Review of the windpower activities at the Brace Research Institute

A chronology of windpower studies at the experimental station on Barbados is presented that includes the various development activities on wheeling windmills whose power output is utilized through electrical and electronic systems. A list of institute publications on windpower is included

Opportunities for Practicing Sustainable Building Construction in Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Construction sector of Kurdistan region of Republic of Iraq has witnessed a huge development in construction sector last ten years. However, there are lack of awareness and legislation regarding the sustainable construction in buildings sector. The aim of the paper is to find the required mechanism to introduce sustainable practice and implement sustainable construction in the buildings construction sector at Northern Iraq. The main objectives in this study are identifying the barriers in sustainable construction at Northern Iraq and investigate the law and regulations in dealing with these barriers

Generating acceptable Arabic Core Vocabularies and Symbols for AAC users

This paper discusses the development of an Arabic Symbol Dictionary for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) users, their families, carers, therapists and teachers as well as those who may benefit from the use of symbols to enhance literacy skills. With a requirement for a bi-lingual dictionary, a vocabulary list analyzer has been developed to evaluate similarities and differences in word frequencies from a range of word lists in order to collect suitable AAC lexical entries. An online bespoke symbol management has been created to hold the lexical entries alongside specifically designed symbols which are then accepted via a voting system using a series of criteria. Results to date have highlighted how successful these systems can be when encouraging participation along with the need for further research into the development of personalised context sensitive core vocabularies

DAMA: A Dual Arbitration Mechanism for Mixed-Criticality Applications

We discuss hardware resource management in mixed-criticality systems, where requestors may issue latency-critical (LTC) and non-latency-critical (NLTC) requests. LTC requests must adhere to strict latency bounds imposed by safety-critical applications, but timely servicing NLTC requests is necessary to maximize overall system performance in the average case. In this paper, we address this tradeoff for a shared memory resource by proposing DAMA, a dual arbitration mechanism that imposes an upper bound on the cumulative latency of LTC requests without unduly impacting NLTC performance. DAMA comprises a high-performance arbiter, a real-time arbiter, and a mechanism that constantly monitors the cumulative latency of requests suffered by each requestor. DAMA primarily executes in high-performance mode and only switches to real-time mode in the rare instances when its incorporated mechanism detects a violation of a task’s timing guarantee. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our arbitration scheme by adapting a predictable prefetcher that issues NLTC requests and attaching it to the L1 caches of our cores. We show both formally and experimentally that DAMA provides timing guarantees for LTC requests while processing other NLTC requests. We also demonstrate that with a negligible overhead of less than 1.5% on the cumulative latency bound of LTC requests, DAMA can achieve an equivalent average performance to a prefetcher that processes requests under a high-performance arbitration scheme

A Study of Functional Outcome of Tibial Plateau Fractures Managed with Bicondylar Plating

Introduction: Tibial plateau fractures represent complex orthopedic injuries with significant implications for knee function and mobility. Their management is challenging due to the fractures’ impact on the weight-bearing surface of the knee joint. Recent advancements, including bicondylar plating techniques, aim to restore joint integrity and ensure optimal functional outcomes. This study focuses on evaluating the clinical, radiological, and functional outcomes of high-velocity tibial plateau fractures managed surgically with bicondylar plating. Methodology: This retrospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary care center from March 2022 to September 2023, involving 41 patients. Inclusion criteria were patients aged 20–60 years with high-velocity tibial plateau fractures having >2 mm articular surface depression/displacement. Exclusion criteria included open fractures, pathological fractures, pre-existing joint diseases, and neurovascular injuries. All patients underwent surgical management via open reduction and internal fixation with bicondylar plating. Clinical, radiological, and functional evaluations were conducted using tools like the Knee Society Score (KSS) and radiographic assessments. Data were statistically analyzed to explore relationships between fracture type, surgical intervention quality, and functional outcomes. Results: The study demonstrated satisfactory outcomes in 88% of cases, with most patients regaining near-normal knee function. Radiological assessments revealed excellent alignment and union rates, with an average union time of 12 weeks. Functional evaluations using the Lysholm and Tegner activity scores indicated good to excellent results in a majority of patients, with only 12% reporting chronic pain. Common complications included infection (20%), requiring additional interventions like debridement and implant removal, and malalignment in 5% of cases. These complications were predominantly associated with severe fractures or non-compliance with post-operative protocols. Early mobilization and physiotherapy played a crucial role in enhancing recovery. Conclusion: The surgical management of high-velocity tibial plateau fractures with bicondylar plating demonstrates significant efficacy in achieving anatomical reduction, stable fixation, and optimal functional recovery. While complications such as infection and malalignment pose challenges, meticulous surgical techniques, tailored rehabilitation protocols, and careful patient selection minimize these risks. The findings reinforce bicondylar plating as a robust approach for managing complex tibial plateau fractures, contributing to enhanced patient outcomes and quality of life

Preventing Conflict: China’s claim to the South China Sea and Mechanisms for Peace.

