Phase-locked telemetry system for rotary instrumentation of turbomachinery, phase 1

A telemetry system for use in making strain and temperature measurements on the rotating components of high speed turbomachines employs phase locked transmitters, which offer greater measurement channel capacity and reliability than existing systems which employ L-C carrier oscillators. A prototype transmitter module was tested at 175 C combined with 40,000 g's acceleration

The story against smoking:An exploratory study into the processing and perceived effectiveness of narrative visual smoking warnings

Objectives: This study compared the effects of two types of health warnings on cigarette packages: 'narrative visual warnings', showing an image portraying people plus a corresponding slogan that could evoke a story-like interpretation, and 'non-narrative visual warnings' with non-narrative content (i.e. body parts). Moreover, the mechanisms underlying the effects of these health warnings were explored. Design: A within-participants experiment was conducted comparing narrative and non-narrative visual warnings. Path analyses were performed to investigate the relationship between the narrative concepts transportation and identification, the emotions evoked by the health warning and the perceived effectiveness of the message. Method: Participants (N = 200) were presented with one narrative warning and one non-narrative warning. After each warning, they answered questions on narrative perception, transportation, identification, emotions and perceived effectiveness. Results: The narrative warnings were seen as more story-like than the non-narrative warnings. There was a statistical trend for narrative warnings to be perceived as more effective than the non-narratives. The narrative warnings caused more transportation, fear, sadness, compassion and anger; the non-narrative warnings evoked more disgust and surprise. For the narrative warnings, both narrative concepts of transportation and identification were directly related to perceived effectiveness, and also indirectly via sadness. For the non-narrative warnings, transportation was related to perceived effectiveness, both directly and indirectly via disgust. Conclusion: Seeing a story in a still picture with a slogan helps to increase the effectiveness of the antismoking message. Both narrative and non-narrative visual warnings may persuade receivers directly, but also by the evoking of emotions, although the specific emotions responsible for the persuasive effects may differ

The preoperative cardiology consultation: Indications and risk modification

Background The cardiologist is regularly consulted preop-eratively by anaesthesiologists. However, insights into the efficiency and usefulness of these consultations are unclear. Methods This is a retrospective study of 24,174 preoperatively screened patients ≥18 years scheduled for elective non-cardiac surgery, which resulted in 273 (1%) referrals to the cardiologist for further preoperative evaluation. Medical charts were reviewed for patient characteristics, main reason for referring, requested diagnostic tests, interventions, adjustment in medical therapy, 30-day mortality and major adverse cardiac events. Results The most common reason for consultation was the evaluation of a cardiac murmur (95 patients, 35%). In 167 (61%) patients, no change in therapy was initiated by the cardiologist. Six consultations (2%) led to invasive interventions (electrical cardioversion, percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass surgery). On average, consultation delayed clearance for surgery by two weeks. Conclusion In most patients referred to the cardiologist after being screened at an outpatient anaesthesiology clinic, echocardiography is performed for ruling out specific conditions and to be sure that no further improvement can be made in the patient’s health. In the majority, no change in therapy was initiated by the cardiologist. A more careful consideration about the potential benefits of consulting must be made for every patient

Argon does not affect cerebral circulation or metabolism in male humans

Objective: Accumulating data have recently underlined argońs neuroprotective potential. However, to the best of our knowledge, no data are available on the cerebrovascular effects of argon (Ar) in humans. We hypothesized that argon inhalation does not affect mean blood flow velocity of the middle cerebral artery (Vmca), cerebral flow index (FI), zero flow pressure (ZFP), effective cerebral perfusion pressure (CPPe), resistance area product (RAP) and the arterio-jugular venous content differences of oxygen (AJVDO2), glucose (AJVDG), and lactate (AJVDL) in anesthetized patients. Materials and methods: In a secondary analysis of an earlier controlled cross-over trial we compared parameters of the cerebral circulation under 15 minutes exposure to 70%Ar/30%O2versus 70%N2/30%O2in 29 male patients under fentanyl-midazolam anaesthesia before coronary surgery. Vmca was measured by transcranial Doppler sonography. ZFP and RAP were estimated by linear regression analysis of pressure-flow velocity relationships of the middle cerebral artery. CPPe was calculated as the difference between mean arterial pressure and ZFP. AJVDO2, AJVDG and AJVDL were calculated as the differences in contents between arterial and jugular-venous blood of oxygen, glucose, and lactate. Statistical analysis was done by t-tests and ANOVA. Results: Mechanical ventilation with 70% Ar did not cause any significant changes in mean arterial pressure, Vmca, FI, ZFP, CPPe, RAP, AJVDO2, AJVDG, and AJVDL. Discussion: Short-term inhalation of 70% Ar does not affect global cerebral circulation or metabolism in male humans under general anaesthesia

