1,762 research outputs found
Patterns and Mechanisms of Injury in Non Accidental Injury in Children (NAI)
The relationship between the family practitioner and the radiographer and radiologist is of utmost importance. Radiographers are among the healthcare workers who are at the first point of care and often only communicate with a radiologist after an x-ray examination is performed. The role of the radiographer has been extended to pattern recognition of skeletal images and selected ultrasound examinations. In some countries radiographers perform and report on invasive radiological techniques. The communication among healthcare workers about the possibility of child abuse is of utmost importance in the suspicion/recognition of abuse. Non-accidental injury in children may or may not be accompanied by sexual abuse, but in any situation where telltale signs of abuse are recognised, further investigation is necessary. The aim of this article is to assist the family practitioner in recognising some of the unusual radiographic patterns seen in paediatric radiography together with mechanisms of what may have contributed to the debilitating injuries sustained by survivors of abuse. South African Family Practice Vol. 50 (3) 2008: pp. 5-1
Modeling the effects of high strain rate loading on RC columns using Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) technique
In recent years, many studies have been conducted by governmental and nongovernmental organizations across the world in an attempt to better understand the effect of explosive loads on buildings in order to better design against specific threats. This study is intended to contribute to increase the knowledge about how explosions affect reinforced concrete (RC) columns. In this study, a nonlinear model is developed to study the blast response of RC columns subjected to explosive loads. Numerical modeling of RC column under explosive load is presented using advanced finite element code LS DYNA. The obtained numerical model is validated with the experimental test and the results are in substantial agreement with the experimental data. ALE method for blast analysis is presented in the current research. The effects of scaled distance on the damage profile of RC columns are investigated. The results demonstrate that the level of damage increased with describing the scaled distance. Also the results shown duration for the blast loading, and hence the impulse, varies with charge masses at the specified scaled distance. Higher magnitude charge masses produced longer blast loading durations than lower magnitude charge masses. This means that at the same scaled distance, a charge mass of higher magnitude produced a higher impulse than the lower magnitude charge mass. The findings of this research represent the scaled distance is an important parameter that should be taken into account when analyzing the behavior of RC columns under explosive effects. The data collected from this research are being used to improve the knowledge of how structures will respond to a blast event, and improve finite element models for predicting the blast performance of concrete structures.Peer Reviewe
Effectiveness of Home science Vocational Training Programmes imparted by KVKs (Krishi Vigyan Kendras)
Vocational training programmes play a positive role in the empowerment of women. The present study was planned with a specific objective to study the effectiveness of vocational trainings in home science discipline as rated by women trainees of a Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK). Training effectiveness was evaluated on five levels, viz. coverage, utility, teaching quality, knowledge and skill acquired. It was found that a great majority of trainees had perceived training as moderately effective. Programme effectiveness scores did not differ significantly among the four training groups. Mass media exposure, information seeking behavior, attitude towards training and entrepreneurial behavior had significant relationship with training effectiveness
Field evaluation of rK39 test and direct agglutination test for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis in a population with high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus in Ethiopia
Accuracy of an rK39 rapid diagnostic test (DiaMed-IT-Leish ) for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) was compared with splenic aspiration and the direct agglutination test (DAT) in a population with a high prevalence of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Ethiopia. There were 699 patients clinically suspected of having VL (153 parasitologically confirmed, 482 DAT confirmed, and 130 DAT negative), and 97 DAT-negative controls. A total of 84% were tested for HIV and 34% were HIV positive. Sensitivity of the rK39 test in parasitologically confirmed VL patients was 84% (77% in HIV positive and 87% in HIV negative; P = 0.25). Sensitivity of the DAT was higher (94%; P = 0.01), 89% in HIV-positive patients and 95% in HIV-negative patients; P = 0.27). Specificity of the rK39 test was 99% in DAT-negative controls and 92% in DAT-negative patients clinically suspected of having VL. A diagnostic algorithm combining DAT and the rK39 test had a sensitivity of 98% in HIV-positive VL patients and 99% in HIV-negative VL patients. Despite the lower sensitivity in a population with a high prevalence of HIV, the DiaMed-IT-Leish rK39 test enables decentralization of diagnosis. Patients clinically suspected of having VL who show negative results on the rK39 antigen test should undergo follow-up DAT testing, especially if they are HIV positive
Frequency-Doubling of Femtosecond Pulses in “Thick” Nonlinear Crystals With Different Temporal and Spatial Walk-Off Parameters
We present a comparative study on frequency-doubling characteristics of femtosecond
laser pulses in thick nonlinear crystals with different temporal and spatial walk-off
parameters. Using single-pass second harmonic generation (SHG) of 260 fs pulses at
1064 nm from a high-average-power femtosecond Yb-fiber laser in 5-mm-long crystals of
β-BaB2O4 (BBO) and BiB3O6 (BIBO), we find that for comparable values of temporal and
