Training in firearm safety counseling in family practice residency programs

We have studied the function of partial orthotopic liver transplantation in the rat by evaluating prothrombin time (PT), liver blood flow, basal and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and glucose tolerance, and the reticuloendothelial function (RES) in hepatectomized rats subjected to partial liver transplantation. A graft corresponding to 68% of a normal liver was transplanted to totally hepatectomized rats. Comparison was made between control rats and rats subjected to 32% liver resection. PT was not significantly different in the transplanted group compared with liver-resected and control rats. Laser Doppler flowmetry showed that at 28 days after surgery, blood flow had increased in the transplanted livers. Furthermore, on the third day after transplantation, basal plasma insulin was increased and the plasma insulin response to glucose was exaggerated, suggesting reduced insulin action and impaired insulin degradation. Finally, uptake of radioactive-labeled E. coli bacteria, as a measure of RES function, was not compromised in transplanted animals. Based on these results, we conclude that reduced-size liver transplant in out-bred rats results in fast normalization of liver function after surgery although, immediately after surgery, glucose intolerance is seen.     

Utility of stereoscopic displays for indirect-vision driving and robot teleoperation

The effectiveness of an active shutter-glasses stereoscopic display (SD) and a passive polarised SD was evaluated in a live robot-teleoperation task and a simulated indirect-vision driving task in various terrains. Overall, participants completed their tasks significantly faster with the SDs in three-dimensional (3D) mode than with the SDs in the baseline 2D mode. They also navigated more accurately with the SDs in 3D mode. When the effectiveness of the two types of SDs was examined separately, results showed that the active shutter-glasses SD resulted in faster responses and task completion times than the passive polarised SD, though most of the differences failed to reach statistical significance. Perceived workload when interacting with the two SD systems did not differ significantly between the active versus passive display types or between the 3D and 2D modes of operation; however, participants reported more severe discomfort after interacting with the passive polarised SD.     

Multiple-input microcantilever sensors

A surface-micromachined micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) process has been used to demonstrate multiple-input chemical sensing using selectively coated cantilever arrays. Cantilever motion due to absorption-induced stress was readout using a custom-designed, eight-channel integrated circuit. Combined hydrogen and mercury vapor detection was achieved with a palm-sized, self-powered module with spread-spectrum telemetry reporting.     

Calibration and validation of coarse-grained models of atomic systems: application to semiconductor manufacturing

Coarse-grained models of atomic systems, created by aggregating groups of atoms into molecules to reduce the number of degrees of freedom, have been used for decades in important scientific and technological applications. In recent years, interest in developing a more rigorous theory for coarse graining and in assessing the predictivity of coarse-grained models has arisen. In this work, Bayesian methods for the calibration and validation of coarse-grained models of atomistic systems in thermodynamic equilibrium are developed. For specificity, only configurational models of systems in canonical ensembles are considered. Among major challenges in validating coarse-grained models are (1) the development of validation processes that lead to information essential in establishing confidence in the model’s ability predict key quantities of interest and (2), above all, the determination of the coarse-grained model itself; that is, the characterization of the molecular architecture, the choice of interaction potentials and thus parameters, which best fit available data. The all-atom model is treated as the “ground truth,” and it provides the basis with respect to which properties of the coarse-grained model are compared. This base all-atom model is characterized by an appropriate statistical mechanics framework in this work by canonical ensembles involving only configurational energies. The all-atom model thus supplies data for Bayesian calibration and validation methods for the molecular model. To address the first challenge, we develop priors based on the maximum entropy principle and likelihood functions based on Gaussian approximations of the uncertainties in the parameter-to-observation error. To address challenge (2), we introduce the notion of model plausibilities as a means for model selection. This methodology provides a powerful approach toward constructing coarse-grained models which are most plausible for given all-atom data. We demonstrate the theory and methods through applications to representative atomic structures and we discuss extensions to the validation process for molecular models of polymer structures encountered in certain semiconductor nanomanufacturing processes. The powerful method of model plausibility as a means for selecting interaction potentials for coarse-grained models is discussed in connection with a coarse-grained hexane molecule. Discussions of how all-atom information is used to construct priors are contained in an appendix.     

