16 research outputs found

    Introducing a new computer code, H-Hammer, to solve fluid transients in pipe flow

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    Sudden change of flow conditions in a pipeline may cause the flow to become time dependent and would start an undesirable physical phenomenon called water hammer. These sudden changes can be caused by variety of scenarios and some of them include valve operations (opening or closing), sudden power loss at pump stations and load rejections or load acceptance at the turbines, etc. Because of its very costly and sometimes deadly consequences, it is quite important that transient scenarios be considered for pipe systems at design stage to ensure safety and longevity of them. The present study is an attempt to develop a comprehensive computer software that is capable of simulating, analyzing and solving most commonly encountered fluid transient events. The code developed, titled as H-Hammer, is already capable of using many boundary conditions to tackle a large variety of problems involving fluid transients. Within the code, the Method of Characteristics (MoC) are used to solve the basic unsteady pipe flow equations. The code utilizes AutoCAD, Visual Basic 6.0 and MS Excel all together for the purpose of analyses. The accuracy of the software was tested by solving some existing problems offered in the textbooks written by those who contributed significantly in the fluid transient area. Comparisons of the results show that the results of the developed software is in good agreement with the solutions given in those books. Keywords: Transient Scenarios, Water Hammer, Pipe Flow, Method of Characteristics, Computer Cod

    The significance of MUAC z-scores in diagnosing pediatric malnutrition: A scoping review with special emphasis on neurologically disabled children

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    This review by a panel of pediatric gastroenterology-hepatology-nutrition and pediatric neurology experts aimed to address the significance of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) assessment in diagnosis of pediatric malnutrition. Specifically, the potential utility of recently developed MUAC z-score tape in clinical practice for larger patient populations was addressed including the neurologically disabled children. In accordance with the evidence-based data, four statements were identified by the participating experts on the utility of MUAC z-score tape, including (1) MUAC z-scores correlate with body mass index (BMI) and weight for height/length (WFH/l) z-scores in diagnosing malnutrition; (2) MUAC z-score tape offers a higher sensitivity to diagnose the mild and moderate malnutrition and better ability to track the changes in nutritional status over time than the other single datapoint measurements; (3) Using single-step MUAC z-score tape in children with cerebral palsy (CP) seems to provide more reliable data on anthropometry; and (4) The clinical value of the tool in classifying secondary malnutrition in CP should be investigated in large-scale populations. In conclusion, enabling single-step estimation of nutritional status in a large-scale pediatric population regardless of age and within a wide range of weight, without formal training or the need for ancillary reference charts and calculators, MUAC z-tape offers a favorable tool for easier and earlier diagnosis of pediatric malnutrition. Nonetheless, further implementation of MUAC z-score screening in larger-scale and/or special populations is necessary to justify its utility in relation to other primary anthropometric indicators in diagnosis of malnutrition as well as in treatment monitoring in the community and hospital setting.Abbott Nutrition Turkey ; KAPPA Consultancy Training Research Ltd

    Basınçlı boru sistemlerinde zamanla değişen akımların analizini yapmak için bir bilgisayar kodu geliştirilmesi.

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    Sudden change of flow conditions in a pipeline may cause the flow to become time dependent and would start an undesirable physical phenomenon called water hammer. These sudden changes can be caused by variety of scenarios and some of them include valve operations (opening or closing), sudden power loss at pump stations and load rejections or load acceptance at the turbines, etc. Because of its very costly to solve, and sometimes deadly results, it is quite important that transient scenarios be considered for pipe systems at design stage to ensure safety and longevity of them. The present study is an attempt to develop a comprehensive computer software that is capable of simulating, analysing and solving most commonly encountered fluid transient events. The ultimate goal of the study is to have a local computer program to be used in our country, instead of buying expensive software from abroad in this field. Thus, the code developed in the present study will be enhanced further in the future with the contributions of others. However, in its current form, the code is already capable of using many boundary conditions to tackle a large variety of problems involving fluid transients. Within the code, the Method of Characteristics are used to solve the basic unsteady pipe flow equations. The code developed is titled as H-Hammer and it utilizes AutoCAD, Visual Basic 6.0 and MS Excel all together for the purpose of analyses. The accuracy of the software was tested by solving some existing problems offered in the important textbooks written in the field by those who contributed significantly in the fluid transient area. Comparisons of the results show that the results of the developed software is in good agreement with the solutions given in those books.M.S. - Master of Scienc

