Prognostics with autoregressive moving average for railway turnouts

Turnout systems are one of the most critical systems on railway infrastructure. Diagnostics and prognostics on turnout system have ability to increase the reliability & availability and reduce the downtime of the railway infrastructure. Even though diagnostics on railway turnout systems have been reported in the literature, reported studies on prognostics in railway turnout system is very sparse. This paper presents autoregressive moving average model based prognostics on railway turnouts. The model is applied to data collected from real turnout systems. The failure progression is obtained manually using the exponential degradation model. Remaining Useful Life of ten turnout systems have been reported and results are very promising

Management of Non-Deflating Foley Catheter Balloons in Emergency and Urology Clinics: A 5- Year Retrospective Study

Objective: This study aims to discuss the techniques for safely, quickly, and successfully removing transurethral (TU) foley catheter balloons in patients who present to the emergency and urology clinics due to the inability to remove the catheter through normal means, and to contribute options and insights to the literature. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included patients who presented to the emergency department for the inability to remove the TU foley catheter, patients referred to the urology clinic, or patients consulted from other clinics, between January 2017 and September 2022. The treatment methods applied by the urologist in this patient group, hospitalization durations, voiding status, and any developed complications were recorded based on patient files. Results: A total of 22 patients who had a transurethral (TU) catheter inserted for various reasons and were unable to remove it were included in our study. It was found that 7 of the patients had permanent TU catheters due to comorbidities, while the remaining 15 had TU catheters inserted after acute urinary retention. Among them, 2 cases had the catheter removed by cutting the inflation channel, 1 case with the assistance of a guidewire, 2 cases by puncturing the balloon with a needle under transrectal ultrasound guidance, 10 cases by puncturing the catheter balloon with a needle under suprapubic ultrasound guidance, and 7 cases had their catheters removed by laser under anesthesia. Only 1 patient who had the balloon punctured by a needle under transrectal ultrasound guidance developed fever after the procedure and had a total of 5 days of hospitalization, while the others were discharged either immediately after the procedure or 1 day later. Conclusion: Patients with indwelling foley catheters that cannot be removed rarely present to us; however, these patients often come to us in an agitated state after multiple unsuccessful attempts to remove the catheter. Therefore, it is important to know which technique should be applied to this patient group in a faster, appropriate, and reliable manner as soon as possible

A simple state-based prognostic model for railway turnout systems

The importance of railway transportation has been increasing in the world. Considering the current and future estimates of high cargo and passenger transportation volume in railways, prevention or reduction of delays due to any failure is becoming ever more crucial. Railway turnout systems are one of the most critical pieces of equipment in railway infrastructure. When incipient failures occur, they mostly progress slowly from the fault free to the failure state. Although studies focusing on the identification of possible failures in railway turnout systems exist in the literature, neither the detection nor forecasting of failure progression has been reported. This paper presents a simple state-based prognostic method that aims to detect and forecast failure progression in electro-mechanical systems. The method is compared with Hidden Markov Model based methods on real data collected from a railway turnout system. Obtaining statistically sufficient failure progression samples is difficult considering that the natural progression of failures in electro-mechanical systems may take years. In addition, validating the classification model is difficult when the degradation is not observable. Data collection and model validation strategies for failure progression are also presented

Travel Related Fever and Rash: Two Cases of Dengue Fever

The frequency of travel-related infections in the world has increased due to the easily and widespread use of travel facilities in the 21st century. Vector-borne diseases are an important part of infectious diseases. Dengue fever is one of the travel-related infections that has been reported increasingly in recent years through the development of diagnostic methods. The aim of this report was to present two Dengue fever cases originating from travel. There was a story of mosquito bite during a trip to Sri Lanka travel in our first case. The patient was 30 years old and maculopapular rash appeared on the fifth day of contact. Three days after the onset of the rash, she has admitted to our clinic, complaining with fever and chills. Increased leukopenia and muscle enzymes were detected in the laboratory analysis. Real-time reverse transcriptase polimerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was positive in the serum sample. The patient was followed up with supportive care and discharged by improvement. The second case, a 24-year-old male, had a story of mosquito bite during his trip to Malaysia. After the patient complained of fever, chills, fever, nausea, vomiting and muscle pain, the Dengue virus (DENV) NS1 antigen test performed in this country was found to be positive. In the second case, there was no maculopapular rash and laboratory analysis showed an increase in leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and muscle enzymes. RT-PCR positivity was detected in the serum sample. The patient was followed up with supportive treatment and discharged with cure. DENV infections are caused by DENV which is common in the tropical areas of the world. There are four DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4 serotypes. DENV infections can present different clinical manifestations such as asymptomatic disease, viral syndrome, Dengue haemorrhagic fever, and Dengue shock syndrome. Dengue fever is often accompanied by arthritis, maculopapular rash and high fever. Our cases were defined as Dengue fever according to this definition. In the diagnosis of the disease, it is necessary first to be suspicious of the disease and the travel history must be questioned. In the definitive diagnosis, virus isolation, antigen, nucleic acid detection and serological tests are used. The virus can be isolated from blood, serum, urine and tissues. In the first five days after beginning of the symptoms associated with DENV infections, serum RT-PCR and Dengue NS1 antigen test may be positive

The effect of Mediterranean thyme (Thymbra spicata L. var. spicata) essential oil on fattening performance and ruminal parameters in lamb