Mechanistic insights into the role of large carnivores for ecosystem structure and functioning

Large carnivores can exert top–down effects in ecosystems, but the size of these effects are largely unknown. Empirical investigation on the importance of large carnivores for ecosystem structure and functioning presents a number of challenges due to the large spatio-temporal scale and the complexity of such dynamics. Here, we applied a mechanistic global ecosystem model to investigate the influence of large-carnivore removal from undisturbed ecosystems. First, we simulated large-carnivore removal on the global scale to inspect the geographic pattern of top–down control and to disentangle the functional role of large carnivores in top–down control in different environmental contexts. Second, we conducted four small-scale ecosystem simulation experiments to understand direct and indirect changes in food-web structure under different environmental conditions. We found that the removal of top–down control exerted by large carnivores (> 21 kg) can trigger large trophic cascades, leading to an overall decrease in autotroph biomass globally. Furthermore, the loss of large carnivores resulted in an increase of mesopredators. The magnitude of these changes was positively related to primary productivity (NPP), in line with the ‘exploitation ecosystem hypothesis’. In addition, we found that seasonality in NPP dampened the magnitude of change following the removal of large carnivores. Our results reinforce the idea that large carnivores play a fundamental role in shaping ecosystems, and further declines and extinctions can trigger substantial ecosystem responses. Our findings also support previous studies suggesting that natural ecosystem dynamics have been severely modified and are still changing as a result of the widespread decline and extinction of large carnivores

Experiments and simulations on a cold-flow blast furnace hearth model

The blast furnace hearth plays an important role in the operational stability and lifetime of the reactor. The quasi-stagnant bed of coke particles termed the deadman undergoes complex interaction with the flowing hot metal, and remains largely ill-understood. In this work, a cold model blast furnace hearth is presented, and studied using both numerical and experimental techniques. Magnetic Particle Tracking (MPT) is used to investigate the individual particle behaviour within the cylindrical, opaque bed. At high liquid holdup, the particle bed was found to alternate between floating and sitting states, following the liquid level during the tapping and filling cycle. This bed motion was found to induce a migration of particles, thereby slowly renewing the deadman. The rate of horizontal migration increases with the vertical bed amplitude, and the renewal of particles is concentrated around the opening of the tap hole. No direct influence of the coke-free space on the tapping rate was found in these experiments. Instead, the disturbance of the packing in front of the tap hole was observed to lead to a higher tapping rate. Additionally, a coupled numerical framework is presented, in which Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method and the Discrete Element Method (DEM) are combined. A simulation set-up is presented which closely replicates the experimental conditions. The position and movement of the floating bed are found to be well-predicted by the VOF/CFD-DEM model. Particle trajectories are presented, and migration of particles within the deadman is observed. Alongside the particle motion, the liquid flow pattern during draining of the vessel is visualised. It is concluded that a coke-free space underneath the deadman significantly impacts the shape of the liquid flow pattern, which affects the erosion processes within the blast furnace hearth.</p

Early sac shrinkage predicts a low risk of late complications after endovascular aortic aneurysm repair

Background Aneurysm shrinkage has been proposed as a marker of successful endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Patients with early postoperative shrinkage may experience fewer subsequent complications, and consequently require less intensive surveillance. Methods Patients undergoing EVAR from 2000 to 2011 at three vascular centres (in 2 countries), who had two imaging examinations (postoperative and after 6-18 months), were included. Maximum diameter, complications and secondary interventions during follow-up were registered. Patients were categorized according to early sac dynamics. The primary endpoint was freedom from late complications. Secondary endpoints were freedom from secondary intervention, postimplant rupture and direct (type I/III) endoleaks. Results Some 597 EVARs (71·1 per cent of all EVARs) were included. No shrinkage was observed in 284 patients (47·6 per cent), moderate shrinkage (5-9 mm) in 142 (23·8 per cent) and major shrinkage (at least 10 mm) in 171 patients (28·6 per cent). Four years after the index imaging, the rate of freedom from complications was 84·3 (95 per cent confidence interval 78·7 to 89·8), 88·1 (80·6 to 95·5) and 94·4 (90·1 to 98·7) per cent respectively. No shrinkage was an independent risk factor for late complications compared with major shrinkage (hazard ratio (HR) 3·11; P < 0·001). Moderate compared with major shrinkage (HR 2·10; P = 0·022), early postoperative complications (HR 3·34; P < 0·001) and increasing abdominal aortic aneurysm baseline diameter (HR 1·02; P = 0·001) were also risk factors for late complications. Freedom from secondary interventions and direct endoleaks was greater for patients with major sac shrinkage. Conclusion Early change in aneurysm sac diameter is a strong predictor of late complications after EVAR. Patients with major sac shrinkage have a very low risk of complications for up to 5 years. This parameter may be used to tailor postoperative surveillance. Towards personalized surveillanc

Factors Influencing Terrestriality in Primates of the Americas and Madagascar

Among mammals, the order Primates is exceptional in having a high taxonomic richness in which the taxa are arboreal, semiterrestrial, or terrestrial. Although habitual terrestriality is pervasive among the apes and African and Asian monkeys (catarrhines), it is largely absent among monkeys of the Americas (platyrrhines), as well as galagos, lemurs, and lorises (strepsirrhines), which are mostly arboreal. Numerous ecological drivers and species-specific factors are suggested to set the conditions for an evolutionary shift from arboreality to terrestriality, and current environmental conditions may provide analogous scenarios to those transitional periods. Therefore, we investigated predominantly arboreal, diurnal primate genera from the Americas and Madagascar that lack fully terrestrial taxa, to determine whether ecological drivers (habitat canopy cover, predation risk, maximum temperature, precipitation, primate species richness, human population density, and distance to roads) or species-specific traits (bodymass, group size, and degree of frugivory) associate with increased terrestriality. We collated 150,961 observation hours across 2,227 months from 47 species at 20 sites in Madagascar and 48 sites in the Americas. Multiple factors were associated with ground use in these otherwise arboreal species, including increased temperature, a decrease in canopy cover, a dietary shift away from frugivory, and larger group size. These factors mostly explain intraspecific differences in terrestriality. As humanity modifies habitats and causes climate change, our results suggest that species already inhabiting hot, sparsely canopied sites, and exhibiting more generalized diets, are more likely to shift toward greater ground use

MicroRNA-204-5p modulates mitochondrial biogenesis in C2C12 myotubes and associates with oxidative capacity in humans

Using an unbiased high-throughput microRNA (miRNA)-silencing screen combined with functional readouts for mitochondrial oxidative capacity in C2C12 myocytes, we previously identified 19 miRNAs as putative regulators of skeletal muscle mitochondrial metabolism. In the current study, we highlight miRNA-204-5p, identified from this screen, and further studied its role in the regulation of skeletal muscle mitochondrial function. Following silencing of miRNA-204-5p in C2C12 myotubes, gene and protein expression were assessed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, microarray analysis, and western blot analysis, while morphological changes were studied by confocal microscopy. In addition, miRNA-204-5p expression was quantified in human skeletal muscle biopsies and associated with in vivo mitochondrial oxidative capacity. Transcript levels of PGC-1α (3.71-fold; p <.01), predicted as an miR-204-5p target, as well as mitochondrial DNA copy number (p <.05) and citrate synthase activity (p =.06) were increased upon miRNA-204-5p silencing in C2C12 myotubes. Silencing of miRNA-204-5p further resulted in morphological changes, induced gene expression of autophagy marker light chain 3 protein b (LC3B; q =.05), and reduced expression of the mitophagy marker FUNDC1 (q =.01). Confocal imaging revealed colocalization between the autophagosome marker LC3B and the mitochondrial marker OxPhos upon miRNA-204-5p silencing. Finally, miRNA-204-5p was differentially expressed in human subjects displaying large variation in oxidative capacity and its expression levels associated with in vivo measures of skeletal muscle mitochondrial function. In summary, silencing of miRNA-204-5p in C2C12 myotubes stimulated mitochondrial biogenesis, impacted on cellular morphology, and altered expression of markers related to autophagy and mitophagy. The association between miRNA-204-5p and in vivo mitochondrial function in human skeletal muscle further identifies miRNA-204-5p as an interesting modulator of skeletal muscle mitochondrial metabolism.</p