Comparison of Traditional and Innovative Techniques to Solve Technical Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Perchonok, Michele

2011-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the use of traditional and innovative techniques to solve technical challenges in food storage technology. The planning for a mission to Mars is underway, and the food storage technology improvements requires that improvements be made. This new technology is required, because current food storage technology is inadequate,refrigerators or freezers are not available for food preservation, and that a shelf life of 5 years is expected. A 10 year effort to improve food packaging technology has not enhanced significantly food packaging capabilities. Two innovation techniques were attempted InnoCentive and Yet2.com and have provided good results, and are still under due diligence for solver verification.

Comparison of a new hydro-surgical technique to traditional methods for the preparation of full-thickness skin grafts from canine cadaveric skin and report of a single clinical case.

Science.gov (United States)

Townsend, F I; Ralphs, S C; Coronado, G; Sweet, D C; Ward, J; Bloch, C P

2012-01-01

To compare the hydro-surgical technique to traditional techniques for removal of subcutaneous tissue in the preparation of full-thickness skin grafts. Ex vivo experimental study and a single clinical case report. Four canine cadavers and a single clinical case. Four sections of skin were harvested from the lateral flank of recently euthanatized dogs. Traditional preparation methods used included both a blade or scissors technique, each of which were compared to the hydro-surgical technique individually. Preparation methods were compared based on length of time for removal of the subcutaneous tissue from the graft, histologic grading, and measurable thickness as compared to an untreated sample. The hydro-surgical technique had the shortest skin graft preparation time as compared to traditional techniques (p = 0.002). There was no significant difference in the histological grading or measurable subcutaneous thickness between skin specimens. The hydro-surgical technique provides a rapid, effective debridement of subcutaneous tissue in the preparation of full-thickness skin grafts. There were not any significant changes in histological grade and subcutaneous tissue remaining among all treatment types. Additionally the hydro-surgical technique was successfully used to prepare a full-thickness meshed free skin graft in the reconstruction of a traumatic medial tarsal wound in a dog.

[Intestinal lengthening techniques: an experimental model in dogs].

Science.gov (United States)

Garibay González, Francisco; Díaz Martínez, Daniel Alberto; Valencia Flores, Alejandro; González Hernández, Miguel Angel

2005-01-01

To compare two intestinal lengthening procedures in an experimental dog model. Intestinal lengthening is one of the methods for gastrointestinal reconstruction used for treatment of short bowel syndrome. The modification to the Bianchi's technique is an alternative. The modified technique decreases the number of anastomoses to a single one, thus reducing the risk of leaks and strictures. To our knowledge there is not any clinical or experimental report that studied both techniques, so we realized the present report. Twelve creole dogs were operated with the Bianchi technique for intestinal lengthening (group A) and other 12 creole dogs from the same race and weight were operated by the modified technique (Group B). Both groups were compared in relation to operating time, difficulties in technique, cost, intestinal lengthening and anastomoses diameter. There were no statistical difference in the anastomoses diameter (A = 9.0 mm vs. B = 8.5 mm, p = 0.3846). Operating time (142 min vs. 63 min) cost and technique difficulties were lower in group B (p anastomoses (of Group B) and intestinal segments had good blood supply and were patent along their full length. Bianchi technique and the modified technique offer two good reliable alternatives for the treatment of short bowel syndrome. The modified technique improved operating time, cost and technical issues.

Traditional Vs. Contemporary Managerial/Cost Accounting Techniques Differences Between Opinions Of Educators And Practitioners

OpenAIRE

M. A. Ekbatani; M. A. Sangeladji

2011-01-01

From the mid 1980s, the start of new movements in the field of managerial/cost accounting, a gap has emerged between the opinions of academia and practitioners regarding the degree of usefulness of managerial/cost accounting techniques. It is believed that practitioners generally prefer managerial/cost accounting techniques which are simple, practical and economically applicable. On the other hand, many authors and academia believe that the traditional managerial/cost accounting techniques ar...

Experimental techniques in nuclear and particle physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tavernier, Stefaan

2010-01-01

The book is based on a course in nuclear and particle physics that the author has taught over many years to physics students, students in nuclear engineering and students in biomedical engineering. It provides the basic understanding that any student or researcher using such instruments and techniques should have about the subject. After an introduction to the structure of matter at the subatomic scale, it covers the experimental aspects of nuclear and particle physics. Ideally complementing a theoretically-oriented textbook on nuclear physics and/or particle physics, it introduces the reader to the different techniques used in nuclear and particle physics to accelerate particles and to measurement techniques (detectors) in nuclear and particle physics. The main subjects treated are: interactions of subatomic particles in matter; particle accelerators; basics of different types of detectors; and nuclear electronics. The book will be of interest to undergraduates, graduates and researchers in both particle and nuclear physics. For the physicists it is a good introduction to all experimental aspects of nuclear and particle physics. Nuclear engineers will appreciate the nuclear measurement techniques, while biomedical engineers can learn about measuring ionising radiation, the use of accelerators for radiotherapy. What's more, worked examples, end-of-chapter exercises, and appendices with key constants, properties and relationships supplement the textual material. (orig.)

CHINESE LACQUER – SHORT OVERVIEW OF TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES AND MATERIAL CHARACTERISATION FOR CONSERVATION PURPOSES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin You LIU

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Chinese lacquer (urushi is an ancient natural finishing material obtained from the sap of the lacquer trees (Rhus vernicifera. This has been used for millennia to protect and decorate furniture and various artefacts made of wood or other materials. Lacquered objects are important components of Chinese and world cultural heritage and their conservation imposes a good knowledge and understanding of the material and traditional techniques. This paper presents basic information on the Chinese lacquer as material and lacquering techniques in their historic evolution during different dynasties. The experimental part looked at the physical properties of raw urushi lacquer, respectively aspect, solids content and miscibility with different solvents. A limited compatibility with white spirit as potential thinner was demonstrated. Furthermore, the microstructure of the cured film and characteristic chemical features of raw urushi lacquer as liquid and cured film were investigated. The cured film of raw urushi presents a characteristic microstructural pattern. FTIR spectroscopy revealed a partial oxidation and polymerization following processing by Kuromisation. The further curing accentuated these changes, visible as a decrease of hydroxyl absorptions bands (3400 and 1360cm-1 occurring in parallel with an increase of carbonyl band (1740cm-1 . A strong decrease of the absorption band at 1270cm-1 , which nearly disappears for the cured film, was also observed

Phase equilibria basic principles, applications, experimental techniques

CERN Document Server

Reisman, Arnold

2013-01-01

Phase Equilibria: Basic Principles, Applications, Experimental Techniques presents an analytical treatment in the study of the theories and principles of phase equilibria. The book is organized to afford a deep and thorough understanding of such subjects as the method of species model systems; condensed phase-vapor phase equilibria and vapor transport reactions; zone refining techniques; and nonstoichiometry. Physicists, physical chemists, engineers, and materials scientists will find the book a good reference material.

Learning from tradition. Construction techniques and repair of historical buildings in the area of Brescia: some examples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Scala

2016-06-01

The essay focuses on the area of Brescia where, in spite of significant transformations over time of buildings and territory, many examples of traditional architecture still exist. The aim of the paper is also to suggest, by presenting some case studies, a strategy for conservation which proposes a dialogue between traditional methods, technological innovations and economic sustainability of interventions. Keywords: Traditional architecture, Brescia, Sustainability, Construction techniques, Protection

Teaching in Cyberspace: Online versus Traditional Instruction Using a Waiting-List Experimental Design

Science.gov (United States)

Poirier, Christopher R.; Feldman, Robert S.

2004-01-01

To test the effectiveness of an online introductory psychology course, we randomly assigned students to a large, traditional course or to an online course from a population of students who indicated that either course type was acceptable using a "waiting list" experimental design. Students in the online course performed better on exams and equally…

[Management of chronic kidney disease guided by the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine: an experimental study].

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Ji; Xie, Xi-Sheng; Zhang, Ming-Hua; Mao, Nan; Zhang, Cheng-Long; Xie, Lin-Shen; Cheng, Yuan; Zhang, Zi-Yuan; Fan, Jun-Ming

2014-01-01

To determine the impact of Traditional Chinese Medicine on patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). A total of 225 CKD patients in an outpatient department were recruited for this study, among whom 170 received regular Western and Chinese medicine treatments (control group) and 55 received treatments guided by the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine (experimental group). The effectiveness of the treatments was determined through a pre-post comparison. Significant pre-intervention differences in age (P control group. No significant differences between the groups were found in changes of uric acid (P = 0.475), urine protein (P = 0.058), urine red cells (P = 0.577), and urine white cells (P = 0.01). A greater level of increase in estimated glomerular filtration rate was found in the experimental group compared with the control (P theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine can improve renal function through influencing glomerular filtration rate. The effect is more prominent than the regular treatment regime.

Characterization of Natural Dyes and Traditional Korean Silk Fabric by Surface Analytical Techniques

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Yeonhee Lee

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS are well established surface techniques that provide both elemental and organic information from several monolayers of a sample surface, while also allowing depth profiling or image mapping to be carried out. The static TOF-SIMS with improved performances has expanded the application of TOF-SIMS to the study of a variety of organic, polymeric and biological materials. In this work, TOF-SIMS, XPS and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR measurements were used to characterize commercial natural dyes and traditional silk fabric dyed with plant extracts dyes avoiding the time-consuming and destructive extraction procedures necessary for the spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods previously used. Silk textiles dyed with plant extracts were then analyzed for chemical and functional group identification of their dye components and mordants. TOF-SIMS spectra for the dyed silk fabric showed element ions from metallic mordants, specific fragment ions and molecular ions from plant-extracted dyes. The results of TOF-SIMS, XPS and FTIR are very useful as a reference database for comparison with data about traditional Korean silk fabric and to provide an understanding of traditional dyeing materials. Therefore, this study shows that surface techniques are useful for micro-destructive analysis of plant-extracted dyes and Korean dyed silk fabric.

Characterization of Natural Dyes and Traditional Korean Silk Fabric by Surface Analytical Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jihye; Kang, Min Hwa; Lee, Kang-Bong; Lee, Yeonhee

2013-01-01

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are well established surface techniques that provide both elemental and organic information from several monolayers of a sample surface, while also allowing depth profiling or image mapping to be carried out. The static TOF-SIMS with improved performances has expanded the application of TOF-SIMS to the study of a variety of organic, polymeric and biological materials. In this work, TOF-SIMS, XPS and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) measurements were used to characterize commercial natural dyes and traditional silk fabric dyed with plant extracts dyes avoiding the time-consuming and destructive extraction procedures necessary for the spectrophotometric and chromatographic methods previously used. Silk textiles dyed with plant extracts were then analyzed for chemical and functional group identification of their dye components and mordants. TOF-SIMS spectra for the dyed silk fabric showed element ions from metallic mordants, specific fragment ions and molecular ions from plant-extracted dyes. The results of TOF-SIMS, XPS and FTIR are very useful as a reference database for comparison with data about traditional Korean silk fabric and to provide an understanding of traditional dyeing materials. Therefore, this study shows that surface techniques are useful for micro-destructive analysis of plant-extracted dyes and Korean dyed silk fabric. PMID:28809257

Oscillation experiments techniques in CEA Minerve experimental reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Antony, M.; Di-Salvo, J.; Pepino, A.; Bosq, J. C.; Bernard, D.; Leconte, P.; Hudelot, J. P.; Lyoussi, A. [CEA CADARACHE, DEN/DER/SPEx, 13108 Saint Paul-lez-Durance (France)

2009-07-01

This paper deals with experiments in the Minerve pool Zero Power Reactor. Minerve is mainly devoted to neutronics studies, in view to improve the calculation routes by reducing the uncertainties of the experimental databases for nuclides arising in plutonium and wastes management. Minerve experimental measurement programs are performed by using the oscillation technique. This experimental technique consists in a periodic insertion and extraction of samples containing the nuclide of interest in a well characterized neutron spectrum. The reactivity variation of the sample is compensated by a calibrated rotary automatic pilot using cadmium sectors. The normal accuracy for measurements of small-worth samples in Minerve by using such a technique is about 3% for absolute reactivity worth, including the uncertainties on the material balance and on the calibration step. Reactivity effects of less than 1.5 cent can be measured. The OSMOSE and the OCEAN programs have been carried out since 2005 and will last until 2011. These programs aim at improving, in different neutron spectra, the absorption cross sections of respectively a majority of the separated heavy nuclides from {sup 232}Th to {sup 245}Cm appearing during the reactor and the fuel cycle physics, and of current and future types of absorbers as Gd, Hf, Er, Dy and Eu. (authors)

Experimental techniques for single cell and single molecule biomechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, C.T.; Zhou, E.H.; Li, A.; Vedula, S.R.K.; Fu, H.X.

2006-01-01

Stresses and strains that act on the human body can arise either from external physical forces or internal physiological environmental conditions. These biophysical interactions can occur not only at the musculoskeletal but also cellular and molecular levels and can determine the health and function of the human body. Here, we seek to investigate the structure-property-function relationship of cells and biomolecules so as to understand their important physiological functions as well as establish possible connections to human diseases. With the recent advancements in cell and molecular biology, biophysics and nanotechnology, several innovative and state-of-the-art experimental techniques and equipment have been developed to probe the structural and mechanical properties of biostructures from the micro- down to picoscale. Some of these experimental techniques include the optical or laser trap method, micropipette aspiration, step-pressure technique, atomic force microscopy and molecular force spectroscopy. In this article, we will review the basic principles and usage of these techniques to conduct single cell and single molecule biomechanics research

Experimental Assessment on the Hysteretic Behavior of a Full-Scale Traditional Chinese Timber Structure Using a Synchronous Loading Technique

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XiWang Shi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In traditional Chinese timber structures, few tie beams were used between columns, and the column base was placed directly on a stone base. In order to study the hysteretic behavior of such structures, a full-scale model was established. The model size was determined according to the requirements of an eighth grade material system specified in the architectural treatise Ying-zao-fa-shi written during the Song Dynasty. In light of the vertical lift and drop of the test model during horizontal reciprocating motions, the horizontal low-cycle reciprocating loading experiments were conducted using a synchronous loading technique. By analyzing the load-displacement hysteresis curves, envelope curves, deformation capacity, energy dissipation, and change in stiffness under different vertical loads, it is found that the timber frame exhibits obvious signs of self-restoring and favorable plastic deformation capacity. As the horizontal displacement increases, the equivalent viscous damping coefficient generally declines first and then increases. At the same time, the stiffness degrades rapidly first and then decreases slowly. Increasing vertical loading will improve the deformation, energy-dissipation capacity, and stiffness of the timber frame.

Herbal Medicines: from Traditional Medicine to Modern Experimental Approaches

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Bahram Rasoulian

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Academic writings indicate that the medicinal use of plants dates back to 4000 - 5000 B.C. (1. Utilization of medicinal herbs has indeed a long history not only in human's life, but also in animals and there are some interesting evidences about the animals' self-medication, in both the prevention and treatment of diseases (2-5. The World Health Organization (WHO has recognized the importance of traditional medicines and created strategies, guidelines and standards for botanical medicines (6, 7. A significant part of those traditional text dealing with medicine, which were appreciated by ancient scientific communities worldwide, such as The Canon of Medicine by Persian physician–philosopher Ibn Sina (or Avicenna, 980 to 1032 AD, is allocated to herbal medicines. The Canon explores nearly 500 medicinal plants and herbal drugs. It should be noted that this book was used as a medical textbook in Europe until the 17th century AD (8, 9. Although there are important evidences about using some kinds of experimental approaches in traditional medicine (8, the efficacy of such approaches is in doubt because it is generally agreed that they might have been part of physicians' personal experiences. Not only the demand for herbal drugs is growing in developing countries, but also there are some evidences that consumers in developed countries are becoming disillusioned with modern healthcare; hence, the demand for traditional alternatives including herbal medicines is increasing in developing countries (10. On the one hand, the increased interest in herbal medicines throughout the world (10, 11, on the other hand, the need for direct empirical evidence about the effectiveness of herbal medicines in the proper statistical society with the appropriate number and method, denote the significance of new studies about medicinal plants and publishing their results. Herbal Medicines Journal (eISSN: 2538-2144 reports valuable research results for researchers all

An automated technique to identify potential inappropriate traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescriptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hsuan-Chia; Iqbal, Usman; Nguyen, Phung Anh; Lin, Shen-Hsien; Huang, Chih-Wei; Jian, Wen-Shan; Li, Yu-Chuan

2016-04-01

Medication errors such as potential inappropriate prescriptions would induce serious adverse drug events to patients. Information technology has the ability to prevent medication errors; however, the pharmacology of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is not as clear as in western medicine. The aim of this study was to apply the appropriateness of prescription (AOP) model to identify potential inappropriate TCM prescriptions. We used the association rule of mining techniques to analyze 14.5 million prescriptions from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The disease and TCM (DTCM) and traditional Chinese medicine-traditional Chinese medicine (TCMM) associations are computed by their co-occurrence, and the associations' strength was measured as Q-values, which often referred to as interestingness or life values. By considering the number of Q-values, the AOP model was applied to identify the inappropriate prescriptions. Afterwards, three traditional Chinese physicians evaluated 1920 prescriptions and validated the detected outcomes from the AOP model. Out of 1920 prescriptions, 97.1% of positive predictive value and 19.5% of negative predictive value were shown by the system as compared with those by experts. The sensitivity analysis indicated that the negative predictive value could improve up to 27.5% when the model's threshold changed to 0.4. We successfully applied the AOP model to automatically identify potential inappropriate TCM prescriptions. This model could be a potential TCM clinical decision support system in order to improve drug safety and quality of care. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Experimental data processing techniques by a personal computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuura, Kiyokata; Tsuda, Kenzo; Abe, Yoshihiko; Kojima, Tsuyoshi; Nishikawa, Akira; Shimura, Hitoshi; Hyodo, Hiromi; Yamagishi, Shigeru.

1989-01-01

A personal computer (16-bit, about 1 MB memory) can be used at a low cost in the experimental data processing. This report surveys the important techniques on A/D and D/A conversion, display, store and transfer of the experimental data. It is also discussed the items to be considered in the software. Practical softwares programed BASIC and Assembler language are given as examples. Here, we present some techniques to get faster process in BASIC language and show that the system composed of BASIC and Assembler is useful in a practical experiment. The system performance such as processing speed and flexibility in setting operation condition will depend strongly on programming language. We have made test for processing speed by some typical programming languages; BASIC(interpreter), C, FORTRAN and Assembler. As for the calculation, FORTRAN has the best performance which is comparable to or better than Assembler even in the personal computer. (author)

Experimental techniques in nuclear and particle physics

CERN Document Server

Tavernier, Stefaan

2009-01-01

The book is based on a course in nuclear and particle physics that the author has taught over many years to physics students, students in nuclear engineering and students in biomedical engineering. It provides the basic understanding that any student or researcher using such instruments and techniques should have about the subject. After an introduction to the structure of matter at the subatomic scale, it covers the experimental aspects of nuclear and particle physics. Ideally complementing a theoretically-oriented textbook on nuclear physics and/or particle physics, it introduces the reader to the different techniques used in nuclear and particle physics to accelerate particles and to measurement techniques (detectors) in nuclear and particle physics. The main subjects treated are: interactions of subatomic particles in matter; particle accelerators; basics of different types of detectors; and nuclear electronics. The book will be of interest to undergraduates, graduates and researchers in both particle and...

Immunoperoxidase technique in experimental chronic chagasic myocarditis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.d. Maria Celina Morales

1987-04-01

Full Text Available Chagas'disease has been described as the commonest form of chronic myocarditis. An immunologic pathogenesis has been discribed for this form of the disease. So far, no immunoperoxidase technique has been used for the detection of immunological deposits in chronic experimental Chagas'myocardiopathy. Forty-one Swiss mice, three months old were inoculated intraperitoneally with doses between 10 and 10(5 Tulahuen trypomastigotes. Mice were reinoculated one month after with doses between 10² and 10(5 and sacrificed at 6 (n=21 and 9 months (n=9 after the first inoculation. ECGs were recorded before sacrifice. Immunoperoxidase technique (peroxidase-antiperoxidase method, immunofluorescence (direct and indirect as well as histological studies were performed in myocardiums and skeletal muscles of the surviving animals. The most sensitive methods for detecting chronic chagasic infection were the routine histologic studies (73% and the ECGs 83% and 89% on 6 and 9 mo. post-infected mice, respectively. Myocardial involvement varied from interstitial mild focal lymphocyte infiltrates up to replacement of myocytes by loose connective tissue. Atrial myocardiums (21/23, 91% were more affected than ventricles (9/23, 39%. Typical chagasic nests were rarely found. Skeletal muscle involvement (11/18 and 7/9 varied from mild to extensive lymphocyte and plasmacell infiltrates, and necrotic fibers. The involved antigen were shown in skeletal muscles by the immunoperoxidase technique as diffusely arranged granular intracytoplasmatic deposit for both IgC and total immunoglobulins. The coincidence between this technique and histologic muscle lesions was 11/18 (61(% in 6 mo. and 6/8 (75% at 9 mo. post-infection. In heart, delicate granular deposits of total immunoglobulins were seen diffusely arranged within the ventricular myocytes; coincidence between immunoperoxidase technique anl histologic involvement increased from 36 to 66% in animals sacrifeced 6 and 9 mo. post

Efficacy of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques versus traditional prosthetic training for improving ambulatory function in transtibial amputees

OpenAIRE

Pallavi Sahay, MPT; Santosh Kr. Prasad, MSc; Shahnawaz Anwer, MPT; P.K. Lenka, PhD; Ratnesh Kumar, MS

2014-01-01

The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the efficacy of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) techniques in comparison to traditional prosthetic training (TPT) in improving ambulatory function in transtibial amputees. Thirty study participants (19 men and 11 women) with unilateral transtibial amputation participated in the study. They were randomly allocated to either the traditional training group (i.e., TPT) (n = 15) or the PNF training group (n = 15). Th...

RNA interference: a promising technique for the improvement of traditional crops.

Science.gov (United States)

Katoch, Rajan; Thakur, Neelam

2013-03-01

RNA interference (RNAi) is a homology-dependent gene-silencing technology that involves double-stranded RNA directed against a target gene. This technique has emerged as powerful tool in understanding the functions of a number of genes in recent years. For the improvement in the nutritional status of the plants and reduction in the level of antinutrients, the conventional breeding methods were not completely successful in achieving the tissue-specific regulation of some genes. RNAi has shown successful results in a number of plant species for nutritional improvement, change in morphology and alteration in metabolite synthesis. This technology has been applied mostly in genetic engineering of important crop plants, and till date there are no reports of its application for the improvement of traditional/underutilized crops. In this study, we discuss current knowledge of RNAi function and concept and strategies for the improvement of traditional crops. Practical application. Although RNAi has been extensively used for the improvement of popular crops, no attention has been given for the use of this technology for the improvement of underutilized crops. This study describes the importance of use of this technology for the improvement of underutilized crops.

Experimental tests on winter cereal: Sod seeding compared to minimum tillage and traditional plowing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antoniotto Guidobono Cavalchini

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Compared to traditional plowing and minimum tillage, the sod seeding technique has been tested in order to evaluate the differences in energy consumption, labor and machinery requirement and CO2 emission reduction. The experiments were conducted on winter cereal seeding in a Po valley farm in October 2011. The tests were carried out as follows: wheat variety seeding, over corn and alfalfa crops, in large plots with three repetitions for each thesis. They included: sod seeding anticipated by round up weeding in the case of the plots over alfalfa; traditional plowing at 35 cm followed by rotary tillage and combined seeding (seeder plus rotary tiller; minimum tillage based on ripping at the same depth (35 cm and combined seeder ( seeder plus rotary tiller. The following farm operations - fertilizer, and other agrochemical distributionshave been the same in all the considered theses. The results, statistically significant (P<0.001 in terms of yields, highlighted slight differences: the best data in the case of the traditional plowing both in the case of wheat crop over corn and alfalfa (84.43 and 6.75 t/ha; slightly lower yields for the sod seeding (6.23 and 79.9 t/ha for corn and alfalfa respectively; lower in the case of minimum tillage (5.87; 79.77 t/ha in the two situations. Huge differences in energy and oil consumption have been recorded: in the case of succession to corn 61.47; 35.31; 4.27 kg oil/ha respectively for, traditional plowing, minimum tillage and sod seeding; in the case of alfalfa 61.2; 50.96; 5.14 kg oil/ha respectively for traditional plowing, minimum tillage and sod seeding. The innovative technique, highlighted huge energy saving with an oil consumption equal to 92% and 89% (P<0.001 of what happens in traditional plowing and minimum tillage. Large differences concern labor and machine productivity. These parameters together with oil consumption and machine size [power (kW and weight (t] lead to even greater differences in

Immunoperoxidase technique in experimental chronic chagasic myocarditis

OpenAIRE

M.d. Maria Celina Morales; M.D. José Milei

1987-01-01

Chagas'disease has been described as the commonest form of chronic myocarditis. An immunologic pathogenesis has been discribed for this form of the disease. So far, no immunoperoxidase technique has been used for the detection of immunological deposits in chronic experimental Chagas'myocardiopathy. Forty-one Swiss mice, three months old were inoculated intraperitoneally with doses between 10 and 10(5) Tulahuen trypomastigotes. Mice were reinoculated one month after with doses between 10² and ...

A TECHNIQUE OF EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF LINEAR IMPULSE ELECTROMECHANICAL CONVERTERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.F. Bolyukh

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Development of a technique of experimental studies linear pulse electromechanical converters parameters, which are used as shock-power devices and electromechanical accelerators, and comparing the experimental results with the calculated indices obtained using the mathematical model. Methodology. Method of experimental investigations of linear electromechanical converter is that the electrical parameters are recorded simultaneously (inductor winding current and mechanical parameters characterizing the power and speed indicators of the joke with actuator. Power indicators are primarily important for shock-power devices, and high velocity - for electromechanical accelerators. Power indices were investigated using piezoelectric sensors, a system of strain sensors, pressure pulsation sensor and high-speed videorecording. Velocity indicators were investigated using a resistive movement sensor which allows to record character of the armature movement with actuating element in each moment. Results. The technique of experimental research, which is the simultaneous recording of electrical and mechanical power and velocity parameters of the linear electromechanical converter pulse, is developed. In the converter as a shock-power device power indicators are recorded using a piezoelectric transducer, strain sensors system, pressure pulsation sensor and high-speed video. The parameters of the inductor winding current pulse, the time lag of mechanical processes in relation to the time of occurrence of the inductor winding current, the average speed of the joke, the magnitude and momentum of electrodynamics forces acting on the plate strikes are experimentally determined. In the converter as an electromechanical accelerator velocity performance recorded using resistive displacement sensors. It is shown that electromechanical converter processes have complex spatial-temporal character. The experimental results are in good agreement with the calculated

Characterization of a Viking Blade Fabricated by Traditional Forging Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Vo, H.; Frazer, D.; Bailey, N.; Traylor, R.; Austin, J.; Pringle, J.; Bickel, J.; Connick, R.; Connick, W.; Hosemann, P.

2016-12-01

A team of students from the University of California, Berkeley, participated in a blade-smithing competition hosted by the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society at the TMS 2015 144th annual meeting and exhibition. Motivated by ancient forging methods, the UC Berkeley team chose to fabricate our blade from historical smithing techniques utilizing naturally-occurring deposits of iron ore. This approach resulted in receiving the "Best Example of a Traditional Blade Process/Ore Smelting Technique" award for our blade named "Berkelium." First, iron-enriched sand was collected from local beaches. Magnetite (Fe3O4) was then extracted from the sand and smelted into individual high- and low-carbon steel ingots. Layers of high- and low-carbon steels were forge-welded together, predominantly by hand, to form a composite material. Optical microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and Vickers hardness mechanical testing were conducted at different stages throughout the blade-making process to evaluate the microstructure and hardness evolution during formation. It was found that the pre-heat-treated blade microstructure was composed of ferrite and pearlite, and contained many nonmetallic inclusions. A final heat treatment was performed, which caused the average hardness of the blade edge to increase by more than a factor of two, indicating a martensitic transformation.

Remote welding and cutting techniques for fusion experimental reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onozuka, M.; Ishide, T.; Oda, Y.; Nagaoka, E.; Ue, K.; Kamei, H.

1995-01-01

Experimental investigation of the YAG laser cutting/welding and plasma gouging techniques has been conducted to examine their suitability for remote maintenance systems in future fusion experimental reactors. Using a hybrid beam coupling system, two laser beams of 500W and 740W powers were successfully combined to provide a 1,240W beam power. The combined laser was transmitted through the optical fiber for cutting and welding. The transmission loss for the beams is in the range of 13% to 14%, which is low. As for plasma gouging, the shallow gouging made a groove measuring 10 mm in width and 4 mm in depth on the stainless steel plates at a traversing speed of 75 cm/min, while the deep gouging made a groove of 12 mm in width and 7.5 mm in depth at a traversing speed of 50 cm/min. In addition, it was found that the shallow gouging did not leave byproducts from the material, providing a clean surface. Based on the findings, it is shown that the YAG laser cutting/welding and plasma gouging techniques can be us3ed for remote welding and cutting in future fusion experimental reactors

Remote welding and cutting techniques for fusion experimental reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Onozuka, M.; Ishide, T.; Oda, Y.; Nagaoka, E.; Ue, K.; Kamei, H. [Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Yokohama (Japan)

1995-12-31

Experimental investigation of the YAG laser cutting/welding and plasma gouging techniques has been conducted to examine their suitability for remote maintenance systems in future fusion experimental reactors. Using a hybrid beam coupling system, two laser beams of 500W and 740W powers were successfully combined to provide a 1,240W beam power. The combined laser was transmitted through the optical fiber for cutting and welding. The transmission loss for the beams is in the range of 13% to 14%, which is low. As for plasma gouging, the shallow gouging made a groove measuring 10 mm in width and 4 mm in depth on the stainless steel plates at a traversing speed of 75 cm/min, while the deep gouging made a groove of 12 mm in width and 7.5 mm in depth at a traversing speed of 50 cm/min. In addition, it was found that the shallow gouging did not leave byproducts from the material, providing a clean surface. Based on the findings, it is shown that the YAG laser cutting/welding and plasma gouging techniques can be us3ed for remote welding and cutting in future fusion experimental reactors.

The development of human factors experimental evaluation techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sim, Bong Shick; Oh, In Suk; Cha, Kyung Ho; Lee, Hyun Chul; Park, Geun Ok; Cheon, Se Woo; Suh, Sang Moon

1997-07-01

New human factors issues, such as evaluation of information navigation, the consideration of operator characteristics, and operator performance assessment, related to the HMI design based on VDUs are being risen. Thus, in order to solve these human factors issues, this project aims to establish the experimental technologies including the techniques for experimental design, experimental measurement, data collection and analysis, and to develop ITF (Integrated Test Facility) suitable for the experiment of HMI design evaluation. For the establish of the experimental data analysis and evaluation methodologies, we developed as the following: (1) a paradigm for human factors experimentation including experimental designs, procedures, and data analysis. (2) the methods for the assessment of operator`s mental workload (3) DAEXESS (data analysis and experiment evaluation supporting system). Also, we have established a experiment execution technologies through the preliminary experiments, such as the suitability evaluation of information display on a LSDP, the evaluation of information display on a LSDP, the evaluation of computerized operation procedure and an experiment of advanced alarm system (ADIOS). Finally, we developed the ITF including human machine simulator, telemetry system, an eye tracking system, an audio/video data measurement system, and three dimensional micro behaviour analysis system. (author). 81 refs., 68 tabs., 73 figs.

Oscillation experiments on Cesar and Marius - Experimental devices and measurement techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brunet, Max; Guerange, Jacques; Morier, Francis; Tonolli, Jacky

1969-02-01

An original method of measurement of effective cross sections of fissile materials has been developed by the CEA: a central fuel element of a critical experimental reactor is replaced by a sample containing the material to be studied. The replacement technique is based on oscillating the fuel load of the central channel. Signals are measured which are proportional to reactivity variation and to neutron density disturbance at the vicinity of the central channel, these variation and disturbance being produced by the sample oscillation. Measurements have been performed on experimental reactors (Minerve in Fontenay-aux-Roses, and Cesar and Marius in Cadarache). The authors herein describe the experimental devices and measurement techniques implemented in Marius and Cesar. In a first part, they describe the experimental devices which have been used during the three measurement campaigns (between 1965 and 1967). They report the study of measurement accuracies, and of some problems related to the use of the local detector [fr

Inverse kinetics technique for reactor shutdown measurement: an experimental assessment. [AGR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lewis, T. A.; McDonald, D.

1975-09-15

It is proposed to use the Inverse Kinetics Technique to measure the subcritical reactivity as a function of time during the testing of the nitrogen injection systems on AGRs. A description is given of an experimental assessment of the technique by investigating known transients created by control rod movements on a small experimental reactor, (2m high, 1m radius). Spatial effects were observed close to the moving rods but otherwise derived reactivities were independent of detector position and agreed well with the existing calibrations. This prompted the suggestion that data from installed reactor instrumentation could be used to calibrate CAGR control rods.

The Validation of an Interactive Videodisc as an Alternative to Traditional Teaching Techniques: Auscultation of the Heart.

Science.gov (United States)

Branck, Charles E.; And Others

1987-01-01

This study of 87 veterinary medical students at Auburn University tests the effectiveness and student acceptance of interactive videodisc as an alternative to animal experimentation and other traditional teaching methods in analyzing canine cardiovascular sounds. Results of the questionnaire used are presented, and benefits of interactive video…

Advanced experimental and numerical techniques for cavitation erosion prediction

CERN Document Server

Chahine, Georges; Franc, Jean-Pierre; Karimi, Ayat

2014-01-01

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the cavitation erosion phenomenon and state-of-the-art research in the field. It is divided into two parts. Part 1 consists of seven chapters, offering a wide range of computational and experimental approaches to cavitation erosion. It includes a general introduction to cavitation and cavitation erosion, a detailed description of facilities and measurement techniques commonly used in cavitation erosion studies, an extensive presentation of various stages of cavitation damage (including incubation and mass loss), and insights into the contribution of computational methods to the analysis of both fluid and material behavior. The proposed approach is based on a detailed description of impact loads generated by collapsing cavitation bubbles and a physical analysis of the material response to these loads. Part 2 is devoted to a selection of nine papers presented at the International Workshop on Advanced Experimental and Numerical Techniques for Cavitation Erosion (Gr...

Transmission of multiple traditions within and between chimpanzee groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Whiten, Andrew; Spiteri, Antoine; Horner, Victoria; Bonnie, Kristin E; Lambeth, Susan P; Schapiro, Steven J; de Waal, Frans B M

2007-06-19

Field reports provide increasing evidence for local behavioral traditions among fish, birds, and mammals. These findings are significant for evolutionary biology because social learning affords faster adaptation than genetic change and has generated new (cultural) forms of evolution. Orangutan and chimpanzee field studies suggest that like humans, these apes are distinctive among animals in each exhibiting over 30 local traditions. However, direct evidence is lacking in apes and, with the exception of vocal dialects, in animals generally for the intergroup transmission that would allow innovations to spread widely and become evolutionarily significant phenomena. Here, we provide robust experimental evidence that alternative foraging techniques seeded in different groups of chimpanzees spread differentially not only within groups but serially across two further groups with substantial fidelity. Combining these results with those from recent social-diffusion studies in two larger groups offers the first experimental evidence that a nonhuman species can sustain unique local cultures, each constituted by multiple traditions. The convergence of these results with those from the wild implies a richness in chimpanzees' capacity for culture, a richness that parsimony suggests was shared with our common ancestor.

Nonlocal Regularized Algebraic Reconstruction Techniques for MRI: An Experimental Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Li

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We attempt to revitalize researchers' interest in algebraic reconstruction techniques (ART by expanding their capabilities and demonstrating their potential in speeding up the process of MRI acquisition. Using a continuous-to-discrete model, we experimentally study the application of ART into MRI reconstruction which unifies previous nonuniform-fast-Fourier-transform- (NUFFT- based and gridding-based approaches. Under the framework of ART, we advocate the use of nonlocal regularization techniques which are leveraged from our previous research on modeling photographic images. It is experimentally shown that nonlocal regularization ART (NR-ART can often outperform their local counterparts in terms of both subjective and objective qualities of reconstructed images. On one real-world k-space data set, we find that nonlocal regularization can achieve satisfactory reconstruction from as few as one-third of samples. We also address an issue related to image reconstruction from real-world k-space data but overlooked in the open literature: the consistency of reconstructed images across different resolutions. A resolution-consistent extension of NR-ART is developed and shown to effectively suppress the artifacts arising from frequency extrapolation. Both source codes and experimental results of this work are made fully reproducible.

A novel experimental technique of nuclear lifetime measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuminov, O.A.; D'Arrigo, A.; Giardina, G.; Taccone, A.; Vannini, G.; Moroni, A.; Ricci, R.A.; Vannucci, L.

1995-01-01

In the present paper a new experimental method to measure nuclear reaction time in the 10 -15 -10 -10 s region is presented. Measurements of the lifetimes of low-lying and long-lived states of 19 F and 20 Ne decaying via α-channel were carried out with the aim of checking the feasibility of the method. The results obtained in this way are compared with the lifetimes known from different techniques. ((orig.))

An experimental technique to measure the capillary waves in electrified microjets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebollo-Muñoz Noelia

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Backlight optical imaging is an experimental technique with an enormous potential in microfluidics to study very varied fluid configurations and phenomena. In this paper, we show the capability of this technique to precisely characterize the capillary waves growing in electrified microjets. For this purpose, images of electrified liquid jets formed by electrospray were acquired and processed using a sub-pixel resolution technique. Our results reflect the validity and usefulness of optical imaging for this type of application.

Sadum: Traditional and Contemporary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ratna Panggabean

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Sadum is one of the traditional cloths of the Batak people in North Sumatra. It is woven on a back strap loom with supplementary weft technique. Sadum is a warp faced weaving made of cotton and beads woven into the cloth. Ritually it is used as a shoulder cloth, gifts exchanges, and in dances. It also bears the symbol of good tidings and blessings for the receiver. The cloth has change during times in technique, color, patterns, as well as in functions. But the use as a ritual cloth stays the same. The basic weaving techniques and equipments used to create it hasn’t change, but its material and added techniques has made this cloth become more rich in color, pattern, and texture. Most changes began when the Europeans came to Indonesia and introduced new material such as synthetic fibers and colors. In the 70s traditional cloth of Indonesia got its boost when the government declared batik as Indonesian national attire. This encourages other traditional weavings to develop into contemporary clothing. Later, new techniques and material were introduced to the Sadum weavings including embroidery, silk and golden threads which were never used before.

Application of metabonomic analytical techniques in the modernization and toxicology research of traditional Chinese medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Lao, Yong-Min; Jiang, Jian-Guo; Yan, Lu

2009-08-01

In the recent years, a wide range of metabonomic analytical techniques are widely used in the modern research of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). At the same time, the international community has attached increasing importance to TCM toxicity problems. Thus, many studies have been implemented to investigate the toxicity mechanisms of TCM. Among these studies, many metabonomic-based methods have been implemented to facilitate TCM toxicity investigation. At present, the most prevailing methods for TCM toxicity research are mainly single analysis techniques using only one analytical means. These techniques include nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), etc.; with these techniques, some favourable outcomes have been gained in the toxic reaction studies of TCM, such as the action target organs assay, the establishment of action pattern, the elucidation of action mechanism and the exploration of action material foundation. However, every analytical technique has its advantages and drawbacks, no existing analytical technique can be versatile. Multi-analysed techniques can partially overcome the shortcomings of single-analysed techniques. Combination of GC-MS and LC-MS metabolic profiling approaches has unravelled the pathological outcomes of aristolochic acid-induced nephrotoxicity, which can not be achieved by single-analysed techniques. It is believed that with the further development of metabonomic analytical techniques, especially multi-analysed techniques, metabonomics will greatly promote TCM toxicity research and be beneficial to the modernization of TCM in terms of extending the application of modern means in the TCM safety assessment, assisting the formulation of TCM safety norms and establishing the international standards indicators.

Experimental verifications of a structural damage identification technique using reduced order finite-element model

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Rui; Zhou, Li; Yang, Jann N.

2010-04-01

An objective of the structural health monitoring system is to identify the state of the structure and to detect the damage when it occurs. Analysis techniques for the damage identification of structures, based on vibration data measured from sensors, have received considerable attention. Recently, a new damage tracking technique, referred to as the adaptive quadratic sum-square error (AQSSE) technique, has been proposed, and simulation studies demonstrated that the AQSSE technique is quite effective in identifying structural damages. In this paper, the adaptive quadratic sumsquare error (AQSSE) along with the reduced-order finite-element method is proposed to identify the damages of complex structures. Experimental tests were conducted to verify the capability of the proposed damage detection approach. A series of experimental tests were performed using a scaled cantilever beam subject to the white noise and sinusoidal excitations. The capability of the proposed reduced-order finite-element based adaptive quadratic sum-square error (AQSSE) method in detecting the structural damage is demonstrated by the experimental results.

Experimental techniques for the consolidation of the neutron spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiaraviglio, N.; Bazzana, S.

2013-01-01

Unfolding techniques are widely known but their use is not widespread due to their complexity. Such procedure consists in the adjustment of calculated quantities to experimental results by the modification of the neutron spectrum, getting correction factors for the calculated quantities. In this work we describe the general procedure that must be executed for a neutron spectrum unfolding. (author) [es

Experimental evaluation of a quasi-modal parameter based rotor foundation identification technique

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Minli; Liu, Jike; Feng, Ningsheng; Hahn, Eric J.

2017-12-01

Correct modelling of the foundation of rotating machinery is an invaluable asset in model-based rotor dynamic study. One attractive approach for such purpose is to identify the relevant modal parameters of an equivalent foundation using the motion measurements of rotor and foundation at the bearing supports. Previous research showed that, a complex quasi-modal parameter based system identification technique could be feasible for this purpose; however, the technique was only validated by identifying simple structures under harmonic excitation. In this paper, such identification technique is further extended and evaluated by identifying the foundation of a numerical rotor-bearing-foundation system and an experimental rotor rig respectively. In the identification of rotor foundation with multiple bearing supports, all application points of excitation forces transmitted through bearings need to be included; however the assumed vibration modes far outside the rotor operating speed cannot or not necessary to be identified. The extended identification technique allows one to identify correctly an equivalent foundation with fewer modes than the assumed number of degrees of freedom, essentially by generalising the technique to be able to handle rectangular complex modal matrices. The extended technique is robust in numerical and experimental validation and is therefore likely to be applicable in the field.

Experimental determination of liquidus of Fe-Zr by spot technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramakrishna, P.; Samanta, B.; Balakrishnan, S.

2016-01-01

Metallic fuel alloy for fast reactor mainly consist of U-Pu-Zr housed in T91 clad. Study of thermophysical properties of fuel element and cladding material is vital for the fuel designer to optimize the design feature and predict the fuel behavior under reactor operating conditions.To understand the fuel-clad interaction the phase diagram study of Fe-Zr system is very important since future reactors use U-Pu-Zr alloy as fuel and stainless steel as clad. The eutectic temperature in Fe-Zr alloy system has been established experimentally by various methods. Information on the liquidus temperatures of Fe-Zr is scanty in the literature excepting a very few experimental measurements. Hence measurement of liquidus temperatures is very essential to establish the phase diagram. Present work concentrates more on the generation of liquidus data of Fe-Zr binary alloy system by Spot-technique. This is one among the advanced techniques for measuring the solid-liquid phase transition temperatures. (author)

Phase behavior of multicomponent membranes: Experimental and computational techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bagatolli, Luis; Kumar, P.B. Sunil

2009-01-01

Recent developments in biology seems to indicate that the Fluid Mosaic model of membrane proposed by Singer and Nicolson, with lipid bilayer functioning only as medium to support protein machinery, may be too simple to be realistic. Many protein functions are now known to depend on the compositio....... This review includes basic foundations on membrane model systems and experimental approaches applied in the membrane research area, stressing on recent advances in the experimental and computational techniques....... membranes. Current increase in interest in the domain formation in multicomponent membranes also stems from the experiments demonstrating liquid ordered-liquid disordered coexistence in mixtures of lipids and cholesterol and the success of several computational models in predicting their behavior...

Experimental techniques for the study of radiation damage in metals and alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novion, C.H. de.

1983-06-01

In this review, one presents the main experimental techniques used to study point defects and defect clusters introduced by irradiation in metals and alloys; emphasis will be put on some recent techniques. In particular, the studies allowing to analyse the very small agglomerates of point defects (Huang and small angle scattering, positron annihilation, electron microscopy) will be compared [fr

Traditional and New methods for the Preparation of Diazocarbonyl Compounds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ANTONIO C.B. BURTOLOSO

2018-04-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT For many years diazocarbonyl compounds have been studied due to their versatility and usability in many chemical transformations. In this review, we summarize the traditional methods to prepare these compounds as well as the new methods and recent improvements in experimental procedures. Moreover, emergence of continuous flow techniques has allowed safer and environmentally friendly procedures for the handling of diazomethane and diazo compounds and will also be a topic in this review.

Experimental log hauling through a traditional caribou wintering area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harold G. Cumming

1998-03-01

Full Text Available A 3-year field experiment (fall 1990-spring 1993 showed that woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou altered their dispersion when logs were hauled through their traditional wintering area. Unlike observations in control years 1 and 3, radio-collared caribou that had returned to the study area before the road was plowed on January 6 of the experimental year 2, moved away 8-60 km after logging activities began. Seasonal migration to Lake Nipigon islands usually peaked in April, but by February 22 of year 2, 4 of the 6 had returned. The islands provide summer refuge from predation, but not when the lake is frozen. Tracks in snow showed that some caribou remained but changed locations. They used areas near the road preferentially in year 1, early year 2, and year 3, but moved away 2-5 km after the road was plowed in year 2. In a nearby undisturbed control area, no such changes occurred. Caribou and moose partitioned habitat on a small scale; tracks showed gray wolf (Canis lupus remote from caribou but close to moose tracks. No predation on caribou was observed within the wintering area; 2 kills were found outside it. Due to the possibility of displacing caribou from winter refugia to places with higher predation risk, log hauling through important caribou winter habitat should be minimized.

Techniques for Improving the Accuracy of 802.11 WLAN-Based Networking Experimentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Portoles-Comeras Marc

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Wireless networking experimentation research has become highly popular due to both the frequent mismatch between theory and practice and the widespread availability of low-cost WLAN cards. However, current WLAN solutions present a series of performance issues, sometimes difficult to predict in advance, that may compromise the validity of the results gathered. This paper surveys recent literature dealing with such issues and draws attention on the negative results of starting experimental research without properly understanding the tools that are going to be used. Furthermore, the paper details how a conscious assessment strategy can prevent placing wrong assumptions on the hardware. Indeed, there are numerous techniques that have been described throughout the literature that can be used to obtain a deeper understanding of the solutions that have been adopted. The paper surveys these techniques and classifies them in order to provide a handful reference for building experimental setups from which accurate measurements may be obtained.

Novel in-situ lamella fabrication technique for in-situ TEM.

Science.gov (United States)

Canavan, Megan; Daly, Dermot; Rummel, Andreas; McCarthy, Eoin K; McAuley, Cathal; Nicolosi, Valeria

2018-03-29

In-situ transmission electron microscopy is rapidly emerging as the premier technique for characterising materials in a dynamic state on the atomic scale. The most important aspect of in-situ studies is specimen preparation. Specimens must be electron transparent and representative of the material in its operational state, amongst others. Here, a novel fabrication technique for the facile preparation of lamellae for in-situ transmission electron microscopy experimentation using focused ion beam milling is developed. This method involves the use of rotating microgrippers during the lift-out procedure, as opposed to the traditional micromanipulator needle and platinum weld. Using rotating grippers, and a unique adhesive substance, lamellae are mounted onto a MEMS device for in-situ TEM annealing experiments. We demonstrate how this technique can be used to avoid platinum deposition as well as minimising damage to the MEMS device during the thinning process. Our technique is both a cost effective and readily implementable alternative to the current generation of preparation methods for in-situ liquid, electrical, mechanical and thermal experimentation within the TEM as well as traditional cross-sectional lamella preparation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of Experimental Setup of Metal Rapid Prototyping Machine using Selective Laser Sintering Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Patil, S. N.; Mulay, A. V.; Ahuja, B. B.

2018-04-01

Unlike in the traditional manufacturing processes, additive manufacturing as rapid prototyping, allows designers to produce parts that were previously considered too complex to make economically. The shift is taking place from plastic prototype to fully functional metallic parts by direct deposition of metallic powders as produced parts can be directly used for desired purpose. This work is directed towards the development of experimental setup of metal rapid prototyping machine using selective laser sintering and studies the various parameters, which plays important role in the metal rapid prototyping using SLS technique. The machine structure in mainly divided into three main categories namely, (1) Z-movement of bed and table, (2) X-Y movement arrangement for LASER movements and (3) feeder mechanism. Z-movement of bed is controlled by using lead screw, bevel gear pair and stepper motor, which will maintain the accuracy of layer thickness. X-Y movements are controlled using timing belt and stepper motors for precise movements of LASER source. Feeder mechanism is then developed to control uniformity of layer thickness metal powder. Simultaneously, the study is carried out for selection of material. Various types of metal powders can be used for metal RP as Single metal powder, mixture of two metals powder, and combination of metal and polymer powder. Conclusion leads to use of mixture of two metals powder to minimize the problems such as, balling effect and porosity. Developed System can be validated by conducting various experiments on manufactured part to check mechanical and metallurgical properties. After studying the results of these experiments, various process parameters as LASER properties (as power, speed etc.), and material properties (as grain size and structure etc.) will be optimized. This work is mainly focused on the design and development of cost effective experimental setup of metal rapid prototyping using SLS technique which will gives the feel of

Experimental and theoretical contributions to X-ray phase-contrast techniques for medical imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diemoz, P.C.

2011-01-01

Several X-ray phase-contrast techniques have recently been developed. Unlike conventional X-ray methods, which measure the absorption properties of the tissues, these techniques derive contrast also from the modulation of the phase produced by the sample. Since the phase shift can be significant even for small details characterized by weak or absent absorption, the achievable image contrast can be greatly increased, notably for the soft biological tissues. These methods are therefore very promising for applications in the medical domain. The aim of this work is to contribute to a deeper understanding of these techniques, in particular propagation-based imaging (PBI), analyzer-based imaging (ABI) and grating interferometry (GIFM), and to study their potential and the best practical implementation for medical imaging applications. An important part of this work is dedicated to the use of mathematical algorithms for the extraction, from the acquired images, of quantitative sample information (the absorption, refraction and scattering sample properties). In particular, five among the most known algorithms based on the geometrical optics approximation have been theoretically analysed and experimentally compared, in planar and tomographic modalities, by using geometrical phantoms and human bone-cartilage and breast samples. A semi-quantitative method for the acquisition and reconstruction of tomographic images in the ABI and GIFM techniques has also been proposed. The validity conditions are analyzed in detail and the method, enabling a considerable simplification of the imaging procedure, has been experimentally checked on phantoms and human samples. Finally, a theoretical and experimental comparison of the PBI, ABI and GIFM techniques is presented. The advantages and drawbacks of each of these techniques are discussed. The results obtained from this analysis can be very useful for determining the most adapted technique for a given application. (author)

ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR EXPERIMENTATION IN AC ELECTROGRAVIMETRY I: TECHNIQUE FUNDAMENTALS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Róbinson Torres

Full Text Available Basic fundamentals of AC electrogravimetry are introduced. Their main requirements and characteristics are detailed to establish the design of an electronic system that allows the appropriate extraction of data needed to determine the electrogravimetric transfer function (EGTF and electrochemical impedance (EI, in an experimental set-up for the AC electrogravimetry technique.

Progress in wind tunnel experimental techniques for wind turbine?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Jingping XIAO; Li CHEN; Qiang WANG; Qiao WANG

2016-01-01

Based on the unsteady aerodynamics experiment (UAE) phase VI and the model experiment in controlled conditions (MEXICO) projects and the related research carried out in China Aerodynamic Research and Development Center (CARDC), the recent progress in the wind tunnel experimental techniques for the wind turbine is sum-marized. Measurement techniques commonly used for di?erent types of wind tunnel ex-periments for wind turbine are reviewed. Important research achievements are discussed, such as the wind tunnel disturbance, the equivalence of the airfoil in?ow condition, the three-dimensional (3D) e?ect, the dynamic in?ow in?uence, the ?ow ?eld structure, and the vortex induction. The corresponding research at CARDC and some ideas on the large wind turbine are also introduced.

