Dynamic and stochastic multi-project planning

CERN Document Server

Melchiors, Philipp

2015-01-01

This book deals with dynamic and stochastic methods for multi-project planning. Based on the idea of using queueing networks for the analysis of dynamic-stochastic multi-project environments this book addresses two problems: detailed scheduling of project activities, and integrated order acceptance and capacity planning. In an extensive simulation study, the book thoroughly investigates existing scheduling policies. To obtain optimal and near optimal scheduling policies new models and algorithms are proposed based on the theory of Markov decision processes and Approximate Dynamic programming.

Experimental researches and comparison on aerodynamic parameters and cleaning efficiency of multi-level multi-channel cyclone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandras Chlebnikovas

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Multi-level multi-channel cyclone – the lately designed air cleaning device that can remove ultra-fine 20 μm particulatematter (PM from dusted air and reach over 95% of the overall cleaning efficiency. Multi-channel cyclone technology is based on centrifugal forces and has the resulting additional filtering process operation. Multi-level structure of cyclone allows to achieve higher air flow cleaning capacity at the same dimensions of the device, thus saving installation space required for the job, production and operating costs. Studies have examined the air flow parameters change in one–, two– and three–levels multichannel cyclone. These constructions differ according to the productivity of cleaned air under the constant peripheral and transitional (50/50 case air flow relations. Accordance with the results of air flow dynamics – velocity distribution of multi-channel cyclone, aerodynamic resistance and efficiency can be judged on the flow turbulence, the flow channel cross-section and select the most appropriate application. Cleaning efficiency studies were carried out using fine granite and wood ashes PM. The maximum cleaning efficiency was 93.3%, at an average of 4.5 g/m3, the aerodynamic resistance was equal to 1525 Pa.

Modeling Multi-Level Systems

CERN Document Server

Iordache, Octavian

2011-01-01

This book is devoted to modeling of multi-level complex systems, a challenging domain for engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs, confronted with the transition from learning and adaptability to evolvability and autonomy for technologies, devices and problem solving methods. Chapter 1 introduces the multi-scale and multi-level systems and highlights their presence in different domains of science and technology. Methodologies as, random systems, non-Archimedean analysis, category theory and specific techniques as model categorification and integrative closure, are presented in chapter 2. Chapters 3 and 4 describe polystochastic models, PSM, and their developments. Categorical formulation of integrative closure offers the general PSM framework which serves as a flexible guideline for a large variety of multi-level modeling problems. Focusing on chemical engineering, pharmaceutical and environmental case studies, the chapters 5 to 8 analyze mixing, turbulent dispersion and entropy production for multi-scale sy...

A fast photo-counter with multi-level buffers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng Hu; Zhou Peiling; Yao Kun; Guo Guangcan

1992-01-01

Digital Photon Correlator (DPC) is composed of a Photo-counter and a data processing unit. The performance of Photo-counter in data acquisition system has a direct influence on data processing. The Photo-counter with fast carry designed here has multi-level buffers. Photon pulses can be correctly and dynamically recorded by the Photo-counter and processed by a single chip computer

Accelerating solving the dynamic multi-objective nework design problem using response surface methods

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wismans, Luc Johannes Josephus; van Berkum, Eric C.; Bliemer, Michiel C.J.; Viti, F.; Immers, B.; Tampere, C.

2011-01-01

Multi objective optimization of externalities of traffic solving a network design problem in which Dynamic Traffic Management measures are used, is time consuming while heuristics are needed and solving the lower level requires solving the dynamic user equilibrium problem. Use of response surface

The Comprehensive Biomechanics and Load-Sharing of Semirigid PEEK and Semirigid Posterior Dynamic Stabilization Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. K. Sengupta

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Alternatives to conventional rigid fusion have been proposed for several conditions related to degenerative disc disease when nonoperative treatment has failed. Semirigid fixation, in the form of dynamic stabilization or PEEK rods, is expected to provide compression under loading as well as an intermediate level of stabilization. This study systematically examines both the load-sharing characteristics and kinematics of these two devices compared to the standard of internal rigid fixators. Load-sharing was studied by using digital pressure films inserted between an artificially machined disc and two loading fixtures. Rigid rods, PEEK rods, and the dynamic stabilization system were inserted posteriorly for stabilization. The kinematics were quantified on ten, human, cadaver lumbosacral spines (L3-S1 which were tested under a pure bending moment, in flexion-extension, lateral bending, and axial rotation. The magnitude of load transmission through the anterior column was significantly greater with the dynamic device compared to PEEK rods and rigid rods. The contact pressures were distributed more uniformly, throughout the disc with the dynamic stabilization devices, and had smaller maximum point-loading (pressures on any particular point within the disc. Kinematically, the motion was reduced by both semirigid devices similarly in all directions, with slight rigidity imparted by a lateral interbody device.

Multi-stage decoding of multi-level modulation codes

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shu; Kasami, Tadao; Costello, Daniel J., Jr.

1991-01-01

Various types of multi-stage decoding for multi-level modulation codes are investigated. It is shown that if the component codes of a multi-level modulation code and types of decoding at various stages are chosen properly, high spectral efficiency and large coding gain can be achieved with reduced decoding complexity. Particularly, it is shown that the difference in performance between the suboptimum multi-stage soft-decision maximum likelihood decoding of a modulation code and the single-stage optimum soft-decision decoding of the code is very small, only a fraction of dB loss in signal to noise ratio at a bit error rate (BER) of 10(exp -6).

Use of dynamic 3-dimensional transvaginal and transrectal ultrasonography to assess posterior pelvic floor dysfunction related to obstructed defecation.

Science.gov (United States)

Murad-Regadas, Sthela M; Regadas Filho, Francisco Sergio Pinheiro; Regadas, Francisco Sergio Pinheiro; Rodrigues, Lusmar Veras; de J R Pereira, Jacyara; da S Fernandes, Graziela Olivia; Dealcanfreitas, Iris Daiana; Mendonca Filho, Jose Jader

2014-02-01

New ultrasound techniques may complement current diagnostic tools, and combined techniques may help to overcome the limitations of individual techniques for the diagnosis of anorectal dysfunction. A high degree of agreement has been demonstrated between echodefecography (dynamic 3-dimensional anorectal ultrasonography) and conventional defecography. Our aim was to evaluate the ability of a combined approach consisting of dynamic 3-dimensional transvaginal and transrectal ultrasonography by using a 3-dimensional biplane endoprobe to assess posterior pelvic floor dysfunctions related to obstructed defecation syndrome in comparison with echodefecography. This was a prospective, observational cohort study conducted at a tertiary-care hospital. Consecutive female patients with symptoms of obstructed defecation were eligible. Each patient underwent assessment of posterior pelvic floor dysfunctions with a combination of dynamic 3-dimensional transvaginal and transrectal ultrasonography by using a biplane transducer and with echodefecography. Kappa (κ) was calculated as an index of agreement between the techniques. Diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values) of the combined technique in detection of posterior dysfunctions was assessed with echodefecography as the standard for comparison. A total of 33 women were evaluated. Substantial agreement was observed regarding normal relaxation and anismus. In detecting the absence or presence of rectocele, the 2 methods agreed in all cases. Near-perfect agreement was found for rectocele grade I, grade II, and grade III. Perfect agreement was found for entero/sigmoidocele, with near-perfect agreement for rectal intussusception. Using echodefecography as the standard for comparison, we found high diagnostic accuracy of transvaginal and transrectal ultrasonography in the detection of posterior dysfunctions. This combined technique should be compared with other dynamic techniques and

Interconnected Levels of Multi-Stage Marketing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vedel, Mette; Geersbro, Jens; Ritter, Thomas

2012-01-01

different levels of multi-stage marketing and illustrates these stages with a case study. In addition, a triadic perspective is introduced as an analytical tool for multi-stage marketing research. The results from the case study indicate that multi-stage marketing exists on different levels. Thus, managers...... must not only decide in general on the merits of multi-stage marketing for their firm, but must also decide on which level they will engage in multi-stage marketing. The triadic perspective enables a rich and multi-dimensional understanding of how different business relationships influence each other...... in a multi-stage marketing context. This understanding assists managers in assessing and balancing different aspects of multi- stage marketing. The triadic perspective also offers avenues for further research....

Multi-level trellis coded modulation and multi-stage decoding

Science.gov (United States)

Costello, Daniel J., Jr.; Wu, Jiantian; Lin, Shu

1990-01-01

Several constructions for multi-level trellis codes are presented and many codes with better performance than previously known codes are found. These codes provide a flexible trade-off between coding gain, decoding complexity, and decoding delay. New multi-level trellis coded modulation schemes using generalized set partitioning methods are developed for Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) and Phase Shift Keying (PSK) signal sets. New rotationally invariant multi-level trellis codes which can be combined with differential encoding to resolve phase ambiguity are presented.

Multi-level governance of forest resources (Editorial to the special feature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Mwangi

2012-08-01

Full Text Available A major challenge for many researchers and practitioners relates to how to recognize and address cross-scale dynamics in space and over time in order to design and implement effective governance arrangements. This editorial provides an overview of the concept of multi-level governance (MLG. In particular we highlight definitional issues, why the concept matters as well as more practical concerns related to the processes and structure of multi-level governance. It is increasingly clear that multi-level governance of forest resources involves complex interactions of state, private and civil society actors at various levels, and institutions linking higher levels of social and political organization. Local communities are increasingly connected to global networks and influences. This creates new opportunities to learn and address problems but may also introduce new pressures and risks. We conclude by stressing the need for a much complex approach to the varieties of MLG to better understand how policies work as instruments of governance and to organize communities within systems of power and authority.

A Multi-Actor Dynamic Integrated Assessment Model (MADIAM)

OpenAIRE

Weber, Michael

2004-01-01

The interactions between climate and the socio-economic system are investigated with a Multi-Actor Dynamic Integrated Assessment Model (MADIAM) obtained by coupling a nonlinear impulse response model of the climate sub-system (NICCS) to a multi-actor dynamic economic model (MADEM). The main goal is to initiate a model development that is able to treat the dynamics of the coupled climate socio-economic system, including endogenous technological change, in a non-equilibrium situation, thereby o...

640-slice DVCT multi-dimensionally and dynamically presents changes in bladder volume and urine flow rate

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Yunshan; Fang, Kewei; Mao, Chongwen; Xiang, Shutian; Wang, Jin; Li, Yingwen

2018-01-01

The present study aimed to explore the application of 640-slice dynamic volume computed tomography (DVCT) to excretory cystography and urethrography. A total of 70 healthy subjects were included in the study. Excretory cystography and urethrography using 640-slice DVCT was conducted to continuously record the motions of the bladder and the proximal female and male urethra. The patients' voiding process was divided into early, early to middle, middle, middle to late, and late voiding phases. The subjects were analyzed using DVCT and conventional CT. The cross-sectional areas of various sections of the male and female urethra were evaluated, and the average urine flow rate was calculated. The 640-slice DVCT technique was used to dynamically observe the urine flow rate and changes in bladder volume at all voiding phases. The urine volume detected by 640-slice DVCT exhibited no significant difference compared with the actual volume, and no significant difference compared with that determined using conventional CT. Furthermore, no significant difference in the volume of the bladder at each phase of the voiding process was detected between 640-slice DVCT and conventional CT. The results indicate that 640-slice DVCT can accurately evaluate the status of the male posterior urethra and female urethra. In conclusion, 640-slice DVCT is able to multi-dimensionally and dynamically present changes in bladder volume and urine flow rate, and could obtain similar results to conventional CT in detecting urine volume, as well as the status of the male posterior urethra and female urethra. PMID:29467853

Multi-stage decoding for multi-level block modulation codes

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shu

1991-01-01

In this paper, we investigate various types of multi-stage decoding for multi-level block modulation codes, in which the decoding of a component code at each stage can be either soft-decision or hard-decision, maximum likelihood or bounded-distance. Error performance of codes is analyzed for a memoryless additive channel based on various types of multi-stage decoding, and upper bounds on the probability of an incorrect decoding are derived. Based on our study and computation results, we find that, if component codes of a multi-level modulation code and types of decoding at various stages are chosen properly, high spectral efficiency and large coding gain can be achieved with reduced decoding complexity. In particular, we find that the difference in performance between the suboptimum multi-stage soft-decision maximum likelihood decoding of a modulation code and the single-stage optimum decoding of the overall code is very small: only a fraction of dB loss in SNR at the probability of an incorrect decoding for a block of 10(exp -6). Multi-stage decoding of multi-level modulation codes really offers a way to achieve the best of three worlds, bandwidth efficiency, coding gain, and decoding complexity.

Multi level configuration of ETO products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Thomas Ditlev; Jørgensen, Kaj Asbjørn; Hvolby, Hans-Henrik

2007-01-01

The paper introduces and defines central concepts related to multi level configuration and analyzes which challenges an engineer to order company must deal with to be able to realize a multi level configuration system. It is argued that high flexibility can be achieved and focus can be directed...... in certain business processes if a multi level configuration system is realized....

Budd-Chiari syndrome: dynamic enhancement findings with multi-slice helical CT and CT angiography analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng Xiaochun; Shan Hong; Zhu Kangshun; Xu Chuan; Zhang Jiansheng; Liu Lingyun; Ye Binbin

2005-01-01

Objective: To investigate the dynamic enhancement regulations of liver and their mechanism in Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) by using multi-slice CT and evaluate the value of CT angiography in the diagnosis of BCS. Methods: 28 cases with BCS confirmed by digital subtraction angiography (DSA) were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent dynamic enhancement examinations with multi-slice CT within 1 week before DSA. The relevant vessels were reconstructed respectively with MIP, VR and MPR. Compared with the results of DSA, we analyzed the dynamic enhancement regulations of liver in BCS, estimated the value of dynamic enhancement CT exams and CTA techniques in judging the obstruction level and showing collateral vessels. Results: Of all 28 cases, CT correctly showed the obstruction level in 26 cases, and 2 had incorrect results which proved to be membranous obstruction of the inferior vena cava superior to diaphragm. In 22 cases with hepatic vein obstructions, hepatic parenchyma displayed typical patchy enhancement in 19, atypical patchy enhancement in 3.8 cases among these showed benign nodules. Simultaneously, CT showed stenosis and rigidity of portal vein branches in 20, enlargement of hepatic artery in 14, hepatic collateral vessels in 20 out of 22 cases. In 6 cases with simple obstruction of inferior vena cava, hepatic changes were not found. Collateral circulations in or out of liver corresponded to the obstruction level. Conclusion: Dynamic enhancement examinations with multi-slice CT can correctly reflect the hepatic hemodynamic changes. Transverse images, combined with CTA, can explicitly display the obstruction level of vascular lesions and collateral circulations in BCS. (authors)

Multi-Level Secure Local Area Network

OpenAIRE

Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.); Center for Information Systems Studies Security and Research (CISR)

2011-01-01

Multi-Level Secure Local Area Network is a cost effective, multi-level, easy to use office environment leveraging existing high assurance technology. The Department of Defense and U.S. Government have an identified need to securely share information classified at differing security levels. Because there exist no commercial solutions to this problem, NPS is developing a MLS LAN. The MLS LAN extends high assurance capabilities of an evaluated multi-level secure system to commercial personal com...

Is Preventative Long-Segment Surgery for Multi-Level Spondylolysis Necessary? A Finite Element Analysis Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianqiang Mo

Full Text Available For multi-level spondylolysis patients, surgeons commonly choose to fix all the segments with pars interarticularis defect even those without slippage and not responsible for clinical symptoms. In this study, we tried to study the necessity of the preventative long-segment surgery for the defected segment without slippage in treatment of multi-level spondylolysis patients from a biomechanical perspective.We established a bi-level spondylolysis model with pars defects at L4 and L5 segments, and simulated posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF and pedicle screw fixation at L5-S1 level. Then we compared the biomechanical changes at L4 segment before and after surgery in neutral, flexion, extension, lateral bending and axial rotation position.The stress on L4 pars interarticularis was very similar before and after surgery, and reached the highest in axial rotation. The L3-L4 intradiscal pressure was almost the same, while L4-L5 intradiscal pressure changed a little in lateral bending (increase from 1.993 to 2.160 MPa and axial rotation (decrease from 1.639 to 1.307 MPa after surgery. The PLIF surgery caused a little increase of range of motion at adjacent L4-L5 and L3-L4 levels, but the change is very tiny (1 degree.The PLIF surgery will not cause significant biomechanical change at adjacent segment with pars defect in multi-level spondylolysis. On the contrary, excessive long-segment surgery will damage surrounding soft tissues which are important for maintaining the stability of spine. So a preventative long-segment surgery is not necessary for multi-level spondylolysis as long as there are no soft tissue degeneration signs at adjacent level.

Is Preventative Long-Segment Surgery for Multi-Level Spondylolysis Necessary? A Finite Element Analysis Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mo, Jianqiang; Zhang, Wen; Zhong, Dongyan; Xu, Hao; Wang, Lan; Yu, Jia; Luo, Zongping

2016-01-01

For multi-level spondylolysis patients, surgeons commonly choose to fix all the segments with pars interarticularis defect even those without slippage and not responsible for clinical symptoms. In this study, we tried to study the necessity of the preventative long-segment surgery for the defected segment without slippage in treatment of multi-level spondylolysis patients from a biomechanical perspective. We established a bi-level spondylolysis model with pars defects at L4 and L5 segments, and simulated posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) and pedicle screw fixation at L5-S1 level. Then we compared the biomechanical changes at L4 segment before and after surgery in neutral, flexion, extension, lateral bending and axial rotation position. The stress on L4 pars interarticularis was very similar before and after surgery, and reached the highest in axial rotation. The L3-L4 intradiscal pressure was almost the same, while L4-L5 intradiscal pressure changed a little in lateral bending (increase from 1.993 to 2.160 MPa) and axial rotation (decrease from 1.639 to 1.307 MPa) after surgery. The PLIF surgery caused a little increase of range of motion at adjacent L4-L5 and L3-L4 levels, but the change is very tiny (1 degree). The PLIF surgery will not cause significant biomechanical change at adjacent segment with pars defect in multi-level spondylolysis. On the contrary, excessive long-segment surgery will damage surrounding soft tissues which are important for maintaining the stability of spine. So a preventative long-segment surgery is not necessary for multi-level spondylolysis as long as there are no soft tissue degeneration signs at adjacent level.

The effect of proximal tibial slope on dynamic stability testing of the posterior cruciate ligament- and posterolateral corner-deficient knee.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrigliano, Frank A; Suero, Eduardo M; Voos, James E; Pearle, Andrew D; Allen, Answorth A

2012-06-01

Proximal tibial slope has been shown to influence anteroposterior translation and tibial resting point in the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)-deficient knee. The effect of proximal tibial slope on rotational stability of the knee is unknown. Change in proximal tibial slope produced via osteotomy can influence both static translation and dynamic rotational kinematics in the PCL/posterolateral corner (PLC)-deficient knee. Controlled laboratory study. Posterior drawer, dial, and mechanized reverse pivot-shift (RPS) tests were performed on hip-to-toe specimens and translation of the lateral and medial compartments measured utilizing navigation (n = 10). The PCL and structures of the PLC were then sectioned. Stability testing was repeated, and compartmental translation was recorded. A proximal tibial osteotomy in the sagittal plane was then performed achieving either +5° or -5° of tibial slope variation, after which stability testing was repeated (n = 10). Analysis was performed using 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA; α = .05). Combined sectioning of the PCL and PLC structures resulted in a 10.5-mm increase in the posterior drawer, 15.5-mm increase in the dial test at 30°, 14.5-mm increase in the dial test at 90°, and 17.9-mm increase in the RPS (vs intact; P slope (high tibial osteotomy [HTO] +5°) in the PCL/PLC-deficient knee reduced medial compartment translation by 3.3 mm during posterior drawer (vs deficient; P slope (HTO -5°) caused a 4.8-mm increase in medial compartment translation (vs deficient state; P slope diminished static posterior instability of the PCL/PLC-deficient knee as measured by the posterior drawer test but had little effect on rotational or dynamic multiplanar stability as assessed by the dial and RPS tests, respectively. Conversely, decreasing posterior slope resulted in increased posterior instability and a significant increase in the magnitude of the RPS. These results suggest that increasing posterior tibial slope may improve

Unilateral hyperplasia of the left posterior arch and associated vertebral schisis at C6 level

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Esposito, Giuseppe; Bonis, Pasquale de; Tamburrini, Gianpiero; Massimi, Luca; Rocco, Concezio di [Catholic University, School of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Rome (Italy); Byvaltsev, Vadim [Irkutsk Railway Clinical Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Irkutsk (Russian Federation); Leone, Antonio [Catholic University, School of Medicine, Department of Bioimaging and Radiological Sciences, Rome (Italy)

2009-12-15

We report on a 5-year-old girl with unilateral hyperplasia of the left posterior arch of C6 associated with spina bifida occulta at the same level. Anteroposterior and lateral radiographs of the cervical spine showed hypertrophy of the left lamina as well as overgrowth and elongation of the left spinous process of the sixth cervical vertebra. Computed tomography (CT) examination better depicted this congenital variant and clearly showed the associated schisis of the posterior arch at the same level. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging examination ruled out other spinal anomalies. The neck pain, the young age of the patient and the local aesthetic abnormality contributed to the surgical indication. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case in the English literature of unilateral hyperplasia of a posterior cervical arch. Only one previous study has reported a similar congenital anomaly, but it was limited to the left side of the spinous process. (orig.)

Unilateral hyperplasia of the left posterior arch and associated vertebral schisis at C6 level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esposito, Giuseppe; Bonis, Pasquale de; Tamburrini, Gianpiero; Massimi, Luca; Rocco, Concezio di; Byvaltsev, Vadim; Leone, Antonio

2009-01-01

We report on a 5-year-old girl with unilateral hyperplasia of the left posterior arch of C6 associated with spina bifida occulta at the same level. Anteroposterior and lateral radiographs of the cervical spine showed hypertrophy of the left lamina as well as overgrowth and elongation of the left spinous process of the sixth cervical vertebra. Computed tomography (CT) examination better depicted this congenital variant and clearly showed the associated schisis of the posterior arch at the same level. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging examination ruled out other spinal anomalies. The neck pain, the young age of the patient and the local aesthetic abnormality contributed to the surgical indication. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case in the English literature of unilateral hyperplasia of a posterior cervical arch. Only one previous study has reported a similar congenital anomaly, but it was limited to the left side of the spinous process. (orig.)

FLAIR vascular hyperintensities and dynamic 4D angiograms for the estimation of collateral blood flow in posterior circulation occlusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foerster, Alex; Wenz, Holger; Kerl, Hans Ulrich; Al-Zghloul, Mansour; Habich, Sonia; Groden, Christoph

2014-01-01

The objectives of this paper are to assess collateral blood flow in posterior circulation occlusion by MRI-based approaches (fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) vascular hyperintensities (FVHs), collateralization on dynamic 4D angiograms) and investigate its relation to ischemic lesion size and growth. In 28 patients with posterior cerebral artery (PCA) and 10 patients with basilar artery (BA) occlusion, MRI findings were analyzed, with emphasis on distal FVH and collateralization on dynamic 4D angiograms. In PCA occlusion, distal FVH was observed in 18/29 (62.1 %), in BA occlusion, in 8/10 (80 %) cases. Collateralization on dynamic 4D angiograms was graded 1 in 8 (27.6 %) patients, 2 in 1 (3.4 %) patient, 3 in 12 (41.4 %) patients, and 4 in 8 (27.6 %) patients with PCA occlusion and 0 in 1 (10 %) patient, 2 in 3 (30 %) patients, 3 in 1 (10 %) patient, and 4 in 5 (50 %) patients with BA occlusion. FVH grade showed neither correlation with initial or follow-up diffusion-weighted image (DWI) lesion size nor DWI-perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) mismatch ratio. Collateralization on dynamic 4D angiograms correlated inversely with initial DWI lesion size and moderately with the DWI-(PWI) mismatch ratio. The combination of distal FVH and collateralization grade on dynamic 4D angiograms correlated inversely with initial as well as follow-up DWI lesion size and highly with the DWI-PWI mismatch ratio. In posterior circulation occlusion, FVH is a frequent finding, but its prognostic value is limited. Dynamic 4D angiograms are advantageous to examine and graduate collateral blood flow. The combination of both parameters results in an improved characterization of collateral blood flow and might have prognostic relevance. (orig.)

A Container-based Trusted Multi-level Security Mechanism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Xiao-Yong

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Multi-level security mechanism has been widely applied in the military, government, defense and other domains in which information is required to be divided by security-level. Through this type of security mechanism, users at different security levels are provided with information at corresponding security levels. Traditional multi-level security mechanism which depends on the safety of operating system finally proved to be not practical. We propose a container-based trusted multi-level security mechanism in this paper to improve the applicability of the multi-level mechanism. It guarantees multi-level security of the system through a set of multi-level security policy rules and trusted techniques. The technical feasibility and application scenarios are also discussed. The ease of realization, strong practical significance and low cost of our method will largely expand the application of multi-level security mechanism in real life.

Dynamic Sonographic Visualization of an Occult Posterior Lateral Meniscocapsular Separation: A Case Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, Allison; Musahl, Volker; Urbanek, Christopher; Onishi, Kentaro

2018-04-05

Meniscocapsular separation describes detachment of the meniscus from the knee joint capsule. Diagnosis is challenging with conventional examination and imaging methods. We report a case of an 18-year-old female softball catcher with unrevealing magnetic resonance imaging despite continued left knee locking and discomfort with deep squatting. Meniscocapsular separation was revealed only on dynamic sonographic exam, where knee flexion revealed a 3.1-mm gap that developed between the capsule and peripheral meniscus. Arthroscopy confirmed the sonographic findings, and repair resulted in complete resolution of symptoms. This case highlights the utility of dynamic diagnostic sonography in a rare case of posterior lateral meniscocapsular separation. Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Tabu search approaches for the multi-level warehouse layout problem with adjacency constraints

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, G. Q.; Lai, K. K.

2010-08-01

A new multi-level warehouse layout problem, the multi-level warehouse layout problem with adjacency constraints (MLWLPAC), is investigated. The same item type is required to be located in adjacent cells, and horizontal and vertical unit travel costs are product dependent. An integer programming model is proposed to formulate the problem, which is NP hard. Along with a cube-per-order index policy based heuristic, the standard tabu search (TS), greedy TS, and dynamic neighbourhood based TS are presented to solve the problem. The computational results show that the proposed approaches can reduce the transportation cost significantly.

On multi-dissipative dynamic systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thygesen, Uffe Høgsbro

1999-01-01

We consider deterministic dynamic systems with state space representations which are dissipative in the sense of Willems (1972) with respect to several supply rates. This property is of interest in robustness analysis and in multi-objective control. We give conditions under which the convex cone...

Multi-Level Determinants of Parasitic Fly Infection in Forest Passerines

Science.gov (United States)

Manzoli, Darío Ezequiel; Antoniazzi, Leandro Raúl; Saravia, María José; Silvestri, Leonardo; Rorhmann, David; Beldomenico, Pablo Martín

2013-01-01

The study of myiasis is important because they may cause problems to the livestock industry, public health, or wildlife conservation. The ecology of parasitic dipterans that cause myiasis is singular, as they actively seek their hosts over relatively long distances. However, studies that address the determinants of myiasis dynamics are very scarce. The genus Philornis include species that may be excellent models to study myiasis ecology, as they exclusively parasitize bird nestlings, which stay in their nests until they are fully fledged, and larvae remain at the point of entry until the parasitic stage is over, thus allowing the collection of sequential individual-level infection data from virtually all the hosts present at a particular area. Here we offer a stratified multi-level analysis of longitudinal data of Philornis torquans parasitism in replicated forest bird communities of central Argentina. Using Generalized Linear Models and Generalized Linear Mixed Models and an information theory approach for model selection, we conducted four groups of analyses, each with a different study unit, the individual, the brood, the community at a given week, and the community at a given year. The response variable was larval abundance per nestling or mean abundance per nestling. At each level, models included the variables of interest of that particular level, and also potential confounders and effect modifiers of higher levels. We found associations of large magnitude at all levels, but only few variables truly governed the dynamics of this parasite. At the individual level, the infection was determined by the species and the age of the host. The main driver of parasite abundance at the microhabitat level was the average height of the forest, and at the community level, the density of hosts and prior rainfall. This multi-level approach contributed to a better understanding of the ecology of myiasis. PMID:23874408

Explicit/multi-parametric model predictive control (MPC) of linear discrete-time systems by dynamic and multi-parametric programming

KAUST Repository

Kouramas, K.I.

2011-08-01

This work presents a new algorithm for solving the explicit/multi- parametric model predictive control (or mp-MPC) problem for linear, time-invariant discrete-time systems, based on dynamic programming and multi-parametric programming techniques. The algorithm features two key steps: (i) a dynamic programming step, in which the mp-MPC problem is decomposed into a set of smaller subproblems in which only the current control, state variables, and constraints are considered, and (ii) a multi-parametric programming step, in which each subproblem is solved as a convex multi-parametric programming problem, to derive the control variables as an explicit function of the states. The key feature of the proposed method is that it overcomes potential limitations of previous methods for solving multi-parametric programming problems with dynamic programming, such as the need for global optimization for each subproblem of the dynamic programming step. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A multi-level approach to understanding the impact of cyber crime on the financial sector

OpenAIRE

Monica Lagazio; Nazneen Sherif; Mike Cushman

2014-01-01

This paper puts forward a multi-level model, based on system dynamics methodology, to understand the impact of cyber crime on the financial sector. Consistent with recent findings, our results show that strong dynamic relationships, amongst tangible and intangible factors, affect cyber crime cost and occur at different levels of society and value network. Specifically, shifts in financial companies’ strategic priorities, having the protection of customer trust and loyalty as a key objective, ...

Optimization of multi-response dynamic systems integrating multiple ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

regression and Taguchi's dynamic signal-to-noise ratio concept ..... algorithm for dynamic multi-response optimization based on goal programming approach. .... problem-solving confirmation, if no grave infringement of model suppositions is ...

Multi-Level Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Constanta Nicoleta BODEA

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Is an original paper, which contains a hierarchical model with three levels, for determining the linearized non-homogeneous and homogeneous credibility premiums at company level, at sector level and at contract level, founded on the relevant covariance relations between the risk premium, the observations and the weighted averages. We give a rather explicit description of the input data for the multi- level hierarchical model used, only to show that in practical situations, there will always be enough data to apply credibility theory to a real insurance portfolio.

Posterior Transpedicular Dynamic Stabilization versus Total Disc Replacement in the Treatment of Lumbar Painful Degenerative Disc Disease: A Comparison of Clinical Results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tunc Oktenoglu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Study Design. Prospective clinical study. Objective. This study compares the clinical results of anterior lumbar total disc replacement and posterior transpedicular dynamic stabilization in the treatment of degenerative disc disease. Summary and Background Data. Over the last two decades, both techniques have emerged as alternative treatment options to fusion surgery. Methods. This study was conducted between 2004 and 2010 with a total of 50 patients (25 in each group. The mean age of the patients in total disc prosthesis group was 37,32 years. The mean age of the patients in posterior dynamic transpedicular stabilization was 43,08. Clinical (VAS and Oswestry and radiological evaluations (lumbar lordosis and segmental lordosis angles of the patients were carried out prior to the operation and 3, 12, and 24 months after the operation. We compared the average duration of surgery, blood loss during the surgery and the length of hospital stay of both groups. Results. Both techniques offered significant improvements in clinical parameters. There was no significant change in radiologic evaluations after the surgery for both techniques. Conclusion. Both dynamic systems provided spine stability. However, the posterior dynamic system had a slight advantage over anterior disc prosthesis because of its convenient application and fewer possible complications.

Segmental and global lordosis changes with two-level axial lumbar interbody fusion and posterior instrumentation

Science.gov (United States)

Melgar, Miguel A; Tobler, William D; Ernst, Robert J; Raley, Thomas J; Anand, Neel; Miller, Larry E; Nasca, Richard J

2014-01-01

Background Loss of lumbar lordosis has been reported after lumbar interbody fusion surgery and may portend poor clinical and radiographic outcome. The objective of this research was to measure changes in segmental and global lumbar lordosis in patients treated with presacral axial L4-S1 interbody fusion and posterior instrumentation and to determine if these changes influenced patient outcomes. Methods We performed a retrospective, multi-center review of prospectively collected data in 58 consecutive patients with disabling lumbar pain and radiculopathy unresponsive to nonsurgical treatment who underwent L4-S1 interbody fusion with the AxiaLIF two-level system (Baxano Surgical, Raleigh NC). Main outcomes included back pain severity, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Odom's outcome criteria, and fusion status using flexion and extension radiographs and computed tomography scans. Segmental (L4-S1) and global (L1-S1) lumbar lordosis measurements were made using standing lateral radiographs. All patients were followed for at least 24 months (mean: 29 months, range 24-56 months). Results There was no bowel injury, vascular injury, deep infection, neurologic complication or implant failure. Mean back pain severity improved from 7.8±1.7 at baseline to 3.3±2.6 at 2 years (p lordosis, defined as a change in Cobb angle ≤ 5°, was identified in 84% of patients at L4-S1 and 81% of patients at L1-S1. Patients with loss or gain in segmental or global lordosis experienced similar 2-year outcomes versus those with less than a 5° change. Conclusions/Clinical Relevance Two-level axial interbody fusion supplemented with posterior fixation does not alter segmental or global lordosis in most patients. Patients with postoperative change in lordosis greater than 5° have similarly favorable long-term clinical outcomes and fusion rates compared to patients with less than 5° lordosis change. PMID:25694920

Multi-scale dynamical analysis (MSDA) of sea level records versus PDO, AMO, and NAO indexes

OpenAIRE

Scafetta, Nicola

2013-01-01

Herein I propose a multi-scale dynamical analysis to facilitate the physical interpretation of tide gauge records. The technique uses graphical diagrams. It is applied to six secular-long tide gauge records representative of the world oceans: Sydney, Pacific coast of Australia; Fremantle, Indian Ocean coast of Australia; New York City, Atlantic coast of USA; Honolulu, U.S. state of Hawaii; San Diego, U.S. state of California; and Venice, Mediterranean Sea, Italy. For comparison, an equivalent...

Efficient Integrative Multi-SNP Association Analysis via Deterministic Approximation of Posteriors.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Xiaoquan; Lee, Yeji; Luca, Francesca; Pique-Regi, Roger

2016-06-02

With the increasing availability of functional genomic data, incorporating genomic annotations into genetic association analysis has become a standard procedure. However, the existing methods often lack rigor and/or computational efficiency and consequently do not maximize the utility of functional annotations. In this paper, we propose a rigorous inference procedure to perform integrative association analysis incorporating genomic annotations for both traditional GWASs and emerging molecular QTL mapping studies. In particular, we propose an algorithm, named deterministic approximation of posteriors (DAP), which enables highly efficient and accurate joint enrichment analysis and identification of multiple causal variants. We use a series of simulation studies to highlight the power and computational efficiency of our proposed approach and further demonstrate it by analyzing the cross-population eQTL data from the GEUVADIS project and the multi-tissue eQTL data from the GTEx project. In particular, we find that genetic variants predicted to disrupt transcription factor binding sites are enriched in cis-eQTLs across all tissues. Moreover, the enrichment estimates obtained across the tissues are correlated with the cell types for which the annotations are derived. Copyright © 2016 American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multi-level decision making models, methods and applications

CERN Document Server

Zhang, Guangquan; Gao, Ya

2015-01-01

This monograph presents new developments in multi-level decision-making theory, technique and method in both modeling and solution issues. It especially presents how a decision support system can support managers in reaching a solution to a multi-level decision problem in practice. This monograph combines decision theories, methods, algorithms and applications effectively. It discusses in detail the models and solution algorithms of each issue of bi-level and tri-level decision-making, such as multi-leaders, multi-followers, multi-objectives, rule-set-based, and fuzzy parameters. Potential readers include organizational managers and practicing professionals, who can use the methods and software provided to solve their real decision problems; PhD students and researchers in the areas of bi-level and multi-level decision-making and decision support systems; students at an advanced undergraduate, master’s level in information systems, business administration, or the application of computer science.  

Intraoperative CT in the assessment of posterior wall acetabular fracture stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Brian; Jackson, Kelly; Ortega, Gil

2014-04-01

Posterior wall acetabular fractures that involve 10% to 40% of the posterior wall may or may not require an open reduction and internal fixation. Dynamic stress examination of the acetabular fracture under fluoroscopy has been used as an intraoperative method to assess joint stability. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the value of intraoperative ISO computed tomography (CT) examination using the Siemens ISO-C imaging system (Siemens Corp, Malvern, Pennsylvania) in the assessment of posterior wall acetabular fracture stability during stress examination under anesthesia. In 5 posterior wall acetabular fractures, standard fluoroscopic images (including anteroposterior pelvis and Judet radiographs) with dynamic stress examinations were compared with the ISO-C CT imaging system to assess posterior wall fracture stability during stress examination. After review of standard intraoperative fluoroscopic images under dynamic stress examination, all 5 cases appeared to demonstrate posterior wall stability; however, when the intraoperative images from the ISO-C CT imaging system demonstrated that 1 case showed fracture instability of the posterior wall segment during stress examination, open reduction and internal fixation was performed. The use of intraoperative ISO CT imaging has shown an initial improvement in the surgeon's ability to assess the intraoperative stability of posterior wall acetabular fractures during stress examination when compared with standard fluoroscopic images. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

Controlling the dynamics of multi-state neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, Tao; Zhao, Hong

2008-01-01

In this paper, we first analyze the distribution of local fields (DLF) which is induced by the memory patterns in the Q-Ising model. It is found that the structure of the DLF is closely correlated with the network dynamics and the system performance. However, the design rule adopted in the Q-Ising model, like the other rules adopted for multi-state neural networks with associative memories, cannot be applied to directly control the DLF for a given set of memory patterns, and thus cannot be applied to further study the relationships between the structure of the DLF and the dynamics of the network. We then extend a design rule, which was presented recently for designing binary-state neural networks, to make it suitable for designing general multi-state neural networks. This rule is able to control the structure of the DLF as expected. We show that controlling the DLF not only can affect the dynamic behaviors of the multi-state neural networks for a given set of memory patterns, but also can improve the storage capacity. With the change of the DLF, the network shows very rich dynamic behaviors, such as the 'chaos phase', the 'memory phase', and the 'mixture phase'. These dynamic behaviors are also observed in the binary-state neural networks; therefore, our results imply that they may be the universal behaviors of feedback neural networks

Multi-level predictive maintenance for multi-component systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen, Kim-Anh; Do, Phuc; Grall, Antoine

2015-01-01

In this paper, a novel predictive maintenance policy with multi-level decision-making is proposed for multi-component system with complex structure. The main idea is to propose a decision-making process considered on two levels: system level and component one. The goal of the decision rules at the system level is to address if preventive maintenance actions are needed regarding the predictive reliability of the system. At component level the decision rules aim at identifying optimally a group of several components to be preventively maintained when preventive maintenance is trigged due to the system level decision. Selecting optimal components is based on a cost-based group improvement factor taking into account the predictive reliability of the components, the economic dependencies as well as the location of the components in the system. Moreover, a cost model is developed to find the optimal maintenance decision variables. A 14-component system is finally introduced to illustrate the use and the performance of the proposed predictive maintenance policy. Different sensitivity analysis are also investigated and discussed. Indeed, the proposed policy provides more flexibility in maintenance decision-making for complex structure systems, hence leading to significant profits in terms of maintenance cost when compared with existing policies. - Highlights: • A predictive maintenance policy for complex structure systems is proposed. • Multi-level decision process based on prognostic results is proposed. • A cost-based group importance measure is introduced for decision-making. • Both positive and negative dependencies between components are investigated. • A cost model and Monte Carlo simulation are developed for optimization process.

Circulating Management Ideas: Towards a Better Understanding of the Reciprocal Relationships between Field-level Dynamics and Micro-level Practices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jeppe Agger; Mathiassen, Lars; Newell, Sue

Understanding how management ideas spread across countries and fields and how they are adopted and implemented in individual organizations has been of growing interest of scholars in the institutional perspective. Although core institutional arguments depend on analyzing the interaction between......-level dynamics and micro-level practices are understood as mutually constitutive, rather than as distinct levels, as they interact recursively to enable, or hinder, institutionalization. To illustrate and further develop this multi-level model we contribute two longitudinal case studies of how management ideas...... as management ideas emerge, consolidate or wither away. By bringing translation research into the more well-established approach of management fashion and leverage insights from institutional work literature this paper offer a multi-level model for investigating circulating management ideas in which field...

Multi-strangeness dynamics at PANDA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gaitanos, Theodoros; Lenske, Horst; Mosel, Ulrich [Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, Universitaet Giessen (Germany)

2014-07-01

Multi-strange bound hadron systems are excellent candidates for studying in-medium hyperon-hyperon (YY) interactions. A better understanding of the strangeness sector of the hadronic equation of state is crucial for our understanding of astrophysical objects like neutron stars. Furthermore, these studies are being motivated by actual and planed experimental activities on hypernuclear physics (HypHI and PANDA Collaborations). In fact, HypHI has already studied single-strange hypernuclei in heavy-ion collisions, whereas studies on double- and multi-strange nuclear systems are being planed by PANDA. We have reported in the past first studies on single- and double-Λ hypernuclei production in reactions induced by heavy-ions and antiprotons, respectively. The YY-interaction is still little known and many controversial theoretical predictions exist in the literature. We therefore extend our previous works by investigating the influence of various hyperon-hyperon interactions on the production dynamics of multi-Λ hypernuclei in reactions relevant for FAIR. Particular attention is paid to the heavy Ω-baryon (S=-3) and its role to the formation of multi-Λ hypernuclei in reactions induced by antiprotons.

Dual deep modeling: multi-level modeling with dual potencies and its formalization in F-Logic.

Science.gov (United States)

Neumayr, Bernd; Schuetz, Christoph G; Jeusfeld, Manfred A; Schrefl, Michael

2018-01-01

An enterprise database contains a global, integrated, and consistent representation of a company's data. Multi-level modeling facilitates the definition and maintenance of such an integrated conceptual data model in a dynamic environment of changing data requirements of diverse applications. Multi-level models transcend the traditional separation of class and object with clabjects as the central modeling primitive, which allows for a more flexible and natural representation of many real-world use cases. In deep instantiation, the number of instantiation levels of a clabject or property is indicated by a single potency. Dual deep modeling (DDM) differentiates between source potency and target potency of a property or association and supports the flexible instantiation and refinement of the property by statements connecting clabjects at different modeling levels. DDM comes with multiple generalization of clabjects, subsetting/specialization of properties, and multi-level cardinality constraints. Examples are presented using a UML-style notation for DDM together with UML class and object diagrams for the representation of two-level user views derived from the multi-level model. Syntax and semantics of DDM are formalized and implemented in F-Logic, supporting the modeler with integrity checks and rich query facilities.

Deposition dynamics of multi-solvent bioinks

Science.gov (United States)

Kaneelil, Paul; Pack, Min; Cui, Chunxiao; Han, Li-Hsin; Sun, Ying

2017-11-01

Inkjet printing cellular scaffolds using bioinks is gaining popularity due to the advancement of printing technology as well as the growing demands of regenerative medicine. Numerous studies have been conducted on printing scaffolds of biomimetic structures that support the cell production of human tissues. However, the underlying physics of the deposition dynamics of bioinks remains elusive. Of particular interest is the unclear deposition dynamics of multi-solvent bioinks, which is often used to tune the micro-architecture formation. Here we systematically studied the effects of jetting frequency, solvent properties, substrate wettability, and temperature on the three-dimensional deposition patterns of bioinks made of Methacrylated Gelatin and Carboxylated Gelatin. The microflows inside the inkjet-printed picolitre drops were visualized using fluorescence tracer particles to decipher the complex processes of multi-solvent evaporation and solute self-assembly. The evolution of droplet shape was observed using interferometry. With the integrated techniques, the interplay of solvent evaporation, biopolymer deposition, and multi-drop interactions were directly observed for various ink and substrate properties, and printing conditions. Such knowledge enables the design and fabrication of a variety of tissue engineering scaffolds for potential use in regenerative medicine.

The results of a consecutive series of dynamic posterior stabilizations using the PercuDyn device.

Science.gov (United States)

Canero, Gianfranco; Carbone, Stefano

2015-11-01

To evaluate the results of a consecutive series of patients affected by lumbar discogenic pain associated with facet pain and canal stenosis surgically treated with the PercuDyn device. From 2009, 129 consecutive patients (96 M, 33 F, mean age 62) were treated with posterior dynamic stabilization screws (PercuDyn). Inclusion criteria were minimum follow-up of 24 months; pain localized at the lumbar spine column alone or in association to lower limb radicular pain; magnetic resonance evidence of disc degeneration associated with facet degeneration and canal stenosis. Patients were clinically studied using VAS scale and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI); CT assessment of the neuroforamina and spinal canal areas was done at 1 month of follow-up. At 24 months of follow-up, 96 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. 96 intervertebral spaces were treated (85 levels L5-S1, 11 levels L4-L5). The VAS scale showed a statistically significant difference at 1 month, 6 months and 2 years with respect to the pre-operative value (p fashion (p return to daily activities. At longer follow-ups, 10 % of patients received revision surgery.

Gastroesophageal scintigraphy in children. A comparison of posterior and anterior imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reyhan, M.; Yapar, A.F.; Aydin, M.; Sukan, A.

2005-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the posterior dynamic imaging with the anterior imaging in the evaluation of children with gastroesophageal reflux (GER). Sixty-eight children (26 female, 42 male; age range 4 months to 7 years, median 21 months) were studied. After 4-hour fasting, all the subjects underwent gastroesophageal scintigraphy. Synchronous dynamic imaging in the anterior and posterior projections was performed with the subject in the supine position with a dual-head gamma camera equipped with low-energy general-purpose collimators at a rate of 30 s/frame for 40 min. The anterior and posterior images were visually evaluated for the presence of gastroesophageal reflux by two nuclear medicine physicians. The anterior and posterior images were correlated by Pearson correlation analysis, and inter-observer variability was evaluated by paired t-test and kappa value. There was a good correlation between the two projections with r-values of 0.906-0.990. The inter-observer agreement for interpretation of the anterior and posterior imaging was excellent (k: 0.83). In conclusion, anterior and posterior dynamic imaging showed excellent correlation in detection of GER in children. Posterior imaging is superior to anterior imaging in that it is more comfortable, and it reduces motion artifacts, especially for infants and anxious children; thus, it may be preferred over anterior imaging. (author)

Interactive Approach for Multi-Level Multi-Objective Fractional Programming Problems with Fuzzy Parameters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.S. Osman

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an interactive approach for solving multi-level multi-objective fractional programming (ML-MOFP problems with fuzzy parameters is presented. The proposed interactive approach makes an extended work of Shi and Xia (1997. In the first phase, the numerical crisp model of the ML-MOFP problem has been developed at a confidence level without changing the fuzzy gist of the problem. Then, the linear model for the ML-MOFP problem is formulated. In the second phase, the interactive approach simplifies the linear multi-level multi-objective model by converting it into separate multi-objective programming problems. Also, each separate multi-objective programming problem of the linear model is solved by the ∊-constraint method and the concept of satisfactoriness. Finally, illustrative examples and comparisons with the previous approaches are utilized to evince the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Issues with performance measures for dynamic multi-objective optimisation

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Helbig, M

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Dynamic and Uncertain Environments (CIDUE), Mexico, 20-23 June 2013 Issues with Performance Measures for Dynamic Multi-objective Optimisation Mard´e Helbig CSIR: Meraka Institute Brummeria, South Africa...

Super-selective Balloon Test Occlusion of the Posterior Communicating Artery in the Treatment of a Posterior Cerebral Artery Fusiform Aneurysm: a Case Report

OpenAIRE

Isozaki, Makoto; Arai, Hiroshi; Neishi, Hiroyuki; Kitai, Ryuhei; Kikuta, Ken-ichiro

2016-01-01

We report the case of a 49-year-old man with underlying hypertension who developed diplopia lasting 2 months. Magnetic resonance imaging and digital subtraction angiography showed multi-lobular unruptured aneurysms in the P2 portion of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) migrating into the interpeduncular cistern of the midbrain. Because the shapes of the aneurysms were serpentine fusiform and the posterior communicating artery (PCoA) was the fetal type, we planned anastomosis of the occipita...

A dedicated database system for handling multi-level data in systems biology

OpenAIRE

Pornputtapong, Natapol; Wanichthanarak, Kwanjeera; Nilsson, Avlant; Nookaew, Intawat; Nielsen, Jens

2014-01-01

Background Advances in high-throughput technologies have enabled extensive generation of multi-level omics data. These data are crucial for systems biology research, though they are complex, heterogeneous, highly dynamic, incomplete and distributed among public databases. This leads to difficulties in data accessibility and often results in errors when data are merged and integrated from varied resources. Therefore, integration and management of systems biological data remain very challenging...

ML-Space: Hybrid Spatial Gillespie and Particle Simulation of Multi-Level Rule-Based Models in Cell Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bittig, Arne T; Uhrmacher, Adelinde M

2017-01-01

Spatio-temporal dynamics of cellular processes can be simulated at different levels of detail, from (deterministic) partial differential equations via the spatial Stochastic Simulation algorithm to tracking Brownian trajectories of individual particles. We present a spatial simulation approach for multi-level rule-based models, which includes dynamically hierarchically nested cellular compartments and entities. Our approach ML-Space combines discrete compartmental dynamics, stochastic spatial approaches in discrete space, and particles moving in continuous space. The rule-based specification language of ML-Space supports concise and compact descriptions of models and to adapt the spatial resolution of models easily.

On dynamical multi-team Cournot game in exploitation of a renewable resource

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asker, S.S.

2007-01-01

A dynamical multi-team Cournot game is formulated for a renewable resource (harvest fish and sell it in a market). Puu's imperfect information to dynamic standard game is generalized to multi-team Cournot game. The asymptotic stability of the equilibrium solution of the resulting game is studied

Ownership dynamics in local multi-stakeholder initiatives

NARCIS (Netherlands)

K. Biekart (Kees); A.F. Fowler (Alan)

2018-01-01

textabstractThe nature and dynamics of ownership are often neglected features of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs). Seventeen cases in four countries illustrate characteristics of narrow government or broad societal ownership and forces for change over time. Refinements to the application of

Multi-mode-multi-state quantum dynamics of key five-membered heterocycles: spectroscopy and ultrafast internal conversion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koeppel, H.; Gromov, E.V.; Trofimov, A.B.

2004-01-01

The multi-mode and multi-state vibronic interactions in the heterocyclic molecules furan, pyrrole, thiophene and their radical cations are investigated theoretically, employing a linear vibronic coupling scheme. The underlying system parameters are determined from large-scale ab initio computations. Previous time-independent dynamical calculations on the radical cations are extended by wave-packet propagations (using the MCTDH method) confirming the strong nonadiabatic coupling effects. For the singlet excited states of furan and thiophene quantum dynamical calculations are presented which go beyond the two-state approximation frequently applied in the literature. The characteristic spectral structures are well reproduced, especially in the case of furan. The implications of these results on the photochemical reaction dynamics of these species are discussed

Automatic Multi-Level Thresholding Segmentation Based on Multi-Objective Optimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. DJEROU,

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present a new multi-level image thresholding technique, called Automatic Threshold based on Multi-objective Optimization "ATMO" that combines the flexibility of multi-objective fitness functions with the power of a Binary Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm "BPSO", for searching the "optimum" number of the thresholds and simultaneously the optimal thresholds of three criteria: the between-class variances criterion, the minimum error criterion and the entropy criterion. Some examples of test images are presented to compare our segmentation method, based on the multi-objective optimization approach with Otsu’s, Kapur’s and Kittler’s methods. Our experimental results show that the thresholding method based on multi-objective optimization is more efficient than the classical Otsu’s, Kapur’s and Kittler’s methods.

Overlapping sphincteroplasty and posterior repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Crane, Andrea K; Myers, Erinn M; Lippmann, Quinn K; Matthews, Catherine A

2014-12-01

Knowledge of how to anatomically reconstruct extensive posterior-compartment defects is variable among gynecologists. The objective of this video is to demonstrate an effective technique of overlapping sphincteroplasty and posterior repair. In this video, a scripted storyboard was constructed that outlines the key surgical steps of a comprehensive posterior compartment repair: (1) surgical incision that permits access to posterior compartment and perineal body, (2) dissection of the rectovaginal space up to the level of the cervix, (3) plication of the rectovaginal muscularis, (4) repair of internal and external anal sphincters, and (5) reconstruction of the perineal body. Using a combination of graphic illustrations and live video footage, tips on repair are highlighted. The goals at the end of repair are to: (1) have improved vaginal caliber, (2) increase rectal tone along the entire posterior vaginal wall, (3) have the posterior vaginal wall at a perpendicular plane to the perineal body, (4) reform the hymenal ring, and (5) not have an overly elongated perineal body. This video provides a step-by-step guide on how to perform an overlapping sphincteroplasty and posterior repair.

Optimizing survivability of multi-state systems with multi-level protection by multi-processor genetic algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levitin, Gregory; Dai Yuanshun; Xie Min; Leng Poh, Kim

2003-01-01

In this paper we consider vulnerable systems which can have different states corresponding to different combinations of available elements composing the system. Each state can be characterized by a performance rate, which is the quantitative measure of a system's ability to perform its task. Both the impact of external factors (stress) and internal causes (failures) affect system survivability, which is determined as probability of meeting a given demand. In order to increase the survivability of the system, a multi-level protection is applied to its subsystems. This means that a subsystem and its inner level of protection are in their turn protected by the protection of an outer level. This double-protected subsystem has its outer protection and so forth. In such systems, the protected subsystems can be destroyed only if all of the levels of their protection are destroyed. Each level of protection can be destroyed only if all of the outer levels of protection are destroyed. We formulate the problem of finding the structure of series-parallel multi-state system (including choice of system elements, choice of structure of multi-level protection and choice of protection methods) in order to achieve a desired level of system survivability by the minimal cost. An algorithm based on the universal generating function method is used for determination of the system survivability. A multi-processor version of genetic algorithm is used as optimization tool in order to solve the structure optimization problem. An application example is presented to illustrate the procedure presented in this paper

L1 Adaptive Control Augmentation System with Application to the X-29 Lateral/Directional Dynamics: A Multi-Input Multi-Output Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Griffin, Brian Joseph; Burken, John J.; Xargay, Enric

2010-01-01

This paper presents an L(sub 1) adaptive control augmentation system design for multi-input multi-output nonlinear systems in the presence of unmatched uncertainties which may exhibit significant cross-coupling effects. A piecewise continuous adaptive law is adopted and extended for applicability to multi-input multi-output systems that explicitly compensates for dynamic cross-coupling. In addition, explicit use of high-fidelity actuator models are added to the L1 architecture to reduce uncertainties in the system. The L(sub 1) multi-input multi-output adaptive control architecture is applied to the X-29 lateral/directional dynamics and results are evaluated against a similar single-input single-output design approach.

Short term outcome of posterior dynamic stabilization system in degenerative lumbar diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Mingyuan; Li, Chao; Chen, Ziqiang; Bai, Yushu; Li, Ming

2014-11-01

Decompression and fusion is considered as the 'gold standard' for the treatment of degenerative lumbar diseases, however, many disadvantages have been reported in several studies, recently like donor site pain, pseudoarthrosis, nonunion, screw loosening, instrumentation failure, infection, adjacent segment disease (ASDis) and degeneration. Dynamic neutralization system (Dynesys) avoids many of these disadvantages. This system is made up of pedicle screws, polyethylene terephthalate cords, and polycarbonate urethane spacers to stabilize the functional spinal unit and preserve the adjacent motion after surgeries. This was a retrospective cohort study to compare the effect of Dynesys for treating degenerative lumbar diseases with posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) based on short term followup. Seventy five consecutive patients of lumbar degenerative disease operated between October 2010 and November 2012 were studied with a minimum followup of 2 years. Patients were divided into two groups according to the different surgeries. 30 patients underwent decompression and implantation of Dynesys in two levels (n = 29) or three levels (n = 1) and 45 patients underwent PLIF in two levels (n = 39) or three levels (n = 6). Clinical and radiographic outcomes between two groups were reviewed. Thirty patients (male:17, female:13) with a mean age of 55.96 ± 7.68 years were included in Dynesys group and the PLIF group included 45 patients (male:21, female:24) with a mean age of 54.69 ± 3.26 years. The average followup in Dynesys group and PLIF group was 2.22 ± 0.43 year (range 2-3.5 year) and 2.17 ± 0.76 year (range 2-3 year), respectively. Dynesys group showed a shorter operation time (141.06 ± 11.36 min vs. 176.98 ± 6.72 min, P degenerative disease showed clinical benefits with motion preservation of the operated segments, but does not have the significant advantage on motion preservation at adjacent segments, to avoid the degeneration of adjacent intervertebral disk.

Spondylolisthesis and Posterior Instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niggemann, P.; Beyer, H.K.; Frey, H.; Grosskurth, D.; Simons, P.; Kuchta, J.

2009-01-01

We present the case of a patient with a spondylolisthesis of L5 on S1 due to spondylolysis at the level L5/S1. The vertebral slip was fixed and no anterior instability was found. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in an upright MRI scanner, posterior instability at the level of the spondylolytic defect of L5 was demonstrated. A structure, probably the hypertrophic ligament flava, arising from the spondylolytic defect was displaced toward the L5 nerve root, and a bilateral contact of the displaced structure with the L5 nerve root was shown in extension of the spine. To our knowledge, this is the first case described of posterior instability in patients with spondylolisthesis. The clinical implications of posterior instability are unknown; however, it is thought that this disorder is common and that it can only be diagnosed using upright MRI

Spondylolisthesis and Posterior Instability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Niggemann, P.; Beyer, H.K.; Frey, H.; Grosskurth, D. (Privatpraxis fuer Upright MRT, Koeln (Germany)); Simons, P.; Kuchta, J. (Media Park Klinik, Koeln (Germany))

2009-04-15

We present the case of a patient with a spondylolisthesis of L5 on S1 due to spondylolysis at the level L5/S1. The vertebral slip was fixed and no anterior instability was found. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in an upright MRI scanner, posterior instability at the level of the spondylolytic defect of L5 was demonstrated. A structure, probably the hypertrophic ligament flava, arising from the spondylolytic defect was displaced toward the L5 nerve root, and a bilateral contact of the displaced structure with the L5 nerve root was shown in extension of the spine. To our knowledge, this is the first case described of posterior instability in patients with spondylolisthesis. The clinical implications of posterior instability are unknown; however, it is thought that this disorder is common and that it can only be diagnosed using upright MRI.

From Thirst to Satiety: The Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex and Right Posterior Insula Indicate Dynamic Changes in Incentive Value

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christoph A. Becker

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The cingulate cortex and insula are among the neural structures whose activations have been modulated in functional imaging studies examining discrete states of thirst and drinking to satiation. Building upon these findings, the present study aimed to identify neural structures that change their pattern of activation elicited by water held in the mouth in relation to the internal body state, i.e., proportional to continuous water consumption. Accordingly, participants in a thirsty state were scanned while receiving increments of water until satiety was reached. As expected, fluid ingestion led to a clear decrease in self-reported thirst and the pleasantness ratings of the water ingested. Furthermore, linear decreases in the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD response to water ingestion were observed in the anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC and right posterior insula as participants shifted towards the non-thirsty state. In addition, regions in the superior temporal gyrus (STG, supplementary motor area (SMA, superior parietal lobule (SPL, precuneus and calcarine sulcus also showed a linear decrease with increasing fluid consumption. Further analyses related single trial BOLD responses of associated regions to trial-by-trial ratings of thirst and pleasantness. Overall, the aMCC and posterior insula may be key sites of a neural network representing the motivation for drinking based on the dynamic integration of internal state and external stimuli.

A Multi-Scalar Approach to Theorizing Socio-Ecological Dynamics of Urban Residential Landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rinku Roy Chowdhury

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Urban residential expansion increasingly drives land use, land cover and ecological changes worldwide, yet social science theories explaining such change remain under-developed. Existing theories often focus on processes occurring at one scale, while ignoring other scales. Emerging evidence from four linked U.S. research sites suggests it is essential to examine processes at multiple scales simultaneously when explaining the evolution of urban residential landscapes. Additionally, focusing on urbanization dynamics across multiple sites with a shared research design may yield fruitful comparative insights. The following processes and social-hierarchical scales significantly influence the spatial configurations of residential landscapes: household-level characteristics and environmental attitudes; formal and informal institutions at the neighborhood scale; and municipal-scale land-use governance. While adopting a multi-scale and multi-site approach produces research challenges, doing so is critical to advancing understanding of coupled socio-ecological systems and associated vulnerabilities in a dynamic and environmentally important setting: residential landscapes.

Explicit/multi-parametric model predictive control (MPC) of linear discrete-time systems by dynamic and multi-parametric programming

KAUST Repository

Kouramas, K.I.; Faí sca, N.P.; Panos, C.; Pistikopoulos, E.N.

2011-01-01

This work presents a new algorithm for solving the explicit/multi- parametric model predictive control (or mp-MPC) problem for linear, time-invariant discrete-time systems, based on dynamic programming and multi-parametric programming techniques

A dynamic predictive maintenance policy for complex multi-component systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Horenbeek, Adriaan; Pintelon, Liliane

2013-01-01

The use of prognostic methods in maintenance in order to predict remaining useful life is receiving more attention over the past years. The use of these techniques in maintenance decision making and optimization in multi-component systems is however a still underexplored area. The objective of this paper is to optimally plan maintenance for a multi-component system based on prognostic/predictive information while considering different component dependencies (i.e. economic, structural and stochastic dependence). Consequently, this paper presents a dynamic predictive maintenance policy for multi-component systems that minimizes the long-term mean maintenance cost per unit time. The proposed maintenance policy is a dynamic method as the maintenance schedule is updated when new information on the degradation and remaining useful life of components becomes available. The performance, regarding the objective of minimal long-term mean cost per unit time, of the developed dynamic predictive maintenance policy is compared to five other conventional maintenance policies, these are: block-based maintenance, age-based maintenance, age-based maintenance with grouping, inspection condition-based maintenance and continuous condition-based maintenance. The ability of the predictive maintenance policy to react to changing component deterioration and dependencies within a multi-component system is quantified and the results show significant cost savings

Optimal Multi-Level Lot Sizing for Requirements Planning Systems

OpenAIRE

Earle Steinberg; H. Albert Napier

1980-01-01

The wide spread use of advanced information systems such as Material Requirements Planning (MRP) has significantly altered the practice of dependent demand inventory management. Recent research has focused on development of multi-level lot sizing heuristics for such systems. In this paper, we develop an optimal procedure for the multi-period, multi-product, multi-level lot sizing problem by modeling the system as a constrained generalized network with fixed charge arcs and side constraints. T...

On multi-level thinking and scientific understanding

Science.gov (United States)

McIntyre, Michael Edgeworth

2017-10-01

Professor Duzheng YE's name has been familiar to me ever since my postdoctoral years at MIT with Professors Jule CHARNEY and Norman PHILLIPS, back in the late 1960s. I had the enormous pleasure of meeting Professor YE personally in 1992 in Beijing. His concern to promote the very best science and to use it well, and his thinking on multi-level orderly human activities, reminds me not only of the communication skills we need as scientists but also of the multi-level nature of science itself. Here I want to say something (a) about what science is; (b) about why multi-level thinking—and taking more than one viewpoint—is so important for scientific as well as for other forms of understanding; and (c) about what is meant, at a deep level, by "scientific understanding" and trying to communicate it, not only with lay persons but also across professional disciplines. I hope that Professor YE would approve.

Ipsilateral Traumatic Posterior Hip Dislocation, Posterior Wall and Transverse Acetabular Fracture with Trochanteric Fracture in an adult: Report of First Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Skand Sinha

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Posterior dislocation of the hip joint with associated acetabular and intertrochanteric fracture is a complex injury. Early recognition, prompt and stable reduction is needed of successful outcome. Case Report: 45 year old male patient presented with posterior dislocation of the hip with transverse fracture with posterior wall fracture of acetabulam and intertrochanteric fracture on the ipsilateral side. The complex fracture geometry was confirmed by CT scan. The patient was successfully managed by open reduction and internal fixation of intertrochanteric fracture was achieved with dynamic hip screw (DHS plate fixation followed by fixation of acetabular fracture with reconstruction plate. Conclusion: Hip dislocation combined with acetabular fracture is an uncommon injury; this article presents a unique case of posterior wall and transverse fractures of ipsilateral acetabulum with intertrochanteric fracture in a patient who sustained traumatic posterior hip dislocation. Early surgical intervention is important for satisfactory outcomes of such complex fracture-dislocation injuries. Keywords: Hip dislocation; acetabular fractures; intertrochanteric fracture; operative treatment.

Interconnected levels of Multi-Stage Marketing – A Triadic approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vedel, Mette; Geersbro, Jens; Ritter, Thomas

2012-01-01

must not only decide in general on the merits of multi-stage marketing for their firm, but must also decide on which level they will engage in multi-stage marketing. The triadic perspective enables a rich and multi-dimensional understanding of how different business relationships influence each other......Multi-stage marketing gains increasing attention as knowledge of and influence on the customer's customer become more critical for the firm's success. Despite this increasing managerial relevance, systematic approaches for analyzing multi-stage marketing are still missing. This paper conceptualizes...... different levels of multi-stage marketing and illustrates these stages with a case study. In addition, a triadic perspective is introduced as an analytical tool for multi-stage marketing research. The results from the case study indicate that multi-stage marketing exists on different levels. Thus, managers...

System Theory Aspects of Multi-Body Dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

1978-08-18

systems are described from a system theory point of view. Various system theory concepts and research topics which have applicability to this class of...systems are identified and briefly described. The subject of multi-body dynamics is presented in a vector space setting and is related to system theory concepts. (Author)

Dynamic configuration management of a multi-standard and multi-mode reconfigurable multi-ASIP architecture for turbo decoding

Science.gov (United States)

Lapotre, Vianney; Gogniat, Guy; Baghdadi, Amer; Diguet, Jean-Philippe

2017-12-01

The multiplication of connected devices goes along with a large variety of applications and traffic types needing diverse requirements. Accompanying this connectivity evolution, the last years have seen considerable evolutions of wireless communication standards in the domain of mobile telephone networks, local/wide wireless area networks, and Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB). In this context, intensive research has been conducted to provide flexible turbo decoder targeting high throughput, multi-mode, multi-standard, and power consumption efficiency. However, flexible turbo decoder implementations have not often considered dynamic reconfiguration issues in this context that requires high speed configuration switching. Starting from this assessment, this paper proposes the first solution that allows frame-by-frame run-time configuration management of a multi-processor turbo decoder without compromising the decoding performances.

Radical Surgery of Only the Anterior Elements of the Spine at the Posterior Element Fusion Level due to Metastatic Thyroid Cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryuto Tsuchiya

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Spinal metastasis of differentiated thyroid cancer can have a favorable prognosis if radical surgery is performed. We encountered a case of spinal metastasis involving three anterior vertebral bodies at the posterior element fusion level and successfully achieved adequate stability by radical surgery involving only the anterior elements. A 67-year-old woman who had numbness and muscle weakness in the lower limbs caused by metastatic spinal tumor at the posterior element fusion level of L1–L3 vertebrae was treated with radical surgery of only the anterior element to gain stability. Similar situations may occur in cases involving other malignant tumor metastases or spinal primary tumors. If such a case occurs, this method could be useful in preventing metastasis to the posterior element.

Thermo-mechanical analysis for multi-level HLW repository concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Sang Ki; Choi, Jong Won

2004-01-01

This work aims to investigate the influence of design parameters for the underground high-level nuclear waste repository with multi-level concept. B. Necessity o In order to construct an HLW repository in deep underground, it is required to select a site, which is far from major discontinuities. To dispose the whole spent fuels generated from the Korean nuclear power plants in a repository, the underground area of about 4km 2 is required. This would be a constraints for selecting an adequate repository site. It is recommended to dispose the two different spent fuels, PWR and CANDU, in different areas at the operation efficiency point of view. It is necessary to investigate the influence of parameters, which can affect the stability of multi-level repository. It is also needed to consider the influence of heat generated from the HLW and the high in situ stress in deep location. Therefore, thermo-mechanical coupling analysis should be carried out and the results should be compared with the results from single-level repository concept. Three-dimensional analysis is required to model the disposal tunnel and deposition hole. It is recommended to use the Korean geological condition and actually measured rock properties in Korea in order to achieve reliable modeling results. A FISH routine developed for effective modeling of Thermal-Mechanical coupling was implemented in the modeling using FLAC3D, which is a commercial three-dimensional FDM code. The thermal and mechanical properties of rock and rock mass achieved from Yusung drilling site, were used for the computer modeling. Different parameters such as level distance, waste type disposed on different levels, and time interval between the operation on different levels, were considered in the three-dimensional analysis. From the analysis, it was possible to derive adequate multi-level repository concept. Results and recommendations for application From the thermal-mechanical analysis for the multi-level repository

PELAKSANAAN JUAL BELI MELALUI SISTEM MULTI LEVEL MARKETING PERSPEKTIF HUKUM ISLAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayu Dewi Utami

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Bisnis Multi Level Marketing (MLM cukup berperan dalam menggerakkan roda perekonomian masyarakat. Dalam sejumlah kasus, Multi Level Marketing (MLM kerap dijadikan kedok dari bisnis money game dan mendewakan passive income. Bertolak dari kasus kasus seperti itulah, Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI telah menggodok prinsip-prinsip bisnis ini secara syariah termasuk marketing plannya. Tujuannya untuk melindungi pengusaha dan mitra bisnisnya (masyarakat dari praktik bisnis yang haram atau syubhat. Dari prinsip-prinsip yang ditentukan oleh Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI, peneliti mengadakan penelitian ini dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana mekanisme bisnis Multi Level Marketing (MLM, serta untuk mengetahui bagaimana bisnis Multi Level Marketing (MLM menurut hukum Islam. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah menggunakan metode pendekatan yuridis normatif, spesifikasi penelitian yang digunakan adalah deskriptif analitis, sedangkan penentuan sampel menggunakan metode Non Random sampling. Alat penelitian meliputi studi kepustakaan dan wawancara. Metode analisis data dilakukan dengan analisis kualitatif. Ada dua aspek untuk menilai apakah bisnis Multi Level Marketing (MLM itu sesuai dengan syariah atau tidak, yaitu aspek produk atau jasa yang dijual dan sistem dari Multi Level Marketing (MLM itu sendiri. Bagaimana sistem pemberian bonus yang terdapat dalam perusahaan Multi Level Marketing (MLM apakah terbebas dari unsus garar maupun maisir. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji lebih dalam tentang Multi Level Marketing (MLM khususnya dalam Hukum Islam. Sisi negatif yang terdapat pada sistem Multi Level Marketing (MLM tidak mewakili keharaman secara keseluruhan terhadap bisnis yang berbasis Multi Level Marketing (MLM lainnya.

Coexisting chaotic and multi-periodic dynamics in a model of cardiac alternans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skardal, Per Sebastian, E-mail: skardals@gmail.com [Departament d' Enginyeria Informàtica i Matemàtiques, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43007 Tarragona (Spain); Restrepo, Juan G., E-mail: juanga@colorado.edu [Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 (United States)

2014-12-15

The spatiotemporal dynamics of cardiac tissue is an active area of research for biologists, physicists, and mathematicians. Of particular interest is the study of period-doubling bifurcations and chaos due to their link with cardiac arrhythmogenesis. In this paper, we study the spatiotemporal dynamics of a recently developed model for calcium-driven alternans in a one dimensional cable of tissue. In particular, we observe in the cable coexistence of regions with chaotic and multi-periodic dynamics over wide ranges of parameters. We study these dynamics using global and local Lyapunov exponents and spatial trajectory correlations. Interestingly, near nodes—or phase reversals—low-periodic dynamics prevail, while away from the nodes, the dynamics tend to be higher-periodic and eventually chaotic. Finally, we show that similar coexisting multi-periodic and chaotic dynamics can also be observed in a detailed ionic model.

Quantum system driven by incoherent a.c fields: Multi-crossing Landau Zener dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jipdi, M.N., E-mail: jmichaelnicky@yahoo.fr; Fai, L.C.; Tchoffo, M.

2016-10-23

The paper investigates the multi-crossing dynamics of a Landau–Zener (LZ) system driven by two sinusoidal a.c fields applying the Dynamic Matrix approach (DMA). The system is shown to follow one-crossing and multi-crossing dynamics for low and high frequency regime respectively. It is shown that in low frequency regime, the resonance phenomenon occurs and leads to the decoupling of basis states; the effective gap vanishes and then the complete blockage of the system. For high frequency, the system achieves multi-crossing dynamics with two fictitious crossings; the system models a Landau–Zener–Stückelberg (LZS) interferometer with critical parameters that tailor probabilities. The system is then shown to depend only on the phase that permits the easiest control with possible application in implementing logic gates.

Time ordering in multi-electron dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGuire, J H; Godunov, A L; Shakov, Kh Kh; Shipakov, V A; Merabet, H; Bruch, R; Hanni, J

2003-01-01

Time ordering of interactions in dynamic quantum multi-electron systems provides a constraint that interconnects the time evolution of different electrons. In energy space, time ordering appears as the principal value contribution from the Green function, which corresponds to the asymptotic condition that specifies whether the system has outgoing (or possibly incoming) scattered waves. We report evidence of effects of time correlation found by comparing calculations to recent spectropolarimetric data

Time ordering in multi-electron dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McGuire, J H [Department of Physics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA (United States); Godunov, A L [Department of Physics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA (United States); Shakov, Kh Kh [Department of Physics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA (United States); Shipakov, V A [Troitsk Institute for Innovation and Fusion Research, Troitsk (Russian Federation); Merabet, H [Department of Physics, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV (United States); Bruch, R [Department of Physics, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV (United States); Hanni, J [Department of Physics, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV (United States)

2003-01-28

Time ordering of interactions in dynamic quantum multi-electron systems provides a constraint that interconnects the time evolution of different electrons. In energy space, time ordering appears as the principal value contribution from the Green function, which corresponds to the asymptotic condition that specifies whether the system has outgoing (or possibly incoming) scattered waves. We report evidence of effects of time correlation found by comparing calculations to recent spectropolarimetric data.

Multi-level molecular modelling for plasma medicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogaerts, Annemie; Khosravian, Narjes; Van der Paal, Jonas; Verlackt, Christof C W; Yusupov, Maksudbek; Kamaraj, Balu; Neyts, Erik C

2016-01-01

Modelling at the molecular or atomic scale can be very useful for obtaining a better insight in plasma medicine. This paper gives an overview of different atomic/molecular scale modelling approaches that can be used to study the direct interaction of plasma species with biomolecules or the consequences of these interactions for the biomolecules on a somewhat longer time-scale. These approaches include density functional theory (DFT), density functional based tight binding (DFTB), classical reactive and non-reactive molecular dynamics (MD) and united-atom or coarse-grained MD, as well as hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods. Specific examples will be given for three important types of biomolecules, present in human cells, i.e. proteins, DNA and phospholipids found in the cell membrane. The results show that each of these modelling approaches has its specific strengths and limitations, and is particularly useful for certain applications. A multi-level approach is therefore most suitable for obtaining a global picture of the plasma–biomolecule interactions. (paper)

Dynamic clustering scheme based on the coordination of management and control in multi-layer and multi-region intelligent optical network

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Xiaoliang; Yuan, Fen; Huang, Shanguo; Guo, Bingli; Gu, Wanyi

2011-12-01

A Dynamic clustering scheme based on coordination of management and control is proposed to reduce network congestion rate and improve the blocking performance of hierarchical routing in Multi-layer and Multi-region intelligent optical network. Its implement relies on mobile agent (MA) technology, which has the advantages of efficiency, flexibility, functional and scalability. The paper's major contribution is to adjust dynamically domain when the performance of working network isn't in ideal status. And the incorporation of centralized NMS and distributed MA control technology migrate computing process to control plane node which releases the burden of NMS and improves process efficiently. Experiments are conducted on Multi-layer and multi-region Simulation Platform for Optical Network (MSPON) to assess the performance of the scheme.

Dynamic Neuromuscular Control of the Lower Limbs in Response to Unexpected Single-Planar versus Multi-Planar Support Perturbations in Young, Active Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Malfait, Bart; Staes, Filip; de Vries, Aijse; Smeets, Annemie; Hawken, Malcolm; Robinson, Mark A; Vanrenterghem, Jos; Verschueren, Sabine

2015-01-01

An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury involves a multi-planar injury mechanism. Nevertheless, unexpected multi-planar perturbations have not been used to screen athletes in the context of ACL injury prevention yet could reveal those more at risk. The objective of this study was to compare neuromuscular responses to multi-planar (MPP) and single-planar perturbations (SPP) during a stepping-down task. These results might serve as a basis for future implementation of external perturbations in ACL injury screening programs. Thirteen young adults performed a single leg stepping-down task in eight conditions (four MPP and four SPP with a specified amplitude and velocity). The amplitudes of vastus lateralis (VL), vastus medialis (VM), hamstrings lateralis (HL), hamstrings medialis (HM) EMG activity, medio-lateral and anterior-posterior centre of mass (COM) displacements, the peak knee flexion and abduction angles were compared between conditions using an one-way ANOVA. Number of stepping responses were monitored during all conditions. Significantly greater muscle activity levels were found in response to the more challenging MPP and SPP compared to the less challenging conditions (p neuromuscular activity were found between the MPP conditions and their equivalents in the SPP. Eighteen stepping responses were monitored in the SPP versus nine in the MPP indicating that the overall neuromuscular control was even more challenged during the SPP which was supported by greater COM displacements in the SPP. The more intense MPP and SPP evoked different neuromuscular responses resulting in greater muscle activity levels compared to small perturbations. Based on the results of COM displacements and based on the amount of stepping responses, dynamic neuromuscular control of the knee joint appeared less challenged during the MPP. Therefore, future work should investigate extensively if other neuromuscular differences (i.e. co-activation patterns and kinetics) exist between MPP

Aspiration dynamics of multi-player games in finite populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Jinming; Wu, Bin; Altrock, Philipp M; Wang, Long

2014-05-06

On studying strategy update rules in the framework of evolutionary game theory, one can differentiate between imitation processes and aspiration-driven dynamics. In the former case, individuals imitate the strategy of a more successful peer. In the latter case, individuals adjust their strategies based on a comparison of their pay-offs from the evolutionary game to a value they aspire, called the level of aspiration. Unlike imitation processes of pairwise comparison, aspiration-driven updates do not require additional information about the strategic environment and can thus be interpreted as being more spontaneous. Recent work has mainly focused on understanding how aspiration dynamics alter the evolutionary outcome in structured populations. However, the baseline case for understanding strategy selection is the well-mixed population case, which is still lacking sufficient understanding. We explore how aspiration-driven strategy-update dynamics under imperfect rationality influence the average abundance of a strategy in multi-player evolutionary games with two strategies. We analytically derive a condition under which a strategy is more abundant than the other in the weak selection limiting case. This approach has a long-standing history in evolutionary games and is mostly applied for its mathematical approachability. Hence, we also explore strong selection numerically, which shows that our weak selection condition is a robust predictor of the average abundance of a strategy. The condition turns out to differ from that of a wide class of imitation dynamics, as long as the game is not dyadic. Therefore, a strategy favoured under imitation dynamics can be disfavoured under aspiration dynamics. This does not require any population structure, and thus highlights the intrinsic difference between imitation and aspiration dynamics.

Availability modeling and optimization of dynamic multi-state series–parallel systems with random reconfiguration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Y.F.; Peng, R.

2014-01-01

Most studies on multi-state series–parallel systems focus on the static type of system architecture. However, it is insufficient to model many complex industrial systems having several operation phases and each requires a subset of the subsystems combined together to perform certain tasks. To bridge this gap, this study takes into account this type of dynamic behavior in the multi-state series–parallel system and proposes an analytical approach to calculate the system availability and the operation cost. In this approach, Markov process is used to model the dynamics of system phase changing and component state changing, Markov reward model is used to calculate the operation cost associated with the dynamics, and universal generating function (UGF) is used to build system availability function from the system phase model and the component models. Based upon these models, an optimization problem is formulated to minimize the total system cost with the constraint that system availability is greater than a desired level. The genetic algorithm is then applied to solve the optimization problem. The proposed modeling and solution procedures are illustrated on a system design problem modified from a real-world maritime oil transportation system

Multi-model predictive control method for nuclear steam generator water level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Ke; Yuan Jingqi

2008-01-01

The dynamics of a nuclear steam generator (SG) is very different according to the power levels and changes as time goes on. Therefore, it is an intractable as well as challenging task to improve the water level control system of the SG. In this paper, a robust model predictive control (RMPC) method is developed for the level control problem. Based on a multi-model framework, a combination of a local nominal model with a polytopic uncertain linear parameter varying (LPV) model is built to approximate the system's non-linear behavior. The optimization problem solved here is based on a receding horizon scheme involving the linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique. Closed loop stability and constraints satisfaction in the entire operating range are guaranteed by the feasibility of the optimization problem. Finally, simulation results show the effectiveness and the good performance of the proposed method

Solving dynamic multi-objective problems with vector evaluated particle swarm optimisation

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Greeff, M

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Many optimisation problems are multi-objective and change dynamically. Many methods use a weighted average approach to the multiple objectives. This paper introduces the usage of the vector evaluated particle swarm optimiser (VEPSO) to solve dynamic...

A Single Rod Multi-modality Multi-interface Level Sensor Using an AC Current Source

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdulgader Hwili

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Crude oil separation is an important process in the oil industry. To make efficient use of the separators, it is important to know their internal behaviour, and to measure the levels of multi-interfaces between different materials, such as gas-foam, foam-oil, oil-emulsion, emulsion-water and water-solids. A single-rod multi-modality multi-interface level sensor is presented, which has a current source, and electromagnetic modalities. Some key issues have been addressed, including the effect of salt content and temperature i.e. conductivity on the measurement.

Governing the energy challenge : Canada and Germany in a multi-level regional and global context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eberlein, B.; Doern, G.B.; Exeter Univ.,

2009-01-01

This book features essays by leading energy and public policy specialists from Canada and Germany. It originated in the Transatlantic Energy Conference which was hosted by the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies at Toronto's York University in September 2005. The conference was attended by leading energy scholars and experts from Canadian and European universities, research institutes and governmental and non-governmental organizations. The purpose of this book was to compare the dynamics of multi-level energy regulatory governance in Germany and Canada, notably the energy policy challenges that include energy security, environmental sustainability and a competitive resource economy. Many strategies to produce more efficient and sustainable energy are presented in the book. Part 1 of the book focuses on the energy industry, with particular emphasise on electricity, nuclear energy and natural gas. Part 2 of the book focuses on domestic patterns of multi-level energy governance and regulation in the two countries. As a member of the European Union, Germany is more advanced in dealing with multi-level governmental and sustainability constraints than Canada is as a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The book focuses on the influence that the energy sector and multi-level institutional arrangements have on energy governance, with particular attention to the link between environmental study, climate change issues and economic market reforms. The growing differences between NAFTA and European Union member countries were highlighted. refs., tabs., figs.

Multi-level spondylolysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hersh, David S; Kim, Yong H; Razi, Afshin

2011-01-01

The incidence of isthmic spondylolysis is approximately 3% to 6% in the general population. Spondylolytic defects involving multiple vertebral levels, on the other hand, are extremely rare. Only a handful of reports have examined the outcomes of surgical treatment of multi-level spondylolysis. Here, we present one case of bilateral pars defects at L3, L4, and L5. The patient, a 46-year-old female, presented with lower back pain radiating into the left lower extremity. Radiographs and CT scans of the lumbar spine revealed bilateral pars defects at L3-L5. The patient underwent lumbar discectomy and interbody fusion of L4-S1 as well as direct repair of the pars defect at L3. There were no postoperative complications, and by seven months the patient had improved clinically. While previous reports describe the use of either direct repair or fusion in the treatment of spondylolysis, we are unaware of reports describing the use of both techniques at adjacent levels.

Multi-level Bayesian analyses for single- and multi-vehicle freeway crashes.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Rongjie; Abdel-Aty, Mohamed

2013-09-01

This study presents multi-level analyses for single- and multi-vehicle crashes on a mountainous freeway. Data from a 15-mile mountainous freeway section on I-70 were investigated. Both aggregate and disaggregate models for the two crash conditions were developed. Five years of crash data were used in the aggregate investigation, while the disaggregate models utilized one year of crash data along with real-time traffic and weather data. For the aggregate analyses, safety performance functions were developed for the purpose of revealing the contributing factors for each crash type. Two methodologies, a Bayesian bivariate Poisson-lognormal model and a Bayesian hierarchical Poisson model with correlated random effects, were estimated to simultaneously analyze the two crash conditions with consideration of possible correlations. Except for the factors related to geometric characteristics, two exposure parameters (annual average daily traffic and segment length) were included. Two different sets of significant explanatory and exposure variables were identified for the single-vehicle (SV) and multi-vehicle (MV) crashes. It was found that the Bayesian bivariate Poisson-lognormal model is superior to the Bayesian hierarchical Poisson model, the former with a substantially lower DIC and more significant variables. In addition to the aggregate analyses, microscopic real-time crash risk evaluation models were developed for the two crash conditions. Multi-level Bayesian logistic regression models were estimated with the random parameters accounting for seasonal variations, crash-unit-level diversity and segment-level random effects capturing unobserved heterogeneity caused by the geometric characteristics. The model results indicate that the effects of the selected variables on crash occurrence vary across seasons and crash units; and that geometric characteristic variables contribute to the segment variations: the more unobserved heterogeneity have been accounted, the better

Dynamic feedback for multi-mode plasma instabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sen, A.K.

1978-01-01

Constant feedback, which has been used exclusively, fails to stabilize more than one mode of a plasma instability. It is shown that a suitable dynamic or frequency-dependent feedback can stabilize all modes. Methods are developed in which such a feedback structure can be chosen in terms of its poles and zeros in relation to those of the plasma transfer function in the complex frequency plane. The synthesis procedure for such a feedback structure, in the form of an integrated electronic circuit is also discussed. As an example, a dynamic feedback for multi-mode stabilization of a collisional drift wave instability is developed in detail. (author)

Quantum state preparation using multi-level-atom optics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Busch, Th; Deasy, K; Chormaic, S Nic

2007-01-01

One of the most important characteristics for controlling processes on the quantum scale is the fidelity or robustness of the techniques being used. In the case of single atoms localized in micro-traps, it was recently shown that the use of time-dependent tunnelling interactions in a multi-trap setup can be viewed as analogous to the area of multi-level optics. The atom's centre-of-mass can then be controlled with a high fidelity, using a STIRAP-type process. Here, we review previous work that led to the development of multi-level atom optics and present two examples of our most recent work on quantum state preparation

Anatomical reconstruction of unstable trochanteric fractures through posterior approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Partha Saha

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective Unstable intertrochanteric fractures continue to be a challenge for orthopedic surgeons due to the functional limitations it results in the postoperative period. Anatomical reconstruction of the posteromedial fragment becomes difficult through conventional lateral approach, leading to excessive fracture collapse and limping. Materials and Methods: prospective, nonrandomized study was done with 40 patients. They were operated in prone position through posterior approach. Cancellous screws or SS-wires were used to fix the greater or lesser trochanteric fragments and dynamic hip screw (DHS or dynamic condylar screw (DCS for the main two fragments. Bone grafts were used to pack cavities at the posterior trochanteric regions. Results: Fracture healing occurred earlier compared to conventional lateral approach without excessive fracture collapse in majority of cases (average time to achieve union was 13.8 weeks; range: 10–18 weeks. Good functional recovery was noted with 75% 'Good' or 'Excellent' Harris Hip Scores at 24 weeks. Conclusion: Anatomical reconstruction of unstable trochanteric fractures becomes easier through posterior approach with earlier and better functional recovery.

Masticatory biomechanics in the rabbit: a multi-body dynamics analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Peter J; Gröning, Flora; Curtis, Neil; Fitton, Laura C; Herrel, Anthony; McCormack, Steven W; Fagan, Michael J

2014-10-06

Multi-body dynamics is a powerful engineering tool which is becoming increasingly popular for the simulation and analysis of skull biomechanics. This paper presents the first application of multi-body dynamics to analyse the biomechanics of the rabbit skull. A model has been constructed through the combination of manual dissection and three-dimensional imaging techniques (magnetic resonance imaging and micro-computed tomography). Individual muscles are represented with multiple layers, thus more accurately modelling muscle fibres with complex lines of action. Model validity was sought through comparing experimentally measured maximum incisor bite forces with those predicted by the model. Simulations of molar biting highlighted the ability of the masticatory system to alter recruitment of two muscle groups, in order to generate shearing or crushing movements. Molar shearing is capable of processing a food bolus in all three orthogonal directions, whereas molar crushing and incisor biting are predominately directed vertically. Simulations also show that the masticatory system is adapted to process foods through several cycles with low muscle activations, presumably in order to prevent rapidly fatiguing fast fibres during repeated chewing cycles. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of a validated multi-body dynamics model for investigating feeding biomechanics in the rabbit, and shows the potential for complementing and eventually reducing in vivo experiments.

Delay-Induced Consensus and Quasi-Consensus in Multi-Agent Dynamical Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yu, Wenwu; Chen, Guanrong; Cao, Ming; Ren, Wei

2013-01-01

This paper studies consensus and quasi-consensus in multi-agent dynamical systems. A linear consensus protocol in the second-order dynamics is designed where both the current and delayed position information is utilized. Time delay, in a common perspective, can induce periodic oscillations or even

Multi-Level Marketing as a business model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdan Gregor

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Multi Level Marketing is a very popular business model in the Western countries. It is a kind of hybrid of the method of distribution of goods and the method of building a sales network. It is one of the safest (carries a very low risk ways of conducting a business activity. The knowledge about functioning of this business model, both among theoreticians (scanty literature on the subject and practitioners, is still insufficient in Poland. Thus, the presented paper has been prepared as — in the Authors' opinion — it, at least infinitesimally, bridges the gap in the recognition of Multi Level Marketing issues. The aim of the study was, first of all, to describe Multi Level Marketing, to indicate practical benefits of this business model as well as to present basic systems of calculating a commission, which are used in marketing plans of companies. The discussion was based on the study of literature and the knowledge gained in the course of free-form interviews with the leaders of the sector.

Multi-scale multi-physics computational chemistry simulation based on ultra-accelerated quantum chemical molecular dynamics method for structural materials in boiling water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyamoto, Akira; Sato, Etsuko; Sato, Ryo; Inaba, Kenji; Hatakeyama, Nozomu

2014-01-01

In collaboration with experimental experts we have reported in the present conference (Hatakeyama, N. et al., “Experiment-integrated multi-scale, multi-physics computational chemistry simulation applied to corrosion behaviour of BWR structural materials”) the results of multi-scale multi-physics computational chemistry simulations applied to the corrosion behaviour of BWR structural materials. In macro-scale, a macroscopic simulator of anode polarization curve was developed to solve the spatially one-dimensional electrochemical equations on the material surface in continuum level in order to understand the corrosion behaviour of typical BWR structural material, SUS304. The experimental anode polarization behaviours of each pure metal were reproduced by fitting all the rates of electrochemical reactions and then the anode polarization curve of SUS304 was calculated by using the same parameters and found to reproduce the experimental behaviour successfully. In meso-scale, a kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulator was applied to an actual-time simulation of the morphological corrosion behaviour under the influence of an applied voltage. In micro-scale, an ultra-accelerated quantum chemical molecular dynamics (UA-QCMD) code was applied to various metallic oxide surfaces of Fe 2 O 3 , Fe 3 O 4 , Cr 2 O 3 modelled as same as water molecules and dissolved metallic ions on the surfaces, then the dissolution and segregation behaviours were successfully simulated dynamically by using UA-QCMD. In this paper we describe details of the multi-scale, multi-physics computational chemistry method especially the UA-QCMD method. This method is approximately 10,000,000 times faster than conventional first-principles molecular dynamics methods based on density-functional theory (DFT), and the accuracy was also validated for various metals and metal oxides compared with DFT results. To assure multi-scale multi-physics computational chemistry simulation based on the UA-QCMD method for

Overpowering posterior lumbar instrumentation and fusion with hyperlordotic anterior lumbar interbody cages followed by posterior revision: a preliminary feasibility study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kadam, Abhijeet; Wigner, Nathan; Saville, Philip; Arlet, Vincent

2017-12-01

OBJECTIVE The authors' aim in this study was to evaluate whether sagittal plane correction can be obtained from the front by overpowering previous posterior instrumentation and/or fusion with hyperlordotic anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) cages in patients undergoing revision surgery for degenerative spinal conditions and/or spinal deformities. METHODS The authors report their experience with the application of hyperlordotic cages at 36 lumbar levels for ALIFs in a series of 20 patients who underwent revision spinal surgery at a single institution. Included patients underwent staged front-back procedures: ALIFs with hyperlordotic cages (12°, 20°, and 30°) followed by removal of posterior instrumentation and reinstrumentation from the back. Patients were divided into the following 2 groups depending on the extent of posterior instrumentation and fusion during the second stage: long constructs (≥ 6 levels with extension into thoracic spine and/or pelvis) and short constructs (lumbar lordosis increased from 44.3° to 59.8° (p lumbar levels that have pseudarthrosis from the previous posterior spinal fusion. Meticulous selection of levels for ALIF is crucial for safely and effectively performing this technique.

Mathematical model comparing of the multi-level economics systems

Science.gov (United States)

Brykalov, S. M.; Kryanev, A. V.

2017-12-01

The mathematical model (scheme) of a multi-level comparison of the economic system, characterized by the system of indices, is worked out. In the mathematical model of the multi-level comparison of the economic systems, the indicators of peer review and forecasting of the economic system under consideration can be used. The model can take into account the uncertainty in the estimated values of the parameters or expert estimations. The model uses the multi-criteria approach based on the Pareto solutions.

Non-equilibrium quantum dynamics of ultra-cold atomic mixtures: the multi-layer multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method for bosons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krönke, Sven; Cao, Lushuai; Schmelcher, Peter; Vendrell, Oriol

2013-01-01

We develop and apply the multi-layer multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method for bosons, which represents an ab initio method for investigating the non-equilibrium quantum dynamics of multi-species bosonic systems. Its multi-layer feature allows for tailoring the wave function ansatz to describe intra- and inter-species correlations accurately and efficiently. To demonstrate the beneficial scaling and efficiency of the method, we explored the correlated tunneling dynamics of two species with repulsive intra- and inter-species interactions, to which a third species with vanishing intra-species interaction was weakly coupled. The population imbalances of the first two species can feature a temporal equilibration and their time evolution significantly depends on the coupling to the third species. Bosons of the first and second species exhibit a bunching tendency, whose strength can be influenced by their coupling to the third species. (paper)

Design of multi-phase dynamic chemical networks

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chenrui; Tan, Junjun; Hsieh, Ming-Chien; Pan, Ting; Goodwin, Jay T.; Mehta, Anil K.; Grover, Martha A.; Lynn, David G.

2017-08-01

Template-directed polymerization reactions enable the accurate storage and processing of nature's biopolymer information. This mutualistic relationship of nucleic acids and proteins, a network known as life's central dogma, is now marvellously complex, and the progressive steps necessary for creating the initial sequence and chain-length-specific polymer templates are lost to time. Here we design and construct dynamic polymerization networks that exploit metastable prion cross-β phases. Mixed-phase environments have been used for constructing synthetic polymers, but these dynamic phases emerge naturally from the growing peptide oligomers and create environments suitable both to nucleate assembly and select for ordered templates. The resulting templates direct the amplification of a phase containing only chain-length-specific peptide-like oligomers. Such multi-phase biopolymer dynamics reveal pathways for the emergence, self-selection and amplification of chain-length- and possibly sequence-specific biopolymers.

Multi-Level Formation of Complex Software Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui Li

2016-05-01

Full Text Available We present a multi-level formation model for complex software systems. The previous works extract the software systems to software networks for further studies, but usually investigate the software networks at the class level. In contrast to these works, our treatment of software systems as multi-level networks is more realistic. In particular, the software networks are organized by three levels of granularity, which represents the modularity and hierarchy in the formation process of real-world software systems. More importantly, simulations based on this model have generated more realistic structural properties of software networks, such as power-law, clustering and modularization. On the basis of this model, how the structure of software systems effects software design principles is then explored, and it could be helpful for understanding software evolution and software engineering practices.

Posterior Probability Matching and Human Perceptual Decision Making.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard F Murray

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Probability matching is a classic theory of decision making that was first developed in models of cognition. Posterior probability matching, a variant in which observers match their response probabilities to the posterior probability of each response being correct, is being used increasingly often in models of perception. However, little is known about whether posterior probability matching is consistent with the vast literature on vision and hearing that has developed within signal detection theory. Here we test posterior probability matching models using two tools from detection theory. First, we examine the models' performance in a two-pass experiment, where each block of trials is presented twice, and we measure the proportion of times that the model gives the same response twice to repeated stimuli. We show that at low performance levels, posterior probability matching models give highly inconsistent responses across repeated presentations of identical trials. We find that practised human observers are more consistent across repeated trials than these models predict, and we find some evidence that less practised observers more consistent as well. Second, we compare the performance of posterior probability matching models on a discrimination task to the performance of a theoretical ideal observer that achieves the best possible performance. We find that posterior probability matching is very inefficient at low-to-moderate performance levels, and that human observers can be more efficient than is ever possible according to posterior probability matching models. These findings support classic signal detection models, and rule out a broad class of posterior probability matching models for expert performance on perceptual tasks that range in complexity from contrast discrimination to symmetry detection. However, our findings leave open the possibility that inexperienced observers may show posterior probability matching behaviour, and our methods

Keabsahan Dan Kekuatan Hukum Layanan Multi Level Marketing Di Kota Manado

OpenAIRE

Mandang, Christian Leonardo

2016-01-01

Tujuan dilakukannya penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui apa landasan hukum yang mendasari keabsahan layanan Multi Level Marketing dan bagaimana sebuah Perusahaan dapat memenuhi syarat untuk menjalankan sistem Multi Level Marketing. Dengan menggunakan metode penelitian yuridis normatif, maka dapat disimpulkan: 1. Kehadiran Perusahaan dan kegiatan USAha Multi Level Marketing baik secara global maupun secara nasional, khususnya kehadirannya di negara Indonesia berperan untuk membantu berbagai...

Interconnected levels of multi-stage marketing: A triadic approach

OpenAIRE

Vedel, Mette; Geersbro, Jens; Ritter, Thomas

2012-01-01

Multi-stage marketing gains increasing attention as knowledge of and influence on the customer's customer become more critical for the firm's success. Despite this increasing managerial relevance, systematic approaches for analyzing multi-stage marketing are still missing. This paper conceptualizes different levels of multi-stage marketing and illustrates these stages with a case study. In addition, a triadic perspective is introduced as an analytical tool for multi-stage marketing research. ...

Employing multi-GPU power for molecular dynamics simulation: an extension of GALAMOST

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, You-Liang; Pan, Deng; Li, Zhan-Wei; Liu, Hong; Qian, Hu-Jun; Zhao, Yang; Lu, Zhong-Yuan; Sun, Zhao-Yan

2018-04-01

We describe the algorithm of employing multi-GPU power on the basis of Message Passing Interface (MPI) domain decomposition in a molecular dynamics code, GALAMOST, which is designed for the coarse-grained simulation of soft matters. The code of multi-GPU version is developed based on our previous single-GPU version. In multi-GPU runs, one GPU takes charge of one domain and runs single-GPU code path. The communication between neighbouring domains takes a similar algorithm of CPU-based code of LAMMPS, but is optimised specifically for GPUs. We employ a memory-saving design which can enlarge maximum system size at the same device condition. An optimisation algorithm is employed to prolong the update period of neighbour list. We demonstrate good performance of multi-GPU runs on the simulation of Lennard-Jones liquid, dissipative particle dynamics liquid, polymer and nanoparticle composite, and two-patch particles on workstation. A good scaling of many nodes on cluster for two-patch particles is presented.

The application of a multi-physics tool kit to spatial reactor dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clifford, I.; Jasak, H.

2009-01-01

Traditionally coupled field nuclear reactor analysis has been carried out using several loosely coupled solvers, each having been developed independently from the others. In the field of multi-physics, the current generation of object-oriented tool kits provides robust close coupling of multiple fields on a single framework. This paper describes the initial results obtained as part of continuing research in the use of the OpenFOAM multi-physics tool kit for reactor dynamics application development. An unstructured, three-dimensional, time-dependent multi-group diffusion code Diffusion FOAM has been developed using the OpenFOAM multi-physics tool kit as a basis. The code is based on the finite-volume methodology and uses a newly developed block-coupled sparse matrix solver for the coupled solution of the multi-group diffusion equations. A description of this code is given with particular emphasis on the newly developed block-coupled solver, along with a selection of results obtained thus far. The code has performed well, indicating that the OpenFOAM tool kit is suited to reactor dynamics applications. This work has shown that the neutronics and simplified thermal-hydraulics of a reactor May be represented and solved for using a common calculation platform, and opens up the possibility for research into robust close-coupling of neutron diffusion and thermal-fluid calculations. This work has further opened up the possibility for research in a number of other areas, including research into three-dimensional unstructured meshes for reactor dynamics applications. (authors)

Device-Level Models Using Multi-Valley Effective Mass

Science.gov (United States)

Baczewski, Andrew D.; Frees, Adam; Gamble, John King; Gao, Xujiao; Jacobson, N. Tobias; Mitchell, John A.; Montaño, Inès; Muller, Richard P.; Nielsen, Erik

2015-03-01

Continued progress in quantum electronics depends critically on the availability of robust device-level modeling tools that capture a wide range of physics and effective mass theory (EMT) is one means of building such models. Recent developments in multi-valley EMT show quantitative agreement with more detailed atomistic tight-binding calculations of phosphorus donors in silicon (Gamble, et. al., arXiv:1408.3159). Leveraging existing PDE solvers, we are developing a framework in which this multi-valley EMT is coupled to an integrated device-level description of several experimentally active qubit technologies. Device-level simulations of quantum operations will be discussed, as well as the extraction of process matrices at this level of theory. The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the Sandia National Laboratories Truman Fellowship Program, which is funded by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Dynamical Consensus Algorithm for Second-Order Multi-Agent Systems Subjected to Communication Delay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Chenglin; Liu Fei

2013-01-01

To solve the dynamical consensus problem of second-order multi-agent systems with communication delay, delay-dependent compensations are added into the normal asynchronously-coupled consensus algorithm so as to make the agents achieve a dynamical consensus. Based on frequency-domain analysis, sufficient conditions are gained for second-order multi-agent systems with communication delay under leaderless and leader-following consensus algorithms respectively. Simulation illustrates the correctness of the results. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

Pracovní motivace v multi-level marketingu

OpenAIRE

Mrázková, Tereza

2015-01-01

The purpose of this work is to analyse the motivation in multi-level marketing company. The thesis introduces basic general marketing tools, but also multi-level marketing and the theory of motivation. The research in practical part was done in the form of electronical survey, which was completed by 71 responders. The responders were employees of specific company. The thesis does not only focus on the motivation in work in general, but also on the difference in motivation between male and fem...

Ethanol drinking reduces extracellular dopamine levels in the posterior ventral tegmental area of nondependent alcohol-preferring rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Engleman, Eric A; Keen, Elizabeth J; Tilford, Sydney S; Thielen, Richard J; Morzorati, Sandra L

2011-09-01

Moderate ethanol exposure produces neuroadaptive changes in the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) system in nondependent rats and increases measures of DA neuronal activity in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, moderate ethanol drinking and moderate systemic exposure elevates extracellular DA levels in mesocorticolimbic projection regions. However, the neuroadaptive changes subsequent to moderate ethanol drinking on basal DA levels have not been investigated in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). In the present study, adult female alcohol-preferring (P) rats were divided into alcohol-naive, alcohol-drinking, and alcohol-deprived groups. The alcohol-drinking group had continuous access to water and ethanol (15%, vol/vol) for 8 weeks. The alcohol-deprived group had 6 weeks of access followed by 2 weeks of ethanol deprivation, 2 weeks of ethanol re-exposure, followed again by 2 weeks of deprivation. The deprived rats demonstrated a robust alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) on ethanol reinstatement. The alcohol-naïve group had continuous access to water only. In the last week of the drinking protocol, all rats were implanted with unilateral microdialysis probes aimed at the posterior VTA and no-net-flux microdialysis was conducted to quantify extracellular DA levels and DA clearance. Results yielded significantly lower basal extracellular DA concentrations in the posterior VTA of the alcohol-drinking group compared with the alcohol-naive and alcohol-deprived groups (3.8±0.3nM vs. 5.0±0.5nM [Palcohol-drinking and alcohol-naive groups (72±2% vs. 46±4%, respectively) and not significantly different (P=.051) between alcohol-deprived and alcohol-naive groups (61±6% for the alcohol-deprived group). The data indicate that reductions in basal DA levels within the posterior VTA occur after moderate chronic ethanol intake in nondependent P rats. This reduction may result, in part, from increased DA uptake and may be important for the maintenance of ethanol drinking. These adaptations

Ownership dynamics in local multi-stakeholder initiatives

OpenAIRE

Biekart, Kees; Fowler, Alan

2018-01-01

textabstractThe nature and dynamics of ownership are often neglected features of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs). Seventeen cases in four countries illustrate characteristics of narrow government or broad societal ownership and forces for change over time. Refinements to the application of Gaventa’s Power Cube are used to analyse such shifts from the perspective of invited and closed spaces for participation. Observations about ways in which stakeholder groups can create a more enabling ...

Posterior glenoid rim deficiency in recurrent (atraumatic) posterior shoulder instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weishaupt, D.; Zanetti, M.; Hodler, J.; Nyffeler, R.W.; Gerber, C.

2000-01-01

Objective. To assess the shape of the posterior glenoid rim in patients with recurrent (atraumatic) posterior instability.Design and patients. CT examinations of 15 shoulders with recurrent (atraumatic) posterior instability were reviewed in masked fashion with regard to abnormalities of the glenoid shape, specifically of its posterior rim. The glenoid version was also assessed. The findings were compared with the findings in 15 shoulders with recurrent anterior shoulder instability and 15 shoulders without instability. For all patients, surgical correlation was available.Results. Fourteen of the 15 (93%) shoulders with recurrent (atraumatic) posterior shoulder instability had a deficiency of the posteroinferior glenoid rim. In patients with recurrent anterior instability or stable shoulders such deficiencies were less common (60% and 73%, respectively). The craniocaudal length of the deficiencies was largest in patients with posterior instability. When a posteroinferior deficiency with a craniocaudal length of 12 mm or more was defined as abnormal, sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing recurrent (atraumatic) posterior instability were 86.7% and 83.3%, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in glenoid version between shoulders with posterior instability and stable shoulders (P=0.01).Conclusion. Recurrent (atraumatic) posterior shoulder instability should be considered in patients with a bony deficiency of the posteroinferior glenoid rim with a craniocaudal length of more than 12 mm. (orig.)

Governance and the Commons in a Multi-Level World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Derek Armitage

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Multi-level governance may facilitate learning and adaptation in complex social-ecological circumstances. Such arrangements should connect community-based management with regional/national government-level management, link scientific management and traditional management systems, encourage the sharing of knowledge and information, and promote collaboration and dialogue around goals and outcomes. Governance innovations of this type can thus build capacity to adapt to change and manage for resilience. However, critical reflection on the emergence of adaptive, multi-level governance for the commons is warranted. Drawing on examples from the North and South, the purpose of this review is to connect three complementary bodies of scholarship with insights for commons governance in a multi-level world: common property theory, resilience thinking and political ecology. From the commons and resilience literature, normative principles of adaptive, multi-level governance are synthesized (e.g., participation, accountability, leadership, knowledge pluralism, learning and trust. Political ecological interpretations, however, help to reveal the challenge of actualizing these principles and the contextual forces that make entrenched, top-down management systems resilient to change. These forces include the role of power, scale and levels of organization, knowledge valuation, the positioning of social actors and social constructions of nature. Also addressed are the policy narratives that shape governance, and the dialectic relationship among ecological systems and social change. tekst

Impaired consciousness is linked to changes in effective connectivity of the posterior cingulate cortex within the default mode network.

Science.gov (United States)

Crone, Julia Sophia; Schurz, Matthias; Höller, Yvonne; Bergmann, Jürgen; Monti, Martin; Schmid, Elisabeth; Trinka, Eugen; Kronbichler, Martin

2015-04-15

The intrinsic connectivity of the default mode network has been associated with the level of consciousness in patients with severe brain injury. Especially medial parietal regions are considered to be highly involved in impaired consciousness. To better understand what aspect of this intrinsic architecture is linked to consciousness, we applied spectral dynamic causal modeling to assess effective connectivity within the default mode network in patients with disorders of consciousness. We included 12 controls, 12 patients in minimally conscious state and 13 in vegetative state in this study. For each subject, we first defined the four key regions of the default mode network employing a subject-specific independent component analysis approach. The resulting regions were then included as nodes in a spectral dynamic causal modeling analysis in order to assess how the causal interactions across these regions as well as the characteristics of neuronal fluctuations change with the level of consciousness. The resulting pattern of interaction in controls identified the posterior cingulate cortex as the main driven hub with positive afferent but negative efferent connections. In patients, this pattern appears to be disrupted. Moreover, the vegetative state patients exhibit significantly reduced self-inhibition and increased oscillations in the posterior cingulate cortex compared to minimally conscious state and controls. Finally, the degree of self-inhibition and strength of oscillation in this region is correlated with the level of consciousness. These findings indicate that the equilibrium between excitatory connectivity towards posterior cingulate cortex and its feedback projections is a key aspect of the relationship between alterations in consciousness after severe brain injury and the intrinsic functional architecture of the default mode network. This impairment might be principally due to the disruption of the mechanisms underlying self-inhibition and neuronal

Multi-Level Wavelet Shannon Entropy-Based Method for Single-Sensor Fault Location

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiaoning Yang

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In actual application, sensors are prone to failure because of harsh environments, battery drain, and sensor aging. Sensor fault location is an important step for follow-up sensor fault detection. In this paper, two new multi-level wavelet Shannon entropies (multi-level wavelet time Shannon entropy and multi-level wavelet time-energy Shannon entropy are defined. They take full advantage of sensor fault frequency distribution and energy distribution across multi-subband in wavelet domain. Based on the multi-level wavelet Shannon entropy, a method is proposed for single sensor fault location. The method firstly uses a criterion of maximum energy-to-Shannon entropy ratio to select the appropriate wavelet base for signal analysis. Then multi-level wavelet time Shannon entropy and multi-level wavelet time-energy Shannon entropy are used to locate the fault. The method is validated using practical chemical gas concentration data from a gas sensor array. Compared with wavelet time Shannon entropy and wavelet energy Shannon entropy, the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve accurate location of a single sensor fault and has good anti-noise ability. The proposed method is feasible and effective for single-sensor fault location.

Three essays on multi-level optimization models and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Rahdar, Mohammad

The general form of a multi-level mathematical programming problem is a set of nested optimization problems, in which each level controls a series of decision variables independently. However, the value of decision variables may also impact the objective function of other levels. A two-level model is called a bilevel model and can be considered as a Stackelberg game with a leader and a follower. The leader anticipates the response of the follower and optimizes its objective function, and then the follower reacts to the leader's action. The multi-level decision-making model has many real-world applications such as government decisions, energy policies, market economy, network design, etc. However, there is a lack of capable algorithms to solve medium and large scale these types of problems. The dissertation is devoted to both theoretical research and applications of multi-level mathematical programming models, which consists of three parts, each in a paper format. The first part studies the renewable energy portfolio under two major renewable energy policies. The potential competition for biomass for the growth of the renewable energy portfolio in the United States and other interactions between two policies over the next twenty years are investigated. This problem mainly has two levels of decision makers: the government/policy makers and biofuel producers/electricity generators/farmers. We focus on the lower-level problem to predict the amount of capacity expansions, fuel production, and power generation. In the second part, we address uncertainty over demand and lead time in a multi-stage mathematical programming problem. We propose a two-stage tri-level optimization model in the concept of rolling horizon approach to reducing the dimensionality of the multi-stage problem. In the third part of the dissertation, we introduce a new branch and bound algorithm to solve bilevel linear programming problems. The total time is reduced by solving a smaller relaxation

Development and application of dynamic hybrid multi-region inventory analysis for macro-level environmental policy analysis. A case study on climate policy in Taiwan

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chao, C.-W.; Heijungs, R.

2013-01-01

We develop a novel inventory method called Dynamic Hybrid Multi-Region Inventory analysis (DHMRI), which integrates the EEMRIOA and Integrated Hybrid LCA and applies time-dependent environmental intervention information for inventory analysis. Consequently, DHMRI is able to quantify the change in

Ectopic posterior pituitary high signal in preoperative and postoperative macroadenomas: dynamic MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, Takahiro; Miki, Yukio; Takahashi, Jun A.; Kanagaki, Mitsunori; Yamamoto, Akira; Fushimi, Yasutaka; Okada, Tsutomu; Haque, Tabassum Laz; Hashimoto, Nobuo; Konishi, Junji; Togashi, Kaori

2005-01-01

Background and purpose: In patients with macroadenoma, posterior pituitary high signal (PPHS) on T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is sometimes observed in an ectopic location. The present study compared incidences of ectopic PPHS before and after macroadenoma surgery using MR imaging, including dynamic MR imaging to ascertain whether this ectopic change is irreversible. Materials and methods: MR imaging was performed preoperatively in 111 cases of macroadenoma, and then repeated more than 1-year postoperatively in 47 patients. Enhancement of PPHS was assessed using dynamic MR imaging. Areas of enhanced hyperintensity were considered true PPHS, and the relationship between presence and location of true PPHS and adenoma volume was analyzed. Moreover, changes in the presence and location of true PPHS were ascertained among the patients who underwent postoperative follow-up MR imaging. Results: Preoperatively, PPHS was seen only in the normal location in 29 patients (Group A: 26.1%). High signal was detected only in an ectopic location in 58 patients, and early enhancement of this ectopic high signal was confirmed by dynamic MR imaging in 56 patients (Group B: 50.5%). No PPHS was observed in 24 patients (Group C: 21.6%). Adenoma volume was significantly greater for Group B than for Group A (p < 0.001). Among the Group B patients who underwent MR imaging postoperatively (n = 31), the location of PPHS was not changed, except for two patients in whom PPHS was absent. Postoperatively, PPHS was not observed in the normal location in any patient in the Group B. Conclusions: Greater volume of adenoma is associated with a higher incidence of ectopic PPHS, and the ectopic change is irreversible

Dynamic channel assignment scheme for multi-radio wireless mesh networks

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kareem, TR

2008-09-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the challenges involve in designing a dynamic channel assignment (DCA) scheme for wireless mesh networks, particularly for multi-radio systems. It motivates the need for fast switching and process coordination modules...

Analysing the performance of dynamic multi-objective optimisation algorithms

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Helbig, M

2013-06-01

Full Text Available and the goal of the algorithm is to track a set of tradeoff solutions over time. Analysing the performance of a dynamic multi-objective optimisation algorithm (DMOA) is not a trivial task. For each environment (before a change occurs) the DMOA has to find a set...

Interevent time distributions of human multi-level activity in a virtual world

Science.gov (United States)

Mryglod, O.; Fuchs, B.; Szell, M.; Holovatch, Yu.; Thurner, S.

2015-02-01

Studying human behavior in virtual environments provides extraordinary opportunities for a quantitative analysis of social phenomena with levels of accuracy that approach those of the natural sciences. In this paper we use records of player activities in the massive multiplayer online game Pardus over 1238 consecutive days, and analyze dynamical features of sequences of actions of players. We build on previous work where temporal structures of human actions of the same type were quantified, and provide an empirical understanding of human actions of different types. This study of multi-level human activity can be seen as a dynamic counterpart of static multiplex network analysis. We show that the interevent time distributions of actions in the Pardus universe follow highly non-trivial distribution functions, from which we extract action-type specific characteristic 'decay constants'. We discuss characteristic features of interevent time distributions, including periodic patterns on different time scales, bursty dynamics, and various functional forms on different time scales. We comment on gender differences of players in emotional actions, and find that while males and females act similarly when performing some positive actions, females are slightly faster for negative actions. We also observe effects on the age of players: more experienced players are generally faster in making decisions about engaging in and terminating enmity and friendship, respectively.

Parameter Estimation of Dynamic Multi-zone Models for Livestock Indoor Climate Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Zhuang; Stoustrup, Jakob; Heiselberg, Per

2008-01-01

, the livestock, the ventilation system and the building on the dynamic performance of indoor climate. Some significant parameters employed in the climate model as well as the airflow interaction between each conceptual zone are identified with the use of experimental time series data collected during spring......In this paper, a multi-zone modeling concept is proposed based on a simplified energy balance formulation to provide a better prediction of the indoor horizontal temperature variation inside the livestock building. The developed mathematical models reflect the influences from the weather...... and winter at a real scale livestock building in Denmark. The obtained comparative results between the measured data and the simulated output confirm that a very simple multi-zone model can capture the salient dynamical features of the climate dynamics which are needed for control purposes....

Multi-level iteration optimization for diffusive critical calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Yunzhao; Wu Hongchun; Cao Liangzhi; Zheng Youqi

2013-01-01

In nuclear reactor core neutron diffusion calculation, there are usually at least three levels of iterations, namely the fission source iteration, the multi-group scattering source iteration and the within-group iteration. Unnecessary calculations occur if the inner iterations are converged extremely tight. But the convergence of the outer iteration may be affected if the inner ones are converged insufficiently tight. Thus, a common scheme suit for most of the problems was proposed in this work to automatically find the optimized settings. The basic idea is to optimize the relative error tolerance of the inner iteration based on the corresponding convergence rate of the outer iteration. Numerical results of a typical thermal neutron reactor core problem and a fast neutron reactor core problem demonstrate the effectiveness of this algorithm in the variational nodal method code NODAL with the Gauss-Seidel left preconditioned multi-group GMRES algorithm. The multi-level iteration optimization scheme reduces the number of multi-group and within-group iterations respectively by a factor of about 1-2 and 5-21. (authors)

Multi-scale Dynamical Processes in Space and Astrophysical Plasmas

CERN Document Server

Vörös, Zoltán; IAFA 2011 - International Astrophysics Forum 2011 : Frontiers in Space Environment Research

2012-01-01

Magnetized plasmas in the universe exhibit complex dynamical behavior over a huge range of scales. The fundamental mechanisms of energy transport, redistribution and conversion occur at multiple scales. The driving mechanisms often include energy accumulation, free-energy-excited relaxation processes, dissipation and self-organization. The plasma processes associated with energy conversion, transport and self-organization, such as magnetic reconnection, instabilities, linear and nonlinear waves, wave-particle interactions, dynamo processes, turbulence, heating, diffusion and convection represent fundamental physical effects. They demonstrate similar dynamical behavior in near-Earth space, on the Sun, in the heliosphere and in astrophysical environments. 'Multi-scale Dynamical Processes in Space and Astrophysical Plasmas' presents the proceedings of the International Astrophysics Forum Alpbach 2011. The contributions discuss the latest advances in the exploration of dynamical behavior in space plasmas environm...

Level set method for computational multi-fluid dynamics: A review on ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

to multi fluid/phase as well as to various types of two-phase flow. In the second ...... simulated bubble generation in a quiescent and co-flowing fluid, for various liquid-to-gas mean injection velocity at ... in modelling of droplet impact behaviour.

Dynamic activity-travel assignment in multi-state supernetworks with road and location capacity constraints

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liu, P.; Liao, F.; Huang, H.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

2016-01-01

A unified framework coupling activity-based modelling and dynamic traffic assignment has recently been proposed. It formulates dynamic activity-travel assignment (DATA) in multi-state supernetworks as a dynamic user equilibrium. Choices of departure time, route, mode, activity sequence, and

Multi-level methods and approximating distribution functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, D.; Baker, R. E.

2016-01-01

Biochemical reaction networks are often modelled using discrete-state, continuous-time Markov chains. System statistics of these Markov chains usually cannot be calculated analytically and therefore estimates must be generated via simulation techniques. There is a well documented class of simulation techniques known as exact stochastic simulation algorithms, an example of which is Gillespie’s direct method. These algorithms often come with high computational costs, therefore approximate stochastic simulation algorithms such as the tau-leap method are used. However, in order to minimise the bias in the estimates generated using them, a relatively small value of tau is needed, rendering the computational costs comparable to Gillespie’s direct method. The multi-level Monte Carlo method (Anderson and Higham, Multiscale Model. Simul. 10:146–179, 2012) provides a reduction in computational costs whilst minimising or even eliminating the bias in the estimates of system statistics. This is achieved by first crudely approximating required statistics with many sample paths of low accuracy. Then correction terms are added until a required level of accuracy is reached. Recent literature has primarily focussed on implementing the multi-level method efficiently to estimate a single system statistic. However, it is clearly also of interest to be able to approximate entire probability distributions of species counts. We present two novel methods that combine known techniques for distribution reconstruction with the multi-level method. We demonstrate the potential of our methods using a number of examples.

Multi-level methods and approximating distribution functions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilson, D., E-mail: daniel.wilson@dtc.ox.ac.uk; Baker, R. E. [Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG (United Kingdom)

2016-07-15

Biochemical reaction networks are often modelled using discrete-state, continuous-time Markov chains. System statistics of these Markov chains usually cannot be calculated analytically and therefore estimates must be generated via simulation techniques. There is a well documented class of simulation techniques known as exact stochastic simulation algorithms, an example of which is Gillespie’s direct method. These algorithms often come with high computational costs, therefore approximate stochastic simulation algorithms such as the tau-leap method are used. However, in order to minimise the bias in the estimates generated using them, a relatively small value of tau is needed, rendering the computational costs comparable to Gillespie’s direct method. The multi-level Monte Carlo method (Anderson and Higham, Multiscale Model. Simul. 10:146–179, 2012) provides a reduction in computational costs whilst minimising or even eliminating the bias in the estimates of system statistics. This is achieved by first crudely approximating required statistics with many sample paths of low accuracy. Then correction terms are added until a required level of accuracy is reached. Recent literature has primarily focussed on implementing the multi-level method efficiently to estimate a single system statistic. However, it is clearly also of interest to be able to approximate entire probability distributions of species counts. We present two novel methods that combine known techniques for distribution reconstruction with the multi-level method. We demonstrate the potential of our methods using a number of examples.

A single-phase multi-level D-STATCOM inverter using modular multi-level converter (MMC) topology for renewable energy sources

Science.gov (United States)

Sotoodeh, Pedram

This dissertation presents the design of a novel multi-level inverter with FACTS capability for small to mid-size (10-20kW) permanent-magnet wind installations using modular multi-level converter (MMC) topology. The aim of the work is to design a new type of inverter with D-STATCOM option to provide utilities with more control on active and reactive power transfer of distribution lines. The inverter is placed between the renewable energy source, specifically a wind turbine, and the distribution grid in order to fix the power factor of the grid at a target value, regardless of wind speed, by regulating active and reactive power required by the grid. The inverter is capable of controlling active and reactive power by controlling the phase angle and modulation index, respectively. The unique contribution of the proposed work is to combine the two concepts of inverter and D-STATCOM using a novel voltage source converter (VSC) multi-level topology in a single unit without additional cost. Simulations of the proposed inverter, with 5 and 11 levels, have been conducted in MATLAB/Simulink for two systems including 20 kW/kVAR and 250 W/VAR. To validate the simulation results, a scaled version (250 kW/kVAR) of the proposed inverter with 5 and 11 levels has been built and tested in the laboratory. Experimental results show that the reduced-scale 5- and 11-level inverter is able to fix PF of the grid as well as being compatible with IEEE standards. Furthermore, total cost of the prototype models, which is one of the major objectives of this research, is comparable with market prices.

On decoding of multi-level MPSK modulation codes

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shu; Gupta, Alok Kumar

1990-01-01

The decoding problem of multi-level block modulation codes is investigated. The hardware design of soft-decision Viterbi decoder for some short length 8-PSK block modulation codes is presented. An effective way to reduce the hardware complexity of the decoder by reducing the branch metric and path metric, using a non-uniform floating-point to integer mapping scheme, is proposed and discussed. The simulation results of the design are presented. The multi-stage decoding (MSD) of multi-level modulation codes is also investigated. The cases of soft-decision and hard-decision MSD are considered and their performance are evaluated for several codes of different lengths and different minimum squared Euclidean distances. It is shown that the soft-decision MSD reduces the decoding complexity drastically and it is suboptimum. The hard-decision MSD further simplifies the decoding while still maintaining a reasonable coding gain over the uncoded system, if the component codes are chosen properly. Finally, some basic 3-level 8-PSK modulation codes using BCH codes as component codes are constructed and their coding gains are found for hard decision multistage decoding.

Multi-level and hybrid modelling approaches for systems biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bardini, R; Politano, G; Benso, A; Di Carlo, S

2017-01-01

During the last decades, high-throughput techniques allowed for the extraction of a huge amount of data from biological systems, unveiling more of their underling complexity. Biological systems encompass a wide range of space and time scales, functioning according to flexible hierarchies of mechanisms making an intertwined and dynamic interplay of regulations. This becomes particularly evident in processes such as ontogenesis, where regulative assets change according to process context and timing, making structural phenotype and architectural complexities emerge from a single cell, through local interactions. The information collected from biological systems are naturally organized according to the functional levels composing the system itself. In systems biology, biological information often comes from overlapping but different scientific domains, each one having its own way of representing phenomena under study. That is, the different parts of the system to be modelled may be described with different formalisms. For a model to have improved accuracy and capability for making a good knowledge base, it is good to comprise different system levels, suitably handling the relative formalisms. Models which are both multi-level and hybrid satisfy both these requirements, making a very useful tool in computational systems biology. This paper reviews some of the main contributions in this field.

Maintenance grouping strategy for multi-component systems with dynamic contexts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vu, Hai Canh; Do, Phuc; Barros, Anne; Bérenguer, Christophe

2014-01-01

This paper presents a dynamic maintenance grouping strategy for multi-component systems with both “positive” and “negative” economic dependencies. Positive dependencies are commonly due to setup cost whereas negative dependencies are related to shutdown cost. Actually, grouping maintenance activities can save part of the setup cost, but can also in the same time increase the shutdown cost. Until now, both types of dependencies have been jointly taken into account only for simple system structures as pure series. The first aim of this paper is to investigate the case of systems with any combination of basic structures (series, parallel or k-out-of n structures). A cost model and a heuristic optimization scheme are proposed since the optimization of maintenance grouping strategy for such multi-component systems leads to a NP-complete problem. Then the second objective is to propose a finite horizon (dynamic) model in order to optimize online the maintenance strategy in the presence of dynamic contexts (change of the environment, the working condition, the production process, etc). A numerical example of a 16-component system is finally introduced to illustrate the use and the advantages of the proposed approach in the maintenance optimization framework. - Highlights: • A dynamic grouping maintenance strategy for complex structure systems is proposed. • Impacts of the system structure on grouping maintenance are investigated. • A grouping approach based on the rolling horizon and GA algorithm is proposed. • Different dynamic contexts and their impacts on grouping maintenance are studied. • The proposed approach can help to update the maintenance planning in dynamic contexts

Multi-level governance in EU climate law

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vedder, Hans; Woerdman, Edwin; Roggenkamp, Martha; Holwerda, Marijn

2015-01-01

This chapter analyses the multi-level governance in EU climate law; it connects the international arena, with EU and national decision-making and relates climate change considerations to competitiveness concerns.

Traumatic lesions of the posterior urethra.

Science.gov (United States)

Velarde-Ramos, L; Gómez-Illanes, R; Campos-Juanatey, F; Portillo-Martín, J A

2016-11-01

The posterior urethral lesions are associated with pelvis fractures in 5-10% of cases. The posterior urethra is attached to the pelvis bone by puboprostatic ligaments and the perineal membrane, which explains why disruption of the pelvic ring can injure the urethra at this level. To identify suspected cases of posterior urethral trauma and to perform the diagnosis and its immediate or deferred management. Search in PubMed of articles related to traumatic posterior urethral lesions, written in English or Spanish. We reviewed the relevant publications including literature reviews and chapters from books related to the topic. With patients with pelvis fractures, we must always rule out posterior urethral lesions. The diagnostic examination of choice is retrograde urethrography, which, along with the severity of the condition, will determine the management in the acute phase and whether the treatment will be performed immediately or deferred. Early diagnosis and proper acute management decrease the associated complications, such as strictures, urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. Despite the classical association between posterior urethral lesions and pelvic fractures, the management of those lesions (whether immediate or deferred) remains controversial. Thanks to the growing interest in urethral disease, there are an increasing number of studies that help us achieve better management of these lesions. Copyright © 2016 AEU. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Development and application of dynamic hybrid multi-region inventory analysis for macro-level environmental policy analysis: a case study on climate policy in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Chao, Chia-Wei; Heijungs, Reinout; Ma, Hwong-wen

2013-03-19

We develop a novel inventory method called Dynamic Hybrid Multi-Region Inventory analysis (DHMRI), which integrates the EEMRIOA and Integrated Hybrid LCA and applies time-dependent environmental intervention information for inventory analysis. Consequently, DHMRI is able to quantify the change in the environmental footprint caused by a specific policy while taking structural changes and technological dynamics into consideration. DHMRI is applied to assess the change in the total CO2 emissions associated with the total final demand caused by the climate policy in Taiwan to demonstrate the practicality of this novel method. The evaluation reveals that the implementation of mitigation measures included in the existing climate policy, such as an enhancement in energy efficiency, promotion of renewable energy, and limitation of the growth of energy-intensive industries, will lead to a 28% increase in the total CO2 emissions and that the main driver is the export-oriented electronics industry. Moreover, a major increase in the total emissions is predicted to occur in Southeast Asia and China. The observations from the case study reveal that DHMRI is capable of overcoming the limitations of existing assessment tools at macro-level evaluation of environmental policies.

Introduction of an agent-based multi-scale modular architecture for dynamic knowledge representation of acute inflammation.

Science.gov (United States)

An, Gary

2008-05-27

One of the greatest challenges facing biomedical research is the integration and sharing of vast amounts of information, not only for individual researchers, but also for the community at large. Agent Based Modeling (ABM) can provide a means of addressing this challenge via a unifying translational architecture for dynamic knowledge representation. This paper presents a series of linked ABMs representing multiple levels of biological organization. They are intended to translate the knowledge derived from in vitro models of acute inflammation to clinically relevant phenomenon such as multiple organ failure. ABM development followed a sequence starting with relatively direct translation from in-vitro derived rules into a cell-as-agent level ABM, leading on to concatenated ABMs into multi-tissue models, eventually resulting in topologically linked aggregate multi-tissue ABMs modeling organ-organ crosstalk. As an underlying design principle organs were considered to be functionally composed of an epithelial surface, which determined organ integrity, and an endothelial/blood interface, representing the reaction surface for the initiation and propagation of inflammation. The development of the epithelial ABM derived from an in-vitro model of gut epithelial permeability is described. Next, the epithelial ABM was concatenated with the endothelial/inflammatory cell ABM to produce an organ model of the gut. This model was validated against in-vivo models of the inflammatory response of the gut to ischemia. Finally, the gut ABM was linked to a similarly constructed pulmonary ABM to simulate the gut-pulmonary axis in the pathogenesis of multiple organ failure. The behavior of this model was validated against in-vivo and clinical observations on the cross-talk between these two organ systems. A series of ABMs are presented extending from the level of intracellular mechanism to clinically observed behavior in the intensive care setting. The ABMs all utilize cell-level agents

3D dynamic pituitary MR imaging with CAIPIRINHA: Initial experience and comparison with 2D dynamic MR imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fushimi, Yasutaka, E-mail: yfushimi@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto 606-8507 (Japan); Okada, Tomohisa; Kanagaki, Mitsunori; Yamamoto, Akira; Kanda, Yumiko; Sakamoto, Ryo [Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto 606-8507 (Japan); Hojo, Masato; Takahashi, Jun C.; Miyamoto, Susumu [Department of Neurosurgery, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto 606-8507 (Japan); Togashi, Kaori [Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto 606-8507 (Japan)

2014-10-15

Objectives: To evaluate the validity of 3D dynamic pituitary MR imaging with controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration (CAIPIRINHA), with special emphasis on demarcation of pituitary posterior lobe and stalk. Methods: Participants comprised 32 patients who underwent dynamic pituitary MR imaging due to pituitary or parasellar lesions. 3D dynamic MR with CAIPIRINHA was performed at 3 T with 20-s-interval, precontrast, 1st to 5th dynamic images. Normalized values and enhanced ratios (dynamic postcontrast image values divided by precontrast ones) were compared between 3D and 2D dynamic MR imaging for patients with visual identification of posterior lobe and stalk. Results: In 3D, stalk was identified in 29 patients and unidentified in 3, and posterior lobe was identified in 28 and unidentified in 4. In 2D, stalk was identified in 26 patients and unidentified in 6 patients, and posterior lobe was identified in 15 and unidentified in 17. Normalized values of pituitary posterior lobe and stalk were higher in 3D than 2D (P < 0.001). No significant difference in enhancement ratio was seen between 3D and 2D. Conclusions: 3D dynamic pituitary MR provided better identification and higher normalized values of pituitary posterior lobe and stalk than 2D.

Multi-level Reconfigurable Self-organization in Overlay Services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pournaras, E.

2013-01-01

Large-scale decentralized systems organized in overlay networks are complex to manage. Such systems integrate organizational complexity in the application-level resulting in low abstraction and modularity in their services. This thesis introduces a multi-level conceptual architecture for overlay

PENGEMBANGAN MEDIA LUBANG MULTI LEVEL UNTUK PEMBELAJARAN LEMPAR TANGKAP BOLA KECIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tri Aryo Trubus Anom

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This research aims to develop a media Hole Multi Level to capture the small ball throwing learning grade IV elementary school level that can increase students roll control. The model of the research is the development of research and data analysis in the form of a percentage of data types with a description of the qualitative and quantitative. Procedure development include; 1 Potential problems, 2 Data collection, 3 Early media product design Multi Level Hole, 4 Design Validation by expert penjas and learning experts, 5 Revision products I, 6 Trials I in MI Ma’arif NU Darmakradenan, 7 Product revision II, 8 Trial II at four elementary school in the village of Darmakradenan, 9 Product revision III, 10 And products. The results of expert validation against the media Pit Multi Level was 80%, I Test of 83,23%, and II trials of 85.97%. Those results can be concluded that the development of the media Pit Multi Level can be used to capture the small ball throwing learning grade IV elementary school level.

