1,561 research outputs found
Influence of temperature and sliding speed on the subsurface microstructure evolution of EN AW-6060 under sticking friction conditions
No full textThis article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in AIP Conference Proceedings 1896, 140012 (2017) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5008168.The microstructure evolution of the friction boundary layer of the aluminum alloy EN AW-6060 was investigated. Sticking friction tests at different temperatures and sliding speeds were carried out. A severe deformation below the friction surface was observed by means of LOM and EBSD mapping. Thus, the thickness variation and the grain structure of the high deformation zone could be described. Fibrous structure was observed at 300 °C and 400 °C, while equiaxed grains with high misorientation angle (>15°) were generated at higher temperatures. Additionally, abnormal grain growth and coarse grains were detected at high sliding speeds (10 mm/s, 42 mm/s) at 450°C and 500 °C respectively
The effect of Ondansetron in prevention of postoperative shivering after general aesthesia in gynecological surgery
No full textBackground: Postoperative shivering is one of the common problems following general anesthesia and may lead to multiple complications. Different drugs and methods have been used in prevention and treatment of the postoperative shivering. The aim of this study was to examine the preventive effects of Ondansetron and Meperidine on postoperative shivering.
Methods: This randomized placebo-controlled double blind clinical trial included 90 patients scheduled for elective gynecologic operations, randomly divided to three groups. Ondansetron (4mg), Meperidine (0.4 mg/kg) and 2 cc normal saline (as a control group) were administered immediately before the induction of anesthesia. Anesthesia induced equivalently for all. Patients were observed in terms of vital signs, side effects and shivering.
Results: Postoperative shivering was observed in 13.3% of patients in Ondansetron group and 20% of Meperidine group, significantly lower than controls (50%). The reduction of core and skin temperature during the anesthesia and recovery, changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate were similar in all three groups. The incidence of nausea was similar among three groups of study while vomiting occurred in 6.7% of Meperidine group and 3.3 % of controls but none of the patients receiving Ondansetron.
Conclusion: Administration of 4 mg ondansetron before the induction of anesthesia have significant effect on the reduction of post operative shivering. Ondansetron can be used in outpatients operation particularly in patients with cardiovascular problems because of its hemodynamic stability and reduction of nausea and vomiting
Investigating the Effect of Emetic Compounds on Chemotaxis in Dictyostelium Identifies a Non-Sentient Model for Bitter and Hot Tastant Research.
No full textNovel chemical entities (NCEs) may be investigated for emetic liability in a range of unpleasant experiments involving retching, vomiting or conditioned taste aversion/food avoidance in sentient animals. We have used a range of compounds with known emetic /aversive properties to examine the possibility of using the social amoeba, Dictyostelium discoideum, for research into identifying and understanding emetic liability, and hence reduce adverse animal experimentation in this area. Twenty eight emetic or taste aversive compounds were employed to investigate the acute (10 min) effect of compounds on Dictyostelium cell behaviour (shape, speed and direction of movement) in a shallow chemotaxic gradient (Dunn chamber). Compound concentrations were chosen based on those previously reported to be emetic or aversive in in vivo studies and results were recorded and quantified by automated image analysis. Dictyostelium cell motility was rapidly and strongly inhibited by four structurally distinct tastants (three bitter tasting compounds--denatonium benzoate, quinine hydrochloride, phenylthiourea, and the pungent constituent of chilli peppers--capsaicin). In addition, stomach irritants (copper chloride and copper sulphate), and a phosphodiesterase IV inhibitor also rapidly blocked movement. A concentration-dependant relationship was established for five of these compounds, showing potency of inhibition as capsaicin (IC(50) = 11.9 ± 4.0 µM) > quinine hydrochloride (IC(50) = 44.3 ± 6.8 µM) > denatonium benzoate (IC(50) = 129 ± 4 µM) > phenylthiourea (IC(50) = 366 ± 5 µM) > copper sulphate (IC(50) = 1433 ± 3 µM). In contrast, 21 compounds within the cytotoxic and receptor agonist/antagonist classes did not affect cell behaviour. Further analysis of bitter and pungent compounds showed that the effect on cell behaviour was reversible and not cytotoxic, suggesting an uncharacterised molecular mechanism of action for these compounds. These results therefore demonstrate that Dictyostelium has potential as a non-sentient model in the analysis of the molecular effects of tastants, although it has limited utility in identification of emetic agents in general
Author-Suggested, Weighted Citation Index: A Novel Approach for Determining the Contribution of Individual Researchers
No full textA novel scientometric index, named ‘author-suggested, weighted citation index’ (Aw-index) is proposed to indicate the scientific contribution of any individual researcher. For calculation of the Aw-index, it is suggested that during the submission of a scholarly article, the corresponding author would provide a statement, agreed upon by all the authors, containing weightage factors against each author of the article. The author who contributed more to the article would secure a higher weightage factor. The summation of the weightage factors of all the authors of an article should be unity. The citation points a researcher receives from a scholarly publication is the product of his/her weightage factor for that article and the total number of citations of the article. The Aw-index of any individual researcher is the summation of the citation points he/she receives for all his/her publications as an author. The Aw-index provides the opportunity to the group of authors of a multi-authored article to determine the quantum of partial citations to be attributed to each of them. Through an illustrative example, a comparison of the proposed index with the major scientometric indexes is presented to highlight the advantages of the Aw-index
