A nouvelle approach for predicting the shear cracking angle in RC and PC beams using artificial neural networks

The truss model for predicting shear resistance of reinforced concrete beams has usually been criticized because of its underestimation of the concrete shear strength especially for beams with low shear reinforcement. Two challengers are commonly encountered in any truss model and are responsible for its inaccurate shear strength prediction. First: the cracking angle is usually assumed empirically and second the shear contribution of the arching action is usually neglected. This research introduces a nouvelle approach, by using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for accurately evaluating the shear cracking angle of reinforced and prestressed concrete beams. The model inputs include the beam geometry, concrete strength, the shear reinforcement ratio and the prestressing stress if any. ..

Determining Maintenance Cost Ratios

Maintenance is a necessary (and usually burdensome) function for practically all natural and man-made elements. Simply defined, maintenance is the effort to keep a device or system working. The amount of funding allocated for maintenance by an organization is necessarily a compromise, possibly viewed as too much by management and too little by the operators/maintainers. The objective of our study was to report on the wide range of costs involved in maintaining equipment. We discuss some methods that different industries use to measure and report their maintenance costs; we summarize the results of a literature search on the range of maintenance costs for several industries; and we report on our own study of maintenance costs in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Deep Space Network (DSN) and how these maintenance costs compare to the other reported results

Analyzing human errors in flight mission operations

A long-term program is in progress at JPL to reduce cost and risk of flight mission operations through a defect prevention/error management program. The main thrust of this program is to create an environment in which the performance of the total system, both the human operator and the computer system, is optimized. To this end, 1580 Incident Surprise Anomaly reports (ISA's) from 1977-1991 were analyzed from the Voyager and Magellan projects. A Pareto analysis revealed that 38 percent of the errors were classified as human errors. A preliminary cluster analysis based on the Magellan human errors (204 ISA's) is presented here. The resulting clusters described the underlying relationships among the ISA's. Initial models of human error in flight mission operations are presented. Next, the Voyager ISA's will be scored and included in the analysis. Eventually, these relationships will be used to derive a theoretically motivated and empirically validated model of human error in flight mission operations. Ultimately, this analysis will be used to make continuous process improvements continuous process improvements to end-user applications and training requirements. This Total Quality Management approach will enable the management and prevention of errors in the future

A nouvelle approach for predicting the shear cracking angle in RC and PC beams using artificial neural networks

The truss model for predicting shear resistance of reinforced concrete beams has usually been criticized because of its underestimation of the concrete shear strength especially for beams with low shear reinforcement. Two challengers are commonly encountered in any truss model and are responsible for its inaccurate shear strength prediction. First: the cracking angle is usually assumed empirically and second the shear contribution of the arching action is usually neglected. This research introduces a nouvelle approach, by using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for accurately evaluating the shear cracking angle of reinforced and prestressed concrete beams. The model inputs include the beam geometry, concrete strength, the shear reinforcement ratio and the prestressing stress if any. ..

Problems issues on saving and processing of big data to ensure the accounting and preparation for exposure of electronic funds of archive institution in public electronic networks

