The beginning of a new era in design: Calibrated discrete element modelling

The reliable storage and flow of bulk materials requires a comprehensive design process and good understanding of the flow properties of a bulk material. Analytical and empirical design techniques form the backbone of many design processes as they have been validated by research, however, theories based on continuum mechanics have many shortcomings and are restricted to 2-D analysis. Discrete element modelling (DEM) is proving to be a popular analysis and simulation method to verify designs for a wide range of bulk material processing and handling operations, such as transfer chutes. With the advances in computing and DEM technology, DEM has become a popular numerical method found on many engineers\u27 desktops

Functional Analysis of the Chemokine Receptor CCR3 on Airway Epithelial Cells

The function of chemokine receptors on structural cells is only partially known. We previously reported the expression of a functional CCR3 receptor on airway epithelial cells (EC). We speculated that CCR3 might drive wound repair and expression of inflammatory genes in epithelium. The human airway EC lines BEAS-2B, 16-HBE, and primary bronchial EC were used to test the effect of in vitro challenge with the CCR3 ligands CCL11/eotaxin, CCL24/eotaxin-2, or CCL26/eotaxin-3 on 1) wound repair, using an established wound model; 2) cell proliferation and chemotaxis, using specific fluorometric assays; and 3) gene expression, using pathway-specific arrays for inflammatory and profibrotic cytokines, chemokines, and chemokine receptor genes. Agonist specificity was tested by cell pretreatment with an AstraZeneca CCR3 antagonist (10(-8) - 10(-6) M). CCL24 challenge significantly accelerated epithelial wound closure, with similar effects exerted by CCL11 and CCL26. This effect was time dependent, submaximal at 1 nM, and comparable in potency to epidermal growth factor. CCL24 induced a concentration-dependent increase in EC proliferation and chemotaxis, with significant effects observed at 10 nM. The AstraZeneca compound selectively inhibited these CCL24-mediated responses. CCL11 induced the up-regulation of several profibrogenic molecules such as fibroblast growth factor 1 and 5 and of several CC and CXC chemokines. Epithelial immunostaining for CCR3 was stronger in bronchial biopsies of asthmatics displaying marked inflammatory changes than in nondiseased samples. Epithelial CCR3 participates in key functions for wound repair, amplifies the expression of profibrogenic and chemokine transcripts, and appears up-regulated in inflamed asthmatic airways

Interval valued (\in,\ivq)-fuzzy filters of pseudo BLBL-algebras

We introduce the concept of quasi-coincidence of a fuzzy interval value with an interval valued fuzzy set. By using this new idea, we introduce the notions of interval valued (\in,\ivq)-fuzzy filters of pseudo $BL$-algebras and investigate some of their related properties. Some characterization theorems of these generalized interval valued fuzzy filters are derived. The relationship among these generalized interval valued fuzzy filters of pseudo $BL$-algebras is considered. Finally, we consider the concept of implication-based interval valued fuzzy implicative filters of pseudo $BL$-algebras, in particular, the implication operators in Lukasiewicz system of continuous-valued logic are discussed

The response of mild steel and armour steel plates to localised air-blast loading-comparison of numerical modelling techniques

This paper presents a comparative study of numerical, experimental and empirical techniques on the effect of localised air blast loads on mild steel and armour steel plates. The blast load effects on monolithic plates have been accounted for by using different approaches provided in the Finite Element hydrocode ABAQUS 6.13, namely an Eulerian Lagrangian and a Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian model. In the first model, the air and the explosive were modelled using multi-material Eulerian grids while the plate was modelled using a rigid Lagrangian mesh, while in the second model the rigid target was replaced with deformable plate. The transient deformation of the plate, strain localisation, pressure distribution on the plate have been investigated in the FE models, which have been validated against small scale experimental data for a limited range of charge sizes for both the mild steel and armoured steel. Despite the lower deflection of armour steel compared to mild steel plates, both plates were shown to undergo rupture upon similar charge mass and stand-off. For this purpose, a non-dimensional analysis was carried out with consideration of stand-off distance and slenderness ratio to predict the rupture impulse

Overcoming barriers to engaging socio-economically disadvantaged populations in CHD primary prevention: a qualitative study

<p><b>Background:</b> Preventative medicine has become increasingly important in efforts to reduce the burden of chronic disease in industrialised countries. However, interventions that fail to recruit socio-economically representative samples may widen existing health inequalities. This paper explores the barriers and facilitators to engaging a socio-economically disadvantaged (SED) population in primary prevention for coronary heart disease (CHD).</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> The primary prevention element of Have a Heart Paisley (HaHP) offered risk screening to all eligible individuals. The programme employed two approaches to engaging with the community: a) a social marketing campaign and b) a community development project adopting primarily face-to-face canvassing. Individuals living in areas of SED were under-recruited via the social marketing approach, but successfully recruited via face-to-face canvassing. This paper reports on focus group discussions with participants, exploring their perceptions about and experiences of both approaches.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Various reasons were identified for low uptake of risk screening amongst individuals living in areas of high SED in response to the social marketing campaign and a number of ways in which the face-to-face canvassing approach overcame these barriers were identified. These have been categorised into four main themes: (1) processes of engagement; (2) issues of understanding; (3) design of the screening service and (4) the priority accorded to screening. The most immediate barriers to recruitment were the invitation letter, which often failed to reach its target, and the general distrust of postal correspondence. In contrast, participants were positive about the face-to-face canvassing approach. Participants expressed a lack of knowledge and understanding about CHD and their risk of developing it and felt there was a lack of clarity in the information provided in the mailing in terms of the process and value of screening. In contrast, direct face-to-face contact meant that outreach workers could explain what to expect. Participants felt that the procedure for uptake of screening was demanding and inflexible, but that the drop-in sessions employed by the community development project had a major impact on recruitment and retention.</p> <p><b>Conclusion:</b> Socio-economically disadvantaged individuals can be hard-to-reach; engagement requires strategies tailored to the needs of the target population rather than a population-wide approach.</p&gt

