Bearable Level Research Articles

Design and Analysis of the Exhaust Muffler for Two-Wheeler Vehicle

The muffler is an essential part of every type of car. On two-wheelers, however, it disperses flue gases throughout the atmosphere and reduces engine noise to a bearable level. It is occasionally called an exhaust muffler or a muffler. A silencer's main function is to block off noise produced when flue gas rushes past it quickly. Furthermore, the exhaust gases ought to be released into the atmosphere. The primary focus of this work is on two-wheeled vehicle exhaust mufflers. The current exhaust silencer design is subjected to CFD and fluid structure interaction analysis with engine-specific boundary conditions. The specifications will guide the creation of the muffler's design. ANSYS, a finite element analysis tool is used to measure and verify exhaust gas temperatures, velocities, and back pressure. Furthermore, a modal analysis is conducted to figure out how a geometric adaptation affects the fundamental frequency of the system. The actual testing consists of fabricating a customized exhaust silencer and evaluating it for noise and back pressure on a two-wheeler engine test rig.

Adolescence dropout risk predictors: Family structure, mental health, and self-esteem.

This study investigated the predictive roles of family structure, mental health, and self-esteem in dropout risk among school-going adolescents in the Ibadan Municipality of Oyo State, Nigeria. A quantitative research design approach was adopted. A total of 287 school-going adolescents with consistent record of absenteeism were randomly selected from 14 schools in the Ibadan Municipality. A single adapted questionnaire divided into sections was used to collect data. The hypotheses raised were tested using the Pearson's product-moment correlation and multiple regression analysis. The study established that the relationship between dropout risk, lack of family structure (r = 0.491, n = 287, p < 0.05), mental health (r = 0.373, n = 287, p < 0.05), and self-esteem (r = 0.428, n = 287, p < 0.05) of the participants was significant. Furthermore, the joint influence of the predictive variables (family structure, mental health, and self-esteem) was also significant on dropout risk (R = 0.489, adjustedR2 of 0.398). The study concludes that dropout risk among school-going adolescents can be safeguarded with factors such as family structure, mental health, and self-esteem as guided against. Hence, the family structure, mental health, and self-esteem are very crucial if the upsurge of school dropout that is bedeviling the society will be reduced to bearable level or eradicated.

How to Do It: Microsurgical DREZotomy for Pain After Brachial Plexus Injury: 2-Dimensional Operative Video

More than three-quarters of victims of brachial plexus injury suffer from refractory neuropathic pain.1-6 Main putative mechanism is paroxysmal hyperactivity in the dorsal horn neurons at the dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) as demonstrated by microelectrode recordings in animal models7 and patients.8 Pain relief can be achieved by lesioning the responsible neurons in the spinal cord segments with avulsed rootlets.9,10 This video illustrates the technique for microsurgical DREZotomy.11,12 A C3-C7 hemilaminectomy is performed to access the C4-Th1 medullary segments. After opening the dura and arachnoid, and freeing the cord from arachnoid adhesions, the dorsolateral sulcus is identified. Identification can be difficult when the spinal cord is distorted and/or has a loss of substance. The dorsolateral sulcus is then opened with a microknife, so that microcoagulations are performed: 4 mm deep, at 35° angle in the axis of the dorsal horn, every millimeter in a dotted fashion along the avulsed segments. Care should be taken not to damage the corticospinal tract, laterally, and the dorsal column, medially. The patient consents to the procedure. In the presented case, surgery led to complete disappearance of the paroxysmal pain and reduced the background of burning pain to a bearable level without the need of opioid medication. There was no motor deficit or ataxia in the ipsilateral lower limb postoperatively. According to Kaplan-Meier analysis at 10 yr follow-up, in our overall series, microsurgical DREZotomy achieved total pain relief without any medication in 60% of patients, and in 85% without the need for opioids.10,13-15 Microelectrode recording at 1:26 reproduced from Guenot et al7 with permission from JNSPG.

Suppression of Groups Intermingling as an Appealing Option for Flattening and Delaying the Epidemiological Curve While Allowing Economic and Social Life at a Bearable Level during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID‐19 pandemic in a population modelled as a network wherein infection can propagate both via intra‐ and inter‐group interactions is simulated. The results emphasize the importance of diminishing the inter‐group infections in the effort of substantial flattening/delaying of the epi(demiologic) curve with concomitant mitigation of disastrous economy and social consequences. To exemplify, splitting a population into m (say, 5 or 10) noninteracting groups while keeping intra‐group interaction unchanged yields a stretched epidemiological curve having the maximum number of daily infections reduced and postponed in time by the same factor m (5 or 10). More generally, the study suggests a practical approach to fight against SARS‐ CoV‐ 2 virus spread based on population splitting into groups and minimizing intermingling between them. This strategy can be pursued by large‐scale infrastructure reorganization of activity at different levels in big logistic units (e.g., large productive networks, factories, enterprises, warehouses, schools, (seasonal) harvest work). Importantly, unlike total lockdown, the proposed approach prevents economic ruin and keeps social life at a more bearable level than distancing everyone from anyone. The declaration for the first time in Europe that COVID‐19 epidemic ended in the two‐million population Slovenia may be taken as support for the strategy proposed here.

The Political Economy of Hate Industry: Islamophobia in the Western Public Sphere

Minority communities across the globe are increasingly being targeted for vilification and demonization which consequently result in their marginalization and persecution, among other forms of physical, psychological, structural and cultural violence. These may be on account of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities or other demographic indicators—a phenomenon which summatively came to be known as hate speech/crime. When such violence ballooned beyond bearable level against the black community in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, it triggered counteroffensive under the veneer of “white devil,” insighting the production of “How Hate Begets Hate” and Bigger Thomases of that world. In recent times, nowhere is such hate more pronounced than the one directed at the Muslim communities living in various countries of the West. Their framing as irrational, incompatible and security threat to the West has resulted in a number of stringent legislation/policies targeting them, beside organized violence by individuals and a propaganda industry feeding on this. This rising Islamophobia, as the study found, is a byproduct of historical experiences, fuelled contemporarily by the economic and political interests of individuals and organizations. Using qualitative content analysis and political economy as methodological and theoretical frameworks respectively, this study identifies the key players in heightening anti-Muslim sentiment in the West, as well as their motivations and strategy of public deception. It also explores the phases and causes of tension in West–Muslim relations, the role of media and the solution to this, among other things.

‘Restructuring Funds’; an Alternative Tool for a Systemic Approach to Active Management of Unlikely to Pay (UTP)

This paper is aimed at illustrating an innovative tool/strategy to address the general, wider and multifaceted NPL issue from a banking perspective, focusing in particular on UTP; a half-way strategy between a traditional “hold/forbearance” approach and a traditional “portfolio reduction” approach, producing a change in the type of exposure. Such a new, complementary, tool is aimed at overcoming market inefficiencies that other “traditional” approaches/tools currently present and, at the same time, helping to effectively reduce the legacy assets at bearable levels. At the same time this is a “debtor-level” approach that pursues the concentration and coordination of all the exposures of the banking system vis-a-vis the same debtor, as a precondition for a successful restructuring process of corporate borrowers in distress. Such a tool can be identified in a so called “Restructuring Fund”, a specific and peculiar kind of AIF.

Patient and public engagement in clinical trials

Abstract Clinical research involves the study of people, data or human tissue samples in order to understand health and disease while seeking new and better ways to detect, diagnose, treat and prevent disease. Current global statements support patient and public involvement (also known as PPI or patient engagement) in a range of research activities, including clinical research. These activities include helping to develop research questions, working on advisory groups and/or disseminating research findings. During the dialogues or focus groups, we can combine benefit and risk assessments by professionals with benefit and risk assumptions by lay people; the best way to select participants, the bearable levels of risks and burdens as well as desirable methods for informing participants of the side effects and possible direct benefits. Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) began to introduce PPI in 2017, the first comprehensive policy for the country. However, there is no data regarding attitudes about of researchers with PPI in Japan. We conducted cross-sectional online surveys with AMED-funded principal investigators in order to know the current views from researchers about PPI. We would like to discuss benefits of PPI and issues to be solved from our survey results.

Semi Markov process inspired selfish aware co-operative scheme for wireless sensor networks (SMPISCS)

In Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), energy and packet forwarding tendencies of sensor nodes plays a potential role in ensuring a maximum degree of co-operation under data delivery. This quantified level of co-operation signifies the performance of the network in terms of increased throughput, packet delivery rate and decreased delay depending on the data being aggregated and level of control overhead. The performance of a sensor network is highly inclined by the selfish behaving nature of sensor nodes that gets revealed when the residual energy ranges below a bearable level of activeness in packet forwarding. The selfish sensor node needs to be identified in future through reliable forecasting mechanism for improving the lifetime and packet delivery rate. Semi Markov Process Inspired Selfish aware Co-operative Scheme (SMPISCS) is propounded for making an attempt to mitigate selfish nodes for prolonging the lifetime of the network and balancing energy consumptions of the network. SMPISCS model provides a kind of sensor node’s behavior for quantifying and future forecasting the probability with which the node could turn into selfish. Simulation experiments are carried out through Network Simulator 2 and the performance are analyzed based on varying the number of selfish sensor nodes, number of sensor nodes and range of detection threshold.

«Ciò che è accaduto accadrà di nuovo»: le inderogabili stagioni del mito in Battlestar Galactica

In the motto that characterises the key moments in the TV series Battlestar Galactica we can gather a hint of the heart of the myth: «All of this has happened before and will happen again». This comes from a strategy that builds the narration of the story alongside a rhythmic cadence, the hero that rises from his ashes and the connection between human and robot, the creator and the creature, the exact moment that the perpetrator and the victim interchange their roles. Science fiction, with its complex system of characters that interact with each other through specific roles, works like a mythical system; however, in this case, the myth works the other way around: if originally the mythological story wanted to bring what humanity couldn’t explain back to a bearable level, now the science fiction solves the problem existing between the individual and a technologically advanced reality by trying to bring the imponderable and indeterminable back to a rational structure.

A modified Job Demand, Control, Support model for active duty police.

The Job Demand Control Support model (JDCS) is one of the most widely used theoretical models relating job characteristics to health and wellbeing. This study aimed to assess the predictive power of the JDCS model for determining job satisfaction and fatigue in uniformed Swedish police. An additional aim was to determine if predictive power of the model would be improved with the addition of two occupation specific items. Questionnaire data, based upon the Swedish Work Environment Survey were collected from Swedish police (n = 4244). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was run to explore the predictive value of the model and to determine if the additional variables improved predictive power with respect to job satisfaction and fatigue. Regression analysis demonstrated that the JDSC model had high predictive power in relation to job satisfaction and fatigue. Job demands was the strongest predictor of fatigue (14%), while support was the strongest predictor of job satisfaction (12%). The addition of exposure to threats significantly improved predictive power for both job satisfaction and fatigue, while addition of shift work did not significantly affect predictive power of the model. Workplace interventions to address issues related to job satisfaction and fatigue in police should focus on maintaining a bearable level of job demands and provision of adequate support.

Prescribing Pattern and Drug–Drug Interactions of Analgesics Prescribed For Pain Management in a Pakistani Tertiary Hospital

Background: The main strategy of analgesic therapy is to diminish the intensity of pain to bearable level. Guidelines have been established by WHO to reduce the possible medication error in analgesic therapy. However, in most of the hospitals in Pakistan, analgesics are not prescribed rationally in accordance with standard guidelines. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze therapeutic strategy of pain management in patients hospitalized at a tertiary hospital, as an exemplary assessment of prescribing pattern of analgesics, and to estimate the prevalence of potential drug–drug interaction there in. Methodology: This is a non-interventional cross sectional study of patients hospitalized in surgical and oncology wards of an urban Pakistani tertiary care hospital. The prescriptions were analyzed for physicians' preferences for the choice of analgesics and number of analgesics prescribed. Moreover, general observation was made whether pain intensity assessment tools were employed before prescribing analgesics. The effectiveness of prescribed analgesics was assessed by interviewing the patients post analgesic therapy. Furthermore, potential drug–drug interactions were also studied using reference books and Medscape Multi Drug interaction checker. Results: In the study population of n=45 inpatient (24 male and 21 female). Tramadol was the most frequently prescribed analgesic. In none of the case pain intensity was assessed before prescribing analgesics, hence, 53.3% subjects complained about severe pain even after analgesic therapy. Potential drug–drug interactions were present in all the prescriptions. Ultimately, 276 interactions were found in 45 prescriptions, among which 60% were of major severity. Conclusion: In current study, poor management of pain was identified in a tertiary hospital in Pakistan. The analgesics were prescribed without actually assessing the pain intensity. Improper analgesic regimen was selected and too many interacting drugs were prescribed simultaneously.

Performance Investigation on Porous Micro Heat Sink for Cooling of High Power LEDs

A novel porous micro heat sink system is presented for thermal management of high power LEDs, which has high heat transport capability. Numerical model for the micro heat sink is developed to describe liquid flow and heat transfer based on the local thermal equilibrium of porous media, and it is solved with SIMPLE algorithm. The numerical results show that the heated surface temperature of porous micro heat sink is low at high heat fluxes and is much less than the bearable temperature level of LED chips. The heat transfer coefficient of heat sink is very high, and increasing the liquid velocity can enhance the average heat transfer coefficient. The overall pressure loss of heat sink system increases with the increasing the inlet velocity, but the overall pressure drop is much less than the pumping pressure provided by micro pump.

Economic Growth and a Low Carbon Economy―Does the Earth Suffer from an “Easter Island Syndrome”?

The history of the Eastern Islands in the Pacific with an increasing over-utilization of natural resources reminds us of the mistakes modern societies are making and the question is obvious whether the Earth is suffering from an Eastern Islands Syndrome, in other words whether the egoism inherent in humans long-term might have fatal consequences for our species homo sapiens. Climate research identified two important phenomena, which should remind us of the Easter Islands: feedbacks and tipping points, i.e. self-accelerating phenomena of global warming and reaching irreversible points of climate change. Only a quick worldwide return to a low carbon economy is able to stabilize global warming on a bearable level. Both, Annex-I countries and Non-Annex-I countries have to contribute to reaching this goal taking their historical, current and future responsibilities into account. A post Kyoto regime based on cumulative per-capita CO2-emission rights and a international emission trading could provide for incentives to achieve a low carbon economy, especially for newly industrialized countries.

Psychosocial working conditions and self-reported health in a representative sample of wage-earners: a test of the different hypotheses of the Demand–Control–Support–Model

This paper presents an in-depth examination of the demand-control-support-model (DCS-model). Each hypothesis of the DCS-model is tested: the main effects of job demands, job autonomy, task variation and social support; the additive effects of job strain, active learning and iso-strain; and the interactive buffer-effects of job autonomy, task variation and support on job demands. Data from a representative cross-sectional sample of 11,099 male and female wage-earners are investigated using log linear methods. The outcome measures are self-reported persistent fatigue, musculoskeletal complaints and emotional well-being. There is some support for each of the hypotheses. Quantitative job demands and superior support have the strongest effects. The job autonomy and buffer hypotheses are only partially supported. The strong effects of job demands, support, job strain and active learning are suggesting that a policy aimed at improving psychosocial working conditions should focus on a bearable level of job demands and the quality of social relationships at work.

A centralidade em educação e em saúde básicas: a estratégia político-ideológica da globalização

No contexto da globalização, a concepção de crescimento/desenvolvimento está orientada na direção do mercado e da competitividade internacional, sustentada por políticas de ajuste econômico que têm produzido um quadro considerável de exclusão social. Diante desse cenário, que representa uma ameaça à estabilidade do sistema, os organismos internacionais, o FMI, o Banco Internacional para a Reconstrução e Desenvolvimento (BIRD)/Banco Mundial e o Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento (BID), têm alertado os governos sobre a gravidade do problema e enfatizado a necessidade de intervenção, por parte do Estado, em serviços sociais como a educação e a saúde básicas. Neste artigo, sustentamos que a ênfase na educação e na saúde básicas é parte integrante das estratégias político-ideológicas da globalização e, portanto, constituem-se em variáveis fundamentais no processo de implementação das políticas de ajuste econômico para manter a pobreza em níveis suportáveis, contribuindo, assim, para a estabilidade política e social.

Frontal plane leg alignment and muscular activity during maximum eccentric contractions in individuals with and without patellofemoral pain syndrome

Purpose The role of frontal plane tibiofemoral alignment in subjects with patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) is controversial and rarely discussed in the literature. As well, little research has been done on the effects of the hamstrings muscles on PFPS. The aim of the current study was to determine whether, in individuals with PFPS, frontal plane tibiofemoral alignment or muscular activity of the index knee's crossing muscles is altered during maximum eccentric leg press exercise. Methods This cross-sectional study involved 19 patients with PFPS and 19 control subjects who were matched according to gender, age, and physical activity. During eccentric leg press action, frontal plane tibiofemoral alignment was assessed with a motion analysis system based on skin markers. Simultaneously, surface-electromyography was used to assess the activity levels of the relevant knee crossing muscles. To assess the activity under functional conditions, a leg press with a footplate having variable stability was used for barefoot testing. Results The PFPS subjects did not have significantly different frontal plane leg alignment compared to controls. On electromyography (EMG), PFPS patients had significantly lower levels of hamstring activity during eccentric leg exercise. The differences between the two groups (%; absolute differences normalized EMG) ranged from 20% (semitendinosus; stable footplate; p = 0.017) to 21% (biceps femoris; unstable footplate; p = 0.019) and 32% (semitendinosus; unstable footplate; p = 0.002). Conclusions PFPS is not linked to altered frontal plane leg alignment during eccentric leg pressing. However, PFPS is associated with eccentric under-activation of the hamstrings, which may be a compensatory strategy that maintains patellofemoral joint pressure within bearable levels.

“Optimal” speed–load combinations for military manoeuvres

Establishing a balance between the physical and mental demands imposed on soldiers and the objectives of the military poses a unique challenge which has been researched for almost a century (J. Roy. Army Med. Corps 40, 41 (1923) 435, 12; Ergonomics 21(5) (1978) 373; Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 63 (1991) 89; Ergonomics 43(3) (2000) 293). The purpose of this project was to identify “optimal” speed–load combinations which would reduce the physical stress being imposed on the soldiers, while at the same time be effective to meet the demands of military manoeuvres.Thirty male soldiers with a mean age 29.2 (±3.02)yr from a local army base in South Africa participated in an ongoing army contract which investigated the responses of soldiers to 16 varying combinations of speed and load (Metabolic responses of South African soldiers during simulated marching with varying combinations of speed and backpack load, under review). The focus of this paper is to report on the three “optimal” combinations identified in the above contract. The three conditions investigated were: A: speed 3.5kmh−1−load 50kg; B: speed 4.5kmh−1−load 35kg; C: speed 5.5kmh−1−load 20kg.The stature of the soldiers was 1711.5 (±61.6)mm, with a mass of 68.2 (±8.7)kg and percentage body fat of 17.4 (±3.9)%. All subjects wore standardised military uniform including boots and helmets, but excluding rifles. The weight of the battle jacket was kept constant at 11.1kg for the three conditions, and only the backpacks were adjusted to make up the required loads of 20, 35 and 50kg.One-way ANOVAs conducted on the responses to the three conditions proposed as “ideal” combinations of varying speeds and adjusted loads revealed no significant differences. It could therefore be concluded that although the speeds ranged from 3.5 to 5.5kmh−1, and the loads varied from 20 to 50kg, the selected combination of speed and load illicited similar responses. It is thus contended that the results of this research demonstrate that the interplay between speed of marching and the load of the backpack plays a crucial role in ensuring that similar metabolic and psychophysical demands are retained at a bearable level for the soldiers, while meeting specific military requirements. Relevance to industryLoad carrying is an integral aspect of the military and indeed many industries, particularly in developing countries. As the need for speed or load dominates so the other factors need to be adjusted in order to retain an acceptable energy cost required to complete the task.

Strain estimation for external event loads

It is common knowledge that structural design on the basis of stress limitation leads to an overestimation of the damage potential of low cycle dynamic loads (e.g. seismic events). Until now the high effort needed for step-by-step numerical evaluation of nonlinear dynamic structural response is a serious obstacle for a more realistic design based on strain limitation. The concept of energy dissipation and structural hardening as functions of strain range leads to the definition of a set of 1-DOF-substitute structures gained by a limited number of quasi-static non linear computations or by a certain knowledge of the yield behaviour of structural members. Step-by-step numerical computations are restricted to the substitutes and thus the effort for a strain limitation design is reduced to a bearable level.

Psychologic Aspects of Pain

Suggestion, placebos, and hypnosis can be dramatically effective in breaking up patterns of suffering, thus decreasing some kinds of pain from unbearable to bearable levels. When a pain problem originates from or is complicated by psychologic factors and traditional therapies are unsuccessful, the best alternative is often psychologic counseling.