522 research outputs found
Sulfonic acid coating of refractory sand for three-dimensional printing applications
Abstract: Rapid sand casting processes by additive manufacturing are predominantly based on furfuryl alcohol resin bonded sand catalysed with sulfonic acid. The prior coating of the refractory sand with sulfonic acid is a crucial process to ensure the suitability of the sand for threedimensional printing applications. The present paper investigated the sulfonic acid coating process of a local silica sand, which was found to have potential for three-dimensional printing applications in previous studies. Experimental conditions included sulfonic acid catalyst addition and mixing time. Coated sand was assessed for flowability and mechanical properties of test specimens produced by three-dimensional printing using a Voxeljet VX 1000. The optimum catalyst addition ranged between 0.3 and 0.6% yielding to transverse strength in the order of 110 to 165 KN/m2 and tensile strength ranging from 710 to 770 KN/m2
Evaluation of the phenolic and flavonoid contents and radical scavenging activity of three southern African medicinal plants
Warburgia salutaris (Bertol. F.) Chiovs, Rhoicissus tridentata (L.f.) Wild & Drum and Terminalia sericea
(Burch. ex DC.), are widely used medicinal plants in southern Africa. The aim of the study was to
determine the phenolic and flavonoid content and evaluate the antioxidant activity of the three
medicinal plants. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined spectrophotometrically as
gallic acid and rutin equivalents, respectively. Individual phenolic acids were identified by means of gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry. Antioxidant activities of the crude extracts were assessed using
the TEAC assay. The highest phenolic content was detected in the crude methanol extract of the bark
of W. salutaris and the highest flavonoid content was found in the crude methanol extract of the leaves
of this plant. In all the studied plants the alkaline hydrolysable fraction yielded a greater variety of
phenolic acids compared to the soluble/free phenolic acid fractions. The three medicinal plants
investigated were found to be strong radical scavengers supporting the traditional use of these
medicinal plants.The Gauteng Department of Health and the National Research Foundation in South Africa.http://www.academicjournals.org/AJPPam201
An Empirical Study of Bots in Software Development -- Characteristics and Challenges from a Practitioner's Perspective
Software engineering bots - automated tools that handle tedious tasks - are
increasingly used by industrial and open source projects to improve developer
productivity. Current research in this area is held back by a lack of consensus
of what software engineering bots (DevBots) actually are, what characteristics
distinguish them from other tools, and what benefits and challenges are
associated with DevBot usage. In this paper we report on a mixed-method
empirical study of DevBot usage in industrial practice. We report on findings
from interviewing 21 and surveying a total of 111 developers. We identify three
different personas among DevBot users (focusing on autonomy, chat interfaces,
and "smartness"), each with different definitions of what a DevBot is, why
developers use them, and what they struggle with. We conclude that future
DevBot research should situate their work within our framework, to clearly
identify what type of bot the work targets, and what advantages practitioners
can expect. Further, we find that there currently is a lack of general purpose
"smart" bots that go beyond simple automation tools or chat interfaces. This is
problematic, as we have seen that such bots, if available, can have a
transformative effect on the projects that use them.Comment: To be published at the ACM Joint European Software Engineering
Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering
(ESEC/FSE
Long-term safety and efficacy of alirocumab in South African patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia : the ODYSSEY open-label extension study
BACKGROUND : Alirocumab reduces low-density lipoprotein
cholesterol (LDL-C) levels by up to 61%. The ODYSSEY
Open-Label Extension study investigated the effect of
alirocumab in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia
(HeFH) over 144 weeks.
METHODS : Eligible patients with HeFH had completed an
earlier double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled parent
study. Patients were initiated on 75 mg alirocumab Q2W
subcutaneous (SC) unless baseline LDL-C was > 8.9 mmol/l,
in which case they received 150 mg alirocumab Q2W. Dose
titration to 150 mg Q2W was at the investigator’s discretion.
RESULTS : The study enrolled 167 patients and the parent study
mean (± SD) baseline LDL-C level was 3.65 ± 1.9 mmol/l.
Mean LDL-C level was reduced by 48.7% at week 144; mean
on-treatment LDL-C was 2.30 ± 1.24 mmol/l. Eight patients
reported injection-site reactions, with one treatment discontinuation.
Treatment emergent anti-drug antibodies were
identified in five patients but these did not affect the efficacy.
