THE INFLUENCE OF CERAMIC PARTICLES ON THE CORROSION PROPERTIES OF NOVEL TI750 MATRIX ALLOY

This paper explores the corrosion behavior of matrix Ti750 alloy and its composites prepared using SiCp, B4C, SiCw, and GPLs particles as reinforcement. The consolidation of the metallic powders was by spark plasma sintering method. The study chose mixed molten salt of 25% NaCl + 75% Na2SO4 as the corrosive medium and the hot corrosion behavior of the solidsolution aging at 800 °C. The study found that at the same corrosion temperature, the rate of change of the weight gain curves of all the materials was similar. The corrosion weight gain of the base material was the highest (14.10 mg.cm-2), whiles the 5vol.% SiCp reinforced composite had the lowest weight gain of 5.1 mg.cm-2, which is 36.17% of the base alloy. The corrosion products of all the materials were mainly composed of TiO2, Al2O3, Na2TiO3, and Al2TiO5. The peak of SiO2 was enhanced when SiCp was added, and there was no distinct peeling off of the corrosion layers, unlike the base material, which had partial shedding, deep cracks, and holes. The 5vol.% SiCp reinforced composite therefore possessed the best corrosion performance

Exoskeleton Technology in Rehabilitation: Towards an EMG-Based Orthosis System for Upper Limb Neuromotor Rehabilitation

The rehabilitation of patients should not only be limited to the first phases during intense hospital care but also support and therapy should be guaranteed in later stages, especially during daily life activities if the patient’s state requires this. However, aid should only be given to the patient if needed and as much as it is required. To allow this, automatic self-initiated movement support and patient-cooperative control strategies have to be developed and integrated into assistive systems. In this work, we first give an overview of different kinds of neuromuscular diseases, review different forms of therapy, and explain possible fields of rehabilitation and benefits of robotic aided rehabilitation. Next, the mechanical design and control scheme of an upper limb orthosis for rehabilitation are presented. Two control models for the orthosis are explained which compute the triggering function and the level of assistance provided by the device. As input to the model fused sensor data from the orthosis and physiology data in terms of electromyography (EMG) signals are used

Coverage, determinants of use and repurposing of long‑lasting insecticidal nets two years after a mass distribution in Lihir Islands, Papua New Guinea: a cross‑sectional study

Background: Universal coverage with long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) is an essential component of malaria control programmes. Three-yearly mass distribution of LLINs in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has been successful in reducing infection transmission since 2009, but malaria prevalence ramped up from 2015 onwards. Although LLIN universal coverage is mostly achieved during these campaigns, it may not be related with net use over time. Uses given to LLINs and non-compliance of this strategy were evaluated. Methods: A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) cross-sectional study was conducted in Lihir Islands, PNG, 2–2.5 years after the last LLIN mass distribution campaign. Data on bed net ownership, use and maintenance behaviour was collected using a household questionnaire administered by trained community volunteers. Logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with owning at least one LLIN and sleeping under a LLIN the previous night. Results: Among 2694 households surveyed, 27.4 % (95 % CI: 25.8–29.2) owned at least one LLIN and 8.7 % (95 % CI: 7.6–9.8) had an adequate LLIN coverage (at least one LLIN for every two people). Out of 13,595 individuals in the surveyed households, 13.6 % (95 % CI: 13.0-–4.2) reported having slept under a LLIN the preceding night. Determinants for sleeping under LLIN included living in a household with adequate LLIN coverage [adjusted OR (aOR) = 5.82 (95 % CI: 3.23–10.49)], household heads knowledge about LLINs [aOR = 16.44 (95 % CI: 8.29–32.58)], and female gender [aOR = 1.92 (95 % CI: 1.53–2.40)] (all p-values < 0.001). LLIN use decreased with older age [aOR = 0.29 (95 % CI: 0.21–0.40) for ≥ 15 year-olds, aOR = 0.38 (95 % CI: 0.27–0.55) for 5–14 year-olds] compared to < 5 year-olds (p-value < 0.001). Knowledge on the use of LLIN was good in 37.0 % of the household heads. Repurposed nets were reported serving as fishing nets (30.4 %), fruits and seedlings protection (26.6 %), covering up food (19.0 %) and bed linen (11.5 %). Conclusions: Two years after mass distribution, LLIN coverage and use in Lihir Islands is extremely low. Three yearly distribution campaigns may not suffice to maintain an acceptable LLIN coverage unless knowledge on maintenance and use is promoted trough educational campaigns