Physiotherapists use a small number of behaviour change techniques when promoting physical activity: A systematic review comparing experimental and observational studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Kunstler, Breanne E; Cook, Jill L; Freene, Nicole; Finch, Caroline F; Kemp, Joanne L; O'Halloran, Paul D; Gaida, James E

2018-06-01

Physiotherapists promote physical activity as part of their practice. This study reviewed the behaviour change techniques physiotherapists use when promoting physical activity in experimental and observational studies. Systematic review of experimental and observational studies. Twelve databases were searched using terms related to physiotherapy and physical activity. We included experimental studies evaluating the efficacy of physiotherapist-led physical activity interventions delivered to adults in clinic-based private practice and outpatient settings to individuals with, or at risk of, non-communicable diseases. Observational studies reporting the techniques physiotherapists use when promoting physical activity were also included. The behaviour change techniques used in all studies were identified using the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy. The behaviour change techniques appearing in efficacious and inefficacious experimental interventions were compared using a narrative approach. Twelve studies (nine experimental and three observational) were retained from the initial search yield of 4141. Risk of bias ranged from low to high. Physiotherapists used seven behaviour change techniques in the observational studies, compared to 30 behaviour change techniques in the experimental studies. Social support (unspecified) was the most frequently identified behaviour change technique across both settings. Efficacious experimental interventions used more behaviour change techniques (n=29) and functioned in more ways (n=6) than did inefficacious experimental interventions (behaviour change techniques=10 and functions=1). Physiotherapists use a small number of behaviour change techniques. Less behaviour change techniques were identified in observational studies compared to experimental studies, suggesting physiotherapists use less BCTs clinically than experimentally. Copyright © 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of various structural damage tracking techniques with unknown excitations based on experimental data

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Hongwei; Yang, Jann N.; Zhou, Li

2009-03-01

An early detection of structural damages is critical for the decision making of repair and replacement maintenance in order to guarantee a specified structural reliability. Consequently, the structural damage detection, based on vibration data measured from the structural health monitoring (SHM) system, has received considerable attention recently. The traditional time-domain analysis techniques, such as the least square estimation (LSE) method and the extended Kalman filter (EKF) approach, require that all the external excitations (inputs) be available, which may not be the case for some SHM systems. Recently, these two approaches have been extended to cover the general case where some of the external excitations (inputs) are not measured, referred to as the LSE with unknown inputs (LSE-UI) and the EKF with unknown inputs (EKF-UI). Also, new analysis methods, referred to as the sequential non-linear least-square estimation with unknown inputs and unknown outputs (SNLSE-UI-UO) and the quadratic sum-square error with unknown inputs (QSSE-UI), have been proposed for the damage tracking of structures when some of the acceleration responses are not measured and the external excitations are not available. In this paper, these newly proposed analysis methods will be compared in terms of accuracy, convergence and efficiency, for damage identification of structures based on experimental data obtained through a series of experimental tests using a small-scale 3-story building model with white noise excitation. The capability of the LSE-UI, EKF-UI, SNLSE-UI-UO and QSSE-UI approaches in tracking the structural damages will be demonstrated.

Physically-Based Interactive Flow Visualization Based on Schlieren and Interferometry Experimental Techniques

KAUST Repository

Brownlee, C.; Pegoraro, V.; Shankar, S.; McCormick, Patrick S.; Hansen, C. D.

2011-01-01

Understanding fluid flow is a difficult problem and of increasing importance as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) produces an abundance of simulation data. Experimental flow analysis has employed techniques such as shadowgraph, interferometry

Calculation and experimental technique of determination of rolling procedure for cold-rolling tube mills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Igoshin, V.F.; Aleshin, V.A.; Khoroshikh, Yu.G.; Bogatov, A.A.; Mizhiritskij, O.I.

1983-01-01

Calculation and experimental technique of determination of tube cold rolling procedure has been developed. Rolling procedure based on the usage of regression equation epsilon=1.24 psi, where psi is the relative reduction of area, delta-permissible reduction during rolling, has been tested on 08Kh18N10T steel. The effect of tube geometry, tool calibration parameters, lubrication conditions etc. on metal deformability in taking into account experimentally. The use of the technique proposed has allowed to shorten the time of mastering of the production of tubes from different steels

Comparison of a novel real-time SonixGPS needle-tracking ultrasound technique with traditional ultrasound for vascular access in a phantom gel model.

Science.gov (United States)

Kopac, Daniel S; Chen, Jerry; Tang, Raymond; Sawka, Andrew; Vaghadia, Himat

2013-09-01

Ultrasound-guided percutaneous vascular access for endovascular procedures is well established in surgical practice. Despite this, rates of complications from venous and arterial access procedures remain a significant cause of morbidity. We hypothesized that the use of a new technique of vascular access using an ultrasound with a novel needle-guidance positioning system (GPS) would lead to improved success rates of vascular puncture for both in-plane and out-of-plane techniques compared with traditional ultrasound. A prospective, randomized crossover study of medical students from all years of medical school was conducted using a phantom gel model. Each medical student performed three ultrasound-guided punctures with each of the four modalities (in-plane no GPS, in-plane with GPS, out-of-plane no GPS, out-of-plane with GPS) for a total of 12 attempts. The success or failure was judged by the ability to aspirate a simulated blood solution from the model. The time to successful puncture was also recorded. A poststudy validated NASA Task Load Index workload questionnaire was conducted to assess the student's perceptions of the two different techniques. A total of 30 students completed the study. There was no significant difference seen in the mean times of vascular access for each of the modalities. Higher success rates for vascular access using the GPS for both the in-plane (94% vs 91%) and the out-of-plane (86% vs 70%) views were observed; however, this was not statistically significant. The students perceived the mental demand (median 12.0 vs 14.00; P = .035) and effort to be lower (mean 11.25 vs 14.00; P = .044) as well as the performance to be higher (mean 15.50 vs 14.00; P = .041) for the GPS vs the traditional ultrasound-guided technique. Students also perceived their ability to access vessels increased with the aid of the GPS (7.00 vs 6.50; P = .007). The majority of students expressed a preference for GPS (26/30, 87%) as opposed to the traditional counterpart

Moessbauer effect in lattice dynamics. Experimental techniques and applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Yi-Long; Yang, De-Ping

2007-01-01

This up-to-date review closes an important gap in the existing literature by providing a comprehensive description of the applications of Moessbauer effect in lattice dynamics, along with a collection of applications in metals, alloys, amorphous solids, molecular crystals, thin films, and nanocrystals. It is the first book to systematically compare Moessbauer spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation to conventional Moessbauer spectroscopy, discussing in detail its advantages and capabilities, backed by the latest theoretical developments and experimental examples. Intended as a self-contained volume that may be used as a complete reference or textbook, 'Moessbauer Effect in Lattice Dynamics' adopts new pedagogical approaches with several non-traditional and refreshing theoretical expositions, while all quantitative relations are derived with the necessary details so as to be easily followed by the reader. Two entire chapters are devoted to the study of the dynamics of impurity atoms in solids, while a thorough description of the Mannheim model as a theoretical method is presented and its predictions compared to experimental results. Finally, an in-depth analysis of absorption of Moessbauer radiation is presented, based on recent research by one of the authors, resulting in an exact expression of fractional absorption and a method to determine the optimal thickness of an absorber. Supplemented by elaborate appendices containing constants and parameters. (orig.)

Combining traditional dietary assessment methods with novel metabolomics techniques: present efforts by the Food Biomarker Alliance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brouwer-Brolsma, Elske M; Brennan, Lorraine; Drevon, Christian A

2017-01-01

food metabolomics techniques that allow the quantification of up to thousands of metabolites simultaneously, which may be applied in intervention and observational studies. As biomarkers are often influenced by various other factors than the food under investigation, FoodBAll developed a food intake...... in these metabolomics studies, knowledge about available electronic metabolomics resources is necessary and further developments of these resources are essential. Ultimately, present efforts in this research area aim to advance quality control of traditional dietary assessment methods, advance compliance evaluation...

ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL BUILDING TECHNIQUES AND DAMAGE ASSESSMENT OF TRADITIONAL TURKISH HOUSE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mine Tanac Zeren

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Western part of the Anatolia is one of the most important regions of the World that many civilizations have lived during the history since ancient times. Kula is an important historical town dating back to 17th century and is hosting important timber farmed structures (mansions unique with their space organizations, architectural features and structural system. This study creates an analysis model which is based on a detailed case study, defining structural system and damage causes for the upcoming restoration works within the region, and this methodology can be applied for other traditional regions as well.

Experimental device for obtaining calibration factor for the total count technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonçalves, Eduardo R.; Braz, Delson; Brandão, Luís Eduardo B.

2017-01-01

Nuclear technologies have widely used on industry plants in order to help to solve troubles processes/design or just obtain information of them. The Total Count technique for flow measurement has as main advantages: being an absolute technique, because it is independent of additional devices readings unless the directly used for recording the radioactive cloud, requiring only a single detector to provide the final result; the independence of the internal volume of the transport duct, can be applied in the presence or absence of obstructions; no restriction as to the nature of the product or material to be conveyed; it is a noninvasive technique which allows real-time diagnostics. To use Total Count Technique, knowledge of a geometric calibration factor is required. Called Factor F, it is obtained in the laboratory using an experimental apparatus to faithfully reproduce the geometry of the detection system and the pipeline that being analyzed and using the same radiotracer, therefore, its value is constant for each specific measuring system under survey. This experimental apparatus for obtaining the factor F consisting by a pipe of 2 ″PVC, which simulates a transmission line, where they were deposited 500 ml oil and the use of a specific pipette for use viscous fluids were added sequentially aliquots (50.00 ± 0.01) μl radiotracer (radionuclide photopeak energy of 198 Au 411.8 keV) and analyzing data obtained by three distinct detection systems composed of detectors NaI scintillators 1″ x 1 ″ and a data acquisition system. (author)

Experimental device for obtaining calibration factor for the total count technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonçalves, Eduardo R.; Braz, Delson [Coordenacao de Pos-Graduacao e Pesquisa de Engenharia (PEN/COPPE/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Programa de Engenharia Nuclear; Brandão, Luís Eduardo B. [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Divisao de Reatores

2017-07-01

Nuclear technologies have widely used on industry plants in order to help to solve troubles processes/design or just obtain information of them. The Total Count technique for flow measurement has as main advantages: being an absolute technique, because it is independent of additional devices readings unless the directly used for recording the radioactive cloud, requiring only a single detector to provide the final result; the independence of the internal volume of the transport duct, can be applied in the presence or absence of obstructions; no restriction as to the nature of the product or material to be conveyed; it is a noninvasive technique which allows real-time diagnostics. To use Total Count Technique, knowledge of a geometric calibration factor is required. Called Factor F, it is obtained in the laboratory using an experimental apparatus to faithfully reproduce the geometry of the detection system and the pipeline that being analyzed and using the same radiotracer, therefore, its value is constant for each specific measuring system under survey. This experimental apparatus for obtaining the factor F consisting by a pipe of 2 ″PVC, which simulates a transmission line, where they were deposited 500 ml oil and the use of a specific pipette for use viscous fluids were added sequentially aliquots (50.00 ± 0.01) μl radiotracer (radionuclide photopeak energy of 198 Au 411.8 keV) and analyzing data obtained by three distinct detection systems composed of detectors NaI scintillators 1″ x 1 ″ and a data acquisition system. (author)

Technique of experimental evaluation of cloud environment attacks detection accuracy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey A. Klimachev

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to research of efficiency evaluation of IDS used for dynamic and complex organizational and technical structure computing platform guard. The components of the platform have a set of heterogeneous parameters. Analysis of existing IDS evaluation technique revealed shortcomings in justification of quantitative metrics that describe the efficiency and reliability IDS resolving. This makes if difficult to prove IDS evaluation technique. The purpose of the study is to increase IDS evaluation objectivity. To achive the purpose it is necessary to develop the correct technique, tools, experimental stand. The article proposes the results of development and approbation of the technique of IDS efficiency evaluation and software for it. The technique is based on defining of optimal set of attack detection accuracy scores. The technique and the software allow solving problems of comparative analysis of IDS that have similar functionality. As a result of the research, a number of task have been solved, including the selection of universal quantitative metrics for attack detection accuracy evaluation, the defining of summarised attack detection accuracy evaluation metric based on defining of pareto-optimal set of scores that ensure the confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of cloud environment information and information resources,  the development of a functional model,  a functional scheme and a software for cloud environment IDS research.

[Ideas and methods of two-dimensional zebrafish model combined with chromatographic techniques in high-throughput screening of active anti-osteoporosis components of traditional Chinese medicines].

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Ying-Jie; Jing, Li-Jun; Zhan, Yang; Sun, E; Jia, Xiao-Bin

2014-05-01

To break through the restrictions of the evaluation model and the quantity of compounds by using the two-dimensional zebrafish model combined with chromatographic techniques, and establish a new method for the high-throughput screening of active anti-osteoporosis components. According to the research group-related studies and relevant foreign literatures, on the basis of the fact that the zebrafish osteoporosis model could efficiently evaluate the activity, the zebrafish metabolism model could efficiently enrich metabolites and the chromatographic techniques could efficiently separate and analyze components of traditional Chinese medicines, we proposed that the inherent combination of the three methods is expected to efficiently decode in vivo and in vitro efficacious anti-osteoporosis materials of traditional Chinese medicines. The method makes it simple and efficient in the enrichment, separation and analysis on components of traditional Chinese medicines, particularly micro-components and metabolites and the screening anti-osteoporosis activity, fully reflects that efficacious materials of traditional Chinese medicines contain original components and metabolites, with characteristic of "multi-components, multi-targets and integral effect", which provides new ideas and methods for the early and rapid discovery of active anti-osteoporosis components of traditional Chinese medicines.

Traditional Chinese food technology and cuisine.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jian-rong; Hsieh, Yun-Hwa P

2004-01-01

From ancient wisdom to modern science and technology, Chinese cuisine has been established from a long history of the country and gained a global reputation of its sophistication. Traditional Chinese foods and cuisine that exhibit Chinese culture, art and reality play an essential role in Chinese people's everyday lives. Recently, traditional Chinese foods have drawn a great degree of attention from food scientists and technologists, the food industry, and health promotion institutions worldwide due to the extensive values they offer beyond being merely another ethnic food. These traditional foods comprise a wide variety of products, such as pickled vegetables, salted fish and jellyfish, tofu and tofu derived products, rice and rice snack foods, fermented sauces, fish balls and thousand-year-old eggs. An overview of selected popular traditional Chinese foods and their processing techniques are included in this paper. Further development of the traditional techniques for formulation and production of these foods is expected to produce economic, social and health benefits.

Increasing the bit rate in OCDMA systems using pulse position modulation techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Arbab, Vahid R; Saghari, Poorya; Haghi, Mahta; Ebrahimi, Paniz; Willner, Alan E

2007-09-17

We have experimentally demonstrated two novel pulse position modulation techniques, namely Double Pulse Position Modulation (2-PPM) and Differential Pulse Position Modulation (DPPM) in Time-Wavelength OCDMA systems that will operate at a higher bit rate compared to traditional OOK-OCDMA systems with the same bandwidth. With 2-PPM technique, the number of active users will be more than DPPM while their bit rate is almost the same. Both techniques provide variable quality of service in OCDMA networks.

Experimental comparison of particle interaction measurement techniques using optical traps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koehler, Timothy P.; Grillet, Anne Mary; Brotherton, Christopher M.; Molecke, Ryan A.

2008-01-01

Optical tweezers has become a powerful and common tool for sensitive determination of electrostatic interactions between colloidal particles. Recently, two techniques, 'blinking' tweezers and direct force measurements, have become increasingly prevalent in investigations of inter-particle potentials. The 'blinking' tweezers method acquires physical statistics of particle trajectories to determine drift velocities, diffusion coefficients, and ultimately colloidal forces as a function of the center-center separation of two particles. Direct force measurements monitor the position of a particle relative to the center of an optical trap as the separation distance between two continuously trapped particles is gradually decreased. As the particles near each other, the displacement from the trap center for each particle increases proportional to the inter-particle force. Although commonly employed in the investigation of interactions of colloidal particles, there exists no direct comparison of these experimental methods in the literature. In this study, an experimental apparatus was developed capable of performing both methods and is used to quantify electrostatic potentials between particles in several particle/solvent systems. Comparisons are drawn between the experiments conducted using the two measurement techniques, theory, and existing literature. Forces are quantified on the femto-Newton scale and results agree well with literature values

Experimental Study on Corrosion Detection of Aluminum Alloy Using Lamb Wave Mixing Technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Heeung; Lee, Jaesun; Cho, Younho [Pusan Nat’l Univ., Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2016-11-15

In this study, the Lamb wave mixing technique, which is basised on advanced research on the nonlinear bulk wave mixing technique, is applied for corrosion detection. To demonstrate the validity of the Lamb wave mixing technique, an experiment was performed with normal and corroded specimens. Comparison group in an experimentation are selected to mode and frequency with dominant in-plane displacement and out-of-plane displacement of Lamb waves. The results showed that the Lamb wave mixing technique can monitor corrosion defects, and it has a trend similar to that of the conventional Lamb wave technique. It was confirmed that the dominant displacement and mode matching the theory were generated. Flaw detectability is determined depending on displacement ratio instead of using the measurement method and mode selection.

Experimental techniques for characterising water in wood covering the range from dry to fully water-saturated

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thybring, Emil Engelund; Kymäläinen, Maija; Rautkari, Lauri

2018-01-01

focuses on selected experimental techniques that can give deeper insights into various aspects of water in wood in the entire moisture domain from dry to fully water-saturated. These techniques fall into three broad categories: (1) gravimetric techniques that determine how much water is absorbed, (2...

Simulation and prediction for energy dissipaters and stilling basins design using artificial intelligence technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mostafa Ahmed Moawad Abdeen

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Water with large velocities can cause considerable damage to channels whose beds are composed of natural earth materials. Several stilling basins and energy dissipating devices have been designed in conjunction with spillways and outlet works to avoid damages in canals’ structures. In addition, lots of experimental and traditional mathematical numerical works have been performed to profoundly investigate the accurate design of these stilling basins and energy dissipaters. The current study is aimed toward introducing the artificial intelligence technique as new modeling tool in the prediction of the accurate design of stilling basins. Specifically, artificial neural networks (ANNs are utilized in the current study in conjunction with experimental data to predict the length of the hydraulic jumps occurred in spillways and consequently the stilling basin dimensions can be designed for adequate energy dissipation. The current study showed, in a detailed fashion, the development process of different ANN models to accurately predict the hydraulic jump lengths acquired from different experimental studies. The results obtained from implementing these models showed that ANN technique was very successful in simulating the hydraulic jump characteristics occurred in stilling basins. Therefore, it can be safely utilized in the design of these basins as ANN involves minimum computational and financial efforts and requirements compared with experimental work and traditional numerical techniques such as finite difference or finite elements.

From psychotherapy to e-therapy: the integration of traditional techniques and new communication tools in clinical settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Castelnuovo, Gianluca; Gaggioli, Andrea; Mantovani, Fabrizia; Riva, Giuseppe

2003-08-01

Technology is starting to influence psychological fields. In particular, computer-mediated communication (CMC) is providing new tools that can be fruitfully applied in psychotherapy. These new technologies do not substitute for traditional techniques and approaches but they could be used as integration in the clinical process, enhancing or making easier particular steps of it. This paper focuses on the concept of e-therapy as a new modality of helping people resolve life and relationship issues. It utilizes the power and convenience of the Internet to allow synchronous and asynchronous communication between patient and therapist. It is important to underline that e-therapy is not an alternative treatment, but a resource that can be added to traditional psychotherapy. The paper also discusses how different forms of CMC can be fruitfully applied in psychology and psychotherapy, by evaluating the effectiveness of them in the clinical practice. To enhance the diffusion of e-therapy, further research is needed to evaluate all the pros and cons.

A Comparison of Traditional, Step-Path, and Geostatistical Techniques in the Stability Analysis of a Large Open Pit

Science.gov (United States)

Mayer, J. M.; Stead, D.

2017-04-01

With the increased drive towards deeper and more complex mine designs, geotechnical engineers are often forced to reconsider traditional deterministic design techniques in favour of probabilistic methods. These alternative techniques allow for the direct quantification of uncertainties within a risk and/or decision analysis framework. However, conventional probabilistic practices typically discretize geological materials into discrete, homogeneous domains, with attributes defined by spatially constant random variables, despite the fact that geological media display inherent heterogeneous spatial characteristics. This research directly simulates this phenomenon using a geostatistical approach, known as sequential Gaussian simulation. The method utilizes the variogram which imposes a degree of controlled spatial heterogeneity on the system. Simulations are constrained using data from the Ok Tedi mine site in Papua New Guinea and designed to randomly vary the geological strength index and uniaxial compressive strength using Monte Carlo techniques. Results suggest that conventional probabilistic techniques have a fundamental limitation compared to geostatistical approaches, as they fail to account for the spatial dependencies inherent to geotechnical datasets. This can result in erroneous model predictions, which are overly conservative when compared to the geostatistical results.

Endovascular stentectomy using the snare over stent-retriever (SOS technique: An experimental feasibility study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tareq Meyer

Full Text Available Feasibility of endovascular stentectomy using a snare over stent-retriever (SOS technique was evaluated in a silicon flow model and an in vivo swine model. In vitro, stentectomy of different intracranial stents using the SOS technique was feasible in 22 out of 24 (92% retrieval maneuvers. In vivo, stentectomy was successful in 10 out of 10 procedures (100%. In one case self-limiting vasospasm was observed angiographically as a technique related complication in the animal model. Endovascular stentectomy using the SOS technique is feasible in an experimental setting and may be transferred to a clinical scenario.

Application of Modern Experimental Technique to Solve Morphological Complexity in Plants Taxonomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SURANTO

2000-07-01

Full Text Available Modern taxonomy has two approaches, i.e. classical and experimental taxonomy. Classical taxonomy uses morphological characters, while experimental taxonomy uses broader methods including chemistry, physics and mathematics, in the form of laboratory data that are revealed together with the progress of optical technique (microscope, chemistry methods (chromatography, electrophoresis, etc. Modern taxonomy tends to use series of interrelated data. More data used would result in more validity and give better clarification of taxonomic status. A lot of modern taxonomic data such as palynology, cytotaxonomy (cytology, chemical constituent (chemotaxonomy, isozyme and DNA sequencing were used recently.

Experimental program for development and evaluation of nondestructive assay techniques for plutonium holdup

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brumbach, S.B.

1977-05-01

An outline is presented for an experimental program to develop and evaluate nondestructive assay techniques applicable to holdup measurement in plutonium-containing fuel fabrication facilities. The current state-of-the-art in holdup measurements is reviewed. Various aspects of the fuel fabrication process and the fabrication facility are considered for their potential impact on holdup measurements. The measurement techniques considered are those using gamma-ray counting, neutron counting, and temperature measurement. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique are discussed. Potential difficulties in applying the techniques to holdup measurement are identified. Experiments are proposed to determine the effects of such problems as variation in sample thickness, in sample distribution, and in background radiation. These experiments are also directed toward identification of techniques most appropriate to various applications. Also proposed are experiments to quantify the uncertainties expected for each measurement

MUP, CEC-DES, STRADE. Codes for uncertainty propagation, experimental design and stratified random sampling techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amendola, A.; Astolfi, M.; Lisanti, B.

1983-01-01

The report describes the how-to-use of the codes: MUP (Monte Carlo Uncertainty Propagation) for uncertainty analysis by Monte Carlo simulation, including correlation analysis, extreme value identification and study of selected ranges of the variable space; CEC-DES (Central Composite Design) for building experimental matrices according to the requirements of Central Composite and Factorial Experimental Designs; and, STRADE (Stratified Random Design) for experimental designs based on the Latin Hypercube Sampling Techniques. Application fields, of the codes are probabilistic risk assessment, experimental design, sensitivity analysis and system identification problems

Experimental techniques for subnanosecond resolution of laser-launched plates and impact studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paisley, D.L.; Warnes, R.H.; Stahl, D.B. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States). Dynamic Experimentation Div.

1994-09-01

Miniature laser-launched plates have applications in shock wave physics, studying dynamic properties of materials and can be used to generate experimental data in a manner similar to a laboratory gas gun for one-dimensional impact experiments. Laser-launched plates have the advantage of small size, low kinetic energy, and can be launched with ubiquitous laboratory lasers. Because of the small size and high accelerations (10{sup 7}--10{sup 10} g`s), improved temporal resolution and optical non-contact methods to collect data are required. Traditional mechanical in-situ gauges would significantly impair the data quality and do not have the required time response.

New technique targeting the C5 nerve root proximal to the traditional interscalene sonoanatomical approach is analgesic for outpatient arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Dobie, Katherine H; Shi, Yaping; Shotwell, Matthew S; Sandberg, Warren S

2016-11-01

Regional anesthesia and analgesia for shoulder surgery is most commonly performed via interscalene nerve block. We developed an ultrasound-guided technique that specifically targets the C5 nerve root proximal to the traditional interscalene block and assessed its efficacy for shoulder analgesia. Prospective case series. Vanderbilt Bone and Joint Surgery Center. Patients undergoing shoulder arthroscopy at an ambulatory surgery center. Thirty-five outpatient shoulder arthroscopy patients underwent an analgesic nerve block using a new technique where ultrasound visualization of the C5 nerve root served as the primary target at a level proximal to the traditional interscalene approach. The block was performed with 15mL of 0.5% plain ropivicaine. Post anesthesia care unit pain scores, opioid consumption, hand strength, and duration of block were recorded. Cadaver dissection after injection with methylene blue confirmed that the primary target under ultrasound visualization was the C5 nerve root. Pain scores revealed 97% patients had 0/10 pain at arrival to PACU, with 91% having a pain score of 3/10 or less at discharge from PACU. Medical Research Council (MRC) hand strength mean (SD) score was 4.17 (0.92) on a scale of 1-5. The mean (SD) duration of the block was 13.9 (3.5) hours. A new technique for ultrasound-guided blockade at the level of the C5 nerve root proximal to the level of the traditional interscalene block is efficacious for shoulder post-operative pain control. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experimental technique to measure thoron generation rate of building material samples using RAD7 detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Csige, I.; Szabó, Zs.; Szabó, Cs.

2013-01-01

Thoron ( 220 Rn) is the second most abundant radon isotope in our living environment. In some dwellings it is present in significant amount which calls for its identification and remediation. Indoor thoron originates mainly from building materials. In this work we have developed and tested an experimental technique to measure thoron generation rate in building material samples using RAD7 radon-thoron detector. The mathematical model of the measurement technique provides the thoron concentration response of RAD7 as a function of the sample thickness. For experimental validation of the technique an adobe building material sample was selected for measuring the thoron concentration at nineteen different sample thicknesses. Fitting the parameters of the model to the measurement results, both the generation rate and the diffusion length of thoron was estimated. We have also determined the optimal sample thickness for estimating the thoron generation rate from a single measurement. -- Highlights: • RAD7 is used for the determination of thoron generation rate (emanation). • The described model takes into account the thoron decay and attenuation. • The model describes well the experimental results. • A single point measurement method is offered at a determined sample thickness

Novel Experimental Techniques to Investigate Wellbore Damage Mechanisms

Science.gov (United States)

Choens, R. C., II; Ingraham, M. D.; Lee, M.; Dewers, T. A.

2017-12-01

A new experimental technique with unique geometry is presented investigating deformation of simulated boreholes using standard axisymmetric triaxial deformation equipment. The Sandia WEllbore SImulation, SWESI, geometry, uses right cylinders of rock 50mm in diameter and 75mm in length. A 11.3mm hole is drilled perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder in the center of the sample to simulate a borehole. The hole is covered with a solid metal cover, and sealed with polyurethane. The metal cover can be machined with a high-pressure port to introduce different fluid chemistries into the borehole at controlled pressures. Samples are deformed in a standard load frame under confinement, allowing for a broad range of possible stresses, load paths, and temperatures. Experiments in this study are loaded to the desired confining pressure, then deformed at a constant axial strain rate or 10-5 sec-1. Two different suites of experiments are conducted in this study on sedimentary and crystalline rock types. The first series of experiments are conducted on Mancos Shale, a finely laminated transversely isotropic rock. Samples are cored at three different orientations to the laminations. A second series of experiments is conducted on Sierra White granite with different fluid chemistries inside the borehole. Numerical modelling and experimental observations including CT-microtomography demonstrate that stresses are concentrated around the simulated wellbore and recreate wellbore deformation mechanisms. Borehole strength and damage development is dependent on anisotropy orientation and fluid chemistry. Observed failure geometries, particularly for Mancos shale, can be highly asymmetric. These results demonstrate uncertainties in in situ stresses measurements using commonly-applied borehole breakout techniques in complicated borehole physico-chemical environments. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering

Instrumentation, computer software and experimental techniques used in low-frequency internal friction studies at WNRE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sprugmann, K.W.; Ritchie, I.G.

1980-04-01

A detailed and comprehensive account of the equipment, computer programs and experimental methods developed at the Whiteshell Nuclear Research Estalbishment for the study of low-frequency internal friction is presented. Part 1 describes the mechanical apparatus, electronic instrumentation and computer software, while Part II describes in detail the laboratory techniques and various types of experiments performed together with data reduction and analysis. Experimental procedures for the study of internal friction as a function of temperature, strain amplitude or time are described. Computer control of these experiments using the free-decay technique is outlined. In addition, a pendulum constant-amplitude drive system is described. (auth)

Prepubertal gonadectomy in cats: different surgical techniques and comparison with gonadectomy at traditional age.

Science.gov (United States)

Porters, N; Polis, I; Moons, C; Duchateau, L; Goethals, K; Huyghe, S; de Rooster, H

2014-09-06

Feasibility, surgical time and complications of different surgical techniques for prepubertal gonadectomy (PPG; 8-12 weeks of age) in cats were studied and compared to gonadectomy at traditional age (TAG; 6-8 months of age). Kittens were randomly assigned to PPG or TAG. Ovarian pedicle haemostasis for PPG was achieved by ligatures (n=47), vascular clips (n=50), bipolar electrocoagulation (n=50), or pedicle tie (n=50); for TAG (n=34) ligatures were used. In male cats, PPG consisted of closed castration by spermatic cord knot (n=92) or ligature (n=91) while TAG (n=34) was an open castration by spermatic cord knot. A linear (surgical time) and a logistic regression (complications) model were designed. Significance was set at 0.05. For female PPG, clips and coagulation were the fastest procedures; placement of ligatures was most time-consuming. In male PPG, knot placement was significantly faster than ligation. In both sexes, very few intraoperative or wound complications were observed, irrespective of the surgical technique used. Surgical times in females (ligatures) as well as in males (knot) were significantly shorter for PPG than for TAG. PPG was as safe as TAG, yet took less time to perform and did not result in a greater rate of postoperative complications. British Veterinary Association.

Research on the Application of Traditional Embroidery Technology in Modern Jewelry Creation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min Li

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Tradition and modernity are the eternal topics of art, especially in the age of information.Efficient mechanical production methods to improve the traditional jewelry production process, which achieved the demand for mass production of jewelry.However, with the development of society and the progress of science and technology,  many traditional arts and crafts are lost.From the traditional culture, this paper analyzes the work of embroidery jewelry by studying the traditional Chinese embroidery culture and technique, summarizes the traditional embroidery technology and modern jewelry design techniques combined approach to guide the creative practice.On the basis of studying the theoretical method of combining traditional embroidery technology with modern jewelry, this paper focuses on the application of traditional embroidery techniques in jewelry creation, inspire the potential of traditional craft, to provide reference for modern jewelry design rich Chinese characteristics and attract the attention of  Chinese jewelry industry and inherit the traditional arts.

Experimental Analysis of Temperature Differences During Implant Site Preparation: Continuous Drilling Technique Versus Intermittent Drilling Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Fiore, Adolfo; Sivolella, Stefano; Stocco, Elena; Favero, Vittorio; Stellini, Edoardo

2018-02-01

Implant site preparation through drilling procedures may cause bone thermonecrosis. The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate, using a thermal probe, overheating at implant sites during osteotomies through 2 different drilling methods (continuous drilling technique versus intermittent drilling technique) using irrigation at different temperatures. Five implant sites 13 mm in length were performed on 16 blocks (fresh bovine ribs), for a total of 80 implant sites. The PT-100 thermal probe was positioned 5 mm from each site. Two physiological refrigerant solutions were used: one at 23.7°C and one at 6.0°C. Four experimental groups were considered: group A (continuous drilling with physiological solution at 23.7°C), group B (intermittent drilling with physiological solution at 23.7°C), group C (continuous drilling with physiological solution at 6.0°C), and group D (intermittent drilling with physiological solution at 6.0°C). The Wilcoxon rank-sum test (2-tailed) was used to compare groups. While there was no difference between group A and group B (W = 86; P = .45), statistically significant differences were observed between experimental groups A and C (W = 0; P =.0001), B and D (W = 45; P =.0005), and C and D (W = 41; P = .003). Implant site preparation did not affect the overheating of the bone. Statistically significant differences were found with the refrigerant solutions. Using both irrigating solutions, bone temperature did not exceed 47°C.

Effects of traditional Japanese massage therapy on gene expression: preliminary study.

Science.gov (United States)

Donoyama, Nozomi; Ohkoshi, Norio

2011-06-01

Changes in gene expression after traditional Japanese massage therapy were investigated to clarify the mechanisms of the clinical effects of traditional Japanese massage therapy. This was a pilot experimental study. The study was conducted in a laboratory at Tsukuba University of Technology. The subjects were 2 healthy female volunteers (58-year-old Participant A, 55-year-old Participant B). The intervention consisted of a 40-minute full-body massage using standard traditional Japanese massage techniques through the clothing and a 40-minute rest as a control, in which participants lie on the massage table without being massaged. Before and after an intervention, blood was taken and analyzed by microarray: (1) The number of genes whose expression was more than double after the intervention than before was examined; (2) For those genes, gene ontology analysis identified statistically significant gene ontology terms. The gene expression count in the total of 41,000 genes was 1256 genes for Participant A and 1778 for Participant B after traditional Japanese massage, and was 157 and 82 after the control, respectively. The significant gene ontology terms selected by both Participants A and B after massage were "immune response" and "immune system," whereas no gene ontology terms were selected by them in the control. It is implied that traditional Japanese massage therapy may affect the immune function. Further studies with more samples are necessary.

Fungal disease detection in plants: Traditional assays, novel diagnostic techniques and biosensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Monalisa; Ray, Asit; Dash, Swagatika; Mishra, Abtar; Achary, K Gopinath; Nayak, Sanghamitra; Singh, Shikha

2017-01-15

Fungal diseases in commercially important plants results in a significant reduction in both quality and yield, often leading to the loss of an entire plant. In order to minimize the losses, it is essential to detect and identify the pathogens at an early stage. Early detection and accurate identification of pathogens can control the spread of infection. The present article provides a comprehensive overview of conventional methods, current trends and advances in fungal pathogen detection with an emphasis on biosensors. Traditional techniques are the "gold standard" in fungal detection which relies on symptoms, culture-based, morphological observation and biochemical identifications. In recent times, with the advancement of biotechnology, molecular and immunological approaches have revolutionized fungal disease detection. But the drawback lies in the fact that these methods require specific and expensive equipments. Thus, there is an urgent need for rapid, reliable, sensitive, cost effective and easy to use diagnostic methods for fungal pathogen detection. Biosensors would become a promising and attractive alternative, but they still have to be subjected to some modifications, improvements and proper validation for on-field use. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Comparison of Collaborative and Traditional Instruction in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Gubera, Chip; Aruguete, Mara S.

2013-01-01

Although collaborative instructional techniques have become popular in college courses, it is unclear whether collaborative techniques can replace more traditional instructional methods. We examined the efficacy of collaborative courses (in-class, collaborative activities with no lectures) compared to traditional lecture courses (in-class,…

Segmental Refinement: A Multigrid Technique for Data Locality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adams, Mark [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics Dept.; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2014-10-27

We investigate a technique - segmental refinement (SR) - proposed by Brandt in the 1970s as a low memory multigrid method. The technique is attractive for modern computer architectures because it provides high data locality, minimizes network communication, is amenable to loop fusion, and is naturally highly parallel and asynchronous. The network communication minimization property was recognized by Brandt and Diskin in 1994; we continue this work by developing a segmental refinement method for a finite volume discretization of the 3D Laplacian on massively parallel computers. An understanding of the asymptotic complexities, required to maintain textbook multigrid efficiency, are explored experimentally with a simple SR method. A two-level memory model is developed to compare the asymptotic communication complexity of a proposed SR method with traditional parallel multigrid. Performance and scalability are evaluated with a Cray XC30 with up to 64K cores. We achieve modest improvement in scalability from traditional parallel multigrid with a simple SR implementation.

ESR dating: is it still an 'experimental' technique?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skinner, A.R.

2000-01-01

Nearly 25 years ago, Motoji Ikeya demonstrated the potential of ESR dating. From a single substance (stalagmitic carbonate) and a single site (Akiyoshi Cavern), the field has grown to include materials from all over the world and time periods from a few thousand years ago to several million years ago. A vigorous program of instrumentation development has increased the precision of measurements as well as opening up new ways of collecting and interpreting spectra. Yet there are still references to ESR dating as an 'experimental' technique, one which cannot be trusted to produce dates that are accurate or precise. This paper discusses areas for which this is true and suggests what should be done to convince skeptics. Other areas for which the evidence suggests that ESR is at least as reliable as 'standard' methods will also be covered

Traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine: Focusing on research into traditional Tibetan medicine in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Peipei; Xia, Jufeng; Rezeng, Caidan; Tong, Li; Tang, Wei

2016-07-19

As a form of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine (TCAM), traditional Tibetan medicine has developed into a mainstay of medical care in Tibet and has spread from there to China and then to the rest of the world. Thus far, research on traditional Tibetan medicine has focused on the study of the plant and animal sources of traditional medicines, study of the histology of those plants and animals, chemical analysis of traditional medicines, pharmacological study of those medicines, and evaluation of the clinical efficacy of those medicines. A number of papers on traditional Tibetan medicines have been published, providing some evidence of the efficacy of traditional Tibetan medicine. However, many traditional Tibetan medicines have unknown active ingredients, hampering the establishment of drug quality standards, the development of new medicines, commercial production of medicines, and market availability of those medicines. Traditional Tibetan medicine must take several steps to modernize and spread to the rest of the world: the pharmacodynamics of traditional Tibetan medicines need to be determined, the clinical efficacy of those medicines needs to be verified, criteria to evaluate the efficacy of those medicines need to be established in order to guide their clinical use, and efficacious medicines need to be acknowledged by the pharmaceutical market. The components of traditional Tibetan medicine should be studied, traditional Tibetan medicines should be screened for their active ingredients, and techniques should be devised to prepare and manufacture those medicines.

Characterization of clays used in the fabrication of traditional brazilian ceramic pans: culture and technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borlini, Monica Castoldi; Aguiar, Mariane Costalonga de; Vieira, Carlos Mauricio Fontes; Monteiro, Sergio Neves

2009-01-01

The fabrication process of clay pans in the state of Espirito Santo, southeast of Brazil, is a recognized part of the country's popular culture. In Goiabeiras, a district of the state capital Vitoria, the traditional production of these pans is the source of income for many families. The technique used in these ceramic pans is of indigenous origin, characterized by manual molding, outdoor burning and application of tannin dye. The clay pans are distributed to several Brazilian states and are nowadays conquering the external market. In producing these pans, two types of, yellow and gray, clays are used. The actual source of raw material comes from the deposit of the Mulemba valley, where a concern on the possibility of exhaustion exists. The objective of this study was then to characterize these two types of clays and so contribute to the continuity of traditional clay pan production by knowing the characteristics of the local clays in case of an eventual need for their replacement. Chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, particle size distribution, plasticity and thermal analysis of the clays were performed. The results showed that the clays are high plasticity kaolinite with considerable amounts of SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 as well as of alkaline oxides, earth alkaline oxides and Fe 2 O 3 . (author)

Research technique and experimental device for thermal conductivity measurements of refractory compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vishnevetskaya, I.A.; Petrov, V.A.

1977-01-01

Proposed is a new axial technique for determining thermal conductivity coefficient of solids at temperatures above 1000 deg C with the use of internal heating of specimens by passing electric current and with experimental determining the thermal flows on the lateral side of the working section of the specimen. This method is usable for investigating the thermal conductivity of materials whose surface radiation characteristics are unknown or unstable and for carrying out experiments not only in vacuum, but also in various atmospheres. The overall fiducial error of the results of the method is evaluated at 4-5 % within the range of temperatures between 1200 and 2300 K. A description of the experimental installation is given

Experimental study of biotin-avidin pretargeting technique for anti-CEA McAb radioimmunoimaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Jianzhong; Zhu Chengmo; Guan Liang; Li Biao; Zhang Jixian; Shi Ailan; Zhang Suyin

1996-01-01

Biotin-avidin pretargeting technique was used in promoting the diagnostic efficacy of anti-CEA McAb radioimmunoimaging. CEA McAb was conjugated with biotin McAb (B-McAb), streptavidin (SA) was labeled with 131 I ( 131 I-SA) and DTPA-biotin with 111 In( 111 In-DTPA-B). Experimental human colonic tumor bearing nude mice were used. Two step method: B-McAb was preinjected, followed by 131 I SA 48h later, 24, 48, 96 and 120 h postinjection, γ-imaging and biodistribution were studied. Three step method: B-McAb was preinjected, followed by cold SA 24h later and 111 In-DTPA-B another 24h later. 2,6,24 and 48h postinjection, γ-imaging and biodistribution were also studied. Two step method: T/NT of all organs in experimental group was significantly increased compared with controls. The blood T/NT in experimental group and control group at 24 and 120h was 1.11:0.42 and 8.58:3.51, respectively. Tumor % ID/g in all organs slightly decreased compared with direct group. In γ-imaging radioactivity has been accumulated in tumor site as early as 24h, while only slightly visualized or non-visualized in controls. Three step method: in experimental group the blood T/NT reached 4.19 at 2 h, whereas all was < 1.37 at each phase of controls, the T/NT of all organs was also higher in experimental grouped than in controls. The tumor % ID/g in experimental group was 9.72% at 2h and 3.65% at 48h whereas % ID/g in controls in all phases was <3.07. The tumor clearly visualized at 2h and clearer at 48h in γ-imaging. In controls, the tumor was slightly visualized also to early stage, but faded away later on. Biotin-avidin pretargeting technique can elevate the T/NT ratio and decrease the blood background. Early imaging was obtained with better imaging quality

Thermal properties of adobe employed in Peruvian rural areas: Experimental results and numerical simulation of a traditional bio-composite material

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ginés A. Abanto

2017-06-01

Different adobes have been studied. Effective thermal conductivity and heat capacity were measured by means of a hot parallel-plate method. Density was estimated using a pycnometer and measuring physical dimensions and mass of each sample, which allowed the calculation of thermal effusivity and diffusivity. Some numerical simulation results displayed good agreement with experimental outcomes. The work presented here has implications for future studies of this traditional building material and might potentially help solving the problem of sustainable housing.

Integration of computational modeling and experimental techniques to design fuel surrogates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Choudhury, H.A.; Intikhab, S.; Kalakul, Sawitree

2017-01-01

performance. A simplified alternative is to develop surrogate fuels that have fewer compounds and emulate certain important desired physical properties of the target fuels. Six gasoline blends were formulated through a computer aided model based technique “Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming” (MINLP...... Virtual Process-Product Design Laboratory (VPPD-Lab) are applied onto the defined compositions of the surrogate gasoline. The aim is to primarily verify the defined composition of gasoline by means of VPPD-Lab. ρ, η and RVP are calculated with more accuracy and constraints such as distillation curve...... and flash point on the blend design are also considered. A post-design experiment-based verification step is proposed to further improve and fine-tune the “best” selected gasoline blends following the computation work. Here, advanced experimental techniques are used to measure the RVP, ρ, η, RON...

New experimental and analysis methods in I-DLTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pandey, S.U.; Middelkamp, P.; Li, Z.; Eremin, V.

1998-02-01

A new experimental apparatus to perform I-DLTS measurements is presented. The method is shown to be faster and more sensitive than traditional double boxcar I-DLTS systems. A novel analysis technique utilizing multiple exponential fits to the I-DLTS signal from a highly neutron irradiated silicon sample is presented with a discussion of the results. It is shown that the new method has better resolution and can deconvolute overlapping peaks more accurately than previous methods

Experimental Study on Indoor Air Cleaning Technique of Nano-Titania Catalysis Under Plasma Discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Deli; Yang Xuechang; Zhou Fei; Wu Yuhuang

2008-01-01

In this study, a new technique of air cleaning by plasma combined with catalyst was proposed, which consisted of electrostatic precipitation, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) decomposition and sterilization. A novel indoor air purifier based on this technique was adopted. The experimental results showed that formaldehyde decomposition by the plasma-catalyst hybrid system was more efficient than that by plasma only. Positive discharge was better than negative discharge in formaldehyde removal. Meanwhile, the outlet concentration of ozone byproduct was effectively reduced by the nano-titania catalyst.

Progress in nuclear measuring and experimental techniques by application of microelectronics. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meiling, W.

1984-01-01

In the past decade considerable progress has been made in nuclear measuring and experimental techniques by developing position-sensitive detector systems and widely using integrated circuits and microcomputers for data acquisition and processing as well as for automation of measuring processes. In this report which will be published in three parts those developments are reviewed and demonstrated on selected examples. After briefly characterizing microelectronics, the use of microelectronic elements for radiation detectors is reviewed. (author)

Modernism and tradition and the traditions of modernism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kros Džonatan

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Conventionally, the story of musical modernism has been told in terms of a catastrophic break with the (tonal past and the search for entirely new techniques and modes of expression suitable to a new age. The resulting notion of a single, linear, modernist mainstream (predicated on the basis of a Schoenbergian model of musical progress has served to conceal a more subtle relationship between past and present. Increasingly, it is being recognized that there exist many modernisms and their various identities are forged from a continual renegotiation between past and present, between tradition(s and the avant-garde. This is especially relevant when attempting to discuss the reception of modernism outside central Europe, where the adoption of (Germanic avant-garde attitudes was often interpreted as being "unpatriotic". The case of Great Britain is examined in detail: Harrison Birtwistle’s opera The Mask of Orpheus (1973–83 forms the focus for a wider discussion of modernism within the context of late/post-modern thought.

Experimental study of natural two-phase flow circulation using a visualization technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vinhas, Pedro A.M.; Su, Jian

2013-01-01

This paper presents an experimental study of natural two-phase flow in a circuit that simulates, on a smaller scale, a typical residual heat removal system of passive reactors APWR (Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor). The circuit was formed by a heater, a heat exchanger and piping. The experimental study was the application of a visualization technique, using a high speed camera, for measuring the size and speed of vapor bubbles generated in the heater with different power heating. The camera was positioned in the central region of the pipe connecting the heater to the heat exchanger, where there is a clear passage. The flow of images were processed and analyzed using commercial software that allowed the determination of the length and velocity of the bubbles. The results were then compared with correlations available in literature

An experimental system for coiled tubing partial underbalanced drilling (CT-PUBD) technique

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, H. Z.; Ji, Z. S.; Zhao, H. Q.; Chen, Z. L.; Zhang, H. Z.

2018-05-01

To improve the rate of penetration (ROP) in hard formations, a new high-speed drilling technique called Coiled Tubing Partial Underbalanced Drilling (CT-PUBD) is proposed. This method uses a rotary packer to realize an underbalanced condition near the bit by creating a micro-annulus and an overbalanced condition at the main part of the annulus. A new full-scale laboratory experimental system is designed and set up to study the hydraulic characteristics and drilling performance of this method. The system is composed of a drilling system, circulation system, and monitor system, including three key devices, namely, cuttings discharge device, rotary packer, and backflow device. The experimental results showed that the pressure loss increased linearly with the flow rate of the drilling fluid. The high drilling speed of CT-PUBD proved it a better drilling method than the conventional drilling. The experimental system may provide a fundamental basis for the research of CT-PUBD, and the results proved that this new method is feasible in enhancing ROP and guaranteeing the drilling safety.

Surface science techniques

CERN Document Server

Bracco, Gianangelo

2013-01-01

The book describes the experimental techniques employed to study surfaces and interfaces. The emphasis is on the experimental method. Therefore all chapters start with an introduction of the scientific problem, the theory necessary to understand how the technique works and how to understand the results. Descriptions of real experimental setups, experimental results at different systems are given to show both the strength and the limits of the technique. In a final part the new developments and possible extensions of the techniques are presented. The included techniques provide microscopic as well as macroscopic information. They cover most of the techniques used in surface science.

High-efficiency photorealistic computer-generated holograms based on the backward ray-tracing technique

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuan; Chen, Zhidong; Sang, Xinzhu; Li, Hui; Zhao, Linmin

2018-03-01

Holographic displays can provide the complete optical wave field of a three-dimensional (3D) scene, including the depth perception. However, it often takes a long computation time to produce traditional computer-generated holograms (CGHs) without more complex and photorealistic rendering. The backward ray-tracing technique is able to render photorealistic high-quality images, which noticeably reduce the computation time achieved from the high-degree parallelism. Here, a high-efficiency photorealistic computer-generated hologram method is presented based on the ray-tracing technique. Rays are parallelly launched and traced under different illuminations and circumstances. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Compared with the traditional point cloud CGH, the computation time is decreased to 24 s to reconstruct a 3D object of 100 ×100 rays with continuous depth change.

The traditional irrigation technique of Lake Garda lemon--houses (Northern Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Barontini, Stefano; Vitale, Nicola; Fausti, Federico; Bettoni, Barbara; Bonati, Sara; Peli, Marco; Pietta, Antonella; Tononi, Marco; Ranzi, Roberto

2016-04-01

Between 16th and 19th centuries the North-Western side of Lake Garda was seat of an important district which, at the time of its maximum splendour between 18th and 19th centuries, produced and exported lemons and citrus even toward the Northern Europe and the Russia. The limonaie del Garda (Lake-Garda lemon-houses), the local name of the citrus orchards, were settled on terraces built on steep slopes, with landfill taken from the Eastern side of the lake, and closed by greenhouses during late autumn and winter in order to protect the cultivations. The terraces were built nearby streams, they were South-Eastern exposed and protected by walls from the cold winds. Thanks in fact to the Lake Garda microclimate, lemon trees were not cultivated in pots, as in the typical orangeries of mid-latitudes Europe, but directly in the soil. Here the citrus cultivation technique reached a remarkably high degree of standardisation, with local cultivar as the Madernino or lemon from Maderno, and it involved, as in modern industrial districts, all the surrounding land in order to satisfy the needing of required materials to build the terraces, the walls, the greenhouses and the wooden frames to hold the branches laden with fruits. Due to the great water requirement of lemon trees during summer, which is estimated to range from 150 to 300 ℓ every ten days, the water management played a key role in the cultivation technique. The traditional irrigation technique was standardized as well. During our surveys, we observed that most of the lemon-houses still conserve little stone flumes along the walls upslope to the terraces, with spillways every adult tree, i.e. about every 4 m. The flumes were filled with water taken from an upstream reservoir, built nearby a stream. The spillways were activated with a backwater obtained by means of a sand bag placed within the flume, just downstream to the spillway itself. In order to avoid any excavation, spilled water was driven to the base of each

Study of Query Expansion Techniques and Their Application in the Biomedical Information Retrieval

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. R. Rivas

2014-01-01

retrieval systems. These techniques help to overcome vocabulary mismatch issues by expanding the original query with additional relevant terms and reweighting the terms in the expanded query. In this paper, different text preprocessing and query expansion approaches are combined to improve the documents initially retrieved by a query in a scientific documental database. A corpus belonging to MEDLINE, called Cystic Fibrosis, is used as a knowledge source. Experimental results show that the proposed combinations of techniques greatly enhance the efficiency obtained by traditional queries.

Earth construction: traditional building techniques of Bhutan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João M. Guedes

2018-01-01

Full Text Available NCREP – Consultancy in Rehabilitation of Built Heritage Ltd., surveyed the constructive features of Bhutan's vernacular rammed earth built heritage, as part of a project financed by the World Bank and commissioned by the Division for the Conservation of Heritage Sites (DCHS of the Department of Culture - Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs of Bhutan. This work, which aimed at better understanding the structural behaviour of this heritage and, based on this information, proposing measures to mitigate its seismic risk, included the study of 18 traditional rammed earth buildings in two villages in the Punakha district. The surveys were conducted house-to-house, based on a DCHS script, and included surveys of artisans responsible for building these constructive typologies, supported by a questionnaire integrated within the project, to collect information on the procedures, rites and practices followed in these constructions. This article focuses only on the first part of the work; it presents the main constructive characteristics assessed from the survey carried out on this built heritage and compiles the results of the surveys of the artisans.

Experimental evaluation of optimal Vehicle Dynamic Control based on the State Dependent Riccati Equation technique

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alirezaei, M.; Kanarachos, S.A.; Scheepers, B.T.M.; Maurice, J.P.

2013-01-01

Development and experimentally evaluation of an optimal Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) strategy based on the State Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE) control technique is presented. The proposed nonlinear controller is based on a nonlinear vehicle model with nonlinear tire characteristics. A novel

Biofilms and mechanics: a review of experimental techniques and findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gordon, Vernita D; Davis-Fields, Megan; Kovach, Kristin; Rodesney, Christopher A

2017-01-01

Biofilms are developmentally-dynamic communities of sessile microbes that adhere to each other and, often, to other structures in their environment. The cohesive mechanical forces binding microbes to each other confer mechanical and structural stability on the biofilm and give rise to biofilm viscoelasticity. The adhesive mechanical forces binding microbes to other structures in their environment can promote biofilm initiation and mechanosensing that leads to changes in biological activity. Thus, physical mechanics is intrinsic to characteristics that distinguish biofilms from free-swimming or free-floating microbes in liquid culture. However, very little is known about the specifics of what mechanical traits characterize different types of biofilms at different stages of development. Even less is known about how mechanical inputs impact microbial biology and how microbes can adjust their mechanical coupling to, and interaction with, their environment. These knowledge gaps arise, in part, from the challenges associated with experimental measurements of microbial and biofilm biomechanics. Here, we review extant experimental techniques and their most-salient findings to date. At the end of this review we indicate areas where significant advances in the state-of-the art are heading. (topical review)

Biofilms and mechanics: a review of experimental techniques and findings

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Vernita D.; Davis-Fields, Megan; Kovach, Kristin; Rodesney, Christopher A.

2017-06-01

Biofilms are developmentally-dynamic communities of sessile microbes that adhere to each other and, often, to other structures in their environment. The cohesive mechanical forces binding microbes to each other confer mechanical and structural stability on the biofilm and give rise to biofilm viscoelasticity. The adhesive mechanical forces binding microbes to other structures in their environment can promote biofilm initiation and mechanosensing that leads to changes in biological activity. Thus, physical mechanics is intrinsic to characteristics that distinguish biofilms from free-swimming or free-floating microbes in liquid culture. However, very little is known about the specifics of what mechanical traits characterize different types of biofilms at different stages of development. Even less is known about how mechanical inputs impact microbial biology and how microbes can adjust their mechanical coupling to, and interaction with, their environment. These knowledge gaps arise, in part, from the challenges associated with experimental measurements of microbial and biofilm biomechanics. Here, we review extant experimental techniques and their most-salient findings to date. At the end of this review we indicate areas where significant advances in the state-of-the art are heading.

