The prediction of wake wash in the towing tank

The wash or ship-generated waves from high speed craft has become a common subject in research and development of marine transportation. Since some time now the wake wash of high speed craft has become a problem in particular on inland or confined waterways. This wake wash has an impact on safety and environment such as bank/shoreline erosion, risk to people on shore and small boats in harbors and changes in the local ecology. This paper describes the results of model test of a high speed patrol, together with theoretical prediction of wake wash

Oral Cancer Awareness and its Determinants among a Selected Malaysian Population

Objective: To assess oral cancer awareness, its associated factors and related sources of information among a selected group of Malaysians. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on all Malaysian ethnic groups aged >= 15 years old at eight strategically chosen shopping malls within a two week time period. Data were analysed using chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression. Significance level was set at alpha<0.05. Results: Most (84.2%) respondents had heard of oral cancer. Smoking was the most (92.4%) recognized high risk habit. Similar levels of awareness were seen for unhealed ulcers (57.3%) and red/white patches (58.0%) as signs of oral cancer. Age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education, occupation and income were significantly associated with oral cancer awareness (p<0.05). Conclusions: There was a general lack of awareness regarding the risk habits, early signs and symptoms, and the benefits of detecting this disease at an early stage. Mass media and health campaigns were the main sources of information about oral cancer. In our Malaysian population, gender and age were significantly associated with the awareness of early signs and symptoms and prevention of oral cancer, respectively.Article Link: http://koreascience.or.kr/article/ArticleFullRecord.jsp?cn=POCPA9_2013_v14n3_195

Insights from unifying modern approximations to infections on networks

Networks are increasingly central to modern science owing to their ability to conceptualize multiple interacting components of a complex system. As a specific example of this, understanding the implications of contact network structure for the transmission of infectious diseases remains a key issue in epidemiology. Three broad approaches to this problem exist: explicit simulation; derivation of exact results for special networks; and dynamical approximations. This paper focuses on the last of these approaches, and makes two main contributions. Firstly, formal mathematical links are demonstrated between several prima facie unrelated dynamical approximations. And secondly, these links are used to derive two novel dynamical models for network epidemiology, which are compared against explicit stochastic simulation. The success of these new models provides improved understanding about the interaction of network structure and transmission dynamics

Artificial neural networks for controlling the temperature of internally cooled turning tools

Copyright @ 2013 Scientific Research PublishingBy eliminating the need for externally applied coolant, internally cooled turning tools offer potential health, safety and cost benefits in many types of machining operation. As coolant flow is completely controlled, tool temperature mea- surement becomes a practical proposition and can be used to find and maintain the optimum machining conditions. This also requires an intelligent control system in the sense that it must be adaptable to different tool designs, work piece materials and machining conditions. In this paper, artificial neural networks (ANN) are assessed for their suitability to perform such a control function. Experimental data for both conventional tools used for dry machining and internally cooled tools is obtained and used to optimise the design of an ANN. A key finding is that both experimental scatter characteristic of turning and the range of machining conditions for which ANN control is required have a large effect on the optimum ANN design and the amount of data needed for its training. In this investigation, predictions of tool tem- perature with an optimised ANN were found to be within 5°C of measured values for operating temperatures of up to 258°C. It is therefore concluded that ANN’s are a viable option for in-process control of turning processes using inter- nally controlled tools.This study is funded by the European Commission

Factors determining the pattern of the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) epidemic in the UK.

Following the emergence of a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) 6 years ago, and the gradual rise in clinical cases, there has been increased speculation regarding the overall magnitude of this epidemic in Great Britain. In this paper, we explore the epidemiological factors and uncertainties determining the scale of this epidemic in light of the most recent data on reported vCJD mortality. Our results demonstrate that, while the magnitude of the uncertainty has decreased dramatically since 1996, it is still not possible to predict with any degree of accuracy the final magnitude of this epidemic, with the 95% confidence interval for future cases being from 10 to 7000 deaths. However, short-term projections show that it is unlikely that a dramatic increase in case numbers will be observed in the next 2-5 years (95% confidence interval for 2 years: 10-80 cases, for 5 years: 10-200 cases). The results confirm significant age-dependent susceptibility/exposure to infection, with the likelihood profile demonstrating that those aged between 10 and 20 years are at highest risk of infection. We also demonstrate how projections based on onset data may be substantially biased, and explore the sensitivity of results to assumptions concerning the exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and the incubation-period distribution

