Evaluation and comparison of bivariate and multivariate statistical methods for landslide susceptibility mapping (case study: Zab Basin)

Landslides are among the great destructive factors which cause lots of fatalities and financial losses all over the world every year. Studying of the factors affecting occurrence of landslides in a region and zoning the resulting damages will certainly play a crucial role in mitigating such phenomena. In this research, through geological maps and field studies, we primarily prepared a map for landslide distributions in Zab basin-an area of 520 km 2 in the southwest mountainsides of West Azerbaijan Province. By applying other source of information such as the existing thematic maps, we studied and defined the factors (slope, slope aspect, distance to road, distance to drainage network, distance to fault, land use and land cover, geological factors, horizontal gravity acceleration of earthquakes, and climatic condition of the studied area) that affect occurrence of the landslides. To get better precision and higher speed and facility in our analysis, all descriptive and spatial information were entered into geographic information system (GIS) system and Ilwis software. We also used Satellite images (Landsat ETM + and SPOT 5), producing land cover and landslide-inventory maps, respectively. After preparation of the influential parameters on landslides, we drew the zoning maps of slide hazard via four different statistical methods and then evaluated and compared them. By analyzing the obtained index and by comparing landslide distribution map and zoning map of landslide susceptibility prepared by each of the methods in GIS environment, we found that bivariate method of information value analysis, bivariate method of density-area, multivariate method with linear regression analysis, and multivariate method of discriminate analysis take priority, respectively. Finally, as this research shows, despite their simplicity, bivariate statistical methods have more acceptable precision than multivariate methods, and consequently, they are more compatible with landslide susceptibility of the region. From the results, lithology, slope, annual rainfall, land cover, slope aspect, distance to waterway, distance to road, horizontal gravity acceleration, and distance to fault are very influential to landslides in the region

The Investigation of Identity Construction: a Foucauldian Reading of Sam Shepard's Buried Child

Shepard is peculiarly powerful in his symbolic family problem plays: True West, Buried Child and Curse of the Starving Class. He allegorizes the American experience and undermines the myth of America as the New Eden. The present study seeks to critically explore Sam Shepard's Buried Child in terms of Foucauldian conception of identity construction. Shepard is depicting a dystopian world with its bewildered characters; however he has still got a romantic view of individuals trying to grapple with the society in order to get unity and order. This Shephardian attitude towards human beings is seemingly a free agent that overlaps the Foucauldian view which establishes a philosophy focusing on the relationship between the self and the society. The present essay attempts to demonstrate the complicated relationship between the self and the opposing forces

Impalement Thoracoabdominal Trauma Secondary to Falling on Metallic (Iron) Bars: An Extremely Rare and Unique Case

Introduction: Penetrating thoracoabdominal injuries are potentially life threatening due to the associated hemorrhagic shock and visceral injury. Through and through penetrating injury with polytrauma is rarely encountered. Case Presentation: Here we report on a 25-year-old male with penetrating thoracoabdominal injury caused by a metallic (iron) bar projecting from a pillar of a construction site after he fell down from a height. Conclusions: Anesthetic and surgical management was difficult due to the inability to position in supine and rapidly progressing hemorrhagic shock. Surgical management for extraction of this iron bar and intensive monitoring and resuscitation resulted in an uneventful successful outcome

Do Patients with Penetrating Abdominal Stab Wounds Require Laparotomy?

Background: The optimal management of hemodynamically stable asymptomatic patients with anterior abdominal stab wounds (AASWs) remains controversial. The goal is to identify and treat injuries in a safe cost-effective manner. Common evaluation strategies are local wound exploration (LWE), diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL), serial clinical assessment (SCAs) and computed tomography (CT) imaging. Making a decision about the right time to operate on a patient with a penetrating abdominal stab wound, especially those who have visceral evisceration, is a continuing challenge. Objectives: Until the year 2010, our strategy was emergency laparotomy in patients with penetrating anterior fascia and those with visceral evisceration. This survey was conducted towards evaluating the results of emergency laparotomy. So, better management can be done in patients with penetrating abdominal stab wounds. Patients and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was performed on patients with abdominal penetrating trauma who referred to Al- Zahra hospital in Isfahan, Iran from October 2000 to October 2010. It should be noted that patients with abdominal blunt trauma, patients under 14 years old, those with lateral abdomen penetrating trauma and patients who had unstable hemodynamic status were excluded from the study. Medical records of patients were reviewed and demographic and clinical data were collected for all patients including: age, sex, mechanism of trauma and the results of LWE and laparotomy. Data were analyzed with PASW v.20 software. All data were expressed as mean ± SD. The distribution of nominal variables was compared using the Chi-squared test. Also diagnostic index for LWE were calculated. A two-sided P value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: During the 10 year period of the study, 1100 consecutive patients with stab wounds were admitted to Al-Zahra hospital Isfahan, Iran. In total, about 150 cases had penetrating traumas in the anterior abdomen area. Sixty-three (42%) patients were operated immediately due to shock, visceral evisceration or aspiration of blood via a nasogastric tube on admission. Organ injury was seen in 78% of patients with visceral evisceration. Among these 87 cases, 29 patients’ (33.3%) anterior fascia was not penetrated in LWE. So, they were observed for several hours and discharged from the hospital without surgery. While for the remaining 58 patients (66.6%), whose LWE detected penetration of anterior abdominal fascia, laparotomy was performed which showed visceral injuries in 11 (18%) cases. Conclusions: All in all, 82 percent of laparotomies in patients with penetrated anterior abdominal fascia without visceral evisceration, who had no signs of peritoneal irritation, were negative. So, we recommended further evaluation in these patients. However, visceral evisceration is an indication for exploratory laparotomy, since in our study; the majority of patients had organ damages

