Neurogenic Fever after Acute Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: A Qualitative Systematic Review.

STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review. OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence, pathogenesis, and clinical outcomes related to neurogenic fevers following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was performed on thermodysregulation secondary to acute traumatic SCI in adult patients. A literature search was performed using PubMed (MEDLINE), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Scopus. Using strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, seven relevant articles were obtained. RESULTS: The incidence of fever of all origins (both known and unknown) after SCI ranged from 22.5 to 71.7% with a mean incidence of 50.6% and a median incidence of 50.0%. The incidence of fever of unknown origin (neurogenic fever) ranged from 2.6 to 27.8% with a mean incidence of 8.0% and a median incidence of 4.7%. Cervical and thoracic spinal injuries were more commonly associated with fever than lumbar injuries. In addition, complete injuries had a higher incidence of fever than incomplete injuries. The pathogenesis of neurogenic fever after acute SCI is not thoroughly understood. CONCLUSION: Neurogenic fevers are relatively common following an acute SCI; however, there is little in the scientific literature to help physicians prevent or treat this condition. The paucity of research underscored by this review demonstrates the need for further studies with larger sample sizes, focusing on incidence rate, clinical outcomes, and pathogenesis of neurogenic fever following acute traumatic SCI

Combustion waves in a model with chain branching reaction and their stability

In this paper the travelling wave solutions in the adiabatic model with two-step chain branching reaction mechanism are investigated both numerically and analytically in the limit of equal diffusivity of reactant, radicals and heat. The properties of these solutions and their stability are investigated in detail. The behaviour of combustion waves are demonstrated to have similarities with the properties of nonadiabatic one-step combustion waves in that there is a residual amount of fuel left behind the travelling waves and the solutions can exhibit extinction. The difference between the nonadiabatic one-step and adiabatic two-step models is found in the behaviour of the combustion waves near the extinction condition. It is shown that the flame velocity drops down to zero and a standing combustion wave is formed as the extinction condition is reached. Prospects of further work are also discussed.Comment: pages 32, figures 2

Examining the effectiveness of technology use in classrooms: A tertiary meta-analysis

Identifying effective literacy instruction programs has been a focal point for governments, educators and parents over the last few decades (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2004, 2006; Council of Ontario Directors of Education, 2011). Given the increasing use of computer technologies in the classroom and in the home, a variety of information communication technology (ICT) interventions for learning have been introduced. Meta-analyses comparing the impact of these programs on learning, however, have yielded inconsistent findings (Andrews, Freeman, Hou, McGuinn, Robinson, & Zhu, 2007; Slavin, Cheung, Groff, & Lake, 2008; Slavin, Lake, Chambers, Cheung, & Davis, 2009; Torgerson & Zhu, 2003). The present tertiary meta-analytic review re-assesses outcomes presented in three previous meta-analyses. Four moderator variables assessed the impact of the systematic review from which they were retrieved, training and support, implementation fidelity and who delivered the intervention (teacher versus researcher). Significant results were found when training and support was entered as a moderator variable with the small overall effectiveness of the ICTs (ES = 0.18), similar to those found in previous research, increasing significantly (ES = 0.57). These findings indicate the importance of including implementation factors such as training and support, when considering the relative effectiveness of ICT interventions

Reliability in the whole life cycle of building systems

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to show that reliability analysis and its implementation will lead to an improved whole life performance of the building systems, and hence their life cycle costs (LCC). Design/methodology/approach – This paper analyses reliability impacts on the whole life cycle of building systems, and reviews the up-to-date approaches adopted in UK construction, based on questionnaires designed to investigate the use of reliability within the industry. Findings – Approaches to reliability design and maintainability design have been introduced from the operating environment level, system structural level and component level, and a scheduled maintenance logic tree is modified based on the model developed by Pride. Different stages of the whole life cycle of building services systems, reliability-associated factors should be considered to ensure the system's whole life performance. It is suggested that data analysis should be applied in reliability design, maintainability design, and maintenance policy development. Originality/value – The paper presents important factors in different stages of the whole life cycle of the systems, and reliability and maintainability design approaches which can be helpful for building services system designers. The survey from the questionnaires provides the designers with understanding of key impacting factors

