Survey of damage mechanisms on PVD coated HSS hobs used in Swedish gear manufacturing industry

Gear hobbing is widely used for production of cylindrical gears in the Swedish transmission industry. The hob, usually consisting of a homogenous HSS (High Speed Steel) body coated with a ceramic PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) coating, is designed for regrinding and recoating several times without affecting its cutting geometries. Efficient usage of the tool, considering production costs and gear quality, requires reconditioning before wear starts to affect the gear quality negatively and certainly before tool wear renders reconditioning impossible. Hobs of today generally lack in reliability, making it difficult to judge when they have to be taken out for reconditioning. This work presents a survey of wear as observed on today’s state of the art hobs used by Swedish gear manufactures. It aims to identify damage mechanisms and the common problems in order to enable future production of more reliable hobs. The tools were temporarily borrowed from the production and the analyses were made non-destructively using optical microscopes. This was complemented by destructive cross- sectional analysis on two of the hobs.  Wear was most commonly located on the rake faces and the cutting edges of the cutting teeth. It mainly propagates by discrete fractures which appear to originate at local defects in the coating or at the interface. High intrinsic stress in the coating likely promotes coating spallation and accelerates the wear of the cutting edge

Low incidence of toxoplasma infection during pregnancy and in newborns in Sweden

To estimate the burden of disease due to congenital toxoplasmosis in Sweden the incidence of primary infections during pregnancy and birth prevalence of congenital toxoplasmosis in 40978 children born in two regions in Sweden was determined. Women possibly infected during pregnancy were identified based on: 1, detection of specific IgG based on neonatal screening of the phenylketonuria (PKU) card blood spot followed by retrospective testing of stored prenatal samples to detect women who acquired infection during pregnancy and follow up of their children to 12 months; 2, detection of specific IgM on the PKU blood spot. The birth prevalence of congenital toxoplasmosis was 0·73/10000 (95% CI 0·15–2·14) (3/40978). The incidence of primary infection during pregnancy was 5·1/10000 (95% CI 2·6–8·9) susceptible pregnant women. The seroprevalence in the southern part was 25·7% and in the Stockholm area 14·0%. The incidence of infection during pregnancy was low, as the birth prevalence of congenital toxoplasmosis. Neonatal screening warrants consideration in view of the low cost and feasibility

Surgery Versus Radiation for High-risk Prostate Cancer: The Fight Continues. But Is It Time To Call a Draw and Reach Consensus?

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Ultimate pH values and bacteriological condition of meat and stress metabolites in blood of transported reindeer bulls

Twenty-three reindeer bulls, aged 2-3 years, fed during two winter months at the Vuolda reindeer research station in Arjeplog, Sweden, were used in the study. The first group of eight reindeer was moved from their feeding corral to a selection corral, captured by lasso and stunned with a captive bolt outside the selection corral. The second group of seven reindeer was moved to the selection corral, captured by lasso and restrained, after which they were loaded onto a lorry- and transported for 1 hour and then slaughtered. The third group of eight reindeer was moved to the selection corral and herded directly onto the lorry, without any manual handling. They were transported for 5 h and then slaughtered. In both transport groups, four reindeer were fitted with pre-programmed automatic blood sampling equipment (ABSE). ABSE sampled blood at predetermined times via a jugular vein catheter. Ultimate pH-values in three muscles (Mm. longissimus, triceps brachii and biceps femoris) were significantly lower in the group carefully handled and transported for 5 h compared with the other two groups. The physiological mechanisms behind these results are discussed. Samples from M. semimembranosus were collected at slaughter and after 2, 6 and 10 days of refrigerated storage (+4 °C). The samples were analysed for total counts of aerobic bacteria (pour-plated in Tryptone Glucose Extract Agar, Difco, incubated at 20 °C and 30 °C, respectively for 72 h), coliform bacteria 37 °C (pour-plated in Violet Red Bile Agar, Oxoid, incubated at 37 °C for 24 h), Enterococci (surface-plated onto Slantez and Bartley Agar, Oxoid, incubated at 44 °C for 48 h) and Bacillus cereus (surface-plated onto Blood Agar Plates (Blood Agar Base, Difco, supplemented with 5% defibrinated horse blood) 30 °C for 24 h). All samples fell in the range 'fit for consumption'. At slaughter, there was no difference in ASAT activity, urea and Cortisol concentrations between the two transported groups. However, the plasma ASAT activity and urea concentrations at slaughter were significantly lower in the non-transported group. In both transport groups, the plasma Cortisol concentrations increased during loading onto and unloading from the lorry. Abomasal lesions were observed in all treatment groups. It was concluded that reindeer showed an acute stress response to manual handling and transport

Psychometric properties of the Swedish Diabetes Empowerment Scale

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73436/1/j.1471-6712.2007.00463.x.pd

Ergonomics and human factors in healthcare system design – An introduction to this special issue

Ergonomics and human factors in healthcare system design – An introduction to this special issu

Reliability and validity of the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) and Quality of Life in Reflux and Dyspepsia (QOLRAD) questionnaire in dyspepsia: A six-country study

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