Postendoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis (PEP) is the most common complication of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis (ERCP). No randomized controlled trial (RCT) has compared the efficacy of the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy recommended interventions for PEP prevention. We assessed the effectiveness of these interventions using network meta-Analysis. PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched to identify RCTs investigating guideline-recommended interventions and their combinations [rectal nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): indomethacin or diclofenac, pancreatic stent (PS), aggressive hydration (AH), sublingual nitrate) for PEP prevention. We performed direct and Bayesian network meta-Analysis, and the surface under the cumulative ranking curve to rank interventions. Subgroup network meta-Analysis for high-risk populations was also performed. We identified a total of 38 RCTs with 10 different interventions. Each intervention was protective against PEP on direct and network meta-Analysis compared with controls. Except AH+diclofenac and NSAIDs+ sublingual nitrate, AH+indomethacin was associated with a significant reduction in risk of PEP compared with PS [odds ratio (OR), 0.09; credible interval (CrI), 0.003-0.71], indomethcin+PS (OR, 0.09; CrI, 0.003-0.85), diclofenac (OR, 0.09; CrI, 0.003-0.65), AH (OR, 0.09; CrI, 0.003-0.65), sublingual nitrate (OR, 0.07; CrI, 0.002-0.63), and indomethacin (OR, 0.06; CrI, 0.002-0.43). AH with either rectal NSAIDs or sublingual nitrate had similar efficacy. AH+indomethacin was the best intervention for preventing PEP with 95.3% probability of being ranked first. For high-risk patients, although the efficacy of PS and indomethacin were comparable, PS had an 80.8% probability of being ranked first. AH+indomethacin seems the best intervention for preventing PEP. For high-risk patients, PS seems the most effective strategy. The potential of combination of interventions need to be explored further.

In the subsurface faults can act as both barriers and conduits for fluids or gases such as CO2, hydrocarbons, or water. It is often thought that faults in porous rocks such as sandstone are barriers to fluid flow. In this study we show that this is not always the case. In sandstones like the Cedar Mesa Sandstone it is very important to understand the relationships between this history of fault slip and fluid flow. Better understanding of how fluids migrate through faults and the damaged areas surrounding these faults has strong significance to the oil and gas industry. In this study we examine a group of faults and their surrounding damage zones near Hite, Utah. We analyze three of these small-scale faults in more detail. In doing so we give insights into how these faults and their damage zones can effect fluid migration as well as the porosity and permeability in the Cedar Mesa Sandstone. Whole rock geochemistry, X-ray diffraction mineralogy, permeability data, petrography, ultraviolet photography, and outcrop observations were used to gain insights into cross-cutting relationships, past fluid compositions, and fault characteristics. From the data that was collected from these faults we have begun to describe a series of structural and fluid flow events. This series allows us to say that small-scale faults and fractures are features by which fluids can migrate preferentially. In this series of events we isolate two separate phases of movement. The first phase of movement being has a component of shear in which the edges of the fractures are not moving directly apart. This event is accompanied by a fluid flow event the emplaced iron oxide in the fractures and the surrounding formation. The second event is a phase when the faults become reactivated by a stress that created open mode fractures. This second is accompanied by a fluid flow event that has high calcium content and emplaces calcite in the fractures. Throughout this study we give evidence to support this series of movement and fluid events.

Cavity ring-down (CRD) spectroscopy has emerged as a sensitive analytical technique. In this method, a laser pulse is injected through one of two highly-reflective mirrors which form a stable optical cavity and the rate that the light leaves the cavity is monitored by a detector placed behind the second mirror. In this research a CRD spectrometer has been designed and constructed. The light exiting the cavity is collected via a fiber optic cable which is then directed toward a photo multiplier tube (PMT) detector. The signal is digitized and averaged by an oscilloscope and the data are transferred by an I 488 interface to a personal computer where the data are analyzed. Instrument command and data acquisition are controlled by a Visual Basic computer program. A short review of several attempts to measure liquid samples using CRD spectroscopy is presented; most discuss the necessity for the incorporation of Brewster’s angle at the liquid interface. This study integrates a 1 cm standard quartz cuvette at normal incidence. It was determined that there are significant losses from scattering and reflection; however, these losses were not so large as to negate the efficacy of the technique. The hypothesis tested here is that the light “lost” as reflections are collected by the cavity mirrors and redirected back into the cavity. Rhodamine 6G was used as the primary model absorber in these studies. Absorbance measurements were extracted from the measured ring-down times and a detection limit was obtained. Four cavity lengths were constructed to determine the effect on the scattering losses with varying cavity lengths. The calculated detection limit for the CRD spectrometer used in this study was found to be in the range of 4-5 nM. It was found that the detection limit of the CRD spectrometer was 36 times lower than that of the commercial instrument. Aligning the cavity mirrors at longer cavity lengths proved to be more difficult; however, there were no significant additional losses observed by incorporating longer cavities.