Field test comparison of an autocorrelation technique for determining grain size using a digital 'beachball' camera versus traditional methods

Science.gov (United States)

Barnard, P.L.; Rubin, D.M.; Harney, J.; Mustain, N.

2007-01-01

This extensive field test of an autocorrelation technique for determining grain size from digital images was conducted using a digital bed-sediment camera, or 'beachball' camera. Using 205 sediment samples and >1200 images from a variety of beaches on the west coast of the US, grain size ranging from sand to granules was measured from field samples using both the autocorrelation technique developed by Rubin [Rubin, D.M., 2004. A simple autocorrelation algorithm for determining grain size from digital images of sediment. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 74(1): 160-165.] and traditional methods (i.e. settling tube analysis, sieving, and point counts). To test the accuracy of the digital-image grain size algorithm, we compared results with manual point counts of an extensive image data set in the Santa Barbara littoral cell. Grain sizes calculated using the autocorrelation algorithm were highly correlated with the point counts of the same images (r2 = 0.93; n = 79) and had an error of only 1%. Comparisons of calculated grain sizes and grain sizes measured from grab samples demonstrated that the autocorrelation technique works well on high-energy dissipative beaches with well-sorted sediment such as in the Pacific Northwest (r2 ??? 0.92; n = 115). On less dissipative, more poorly sorted beaches such as Ocean Beach in San Francisco, results were not as good (r2 ??? 0.70; n = 67; within 3% accuracy). Because the algorithm works well compared with point counts of the same image, the poorer correlation with grab samples must be a result of actual spatial and vertical variability of sediment in the field; closer agreement between grain size in the images and grain size of grab samples can be achieved by increasing the sampling volume of the images (taking more images, distributed over a volume comparable to that of a grab sample). In all field tests the autocorrelation method was able to predict the mean and median grain size with ???96% accuracy, which is more than

Development of a three-dimensional PIV measurement technique for the experimental study of air bubble collapse phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Y.H.; Hassan, Y.A.; Schmidl, W.D.

1995-01-01

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is a quantitative flow measurement technique. The objective of this study is to develop a new three-dimensional PIV technique for the experimental study of air bubble collapse phenomena. A three-dimensional measurement technique is necessary since bubble collapse is a three-dimensional phenomenon. The investigation of the velocity flow field around a collapsing air bubble can provide detailed three-dimensional quantitative information to help improve the understanding of the related heat transfer processes

Do traditional techniques produce better conventional complete dentures than simplified techniques? A 10-year follow-up of a randomized clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawai, Yasuhiko; Muarakami, Hiroshi; Feine, Jocelyne S

2018-07-01

The use of a simplified method (S) of fabricating complete dentures has been shown to be more cost-efficient than the traditional method (T), and there are no negative consequences that detract from the cost savings in the short term. However, it is not clear whether this remains constant over a decade. The objective of this study was to clarify patients' perspectives and determine any differences between the dentures fabricated with these two different techniques after a decade of use. Edentate individuals participated in a randomized controlled clinical trial and completed a 6-month follow-up from 2001 to 2003 (T group n = 50; S group n = 54). For this 10-year follow-up, they were interviewed by telephone. The assessment included whether the denture was still in use or replaced, the condition of the dentures, patient satisfaction and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Between and within-group differences and the factors that cause deterioration of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) were determined. Among 54 responders (25 T and 29 S), 14T and 21S kept the original dentures. Both groups were similar in ratings of satisfaction and OHRQoL (maxilla T: 80.0 S: 86.0, p = 0.36; mandibular; T: 66.1 S: 72.3, p = 0.48; OHRQoL T: 111.1 S: 108.5, p = 0.46). Irrespective of fabrication method, discomfort, chewing difficulty and esthetics were the factors that deteriorate OHRQoL (adjusted r = 0.76, p < 0.001). The results indicate that the simplified method remains more cost-efficient than the traditional method over a 10-year period. (IRB approval: A09-E71-12 B McGill University, trial registry: ClinicalTrial.org; NCT02289443). Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Construction of an experimental simplified model for determining of flow parameters in chemical reactors, using nuclear techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Araujo Paiva, J.A. de.

1981-03-01

The development of a simplified experimental model for investigation of nuclear techniques to determine the solid phase parameters in gas-solid flows is presented. A method for the measurement of the solid phase residence time inside a chemical reactor of the type utilised in the cracking process of catalytic fluids is described. An appropriate radioactive labelling technique of the solid phase and the construction of an eletronic timing circuit were the principal stages in the definition of measurement technique. (Author) [pt

Experimental investigation on 3D-SEM reconstructions of a wire gauge using stereo-pair technique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carli, Lorenzo; Genta, G.; Cantatore, Angela

2011-01-01

In this work an experimental investigation is addressed concerning 3D-SEM reconstructions obtained from the so-called stereo-pair technique. Three-dimensional topography of an object can be derived from two SEM images acquired from two different angles, through item rotation by means of the SEM...

The Islamic Bookbinding Tradition. A Book Archaeological Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scheper, Catharina Helena (Karin)

2014-01-01

The technique of Islamic bookbinding explores the development of the bookbinding tradition in the Islamic world. Based on an assessment of the collections in the University Library Leiden, the various sewing techniques, constructions and the application of covering materials are described in detail.

An Automated Technique to Construct a Knowledge Base of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine for Cancers: An Exploratory Study for Breast Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Phung Anh; Yang, Hsuan-Chia; Xu, Rong; Li, Yu-Chuan Jack

2018-01-01

Traditional Chinese Medicine utilization has rapidly increased worldwide. However, there is limited database provides the information of TCM herbs and diseases. The study aims to identify and evaluate the meaningful associations between TCM herbs and breast cancer by using the association rule mining (ARM) techniques. We employed the ARM techniques for 19.9 million TCM prescriptions by using Taiwan National Health Insurance claim database from 1999 to 2013. 364 TCM herbs-breast cancer associations were derived from those prescriptions and were then filtered by their support of 20. Resulting of 296 associations were evaluated by comparing to a gold-standard that was curated information from Chinese-Wikipedia with the following terms, cancer, tumor, malignant. All 14 TCM herbs-breast cancer associations with their confidence of 1% were valid when compared to gold-standard. For other confidences, the statistical results showed consistently with high precisions. We thus succeed to identify the TCM herbs-breast cancer associations with useful techniques.

exploring traditional glass bead making techniques in jewellery

African Journals Online (AJOL)

User

Glass bead making techniques and their mass production will help the individual ... communicate cultural values in a symbolic lan- guage which ..... Surface of most of the new beads were rough ... tourism potential to be developed further to.

Evaluation of Traditional and Technology-Based Grocery Store Nutrition Education

Science.gov (United States)

Schultz, Jennifer; Litchfield, Ruth

2016-01-01

Background: A literature gap exists for grocery interventions with realistic resource expectations; few technology-based publications exist, and none document traditional comparison. Purpose: Compare grocery store traditional aisle demonstrations (AD) and technology-based (TB) nutrition education treatments. Methods: A quasi-experimental 4-month…

Comparison of Student Test Scores in a Coordinate Plane Unit Using Traditional Classroom Techniques Versus Traditional Techniques Coupled with an Ethnomathematics Software at Torch Middle School.

Science.gov (United States)

Magallanes, Adriana Moreno

In response to low achievement in mathematics at a middle school, an ethnomathematic approach was used to teach coordinate planes. Whether there were achievement differences between students taught by the culturally sensitive approach and those taught by a traditional method was studied. Data were collected from the coordinate planes unit…

Development of human factors experimental evaluation techniques - Human factors design and evaluation of the main control room of atomic power plants using visual display terminals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Han, Sung Ho; Chung, Min Kyun; Choi, Kyung Lim; Song, Young Woong; Eoh, Hong Joon; Lee, In Suk; Kim, Bom Soo; Yeo, Yun Shin; Lee, Haeo Sun [Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang (Korea, Republic of)

1995-07-01

This study was conducted to build a prototype of the operator interface on a visual display terminal, and to provide a framework for using and applying prototyping techniques. A typical subsystem of an MCR was prototyped and validated by operator testing. Lessons learned during the development as well as prototyping techniques were described in this report for an efficient development. In addition, human factors experimental plans were surveyed and summarized for evaluating new design alternatives as well as the current design of the operator interface. The major results of this study are listed as follow: A method for designing an operator interface prototype on a VDT, A prototype of the operator interface of a typical subsystem, Guidelines for applying prototyping techniques, Characteristics and major considerations of experimental plans, Guidelines for applying prototyping techniques, Characteristics and major considerations of experimental plans, Guidelines for analyzing experimental data, A paradigm for human factors experimentation including experimental designs, procedures, and data analyses. 27 refs., 60 tabs., 47 figs. (author)

Improvement of traditional local rice varieties through induced mutations using nuclear techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pham Van Ro; Do Huu At

2001-01-01

'Improvement of local rice varieties for high yield, resistance to disease and insect pests (brown plant hopper and rice blast) and export quality through induced mutations for the Mekong Delta' started in 1993. After six years, it showed effecting on the field in the MD as well as at the south of Vietnam. TNDB-100 manifest very wide adaptation and yield stable variety. THDB is suitable for deepwater rice region, coastal area, where rice cultivation effected by acid sulphate and salinity conditions. Both varieties are good example for the method. Thank to good Co-operation from extension center from provinces, hundred classes of extension were organized to recommend to the farmers. And thank to the strongly supporting from IAEA so that nearly 400,000 ha of TNDB-100 occupied at the south of Vietnam as well as nearly 15,000 ha of THDB grown in the coastal as well as rainfed lowland rice areas at the South of Vietnam. To continue the rice improvement by this technique, seeds of six traditional local varieties were exposed under different dose of gamma rays to create new mutants. At present day hundred improved breeding lines were selected, a dozen of uniform lines were isolated and entranced the yield trail as well as regional testing program. From these improved varieties would be selected to contribute to the rice cultivation at the south of Vietnam in the next years. (author)

Improvement of traditional local rice varieties through induced mutations using nuclear techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pham Van Ro; Do Huu At [Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute (Viet Nam)

2001-03-01

'Improvement of local rice varieties for high yield, resistance to disease and insect pests (brown plant hopper and rice blast) and export quality through induced mutations for the Mekong Delta' started in 1993. After six years, it showed effecting on the field in the MD as well as at the south of Vietnam. TNDB-100 manifest very wide adaptation and yield stable variety. THDB is suitable for deepwater rice region, coastal area, where rice cultivation effected by acid sulphate and salinity conditions. Both varieties are good example for the method. Thank to good Co-operation from extension center from provinces, hundred classes of extension were organized to recommend to the farmers. And thank to the strongly supporting from IAEA so that nearly 400,000 ha of TNDB-100 occupied at the south of Vietnam as well as nearly 15,000 ha of THDB grown in the coastal as well as rainfed lowland rice areas at the South of Vietnam. To continue the rice improvement by this technique, seeds of six traditional local varieties were exposed under different dose of gamma rays to create new mutants. At present day hundred improved breeding lines were selected, a dozen of uniform lines were isolated and entranced the yield trail as well as regional testing program. From these improved varieties would be selected to contribute to the rice cultivation at the south of Vietnam in the next years. (author)

Experimental techniques for the detection of the high energy gamma rays of cosmic origin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dumitrescu, Gh.; Angelescu, T.; Radu, A.A.

2002-01-01

The observation of high energy gamma rays of cosmic origin in the early 90 by Volcano Ranch experiment opened a new direction of study in astrophysics. The very high energy and the very low flux of these gamma rays, posed numerous detection problems which in turn were the object of a very intense research activity. The present article tries to review the detection techniques for the high energy gamma rays of cosmic origin. In the 'Introduction' we summarize the specific problems involved in the detection of this type of radiation. 'Chapter 1' presents the classic technique based on the use of scintillation detectors. 'Chapter 2' includes the imaging atmospheric Cherenkov technique (IACT) and the sampling wavefront technique. 'Chapter 3' is dedicated to the detection of the atmospheric nitrogen. 'Chapter 4' describes issues related to the calibration of the detectors, the cross checking of the experimental data, the use of the Monte Carlo simulations and the use of the density observed at a distance of 600 m S(600), in order to estimate the primary energy. The characteristics of some future developments of the above presented techniques are included in the last chapter. (authors)

Virtual Diagnostic Interface: Aerospace Experimentation in the Synthetic Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Richard J.; McCrea, Andrew C.

2010-01-01

The Virtual Diagnostics Interface (ViDI) methodology combines two-dimensional image processing and three-dimensional computer modeling to provide comprehensive in-situ visualizations commonly utilized for in-depth planning of wind tunnel and flight testing, real time data visualization of experimental data, and unique merging of experimental and computational data sets in both real-time and post-test analysis. The preparation of such visualizations encompasses the realm of interactive three-dimensional environments, traditional and state of the art image processing techniques, database management and development of toolsets with user friendly graphical user interfaces. ViDI has been under development at the NASA Langley Research Center for over 15 years, and has a long track record of providing unique and insightful solutions to a wide variety of experimental testing techniques and validation of computational simulations. This report will address the various aspects of ViDI and how it has been applied to test programs as varied as NASCAR race car testing in NASA wind tunnels to real-time operations concerning Space Shuttle aerodynamic flight testing. In addition, future trends and applications will be outlined in the paper.

The difference between traditional experiments and CFD validation benchmark experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Barton L., E-mail: barton.smith@usu.edu

2017-02-15

Computation Fluid Dynamics provides attractive features for design, and perhaps licensing, of nuclear power plants. The most important of these features is low cost compared to experiments. However, uncertainty of CFD calculations must accompany these calculations in order for the results to be useful for important decision making. In order to properly assess the uncertainty of a CFD calculation, it must be “validated” against experimental data. Unfortunately, traditional “discovery” experiments are normally ill-suited to provide all of the information necessary for the validation exercise. Traditionally, experiments are performed to discover new physics, determine model parameters, or to test designs. This article will describe a new type of experiment; one that is designed and carried out with the specific purpose of providing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) validation benchmark data. We will demonstrate that the goals of traditional experiments and validation experiments are often in conflict, making use of traditional experimental results problematic and leading directly to larger predictive uncertainty of the CFD model.

The difference between traditional experiments and CFD validation benchmark experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Barton L.

2017-01-01

Computation Fluid Dynamics provides attractive features for design, and perhaps licensing, of nuclear power plants. The most important of these features is low cost compared to experiments. However, uncertainty of CFD calculations must accompany these calculations in order for the results to be useful for important decision making. In order to properly assess the uncertainty of a CFD calculation, it must be “validated” against experimental data. Unfortunately, traditional “discovery” experiments are normally ill-suited to provide all of the information necessary for the validation exercise. Traditionally, experiments are performed to discover new physics, determine model parameters, or to test designs. This article will describe a new type of experiment; one that is designed and carried out with the specific purpose of providing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) validation benchmark data. We will demonstrate that the goals of traditional experiments and validation experiments are often in conflict, making use of traditional experimental results problematic and leading directly to larger predictive uncertainty of the CFD model.

Use of non-standardised micro-destructive techniques in the characterization of traditional construction materials

Science.gov (United States)

Ioannou, Ioannis; Theodoridou, Magdalini; Modestou, Sevasti; Fournari, Revecca; Dagrain, Fabrice

2013-04-01

The characterization of material properties and the diagnosis of their state of weathering and conservation are three of the most important steps in the field of cultural heritage preservation. Several standardised experimental methods exist, especially for determining the material properties and their durability. However, they are limited in their application by the required size of test specimens and the controlled laboratory conditions needed to undertake the tests; this is especially true when the materials under study constitute immovable parts of heritage structures. The current use of other advanced methods of analysis, such as imaging techniques, in the aforementioned field of research offers invaluable results. However, these techniques may not always be accessible to the wider research community due to their complex nature and relatively high cost of application. This study presents innovative applications of two recently developed cutting techniques; the portable Drilling Resistance Measuring System (DRMS) and the scratch tool. Both methods are defined as micro-destructive, since they only destroy a very small portion of sample material. The general concept of both methods lies within the forces needed to cut a material by linear (scratch tool) or rotational (DRMS) cutting action; these forces are related to the mechanical properties of the material and the technological parameters applied on the tool. Therefore, for a given testing configuration, the only parameter influencing the forces applied is the strength of the material. These two techniques have been used alongside a series of standardised laboratory tests aiming at the correlation of various stone properties (density, porosity, dynamic elastic modulus and uniaxial compressive strength). The results prove the potential of both techniques in assessing the uniaxial compressive strength of stones. The scratch tool has also been used effectively to estimate the compressive strength of mud bricks. It

Stable adaptive PI control for permanent magnet synchronous motor drive based on improved JITL technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Shiqi; Tang, Xiaoqi; Song, Bao; Lu, Shaowu; Ye, Bosheng

2013-07-01

In this paper, a stable adaptive PI control strategy based on the improved just-in-time learning (IJITL) technique is proposed for permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive. Firstly, the traditional JITL technique is improved. The new IJITL technique has less computational burden and is more suitable for online identification of the PMSM drive system which is highly real-time compared to traditional JITL. In this way, the PMSM drive system is identified by IJITL technique, which provides information to an adaptive PI controller. Secondly, the adaptive PI controller is designed in discrete time domain which is composed of a PI controller and a supervisory controller. The PI controller is capable of automatically online tuning the control gains based on the gradient descent method and the supervisory controller is developed to eliminate the effect of the approximation error introduced by the PI controller upon the system stability in the Lyapunov sense. Finally, experimental results on the PMSM drive system show accurate identification and favorable tracking performance. Copyright © 2013 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In vitro evaluation of prosthodontic impression on natural dentition: a comparison between traditional and digital techniques

Science.gov (United States)

MALAGUTI, G.; ROSSI, R.; MARZIALI, B.; ESPOSITO, A.; BRUNO, G.; DARIOL, C.; DI FIORE, A.

2016-01-01

SUMMARY Objectives The aim of this in vitro study is to evaluate the marginal and internal fit of zirconia core crowns manufactured following different digital and traditional workflows. Methods A 6° taper shoulder prepared abutment tooth was used to produce 20 zirconia core crowns using four different scanning techniques: scanned directly with the extraoral lab scanner, scanned with intraoral scanner, dental impressions using individual dental tray and polyether, dental casts from a polyether impressions. Marginal and internal fits were evaluated with digital photography and the silicone replica method. Results Medium marginal gaps were 76,00 μm ± 28.9 for extraoral lab scanner, 80.50 μm ± 36,2 for intraoral scanner, 88.10 μm ± 34,8 for dental impression scan and 112,4 μm ± 37,2 for dental cast scan. Medium internal gaps were 23.20 μm ± 10,3 for extraoral lab scanner, 16.20 μm ± 8.3 for intraoral scanner, 27.20 μm ± 16.7 for dental impression scan and 30.20 μm ± 12.7 for dental cast scan. Conclusion Internal gap were extensively lower than 70 μm described in literature. Marginal fit was higher than ideal values for all the techniques but within the limit of clinical success. Intraoral scanners obtained the best results for internal gap. PMID:28280529

Experimental study of laser ablation as sample introduction technique for inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Winckel, S.

2001-01-01

The contribution consists of an abstract of a PhD thesis. In the PhD study, several complementary applications of laser-ablation were investigated in order to characterise experimentally laser ablation (LA) as a sample introduction technique for ICP-MS. Three applications of LA as a sample introduction technique are discussed: (1) the microchemical analysis of the patina of weathered marble; (2) the possibility to measure isotope ratios (in particular Pb isotope ratios in archaeological bronze artefacts); and (3) the determination of Si in Al as part of a dosimetric study of the BR2 reactor vessel

Computed tomography landmark-based semi-automated mesh morphing and mapping techniques: generation of patient specific models of the human pelvis without segmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Salo, Zoryana; Beek, Maarten; Wright, David; Whyne, Cari Marisa

2015-04-13

Current methods for the development of pelvic finite element (FE) models generally are based upon specimen specific computed tomography (CT) data. This approach has traditionally required segmentation of CT data sets, which is time consuming and necessitates high levels of user intervention due to the complex pelvic anatomy. The purpose of this research was to develop and assess CT landmark-based semi-automated mesh morphing and mapping techniques to aid the generation and mechanical analysis of specimen-specific FE models of the pelvis without the need for segmentation. A specimen-specific pelvic FE model (source) was created using traditional segmentation methods and morphed onto a CT scan of a different (target) pelvis using a landmark-based method. The morphed model was then refined through mesh mapping by moving the nodes to the bone boundary. A second target model was created using traditional segmentation techniques. CT intensity based material properties were assigned to the morphed/mapped model and to the traditionally segmented target models. Models were analyzed to evaluate their geometric concurrency and strain patterns. Strains generated in a double-leg stance configuration were compared to experimental strain gauge data generated from the same target cadaver pelvis. CT landmark-based morphing and mapping techniques were efficiently applied to create a geometrically multifaceted specimen-specific pelvic FE model, which was similar to the traditionally segmented target model and better replicated the experimental strain results (R(2)=0.873). This study has shown that mesh morphing and mapping represents an efficient validated approach for pelvic FE model generation without the need for segmentation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Means of Ensuring Information Security and Experimental Study of the Efficiency of Forensic Handwriting Techniques

OpenAIRE

Sergey Dmitrievich Kulik; Konstantin Igorevich Tkachenko; Denis Arturovich Nikonets

2013-01-01

This article deals with the special means, which allow to protect the information in the document. They are an integral part of the automated tools of ensuring the information security. It is proposed the use of a special input device PC Notes Taker. The results of experimental verification of the effectiveness of forensic handwriting techniques are described.

Leaf proteome analysis of clematis chinensis: a traditional chinese medicine (tcm) by two-dimensional electrophoresis technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishtiaq, M.; Maqbool, M.; Hussaini, T.; Azami, S.

2014-01-01

Leaf proteome of Clematis chinensis, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) was analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) technique. The samples were extracted by phenol-SDS method (PSM) with high protein quantity i.e. 2.35, 0.345 mg/g (yield/dw). Proteins were visualized by staining of gels by silver stain and CBB. The gel images of each species were compared by Image Master 2D Platinum software for analytical purpose. The 2-DE profile depicted distribution of 1085 spots and out of these only 255 protein spots (23.5%) were common to all analyzed taxa. The visualized protein spots showed pI range from 3.0 to 10.0 (pH) and Mr of 7 kDa to 70 kDa. Twelve proteins were exclusively specific to C. chinensis when compared with its allies, C. finetiana and C. armandii, which may be used as biomarkers. Thirteen proteins were up-regulated in C. finetiana (0.75-0.95 fold) and twelve proteins in C. armandii (1.05-1.66 fold) whilst seven proteins down-regulated (0.66-0.94 fold) in former and three proteins (1.07-1.20 fold) in later one in comparison with C. chinensis. Twenty five differential and similar protein spots were picked and analyzed by LC-MS/MS technique. Identified proteins are related to energy metabolism (ATP synthesis), photosynthesis. environmental stimuli, regulating RNA metabolism, growth hormone regulators, evolutionary trends and gene expression. The efficiency and applicability of proteomic approach as biomarker for identification of C. chinensis is discussed in its quality control (QC) perspectives. Leaf proteins of Clematis plants are explored for the first time by 2-DE technique and debated for their metabolic role. (author)

Comprehensive Characterization of Palygorskite from Torrejon el Rubio (Spain) Based on Experimental Techniques and Theoretical DFT Studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, A.M.; Timon, V.; Cubero, J. J.; Sanchez-Ledesma, D. M.; Gutierrez-Nebot, L.; Martinez, J. J.; Romero, C.; Labajo, M.; Melon, A.; Barrios, I.

2013-01-01

New data about the physico-chemical, microstructural and crystal-chemical properties of the mineral paligorskite from Torrejon el Rubio (Caceres, Spain) were obtained by a combination of experimental techniques (XRD, FRX, FTIR, TG-DSC, SEM and chemical analyses), as well as geometry optimization by means of the Density Functional Theory (DFT). This study demonstrates the applicability of the mixed theoretical-experimental work to characterize and understand the properties of clay minerals used in technological applications and environmental remediation. (Author)

Comprehensive Characterization of Palygorskite from Torrejon el Rubio (Spain) Based on Experimental Techniques and Theoretical DFT Studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernandez, A.M.; Timon, V.; Cubero, J. J.; Sanchez-Ledesma, D. M.; Gutierrez-Nebot, L.; Martinez, J. J.; Romero, C.; Labajo, M.; Melon, A.; Barrios, I.

2013-10-01

New data about the physico-chemical, microstructural and crystal-chemical properties of the mineral paligorskite from Torrejon el Rubio (Caceres, Spain) were obtained by a combination of experimental techniques (XRD, FRX, FTIR, TG-DSC, SEM and chemical analyses), as well as geometry optimization by means of the Density Functional Theory (DFT). This study demonstrates the applicability of the mixed theoretical-experimental work to characterize and understand the properties of clay minerals used in technological applications and environmental remediation. (Author)

Written mathematical traditions in Ancient Mesopotamia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høyrup, Jens

2015-01-01

Writing, as well as various mathematical techniques, were created in proto-literate Uruk in order to serve accounting, and Mesopotamian mathematics as we know it was always expressed in writing. In so far, mathematics generically regarded was always part of the generic written tradition....

The development of human factors experimental evaluation techniques -The development of human factors technologies-

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sim, Bong Shick; Oh, In Seok; Cha, Kyeong Ho; Lee, Hyun Chul

1994-04-01

In the 2nd year of the research project for the development of human factors evaluation techniques, we first defined the experimental target systems by the comparison study of the advanced control rooms proposed by foreign countries in order to make the experiment feasible and realistic for the 10 experimental items selected in the first year of the project. Then we have decided to confine our research on the big board overview panel and operator workstations. Following the development of selection criteria for our research interest, we have identified the design variables which may influence the performance of the operator by the functional analysis. The experimental variables which will be used for the evaluation of the proposed items are then defined by the relational analysis between evaluation items and design variables and they are classified by the characteristics of the measurement data. The functional requirements of ITF are developed to accommodate the necessary functions for carrying out the 10 evaluation items. The functional requirements for each sub-system of ITF have been developed with the experimental paradigm of APTEA. Finally we have reviewed the compact nuclear simulator (CNS) at KAERI from the point of view of jyman factors guidelines/principles and proposed the two possible layouts for the experimental apparatus for the evaluation of display alternative and operational procedure. (Author)

Comparing student clinical self-efficacy and team process outcomes for a DEU, blended, and traditional clinical setting: A quasi-experimental research study.

Science.gov (United States)

Plemmons, Christina; Clark, Michele; Feng, Du

2018-03-01

Clinical education is vital to both the development of clinical self-efficacy and the integration of future nurses into health care teams. The dedicated education unit clinical teaching model is an innovative clinical partnership, which promotes skill development, professional growth, clinical self-efficacy, and integration as a team member. Blended clinical teaching models are combining features of the dedicated education unit and traditional clinical model. The aims of this study are to explore how each of three clinical teaching models (dedicated education unit, blended, traditional) affects clinical self-efficacy and attitude toward team process, and to compare the dedicated education unit model and blended model to traditional clinical. A nonequivalent control-group quasi-experimental design was utilized. The convenience sample of 272 entry-level baccalaureate nursing students included 84 students participating in a dedicated education unit model treatment group, 66 students participating in a blended model treatment group, and 122 students participating in a traditional model control group. Perceived clinical self-efficacy was evaluated by the pretest/posttest scores obtained on the General Self-Efficacy scale. Attitude toward team process was evaluated by the pretest/posttest scores obtained on the TeamSTEPPS® Teamwork Attitude Questionnaire. All three clinical teaching models resulted in significant increases in both clinical self-efficacy (p=0.04) and attitude toward team process (p=0.003). Students participating in the dedicated education unit model (p=0.016) and students participating in the blended model (pteam process among entry-level baccalaureate nursing students. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental demonstration of the finite measurement time effect on the Feynman-{alpha} technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wallerbos, E.J.M.; Hoogenboom, J.E

1998-09-01

The reactivity of a subcritical system is determined by fitting two different theoretical models to a measured Feynman-{alpha} curve. The first model is the expression usually found in the literature, which can be shown to be the expectation value of the experimental quality if the measurement time is infinite. The second model is a new expression which is the expectation value of the experimental quantity for a finite measurement time. The reactivity inferred with the new model is seen to be independent of the length of the fitting interval, whereas the reactivity inferred with the conventional model is seen to vary. This difference demonstrates the effect of the finite measurement time. As a reference, the reactivity is also measured with the pulsed-neutron source method. It is seen to be in good agreement with the reactivity obtained with the Feynman-{alpha} technique when the new expression is applied.

Optimization technique applied to interpretation of experimental data and research of constitutive laws

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grossette, J.C.

1982-01-01

The feasibility of identification technique applied to one dimensional numerical analysis of the split-Hopkinson pressure bar experiment is proven. A general 1-D elastic-plastic-viscoplastic computer program was written down so as to give an adequate solution for elastic-plastic-viscoplastic response of a pressure bar subjected to a general Heaviside step loading function in time which is applied over one end of the bar. Special emphasis is placed on the response of the specimen during the first microseconds where no equilibrium conditions can be stated. During this transient phase discontinuity conditions related to wave propagation are encountered and must be carefully taken into account. Having derived an adequate numerical model, then Pontryagin identification technique has been applied in such a way that the unknowns are physical parameters. The solutions depend mainly on the selection of a class of proper eigen objective functionals (cost functions) which may be combined so as to obtain a convenient numerical objective function. A number of significant questions arising in the choice of parameter adjustment algorithms are discussed. In particular, this technique leads to a two point boundary value problem which has been solved using an iterative gradient like technique usually referred to as a double operator gradient method. This method combines the classical Fletcher-Powell technique and a partial quadratic technique with an automatic parameter step size selection. This method is much more efficient than usual ones. Numerical experimentation with simulated data was performed to test the accuracy and stability of the identification algorithm and to determine the most adequate type and quantity of data for estimation purposes

Means of Ensuring Information Security and Experimental Study of the Efficiency of Forensic Handwriting Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey Dmitrievich Kulik

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This article deals with the special means, which allow to protect the information in the document. They are an integral part of the automated tools of ensuring the information security. It is proposed the use of a special input device PC Notes Taker. The results of experimental verification of the effectiveness of forensic handwriting techniques are described.

Endoscopic Radiofrequency Ablation-Assisted Resection of Juvenile Nasopharyngeal Angiofibroma: Comparison with Traditional Endoscopic Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

McLaughlin, Eamon J; Cunningham, Michael J; Kazahaya, Ken; Hsing, Julianna; Kawai, Kosuke; Adil, Eelam A

2016-06-01

To evaluate the feasibility of radiofrequency surgical instrumentation for endoscopic resection of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (JNA) and to test the hypothesis that endoscopic radiofrequency ablation-assisted (RFA) resection will have superior intraoperative and/or postoperative outcomes as compared with traditional endoscopic (TE) resection techniques. Case series with chart review. Two tertiary care pediatric hospitals. Twenty-nine pediatric patients who underwent endoscopic transnasal resection of JNA from January 2000 to December 2014. Twenty-nine patients underwent RFA (n = 13) or TE (n = 16) JNA resection over the 15-year study period. Mean patient age was not statistically different between the 2 groups (P = .41); neither was their University of Pittsburgh Medical Center classification stage (P = .79). All patients underwent preoperative embolization. Mean operative times were not statistically different (P = .29). Mean intraoperative blood loss and the need for a transfusion were also not statistically different (P = .27 and .47, respectively). Length of hospital stay was not statistically different (P = .46). Recurrence rates did not differ between groups (P = .99) over a mean follow-up period of 2.3 years. There were no significant differences between RFA and TE resection in intraoperative or postoperative outcome parameters. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2016.

Microbial composition of the Korean traditional food "kochujang" analyzed by a massive sequencing technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Nam, Young-Do; Park, So-lim; Lim, Seong-Il

2012-04-01

Kochujang is a traditional Korean fermented food that is made with red pepper, glutinous rice, salt, and soybean. Kochujang is fermented by naturally occurring microorganisms through which it obtains various health-promoting properties. In this study, the bacterial diversities of 9 local and 2 commercial brands of kochujang were analyzed with a barcoded pyrosequencing technique targeting the hyper-variable regions V1/V2 of the 16S rRNA gene. Through the analysis of 13524 bacterial pyrosequences, 223 bacterial species were identified, most of which converged on the phylum Firmicutes (average 93.1%). All of the kochujang samples were largely populated (>90.9% of abundance) by 12 bacterial families, and Bacillaceae showed the highest abundance in all but one sample. Bacillus subtilis and B. licheniformis were the most dominant bacterial species and were broadly distributed among the kochujang samples. Each sample contained a high abundance of region-specific bacterial species, such as B. sonorensis, B. pumilus, Weissella salipiscis, and diverse unidentified Bacillus species. Phylotype- and phylogeny-based community comparison analysis showed that the microbial communities of the two commercial brands were different from those of the local brands. Moreover, each local brand kochujang sample had region-specific microbial community reflecting the manufacturing environment. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

Using an Online Vocabulary Memorization Tool versus Traditional Vocabulary Exercises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arif Bakla

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This study was conducted to reveal what Memrise, an online vocabulary study tool, can offer to upper-intermediate EFL learners compared to traditional vocabulary exercises in L2 vocabulary learning. Two groups of upper-intermediate learners (N=80 were randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group and were given the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale, VKS for short, as the pre-test and post-test. The participants in both groups were exposed to the target vocabulary items in the same reading text. While those in the experimental group created list of target vocabulary items collaboratively in Memrise and then studied the sets individually, the learners in the control group did traditional vocabulary exercises. The results of the post-tests indicated that there was a significant difference between the control group and the experimental group in favor of the experimental group. The researchers discuss possible pedagogical implications of this significant finding for EFL vocabulary instruction.

Comparative study of presurgical hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution versus traditional presurgical hand hygiene.

Science.gov (United States)

López Martín, M Beatriz; Erice Calvo-Sotelo, Alejo

To compare presurgical hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution following the WHO protocol with traditional presurgical hand hygiene. Cultures of the hands of surgeons and surgical nurses were performed before and after presurgical hand hygiene and after removing gloves at the end of surgery. Cultures were done in 2different days: the first day after traditional presurgical hand hygiene, and the second day after presurgical hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution following the WHO protocol. The duration of the traditional hand hygiene was measured and compared with the duration (3min) of the WHO protocol. The cost of the products used in the traditional technique was compared with the cost of the hydroalcoholic solution used. The variability of the traditional technique was determined by observation. Following presurgical hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution, colony-forming units (CFU) were detected in 5 (7.3%) subjects, whereas after traditional presurgical hand hygiene CFU were detected in 14 subjects (20.5%) (p < 0.05). After glove removal, the numbers of CFU were similar. The time employed in hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution (3min) was inferior to the time employed in the traditional technique (p < 0.05), its cost was less than half, and there was no variability. Compared with other techniques, presurgical hand hygiene with hydroalcoholic solution significantly decreases CFU, has similar latency time, a lower cost, and saves time. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Factors Predicting the Choice of an Online versus a Traditional Course

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Ryan P.; Doverspike, Dennis

2006-01-01

Universities sometimes offer students the choice of an online course as an alternative to the traditional classroom. We employed the theory of planned behavior (Azjen, 1991) to examine an individual's intention to enroll in an online experimental psychology class versus a traditional class. General attitudes and subjective norms significantly…

Experimental and theoretical contributions to X-ray phase-contrast techniques for medical imaging; Contributions experimentales et theoriques aux techniques de contraste de phase pour l'imagerie medicale par rayons X

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diemoz, P.C.

2011-02-28

Several X-ray phase-contrast techniques have recently been developed. Unlike conventional X-ray methods, which measure the absorption properties of the tissues, these techniques derive contrast also from the modulation of the phase produced by the sample. Since the phase shift can be significant even for small details characterized by weak or absent absorption, the achievable image contrast can be greatly increased, notably for the soft biological tissues. These methods are therefore very promising for applications in the medical domain. The aim of this work is to contribute to a deeper understanding of these techniques, in particular propagation-based imaging (PBI), analyzer-based imaging (ABI) and grating interferometry (GIFM), and to study their potential and the best practical implementation for medical imaging applications. An important part of this work is dedicated to the use of mathematical algorithms for the extraction, from the acquired images, of quantitative sample information (the absorption, refraction and scattering sample properties). In particular, five among the most known algorithms based on the geometrical optics approximation have been theoretically analysed and experimentally compared, in planar and tomographic modalities, by using geometrical phantoms and human bone-cartilage and breast samples. A semi-quantitative method for the acquisition and reconstruction of tomographic images in the ABI and GIFM techniques has also been proposed. The validity conditions are analyzed in detail and the method, enabling a considerable simplification of the imaging procedure, has been experimentally checked on phantoms and human samples. Finally, a theoretical and experimental comparison of the PBI, ABI and GIFM techniques is presented. The advantages and drawbacks of each of these techniques are discussed. The results obtained from this analysis can be very useful for determining the most adapted technique for a given application. (author)

Experimental Analysis of Cool Traditional Solar Shading Systems for Residential Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Laura Pisello

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In recent years there has been a growing interest in the development and thermal-energy analysis of passive solutions for reducing building cooling needs and thus improving indoor thermal comfort conditions. In this view, several studies were carried out about cool roofs and cool coatings, producing acknowledged mitigation effects on urban heat island phenomenon. The purpose of this work is to investigate the thermal-energy performance of cool louvers of shutters, usually installed in residential buildings, compared to dark color traditional shading systems. To this aim, two full-scale prototype buildings were continuously monitored under summer conditions and the role of the cool shutter in reducing the overheating of the shading system and the energy requirements for cooling was analyzed. After an in-lab optical analysis of the cool coating, showing a huge solar reflectance increase with respect to the traditional configuration, i.e., by about 75%, field monitoring results showed that the cool shutter is able to decrease the indoor air temperature up to 2 °C under free floating conditions. The corresponding energy saving was about 25%, with even much higher peaks during very hot summer conditions.

Experimental and computing strategies in advanced material characterization problems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolzon, G. [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy gabriella.bolzon@polimi.it (Italy)

2015-10-28

The mechanical characterization of materials relies more and more often on sophisticated experimental methods that permit to acquire a large amount of data and, contemporarily, to reduce the invasiveness of the tests. This evolution accompanies the growing demand of non-destructive diagnostic tools that assess the safety level of components in use in structures and infrastructures, for instance in the strategic energy sector. Advanced material systems and properties that are not amenable to traditional techniques, for instance thin layered structures and their adhesion on the relevant substrates, can be also characterized by means of combined experimental-numerical tools elaborating data acquired by full-field measurement techniques. In this context, parameter identification procedures involve the repeated simulation of the laboratory or in situ tests by sophisticated and usually expensive non-linear analyses while, in some situation, reliable and accurate results would be required in real time. The effectiveness and the filtering capabilities of reduced models based on decomposition and interpolation techniques can be profitably used to meet these conflicting requirements. This communication intends to summarize some results recently achieved in this field by the author and her co-workers. The aim is to foster further interaction between engineering and mathematical communities.

Experimental and computing strategies in advanced material characterization problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bolzon, G.

2015-01-01

The mechanical characterization of materials relies more and more often on sophisticated experimental methods that permit to acquire a large amount of data and, contemporarily, to reduce the invasiveness of the tests. This evolution accompanies the growing demand of non-destructive diagnostic tools that assess the safety level of components in use in structures and infrastructures, for instance in the strategic energy sector. Advanced material systems and properties that are not amenable to traditional techniques, for instance thin layered structures and their adhesion on the relevant substrates, can be also characterized by means of combined experimental-numerical tools elaborating data acquired by full-field measurement techniques. In this context, parameter identification procedures involve the repeated simulation of the laboratory or in situ tests by sophisticated and usually expensive non-linear analyses while, in some situation, reliable and accurate results would be required in real time. The effectiveness and the filtering capabilities of reduced models based on decomposition and interpolation techniques can be profitably used to meet these conflicting requirements. This communication intends to summarize some results recently achieved in this field by the author and her co-workers. The aim is to foster further interaction between engineering and mathematical communities

An overview of experimental techniques developed during hydrogeological investigations at Reskajeage Quarry, Cornwall

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bolt, J.E.; Pascoe, D.M.; Watkins, V.M.B.

1991-09-01

In fractured rocks, the transport of dissolved radionuclides which may be released from the near-field of a radioactive waste repository will take place dominantly through the three dimensional network of fractures. Assessments of groundwater flow and radionuclide transport from an underground repository use continuum models, such as NAMMU, to predict radionuclide transport. To complement this approach, water flow and transport in fractured rock is being investigated at a more detailed level, using fracture network modelling. A test site, at Reskajeage Quarry in Cornwall, is currently being used to provide experimental data on flow and transport in fractured rock, to improve confidence in this modelling approach. This report describes the range of experimental techniques that have been used to obtain data on the positions, orientations and hydraulic properties of individual fractures in the slate. Also, brief descriptions of the design of a series of transport tests are given. The results of this work are described in a series of Nirex Safety Series Reports. (Author)

An overview of experimental techniques developed during hydrogeological investigations at Reskajeage Quarry, Cornwall

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bolt, J.E.; Pascoe, D.M.; Watkins, V.M.B.

1991-09-01

In fractured rocks, the transport of dissolved radionuclides which may be released from the near-field of a radioactive waste repository will take place dominantly through the three-dimensional network of fractures. Assessments of groundwater flow and radionuclide transport from an underground repository use continuum models, such as NAMMU, to predict radionuclide transport. To complement this approach, water flow and transport in fractured rock is being investigated at a more detailed level, using fracture network modelling. A test side, at Reskajeage Quarry in Cornwall, is currently being used to provide experimental data on flow and transport in fractured rock, to improve confidence in this modelling approach. This report describes the range of experimental techniques that have been used to obtain data on the positions, orientations and hydraulic properties of individual fractures in the slate. Also, brief descriptions of the design of a series of transport tests are given. The results of this work are described in a series of Nirex Safety Series Reports. (author)

Novel experimental measuring techniques required to provide data for CFD validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasser, H.-M.

2008-01-01

CFD code validation requires experimental data that characterize the distributions of parameters within large flow domains. On the other hand, the development of geometry-independent closure relations for CFD codes have to rely on instrumentation and experimental techniques appropriate for the phenomena that are to be modelled, which usually requires high spatial and time resolution. The paper reports about the use of wire-mesh sensors to study turbulent mixing processes in single-phase flow as well as to characterize the dynamics of the gas-liquid interface in a vertical pipe flow. Experiments at a pipe of a nominal diameter of 200 mm are taken as the basis for the development and test of closure relations describing bubble coalescence and break-up, interfacial momentum transfer and turbulence modulation for a multi-bubble-class model. This is done by measuring the evolution of the flow structure along the pipe. The transferability of the extended CFD code to more complicated 3D flow situations is assessed against measured data from tests involving two-phase flow around an asymmetric obstacle placed in a vertical pipe. The obstacle, a half-moon-shaped diaphragm, is movable in the direction of the pipe axis; this allows the 3D gas fraction field to be recorded without changing the sensor position. In the outlook, the pressure chamber of TOPFLOW is presented, which will be used as the containment for a test facility, in which experiments can be conducted in pressure equilibrium with the inner atmosphere of the tank. In this way, flow structures can be observed by optical means through large-scale windows even at pressures of up to 5 MPa. The so-called 'Diving Chamber' technology will be used for Pressurized Thermal Shock (PTS) tests. Finally, some important trends in instrumentation for multi-phase flows will be given. This includes the state-of-art of X-ray and gamma tomography, new multi-component wire-mesh sensors, and a discussion of the potential of other non

Novel experimental measuring techniques required to provide data for CFD validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasser, H.M.

2007-01-01

CFD code validation requires experimental data that characterize distributions of parameters within large flow domains. On the other hand, the development of geometry-independent closure relations for CFD codes have to rely on instrumentation and experimental techniques appropriate for the phenomena that are to be modelled, which usually requires high spatial and time resolution. The presentation reports about the use of wire-mesh sensors to study turbulent mixing processes in the single-phase flow as well as to characterize the dynamics of the gas-liquid interface in a vertical pipe flow. Experiments at a pipe of a nominal diameter of 200 mm are taken as the basis for the development and test of closure relations describing bubble coalescence and break-up, interfacial momentum transfer and turbulence modulation for a multi-bubble-class model. This is done by measuring the evolution of the flow structure along the pipe. The transferability of the extended CFD code to more complicated 3D flow situations is assessed against measured data from tests involving two-phase flow around an asymmetric obstacle placed in a vertical pipe. The obstacle, a half-moon-shaped diaphragm, is movable in the direction of the pipe axis; this allows the 3D gas fraction field to be recorded without changing the sensor position. In the outlook, the pressure chamber of TOPFLOW is presented, which will be used as the containment for a test facility, in which experiments can be conducted in pressure equilibrium with the inner atmosphere of the tank. In this way, flow structures can be observed by optical means through large-scale windows even at pressures of up to 5 MPa. The so-called 'Diving Chamber' technology will be used for Pressurized Thermal Shock (PTS) tests. Finally, some important trends in instrumentation for multi-phase flows will be given. This includes the state-of-art of X-ray and gamma tomography, new multi-component wire-mesh sensors, and a discussion of the potential of

Validation of transport models using additive flux minimization technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pankin, A. Y.; Kruger, S. E. [Tech-X Corporation, 5621 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, Colorado 80303 (United States); Groebner, R. J. [General Atomics, San Diego, California 92121 (United States); Hakim, A. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-0451 (United States); Kritz, A. H.; Rafiq, T. [Department of Physics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015 (United States)

2013-10-15

A new additive flux minimization technique is proposed for carrying out the verification and validation (V and V) of anomalous transport models. In this approach, the plasma profiles are computed in time dependent predictive simulations in which an additional effective diffusivity is varied. The goal is to obtain an optimal match between the computed and experimental profile. This new technique has several advantages over traditional V and V methods for transport models in tokamaks and takes advantage of uncertainty quantification methods developed by the applied math community. As a demonstration of its efficiency, the technique is applied to the hypothesis that the paleoclassical density transport dominates in the plasma edge region in DIII-D tokamak discharges. A simplified version of the paleoclassical model that utilizes the Spitzer resistivity for the parallel neoclassical resistivity and neglects the trapped particle effects is tested in this paper. It is shown that a contribution to density transport, in addition to the paleoclassical density transport, is needed in order to describe the experimental profiles. It is found that more additional diffusivity is needed at the top of the H-mode pedestal, and almost no additional diffusivity is needed at the pedestal bottom. The implementation of this V and V technique uses the FACETS::Core transport solver and the DAKOTA toolkit for design optimization and uncertainty quantification. The FACETS::Core solver is used for advancing the plasma density profiles. The DAKOTA toolkit is used for the optimization of plasma profiles and the computation of the additional diffusivity that is required for the predicted density profile to match the experimental profile.

Validation of transport models using additive flux minimization technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pankin, A. Y.; Kruger, S. E.; Groebner, R. J.; Hakim, A.; Kritz, A. H.; Rafiq, T.

2013-01-01

A new additive flux minimization technique is proposed for carrying out the verification and validation (V and V) of anomalous transport models. In this approach, the plasma profiles are computed in time dependent predictive simulations in which an additional effective diffusivity is varied. The goal is to obtain an optimal match between the computed and experimental profile. This new technique has several advantages over traditional V and V methods for transport models in tokamaks and takes advantage of uncertainty quantification methods developed by the applied math community. As a demonstration of its efficiency, the technique is applied to the hypothesis that the paleoclassical density transport dominates in the plasma edge region in DIII-D tokamak discharges. A simplified version of the paleoclassical model that utilizes the Spitzer resistivity for the parallel neoclassical resistivity and neglects the trapped particle effects is tested in this paper. It is shown that a contribution to density transport, in addition to the paleoclassical density transport, is needed in order to describe the experimental profiles. It is found that more additional diffusivity is needed at the top of the H-mode pedestal, and almost no additional diffusivity is needed at the pedestal bottom. The implementation of this V and V technique uses the FACETS::Core transport solver and the DAKOTA toolkit for design optimization and uncertainty quantification. The FACETS::Core solver is used for advancing the plasma density profiles. The DAKOTA toolkit is used for the optimization of plasma profiles and the computation of the additional diffusivity that is required for the predicted density profile to match the experimental profile

Acquiring, recording, and analyzing pathology data from experimental mice: an overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Scudamore, Cheryl L

2014-03-21

Pathology is often underutilized as an end point in mouse studies in academic research because of a lack of experience and expertise. The use of traditional pathology techniques including necropsy and microscopic analysis can be useful in identifying the basic processes underlying a phenotype and facilitating comparison with equivalent human diseases. This overview aims to provide a guide and reference to the acquisition, recording, and analysis of high-quality pathology data from experimental mice in an academic research setting. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Segmental Refinement: A Multigrid Technique for Data Locality

KAUST Repository

Adams, Mark F.; Brown, Jed; Knepley, Matt; Samtaney, Ravi

2016-01-01

We investigate a domain decomposed multigrid technique, termed segmental refinement, for solving general nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems. We extend the method first proposed in 1994 by analytically and experimentally investigating its complexity. We confirm that communication of traditional parallel multigrid is eliminated on fine grids, with modest amounts of extra work and storage, while maintaining the asymptotic exactness of full multigrid. We observe an accuracy dependence on the segmental refinement subdomain size, which was not considered in the original analysis. We present a communication complexity analysis that quantifies the communication costs ameliorated by segmental refinement and report performance results with up to 64K cores on a Cray XC30.

Segmental Refinement: A Multigrid Technique for Data Locality

KAUST Repository

Adams, Mark F.

2016-08-04

We investigate a domain decomposed multigrid technique, termed segmental refinement, for solving general nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems. We extend the method first proposed in 1994 by analytically and experimentally investigating its complexity. We confirm that communication of traditional parallel multigrid is eliminated on fine grids, with modest amounts of extra work and storage, while maintaining the asymptotic exactness of full multigrid. We observe an accuracy dependence on the segmental refinement subdomain size, which was not considered in the original analysis. We present a communication complexity analysis that quantifies the communication costs ameliorated by segmental refinement and report performance results with up to 64K cores on a Cray XC30.

A fast image reconstruction technique based on ART

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Shunli; Zhang Dinghua; Wang Kai; Huang Kuidong; Li Weibin

2007-01-01

Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (ART) is an iterative method for image reconstruction. Improving its reconstruction speed has been one of the important researching aspects of ART. For the simplified weight coefficients reconstruction model of ART, a fast grid traverse algorithm is proposed, which can determine the grid index by simple operations such as addition, subtraction and comparison. Since the weight coefficients are calculated at real time during iteration, large amount of storage is saved and the reconstruction speed is greatly increased. Experimental results show that the new algorithm is very effective and the reconstruction speed is improved about 10 times compared with the traditional algorithm. (authors)

Three Plays by Austin Clarke and the Commedia Tradition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Murray

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Commedia dell’arte influenced theatrical production styles in many European countries, Ireland being no exception, assimilating the influence through pantomime during colonial times. The drama of Austin Clarke (1896-1974 is usually examined in the context of Yeats’s plays and modern poetic drama. But among his plays are three little-known experimental pieces, The Kiss, The Second Kiss and The Third Kiss, which make use of four characters from the wider commedia tradition, Harlequin, Columbine, Pierrot and Pierrette and also self-consciously exploit the possibilities of romance, mischief and the carnivalesque for Clarke’s own poetic purposes. The aim of this essay is to show how Clarke’s use for his Lyric Theatre of themes and techniques derived from commedia dell’arte represents both a tribute to a specific international form and a critique in satirical terms of hypocrisies underlying Irish bourgeois society in the 1940s and after.

COMPARi\\ TIVE STUDIES OF TRADITIONAL (NON-ENERG\\T

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2012-12-19

Dec 19, 2012 ... more energy and utilities cost than the traditional energy technique. . " ' .... ,. Keywords: ... An additional major advantage of the Pinch approach is that ... modification before embarking on actual implementation.(Adefila, I 994}.

African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Therapeutic potential of Gnidia capitata L.F.: investigations on its ... Lawsone inhibits cell growth and improves the efficacy of cisplatin in SKOV-3 ovarian cancer cell lines · EMAIL ... experimental immunesuppression in Wistar rats: biological and molecular ... Mechanisms of action of traditional herbal medicines used in the ...

Traditional boat-building and navigational techniques of southern Orissa

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Tripati, S.

of the region. No written records on ancient boatbuilding and navigational aids of the region are available for the reconstruction of the technique of boat-building. Boats of this area have been classified into two categories, namely planked and log boats...

Profile and birthing practices of Maranao traditional birth attendants.

Science.gov (United States)

Maghuyop-Butalid, Roselyn; Mayo, Norhanifa A; Polangi, Hania T

2015-01-01

This study determined the profile and birthing practices in both modern and traditional ways among Maranao traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in Lanao del Norte, Philippines. It employed a descriptive research design. The respondents were 50 Maranao TBAs selected through the snowball sampling technique. A questionnaire was developed by the researchers to identify the respondents' modern birthing practices utilizing the Essential Intrapartum and Newborn Care (EINC) Protocol. To determine their profile and traditional birthing practices, items from a previous study and the respondents' personal claims were adapted. This study shows that Maranao TBAs have less compliance to the EINC Protocol and they often practice the traditional birthing interventions, thus increasing the risk of complications to both mother and newborn.