MRSA Causing Infections in Hospitals in Greater Metropolitan New York: Major Shift in the Dominant Clonal Type between 1996 and 2014

A surveillance study in 1996 identified the USA100 clone (ST5/SCCmecII)–also known as the “New York/Japan” clone—as the most prevalent MRSA causing infections in 12 New York City hospitals. Here we update the epidemiology of MRSA in seven of the same hospitals eighteen years later in 2013/14. Most of the current MRSA isolates (78 of 121) belonged to the MRSA clone USA300 (CC8/SCCmecIV) but the USA100 clone–dominant in the 1996 survey–still remained the second most frequent MRSA (25 of the 121 isolates) causing 32% of blood stream infections. The USA300 clone was most common in skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) and was associated with 84.5% of SSTIs compared to 5% caused by the USA100 clone. Our data indicate that by 2013/14, the USA300 clone replaced the New York/Japan clone as the most frequent cause of MRSA infections in hospitals in Metropolitan New York. In parallel with this shift in the clonal type of MRSA, there was also a striking change in the types of MRSA infections from 1996 to 2014

Using interpretative phenomenological analysis to inform physiotherapy practice: An introduction with reference to the lived experience of cerebellar ataxia

The attached file is a pre-published version of the full and final paper which can be found at the link below.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Qualitative research methods that focus on the lived experience of people with health conditions are relatively underutilised in physiotherapy research. This article aims to introduce interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), a research methodology oriented toward exploring and understanding the experience of a particular phenomenon (e.g., living with spinal cord injury or chronic pain, or being the carer of someone with a particular health condition). Researchers using IPA try to find out how people make sense of their experiences and the meanings they attach to them. The findings from IPA research are highly nuanced and offer a fine grained understanding that can be used to contextualise existing quantitative research, to inform understanding of novel or underresearched topics or, in their own right, to provoke a reappraisal of what is considered known about a specified phenomenon. We advocate IPA as a useful and accessible approach to qualitative research that can be used in the clinical setting to inform physiotherapy practice and the development of services from the perspective of individuals with particular health conditions.This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

Sabotage in Contests: A Survey

A contest is a situation in which individuals expend irretrievable resources to win valuable prize(s). ‘Sabotage’ is a deliberate and costly act of damaging a rival’s' likelihood of winning the contest. Sabotage can be observed in, e.g., sports, war, promotion tournaments, political or marketing campaigns. In this article, we provide a model and various perspectives on such sabotage activities and review the economics literature analyzing the act of sabotage in contests. We discuss the theories and evidence highlighting the means of sabotage, why sabotage occurs, and the effects of sabotage on individual players and on overall welfare, along with possible mechanisms to reduce sabotage. We note that most sabotage activities are aimed at the ablest player, the possibility of sabotage reduces productive effort exerted by the players, and sabotage may lessen the effectiveness of public policies, such as affirmative action, or information revelation in contests. We discuss various policies that a designer may employ to counteract sabotage activities. We conclude by pointing out some areas of future research

A Systems Approach to Improving Rural Care in Ethiopia

Background: Multiple interventions have been launched to improve the quality, access, and utilization of primary health care in rural, low-income settings; however, the success of these interventions varies substantially, even within single studies where the measured impact of interventions differs across sites, centers, and regions. Accordingly, we sought to examine the variation in impact of a health systems strengthening intervention and understand factors that might explain the variation in impact across primary health care units. Methodology/Principal Findings: We conducted a mixed methods positive deviance study of 20 Primary Health Care Units (PHCUs) in rural Ethiopia. Using longitudinal data from the Ethiopia Millennium Rural Initiative (EMRI), we identified PHCUs with consistently higher performance (n = 2), most improved performance (n = 3), or consistently lower performance (n = 2) in the provision of antenatal care, HIV testing in antenatal care, and skilled birth attendance rates. Using data from site visits and in-depth interviews (n = 51), we applied the constant comparative method of qualitative data analysis to identify key themes that distinguished PHCUs with different performance trajectories. Key themes that distinguished PHCUs were 1) managerial problem solving capacity, 2) relationship with the woreda (district) health office, and 3) community engagement. In higher performing PHCUs and those with the greatest improvement after the EMRI intervention, health center and health post staff were more able to solve day-to-day problems, staff had better relationships with the woreda health official, an

Traditional and Molecular Techniques for the Study of Emerging Bacterial Diseases: One Laboratory’s Perspective

Identification of emerging bacterial pathogens generally results from a chain of events involving microscopy, serology, molecular tools, and culture. Because of the spectacular molecular techniques developed in the last decades, some authors think that these techniques will shortly supplant culture. The key steps that led to the discovery of emerging bacteria have been reviewed to determine the real contribution of each technique. Historically, microscopy has played a major role. Serology provided indirect evidence for causality. Isolation and culture were crucial, as all emerging bacteria have been grown on artificial media or cell lines or at least propagated in animals. With the use of broad-range polymerase chain reaction, some bacteria have been identified or detected in new clinical syndromes. Culture has irreplaceable advantages for studying emerging bacterial diseases, as it allows antigenic studies, antibiotic susceptibility testing, experimental models, and genetic studies to be carried out, and remains the ultimate goal of pathogen identification