Cancer Cells Treated by Clusters of Copper Oxide Doped Calcium Silicate

Purpose: Different compositions of copper oxide (CuO)-doped calcium silicate clusters wereused to treat the cancer cells.Methods: The influence of CuO content on the morphology, drug delivering ability,physicochemical properties and cytotoxicity was investigated.Results: The microcrystalline structure revealed the decrement of the size from (20-36 nm) to(5-7 nm) depending on the copper content percentages. Drug delivering ability of doxycyclinehyclate (Dox) was down regulated from 58% to 28%in the presence of the CuO. The inclusionof CuO and Dox didn’t show any remarkable changes on the physicochemical properties of theCuO-doped calcium silicate nanoparticles.Conclusion: The CuO-doped calcium silicate sample (5 weight %) exhibited great cytotoxicityagainst the tested cell lines compared to the CuO-free sample. CuO-doped materials displayedsignificant anticancer effect; this sheds light on its implication in the treatment of cancer

Technology for Industrial Development of Developing Countries

This report deals with the future technology and the development of developing nations throughout the world. The future holds much in store for all nations of the world - developed and developing. How this technology will affect each society remains to be seen. However, with some degree of accuracy, we can attempt to guide the developing nations along an easier path using presently developed nations as a guide

The impact of advertising on the consumer's buying behavior

Studying a market, producing a product and selling it are important steps for each company. With technological growth, businesses have efficient means of communication which they use in these interactions, either within the company with employees or outside with customers whose company aim is to mainly draw their attention to the product or brand. This is so as to familiarise these customers in order to get them to buy/use the products/the services. Among the forms of communication available, there is advertisement and its role in shaping customer behavior and buying decisions. Advertising is one of the most powerful and important ways that allow to give consumers an idea or “change their opinion” about a certain product or service, and that businesses from all over the world tend to use. Therefore, the aim of the thesis was to put the light on this subject by explaining why advertising is important, its types, how to develop it, how it influences the consumer’s behavior from children to adolescents to adults and elderly, as well as its effects with its good and bad on the buying decision of the consumers. As the last part of the thesis, a questionnaire and an interview will be done along with the results for more analyses concerning this study

Multimodal Movement Prediction - Towards an Individual Assistance of Patients

<div><p>Assistive devices, like exoskeletons or orthoses, often make use of physiological data that allow the detection or prediction of movement onset. Movement onset can be detected at the executing site, the skeletal muscles, as by means of electromyography. Movement intention can be detected by the analysis of brain activity, recorded by, e.g., electroencephalography, or in the behavior of the subject by, e.g., eye movement analysis. These different approaches can be used depending on the kind of neuromuscular disorder, state of therapy or assistive device. In this work we conducted experiments with healthy subjects while performing self-initiated and self-paced arm movements. While other studies showed that multimodal signal analysis can improve the performance of predictions, we show that a sensible combination of electroencephalographic and electromyographic data can potentially improve the adaptability of assistive technical devices with respect to the individual demands of, e.g., early and late stages in rehabilitation therapy. In earlier stages for patients with weak muscle or motor related brain activity it is important to achieve high positive detection rates to support self-initiated movements. To detect most movement intentions from electroencephalographic <i>or</i> electromyographic data motivates a patient and can enhance her/his progress in rehabilitation. In a later stage for patients with stronger muscle or brain activity, reliable movement prediction is more important to encourage patients to behave more accurately and to invest more effort in the task. Further, the false detection rate needs to be reduced. We propose that both types of physiological data can be used in an <i>and</i> combination, where both signals must be detected to drive a movement. By this approach the behavior of the patient during later therapy can be controlled better and false positive detections, which can be very annoying for patients who are further advanced in rehabilitation, can be avoided.</p></div

Classification results for all 4 conditions.

<p>Results for different classification conditions (from left to right: only EEG, only EMG, combination of both with “OR” and with “AND”): The mean classification results with standard deviation are shown in TP-, FP-, TN-, FN-rate and balanced accuracy. The prediction time is given in %–, %– and %–quantiles, respectively.</p