This paper proposes a new method to determine the reduction factor for producing a head garment with specified targeted pressure output. Pressure garment fabric mostly supplied to the local hospitals ...with no information of the material properties and the fabrication method generally used a single reduction factor at various body segments. Reduction factor defined as the percentage of reducing the garment size from the original circumference of the body part which contributes to the compression. The objective of this study is to compare the fabrication method of head garment using reduction factor equation from previous research with the new proposed method. The equation to predict the reduction factor requires the parameter of the fabric tension which is obtained from tensile test and radius of curvature of the human body parts. In the new proposed method, a 3D scanning was used for data acquisition to obtain the geometry of the head area. The pressure outputs are measured by a pressure measurement system developed from Flexiforce sensor and Arduino circuit board. By using the equation, the result shows the calculated reduction factor produced an extremely tight head garment compared to the conducted experiments which manage to produce an adequate reduction factor with a targeted pressure output of 20mmHg. The result of the experiment indicates that the reduction factor ranging from 17% to 23% compared to the equation which produces 20% to 47% of reduction factor. As an additional, the proposed experimental method can be used for different type of pressure garment fabrics in order to obtain the relationship between the reduction factor and the circumference of the body parts.
This study examines the impact of total quality management (TQM) practices on an organisation's innovation performance. Correlation coefficient and regression analysis is used to examine the ...relationship between TQM practices and innovation performance. This study's sample is drawn from the manufacturing organisations located in the district of Rawang in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The empirical results of this study confirm that TQM has a positive impact on innovation performance across five measured practices: customer focus, leadership, process management, strategic planning, and people management. Furthermore, the three most influential TQM practices are identfied as people management, process management, and customer focus. Managers in the manufacturing sector can find this study useful, especially if they are aiming to improve their organisation's innovation performance with the help of quality management practices.
The stability of stainless steel 304 in the presence of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria was investigated in a continuous flow system using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning electron ...microscopy (SEM) examinations. The results show that the open circuit potential (OCP) of stainless steel was ennobled (shifted in the electropositive direction) by about +150 mV in the presence of the aerobic bacteria. The observed change of OCP in the electropositive direction can be explained by an increase in the rate of the cathodic reaction. Also the presence of an aerobic biofilm led to a decrease in the polarization resistance of stainless steel is not only due to the growth of micropits, as shown from SEM micrographs, but also due to thinning of the passive film. In the presence of only
Pseudomonas fragi, the electrochemical impedance response showed a capacitive behavior with RP on the order of 500 kΩ. The addition of anaerobic sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) to the test medium decreased RP to 12 kΩ due to an increase in localized corrosion, as indicated by SEM examination.
We conduct a firm-level, 6-year longitudinal analysis on the impact that racial diversity in human resources has on financial performance. When considering short-term performance outcomes, we predict ...a curvilinear relationship between diversity and performance (i.e., firm productivity). Although we find evidence of a U-shaped relationship between racial diversity and productivity, the relationship is stronger in service-oriented relative to manufacturing-oriented industries and in more stable vs. volatile environments. For longer-term profitability, we propose and find support for more of a positive linear relationship between diversity and performance (i.e., Tobin's q) than a nonlinear one. This linear effect is stronger and more positive in munificent compared to resource-scare environments. Thus, we aid in reconciling existing, often contradictory, studies by demonstrating the potential short-term vs. long-term impact of racial diversity on performance. We offer implications for future research on diversity considering the current and projected demographic landscape.
Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. The association of the cholestatic pattern usually seen in sarcoidosis, with biliary duct changes resembling primary sclerosing ...cholangitis (PSC) is rare. Liver transplantation permits the histological evaluation of the complete explanted liver, making the diagnosis more reliable. In conclusion we present our experience with two patients with sarcoidosis requiring liver transplantation, who presented with clinical and radiological findings characteristics of primary sclerosing cholangitis.
The purpose of this study is to determine how new pavement markings (central sharrows and indication of “dooring zone”) influence cyclist and motorist interactions and positioning, especially with ...respect to the distance cyclists travel from the parking edge line. The markings are designed to discourage cyclists from riding in the dooring-zone area and to ride in the center of the travel lane to avoid serious safety hazards. A number of safety performance parameters were used to assess whether safer conditions existed after the new treatment was installed. Safe motorist behavior was defined as: (a) motor vehicle following a cyclist with or without visible oncoming traffic in the opposing lane, and (b) motor vehicle passing a cyclist at a safe lateral distance. Safe cyclist behavior was defined as: cyclist riding in the lane position indicated by the central sharrows and outside of the dooring-zone area. The findings indicate that the central sharrows and dooring-zone markings created more favorable conditions for cyclist safety and for motorist compliance. Cyclists rode further from the parking edge line and closer to the sharrows that were marked in the center of the travel lane, and motorists were shown to be less likely to pass and more likely to follow cyclists.
Various indicators of objective conflict have been proposed in the literature to measure the severity of traffic events. Objective conflict indicators measure various spatial and temporal aspects of ...proximity on the premise that proximity is a surrogate for severity. These aspects of severity may be partially overlapping and in some cases independent. Two sets of conflict indicators were used in a study conducted to demonstrate that integration of the severity cues provided by each conflict indicator could be performed to reflect better the true, yet unobservable, severity of traffic events. The first set of conflict indicators required the presence of a collision course common to the interacting road users. The second set measured severity in mere temporal proximity between road users. The study proposes a methodology with which to aggregate the event-level measurements of conflict indicators into a safety index. First, individual conflict indicator measurements are mapped into severity intervals 0, 1. Second, these severity indices are aggregated to a safety index that includes both individual severities and exposure. The methodology is applied on individual measurements of pedestrian–vehicle conflicts.
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