Assessment of the respiratory compliance in awake subjects using pressure support

Pressure support (PS), a new mode of ventilatory assistance, is known to induce respiratory muscle relaxation. It was used to obtain reliable measurements of the compliance of the respiratory system (Crs) in awake subjects. PS was applied, through a mouthpiece, at four successive levels (0, 0.75, 1 and 1.25 kPa) to 30 healthy subjects. At the highest PS level, the subject's relaxation was obtained as assessed by a decrease in the occlusion pressure from 0.10 +/- 0.06 to 0.05 +/- 0.04 kPa, whereas the minute ventilation increased (from 7.5 +/- 1.5 to 13.8 +/- 3.3 l.min-1), and the end-tidal carbon dioxide tension (PCO2) decreased (from 5.0 +/- 0.4 to 3.2 +/- 0.5 kPa) below its apnoea threshold. In three subjects, respiratory muscle relaxation was confirmed by a fall in diaphragmatic electromyographic activity. Crs was calculated as the ratio of the tidal volume to the corresponding end-inspiratory airway pressure (i.e. PS level) since, at end inspiration, a zero-flow period was obtained. Crs was highly correlated (r = 0.77) to the height (Ht) of the subjects: Crs (l.kPa-1) = 3.56 x Ht (m) -4.86 (+/- 0.23), allowing normal values to be determined. In order to evaluate the applicability of the method to patients, Crs was measured in four patients with scoliosis, and was found to range from 45-82% of the predicted values. It is suggested that this simple method of Crs determination may be used to characterize various chest wall or pulmonary diseases.     

Assessment of organizational reliability capability

A reliability capability assessment process can assist OEMs and system integrators in assessing prospective suppliers for their ability to design and manufacture reliable products before they are delivered for use, and on an ongoing basis, help a company in identifying shortcomings in its reliability program, which can be rectified by subsequent improvement actions. The assessment can also help to establish reliability management practices for use by designers, suppliers, customers, and independent authorities. The assessment method may be used to evaluate the reliability capability of all types of electronics-related industries that perform activities influencing the reliability of a product. It can produce increased customer satisfaction, provide competitive opportunities, and shorten the product development cycle. In summary, a reliability capability assessment can be used for: 1) specifying or planning reliability practices if product development is implemented internally; 2) evaluating reliability practices to determine the extent to which a supplier is capable of providing a product that meets the reliability requirements/needs; and 3) improving reliability practices if the current reliability practices have been evaluated and improvement is desired or required.     

Rapid Assessment Testing of Polymer Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors in Elevated Temperature–Humidity Environments

Aluminum electrolytic capacitors with polymer electrolytes were developed to obtain lower equivalent series resistance (ESR) than that is achievable with liquid electrolytes. Replacement of the liquid electrolyte with a solid conductive polymer also overcomes the propensity of the liquid to evaporate over time, which leads to a reduction in capacitance and an increase in ESR values. However, capacitor manufacturers acknowledge that humidity can degrade the polymer, thereby having an adverse effect on the reliability of polymer aluminum (PA) capacitors. In the current study, surface mount and thru-hole PA capacitors from two different manufacturers were subjected to highly accelerated stress testing (110 °C, 85% RH) and elevated temperature–humidity (85 °C, 85% RH) conditions for rapid assessment. The polymer electrolyte in the capacitors was poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene). Failure analysis was performed to determine the observed failure modes and the underlying failure mechanisms. The dominant failure modes observed were an increase in leakage current and an increase in ESR.     

Corium spreading and coolability: CSC Project

In the context of severe accidents, large R&D efforts throughout the world are currently directed towards ex-vessel corium behaviour. Among the mitigation means which can be envisaged, the European industries and utilities are considering the implementation of a core-catcher outside the reactor pressure vessel in order to prevent basemat erosion and to stabilize and control the corium within the containment. The CSC project focused on two key phenomena for external core-catcher efficiency, reliability and safety: spreading and coolability. An experimental programme, covering different scenarios and including both simulant and real materials provided a lot of results which now constitute a large database and which enabled the qualification of computer codes.     

Sodium thermal-hydraulics in the pool LMFBR primary vessel

The three-dimensional flow of the primary sodium in the LMFBR main vessel, circulating by natural and forced convection, results in an uneven temperature distribution in the large mass of sodium itself (stratification, thermal fluctuations, thermal dissymmetry ... ) and on the components walls. In France, extensive interdependent theoretical, numerical and experimental studies have been performed on this subject. They aim at determining the thermal conditions during all operating conditions with a view to assessing the resulting thermal stresses and evaluating structure behaviour.The results of the commissionning tests of the Super-Phenix's plant show the validity of the method used; the thermalhydraulic knowledge leads to an improvement of the tools. They will be used as a design capability, from the viewpoint of compact and economical design for the next European Fast Breeder Reactor.     

Varieties of transference patterns in psychotherapy

This investigation explored the nature of transference of interpersonal patterns in patients' psychotherapy narratives. The relation between interpersonal patterns with significant others in a patient's life and the pattern with the therapist early in treatment was examined. Cluster analysis was used to categorize similar relationships for each of 35 patients. Many patients revealed multiple interpersonal themes in their relationship narratives. Furthermore, these interpersonal themes correlated significantly with the interpersonal pattern extracted from narratives told about the therapist for many of the patients who discussed the therapeutic relationship during therapy. However, the interpersonal pattern evident in the relationship with the therapist was not necessarily the most pervasive pattern exhibited in the narratives about significant others.     

On the Optimality of the ARQ-DDF Protocol

In this correspondence, the performance of the automatic repeat request-dynamic decode and forward (ARQ-DDF) cooperation protocol is analyzed in two distinct scenarios. The first scenario is the multiple access relay channel where a single relay is dedicated to simultaneously help two multiple access users. For this setup, it is shown that the ARQ-DDF protocol achieves the channel's optimal diversity multiplexing tradeoff (DMT). The second scenario is the cooperative vector multiple access channel where two users cooperate in delivering their messages to a destination equipped with two receiving antennas. For this setup, a new variant of the ARQ-DDF protocol is developed where the two users are purposefully instructed not to cooperate in the first round of transmission. Lower and upper bounds on the achievable DMT are then derived. These bounds are shown to converge to the optimal tradeoff as the number of transmission rounds increases.     

Nanoencapsulation of montmorillonite clay within poly(ethylene glycol) nanobeads by electrospraying

The present study describes the preparation and characterization of a novel nanocomposite, based on montmorillonite clay (MMT) encapsulation in poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) by an electrospraying process. PEG/MMT nanocomposites with MMT contents ranging from 1 to 5 wt % were successfully prepared and characterized in relation to their morphological, spectroscopic, structural, and thermal properties. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy micrographs showed that the PEG nanobeads formed spherical shapes, and with increasing amount of MMT clay, the size of the beads decreased significantly, ranging from 120 to 3.7 nm. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results suggested that there was no significant chemical interaction between PEG and MMT clay. However, the d‐spacing of MMT clay in PEG/MMT increased, a clear indication of the intercalation of PEG in the interlayer spaces of MMT clay. Furthermore, the thermal stability of PEG polymer decreased upon encapsulation of MMT clay in PEG/MMT composites. Nanoindentation results showed that the hardness and Young's modulus of the PEG/MMT composites increased with 3 wt % loading of MMT. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45048.     

Field emission of Co nanowires in polycarbonate template

The Co nanowire arrays were synthesized by electrodeposition in polycarbonate template (PC) with 4 μm thickness. Electron field emission properties of cobalt nanowires were studied for wires with different aspect ratios, R ranged between 10 and 60, while the diameter of wires was fixed about 50 nm. The field emission properties of the samples showed low turn on electric field (E_to) with values varying between 2.9 and 11.3 V/μm showing a minimum value for R = 20 (E_to < 3 V/μm). On the other hand, the enhancement factor shows a peak for nanowires length about 1 μm. Field emission data using the Fowler-Nordhiem theory showed nearly straight-line nature confirming cold field emission of electrons. The fabricated field emitter arrays of cobalt nanowires in the PC templates opens the possibility of fabricating flexible flat panel displays.