Technique development for modulus, microcracking, hermeticity, and coating evaluation capability characterization of SiC/SiC tubes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu, Xunxiang [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Ang, Caen K. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Singh, Gyanender P. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Katoh, Yutai [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2016-08-01

Driven by the need to enlarge the safety margins of nuclear fission reactors in accident scenarios, research and development of accident-tolerant fuel has become an important topic in the nuclear engineering and materials community. A continuous-fiber SiC/SiC composite is under consideration as a replacement for traditional zirconium alloy cladding owing to its high-temperature stability, chemical inertness, and exceptional irradiation resistance. An important task is the development of characterization techniques for SiC/SiC cladding, since traditional work using rectangular bars or disks cannot directly provide useful information on the properties of SiC/SiC composite tubes for fuel cladding applications. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, experimental capabilities are under development to characterize the modulus, microcracking, and hermeticity of as-fabricated, as-irradiated SiC/SiC composite tubes. Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy has been validated as a promising technique to evaluate the elastic properties of SiC/SiC composite tubes and microcracking within the material. A similar technique, impulse excitation, is efficient in determining the basic mechanical properties of SiC bars prepared by chemical vapor deposition; it also has potential for application in studying the mechanical properties of SiC/SiC composite tubes. Complete evaluation of the quality of the developed coatings, a major mitigation strategy against gas permeation and hydrothermal corrosion, requires the deployment of various experimental techniques, such as scratch indentation, tensile pulling-off tests, and scanning electron microscopy. In addition, a comprehensive permeation test station is being established to assess the hermeticity of SiC/SiC composite tubes and to determine the H/D/He permeability of SiC/SiC composites. This report summarizes the current status of the development of these experimental capabilities.

Precision Learning Assessment: An Alternative to Traditional Assessment Techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Caltagirone, Paul J.; Glover, Christopher E.

1985-01-01

A continuous and curriculum-based assessment method, Precision Learning Assessment (PLA), which integrates precision teaching and norm-referenced techniques, was applied to a math computation curriculum for 214 third graders. The resulting districtwide learning curves defining average annual progress through the computation curriculum provided…

Active and Non-Active Volumetric Information Spaces to Supplement Traditional Rehabilitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brooks, Anthony Lewis

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to inform on findings from a mature body of research titled SoundScapes. The goal was to define, create and question sensor-based ICT systems, techniques and methods to supplement traditional rehabilitation. Following initial biofeedback/sensorimotor tests, a noninvas......The purpose of this paper is to inform on findings from a mature body of research titled SoundScapes. The goal was to define, create and question sensor-based ICT systems, techniques and methods to supplement traditional rehabilitation. Following initial biofeedback/sensorimotor tests...

Review of nuclear data improvement needs for nuclear radiation measurement techniques used at the CEA experimental reactor facilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Destouches Christophe

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The constant improvement of the neutron and gamma calculation codes used in experimental nuclear reactors goes hand in hand with that of the associated nuclear data libraries. The validation of these calculation schemes always requires the confrontation with integral experiments performed in experimental reactors to be completed. Nuclear data of interest, straight as cross sections, or elaborated ones such as reactivity, are always derived from a reaction rate measurement which is the only measurable parameter in a nuclear sensor. So, in order to derive physical parameters from the electric signal of the sensor, one needs specific nuclear data libraries. This paper presents successively the main features of the measurement techniques used in the CEA experimental reactor facilities for the on-line and offline neutron/gamma flux characterizations: reactor dosimetry, neutron flux measurements with miniature fission chambers and Self Power Neutron Detector (SPND and gamma flux measurements with chamber ionization and TLD. For each technique, the nuclear data necessary for their interpretation will be presented, the main identified needs for improvement identified and an analysis of their impact on the quality of the measurement. Finally, a synthesis of the study will be done.

Experimental study of natural two-phase flow circulation using a visualization technique; Estudo experimental da circulacao natural bifasica utilizando uma tecnica de visualizacao

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vinhas, Pedro A.M., E-mail: Pedro_mvinhas@poli.ufrj.br [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Nuclear; Faccini, Jose L.H., E-mail: faccini@ien.gov.br [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Su, Jian, E-mail: sujian@lasme.coppe.ufrj.br [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-Graduacao em Engenharia (COPPE/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Programa de Engenharia Nuclear

2013-07-01

This paper presents an experimental study of natural two-phase flow in a circuit that simulates, on a smaller scale, a typical residual heat removal system of passive reactors APWR (Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor). The circuit was formed by a heater, a heat exchanger and piping. The experimental study was the application of a visualization technique, using a high speed camera, for measuring the size and speed of vapor bubbles generated in the heater with different power heating. The camera was positioned in the central region of the pipe connecting the heater to the heat exchanger, where there is a clear passage. The flow of images were processed and analyzed using commercial software that allowed the determination of the length and velocity of the bubbles. The results were then compared with correlations available in literature.

The ``hydro-wired``: more than a technique, a global concept; ``L`hydrocable``: plus qu`une technique, un concept global

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

1998-09-01

The ``hydro-wired`` technique consists in the use of small diameter synthetic pipes for the water supply of hot or cold water to space heating or cooling appliances. This new technique has several advantages regarding the thermal comfort and the realization of installations. However cares must be taken during the application of this technique and the design of installations. This paper describes: the French potential market for this technique (heating and cooling floors, traditional heating, sanitary hot water distribution), the characteristics of this technique with respect to traditional techniques (the sheathing of pipes, the specificities of the `octopus`-type distribution), and the design of installations (the different steps: preliminary thermal analysis, realization, start-up and tests). (J.S.)

Double 90 Degrees Counterrotated End-to-End-Anastomosis: An Experimental Study of an Intestinal Anastomosis Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Holzner, Philipp; Kulemann, Birte; Seifert, Gabriel; Glatz, Torben; Chikhladze, Sophia; Höppner, Jens; Hopt, Ulrich; Timme, Sylvia; Bronsert, Peter; Sick, Olivia; Zhou, Cheng; Marjanovic, Goran

2015-06-01

The aim of the article is to investigate a new anastomotic technique compared with standardized intestinal anastomotic procedures. A total of 32 male Wistar rats were randomized to three groups. In the Experimental Group (n = 10), the new double 90 degrees inversely rotated anastomosis was used, in the End Group (n = 10) a single-layer end-to-end anastomosis, and in the Side Group (n = 12) a single-layer side-to-side anastomosis. All anastomoses were done using interrupted sutures. On postoperative day 4, rats were relaparotomized. Bursting pressure, hydroxyproline concentration, a semiquantitative adhesion score and two histological anastomotic healing scores (mucosal healing according to Chiu and overall anastomotic healing according to Verhofstad) were collected. Most data are presented as median (range). p < 0.05 was considered significant. Anastomotic insufficiency occurred only in one rat of the Side Group. Median bursting pressure in the Experimental Group was 105 mm Hg (range = 72-161 mm Hg), significantly higher in the End Group (164 mm Hg; range = 99-210 mm Hg; p = 0.021) and lower in the Side Group by trend (81 mm Hg; range = 59-122 mm Hg; p = 0.093). Hydroxyproline concentration did not differ significantly in between the groups. The adhesion score was 2.5 (range = 1-3) in the Experimental Group, 2 (range = 1-2) in the End Group, but there were significantly more adhesions in the Side Group (range = 3-4); p = 0.020 versus Experimental Group, p < 0.001 versus End Group. The Chiu Score showed the worst mucosal healing in the Experimental Group. The overall Verhofstad Score was significantly worse (mean = 2.032; standard deviation [SD] = 0.842) p = 0.031 and p = 0.002 in the Experimental Group, compared with the Side Group (mean = 1.729; SD = 0.682) and the End Group (mean = 1.571; SD = 0.612). The new anastomotic technique is feasible and did not show any relevant complication. Even though it was superior to the side-to-side anastomosis by trend with

Profile and birthing practices of Maranao traditional birth attendants

OpenAIRE

Maghuyop-Butalid, Roselyn; Mayo, Norhanifa A; Polangi, Hania T

2015-01-01

Roselyn Maghuyop-Butalid, Norhanifa A Mayo, Hania T Polangi College of Nursing, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Iligan City, Philippines Abstract: This study determined the profile and birthing practices in both modern and traditional ways among Maranao traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in Lanao del Norte, Philippines. It employed a descriptive research design. The respondents were 50 Maranao TBAs selected through the snowball sampling technique. A quest...

Machine-learning techniques applied to antibacterial drug discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Durrant, Jacob D; Amaro, Rommie E

2015-01-01

The emergence of drug-resistant bacteria threatens to revert humanity back to the preantibiotic era. Even now, multidrug-resistant bacterial infections annually result in millions of hospital days, billions in healthcare costs, and, most importantly, tens of thousands of lives lost. As many pharmaceutical companies have abandoned antibiotic development in search of more lucrative therapeutics, academic researchers are uniquely positioned to fill the pipeline. Traditional high-throughput screens and lead-optimization efforts are expensive and labor intensive. Computer-aided drug-discovery techniques, which are cheaper and faster, can accelerate the identification of novel antibiotics, leading to improved hit rates and faster transitions to preclinical and clinical testing. The current review describes two machine-learning techniques, neural networks and decision trees, that have been used to identify experimentally validated antibiotics. We conclude by describing the future directions of this exciting field. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Experimental techniques of conversion coefficient measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamilton, J.H.

1975-01-01

Discusses briefly the history of conversion electron spectra measurements, and the interpretation of the collected data. Then provides a comprehensive review of techniques presently available to measure the conversion coefficients. (Auth.)

Enhancing the Lecture: Revitalizing the Traditional Format.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonwell, Charles C.

1996-01-01

The traditional lecture format of college courses can be enhanced by including active learning designed to further course goals of learning knowledge, developing skills, or fostering attitudes. Techniques suggested include using pauses, short writing periods, think-pair-share activities, formative quizzes, lecture summaries, and several assessment…

An experimental technique for the modelling of air flow movements in nuclear plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ainsworth, R.W.; Hallas, N.J.

1986-01-01

This paper describes an experimental technique developed at Harwell to model ventilation flows in plant at 1/5th scale. The technique achieves dynamic similarity not only for forced convection imposed by the plant ventilation system, but also for the interaction between natural convection (from heated objects) and forced convection. The use of a scale model to study flow of fluids is a well established technique, relying upon various criteria, expressed in terms of dimensionless numbers, to achieve dynamic similarity. For forced convective flows, simulation of Reynolds number is sufficient, but to model natural convection and its interaction with forced convection, the Rayleigh, Grashof and Prandtl numbers must be simulated at the same time. This paper describes such a technique, used in experiments on a hypothetical glove box cell to study the interaction between forced and natural convection. The model contained features typically present in a cell, such as a man, motor, stairs, glove box, etc. The aim of the experiment was to study the overall flow patterns, especially around the model man 'working' at the glove box. The cell ventilation was theoretically designed to produce a downward flow over the face of the man working at the glove box. However, the results have shown that the flow velocities produced an upwards flow over the face of the man. The work has indicated the viability of modelling simultaneously the forced and natural convection processes in a cell. It has also demonstrated that simplistic assumptions cannot be made about ventilation flow patterns. (author)

[Clinical effects of micro-implant and traditional anchorage in orthodontic treatments].

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, Yi; Zhou, Hua-Jie; Wu, Jian-Hua

2017-06-01

To analyze the value of micro-implant and traditional anchorage in the treatment of malocclusion. From Jan 2015 to Jan 2016, 20 cases with malocclusion were randomly divided into control group(10) and experimental group (10). A comparison was conducted between the control group, in which traditional anchorage was used and the experimental group, in which micro-implant anchorage was adopted. The data were analyzed with SPSS 17.0 software package. There was significant difference of U1-NA, L1-NB, U1-APg, U6-PtPNS between the 2 groups(PMicro-implant anchorage can improve overjet relation of the anterior teeth and effect of orthodontic treatment.

Hypnosis, suggestions, and altered states of consciousness: experimental evaluation of the new cognitive-behavioral theory and the traditional trance-state theory of "hypnosis".

Science.gov (United States)

Barber, T X; Wilson, S C

1977-10-07

Sixty-six subjects were tested on a new scale for evaluating "hypnotic-like" experiences (The Creative Imagination Scale), which includes ten standardized test-suggestions (e.g. suggestions for arm heaviness, finger anesthesia, time distortion, and age regression). The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups (Think-With Instructions, trance induction, and Control), with 22 subjects to each group. The new Cognitive-Behavioral Theory predicted that subjects exposed to preliminary instructions designed to demonstrate how to think and imagine along with the suggested themes (Think-With Instructions) would be more responsive to test-suggestions for anesthesia, time distortion, age regression, and so on, than subjects exposed to a trance-induction procedure. On the other hand, the traditional Trance State Theory predicted that a trance induction would be more effective than Think-With Instructions in enhancing responses to such suggestions. Subjects exposed to the Think-With Instructions obtained significantly higher scores on the test-suggestions than those exposed either to the traditional trance-induction procedure or to the control treatment. Scores of subjects who received the trance-induction procedure were not significantly different from those of the subjects who received the control treatment. The results thus supported the new Cognitive-Behavioral Theory and contradicted the traditional Trance State Theory of hypnosis. Two recent experiments, by De Stefano and by Katz, confirmed the above experimental results and offered further support for the Cognitive-Behavioral Theory. In both recent experiments, subjects randomly assigned to a "Think-With Instructions" treatment were more responsive to test-suggestions than those randomly assigned to a traditional trance-induction treatment.

Impact of Innovation on Consumers Liking and Willingness to Pay for Traditional Sausages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Żakowska-Biemans Sylwia

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The main objective of the study was to evaluate Polish consumers’ liking and willingness to pay for innovations in traditional sausages “Kabanos”. The study also attempted to determine whether regional differences may influence acceptance of innovations and the willingness to pay for such products. As both sensory factors and prices are important in food choice decisions, the methodological approach combined hedonic liking and experimental auctions. The study involved 221 consumers of traditional pork sausages who evaluated intrinsic and extrinsic product attributes in blind (tasting only, expectancy (product information only and fully informed (tasting and product information experimental conditions. The results show that acceptance of innovation in traditional sausages is determined by the type of innovation proposed. Innovation related to extrinsic attributes like packaging i.e. biodegradable packaging seem to be the most welcome regardless experimental conditions while innovations improving healthiness of traditional sausages but violating their sensory properties i.e. lower salt level tend to be disapproved. There are regional differences observed in acceptance and willingness to pay for innovative variants of Kabanos. In general, consumers in Warsaw are more inclined to pay more for innovative variants of Kabanos than consumers in Cracow. Participants from the two regions had also different hedonic reactions towards organic and spicy variant of Kabanos. Prior research concerning acceptance of innovation in traditional food products in Poland is scarce. Therefore, such information is particularly pertinent to SMEs and distributors operating in traditional food sector to support innovation and development of adequate communication strategies.

Intravenous catheter training system: computer-based education versus traditional learning methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Engum, Scott A; Jeffries, Pamela; Fisher, Lisa

2003-07-01

Virtual reality simulators allow trainees to practice techniques without consequences, reduce potential risk associated with training, minimize animal use, and help to develop standards and optimize procedures. Current intravenous (IV) catheter placement training methods utilize plastic arms, however, the lack of variability can diminish the educational stimulus for the student. This study compares the effectiveness of an interactive, multimedia, virtual reality computer IV catheter simulator with a traditional laboratory experience of teaching IV venipuncture skills to both nursing and medical students. A randomized, pretest-posttest experimental design was employed. A total of 163 participants, 70 baccalaureate nursing students and 93 third-year medical students beginning their fundamental skills training were recruited. The students ranged in age from 20 to 55 years (mean 25). Fifty-eight percent were female and 68% percent perceived themselves as having average computer skills (25% declaring excellence). The methods of IV catheter education compared included a traditional method of instruction involving a scripted self-study module which involved a 10-minute videotape, instructor demonstration, and hands-on-experience using plastic mannequin arms. The second method involved an interactive multimedia, commercially made computer catheter simulator program utilizing virtual reality (CathSim). The pretest scores were similar between the computer and the traditional laboratory group. There was a significant improvement in cognitive gains, student satisfaction, and documentation of the procedure with the traditional laboratory group compared with the computer catheter simulator group. Both groups were similar in their ability to demonstrate the skill correctly. CONCLUSIONS; This evaluation and assessment was an initial effort to assess new teaching methodologies related to intravenous catheter placement and their effects on student learning outcomes and behaviors

Persian fencing techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani

2012-07-01

Full Text Available There are numerous manuscripts, poems and stories that describe, specifically and in detail, the different techniques used in Persian swordsmanship. The present article explains the origins and the techniques of Persian swordsmanship. The article also describes the traditional code of conduct for Persian warriors. Additionally, it describes an array of techniques that were deployed in actual combat in Iran’s history. Some of these techniques are represented via the miniatures that are reproduced herein. This is the first article on Persian swordsmanship published in any periodical.

An Introduction to Experimental Design Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cash, Philip; Stanković, Tino; Štorga, Mario

2016-01-01

Design research brings together influences from the whole gamut of social, psychological, and more technical sciences to create a tradition of empirical study stretching back over 50 years (Horvath 2004; Cross 2007). A growing part of this empirical tradition is experimental, which has gained in ...

Laparoscopic cystostomy in pigs: Technique and comparison with traditional open cystostomy for surgical stress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hua Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Cystostomy is a common procedure in veterinary surgery. We describe a technique for laparoscopic cystostomy (LC group; n = 7 in Bama miniature pigs and compare the surgical stress induced by this procedure to open cystostomy (OC group; n = 7. A three-portal approach was used for laparoscopic cystostomy. First, we placed 2 simple interrupted sutures between the ventral body wall and urinary bladder. Then, a purse-string suture was placed in the urinary bladder wall, approximately 1 cm cranially to the two sutures. A stab incision was made at the center of the purse-string suture and a 12-F Foley catheter advanced into the urinary bladder; the suture was then pulled tightly and tied. Again, two interrupted sutures were placed 1 cm cranially to the catheter, between the ventral body wall and the bladder, to establish cystopexy. The extracorporeal portion of the catheter was fixed to the skin by a finger-trap suture. Blood samples were collected to measure the white blood cell count and serum concentrations of cortisol, interleukin-6, and C-reactive protein; follow-up laparoscopy was performed 1 month after the surgery. Laparoscopic cystotomy was successfully performed in all the pigs; the mean operating time was 43 ± 5 min. The levels of the stress markers reflected a lower stress response for LC than OC. Thus, LC appears to be better than OC both in terms of technique and physiological responses elicited, and may be more suitable than OC in the creation of experimental animal models for investigations on urinary diseases and those requiring diversion of urine flow.

Maytenus heterophylla and Maytenus senegalensis, two traditional herbal medicines

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva, G.; Serrano, R.; Silva, O.

2011-01-01

Maytenus heterophylla (Eckl. and Zeyh.) N.K.B. Robson and Maytenus senegalensis (Lam.) Exell are two African shrubs or trees that go under the common name of spike thorn, which belong to the Celastraceae family. Different plant parts of this species are largely used in traditional medicine for infectious and inflammatory diseases treatment. Several studies have been reported for both these species, but there are no recent review articles focusing microscopic, phytochemistry and pharmacological studies. The aim of this review is to summarize the information about these two African traditional medicines. Such kind of data can be applied in future experimental work and may guide future studies, namely in the field of validation of traditional medicine. PMID:22470236

Maytenus heterophylla and Maytenus senegalensis, two traditional herbal medicines.

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva, G; Serrano, R; Silva, O

2011-01-01

Maytenus heterophylla (Eckl. and Zeyh.) N.K.B. Robson and Maytenus senegalensis (Lam.) Exell are two African shrubs or trees that go under the common name of spike thorn, which belong to the Celastraceae family. Different plant parts of this species are largely used in traditional medicine for infectious and inflammatory diseases treatment. Several studies have been reported for both these species, but there are no recent review articles focusing microscopic, phytochemistry and pharmacological studies. The aim of this review is to summarize the information about these two African traditional medicines. Such kind of data can be applied in future experimental work and may guide future studies, namely in the field of validation of traditional medicine.

An experimental investigation of heat transfer enhancement in minichannel: Combination of nanofluid and micro fin structure techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Ji; Diao, Yanhua; Zhao, Yaohua

2017-01-01

This work experimentally studied the single-phase heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics by using two heat transfer enhancement techniques (micro fin structure and nanofluids) in multiport minichannel flat tube (MMFT). MMFT consisted of numerous parallel rectangular minichannels...... and is widely used in industry as the heat transfer unit of a heat exchanger. Firstly, the enhanced heat transfer performances by individually using one enhancement technique were investigated by testing Nusselt number, friction factor and performance evaluation criterion (PEC). In this section, five MMFTs...... with different micro fin numbers (N = 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4) and nanofluids with three volume concentrations (φ = 0.005%, 0.01% and 0.1%) were used as test sections and working fluids respectively. Secondly, the experiments using two combined enhancement technique were performed. By using conjunctively two...

Biometric feature embedding using robust steganography technique

Science.gov (United States)

Rashid, Rasber D.; Sellahewa, Harin; Jassim, Sabah A.

2013-05-01

This paper is concerned with robust steganographic techniques to hide and communicate biometric data in mobile media objects like images, over open networks. More specifically, the aim is to embed binarised features extracted using discrete wavelet transforms and local binary patterns of face images as a secret message in an image. The need for such techniques can arise in law enforcement, forensics, counter terrorism, internet/mobile banking and border control. What differentiates this problem from normal information hiding techniques is the added requirement that there should be minimal effect on face recognition accuracy. We propose an LSB-Witness embedding technique in which the secret message is already present in the LSB plane but instead of changing the cover image LSB values, the second LSB plane will be changed to stand as a witness/informer to the receiver during message recovery. Although this approach may affect the stego quality, it is eliminating the weakness of traditional LSB schemes that is exploited by steganalysis techniques for LSB, such as PoV and RS steganalysis, to detect the existence of secrete message. Experimental results show that the proposed method is robust against PoV and RS attacks compared to other variants of LSB. We also discussed variants of this approach and determine capacity requirements for embedding face biometric feature vectors while maintain accuracy of face recognition.

Modeling NIF experimental designs with adaptive mesh refinement and Lagrangian hydrodynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Koniges, A. E.; Anderson, R. W.; Wang, P.; Gunney, B. T. N.; Becker, R.; Eder, D. C.; MacGowan, B. J.; Schneider, M. B.

2006-06-01

Incorporation of adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) into Lagrangian hydrodynamics algorithms allows for the creation of a highly powerful simulation tool effective for complex target designs with three-dimensional structure. We are developing an advanced modeling tool that includes AMR and traditional arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) techniques. Our goal is the accurate prediction of vaporization, disintegration and fragmentation in National Ignition Facility (NIF) experimental target elements. Although our focus is on minimizing the generation of shrapnel in target designs and protecting the optics, the general techniques are applicable to modern advanced targets that include three-dimensional effects such as those associated with capsule fill tubes. Several essential computations in ordinary radiation hydrodynamics need to be redesigned in order to allow for AMR to work well with ALE, including algorithms associated with radiation transport. Additionally, for our goal of predicting fragmentation, we include elastic/plastic flow into our computations. We discuss the integration of these effects into a new ALE-AMR simulation code. Applications of this newly developed modeling tool as well as traditional ALE simulations in two and three dimensions are applied to NIF early-light target designs.

Modeling NIF Experimental Designs with Adaptive Mesh Refinement and Lagrangian Hydrodynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koniges, A E; Anderson, R W; Wang, P; Gunney, B N; Becker, R; Eder, D C; MacGowan, B J

2005-01-01

Incorporation of adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) into Lagrangian hydrodynamics algorithms allows for the creation of a highly powerful simulation tool effective for complex target designs with three-dimensional structure. We are developing an advanced modeling tool that includes AMR and traditional arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) techniques. Our goal is the accurate prediction of vaporization, disintegration and fragmentation in National Ignition Facility (NIF) experimental target elements. Although our focus is on minimizing the generation of shrapnel in target designs and protecting the optics, the general techniques are applicable to modern advanced targets that include three-dimensional effects such as those associated with capsule fill tubes. Several essential computations in ordinary radiation hydrodynamics need to be redesigned in order to allow for AMR to work well with ALE, including algorithms associated with radiation transport. Additionally, for our goal of predicting fragmentation, we include elastic/plastic flow into our computations. We discuss the integration of these effects into a new ALE-AMR simulation code. Applications of this newly developed modeling tool as well as traditional ALE simulations in two and three dimensions are applied to NIF early-light target designs

Modeling Nif experimental designs with adaptive mesh refinement and Lagrangian hydrodynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koniges, A.E.; Anderson, R.W.; Wang, P.; Gunney, B.T.N.; Becker, R.; Eder, D.C.; MacGowan, B.J.; Schneider, M.B.

2006-01-01

Incorporation of adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) into Lagrangian hydrodynamics algorithms allows for the creation of a highly powerful simulation tool effective for complex target designs with three-dimensional structure. We are developing an advanced modeling tool that includes AMR and traditional arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) techniques. Our goal is the accurate prediction of vaporization, disintegration and fragmentation in National Ignition Facility (NIF) experimental target elements. Although our focus is on minimizing the generation of shrapnel in target designs and protecting the optics, the general techniques are applicable to modern advanced targets that include three-dimensional effects such as those associated with capsule fill tubes. Several essential computations in ordinary radiation hydrodynamics need to be redesigned in order to allow for AMR to work well with ALE, including algorithms associated with radiation transport. Additionally, for our goal of predicting fragmentation, we include elastic/plastic flow into our computations. We discuss the integration of these effects into a new ALE-AMR simulation code. Applications of this newly developed modeling tool as well as traditional ALE simulations in two and three dimensions are applied to NIF early-light target designs. (authors)

Mangghuer Embroidery: A Vanishing Tradition

OpenAIRE

Aila Pullinen

2015-01-01

Aila Pullinen. 2015. Mangghuer Embroidery: A Vanishing Tradition IN Gerald Roche and CK Stuart (eds) Asian Highlands Perspectives 36: Mapping the Monguor, 178-188, 301-332. Visits were undertaken in the years 2001 and 2002 to Minhe Hui and Mangghuer (Tu) Autonomous County, Haidong Municipality, Qinghai Province, China to research and document Mangghuer embroidery. This research is summarized in terms of the history of Mangghuer embroidery, tools and materials, embroidery techniques, embr...

Experimental determination of nuclear reaction rates (n,γ) by the gamma-rays capture spectrometry technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lucatero, M.A.

1976-01-01

The technique of the gamma-rays capture spectrometry was used in the experimental determination of nuclear reaction rates of the type (n,γ). This technique consists in the incidence of a thermal neutrons collimated beam upon a sample, detecting the capture spectrum of gamma rays emitted at a solid fixed angle. In the determination of the efficiency curve intrinsic to the detection electronic system the reactions 199 Hg(n,γ) 200 Hg, 56 Fe(n,γ) 57 Fe and 63 Cu(n,γ) 64 Cu were used with the energy of the gamma rays capture of 5.976, 7.635 and 7.915 Mev respectively, through the irradiation of standard samples of Hg(175.3g), Fe(110.4g) and Cu(108.5g) of cylindrical geometry the two former and parallelepiped the latter. The problem concerning the corrections due to the thermal neutrons flux depression, the gammas auto-attenuation, and the geometric factor due to the cylindrical and parallelepiped geometry are involved in the data process. The experimental determination of the reaction 35 Cl(n,γ) 36 Cl rate was made through the observation of the gamma caputre of 6.111 Mev when a sample of CaCl 2 of cylindrical geometry was irradiated. This rate can be favorably compared with the reaction rate determined theoretically. (author)

A Technique for Real-Time Ionospheric Ranging Error Correction Based On Radar Dual-Frequency Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Jiang-Tao; Zhou, Chen

2017-12-01

Ionospheric refraction is one of the principal error sources for limiting the accuracy of radar systems for space target detection. High-accuracy measurement of the ionospheric electron density along the propagation path of radar wave is the most important procedure for the ionospheric refraction correction. Traditionally, the ionospheric model and the ionospheric detection instruments, like ionosonde or GPS receivers, are employed for obtaining the electron density. However, both methods are not capable of satisfying the requirements of correction accuracy for the advanced space target radar system. In this study, we propose a novel technique for ionospheric refraction correction based on radar dual-frequency detection. Radar target range measurements at two adjacent frequencies are utilized for calculating the electron density integral exactly along the propagation path of the radar wave, which can generate accurate ionospheric range correction. The implementation of radar dual-frequency detection is validated by a P band radar located in midlatitude China. The experimental results present that the accuracy of this novel technique is more accurate than the traditional ionospheric model correction. The technique proposed in this study is very promising for the high-accuracy radar detection and tracking of objects in geospace.

[Enlightenment of adverse reaction monitoring on safety evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines].

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Hai-bo; Du, Xiao-xi; Ren, Jing-tian; Yang, Le; Guo, Xiao-xin; Pang, Yu

2015-04-01

The adverse reaction monitoring is important in warning the risks of traditional Chinese medicines at an early stage, finding potential quality problems and ensuring the safe clinical medication. In the study, efforts were made to investigate the risk signal mining techniques in line with the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicines, particularly the complexity in component, processing, compatibility, preparation and clinical medication, find early risk signals of traditional Chinese medicines and establish a traditional Chinese medicine safety evaluation system based on adverse reaction risk signals, in order to improve the target studies on traditional Chinese medicine safety, effective and timely control risks and solve the existing frequent safety issue in traditional Chinese medicines.

Are we really measuring what we say we're measuring? Using video techniques to supplement traditional construct validation procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

Podsakoff, Nathan P; Podsakoff, Philip M; Mackenzie, Scott B; Klinger, Ryan L

2013-01-01

Several researchers have persuasively argued that the most important evidence to consider when assessing construct validity is whether variations in the construct of interest cause corresponding variations in the measures of the focal construct. Unfortunately, the literature provides little practical guidance on how researchers can go about testing this. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to describe how researchers can use video techniques to test whether their scales measure what they purport to measure. First, we discuss how researchers can develop valid manipulations of the focal construct that they hope to measure. Next, we explain how to design a study to use this manipulation to test the validity of the scale. Finally, comparing and contrasting traditional and contemporary perspectives on validation, we discuss the advantages and limitations of video-based validation procedures. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

The impact of business environment changes on recent costing techniques

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

林慧涓

2011-01-01

1.Introduction The acceleration of globalization and the prosperity of information technology benefit business a great deal.But with the speeding up of economic development,firms are facing more and more pressure from various aspects of their business.The heated debate is on about whether traditional management accounting practices and techniques are irrelevant to the current business environment and this essay will explore the causes for using some traditional management accounting practices and techniques in the current business environment are inappropriate and put forward some contemporary management accounting techniques which is relevant to the current business environment.Thus,the essay will be divided into three sections to discuss the traditional management accounting practices and techniques and contemporary management accounting techniques in current business environment.

Learning from complementary ways of developing experimental competences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natércia Maria LIMA

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Engineering education has solid needs of experimental competences development. Nowadays theses competences can be developed not only in traditional laboratories (hands on but also through the use of computer simulations and remote labs. The use of diversified methods in education and the exploration of new resources and techniques in classroom may allow teachers to motivate more students, and capture their attention due to their different learning styles.The main objective of this thesis project is to better understand the effects on the students’ learning outcomes in different contexts, when subject to similar design approaches using an enquiry-based teaching and learning methodology based on simultaneous use of experimental resources (hands on, simulation and remote labs together with calculus, in class and assessment. To accomplish this goal, several insights must be taken into consideration, including the teachers’ mediation in each case and the didactical implementations adaptations, but also external factors, such as socio-cultural and/or political factors.

Comparing the Titrations of Mixed-Acid Solutions Using Dropwise and Constant-Flow Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Charlesworth, Paul; Seguin, Matthew J.; Chesney, David J.

2003-11-01

A mixed-acid solution containing hydrochloric and phosphoric acids was used to determine the error associated with performing a real-time titration. The results were compared against those obtained by performing the titration in a more traditional dropwise addition of titrant near the equivalence points. It was found that the real-time techniques resulted in significantly decreased analysis times while maintaining a low experimental error. The constant-flow techniques were implemented into two different levels of chemistry. It was found that students could successfully utilize the modified experiments. Problems associated with the techniques, major sources of error, and their solutions are discussed. In both cases, the use of the constant-flow setup has increased student recollection of key concepts, such as pKa determination, proper indicator choice, and recognizing the shape of specific titration curves by increasing student interest in the experiment.

Just-in-time consent: The ethical case for an alternative to traditional informed consent in randomized trials comparing an experimental intervention with usual care.

Science.gov (United States)

Vickers, Andrew J; Young-Afat, Danny A; Ehdaie, Behfar; Kim, Scott Yh

2018-02-01

Informed consent for randomized trials often causes significant and persistent anxiety, distress and confusion to patients. Where an experimental treatment is compared to a standard care control, much of this burden is potentially avoidable in the control group. We propose a "just-in-time" consent in which consent discussions take place in two stages: an initial consent to research from all participants and a later specific consent to randomized treatment only from those assigned to the experimental intervention. All patients are first approached and informed about research procedures, such as questionnaires or tests. They are also informed that they might be randomly selected to receive an experimental treatment and that, if selected, they can learn more about the treatment and decide whether or not to accept it at that time. After randomization, control patients undergo standard clinical consent whereas patients randomized to the experimental procedure undergo a second consent discussion. Analysis would be by intent-to-treat, which protects the trial from selection bias, although not from poor acceptance of experimental treatment. The advantages of just-in-time consent stem from the fact that only patients randomized to the experimental treatment are subject to a discussion of that intervention. We hypothesize that this will reduce much of the patient's burden associated with the consent process, such as decisional anxiety, confusion and information overload. We recommend well-controlled studies to compare just-in-time and traditional consent, with endpoints to include characteristics of participants, distress and anxiety and participants' understanding of research procedures.

Profile and birthing practices of Maranao traditional birth attendants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maghuyop-Butalid R

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Roselyn Maghuyop-Butalid, Norhanifa A Mayo, Hania T Polangi College of Nursing, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Iligan City, Philippines Abstract: This study determined the profile and birthing practices in both modern and traditional ways among Maranao traditional birth attendants (TBAs in Lanao del Norte, Philippines. It employed a descriptive research design. The respondents were 50 Maranao TBAs selected through the snowball sampling technique. A questionnaire was developed by the researchers to identify the respondents’ modern birthing practices utilizing the Essential Intrapartum and Newborn Care (EINC Protocol. To determine their profile and traditional birthing practices, items from a previous study and the respondents’ personal claims were adapted. This study shows that Maranao TBAs have less compliance to the EINC Protocol and they often practice the traditional birthing interventions, thus increasing the risk of complications to both mother and newborn. Keywords: intrapartum and newborn care, modern birthing practices, traditional birthing practices 

Retort process modelling for Indian traditional foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Gokhale, S V; Lele, S S

2014-11-01

Indian traditional staple and snack food is typically a heterogeneous recipe that incorporates varieties of vegetables, lentils and other ingredients. Modelling the retorting process of multilayer pouch packed Indian food was achieved using lumped-parameter approach. A unified model is proposed to estimate cold point temperature. Initial process conditions, retort temperature and % solid content were the significantly affecting independent variables. A model was developed using combination of vegetable solids and water, which was then validated using four traditional Indian vegetarian products: Pulav (steamed rice with vegetables), Sambar (south Indian style curry containing mixed vegetables and lentils), Gajar Halawa (carrot based sweet product) and Upama (wheat based snack product). The predicted and experimental values of temperature profile matched with ±10 % error which is a good match considering the food was a multi component system. Thus the model will be useful as a tool to reduce number of trials required to optimize retorting of various Indian traditional vegetarian foods.

A general technique for confluence of calculational and experimental information with application to power distribution determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serov, I.V.; Hoogenboom, J.E.

1994-01-01

Physical quantities can be obtained by utilizing different informational sources. The available information is usually associated with systematic and statistical errors. If the informational sources are utilized simultaneously, then it is possible to obtain posterior estimates of the quantities with better statistical properties than exhibited by any prior estimates. The general technique for confluence of any number possibly dependent informational sources can be developed. Insight into the nature of the informational source allows different types of data associated with the source to be improved. The formulas of the technique are presented and applied to the power distribution determination for research reactor HOR of the Delft University of Technology, employing calculational and experimental data. (authors). 5 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs

Effect of an experimental zirconia-silica coating technique on micro tensile bond strength of zirconia in different priming conditions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chen, C.; Kleverlaan, C.J.; Feilzer, A.J.

2012-01-01

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the adhesive properties of a MDP-containing resin cement to a colored zirconia ceramic, using an experimental zirconia-silica coating technique with different priming conditions. Methods 18 zirconia ceramic discs (Cercon base colored) were divided into two

Reform of experimental teaching based on quality cultivation

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei; Yan, Xingwei; Liu, Wei; Yao, Tianfu; Shi, Jianhua; Lei, Bing; Hu, Haojun

2017-08-01

Experimental teaching plays an import part in quality education which devotes to cultivating students with innovative spirit, strong technological talents and practical ability. However, in the traditional experimental teaching mode, the experiments are treated as a vassal or supplementary mean of theoretical teaching, and students prefer focus on theory to practice. Therefore, the traditional experimental teaching mode is difficult to meet the requirements of quality education. To address this issue, the reform of experimental teaching is introduced in this paper taking the photoelectric detector experiment as the example. The new experimental teaching mode is designed from such aspects as experimental content, teaching method and experimental evaluation. With the purpose of cultivating students' practical ability, two different-level experimental content is designed. Not only the basic experiments used to verify the theory are set to consolidate the students' learned theoretical knowledge, but also comprehensive experiments are designed to encourage the students to apply their learned knowledge to solve practical problems. In the teaching process, heuristic teaching thought is adopt and the traditional `teacher-centered' teaching form is replaced by `student-centered' form, which aims to encourage students to design the experimental systems by their own with the teacher's guidance. In addition to depending on stimulating the students' interest of science research, experimental evaluation is necessary to urge students to complete the experiments efficiently. Multifaceted evaluation method is proposed to test the students' mastery of theoretical knowledge, practice ability, troubleshooting and problem solving skills, and innovation capability comprehensively. Practices demonstrated the satisfying effect of our experimental teaching mode.

The techniques of quality operations computational and experimental researches of the launch vehicles in the drawing-board stage

Science.gov (United States)

Rozhaeva, K.

2018-01-01

The aim of the researchis the quality operations of the design process at the stage of research works on the development of active on-Board system of the launch vehicles spent stages descent with liquid propellant rocket engines by simulating the gasification process of undeveloped residues of fuel in the tanks. The design techniques of the gasification process of liquid rocket propellant components residues in the tank to the expense of finding and fixing errors in the algorithm calculation to increase the accuracy of calculation results is proposed. Experimental modelling of the model liquid evaporation in a limited reservoir of the experimental stand, allowing due to the false measurements rejection based on given criteria and detected faults to enhance the results reliability of the experimental studies; to reduce the experiments cost.

Comparison of QuadrapolarTM radiofrequency lesions produced by standard versus modified technique: an experimental model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Safakish R

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Ramin Safakish Allevio Pain Management Clinic, Toronto, ON, Canada Abstract: Lower back pain (LBP is a global public health issue and is associated with substantial financial costs and loss of quality of life. Over the years, different literature has provided different statistics regarding the causes of the back pain. The following statistic is the closest estimation regarding our patient population. The sacroiliac (SI joint pain is responsible for LBP in 18%–30% of individuals with LBP. Quadrapolar™ radiofrequency ablation, which involves ablation of the nerves of the SI joint using heat, is a commonly used treatment for SI joint pain. However, the standard Quadrapolar radiofrequency procedure is not always effective at ablating all the sensory nerves that cause the pain in the SI joint. One of the major limitations of the standard Quadrapolar radiofrequency procedure is that it produces small lesions of ~4 mm in diameter. Smaller lesions increase the likelihood of failure to ablate all nociceptive input. In this study, we compare the standard Quadrapolar radiofrequency ablation technique to a modified Quadrapolar ablation technique that has produced improved patient outcomes in our clinic. The methodology of the two techniques are compared. In addition, we compare results from an experimental model comparing the lesion sizes produced by the two techniques. Taken together, the findings from this study suggest that the modified Quadrapolar technique provides longer lasting relief for the back pain that is caused by SI joint dysfunction. A randomized controlled clinical trial is the next step required to quantify the difference in symptom relief and quality of life produced by the two techniques. Keywords: lower back pain, radiofrequency ablation, sacroiliac joint, Quadrapolar radiofrequency ablation

Experimental models of brain ischemia: a review of techniques, magnetic resonance imaging and investigational cell-based therapies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandra eCanazza

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Stroke continues to be a significant cause of death and disability worldwide. Although major advances have been made in the past decades in prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, enormous challenges remain in the way of translating new therapeutic approaches from bench to bedside. Thrombolysis, while routinely used for ischemic stroke, is only a viable option within a narrow time window. Recently, progress in stem cell biology has opened up avenues to therapeutic strategies aimed at supporting and replacing neural cells in infarcted areas. Realistic experimental animal models are crucial to understand the mechanisms of neuronal survival following ischemic brain injury and to develop therapeutic interventions. Current studies on experimental stroke therapies evaluate the efficiency of neuroprotective agents and cell-based approaches using primarily rodent models of permanent or transient focal cerebral ischemia. In parallel, advancements in imaging techniques permit better mapping of the spatial-temporal evolution of the lesioned cortex and its functional responses. This review provides a condensed conceptual review of the state of the art of this field, from models and magnetic resonance imaging techniques through to stem cell therapies.

An experimental study of soil temperature regimes associated with solar disinfestation techniques under greenhouse conditions in Greece.

Science.gov (United States)

Garofalakis, I; Tsiros, I; Frangoudakis, A; Chronopoulos, K; Flouri, F

2006-01-01

This paper deals with an experimental study of various techniques that have been applied for soil disinfestation purposes under greenhouse conditions. Various meteorological parameters and soil temperatures were measured for four different experimental soil segments (three associated with different disinfestation techniques and one as a reference) at depths varying between 0-1 m and with a time interval of 5 min in a greenhouse located in the Agricultural University of Athens Campus, Greece. Results showed that plastic polyethylene films such as covers, metallic conductors or a combination of both were able to enhance heat transfer and temperature increase in greenhouse soil. For typical disinfestation conditions, the depth-averaged temperature values for plastic covers, metallic conductors, and the combination of both were found to be higher than those for the reference of about 5 degrees C, 12 degrees C and 15 micro C, respectively. Moreover, the remained population percentages 50 days after the initiation of the experiment were found to be 19.3%, 25.3%, 37.3% Kcat 94% of the initial population, for the combination of metallic conductors and plastic covers, metallic conductors, plastic cover, and for the reference, respectively.

Experimental validation of incomplete data CT image reconstruction techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eberhard, J.W.; Hsiao, M.L.; Tam, K.C.

1989-01-01

X-ray CT inspection of large metal parts is often limited by x-ray penetration problems along many of the ray paths required for a complete CT data set. In addition, because of the complex geometry of many industrial parts, manipulation difficulties often prevent scanning over some range of angles. CT images reconstructed from these incomplete data sets contain a variety of artifacts which limit their usefulness in part quality determination. Over the past several years, the authors' company has developed 2 new methods of incorporating a priori information about the parts under inspection to significantly improve incomplete data CT image quality. This work reviews the methods which were developed and presents experimental results which confirm the effectiveness of the techniques. The new methods for dealing with incomplete CT data sets rely on a priori information from part blueprints (in electronic form), outer boundary information from touch sensors, estimates of part outer boundaries from available x-ray data, and linear x-ray attenuation coefficients of the part. The two methods make use of this information in different fashions. The relative performance of the two methods in detecting various flaw types is compared. Methods for accurately registering a priori information with x-ray data are also described. These results are critical to a new industrial x-ray inspection cell built for inspection of large aircraft engine parts

Comparative Accuracy of Facial Models Fabricated Using Traditional and 3D Imaging Techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Lincoln, Ketu P; Sun, Albert Y T; Prihoda, Thomas J; Sutton, Alan J

2016-04-01

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the accuracy of facial models fabricated using facial moulage impression methods to the three-dimensional printed (3DP) fabrication methods using soft tissue images obtained from cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and 3D stereophotogrammetry (3D-SPG) scans. A reference phantom model was fabricated using a 3D-SPG image of a human control form with ten fiducial markers placed on common anthropometric landmarks. This image was converted into the investigation control phantom model (CPM) using 3DP methods. The CPM was attached to a camera tripod for ease of image capture. Three CBCT and three 3D-SPG images of the CPM were captured. The DICOM and STL files from the three 3dMD and three CBCT were imported to the 3DP, and six testing models were made. Reversible hydrocolloid and dental stone were used to make three facial moulages of the CPM, and the impressions/casts were poured in type IV gypsum dental stone. A coordinate measuring machine (CMM) was used to measure the distances between each of the ten fiducial markers. Each measurement was made using one point as a static reference to the other nine points. The same measuring procedures were accomplished on all specimens. All measurements were compared between specimens and the control. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey pairwise comparison of the raters, methods, and fiducial markers. The ANOVA multiple comparisons showed significant difference among the three methods (p 3D-SPG showed statistical difference in comparison to the models fabricated using the traditional method of facial moulage and 3DP models fabricated from CBCT imaging. 3DP models fabricated using 3D-SPG were less accurate than the CPM and models fabricated using facial moulage and CBCT imaging techniques. © 2015 by the American College of Prosthodontists.

The potential for upgrading traditional fermented foods through ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In general, traditional fermented foods are made under primitive conditions, which result in low yield and poor quality. This paper outlines the ... The techniques they use are labour intensive, time consuming and have low productivities, with success depending upon observation of good manufacturing practice. Factors ...

The American Indian: Tradition and Transition through Art.

Science.gov (United States)

Zastrow, Leona M.

The purpose of this teaching guide is to educate middle school students about American Indian culture reflected through Indian art forms. Ten contemporary Native American artists are featured with works representing both traditional and transitional techniques and materials. Represented art forms include beadwork, carvings, basketry, jewelry,…

Comparative study of the effectiveness of three learning environments: Hyper-realistic virtual simulations, traditional schematic simulations and traditional laboratory

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Maria Isabel Suero

2011-10-01

Full Text Available This study compared the educational effects of computer simulations developed in a hyper-realistic virtual environment with the educational effects of either traditional schematic simulations or a traditional optics laboratory. The virtual environment was constructed on the basis of Java applets complemented with a photorealistic visual output. This new virtual environment concept, which we call hyper-realistic, transcends basic schematic simulation; it provides the user with a more realistic perception of a physical phenomenon being simulated. We compared the learning achievements of three equivalent, homogeneous groups of undergraduates—an experimental group who used only the hyper-realistic virtual laboratory, a first control group who used a schematic simulation, and a second control group who used the traditional laboratory. The three groups received the same theoretical preparation and carried out equivalent practicals in their respective learning environments. The topic chosen for the experiment was optical aberrations. An analysis of variance applied to the data of the study demonstrated a statistically significant difference (p value <0.05 between the three groups. The learning achievements attained by the group using the hyper-realistic virtual environment were 6.1 percentage points higher than those for the group using the traditional schematic simulations and 9.5 percentage points higher than those for the group using the traditional laboratory.

Preliminary Experimental Results on the Technique of Artificial River Replenishment to Mitigate Sediment Loss Downstream Dams

Science.gov (United States)

Franca, M. J.; Battisacco, E.; Schleiss, A. J.

2014-12-01

The transport of sediments by water throughout the river basins, from the steep slopes of the upstream regions to the sea level, is recognizable important to keep the natural conditions of rivers with a role on their ecology processes. Over the last decades, a reduction on the supply of sand and gravel has been observed downstream dams existing in several alpine rivers. Many studies highlight that the presence of a dam strongly modifies the river behavior in the downstream reach, in terms of morphology and hydrodynamics, with consequences on local ecology. Sediment deficit, bed armoring, river incision and bank instability are the main effects which affect negatively the aquatic habitats and the water quality. One of the proposed techniques to solve the problem of sediment deficit downstream dams, already adopted in few Japanese and German rivers although on an unsatisfactory fashion, is the artificial replenishment of these. Generally, it was verified that the erosion of the replenishments was not satisfactory and the transport rate was not enough to move the sediments to sufficient downstream distances. In order to improve and to provide an engineering answer to make this technique more applicable, a series of laboratory tests are ran as preparatory study to understand the hydrodynamics of the river flow when the replenishment technique is applied. Erodible volumes, with different lengths and submergence conditions, reproducing sediment replenishments volumes, are positioned along a channel bank. Different geometrical combinations of erodible sediment volumes are tested as well on the experimental flume. The first results of the experimental research, concerning erosion time evolution, the influence of discharge and the distance travelled by the eroded sediments, will be presented and discussed.

X-ray spectroscopy: An experimental technique to measure charge state distribution during ion–solid interaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sharma, Prashant, E-mail: prashant@iuac.res.in; Nandi, Tapan

2016-01-08

Charge state distributions of {sup 56}Fe and {sup 58}Ni projectile ions passing through thin carbon foils have been studied in the energy range of 1.65–2.69 MeV/u using a novel method involving the X-ray spectroscopy technique. Interestingly the charge state distribution in the bulk shows Lorentzian behavior instead of usual Gaussian distribution. Further, different parameters of charge state distribution like mean charge state, distribution width and asymmetric parameter are determined and compared with the empirical calculations and ETACHA predictions. It is found that the X-ray measurement technique is appropriate to determine the mean charge state during the ion–solid interaction or in the bulk. Interestingly, empirical formalism predicts much lower mean charge states of the projectile ions compared to X-ray measurements which clearly indicate multi-electron capture from the target surface. The ETACHA predictions and experimental results are found to be comparable for the present energy regime. - Highlights: • New method is proposed to determine charge state distribution using X-ray technique. • Charge state distribution parameters are calculated and compared with various theoretical predictions. • X-ray technique is found to be appropriate to segregate the charge state distribution in the bulk from the target surface. • ETACHA predictions are found satisfactory in the energy range of ≥1.65 MeV/u.

An Experimental Study on Strengthening of Reinforced Concrete Flexural Members using Steel Wire Mesh

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Al Saadi Hamza Salim Mohammed

2017-01-01

Full Text Available One of the major challenges and contemporary research in the field of structural engineering is strengthening of existing structural elements using readily available materials in the market. Several investigations were conducted on strengthening of various structural components using traditional and advanced materials. Many researchers tried to enhance the reinforced concrete (RC beams strength using steel plate, Glass and Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (GFRP & CFRP. For the reason that high weight to the strength ratio and compatibility in strength between FRP composites and steel bars, steel plates and GFRP and CFRP composites are not used for strengthening works practically. Hence, in this present work the suitability of using wire mesh for the purpose of strengthening the RC flexural members is studied by conducting experimental works. New technique of strengthening system using wire mesh with a view to improve sectional properties and subsequently flexural strength of RC beams is adopted in this work. The results for experimental and theoretical analysis were compared and found that good correlation exists between them. The experimental results indicate that RC beams strengthened with steel wire mesh are easy technique for strengthening of existing flexural members.

The fate of neurotization techniques on reinnervation after denervation of the gastrocnemius muscle: an experimental study.

Science.gov (United States)

Askar, I; Sabuncuoglu, B T; Yormuk, E; Saray, A

2001-07-01

In nerve injuries, if it is not possible to reinnervate muscle by using neurorrhaphy and nerve grafting technique, reinnervation should be provided by the use of neuroization-directly implanting motor nerve into muscle. A comparative study of three techniques of neurotization is presented in rabbits. In this experimental study, a total of 40 white New Zealand rabbits were used and divided into four groups, each including 10 rabbits. In the first group (control--Group 1), only surgical exposure of the gastrocnemius muscle, main muscle nerve (tibial nerve), and peroneal nerve was done, without any injury to the nerves. In the second group (direct neurotization group--Group 2), the tibial nerve was transected, and the peroneal nerve, which had already been divided into fascicles, was implanted into the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle aneural zone. In the third group (dual neurotization group--Group 3), the tibial nerve which had been transected and re-anastomosed, and the peroneal nerve were implanted into the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle. In the last experimental group (hyperneurotization group--Group 4), fascicles of the peroneal nerve were implanted into the lateral head of the gastrocnemius, preserving the tibial nerve. Six months later, changes in the histologic pattern and the functional recovery of the gastrocnemius muscle were investigated. It was found that functional recovery was achieved in all neurotization groups. Groups with the tibial nerve transected had less muscular weights than those of groups with the tibial nerve intact. EMG recordings showed that polyphasic and late potentials were frequently seen in groups with the tibial nerve transected. Degeneration and regeneration of myofibrils was observed in such groups as well. New motor end-plates, including vesicles, were formed in a scattered manner in all neurotization groups. As a result, the authors conclude that direct and dual neurotization techniques are useful in peripheral

Confocal fluorescence techniques in industrial application

Science.gov (United States)

Eggeling, Christian; Gall, Karsten; Palo, Kaupo; Kask, Peet; Brand, Leif

2003-06-01

The FCS+plus family of evaluation tools for confocal fluorescence spectroscopy, which was developed during recent years, offers a comprehensive view to a series of fluorescence properties. Originating in fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and using similar experimental equipment, a system of signal processing methods such as fluorescence intensity distribution analysis (FIDA) was created to analyze in detail the fluctuation behavior of fluorescent particles within a small area of detection. Giving simultaneous access to molecular parameters like concentration, translational and rotational diffusion, molecular brightness, and multicolor coincidence, this portfolio was enhanced by more traditional techniques of fluorescence lifetime as well as time-resolved anisotropy determination. The cornerstones of the FCS+plus methodology will be shortly described. The inhibition of a phosphatase enzyme activity gives a comprehensive industrial application that demonstrates FCS+plus' versatility and its potential for pharmaceutical drug discovery.

Preserving traditional medical knowledge through modes of transmission: A post-positivist enquiry

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Janet Adekannbi

2014-11-01

Objectives: This study investigated the role which the mode of transmission plays in the preservation of traditional medical knowledge. Method: A post-positivist methodology was adopted. A purposive sampling technique was used to select three communities from each of the six states in South-Western Nigeria. The snowball technique was used in selecting 228 traditional medical practitioners, whilst convenience sampling was adopted in selecting 529 apprentices and 120 children who were not learning the profession. A questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale, key-informant interviews and focus-group discussions were used to collect data. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics whilst qualitative data was analysed thematically. Results: The dominant mode of knowledge transmission was found to be oblique (66.5% whilst vertical transmission (29.3% and horizontal transmission (4.2% occurred much less. Conclusion: Traditional medical knowledge is at risk of being lost in the study area because most of the apprentices were children from other parents, whereas most traditional medical practitioners preferred to transmit knowledge only to their children.

