity of neuronal activity during different neurophysiological conditions. The source of information used in this review comes from the PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and IEEE Xplore Digital Library databases. The review process substantiated the significance, advantages and shortcomings of HFD application within all key areas of basic and clinical neurophysiology. Therefore, the paper discusses HFD application alone, combined with other linear or nonlinear measures, or as a part of automated methods for analyzing neurophysiological signals. The speed, accuracy and cost of applying the HFD method for research and medical diagnosis make it stand out from the widely used linear methods. However, only a combination of HFD with other nonlinear methods ensures reliable and accurate analysis of a wide range of neurophysiological signals. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Telerehabilitation Store and Forward Applications: A Review of Applications and Privacy Considerations in Physical and Occupational Therapy Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Peterson

2015-01-01

Full Text Available An overview of store and forward applications commonly used in physical and occupational therapy practice is reviewed with respect to regulation, privacy, security, and clinical applications. A privacy and security checklist provides a clear reference of pertinent regulatory issues regarding these software applications. A case study format is used to highlight clinical applications of store and forward software features. Important considerations of successful implementation of store and forward applications are also identified and discussed.

Health related smartphone applications: a literature review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pantelis Stergiannis

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The rapid evolution of technology, has offered access to a variety of applications and technologies to healthcare professionals. New operating systems developed in the field of mobile devices revolutionized the way in which they are used. One of the main features offered by advanced software of a smartphone is the user’s access to a wealth of new, impressive applications across several operating systems for smartphones. The health related applications provided through smartphones, promote more active involvement of patients and healthcare professionals to provided care and are a new tool for improving health. The purpose of this abstract paper or article was to refer to applications currently used in the health sector, indicating specific capabilities they offer through review of electronic literature, focusing on scientific articles published in databases (PubMed, Scopus, etc. referring to the potentials they offer. It seems that several health related applications have been developed, that can be classified into two main categories. One category comprises applications that are informative, i.e. provide information to the user about health issues, allowing a person to read, gather resources to make decisions, but also to introduce its own data. These applications are mostly used by health care professionals. The second major category of applications refers to those related to help with the diagnosis, treatment and decision-making on various health related issues and in some cases take the form of consultancy, substituting the health care professional. As technology advances, the development of new health related applications is expected, specialized, with new features. Finally, the use of such applications by health care professionals is essential.

A review of multifunctional structure technology for aerospace applications

Science.gov (United States)

Sairajan, K. K.; Aglietti, G. S.; Mani, K. M.

2016-03-01

The emerging field of multifunctional structure (MFS) technologies enables the design of systems with reduced mass and volume, thereby improving their overall efficiency. It requires developments in different engineering disciplines and their integration into a single system without degrading their individual performances. MFS is particularly suitable for aerospace applications where mass and volume are critical to the cost of the mission. This article reviews the current state of the art of multifunctional structure technologies relevant to aerospace applications.

Environmental Standard Review Plan for the review of a license application for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility: Environmental report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-04-01

The Environmental Standard Review Plan (ESRP) (NUREG-1300) provides guidance to staff reviewers in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards who perform environmental reviews of environmental reports prepared by applicants in support of license applications to construct and operate new low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. The individual ESRPs that constitute this document identify the information considered necessary to conduct the review, the purpose and scope of the review, the analysis procedure and evaluation, the formal input to the environmental statement, and the references considered appropriate for each review. The ESRP is intended to ensure quality and uniformity of approach in individual reviews as well as compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. In addition, the ESRP will make information about the environmental component of the licensing process more readily available and thereby will serve to improve the understanding of this process among the public, States and regional compacts, and the regulated community

A review of fusion torch applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eastlund, B.J.; Gough, W.C.

1983-01-01

The Fusion Torch is a concept developed in 1968 to propose the investigation of non-electrical uses of the flux of particle and electromagnetic radiation capable of being produced from a fusion plasma (leakage). The proposed applications include direct recycling of material, the use of electromagnetic radiation to produce H 2 fuel and novel methods of heat transfer. The purpose of this paper is to review progress, and to discuss ideas that have resulted from new magnetic containment concepts. The practicality of the Fusion Torch concept for direct recycling with D-T fuel cycles was questioned because of neutron-activation. Since 1968, low neutron fusion reactions have received serious consideration. The economics of adding applications features to a fusion reactor must be studied in relation to specific reactor designs. Calculations are presented to illustrate the large advantages applications could offer for low Q, high circulating power systems such as mirrors, small Tokamaks and linear pinches. Little advantage is predicated for high Q, high thermal efficiency systems typified by large Tokamaks. The production of fuels such as H 2 has received study using high temperature electrolysis, radiation chemistry, and thermochemical cycles. Ore reduction using differential ionization is also described. A summary of applications areas are presented along with ideas on the potential of large scale use of such systems

Indispensable role of biochar-inherent mineral constituents in its environmental applications: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xiaoyun; Zhao, Yinghao; Sima, Jingke; Zhao, Ling; Mašek, Ondřej; Cao, Xinde

2017-10-01

Biochar typically consists of both carbon and mineral fractions, and the carbon fraction has been generally considered to determine its properties and applications. Recently, an increasing body of research has demonstrated that mineral components inherent in biochar, such as alkali or alkaline earth metals in the form of carbonates, phosphates, or oxides, could also influence the properties and thus the applications. The review articles published thus far have mainly focused on multiple environmental and agronomic applications of biochar, including carbon sequestration, soil improvement, environmental remediation, etc. This review aims to highlight the indispensable role of the mineral fraction of biochar in these different applications, especially in environmental applications. Specifically, it provides a critical review of current research findings related to the mineral composition of biochar and the effect of the mineral fraction on the physicochemical properties, contaminant sorption, carbon retention and stability, and nutrient bioavailability of biochar. Furthermore, the role of minerals in the emerging applications of biochar, as a precursor for fuel cells, supercapacitors, and photoactive components, is also summarized. Overall, inherent minerals should be fully considered while determining the most appropriate application for any given biochar. A thorough understanding of the role of biochar-bound minerals in different applications will also allow the design or selection of the most suitable biochar for specific applications based on the consideration of feedstock composition, production parameters, and post-treatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of gold nanoparticles for gastrointestinal cancer theranostics: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Mohan; Harris-Birtill, David C C; Markar, Sheraz R; Hanna, George B; Elson, Daniel S

2015-11-01

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are readily synthesised structures that absorb light strongly to generate thermal energy which induces photothermal destruction of malignant tissue. This review examines the efficacy, potential challenges and toxicity from in vitro and in vivo applications of GNPs in oesophageal, gastric and colon cancers. A systematic literature search of Medline, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane databases was performed using PRISMA guidelines. Two hundred and eighty-four papers were reviewed with sixteen studies meeting the inclusion criteria. The application of GNPs in eleven in vivo rodent studies with GI adenocarcinoma demonstrated excellent therapeutic outcomes but poor corroboration in terms of the cancer cells used, photothermal irradiation regimes, fluorophores and types of nanoparticles. There is compelling evidence of the translational potential of GNPs to be complimentary to surgery and feasible in the photothermal therapy of GI cancer but reproducibility and standardisation require development prior to GI cancer clinical trials. Gold nanoparticles are one of the most potentially useful nanoparticles. This is especially true in cancer therapeutics because of their photothermal properties. In this comprehensive article, the authors reviewed the application and efficacy of gold nanoparticles in both the diagnosis and treatment of GI cancers. This review should provide a stimulus for researchers to further develop and translate these nanoparticles into future clinical trials. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Review on Catalytic Membranes Production and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heba Abdallah

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The development of the chemical industry regarding reducing the production cost and obtaining a high-quality product with low environmental impact became the essential requirements of the world in these days. The catalytic membrane is considered as one of the new alternative solutions of catalysts problems in the industries, where the reaction and separation can be amalgamated in one unit. The catalytic membrane has numerous advantages such as breaking the thermodynamic equilibrium limitation, increasing conversion rate, reducing the recycle and separation costs. But the limitation or most disadvantages of catalytic membranes related to the high capital costs for fabrication or the fact that manufacturing process is still under development. This review article summarizes the most recent advances and research activities related to preparation, characterization, and applications of catalytic membranes. In this article, various types of catalytic membranes are displayed with different applications and explained the positive impacts of using catalytic membranes in various reactions. Copyright © 2017 BCREC Group. All rights reserved. Received: 1st April 2016; Revised: 14th February 2017; Accepted: 22nd February 2017 How to Cite: Abdallah, H. (2017. A Review on Catalytic Membranes Production and Applications. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, 12 (2: 136-156 (doi:10.9767/bcrec.12.2.462.136-156 Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.12.2.462.136-156

Standard Review Plan for the review of a license application for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-04-01

The Standard Review Plan (SRP) (NUREG-1200) provides guidance to staff reviewers in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards who perform safety reviews of applications to construct and operate low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. The SRP ensures the quality and uniformity of the staff reviews and presents a well-defined base from which to evaluate proposed changes in the scope and requirements of the staff reviews. The SRP makes information about the regulatory licensing process widely available and serves to improve the understanding of the staff's review process by interested members of the public and the industry. Each individual SRP addresses the responsibilities of persons performing the review, the matters that are reviewed, the Commission's regulations and acceptance criteria necessary for the review, how the review is accomplished, the conclusions that are appropriate, and the implementation requirements

78 FR 42699 - Application for Review of a Decision of the Wireline Competition Bureau by Dooly County School...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-17

...] Application for Review of a Decision of the Wireline Competition Bureau by Dooly County School System; Schools... part and dismisses in part an Application for Review filed by the Dooly County School System and... applications for review arising from Universal Service Administrative Company-related proceedings. DATES...

78 FR 40507 - Appendix B Guidelines for Reviewing Applications for Compensation and Reimbursement of Expenses...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-05

... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Appendix B Guidelines for Reviewing Applications for Compensation and Reimbursement of Expenses Filed Under United States Code by Attorneys in Larger Chapter 11 Cases; Correction... reviewing applications for compensation and reimbursement of expenses filed by attorneys in larger chapter...

A review of the probabilistic safety assessment application to the TR-2 research reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goektepe, G.; Adalioglu, U.; Anac, H.; Sevdik, B.; Menteseoglu, S.

2001-01-01

A review of the Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) to the TR-2 Research Reactor is presented. The level 1 PSA application involved: selection of accident initiators, mitigating functions and system definitions, event tree constructions and quantification, fault tree constructions and quantification, human reliability, component failure data base development, dependent failure analysis. Each of the steps of the analysis given above is reviewed briefly with highlights from the selected results. PSA application is found to be a practical tool for research reactor safety due to intense involvement of human interactions in an experimental facility. Insights gained from the application of PSA methodology to the TR-2 research reactor led to a significant safety review of the system

Review of Compact Commercial Accelerator Products and Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Jongen, Y.

1997-05-01

Historically, particle accelerators were developed initially for nuclear, then for particle physics research. From this research resulted applications of accelerators in the field of medicine and industry. These application-oriented accelerators are generally built commercially, and they often emphasize other qualities than the accelerators for research. The research applications frequently require energies or beam qualities at the limit of the existing technologies. They offer the largest flexibility in term of particles and beam properties, but are more complex, more expensive and often require large and highly qualified staff to operate and maintain them. In contrast, most applications are done with low to moderate energy protons or electrons, but often with large average beam power. The accelerators are generally specialized for a specific application, and are therefore very simple and inexpensive to operate. The author will review some applications in the field of medicine, such as the production of radio-isotopes for medical diagnostic or the production of electrons, protons or fast neutron beams for cancer therapy. In the industrial field, high power electron beam are used for sterilization and for the modification of materials. Log No. 1001

Public perceptions of agrifood applications of Genetic modification – A systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frewer, L.J.; Lans, van der I.A.; Fischer, A.R.H.; Reinders, M.J.; Menozzi, D.; Zhang, X.Y.; Berg, van den I.; Zimmermann, K.L.

2012-01-01

An extensive literature relating to public perceptions of genetically modified foods applied to agri-food production has been identified through the process of systematic review. Application of systematic review criteria indicated that 335 papers were of appropriate quality or relevance to be

Plasma in dentistry: a review of basic concepts and applications in dentistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jae-Hoon; Lee, Mi-Ae; Han, Geum-Jun; Cho, Byeong-Hoon

2014-01-01

Plasma-related technologies are essential in modern industries. Recently, plasma has attracted increased attention in the biomedical field. This paper provides a basic knowledge of plasma and a narrative review of plasma applications in dentistry. To review plasma applications in dentistry, an electronic search in PubMed, SCOPUS and Google scholar up to December 2012 was done. This was followed by extensive hand searching using reference lists from relevant articles. There have been attempts to apply plasma technology in various fields of dentistry including surface modifications of dental implants, adhesion, caries treatment, endodontic treatment and tooth bleaching. Although many studies were in early stages, the potential value of plasma for dental applications has been demonstrated. To enlarge the scope of plasma applications and put relevant research to practical use, interdisciplinary research with participation of dental professionals is required.

Mobile Health Applications for Pediatric Care: Review and Comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Morse, Samantha Sangie; Murugiah, Muthu Kumar; Soh, Yee Chang; Wong, Tin Wui; Ming, Long Chiau

2018-05-01

Despite the surge in mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) about pediatric care in commercial app stores, to our knowledge, reviews of the quality of such apps are lacking. Consequently, it is a great challenge for health care professionals (HCPs) to identify appropriate and reliable mHealth apps for delivering health care services. Thus, we performed a structured review of the extant literature about mHealth apps in pediatric care and quality assessment of selected apps found in commercial app stores. A review and comparison of mHealth apps in pediatric care found in Google's Play Store (Android system) and Apple's App Store (iOS system) were performed. For the structured review of the available literature, Google Scholar, PubMed, IEEE Xplore Digital Library, and Science Direct online databases were used for the literature search. The assessment criteria used for comparison included requirement for Internet connection, size of application, information on disease, diagnostic tools, medical calculator, information on disease treatments, dosage recommendations, and drug interaction checker. Fifty mHealth apps for general pediatric care and 8 mHealth apps for specific pediatric diseases were discussed in the literature. Of the 90 mHealth apps we reviewed, 27 that fulfilled the study criteria were selected for quality assessment. Medscape, Skyscape, and iGuideline scored the highest (score=7), while PediaBP scored the lowest (score=3). Medscape, Skyscape, and iGuideline are the most comprehensive mHealth apps for HCPs as quick references for pediatric care. More studies about mHealth apps in pediatric care are warranted to ensure the quality and reliability of mHealth apps.

A review on nanomechanical resonators and their applications in sensors and molecular transportation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arash, Behrouz; Rabczuk, Timon; Jiang, Jin-Wu

2015-01-01

Nanotechnology has opened a new area in science and engineering, leading to the development of novel nano-electromechanical systems such as nanoresonators with ultra-high resonant frequencies. The ultra-high-frequency resonators facilitate wide-ranging applications such as ultra-high sensitive sensing, molecular transportation, molecular separation, high-frequency signal processing, and biological imaging. This paper reviews recent studies on dynamic characteristics of nanoresonators. A variety of theoretical approaches, i.e., continuum modeling, molecular simulations, and multiscale methods, in modeling of nanoresonators are reviewed. The potential application of nanoresonators in design of sensor devices and molecular transportation systems is introduced. The essence of nanoresonator sensors for detection of atoms and molecules with vibration and wave propagation analyses is outlined. The sensitivity of the resonator sensors and their feasibility in detecting different atoms and molecules are particularly discussed. Furthermore, the applicability of molecular transportation using the propagation of mechanical waves in nanoresonators is presented. An extended application of the transportation methods for building nanofiltering systems with ultra-high selectivity is surveyed. The article aims to provide an up-to-date review on the mechanical properties and applications of nanoresonators, and inspire additional potential of the resonators

A review on nanomechanical resonators and their applications in sensors and molecular transportation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arash, Behrouz; Rabczuk, Timon, E-mail: timon.rabczuk@uni-weimar.de [Institute of Structural Mechanics, Bauhaus Universität Weimar, Marienstr 15, D-99423 Weimar (Germany); Jiang, Jin-Wu [Shanghai Institute of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mechanics in Energy Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072 (China)

2015-06-15

Nanotechnology has opened a new area in science and engineering, leading to the development of novel nano-electromechanical systems such as nanoresonators with ultra-high resonant frequencies. The ultra-high-frequency resonators facilitate wide-ranging applications such as ultra-high sensitive sensing, molecular transportation, molecular separation, high-frequency signal processing, and biological imaging. This paper reviews recent studies on dynamic characteristics of nanoresonators. A variety of theoretical approaches, i.e., continuum modeling, molecular simulations, and multiscale methods, in modeling of nanoresonators are reviewed. The potential application of nanoresonators in design of sensor devices and molecular transportation systems is introduced. The essence of nanoresonator sensors for detection of atoms and molecules with vibration and wave propagation analyses is outlined. The sensitivity of the resonator sensors and their feasibility in detecting different atoms and molecules are particularly discussed. Furthermore, the applicability of molecular transportation using the propagation of mechanical waves in nanoresonators is presented. An extended application of the transportation methods for building nanofiltering systems with ultra-high selectivity is surveyed. The article aims to provide an up-to-date review on the mechanical properties and applications of nanoresonators, and inspire additional potential of the resonators.

Application of neural network in market segmentation: A review on recent trends

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manojit Chattopadhyay

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Despite the significance of Artificial Neural Network (ANN algorithm to market segmentation, there is a need of a comprehensive literature review and a classification system for it towards identification of future trend of market segmentation research. The present work is the first identifiable academic literature review of the application of neural network based techniques to segmentation. Our study has provided an academic database of literature between the periods of 2000–2010 and proposed a classification scheme for the articles. One thousands (1000 articles have been identified, and around 100 relevant selected articles have been subsequently reviewed and classified based on the major focus of each paper. Findings of this study indicated that the research area of ANN based applications are receiving most research attention and self organizing map based applications are second in position to be used in segmentation. The commonly used models for market segmentation are data mining, intelligent system etc. Our analysis furnishes a roadmap to guide future research and aid knowledge accretion and establishment pertaining to the application of ANN based techniques in market segmentation. Thus the present work will significantly contribute to both the industry and academic research in business and marketing as a sustainable valuable knowledge source of market segmentation with the future trend of ANN application in segmentation.

Seed lipases: sources, applications and properties - a review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Barros

2010-03-01

Full Text Available This paper provides an overview regarding the main aspects of seed lipases, such as the reactions catalyzed, physiological functions, specificities, sources and applications. Lipases are ubiquitous in nature and are produced by several plants, animals and microorganisms. These enzymes exhibit several very interesting features, such as low cost and easy purification, which make their commercial exploitation as industrial enzymes a potentially attractive alternative. The applications of lipases in food, detergents, oils and fats, medicines and fine chemistry, effluent treatment, biodiesel production and in the cellulose pulp industry, as well as the main sources of oilseed and cereal seed lipases, are reviewed.

A Review on the Applications of Crowdsourcing in Human Pathology

Science.gov (United States)

Alialy, Roshanak; Tavakkol, Sasan; Tavakkol, Elham; Ghorbani-Aghbologhi, Amir; Ghaffarieh, Alireza; Kim, Seon Ho; Shahabi, Cyrus

2018-01-01

The advent of the digital pathology has introduced new avenues of diagnostic medicine. Among them, crowdsourcing has attracted researchers’ attention in the recent years, allowing them to engage thousands of untrained individuals in research and diagnosis. While there exist several articles in this regard, prior works have not collectively documented them. We, therefore, aim to review the applications of crowdsourcing in human pathology in a semi-systematic manner. We first, introduce a novel method to do a systematic search of the literature. Utilizing this method, we, then, collect hundreds of articles and screen them against a predefined set of criteria. Furthermore, we crowdsource part of the screening process, to examine another potential application of crowdsourcing. Finally, we review the selected articles and characterize the prior uses of crowdsourcing in pathology. PMID:29531847

Molecular structure, functionality and applications of oxidized starches: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanier, Nathan Levien; El Halal, Shanise Lisie Mello; Dias, Alvaro Renato Guerra; da Rosa Zavareze, Elessandra

2017-04-15

During oxidation, the hydroxyl groups of starch molecules are first oxidized to carbonyl groups, then to carboxyl groups. The contents of the carbonyl and carboxyl groups in a starch molecule therefore indicate the extent of starch oxidation. The mechanisms of starch oxidation with different oxidizing agents, including sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, ozone and sodium periodate, are described in this review. The effects of these oxidizing agents on the molecular, physicochemical, thermal, pasting and morphological properties of starch are described as well. In addition, the main industrial applications of oxidized starches are presented. The present review is important for understanding the effects of oxidation on starch properties, and this information may facilitate the development of novel oxidized starches for both food and non-food applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A review on the applications of crowdsourcing in human pathology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roshanak Alialy

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The advent of the digital pathology has introduced new avenues of diagnostic medicine. Among them, crowdsourcing has attracted researchers' attention in the recent years, allowing them to engage thousands of untrained individuals in research and diagnosis. While there exist several articles in this regard, prior works have not collectively documented them. We, therefore, aim to review the applications of crowdsourcing in human pathology in a semi-systematic manner. We first, introduce a novel method to do a systematic search of the literature. Utilizing this method, we, then, collect hundreds of articles and screen them against a predefined set of criteria. Furthermore, we crowdsource part of the screening process, to examine another potential application of crowdsourcing. Finally, we review the selected articles and characterize the prior uses of crowdsourcing in pathology.

A review of stimuli-responsive polymers for smart textile applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, Jinlian; Meng, Harper; Li, Guoqiang; Ibekwe, Samuel I

2012-01-01

Stimuli-responsive polymers (SRPs) are smart materials which can show noticeable changes in their properties with environmental stimulus variations. Novel functionalities can be delivered to textiles by integrating smart SRPs into them. SRPs inclusive of thermal-responsive polymers, moisture-responsive polymers, thermal-responsive hydrogels, pH-responsive hydrogels, and light-responsive polymers have been applied in textiles to improve or achieve textile smart functionalities. The functionalities include aesthetic appeal, comfort, textile soft display, smart controlled drug release, fantasy design with color changing, wound monitoring, smart wetting properties and protection against extreme variations in environmental conditions. In this review, the applications of SRPs in the textile and clothing sector are elucidated; the associated constraints in fabrication processes for textiles and their potential applications in the near future are discussed. (topical review)

Applications of Desensitization Procedures for School-Related Problems; A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Prout, H. Thompson; Harvey, John R.

1978-01-01

A variety of desensitization and counterconditioning procedures have been utilized to deal with school-related problems. These procedures are reviewed with respect to applications for treating school phobia, test anxiety, and other academic anxieties. (Author)

Application of Electrokinetic Stabilisation (EKS) Method for Soft Soil: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Azhar, ATS; Azim, MAM; Syakeera, NN; Jefferson, IF; Rogers, CDF

2017-08-01

Soil properties such as low shear strength, excessive compression, collapsing behavior, high swell potential are some of the undesirable properties of soils in geotechnical engineering and those properties would cause severe distress to the structures. To solve these, an innovative stabilization of Electrokinetic (EKS) has been introduced. Electrokinetic is an applicable technique to transport charged particles and fluid in an electric potential. The EKS demonstrates changes in soil pH due to electrolysis reactions, water flow between the electrodes and migration of ions towards the cathode. This treatment has proven its efficiency in consolidating organic, peat and clayey silt as well as less expensive than other methods. Otherwise, this method also gives advantage by not disturbing site. The primary objective of this review is to discuss the application of electrokinetic and to investigate the current knowledge of electrokinetic in geotechnical application through a literature search and review, including consideration of certain aspects related to the soft soil application that may be relevant to the future study and at the same time addressing some key issues and their implications on soil behaviors.

Functionalization of carbon nanotubes and its application in nanomedicine: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamidreza Sadegh

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This review focuses on the latest developments in applications of carbon nanotubes (CNTs in medicine. A brief history of CNTs and a general introduction to the field are presented. Then, surface modification of CNTs that makes them ideal for use in medical applications is highlighted. Examples of common applications, including cell penetration, drug delivery, gene delivery and imaging, are given. At the same time, there are concerns about their possible adverse effects on human health, since there is evidence that exposure to CNTs induces toxic effects in experimental models. However, CNTs are not a single substance but a growing family of different materials possibly eliciting different biological responses. As a consequence, the hazards associated with the exposure of humans to the different forms of CNTs may be different. Understanding the structure–toxicity relationships would help towards the assessment of the risk related to these materials. Finally, toxicity of CNTs, are discussed. This review article overviews the most recent applications of CNTs in Nanomedicine, covering the period from 1991 to early 2015.

Review of Mechanics and Applications of Auxetic Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariam Mir

2014-01-01

Full Text Available One of the important mechanical properties of materials is Poisson’s ratio, which is positive for most of the materials. However, certain materials exhibit “auxetic” properties; that is, they have a negative Poisson’s ratio. Thus auxetic and non-auxetic materials exhibit different deformation mechanisms. A specific microscopic structure in the auxetic materials is important for maintaining a negative Poisson’s ratio. Based on their distinct nature auxetic materials execute certain unique properties in contrast to other materials, which are reviewed in this paper. Thus auxetic materials have important applications in the biomedical field which are also a part of this review article. Many auxetic materials have been discovered, fabricated, and synthesized which differ on the basis of structure, scale and deformation mechanism. The different types of auxetic materials such as auxetic cellular solids, microscopic auxetic polymers, molecular auxetic materials, and auxetic composites have been reviewed comprehensively in this paper. Modeling of auxetic structures is of considerable importance and needs appropriate stress strain configurations; thus different aspects of auxetic modeling have also been reviewed. Packing parameters and relative densities are of prime importance in this regard. This review would thus help the researchers in determining and deciding the various aspects of auxetic nature for their products.

Therapeutic Applications of Interleukin 24 (IL24): A Review ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

IL24 has growth suppressive properties in a wide variety of human cancer cell lines without inducing harmful effects in normal cells. This review is focused on the role of IL 24 on tumor cell biology and its potential therapeutic applications. Keywords: Melanoma differentiation, Protein, Therapeutics, Interleukin, ...

Review of thermal energy storage technologies based on PCM application in buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pomianowski, Michal Zbigniew; Heiselberg, Per; Zhang, Yinping

2013-01-01

Thermal energy storage systems (TES), using phase change material (PCM) in buildings, are widely investigated technologies and a fast developing research area. Therefore, there is a need for regular and consistent reviews of the published studies. This review is focused on PCM technologies...... is paid to discussion and identification of proper methods to correctly determine the thermal properties of PCM materials and their composites and as well procedures to determine their energy storage and saving potential. The purpose of the paper is to highlight promising technologies for PCM application...... developed to serve the building industry. Various PCM technologies tailored for building applications are studied with respect to technological potential to improve indoor environment, increase thermal inertia and decrease energy use for building operation. What is more, in this review special attention...

Standard review plan for applications for sealed source and device evaluations and registrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-11-01

The purpose of this document is to provide the reviewer of a request for a sealed source or device safety evaluation with the information and materials necessary to make a determination that the product is acceptable for licensing purposes. It provides the reviewer with a listing of the applicable regulations and industry standards, policies affecting evaluation and registration, certain administrative procedures to be followed, and information on how to perform the evaluation and write the registration certificate. Standard review plans are prepared for the guidance of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards staff responsible for the review of a sealed source or device application. This document is made available to the public as part of the Commission's policy to inform the nuclear industry and the general public of regulatory procedures and policies. Standard review plans are not substitutes for regulatory guides or the Commission's regulations and compliance with them is not required

Standard review plan for applications for sealed source and device evaluations and registrations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-11-01

The purpose of this document is to provide the reviewer of a request for a sealed source or device safety evaluation with the information and materials necessary to make a determination that the product is acceptable for licensing purposes. It provides the reviewer with a listing of the applicable regulations and industry standards, policies affecting evaluation and registration, certain administrative procedures to be followed, and information on how to perform the evaluation and write the registration certificate. Standard review plans are prepared for the guidance of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards staff responsible for the review of a sealed source or device application. This document is made available to the public as part of the Commission`s policy to inform the nuclear industry and the general public of regulatory procedures and policies. Standard review plans are not substitutes for regulatory guides or the Commission`s regulations and compliance with them is not required.

Fabrication, Properties and Applications of Dense Hydroxyapatite: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Prakasam, Mythili; Locs, Janis; Salma-Ancane, Kristine; Loca, Dagnija; Largeteau, Alain; Berzina-Cimdina, Liga

2015-01-01

In the last five decades, there have been vast advances in the field of biomaterials, including ceramics, glasses, glass-ceramics and metal alloys. Dense and porous ceramics have been widely used for various biomedical applications. Current applications of bioceramics include bone grafts, spinal fusion, bone repairs, bone fillers, maxillofacial reconstruction, etc. Amongst the various calcium phosphate compositions, hydroxyapatite, which has a composition similar to human bone, has attracted wide interest. Much emphasis is given to tissue engineering, both in porous and dense ceramic forms. The current review focusses on the various applications of dense hydroxyapatite and other dense biomaterials on the aspects of transparency and the mechanical and electrical behavior. Prospective future applications, established along the aforesaid applications of hydroxyapatite, appear to be promising regarding bone bonding, advanced medical treatment methods, improvement of the mechanical strength of artificial bone grafts and better in vitro/in vivo methodologies to afford more particular outcomes. PMID:26703750

Fabrication, Properties and Applications of Dense Hydroxyapatite: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mythili Prakasam

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In the last five decades, there have been vast advances in the field of biomaterials, including ceramics, glasses, glass-ceramics and metal alloys. Dense and porous ceramics have been widely used for various biomedical applications. Current applications of bioceramics include bone grafts, spinal fusion, bone repairs, bone fillers, maxillofacial reconstruction, etc. Amongst the various calcium phosphate compositions, hydroxyapatite, which has a composition similar to human bone, has attracted wide interest. Much emphasis is given to tissue engineering, both in porous and dense ceramic forms. The current review focusses on the various applications of dense hydroxyapatite and other dense biomaterials on the aspects of transparency and the mechanical and electrical behavior. Prospective future applications, established along the aforesaid applications of hydroxyapatite, appear to be promising regarding bone bonding, advanced medical treatment methods, improvement of the mechanical strength of artificial bone grafts and better in vitro/in vivo methodologies to afford more particular outcomes.

Applications of micro/nanoparticles in microfluidic sensors: a review.

KAUST Repository

Jiang, Yusheng

2014-04-21

This paper reviews the applications of micro/nanoparticles in microfluidics device fabrication and analytical processing. In general, researchers have focused on two properties of particles--electric behavior and magnetic behavior. The applications of micro/nanoparticles could be summarized on the chip fabrication level and on the processing level. In the fabrication of microfluidic chips (chip fabrication level), particles are good additives in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to prepare conductive or magnetic composites which have wide applications in sensors, valves and actuators. On the other hand, particles could be manipulated according to their electric and magnetic properties under external electric and magnetic fields when they are travelling in microchannels (processing level). Researchers have made a great progress in preparing modified PDMS and investigating the behaviors of particles in microchannels. This article attempts to present a discussion on the basis of particles applications in microfluidics.

A comprehensive review on graphene nanofluids: Recent research, development and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sadeghinezhad, Emad; Mehrali, Mohammad; Saidur, R.; Mehrali, Mehdi; Tahan Latibari, Sara; Akhiani, Amir Reza; Metselaar, Hendrik Simon Cornelis

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Recent advances in graphene nanofluids are reviewed. • Reviews heat transfer and critical heat flux of graphene nanofluid. • Identifies important results, inconsistence and contradictions of the topics. • Needs in future research in this subject are discussed. - Abstract: An overview of experimental results about the heat transfer capabilities of graphene nanofluids is reviewed. It shows that a number of publications are available on this issue and only few studies provide quantitative estimates on a complete set of experimental conditions so far. This research work includes experimental results about the capabilities of graphene nanofluids and summarizes the recent progress on preparation and evaluation methods, the ways to enhance the stability of graphene nanofluids and future applications in various fields of energy. Thermo-physical and optical properties of graphene nanofluids along with the heat transfer performance have also been reported in this review paper. Various challenges associated with the use of graphene nanofluids in actual applications has also been reported. It is expected that it could be a quick reference guide to have an overview of the different heat transfer phenomena in graphene nanofluids and the most essential parameters that influence the expected thermal performance of graphene nanofluids.

A review on shape memory alloys with applications to morphing aircraft

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbarino, S; Saavedra Flores, E I; Ajaj, R M; Dayyani, I; Friswell, M I

2014-01-01

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are a unique class of metallic materials with the ability to recover their original shape at certain characteristic temperatures (shape memory effect), even under high applied loads and large inelastic deformations, or to undergo large strains without plastic deformation or failure (super-elasticity). In this review, we describe the main features of SMAs, their constitutive models and their properties. We also review the fatigue behavior of SMAs and some methods adopted to remove or reduce its undesirable effects. SMAs have been used in a wide variety of applications in different fields. In this review, we focus on the use of shape memory alloys in the context of morphing aircraft, with particular emphasis on variable twist and camber, and also on actuation bandwidth and reduction of power consumption. These applications prove particularly challenging because novel configurations are adopted to maximize integration and effectiveness of SMAs, which play the role of an actuator (using the shape memory effect), often combined with structural, load-carrying capabilities. Iterative and multi-disciplinary modeling is therefore necessary due to the fluid–structure interaction combined with the nonlinear behavior of SMAs. (topical review)

Drug Delivery and Cosmeceutical Applications of Poly- Lactic Acid Based Novel Constructs - A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz-Ruiz, Federico; Mancera-Andrade, Elena Ivonne; Parra-Saldivar, Roberto; Keshavarz, Tajalli; Iqbal, Hafiz M N

2017-01-01

Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) based novel constructs have been engineered for targeted applications in various biomedical sectors of the modern world. In this context, a special focus has been given to pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries. In this review, we extensively reviewed, analyzed and compiled salient information from the authentic bibliographic sources including PubMed, Scopus, Elsevier, Springer, Bentham Science and other scientific databases. A focused review question and inclusion/exclusion criterion were adopted to appraise the quality of retrieved peer-reviewed research literature. Recently, bio-based constructs are being engineered for target applications in different bio- and non-bio sectors of the modern world to address the growing human health-related serious concerns. The utilization of properly designed and structured materials thus allows the creation of a well-defined environment that induces a series of directed measures, and so on. Over the last few years, PLA-based novel constructs have received exceptional attention as potential candidates for various biotechnological and biomedical applications at large and drug delivery in particular. Owing to their unique characteristics including biocompatibility, together with the adjustable thermomechanical and tunable control drug release, PLA has raised interesting applications in many sectors of the medical world. So far, many of such PLA-based bio-constructs have been exploited in drug delivery systems, cosmeceutical products, and therapeutic uses. In recent years, many new applications have been reported for PLA-based materials at the micro- and nano- level, resulting in novel requests for specific drug delivery and cosmeceutical sectors. In summary, this review summarizes recent research on different aspects of PLA and PLA-based novel constructs and their potential biomedical applications. Moreover, with the aid of nanotechnology, PLA has made a positive impact in emerging sectors such as

Acoustic emission: technical review for PWR applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bentley, P.G.

1981-07-01

Acoustic emission has been studied since the early 1960's, particularly with a view to periodic or continuous monitoring of steel pressure vessels. In the years 1970-75 it was realised that ductile steels, used in nuclear vessels, give small amplitude signals which are barely detectable by available instruments. The technique for application in periodic or continuous monitoring and also as applied to leak detection and weld fabrication monitoring is reviewed. It is concluded that manufacturing defects may be detectable during pre-service hydrotest, but that there is insufficient evidence on which to base an estimate of detection probability. In-service hydrotest or continuous monitoring is unlikely to detect growing cracks because of the quiet nature of the material and the noisy reactor background. Both leak detection and fabrication weld monitoring show some promise of successful application in the future. (author)

Applications of Augmented Reality in Informal Science Learning Sites: a Review

Science.gov (United States)

Goff, Eric E.; Mulvey, Kelly Lynn; Irvin, Matthew J.; Hartstone-Rose, Adam

2018-05-01

The importance of increasing interest in the STEM disciplines has been noted in a number of recent national reports. While many previous studies have focused on such efforts inside of the formal classroom, comparatively few have looked closely at informal learning environments. We investigate the innovative use of technology in informal learning by reviewing research on the incorporation of augmented reality (AR) at exhibit-based informal science education (ISE) settings in the literature. We report on the common STEM-focused topics that are covered by current AR applications for ISE learning, as well as the different devices used to support these applications. Additionally, we report on the prevalence of positive learning outcomes and engagement factors commonly associated with the use AR applications in informal environments. This review aims to foster continued development and implementation of AR technology in exhibit-based ISE settings by informing the community of recent findings and promoting additional rigorous research for the future.

Applications of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT): A Short Review

Science.gov (United States)

Kanti Bera, Tushar

2018-03-01

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is a tomographic imaging method which solves an ill posed inverse problem using the boundary voltage-current data collected from the surface of the object under test. Though the spatial resolution is comparatively low compared to conventional tomographic imaging modalities, due to several advantages EIT has been studied for a number of applications such as medical imaging, material engineering, civil engineering, biotechnology, chemical engineering, MEMS and other fields of engineering and applied sciences. In this paper, the applications of EIT have been reviewed and presented as a short summary. The working principal, instrumentation and advantages are briefly discussed followed by a detail discussion on the applications of EIT technology in different areas of engineering, technology and applied sciences.

Calcium polysulphide, its applications and emerging risk of environmental pollution-a review article.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahlawi, Saad Mohammed; Siddiqui, Samreen

2017-01-01

Easy availability, preparation technique, and economic value make calcium polysulphide (CaS x ) a very useful inorganic chemical for various field and industrial applications. In this article, disparate applications of CaS x solution have been reviewed to suggest potential and future consolidation. This article also encompasses the physiochemical properties and production of CaS x solution, with critical appraisal on research focusing on CaS x application in agriculture industries and removal of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from the environment. The kinetics of CaS x , technical issues associated with optimization of its dosage and environmental fate is also discussed in detail. This study covers almost all of the peer-reviewed research that has been performed since 1914. Some of the critiques in this article include the lack of integration between the exposure effect and the efficiency of treatment method, effects of oxidizing environments on the long-term performance of CaS x solution, and kinetics of CaS x solution with the PTEs. The working model of CaS x with PTEs is still system dependent, and therefore cannot be used with other applications. The kinetics of CaS x is described in detail with various phase stoichiometric reactions. Environmental fate is discussed based on applications, government reports, peer-reviewed articles and kinetics of CaS x , which provides a clear picture of emerging contaminants in the environment in relation to the insect resistance and ecotoxicology. Real time, lab based research articles are needed to identify toxicity limits of CaS x in environment in order to describe its effective permissible limit in environmental system. This review article provides a risk assessment of environmental pollution by CaS x based on its physicochemical characteristic, stoichiometry, kinetics, field, and industrial applications.

Schumann Resonances and Their Potential Applications: a Review Article

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amal Fathi Alrais

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Schumann resonances is an important topic gains great interest in research areas which has extensive use of Schumann resonances in a variety of desplines such as biological evolutionary processes, the optimal functioning of the human brain waves and lightning-related studies. Materials and Methods: This dictates the major emphasis on economic, environmental, and engineering applications and hazard assessments in the form of earthquake and volcano monitoring. Results: This review is aimed at the reader generally unfamiliar with the Schumann Resonances. It is our hope that this review will increase the interest in SR among researchers previously unfamiliar with this phenomenon. Discussion and Conclusions: In this review paper, a brief introduction about Schumann resonances is presented. A general description of Earth’s ionosphere is outlined. The electromagnetic waves spectrum from lightning is discussed. The history of Schumann resonances is briefly presented. The connection of man with nature through Schumann resonances is introduced. Present Schumann resonances researches are briefly outlined. Schumann (global electromagnetic resonances in the cavity Earth – ionosphere play a critical role in all biological evolutionary processes. However, there is a great need for independent research into the bio-compatibility between natural and manmade signals. Serious attention must now be paid to the possible biological role of standing waves in the atmosphere. Being a global phenomenon, Schumann resonances have numerous applications in lightning research.

Nanotechnology applications in hematological malignancies (Review)

Science.gov (United States)

SAMIR, AHMED; ELGAMAL, BASMA M; GABR, HALA; SABAAWY, HATEM E

2015-01-01

A major limitation to current cancer therapies is the development of therapy-related side-effects and dose limiting complications. Moreover, a better understanding of the biology of cancer cells and the mechanisms of resistance to therapy is rapidly developing. The translation of advanced knowledge and discoveries achieved at the molecular level must be supported by advanced diagnostic, therapeutic and delivery technologies to translate these discoveries into useful tools that are essential in achieving progress in the war against cancer. Nanotechnology can play an essential role in this aspect providing a transforming technology that can translate the basic and clinical findings into novel diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive tools useful in different types of cancer. Hematological malignancies represent a specific class of cancer, which attracts special attention in the applications of nanotechnology for cancer diagnosis and treatment. The aim of the present review is to elucidate the emerging applications of nanotechnology in cancer management and describe the potentials of nanotechnology in changing the key fundamental aspects of hematological malignancy diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. PMID:26134389

A Review on Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite and Its Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Layth Mohammed

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Natural fibers are getting attention from researchers and academician to utilize in polymer composites due to their ecofriendly nature and sustainability. The aim of this review article is to provide a comprehensive review of the foremost appropriate as well as widely used natural fiber reinforced polymer composites (NFPCs and their applications. In addition, it presents summary of various surface treatments applied to natural fibers and their effect on NFPCs properties. The properties of NFPCs vary with fiber type and fiber source as well as fiber structure. The effects of various chemical treatments on the mechanical and thermal properties of natural fibers reinforcements thermosetting and thermoplastics composites were studied. A number of drawbacks of NFPCs like higher water absorption, inferior fire resistance, and lower mechanical properties limited its applications. Impacts of chemical treatment on the water absorption, tribology, viscoelastic behavior, relaxation behavior, energy absorption flames retardancy, and biodegradability properties of NFPCs were also highlighted. The applications of NFPCs in automobile and construction industry and other applications are demonstrated. It concluded that chemical treatment of the natural fiber improved adhesion between the fiber surface and the polymer matrix which ultimately enhanced physicomechanical and thermochemical properties of the NFPCs.

