Rate Of Comminution Research Articles

The unsteady nature of sea cliff retreat due to mechanical abrasion, failure and comminution feedbacks

Sea cliff retreat is often linked to large waves, heavy precipitation and seismic events, but the specific operative mechanics have not been well constrained. In particular, what is the role of mechanical abrasion by beach sediments in cliff/platform evolution and how does it relate to the episodic nature of cliff retreat observed at certain locations? Here we present a simple, numerical model of sea cliff retreat that incorporates mechanical abrasion of a basal notch, threshold-controlled failure of the cantilevered block, and a feedback mechanism wherein retreat is dependent on the rate of sediment comminution within the surf zone. Using shore platform and cliff characteristics found in two coastal settings (the central California coast and the English North Sea coast), the model produces retreat rates comparable to those observed via field measurements. The highest retreat rates coincide with the steepest shore platforms and increasing wave height. Steeper platforms promote wave access to the cliff toe and, correspondingly, the receding cliff face produces additional accommodation space for the platform beach, preserving the erosive efficacy of the beach sediments. When exposed to energetic wave forcing, the slope of the inner platform segment controls retreat rates for concave platforms, whereas the slope of the outer platform segment exerts greater control for convex platforms. Platform beaches approached a long-term dynamic equilibrium on the concave profiles, leading to more consistent and steady retreat. Platform beaches were ephemeral on convex profiles, mirroring observed sand wave (Ord) migration on the Holderness coast, UK. These findings agree with previous field observations and support mechanical abrasion as a viable cause of temporal heterogeneity in cliff retreat rate for both coastlines.

Chemical weathering under the Greenland Ice Sheet

To contrast continental and alpine subglacial weathering regimes and thereby assess the role of large ice masses in chemical weathering, borehole and outlet water samples were collected from multiple locations on a major, land-terminating outlet of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Boreholes, reaching ice depths to 824 m, were drilled to the bed with hot-water methods in four areas of the ice sheet ablation zone along a 45 km transect extending inland from the outlet terminus. The bulk chemical composition of these samples shows substantially less influence of sulfides and carbonates than found in alpine glaciers, suggesting that the sediment under this region of the ice sheet has become depleted of accessory minerals. The waters show wide variability in chemical composition over both large and small temporal-spatial scales, suggesting large ranges in length of subglacial water storage and in rates of abrasion and comminution of subglacial earth materials. The dissolved solids concentrations found in the Greenland Ice Sheet are comparable to and in some cases exceed those of alpine glaciers, suggesting that large ice masses are capable of generating substantial dissolved loads through silicate weathering mechanisms.

Amino acid availability in ruminants of cereals and cereal co‐products

Microbial corrected in situ estimates of the ruminal undegraded fraction (RU) and intestinal effective digestibility (IED) of amino acids (AA), except tryptophan, of rye, wheat and corn grains, wheat bran, wheat and barley distilled dried grains and corn gluten feed were measured on three rumen- and duodenum-cannulated wethers using (15)N-labelling techniques and considering ruminal rates of particle comminution and outflow. The lack of microbial correction led to overestimations of the intestinal digested fraction that rose with the increase in ruminal degradability. Thus these overestimations varied widely among feeds (from 4.3 to 32.1% for total analysed AA) and among AA. Digestion led to large changes in the AA supply that were greater in the rumen than in the intestine. The impact of these changes on the protein value is conditioned by the magnitude of the undegraded protein fraction. Microbial contamination taking place in the rumen and changes in the AA supply with digestion should be considered to attain accurate estimates of AA digestion. Globally, digestion improved the AA supply in rye, wheat and wheat distilled dried grain and decreased it in corn and corn gluten feed by reducing the supply of valine and basic AA, especially lysine.

