Integration of Family Planning Services within Post Abortion Care at Health Facilities in Dessie –North East Ethiopia

The aim of this study is to investigate the integration of family planning services within post abortion care that plays a vital role in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality resulting from abortion and its  complications. Facility based cross - sectional study design was used including both quantitative and qualitative data collection method. The sample size was 291. The number of study units to be sampled from each facility was determined using proportional allocation to size and systematic random sampling was employed to select and approach each study  subjects. A validated semi structured questionnaire was used to collect thedata. Bi-variate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify the most important predictors of integrating family planning services within post abortion care. A total of 282 post abortion women were included in the exit interview. Among these 158 (56.0%) reported that they have got family planning (FP) counselling and 134 (47.5%) left the health facility with modern contraceptive method. Lack of trained provider, being over loaded by other routine activities, absence of separate post abortion room, lack of commodities and supplies were major identified barriers of integrating family planning services within post  abortion care. Family planning services were partially integrated within post abortion care. Attention should be given in service providers training,  availing post abortion family planning supplies and equipments in the post abortion recovery room

Selection of optimum replacement option for amine pump in a gas processing plant using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process

In order to excel in the competitive market, it is essential to make a flawless decision which is difficult without considering different factors that affect it. These factors can be qualitative or quantitative which are full of uncertainties. Fuzzy analytical hierarch process (FAHP) is a very useful tool to model such a decision making process. In this study FAHP is used to select the optimum replacement option of amine pump in a gas processing plant. The gas processing plant has 10 unit of amine circulation pumps. These pumps have been installed since 1996. After installation, various problems occurred which lead to low reliability and availability of the amine pump system and a lot of design modification has been done since then. In this study three different replacement options are investigated to solve the problem. These options are a) To continue with the existing pump system through repair, b) To modify the existing system by changing one or two of the old pumps which has low performance by `a new one and c) To add a new pump. These options were assessed with four criteria; Ease of operation, Flexibility, Maintainability and environment. Data was collected from 25 employees and a pairwise comparison was conducted. It is found that the weight of the first option which is continuing with the existing system is higher with 0.47 values which show this option is preferable for the selected case. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to explore how the ranking of the analysis varies when the input data were changed

Isovector part of nuclear energy density functional from chiral two- and three-nucleon forces

A recent calculation of the nuclear energy density functional from chiral two- and three-nucleon forces is extended to the isovector terms pertaining to different proton and neutron densities. An improved density-matrix expansion is adapted to the situation of small isospin-asymmetries and used to calculate in the Hartree-Fock approximation the density-dependent strength functions associated with the isovector terms. The two-body interaction comprises of long-range multi-pion exchange contributions and a set of contact terms contributing up to fourth power in momenta. In addition, the leading order chiral three-nucleon interaction is employed with its parameters fixed in computations of nuclear few-body systems. With this input one finds for the asymmetry energy of nuclear matter the value $A(\rho_0) \simeq 26.5\,$MeV, compatible with existing semi-empirical determinations. The strength functions of the isovector surface and spin-orbit coupling terms come out much smaller than those of the analogous isoscalar coupling terms and in the relevant density range one finds agreement with phenomenological Skyrme forces. The specific isospin- and density-dependences arising from the chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions can be explored and tested in neutron-rich systems.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, to be published in European Physical Journal

Nuclear energy density functional from chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions

An improved density-matrix expansion is used to calculate the nuclear energy density functional from chiral two- and three-nucleon interactions. The two-body interaction comprises long-range one- and two-pion exchange contributions and a set of contact terms contributing up to fourth power in momenta. In addition we employ the leading order chiral three-nucleon interaction with its parameters $c_E, c_D$ and $c_{1,3,4}$ fixed in calculations of nuclear few-body systems. With this input the nuclear energy density functional is derived to first order in the two- and three-nucleon interaction. We find that the strength functions $F_\nabla(\rho)$ and $F_{so}(\rho)$ of the surface and spin-orbit terms compare in the relevant density range reasonably with results of phenomenological Skyrme forces. However, an improved description requires (at least) the treatment of the two-body interaction to second order. This observation is in line with the deficiencies in the nuclear matter equation of state $\bar E(\rho)$ that remain in the Hartree-Fock approximation with low-momentum two- and three-nucleon interactions.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Eur. Phys. J.

