Application Of Self Research Articles

Corrosion protection of carbon steel by special phosphonic acid nano‐layers

Preparation, characterization and application of self assembled monolayers (SAM) formed by fluorophosphonic and undecenyl phosphonic acids on carbon steel surfaces as anticorrosive nanocoatings are demonstrated. The corrosion inhibiting efficiency of these layers were determined by electrochemical potentiodynamic polarization and cyclic voltammetry. Results proved that both chemicals in self assembled nanofilms presented good protection against corrosion as anodic inhibitors but the efficiency depended on the layer formation time: short time did not result in compact layers. The stability and efficiency of nanocoatings formed in longer time did not decrease significantly in time due to the proper molecular packing on the solid surface. The metal dissolution as well as the surface roughening caused by the aggressive ions were inhibited by the compact layers. There were differences in efficacy of coatings formed either by fluoro or undecenyl phosphonic acids. When the metal surfaces with and without nanolayers were visualized before and after corrosive attack, atomic force microscopic measurements confirmed the electrochemical results.

Modeling of fiber orientation in viscous fluid flow with application to self-compacting concrete

In recent years, the application of Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) in industry is rapidly growing, which makes modeling of SCC casting an important part of the design process. The SCC is often combined with fiber reinforcement to deliver a high performance material, the properties of which depend on fiber orientation. Fiber reinforced SCC plays a fundamental role in reducing shrinkage effects in structures. The aim of this paper is to present a numerical model for the prediction of the fiber orientation state, determined on the basis of the knowledge of the velocity field. Statistical approach is employed, where orientation of a fiber is described by a probability distribution of the fiber angle, which evolves with the flow. Two ways how to solve the evolution of the probability distribution are presented. In the first way, evolution equation for the orientation distribution function (ODF) is derived and solved by FEM. In the second way, evolution equation for second-order orientation tensor, which represents the second statistical moment of ODF, is solved instead. The model is validated against experimental results.

Single centre experience of the application of self navigated 3D whole heart cardiovascular magnetic resonance for the assessment of cardiac anatomy in congenital heart disease.

BackgroundFor free-breathing cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), the self-navigation technique recently emerged, which is expected to deliver high-quality data with a high success rate. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that self-navigated 3D-CMR enables the reliable assessment of cardiovascular anatomy in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) and to define factors that affect image quality.MethodsCHD patients ≥2 years-old and referred for CMR for initial assessment or for a follow-up study were included to undergo a free-breathing self-navigated 3D CMR at 1.5T. Performance criteria were: correct description of cardiac segmental anatomy, overall image quality, coronary artery visibility, and reproducibility of great vessels diameter measurements. Factors associated with insufficient image quality were identified using multivariate logistic regression.ResultsSelf-navigated CMR was performed in 105 patients (55 % male, 23 ± 12y). Correct segmental description was achieved in 93 % and 96 % for observer 1 and 2, respectively. Diagnostic quality was obtained in 90 % of examinations, and it increased to 94 % if contrast-enhanced. Left anterior descending, circumflex, and right coronary arteries were visualized in 93 %, 87 % and 98 %, respectively. Younger age, higher heart rate, lower ejection fraction, and lack of contrast medium were independently associated with reduced image quality. However, a similar rate of diagnostic image quality was obtained in children and adults.ConclusionIn patients with CHD, self-navigated free-breathing CMR provides high-resolution 3D visualization of the heart and great vessels with excellent robustness.

A Novel Strategy for Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticle Self Assemblies

Gold nanoparticle self assemblies are one-dimensional structures of gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticle self assemblies exhibit unique physical properties and find applications in the development of biosensors. Methodologies currently available for lab-scale and commercial synthesis of gold nanoparticle self assemblies are complex. These methods are often multistep involving linker nanoparticle conjugation steps and external stimuli treatment steps. Here, we present a simple method for synthesis of gold nanoparticle self assemblies. The method involves surfactant-free synthesis of gold nanoparticles, washing of gold nanoparticles with distilled water and irradiation of gold nanoparticles with glow discharge plasma. Thus synthesized gold nanoparticle self assemblies were characterized using electron microscopy and ultraviolet and visible light spectroscopy. Results show that washing with distilled water and irradiation with glow discharge plasma induces assembling of gold nanoparticles into multimers, chain-like structures and networks. Our synthesis method is unique in that it provides full control on the extent of self assembly and at the same time is simple and economical. Our synthesis method facilitates lab-scale and commercial synthesis of gold nanoparticle self assemblies, which, in turn, will promote the application of self assembled gold nanoparticles in the development of novel biosensors, drug-delivery platforms, lab-on-a-chip platforms and a variety of other nano-scale medical devices. Keywords: Chain-like structure and nanoparticle network, gold, multimer, nanoparticle, self assembly.

