Improved performance of railcar/rail truck interface components

The objective of this research is to improve the railcar/rail truck interface by developing a low maintenance bearing interface with a favorable friction coefficient. Friction and wear at the center bowl/center plate bearing interface cause high turning moments around curved track, wear of truck components, and increased detrimental dynamic effects. The recommended improvement of the rail truck interface is a set of two steel inserts, one concave and one convex, that can be retrofit to center bowls/center plates. The insert geometry addresses concerns about maintaining favorable pressure distribution on existing components, minimizing overall height increase to accommodate existing infrastructure, and retaining railcar stability. The stability of the railcar upon the design inserts has been ensured when the instantaneous center of rotation of the railcar body is above the railcar center of gravity. The damping ratio provided by the frictional moment within center bowl is 240 and eliminates the possibility of dynamic amplification. Using a 90 inch radius of curvature ensures stability and requires a 0.5 inch diameter reduction of the existing center plate for a gap of 1/16 inch. The increase in railcar height for the specific design is 0.71 inches which can be absorbed by either grinding of the center plate or new manufacturing dimensions. The design is feasible for small travel values corresponding to small vertical gaps at the side bearings. In addition to geometry alterations, the bearing surfaces are coated with a protective metallic layer. The literature suggests that optimum friction coefficients between bearing elements in the center bowl/center plate interface may reduce turning moments of the truck, wear of truck components, and detrimental dynamic effects such as hunting. Axial-torsional tests determined friction coefficient estimates and wear properties for a matrix of various metallic protective coatings and steel. Tungsten carbide-cobalt-chrome has a favorable coefficient of 0.3 under standard center bowl/center plate contact conditions

Causes of death among homeless people: a population-based cross-sectional study of linked hospitalisation and mortality data in England. [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Background: Homelessness has increased by 165% since 2010 in England, with evidence from many settings that those affected experience high levels of mortality. In this paper we examine the contribution of different causes of death to overall mortality in homeless people recently admitted to hospitals in England with specialist integrated homeless health and care (SIHHC) schemes.  Methods: We undertook an analysis of linked hospital admission records and mortality data for people attending any one of 17 SIHHC schemes between 1st November 2013 and 30th November 2016. Our primary outcome was death, which we analysed in subgroups of 10th version international classification of disease (ICD-10) specific deaths; and deaths from amenable causes. We compared our results to a sample of people living in areas of high social deprivation (IMD5 group). Results: We collected data on 3,882 individual homeless hospital admissions that were linked to 600 deaths. The median age of death was 51.6 years (interquartile range 42.7-60.2) for SIHHC and 71.5 for the IMD5 (60.67-79.0).  The top three underlying causes of death by ICD-10 chapter in the SIHHC group were external causes of death (21.7%; 130/600), cancer (19.0%; 114/600) and digestive disease (19.0%; 114/600).  The percentage of deaths due to an amenable cause after age and sex weighting was 30.2% in the homeless SIHHC group (181/600) compared to 23.0% in the IMD5 group (578/2,512). Conclusion: Nearly one in three homeless deaths were due to causes amenable to timely and effective health care. The high burden of amenable deaths highlights the extreme health harms of homelessness and the need for greater emphasis on prevention of homelessness and early healthcare interventions

Outcomes of specialist discharge coordination and intermediate care schemes for patients who are homeless: analysis protocol for a population-based historical cohort

Introduction People who are homeless often experience poor hospital discharge arrangements, reflecting ongoing care and housing needs. Specialist integrated homeless health and care provision (SIHHC) schemes have been developed and implemented to facilitate the safe and timely discharge of homeless patients from hospital. Our study aims to investigate the health outcomes of patients who were homeless and seen by a selection of SIHHC services. Methods and analysis Our study will employ a historical population-based cohort in England. We will examine health outcomes among three groups of adults: (1) homeless patients seen by specialist discharge schemes during their hospital admission; (2) homeless patients not seen by a specialist scheme and (3)admitted patients who live in deprived neighbourhoods and were not recorded as being homeless. Primary outcomes will be: time from discharge to next hospital inpatient admission; time from discharge to next accident and emergency attendance and 28-day emergency readmission. Outcome data will be generated through linkage to hospital admissions data (Hospital Episode Statistics) and mortality data for November 2013 to November 2016. Multivariable regression will be used to model the relationship between the study comparison groups and each of the outcomes. Ethics and dissemination Approval has been obtained from the National Health Service (NHS) Confidentiality Advisory Group (reference 16/CAG/0021) to undertake this work using unconsented identifiable data. Health Research Authority Research Ethics approval (REC 16/EE/0018) has been obtained in addition to local research and development approvals for data collection at NHS sites. We will feedback the results of our study to our advisory group of people who have lived experience of homelessness and seek their suggestions on ways to improve or take this work further for their benefit. We will disseminate our findings to SIHHC schemes through a series of regional workshops

