Continuous Overload Research Articles

BURDEN OF CARE AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN MOTHERS OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN

Introduction: Autism is a developmental disorder that encompasses changes in the area of socialization, communication and cognition, being sometimes associated to some degree of mental retardation. An autistic child in the family tends to alter the whole routine and the mother, who is the most involved figure in the care of the child, tends to live in function of it, experiencing a continuous psychological overload and compromising its quality of life. Objective: To identify the socio-demographic profile, and to investigate the burden and quality of life in mothers of autistic children attended by Espaco Treat, in Arapiraca-Alagoas. Methodology: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. Data collection instruments were used: socio-demographic profile questionnaire, Burden scale and WHOQOL-bref. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of the Universidade Federal de Alagoas. Mothers with a history of psychiatric diseases and those with sensory, motor or cognitive impairments that could impair the application of the instruments used were excluded; Mothers who resided outside Arapiraca/AL; And mothers under the age of 18 years old. Results: The subjects were 35 mothers of autistic children attended by Espaco treat in the period from March to June of 2016. Most mothers had a mean age above 35 years and were predominantly white, married, with more than 10 years of schooling and had a profession. Most of them did not have health insurance and also did not receive financial benefit from the state. Most caregivers of children with autism presented moderate burden of care and the quality of life that was considered mostly as neither good nor bad, showing a lower average in the environment domain (54.73) and higher in the Social relations domain (63.80). There was no statistically significant correlation between quality of life and burden on care of these mothers (P = 0.181). Conclusion: It emphasizes the importance of this study in the search for updated knowledge related to the theme, which will serve to broaden the understanding about autism, the burden of care and quality of life, becoming a subsidy for the Nursing professionals and other health areas plan interventions aimed at improving the mental health of caregivers.

Three-dimensional stability analysis of the collapse pressure on flexible pavements over rectangular trapdoors

Abstract A hole in a flexible pavement is commonly formed due to several environmental impacts. With a continued overload traffic action, a collapse of the hole over the flexible pavement can potentially occur resulting in a pothole on a road surface. Solutions of trapdoor problems are useful for predicting the failure of the hole taking place below the flexible pavement subjected to the overload traffic. In this paper, the collapse pressure on flexible pavements over rectangular trapdoors in homogeneous clay is investigated by a three-dimensional lower bound finite element limit analysis using semidefinite programming. Results of the present study are verified against the existing solutions for the cases of plane strain trapdoors. New lower bound solutions of the problem are numerically derived as functions of cover-depth ratios and aspect ratios of rectangular trapdoors while associated failure mechanisms are discussed and compared. Approximate algebraic equations for stability numbers of rectangular trapdoors are also presented.

Hierarchical control for generator and battery in the more electric aircraft

This paper addresses the problem of intelligent power management for the more electric aircraft framework. The main objective is to regulate the power flow between a low voltage and a high voltage busses through control of a Buck-Boost converter unit. This approach allows the battery to help the generator when an overload scenario occurs, keeping at the same time the battery state of charge above a prescribed threshold. Moreover, in case a continued severe overload causes the battery state of charge to drop below a prescribed threshold, partial shedding of (noncritical) loads occurs. The control objectives are achieved through the design of a hierarchical control strategy based on high gain control for the low level and a finite state automaton for the high level control. Rigorous mathematical proofs of stability are provided for both low level and high level control and a detailed simulator with accurate model of the battery is presented in order to demonstrate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Analyses on deformation and fracture evolution of zonal disintegration during axial overloading in 3D geomechanical model tests

To investigate the formation of zonal disintegration phenomenon in deep rock mass under high axial geostress, 3D geomechanical model tests for two rock strengths are carried out via capacity of deep rock breakage mechanics and supporting technique model test. Considering the maximum principal stress along the tunnel axis, 3D geomechanical model tests are carried out in a loading procedure of first loading to initial geostress, then excavating the tunnel with blasting construction, and finally overloading the stress along the tunnel. Due to unloading effect, radial strain is tensile and tangential strain is compressive around excavated tunnel after excavation complete, which indicates a radial tension and circumferential compression stress state. With continuous overloading of axial stress, values of both radial tensile strain and tangential compressive strain increase, then ring fracture appears due to large radial tensile strain. After axial overloading, an interval distribution of peaks and troughs is shown in radial tensile strain distribution around excavated tunnel, which indicates a formation of zonal disintegration. By cutting the rectangular cemented sand model, a distinct zonal disintegration phenomenon emerges, and an apparent shrinkage of excavated tunnel is also shown due to radial deformation towards excavated tunnel. The larger the rock strength is, the less the tunnel shrinkage is, the smaller the radius of fracture zone. After statistical analyses of three ring tensile fracture zones, the radius scale factor of fracture zone in zonal disintegration is about 1.28.

Does Component Alignment Affect Patient Reported Outcomes following Bicruciate Retaining Total Knee Arthroplasty? An In Vivo Three-Dimensional Analysis.

This is an experimental study. Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) retaining bicruciate retaining (BCR) total knee arthroplasty (TKA) have the potential to restore normal knee kinematics and thus improve patient outcome. Limited studies have examined the relationship between component alignment and patient-reported outcome measures (PROM). This study aims to determine (1) accurate three-dimensional (3D) component alignment of BCR TKA and (2) whether the component alignment of BCR TKA affects PROMs. The 3D modeling analysis was performed based on computed tomography images from 29 BCR TKAs. Component orientations were quantified for femoral and tibial components in the sagittal, axial, and coronal planes. The knee society scores (KSS) were collected preoperatively and postoperatively at 1-year follow-up. Multiple comparisons were performed to analyze the relationship between component alignment and patient outcomes. High variability was observed in the tibial component alignment (root-mean-square values: axial plane 6.6 degrees, sagittal plane 5.1 degrees, and coronal plane 4.0 degrees). At 1-year follow-up, significant improvement in KSS was noted in BCR TKA patients (p < 0.001). However, regression analysis adjusting for baseline KSS demonstrated the postoperative KSS was negatively associated with the posterior tibial slope (B [slope of the output of the regression analysis] = 2.597, p = 0.006). Patients with greater posterior tibial slopes were reported poorer postoperative functions at 1-year follow-up. Excessive posterior tibial slope may generate greater posterior force on the femur that leads to continuous overloading of the preserved ACL, suggesting optimal sagittal plane alignment of the tibial component may be important for the optimization of postoperative functions of BCR TKA patients.

Research on Extraction and Analysis of Characteristic Conditions of Hub Motor for Electric Vehicles

The traditional electric machine optimization design technology is generally based on continuous power or overload conditions. It is difficult to fully consider the entire operating domain of the machine, and it is difficult to effectively improve the overall efficiency of the motor. In order to achieve an effective improvement of the overall efficiency of the electric motor under the operating conditions of the vehicle, the motor drive system is well matched with the vehicle design. This paper proposes an electromagnetic optimization design technology for multiple working conditions, uses NEDC working conditions to simulate the actual running conditions of the vehicle to the motor, and optimizes the design of the motor with the highest comprehensive efficiency (lowest comprehensive energy consumption) under the working conditions. By using statistical method, more than 1000 working points of the motor in the whole operating range are simplified into 11 characteristic working conditions. By calculating and comparing the overall energy consumption of the motor under NEDC working condition and 11 characteristic points, the effectiveness of the extraction method of characteristic working conditions is verified.

Safety strategy of power transmission channel coordinated with transfer capability support for power system emergency

The overload endurance capability (OEC) of transmission equipment in power system emergency not only relates to the safety of equipment itself but also affects the security of the power system. The action threshold of the existing backup protection (such as distance protection zone 3) reacting to the overload condition is determined by the static thermal rating. The action time is set according to the sequence coordination of upstream and downstream transmission lines. This strategy ineffectively adapts to the surge overload current after power flow transferring, may cause backup protection false trip and accelerate the cascading trip of power system. The parameters and their influential factors that represent the OEC of transmission equipment were clarified in this study. The dynamic OECs of the switchgear, current transformer, and overhead line on the transmission channel were analyzed. The heavy load warning method of the transmission section based on the predicted continuous overload endurance capability (COEC), and the load adjustment and overload protection strategy based on the short-time overload endurance capability (SOEC) were proposed. Finally, the feasibility and validity of the proposed methods were verified through a case study. The proposed safety strategy can effectively utilize the SOEC to protect the safety of the power equipment and provide transfer capability support for the security of power system in emergency conditions.

Software defined network management for dynamic smart GRID traffic

One of the more challenging issues in Smart Grid (SG) communications is in handling the ever-increasing number of new SG applications that are being provisioned by the utility companies. These applications are resulting in an exponential increase in the amount of data that utility companies are collecting. Appropriate communication infrastructure and its management is vital for providing this data to unlock the full potential of the SG. Typically, these applications generate different types of data traffic that can be divided into multiple traffic classes with different QoS parameters (priority, throughput, latency etc.). Traditionally, these classes are handled with static network configuration based on individual application policies. However, due to increasing network dynamism, the problem arises as to how to adjust these configurations, based on changing traffic situations. In this paper, a software defined networking (SDN) based solution for distributed and dynamic Smart Grid network management is presented. Proposed solution responsiveness to complex dynamicity of Smart Grid communications is evaluated on a developed evaluation platform for the following cases: (1) Automatic Generation Control (AGC) during peak load, (2) Volt/Var optimization (VVO) during peak load, (3) steady-state operation with static (background) traffic load, (4) stress-state under continuous background traffic overload and (5) dynamic prioritization of traffic for data disaggregation. The presented solution provides significant benefits, when compared with traditional networking in tested scenarios, including: over 70 times lower latency for the most time-sensitive traffic (AGC), 25% increased VVO system observability and 5% to 7% decrease in unprivileged traffic bandwidth consumption whenever privileged traffic QoS is threatened. Additionally, it is shown that dynamic prioritization can provide requested QoS on demand as long as overall capacity is larger than the privileged traffic offered load.

Correlation Study of Functional Performance between Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is recently considered a part of metabolic syndrome which shifts the traditional concept that believed on, osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease based on continuous mechanical overload to a metabolic pathogenesis. The aim of our study designed to investigate the correlation between type two diabetes and knee osteoarthritis with the impact on functional performance. One hundred women with knee osteoarthritis enrolled in the study with mean age 50.5±3.11 years and mean BMI 26.23±2.48 Kg/m2. All patients were subjected to radiological assessment to detect the degree of knee osteoarthritis, laboratory investigations to measure glycemic control, Western Ontario and Mc Master Universities Index (WOMAC) scale to evaluate functional performance. All patients assigned into two groups, group A (50 women) as a type two diabetic group and group B (50 women) as a non-diabetic group. Results showed a non-significant correlation between glycemic level and limitations in functional performance in mild knee osteoarthritis. However, there were significant differences among diabetic and non-diabetic groups regarding functional performance. Then our conclusion demonstrated non-significant correlation between type two diabetes and functional performance. Meanwhile, there were significant differences among diabetic and non-diabetic patients regarding functional performance.

ANALISIS PENGARUH MASA OPERASIONAL TERHADAP PENURUNAN KAPASITAS TRANSFORMATOR DISTRIBUSI DI PT PLN (PERSERO)

One cause the interruption of transformer is loading that exceeds the capabilities of the transformer. The state of continuous overload will affect the age of the transformer and result in a reduced capacity of the transformer. The declining capacity, loading on the transformer will not be maximized and increase the risk of damage. Actions taken to attempt the decrease disturbances resulting from the transformer loadings are by the transformer test and known how many percent decrease in capacity of the transformer. The data from the test is used to calculate the reduction in the capacity of the transformer. Result of the research on the transformer which is not operated yet relating to the ideal state of a transformer. As for the research on the second transformer indicates how transformer which been operating for several years has decreased the capacity of the transformer. So that the second transformer can not be loaded to the maximum.

ANALISIS PENGARUH MASA OPERASIONAL TERHADAP PENURUNAN KAPASITAS TRANSFORMATOR DISTRIBUSI DI PT. PLN (PERSERO)

One cause the interruption of transformer is loading that exceeds the capabilities of the transformer. The state of continuous overload will affect the age of the transformer and result in a reduced capacity of the transformer. The declining capacity, loading on the transformer will not be maximized and increase the risk of damage. Actions taken to attempt the decrease disturbances resulting from the transformer loadings are by the transformer test and known how many percent decrease in capacity of the transformer. The data from the test is used to calculate the reduction in the capacity of the transformer. Result of the research on the transformer which is not operated yet relating to the ideal state of a transformer. As for the research on the second transformer indicates how transformer which been operating for several years has decreased the capacity of the transformer. So that the second transformer can not be loaded to the maximum.

An overheating‐tolerant space vector modulation algorithm for multilevel inverters

As promising and suitable candidates for high‐power applications, multilevel inverters have become one of the most promising solutions in various applications. However, power switching devices are highly subjected to thermal overheating, which leads to shortened lifetime and reduced reliability. Thermal overheating may result from the degradation of power switching devices due to continuous overloading and power cycling. In addition, degradation and faults in the cooling system of power switching devices may cause thermal stresses as well. A new overheating‐tolerant space vector modulation algorithm is proposed in this paper to alleviate thermal stresses from overheated power switching device. The proposed algorithm relies on using the redundancy property between switching states in multilevel inverters to continuously evaluate a cost function of the junction temperature of the overheated device for all possible switching sequence sets and then selects the optimal switching sequence. In addition, the proposed algorithm preserves the DC‐link capacitor voltage without reduction in the output current of the inverter. The proposed algorithm is general, which can be applied to n‐level inverters. Both simulation and experimental results reveal the efficient performance of the proposed algorithm using a three‐level T‐type inverter as a case study. Accordingly, the lifetime and reliability of the inverter are enhanced considerably using the proposed algorithm. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley &amp; Sons, Inc.

Hardness map of human meta tarsals and phalanges of toes.

Predicting location of fracture in human bones has been a keen area of research for the past few decades. A variety of tests for hardness, deformation and strain field measurement have been conducted in the past; but considered insufficient due to various limitations. Researchers therefore have proposed further studies due to inaccuracies in measurement methods, testing machines and experimental errors. Advancement and availability of hardware, measuring instrumentation and testing machines can now provide remedies to these limitations. Human foot is a critical part of body exposed to various forces throughout its life. A number of products are developed for using over it for protection and care. Which many times do not provide sufficient protection and may itself become a source of stress due to non-consideration of the delicacy of bones in the feet. A continuous strain or overloading on feet may occur resulting to discomfort and even fracture. Not knowing how the hardness is spread all over the Meta tarsals and phalanges is one of major contributory factor for unsatisfactory design of foot protection products. This paper provides a complete hardness distribution map developed by experimental testing of all the Meta tarsals and Phalanges of toes for a typical human foot. The bones were taken from two left feet of a 40 and 42 year old male cadaver. These were dehydrated prior to measurements of hardness using Leeb hardness testing method. Hardness was measured around the circumference of a bone as well as along its length. Hardness values can be related to tensile strength of the bones to predict possible values of stress that could be borne by these bones. Results may also be used for design and developing various accessories for human feet health care and comfort.

Biofiltration of high concentration of H2S in waste air under extreme acidic conditions

Removal of high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide using a biofilter packed with expanded schist under extreme acidic conditions was performed. The impact of various parameters such as H2S concentration, pH changes and sulfate accumulation on the performances of the process was evaluated. Elimination efficiency decreased when the pH was lower than 1 and the sulfate accumulation was more than 12 mg S-SO4(2-)/g dry media, due to a continuous overloading by high H2S concentrations. The influence of these parameters on the degradation of H2S was clearly underlined, showing the need for their control, performed through an increase of watering flow rate. A maximum elimination capacity (ECmax) of 24.7 g m(-3) h(-1) was recorded. As a result, expanded schist represents an interesting packing material to remove high H2S concentration up to 360 ppmv with low pressure drops. In addition, experimental data were fitted using both Michaelis-Menten and Haldane models, showing that the Haldane model described more accurately experimental data since the inhibitory effect of H2S was taken into account.

Nocturnal Blood Pressure Pattern Affects Left Ventricular Remodeling and Late Gadolinium Enhancement in Patients with Hypertension and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

BackgroundLeft ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an independent predictor of cardiac mortality, regardless of its etiology. Previous studies have shown that high nocturnal blood pressure (BP) affects LV geometry in hypertensive patients. It has been suggested that continuous pressure overload affects the development of LVH, but it is unknown whether persistent pressure influences myocardial fibrosis or whether the etiology of LVH is associated with myocardial fibrosis. Comprehensive cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) including the late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) technique can evaluate both the severity of changes in LV geometry and myocardial fibrosis. We tested the hypothesis that the nocturnal non-dipper BP pattern causes LV remodeling and fibrosis in patients with hypertension and LVH.MethodsForty-seven hypertensive patients with LVH evaluated by echocardiography (29 men, age 73.0±10.4 years) were examined by comprehensive CMR and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).Results and ConclusionsAmong the 47 patients, twenty-four had nocturnal non-dipper BP patterns. Patients with nocturnal non-dipper BP patterns had larger LV masses and scar volumes independent of etiologies than those in patients with dipper BP patterns (p = 0.035 and p = 0.015, respectively). There was no significant difference in mean 24-h systolic BP between patients with and without nocturnal dipper BP patterns (p = 0.367). Among hypertensive patients with LVH, the nocturnal non-dipper blood pressure pattern is associated with both LV remodeling and myocardial fibrosis independent of LVH etiology.

HEXIM1: a new player in myocardial hypertrophy?

This editorial refers to ‘Inducible re-expression of HEXIM1 causes physiological cardiac hypertrophy in the adult mouse’ by M.M. Montano et al ., pp. 74–82, this issue. Cardiac hypertrophy is a consequential response to stress; however, not all types of hypertrophy are the same. In fact, the molecular signatures underlying different forms of hypertrophy depend on the type of stress and of the subsequent activated signalling cascade. Preferential activation of specific signal transduction cascades, such as the calcineurin and MAPK pathways, is characteristic for pathological cardiac hypertrophy (e.g. in response to ventricular pressure overload), while the PI3 K/Akt/mTOR signalling cascade seems to be preferentially activated in exercise- or IGF1-dependent physiological hypertrophy.1–3 Remarkably, the activation of each signalling pathway is not specific but rather preferential for one type of hypertrophy. For instance, the PI3 K/Akt pathway is activated in both pressure-overload and exercise-induced cardiac hypertrophy.2,4 Akt induction indirectly activates mTOR, which, in turn, promotes protein synthesis through mRNA translation, while at the same time activating vasculogenesis.5 This increase in capillary density is a fundamental component of the cardiac response to stress since it counterbalances the augmented demand for oxygen by increasing its supply. On the other hand, in the absence of Akt, angiogenesis is impaired and the pressure-overloaded heart goes into failure more quickly.6,7 A different situation is found in exercise-induced hypertrophy, where the match between cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and angiogenesis is more balanced compared with the models of continuous pressure overload.8 A typical hallmark of cardiac hypertrophy, and in particular the maladaptive condition, is an overall increase in RNA synthesis. …

Alkalinity ratios to identify process imbalances in anaerobic digesters treating source-sorted organic fraction of municipal wastes

Two 5L anaerobic reactors were used to monitor the mesophilic anaerobic digestion of source sorted organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (SS-OFMSW) focusing the attention on the response of alkalinity ratios. Intermediate/partial alkalinity (IA/PA) ratio can be used as a simple and cheaper alternative to VFAs analysis when digester's stability needs to be assessed in full-scale plants treating these organic wastes. However, lab-scale studies in order to establish a specific limit value of IA/PA referred to SS-OFMSW had not been conducted. In this study, a reference reactor (R1) was operated at low organic loading rates (OLR) and high hydraulic retention times (HRT) during 165 days. Besides, severe disturbances were applied to a second reactor (R2) during 281 days by means of increasing both HRT and OLR in order to assess the digester response under continuous overload conditions. The obtained results show that an IA/PA ratio of below 0.3 is recommended to maintain total VFAs between 2.5 and 3.5kgm−3 and achieve a stable reactor performance treating SS-OFMSW in a range of total alkalinity (TA) between 13 and 15kgCaCO3m−3. These results provide a starting point to develop further works in full-scale digesters, in order to improve the monitoring and process control of full-scale anaerobic reactors treating SS-OFMSW.

Reversible Pulmonary Trunk Banding VIII: Intermittent Overload Causes Harmless Hypertrophy in Adult Goat

Traditional pulmonary artery banding (PAB) is not always suitable for mature subpulmonary ventricle retraining. We sought to assess in detail the myocardial morphologic adaptations of two different protocols for inducing right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy in an adult animal model. Eighteen adult goats were distributed into three groups: sham (no systolic overload), traditional (continuous systolic overload), and intermittent (daily 12-hour systolic overload). Systolic overload was adjusted to achieve a 0.7 RV-to-aortic pressure ratio. All animals underwent weekly echocardiographic studies, and hemodynamic evaluations were performed 3 times a week. After 4 weeks, the animals were humanely killed for morphologic assessment. A 37.2% increase was observed in the RV wall thickness of the intermittent group (p<0.05), but no significant echocardiographic changes were observed in the other two groups. The intermittent and traditional groups had a 55.7% and 36.7% increase in RV mass, respectively, compared with the sham group (p<0.05). No differences were observed in myocardial water content of the three groups (p=0.27). RV myocardial fiber and nuclei diameters were increased in the intermittent group compared with the sham group (p<0.05). The area of collagen deposition in the RV interstitium was increased 98% in traditional group compared with the sham group (p<0.05). No significant cellular proliferation occurred in any group. This study suggests that a more effective and harmless hypertrophy can be achieved in adult animals using intermittent PAB compared with the traditional approach.

Study on Topology Optimization for High Dynamic Flight Simulator Based on Hyperworks

In the mechanical design process for continuous overload high dynamic flight simulator, a large centrifugal force will be generated, if the arm is very heavy, the motor driving force and energy consumption will be high, so the design objective is minimization of the volume meeting the strength of selected material, this paper established the admissible design domain according to the initial model with the UG. The design variables are the volumetric densities of material in the admissible design domain for the structure. it's very small compared with centrifugal force for gravity, so the influence of gravity is negligible, with the Saint-Venant's principle to simplify constraints. Importing the model into hyperworks software, meshing with hypermesh module, Designing with topology optimization of optistruct module, got the best structure of a flight simulator's arm, and finally designed the actual structure of the arm based on the best structure. Conclusion: topology optimization of the arm flight simulator with hyperworks can reduce design cycle, and reduce weight, resulting in better dynamics.

Reversible pulmonary trunk banding. VI: Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in rapid ventricular hypertrophy in young goats

Increased myocardial glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity occurs in heart failure. This study compared G6PD activity in 2 protocols of right ventricle (RV) systolic overload in young goats. Twenty-seven goats were separated into 3 groups: sham (no overload), continuous (continuous systolic overload), and intermittent (four 12-hour periods of systolic overload paired with a 12-hour resting period). During a 96-hour protocol, systolic overload was adjusted to achieve a 0.7 RV/aortic pressure ratio. Echocardiographic and hemodynamic evaluations were performed before and after systolic overload every day postoperatively. After the study period, the animals were humanely killed for morphologic and G6PD tissue activity assessment. A 92.1% and 46.5% increase occurred in RV and septal mass, respectively, in the intermittent group compared with the sham group; continuous systolic overload resulted in a 37.2% increase in septal mass. A worsening RV myocardial performance index occurred in the continuous group at 72 hours and 96 hours, compared with the sham (P < .039) and intermittent groups at the end of the protocol (P < .001). Compared with the sham group, RV G6PD activity was elevated 130.1% in the continuous group (P = .012) and 39.8% in the intermittent group (P = .764). Continuous systolic overload for ventricle retraining causes RV dysfunction and upregulation of myocardial G6PD activity, which can elevate levels of free radicals by NADPH oxidase, an important mechanism in the pathophysiology of heart failure. Intermittent systolic overload promotes a more efficient RV hypertrophy, with better preservation of myocardial performance and and less exposure to hypertrophic triggers.