A novel iterative method for simulating patient-specific optimal deformation and fit of fracture fixation plates

This paper proposes a new iterative method to achieve an optimally fitting plate for preoperative planning purposes. The proposed method involves integration of four commercially available software tools, Matlab, Rapidform2006, SolidWorks and ANSYS, each performing specific tasks to obtain a plate shape that fits optimally for an individual tibia and is mechanically safe. A typical challenge when crossing multiple platforms is to ensure correct data transfer. We present an example of the implementation of the proposed method to demonstrate successful data transfer between the four platforms and the feasibility of the method.

A novel method for finding similarities between unordered trees using matrix data model

Trees are capable of portraying the semi-structured data which is common in web domain. Finding similarities between trees is mandatory for several applications that deal with semi-structured data. Existing similarity methods examine a pair of trees by comparing through nodes and paths of two trees, and find the similarity between them. However, these methods provide unfavorable results for unordered tree data and result in yielding NP-hard or MAX-SNP hard complexity. In this paper, we present a novel method that encodes a tree with an optimal traversing approach first, and then, utilizes it to model the tree with its equivalent matrix representation for finding similarity between unordered trees efficiently. Empirical analysis shows that the proposed method is able to achieve high accuracy even on the large data sets.

A novel method for quantifying the criticality and vulnerability of the components of railway bridges

Conditions of bridges deteriorate with age, due to different critical factors including, changes in loading, fatigue, environmental effects and natural events. In order to rate a network of bridges, based on their structural condition, the condition of the components of a bridge and their effects on behaviour of the bridge should be reliably estimated. In this paper, a new method for quantifying the criticality and vulnerability of the components of the railway bridges in a network will be introduced. The type of structural analyses for identifying the criticality of the components for carrying train loads will be determined. In addition to that, the analytical methods for identifying the vulnerability of the components to natural events whose probability of occurrence is important, such as, flood, wind, earthquake and collision will be determined. In order to maintain the practicality of this method to be applied to a network of thousands of railway bridges, the simplicity of structural analysis has been taken into account. Demand by capacity ratios of the components at both safety and serviceability condition states as well as weighting factors used in current bridge management systems (BMS) are taken into consideration. It will be explained what types of information related to the structural condition of a bridge is required to be obtained, recorded and analysed. The authors of this paper will use this method in a new rating system introduced previously. Enhancing accuracy and reliability of evaluating and predicting the vulnerability of railway bridges to environmental effects and natural events will be the significant achievement of this research.

“Which child left behind” : historical issues regarding equity in science assessment

Assessment of learning plays a dominant role in formal education in the forms of determining features of curriculum that are emphasized, pedagogic methods that teachers use with their students, and parents’ and employers’ understanding of how well students have performed. A common perception is that fair assessment applies the same mode of assessment and content focus for all students—the approach of assessments in international comparative studies of science achievement. This article examines research evidence demonstrating that the act of assessment is not neutral—different forms of assessment advantage or disadvantage groups of students on the basis of family backgrounds, gender, race, or disability. Assessment that implicitly or explicitly captures the social capital of the child serves to consolidate, not address, educational equity. The article provides an overview of ways that science curriculum focus and assessment can introduce bias in the identification of student achievement. It examines the effect of changes to curriculum and assessment approaches in science, and relationships between assessment of science and the cultural context of the student. Recommendations are provided for science–assessment research to address bias for different groups of students.

Assessment of traffic noise level before and after freeway widening using traffic microsimulation and a refined classic noise prediction method

In this paper, a refined classic noise prediction method based on the VISSIM and FHWA noise prediction model is formulated to analyze the sound level contributed by traffic on the Nanjing Lukou airport connecting freeway before and after widening. The aim of this research is to (i) assess the traffic noise impact on the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) campus before and after freeway widening, (ii) compare the prediction results with field data to test the accuracy of this method, (iii) analyze the relationship between traffic characteristics and sound level. The results indicate that the mean difference between model predictions and field measurements is acceptable. The traffic composition impact study indicates that buses (including mid-sizedtrucks) and heavy goods vehicles contribute a significant proportion of total noise power despite their low traffic volume. In addition, speed analysis offers an explanation for the minor differences in noise level across time periods. Future work will aim at reducing model error, by focusing on noise barrier analysis using the FEM/BEM method and modifying the vehicle noise emission equation by conducting field experimentation.

