Undisturbed pit sampling of tropical red clay soils

Author(s):  
M. G. Culshaw ◽  
K. J. Northmore ◽  
P. R. N. Hobbs

AbstractThe tropical red clay soils, formed by the Quaternary weathering of volcanic deposits (and other rock types) in tropical and subtropical environments, have a very open structure and consequent high voids ratio. These soils are particularly sensitive to disturbance during sampling and subsequent transportation and extrusion of the samples. This technical note describes a simple method for obtaining high quality, undisturbed samples from pits in a way that does not require extrusion or trimming of the sample in the laboratory prior to triaxial testing, and only minimal preparation prior to oedometer testing.

Author(s):  
Jair Leopoldo Raso

Abstract Introduction The precise identification of anatomical structures and lesions in the brain is the main objective of neuronavigation systems. Brain shift, displacement of the brain after opening the cisterns and draining cerebrospinal fluid, is one of the limitations of such systems. Objective To describe a simple method to avoid brain shift in craniotomies for subcortical lesions. Method We used the surgical technique hereby described in five patients with subcortical neoplasms. We performed the neuronavigation-guided craniotomies with the conventional technique. After opening the dura and exposing the cortical surface, we placed two or three arachnoid anchoring sutures to the dura mater, close to the edges of the exposed cortical surface. We placed these anchoring sutures under microscopy, using a 6–0 mononylon wire. With this technique, the cortex surface was kept close to the dura mater, minimizing its displacement during the approach to the subcortical lesion. In these five cases we operated, the cortical surface remained close to the dura, anchored by the arachnoid sutures. All the lesions were located with a good correlation between the handpiece tip inserted in the desired brain area and the display on the navigation system. Conclusion Arachnoid anchoring sutures to the dura mater on the edges of the cortex area exposed by craniotomy constitute a simple method to minimize brain displacement (brain-shift) in craniotomies for subcortical injuries, optimizing the use of the neuronavigation system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
José Carlos Ortiz-Bayliss ◽  
Ivan Amaya ◽  
Santiago Enrique Conant-Pablos ◽  
Hugo Terashima-Marín

When solving constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs), it is a common practice to rely on heuristics to decide which variable should be instantiated at each stage of the search. But, this ordering influences the search cost. Even so, and to the best of our knowledge, no earlier work has dealt with how first variable orderings affect the overall cost. In this paper, we explore the cost of finding high-quality orderings of variables within constraint satisfaction problems. We also study differences among the orderings produced by some commonly used heuristics and the way bad first decisions affect the search cost. One of the most important findings of this work confirms the paramount importance of first decisions. Another one is the evidence that many of the existing variable ordering heuristics fail to appropriately select the first variable to instantiate. Another one is the evidence that many of the existing variable ordering heuristics fail to appropriately select the first variable to instantiate. We propose a simple method to improve early decisions of heuristics. By using it, performance of heuristics increases.


3 Biotech ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Jaffer Mohiddin ◽  
M. Srinivasulu ◽  
K. Subramanyam ◽  
M. Madakka ◽  
D. Meghana ◽  
...  

2004 ◽  
Vol 91 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 332-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Chen ◽  
Per. Jönsson ◽  
Masayuki Tamura ◽  
Zhihui Gu ◽  
Bunkei Matsushita ◽  
...  

Geoderma ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 223-225 ◽  
pp. 46-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît D'Angelo ◽  
Ary Bruand ◽  
Jiangtao Qin ◽  
Xinhua Peng ◽  
Christian Hartmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Xingming Yang ◽  
Mengmeng Li ◽  
Junjie Jiang ◽  
Ligang Ma ◽  
Wenchao Tang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

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