A Test-Case on Continuation Methods for Bladed-Disk Vibration with Contact and Friction

Bladed-disks in turbo-machines experience harsh operating conditions and undergo high vibration amplitudes if not properly damped. Friction at the blade-to-blade or blade-to-disk interfaces plays a key role in dampening the high amplitudes. Due to the inherent complexity of these structures and non-linearities introduced by the friction joints, accurate response prediction becomes very difficult. There are variety of methods in the literature to predict non-linear vibration due to contact friction. However, their application to the bladed-disks remains limited. Furthermore, there are not many 3D realistic test-cases in the open literature for testing those methods and serve as a benchmark. A bladed-disk representative of a real turbine is presented as an open numerical test-case for the research community. It is characterized by a blade root joint and a shroud joint. The bladed-disk sector is meshed in different ways along with component mode synthesis (CMS) model order reduction for onward non-linear computations. The steady-state solution is obtained by multi-Harmonic Balance method and then continuation method is employed to predict the non-linear frequency response. Thus, it can serve as a case for testing previous and new methods as well as a benchmark for comparative studies

Potential Models for Radiative Rare B Decays

We compute the branching ratios for the radiative rare decays of B into K-Meson states and compare them to the experimentally determined branching ratio for inclusive decay b -> s gamma using non relativistic quark model, and form factor definitions consistent with HQET covariant trace formalism. Such calculations necessarily involve a potential model. In order to test the sensitivity of calculations to potential models we have used three different potentials, namely linear potential, screening confining potential and heavy quark potential as it stands in QCD.We find the branching ratios relative to the inclusive b ->s gamma decay to be (16.07\pm 5.2)% for B -> K^* (892)gamma and (7.25\pm 3.2)% for B -> K_2^* (1430)gamma for linear potential. In the case of the screening confining potential these values are (19.75\pm 5.3)% and (4.74\pm 1.2)% while those for the heavy quark potential are (11.18\pm 4.6)% and (5.09\pm 2.7)% respectively. All these values are consistent with the corresponding present CLEO experimental values: (16.25\pm 1.21)% and (5.93\pm 0.46)%.Comment: RevTeX, 6 pages, 1 eps figur

Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha affects Estrogen Metabolic Pathways in Breast Cancer Cells

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the proinflammatory cytokine Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) on estrogen metabolic pathways in MCF-7, a breast cancer cell line. This aims to add to our understanding of the relationship between inflammation and breast carcinogenesis. MCF-7 cells where thus treated with different concentrations of TNF-α and different techniques were employed to assess its effect on the estrogen metabolic pathways: Capillary liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) analysis was used for quantitative measurement of estrogens and estrogen metabolites (EM). High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for the analysis of estrogen-DNA adduct levels. Reporter gene assay, Real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (real time RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis, were used to assess the expression of estrogen-metabolizing genes and enzymes. Our results indicated that compared to controls, TNF-α significantly increased the total EM (P<0.05) and decreased the estrone (E1) / 17-β estradiol (E2) ratio (P<0.05). Moreover, it significantly altered the expression of genes and enzymes involved in E2 activation and deactivation pathways e.g. Cytochrome P-450 1A1 (CYP1A1), Cytochrome P-450 1B1 (CYP1B1), Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) and Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1). In addition, there were increased levels (P<0.05) of some catechol estrogens e.g. 4-hydroxy-estrone (4-OHE1) and 2-hydroxyestradiol (2-OHE2) with decreased levels of methylated catechols e.g. 2-methoxy estradiol (2-MeOE2) (P<0.05). DNA adducts especially 4-OHE1-[2]-1-N3 Adenine was significantly increased (P<0.05). It can thus be concluded that TNF-α directs the estrogen metabolism into more hormonally active and carcinogenic products in MCF-7. This may implicate a new possible explanation for inflammation associated breast cancer

Seasonal time-series modeling and forecasting of monthly mean temperature for decision making in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

A generalized structural time-series modeling framework was used to analyze the monthly records of mean temperature, one of the most important environmental parameters, using classical stochastic processes. In this article we are using the SARIMA Box–Jenkins model and obtain a medium-term (10 years) forecast of the mean temperature in Erbil. A prediction of the monthly mean temperature during the past 287 months ((Formula presented.)24 years) using the SARIMA(0,1,2)(0,1,1)12 model predicts that the average temperature in the governorate of Erbil, Iraq, will be stable for the next 10 years. The evaluation of prediction accuracy shows that our model performs equally well when applying it to different periods of time for which data is available. The method used here could easily be applied by the decision makers responsible for providing water and electricity in the Kurdistan Region

A Protocol for the Secure Linking of Registries for HPV Surveillance

In order to monitor the effectiveness of HPV vaccination in Canada the linkage of multiple data registries may be required. These registries may not always be managed by the same organization and, furthermore, privacy legislation or practices may restrict any data linkages of records that can actually be done among registries. The objective of this study was to develop a secure protocol for linking data from different registries and to allow on-going monitoring of HPV vaccine effectiveness.A secure linking protocol, using commutative hash functions and secure multi-party computation techniques was developed. This protocol allows for the exact matching of records among registries and the computation of statistics on the linked data while meeting five practical requirements to ensure patient confidentiality and privacy. The statistics considered were: odds ratio and its confidence interval, chi-square test, and relative risk and its confidence interval. Additional statistics on contingency tables, such as other measures of association, can be added using the same principles presented. The computation time performance of this protocol was evaluated.The protocol has acceptable computation time and scales linearly with the size of the data set and the size of the contingency table. The worse case computation time for up to 100,000 patients returned by each query and a 16 cell contingency table is less than 4 hours for basic statistics, and the best case is under 3 hours.A computationally practical protocol for the secure linking of data from multiple registries has been demonstrated in the context of HPV vaccine initiative impact assessment. The basic protocol can be generalized to the surveillance of other conditions, diseases, or vaccination programs

Vineyard microclimate and yield under different plastic covers.

The use of plastic cover in vineyards minimizes effects of adverse weather conditions. The northwest of São Paulo State is one of the largest grape producing regions in Brazil; however, few studies investigate the effects of different plastic covers on vineyards in this region. This study compared the effect of black shading screen (BSS) and braided polypropylene film (BPF) on BRS Morena vineyard microclimate, grown on an overhead trellis system in the northwestern São Paulo. The experiments were carried out during three growing seasons (2012 ? 2014). BSS allowed superior incoming solar radiation (SR) transmissivity, resulting in higher net radiation (Rn), and higher ratio between photosynthetically active (PAR) and SR. No differences were observed between the average air temperatures (T) and relative humidity (RH) of covered environments (BPF and BSS) and outside condition (automatic weather station ? AWS), due to high air circulation, despite wind speed (WS) reduction caused by plastic covers. BPF provided better conditions for vineyard growth with higher fruit yield than vineyard under BSS regarding the number of shoots with bunches per plant, bunch and stem weights, longitudinal diameter of berries, quantity of fertile buds per shoot, and yield per shoot and per plant. BPF covers also influenced leaf size and growth speed of plants in vineyards. Keywords Black shading screen . Braided polypropylene film . BRS Morena . Leaf wetness duration . Yiel

Religious Officials' knowledge, attitude, and behavior towards smoking and the new tobacco law in Kahramanmaras, Turkey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tobacco control effort should be first started in people that are looked upon as role models for the general population. We aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of religious officials towards smoking and the new tobacco law.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The study group was comprised of 492 Imams and 149 Quran course instructors working in Kahramanmaras city of Turkey, 641 religious officials in total, and our survey form was applied on 406 (63.3%) of those religious officials who agreed to participate in the study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-eight (6.9%) participants were current smokers and 35 (8.6%) were ex-smokers. 99.8% of the religious officials believed that smoking was harmful and/or prohibited in terms of religion. While 43.6% respondents thought smoking was "<it>haram</it>" (forbidden by Islam), 56.2% believed it was "<it>makruh</it>" (something regarded as reprehensible, though not forbidden by God according to Islam). 85.2% of the participants were aware of the recent tobacco law. 55.5% of the respondents, who were aware of the recent tobacco law, evaluated their knowledge level on the law as adequate, whereas 44.5% evaluated it as inadequate 92.4% of the participants noted that religious officials should play active roles in tobacco control effort.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Smoking rate among religious officials is much lower than that of general public. In order to help religious officials to take a more active role on this issue, they should be trained on the subject and appropriate platforms should be established.</p

Non-invasive ventilation in patients with an altered level of consciousness. A clinical review and practical insights

Non-invasive ventilation has gained an increasingly pivotal role in the treatment of acute hypoxemic and/or hypercapnic respira-tory failure and offers multiple advantages over invasive mechanical ventilation. Some of these advantages include the preserva-tion of airway defense mechanisms, a reduced need for sedation, and an avoidance of complications related to endotracheal intubation.Despite its advantages, non-invasive ventilation has some contraindications that include, among them, severe encephalopathy. In this review article, the rationale, evidence, and drawbacks of the use of noninvasive ventilation in the context of hypercapnic and non-hypercapnic patients with an altered level of consciousness are analyzed

Transcriptional landscape of bone marrow-derived very small embryonic-like stem cells during hypoxia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hypoxia is a ubiquitous feature of many lung diseases and elicits cell-specific responses. While the effects of hypoxia on stem cells have been examined under <it>in vitro </it>conditions, the consequences of <it>in vivo </it>oxygen deprivation have not been studied.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We investigated the effects of <it>in vivo </it>hypoxia on a recently characterized population of pluripotent stem cells known as very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs) by whole-genome expression profiling and measuring peripheral blood stem cell chemokine levels.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that exposure to hypoxia in mice mobilized VSELs from the bone marrow to peripheral blood, and induced a distinct genome-wide transcriptional signature. Applying a computationally-intensive methodology, we identified a hypoxia-induced gene interaction network that was functionally enriched in a diverse array of programs including organ-specific development, stress response, and wound repair. Topographic analysis of the network highlighted a number of densely connected hubs that may represent key controllers of stem cell response during hypoxia and, therefore, serve as putative targets for altering the pathophysiologic consequences of hypoxic burden.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A brief exposure to hypoxia recruits pluripotent stem cells to the peripheral circulation and actives diverse transcriptional programs that are orchestrated by a selective number of key genes.</p