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Wet wrap therapy ( WWT) consists of topical steroids administered under a layer of wet cotton bandages or garments. Several trials with WWT have reported promising results in atopic dermatitis ( AD). However, no systematic review and meta-analysis on its efficacy and safety has been published. Our objective was to conduct a systematic review of the literature on WWT in AD to assess its efficacy and safety. We included randomized controlled trials among patients of all ages with a diagnosis of AD based on predefined criteria or made by a dermatologist. Electronic searches were performed from 1970 to 30 March 2016 in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry. Selection of studies and data extraction were performed independently by two researchers, and discrepancies were resolved by consensus. Six trials comparing WWT with topical steroids in children or adults with AD were included. Sample sizes ranged from 19 to 51 patients. Results on clinical severity and quality of life were reported incompletely and proved heterogeneous across studies. A nonsignificant tendency to increased risk of mild skin infections was observed in those treated with WWT (pooled relative risk 6·35, 95% confidence interval 0·83-48·55). The overall grade of quality of evidence for the efficacy and safety outcomes was low. In conclusion, the evidence that WWT is more effective than conventional treatment with topical steroids in AD is of low quality. Further clinical trials should establish the efficacy of WWT in AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light Absorption and Scattering technique (LAS) has been applied for the measurement of fuel vapor distribution in diesel-type sprays. This technique is usually limited to fuels with relatively high absorptivity, which are sometimes not commonly used as surrogate fuels. In the present paper, a comparison of fuels with very different absorptive properties has been made to determine the range of application of the methodology. A calibration procedure has been applied to n -decane (DEC), a binary blend of n -decane and n -hexadecane (50DEC) and three blends of n -heptane with a highly-absorpting fuel (HEPB1, HEPB2 and HEPB3). This methodology enables the in-situ quantification of absorption coefficients at high pressure and temperature by creating a uniform mixture inside the cylinder. Results have been later applied for the quantification of fuel vapor distribution in sprays for DEC, 50DEC and HEPB3. Results obtained with these range of fuels have enabled to establish the limit in terms of absorption coefficient needed to get consistent results with the technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental study on the ignition and combustion of diesel-type sprays using n -heptane, iso -octane and four intermediate blends is presented. The choice of components was done in order to represent the transition from conventional diesel fuel ( n -heptane) to a gasoline-like one ( iso -octane) in terms of ignition behavior. The experiments have been carried out in a high pressure high temperature vessel using specifications from the Engine Combustion Network (ECN). Parametric variations of oxygen concentration and air temperature have been performed for each fuel. In order to investigate the spray development, schlieren imaging for the quantification of spray penetration and ignition delay, OH ∗ chemiluminescence imaging for the lift-off length, and broadband radiation imaging for the soot intensity and flame length have been applied. The results show the large effect of mixture reactivity on the ignition times and lift-off length values. Regarding the effect of the octane number of the blends on the ignition delay times, a linear effect has been found in the lower half of the blend range, while an exponential trend is evident in the top one. On the other hand, a scaling law for the stabilized flame length based upon momentum-controlled assumptions has shown that results are comparable to those obtained in the literature. Finally, the applicability of the results obtained on the performance and efficiency in real engines is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Unit Hydrograph (UH) technique is widely used for runoff estimation, especially for determining peak discharges. In this paper, a geomorphologically based UH has been applied. Its most remarkable characteristic is that it includes the watershed structure in its formulation. This is defined from the drainage network, each subwatershed being considered as a linear reservoir. In this method, the fact of considering this reservoir sequence according to the drainage network leads to the formulation of the model only depending on a single parameter. The Geomorphological Unit Hydrograph of Reservoirs (GUHR), proposed in this paper, is compared with Nash''s Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (Nash''s IUH), by applying the two methods to the Aixola watershed. This 4.7-km2 watershed is located in Gipuzkoa (Northern Spain). It is characteristic of the headwaters watersheds of the area. Most of them are forested and have steep slopes. Annual rainfall is over 1500 mm and many intense rainfall events are observed, among which 18 were selected for this study. Both UH techniques were applied to the rainstorms. The resulting hydrographs were plotted against registered data and the best fits were determined. According to these results, the GUHR model behaved similarly to Nash''s IUH. However, the GUHR method seemed able to reproduce a wider range of rainstorms than Nash''s IUH. While analyzing the UHs calculated, seasonal behavior was observed in runoff generation, and different average UHs were proposed for two different periods. This variability was also observed in values adopted by the GUHR model parameter, providing some information about the watershed time response. The dynamic character of the only uncertain parameter, and the model formulation, in which the watershed morphology is reflected, together with the model''s simplicity, leads us to consider GUHR as being a promising UH model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract The influence of mechanically-induced defects on the magnetostructural properties is analyzed in a Ni-Co-Mn-Sn alloy subjected to soft milling and subsequent annealing treatments. It is found that, opposite to what occurs in Ni-Mn-Sn ternary alloys, the annealing treatment affects the magnetic properties in a different way in martensite and in austenite. In particular, the saturation magnetization significantly increases in martensite after annealing whereas just a very slight variation is observed in austenite. This leads to the interesting fact that the presence of microstructural defects, far for worsening, makes the magnetocaloric effect to be higher in the as-milled state than after annealing. This behavior is explained as the result of the combination of the effect of defects on the Mn-Mn distance, the effect of Co on the magnetic exchange coupling between Mn atoms, and the effect of defects on the vibrational entropy change at the martensitic transformation. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Saturation magnetization increases in martensite but not in austenite after annealing. • Local atomic disorder linked to defects hinders ferromagnetic coupling in martensite. • Microstructural defects makes the magnetocaloric effect to be higher before annealing. • Higher attainable magnetically-induced entropy change in the as-milled state. • Stronger influence of induced defects on the vibrational entropy of the austenite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Structural, magnetic and hyperthermia studies of Co x Zn 1− x Fe 2 O 4 nanoparticles. • Maximum magnetization values for x = 0.5 associated to cation distribution. • Decrease in Curie point and magnetocrystalline anisotropy with Zn content. • Occurrence of canted spin arrangement (Y-K angle). • Optimum self-controlled temperature hyperthermia agents. Abstract A comparative study of the magnetic properties (magnetic moment, magnetocrystalline anisotropy) and hyperthermia response in Co-Zn spinel nanoparticles is presented. The Co x Zn 1− x Fe 2 O 4 nanoparticles (x = 1, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, 0.2 and 0.1) were synthesized by co-precipitated method and the morphology and mean crystallite size (around 10 nm) of the nanoparticles were analysed by TEM Microscopy. Regarding the magnetic characterization (SQUID magnetometry), Co-Zn nanoparticles display at room temperature anhysteretic magnetization curves, characteristic of the superparamagnetic behavior. A decrease in the blocking temperature, T B , with Zn content is experimentally detected that can be ascribed to the reduction in the mean nanoparticle size as x decreases. Furthermore, the reduction in the magnetocrystalline anisotropy with Zn inclusion is confirmed through the analysis of T B versus the mean volume of the nanoparticles and the law of approach to saturation. Maximum magnetization is achieved for x = 0.5 as a result of the cation distribution between octahedral and tetrahedral spinel sites, analysed by neutron diffraction studies. The occurrence of a canted spin arrangement (Yafet-Kittel angle) is introduced to properly fit the magnetic spinel structures. Finally, the heating capacity of these spinel ferrites is analyzed under ac magnetic field (magnetic hyperthermia). Maximum SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) values are achieved for x = 0.5 that should be correlated to the maximum magnetic moment of this composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] New procedure for estimate magnetic field values for OHTLs. [•] Flat, Delta, and double circuit transmission line configurations are considered. [•] AG and AG/Sx hybridization are compared againsttheoretical and measured values. [•] The procedure reduces the measurements to define the magnetic profile of a OHTL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a new procedure that improves the efficiency of magnetic field measurement protocols for estimating longitudinal and lateral profiles of electromagnetic fields produced by overhead transmission lines (OHTLs). The main difficulty that arises in the application of a measurement protocol to characterize the magnetic environment of an OHTL is the difficulty to have, in the vast majority of cases of spans in urban areas, all the measurements corresponding to the points required in the protocol field. In the conventional procedure, measurements that are not available are replaced by theoretical values calculated using methods which allow having an approximate value of an analytical expression describing the behavior of a highly simplified model, used as a low quality solution. The solution provided in this paper is based on the application of a decoupled structure from artificial neural networks (ANNs) to characterize the magnetic environment of an OHTL, as an alternative to the procedure of direct measurement, expensive equipment and time, or of simple substitution of a value calculated theoretically using analytical procedures that sacrifice the quality of the solution in favor of simplifications in the calculations. To achieve this goal and on the basis of the available measurements (≈106), shows a system (expandable) of four groups of nine ANNs each whose configuration architecture meets the backpropagation (BP) equipped with a procedure to obtain the best solution using Pearson’s linear coefficient correlation as selection and post-processing criteria. The tool has proved to be very useful, in particular for environmental impact assessment procedures regarding new OHTLs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a rule-based approach for the classification of power quality disturbances. The disturbed signal is first characterized using the multi-resolution S-transform, which acts as a feature extraction tool. Then, a simple but robust rule-based classification algorithm is used to identify disturbances. This algorithm uses linear and parabolic rules as pattern classifiers where decision boundaries are established by a heuristic search. The classification algorithm has a modular structure where each module works separately to detect specific disturbances. The most common types of disturbances, including sags, interruptions, swells, harmonics and oscillatory transients, were analyzed. Moreover, complex disturbances consisting of combinations of two simple events (simultaneous or consecutive in the same interval) were also analyzed. In both cases, noise, ranging from 40 to 20dB, was also considered. The tested data set contains power quality signals obtained using mathematical models, power quality events obtained from power network''s simulations using PSCAD/EMTDC and measured signals at electrical installations. Finally, evaluation results verifying the accuracy of the proposed method are presented and compared to those obtained from a classification system based on an artificial neural network. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Shapley–Shubik power index in a voting situation depends on the number of orderings in which each player is pivotal. The Banzhaf power index depends on the number of ways in which each voter can effect a swing. If the input size of the problem is n, then the function which measures the worst case running time for computing these indices is in On2n. We present a method based on generating functions to compute these power indices efficiently for weighted multiple majority games and we study the temporal complexity of the algorithms. Finally, we apply the algorithms obtained with this method to compute the Banzhaf and the Shapley–Shubik indices under the two decision rules adopted in the Nice European Union summit. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]