Cost-benefit modelling for reliability growth

Decisions during the reliability growth development process of engineering equipment involve trade-offs between cost and risk. However slight, there exists a chance an item of equipment will not function as planned during its specified life. Consequently the producer can incur a financial penalty. To date, reliability growth research has focussed on the development of models to estimate the rate of failure from test data. Such models are used to support decisions about the effectiveness of options to improve reliability. The extension of reliability growth models to incorporate financial costs associated with 'unreliability' is much neglected. In this paper, we extend a Bayesian reliability growth model to include cost analysis. The rationale of the stochastic process underpinning the growth model and the cost structures are described. The ways in which this model can be used to support cost-benefit analysis during product development are discussed and illustrated through a simple case

Fresnel zone plate telescopes for X-ray imaging II: numerical simulations with parallel and diverging beams

We present the results of simulations of shadows cast by a zone plate telescope which may have one to four pairs of zone plates. From the shadows we reconstruct the images under various circumstances. We discuss physical basis of the resolution of the telescope and demonstrate this by our simulations. We allow the source to be at a finite distance (diverging beam) as well as at an infinite distance (parallel beam) and show that the resolution is worsened when the source is nearby. By reconstructing the zone plates in a way that both the zone plates subtend the same solid angles at the source, we obtain back high resolution even for sources at a finite distance. We present simulated results for the observation of the galactic center and show that the sources of varying intensities may be reconstructed with accuracy. Results of these simulations would be of immense use in interpreting the X-ray images from recently launched CORONAS-PHOTON satellite.Comment: 17 pages, 36 figures, Published in Experimental Astronom

Role of biomarkers in predicting anastomotic leakage following colorectal surgeries

Background: Recovery after surgery for patients with colorectal disease has improved with the advent of minimal access surgery and standardized recovery protocols. Despite these advances, anastomotic leakage remains one of the most dreaded complications following colorectal surgery, with rates of 3-27 per cent depending on specific risk factors. The aim of the study was to assess sensitivity and specificity of systemic and peritoneal drain-fluid bio-markers in early prediction of anastomotic leak; and to co-relate rise in levels of biomarkers and severity of clinical symptoms in patients who have undergone colo-rectal surgeries.Methods: The present study was a prospective observational study conducted on 60 patients in the Postgraduate Department of Surgery, Government Medical College, Srinagar after obtaining due ethical clearance over a period of two years.Results: The mean age was 54.87±11.901 years with 44 patients (73.3%) were males. Among systemic makers: the mean CRP level was 2.7800±0.500 mg/L, the mean total leukocyte count was 10.783±0.940 thousands and the mean serum procalcitonin level was 0.365±0.1385 ng/ml. Among peritoneal fluid drain bio-makers, the mean IL-6 level was 3551.066±1311.965 pg/ml, the mean IL-10 level was 628.533±460.358 pg/ml and the mean TNF-a level was 16.391±6.736 pg/ml. The anastomotic leak after colo-rectal surgery was noted in 16 patients (26.7%). In our study significant co-relation was noted between the rise in levels of peritoneal drain fluid biomarkers and severity of clinical symptoms but no significant co-relation was noted between the rise in levels of systemic markers and severity of clinical symptoms in patients who have undergone colo-rectal surgeries.Conclusions: Systemic biomarkers are poor predictors of anastomotic leak after colorectal surgery. But sensitivity and specificity of peritoneal fluid drain biomarkers in predicting anastomotic leak was significantly high

Like Mother(-in-Law) Like Daughter? Influence of the Older Generation’s Fertility Behaviours on Women’s Desired Family Size in Bihar, India

This paper investigates the associations between preferred family size of women in rural Bihar, India and the fertility behaviours of their mother and mother-in-law. Scheduled interviews of 440 pairs of married women aged 16–34 years and their mothers-in-law were conducted in 2011. Preferred family size is first measured by Coombs scale, allowing us to capture latent desired number of children and then categorized into three categories (low, medium and high). Women’s preferred family size is estimated using ordered logistic regression. We find that the family size preferences are not associated with mother’s fertility but with mother’s education. Mother-in-law’s desired number of grandchildren is positively associated with women’s preferred family size. However, when the woman has higher education than her mother-in-law, her preferred family size gets smaller, suggesting that education provides women with greater autonomy in their decision-making on childbearing

A qualitative study exploring perceptions and attitudes of community pharmacists about extended pharmacy services in Lahore, Pakistan