    Cryoablation with an 8-mm-Tip -catheter for right-sided accessory pathways in children

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    WOS: 000380902800003PubMed ID: 27197083BackgroundCryoablation is increasingly utilized in children because of its safety profile. Recently, larger catheter tips have been more widely used to improve long-term success rates. The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of 8-mm-tip catheters for cryoablation of right-sided accessory pathways (APs) in children. MethodsElectrophysiological procedures were performed using the EnSite system (St. Jude Medical Inc., St. Paul, MN, USA). ResultsBetween July 2010 and July 2014, 54 patients (mean age: 13.1 3.7 years) underwent cryoablation using an 8-mm-tip catheter. In 18 of 54 (33%) patients where an 8-mm-tip catheter was the first-choice catheter, the success rate was 18 of 18 (100%). There was a history of previous failed attempts or recurrence with radiofrequency ablation and/or 6-mm-tip cryoablation in 36 of 54 (67%) patients. The success rate in these patients was 24 of 36 (67%). No fluoroscopy was used in 34 of 54 procedures. The recurrence rate was six of 42 (14%) during a mean follow-up period of 32 +/- 15 months. In one patient, transient atrioventricular block occurred. ConclusionsCryoablation with an 8-mm-tip catheter for right-sided APs in children who weigh over 40 kg appears to be safe and acutely effective in cases where conventional ablation methods fail and also as a first choice for ablation procedure. However, the recurrence rate still seems to be high

    Evaluating and Improving an Online Occupational Health and Safety Training Program