Middle Byzantine Historiography: Tradition, Innovation, and Reception

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Staffan Wahlgren

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This paper provides an overview of Greek historical writing of the Middle Byzantine period (approx. 800 until 1000 A.D., with a particular focus on the major chronicles, such as Theophanesthe Confessor (early 9th c., George the Monk (probably late 9th c., and Symeon the Logothete (second half of the 10th c.. On the one hand, it is discussed how the chroniclers engage with tradition and either accept it or reject it. Acceptance of tradition is illustrated by many cases where chroniclers keep very close to the narrative modes of their predecessors and in particular where they copy them extensively. Rejection of, or at least deviation from tradition is illustrated by many cases where new narrative techniques and modes of expression are apparent. Particular attention is paid to some aspects of narrative technique which seem to be innovative. In short, there seems to be an increased tendency towards greater logical (and hence, narrative coherence in the chronicles and an increased tendency towards concentration on a small number of settings, issues and persons (in particular, there is an increased concentration on the Capital of Constantinople and the Emperor’s person. Further, reception is discussed, and especially how Middle Byzantine historical texts were read and used in later writings, including the Slavic literatures. The need for further research in order to understand the transmission processes, especially in the form of the philological study of manuscripts, is stressed.

Experimental Study on Damage Detection in Timber Specimens Based on an Electromechanical Impedance Technique and RMSD-Based Mahalanobis Distance

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Dansheng Wang

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In the electromechanical impedance (EMI method, the PZT patch performs the functions of both sensor and exciter. Due to the high frequency actuation and non-model based characteristics, the EMI method can be utilized to detect incipient structural damage. In recent years EMI techniques have been widely applied to monitor the health status of concrete and steel materials, however, studies on application to timber are limited. This paper will explore the feasibility of using the EMI technique for damage detection in timber specimens. In addition, the conventional damage index, namely root mean square deviation (RMSD is employed to evaluate the level of damage. On that basis, a new damage index, Mahalanobis distance based on RMSD, is proposed to evaluate the damage severity of timber specimens. Experimental studies are implemented to detect notch and hole damage in the timber specimens. Experimental results verify the availability and robustness of the proposed damage index and its superiority over the RMSD indexes.

An experimental detrending approach to attributing change of pan evaporation in comparison with the traditional partial differential method

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tingting; Sun, Fubao; Xia, Jun; Liu, Wenbin; Sang, Yanfang

2017-04-01

In predicting how droughts and hydrological cycles would change in a warming climate, change of atmospheric evaporative demand measured by pan evaporation (Epan) is one crucial element to be understood. Over the last decade, the derived partial differential (PD) form of the PenPan equation is a prevailing attribution approach to attributing changes to Epan worldwide. However, the independency among climatic variables required by the PD approach cannot be met using long term observations. Here we designed a series of numerical experiments to attribute changes of Epan over China by detrending each climatic variable, i.e., an experimental detrending approach, to address the inter-correlation among climate variables, and made comparison with the traditional PD method. The results show that the detrending approach is superior not only to a complicate system with multi-variables and mixing algorithm like aerodynamic component (Ep,A) and Epan, but also to a simple case like radiative component (Ep,R), when compared with traditional PD method. The major reason for this is the strong and significant inter-correlation of input meteorological forcing. Very similar and fine attributing results have been achieved based on detrending approach and PD method after eliminating the inter-correlation of input through a randomize approach. The contribution of Rh and Ta in net radiation and thus Ep,R, which has been overlooked based on the PD method but successfully detected by detrending approach, provides some explanation to the comparing results. We adopted the control run from the detrending approach and applied it to made adjustment of PD method. Much improvement has been made and thus proven this adjustment an effective way in attributing changes to Epan. Hence, the detrending approach and the adjusted PD method are well recommended in attributing changes in hydrological models to better understand and predict water and energy cycle.

Experimental behavior of full-scale exterior beam-column space joints retrofitted by ferrocement layers under cyclic loading

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Ibrahim G. Shaaban

2018-06-01

Full Text Available A majority of the traditional reinforced concrete frame buildings, existing across the Middle East, lack adequate confinement in beam-column joints, or in other words, are shear deficient because they were constructed before the introduction of seismic codes for construction. This research studies the experimental behavior of full-scale beam-column space (three-dimensional joints under displacement-controlled cyclic loading. Eleven joint specimens, included a traditionally reinforced one (without adequate shear reinforcement, a reference one with sufficient shear reinforcement according to ACI 318, and nine specimens retrofitted by ferrocement layers, were experimentally tested to evaluate a retrofit technique for strengthening shear deficient beam column joints. The studied variables were the number of layers, orientation angle of expanded wire mesh per layer, and presence of steel angles in the corners of joint specimen prior to wrapping with ferrocement layers. The experimental results showed that proper shear reinforcement for the test joints, according to ACI 318, enhanced the behavior of the specimen over that of the traditionally reinforced specimens without adequate shear reinforcement. The joints retrofitted by ferrocement layers showed higher ultimate capacity, higher ultimate displacement prior to failure (better ductility, and they did not suffer heavily damage as observed for the traditionally reinforced one. Increasing the number of ferrocement layers for retrofitted specimens led to improving performance for such specimens compared to the traditionally reinforced ones in terms of enhancing the ultimate capacity and ultimate displacement. Specimens retrofitted by ferrocement layers reinforced by expanded wire mesh of 60° orientation angle showed slightly better performance than those of 45° orientation angles. Retrofitting using steel angles in addition to ferrocement layers improves the seismic performance of the specimens

A rate-jump method for characterization of soft tissues using nanoindentation techniques

KAUST Repository

Tang, Bin

2012-01-01

The biomechanical properties of soft tissues play an important role in their normal physiological and physical function, and may possibly relate to certain diseases. The advent of nanomechanical testing techniques, such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), nano-indentation and optical tweezers, enables the nano/micro-mechanical properties of soft tissues to be investigated, but in spite of the fact that biological tissues are highly viscoelastic, traditional elastic contact theory has been routinely used to analyze experimental data. In this article, a novel rate-jump protocol for treating viscoelasticity in nanomechanical data analysis is described. © 2012 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Applications of energy-release-rate techniques to part-through cracks in experimental pressure vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bass, B.R.; Bryan, R.H.; Bryson, J.W.; Merkle, J.G.

1982-01-01

In nonlinear applications of computational fracture mechanics, energy release rate techniques are used increasingly for computing stress intensity parameters of crack configurations. Recently, deLorenzi used the virtual-crack-extension method to derive an analytical expression for the energy release rate that is better suited for three-dimensional calculations than the well-known J-integral. Certain studies of fracture phenomena, such as pressurized-thermal-shock of cracked structures, require that crack tip parameters be determined for combined thermal and mechanical loads. A method is proposed here that modifies the isothermal formulation of deLorenzi to account for thermal strains in cracked bodies. This combined thermo-mechanical formulation of the energy release rate is valid for general fracture, including nonplanar fracture, and applies to thermo-elastic as well as deformation plasticity material models. Two applications of the technique are described here. In the first, semi-elliptical surface cracks in an experimental test vessel are analyzed under elastic-plastic conditions using the finite element method. The second application is a thick-walled test vessel subjected to combined pressure and thermal shock loadings

Identification of marine traditional Chinese medicine dried seahorses in the traditional Chinese medicine market using DNA barcoding.

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Feixia; Wen, Longlian; Peng, Cheng; Guo, Jinlin

2018-01-01

Seahorse documented in Chinese pharmacopeia possess important medicinal efficacy and are used as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicines. The growing international trade threatens the species. DNA barcoding holds a great application potentiality in wildlife conservation and might prevent the illegal trade of threatened species. The COI gene was used to identify seahorse, and nine Hippocampus species were found in the three large traditional Chinese medicines markets of China. All inter-specific genetic variations were larger than 2%. Mean genetic distances between species were 17-fold larger than those within the species. Phylogenetic tree showed that each species clustered in the appropriate branch. All results demonstrated that COI-based barcoding technique could be used to identify seahorse species and played a major role in monitoring the seahorse trade.

The Spear: The Main Weapon in Iranian Martial Tradition

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Manouchehr Moshtagh Khorasani

2012-07-01

Full Text Available In martial tradition, spears and lances have always played a very important role as main weapons on the battlefield, as exemplified through Iranian military history. Its reach and cheap production were important factors for establishing formations of soldiers equipped with spears and lances. Additionally, the combat techniques of spears and lances were relatively easy and one could learn the techniques of spearfighting and lancefighting much easier than other weapons, such as swords. The first part of the article describes some types of spears and lances that were used in the Islamic period of Iran. Then the method of carrying a spear/lance is analyzed and additionally some offensive techniques, feinting techniques, attacking techniques to the animal carrying the opponent, and defensive techniques using spears/lances are described as documented by Persian manuscripts.

Massage Therapy in Iranian Traditional Medicine

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Amir-Mohammad Jaladat

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Massage training and how the body is influenced by massage are common issues which are seriously under study and discussion in Iranian traditional medicine. Iranian physicians considered motion and massage as major principles of health maintenance.In this study, we examined the available literature of traditional medicine to evaluate location, purpose and use of massage therapy in Iranian medicine in comparison with other popular conventional styles.The aim of Iranian massage is to regulate the core body temperature and aid to eliminate the waste products from the body. This type of massage is divided into five categories including solid, soft, moderate, great and aggressive, based on the intensity, speed, duration and techniques of massage.Iranian physicians proposed general body massage or massage of a particular area based on subjective complaints. They recommended specific massages in particular groups including children, pregnant women, the elderly and athletes. In some cases, the effects of these recommendations have been studied in clinical trials.Conclusion: It seems that the major difference between Iranian massage and other styles of massage is special attention of Iranian massage to the individual circumstances, and the cause of the problem rather than technique of the massage.

Power quality research techniques: advantages and disadvantages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gil Montoya, Francisco; Manzano Agugliaro, Francisco; Gomez Lopez, Julio; Sanchez Alguacil, Pedro

2012-01-01

Nowadays, power quality (PQ) plays a very important role in power systems. So that is why it is very important to use suitable tools allowing a precise detection of anomalies and perturbations in power systems. Given traditional analysis techniques, such as Fourier Transform, today new tools are being developed based on domain transformation, such as Wavelet Transform (WT) or S-Transform (ST), along with Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques such as Fuzzy Logic (FL) or Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). In this paper, new algorithm and mathematic techniques are reviewed and discussed, and also compared with traditional techniques, revealing the precision and superiority achieved with these new techniques. ST and WT is detailed, basically, as a tool with great scope and future in power quality analysis because of its precision, noise immunity and its contribution with quality information about PQ.

Initiatives: Nigeria. Traditional healers and PPFN in wedlock.

Science.gov (United States)

Adejo, A A

1996-04-01

The Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN) runs a program to integrate modern contraception into the practice of traditional medicine. Under the project, traditional healers, largely male, are trained on the ideals of nonprescriptive contraceptives such as condoms, the oral contraceptive pill, and foaming tablets, and how to offer such services to their clients. They participate in a two-week, highly participatory training course which confers a comprehensive introduction to basic and integrated reproductive health care service delivery, simple human anatomy and physiology, and human reproduction. The benefits of modern contraception are reviewed along with community mobilization and counseling. Simple communication techniques such as songs, drama, and role play are discussed. Information on maternal and child health and child survival, basic hygiene, nutrition, and AIDS is also incorporated into the course. 136 traditional healers have thus far been trained in three local government areas (LGAs) of Lagos State and 150 in six other LGAs in Benue State. The project has resulted in strong referral linkages between traditional healers, modern practitioners, and PPFN.

Experimental Route to Scanning Probe Hot Electron Nanoscopy (HENs) Applied to 2D Material

KAUST Repository

Giugni, Andrea

2017-06-09

This paper presents details on a new experimental apparatus implementing the hot electron nanoscopy (HENs) technique introduced for advanced spectroscopies on structure and chemistry in few molecules and interface problems. A detailed description of the architecture used for the laser excitation of surface plasmons at an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip is provided. The photogenerated current from the tip to the sample is detected during the AFM scan. The technique is applied to innovative semiconductors for applications in electronics: 2D MoS2 single crystal and a p-type SnO layer. Results are supported by complementary scanning Kelvin probe microscopy, traditional conductive AFM, and Raman measurements. New features highlighted by HEN technique reveal details of local complexity in MoS2 and polycrystalline structure of SnO at nanometric scale otherwise undetected. The technique set in this paper is promising for future studies in nanojunctions and innovative multilayered materials, with new insight on interfaces.

The coupling of high-speed high resolution experimental data and LES through data assimilation techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, S.; Labahn, J. W.; Frank, J. H.; Ihme, M.

2017-11-01

Data assimilation techniques can be integrated with time-resolved numerical simulations to improve predictions of transient phenomena. In this study, optimal interpolation and nudging are employed for assimilating high-speed high-resolution measurements obtained for an inert jet into high-fidelity large-eddy simulations. This experimental data set was chosen as it provides both high spacial and temporal resolution for the three-component velocity field in the shear layer of the jet. Our first objective is to investigate the impact that data assimilation has on the resulting flow field for this inert jet. This is accomplished by determining the region influenced by the data assimilation and corresponding effect on the instantaneous flow structures. The second objective is to determine optimal weightings for two data assimilation techniques. The third objective is to investigate how the frequency at which the data is assimilated affects the overall predictions. Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Physical, physicochemical and nutritional characteristics of Bhoja chaul, a traditional ready-to-eat dry heat parboiled rice product processed by an improvised soaking technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutta, Himjyoti; Mahanta, Charu Lata; Singh, Vasudeva; Das, Barnali Baruah; Rahman, Narzu

2016-01-15

Bhoja chaul is a traditional whole rice product processed by the dry heat parboiling technique of low amylose/waxy paddy that is eaten after soaking in water and requires no cooking. The essential steps in Bhoja chaul making are soaking paddy in water, roasting with sand, drying and milling. In this study, the product was prepared from a low amylose variety and a waxy rice variety by an improvised laboratory scale technique. Bhoja chaul prepared in the laboratory by this technique was studied for physical, physicochemical, and textural properties. Improvised method shortened the processing time and gave a product with good textural characteristics. Shape of the rice kernels became bolder on processing. RVA studies and DSC endotherms suggested molecular damage and amylose-lipid complex formation by the linear B-chains of amylopectin, respectively. X-ray diffractography indicated formation of partial B-type pattern. Shifting of the crystalline region of the XRD curve towards lower values of Bragg's angle was attributed to the overall increase in inter-planar spacing of the crystalline lamellae. Resistant starch was negligible. Bhoja chaul may be useful for children and people with poor state of digestibility. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Generation of Chimeric “ABS Nanohemostat” Complex and Comparing Its Histomorphological In Vivo Effects to the Traditional Ankaferd Hemostat in Controlled Experimental Partial Nephrectomy Model

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Emre Huri

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Using the classical Ankaferd Blood Stopper (ABS solution to create active hemostasis during partial nephrectomy (PN may not be so effective due to insufficient contact surface between the ABS hemostatic liquid agent and the bleeding area. In order to broaden the contact surface, we generated a chimeric hemostatic agent, ABS nanohemostat, via combining a self-assembling peptide amphiphile molecule with the traditional Ankaferd hemostat. Materials and Methods. In order to generate ABS nanohemostat, a positively charged Peptide Amphiphile (PA molecule was synthesized by using solid phase peptide synthesis. For animal experiments, 24 Wistar rats were divided into the following 4 groups: Group 1: control; Group 2: conventional PN with only 0.5 ml Ankaferd hemostat; Group 3: conventional PN with ABS + peptide gel; Group 4: conventional PN with only 0.5 ml peptide solution. Results. Mean warm ischemia times (WITs were 232.8 ± 56.3, 65.6±11.4, 75.5± 17.2, and 58.1±17.6 seconds in Group 1 to Group 4, respectively. Fibrosis was not different among the groups, while inflammation was detected to be significantly different in G3 and G4. Conclusions. ABS nanohemostat has comparable hemostatic efficacy to the traditional Ankaferd hemostat in the partial nephrectomy experimental model. Elucidation of the cellular and tissue effects of this chimeric compound may establish a catalytic spark and open new avenues for novel experimental and clinical studies in the battlefield of hemostasis.

Medicinal plants: traditions and study prospects (devoted to the 100th anniversary of establishing the Experimental Station of Medicinal Plants

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О. С. Дем’янюк

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Historical review was done concerning the formation and development of scientific research of the Experimental Station of Medicinal Plants over the period 1916–2016. The main stages of experimenting in the direction of “medicinal plant cultivation’’ in Ukraine were covered. Role and importance of the Experimental Station of Medicinal Plants in the scientific and methodological support of such scientific directions as breeding, seed production, cultivation technologies, pharmacognosy in medicinal plant cultivation were shown. For the needs of the branch, over 100 species of introduced medicinal plants were studied at the Station and agricultu­ral techniques of their growing were developed, in addition, more than 50 varieties of medicinal plants were crea­ted, a number of machines and devices for growing, harves­ting and initial treatment of raw materials and seeds of the most important medicinal plants was designed. Other scientific achievements of the Station were mentioned and promising areas of medicinal plant research in Ukraine were outlined.

Safety of Traditional Arab Herbal Medicine

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Bashar Saad

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Herbal remedies are widely used for the treatment and prevention of various diseases and often contain highly active pharmacological compounds. Many medicinal herbs and pharmaceutical drugs are therapeutic at one dose and toxic at another. Toxicity related to traditional medicines is becoming more widely recognized as these remedies become popular in the Mediterranean region as well as worldwide. Most reports concerning the toxic effects of herbal medicines are associated with hepatotoxicity although reports of other toxic effects including kidney, nervous system, blood, cardiovascular and dermatologic effects, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity have also been published in the medical literature. This article presents a systematic review on safety of traditional Arab medicine and the contribution of Arab scholars to toxicology. Use of modern cell biological, biochemical, in vitro and in vivo techniques for the evaluation of medicinal plants safety is also discussed.

Evaluation of CFD Turbulent Heating Prediction Techniques and Comparison With Hypersonic Experimental Data

Science.gov (United States)

Dilley, Arthur D.; McClinton, Charles R. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Results from a study to assess the accuracy of turbulent heating and skin friction prediction techniques for hypersonic applications are presented. The study uses the original and a modified Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model with a space marching code. Grid converged turbulent predictions using the wall damping formulation (original model) and local damping formulation (modified model) are compared with experimental data for several flat plates. The wall damping and local damping results are similar for hot wall conditions, but differ significantly for cold walls, i.e., T(sub w) / T(sub t) hypersonic vehicles. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that the local damping formulation be used with the Baldwin-Lomax and Cebeci-Smith turbulence models in design and analysis of Hyper-X and future hypersonic vehicles.

New techniques for experimental generation of two-dimensional blade-vortex interaction at low Reynolds numbers

Science.gov (United States)

Booth, E., Jr.; Yu, J. C.

1986-01-01

An experimental investigation of two dimensional blade vortex interaction was held at NASA Langley Research Center. The first phase was a flow visualization study to document the approach process of a two dimensional vortex as it encountered a loaded blade model. To accomplish the flow visualization study, a method for generating two dimensional vortex filaments was required. The numerical study used to define a new vortex generation process and the use of this process in the flow visualization study were documented. Additionally, photographic techniques and data analysis methods used in the flow visualization study are examined.

Applying traditional signal processing techniques to social media exploitation for situational understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Abdelzaher, Tarek; Roy, Heather; Wang, Shiguang; Giridhar, Prasanna; Al Amin, Md. Tanvir; Bowman, Elizabeth K.; Kolodny, Michael A.

2016-05-01

Signal processing techniques such as filtering, detection, estimation and frequency domain analysis have long been applied to extract information from noisy sensor data. This paper describes the exploitation of these signal processing techniques to extract information from social networks, such as Twitter and Instagram. Specifically, we view social networks as noisy sensors that report events in the physical world. We then present a data processing stack for detection, localization, tracking, and veracity analysis of reported events using social network data. We show using a controlled experiment that the behavior of social sources as information relays varies dramatically depending on context. In benign contexts, there is general agreement on events, whereas in conflict scenarios, a significant amount of collective filtering is introduced by conflicted groups, creating a large data distortion. We describe signal processing techniques that mitigate such distortion, resulting in meaningful approximations of actual ground truth, given noisy reported observations. Finally, we briefly present an implementation of the aforementioned social network data processing stack in a sensor network analysis toolkit, called Apollo. Experiences with Apollo show that our techniques are successful at identifying and tracking credible events in the physical world.

Understanding Notional Machines through Traditional Teaching with Conceptual Contraposition and Program Memory Tracing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeisson Hidalgo-Céspedes

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A correct understanding about how computers run code is mandatory in order to effectively learn to program. Lectures have historically been used in programming courses to teach how computers execute code, and students are assessed through traditional evaluation methods, such as exams. Constructivism learning theory objects to students’ passiveness during lessons, and traditional quantitative methods for evaluating a complex cognitive process such as understanding. Constructivism proposes complimentary techniques, such as conceptual contraposition and colloquies. We enriched lectures of a “Programming II” (CS2 course combining conceptual contraposition with program memory tracing, then we evaluated students’ understanding of programming concepts through colloquies. Results revealed that these techniques applied to the lecture are insufficient to help students develop satisfactory mental models of the C++ notional machine, and colloquies behaved as the most comprehensive traditional evaluations conducted in the course.

The role of chemometrics in single and sequential extraction assays: a review. Part II. Cluster analysis, multiple linear regression, mixture resolution, experimental design and other techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Giacomino, Agnese; Abollino, Ornella; Malandrino, Mery; Mentasti, Edoardo

2011-03-04

Single and sequential extraction procedures are used for studying element mobility and availability in solid matrices, like soils, sediments, sludge, and airborne particulate matter. In the first part of this review we reported an overview on these procedures and described the applications of chemometric uni- and bivariate techniques and of multivariate pattern recognition techniques based on variable reduction to the experimental results obtained. The second part of the review deals with the use of chemometrics not only for the visualization and interpretation of data, but also for the investigation of the effects of experimental conditions on the response, the optimization of their values and the calculation of element fractionation. We will describe the principles of the multivariate chemometric techniques considered, the aims for which they were applied and the key findings obtained. The following topics will be critically addressed: pattern recognition by cluster analysis (CA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and other less common techniques; modelling by multiple linear regression (MLR); investigation of spatial distribution of variables by geostatistics; calculation of fractionation patterns by a mixture resolution method (Chemometric Identification of Substrates and Element Distributions, CISED); optimization and characterization of extraction procedures by experimental design; other multivariate techniques less commonly applied. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dissociative Recombination of HD+ - State-to-State Experimental Investigation Using Fragment Imaging and Storage Ring Techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amitay, Z.; Baer, A.; Dahan, M.; Levin, J.; Vager, Z.; Zajfman, D.

1998-01-01

When a molecular ion collides with a free electron it can capture the electron and dissociate. The resulting process of Dissociative Recombination (DR) is a process of great significance in a wide variety of plasma environments. In this process, the capture of a free electron leads to the formation of an highly excited state of the neutral molecule, which then dissociates into neutral fragments with kinetic energy and, possibly, internal excitation depending on the energy balance of the reaction. Despite its importance, the DR process is still not yet completely understood theoretically. This is mainly due to the complexity of the nature and dynamics of highly excited molecular states, especially when several channels are involved, as is usually the situation in DR. from experimental point of view, for direct comparison between experiment and theory, this complexity requires detailed experimental data, including the knowledge of both the initial state of the molecular ion, to which DR is very sensitive, and of the final quantum states of the DR products. Inherent un- certainties in the initial vibrational excitation of the laboratory molecular ions was the main drawback of the experiments conducted over the years to, study DR. A substantial progress in the understanding of the DR process was achieved with the introduction (about five years ago) of a new experimental approach, which uses heavy-ion storage ring technique. In a storage ring, one can store many molecular ions for a time which is long enough to allow complete radiative deexcitation of tile initial electronic and vibrational excitation coming from the ion source. Those vibrationally cold ions are then merged with an intense electron beam to measure their DR cross section. Further experimental progress was the inclusion of two and three-dimensional molecular imaging techniques [1] for the measurement of the branching ratio to different final quantum states of the neutral DR fragments. This talk will

Multi-scale full-field measurements and near-wall modeling of turbulent subcooled boiling flow using innovative experimental techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hassan, Yassin A., E-mail: y-hassan@tamu.edu

2016-04-01

Highlights: • Near wall full-field velocity components under subcooled boiling were measured. • Simultaneous shadowgraphy, infrared thermometry wall temperature and particle-tracking velocimetry techniques were combined. • Near wall velocity modifications under subcooling boiling were observed. - Abstract: Multi-phase flows are one of the challenges on which the CFD simulation community has been working extensively with a relatively low success. The phenomena associated behind the momentum and heat transfer mechanisms associated to multi-phase flows are highly complex requiring resolving simultaneously for multiple scales on time and space. Part of the reasons behind the low predictive capability of CFD when studying multi-phase flows, is the scarcity of CFD-grade experimental data for validation. The complexity of the phenomena and its sensitivity to small sources of perturbations makes its measurements a difficult task. Non-intrusive and innovative measuring techniques are required to accurately measure multi-phase flow parameters while at the same time satisfying the high resolution required to validate CFD simulations. In this context, this work explores the feasible implementation of innovative measuring techniques that can provide whole-field and multi-scale measurements of two-phase flow turbulence, heat transfer, and boiling parameters. To this end, three visualization techniques are simultaneously implemented to study subcooled boiling flow through a vertical rectangular channel with a single heated wall. These techniques are listed next and are used as follow: (1) High-speed infrared thermometry (IR-T) is used to study the impact of the boiling level on the heat transfer coefficients at the heated wall, (2) Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) is used to analyze the influence that boiling parameters have on the liquid phase turbulence statistics, (3) High-speed shadowgraphy with LED illumination is used to obtain the gas phase dynamics. To account

Traditional processing of masau fruits (Ziziphus mauritiana) in Zimbabwe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nyanga, L.K.; Nout, M.J.R.; Gadaga, T.H.; Boekhout, T.; Zwietering, M.H.

2008-01-01

A survey of the traditional processing techniques of masau was conducted using a questionnaire and two focus group discussions in Mudzi, Mt. Darwin, and Muzarabani districts in Zimbabwe. Masau fruits form part of the family diet and generate additional income by selling at local markets. Surplus

Learning the „Look-at-you-go” Moment in Corporate Governance Negotiation Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clara VOLINTIRU

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This article explores in an interdisciplinary manner the way concepts are learned or internalized, depending on the varying means of transmission, as well as on the sequencing in which the information is transmitted. In this sense, we build on the constructivist methodology framework in assessing concept acquisition in academic disciplines, at an advanced level. We also present the evolution of certain negotiation techniques, from traditional setting, to less predictable ones. This assessment is compared to a specific Pop Culture case study in which we find an expressive representation of negotiation techniques. Our methodology employs both focus groups and experimental design to test the relative positioning of theoretical concept acquisition (TCA as opposed to expressive concept-acquisition (ECA. Our findings suggest that while expressive concept acquisition (ECA via popular culture representations enhances the students understanding of negotiation techniques, this can only happen in circumstances in which a theoretical concept acquisition (TCA is pre-existent.

COMPARATIVE FIELD EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF DIFFERENT FLAT PLATE SOLAR COLLECTORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guangming Chen

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Full-scale traditional metal solar collectors and solar collector specimens fabricated from polymeric materials were investigated in the present study. A polymeric collector is 67.8% lighter than a traditional metal solar collector, and a metal solar collector with transparent plastic covering is 40.3% lighter than a traditional metal solar collector. Honeycomb multichannel plates made from polycarbonate were chosen to create a polymeric solar collector. A test rig for the natural circulation of the working fluid in a solar collector was built for a comparative experimental investigation of various solar collectors operating at ambient conditions. It was shown experimentally that the efficiency of a polymeric collector is 8–15% lower than the efficiency of a traditional collector.

Reduced length of stay and convalescence in laparoscopic vs open sigmoid resection with traditional care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaltoft, B; Gögenur, I; Rosenberg, J

2011-01-01

The effect of a laparoscopic technique without a multi-modal rehabilitation programme but with traditional postoperative care was studied in a blinded randomized trial regarding nursing time, hospital stay, pain, fatigue, need for sleep and return to normal daily activities.......The effect of a laparoscopic technique without a multi-modal rehabilitation programme but with traditional postoperative care was studied in a blinded randomized trial regarding nursing time, hospital stay, pain, fatigue, need for sleep and return to normal daily activities....

The experimental psychology of attitude change and the tradition of classical rhetoric.

Science.gov (United States)

Portolano, Marlana; Evans, Rand B

2005-01-01

Social psychologists might be surprised to learn that their discipline has been cut off from a vast and ancient family tree. The study of attitude change in the context of experimental social psychology began around 1918. It developed into a defined discipline in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly through the work of Carl Hovland and his associates. Unlike earlier specialties in experimental psychology, social psychology emerged well after the 19th-century split between psychology and philosophy in college curricula. Before this period of growth in empirical teaching and practice, the study of persuasion in classical rhetoric was a bedrock of higher education for more than 2000 years. Because of social psychology's late development in empirical science, there is a historical disconnect between experimental social psychology and its ancient philosophical counterpart, classical rhetoric. This article demonstrates similarities and differences between Hovland's findings and the theoretical groundings of classical rhetoric. We suggest areas where modern social psychology might benefit from a look at the older, more holistic theories of the art of rhetoric.

Experimental approaches and applications

CERN Document Server

Crasemann, Bernd

1975-01-01

Atomic Inner-Shell Processes, Volume II: Experimental Approaches and Applications focuses on the physics of atomic inner shells, with emphasis on experimental aspects including the use of radioactive atoms for studies of atomic transition probabilities. Surveys of modern techniques of electron and photon spectrometry are also presented, and selected practical applications of inner-shell processes are outlined. Comprised of six chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the general principles underlying the experimental techniques that make use of radioactive isotopes for inner-sh

Techniques for data compression in experimental nuclear physics problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byalko, A.A.; Volkov, N.G.; Tsupko-Sitnikov, V.M.

1984-01-01

Techniques and ways for data compression during physical experiments are estimated. Data compression algorithms are divided into three groups: the first one includes the algorithms based on coding and which posses only average indexes by data files, the second group includes algorithms with data processing elements, the third one - algorithms for converted data storage. The greatest promise for the techniques connected with data conversion is concluded. The techniques possess high indexes for compression efficiency and for fast response, permit to store information close to the source one

Doctoring Undercover: updating the educational tradition of shadowing.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Claire D

2017-01-01

Premedical students are educated in basic biological and health sciences. As a complement to traditional premedical coursework, medical school applicants are encouraged to shadow practitioners, with the hope that observation will introduce students to the culture and practice of healthcare. Yet the shadowing experience varies widely across practitioners and institutions; resources that guide students' critical reflection and structure the experience are scarce. A pilot experiential learning course, Doctoring Undercover: Shadowing and the Culture of Medicine, was developed to fill this gap. The course consisted of three parts: an introduction to medical culture through the disciplines of medical sociology, history, anthropology, and bioethics; a site placement in which students applied these fields' analytical techniques to the study of medical culture and practice; and the development of an online activity guide that other premedical students may adapt to their shadowing circumstances. Students reported that they were exposed to new disciplinary perspectives and interprofessional environments that they would not traditionally encounter. Students' contributions to the shadowing guide encouraged active learning and reflection on the dynamics of effective patient-provider relationships and shadowing experiences. Locally, the class may be scaled for a larger group of premedical students and incorporated into a formal pathway program for premedical students; the content will also be integrated into the clinical medicine course for first-year medical students. Online, the guide will be promoted for use by other institutions and by individuals planning extracurricular shadowing experiences; feedback will be solicited. Tools for evaluating the short- and long-term impact of the course and guide will be developed and validated. Observational and experimental studies of the course's impact should be conducted. ICM: Introduction to Clinical Medicine; SCE: Selective Clinical

Experimental technique of small angle neutron scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xia Qingzhong; Chen Bo

2006-03-01

The main parts of Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) spectrometer, and their function and different parameters are introduced from experimental aspect. Detailed information is also introduced for SANS spectrometer 'Membrana-2'. Based on practical experiments, the fundamental requirements and working condition for SANS experiments, including sample preparation, detector calibration, standard sample selection and data preliminary process are described. (authors)

Experimental Object-Oriented Modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Klaus Marius

through, e.g., technical prototyping and active user involvement. We introduce and examine “experimental object-oriented modelling” as the intersection of these practices. The contributions of this thesis are expected to be within three perspectives on models and modelling in experimental system...... development: Grounding We develop an empirically based conceptualization of modelling and use of models in system development projects characterized by a high degree of uncertainty in requirements and point to implications for tools and techniques for modelling in such a setting. Techniques We introduce......This thesis examines object-oriented modelling in experimental system development. Object-oriented modelling aims at representing concepts and phenomena of a problem domain in terms of classes and objects. Experimental system development seeks active experimentation in a system development project...

The fate of water in the oasis of Ouakda between traditional systems ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

One of the subjects that touch the field of environment is undoubtedly the traditional catchment systems and drainage divide in the oasis. The ancestral techniques such as wells chadouf, quanat, Khettara and foggaras have protected the oasis and the man in the past. These techniques were used in an arid middle by the ...

Deformation Monitoring for Chinese Traditional Timber Buildings Using Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ni-Lei Li

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG sensing technique is suitable for a wide variety of measurements, including temperature, pressure, acceleration, liquid level, etc., and has been applied to many bridges and buildings in the past two decades. The fact that the FBG technique can only monitor and measure strain data for most cases when it is used for deformation measurements impedes application of the FBG sensing technique in civil infrastructures. This paper proposes FBG sensing-based deformation monitoring methods that are applicable to monitoring beam deflection, column inclination angle and mortise-tenon joint dislocation for Chinese traditional timber structures. On the basis of improved conjugated beam theory and geometrical trigonometric function relationship, the relationships between the FBG sensing strain values and the deflection of beam, inclination angle of column, as well as the amount of dislocation of mortise-tenon joint are deducted for Chinese traditional buildings. A series of experiments were conducted to verify the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed deformation monitoring methods. The results show that a good agreement is obtained between the values given by the methods proposed in this paper and other methods. This implies that the proposed deformation monitoring methods are applicable and effective in the health monitoring of Chinese traditional timber structures.

Experimental research on application of mutual-aid teaching method in technique teaching of university’s football elective course

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Jiarong

2016-01-01

Full Text Available With the social development and reform of education system, the quality-oriented education and lifelong education gradually become education reform goals of colleges and universities, the physical education of the higher education and university are also developed. This research adopts the literature data method, ques-tionnaire method, experimental method, mathematical statistics or other methods to do experiments for the stu-dents who take the football elective course (a total of 36 class hours per semester in Zhuhai College of Jilin University with the mutual-aid teaching method. The experimental results show that: First, there is a significant difference between achievements of the specific football technique of the students in the experimental group and the students in the control group (P <0.05; second, in the teaching evaluation, the failure rate of the students in the experimental group significantly reduces, and the pass rate and good rate significantly increases after experi-ment; third, the majority of students accept the mutual-aid teaching method; fourth, the mutual-aid teaching method can be used to significantly improve the learning motivation level of the students.

Design techniques for mutlivariable flight control systems

Science.gov (United States)

1981-01-01

Techniques which address the multi-input closely coupled nature of advanced flight control applications and digital implementation issues are described and illustrated through flight control examples. The techniques described seek to exploit the advantages of traditional techniques in treating conventional feedback control design specifications and the simplicity of modern approaches for multivariable control system design.

Assessment of heavy metals leachability from traditional clay pots ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

As heavy metals are toxic in trace concentrations, due to bioaccumulation, traditional clay pots constitute a public health hazard when used as food contact material. However, as the geochemical properties of clay are different from regions to region and the techniques of making them differ, further studies should be ...

Review of Surgical Techniques of Experimental Renal Transplantation in Rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Shrestha, Badri; Haylor, John

2017-08-01

Microvascular surgical techniques of renal transplant in rats have evolved over the past 5 decades to achieve successful rat renal transplant; these modifications have included surgical techniques to address the anatomic variations in the renal blood vessels and those to reduce ischemic and operation durations. Here, we review the surgical techniques of renal transplant in rats and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of individual techniques of vascular and ureteric anastomoses. For this review, we performed a systematic literature search using relevant medical subject heading terms and included appropriate publications in the review. Since the first description of a rat model of renal transplant by Bernard Fisher and his colleagues in 1965, which used end-to-side anastomosis between the renal vein and renal artery to the recipient inferior vena cava and aorta, several vascular and ureteric anastomosis techniques have been modified. Vascular anastomosis techniques now include end-to-end anastomosis, use of donor aortic and inferior vena cava conduits, sleeve and cuff anastomoses, and application of fibrin glue. Likewise, restoration of the urinary tract can now be achieved by direct anastomosis of the donor ureter to the recipient bladder, end-to-end anastomosis between the donor and recipient ureters, and donor bladder cuff to the recipient bladder. There are advantages and disadvantages attributable to individual techniques. The range of vascular and ureteric anastomosis techniques that has emerged reflects the need for mastering more than one technique to suit the vascular anatomy of individual animals and to reduce operating time for achieving successful outcomes after renal transplant.

Applying contemporary statistical techniques

CERN Document Server

Wilcox, Rand R

2003-01-01

Applying Contemporary Statistical Techniques explains why traditional statistical methods are often inadequate or outdated when applied to modern problems. Wilcox demonstrates how new and more powerful techniques address these problems far more effectively, making these modern robust methods understandable, practical, and easily accessible.* Assumes no previous training in statistics * Explains how and why modern statistical methods provide more accurate results than conventional methods* Covers the latest developments on multiple comparisons * Includes recent advanc

[Systematic economic assessment and quality evaluation for traditional Chinese medicines].

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xiao; Guo, Li-ping; Shang, Hong-cai; Ren, Ming; Lei, Xiang

2015-05-01

To learn about the economic studies on traditional Chinese medicines in domestic literatures, in order to analyze the current economic assessment of traditional Chinese medicines and explore the existing problems. Efforts were made to search CNKI, VIP, Wanfang database and CBM by computer and include all literatures about economic assessment of traditional Chinese medicines published on professional domestic journals in the systematic assessment and quality evaluation. Finally, 50 articles were included in the study, and the systematic assessment and quality evaluation were made for them in terms of titles, year, authors' identity, expense source, disease type, study perspective, study design type, study target, study target source, time limit, cost calculation, effect indicator, analytical technique and sensitivity analysis. The finally quality score was 0.74, which is very low. The results of the study showed insufficient studies on economics of traditional Chinese medicines, short study duration and simple evaluation methods, which will be solved through unremitting efforts in the future.

THE DIGITAL ARCHIVING SYSTEM WITH TWITTER FOR LOCAL TRADITIONAL PERFORMING ARTS BY CITIZEN PARTICIPATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chiho Yoshida

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Local communities in mountainous and coast villages in Japan are facing problems related to aging and depopulation that discourage efforts to keep the traditional performing arts in the local community. The purpose of this study is to design an ―Archive and Community‖ model that creates a relationship between local citizens and non-citizens to keep the traditional performing arts in the local community by combining the traditional archiving system with social media like Twitter. This paper describes the experimental data results and discussions using the ―Archive and Community System‖ prototype.

New techniques for wound debridement.

Science.gov (United States)

Madhok, Brijesh M; Vowden, Kathryn; Vowden, Peter

2013-06-01

Debridement is a crucial component of wound management. Traditionally, several types of wound debridement techniques have been used in clinical practice such as autolytic, enzymatic, biodebridement, mechanical, conservative sharp and surgical. Various factors determine the method of choice for debridement for a particular wound such as suitability to the patient, the type of wound, its anatomical location and the extent of debridement required. Recently developed products are beginning to challenge traditional techniques that are currently used in wound bed preparation. The purpose of this review was to critically evaluate the current evidence behind the use of these newer techniques in clinical practice. There is some evidence to suggest that low frequency ultrasound therapy may improve healing rates in patients with venous ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers. Hydrosurgery debridement is quick and precise, but the current evidence is limited and further studies are underway. Debridement using a monofilament polyester fibre pad and plasma-mediated bipolar radiofrequency ablation are both very new techniques. The initial evidence is limited, and further studies are warranted to confirm their role in management of chronic wounds. © 2013 The Authors. International Wound Journal © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Medicalhelplines.com Inc.

Semi-Commercial and Traditional Hunting of Baar Tribe in Riung, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kayat Kayat

2017-01-01

Hunting is one of the aspects that influence number of wild animals. The article aims at describing semi-comercial and traditional hunting concept of Baar Tribe in East Nusa Tenggara as an alternative for wild animal conservation.  The data collection methods are guided interview, in-depth interview and participant observation. The findings show that in the semi-comercial and traditional hunting concept of Baar Tribe in East Nusa Tenggara, traditional wisdom is represented by hunting techniques and equipments. It is likely that rapid semi-commercial hunting conducted by certain members of Baar tribe causes sharp decline in the population of wild animals. On the other hand, annual traditional hunting which strictly follows traditional code of conduct can maintain Timor deer population in Timor. Keywords: hunting, population, semi-commercial, traditional, Timor deer

Development and experimental basis of local subretinal technique of xenogenic’s injection stem cells labelled by magnetic perticles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. A. Belyy

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose: is to develop a technique for local subretinal injection of xenogeneic stem cells labeled with magnetic particles and to prove experimentally its effectiveness.Material and methods: We used a line of stem cells HEK-293 GFP,labeled with magnetic particles. The study was made on 84 eyes of 42 chinchilla rabbits 6 months of age, the weight were from 2.5 to 3.5 kg. All right eyes were experimental (42 eyes and all left eyes (42 eyes were the control group. In the experimental group we used original complex of polymer elastic magnetic implant (PEMI with laser probe and fixed it to the sclera, then we made a median vitrectomy and injected HEK-293 GFP under the retina using a specially designed dispenser. In the control group PEMI was not fixed. We examined animals using biomicroscopy, ophthalmoscopy, ultrasound scanning, optical coherence tomography  OCT, computer tomography (CT, morphological study (cryohistological sections in 1, 3, 5, 7, 14 day and 1 month after surgery.Results: According the results of biomicroscopy in observation periods up to 3 days the vascular injection was visualized in the area operation. According the results of ophthalmoscopy and ultrasound scanning in 1 day the local retinal detachment was visualized in the area of local injection of the stem cells, which was not visualized in terms of further observations. CT helped us to confirm the local place of PEMI fixation. The morphological study results showed that cells were located in the subretinal space up to 14 days in the experimental group, and only up 3 days in the control group.Conclusion: The suggested surgical technique enables to control the injection of cells into the subretinal space, reduces the risk of tissue damage and exit cells in the vitreous space. The suggested methodology allows the fixing of the cellular material in the local place of the injection and enables to predict cells`s movement.

An Integrated Monitoring System Through 3d Laser Scanner and Traditional Instruments for Load Test on Arch Bridge

Science.gov (United States)

Pera, D.; Ferrando, I.

2017-05-01

The experimental campaign represents an example of how the careful design of the different test phases and the choice of the needed instrumentation are fundamental aspects to obtain a proper interpretation of the results, for future application on the real structures. Additionally, the present work represents a successful example of a combined monitoring system, integrating the traditional and innovative technical instrumentation for loading tests and geomatics survey techniques. The monitoring system has been designed with the aim of defining the load carrying capacity of a masonry arch bridge scaled model and to test the performances of a new retrofitting method. In particular, two different configuration have been considered: a first one with isolated arch and a second one with gravel fill on the arch.

AN INTEGRATED MONITORING SYSTEM THROUGH 3D LASER SCANNER AND TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS FOR LOAD TEST ON ARCH BRIDGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Pera

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The experimental campaign represents an example of how the careful design of the different test phases and the choice of the needed instrumentation are fundamental aspects to obtain a proper interpretation of the results, for future application on the real structures. Additionally, the present work represents a successful example of a combined monitoring system, integrating the traditional and innovative technical instrumentation for loading tests and geomatics survey techniques. The monitoring system has been designed with the aim of defining the load carrying capacity of a masonry arch bridge scaled model and to test the performances of a new retrofitting method. In particular, two different configuration have been considered: a first one with isolated arch and a second one with gravel fill on the arch.

Experimental techniques and theoretical models for the study of integral 14 MeV neutron cross sections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Csikai, J.

1981-01-01

Owing to technical reasons, most of the data for fast neutron-induced reactions were measured at 14 MeV and the free parameters in nuclear reaction models have been determined at this energy. The discrepancies between experiment and theory are often due to the unmeasured or unreliable experimental data; therefore, it is important to survey the present techniques used for the measurement of total, elastic, nonelastic and partial nonelastic [(n,xn); (n,x charged); (n,f); (n,γ)] cross sections for 14 MeV neutrons. Systematics in the data as well as theoretical and semi-empirical models are also outlined. (author)

Distance Learning Can Be as Effective as Traditional Learning for Medical Students in the Initial Assessment of Trauma Patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shervin Farahmand

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Distance learning is expanding and replacing the traditional academic medical settings. Managing trauma patients seems to be a prerequisite skill for medical students. This study has been done to evaluate the efficiency of distance learning on performing the initial assessment and management in trauma patients, compared with the traditional learning among senior medical students. One hundred and twenty senior medical students enrolled in this single-blind quasi-experimental study and were equally divided into the experimental (distance learning and control group (traditional learning. All participants did a written MCQ before the study. The control group attended a workshop with a 50-minute lecture on initial management of trauma patients and a case simulation scenario followed by a hands-on session. On the other hand, the experimental group was given a DVD with a similar 50-minute lecture and a case simulation scenario, and they also attended a hands-on session to practice the skills. Both groups were evaluated by a trauma station in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE after a month. The performance in the experimental group was statistically better (P=0.001 in OSCE. Distance learning seems to be an appropriate adjunct to traditional learning.

Scattering recoil coincidence spectrometry: a new experimental technique for profiling hydrogen isotopes in LOW-Z thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forster, J.S.; Leslie, J.R.; Laursen, T.

1990-01-01

The new technique for profiling light elements in thin, self-supporting foils, which uses a coincidence measurement over very large solid angles, has been demonstrated experimentally. A beam of 2.0 MeV 4 He particles was used to bombard films of (i) cracked ethylene and (ii) evaporated carbon which was subsequently implanted with 7.5 keV 1 H + ions to a concentration of 10 17 /cm 2 . Plots of E α vs E p clearly show the 1 H distributions in the foil. (author)

Soil analysis. Modern instrumental technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, K.A.

1993-01-01

This book covers traditional methods of analysis and specialist monographs on individual instrumental techniques, which are usually not written with soil or plant analysis specifically in mind. The principles of the techniques are combined with discussions of sample preparation and matrix problems, and critical reviews of applications in soil science and related disciplines. Individual chapters are processed separately for inclusion in the appropriate data bases

Reception of the Istrian musical tradition(s

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marušić Dario

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The successive colonization of Istria with culturally differentiated populations, and peripheral position of the peninsula regarding both the Latin and Slav worlds, has conditioned interesting phenomena which defines the traditional life of the province. On the spiritual level it is primarily reflected in two cultural dimensions: the language and traditional music.

Fit accuracy of metal partial removable dental prosthesis frameworks fabricated by traditional or light curing modeling material technique: An in vitro study

Science.gov (United States)

Anan, Mohammad Tarek M.; Al-Saadi, Mohannad H.

2015-01-01

Objective The aim of this study was to compare the fit accuracies of metal partial removable dental prosthesis (PRDP) frameworks fabricated by the traditional technique (TT) or the light-curing modeling material technique (LCMT). Materials and methods A metal model of a Kennedy class III modification 1 mandibular dental arch with two edentulous spaces of different spans, short and long, was used for the study. Thirty identical working casts were used to produce 15 PRDP frameworks each by TT and by LCMT. Every framework was transferred to a metal master cast to measure the gap between the metal base of the framework and the crest of the alveolar ridge of the cast. Gaps were measured at three points on each side by a USB digital intraoral camera at ×16.5 magnification. Images were transferred to a graphics editing program. A single examiner performed all measurements. The two-tailed t-test was performed at the 5% significance level. Results The mean gap value was significantly smaller in the LCMT group compared to the TT group. The mean value of the short edentulous span was significantly smaller than that of the long edentulous span in the LCMT group, whereas the opposite result was obtained in the TT group. Conclusion Within the limitations of this study, it can be concluded that the fit of the LCMT-fabricated frameworks was better than the fit of the TT-fabricated frameworks. The framework fit can differ according to the span of the edentate ridge and the fabrication technique for the metal framework. PMID:26236129

Reduce conflicts in traditional merariq traditions through the long tradition of the tribal people of sasak lombok

Science.gov (United States)

Sarmini; Nadiroh, Ulin; Saeun Fahmi, Muhammad

2018-01-01

Marriage is a container for framing the inner-to-heart relationship, the bond of love and affection between a man and woman to nurture a joy of happiness. This study aims to find out how the process and stages in traditional merariq traditions in the Sasak people, conflicts arising from merariq traditions, and reduce conflict through the tradition of selabar. The method used in this research is qualitative analysis method. In the process, merariq tradition is done by kidnapping the bride without the knowledge of the parents or the family of the women. There are several stages that must be passed by the bride and groom in the tradition merariq, namely: besejati, nyelabar, bait wali, sorong serah dan nyongkolang. Conflict that often arises, for internal family, merariq often become a place of coercion against the female family. For society, merariq impact on disruption of harmony of social life. In order to reduce the conflicts done selabar tradition, the tragedy is regarded as an alternative problem solving in the form of negotiations between the bride and groom’s family and the bride-to-be relating to ajikrame and pisuke transactions.

Dysphagia management: an analysis of patient outcomes using VitalStim therapy compared to traditional swallow therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiger, Mary; Brown, Catherine S; Watkins, Lynn

2006-10-01

This study compares the outcomes using VitalStim therapy to outcomes using traditional swallowing therapy for deglutition disorders. Twenty-two patients had an initial and a followup videofluoroscopic swallowing study or fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing and were divided into an experimental group that received VitalStim treatments and a control group that received traditional swallowing therapy. Outcomes were analyzed for changes in oral and pharyngeal phase dysphagia severity, dietary consistency restrictions, and progression from nonoral to oral intake. Results of chi(2) analysis showed no statistically significant difference in outcomes between the experimental and control groups.

Determination of genetic structure of germplasm collections: are traditional hierarchical clustering methods appropriate for molecular marker data?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Odong, T.L.; Heerwaarden, van J.; Jansen, J.; Hintum, van T.J.L.; Eeuwijk, van F.A.

2011-01-01

Despite the availability of newer approaches, traditional hierarchical clustering remains very popular in genetic diversity studies in plants. However, little is known about its suitability for molecular marker data. We studied the performance of traditional hierarchical clustering techniques using

Toward experimental international business : Unraveling fundamental causal linkages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Witteloostuijn, Arjen

2015-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue that the time is ripe to establish a powerful tradition in Experimental International Business (IB). Probably due to what the Arjen van Witteloostuijn refers to as the external validity myth, experimental laboratory designs are underutilized in IB,

Recent Advances in Traditional Chinese Medicine for Kidney Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Yifei; Menon, Madhav C; Deng, Yueyi; Chen, Yiping; He, John Cijiang

2015-09-01

Because current treatment options for chronic kidney disease (CKD) are limited, many patients seek out alternative therapies such as traditional Chinese medicine. However, there is a lack of evidence from large clinical trials to support the use of traditional medicines in patients with CKD. Many active components of traditional medicine formulas are undetermined and their toxicities are unknown. Therefore, there is a need for research to identify active compounds from traditional medicines and understand the mechanisms of action of these compounds, as well as their potential toxicity, and subsequently perform well-designed, randomized, controlled, clinical trials to study the efficacy and safety of their use in patients with CKD. Significant progress has been made in this field within the last several years. Many active compounds have been identified by applying sophisticated techniques such as mass spectrometry, and more mechanistic studies of these compounds have been performed using both in vitro and in vivo models. In addition, several well-designed, large, randomized, clinical trials have recently been published. We summarize these recent advances in the field of traditional medicines as they apply to CKD. In addition, current barriers for further research are also discussed. Due to the ongoing research in this field, we believe that stronger evidence to support the use of traditional medicines for CKD will emerge in the near future. Copyright © 2015 National Kidney Foundation, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

traditional and modern art in nigeria: a comparative analysis

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Modern art on the other hand is referred to as a marriage of the old tradition with the new artistic expression in terms of materials, techniques and tools by the college-trained artists. The current state of the arts in Nigeria is examined and suggestions are made for the reconstruction and revitalization of the art profession, and ...

Experimental Investigation of White Layer formation in Hard Turning

Science.gov (United States)

Umbrello, D.; Rotella, G.; Crea, F.

2011-05-01

Hard turning with super hard cutting tools, like PCBN or Ceramics inserts, represents an interesting advance in the manufacturing industry, regarding the finishing of hardened steels. This innovative machining technique is considered an attractive alternative to traditional finish grinding operations because of the high flexibility, the ability to achieve higher metal removal rates, the possibility to operate without the use of coolants, and the capability to achieve comparable workpiece quality. However, the surface integrity effects of hard machining need to be taken into account due to their influence on the life of machined components. In particular, the formation of a usually undesirable white layer at the surface needs further investigation. Three different mechanisms have been proposed as main responsible of the white layer genesis: (i) microstructural phase transformation due to a rapid heating and quenching, (ii) severe plastic deformation resulting in a homogenous structure and/or a very fine grain size microstructure; (iii) surface reaction with the environment. In this research, an experimental campaign was carried out and several experimental techniques were used in order to analyzed the machined surface and to understand which of the above mentioned theories is the main cause of the white layer formation when AISI 52100 hardened steel is machined by PCBN inserts. In particular, the topography characterization has obtained by means of optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM) while microstructural phase composition and chemical characterization have been respectively detected using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. The results prove that the white layer is the result of microstructural alteration, i.e. the generation of a martensitic structure.