Simulation modeling of a manufacturing process using Tecnomatix plant simulation software

Industries in our community are under constant pressure and have high demands of customer orders for their products and there is the need to maximize the output for the same input of resources. In the case of lagging orders, it is very difficult for companies to manage and optimize the process flow for simultaneously coming orders. Process simulation can be suitably applied for studying and analyzing the system which can provide a framework for predicting and optimizing the process based on mathematical models. This work presents how to implement simulation tools in the real production planning so that an increase in the number of throughput in the time frame is achieved. The procedure starts with input data collection, data fitting, simulation model building, model validation, identification of the number throughput, and developed improvement system

Instabilities in the Nuclear Energy Density Functional

In the field of Energy Density Functionals (EDF) used in nuclear structure and dynamics, one of the unsolved issues is the stability of the functional. Numerical issues aside, some EDFs are unstable with respect to particular perturbations of the nuclear ground-state density. The aim of this contribution is to raise questions about the origin and nature of these instabilities, the techniques used to diagnose and prevent them, and the domain of density functions in which one should expect a nuclear EDF to be stable.Comment: Special issue "Open Problems in Nuclear Structure Theory" of Jour.Phys.G - accepted. 7 pages, 2 figure

Fluctuations, line tensions, and correlation times of nanoscale islands on surfaces

We analyze in detail the fluctuations and correlations of the (spatial) Fourier modes of nano-scale single-layer islands on (111) fcc crystal surfaces. We analytically show that the Fourier modes of the fluctuations couple due to the anisotropy of the crystal, changing the power spectrum of the fluctuations, and that the actual eigenmodes of the fluctuations are the appropriate linear combinations of the Fourier modes. Using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations with bond-counting parameters that best match realistic energy barriers for hopping rates, we deduce absolute line tensions as a function of azimuthal orientation from the analyses of the fluctuation of each individual mode. The autocorrelation functions of these modes give the scaling of the correlation times with wavelength, providing us with the rate-limiting kinetics driving the fluctuations, here step-edge diffusion. The results for the energetic parameters are in reasonable agreement with available experimental data for Pb(111) surfaces, and we compare the correlation times of island-edge fluctuations to relaxation times of quenched Pb crystallites.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures; to appear in PRB 70, xxx (15 Dec 2004), changes in MC and its implication

Deburring method of aluminum mould produced by milling process for microfluidic device fabrication

The existence of top burrs in micro-scale features produced by milling process can deteriorate the surface quality of a product. Ductile metals, such as aluminum alloys, are prone to suffer from top burrs formation after a slot-milling process. A brief review on the state-of-the-art of burr removal process in micro-scale milling is provided in this paper. Various deburring methods were reportedly able to remove the burrs in micro-scale features, however a much simpler method is still needed. In the present work, a deburring process by stainless steel end brushing is introduced for aluminum mould used in microfluidic device fabrication. The micro-scale features are produced by slot-milling process followed by the deburring process. The deburred moulds are then visually observed using optical microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and the average surface roughness and its features profile are measured using 3D Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope. As a result, the proposed deburring method can successfully remove the top burrs, as indicated by a height reduction of about 21% due to the removal action by the brush. Hence, a burr-free embossing mould with complex shape channel features can be produced by milling and by applying a simple deburring process using stainless steel end brush

Investigation on turning operation using die sinking EDM process

Electrical discharge turning (EDT) operation produces a cylindrical component using an electrical discharge machining method. Unlike a traditional turning process, it is a non-contact operation between the tool electrode and workpiece. Therefore, the design of electrode may influence the quality of turned workpiece. The present study investigates the effect of various processing parameters in EDT namely the electrode shape, workpiece rotational speed and jump down time. The analysis was conducted in terms of the surface roughness, circularity deviation and electrode wear rate. A special jig and fixture for the turning operation was developed as to fit on the commercial die sinking EDM machine. A fractional factorial approach using Taguchi orthogonal array of L9 was utilized in the present study. It was found that both shape of electrode and workpiece rotational speed had a greater influence on the surface roughness followed by the electrode jump down time. The surface roughness increases with an increase of quantity and duration of sparks during the process due to formation of a higher amount of debris. The circularity deviation has improved with a higher sparking area and faster duration of sparks since a smaller amount of workpiece material was removed thus improving its circularity. Furthermore, the highest electrode wear rate was produced using the electrode with a curvature shape which generated wider sparking area thus experiencing more erosion