Introduction

The Journal of Supercomputing -     

Is team training in briefings for surgical teams feasible in simulation?

We developed a module for surgical team training using briefings in simulated crisis scenarios and here we report preliminary findings. Nine surgical teams (34 trainees) participated in a pre-training simulation, followed by an interactive workshop on briefing and checklists, and then a post-training simulation. Both technical and non-technical skills were assessed via observation during simulations by expert trainers who provided feedback on performances at the end of simulation. Trainees also reported their attitudes to briefings and evaluated the training. Pre-training attitudes to briefing were positive, some of which improved post-training and trainees’ evaluation of the training was positive. Surgeons’ technical skill improved significantly post-training, but their decision-making skill was rated lower than other non-technical skills, compared to other trainees. The training did not appear to greatly improve non-technical skill performance. Training surgical teams in simulation is feasible but much more work is needed on measurement development and training strategy to confirm its efficacy and utility.     

Antimicrobial resistant genes associated with Salmonella from retail meats and street foods

We examined the antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella isolates from 300 meat products (raw beef, chicken meat and street foods). A total of 88 non-duplicate Salmonella from 66 (22.0%) retail meat and 22 (7.5%) street food samples were recovered and 11 serovars were identified. Among the 88 Salmonella isolates, the highest resistance was to tetracycline (73.8%), followed by sulfonamide (63.6%), streptomycin (57.9%), nalidixic acid (44.3%), trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (19.3%), ampicillin (17.0%), chloramphenicol (10.2%), cephalotin (8.0%), kanamycin (6.8%), ciprofloxacin (2.2%) gentamycin (2.2%), cefoxitin (2.2%), amoxicillin–clavulanate (1.0%) and amikacin (1.0%). Sixty-seven percent of the isolates (59/88) were multidrug resistant (MDR). Ten out of 17 resistance genes (bla_TEM-1, strA, strB, aadA, sulI, sulII, tetA, tetB, floR, cmlA) were detected. Twelve of the 59 MDR Salmonella isolates from serovars Typhimurium (6), Newport (3), Agona (1), Albany (1) and Weltevreden (1) had class 1 integrons. The gene cassettes identified were dfrA1, dfrV, dfrA12, aadA2, sul1 genes and an open reading frame orfC of unknown function. Four integron-positive isolates could transfer resistance phenotypes to the recipient strain, E. coli J53 via conjugation. These data revealed that the Salmonella isolates recovered from the retail meats and cooked street foods were resistant to multiple antimicrobials, which can be transmitted to humans through food products. The occurrence of mobile genetic elements such as integrons reiterates the roles of food of animal origins as a reservoir of MDR Salmonella.     

利用混合信号FPGA推动临床医疗应用设备的发展

描述了混合信号FPGA在临场医疗设备中的应用,并以血液透析仪为例加以说明。     

An Object Model for Multimedia Programming

The development of multimedia applications is a complex task. Much of this complexity stems from requirements associated with programming multiple media objects and the control of dependences and inter-relationships between these media objects and the user(s). It is clearly necessary to have a basic framework on which to build multimedia applications in the face of such complexities. Such a conceptual model is what we have called an object model and it is the main subject of this paper. The MADE object model represents a novel approach to multimedia application programming that is founded on the two principal concepts of active objects and delegation. Although these concepts are not novel in themselves, we believe that their combined use in a multimedia development environment represents a substantial enhancement to more traditional approaches to programming in this area.     

Hydrodynamic characteristics of gas–solid fluidization at high temperature

Effect of temperature on the hydrodynamics of bubbling gas–solid fluidized beds was investigated in this work. Experiments were carried out at different temperatures ranged of 25–600°C and different superficial gas velocities in the range of 0.17–0.78 m/s with sand particles. The time‐position trajectory of particles was obtained by the radioactive particle tracking technique at elevated temperature. These data were used for determination of some hydrodynamic parameters (mean velocity of upward and downward‐moving particles, jump frequency, cycle frequency, and axial/radial diffusivities) which are representative to solids mixing through the bed. It was shown that solids mixing and diffusivity of particles increases by increasing temperature up to around 300°C. However, these parameters decrease by further increasing the temperature to higher than 300°C. This could be attributed to the properties of bubble and emulsion phases. Results of this study indicated that the bubbles grow up to a maximum diameter by increasing the temperature up to 300°C, after which the bubbles become smaller. The results showed that due to the wall effect, there is no significant change in the mean velocity of downward‐moving clusters. In order to explain these trends, surface tension of emulsion between the rising bubble and the emulsion phase was introduced and evaluated in the bubbling fluidized bed. The results showed that surface tension between bubble and emulsion is increased by increasing temperature up to 300°C, however, after that it acts in oppositely.     