Fragmentation of kidney stones in vitro by focused ultrasound bursts without shock waves

Shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) is the most common procedure for treatment of kidney stones. SWL noninvasively delivers high-energy focused shocks to fracture stones into passable fragments. We have recently observed that lower-amplitude, sinusoidal bursts of ultrasound can generate similar fracture of stones. This work investigated the characteristics of stone fragmentation for natural (uric acid, struvite, calcium oxalate, and cystine) and artificial stones treated by ultrasound bursts. Stones were fixed in position in a degassed water tank and exposed to 10-cycle bursts from a 200-kHz transducer with a pressure amplitude of p ≤ 6.5 MPa, delivered at a rate of 40–200 Hz. Exposures caused progressive fractures in the stone surface leading to fragments up to 3 mm. Treatment of artificial stones at different frequencies exhibited an inverse relationship between the resulting fragment sizes and ultrasound frequency. All artificial and natural types of stones tested could be fragmented, but the comminution rate varied significantly with stone composition over a range of 12–630 mg/min. These data suggest that stones can be controllably fragmented by sinusoidal ultrasound bursts, which may offer an alternative treatment strategy to SWL. [Work supported by NIH 2T32DK007779-11A1, R01 EB007643, P01 DK043881, R01 DK092197, NSBRI through NASA NCC 9-58.]

Effects of the comminution rate and microbial contamination of particles in the rumen on in situ estimates of protein and amino acid digestion of expeller palm kernel and rapeseed meal

Microbial corrected effective in situ estimates of ruminal undegraded fraction (RU) and intestinal effective digestibility (IED) of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and amino acids (AA) of expeller palm kernel (EPK) and rapeseed meal (RSM) were measured on three rumen- and duodenum-cannulated wethers using ¹⁵N labelling techniques and considering ruminal rates of comminution (k(c)) and outflow (k(p)) of particles. The lack of k(c) and microbial correction overestimated the RU of DM by 4.91% (EPK) and 9.88% (RSM). The lack of this correction also overestimated in both feeds the RU of CP, individual and total (TAA) AA as well as the IED of DM, CP, TAA and most AA. RU estimates were higher for CP than for TAA, but the opposite was observed for IED. The intestinal digested fraction was higher for CP than for TAA: 17.4% (EPK) and 13.8% (RSM). Digestion led to large changes in the essential AA profile in both feeds. The lack of k(c) and microbial correction as well as CP-based results leads to considerable overestimations in the protein use of both feeds. Digestion aggravates the lysine deficiency of EPK but has global positive effects in the absorbed profile of RSM.

The rat model of femur fracture for bone and mineral research

ObjectivesOne commonly used rat fracture model for bone and mineral research is a closed mid-shaft femur fracture as described by Bonnarens in 1984. Initially, this model was believed to create very reproducible fractures. However, there have been frequent reports of comminution and varying rates of complication. Given the importance of precise anticipation of those characteristics in laboratory research, we aimed to precisely estimate the rate of comminution, its importance and its effect on the amount of soft callus created. Furthermore, we aimed to precisely report the rate of complications such as death and infection.MethodsWe tested a rat model of femoral fracture on 84 rats based on Bonnarens’ original description. We used a proximal approach with trochanterotomy to insert the pin, a drop tower to create the fracture and a high-resolution fluoroscopic imager to detect the comminution. We weighed the soft callus on day seven and compared the soft callus parameters with the comminution status.ResultsThe mean operating time was 34.8 minutes (sd 9.8). The fracture was usable (transverse, mid-shaft, without significant comminution and with displacement < 1 mm) in 74 animals (88%). Of these 74 usable fractures, slight comminution was detected in 47 (63%). In 50 animals who underwent callus manipulation, slight comminution (n = 32) was statistically correlated to the amount of early callus created (r = 0.35, p = 0.015). Two complications occurred: one death and one deep infection.ConclusionsWe propose an accurate description of comminution and complications in order to improve experiments on rat femur fracture model in the field of laboratory research.Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2013;2:149–54.

