No description available.

Background: Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) are commonly used for measuring pain intensity. Although several studies have investigated agreement between VAS and NRS, there is a lack of knowledge about agreement in persistent neck pain and whether neck disability affects the agreement. Objective: Evaluate agreement between the two pain rating scales VAS and NRS for patients with persistent neck pain, and evaluate if the agreement is affected by neck disability, measured with Neck Disability Index. Methods: A cohort study with 43 participants with neck pain > 3 months. Neck pain now and average neck pain last week was measured on VAS and NRS, and were recorded two times. Correlation between VAS and NRS was analyzed with Spearmans r and agreement was calculated with Bland Altman. Between group differences in patients with high (>15) compared to low (<15) NDI regarding agreement in VAS/NRS, were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: There was a significant positive correlation between VAS and NRS (r=0,927–r=0,909, p>0,01) and neck disability did not affect the agreement. The largest mean difference was 0,5 with variation between -2 to 2 in 95% of the patients. Conclusion: The same measurement (VAS or NRS) should be used for repeated measuring in neck pain. It is important to be aware of the differences between VAS and NRS, especially when research results will be implemented in primary care.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to chronic pain and increased opioid use. Realworld data such as electronic medical records and administrative claim data contain large amounts of clinical data and present an opportunity to study the relationship of serum 25- hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] with pain intensity and opioid use. The first study assessed the association between serum 25(OH)D) levels and pain intensity. Compared to patients with normal 25(OH)D levels, those who had insufficient or deficient levels were more likely to experience moderate or severe pain, with multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 1.19 (1.05-1.36) and 1.51 (1.28-1.79), respectively. Similar findings were obtained using propensity scores in the matched analyses. In the second study, we investigated the association between serum 25(OH.)D levels and opioid use among opioid-naïve patients. We revealed that those who had insufficient or deficient levels of 25(OH)D were more likely to receive an opioid prescription, with multivariableadjusted odds ratios of 1.10 (1.02-1.17) and 1.18 (1.09-1.28), respectively, compared to patients with normal 25(OH)D levels. Vitamin D deficiency was also associated with a longer duration of opioid use. In the third study, we performed machine learning to identify patient characteristics associated with persistent moderate-to-severe pain (PMSP), explicitly investigating if low serum 25(OH)D levels were a risk factor for heightened pain intensity among obese patients. Low levels of 25(OH)D were consistently identified as a key predictor from a large number of candidate variables in the machine learning models. We detected a significant positive association between serum 25(OH)D levels and PMSP in the logistic regression analysis. Compared to patients with normal levels of 25(OH)D, those who had insufficient or deficient levels of 25(OH)D were more likely to report PMSP, with multivariable-adjusted OR (95% CIs) of 1.15 (1.10-1.21) and 1.28 (1.21-1.35) respectively. We replicated the findings in the first study in a different cohort that showed that low serum 25(OH)D levels might play a role in pain perception. This research contributes to an improved understanding of the role of vitamin D on pain, and opioid use. Individuals who experience pain and need opioid therapy may benefit from optimizing their serum 25(OH)D levels.

No description available.

No description available.