This paper examines China’s claim to the South China Sea, focusing on how to maintain peace in a region with competing claims through codified law or external mechanisms. The first part of the paper examines the different levels of China’s claim to ninety percent of the South China Sea, starting from its historical claim to its territorial claim. Additionally, an in-depth look is given to the provisions of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas, and how China’s claim conflicts with these provisions. The second part of the paper goes through the section of the dispute settlement provisions of the Convention, addressing the general provisions, procedures, and limitations concerning dispute resolution. The critiques of the dispute settlement provisions are addressed, alongside the lack of an enforcing body. Lastly, the external mechanisms that State parties can take to maintain peace with the region are analyzed, from other conventions to commercial responses.

Preventing Conflict: China’s claim to the South China Sea and Mechanisms for Peace.

This paper examines China’s claim to the South China Sea, focusing on how to maintain peace in a region with competing claims through codified law or external mechanisms. The first part of the paper examines the different levels of China’s claim to ninety percent of the South China Sea, starting from its historical claim to its territorial claim. Additionally, an in-depth look is given to the provisions of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas, and how China’s claim conflicts with these provisions. The second part of the paper goes through the section of the dispute settlement provisions of the Convention, addressing the general provisions, procedures, and limitations concerning dispute resolution. The critiques of the dispute settlement provisions are addressed, alongside the lack of an enforcing body. Lastly, the external mechanisms that State parties can take to maintain peace with the region are analyzed, from other conventions to commercial responses.

Assessment of Role of Flexor Hallucis Longus Tendon Transfer in the Reconstruction of Extensive Insertional Achilli’s Tendinopathy.

Insertrional Achilles tendinopathy represents a degenerative malady entwined with incapacitating posterior heel distress, ambulatory dysfunction, and substantial morbidity. The objective of this forward-looking investigation was to scrutinize the ramifications ensuing from the total excision of the pathological tendo-Achilles segment in geriatric subjects with pervasive entanglement. Additionally, the endeavour involved the reconstruction of the resultant flaw through the implementation of an adapted methodology, conceived to facilitate premature weight-bearing and rehabilitation. Over 19.8 months, AOFAS scores improved significantly (62.8 ± 7.92 to 95.7 ± 1.43, p < 0.001). Eight participants had complete pain relief, five reported mild discomfort. Nine excelled, three achieved good outcomes. No re-ruptures: two had superficial infections, managed conservatively

The cost-effectiveness of an additional surgical scrub in reducing prosthetic joint infections in total hip and knee arthroplasty

Background: Surgical skin preparation prior to total knee and hip arthroplasty is an important step in infection prevention. Compared to a single application, repeat skin preparation after draping demonstrates greater efficacy in reducing the overall occurrence of surgical site infections in total joint arthroplasty. We sought to find if the addition of an extra surgical scrub after draping is a cost-effective means of decreasing prosthetic joint infection (PJI), and if so, under what conditions it would be most cost-effective. Methods: We employed a model to assess the cost-effectiveness of repeat skin preparation in total knee and hip arthroplasty. This model determines a threshold at which the expenses associated with a new intervention is offset by its ability to reduce overall costs. Literature review and records from our institution were used to draw average expenses for treatment of PJI, as well as surgical prep scrubs, to evaluate at their cost-effectiveness. We also compared against hypothetical higher and lower costs and infection rates to gain further information on the additional surgical prep’s cost-effectiveness. Results: Each of the surgical scrubs is cost-effective at our institution's cost when an absolute risk reduction (ARR) of 0.01% is achieved. The cost-effectiveness was also noted with hypothetically higher infection rates and scrub cost prices. Lower potential two-stage revision costs make the additional surgical scrub less cost-effective.  Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that an extra surgical scrub can be cost-effective way of decreasing PJI across a variety of different surgical scrub prices, arthroplasty revision costs, and PJI rates

Research Paper On Artificial Intelligence And It’s Applications

In the future, intelligent machines will replace or enhance human capabilities in many areas. Artificial intelligence is the intelligence exhibited by machines or software. It is the subfield of computer science. Artificial intelligence is becoming a popular field in computer science as it has enhanced the human life in many areas. Artificial intelligence in the last two decades has greatly improved performance of the manufacturing, service sector and so in the field of education. Study in the field of artificial intelligence has given rise to the rapidly growing technology known as expert system. Application areas of artificial intelligence is heaving a huge impact on various fields of life as expert system is widely used in these days to solve the complex problems in various areas as education, engineering, business, medicine, weather forecasting etc. The areas employing the technology of artificial intelligence have seen an increase in the quality and efficiency. This paper gives an overview of this technology and the scope of artificial intelligence in different areas with special reference to the use of this technology in the field of education along with its meaning, searching techniques, inventions and future