A novel method for purification of low grade diatomite powders in centrifugal fields

This study presented a novel method for purification of three different grades of diatomite from China by scrubbing technique using sodiumhexametaphosphate (SHMP) as dispersant combinedwith centrifugation. Effects of pH value and dispersant amount on the grade of purified diatomitewere studied and the optimumexperimental conditions were obtained. The characterizations of original diatomite and derived products after purification were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and specific surface area analyzer (BET). The results indicated that the pore size distribution, impurity content and bulk density of purified diatomite were improved significantly. The dispersive effect of pH and SHMP on the separation of diatomite from clay minerals was discussed systematically through zeta potential test. Additionally, a possible purification mechanism was proposed in the light of the obtained experimental results.

A meshfree-based local Galerkin method with condensation of degree of freedom

Condensation technique of degree of freedom is firstly proposed to improve the computational efficiency of meshfree method with Galerkin weak form. In present method, scattered nodes without connectivity are divided into several subsets by cells with arbitrary shape. The local discrete equations are established over each cell by using moving kriging interpolation, in which the nodes that located in the cell are used for approximation. Then, the condensation technique can be introduced into the local discrete equations by transferring equations of inner nodes to equations of boundary nodes based on cell. In the scheme of present method, the calculation of each cell is carried out by meshfree method with Galerkin weak form, and local search is implemented in interpolation. Numerical examples show that the present method has high computational efficiency and convergence, and good accuracy is also obtained.

Within-subject intra- and inter-method consistency of two experimental risk attitude elicitation methods

We compare the consistency of choices in two methods used to elicit risk preferences on an aggregate as well as on an individual level. We ask subjects to choose twice from a list of nine decisions between two lotteries, as introduced by Holt and Laury (2002, 2005) alternating with nine decisions using the budget approach introduced by Andreoni and Harbaugh (2009). We find that, while on an aggregate (subject pool) level the results are consistent, on an individual (within-subject) level, behaviour is far from consistent. Within each method as well as across methods we observe low (simple and rank) correlations.

Facile mutant identification via a single parental backcross method and application of whole genome sequencing based mapping pipelines

Forward genetic screens have identified numerous genes involved in development and metabolism, and remain a cornerstone of biological research. However, to locate a causal mutation, the practice of crossing to a polymorphic background to generate a mapping population can be problematic if the mutant phenotype is difficult to recognize in the hybrid F2 progeny, or dependent on parental specific traits. Here in a screen for leaf hyponasty mutants, we have performed a single backcross of an Ethane Methyl Sulphonate (EMS) generated hyponastic mutant to its parent. Whole genome deep sequencing of a bulked homozygous F2 population and analysis via the Next Generation EMS mutation mapping pipeline (NGM) unambiguously determined the causal mutation to be a single nucleotide polymorphisim (SNP) residing in HASTY, a previously characterized gene involved in microRNA biogenesis. We have evaluated the feasibility of this backcross approach using three additional SNP mapping pipelines; SHOREmap, the GATK pipeline, and the samtools pipeline. Although there was variance in the identification of EMS SNPs, all returned the same outcome in clearly identifying the causal mutation in HASTY. The simplicity of performing a single parental backcross and genome sequencing a small pool of segregating mutants has great promise for identifying mutations that may be difficult to map using conventional approaches.

A rapid and simple method of assaying plants transformed with hygromycin or PPT resistance genes

A very simple leaf assay is described that rapidly and reliably identifies transgenic plants expressing the hygromycin resistance gene, hph or the phosphinothricin resistance gene, bar. Leaf tips were cut from plants propagated either in the glasshouse or in tissue culture and the cut surface embedded in solid medium containing the appropriate selective agent. Non-transgenic barley or rice leaf tips had noticeable symptoms of either bleaching or necrosis after three days on the medium and were completely bleached or necrotic after one week. Transgenic leaf tips remained green and healthy over this period. This gave unambiguous discrimination between transgenic and non-transgenic plants. The leaf assay was also effective for dicot plants tested (tobacco and peas).

A Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy Method for Direct Analysis of Several Chemical Components and Properties of Fruit, for Example, Chinese Hawthorn

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) calibrations were developed for the discrimination of Chinese hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida Bge. var. major) fruit from three geographical regions as well as for the estimation of the total sugar, total acid, total phenolic content, and total antioxidant activity. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used for the discrimination of the fruit on the basis of their geographical origin. Three pattern recognition methods, linear discriminant analysis, partial least-squares-discriminant analysis, and back-propagation artificial neural networks, were applied to classify and compare these samples. Furthermore, three multivariate calibration models based on the first derivative NIR spectroscopy, partial least-squares regression, back-propagation artificial neural networks, and least-squares-support vector machines, were constructed for quantitative analysis of the four analytes, total sugar, total acid, total phenolic content, and total antioxidant activity, and validated by prediction data sets.

Pleasures, perversities, and partnerships : the historical emergence of LGBT-police relationships

Relationships between LGBT people and police have been turbulent for some time now, and have been variously characterized as supportive (McGhee, 2004) and antagonistic (Radford, Betts, & Ostermeyer, 2006). These relationships were, and continue to be, influenced by a range of political, legal, cultural, and social factors. This chapter will examine historical and social science accounts of LGBT-police histories to chart the historical peaks and troughs in these relationships. The discussion demonstrates how, in Western contexts, we oscillate between historical moments of police criminalizing homosexual perversity and contemporary landscapes of partnership between police and LGBT people. However, the chapter challenges the notion that it is possible to trace this as a lineal progression from a painful past to a more productive present. Rather, it focuses on specific moments, marked by pain or pleasure or both, and how these moments emerge and re-emerge in ways that shaped LGBT-police landscapes in potted, uneven ways. The chapter concludes noting how, although certain ideas and police practices may shift towards more progressive notions of partnership policing, we cannot just take away the history that emerged out of mistrust and pain.

Local stress-strain distribution and load transfer across cartilage matrix at micro-scale using combined microscopy-based finite element method

Articular cartilage is the load-bearing tissue that consists of proteoglycan macromolecules entrapped between collagen fibrils in a three-dimensional architecture. To date, the drudgery of searching for mathematical models to represent the biomechanics of such a system continues without providing a fitting description of its functional response to load at micro-scale level. We believe that the major complication arose when cartilage was first envisaged as a multiphasic model with distinguishable components and that quantifying those and searching for the laws that govern their interaction is inadequate. To the thesis of this paper, cartilage as a bulk is as much continuum as is the response of its components to the external stimuli. For this reason, we framed the fundamental question as to what would be the mechano-structural functionality of such a system in the total absence of one of its key constituents-proteoglycans. To answer this, hydrated normal and proteoglycan depleted samples were tested under confined compression while finite element models were reproduced, for the first time, based on the structural microarchitecture of the cross-sectional profile of the matrices. These micro-porous in silico models served as virtual transducers to produce an internal noninvasive probing mechanism beyond experimental capabilities to render the matrices micromechanics and several others properties like permeability, orientation etc. The results demonstrated that load transfer was closely related to the microarchitecture of the hyperelastic models that represent solid skeleton stress and fluid response based on the state of the collagen network with and without the swollen proteoglycans. In other words, the stress gradient during deformation was a function of the structural pattern of the network and acted in concert with the position-dependent compositional state of the matrix. This reveals that the interaction between indistinguishable components in real cartilage is superimposed by its microarchitectural state which directly influences macromechanical behavior.

A reciprocal collaborative method using relevance feedback and feature importance

In a people-to-people matching systems, filtering is widely applied to find the most suitable matches. The results returned are either too many or only a few when the search is generic or specific respectively. The use of a sophisticated recommendation approach becomes necessary. Traditionally, the object of recommendation is the item which is inanimate. In online dating systems, reciprocal recommendation is required to suggest a partner only when the user and the recommended candidate both are satisfied. In this paper, an innovative reciprocal collaborative method is developed based on the idea of similarity and common neighbors, utilizing the information of relevance feedback and feature importance. Extensive experiments are carried out using data gathered from a real online dating service. Compared to benchmarking methods, our results show the proposed method can achieve noticeable better performance.