CONCLUSION : Alirocumab effectively and safely reduced LDL-C
in these patients.http://www.cvja.co.zahj2020Physiolog
Revival of the magnetar PSR J1622-4950: observations with MeerKAT, Parkes, XMM-Newton, Swift, Chandra, and NuSTAR
New radio (MeerKAT and Parkes) and X-ray (XMM-Newton, Swift, Chandra, and
NuSTAR) observations of PSR J1622-4950 indicate that the magnetar, in a
quiescent state since at least early 2015, reactivated between 2017 March 19
and April 5. The radio flux density, while variable, is approximately 100x
larger than during its dormant state. The X-ray flux one month after
reactivation was at least 800x larger than during quiescence, and has been
decaying exponentially on a 111+/-19 day timescale. This high-flux state,
together with a radio-derived rotational ephemeris, enabled for the first time
the detection of X-ray pulsations for this magnetar. At 5%, the 0.3-6 keV
pulsed fraction is comparable to the smallest observed for magnetars. The
overall pulsar geometry inferred from polarized radio emission appears to be
broadly consistent with that determined 6-8 years earlier. However, rotating
vector model fits suggest that we are now seeing radio emission from a
different location in the magnetosphere than previously. This indicates a novel
way in which radio emission from magnetars can differ from that of ordinary
pulsars. The torque on the neutron star is varying rapidly and unsteadily, as
is common for magnetars following outburst, having changed by a factor of 7
within six months of reactivation.Comment: Published in ApJ (2018 April 5); 13 pages, 4 figure
Evidence for a vector charmonium-like state in
We report the measurement of via
initial-state radiation using a data sample of an integrated luminosity of
921.9 fb collected with the Belle detector at the and
nearby. We find evidence for an enhancement with a 3.4 significance in
the invariant mass of The measured mass and width
are
and ,
respectively. The mass, width, and quantum numbers of this enhancement are
consistent with the charmonium-like state at 4626 MeV/ recently reported
by Belle in The product of the cross section and the branching fraction of
is measured from
threshold to 5.6 GeV.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Measurement of the Branching Fraction of the Decay in Fully Reconstructed Events at Belle
We present an analysis of the exclusive
decay, where represents an
electron or a muon, with the assumption of charge-conjugation symmetry and
lepton universality. The analysis uses the full data sample
collected by the Belle detector, corresponding to 711 fb of integrated
luminosity. We select the events by fully reconstructing one meson in
hadronic decay modes, subsequently determining the properties of the other
meson. We extract the signal yields using a binned maximum-likelihood fit to
the missing-mass squared distribution in bins of the invariant mass of the two
pions or the momentum transfer squared. We measure a total branching fraction
of , where the
uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. This result is the
first reported measurement of this decay.Comment: 23 pages, 19 figure
Diagnostic accuracy of non-specialist versus specialist health workers in diagnosing hearing loss and ear disease in Malawi.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a non-specialist health worker can accurately undertake audiometry and otoscopy, the essential clinical examinations in a survey of hearing loss, instead of a highly skilled specialist (i.e. ENT or audiologist). METHODS: A clinic-based diagnostic accuracy study was conducted in Malawi. Consecutively sampled participants ≥ 18 years had their hearing tested using a validated tablet-based audiometer (hearTest) by an audiologist (gold standard), an audiology officer, a nurse and a community health worker (CHW). Otoscopy for diagnosis of ear pathologies was conducted by an ENT specialist (gold standard), an ENT clinical officer, a CHW, an ENT nurse and a general nurse. Sensitivity, specificity and kappa (κ) were calculated. 80% sensitivity, 70% specificity and kappa of 0.6 were considered adequate. RESULTS: Six hundred and seventeen participants were included. High sensitivity (>90%) and specificity (>85%) in detecting bilateral hearing loss was obtained by all non-specialists. For otoscopy, sensitivity and specificity were >80% for all non-specialists in diagnosing any pathology except for the ENT nurse. Agreement in diagnoses for the ENT clinical officer was good (κ = 0.7) in both ears. For other assessors, moderate agreement was found (κ = 0.5). CONCLUSION: A non-specialist can be trained to accurately assess hearing using mobile-based audiometry. However, accurate diagnosis of ear conditions requires at least an ENT clinical officer (or equivalent). Conducting surveys of hearing loss with non-specialists could lower costs and increase data collection, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where ENT specialists are scarce
Field-testing of a rapid survey method to assess the prevalence and causes of hearing loss in Gao'an, Jiangxi province, China.
BACKGROUND: The Rapid Assessment of Hearing Loss (RAHL) survey protocol aims to measure the prevalence and causes of hearing loss in a low cost and rapid manner, to inform planning of ear and hearing services. This paper reports on the first field-test of the RAHL in Gao'an County, Jiangxi Province, China. This study aimed to 1) To report on the feasibility of RAHL; 2) report on the estimated prevalence and causes of hearing loss in Gao'an. METHODS: A cross-sectional population-based survey was conducted in September-October 2018. Forty-seven clusters in Gao'an County were selected using probability-proportionate-to-size sampling. Within clusters, compact segment sampling was conducted to select 30 people aged 50+. A questionnaire was completed covering sociodemographics, hearing health, and risk factors. Automated pure-tone audiometry was completed for all participants, using smartphone-based audiometry (hearTest), at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz (kHz). All participants had their ears examined by an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor, using otoscopy, and probable causes of hearing loss assigned. Prevalence estimates were age and sex standardised to the Jiangxi population. Feasibility of a cluster size of 30 was examined by assessing the response rate, and the proportion of clusters completed in 1 day. RESULTS: 1344 of 1421 eligible participants completed the survey (94.6%). 100% of clusters were completed in 1 day. The survey was completed in 4.5 weeks. The prevalence of moderate or greater hearing loss (pure-tone average of 0.5, 1, 2, 4 kHz of > = 41dBHL in the better ear) was 16.3% (95% CI = 14.3, 18.5) and for any level of hearing loss (pure-tone average of > = 26dBHL in the better ear) the prevalence was 53.2% (95% CI = 49.2, 57.1). The majority of hearing loss was due to acquired sensorineural causes (91.7% left; 92.1% right). Overall 54.0% of the population aged 50+ (108,000 people) are in need of diagnostic audiology services, 3.4% were in need of wax removal (7000 people), and 4.8% were in need of surgical services (9500 people). Hearing aid coverage was 0.4%. CONCLUSION: The RAHL survey protocol is feasible, demonstrated through the number of people examined per day, and the high response rate. The survey was completed in a much shorter period than previous all-age surveys in China. Some remaining challenges included assignment of causes of probable sensorineural loss. The data obtained from this survey can be used to scale-up hearing services in Gao'an
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