Nursing Care for Pregnant Adolescents

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73476/1/0884217503252191.pd

El dossier copia/sur: problemas económicos, políticos, e ideológicos del copyright (derecho de autor) en el sur global

In 2005, a group of scholars and activists, mostly from the global South, created the Copy/South Research Group to analyse, criticise, and confront the oppressive nature of current global copyright regimes, such as those defended by the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and similar ones around the globe. In May 2006, 22 of us, including 15 people from the global South, published THE COPY/SOUTH DOSSIER: Issues in the economics, politics, and ideology of copyright in the global South. The aim of the Dossier was to open up a critical and radical debate on the real impact of copyright laws and how they affect the daily lives of people living in more than 150 developing countries of the global South. We also highlighted issues that are not unique to the Global South, but also affect both sides of the North-South divide. This publication of more than 50 articles was addressed to researchers, educators, librarians, musicians, activists, organizations concerned about access to knowledge, and all of those who want to learn more about the oppressive global role of copyright laws and, in particular, their largely negative role in the developing countries of the global South. Given the democratic objectives of the Copy/South Research Group, the Dossier was not restricted by copyright. Therefore, it has been accessed openly and freely in both electronic and paper formats by thousands of readers from around the world in English. But English is not spoken by all citizens in the global South. With this in mind, the entire 200-page Dossier was translated into Spanish in late 2007 by an enthusiastic team of voluntary translators from Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela. As for this Spanish version, made with the support of the Intellectual Property Automous Service (SAPI), from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, we must acknowledge the prior SAPI's General Director Eduardo Samán for promoting the making of this translation. Besides the general revision of Gerardo Cárdenas and his labor as main translator, some other volunteers translated or revised important sections of the Spanish edition: María Jesús Morillo (Spain), Oscar Pérez Peña and Gilda Gil (Cuba), Edgardo Civallero (Argentina) and Rafael Carreño (Venezuela), who coordinated the process of translation in 2007. Also it is worth to mention the additional colaboration of Ana Lía López (Bolivia), Richard Castro, Rafael Bellota and Carmen Chirinos (Venezuela), Zapopan Muela and Gonzalo Lara (Mexico), and Lilian Álvarez (Cuba). But what is still more extraordinary about this Spanish translation is that it was completely coordinated and edited by the Servicio Autonomo de la Propiedad Intelectual (SAPI) of the democratic government of the Venezuelan Bolivarian Republic. The Dossier provides “useful material to introduce this topic to teachers and students” and does a good job of “summarizing a complex and conflicting situation” for developing countries, Jumersi La Rosa, SAPI’s new director, said last week in announcing the release of the Spanish edition. She has written a special new introduction for the Spanish-language edition. The Copy South Research Group is very pleased that the radical message of resistance found in the Dossier can now be read by thousands of Spanish-language speakers who are questioning the current copyright regime and who hopefully will be ignited by the ideas in the Dossier to take up the fight against oppressive regimes based on copyright. You can get a copy of the Dossier in Spanish and English by downloading it, free of charge, at http://www.copysouth.org . We also still have a limited number of printed and bound copies of the English-language version of the Dossier. If you would to be mailed a copy of the English-language version, which contains eight posters, send us an e-mail ([email protected]) and include your full postal details. COPY/SOUTH RESEARCH GROUP, 28 April 2008

The future for sheep

In the 1960\u27s the sheep industry has been described as being at a crossroads. Serious concern has been expressed over the future of the entire industry. Declining numbers, competition from other meats and fabrics and low returns have all been cited as reasons for pessimism. But recent developments in product improvement and industrywide efforts to a~tack problems have given rise to a degree of cautious optimism about the future.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/card_reports/1022/thumbnail.jp

Understanding implementability in clinical trials : a pragmatic review and concept map

Background The translation of evidence from clinical trials into practice is complex. One approach to facilitating this translation is to consider the 'implementability' of trials as they are designed and conducted. Implementability of trials refers to characteristics of the design, execution and reporting of a late-phase clinical trial that can influence the capacity for the evidence generated by that trial to be implemented. On behalf of the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (ACTA), the national peak body representing networks of clinician researchers conducting investigator-initiated clinical trials, we conducted a pragmatic literature review to develop a concept map of implementability. Methods Documents were included in the review if they related to the design, conduct and reporting of late-phase clinical trials; described factors that increased or decreased the capacity of trials to be implemented; and were published after 2009 in English. Eligible documents included systematic reviews, guidance documents, tools or primary studies (if other designs were not available). With an expert reference group, we developed a preliminary concept map and conducted a snowballing search based on known relevant papers and websites of key organisations in May 2019. Results Sixty-five resources were included. A final map of 38 concepts was developed covering the domains of validity, relevance and usability across the design, conduct and reporting of a trial. The concepts drew on literature relating to implementation science, consumer engagement, pragmatic trials, reporting, research waste and other fields. No single resource addressed more than ten of the 38 concepts in the map. Conclusions The concept map provides trialists with a tool to think through a range of areas in which practical action could enhance the implementability of their trials. Future work could validate the strength of the associations between the concepts identified and implementability of trials and investigate the effectiveness of steps to address each concept. ACTA will use this concept map to develop guidance for trialists in Australia

El dossier copia/sur: problemas económicos, políticos, e ideológicos del copyright (derecho de autor) en el sur global

In 2005, a group of scholars and activists, mostly from the global South, created the Copy/South Research Group to analyse, criticise, and confront the oppressive nature of current global copyright regimes, such as those defended by the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and similar ones around the globe. In May 2006, 22 of us, including 15 people from the global South, published THE COPY/SOUTH DOSSIER: Issues in the economics, politics, and ideology of copyright in the global South. The aim of the Dossier was to open up a critical and radical debate on the real impact of copyright laws and how they affect the daily lives of people living in more than 150 developing countries of the global South. We also highlighted issues that are not unique to the Global South, but also affect both sides of the North-South divide. This publication of more than 50 articles was addressed to researchers, educators, librarians, musicians, activists, organizations concerned about access to knowledge, and all of those who want to learn more about the oppressive global role of copyright laws and, in particular, their largely negative role in the developing countries of the global South. Given the democratic objectives of the Copy/South Research Group, the Dossier was not restricted by copyright. Therefore, it has been accessed openly and freely in both electronic and paper formats by thousands of readers from around the world in English. But English is not spoken by all citizens in the global South. With this in mind, the entire 200-page Dossier was translated into Spanish in late 2007 by an enthusiastic team of voluntary translators from Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela. As for this Spanish version, made with the support of the Intellectual Property Automous Service (SAPI), from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, we must acknowledge the prior SAPI's General Director Eduardo Samán for promoting the making of this translation. Besides the general revision of Gerardo Cárdenas and his labor as main translator, some other volunteers translated or revised important sections of the Spanish edition: María Jesús Morillo (Spain), Oscar Pérez Peña and Gilda Gil (Cuba), Edgardo Civallero (Argentina) and Rafael Carreño (Venezuela), who coordinated the process of translation in 2007. Also it is worth to mention the additional colaboration of Ana Lía López (Bolivia), Richard Castro, Rafael Bellota and Carmen Chirinos (Venezuela), Zapopan Muela and Gonzalo Lara (Mexico), and Lilian Álvarez (Cuba). But what is still more extraordinary about this Spanish translation is that it was completely coordinated and edited by the Servicio Autonomo de la Propiedad Intelectual (SAPI) of the democratic government of the Venezuelan Bolivarian Republic. The Dossier provides “useful material to introduce this topic to teachers and students” and does a good job of “summarizing a complex and conflicting situation” for developing countries, Jumersi La Rosa, SAPI’s new director, said last week in announcing the release of the Spanish edition. She has written a special new introduction for the Spanish-language edition. The Copy South Research Group is very pleased that the radical message of resistance found in the Dossier can now be read by thousands of Spanish-language speakers who are questioning the current copyright regime and who hopefully will be ignited by the ideas in the Dossier to take up the fight against oppressive regimes based on copyright. You can get a copy of the Dossier in Spanish and English by downloading it, free of charge, at http://www.copysouth.org . We also still have a limited number of printed and bound copies of the English-language version of the Dossier. If you would to be mailed a copy of the English-language version, which contains eight posters, send us an e-mail ([email protected]) and include your full postal details. COPY/SOUTH RESEARCH GROUP, 28 April 2008