Background In recent decades, community pharmacies reported a change of business model, whereby a shift from traditional services to the provision of extended roles was observed. However, such delivery of extended pharmacy services (EPS) is reported from the developed world, and there is scarcity of information from the developing nations. Within this context, the present study was aimed to explore knowledge, perception and attitude of community pharmacists (CPs) about EPS and their readiness and acceptance for practice change in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. Methods A qualitative approach was used to gain an in-depth knowledge of the issues. By using a semi-structured interview guide, 12 CPs practicing in the city of Lahore, Pakistan were conveniently selected. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and were then analyzed for thematic contents by the standard content analysis framework. Results Thematic content analysis yielded five major themes. (1) Familiarity with EPS, (2) current practice of EPS, (3) training needed to provide EPS, (4) acceptance of EPS and (5) barriers toward EPS. Majority of the CPs were unaware of EPS and only a handful had the concept of extended services. Although majority of our study respondents were unaware of pharmaceutical care, they were ready to accept practice change if provided with the required skills and training. Lack of personal knowledge, poor public awareness, inadequate physician-pharmacist collaboration and deprived salary structures were reported as barriers towards the provision of EPS at the practice settings. Conclusion Although the study reported poor awareness towards EPS, the findings indicated a number of key themes that can be used in establishing the concept of EPS in Pakistan. Over all, CPs reported a positive attitude toward practice change provided to the support and facilitation of health and community based agencies in Pakistan

QCD and strongly coupled gauge theories : challenges and perspectives

We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.Peer reviewe

Strategic crossing of biomass and harvest index—source and sink—achieves genetic gains in wheat

To accelerate genetic gains in breeding, physiological trait (PT) characterization of candidate parents can help make more strategic crosses, increasing the probability of accumulating favorable alleles compared to crossing relatively uncharacterized lines. In this study, crosses were designed to complement “source” with “sink” traits, where at least one parent was selected for favorable expression of biomass and/or radiation use efficiency—source—and the other for sink-related traits like harvest-index, kernel weight and grains per spike. Female parents were selected from among genetic resources—including landraces and products of wide-crossing (i.e. synthetic wheat)—that had been evaluated in Mexico at high yield potential or under heat stress, while elite lines were used as males. Progeny of crosses were advanced to the F4 generation within Mexico, and F4-derived F5 and F6 generations were yield tested to populate four international nurseries, targeted to high yield environments (2nd and 3rd WYCYT) for yield potential, and heat stressed environments (2nd and 4th SATYN) for climate resilience, respectively. Each nursery was grown as multi-location yield trials. Genetic gains were achieved in both temperate and hot environments, with most new PT-derived lines expressing superior yield and biomass compared to local checks at almost all international sites. Furthermore, the tendency across all four nurseries indicated either the superiority of the best new PT lines compared with the CIMMYT elite checks, or the superiority of all new PT lines as a group compared with all checks, and in some cases, both. Results support—in a realistic breeding context—the hypothesis that yield and radiation use efficiency can be increased by improving source:sink balance, and validate the feasibility of incorporating exotic germplasm into mainstream breeding efforts to accelerate genetic gains for yield potential and climate resilience

Pathophysiology of Gallstones

Gallstones are the stones developing in the gallbladder. Evolution of pathophysiology changes the trends of treatment of a disease. Laparoscopic revolution was only because of gallstones diseases. The shifting of food habits increased the incidence of diseases in developing countries. There are mainly three types of stones Cholesterol, pigment and brown stones. The pathophysiology of which is different for each type. Cholesterol stones being most common owing to the risk factors being prevalent in the developing and developed societies. Pigment stones being most common in blood disorder patients while brown stones are most common in common bile duct and are infected ones

Novel Microwave Sensor for Quality Assurance of Indoor Residual Spraying

Vector-borne diseases, such as visceral leishmaniasis or malaria, are a significant global burden, particularly in low- and middle-income countries in regions with high parasite prevalence. Indoor residual spraying is one of the most effective control tools, if performed effectively. Current World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended quality assurance methods are costly, require skilled staff, and are time consuming. This letter presents the development of a novel microwave sensor for quality assurance of indoor residual spraying. The developed prototype was tested in controlled laboratory settings, and during two field studies conducted during dry and wet seasons in Bihar, India. The results demonstrated the potential of a rapid, nondestructive microwave sensor system for detecting alpha-cypermethrin residues, offering an improvement over current quality assurance methods. The sensor achieved high cross-validation accuracy in controlled laboratory settings (mean 100%, standard deviation 0%), while the performance in the field studies was reduced (mean 84.63%, standard deviation 1.98%) due to real-world complexities. Future development steps will include the miniaturization of the sensor system and the implementation of advanced signal processing techniques to reduce noise and compensate for environmental effects