Unsteady Flow of a Viscous Fluid Through an Annulus

One boundary of an annulus is fixed, and other boundary is subjected to a series of pulses. The fluid in the annulus, therefore acquires a velocity, relative to the annulus, due to the transfer of momentum from the boundary by viscous stresses. The flow relative to the annulus is determined when a constant pressure gradient and a series of pulses act together. The velocity profiles for unsteady motion, are plotted for various times and for a fixed radii ratio

A path analysis of the relationship between job stress and care for ageing parents in Thailand: a case study of Thai migrant workers

This study examines internal labour migration in Thailand to study the stress level of workers who have to care of and look after their ageing parents. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 300 Thai migrant labourers who continuously have to attend to their ageing parents. Thai Job Content Questionnaire (Thai-JCQ) was used to gather information on job stress level using the Job Demand Control (JDC) model developed by Karasek. Findings show that distance, wages, and working conditions have a direct effect on job stress. Wages had the most direct relationship with job stress with a standardised regression weight of 0.400 (p-value<0.01). In conclusion, distance, wages, and working conditions, each directly impacts job stress. However, caring for ageing parents is a mediator and a moderator of job stress levels

An algorithm for the contextual adaption of SURF octave selection with good matching performance: best octaves.

Speeded-Up Robust Features is a feature extraction algorithm designed for real-time execution, although this is rarely achievable on low-power hardware such as that in mobile robots. One way to reduce the computation is to discard some of the scale-space octaves, and previous research has simply discarded the higher octaves. This paper shows that this approach is not always the most sensible and presents an algorithm for choosing which octaves to discard based on the properties of the imagery. Results obtained with this best octaves algorithm show that it is able to achieve a significant reduction in computation without compromising matching performance

Seizure detection from EEG signals using Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition

We present a data driven approach to classify ictal (epileptic seizure) and non-ictal EEG signals using the multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) algorithm. MEMD is a multivariate extension of empirical mode decomposition (EMD), which is an established method to perform the decomposition and time-frequency (T−F) analysis of non-stationary data sets. We select suitable feature sets based on the multiscale T−F representation of the EEG data via MEMD for the classification purposes. The classification is achieved using the artificial neural networks. The efficacy of the proposed method is verified on extensive publicly available EEG datasets

Generalized second-order partial derivatives of 1/r

The generalized second-order partial derivatives of 1/r, where r is the radial distance in 3D, are obtained using a result of the potential theory of classical analysis. Some non-spherical regularization alternatives to the standard spherical-regularization expression for the derivatives are derived. The utility of a spheroidal-regularization expression is illustrated on an example from classical electrodynamics.Comment: 12 pages; as accepted for publication by European Journal of Physic

Elastodynamic singular points and their applications

Suitable singularites such as a dynamical Kelvin quadropole are defined to study the dynamical displacements set up in an infinite homogeneous and isotropic elastic medium. Approximate solutions are presented up to terms which are of higher order than those known so far

Geometry of Information Integration

Information geometry is used to quantify the amount of information integration within multiple terminals of a causal dynamical system. Integrated information quantifies how much information is lost when a system is split into parts and information transmission between the parts is removed. Multiple measures have been proposed as a measure of integrated information. Here, we analyze four of the previously proposed measures and elucidate their relations from a viewpoint of information geometry. Two of them use dually flat manifolds and the other two use curved manifolds to define a split model. We show that there are hierarchical structures among the measures. We provide explicit expressions of these measures

The benefits of 24/7 in-house intensivist coverage for prolonged-stay cardiac surgery patients

ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of 24/7 in-house intensivist care for patients requiring prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) stay following cardiac surgery.MethodsA propensity-matched retrospective before-and-after observational study comparing 2 models of ICU physician staffing was undertaken. Previously, residents (with intensivist backup) provided care for patients after cardiac surgery (surgical ICU cohort). ICU physician staffing was modified with the implementation of 24/7 in-house board-certified intensivist coverage in a cardiac surgery ICU (cardiac surgery ICU cohort) for postoperative care. Patients with a prolonged ICU stay (ie, >48 hours) were identified and their outcomes analyzed for both models of care.ResultsPropensity matching between cohorts was successful for 271 patients (75.7%), with matched patients being used for comparison. There was no difference in ICU or 30-day mortality. There was also no difference in ICU length of stay (LOS); however, the median hospital LOS was significantly shorter in the cardiac surgery ICU cohort (12.3 vs 11.0 days; P < .01). There was a decrease in the proportion of patients receiving transfused red blood cells in the cardiac surgery ICU cohort (80.8% vs 65.7%; P < .001). The cardiac surgery ICU cohort had reduced complications relating to sepsis (4.7% vs 0.7%; P < .01) and renal failure (22.5% vs 12.5%; P < .01); however, the identification of neurologic dysfunction was significantly higher (11.1% vs 20.7%; P < .01).ConclusionsFor patients requiring a prolonged ICU stay, our model of 24/7 in-house intensivist coverage was not associated with changes in ICU LOS, nor ICU and 30-day mortality. However a reduction in blood product use, ICU complications, and total hospital LOS was observed