Optimization of Input Parameters of AWJM: Using Three Different Abrasives on MS2062

The objective of this work is to optimize input parameters of AWJM (Abrasive Water Jet Machining) such as Nozzle Transverse Speed (NTS), Abrasive Flow Rate (AFR) and Stand-off Distance (SOD) using three different abrasives Garnet, Brown Fused Alumina and White Aluminum Oxide on MS2062 and to compare their performance with surface finish, MRR and kerf angle. Experiments were conducted according to Taguchi’s design of experiments. Analysis of variance is conducted to investigate the influence of each parameter on responses Three controllable parameters of three levels are applied for determining the optimal responses The results revealed that NTS is a most significant factor for MRR among three abrasives followed by AFR and SOD, with regards to surface finish and MRR White Aluminum Oxide has emerged as a most strong abrasive followed by Brown Fused Alumina and Garnet. It is recommended, to achieve the better surface finish, less kerf angle and good MRR White Aluminum Oxide be used in place of Garnet which is mostly used by the industry today

Composting Rice Straw in Semi-Arid Conditions

Five experiments were conducted, three with 10-kg lots (in cement cylinders/digesters) and two in heaps with 500-kg lots of rice straw. Results from three—one with cement cylinders and two with heaps—are reported here. All were conducted at Patancheru from 1998 to 2000 in the hot summer period (April–May). The use of 0.76% N (as urea) with or without added micro-organisms more quickly decomposed the rice straw (by a subjective visual rating scale and C:N ratio) by about 1 week than otherwise. Also, the compost of N-applied treatments had at least 40% more N than that from the non-applied control. But N loss, indicated by the odour of ammonia, was noticed only from the N-applied treatments. All the treatments, except the control, received 25% rock phosphate (RP), when composting was done in cement digesters. For heap composting, RP was reduced to 6% so that its concentration would not be excessive when the compost is applied to crops at high rates. Composting was accomplished within 45 days whether in the digesters or in heaps, even with a reduced use of N (0.36% in 1999 and 0.1% in the year 2000). Treatment effects due to N that were apparent in the final product, disappeared when N-application was reduced to 0.3% or 0.1%. It was only through the visual rating that amendment with N and micro-organisms was perceived to shorting composting time. The resultant compost, however, did not indicate differences in chemical characteristics (N, P, K, OC%) across treatments in heap composting. One apparent biological difference across treatments was the presence of fruiting bodies of Sclerotium rolfsii (causes root rots in many crops) in control treatments. This fungus was not seen in treatments receiving microbial inoculation. In the experiment in 1999, we composted over 6 t of rice straw in a single session, in multiple heaps of 500 kg. The composting protocol is proposed for a small-scale village-level enterprise and is not intended for individual farmer

Distinguishing sequences for partially specified FSMs

Distinguishing Sequences (DSs) are used inmany Finite State Machine (FSM) based test techniques. Although Partially Specified FSMs (PSFSMs) generalise FSMs, the computational complexity of constructing Adaptive and Preset DSs (ADSs/PDSs) for PSFSMs has not been addressed. This paper shows that it is possible to check the existence of an ADS in polynomial time but the corresponding problem for PDSs is PSPACE-complete. We also report on the results of experiments with benchmarks and over 8 * 106 PSFSMs. © 2014 Springer International Publishing

Sustainability implications of burning rice- and wheat-straw in Punjab

It is noted that yields from rice-wheat cropping systems in the Indo-Gangetic plain are declining despite the increasing use of chemical fertilizers. Crop residues are important components of soil fertility management, but are burnt in some areas, such as Punjab, India. Not only does this mean a loss of nutrients but also causes environmental pollution (and the associated health effects): the production of substantial quantities of carbon dioxide. Limited published data suggest that rice-straw can be converted to high value manure of a better quality than that of farmyard manure. Its use, along with chemical fertilizers should not only sustain present levels of crop yields, but may also increase them. Data are presented from 237 farmers surveyed during September-October 199