Theoretical and experimental studies of a novel cone-jet sensor

Modeling of a novel cone-jet sensor using two-dimensional (2-D) finite element analysis was investigated for dimensional measurement. Theoretical and experimental studies demonstrated that a cone-jet sensor supplied with air can be used to accurately measure displacement, and its work range of 1.5 to 4.2 mm is some ten times greater than a simple back-pressure sensor. It is anticipated that this type of sensor will find wide applications in manufacturing industry due to its wider working range, high precision, and other features

Neurological symptoms among dental assistants: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dental assistants help the dentist in preparing material for filling teeth. Amalgam was the filling material mostly commonly used in Norway before 1980, and declined to about 5% of all fillings in 2005. Amalgam is usually an alloy of silver, copper, tin and mercury. Copper amalgam, giving particularly high exposure to mercury was used in Norway until 1994. Metallic mercury is neurotoxic. Few studies of the health of dental assistants exist, despite their exposure to mercury. There are questions about the existence of possible chronic neurological symptoms today within this working group, due to this exposure. The aim of this study was to compare the occurrence of neurological symptoms among dental assistants likely to be exposed to mercury from work with dental filling material, compared to similar health personnel with no such exposure.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All dental assistants still at work and born before 1970 registered in the archives of a trade union in Hordaland county of Norway were invited to participate (response rate 68%, n = 41), as well as a similar number of randomly selected assistant nurses (response rate 87%, n = 64) in the same age group. The participants completed a self-administered, mailed questionnaire, with questions about demographic variables, life-style factors, musculoskeletal, neurological and psychosomatic symptoms (Euroquest).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The dental assistants reported significant higher occurrence of neurological symptoms; psychosomatic symptoms, problems with memory, concentration, fatigue and sleep disturbance, but not for mood. This was found by analyses of variance, adjusting for age, education, alcohol consumption, smoking and personality traits. For each specific neurological symptom, adjusted logistic regression analyses were performed, showing that these symptoms were mainly from arms, hands, legs and balance organs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is a possibility that the higher occurrence of neurological symptoms among the dental assistants may be related to their previous work exposure to mercury amalgam fillings. This should be studied further to assess the clinical importance of the reported symptoms.</p

Continuous wavelet transform and neural network for condition monitoring of rotodynamic machinery

This paper describes a novel method of rotodynamic machine condition monitoring using a wavelet transform and a neural network. A continuous wavelet transform is applied to the signals collected from accelerometer. The transformed images are then extracted as unique characteristic features relating to the various types of machine conditions. In the experiment, four types of machine operating conditions have been investigated: a balanced shaft; an unbalanced shaft, a misaligned shaft and a defective bearing. The back propagation neural network (BPNN) is used as a tool to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The experimental results result in a recognition rate of 90 percent

Consequences of temperature and temperature variability on swimming activity, group structure, and predation of endangered delta smelt

The effects of water temperature on individual and group movement behaviour in prey fish can affect ecological interactions such as competition and predation, but how variability in temperature influence fish behaviour is less understood. Of particular concern is how increased warming in tidally fluctuating estuaries may impact the native and endangered delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus, Osmeridae). To help address this issue, we tested the effects of increased water temperature (fluctuating [17–21°C] and warm [21°C] acclimated treatments) on juvenile delta smelt individual and group behaviour, response to chemical alarm and predator cues, as well as capacity to evade predation. In addition, predation of delta smelt was tested in the presence of a dominant invasive competitor, Mississippi silversides (Menidia beryllina, Atherinopsidae), as well as comparative predation mortality on Mississippi silversides when isolated. After 7&nbsp;days of increased temperature treatments, delta smelt in the warm treatment increased swimming velocity, decreased turning angle, and altered group structure with larger inter-individual distances compared to fish in the control (17°C) and fluctuating temperature treatments. Following conspecific and predator chemical alarm cues, delta smelt showed anti-predator responses. Control and fluctuating treatment fish responded to conspecific cues with increased swimming speeds, decreased inter-individual distances and near-neighbour distances, and, after 15&nbsp;min, fish recovered back to baseline behaviours. In contrast, fish in the warm treatment had not recovered after 15&nbsp;min, and swimming speeds were maintained at roughly 25&nbsp;cm/s, close to maximum capabilities. Fish in control and fluctuating treatments showed minimal responses to predator cues, whereas delta smelt exposed to warm conditions significantly increased swimming speeds and decreased turning angle. Predation of delta smelt by largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides, Centrarchidae) was greatest under the warm treatment, correlating with altered behaviours of delta smelt; however, predation of Mississippi silversides was greater than delta smelt, independent of temperature. This study provides novel insight into the group behaviour of delta smelt, their response to predation, and how prolonged exposure to elevated temperature may induce negative individual and group behaviours causing alterations in predator–prey dynamics. This work highlights the importance of testing ecologically realistic temperature fluctuations in experiments as delta smelt had significantly altered responses to elevated temperature, dependent on variability of warming

The composition and origin of Ghana medicine clays

This is the final version of the article. Available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this record.The mineral, organic and elemental composition of medicine clays from three shrines in the Tong Hills in northern Ghana (Gbankil, Kusanaab, and Yaane) are assessed to ascertain what additives they might contain and the implications for their recognition, for example in archaeological contexts. These are clays that are widely used for healing purposes being perceived efficacious in curing multiple ailments and which are given a divine provenance, but their collection is ascribed human agency. The Yaane clay is also supplied as part of the process of obtaining the right to operate the shrine elsewhere making it widely dispersed. Organic geochemical analyses revealed a predominance of plant-derived material with a substantial contribution of microbial origin. Based on these (supported by elemental and mineral analyses), no unnatural organic material could be detected, making an exogenous contribution to these clays unlikely. The implications are that these are wholly natural medicinal substances with no anthropogenic input into their preparation, as the traditions suggest. The very similar mineralogy of all the clays, including a non-medicine clay sampled, suggests that, unless the geology radically differed, differentiating between them analytically in an archaeological contexts would be doubtful.The authors are grateful to the Wellcome Trust for funding the research

Increased systemic inflammation is associated with cardiac and vascular dysfunction over the first 12 weeks of antiretroviral therapy among undernourished, HIV-infected adults in Southern Africa.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.INTRODUCTION: Persistent systemic inflammation is associated with mortality among undernourished, HIV-infected adults starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa, but the etiology of these deaths is not well understood. We hypothesized that greater systemic inflammation is accompanied by cardiovascular dysfunction over the first 12 weeks of ART. METHODS: In a prospective cohort of 33 undernourished (body mass index <18.5 kg/m2) Zambian adults starting ART, we measured C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α receptor 1 (TNF-α R1), and soluble CD163 and CD14 at baseline and 12 weeks. An EndoPAT device measured the reactive hyperemia index (LnRHI; a measure of endothelial responsiveness), peripheral augmentation index (AI; a measure of arterial stiffness), and heart rate variability (HRV; a general marker of autonomic tone and cardiovascular health) at the same time points. We assessed paired changes in inflammation and cardiovascular parameters, and relationships independent of time point (adjusted for age, sex, and CD4+ T-cell count) using linear mixed models. RESULTS: Serum CRP decreased (median change -3.5 mg/l, p=0.02), as did TNF-α R1 (-0.31 ng/ml, p<0.01), over the first 12 weeks of ART. A reduction in TNF-α R1 over 12 weeks was associated with an increase in LnRHI (p=0.03), and a similar inverse relationship was observed for CRP and LnRHI (p=0.07). AI increased in the cohort as a whole over 12 weeks, and a reduction in sCD163 was associated with a rise in the AI score (p=0.04). In the pooled analysis of baseline and 12 week data, high CRP was associated with lower HRV parameters (RMSSD, p=0.01; triangular index, p<0.01), and higher TNF- α R1 accompanied lower HRV (RMSSD, p=0.07; triangular index, p=0.06). CONCLUSIONS: Persistent inflammation was associated with impaired cardiovascular health over the first 12 weeks of HIV treatment among undernourished adults in Africa, suggesting cardiac events may contribute to high mortality in this population.This work was supported by the Vanderbilt Meharry Center for AIDS Research (NIH grant number P30 AI54999); the NIH Fogarty International Center, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute, and National Institute of Mental Health, through the Vanderbilt-Emory-Cornell-Duke Consortium for Global Health Fellows (grant number R25 TW009337); the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (CTSA award number UL1TR000445) and the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (grant IP.2009.33011.004)

GAMBARAN PERILAKU TENTANG APD PADA PEKERJA SPBBE DI DESA MATUNGKAS KECAMATAN DIMEMBE KABUPATEN MINAHASA UTARA

Menurut Peraturan Menteri Tenaga Kerja dan Transmigrasi Republik Indonesia Nomor PER.08/MEN/VII/2010 tentang Alat Pelindung Diri pasal 2 pengusaha wajib menyediakan APD bagi pekerja atau buruh di tempat kerja sesuai dengan Standar Nasional Indonesia (SNI) dan diberikan secara cuma-cuma.Pengetahuan adalah merupakan hasil dari tahu dan ini setelah orang melakukan penginderaan terhadap obyek tertentu. Sikap menggambarkan suka atau tidak suka seseorang terhadap suatu objek. Tindakan merupakan respon terhadap rangsangan yang bersifat aktif dan dapat diamati. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui gambaran pengetahuan, sikap dan tindakan. Metode yang digunakan yaitu deskriptif kuantitatif. Sampel yang digunakan sebanyak 46 responden. Hasil penelitian dari yang diteliti menunjukkan bahwa pengetahuan responden kategori baik 91,3%, buruk 8,7%, sikap responden kategori baik 93,5%, buruk 6,5%, tindakan responden kategori baik 8,7%  dan buruk 91,3% .Simpulan dalam penelitian ini yaitu pengetahuan dan sikap kategori baik  persentase tinggi dibandingkan dengan tindakan yang persentasenya lebih rendah. Saran dalam penelitian adalah perusahaan diharapkan memperhatikan alat pelindung diri dengan terus mengikuti anjuran pemerintah dalam upaya pencegahan kecelakaan kerja. Kata Kunci : Pengetahuan, Sikap, Tindakan ABSRACTAccording to the Regulation of the Minister of Manpower and Transmigration of the Republic of Indonesia Number PER.08 / MEN / VII / 2010 concerning Personal Protective Equipment Article 2, employers are required to provide PPE for workers or laborers in the workplace in accordance with the Indonesian National Standard (INS) and it is given free of charge. Knowledge is the result of knowing and this is after people sense certain objects. Attitude describes whether someone likes or dislikes an object. Action is a response to stimuli that are active and observable. This study aims to determine the description of knowledge, attitudes and actions. The method used is descriptive quantitative. The sample used was 46 respondents. The results of the research studied showed that the respondents' knowledge was in the good category 91.3%, 8.7% bad,, the respondent's attitude was good 93.5%, bad 6.5%, the respondent's action was good category 8.7% and bad 91.3 %. The conclusion in this study is that the knowledge and attitude in the good category have a high percentage compared to actions with a lower percentage. The suggestion in this research is that companies are expected to pay attention to personal protective equipment by continuing to follow government recommendations in an effort to prevent workplace accidents.  Keywords : Knowledge, Attitude, Actio