Великі темпи зростання обсягу даних в інформаційних технологіях є невід’ємною складовою сучасного суспільства. Використання інформаційних технологій в архівній справі дозволяє підвищити ефективність надання державними архівними установами послуг, забезпечити популяризацію їхньої діяльності на новому якісному рівні шляхом застосування сучасних форм публікації та експонування архівних документів в електронному вигляді. Так, завдяки використанню інформаційних технологій користувачі Федерального архів у Німеччині мають можливість здійснити повнотекстовий пошук у колекції документів архіву, переглянути в зручній формі результати пошуку (зокрема у вигляді цифрованих зображень документів), а також, за потреби, замовити та сплатити певні додаткові послуги (напри клад, копію документа тощо). З аналогічною метою за підтримки ЮНЕСКО та Бібліотеки Конгресу США було створено вебсайт Світової цифрової бібліотеки. Метою дослідження є визначення належної програмної інфраструктури та об’єктної моделі організації даних, необхідних для забезпечення державного обліку документів Національного архівного фонду (облікової та вторинної архівної інформації) з метою створення якісної електронної експозиції та забезпечення користувачів можливістю вільного доступу до неї.Big data growth in information technology is an integral part of today's society. The use of information technologies in archival affairs allows to increase the efficiency of providing state archival institutions services, to ensure promotion of their activity at a new quality level by applying modern forms of publication and exhibiting archival documents in electronic form. So, thanks to using of information technology, users of the Federal Archives of Germany have the opportunity to search in full text search in the archive documents collection, to view in a comfortable form search results (in particular in the form of digital images of documents), and, if necessary, to order and pay for certain additional services (e.g. a copy of the document, etc.). For the same purpose, the World Digital Library website was created with the support of UNESCO and the Library of Congress. The purpose of the study is to determine the appropriate software infrastructure and an object model for organizing data needed to ensure state registration of documents of the National Archival Fund (accounting and secondary archival information) in order to create high-quality electronic exposure and provide users with free access to it

Extraperitoneal urine leak after renal transplantation: the role of radionuclide imaging and the value of accompanying SPECT/CT - a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The differentiation of the nature of a fluid collection as a complication of kidney transplantation is important for management and treatment planning. Early and delayed radionuclide renography can play an important role in the evaluation of a urine leak. However, it is sometimes limited in the evaluation of the exact location and extent of a urine leak.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>A 71-year-old male who had sudden anuria, scrotal swelling and elevated creatinine level after cadaveric renal transplantation performed Tc-99 m MAG3 renography to evaluate the renal function, followed by an ultrasound which was unremarkable. An extensive urine leak was evident on the planar images. However, an exact location of the urine leak was unknown. Accompanying SPECT/CT images confirmed a urine leak extending from the lower aspect of the transplant kidney to the floor of the pelvic cavity, presacral region and the scrotum via right inguinal canal as well as to the right abdominal wall.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Renal scintigraphy is very useful to detect a urine leak after renal transplantation. However, planar imaging is sometimes limited in evaluating the anatomical location and extent of a urine leak accurately. In that case accompanying SPECT/CT images are very helpful and valuable to evaluate the anatomical relationships exactly.</p

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass

Severe early onset preeclampsia: short and long term clinical, psychosocial and biochemical aspects

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy specific disorder commonly defined as de novo hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks gestational age. It occurs in approximately 3-5% of pregnancies and it is still a major cause of both foetal and maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide1. As extensive research has not yet elucidated the aetiology of preeclampsia, there are no rational preventive or therapeutic interventions available. The only rational treatment is delivery, which benefits the mother but is not in the interest of the foetus, if remote from term. Early onset preeclampsia (<32 weeks’ gestational age) occurs in less than 1% of pregnancies. It is, however often associated with maternal morbidity as the risk of progression to severe maternal disease is inversely related with gestational age at onset2. Resulting prematurity is therefore the main cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in patients with severe preeclampsia3. Although the discussion is ongoing, perinatal survival is suggested to be increased in patients with preterm preeclampsia by expectant, non-interventional management. This temporising treatment option to lengthen pregnancy includes the use of antihypertensive medication to control hypertension, magnesium sulphate to prevent eclampsia and corticosteroids to enhance foetal lung maturity4. With optimal maternal haemodynamic status and reassuring foetal condition this results on average in an extension of 2 weeks. Prolongation of these pregnancies is a great challenge for clinicians to balance between potential maternal risks on one the eve hand and possible foetal benefits on the other. Clinical controversies regarding prolongation of preterm preeclamptic pregnancies still exist – also taking into account that preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the Netherlands5 - a debate which is even more pronounced in very preterm pregnancies with questionable foetal viability6-9. Do maternal risks of prolongation of these very early pregnancies outweigh the chances of neonatal survival? Counselling of women with very early onset preeclampsia not only comprises of knowledge of the outcome of those particular pregnancies, but also knowledge of outcomes of future pregnancies of these women is of major clinical importance. This thesis opens with a review of the literature on identifiable risk factors of preeclampsia