Effects of the comminution rate and microbial contamination of particles in the rumen on accuracy ofin situestimates of digestion of protein and amino acids of dehydrated sugar beet pulp

SUMMARYEffects of the correction of microbial contamination (using15N techniques) and of considering the comminution rate (kc) of particles in the rumen on effective estimates of the ruminally undegraded (RU) fraction and its intestinal effective digestibility (IED) were examined in a sample of dehydrated sugar beet pulp (DBP) generating composite samples (from rumen-incubated residues) representative of the chemical composition of RU. Tested fractions were dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM, tested only for RU), crude protein (CP) and amino acids (AA). The study was performed on three rumen and duodenum cannulated wethers fed with a 2 : 1 (fresh weight basis) chopped oat hay-to-concentrate diet supplied at 40 g DM/kg BW0·75in six equal meals per day. The DBP showed sigmoid degradation kinetics: the fractional degradation rate increased by 5·8 times as time (h) increased from 0 to∞. Thekcrate (measured in the diet concentrate) represented 5·74% of the total rumen retention time of particles. As a result, the RU of DM was over-evaluated by 6·53% whenkcwas not considered. Microbial contamination of RU was high as in DM as in CP. Therefore, the overestimation of RU of DM was increased to 12·2% when this contamination was not corrected. The lack of this correction also led to large over-evaluations of RU and IED of CP and AA. As a result, the overestimation of the intestinal digested fraction was 40·9% for CP and 45·0% for total analysed AA. This overestimation varied largely among AA (from 18·9 to 88·7%). Corrected proportions of RU and IED were also variable among AA. Hypotheses on the causes of this variability are given. Resultant changes in the AA profile of the intestinal digested protein had some negative impact on the supply of essential AA and cysteine without affecting lysine. This problem is limited because the microbial protein synthesized from DBP fermentation in the rumen is largely predominant in the AA supply to the host.

Effects of the correction of particle microbial contamination and particle transit model in the rumen on in situ protein evaluation of grass hays

Effects of considering the particle comminution rate (kc) in addition to particle rumen outflow (kp) and the ruminal microbial contamination on estimates of by-pass and intestinal digestibility of DM, organic matter and crude protein were examined in perennial ryegrass and oat hays. By-pass kc-kp-based values of amino acids were also determined. This study was performed using particle transit, in situ and 15N techniques on three rumen and duodenum-cannulated wethers. The above estimates were determined using composite samples from rumen-incubated residues representative of feed by-pass. Considering the comminution rate, kc, modified the contribution of the incubated residues to these samples in both hays and revealed a higher microbial contamination, consistently in oat hay and only as a tendency for crude protein in ryegrass hay. Not considering kc or rumen microbial contamination overvalued by-pass and intestinal digestibility in both hays. Therefore, non-microbial-corrected kp-based values of intestinal digested crude protein were overestimated as compared with corrected and kc-kp-based values in ryegrass hay (17.4 vs 4.40%) and in oat hay (5.73 vs 0.19%). Both factors should be considered to obtain accurate in situ estimates in grasses, as the protein value of grasses is very conditioned by the microbial synthesis derived from their ruminal fermentation. Consistent overvaluations of amino acid by-pass due to not correcting microbial contamination were detected in both hays, with large variable errors among amino acids. A similar degradation pattern of amino acids was recorded in both hays. Cysteine, methionine, leucine and valine were the most degradation-resistant amino acids.

Analysis of the breakage rate function for selected process parameters in quartzite milling

Analysis of the breakage rate function for selected process parameters in quartzite milling The paper presents the results of studies on quartzite milling in a ball mill. The milling was conducted in a batch system, for diversified compositions of balls. The milling product was subjected to granulometrical, morphological and strength analyses. On the basis of the developed Reid's theory and using the Austin-Gardner equation, a form of the function circumscribing the specific rate of comminution of selected size fractions was determined. The values of the breakage rate function bi, j for the mill's apparatus conditions were determined. The impact was investigated for a variable number of grinding media contact points on the values of specific rate S and the values of the breakage rate function bi, j. Furthermore, the values of coefficients occurring in the equations circumscribing the specific rate of milling S and breakage parameter bi, j were determined.

