Using transanal irrigation in the management of low anterior resection syndrome: a service audit

Low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) is a collection of symptoms that can occur as a result of a low anterior resection for bowel cancer. Transanal irrigation (TAI) can be used to manage these symptoms. This article describes a retrospective audit of 15 patients who were using TAI to manage symptoms of LARS. The aim of the audit was to ascertain whether the use of TAI improved outcomes for these patients. The data suggest that TAI has reduced both the frequency of bowel movements and episodes of faecal incontinence. Those patients using higher volumes of water seem to have experienced more benefit than those patients using lower volumes of water. These findings are consistent with current literature around TAI for LARS and suggest research into optimum volume of water would be beneficial.

Optimal Hair Transplant Recipient Site Slit Design: Minimizing Vascular Damage

An often overlooked aspect of hair transplantation is the art of recipient site design and slit creation. There is also a lack of consensus on which technique provides the optimum coverage while minimizing vascular damage. This paper aims to provide logical arguments to determine the optimal instrument and method of slit creation, in order to ensure maximum density, optimal survival, minimal pop-out, and minimal damage to scalp vascularity.The use of semiconical blades reduces the damage to the dermis and vascular plexus as compared with rectangular blades and needles, as the depth of penetration required is lower. The use of acute angle reduces the depth of penetration for the same length of slit and decreases damage to deep plexus. Coronal slits produce less vascular damage than that of sagittal slits with the same size blades.We believe that these recommendations provide the optimum volume slits while causing minimal vascular damage.

Nanofluids for Solar Thermal Collection and Energy Conversion

This paper investigates the improvement in solar energy collection and conversion using Al2O3-Water nanofluids in a solar flat plate collector (SFPC). The efficiency of a solar flat plate collector using water as the fluid medium is analyzed experimentally and theoretically. For theoretical analysis, a mathematical model in MATLAB is used to simulate and is validated by the experimental results. To enhance the solar energy collection and conversion efficiency of the SFPC, Al2O3-Water nanofluid was selected as the fluid medium. The nanofluid properties like density, specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity and viscosity are analyzed and compared for several models of Al2O3-Water nanofluids and the best model was selected to modify the simulation. Effect of particle diameter in the nanofluid was found to be marginal on the nanofluid properties. The optimum volume concentration of the nanofluid was found to be 4% giving an efficiency increase of 7.78% in the SFPC over the use of water. This reduces the area of the SFPC by 10.5%.

DETERMINATION OF OPTIMUM VOLUME OF ACCUMULATIVE BUNKER OPERATING IN CONVEYER TRANSPORT SYSTEM OF COAL MINES

A mathematical model of the functioning of an accumulating bunker operating in the simplest transport system “conveyor-bunker-conveyor” has been developed. It was assumed thus, that time domains of outages and work of the above- and under-bunker conveyer lines are distributed on exponential laws. Based on the theory of two-phase Markov processes, a system of Kolmogorov equations is obtained with respect to the probabilities of finding the “conveyor-bunker-conveyor” system in various states. As a result of solving this system of equations, the dependence of the average carrying capacity of the system “conveyor-bunker-conveyor” on the volume of the bunker and the average cargo flow entering and unloading from the bunker is obtained. Based on the obtained dependence, the maximum volume of the accumulating bunker was determined at which the carrying capacity of the system “conveyor-bunker-conveyor” practically does not increase with increasing hopper volume.

Optimum Volume of Freeway Corridors

Conventional methods to assess the quality of service on freeways are based on the comparison of a specific peak hour traffic demand to the capacity of the facility, which is usually measured at a single uniform bottleneck section. However, estimating the quality of service of one bottleneck section may not be sufficient to assess the performance of an entire freeway facility. A driver traveling along a freeway corridor may actually encounter multiple flow breakdowns at independent bottleneck sections, which affect the overall quality of service. This paper introduces a comprehensive approach that considers an entire freeway corridor as a system consisting of successive independent bottlenecks with different characteristics, and can be used to estimate the optimum sustainable volume. The methodology is based on the sustained flow index, which is defined as the product of traffic volume and the probability of survival at this volume. Optimum volumes of two real-world corridors are estimated based on the new derivations. The empirical results reveal that the optimum volume and the capacity of an entire corridor is less than those of its most restrictive bottleneck.

Models for Optimisation of Delivery Timing and Volumes under Uncertainty Encompassing Penalty and Customer Attrition Risks

The paper proposes a model for inventory management and specifically for determining the optimum volume and timing of deliveries, encompassing the uncertainty of demand. The criteria of efficiency are the minimisation of integral costs and maximisation of profit with due regard for the risks of penalties and customer attrition. The triangular distribution is a reference for the distribution pattern of the stochastic demand and delivery timing fluctuations as it is one of the most common choices in case of insufficient statistical data

Development of femoral component design geometry by using DMROVAS (design method requiring optimum volume and safety)

Purpose This study aims to design a femoral component with minimum volume and maximum safety coefficient. Total knee prosthesis is a well-established therapy in arthroplasty applications. And in particular, with respect to damaged or weakened cartilage, new prostheses are being manufactured from bio-materials which are compatible with the human body to replace these damages. A new universal method (design method requiring optimum volume and safety [DMROVAS]) was propounded to find the optimum design parameters of tibial component. Design/methodology/approach The design montage was analyzed via the finite element method (FEM). To ensure the stability of the prosthesis, the maximum stress angle and magnitude of the force on the knee were taken into consideration. In the analysis process, results revealed two different maximum stress areas which were supported by case reports in the literature. Variations of maximum stress, safety factor and weight were revealed by FEM analysis, and ANOVA was used to determine the F force percentage for each of the design parameters. Findings Optimal design parameter levels were chosen for the individual’s minimum weight. Stress maps were constructed to optimize design choices that enabled further enhancement of the design models. The safety factor variation (SFV) of 5.73 was obtained for the volume of 39,219 mL for a region which had maximum stress. At the same time, for a maximum SFV and at the same time an average weight, values of 37,308 mL and 5.8 for volume and SFV were attained, respectively, using statistical methods. Originality/value This proposed optimal design development method is new and one that can be used for many biomechanical products and universal industrial designs.