Control of hypertension in family practice by the doctor-nurse team

In Israel, most hypertensives are treated by the family doctor alone. In 45 family practices, nurses were given a more active part to play in the follow-up of these patients, including measuring weight and blood pressure, giving dietary guidance, checking patient compliance and actively following up drop-outs. After two years' follow-up, of a total of 4,255 patients studied, 82.4 per cent were under control (diastolic blood pressure less than 95 mmHg) compared to 42.1 per cent at the onset of the study. The drop-out rate was 0.65 per cent.     

Dynamic repair priority for a transfer line with a finite buffer

We formulate a continuous-time Markov chain model of a transfer line in which there are two unreliable machines separated by a finite buffer. Due to limited repair resources, simultaneous repairs are not possible in cases where both machines fail, and therefore we develop a repair priority rule that depends on the number of work-pieces present in the buffer. Each machine is characterized by three exponentially distributed random variables: processing time, time to failure, and time to repair. We provide a stochastic model for finding an optimal repair priority rule and an efficient algorithm accompanied by easy-to-use Matlab software. An extensive numerical study is performed to test the sensitivity of the proposed dynamic repair priority rule. While in previous studies repair priority was given to the bottleneck machine, we show that there are situations in which priority should be given to the non-bottleneck machine. Finally, we identify conditions in which adding a second technician is economically advisable.     

Fiber-optic pulsed photothermal radiometry for fast surface-temperature measurements

Temperature measurement based on pulsed photothermal radiometry is described. In this technique a body is irradiated by a laser pulse and its temperature is inferred from the shape of the emitted photothermal-signal curve. A prototypical system based on a pulsed CO(2) laser, an IR detector, and IR-transmitting silver halide optical fibers was constructed and used to evaluate the feasibility of this technique. An important feature of the technique is that changes in sample emissivity or geometric factors do not introduce errors in the temperature determination. Theory, simulation, and experimental results are given and discussed.     

Normalizing reflectance from different spectrometers and protocols with an internal soil standard

The internal soil standard (ISS) concept in which a soil standard sample, exhibiting stable spectral performance, is used to normalize and align all other soil spectral measurements – was further examined herein. Different spectrometers (Spectral Evolution and ASD Spectral Pro) were used to measure a set of soil samples with the soil standards sample as a reference. Two sand dune samples served as the ISS to align measurements made under different conditions and the results were compared. It was shown that the ISS method was able to correct the spectral information from one spectrometer to another; however, the differences in the results obtained when using the two different soil standards are discussed. The main conclusion of this paper is that the soil spectral user community should adopt the ISS method for the benefit of all, and the sooner the better. This will allow much more effective exploitation of all data sets acquired on a daily basis by the growing soil spectral community that still lacks standardization procedures.     

Streaming of Complex 3D Scenes for Remote Walkthroughs

We describe a new 3D scene streaming approach for remote walkthroughs. In a remote walkthrough, a user on a client machine interactively navigates through a scene that resides on a remote server. Our approach allows a user to walk through a remote 3D scene, without ever having to download the entire scene from the server. Our algorithm achieves this by selectively transmitting only small parts of the scene and lower quality representations of objects, based on the user's viewing parameters and the available connection bandwidth. An online optimization algorithm selects which object representations to send, based on the integral of a benefit measure along the predicted path of movement. The rendering quality at the client depends on the available bandwidth, but practical navigation of the scene is possible even when bandwidth is low.     

EXTRACTION OF TITANIUM(IV) BY MIXTURES OF MONO- AND DH(2-ETHYLHEXYL) PHOSPHORIC ACID ESTERS

ABSTRACT

Solvent extraction of titanium(IV) from hydrochloric acid solutions by mixtures of mono- and di-2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid esters (MEHPA and DEHPA) has been investigated as a function of HC1 concentration in the aqueous phase and extractants concentration in the organic phase

It was found that MEHPA extracts Ti, 3 orders of magnitude more efficiently than DEHPA. Efficiency of extraction by MEHPA does not depend on acid concentration in the aqueous phase in the range of 0·1 – 8·8 mole/Kg. As a rule Ti/MEHPA ratio in the complex is 1/2. At low aqueous phase acidities (0·1–1·0 mole/Kg HCl) formation of six- (or eight-) coordinate bidentate hydrated Ti(IV)-2MEHPA complexes is suggested. At acidities above 7·0 mole/Kg HC1 titanium forms tridentate six- (or eight-) coordinate complexes. At medium acidities (2·0–6·0 mole/Kg HCl) mixtures of these complexes are formed. Prolonged mixing of the phases or aging of the organic phase leads to dehydration and to transformation of bidentate to tridentate Ti-2MEHPA complexes. Ti-2MEHPA complexes are colorless

At ratios Ti/MEHPA<0·5 formation of Ti-MEHPA hydrated or solvated complex ions is suggested which form emulsion in the aqueous phase. These species slowly react with DEHPA and formation of Ti:MEHPA:DEHPA=1:1:2 complex is realized. This complex is yellow.     

Eye movement monitoring as a process tracing methodology in decision making research.

Over the past half century, research on human decision making has expanded from a purely behaviorist approach that focuses on decision outcomes, to include a more cognitive approach that focuses on the decision processes that occur prior to the response. This newer approach, known as process tracing, has employed various methods, such as verbal protocols, information search displays, and eye movement monitoring, to identify and track psychological events that occur prior to the response (such as cognitive states, stages, or processes). In the present article, we review empirical studies that have employed eye movement monitoring as a process tracing method in decision making research, and we examine the potential of eye movement monitoring as a process tracing methodology. We also present an experiment that further illustrates the experimental manipulations and analysis techniques that are possible with modern eye tracking technology. In this experiment, a gaze-contingent display was used to manipulate stimulus exposure during decision making, which allowed us to test a specific hypothesis about the role of eye movements in preference decisions (the Gaze Cascade model; Shimojo, Simion, Shimojo, & Scheier, 2003). The results of the experiment did not confirm the predictions of the Gaze Cascade model, but instead support the idea that eye movements in these decisions reflect the screening and evaluation of decision alternatives. In summary, we argue that eye movement monitoring is a valuable tool for capturing decision makers' information search behaviors, and that modern eye tracking technology is highly compatible with other process tracing methods such as retrospective verbal protocols and neuroimaging techniques, and hence it is poised to be an integral part of the next wave of decision research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

RECOVERY AND CONCENTRATION OF STRONG MINERAL ACIDS FROM DILUTE SOLUTIONS THROUGH LLX. I: REVIEW OF PARAMETERS FOR ADJUSTING EXTRACTANT PROPERT AND ANALYSIS OF PROCESS OPTIONS

Parameters affecting extraction power of amine-based extractants for mineral acids are reviewed. Means for adjusting extractant composition for reversible extraction of mineral acids from dilute solutions are discussed. The paper also analyses process options for recovery of the extracted acid at concentrations higher than those in the original solution. Introduction of the required energy as thermal energy without resorting to evaporation of the acid or to evaporation of water is highly attractive.     

Managing product design quality under resource constraints

Based on quality function deployment (QFD), we develop a simple, intuitive method, formulated as constrained non-linear programming for managing product development for obtaining the best quality product under dynamic resource constraints. The model can respond to changes in the environment including changes in customers' desires, introduction of new technologies, reduction of budget, or changes in the company workforce. Our model improves existing models by incorporating realistic cost functions and allowing its continuous use throughout the project. While using QFD, we also extend the original technique to remove a shortcoming in the roof of the house of quality (HoQ). We give a criterion for guaranteeing global optimality and briefly describe the use of the method in a real project.