Effects of the ruminal comminution rate and microbial contamination of particles on accuracy of in situ estimates of ruminal degradability and intestinal digestibility of feedstuffs

Effects of considering the comminution rate (k(c) ) and the correction of microbial contamination (using (15) N techniques) of particles in the rumen on estimates of ruminally undegraded fractions and their intestinal digestibility were examined generating composite samples (from rumen-incubated residues) representative of the undegraded feed rumen outflow. The study used sunflower meal (SFM) and Italian ryegrass hay (RGH) and three rumen and duodenum cannulated wethers fed with a 40:60 RGH to concentrate diet (75 g DM/kgBW(0.75) ). Transit studies up to the duodenum with Yb-SFM and Eu-RGH marked samples showed higher k(c) values (/h) in SFM than in RGH (0.577 vs. 0.0892, p = 0.034), whereas similar values occurred for the rumen passage rate (k(p) ). Estimates of ruminally undegraded and intestinal digestibility of all tested fractions decreased when k(c) was considered and also applying microbial correction. Thus, microbial uncorrected k(p) -based proportions of intestinal digested undegraded crude protein overestimated those corrected and k(c) -k(p) -based by 39% in SFM (0.146 vs. 0.105) and 761% in RGH (0.373 vs. 0.0433). Results show that both k(c) and microbial contamination correction should be considered to obtain accurate in situ estimates in grasses, whereas in protein concentrates not considering k(c) is an important source of error.

Stone comminution using histotripsy.

This work explores the use of histotripsy to enhance urinary stone comminution ordinarily accomplished by lithotripsy. Histotripsy is a method of tissue ablation or erosion using high‐energy pulsed therapeutic ultrasound to induce and control a cavitation bubble cloud. We have shown previously that histotripsy applied to model urinary stones causes surface erosion producing fine debris, which can be more readily eliminated. In this work, we show that optimal acoustic parameters can yield an effective comminution rate (96 mg/min) similar to a standard lithotripter (111 mg/min). As histotripsy is a surface erosion effect within the cloud of cavitation bubbles and lithotripsy has been shown to be most efficient at initial coarse fragmentation of stones, we propose a combined approach where the lithotripter coarsely fragments the stone, while histotripsy is used to erode these fragments with their greatly increased surface area.

Third Prize: The Impact of Fluid Environment Manipulation on Shockwave Lithotripsy Artificial Calculi Fragmentation Rates

Studies have suggested that shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) stone fragmentation rates can be affected by characteristics of the fluid media surrounding the stone, although evidence to implicate the impact of urine specific gravity (SG) is limited and inconclusive. Our aim is to further explore the impact fluid media and SGs have on stone fragmentation using a variable focus lithotripter. Artificial stones were presoaked for 24 hours in urine and then shocked in various fluid media including artificial urine (SG 1.010 control, 1.020, and 1.07), human pooled urine (HPU), degassed HPU, Pentastarch, 100% and 30% contrast, degassed 30% contrast, 100% ethanol, deionized water (dH(2)O), degassed dH(2)O, 5% glucose, Ringer lactate, 0.9% saline, glycerol, whole blood, and lubricating gel. After soaking, SWL using the Modulith SLX-F2 electromagnetic lithotripter was performed. Fragments were dried and sieved using a 4-mm diameter opening grid. Fragments >4 mm were weighed and fragmentation coefficients (FCs) calculated (pre-SWL weight - post-SWL weight)/(pre-SWL weight) × 100. Fifteen stones were shocked for each fluid group. Fluid type, viscosity, and degassing all significantly impacted stone fragmentation. While the solutions' SG, per se, did not appear to affect stone fragmentation, the use of degassed 30% contrast significantly improved stone destruction over the SG 1.010 artificial urine control (95.3% vs 71.4, P < 0.01). Furthermore, degassing improved comminution rates by increasing the number of completely fragmented stones (FC = 100%). Using degassed 30% contrast, 12/15 stones were completely fragmented, compared with only 2/15 in the control group (P = 0.007). Among the whole blood, glycerol, and lubricating gel groups, only 1/15, 0/15, and 1/15 stones reached 100% FC respectively in the narrow focus, possibly because of the detrimental impact of increased viscosity. Different fluid media can significantly affect FC in vitro. Among the various fluids tested, degassed 30% contrast significantly increased the FC and total number of completely fragmented stones.

Histotripsy Erosion of Model Urinary Calculi

Histotripsy is a pulsed focused ultrasound technology in which initiation and control of acoustic cavitation allow for precise mechanical fractionation of tissues. The present study examines the feasibility of using histotripsy for erosion of urinary calculi. Histotripsy treatment was delivered from a 750-kHz transducer in the form of 5-cycle acoustic pulses at a 1-kHz pulse repetition frequency. Model stones were sonicated for 5 minutes at peak negative pressures (p-) of 10, 15, 19, 22, and 24-MPa. Resulting fragment sizes and comminution rates were assessed and compared with those achieved with a piezoelectric lithotripter (Wolf Piezolith 3000) operated at 2-Hz pulse repetition frequency and power level 17 (p- = 14-MPa). Histotripsy eroded the surface of stones producing fine (< 100 μm) particulate debris in contrast to the progressive and incomplete subdivision of stones achieved with piezoelectric lithotripsy. The histotripsy erosion rate increased with increasing peak negative pressure from 10 to 19 MPa and then saturated, yielding an average rate of 87.9 ± 12.8 mg/min at maximum treatment intensity. Piezoelectric lithotripsy achieved an average treatment rate of 110.7 ± 27.4 mg/min. Histotripsy comminution of urinary calculi is a surface erosion phenomenon that is mechanistically distinct from conventional shockwave lithotripsy (SWL), producing only fine debris as opposed to coarse fragments. These characteristics suggest that histotripsy offers a potential adjunct to traditional SWL procedures, and synergistic interplay of the two modalities may lead to possible increases in both rate and degree of stone fragmentation.

Effects of ensiling on in situ ruminal degradability and intestinal digestibility of corn forage

The effective degradability of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and amino acids (AA), and the intestinal effective digestibility (IED) of DM and CP of a green forage corn (GC) and its silage (EC) were determined on freeze-dried samples using three rumen and duodenum cannulated wethers. Two rumen incubations with duplicate bags were performed for each feed. Rumen degradation was determined on one series of bags from each incubation. The other series was freeze-dried and used to determine IED using mobile nylon bags. Microbial contamination of rumen incubated residues (determined with 15N techniques) fitted exponential functions, which showed a greater microbial contribution in EC than in GC in the undegradable DM (18.6% vs. 13.5%) and CP (81.7% vs. 69.4%). Degradability was calculated considering the particle rumen outflow rate (kp : 0.056/h) of the EC (EDp) or additionally the rate of comminution and mixing (kc : 0.130/h) of these particles (EDcp). Ensiling increased EDp (9.33%, p < 0.01) or EDcp (5.30%, p = 0.062) of DM and was associated with losses of nitrogen and with large changes in the AA profile. It is necessary to correct the microbial contamination, because it represents 32.0% (GC) and 42.5% (EC) of the undegraded CP when using kp and kc . Ensiling caused higher degradabilities for some AA as well as large differences in the changes due to the rumen fermentation on the AA profile. However, it had only limited effects on the undegraded protein profile. Ensiling also reduced the IED of DM (23.3% vs. 14.6%; p = 0.057). In conclusion, results do not show losses of nutritive value by ensiling corn cut at vitreous grain stage.

