The purpose of this project has been twofold. First, a thorough literature survey has been conducted in the field of information storage and retrieval with primary attention given to computer oriented techniques. The systems used and the theory behind them have been of more concern to the author than the actual equipment used because it is felt that equipment will change very rapidly as it has in the past whereas the basic system, in most cases, will prevail. The second part of this project has been the design of an overall automated trial information system with the needs of the designer being of prime importance. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

Respiratory assistance devices bypass essential host defenses and allow these pathogens direct access to the lower respiratory tract and hinder these defense systems to effectively clear respiratory pathogens (1). Mechanical ventilation in the presence of dental plaque with respiratory pathogens has the potential to lead to ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Ventilator-associated pneumonia is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care units. VAP influences increasing need for medical treatment and hospital length of stay (LOS) (2-4). Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) have been found to be the most expensive site per infection with 13% of all infections accounting for 29% of the total recorded cost (5). The purpose of this systematic review is to perform a comprehensive literature search to identify published randomized clinical trials relating to the efficacy of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) oral rinse in preventing VAP. CHX has been identified as the "gold standard" to reduce the number of microorganisms. This review also addresses the importance of oral health and the increased risk of respiratory infections from colonization by harmful pathogens within the oral mucosa. Clinical trials relating to the hypothesis in question were evaluated using Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist for validity. Quality and strength of each randomized clinical trial were evaluated based on the requirements of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Nine bibliographic databases, from 1965-2012 were used to conduct the literature inquiry. Ten studies included populations greater than or equal to 18 years of age and admitted to the intensive care unit receiving mechanical ventilation. The patients were, ventilated due to either trauma, undergoing elective cardiothoracic surgery, or from some other form of surgery, at risk for VAP. In one study, CHX oral rinse decreased microbial colonization of the respiratory tract and hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) in patients who underwent open-heart surgery and were intubated less than 24 hours. Yet the difference was not significant in patients intubated more than 24 hours who had a higher amount of bacterial colonization (6). Modulation of oropharyngeal colonization by the use of oral chlorhexidine has reduced the number of ICU-acquired HAP in selected patient populations such as those undergoing coronary bypass grafting, but its routine use is not recommended until more data become available (7). Findings from several studies suggest a significant decrease in the incidence of total nosocomial respiratory infections and systemic antibiotic use in patients who underwent open heart and used a CHX oral rinse as compared with ventilator patients who did not use the rinse; there was also a 65% decrease (13% vs. 4%) in the overall nosocomial infection rate in the chlorhexidine group (7,8,9). Using 2% chlorhexidine solution presents the strongest evidence for decreasing VAP (10,11). From Scannapieco and colleagues' study we can conclude that twice daily is not necessarily better than once daily, but maybe a four times daily regimen with 2% instead of 0.12% CHX does make a difference in reducing the incidence of VAP (12).

<p> The optimization study of space frames has been considered in two aspects in this project work. The first was to develop a suitable optimization technique for a nonlinear programming problem including equality constraints, without any particular reference to structural optimization. The necessacity for the above requirement was due to the fact that almost all existing methods on optimization have some limitation. The second object of this study was to set up the necessary equations for the constraints on stress and on frequency for the structural model used, and then to use the developed technique to optimize the structural model for minimum weight. </p> <p> A simple and effective strategy, which is a combination of direct search and linear approximate programming is believed to have been developed for optimization of simple nonlinear type equations. </p> <p> The analysis of the space structure and the study of structural optimization revealed several difficulties inherent in the evaluation of constraining equations for the stresses and frequencies, which makes the optimization very difficult. </p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