A Knockout Experiment: Disciplinary Divides and Experimental Skill in Animal Behaviour Genetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Nicole C

2015-07-01

In the early 1990s, a set of new techniques for manipulating mouse DNA allowed researchers to 'knock out' specific genes and observe the effects of removing them on a live mouse. In animal behaviour genetics, questions about how to deploy these techniques to study the molecular basis of behaviour became quite controversial, with a number of key methodological issues dissecting the interdisciplinary research field along disciplinary lines. This paper examines debates that took place during the 1990s between a predominately North American group of molecular biologists and animal behaviourists around how to design, conduct, and interpret behavioural knockout experiments. Drawing from and extending Harry Collins's work on how research communities negotiate what counts as a 'well-done experiment,' I argue that the positions practitioners took on questions of experimental skill reflected not only the experimental traditions they were trained in but also their differing ontological and epistemological commitments. Different assumptions about the nature of gene action, eg., were tied to different positions in the knockout mouse debates on how to implement experimental controls. I conclude by showing that examining representations of skill in the context of a community's knowledge commitments sheds light on some of the contradictory ways in which contemporary animal behaviour geneticists talk about their own laboratory work as a highly skilled endeavour that also could be mechanised, as easy to perform and yet difficult to perform well.

MODIFIED TECHNIQUE OF TOTAL LARYNGECTOMY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Predrag Spirić

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Surgical technique of total laryngectomy is well presented in many surgical textbooks. Essentially, it has remained the same since Gluck an Soerensen in 1922 described all its details. Generally, it stresses the U shape skin incision with releasing laryngeal structures and removing larynx from up to down. Further, pharyngeal reconstruction is performed with different kinds of sutures in two or more layers and is finished with skin suture and suction drainage. One of worst complications following this surgery is pharyngocutaneous fistula (PF. Modifications proposed in this this article suggests vertical skin incision with larynx removal from below upwards. In pharyngeal reconstruction we used the running locked suture in submucosal plan with „tobacco sac“ at the end on the tongue base instead of traditional T shaped suture. Suction drains were not used.The aim of study was to present the modified surgical technique of total laryingectomy and its impact on hospital stay duration and pharyngocutanous fistula formation. In this randomized study we analyzed 49 patients operated with modified surgical technique compared to 49 patient operated with traditional surgical technique of total laryngectomy. The modified technique of total laryngectomy was presented. Using modified technique we managed to decrease the PF percentage from previous 20,41% to acceptable 8,16% (p=0,0334. Also, the average hospital stay was shortened from 14,96 to 10,63 days (t =-2.9850; p=0.0358.The modified technique of total laryngectomy is safe, short and efficient surgical intervention which decreases the number of pharyngocutaneos fistulas and shortens the hospital stay.

Experimental demonstration of high spectral efficient 4 × 4 MIMO SCMA-OFDM/OQAM radio over multi-core fiber system.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chang; Deng, Lei; He, Jiale; Li, Di; Fu, Songnian; Tang, Ming; Cheng, Mengfan; Liu, Deming

2017-07-24

In this paper, 4 × 4 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radio over 7-core fiber system based on sparse code multiple access (SCMA) and OFDM/OQAM techniques is proposed. No cyclic prefix (CP) is required by properly designing the prototype filters in OFDM/OQAM modulator, and non-orthogonally overlaid codewords by using SCMA is help to serve more users simultaneously under the condition of using equal number of time and frequency resources compared with OFDMA, resulting in the increase of spectral efficiency (SE) and system capacity. In our experiment, 11.04 Gb/s 4 × 4 MIMO SCMA-OFDM/OQAM signal is successfully transmitted over 20 km 7-core fiber and 0.4 m air distance in both uplink and downlink. As a comparison, 6.681 Gb/s traditional MIMO-OFDM signal with the same occupied bandwidth has been evaluated for both uplink and downlink transmission. The experimental results show that SE could be increased by 65.2% with no bit error rate (BER) performance degradation compared with the traditional MIMO-OFDM technique.

Application of the failure modes and effects analysis technique to the emergency cooling system of an experimental nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conceicao Junior, Osmar; Silva, Antonio Teixeira e

2009-01-01

This study consists on the application of the failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), a hazard identification and a risk assessment technique, to the emergency cooling system (ECS), of an experimental nuclear power plant. The choice of this technique was due to its detailed analysis of each component of the system, enabling the identification of all possible ways of failure and its related consequences (in order of importance), allowing the designer to improve the system, maximizing its security and reliability. Through the application of this methodology, it could be observed that the ECS is an intrinsically safe system, in spite of the modifications proposed. (author)

WRHT: A Hybrid Technique for Detection of Wormhole Attack in Wireless Sensor Networks

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Rupinder Singh

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Wormhole attack is a challenging security threat to wireless sensor networks which results in disrupting most of the routing protocols as this attack can be triggered in different modes. In this paper, WRHT, a wormhole resistant hybrid technique, is proposed, which can detect the presence of wormhole attack in a more optimistic manner than earlier techniques. WRHT is based on the concept of watchdog and Delphi schemes and ensures that the wormhole will not be left untreated in the sensor network. WRHT makes use of the dual wormhole detection mechanism of calculating probability factor time delay probability and packet loss probability of the established path in order to find the value of wormhole presence probability. The nodes in the path are given different ranking and subsequently colors according to their behavior. The most striking feature of WRHT consists of its capacity to defend against almost all categories of wormhole attacks without depending on any required additional hardware such as global positioning system, timing information or synchronized clocks, and traditional cryptographic schemes demanding high computational needs. The experimental results clearly indicate that the proposed technique has significant improvement over the existing wormhole attack detection techniques.

A Survey on Optimal Signal Processing Techniques Applied to Improve the Performance of Mechanical Sensors in Automotive Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, Wilmar

2007-01-01

In this paper a survey on recent applications of optimal signal processing techniques to improve the performance of mechanical sensors is made. Here, a comparison between classical filters and optimal filters for automotive sensors is made, and the current state of the art of the application of robust and optimal control and signal processing techniques to the design of the intelligent (or smart) sensors that today's cars need is presented through several experimental results that show that the fusion of intelligent sensors and optimal signal processing techniques is the clear way to go. However, the switch between the traditional methods of designing automotive sensors and the new ones cannot be done overnight because there are some open research issues that have to be solved. This paper draws attention to one of the open research issues and tries to arouse researcher's interest in the fusion of intelligent sensors and optimal signal processing techniques.

The Combination of DGT Technique and Traditional Chemical Methods for Evaluation of Cadmium Bioavailability in Contaminated Soils with Organic Amendment

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Yu; Sun, Qin; Wang, Chao; Wang, Pei-Fang; Miao, Ling-Zhan; Ding, Shi-Ming

2016-01-01

Organic amendments have been proposed as a means of remediation for Cd-contaminated soils. However, understanding the inhibitory effects of organic materials on metal immobilization requires further research. In this study colza cake, a typical organic amendment material, was investigated in order to elucidate the ability of this material to reduce toxicity of Cd-contaminated soil. Available concentrations of Cd in soils were measured using an in situ diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) technique in combination with traditional chemical methods, such as HOAc (aqua regia), EDTA (ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid), NaOAc (sodium acetate), CaCl2, and labile Cd in pore water. These results were applied to predict the Cd bioavailability after the addition of colza cake to Cd-contaminated soil. Two commonly grown cash crops, wheat and maize, were selected for Cd accumulation studies, and were found to be sensitive to Cd bioavailability. Results showed that the addition of colza cake may inhibit the growth of wheat and maize. Furthermore, the addition of increasing colza cake doses led to decreasing shoot and root biomass accumulation. However, increasing colza cake doses did lead to the reduction of Cd accumulation in plant tissues, as indicated by the decreasing Cd concentrations in shoots and roots. The labile concentration of Cd obtained by DGT measurements and the traditional chemical extraction methods, showed the clear decrease of Cd with the addition of increasing colza cake doses. All indicators showed significant positive correlations (p soil solution decreased with increasing colza cake doses. This was reflected by the decreases in the ratio (R) value of CDGT to Csol. Our study suggests that the sharp decrease in R values could not only reflect the extremely low capability of labile Cd to be released from its solid phase, but may also be applied to evaluate the abnormal growth of the plants. PMID:27314376

The Combination of DGT Technique and Traditional Chemical Methods for Evaluation of Cadmium Bioavailability in Contaminated Soils with Organic Amendment.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Yu; Sun, Qin; Wang, Chao; Wang, Pei-Fang; Miao, Ling-Zhan; Ding, Shi-Ming

2016-06-15

Organic amendments have been proposed as a means of remediation for Cd-contaminated soils. However, understanding the inhibitory effects of organic materials on metal immobilization requires further research. In this study colza cake, a typical organic amendment material, was investigated in order to elucidate the ability of this material to reduce toxicity of Cd-contaminated soil. Available concentrations of Cd in soils were measured using an in situ diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) technique in combination with traditional chemical methods, such as HOAc (aqua regia), EDTA (ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid), NaOAc (sodium acetate), CaCl₂, and labile Cd in pore water. These results were applied to predict the Cd bioavailability after the addition of colza cake to Cd-contaminated soil. Two commonly grown cash crops, wheat and maize, were selected for Cd accumulation studies, and were found to be sensitive to Cd bioavailability. Results showed that the addition of colza cake may inhibit the growth of wheat and maize. Furthermore, the addition of increasing colza cake doses led to decreasing shoot and root biomass accumulation. However, increasing colza cake doses did lead to the reduction of Cd accumulation in plant tissues, as indicated by the decreasing Cd concentrations in shoots and roots. The labile concentration of Cd obtained by DGT measurements and the traditional chemical extraction methods, showed the clear decrease of Cd with the addition of increasing colza cake doses. All indicators showed significant positive correlations (p soil solution decreased with increasing colza cake doses. This was reflected by the decreases in the ratio (R) value of CDGT to Csol. Our study suggests that the sharp decrease in R values could not only reflect the extremely low capability of labile Cd to be released from its solid phase, but may also be applied to evaluate the abnormal growth of the plants.

Wind Gust Measurement Techniques—From Traditional Anemometry to New Possibilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irene Suomi

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Information on wind gusts is needed for assessment of wind-induced damage and risks to safety. The measurement of wind gust speed requires a high temporal resolution of the anemometer system, because the gust is defined as a short-duration (seconds maximum of the fluctuating wind speed. Until the digitalization of wind measurements in the 1990s, the wind gust measurements suffered from limited recording and data processing resources. Therefore, the majority of continuous wind gust records date back at most only by 30 years. Although the response characteristics of anemometer systems are good enough today, the traditional measurement techniques at weather stations based on cup and sonic anemometers are limited to heights and regions where the supporting structures can reach. Therefore, existing measurements are mainly concentrated over densely-populated land areas, whereas from remote locations, such as the marine Arctic, wind gust information is available only from sparse coastal locations. Recent developments of wind gust measurement techniques based on turbulence measurements from research aircraft and from Doppler lidar can potentially provide new information from heights and locations unreachable by traditional measurement techniques. Moreover, fast-developing measurement methods based on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs may add to better coverage of wind gust measurements in the future. In this paper, we provide an overview of the history and the current status of anemometry from the perspective of wind gusts. Furthermore, a discussion on the potential future directions of wind gust measurement techniques is provided.

Using the "Economics U$A" Telecourse within the Traditional Microeconomics Course.

Science.gov (United States)

Alavi, Jafar; And Others

1993-01-01

A control group of 31 received traditional microeconomics instruction; 20 experimentals viewed the Economics U$A telecourse with lecture, discussion, and textbook. Pre/posttest data demonstrated no significant differences in comprehension of content or in cognitive level, although the video group did do better in the area of implicit application.…

Barang King Banga: Isang Experimental na Pagbasang Bisaya sa Inskripsyon sa Banga ng Calatagan

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Ramon Guillermo

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The Calatagan Pot, with an inscription around its rim, is one of the very few existing archeological evidences of ancient writing in the Philippines. It was discovered in Calatagan, Batangas under uncontrolled conditions and bought by the Philippine National Museum in 1961. Having eluded scientific efforts at decipherment since that time, the current paper proposes a strategy which combines traditional palaeographic techniques and cryptographic methods. By means of this procedure, a tentative decipherment of the inscription has been constructed. The experimental results show that the ancient inscription may be a spell or charm in a central Philippine language with aJavanese admixture.

Artificial Intelligence based technique for BTS placement

Science.gov (United States)

Alenoghena, C. O.; Emagbetere, J. O.; Aibinu, A. M.

2013-12-01

The increase of the base transceiver station (BTS) in most urban areas can be traced to the drive by network providers to meet demand for coverage and capacity. In traditional network planning, the final decision of BTS placement is taken by a team of radio planners, this decision is not fool proof against regulatory requirements. In this paper, an intelligent based algorithm for optimal BTS site placement has been proposed. The proposed technique takes into consideration neighbour and regulation considerations objectively while determining cell site. The application will lead to a quantitatively unbiased evaluated decision making process in BTS placement. An experimental data of a 2km by 3km territory was simulated for testing the new algorithm, results obtained show a 100% performance of the neighbour constrained algorithm in BTS placement optimization. Results on the application of GA with neighbourhood constraint indicate that the choices of location can be unbiased and optimization of facility placement for network design can be carried out.

Artificial Intelligence based technique for BTS placement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alenoghena, C O; Emagbetere, J O; 1 Minna (Nigeria))" data-affiliation=" (Department of Telecommunications Engineering, Federal University of Techn.1 Minna (Nigeria))" >Aibinu, A M

2013-01-01

The increase of the base transceiver station (BTS) in most urban areas can be traced to the drive by network providers to meet demand for coverage and capacity. In traditional network planning, the final decision of BTS placement is taken by a team of radio planners, this decision is not fool proof against regulatory requirements. In this paper, an intelligent based algorithm for optimal BTS site placement has been proposed. The proposed technique takes into consideration neighbour and regulation considerations objectively while determining cell site. The application will lead to a quantitatively unbiased evaluated decision making process in BTS placement. An experimental data of a 2km by 3km territory was simulated for testing the new algorithm, results obtained show a 100% performance of the neighbour constrained algorithm in BTS placement optimization. Results on the application of GA with neighbourhood constraint indicate that the choices of location can be unbiased and optimization of facility placement for network design can be carried out

Using Alternative Teaching Techniques To Enhance Student Performance in the Traditional Introductory Public Relations Course.

Science.gov (United States)

Lubbers, Charles A.

2002-01-01

Examines the value of two alternative tools as supplements for the traditional introduction to public relations course. Considers the usage of a study manual, usage of televised review sessions, year in school and major status. Indicates that all four variables are significantly correlated with class performance, but that the study manual explains…

Understanding traditional African healing.

Science.gov (United States)

Mokgobi, M G

2014-09-01

Traditional African healing has been in existence for many centuries yet many people still seem not to understand how it relates to God and religion/spirituality. Some people seem to believe that traditional healers worship the ancestors and not God. It is therefore the aim of this paper to clarify this relationship by discussing a chain of communication between the worshipers and the Almighty God. Other aspects of traditional healing namely types of traditional healers, training of traditional healers as well as the role of traditional healers in their communities are discussed. In conclusion, the services of traditional healers go far beyond the uses of herbs for physical illnesses. Traditional healers serve many roles which include but not limited to custodians of the traditional African religion and customs, educators about culture, counselors, social workers and psychologists.

Low-Power Built-In Self-Test Techniques for Embedded SRAMs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shyue-Kung Lu

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The severity of power consumption during parallel BIST of embedded memory cores is growing significantly. In order to alleviate this problem, a row bank-based precharge technique based on the divided wordline (DWL architecture is proposed for low-power testing of embedded SRAMs. The memory cell array is first divided into row banks. The effectiveness of the row bank-based precharge technique is due to the predictable address sequence during test. In low-power test mode, instead of precharging the entire memory array, only the current accessed row bank is precharged. This will result in significant power saving for the precharge circuitry. The precharge power can be reduced to 1/b of that of the traditional precharge techniques, where b denotes the number of row banks in the memory array. With simple transmission gates and inverters, the modified precharge control circuitry was also designed. The hardware overhead for implementing the low-power technique is almost negligible. Moreover, the corresponding BIST design to implement the low-power technique is almost the same as the conventional BIST designs. It is also notable that the inherent low-power characteristics of the DWL architecture can be preserved. According to experimental results, 48.9% power reduction can be achieved for a 256 × 256 bit-oriented SRAM. The memory is divided into 8 row banks. Moreover, if the number of row banks increases, the power saving will also increase.

Blended Learning Versus Traditional Lecture in Introductory Nursing Pathophysiology Courses.

Science.gov (United States)

Blissitt, Andrea Marie

2016-04-01

Currently, many undergraduate nursing courses use blended-learning course formats with success; however, little evidence exists that supports the use of blended formats in introductory pathophysiology courses. The purpose of this study was to compare the scores on pre- and posttests and course satisfaction between traditional and blended course formats in an introductory nursing pathophysiology course. This study used a quantitative, quasi-experimental, nonrandomized control group, pretest-posttest design. Analysis of covariance compared pre- and posttest scores, and a t test for independent samples compared students' reported course satisfaction of the traditional and blended course formats. Results indicated that the differences in posttest scores were not statistically significant between groups. Students in the traditional group reported statistically significantly higher satisfaction ratings than students in the blended group. The results of this study support the need for further research of using blended learning in introductory pathophysiology courses in undergraduate baccalaureate nursing programs. Further investigation into how satisfaction is affected by course formats is needed. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Test person operated 2-Alternative Forced Choice Audiometry compared to traditional audiometry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Jesper Hvass; Brandt, Christian; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob

  Background: With a newly developed technique, hearing thresholds can be estimated with a system operated by the test persons themselves. This technique is based on the 2 Alternative Forced Choice paradigm known from the psychoacoustic research theory. Test persons can operate the system very......-likelihood and up-down methods has proven effective and reliable even under suboptimal test settings. In non-optimal testing conditions i.e. as a part of a hearing conservation programme the headphone Sennheiser HDA-200 has been used as it contains hearing protection. This test-method has been validated......-retest studies of 2AFC audiometry are comparable to test-retest results known from traditional audiometry under standard clinical settings.   Conclusions 2 Alternative Forced Choice audiometry can be a reliable alternative to traditional audiometry especially under certain circumstances, where it can...

An Experimental Evaluation of the Effect of Hole Fabrication/Treatment Techniques on Residual Strength and Fatigue Life of Polycarbonate Specimens with Holes

Science.gov (United States)

1993-08-01

34The Effect of Dimpling on the Fatigue Strength of Loaded Holes in a Corrosive Environment," Experimental Techniques, Vol. 9, September 1985, 33-36. 34...Expansion on the Fatigue Behavior of 7079-T652 Alluminium [sic] Alloy," NLR TR 74016 U, National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR), Amsterdam, The

“Spray Technique: Tracing the Sketch Traditions of Limestone Cave in Lenggong, Perak”

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Yahaya Fatan Hamamah

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Archaeological research provides the widest opportunity for researchers to analyse various aspects and disciplines appropriate to the subject and the object of choice. Subject and object selection is the work of exploration artefacts found in particular sites and archaeological heritage. Exploration and excavation on of a world heritage site such as Lenggong enables researchers to uncover various archaeological artefacts that are rich and meaningful. To find evidence of the strength and benefits of an artefact, further studies on each artefact should be carried out continuously. This essay will track the wisdom of the ancient artists use to produce paintings in a limestone cave in Lenggong, Perak, using spray techniques. Some artefacts that are identified as cave paintings show a very interesting sketch technique that are unique and special. This essay will also examine some of the cave paintings in other caves in Perak and also other caves in several countries as comparison. Studies involving cave paintings in Malaysia are new compared to Western countries. Thus, the study of one of the technique which is spray technique can open the eyes of the audience to acknowledge and recognise the ancient heritage. It also hoped that this study is able to increase the body of knowledge that goes beyond the boundaries of the arts district and the country.

Experimental and mathematical simulation techniques for determining an in-situ response testing method for neutron sensors used in reactor power plant protection systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Behbahani, A.

1983-01-01

An analytical neutron sensor response model and methods for transient response measurements of neutron sensors (compensated ionization chamber), including possible in-situ techniques have been developed and evaluated to meet the provisions of Draft Standard ISA Sd67.06, IEEE 338-1977, and NRC Guide 1.118. One in-situ method requires the perturbation of the high voltage detector (sensor) power supply and measurement of the sensor response. The response to a perturbation of the power supply is related to the response of the sensor to a transient change in neutron flux. Random signal analysis is another in-situ technique to monitor the neutron sensor response. In this method the power spectrum of the inherent fluctuations from the neutron sensor output (current in CIC) are measured and evaluated. Transient response techniques (including in-situ methods) are experimentally and analytically evaluated to identify the mechanisms which may cause degradation in the response of the neutron sensors. The objective of the experimental evaluation was to correlate the measured response time using transient radiation flux changes and power supply perturbation. The objective of the analytical model of the different sensor response was to predict response time and degradation mechanisms

Le corpus lexicographique dans les langues à tradition orale: le cas ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

rbr

langues à tradition orale: les informateurs et la représentativité du corpus. Cette dernière, qui doit ..... les techniques, les instruments, la pêche par les hommes, la pêche par .... cet outil indispensable qu'est le dictionnaire. Je pense que ces ...

Xenosurveillance reflects traditional sampling techniques for the identification of human pathogens: A comparative study in West Africa.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph R Fauver

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Novel surveillance strategies are needed to detect the rapid and continuous emergence of infectious disease agents. Ideally, new sampling strategies should be simple to implement, technologically uncomplicated, and applicable to areas where emergence events are known to occur. To this end, xenosurveillance is a technique that makes use of blood collected by hematophagous arthropods to monitor and identify vertebrate pathogens. Mosquitoes are largely ubiquitous animals that often exist in sizable populations. As well, many domestic or peridomestic species of mosquitoes will preferentially take blood-meals from humans, making them a unique and largely untapped reservoir to collect human blood.We sought to take advantage of this phenomenon by systematically collecting blood-fed mosquitoes during a field trail in Northern Liberia to determine whether pathogen sequences from blood engorged mosquitoes accurately mirror those obtained directly from humans. Specifically, blood was collected from humans via finger-stick and by aspirating bloodfed mosquitoes from the inside of houses. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing of RNA and DNA derived from these specimens was performed to detect pathogen sequences. Samples obtained from xenosurveillance and from finger-stick blood collection produced a similar number and quality of reads aligning to two human viruses, GB virus C and hepatitis B virus.This study represents the first systematic comparison between xenosurveillance and more traditional sampling methodologies, while also demonstrating the viability of xenosurveillance as a tool to sample human blood for circulating pathogens.

Comparative analysis of profitability of honey production using traditional and box hives.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Ghamdi, Ahmed A; Adgaba, Nuru; Herab, Ahmed H; Ansari, Mohammad J

2017-07-01

Information on the profitability and productivity of box hives is important to encourage beekeepers to adopt the technology. However, comparative analysis of profitability and productivity of box and traditional hives is not adequately available. The study was carried out on 182 beekeepers using cross sectional survey and employing a random sampling technique. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), the Cobb-Douglas (CD) production function and partial budgeting. The CD production function revealed that supplementary bee feeds, labor and medication were statistically significant for both box and traditional hives. Generally, labor for bee management, supplementary feeding, and medication led to productivity differences of approximately 42.83%, 7.52%, and 5.34%, respectively, between box and traditional hives. The study indicated that productivity of box hives were 72% higher than traditional hives. The average net incomes of beekeepers using box and traditional hives were 33,699.7 SR/annum and 16,461.4 SR/annum respectively. The incremental net benefit of box hives over traditional hives was nearly double. Our study results clearly showed the importance of adoption of box hives for better productivity of the beekeeping subsector.

Comparative analysis of profitability of honey production using traditional and box hives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed A. Al-Ghamdi

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Information on the profitability and productivity of box hives is important to encourage beekeepers to adopt the technology. However, comparative analysis of profitability and productivity of box and traditional hives is not adequately available. The study was carried out on 182 beekeepers using cross sectional survey and employing a random sampling technique. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA, the Cobb-Douglas (CD production function and partial budgeting. The CD production function revealed that supplementary bee feeds, labor and medication were statistically significant for both box and traditional hives. Generally, labor for bee management, supplementary feeding, and medication led to productivity differences of approximately 42.83%, 7.52%, and 5.34%, respectively, between box and traditional hives. The study indicated that productivity of box hives were 72% higher than traditional hives. The average net incomes of beekeepers using box and traditional hives were 33,699.7 SR/annum and 16,461.4 SR/annum respectively. The incremental net benefit of box hives over traditional hives was nearly double. Our study results clearly showed the importance of adoption of box hives for better productivity of the beekeeping subsector.

Experimental Design Strategy As Part of an Innovative Construction Industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rogier Laterveer

2013-01-01

This exploratory and conceptual article sets out to research what arguments and possibilities for experimentation in construction exists and if experimentation can contribute towards more innovative construction as a whole. Traditional, -western- construction is very conservative and regional, often

Neymar, defender of brazilian tradition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisca Islandia Cardoso da Silva

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to analyze how university students of Teresina-PI appropriate of the message of a report of the television show Esporte Espetacular. There was use of the technique of focus groups and analytical-descriptive method for collecting and analyzing data. The sample consisted of 24 university students, aged between 18 and 24 years. The report features Neymar as responsible to follow the "tradition" of Brazilians and to be crowned as the best player in the world. The subjects of research said that the speech conveyed by the report can reproduce and create a reality sometimes dreamlike, because objective to confer to Neymar great importance with regard to national identity.

Affordable non-traditional source data mining for context assessment to improve distributed fusion system robustness

Science.gov (United States)

Bowman, Christopher; Haith, Gary; Steinberg, Alan; Morefield, Charles; Morefield, Michael

2013-05-01

This paper describes methods to affordably improve the robustness of distributed fusion systems by opportunistically leveraging non-traditional data sources. Adaptive methods help find relevant data, create models, and characterize the model quality. These methods also can measure the conformity of this non-traditional data with fusion system products including situation modeling and mission impact prediction. Non-traditional data can improve the quantity, quality, availability, timeliness, and diversity of the baseline fusion system sources and therefore can improve prediction and estimation accuracy and robustness at all levels of fusion. Techniques are described that automatically learn to characterize and search non-traditional contextual data to enable operators integrate the data with the high-level fusion systems and ontologies. These techniques apply the extension of the Data Fusion & Resource Management Dual Node Network (DNN) technical architecture at Level 4. The DNN architecture supports effectively assessment and management of the expanded portfolio of data sources, entities of interest, models, and algorithms including data pattern discovery and context conformity. Affordable model-driven and data-driven data mining methods to discover unknown models from non-traditional and `big data' sources are used to automatically learn entity behaviors and correlations with fusion products, [14 and 15]. This paper describes our context assessment software development, and the demonstration of context assessment of non-traditional data to compare to an intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance fusion product based upon an IED POIs workflow.

Tradition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Otto, Ton

2016-01-01

: beliefs, practices, institutions, and also things. In this sense, the meaning of the term in social research is very close to its usage in common language and is not always theoretically well developed (see Shils, 1971: 123). But the concept of tradition has also been central to major theoretical debates...... on the nature of social change, especially in connection with the notion of modernity. Here tradition is linked to various forms of agency as a factor of both stability and intentional change....

Acquisition of Psychomotor Skills in Dentistry: An Experimental Teaching Method.

Science.gov (United States)

Vann, William F., Jr.; And Others

1981-01-01

A traditional method of teaching psychomotor skills in a preclinical restorative dentistry laboratory course was compared with an experimental method. The experimental group was taught using a guided systematic approach that relied on detailed checklists and exhaustive faculty feedback. (Author/MLW)

Effect of traditional leafy vegetables on the growth of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Kassim, Muhammad Arshad; Baijnath, Himansu; Odhav, Bharti

2014-12-01

Traditional leafy vegetables, apart from being a staple in the diet of most of sub-Saharan Africa, are an essential part of traditional medicine and are used daily by traditional healers in the region to treat a wide variety of ailments. In this study, a batch culture technique was used to investigate whether 25 infusions from 22 traditional leafy vegetables stimulated the growth of Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus lactis, Lactobacillus reuteri and Bifidobacterium longum in pure culture. High performance liquid chromatography was used to determine the inulin content of the infusions. Sonchus oleraceus stimulated all four strains and Taraxacum officinale stimulated three strains. In total, 18 plants stimulated at least one of the four probiotic strains. The inulin content of the infusions varied between 2.5% and 3.6%, with Asparagus sprengeri containing the highest percentage. These results indicate that traditional leafy vegetables do stimulate the growth of the selected lactobacilli and bifidobacteria in pure culture and contain inulin. These infusions can now be tested for prebiotic potential using mixed culture systems or human hosts.

Traditional M e n Caps o f Kyrgyzstan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serap TANRISEVER

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Kyrgyzstan has an extraordinarily rich mosaic of folk culture. There is a great importance of wear clothing, crafts and decorative arts in this mosaic. Traditional caps and clothes of Kyrgyzstan are the best elements that reflect the presence of culture, t raditions, geography inhabited, climatic conditions that they already live in. Kyrgyzstan has been trying to keep alive the traditions, styles of lives by using the required crafts and handmade products although the global fashion, time and technological development. According to research, it has still been seen that the caps and clothes of Kyrgyzstan are being used less in daily life. Caps, Kalpak , Tebetey, Malakay, are some of the best known extant that come to this age related with the traditions of ca p s of Kyrgyzstan’s men . In this research, it has been worked of decorations of Kirghiz men caps , specialties of color and design, techniques of sewing, characteristics of mold and fabrics, Moreover the place and the meaning of the titles has been trying to determine in the cultural life. The scan method has been used by doing regional research.

Surface physics : experimental

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padalia, B.D.

1978-01-01

In this report, discussion is confined to some important ultra high vacuum surface techniques such as ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and the low energy electron diffraction (LEED). An attempt is made to cover the basic principles and the experimental details of XPS and AES. Selected examples illustrating the potentialities of the above techniques to solve the important basic as well as applied problems relating to surfaces are presented. Salient features of the available commercial machines in which UPS, AES and LEED are combined to facilitate surface examination sequentially or simultaneously under identical experimental conditions are indicated. (auth.)

Blending online techniques with traditional face to face teaching methods to deliver final year undergraduate radiology learning content

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Howlett, David, E-mail: david.howlett@esht.nhs.uk [Department of Radiology, Eastbourne District General Hospital, Kings Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 2UD (United Kingdom); Vincent, Tim [Department of IT, Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) (United Kingdom); Watson, Gillian; Owens, Emma [Department of Radiology, Eastbourne District General Hospital, Kings Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 2UD (United Kingdom); Webb, Richard; Gainsborough, Nicola [Department of Medicine, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton (United Kingdom); Fairclough, Jil [Department of IT, Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) (United Kingdom); Taylor, Nick [Department of Medical Illustration, Eastbourne District General Hospital (United Kingdom); Miles, Ken [Department of Imaging, BSMS (United Kingdom); Cohen, Jon [Department of Infectious Diseases, BSMS (United Kingdom); Vincent, Richard [Department of Cardiology, BSMS (United Kingdom)

2011-06-15

Aim: To review the initial experience of blending a variety of online educational techniques with traditional face to face or contact-based teaching methods to deliver final year undergraduate radiology content at a UK Medical School. Materials and methods: The Brighton and Sussex Medical School opened in 2003 and offers a 5-year undergraduate programme, with the final 5 spent in several regional centres. Year 5 involves several core clinical specialities with onsite radiology teaching provided at regional centres in the form of small-group tutorials, imaging seminars and also a one-day course. An online educational module was introduced in 2007 to facilitate equitable delivery of the year 5 curriculum between the regional centres and to support students on placement. This module had a strong radiological emphasis, with a combination of imaging integrated into clinical cases to reflect everyday practice and also dedicated radiology cases. For the second cohort of year 5 students in 2008 two additional online media-rich initiatives were introduced, to complement the online module, comprising imaging tutorials and an online case discussion room. Results: In the first year for the 2007/2008 cohort, 490 cases were written, edited and delivered via the Medical School managed learning environment as part of the online module. 253 cases contained a form of image media, of which 195 cases had a radiological component with a total of 325 radiology images. Important aspects of radiology practice (e.g. consent, patient safety, contrast toxicity, ionising radiation) were also covered. There were 274,000 student hits on cases the first year, with students completing a mean of 169 cases each. High levels of student satisfaction were recorded in relation to the online module and also additional online radiology teaching initiatives. Conclusion: Online educational techniques can be effectively blended with other forms of teaching to allow successful undergraduate delivery of

Blending online techniques with traditional face to face teaching methods to deliver final year undergraduate radiology learning content

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howlett, David; Vincent, Tim; Watson, Gillian; Owens, Emma; Webb, Richard; Gainsborough, Nicola; Fairclough, Jil; Taylor, Nick; Miles, Ken; Cohen, Jon; Vincent, Richard

2011-01-01

Aim: To review the initial experience of blending a variety of online educational techniques with traditional face to face or contact-based teaching methods to deliver final year undergraduate radiology content at a UK Medical School. Materials and methods: The Brighton and Sussex Medical School opened in 2003 and offers a 5-year undergraduate programme, with the final 5 spent in several regional centres. Year 5 involves several core clinical specialities with onsite radiology teaching provided at regional centres in the form of small-group tutorials, imaging seminars and also a one-day course. An online educational module was introduced in 2007 to facilitate equitable delivery of the year 5 curriculum between the regional centres and to support students on placement. This module had a strong radiological emphasis, with a combination of imaging integrated into clinical cases to reflect everyday practice and also dedicated radiology cases. For the second cohort of year 5 students in 2008 two additional online media-rich initiatives were introduced, to complement the online module, comprising imaging tutorials and an online case discussion room. Results: In the first year for the 2007/2008 cohort, 490 cases were written, edited and delivered via the Medical School managed learning environment as part of the online module. 253 cases contained a form of image media, of which 195 cases had a radiological component with a total of 325 radiology images. Important aspects of radiology practice (e.g. consent, patient safety, contrast toxicity, ionising radiation) were also covered. There were 274,000 student hits on cases the first year, with students completing a mean of 169 cases each. High levels of student satisfaction were recorded in relation to the online module and also additional online radiology teaching initiatives. Conclusion: Online educational techniques can be effectively blended with other forms of teaching to allow successful undergraduate delivery of

Blending online techniques with traditional face to face teaching methods to deliver final year undergraduate radiology learning content.

Science.gov (United States)

Howlett, David; Vincent, Tim; Watson, Gillian; Owens, Emma; Webb, Richard; Gainsborough, Nicola; Fairclough, Jil; Taylor, Nick; Miles, Ken; Cohen, Jon; Vincent, Richard

2011-06-01

To review the initial experience of blending a variety of online educational techniques with traditional face to face or contact-based teaching methods to deliver final year undergraduate radiology content at a UK Medical School. The Brighton and Sussex Medical School opened in 2003 and offers a 5-year undergraduate programme, with the final 5 spent in several regional centres. Year 5 involves several core clinical specialities with onsite radiology teaching provided at regional centres in the form of small-group tutorials, imaging seminars and also a one-day course. An online educational module was introduced in 2007 to facilitate equitable delivery of the year 5 curriculum between the regional centres and to support students on placement. This module had a strong radiological emphasis, with a combination of imaging integrated into clinical cases to reflect everyday practice and also dedicated radiology cases. For the second cohort of year 5 students in 2008 two additional online media-rich initiatives were introduced, to complement the online module, comprising imaging tutorials and an online case discussion room. In the first year for the 2007/2008 cohort, 490 cases were written, edited and delivered via the Medical School managed learning environment as part of the online module. 253 cases contained a form of image media, of which 195 cases had a radiological component with a total of 325 radiology images. Important aspects of radiology practice (e.g. consent, patient safety, contrast toxicity, ionising radiation) were also covered. There were 274,000 student hits on cases the first year, with students completing a mean of 169 cases each. High levels of student satisfaction were recorded in relation to the online module and also additional online radiology teaching initiatives. Online educational techniques can be effectively blended with other forms of teaching to allow successful undergraduate delivery of radiology. Efficient IT links and good image quality

Quantifying Shapes: Mathematical Techniques for Analysing Visual Representations of Sound and Music

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Genevieve L. Noyce

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Research on auditory-visual correspondences has a long tradition but innovative experimental paradigms and analytic tools are sparse. In this study, we explore different ways of analysing real-time visual representations of sound and music drawn by both musically-trained and untrained individuals. To that end, participants' drawing responses captured by an electronic graphics tablet were analysed using various regression, clustering, and classification techniques. Results revealed that a Gaussian process (GP regression model with a linear plus squared-exponential covariance function was able to model the data sufficiently, whereas a simpler GP was not a good fit. Spectral clustering analysis was the best of a variety of clustering techniques, though no strong groupings are apparent in these data. This was confirmed by variational Bayes analysis, which only fitted one Gaussian over the dataset. Slight trends in the optimised hyperparameters between musically-trained and untrained individuals allowed for the building of a successful GP classifier that differentiated between these two groups. In conclusion, this set of techniques provides useful mathematical tools for analysing real-time visualisations of sound and can be applied to similar datasets as well.

CONSUMERS’ BRAND EQUITY PERCEPTIONS OF TRADITIONAL AND NON-TRADITIONAL BRANDS

OpenAIRE

Catli, Ozlem; Ermec Sertoglu, Aysegul; Ors, Husniye

2017-01-01

Thisstudy aims to compare consumers' brand perception of traditional brands withbrand perceptions of non-traditional brands.  Consumers livingin Ankara constitute the universe of work, and data were gathered in aface-to-face interview using the survey method. the demographic characteristicsof the participants was prepared with the aim of evaluating and comparing onetraditional brand and one non traditional brand of brand equity related to thebrand equity by the participants. According to...

Direct analysis of traditional Chinese medicines by mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Melody Yee-Man; So, Pui-Kin; Yao, Zhong-Ping

2016-07-15

Analysis of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) plays important roles in quality control of TCMs and understanding their pharmacological effects. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a technique of choice for analysis of TCMs due to its superiority in speed, sensitivity and specificity. However, conventional MS analysis of TCMs typically requires extensive sample pretreatment and chromatographic separation, which could be time-consuming and laborious, prior to the analysis. The expanding usage of TCMs worldwide demands development of rapid, cost-effective and reliable methods for analysis of TCMs. In recent years, new sample preparation and ionization techniques have been developed to enable direct analysis of TCMs by MS, significantly reducing the analysis time and cost. In this review, various MS-based techniques, mainly including ambient ionization-MS and MALDI-MS based techniques, applied for direct analysis of TCMs are summarized and their applicability and future prospects are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Transforming traditional Tai Ji Quan techniques into integrative movement therapy-Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Fuzhong

2014-03-01

Tai Ji Quan, developed as a martial art, has traditionally served multiple purposes, including self-defense, competition/performance, and health promotion. With respect to health, the benefits historically and anecdotally associated with Tai Ji Quan are now being supported by scientific and clinical research, with mounting evidence indicating its potential value in preventing and managing various diseases and improving well-being and quality of life in middle-aged and older adults. The research findings produced to date have both public health significance and clinical relevance. However, because of its roots in the martial arts, transforming traditional Tai Ji Quan movements and training approaches into contemporary therapeutic programs and functional applications is needed to maximize its ultimate utility. This paper addresses this issue by introducing Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance , a functional therapy that involves the use of Tai Ji Quan principles and Yang-style-based movements to form an innovative, contemporary therapeutic approach that integrates motor, sensory, and cognitive components to improve postural control, gait, and mobility for older adults and those who have neurodegenerative movement impairments. It provides a synergy of traditional and contemporary Tai Ji Quan practice with the ultimate goal of improving balance and gait, enhancing performance of daily functional tasks, and reducing incidence of falls among older adults.

Comparison with Other Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Sacco, Giovanni Maria; Ferré, Sébastien; Tzitzikas, Yannis

This chapter compares dynamic taxonomies with the other main approaches to information access and discusses analogies and differences. The approaches analyzed range from traditional retrieval paradigms, such as queries on structured data, to the most recent approaches, including the current effort on the Semantic Web: queries on structured data, and OLAP data analysis techniques;

Combining Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Monitoring Populations for Co-Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henrik Moller

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Using a combination of traditional ecological knowledge and science to monitor populations can greatly assist co-management for sustainable customary wildlife harvests by indigenous peoples. Case studies from Canada and New Zealand emphasize that, although traditional monitoring methods may often be imprecise and qualitative, they are nevertheless valuable because they are based on observations over long time periods, incorporate large sample sizes, are inexpensive, invite the participation of harvesters as researchers, and sometimes incorporate subtle multivariate cross checks for environmental change. A few simple rules suggested by traditional knowledge may produce good management outcomes consistent with fuzzy logic thinking. Science can sometimes offer better tests of potential causes of population change by research on larger spatial scales, precise quantification, and evaluation of population change where no harvest occurs. However, science is expensive and may not always be trusted or welcomed by customary users of wildlife. Short scientific studies in which traditional monitoring methods are calibrated against population abundance could make it possible to mesh traditional ecological knowledge with scientific inferences of prey population dynamics. This paper analyzes the traditional monitoring techniques of catch per unit effort and body condition. Combining scientific and traditional monitoring methods can not only build partnership and community consensus, but also, and more importantly, allow indigenous wildlife users to critically evaluate scientific predictions on their own terms and test sustainability using their own forms of adaptive management.

Practical illustration of the traditional vers. alternative LOCA embrittlement criteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vrtilkova, V.; Novotny, L.; Hamouz, V.; Doucha, R.; Tinka, I.; Macek, J.; Lahovsky, F.

2005-01-01

Evaluation of LOCA time behaviour is usually based on traditional embrittlement criterion, represented by the equivalent cladding reacted (ECR) limit 17 % (18 %) at the peak cladding temperature below 1204 0 C (1200 0 C). From different existing correlations for evaluation the ECR, the correlations of Baker-Just, Cathcart and VNIINM (Bibilashvili) are discussed here. Results, obtained by these correlations, are illustrated for typical and atypical LOCA courses analysed for the WWER 440 plant. An approach to assess these correlations from the viewpoint of violation of the observed criterion is presented. This approach is based on determination of the temperature vers. time of exposition, when the criterion limit is reached. Reasons leading to necessity of alternative criterion proposal are summarised. This criterion for LOCA events evaluation, including corresponding correlation, is proposed on the basis of the long-term experimental research of cladding materials at UJP Praha. The computational results, obtained according to this alternative criterion, are illustrated for the same courses of LOCA events as for traditional criteria and traditional correlations. Proposed criterion is also confronted with the other discussed criteria in accordance with mentioned approach presented in this paper. The characteristic experimental results and key findings are summarised. They substantiate and support the proposed alternative criterion. An advantage of the criterion is its independence on ECR, on hydrogen and oxygen content and on oxidation history, and its applicability to current Zr-based alloy cladding materials as well. This applicability is kept while preserving the simplicity of the criterion using. (author)

The duration of the affricate /ts/ in Zulu: an experimental investigation

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The description of phonological processes in Zulu has traditionally been based on impressionistic observations. In keeping with the trend of laboratory phonology, where phonological descriptions are experimentally verified, this article investigates the intrusive stop formation process (or affrication as it is traditionally known) ...

Aerosols from metal cutting techniques typical of decommissioning nuclear facilities - experimental system for collection and characterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newton, G.J.; Hoover, M.D.; Barr, E.B.; Wong, B.A.; Ritter, P.D.

1982-01-01

Decommissioning of radioactively contaminated sites has the potential for creating radioactive and other potentially toxic aerosols. We describe an experimental system to collect and characterize aerosols from metal cutting activities typical of those used in decommissioning of nuclear facilities. A special enclosure was designed for the experiment and consisted of a 2-in. x 4-in. stud frame with double walls of flame retardant polyethylene film. Large plexiglass windows allowed the cutting operations to be directed and filmed. Ventilation was 8500 L/min (300 CFM) exhausted through HEPA filters. Seven cutting techniques were evaluated: pipe cutter, reciprocating saw, band saw, chop saw, oxy-acetylene torch, electric arc cut rod and plasma torch. Two grinding tools were also evaluated. Materials cut were 2-, 3- and 4-in. dia schedule 40, 80 and 180 type 304L stainless steel pipe. Basic studies were done on uncontaminated pipe. Four-inch-diameter sections of schedule 180 type 304L stainless steel pipe with radioactively contaminated internal surfaces were also cut. The experiments controlled important variables including tools, cutting technique, and type and thickness of material. 15 references, 4 figures, 2 tables

A novel classification method for aid decision of traditional Chinese patent medicines for stroke treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yufeng; Liu, Bo; He, Liyun; Bai, Wenjing; Yu, Xueyun; Cao, Xinyu; Luo, Lin; Rong, Peijing; Zhao, Yuxue; Li, Guozheng; Liu, Baoyan

2017-09-01

Traditional Chinese patent medicines are widely used to treat stroke because it has good efficacy in the clinical environment. However, because of the lack of knowledge on traditional Chinese patent medicines, many Western physicians, who are accountable for the majority of clinical prescriptions for such medicine, are confused with the use of traditional Chinese patent medicines. Therefore, the aid-decision method is critical and necessary to help Western physicians rationally use traditional Chinese patent medicines. In this paper, Manifold Ranking is employed to develop the aid-decision model of traditional Chinese patent medicines for stroke treatment. First, 115 stroke patients from three hospitals are recruited in the cross-sectional survey. Simultaneously, traditional Chinese physicians determine the traditional Chinese patent medicines appropriate for each patient. Second, particular indicators are explored to characterize the population feature of traditional Chinese patent medicines for stroke treatment. Moreover, these particular indicators can be easily obtained byWestern physicians and are feasible for widespread clinical application in the future. Third, the aid-decision model of traditional Chinese patent medicines for stroke treatment is constructed based on Manifold Ranking. Experimental results reveal that traditional Chinese patent medicines can be differentiated. Moreover, the proposed model can obtain high accuracy of aid decision.

Comparison of activation cross section measurements and experimental techniques for fusion reactor technology. Summary report of the IAEA specialists' meeting held in St. Petersburg, Russia, 7 to 9 September 1994

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pashchenko, A.B.

1995-02-01

The report contains the Summary of the IAEA Specialists' Meeting on ''Comparison of Activation Cross Section Measurements and Experimental Techniques for Fusion Reactor Technology''. The meeting was organized by the IAEA Nuclear Data Section (NDS) with co-operation and assistance of local organizers from the V.G. Khlopin Radium Institute, KRI, and held in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 7 to 9 September 1994. The aim of the meeting was to discuss and evaluate the preliminary results of the researches carried out in the framework of the international programme on Comparison of Activation Cross Section Measurements and Experimental Techniques for Fusion Reactor Technology coordinated by the IAEA Nuclear Data Section and to identify further measurements and actions of participating laboratories. The detailed conclusions and recommendations of the meeting are presented in Attachment 1 of the summary report. It was confirmed that for further comparison of experimental techniques the experimental groups at JAERI (Tokai, Japan), KRI (St. Petersburg, Russia), IPPE (Obninsk, Russia) and IEP (Debrecen, Hungary) will join in a collaborative program on comparing their measurement techniques and do measurements for reactions where discrepancies between their previous measurements exist. In cases where the JAERI results are the only existing data or deviate strongly from previous measurements, collaboration between KRI, IEP, IPPE and other institutions can consider measurements of these cross sections in order to clarify the situation. (author)

Is There a Purchase Limit on Regional Growth? A Quasi-experimental Evaluation of Investment Grants Using Matching Techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mitze, Timo Friedel; Paloyo, Alfredo R.; Alecke, Björn

2015-01-01

In this article, we apply recent advances in quasi-experimental estimation methods to analyze the effectiveness of Germany’s large-scale regional policy instrument, the joint Federal Government/State Programme “Gemeinschaftsaufgabe Verbesserung der regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur” (GRW), which is ...... of matching techniques in regional data settings. Overall, however, the matching approach can still be considered of great value for regional policy analysis and should be the subject of future research efforts in the field of empirical regional science.......In this article, we apply recent advances in quasi-experimental estimation methods to analyze the effectiveness of Germany’s large-scale regional policy instrument, the joint Federal Government/State Programme “Gemeinschaftsaufgabe Verbesserung der regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur” (GRW), which...... is a means to foster labor-productivity growth in lagging regions. In particular, adopting binary and generalized propensity-score matching methods, our results indicate that the GRW can be generally considered effective. However, we find evidence for a nonlinear relationship between GRW funding and regional...

Experimental investigation on emission reduction in neem oil biodiesel using selective catalytic reduction and catalytic converter techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Viswanathan, Karthickeyan

2018-05-01

In the present study, non-edible seed oil namely raw neem oil was converted into biodiesel using transesterification process. In the experimentation, two biodiesel blends were prepared namely B25 (25% neem oil methyl ester with 75% of diesel) and B50 (50% neem oil methyl ester with 50% diesel). Urea-based selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technique with catalytic converter (CC) was fixed in the exhaust tail pipe of the engine for the reduction of engine exhaust emissions. Initially, the engine was operated with diesel as a working fluid and followed by refilling of biodiesel blends B25 and B50 to obtain the baseline readings without SCR and CC. Then, the same procedure was repeated with SCR and CC technique for emission reduction measurement in diesel, B25 and B50 sample. The experimental results revealed that the B25 blend showed higher break thermal efficiency (BTE) and exhaust gas temperature (EGT) with lower break-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) than B50 blend at all loads. On comparing with biodiesel blends, diesel experiences increased BTE of 31.9% with reduced BSFC of 0.29 kg/kWh at full load. A notable emission reduction was noticed for all test fuels in SCR and CC setup. At full load, B25 showed lower carbon monoxide (CO) of 0.09% volume, hydrocarbon (HC) of 24 ppm, and smoke of 14 HSU and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) of 735 ppm than diesel and B50 in SCR and CC setup. On the whole, the engine with SCR and CC setup showed better performance and emission characteristics than standard engine operation.

Computational optimization techniques applied to microgrids planning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gamarra, Carlos; Guerrero, Josep M.

2015-01-01

Microgrids are expected to become part of the next electric power system evolution, not only in rural and remote areas but also in urban communities. Since microgrids are expected to coexist with traditional power grids (such as district heating does with traditional heating systems......), their planning process must be addressed to economic feasibility, as a long-term stability guarantee. Planning a microgrid is a complex process due to existing alternatives, goals, constraints and uncertainties. Usually planning goals conflict each other and, as a consequence, different optimization problems...... appear along the planning process. In this context, technical literature about optimization techniques applied to microgrid planning have been reviewed and the guidelines for innovative planning methodologies focused on economic feasibility can be defined. Finally, some trending techniques and new...

Plasticity models of material variability based on uncertainty quantification techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, Reese E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Rizzi, Francesco [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Boyce, Brad [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Templeton, Jeremy Alan [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Ostien, Jakob [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

2017-11-01

The advent of fabrication techniques like additive manufacturing has focused attention on the considerable variability of material response due to defects and other micro-structural aspects. This variability motivates the development of an enhanced design methodology that incorporates inherent material variability to provide robust predictions of performance. In this work, we develop plasticity models capable of representing the distribution of mechanical responses observed in experiments using traditional plasticity models of the mean response and recently developed uncertainty quantification (UQ) techniques. Lastly, we demonstrate that the new method provides predictive realizations that are superior to more traditional ones, and how these UQ techniques can be used in model selection and assessing the quality of calibrated physical parameters.

Absorption process of a falling film on a tubular absorber: An experimental and numerical study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Islam, Md. Raisul [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Campus Malaysia, CDT 250, 98009 Miri, Sarawak (Malaysia)

2008-08-15

This paper describes an experimental and theoretical analysis of the combined heat and mass transfer processes that take place in the absorber of vapor absorption cooling systems. The effect of the main operating variables such as solution inlet temperature, solution flow rate, coolant inlet temperature, coolant flow rate and absorber vapor pressure on the performance of absorber is experimentally investigated. A mathematical model that takes account of the geometrical details of the solution and coolant flow is developed following the traditional heat exchanger analysis to obtain additional information on the performance of the absorber. The governing equations are solved analytically using Laplace Transformation technique. The variations of the concentration of solution and the temperature of the coolant and solution after each horizontal tube are analyzed. There is satisfactory agreement between the predictions of the analytical model and the experimental results. The serpentine arrangement of the coolant flow in the absorber tubes results in a temperature and concentration variation of the solution mainly along the height of the absorber. (author)

Understanding traditional African healing

OpenAIRE

MOKGOBI, M.G.

2014-01-01

Traditional African healing has been in existence for many centuries yet many people still seem not to understand how it relates to God and religion/spirituality. Some people seem to believe that traditional healers worship the ancestors and not God. It is therefore the aim of this paper to clarify this relationship by discussing a chain of communication between the worshipers and the Almighty God. Other aspects of traditional healing namely types of traditional healers, training of tradition...

Experimental application of QCD antennas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bobrovskyi, Sergei

2010-02-15

A serious problem in searches for new physics at the LHC is the rejection of QCD induced multijet events. In this thesis the formalism of QCD antenna variables based on the SPHEL approximation of QCD matrix elements is applied for the rst time on experimentally reconstructed jets in order to discriminate QCD from supersymmetric processes. The new observables provide additional information with respect to traditional event shape variables. Albeit correlated with experimentally measured missing transverse energy, the variables can be used to improve the signal to background ratio. (orig.)

Experimental application of QCD antennas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bobrovskyi, Sergei

2010-02-01

A serious problem in searches for new physics at the LHC is the rejection of QCD induced multijet events. In this thesis the formalism of QCD antenna variables based on the SPHEL approximation of QCD matrix elements is applied for the rst time on experimentally reconstructed jets in order to discriminate QCD from supersymmetric processes. The new observables provide additional information with respect to traditional event shape variables. Albeit correlated with experimentally measured missing transverse energy, the variables can be used to improve the signal to background ratio. (orig.)