Transport in nanofluidic systems: a review of theory and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sparreboom, W; Van den Berg, A; Eijkel, J C T

2010-01-01

In this paper transport through nanochannels is assessed, both of liquids and of dissolved molecules or ions. First, we review principles of transport at the nanoscale, which will involve the identification of important length scales where transitions in behavior occur. We also present several important consequences that a high surface-to-volume ratio has for transport. We review liquid slip, chemical equilibria between solution and wall molecules, molecular adsorption to the channel walls and wall surface roughness. We also identify recent developments and trends in the field of nanofluidics, mention key differences with microfluidic transport and review applications. Novel opportunities are emphasized, made possible by the unique behavior of liquids at the nanoscale.

30 CFR 773.9 - Review of applicant, operator, and ownership and control information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... operator's organizational structure and ownership or control relationships. (b) We must conduct the review... and control information. 773.9 Section 773.9 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION....9 Review of applicant, operator, and ownership and control information. (a) We, the regulatory...

Preparation, characteristics, convection and applications of magnetic nanofluids: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Aditya; Subudhi, Sudhakar

2018-02-01

Magnetic nanofluids (MNfs), the colloidal suspension of ferromagnetic nanomaterial, have been taken into research fascinatingly. After contemplating its distinctive interesting properties and unique eximious features it offers innumerous application not only in heat transfer field but also immensely prevalent in medical, biological, aerospace, electronics and solar sciences. This review paper epitomizes and perusing the research work done on heat transfer application of MNfs and encapsulate it for the future research support. Moreover, numerical and experimental, both the approaches has been included for the insightful analysis of phenomenon to apprehend augmentation in heat transfer by MNfs. This article first underlines the importance of appropriate methods of preparation of MNfs as well as its effects on the thermophysical properties of MNfs. Subsequently, the paper comprehended the descriptive analysis of augmentation of convection heat transfer and the effect of magnetic field on the behavior MNfs. Additionally, the effect of magnetic field intensity has been taken as a pertinent parameter and correlations have been developed for thermal conductivity, viscosity and heat transfer coefficient based on the reviewed data. The paper concluded with the tremendous applications of the MNfs and the futuristic plan to support the potential areas for future research.

Inulin, a flexible oligosaccharide. II : Review of its pharmaceutical applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mensink, Maarten A; Frijlink, Henderik W; van der Voort Maarschalk, Kees; Hinrichs, Wouter L J

2015-01-01

Inulin is a flexible oligosaccharide which has been used primarily in food for decades. Recently new applications in the pharmaceutical arena were described. In a previous review (Mensink et al. (2015). Carbohydrate Polymers, 130, 405) we described the physicochemical characteristics of inulin,

Review on thin-film transistor technology, its applications, and possible new applications to biological cells

Science.gov (United States)

Tixier-Mita, Agnès; Ihida, Satoshi; Ségard, Bertrand-David; Cathcart, Grant A.; Takahashi, Takuya; Fujita, Hiroyuki; Toshiyoshi, Hiroshi

2016-04-01

This paper presents a review on state-of-the-art of thin-film transistor (TFT) technology and its wide range of applications, not only in liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs), but also in sensing devices. The history of the evolution of the technology is first given. Then the standard applications of TFT-LCDs, and X-ray detectors, followed by state-of-the-art applications in the field of chemical and biochemical sensing are presented. TFT technology allows the fabrication of dense arrays of independent and transparent microelectrodes on large glass substrates. The potential of these devices as electrical substrates for biological cell applications is then described. The possibility of using TFT array substrates as new tools for electrical experiments on biological cells has been investigated for the first time by our group. Dielectrophoresis experiments and impedance measurements on yeast cells are presented here. Their promising results open the door towards new applications of TFT technology.

Applications of nanotechnology in wastewater treatment--a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bora, Tanujjal; Dutta, Joydeep

2014-01-01

Water on Earth is a precious and finite resource, which is endlessly recycled in the water cycle. Water, whose physical, chemical, or biological properties have been altered due to the addition of contaminants such as organic/inorganic materials, pathogens, heavy metals or other toxins making it unsafe for the ecosystem, can be termed as wastewater. Various schemes have been adopted by industries across the world to treat wastewater prior to its release to the ecosystem, and several new concepts and technologies are fast replacing the traditional methods. This article briefly reviews the recent advances and application of nanotechnology for wastewater treatment. Nanomaterials typically have high reactivity and a high degree of functionalization, large specific surface area, size-dependent properties etc., which makes them suitable for applications in wastewater treatment and for water purification. In this article, the application of various nanomaterials such as metal nanoparticles, metal oxides, carbon compounds, zeolite, filtration membranes, etc., in the field of wastewater treatment is discussed.

A Review of Flywheel Energy Storage System Technologies and Their Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mustafa E. Amiryar

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Energy storage systems (ESS provide a means for improving the efficiency of electrical systems when there are imbalances between supply and demand. Additionally, they are a key element for improving the stability and quality of electrical networks. They add flexibility into the electrical system by mitigating the supply intermittency, recently made worse by an increased penetration of renewable generation. One energy storage technology now arousing great interest is the flywheel energy storage systems (FESS, since this technology can offer many advantages as an energy storage solution over the alternatives. Flywheels have attributes of a high cycle life, long operational life, high round-trip efficiency, high power density, low environmental impact, and can store megajoule (MJ levels of energy with no upper limit when configured in banks. This paper presents a critical review of FESS in regards to its main components and applications, an approach not captured in earlier reviews. Additionally, earlier reviews do not include the most recent literature in this fast-moving field. A description of the flywheel structure and its main components is provided, and different types of electric machines, power electronics converter topologies, and bearing systems for use in flywheel storage systems are discussed. The main applications of FESS are explained and commercially available flywheel prototypes for each application are described. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research.

The Advanced Aluminum Nitride Synthesis Methods and Its Applications: Patent Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Shishkin, Roman A; Elagin, Andrey A; Mayorova, Ekaterina S; Beketov, Askold R

2016-01-01

High purity nanosized aluminum nitride synthesis is a current issue for both industry and science. However, there is no up-to-date review considering the major issues and the technical solutions for different methods. This review aims to investigate the advanced methods of aluminum nitride synthesis and its development tendencies. Also the aluminum nitride application patents and prospects for development of the branch have been considered. The patent search on "aluminum nitride synthesis" has been carried out. The research activity has been analyzed. Special attention has been paid to the patenting geography and the leading researchers in aluminum nitride synthesis. Aluminum nitride synthesis methods have been divided into 6 main groups, the most studied approaches are carbothermal reduction (88 patents) and direct nitridation (107 patents). The current issues for each group have been analyzed; the main trends are purification of the final product and nanopowder synthesis. The leading researchers in aluminum nitride synthesis have represented 5 countries, namely: Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and USA. The main aluminum nitride application spheres are electronics (59,1 percent of applications) and new materials manufacturing (30,9 percent). The review deals with the state of the art data in nanosized aluminum nitride synthesis, the major issues and the technical solutions for different synthesis methods. It gives a full understanding of the development tendencies and of the current leaders in the sphere.

Film forming microbial biopolymers for commercial applications--a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Vijayendra, S V N; Shamala, T R

2014-12-01

Microorganisms synthesize intracellular, structural and extracellular polymers also referred to as biopolymers for their function and survival. These biopolymers play specific roles as energy reserve materials, protective agents, aid in cell functioning, the establishment of symbiosis, osmotic adaptation and support the microbial genera to function, adapt, multiply and survive efficiently under changing environmental conditions. Viscosifying, gelling and film forming properties of these have been exploited for specific significant applications in food and allied industries. Intensive research activities and recent achievements in relevant and important research fields of global interest regarding film forming microbial biopolymers is the subject of this review. Microbial polymers such as pullulan, kefiran, bacterial cellulose (BC), gellan and levan are placed under the category of exopolysaccharides (EPS) and have several other functional properties including film formation, which can be used for various applications in food and allied industries. In addition to EPS, innumerable bacterial genera are found to synthesis carbon energy reserves in their cells known as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), microbial polyesters, which can be extruded into films with excellent moisture and oxygen barrier properties. Blow moldable biopolymers like PHA along with polylactic acid (PLA) synthesized chemically in vitro using lactic acid (LA), which is produced by LA bacteria through fermentation, are projected as biodegradable polymers of the future for packaging applications. Designing and creating of new property based on requirements through controlled synthesis can lead to improvement in properties of existing polysaccharides and create novel biopolymers of great commercial interest and value for wider applications. Incorporation of antimicrobials such as bacteriocins or silver and copper nanoparticles can enhance the functionality of polymer films especially in food packaging

Standard Review Plan for the review of a license application for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. Revision 3

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-04-01

The Standard Review Plan (SRP) (NUREG-1200) provides guidance to staff reviewers in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards who perform safety reviews of applications to construct and operate low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. The SRP ensures the quality and uniformity of the staff reviews and presents a well-defined base from which to evaluate proposed changes in the scope and requirements of the staff reviews. The SRP makes information about the regulatory licensing process widely available and serves to improve the understanding of the staff`s review process by interested members of the public and the industry. Each individual SRP addresses the responsibilities of persons performing the review, the matters that are reviewed, the Commission`s regulations and acceptance criteria necessary for the review, how the review is accomplished, the conclusions that are appropriate, and the implementation requirements.

Shape memory polymers and their composites in aerospace applications: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Yanju; Du, Haiyang; Liu, Liwu; Leng, Jinsong

2014-01-01

As a new class of smart materials, shape memory polymers and their composites (SMPs and SMPCs) can respond to specific external stimulus and remember the original shape. There are many types of stimulus methods to actuate the deformation of SMPs and SMPCs, of which the thermal- and electro-responsive components and structures are common. In this review, the general mechanism of SMPs and SMPCs are first introduced, the stimulus methods are then discussed to demonstrate the shape recovery effect, and finally, the applications of SMPs and SMPCs that are reinforced with fiber materials in aerospace are reviewed. SMPC hinges and booms are discussed in the part on components; the booms can be divided again into foldable SMPC truss booms, coilable SMPC truss booms and storable tubular extendible member (STEM) booms. In terms of SMPC structures, the solar array and deployable panel, reflector antenna and morphing wing are introduced in detail. Considering the factors of weight, recovery force and shock effect, SMPCs are expected to have great potential applications in aerospace. (topical review)

Silk-microfluidics for advanced biotechnological applications: A progressive review.

Science.gov (United States)

Konwarh, Rocktotpal; Gupta, Prerak; Mandal, Biman B

2016-01-01

Silk based biomaterials have not only carved a unique niche in the domain of regenerative medicine but new avenues are also being explored for lab-on-a-chip applications. It is pertinent to note that biospinning of silk represents nature's signature microfluidic-maneuver. Elucidation of non-Newtonian flow of silk in the glands of spiders and silkworms has inspired researchers to fabricate devices for continuous extrusion and concentration of silk. Microfluidic channel networks within porous silk scaffolds ensure optimal nutrient and oxygen supply apart from serving as precursors for vascularization in tissue engineering applications. On the other hand, unique topographical features and surface wettability of natural silk fibers have inspired development of a number of simple and cost-effective devices for applications like blood typing and chemical sensing. This review mirrors the recent progress and challenges in the domain of silk-microfluidics for prospective avant-garde applications in the realm of biotechnology. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A review of the applications to solids of the laser ion source in mass spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conzemius, R.J.; Capellen, J.M.

1980-01-01

The review is intended to provide a panoramic view of the broadening applications of the laser ion source in mass spectrometry. In these applications a laser beam has been used to excite a solid specimen to the ionized state or to the vaporized state in the ion source of a mass spectrometer. The review is divided into two main sections: Analytical features and applications. The analytical features section has been subdivided into five areas: Detection sensitivity, ionisation efficiency, collection efficiency, quantification, and crater-depth analysis. Applications have been separated into ten different areas: Biological, carbon, fossil fuels, gaseous impurities, geological, inorganics, isotopic analysis, metals, organics and polymers. (EBE)

"Smart" Materials Based on Cellulose: A Review of the Preparations, Properties, and Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Xiaoyun; Hu, Shuwen

2013-02-28

Cellulose is the most abundant biomass material in nature, and possesses some promising properties, such as mechanical robustness, hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Thus, cellulose has been widely applied in many fields. "Smart" materials based on cellulose have great advantages-especially their intelligent behaviors in reaction to environmental stimuli-and they can be applied to many circumstances, especially as biomaterials. This review aims to present the developments of "smart" materials based on cellulose in the last decade, including the preparations, properties, and applications of these materials. The preparations of "smart" materials based on cellulose by chemical modifications and physical incorporating/blending were reviewed. The responsiveness to pH, temperature, light, electricity, magnetic fields, and mechanical forces, etc. of these "smart" materials in their different forms such as copolymers, nanoparticles, gels, and membranes were also reviewed, and the applications as drug delivery systems, hydrogels, electronic active papers, sensors, shape memory materials and smart membranes, etc. were also described in this review.

The application of mindfulness to eating disorders treatment: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Wanden-Berghe, Rocío Guardiola; Sanz-Valero, Javier; Wanden-Berghe, Carmina

2011-01-01

The present study is an exploratory examination of the efficacy of the application of mindfulness-based interventions to the treatment of eating disorders. It employs a systematic review technique in which terms from the Psychological Index Terms of the American Psychological Association (APA) were chosen and analyzed in conjunction with Boolean operators. Using data obtained by the online consultation of references from 12 different bibliographical databases, 8 studies were included in the systematic review. Each study reported satisfactory results, although trial qualities were variable and sample sizes were small. Nonetheless, the current study found initial evidence supporting the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions to the treatment of eating disorders. The application of mindfulness-based interventions to the treatment of eating disorders remains a promising approach worthy of further research.

Review of Development Survey of Phase Change Material Models in Building Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hussein J. Akeiber

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The application of phase change materials (PCMs in green buildings has been increasing rapidly. PCM applications in green buildings include several development models. This paper briefly surveys the recent research and development activities of PCM technology in building applications. Firstly, a basic description of phase change and their principles is provided; the classification and applications of PCMs are also included. Secondly, PCM models in buildings are reviewed and discussed according to the wall, roof, floor, and cooling systems. Finally, conclusions are presented based on the collected data.

Reviewing model application to support animal health decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Alexander; Salman, Mo; Thulke, Hans-Hermann

2011-04-01

Animal health is of societal importance as it affects human welfare, and anthropogenic interests shape decision making to assure animal health. Scientific advice to support decision making is manifold. Modelling, as one piece of the scientific toolbox, is appreciated for its ability to describe and structure data, to give insight in complex processes and to predict future outcome. In this paper we study the application of scientific modelling to support practical animal health decisions. We reviewed the 35 animal health related scientific opinions adopted by the Animal Health and Animal Welfare Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Thirteen of these documents were based on the application of models. The review took two viewpoints, the decision maker's need and the modeller's approach. In the reviewed material three types of modelling questions were addressed by four specific model types. The correspondence between tasks and models underpinned the importance of the modelling question in triggering the modelling approach. End point quantifications were the dominating request from decision makers, implying that prediction of risk is a major need. However, due to knowledge gaps corresponding modelling studies often shed away from providing exact numbers. Instead, comparative scenario analyses were performed, furthering the understanding of the decision problem and effects of alternative management options. In conclusion, the most adequate scientific support for decision making - including available modelling capacity - might be expected if the required advice is clearly stated. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mapping ergonomics application to improve SMEs working condition in industrially developing countries: a critical review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hermawati, Setia; Lawson, Glyn; Sutarto, Auditya Purwandini

2014-01-01

In industrially developing countries (IDC), small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for the highest proprotion of employment. Unfortunately, the working conditions in SMEs are often very poor and expose employees to a potentially wide range of health and safety risks. This paper presents a comprehensive review of 161 articles related to ergonomics application in SMEs, using Indonesia as a case study. The aim of this paper is to investigate the extent of ergonomics application and identify areas that can be improved to promote effective ergonomics for SMEs in IDC. The most urgent issue found is the need for adopting participatory approach in contrast to the commonly implemented top-down approach. Some good practices in ergonomics application were also revealed from the review, e.g. a multidisciplinary approach, unsophisticated and low-cost solutions, and recognising the importance of productivity. The review also found that more work is still required to achieve appropriate cross-cultural adaptation of ergonomics application.

Advances of electronic nose and its application in fresh foods: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Hao; Zhang, Min; Adhikari, Benu

2017-06-30

The science and technology aspects of electronic nose (E-nose) has been developed rapidly in last decade (2006-2016). This paper reviews of the publications that that cover the developments in science and technological aspects of electronic nose together with its application in fresh foods. The first part of this review covers the sensing and pattern recognition system (PR) of E-nose. The second part covers the application of E-nose in classification, flavor detection, and evaluation of spoilage in fresh foods area. With more new sensor materials to be found and more combination between E-nose and other analysis technologies, the usages of E-nose in fresh foods will have wider prospects.

A Review of Antennas for Picosatellite Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Halim Lokman

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cube Satellite (CubeSat technology is an attractive emerging alternative to conventional satellites in radio astronomy, earth observation, weather forecasting, space research, and communications. Its size, however, poses a more challenging restriction on the circuitry and components as they are expected to be closely spaced and very power efficient. One of the main components that will require careful design for CubeSats is their antennas, as they are needed to be lightweight, small in size, and compact or deployable for larger antennas. This paper presents a review of antennas suitable for picosatellite applications. An overview of the applications of picosatellites will first be explained, prior to a discussion on their antenna requirements. Material and antenna topologies which have been used will be subsequently discussed prior to the presentation of several deployable configurations. Finally, a perspective and future research work on CubeSat antennas will be discussed in the conclusion.

Neurorehabilitation and apps: A systematic review of mobile applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez Rodríguez, M T; Collado Vázquez, S; Martín Casas, P; Cano de la Cuerda, R

2015-12-17

Mobile health or mHealth, defined as the provision of health information or healthcare by means of mobile devices or tablets, is emerging as a major game-changer for patients, care providers, and investors. An app is a program with special characteristics installed on a small mobile device, either a tablet or smartphone, with which the user interacts via a touch-based interface. The purpose of the app is to facilitate completion of a certain task or assist with daily activities. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of published information on apps directed at the field of neurorehabilitation, in order to classify them and describe their main characteristics. A systematic review was carried out by means of a literature search in biomedical databases and other information sources related to mobile applications. Apps were classified into five categories: health habits, information, assessment, treatment, and specific uses. There are numerous applications with potential for use in the field of neurorehabilitation, so it is important that developers and designers understand the needs of people with neurological disorders so that their products will be valid and effective in light of those needs. Similarly, professionals, patients, families, and caregivers should have clear criteria and indicators to help them select the best applications for their specific situations. Copyright © 2015 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Classification, processing and application of hydrogels: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ullah, Faheem; Othman, Muhammad Bisyrul Hafi; Javed, Fatima; Ahmad, Zulkifli; Md Akil, Hazizan

2015-12-01

This article aims to review the literature concerning the choice of selectivity for hydrogels based on classification, application and processing. Super porous hydrogels (SPHs) and superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) represent an innovative category of recent generation highlighted as an ideal mould system for the study of solution-dependent phenomena. Hydrogels, also termed as smart and/or hungry networks, are currently subject of considerable scientific research due to their potential in hi-tech applications in the biomedical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, bioseparation, biosensor, agriculture, oil recovery and cosmetics fields. Smart hydrogels display a significant physiochemical change in response to small changes in the surroundings. However, such changes are reversible; therefore, the hydrogels are capable of returning to its initial state after a reaction as soon as the trigger is removed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A review of mechanochemistry applications in waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Xiuying; Xiang Dong; Duan Guanghong; Mou Peng

2010-01-01

Mechanochemistry is defined to describe the chemical and physicochemical transformation of substances during the aggregation caused by the mechanical energy. Mechanochemical technology has several advantages, such as simple process, ecological safety and the possibility of obtaining a product in the metastable state. It potentially has a prospective application in pollution remediation and waste management. Therefore, this paper aims to give an overall review of the mechanochemistry applications in waste management and the related mechanisms. Based on our study, the modification of fly ash and asbestos-containing wastes (ACWs) can be achieved by mechanochemical technology. Waste metal oxides can be transformed into easily recyclable sulfide by mechanochemical sulfidization. Besides, the waste plastics and rubbers, which are usually very difficult to be recycled, can also be recycled by mechanochemical technology.

Quantum Dots and Their Multimodal Applications: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul H. Holloway

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Semiconducting quantum dots, whose particle sizes are in the nanometer range, have very unusual properties. The quantum dots have band gaps that depend in a complicated fashion upon a number of factors, described in the article. Processing-structure-properties-performance relationships are reviewed for compound semiconducting quantum dots. Various methods for synthesizing these quantum dots are discussed, as well as their resulting properties. Quantum states and confinement of their excitons may shift their optical absorption and emission energies. Such effects are important for tuning their luminescence stimulated by photons (photoluminescence or electric field (electroluminescence. In this article, decoupling of quantum effects on excitation and emission are described, along with the use of quantum dots as sensitizers in phosphors. In addition, we reviewed the multimodal applications of quantum dots, including in electroluminescence device, solar cell and biological imaging.

Business model framework applications in health care: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Fredriksson, Jens Jacob; Mazzocato, Pamela; Muhammed, Rafiq; Savage, Carl

2017-11-01

It has proven to be a challenge for health care organizations to achieve the Triple Aim. In the business literature, business model frameworks have been used to understand how organizations are aligned to achieve their goals. We conducted a systematic literature review with an explanatory synthesis approach to understand how business model frameworks have been applied in health care. We found a large increase in applications of business model frameworks during the last decade. E-health was the most common context of application. We identified six applications of business model frameworks: business model description, financial assessment, classification based on pre-defined typologies, business model analysis, development, and evaluation. Our synthesis suggests that the choice of business model framework and constituent elements should be informed by the intent and context of application. We see a need for harmonization in the choice of elements in order to increase generalizability, simplify application, and help organizations realize the Triple Aim.

Gradient metasurfaces: a review of fundamentals and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Fei; Pors, Anders; Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I.

2018-02-01

In the wake of intense research on metamaterials the two-dimensional analogue, known as metasurfaces, has attracted progressively increasing attention in recent years due to the ease of fabrication and smaller insertion losses, while enabling an unprecedented control over spatial distributions of transmitted and reflected optical fields. Metasurfaces represent optically thin planar arrays of resonant subwavelength elements that can be arranged in a strictly or quasi periodic fashion, or even in an aperiodic manner, depending on targeted optical wavefronts to be molded with their help. This paper reviews a broad subclass of metasurfaces, viz. gradient metasurfaces, which are devised to exhibit spatially varying optical responses resulting in spatially varying amplitudes, phases and polarizations of scattered fields. Starting with introducing the concept of gradient metasurfaces, we present classification of different metasurfaces from the viewpoint of their responses, differentiating electrical-dipole, geometric, reflective and Huygens’ metasurfaces. The fundamental building blocks essential for the realization of metasurfaces are then discussed in order to elucidate the underlying physics of various physical realizations of both plasmonic and purely dielectric metasurfaces. We then overview the main applications of gradient metasurfaces, including waveplates, flat lenses, spiral phase plates, broadband absorbers, color printing, holograms, polarimeters and surface wave couplers. The review is terminated with a short section on recently developed nonlinear metasurfaces, followed by the outlook presenting our view on possible future developments and perspectives for future applications.

Gradient metasurfaces: a review of fundamentals and applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Fei; Pors, Anders; Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I

2018-02-01

In the wake of intense research on metamaterials the two-dimensional analogue, known as metasurfaces, has attracted progressively increasing attention in recent years due to the ease of fabrication and smaller insertion losses, while enabling an unprecedented control over spatial distributions of transmitted and reflected optical fields. Metasurfaces represent optically thin planar arrays of resonant subwavelength elements that can be arranged in a strictly or quasi periodic fashion, or even in an aperiodic manner, depending on targeted optical wavefronts to be molded with their help. This paper reviews a broad subclass of metasurfaces, viz. gradient metasurfaces, which are devised to exhibit spatially varying optical responses resulting in spatially varying amplitudes, phases and polarizations of scattered fields. Starting with introducing the concept of gradient metasurfaces, we present classification of different metasurfaces from the viewpoint of their responses, differentiating electrical-dipole, geometric, reflective and Huygens' metasurfaces. The fundamental building blocks essential for the realization of metasurfaces are then discussed in order to elucidate the underlying physics of various physical realizations of both plasmonic and purely dielectric metasurfaces. We then overview the main applications of gradient metasurfaces, including waveplates, flat lenses, spiral phase plates, broadband absorbers, color printing, holograms, polarimeters and surface wave couplers. The review is terminated with a short section on recently developed nonlinear metasurfaces, followed by the outlook presenting our view on possible future developments and perspectives for future applications.

A review on application of finite element modelling in bone biomechanics

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Sandeep Kumar Parashar

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In the past few decades the finite element modelling has been developed as an effective tool for modelling and simulation of the biomedical engineering system. Finite element modelling (FEM is a computational technique which can be used to solve the biomedical engineering problems based on the theories of continuum mechanics. This paper presents the state of art review on finite element modelling application in the four areas of bone biomechanics, i.e., analysis of stress and strain, determination of mechanical properties, fracture fixation design (implants, and fracture load prediction. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive detail about the development in the area of application of FEM in bone biomechanics during the last decades. It will help the researchers and the clinicians alike for the better treatment of patients and future development of new fixation designs.

Review of data mining applications for quality assessment in manufacturing industry: support vector machines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rostami Hamidey

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In many modern manufacturing industries, data that characterize the manufacturing process are electronically collected and stored in databases. Due to advances in data collection systems and analysis tools, data mining (DM has widely been applied for quality assessment (QA in manufacturing industries. In DM, the choice of technique to be used in analyzing a dataset and assessing the quality depend on the understanding of the analyst. On the other hand, with the advent of improved and efficient prediction techniques, there is a need for an analyst to know which tool performs better for a particular type of dataset. Although a few review papers have recently been published to discuss DM applications in manufacturing for QA, this paper provides an extensive review to investigate the application of a special DM technique, namely support vector machine (SVM to deal with QA problems. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the literature from various points of view as DM concepts, data preprocessing, DM applications for each quality task, SVM preliminaries, and application results. Summary tables and figures are also provided besides to the analyses. Finally, conclusions and future research directions are provided.

Theory, Instrumentation and Applications of Magnetoelastic Resonance Sensors: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Grimes, Craig A.; Roy, Somnath C.; Rani, Sanju; Cai, Qingyun

2011-01-01

Thick-film magnetoelastic sensors vibrate mechanically in response to a time varying magnetic excitation field. The mechanical vibrations of the magnetostrictive magnetoelastic material launch, in turn, a magnetic field by which the sensor can be monitored. Magnetic field telemetry enables contact-less, remote-query operation that has enabled many practical uses of the sensor platform. This paper builds upon a review paper we published in Sensors in 2002 (Grimes, C.A.; et al. Sensors 2002, 2, 294–313), presenting a comprehensive review on the theory, operating principles, instrumentation and key applications of magnetoelastic sensing technology. PMID:22163768

Theory, Instrumentation and Applications of Magnetoelastic Resonance Sensors: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Craig A. Grimes

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Thick-film magnetoelastic sensors vibrate mechanically in response to a time varying magnetic excitation field. The mechanical vibrations of the magnetostrictive magnetoelastic material launch, in turn, a magnetic field by which the sensor can be monitored. Magnetic field telemetry enables contact-less, remote-query operation that has enabled many practical uses of the sensor platform. This paper builds upon a review paper we published in Sensors in 2002 (Grimes, C.A.; et al. Sensors 2002, 2, 294-313, presenting a comprehensive review on the theory, operating principles, instrumentation and key applications of magnetoelastic sensing technology.

Review of soft x-ray lasers and their applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skinner, C.H.

1991-03-01

The emerging technology of soft x-ray lasers is in a transition phase between the first laboratory demonstrations of gain and the acceptance of soft x-ray lasers as practical tools for novel applications. Current research is focused on several fronts. The operational wavelength range has been extended to the ''water window'', important for applications in the life sciences. Gain has also been generated with substantially simpler technology (such as a 6J laser) and this augurs well for the commercially availability in the near future of soft x-ray lasers for a variety of applications. Advanced soft x-ray laser concepts are being developed from investigations into ultra-high intensity laser/matter interactions. The first paper a brief historical perspective of x-ray microscopy and holography have begun. In this paper a brief historical perspective of x-ray laser development will be followed by a review of recent advances in recombination, collisional and photo-pumped systems and applications. A summary of current gain-length performance achieved in laboratories worldwide is presented. Near term prospects for applications to novel fields are discussed. 81 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab

Review of Positive Psychology Applications in Clinical Medical Populations

OpenAIRE

Ann Macaskill

2016-01-01

This review examines the application of positive psychology concepts in physical health care contexts. Positive psychology aims to promote well-being in the general population. Studies identifying character strengths associated with well-being in healthy populations are numerous. Such strengths have been classified and Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) created to develop these strengths further in individuals. Positive psychology research is increasingly being undertaken in health care...

Monitoring healthy and disturbed sleep through smartphone applications: a review of experimental evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Fino, Edita; Mazzetti, Michela

2018-04-23

Smartphone applications are considered as the prime candidate for the purposes of large-scale, low-cost and long-term sleep monitoring. How reliable and scientifically grounded is smartphone-based assessment of healthy and disturbed sleep remains a key issue in this direction. Here we offer a review of validation studies of sleep applications to the aim of providing some guidance in terms of their reliability to assess sleep in healthy and clinical populations, and stimulating further examination of their potential for clinical use and improved sleep hygiene. Electronic literature review was conducted on Pubmed. Eleven validation studies published since 2012 were identified, evaluating smartphone applications' performance compared to standard methods of sleep assessment in healthy and clinical samples. Studies with healthy populations show that most sleep applications meet or exceed accuracy levels of wrist-based actigraphy in sleep-wake cycle discrimination, whereas performance levels drop in individuals with low sleep efficiency (SE) and in clinical populations, mirroring actigraphy results. Poor correlation with polysomnography (PSG) sleep sub-stages is reported by most accelerometer-based apps. However, multiple parameter-based applications (i.e., EarlySense, SleepAp) showed good capability in detection of sleep-wake stages and sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD) like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) respectively with values similar to PSG. While the reviewed evidence suggests a potential role of smartphone sleep applications in pre-screening of SRBD, more experimental studies are warranted to assess their reliability in sleep-wake detection particularly. Apps' utility in post treatment follow-up at home or as an adjunct to the sleep diary in clinical setting is also stressed.

Standard Review Plan for the review of a license application for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility: Safety analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

The Standard Review Plan (SRP) (NUREG-1200) provides guidance to staff reviewers in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards who perform safety reviews of applications to construct and operate low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. The SRP ensures the quality and uniformity of the staff reviews and presents a well-defined base from which to evaluate proposed changes in the scope and requirements of the staff reviews. The SRP makes information about the regulatory licensing process widely available and serves to improve the understanding of the staff's review process by interested members of the public and the industry. Each individual SRP addresses the responsibilities of persons performing the review, the matters that are reviewed, the Commission's regulations and acceptance criteria necessary for the review, how the review is accomplished, the conclusions that are appropriate, and the implementation requirements

Standard review plan for the review of a license application for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility: Safety analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

The Standard Review Plan (SRP) (NUREG-1200) provides guidance to staff reviewers in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards who perform safety reviews of applications to construct and operate low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. The SRP ensures the quality and uniformity of the staff reviews and presents a well-defined base from which to evaluate proposed changes in the scope and requirements of the staff reviews. The SRP makes information about the regulatory licensing process widely available and serves to improve the understanding of the staff's review process by interested members of the public and the nuclear power industry. Each individual SRP addresses the responsibilities of persons performing the review, the matters that are reviewed, the Commission's regulations and acceptance criteria necessary for the review, how the review is accomplished, the conclusions that are appropriate, and the implementation requirements

Applications of capillary electrophoresis with chemiluminescence detection in clinical, environmental and food analysis. A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lara, Francisco J.; Airado-Rodríguez, Diego; Moreno-González, David; Huertas-Pérez, José F.; García-Campaña, Ana M.

2016-01-01

This paper reviews the latest developments and analytical applications of chemiluminescence detection coupled to capillary electrophoresis (CE-CL). Different sections considering the most common CL systems have been included, such as the tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) system, the luminol and acridinium derivative reactions, the peroxyoxalate CL or direct oxidations. Improvements in instrumental designs, new strategies for improving both resolution and sensitivity, and applications in different fields such as clinical, pharmaceutical, environmental and food analysis have been included. This review covers the literature from 2010 to 2015. - Highlights: • An up-to-date critical review about the evolution of CE-CL is presented. • Tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) and luminol as the most used CL systems. • Instrumental designs and strategies for improving resolution and sensitivity. • Applications in clinical, pharmaceutical, environmental and food analysis.

Analytical Review of Data Visualization Methods in Application to Big Data

OpenAIRE

Gorodov, Evgeniy Yur’evich; Gubarev, Vasiliy Vasil’evich

2013-01-01

This paper describes the term Big Data in aspects of data representation and visualization. There are some specific problems in Big Data visualization, so there are definitions for these problems and a set of approaches to avoid them. Also, we make a review of existing methods for data visualization in application to Big Data and taking into account the described problems. Summarizing the result, we have provided a classification of visualization methods in application to Big Data.

A short review of nanographenes: structures, properties and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Yafei; Liu, Yi; Ding, Kai; Yang, Jinlong

2018-04-01

Graphene has attracted great interest in the science and technology since it was exfoliated mechanically from the graphite in 2004. Although graphene has various potential applications, its practical applications are constrained enormously by its serious drawbacks, such as zero band gap, tendency of aggregation between layers and hydrophobicity, which mainly caused by the infinite planar hexagonal structure of graphene. Considering that the structural defects in the honeycomb lattice and the edges of graphene break the infinite structure and thus change the properties, which may improve the application efficiency, nanographene (NG) is proposed and attracts extensive attention. In this work, we review the structures of multifarious well-defined NGs synthesised in recent experiments. The effects of the shape, size, edges and substituents of NGs to the properties are discussed in detail and the regulation for various properties of NG is analysed. For the well-defined NGs, including planar and non-planar ones, the challenges and perspectives of their potential applications in nonlinear optical material, gas molecular detector and gas separation material, hydrogen storage material, and hole-transporting material in perovskite solar cells are envisioned.

Classifications, applications, and design challenges of drones: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Hassanalian, M.; Abdelkefi, A.

2017-05-01

Nowadays, there is a growing need for flying drones with diverse capabilities for both civilian and military applications. There is also a significant interest in the development of novel drones which can autonomously fly in different environments and locations and can perform various missions. In the past decade, the broad spectrum of applications of these drones has received most attention which led to the invention of various types of drones with different sizes and weights. In this review paper, we identify a novel classification of flying drones that ranges from unmanned air vehicles to smart dusts at both ends of this spectrum, with their new defined applications. Design and fabrication challenges of micro drones, existing methods for increasing their endurance, and various navigation and control approaches are discussed in details. Limitations of the existing drones, proposed solutions for the next generation of drones, and recommendations are also presented and discussed.

A review of visual MODFLOW applications in groundwater modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Hariharan, V.; Shankar, M. Uma

2017-11-01

Visual MODLOW is a Graphical User Interface for the USGS MODFLOW. It is a commercial software that is popular among the hydrogeologists for its user-friendly features. The software is mainly used for Groundwater flow and contaminant transport models under different conditions. This article is intended to review the versatility of its applications in groundwater modelling for the last 22 years. Agriculture, airfields, constructed wetlands, climate change, drought studies, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), landfills, mining operations, river and flood plain monitoring, salt water intrusion, soil profile surveys, watershed analyses, etc., are the areas where the software has been reportedly used till the current date. The review will provide a clarity on the scope of the software in groundwater modelling and research.

12 CFR 19.135 - Applications for stay or review of disciplinary actions imposed by registered clearing agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Involving the Federal Securities Laws § 19.135 Applications for stay or review of disciplinary actions... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Applications for stay or review of disciplinary actions imposed by registered clearing agencies. 19.135 Section 19.135 Banks and Banking COMPTROLLER OF...

Application of nonliner reduction techniques in chemical process modeling: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muhaimin, Z; Aziz, N.; Abd Shukor, S.R.

2006-01-01

Model reduction techniques have been used widely in engineering fields for electrical, mechanical as well as chemical engineering. The basic idea of reduction technique is to replace the original system by an approximating system with much smaller state-space dimension. A reduced order model is more beneficial to process and industrial field in terms of control purposes. This paper is to provide a review on application of nonlinear reduction techniques in chemical processes. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique reviewed are also highlighted

Application of snowmelt runoff model (SRM in mountainous watersheds: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shalamu Abudu

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The snowmelt runoff model (SRM has been widely used in simulation and forecast of streamflow in snow-dominated mountainous basins around the world. This paper presents an overall review of worldwide applications of SRM in mountainous watersheds, particularly in data-sparse watersheds of northwestern China. Issues related to proper selection of input climate variables and parameters, and determination of the snow cover area (SCA using remote sensing data in snowmelt runoff modeling are discussed through extensive review of literature. Preliminary applications of SRM in northwestern China have shown that the model accuracies are relatively acceptable although most of the watersheds lack measured hydro-meteorological data. Future research could explore the feasibility of modeling snowmelt runoff in data-sparse mountainous watersheds in northwestern China by utilizing snow and glacier cover remote sensing data, geographic information system (GIS tools, field measurements, and innovative ways of model parameterization.

“Smart” Materials Based on Cellulose: A Review of the Preparations, Properties, and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Xiaoyun; Hu, Shuwen

2013-01-01

Cellulose is the most abundant biomass material in nature, and possesses some promising properties, such as mechanical robustness, hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Thus, cellulose has been widely applied in many fields. “Smart” materials based on cellulose have great advantages—especially their intelligent behaviors in reaction to environmental stimuli—and they can be applied to many circumstances, especially as biomaterials. This review aims to present the developments of “smart” materials based on cellulose in the last decade, including the preparations, properties, and applications of these materials. The preparations of “smart” materials based on cellulose by chemical modifications and physical incorporating/blending were reviewed. The responsiveness to pH, temperature, light, electricity, magnetic fields, and mechanical forces, etc. of these “smart” materials in their different forms such as copolymers, nanoparticles, gels, and membranes were also reviewed, and the applications as drug delivery systems, hydrogels, electronic active papers, sensors, shape memory materials and smart membranes, etc. were also described in this review. PMID:28809338

“Smart” Materials Based on Cellulose: A Review of the Preparations, Properties, and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuwen Hu

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Cellulose is the most abundant biomass material in nature, and possesses some promising properties, such as mechanical robustness, hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Thus, cellulose has been widely applied in many fields. “Smart” materials based on cellulose have great advantages—especially their intelligent behaviors in reaction to environmental stimuli—and they can be applied to many circumstances, especially as biomaterials. This review aims to present the developments of “smart” materials based on cellulose in the last decade, including the preparations, properties, and applications of these materials. The preparations of “smart” materials based on cellulose by chemical modifications and physical incorporating/blending were reviewed. The responsiveness to pH, temperature, light, electricity, magnetic fields, and mechanical forces, etc. of these “smart” materials in their different forms such as copolymers, nanoparticles, gels, and membranes were also reviewed, and the applications as drug delivery systems, hydrogels, electronic active papers, sensors, shape memory materials and smart membranes, etc. were also described in this review.

Physical applications of GPS geodesy: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bock, Yehuda; Melgar, Diego

2016-10-01

Geodesy, the oldest science, has become an important discipline in the geosciences, in large part by enhancing Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities over the last 35 years well beyond the satellite constellation's original design. The ability of GPS geodesy to estimate 3D positions with millimeter-level precision with respect to a global terrestrial reference frame has contributed to significant advances in geophysics, seismology, atmospheric science, hydrology, and natural hazard science. Monitoring the changes in the positions or trajectories of GPS instruments on the Earth's land and water surfaces, in the atmosphere, or in space, is important for both theory and applications, from an improved understanding of tectonic and magmatic processes to developing systems for mitigating the impact of natural hazards on society and the environment. Besides accurate positioning, all disturbances in the propagation of the transmitted GPS radio signals from satellite to receiver are mined for information, from troposphere and ionosphere delays for weather, climate, and natural hazard applications, to disturbances in the signals due to multipath reflections from the solid ground, water, and ice for environmental applications. We review the relevant concepts of geodetic theory, data analysis, and physical modeling for a myriad of processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales, and discuss the extensive global infrastructure that has been built to support GPS geodesy consisting of thousands of continuously operating stations. We also discuss the integration of heterogeneous and complementary data sets from geodesy, seismology, and geology, focusing on crustal deformation applications and early warning systems for natural hazards.

[Review of traditional Chinese medicine external applications to treat chemistry phlebitis].

Science.gov (United States)

Sha, Sha; Liu, Weiqun; Cheng, Lushan; Ge, Jinjin

2011-09-01

This article reviewed the literatures in this area over the past 5 years according to three parts: simple traditional Chinese medicine external application, combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, combination of traditional Chinese medicine and physical therapy, and came to several effective prescriptions.

Change detection using landsat time series: A review of frequencies, preprocessing, algorithms, and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Zhe

2017-08-01

The free and open access to all archived Landsat images in 2008 has completely changed the way of using Landsat data. Many novel change detection algorithms based on Landsat time series have been developed We present a comprehensive review of four important aspects of change detection studies based on Landsat time series, including frequencies, preprocessing, algorithms, and applications. We observed the trend that the more recent the study, the higher the frequency of Landsat time series used. We reviewed a series of image preprocessing steps, including atmospheric correction, cloud and cloud shadow detection, and composite/fusion/metrics techniques. We divided all change detection algorithms into six categories, including thresholding, differencing, segmentation, trajectory classification, statistical boundary, and regression. Within each category, six major characteristics of different algorithms, such as frequency, change index, univariate/multivariate, online/offline, abrupt/gradual change, and sub-pixel/pixel/spatial were analyzed. Moreover, some of the widely-used change detection algorithms were also discussed. Finally, we reviewed different change detection applications by dividing these applications into two categories, change target and change agent detection.