Understanding the interplay between surficial and tectonic processes in the development of Utah's Wasatch Range is vital to evaluating geologic hazards along the Wasatch Front. Baldy is a large (6.125 km3) block of limestone and sandstone structurally overlying shale on the western flank of Mount Timpanogos. It has been mapped as a downdropped normal fault block of Permian units, but no other trace of such a fault exists along the range. The Baldy block structurally overlies the weak Manning Canyon shale, which has produced a regional geomorphology replete with faceted spurs, landslide scarps and deposits. Structural, bio- and litho-stratigrahic mapping of the block reveals breccia deposits, bed rotation and stratigraphic and structural relations to Mount Timpanogos consistent with a landslide interpretation. Structural reconstructions of the block and calculations of stream downcutting rates help constrain the timing and sequence of events of the block's emplacement. These results attest to the importance of surficial processes in the development of large-scale geologic structures, and demonstrate the ongoing danger of mass wasting to the communities of the Wasatch Front.

The problem under consideration is simultaneous monitoring of the means of two or more correlated variables of a process, by collecting a small fixed random sample at fixed time intervals. The target values are considered known, whereas the variance covariance matrix of the data must be estimated. A typical parametric chart to monitor this process would involve the assumption that the data follow a multivariate normal distribution. If this assumption is not reasonable or if it is difficult to verify, for example in a short production run, a multivariate control chart based on classical nonparametric statistics could be used. Control charts based on the sign and signed rank statistics are explored. Past sample information for each variable is retained through an exponentially weighted moving average statistic (EWMA) in order to increase the sensitivity of the charts to detect small shifts from the target. The properties of the charts are evaluated using simulation. Such charts are not distribution-free in the nonparametric sense, but they are more robust than the parametric equivalent chart because, among other reasons, they require only covariance estimates. Nonparametric charts are less efficient than the parametric equivalent chart if the measurements follow a normal distribution, but they improve significantly if the measurements follow a distribution with heavier tails. / Ph. D.

<p> In this dissertation I examine a distinction made in Speech Act Theory between normal uses of language and uses of language that are said to be parasitic on them. Fictional, theatrical, comedic and metaphoric uses of language may be said to be parasitic on normal language in so far as their intelligibility requires a prior grasp of the rules or conventions of normal language such as is used in everyday cases of asserting, promising, marrying and ordering, for instance.</p> <p> Jacques Derrida argued that uses of language could not be determined as exclusively either normal or parasitic and that thus such a distinction could not be made. That is, he argued that it was not possible to make a distinction between fictional promises and real life promises, for instance; or between literal uses of words and metaphorical uses. I show that the distinction can be made and that, although uses of language cannot be determined as exclusively either normal or parasitic in the work of J. L. Austin, they can be in that of John R. Searle. </p> <p> In arguing for this thesis, I show how Searle, in his attempt to defend Austin and Speech Act Theory against Derrida's criticisms, failed to appreciate many aspects of Derrida's work and thus misconstrued his critique and defended Austin and Speech Act Theory against somewhat of a straw man. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

Let K=Q(theta) be the algebraic number field formed by adjoining theta to the rationals where theta is a real root of an irreducible monic cubic polynomial f(x) in Z[x]. If theta is not the cube root of a rational integer, we call the field K a non-pure cubic field, and if K doesn't contain the conjugates of theta, we call K a non-normal cubic field. A method described by Martinet and Payan allows us to construct such fields from elements of a quadratic field. In this work, we examine such non-normal, non-pure cubic fields and their normal closures, using algorithms in Mathematica to compute various invariants of these fields. In addition, we prove general results relating the ranks of the ideal class groups of the rings of integers of these cubic fields to those of their normal closures. / Ph. D.

An experimental and numerical investigation was conducted to determine the film cooling effectiveness of a normal slot and angled slot under realistic engine Mach number conditions. Freestream Mach numbers of 0.65 and 1.3 were tested. For the normal slot, hot gas ingestion into the slot was observed at low blowing ratios (M < 0.25). At high blowing ratios (M > 0.6) the cooling film was observed to "lift off" from the surface. For the 30o angled slot, the data was found to collapse using the blowing ratio as a scaling parameter (x/Ms). Results from the current experiment were compared with the subsonic data published to confirm this test procedure. For the angled slot, at the supersonic freestream Mach number, the current experiment shows that at the same x/Ms, the film cooling effectiveness increases by as much as 25% as compared to the subsonic case. The results of the experiment also show that at the same x/Ms, the film cooling effectiveness of the angled slot is considerably higher than that of the normal slot, at both subsonic and supersonic Mach numbers. The flow physics for the slot tests considered here are also described with computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations in the subsonic and supersonic regimes. / Master of Science

Arquitecto / El proyecto invita a repensar la ciudad y a enten¬der la arquitectura de manera integral, no como piezas objetuales e indivi¬duales conformes únicamente a la rentabilidad de lo que se construye, si no que acorde al territorio y sus habitantes. Este proyecto quiere ser un paso en el territorio del habitar colectivo. Un intento por aportar desde la arquitectura y el diseño al desarrollo de espacios humanos. El proyecto se centra en una propuesta que apunta a mejorar la calidad de las soluciones habitacionales para esto se consideraron tres líneas de acción fundamentales que afectan de manera recíproca el desarrollo de la ciudad y la vivienda en sí misma: 1. Presentar una alternativa de crecimiento al proceso de urbanización periférica a través de la renovación y densificación de barrios centrales. 2. Rescatar las áreas centrales y peri-centrales de la ciudad de Santiago, hoy en abandono o deterioradas y usarlas como una oportunidad para proponer soluciones habitacionales con mejor localización. 3. Que dicha renovación y densificación permita manejar una escala hu¬mana donde el sentido sea el valor del habitar colectivo y la calidad de vida de sus habitantes.