Multi-person tracking with overlapping cameras in complex, dynamic environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liem, M.; Gavrila, D.M.

2009-01-01

This paper presents a multi-camera system to track multiple persons in complex, dynamic environments. Position measurements are obtained by carving out the space defined by foreground regions in the overlapping camera views and projecting these onto blobs on the ground plane. Person appearance is

Dynamical decoupling sequences for multi-qubit dephasing suppression and long-time quantum memory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paz-Silva, Gerardo A; Lee, Seung-Woo; Green, Todd J; Viola, Lorenza

2016-01-01

We consider a class of multi-qubit dephasing models that combine classical noise sources and linear coupling to a bosonic environment, and are controlled by arbitrary sequences of dynamical decoupling pulses. Building on a general transfer filter-function framework for open-loop control, we provide an exact representation of the controlled dynamics for arbitrary stationary non-Gaussian classical and quantum noise statistics, with analytical expressions emerging when all dephasing sources are Gaussian. This exact characterization is used to establish two main results. First, we construct multi-qubit sequences that ensure maximum high-order error suppression in both the time and frequency domain and that can be exponentially more efficient than existing ones in terms of total pulse number. Next, we show how long-time multi-qubit storage may be achieved by meeting appropriate conditions for the emergence of a fidelity plateau under sequence repetition, thereby generalizing recent results for single-qubit memory under Gaussian dephasing. In both scenarios, the key step is to endow multi-qubit sequences with a suitable displacement anti-symmetry property, which is of independent interest for applications ranging from environment-assisted entanglement generation to multi-qubit noise spectroscopy protocols. (paper)

Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging in assessing lung function in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a pilot study of comparison before and after posterior spinal fusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lam Wynnie WM

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Restrictive impairment is the commonest reported pulmonary deficit in AIS, which improves following surgical operation. However, exact mechanism of how improvement is brought about is unknown. Dynamic fast breath-hold (BH-MR imaging is a recent advance which provides direct quantitative visual assessment of pulmonary function. By using above technique, change in lung volume, chest wall and diaphragmatic motion in AIS patients before and six months after posterior spinal fusion surgery were measured. Methods 16 patients with severe right-sided predominant thoracic scoliosis (standing Cobb's angle 50° -82°, mean 60° received posterior spinal fusion without thoracoplasty were recruited into this study. BH-MR sequences were used to obtain coronal images of the whole chest during full inspiration and expiration. The following measurements were assessed: (1 inspiratory, expiratory and change in lung volume; (2 change in anteroposterior (AP and transverse (TS diameter of the chest wall at two levels: carina and apex (3 change in diaphragmatic heights. The changes in parameters before and after operation were compared using Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Patients were also asked to score their breathing effort before and after operation using a scale of 1–9 with ascending order of effort. The degree of spinal surgical correction at three planes was also assessed by reformatted MR images and correction rate of Cobb's angle was calculated. Results The individual or total inspiratory and expiratory volume showed slight but insignificant increase after operation. There was significantly increase in bilateral TS chest wall movement at carina level and increase in bilateral diaphragmatic movements between inspiration and expiration. The AP chest wall movements, however, did not significantly change. The median breathing effort after operation was lower than that before operation (p There was significant reduction in coronal Cobb's angle

Global forward-predicting dynamic routing for traffic concurrency space stereo multi-layer scale-free network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie Wei-Hao; Zhou Bin; Liu En-Xiao; Lu Wei-Dang; Zhou Ting

2015-01-01

Many real communication networks, such as oceanic monitoring network and land environment observation network, can be described as space stereo multi-layer structure, and the traffic in these networks is concurrent. Understanding how traffic dynamics depend on these real communication networks and finding an effective routing strategy that can fit the circumstance of traffic concurrency and enhance the network performance are necessary. In this light, we propose a traffic model for space stereo multi-layer complex network and introduce two kinds of global forward-predicting dynamic routing strategies, global forward-predicting hybrid minimum queue (HMQ) routing strategy and global forward-predicting hybrid minimum degree and queue (HMDQ) routing strategy, for traffic concurrency space stereo multi-layer scale-free networks. By applying forward-predicting strategy, the proposed routing strategies achieve better performances in traffic concurrency space stereo multi-layer scale-free networks. Compared with the efficient routing strategy and global dynamic routing strategy, HMDQ and HMQ routing strategies can optimize the traffic distribution, alleviate the number of congested packets effectively and reach much higher network capacity. (paper)

Multi-floor cascading ferroelectric nanostructures: multiple data writing-based multi-level non-volatile memory devices

Science.gov (United States)

Hyun, Seung; Kwon, Owoong; Lee, Bom-Yi; Seol, Daehee; Park, Beomjin; Lee, Jae Yong; Lee, Ju Hyun; Kim, Yunseok; Kim, Jin Kon

2016-01-01

Multiple data writing-based multi-level non-volatile memory has gained strong attention for next-generation memory devices to quickly accommodate an extremely large number of data bits because it is capable of storing multiple data bits in a single memory cell at once. However, all previously reported devices have failed to store a large number of data bits due to the macroscale cell size and have not allowed fast access to the stored data due to slow single data writing. Here, we introduce a novel three-dimensional multi-floor cascading polymeric ferroelectric nanostructure, successfully operating as an individual cell. In one cell, each floor has its own piezoresponse and the piezoresponse of one floor can be modulated by the bias voltage applied to the other floor, which means simultaneously written data bits in both floors can be identified. This could achieve multi-level memory through a multiple data writing process.Multiple data writing-based multi-level non-volatile memory has gained strong attention for next-generation memory devices to quickly accommodate an extremely large number of data bits because it is capable of storing multiple data bits in a single memory cell at once. However, all previously reported devices have failed to store a large number of data bits due to the macroscale cell size and have not allowed fast access to the stored data due to slow single data writing. Here, we introduce a novel three-dimensional multi-floor cascading polymeric ferroelectric nanostructure, successfully operating as an individual cell. In one cell, each floor has its own piezoresponse and the piezoresponse of one floor can be modulated by the bias voltage applied to the other floor, which means simultaneously written data bits in both floors can be identified. This could achieve multi-level memory through a multiple data writing process. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr07377d

Analyzing the Role of Multi-level Learning in Implementing computerized HIS in Developing Countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mengiste, Shegaw Anagaw

2008-01-01

This paper presents a perspective for looking at the development and implementation of large scale computerised HIS as a multi-level learning process. Drawing on the empirical evidences from the ongoing Health Information systems program ( HISP) initiatives on the development, customization...... and implementation of computerised HIS in Ethiopia, the paper analyses the learning mechanisms, learning outcomes and obstacles for learning at individual, group, and organizational levels. Empirical data on two distinct phases of software development and customization (District health Information Software (DHIS......) versions 1.3 and 2.0) are contrasted. More specifically, we tried to show the dynamics of learning and the specific learning mechanisms by analysing and contrasting the interaction between IS developers and public health care domain experts, technological capacity at individual, group, and organizational...

Metallic artefact reduction with monoenergetic dual-energy CT: systematic ex vivo evaluation of posterior spinal fusion implants from various vendors and different spine levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Guggenberger, R; Winklhofer, S; Osterhoff, G; Wanner, G A; Fortunati, M; Andreisek, G; Alkadhi, H; Stolzmann, P

2012-11-01

To evaluate optimal monoenergetic dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) settings for artefact reduction of posterior spinal fusion implants of various vendors and spine levels. Posterior spinal fusion implants of five vendors for cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine were examined ex vivo with single-energy (SE) CT (120 kVp) and DECT (140/100 kVp). Extrapolated monoenergetic DECT images at 64, 69, 88, 105 keV and individually adjusted monoenergy for optimised image quality (OPTkeV) were generated. Two independent radiologists assessed quantitative and qualitative image parameters for each device and spine level. Inter-reader agreements of quantitative and qualitative parameters were high (ICC = 0.81-1.00, κ = 0.54-0.77). HU values of spinal fusion implants were significantly different among vendors (P metallic artefacts from implants than SECT. Use of individual keV values for vendor and spine level is recommended. • Artefacts pose problems for CT following posterior spinal fusion implants. • CT images are interpreted better with monoenergetic extrapolation using dual-energy (DE) CT. • DECT extrapolation improves image quality and reduces metallic artefacts over SECT. • There were considerable differences in monoenergy values among vendors and spine levels. • Use of individualised monoenergy values is indicated for different metallic hardware devices.

Multi-group dynamic quantum secret sharing with single photons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Hongwei [School of Science and State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876 (China); Ma, Haiqiang, E-mail: hqma@bupt.edu.cn [School of Science and State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876 (China); Wei, Kejin [School of Science and State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876 (China); Yang, Xiuqing [School of Science, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044 (China); Qu, Wenxiu; Dou, Tianqi; Chen, Yitian; Li, Ruixue; Zhu, Wu [School of Science and State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876 (China)

2016-07-15

In this letter, we propose a novel scheme for the realization of single-photon dynamic quantum secret sharing between a boss and three dynamic agent groups. In our system, the boss can not only choose one of these three groups to share the secret with, but also can share two sets of independent keys with two groups without redistribution. Furthermore, the security of communication is enhanced by using a control mode. Compared with previous schemes, our scheme is more flexible and will contribute to a practical application. - Highlights: • A multi-group dynamic quantum secret sharing with single photons scheme is proposed. • Any one of the groups can be chosen to share secret through controlling the polarization of photons. • Two sets of keys can be shared simultaneously without redistribution.

The stabilizing potential of anterior, posterior and combined techniques for the reconstruction of a 2-level cervical corpectomy model: biomechanical study and first results of ATPS prototyping.

Science.gov (United States)

Koller, Heiko; Schmidt, Rene; Mayer, Michael; Hitzl, Wolfgang; Zenner, Juliane; Midderhoff, Stefan; Middendorf, Stefan; Graf, Nicolaus; Gräf, Nicolaus; Resch, H; Wilke, Hans-Joachim; Willke, Hans-Joachim

2010-12-01

Clinical studies reported frequent failure with anterior instrumented multilevel cervical corpectomies. Hence, posterior augmentation was recommended but necessitates a second approach. Thus, an author group evaluated the feasibility, pull-out characteristics, and accuracy of anterior transpedicular screw (ATPS) fixation. Although first success with clinical application of ATPS has already been reported, no data exist on biomechanical characteristics of an ATPS-plate system enabling transpedicular end-level fixation in advanced instabilities. Therefore, we evaluated biomechanical qualities of an ATPS prototype C4-C7 for reduction of range of motion (ROM) and primary stability in a non-destructive setup among five constructs: anterior plate, posterior all-lateral mass screw construct, posterior construct with lateral mass screws C5 + C6 and end-level fixation using pedicle screws unilaterally or bilaterally, and a 360° construct. 12 human spines C3-T1 were divided into two groups. Four constructs were tested in group 1 and three in group 2; the ATPS prototypes were tested in both groups. Specimens were subjected to flexibility test in a spine motion tester at intact state and after 2-level corpectomy C5-C6 with subsequent reconstruction using a distractable cage and one of the osteosynthesis mentioned above. ROM in flexion-extension, axial rotation, and lateral bending was reported as normalized values. All instrumentations but the anterior plate showed significant reduction of ROM for all directions compared to the intact state. The 360° construct outperformed all others in terms of reducing ROM. While there were no significant differences between the 360° and posterior constructs in flexion-extension and lateral bending, the 360° constructs were significantly more stable in axial rotation. Concerning primary stability of ATPS prototypes, there were no significant differences compared to posterior-only constructs in flexion-extension and axial rotation. The

Tunable and reconfigurable multi-tap microwave photonic filter based on dynamic Brillouin gratings in fibers.

Science.gov (United States)

Sancho, J; Primerov, N; Chin, S; Antman, Y; Zadok, A; Sales, S; Thévenaz, L

2012-03-12

We propose and experimentally demonstrate new architectures to realize multi-tap microwave photonic filters, based on the generation of a single or multiple dynamic Brillouin gratings in polarization maintaining fibers. The spectral range and selectivity of the proposed periodic filters is extensively tunable, simply by reconfiguring the positions and the number of dynamic gratings along the fiber respectively. In this paper, we present a complete analysis of three different configurations comprising a microwave photonic filter implementation: a simple notch-type Mach-Zehnder approach with a single movable dynamic grating, a multi-tap performance based on multiple dynamic gratings and finally a stationary grating configuration based on the phase modulation of two counter-propagating optical waves by a common pseudo-random bit sequence (PRBS).

Multi-Level and Multi-Scale Feature Aggregation Using Pretrained Convolutional Neural Networks for Music Auto-Tagging

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jongpil; Nam, Juhan

2017-08-01

Music auto-tagging is often handled in a similar manner to image classification by regarding the 2D audio spectrogram as image data. However, music auto-tagging is distinguished from image classification in that the tags are highly diverse and have different levels of abstractions. Considering this issue, we propose a convolutional neural networks (CNN)-based architecture that embraces multi-level and multi-scaled features. The architecture is trained in three steps. First, we conduct supervised feature learning to capture local audio features using a set of CNNs with different input sizes. Second, we extract audio features from each layer of the pre-trained convolutional networks separately and aggregate them altogether given a long audio clip. Finally, we put them into fully-connected networks and make final predictions of the tags. Our experiments show that using the combination of multi-level and multi-scale features is highly effective in music auto-tagging and the proposed method outperforms previous state-of-the-arts on the MagnaTagATune dataset and the Million Song Dataset. We further show that the proposed architecture is useful in transfer learning.

Multi-product dynamic advertisement planning in a segmented market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aggarwal Sugandha

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a dynamic multi-objective linear integer programming model is proposed to optimally distribute a firm’s advertising budget among multiple products and media in a segmented market. To make the media plan responsive to the changes in the market, the distribution is carried out dynamically by dividing the planning horizon into smaller periods. The model incorporates the effect of the previous period advertising reach on the current period (taken through retention factor, and it also considers cross-product effect of simultaneously advertising different products. An application of the model is presented for an insurance firm that markets five different products, using goal programming approach.

Dynamic multi-stage dispatch of isolated wind–diesel power systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Yu; Morales González, Juan Miguel; Pineda, Salvador

2015-01-01

-stage decision-making model is proposed to determine the diesel power output that minimizes the cost of running and maintaining the wind–diesel power system. Optimized operational decisions for each time period are generated dynamically considering the path-dependent nature of the optimal dispatch policy, given......An optimal dispatch strategy is crucial for an isolated wind–diesel power system to save diesel fuel and maintain the system stability. The uncertainty associated with the stochastic character of the wind is, though, a challenging problem for this optimization. In this paper, a dynamic multi...

Does Semi-Rigid Instrumentation Using Both Flexion and Extension Dampening Spacers Truly Provide an Intermediate Level of Stabilization?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dilip Sengupta

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Conventional posterior dynamic stabilization devices demonstrated a tendency towards highly rigid stabilization approximating that of titanium rods in flexion. In extension, they excessively offload the index segment, making the device as the sole load-bearing structure, with concerns of device failure. The goal of this study was to compare the kinematics and intradiscal pressure of monosegmental stabilization utilizing a new device that incorporates both a flexion and extension dampening spacer to that of rigid internal fixation and a conventional posterior dynamic stabilization device. The hypothesis was the new device would minimize the overloading of adjacent levels compared to rigid and conventional devices which can only bend but not stretch. The biomechanics were compared following injury in a human cadaveric lumbosacral spine under simulated physiological loading conditions. The stabilization with the new posterior dynamic stabilization device significantly reduced motion uniformly in all loading directions, but less so than rigid fixation. The evaluation of adjacent level motion and pressure showed some benefit of the new device when compared to rigid fixation. Posterior dynamic stabilization designs which both bend and stretch showed improved kinematic and load-sharing properties when compared to rigid fixation and when indirectly compared to existing conventional devices without a bumper.

Optimal 3-D conformal treatment planning of posterior lateral supratentorial tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gius, David; Klein, Eric; Oehmke, Fred

1995-01-01

Purpose/Objective: The ability to treat the brain to greater doses is limited by normal brain tissue tolerance. With the use of 3-dimensional treatment planning dose escalation will result in increased target dose while sparing normal tissue. Treatment of the supratentorial region of the brain presents several unique difficulties due to the changing contour of the calvarium, which are especially noticeable with treatment to the posterior lateral quadrant. The use of a single wedge beam is sub-optimal and a more appropriate solution would employ a two tier wedge arrangement to better conform the isodoses around the target volume. In the past it has only been possible to use a single wedge during treatment with a single port, however, the dynamic wedge presents the opportunity to employ a two tier wedge system by simultaneously using conventional and dynamic wedging. Methods and Materials: An anthropomorphic phantom with a lesion located in the posterior lateral aspect of the brain where the external surface slopes at a maximum was configured. CT generated contours outlined the external surface, normal anatomy, gross tumor, and target volumes. We used the beam's-eye-view projection from the 3D planning system to derive the conformal beams. A standard opposed lateral and posterior oblique wedge pair beam arrangements, were compared to a three field technique (PA, lateral, and vertex) which used both a single wedge arrangement and a two-tier wedge plan. Treatment plans were evaluated by calculating isodose distribution, DVH, TCP, and NTCP. Each beam arrangement was used to treat our phantom with film placed in between the phantom layers at the tumor levels to confirm the accuracy of the 3-D system calculations. Results: The three field, two-tier wedge technique isodose distribution was significantly superior when compared to the standard 2-D plans, and a moderate improvement over the three field, single wedge technique in terms of conforming dose to the tumor and

An algorithmic approach for the dynamic reliability analysis of non-repairable multi-state weighted k-out-of-n:G system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eryilmaz, Serkan; Rıza Bozbulut, Ali

2014-01-01

In this paper, we study a multi-state weighted k-out-of-n:G system model in a dynamic setup. In particular, we study the random time spent by the system with a minimum performance level of k. Our method is based on ordering the lifetimes of the system's components in different state subsets. Using this ordering along with the Monte-Carlo simulation algorithm, we obtain estimates of the mean and survival function of the time spent by the system in state k or above. We present illustrative computational results when the degradation in the components follows a Markov process. - Highlights: • A multi-state weighted k-out-of-n:G system is studied. • A Monte-Carlo simulation algorithm is provided for the dynamic analysis. • Numerics are presented when the components' degradation follow the Markov process

Introduction of an agent-based multi-scale modular architecture for dynamic knowledge representation of acute inflammation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

An Gary

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background One of the greatest challenges facing biomedical research is the integration and sharing of vast amounts of information, not only for individual researchers, but also for the community at large. Agent Based Modeling (ABM can provide a means of addressing this challenge via a unifying translational architecture for dynamic knowledge representation. This paper presents a series of linked ABMs representing multiple levels of biological organization. They are intended to translate the knowledge derived from in vitro models of acute inflammation to clinically relevant phenomenon such as multiple organ failure. Results and Discussion ABM development followed a sequence starting with relatively direct translation from in-vitro derived rules into a cell-as-agent level ABM, leading on to concatenated ABMs into multi-tissue models, eventually resulting in topologically linked aggregate multi-tissue ABMs modeling organ-organ crosstalk. As an underlying design principle organs were considered to be functionally composed of an epithelial surface, which determined organ integrity, and an endothelial/blood interface, representing the reaction surface for the initiation and propagation of inflammation. The development of the epithelial ABM derived from an in-vitro model of gut epithelial permeability is described. Next, the epithelial ABM was concatenated with the endothelial/inflammatory cell ABM to produce an organ model of the gut. This model was validated against in-vivo models of the inflammatory response of the gut to ischemia. Finally, the gut ABM was linked to a similarly constructed pulmonary ABM to simulate the gut-pulmonary axis in the pathogenesis of multiple organ failure. The behavior of this model was validated against in-vivo and clinical observations on the cross-talk between these two organ systems Conclusion A series of ABMs are presented extending from the level of intracellular mechanism to clinically observed behavior

A Multi-Cycle Q-Modulation for Dynamic Optimization of Inductive Links.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Byunghun; Yeon, Pyungwoo; Ghovanloo, Maysam

2016-08-01

This paper presents a new method, called multi-cycle Q-modulation, which can be used in wireless power transmission (WPT) to modulate the quality factor (Q) of the receiver (Rx) coil and dynamically optimize the load impedance to maximize the power transfer efficiency (PTE) in two-coil links. A key advantage of the proposed method is that it can be easily implemented using off-the-shelf components without requiring fast switching at or above the carrier frequency, which is more suitable for integrated circuit design. Moreover, the proposed technique does not need any sophisticated synchronization between the power carrier and Q-modulation switching pulses. The multi-cycle Q-modulation is analyzed theoretically by a lumped circuit model, and verified in simulation and measurement using an off-the-shelf prototype. Automatic resonance tuning (ART) in the Rx, combined with multi-cycle Q-modulation helped maximizing PTE of the inductive link dynamically in the presence of environmental and loading variations, which can otherwise significantly degrade the PTE in multi-coil settings. In the prototype conventional 2-coil link, the proposed method increased the power amplifier (PA) plus inductive link efficiency from 4.8% to 16.5% at ( R L = 1 kΩ, d 23 = 3 cm), and from 23% to 28.2% at ( R L = 100 Ω, d 23 = 3 cm) after 11% change in the resonance capacitance, while delivering 168.1 mW to the load (PDL).

Multi-level analysis in information systems research: the case of enterprise resource planning system usage in China

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Yuan; Bhattacherjee, Anol

2011-11-01

Information technology (IT) usage within organisations is a multi-level phenomenon that is influenced by individual-level and organisational-level variables. Yet, current theories, such as the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, describe IT usage as solely an individual-level phenomenon. This article postulates a model of organisational IT usage that integrates salient organisational-level variables such as user training, top management support and technical support within an individual-level model to postulate a multi-level model of IT usage. The multi-level model was then empirically validated using multi-level data collected from 128 end users and 26 managers in 26 firms in China regarding their use of enterprise resource planning systems and analysed using the multi-level structural equation modelling (MSEM) technique. We demonstrate the utility of MSEM analysis of multi-level data relative to the more common structural equation modelling analysis of single-level data and show how single-level data can be aggregated to approximate multi-level analysis when multi-level data collection is not possible. We hope that this article will motivate future scholars to employ multi-level data and multi-level analysis for understanding organisational phenomena that are truly multi-level in nature.

Dynamic Multi-Coil Shimming of the Human Brain at 7 Tesla

Science.gov (United States)

Juchem, Christoph; Nixon, Terence W.; McIntyre, Scott; Boer, Vincent O.; Rothman, Douglas L.; de Graaf, Robin A.

2011-01-01

High quality magnetic field homogenization of the human brain (i.e. shimming) for MR imaging and spectroscopy is a demanding task. The susceptibility differences between air and tissue are a longstanding problem as they induce complex field distortions in the prefrontal cortex and the temporal lobes. To date, the theoretical gains of high field MR have only been realized partially in the human brain due to limited magnetic field homogeneity. A novel shimming technique for the human brain is presented that is based on the combination of non-orthogonal basis fields from 48 individual, circular coils. Custom-built amplifier electronics enabled the dynamic application of the multi-coil shim fields in a slice-specific fashion. Dynamic multi-coil (DMC) shimming is shown to eliminate most of the magnetic field inhomogeneity apparent in the human brain at 7 Tesla and provided improved performance compared to state-of-the-art dynamic shim updating with zero through third order spherical harmonic functions. The novel technique paves the way for high field MR applications of the human brain for which excellent magnetic field homogeneity is a prerequisite. PMID:21824794

Late presentation of posterior urethral valves.

Science.gov (United States)

Jalbani, Imran Khan; Biyabani, Syed Raziuddin

2014-05-01

Presence of posterior urethral valves (PUV) is the most common cause of urinary tract obstruction in the male neonate. Late presentation occurs in 10% of cases. We present a case of PUVs in an adult male who presented with history of obstructive lower urinary tract symptoms and hematuria. On evaluation, he was found to have raised serum creatinine level. A voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) could not be completely performed because of narrowing in the posterior urethra. A rigid urethrocystoscopy was performed at which he was found to have type-I posterior urethral valve which were fulgurated. A repeat uroflowmetry revealed maximum flow rate of 12 ml/second. This case highlights that PUVs is not solely a disease of infancy but may also present late. VCUG is the radiological investigation of choice but the diagnosis may be missed. A urethrocystoscopy is advised if there is a high index of suspicion.

Effectiveness of multi tuned liquid dampers with slat screens for reducing dynamic responses of structures

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, T. P.; Pham, D. T.; Ngo, K. T.

2018-04-01

Reducing vibration in structures under lateral load always attracts many researchers in during pastime, hence the mainly purpose of paper analyzes effectiveness of multiple-tuned liquid dampers for reducing dynamic responses of structures under ground acceleration of earthquakes. In this study, the multi-tuned liquid damper with slat screens (M-TLDWSS) is considered in detail for analyzing dynamic response of multi-degrees of freedom structure due to earthquake, which is more different previous studies. Then, the general equation of motion of the structure and M-TLDWSS under ground acceleration of earthquake is established based on dynamic balance of principle and solved by numerical method in the time domain. The effects of characteristic parameters of M-TLDWSS on dynamic response of the structure are investigated. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that the M-TLDWSS has significantly effectiveness for reducing dynamic response of the structure.

Multi-Level Security Cannot Realise NEC Objectives

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schotanus, H.A.; Hartog, T.; Verkoelen, C.A.A.

2012-01-01

Multi-Level Security (MLS) is often viewed as the holy grail of information security, especially in those environments where information of different classifications is being processed. In this paper we argue that MLS cannot facilitate the right balance between need-to-protect and duty-to-share as

Method of Obtaining High Resolution Intrinsic Wire Boom Damping Parameters for Multi-Body Dynamics Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Yew, Alvin G.; Chai, Dean J.; Olney, David J.

2010-01-01

The goal of NASA's Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission is to understand magnetic reconnection with sensor measurements from four spinning satellites flown in a tight tetrahedron formation. Four of the six electric field sensors on each satellite are located at the end of 60- meter wire booms to increase measurement sensitivity in the spin plane and to minimize motion coupling from perturbations on the main body. A propulsion burn however, might induce boom oscillations that could impact science measurements if oscillations do not damp to values on the order of 0.1 degree in a timely fashion. Large damping time constants could also adversely affect flight dynamics and attitude control performance. In this paper, we will discuss the implementation of a high resolution method for calculating the boom's intrinsic damping, which was used in multi-body dynamics simulations. In summary, experimental data was obtained with a scaled-down boom, which was suspended as a pendulum in vacuum. Optical techniques were designed to accurately measure the natural decay of angular position and subsequently, data processing algorithms resulted in excellent spatial and temporal resolutions. This method was repeated in a parametric study for various lengths, root tensions and vacuum levels. For all data sets, regression models for damping were applied, including: nonlinear viscous, frequency-independent hysteretic, coulomb and some combination of them. Our data analysis and dynamics models have shown that the intrinsic damping for the baseline boom is insufficient, thereby forcing project management to explore mitigation strategies.

Dynamic Task Allocation in Multi-Hop Multimedia Wireless Sensor Networks with Low Mobility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klaus Moessner

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a task allocation-oriented framework to enable efficient in-network processing and cost-effective multi-hop resource sharing for dynamic multi-hop multimedia wireless sensor networks with low node mobility, e.g., pedestrian speeds. The proposed system incorporates a fast task reallocation algorithm to quickly recover from possible network service disruptions, such as node or link failures. An evolutional self-learning mechanism based on a genetic algorithm continuously adapts the system parameters in order to meet the desired application delay requirements, while also achieving a sufficiently long network lifetime. Since the algorithm runtime incurs considerable time delay while updating task assignments, we introduce an adaptive window size to limit the delay periods and ensure an up-to-date solution based on node mobility patterns and device processing capabilities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that yields multi-objective task allocation in a mobile multi-hop wireless environment under dynamic conditions. Simulations are performed in various settings, and the results show considerable performance improvement in extending network lifetime compared to heuristic mechanisms. Furthermore, the proposed framework provides noticeable reduction in the frequency of missing application deadlines.

Jupiter's Multi-level Clouds

Science.gov (United States)

1997-01-01

Clouds and hazes at various altitudes within the dynamic Jovian atmosphere are revealed by multi-color imaging taken by the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) onboard the Galileo spacecraft. These images were taken during the second orbit (G2) on September 5, 1996 from an early-morning vantage point 2.1 million kilometers (1.3 million miles) above Jupiter. They show the planet's appearance as viewed at various near-infrared wavelengths, with distinct differences due primarily to variations in the altitudes and opacities of the cloud systems. The top left and right images, taken at 1.61 microns and 2.73 microns respectively, show relatively clear views of the deep atmosphere, with clouds down to a level about three times the atmospheric pressure at the Earth's surface.By contrast, the middle image in top row, taken at 2.17 microns, shows only the highest altitude clouds and hazes. This wavelength is severely affected by the absorption of light by hydrogen gas, the main constituent of Jupiter's atmosphere. Therefore, only the Great Red Spot, the highest equatorial clouds, a small feature at mid-northern latitudes, and thin, high photochemical polar hazes can be seen. In the lower left image, at 3.01 microns, deeper clouds can be seen dimly against gaseous ammonia and methane absorption. In the lower middle image, at 4.99 microns, the light observed is the planet's own indigenous heat from the deep, warm atmosphere.The false color image (lower right) succinctly shows various cloud and haze levels seen in the Jovian atmosphere. This image indicates the temperature and altitude at which the light being observed is produced. Thermally-rich red areas denote high temperatures from photons in the deep atmosphere leaking through minimal cloud cover; green denotes cool temperatures of the tropospheric clouds; blue denotes cold of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The polar regions appear purplish, because small-particle hazes allow leakage and reflectivity

Dynamic Multi-Rigid-Body Systems with Concurrent Distributed Contacts: Theory and Examples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

TRINKLE, JEFFREY C.; TZITZOURIS, J.A.; PANG, J.S.

2001-01-01

Consider a system of rigid bodies with multiple concurrent contacts. The multi-rigid-body contact problem is to predict the accelerations of the bodies and the normal friction loads acting at the contacts. This paper presents theoretical results for the multi-rigid-body contact problem under the assumptions that one or more contacts occur over locally planar, finite regions and that friction forces are consistent with the maximum work inequality. Existence and uniqueness results are presented for this problem under mild assumptions on the system inputs. In addition, the performance of two different time-stepping methods for integrating the dynamics are compared on two simple multi-body systems

Multi-phase flow monitoring with electrical impedance tomography using level set based method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Dong; Khambampati, Anil Kumar; Kim, Sin; Kim, Kyung Youn

2015-01-01

Highlights: • LSM has been used for shape reconstruction to monitor multi-phase flow using EIT. • Multi-phase level set model for conductivity is represented by two level set functions. • LSM handles topological merging and breaking naturally during evolution process. • To reduce the computational time, a narrowband technique was applied. • Use of narrowband and optimization approach results in efficient and fast method. - Abstract: In this paper, a level set-based reconstruction scheme is applied to multi-phase flow monitoring using electrical impedance tomography (EIT). The proposed scheme involves applying a narrowband level set method to solve the inverse problem of finding the interface between the regions having different conductivity values. The multi-phase level set model for the conductivity distribution inside the domain is represented by two level set functions. The key principle of the level set-based method is to implicitly represent the shape of interface as the zero level set of higher dimensional function and then solve a set of partial differential equations. The level set-based scheme handles topological merging and breaking naturally during the evolution process. It also offers several advantages compared to traditional pixel-based approach. Level set-based method for multi-phase flow is tested with numerical and experimental data. It is found that level set-based method has better reconstruction performance when compared to pixel-based method

Detecting bots using multi-level traffic analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stevanovic, Matija; Pedersen, Jens Myrup

2016-01-01

introduces a novel multi-level botnet detection approach that performs network traffic analysis of three protocols widely considered as the main carriers of botnet Command and Control (C&C) and attack traffic, i.e. TCP, UDP and DNS. The proposed method relies on supervised machine learning for identifying...

Short Term Strategies for a Dynamic Multi-Period Routing Problem

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Angelelli, E.; Bianchessi, N.; Mansini, R.; Speranza, M. G.

2009-01-01

We consider a Dynamic Multi-Period Routing Problem (DMPRP) faced by a company which deals with on-line pick-up requests and has to serve them by a fleet of uncapacitated vehicles over a finite time horizon. When a request is issued, a deadline of a given number of days d ≤ 2 is associated to it: if

Elastic dynamic research of high speed multi-link precision press considering structural stiffness of rotation joints

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu, Feng Feng; Sun, Yu; Peng, Bin Bin [School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing (China)

2016-10-15

An elastic dynamic model of high-speed multi-link precision press considering structural stiffness of rotation joints was established by the finite element method. In the finite element model, rotation joint was established by four bar elements with equivalent stiffness, and connected link was established by beam element. Then, the elastic dynamics equation of the system was established, and modal superposition method was used to solve the dynamic response. Compared with the traditional elastic dynamic model with perfect constraint of the rotation joints, the elastic dynamic response value of the improved model is larger. To validate the presented new method of elastic dynamics analysis with stiffness of rotation joints, a related test of slider Bottom dead center (BDC) position in different speed was designed. The test shows that the model with stiffness of rotation joints is more reasonable. So it provides a reasonable theory and method for dynamic characteristics research of such a multi-link machine.

Multi-level and Multi-component Bitmap Encoding for Efficient Search Operations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Madhu BHAN, Department of Computer Applications

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The growing interest in data warehousing for decision makers is becoming more and more crucial to make faster and efficient decisions. On-line decision needs short response times. Many indexing techniques have been created to achieve this goal in read only environments. Indexing technique that has attracted attention in multidimensional databases is Bitmap Indexing. The paper discusses the various existing bitmap indexing techniques along with their performance characteristics. The paper proposes two new bitmap indexing techniques in the class of multi-level and multi-component encoding schemes and prove that the two techniques have better space–time performance than some of the existing techniques used for range queries. We provide an analytical model for comparing the performance of our proposed encoding schemes with that of the existing ones.

Big data privacy protection model based on multi-level trusted system

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Nan; Liu, Zehua; Han, Hongfeng

2018-05-01

This paper introduces and inherit the multi-level trusted system model that solves the Trojan virus by encrypting the privacy of user data, and achieve the principle: "not to read the high priority hierarchy, not to write the hierarchy with low priority". Thus ensuring that the low-priority data privacy leak does not affect the disclosure of high-priority data privacy. This paper inherits the multi-level trustworthy system model of Trojan horse and divides seven different risk levels. The priority level 1˜7 represent the low to high value of user data privacy, and realize seven kinds of encryption with different execution efficiency Algorithm, the higher the priority, the greater the value of user data privacy, at the expense of efficiency under the premise of choosing a more encrypted encryption algorithm to ensure data security. For enterprises, the price point is determined by the unit equipment users to decide the length of time. The higher the risk sub-group algorithm, the longer the encryption time. The model assumes that users prefer the lower priority encryption algorithm to ensure efficiency. This paper proposes a privacy cost model for each of the seven risk subgroups. Among them, the higher the privacy cost, the higher the priority of the risk sub-group, the higher the price the user needs to pay to ensure the privacy of the data. Furthermore, by introducing the existing pricing model of economics and the human traffic model proposed by this paper and fluctuating with the market demand, this paper improves the price of unit products when the market demand is low. On the other hand, when the market demand increases, the profit of the enterprise will be guaranteed under the guidance of the government by reducing the price per unit of product. Then, this paper introduces the dynamic factors of consumers' mood and age to optimize. At the same time, seven algorithms are selected from symmetric and asymmetric encryption algorithms to define the enterprise

Gait adaptations in patients with chronic posterior instability of the knee.

Science.gov (United States)

Hooper, D M; Morrissey, M C; Crookenden, R; Ireland, J; Beacon, J P

2002-03-01

A retrospective analysis was performed to assess gait in individuals with a long history of posterior knee instability. Descriptive study. There are few studies in the literature concerning evaluation of the biomechanics of the knee in patients with knee posterior instability. Nine individuals with posterior knee instability and a matched control group of uninjured subjects were tested in regards to knee kinematics and kinetics while walking and ascending and descending stairs. The mean follow up time for the individuals with posterior instability was 11.1 years. Individual satisfaction with the knee was measured by having participants complete the Flandry (also known as Hughston Clinic) self-assessment questionnaire. It was found that patients with knee posterior instability who indicated a higher level of satisfaction on the Flandry score walked in a manner that demonstrated greater peak knee extensor torque during stance phase, while less satisfied patients with knee posterior instability demonstrated lower peak knee extensor torque. There was a significant correlation between the self-assessment score and the peak knee extensor torque during level walking (P=0.003). During stair ascent and descent, patients with posterior instability averaged lower knee extensor torque and power than the control subjects, but those differences were only statistically significant in power while descending stairs (P=0.048). Individuals with chronic knee posterior instability modify their gait, and the adaptation can be predicted based upon the individuals self-assessment of their knee using the Flandry questionnaire. These data suggest that gait retraining may be a valuable addition to the traditional muscle strengthening programs, which are commonly used during conservative management of knee posterior instability.

Reduced modulation of scanpaths in response to task demands in posterior cortical atrophy.

Science.gov (United States)

Shakespeare, Timothy J; Pertzov, Yoni; Yong, Keir X X; Nicholas, Jennifer; Crutch, Sebastian J

2015-02-01

A difficulty in perceiving visual scenes is one of the most striking impairments experienced by patients with the clinico-radiological syndrome posterior cortical atrophy (PCA). However whilst a number of studies have investigated perception of relatively simple experimental stimuli in these individuals, little is known about multiple object and complex scene perception and the role of eye movements in posterior cortical atrophy. We embrace the distinction between high-level (top-down) and low-level (bottom-up) influences upon scanning eye movements when looking at scenes. This distinction was inspired by Yarbus (1967), who demonstrated how the location of our fixations is affected by task instructions and not only the stimulus' low level properties. We therefore examined how scanning patterns are influenced by task instructions and low-level visual properties in 7 patients with posterior cortical atrophy, 8 patients with typical Alzheimer's disease, and 19 healthy age-matched controls. Each participant viewed 10 scenes under four task conditions (encoding, recognition, search and description) whilst eye movements were recorded. The results reveal significant differences between groups in the impact of test instructions upon scanpaths. Across tasks without a search component, posterior cortical atrophy patients were significantly less consistent than typical Alzheimer's disease patients and controls in where they were looking. By contrast, when comparing search and non-search tasks, it was controls who exhibited lowest between-task similarity ratings, suggesting they were better able than posterior cortical atrophy or typical Alzheimer's disease patients to respond appropriately to high-level needs by looking at task-relevant regions of a scene. Posterior cortical atrophy patients had a significant tendency to fixate upon more low-level salient parts of the scenes than controls irrespective of the viewing task. The study provides a detailed characterisation of

Dynamic multi-channel TMS with reconfigurable coil.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Ruoli; Jansen, Ben H; Sheth, Bhavin R; Chen, Ji

2013-05-01

Investigations of the causal involvement of particular brain areas and interconnections in behavior require an external stimulation system with reasonable spatio-temporal resolution. Current transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) technology is limited to stimulating a single brain area once in a given trial. Here, we present a feasibility study for a novel TMS system based on multi-channel reconfigurable coils. With this hardware, researchers will be able to stimulate multiple brain sites in any temporal order in a trial. The system employs a wire-mesh coil, constructed using x- and y-directional wires. By varying the current direction and/or strength on each wire, we can configure the proposed mesh-wire coil into a standard loop coil and figure-eight coil of varying size. This provides maximum flexibility to the experimenter in that the location and extent of stimulation on the brain surface can be modified depending on experimental requirement. Moreover, one can dynamically and automatically modify the site(s) of stimulation several times within the span of seconds. By pre-storing various sequences of excitation patterns inside a control unit, one can explore the effect of dynamic TMS on behavior, in associative learning, and as rehabilitative therapy. Here, we present a computer simulation and bench experiments that show the feasibility of the dynamically-reconfigurable coil.

Posterior microphthalmos pigmentary retinopathy syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Pehere, Niranjan; Jalali, Subhadra; Deshmukh, Himanshu; Kannabiran, Chitra

2011-04-01

Posterior Microphthalmos Pigmentary Retinopathy Syndrome (PMPRS). Posterior microphthalmos (PM) is a relatively infrequent type of microphthalmos where posterior segment is predominantly affected with normal anterior segment measurements. Herein, we report two siblings with posterior microphthalmos retinopathy syndrome with postulated autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. A 13-year-old child had PM and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and his 7-year-old sister had PM, RP, and foveoschisis. The genetics of this syndrome and variable phenotype is discussed. Importance of being aware of posterior microphthalmos and its posterior segment associations is highlighted.

Multi-level damage identification with response reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chao-Dong; Xu, You-Lin

2017-10-01

Damage identification through finite element (FE) model updating usually forms an inverse problem. Solving the inverse identification problem for complex civil structures is very challenging since the dimension of potential damage parameters in a complex civil structure is often very large. Aside from enormous computation efforts needed in iterative updating, the ill-condition and non-global identifiability features of the inverse problem probably hinder the realization of model updating based damage identification for large civil structures. Following a divide-and-conquer strategy, a multi-level damage identification method is proposed in this paper. The entire structure is decomposed into several manageable substructures and each substructure is further condensed as a macro element using the component mode synthesis (CMS) technique. The damage identification is performed at two levels: the first is at macro element level to locate the potentially damaged region and the second is over the suspicious substructures to further locate as well as quantify the damage severity. In each level's identification, the damage searching space over which model updating is performed is notably narrowed down, not only reducing the computation amount but also increasing the damage identifiability. Besides, the Kalman filter-based response reconstruction is performed at the second level to reconstruct the response of the suspicious substructure for exact damage quantification. Numerical studies and laboratory tests are both conducted on a simply supported overhanging steel beam for conceptual verification. The results demonstrate that the proposed multi-level damage identification via response reconstruction does improve the identification accuracy of damage localization and quantization considerably.

Posterior α EEG Dynamics Dissociate Current from Future Goals in Working Memory-Guided Visual Search.

Science.gov (United States)

de Vries, Ingmar E J; van Driel, Joram; Olivers, Christian N L

2017-02-08

working memory. However, working memory not only serves current goals, but also future goals, with differential impact upon visual selection. Little is known about how the brain differentiates between current and future goals. Here we show, for the first time, that modulations of brain oscillations in the EEG α frequency band in posterior cortex can dissociate current from future search goals in working memory. Moreover, the dynamics of these oscillations uncover how we flexibly switch focus between memory representations. Together, we reveal how the brain assigns priority for selection. Copyright © 2017 de Vries et al.

Perturbational treatment of spin-orbit coupling for generally applicable high-level multi-reference methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mai, Sebastian; Marquetand, Philipp; González, Leticia; Müller, Thomas; Plasser, Felix; Lischka, Hans

2014-01-01

An efficient perturbational treatment of spin-orbit coupling within the framework of high-level multi-reference techniques has been implemented in the most recent version of the COLUMBUS quantum chemistry package, extending the existing fully variational two-component (2c) multi-reference configuration interaction singles and doubles (MRCISD) method. The proposed scheme follows related implementations of quasi-degenerate perturbation theory (QDPT) model space techniques. Our model space is built either from uncontracted, large-scale scalar relativistic MRCISD wavefunctions or based on the scalar-relativistic solutions of the linear-response-theory-based multi-configurational averaged quadratic coupled cluster method (LRT-MRAQCC). The latter approach allows for a consistent, approximatively size-consistent and size-extensive treatment of spin-orbit coupling. The approach is described in detail and compared to a number of related techniques. The inherent accuracy of the QDPT approach is validated by comparing cuts of the potential energy surfaces of acrolein and its S, Se, and Te analoga with the corresponding data obtained from matching fully variational spin-orbit MRCISD calculations. The conceptual availability of approximate analytic gradients with respect to geometrical displacements is an attractive feature of the 2c-QDPT-MRCISD and 2c-QDPT-LRT-MRAQCC methods for structure optimization and ab inito molecular dynamics simulations

Perturbational treatment of spin-orbit coupling for generally applicable high-level multi-reference methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mai, Sebastian; Marquetand, Philipp; González, Leticia [Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, University of Vienna, Währinger Str. 17, 1090 Vienna (Austria); Müller, Thomas, E-mail: th.mueller@fz-juelich.de [Institute for Advanced Simulation, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich (Germany); Plasser, Felix [Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 368, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Lischka, Hans [Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, University of Vienna, Währinger Str. 17, 1090 Vienna (Austria); Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409-1061 (United States)

2014-08-21

An efficient perturbational treatment of spin-orbit coupling within the framework of high-level multi-reference techniques has been implemented in the most recent version of the COLUMBUS quantum chemistry package, extending the existing fully variational two-component (2c) multi-reference configuration interaction singles and doubles (MRCISD) method. The proposed scheme follows related implementations of quasi-degenerate perturbation theory (QDPT) model space techniques. Our model space is built either from uncontracted, large-scale scalar relativistic MRCISD wavefunctions or based on the scalar-relativistic solutions of the linear-response-theory-based multi-configurational averaged quadratic coupled cluster method (LRT-MRAQCC). The latter approach allows for a consistent, approximatively size-consistent and size-extensive treatment of spin-orbit coupling. The approach is described in detail and compared to a number of related techniques. The inherent accuracy of the QDPT approach is validated by comparing cuts of the potential energy surfaces of acrolein and its S, Se, and Te analoga with the corresponding data obtained from matching fully variational spin-orbit MRCISD calculations. The conceptual availability of approximate analytic gradients with respect to geometrical displacements is an attractive feature of the 2c-QDPT-MRCISD and 2c-QDPT-LRT-MRAQCC methods for structure optimization and ab inito molecular dynamics simulations.

Dynamical Behavior of Multi-Robot Systems Using Lattice Gas Automata

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cameron, S.M.; Robinett, R.; Stantz, K.M.; Trahan, M.W.; Wagner, J.S.

1999-03-11

Recent attention has been given to the deployment of an adaptable sensor array realized by multi-robotic systems. Our group has been studying the collective behavior of autonomous, multi-agent systems and their applications in the area of remote-sensing and emerging threats. To accomplish such tasks, an interdisciplinary research effort at Sandia National Laboratories are conducting tests in the fields of sensor technology, robotics, and multi-robotic and multi-agents architectures. Our goal is to coordinate a constellation of point sensors that optimizes spatial coverage and multivariate signal analysis using unmanned robotic vehicles (e.g., RATLERs, Robotic All-ten-sin Lunar Exploration Rover-class vehicles). Overall design methodology is to evolve complex collective behaviors realized through simple interaction (kinetic) physics and artificial intelligence to enable real-time operational responses to emerging threats. This paper focuses on our recent work understanding the dynamics of many-body systems using the physics-based hydrodynamic model of lattice gas automata. Three design features are investigated. One, for single-speed robots, a hexagonal nearest-neighbor interaction topology is necessary to preserve standard hydrodynamic flow. Two, adaptability, defined by the swarm's deformation rate, can be controlled through the hydrodynamic viscosity term, which, in turn, is defined by the local robotic interaction rules. Three, due to the inherent non-linearity of the dynamical equations describing large ensembles, development of stability criteria ensuring convergence to equilibrium states is developed by scaling information flow rates relative to a swarm's hydrodynamic flow rate. An initial test case simulates a swarm of twenty-five robots that maneuvers past an obstacle while following a moving target. A genetic algorithm optimizes applied nearest-neighbor forces in each of five spatial regions distributed over the simulation domain. Armed with

Adjusting to Social Change - A Multi-Level Analysis in Three Cultures

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-01

example, coping may be more collective in collectivist , compared to individualist , societies (Chang & Sivam, 2004). Some cultures have a greater sense...AFRL-AFOSR-UK-TR-2013-0041 Adjusting to Social Change - A multi-level Analysis in three cultures Prof Robin Goodwin...COVERED (From – To) 23 May 2012 – 22 May 2013 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Adjusting to Social Change - A multi-level Analysis in three cultures

Echocardiographic Wall Motion Abnormality in Posterior Myocardial Infarction: The Diagnostic Value of Posterior Leads

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A Darehzereshki

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Background: For the purpose of ascertaining myocardial infarction (MI and ischemia, the sensitivity of the initial 12-lead ECG is inadequate. It is risky to diagnose posterior MI using only precordial reciprocal changes, since the other leads may be more optimally positioned for the identification of electrocardiographic changes. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between electrocardiography changes and wall motion abnormalities in patients with posterior MI for earlier and better diagnosis of posterior MI.Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, we enrolled patients with posterior MI who had come to the Emergency Department of Shariati Hospital with their first episode of chest pain. A 12-lead surface electrocardiogram using posterior leads (V7-V9 was performed for all participants. Patients with ST elevation >0.05 mV or pathologic Q wave in the posterior leads, as well as those with specific changes indicating posterior MI in V1-V2, were evaluated by echocardiography in terms of wall motion abnormalities. All data were analyzed using SPSS and p<0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results: Of a total 79 patients enrolled, 48 (60.8% were men, and the mean age was 57.35±8.22 years. Smoking (54.4% and diabetes (48% were the most prevalent risk factors. In the echocardiographic evaluation, all patients had wall motion abnormalities in the left ventricle and 19 patients (24.1% had wall motion abnormalities in the right ventricle. The most frequent segment with motion abnormality among the all patients was the mid-posterior. The posterior leads showed better positive predictive value than the anterior leads for posterior wall motion abnormality.Conclusion: Electrocardiography of the posterior leads in patients with acute chest pain can help in earlier diagnosis and in time treatment of posterior MI.

Atividade lenta posterior: correlação eletro-clínica Posterior EEG slow activity: electro-clinical correlation

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Salustiano Gomes Lins

1971-06-01

disturbance of behavior with strong agressivity is significant at 0.01. From 10 patients with diagnosis of petit mal, five presented a posterior slow rhythm (3 males and 2 females. Two patients that presented a posterior slow rhythm at 4 c/s had a history of head injury with consecutive behavior disorders with strong agressivity. The Pi waves were observed in 84 cases (55 males and 29 females, with different curve of decrease with the age in the two sexes. Among the females the decrease of frequence with the age was significant, but among the males it only neared the level of signification. The higher frequence of Pi waves among the males was significant in the age group of 15 to 19 and neared the level of signification in the age of 5 to 9. The Pi waves were present in 100% of the patients with a history of faints, but they had no significant association with the clinical pictures of behaviour disorders, paroxistical headache and dyslexia. It was observed a significant association of the incidence of Pi waves with a good organization of the background activity and with weak or absent response to the hiperventilation (at 0.05. The absense of a significant association between the Pi waves and the theta rhythm suggests that these two electrical patterns are related to quite autonomous phenomena.

Dynamic posterior stabilization for degenerative lumbar spine disease: a large consecutive case series with long-term follow-up by additional postal survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Greiner-Perth, R; Sellhast, N; Perler, G; Dietrich, D; Staub, L P; Röder, C

2016-08-01

Dynamic stabilization of the degenerated spine was invented to overcome the negative side effects of fusion surgery like adjacent segment degeneration. Amongst various different implants DSS(®) is a pedicle-based dynamic device for stabilizing the spine and preserving motion. Nearly no clinical data of the implant have been reported so far. The current analysis presents results from a single spine surgeon who has been using DSS(®) for the past 5 years and recorded all treatment and outcome data in the international Spine Tango registry. From the prospectively documented overall patient pool 436 cases treated with DSS(®) could be identified. The analysis was enhanced with a mailing of COMI patient questionnaires for generating longer-term follow-ups up to 4 years. 387 patients (189 male, 198 female; mean age 67.3 years) with degenerative lumbar spinal disease including degenerative spondylolisthesis (6.1 %) could be evaluated. The type of degeneration was mainly spinal stenosis (89.9 %). After a mean follow-up of 1.94 years, the COMI score and NRS back and leg pain improved significantly and to a clinically relevant extent. The postoperative trend analysis could not determine a relevant deterioration of these outcomes until 4 years postoperative. 10 patients were revised (2.6 %) and the implant was removed; in most cases, a fusion was performed. Another 5 cases (1.3 %) had an extension of the dynamic stabilization system to the adjacent level. 84.2 % of patients rated that the surgery had helped a lot or had helped. The results of this large consecutive series with a follow-up up to 4 years could demonstrate a good and stable clinical outcome after posterior dynamic stabilization with DSS(®). For degenerative diseases of the lumbar spine, this treatment seems to be a valid alternative to fusion surgery.

Disentangling multi-level systems: averaging, correlations and memory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wouters, Jeroen; Lucarini, Valerio

2012-01-01

We consider two weakly coupled systems and adopt a perturbative approach based on the Ruelle response theory to study their interaction. We propose a systematic way of parameterizing the effect of the coupling as a function of only the variables of a system of interest. Our focus is on describing the impacts of the coupling on the long term statistics rather than on the finite-time behavior. By direct calculation, we find that, at first order, the coupling can be surrogated by adding a deterministic perturbation to the autonomous dynamics of the system of interest. At second order, there are additionally two separate and very different contributions. One is a term taking into account the second-order contributions of the fluctuations in the coupling, which can be parameterized as a stochastic forcing with given spectral properties. The other one is a memory term, coupling the system of interest to its previous history, through the correlations of the second system. If these correlations are known, this effect can be implemented as a perturbation with memory on the single system. In order to treat this case, we present an extension to Ruelle's response theory able to deal with integral operators. We discuss our results in the context of other methods previously proposed for disentangling the dynamics of two coupled systems. We emphasize that our results do not rely on assuming a time scale separation, and, if such a separation exists, can be used equally well to study the statistics of the slow variables and that of the fast variables. By recursively applying the technique proposed here, we can treat the general case of multi-level systems

Posterior fossa epidural hematoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kushner, M.J.; Luken, M.G. III

1983-01-01

CT demonstrated posterior fossa epidural hematoma in three patients with head trauma in whom this diagnosis was not clinically apparent. No patient was in stupor or coma and no patient experienced a lucid interval. Only one patient had signs referable to the posterior fossa. Two patients had occipital skull fracture disclosed by plain radiographs. CT revealed a unilateral biconvex hematoma in two cases, and a bilateral hematoma with supratentorial extension in the third. All patients underwent suboccipital craniectomy and recovered. Therapeutic success in these cases was facilitated by early CT and the rapid disclosure of the unsuspected posterior fossa lesions. CT showing contiguous hematoma below and above the tentorium cerebelli after posterior head trauma is highly suggestive of epidural hematoma arising from the posterior fossa. (orig.)

Non-equilibrium QCD of high-energy multi-gluon dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geiger, K.

1996-01-01

A non-equilibrium QCD description of multiparticle dynamics in space-time is of both fundamental and phenomenological interest. Here the authors discusses an attempt to derive from first principles, a real-time formalism to study the dynamical interplay of quantum and statistical-kinetic properties of non-equilibrium multi-parton systems produced in high-energy QCD processes. The ultimate goal (from which one is still far away) is to have a practically applicable description of the space-time evolution of a general initial system of gluons and quarks, characterized by some large energy or momentum scale, that expands, diffuses and dissipates according to the self- and mutual-interactions, and eventually converts dynamically into final state hadrons. For example, the evolution of parton showers in the mechanism of parton-hadron conversion in high-energy hadronic collisions, or, the description of formation, evolution and freezeout of a quark-gluon plasma, in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Multi-level programming paradigm for extreme computing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petiton, S.; Sato, M.; Emad, N.; Calvin, C.; Tsuji, M.; Dandouna, M.

2013-01-01

In order to propose a framework and programming paradigms for post peta-scale computing, on the road to exa-scale computing and beyond, we introduced new languages, associated with a hierarchical multi-level programming paradigm, allowing scientific end-users and developers to program highly hierarchical architectures designed for extreme computing. In this paper, we explain the interest of such hierarchical multi-level programming paradigm for extreme computing and its well adaptation to several large computational science applications, such as for linear algebra solvers used for reactor core physic. We describe the YML language and framework allowing describing graphs of parallel components, which may be developed using PGAS-like language such as XMP, scheduled and computed on supercomputers. Then, we propose experimentations on supercomputers (such as the 'K' and 'Hooper' ones) of the hybrid method MERAM (Multiple Explicitly Restarted Arnoldi Method) as a case study for iterative methods manipulating sparse matrices, and the block Gauss-Jordan method as a case study for direct method manipulating dense matrices. We conclude proposing evolutions for this programming paradigm. (authors)

Detecting subnetwork-level dynamic correlations.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Yan; Qiu, Shangzhao; Jin, Zhuxuan; Gong, Sihong; Bai, Yun; Lu, Jianwei; Yu, Tianwei

2017-01-15

The biological regulatory system is highly dynamic. The correlations between many functionally related genes change over different biological conditions. Finding dynamic relations on the existing biological network may reveal important regulatory mechanisms. Currently no method is available to detect subnetwork-level dynamic correlations systematically on the genome-scale network. Two major issues hampered the development. The first is gene expression profiling data usually do not contain time course measurements to facilitate the analysis of dynamic relations, which can be partially addressed by using certain genes as indicators of biological conditions. Secondly, it is unclear how to effectively delineate subnetworks, and define dynamic relations between them. Here we propose a new method named LANDD (Liquid Association for Network Dynamics Detection) to find subnetworks that show substantial dynamic correlations, as defined by subnetwork A is concentrated with Liquid Association scouting genes for subnetwork B. The method produces easily interpretable results because of its focus on subnetworks that tend to comprise functionally related genes. Also, the collective behaviour of genes in a subnetwork is a much more reliable indicator of underlying biological conditions compared to using single genes as indicators. We conducted extensive simulations to validate the method's ability to detect subnetwork-level dynamic correlations. Using a real gene expression dataset and the human protein-protein interaction network, we demonstrate the method links subnetworks of distinct biological processes, with both confirmed relations and plausible new functional implications. We also found signal transduction pathways tend to show extensive dynamic relations with other functional groups. The R package is available at https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/LANDD CONTACTS: yunba@pcom.edu, jwlu33@hotmail.com or tianwei.yu@emory.eduSupplementary information: Supplementary data

Interestingness measures and strategies for mining multi-ontology multi-level association rules from gene ontology annotations for the discovery of new GO relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Manda, Prashanti; McCarthy, Fiona; Bridges, Susan M

2013-10-01

The Gene Ontology (GO), a set of three sub-ontologies, is one of the most popular bio-ontologies used for describing gene product characteristics. GO annotation data containing terms from multiple sub-ontologies and at different levels in the ontologies is an important source of implicit relationships between terms from the three sub-ontologies. Data mining techniques such as association rule mining that are tailored to mine from multiple ontologies at multiple levels of abstraction are required for effective knowledge discovery from GO annotation data. We present a data mining approach, Multi-ontology data mining at All Levels (MOAL) that uses the structure and relationships of the GO to mine multi-ontology multi-level association rules. We introduce two interestingness measures: Multi-ontology Support (MOSupport) and Multi-ontology Confidence (MOConfidence) customized to evaluate multi-ontology multi-level association rules. We also describe a variety of post-processing strategies for pruning uninteresting rules. We use publicly available GO annotation data to demonstrate our methods with respect to two applications (1) the discovery of co-annotation suggestions and (2) the discovery of new cross-ontology relationships. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

FGP Approach for Solving Multi-level Multi-objective Quadratic Fractional Programming Problem with Fuzzy parameters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

m. s. osman

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we consider fuzzy goal programming (FGP approach for solving multi-level multi-objective quadratic fractional programming (ML-MOQFP problem with fuzzy parameters in the constraints. Firstly, the concept of the ?-cut approach is applied to transform the set of fuzzy constraints into a common deterministic one. Then, the quadratic fractional objective functions in each level are transformed into quadratic objective functions based on a proposed transformation. Secondly, the FGP approach is utilized to obtain a compromise solution for the ML-MOQFP problem by minimizing the sum of the negative deviational variables. Finally, an illustrative numerical example is given to demonstrate the applicability and performance of the proposed approach.

Multi-level Control Framework for Enhanced Flexibility of Active Distribution Network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nainar, Karthikeyan; Pokhrel, Basanta Raj; Pillai, Jayakrishnan Radhakrishna

2017-01-01

In this paper, the control objectives of future active distribution networks with high penetration of renewables and flexible loads are analyzed and reviewed. From a state of the art review, the important control objectives seen from the perspective of a distribution system operator are identifie......-ordination and management of the network assets at different voltage levels and geographical locations. The paper finally shows the applicability of the multi-level control architecture to some of the key challenges in the distribution system operation by relevant scenarios....... to be hosting capacity improvement, high reliable operation and cost effective network management. Based on this review and a state of the art review concerning future distribution network control methods, a multi-level control architecture is constructed for an active distribution network, which satisfies...... the selected control objectives and provides enhanced flexibility. The control architecture is supported by generation/load forecasting and distribution state estimation techniques to improve the controllability of the network. The multi-level control architecture consists of three levels of hierarchical...

Irreducible Traumatic Posterior Shoulder Dislocation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blake Collier

2017-01-01

Full Text Available History of present illness: A 22-year-old male presented to the Emergency Department complaining of right shoulder pain after a motocross accident. He was traveling at approximately 10 mph around a turn when he lost control and was thrown over the handlebars, landing directly on his right shoulder. On arrival, he was holding his arm in adduction and internal rotation. An area of swelling was noted over his anterior shoulder. He was unable to abduct his shoulder. No humeral gapping was noted. He had normal neuro-vascular status distal to the injury. Significant findings: Radiographs demonstrated posterior displacement of the humeral head on the “Y” view (see white arrow and widening of the glenohumeral joint space on anterior-posterior view (see red arrow. The findings were consistent with posterior dislocation and a Hill-Sachs type deformity. Sedation was performed and reduction was attempted using external rotation, traction counter-traction. An immediate “pop” was felt during the procedure. Post-procedure radiographs revealed a persistent posterior subluxation with interlocking at posterior glenoid. CT revealed posterior dislocation with acute depressed impaction deformity medial to the biceps groove with the humeral head perched on the posterior glenoid, interlocked at reverse Hill-Sachs deformity (see blue arrow. Discussion: Posterior shoulder dislocations are rare and represent only 2% of all shoulder dislocations. Posterior shoulder dislocations are missed on initial diagnosis in more than 60% of cases.1 Posterior shoulder dislocations result from axial loading of the adducted and internally rotated shoulder, violent muscle contractions (resulting from seizures or electrocution, a direct posterior force applied to the anterior shoulder.1 Physical findings include decreased anterior prominence of the humeral head, increased palpable posterior prominence of the humeral head below the acromion, increased palpable prominence of the

A hybrid multi-level optimization approach for the dynamic synthesis/design and operation/control under uncertainty of a fuel cell system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kihyung; Spakovsky, Michael R. von; Wang, M.; Nelson, Douglas J.

2011-01-01

During system development, large-scale, complex energy systems require multi-disciplinary efforts to achieve system quality, cost, and performance goals. As systems become larger and more complex, the number of possible system configurations and technologies, which meet the designer's objectives optimally, increases greatly. In addition, both transient and environmental effects may need to be taken into account. Thus, the difficulty of developing the system via the formulation of a single optimization problem in which the optimal synthesis/design and operation/control of the system are achieved simultaneously is great and rather problematic. This difficulty is further heightened with the introduction of uncertainty analysis, which transforms the problem from a purely deterministic one into a probabilistic one. Uncertainties, system complexity and nonlinearity, and large numbers of decision variables quickly render the single optimization problem unsolvable by conventional, single-level, optimization strategies. To address these difficulties, the strategy adopted here combines a dynamic physical decomposition technique for large-scale optimization with a response sensitivity analysis method for quantifying system response uncertainties to given uncertainty sources. The feasibility of such a hybrid approach is established by applying it to the synthesis/design and operation/control of a 5 kW proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell system.

Pinning adaptive synchronization of a class of uncertain complex dynamical networks with multi-link against network deterioration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Lixiang; Li, Weiwei; Kurths, Jürgen; Luo, Qun; Yang, Yixian; Li, Shudong

2015-01-01

For the reason that the uncertain complex dynamic network with multi-link is quite close to various practical networks, there is superiority in the fields of research and application. In this paper, we focus upon pinning adaptive synchronization for uncertain complex dynamic networks with multi-link against network deterioration. The pinning approach can be applied to adapt uncertain coupling factors of deteriorated networks which can compensate effects of uncertainty. Several new synchronization criterions for networks with multi-link are derived, which ensure the synchronized states to be local or global stable with uncertainty and deterioration. Results of simulation are shown to demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of our method

A Method Based on Dial's Algorithm for Multi-time Dynamic Traffic Assignment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rongjie Kuang

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Due to static traffic assignment has poor performance in reflecting actual case and dynamic traffic assignment may incurs excessive compute cost, method of multi-time dynamic traffic assignment combining static and dynamic traffic assignment balances factors of precision and cost effectively. A method based on Dial's logit algorithm is proposed in the article to solve the dynamic stochastic user equilibrium problem in dynamic traffic assignment. Before that, a fitting function that can proximately reflect overloaded traffic condition of link is proposed and used to give corresponding model. Numerical example is given to illustrate heuristic procedure of method and to compare results with one of same example solved by other literature's algorithm. Results show that method based on Dial's algorithm is preferable to algorithm from others.

Fluid dynamics simulation of aqueous humour in a posterior-chamber phakic intraocular lens with a central perforation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawamorita, Takushi; Uozato, Hiroshi; Shimizu, Kimiya

2012-06-01

A modified implantable collamer lens (ICL) with a central hole (diameter, 0.36 mm), a "Hole-ICL", was created to improve aqueous humour circulation. The aim of this study was to investigate the fluid dynamic characteristics of aqueous humour in a Hole-ICL using computational fluid dynamics. Fluid dynamics simulation using an ICL was performed with thermal-hydraulic analysis software FloEFD V5 (Mentor Graphics Corp.). For the simulation, three-dimensional eye models based on a modified Liou-Brennan model eye with conventional ICL (Model ICM, STAAR SURGICAL) and a Hole-ICL were used. Both ICLs were -9.0 diopters (D) and 12.0 mm in length, with an optic of 5.5 mm. The vaulting was 0.50 mm. The quantity of aqueous humour produced by the ciliary body was set at 2.80 μl/min. Flow distribution between the anterior surface of the crystalline lens and the posterior surface of the ICL was also calculated, and trajectory analysis was performed. The flow velocity 0.25 mm in front of the centre of the crystalline lens was 1.52 × 10(-1) mm/sec for the Hole-ICL and 1.21 × 10(-5) mm/sec for the conventional ICL. Outward flow from the hole in the Hole-ICL was confirmed by trajectory analysis. These results suggest that Hole-ICLs improve the circulation of aqueous humour to the anterior surface of the crystalline lens.

Influence of multi-exciton correlations on nonlinear polariton dynamics in semiconductor microcavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wen, P; Nelson, Keith A; Christmann, G; Baumberg, J J

2013-01-01

Using two-dimensional spectroscopy, we resolve multi-polariton coherences in quantum wells embedded inside a semiconductor microcavity and elucidate how multi-exciton correlations mediate polariton nonlinear dynamics. We find that polariton correlation strengths depend on spectral overlap with the biexciton resonance and that up to at least four polaritons can be correlated, a higher-order correlation than observed to date among excitons in bare quantum wells. The high-order correlations can be attributed to coupling through the cavity mode, although the role of high-order Coulomb correlations cannot be excluded. (paper)

Multi-Level Experimental and Analytical Evaluation of Two Composite Energy Absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Karen E.; Littell, Justin D.; Fasanella, Edwin L.; Annett, Martin S.; Seal, Michael D., II

2015-01-01

Two composite energy absorbers were developed and evaluated at NASA Langley Research Center through multi-level testing and simulation performed under the Transport Rotorcraft Airframe Crash Testbed (TRACT) research program. A conical-shaped energy absorber, designated the conusoid, was evaluated that consisted of four layers of hybrid carbon-Kevlar plain weave fabric oriented at [+45 deg/-45 deg/-45 deg/+45 deg] with respect to the vertical, or crush, direction. A sinusoidal-shaped energy absorber, designated the sinusoid, was developed that consisted of hybrid carbon-Kevlar plain weave fabric face sheets, two layers for each face sheet oriented at +/-45deg with respect to the vertical direction and a closed-cell ELFOAM P200 polyisocyanurate (2.0-lb/cu ft) foam core. The design goal for the energy absorbers was to achieve average floor-level accelerations of between 25- and 40-g during the full-scale crash test of a retrofitted CH-46E helicopter airframe, designated TRACT 2. Variations in both designs were assessed through dynamic crush testing of component specimens. Once the designs were finalized, subfloor beams of each configuration were fabricated and retrofitted into a barrel section of a CH-46E helicopter. A vertical drop test of the barrel section was conducted onto concrete to evaluate the performance of the energy absorbers prior to retrofit into TRACT 2. The retrofitted airframe was crash tested under combined forward and vertical velocity conditions onto soil, which is characterized as a sand/clay mixture. Finite element models were developed of all test articles and simulations were performed using LS-DYNA, a commercial nonlinear explicit transient dynamic finite element code. Test-analysis results are presented for each energy absorber as comparisons of time-history responses, as well as predicted and experimental structural deformations and progressive damage under impact loading for each evaluation level.

Cities, Europeanization and Multi-level Governance: Governing Climate Change through Transnational Municipal Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kern, K.; Bulkeley, H.

2009-01-01

This article focuses on a variant of multi-level governance and Europeanization, i.e. the transnational networking of local authorities. Focusing on local climate change policy, the article examines how transnational municipal networks (TMNs) govern in the context of multi-level European governance.

Elasto/visco-plastic dynamic response of multi-layered shells of revolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takezono, S.; Tao, K.; Taguchi, T.

1989-01-01

Many investigations of the elasto/visco-plastic dynamic response of shells have been conducted. These investigations, however, have been mostly concerned with the case of single-layered shells, and few studies on multi-layered shells have been reported in spite of their importance in engineering. In this paper, the authors study the elasto/visco-plastic dynamic response of the multi-layered shells of revolution subjected to impulsive loads. The equations of motion and the relations between the strains and displacements are derived by extending Sanders' theory for elastic thin shells. As the constitutive relation, Hooke's law is used in the linear elastic range, and the elasto/visco-plastic equations are employed in the plastic range. The criterion for yielding used in the analysis is the von Mises yield theory. In the numerical analysis of the fundamental equations for incremental values an usual finite difference form is employed for the spatial derivatives and the inertia terms are treated with the backward difference formula. The solutions are obtained by summation of the incremental values

A high-throughput method for GMO multi-detection using a microfluidic dynamic array.

Science.gov (United States)

Brod, Fábio Cristiano Angonesi; van Dijk, Jeroen P; Voorhuijzen, Marleen M; Dinon, Andréia Zilio; Guimarães, Luis Henrique S; Scholtens, Ingrid M J; Arisi, Ana Carolina Maisonnave; Kok, Esther J

2014-02-01

The ever-increasing production of genetically modified crops generates a demand for high-throughput DNA-based methods for the enforcement of genetically modified organisms (GMO) labelling requirements. The application of standard real-time PCR will become increasingly costly with the growth of the number of GMOs that is potentially present in an individual sample. The present work presents the results of an innovative approach in genetically modified crops analysis by DNA based methods, which is the use of a microfluidic dynamic array as a high throughput multi-detection system. In order to evaluate the system, six test samples with an increasing degree of complexity were prepared, preamplified and subsequently analysed in the Fluidigm system. Twenty-eight assays targeting different DNA elements, GM events and species-specific reference genes were used in the experiment. The large majority of the assays tested presented expected results. The power of low level detection was assessed and elements present at concentrations as low as 0.06 % were successfully detected. The approach proposed in this work presents the Fluidigm system as a suitable and promising platform for GMO multi-detection.

Examining multi-level effects on corporate social responsibility and irresponsibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mazzei Matthew J.

2015-10-01

Full Text Available What influences firms to engage in socially responsible (irresponsible activities? Corporate social responsibility (CSR, the efforts of firms to create a positive and desirable impact on society, and corporate social irresponsibility (CSI, contrary actions of unethical behavior that negatively influence society, have become an important focus of discussion for both corporations and scholars. Despite this interest, our understanding of organizations’ socially responsible (irresponsible actions and their antecedents is still developing. A dearth of knowledge about the multi-level nature of the drivers of CSR and CSI continues to exist. Utilizing a longitudinal sample composed of 899 firms in 66 industries, we follow a prominent model to empirically examine industry-, firm-, and individual-level effects on CSR and CSI. Employing variance decomposition analysis, our results confirm that all three levels of investigation do indeed influence CSR and CSI. More substantively, our analysis estimates the magnitude of the effects attributable to each of the three levels for both CSR and CSI. We also compare multi-level influences on two separate CSR strategies, those targeting primary stakeholders (strategic CSR and those targeting secondary stakeholders (social CSR. We find greater industry- and firmlevel effects on social CSR, and higher individual-level effects on strategic CSR. Our results build on the conceptual work of previous authors by providing empirical analyses to confirm multilevel influences on CSR and extending prior multi-level theory to the concept of CSI. Further, we add to the emerging literature regarding stakeholder demands by examining the various influences on CSR strategies targeting different stakeholder groups.

Dynamic and Control Analysis of Modular Multi-Parallel Rectifiers (MMR)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zare, Firuz; Ghosh, Arindam; Davari, Pooya

2017-01-01

This paper presents dynamic analysis of a Modular Multi-Parallel Rectifier (MMR) based on state-space modelling and analysis. The proposed topology is suitable for high power application which can reduce line current harmonics emissions significantly. However, a proper controller is required...... to share and control current through each rectifier. Mathematical analysis and preliminary simulations have been carried out to verify the proposed controller under different operating conditions....

Biomechanical Analysis and Evaluation Technology Using Human Multi-Body Dynamic Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Yoon Hyuk; Shin, June Ho; Khurelbaatar, Tsolmonbaatar [Kyung Hee University, Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

2011-10-15

This paper presents the biomechanical analysis and evaluation technology of musculoskeletal system by multi-body human dynamic model and 3-D motion capture data. First, medical image based geometric model and material properties of tissue were used to develop the human dynamic model and 3-D motion capture data based motion analysis techniques were develop to quantify the in-vivo joint kinematics, joint moment, joint force, and muscle force. Walking and push-up motion was investigated using the developed model. The present model and technologies would be useful to apply the biomechanical analysis and evaluation of human activities.

Keeping the wheels turning : multi-level dynamics in organizing networks of practice

OpenAIRE

Agterberg, M.; Hooff, B. van den; Huysman, M.

2008-01-01

This paper addresses organizing dynamics of intra-firm ‘networks of practice’ (NOPs). It unravels different dimensions that play a role in knowledge sharing within NOPs: (1) practice dimension; (2) social dimension; and (3) organizational dimension. Based on a unique interpretive case study, we ‘unpack’ each dimension and consider them as dynamic based on either positive or negative forces that influence knowledge sharing in NOPs. By introducing the metaphor of a cogwheel, we argue that maint...

A dynamically tunable plasmonic multi-functional device based on graphene nano-sheet pair arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei; Meng, Zhao; Liang, Ruisheng; Chen, Shijie; Ding, Li; Wang, Faqiang; Liu, Hongzhan; Meng, Hongyun; Wei, Zhongchao

2018-05-01

Dynamically tunable plasmonic multi-functional is particularly desirable for various nanotechnological applications. In this paper, graphene nano-sheet pair arrays separated by a substrate, which can act as a dynamically tunable plasmonic band stop filter with transmission at resonance wavelength lower than 1%, a high sensitivity refractive index sensor with sensitivity up to 4879 nm/RIU, figure of merit of 40.66 and a two circuit optical switch with the modulation depth up to 0.998, are proposed and numerically investigated. These excellent optical performances are calculated by using FDTD numerical modeling and theoretical deduction. Simulation results show that a slight variation of chemical potential of the graphene nano-sheet can achieve significant resonance wavelength shifts. In additional, the resonance wavelength and transmission of this plasmonic device can be tuned easily by two voltages owing to the simple patterned graphene. These studies may have great potential in fabrication of multi-functional and dynamically tunable optoelectronic integrated devices.

Multi-level approach for parametric roll analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Taeyoung; Kim, Yonghwan

2011-03-01

The present study considers multi-level approach for the analysis of parametric roll phenomena. Three kinds of computation method, GM variation, impulse response function (IRF), and Rankine panel method, are applied for the multi-level approach. IRF and Rankine panel method are based on the weakly nonlinear formulation which includes nonlinear Froude- Krylov and restoring forces. In the computation result of parametric roll occurrence test in regular waves, IRF and Rankine panel method show similar tendency. Although the GM variation approach predicts the occurrence of parametric roll at twice roll natural frequency, its frequency criteria shows a little difference. Nonlinear roll motion in bichromatic wave is also considered in this study. To prove the unstable roll motion in bichromatic waves, theoretical and numerical approaches are applied. The occurrence of parametric roll is theoretically examined by introducing the quasi-periodic Mathieu equation. Instability criteria are well predicted from stability analysis in theoretical approach. From the Fourier analysis, it has been verified that difference-frequency effects create the unstable roll motion. The occurrence of unstable roll motion in bichromatic wave is also observed in the experiment.

Level dynamics: An approach to the study of avoided level crossings and transition to chaos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, S.; Chu, S.Y.

1993-01-01

The Dyson-Pechukas level dynamics has been reformulated and made suitable for studying avoided level crossings and transition to chaos. The N-level dynamics is converted into a many-body problem of one-dimensional Coulomb gas with N-constituent particles having intrinsic excitations. It is shown that local fluctuation of the level distribution is generated by a large number of avoided level crossings. The role played by avoided level crossings in generating chaoticity in level dynamics is similar to the role played by short-range collisions in causing thermalization in many-body dynamics. Furthermore, the effect of level changing rates in producing avoided level crossings is the same as particle velocities in causing particle-particle collisions. A one-dimensional su(2) Hamiltonian has been constructed as an illustration of the level dynamics, showing how the avoided level crossings cause the transition from a regular distribution to the chaotic Gaussian orthogonal ensemble (GOE) distribution of the levels. The existence of the one-dimensional su(2) Hamiltonian which can show both GOE and Poisson level statistics is remarkable and deserves further investigation

Research on The Construction of Flexible Multi-body Dynamics Model based on Virtual Components

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Z. H.; Ye, X.; Yang, F.

2018-05-01

Focus on the harsh operation condition of space manipulator, which cannot afford relative large collision momentum, this paper proposes a new concept and technology, called soft-contact technology. In order to solve the problem of collision dynamics of flexible multi-body system caused by this technology, this paper also proposes the concepts of virtual components and virtual hinges, and constructs flexible dynamic model based on virtual components, and also studies on its solutions. On this basis, this paper uses NX to carry out model and comparison simulation for space manipulator in 3 different modes. The results show that using the model of multi-rigid body + flexible body hinge + controllable damping can make effective control on amplitude for the force and torque caused by target satellite collision.

A Multi-step and Multi-level approach for Computer Aided Molecular Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

. The problem formulation step incorporates a knowledge base for the identification and setup of the design criteria. Candidate compounds are identified using a multi-level generate and test CAMD solution algorithm capable of designing molecules having a high level of molecular detail. A post solution step...... using an Integrated Computer Aided System (ICAS) for result analysis and verification is included in the methodology. Keywords: CAMD, separation processes, knowledge base, molecular design, solvent selection, substitution, group contribution, property prediction, ICAS Introduction The use of Computer...... Aided Molecular Design (CAMD) for the identification of compounds having specific physic...

Classification of posterior vitreous detachment

Science.gov (United States)

Kakehashi, Akihiro; Takezawa, Mikiko; Akiba, Jun

2014-01-01

Diagnosing a posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) is important for predicting the prognosis and determining the indication for vitreoretinal surgery in many vitreoretinal diseases. This article presents both classifications of a PVD by slit-lamp biomicroscopy and of a shallow PVD by optical coherence tomography (OCT). By biomicroscopy, the vitreous condition is determined based on the presence or absence of a PVD. The PVD then is classified as either a complete posterior vitreous detachment (C-PVD) or a partial posterior vitreous detachment (P-PVD). A C-PVD is further divided into a C-PVD with collapse and a C-PVD without collapse, while a P-PVD is divided into a P-PVD with shrinkage of the posterior hyaloid membrane (P-PVD with shrinkage) and a P-PVD without shrinkage of the posterior hyaloid membrane (P-PVD without shrinkage). A P-PVD without shrinkage has a subtype characterized by vitreous gel attachment through the premacular hole in a posterior hyaloid membrane to the macula (P-PVD without shrinkage [M]). By OCT, a shallow PVD is classified as the absence of a shallow PVD or as a shallow PVD. A shallow PVD is then subclassified as a shallow PVD without shrinkage of the posterior vitreous cortex, a shallow PVD with shrinkage of the posterior vitreous cortex, and a peripheral shallow PVD. A shallow PVD without shrinkage of the posterior vitreous cortex has two subtypes: an age-related shallow PVD and a perifoveal PVD associated with a macular hole. PMID:24376338

Toracotomía posterior: doble abordaje vertebral torácico con incisión única Toracotomia posterior: dupla abordagem vertebral torácica com incisão única Posterior thoracotomy: a two-step spinal thoracic approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariano Augusto Noel

2010-09-01

combinar cirurgias em vértebras torácicas anterior e posterior com a mesma incisão cutânea posterior. Métodos: foram avaliados, retrospectivamente, 35 pacientes operados entre 2003 e 2007. Em todos eles, realizou-se dupla abordagem combinando uma toracotomia posterior e abordagem posterior, feita só uma ferida cirúrgica, para diferentes objetivos: descompressão medular, artrodese, osteotomias, ou vertebrectomias. Foram avaliadas: as magnitudes dos ângulos, a etiologia, a idade, os níveis vertebrais, a quantidade de toracotomias e as complicações. RESULTADOS: média de idade de 14,1 anos (1-65, 10 cifoses com média de 96,8º (76-131; 24 escolioses com média de 80º (60-105. Etiologia: síndromes genéticos, 11; escolioses idiopática, 6; neurológicas, 5; congênitas, 4; tumores, 4; fraturas, 2; hérnia de disco, 1; infecção, 1; toracotomia de 1; nível 30, duplo 5; nível superior t3 e inferior t10. As complicações observadas foram um paciente com hemotórax e dois com infecções por causa da ferida. CONCLUSÃO: esta via permite o acesso a todo o nível torácico em procedimentos combinados mediante só uma ferida cirúrgica.INTRODUCTION: over the last ten years, for patients who needed a combined anterior-posterior approach, an alternative thoracotomy has been used by posterior approach using in the second step the same posterior mid-line skin incision as was used in the first step. Objective: to assess the range of possibilities and complications associated with this new approach, which allows to mix a two-step surgery through a single posterior skin incision. METHODS: thirty-five patients operated between 2003 and 2007 were evaluated. All patients underwent a two-step approach through a single posterior mid-line skin incision for spinal cord decompression, discectomy, arthrodesis, osteotomy, or vertebrectomy. The angular magnitudes, etiology, age, vertebral levels, number of thoracotomy, and complications were evaluated. RESULTS: mean age 14.1 years

Extending the enterprise through multi-level supply control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vlist, van der P.; Hoppenbrouwers, J.J.E.M.; Hegge, H.M.H.

1997-01-01

Demands for flexibility require larger parts of the supply chain to become customer driven. This article describes multi-level supply control (MLSC) as a mechanism to facilitate that; it allows to specify gradually and thus to shift the customer order decoupling point well across the boundary to the

Scheduling with Group Dynamics: a Multi-Robot Task Allocation Algorithm based on Vacancy Chains

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Dahl, Torbjorn S; Mataric, Maja J; Sukhatme, Gaurav S

2002-01-01

.... We present a multi-robot task allocation algorithm that is sensitive to group dynamics. Our algorithm is based on vacancy chains, a resource distribution process common in human and animal societies...

Study on high density multi-scale calculation technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sekiguchi, S.; Tanaka, Y.; Nakada, H.; Nishikawa, T.; Yamamoto, N.; Yokokawa, M.

2004-01-01

To understand degradation of nuclear materials under irradiation, it is essential to know as much about each phenomenon observed from multi-scale points of view; they are micro-scale in atomic-level, macro-level in structural scale and intermediate level. In this study for application to meso-scale materials (100A ∼ 2μm), computer technology approaching from micro- and macro-scales was developed including modeling and computer application using computational science and technology method. And environmental condition of grid technology for multi-scale calculation was prepared. The software and MD (molecular dynamics) stencil for verifying the multi-scale calculation were improved and their movement was confirmed. (A. Hishinuma)

Multi-detector CT evaluation in patients suspected of tracheobronchomalacia: Comparison of end-expiratory with dynamic expiratory volumetric acquisitions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferretti, Gilbert R. [Department of Radiology (France)], E-mail: gferretti@chu-grenoble.fr; Jankowski, Adrien [Department of Radiology (France)], E-mail: ajankowski@chu-grenoble.fr; Perrin, Marie Amelie [Department of Radiology (France)], E-mail: maperrin@chu-grenoble.fr; Chouri, Nathalie [Department of Respiratory Diseases (France)], E-mail: nchouri@chu-grenoble.fr; Arnol, Nathalie [Sleep Laboratory and EFCR, University Hospital, Grenoble (France); HP2 Laboratory, INSERM ERI 0017 (Hypoxia: Pathophysiology), Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble (France)], E-mail: narnold@chu-grenoble.fr; Aubaud, Laurent [Department of Radiology (France)], E-mail: laubaud@chu-grenoble.fr; Pepin, Jean-Louis [Sleep Laboratory and EFCR, University Hospital, Grenoble (France); HP2 Laboratory, INSERM ERI 0017 (Hypoxia: Pathophysiology), Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble (France)], E-mail: jlpepin@chu-grenoble.fr

2008-11-15

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare dynamic expiratory imaging and end-expiratory imaging using multi-detector CT (MDCT) of the central airways in patients suspected of tracheobronchomalacia (TBM). Methods: This study had local ethical committee approval. Seventy patients suspected of TBM were prospectively included. All patients underwent evaluation of central airways by three different low-dose MDCT acquisitions: end inspiration, end expiration, and dynamic expiration. Degree of airway collapse was measured by calculating the percentage change in the area and diameter of the airways between inspiratory and the two expiratory techniques at three levels of the trachea and in the sagittal diameter of the right and left main bronchi. Three threshold levels of percentage reduction in diameter or area (30%, 50%, and 70%) for defining TBM were evaluated. Results: In the entire population, the mean percentage of airway collapse was significantly greater with dynamic expiratory imaging than with the end-expiratory imaging at three different levels: lower thoracic trachea (26% vs. 16.6%, p < 0.009), right (25.2% vs. 14%, p < 0.01) and left main (24.7% vs. 13.3%, p < 0.01) bronchus. Whatever the threshold value for defining TBM, dynamic expiratory imaging always resulted in diagnosing TBM in more patients than end-expiratory imaging. Conclusions: Dynamic expiratory imaging shows a significantly greater degree and a significantly greater extent of airway collapse than standard end-expiratory imaging in patients suspected of TBM. Further evaluation of the clinical relevance of such findings is warranted.

Role of quantum statistics in multi-particle decay dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Marchewka, Avi; Granot, Er'el

2015-04-01

The role of quantum statistics in the decay dynamics of a multi-particle state, which is suddenly released from a confining potential, is investigated. For an initially confined double particle state, the exact dynamics is presented for both bosons and fermions. The time-evolution of the probability to measure two-particle is evaluated and some counterintuitive features are discussed. For instance, it is shown that although there is a higher chance of finding the two bosons (as oppose to fermions, and even distinguishable particles) at the initial trap region, there is a higher chance (higher than fermions) of finding them on two opposite sides of the trap as if the repulsion between bosons is higher than the repulsion between fermions. The results are demonstrated by numerical simulations and are calculated analytically in the short-time approximation. Furthermore, experimental validation is suggested.

Role of quantum statistics in multi-particle decay dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marchewka, Avi; Granot, Er’el

2015-01-01

The role of quantum statistics in the decay dynamics of a multi-particle state, which is suddenly released from a confining potential, is investigated. For an initially confined double particle state, the exact dynamics is presented for both bosons and fermions. The time-evolution of the probability to measure two-particle is evaluated and some counterintuitive features are discussed. For instance, it is shown that although there is a higher chance of finding the two bosons (as oppose to fermions, and even distinguishable particles) at the initial trap region, there is a higher chance (higher than fermions) of finding them on two opposite sides of the trap as if the repulsion between bosons is higher than the repulsion between fermions. The results are demonstrated by numerical simulations and are calculated analytically in the short-time approximation. Furthermore, experimental validation is suggested

Role of quantum statistics in multi-particle decay dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marchewka, Avi, E-mail: avi.marchewka@gmail.com [Galei Tchelet St 8 Herzliya (Israel); Granot, Er’el [Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Ariel University, Ariel (Israel)

2015-04-15

The role of quantum statistics in the decay dynamics of a multi-particle state, which is suddenly released from a confining potential, is investigated. For an initially confined double particle state, the exact dynamics is presented for both bosons and fermions. The time-evolution of the probability to measure two-particle is evaluated and some counterintuitive features are discussed. For instance, it is shown that although there is a higher chance of finding the two bosons (as oppose to fermions, and even distinguishable particles) at the initial trap region, there is a higher chance (higher than fermions) of finding them on two opposite sides of the trap as if the repulsion between bosons is higher than the repulsion between fermions. The results are demonstrated by numerical simulations and are calculated analytically in the short-time approximation. Furthermore, experimental validation is suggested.

Late-onset Alzheimer disease genetic variants in posterior cortical atrophy and posterior AD.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrasquillo, Minerva M; Khan, Qurat ul Ain; Murray, Melissa E; Krishnan, Siddharth; Aakre, Jeremiah; Pankratz, V Shane; Nguyen, Thuy; Ma, Li; Bisceglio, Gina; Petersen, Ronald C; Younkin, Steven G; Dickson, Dennis W; Boeve, Bradley F; Graff-Radford, Neill R; Ertekin-Taner, Nilüfer

2014-04-22

To investigate association of genetic risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) with risk of posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a syndrome of visual impairment with predominant Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology in posterior cortical regions, and with risk of "posterior AD" neuropathology. We assessed 81 participants with PCA diagnosed clinically and 54 with neuropathologic diagnosis of posterior AD vs 2,523 controls for association with 11 significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from published LOAD risk genome-wide association studies. There was highly significant association with APOE ε4 and increased risk of PCA (p = 0.0003, odds ratio [OR] = 3.17) and posterior AD (p = 1.11 × 10(-17), OR = 6.43). No other locus was significant after corrections for multiple testing, although rs11136000 near CLU (p = 0.019, OR = 0.60) and rs744373 near BIN1 (p = 0.025, OR = 1. 63) associated nominally significantly with posterior AD, and rs3851179 at the PICALM locus had significant association with PCA (p = 0.0003, OR = 2.84). ABCA7 locus SNP rs3764650, which was also tested under the recessive model because of Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium, also had nominally significant association with PCA risk. The direction of association at APOE, CLU, and BIN1 loci was the same for participants with PCA and posterior AD. The effects for all SNPs, except rs3851179, were consistent with those for LOAD risk. We identified a significant effect for APOE and nominate CLU, BIN1, and ABCA7 as additional risk loci for PCA and posterior AD. Our findings suggest that at least some of the genetic risk factors for LOAD are shared with these atypical conditions and provide effect-size estimates for their future genetic studies.

Does prone repositioning before posterior fixation produce greater lordosis in lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF)?

Science.gov (United States)

Yson, Sharon C; Sembrano, Jonathan N; Santos, Edward R G; Luna, Jeffrey T P; Polly, David W

2014-10-01

Retrospective comparative radiographic review. To determine if lateral to prone repositioning before posterior fixation confers additional operative level lordosis in lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) procedures. In a review of 56 consecutive patients who underwent LLIF, there was no statistically significant change in segmental lordosis from lateral to prone once a cage is in place. The greatest lordosis increase was observed after cage insertion. We reviewed 56 consecutive patients who underwent LLIF in the lateral position followed by posterior fixation in the prone position. Eighty-eight levels were fused. Disk space angle was measured on intraoperative C-arm images, and change in operative level segmental lordosis brought about by each of the following was determined: (1) cage insertion, (2) prone repositioning, and (3) posterior instrumentation. Paired t test was used to determine significance (α=0.05). Mean lordosis improvement brought about by cage insertion was 2.6 degrees (P=0.00005). There was a 0.1 degree mean lordosis change brought about by lateral to prone positioning (P=0.47). Mean lordosis improvement brought about by posterior fixation, including rod compression, was 1.0 degree (P=0.03). In LLIF procedures, the largest increase in operative level segmental lordosis is brought about by cage insertion. Further lordosis may be gained by placing posterior fixation, including compressive maneuvers. Prone repositioning after cage placement does not produce any incremental lordosis change. Therefore, posterior fixation may be performed in the lateral position without compromising operative level sagittal alignment.

International comparative evaluation of fixed-bearing non-posterior-stabilized and posterior-stabilized total knee replacements.

Science.gov (United States)

Comfort, Thomas; Baste, Valborg; Froufe, Miquel Angel; Namba, Robert; Bordini, Barbara; Robertsson, Otto; Cafri, Guy; Paxton, Elizabeth; Sedrakyan, Art; Graves, Stephen

2014-12-17

Differences in survivorship of non-posterior-stabilized compared with posterior-stabilized knee designs carry substantial economic consequences, especially with limited health-care resources. However, these comparisons have often been made between relatively small groups of patients, often with short-term follow-up, with only small differences demonstrated between the groups. The goal of this study is to compare the outcomes of non-posterior-stabilized and posterior-stabilized total knee arthroplasties with use of a unique collaboration of multiple established knee arthroplasty registries. A distributed health data network was developed by the International Consortium of Orthopaedic Registries and was used in this study to reduce barriers to participation (such as security, propriety, legal, and privacy issues) compared with a centralized data warehouse approach. The study included only replacements in osteoarthritis patients who underwent total knee procedures involving fixed-bearing devices from 2001 to 2010. The outcome of interest was time to first revision. On average, not resurfacing showed a more harmful effect than resurfacing did when posterior-stabilized and non-posterior-stabilized knee replacements were compared, while the risk of revision for posterior-stabilized compared with non-posterior-stabilized knees was highest in year zero to one, followed by year one to two, years eight through ten, and years two through eight. Posterior-stabilized knees did significantly worse than non-posterior-stabilized knees did when the patella was not resurfaced. This difference was most pronounced in the first two years (year zero to one: hazard ratio [HR] = 2.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.56 to 2.95, p < 0.001; year one to two: HR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.48 to 1.75, p < 0.001). When the patella was resurfaced, posterior-stabilized knees did significantly worse than non-posterior-stabilized knees did. This was again most pronounced in the first two years (year zero

Improving the Penetration of Wind Power with Dynamic Thermal Rating System, Static VAR Compensator and Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiashen Teh

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The integration of renewable energy sources, especially wind energy, has been on the rise throughout power systems worldwide. Due to this relatively new introduction, the integration of wind energy is often not optimized. Moreover, owing to the technical constraints and transmission congestions of the power network, most of the wind energy has to be curtailed. Due to various factors that influence the connectivity of wind energy, this paper proposes a well-organized posterior multi-objective (MO optimization algorithm for maximizing the connections of wind energy. In this regard, the dynamic thermal rating (DTR system and the static VAR compensator (SVC have been identified as effective tools for improving the loadability of the network. The propose MO algorithm in this paper aims to minimize: (1 wind energy curtailment, (2 operation cost of the network considering all investments and operations, also known as the total social cost, and (3 SVC operation cost. The proposed MO problem was solved using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA II and it was tested on the modified IEEE reliability test system (IEEE-RTS. The results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed algorithm in aiding power system enhancement planning for integrating wind energy.

First 3D Cadastral Registration of Multi-level Ownerships Rights in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ploeger, H.D.; Stoter, J.E.; Roes, R; Van der Riet, E.; Biljecki, F.; Ledoux, H.

2016-01-01

This paper reports on the first 3D cadastral registration of multi-level ownerships rights in the Netherlands, which was accomplished in March 2016. It is the result of a study that was undertaken from 2013 to 2015 to determine how insight about multi-level ownership can be provided in 3D by the

Non-linear interactions of multi-level atoms with a near-resonant standing wave

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Kane, T.J.; Scholten, R.E.; Walkiewicz, M.R.; Farrell, P.M.

1998-01-01

Using a semiclassical density matrix formalism we have calculated the behavior of multi-level atoms interacting with a standing wave field, and show how complex non-linear phenomena, including multi-photon effects, combine to produce saturation spectra as observed in experiments. We consider both 20-level sodium and 24-level rubidium models, contrasting these with a simple 2-level case. The influence of parameters such as atomic trajectory and the time the atom remains in the beam are shown to have a critical effect on the lineshape of these resonances and the emission/absorption processes. Stable oscillations in the excited state populations for both the two-level and multi-level cases are shown to be limit cycles. These limit cycles undergo period doubling as the system evolves into chaos. Finally, using a Monte Carlo treatment, these processes average to produce saturated absorption spectra complete with power and Doppler broadening effects consistent with experiment. (authors)

New techniques for multi-level cross section calculation and fitting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Froehner, F.H.

1980-09-01

A number of recent developments in multi-level cross section work are described. A new iteration scheme for the conversion of Reich-Moore resonance parameters to Kapur-Peierls parameters allows application of Turing's method for Gaussian broadening of meromorphic functions directly to multi-level cross section expressions, without recourse to the Voigt profiles psi and chi. This makes calculation of Doppler-broadened Reich-Moore and MLBW cross sections practically as fast as SLBW and Adler-Adler cross section calculations involving the Voigt profiles. A convenient distant-level treatment utilizing average resonance parameters is presented. Apart from effectively dealing with edge effects in resonance fitting work it also leads to a simple prescription for the determination of bound levels which reproduce the thermal cross sections correctly. A brief discussion of improved resonance shape fitting techniques is included, with empahsis on the importance of correlated errors and proper use of prior information by application of Bayes' theorem. (orig.) [de

New techniques for multi-level cross section calculation and fitting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Froehner, F.H.

1981-01-01

A number of recent developments in multi-level cross section work are described. A new iteration scheme for the conversion of Reich-Moore resonance parameters to Kapur-Peierls parameters allows application of Turing's method for Gaussian broadening of meromorphic functions directly to multi-level cross section expressions, without recourse to the Voigt profiles psi and chi. This makes calculation of Doppler-broadened Reich-Moore and MLBW cross sections practically as fast as SLBW and Adler-Adler cross section calculations involving the Voigt profiles. A convenient distant-level treatment utilizing average resonance parameters is presented. Apart from effectively dealing with edge effects in resonance fitting work it also leads to a simple prescription for the determination of bound levels which reproduce the thermal cross sections correctly. A brief discussion of improved resonance shape fitting techniques is included, with emphasis on the importance of correlated errors and proper use of prior information by application of Bayes' theorem

Hypertension as the trigger for posterior reversible encephalopathy ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

RESEARCH. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a neuro ..... rise of blood pressure instead of the sustained levels of hypertension in these patients. .... high prevalence and more extensive imaging findings. Am J Kidney ...

On the multi-level solution algorithm for Markov chains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Horton, G. [Univ. of Erlangen, Nuernberg (Germany)

1996-12-31

We discuss the recently introduced multi-level algorithm for the steady-state solution of Markov chains. The method is based on the aggregation principle, which is well established in the literature. Recursive application of the aggregation yields a multi-level method which has been shown experimentally to give results significantly faster than the methods currently in use. The algorithm can be reformulated as an algebraic multigrid scheme of Galerkin-full approximation type. The uniqueness of the scheme stems from its solution-dependent prolongation operator which permits significant computational savings in the evaluation of certain terms. This paper describes the modeling of computer systems to derive information on performance, measured typically as job throughput or component utilization, and availability, defined as the proportion of time a system is able to perform a certain function in the presence of component failures and possibly also repairs.

Dynameomics: a multi-dimensional analysis-optimized database for dynamic protein data.

Science.gov (United States)

Kehl, Catherine; Simms, Andrew M; Toofanny, Rudesh D; Daggett, Valerie

2008-06-01

The Dynameomics project is our effort to characterize the native-state dynamics and folding/unfolding pathways of representatives of all known protein folds by way of molecular dynamics simulations, as described by Beck et al. (in Protein Eng. Des. Select., the first paper in this series). The data produced by these simulations are highly multidimensional in structure and multi-terabytes in size. Both of these features present significant challenges for storage, retrieval and analysis. For optimal data modeling and flexibility, we needed a platform that supported both multidimensional indices and hierarchical relationships between related types of data and that could be integrated within our data warehouse, as described in the accompanying paper directly preceding this one. For these reasons, we have chosen On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP), a multi-dimensional analysis optimized database, as an analytical platform for these data. OLAP is a mature technology in the financial sector, but it has not been used extensively for scientific analysis. Our project is further more unusual for its focus on the multidimensional and analytical capabilities of OLAP rather than its aggregation capacities. The dimensional data model and hierarchies are very flexible. The query language is concise for complex analysis and rapid data retrieval. OLAP shows great promise for the dynamic protein analysis for bioengineering and biomedical applications. In addition, OLAP may have similar potential for other scientific and engineering applications involving large and complex datasets.