The Effect of the Peer-Review Technique on Students’ Writing Ability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Kustati

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The  aim of this  study  was  to investigate  if  there could be a  significant positive effect by using Peer-Review Technique (PRT on students‟ ability in writing  English. An experimental research  method  was used in this study. A writing test based on the indicators of Jacobs et al. (1981 was completed by 65  undergraduate  students  in  English  from  the  English Department  at  the Faculty  of Education and Teacher Training in the  State Institute for Islamic Studies “Imam Bonjol‟  at  Padang.  The students  were divided into two groups:  an  experimental group (n=33 and  a  control group (n=32. Both groups  were similar in terms of academic level,  the  given writing task and their  target language  [English]   proficiency. The experimental participants were introduced to  Peer-Review  Technique in  essay writing sessions whilst the control group participants were taught through the teacher’s traditional feedback (TTF whereby  students worked individually to produce their texts. The findings  showed that PRT gave  a  significant  improvement  effect on  the students‟ writing abilities. This study is expected to serve as (1  data  for further  developing PRT; (2 input for  lecturers  in  writing  to  develop more effective and innovative learning; and (3  additional  material  for  the development of critical and cooperative learning theories in teaching writing.

Experimental techniques for cement hydration studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Luttge

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Cement hydration kinetics is a complex problem of dissolution, nucleation and growth that is still not well understood, particularly in a quantitative way. While cement systems are unique in certain aspects they are also comparable to natural mineral systems. Therefore, geochemistry and particularly the study of mineral dissolution and growth may be able to provide insight and methods that can be utilized in cement hydration research. Here, we review mainly what is not known or what is currently used and applied in a problematic way. Examples are the typical Avrami approach, the application of Transition State Theory (TST to overall reaction kinetics and the problem of reactive surface area. Finally, we suggest an integrated approach that combines vertical scanning interferometry (VSI with other sophisticated analytical techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM and theoretical model calculations based on a stochastic treatment.

Comparison Of Keyword Based Clustering Of Web Documents By Using Openstack 4j And By Traditional Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shiza Anand

2015-08-01

Full Text Available As the number of hypertext documents are increasing continuously day by day on world wide web. Therefore clustering methods will be required to bind documents into the clusters repositories according to the similarity lying between the documents. Various clustering methods exist such as Hierarchical Based K-means Fuzzy Logic Based Centroid Based etc. These keyword based clustering methods takes much more amount of time for creating containers and putting documents in their respective containers. These traditional methods use File Handling techniques of different programming languages for creating repositories and transferring web documents into these containers. In contrast openstack4j SDK is a new technique for creating containers and shifting web documents into these containers according to the similarity in much more less amount of time as compared to the traditional methods. Another benefit of this technique is that this SDK understands and reads all types of files such as jpg html pdf doc etc. This paper compares the time required for clustering of documents by using openstack4j and by traditional methods and suggests various search engines to adopt this technique for clustering so that they give result to the user querries in less amount of time.

Effect of the diet traditional and non-traditional on the respiration and excretion in larvae of white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Alejandra Medina-Jasso

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Objetive. It was studied the respiration and ammoniacal excretion of zoeas and mysis of Litopenaeus vannamei fed with the diet used traditionally (of microalgae and nauplios of artemia and another alternative (not traditional of microalgae with rotifers. Materials and methods. After four hours the oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion in BOD bottles with 60 larvae (closed respirometers was estimated. The concentrations of O2 and NH4 + were measured with an electrode polarográfico in the first case and with the indophenol blue technique for the second. Results. In zoea, oxygen consumption increased with development and showed statistical differences (p=0.023. In mysis, the oxygen consumption were significance in the traditional diet, whereas no differences were alternative (p=0.003. In both stages for the ammoniacal excretion increased development stage and there were detected statistical difference (p<0.001, although to the diets were not noticed significant differences. Conclusions. A higher energy absorption for zoea (I, II y III what mysis (I, II y III larvae was obtained, this is likely an interaction between rates of respiration and excretion caused by variations in the efficiency of absorption by the larvae. The weights obtained in both larvae were not supplied with differences between diets.

Experimental control versus realism: methodological solutions for simulator studies in complex operating environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skraaning, Gyrd Jr.

2004-03-15

This report is a reprint of a dr.philos. thesis written by Gyrd Skraaning Jr. The text was submitted and accepted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2003 (ISBN 82-471-5237-1). The thesis suggests a nonlinear model of the theoretical relationship between experimental control and realism, claiming that high degrees of realism and experimental control can be obtained simultaneously if the experimental methods are utilized strategically and developed further. This is in opposition to the conventional opinion that realism and experimental control are mutually excluding objectives. The thesis debates the impact of the operating task on human performance during simulator studies in HAMMLAB, and suggests how task variation can be experimentally controlled. In a within subject design, every subject is tested under all experimental conditions, and the presentation order of the conditions is counterbalanced to compensate for order effects. In realistic settings, it is essential that the experimental design imposes few artificial constrains on the research environment. At the same time, the design should be able to uncover experimental effects in situations where the number of participants is low. Within-subject design represents a reasonable compromise between these aspirations. In this respect, an alternative counterbalancing method is proposed (dis-ORDER). A theoretical analysis of the human performance concept and a discussion about performance measurement in complex operating environments, are followed by a debate on the shortcomings of traditional performance indicators. Two specialized operator performance assessment techniques are then presented and evaluated (OPAS and ORT). (Author)

Experimental control versus realism: methodological solutions for simulator studies in complex operating environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skraaning, Gyrd Jr.

2004-03-01

This report is a reprint of a dr.philos. thesis written by Gyrd Skraaning Jr. The text was submitted and accepted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2003 (ISBN 82-471-5237-1). The thesis suggests a nonlinear model of the theoretical relationship between experimental control and realism, claiming that high degrees of realism and experimental control can be obtained simultaneously if the experimental methods are utilized strategically and developed further. This is in opposition to the conventional opinion that realism and experimental control are mutually excluding objectives. The thesis debates the impact of the operating task on human performance during simulator studies in HAMMLAB, and suggests how task variation can be experimentally controlled. In a within subject design, every subject is tested under all experimental conditions, and the presentation order of the conditions is counterbalanced to compensate for order effects. In realistic settings, it is essential that the experimental design imposes few artificial constrains on the research environment. At the same time, the design should be able to uncover experimental effects in situations where the number of participants is low. Within-subject design represents a reasonable compromise between these aspirations. In this respect, an alternative counterbalancing method is proposed (dis-ORDER). A theoretical analysis of the human performance concept and a discussion about performance measurement in complex operating environments, are followed by a debate on the shortcomings of traditional performance indicators. Two specialized operator performance assessment techniques are then presented and evaluated (OPAS and ORT). (Author)

Tracer techniques in microelectronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flachowsky, J.; Freyer, K.

1981-01-01

Tracer technique and neutron activation analysis are capable of measuring impurities in semiconductor material or on the semiconductor surface in a very low concentration range. The methods, combined with autoradiography, are also suitable to determine dopant distributions in silicon. However, both techniques suffer from certain inherent experimental difficulties and/or limitations which are discussed. Methods of tracer technique practicable in the semiconductor field are described. (author)

Physically-Based Interactive Flow Visualization Based on Schlieren and Interferometry Experimental Techniques

KAUST Repository

Brownlee, C.

2011-11-01

Understanding fluid flow is a difficult problem and of increasing importance as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) produces an abundance of simulation data. Experimental flow analysis has employed techniques such as shadowgraph, interferometry, and schlieren imaging for centuries, which allow empirical observation of inhomogeneous flows. Shadowgraphs provide an intuitive way of looking at small changes in flow dynamics through caustic effects while schlieren cutoffs introduce an intensity gradation for observing large scale directional changes in the flow. Interferometry tracks changes in phase-shift resulting in bands appearing. The combination of these shading effects provides an informative global analysis of overall fluid flow. Computational solutions for these methods have proven too complex until recently due to the fundamental physical interaction of light refracting through the flow field. In this paper, we introduce a novel method to simulate the refraction of light to generate synthetic shadowgraph, schlieren and interferometry images of time-varying scalar fields derived from computational fluid dynamics data. Our method computes physically accurate schlieren and shadowgraph images at interactive rates by utilizing a combination of GPGPU programming, acceleration methods, and data-dependent probabilistic schlieren cutoffs. Applications of our method to multifield data and custom application-dependent color filter creation are explored. Results comparing this method to previous schlieren approximations are finally presented. © 2011 IEEE.

Buckling and reaction rate experiments in plutonium/uranium metal fuelled, graphite moderated lattices at temperatures up to 400 deg. C. Part I: Experimental techniques and results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carter, D H; Clarke, W G; Gibson, M; Hobday, R; Hunt, C; Marshall, J; Puckett, B J; Symons, C R; Wass, T [General Reactor Physics Division, Atomic Energy Establishment, Winfrith, Dorchester, Dorset (United Kingdom)

1964-07-15

This report presents experimental measurements of bucklings, flux fine structure and fission rate distributions in graphite moderated lattices fuelled with plutonium/uranium metal at temperatures up to 400 deg. C in the sub-critical assemblies SCORPIO I and SCORPIO II. The experimental techniques employed are described in some detail. The accuracy of the experimental measurements appears to be adequate for testing methods of calculation being developed for the calculation of reactivity and temperature coefficient of reactivity for power reactors containing plutonium and uranium. (author) 26 refs, 17 tabs, 17 figs

Prospecting for bioactive constituents from traditional medicinal plants through ethnobotanical approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Ronghui; Wang, Yuehu; Long, Bo; Kennelly, Edward; Wu, Shibiao; Liu, Bo; Li, Ping; Long, Chunlin

2014-01-01

Pharmacologically active constituents from traditional medicinal plants have received great attention as sources of novel agents, pharmaceutical intermediates, and chemical entities for synthetic or semisynthetic drugs due to their potent pharmacological activities, low toxicity, and economic viability. Numerous components have been isolated from traditional medicinal plants, including alkaloids, flavonoids, and terpenoids, and clinical and experimental studies suggested that these components have useful pharmacological properties such as antiinfectious, antioxidative, and antiinflammatory effects. In this review, modern ethnobotanical approaches to explore folk medicinal plants as candidates for drug discovery with the greatest possibility of success are discussed. Determining the bioactive mechanisms and tracing structure-activity relationships will promote the discovery of new drugs and pharmacological agents.

Predicting prices of agricultural commodities in Thailand using combined approach emphasizing on data pre-processing technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thoranin Sujjaviriyasup

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In this research, a combined approach emphasizing on data pre-processing technique is developed to forecast prices of agricultural commodities in Thailand. The future prices play significant role in decision making to cultivate crops in next year. The proposed model takes ability of MODWT to decompose original time series data into more stable and explicit subseries, and SVR model to formulate complex function of forecasting. The experimental results indicated that the proposed model outperforms traditional forecasting models based on MAE and MAPE criteria. Furthermore, the proposed model reveals that it is able to be a useful forecasting tool for prices of agricultural commodities in Thailand

Experimental observation of silver and gold penetration into dental ceramic by means of a radiotracer technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moya, F.; Payan, J.; Bernardini, J.; Moya, E.G.

1987-01-01

A radiotracer technique was used to study silver and gold diffusion into dental porcelain under experimental conditions close to the real conditions in prosthetic laboratories for porcelain bakes. It was clearly shown that these non-oxidizable elements were able to diffuse into the ceramic as well as oxidizable ones. The penetration depth varied widely according to the element. The ratio DAg/DAu was about 10(3) around 850 degrees C. In contrast to gold, the silver diffusion rate was high enough to allow silver, from the metallic alloy, to be present at the external ceramic surface after diffusion into the ceramic. Hence, the greening of dental porcelains baked on silver-rich alloys could be explained mainly by a solid-state diffusion mechanism

COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN, MANUFACTURE AND EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF A PAIR OF ELLIPTICAL SPUR GEARS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehmet YAZAR

2016-12-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT In this study, geometrical equations of elliptical spur gears, which are too difficult to manufacture by traditional methods and which require specific machines equipped with special techniques, are developed using the methods in the literature. Using these equations, a LISP program on AutoLISP is created to model elliptical spur gears on AutoCAD with desired tooth number and modules. Elliptical spur gears are manufactured with 5 different modules by Wire EDM through the above-mentioned package program. The variations in the center distances of elliptical spur gears, the most important parameter for workability of gears, are experimentally determined by a simple test unit designed and manufactured within the context this study. In addition, the surface roughness and hardness of elliptical spur gears are obtained and hydraulic pump and noise analysis results are discussed. The experimental and computer-aided results show that the elliptical spur gears may widely be used in many industrial and mechanical applications in the future.

Transforming traditional Tai Ji Quan techniques into integrative movement therapy—Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fuzhong Li

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Tai Ji Quan, developed as a martial art, has traditionally served multiple purposes, including self-defense, competition/performance, and health promotion. With respect to health, the benefits historically and anecdotally associated with Tai Ji Quan are now being supported by scientific and clinical research, with mounting evidence indicating its potential value in preventing and managing various diseases and improving well-being and quality of life in middle-aged and older adults. The research findings produced to date have both public health significance and clinical relevance. However, because of its roots in the martial arts, transforming traditional Tai Ji Quan movements and training approaches into contemporary therapeutic programs and functional applications is needed to maximize its ultimate utility. This paper addresses this issue by introducing Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance, a functional therapy that involves the use of Tai Ji Quan principles and Yang-style-based movements to form an innovative, contemporary therapeutic approach that integrates motor, sensory, and cognitive components to improve postural control, gait, and mobility for older adults and those who have neurodegenerative movement impairments. It provides a synergy of traditional and contemporary Tai Ji Quan practice with the ultimate goal of improving balance and gait, enhancing performance of daily functional tasks, and reducing incidence of falls among older adults.

[Using ecology thinking reconstructing traditional agronomy: role of production ecology].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Song-Liang

2012-08-01

Traditional agronomy, as a discipline or specialty, is originated from the reductionism thinking of neoteric experimental sciences and motivated by the great success of industrialized revolution, but loses the ensemble grasp of the relationships between agricultural organisms and their resources and environment, i.e., agroecosystem mechanism. Moreover, due to the excessively relying on exogenous fossil energy input and the monoculture with a few highly productive crop cultivars, the agricultural interior sustainability has unceasingly lost, making our mankind facing the double crises of grain security and food safety. Therefore, it is imperative to reconstruct the traditional agronomy and its educational system. In this paper, the author proposed to link traditional agronomy with ecology, establishing agroecology as the core subject and agroecosystem management as the core applied system, and in particular, establishing 'production ecology' to fill up the wide gap between the crop cultivation and farming system and the crop genetics and breeding, the two second grade disciplines under agronomy. Ideologically and methodologically, this proposal could provide disciplinary, scientific, and educational bases to authentically implement the strategy of sustainable development of agriculture.

Parallel transmission techniques in magnetic resonance imaging: experimental realization, applications and perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ullmann, P.

2007-06-01

The primary objective of this work was the first experimental realization of parallel RF transmission for accelerating spatially selective excitation in magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, basic aspects regarding the performance of this technique were investigated, potential risks regarding the specific absorption rate (SAR) were considered and feasibility studies under application-oriented conditions as first steps towards a practical utilisation of this technique were undertaken. At first, based on the RF electronics platform of the Bruker Avance MRI systems, the technical foundations were laid to perform simultaneous transmission of individual RF waveforms on different RF channels. Another essential requirement for the realization of Parallel Excitation (PEX) was the design and construction of suitable RF transmit arrays with elements driven by separate transmit channels. In order to image the PEX results two imaging methods were implemented based on a spin-echo and a gradient-echo sequence, in which a parallel spatially selective pulse was included as an excitation pulse. In the course of this work PEX experiments were successfully performed on three different MRI systems, a 4.7 T and a 9.4 T animal system and a 3 T human scanner, using 5 different RF coil setups in total. In the last part of this work investigations regarding possible applications of Parallel Excitation were performed. A first study comprised experiments of slice-selective B1 inhomogeneity correction by using 3D-selective Parallel Excitation. The investigations were performed in a phantom as well as in a rat fixed in paraformaldehyde solution. In conjunction with these experiments a novel method of calculating RF pulses for spatially selective excitation based on a so-called Direct Calibration approach was developed, which is particularly suitable for this type of experiments. In the context of these experiments it was demonstrated how to combine the advantages of parallel transmission

A Comparison of Modular Verification Techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Henrik Reif; Staunstrup, Jørgen; Maretti, Niels

1997-01-01

This paper presents and compares three techniques for mechanized verification of state oriented design descriptions. One is a traditional forwardgeneration of a fixed point characterizing the reachable states. The two others can utilize a modular structure provided by the designer. Onerequires...

Introducing a New Experimental Islet Transplantation Model using Biomimetic Hydrogel and a Simple High Yield Islet Isolation Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadi Ayenehdeh, Jamal; Niknam, Bahareh; Hashemi, Seyed Mahmoud; Rahavi, Hossein; Rezaei, Nima; Soleimani, Masoud; Tajik, Nader

2017-07-01

Islet transplantation could be an ideal alternative treatment to insulin therapy for type 1 diabetes Mellitus (T1DM). This clinical and experimental field requires a model that covers problems such as requiring a large number of functional and viable islets, the optimal transplantation site, and the prevention of islet dispersion. Hence, the methods of choice for isolation of functional islets and transplantation are crucial. The present study has introduced an experimental model that overcomes some critical issues in islet transplantation, including in situ pancreas perfusion by digestive enzymes through common bile duct. In comparison with conventional methods, we inflated the pancreas in Petri dishes with only 1 ml collagenase type XI solution, which was followed by hand-picking isolation or Ficoll gradient separation to purify the islets. Then we used a hydrogel composite in which the islets were embedded and transplanted into the peritoneal cavity of the streptozotocin-induced diabetic C57BL/6 mice. As compared to the yield of the classical methods, in our modified technique, the mean yield of isolation was about 130-200 viable islets/mouse pancreas. In vitro glucose-mediated insulin secretion assay indicated an appropriate response in isolated islets. In addition, data from in vivo experiments revealed that the allograft remarkably maintained blood glucose levels under 400 mg/dl and hydrogel composite prevents the passage of immune cells. In the model presented here, the rapid islet isolation technique and the application of biomimetic hydrogel wrapping of islets could facilitate islet transplantation procedures.

Determination of dynamic fracture toughness using a new experimental technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cady Carl M.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In other studies dynamic fracture toughness has been measured using Charpy impact and modified Hopkinson Bar techniques. In this paper results will be shown for the measurement of fracture toughness using a new test geometry. The crack propagation velocities range from ∼0.15 mm/s to 2.5 m/s. Digital image correlation (DIC will be the technique used to measure both the strain and the crack growth rates. The boundary of the crack is determined using the correlation coefficient generated during image analysis and with interframe timing the crack growth rate and crack opening can be determined. A comparison of static and dynamic loading experiments will be made for brittle polymeric materials. The analysis technique presented by Sammis et al. [1] is a semi-empirical solution, however, additional Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics analysis of the strain fields generated as part of the DIC analysis allow for the more commonly used method resembling the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD experiment. It should be noted that this technique was developed because limited amounts of material were available and crack growth rates were to fast for a standard CTOD method.

Determination of dynamic fracture toughness using a new experimental technique

Science.gov (United States)

Cady, Carl M.; Liu, Cheng; Lovato, Manuel L.

2015-09-01

In other studies dynamic fracture toughness has been measured using Charpy impact and modified Hopkinson Bar techniques. In this paper results will be shown for the measurement of fracture toughness using a new test geometry. The crack propagation velocities range from ˜0.15 mm/s to 2.5 m/s. Digital image correlation (DIC) will be the technique used to measure both the strain and the crack growth rates. The boundary of the crack is determined using the correlation coefficient generated during image analysis and with interframe timing the crack growth rate and crack opening can be determined. A comparison of static and dynamic loading experiments will be made for brittle polymeric materials. The analysis technique presented by Sammis et al. [1] is a semi-empirical solution, however, additional Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics analysis of the strain fields generated as part of the DIC analysis allow for the more commonly used method resembling the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) experiment. It should be noted that this technique was developed because limited amounts of material were available and crack growth rates were to fast for a standard CTOD method.

Techniques of radiation dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahesk, K.

1985-01-01

A text and reference with an interdisciplinary approach to physics, atomic energy, radiochemistry, and radiobiology. Chapters examine basic principles, experimental techniques, the methodology of dose experiments, and applications. Treats 14 different dosimetric techniques, including ionization chamber, thermoluminescence, and lyoluminescence. Considers the conceptual aspects and characteristic features of radiation

How to Flip the Classroom--"Productive Failure or Traditional Flipped Classroom" Pedagogical Design?

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yanjie; Kapur, Manu

2017-01-01

The paper reports a quasi-experimental study comparing the "traditional flipped classroom" pedagogical design with the "productive failure" (Kapur, 2016) pedagogical design in the flipped classroom for a 2-week curricular unit on polynomials in a Hong Kong Secondary school. Different from the flipped classroom where students…

Tyrosinase inhibitor screening in traditional Chinese medicines by electrophoretically mediated microanalysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Lilin; Zhang, Wenpeng; Zhao, Haiyan; Chen, Zilin

2015-08-01

A capillary-electrophoresis-based method for the screening of tyrosinase inhibitors in traditional Chinese medicines was developed. The method integrated electrophoretically mediated microanalysis with sandwich mode injection, partial filling, and rapid polarity switching techniques, and carried out on-column enzyme reaction and the separation of substrate and product. The conditions were optimized including the background electrolyte, mixing voltage, and the incubation time. Finally, the screening of nine standard natural compounds of traditional Chinese medicines was carried out. The inhibitors can be directly identified from the reduced peak area of the product compared to that obtained without any inhibitor. Chlorogenic acid (100 μM) showed inhibitory activity with the inhibitory percentage of 19.8%, while the other compounds showed no inhibitory activity. This method has great application potential in drug discovery from traditional Chinese medicines. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Liposomal Bupivacaine Injection Technique in Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Meneghini, R Michael; Bagsby, Deren; Ireland, Philip H; Ziemba-Davis, Mary; Lovro, Luke R

2017-01-01

Liposomal bupivacaine has gained popularity for pain control after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), yet its true efficacy remains unproven. We compared the efficacy of two different periarticular injection (PAI) techniques for liposomal bupivacaine with a conventional PAI control group. This retrospective cohort study compared consecutive patients undergoing TKA with a manufacturer-recommended, optimized injection technique for liposomal bupivacaine, a traditional injection technique for liposomal bupivacaine, and a conventional PAI of ropivacaine, morphine, and epinephrine. The optimized technique utilized a smaller gauge needle and more injection sites. Self-reported pain scores, rescue opioids, and side effects were compared. There were 41 patients in the liposomal bupivacaine optimized injection group, 60 in the liposomal bupivacaine traditional injection group, and 184 in the conventional PAI control group. PAI liposomal bupivacaine delivered via manufacturer-recommended technique offered no benefit over PAI ropivacaine, morphine, and epinephrine. Mean pain scores and the proportions reporting no or mild pain, time to first opioid, and amount of opioids consumed were not better with PAI liposomal bupivacaine compared with PAI ropivacaine, morphine, and epinephrine. The use of the manufacturer-recommended technique for PAI of liposomal bupivacaine does not offer benefit over a conventional, less expensive PAI during TKA. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Multiparticle imaging technique for two-phase fluid flows using pulsed laser speckle velocimetry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hassan, T.A.

1992-12-01

The practical use of Pulsed Laser Velocimetry (PLV) requires the use of fast, reliable computer-based methods for tracking numerous particles suspended in a fluid flow. Two methods for performing tracking are presented. One method tracks a particle through multiple sequential images (minimum of four required) by prediction and verification of particle displacement and direction. The other method, requiring only two sequential images uses a dynamic, binary, spatial, cross-correlation technique. The algorithms are tested on computer-generated synthetic data and experimental data which was obtained with traditional PLV methods. This allowed error analysis and testing of the algorithms on real engineering flows. A novel method is proposed which eliminates tedious, undersirable, manual, operator assistance in removing erroneous vectors. This method uses an iterative process involving an interpolated field produced from the most reliable vectors. Methods are developed to allow fast analysis and presentation of sets of PLV image data. Experimental investigation of a two-phase, horizontal, stratified, flow regime was performed to determine the interface drag force, and correspondingly, the drag coefficient. A horizontal, stratified flow test facility using water and air was constructed to allow interface shear measurements with PLV techniques. The experimentally obtained local drag measurements were compared with theoretical results given by conventional interfacial drag theory. Close agreement was shown when local conditions near the interface were similar to space-averaged conditions. However, theory based on macroscopic, space-averaged flow behavior was shown to give incorrect results if the local gas velocity near the interface as unstable, transient, and dissimilar from the average gas velocity through the test facility.

[Advances in animal model and traditional Chinese medicine prevention in coronary microvascular dysfunction].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Lei; Liu, Jian-Xun; Ren, Jian-Xun; Guo, Hao; Lin, Cheng-Ren

2017-01-01

Coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) is a common mechanism for some heart disease like cardiac X syndrome and no-reflow phenomenon after percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI). With the development of medical imageology, CMD has received increased attention. Animal model of CMD is indispensable tool for the research of pathogenesis and treatment evaluation, therefor choose an appropriate animal model is the first issue to carry out CMD research. Experimental and clinical studies have shown unique effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) in CMD therapy. Clarifying of the TCM therapeutic effect mechanisms and seeking an optimal solution of combination of traditional Chinese and western medicine will be the focus of future research. This paper reviewed the establishment and evaluation of CMD animal model, as well as the intervention study of TCM on CMD. The article aims to provide reference for the basic research of CMD and the TCM experimental study on CMD. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Traditional and non-traditional educational outcomes : Trade-off or complementarity?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Wal, Marieke; Waslander, Sietske

2007-01-01

Recently, schools have increasingly been charged with enhancing non-traditional academic competencies, in addition to traditional academic competencies. This article raises the question whether schools can implement these new educational goals in their curricula and simultaneously realise the

Photoion spectroscopy of atoms using coincidence techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayaishi, Tatsuji

1990-01-01

Interaction of atoms or molecules with photons causes many effects which are often obscured because of many decay paths from the event. To pick up an effect in the mixed-up ones, it is necessary to observe the decay path arising the effect alone. There is a coincidence technique in one of experimental means for the purpose of observing the decay path. In this article, two coincidence measurements are presented; a photoelectron-photoion coincidence technique and a threshold photoelectron-photoion coincidence technique. Furthermore, experimental facts of rare gases atoms obtained by the techniques are reviewed. (author)

A Survey on Optimal Signal Processing Techniques Applied to Improve the Performance of Mechanical Sensors in Automotive Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wilmar Hernandez

2007-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper a survey on recent applications of optimal signal processing techniques to improve the performance of mechanical sensors is made. Here, a comparison between classical filters and optimal filters for automotive sensors is made, and the current state of the art of the application of robust and optimal control and signal processing techniques to the design of the intelligent (or smart sensors that today’s cars need is presented through several experimental results that show that the fusion of intelligent sensors and optimal signal processing techniques is the clear way to go. However, the switch between the traditional methods of designing automotive sensors and the new ones cannot be done overnight because there are some open research issues that have to be solved. This paper draws attention to one of the open research issues and tries to arouse researcher’s interest in the fusion of intelligent sensors and optimal signal processing techniques.

Experimental investigations of active air bearings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Santos, Ilmar; Morosi, Stefano

2012-01-01

Along with traditional oil lubrication, increasing demand for high-speed applications has renewed attention to gas bearings technology. Traditional aerostatic and aerodynamic gas lubrication has been widely used in a variety of applications, ranging from high-speed spindles to micro and meso......-scale turbomachinery. The present paper deals with experimental rotordynamic testing of a flexible rotor supported by hybrid aerostaticaerodynamic gas journal bearing equipped with an electronic radial air injection system. From a rotordynamic point of view there are two phenomena that limit the widespread...... of traditional gas lubrication: 1) Low damping makes operation across critical speed dangerous, as even low level of unbalance can generate large vibration responses. This is especially problematic for gas bearing applications, which often operate in the supercritical region. Moreover, 2) An upper bound...

The Applications and Obstacles of Metabonomics in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ping Liu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In the recent years, a wide range of metabonomic technologies are widely used in the modern research of traditional chinese medicine (TCM. At present, the most prevailing methods for TCM research are mainly nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS. With these techniques, metabonomics will help to understand syndromes, efficacy and toxicity of TCM. However, every analytical technique has its advantages and drawbacks, and there exist some obstacles of its applications on TCM. So, we discuss metabonomics in TCM and analyze some problems of its applications to study TCM in recent years. We believe that with the further development of metabonomic analytical technology, especially multianalysed techniques, metabonomics will greatly promote TCM research and be beneficial to the modernization of TCM.

So Sorry––Never Sorry. Ai Weiwei’s Art between Tradition and Modernity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tania Becker

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Ai Weiwei’s 艾未未 (b. 1957 artistic expression revolves around his use of traditional Chinese techniques to create new designs and forms, shaping traditional materials into contemporary configurations. In the face of obstruction from state officials and local politicians, Ai Weiwei exposes himself to considerable personal risk in order to continue his activities as an artist and stay loyal to his convictions. This paper examines the roots of Ai Weiwei’s work in Chinese art history and looks at how the artist has deliberately adapted traditional motifs to bring about a sense of alienation. Ai Weiwei’s unique stance between current trends in western art and the Chinese feeling for handicrafts is also explored.

Evaluation of organic amendment on the effect of cadmium bioavailability in contaminated soils using the DGT technique and traditional methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Yu; Sun, Qin; Wang, Chao; Wang, Pei-Fang; Ding, Shi-Ming

2017-03-01

Organic amendments have been widely proposed as a remediation technology for metal-contaminated soils, but there exist controversial results on their effectiveness. In this study, the effect of pig manure addition on cadmium (Cd) bioavailability in Cd-contaminated soils was systematically evaluated by one dynamic, in situ technique of diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) and four traditional methods based on the equilibrium theory (soil solution concentration and the three commonly used extractants, i.e., acetic acid (HAc), ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), and calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ). Wheat and maize were selected for measurement of plant Cd uptake. The results showed that pig manure addition could promote the growth of two plants, accompanied by increasing biomasses of shoots and roots with increasing doses of pig manure addition. Correspondingly, increasing additions of pig manure reduced plant Cd uptake and accumulation, as indicated by the decreases of Cd concentrations in shoots and roots. The bioavailable concentrations of Cd in Cd-contaminated soils reflected by the DGT technique obviously decreased with increasing doses of pig manure addition, following the same changing trend as plant Cd uptake. Changes in soil solution Cd concentration and extractable Cd by HAc, EDTA, and CaCl 2 in soils were similar to DGT measurement. Meanwhile, the capability of Cd resupply from solid phase to soil solution decreased with increasing additions of pig manure, as reflected by the decreases in the ratio (R) value of C DGT to C sol . Positive correlations were observed between various bioavailable indicators of Cd in soils and Cd concentrations in the tissues of the two plants. These findings provide stronger evidence that pig manure amendment is effective in reducing Cd mobility and bioavailability in soils and it is an ideal organic material for remediation of Cd-contaminated soils.

A new duodenal rendezvous technique for biliary cannulation in patients with T-tube after orthotopic liver transplantation (with video).

Science.gov (United States)

Cantù, Paolo; Parzanese, Ilaria; Melada, Ernesto; Rossi, Giorgio; Conte, Dario; Penagini, Roberto

2016-01-01

Because a traditional rendezvous (RV) technique implies stretching of the papilla, possibly leading to post-ERCP pancreatitis, an alternative duodenal RV technique was evaluated. The aim was to assess the effectiveness, safety, and amount of time spent performing duodenal RV versus traditional RV cannulation in orthotopic liver transplantation patients with a T-tube. We retrospectively reviewed data from a prospective ERCP database held by our university hospital. Twenty patients with a T-tube who had undergone ERCP for biliary adverse events after orthotopic liver transplantation were included. The successful cannulation rate, the amount of time spent performing cannulation, the post-ERCP pancreatitis rate, and hyperamylasemia 24 hours after the procedure were recorded. Successful cannulation was achieved by the duodenal RV technique in 9 of 10 patients (90%), taking 146 seconds (interquartile range 63-341 seconds) with a short learning curve effect. An unsuccessful duodenal RV procedure occurred because of the angulation of the hydrophilic tip of the guidewire while crossing the papilla, thus preventing cannulation. Successful cannulation was achieved by the traditional RV technique in all cases (N = 11), including the failed duodenal RV technique, taking 374 seconds (interquartile range 320-410 seconds) (P < .05 vs duodenal RV). However, no post-ERCP pancreatitis occurred after using the duodenal RV technique compared with 2 episodes of mild pancreatitis after using the traditional RV technique. Twenty-four hours after the procedure, the median amylasemia level was 84 IU/L (interquartile range 49-105 IU/L) and 265 IU/L (interquartile range 73-2945 IU/L) for the duodenal versus traditional RV techniques, respectively (P = not significant). In patients with a T-tube after liver transplantation, the duodenal RV technique was not associated with post-ERCP pancreatitis, presumably because of the reduction of stress on the major papilla. Cannulation by using the

Methods and experimental techniques in computer engineering

CERN Document Server

Schiaffonati, Viola

2014-01-01

Computing and science reveal a synergic relationship. On the one hand, it is widely evident that computing plays an important role in the scientific endeavor. On the other hand, the role of scientific method in computing is getting increasingly important, especially in providing ways to experimentally evaluate the properties of complex computing systems. This book critically presents these issues from a unitary conceptual and methodological perspective by addressing specific case studies at the intersection between computing and science. The book originates from, and collects the experience of, a course for PhD students in Information Engineering held at the Politecnico di Milano. Following the structure of the course, the book features contributions from some researchers who are working at the intersection between computing and science.

Experimental music for experimental physics

CERN Multimedia

Rosaria Marraffino

2014-01-01

Using the sonification technique, physicist and composer Domenico Vicinanza paid homage to CERN at its 60th anniversary ceremony. After months of hard work, he turned the CERN Convention and LHC data into music.   Click here to download the full score of the "LHChamber music". Every birthday deserves gifts and CERN’s 60th anniversary was no exception. Two gifts were very special, thanks to the hard work of Domenico Vicinanza, a physicist and composer. He created two experimental pieces by applying the sonification technique to the CERN Convention and to data recorded by the four LHC detectors during Run 1. “This technique allows us to ‘hear’ data using an algorithm that translates numbers or letters into notes. It keeps the same information enclosed in a graph or a document, but has a more aesthetic exposition,” explains Domenico Vicinanza. “The result is meant to be a metaphor for scientific cooperation, in which d...

Evaluation of in-vehicle HMI using occlusion techniques: experimental results and practical implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Baumann, Martin; Keinath, Andreas; Krems, Josef F; Bengler, Klaus

2004-05-01

Despite the usefulness of new on-board information systems one has to be concerned about the potential distraction effects that they impose on the driver. Therefore, methods and procedures are necessary to assess the visual demand that is connected to the usage of an on-board system. The occlusion-method is considered a strong candidate as a procedure for evaluating display designs with regard to their visual demand. This paper reports results from two experimental studies conducted to further evaluate this method. In the first study, performance in using an in-car navigation system was measured under three conditions: static (parking lot), occlusion (shutter glasses), and driving. The results show that the occlusion-procedure can be used to simulate visual requirements of real traffic conditions. In a second study the occlusion method was compared to a global evaluation criterion based on the total task time. It can be demonstrated that the occlusion method can identify tasks which meet this criterion, but are yet irresolvable under driving conditions. It is concluded that the occlusion technique seems to be a reliable and valid method for evaluating visual and dialogue aspects of in-car information systems.

Zeta potential of microfluidic substrates: 1. Theory, experimental techniques, and effects on separations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirby, Brian J; Hasselbrink, Ernest F

2004-01-01

This paper summarizes theory, experimental techniques, and the reported data pertaining to the zeta potential of silica and silicon with attention to use as microfluidic substrate materials, particularly for microchip chemical separations. Dependence on cation concentration, buffer and cation type, pH, cation valency, and temperature are discussed. The Debye-Hückel limit, which is often correctly treated as a good approximation for describing the ion concentration in the double layer, can lead to serious errors if it is extended to predict the dependence of zeta potential on the counterion concentration. For indifferent univalent electrolytes (e.g., sodium and potassium), two simple scalings for the dependence of zeta potential on counterion concentration can be derived in high- and low-zeta limits of the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzman equation solution in the double layer. It is shown that for most situations relevant to microchip separations, the high-zeta limit is most applicable, leading to the conclusion that the zeta potential on silica substrates is approximately proportional to the logarithm of the molar counterion concentration. The zeta vs. pH dependence measurements from several experiments are compared by normalizing the zeta based on concentration.

Experimental heavy quarkonium physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bugge, L.

1986-08-01

Following some brief arguments on why heavy quarkonium spectroscopy is an important field of particle physics, some points on experimental techniques are discussed. Parts of the basic quarkonium phenomenology, including discussions of various items related to potensial models, are then presented. An up-to-date presentation is given of the state-of-the-art of experimental charmonium and bottomonium spectroscopy below open flavour threshold, including the confrontation of experimental results to representative theoretical predictions

RECENT ADVANCES IN ULTRA-HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY FOR THE ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Huilian; Liu, Min; Chen, Pei

2014-01-01

Traditional Chinese medicine has been widely used for the prevention and treatment of various diseases for thousands of years in China. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) is a relatively new technique offering new possibilities. This paper reviews recent developments in UHPLC in the separation and identification, fingerprinting, quantification, and metabolism of traditional Chinese medicine. Recently, the combination of UHPLC with MS has improved the efficiency of the analysis of these materials. PMID:25045170

Ambient versus traditional environment in pediatric emergency department.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Patricia S; Green, Jeanette

2015-01-01

We sought to examine the effect of exposure to an ambient environment in a pediatric emergency department. We hypothesized that passive distraction from ambient lighting in an emergency department would lead to reduction in patient pain and anxiety and increased caregiver satisfaction with services. Passive distraction has been associated with lower anxiety and pain in patients and affects perception of wait time. A pediatric ED was designed that optimized passive distraction techniques using colorful ambient lighting. Participants were nonrandomly assigned to either an ambient ED environment or a traditional ED environment. Entry and exit questionnaires assessed caregiver expectations and experiences. Pain ratings were obtained with age-appropriate scales, and wait times were recorded. A total of 70 participants were assessed across conditions, that is, 40 in the ambient ED group and 30 in the traditional ED group. Caregivers in the traditional ED group expected a longer wait, had higher anxiety pretreatment, and felt more scared than those in the ambient ED group. Caregivers in the ambient ED group felt more included in the care of their child and rated quality of care higher than caregivers in the traditional ED group. Pain ratings and administrations of pain medication were lower in the ambient ED group. Mean scores for the ambient ED group were in the expected direction on several items measuring satisfaction with ED experiences. Results were suggestive of less stress in caregivers, less pain in patients, and higher satisfaction levels in the ambient ED group. © The Author(s) 2015.

Experimental design techniques in statistical practice a practical software-based approach

CERN Document Server

Gardiner, W P

1998-01-01

Provides an introduction to the diverse subject area of experimental design, with many practical and applicable exercises to help the reader understand, present and analyse the data. The pragmatic approach offers technical training for use of designs and teaches statistical and non-statistical skills in design and analysis of project studies throughout science and industry. Provides an introduction to the diverse subject area of experimental design and includes practical and applicable exercises to help understand, present and analyse the data Offers technical training for use of designs and teaches statistical and non-statistical skills in design and analysis of project studies throughout science and industry Discusses one-factor designs and blocking designs, factorial experimental designs, Taguchi methods and response surface methods, among other topics.

Use of Jigsaw Technique to Teach the Unit "Science within Time" in Secondary 7th Grade Social Sciences Course and Students' Views on This Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Yapici, Hakki

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to apply the jigsaw technique in Social Sciences teaching and to unroll the effects of this technique on learning. The unit "Science within Time" in the secondary 7th grade Social Sciences text book was chosen for the research. It is aimed to compare the jigsaw technique with the traditional teaching method in…

Traditional Art in the Age of Multimedia and Network Communications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Željko Rutović

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The digital age has opened up enormous possibilities of expression, perception and reading of art. Aesthetic criteria immanent to the models of traditional art transforming into a new conceptuality which is in conformity with the techniques of rapid production and distribution. World of multi-network communications and major technological shift resulting in the metamorphosis of the concept and experience of the definition of art. That means that art is outgoing from the traditional framework of standards and ways of expression, ie. aesthetic and values position of the sense of art. Outside the emblematic of the media traditional linear progress, modern network, according to its ontology, deconstructs forced poetics structure formalism, defining the phenomenology innovative problem-solving discourse situated in the self-reflection plurality as a sign of communication currency of man’s perception of (sur real. The multimedia art is in direct way with aesthetic and communication constructs that reformulating the mediating role, it is a dimension of openness and shifting boundaries seen in the image of the antipode of unquestionable durability.

Metabolomics and Integrative Omics for the Development of Thai Traditional Medicine

Science.gov (United States)

Khoomrung, Sakda; Wanichthanarak, Kwanjeera; Nookaew, Intawat; Thamsermsang, Onusa; Seubnooch, Patcharamon; Laohapand, Tawee; Akarasereenont, Pravit

2017-01-01

In recent years, interest in studies of traditional medicine in Asian and African countries has gradually increased due to its potential to complement modern medicine. In this review, we provide an overview of Thai traditional medicine (TTM) current development, and ongoing research activities of TTM related to metabolomics. This review will also focus on three important elements of systems biology analysis of TTM including analytical techniques, statistical approaches and bioinformatics tools for handling and analyzing untargeted metabolomics data. The main objective of this data analysis is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the system wide effects that TTM has on individuals. Furthermore, potential applications of metabolomics and systems medicine in TTM will also be discussed. PMID:28769804

Experimental development of an ultrasonic linear motor

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

M'Boungui, G

2010-01-01

Full Text Available the stator structure. In contrast to traditional travelling wave ultrasonic motors, which require two modes to be driven 90° out of phase, only one amplifier is required to drive the proposed device. A prototype device was characterised experimentally...

Neural networks and traditional time series methods: a synergistic combination in state economic forecasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, J V; Nelson, R D

1997-01-01

Ever since the initial planning for the 1997 Utah legislative session, neural-network forecasting techniques have provided valuable insights for analysts forecasting tax revenues. These revenue estimates are critically important since agency budgets, support for education, and improvements to infrastructure all depend on their accuracy. Underforecasting generates windfalls that concern taxpayers, whereas overforecasting produces budget shortfalls that cause inadequately funded commitments. The pattern finding ability of neural networks gives insightful and alternative views of the seasonal and cyclical components commonly found in economic time series data. Two applications of neural networks to revenue forecasting clearly demonstrate how these models complement traditional time series techniques. In the first, preoccupation with a potential downturn in the economy distracts analysis based on traditional time series methods so that it overlooks an emerging new phenomenon in the data. In this case, neural networks identify the new pattern that then allows modification of the time series models and finally gives more accurate forecasts. In the second application, data structure found by traditional statistical tools allows analysts to provide neural networks with important information that the networks then use to create more accurate models. In summary, for the Utah revenue outlook, the insights that result from a portfolio of forecasts that includes neural networks exceeds the understanding generated from strictly statistical forecasting techniques. In this case, the synergy clearly results in the whole of the portfolio of forecasts being more accurate than the sum of the individual parts.

A Comparison Of Internet-Based Learning And Traditional Classroom Lecture To Learn Cpr For Continuing Medical Education

OpenAIRE

HEMMATI, Nima; OMRANI, Soghra; HEMMATI, Naser

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the satisfaction and effectiveness of Internet-based learning (IBL) and traditional classroom lecture (TCL) for continuing medical education (CME) programs by comparing final resuscitation exam results of physicians who received the newest cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) curriculum guidelines training either by traditional or by an Internet-based CME. A randomized two-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used. Postgraduate general ...

Comparative Study of Powdered Ginger Drink Processed by Different Method:Traditional and using Evaporation Machine

Science.gov (United States)

Apriyana, Wuri; Taufika Rosyida, Vita; Nur Hayati, Septi; Darsih, Cici; Dewi Poeloengasih, Crescentiana

2017-12-01

Ginger drink is one of the traditional beverage that became one of the products of interest by consumers in Indonesia. This drink is believed to have excellent properties for the health of the body. In this study, we have compared the moisture content, ash content, metal content and the identified compound of product which processed with traditional technique and using an evaporator machine. The results show that both of products fulfilled some parameters of the Indonesian National Standard for the traditional powdered drink. GC-MS analysis data showed the identified compound of both product. The major of hydrocarbon groups that influenced the flavor such as zingiberene, camphene, beta-phelladrine, beta-sesquepelladrine, curcumene, and beta-bisabolene were found higher in ginger drink powder treated with a machine than those processed traditionally.

Experimental comparison of manufacturing techniques of toughened and nanoreinforced polyamides

Science.gov (United States)

Siengchin, S.; Bergmann, C.; Dangtungee, R.

2011-11-01

Composites consisting of polyamide-6 (PA-6), nitrile rubber (NBR), and sodium fluorohectorite (FH) or alumina silicate (Sungloss; SG) were produced by different techniques with latex precompounding. Their tensile and thermomechanical properties were determined by using tensile tests and a dynamic-mechanical analysis, performed at various temperatures. The PA-6/NBR composite systems produced by the direct melt compounding outperformed those obtained by using the masterbatch technique with respect to the strength and ductility, but the latter ones had a higher storage modulus.

The Role of Green and Traditional Supplier Attributes on Business Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Roberto Mendoza-Fong

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Supplier evaluation and selection are fundamental tasks since they are part of the production process and even initiate the supply chain (SC. Despite their importance in the production system, supplier evaluation and selection may be challenging activities to be performed if companies look at the wide range of available evaluation techniques and methodologies, which now seek to integrate both traditional and green attributes. In addition, companies may refuse to take into account green attributes during the supplier selection process, because they do not know their impact on commercial benefits. To overcome this limitation, this study examines the Mexican manufacturing sector and measures the impact of supplier traditional attributes and green attributes on business performance, namely production process benefits and commercial benefits. As data collection instrument, we administered a survey to 253 supplier evaluators and selectors; then, using the gathered data, we constructed a structural equation model. The model includes four variables to determine the impact of traditional and green attributes on business performance: green attributes, traditional attributes, production process benefits, and commercial benefits. The results indicate that all the latent variables have positive direct effects on one another. For instance, process benefits show the largest effects on commercial benefits, but the most significant effect is caused by traditional attributes on commercial benefits through green attributes and production process benefits.

OLED Fabrication by Using a Novel Planar Evaporation Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fu-Ching Tung

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Organic light-emitting diode fabrication is suffering from extremely high material wasting during deposition especially using a typical point or even line source. Moreover, the need of depositing a high number of emitters and host(s with a precise composition control in a single layer makes traditional vapor codeposition systems nearly impossible, unless otherwise with a very low yield. To improve, we have developed a novel thin-film deposition system with a planar source loadable with any premetered solvent-mixed organic compounds, plausibly with no component number limitation. We hence demonstrate experimentally, along with a Monte Carlo simulation, in the report the feasibility of using the technique to deposit on a large area-size substrate various organic materials with a relatively high material utilization rate coupling with high film uniformity. Specifically, nonuniformity of less than ±5% and material utilization rate of greater than 70% have been obtained for the studied films.

Functional dyspepsia: A new approach from traditional Persian medicine

Science.gov (United States)

Pasalar, Mehdi; Nimrouzi, Majid; Choopani, Rasool; Mosaddegh, Mahmoud; Kamalinejad, Mohammad; Mohagheghzadeh, Abdolali; Bagheri Lankarani, Kamran

2016-01-01

Objective: One of the most common global disorders is related to gastrointestinal system. Functional dyspepsia (FD) defined as upper abdominal pain and discomfort in the absence of organic ailments is a prevalent disease without any confirmed medication. The purpose of this study was to find gastric disorders which might be coincidental to FD based on traditional Persian medicine (TPM). Materials and Methods: We searched the main textbooks of TPM including Al-Havi (by Rhazes), Canon of medicine (by Avicenna), ZakhireKhawrazmshahi (by Ismail Jorjani), Moalijat-e Aghili and Makhzan Al-adviya (by Mohammad Hosein AghiliShirazi), and ExirAzam (by Hakim Azam Khan). Also, we searched Pubmed, Scopus, Science Direct, Medline, scientific information database (SID), Iranmedex and Google Scholar from 1980 to 1 August 2014 for dyspepsia, gastrointestinal disease, traditional Persian medicine, and gastric dystemperaments. Results: There is no equivalent term for FD in traditional Persian medicine although similar signs and symptoms are visible in terms like simple cold dystemperament of stomach, indigestion, and digestion debility in TPM sources. Some treatments mentioned in TPM have shown promising results in the current experimental tests. Conclusion: Finding these similarities in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) textbooks may lead to discovering new remedies for this widespread disease. PMID:27222829

Functional dyspepsia: A new approach from traditional Persian medicine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Pasalar

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: One of the most common global disorders is related to gastrointestinal system. Functional dyspepsia (FD defined as upper abdominal pain and discomfort in the absence of organic ailments is a prevalent disease without any confirmed medication. The purpose of this study was to find gastric disorders which might be coincidental to FD based on traditional Persian medicine (TPM. Materials and Methods: We searched the main textbooks of TPM including Al-Havi (by Rhazes, Canon of medicine (by Avicenna, ZakhireKhawrazmshahi (by Ismail Jorjani, Moalijat-e Aghili and Makhzan Al-adviya (by Mohammad Hosein AghiliShirazi, and ExirAzam (by Hakim Azam Khan. Also, we searched Pubmed, Scopus, Science Direct, Medline, scientific information database (SID, Iranmedex and Google Scholar from 1980 to 1 August 2014 for dyspepsia, gastrointestinal disease, traditional Persian medicine, and gastric dystemperaments. Results: There is no equivalent term for FD in traditional Persian medicine although similar signs and symptoms are visible in terms like simple cold dystemperament of stomach, indigestion, and digestion debility in TPM sources. Some treatments mentioned in TPM have shown promising results in the current experimental tests. Conclusion: Finding these similarities in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM textbooks may lead to discovering new remedies for this widespread disease.

DNA Barcoding for the Identification and Authentication of Animal Species in Traditional Medicine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fan Yang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Animal-based traditional medicine not only plays a significant role in therapeutic practices worldwide but also provides a potential compound library for drug discovery. However, persistent hunting and illegal trade markedly threaten numerous medicinal animal species, and increasing demand further provokes the emergence of various adulterants. As the conventional methods are difficult and time-consuming to detect processed products or identify animal species with similar morphology, developing novel authentication methods for animal-based traditional medicine represents an urgent need. During the last decade, DNA barcoding offers an accurate and efficient strategy that can identify existing species and discover unknown species via analysis of sequence variation in a standardized region of DNA. Recent studies have shown that DNA barcoding as well as minibarcoding and metabarcoding is capable of identifying animal species and discriminating the authentics from the adulterants in various types of traditional medicines, including raw materials, processed products, and complex preparations. These techniques can also be used to detect the unlabelled and threatened animal species in traditional medicine. Here, we review the recent progress of DNA barcoding for the identification and authentication of animal species used in traditional medicine, which provides a reference for quality control and trade supervision of animal-based traditional medicine.

DNA Barcoding for the Identification and Authentication of Animal Species in Traditional Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Fan; Ding, Fei; Chen, Hong; He, Mingqi; Zhu, Shixin; Ma, Xin; Jiang, Li; Li, Haifeng

2018-01-01

Animal-based traditional medicine not only plays a significant role in therapeutic practices worldwide but also provides a potential compound library for drug discovery. However, persistent hunting and illegal trade markedly threaten numerous medicinal animal species, and increasing demand further provokes the emergence of various adulterants. As the conventional methods are difficult and time-consuming to detect processed products or identify animal species with similar morphology, developing novel authentication methods for animal-based traditional medicine represents an urgent need. During the last decade, DNA barcoding offers an accurate and efficient strategy that can identify existing species and discover unknown species via analysis of sequence variation in a standardized region of DNA. Recent studies have shown that DNA barcoding as well as minibarcoding and metabarcoding is capable of identifying animal species and discriminating the authentics from the adulterants in various types of traditional medicines, including raw materials, processed products, and complex preparations. These techniques can also be used to detect the unlabelled and threatened animal species in traditional medicine. Here, we review the recent progress of DNA barcoding for the identification and authentication of animal species used in traditional medicine, which provides a reference for quality control and trade supervision of animal-based traditional medicine.

Study on uranium-water multiplicative means of the (RESUCO-Subcritical experimental reactor of uranium with oxygen) subcritical assembly by pulsed neutron technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jesus Barbosa, S. de.

1987-01-01

The effective multiplication factor and the nuclear parameters associated with the variation of (RESUCO- Subcritical Experimental Reactor of Uranium with Oxygen) Subcritical Assembly Configuration, using pulsed neutron technique are analysed. BF3 detectors were used to detect the variation of thermal neutrons in the system, positioned parallelly to fuel elements, and a proton recoil detector was used for monitoring the neutron generation. (M.C.K.) [pt

Testing Algorithmic Skills in Traditional and Non-Traditional Programming Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Csernoch, Mária; Biró, Piroska; Máth, János; Abari, Kálmán

2015-01-01

The Testing Algorithmic and Application Skills (TAaAS) project was launched in the 2011/2012 academic year to test first year students of Informatics, focusing on their algorithmic skills in traditional and non-traditional programming environments, and on the transference of their knowledge of Informatics from secondary to tertiary education. The…

Innovative techniques cut costs in wetlands drilling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Navarro, A.R.