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of Thymbra spicata L. var. spicata (TS) essential oil (10 or 15 mu l . kg(-1) live weight (LW)) on growth performance (LW, LW gain, feed intake) and rumen parameters (volatile fatty acids (VFA)) and ammonia levels, and pH) in lambs. The experiment lasted 56 days, including 14 days of adaptation and 42 of experimental period. The TS essential oil was extracted from the leaves harvested at the beginning of plant flowering and contained: 66.86% carvacrol, 12.18% p-cymene, 10.73%.-terpinene and 2.77% thymol. The addition of TS essential oil to concentrate feed did not affect final LW, LW gain, feed intake or feed conversion ratio (P > 0.05). Molar concentrations (mmol . l(-1)) of total VFA and acetic (A), butyric (B) and propionic (P) acids, and levels of pH and ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) in rumen fluid were also not affected by TS essential oil inclusion (P > 0.05). However, the proportion of A and (A+B): P ratio in rumen fluid VFA increased linearly (P < 0.01) with increasing TS essential oil doses, whereas the P proportion decreased linearly (P = 0.008). So, it could be suggested that TS essential oil enhanced the concentration of selected VFA in rumen fluid through a positive effect on feed digestion in the rumen. In particular, the linear increase in A and (A+ B): P ratio could have enhanced fibrolytic effect in the rumen ecosystem. It was concluded that different doses and longer terms of use of TS essential oil should be further investigated in in vivo studies

Prevalence and Clinical Features of Celiac Disease in Healthy School-Aged Children

WOS: 000454932700025PubMed ID: 30311156Background/AimsThe aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of celiac disease (CD) in healthy school-aged children in the northern region of Cyprus and to investigate the existence of potential markers that may accompany CD. This is the first study to measure the prevalence of CD in the northern region of Cyprus.MethodsThis study included 3792 school-aged children who were between the ages of 6 and 10years between January 2015 and October 2016. CD was screened using total serum IgA, IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTG), and IgA antiendomysial (EMA) antibodies. Subjects with selective IgA deficiency were further tested for IgG-tTG. Small intestinal biopsies were performed on all subjects with tTG antibody positivity. Risk factors and symptoms related to CD were evaluated using questionnaires in both the CD and control groups.ResultsOf the 3792 subjects, 39 were antibody positive (IgA-tTG was positive only in 14 subjects, IgA-tTG plus IgA-EMA in 21 subjects, and IgG-tTG in 4 subjects). IgA deficiency was detected in 11 subjects (0.29%). IgG-tTG was positive in 4 subjects with IgA deficiency (36.3%). Intestinal biopsies were performed on 28 of the 39 seropositive subjects. The biopsy findings of 15 children were consistent with CD (IgA-tTG positive in 3, IgA-tTG and IgA-EMA positive in 10, and IgG-tTG positive in 2). Thus, biopsies confirmed CD in 1:256 children (0.39%).ConclusionsOur study, which is the first study of school-aged children from the northern region of Cyprus, revealed that CD is a prevalent disease in this region.Turkish Pediatric Association; Cyprus Turkish Pediatric AssociationThis study was conducted under the leadership and with financial support of the Turkish Pediatric Association. We thank the Cyprus Turkish Pediatric Association, and Turkish Pediatric Association for all their support. We also thank Figen Ince, Hasret Ayyildiz Civan, Mine Ozdil Cirkinoglu, Bircan Kavaz, Hulya Madi, Sevgi Oksuz, Nazife Oner, Kamuran Aribuka, Saziye Guclu, Remzi Gardiyanoglu, Nurcin Incirli, Ayten Beyar, Rasit Kayra, Halil Hizal, Hasan Garabli, Cemal Mert, Senel Dalinc, Nesibe Kocaman, Aysen Yucel Varol, Cengiz Elyeli, Havva Duran, Pembe Akgol, Emine Ertekin, Senay Kosar, Ragbet Tosun, Osman Kilinc, Saniye Yildirim, Arife Tek, Sengul Ucak, Nevin Cinar, Esma Karaca, Emine Zurnali, Ayse Curuk, Hatice Turan, Mahmude Erdevir, Havva Ucar, Suna Sagir, Cemile Sener, and Selcuk Cagsin for both blood sampling in the schools and informing parents of the study group

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC)

Background: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a threat to patient safety; however, there were no available data on SSI rates stratified by surgical procedure (SP) in Turkey.Methods: Between January 2005 and December 2011, a cohort prospective surveillance study on SSIs was conducted by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) in 20 hospitals in 16 Turkish cities. Data from hospitalized patients were registered using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) methods and definitions for SSIs. Surgical procedures (SPs) were classified into 22 types according to International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision criteria.Results: We recorded 1879 SSIs, associated with 41,563 SPs (4.3%; 95% confidence interval, 4.3-4.7). Among the results, the SSI rate per type of SP compared with rates reported by the INICC and CDC NHSN were 11.9% for ventricular shunt (vs 12.9% vs 5.6%); 5.3% for craniotomy (vs 4.4% vs 2.6%); 4.9% for coronary bypass with chest and donor incision (vs 4.5 vs 2.9); 3.5% for hip prosthesis (vs 2.6% vs 1.3%), and 3.0% for cesarean section (vs 0.7% vs 1.8%).Conclusions: In most of the 22 types of SP analyzed, our SSI rates were higher than the CDC NHSN rates and similar to the INICC rates. This study advances the knowledge of SSI epidemiology in Turkey, allowing the implementation of targeted interventions. Copyright (C) 2015 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN