A review of miniaturised Non-Destructive Testing technologies for in-situ inspections

Non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques have become attractive trends of product manufacturing, installation and post-maintenance in the aerospace, automotive and manufacturing industry, because of its benefits such as cost saving, easy to use and high efficiency etc. With the industrial products becoming large-scale, high integration and complication, developing the NDT miniaturisation technique for in-situ inspections is highly demanded and becoming an inevitable trend. However, in-situ inspection using NDT have been limited by a number of factors, such as the heavy weight, large size or complex structure etc. This paper aims to systematically identify and analyse the current state-of-the-art of NDT miniaturisation techniques in research and innovation, and discuss the challenge and prospect of miniaturisation of the commonly used NDT techniques

Cardiovascular risk associated with the use of glitazones, metformin and sufonylureas: meta-analysis of published observational studies

BACKGROUND: The results of observational studies evaluating and comparing the cardiovascular safety of glitazones, metformin and sufonylureas are inconsistent.To conduct and evaluate heterogeneity in a meta-analysis of observational studies on the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or stroke in patients with type 2 diabetes using non-insulin blood glucose–lowering drugs (NIBGLD). METHODS: We systematically identified and reviewed studies evaluating NIBGLD in patients with type 2 diabetes indexed in Medline, Embase, or the Cochrane Library that met prespecified criteria. The quality of included studies was assessed with the RTI item bank. Results were combined using fixed- and random-effects models, and the Higgins I(2) statistic was used to evaluate heterogeneity. Sensitivity analyses by study quality were conducted. RESULTS: The summary relative risk (sRR) (95 % CI) of AMI for rosiglitazone versus pioglitazone was 1.13 (1.04–1.24) [I(2) = 55 %]. In the sensitivity analysis, heterogeneity was reduced [I(2) = 16 %]. The sRR (95 % CI) of stroke for rosiglitazone versus pioglitazone was 1.18 (1.02–1.36) [I(2) = 42 %]. There was strong evidence of heterogeneity related to study quality in the comparisons of rosiglitazone versus metformin and rosiglitazone versus sulfonylureas (I(2) ≥ 70 %). The sRR (95 % CI) of AMI for sulfonylurea versus metformin was 1.24 (1.14–1.34) [I(2) = 41 %] and for pioglitazone versus metformin was 1.02 (0.75–1.38) [I(2) = 17 %]. Sensitivity analyses decreased heterogeneity in most comparisons. CONCLUSION/INTERPRETATION: Sulfonylureas increased the risk of AMI by 24 % compared with metformin; an imprecise point estimate indicated no difference in risk of AMI when comparing pioglitazone with metformin. The presence of heterogeneity precluded any conclusions on the other comparisons. The quality assessment was valuable in identifying methodological problems in the individual studies and for analysing potential sources of heterogeneity. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12872-016-0187-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

NextGEM: Next-Generation Integrated Sensing and Analytical System for Monitoring and Assessing Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure and Health

The evolution of emerging technologies that use Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Field (RF-EMF) has increased the interest of the scientific community and society regarding the possible adverse effects on human health and the environment. This article provides NextGEM's vision to assure safety for EU citizens when employing existing and future EMF-based telecommunication technologies. This is accomplished by generating relevant knowledge that ascertains appropriate prevention and control/actuation actions regarding RF-EMF exposure in residential, public, and occupational settings. Fulfilling this vision, NextGEM commits to the need for a healthy living and working environment under safe RF-EMF exposure conditions that can be trusted by people and be in line with the regulations and laws developed by public authorities. NextGEM provides a framework for generating health-relevant scientific knowledge and data on new scenarios of exposure to RF-EMF in multiple frequency bands and developing and validating tools for evidence-based risk assessment. Finally, NextGEM's Innovation and Knowledge Hub (NIKH) will offer a standardized way for European regulatory authorities and the scientific community to store and assess project outcomes and provide access to findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data

Calibrating the Six-Port Reflectometer Using a Matched Load And Four Unity-Reflection Standards (Part 2)

A convenient and exact method of using a sliding load to the calibration of the single six-port reflectometer is described. Neither reflection coefficient nor positions of the sliding load settings need be known. Reflection coefficient of the load is not limited to small values. No numerical iterations are involved in the calibration

Strategic directions of increase of innovative potential of region are in the conditions of market economy

В даній статті розроблено модель формування моделі інноваційного потенціалу підприємств регіону, що робить можливим всебічно обґрунтований і зважений вибір варіанта інноваційної інфраструктури, визначено перспективні напрями нарощування інноваційного потенціалу регіону, сформульовано завдання регіональних органів влади у даному процесі. The model of forming of model of innovative potential of enterprises of region which does possible the comprehensively grounded and self-weighted choice of variant of innovative infrastructure is developed in this article, certainly perspective directions of increase of innovative potential of region, the task of regional organs of power is formulated in this process