Location-based social networking media for restaurant promotion and food review using mobile application

OpenAIRE

Luhur H.S.; Widjaja N.D.

2014-01-01

This paper is focusing on the development of a mobile application for searching restaurants and promotions with location based and social networking features. The main function of the application is to search restaurant information. Other functions are also available in this application such as add restaurant, add promotion, add photo, add food review, and other features including social networking features. The restaurant and promotion searching application will be developed under Android pl...

Nanotechnology applications in hematological malignancies (Review).

Science.gov (United States)

Samir, Ahmed; Elgamal, Basma M; Gabr, Hala; Sabaawy, Hatem E

2015-09-01

A major limitation to current cancer therapies is the development of therapy-related side-effects and dose limiting complications. Moreover, a better understanding of the biology of cancer cells and the mechanisms of resistance to therapy is rapidly developing. The translation of advanced knowledge and discoveries achieved at the molecular level must be supported by advanced diagnostic, therapeutic and delivery technologies to translate these discoveries into useful tools that are essential in achieving progress in the war against cancer. Nanotechnology can play an essential role in this aspect providing a transforming technology that can translate the basic and clinical findings into novel diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive tools useful in different types of cancer. Hematological malignancies represent a specific class of cancer, which attracts special attention in the applications of nanotechnology for cancer diagnosis and treatment. The aim of the present review is to elucidate the emerging applications of nanotechnology in cancer management and describe the potentials of nanotechnology in changing the key fundamental aspects of hematological malignancy diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

A review of current sleep screening applications for smartphones.

Science.gov (United States)

Behar, Joachim; Roebuck, Aoife; Domingos, João S; Gederi, Elnaz; Clifford, Gari D

2013-07-01

Sleep disorders are a common problem and contribute to a wide range of healthcare issues. The societal and financial costs of sleep disorders are enormous. Sleep-related disorders are often diagnosed with an overnight sleep test called a polysomnogram, or sleep study involving the measurement of brain activity through the electroencephalogram. Other parameters monitored include oxygen saturation, respiratory effort, cardiac activity (through the electrocardiogram), as well as video recording, sound and movement activity. Monitoring can be costly and removes the patients from their normal sleeping environment, preventing repeated unbiased studies. The recent increase in adoption of smartphones, with high quality on-board sensors has led to the proliferation of many sleep screening applications running on the phone. However, with the exception of simple questionnaires, no existing sleep-related application available for smartphones is based on scientific evidence. This paper reviews the existing smartphone applications landscape used in the field of sleep disorders and proposes possible advances to improve screening approaches.

Synthesis, Properties and Potential Applications of Porous Graphene: A Review

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Paola Russo; Anming Hu; Giuseppe Compagnini

2013-01-01

Since the discovery of graphene, many efforts have been done to modify the graphene structure for integrating this novel material to nanoelectronics, fuel cells, energy storage devices and in many other applications. This leads to the production of different types of graphene-based materials, which possess properties different from those of pure graphene. Porous graphene is an example of this type of materials. It can be considered as a graphene sheet with some holes/pores within the atomic plane. Due to its spongy structure, porous graphene can have potential applications as membranes for molecular sieving, energy storage components and in nanoelectronics. In this review, we present the recent progress in the synthesis of porous graphene. The properties and the potential applications of this new material are also discussed.

SSNTD applications in science and technology - A brief review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, H.A.; Qureshi, I.E.

1999-01-01

The technique of Solid State Nuclear Track Detection (SSNTD) has matured since long as a viable method of charged particle detection. The usage of this method has been successfully extended to neutron detection and gamma dose measurements as well. The etch-track mechanism has been further exploited to generate a major application area of nuclear track filters. In spite of the remarkable diversity of SSNTD applications that have emerged over the years in different fields, its potential is by no means saturated. In this article, a brief review of SSNTD applications is presented with reference to contemporary interests in science and technology. For convenience, the coverage of topics is organized under broad categories of Nuclear Physics, Materials Research, Geology, Environmental Science and allied technologies. While identifying high interest areas, those with limited but innovative applications are also mentioned. In some cases, the important results are quoted for the purpose of illustrating the strength of track detection method. In general, the presentation is aimed at providing a broad perspective of current SSNTD uses instead of detailed description of individual applications. The coverage is selective rather than exhaustive and portrays authors' preferences. Some comments related to the adoption of this technique as a mainstream method of detection are also given

Non-parametric Bayesian networks: Improving theory and reviewing applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanea, Anca; Morales Napoles, Oswaldo; Ababei, Dan

2015-01-01

Applications in various domains often lead to high dimensional dependence modelling. A Bayesian network (BN) is a probabilistic graphical model that provides an elegant way of expressing the joint distribution of a large number of interrelated variables. BNs have been successfully used to represent uncertain knowledge in a variety of fields. The majority of applications use discrete BNs, i.e. BNs whose nodes represent discrete variables. Integrating continuous variables in BNs is an area fraught with difficulty. Several methods that handle discrete-continuous BNs have been proposed in the literature. This paper concentrates only on one method called non-parametric BNs (NPBNs). NPBNs were introduced in 2004 and they have been or are currently being used in at least twelve professional applications. This paper provides a short introduction to NPBNs, a couple of theoretical advances, and an overview of applications. The aim of the paper is twofold: one is to present the latest improvements of the theory underlying NPBNs, and the other is to complement the existing overviews of BNs applications with the NPNBs applications. The latter opens the opportunity to discuss some difficulties that applications pose to the theoretical framework and in this way offers some NPBN modelling guidance to practitioners. - Highlights: • The paper gives an overview of the current NPBNs methodology. • We extend the NPBN methodology by relaxing the conditions of one of its fundamental theorems. • We propose improvements of the data mining algorithm for the NPBNs. • We review the professional applications of the NPBNs.

Review of the performance assessment in the WIPP draft compliance application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, W.W.L.

1996-01-01

On March 31, 1995, the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) filed a draft compliance certification application (DCCA) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to show the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's compliance with the USEPA's environmental standards for disposal of high-level and transuranic waste. Demonstration of compliance is by a performance assessment. This paper is an early review of the performance assessment in the draft application, by the Environmental Evaluation Group, an oversight group. The performance assessment in the draft application is incomplete. Not all relevant scenarios have been analyzed. The calculation of potential consequences often does not use experimental data but rather estimates by workers developing additional data. The final compliance application, scheduled for October 1996, needs to consider additional scenarios, and be fully based on experimental data

76 FR 40453 - Agency Information Collection (Application for VA Education Benefits) Activity Under OMB Review

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-08

... (Application for VA Education Benefits) Activity Under OMB Review AGENCY: Veterans Benefits Administration... Education Benefits, VA Form 22-1990. b. Application for Family Member to Use Transferred Benefits, VA Form 22-1990E. [[Page 40454

Applications of Nanomaterials in Dental Science: A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharan, Jitendra; Singh, Shivani; Lale, Shantanu V; Mishra, Monu; Koul, Veena; Kharbanda, P

2017-04-01

Nanotechnology has revolutionized health care industry in a large scale and its applications are a boon to modern medicine and dental science. It is expected to pervade and further revolutionize the art and science of dentistry and may well have important applications spanning all the aspects of oral diseases, diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Materials science in dentistry has embraced the technology to produce nanomaterials that are being used in caries inhibitors, antimicrobial resins, hard tissue remineralizing agents, targeted drug delivery, scaffolds, bio-membranes, nanocrystalline hydroxyl apatite, restorative cements, adhesion promoters and boosters, bioactive glass, tissue conditioners, reinforced methacrylate resins, root canal disinfectants, friction free orthodontic arch wires and nano composites life. These upcoming technologies have potential to bring about significant benefits in the form of improvement in dental science and to society. The present review presents the latest recent developments in this interdisciplinary field bridging nanotechnology and dental science.

Proposed Guidance for Preparing and Reviewing Molten Salt Nonpower Reactor Licence Applications (NUREG-1537)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belles, Randy [ORNL; Flanagan, George F. [ORNL; Voth, Marcus [Boston Government Services, LLC

2018-05-01

Development of non-power molten salt reactor (MSR) test facilities is under consideration to support the analyses needed for development of a full-scale MSR. These non-power MSR test facilities will require review by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff. This report proposes chapter adaptations for NUREG-1537 in the form of interim staff guidance to address preparation and review of molten salt non-power reactor license applications. The proposed adaptations are based on a previous regulatory gap analysis of select chapters from NUREG-1537 for their applicability to non-power MSRs operating with a homogeneous fuel salt mixture.

Metabolomics, peptidomics and proteomics applications of capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry in Foodomics: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ibáñez, Clara; Simó, Carolina; García-Cañas, Virginia; Cifuentes, Alejandro; Castro-Puyana, María

2013-01-01

Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •Foodomics allows studying food and nutrition through the application of advanced omics approaches. •CE-MS plays a crucial role as analytical platform to carry out omics studies. •CE-MS applications for food metabolomics, proteomics and peptidomics are presented. -- Abstract: In the current post-genomic era, Foodomics has been defined as a discipline that studies food and nutrition through the application of advanced omics approaches. Foodomics involves the use of genomics, transcriptomics, epigenetics, proteomics, peptidomics, and/or metabolomics to investigate food quality, safety, traceability and bioactivity. In this context, capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) has been applied mainly in food proteomics, peptidomics and metabolomics. The aim of this review work is to present an overview of the most recent developments and applications of CE-MS as analytical platform for Foodomics, covering the relevant works published from 2008 to 2012. The review provides also information about the integration of several omics approaches in the new Foodomics field

Metabolomics, peptidomics and proteomics applications of capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry in Foodomics: A review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ibáñez, Clara; Simó, Carolina; García-Cañas, Virginia; Cifuentes, Alejandro, E-mail: a.cifuentes@csic.es; Castro-Puyana, María

2013-11-13

Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •Foodomics allows studying food and nutrition through the application of advanced omics approaches. •CE-MS plays a crucial role as analytical platform to carry out omics studies. •CE-MS applications for food metabolomics, proteomics and peptidomics are presented. -- Abstract: In the current post-genomic era, Foodomics has been defined as a discipline that studies food and nutrition through the application of advanced omics approaches. Foodomics involves the use of genomics, transcriptomics, epigenetics, proteomics, peptidomics, and/or metabolomics to investigate food quality, safety, traceability and bioactivity. In this context, capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) has been applied mainly in food proteomics, peptidomics and metabolomics. The aim of this review work is to present an overview of the most recent developments and applications of CE-MS as analytical platform for Foodomics, covering the relevant works published from 2008 to 2012. The review provides also information about the integration of several omics approaches in the new Foodomics field.

Review of computational fluid dynamics applications in biotechnology processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, C; Malhotra, D; Rathore, A S

2011-01-01

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is well established as a tool of choice for solving problems that involve one or more of the following phenomena: flow of fluids, heat transfer,mass transfer, and chemical reaction. Unit operations that are commonly utilized in biotechnology processes are often complex and as such would greatly benefit from application of CFD. The thirst for deeper process and product understanding that has arisen out of initiatives such as quality by design provides further impetus toward usefulness of CFD for problems that may otherwise require extensive experimentation. Not surprisingly, there has been increasing interest in applying CFD toward a variety of applications in biotechnology processing in the last decade. In this article, we will review applications in the major unit operations involved with processing of biotechnology products. These include fermentation,centrifugation, chromatography, ultrafiltration, microfiltration, and freeze drying. We feel that the future applications of CFD in biotechnology processing will focus on establishing CFD as a tool of choice for providing process understanding that can be then used to guide more efficient and effective experimentation. This article puts special emphasis on the work done in the last 10 years. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Application of nanohydrogels in drug delivery systems: recent patents review.

Science.gov (United States)

Dalwadi, Chintan; Patel, Gayatri

2015-01-01

Nanohydrogel combines the advantages of hydrogel and nano particulate systems. Similar to the hydrogel and macrogel, nanohydrogel can protect the drug and control drug release by stimuli responsive conformation or biodegradable bond into the polymer networks. Nanohydrogel has drawn huge interest due to their potential applications, such as carrier in target-specific controlled drug delivery, absorbents, chemical/biological sensors, and bio-mimetic materials. Similar to the nanoparticles, stimuli responsive nanohydrogel can easily be delivered in the liquid form for parenteral drug delivery application. This review highlights the methods to prepare nanohydrogel based on natural and synthetic polymers for diverse applications in drug delivery. It also encompasses the drug loading and drug release mechanism of the nanohydrogel formulation and patents related to the composition and chemical methods for preparation of nanohydrogel formulation with current status in clinical trials.

Application of radiation technology to sewage sludge processing: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Jianlong; Wang Jiazhuo

2007-01-01

Sewage sludge is unwanted residual solid wastes generated in wastewater treatment and its management is one of the most critical environmental issues of today. The treatment and disposal of sludge contribute a considerable proportion of the cost for running a wastewater treatment plant. The increasing amount of swage sludge and more and more legislative regulation of its disposal have stimulated the need for developing new technologies to process sewage sludge efficiently and economically. One ideal consideration is to recycle it after proper treatment. Radiation technology is regarded to be a promising alternative for its high efficiency in pathogen inactivation, organic pollutants oxidation, odor nuisance elimination and some other characteristics enhancement, which will facilitate the down-stream process of sludge treatment and disposal. Here we present a brief review of application of radiation technology on sewage sludge processing. Some basic information of two currently available irradiation systems and fundamental radiation chemistry are introduced firstly; then the world-wide application of this promising technology is reviewed; various effects of radiation on sludge is discussed in detail; and some concluding remarks are given and some future directions are also proposed

Guidelines for preparing and reviewing applications for the licensing of non-power reactors: Standard review plan and acceptance criteria. NUREG - 1537, Part 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-02-01

NUREG - 1537, Part 2 gives guidance on the conduct of licensing action reviews to NRC staff who review non-power reactor licensing applications. These licensing actions include construction permits and initial operating licenses, license renewals, amendments, conversions from highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium, decommissioning, and license termination

Guidelines for preparing and reviewing applications for the licensing of non-power reactors: Standard review plan and acceptance criteria. NUREG - 1537, Part 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-02-01

NUREG - 1537, Part 2 gives guidance on the conduct of licensing action reviews to NRC staff who review non-power reactor licensing applications. These licensing actions include construction permits and initial operating licenses, license renewals, amendments, conversions from highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium, decommissioning, and license termination.

Review of high Z materials for PSI applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanabe, Tetsuo; Noda, Nobuaki; Nakamura, Hiroo.

1992-06-01

Application of carbon based low Z materials to PFM has significantly improved plasma parameters in large tokamaks. There are, however, serious concerns of erosion, neutron damage etc. for application of low Z materials in future D - T burning machine. To apply high Z metals to PFM, there are several issues to be solved; high Z impurity production by sputtering, their accumulation in plasma center, and high radiation loss. Because of these concerns high Z metals are not widely employed nor planned to be used in the present large tokamaks. Since our efforts have been concentrated to optimize the low Z materials, little systematic investigations for high Z materials in tokamak have been done, lacking data base especially those concerning the impacts on plasma core. In order to employ high Z material as PFM near future, material properties related to impurity production and hydrogen recycling are reviewed and discussed what is important and what shall be done. (author) 109 refs

Review of game theory applications for situation awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Blasch, Erik; Shen, Dan; Pham, Khanh D.; Chen, Genshe

2015-05-01

Game theoretical methods have been used for spectral awareness, space situational awareness (SSA), cyber situational awareness (CSA), and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance situation awareness (ISA). Each of these cases, awareness is supported by sensor estimation for assessment and the situation is determined from the actions of multiple players. Game theory assumes rational actors in a defined scenario; however, variations in social, cultural and behavioral factors include the dynamic nature of the context. In a dynamic data-driven application system (DDDAS), modeling must include both the measurements but also how models are used by different actors with different priorities. In this paper, we highlight the applications of game theory by reviewing the literature to determine the current state of the art and future needs. Future developments would include building towards knowledge awareness with information technology (e.g., data aggregation, access, indexing); multiscale analysis (e.g., space, time, and frequency), and software methods (e.g., architectures, cloud computing, protocols).

Application of proximal surrogate indicators for safety evaluation: A review of recent developments and research needs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.M. Sohel Mahmud

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Although there have been a number of recent reviews on the use of traffic conflict techniques (TCTs, none have focused on the use of proximal surrogate indicators. This paper comprehensively reviews the development and application of proximal surrogate safety indicators to address this gap. There is a particular focus on more recent advancements in the application of such indicators. For each of the main indicators reviewed, the paper provides a synthesis of the main guiding principles, as well as the most prominent features, including critical or threshold values used in the past. In addition, the main advantages and disadvantages of the reviewed indicators are highlighted. Finally, a number of research gaps are identified together with recommendations for potentially useful avenues of future research. Keywords: Safety evaluation, Traffic conflict, Surrogate, Proximal, Indicators

Drug-targeting methodologies with applications: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Kleinstreuer, Clement; Feng, Yu; Childress, Emily

2014-01-01

Targeted drug delivery to solid tumors is a very active research area, focusing mainly on improved drug formulation and associated best delivery methods/devices. Drug-targeting has the potential to greatly improve drug-delivery efficacy, reduce side effects, and lower the treatment costs. However, the vast majority of drug-targeting studies assume that the drug-particles are already at the target site or at least in its direct vicinity. In this review, drug-delivery methodologies, drug types and drug-delivery devices are discussed with examples in two major application areas: (1) inhaled drug-aerosol delivery into human lung-airways; and (2) intravascular drug-delivery for solid tumor targeting. The major problem addressed is how to deliver efficiently the drug-particles from the entry/infusion point to the target site. So far, most experimental results are based on animal studies. Concerning pulmonary drug delivery, the focus is on the pros and cons of three inhaler types, i.e., pressurized metered dose inhaler, dry powder inhaler and nebulizer, in addition to drug-aerosol formulations. Computational fluid-particle dynamics techniques and the underlying methodology for a smart inhaler system are discussed as well. Concerning intravascular drug-delivery for solid tumor targeting, passive and active targeting are reviewed as well as direct drug-targeting, using optimal delivery of radioactive microspheres to liver tumors as an example. The review concludes with suggestions for future work, considereing both pulmonary drug targeting and direct drug delivery to solid tumors in the vascular system. PMID:25516850

Applicability of HRA to support advanced MMI design review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Inn Seock

2000-01-01

More than half of all incidents in large complex technological systems, particularly in nuclear power or aviation industries, were attributable in some way to human erroneous actions. These incidents were largely due to the human engineering deficiencies of man-machine interface (MMI). In nuclear industry, advanced computer-based MMI designs are emerging as part of new reactor designs. The impact of advanced MMI technology on the operator performance, and as a result, on plant safety should be thoroughly evaluated before such technology is actually adopted in nuclear power plants. This paper discusses the applicability of human reliability analysis (HRA) to support the design review process. Both the first-generation and the second-generation HRA methods are considered focusing on a couple of promising HRA methods, i.e., ATHEANA and CREAM, with the potential to assist the design review process. (author)

Review of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers and their applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Joontaek; Lee, Wonjun; Kang, Woojin; Shin, Eunjung; Choi, Hongsoo; Ryu, Jungho

2017-01-01

In recent decades, micromachined ultrasonic transducers (MUTs) have been investigated as an alternative to conventional piezocomposite ultrasonic transducers, primarily due to the advantages that microelectromechanical systems provide. Miniaturized ultrasonic systems require ultrasonic transducers integrated with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuits. Hence, piezoelectric MUTs (pMUTs) and capacitive MUTs (cMUTs) have been developed as the most favorable solutions. This paper reviews the basic equations to understand the characteristics of thin-film-based piezoelectric devices and presents recent research on pMUTs, including current approaches and limitations. Methods to improve the coupling coefficient of pMUTs are also investigated, such as device structure, materials, and fabrication techniques. The device structure improvements include multielectrode pMUTs, partially clamped boundary conditions, and 3D pMUTs (curved and domed types), where the latter can provide an electromechanical coupling coefficient of up to 45%. The piezoelectric coefficient ( e 31 ) can be increased by controlling the crystal texture (seed layer of γ -Al 2 O 3 ), using single-crystal (PMN-PT) materials, or control of residual stresses (using SiO 2 layer). Arrays of pMUTs can be implemented for various applications including intravascular ultrasound, fingerprint sensors, rangefinders in air, and wireless power supply systems. pMUTs are expected to be an ideal solution for applications such as mobile biometric security (fingerprint sensors) and rangefinders due to their superior power efficiency and compact size. (topical review)

18 CFR 157.9 - Notice of application and notice of schedule for environmental review.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Notice of application and notice of schedule for environmental review. 157.9 Section 157.9 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER NATURAL GAS ACT APPLICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATES OF PUBLIC...

Cryogenic system operating experience review for fusion applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cadwallader, L.C.

1992-01-01

This report presents a review of cryogenic system operating experiences, from particle accelerator, fusion experiment, space research, and other applications. Safety relevant operating experiences and accident information are discussed. Quantitative order-of-magnitude estimates of cryogenic component failure rates and accident initiating event frequencies are presented for use in risk assessment, reliability, and availability studies. Safety concerns with cryogenic systems are discussed, including ozone formation, effects of spills, and modeling spill behavior. This information should be useful to fusion system designers and safety analysts, such as the team working on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor design

Review of Biological Network Data and Its Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donghyeon Yu

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Studying biological networks, such as protein-protein interactions, is key to understanding complex biological activities. Various types of large-scale biological datasets have been collected and analyzed with high-throughput technologies, including DNA microarray, next-generation sequencing, and the two-hybrid screening system, for this purpose. In this review, we focus on network-based approaches that help in understanding biological systems and identifying biological functions. Accordingly, this paper covers two major topics in network biology: reconstruction of gene regulatory networks and network-based applications, including protein function prediction, disease gene prioritization, and network-based genome-wide association study.

A review of digital microfluidics as portable platforms for lab-on a-chip applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Samiei, Ehsan; Tabrizian, Maryam; Hoorfar, Mina

2016-07-07

Following the development of microfluidic systems, there has been a high tendency towards developing lab-on-a-chip devices for biochemical applications. A great deal of effort has been devoted to improve and advance these devices with the goal of performing complete sets of biochemical assays on the device and possibly developing portable platforms for point of care applications. Among the different microfluidic systems used for such a purpose, digital microfluidics (DMF) shows high flexibility and capability of performing multiplex and parallel biochemical operations, and hence, has been considered as a suitable candidate for lab-on-a-chip applications. In this review, we discuss the most recent advances in the DMF platforms, and evaluate the feasibility of developing multifunctional packages for performing complete sets of processes of biochemical assays, particularly for point-of-care applications. The progress in the development of DMF systems is reviewed from eight different aspects, including device fabrication, basic fluidic operations, automation, manipulation of biological samples, advanced operations, detection, biological applications, and finally, packaging and portability of the DMF devices. Success in developing the lab-on-a-chip DMF devices will be concluded based on the advances achieved in each of these aspects.

Virtual reality for mobility devices: training applications and clinical research: a review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Erren-Wolters, Cathelijne V.; van Dijk, Henk; de Kort, Alexander C.; IJzerman, Maarten Joost; Jannink, M.J.A.

2007-01-01

Virtual reality technology is an emerging technology that possibly can address the problems encountered in training (elderly) people to handle a mobility device. The objective of this review was to study different virtual reality training applications as well as their clinical implication for

Toward Optical Sensors: Review and Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabri, Naseer; Aljunid, S A; Ahmad, R B; Salim, M S; Kamaruddin, R

2013-01-01

Recent advances in fiber optics (FOs) and the numerous advantages of light over electronic systems have boosted the utility and demand for optical sensors in various military, industry and social fields. Environmental and atmospheric monitoring, earth and space sciences, industrial chemical processing and biotechnology, law enforcement, digital imaging, scanning, and printing are exemplars of them. The ubiquity of photonic technologies could drive down prices which reduced the cost of optical fibers and lasers. Fiber optic sensors (FOSs) offer a wide spectrum of advantages over traditional sensing systems, such as small size and longer lifetime. Immunity to electromagnetic interference, amenability to multiplexing, and high sensitivity make FOs the sensor technology of choice in several fields, including the healthcare and aerospace sectors. FOSs show reliable and rigid sensing tasks over conventional electrical and electronic sensors. This paper presents an executive review of optical fiber sensors and the most beneficial applications.

Toward Optical Sensors: Review and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Sabri, Naseer; Aljunid, S. A.; Salim, M. S.; Ahmad, R. B.; Kamaruddin, R.

2013-04-01

Recent advances in fiber optics (FOs) and the numerous advantages of light over electronic systems have boosted the utility and demand for optical sensors in various military, industry and social fields. Environmental and atmospheric monitoring, earth and space sciences, industrial chemical processing and biotechnology, law enforcement, digital imaging, scanning, and printing are exemplars of them. The ubiquity of photonic technologies could drive down prices which reduced the cost of optical fibers and lasers. Fiber optic sensors (FOSs) offer a wide spectrum of advantages over traditional sensing systems, such as small size and longer lifetime. Immunity to electromagnetic interference, amenability to multiplexing, and high sensitivity make FOs the sensor technology of choice in several fields, including the healthcare and aerospace sectors. FOSs show reliable and rigid sensing tasks over conventional electrical and electronic sensors. This paper presents an executive review of optical fiber sensors and the most beneficial applications.

A review on one dimensional perovskite nanocrystals for piezoelectric applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li-Qian Cheng

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In recent years, one-dimensional piezoelectric nanomaterials have become a research topic of interest because of their special morphology and excellent piezoelectric properties. This article presents a short review on one dimensional perovskite piezoelectric materials in different systems including Pb(Zr,TiO3, BaTiO3 and (K,NaNbO3 (KNN. We emphasize KNN as a promising lead-free piezoelectric compound with a high Curie temperature and high piezoelectric properties and describe its synthesis and characterization. In particular, details are presented for nanoscale piezoelectricity characterization of a single KNN nanocrystal by piezoresponse force microscopy. Finally, this review describes recent progress in applications based on one dimensional piezoelectric nanostructures with a focus on energy harvesting composite materials.

Review of Stratum Corneum Impedance Measurement in Non-Invasive Penetration Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Lu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Due to advances in telemedicine, mobile medical care, wearable health monitoring, and electronic skin, great efforts have been directed to non-invasive monitoring and treatment of disease. These processes generally involve disease detection from interstitial fluid (ISF instead of blood, and transdermal drug delivery. However, the quantitative extraction of ISF and the level of drug absorption are greatly affected by the individual’s skin permeability, which is closely related to the properties of the stratum corneum (SC. Therefore, measurement of SC impedance has been proposed as an appropriate way for assessing individual skin differences. In order to figure out the current status and research direction of human SC impedance detection, investigations regarding skin impedance measurement have been reviewed in this paper. Future directions are concluded after a review of impedance models, electrodes, measurement methods and systems, and their applications in treatment. It is believed that a well-matched skin impedance model and measurement method will be established for clinical and point-of care applications in the near future.

A Critical Review of Personal Statements Submitted by Dermatology Residency Applicants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeannette Olazagasti

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background. A strong personal statement is deemed favorable in the overall application review process. However, research on the role of personal statements in the application process is lacking. Objective. To determine if personal statements from matched applicants differ from unmatched applicants. Methods. All dermatology residency applications (n=332 submitted to UC Davis Dermatology in the year of 2012 were evaluated. Two investigators identified the characteristics and recurring themes of content present in the personal statements. Then, both investigators individually evaluated the content of these personal statements in order to determine if any of the defined themes was present. Chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and reliability tests were used. Results. The following themes were emphasized more often by the matched applicants than the unmatched applicants as their reasons for going into dermatology are to study the cutaneous manifestations of systemic disease (33.8% versus 22.8%, to contribute to the literature gap (8.3% versus 1.1%, and to study the pathophysiology of skin diseases (8.3% versus 2.2%; P≤0.05 for all. Conclusion. The prevalence of certain themes in personal statements of dermatology applicants differs according to match status; nevertheless, whether certain themes impact match outcome needs to be further elucidated.

Application of hydrometallurgy techniques in quartz processing and purification: a review

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Min; Lei, Shaomin; Pei, Zhenyu; Liu, Yuanyuan; Xia, Zhangjie; Xie, Feixiang

2018-04-01

Although there have been numerous studies on separation and purification of metallic minerals by hydrometallurgy techniques, applications of the chemical techniques in separation and purification of non-metallic minerals are rarely reported. This paper reviews disparate areas of study into processing and purification of quartz (typical non-metallic ore) in an attempt to summarize current work, as well as to suggest potential for future consolidation in the field. The review encompasses chemical techniques of the quartz processing including situations, progresses, leaching mechanism, scopes of application, advantages and drawbacks of micro-bioleaching, high temperature leaching, high temperature pressure leaching and catalyzed high temperature pressure leaching. Traditional leaching techniques including micro-bioleaching and high temperature leaching are unequal to demand of modern glass industry for quality of quartz concentrate because the quartz products has to be further processed. High temperature pressure leaching and catalyzed high temperature pressure leaching provide new ways to produce high-grade quartz sand with only one process and lower acid consumption. Furthermore, the catalyzed high temperature pressure leaching realizes effective purification of quartz with extremely low acid consumption (no using HF or any fluoride). It is proposed that, by integrating the different chemical processes of quartz processing and expounding leaching mechanisms and scopes of application, the research field as a monopolized industry would benefit.

Medical applications of infrared thermography: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Lahiri, B. B.; Bagavathiappan, S.; Jayakumar, T.; Philip, John

2012-07-01

Abnormal body temperature is a natural indicator of illness. Infrared thermography (IRT) is a fast, passive, non-contact and non-invasive alternative to conventional clinical thermometers for monitoring body temperature. Besides, IRT can also map body surface temperature remotely. Last five decades witnessed a steady increase in the utility of thermal imaging cameras to obtain correlations between the thermal physiology and skin temperature. IRT has been successfully used in diagnosis of breast cancer, diabetes neuropathy and peripheral vascular disorders. It has also been used to detect problems associated with gynecology, kidney transplantation, dermatology, heart, neonatal physiology, fever screening and brain imaging. With the advent of modern infrared cameras, data acquisition and processing techniques, it is now possible to have real time high resolution thermographic images, which is likely to surge further research in this field. The present efforts are focused on automatic analysis of temperature distribution of regions of interest and their statistical analysis for detection of abnormalities. This critical review focuses on advances in the area of medical IRT. The basics of IRT, essential theoretical background, the procedures adopted for various measurements and applications of IRT in various medical fields are discussed in this review. Besides background information is provided for beginners for better understanding of the subject.

Evolution of RFID Applications in Construction: A Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

Valero, Enrique; Adán, Antonio; Cerrada, Carlos

2015-01-01

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been widely used in the field of construction during the last two decades. Basically, RFID facilitates the control on a wide variety of processes in different stages of the lifecycle of a building, from its conception to its inhabitance. The main objective of this paper is to present a review of RFID applications in the construction industry, pointing out the existing developments, limitations and gaps. The paper presents the establishment of the RFID technology in four main stages of the lifecycle of a facility: planning and design, construction and commission and operation and maintenance. Concerning this last stage, an RFID application aiming to facilitate the identification of pieces of furniture in scanned inhabited environments is presented. Conclusions and future advances are presented at the end of the paper. PMID:26151210

A Review on Direct Power Control for Applications to Grid Connected PWM Converters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. A. Trivedi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The Direct Power Control strategy has become popular as an alternative to the conventional vector oriented control strategy for grid connected PWM converters. In this paper, Direct Power Control as applied to various applications of grid connected converters is reviewed. The Direct Power Control for PWM rectifiers, Grid Connected DC/AC inverters applications such as renewable energy sources interface, Active Power Filters, Doubly Fed Induction Generators and AC-DC-AC converters are discussed. Control strategies such as Look-Up table based control, predictive control, Virtual Flux DPC, Model based DPC and DPC-Space Vector Modulation are critically reviewed. The effects of various key parameters such as selection of switching vector, sampling time, hysteresis band and grid interfacing on performance of direct power controlled converters are presented.

A practical approach in porous medium combustion for domestic application: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Ismail, A. K.; Ibrahim, N. H.; Shamsuddin, K. A.; Abdullah, M. Z.; Zubair, M.

2018-05-01

Combustion in porous media has been widely studied. Many application involving the combustion of porous media has been reported in various way with most consider on numerical works and industrial application. Besides, recent application of porous medium combustion for domestic is the topic of interest among researchers. In this paper, a review was conducted on the combustion of porous media in term of practical application for domestic consumers. Details on the type of fuel used including bio fuel and their system have been search thoroughly. Most of the system have utilized compressed air system to provide lean combustion in domestic application. Some self-aspirating system of porous medium burner was also reported. The application of new technology such as cogeneration by using thermoelectric cells in tandem with porous medium combustion is also revised according to recent work which have already been published. Besides, the recent advances which include coating of porous material is also considered at the end of this paper.

Application and development of peer review in China's nuclear power industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Ping

2014-01-01

Peer review is one of the scientific methods and tools in management, which plays an active role in promoting and improving the performance of safe operation and management level of nuclear power plants. Peer review of nuclear power is not only comprehensively popularized and applied in China, but it is also innovated and developed in industry at all levels in recent years. In this paper, with the CNNC's relevant practice as main line, a variety of accepted peer review methods both at home and abroad were compared and analyzed, and the current application and development of peer review in China's nuclear power industry were described, as well as some suggestions for improvement were put forward to share with our craft brothers. (author)

On Finsler Geometry and Applications in Mechanics: Review and New Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. D. Clayton

2015-01-01

direction as well as position, and a number of connections emerge associated with various covariant derivatives involving affine and nonlinear coefficients. Finsler geometry encompasses Riemannian, Euclidean, and Minkowskian geometries as special cases, and thus it affords great generality for describing a number of phenomena in physics. Here, descriptions of finite deformation of continuous media are of primary focus. After a review of necessary mathematical definitions and derivations, prior work involving application of Finsler geometry in continuum mechanics of solids is reviewed. A new theoretical description of continua with microstructure is then outlined, merging concepts from Finsler geometry and phase field theories of materials science.

Microfiber-Based Bragg Gratings for Sensing Applications: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun-Long Kou

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Microfiber-based Bragg gratings (MFBGs are an emerging concept in ultra-small optical fiber sensors. They have attracted great attention among researchers in the fiber sensing area because of their large evanescent field and compactness. In this review, the basic techniques for the fabrication of MFBGs are introduced first. Then, the sensing properties and applications of MFBGs are discussed, including measurement of refractive index (RI, temperature, and strain/force. Finally a summary of selected MFBG sensing elements from previous literature are tabulated.

Synthesis, Prop erties and Potential Applications of Porous Graphene：A Review

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Paola Russo; Anming Hu; Giuseppe Compagnini

2013-01-01

Since the discovery of graphene, many efforts have been done to modify the graphene structure for integrating this novel material to nanoelectronics, fuel cells, energy storage devices and in many other appli-cations. This leads to the production of different types of graphene-based materials, which possess properties different from those of pure graphene. Porous graphene is an example of this type of materials. It can be con-sidered as a graphene sheet with some holes/pores within the atomic plane. Due to its spongy structure, porous graphene can have potential applications as membranes for molecular sieving, energy storage components and in nanoelectronics. In this review, we present the recent progress in the synthesis of porous graphene. The properties and the potential applications of this new material are also discussed.

Application of multi-criteria decision making to sustainable energy planning - a review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pohekar, S.D.; Ramachandram, M. [Birla Inst. of Technology and Science, Pilani (India)

2004-08-01

Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques are gaining popularity in sustainable energy management. The techniques provide solutions to the problems involving conflicting and multiple objectives. Several methods based on weighted averages, priority setting, outranking, fuzzy principles and their combinations are employed for energy planning decisions. A review of more than 90 published papers is presented here to analyze the applicability of various methods discussed. A classification on application areas and the year of application is presented to highlight the trends. It is observed that Analytical Hierarchy Process is the most popular technique followed by outranking techniques PROMETHEE and ELECTRE. Validation of results with multiple methods, development of interactive decision support systems and application of fuzzy methods to tackle uncertainties in the data is observed in the published literature. (author)

A comprehensive review of telementoring applications in laparoscopic general surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Antoniou, Stavros A; Antoniou, George A; Franzen, Jan; Bollmann, Stefan; Koch, Oliver O; Pointner, Rudolf; Granderath, Frank A

2012-08-01

Incorporation of advanced laparoscopic procedures in the practice of institutions without respective experience is a significant impediment in the dissemination of minimally invasive techniques. On-site mentoring programs carry several cost-related and practical constraints. Telementoring has emerged as a practical and cost-effective alternative mentoring tool. The present study aimed to review the pertinent literature on telementoring applications in laparoscopic general surgery. A systematic review using the Medline database was performed. Articles reporting on clinical experience with telementoring applications in general surgery were included. Variations in methodology, study design, and operative procedures precluded cumulative outcome evaluation. Instead, a critical appraisal of current evidence was undertaken. Seventy-five articles were identified in the primary search, and ten studies were considered eligible. No randomized studies comparing on-site mentoring with telementoring were identified. The included studies reported on a total of 96 laparoscopic telementored procedures: 50 cholecystectomies, 23 colorectal resections, 7 fundoplications, 9 adrenalectomies, 6 hernia repairs, and 2 splenectomies. Completion of remotely assisted procedures was feasible in the vast majority of cases, whereas technical difficulties included video and audio latency with low transfer rates (programs in general surgery. Their clinical effectiveness as teaching alternatives to traditional mentoring programs remains to be further evaluated.

Affinity monolith chromatography: A review of general principles and applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhao; Rodriguez, Elliott; Azaria, Shiden; Pekarek, Allegra; Hage, David S

2017-11-01

Affinity monolith chromatography, or AMC, is a liquid chromatographic method in which the support is a monolith and the stationary phase is a biological-binding agent or related mimic. AMC has become popular for the isolation of biochemicals, for the measurement of various analytes, and for studying biological interactions. This review will examine the principles and applications of AMC. The materials that have been used to prepare AMC columns will be discussed, which have included various organic polymers, silica, agarose, and cryogels. Immobilization schemes that have been used in AMC will also be considered. Various binding agents and applications that have been reported for AMC will then be described. These applications will include the use of AMC for bioaffinity chromatography, immunoaffinity chromatography, dye-ligand affinity chromatography, and immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography. The use of AMC with chiral stationary phases and as a tool to characterize biological interactions will also be examined. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Application of systematic review methodology to the field of nutrition.

Science.gov (United States)

Lichtenstein, Alice H; Yetley, Elizabeth A; Lau, Joseph

2008-12-01

Systematic reviews represent a rigorous and transparent approach to synthesizing scientific evidence that minimizes bias. They evolved within the medical community to support development of clinical and public health practice guidelines, set research agendas, and formulate scientific consensus statements. The use of systematic reviews for nutrition-related topics is more recent. Systematic reviews provide independently conducted comprehensive and objective assessments of available information addressing precise questions. This approach to summarizing available data is a useful tool for identifying the state of science including knowledge gaps and associated research needs, supporting development of science-based recommendations and guidelines, and serving as the foundation for updates as new data emerge. Our objective is to describe the steps for performing systematic reviews and highlight areas unique to the discipline of nutrition that are important to consider in data assessment. The steps involved in generating systematic reviews include identifying staffing and planning for outside expert input, forming a research team, developing an analytic framework, developing and refining research questions, defining eligibility criteria, identifying search terms, screening abstracts according to eligibility criteria, retrieving articles for evaluation, constructing evidence and summary tables, assessing methodological quality and applicability, and synthesizing results including performing meta-analysis, if appropriate. Unique and at times challenging, nutrition-related considerations include baseline nutrient exposure, nutrient status, bioequivalence of bioactive compounds, bioavailability, multiple and interrelated biological functions, undefined nature of some interventions, and uncertainties in intake assessment. Systematic reviews are a valuable and independent component of decision-making processes by groups responsible for developing science-based recommendations

Paper as a platform for sensing applications and other devices: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahadeva, Suresha K; Walus, Konrad; Stoeber, Boris

2015-04-29

Paper is a ubiquitous material that has various applications in day to day life. A sheet of paper is produced by pressing moist wood cellulose fibers together. Paper offers unique properties: paper allows passive liquid transport, it is compatible with many chemical and biochemical moieties, it exhibits piezoelectricity, and it is biodegradable. Hence, paper is an attractive low-cost functional material for sensing devices. In recent years, researchers in the field of science and engineering have witnessed an exponential growth in the number of research contributions that focus on the development of cost-effective and scalable fabrication methods and new applications of paper-based devices. In this review article, we highlight recent advances in the development of paper-based sensing devices in the areas of electronics, energy storage, strain sensing, microfluidic devices, and biosensing, including piezoelectric paper. Additionally, this review includes current limitations of paper-based sensing devices and points out issues that have limited the commercialization of some of the paper-based sensing devices.

Big Data Application in Biomedical Research and Health Care: A Literature Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Jake; Wu, Min; Gopukumar, Deepika; Zhao, Yiqing

2016-01-01

Big data technologies are increasingly used for biomedical and health-care informatics research. Large amounts of biological and clinical data have been generated and collected at an unprecedented speed and scale. For example, the new generation of sequencing technologies enables the processing of billions of DNA sequence data per day, and the application of electronic health records (EHRs) is documenting large amounts of patient data. The cost of acquiring and analyzing biomedical data is expected to decrease dramatically with the help of technology upgrades, such as the emergence of new sequencing machines, the development of novel hardware and software for parallel computing, and the extensive expansion of EHRs. Big data applications present new opportunities to discover new knowledge and create novel methods to improve the quality of health care. The application of big data in health care is a fast-growing field, with many new discoveries and methodologies published in the last five years. In this paper, we review and discuss big data application in four major biomedical subdisciplines: (1) bioinformatics, (2) clinical informatics, (3) imaging informatics, and (4) public health informatics. Specifically, in bioinformatics, high-throughput experiments facilitate the research of new genome-wide association studies of diseases, and with clinical informatics, the clinical field benefits from the vast amount of collected patient data for making intelligent decisions. Imaging informatics is now more rapidly integrated with cloud platforms to share medical image data and workflows, and public health informatics leverages big data techniques for predicting and monitoring infectious disease outbreaks, such as Ebola. In this paper, we review the recent progress and breakthroughs of big data applications in these health-care domains and summarize the challenges, gaps, and opportunities to improve and advance big data applications in health care.

A review on the electrochemical applications of room temperature ionic liquids in nuclear fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Venkatesan, K.A.; Srinivasan, T.G.; Vasudeva Rao, P.R.

2009-01-01

A mini review on the electrochemical applications of room temperature ionic liquids (RTIL) in nuclear fuel cycle is presented. It is shown that how the fascinating properties of RTIL can be tuned to deliver desirable application in aqueous and non-aqueous reprocessing and in nuclear waste management. (author)

Review on Cyber Security Programs for NPP Application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oh, Eung Se [KEPRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2010-10-15

Increased history records of cyber security (CS) attacks and concerns for computers and networks technical mishaps pull out cyber security to open places. In spite of secrete nature of security, transparent and shared knowledge of many security features are more required at modern plant floors. Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), US Government and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requested to develop cyber security plans and enforce their implementing to the NPPs. [KINS; CFR; RG 5.71] This paper reviews various cyber security guidelines and suggests an applicable cyber security program development models during the life cycle of NPP's Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems

Review on Cyber Security Programs for NPP Application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, Eung Se

2010-01-01

Increased history records of cyber security (CS) attacks and concerns for computers and networks technical mishaps pull out cyber security to open places. In spite of secrete nature of security, transparent and shared knowledge of many security features are more required at modern plant floors. Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), US Government and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requested to develop cyber security plans and enforce their implementing to the NPPs. [KINS] [CFR] [RG 5.71] This paper reviews various cyber security guidelines and suggests an applicable cyber security program development models during the life cycle of NPP's Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems

Novel Applications of Metabolomics in Personalized Medicine: A Mini-Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bingbing; He, Xuyun; Jia, Wei; Li, Houkai

2017-07-13

Interindividual variability in drug responses and disease susceptibility is common in the clinic. Currently, personalized medicine is highly valued, the idea being to prescribe the right medicine to the right patient. Metabolomics has been increasingly applied in evaluating the therapeutic outcomes of clinical drugs by correlating the baseline metabolic profiles of patients with their responses, i.e., pharmacometabonomics, as well as prediction of disease susceptibility among population in advance, i.e., patient stratification. The accelerated advance in metabolomics technology pinpoints the huge potential of its application in personalized medicine. In current review, we discussed the novel applications of metabolomics with typical examples in evaluating drug therapy and patient stratification, and underlined the potential of metabolomics in personalized medicine in the future.

Review of neutron radiographic applications in industrial and biological systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashraf, M.M.; Khan, A.R.

1992-10-01

Neutron radiography is a non-destructive testing technique and is being used worldwide for the design and the development of reactor fuels for research and power reactors. It is also being used for non-destructive examination of nuclear industrial products. In addition to its explosives and other industrial sectors. In addition to its applications in industrial sectors, the technique is widely used for research and development activities in biological systems. A review of technical applications of neutron radiography in different fields particularly in nuclear fuel management, aerospace industry, explosives and biology is presented. The methodology of neutron radiography is also discussed in detail along with the advantages of the technique. In addition, the potential of the neutron radiography facility at PINSTECH has been described. (author)

Wideband and UWB Antennas for Wireless Applications: A Comprehensive Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renato Cicchetti

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A comprehensive review concerning the geometry, the manufacturing technologies, the materials, and the numerical techniques, adopted for the analysis and design of wideband and ultrawideband (UWB antennas for wireless applications, is presented. Planar, printed, dielectric, and wearable antennas, achievable on laminate (rigid and flexible, and textile dielectric substrates are taken into account. The performances of small, low-profile, and dielectric resonator antennas are illustrated paying particular attention to the application areas concerning portable devices (mobile phones, tablets, glasses, laptops, wearable computers, etc. and radio base stations. This information provides a guidance to the selection of the different antenna geometries in terms of bandwidth, gain, field polarization, time-domain response, dimensions, and materials useful for their realization and integration in modern communication systems.

Advanced Applications of Neural Networks and Artificial Intelligence: A Review

OpenAIRE

Koushal Kumar; Gour Sundar Mitra Thakur

2012-01-01

Artificial Neural Network is a branch of Artificial intelligence and has been accepted as a new computing technology in computer science fields. This paper reviews the field of Artificial intelligence and focusing on recent applications which uses Artificial Neural Networks (ANN’s) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). It also considers the integration of neural networks with other computing methods Such as fuzzy logic to enhance the interpretation ability of data. Artificial Neural Networks is c...

Nano/micromotors for security/defense applications. A review

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Virendra V.; Wang, Joseph

2015-11-01

The new capabilities of man-made micro/nanomotors open up considerable opportunities for diverse security and defense applications. This review highlights new micromotor-based strategies for enhanced security monitoring and detoxification of chemical and biological warfare agents (CBWA). The movement of receptor-functionalized nanomotors offers great potential for sensing and isolating target bio-threats from complex samples. New mobile reactive materials based on zeolite or activated carbon offer considerable promise for the accelerated removal of chemical warfare agents. A wide range of proof-of-concept motor-based approaches, including the detection and destruction of anthrax spores, `on-off' nerve-agent detection or effective neutralization of chemical warfare agents have thus been demonstrated. The propulsion of micromotors and their corresponding bubble tails impart significant mixing that greatly accelerates such detoxification processes. These nanomotors will thus empower sensing and destruction where stirring large quantities of decontaminating reagents and controlled mechanical agitation are impossible or undesired. New technological breakthroughs and greater sophistication of micro/nanoscale machines will lead to rapid translation of the micromotor research activity into practical defense applications, addressing the escalating threat of CBWA.

Application of Resource Description Framework to Personalise Learning: Systematic Review and Methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Jevsikova, Tatjana; Berniukevicius, Andrius; Kurilovas, Eugenijus

2017-01-01

The paper is aimed to present a methodology of learning personalisation based on applying Resource Description Framework (RDF) standard model. Research results are two-fold: first, the results of systematic literature review on Linked Data, RDF "subject-predicate-object" triples, and Web Ontology Language (OWL) application in education…

Fire protection system operating experience review for fusion applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cadwallader, L.C.

1995-12-01

This report presents a review of fire protection system operating experiences from particle accelerator, fusion experiment, and other applications. Safety relevant operating experiences and accident information are discussed. Quantitative order-of-magnitude estimates of fire protection system component failure rates and fire accident initiating event frequencies are presented for use in risk assessment, reliability, and availability studies. Safety concerns with these systems are discussed, including spurious operation. This information should be useful to fusion system designers and safety analysts, such as the team working on the Engineering Design Activities for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

Fire protection system operating experience review for fusion applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cadwallader, L.C.

1995-12-01

This report presents a review of fire protection system operating experiences from particle accelerator, fusion experiment, and other applications. Safety relevant operating experiences and accident information are discussed. Quantitative order-of-magnitude estimates of fire protection system component failure rates and fire accident initiating event frequencies are presented for use in risk assessment, reliability, and availability studies. Safety concerns with these systems are discussed, including spurious operation. This information should be useful to fusion system designers and safety analysts, such as the team working on the Engineering Design Activities for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.

Energy shocks, crises and the policy process: A review of theory and application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grossman, Peter Z.

2015-01-01

What motivates changes in energy policy? Typically, the process begins with a notable exogenous event, a shock. Often, the shock leads to what is perceived to be a crisis. This review essay surveys theories of crisis policymaking from the social science literature and considers their application to changes in energy policy. Two cases — one from the U.S., the other from Germany — are examined in more detail from the standpoint of the theories discussed. Suggestions are made for improving energy policy analysis in the future. - Highlights: • An analysis of the idea of “crisis” and its application to energy. • A review of theories and models of the policy process and of policy change. • Theory applied to two energy cases. • Suggestion as to how the analysis of energy policymaking might be approached in the future

Applications of additive manufacturing in dentistry: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhargav, Aishwarya; Sanjairaj, Vijayavenkatraman; Rosa, Vinicius; Feng, Lu Wen; Fuh Yh, Jerry

2017-07-24

Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing has been hailed as the third industrial revolution as it has caused a paradigm shift in the way objects have been manufactured. Conventionally, converting a raw material to a fully finished and assembled, usable product comprises several steps which can be eliminated by using this process as functional products can be created directly from the raw material at a fraction of the time originally consumed. Thus, AM has found applications in several sectors including automotive, aerospace, printed electronics, and healthcare. AM is increasingly being used in the healthcare sector, given its potential to fabricate patient-specific customized implants with required accuracy and precision. Implantable heart valves, rib cages, and bones are some of the examples where AM technologies are used. A vast variety of materials including ceramics, metals, polymers, and composites have been processed to fabricate intricate implants using 3D printing. The applications of AM in dentistry include maxillofacial implants, dentures, and other prosthetic aids. It may also be used in surgical training and planning, as anatomical models can be created at ease using AM. This article gives an overview of the AM process and reviews in detail the applications of 3D printing in dentistry. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Preparing as an organization to review a construction license application for a DGR for HLW and SF in the USA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, Brittain

2014-01-01

Although formally opposed by the State of Nevada, the Yucca Mountain site (Nevada) recommendation was approved by the U.S. Congress and the President, which authorized DOE to prepare and submit a license application for a deep geologic repository for the nation's spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste. In June of 2008, DOE submitted this application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its review and formal adjudication of contested issues during a 3-4 year period. Although subsequent actions by the Administration and Congress have changed the direction for geologic disposal in the U.S., the NRC staff was able to conduct a thorough technical review of the DOE license application and issue technical evaluation reports before the review and hearings were suspended in September 2011. This paper provides the author's perspective on how the NRC prepared for, and conducted, this first-of-a-kind licensing review: planning framework, key preparations for staff and for processes, events after the receipt of a license application, retrospective on staff preparations and on processes. By the end of September 2011, the NRC staff had issued three Technical Evaluation Reports using a risk-informed, performance-based approach to review the DOE license application for this deep geologic repository at Yucca Mountain

Application of microbial α-amylase in industry - A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula Monteiro de Souza

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Amylases are one of the main enzymes used in industry. Such enzymes hydrolyze the starch molecules into polymers composed of glucose units. Amylases have potential application in a wide number of industrial processes such as food, fermentation and pharmaceutical industries. α-Amylases can be obtained from plants, animals and microorganisms. However, enzymes from fungal and bacterial sources have dominated applications in industrial sectors. The production of α-amylase is essential for conversion of starches into oligosaccharides. Starch is an important constituent of the human diet and is a major storage product of many economically important crops such as wheat, rice, maize, tapioca, and potato. Starch-converting enzymes are used in the production of maltodextrin, modified starches, or glucose and fructose syrups. A large number of microbial α-amylases has applications in different industrial sectors such as food, textile, paper and detergent industries. The production of α-amylases has generally been carried out using submerged fermentation, but solid state fermentation systems appear as a promising technology. The properties of each α-amylase such as thermostability, pH profile, pH stability, and Ca-independency are important in the development of fermentation process. This review focuses on the production of bacterial and fungal α-amylases, their distribution, structural-functional aspects, physical and chemical parameters, and the use of these enzymes in industrial applications.

Application of microbial α-amylase in industry - A review.

Science.gov (United States)

de Souza, Paula Monteiro; de Oliveira Magalhães, Pérola

2010-10-01

Amylases are one of the main enzymes used in industry. Such enzymes hydrolyze the starch molecules into polymers composed of glucose units. Amylases have potential application in a wide number of industrial processes such as food, fermentation and pharmaceutical industries. α-Amylases can be obtained from plants, animals and microorganisms. However, enzymes from fungal and bacterial sources have dominated applications in industrial sectors. The production of α-amylase is essential for conversion of starches into oligosaccharides. Starch is an important constituent of the human diet and is a major storage product of many economically important crops such as wheat, rice, maize, tapioca, and potato. Starch-converting enzymes are used in the production of maltodextrin, modified starches, or glucose and fructose syrups. A large number of microbial α-amylases has applications in different industrial sectors such as food, textile, paper and detergent industries. The production of α-amylases has generally been carried out using submerged fermentation, but solid state fermentation systems appear as a promising technology. The properties of each α-amylase such as thermostability, pH profile, pH stability, and Ca-independency are important in the development of fermentation process. This review focuses on the production of bacterial and fungal α-amylases, their distribution, structural-functional aspects, physical and chemical parameters, and the use of these enzymes in industrial applications.

Waste-based materials; capability, application and impact on indoor environment – literature review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krejcirikova, Barbora; Rode, Carsten; Kolarik, Jakub

2014-01-01

This paper reviews and discusses various sustainable materials utilizing waste products with the focus on their properties having an impact on the indoor environmental conditions and indoor air quality (IAQ). Materials included in the review are selected considering the following aspects......: sustainability, cradle to cradle perspective, application, their impact on indoor environment and human well-being. The attempt of the paper is to cover a wide spectrum of information so to provide better understanding of waste utilization in construction industry....

Review of Network Topologies and Protection Principles in Marine and Offshore Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ciontea, Catalin-Iosif; Bak, Claus Leth; Blaabjerg, Frede

2015-01-01

An electric fault that is not cleared is harmful in land applications, but in marine and offshore sector it can have catastrophic consequences. If the protection system fails to operate properly, the following situation may occur: blackouts, fire, loss of propulsion, delays in transportation......, collision with the cliff, reef or other ships and electrical shocks to humans. In order to cope with the unwanted effects of a fault, several protection strategies are applied, but complexity of the marine and offshore applications is continuously increasing, so protection needs to overcome more and more...... challenges. As result, development of new protection techniques that can offer improved functionalities compared to the actual solutions for marine and offshore applications is needed. This paper reviews the network topologies in such applications and presents the requirements of a system able to protect...

A Review of Data Mining with Big Data towards Its Applications in the Electronics Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shengping Lv

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Data mining (DM with Big Data has been widely used in the lifecycle of electronic products that range from the design and production stages to the service stage. A comprehensive analysis of DM with Big Data and a review of its application in the stages of its lifecycle will not only benefit researchers to develop strong research themes and identify gaps in the field but also help practitioners for DM application system development. In this paper, a brief clarification of DM-related topics is presented first. A flowchart of DM and the main content of the flowchart steps are given in which commonly used data preparation and preprocessing approaches, DM functions and techniques, and performances indicators are summarized. Then, a comprehensive review covering 105 articles from 2007 to 2017 on DM or Big Data applications in the electronics industry is provided according to the flowchart from various points of view such as data handling, applications of DM, or Big Data at different lifecycle stages, and the software used in the applications. On this basis, a diagram of data content for different knowledge areas and a framework for DM and Big Data applications in the electronics industry are established. Finally, conclusions and future research directions are given.

Systematic Review: Concept and Tool Development with Application in the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Assessment Process

Science.gov (United States)

Systematic Review: Concept and tool development with application to the National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Assessment Processes. There is growing interest within the environmental health community to incorporate systematic review m...

The Applications of Cone-Beam Computed Tomography in Endodontics: A Review of Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Kiarudi, Amir Hosein; Eghbal, Mohammad Jafar; Safi, Yaser; Aghdasi, Mohammad Mehdi; Fazlyab, Mahta

2015-01-01

By producing undistorted three-dimensional images of the area under examination, cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) systems have met many of the limitations of conventional radiography. These systems produce images with small field of view at low radiation doses with adequate spatial resolution that are suitable for many applications in endodontics from diagnosis to treatment and follow-up. This review article comprehensively assembles all the data from literature regarding the potential applications of CBCT in endodontics. PMID:25598804

The State of the Otolaryngology Match: A Review of Applicant Trends, "Impossible" Qualifications, and Implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowe, Sarah N; Schmalbach, Cecelia E; Laury, Adrienne M

2017-06-01

Objective This State of the Art Review aims (1) to define recent qualifications of otolaryngology resident applicants by focusing on United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores, Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) status, and research/publications and (2) to summarize the current literature regarding the relationship between these measures and performance in residency. Data Sources Electronic Residency Application Service, National Residency Matching Program, PubMed, Ovid, and GoogleScholar. Review Methods Electronic Residency Application Service and National Residency Matching Program data were analyzed to evaluate trends in applicant numbers and qualifications. Additionally, a literature search was performed with the aforementioned databases to identify relevant articles published in the past 5 years that examined USMLE Step 1 scores, AOA status, and research/publications. Conclusions Compared with other highly competitive fields over the past 3 years, the only specialty with decreasing applicant numbers is otolaryngology, with the rest remaining relatively stable or slightly increased. Additionally, USMLE Step 1 scores, AOA status, and research/publications do not reliably correlate with performance in residency. Implications for Practice The consistent decline in applications for otolaryngology residency is concerning and reflects a need for change in the current stereotype of the "ideal" otolaryngology applicant. This includes consideration of additional selection measures focusing on noncognitive and holistic qualities. Furthermore, otolaryngology faculty should counsel medical students that applying in otolaryngology is not "impossible" but rather a feasible and worthwhile endeavor.

DEMATEL Technique: A Systematic Review of the State-of-the-Art Literature on Methodologies and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheng-Li Si

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL is considered as an effective method for the identification of cause-effect chain components of a complex system. It deals with evaluating interdependent relationships among factors and finding the critical ones through a visual structural model. Over the recent decade, a large number of studies have been done on the application of DEMATEL and many different variants have been put forward in the literature. The objective of this study is to review systematically the methodologies and applications of the DEMATEL technique. We reviewed a total of 346 papers published from 2006 to 2016 in the international journals. According to the approaches used, these publications are grouped into five categories: classical DEMATEL, fuzzy DEMATEL, grey DEMATEL, analytical network process- (ANP- DEMATEL, and other DEMATEL. All papers with respect to each category are summarized and analyzed, pointing out their implementing procedures, real applications, and crucial findings. This systematic and comprehensive review holds valuable insights for researchers and practitioners into using the DEMATEL in terms of indicating current research trends and potential directions for further research.

Review of diffusion tensor imaging and its application in children

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vorona, Gregory A. [Children' s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Radiology, Richmond, VA (United States); Berman, Jeffrey I. [Children' s Hospital of Philadelphia, Department of Radiology, Philadelphia, PA (United States)

2015-09-15

Diffusion MRI is an imaging technique that uses the random motion of water to probe tissue microstructure. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can quantitatively depict the organization and connectivity of white matter. Given the non-invasiveness of the technique, DTI has become a widely used tool for researchers and clinicians to examine the white matter of children. This review covers the basics of diffusion-weighted imaging and diffusion tensor imaging and discusses examples of their clinical application in children. (orig.)

Induced pluripotent stem cells, from generation to application: review article

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharif Moradi

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells which have the ability to indefinitely self-renew and differentiate into all differentiated cells of the body. Regarding their two main properties (unlimited self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation, these cells have various biomedical applications in basic research and cell based therapy. Because the transplantation of differentiated cells that are derived from embryonic stem cells is allogenic, they face the problem of immune rejection following the transplantation of embryonic stem cell-derived cells into patients. In 2006, researchers from Japan reported the derivation of a new type of pluripotent stem cells which could overcome the problem of immune rejection that is associated with the application of embryonic stem cells. They designated these cells as induced pluripotent stem (iPS cells, because their production was ‘induced’ from differentiated somatic cells using a combination of four embryonic stem cell-associated transcription factors. Importantly, these pluripotent stem cells exhibit all the key features of embryonic stem cells including unlimited self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation potential, and can pass the most stringent test of pluripotency which is known as the tetraploid (4n complementation. Hence, in addition to bypassing the problem of immune rejection, iPS cells have all of the potential applications of embryonic stem cells, including in developmental studies, toxicology research, drug discovery and disease modeling. Also, considering that they could be generated from patient’s own cells, iPS cells hold great promise in the future of patient-specific cell replacement therapies using pluripotent stem cells. In this review article, we will present a comprehensive review on the how and why of the generation of iPS cell from somatic cells of the body and discuss how they should be characterized in terms of morphologically, pluripotent stem cell behavior, and

Location-based social networking media for restaurant promotion and food review using mobile application

Science.gov (United States)

Luhur, H. S.; Widjaja, N. D.

2014-03-01

This paper is focusing on the development of a mobile application for searching restaurants and promotions with location based and social networking features. The main function of the application is to search restaurant information. Other functions are also available in this application such as add restaurant, add promotion, add photo, add food review, and other features including social networking features. The restaurant and promotion searching application will be developed under Android platform. Upon completion of this paper, heuristic evaluation and usability testing have been conducted. The result of both testing shows that the application is highly usable. Even though there are some usability problems discovered, the problems can be eliminated immediately by implementing the recommendations from the expert evaluators and the users as the testers of the application. Further improvement made to the application will ensure that the application can really be beneficial for the users of the application.

77 FR 59925 - Public Buildings Service; Submission for OMB Review; Application/Permit for Use of Space in...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-01

... Buildings Service; Submission for OMB Review; Application/ Permit for Use of Space in Public Buildings and... regarding GSA Form 3453, Application/Permit for Use of Space in Public Buildings and Grounds. A notice was... Information Collection 3090- 0044, GSA Form 3453, Application/Permit for Use of Space in Public Buildings and...

Prognostics and Health Management in Nuclear Power Plants: A Review of Technologies and Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coble, Jamie B.; Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Bond, Leonard J.; Hines, Wes; Upadhyaya, Belle

2012-07-17

This report reviews the current state of the art of prognostics and health management (PHM) for nuclear power systems and related technology currently applied in field or under development in other technological application areas, as well as key research needs and technical gaps for increased use of PHM in nuclear power systems. The historical approach to monitoring and maintenance in nuclear power plants (NPPs), including the Maintenance Rule for active components and Aging Management Plans for passive components, are reviewed. An outline is given for the technical and economic challenges that make PHM attractive for both legacy plants through Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) and new plant designs. There is a general introduction to PHM systems for monitoring, fault detection and diagnostics, and prognostics in other, non-nuclear fields. The state of the art for health monitoring in nuclear power systems is reviewed. A discussion of related technologies that support the application of PHM systems in NPPs, including digital instrumentation and control systems, wired and wireless sensor technology, and PHM software architectures is provided. Appropriate codes and standards for PHM are discussed, along with a description of the ongoing work in developing additional necessary standards. Finally, an outline of key research needs and opportunities that must be addressed in order to support the application of PHM in legacy and new NPPs is presented.

On the Edge of Research and Technological Application: A Critical Review of Electromethanogenesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramiro Blasco-Gómez

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The conversion of electrical current into methane (electromethanogenesis by microbes represents one of the most promising applications of bioelectrochemical systems (BES. Electromethanogenesis provides a novel approach to waste treatment, carbon dioxide fixation and renewable energy storage into a chemically stable compound, such as methane. This has become an important area of research since it was first described, attracting different research groups worldwide. Basics of the process such as microorganisms involved and main reactions are now much better understood, and recent advances in BES configuration and electrode materials in lab-scale enhance the interest in this technology. However, there are still some gaps that need to be filled to move towards its application. Side reactions or scaling-up issues are clearly among the main challenges that need to be overcome to its further development. This review summarizes the recent advances made in the field of electromethanogenesis to address the main future challenges and opportunities of this novel process. In addition, the present fundamental knowledge is critically reviewed and some insights are provided to identify potential niche applications and help researchers to overcome current technological boundaries.

On the Edge of Research and Technological Application: A Critical Review of Electromethanogenesis

Science.gov (United States)

Blasco-Gómez, Ramiro; Batlle-Vilanova, Pau; Villano, Marianna; Balaguer, Maria Dolors; Colprim, Jesús; Puig, Sebastià

2017-01-01

The conversion of electrical current into methane (electromethanogenesis) by microbes represents one of the most promising applications of bioelectrochemical systems (BES). Electromethanogenesis provides a novel approach to waste treatment, carbon dioxide fixation and renewable energy storage into a chemically stable compound, such as methane. This has become an important area of research since it was first described, attracting different research groups worldwide. Basics of the process such as microorganisms involved and main reactions are now much better understood, and recent advances in BES configuration and electrode materials in lab-scale enhance the interest in this technology. However, there are still some gaps that need to be filled to move towards its application. Side reactions or scaling-up issues are clearly among the main challenges that need to be overcome to its further development. This review summarizes the recent advances made in the field of electromethanogenesis to address the main future challenges and opportunities of this novel process. In addition, the present fundamental knowledge is critically reviewed and some insights are provided to identify potential niche applications and help researchers to overcome current technological boundaries. PMID:28425974

Internet of Things and Artificial Vision, Performance and Applications: Literature Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vanessa Alvear-Puertas

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Internet of Things (or also known as IoT is one of the technologies most named today because of the ability it envisages to connect all kinds of devices to the Internet. If to the potentialities of IoT we add another technology of high impact as It is the Artificial Vision we have a wide field of innovative applications, where the processing of images and video in real time allow the visualization of large amounts of data on the Internet. The main applications developed with IoT and Artificial Vision can be implemented in education, medicine, intelligent buildings, surveillance systems of people and vehicles, among others. This type of applications improves the quality of life of users, however, for their development an infrastructure is required that allows the convergence of different protocols and devices, but in a special way that can handle the different phases of the acquisition of images. In this work, a review of the beginnings, concepts, technologies and applications related to the Artificial Vision with the Internet of Things has been carried out to be able to understand in a precise way the impact of its application in daily life.

Vacuum system operating experience review for fusion applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cadwallader, L.C.

1994-03-01

This report presents a review of vacuum system operating experiences from particle accelerator, fusion experiment, space simulation chamber, and other applications. Safety relevant operating experiences and accident information are discussed. Quantitative order-of-magnitude estimates of vacuum system component failure rates and accident initiating event frequencies are presented for use in risk assessment, reliability, and availability studies. Safety concerns with vacuum systems are discussed, including personnel safety, foreign material intrusion, and factors relevant to vacuum systems being the primary confinement boundary for tritium and activated dusts. This information should be useful to fusion system designers and safety analysts, such as the team working on the Engineering Design Activities for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

A Review on the Fabrication of Hierarchical ZnO Nanostructures for Photocatalysis Application

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Yi Xia

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Semiconductor photocatalysis provides potential solutions for many energy and environmental-related issues. Recently, various semiconductors with hierarchical nanostructures have been fabricated to achieve efficient photocatalysts owing to their multiple advantages, such as high surface area, porous structures, as well as enhanced light harvesting. ZnO has been widely investigated and considered as the most promising alternative photocatalyst to TiO2. Herein, we present a review on the fabrication methods, growth mechanisms and photocatalytic applications of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures. Various synthetic strategies and growth mechanisms, including multistep sequential growth routes, template-based synthesis, template-free self-organization and precursor or self-templating strategies, are highlighted. In addition, the fabrication of multicomponent ZnO-based nanocomposites with hierarchical structures is also included. Finally, the application of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures and nanocomposites in typical photocatalytic reactions, such as pollutant degradation and H2 evolution, is reviewed.

Technology, applications and modelling of ohmic heating: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Varghese, K Shiby; Pandey, M C; Radhakrishna, K; Bawa, A S

2014-10-01

Ohmic heating or Joule heating has immense potential for achieving rapid and uniform heating in foods, providing microbiologically safe and high quality foods. This review discusses the technology behind ohmic heating, the current applications and thermal modeling of the process. The success of ohmic heating depends on the rate of heat generation in the system, the electrical conductivity of the food, electrical field strength, residence time and the method by which the food flows through the system. Ohmic heating is appropriate for processing of particulate and protein rich foods. A vast amount of work is still necessary to understand food properties in order to refine system design and maximize performance of this technology in the field of packaged foods and space food product development. Various economic studies will also play an important role in understanding the overall cost and viability of commercial application of this technology in food processing. Some of the demerits of the technology are also discussed.

Thin-film voltammetry and its analytical applications: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian, Huihui; Li, Yunchao; Shao, Huibo; Yu, Hua-Zhong

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Electrochemistry at immiscible liquid–liquid interfaces is fundamentally important. • Methods for studying redox processes at liquid–liquid interfaces are reviewed. • Thin-film voltammetry is simple in experimental operation and kinetic data analysis. • Thin-film voltammetry’s analytical applications are prevailing and comprehensive. - Abstract: Electrochemical reactions at the interfaces of immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) are of fundamental importance in the fields of chemical, biological and pharmaceutical sciences. Four-electrode cell setup, scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) and thin-film voltammetry are the three most frequently used methods for studying the electrochemical processes at these interfaces. The principle, experimental design, advantages and challenges of the three methods are described and compared. The thin-film voltammetry is highlighted for its simplicity in experimental operation and kinetic data analysis. Its versatile analytical applications are discussed in detail, including the study of redox properties of hydrophobic compounds, evaluation of interfacial electron transfer kinetics, synthesis of nanoparticles/nanostructures, and illustration of cross-membrane ion transport phenomena

Cellulosic Bionanocomposites: A Review of Preparation, Properties and Applications

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Alain Dufresne

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Cellulose is the most abundant biomass material in nature. Extracted from natural fibers, its hierarchical and multi-level organization allows different kinds of nanoscaled cellulosic fillers—called cellulose nanocrystals or microfibrillated cellulose (MFC—to be obtained. Recently, such cellulose nanoparticles have been the focus of an exponentially increasing number of works or reviews devoted to understanding such materials and their applications. Major studies over the last decades have shown that cellulose nanoparticles could be used as fillers to improve mechanical and barrier properties of biocomposites. Their use for industrial packaging is being investigated, with continuous studies to find innovative solutions for efficient and sustainable systems. Processing is more and more important and different systems are detailed in this paper depending on the polymer solubility, i.e., (i hydrosoluble systems, (ii non-hydrosoluble systems, and (iii emulsion systems. This paper intends to give a clear overview of cellulose nanoparticles reinforced composites with more than 150 references by describing their preparation, characterization, properties and applications.

A Review of Deep Learning Methods and Applications for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

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Adrian Carrio

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Deep learning is recently showing outstanding results for solving a wide variety of robotic tasks in the areas of perception, planning, localization, and control. Its excellent capabilities for learning representations from the complex data acquired in real environments make it extremely suitable for many kinds of autonomous robotic applications. In parallel, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs are currently being extensively applied for several types of civilian tasks in applications going from security, surveillance, and disaster rescue to parcel delivery or warehouse management. In this paper, a thorough review has been performed on recent reported uses and applications of deep learning for UAVs, including the most relevant developments as well as their performances and limitations. In addition, a detailed explanation of the main deep learning techniques is provided. We conclude with a description of the main challenges for the application of deep learning for UAV-based solutions.

Short-Range Noncontact Sensors for Healthcare and Other Emerging Applications: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Changzhan Gu

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Short-range noncontact sensors are capable of remotely detecting the precise movements of the subjects or wirelessly estimating the distance from the sensor to the subject. They find wide applications in our day lives such as noncontact vital sign detection of heart beat and respiration, sleep monitoring, occupancy sensing, and gesture sensing. In recent years, short-range noncontact sensors are attracting more and more efforts from both academia and industry due to their vast applications. Compared to other radar architectures such as pulse radar and frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW radar, Doppler radar is gaining more popularity in terms of system integration and low-power operation. This paper reviews the recent technical advances in Doppler radars for healthcare applications, including system hardware improvement, digital signal processing, and chip integration. This paper also discusses the hybrid FMCW-interferometry radars and the emerging applications and the future trends.

Fabrication and Water Treatment Application of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs)-Based Composite Membranes: A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Lining; Dong, Xinfa; Chen, Mingliang; Zhu, Li; Wang, Chaoxian; Yang, Fenglin; Dong, Yingchao

2017-03-18

Membrane separation technology is widely explored for various applications, such as water desalination and wastewater treatment, which can alleviate the global issue of fresh water scarcity. Specifically, carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-based composite membranes are increasingly of interest due to the combined merits of CNTs and membrane separation, offering enhanced membrane properties. This article first briefly discusses fabrication and growth mechanisms, characterization and functionalization techniques of CNTs, and then reviews the fabrication methods for CNTs-based composite membranes in detail. The applications of CNTs-based composite membranes in water treatment are comprehensively reviewed, including seawater or brine desalination, oil-water separation, removal of heavy metal ions and emerging pollutants as well as membrane separation coupled with assistant techniques. Furthermore, the future direction and perspective for CNTs-based composite membranes are also briefly outlined.

Fabrication and Water Treatment Application of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs-Based Composite Membranes: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lining Ma

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Membrane separation technology is widely explored for various applications, such as water desalination and wastewater treatment, which can alleviate the global issue of fresh water scarcity. Specifically, carbon nanotubes (CNTs-based composite membranes are increasingly of interest due to the combined merits of CNTs and membrane separation, offering enhanced membrane properties. This article first briefly discusses fabrication and growth mechanisms, characterization and functionalization techniques of CNTs, and then reviews the fabrication methods for CNTs-based composite membranes in detail. The applications of CNTs-based composite membranes in water treatment are comprehensively reviewed, including seawater or brine desalination, oil-water separation, removal of heavy metal ions and emerging pollutants as well as membrane separation coupled with assistant techniques. Furthermore, the future direction and perspective for CNTs-based composite membranes are also briefly outlined.

Location-based social networking media for restaurant promotion and food review using mobile application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luhur H.S.

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This paper is focusing on the development of a mobile application for searching restaurants and promotions with location based and social networking features. The main function of the application is to search restaurant information. Other functions are also available in this application such as add restaurant, add promotion, add photo, add food review, and other features including social networking features. The restaurant and promotion searching application will be developed under Android platform. Upon completion of this paper, heuristic evaluation and usability testing have been conducted. The result of both testing shows that the application is highly usable. Even though there are some usability problems discovered, the problems can be eliminated immediately by implementing the recommendations from the expert evaluators and the users as the testers of the application. Further improvement made to the application will ensure that the application can really be beneficial for the users of the application.

76 FR 13553 - Application, Review, and Reporting Process for Waivers for State Innovation

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-14

... State Innovation AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS; Department of the Treasury... review of initial applications for a Waiver for State Innovation described in section 1332 of the Patient... State Innovation, Room 3050, Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC...

Review on the progress in synthesis and application of magnetic carbon nanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Maiyong; Diao, Guowang

2011-07-01

This review focuses on the synthesis and application of nanostructured composites containing magnetic nanostructures and carbon-based materials. Great progress in fabrication of magnetic carbon nanocomposites has been made by developing methods including filling process, template-based synthesis, chemical vapor deposition, hydrothermal/solvothermal method, pyrolysis procedure, sol-gel process, detonation induced reaction, self-assembly method, etc. The applications of magnetic carbon nanocomposites expanded to a wide range of fields such as environmental treatment, microwave absorption, magnetic recording media, electrochemical sensor, catalysis, separation/recognization of biomolecules and drug delivery are discussed. Finally, some future trends and perspectives in this research area are outlined.

Synthesis, Characterization, and Application of 1-D Cerium Oxide Nanomaterials: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuen-Song Lin

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The present work provides a comprehensive overview of the recent progress of research work toward developing new one dimensional (1-D ceria (CeO2 nanomaterials. The review has been classified into three parts: the preparation procedures with identification of the existing different dimensional ceria nanomaterials, the formation mechanisms, and an analysis of their applications. From literature survey, it is inaugurated that the fundamental structures of the ceria nanomaterials constructively dominate their properties and applications. In addition, this work will also provide a perspective on the future technical trends for the development of different dimensional CeO2 nanomaterials.

A Review of Multimode Interference in Tapered Optical Fibers and Related Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Pengfei; Zhao, Haiyan; Wang, Xianfan; Brambilla, Gilberto

2018-01-01

In recent years, tapered optical fibers (TOFs) have attracted increasing interest and developed into a range of devices used in many practical applications ranging from optical communication, sensing to optical manipulation and high-Q resonators. Compared with conventional optical fibers, TOFs possess a range of unique features, such as large evanescent field, strong optical confinement, mechanical flexibility and compactness. In this review, we critically summarize the multimode interference in TOFs and some of its applications with a focus on our research project undertaken at the Optoelectronics Research Centre of the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. PMID:29538333

A Review of Multimode Interference in Tapered Optical Fibers and Related Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pengfei Wang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In recent years, tapered optical fibers (TOFs have attracted increasing interest and developed into a range of devices used in many practical applications ranging from optical communication, sensing to optical manipulation and high-Q resonators. Compared with conventional optical fibers, TOFs possess a range of unique features, such as large evanescent field, strong optical confinement, mechanical flexibility and compactness. In this review, we critically summarize the multimode interference in TOFs and some of its applications with a focus on our research project undertaken at the Optoelectronics Research Centre of the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

A Review of Multimode Interference in Tapered Optical Fibers and Related Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Pengfei; Zhao, Haiyan; Wang, Xianfan; Farrell, Gerald; Brambilla, Gilberto

2018-03-14

In recent years, tapered optical fibers (TOFs) have attracted increasing interest and developed into a range of devices used in many practical applications ranging from optical communication, sensing to optical manipulation and high-Q resonators. Compared with conventional optical fibers, TOFs possess a range of unique features, such as large evanescent field, strong optical confinement, mechanical flexibility and compactness. In this review, we critically summarize the multimode interference in TOFs and some of its applications with a focus on our research project undertaken at the Optoelectronics Research Centre of the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

Application of low-cost adsorbents for dye removal--a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, V K; Suhas

2009-06-01

Dyes are an important class of pollutants, and can even be identified by the human eye. Disposal of dyes in precious water resources must be avoided, however, and for that various treatment technologies are in use. Among various methods adsorption occupies a prominent place in dye removal. The growing demand for efficient and low-cost treatment methods and the importance of adsorption has given rise to low-cost alternative adsorbents (LCAs). This review highlights and provides an overview of these LCAs comprising natural, industrial as well as synthetic materials/wastes and their application for dyes removal. In addition, various other methods used for dye removal from water and wastewater are also complied in brief. From a comprehensive literature review, it was found that some LCAs, in addition to having wide availability, have fast kinetics and appreciable adsorption capacities too. Advantages and disadvantages of adsorbents, favourable conditions for particular adsorbate-adsorbent systems, and adsorption capacities of various low-cost adsorbents and commercial activated carbons as available in the literature are presented. Conclusions have been drawn from the literature reviewed, and suggestions for future research are proposed.

A Review of Natural Fiber Reinforced Poly(Vinyl Alcohol Based Composites: Application and Opportunity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boon Khoon Tan

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Natural fibers are fine examples of renewable resources that play an important role in the composites industry, which produces superior strength comparable to synthetic fibers. Poly(vinyl alcohol (PVA composites in particular have attracted enormous interest in view of their satisfactory performance, properties and biodegradability. Their performance in many applications such as consumer, biomedical, and agriculture is well defined and promising. This paper reviews the utilization of natural fibers from macro to nanoscale as reinforcement in PVA composites. An overview on the properties, processing methods, biodegradability, and applications of these composites is presented. The advantages arising from chemical and physical modifications of fibers or composites are discussed in terms of improved properties and performance. In addition, proper arrangement of nanocellulose in composites helps to prevent agglomeration and results in a better dispersion. The limitations and challenges of the composites and future works of these bio-composites are also discussed. This review concludes that PVA composites have potential for use in numerous applications. However, issues on technological feasibility, environmental effectiveness, and economic affordability should be considered.

Applications of piezoelectric surgery in endodontic surgery: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Abella, Francesc; de Ribot, Joan; Doria, Guillermo; Duran-Sindreu, Fernando; Roig, Miguel

2014-03-01

Piezosurgery (piezoelectric bone surgery) devices were developed to cut bone atraumatically using ultrasonic vibrations and to provide an alternative to the mechanical and electrical instruments used in conventional oral surgery. Indications for piezosurgery are increasing in oral and maxillofacial surgery, as in other disciplines, such as endodontic surgery. Key features of piezosurgery instruments include their ability to selectively cut bone without damaging adjacent soft tissue, to provide a clear operative field, and to cut without generating heat. Although piezosurgery instruments can be used at most stages of endodontic surgery (osteotomy, root-end resection, and root-end preparation), no published data are available on the effect of piezosurgery on the outcomes of endodontic surgery. To our knowledge, no study has evaluated the effect of piezosurgery on root-end resection, and only 1 has investigated root-end morphology after retrograde cavity preparation using piezosurgery. We conducted a search of the PubMed and Cochrane databases using appropriate terms and keywords related to the use and applications of piezoelectric surgery in endodontic surgery. A hand search also was conducted of issues published in the preceding 2 years of several journals. Two independent reviewers obtained and analyzed the full texts of the selected articles. A total of 121 articles published between January 2000 and December 2013 were identified. This review summarizes the operating principles of piezoelectric devices and outlines the applications of piezosurgery in endodontic surgery using clinical examples. Piezosurgery is a promising technical modality with applications in several aspects of endodontic surgery, but further studies are necessary to determine the influence of piezosurgery on root-end resection and root-end preparation. Copyright © 2014 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Intracoronary Optical Coherence Tomography: A Comprehensive Review: Clinical and Research Applications

OpenAIRE

Bezerra, Hiram G.; Costa, Marco A.; Guagliumi, Giulio; Rollins, Andrew M.; Simon, Daniel I.

2009-01-01

Cardiovascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a catheter-based invasive imaging system. Using light rather than ultrasound, OCT produces high-resolution in vivo images of coronary arteries and deployed stents. This comprehensive review will assist practicing interventional cardiologists in understanding the technical aspects of OCT based upon the physics of light and will also highlight the emerging research and clinical applications of OCT. Semi-automated imaging analyses of OCT syste...

78 FR 40142 - Office of Managing Director Creates Docket for Petitions Seeking Review of Application Fee Refund...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-03

..., Federal Communications Commission, Financial Management Specialist, Office of the Managing Director, 445... Financial Officer, acting on delegated authority, denied requests for refund of application fees previously... refunds previously made in error. Petitions for Reconsideration and Applications for Review that have...

44 CFR 63.16 - Review of State application by the Federal Insurance Administrator.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... for eligibility and indicate in what respects the State program and/or data base fails to comply with... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Review of State application... FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY INSURANCE AND HAZARD MITIGATION...