En cas d’alerte aux inondations, l'information en temps réel et sa diffusion à un large public sont des éléments cruciaux pour limiter les comportements à risque, détecter les premiers dégâts ou préparer les acteurs locaux à gérer la crise. Face à ces enjeux, les technologies smartphones apparaissent, deplus en plus, comme des solutions logicielles et matérielles qui pourraient compléter de façon positiveles dispositifs d’alerte institutionnels, notamment grâce à la dynamique des contenus partagés et auxnombreuses interactions dont ils sont le support. Alors que plusieurs pays (États-Unis, Norvège, Pays-Bas, Suède, Philippines) utilisent déjà de tels outils, et même si le Ministère de l'Intérieur a lancé uneapplication urgentiste (SAIP) le 8 juin 2016, la population et les services de l’État semblent beaucoupplus réticents en France. La défense de la propriété individuelle, le manque de crédit attribué auxmessages postés et les verrous technologiques sont les principaux facteurs de blocage avancés. Aprèsavoir mené une enquête dans plusieurs communes rurales des départements du Var et du Vaucluse(qui confirme la méconnaissance des applications déjà existantes alors que les besoins sont bien réelsface aux crues rapides), une nouvelle application a été développée (Al’in). Le prototype créé vise àréduire les écarts entre une approche étatique descendante (top-down), qui positionne et impose l’Étatcomme le seul lanceur d’alerte, et une initiative citoyenne (approche « Bottom-Up »), qui érigel’individu au rang de « citoyen capteur », à la fois capable de remonter ou de diffuser une alerte àtravers l’usage de son smartphone. Répondre à ce défi ne s’avère toutefois pas si simple au regard descontraintes juridiques et techniques préexistantes en France. / The information given on flash floods in real time should undoubtedly answers to the citizens needs aswell as to the politic and the safety services. Face to such objective, Smartphone could positivelycomplete the official institutional systems, especially thanks to the dynamic and nature of postedmessages, and to the social interactions they support. This study questions the opportunity ofdeveloping a proactive and innovative alert system using the Smartphone technologies to face therisks due to flash flood hazards. A first study focuses on several alert systems existing actually inFrance but we quickly aim at identifying limits (legal rules, technologies and scientific problems) andchallenges usefulness and opportunities in the numeric sphere) of our objective in general manner.Finally, a local study in Var and Vaucluse permits us to see if population and local stakeholdersshould be interested (or not) by a smartphone application. The proposed solution tries to achieve amajor challenge: reducing the gap between a state approach (top-down), which positions and imposedthe state as the main official alert source, and the citizen action (bottom-up) which establishes theindividual as “Citizen sensor” (both in go up or disseminate information) through the use of issmartphone. Meeting this challenge is indispensable if we hope effectively minimizing material andhuman damages especially when high temporal acuity phenomena such as flash floods happen.

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Este trabalho apresenta uma modelagem matemática para o processo de aquecimento de um corpo exposto a uma fonte pontual de radiação térmica. O resultado original que permite a solução exata de uma equação diferencial parcial não linear a partir de uma seqüência de problemas lineares também é apresentado. Gráficos gerados com resultados obtidos pelo método de diferenças finitas ilustram a solução do problema proposto. / This work presents a mathematical model for the heating process on a body exposed to a punctual source of thermal radiation. An original result, that allows the construction of the exact solution for a non-linear partial differential equation by solving a sequence of linear problems, is also presented. Graphic images generated from the results obtained through the Finite Difference Method illustrate the solution of the proposed problem.

A ênfase deste trabalho está voltada ao desenvolvimento de um novo sistema de limpeza para a colheitadeira de grãos visando, principalmente, a utilização de uma nova geometria. O design de um sistema com peneiras rotativas vem de encontro a todos os sistemas conhecidos até o momento, este sistema visa eliminar sistemas eletrônicos cada vez mais complexos e caros. Uma descrição sobre os sistemas de colheita e máquinas agrícolas, principalmente colheitadeiras, é apresentada neste trabalho, já que a bibliografia sobre este assunto é bastante restrita. A utilização de métodos computacionais, voltados à análise de fluídos foi utilizada com o intuito de nortear o desenvolvimento de protótipos reais. O método computacional dos fluídos dinâmicos simula diversas hipóteses de maneira mais rápida e mais barata até que sejam alcançados resultados suficientemente bons que compensem a fabricação de um protótipo real. Com o protótipo real os resultados virtuais podem ser validados e comparados com outros sistemas. Os resultados obtidos foram bons, a peneira rotativa tem um ótimo desempenho em testes realizados no plano, com perdas inferiores comparativamente às peneiras planas. Nos testes realizados com inclinação o desempenho não foi bom, devido a alguns problemas no duto de ar. Com relação à qualidade dos grãos separados, não foram detectadas quaisquer avarias que pudessem ter sido resultadas da peneira. / The emphasis of this work is dedicated to the development of a new cleaning system for grain harvester aiming mainly to use a new geometry in this part of the machine. The design of a system with rotary sieves comes against all systems known at this time; this system seeks to eliminate electronic systems increasingly complex and expensive. A description of the harvesting systems and agricultural machinery, harvesters mainly, is been presented in this work, since the literature on this subject is very limited. The use of computational methods, focused on the analysis of fluid was used in order to guide the development of prototypes. The method of computational fluid dynamic simulates scenarios faster and cheaper to achieve results that are good enough to compensate the fabrication of a real prototype. With the real prototype, virtual results can be validated and compared with other systems. The results achieved were good. The rotary sieve cleaning system shows excellent performance when testing on level ground with lower losses than a flat sieve system. In tests on slopes, the performance was not as good due to some problems in the air duct. With regard to grain quality, no mechanical damage that could have been produced by the screens was detected in either test.

