Stress-wave analysis technique study on thick-walled type A302B steel pressure vessels, July 1968 - July 1969

Stress wave analysis and crack opening displacement to monitor subcritical crack growth for grade B alloy steel pressure vessel

Burst Erasure Correction of 2D convolutional codes

In this paper we address the problem of decoding 2D convolutional codes over the erasure channel. In particular, we present a procedure to recover bursts of erasures that are distributed in a diagonal line. To this end we introduce the notion of balls around a burst of erasures which can be considered an analogue of the notion of sliding window in the context of 1D convolutional codes. The main result reduces the decoding problem of 2D convolutional codes to a problem of decoding a set of associated 1D convolutional codes

Diagnostic imaging techniques of the respiratory tract of sheep

Diagnostic imaging techniques are very useful non-invasive methods to obtain medical images for the diagnosis of respiratory diseases in sheep. The use of ultrasound and thermographic cameras must be enhanced at farm level with the objective of assisting in the diagnosis of major respiratory diseases present in sheep farms. X-ray and, particularly, computed tomography are very interesting tools to facilitate the understanding of the main pathological processes in sheep, especially at the respiratory level. This article shows more than 40 images of thermograms, X-ray, ultrasonography and computed tomography of the most significant respiratory diseases in sheep

Mental disorders in primary health care: a study of their frequency and diagnosis in four developing countries

1624 patients who were attending primary health facilities in 4 developing countries were examined to determine how many were suffering from mental disorder. Using stringent criteria to establish the presence of psychiatric morbidity, 225 cases were found, indicating an overall frequency of 13·9 %. The great majority of cases were suffering from neurotic illnesses and for most the presenting complaint was of a physical symptom, such as headache, abdominal pain, cough or weakness. The health workers following their normal procedure correctly detected one third of the psychiatric case

The milliarcsecond-scale radio structure of AB Dor A

Context: The fast rotator, pre-main sequence star AB Dor A is a strong and persistent radio emitter. The extraordinary coronal flaring activity is thought to be the origin of compact radio emission and other associated phenomena as large slingshot prominences. Aim: We aim to investigate the radio emission mechanism and the milliarcsecond radio structure around AB Dor A. Methods: We performed phase-referenced VLBI observations at 22.3 GHz, 8.4 GHz, and 1.4 GHz over more than one decade using the Australian VLBI array. Results: Our 8.4 GHz images show a double core-halo morphology, similar at all epochs, with emission extending at heights between 5 and 18 stellar radii. Furthermore, the sequence of the 8.4 GHz maps shows a clear variation of the source structure within the observing time. However, images at 1.4 GHz and 22.3 GHz are compatible with a compact source. The phase-reference position at 8.4 GHz and 1.4 GHz are coincident with those expected from the well-known milliarcsecond-precise astrometry of this star, meanwhile the 22.3 GHz position is 4$\sigma$ off the prediction in the north-west direction. The origin of this offset is still unclear. Conclusions: We have considered several models to explain the morphology and evolution of the inner radio structure detected in AB Dor A which include emission from the stellar polar caps, a flaring, magnetically-driven loop structure, and the presence of helmet streamers. A possible close companion to AB Dor A has been also investigated. Our results confirm the extraordinary coronal magnetic activity of this star, able to produce compact radio structures at very large heights, so far only seen in binary interacting systems.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Evidence of a substellar companion to AB Dor C

Studies of fundamental parameters of very low-mass objects are indispensable to provide tests of stellar evolution models that are used to derive theoretical masses of brown dwarfs and planets. However, only objects with dynamically determined masses and precise photometry can effectively evaluate the predictions of stellar models. AB Dor C (0.090 solar masses) has become a prime benchmark for calibration of theoretical evolutionary models of low-mass young stars. One of the ambiguities remaining in AB Dor C is the possible binary nature of this star. We observed AB Dor C with the VLTI/AMBER instrument in low-resolution mode at the J, H and K bands. The interferometric observables at the K-band are compatible with a binary brown dwarf system with tentative components AB Dor Ca/Cb with a K-band flux ratio of 5$\pm$1% and a separation of 38$\pm$1 mas. This implies theoretical masses of 0.072$\pm$0.013 M$_{\rm \odot}$ and 0.013$\pm$0.001 M$_{\rm \odot}$ for each component, near the hydrogen-burning limit for AB Dor Ca, and near the deuterium-burning limit, straddling the boundary between brown dwarfs and giant planets, for AB Dor Cb. The possible binarity of AB Dor C alleviates the disagreement between observed magnitudes and theoretical mass-luminosity relationships.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Influence of the ovine genital tract microbiota on the species artificial insemination outcome. A pilot study in commercial sheep farms

To date, there is a lack of research into the vaginal and sperm microbiome and its bearing on artificial insemination (AI) success in the ovine species. Using hypervariable regions V3–V4 of the 16S rRNA, we describe, for the first time, the combined effect of the ovine microbiome of both females (50 ewes belonging to five herds) and males (five AI rams from an AI center) on AI outcome. Differences in microbiota abundance between pregnant and non-pregnant ewes and between ewes carrying progesterone-releasing intravaginal devices (PRID) with or without antibiotic were tested at different taxonomic levels. The antibiotic treatment applied with the PRID only altered Streptobacillus genus abundance, which was significantly lower in ewes carrying PRID with antibiotic. Mageebacillus, Histophilus, Actinobacilllus and Sneathia genera were significantly less abundant in pregnant ewes. In addition, these genera were more abundant in two farms with higher AI failure. Species of these genera such as Actinobacillus seminis and Histophilus somni have been associated with reproductive disorders in the ovine species. These genera were not present in the sperm samples of AI rams, but were found in the foreskin samples of rams belonging to herd 2 (with high AI failure rate) indicating that their presence in ewes’ vagina could be due to prior transmission by natural mating with rams reared in the herd

KLIC-score for predicting early failure in prosthetic joint infections treated with debridement, implant retention and antibiotics

AbstractDebridement, irrigation and antibiotic treatment form the current approach in early prosthetic joint infection (PJI). Our aim was to design a score to predict patients with a higher risk of failure. From 1999 to 2014 early PJIs were prospectively collected and retrospectively reviewed. The primary end-point was early failure defined as: 1) the need for unscheduled surgery, 2) death-related infection within the first 60 days after debridement or 3) the need for suppressive antibiotic treatment. A score was built-up according to the logistic regression coefficients of variables available before debridement. A total of 222 patients met the inclusion criteria. The most frequently isolated microorganisms were coagulase-negative staphylococci (95 cases, 42.8%) and Staphylococcus aureus (81 cases, 36.5%). Treatment of 52 (23.4%) cases failed. Independent predictors of failure were: chronic renal failure (OR 5.92, 95% CI 1.47–23.85), liver cirrhosis (OR 4.46, 95% CI 1.15–17.24), revision surgery (OR 4.34, 95% CI 1.34–14.04) or femoral neck fracture (OR 4.39, 95% CI1.16–16.62) compared with primary arthroplasty, C reactive protein >11.5 mg/dL (OR 12.308, 95% CI 4.56–33.19), cemented prosthesis (OR 8.71, 95% CI 1.95–38.97) and when all intraoperative cultures were positive (OR 6.30, 95% CI 1.84–21.53). A score for predicting the risk of failure was designed using preoperative factors (KLIC-score: Kidney, Liver, Index surgery, Cemented prosthesis and C-reactive protein value) and it ranged between 0 and 9.5 points. Patients with scores of ≤2, >2–3.5, 4–5, >5–6.5 and ≥7 had failure rates of 4.5%, 19.4%, 55%, 71.4% and 100%, respectively. The KLIC-score was highly predictive of early failure after debridement. In the future, it would be necessary to validate our score using cohorts from other institutions

The sustainability report of the Engineering Final Year Project

[EN] The preparation of the sustainability report of an engineering project is, nowadays, a common practice in all important companies in the ICT sector. The engineers that we form today in the universities should, definitely, include sustainability reports in their projects throughout their professional life. Teaching how to prepare a good sustainability report for a Final Degree Project is no longer an option, it is a must if we want to train high-quality engineers. Unfortunately, not all teachers have the necessary knowledge to be able to guide students in the preparation of a sustainability report of a project. For this reason, often, the students find themselves lost in the elaboration of this report, and end up doing it without making any deep reflection about the sustainability of their project. In order to guide the students in the assessment of the sustainability of their Final Degree Project, in the Facultat de Informática de Barcelona, we have designed a guide for the preparation of the sustainability report of a Final Degree Project. In this article, we present this tool in detail. The guide for preparing the sustainability report is not only useful for the students, but it is also a reference for the directors and members of the board of the Final Degree Projects.[ES] La elaboración del informe de sostenibilidad de un proyecto de ingeniería es ya una práctica habitual en todas las empresas importantes del sector TIC. Los ingenieros que formamos ahora en las universidades deberán, sin duda, incluir informes de sostenibilidad en sus proyectos cuando ejerzan profesionalmente. La enseñanza necesaria para elaborar un buen informe de sostenibilidad de un Trabajo de Fin de Grado ya no es una opción, es una necesidad si queremos formar ingenieros de calidad. Desgraciadamente, no todos los profesores han tenido la experiencia necesaria para poder orientar a los estudiantes en la elaboración de un informe de sostenibilidad de un proyecto. Esto provoca que, a menudo, los estudiantes se encuentren perdidos al elaborar dicho informe, y acaben realizándolo sin hacer ninguna reflexión profunda sobre la sostenibilidad de su proyecto. Con el fin de orientar al estudiante en la valoración de la sostenibilidad de su Trabajo de Fin de Grado, en la Facultat de Informática de Barcelona, se ha diseñado una guía para la elaboración del informe de sostenibilidad de un Trabajo de Fin de Grado. En este artículo se presenta con detalle esta herramienta. La guía para elaborar el informe de sostenibilidad no sólo es de utilidad para los estudiantes, sino que también es una referencia para los directores y miembros de tribunal de los Trabajos de Fin de Grado.Climent, J.; Cabré, J.; Sánchez, F.; Martín, C.; Vidal, E.; López, D. (2018). El informe de sostenibilidad del Trabajo de Fin de Grado del área de las ingenierías. REDU. Revista de Docencia Universitaria. 16(2):75-86. doi:10.4995/redu.2018.10092SWORD758616