Strength Analysis of a Freight Bogie Frame under the Defined Load Cases

This work presents results of strength analyses of a modified freight wagon bogie frame. It consists of two main parts. The first part is addressed to introduction of the structure of a freight wagon bogie frame. It is a modified frame structure, which reflects current requirements of modern railway transport means. The conditions for rail vehicles approval and the main load cases, which every bogie frame must meet for commissioning, are described. The next part deals with computer modelling and analyses of this bogie frame. Strength analyses were performed using the FE method and they were focused on the assessment of stresses in the frame structure. Loads definition and the method of calculation were based on valid norms and standards

Management of Pediatric Skin Abscesses in Pediatric, General Academic and Community Emergency Departments

Objectives: To compare the evaluation and management of pediatric cutaneous abscess patients at three different emergency department (ED) settings.Method: We conducted a retrospective cohort study at two academic pediatric hospital EDs, a general academic ED and a community ED in 2007, with random sampling of 100 patients at the three academic EDs and inclusion of 92 patients from the community ED. Eligible patients were ≤18 years who had a cutaneous abscess. We recorded demographics, predisposing conditions, physical exam findings, incision and drainage procedures, therapeutics and final disposition. Laboratory data were reviewed for culture results and antimicrobial sensitivities. For subjects managed as outpatients from the ED, we determined where patients were instructed to follow up and, using electronic medical records, ascertained the proportion of patients who returned to the ED for further management.Result: Of 392 subjects, 59% were female and the median age was 7.7 years. Children at academic sites had larger abscesses compared to community patients, (3.5 versus 2.5 cm, p=0.02). Abscess incision and drainage occurred in 225 (57%) children, with the lowest rate at the academic pediatric hospital EDs (51%) despite the relatively larger abscess size. Procedural sedation and the collection of wound cultures were more frequent at the academic pediatric hospital and the general academic EDs. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevalence did not differ among sites; however, practitioners at the academic pediatric hospital EDs (92%) and the general academic ED (86%) were more likely to initiate empiric MRSA antibiotic therapy than the community site (71%), (p<0.0001). At discharge, children who received care at the community ED were more likely to be given a prescription for a narcotic (23%) and told to return to the ED for ongoing wound care (65%). Of all sites, the community ED also had the highest percentage of follow-up visits (37%).Conclusion: Abscess management varied among the three settings, with more conservative antibiotic selection and greater implementation of procedural sedation at academic centers and higher prescription rates for narcotics, self-referrals for ongoing care and patient follow-up visits at the community ED. [West J Emerg Med. 2011;12(2):159-167.

Management of Pediatric Skin Abscesses in Pediatric, General Academic and Community Emergency Departments

Objectives: To compare the evaluation and management of pediatric cutaneous abscess patients at three different emergency department (ED) settings.Method: We conducted a retrospective cohort study at two academic pediatric hospital EDs, a general academic ED and a community ED in 2007, with random sampling of 100 patients at the three academic EDs and inclusion of 92 patients from the community ED. Eligible patients were ≤18 years who had a cutaneous abscess. We recorded demographics, predisposing conditions, physical exam findings, incision and drainage procedures, therapeutics and final disposition. Laboratory data were reviewed for culture results and antimicrobial sensitivities. For subjects managed as outpatients from the ED, we determined where patients were instructed to follow up and, using electronic medical records, ascertained the proportion of patients who returned to the ED for further management.Result: Of 392 subjects, 59% were female and the median age was 7.7 years. Children at academic sites had larger abscesses compared to community patients, (3.5 versus 2.5 cm, p=0.02). Abscess incision and drainage occurred in 225 (57%) children, with the lowest rate at the academic pediatric hospital EDs (51%) despite the relatively larger abscess size. Procedural sedation and the collection of wound cultures were more frequent at the academic pediatric hospital and the general academic EDs. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevalence did not differ among sites; however, practitioners at the academic pediatric hospital EDs (92%) and the general academic ED (86%) were more likely to initiate empiric MRSA antibiotic therapy than the community site (71%), (p&lt;0.0001). At discharge, children who received care at the community ED were more likely to be given a prescription for a narcotic (23%) and told to return to the ED for ongoing wound care (65%). Of all sites, the community ED also had the highest percentage of follow-up visits (37%).Conclusion: Abscess management varied among the three settings, with more conservative antibiotic selection and greater implementation of procedural sedation at academic centers and higher prescription rates for narcotics, self-referrals for ongoing care and patient follow-up visits at the community ED. [West J Emerg Med. 2011;12(2):159-167.

Original Research Management of Pediatric Skin Abscesses in Pediatric, General Academic and Community Emergency Departments

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Electrical vestibular stimuli to enhance vestibulo-motor output and improve subject comfort

Electrical vestibular stimulation is often used to assess vestibulo-motor and postural responses in both clinical and research settings. Stochastic vestibular stimulation (SVS) is a recently established technique with many advantages over its square-wave counterpart; however, the evoked muscle responses remain relatively small. Although the vestibular-evoked responses can be enhanced by increasing the stimulus amplitude, subjects often perceive these higher intensity electrical stimuli as noxious or painful. Here, we developed multisine vestibular stimulation (MVS) signals that include precise frequency contributions to increase signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) of stimulus-evoked muscle and motor responses. Subjects were exposed to three different MVS stimuli to establish that: 1) MVS signals evoke equivalent vestibulo-motor responses compared to SVS while improving subject comfort and reducing experimentation time, 2) stimulus-evoked vestibulo-motor responses are reliably estimated as a linear system and 3) specific components of the cumulant density time domain vestibulo-motor responses can be targeted by controlling the frequency content of the input stimulus. Our results revealed that in comparison to SVS, MVS signals increased the SNR 3-6 times, reduced the minimum experimentation time by 85% and improved subjective measures of comfort by 20-80%. Vestibulo-motor responses measured using both EMG and force were not substantially affected by nonlinear distortions. In addition, by limiting the contribution of high frequencies within the MVS input stimulus, the magnitude of the medium latency time domain motor output response was increased by 58%. These results demonstrate that MVS stimuli can be designed to target and enhance vestibulo-motor output responses while simultaneously improving subject comfort, which should prove beneficial for both research and clinical applications.Biomechanical EngineeringMechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin