Detection of bearing damage by statistic vibration analysis

The condition of bearings, which are essential components in mechanisms, is crucial to safety. The analysis of the bearing vibration signal, which is always contaminated by certain types of noise, is a very important standard for mechanical condition diagnosis of the bearing and mechanical failure phenomenon. In this paper the method of rolling bearing fault detection by statistical analysis of vibration is proposed to filter out Gaussian noise contained in a raw vibration signal. The results of experiments show that the vibration signal can be significantly enhanced by application of the proposed method. Besides, the proposed method is used to analyse real acoustic signals of a bearing with inner race and outer race faults, respectively. The values of attributes are determined according to the degree of the fault. The results confirm that the periods between the transients, which represent bearing fault characteristics, can be successfully detected

Effect of dietary supplementation of Padauk (Pterocarpus soyauxii) leaf on high fat diet/streptozotocin induced diabetes in rats’ brain and platelets

Background This study investigated the effects of Padauk leaf on brain malondialdehyde (MDA) content, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities, ectonucleotidases and adenosine deaminase (ADA) activities in the platelet of high fat diet and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Methods The animals were divided into six groups (n = 7): normal control rats; diabetic rats + high fat diet (HFD); diabetic rats + HFD + Metformin; diabetic rats + HFD + acarbose; diabetic rats + HFD + 10% Padauk leaf; normal rats + basal diet + 10% Padauk leaf. After 30 days of experiment comprising of acclimatization, dietary manipulation, pre-treatment with STZ and supplementation with Padauk leaf, the animals were sacrificed and the rats’ brain and blood were collected for subsequent analysis. Results The results demonstrated that the elevated MDA content and AChE activity in the diabetic rats were significantly reduced when compared with the control rats. Furthermore, the increased NTPDases, 5′-nucleotidase and ADA activities in the diabetic rats were significantly reduced when compared with the control rats. Conclusion This study demonstrated that Padauk leaf exhibited modulatory effects on purinergic and cholinergic enzymes involved in the prevention of platelet abnormality and consequent vascular complications in diabetic state

Petrophysical characterization, BIB-SEM imaging, and permeability models of tight carbonates from the Upper Jurassic (Malm ß), SE Germany

Tight carbonate rocks are important hydrocarbon and potential geothermal reservoirs, for example, in CO2-Enhanced Geothermal Systems. We report a study of outcrop samples of tectonically undeformed tight carbonates from the upper Jurassic “Malm ß” formation in Southern Germany near the town of Simmelsdorf (38 km NE of Nuremberg) to understand bulk petrophysical properties in relation to microstructure and to compare models for permeability prediction in these samples. We applied Archimedes isopropanol immersion, Helium pycnometry, mercury injection, gamma density core logging, and gas permeability measurements, combined with microstructural investigations and liquid metal injection (LMI-BIB-SEM). In addition, ultrasonic velocity was measured to allow geomechanical comparison of stratigraphically equivalent rocks in the South German Molasse Basin (SGMB). Results show only small variations, showing that the formation is rather homogeneous with bulk porosities below 5% and argon permeabilities around 1.4E−17 m2. The presence of stylolites in some of the samples has neither a significant effect on porosity nor permeability. Pores are of submicron size with pore throats around 10 nm and connected as shown by Mercury injection and Liquid Metal injection. Samples have high dynamic Young’s Modulus of 73 ± 5 GPa as expected for lithified and diagenetically overmature limestones. Moreover, no trends in properties were observable toward the faults at meter scale, suggesting that faulting was post-diagenetic and that the matrix permeabilities were too low for intensive post-diagenetic fluid–rock interaction. Petrophysical properties are very close to those measured in the SGMB, illustrating the widespread homogeneity of these rocks and justifying the quarry as a reasonable reservoir analog. Permeability prediction models, such as the percolation theory-based Katz-Thompson Model, Poiseuille-based models, like the Winland, the Dastidar, the capillary tube, and the Kozeny-Carman Models, as well as several empirical models, namely, the Bohnsack, the Saki, and the GPPT Models, were applied. It is shown that the capillary tube Model and the Saki Model are best suited for permeability predictions from BIB-SEM and mercury injection capillary pressure results, respectively, providing a method to estimate permeability in the subsurface from drill cuttings. Matrix permeability is primarily controlled by the pore (throat) diameters rather than by the effective porosity

Inoculação de bactérias diazotróficas e produtividade de genótipos de cana-de-açúcar.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito da inoculação de bactérias diazotróficas sobre a produtividade de colmos de cana-de-açúcar

A standard protocol for reporting species distribution models

Species distribution models (SDMs) constitute the most common class of models across ecology, evolution and conservation. The advent of ready-to-use software packages and increasing availability of digital geoinformation have considerably assisted the application of SDMs in the past decade, greatly enabling their broader use for informing conservation and management, and for quantifying impacts from global change. However, models must be fit for purpose, with all important aspects of their development and applications properly considered. Despite the widespread use of SDMs, standardisation and documentation of modelling protocols remain limited, which makes it hard to assess whether development steps are appropriate for end use. To address these issues, we propose a standard protocol for reporting SDMs, with an emphasis on describing how a study's objective is achieved through a series of modeling decisions. We call this the ODMAP (Overview, Data, Model, Assessment and Prediction) protocol, as its components reflect the main steps involved in building SDMs and other empirically-based biodiversity models. The ODMAP protocol serves two main purposes. First, it provides a checklist for authors, detailing key steps for model building and analyses, and thus represents a quick guide and generic workflow for modern SDMs. Second, it introduces a structured format for documenting and communicating the models, ensuring transparency and reproducibility, facilitating peer review and expert evaluation of model quality, as well as meta-analyses. We detail all elements of ODMAP, and explain how it can be used for different model objectives and applications, and how it complements efforts to store associated metadata and define modelling standards. We illustrate its utility by revisiting nine previously published case studies, and provide an interactive web-based application to facilitate its use. We plan to advance ODMAP by encouraging its further refinement and adoption by the scientific community

Cognitive Performances Are Selectively Enhanced during Chronic Caloric Restriction or Resveratrol Supplementation in a Primate

Effects of an 18-month treatment with a moderate, chronic caloric restriction (CR) or an oral supplementation with resveratrol (RSV), a potential CR mimetic, on cognitive and motor performances were studied in non-human primates, grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus)

Echinocandin Treatment of Pneumocystis Pneumonia in Rodent Models Depletes Cysts Leaving Trophic Burdens That Cannot Transmit the Infection

Fungi in the genus Pneumocystis cause pneumonia (PCP) in hosts with debilitated immune systems and are emerging as co-morbidity factors associated with chronic diseases such as COPD. Limited therapeutic choices and poor understanding of the life cycle are a result of the inability of these fungi to grow outside the mammalian lung. Within the alveolar lumen, Pneumocystis spp., appear to have a bi-phasic life cycle consisting of an asexual phase characterized by binary fission of trophic forms and a sexual cycle resulting in formation of cysts, but the life cycle stage that transmits the infection is not known. The cysts, but not the trophic forms, express β -1,3-D-glucan synthetase and contain abundant β -1,3-D-glucan. Here we show that therapeutic and prophylactic treatment of PCP with echinocandins, compounds which inhibit the synthesis of β -1,3-D-glucan, depleted cysts in rodent models of PCP, while sparing the trophic forms which remained in significant numbers. Survival was enhanced in the echincandin treated mice, likely due to the decreased β -1,3-D-glucan content in the lungs of treated mice and rats which coincided with reductions of cyst numbers, and dramatic remodeling of organism morphology. Strong evidence for the cyst as the agent of transmission was provided by the failure of anidulafungin-treated mice to transmit the infection. We show for the first time that withdrawal of anidulafungin treatment with continued immunosuppression permitted the repopulation of cyst forms. Treatment of PCP with an echinocandin alone will not likely result in eradication of infection and cessation of echinocandin treatment while the patient remains immunosuppressed could result in relapse. Importantly, the echinocandins provide novel and powerful chemical tools to probe the still poorly understood bi-phasic life cycle of this genus of fungal pathogens