Ruminal large and small particle kinetics in dairy cows fed red clover and grass silages harvested at two stages of growth

Passage, comminution and digestion rates of large and small particles were estimated using a rumen evacuation technique and total faecal collection with five lactating dairy cows in a 5 × 5 Latin square experiment. Two grass and two red clover silages harvested at early and late primary growth stages and a 1:1 mixture of late harvest grass and early harvest red clover were the dietary treatments. Cows received 9.0 kg supplementary concentrate per day. Ruminal contents and faeces were divided into large (>1.25 mm) and small (1.25–0.038 mm) particles by wet sieving. Indigestible neutral detergent fibre (iNDF) was determined by 12 days ruminal in situ incubation followed by neutral detergent extraction. Plant species did not affect ruminal particle size distribution, whereas advancing forage maturity decreased the proportion of large particles for both grass and red clover silage diets. Ruminal pool size of iNDF was higher ( P<0.001) with red clover compared to grass silage diets. Ruminal passage rates of iNDF and potentially digestible NDF (pdNDF) increased with decreasing particle size ( P<0.01). Passage rate of iNDF for small particles was slower ( P<0.01) when red clover compared to grass silage diets were fed. Particle comminution rate in the rumen was slower ( P<0.001) with red clover compared to grass silage diets and it increased ( P<0.01) with advancing forage maturity. The contribution of particle comminution to ruminal mean retention time of iNDF in the ruminal large particle pool was smaller ( P<0.01) in red clover compared to grass silage diets and it increased ( P<0.05) with the mixed silage compared to the separate silages. Passage rate of pdNDF for both large and small particles was not affected by dietary treatments. Digestion rate of pdNDF for large particles was faster ( P<0.001) with red clover compared to grass silage diets. Differences in ruminal passage and digestion rates of the large and small particles, in addition to differences in the passage and digestion rates of red clover compared to grass silage diets, emphasize the need to consider particle size and forage type in metabolic models predicting feed intake and fibre digestibility in ruminants.

Soft-sensors for prediction of impact energy in horizontal rotating drums

Knowledge of internal variables in horizontal rotating drums is useful for the optimisation and control of industrial processes including milling, mixing, coating and agglomeration. The energy of particle–particle (p–p) impacts, which is the focus of this paper, is a variable of particular interest because of its relevance to the efficiency of these processes. For example the comminution rate in a grinding mill or the structural and chemical transformations when alloying in mills are both determined by the impact energy of particles. There are two main obstructions that prevent the measurement of internal variables in horizontal rotating drums: the harsh internal environment, which makes internal installation of sensors for online measurement impractical, and the lack of sensors that can directly measure the internal variable of interest. The above difficulties warrant the implementation and development of soft-sensors to predict the particle–particle impact energy from variables that can be physically measured outside the drums. Based on a discrete element method (DEM) model, such a soft-sensor model is developed for horizontal rotating drums that can quantitatively predict p–p impact energy within 5% of its actual value.

Abrasive wear of steel against gravel with different rock–steel combinations

Wear testing equipment and tests used in research laboratories are often miniature or simplified versions of real applications. For example standardized ASTM dry sand rubber wheel abrasion test G 65 and pin abrasion test G 132 are widely used to study materials’ abrasion wear resistance. The test results, however, do not always correlate too well with the results obtained from real wear conditions. One reason for this is, for example, that in the crushing applications of mining industry the abrasive size is usually much larger than that used in the laboratory wear tests. To study the abrasive wear caused by larger size gravel, new three-body abrasion test equipment was therefore constructed. The equipment uses the pin-on-disk principle with free abrasive particles of sizes up to 10 mm. During the test the pin is repeatedly pressed against a fixed amount of abrasive that is rotating with the disk having confining walls. As the pin is prevented from touching the counterbody, only the abrasive acts as the wearing agent. Three steels of different hardnesses were cross-tested as pin–disk pairs and as pins against a rubber disk using three igneous rock gravels with different crushability properties as abrasives. The wear was measured as mass loss from both the pin and the disk, and the rock comminution was measured by sieving. The results indicate that the mechanism of wear is greatly affected by the hardness of the counterbody. When using large size abrasives, the rate of comminution is also a very important factor that can significantly affect the wear test results.

In situ ruminal amino acid degradability of green and ensiled Italian rye-grass according to particle transit model and microbial contamination correction

The ruminal degradation of amino acids (AA) of a green Italian rye-grass (GRG) and its silage (ERG) was determined on three wethers cannulated in rumen and duodenum using in situ and particle passage techniques. Wethers were fed a diet of ERG, corn silage and concentrate (1:1:1, DM basis) at 40 g DM/kg BW 0.75. Two rumen incubations (at 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 48 and 72 h) with freeze-dried samples (3 g) in nylon bags were performed for each feed. The microbial contamination of incubated residues was corrected using 15N enriched solid associated bacteria isolates as reference. Two different estimates of undegraded AA were established: UP p, considering the particle rumen outflow rate ( k p) of the ERG, and UP cp, considering additionally the rate of comminution and mixing ( k c) of these particles. Microbial contamination resulted in large errors in the degradation kinetic parameters of all AA. As a result, non corrected UP p and UP cp included a large fraction of microbial origin. For essential AA plus cysteine these microbial proportions ranged 0.365–0.555 (UP p) and 0.461–0.710 (UP cp) in GRG. In ERG these values ranged: 0.403–0.666 (UP p) and 0.481–0.804 (UP cp). Cysteine always supplied minimum values whereas lysine showed maximum values in GRG or very close to these in ERG. Ensiling was associated with large changes in the AA profile. These variations conditioned, in turn, large differences in the changes made by the rumen microorganisms on the AA profile of both forages. However, ensiling only led to little changes in the profile of the rumen undegraded protein, especially when k c was considered. Results show the need to correct for this contamination to obtain accurate AA valuations and also that the AA profile of the undegraded protein of a green forage may serve as a guide for this profile in its silages.

The pattern of ankle fractures sustained by outdoor activities at the Snowdonia National Park, North Wales, United Kingdom

The aim of this study was to review the pattern of ankle fractures sustained by patients brought to the Emergency Department at Ysbyty Gwynedd from The Snowdonia National Park. The study group included all patients with ankle fractures on the mountain medicine database between March 2004 and December 2006. The presence of talar shift and comminution of the medial malleolus was noted. The pattern of fractures were analysed and compared with the literature. Radiographs were obtained for 20 casualties. 70% of these were injured whilst hill walking. Open fractures represented 12% of injuries. 75% of fractures required operative fixation. Weber B injuries were the commonest followed by Weber C and A. Talar shift was seen in 80% of the cases and 45% showed comminution of the medial malleolus. In our case series we observed a high proportion of open and unstable ankle fractures, with the majority treated by operative fixation. The high rate of comminution of the medial malleolus has previously not been reported in the literature and has the potential of making operative fixation technically difficult. Encouraging the use of walking poles particularly at the time of descending may help to reduce the incidence of ankle fractures in hill walkers.

An experimental validation of a specific energy-based approach for comminution

In a recent paper [Khumalo, N., Glasser, D., Hildebrandt, D., Hausberger, B., Kauchali, S., 2006. The application of the attainable region analysis to comminution. Chemical Engineering Science 61, 5969–5980] it was shown that the attainable region approach could prove useful in designing better comminution circuits. Fundamental to this approach was the assumption that the rate of comminution was only determined by the specific energy within the device. This paper shows experimentally that this assumption holds for a batch ball mill. The system presented here considered breakage of mono-sized feed particles in a laboratory ball mill into two distinct progeny size classes. The population balance model was successfully used to model the experimental products and the results were represented geometrically in a two-dimensional space. The resulting geometric structure can be used to solve process synthesis and optimization problems simultaneously. It was found that the breakage rate parameter out of size class 1 changes with time but exhibits an exponential relationship with an asymptote. It is hypothesized that this asymptote is the rate of breakage at long grind times or in well-mixed, steady-state continuous systems. It is shown that the parameters of the process depend only on the specific energy. This was one of the assumptions that was made in the construction of the attainable region. Thus, equipment selection and operating conditions only require one to match the required specific energy.