Invited review current progress and limitations of spider silk for biomedical applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Widhe, Mona; Johansson, Jan; Hedhammar, My; Rising, Anna

2012-06-01

Spider silk is a fascinating material combining remarkable mechanical properties with low density and biodegradability. Because of these properties and historical descriptions of medical applications, spider silk has been proposed to be the ideal biomaterial. However, overcoming the obstacles to produce spider silk in sufficient quantities and in a manner that meets regulatory demands has proven to be a difficult task. Also, there are relatively few studies of spider silk in biomedical applications available, and the methods and materials used vary a lot. Herein we summarize cell culture- and in vivo implantation studies of natural and synthetic spider silk, and also review the current status and future challenges in the quest for a large scale production of spider silk for medical applications. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Advances in feature selection methods for hyperspectral image processing in food industry applications: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Qiong; Cheng, Jun-Hu; Sun, Da-Wen; Zeng, Xin-An

2015-01-01

There is an increased interest in the applications of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) for assessing food quality, safety, and authenticity. HSI provides abundance of spatial and spectral information from foods by combining both spectroscopy and imaging, resulting in hundreds of contiguous wavebands for each spatial position of food samples, also known as the curse of dimensionality. It is desirable to employ feature selection algorithms for decreasing computation burden and increasing predicting accuracy, which are especially relevant in the development of online applications. Recently, a variety of feature selection algorithms have been proposed that can be categorized into three groups based on the searching strategy namely complete search, heuristic search and random search. This review mainly introduced the fundamental of each algorithm, illustrated its applications in hyperspectral data analysis in the food field, and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of these algorithms. It is hoped that this review should provide a guideline for feature selections and data processing in the future development of hyperspectral imaging technique in foods.

Review of the research and application of KERMA factor and DPA cross section

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-03-01

The data for recoil atom spectra, KERMA factor and displacement cross sections from neutron-induced reactions are calling increasing interest for applications to the study of radiation damage, calculation of heat generation in reactor, neutron therapy and biological research. PKA spectra sub-working group was recently established in Japanese Nuclear Data Committee as a part of developing JENDL Special Purpose Data Files. Current status of the data and various features of application of the KERMA-related problems were reviewed and discussed at the first meeting of the sub-working group. Present report is a compilation of the items presented at the meeting, covering a brief review of the existing research and the data, method of calculation, the KERMA factor data in neutron therapy, the deduction of KERMA factor of C-12 from neutron reaction measurement and analysis, the data base for radiation damage, the damage simulation calculation, and the method of storaging the evaluated data in ENDF/B-VI format. (author)

The regulatory review of construction license application and the supporting safety case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinonen, Jussi

2014-01-01

Finland is one of the foremost countries in the world in developing the disposal of spent fuel. The construction license application for the Olkiluoto spent fuel disposal facility was submitted to the authorities at the end of 2012 and the facility is expected to start operation around 2020. This has been a long-term project with over 30 years of parallel development of the repository project and the regulatory approach to spent fuel management. In 1983 the government made a strategic decision on the objectives and target time schedule for the research, development and technical planning of nuclear waste management. While an export and international disposal solution was still the preferred option, this decision required the licensees without this possibility to prepare for disposal in Finland and it also gave the time line for the milestones on the way to an operating disposal facility by 2020. The licensing procedure for a disposal facility has several steps that are similar to all nuclear facilities in Finland and are defined in Nuclear Energy Act and Decree (1987, 1988). These licensing steps are: - Decision-in-principle is required for a nuclear facility having considerable general significance. This is essentially a political decision: the government decides if the construction project is in line with the overall good of society. The decision can be applied for one or more sites, the host municipality has a veto right and the parliament has the choice of ratifying or not ratifying the decision. - Construction license is granted by the government and authorises the construction of the disposal facility. The actual construction is regulated by STUK and includes several review and approval steps, hold points and viewpoints. - Operational license is granted by the government and authorises the operation of the facility for a certain period. The operational license is needed before nuclear waste can be disposed. The first step in the licensing process was reached

Life Cycle Assessment Application to the Wine Sector: A Critical Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen Ferrara

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Life Cycle Assessment (LCA is a powerful tool that allows evaluation of the environmental performances of a product, service or process considering the whole life cycle or a part of it. In the wine sector, the application of LCA has grown significantly in recent years and several studies have been carried out about this topic that are similar to other research fields. Nowadays, LCA is an important and acknowledged environmental assessment tool but its application to the wine sector is still in a developing phase. For this reason, the present study proposes a critical review of papers dealing with both the wine sector and LCA. The critical review points out that the main wine hotspots are the viticulture phase (mainly due to fuel, fertilizer and pesticides consumption and the wine primary packaging production (due to glass bottles. Furthermore, the papers taken into consideration have a wide variability in the system boundaries definition as well as a shortage of availability of original and site-specific inventory data. Such key factors are sensitive aspects that have a huge influence on the results of a study and they are also affected by a wide variability: these issues need further scientific contribution through future studies.

Application of quantum dots as analytical tools in automated chemical analysis: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frigerio, Christian; Ribeiro, David S.M.; Rodrigues, S. Sofia M.; Abreu, Vera L.R.G.; Barbosa, João A.C.; Prior, João A.V.; Marques, Karine L.; Santos, João L.M.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Review on quantum dots application in automated chemical analysis. ► Automation by using flow-based techniques. ► Quantum dots in liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis. ► Detection by fluorescence and chemiluminescence. ► Electrochemiluminescence and radical generation. - Abstract: Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals or quantum dots (QDs) are one of the most relevant developments in the fast-growing world of nanotechnology. Initially proposed as luminescent biological labels, they are finding new important fields of application in analytical chemistry, where their photoluminescent properties have been exploited in environmental monitoring, pharmaceutical and clinical analysis and food quality control. Despite the enormous variety of applications that have been developed, the automation of QDs-based analytical methodologies by resorting to automation tools such as continuous flow analysis and related techniques, which would allow to take advantage of particular features of the nanocrystals such as the versatile surface chemistry and ligand binding ability, the aptitude to generate reactive species, the possibility of encapsulation in different materials while retaining native luminescence providing the means for the implementation of renewable chemosensors or even the utilisation of more drastic and even stability impairing reaction conditions, is hitherto very limited. In this review, we provide insights into the analytical potential of quantum dots focusing on prospects of their utilisation in automated flow-based and flow-related approaches and the future outlook of QDs applications in chemical analysis.

A comprehensive review of cryogels and their roles in tissue engineering applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Hixon, Katherine R; Lu, Tracy; Sell, Scott A

2017-10-15

The extracellular matrix is fundamental in providing an appropriate environment for cell interaction and signaling to occur. Replicating such a matrix is advantageous in the support of tissue ingrowth and regeneration through the field of tissue engineering. While scaffolds can be fabricated in many ways, cryogels have recently become a popular approach due to their macroporous structure and durability. Produced through the crosslinking of gel precursors followed by a subsequent controlled freeze/thaw cycle, the resulting cryogel provides a unique, sponge-like structure. Therefore, cryogels have proven advantageous for many tissue engineering applications including roles in bioreactor systems, cell separation, and scaffolding. Specifically, the matrix has been demonstrated to encourage the production of various molecules, such as antibodies, and has also been used for cryopreservation. Cryogels can pose as a bioreactor for the expansion of cell lines, as well as a vehicle for cell separation. Lastly, this matrix has shown excellent potential as a tissue engineered scaffold, encouraging regrowth at numerous damaged tissue sites in vivo. This review will briefly discuss the fabrication of cryogels, with an emphasis placed on their application in various facets of tissue engineering to provide an overview of this unique scaffold's past and future roles. Cryogels are unique scaffolds produced through the controlled freezing and thawing of a polymer solution. There is an ever-growing body of literature that demonstrates their applicability in the realm of tissue engineering as extracellular matrix analogue scaffolds; with extensive information having been provided regarding the fabrication, porosity, and mechanical integrity of the scaffolds. Additionally, cryogels have been reviewed with respect to their role in bioseparation and as cellular incubators. This all-inclusive view of the roles that cryogels can play is critical to advancing the technology and expanding its

Application of traditional Chinese medicine injection in treatment of primary liver cancer: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Mouduo; Qiao, Cuixia; Qin, Liping; Zhang, Junyong; Ling, Changquan

2012-09-01

To investigate the application of Traditional Chinese Medicine Injections (TCMIs) for treatment of primary liver cancer (PLC). A literature review was conducted using PubMed/Medline, Cochrane Library Controlled Clinical Trials Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Scientific Journal Database (CSJD) and China Biology Medicine (CBM). Online websites including journal websites and databases of ongoing trials, as well as some Traditional Chinese Medicine journals that are not indexed in the electronic databases were also searched. as adjunctive medication for the treatment of PLC could regulate patient immunity, reduce bone marrow suppression, relieve clinical symptoms, and improve quality of life, as well as control disease progression and prolong survival time. Within the limitations of this review, we conclude that application of TCMIs as adjunctive medication may provide benefits for patients with PLC. Further large, high-quality trials are warranted.

Analysis Tools for Sizing and Placement of Energy Storage for Grid Applications - A Literature Review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoffman, Michael G.; Kintner-Meyer, Michael CW; Sadovsky, Artyom; DeSteese, John G.

2010-09-24

The purpose of this report was to review pertinent literature and studies that might reveal models capable of optimizing the siting, sizing and economic value of energy storage in the future smart grid infrastructure. Energy storage technology and utility system deployment have been subjects of intense research and development for over three decades. During this time, many models have been developed that consider energy storage implementation in the electric power industry and other applications. Nevertheless, this review of literature discovered no actual models and only a few software tools that relate specifically to the application environment and expected requirements of the evolving smart grid infrastructure. This report indicates the existing need for such a model and describes a pathway for developing it.

Applications of linac-mounted kilovoltage Cone-beam Computed Tomography in modern radiation therapy: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srinivasan, Kavitha; Mohammadi, Mohammad; Shepherd, Justin

2014-01-01

The use of Cone-beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) in radiotherapy is increasing due to the widespread implementation of kilovoltage systems on the currently available linear accelerators. Cone beam CT acts as an effective Image-Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT) tool for the verification of patient position. It also opens up the possibility of real-time re-optimization of treatment plans for Adaptive Radiotherapy (ART). This paper reviews the most prominent applications of CBCT (linac-mounted) in radiation therapy, focusing on CBCT-based planning and dose calculation studies. This is followed by a concise review of the main issues associated with CBCT, such as imaging artifacts, dose and image quality. It explores how medical physicists and oncologists can best apply CBCT for therapeutic applications

Kinetic chains: a review of the concept and its clinical applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Karandikar, Ninad; Vargas, Oscar O Ortiz

2011-08-01

During the past decade, our understanding of biomechanics and its importance in rehabilitation has advanced significantly. The kinetic chain, a concept borrowed from engineering, has helped us better understand the underlying physiology of human movement. This understanding, in turn, has facilitated the development of new and more rational rehabilitation strategies. The kinetic chain concept has application in a wide spectrum of clinical conditions, including musculoskeletal medicine, sports medicine, and neurorehabilitation, as well as prosthetics and orthotics. The purpose of this review is to provide insights into the biomechanics related to the concept of kinetic chains, with a specific focus on closed kinetic chains and its clinical applications in rehabilitation. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bayesian belief networks for human reliability analysis: A review of applications and gaps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mkrtchyan, L.; Podofillini, L.; Dang, V.N.

2015-01-01

The use of Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) in risk analysis (and in particular Human Reliability Analysis, HRA) is fostered by a number of features, attractive in fields with shortage of data and consequent reliance on subjective judgments: the intuitive graphical representation, the possibility of combining diverse sources of information, the use the probabilistic framework to characterize uncertainties. In HRA, BBN applications are steadily increasing, each emphasizing a different BBN feature or a different HRA aspect to improve. This paper aims at a critical review of these features as well as at suggesting research needs. Five groups of BBN applications are analysed: modelling of organizational factors, analysis of the relationships among failure influencing factors, BBN-based extensions of existing HRA methods, dependency assessment among human failure events, assessment of situation awareness. Further, the paper analyses the process for building BBNs and in particular how expert judgment is used in the assessment of the BBN conditional probability distributions. The gaps identified in the review suggest the need for establishing more systematic frameworks to integrate the different sources of information relevant for HRA (cognitive models, empirical data, and expert judgment) and to investigate algorithms to avoid elicitation of many relationships via expert judgment. - Highlights: • We analyze BBN uses for HRA applications; but some conclusions can be generalized. • Special review focus on BBN building approaches, key for model acceptance. • Gaps relate to the transparency of the BBN building and quantification phases. • Need for more systematic framework to integrate different sources of information. • Need of ways to avoid elicitation of many relationships via expert judgment

TOPICAL REVIEW: Single-molecule experiments in biological physics: methods and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Ritort, F.

2006-08-01

I review single-molecule experiments (SMEs) in biological physics. Recent technological developments have provided the tools to design and build scientific instruments of high enough sensitivity and precision to manipulate and visualize individual molecules and measure microscopic forces. Using SMEs it is possible to manipulate molecules one at a time and measure distributions describing molecular properties, characterize the kinetics of biomolecular reactions and detect molecular intermediates. SMEs provide additional information about thermodynamics and kinetics of biomolecular processes. This complements information obtained in traditional bulk assays. In SMEs it is also possible to measure small energies and detect large Brownian deviations in biomolecular reactions, thereby offering new methods and systems to scrutinize the basic foundations of statistical mechanics. This review is written at a very introductory level, emphasizing the importance of SMEs to scientists interested in knowing the common playground of ideas and the interdisciplinary topics accessible by these techniques. The review discusses SMEs from an experimental perspective, first exposing the most common experimental methodologies and later presenting various molecular systems where such techniques have been applied. I briefly discuss experimental techniques such as atomic-force microscopy (AFM), laser optical tweezers (LOTs), magnetic tweezers (MTs), biomembrane force probes (BFPs) and single-molecule fluorescence (SMF). I then present several applications of SME to the study of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA and DNA condensation) and proteins (protein-protein interactions, protein folding and molecular motors). Finally, I discuss applications of SMEs to the study of the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of small systems and the experimental verification of fluctuation theorems. I conclude with a discussion of open questions and future perspectives.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff development of the license application review plan for a high-level radioactive waste repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, R.L.; Holonich, J.J.; Lee, M.P.; Delligatti, M.S.

1993-01-01

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has recently started a new initiative to develop the License Application Review Plan (LARP) which the staff will use in its reviews of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) license application (LA) for a geologic repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). This paper describes the staff's approach for developing the LARP, the development schedule and current status, the organization and content of the LARP, and the staff's LA review strategy. Therefore, it gives a preview of the draft LARP which will be made available in late 1993. It also describes how the LARP will be used as guidance to the staff in conducting reviews of regulatory and technical issues important to the licensing of a geologic repository. Finally, the benefits to the NRC staff, DOE, and other parties are discussed

Application of microbial transglutaminase in meat foods: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Santhi, D; Kalaikannan, A; Malairaj, P; Arun Prabhu, S

2017-07-03

Microbial transglutaminase (MTG) is an enzyme isolated from a variant of Streptomyces mobaraensis that forms covalent cross-links between protein molecules. Studies are being conducted since last two decades on utilization of MTG in meat foods to improve their characteristics, such as gelation, water-binding, emulsion stability, purge loss, cooking loss, etc. MTG is one of the important topics of interest in meat processing industry due to its advantages in practical utilization and commercial exploitation. This review will discuss about the overall applications of MTG in manipulating the functional properties of meat and meat products by means of various processes such as restructuring, value addition, etc.

Preparation of Silver Nanoparticles and Their Industrial and Biomedical Applications: A Comprehensive Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adnan Haider

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs have diverted the attention of the scientific community and industrialist itself due to their wide range of applications in industry for the preparation of consumer products and highly accepted application in biomedical fields (especially their efficacy against microbes, anti-inflammatory effects, and wound healing ability. The governing factor for their potent efficacy against microbes is considered to be the various mechanisms enabling it to prevent microbial proliferation and their infections. Furthermore a number of new techniques have been developed to synthesize Ag-NPs with controlled size and geometry. In this review, various synthetic routes adapted for the preparation of the Ag-NPs, the mechanisms involved in its antimicrobial activity, its importance/application in commercial as well as biomedical fields, and possible application in future have been discussed in detail.

Application of airborne ultrasound in the convective drying of fruits and vegetables: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Kai; Zhang, Min; Mujumdar, Arun S

2017-11-01

The application of airborne ultrasound is a promising technology in the drying of foods, particularly to fruits and vegetables. In this paper, designs of dryers using ultrasound to combine the convective drying process are described. The main factors affecting the drying kinetics with the ultrasound application are discussed. The results show that the ultrasound application accelerated the drying kinetics. Ultrasound application during the convective drying of fruits and vegetables shorten the drying time. Ultrasound application can produce an increase of the effective moisture diffusivity and the mass transfer coefficient. The influence of ultrasound on physical and chemical parameters evaluating the product quality is reviewed. Ultrasound application can decrease the total color change, reveal a low water activity and reduce the loss of some nutrient elements. Meanwhile, ultrasound application can also better preserve the microstructure of fruits and vegetables in comparison to convective drying. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

n-ary algebras: a review with applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Azcarraga, J A; Izquierdo, J M

2010-01-01

This paper reviews the properties and applications of certain n-ary generalizations of Lie algebras in a self-contained and unified way. These generalizations are algebraic structures in which the two-entry Lie bracket has been replaced by a bracket with n entries. Each type of n-ary bracket satisfies a specific characteristic identity which plays the role of the Jacobi identity for Lie algebras. Particular attention will be paid to generalized Lie algebras, which are defined by even multibrackets obtained by antisymmetrizing the associative products of its n components and that satisfy the generalized Jacobi identity, and to Filippov (or n-Lie) algebras, which are defined by fully antisymmetric n-brackets that satisfy the Filippov identity. 3-Lie algebras have surfaced recently in multi-brane theory in the context of the Bagger-Lambert-Gustavsson model. As a result, Filippov algebras will be discussed at length, including the cohomology complexes that govern their central extensions and their deformations (it turns out that Whitehead's lemma extends to all semisimple n-Lie algebras). When the skewsymmetry of the Lie or n-Lie algebra bracket is relaxed, one is led to a more general type of n-algebras, the n-Leibniz algebras. These will be discussed as well, since they underlie the cohomological properties of n-Lie algebras. The standard Poisson structure may also be extended to the n-ary case. We shall review here the even generalized Poisson structures, whose generalized Jacobi identity reproduces the pattern of the generalized Lie algebras, and the Nambu-Poisson structures, which satisfy the Filippov identity and determine Filippov algebras. Finally, the recent work of Bagger-Lambert and Gustavsson on superconformal Chern-Simons theory will be briefly discussed. Emphasis will be made on the appearance of the 3-Lie algebra structure and on why the A 4 model may be formulated in terms of an ordinary Lie algebra, and on its Nambu bracket generalization. (topical

A Review of Distributed Optical Fiber Sensors for Civil Engineering Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Barrias, António; Casas, Joan R.; Villalba, Sergi

2016-01-01

The application of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems to civil engineering structures has been a developing studied and practiced topic, that has allowed for a better understanding of structures’ conditions and increasingly lead to a more cost-effective management of those infrastructures. In this field, the use of fiber optic sensors has been studied, discussed and practiced with encouraging results. The possibility of understanding and monitor the distributed behavior of extensive stretches of critical structures it’s an enormous advantage that distributed fiber optic sensing provides to SHM systems. In the past decade, several R & D studies have been performed with the goal of improving the knowledge and developing new techniques associated with the application of distributed optical fiber sensors (DOFS) in order to widen the range of applications of these sensors and also to obtain more correct and reliable data. This paper presents, after a brief introduction to the theoretical background of DOFS, the latest developments related with the improvement of these products by presenting a wide range of laboratory experiments as well as an extended review of their diverse applications in civil engineering structures. PMID:27223289

A Review of Distributed Optical Fiber Sensors for Civil Engineering Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrias, António; Casas, Joan R; Villalba, Sergi

2016-05-23

The application of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems to civil engineering structures has been a developing studied and practiced topic, that has allowed for a better understanding of structures' conditions and increasingly lead to a more cost-effective management of those infrastructures. In this field, the use of fiber optic sensors has been studied, discussed and practiced with encouraging results. The possibility of understanding and monitor the distributed behavior of extensive stretches of critical structures it's an enormous advantage that distributed fiber optic sensing provides to SHM systems. In the past decade, several R & D studies have been performed with the goal of improving the knowledge and developing new techniques associated with the application of distributed optical fiber sensors (DOFS) in order to widen the range of applications of these sensors and also to obtain more correct and reliable data. This paper presents, after a brief introduction to the theoretical background of DOFS, the latest developments related with the improvement of these products by presenting a wide range of laboratory experiments as well as an extended review of their diverse applications in civil engineering structures.

A Review of Distributed Optical Fiber Sensors for Civil Engineering Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

António Barrias

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The application of structural health monitoring (SHM systems to civil engineering structures has been a developing studied and practiced topic, that has allowed for a better understanding of structures’ conditions and increasingly lead to a more cost-effective management of those infrastructures. In this field, the use of fiber optic sensors has been studied, discussed and practiced with encouraging results. The possibility of understanding and monitor the distributed behavior of extensive stretches of critical structures it’s an enormous advantage that distributed fiber optic sensing provides to SHM systems. In the past decade, several R & D studies have been performed with the goal of improving the knowledge and developing new techniques associated with the application of distributed optical fiber sensors (DOFS in order to widen the range of applications of these sensors and also to obtain more correct and reliable data. This paper presents, after a brief introduction to the theoretical background of DOFS, the latest developments related with the improvement of these products by presenting a wide range of laboratory experiments as well as an extended review of their diverse applications in civil engineering structures.

Pulsed electric fields (PEF applications on wine production: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ozturk Burcu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Novel techniques have been searched in the last decades as a result of increasing demand for high quality food products. Non-thermal processing technologies, such as pulsed electric fields (PEF have been improved to achieve inhibition of deleterious effects on quality-related compounds. The working principle of PEF is based on the application of pulses of high voltage (typically above 20 kV/cm up to 70 kV/cm to liquid foods placed between two electrodes. Pulsed electric fields technique has also been studied in winemaking process. Certain positive influences of PEF on vinification have been reported as elimination of pathogenic microorganisms, reduction of maceration time, increase in phenolic compounds extraction , acceleration of wine aging and inactivation of oxidative enzymes. The aim of this review is to summarize the potential applications of PEF in winemaking and to express its effects on quality of wine.

Evaluating mobile phone applications for health behaviour change: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

McKay, Fiona H; Cheng, Christina; Wright, Annemarie; Shill, Jane; Stephens, Hugh; Uccellini, Mary

2018-01-01

Introduction Increasing smartphones access has allowed for increasing development and use of smart phone applications (apps). Mobile health interventions have previously relied on voice or text-based short message services (SMS), however, the increasing availability and ease of use of apps has allowed for significant growth of smartphone apps that can be used for health behaviour change. This review considers the current body of knowledge relating to the evaluation of apps for health behaviour change. The aim of this review is to investigate approaches to the evaluation of health apps to identify any current best practice approaches. Method A systematic review was conducted. Data were collected and analysed in September 2016. Thirty-eight articles were identified and have been included in this review. Results Articles were published between 2011- 2016, and 36 were reviews or evaluations of apps related to one or more health conditions, the remaining two reported on an investigation of the usability of health apps. Studies investigated apps relating to the following areas: alcohol, asthma, breastfeeding, cancer, depression, diabetes, general health and fitness, headaches, heart disease, HIV, hypertension, iron deficiency/anaemia, low vision, mindfulness, obesity, pain, physical activity, smoking, weight management and women's health. Conclusion In order to harness the potential of mobile health apps for behaviour change and health, we need better ways to assess the quality and effectiveness of apps. This review is unable to suggest a single best practice approach to evaluate mobile health apps. Few measures identified in this review included sufficient information or evaluation, leading to potentially incomplete and inaccurate information for consumers seeking the best app for their situation. This is further complicated by a lack of regulation in health promotion generally.

[Watershed water environment pollution models and their applications: a review].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yao; Liang, Zhi-Wei; Li, Wei; Yang, Yi; Yang, Mu-Yi; Mao, Wei; Xu, Han-Li; Wu, Wei-Xiang

2013-10-01

Watershed water environment pollution model is the important tool for studying watershed environmental problems. Through the quantitative description of the complicated pollution processes of whole watershed system and its parts, the model can identify the main sources and migration pathways of pollutants, estimate the pollutant loadings, and evaluate their impacts on water environment, providing a basis for watershed planning and management. This paper reviewed the watershed water environment models widely applied at home and abroad, with the focuses on the models of pollutants loading (GWLF and PLOAD), water quality of received water bodies (QUAL2E and WASP), and the watershed models integrated pollutant loadings and water quality (HSPF, SWAT, AGNPS, AnnAGNPS, and SWMM), and introduced the structures, principles, and main characteristics as well as the limitations in practical applications of these models. The other models of water quality (CE-QUAL-W2, EFDC, and AQUATOX) and watershed models (GLEAMS and MIKE SHE) were also briefly introduced. Through the case analysis on the applications of single model and integrated models, the development trend and application prospect of the watershed water environment pollution models were discussed.

Application of microbial α-amylase in industry – A review

Science.gov (United States)

de Souza, Paula Monteiro; de Oliveira Magalhães, Pérola

2010-01-01

Amylases are one of the main enzymes used in industry. Such enzymes hydrolyze the starch molecules into polymers composed of glucose units. Amylases have potential application in a wide number of industrial processes such as food, fermentation and pharmaceutical industries. α-Amylases can be obtained from plants, animals and microorganisms. However, enzymes from fungal and bacterial sources have dominated applications in industrial sectors. The production of α-amylase is essential for conversion of starches into oligosaccharides. Starch is an important constituent of the human diet and is a major storage product of many economically important crops such as wheat, rice, maize, tapioca, and potato. Starch-converting enzymes are used in the production of maltodextrin, modified starches, or glucose and fructose syrups. A large number of microbial α-amylases has applications in different industrial sectors such as food, textile, paper and detergent industries. The production of α-amylases has generally been carried out using submerged fermentation, but solid state fermentation systems appear as a promising technology. The properties of each α-amylase such as thermostability, pH profile, pH stability, and Ca-independency are important in the development of fermentation process. This review focuses on the production of bacterial and fungal α-amylases, their distribution, structural-functional aspects, physical and chemical parameters, and the use of these enzymes in industrial applications. PMID:24031565

Book review: An Introduction to Audio Content Analysis: Applications in Signal Processing and Music Informatics by Alexander Lerch

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sturm, Bob L.

2013-01-01

A critical review of the book: An Introduction to Audio Content Analysis: Applications in Signal Processing and Music Informatics, by Alexander Lerch, October 2012, Wiley-IEEE Press. ISBN: 978-1-118-26682-3, Hardcover, 272 pages, 503 references. List price $125.00......A critical review of the book: An Introduction to Audio Content Analysis: Applications in Signal Processing and Music Informatics, by Alexander Lerch, October 2012, Wiley-IEEE Press. ISBN: 978-1-118-26682-3, Hardcover, 272 pages, 503 references. List price $125.00...

Metal-core@metal oxide-shell nanomaterials for gas-sensing applications: a review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mirzaei, A.; Janghorban, K.; Hashemi, B. [Shiraz University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Neri, G., E-mail: gneri@unime.it [University of Messina, Department of Electronic Engineering, Chemistry and Industrial Engineering (Italy)

2015-09-15

With an ever-increasing number of applications in many advanced fields, gas sensors are becoming indispensable devices in our daily life. Among different types of gas sensors, conductometric metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gas sensors are found to be the most appealing for advanced applications in the automotive, biomedical, environmental, and safety sectors because of the their high sensitivity, reduced size, and low cost. To improve their sensing characteristics, new metal oxide-based nanostructures have thus been proposed in recent years as sensing materials. In this review, we extensively review gas-sensing properties of core@ shell nanocomposites in which metals as the core and metal oxides as the shell structure, both of nanometer sizes, are assembled into a single metal@metal oxide core–shell. These nanostructures not only combine the properties of both noble metals and metal oxides, but also bring unique synergetic functions in comparison with single-component materials. Up-dated achievements in the synthesis and characterization of metal@metal oxide core–shell nanostructures as well as their use in MOS sensors are here reported with the main objective of providing an overview about their gas-sensing properties.

Laser physics and a review of laser applications in dentistry for children.

Science.gov (United States)

Martens, L C

2011-04-01

The aim of this introduction to this special laser issue is to describe some basic laser physics and to delineate the potential of laser-assisted dentistry in children. A brief review of the available laser literature was performed within the scope of paediatric dentistry. Attention was paid to soft tissue surgery, caries prevention and diagnosis, cavity preparation, comfort of the patient, effect on bacteria, long term pulpal vitality, endodontics in primary teeth, dental traumatology and low level laser therapy. Although there is a lack of sufficient evidence taking into account the highest standards for evidence-based dentistry, it is clear that laser application in a number of different aetiologies for soft tissue surgery in children has proven to be successful. Lasers provide a refined diagnosis of caries combined with the appropriate preventive adhesive dentistry after cavity preparation. This will further lead to a new wave of micro-dentistry based on 'filling without drilling'. It has become clear from a review of the literature that specific laser applications in paediatric dentistry have gained increasing importance. It can be concluded that children should be considered as amongst the first patients for receiving laser-assisted dentistry.

Control chart applications in healthcare: a literature review

Science.gov (United States)

Suman, Gaurav; Prajapati, DeoRaj

2018-05-01

The concept of Statistical process control (SPC) was given by the physicist Walter Shewhart in order to improve the industrial manufacturing. The SPC was firstly applied in laboratory and after then shifted to patient level in hospitals. As there is more involvement of human in healthcare, the chances of errors are also more. SPC i.e., control chart can help in determining the source of errors by identifying the special and common causes of variations. This paper presents the review of literature on the application of SPC and control chart in healthcare sector. Forty articles are selected out of 142 potentially relevant searched studies. Selected studies are categorised into eight departments. Literature survey shows that most of work on control chart applications in healthcare is carried out in Surgery, Emergency and Epidemiology departments. US, UK and Australia are the main customers where maximum amount of work was done. The US is the country where control chart in healthcare sector have been used at regular interval. This shows the gap of deploying control chart in different departments and different countries as well. The CUSUM and EWMA chart came into picture in healthcare sector after 2008 and are used at regular interval.

A quality review of smartphone applications for the management of pain

OpenAIRE

Portelli, Pamela; Eldred, Clare

2016-01-01

Smartphone applications (apps) are recent innovations that have not been studied extensively. The lack of regulatory body assessing the content of existing apps means that their quality is often unknown. This review aims to assess the quality of smartphone apps that claim to provide information and treatment for pain conditions. It assesses the degree to which apps adhere to evidence-based practices in psychological research for pain management and which stand the best chance of being effecti...

A brief review on synthesis & applications of β-enamino carbonyl compounds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

yellajyosula L N Murthy

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Owing to the wide range applications of β-enamino esters (enamines of β–dicarbonyl compounds in pharmaceuticals and as building blocks for the synthesis of a variety of heterocyclic compounds, β-amino esters, β-amino acids, γ-amino alcohols, peptides and alkaloids a number of methods have been developed so far for the synthesis of these compounds. Due to the importance of these compounds as intermediates in organic synthesis, a concised review is presented.

Review of possible applications of cosmic muon tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Checchia, P.

2016-01-01

Muon radiographic methods can be used to explore inaccessible volumes profiting of the property of muons to penetrate thick materials. An extension of the muon radiographic methods, the muon scattering tomography, was proposed for the first time in 2003 and it is based on the measurement of the multiple Coulomb scattering of muons crossing the volume under investigation. In this talk, the principles of tomographic image reconstruction are first outlined and then the experimental setup and the most adequate detectors are described. A review of the possible applications of this technique is reported, with specific reference to security in transports and monitoring of industrial processes. The technique can also be used to provide precise measurements of the properties of various materials. The experimental challenge related to this activity is discussed.

Review of possible applications of cosmic muon tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Checchia, P.

2016-12-01

Muon radiographic methods can be used to explore inaccessible volumes profiting of the property of muons to penetrate thick materials. An extension of the muon radiographic methods, the muon scattering tomography, was proposed for the first time in 2003 and it is based on the measurement of the multiple Coulomb scattering of muons crossing the volume under investigation. In this talk, the principles of tomographic image reconstruction are first outlined and then the experimental setup and the most adequate detectors are described. A review of the possible applications of this technique is reported, with specific reference to security in transports and monitoring of industrial processes. The technique can also be used to provide precise measurements of the properties of various materials. The experimental challenge related to this activity is discussed.

Electrokinetic-enhanced bioremediation of organic contaminants: a review of processes and environmental applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, R T; Harbottle, M J; Smith, J W N; Thornton, S F

2014-07-01

There is current interest in finding sustainable remediation technologies for the removal of contaminants from soil and groundwater. This review focuses on the combination of electrokinetics, the use of an electric potential to move organic and inorganic compounds, or charged particles/organisms in the subsurface independent of hydraulic conductivity; and bioremediation, the destruction of organic contaminants or attenuation of inorganic compounds by the activity of microorganisms in situ or ex situ. The objective of the review is to examine the state of knowledge on electrokinetic bioremediation and critically evaluate factors which affect the up-scaling of laboratory and bench-scale research to field-scale application. It discusses the mechanisms of electrokinetic bioremediation in the subsurface environment at different micro and macroscales, the influence of environmental processes on electrokinetic phenomena and the design options available for application to the field scale. The review also presents results from a modelling exercise to illustrate the effectiveness of electrokinetics on the supply electron acceptors to a plume scale scenario where these are limiting. Current research needs include analysis of electrokinetic bioremediation in more representative environmental settings, such as those in physically heterogeneous systems in order to gain a greater understanding of the controlling mechanisms on both electrokinetics and bioremediation in those scenarios. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Land application at Ranger uranium mine, northern Australia: six years'review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noller, B.N.; Zhou, J.X.

1992-01-01

This report reviews the six years' practice of land application of waste water at the Ranger Uranium Mine, northern Australia. Elements of significance to the chemical impact on the environment by mining and milling at Ranger are analysed taking into consideration ore petrology and mineralogy, chemical compositions of rocks and ore, relative enrichment of different rock- and ore-forming elements, and the chemicals involved in the milling and extraction processes. Biogeochemistry of land application of waste water as an efficient environmental managing technique is discussed by analysing its biogeochemical cycles, variables which affect the biogeochemical processes, and aqueous chemistry. Data from monitoring of the soils, groundwater, biota, and seepage in the land application area at Ranger are collected and re-organised. A new approach to data presentation and interpretation is made based on the analysis of the most important variables which may affect the extent of the chemical impact of land application of waste water. The environmental impact of land application of waste water on soils, ground water, biota, and surface water (through seepage) is assessed accordingly. Uranium is retained in the near-surface soil layer while sulfate is present at lower depths. Manganese shows some mobility, appearing in depressions. Radium 226 shows no clear-cut relationship between location of soil sample and level. It is concluded that land application of waste water at Ranger has resulted in minimal environmental impact. 4 refs

Making literature reviews more reliable through application of lessons from systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Haddaway, N R; Woodcock, P; Macura, B; Collins, A

2015-12-01

Review articles can provide valuable summaries of the ever-increasing volume of primary research in conservation biology. Where findings may influence important resource-allocation decisions in policy or practice, there is a need for a high degree of reliability when reviewing evidence. However, traditional literature reviews are susceptible to a number of biases during the identification, selection, and synthesis of included studies (e.g., publication bias, selection bias, and vote counting). Systematic reviews, pioneered in medicine and translated into conservation in 2006, address these issues through a strict methodology that aims to maximize transparency, objectivity, and repeatability. Systematic reviews will always be the gold standard for reliable synthesis of evidence. However, traditional literature reviews remain popular and will continue to be valuable where systematic reviews are not feasible. Where traditional reviews are used, lessons can be taken from systematic reviews and applied to traditional reviews in order to increase their reliability. Certain key aspects of systematic review methods that can be used in a context-specific manner in traditional reviews include focusing on mitigating bias; increasing transparency, consistency, and objectivity, and critically appraising the evidence and avoiding vote counting. In situations where conducting a full systematic review is not feasible, the proposed approach to reviewing evidence in a more systematic way can substantially improve the reliability of review findings, providing a time- and resource-efficient means of maximizing the value of traditional reviews. These methods are aimed particularly at those conducting literature reviews where systematic review is not feasible, for example, for graduate students, single reviewers, or small organizations. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

Telerehabilitation: Review of the State-of-the-Art and Areas of Application.

Science.gov (United States)

Peretti, Alessandro; Amenta, Francesco; Tayebati, Seyed Khosrow; Nittari, Giulio; Mahdi, Syed Sarosh

2017-07-21

Telemedicine applications have been increasing due to the development of new computer science technologies and of more advanced telemedical devices. Various types of telerehabilitation treatments and their relative intensities and duration have been reported. The objective of this review is to provide a detailed overview of the rehabilitation techniques for remote sites (telerehabilitation) and their fields of application, with analysis of the benefits and the drawbacks related to use. We discuss future applications of telerehabilitation techniques with an emphasis on the development of high-tech devices, and on which new tools and applications can be used in the future. We retrieved relevant information and data on telerehabilitation from books, articles and online materials using the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) "telerehabilitation," "telemedicine," and "rehabilitation," as well as "disabling pathologies." Telerehabilitation can be considered as a branch of telemedicine. Although this field is considerably new, its use has rapidly grown in developed countries. In general, telerehabilitation reduces the costs of both health care providers and patients compared with traditional inpatient or person-to-person rehabilitation. Furthermore, patients who live in remote places, where traditional rehabilitation services may not be easily accessible, can benefit from this technology. However, certain disadvantages of telerehabilitation, including skepticism on the part of patients due to remote interaction with their physicians or rehabilitators, should not be underestimated. This review evaluated different application fields of telerehabilitation, highlighting its benefits and drawbacks. This study may be a starting point for improving approaches and devices for telerehabilitation. In this context, patients' feedback may be important to adapt rehabilitation techniques and approaches to their needs, which would subsequently help to improve the quality of rehabilitation

Environmental Application, Fate, Effects, and Concerns of Ionic Liquids: A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Amde, Meseret; Liu, Jing-Fu; Pang, Long

2015-11-03

Ionic liquids (ILs) comprise mostly of organic salts with negligible vapor pressure and low flammability that are proposed as replacements for volatile solvents. ILs have been promoted as "green" solvents and widely investigated for their various applications. Although the utility of these chemicals is unquestionable, their toxic effects have attracted great attention. In order to manage their potential hazards and design environmentally benign ILs, understanding their environmental behavior, fate and effects is important. In this review, environmentally relevant issues of ILs, including their environmental application, environmental behavior and toxicity are addressed. In addition, also presented are the influence of ILs on the environmental fate and toxicity of other coexisting contaminants, important routes for designing nontoxic ILs and the techniques that might be adopted for the removal of ILs.

Lead (Pb) isotopic fingerprinting and its applications in lead pollution studies in China: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng Hefa; Hu Yuanan

2010-01-01

As the most widely scattered toxic metal in the world, the sources of lead (Pb) observed in contamination investigation are often difficult to identify. This review presents an overview of the principles, analysis, and applications of Pb isotopic fingerprinting in tracing the origins and transport pathways of Pb in the environment. It also summarizes the history and current status of lead pollution in China, and illustrates the power of Pb isotopic fingerprinting with examples of its recent applications in investigating the effectiveness of leaded gasoline phase-out on atmospheric lead pollution, and the sources of Pb found in various environmental media (plants, sediments, and aquatic organisms) in China. The limitations of Pb isotopic fingerprinting technique are discussed and a perspective on its development is also presented. Further methodological developments and more widespread instrument availability are expected to make isotopic fingerprinting one of the key tools in lead pollution investigation. - This review presents an overview of the principles, applications, and limitations of Pb isotopic fingerprinting in lead pollution investigation, and provides a perspective on its future development.

Physical and mechanical properties of PLA, and their functions in widespread applications - A comprehensive review.

Science.gov (United States)

Farah, Shady; Anderson, Daniel G; Langer, Robert

2016-12-15

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA), so far, is the most extensively researched and utilized biodegradable aliphatic polyester in human history. Due to its merits, PLA is a leading biomaterial for numerous applications in medicine as well as in industry replacing conventional petrochemical-based polymers. The main purpose of this review is to elaborate the mechanical and physical properties that affect its stability, processability, degradation, PLA-other polymers immiscibility, aging and recyclability, and therefore its potential suitability to fulfill specific application requirements. This review also summarizes variations in these properties during PLA processing (i.e. thermal degradation and recyclability), biodegradation, packaging and sterilization, and aging (i.e. weathering and hygrothermal). In addition, we discuss up-to-date strategies for PLA properties improvements including components and plasticizer blending, nucleation agent addition, and PLA modifications and nanoformulations. Incorporating better understanding of the role of these properties with available improvement strategies is the key for successful utilization of PLA and its copolymers/composites/blends to maximize their fit with worldwide application needs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pressure vessel design codes: A review of their applicability to HTGR components at temperatures above 800 deg C

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hughes, P.T.; Over, H.H.; Bieniussa, K.

1984-01-01

The governments of USA and Federal Republic of Germany have approved of cooperation between the two countries in an endeavour to establish structural design code for gas reactor components intended to operate at temperatures exceeding 800 deg C. The basis of existing codes and their applicability to gas reactor component design are reviewed in this paper. This review has raised a number of important questions as to the direct applicability of the present codes. The status of US and FRG cooperative efforts to obtain answers to these questions are presented

An ethernet/IP security review with intrusion detection applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laughter, S. A.; Williams, R. D.