We develop a novel autonomous control synthesis strategy called Phase Space Navigator for the automatic synthesis of nonlinear control systems. The Phase Space Navigator generates global control laws by synthesizing flow shapes of dynamical systems and planning and navigating system trajectories in the phase spaces. Parsing phase spaces into trajectory flow pipes provide a way to efficiently reason about the phase space structures and search for global control paths. The strategy is particularly suitable for synthesizing high-performance control systems that do not lend themselves to traditional design and analysis techniques.

Die Modellierung von komplexen Systemen, wie dem Untergrund, ist ein Hilfsmittel zur Beschreibung der in der Realität ablaufenden Prozesse. Die Durchführung von Experimenten an einem Modell, um qualitative Aussagen über ein reales System zu erhalten, wird als Simulation bezeichnet. Dabei können vielfältige Modelle, wie z.B. physikalische und mathematische, zum Einsatz kommen. Die ungesättigte Bodenzone (vadose Zone) bezeichnet den Bereich zwischen der Landoberfläche und dem Grundwasserspiegel, innerhalb dessen der Wassergehalt geringer als bei Vollsättigung, und der Druck geringer als der Atmosphärendruck ist. Dieser Bodenbereich hat für die Landwirtschaft, Geobiologie, aerobe Abbauprozesse und Grundwasserneubildung eine große Bedeutung. Für die Nachbildung von Strömungs- und Stofftransportprozessen der ungesättigten Bodenzone existieren numerische Simulationsprogramme. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist eine umfangreiche Validierung des Programms PCSiWaPro® (entwickelt an der TU-Dresden, Institut für Abfallwirtschaft und Altlasten) für unterschiedliche Anwendungsfälle. Ein weiteres Ziel der Arbeit besteht in der Untersuchung der Anwendbarkeit des aktuellen Stands des Simulationsprogramms PCSiWaPro® auf unterschiedliche Praxisfälle bei Kombination der ungesättigten Bodenzone mit technischen Anlagen. Vier Anwendungsfälle mit unterschiedlichen Zielen wurden dafür im Rahmen dieser Arbeit untersucht: die Simulation von dezentraler Abwasserversickerung (Kleinkläranlage - KKA) anhand entsprechender Säulen- und Feldversuche, die Berechnung der Grundwasserneubildung am Beispiel von Lysimetern, der Wasserhaushalt von Erddämmen und die Modellierung von Deponieabdeckungssystemen. Die Anwendungsfälle unterscheiden sich durch den Zweck der Simulation, die Geometrie, die Größe, die festgelegten Anfangs- und Randbedingungen, die Simulationszeit, die Materialien, das Koordinatensystem sowie die Ein- und Ausgabewerte. Die Simulationsergebnisse konnten eindeutig zeigen, dass das Programm PCSiWaPro® für alle im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit untersuchten Fälle, mit unterschiedlichen Strömungsregimen, Stofftransport-Parametern, Randbedingungen, Koordinatensystemen sowie Raum- und Zeitdiskretisierungen anwendbar ist. Die Simulationsergebnisse der Säulenversuche am Beispiel dezentraler Abwasserversickerung zeigten eine sehr gute Übereinstimmung zwischen gemessenen und mittels PCSiWa-Pro® berechneten Werten des Wasser- und Stoffhaushaltes (Druckhöhe, Abfluss und Stoff-konzentration) der untersuchten Bodentypen B3 (schwachschluffiger Sand), B4 (Grobsand) und B5 (mittelschluffiger Sand). Die Wurzel des mittleren quadratischen Fehlers (RMSE) betrug für die Berechnung der Druckhöhe 1,84 cm bei B5, 3,61 cm bei B3 und 1,27 cm bei B4. Die relative Abweichung betrug für die Berechnung der Druckhöhe 2,19 % bei B5, 1,3 % bei B3 und ca. 5,3 % bei B4. Die Durchführung der Sensitivitätsanalyse der für die Modellierung relevanten Parameter zeigte eine sehr hohe Sensitivität der VAN GENUCHTEN-Parameter und der gesättigten hydraulischen Leitfähigkeit des Bodens. Darüber hinaus führten die Parameter nach