Trajectory Analysis of Forest Cover Change in the Tropical Dry Forest of Burkina Faso,West Africa

Forest cover decline is one of the most important environmental issues in the tropics. The present study was carried out in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and aimed at assessing the trajectories of forest cover change and measuring landscape metrics of the trajectory classes in order to better understand the processes of change. Landsat and ASTER images acquired over a period of 30 years were used for cover change detection and the Fragstats package was used to compute landscape metrics with five unifying change classes. Results showed a substantial increase in cropland with concurrent decline in forest cover. Deforestation represented 63% of the Percentage of Landscape (PLAND) in 2006, while reforestation accounted for only 28%. Both of these classes had high Normalized Landscape Shape Index (NLSI) values, indicating that they were present as scattered small patches. The old cultivation (30-year permanent cropland) was aggregated (IJI ≈ 0) while deforestation exhibited highly interspersed patches. The old forest and old cultivation presented lower Area Weighted Fractal Dimension Index (FRAC_AM), but deforestation and reforestation had the higher FRAC_AM. These results confirmed that there was a high level of deforestation and fragmentation in southern Burkina Faso and justify the need for a proper management plan to ensure the sustainable use of forest resources.     

Hydrate formation process with consideration of heat and mass exchange

Results are offered from numerical experiments involving hydrate formation in pipelines during quasisteady state flow of a moist gas.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 55, No. 2, pp. 226–231, August, 1988.     

A posteriori error estimator and adaptive procedures for computation of shakedown and limit loads on pressure vessels

Adaptive finite element procedures are presented for the computation of upper bounds estimates of limit and shakedown loads for pressure vessels. The method consists of an h-type adaptive mesh refinement strategy based upon an a-posteriori error estimator measured by the energy norm. The problem is formulated in a kinematic approach using Koiter's shakedown theorem. A constitutive model, for elastic-perfectly plastic materials, relates the plastic strains increments and curvatures to plastic multipliers through the flow law associated with a shell piecewise-linear yield surface (hexagonal prism). A consistent relationship between nodal displacements and nodal plastic multipliers is enforced by minimizing the strain residual between the total strain and the plastic strain increments, which is measured with respect to the energy norm. Discretization of the shell into finite elements allows the reduction of the problem to a minimization problem which is solved by linear programming.     

Impaired awareness and employment outcome after traumatic brain injury

Inaccurate self-awareness is a common finding after traumatic brain injury. Such impaired awareness has been hypothesized to limit patients' eventual functional outcomes by decreasing motivation for treatment and resulting in selection of inappropriate long-term goals. Previous investigations of the association between impaired awareness and employment outcome have produced inconsistent results. The present article reviews these studies and presents the results of our new investigation of this issue. In addition, we studied the comparability of two methods of measuring impaired awareness. Results provided strong support for a positive relationship between accurate self-awareness and favorable employment outcome at follow-up.     

Analysis of some finite element methods for a class of problems in elasto-plasticity

In this work the analysis of certain equilibrium problems in elasto-plasticity by the use of finite element techniques is considered. Variational inequalities are established. These characterise the stresses which minimise the total complementary energy, subject to the constraint that the stress satisfies the equilibrium and the yield conditions for materials having a continuous convex yield function. An exterior penalty formulation of this principle is presented, together with existence, uniqueness and convergence theorems. Some convergence criteria for certain types of finite element approximations of the penalised problem are given. Finally, a finite element method for the analysis of bending of elasto-plastic plates is described. Conditions for the convergence of this method are also proved using the methods of Hlavá?ek.     

Finite element formulation of general electrothermoelasticity problems

This paper is concerned with the development of consistent discrete models, via the concept of finite elements, of linear and non-linear electrothermomechanical behaviour of continuous bodies. In the development, general energy balances are utilized to derive equations governing electromagnetic fields over an element and coupled equations of motion and heat conduction of a typical element of the continuum. These equations make it possible to study a general class of field problems involving arbitrary geometries and boundary conditions. Sample problems are included.