Acceptability criteria for high fines content aggregate pavement layers

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of increasing fines content on the performance of unbound (unstabilized) and lightly stabilized aggregate systems. The aggregate systems analyzed varied in the amount of mineral fines, the moisture state during curing and at the time of testing, and the amount of Portland cement used to stabilize the blend. The evaluation was based on measurements of anisotropic resilient properties, permanent deformation, and unconfined compressive strengths of aggregate systems. In addition, the nonlinear anisotropic resilient properties of the aggregate blends were used in a finite element program to determine critical pavement responses. Aggregate systems with higher fines contents were, as expected, more sensitive to moisture than control systems with standard fines contents. The increase in the fines content in the unbound systems when molding moisture was greater than optimum dramatically diminished the quality of performance. However, the aggregate systems with higher fines benefited considerably from low percentages of cement stabilizer. Researchers found that with the proper design of fines content, cement content, and moisture, the performance of the stabilized systems with high fines content can perform equivalent to or even better than systems with standard fines content. This was clearly demonstrated that by enhancing the resilient properties (an increase in stiffness and a decrease in the level of anisotropy), permanent deformation of the aggregate systems were significantly reduced. This finding was in conformity with unconfined compressive strength of lightly stabilized high fine systems.Aggregates Foundation for Technology, Research, and Education (AFTRE)Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineerin

Association between lumbar modic changes and MRI finding of degenerative disc in patients with low back pain

Background: Recent studies have indicated the relation of vertebral endplate lesions (Modic changes) to low back pain (LBP). The aim of this study was to investigate the Modic changes in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of patients with low back pain, and its correlation with age, sex, type of changes, number of involved segments and location of changes. Additionally, association of degenerative disc changes and disc herniation was assessed. Methods: In this retrospective study, MRI records of 229 patients with LBP referring to Medical Center of Hazrat-e-Rasoul Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from August to February 2014, were assessed and Modic changes and degenerative and herniated disc changes were recorded. Results: Based on our observations, a significant association between Modic type and age (P= 0.003) existed in patients with LBP. The highest prevalence in Modic location were observed in anterior part of vertebral endplate (48.8, P= 0.001). Although, observation of the Modic changes in superior vertebral endplate was higher than inferior parts, but this differences was not statistically significant. The highest prevalence in degenerative disc disease was disc dehydration which was observed in 18.1 of patients (P= 0.04). The relationship between the degenerative changes and Modic type was significant (P= 0.04), while the most prevalent change of disc contour was disc bulging which occurred in 23.7 of patients (P= 0.01). The highest frequency of abnormal disc contour were observed in Modic type 2 which was statistically significant (P= 0.01). Modic surface involvement above 25 was significantly associated with disc herniation (P= 0.04). There was no significant association between Modic height involvement above 25 and disc herniation. Conclusion: Considering significant association between Modic changes and degenerative and herniated disc changes, reporting of Modic changes is necessary. © 2016, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Threshold Voltage Compensation Error in Voltage Programmed AMOLED Displays

A new accurate voltage-programmed pixel circuit for active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays is presented. Composed of three TFTs and one storage capacitor, the proposed pixel circuit is implemented both in a-Si and a-IGZO TFT technologies for the same pixel size for fair comparison. The simulation result for the a-Si-based design shows that, during a programming time of 90 μs, the pixel circuit was able to compensate for a 3V threshold voltage (Vth) shift of the drive TFT with almost no error. In contrast, the a-IGZO-based pixel circuit, has a larger current error (of around 8%), despite its proven three-fold higher speed.Authors thank to the EPSRC under Project EP/M013650/1

Proposing a criteria-based assessment pattern for architectural design studios

Background and Objective:Architecture education is one of the most important issues in the development of architecture. In this decade, universities and colleges are increasingly committed to effective assessment of students to improve students' learning, and not just giving them a grade. The importance of examining this issue is that the assessment methods for architectural education systems that are based on design and studio, need more research than other fields. In the field of architectural design, unlike other fields students do not take part in written, descriptive, or multiple choice tests, and it is much more difficult to turn what architecture students offer into a score in comparison to other disciplines. One of the important pillars of education is evaluation. The crit is the most common assessment method and having feedback in architecture. In research on the crit, little attention was paid to the sense and reception of students from the process of evaluation, while being recognized as one of the greatest student's dissatisfaction. The purpose of this research is to understand the students' viewpoints about the current methods of the crit, in addition of studying student designing capability, evaluate the design and process, in a way to judge architectural projects to improve the quality of arbitration and education in this field, شnd provides model for the correct measurement and judgment method, based on goals and design process, relying on criteria which are based on educational objectives. Methods: In this research, 40 undergraduate and postgraduate students at Sure university school of architecture were selected through cluster sampling as focus groups, and experts has been used to weight the criteria by AHP method. Findings: Among them, critical explanation with weight of 38% is more important, after that the development of the chosen idea with 21%, the concept and design solution, with 17% & 14% eventually the final design with 10% is the least important of the five criteria. Conclusion: In order to evaluate the architectural design based on the students' opinion and the previous methods of evaluation, a model was proposed. The proposed pattern correctly plays all four roles of evaluation - feedback, motivator, guide, evaluation-communication. With this model, students are graded based on the quality of their work and this have nothing to do with the performance of other students; and therefore there is no comparison between students. At the same time, because a number is presented in the end, the rank of the student is determined among the other students, while each person's work is compared to his own. In this model, the criteria are defined and prioritized based on the objectives of the course. The proposed model can provide strategies for practitioners of architecture education, such as lecturers and students to enhance their learning   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Staphylococcus aureus infections in children in an Iranian referral pediatric Hospital

Introduction. Staphylococcus aureus is associated with various infections ranging from skin and soft tissues such as surgical site infections and abscesses to lower respiratory tracts and blood- stream. The aim of this study was to evaluate underlying condi- tion of patients with S. aureus infections in an Iranian referral pediatric Hospital. Material and methods. Information was extracted retrospec- tively from the medical records of patients who were diagnosed with S. aureus infections. Data obtained about the study subjects included basic demographics, reason for admission, culture site, length of hospital stay, and methicillin susceptibility. Results. The underlyning condition of of patients with S.aureus infection during November 2011 and March 2013 were included in the study. The most frequent diagnosis in patients with S. aureus infection was jaundice (12%), abscess (10%), cellulitis (10%), wound infection (8%), septic arthritis (7%) and sezeire (5%). Wound was the most common infection sites among all subjects 34/98 (35%) following by blood (20/98, 20%) as well as skin and soft tissue (19/98, 19%). The proportion of MRSA infections among all S. aureus isolates was 79% (77/98) during the study period. In addition, 58/74 (78%) met the definition of Hospital-Associated Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus (HA- MRSA) infections and the rest; 20/24 patients (83%), were classified as Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus (CA- MRSA). Conclusion. In our study, the high frequency of MRSA was found not only in HA S. aureus but also in CA S. aureus isolates; there- fore, the strategic goals to optimize antimicrobial use includin

Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection among cystic fibrosis and ICU patients in the referral Children Medical Hospital in Tehran, Iran

Introduction. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the important causes of hospital-acquired infections in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and considered as a major determinant of morbidity and mortality in patients affected by cystic fibrosis (CF). The aim of this study was to investigate clonal diversity among randomly picked P. aeruginosa isolates of CF and the other hospitalized patients in ICU. Methods. Cultivation, identification, and antimicrobial suscep- tibility testing of P. aeruginosa isolates were performed using standard techniques. The genetic similarity of the strains was investigated by amplification of the Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) sequence. Results and discussion. Among 49 isolates, sixteen were isolated from 11 patients affected by CF and 33 came from an epidemiologi- cal investigation of 25 P. aeruginosa infected patients of ICU. Five clusters were generated for all isolates analyzed through ERIC-PCR genotyping. Two major clusters (B and C) were discovered in P. aer- uginosa isolates of ICU and CF patients during the whole period of this study. Fifteen unique antibiogram patterns obtained from all iso- lates and multi-resistant P. aeruginosa (MRPA) were identified in 23 isolates (47%). MRPA isolates were detected in all clusters (except A) while pan-resistant isolates were recovered only in cluster C. The high prevalence of related or identical isolates in CF and non-CF patients can be due to transmission of particular domi- nant clones in ICU ward. Therefore, enhanced infection-control may become necessary to prevent further spread of clonal strains

Programmable Integrated Photonics for Topological Hamiltonians

A variety of topological Hamiltonians have been demonstrated in photonic platforms, leading to fundamental discoveries and enhanced robustness in applications such as lasing, sensing, and quantum technologies. To date, each topological photonic platform implements a specific type of Hamiltonian with inexistent or limited reconfigurability. Here, we propose and demonstrate different topological models by using the same reprogrammable integrated photonics platform, consisting of a hexagonal mesh of silicon Mach-Zehnder interferometers with phase-shifters. We specifically demonstrate a one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Hamiltonian supporting a localized topological edge mode and a higher-order topological insulator based on a two-dimensional breathing Kagome Hamiltonian with three corner states. These results highlight a nearly universal platform for topological models that may fast-track research progress toward applications of topological photonics and other coupled systems

Spring Hydrograph Simulation of Karstic Aquifers: Impacts of Variable Re-charge Area, Intermediate Storage and Memory Effects

© 2017 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This author accepted manuscript is made available following 24 month embargo from date of publication (June 2017) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyA simple conceptual rainfall–runoff model is proposed for the estimation of groundwater balance components in complex karst aquifers. In the proposed model the effects of memory length of different karst flow systems of base-flow, intermediate-flow, and quick-flow and also time variation of recharge area (RA) during a hydrological year were investigated. The model consists of three sub-models: soil moisture balance (SMB), epikarst balance (EPB), and groundwater balance (GWB) to simulate the daily spring discharge. The SMB and EPB sub-models utilize the mass conservation equation to compute the variation of moisture storages in the soil cover and epikarst, respectively. The GWB sub-model computes the spring discharge hydrograph through three parallel linear reservoirs for base-flow, intermediate-flow, and quick-flow. Three antecedent recharge indices are defined and embedded in the model structure to deal with the memory effect of three karst flow systems to antecedent recharge flow. The Sasan Karst aquifer located in the semi-arid region of south-west Iran with a continuous long-term (21-years) daily meteorological and discharge data are considered to describe model calibration and validation procedures. The effects of temporal variations of RA of karst formations during the hydrological year namely invariant RA, two RA (winter and summer), four RA (seasonal), and twelve RA (monthly) are assessed to determine their impact on the model efficiency. Results indicated that the proposed model with monthly-variant RA is able to reproduce acceptable simulation results based on modified Kling-Gupta efficiency (KGE = −0.83). The results of density-based global sensitivity analysis for dry (June to September) and a wet (October to May) period reveal the dominant influence of RA (with sensitivity indices equal to 0.89 and 0.93, respectively) in spring discharge simulation. The sensitivity of simulated spring discharge to memory effect of different karst formations during the dry period is greater than the wet period. In addition, the results reveal the important role of intermediate-flow system in the hydrological modeling of karst systems during the wet period. Precise estimation of groundwater budgets for a better decision making regarding water supplies from complex karst systems with long memory effect can considerably be improved by use of the proposed model