Cutting tool tracking and recognition based on infrared and visual imaging systems using principal component analysis (PCA) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) combined with neural networks

The implementation of computerised condition monitoring systems for the detection cutting tools’ correct installation and fault diagnosis is of a high importance in modern manufacturing industries. The primary function of a condition monitoring system is to check the existence of the tool before starting any machining process and ensure its health during operation. The aim of this study is to assess the detection of the existence of the tool in the spindle and its health (i.e. normal or broken) using infrared and vision systems as a non-contact methodology. The application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) combined with neural networks are investigated using both types of data in order to establish an effective and reliable novel software program for tool tracking and health recognition. Infrared and visual cameras are used to locate and track the cutting tool during the machining process using a suitable analysis and image processing algorithms. The capabilities of PCA and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) combined with neural networks are investigated in recognising the tool’s condition by comparing the characteristics of the tool to those of known conditions in the training set. The experimental results have shown high performance when using the infrared data in comparison to visual images for the selected image and signal processing algorithms

A Creative Playground Design based on Universal Design: An Interaction Approach

Problem solving algorithm of TRIZ using a creative method can provide appropriate solutions due to its abilities in problem analysis. This method is a combination of knowledge and experience. Therefore it has called engineering of creativity. Organizing the required methods for providing the proper solutions in a way that the number of trial and errors limited to 10% is one of the main advantages of TRIZ for problem solving. This research aims to design a playground equipment based on universal design method. Lack of suitable play equipment for interaction between disabled and healthy children make an interruption to communicate each other effectively. Therefore, disabled would be isolated in the society. The overall goal of this research is to provide a base for a proper interaction between ordinary and disabled children designing a playing tool for ordinary parks (not those specially designed for disabled children). In this research, a creative method based on TRIZ was introduced to design the playground equipment for children (healthy and disabled). A questionnaire was used to ensure its consistency. Cronbach’s alpha of questionnaire determined is 0.955 which shows the validity of this research.

A Creative Playground Design based on Universal Design: An Interaction Approach

Problem solving algorithm of TRIZ using a creative method can provide appropriate solutions due to its abilities in problem analysis. This method is a combination of knowledge and experience. Therefore it has called engineering of creativity. Organizing the required methods for providing the proper solutions in a way that the number of trial and errors limited to 10% is one of the main advantages of TRIZ for problem solving. This research aims to design a playground equipment based on universal design method. Lack of suitable play equipment for interaction between disabled and healthy children make an interruption to communicate each other effectively. Therefore, disabled would be isolated in the society. The overall goal of this research is to provide a base for a proper interaction between ordinary and disabled children designing a playing tool for ordinary parks (not those specially designed for disabled children). In this research, a creative method based on TRIZ was introduced to design the playground equipment for children (healthy and disabled). A questionnaire was used to ensure its consistency. Cronbach’s alpha of questionnaire determined is 0.955 which shows the validity of this research.

Surface preparation of powder metallurgical tool steels by means of wire electrical discharge machining

The surface of two types of powder metallurgical (PM) tool steels (i.e., with and without nitrogen) was prepared using wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM). From each grade of tool steel, seven surfaces corresponding to one to seven passes of WEDM were prepared. The WEDM process was carried out using a brass wire as electrode and deionized water as dielectric. After eachWEDM pass the surface of the tool steels was thoroughly examined. Surface residual stresses were measured by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The measured stresses were found to be of tensile nature. The surface roughness of the WEDM specimens was measured using interference microscopy. The surface roughness as well as the residual stress measurements indicated an insignificant improvement of these parameters after four passes of WEDM. In addition, the formed recast layer was characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), XRD, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The characterization investigation clearly shows diffusion of copper and zinc from the wire electrode into the work material, even after the final WEDM step. Finally, the importance of eliminating excessive WEDM steps is thoroughly discussed