DIN 4220 und die mithilfe von Pedotransferfunktionen aus Siebanalysen genommenen Parameter zu unterschiedlichen Ergebnissen. Im Rahmen des am Institut für Abfallwirtschaft und Altlasten durchgeführten Projektes EGSIM wurden die Programme SENSIT und ISSOP (in Zusammenarbeit mit DUALIS GmbH IT Solution) entwickelt und zur Parameteridentifikation/-kalibrierung benutzt. Die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit erzielten Ergebnisse konnten nachweisen, unter welchen Bedingungen eine Nachklärung des vollbiologisch gereinigten Abwassers innerhalb der Bodenzone möglich ist, so dass am Ort der Beurteilung (Grundwasseroberfläche) kein unzulässiger Schadstoffeintrag erfolgt. In Bezug auf die KKA-Feldmodelle ist die Anwendung des rotationssymmetrischen Koordinatensystems als Voraussetzung der Realität besser zu entsprechen und nicht als Option zu betrachten. Darüber hinaus wurden anhand der Feldmodelle verschiedene Szenarien mit kontinuierlicher und diskontinuierlicher Versickerung sowie zwei unterschiedlich großen Einleitflächen durchgeführt. Das Programm PCSiWaPro® ist sowohl für ungesättigte als auch für variabel-gesättigte porösen Medien anwendbar. Dies wurde im Rahmen der Simulation des Wasserhaushaltes eines Erddamms nachgewiesen. Die durchschnittliche relative Abweichung zwischen gemessenen und mittels PCSiWaPro® berechneten Wasserständen des entsprechenden Beobachtungspunkts im untersuchten Dammkörper lag bei 0,08 % (entspricht 5,8 cm bei einer Müchtigkeit von ca. 70 m) und das Bestimmtheitsmaß (R2) betrug 0,987. Die Simulation des Wasserhaushaltes unterschiedlicher Deponieabdichtungssystemen mittels PCSiWaPro® zeigte im Allgemeinen ein funktionierendes Ableiten des auf Deponien anfallenden Regenwassers (auch bei Starkregenereignissen). Darüber hinaus haben die durchgeführten Bewuchs-Modelle nachweisen können, dass die Vegetation der Deponieoberflächen den Wassergehalt, durch Pflanzenwurzelentzug bzw. Evapotranspiration, reduzieren können. Die Simulationsergebnisse der durchgeführten Szenarien des Wasserhaushaltes von Lysimetern zur prognostischen Berechnung der Grundwasserneubildung mittels PCSiWaPro® konnten nachweisen, dass das Programm für die Berechnung der Grundwasserneubildungsrate für diesen Zweck anwendbar ist. Die relativen Abweichungen der be-rechneten von den gemessenen Grundwasserneubildungsraten sind auf die verwendeten Materialparameter sowie auf Vernachlässigung der möglicherweise in Lysimetern sich befin-denden Makroporen (duale Porosität) zurückzuführen. / The modelling of complex systems such as the underground is a means to describe the processes occurring in the reality. The conducting of experiments on a model to obtain qualitative evidence about a real system is referred to as a simulation. Thereby, various models (e.g. physical and mathematical models) can be used. The unsaturated zone (vadose zone) is the region between the land surface and the water table, in which the water content is less than full saturation, and the pressure is lower than the atmospheric pressure. The unsaturated zone is very significant for agriculture, geobiology, aerobic degradation processes and groundwater recharge. The processes of water flow and solute transport in the unsaturated zone can be described by means of numerical simulation programs. The aim of the present work is a comprehensive validation of the simulation program PCSiWaPro® (developed at the TU-Dresden, Institute of Waste Management and Contaminated Site Treatment) for different applications. Another aim of this work is to investigate the applicability of the current version of PCSiWaPro® for different cases of a combination between the unsaturated zone and technical facilities. Four application cases with different objectives were investigated within