1991-01-01

This paper reports on an approach to drilling oil and gas wells in sensitive wetlands areas contributed to a savings of over $1.2 million on a three-well, $3 million drilling project in south Louisiana. ARCO Oil and Gas Co. drilled a three-well project in the Bayou Sale field with a truck-mounted workover rig and a modified solids-control system. This smaller equipment eliminated the need to build a large location in the marsh. Traditional drilling techniques require a large drillsite to accommodate all the equipment of a modern drilling complex. However, recently imposed environmental regulations substantially limit, and in some cases prohibit, the use of these conventional techniques for drilling wells in wetlands areas. Based on the potentially huge economic and operational impact on the drilling industry because of these stricter regulations, alternatives to these traditional practices are essential

Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

DiCarlo, Kristen; Cooper, Lori

2014-01-01

Effective classroom assessment techniques are directly linked to course objectives and proposed outcomes. Results within formative and summative assessments have been studied in the online learning environment as educators seek to meet objectives with respect to student success in the non-traditional setting. Online classroom assessment techniques…

Non-Traditional Authorship Attribution Studies of William Shakespeare’s Canon: Some Caveats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph Rudman

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The paper looks at the problems in conducting non-traditional authorship attribution studies on the canon of William Shakespeare. After a short introduction, the case is put forth that these studies are ‘scientific’ and must adhere to the tenets of the scientific method. By showing that a complete and valid experimental plan is necessary and pointing out the many and varied pitfalls (e.g., the text, the control groups, the treatment of errors, it becomes clear what a valid study of Shakespearean non-traditional authorship attribution demands. I then come to the conclusion that such a valid study is not attainable with the limits of present-day knowledge.

Heat transfer comparison of nanofluid filled transformer and traditional oil-immersed transformer

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yunpeng; Ho, Siu-lau; Fu, Weinong

2018-05-01

Dispersing nanoparticles with high thermal conductivity into transformer oil is an innovative approach to improve the thermal performance of traditional oil-immersed transformers. This mixture, also known as nanofluid, has shown the potential in practical application through experimental measurements. This paper presents the comparisons of nanofluid filled transformer and traditional oil-immersed transformer in terms of their computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solutions from the perspective of optimal design. Thermal performance of transformers with the same parameters except coolants is compared. A further comparison on heat transfer then is made after minimizing the oil volume and maximum temperature-rise of these two transformers. Adaptive multi-objective optimization method is employed to tackle this optimization problem.

Surgical Anatomy and Microvascular Surgical Technique Relevant to Experimental Renal Transplant in Rat Employing Aortic and Inferior Venacaval Conduits.

Science.gov (United States)

Shrestha, Badri Man; Haylor, John

2017-11-15

Rat models of renal transplant are used to investigate immunologic processes and responses to therapeutic agents before their translation into routine clinical practice. In this study, we have described details of rat surgical anatomy and our experiences with the microvascular surgical technique relevant to renal transplant by employing donor inferior vena cava and aortic conduits. For this study, 175 rats (151 Lewis and 24 Fisher) were used to establish the Fisher-Lewis rat model of chronic allograft injury at our institution. Anatomic and technical details were recorded during the period of training and establishment of the model. A final group of 12 transplanted rats were studied for an average duration of 51 weeks for the Lewis-to-Lewis isografts (5 rats) and 42 weeks for the Fisher-to-Lewis allografts (7 rats). Functional measurements and histology confirmed the diagnosis of chronic allograft injury. Mastering the anatomic details and microvascular surgical techniques can lead to the successful establishment of an experimental renal transplant model.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Video Education versus Skill Demonstration: Which Is More Effective in Teaching Sterile Surgical Technique?

Science.gov (United States)

Pilieci, Stephanie N; Salim, Saad Y; Heffernan, Daithi S; Itani, Kamal M F; Khadaroo, Rachel G

2018-04-01

Video education has many advantages over traditional education including efficiency, convenience, and individualized learning. Learning sterile surgical technique (SST) is imperative for medical students, because proper technique helps prevent surgical site infections (SSIs). We hypothesize that video education is at least as effective as traditional skill demonstration in teaching first-year medical students SST. A video series was created to demonstrate SST ( https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcRU-gvOmxE2mwMWkowouBkxGXkLZ8Uis ). A randomized controlled trial was designed to assess which education method best teaches SST: video education or skill demonstration. First-year medical students (n = 129) were consented and randomly assigned into two groups: those who attended a skill demonstration (control group; n = 70) and those who watched the video series (experimental group; n = 59). The control group attended a pre-existing 90-minute nurse educator-led skill demonstration. Participants then completed a 30-item multiple choice quiz to test their knowledge. Each group then received the alternate education method and completed a 23-item follow-up survey to determine their preferred method. Seven 2- to 6-minute videos (30 minutes total) were created on surgical attire, scrubbing, gowning and gloving, and maintaining sterility. The experimental group (n = 51) scored higher on the quiz compared with the control group (n = 63) (88% ± 1% versus 72% ± 1%; p < 0.0001). Students preferred the videos when it came to convenience, accessibility, efficiency, and review, and preferred the skill demonstration when it came to knowledge retention, preparedness, and ease of completion. Video education is superior to traditional skill demonstration in providing medical students with knowledge of SST. Students identified strengths to each method of teaching. Video education can augment medical students' knowledge prior to their operating room

Desert water harvesting from TAKYR surfaces: assessing the potential of traditional and experimental technologies in the karakum

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fleskens, L.; Ataev, A.; Mamedov, B.; Spaan, W.P.

2007-01-01

From historical times the traditionally nomadic people in desert environments of Turkmenistan have applied a range of innovative technologies to secure water supply for consumptive and productive purposes. These technologies make use of takyrs, flat or slightly sloping dense clay surfaces which act

Comparing the effectiveness of virtual and traditional forestry field tours

OpenAIRE

Easley, Elissa C.; Fletcher, Richard A.; Jensen, Edward C.; Rickenbach, Mark

2002-01-01

Virtual tours are among the many new Internet-based tools with potential applications in natural resource education. While technology exists to create virtual tour Web sites, little is understood about how they meet educational objectives and whether they can be complementary alternatives for traditional field tours. The Sustainable Forestry Partnership and the Forestry Media Center at Oregon State University created parallel virtual and field tours to compare these teaching techniques. Both ...

Development of advanced methods for analysis of experimental data in diffusion

Science.gov (United States)

Jaques, Alonso V.

There are numerous experimental configurations and data analysis techniques for the characterization of diffusion phenomena. However, the mathematical methods for estimating diffusivities traditionally do not take into account the effects of experimental errors in the data, and often require smooth, noiseless data sets to perform the necessary analysis steps. The current methods used for data smoothing require strong assumptions which can introduce numerical "artifacts" into the data, affecting confidence in the estimated parameters. The Boltzmann-Matano method is used extensively in the determination of concentration - dependent diffusivities, D(C), in alloys. In the course of analyzing experimental data, numerical integrations and differentiations of the concentration profile are performed. These methods require smoothing of the data prior to analysis. We present here an approach to the Boltzmann-Matano method that is based on a regularization method to estimate a differentiation operation on the data, i.e., estimate the concentration gradient term, which is important in the analysis process for determining the diffusivity. This approach, therefore, has the potential to be less subjective, and in numerical simulations shows an increased accuracy in the estimated diffusion coefficients. We present a regression approach to estimate linear multicomponent diffusion coefficients that eliminates the need pre-treat or pre-condition the concentration profile. This approach fits the data to a functional form of the mathematical expression for the concentration profile, and allows us to determine the diffusivity matrix directly from the fitted parameters. Reformulation of the equation for the analytical solution is done in order to reduce the size of the problem and accelerate the convergence. The objective function for the regression can incorporate point estimations for error in the concentration, improving the statistical confidence in the estimated diffusivity matrix

Hysteroscopic myomectomy: techniques and preoperative assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Casadio, Paolo; Guasina, Francesca; Morra, Ciro; Talamo, Maria T; Leggieri, Concetta; Frisoni, Jessica; Seracchioli, Renato

2016-04-01

Even if usually asymptomatic, uterine myomas have been associated with a number of clinical issues such as abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB), heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, especially when these masses are submucous. Golden standard treatment for symptomatic submucous fibroids has long been considered their laparotomic removal or a total hysterectomy. The development of endoscopy has made these fibroids accessible and removable from the inner surface of uterus. Hysteroscopy arose as a diagnostic technique, but then it also became an alternative surgical technique for many diseases, offering therapeutic and irreplaceable possibilities of treatment, avoiding major surgery on the one hand, and allowing the correction of pathologies specifically related to female fertility, on the other hand. Excision by slicing has been described as traditional resectoscopic submucosal myomectomy, but today there are new procedures among which the operator can choose, that allow overcoming the initial limitations of the traditional resectoscopic myomectomy in clinical practice.

Effectiveness of an adult-learning, self-directed model compared with traditional lecture-based teaching methods in out-of-hospital training.

Science.gov (United States)

De Lorenzo, Robert A; Abbott, Cynthia A

2004-01-01

Until recently, the U.S. Army Combat Medic School used a traditional teaching model with heavy emphasis on large group lectures. Skills were taught separately with minimal links to didactics. To evaluate whether the adult learning model improves student learning in terms of cognitive performance and perception of proficiency in military medic training. The study population was two sequential groups of randomly selected junior, enlisted, active duty soldiers with no prior formal emergency medical training who were enrolled in an experimental model of a U.S. Army Combat Medic School. The control population was a similar group of students enrolled in the traditional curriculum. Instructors were drawn from the same pool, with experimental group instructors receiving two weeks of training in adult-learning strategies. The study population was enrolled in the experimental program that emphasized the principles of adult learning, including small-group interactive approach, self-directed study, multimedia didactics, and intensive integrated practice of psychomotor skills. Instructors and students were also surveyed at the end of the course as to their confidence in performing four critical skills. The survey instrument used a five-point scale ranging from "strongly disagree" through "undecided" to "strongly agree." Proficiency for this survey was defined as the sum of the top two ratings of "agree" or "strongly agree" to questions regarding the particular skill. Both experimental and control programs lasted ten weeks and covered the same academic content and nonacademic (e.g., physical fitness) requirements, and the two groups of students had similar duty days. Evaluations included performance on internal and National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) written examinations and other measures of academic and nonacademic performance. One hundred fifty students (experimental n = 81, control n = 69) were enrolled in 1999-2000. The scores for internal course

Sun et al., Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. (2011) 8(3):224-229

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AJTCAM

Sun et al., Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. (2011) 8(3):224-229. 224. EFFECTS OF CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA-FUBAO DANGGUI JIAO ON EXPERIMENTAL. ENDOMETRIOSIS. Xing Sun*, Master; Lijue Chen, Master; Fanbo Zeng1,. Department of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong. University of Science ...

Prevention and Treatment of Flatulence From a Traditional Persian Medicine Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Larijani, Bagher; Esfahani, Mohammad Medhi; Moghimi, Maryam; Shams Ardakani, Mohammad Reza; Keshavarz, Mansoor; Kordafshari, Gholamreza; Nazem, Esmaiel; Hasani Ranjbar, Shirin; Mohammadi Kenari, Hoorieh; Zargaran, Arman

2016-04-01

The feeling of abdominal fullness, bloating, and movement of gas in the abdomen is a very uncomfortable sensation termed flatulence. Since flatulence is one of the most common gastrointestinal symptoms that is bothersome to patients, it is important to identify effective methods to resolve this issue. In modern medicine, management of flatulence is often not satisfactory. On the other hand, traditional systems of medicine can be considered good potential sources to find new approaches for preventing and treating flatulence. The aim of this study is to review flatulence treatments from a traditional Persian medicine (TPM) viewpoint. In this study, the reasons for flatulence and methods for its prevention and treatment are reviewed in traditional Persian medicine (TPM) texts and then related with evidence from modern medicine by searching in databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and IranMedex. From a traditional Persian scholar viewpoint, one of the most important causes of flatulence is an incorrect manner of eating; valuable advice to correct bad eating habits will be illustrated. In addition, traditional practitioners describe some herbs and vegetables as well as herbal compounds that are effective food additives to relieve flatulence. The anti-flatulent effect of most of these herbs has been experimentally verified using modern medicine. Attention to TPM can lead to the identification of new preventive and curative approaches to avoid and treat flatulence. In addition, Persian viewpoints from the medieval era regarding flatulence are historically important.

Prevention and Treatment of Flatulence From a Traditional Persian Medicine Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Larijani, Bagher; Esfahani, Mohammad Medhi; Moghimi, Maryam; Shams Ardakani, Mohammad Reza; Keshavarz, Mansoor; Kordafshari, Gholamreza; Nazem, Esmaiel; Hasani Ranjbar, Shirin; Mohammadi Kenari, Hoorieh; Zargaran, Arman

2016-01-01

Context The feeling of abdominal fullness, bloating, and movement of gas in the abdomen is a very uncomfortable sensation termed flatulence. Since flatulence is one of the most common gastrointestinal symptoms that is bothersome to patients, it is important to identify effective methods to resolve this issue. In modern medicine, management of flatulence is often not satisfactory. On the other hand, traditional systems of medicine can be considered good potential sources to find new approaches for preventing and treating flatulence. The aim of this study is to review flatulence treatments from a traditional Persian medicine (TPM) viewpoint. Evidence Acquisition In this study, the reasons for flatulence and methods for its prevention and treatment are reviewed in traditional Persian medicine (TPM) texts and then related with evidence from modern medicine by searching in databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and IranMedex. Results From a traditional Persian scholar viewpoint, one of the most important causes of flatulence is an incorrect manner of eating; valuable advice to correct bad eating habits will be illustrated. In addition, traditional practitioners describe some herbs and vegetables as well as herbal compounds that are effective food additives to relieve flatulence. The anti-flatulent effect of most of these herbs has been experimentally verified using modern medicine. Conclusions Attention to TPM can lead to the identification of new preventive and curative approaches to avoid and treat flatulence. In addition, Persian viewpoints from the medieval era regarding flatulence are historically important. PMID:27275398

The Microbiology of Traditional Hard and Semihard Cooked Mountain Cheeses.

Science.gov (United States)

Beuvier, Eric; Duboz, Gabriel

2013-10-01

Traditional cheeses originate from complex systems that confer on them specific sensory characteristics. These characteristics are linked to various factors of biodiversity such as animal feed, the use of raw milk and its indigenous microflora, the cheese technology, and the ripening conditions, all in conjunction with the knowledge of the cheesemaker and affineur. In Europe, particularly in France, the preservation of traditional cheesemaking processes, some of which have protected designation of origin, is vital for the farming and food industry in certain regions. Among these cheeses, some are made in the Alps or Jura Mountains, including Comté, Beaufort, Abondance, and Emmental, which are made from raw milk. The principle of hard or semihard cooked cheese, produced in the Alps and Jura Mountains, was to make a product during the summer-a period during which the animals feed more and milk production is high-with a shelf life of several months that could be consumed in winter. Today, these traditional cheeses are produced according to a specific approach combining science and tradition in order to better understand and preserve the elements that contribute to the distinctiveness of these cheeses. To address this complex problem, a global approach to the role of the raw milk microflora in the final quality of cheeses was initially chosen. The modifications resulting from the elimination of the raw milk microflora, either by pasteurization or by microfiltration, to the biochemistry of the ripening process and ultimately the sensory quality of the cheeses were evaluated. This approach was achieved mainly with experimental hard cooked cheeses. Other types of traditional cheese made with raw and pasteurized milk are also considered when necessary. Besides the native raw milk microflora, traditional lactic starters (natural or wild starters) also participate in the development of the characteristics of traditional hard and semihard cooked mountain cheeses. After an

Ideas, properties, and standards of fracture repositioning with osteopathy in traditional Mongolian medicine in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Mei; Wang, Hongxia; Zhao, Namula

2015-02-01

To explore the unique ideas, properties, and standards of fracture repositioning with osteopathy in traditional Mongolian medicine in China. Based on the natural life concept of "integration of universe and man", osteopathy in traditional Mongolian medicine in China uses the modern principles and methods of physiology, psychology, and biomechanics. Against this background, we explored the unique ideas, properties, and stan- dards of fracture repositioning in traditional Mongolian medicine. Fracture treatment with osteopathy in traditional Mongolian medicine in China is based on (a) the ideas of natural, sealed, self and dynamic repositioning of fractures; (b) the properties of structural continuity and functional completeness; (c) the standards of "integration of movement and stillness" and "force to force". The unique ideas, properties, and standards of fracture repositioning with osteopathy in traditional Mongolian medicine in China have resulted in the widespread use of such techniques and represents the future direction of the development of fracture repositioning.

Seismic Strengthening of Carpentry Joints in Traditional Timber Structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parisi, Maria A.; Cordie, Cinzia; Piazza, Maurizio

2008-01-01

The static and dynamic behavior of timber structures largely depends on their connections. In traditional timber construction, elements are usually connected with carpentry joints based on contact pressure and friction, often with only minor reinforcement generically intended to avoid disassembling. In current practice, interventions for the upgrading of carpentry joints are mainly based on empirical knowledge according to tradition. Often they produce a general strengthening of the connection, but are not specific for the case of seismic action. Strengthening on heuristic bases may be only partially effective or possibly disproportioned. The behavior of the carpentry joints most used in roof structures is examined. The birdsmouth joint, connecting rafters to the tie beam, has been studied first, characterizing its behavior numerically and experimentally in monotonic and cyclic conditions. Other forms of the rafter-to-tie connection, the double notch joint and the case of parallel rafters, are discussed. Some general criteria for the seismic strengthening of these joints are presented

Seismic Strengthening of Carpentry Joints in Traditional Timber Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Parisi, Maria A.; Cordié, Cinzia; Piazza, Maurizio

2008-07-01

The static and dynamic behavior of timber structures largely depends on their connections. In traditional timber construction, elements are usually connected with carpentry joints based on contact pressure and friction, often with only minor reinforcement generically intended to avoid disassembling. In current practice, interventions for the upgrading of carpentry joints are mainly based on empirical knowledge according to tradition. Often they produce a general strengthening of the connection, but are not specific for the case of seismic action. Strengthening on heuristic bases may be only partially effective or possibly disproportioned. The behavior of the carpentry joints most used in roof structures is examined. The birdsmouth joint, connecting rafters to the tie beam, has been studied first, characterizing its behavior numerically and experimentally in monotonic and cyclic conditions. Other forms of the rafter-to-tie connection, the double notch joint and the case of parallel rafters, are discussed. Some general criteria for the seismic strengthening of these joints are presented.

An experimental technique for the direct measurement of N2O5 reactivity on ambient particles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. H. Bertram

2009-06-01

Full Text Available An experimental approach for the direct measurement of trace gas reactivity on ambient aerosol particles has been developed. The method utilizes a newly designed entrained aerosol flow reactor coupled to a custom-built chemical ionization mass spectrometer. The experimental method is described via application to the measurement of the N2O5 reaction probability, γ (N2O5. Laboratory investigations on well characterized aerosol particles show that measurements of γ (N2O5 observed with this technique are in agreement with previous observations, using conventional flow tube methods, to within ±20% at atmospherically relevant particle surface area concentrations (0–1000 μm2 cm−3. Uncertainty in the measured γ (N2O5 is discussed in the context of fluctuations in potential ambient biases (e.g., temperature, relative humidity and trace gas loadings. Under ambient operating conditions we estimate a single-point uncertainty in γ (N2O5 that ranges between ± (1.3×10-2 + 0.2×γ (N2O5, and ± (1.3×10-3 + 0.2×γ (N2O5 for particle surface area concentrations of 100 to 1000 μm2 cm−3, respectively. Examples from both laboratory investigations and field observations are included alongside discussion of future applications for the reactivity measurement and optimal deployment locations and conditions.

[Construction of multiple drug release system based on components of traditional Chinese medicine].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Dan; Jia, Xiaobin; Yu, Danhong; Zhang, Zhenhai; Sun, E

2012-08-01

With the development of the modernization drive of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparations, new-type TCM dosage forms research have become a hot spot in the field. Because of complexity of TCM components as well as uncertainty of material base, there is still not a scientific system for modern TCM dosage forms so far. Modern TCM preparations inevitably take the nature of the multi-component and the general function characteristics of multi-link and multi-target into account. The author suggests building a multiple drug release system for TCM using diverse preparation techniques and drug release methods at levels on the basis the nature and function characteristics of TCM components. This essay expounds elaborates the ideas to build the multiple traditional Chinese medicine release system, theoretical basis, preparation techniques and assessment system, current problems and solutions, in order to build a multiple TCM release system with a view of enhancing the bioavailability of TCM components and provide a new form for TCM preparations.

Comparative Analysis of Music Recordings from Western and Non-Western traditions by Automatic Tonal Feature Extraction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emilia Gómez

2008-09-01

Full Text Available The automatic analysis of large musical corpora by means of computational models overcomes some limitations of manual analysis, and the unavailability of scores for most existing music makes necessary to work with audio recordings. Until now, research on this area has focused on music from the Western tradition. Nevertheless, we might ask if the available methods are suitable when analyzing music from other cultures. We present an empirical approach to the comparative analysis of audio recordings, focusing on tonal features and data mining techniques. Tonal features are related to the pitch class distribution, pitch range and employed scale, gamut and tuning system. We provide our initial but promising results obtained when trying to automatically distinguish music from Western and non- Western traditions; we analyze which descriptors are most relevant and study their distribution over 1500 pieces from different traditions and styles. As a result, some feature distributions differ for Western and non-Western music, and the obtained classification accuracy is higher than 80% for different classification algorithms and an independent test set. These results show that automatic description of audio signals together with data mining techniques provide means to characterize huge music collections from different traditions and complement musicological manual analyses.

Improving Nursing Students' Learning Outcomes in Fundamentals of Nursing Course through Combination of Traditional and e-Learning Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheikhaboumasoudi, Rouhollah; Bagheri, Maryam; Hosseini, Sayed Abbas; Ashouri, Elaheh; Elahi, Nasrin

2018-01-01

Fundamentals of nursing course are prerequisite to providing comprehensive nursing care. Despite development of technology on nursing education, effectiveness of using e-learning methods in fundamentals of nursing course is unclear in clinical skills laboratory for nursing students. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of blended learning (combining e-learning with traditional learning methods) with traditional learning alone on nursing students' scores. A two-group post-test experimental study was administered from February 2014 to February 2015. Two groups of nursing students who were taking the fundamentals of nursing course in Iran were compared. Sixty nursing students were selected as control group (just traditional learning methods) and experimental group (combining e-learning with traditional learning methods) for two consecutive semesters. Both groups participated in Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and were evaluated in the same way using a prepared checklist and questionnaire of satisfaction. Statistical analysis was conducted through SPSS software version 16. Findings of this study reflected that mean of midterm (t = 2.00, p = 0.04) and final score (t = 2.50, p = 0.01) of the intervention group (combining e-learning with traditional learning methods) were significantly higher than the control group (traditional learning methods). The satisfaction of male students in intervention group was higher than in females (t = 2.60, p = 0.01). Based on the findings, this study suggests that the use of combining traditional learning methods with e-learning methods such as applying educational website and interactive online resources for fundamentals of nursing course instruction can be an effective supplement for improving nursing students' clinical skills.

Detection of microbial concentration in ice-cream using the impedance technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Grossi, M; Lanzoni, M; Pompei, A; Lazzarini, R; Matteuzzi, D; Riccò, B

2008-06-15

The detection of microbial concentration, essential for safe and high quality food products, is traditionally made with the plate count technique, that is reliable, but also slow and not easily realized in the automatic form, as required for direct use in industrial machines. To this purpose, the method based on impedance measurements represents an attractive alternative since it can produce results in about 10h, instead of the 24-48h needed by standard plate counts and can be easily realized in automatic form. In this paper such a method has been experimentally studied in the case of ice-cream products. In particular, all main ice-cream compositions of real interest have been considered and no nutrient media has been used to dilute the samples. A measurement set-up has been realized using benchtop instruments for impedance measurements on samples whose bacteria concentration was independently measured by means of standard plate counts. The obtained results clearly indicate that impedance measurement represents a feasible and reliable technique to detect total microbial concentration in ice-cream, suitable to be implemented as an embedded system for industrial machines.

Electronic Cigarette and Traditional Cigarette Use among Middle and High School Students in Florida, 2011-2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Lauren; Duke, Jennifer; Hennon, Meredith; Dekevich, David; Crankshaw, Erik; Homsi, Ghada; Farrelly, Matthew

2015-01-01

Recent youth trends in the prevalence of e-cigarette and traditional cigarette use in Florida were examined in a cross-sectional, representative state sample from 2011 to 2014. Traditional cigarette use among youth declined during the study period. Experimentation with and past 30-day use of e-cigarettes among Florida youth tripled over 4 years. Past 30-day e-cigarette use exceeded traditional cigarette use in 2014; 10.8% of high school and 4.0% of middle school students reported recent e-cigarette use, compared with 8.7% of high school and 2.9% of middle school students for traditional cigarettes (Pe-cigarettes. Among ever e-cigarette users in 2014, 30.3% of high school and 42.2% of middle school students had never smoked traditional cigarettes. Given the concern that significant rates of e-cigarette use by U.S. adolescents may have a negative effect on public health, further review of e-cigarette advertising, marketing, sales, and use among U.S. youth is warranted.

Numerical models: Detailing and simulation techniques aimed at comparison with experimental data, support to test result interpretation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Chiwen

2001-01-01

This part of the presentation discusses the modelling details required and the simulation techniques available for analyses, facilitating the comparison with the experimental data and providing support for interpretation of the test results. It is organised to cover the following topics: analysis inputs; basic modelling requirements for reactor coolant system; method applicable for reactor cooling system; consideration of damping values and integration time steps; typical analytic models used for analysis of reactor pressure vessel and internals; hydrodynamic mass and fluid damping for the internal analysis; impact elements for fuel analysis; and PEI theorem and its applications. The intention of these topics is to identify the key parameters associated with models of analysis and analytical methods. This should provide proper basis for useful comparison with the test results

Understanding the role of fast electrons in the heating of dense matter: experimental techniques and recent results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freeman, R.; Anderson, C.; Hill, J.M.; King, J.; Snavely, R.; Hatchett, S.; Key, M.; Koch, J.; MacKinnon, A.; Stephens, R.; Cowan, T.

2003-01-01

An intense laser impinging upon dense matter converts a large fraction of its energy into fast electrons. (Here we take 'fast' to mean electrons that are much more energetic than the normal Boltzmann-like distribution measured in the tens to hundreds of eV.) Upon transiting the interior of the dense matter, these electrons are responsible for isochoric heating of the material. Just how these electrons traverse the material, and various interfaces within the material, is a subject of substantial amounts of computation and theory, and recently, experiments. Here we outline the nature of the heating mechanisms, and the current level of understanding of the complex physical processes. In particular we discuss new experimental techniques to record essential features of this transport problem

Complications of traditional circumcision amongst young Xhosa males seen at St Lucy’s Hospital, Tsolo, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ugochukwu Anike

2013-05-01

Conclusion: Genital sepsis was the most common complication of traditional male circumcision.Complications were related to the circumciser, advanced age of the patient and place of circumcision. Thereis need for training of the traditional circumcisers on safe techniques and use of hygienic practices in orderto reduce the complications identified in this study.

Developing Employability Skills in Information System Graduates: Traditional vs. Innovative Teaching Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Osmani, Mohamad; Hindi, Nitham M.; Weerakkody, Vishanth

2018-01-01

It is widely acknowledged that traditional teaching methods such as lectures, textbooks and case study techniques on their own are not adequate to improving the most in-demand employability skills for graduates. The aim of this article is to explore the potential impact that novel learning and teaching methods can have on improving the…

Pretreatment techniques for biofuels and biorefineries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fang, Zhen (ed.) [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, YN (China). Xishuangbanna Tropical Botonical Garden

2013-02-01

The first book focused on pretreatment techniques for biofuels contributed by the world's leading experts. Extensively covers the different types of biomass, various pretreatment approaches and methods that show the subsequent production of biofuels and chemicals. In addition to traditional pretreatment methods, novel techniques are also introduced and discussed. An accessible reference work for students, researchers, academicians and industrialists in biorefineries. This book includes 19 chapters contributed by the world's leading experts on pretreatment methods for biomass. It extensively covers the different types of biomass (e.g. molasses, sugar beet pulp, cheese whey, sugarcane residues, palm waste, vegetable oil, straws, stalks and wood), various pretreatment approaches (e.g. physical, thermal, chemical, physicochemical and biological) and methods that show the subsequent production of biofuels and chemicals such as sugars, ethanol, extracellular polysaccharides, biodiesel, gas and oil. In addition to traditional methods such as steam, hot-water, hydrothermal, diluted-acid, organosolv, ozonolysis, sulfite, milling, fungal and bacterial, microwave, ultrasonic, plasma, torrefaction, pelletization, gasification (including biogas) and liquefaction pretreatments, it also introduces and discusses novel techniques such as nano and solid catalysts, organic electrolyte solutions and ionic liquids. This book offers a review of state-of-the-art research and provides guidance for the future paths of developing pretreatment techniques of biomass for biofuels, especially in the fields of biotechnology, microbiology, chemistry, materials science and engineering. It intends to provide a systematic introduction of pretreatment techniques. It is an accessible reference work for students, researchers, academicians and industrialists in biorefineries.

Practical Skills Training in Agricultural Education--A Comparison between Traditional and Blended Approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Deegan, Donna; Wims, Padraig; Pettit, Tony

2016-01-01

Purpose: In this article the use of blended learning multimedia materials as an education tool was compared with the traditional approach for skills training. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study was conducted in Ireland using a pre-test, post-test experimental design. All students were instructed on how to complete two skills using either a…

Traditional timber frames

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jorissen, A.J.M.; Hamer, den J.; Leijten, A.J.M.; Salenikovich, A.

2014-01-01

Due to new possibilities traditional timber framing has become increasingly popular since the beginning of the 21e century. Although traditional timber framing has been used for centuries, the expected mechanical behaviour is not dealt with in great detail in building codes, guidelines or text

Forensic DNA barcoding and bio-response studies of animal horn products used in traditional medicine.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Yan

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Animal horns (AHs have been applied to traditional medicine for more than thousands of years, of which clinical effects have been confirmed by the history. But now parts of AHs have been listed in the items of wildlife conservation, which limits the use for traditional medicine. The contradiction between the development of traditional medicine and the protection of wild resources has already become the common concern of zoophilists, traditional medical professionals, economists, sociologists. We believe that to strengthen the identification for threatened animals, to prevent the circulation of them, and to seek fertile animals of corresponding bioactivities as substitutes are effective strategies to solve this problem. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A powerful technique of DNA barcoding based on the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase I (COI was used to identify threatened animals of Bovidae and Cervidae, as well as their illegal adulterants (including 10 species and 47 specimens. Meanwhile, the microcalorimetric technique was used to characterize the differences of bio-responses when those animal specimens acted on model organism (Escherichia coli. We found that the COI gene could be used as a universal primer to identify threatened animals and illegal adulterants mentioned above. By analyzing 223 mitochondrial COI sequences, a 100% identification success rate was achieved. We further found that the horns of Mongolian Gazelle and Red Deer could be exploited as a substitute for some functions of endangered Saiga Antelope and Sika Deer in traditional medicine, respectively. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Although it needs a more comprehensive evaluation of bioequivalence in order to completely solve the problem of substitutes for threatened animals, we believe that the identification (DNA barcoding of threatened animals combined with seeking substitutions (bio-response can yet be regarded as a valid strategy for establishing a balance

Tabu search, a versatile technique for the functions optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castillo M, J.A.

2003-01-01

The basic elements of the Tabu search technique are presented, putting emphasis in the qualities that it has in comparison with the traditional methods of optimization known as in descending pass. Later on some modifications are sketched that have been implemented in the technique along the time, so that this it is but robust. Finally they are given to know some areas where this technique has been applied, obtaining successful results. (Author)

The ethics of improving African traditional medical practice: scientific or African traditional research methods?

Science.gov (United States)

Nyika, Aceme

2009-11-01

The disease burden in Africa, which is relatively very large compared with developed countries, has been attributed to various factors that include poverty, food shortages, inadequate access to health care and unaffordability of Western medicines to the majority of African populations. Although for 'old diseases' knowledge about the right African traditional medicines to treat or cure the diseases has been passed from generation to generation, knowledge about traditional medicines to treat newly emerging diseases has to be generated in one way or another. In addition, the existing traditional medicines have to be continuously improved, which is also the case with Western scientific medicines. Whereas one school of thought supports the idea of improving medicines, be they traditional or Western, through scientific research, an opposing school of thought argues that subjecting African traditional medicines to scientific research would be tantamount to some form of colonization and imperialism. This paper argues that continuing to use African traditional medicines for old and new diseases without making concerted efforts to improve their efficacy and safety is unethical since the disease burden affecting Africa may continue to rise in spite of the availability and accessibility of the traditional medicines. Most importantly, the paper commends efforts being made in some African countries to improve African traditional medicine through a combination of different mechanisms that include the controversial approach of scientific research on traditional medicines.

Between tradition and renewal: Some considerations about the use of tradition in reformed theology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Willem van Vlastuin

2013-08-01

Full Text Available In the theology and practice of the Christian church a tension between tradition and renewal exists. This essay focuses on this tension to provide a first step of methodological reflection to deal with it. Firstly, this tension is illustrated from the reformed perspective of sola scripturathat led to criticism of the tradition on the one hand, whilst understanding the reformed movement as part of the tradition on the other hand. A danger of unqualified sola scriptura is subjectivity. Subsequently, the importance of tradition is elaborated from the perspective of the church as the body of Christ across all ages. This implies that Christians should study and love the traditional theology because of the fundamental unity of the church that transcends cultural diversity. Rejecting tradition will cut the church from its historical and spiritual roots. Thirdly, this raises the question whether the church is imprisoned by tradition, as well as the problem of the relation between tradition and renewal. In response, it is argued that the doctrine of incarnation guarantees openness to history. With the help of the philosophical and Christian view on structural contingency, the belief that tradition is principally open to renewal is defended. Some examples are given as illustrations of how classic theological concepts can be reframed in our postmodern context. The last part of this essay concludes with the insight of Cyprian that only the conveyed tradition can be renewed, implying that renewal is in essence not a new theology, but a new application of apostolic theology.

Traditional Medicine in Developing Countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorsen, Rikke Stamp

or spiritual healer and self-treatment with herbal medicine or medicinal plants. Reliance on traditional medicine varies between countries and rural and urban areas, but is reported to be as high as 80% in some developing countries. Increased realization of the continued importance of traditional medicine has......People use traditional medicine to meet their health care needs in developing countries and medical pluralism persists worldwide despite increased access to allopathic medicine. Traditional medicine includes a variety of treatment opportunities, among others, consultation with a traditional healer...... led to the formulation of policies on the integration of traditional medicine into public health care. Local level integration is already taking place as people use multiple treatments when experiencing illness. Research on local level use of traditional medicine for health care, in particular the use...

A novel computational framework for deducing muscle synergies from experimental joint moments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anantharaman eGopalakrishnan

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Prior experimental studies have hypothesized the existence of a ‘muscle synergy’ based control scheme for producing limb movements and locomotion in vertebrates. Such synergies have been suggested to consist of fixed muscle grouping schemes with the co-activation of all muscles in a synergy resulting in limb movement. Quantitative representations of these groupings (termed muscle weightings and their control signals (termed synergy controls have traditionally been derived by the factorization of experimentally measured EMG. This study presents a novel approach for deducing these weightings and controls from inverse dynamic joint moments that are computed from an alternative set of experimental measurements – movement kinematics and kinetics. This technique was applied to joint moments for healthy human walking at 0.7 and 1.7 m/s, and two sets of ‘simulated’ synergies were computed based on two different criteria (1 synergies were required to minimize errors between experimental and simulated joint moments in a musculoskeletal model (pure-synergy solution (2 along with minimizing joint moment errors, synergies also minimized muscle activation levels (optimal-synergy solution. On comparing the two solutions, it was observed that the introduction of optimality requirements (optimal-synergy to a control strategy solely aimed at reproducing the joint moments (pure-synergy did not necessitate major changes in the muscle grouping within synergies or the temporal profiles of synergy control signals. Synergies from both the simulated solutions exhibited many similarities to EMG derived synergies from a previously published study, thus implying that the analysis of the two different types of experimental data reveals similar, underlying synergy structures.

The diversity and evolution of microbiota in traditional Turkish Divle Cave cheese during ripening

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Budak, S. O.; Figge, M. J.; Houbraken, J.; de Vries, R. P.

2016-01-01

The microbial diversity of traditional Turkish Divle Cave cheese was evaluated in three independent batches. Using molecular techniques, twenty three bacterial species were identified in the interior and outer part of the cheese on days 60 and 120. Bacilli and Gammaproteobacteria classes were

Monitoring techniques of the western corn rootworm are the precursor to effective IPM strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemic, Darija; Mikac, Katarina M; Kozina, Antonela; Benitez, Hugo A; McLean, Christopher M; Bažok, Renata

2016-02-01

The western corn rootworm (WCR) is economically the most important pest of maize in Croatia. To predict WCR adult population abundance and variability, traditional, genetic and morphometric monitoring of populations was conducted over time through each phase of the WCR invasion process in Croatia. Through traditional monitoring it was shown that WCR established their current population and reached economic densities after 14 years persisting in the study area. Regression-tree-based modelling showed that the best predictor of WCR adult abundance was the total amount of rainfall. Genetic monitoring indicated that genetic differentiation increased over time at the intrapopulation level, and morphometric monitoring indicated that wing morphotypes varied according to edaphic landscape changes. Traditional population metric surveys are important in WCR integrated pest management (IPM), as such surveys can be effectively used to predict population abundances. Novel-use monitoring techniques such as genetics and geometric morphometrics can be used to provide valuable information on variation within and among populations. The monitoring techniques presented herein provide sound data to assist in the understanding of both WCR ecology and population genetics and may provide more information than that currently available using traditional techniques (e.g. sticky traps), and as such these additional techniques should be written into IPM for WCR. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

The Macuti House, Traditional Building Techniques and Sustainable Development in Ilha de Moçambique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sollien, Silje Erøy

2011-01-01

This paper is part of the initial phase of PhD research focusing on conservation of the macuti architecture in the World Heritage City of Ilha de Moçambique. It questions how initiatives to preserve traditional ways of building in this area, of which parts could be described as an urban slum, may...... subordination, poverty and low social status, such initiatives need to be part of a wider programme of strengthening cultural and social capital among the population, avoiding division into tangible and intangible heritage management, and include broad ecological and socio-economic considerations....

Quality evaluation of fish and other seafood by traditional and nondestructive instrumental methods: Advantages and limitations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassoun, Abdo; Karoui, Romdhane

2017-06-13

Although being one of the most vulnerable and perishable products, fish and other seafoods provide a wide range of health-promoting compounds. Recently, the growing interest of consumers in food quality and safety issues has contributed to the increasing demand for sensitive and rapid analytical technologies. Several traditional physicochemical, textural, sensory, and electrical methods have been used to evaluate freshness and authentication of fish and other seafood products. Despite the importance of these standard methods, they are expensive and time-consuming, and often susceptible to large sources of variation. Recently, spectroscopic methods and other emerging techniques have shown great potential due to speed of analysis, minimal sample preparation, high repeatability, low cost, and, most of all, the fact that these techniques are noninvasive and nondestructive and, therefore, could be applied to any online monitoring system. This review describes firstly and briefly the basic principles of multivariate data analysis, followed by the most commonly traditional methods used for the determination of the freshness and authenticity of fish and other seafood products. A special focus is put on the use of rapid and nondestructive techniques (spectroscopic techniques and instrumental sensors) to address several issues related to the quality of these products. Moreover, the advantages and limitations of each technique are reviewed and some perspectives are also given.

The Combination of DGT Technique and Traditional Chemical Methods for Evaluation of Cadmium Bioavailability in Contaminated Soils with Organic Amendment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Yao

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Organic amendments have been proposed as a means of remediation for Cd-contaminated soils. However, understanding the inhibitory effects of organic materials on metal immobilization requires further research. In this study colza cake, a typical organic amendment material, was investigated in order to elucidate the ability of this material to reduce toxicity of Cd-contaminated soil. Available concentrations of Cd in soils were measured using an in situ diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT technique in combination with traditional chemical methods, such as HOAc (aqua regia, EDTA (ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, NaOAc (sodium acetate, CaCl2, and labile Cd in pore water. These results were applied to predict the Cd bioavailability after the addition of colza cake to Cd-contaminated soil. Two commonly grown cash crops, wheat and maize, were selected for Cd accumulation studies, and were found to be sensitive to Cd bioavailability. Results showed that the addition of colza cake may inhibit the growth of wheat and maize. Furthermore, the addition of increasing colza cake doses led to decreasing shoot and root biomass accumulation. However, increasing colza cake doses did lead to the reduction of Cd accumulation in plant tissues, as indicated by the decreasing Cd concentrations in shoots and roots. The labile concentration of Cd obtained by DGT measurements and the traditional chemical extraction methods, showed the clear decrease of Cd with the addition of increasing colza cake doses. All indicators showed significant positive correlations (p < 0.01 with the accumulation of Cd in plant tissues, however, all of the methods could not reflect plant growth status. Additionally, the capability of Cd to change from solid phase to become available in a soil solution decreased with increasing colza cake doses. This was reflected by the decreases in the ratio (R value of CDGT to Csol. Our study suggests that the sharp decrease in R values could not only

Nuclear fission: a review of experimental advances and phenomenology

Science.gov (United States)

Andreyev, A. N.; Nishio, K.; Schmidt, K.-H.

2018-01-01

In the last two decades, through technological, experimental and theoretical advances, the situation in experimental fission studies has changed dramatically. With the use of advanced production and detection techniques both much more detailed and precise information can now be obtained for the traditional regions of fission research and, crucially, new regions of nuclei have become routinely accessible for fission studies. This work first of all reviews the recent developments in experimental fission techniques, in particular the resurgence of transfer-induced fission reactions with light and heavy ions, the emerging use of inverse-kinematic approaches, both at Coulomb and relativistic energies, and of fission studies with radioactive beams. The emphasis on the fission-fragment mass and charge distributions will be made in this work, though some of the other fission observables, such as prompt neutron and γ-ray emission will also be reviewed. A particular attention will be given to the low-energy fission in the so far scarcely explored nuclei in the very neutron-deficient lead region. They recently became the focus for several complementary experimental studies, such as β-delayed fission with radioactive beams at ISOLDE(CERN), Coulex-induced fission of relativistic secondary beams at FRS(GSI), and several prompt fusion–fission studies. The synergy of these approaches allows a unique insight in the new region of asymmetric fission around {\\hspace{0pt}}180 Hg, recently discovered at ISOLDE. Recent extensive theoretical efforts in this region will also be outlined. The unprecedented high-quality data for fission fragments, completely identified in Z and A, by means of reactions in inverse kinematics at FRS(GSI) and VAMOS(GANIL) will be also reviewed. These experiments explored an extended range of mercury-to-californium elements, spanning from the neutron-deficient to neutron-rich nuclides, and covering both asymmetric, symmetric and transitional fission regions

Traditional Project Management and the Visual Workplace Environment to Improve Project Success

Science.gov (United States)

Fichera, Christopher E.

2016-01-01

A majority of large IT projects fail to meet scheduled deadlines, are over budget and do not satisfy the end user. Many projects fail in spite of utilizing traditional project management techniques. Research of project management has not identified the use of a visual workspace as a feature affecting or influencing the success of a project during…

New computing techniques in physics research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becks, Karl-Heinz; Perret-Gallix, Denis

1994-01-01

New techniques were highlighted by the ''Third International Workshop on Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems for High Energy and Nuclear Physics'' in Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany, from October 4 to 8. It was the third workshop in the series; the first was held in Lyon in 1990 and the second at France-Telecom site near La Londe les Maures in 1992. This series of workshops covers a broad spectrum of problems. New, highly sophisticated experiments demand new techniques in computing, in hardware as well as in software. Software Engineering Techniques could in principle satisfy the needs for forthcoming accelerator experiments. The growing complexity of detector systems demands new techniques in experimental error diagnosis and repair suggestions; Expert Systems seem to offer a way of assisting the experimental crew during data-taking

X-ray Constrained Extremely Localized Molecular Orbitals: Theory and Critical Assessment of the New Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Genoni, Alessandro

2013-07-09

Following the X-ray constrained wave function approach proposed by Jayatilaka, we have devised a new technique that allows to extract molecular orbitals strictly localized on small molecular fragments from sets of experimental X-ray structure factors amplitudes. Since the novel strategy enables to obtain electron distributions that have quantum mechanical features and that can be easily interpreted in terms of traditional chemical concepts, the method can be also considered as a new useful tool for the determination and the analysis of charge densities from high-resolution X-ray experiments. In this paper, we describe in detail the theory of the new technique, which, in comparison to our preliminary work, has been improved both treating the effects of isotropic secondary extinctions and introducing a new protocol to halt the fitting procedure against the experimental X-ray scattering data. The performances of the novel strategy have been studied both in function of the basis-sets flexibility and in function of the quality of the considered crystallographic data. The tests performed on four different systems (α-glycine, l-cysteine, (aminomethyl)phosphonic acid and N-(trifluoromethyl)formamide) have shown that the achievement of good statistical agreements with the experimental measures mainly depends on the quality of the crystal structures (i.e., geometry positions and thermal parameters) used in the X-ray constrained calculations. Finally, given the reliable transferability of the obtained Extremely Localized Molecular Orbitals (ELMOs), we envisage to exploit the novel approach to construct new ELMOs databases suited to the development of linear-scaling methods for the refinement of macromolecular crystal structures.

Experimental Study on the Molten Corium Interaction with Structure by Induction Heating Technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

An, Sang Mo; Ha, Kwang Soon; Min, Beong Tae; Hong, Seong Ho; Kim, Hwan Yeol [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

The corium compositions strongly depend on the accident scenarios, and thus the melt generation technique for various melt compositions is essential to investigate the corium-structural material interaction characteristics according to the accident scenarios. Since 1997, KAERI has several years of experiences with melt generation to investigate the material ablation characteristics and steam explosion phenomena. Based on the experiences of the TROI (Test for Real cOrium Interaction with water) facility for the steam explosion experiments, the VESTA (Verification of Ex-vessel corium STAbilization) test facility was designed and constructed in 2010 for the development of a core catcher under the APR+ project. At the same time, the VESTA-S (VESTA-Small) was established for small scale material ablation experiments. Some experimental results were reported for the interactions of metallic or oxidic melt with the structural materials such as special concrete or penetration weld. The objective of this paper is to provide the specific features of the VESTA and VESTA-S facilities including information on the melt generation technique adopted for the facilities. Some issues are also addressed in this paper for further facility improvement. In the present paper, the principles of induction heating adopted for the VESTA and VESTA-S facilities were summarized briefly and the system features for the melt-structural material interaction experiments were explained. As a major characteristic of the VESTA facility, up to 400 kg of corium melt is expected to be generated using the currently installed system. The jet impingement effect on the material ablation characteristics was demonstrated successfully in the VESTA facility. In the VESTA-S facility, the small scale material ablation experiments by long term melt interaction were performed properly by adopting the melt delivery method. However, for a more realistic severe accident simulation, we need to improve the melt temperature

Development of non-destructive Young's modulus measurement techniques in non-oriented CeF$_{3}$ crystals

CERN Document Server

Pietroni, P; Lebeau, M; Majni, G; Rinaldi, D

2005-01-01

For a reliable mechanical assembly of scintillating crystals for the application to radiographic systems such as Positron Emission Tomographer (PET) and high-energy physics calorimeters (e.g. in CMS at CERN LHC), the evaluation of the monocrystal elastic constant (Young's modulus) is needed. Its knowledge is also essential in the photoelastic analysis for the determination of residual stresses. In this work non-destructive techniques based on elastic wave propagation are tested. They differ in the mechanical excitation device: instrumented hammer, traditional ultrasonic probes and laser- generated ultrasound. We have analysed three non-oriented cerium fluoride crystal samples produced for scintillation applications. Finally, we have validated the experimental results comparing them with the elastic constant calculated by using the stiffness matrix.

Development of non-destructive Young's modulus measurement techniques in non-oriented CeF3 crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pietroni, P.; Paone, N.; Lebeau, M.; Majni, G.; Rinaldi, D.

2005-01-01

For a reliable mechanical assembly of scintillating crystals for the application to radiographic systems such as Positron Emission Tomographer (PET) and high-energy physics calorimeters (e.g. in CMS at CERN LHC), the evaluation of the monocrystal elastic constant (Young's modulus) is needed. Its knowledge is also essential in the photoelastic analysis for the determination of residual stresses. In this work non-destructive techniques based on elastic wave propagation are tested. They differ in the mechanical excitation device: instrumented hammer, traditional ultrasonic probes and laser-generated ultrasound. We have analysed three non-oriented cerium fluoride crystal samples produced for scintillation applications. Finally, we have validated the experimental results comparing them with the elastic constant calculated by using the stiffness matrix

Spectroscopic analysis technique for arc-welding process control

Science.gov (United States)

Mirapeix, Jesús; Cobo, Adolfo; Conde, Olga; Quintela, María Ángeles; López-Higuera, José-Miguel

2005-09-01

The spectroscopic analysis of the light emitted by thermal plasmas has found many applications, from chemical analysis to monitoring and control of industrial processes. Particularly, it has been demonstrated that the analysis of the thermal plasma generated during arc or laser welding can supply information about the process and, thus, about the quality of the weld. In some critical applications (e.g. the aerospace sector), an early, real-time detection of defects in the weld seam (oxidation, porosity, lack of penetration, ...) is highly desirable as it can reduce expensive non-destructive testing (NDT). Among others techniques, full spectroscopic analysis of the plasma emission is known to offer rich information about the process itself, but it is also very demanding in terms of real-time implementations. In this paper, we proposed a technique for the analysis of the plasma emission spectrum that is able to detect, in real-time, changes in the process parameters that could lead to the formation of defects in the weld seam. It is based on the estimation of the electronic temperature of the plasma through the analysis of the emission peaks from multiple atomic species. Unlike traditional techniques, which usually involve peak fitting to Voigt functions using the Levenberg-Marquardt recursive method, we employ the LPO (Linear Phase Operator) sub-pixel algorithm to accurately estimate the central wavelength of the peaks (allowing an automatic identification of each atomic species) and cubic-spline interpolation of the noisy data to obtain the intensity and width of the peaks. Experimental tests on TIG-welding using fiber-optic capture of light and a low-cost CCD-based spectrometer, show that some typical defects can be easily detected and identified with this technique, whose typical processing time for multiple peak analysis is less than 20msec. running in a conventional PC.

Performance of a small-scale turbojet engine fed with traditional and alternative fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badami, M.; Nuccio, P.; Pastrone, D.; Signoretto, A.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • One synthetic fuel, one bio-fuel blend and one traditional kerosene were tested on a small-scale turbojet. • The three fuels were characterized and their chemical and physical specifications were compared. • The experimental results, in term of CO, UHC and NO x emissions, are discussed. • Emissions are compared with CFD analysis and semi-empirical equations found in literature. - Abstract: The growing use of aeronautical fuels, together with the increasing attention towards reduced environmental impact technologies, are driving governments and aeronautical companies to search for alternative aeronautical fuels to petroleum based kerosene. Analysis and measurements on real aeronautical turbines are complex and expensive; for this reason the use of parts of real engines or small size turbojets can be very interesting for research activities. The present paper describes the results of an experimental and numerical activity, regarding the influence of alternative fuels on the performance in term of emissions, on a small-scale turbojet engine with a nominal thrust of 80 N at 80,000 rpm. Three different fuels, a traditional Jet-A kerosene, a synthetic Gas To Liquid (GTL) fuel and a blend of 30% Jatropha Methyl Ester (JME) and 70% Jet-A, were tested. The experimental results, in term of CO, UHC and NO x emissions, are discussed and compared with results obtained from CFD analysis and from semi-empirical equations found in literature

[Interaction of effective ingredients from traditional Chinese medicines with intestinal microbiota].

Science.gov (United States)

Zu, Xian-Peng; Lin, Zhang; Xie, Hai-Sheng; Yang, Niao; Liu, Xin-Ru; Zhang, Wei-Dong

2016-05-01

A large number and wide varieties of microorganisms colonize in the human gastrointestinal tract. They construct an intestinal microecological system in the intestinal environment. The intestinal symbiotic flora regulates a series of life actions, including digestion and absorption of nutrient, immune response, biological antagonism, and is closely associated with the occurrence and development of many diseases. Therefore, it is greatly essential for the host's health status to maintain the equilibrium of intestinal microecological environment. After effective compositions of traditional Chinese medicines are metabolized or biotransformed by human intestinal bacteria, their metabolites can be absorbed more easily, and can even decrease or increase toxicity and then exhibit significant different biological effects. Meanwhile, traditional Chinese medicines can also regulate the composition of the intestinal flora and protect the function of intestinal mucosal barrier to restore the homeostasis of intestinal microecology. The relevant literatures in recent 15 years about the interactive relationship between traditional Chinese medicines and gut microbiota have been collected in this review, in order to study the classification of gut microflora, the relationship between intestinal dysbacteriosis and diseases, the important roles of gut microflora in intestinal bacterial metabolism in effective ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines and bioactivities, as well as the modulation effects of Chinese medicine on intestinal dysbacteriosis. In addition, it also makes a future prospect for the research strategies to study the mechanism of action of traditional Chinese medicines based on multi-omics techniques. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

A Comparison of Traditional Worksheet and Linear Programming Methods for Teaching Manure Application Planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitt, M. A.; And Others

1994-01-01

Compares traditional manure application planning techniques calculated to meet agronomic nutrient needs on a field-by-field basis with plans developed using computer-assisted linear programming optimization methods. Linear programming provided the most economical and environmentally sound manure application strategy. (Contains 15 references.) (MDH)

75 FR 57263 - New Policy Announcing That Traditional Horizontal Survey Projects Performed With Terrestrial...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-20

... Traditional Horizontal Survey Projects Performed With Terrestrial Survey Techniques Will No Longer Be Accepted... for additional information should be directed to Mr. Mark Eckl, Observation and Analysis Division... horizontal surveys requires use of resources that are limited and will be used more appropriately elsewhere...

Comparison of techniques for estimating herbage intake by grazing dairy cows

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, H.J.; Taweel, H.Z.; Tas, B.M.; Tamminga, S.; Elgersma, A.

2005-01-01

For estimating herbage intake during grazing, the traditional sward cutting technique was compared in grazing experiments in 2002 and 2003 with the recently developed n-alkanes technique and with the net energy method. The first method estimates herbage intake by the difference between the herbage

Effects of processing adjuvants on traditional Chinese herbs