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High service temperature of pressure vessel components necessitates the use of welded SA515 grade carbon steel components. The gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process using CO2 as shielding gas is known for its undesirable spatter behaviour and inferior weld quality. The alternating shielding gas flow (ASGF) technique is proposed in this study using the shielding gases, viz. CO2 and argon to overcome this difficulty. The welding current, stand-off distance, and shielding gas flow were all varied to improve the bead-on-plate profile geometry. The bead profile parameters such as depth of penetration, bead width, and bead height are considered as weld bead parameters. The following methods are used: correlation analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), modelling, and grey relational analysis (GRA). According to the findings, the welding current and ASGF are the most influential parameters impacting the weld bead characteristics. By increasing the welding current, the bead profile parameters increase linearly. The geometry of the bead profile was improved by using the GRA.

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is a relatively rare clinical condition with a wide range of symptomatology, caused by the obstruction of the hepatic venous outflow. If left untreated, it has got an high mortality rate. Its management is based on a step-wise approach, depending on the clinical presentation, and includes different treatment from anticoagulation therapy up to Interventional Radiology techniques, such as transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). TIPS is today considered a safe and highly effective treatment and should be recommended for BCS patients, including those awaiting orthotopic liver transplantation. In this review the pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment options of BCS are presented, with a special focus on published data regarding the techniques and outcomes of TIPS for the treatment of BCS. Moreover, unresolved issues and future research will be discussed. © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.

Background: We retrospectively investigated outcomes of emergency TAE for the management of life-threatening haemorrhage in patients with uncorrected bleeding diathesis. Materials and methods: This multicenter, retrospective, study, was designed to investigate the safety and efficacy of percutaneous TAE for the management of life-threatening haemorrhage in patients with uncorrected bleeding disorder at the time of embolization. All consecutive patients with uncorrected coagulation who underwent TAE for the treatment of haemorrhage, between January 1st and December 31th 2019 in three European centers were included. Inclusion criteria were thrombocytopenia (platelet count < 50,000/mL) and/or International Normalized Ratio (INR) ≥2.0, and/or activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) > 45 s, and/or a pre-existing underlying blood-clotting disorder such as factor VIII, Von Willebrand disease, hepatic cirrhosis with abnormal liver function tests. Primary outcome measures were technical success, rebleeding rate and clinical success. Secondary outcome measures included patients’ 30-day survival rate, and procedure-related complications. Results: In total, 134 patients underwent TAE for bleeding control. A subgroup of 17 patients with 18 procedures [11 female, mean age 70.5 ± 15 years] which represent 12.7% of the total number of patients, presented with pathological coagulation parameters at the time of TAE (haemophilia n = 3, thrombocytopenia n = 1, cirrhosis n = 5, anticoagulants n = 7, secondary to bleeding n = 1) and were analyzed. Technical success was 100%, as in all procedures the bleeding site was detected and successfully embolised. Clinical success was 100%, as none of the patients died of bleeding during hospitalization, nor was surgically treated for bleeding relapse. Only one rebleeding case was noted (5.9%) that was successfully treated with a second TAE. No procedure-related complications were noted. According to Kaplan-Meier analysis the estimated 30-day survival rate was 84.2%. Conclusion: TAE in selected patients with uncorrected bleeding diathesis should be considered as a suitable individualized management approach. Emergency TAE for life threatening haemorrhage in patients with coagulation cascade disorders should be used as an aid in realistic clinical decision making. © 2020, The Author(s).

Customers have become the lifeblood of any organization. Without customers, organizations would not exist let alone survive in this competitive global environment. Banks depend on sufficient and sustaining profitability to survive in the global business world. Customers are the source of banks’ profitability. By satisfying the customer, the bank is able to retain the customer and reap maximum benefits from the relationship which ultimately leads to higher profitability. Customer satisfaction has therefore evolved as a strategic business initiative which banks cannot ignore and retention of the bank customer has become one of the most important objectives of the overall marketing strategy of any bank. Customer satisfaction has been one of the main concerns of banks of late. This has been necessitated by the stiff competition in the banking industry. Banks are striving hard to offer quality services and products in a bid to maintain existing customers and woo new ones as well. Customers on the hand want the best value for their money so they are always coming around to get the best services.