Tube joint leak repair coupling

Tube joint leak repair coupling consists of 2 split seals, 1 male split nut, 1 female split nut, and two aligning pins. Each split nut consists of 2 half-shell sections which, when engaged, are held together by a dovetail joint and an aligning pin

Formal Context Generation using Dirichlet Distributions

We suggest an improved way to randomly generate formal contexts based on Dirichlet distributions. For this purpose we investigate the predominant way to generate formal contexts, a coin-tossing model, recapitulate some of its shortcomings and examine its stochastic model. Building up on this we propose our Dirichlet model and develop an algorithm employing this idea. By comparing our generation model to a coin-tossing model we show that our approach is a significant improvement with respect to the variety of contexts generated. Finally, we outline a possible application in null model generation for formal contexts.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure

Sound Source Localization in a Multipath Environment Using Convolutional Neural Networks

The propagation of sound in a shallow water environment is characterized by boundary reflections from the sea surface and sea floor. These reflections result in multiple (indirect) sound propagation paths, which can degrade the performance of passive sound source localization methods. This paper proposes the use of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for the localization of sources of broadband acoustic radiated noise (such as motor vessels) in shallow water multipath environments. It is shown that CNNs operating on cepstrogram and generalized cross-correlogram inputs are able to more reliably estimate the instantaneous range and bearing of transiting motor vessels when the source localization performance of conventional passive ranging methods is degraded. The ensuing improvement in source localization performance is demonstrated using real data collected during an at-sea experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Final draft of paper submitted to 2018 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP) 15-20 April 2018 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1612.0350

REDD comes into fashion in Madagascar

As the Copenhagen negotiations on the form of post Kyoto mechanisms to tackle climate change approach, firmly on the agenda are proposals to include Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD). REDD could potentially generate tens of millions of dollars annually for Madagascar, bringing a huge potential to deliver forest conservation and improved livelihoods for the rural Malagasy. Efforts are underway in Madagascar to access REDD finance through a national working group and implementation of five REDD pilot projects. Many areas where the lowering of rates of deforestation is hoped to take place are part of the new generation of protected areas following the 2003 Durban Declaration. These new protected areas are frequently based on federations or grouping of community managed forests, which the literature and experience has shown to be highly problematic and which are rarely fully operational. If REDD is to prove to be an effective conservation tool, as well as an equitable mechanism to promote rural development several issues need to be addressed: More resources allocated to provide direct incentives to communities and to build local management capacity within their forest management associations. More serious efforts are needed to increase forest plantations and to improve management of existing plantations and natural forests, so as to meet the forest product needs of the whole Malagasy population. Basic human rights to have secure tenure of ancestral forest lands, and to derive a decent living from these needs to be recognised and empowered. The risk of ‘elite capture’ of the revenues generated by REDD should be avoided by the establishment of a transparent and independent scrutiny facility. Finally, it is proposed that improved dialogue between the social critics of conservation in Madagascar and the conservation movement itself should be encouraged

The Effect of Chlorhexidine Gluconate as an Endodontic Irrigant on the Apical Seal: Long-term Results

The purpose of this study was to determine whether chlorhexidine gluconate (0.12%), used as an endodontic irrigating solution would affect the apical seal of three root canal cements. One hundred extracted human single-canal teeth were divided into 9 experimental groups of 10 teeth each, in addition to a positive and negative control group of 5 teeth each. The teeth were decoronated at the level of the cementoenamel junction, accessed, instrumented to a Master Apical File #50, irrigated with either sterile saline, 5.25% NaOCl or 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate, and dried using paper points. Obturation was accomplished using lateral condensation and one of three endodontic sealers: Roth\u27s 811, AH26, or Sealapex. Post-obturation apical leakage was measured at 270- and 360-day observation periods using the fluid filtration method. Using the mixed-model repeated-measures ANOVA test with Tukey\u27s HSD multiple comparison procedure, the results showed the saline-Sealapex combination had significantly more leakage (p\u3c0.05) than either the Peridex-Sealapex or saline-Roth\u27s combinations at 270 days. No other significant differences were noted between any sealer-irrigant combination at 270 days. The saline-Sealapex combination had significantly more leakage than the saline-Roth\u27s combination at 360 days. No other significant differences were noted at 360 days. Under the conditions of this study, chlorhexidine gluconate irrigant did not adversely affect the apical seal of three root canal cements at 270 and 360 days