Friction stir welding effect on transverse rigidity and sound transmission characteristics of AZ31B magnesium alloy

AZ31B magnesium alloy was subjected to friction stir welding with various welding parameters. The equivalent Young’s moduli of the friction stir welded samples and the base material were obtained by the three-point method, and their transverse rigidities were obtained as well. Furthermore, the sound transmission characteristics of those samples were experimentally studied by four-microphone impedance tube method. The experimental results indicate that the transverse rigidities of the friction stir welded samples were only 79%, 83% and 92% of those of the base material, respectively. The sound transmission losses of the processed samples were also lower, which was largely due to the reduction of transverse rigidities induced by the decrease of equivalent Young’s moduli.     

Realtime vision-based surface defect inspection of steel balls

In the proposed system for online inspection of steel balls, a diffuse illumination is developed to enhance defect appearances and produce high quality images. To fully view the entire sphere, a novel unfolding method is put forward based on geometrical analysis, which only requires one-dimensional movement of the balls and a pair of cameras to capture images from different directions. Moreover, a realtime inspection algorithm is customized to improve both accuracy and efficiency. The precision and recall of the sample set were 87.7% and 98%, respectively. The average time cost on image processing and analysis for a steel ball was 47 ms, and the total time cost was less than 200 ms plus the cost of image acquisition and balls’ movement. The system can sort 18 000 balls per hour with a spatial resolution higher than 0.01 mm.     

西藏发酵制品中拮抗酵母对水晶梨青霉病的防治效果研究

目的：从西藏发酵制品中分离筛选出对水晶梨采后青霉病具有较好防治效果的拮抗酵母,并对其作用机理进行研究。
　　创新点：首次从西藏发酵制品中筛选得到一株对水晶梨采后青霉病具有较好防治效果的拮抗酵母Rhodotorula mucilaginosa,并对其作用机理进行了初步研究。
　　方法：采用水晶梨果实体内筛选的方法,经过初筛与复筛,确定具有较好生防效果的拮抗酵母;通过对筛选所得拮抗酵母不同浓度、不同处理液的生防效果,果实伤口处生长动态,以及对梨果实采后品质影响的研究,初步探讨西藏发酵制品中拮抗酵母的生防作用机理。
　　结论：从西藏发酵制品中筛选得到一株拮抗酵母 R. mucilaginosa,其对水晶梨采后青霉病具有较好的生物防治效果。研究结果发现其主要作用机理为在果实伤口处与病原菌的营养与空间竞争。通过进一步研究,可开发为梨果实采后病害防治的新型生物保鲜剂。     

未受控制的高血糖对2型糖尿病患者粘附分子的影响（英文）

目的:评估可溶性血管细胞间黏附分子(s VCAM-1)、可溶性细胞间黏附分子(s ICAM-1)、可溶性选择素E和可溶性血栓调节蛋白在血糖控制良好和不受控制的2型糖尿病患者中的水平。创新点:对2型糖尿病患者的血管内皮炎症标记物进行评估。方法:62例糖尿病患者分成两组:第一组包括35个血糖控制良好的糖尿病患者,第二组包括27个未控制血糖并伴有微蛋白尿的糖尿病患者。对照组由25名健康志愿者组成。测定血浆中s VCAM-1、s ICAM-1、可溶性选择素E和可溶性血栓调节蛋白的浓度,同时测定血清肌酐及血浆中空腹血糖和糖化血红蛋白(Hb A1c)的浓度。结论:与血糖控制良好的糖尿病组相比,未控制血糖组具有相对低的ICAM-1水平和更高的VCAM-1水平。未控制血糖组中患者的糖化血红蛋白和ICAM-1之间呈正相关,肾小球滤过率和可溶性选择素E之间呈正相关,而肌酐和ICAM-1之间呈负相关。研究证实2型糖尿病的发病机理中炎症过程的出现与血管内皮功能受损有关。未受控制的高血糖对粘附分子的反向作用表明,在糖尿病的并发症中VCAM-1和ICAM-1具有不同功能。     

Wikipedia Use in Research: Perceptions in Secondary Schools

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that can be edited by users, is growing both in the number of content articles written as well as the number of registered users. Students rely on Wikipedia (Purcell et al., 2012) and Wikipedia, through tools, is enabling users to make better decisions regarding the information they find (Gray, 2013; Kyrios, 2013; Lamb & Johnson, 2013). However, are teachers and librarians in secondary schools learning to embrace the online encyclopedia? This exploratory study surveyed classroom teachers and librarians/library staff regarding their perceptions of the effects of Wikipedia use by students in research assignments, their perceptions of the need for school policy regarding the use of Wikipedia by students, and regarding their knowledge of the Page Assessment Guide designed to help users judge the reliability of the information on a page.     

Congenital learning,organisational performance and work-life balance culture

A possible explanation for the numerous failures in the implementation and use of work-life balance (WLB) practices may relate to the fact that the majority of companies have introduced them without exploring the nature and extent of their founders’ or owners’ prior knowledge of WLB and WLB practices. This paper analyses the relationships between congenital learning and WLB culture and tries to identify whether WLB culture impacts on business performance through an empirical study of 229 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Spanish metal industry. Our findings show that in order to create positive attitudes toward WLB, managers need to create and support a learning process. These findings provide interesting insights into the drivers of organisational performance for SMEs that develop and support a WLB-supporting culture.     

Application of sigma metrics for the assessment of quality assurance using the MQ-2000 PT HbA1c analyzer

Introduction

Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) concentrations measured in clinical chemistry laboratories show large differences between their interlaboratory reported values. Laboratory measurements of quality performance should be based on quantitative data. The sigma metrics model provides an objective method for the assessment of current HbA1c assays and is useful in quality management planning. The aim of our study was to evaluate the analytical performance of the MQ-2000 PT HbA1c analyzer test results in the context of our operating conditions on the sigma scale.

Materials and methods

The coefficient of variation was determined from the calculated mean and standard deviation evaluated from internal quality control (QC) (N = 168 days) (Shanghai Huachen Biological Reagent Co. Ltd, China) data, and records of external quality data (KBUDEK, İstanbul, Turkey) measured in the period from May to November 2013 were used to determine the bias. The resulting data and total allowable error rate (TEA = 10%) from the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA’88) were used to calculate the sigma level.

Results

The calculated coefficient of variations (CVs) at the two levels, normal (QC1 = 36.6 ± 2.38 mmol/mol) and pathological (QC2 = 84.7 ± 2.68 mmol/mol), were 6.5% and 3.1%, respectively. The average bias between the external QC and MQ-2000 PT during the study period was 4.3%. The calculated average sigma value was 1.19.

Conclusions

The MQ-2000 PT HbA1c is a new analyser in the market; there is need for improvement and the method should be controlled with greater attention to ensure quality.Key words: diabetes mellitus, hemoglobin A1c protein, human, chromatography, high pressure liquid chromatography