An industrial survey on the use of surface texture parameters

In 1999, CIRP conducted an industrial survey of the use of surface texture parameters [1]. In the seventeen years since, much has changed, with the most important advancement being the introduction of areal surface texture parameters as described in ISO 25178-2 [2]. There has also been the release of commercial software packages for the calculation of surface texture parameters and, therefore, it is expected that industry is starting to embrace areal surface texture characterisation. Industry is also increasingly using more optical instruments, which are often inherently areal in nature. These factors bring to light the need for a new parameter survey, to investigate whether industry really has been adopting areal surface texture parameters. This study used an online survey to obtain information about the current use of surface texture parameters in industry. The survey features both profile and areal surface texture parameters defined in specification standards ISO 4287 [3], ISO 25178-2 [2], ISO 12085 [4] and ISO 16565-2/3 [5, 6]. The survey was open to responses for eight months and obtained a total of 179 responses from a variety of industrial users of surface texture parameters spread across thirty-two countries. Responses from the survey offer information about the usage of individual surface texture parameters, highlighting any parameters that are unpopular and may require attention. The survey also enables participants to share their opinion on the current range of parameters in use, giving an insight into the perception of surface texture parameters in industry. The results from the survey highlight a strong adoption by industry of the areal surface texture parameters defined in ISO 25178-2. In comparison to the 1999 survey, there has also been an overall increase in the use of profile surface texture parameters, and an increase in the variety of parameters used, particularly for the ISO 4287 roughness parameters, suggesting a better understanding of the range of parameters available and their uses. Conversely, this increase in parameter variety could be due to the greater computational power available to users of surface texture parameters, allowing them to use more parameters with little cost. The results of the surface texture parameter survey will serve as an indication of the current state of the industry to those interested in the widespread acceptance and evolution of surface texture parameters. The analysis of the survey will identify common potential improvement areas in surface texture parameter selection and provide a starting point from which to better promote the current selection and better educate the users

Virtual reality on the WWW: simulating class I procedures in restorative dentistry

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a very efficient way for information exchange.Advancement in Web technology now permits visualisation software to be shared across the Internet. This paper discusses the design and prototype development of a Web-based VR to create an interactive-simulation for the procedure of a Class I cavity preparation in restorative dentistry. The aim of this research is to find out whether a simple solution utilising the wide accessibility of the WWW would be feasible to provide a portable, scalable and low-cost real time dental simulation.To achieve this, a virtual reality simulator, containing simulations of the Class I restorative equipment and materials, is embedded in the Web page.The requirements of a Web based VR simulation for this type of application are also discussed

Multi-decadal temperature changes off Iberia over the last two deglaciations and interglacials and their connection with the polar climate

The Iberian margin provides climatic and environmental sediment records with multi-decadal resolution over the last two deglaciations and interglacials. These records allow us to identify climatic structures and discuss interhemispherical connections.Peer reviewe

Under-reporting of dietary energy intake in five populations of the African diaspora.

Studies on the role of diet in the development of chronic diseases often rely on self-report surveys of dietary intake. Unfortunately, many validity studies have demonstrated that self-reported dietary intake is subject to systematic under-reporting, although the vast majority of such studies have been conducted in industrialised countries. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether or not systematic reporting error exists among the individuals of African ancestry (n 324) in five countries distributed across the Human Development Index (HDI) scale, a UN statistic devised to rank countries on non-income factors plus economic indicators. Using two 24 h dietary recalls to assess energy intake and the doubly labelled water method to assess total energy expenditure, we calculated the difference between these two values ((self-report - expenditure/expenditure) × 100) to identify under-reporting of habitual energy intake in selected communities in Ghana, South Africa, Seychelles, Jamaica and the USA. Under-reporting of habitual energy intake was observed in all the five countries. The South African cohort exhibited the highest mean under-reporting ( - 52·1% of energy) compared with the cohorts of Ghana ( - 22·5%), Jamaica ( - 17·9%), Seychelles ( - 25·0%) and the USA ( - 18·5%). BMI was the most consistent predictor of under-reporting compared with other predictors. In conclusion, there is substantial under-reporting of dietary energy intake in populations across the whole range of the HDI, and this systematic reporting error increases according to the BMI of an individual

Elevated hypertension risk for African-origin populations in biracial societies : Modeling the Epidemiologic Transition Study.

OBJECTIVES: Blood pressures in persons of African descent exceed those of other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Whether this trait is attributable to the genetic factors in African-origin populations, or a result of inadequately measured environmental exposures, such as racial discrimination, is not known. To study this question, we conducted a multisite comparative study of communities in the African diaspora, drawn from metropolitan Chicago, Kingston, Jamaica, rural Ghana, Cape Town, South Africa, and the Seychelles. METHODS: At each site, 500 participants between the age of 25 and 49 years, with approximately equal sex balance, were enrolled for a longitudinal study of energy expenditure and weight gain. In this study, we describe the patterns of blood pressure and hypertension observed at baseline among the sites. RESULTS: Mean SBP and DBP were very similar in the United States and South Africa in both men and women, although among women, the prevalence of hypertension was higher in the United States (24 vs. 17%, respectively). After adjustment for multiple covariates, relative to participants in the United States, SBP was significantly higher among the South Africans by 9.7 mmHg (P < 0.05) and significantly lower for each of the other sites: for example, Jamaica: -7.9 mmHg (P = 0.06), Ghana: -12.8 mmHg (P < 0.01) and Seychelles: -11.1 mmHg (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: These data are consistent with prior findings of a blood pressure gradient in societies of the African diaspora and confirm that African-origin populations with lower social status in multiracial societies, such as the United States and South Africa, experience more hypertension than anticipated based on anthropometric and measurable socioeconomic risk factors

Augmented Reality in Astrophysics

Augmented Reality consists of merging live images with virtual layers of information. The rapid growth in the popularity of smartphones and tablets over recent years has provided a large base of potential users of Augmented Reality technology, and virtual layers of information can now be attached to a wide variety of physical objects. In this article, we explore the potential of Augmented Reality for astrophysical research with two distinct experiments: (1) Augmented Posters and (2) Augmented Articles. We demonstrate that the emerging technology of Augmented Reality can already be used and implemented without expert knowledge using currently available apps. Our experiments highlight the potential of Augmented Reality to improve the communication of scientific results in the field of astrophysics. We also present feedback gathered from the Australian astrophysics community that reveals evidence of some interest in this technology by astronomers who experimented with Augmented Posters. In addition, we discuss possible future trends for Augmented Reality applications in astrophysics, and explore the current limitations associated with the technology. This Augmented Article, the first of its kind, is designed to allow the reader to directly experiment with this technology.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap&SS. The final publication will be available at link.springer.co

Anisotropic superconductivity mediated by phonons in layered compounds with weak screening effect

Anisotropic pairing interactions mediated by phonons are examined in layer systems. It is shown that the screening effects become weaker when the layer spacing increases. Then the anisotropic components of the pairing interactions increase with the screening length since the momentum dependence changes. As a result, various types of anisotropic superconductivity occur depending on the parameter region. For example, p-wave superconductivity occurs when the short-range part of Coulomb repulsion is strong and the layer spacing is large. Two kinds of inter-layer pairing may occur when the layer spacing is not too large. Although the phonon contribution to the d-wave pairing interaction is weaker than the p-wave interaction, it increases with the layer spacing. Relevance of the present results to organic superconductors, high-T_c cuprates, and Sr_2RuO_4 is discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, (Latex, revtex.sty, epsf.sty

Systematic review of economic evaluations and cost analyses of guideline implementation strategies

Objectives To appraise the quality of economic studies undertaken as part of evaluations of guideline implementation strategies; determine their resources use; and recommend methods to improve future studies. Methods Systematic review of economic studies undertaken alongside robust study designs of clinical guideline implementation strategies published (1966-1998). Studies assessed against the BMJ economic evaluations guidelines for each stage of the guideline process (guideline development, implementation and treatment). Results 235 studies were identified, 63 reported some information on cost. Only 3 studies provided evidence that their guideline was effective and efficient. 38 reported the treatment costs only, 12 implementation and treatment costs, 11 implementation costs alone, and two guideline development, implementation and treatment costs. No study gave reasonably complete information on costs. Conclusions Very few satisfactory economic evaluations of guideline implementation strategies have been performed. Current evaluations have numerous methodological defects and rarely consider all relevant costs and benefits. Future evaluations should focus on evaluating the implementation of evidence based guidelines. Keywords: Cost-effectiveness analysis, physician (or health care professional) behaviour, practice guidelines, quality improvement, systematic review.Peer reviewedAuthor versio

Long-Range Forces of QCD

We consider the scattering of two color dipoles (e.g., heavy quarkonium states) at low energy - a QCD analog of Van der Waals interaction. Even though the couplings of the dipoles to the gluon field can be described in perturbation theory, which leads to the potential proportional to (N_c^2-1)/R^{7}, at large distances R the interaction becomes totally non-perturbative. Low-energy QCD theorems are used to evaluate the leading long-distance contribution \sim (N_f^2-1)/(11N_c - 2N_f)^2 R^{-5/2} exp(-2 \mu R) (\mu is the Goldstone boson mass), which is shown to arise from the correlated two-boson exchange. The sum rule which relates the overall strength of the interaction to the energy density of QCD vacuum is derived. Surprisingly, we find that when the size of the dipoles shrinks to zero (the heavy quark limit in the case of quarkonia), the non-perturbative part of the interaction vanishes more slowly than the perturbative part as a consequence of scale anomaly. As an application, we evaluate elastic \pi J/\psi and \pi J/\psi \to \pi \psi' cross sections.Comment: 16pages, 9 eps figures; discussion extended, 2 new references added, to appear in Phys.Rev.

Self-help groups challenge health care systems in the US and UK

Purpose: This research considers how self-help groups (SHGs) and self- help organizations (SHOs) contribute to consumerist trends in two different societies: United States and United Kingdom. How do the health care systems and the voluntary sectors affect the kinds of social changes that SHGs/SHOs make? Methodology/approach: A review of research on the role of SHGs/SHOs in contributing to national health social movements in the UK and US was made. Case studies of the UK and the US compare the characteristics of their health care systems and their voluntary sector. Research reviews of two community level self-help groups in each country describe the kinds of social changes they made. Findings: The research review verified that SHGs/SHOs contribute to national level health social movements for patient consumerism. The case studies showed that community level SHGs/SHOs successfully made the same social changes but on a smaller scale as the national movements, and the health care system affects the kinds of community changes made. Research limitations: A limited number of SHGs/SHOs within only two societies were studied. Additional SHGs/SHOs within a variety of societies need to be studied. Originality/value of chapter Community SHGs/SHOs are often trivialized by social scientists as just inward-oriented support groups, but this chapter shows that local groups contribute to patient consumerism and social changes but in ways that depend on the kind of health care system and societal context