Application of the dry‐spinning method to produce poly(ε‐caprolactone) fibers containing bovine serum albumin laden gelatin nanoparticles

We designed and manufactured a polymeric system with combined hydrophilic–hydrophobic properties by loading gelatin nanoparticles (GNPs) containing bovine serum albumin (BSA) into poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) fibers. Our ultimate goal was to create a device capable of carrying and releasing protein drugs. Such a system could find several biomedical applications, such as those in controlled release systems, surgical sutures, and bioactive scaffolds for tissue engineering. A two‐step desolvation method was used to produce GNPs, whereas PCL fibers were produced by a dry‐spinning method. The morphological, mechanical, and thermal properties of the produced system were investigated, and the distribution of nanoparticles both inside and on the surface of the fibers was examined. The effect of the particles on the biodegradability of the fibers was also evaluated. In vitro preliminary tests were performed to study the release of BSA from nanoparticle‐laden fibers and to compare this with its release from free nanoparticles. Our results indicate that the distribution of particles inside the fibers was quite homogeneous and only a few of them were present on the surface. The presence of the particles in the fibers did not affect the thermal properties of the PCL polymer matrix, although it created voids that affected the degradation characteristics so the PCL fibers favored faster erosion compared to the plain fibers. Preliminary results indicate that the release from GNP‐laden fibers occurred much more slowly compared to that in the free GNPs. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 44233.     

Experimental comparison of classical PID and model-free control: Position control of a shape memory alloy active spring

Shape memory alloys (SMA) are being more frequently integrated into engineering applications. These materials with their shape memory effect enable the simplification of mechanisms and the reduction in size of actuators. SMA parts can easily be activated by Joule effect but their modeling and consequently their control remains difficult. It is principally due to their non-linear hysteretic thermomechanical behavior. Most of successful control strategies applied to SMA actuators are not often suitable for industrial applications: they are particularly heavy and use the Preisach model or neural networks to model the hysteretic behavior of these materials; this kind of model is difficult to identify and to use in real time. This paper deals with an application of the new framework of model-free control (MFC) of an SMA-spring based actuator. This control strategy relies on new results for fast derivative estimation of noisy signals. Their main advantages are: its simplicity and its robustness. Experimental results and comparisons with PI control are presented that demonstrate the efficiency of this new control strategy.     

Effects of spraying nano‐materials on the absorption of metal(loid)s in cucumber

This report investigates the spraying of nano‐silica and fullerene on cucumber leaves to expose their ability to reduce the toxicity and uptake of metal(loid)s. Cucumber seedlings were randomly divided into six treatment groups: 10 mg/L nano‐SiO₂, 20 mg/L nano‐SiO₂, 10 mg/L Fullerene, 20 mg/L Fullerene, 5 mg/L Fullerene + 5 mg/L nano‐SiO₂, and 10 mg/L Fullerene + 10 mg/L nano‐SiO₂. Nano‐silica‐treated plants exhibited evidence of the potential mitigation of metal(loid)s poisoning. Specifically, results showed that 20 mg/L of nano‐silica promoted Cd uptake by plants; comparatively, 10 mg/L of nano‐silica did not significantly increase the silicon content in plants. Both low‐concentration combined treatment and low‐concentration fullerene groups inhibited metal(loid)s uptake by plants. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was then used to observe the surface morphology of cucumber leaves. Significant differences were observed on disease resistance in plants across the different nano‐material conditions. Collectively, these findings suggest that both nano‐silica materials and fullerene have the potential to control metal(loid)s toxicity in plants.Inspec keywords: soil pollution, cadmium, silicon compounds, surface morphology, fullerenes, toxicology, fertilisers, scanning electron microscopy, crops, spraying, nanoparticles, sorption, plant diseases, agricultural safetyOther keywords: cucumber leaves, nanosilica materials, fullerene, spraying process, metalloids absorption, toxicity, scanning electron microscopy, surface morphology, disease resistance, soil pollution, SiO₂ , Cd