Conflicting effects of haemolysis on plasma sodium and chloride are due to different haemolysis study protocols: A case for standardisation

Background Haemolysis has been reported as having a positive, negative or no effect on plasma sodium (PNa) and chloride (PCl). We investigated the haemoltytic effect of different haemolysis protocols on PNa and PCl using modelling and laboratory experiments. Methods In a modelling experiment, percentage change and recovery due to dilution in routinely ( in vitro) haemolysed samples were compared against shear stress haemolysis and samples spiked with haemolysate from whole blood freeze–thaw, packed cells freeze–thaw and osmotic shock protocols. The results were compared against a control base pool. Additionally, for the osmotic shock method, results were compared against saline- and deionised water (DIW)-spiked controls. In a laboratory experiment, percentage change and recovery were similarly compared using haemolysate from whole blood freeze–thaw and osmotic shock protocols. PNa, PCl and H-index were measured on the Abbott Architect and haemoglobin on the Sysmex XN-9000. Results In the modelling experiment, the percentage decrease in PNa and PCl was similar in in vitro haemolysis, shear stress haemolysis, whole blood freeze–thaw haemolysis and packed cells freeze–thaw haemolysis and this was lower compared to the osmotic shock method. In the laboratory experiment, the change in PNa compared to the base pool was less ( p < 0.001) per unit increase in H-index in the freeze–thaw method (−0.33 mmol, 95% CI −0.35 to −0.31) compared to the osmotic shock method (−0.65 mmol, 95% CI −0.66 to −0.64). PCl did not change with haemolysis in the freeze–thaw method and changed by −0.21 ± 0.01 mmol per unit increase in the H-index in the osmotic shock method. Recovery of PNa and PCl increased with increasing H-index in both methods. Conclusion The osmotic shock protocol is inappropriate for haemolysis studies because of dilution with DIW used for cell lysis. Recovery calculations may incorrectly compensate for genuine dilution caused by haemolysis.

Determining the Layout Parameters of the Gas Drainage Roadway: A Study for Sima Coalmine China

To determine the layout parameters of the gas drainage roadway (GDR) serving for the working face, an analytical calculation method of fracture zone and the modelling experiment were adopted, and the overburden fissure induced by mining and the height of fracture zone were analyzed. For the research on the distribution of fracture zone by analytical calculation method, the multiple factors influencing the failure mode of strata and the height of fracture zone were considered. The #1207 working face in Sima mine was taken as an engineering background, and the layout parameters of GDR were given by analyzing the height of fracture zone. Combining the results obtained by analytical calculation and scale modelling experiment, the suggested height of GDR was 10.7–32.8 m away from the coal seam roof, and the projection distance of GDR in the horizontal was within the range of 0–35 m from the airway. By monitoring the gas drainage effects in different heights away from coal seam roof in #1207 working face and in different horizontal distances away from the ventilation roadway in the #1211 working face, the results showed that the optimal height was 17.5–22 m away from coal roof, and the optimal horizontal distance was 17–21 m away from airway for GDR. The gas drainage effect of GDR indicated that the proposed parameters are scientific and reasonable.

Study on the Mixed Materials Proportion of Stratum Based on the Modelling Experiment

It is highly significant to select similar materials as well as the proportion of mixed materials in the model test. The mixed materials are used to simulate the stratum of the model test, including the iron ore powder, natural sands, gypsum, and lime. The stratum contains silty clay and silt soil. First of all, the symmetry coefficient of model mechanics parameters are calculated by the equation, and the symmetry ratio is 16 : 1. Second, calculate the proportion of compositions in mixed materials by the orthogonal test. The deviation method is used to analyze the mixed materials and how to influence the elastic modulus, cohesion, and friction angle. Finally, get the mixed materials which meet the symmetry theory and control factors.

Effects of Multiple-Hole Baffle Arrangements on Flow Fields in a Five-Strand Asymmetric Tundish

This paper reports on the re-engineering of standard five-strand tundish designs into a five-strand asymmetric tundish, which resulted in a non-uniform rate and bias for each strand. We sought to improve the casting conditions by optimizing the liquid steel flow-field in the tundish. Both a water modelling experiment and a numerical simulation were performed to analyze the flow-field according to various diversion hole diameters and injection angles. The results showed that the average residence time decreased as the diameter of the diversion holes increased. As the injection angle was increased, the average residence time initially decreased and then increased. The liquid steel from the ladle shroud rapidly extended to the #2 and #3 strands in the original tundish, which reduced the likelihood of inclusion collision and coalescence.

Wave-resonance fingerprint in the 2010 summer: a modelling experiment

&lt;p&gt;Summer 2010 was characterized by two contemporaneous extreme events: the Russian heat wave and the Pakistan flood. Several studies have shown a link between the two events, and Quasi-Resonant Amplification (QRA) has been suggested as an atmosphere-dynamic mechanism leading to the anomalous wavy circulation pattern which connected both extremes. Here, we aim at reproducing the 2010 circulation conditions in the Northern Hemisphere by obtaining a large ensemble of simulations from the Weather@home project within climateprediction.net (CPDN). We identify those ensemble members exhibiting a specific latitudinal temperature profile characterised by amplified high-latitude land warming (QRA - fingerprint) and investigate their surface temperature and upper level circulation properties. We show that when the QRA - fingerprint is present, the mid-latitude circulation bears similar characteristics to those observed in the 2010 summer: hot temperatures over European Russia and a wavy pattern in the upper-tropospheric meridional winds. As temperature profiles are projected to become increasingly similar to the QRA-fingerprint under future emission scenarios, these results provide further evidence that high latitude warming might favour persistent surface weather in the mid-latitudes.&lt;/p&gt;

Freezing of the Subballast Layers of the Railway Formation – High Embankment and Double Track

In the paper, a numerical modelling experiment is presented in order to detect the temperature transition through the individual layers of the railway formation during the winter period that is their undesirable freezing. In the experiment, the temperature behaviour and the zero isotherm (0 °C) are investigated. We want to prove that the temperatures are also affected by the volume of mass in the railway formation. The modelling of new experiment has been carried out done on a low and also high embankment of single and double track railway, where the volume of material in the core of the formation is almost doubled. The experiment demonstrated that the greater is the mass of the subballast layers, the higher is the resistance to freezing due to the accumulated heat in the pre-winter period.

Big Data and quality data for fake news and misinformation detection

Fake news has become an important topic of research in a variety of disciplines including linguistics and computer science. In this paper, we explain how the problem is approached from the perspective of natural language processing, with the goal of building a system to automatically detect misinformation in news. The main challenge in this line of research is collecting quality data, i.e., instances of fake and real news articles on a balanced distribution of topics. We review available datasets and introduce the MisInfoText repository as a contribution of our lab to the community. We make available the full text of the news articles, together with veracity labels previously assigned based on manual assessment of the articles’ truth content. We also perform a topic modelling experiment to elaborate on the gaps and sources of imbalance in currently available datasets to guide future efforts. We appeal to the community to collect more data and to make it available for research purposes.