Application of self organizing maps and GA-MLR for the estimation of stability constant of 18-crown-6 ether derivatives with sodium cation

A quantitative structure–property relationship (QSPR) study of a binding constant of 18-crown-6 ether derivatives with sodium cation was performed. Constitutional, Topological and WHIM, as well as GETAWAY, 3D-MoRSE, and Aromaticity Indices descriptors generated from Dragon, were selected to describe the molecules. Self organizing map (SOM) was used to split the original data set into calibration and test set. Genetic algorithm-multiple linear regression technique was used to establish QSPR model for calibration set. Finally, the best six-dimensional model, developed on a calibration set of molecules and the external validation was performed on test set of molecules. The stability and predictability of QSPR model determined with the leave one out cross validated variance and the external-validated variance. This QSPR approach can contribute to a better understanding of structural factors of the crown ethers with metal cations and be useful in predicting the binding constant of other organic compounds with metal ions.

The effects of gender and previous experience on the approach of self and peer assessment: a case from Turkey

Although the literature abounds with studies on self and peer assessment, there are only a few studies examining the impact of gender and previous experience upon these assessment approaches. In this context, the study performed an application of self, peer and instructor assessment in the science teaching course at a university. The study examined the relationship of students’ genders and their previous experience with self/peer assessment with the scores they obtained from the application. The results of the application demonstrated that female students received significantly higher mean scores than male students in all score types in terms of the gender variable (scores from peers, scores to peers, self and instructor scores). There was no significant difference between the students’ scores with regard to participation/lack of participation in a previous self and peer assessment application.

Qualidade de vida de graduandos de enfermagem

O presente estudo objetivou descrever o perfil sociodemográfico dos estudantes de enfermagem e compreender o significado atribuído para sua atual qualidade de vida. Foram entrevistados 65 acadêmicos do 8º semestre do ano de 2007, por meio da aplicação de questionário autoreferido, com informações de dados sociodemográficos e questões abertas sobre qualidade de vida. A população de estudo foi predominantemente do sexo feminino, solteira, com idade entre 22 a 24 anos e com diferentes percepções sobre sua qualidade de vida, apreendidas por meio da vivência de fatores favoráveis e desfavoráveis no decorrer dos anos de aprendizado. O estudo destacou a percepção da qualidade de vida sob a ótica do estudante de enfermagem

Application of Self Tuning Fuzzy Logic Control to Full Railway Vehicle Model

This paper presents the dynamic modeling and intelligent control of the full railway vehicle against the railway irregularities. In order to safe and comfortable transportation of passengers, vibration analysis and control studies are investigated by using Matlab–Simulink software. The 54 degrees of freedom railway vehicle model is used for analysis. The controllers are placed between the car body and bogies. For reducing the car body vibrations caused by a lateral and two vertical sinusoidal track irregularities, fuzzy logic and self-tuning fuzzy logic control schemes are applied to railway vehicle. The fuzzy logic based algorithms herein are used for realizing the active control of car body vibrations. The simulations of vibration analysis are obtained in time and frequency domains and compared with uncontrolled case. A good vibration reduction performance is achieved by using applied control algorithms.

A Study of positive effects of self- efficacy and functional exercise on cervical cancer patients' postoperative quality of life

Objective To investigate the positive effects of self-efficacy and functional exercise on cervical cancer patients' postoperative quality of life.Methods A total of 69 cervical cancer patients were divided into two groups randomly: contrast group ( n = 34) and experiment group (n = 35) .In the experiment group, besides the regular care of gynecological abdomen surgery, systematic individual nursing with the application of self- efficacy and bladder functional exercise was carried out.In the contrast group only regular nursing was carried out The self- efficacy, the time for plucking urinary catheters, the occurrence rate of urinary retention, psychological negative mood and life quality of the two groups were all compared.Results The psychological negative mood of the patients from the experiment group was relieved.The time for plucking their urinary catheters was shortened and the occurrence rate of urinary retention was decreased, while their self-efficacy and life quality were increased dramatically (P ＜0.01 ) .Conclusions The spplication of self-efficacy and functional exercise to nursing cervical cancer patients can increase the patients'self-efficacy, relieve their psychological negative mood, promote their recovery and improve their life quality. Key words: Cervical cancer; Self- efficacy; Nursing intervention; Quality of life

Development of a laser-based glass sealing joining process for the fuel cell manufacturing

In the Central Technology Division of Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH procedures and manufacturing concepts used in production of stationary and mobile fuel cell stacks on the basis of the material developments of the involved research institutes are developed. From essential meaning is the application of self developed glass sealing materials as joining and isolation medium. The use of glass sealing material is up to now limited on the furnace technology with low heating and cooling rates. The potentials of the laser as adaptable tool for manufacturing and repair of the fuel cell stacks should be evaluated within the scope of this research study.

Application of self organizing maps for investigating network latency on a broadcast-based distributed shared memory multiprocessor

Broadcast-based DSM multiprocessors are nowadays an attractive platform for parallel computing due to their advantages in terms of scalability and programmability. In order to obtain high performance out of these systems, network latency reduction techniques should be developed, which requires the knowledge of the relationship between latency and other important DSM parameters. In this paper, self organizing maps (SOM) are used to investigate the effect of DSM parameters on network latency for a multiprocessor architecture interconnected by the Simultaneous Optical Multiprocessor Exchange Bus (SOME-Bus). An event-based discrete simulator using OPNET Modeler is developed for simulating a SOME-Bus system containing 64-nodes. Two thousand data points have been collected in order to create the dataset used in this study. 2-dimensional (2D) maps are produced by using SOM to display the relationship between network latency and other parameters such as the miss rate to a modified block ( P m), fraction of write misses ( P w), probability of having an upgrade ownership request message ( P uor), probability of having a cache full ( P cf) and ratio of the mean thread run time to mean message transfer time ( T/ R). The results show that the most dominant DSM parameter effecting network latency is T/ R, while P cf has the minimum affect on network latency among other parameters. The individual effect of P m, P w and P uor on network latency depends on the values of all other parameters.

P02-250 Effect of self - care program on the self- esteem of multiple sclerosis patients

Aims:According to decreased self- esteem in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, it is necessary to utilize appropriate methods in order to improve self- esteem in MS patients. So this study was conducted on patients with MS supported by the Iranian MS society for determining the effect of self - care program on their self- esteem.Method:In this semi - experimental study 34 patients with MS who were not in the acute phase of disease were selected. The data were collected via personal questionnaires, problem list, Cooper and smith standard questionnaire for self- esteem and self report check lists. Self - care program(self - care for muscular spasm, fatigue, constipation and amnesia and …) was educated, then it was performed for one month period and the data were analyzed using paired t- test, wilcoxon, croscal - wallis and manwithney tests.Results:Application of self - care program improve the self- esteem and reduced some symptoms such as muscular spasm, fatigue, constipation and amnesia in MS patients. The mean valve of self- esteem increased from 54 before performing the program to 68 after the program ( p < 0.05).Conclusion:Using self-care program can be an effective method for improving self- esteem of MS patients.

Self-Sensing of Non-Laminated Axial Magnetic Bearings: Modelling and Validation

The present paper proposes a refined nonlinear axial bearing model not too complex for real–time applications, which may potentially improve the estimator quality of modulation–based self–sensing. Measurements show that the AC component (ripple) of the bearing current is an underlinear function of the AC excitation voltage, which causes the bearing admittance amplitude |Y (jω, iac)| to considerably increase at low amplitudes of iac. The non– consideration of this effect might explain the poor dynamic performance observed in former implementations of modulation–based self–sensing. The model proposed in this paper includes a dynamic (rate dependent) hysteresis model of the Bertotti type, where the magnetic H field is a nonlinear function of the time derivative of flux density dB/dt. Eddy currents are modelled by a linear lumped RL ladder network (Cauer type). The proposed model gives encouraging results and is able to reproduce some of the observed phenomena. INTRODUCTION Self–sensing permits active magnetic bearings to dispense with dedicated position sensors and, instead, reconstruct rotor position information from the voltage and current signals of the actuator coils. Thus, the hardware amount in the machine environment and the amount of cabling can be reduced, which potentially increases hardware reliability. Although self–sensing technology has progressed in terms of theoretical understanding [1, 2] and by the launching of commercial applications, some unsolved technical challenges impede the application of self–sensing to a broader range of applications. One of these technical challenges concerns self–sensing for non–laminated axial bearings. Non–laminated thrust bearings are a difficult candidate for self– sensing because of both the presence of strong eddy current effects and magnetic material nonlinearity. FIGURE 1: Magnetic Bearing Test Rig from MECOS. FIGURE 2: Flux density obtained by linear FEM simulation (COMSOL) @20 Hz, with μr = 5′000 and σ = 2 · 10 S/m.

Application of self organised Kohonen’s map for fundus vessels classification

The paper discusses a novel approach, based on classification of vessel features by self organized Kohonen’s map, to diagnostic of earliest studies of fundus disease. The results of an experimental research of features calculated on natural and synthetic images are presented. The comparison of the developed method with others methods is described.

