Non-Rigid Variation Simulation Using the Sherman-Morrison-Woodbury Formulas

Variation simulation is one important activity during early product development. It is used to simulate the statistical distribution of assemblies or sub assemblies in intended manufacturing process to assure that assembly, function and aesthetical properties comply with the requirements set. In non-rigid variation simulation, components or sub assemblies can deform during assembly. To simulate non-rigid variation the Method of Influence Coefficient (MIC) is typically used. Solving the necessary sensitivity matrices used by MIC is time consuming. In this article we will apply the Sherman-Morrison and Woodbury formula (SMW) for updating the sensitivity response in the different assembly steps. It is shown that SMW can lead to substantial saving in computation time, when compared to the standard MIC.

Efficacy of the Sequential Administration of Melatonin, Hydroxyzine, and Chloral Hydrate for Recording Sleep EEGs in Children

Sedation of children for electroencephalography (EEG) recordings is often required. Chloral hydrate (CH) requires medical clearance and continuous monitoring. To try to reduce personnel and time resources associated with CH administration, a new sedation policy was formulated. This study included all children who underwent an EEG during a consecutive 3-month period following the implementation of the new sedation policy, which consists of the sequential administration of melatonin, hydroxyzine (if needed), and CH (if needed). The comparator group included all children with a recorded EEG during a consecutive 3-month period when the sedation policy consisted of the sole administration of CH. A total of 803 children with a mean age of 7.9 years (SD = 5.1, range = 0.5-17.7 years) were included. Sleep EEG recordings were obtained in 364 of 385 children (94.6%) using the old sedation policy and in 409 of 418 children (97.9%) using the new one. With the new sedation policy, the percentage of children requiring CH dropped from 37.1% to 6.7% ( P < .001). Time to sleep onset and duration of sleep were not significantly different between the 2 policies. The new sedation policy was very well tolerated. The new sedation policy is very safe, is highly efficacious in obtaining sleep EEG recordings, and will result in substantial saving of time and personnel resources.

POSSIBILITIES OF CEMENT CONTENT REDUCTION IN CONCRETES WITH ADMIXTURE OF SUPERPLASTICISER SNF

The problem of the possibility of cement saving in concretes with admixture of sodium salt of formaldehydic polycondensates of sulphonic‐napthalene acids (SNF) is presented. Executed investigations show a strong plastifying performance of this admixture as well as an elongation of setting time of Portland cements. On adding 1,5 % of admixture it is possible to obtain a substantial saving of cement with simultaneous reduction of water amount (constant W/C ratio), without a change of consistency of concrete mixture apparent density, compressive strength, absorption and water penetration of concrete. For the estimation of economic effectiveness of superplasticiser SNF it is proposed to introduce an index of cement saving Sc and an index of cement utilisation in concretes Iec .

Investigation of the possibilities of phosphogypsum application for building partitioning Walls - elements of a prefabricated house

Phosphogypsum is a waste product in the manufacture of phosphoric acid from phosphorite and sulphuric acid by so-called "wet process" and represents a refuse that is as such simply thrown away. Phosphogypsum which is produced by "dihydrating procedure" contains not only various impurties but also radionuclides, which limits its construction use. Performed testings point to the complexity of phosphogypsum structure and composition while the electron microscope's pictures showed its different crystal composition compared to the natural gypsum. The calcined and refined phosphogypsum can be used for partition walls manufacture. To avoid the danger of the possible presence of radionuclides it is better to use the mixture of natural gypsum and phosphogypsum for this purpose. Substantial saving of materials and economic effect can be achieved in this way. The analyse performed in this work have shown significant presence of radionuclides in phosphogypsum. Gammaspectrometric measurements of radioactivity have determined substantial radioactivity of phosphogypsum. Using the maximum tolerated level values that are legally accepted, as well as equations to calculate indexes of tolerated radionuclide presence, an index of 2.23 has been determined for interiors and 1.13 for exteriors, i.e. 0.64 in case of roads. On the basis of the maximum tolerated level of radioactive building materials contamination (< 1), forbiden is the use of phosphogypsum in interiors, allowed (? 1) in exteriors and roads. The tests of heavy metal components in phosphogypsum have proved their presence in the amounts potentially producing consequences if present in closed spaces. That is conditioned by the phosphogypsum quantity, as well as by the area of space partitioned.

Staining of paraffin-embedded plant material in safranin and fast green without prior removal of the paraffin

A rapid and efficient method for staining sections of paraffin-embedded plant tissues in safranin and fast green without prior removal of the paraffin is described. The quality of the resulting preparations is equal to, or better than, that obtained by conventional methods. This method results in substantial saving of time and expense. Key words: staining technique, paraffin, safranin, fast green.

Modification of the Processing Method for Home-Preservation of Tomato Juice

A modification (low water level bath, LWL) of the recommended water bath (high water level bath, HWL) procedure was used to process tomato juice in quart jars. The LWL bath contained one-fifth the amount of water recommended for the HWL bath. Use of the HWL bath required 59 min and 1838 watt-hours of electricity to heat the bath and process hot packed (92°C) juice for 15 min. In comparison, 34 min and 1065 watt-hours of electricity were required when the LWL bath was used. Samples of juice were inoculated with log 3.0 Bacillus coagulans per ml, processed in each of the two baths, and stored up to 12 weeks at 27°C. Aerobic mesophiles were found only in juice processed in the HWL bath and stored 4 weeks and in juice processed in the LWL bath and stored 0 weeks. The aerobic mesophile count (log10) of juice processed in the HWL bath and stored 4 weeks was a mean log 1.4 per ml. Similar juice processed in the LWL bath had a mean log 1.3 aerobic mesophiles per ml. Juice processed in both water baths and stored for 8 and 12 weeks exhibited mesophilic counts of &lt;1 log per ml. None of the inoculated, processed samples had a mean count greater than 1 log per ml of juice for aerobic, acid forming mesophiles; aerobic thermophiles; anaerobic mesophiles and thermophiles; and mold. Using temperature values and microbiological measurements, one may conclude that the LWL bath was as effective as the HWL bath for processing tomato juice while allowing for a substantial saving of time and electricity.

THE WESTERN CHERRY FRUIT FLY, RHAGOLETIS INDIFFERENS (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE): 3. DEVELOPING A MANAGEMENT PROGRAM BY UTILIZING ATTRACTANT TRAPS AS MONITORING DEVICES

Attractant traps, such as Pherocon ICPY®-MAGO trap and Pherocon®-AM Standard trap, were effective in monitoring emergence of the western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens Curran. Among the aerial traps tested, ICPY-MAGO, Pherocon-AM Standard, and Saturn yellow colored rectangles and spheres were equally effective. The ammonium carbonate traps were significantly inferior. A management program that utilized aerial traps as monitoring devices reduced the amount of spraying from 20 to 100%, depending on the fly population in the orchard, and resulted in a substantial saving of spray costs.

Evaluation of a micromethod for determination of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus infection

A micromethod was developed for quantitative estimation in saliva of Streptococcus mutans and lactobacilli. With a semiautomatic pipette, 25 microliter of diluted saliva was spotted on the surface of an agar plate containing a selective medium. This volume gave a spot with a diameter of about 10 mm in which separate colonies could be counted. The results obtained with the spotting technique showed excellent agreement with those obtained with conventional agar plating. The method is convenient and results in a substantial saving of culture media.

Developing Optimum Drug Regimens

In Clinical pharmacological trials the determination of the optimum regimen for a drug using the technique of response surface analysis is proposed as being more advantageous than traditional analyses of dose response relationships. Major considerations in favour of this technique are that the optimum regimen can be identified with a minimum of human experimentation, and unacceptable regimens are eliminated from the study early, at a substantial saving of time and money.

A Proposed System for Desalination

Despite the fact that the world's need for fresh water is becoming more urgent, the ability to desalinate economically on a large scale still remains a goal rather than a reality. Distillation systems are by far the most widely employed systems for sea water desalination. However, the relatively high costs of these systems' products limits their competence with natural water resources, particularly for agricultural use. In this paper a distillation system is proposed. The system gives high performance ratios at low flashing ranges, which leads to a substantial saving in the distillation plants running costs. The analyses showed that the system has big thermodynamic potentialities.