<p> An experimental study of stratified fluid flow phenomena for two equal depth, different density stratified liquids in a rectangular channel is presented. Two two fluid combinations were used, a sugar water and fresh water, and fresh water and varsol. The critical value of the determined densimetric Froude number at which the upper fluid began to participate in the flow was obtained and found to be 0.28 as against Huber's (1) predicted value of 2.76. It was concluded that the interfacial mixing and viscous effects are largely responsible for this difference. </p> <p> An attempt to extend Harleman's (7) work was made. The results obtained in present work were in good agreement with Harleman's (7) experimental work. </p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

Two-dimensional (2D) layered hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has become a very popular material in nanoelectronics in recent years because of its extraordinary chemical stability and thermal conductivity [1]. Recently, h-BN is also commonly used as a dielectric material [2], and research in this area is still in its early stages. The commonly used methods for fabricating h-BN include mechanical exfoliation and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). CVD is a recognized industry-compatible method for producing large-area h-BN. However, studies have shown that multilayer h-BN grown by CVD is polycrystalline and contains multiple local defects [3]. These defects and inhomogeneity cannot be avoided and lead to small amounts of atom-wide amorphous regions that have weak dielectric strength [3]. Although the general characteristics of h-BN prepared by these two fabrication methods can be learned from different works in the literature, it is difficult to study the quality of h-BN without systematically comparing the differences between the two growth methods under the same experimental conditions and with large number of samples. This also makes it difficult for researchers to choose the best-quality h-BN. In this work, the morphological characteristics and electrical properties of mechanically exfoliated h-BN and CVD-grown h-BN from different sources have been compared under different conditions. Commercially available h-BN flakes mechanically exfoliated from NIMS h-BN bulk crystal show no leakage current at electrical fields up to 25.9 MV/cm, and above this applied electrical force, the size of the conductive spots is extremely small (1.99 ± 1.81 nm2). On the contrary, “monolayer” CVD-grown h-BN samples from Graphene Supermarket were shown to be amorphous in ~20% of their area, which makes them appear discontinuous from an electrical point of view, plus they contain large thickness fluctuations up to 6 layers. Moreover, in nanoelectronic measurements collected with a conductive atomic force microscope (CAFM) working in vacuum, mechanically exfoliated h-BN showed better electrical homogeneity and presented later dielectric breakdown compared to the h-BN samples fabricated by the CVD method.

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For a company that focuses on the use of battery power, the integration into fossil fuel dominated markets can be challenging.  In order to help with integration into new markets, Globe Group AB are developing job-essential accessories that are compatible with their tools and batteries. The purpose of  the work done in this thesis was to develop a concept for a tool lanyard with an integrated electrical cable that is compatible with Globe Group AB’s current line of power tools. During this project it was decided that the research and testing would be conducted and analyzed based off high altitude tree work done by arborists.    This thesis focuses on the evaluation of research and testing to aid in concept design. A large focus was laid on the implementation of physical testing into early research and development stages, in an attempt to increase the validity of design decisions. The project was carried out by doing preliminary research and testing in order to gain information and metrics that could be used in the concept and prototype design stages. The prototypes were tested and compared to data collected prior in the project, to make statements about the feasibility of the concept and it’s included features. The result of this project was a final concept that includes all features that were deemed necessary through research and testing, a physical prototype, and test data to offer proof of concept.

<p> Dynamic stress tests were performed on mild steel samples. The material parameters 'n' and 'G(εᵣ, tₒ)', defined as 'stress dislocation velocity exponent' and 'flow function' respectively, were evaluated using the equation "σₘⁿtₒ K(n) = G(εᵣ, tₒ)" as proposed by Kardos (1). The values determined for 'n' are in agreement with the results obtained by other researchers using different techniques. </p> <p> The equipment for studying the response of materials to dynamic loading was modified to permit a wider duration range for the loading. </p> <p> A technique was developed to monitor the pressure of the oil in the intensifier throughout the entire loading cycle. </p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (ME)

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第20331号 / 工博第4268号 / 新制||工||1661(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科機械理工学専攻 / (主査)教授 北村 隆行, 教授 北條 正樹, 教授 西脇 眞二 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM