8,656 research outputs found
Projection-based measurement and identification
A recently developed Projection-based Digital Image Correlation (P-DVC)
method is here extended to 4D (space and time) displacement field measurement
and mechanical identification based on a single radiograph per loading step
instead of volumes as in standard DVC methods. Two levels of data reductions
are exploited, namely, reduction of the data acquisition (and time) by a factor
of 1000 and reduction of the solution space by exploiting model reduction
techniques. The analysis of a complete tensile elastoplastic test composed of
127 loading steps performed in 6 minutes is presented. The 4D displacement
field as well as the elastoplastic constitutive law are identified. Keywords:
Image-based identification, Model reduction, Fast 4D identification, In-situ
tomography measurements. INTRODUCTION Identification and validation of
increasingly complex mechanical models is a major concern in experimental solid
mechanics. The recent developments of computed tomography coupled with in-situ
tests provide extremely rich and non-destructive analyses [1]. In the latter
cases, the sample was imaged inside a tomograph, either with interrupted
mechanical load or with a continuously evolving loading and on-the-fly
acquisitions (as ultra-fast X-ray synchrotron tomography, namely, 20 Hz full
scan acquisition for the study of crack propagation [2]). Visualization of fast
transformations, crack openings, or unsteady behavior become accessible.
Combined with full-field measurements, in-situ tests offer a quantitative basis
for identifying a broad range of mechanical behavior.Comment: SEM 2019, Jun 2019, Reno, United State
Non-Uremic Calciphylaxis: a Rare Diagnosis with Limited Therapeutic Strategies
Calciphylaxis is a rare condition characterized by the emergence of non-healing skin ulcers secondary to arterial calcification and thrombosis, typically diagnosed in patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). When it develops in patients without ESKD, it is called non-uremic calciphylaxis (NUC). The latter is an even rarer diagnosis with an uncertain pathophysiology and a high mortality rate (52%), mainly due to sepsis (50%). Cutaneous biopsy is diagnostic. Therapeutic measures recommended for NUC are limited to wound debridement, analgesia, and control of infection and risk factors. Other therapeutic options exist but with a low level of evidence. We present the case of a 78-year-old woman with NUC in her lower limbs who died of sepsis. NUC is a therapeutic challenge lacking efficient strategies.
Learning points: Calciphylaxis in the absence of end-stage kidney disease is called non-uremic calciphylaxis (NUC).This disease is a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge.As therapeutic strategies for NUC mainly derive from those for uremic calciphylaxis, more efficient therapeutic measures and evidence-based recommendations are needed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Survival of Trojan-Type Companions of Neptune During Primordial Planet Migration
We investigate the survivability of Trojan-type companions of Neptune during
primordial radial migration of the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune. Loss of Neptune Trojans during planetary migration is not a random
diffusion process. Rather, losses occur almost exclusively during discrete
episodes when Trojan particles are swept by secondary resonances associated
with mean-motion commensurabilities of Uranus with Neptune. The single greatest
episode of loss ejects nearly 75% of existing Neptune Trojans and occurs just
prior to Neptune reaching its final orbit.Comment: LaTeX file, 26 total pages with 1 table and 11 eps figures. Submitted
to Icaru
Knowledge of family health program practitioners in Brazil about sickle cell disease: a descriptive, cross-sectional study
BACKGROUND: Although sickle cell disease is an important public health problem in Brazil, there is a gap in the literature on the level of knowledge of primary health care professionals about the treatment and management of sickle cell disease. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge about sickle cell disease of physicians and nurses who work in the Family Health Program in a region of Brazil with a high prevalence of this disease. METHODS: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted at the municipality of Montes Claros, in the north of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Study participants included 96 physicians and nurses who work at the Family Health Program in an urban area of the city. Data was collected using an original, partially tested questionnaire based on health care check points for children with sickle cell disease established in educational protocols from the State Health Secretary of Minas Gerais and the Ministry of Health. The structured questionnaire contained 47 questions addressing three axes: epidemiology (8 questions); clinical manifestations (13 questions); and management of children with sickle cell disease (26 questions). Knowledge was measured through mean correct responses to proposed questions. Ethical principles were respected and this project was approved by the Committee of Ethics in Research. RESULTS: 59.4% (57) of the study participants were nurses and 40.6% (39) were physicians. The median length of training and median length of service in primary health care were 4.3 (2.8-8.0) years and 4.0 (2.0-7.1) years, respectively. The mean performance in knowledge tests was < 75%, with 5.7/8 (SD = 1.4) for the "epidemiology" questions; 8.6/13 (SD = 2.2) for "clinical manifestations"; and 17.0/26 (SD = 2.9) for "management of children with sickle cell disease" questions; resulting in a mean total of 31.4/47 (SD = 5.10) correct responses. A statistically significant association was found between the number of correct responses and family health care qualifications (p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need to improve primary health care professional training in the care of children with sickle cell disease
Diagnóstico do estado nutricional do doente oncológico através do IMC, MUST e AGS-GD
Trabalho complementar (Trabalho de Investigação) realizado no âmbito da Unidade Curricular Estágio da Licenciatura em Ciências da Nutrição da Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto, sob orientação de Dr.ª Sílvia Pinhão (Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto) e coorientação de Dr.ª Rita Costa Brotas de Carvalho (Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo de Ponta Delgada)Resumo da tese: Introdução: A doença oncológica resulta de uma proliferação celular anormal e é causada por uma interação de fatores alimentares, genéticos e ambientais, representando um enorme problema de saúde pública, sendo responsável por milhões de mortes, por ano, em todo o mundo. Objetivo: Conhecer o estado nutricional do doente oncológico. População e métodos: Estudo transversal de avaliação do estado nutricional de doentes oncológicos que frequentam o Hospital de Dia de Oncologia do Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo de Ponta Delgada, através da aplicação de três ferramentas: IMC, MUST e AGS-GD. Resultados/discussão: A amostra é constituída por 92 doentes, 52 do sexo masculino com idade média de 59 anos e 40 do sexo feminino com idade média de 52 anos. Verificou-se que o IMC não é a ferramenta mais indicada para a avaliação do risco de desnutrição /desnutrição em doentes oncológicos, pois apenas detetou 9,8% dos doentes em risco de desnutrição. Observou-se que o MUST também não é a ferramenta adequada para avaliar este tipo de doentes, uma vez que abrange parâmetros pouco específicos e mal adaptados ao mesmo. No entanto, o MUST conseguiu detetar mais casos de desnutrição do que o IMC (27,2% vs 9.8%). A AGS-GD foi o método que detetou mais casos de doentes desnutridos (55,4%) em comparação com as outras ferramentas. Conclusão: A AGS-GD parece ser o método que melhor traduz a realidade e o estado nutricional do doente oncológico.Thesis abstract: Introduction: The oncologic disease results from abnormal cell proliferation and is caused by an interaction of dietary factors, genetic and environmental, representing a major public health problem, accounting for millions of deaths, per year, worldwide. Objective: Know the nutritional status of the cancer patient. Population/Methods: Cross-sectional study to assess the nutritional status of cancer patients who attend Hospital de Dia de Oncologia of Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo of Ponta Delgada, through the application of three tools: BMI, MUST and AGS-GD. Results/Discussion: The sample is composed of 92 patients, 52 males, mean age 59 years and 40 females with mean age of 52 years. It was found that BMI is not the most appropriate tool for assessing the risk of malnutrition/malnutrition in cancer patients, since only detected 9.8% of patients at risk of malnutrition. It was observed that MUST is not a suitable tool to evaluate this type of patient, since it covers a less specific and maladaptive parameters thereto. However, MUST was able to detect most cases of malnutrition than BMI (27,2% vs 9,8%). The AGS-GD was the method that detected more cases of malnutrition patients (55,4%) compared with the other tools. Conclusion: The AGS-GD seems to be the method that best reflects the reality and the nutritional status of the cancer patient
Scaling in a post-growth era: Learning from Social Agricultural Cooperatives
This is the final version. Available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record. It has become normative in organization and management studies literature to consider scaling as a synonym for organizational growth. Scaling is typically understood as scaling-up. This article demonstrates that, in the context of post-growth organizations, scaling involves a more complex set of dynamics. Directing scholarly attention to scaling in the context of Italian Social Agricultural Cooperatives (i.e. organizations that hold a different rationale and modus operandi from the capitalist enterprise), this research contributes to the literature on scaling the impact of post-growth organizations by identifying nine different scaling routes: organizational growth (vertical and horizontal); organizational downscaling; impact on policies; multiplication; impact on organizational culture; impact on societal culture; aggregation; and diffusion. This article demonstrates that post-growth scaling: (1) requires the synergistic interaction of different strategies; (2) focuses on impacting societal culture; (3) does not necessarily require organizational growth; and (4) is a relational process, embedded in socio-ecological systems. The typology presented in this article empowers post-growth organizations to become more aware of different available scaling routes, unlocking their transformative potential and supporting the transition towards a post-growth future, in which the goal of economics is the pursuit of human and ecological flourishing
Assessing the value of a portable near infrared spectroscopy sensor for predicting pork meat quality traits of "asturcelta autochthonous swine breed
Sixty-one intact meat samples from Asturcelta autochthonous swine breed were scanned in the slaughterhouse in reflectance mode. A handheld microelectromechanical system digital transform (Phazir1624, Polychromix Inc.), with a window sampling area of 0.8 × 1 cm and wavelengths ranging from 1,600 to 2,400 nm, was used. With the spectra database recorded were developed different chemometrical models assaying first and second derivatives as math treatment and standard normal variate (SNV) and multiplicative scatter correction for minimizing scattering effect. The greatest predictive capacity was achieved after applying SNV and first derivative for moisture, intramuscular fat (IMF) content, and pH parameters and second derivative for CIE L*, a*, b* colorimetric values, and the Warner-Bratzler force (instrumental texture). The coefficients of determination for calibration ranged from 0.63 to 0.89. The ratio between the standard error of the laboratory and the standard error of calibration ranged from 0.8 to 2.5 for all parameters (1.7 on average) with the exception of b and pH with ratios of 3.5 and 4.1, respectively. The statistical values obtained for the models developed to estimate IMF, CIE L*, a*, b*, moisture, and pH, displayed acceptable predictive capacity. For instrumental texture, the model could be able to discriminate among tender, medium, and hard meat in carcasses for characterization slaughter purposes. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Identification is Pointless: Quantum Reference Frames, Localisation of Events, and the Quantum Hole Argument
The study of quantum reference frames (QRFs) is motivated by the idea of
taking into account the quantum properties of the reference frames that we use,
explicitly or implicitly, in our description of physical systems. Like a
classical reference frame, a QRF can be used to define physical quantities such
as time, position, momentum, and spin relationally. Unlike its classical
analogue, it relativises the notions of superposition and entanglement. Here,
we provide a novel explanation for the frame-dependence of superposition and
entanglement by tracing it back to the question of how configurations or
locations are identified across different branches in superposition. We show
that, in the presence of symmetries, whether a system is in 'the same' or
'different' configurations across the branches depends on the choice of QRF.
Thus, sameness and difference-and, as a result, superposition and
entanglement-lose their absolute meaning. We apply these ideas to
semi-classical spacetimes in superposition and use coincidences of four scalar
fields to construct a comparison map between the spacetime points in the
different branches. This allows us to determine whether a given event is
located at 'the same' or 'different' points in the superposed spacetimes. Since
this feature depends on the choice of QRF, we argue that the localisation of an
event should not be seen as an inherent property. This alleviates previously
voiced concerns that QRF changes could have empirical consequences for
interference experiments, such as the BMV proposal. Moreover, it implies that
the number of events is equal in both the flat and the curved spacetime
implementations of indefinite causal order. We conclude with the 'quantum hole
argument' as a generalisation of Einstein's hole argument, arguing that not
just spacetime points but also their identification across a superposition lose
their absolute physical meaning.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures. Comments are welcom
Metals and arsenic enrichment processes in sulfide-rich waste dumps - the role of the clay size fraction
[Extract] 1. Purpose
Abandoned mines pose some of the most outstanding environmental risks, namely related
with potentially toxic metals and metalloids in mining soils. Mobilization or fixation of these
elements in the soil particles can be regulated by the interactions between several biogeochemical
and mineralogical processes. In this context, the present study is focused on the detection of metals
and arsenic enrichment processes in different particle size fractions of two distinctive sulphide-rich
waste dumps. Furthermore, the study evaluates the role of typical clay size minerals, such as
oxyhydroxides and clay minerals in the retention of toxic elements...info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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