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    <p>Occupational health and safety (OHS) issues might be considered one of the main considerations among European countries as many employees encounter dangerous workplace conditions during work. Therefore, decision makers in these countries have initiated related projects to reduce the number of occupational accidents. Turkey is one of those countries that training activities have become mandatory due to a current OHS legislation amendment. </p> <p>In every workplace there are some OHS risks. It is well known that taking required precautions prior to occupational accidents is much more efficient and effective than doing it subsequently. In fact, only 2 percent of these OHS risks are unpreventable, whereas the remaining risks can be prevented easily (Kilkis & Demir, 2012). In Turkey, every year approximately 77.000 occupational accidents occur. More than 1000 employees lose their lives, while more than 5.000 employees become permanently disabled due to these occupational accidents (Korkmaz & Avsalli, 2012). </p> <p>In the institution, where this study was conducted, approximately 30.000 employees work. OHS training in the institution consists of theoretical and practical parts. In the practical part, when the necessity of gathering thousands of employees in various training centers and duration of those trainings are considered, it is obvious that OHS training activities would cost much and could cause administrative problems for the institution. Hence, the institution has decided to deliver theoretical part of the OHS training online in order to cope with this issue.</p> <p>Purpose:</p> <p>In this study, an online learning module on OHS, which had been previously developed by one of the biggest public institutions in Turkey, was improved. As the process of implementing improved learning materials takes much time, only preliminary findings were shared. The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to share the results of the impact of previous learning materials and staff’s thoughts about them; and secondly, to discuss features of new learning materials and process of improving them.</p> <p>Theoretical Framework:</p> <p>As the theoretical framework, Ricketts’s (2015) nine suggestions pertaining how to write safety stories were chosen so as to help designers write digital stories related to OHS. Besides, Cinar’s (2012) experience-based e-course design model was used to facilitate the process of improving the learning materials.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Formative research method of Reigeluth and Frick (1999) was adopted as the study’s methodology. Approximately 9070 employees currently working at the institution filled in the online survey on the LMS. Staff were asked to answer nine survey questions related to their experience, attitude and thoughts about OHS module delivered via online learning. It should be noted that this survey was developed and administered by the institution at the end of the training without proving its reliability and validity. Since the number of the participants were quite high, this scale was used just to give some idea about staff’s experience, thoughts and attitudes towards OHS training. In addition to nine close-ended questions in the survey, there was also one open-ended question at the end to obtain staff’s detailed suggestions regarding how to deliver online learning more effectively. In line with Cinar’s (2012) suggestions, design team visited the institution to gain the broader sense of organizational culture. Then, OHS legislations and previous learning materials were examined carefully by each member of the design team. In order to analyze current situation of OHS training in the institution, survey results and staff’s posts on the LMS discussion board were also examined. </p> <p>After the analysis, it was agreed to write safety stories and use formative evaluation activities. An LMS, which had been previously used by the institution, was decided to be used in order to deliver the learning materials developed with an e-learning software. Safety stories and learning materials were shown to a line manager of the institution and a field expert to obtain their feedbacks. Following this, the design team checked the learning materials and gave feedback to each other. In this way, bugs and spelling errors were fixed. Finally, two short tutorial videos were recorded with the purpose of aiding staff to get used to new learning materials.</p> <p>Expected Outcomes</p> <p>As for findings, in a nutshell, previous learning materials lacked engagement, interaction, visuality, authenticity, and formative evaluation. Some staff of the institution demanded face-to-face OHS training claiming it was such an important training activity that it could not be risked by delivering via online learning. Possibly due to lack of visuality, many of the staff reported learning materials as quite boring. Another finding from the analysis indicates that institution’s staff request the learning materials to be customized to their workplace to better understand authentic implementation of the legislation. That is to say, rather than being generic to all institutional staff, they want it to encompass specific examples for each job title. Another one of the most prevalent complaints about the training was about the legislation’s applicability in workplaces. Personnel do not believe managers know regulations and are eager to implement those in the institution. In addition, some personnel expressed that an evaluation is necessary to be able to monitor to what extent the staff have learnt from the learning materials. </p> <p>As it is aimed to improve previous learning materials, it is expected to raise the awareness of OHS to reduce the number of occupational accidents in the institution. In addition, the new learning materials consist of different activities to enrich learning process, which can also be expected to contribute to interaction and engagement. By doing this, the legislations could be learnt easier and more effectively. Not only do improved learning materials contribute to learning process in a way of taking courses such as drag and drop activities, they might also promote transformative learning with safety stories to adapt the legislations to the staff’s workplaces. Finally, we expect to make contribution to the OHS field in order to improve training activities in different workplaces.</p

    Nutritional characteristic of children with inflammatory bowel disease in the nationwide inflammatory bowel disease registry from the Mediterranean region

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    © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.Background/objectives: We analyzed the nationwide pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD) registry (1998–2016), to evaluate the nutritional status at the time of diagnosis. Subjects/methods: Nine types of nutritional status by the combination of weight-for-length (2 years) and length/height-for-age with three categories (2 SD) were described. Malnutrition was defined by WHO criteria. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for malnutrition. Results: In total, 824 IBD patients (498 Ulcerative colitis (UC); 289 Crohn’s Disease (CD); 37 Indeterminate Colitis (IC); 412 male; the median age 12.5 years) were eligible. The prevalence of eutrophy, wasting/thinness, stunting, overweight, tall stature, concurrent wasting/thinness and stunting, tall stature with overweight, tall stature with wasting/thinness, and short stature with overweight were 67.4%, 14.9%, 6.6%, 3.1%, 3.2%, 3.3%, 1.1%, 0.4%, and 0.1%, respectively. The prevalence of malnutrition was 32.7%, indicating a higher prevalence in CD (p 10 years), prepubertal stage, severe disease activity, perianal involvement, and high C reactive protein level were independently associated with malnutrition in pediatric IBD. Conclusion: We showed the frequency of nutritional impairment in PIBD. The percentage of overweight subjects was lower than the other studies. The age of onset, disease activity, CRP level, perianal involvement, and pubertal stage were associated with a higher risk for developing malnutrition. Our results also confirmed that CD patients are particularly vulnerable to nutritional impairment. Clinical trial number: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04457518
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