Five-factor personality traits and subjective health among caregivers: The role of caregiver strain and self-efficacy.

This study examined the association among caregivers' five-factor personality traits and subjective health with particular emphasis on the role of two theoretically implicated mediators: multi-domain self-efficacy and caregiver strain. The sample comprised 536 informal caregivers (mean age = 62.9 years, SD = 19.9, 72% female, 98% White) of community-dwelling older adults with multiple functional impairments. Both physical health and mental health were negatively associated with neuroticism and positively associated with extraversion and conscientiousness. Agreeableness and openness were associated with better subjective mental health and physical health, respectively. Multiple mediation analyses indicated that self-efficacy mediated all observed associations between personality and subjective health, whereas caregiver strain selectively mediated the associations of neuroticism and agreeableness with mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Natural Lignocellulosic Fibers as Engineering Materials—An Overview

Recent investigations on the tensile properties of natural cellulose-based fibers revealed an increasing potential as engineering materials. This is particularly the case of very thin fibers of some species such as sisal, ramie, and curaua. However, several other commonly used fibers such as flax, jute, hemp, coir, cotton, and bamboo as well as less known bagasse, piassava, sponge gourde, and buriti display tensile properties that could qualify them as engineering materials. An overview of the strength limits attained by these fibers is presented. Based on a tensile strength vs density chart, it is shown that natural fibers stand out as a relevant class of engineering materials.     

Retrofit of RC hollow piers with CFRP sheets

Hollow bridge piers, particularly those built before the seventies, often have insufficient shear capacity due to inadequate transverse reinforcement details. Therefore, special attention must be given to this very important aspect when reinforced concrete (RC) piers with hollow sections are analysed and retrofitted. This paper covers the experimental analysis of retrofit solutions using CFRP sheets along the piers’ entire height to prevent shear failure. Experimental cyclic tests were carried out to evaluate the shear retrofit strategy efficiency on a set of RC piers with square hollow sections. This work also covers the study of design procedures for CFRP shear retrofitting and the evaluation of the associated ductility capacity improvement. The various transverse reinforcement detailing scenarios were assessed to determine their shear-failure prevention efficiency. The corresponding cyclic response behavior was also evaluated. The most relevant experimental information is presented in the paper, such as the evolution of the outer damage pattern. Finally, shear retrofit solutions, with a 40% increase over the maximum flexural force, show that this strategy is adequate to allow satisfactory ductility behavior.     

Constrained scheduling of the inspection activities on semiconductor wafers grouped in families with sequence-dependent set-up times

The scheduling of families of semiconductor wafers within the inspection department of a company producing electronic devices is considered in this paper. Changing the family of wafers to be inspected by an inspection machine requires a sequence-dependent set-up time; furthermore, due to the limited space availability of the inspection area, the available interoperational buffer capacity between the inspection machines is finite. The objective of the scheduling is the maximization of inspection department productivity, measured through the sequence makespan. A permutational flowshop group-scheduling problem (GSP) with sequence-dependent set-up times and limited interoperational buffer capacity has been taken into account. A benchmark of process scenarios considering different numbers of inspection machines wafers codes and families to be inspected has been generated. A Genetic Algorithm is here proposed as an efficient tool to solve the investigated problem. A comparison with a tabu search and a Nawaz, Enscore, and Ham procedure improving the currently available scheduler tool within the inspection department has been performed on the benchmark of problems. Finally, the influence on line productivity due to the finite interoperational buffer capacity is investigated.     

Interpolating datasets with trends: A modified median polish approach

This article investigates an alternative method to deal with data sets in the presence of trends. Median polish kriging (MPK) was introduced as an alternative solution to universal kriging or intrinsic random functions of order k (IRF-k) for estimation in the presence of trends. The maps obtained using the original MPK algorithm show banding artefacts which do not appear in the reference data set. A modified version of MPK was introduced to attempt to remove the banding artefacts. The results confirm the improvement in quality of estimate using the modified version of MPK (called MPKm), which takes into account the problems of clustered samples and boundary effect associated with the re-addition of the trend along bands. The variation introduced in the median polish algorithm proved to be satisfactory in eliminating the artefacts.     