Hubungan Faktor Determinan dengan Kejadian Tifoid di Indonesia Tahun 2007

Typhoid is an abdominal infectious diseases caused by Salmonella typhii. The Typhus more popular name called Typhus Abdominalis, Typhoid fever or Enteric fever. The Profile of disease control and healthy environment in 2006 reported that typhoid was to be publich health\u27s problem. The cases of morbidity and mortality rate from typhoid was 500 per 100.000 people, and fatality rate was 65%. The objective of this study is to find prevalence of typhoid and the relatied with several determinants in Indonesia. This study used cross-sectional design with descriptive analysis on relation of determinant factors to typhoid prevalence in Indonesia in 2007. The research sample is all sample who answered quesioner about Typhus. Collected data with direct quesioner. Determinant factor in analisis are individual karacteristic, demografi status, economy status, and environment. The result shown prevalency of clinical Typhoid about 1,5%, with range prevalence (0,4% - 2,6%). Dominant factor in Typhoid morbidity has 13 variable, which are sex variable with OR = 1,142 on male group, in age group The highest OR higher was on 1-14 years that was 1,449 (1,164-1,804)). The education variable who unfinishes from elementary school have OR =1,746 , responden who have child under five 5 years more than five child in their home have OR = 3,368, variable area according to island in Indonesia, NTT and NTB were OR = 1,052, Variable area according to administration area have OR = 1,283 (1,169-1,410) on rural side. The length of time to acces proffesional health service have OR = 1,420 on group who have time to acces was long, and the length of time to acces community health service have OR =1,226 for time long to acces, and water sufficienty OR= 1,273 for responden have not water sufficient, variable of the soil source around drinking water resource OR = 1,097, and the variable of the water quality bad have OR = 1,401, variable of having a garbage place have OR= 1,180 on responden didn\u27t have a garbage place, and the last was variable of having the waste pipeline in responden home, group responden didn\u27t have waste pipeline in home have OR = 1,098 . The result shown prevalency of clinical typhoid about 1,5%, with range prevalency (0,4% -2,6%). Dominan factors on the typhoid morbidity there were 13 factors which are 1. sex variable, 2. age variable, 3. consist of Child under five years in family 4. education variable, 5. area\u27s according island 6. administration area variable 7. length of time to acces to profesional health service 8. length of time to acces to profesional health inter grated health care post, 9. variable with water sufficiency, 10. variable of soil source paround drinking water source, 11. variable of water quality, 12. variable with having a garbage place, 13. variable of having the waste pipeline in responden home

Multimedia Environmental Fate and Transport Model of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT): Case Study Sayong River Watershed, Johor, Malaysia

This study describes the development of a multimedia environmental fate and transport model of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) at Sungai Sayong watershed. Based on the latest estimated DDT emission, the DDT concentrations in air, soil, water and sediment as well as the transfer processes were simulated under the equilibrium and steady-state assumption. Model predictions suggested that soil and sediment was the dominant sink of DDT. The results showed that the model predicted was generally good agreement with field data. Compared with degradation reaction, advection outflow was more important processes occurred in the model. Sensitivities of the model estimates to input parameters were tested. The result showed that vapour pressure (Ps) and organic carbon water partition coefficient (KOC) were the most influential parameters for the model output. The model output-concentrations of DDT in multimedia environment is very important as it can be used in future for human exposure and risk assessment of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) at Sungai Sayong Basin

Virtual Werribee : a planning support tool

Virtual Werribee is collaborative research in applying 3-D modelling and visualisation as a planning support tool in comparison to 2-D plans and drawings. It was a joint initiative involving Deakin University and the Wyndham City Council to demonstrate the use of 3-D visualisation for planning process in the actual context of a planning authority in Australia. The objective of this project was to assist the council in preparing for the revised Local Structure Plan. By reconstructing the council&rsquo;s data into easily understood information, 3-D model and visualisation served as a verification and discussion tool for decision making. The integration of wider site context also provided a better understanding of the surrounding development areas. This could equip other stakeholders as well as the community to participate in council&rsquo;s planning agenda activities, such as increasing the urban density and building heights limit.Virtual Werribee included the development planning agenda, categorised as new, re-development and hypothetical. The modelling process progressed with sufficient data from the council. Some changes to the initial plan were made, including the use of CAD modelling software instead of GIS software, and production of a block model with selected detail buildings, instead of a full draped 3-D model. The council decided that the block model would be sufficient for their planning purposes. This was determined while taking into consideration the available facilities at the council.The potentials of the model as a planning tool were demonstrated in this paper, and further compared to the council&rsquo;s existing materials prepared by the project developers. The advantages of the 3-D interactive model and visualisation over the conventional materials have provided the council officer with a tool for better empowerment in the planning process. This was also evident in the increasing engagement level between the officer and the model as the process developed. As a result of this, the project scope has also expanded, finally covering the entire city.While Virtual Werribee has the potential to better communicate council&rsquo;s planning agendas to the stakeholders and the community, the key factor, coupled with its visualisation components, was its interactive capability. Property layers with aerial site image that provided a realistic background served as a virtual city platform for different users. Although limited in its analytic capability found in GIS software, this model offered high visualisation content to assist visual impact assessment through its interactive mode along with a series of still images and a simulation movie.<br /

Antigen-driven T-cell turnover.

A mathematical model is developed to characterize the distribution of cell turnover rates within a population of T lymphocytes. Previous models of T-cell dynamics have assumed a constant uniform turnover rate; here we consider turnover in a cell pool subject to clonal proliferation in response to diverse and repeated antigenic stimulation. A basic framework is defined for T-cell proliferation in response to antigen, which explicitly describes the cell cycle during antigenic stimulation and subsequent cell division. The distribution of T-cell turnover rates is then calculated based on the history of random exposures to antigens. This distribution is found to be bimodal, with peaks in cell frequencies in the slow turnover (quiescent) and rapid turnover (activated) states. This distribution can be used to calculate the overall turnover for the cell pool, as well as individual contributions to turnover from quiescent and activated cells. The impact of heterogeneous turnover on the dynamics of CD4(+) T-cell infection by HIV is explored. We show that our model can resolve the paradox of high levels of viral replication occurring while only a small fraction of cells are infected

Managing and reducing uncertainty in an emerging influenza pandemic

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