the present work, which are: the simulation of decentralized wastewater infiltration with corresponding column and field experiments, the computation of groundwater recharge by means of lysimeters, the water balance of earth dams and the modelling of landfill covering systems. The application cases differ from each other by the objective of the simulation, the geometry, the size, the specified initial and boundary conditions, the simulation time, the applied materials, the coordinate system, the input and output data. The simulation results clearly showed that PCSiWaPro® is applicable for all investigated cases under consideration of different flow and solute transport regimes, parameters, boundary conditions, spatial and temporal discretization, and coordinate systems. The simulation results of the experimental soil columns for the decentralized treated wastewater infiltration case showed a very good agreement between measured and computed values of water and solute balance (pressure head, flow and solute concentration) of the investigated soil types B3 (slightly silty sand), B4 (coarse sand / gravel) and B5 (medium silty sand). The root of the mean squared error (RMSE) for the computation of the pressure head was 1,84 cm at B5, 3,61 cm at B3 and 1,27 cm at B4. The relative deviation in case of pressure head computation was 2,19 % at B5, 1,3 % at B3 and 5,3 % at B4. The implementation of the sensitivity analysis of the relevant parameters for the modelling showed a very high sensitivity of the VAN GENUCHTEN parameters and the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil. Moreover, the parameters according to DIN 4220 led to different results than the estimated ones according to pedotransfer methods based on sieve analysis. Within the project EGSIM, which was carried out at the Institute for waste management and contaminated sites treatment in collaboration with DUALIS GmbH IT Solution, the programs SENSIT and ISSOP were developed and used for parameter identification/ calibration. The results obtained in this Work showed under which conditions is a secondary treatment of full biologically treated wastewater in the soil possible, so that no unallowable pollutants entry in the groundwater occurs. With regard to the field models of this application the implementation of the rotationally symmetric coordinate system should be considered as a condition and not as an option for a better corresponding to the reality. Furthermore, different scenarios of the field models were carried out with continuous and discontinuous infiltration, as well as under different initiation areas. PCSiWaPro® could be applied for both unsaturated and variably-saturated porous media. This could be proven by the simulation of the water balance in an earth dam. The average relative deviation between measured and simulated water levels of the corresponding observation point in the investigated dam embankment was 0,08 % (corresponding to 5,8 cm at 70 m thickness) and the coefficient of determination (R2) was 0,987. In general, the simulation of the water balance using PCSiWaPro® of different landfill covering systems showed a successful draining of the falling rainwater (even under heavy rainfall). In addition, the implemented vegetation models have proven that the vegetation of the landfill surface can reduce the water content in the landfill by evapotranspiration and water uptake by roots. The water balance simulation results of the scenarios for the computation of groundwater recharge by means of lysimeters showed that the program is applicable for this case. The relative deviation of the simulated from the measured groundwater recharge rates occur due to the implemented material parameters as well as to the neglect of macro pores effects (dual porosity).