Influence of Process Parameters on the Quality of Aluminium Alloy EN AW 7075 Using Selective Laser Melting (SLM)
No full textAbstractSelective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing process, forming the desired geometry by selective layer fusion of powder material. Unlike conventional manufacturing processes, highly complex parts can be manufactured with high accuracy and little post processing. Currently, different steel, aluminium, titanium and nickel-based alloys have been successfully processed; however, high strength aluminium alloy EN AW 7075 has not been processed with satisfying quality. The main focus of the investigation is to develop the SLM process for the wide used aluminium alloy EN AW 7075. Before process development, the gas-atomized powder material was characterized in terms of statistical distribution: size and shape. A wide range of process parameters were selected to optimize the process in terms of optimum volume density. The investigations resulted in a relative density of over 99%. However, all laser-melted parts exhibit hot cracks which typically appear in aluminium alloy EN AW 7075 during the welding process. Furthermore the influence of processing parameters on the chemical composition of the selected alloy was determined
Zhedanov's Algebra AW(3) and the Double Affine Hecke Algebra in the Rank One Case. II. The Spherical Subalgebra
No full textThis paper builds on the previous paper by the author, where a relationship between Zhedanov's algebra AW(3) and the double affine Hecke algebra (DAHA) corresponding to the Askey-Wilson polynomials was established. It is shown here that the spherical subalgebra of this DAHA is isomorphic to AW(3) with an additional relation that the Casimir operator equals an explicit constant. A similar result with q-shifted parameters holds for the antispherical subalgebra. Some theorems on centralizers and centers for the algebras under consideration will finally be proved as corollaries of the characterization of the spherical and antispherical subalgebra
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Extensions and amplifications of a traffic model of Aw and Rascle
No full textIn a recent paper [1] Aw and Rascle introduced a new model of traffic on a uni-directional highway. Here the author studies an extension of this model, one which accounts for drivers attempting to travel at their maximum allowable speed. The author looks at a Lagrangian reformulation of this problem; a formulation that leads to an effective computational algorithm for solving the resulting system. He also investigates approximation scheme introduced by Dafermos [5] for scalar conservation laws and demonstrates that this Dafermos scheme works well on this 2 x 2 system
Automating the determination of wave speed using the pu-loop method
No full textThe PU-loop (pressure-velocity loop) is a method for determining wave speed and relies on the linear relationship between the pressure and velocity in the absence of reflected waves. This linearity of the PU-loop during early systole, which is directly related to wave speed, has always been established by eye. This paper presents a new technique that establishes this linearity and thus determining wave speed online. Pressure and flow were measured in the ascending aorta of 11 anesthetised dogs. The slope of the PU-loop, indicating wave speed was determined by eye and by using the new technique. The difference between the slopes of the two methods is in the order of 3%. The new technique is convenient and allows for the online assessment of wave speed, which could be used as a bedside tool for the assessment of arterial compliance
Model for estimating the population prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: cross sectional data from the Health Survey for England.
No full textBACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major but neglected public health problem. Currently 1.4% of the England population has a clinical diagnosis of COPD, but the true burden of the disease has not been known with certainty, as many cases remain undiagnosed. METHODS: A mathematical model based on cross sectional data from a representative sample of the population in England (the Heath Survey for England 2001, n = 10,750) was developed allowing estimates on the prevalence of COPD (defined based on the presence of airflow obstruction) to be obtained. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate and choose risk factors for inclusion in the model and to derive the prevalence estimates based on the strength of association between selected risk factors and the outcome COPD. The model allows the prevalence to be estimated in populations at national level and also at regional and large local areas, based on their compositions according to age, sex, smoking and ethnicity, and on area degrees of urbanisation and deprivation. We applied the model to measure the prevalence of COPD in England and in some sub-groups of the population within the country. RESULTS: The prevalence of COPD in England is estimated as 3.1% (3.9% in men and 2.4% in women) in the population over 15 years of age, and 5.3% (6.8% in men and 3.9% in women) in 45 year-olds and over. There was a 7-fold variation in the prevalence across subgroups of the population, with lowest values in Asian women from wealthy rural areas (1.7%), and highest in black men from deprived urban areas (12.5%). CONCLUSION: The model can be used to estimate population prevalence of COPD from large general practices to national level, and as a tool to identify areas of high levels of unmet needs for COPD priority health actions. The results from the model highlight the importance of including variables other than age, sex and smoking, i.e. levels of deprivation, urbanisation and ethnicity, when estimating population prevalence of COPD. The model should be validated at local level and incorporated into case-finding strategies
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