2006-01-01

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and automation networks, used throughout utility and manufacturing applications, have their own specific set of operational and security requirements when compared to corporate networks. The modern climate of heightened national security and awareness of terrorist threats has made the security of these systems of prime concern. There is a need to understand the vulnerabilities of these systems and how to monitor and protect them. Ethernet/IP is a member of a family of protocols based on the Control and Information Protocol (CIP). Ethernet/IP allows automation systems to be utilized on and integrated with traditional TCP/IP networks, facilitating integration of these networks with corporate systems and even the Internet. A review of the CIP protocol and the additions Ethernet/IP makes to it has been done to reveal the kind of attacks made possible through the protocol. A set of rules for the SNORT Intrusion Detection software is developed based on the results of the security review. These can be used to monitor, and possibly actively protect, a SCADA or automation network that utilizes Ethernet/IP in its infrastructure. (authors)

76 FR 40451 - Agency Information Collection (Application for Ordinary Life Insurance) Activity Under OMB Review

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-08

... reduced automatically by one-half from its present face value on the day before a policyholder's 65th and... (Application for Ordinary Life Insurance) Activity Under OMB Review AGENCY: Veterans Benefits Administration...) of 1995 [[Page 40452

Carbon nanotubes applications in separation science: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrera-Herrera, Antonio V.; González-Curbelo, Miguel Ángel; Hernández-Borges, Javier; Rodríguez-Delgado, Miguel Ángel

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► The use of CNTs in Separation Science in the period 2009–2011 is reviewed. ► CNTs as stationary phases in LC, CE and GC. ► CNTs as pseudostationary phases in EKC. ► CNTs as sorbents in SPE and SPME. ► Other uses of CNTs in separation science, as LDI substrates or in membranes. - Abstract: Due to the intensive and multidisciplinary research carried out during the last two decades on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the scientific community understands nowadays much better the chemistry, structure and properties of these interesting materials. In fact, they have found their particular place in a wide number of application fields (nanotechnology, electronics, optics, medicine, etc.) among which Analytical Chemistry is becoming more and more important. The aim of this review is to provide an updated report of the most recent manuscripts (years 2009–2011) regarding the use of CNTs in Separation Science. In particular, the use of CNTs as solid-phase extraction and microextraction sorbents, as part of membranes as well as their use in chromatography and electrophoresis will be discussed and commented. Besides, although not as fully related to Separation Science as the previous techniques, the use of CNTs as laser desorption/ionization substrates has also been considered because of its importance in the field.

Carbon nanotubes applications in separation science: A review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herrera-Herrera, Antonio V.; Gonzalez-Curbelo, Miguel Angel [Departamento de Quimica Analitica, Nutricion y Bromatologia, Facultad de Quimica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofisico Francisco Sanchez s/n, 38206 La Laguna (Tenerife) (Spain); Hernandez-Borges, Javier, E-mail: jhborges@ull.es [Departamento de Quimica Analitica, Nutricion y Bromatologia, Facultad de Quimica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofisico Francisco Sanchez s/n, 38206 La Laguna (Tenerife) (Spain); Rodriguez-Delgado, Miguel Angel [Departamento de Quimica Analitica, Nutricion y Bromatologia, Facultad de Quimica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avenida Astrofisico Francisco Sanchez s/n, 38206 La Laguna (Tenerife) (Spain)

2012-07-13

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The use of CNTs in Separation Science in the period 2009-2011 is reviewed. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer CNTs as stationary phases in LC, CE and GC. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer CNTs as pseudostationary phases in EKC. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer CNTs as sorbents in SPE and SPME. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Other uses of CNTs in separation science, as LDI substrates or in membranes. - Abstract: Due to the intensive and multidisciplinary research carried out during the last two decades on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the scientific community understands nowadays much better the chemistry, structure and properties of these interesting materials. In fact, they have found their particular place in a wide number of application fields (nanotechnology, electronics, optics, medicine, etc.) among which Analytical Chemistry is becoming more and more important. The aim of this review is to provide an updated report of the most recent manuscripts (years 2009-2011) regarding the use of CNTs in Separation Science. In particular, the use of CNTs as solid-phase extraction and microextraction sorbents, as part of membranes as well as their use in chromatography and electrophoresis will be discussed and commented. Besides, although not as fully related to Separation Science as the previous techniques, the use of CNTs as laser desorption/ionization substrates has also been considered because of its importance in the field.

Review of selective laser melting: Materials and applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yap, C. Y., E-mail: cyap001@e.ntu.edu.sg [Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Block N3.1 - B2c - 01, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Energy Research Institute @ NTU, Interdisciplinary Graduate School, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Block S2 - B3a - 01, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Chua, C. K., E-mail: mckchua@ntu.edu.sg; Liu, Z. H., E-mail: azhliu@ntu.edu.sg; Zhang, D. Q., E-mail: zhangdq@ntu.edu.sg; Loh, L. E., E-mail: leloh1@e.ntu.edu.sg; Sing, S. L., E-mail: sing0011@e.ntu.edu.sg [Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Block N3.1 - B2c - 01, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Dong, Z. L., E-mail: zldong@ntu.edu.sg [School of Materials Science & Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Block N4.1, Singapore 639798 (Singapore)

2015-12-15

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a particular rapid prototyping, 3D printing, or Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique designed to use high power-density laser to melt and fuse metallic powders. A component is built by selectively melting and fusing powders within and between layers. The SLM technique is also commonly known as direct selective laser sintering, LaserCusing, and direct metal laser sintering, and this technique has been proven to produce near net-shape parts up to 99.9% relative density. This enables the process to build near full density functional parts and has viable economic benefits. Recent developments of fibre optics and high-power laser have also enabled SLM to process different metallic materials, such as copper, aluminium, and tungsten. Similarly, this has also opened up research opportunities in SLM of ceramic and composite materials. The review presents the SLM process and some of the common physical phenomena associated with this AM technology. It then focuses on the following areas: (a) applications of SLM materials and (b) mechanical properties of SLM parts achieved in research publications. The review is not meant to put a ceiling on the capabilities of the SLM process but to enable readers to have an overview on the material properties achieved by the SLM process so far. Trends in research of SLM are also elaborated in the last section.

Review of selective laser melting: Materials and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Yap, C. Y.; Chua, C. K.; Dong, Z. L.; Liu, Z. H.; Zhang, D. Q.; Loh, L. E.; Sing, S. L.

2015-12-01

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a particular rapid prototyping, 3D printing, or Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique designed to use high power-density laser to melt and fuse metallic powders. A component is built by selectively melting and fusing powders within and between layers. The SLM technique is also commonly known as direct selective laser sintering, LaserCusing, and direct metal laser sintering, and this technique has been proven to produce near net-shape parts up to 99.9% relative density. This enables the process to build near full density functional parts and has viable economic benefits. Recent developments of fibre optics and high-power laser have also enabled SLM to process different metallic materials, such as copper, aluminium, and tungsten. Similarly, this has also opened up research opportunities in SLM of ceramic and composite materials. The review presents the SLM process and some of the common physical phenomena associated with this AM technology. It then focuses on the following areas: (a) applications of SLM materials and (b) mechanical properties of SLM parts achieved in research publications. The review is not meant to put a ceiling on the capabilities of the SLM process but to enable readers to have an overview on the material properties achieved by the SLM process so far. Trends in research of SLM are also elaborated in the last section.

Review of selective laser melting: Materials and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yap, C. Y.; Chua, C. K.; Liu, Z. H.; Zhang, D. Q.; Loh, L. E.; Sing, S. L.; Dong, Z. L.

2015-01-01

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a particular rapid prototyping, 3D printing, or Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique designed to use high power-density laser to melt and fuse metallic powders. A component is built by selectively melting and fusing powders within and between layers. The SLM technique is also commonly known as direct selective laser sintering, LaserCusing, and direct metal laser sintering, and this technique has been proven to produce near net-shape parts up to 99.9% relative density. This enables the process to build near full density functional parts and has viable economic benefits. Recent developments of fibre optics and high-power laser have also enabled SLM to process different metallic materials, such as copper, aluminium, and tungsten. Similarly, this has also opened up research opportunities in SLM of ceramic and composite materials. The review presents the SLM process and some of the common physical phenomena associated with this AM technology. It then focuses on the following areas: (a) applications of SLM materials and (b) mechanical properties of SLM parts achieved in research publications. The review is not meant to put a ceiling on the capabilities of the SLM process but to enable readers to have an overview on the material properties achieved by the SLM process so far. Trends in research of SLM are also elaborated in the last section

Surfactin – A Review on Biosynthesis, Fermentation, Purification and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikhil S. Shaligram

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Surfactin, a bacterial cyclic lipopeptide, is produced by various strains of Bacillus subtilis and is primarily recognized as one of the most effective biosurfactants. It has the ability to reduce surface tension of water from 72 to 27 mN/m at a concentration as low as 0.005 %. The structure of surfactin consists of seven amino acids bonded to the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of a 14-carbon fatty acid. Surfactin possesses a number of biological activities such as the ability to lyse erythrocytes, inhibit clot formation, lyse bacterial spheroplasts and protoplasts, and inhibit cyclic 3',5-monophosphate diesterase. The high cost of production and low yields have limited its use in various commercial applications. Both submerged and solid-state fermentation have been investigated with the mutational approach to improve the productivity. In this review, current state of knowledge on biosynthesis of surfactin, its fermentative production, purification, analytical methods and biomedical applications is presented.

Hydrothermal Carbonization: Modeling, Final Properties Design and Applications: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvia Román

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Active research on biomass hydrothermal carbonization (HTC continues to demonstrate its advantages over other thermochemical processes, in particular the interesting benefits that are associated with carbonaceous solid products, called hydrochar (HC. The areas of applications of HC range from biofuel to doped porous material for adsorption, energy storage, and catalysis. At the same time, intensive research has been aimed at better elucidating the process mechanisms and kinetics, and how the experimental variables (temperature, time, biomass load, feedstock composition, as well as their interactions affect the distribution between phases and their composition. This review provides an analysis of the state of the art on HTC, mainly with regard to the effect of variables on the process, the associated kinetics, and the characteristics of the solid phase (HC, as well as some of the more studied applications so far. The focus is on research made over the last five years on these topics.

Application of heavy stable isotopes in forensic isotope geochemistry: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aggarwal, Jugdeep; Habicht-Mauche, Judith; Juarez, Chelsey

2008-01-01

Light stable isotopes have been used for many years to characterize the source and transport of materials. More recently heavy isotope systems such as Sr, Nd and Pb have been added to this list in order to aid source identification. With the advent of multiple collector ICP-MS, the range of isotopic tools now available has increased considerably, however, until the isotope systematics of these new non-traditional isotope systems have become better understood, they will not be as useful in characterizing material source and transportation. Applications using heavy metal stable isotopes (mostly traditional heavy isotopes) have reached most avenues in science, including earth sciences, archaeology, anthropology, animal physiology, ecology and toxicology. This field will continue to grow as new applications are developed and techniques become simpler and quicker. This paper provides a review of how this field has grown and presents two new applications using Pb and Sr isotopes in glazes to determine the source of ore used in glazes, and using Sr isotopes to determine the origin of undocumented deceased Mexican border crossers

Application of heavy stable isotopes in forensic isotope geochemistry: A review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aggarwal, Jugdeep [W.M. Keck Isotope Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)], E-mail: jaggarwal@pmc.ucsc.edu; Habicht-Mauche, Judith; Juarez, Chelsey [Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)

2008-09-15

Light stable isotopes have been used for many years to characterize the source and transport of materials. More recently heavy isotope systems such as Sr, Nd and Pb have been added to this list in order to aid source identification. With the advent of multiple collector ICP-MS, the range of isotopic tools now available has increased considerably, however, until the isotope systematics of these new non-traditional isotope systems have become better understood, they will not be as useful in characterizing material source and transportation. Applications using heavy metal stable isotopes (mostly traditional heavy isotopes) have reached most avenues in science, including earth sciences, archaeology, anthropology, animal physiology, ecology and toxicology. This field will continue to grow as new applications are developed and techniques become simpler and quicker. This paper provides a review of how this field has grown and presents two new applications using Pb and Sr isotopes in glazes to determine the source of ore used in glazes, and using Sr isotopes to determine the origin of undocumented deceased Mexican border crossers.

The effect of mobile application interventions on influencing healthy maternal behaviour and improving perinatal health outcomes: a systematic review protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Daly, Lisa M; Horey, Dell; Middleton, Philippa F; Boyle, Frances M; Flenady, Vicki

2017-02-08

Perinatal morbidity and mortality remain significant public health issues globally, with enduring impact on the health and well-being of women and their families. Pregnant women who adopt, practice and maintain healthy behaviours can potentially improve the health of themselves and their babies. Mobile applications are an increasingly popular mode of accessing, storing and sharing health information among pregnant women. The main objective of this review is to evaluate the effects of mobile application interventions during pregnancy on maternal behaviour and associated maternal and infant outcomes. This review will include randomised and non-randomised studies which tested use of mobile applications designed to improve either maternal knowledge or behaviours to address known risk factors associated with adverse perinatal health outcomes. This review will include studies which included pregnant women and/or women during birth. The search strategy will utilise a combination of keywords and MeSH terms. Literature databases such as PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL and WHO Global Health Library will be searched. Two reviewers will independently screen retrieved citations to determine if they meet inclusion criteria. Studies will be selected that provide information about interventions commenced in early pregnancy, late pregnancy or labour. Comparisons to be made include mobile applications versus interventions relying on paper-based or text-messaging-based communication; interpersonal communication such as face-to-face or telephone conversation; and no intervention or standard care. Quality assessment of included randomised studies will utilise established guidelines provided in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Quality assessment of non-randomised studies will be based on the Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies-of Interventions (ROBINS-I) assessment tool. Quality of the evidence will be evaluated using the Grades of

Ohmic Heating Technology and Its Application in Meaty Food: A Review

OpenAIRE

Rishi Richa; N. C. Shahi; Anupama Singh; U. C. Lohani; P. K. Omre; Anil Kumar; T. K. Bhattacharya

2017-01-01

The purpose of the current review paper is to investigate and analyze about the effects of ohmic heating (OH) different application in the field of fish, meat and its product and compare it with other conventional thermal methods of food processing such as thawing, heating, cooking etc. Food quality, food safety, convenience, freshness, healthy food, natural flavor and taste with extended shelf-life are the main criteria for the demand made by today’s consumers. Ohmic heating is a substitute ...

Microbial siderophores and their potential applications: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Maumita; Sarkar, Subhasis; Sarkar, Biplab; Sharma, Bipin Kumar; Bhattacharjee, Surajit; Tribedi, Prosun

2016-03-01

Siderophores are small organic molecules produced by microorganisms under iron-limiting conditions which enhance the uptake of iron to the microorganisms. In environment, the ferric form of iron is insoluble and inaccessible at physiological pH (7.35-7.40). Under this condition, microorganisms synthesize siderophores which have high affinity for ferric iron. These ferric iron-siderophore complexes are then transported to cytosol. In cytosol, the ferric iron gets reduced into ferrous iron and becomes accessible to microorganism. In recent times, siderophores have drawn much attention due to its potential roles in different fields. Siderophores have application in microbial ecology to enhance the growth of several unculturable microorganisms and can alter the microbial communities. In the field of agriculture, different types of siderophores promote the growth of several plant species and increase their yield by enhancing the Fe uptake to plants. Siderophores acts as a potential biocontrol agent against harmful phyto-pathogens and holds the ability to substitute hazardous pesticides. Heavy-metal-contaminated samples can be detoxified by applying siderophores, which explicate its role in bioremediation. Siderophores can detect the iron content in different environments, exhibiting its role as a biosensor. In the medical field, siderophore uses the "Trojan horse strategy" to form complexes with antibiotics and helps in the selective delivery of antibiotics to the antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Certain iron overload diseases for example sickle cell anemia can be treated with the help of siderophores. Other medical applications of siderophores include antimalarial activity, removal of transuranic elements from the body, and anticancer activity. The aim of this review is to discuss the important roles and applications of siderophores in different sectors including ecology, agriculture, bioremediation, biosensor, and medicine.

Standard review plan on antitrust reviews. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambe, W.M.; Davis, M.J.

1997-12-01

This standard review plan describes the procedures used by NRC staff to implement the antitrust review and enforcement provisions in Sections 105 and 186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and replaces NUREG-0970. These procedures are principally derived from the Commission's Rules and Regulations in 10 CFR Sections 2.101, 2.102, Part 2-Appendix A, Section X, 50.33a, 50.80, 50.90, and 52.77. These procedures set forth the steps and criteria the staff uses in antitrust reviews of construction permit applications, operating license applications, combined construction permit/operating license applications, combined construction permit/operating license applications, and applications for approval of the transfer of construction permits, operating licenses, and combined licenses. In addition, the procedures describe how the staff enforces compliance with antitrust conditions appended to licenses

Biodegradable Magnesium Alloys: A Review of Material Development and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Persaud-Sharma, Dharam; McGoron, Anthony

2012-01-01

Magnesium based alloys possess a natural ability to biodegrade due to corrosion when placed within aqueous substances, which is promising for cardiovascular and orthopedic medical device applications. These materials can serve as a temporary scaffold when placed in vivo, which is desirable for treatments when temporary supportive structures are required to assist in the wound healing process. The nature of these materials to degrade is attributed to the high oxidative corrosion rates of magnesium. In this review, a summary is presented for magnesium material development, biocorrosion characteristics, as well as a biological translation for these results. PMID:22408600

[Ecological memory and its potential applications in ecology: a review].

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Zhong-yu; Ren, Hai

2011-03-01

Ecological memory (EM) is defined as the capability of the past states or experiences of a community to influence the present or future ecological responses of the community. As a relatively new concept, EM has received considerable attention in the study of ecosystem structure and function, such as community succession, ecological restoration, biological invasion, and natural resource management. This review summarized the definition, components, and categories of EM, and discussed the possible mechanisms and affecting factors of EM. Also, the potential applications of EM were proposed, in order to further understand the mechanisms of community succession and to guide ecological restoration.

Review of the fundamental theories behind small angle X-ray scattering, molecular dynamics simulations, and relevant integrated application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren Boldon

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the fundamental concepts and equations necessary for performing small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS experiments, molecular dynamics (MD simulations, and MD-SAXS analyses were reviewed. Furthermore, several key biological and non-biological applications for SAXS, MD, and MD-SAXS are presented in this review; however, this article does not cover all possible applications. SAXS is an experimental technique used for the analysis of a wide variety of biological and non-biological structures. SAXS utilizes spherical averaging to produce one- or two-dimensional intensity profiles, from which structural data may be extracted. MD simulation is a computer simulation technique that is used to model complex biological and non-biological systems at the atomic level. MD simulations apply classical Newtonian mechanics’ equations of motion to perform force calculations and to predict the theoretical physical properties of the system. This review presents several applications that highlight the ability of both SAXS and MD to study protein folding and function in addition to non-biological applications, such as the study of mechanical, electrical, and structural properties of non-biological nanoparticles. Lastly, the potential benefits of combining SAXS and MD simulations for the study of both biological and non-biological systems are demonstrated through the presentation of several examples that combine the two techniques.

Review of the fundamental theories behind small angle X-ray scattering, molecular dynamics simulations, and relevant integrated application.

Science.gov (United States)

Boldon, Lauren; Laliberte, Fallon; Liu, Li

2015-01-01

In this paper, the fundamental concepts and equations necessary for performing small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and MD-SAXS analyses were reviewed. Furthermore, several key biological and non-biological applications for SAXS, MD, and MD-SAXS are presented in this review; however, this article does not cover all possible applications. SAXS is an experimental technique used for the analysis of a wide variety of biological and non-biological structures. SAXS utilizes spherical averaging to produce one- or two-dimensional intensity profiles, from which structural data may be extracted. MD simulation is a computer simulation technique that is used to model complex biological and non-biological systems at the atomic level. MD simulations apply classical Newtonian mechanics' equations of motion to perform force calculations and to predict the theoretical physical properties of the system. This review presents several applications that highlight the ability of both SAXS and MD to study protein folding and function in addition to non-biological applications, such as the study of mechanical, electrical, and structural properties of non-biological nanoparticles. Lastly, the potential benefits of combining SAXS and MD simulations for the study of both biological and non-biological systems are demonstrated through the presentation of several examples that combine the two techniques.

Current developments in soil organic matter modeling and the expansion of model applications: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, Eleanor E; Paustian, Keith

2015-01-01

Soil organic matter (SOM) is an important natural resource. It is fundamental to soil and ecosystem functions across a wide range of scales, from site-specific soil fertility and water holding capacity to global biogeochemical cycling. It is also a highly complex material that is sensitive to direct and indirect human impacts. In SOM research, simulation models play an important role by providing a mathematical framework to integrate, examine, and test the understanding of SOM dynamics. Simulation models of SOM are also increasingly used in more ‘applied’ settings to evaluate human impacts on ecosystem function, and to manage SOM for greenhouse gas mitigation, improved soil health, and sustainable use as a natural resource. Within this context, there is a need to maintain a robust connection between scientific developments in SOM modeling approaches and SOM model applications. This need forms the basis of this review. In this review we first provide an overview of SOM modeling, focusing on SOM theory, data-model integration, and model development as evidenced by a quantitative review of SOM literature. Second, we present the landscape of SOM model applications, focusing on examples in climate change policy. We conclude by discussing five areas of recent developments in SOM modeling including: (1) microbial roles in SOM stabilization; (2) modeling SOM saturation kinetics; (3) temperature controls on decomposition; (4) SOM dynamics in deep soil layers; and (5) SOM representation in earth system models. Our aim is to comprehensively connect SOM model development to its applications, revealing knowledge gaps in need of focused interdisciplinary attention and exposing pitfalls that, if avoided, can lead to best use of SOM models to support policy initiatives and sustainable land management solutions. (topical review)

Human-centred design in global health: A scoping review of applications and contexts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandra N Bazzano

Full Text Available Health and wellbeing are determined by a number of complex, interrelated factors. The application of design thinking to questions around health may prove valuable and complement existing approaches. A number of public health projects utilizing human centered design (HCD, or design thinking, have recently emerged, but no synthesis of the literature around these exists. The results of a scoping review of current research on human centered design for health outcomes are presented. The review aimed to understand why and how HCD can be valuable in the contexts of health related research. Results identified pertinent literature as well as gaps in information on the use of HCD for public health research, design, implementation and evaluation. A variety of contexts were identified in which design has been used for health. Global health and design thinking have different underlying conceptual models and terminology, creating some inherent tensions, which could be overcome through clear communication and documentation in collaborative projects. The review concludes with lessons learned from the review on how future projects can better integrate design thinking with global health research.

Smart packaging systems for food applications: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Biji, K B; Ravishankar, C N; Mohan, C O; Srinivasa Gopal, T K

2015-10-01

Changes in consumer preference for safe food have led to innovations in packaging technologies. This article reviews about different smart packaging systems and their applications in food packaging, packaging research with latest innovations. Active and intelligent packing are such packaging technologies which offer to deliver safer and quality products. Active packaging refers to the incorporation of additives into the package with the aim of maintaining or extending the product quality and shelf life. The intelligent systems are those that monitor the condition of packaged food to give information regarding the quality of the packaged food during transportation and storage. These technologies are designed to the increasing demand for safer foods with better shelf life. The market for active and intelligent packaging systems is expected to have a promising future by their integration into packaging materials or systems.

A review of waste heat recovery technologies for maritime applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, Dig Vijay; Pedersen, Eilif

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Major waste heat sources available on ships have been reviewed. • A review of suitable waste heat recovery systems was conducted for marine vessels. • Technologies have been compared for their potential and suitability for marine use. • Kalina cycle offers the highest potential for marine waste heat recovery. • Turbo compound system most suitable for recovering diesel exhaust pressure energy. - Abstract: A waste heat recovery system produces power by utilizing the heat energy lost to the surroundings from thermal processes, at no additional fuel input. For marine vessels, about 50 percent of the total fuel energy supplied to diesel power-plant aboard is lost to the surroundings. While the total amount of wasted energy is considerable, the quality of this energy is quite low due to its low temperature and has limited potential for power production. Effective waste heat recovery systems use the available low temperature waste heat to produce mechanical/electrical power with high efficiency value. In this study a review of different waste heat recovery systems has been conducted, to lay out the potential recovery efficiencies and suitability for marine applications. This work helps in identifying the most suitable heat recovery technologies for maritime use depending on the properties of shipboard waste heat and achievable recovery efficiencies, whilst discussing the features of each type of system.

75 FR 80539 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Application...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-22

... for OMB Review; Comment Request; Application for Approval of a Representative's Fee in Black Lung... in Black Lung Claim Proceedings Conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor,'' to the Office of... Division of Coal Mine Workers' Compensation (DCMWC) for benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act may...

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy in archeometry: A review of its application and future perspectives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spizzichino, Valeria, E-mail: valeria.spizzichino@enea.it; Fantoni, Roberta

2014-09-01

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) in the last decades has been more and more applied to the field of Cultural Heritage with great results obtained either alone or in combination with complementary laser techniques. Its ability to analyze, with a minimal loss, different kinds of materials in laboratory, in situ and even in hostile environments has been highly appreciated. The main aim of this paper is to present a review of LIBS applications in the interdisciplinary field of archeometry. The LIBS technique is shortly described both from a theoretical and practical point of view, discussing the instrumental setup, also in comparison with typical features of laser induced fluorescence (LIF) and Raman spectroscopy apparata. The complementary with multivariate analysis, a method that can help in reducing data set dimensions and in pulling out effective information, is stressed. In particular the role of LIBS in Cultural Heritage material characterization, recognition of fakes and indirect dating is described, reporting general considerations and case studies on metal alloys, mural paintings, decorated ceramics, glasses, stones and gems. - Highlights: • Applications of LIBS to archeometry are reviewed. • Complementary among LIBS, LIF, Raman and multivariate analysis is highlighted. • Three major areas of successful LIBS application in archeometry are identified. • Significant results have been presented for several different materials.

Preparing to review the license application of the French geological disposal facility - Issues, challenges and perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dandrieux, Geraldine

2014-01-01

This paper briefly describes the French context for GDR authorization, the French dedicated legislative framework (28 June 2006 Act on sustainable management of radioactive materials and waste), the challenges (regulatory issues, long-term project supervision, technical issues, procedural issues), and the preparing for the review of the DGR license application. A planning schedule is propose with Andra to submit license application for DGR in 2015

A review of the magnetic properties, synthesis methods and applications of maghemite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shokrollahi, H., E-mail: shokrollahi@sutech.ac.ir

2017-03-15

It must be pointed out that maghemite (γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}) with a cubic spinel structure is a crucial material for various applications, including spin electronic devices, high-density magnetic recording, nano-medicines and biosensors. This paper has to do with a review study on the synthesis methods, magnetic properties and application of maghemite in the form of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructured materials, such as nanoparticles, nanotubes, nano-rods, and nanowires, as well as two-dimensional (2D) thin films. The results revealed that maghemite is widely used in the biomedical applications (hyperthermia, magnetic resonance imaging and drug delivery) and magnetic recording devices. The unmodified and Co/Mn modified maghemite thin films prepared by the dc-reactive magnetron sputtering show the excellent values of coercivity 2100 Oe and 3900 Oe, respectively, for the magnetic storage application. The super-paramagnetic particles with 7 nm size and the saturation magnetization of 80 emu/g prepared by the established thermolysis method are good candidates for bio-medical applications. - Highlights: • Among iron oxides, maghemite is one of the most important magnetic ceramics. • Maghemite is widely sued in magnetic recording and biomedicine. • This paper attempts to give an overview on the some important areas. • They contain synthetic methods, magnetic study, structural study and applications.

Preparation and highlighted applications of magnetic microparticles and nanoparticles: a review on recent advances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao, Deli; Lu, Ting; Zeng, Rong; Bi, Yanping

2016-01-01

This review (with 144 refs.) focuses on the recent advances in the preparation and application of magnetic micro/nanoparticles. Specifically, it covers (a) methods for preparation (such as by coprecipitation, pyrolysis, hydrothermal, solvothermal, sol-gel, micro-emulsion, sonochemical, medium dispersing or emulsion polymerization methods), and (b) applications such as magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic separation of biomolecules (nucleic acids; proteins; cells), separation of metal ions and organic analytes, immobilization of enzymes, biological detection, magnetic catalysis and water treatment. Finally, the existing challenges and possible trends in the field are addressed. (author)

Characterization of hybrid aluminum matrix composites for advanced applications – A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaswinder Singh

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Hybrid aluminum matrix composites (HAMCs are the second generation of composites that have potential to substitute single reinforced composites due to improved properties. This paper investigates the feasibility and viability of developing low cost-high performance hybrid composites for automotive and aerospace applications. Further, the fabrication characteristics and mechanical behavior of HAMCs fabricated by stir casting route have also been reviewed. The optical micrographs of the HAMCs indicate that the reinforcing particles are fairly distributed in the matrix alloy and the porosity levels have been found to be acceptable for the casted composites. The density, hardness, tensile behavior and fracture toughness of these composites have been found to be either comparable or superior to the ceramic reinforced composites. It has been observed from the literature that the direct strengthening of composites occurs due to the presence of hard ceramic phase, while the indirect strengthening arises from the thermal mismatch between the matrix alloy and reinforcing phase during solidification. Based on the database for material properties, the application area of HAMCs has been proposed in the present review. It has been concluded that the hybrid composites offer more flexibility and reliability in the design of possible components depending upon the reinforcement's combination and composition.

Emerging applications of nanotechnology for diagnosis and therapy of disease: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayford, Richard; Rademacher, Tom; Roitt, Ivan; Wang, Scarlet Xiaoyan

2017-07-24

Nanotechnology is of increasing interest in the fields of medicine and physiology over recent years. Its application could considerably improve disease detection and therapy, and although the potential is considerable, there are still many challenges that need to be addressed before it is accepted in routine clinical use. This review focuses on emerging applications that nanotechnology could enhance or provide new approaches in diagnoses and therapy. The main focus of recent research centres on targeted therapies and enhancing imaging; however, the introduction of nanomaterial into the human body must be controlled, as there are many issues with possible toxicity and long-term effects. Despite these issues, the potential for nanotechnology to provide new methods of combating cancer and other disease conditions is considerable. There are still key challenges for researchers in this field, including the means of delivery and targeting in the body to provide effective treatment for specific disease conditions. Nanoparticles are difficult to measure due to their size and physical properties; hence there is still a great need to improve physiological measurement methods in the field to ascertain how effective their use is in the human subject. This review is a brief snapshot into the fast changing research field of measurement and physiological links to nanoparticle use and its potential in the future.

Case-Crossover Analysis of Air Pollution Health Effects: A Systematic Review of Methodology and Application

Science.gov (United States)

Carracedo-Martínez, Eduardo; Taracido, Margarita; Tobias, Aurelio; Saez, Marc; Figueiras, Adolfo

2010-01-01

Background Case-crossover is one of the most used designs for analyzing the health-related effects of air pollution. Nevertheless, no one has reviewed its application and methodology in this context. Objective We conducted a systematic review of case-crossover (CCO) designs used to study the relationship between air pollution and morbidity and mortality, from the standpoint of methodology and application. Data sources and extraction A search was made of the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. Reports were classified as methodologic or applied. From the latter, the following information was extracted: author, study location, year, type of population (general or patients), dependent variable(s), independent variable(s), type of CCO design, and whether effect modification was analyzed for variables at the individual level. Data synthesis The review covered 105 reports that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these, 24 addressed methodological aspects, and the remainder involved the design’s application. In the methodological reports, the designs that yielded the best results in simulation were symmetric bidirectional CCO and time-stratified CCO. Furthermore, we observed an increase across time in the use of certain CCO designs, mainly symmetric bidirectional and time-stratified CCO. The dependent variables most frequently analyzed were those relating to hospital morbidity; the pollutants most often studied were those linked to particulate matter. Among the CCO-application reports, 13.6% studied effect modification for variables at the individual level. Conclusions The use of CCO designs has undergone considerable growth; the most widely used designs were those that yielded better results in simulation studies: symmetric bidirectional and time-stratified CCO. However, the advantages of CCO as a method of analysis of variables at the individual level are put to little use. PMID:20356818

Human-system interface design review guideline -- Reviewer`s checklist: Final report. Revision 1, Volume 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-06-01

NUREG-0700, Revision 1, provides human factors engineering (HFE) guidance to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff for its: (1) review of the human system interface (HSI) design submittals prepared by licensees or applications for a license or design certification of commercial nuclear power plants, and (2) performance of HSI reviews that could be undertaken as part of an inspection or other type of regulatory review involving HSI design or incidents involving human performance. The guidance consists of a review process and HFE guidelines. The document describes those aspects of the HSI design review process that are important to the identification and resolution of human engineering discrepancies that could adversely affect plant safety. Guidance is provided that could be used by the staff to review an applicant`s HSI design review process or to guide the development of an HSI design review plan, e.g., as part of an inspection activity. The document also provides detailed HFE guidelines for the assessment of HSI design implementations. NUREG-0700, Revision 1, consists of three stand-alone volumes. Volume 2 is a complete set of the guidelines contained in Volume 1, Part 2, but in a checklist format that can be used by reviewers to assemble sets of individual guidelines for use in specific design reviews. The checklist provides space for reviewers to enter guidelines evaluations and comments.

76 FR 63668 - Guidelines for Preparing and Reviewing Licensing Applications for the Production of Radioisotopes

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-13

..., Research and Test Reactors Projects Branch, Division of Policy and Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2011-0135] Guidelines for Preparing and Reviewing Licensing Applications for the Production of Radioisotopes AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Draft interim...

Report of the Survey on the Design Review of New Reactor Applications. Volume 1 - Instrumentation and Control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Downey, Steven

2014-06-01

At the tenth meeting of the CNRA Working Group on the Regulation of New Reactors (WGRNR) in March 2013, the members agreed to present the responses to the Second Phase, or Design Phase, of the Licensing Process Survey as a multi-volume text. As such, each report will focus on one of the eleven general technical categories covered in the survey. The general technical categories were selected to conform to the topics covered in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safety Guide GS-G-4.1. This report, which is the first volume, provides a discussion of the survey responses related to Instrumentation and Control (I and C). The Instrumentation and Control category includes the twelve following technical topics: Reactor trip system, actuation systems for Engineered Safety Features (ESF), safe shutdown system, safety-related display instrumentation, information and interlock systems important to safety, controls systems, main control room, supplementary control room, diverse I and C systems, data communication systems, software reliability and cyber-security. For each technical topic, the member countries described the information provided by the applicant, the scope and level of detail of the technical review, the technical basis for granting regulatory authorisation, the skill sets required and the Level of effort needed to perform the review. Based on a comparison of the information provided in response to the survey, the following observations were made: - Among the regulatory organisations that responded to the survey, there are similarities in the design information provided by an applicant. In most countries, the design information provided by an applicant includes, but is not limited to, a description of the I and C system design and functions, a description of the verification and validation programmes, and provisions for analysis, testing, and inspection of various I and C systems. - In addition to the regulations, it is a common practice for countries

Carbon Nano tube Composites for Electronic Packaging Applications: A Review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aryasomayajula, L.; Wolter, K.J.

2013-01-01

Composite engineering comprises of metal matrix composites. They have high strength-weight ratio, better stiffness, economical production, and ease of availability of raw materials. The discovery of carbon nano tubes has opened new possibilities to face challenges better. Carbon Nano tubes are known for their high mechanical strength, excellent thermal and electrical properties. Recent research has made progress in fabricating carbon nano tube metal matrix and polymer-based composites. The methods of fabrication of these composites, their properties and possible applications restricted to the field of electronic packaging have been discussed in this paper. Experimental and theoretical calculations have shown improved mechanical and physical properties like tensile stress, toughness, and improved electrical and thermal properties. They have also demonstrated the ease of production of the composites and their adaptability as one can tailor their properties as per the requirement. This paper reviews work reported on fabricating and characterizing carbon- nano tube-based metal matrix and polymer composites. The focus of this paper is mainly to review the importance of these composites in the field of electronics packaging.

Rapid Prototyping Technologies and their Applications in Prosthodontics, a Review of Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Torabi, Kianoosh; Farjood, Ehsan; Hamedani, Shahram

2015-03-01

The early computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems were relied exclusively on subtractive methods. In recent years, additive methods by employing rapid prototyping (RP) have progressed rapidly in various fields of dentistry as they have the potential to overcome known drawbacks of subtractive techniques such as fit problems. RP techniques have been exploited to build complex 3D models in medicine since the 1990s. RP has recently proposed successful applications in various dental fields, such as fabrication of implant surgical guides, frameworks for fixed and removable partial dentures, wax patterns for the dental prosthesis, zirconia prosthesis and molds for metal castings, and maxillofacial prosthesis and finally, complete dentures. This paper aimed to offer a comprehensive literature review of various RP methods, particularly in dentistry, that are expected to bring many improvements to the field. A search was made through MEDLINE database and Google scholar search engine. The keywords; 'rapid prototyping' and 'dentistry' were searched in title/abstract of publications; limited to 2003 to 2013, concerning past decade. The inclusion criterion was the technical researches that predominately included laboratory procedures. The exclusion criterion was meticulous clinical and excessive technical procedures. A total of 106 articles were retrieved, recited by authors and only 50 met the specified inclusion criteria for this review. Selected articles had used rapid prototyping techniques in various fields in dentistry through different techniques. This review depicted the different laboratory procedures employed in this method and confirmed that RP technique have been substantially feasible in dentistry. With advancement in various RP systems, it is possible to benefit from this technique in different dental practices, particularly in implementing dental prostheses for different applications.

Virtual reality for mobility devices: training applications and clinical results: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Erren-Wolters, Catelijne Victorien; van Dijk, Henk; de Kort, Alexander C; Ijzerman, Maarten J; Jannink, Michiel J

2007-06-01

Virtual reality technology is an emerging technology that possibly can address the problems encountered in training (elderly) people to handle a mobility device. The objective of this review was to study different virtual reality training applications as well as their clinical implication for patients with mobility problems. Computerized literature searches were performed using the MEDLINE, Cochrane, CIRRIE and REHABDATA databases. This resulted in eight peer reviewed journal articles. The included studies could be divided into three categories, on the basis of their study objective. Five studies were related to training driving skills, two to physical exercise training and one to leisure activity. This review suggests that virtual reality is a potentially useful means to improve the use of a mobility device, in training one's driving skills, for keeping up the physical condition and also in a way of leisure time activity. Although this field of research appears to be in its early stages, the included studies pointed out a promising transfer of training in a virtual environment to the real-life use of mobility devices.

Systematic review on the effectiveness of augmented reality applications in medical training.

Science.gov (United States)

Barsom, E Z; Graafland, M; Schijven, M P

2016-10-01

Computer-based applications are increasingly used to support the training of medical professionals. Augmented reality applications (ARAs) render an interactive virtual layer on top of reality. The use of ARAs is of real interest to medical education because they blend digital elements with the physical learning environment. This will result in new educational opportunities. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate to which extent augmented reality applications are currently used to validly support medical professionals training. PubMed, Embase, INSPEC and PsychInfo were searched using predefined inclusion criteria for relevant articles up to August 2015. All study types were considered eligible. Articles concerning AR applications used to train or educate medical professionals were evaluated. Twenty-seven studies were found relevant, describing a total of seven augmented reality applications. Applications were assigned to three different categories. The first category is directed toward laparoscopic surgical training, the second category toward mixed reality training of neurosurgical procedures and the third category toward training echocardiography. Statistical pooling of data could not be performed due to heterogeneity of study designs. Face-, construct- and concurrent validity was proven for two applications directed at laparoscopic training, face- and construct validity for neurosurgical procedures and face-, content- and construct validity in echocardiography training. In the literature, none of the ARAs completed a full validation process for the purpose of use. Augmented reality applications that support blended learning in medical training have gained public and scientific interest. In order to be of value, applications must be able to transfer information to the user. Although promising, the literature to date is lacking to support such evidence.

The application of system dynamics modelling to environmental health decision-making and policy - a scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Currie, Danielle J; Smith, Carl; Jagals, Paul

2018-03-27

Policy and decision-making processes are routinely challenged by the complex and dynamic nature of environmental health problems. System dynamics modelling has demonstrated considerable value across a number of different fields to help decision-makers understand and predict the dynamic behaviour of complex systems in support the development of effective policy actions. In this scoping review we investigate if, and in what contexts, system dynamics modelling is being used to inform policy or decision-making processes related to environmental health. Four electronic databases and the grey literature were systematically searched to identify studies that intersect the areas environmental health, system dynamics modelling, and decision-making. Studies identified in the initial screening were further screened for their contextual, methodological and application-related relevancy. Studies deemed 'relevant' or 'highly relevant' according to all three criteria were included in this review. Key themes related to the rationale, impact and limitation of using system dynamics in the context of environmental health decision-making and policy were analysed. We identified a limited number of relevant studies (n = 15), two-thirds of which were conducted between 2011 and 2016. The majority of applications occurred in non-health related sectors (n = 9) including transportation, public utilities, water, housing, food, agriculture, and urban and regional planning. Applications were primarily targeted at micro-level (local, community or grassroots) decision-making processes (n = 9), with macro-level (national or international) decision-making to a lesser degree. There was significant heterogeneity in the stated rationales for using system dynamics and the intended impact of the system dynamics model on decision-making processes. A series of user-related, technical and application-related limitations and challenges were identified. None of the reported limitations or challenges

Alveolar distraction osteogenesis applications in cleft lip and palate patients: a literature review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Öznur Mülayim

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Distraction osteogenesis technique has been successfully applied in the craniofacial area for long time, and it is being applied increasingly more in cleft lip and palate patients also. Especially in large cleft palate cases, bone grafting or surgical procedures such as distraction osteogenesis can be applied in order to ensure a smooth alveolar arc. In this literature review, alveolar (segmental distraction osteogenesis applications in patients with cleft lip and palate, indications of the technique, advantages and disadvantages, application methods and types of appliances used for this purpose have been evaluated. As conclusion, especially with the application of alveolar (segmental distraction osteogenesis, successful outcome can be achieved in cleft lip and palate patients with velopharyngeal insufficiency, maxillary hypoplasia and maxillary crowding, and this technique may be an alternative to conventional osteotomies and extraoral distractions.

State-of-the-art review of some artificial intelligence applications in pile foundations

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Mohamed A. Shahin

2016-01-01

Geotechnical engineering deals with materials (e.g. soil and rock) that, by their very nature, exhibit varied and uncertain behavior due to the imprecise physical processes associated with the formation of these materials. Modeling the behavior of such materials in geotechnical engineering applications is complex and sometimes beyond the ability of most traditional forms of physically-based engineering methods. Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more popular and particularly amenable to modeling the complex behavior of most geotechnical engineering applications because it has demonstrated superior predictive ability compared to traditional methods. This paper provides state-of-the-art review of some selected AI techniques and their applications in pile foundations, and presents the salient features associated with the modeling development of these AI techniques. The paper also discusses the strength and limitations of the selected AI techniques compared to other available modeling approaches.

Applications of quantum cascade lasers in plasma diagnostics: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Röpcke, J; Lang, N; Davies, P B; Rousseau, A; Welzel, S

2012-01-01

Over the past few years mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy based on quantum cascade lasers operating over the region from 3 to 12 µm and called quantum cascade laser absorption spectroscopy or QCLAS has progressed considerably as a powerful diagnostic technique for in situ studies of the fundamental physics and chemistry of molecular plasmas. The increasing interest in processing plasmas containing hydrocarbons, fluorocarbons, nitrogen oxides and organo-silicon compounds has led to further applications of QCLAS because most of these compounds and their decomposition products are infrared active. QCLAS provides a means of determining the absolute concentrations of the ground states of stable and transient molecular species at time resolutions below a microsecond, which is of particular importance for the investigation of reaction kinetics and dynamics. Information about gas temperature and population densities can also be derived from QCLAS measurements. Since plasmas with molecular feed gases are used in many applications such as thin film deposition, semiconductor processing, surface activation and cleaning, and materials and waste treatment, this has stimulated the adaptation of QCLAS techniques to industrial requirements including the development of new diagnostic equipment. The recent availability of external cavity (EC) QCLs offers a further new option for multi-component detection. The aim of this paper is fourfold: (i) to briefly review spectroscopic issues arising from applying pulsed QCLs, (ii) to report on recent achievements in our understanding of molecular phenomena in plasmas and at surfaces, (iii) to describe the current status of industrial process monitoring in the mid-infrared and (iv) to discuss the potential of advanced instrumentation based on EC-QCLs for plasma diagnostics. (topical review)

Recent progress in the growth and applications of graphene as a smart material: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brahim eAissa

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Innovative breakthroughs in fundamental research and industrial applications of graphene material have made its mass and low-cost production a necessary step toward its real world applications. This one-atom thick crystal of carbon, gathers a set of unique physico-chemical properties, ranging from its extreme mechanical behavior to its exceptional electrical and thermal conductivities, which are making graphene as a serious alternative to replace many conventional materials for various applications. In this review paper, we highlight the most important experimental results on the synthesis of graphene material, its emerging properties with reference to its smart applications. We discuss the possibility to successfully integrating graphene directly into device, enabling thereby the realization of a wide range of applications, including actuation, photovoltaic, thermoelectricity, shape memory, self-healing, electrorheology and space missions. The future outlook of graphene is also considered and discussed.

Review of GIF PR and PP Evaluation Case Study for Application to Pyroprocessing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, H. M.; Ahn, S. K.; Kwon, E. H.; Kim, H. D. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

This paper has summarized and reviewed the ESFR case study, as it relates to the application of the evaluation methods to pyroprocessing facilities as well as the sodium fast reactor fuel cycle in the future as a self-assessment study. The GIF PR and PP evaluation methodology and the case study both addressed physical protection, but this paper focuses only on proliferation resistance. It does not consider physical protection. The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) emphasizes proliferation resistance and physical protection (PR and PP) as one of the main aspects to be considered regarding future nuclear energy systems (NESs). As such, the PR and PP Working Group developed an evaluation methodology and applied it to the Example Sodium Fast Reactor (ESFR) as a case study. This paper has summarized and reviewed the ESFR case study, as it relates to the application of the evaluation methods to pyroprocessing facilities as well as the sodium fast reactor fuel cycle in the future as a self-assessment study. The GIF PR and PP evaluation methodology and the case study both addressed physical protection, but this paper focuses only on proliferation resistance. It does not consider physical protection.

Review of GIF PR and PP Evaluation Case Study for Application to Pyroprocessing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, H. M.; Ahn, S. K.; Kwon, E. H.; Kim, H. D.

2014-01-01

This paper has summarized and reviewed the ESFR case study, as it relates to the application of the evaluation methods to pyroprocessing facilities as well as the sodium fast reactor fuel cycle in the future as a self-assessment study. The GIF PR and PP evaluation methodology and the case study both addressed physical protection, but this paper focuses only on proliferation resistance. It does not consider physical protection. The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) emphasizes proliferation resistance and physical protection (PR and PP) as one of the main aspects to be considered regarding future nuclear energy systems (NESs). As such, the PR and PP Working Group developed an evaluation methodology and applied it to the Example Sodium Fast Reactor (ESFR) as a case study. This paper has summarized and reviewed the ESFR case study, as it relates to the application of the evaluation methods to pyroprocessing facilities as well as the sodium fast reactor fuel cycle in the future as a self-assessment study. The GIF PR and PP evaluation methodology and the case study both addressed physical protection, but this paper focuses only on proliferation resistance. It does not consider physical protection

Application of artificial intelligence in Geodesy - A review of theoretical foundations and practical examples

Science.gov (United States)

Reiterer, Alexander; Egly, Uwe; Vicovac, Tanja; Mai, Enrico; Moafipoor, Shahram; Grejner-Brzezinska, Dorota A.; Toth, Charles K.

2010-12-01

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the key technologies in many of today's novel applications. It is used to add knowledge and reasoning to systems. This paper illustrates a review of AI methods including examples of their practical application in Geodesy like data analysis, deformation analysis, navigation, network adjustment, and optimization of complex measurement procedures. We focus on three examples, namely, a geo-risk assessment system supported by a knowledge-base, an intelligent dead reckoning personal navigator, and evolutionary strategies for the determination of Earth gravity field parameters. Some of the authors are members of IAG Sub-Commission 4.2 - Working Group 4.2.3, which has the main goal to study and report on the application of AI in Engineering Geodesy.

Applications of social constructivist learning theories in knowledge translation for healthcare professionals: a scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Aliki; Menon, Anita; Boruff, Jill; Rodriguez, Ana Maria; Ahmed, Sara

2014-05-06

Use of theory is essential for advancing the science of knowledge translation (KT) and for increasing the likelihood that KT interventions will be successful in reducing existing research-practice gaps in health care. As a sociological theory of knowledge, social constructivist theory may be useful for informing the design and evaluation of KT interventions. As such, this scoping review explored the extent to which social constructivist theory has been applied in the KT literature for healthcare professionals. Searches were conducted in six databases: Ovid MEDLINE (1948 - May 16, 2011), Ovid EMBASE, CINAHL, ERIC, PsycInfo, and AMED. Inclusion criteria were: publications from all health professions, research methodologies, as well as conceptual and theoretical papers related to KT. To be included in the review, key words such as constructivism, social constructivism, or social constructivist theories had to be included within the title or abstract. Papers that discussed the use of social constructivist theories in the context of undergraduate learning in academic settings were excluded from the review. An analytical framework of quantitative (numerical) and thematic analysis was used to examine and combine study findings. Of the 514 articles screened, 35 papers published between 1992 and 2011 were deemed eligible and included in the review. This review indicated that use of social constructivist theory in the KT literature was limited and haphazard. The lack of justification for the use of theory continues to represent a shortcoming of the papers reviewed. Potential applications and relevance of social constructivist theory in KT in general and in the specific studies were not made explicit in most papers. For the acquisition, expression and application of knowledge in practice, there was emphasis on how the social constructivist theory supports clinicians in expressing this knowledge in their professional interactions. This scoping review was the first to examine

Review of iron oxide for photo electrode application in water splitting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amir Memar; Mohammad Kassim

2009-01-01

Full text: The use of the photoelectrochemical (PEC) route in hydrogen production is a promising, valuable, clean and efficient way of storing solar energy for use in hydrogen-powered fuel cells. Iron oxide (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) is an attractive photo electrode in PEC cell due to its constructive bandgap of ∼ 2.2 eV, lying in the visible region. This paper presents a review of the different methods of Fe2O3 thin film production and the characterization of the thin film and its application for photo-electrochemical hydrogen production. (author)

A Review on the Application of GIS in Land Use Planning

OpenAIRE

CHE, Wentao; ABE, Daishu; MASUDA, Noboru; SHIMOMURA, Yasuhiko; YAMAMOTO, Satoshi

1995-01-01

In the last decade, we have seen the rapid development of GIS methods that are capable of being applied to land use planning. This paper tries to give a general review on the past and the near future of GIS applications in this area by the following steps. Firstly, a brief definition of land use planning and GIS, and the reasons why GIS are so widely used in land use planning are presented. Secondly, the history of GIS development in the past three decades is briefly considered. Thirdly, some...

[Review on application of plant growth retardants in medicinal plants cultivation].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, Yu-Yao; Guo, Bao-Lin; Cheng, Ming

2013-09-01

Plant growth retardants are widely used in cultivation of medicinal plant, but there is still lack of scientific guidance. In order to guide the use of plant growth retardants in medicinal plant cultivation efficiently and reasonably, this paper reviewed the mechanism, function characteristic, plant and soil residue of plant growth retardants, such as chlorocholine chloride, mepiquat chloride, paclobutrazol, unicnazle and succinic acid, and summarized the application of plant growth retardants in medicinal plants cultivation in recent years, with focus on the effect of growth and yield of the officinal organs and secondary metabolites.

Ventilation Systems Operating Experience Review for Fusion Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cadwallader, L.C.

1999-01-01

This report is a collection and review of system operation and failure experiences for air ventilation systems in nuclear facilities. These experiences are applicable for magnetic and inertial fusion facilities since air ventilation systems are support systems that can be considered generic to nuclear facilities. The report contains descriptions of ventilation system components, operating experiences with these systems, component failure rates, and component repair times. Since ventilation systems have a role in mitigating accident releases in nuclear facilities, these data are useful in safety analysis and risk assessment of public safety. An effort has also been given to identifying any safety issues with personnel operating or maintaining ventilation systems. Finally, the recommended failure data were compared to an independent data set to determine the accuracy of individual values. This comparison is useful for the International Energy Agency task on fusion component failure rate data collection

A review of fuzzy cognitive maps in medicine: Taxonomy, methods, and applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Amirkhani, Abdollah; Papageorgiou, Elpiniki I; Mohseni, Akram; Mosavi, Mohammad R

2017-04-01

A high percentage of medical errors, committed because of physician's lack of experience, huge volume of data to be analyzed, and inaccessibility to medical records of previous patients, can be reduced using computer-aided techniques. Therefore, designing more efficient medical decision-support systems (MDSSs) to assist physicians in decision-making is crucially important. Through combining the properties of fuzzy logic and neural networks, fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) are among the latest, most efficient, and strongest artificial intelligence techniques for modeling complex systems. This review study is conducted to identify different FCM structures used in MDSS designs. The best structure for each medical application can be introduced by studying the properties of FCM structures. This paper surveys the most important decision- making methods and applications of FCMs in the medical field in recent years. To investigate the efficiency and capability of different FCM models in designing MDSSs, medical applications are categorized into four key areas: decision-making, diagnosis, prediction, and classification. Also, various diagnosis and decision support problems addressed by FCMs in recent years are reviewed with the goal of introducing different types of FCMs and determining their contribution to the improvements made in the fields of medical diagnosis and treatment. In this survey, a general trend for future studies in this field is provided by analyzing various FCM structures used for medical purposes, and the results from each category. Due to the unique specifications of FCMs in integrating human knowledge and experience with computer-aided techniques, they are among practical instruments for MDSS design. In the not too distant future, they will have a significant role in medical sciences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Application of organic petrography in North American shale petroleum systems: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Hackley, Paul C.; Cardott, Brian J.

2016-01-01

Organic petrography via incident light microscopy has broad application to shale petroleum systems, including delineation of thermal maturity windows and determination of organo-facies. Incident light microscopy allows practitioners the ability to identify various types of organic components and demonstrates that solid bitumen is the dominant organic matter occurring in shale plays of peak oil and gas window thermal maturity, whereas oil-prone Type I/II kerogens have converted to hydrocarbons and are not present. High magnification SEM observation of an interconnected organic porosity occurring in the solid bitumen of thermally mature shale reservoirs has enabled major advances in our understanding of hydrocarbon migration and storage in shale, but suffers from inability to confirm the type of organic matter present. Herein we review organic petrography applications in the North American shale plays through discussion of incident light photographic examples. In the first part of the manuscript we provide basic practical information on the measurement of organic reflectance and outline fluorescence microscopy and other petrographic approaches to the determination of thermal maturity. In the second half of the paper we discuss applications of organic petrography and SEM in all of the major shale petroleum systems in North America including tight oil plays such as the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Niobrara, and shale gas and condensate plays including the Barnett, Duvernay, Haynesville-Bossier, Marcellus, Utica, and Woodford, among others. Our review suggests systematic research employing correlative high resolution imaging techniques and in situ geochemical probing is needed to better document hydrocarbon storage, migration and wettability properties of solid bitumen at the pressure and temperature conditions of shale reservoirs.

RF power harvesting: a review on designing methodologies and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Le-Giang; Cha, Hyouk-Kyu; Park, Woo-Tae

2017-12-01

Wireless power transmission was conceptualized nearly a century ago. Certain achievements made to date have made power harvesting a reality, capable of providing alternative sources of energy. This review provides a summ ary of radio frequency (RF) power harvesting technologies in order to serve as a guide for the design of RF energy harvesting units. Since energy harvesting circuits are designed to operate with relatively small voltages and currents, they rely on state-of-the-art electrical technology for obtaining high efficiency. Thus, comprehensive analysis and discussions of various designs and their tradeoffs are included. Finally, recent applications of RF power harvesting are outlined.

A review of emerging non-volatile memory (NVM) technologies and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, An

2016-11-01

This paper will review emerging non-volatile memory (NVM) technologies, with the focus on phase change memory (PCM), spin-transfer-torque random-access-memory (STTRAM), resistive random-access-memory (RRAM), and ferroelectric field-effect-transistor (FeFET) memory. These promising NVM devices are evaluated in terms of their advantages, challenges, and applications. Their performance is compared based on reported parameters of major industrial test chips. Memory selector devices and cell structures are discussed. Changing market trends toward low power (e.g., mobile, IoT) and data-centric applications create opportunities for emerging NVMs. High-performance and low-cost emerging NVMs may simplify memory hierarchy, introduce non-volatility in logic gates and circuits, reduce system power, and enable novel architectures. Storage-class memory (SCM) based on high-density NVMs could fill the performance and density gap between memory and storage. Some unique characteristics of emerging NVMs can be utilized for novel applications beyond the memory space, e.g., neuromorphic computing, hardware security, etc. In the beyond-CMOS era, emerging NVMs have the potential to fulfill more important functions and enable more efficient, intelligent, and secure computing systems.

Review on energy harvesting for structural health monitoring in aeronautical applications

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Minh Quyen; Capsal, Jean-Fabien; Lallart, Mickaël; Hebrard, Yoann; Van Der Ham, Andre; Reffe, Nicolas; Geynet, Lionel; Cottinet, Pierre-Jean

2015-11-01

This paper reviews recent developments in energy harvesting technologies for structural health monitoring (SHM) in aeronautical applications. Aeronautical industries show a great deal of interest in obtaining technologies that can be used to monitor the health of machinery and structures. In particular, the need for self-sufficient monitoring of structures has been ever-increasing in recent years. Autonomous SHM systems typically include embedded sensors, and elements for data acquisition, wireless communication, and energy harvesting. Among all of these components, this paper focuses on energy harvesting technologies. Actually, low-power sensors and wireless communication components are used in newer SHM systems, and a number of researchers have recently investigated such techniques to extract energy from the local environment to power these stand-alone systems. The first part of the paper is dedicated to the different energy sources available in aeronautical applications, i.e., for airplanes and helicopters. The second part gives a presentation of the various devices developed for converting ambient energy into electric power. The last part is dedicated to a comparison of the different technologies and the future development of energy harvesting for aeronautical applications.

Fundamentals and application of magnetic particles in cell isolation and enrichment: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plouffe, Brian D; Murthy, Shashi K; Lewis, Laura H

2015-01-01

Magnetic sorting using magnetic beads has become a routine methodology for the separation of key cell populations from biological suspensions. Due to the inherent ability of magnets to provide forces at a distance, magnetic cell manipulation is now a standardized process step in numerous processes in tissue engineering, medicine, and in fundamental biological research. Herein we review the current status of magnetic particles to enable isolation and separation of cells, with a strong focus on the fundamental governing physical phenomena, properties and syntheses of magnetic particles and on current applications of magnet-based cell separation in laboratory and clinical settings. We highlight the contribution of cell separation to biomedical research and medicine and detail modern cell-separation methods (both magnetic and non-magnetic). In addition to a review of the current state-of-the-art in magnet-based cell sorting, we discuss current challenges and available opportunities for further research, development and commercialization of magnetic particle-based cell-separation systems. (review article)

A Review of Lawsuits Related to Point-of-Care Emergency Ultrasound Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stolz, Lori

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: New medical technology brings the potential of lawsuits related to the usage of that new technology. In recent years the use of point-of-care (POC ultrasound has increased rapidly in the emergency department (ED. POC ultrasound creates potential legal risk to an emergency physician (EP either using or not using this tool. The aim of this study was to quantify and characterize reported decisions in lawsuits related to EPs performing POC ultrasound. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all United States reported state and federal cases in the Westlaw database. We assessed the full text of reported cases between January 2008 and December 2012. EPs with emergency ultrasound fellowship training reviewed the full text of each case. Cases were included if an EP was named, the patient encounter was in the emergency department, the interpretation or failure to perform an ultrasound was a central issue and the application was within the American College of Emergency Physician (ACEP ultrasound core applications. In order to assess deferred risk, cases that involved ultrasound examinations that could have been performed by an EP but were deferred to radiology were included. Results: We identified five cases. All reported decisions alleged a failure to perform an ultrasound study or a failure to perform it in a timely manner. All studies were within the scope of emergency medicine and were ACEP emergency ultrasound core applications. A majority of cases (n=4 resulted in a patient death. There were no reported cases of failure to interpret or misdiagnoses. Conclusion: In a five-year period from January 2008 through December 2012, five malpractice cases involving EPs and ultrasound examinations that are ACEP core emergency ultrasound applications were documented in the Westlaw database. All cases were related to failure to perform an ultrasound study or failure to perform a study in a timely manner and none involved failure to

Review of magnetohydrodynamic pump applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.M. Al-Habahbeh

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD principle is an important interdisciplinary field. One of the most important applications of this effect is pumping of materials that are hard to pump using conventional pumps. In this work, the progress achieved in this field is surveyed and organized according to the type of application. The literature of the past 27 years is searched for the major developments of MHD applications. MHD seawater thrusters are promising for a variety of applications requiring high flow rates and velocity. MHD molten metal pump is important replacement to conventional pumps because their moving parts cannot stand the molten metal temperature. MHD molten salt pump is used for nuclear reactor coolants due to its no-moving-parts feature. Nanofluid MHD pumping is a promising technology especially for bioapplications. Advantages of MHD include silence due to no-moving-parts propulsion. Much progress has been made, but with MHD pump still not suitable for wider applications, this remains a fertile area for future research.

Terahertz imaging using quantum cascade lasers—a review of systems and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dean, P; Valavanis, A; Keeley, J; Alhathlool, R; Burnett, A D; Li, L H; Khanna, S P; Indjin, D; Linfield, E H; Davies, A G; Bertling, K; Lim, Y L; Rakić, A D; Taimre, T

2014-01-01

The terahertz (THz) frequency quantum cascade laser (QCL) is a compact source of THz radiation offering high power, high spectral purity and moderate tunability. As such, these sources are particularly suited to the application of THz frequency imaging across a range of disciplines, and have motivated significant research interest in this area over the past decade. In this paper we review the technological approaches to THz QCL-based imaging and the key advancements within this field. We discuss in detail a number of imaging approaches targeted to application areas including multiple-frequency transmission and diffuse reflection imaging for the spectral mapping of targets; as well as coherent approaches based on the self-mixing phenomenon in THz QCLs for long-range imaging, three-dimensional imaging, materials analysis, and high-resolution inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging. (paper)

A review on chitosan centred scaffolds and their applications in tissue engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Shakeel; Annu; Sheikh, Javed; Ali, Akbar

2018-05-03

The diversity and availability of biopolymer and increased clinical demand for safe scaffolds lead to an increased interest in fabricating scaffolds in order to achieve fruitful progress in tissue engineering. Due to biocompatibility, biodegradability, inherent antimicrobial character, chitosan has drawn ample consideration in recent years. Chitosan is a biopolymer obtained by de-acetylation of chitin extracted from shells of crustaceans and fungi. Due to the presence of reactive functionality in the molecular chain chitosan can be modified either chemically or physically to fabricate the tailor-made scaffolds having desired properties for tissue engineering centered applications. In this review chitosan, its properties and role either virgin, chemically or physically modified, 2D or 3D scaffolds for tissue engineering application have been highlighted. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

30 CFR 773.8 - General provisions for review of permit application information and entry of information into AVS.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... application information and entry of information into AVS. 773.8 Section 773.8 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF... into AVS. (a) Based on an administratively complete application, we, the regulatory authority, must undertake the reviews required under §§ 773.9 through 773.11 of this part. (b) We will enter into AVS— (1...

Current applications of robotics in spine surgery: a systematic review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph, Jacob R; Smith, Brandon W; Liu, Xilin; Park, Paul

2017-05-01

OBJECTIVE Surgical robotics has demonstrated utility across the spectrum of surgery. Robotics in spine surgery, however, remains in its infancy. Here, the authors systematically review the evidence behind robotic applications in spinal instrumentation. METHODS This systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Relevant studies (through October 2016) that reported the use of robotics in spinal instrumentation were identified from a search of the PubMed database. Data regarding the accuracy of screw placement, surgeon learning curve, radiation exposure, and reasons for robotic failure were extracted. RESULTS Twenty-five studies describing 2 unique robots met inclusion criteria. Of these, 22 studies evaluated accuracy of spinal instrumentation. Although grading of pedicle screw accuracy was variable, the most commonly used method was the Gertzbein and Robbins system of classification. In the studies using the Gertzbein and Robbins system, accuracy (Grades A and B) ranged from 85% to 100%. Ten studies evaluated radiation exposure during the procedure. In studies that detailed fluoroscopy usage, overall fluoroscopy times ranged from 1.3 to 34 seconds per screw. Nine studies examined the learning curve for the surgeon, and 12 studies described causes of robotic failure, which included registration failure, soft-tissue hindrance, and lateral skiving of the drill guide. CONCLUSIONS Robotics in spine surgery is an emerging technology that holds promise for future applications. Surgical accuracy in instrumentation implanted using robotics appears to be high. However, the impact of robotics on radiation exposure is not clear and seems to be dependent on technique and robot type.

Human reliability analysis of errors of commission: a review of methods and applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reer, B

2007-06-15

Illustrated by specific examples relevant to contemporary probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), this report presents a review of human reliability analysis (HRA) addressing post initiator errors of commission (EOCs), i.e. inappropriate actions under abnormal operating conditions. The review addressed both methods and applications. Emerging HRA methods providing advanced features and explicit guidance suitable for PSA are: A Technique for Human Event Analysis (ATHEANA, key publications in 1998/2000), Methode d'Evaluation de la Realisation des Missions Operateur pour la Surete (MERMOS, 1998/2000), the EOC HRA method developed by the Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS, 2003), the Misdiagnosis Tree Analysis (MDTA) method (2005/2006), the Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method (CREAM, 1998), and the Commission Errors Search and Assessment (CESA) method (2002/2004). As a result of a thorough investigation of various PSA/HRA applications, this paper furthermore presents an overview of EOCs (termination of safety injection, shutdown of secondary cooling, etc.) referred to in predictive studies and a qualitative review of cases of EOC quantification. The main conclusions of the review of both the methods and the EOC HRA cases are: (1) The CESA search scheme, which proceeds from possible operator actions to the affected systems to scenarios, may be preferable because this scheme provides a formalized way for identifying relatively important scenarios with EOC opportunities; (2) an EOC identification guidance like CESA, which is strongly based on the procedural guidance and important measures of systems or components affected by inappropriate actions, however should pay some attention to EOCs associated with familiar but non-procedural actions and EOCs leading to failures of manually initiated safety functions. (3) Orientations of advanced EOC quantification comprise a) modeling of multiple contexts for a given scenario, b) accounting for

Human reliability analysis of errors of commission: a review of methods and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reer, B.

2007-06-01

Illustrated by specific examples relevant to contemporary probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), this report presents a review of human reliability analysis (HRA) addressing post initiator errors of commission (EOCs), i.e. inappropriate actions under abnormal operating conditions. The review addressed both methods and applications. Emerging HRA methods providing advanced features and explicit guidance suitable for PSA are: A Technique for Human Event Analysis (ATHEANA, key publications in 1998/2000), Methode d'Evaluation de la Realisation des Missions Operateur pour la Surete (MERMOS, 1998/2000), the EOC HRA method developed by the Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS, 2003), the Misdiagnosis Tree Analysis (MDTA) method (2005/2006), the Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method (CREAM, 1998), and the Commission Errors Search and Assessment (CESA) method (2002/2004). As a result of a thorough investigation of various PSA/HRA applications, this paper furthermore presents an overview of EOCs (termination of safety injection, shutdown of secondary cooling, etc.) referred to in predictive studies and a qualitative review of cases of EOC quantification. The main conclusions of the review of both the methods and the EOC HRA cases are: (1) The CESA search scheme, which proceeds from possible operator actions to the affected systems to scenarios, may be preferable because this scheme provides a formalized way for identifying relatively important scenarios with EOC opportunities; (2) an EOC identification guidance like CESA, which is strongly based on the procedural guidance and important measures of systems or components affected by inappropriate actions, however should pay some attention to EOCs associated with familiar but non-procedural actions and EOCs leading to failures of manually initiated safety functions. (3) Orientations of advanced EOC quantification comprise a) modeling of multiple contexts for a given scenario, b) accounting for

[On the clinical applications of logotherapy: a review of Victor Emil Frankl inheritance].

Science.gov (United States)

Girmenia, E; Andrissi, L; Tambone, V

2014-01-01

The Viktor E. Frankl's thought has found wide application in many areas of the Clinic, not limited to the neuropsychiatric area. If the franklian work is known worldwide for being a theory and a practice within neurotic disorders, we must not forget how logotherapy has been put at the disposal of the sufferer in its broadest sense. Especially in the context of care and care of the chronically and evolutionary ill (cancer, heart disease, degenerative diseases, etc.), the thought and practice logotherapy have made and continue to make a valuable contribution. In this review we will cover in more detail the application of logotherapy in clinical-care, pausing to examine the international literature.

Apps4CPR: A review study of mobile applications for cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and support

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kalz, Marco

2013-01-01

Kalz, M. (2013, 23 September). Apps4CPR: A review study of mobile applications for cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and support. Presentation given during the 6th World Congress on Social Media, Mobile Apps and Internet/Web 2.0 in Medicine, Health, and Biomedical Research, London, UK.

A Review of Current Clinical Applications of Three-Dimensional Printing in Spine Surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Woojin; Job, Alan Varkey; Chen, Jing; Baek, Jung Hwan

2018-02-01

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a transformative technology with a potentially wide range of applications in the field of orthopaedic spine surgery. This article aims to review the current applications, limitations, and future developments of 3D printing technology in orthopaedic spine surgery. Current preoperative applications of 3D printing include construction of complex 3D anatomic models for improved visual understanding, preoperative surgical planning, and surgical simulations for resident education. Intraoperatively, 3D printers have been successfully used in surgical guidance systems and in the creation of patient specific implantable devices. Furthermore, 3D printing is revolutionizing the field of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, allowing construction of biocompatible scaffolds suitable for cell growth and vasculature. Advances in printing technology and evidence of positive clinical outcomes are needed before there is an expansion of 3D printing applied to the clinical setting.

State-of-the-art review of some artificial intelligence applications in pile foundations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed A. Shahin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Geotechnical engineering deals with materials (e.g. soil and rock that, by their very nature, exhibit varied and uncertain behavior due to the imprecise physical processes associated with the formation of these materials. Modeling the behavior of such materials in geotechnical engineering applications is complex and sometimes beyond the ability of most traditional forms of physically-based engineering methods. Artificial intelligence (AI is becoming more popular and particularly amenable to modeling the complex behavior of most geotechnical engineering applications because it has demonstrated superior predictive ability compared to traditional methods. This paper provides state-of-the-art review of some selected AI techniques and their applications in pile foundations, and presents the salient features associated with the modeling development of these AI techniques. The paper also discusses the strength and limitations of the selected AI techniques compared to other available modeling approaches.

Rapid Prototyping Technologies and their Applications in Prosthodontics, a Review of Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Torabi, Kianoosh; Farjood, Ehsan; Hamedani, Shahram

2015-01-01

The early computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems were relied exclusively on subtractive methods. In recent years, additive methods by employing rapid prototyping (RP) have progressed rapidly in various fields of dentistry as they have the potential to overcome known drawbacks of subtractive techniques such as fit problems. RP techniques have been exploited to build complex 3D models in medicine since the 1990s. RP has recently proposed successful applications in various dental fields, such as fabrication of implant surgical guides, frameworks for fixed and removable partial dentures, wax patterns for the dental prosthesis, zirconia prosthesis and molds for metal castings, and maxillofacial prosthesis and finally, complete dentures. This paper aimed to offer a comprehensive literature review of various RP methods, particularly in dentistry, that are expected to bring many improvements to the field. A search was made through MEDLINE database and Google scholar search engine. The keywords; ‘rapid prototyping’ and ‘dentistry’ were searched in title/abstract of publications; limited to 2003 to 2013, concerning past decade. The inclusion criterion was the technical researches that predominately included laboratory procedures. The exclusion criterion was meticulous clinical and excessive technical procedures. A total of 106 articles were retrieved, recited by authors and only 50 met the specified inclusion criteria for this review. Selected articles had used rapid prototyping techniques in various fields in dentistry through different techniques. This review depicted the different laboratory procedures employed in this method and confirmed that RP technique have been substantially feasible in dentistry. With advancement in various RP systems, it is possible to benefit from this technique in different dental practices, particularly in implementing dental prostheses for different applications. PMID:25759851

Crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol hydrogels for wound dressing applications: A review of remarkably blended polymers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elbadawy A. Kamoun

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A series of excellent poly(vinyl alcohol (PVA/polymers blend hydrogel were reviewed using different crosslinking types to obtain proper polymeric dressing materials, which have satisfied biocompatibility and sufficient mechanical properties. The importance of biodegradable–biocompatible synthetic polymers such as PVA, natural polymers such as alginate, starch, and chitosan or their derivatives has grown significantly over the last two decades due to their renewable and desirable biological properties. The properties of these polymers for pharmaceutical and biomedical application needs have attracted much attention. Thus, a considered proportion of the population need those polymeric medical applications for drug delivery, wound dressing, artificial cartilage materials, and other medical purposes, where the pressure on alternative polymeric devices in all countries became substantial. The review explores different polymers which have been blended previously in the literature with PVA as wound dressing blended with other polymeric materials, showing the feasibility, property change, and purpose which are behind the blending process with PVA.

A review on polymeric hydrogel membranes for wound dressing applications: PVA-based hydrogel dressings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elbadawy A. Kamoun

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This review presents the past and current efforts with a brief description on the featured properties of hydrogel membranes fabricated from biopolymers and synthetic ones for wound dressing applications. Many endeavors have been exerted during past ten years for developing new artificial polymeric membranes, which fulfill the demanded conditions for the treatment of skin wounds. This review mainly focuses on representing specifications of ideal polymeric wound dressing membranes, such as crosslinked hydrogels compatible with wound dressing purposes. But as the hydrogels with single component have low mechanical strength, recent trends have offered composite or hybrid hydrogel membranes to achieve the typical wound dressing requirements.

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA: Review of synthesis, characteristics, processing and potential applications in packaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Bugnicourt

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs are gaining increasing attention in the biodegradable polymer market due to their promising properties such as high biodegradability in different environments, not just in composting plants, and processing versatility. Indeed among biopolymers, these biogenic polyesters represent a potential sustainable replacement for fossil fuel-based thermoplastics. Most commercially available PHAs are obtained with pure microbial cultures grown on renewable feedstocks (i.e. glucose under sterile conditions but recent research studies focus on the use of wastes as growth media. PHA can be extracted from the bacteria cell and then formulated and processed by extrusion for production of rigid and flexible plastic suitable not just for the most assessed medical applications but also considered for applications including packaging, moulded goods, paper coatings, non-woven fabrics, adhesives, films and performance additives. The present paper reviews the different classes of PHAs, their main properties, processing aspects, commercially available ones, as well as limitations and related improvements being researched, with specific focus on potential applications of PHAs in packaging.

A review on applications of nanotechnology in the enhanced oil recovery part B: effects of nanoparticles on flooding

Science.gov (United States)

Cheraghian, Goshtasp; Hendraningrat, Luky

2016-11-01

Chemical flooding is of increasing interest and importance due to high oil prices and the need to increase oil production. Research in nanotechnology in the petroleum industry is advancing rapidly, and an enormous progress in the application of nanotechnology in this area is to be expected. The nanotechnology has been widely used in several other industries, and the interest in the oil industry is increasing. Nanotechnology has the potential to profoundly change enhanced oil recovery and to improve mechanism of recovery, and it is chosen as an alternative method to unlock the remaining oil resources and applied as a new enhanced oil recovery method in last decade. This paper therefore focuses on the reviews of the application of nanotechnology in chemical flooding process in oil recovery and reviews the applications of nanomaterials for improving oil recovery that have been proposed to explain oil displacement by polymer flooding within oil reservoirs, and also this paper highlights the research advances of polymer in oil recovery. Nanochemical flooding is an immature method from an application point of view.

Flavonoid electrochemistry: a review on the electroanalytical applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric S. Gil

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds widespread in vegetal kingdom. They present a C-15 skeleton, which is divided into three units A, B and C. Unit C is an oxygen containing heterocyclic, whose oxidation state and saturation level define major subclasses. Units A and B are aromatic rings, in which four major types of substituents, i. e. hydroxyl, methoxyl, prenyl and glycosides, lead to over 8000 different flavonoids. The great healthy-protecting value of these phytochemical biomarkers has attracted the attention of scientific community. Their main biological actions include anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties, which are strictly linked to antioxidant activities. So that, electroanalysis have been extensively applied on mechanistic studies and also for analytical determinations. This review presents the state of the art regarding the main applications of electroanalysis on the flavonoid research. The approaches on redox behavior characterization leading to a better understanding of structure antioxidant activity relationships are highlighted.

Flavonoid electrochemistry: a review on the electroanalytical applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric S. Gil

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds widespread in vegetal kingdom. They present a C-15 skeleton, which is divided into three units A, B and C. Unit C is an oxygen containing heterocyclic, whose oxidation state and saturation level define major subclasses. Units A and B are aromatic rings, in which four major types of substituents, i. e. hydroxyl, methoxyl, prenyl and glycosides, lead to over 8000 different flavonoids. The great healthy-protecting value of these phytochemical biomarkers has attracted the attention of scientific community. Their main biological actions include anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties, which are strictly linked to antioxidant activities. So that, electroanalysis have been extensively applied on mechanistic studies and also for analytical determinations. This review presents the state of the art regarding the main applications of electroanalysis on the flavonoid research. The approaches on redox behavior characterization leading to a better understanding of structure antioxidant activity relationships are highlighted.

Simulation Modelling in Healthcare: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Literature Reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Salleh, Syed; Thokala, Praveen; Brennan, Alan; Hughes, Ruby; Booth, Andrew

2017-09-01

Numerous studies examine simulation modelling in healthcare. These studies present a bewildering array of simulation techniques and applications, making it challenging to characterise the literature. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the level of activity of simulation modelling in healthcare and the key themes. We performed an umbrella review of systematic literature reviews of simulation modelling in healthcare. Searches were conducted of academic databases (JSTOR, Scopus, PubMed, IEEE, SAGE, ACM, Wiley Online Library, ScienceDirect) and grey literature sources, enhanced by citation searches. The articles were included if they performed a systematic review of simulation modelling techniques in healthcare. After quality assessment of all included articles, data were extracted on numbers of studies included in each review, types of applications, techniques used for simulation modelling, data sources and simulation software. The search strategy yielded a total of 117 potential articles. Following sifting, 37 heterogeneous reviews were included. Most reviews achieved moderate quality rating on a modified AMSTAR (A Measurement Tool used to Assess systematic Reviews) checklist. All the review articles described the types of applications used for simulation modelling; 15 reviews described techniques used for simulation modelling; three reviews described data sources used for simulation modelling; and six reviews described software used for simulation modelling. The remaining reviews either did not report or did not provide enough detail for the data to be extracted. Simulation modelling techniques have been used for a wide range of applications in healthcare, with a variety of software tools and data sources. The number of reviews published in recent years suggest an increased interest in simulation modelling in healthcare.

Reasonable application of antibiotic prophylaxis in maxillofacial trauma: Literature review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afshin Yadegari Naeeni

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Background and Aims: Despite advances in trauma management, treatment of the consequent infections has remained a major challenge. Antibiotic prophylaxis has been widely applied to reduce such infections. Although bacteria are present in most body parts, severe infections after treatment are less frequent in the head and neck of healthy individuals. The aim of the present study was to review the reasonable application of antibiotic prophylaxis in maxillofacial trauma. Materials and Methods: In this review article, PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies on antibiotic prophylaxis in maxillofacial trauma published during 2000-2014. Conclusion: Antibiotics were not prescribed for tears and small clean wounds in the face and mouth. However, prophylaxis was applied for extensive mouth injuries which involved the facial skin. In case of maxillofacial fractures, 24-hour administration of antibiotics sufficed for compound fractures of the mandible and other parts of the face. Antibiotics were not required in other types of fractures. Prophylaxis should be applied over short pre- or post-operative periods based on the severity and complexity of maxillofacial fractures and their relations with intra- and extraoral environments. Apparently, more detailed studies are warranted to further clarify the subject.

Prehospital Ultrasound in Trauma: A Review of Current and Potential Future Clinical Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tharwat El Zahran

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Ultrasound (US is an essential tool for evaluating trauma patients in the hospital setting. Many previous in-hospital studies have been extrapolated to out of hospital setting to improve diagnostic accuracy in prehospital and austere environments. This review article presents the role of prehospital US in blunt and penetrating trauma management with emphasis on its current clinical applications, challenges, and future implications of such use.

Ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD): A review of technology and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Helmersson, Ulf; Lattemann, Martina; Bohlmark, Johan; Ehiasarian, Arutiun P.; Gudmundsson, Jon Tomas

2006-01-01

In plasma-based deposition processing, the importance of low-energy ion bombardment during thin film growth can hardly be exaggerated. Ion bombardment is an important physical tool available to materials scientists in the design of new materials and new structures. Glow discharges and in particular, the magnetron sputtering discharge have the advantage that the ions of the discharge are abundantly available to the deposition process. However, the ion chemistry is usually dominated by the ions of the inert sputtering gas while ions of the sputtered material are rare. Over the last few years, various ionized sputtering techniques have appeared that can achieve a high degree of ionization of the sputtered atoms, often up to 50% but in some cases as much as approximately 90%. This opens a complete new perspective in the engineering and design of new thin film materials. The development and application of magnetron sputtering systems for ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD) is reviewed. The application of a secondary discharge, inductively coupled plasma magnetron sputtering (ICP-MS) and microwave amplified magnetron sputtering, is discussed as well as the high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS), the self-sustained sputtering (SSS) magnetron, and the hollow cathode magnetron (HCM) sputtering discharges. Furthermore, filtered arc-deposition is discussed due to its importance as an IPVD technique. Examples of the importance of the IPVD-techniques for growth of thin films with improved adhesion, improved microstructures, improved coverage of complex shaped substrates, and increased reactivity with higher deposition rate in reactive processes are reviewed

77 FR 21592 - Guidelines for Preparing and Reviewing Licensing Applications for the Production of Radioisotopes

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-10

... Licensing of Non-Power Reactors: Format and Content,'' for the production of radioisotopes and NUREG-1537, Part 2, ``Guidelines for Preparing and Reviewing Applications for the Licensing of Non-Power Reactors... by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2011-0135. You may submit comments by...

Review of thin film solar cell technology and applications for ultra-light spacecraft solar arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Landis, Geoffrey A.

1991-01-01

Developments in thin-film amorphous and polycrystalline photovoltaic cells are reviewed and discussed with a view to potential applications in space. Two important figures of merit are discussed: efficiency (i.e., what fraction of the incident solar energy is converted to electricity), and specific power (power to weight ratio).

Big data handling mechanisms in the healthcare applications: A comprehensive and systematic literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pashazadeh, Asma; Jafari Navimipour, Nima

2018-04-12

Healthcare provides many services such as diagnosing, treatment, prevention of diseases, illnesses, injuries, and other physical and mental disorders. Large-scale distributed data processing applications in healthcare as a basic concept operates on large amounts of data. Therefore, big data application functions are the main part of healthcare operations, but there was not any comprehensive and systematic survey about studying and evaluating the important techniques in this field. Therefore, this paper aims at providing the comprehensive, detailed, and systematic study of the state-of-the-art mechanisms in the big data related to healthcare applications in five categories, including machine learning, cloud-based, heuristic-based, agent-based, and hybrid mechanisms. Also, this paper displayed a systematic literature review (SLR) of the big data applications in the healthcare literature up to the end of 2016. Initially, 205 papers were identified, but a paper selection process reduced the number of papers to 29 important studies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A biopsy of Breast Cancer mobile applications: state of the practice review.

