A Prospective Comparative Study of Mobile Acoustic Uroflowmetry and Conventional Uroflowmetry

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the performance of a mobile acoustic Uroflowmetry (UFM) application compared with standard UFM in the pediatric population.Methods: A mobile acoustic UFM application represents a noninvasive method to estimate the urine flow rate by recording voiding sounds with a smartphone. Male pediatric patients who were undergoing UFM testing were prospectively recruited, and the voiding sounds were recorded and analyzed. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to compare the maximum flow rate (Qmax), average flow rate (Qavg), voiding time (VT), and voiding volume (VV) as estimated by acoustic UFM with those calculated by standard UFM. Differences in Qmax, Qavg, VT, and VV between the 2 UFM tests were determined using 95% Bland-Altman limits of agreement.Results: A total of 16 male patients were evaluated. Their median age was 9 years. With standard UFM, the median Qmax, Qavg, VT, and VV were 18.7 mL/sec, 11.1 mL/sec, 15.2 seconds, and 157.8 mL, respectively. Strong correlations were observed between the 2 methods for Qmax (ICC=0.755, P=0.005), VT (ICC=0.974, P<0.001), and VV (ICC=0.930, P<0.001), but not for Qavg (ICC=0.442, P=0.135). The Bland-Altman plot showed good agreement between the 2 UFM tests. Flow patterns recorded by acoustic UFM and conventional UFM showed good visual correlations.Conclusions: Acoustic UFM was comparable to standard UFM for male pediatric patients. Further validation of its performance in different toilet settings is necessary for broader use.

Analysis of water availability of the Singkoyo River for the irrigation needs in the Banggai Regency, Indonesian

Indonesia relies on its food security by expanding the area and productivity of agricultural land. This condition requires water to irrigate existing rice fields, such as in the Singkoyo area. This study aims to determine the study area’s surface water availability (Q80), irrigation needs, and water balance. Some methods are applied, such as Penman-Monteith for the evapotranspiration calculation, and the FJ Mock method for the dependable flow and water need based on the annual cropping plan. The result shows that the Singkoyo River, with a catchment area of 408.55 km2, has an average flow rate for Q80 is 6.24 m3sec-1, whereas the most significant discharge occurs in July 15.48 m3sec-1 and the smallest occurs in November at 2.86 m3sec-1. On the other hand, applying the worst scenario with three times of planting per year with rice, the need for three irrigation areas vary according to the NFR during the plantation phase from 7.20 m3sec-1 at the 3rd planting season in October, and the lowest is 2.0 m3sec-1 at the 2nd planting season in February. The water balance is mostly surplus from December to August, but then deficit during September to November by -1.34 m3 sec-1 on average.

Numerical simulation of a separated flow in a ribbed channel by the RANS and LES methods

The results of numerical simulation of a turbulent flow in a flat channel in the presence of vortex generators in the form of periodic solid ribs by the RANS and LES method are presented. The Reynolds number calculated by the rib height and the average flow rate is Re = 12600. The influence of the distance between the ribs on the flow structure is investigated. The boundaries of different types of roughness and their influence on the heat transfer intensity are shown.

Controlling Capillary Flow Rate on Lateral Flow Test Substrates by Tape

Controlling capillary flow rate of sample liquid is of high interest for lateral flow tests, since the flow rate can affect the dissolution and mixing of the immunoreagents and the efficiency of immunoreactions. Here we develop a facile method to adjust the capillary flow rate on lateral flow test substrates by using tape to cover the surface of substrates. We test this method on the traditional lateral flow test substrate—nitrocellulose and a novel lateral flow test substrate—synthetic paper, which is a porous media made by interlocked off-stoichiometry thiol-ene (OSTE) micropillars. We found that after the surface was covered by tape, the average flow rate decreased to 61% of the original flow rate on nitrocellulose, while the average flow rate increased to at least 320% of the original flow rate on synthetic paper. More interesting, besides the increase of flow rate, the volume capacity of synthetic paper also increases after covered by tape. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of length and position of tape on the capillary flow rate for nitrocellulose. A longer tape will lead to a smaller flow rate. The influence of tape of same length on the flow rate is bigger when the tape is placed closer to the loading pad. These results can help in the flow rate control on lateral flow test substrates, and potentially improve the performance of lateral flow tests.

Resilience to climate change: adaptation strategies for the water supply system of Formia, Gaeta (Province of Latina, Central Italy)

&lt;p&gt;The aqueduct that serves the municipalities of Formia, Gaeta (province of Latina, Italy), for which &amp;#8220;ATO 4&amp;#8221; Integrated Urban Water Management Agency is responsible, is supplied by two important karst sources fed by the western Aurunci Mountains: Mazzoccolo spring, with an average flow rate of 1100 l/s, and Capodacqua di Spigno spring, whose average flow rate is 1300 l/s.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Although these sources were already used in ancient Roman times and the quality of their water is excellent, the precipitation regime modifications, caused by climate changes, has exacerbated the following problems:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;a decrease in the flow rates of the springs caused by the cyclical reduction of winter rainfall.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;an increase of turbidity that makes the water temporarily unfit for human consumption.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;In order to mitigate these problems affecting a resident population of about 150,000 people, Acqualatina S.p.A. &amp;#8211; the water service provider &amp;#8211; has promoted a series of unpublished geological, hydrogeological and geophysical studies to increase the knowledge of the hydrogeological aspects and to find additional sources of supply to improve the existing system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We studied, therefore, a strategy aimed at diversifying the water supply by connecting the adjacent areas to the main water network and by identifying new aquifers in the area that were not affected by the aforementioned problems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We hereby present the results of the research carried out before and during the construction of the wellfield called &quot;25 Ponti&quot; located in the plain of Formia, in the coastal area near the Tomb of Cicero (Tomba di Cicerone) archaeological site. Four (4) wells with a depth ranging between 55m and 100m and four (4) monitoring piezometers were drilled which intercepted a pressurized aquifer underlying Pleistocene marine terrace deposits, with a thickness ranging between 20m and 75m, which act as an aquiclude. The quality of the water was excellent from a physical chemical and bacteriological point of view, with different chemical properties compared to Mazzoccolo and Capodacqua springs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The first work carried out during the 2017 water crisis showed an increase in salinity over time, potentially suggesting saltwater intrusion (Sappa, 2019).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In collaboration with D.I.C.E.A., the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering of &amp;#8220;La Sapienza&amp;#8221; University in Rome, the groundwater was monitored to verify, and thus avoid, any saltwater intrusion. To this end, two wells with a total flow rate of about 50 l/s were commissioned and remained active for a period of 8 months (August 2019 - March 2020). About 120 water samples were analyzed from a chemical and isotopic point of view, while the piezometric trend, the electrical conductivity and temperature were recorded by means of multiparameter probes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The results obtained showed that the increased mineralization of the aquifer follows a seasonal trend regulated by the groundwater extraction from the wells that, in some periods of the year, affects the regulated reserves. This seasonal phenomenon was also confirmed when monitoring was performed in absence of pumping.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To date, the change in salinity is believed to be due to the extraction of deep waters rather than to seawater intrusion.&lt;/p&gt;

Aguas residuales de industria láctea como alternativa sostenible para aumentar la productividad del maíz en Perú

Corn (Zea Mays) is the most cultivated cereal in the world and this is a staple food for human beings that is why in recent years they are looking for alternatives to improve their production. On the other hand, whey is a residual effluent from the dairy industry generally eliminated in sewage, however, due to its high organic load it can be used to produce different biofertilizers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect on the production of the corn crop when applying a biofertilizer obtained by anaerobic fermentation of whey and bovine manure. The study was conducted between October 2018 and February 2019, in the experimental area of the Calaspam association, located in Majes, Arequipa-Peru. A complete randomized block experimental design was used in a 2×4 factorial scheme composed by three biofertilizer treatments (6.9 and 12 LBF/water) and a control treatment with three replicates applied with an average flow rate of 1.5 Lha-1. Morphological, post-harvest and economic indicators were determined, as well as the chlorophyll content. Results indicate that biofertilizer treatments improved the indicators studied. The third treatment shows higher values in all the indicators compared to the other treatments, being the values of yield (79,29±7,33 103 kgha-1) and marginal return rate (85,73%) the most outstanding. It is concluded that the biofertilizer obtained from bovine manure and whey has a positive effect on corn production and its application is economically viable.

Effects of flavourants and humectants on waterpipe tobacco puffing behaviour, biomarkers of exposure and subjective effects among adults with high versus low nicotine dependence

IntroductionFlavourants and humectants in waterpipe tobacco (WT) increase product appeal. Removal of these constituents, however, is associated with increased intensity of WT puffing, likely due to reduced nicotine delivery efficiency. To clarify the potential public health outcomes of restrictions on flavourants or humectants in WT, we evaluated the effects of these constituents on puffing behaviours, biomarkers of exposure and subjective effects among adults with high versus low WT dependence.MethodsN=39 high dependence and N=49 low dependence WT smokers (Lebanese Waterpipe Dependence Scale scores >10 = high dependence) completed four smoking sessions in a cross-over experiment. Conditions were preferred flavour with humectant (+F+H), preferred flavour without humectant (+F-H), unflavoured with humectant (−F+H) and unflavoured without humectant (−F−H). Measures of puff topography, plasma nicotine and expired carbon monoxide (eCO) boost, and subjective effects were assessed.ResultsLevel of WT dependence modified the effect of WT condition on average flow rate, average puff volume and eCO boost. Although, overall, participants puffed the +F+H WT least intensely and −F−H WT most intensely, this association was strongest among WT smokers with high dependence. Participants preferred smoking the +F+H WT and achieved the largest plasma nicotine boost in that condition.DiscussionFindings underscore the complexity of setting product standards related to flavourants and humectants in WT. Future research evaluating whether WT smokers with high dependence would quit or reduce their WT smoking in response to removal of flavourants or humectants from WT is necessary to appreciate the full public health effects of such policies.

COMPUTATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF THE AREA OF SUSTAINABLE COMBUSTION OF NATURAL GAS WITH AIR

One of the rational ways of creating low-emission combustion chambers is the organization of low-temperature lean combustion with external heating of the components before they are fed into the combustion chamber. When organizing lowtemperature lean combustion with large excess air ratios, problems may arise with ensuring a stable position of the flame front. Combustion stability to a large extent depends on the ratio of the average flow rate and the rate of turbulent combustion. The rate of turbulent combustion depends on the composition, pressure and temperature of the components supply and the degree of turbulence in the combustion chamber. The average flow rate depends on the excess air ratio (oxidizer and fuel consumption) and the geometric dimensions of the chamber. Earlier it was shown that when developing a low-emission combustion chamber with low-temperature lean combustion, it is advantageous to use the relative flow rate as a generalized characteristic of the intra-chamber process, which takes into account the consumption, geometric and thermodynamic parameters in the combustion chamber. This work is devoted to the analysis of stable combustion of a fuel composition natural gas + air based on the experimental data available in the public domain by the authors from the University of Michigan (USA). With the help of the methods developed by the authors, the experimental data on the limiting feed rates of the components into the atmospheric burner were processed. The limiting flow rates of air and natural gas, the limiting values of the excess air ratio, the longitudinal values of the speed of the fuel-air mixture and the limiting values of the relative flow rate are obtained and analyzed. Areas of stable combustion by the listed parameters at different degrees of air swirl are graphically presented.

Investigation of methods for equalizing the flow parameters in the axial compressor intake flare

The problem of ensuring a uniform velocity field at the air inlet to the first stage of the gas turbine compressor SGT5-2000E with an angular inlet path, that contains an inlet filter, a silencer and an angular intake flare, is considered. Based on the mathematical modeling of the flow in this flare, it was found that the maximum speed at the compressor inlet is 36% higher than the average flow rate. It leads to the fact that the range of stable operation of the compressor seriously narrows. To solve this problem, it is proposed to change the intake flare design so that a newly developed effective damper of uneven velocity fields is installed in its flow part. Studies have shown that in this way the nonuniformity coefficient was reduced from the above 36% to 6%.