Current Technical Approaches Research Articles

New approach to the evaluation of the effort state of steel based on magneto-mechanical effects

The current innovative technical approach has involved the use of advanced computer-assisted design and structure optimization systems. Widely developed computer modelling has accounted for complex loads in facilities and economic and ecological issues, and it has been focused on minimizing the factors that could harm the environment in the course of the construction of a technical facility. The approach fails to guarantee sufficient safety, which is demonstrated by the continuing occurrence of unpredicted failures and catastrophes. There are also many examples of catastrophic events in sea and rail transportation that could seriously affect not only people directly connected with the transportation system but also the surrounding environment. The optimal means of failure/damage risk assessment can be estimated on the basis of the current technical condition of the analysed object. This possibility is offered by the research presented in this paper, which clearly leads to the development of a diagnostic model for a passive magnetic method to determine the state of stress and effort of a structure. Many materials that could cause a real threat of catastrophe due to fatigue wear, exceeded stress limits or the emergence of plastic deformation has magnetic properties that could affect the local magnetic field. This paper addresses the problems of mathematical modelling and analytical/computational modelling of phenomena for the needs of the diagnosis and detection of diagnostic information regarding the passive magnetic method. Numerical modelling along with laboratory experiments and processing, which agree with Bayesian updating, will be indispensable to optimize the method of detecting diagnostic information for a real-life technical object. The results prove that by introducing dynamics into the system, there exist parameters that must be considered when analysing the changes of the magnetic field of the examined object in the function of its effort and when analysing the global effort of the structure. With the help of a hysteresis model, changes that could be connected with the technical state of the research object can be observed and identified. The proposed diagnostics can be used for any dynamic system in which one can observe magneto-mechanical effects.

Non-technical approach to the challenges of ecological architecture: Learning from Van der Laan

Up to now, ecology has a strong influence on the development of technical and instrumental aspects of architecture, such as renewable and efficient of resources and energy, CO2 emissions, air quality, water reuse, some social and economical aspects. These concepts define the physical keys and codes of the current ׳sustainable׳ architecture, normally instrumental but rarely and insufficiently theorised. But is not there another way of bringing us to nature? We need a theoretical referent. This is where we place the Van der Laan׳s thoughts: he considers that art completes nature and he builds his theoretical discourse on it, trying to better understand many aspects of architecture. From a conceptual point of view, we find in his works sense of timelessness, universality, special attention on the ׳locus׳ and a strict sense of proportions and use of materials according to nature. Could these concepts complement our current sustainable architecture? How did Laan apply the current codes of ecology in his architecture? His work may help us to get a theoretical interpretation of nature and not only physical. This paper develops this idea through the comparison of thoughts and works of Laan with the current technical approach to ׳sustainable׳ architecture.

Technical aspects of pediatric epilepsy surgery: Report of a multicenter, multinational web-based survey by the ILAE Task Force on Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery.

Surgical techniques may vary extensively between centers. We report on a web-based survey aimed at evaluating the current technical approaches in different centers around the world performing epilepsy surgery in children. The intention of the survey was to establish technical standards. A request was made to 88 centers to complete a web-based survey comprising 51 questions. There were 14 questions related to general issues, 13 questions investigating the different technical aspects for children undergoing epilepsy surgery, and 24 questions investigating surgical strategies in pediatric epilepsy surgery. Fifty-two centers covering a wide geographic representation completed the questionnaire. The median number of resective procedures per center per year was 47. Some important technical practices appeared (>80% of the responses) such as the use of prophylactic antibiotics (98%), the use of high-speed drills for bone opening (88%), nonresorbable material for bone flap closure (85%), head fixation (90%), use of the surgical microscope (100%), and of free bone flaps. Other questions, such as the use of drains, electrocorticography (ECoG) and preoperative withdrawal of valproate, led to mixed, inconclusive results. Complications were noted in 3.8% of the patients submitted to cortical resection, 9.9% hemispheric surgery, 5% callosotomy, 1.8% depth electrode implantation, 5.9% subdural grids implantation, 11.9% hypothalamic hamartoma resection, 0.9% vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), and 0.5% deep brain stimulation. There were no major differences across regions or countries in any of the subitems above. The present data offer the first overview of the technical aspects of pediatric epilepsy surgery worldwide. Surprisingly, there seem to be more similarities than differences. That aside many of the evaluated issues should be examined by adequately designed multicenter randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Further knowledge on these technical issues might lead to increased standardization and lower costs in the future, as well as definitive practice guidelines.

Dual- and Multi-Energy CT: Principles, Technical Approaches, and Clinical Applications.

In x-ray computed tomography (CT), materials having different elemental compositions can be represented by identical pixel values on a CT image (ie, CT numbers), depending on the mass density of the material. Thus, the differentiation and classification of different tissue types and contrast agents can be extremely challenging. In dual-energy CT, an additional attenuation measurement is obtained with a second x-ray spectrum (ie, a second "energy"), allowing the differentiation of multiple materials. Alternatively, this allows quantification of the mass density of two or three materials in a mixture with known elemental composition. Recent advances in the use of energy-resolving, photon-counting detectors for CT imaging suggest the ability to acquire data in multiple energy bins, which is expected to further improve the signal-to-noise ratio for material-specific imaging. In this review, the underlying motivation and physical principles of dual- or multi-energy CT are reviewed and each of the current technical approaches is described. In addition, current and evolving clinical applications are introduced.

Dissecting the regional diversity of glial cells by applying -omic technologies

Neuronal as well as glial cells contribute to higher order brain functions. Many observations show that neurons and glial cells are not only physically highly intermingled but are physiologically tightly connected and mutually depend at various levels on each other. Moreover, macroglia classes like astrocytes, NG2 cells and oligodendrocytes are not at all homogenous cell populations but do possess a markedly heterogeneity in various aspects similar to neurons. The diversity of differences in morphology, functionality and, cellular activity has been acknowledged recently and will be integrated into a concept of brain function that pictures a neural rather than a puristical neuronal world. With the recent progress in “omic” technologies, an unbiased and exploratory approach toward an enhanced understanding of glial heterogeneity has become possible. Here, we provide an overview on current technical transcriptomic and proteomic approaches used to dissect glial heterogeneity of the brain.

Donation after circulatory death: the current state and technical approaches to organ procurement.

In this review, we discuss the current state of donation after circulatory death (DCD). We define the DCD donor and describe the current protocols in management of the DCD patient. We then discuss current techniques in organ procurement of the lung and abdominal organs. Although donation after brain death is preferable to DCD, recent data have demonstrated acceptable early outcomes in both thoracic and abdominal organ transplant. In spite of advancements in surgical techniques and organ preservation, much has yet to be learned to minimize warm ischemia time and reperfusion injury in the DCD population. In light of the continually growing disparity between organ supply and demand, DCD has regained traction as a means to increase the donor pool.

Intellectual Property Protection and Secure Knowledge Management in Collaborative Systems Engineering

Developing complex systems with the Systems Engineering approach requires a close collaboration between engineers. Today, this collaboration is often globalized and performed beyond enterprise boundaries. In order to maximize the engineering outcome and manageability, it is necessary to share and transfer engineering knowledge and intellectual property in a digital form. Knowledge is valuable and easy to copy hence it is often subject to intended theft or loss. This leads to substantial economic damages worldwide due to product piracy and plagiarism. The goal conflict between a wide availability of knowledge to system engineers and a secure management and usage of intellectual property is still unsolved. Legal and organizational measures, such as nondisclosure agreements and facility surveillance, are insufficient to solve the problem alone. Therefore industrial companies demand for new measures that effectively protect their intellectual property.This paper presents an analysis of current technical approaches that are applicable on securing knowledge in collaborative Systems Engineering. It shows that all approaches do not sufficiently cover the industry's knowledge security requirements. Hence a new knowledge security concept is introduced. It covers the specific requirements and constraints in the Systems Engineering context and provides a knowledge security improvement over the current technical approaches.

Toward mapping the biology of the genome

This issue of Genome Research presents new results, methods, and tools from The ENCODE Project (ENCyclopedia of DNA Elements), which collectively represents an important step in moving beyond a parts list of the genome and promises to shape the future of genomic research. This collection sheds light on basic biological questions and frames the current debate over the optimization of tools and methodological challenges necessary to compare and interpret large complex data sets focused on how the genome is organized and regulated. In a number of instances, the authors have highlighted the strengths and limitations of current computational and technical approaches, providing the community with useful standards, which should stimulate development of new tools. In many ways, these papers will ripple through the scientific community, as those in pursuit of understanding the “regulatory genome” will heavily traverse the maps and tools. Similarly, the work should have a substantive impact on how genetic variation contributes to specific diseases and traits by providing a compendium of functional elements for follow-up study. The success of these papers should not only be measured by the scope of the scientific insights and tools but also by their ability to attract new talent to mine existing and future data.

The potential impacts of grid-connected distributed generation and how to address them: A review of technical and non-technical factors

Distributed generation is being deployed at increasing levels of penetration on electricity grids worldwide. It can have positive impacts on the network, but also negative impacts if integration is not properly managed. This is especially true of photovoltaics, in part because it's output fluctuates significantly and in part because it is being rapidly deployed in many countries. Potential positive impacts on grid operation can include reduced network flows and hence reduced losses and voltage drops. Potential negative impacts at high penetrations include voltage fluctuations, voltage rise and reverse power flow, power fluctuations, power factor changes, frequency regulation and harmonics, unintentional islanding, fault currents and grounding issues. This paper firstly reviews each of these impacts in detail, along with the current technical approaches available to address them. The second section of this paper discusses key non-technical factors, such as appropriate policies and institutional frameworks, which are essential to effectively coordinate the development and deployment of the different technical solutions most appropriate for particular jurisdictions. These frameworks will be different for different jurisdictions, and so no single approach will be appropriate worldwide.

Application of bone growth factors—the potential of different carrier systems

AimThe aim of the present review was to characterize the potential of different biomaterials as carriers for bone growth factors.IntroductionBeyond mechanical and structural characteristics, one of the features that account for a potential carrier is the possibility to couple growth factor molecules to it. As simple adsorption of the growth factor to the carrier surface by soak loading produces a burst release of growth factors with rapid decrease of biological activity, the ability to accomplish controlled release of functional growth factor molecules is one of the crucial characteristics for an appropriate carrier material.ConclusionThe variety of carrier materials requires different strategies to either couple growth factors to the material surface or to incorporate them into the carrier matrix. The present review outlines current technical approaches and discusses future trends in the use of carrier materials for bone growth factors.

Technical approaches to the optimisation of CT

This paper reviews current technical approaches to the optimisation of CT practice, i.e. approaches to reduce patient dose to the necessary minimum. The most important step towards this goal appears to be the technology of tube current modulation (TCM), which came into practice in the early 2000s and has become the standard approach recently. Anatomy- or attenuation-based TCM allows for a dose reduction between 10 and 60% as compared to scans with constant tube current. Automatic exposure control (AEC) approaches are the next step; based on TCM technology, AEC adapts the tube current both with the rotation angle α (α-modulation) and along the z-axis (z-modulation) to achieve a pre-selected image quality level at minimal dose. To pre-select the image quality level, i.e. primarily the pixel noise level, tools for simulation are important to investigate the necessary noise levels pro- and retrospectively for given cases and diagnostic tasks. Respective “dose tutor” approaches have become available recently and are presented. The most recent technical innovation which may lead to substantial dose reduction is the investigation of optimal spectra taking the type of contrast and 3D dose distributions into account. A high potential has been shown especially for pediatric CT and for thoracic CT where dose reduction of a factor of 2 and more is possible when using reduced tube voltages.

Technical knowledge and skills in undergraduate radiation therapy: The University of Newcastle experience

AbstractRadiation therapy (RT) technologies and the technical skills required have undergone an extended period of change and advancement. The University of Newcastle's RT curriculum has met this challenge by developing a technologically layered curriculum that not only retains the basic fundamental concepts underpinning RT, but also reflects current and emerging technology, as well as the associated skill developments.This paper outlines how past, current and future RT technical approaches and technical skills are integrated into the current undergraduate RT curriculum.

A Technical Approach and Distributed Model for Validation of Digital Objects

This article describes the current technical approach for digital object validation used by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the Library of Congress (LC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities for the digitization of historical newspapers. The article also describes the scheme for distributing validation across the participating institutions that will be creating and submitting digital objects to NDNP. The approaches and schemes are now being tested for the first development phase of NDNP, but if successful, they could be generalized to other similar projects

Differential control of sympathetic outflow.

With advances in experimental techniques, the early views of the sympathetic nervous system as a monolithic effector activated globally in situations requiring a rapid and aggressive response to life-threatening danger have been eclipsed by an organizational model featuring an extensive array of functionally specific output channels that can be simultaneously activated or inhibited in combinations that result in the patterns of autonomic activity supporting behavior and mediating homeostatic reflexes. With this perspective, the defense response is but one of the many activational states of the central autonomic network. This review summarizes evidence for the existence of tissue-specific sympathetic output pathways, which are likely to include distinct populations of premotor neurons whose target specificity could be assessed using the functional fingerprints developed from characterizations of postganglionic efferents to known targets. The differential responses in sympathetic outflows to stimulation of reflex inputs suggest that the circuits regulating the activity of sympathetic premotor neurons must have parallel access to groups of premotor neurons controlling different functions but that these connections vary in their ability to influence different sympathetic outputs. Understanding the structural and physiological substrates antecedent to premotor neurons that mediate the differential control of sympathetic outflows, including those to noncardiovascular targets, represents a challenge to our current technical and analytic approaches.

Perspectives on molecular assays for measuring mutation in humans and rodents.

The original idea for this article was to examine the new molecular techniques for detection of mutation directly at the DNA level in exposed individuals or their offspring and to assess their relative advantages and disadvantages for mutation monitoring in humans and rodents. However, an examination of the articles and a comparison of the technology indicated that our constant quests for methods improvement were leading to some loss of insight into the important health-related questions that should be guiding these endeavors. As a result, individual methods are not covered here in great technical detail. Instead, a few molecular methods are presented in a general overview, along with some of the biological issues related to the detection of induced mutations within individuals and populations. Some hypothetical scenarios are also presented because molecular approaches will continue to change rapidly, and we must continually adjust our thinking to combine the useful attributes of each current and future technical approach with the most appropriate biological questions.

A Critique of Planning Concepts and Methodology in Nigeria

This evaluation of the concepts and methodology of planning and plan implementation in Nigeria has been motivated by an abiding commitment to effective planned development. The analysis maintains that in order to achieve this urgent goal, the current bourgeois intellectual tradition of planning in Nigeria which is so deeply steeped in imported Keynesian economics must be transcended. This requires the substitution of a social for current technical approach to planning and the shift of emphasis from elitism, financial planning, and dominant private enterprise which define the essential character of contemporary neocolonial capitalist planning to mass participation in comprehensive socialist planning with material balances. This demand is predicated on the empirical experience of 14 years of the anarchy of planned capitalist development whose unmitigated disaster demonstrates that neocolonial capitalism and its handmaiden of neocolonial capitalist planning are doomed.