Hydroxyapatite deposition study through polymeric process on commercially pure Ti surfaces modified by laser beam irradiation

Many techniques have been used to coat metallic substrate with bioceramics. The aim of this study was to study the physical-chemical characteristics of polyvinylidene fluoride (α-PVDF)/hydroxyapatite (HA) composite coating, obtained by casting method, on commercially pure titanium (α-CP Ti) substrate surface modified by laser beam irradiation. The preparation of coating was done for mixing α-PVDF pellets shape dissolved in dimethylacetamide (DMA) with HA/DMA emulsion. The mixture was poured onto the α-CP Ti sample and left to dry in an oven. CP Ti plates were coated with α-PVDF/HA composite film, in proportions of 100/00 and 60/40 in weight, and characterized by particle size analysis, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffractometry, thickness measurement and contact angle. Uniform coating with a small thickness variation along the coated surface was successfully obtained.     

Influence of Particle Size on Nonisothermal Crystallization in a Lithium Disilicate Glass

In this study, lithium disilicate (LS₂) glass samples with different particle sizes ranging from less than 105 to 850 μm were prepared. These specimens were inserted in a Pt‐Rh DSC crucible and heated to 850°C at different rates (? = 0.5–30 K/min) to identify their crystallization peaks. The activation energies for the overall crystallization (E) and the Avrami coefficient (n) were evaluated using different nonisothermal models. Specifically, n was evaluated using the Augis–Benett model and the Ozawa method, and E was evaluated using the Kissinger and Ligero methods. As expected, the coarse particles mainly crystallized in the volume, while surface crystallization was predominant in the samples with particle sizes of less than 350 μm. This result was confirmed through SEM analysis of the double stage heat‐treated samples. In contrast with previous studies, our results demonstrated that the activation energy decreased as the particle size increased. In addition, no clear correlation between the peak intensity (δT_p) and the particle size was observed.     

Attribute Charts for Monitoring the Mean Vector of Bivariate Processes

This article proposes two Shewhart charts, denoted np_xy and np_w charts, which use attribute inspection to control the mean vector (μ_x; μ_y)′ of bivariate processes. The units of the sample are classified as first‐class, second‐class, or third‐class units, according to discriminate limits and the values of their two quality characteristics, X and Y. When the np_xy chart is in use, the monitoring statistic is M = N₁ + N₂, where N₁ and N₂ are the number of sample units with a second‐class and third‐class classification, respectively. When the np_w chart is in use, the monitoring statistic is W = N₁ + 2N₂. We assume that the quality characteristics X and Y follow a bivariate normal distribution and that the assignable cause shifts the mean vector without changing the covariance matrix. In general, the synthetic np_xy and np_w charts require twice larger samples to outperform the T² chart. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

228Ra in cow’s milk from an anomalous region of Pernambuco-Brazil

The counties of Pedra and Venturosa have one of the largest natural radioactive occurrences of Brazil. The large farms producing milk in the state of Pernambuco are located in these counties. The forage plants cultivated on those farms have high concentrations of ²²⁸Ra, a naturally occurring descending radionuclide from the ²³²Th series. The ²²⁸Ra is transferred to the forage plants, and once ingested by the lactating cow, this radionuclide is rapidly transferred to the milk. Thus, milk intake is an important route for ²²⁸Ra of incorporation by the human consumer and may induce the appearance of bone sarcoma. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to determine the concentrations of ²²⁸Ra in milk produced in the Pedra and Venturosa farms, in order to estimate the risk of ingestion in the local population. The ²²⁸Ra was determined by actin-228 (²²⁸Ac) using the radiochemical technique of barium sulphate precipitate (BaSO₄). The milk samples had concentrations of ²²⁸Ra ranging from 61 to 1338 mBq.l^?1, which corresponded to the cumulative equivalent dose ranging from 0.04 to 0.1 Sv. Although the doses were low, regulatory and protective measures should be taken to study the radiotoxic effects of ²²⁸Ra in subjects in the public.