Detection of glaucomatous change based on vessel shape analysis

Glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide, is a progressive optic neuropathy with characteristic structural changes in the optic nerve head and concomitant visual field defects. Ocular hypertension (i.e. elevated intraocular pressure without glaucoma) is the most important risk factor to develop glaucoma. Even though a number of variables, including various optic disc and visual field parameters, have been used in order to identify early glaucomatous damage, there is a need for computer-based methods that can detect early glaucomatous progression so that treatment to prevent further progression can be initiated. This paper is focused on the description of a system based on image processing and classification techniques for the estimation of quantitative parameters to define vessel deformation and the classification of image data into two classes: patients with ocular hypertension who develop glaucomatous damage and patients with ocular hypertension who remain stable. The proposed system consists of the retinal image preprocessing module for vessel central axis segmentation, the automatic retinal image registration module based on a novel application of self organizing maps (SOMs) to define automatic point correspondence, the retinal vessel attributes calculation module to select the vessel shape attributes and the data classification module, using an artificial neural network classifier, to perform the necessary subject classification. Implementation of the system to optic disc data from 127 subjects obtained by a fundus camera at regular intervals provided a classification rate of 87.5%, underscoring the value of the proposed system to assist in the detection of early glaucomatous change.

Prioritization of Malaria endemic zones in Arunachal Pradesh: A novel application of self organizing maps (SOM)

Malaria continues to pose a serious threat to public health in NorthEastern states of India. Arunachal Pradesh is highly endemic for Malaria predominately with Plasmodium falciparium infections. Despite continuous efforts by government, a desirable level of control has not been achieved. The present study describes the application of self organizing maps (Kohonen maps), a data mining tool for prioritization of malaria endemic zones in this region. 60 PHCs (Public Health Centers) were randomly selected from Arunachal Pradesh and 6 malariometric parameters via Annual Blood Examination rate (ABER), Annual Parasite Incidence (API), Slide Positivity Rate (SPR), Annual Falciparum Incidence (AFI) and Slide Falciparum Rate (SFR) were considered which reflected the intensity of malaria transmission in this region. Self Organizing Maps yielded 9 clusters based on neighborhood distance, which reflects about zones based on status of intensity of malaria epidemiology. Such maps would make it possible to target control measures at high-risk areas and greatly increase the cost efficiency of malaria control programmes.

Effect of 2% iodine disinfecting solution on bond strength to dentin

Introduction:Disinfection of dentin surfaces is desirable so long as it does not interfere with subsequent bonding of adhesive resins.Objective:To test the null hypothesis that bond strengths to dentin are not affected by previous application of an iodine disinfecting solution.Materials and Methods:Twenty-four extracted non-carious molars were selected. Occlusal enamel was removed producing a flat dentin substrate. Test teeth were all treated with 2% Iodine disclosing/disinfecting solution (I2DDS) for 20 sec and rinsed for 20 sec followed by the application of self- or total- etching bonding systems, generating five adhesive groups (n=3): Single Bond;; Prime & Bond NT; Clearfil SE Bond; Opti-Bond Plus. The control groups (n=3 per adhesive) had no disclosing/disinfectant application prior to adhesive application. A 4-mm thick resin restoration was built up on each tooth for microtensile testing. Statistical analyses between experimental and control groups were performed by student's t-test (α = 0.05).Results:In general, experimental groups (previously treated with I2DDS) showed significantly lower bond strength values when compared with their respective controls (p<0.05), except for group Prime &Bond I2 that did not significantly differ from its control (p>0.05).Conclusion:Acetone-base adhesive systems seem not to be affected by the application of I2DDS prior to etching and bonding procedures.

Sustained Empathic Focus and the Clinical Application of Self–Psychological Theory in Group Psychotherapy

The concept of focus can provide a meaningful bridge between theory and practice. The authors’ aim in this paper is to demonstrate that for theory to be clinically useful, it should provide a sense of focus and organization for clinical work. They illustrate how their particular use of a self–psychological/intersubjective model leads to an emphasis on what they refer to as “sustained empathic focus.” The authors’ choice of concepts leads them consistently to stress the patient’s subjective experience and emerging vulnerability.

Application of self- evaluation of pain for infant patient

国际疼痛研究协会将疼痛定义为:一种不愉快的感觉和伴有实际或潜在组织损伤的情绪体验,属主观性感觉.一致公认儿童疼痛测量的金标准是自己对所经历的痛苦的表达,即自我评估.而在临床中存在着疼痛评估缺乏常规性,评估方法不正确,测量疼痛的工具不具备等问题[1].因此,应重视疼痛的自我评估,将其尽可能应用于临床中[2]。

Kohonen Self-Organizing Maps and Expert System for Network Virtual Memory Performance Prediction

A basic reason why we monitor the performance of a system is to define the overall state of the machine (It's Ok or It's slow etc). In other words to determine whether the system is experienceing a bottleneck or not. This paper investigates the application of Self Organizing Maps (SOM) and Expert System (ES) in the network performance management area. A system is proposed which collects data from certain server and processes the data in order to get knowledge concerning the current network performance or predicts the network performance. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method to network performance domain problems, a case study in virtual memory performance status (vmstat) domain is presented.