Evidence Vs. Practice in Early Drain Removal Following Pancreatectomy

Background: Early drain removal when postoperative day (POD) 1 drain fluid amylase (DFA) was ≤ 5000 U/L reduced complications in a previous randomized controlled trial. We hypothesized that most surgeons continue to remove drains late and this is associated with inferior outcomes. Methods: We assessed the practice of surgeons in a prospectively maintained pancreas surgery registry to determine the association between timing of drain removal with demographics, co-morbidities, and complications. We selected patients with POD1 DFA ≤ 5000 U/L and excluded those without drains, and subjects without data on POD1 DFA or timing of drain removal. Early drain removal was defined as ≤ POD5. Results: 244 patients met inclusion criteria. Only 90 (37%) had drains removed early. Estimated blood loss was greater in the late removal group (190 mL vs 100 mL, p = 0.005) and pathological findings associated with soft gland texture were more frequent (97(63%) vs 35(39%), p < 0.0001). Patients in the late drain removal group had more complications (84(55%) vs 30(33%), p = 0.001) including pancreatic fistula (55(36%) vs 4(4%), p < 0.0001), delayed gastric emptying (27(18%) vs 3(3%), p = 0.002), and longer length of stay (7 days vs 5 days, p < 0.0001). In subset analysis for procedure type, complications and pancreatic fistula remained significant for both pancreatoduodenectomy and distal pancreatectomy. Conclusion: Despite level 1 data suggesting improved outcomes with early removal when POD1 DFA is ≤ 5000 U/L, experienced pancreas surgeons more frequently removed drains late. This practice was associated with known risk factors (EBL, soft pancreas) and may be associated with inferior outcomes suggesting potential for improvement

Life After Succession in the Family Business: Is It Really the End of Problems?

The succession processes in family business are well chronicled in the business literature. Most of the research focuses on the process of transferring power within the business-family. What has not been as closely examined is the after-succession environment that exists when the management and leadership of the family business are passed on to the next generation. This article addresses that organizational climate and the potential for additional problems in the business-family if post-succession issues are not identified and addressed and suggests some steps that will be helpful in producing complete succession success.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

The Impact of Timing and Mode of Entry on Successor Development and Successful Succession

Family businesses frequently are disrupted by the process of succession of leadership and ownership. This article focuses on causes of conflict and how to manage success after siblings have entered the business.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Direct torque controlled drive train for electric vehicle

Electric vehicle (EV) due to its running zero emission, sustainability and efficiency is of interest for future transportation. In-wheel technology has been one of the main research concentration points in last decade. BLDC motor is on demand for in-wheel application because of its high efficiency, torque/speed characteristics, high power to size ratio, high operating life and noiseless operation. In this paper direct torque control (DTC) switching technique of BLDC motor for EV propulsion system is proposed and simulated in MATLAB/ SIMULINK. The Simulation results show effective control of torque and remarkable reduction of torque ripple amplitude as compared to conventional reported switching techniques. Improvements of in-wheel motor’s torque controllability result to have more efficient and safer electric vehicle. The simulation results of proposed switching system are satisfactory and show correct performance of system

Fault diagnosis of in-wheel BLDC motor drive for electric vehicle application

Permanent magnet Brushless DC (BLDC) motors have been attracted by electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers in the last decade. The paper presents a simple fault diagnosis technique to detect switch faults of three phases Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) drive of BLDC motor in a closed-loop control scheme. The proposed fault diagnosis system is capable to detect the fault occurrence, identify fault type and the faulty switch of inverter based on Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) analysis of the measured line voltages of BLDC motor. BLDC motor drive and the proposed fault diagnosis system are simulated. Simulation results were validated first by experimental data for BLDC motor operation under healthy condition. A knowledge based table is developed to identify switch faults of VSI by analyzing the simulation results under various fault conditions. The proposed fault diagnosis algorithm does not need massive computational effort and can be implemented as a subroutine with a closed-loop control algorithm of the BLDC motor on a single chip microcontroller. The obtained results show correct detection and identification of inverter switch faults in BLDC motor

Genetic Heterogeneity among Leishmania major Isolates in Iran Determined by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) and Multilocus Microsatellite Typing (MLMT)

Abstract: Background & Aims: In recent years, molecular methods for characterizing genetic heterogeneity have found a major place in modern approaches. In this study, two different molecular techniques including Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) and Multi Locus microsatellite typing (MLMT) were carried out in order to evaluate genetic heterogeneity among isolates of Leishmania major in Iran. Methods: In this experimental study, 24 L.major isolates from different endemic foci of cutaneous leishmaniasis were evaluated. All samples were amplified by specific primers for Internal Transcribed Spacer ribosomal RNA (ITS_rRNA) and miniexon genes (ME). Ten different microsatellite markers were applied to 24 collected isolates as well. Restriction fragment length polymorphism of Polymerase chain reaction of ITS-rRNA and ME regions was identified in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Size polymorphisms in PCR products of microsatellites markers were measured in the CEQ 8000 automated genetic analysis system. Population structure of the isolates was investigated by Structure Version 2.3.2 software. Results: According to ITS- RFLP and ME-RFLP techniques, three and two different strains of L.major were determined, respectively, while microsattellites markers revealed 21 different genotypes, which were clustered in three genetic groups using structure software. Conclusion: Although genetic heterogeneity among studied L. major isolates was identified by molecular tools as used in this study, it seems that microsatellites markers are more useful in population structure and epidemiological studies. Our findings also showed correlation between different identified strains and their geographical regions. Keywords: Leishmania major, Genetic heterogeneity, Iran, PCR-RFLP, MLM

Inverter switch fault diagnosis system for BLDC motor drives

Safe operation of electric motor drives is of prime research interest in various industrial applications. This paper presents a new fault diagnosis system for open circuit switch faults in three phases Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) drive of the permanent magnet Brushless DC (BLDC) motors. The proposed fault diagnosis system is capable of detecting as well as identifying the faulty switch in the voltage source inverters. Faults diagnosis is based on Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) analysis of the BLDC motor line voltages. Behaviour of the BLDC motor is analysed under open circuit faults of inverter switches through a validated simulation model. A knowledge based table is developed to identify the faulty switch by analysing the simulation results under various fault conditions. Performance of the BLDC motor is also investigated under open circuit faults of VSI switches through the experimental test rig. Experiment results validate the proposed inverter switch fault diagnosis algorithm for the BLDC motor drives

Comparison of different PWM switching modes of BLDC motor as drive train of electric vehicles

Electric vehicle (EV) is one of the effective solutions to control emission of greenhouses gases in the world. It is of interest for future transportation due to its sustainability and efficiency by automotive manufacturers. Various electrical motors have been used for propulsion system of electric vehicles in last decades. In this paper brushed DC motor, Induction motor (IM), switched reluctance motor (SRM) and brushless DC motor (BLDC) are simulated and compared. BLDC motor is recommended for high performance electric vehicles. PWM switching technique is implemented for speed control of BLDC motor. Behavior of different modes of PWM speed controller of BLDC motor are simulated in MATLAB/SIMULINK. BLDC motor characteristics are compared and discussed for various PWM switching modes under normal and inverter fault conditions. Comparisons and discussions are verified through simulation results

Characteristics of suitable drive train for electric vehicle

Use of electric vehicles is increasing due to zero carbon emission, its sustainability and energy saving capability. This paper compares performance, efficiency and reliability of different motors which can be used as drive train of electric vehicles. Performance of induction motors, brushed DC motors, permanent magnet brushless DC motors, switched reluctance motors and their respective controller have been simulated. Merits and demerits of each system have been highlighted. Performance of BLDC and switched reluctance motors as in-wheel motors under normal and critical conditions are compared. The paper also covers the additional benefits of integration of BLDC motor-drive systems with inbuilt adaptation of control and self fault diagnosis in-wheel systems