Science.gov (United States)

Giunti, G; Giunta, D H; Guisado-Fernandez, E; Bender, J L; Fernandez-Luque, L

2018-02-01

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. The use of mobile software applications for health and wellbeing promotion has grown exponentially in recent years. We systematically reviewed the breast cancer apps available in today's leading smartphone application stores and characterized them based on their features, evidence base and target audiences. A cross-sectional study was performed to characterize breast cancer apps from the two major smartphone app stores (iOS and Android). Apps that matched the keywords "breast cancer" were identified and data was extracted using a structured form. Reviewers independently evaluated the eligibility and independently classified the apps. A total of 1473 apps were a match. After removing duplicates and applying the selection criteria only 599 apps remained. Inter-rater reliability was determined using Fleiss-Cohen's Kappa. The majority of apps were free 471 (78.63%). The most common type of application was Disease and Treatment information apps (29.22%), Disease Management (19.03%) and Awareness Raising apps (15.03%). Close to 1 out of 10 apps dealt with alternative or homeopathic medicine. The majority of the apps were intended for patients (75.79%). Only one quarter of all apps (24.54%) had a disclaimer about usage and less than one fifth (19.70%) mentioned references or source material. Gamification specialists determined that 19.36% contained gamification elements. This study analyzed a large number of breast cancer-focused apps available to consumers. There has been a steady increase of breast cancer apps over the years. The breast cancer app ecosystem largely consists of start-ups and entrepreneurs. Evidence base seems to be lacking in these apps and it would seem essential that expert medical personnel be involved in the creation of medical apps. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development and application of marine gamma-ray measurements: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, D G

2001-01-01

The development of instruments to measure gamma radiation in the marine environment, particularly on the sea floor, and the range of uses to which they have been put is reviewed. Since the first steps in the late 1950s, systems have been developed in at least 10 countries with the main thrust occurring in the 1970s. Development has continued up to the present, primarily in Europe and the USA. Marine gamma-ray spectrometers have been used for a range of applications including the mapping of rocks and unconsolidated sediments, mineral exploration (mainly for heavy minerals and phosphorites), sediment transport studies and investigations in relation to discharged and dumped nuclear wastes and at nuclear weapon test sites.

The kINPen—a review on physics and chemistry of the atmospheric pressure plasma jet and its applications

Science.gov (United States)

Reuter, Stephan; von Woedtke, Thomas; Weltmann, Klaus-Dieter

2018-06-01

The kINPen® plasma jet was developed from laboratory prototype to commercially available non-equilibrium cold plasma jet for various applications in materials research, surface treatment and medicine. It has proven to be a valuable plasma source for industry as well as research and commercial use in plasma medicine, leading to very successful therapeutic results and its certification as a medical device. This topical review presents the different kINPen plasma sources available. Diagnostic techniques applied to the kINPen are introduced. The review summarizes the extensive studies of the physics and plasma chemistry of the kINPen performed by research groups across the world, and closes with a brief overview of the main application fields.

Pulse Holography: Review Of Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Smigielski, Paul

1990-04-01

Pulse Holography includes studies concerning time-varying phase objects as well as time-varying reflective objects involving the use of pulse ruby- and YAG-lasers. The paper is divided in two parts. One part concerns the direct use of 3-1) images reconstructed from holograms, i.e. applications to particle size analysis, 3-I) velocity measurements, 3-I) cinematography ... The second part describes applications using holographic interferometry in laboratory or in an industrial environment, i.e. applications to fluid mechanics, vibration analysis, non-destructive testing ... Recent developments including interferornetric cineholography, fiber optics, measurement of non-interferometric displacements ... , are also described. The future of holography depends to a great extent on data processing and interpretation of informations contained in holograms or holographic intericrograms. Therefore, we give the state of art in this field in Europe illustrated with some industrial applications.

Nanomaterials for Hydrogen Storage Applications: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael U. Niemann

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Nanomaterials have attracted great interest in recent years because of the unusual mechanical, electrical, electronic, optical, magnetic and surface properties. The high surface/volume ratio of these materials has significant implications with respect to energy storage. Both the high surface area and the opportunity for nanomaterial consolidation are key attributes of this new class of materials for hydrogen storage devices. Nanostructured systems including carbon nanotubes, nano-magnesium based hydrides, complex hydride/carbon nanocomposites, boron nitride nanotubes, TiS2/MoS2 nanotubes, alanates, polymer nanocomposites, and metal organic frameworks are considered to be potential candidates for storing large quantities of hydrogen. Recent investigations have shown that nanoscale materials may offer advantages if certain physical and chemical effects related to the nanoscale can be used efficiently. The present review focuses the application of nanostructured materials for storing atomic or molecular hydrogen. The synergistic effects of nanocrystalinity and nanocatalyst doping on the metal or complex hydrides for improving the thermodynamics and hydrogen reaction kinetics are discussed. In addition, various carbonaceous nanomaterials and novel sorbent systems (e.g. carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, nanofibers, polyaniline nanospheres and metal organic frameworks etc. and their hydrogen storage characteristics are outlined.

Application of large radiation sources in Asia and the Pacific - a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iya, V.K.

1977-01-01

The current status of the applications of large radiation sources on industrial scale in the countries of Asia and the Pacific Region has been reviewed. The present R and D programmes and the major centres engaged in these programmes are described. So far as commercialization is considered, radiation processing industry is now well established in Japan, Australia, India and Israel. The major industrial uses of large radiation sources have been for : (1) sterilization of medical products, (2) food preservation, (3) cross-linking of polyethylene and (4) production of composite materials from polymer and wood or bamboo or bagasse. A table is given which indicates the current status of clearance of irradiated food in the countries under consideration. Finally, technological requirements in these countries for development and application of radiation processing are spelled out and discussed. (M.G.B.)

A Systematic Review of Agent-Based Modelling and Simulation Applications in the Higher Education Domain

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, X.; Blackmore, K. L.

2015-01-01

This paper presents the results of a systematic review of agent-based modelling and simulation (ABMS) applications in the higher education (HE) domain. Agent-based modelling is a "bottom-up" modelling paradigm in which system-level behaviour (macro) is modelled through the behaviour of individual local-level agent interactions (micro).…

Three-Dimensional Printing and Medical Imaging: A Review of the Methods and Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Marro, Alessandro; Bandukwala, Taha; Mak, Walter

2016-01-01

The purpose of this article is to review recent innovations on the process and application of 3-dimensional (3D) printed objects from medical imaging data. Data for 3D printed medical models can be obtained from computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound using the Data Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) software. The data images are processed using segmentation and mesh generation tools and converted to a standard tessellation language (STL) file for printing. 3D printing technologies include stereolithography, selective laser sintering, inkjet, and fused-deposition modeling . 3D printed models have been used for preoperative planning of complex surgeries, the creation of custom prosthesis, and in the education and training of physicians. The application of medical imaging and 3D printers has been successful in providing solutions to many complex medical problems. As technology advances, its applications continue to grow in the future. Copyright © 2015 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

A review and analysis of boundary layer transition data for turbine application

Science.gov (United States)

Gaugler, R. E.

1985-01-01

A number of data sets from the open literature that include heat transfer data in apparently transitional boundary layers, with particular application to the turbine environment, were reviewed and analyzed to extract transition information. The data were analyzed by using a version of the STAN5 two-dimensional boundary layer code. The transition starting and ending points were determined by adjusting parameters in STAN5 until the calculations matched the data. The results are presented as a table of the deduced transition location and length as functions of the test parameters. The data sets reviewed cover a wide range of flow conditions, from low-speed, flat-plate tests to full-scale turbine airfoils operating at simulated turbine engine conditions. The results indicate that free-stream turbulence and pressure gradient have strong, and opposite, effects on the location of the start of transition and on the length of the transition zone.

VIKOR Technique: A Systematic Review of the State of the Art Literature on Methodologies and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abbas Mardani

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this paper is to present a systematic review of the VlseKriterijuska Optimizacija I Komoromisno Resenje (VIKOR method in several application areas such as sustainability and renewable energy. This study reviewed a total of 176 papers, published in 2004 to 2015, from 83 high-ranking journals; most of which were related to Operational Research, Management Sciences, decision making, sustainability and renewable energy and were extracted from the “Web of Science and Scopus” databases. Papers were classified into 15 main application areas. Furthermore, papers were categorized based on the nationalities of authors, dates of publications, techniques and methods, type of studies, the names of the journals and studies purposes. The results of this study indicated that more papers on VIKOR technique were published in 2013 than in any other year. In addition, 13 papers were published about sustainability and renewable energy fields. Furthermore, VIKOR and fuzzy VIKOR methods, had the first rank in use. Additionally, the Journal of Expert Systems with Applications was the most significant journal in this study, with 27 publications on the topic. Finally, Taiwan had the first rank from 22 nationalities which used VIKOR technique.

Prerequisites concerning SSI:s review of applications for an encapsulation facility and a repository for spent nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oehlen, Elisabeth

2006-09-01

The report outlines some fundamental prerequisites concerning SSI:s review of SKB coming applications for an encapsulation facility (according to the act on nuclear activities) and for the complete final disposal system (according to the act on nuclear activities and the environmental code). The report summarize how the SSI look at the decision making process considering radiation protection requirements according to SSI:s regulations and general advices and earlier standpoints regarding SKB:s RandD-programme. The report also describe the present reviewing capacity of SSI and constitute therefore the basis for the planning of SSI:s review organisation in the prospect of coming applications on nuclear waste facilities (encapsulation facility and a deep disposal repository). It should be noted that the report reflects the present situation. Due to a number of factors as for example changes in SKB:s coming RandD-programme, future governmental decisions, adjustments of SSI:s financial resources or new facts in the case, will of course have an effect on how SSI finally will organise the review work. SSI:s home page will continuously be updated with the latest information in this respect

A Review on Development and Applications of Bio-Inspired Superhydrophobic Textiles

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Ishaq Ahmad

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Bio-inspired engineering has been envisioned in a wide array of applications. All living bodies on Earth, including animals and plants, have well organized functional systems developed by nature. These naturally designed functional systems inspire scientists and engineers worldwide to mimic the system for practical applications by human beings. Researchers in the academic world and industries have been trying, for hundreds of years, to demonstrate how these natural phenomena could be translated into the real world to save lives, money and time. One of the most fascinating natural phenomena is the resistance of living bodies to contamination by dust and other pollutants, thus termed as self-cleaning phenomenon. This phenomenon has been observed in many plants, animals and insects and is termed as the Lotus Effect. With advancement in research and technology, attention has been given to the exploration of the underlying mechanisms of water repellency and self-cleaning. As a result, various concepts have been developed including Young’s equation, and Wenzel and Cassie–Baxter theories. The more we unravel this process, the more we get access to its implications and applications. A similar pursuit is emphasized in this review to explain the fundamental principles, mechanisms, past experimental approaches and ongoing research in the development of bio-inspired superhydrophobic textiles.

A Review on Development and Applications of Bio-Inspired Superhydrophobic Textiles

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Ishaq; Kan, Chi-wai

2016-01-01

Bio-inspired engineering has been envisioned in a wide array of applications. All living bodies on Earth, including animals and plants, have well organized functional systems developed by nature. These naturally designed functional systems inspire scientists and engineers worldwide to mimic the system for practical applications by human beings. Researchers in the academic world and industries have been trying, for hundreds of years, to demonstrate how these natural phenomena could be translated into the real world to save lives, money and time. One of the most fascinating natural phenomena is the resistance of living bodies to contamination by dust and other pollutants, thus termed as self-cleaning phenomenon. This phenomenon has been observed in many plants, animals and insects and is termed as the Lotus Effect. With advancement in research and technology, attention has been given to the exploration of the underlying mechanisms of water repellency and self-cleaning. As a result, various concepts have been developed including Young’s equation, and Wenzel and Cassie–Baxter theories. The more we unravel this process, the more we get access to its implications and applications. A similar pursuit is emphasized in this review to explain the fundamental principles, mechanisms, past experimental approaches and ongoing research in the development of bio-inspired superhydrophobic textiles. PMID:28774012

A review of extractions of seaweed hydrocolloids: Properties and applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. P. S. Abdul Khalil

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The term hydrocolloid generally refers to substances that form gels or provide viscous dispersion in the presence of water. Alginate, agar, and carrageenan are three commercially valuable hydrocolloids derived from certain brown and red seaweed and each has their distinct physicochemical properties (i.e. functional and bioactive. Various applications of these seaweed hydrocolloids as thickeners, stabilizers, coagulants and salves (in the wound and burn dressings and materials to produce bio-medical impressions in the food, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries are highlighted in this review. Although the existing industrial methods of extraction for these seaweed hydrocolloids are well-established, still growing demand has exposed certain limitations of those methods, notably efficiency and product consistency. In order to achieve targeted hydrocolloids for specific purposes and functionalities, some novel and green extraction methods have also been proposed and discussed. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE, enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE, pressurized solvent extractions (PSE, reactive extrusion and photobleaching process are selectively presented as highly promising candidates that can avoid the use of chemicals and provide novel means of access to seaweed hydrocolloids with both economic and environmental benefits. However, this review does not provide the ‘best’ method or procedure as many are still under development. Hence, the review gives ‘food for thought’as to new processes which might be adopted industrially and concluded that further research is required in order to contribute additional new knowledge and refinement to this field of study.

Sharea Issues in the Application of Takaful: Review on Islamic Law Perspective

OpenAIRE

Suharto Suharto; Muhammad Iqbal Fasa

2018-01-01

Insurance is still debated between scholars when viewed in the light of Islamic law. Contemporary Muslim jurists are fully aware that the legal status of Insurance not been determined by Islamic law thinkers in advance (jurists). The application of Takāful today is the result of a struggle between the understanding of Islami law with the reality of what happened. Thus, the problem needs to be reviewed in the light of Islamic law in depth. This paper attempts to offer Shariah Issues in the App...

Applications of social constructivist learning theories in knowledge translation for healthcare professionals: a scoping review

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Use of theory is essential for advancing the science of knowledge translation (KT) and for increasing the likelihood that KT interventions will be successful in reducing existing research-practice gaps in health care. As a sociological theory of knowledge, social constructivist theory may be useful for informing the design and evaluation of KT interventions. As such, this scoping review explored the extent to which social constructivist theory has been applied in the KT literature for healthcare professionals. Methods Searches were conducted in six databases: Ovid MEDLINE (1948 – May 16, 2011), Ovid EMBASE, CINAHL, ERIC, PsycInfo, and AMED. Inclusion criteria were: publications from all health professions, research methodologies, as well as conceptual and theoretical papers related to KT. To be included in the review, key words such as constructivism, social constructivism, or social constructivist theories had to be included within the title or abstract. Papers that discussed the use of social constructivist theories in the context of undergraduate learning in academic settings were excluded from the review. An analytical framework of quantitative (numerical) and thematic analysis was used to examine and combine study findings. Results Of the 514 articles screened, 35 papers published between 1992 and 2011 were deemed eligible and included in the review. This review indicated that use of social constructivist theory in the KT literature was limited and haphazard. The lack of justification for the use of theory continues to represent a shortcoming of the papers reviewed. Potential applications and relevance of social constructivist theory in KT in general and in the specific studies were not made explicit in most papers. For the acquisition, expression and application of knowledge in practice, there was emphasis on how the social constructivist theory supports clinicians in expressing this knowledge in their professional interactions. Conclusions This

A Critical Review on Metallic Glasses as Structural Materials for Cardiovascular Stent Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Jafary-Zadeh, Mehdi; Praveen Kumar, Gideon; Branicio, Paulo Sergio; Seifi, Mohsen; Lewandowski, John J; Cui, Fangsen

2018-02-27

Functional and mechanical properties of novel biomaterials must be carefully evaluated to guarantee long-term biocompatibility and structural integrity of implantable medical devices. Owing to the combination of metallic bonding and amorphous structure, metallic glasses (MGs) exhibit extraordinary properties superior to conventional crystalline metallic alloys, placing them at the frontier of biomaterials research. MGs have potential to improve corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, strength, and longevity of biomedical implants, and hence are promising materials for cardiovascular stent applications. Nevertheless, while functional properties and biocompatibility of MGs have been widely investigated and validated, a solid understanding of their mechanical performance during different stages in stent applications is still scarce. In this review, we provide a brief, yet comprehensive account on the general aspects of MGs regarding their formation, processing, structure, mechanical, and chemical properties. More specifically, we focus on the additive manufacturing (AM) of MGs, their outstanding high strength and resilience, and their fatigue properties. The interconnection between processing, structure and mechanical behaviour of MGs is highlighted. We further review the main categories of cardiovascular stents, the required mechanical properties of each category, and the conventional materials have been using to address these requirements. Then, we bridge between the mechanical requirements of stents, structural properties of MGs, and the corresponding stent design caveats. In particular, we discuss our recent findings on the feasibility of using MGs in self-expandable stents where our results show that a metallic glass based aortic stent can be crimped without mechanical failure. We further justify the safe deployment of this stent in human descending aorta. It is our intent with this review to inspire biodevice developers toward the realization of MG-based stents.

A Critical Review on Metallic Glasses as Structural Materials for Cardiovascular Stent Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Jafary-Zadeh

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Functional and mechanical properties of novel biomaterials must be carefully evaluated to guarantee long-term biocompatibility and structural integrity of implantable medical devices. Owing to the combination of metallic bonding and amorphous structure, metallic glasses (MGs exhibit extraordinary properties superior to conventional crystalline metallic alloys, placing them at the frontier of biomaterials research. MGs have potential to improve corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, strength, and longevity of biomedical implants, and hence are promising materials for cardiovascular stent applications. Nevertheless, while functional properties and biocompatibility of MGs have been widely investigated and validated, a solid understanding of their mechanical performance during different stages in stent applications is still scarce. In this review, we provide a brief, yet comprehensive account on the general aspects of MGs regarding their formation, processing, structure, mechanical, and chemical properties. More specifically, we focus on the additive manufacturing (AM of MGs, their outstanding high strength and resilience, and their fatigue properties. The interconnection between processing, structure and mechanical behaviour of MGs is highlighted. We further review the main categories of cardiovascular stents, the required mechanical properties of each category, and the conventional materials have been using to address these requirements. Then, we bridge between the mechanical requirements of stents, structural properties of MGs, and the corresponding stent design caveats. In particular, we discuss our recent findings on the feasibility of using MGs in self-expandable stents where our results show that a metallic glass based aortic stent can be crimped without mechanical failure. We further justify the safe deployment of this stent in human descending aorta. It is our intent with this review to inspire biodevice developers toward the realization

A Critical Review on Metallic Glasses as Structural Materials for Cardiovascular Stent Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Jafary-Zadeh, Mehdi; Praveen Kumar, Gideon

2018-01-01

Functional and mechanical properties of novel biomaterials must be carefully evaluated to guarantee long-term biocompatibility and structural integrity of implantable medical devices. Owing to the combination of metallic bonding and amorphous structure, metallic glasses (MGs) exhibit extraordinary properties superior to conventional crystalline metallic alloys, placing them at the frontier of biomaterials research. MGs have potential to improve corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, strength, and longevity of biomedical implants, and hence are promising materials for cardiovascular stent applications. Nevertheless, while functional properties and biocompatibility of MGs have been widely investigated and validated, a solid understanding of their mechanical performance during different stages in stent applications is still scarce. In this review, we provide a brief, yet comprehensive account on the general aspects of MGs regarding their formation, processing, structure, mechanical, and chemical properties. More specifically, we focus on the additive manufacturing (AM) of MGs, their outstanding high strength and resilience, and their fatigue properties. The interconnection between processing, structure and mechanical behaviour of MGs is highlighted. We further review the main categories of cardiovascular stents, the required mechanical properties of each category, and the conventional materials have been using to address these requirements. Then, we bridge between the mechanical requirements of stents, structural properties of MGs, and the corresponding stent design caveats. In particular, we discuss our recent findings on the feasibility of using MGs in self-expandable stents where our results show that a metallic glass based aortic stent can be crimped without mechanical failure. We further justify the safe deployment of this stent in human descending aorta. It is our intent with this review to inspire biodevice developers toward the realization of MG-based stents

RFID Tag as a Sensor - A Review on the Innovative Designs and Applications

OpenAIRE

Meng, Zhaozong; Li, Zhen

2016-01-01

The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has gained interests in both academia and industry since its invention. In addition to the applications in access control and supply chain, RFID is also a cost-efficient solution for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) and pervasive monitoring. The battery free RFID tags are used as independent electromagnetic sensors or energy harvesting and data transmission interface of sensor modules for different measurement purposes. This review paper aims ...

The magnetic resonance and its agro-industry applications; a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aristizabal Torres, Ivan Dario

2007-01-01

The electromagnetic properties that present hydrogen and other nucleus of agro-alimentary products, have allowed widely use of magnetic resonance (MR) to study the composition and internal structure of these biological materials in a micro and macroscopic scale, in a nondestructive way. In this paper the physical principles, basic equipment to measure the MR signals and the MR imaging of any biological sample, are explained. It is also shown a review of the main agro-alimentary applications, emphasizing in the use of this principle to examine the internal quality of fruits and vegetables. In these products, the MR has been used to detect and follow the evolution of different factors that determine the internal quality after harvesting, during storage and after post harvesting processes. The main studies that have been conducted with MR in harvested products are about physiological disorders that take place during storage and conservation of fruits in controlled and modified cold atmospheres. In near future it is hope to have, commercial applications of MR sensors on line, based in a low field magnets or simplified image analyses, that allow the fast and nondestructive internal quality determination of the agro- alimentary products, are expected

Advanced applications of tunable ferrofluids in energy systems and energy harvesters: A critical review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khairul, M.A.; Doroodchi, Elham; Azizian, Reza; Moghtaderi, Behdad

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Current developments in ferrofluids are reviewed. • The effects of unique features of ferrofluids on thermal properties are studied. • Applications of tunable magnetic nanofluids in energy harvesters are discussed. • Future research on ferrofluid based electromagnetic energy harvesters are suggested. - Abstract: Ferrofluids or Magnetic nanofluids (MNFs) are the suspensions of magnetic nanoparticles and non-magnetic base fluid. The heat transfer performance of a magnetic nano-suspension is influenced by the strength and orientation of an applied magnetic field. The main attraction of these types of nanofluids is that they not only enhance the fluids’ thermophysical properties but also possess both magnetic characteristics like the other magnetic materials and flow ability similar to any other fluids. Such an exclusive feature enables to control heat transfer, fluid flow and movement of the nanoparticles by using the external magnetic fields. This review paper summarises the recent investigations of magnetic nanofluids with the aim of identifying the effects of major parameters on the performance of heat transfer. In addition, this study also acknowledged the novel application of ferrofluids in the electromagnetic energy harvesters, and its challenges as well as the potentiality in the future research.

RFID Tag as a Sensor - A Review on the Innovative Designs and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Zhaozong; Li, Zhen

2016-12-01

The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has gained interests in both academia and industry since its invention. In addition to the applications in access control and supply chain, RFID is also a cost-efficient solution for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) and pervasive monitoring. The battery free RFID tags are used as independent electromagnetic sensors or energy harvesting and data transmission interface of sensor modules for different measurement purposes. This review paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the innovative designs and applications of RFID sensor technology with new insights, identify the technical challenges, and outline the future perspectives. With a brief introduction to the fundamentals of RFID measurement, the enabling technologies and recent technical progress are illustrated, followed by an extensive discussion of the novel designs and applications. Then, based on an in-depth analysis, the potential constraints are identified and the envisaged future directions are suggested, including printable/wearable RFID, System-on-Chip (SoC), ultra-low power, etc. The comprehensive discussion of RFID sensor technology will be inspirational and useful for academic and industrial communities in investigating, developing, and applying RFID for various measurement applications.

RFID Tag as a Sensor - A Review on the Innovative Designs and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meng Zhaozong

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID technology has gained interests in both academia and industry since its invention. In addition to the applications in access control and supply chain, RFID is also a cost-efficient solution for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT and pervasive monitoring. The battery free RFID tags are used as independent electromagnetic sensors or energy harvesting and data transmission interface of sensor modules for different measurement purposes. This review paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the innovative designs and applications of RFID sensor technology with new insights, identify the technical challenges, and outline the future perspectives. With a brief introduction to the fundamentals of RFID measurement, the enabling technologies and recent technical progress are illustrated, followed by an extensive discussion of the novel designs and applications. Then, based on an in-depth analysis, the potential constraints are identified and the envisaged future directions are suggested, including printable/wearable RFID, System-on-Chip (SoC, ultra-low power, etc. The comprehensive discussion of RFID sensor technology will be inspirational and useful for academic and industrial communities in investigating, developing, and applying RFID for various measurement applications.

The Immunomodulatory Effect of Acupoint Application for Childhood Asthma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao Cun Yang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To evaluate the evidence on the immunomodulatory effect of acupoint application for childhood asthma. Methods. Five electronic databases through October 2014 were searched. The risk of bias in eligible studies was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration tool. Standardised mean difference (SMD and 95% confidence intervals (CI of random-effects model were calculated. And heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran Q statistic and quantified with the I2 index. Results. Six studies were included in our review. The aggregated results suggested that acupoint application showed the beneficial effect for childhood asthma in improving IgA (SMD, −0.83; 95% CI −1.14 to −0.52; P<0.00001, IgE (SMD, −0.52; 95% CI −0.76 to −0.29; P<0.001, IgG (SMD, −1.17; 95% CI −1.61 to −0.74; P<0.0001, IL-4 (SMD, −0.57; 95% CI −0.91 to −0.23; P=0.0009, and IFN-γ (SMD, −0.38; 95% CI −0.71 to −0.04; P=0.03 but not IgM (SMD, −0.40; 95% CI −0.98 to 0.18; P=0.18. And the effective dose of acupoint application may be 2–6 hours/time and a total of 3 times within 4 weeks. Conclusions. This review showed the positive evidence that acupoint application had the favorable immunomodulatory effect for childhood asthma. However, more studies with long follow-up are warrant to confirm the current findings.

Review of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers and their applications

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Jung, Joontaek; Lee, Wonjun; Kang, Woojin; Shin, Eunjung; Ryu, Jungho; Choi, Hongsoo

2017-11-01

In recent decades, micromachined ultrasonic transducers (MUTs) have been investigated as an alternative to conventional piezocomposite ultrasonic transducers, primarily due to the advantages that microelectromechanical systems provide. Miniaturized ultrasonic systems require ultrasonic transducers integrated with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuits. Hence, piezoelectric MUTs (pMUTs) and capacitive MUTs (cMUTs) have been developed as the most favorable solutions. This paper reviews the basic equations to understand the characteristics of thin-film-based piezoelectric devices and presents recent research on pMUTs, including current approaches and limitations. Methods to improve the coupling coefficient of pMUTs are also investigated, such as device structure, materials, and fabrication techniques. The device structure improvements include multielectrode pMUTs, partially clamped boundary conditions, and 3D pMUTs (curved and domed types), where the latter can provide an electromechanical coupling coefficient of up to 45%. The piezoelectric coefficient (e 31) can be increased by controlling the crystal texture (seed layer of γ-Al2O3), using single-crystal (PMN-PT) materials, or control of residual stresses (using SiO2 layer). Arrays of pMUTs can be implemented for various applications including intravascular ultrasound, fingerprint sensors, rangefinders in air, and wireless power supply systems. pMUTs are expected to be an ideal solution for applications such as mobile biometric security (fingerprint sensors) and rangefinders due to their superior power efficiency and compact size.

New materials graphyne, graphdiyne, graphone, and graphane: review of properties, synthesis, and application in nanotechnology

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Peng, Qing; Dearden, Albert K; Crean, Jared; Han, Liang; Liu, Sheng; Wen, Xiaodong; De, Suvranu

2014-01-01

Plenty of new two-dimensional materials including graphyne, graphdiyne, graphone, and graphane have been proposed and unveiled after the discovery of the “wonder material” graphene. Graphyne and graphdiyne are two-dimensional carbon allotropes of graphene with honeycomb structures. Graphone and graphane are hydrogenated derivatives of graphene. The advanced and unique properties of these new materials make them highly promising for applications in next generation nanoelectronics. Here, we briefly review their properties, including structural, mechanical, physical, and chemical properties, as well as their synthesis and applications in nanotechnology. Graphyne is better than graphene in directional electronic properties and charge carriers. With a band gap and magnetism, graphone and graphane show important applications in nanoelectronics and spintronics. Because these materials are close to graphene and will play important roles in carbon-based electronic devices, they deserve further, careful, and thorough studies for nanotechnology applications. PMID:24808721

Application of tactile/kinesthetic stimulation in preterm infants: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pepino, Vanessa C; Mezzacappa, Maria Aparecida

2015-01-01

To verify the methods used by the clinical trials that assessed the effect of tactile/kinesthetic stimulation on weight gain in preterm infants and highlight the similarities and differences among such studies. This review collected studies from two databases, PEDro and PubMed, in July of 2014, in addition to bibliographies. Two researchers assessed the relevant titles independently, and then chose which studies to read in full and include in this review by consensus. Clinical trials that studied tactile stimulation or massage therapy whether or not associated with kinesthetic stimulation of preterm infants; that assessed weight gain after the intervention; that had a control group and were composed in English, Portuguese, or Spanish were included. A total of 520 titles were found and 108 were selected for manuscript reading. Repeated studies were excluded, resulting in 40 different studies. Of these, 31 met all the inclusion criteria. There were many differences in the application of tactile/kinesthetic stimulation techniques among studies, which hindered the accurate reproduction of the procedure. Also, many studies did not describe the adverse events that occurred during stimulation, the course of action taken when such events occurred, and their effect on the outcome. These studies made a relevant contribution towards indicating tactile/kinesthetic stimulation as a promising tool. Nevertheless, there was no standard for application among them. Future studies should raise the level of methodological rigor and describe the adverse events. This may permit other researchers to be more aware of expected outcomes, and a standard technique could be established. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Biodegradable magnesium alloys for orthopaedic applications: A review on corrosion, biocompatibility and surface modifications.

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Agarwal, Sankalp; Curtin, James; Duffy, Brendan; Jaiswal, Swarna

2016-11-01

Magnesium (Mg) and its alloys have been extensively explored as potential biodegradable implant materials for orthopaedic applications (e.g. Fracture fixation). However, the rapid corrosion of Mg based alloys in physiological conditions has delayed their introduction for therapeutic applications to date. The present review focuses on corrosion, biocompatibility and surface modifications of biodegradable Mg alloys for orthopaedic applications. Initially, the corrosion behaviour of Mg alloys and the effect of alloying elements on corrosion and biocompatibility is discussed. Furthermore, the influence of polymeric deposit coatings, namely sol-gel, synthetic aliphatic polyesters and natural polymers on corrosion and biological performance of Mg and its alloy for orthopaedic applications are presented. It was found that inclusion of alloying elements such as Al, Mn, Ca, Zn and rare earth elements provides improved corrosion resistance to Mg alloys. It has been also observed that sol-gel and synthetic aliphatic polyesters based coatings exhibit improved corrosion resistance as compared to natural polymers, which has higher biocompatibility due to their biomimetic nature. It is concluded that, surface modification is a promising approach to improve the performance of Mg-based biomaterials for orthopaedic applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Review of Cyclotrons for the Production of Radioactive Isotopes for Medical and Industrial Applications

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Schmor, Paul

2011-02-01

Radioactive isotopes are used in a wide range of medical, biological, environmental and industrial applications. Cyclotrons are the primary tool for producing the shorter-lived, proton-rich radioisotopes currently used in a variety of medical applications. Although the primary use of the cyclotron-produced short-lived radioisotopes is in PET/CT (positron emission tomography/computed tomography) and SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) diagnostic medical procedures, cyclotrons are also producing longer-lived isotopes for therapeutic procedures as well as for other industrial and applied science applications. Commercial suppliers of cyclotrons are responding by providing a range of cyclotrons in the energy range of 3-70MeV for the differing needs of the various applications. These cyclotrons generally have multiple beams servicing multiple targets. This review article presents some of the applications of the radioisotopes and provides a comparison of some of the capabilities of the various current cyclotrons. The use of nuclear medicine and the number of cyclotrons supplying the needed isotopes are increasing. It is expected that there will soon be a new generation of small "tabletop" cyclotrons providing patient doses on demand.

Clinical applications of cone beam computed tomography in endodontics: A comprehensive review.

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Cohenca, Nestor; Shemesh, Hagay

2015-09-01

The use of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in endodontics has been extensively reported in the literature. Compared with the traditional spiral computed tomography, limited field of view (FOV) CBCT results in a fraction of the effective absorbed dose of radiation. The purpose of this manuscript is to review the application and advantages associated with advanced endodontic problems and complications, while reducing radiation exposure during complex endodontic procedures. The benefits of the added diagnostic information provided by intraoperative CBCT images in select cases justify the risk associated with the limited level of radiation exposure.

A review of nanoclay applications in the pervious concrete pavement

Science.gov (United States)

Shakrani, Shahrul Azwan; Ayob, Afizah; Rahim, Mohd Asri Ab

2017-09-01

In recent years, the use of nanoclay has received various interests in order to enhance the properties of construction materials which can also be eligible for pavement technology and engineering application. This review paper summarizes the effect of nanoclay as cement replacement and additive to the performance of pervious concrete pavement. The addition of nanoclay to pervious concrete has demonstrated improvements in strength properties such as compressive and flexural strength, durability such as freeze-thaw and chloride penetration resistance, shrinkage, and denser microstructure but at the same time reduced the porosity, permeability and water absorption properties. This enhancement is due to the roles of nanoclay as nanoreinforcements, nanofillers, nucleation site, and reactive pozzolans in order to promote hydration and improve material properties.

Fourier fringe analysis and its application to metrology of extreme physical phenomena: a review [Invited].

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Takeda, Mitsuo

2013-01-01

The paper reviews a technique for fringe analysis referred to as Fourier fringe analysis (FFA) or the Fourier transform method, with a particular focus on its application to metrology of extreme physical phenomena. Examples include the measurement of extremely small magnetic fields with subfluxon sensitivity by electron wave interferometry, subnanometer wavefront evaluation of projection optics for extreme UV lithography, the detection of sub-Ångstrom distortion of a crystal lattice, and the measurement of ultrashort optical pulses in the femotsecond to attosecond range, which show how the advantages of FFA are exploited in these cutting edge applications.

Flammability limits: A review with emphasis on ethanol for aeronautical applications and description of the experimental procedure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coronado, Christian J.R.; Carvalho, João A.; Andrade, José C.; Cortez, Ely V.; Carvalho, Felipe S.; Santos, José C.; Mendiburu, Andrés Z.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Develops a comprehensive literature review on ethanol flammability limits. ► Difference in standard procedures lead to different experimental values of the flammability limits. ► Methodology for experiments to find the FL's of ethanol for aeronautical applications. - Abstract: The lower and upper flammability limits of a fuel are key tools for predicting fire, assessing the possibility of explosion, and designing protection systems. Knowledge about the risks involved with the explosion of both gaseous and vaporized liquid fuel mixtures with air is very important to guarantee safety in industrial, domestic, and aeronautical applications. Currently, most countries use various standard experimental tests, which lead to different experimental values for these limits. A comprehensive literature review of the flammability limits of combustible mixtures is developed here in order to organize the theoretical and practical knowledge of the subject. The main focus of this paper is the review of the flammability data of ethanol–air mixtures available in the literature. In addition, the description of methodology for experiments to find the upper and lower limits of flammability of ethanol for aeronautical applications is discussed. A heated spherical 20 L vessel was used. The mixtures were ignited with electrode rods placed in the center of the vessel, and the spark gap was 6.4 mm. LFL and the UFL were determined for ethanol (hydrated ethanol 96% °INPM) as functions of temperature for atmospheric pressure to compare results with data published in the scientific literature.

Crop residue stabilization and application to agricultural and degraded soils: A review.

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Medina, Jorge; Monreal, Carlos; Barea, José Miguel; Arriagada, César; Borie, Fernando; Cornejo, Pablo

2015-08-01

Agricultural activities produce vast amounts of organic residues including straw, unmarketable or culled fruit and vegetables, post-harvest or post-processing wastes, clippings and residuals from forestry or pruning operations, and animal manure. Improper disposal of these materials may produce undesirable environmental (e.g. odors or insect refuges) and health impacts. On the other hand, agricultural residues are of interest to various industries and sectors of the economy due to their energy content (i.e., for combustion), their potential use as feedstock to produce biofuels and/or fine chemicals, or as a soil amendments for polluted or degraded soils when composted. Our objective is review new biotechnologies that could be used to manage these residues for land application and remediation of contaminated and eroded soils. Bibliographic information is complemented through a comprehensive review of the physico-chemical fundamental mechanisms involved in the transformation and stabilization of organic matter by biotic and abiotic soil components. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A review of breast tomosynthesis. Part II. Image reconstruction, processing and analysis, and advanced applications

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Sechopoulos, Ioannis

2013-01-01

Many important post-acquisition aspects of breast tomosynthesis imaging can impact its clinical performance. Chief among them is the reconstruction algorithm that generates the representation of the three-dimensional breast volume from the acquired projections. But even after reconstruction, additional processes, such as artifact reduction algorithms, computer aided detection and diagnosis, among others, can also impact the performance of breast tomosynthesis in the clinical realm. In this two part paper, a review of breast tomosynthesis research is performed, with an emphasis on its medical physics aspects. In the companion paper, the first part of this review, the research performed relevant to the image acquisition process is examined. This second part will review the research on the post-acquisition aspects, including reconstruction, image processing, and analysis, as well as the advanced applications being investigated for breast tomosynthesis. PMID:23298127

Recent applications of UHF-MRI in the study of human brain function and structure : a review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van der Zwaag, W.; Schäfer, Andreas; Marques, José P; Turner, R.; Trampel, Robert

The increased availability of ultra-high-field (UHF) MRI has led to its application in a wide range of neuroimaging studies, which are showing promise in transforming fundamental approaches to human neuroscience. This review presents recent work on structural and functional brain imaging, at 7 T and

Mobile health applications for the most prevalent conditions by the World Health Organization: review and analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Pérez, Borja; de la Torre-Díez, Isabel; López-Coronado, Miguel

2013-06-14

New possibilities for mHealth have arisen by means of the latest advances in mobile communications and technologies. With more than 1 billion smartphones and 100 million tablets around the world, these devices can be a valuable tool in health care management. Every aid for health care is welcome and necessary as shown by the more than 50 million estimated deaths caused by illnesses or health conditions in 2008. Some of these conditions have additional importance depending on their prevalence. To study the existing applications for mobile devices exclusively dedicated to the eight most prevalent health conditions by the latest update (2004) of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) of the World Health Organization (WHO): iron-deficiency anemia, hearing loss, migraine, low vision, asthma, diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis (OA), and unipolar depressive disorders. Two reviews have been carried out. The first one is a review of mobile applications in published articles retrieved from the following systems: IEEE Xplore, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Knowledge, and PubMed. The second review is carried out by searching the most important commercial app stores: Google play, iTunes, BlackBerry World, Windows Phone Apps+Games, and Nokia's Ovi store. Finally, two applications for each condition, one for each review, were selected for an in-depth analysis. Search queries up to April 2013 located 247 papers and more than 3673 apps related to the most prevalent conditions. The conditions in descending order by the number of applications found in literature are diabetes, asthma, depression, hearing loss, low vision, OA, anemia, and migraine. However when ordered by the number of commercial apps found, the list is diabetes, depression, migraine, asthma, low vision, hearing loss, OA, and anemia. Excluding OA from the former list, the four most prevalent conditions have fewer apps and research than the final four. Several results are extracted from the in-depth analysis: most of the apps

MAGNETIC BACTERIA AND THEIR POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS: A REVIEW ARTICLE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Rajab Eljmeli

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: This outline explores the scientific discovery concerning the magnetotactic bacteria (MTB. The results of the discovery are used in microbiology, mineralogy, limnology, physics, biophysics, chemistry, biochemistry, geology, crystallography, and astrobiology. Magnetosomes of the MTB are organized in linear chains and orient the cell body along geomagnetic field lines while flagella actively propel the cells, resulting in so-called magnetotaxis. Materials and Methods: The review article about the magnetotactic bacteria is a collection of many research papers from different institutes. The emerging important points about this review lie in: (1 any biological system is capable of producing magnetic biomaterials such as magnetite (Fe3O4 and gregite (Fe3S4; (2 the navigation of these nano-crystals in the biological system is interconnected with the Earth’s magnetic field. Results: The researchers involved in the study have shown that the magnetotactic bacteria do respond to a magnetic field. This makes them attractive for biomedical and industrial applications because of the availability of superior electromagnets, superconducting magnets and permanent magnet. Magnetic bacteria can also be used as a diagnostic tool in the detection of imperfections even at the nanoscale. Discussion and Conclusions: Although the importance of this issue is still limitedly used in medical area, more performance is necessary to explore the world of these bacteria that are candidate for new industry and new therapy strategies in biotechnology and medical fields.

A Mini Review: Can Graphene Be a Novel Material for Perovskite Solar Cell Applications?

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Eng Liang; Yap, Chi Chin; Jumali, Mohammad Hafizuddin Hj; Teridi, Mohd Asri Mat; Teh, Chin Hoong

2018-06-01

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have raised research interest in scientific community because their power conversion efficiency is comparable to that of traditional commercial solar cells (i.e., amorphous Si, GaAs, and CdTe). Apart from that, PSCs are lightweight, are flexible, and have low production costs. Recently, graphene has been used as a novel material for PSC applications due to its excellent optical, electrical, and mechanical properties. The hydrophobic nature of graphene surface can provide protection against air moisture from the surrounding medium, which can improve the lifetime of devices. Herein, we review recent developments in the use of graphene for PSC applications as a conductive electrode, carrier transporting material, and stabilizer material. By exploring the application of graphene in PSCs, a new class of strategies can be developed to improve the device performance and stability before it can be commercialized in the photovoltaic market in the near future.

Satellite Remote Sensing for Coastal Management: A Review of Successful Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Matthew J; Colna, Kaitlyn E; El-Mezayen, Mahmoud M; Laureano-Rosario, Abdiel E; Méndez-Lázaro, Pablo; Otis, Daniel B; Toro-Farmer, Gerardo; Vega-Rodriguez, Maria; Muller-Karger, Frank E

2017-08-01

Management of coastal and marine natural resources presents a number of challenges as a growing global population and a changing climate require us to find better strategies to conserve the resources on which our health, economy, and overall well-being depend. To evaluate the status and trends in changing coastal resources over larger areas, managers in government agencies and private stakeholders around the world have increasingly turned to remote sensing technologies. A surge in collaborative and innovative efforts between resource managers, academic researchers, and industry partners is becoming increasingly vital to keep pace with evolving changes of our natural resources. Synoptic capabilities of remote sensing techniques allow assessments that are impossible to do with traditional methods. Sixty years of remote sensing research have paved the way for resource management applications, but uncertainties regarding the use of this technology have hampered its use in management fields. Here we review examples of remote sensing applications in the sectors of coral reefs, wetlands, water quality, public health, and fisheries and aquaculture that have successfully contributed to management and decision-making goals.