spatial walk-off parameters in each crystal, the optimum focusing condition for SHG is more
strongly influenced by spatial walk-off than temporal walk-off. It is also observed that under
such conditions, the Boyd and Kleinman theory commonly used to define the optimum focusing
condition for frequency-doubling of cw and long-pulse lasers is also valid for SHG
of ultrafast lasers. We also investigate the effect of focusing on the spectral, temporal, and
spatial characteristics of the second harmonic (SH) radiation, as well as angular acceptance
bandwidth for the SHG process, under different temporal and spatial walk-off conditions in
the two crystalsPeer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Cholesterol and coronary heart disease: screening and treatment
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United Kingdom, accounting for just under one quarter of all deaths in 1995: 27% among men and 21% among women.1 Although many CHD deaths occur among elderly people, CHD accounts for 31% of male and 13% of female deaths within the 45–64 age group
Fixed-dose combination therapy (polypill) for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
CLINICAL QUESTION: Is fixed-dose combination therapy (polypill) that combines antiplatelet, blood pressure-lowering, and cholesterol-lowering medications into a single pill associated with improved cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors or reduced all-cause mortality or fatal and nonfatal CVD events? Is the polypill associated with an increase in adverse events? BOTTOM LINE: Polypills are associated with greater reductions in systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol compared with usual care, placebo, or active comparators, but also with a 19% higher risk of any adverse event. Due to limited power from available evidence, the association of polypills with all-cause mortality or fatal and nonfatal CVD events is uncertain
Processing of Polymers Stress Relaxation Curves Using Machine Learning Methods
حاليًا، أحد المجالات الموضوعية لتطبيق طرق التعلم الآلي هو التنبؤ بالخصائص المادية. الهدف من هذا العمل هو تطوير نماذج التعلم الآلي لتحديد الخصائص الريولوجية للبوليمرات من منحنيات استرخاء الإجهاد التجريبية. تقدم الورقة لمحة عامة عن الاتجاهات الرئيسية للنهج الميتاهويرية (البحث المحلي، والخوارزميات التطورية) لحل مشاكل التحسين التوافقي. يتم وصف الخوارزميات الميتاهورية لحل بعض مشاكل تحسين التوافقية المهمة، مع التركيز بشكل خاص على بناء أشجار القرار. تم إجراء تحليل مقارن للخوارزميات لحل مشكلة الانحدار في CatBoost Regressor. . الهدف من الدراسة هو مجموعات البيانات المتولدة التي تم الحصول عليها على أساس منحنيات استرخاء الإجهاد النظرية. وترد جداول البيانات الأولية لنماذج التدريب لجميع العينات، ويجري تحليل إحصائي لخصائص مجموعات البيانات الأولية. كان العدد الإجمالي للتجارب العددية لجميع العينات 346020 اختلافًا. عند تطوير النماذج، تم استخدام طرق CatBoost للذكاء الاصطناعي، وتم استخدام طرق التسوية (تحلل الوزن، وتسوية الوزن المفصول، وزيادة) لتحسين دقة النموذج، وتم استخدام طريقة Z-Score لتطبيع البيانات. نتيجة للدراسة، تم تطوير نماذج ذكية لتحديد المعلمات الريولوجية للبوليمرات المدرجة في معادلة ماكسويل-غوريفيتش غير الخطية المعممة (لزوجة الاسترخاء الأولية، وحدة السرعة) باستخدام مجموعات البيانات المولدة لرابط الإيبوكسي EDT-10 كمثال. بناءً على نتائج اختبار النماذج، تم تقييم جودة النماذج، ورسم رسوم بيانية للتنبؤات للمتدربين وعينات الاختبار، ورسوم بيانية لأخطاء التنبؤ. تستند النماذج الذكية إلى خوارزمية CatBoost ويتم تنفيذها في بيئة دفتر المشتري في بايثون. اجتازت النماذج المشيدة تقييم الجودة وفقًا للمقاييس التالية: MAE و MSE و RMSE و MAPE. كانت القيمة القصوى لتنبؤات خطأ النموذج 0.86 لمقياس MAPE، والقيمة الدنيا لتنبؤات خطأ النموذج كانت 0.001 لمقياس MSE. تقديرات أداء النموذج التي تم الحصول عليها أثناء الاختبار.Currently, one of the topical areas of application of machine learning methods is the prediction of material characteristics. The aim of this work is to develop machine learning models for determining the rheological properties of polymers from experimental stress relaxation curves. The paper presents an overview of the main directions of metaheuristic approaches (local search, evolutionary algorithms) to solving combinatorial optimization problems. Metaheuristic algorithms for solving some important combinatorial optimization problems are described, with special emphasis on the construction of decision trees. A comparative analysis of algorithms for solving the regression problem in CatBoost Regressor has been carried out. The object of the study is the generated data sets obtained on the basis of theoretical stress relaxation curves. Tables of initial data for training models for all samples are presented, a statistical analysis of the characteristics of the initial data sets is carried out. The total number of numerical experiments for all samples was 346020 variations. When developing the models, CatBoost artificial intelligence methods were used, regularization methods (Weight Decay, Decoupled Weight Decay Regularization, Augmentation) were used to improve the accuracy of the model, and the Z-Score method was used to normalize the data. As a result of the study, intelligent models were developed to determine the rheological parameters of polymers included in the generalized non-linear Maxwell-Gurevich equation (initial relaxation viscosity, velocity modulus) using generated data sets for the EDT-10 epoxy binder as an example. Based on the results of testing the models, the quality of the models was assessed, graphs of forecasts for trainees and test samples, graphs of forecast errors were plotted. Intelligent models are based on the CatBoost algorithm and implemented in the Jupyter Notebook environment in Python. The constructed models have passed the quality assessment according to the following metrics: MAE, MSE, RMSE, MAPE. The maximum value of model error predictions was 0.86 for the MAPE metric, and the minimum value of model error predictions was 0.001 for the MSE metric. Model performance estimates obtained during testing are valid
A powerful LAMP weapon against the threat of the quarantine plant pathogen Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens
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