Posterior capsule opacification.

Science.gov (United States)

Wormstone, I Michael; Wang, Lixin; Liu, Christopher S C

2009-02-01

Posterior Capsule Opacification (PCO) is the most common complication of cataract surgery. At present the only means of treating cataract is by surgical intervention, and this initially restores high visual quality. Unfortunately, PCO develops in a significant proportion of patients to such an extent that a secondary loss of vision occurs. A modern cataract operation generates a capsular bag, which comprises a proportion of the anterior and the entire posterior capsule. The bag remains in situ, partitions the aqueous and vitreous humours, and in the majority of cases, houses an intraocular lens. The production of a capsular bag following surgery permits a free passage of light along the visual axis through the transparent intraocular lens and thin acellular posterior capsule. However, on the remaining anterior capsule, lens epithelial cells stubbornly reside despite enduring the rigours of surgical trauma. This resilient group of cells then begin to re-colonise the denuded regions of the anterior capsule, encroach onto the intraocular lens surface, occupy regions of the outer anterior capsule and most importantly of all begin to colonise the previously cell-free posterior capsule. Cells continue to divide, begin to cover the posterior capsule and can ultimately encroach on the visual axis resulting in changes to the matrix and cell organization that can give rise to light scatter. This review will describe the biological mechanisms driving PCO progression and discuss the influence of IOL design, surgical techniques and putative drug therapies in regulating the rate and severity of PCO.

A damped oscillator imposes temporal order on posterior gap gene expression in Drosophila

Science.gov (United States)

Verd, Berta; Clark, Erik; Wotton, Karl R.; Janssens, Hilde; Jiménez-Guri, Eva; Crombach, Anton

2018-01-01

Insects determine their body segments in two different ways. Short-germband insects, such as the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, use a molecular clock to establish segments sequentially. In contrast, long-germband insects, such as the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster, determine all segments simultaneously through a hierarchical cascade of gene regulation. Gap genes constitute the first layer of the Drosophila segmentation gene hierarchy, downstream of maternal gradients such as that of Caudal (Cad). We use data-driven mathematical modelling and phase space analysis to show that shifting gap domains in the posterior half of the Drosophila embryo are an emergent property of a robust damped oscillator mechanism, suggesting that the regulatory dynamics underlying long- and short-germband segmentation are much more similar than previously thought. In Tribolium, Cad has been proposed to modulate the frequency of the segmentation oscillator. Surprisingly, our simulations and experiments show that the shift rate of posterior gap domains is independent of maternal Cad levels in Drosophila. Our results suggest a novel evolutionary scenario for the short- to long-germband transition and help explain why this transition occurred convergently multiple times during the radiation of the holometabolan insects. PMID:29451884

Progress and challenges in the development and qualification of multi-level multi-physics coupled methodologies for reactor analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, K.; Avramova, M.

2007-01-01

Current trends in nuclear power generation and regulation as well as the design of next generation reactor concepts along with the continuing computer technology progress stimulate the development, qualification and application of multi-physics multi-scale coupled code systems. The efforts have been focused on extending the analysis capabilities by coupling models, which simulate different phenomena or system components, as well as on refining the scale and level of detail of the coupling. This paper reviews the progress made in this area and outlines the remaining challenges. The discussion is illustrated with examples based on neutronics/thermohydraulics coupling in the reactor core modeling. In both fields recent advances and developments are towards more physics-based high-fidelity simulations, which require implementation of improved and flexible coupling methodologies. First, the progresses in coupling of different physics codes along with the advances in multi-level techniques for coupled code simulations are discussed. Second, the issues related to the consistent qualification of coupled multi-physics and multi-scale code systems for design and safety evaluation are presented. The increased importance of uncertainty and sensitivity analysis are discussed along with approaches to propagate the uncertainty quantification between the codes. The incoming OECD LWR Uncertainty Analysis in Modeling (UAM) benchmark is the first international activity to address this issue and it is described in the paper. Finally, the remaining challenges with multi-physics coupling are outlined. (authors)

Progress and challenges in the development and qualification of multi-level multi-physics coupled methodologies for reactor analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ivanov, K.; Avramova, M. [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

2007-07-01

Current trends in nuclear power generation and regulation as well as the design of next generation reactor concepts along with the continuing computer technology progress stimulate the development, qualification and application of multi-physics multi-scale coupled code systems. The efforts have been focused on extending the analysis capabilities by coupling models, which simulate different phenomena or system components, as well as on refining the scale and level of detail of the coupling. This paper reviews the progress made in this area and outlines the remaining challenges. The discussion is illustrated with examples based on neutronics/thermohydraulics coupling in the reactor core modeling. In both fields recent advances and developments are towards more physics-based high-fidelity simulations, which require implementation of improved and flexible coupling methodologies. First, the progresses in coupling of different physics codes along with the advances in multi-level techniques for coupled code simulations are discussed. Second, the issues related to the consistent qualification of coupled multi-physics and multi-scale code systems for design and safety evaluation are presented. The increased importance of uncertainty and sensitivity analysis are discussed along with approaches to propagate the uncertainty quantification between the codes. The incoming OECD LWR Uncertainty Analysis in Modeling (UAM) benchmark is the first international activity to address this issue and it is described in the paper. Finally, the remaining challenges with multi-physics coupling are outlined. (authors)

Versatile single-molecule multi-color excitation and detection fluorescence setup for studying biomolecular dynamics

KAUST Repository

Sobhy, M. A.; Elshenawy, M. M.; Takahashi, Masateru; Whitman, B. H.; Walter, N. G.; Hamdan, S. M.

2011-01-01

Single-molecule fluorescence imaging is at the forefront of tools applied to study biomolecular dynamics both in vitro and in vivo. The ability of the single-molecule fluorescence microscope to conduct simultaneous multi-color excitation

Pruning techniques for multi-objective system-level design space exploration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Piscitelli, R.

2014-01-01

System-level design space exploration (DSE), which is performed early in the design process, is of eminent importance to the design of complex multi-processor embedded system architectures. During system-level DSE, system parameters like, e.g., the number and type of processors, the type and size of

Advances in drug delivery to the posterior segment.

Science.gov (United States)

Pearce, William; Hsu, Jason; Yeh, Steven

2015-05-01

Emerging developments and research for drug delivery to the posterior segment offer a promising future for the treatment of vitreoretinal disease. As new technologies enter the market, clinicians should be aware of new indications and ongoing clinical trials. This review summarizes the advantages and shortcomings of the most commonly used drug delivery methods, including vitreous dynamics, physician sustainability and patient preferences. Currently available, intravitreal, corticosteroid-release devices offer surgical and in-office management of retinal vascular disease and posterior uveitis. The suprachoroidal space offers a new anatomic location for the delivery of lower dose medications directly to the target tissue. Implantable drug reservoirs would potentially allow for less frequent intravitreal injections reducing treatment burdens and associated risks. Newer innovations in encapsulated cell technology offer promising results in early clinical trials. Although pars plana intravitreal injection remains the mainstay of therapy for many vitreoretinal diseases, targeted delivery and implantable eluting devices are rapidly demonstrating safety and efficacy. These therapeutic modalities offer promising options for the vitreoretinal therapeutic landscape.

Multi-level learning: improving the prediction of protein, domain and residue interactions by allowing information flow between levels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McDermott Drew

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Proteins interact through specific binding interfaces that contain many residues in domains. Protein interactions thus occur on three different levels of a concept hierarchy: whole-proteins, domains, and residues. Each level offers a distinct and complementary set of features for computationally predicting interactions, including functional genomic features of whole proteins, evolutionary features of domain families and physical-chemical features of individual residues. The predictions at each level could benefit from using the features at all three levels. However, it is not trivial as the features are provided at different granularity. Results To link up the predictions at the three levels, we propose a multi-level machine-learning framework that allows for explicit information flow between the levels. We demonstrate, using representative yeast interaction networks, that our algorithm is able to utilize complementary feature sets to make more accurate predictions at the three levels than when the three problems are approached independently. To facilitate application of our multi-level learning framework, we discuss three key aspects of multi-level learning and the corresponding design choices that we have made in the implementation of a concrete learning algorithm. 1 Architecture of information flow: we show the greater flexibility of bidirectional flow over independent levels and unidirectional flow; 2 Coupling mechanism of the different levels: We show how this can be accomplished via augmenting the training sets at each level, and discuss the prevention of error propagation between different levels by means of soft coupling; 3 Sparseness of data: We show that the multi-level framework compounds data sparsity issues, and discuss how this can be dealt with by building local models in information-rich parts of the data. Our proof-of-concept learning algorithm demonstrates the advantage of combining levels, and opens up

The protective arm of the renin-angiotensin system may counteract the intense inflammatory process in fetuses with posterior urethral valves.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocha, Natalia P; Bastos, Fernando M; Vieira, Érica L M; Prestes, Thiago R R; Silveira, Katia D da; Teixeira, Mauro M; Simões E Silva, Ana Cristina

2018-03-11

Posterior urethral valve is the most common lower urinary tract obstruction in male children. A high percentage of patients with posterior urethral valve evolve to end-stage renal disease. Previous studies showed that cytokines, chemokines, and components of the renin-angiotensin system contribute to the renal damage in obstructive uropathies. The authors recently found that urine samples from fetuses with posterior urethral valve have increased levels of inflammatory molecules. The aim of this study was to measure renin-angiotensin system molecules and to investigate their correlation with previously detected inflammatory markers in the same urine samples of fetuses with posterior urethral valve. Urine samples from 24 fetuses with posterior urethral valve were collected and compared to those from 22 healthy male newborns at the same gestational age (controls). Renin-angiotensin system components levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Fetuses with posterior urethral valve presented increased urinary levels of angiotensin (Ang) I, Ang-(1-7) and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in comparison with controls. ACE levels were significantly reduced and Ang II levels were similar in fetuses with posterior urethral valve in comparison with controls. Increased urinary levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and of Ang-(1-7) in fetuses with posterior urethral valve could represent a regulatory response to the intense inflammatory process triggered by posterior urethral valve. Copyright © 2018 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Advances in Chimera Grid Tools for Multi-Body Dynamics Simulations and Script Creation

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, William M.

2004-01-01

This viewgraph presentation contains information about (1) Framework for multi-body dynamics - Geometry Manipulation Protocol (GMP), (2) Simulation procedure using Chimera Grid Tools (CGT) and OVERFLOW-2 (3) Further recent developments in Chimera Grid Tools OVERGRID, Grid modules, Script library and (4) Future work.

Multi-Level Bitmap Indexes for Flash Memory Storage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Kesheng; Madduri, Kamesh; Canon, Shane

2010-07-23

Due to their low access latency, high read speed, and power-efficient operation, flash memory storage devices are rapidly emerging as an attractive alternative to traditional magnetic storage devices. However, tests show that the most efficient indexing methods are not able to take advantage of the flash memory storage devices. In this paper, we present a set of multi-level bitmap indexes that can effectively take advantage of flash storage devices. These indexing methods use coarsely binned indexes to answer queries approximately, and then use finely binned indexes to refine the answers. Our new methods read significantly lower volumes of data at the expense of an increased disk access count, thus taking full advantage of the improved read speed and low access latency of flash devices. To demonstrate the advantage of these new indexes, we measure their performance on a number of storage systems using a standard data warehousing benchmark called the Set Query Benchmark. We observe that multi-level strategies on flash drives are up to 3 times faster than traditional indexing strategies on magnetic disk drives.

Quantification of mold contamination in multi-level buildings using the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index

Science.gov (United States)

The goal of this study was to evaluate the possible use of the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) to quantify mold contamination in multi-level, office buildings. Settled-dust samples were collected in multi-level, office buildings and the ERMI value for each sample de...

Ultra-Stretchable Ionic Nanocomposites: From Dynamic Bonding to Multi-Responsive Behavior

KAUST Repository

Odent, Jeremy

2017-06-12

Although multi-responsive materials have the potential to revolutionize a wide spectrum of technologies, the design of systems that combine a range of responses to a variety of different external changes without the associated property trade-offs has remained elusive. We herein demonstrate a new family of multi-responsive nanocomposites that leverage the dynamic and reversible nature of electrostatic interactions present in ionic systems with the reinforcement ability of nanoparticles in nanocomposites. This new design leads to a unique property profile that combines simultaneous improvements in stiffness, toughness and extensibility. In addition to their exceptional stretchability, the new, ionic nanocomposites exhibit unique strain-dependent behavior (i.e. the deformation increases with increasing strain rate) and return to normal state after deformation including shape-memory and scratching recovery.

Ultra-Stretchable Ionic Nanocomposites: From Dynamic Bonding to Multi-Responsive Behavior

KAUST Repository

Odent, Jeremy; Raquez, Jean-Marie; Dubois, Philippe; Giannelis, Emmanuel P.

2017-01-01

Although multi-responsive materials have the potential to revolutionize a wide spectrum of technologies, the design of systems that combine a range of responses to a variety of different external changes without the associated property trade-offs has remained elusive. We herein demonstrate a new family of multi-responsive nanocomposites that leverage the dynamic and reversible nature of electrostatic interactions present in ionic systems with the reinforcement ability of nanoparticles in nanocomposites. This new design leads to a unique property profile that combines simultaneous improvements in stiffness, toughness and extensibility. In addition to their exceptional stretchability, the new, ionic nanocomposites exhibit unique strain-dependent behavior (i.e. the deformation increases with increasing strain rate) and return to normal state after deformation including shape-memory and scratching recovery.

Multi-level tree analysis of pulmonary artery/vein trees in non-contrast CT images

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Zhiyun; Grout, Randall W.; Hoffman, Eric A.; Saha, Punam K.

2012-02-01

Diseases like pulmonary embolism and pulmonary hypertension are associated with vascular dystrophy. Identifying such pulmonary artery/vein (A/V) tree dystrophy in terms of quantitative measures via CT imaging significantly facilitates early detection of disease or a treatment monitoring process. A tree structure, consisting of nodes and connected arcs, linked to the volumetric representation allows multi-level geometric and volumetric analysis of A/V trees. Here, a new theory and method is presented to generate multi-level A/V tree representation of volumetric data and to compute quantitative measures of A/V tree geometry and topology at various tree hierarchies. The new method is primarily designed on arc skeleton computation followed by a tree construction based topologic and geometric analysis of the skeleton. The method starts with a volumetric A/V representation as input and generates its topologic and multi-level volumetric tree representations long with different multi-level morphometric measures. A new recursive merging and pruning algorithms are introduced to detect bad junctions and noisy branches often associated with digital geometric and topologic analysis. Also, a new notion of shortest axial path is introduced to improve the skeletal arc joining two junctions. The accuracy of the multi-level tree analysis algorithm has been evaluated using computer generated phantoms and pulmonary CT images of a pig vessel cast phantom while the reproducibility of method is evaluated using multi-user A/V separation of in vivo contrast-enhanced CT images of a pig lung at different respiratory volumes.

Multi-level restricted maximum likelihood covariance estimation and kriging for large non-gridded spatial datasets

KAUST Repository

Castrillon, Julio

2015-11-10

We develop a multi-level restricted Gaussian maximum likelihood method for estimating the covariance function parameters and computing the best unbiased predictor. Our approach produces a new set of multi-level contrasts where the deterministic parameters of the model are filtered out thus enabling the estimation of the covariance parameters to be decoupled from the deterministic component. Moreover, the multi-level covariance matrix of the contrasts exhibit fast decay that is dependent on the smoothness of the covariance function. Due to the fast decay of the multi-level covariance matrix coefficients only a small set is computed with a level dependent criterion. We demonstrate our approach on problems of up to 512,000 observations with a Matérn covariance function and highly irregular placements of the observations. In addition, these problems are numerically unstable and hard to solve with traditional methods.

Topological structures of adiabatic phase for multi-level quantum systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Zhengxin; Zhou Xiaoting; Liu Xin; Liu Xiongjun; Chen Jingling

2007-01-01

The topological properties of adiabatic gauge fields for multi-level (three-level in particular) quantum systems are studied in detail. Similar to the result that the adiabatic gauge field for SU(2) systems (e.g. two-level quantum system or angular momentum systems, etc) has a monopole structure, the curvature 2-forms of the adiabatic holonomies for SU(3) three-level and SU(3) eight-level quantum systems are shown to have monopole-like (for all levels) or instanton-like (for the degenerate levels) structures

Global dynamics of multi-group SEI animal disease models with indirect transmission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yi; Cao, Jinde

2014-01-01

A challenge to multi-group epidemic models in mathematical epidemiology is the exploration of global dynamics. Here we formulate multi-group SEI animal disease models with indirect transmission via contaminated water. Under biologically motivated assumptions, the basic reproduction number R 0 is derived and established as a sharp threshold that completely determines the global dynamics of the system. In particular, we prove that if R 0 <1, the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable, and the disease dies out; whereas if R 0 >1, then the endemic equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable and thus unique, and the disease persists in all groups. Since the weight matrix for weighted digraphs may be reducible, the afore-mentioned approach is not directly applicable to our model. For the proofs we utilize the classical method of Lyapunov, graph-theoretic results developed recently and a new combinatorial identity. Since the multiple transmission pathways may correspond to the real world, the obtained results are of biological significance and possible generalizations of the model are also discussed

High energy hadron dynamics based on a Stochastic-field multi-eikonal theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnold, R.C.

1977-06-01

Multi-eikonal theory, using a stoichastic-field representation for collective long range rapidity correlations, is developed and applied to the calculation of Regge pole parameters, high transverse momentum enhancements, and fluctuation patterns in rapidity densities. If a short-range-order model, such as the one-dimensional planar bootstrap, with only leading t-channel meson poles, is utilized as input to the multi-eikonal method, the pole spectrum is modified in three ways; promotion and renormalization of leading trajectories (suggesting an effective pomeron above unity at intermediate energies), and a proliferation of dynamical secondary trajectories, reminiscent of dual models. When transverse dimensions are included, the collective effects produce a growth with energy of large-P/sub tau/ inclusive cross-sections. Typical-event rapidity distributions, at energies of a few TeV, can be estimated by suitable approximations; the fluctuations give rise to ''domain'' patterns, which have the appearance of clusters separated by rapidity gaps. The relations between this approach to strong-interaction dynamics and a possible unification of weak, electromagnetic, and strong interactions are outlined

De novo formation of left-right asymmetry by posterior tilt of nodal cilia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shigenori Nonaka

2005-08-01

Full Text Available In the developing mouse embryo, leftward fluid flow on the ventral side of the node determines left-right (L-R asymmetry. However, the mechanism by which the rotational movement of node cilia can generate a unidirectional flow remains hypothetical. Here we have addressed this question by motion and morphological analyses of the node cilia and by fluid dynamic model experiments. We found that the cilia stand, not perpendicular to the node surface, but tilted posteriorly. We further confirmed that such posterior tilt can produce leftward flow in model experiments. These results strongly suggest that L-R asymmetry is not the descendant of pre-existing L-R asymmetry within each cell but is generated de novo by combining three sources of spatial information: antero-posterior and dorso-ventral axes, and the chirality of ciliary movement.

Cortical bone trajectory screw fixation versus traditional pedicle screw fixation for 2-level posterior lumbar interbody fusion: comparison of surgical outcomes for 2-level degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakaura, Hironobu; Miwa, Toshitada; Yamashita, Tomoya; Kuroda, Yusuke; Ohwada, Tetsuo

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVE The cortical bone trajectory (CBT) screw technique is a new nontraditional pedicle screw (PS) insertion method. However, the biomechanical behavior of multilevel CBT screw/rod fixation remains unclear, and surgical outcomes in patients after 2-level posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) using CBT screw fixation have not been reported. Thus, the purposes of this study were to examine the clinical and radiological outcomes after 2-level PLIF using CBT screw fixation for 2-level degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (DS) and to compare these outcomes with those after 2-level PLIF using traditional PS fixation. METHODS The study included 22 consecutively treated patients who underwent 2-level PLIF with CBT screw fixation for 2-level DS (CBT group, mean follow-up 39 months) and a historical control group of 20 consecutively treated patients who underwent 2-level PLIF using traditional PS fixation for 2-level DS (PS group, mean follow-up 35 months). Clinical symptoms were evaluated using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scoring system. Bony union was assessed by dynamic plain radiographs and CT images. Surgery-related complications, including symptomatic adjacent-segment disease (ASD), were examined. RESULTS The mean operative duration and intraoperative blood loss were 192 minutes and 495 ml in the CBT group and 218 minutes and 612 ml in the PS group, respectively (p 0.05, respectively). The mean JOA score improved significantly from 12.3 points before surgery to 21.1 points (mean recovery rate 54.4%) at the latest follow-up in the CBT group and from 12.8 points before surgery to 20.4 points (mean recovery rate 51.8%) at the latest follow-up in the PS group (p > 0.05). Solid bony union was achieved at 90.9% of segments in the CBT group and 95.0% of segments in the PS group (p > 0.05). Symptomatic ASD developed in 2 patients in the CBT group (9.1%) and 4 patients in the PS group (20.0%, p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Two-level PLIF with CBT screw fixation

Unilateral abducens and bilateral facial nerve palsies associated with posterior fossa exploration surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Khalil, Ayman; Clerkin, James; Mandiwanza, Tafadzwa; Green, Sandra; Javadpour, Mohsen

2016-03-06

Multiple cranial nerves palsies following a posterior fossa exploration confined to an extradural compartment is a rare clinical presentation. This case report describes a young man who developed a unilateral abducens and bilateral facial nerve palsies following a posterior fossa exploration confined to an extradural compartment. There are different theories to explain this presentation, but the exact mechanism remains unclear. We propose that this patient cranial nerve palsies developed following cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak, potentially as a consequence of rapid change in CSF dynamics. Published by Oxford University Press and JSCR Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. © The Author 2016.

space vector pulse width modulation of a multi-level diode clamped

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ES Obe

step by step development of MATLAB /SIMULINK modeling of the space vector ..... Pulse Width Mod. of Multi-Level Diode Clamped Converter 119 powergui. Discrete, .... Load. Figure 22: Block diagram of the three level DCC design. 3 LEVEL ...

Posterior Urethral Valves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steve J. Hodges

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The most common cause of lower urinary tract obstruction in male infants is posterior urethral valves. Although the incidence has remained stable, the neonatal mortality for this disorder has improved due to early diagnosis and intensive neonatal care, thanks in part to the widespread use of prenatal ultrasound evaluations. In fact, the most common reason for the diagnosis of posterior urethral valves presently is the evaluation of infants for prenatal hydronephrosis. Since these children are often diagnosed early, the urethral obstruction can be alleviated rapidly through catheter insertion and eventual surgery, and their metabolic derangements can be normalized without delay, avoiding preventable infant mortality. Of the children that survive, however, early diagnosis has not had much effect on their long-term prognosis, as 30% still develop renal insufficiency before adolescence. A better understanding of the exact cause of the congenital obstruction of the male posterior urethra, prevention of postnatal bladder and renal injury, and the development of safe methods to treat urethral obstruction prenatally (and thereby avoiding the bladder and renal damage due to obstructive uropathy are the goals for the care of children with posterior urethral valves[1].

Achieving strategic renewal: the multi-level influences of top and middle managers’ boundary-spanning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Glaser, L.; Fourne, S.P.L.; Elfring, T.

2015-01-01

Drawing on corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and social network research, this study focuses on strategic renewal as a form of CE and examines the impact of boundary-spanning at top and middle management levels on business units’ exploratory innovation. Analyses of multi-source and multi-level data,

Versatile single-molecule multi-color excitation and detection fluorescence setup for studying biomolecular dynamics

KAUST Repository

Sobhy, M. A.

2011-11-07

Single-molecule fluorescence imaging is at the forefront of tools applied to study biomolecular dynamics both in vitro and in vivo. The ability of the single-molecule fluorescence microscope to conduct simultaneous multi-color excitation and detection is a key experimental feature that is under continuous development. In this paper, we describe in detail the design and the construction of a sophisticated and versatile multi-color excitation and emission fluorescence instrument for studying biomolecular dynamics at the single-molecule level. The setup is novel, economical and compact, where two inverted microscopes share a laser combiner module with six individual laser sources that extend from 400 to 640 nm. Nonetheless, each microscope can independently and in a flexible manner select the combinations, sequences, and intensities of the excitation wavelengths. This high flexibility is achieved by the replacement of conventional mechanical shutters with acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF). The use of AOTF provides major advancement by controlling the intensities, duration, and selection of up to eight different wavelengths with microsecond alternation time in a transparent and easy manner for the end user. To our knowledge this is the first time AOTF is applied to wide-field total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy even though it has been commonly used in multi-wavelength confocal microscopy. The laser outputs from the combiner module are coupled to the microscopes by two sets of four single-mode optic fibers in order to allow for the optimization of the TIRF angle for each wavelength independently. The emission is split into two or four spectral channels to allow for the simultaneous detection of up to four different fluorophores of wide selection and using many possible excitation and photoactivation schemes. We demonstrate the performance of this new setup by conducting two-color alternating excitation single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy

Effect of hole size on fluid dynamics of a posterior-chamber phakic intraocular lens with a central perforation by using computational fluid dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawamorita, Takushi; Shimizu, Kimiya; Shoji, Nobuyuki

2016-04-01

A modified implantable collamer lens (ICL) with a central hole with a diameter of 0.36 mm, referred to as a hole-ICL, was created to improve aqueous humour circulation. The aim of this study is to investigate the ideal hole size in a hole-ICL from the standpoint of the fluid dynamic characteristics of the aqueous humour using computational fluid dynamics. Fluid dynamics simulation using an ICL was performed with thermal-hydraulic analysis software FloEFD V 12.2 (Mentor Graphics Corp.). In the simulation, three-dimensional eye models based on a modified Liou-Brennan model eye with a conventional ICL (Model ICM, Staar Surgical) and a hole-ICL were used. The hole-ICL was -9.0 dioptres (D) and 12.0 mm in length, with an optic zone of 5.5 mm. The vaulting was 0.50 mm. The quantity of aqueous humour produced by the ciliary body was set at 2.80 μL/min. Flow distribution between the anterior surface of the crystalline lens and the posterior surface of the ICL was calculated, and trajectory analysis was performed. With an increase in the central hole size, the velocity of the aqueous humour increased, with the peak velocity occurring at a diameter of approximately 0.4 mm. Once the diameter had increased above 0.4 mm, the velocity then decreased. The velocity difference between the cases of a central hole size of 0.1 mm and 0.2 mm was significant. The desirable central hole size was 0.2 mm or larger in terms of flow dynamics. The current model, based on a central hole size of 0.36 mm, was close to ideal. The optimisation of the hole size should be performed based on results from a long-term clinical study so as to analyse the incidence rate of secondary cataract and optical performance.

A Service-Oriented Approach for Dynamic Chaining of Virtual Network Functions over Multi-Provider Software-Defined Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Martini

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Emerging technologies such as Software-Defined Networks (SDN and Network Function Virtualization (NFV promise to address cost reduction and flexibility in network operation while enabling innovative network service delivery models. However, operational network service delivery solutions still need to be developed that actually exploit these technologies, especially at the multi-provider level. Indeed, the implementation of network functions as software running over a virtualized infrastructure and provisioned on a service basis let one envisage an ecosystem of network services that are dynamically and flexibly assembled by orchestrating Virtual Network Functions even across different provider domains, thereby coping with changeable user and service requirements and context conditions. In this paper we propose an approach that adopts Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA technology-agnostic architectural guidelines in the design of a solution for orchestrating and dynamically chaining Virtual Network Functions. We discuss how SOA, NFV, and SDN may complement each other in realizing dynamic network function chaining through service composition specification, service selection, service delivery, and placement tasks. Then, we describe the architecture of a SOA-inspired NFV orchestrator, which leverages SDN-based network control capabilities to address an effective delivery of elastic chains of Virtual Network Functions. Preliminary results of prototype implementation and testing activities are also presented. The benefits for Network Service Providers are also described that derive from the adaptive network service provisioning in a multi-provider environment through the orchestration of computing and networking services to provide end users with an enhanced service experience.

Multi-level restricted maximum likelihood covariance estimation and kriging for large non-gridded spatial datasets

KAUST Repository

Castrillon, Julio; Genton, Marc G.; Yokota, Rio

2015-01-01

We develop a multi-level restricted Gaussian maximum likelihood method for estimating the covariance function parameters and computing the best unbiased predictor. Our approach produces a new set of multi-level contrasts where the deterministic

A dynamically weighted multi-modal biometric security system

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Brown, Dane

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The face, fingerprint and palmprint feature vectors are automatically extracted and dynamically selected for fusion at the feature-level, toward an improved human identification accuracy. The feature-level has a higher potential accuracy than...

Artificial bee colony algorithm with dynamic multi-population

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ming; Ji, Zhicheng; Wang, Yan

2017-07-01

To improve the convergence rate and make a balance between the global search and local turning abilities, this paper proposes a decentralized form of artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm with dynamic multi-populations by means of fuzzy C-means (FCM) clustering. Each subpopulation periodically enlarges with the same size during the search process, and the overlapping individuals among different subareas work for delivering information acting as exploring the search space with diffusion of solutions. Moreover, a Gaussian-based search equation with redefined local attractor is proposed to further accelerate the diffusion of the best solution and guide the search towards potential areas. Experimental results on a set of benchmarks demonstrate the competitive performance of our proposed approach.

Predicting lymphatic filariasis transmission and elimination dynamics using a multi-model ensemble framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morgan E. Smith

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Mathematical models of parasite transmission provide powerful tools for assessing the impacts of interventions. Owing to complexity and uncertainty, no single model may capture all features of transmission and elimination dynamics. Multi-model ensemble modelling offers a framework to help overcome biases of single models. We report on the development of a first multi-model ensemble of three lymphatic filariasis (LF models (EPIFIL, LYMFASIM, and TRANSFIL, and evaluate its predictive performance in comparison with that of the constituents using calibration and validation data from three case study sites, one each from the three major LF endemic regions: Africa, Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea (PNG. We assessed the performance of the respective models for predicting the outcomes of annual MDA strategies for various baseline scenarios thought to exemplify the current endemic conditions in the three regions. The results show that the constructed multi-model ensemble outperformed the single models when evaluated across all sites. Single models that best fitted calibration data tended to do less well in simulating the out-of-sample, or validation, intervention data. Scenario modelling results demonstrate that the multi-model ensemble is able to compensate for variance between single models in order to produce more plausible predictions of intervention impacts. Our results highlight the value of an ensemble approach to modelling parasite control dynamics. However, its optimal use will require further methodological improvements as well as consideration of the organizational mechanisms required to ensure that modelling results and data are shared effectively between all stakeholders.

Retrospective Analysis of Communication Events - Understanding the Dynamics of Collaborative Multi-Party Discourse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cowell, Andrew J.; Haack, Jereme N.; McColgin, Dave W.

2006-06-08

This research is aimed at understanding the dynamics of collaborative multi-party discourse across multiple communication modalities. Before we can truly make sig-nificant strides in devising collaborative communication systems, there is a need to understand how typical users utilize com-putationally supported communications mechanisms such as email, instant mes-saging, video conferencing, chat rooms, etc., both singularly and in conjunction with traditional means of communication such as face-to-face meetings, telephone calls and postal mail. Attempting to un-derstand an individual’s communications profile with access to only a single modal-ity is challenging at best and often futile. Here, we discuss the development of RACE – Retrospective Analysis of Com-munications Events – a test-bed prototype to investigate issues relating to multi-modal multi-party discourse.

Dynamic Programming Optimization of Multi-rate Multicast Video-Streaming Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nestor Michael Caños Tiglao

2010-06-01

Full Text Available In large scale IP Television (IPTV and Mobile TV distributions, the video signal is typically encoded and transmitted using several quality streams, over IP Multicast channels, to several groups of receivers, which are classified in terms of their reception rate. As the number of video streams is usually constrained by both the number of TV channels and the maximum capacity of the content distribution network, it is necessary to find the selection of video stream transmission rates that maximizes the overall user satisfaction. In order to efficiently solve this problem, this paper proposes the Dynamic Programming Multi-rate Optimization (DPMO algorithm. The latter was comparatively evaluated considering several user distributions, featuring different access rate patterns. The experimental results reveal that DPMO is significantly more efficient than exhaustive search, while presenting slightly higher execution times than the non-optimal Multi-rate Step Search (MSS algorithm.

Multiscale volatility duration characteristics on financial multi-continuum percolation dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Min; Wang, Jun

A random stock price model based on the multi-continuum percolation system is developed to investigate the nonlinear dynamics of stock price volatility duration, in an attempt to explain various statistical facts found in financial data, and have a deeper understanding of mechanisms in the financial market. The continuum percolation system is usually referred to be a random coverage process or a Boolean model, it is a member of a class of statistical physics systems. In this paper, the multi-continuum percolation (with different values of radius) is employed to model and reproduce the dispersal of information among the investors. To testify the rationality of the proposed model, the nonlinear analyses of return volatility duration series are preformed by multifractal detrending moving average analysis and Zipf analysis. The comparison empirical results indicate the similar nonlinear behaviors for the proposed model and the actual Chinese stock market.

The design of multi-core DSP parallel model based on message passing and multi-level pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Jingyu; Hu, Jian; He, Wenjing; Meng, Fanrong; Li, Chuanrong

2017-10-01

Currently, the design of embedded signal processing system is often based on a specific application, but this idea is not conducive to the rapid development of signal processing technology. In this paper, a parallel processing model architecture based on multi-core DSP platform is designed, and it is mainly suitable for the complex algorithms which are composed of different modules. This model combines the ideas of multi-level pipeline parallelism and message passing, and summarizes the advantages of the mainstream model of multi-core DSP (the Master-Slave model and the Data Flow model), so that it has better performance. This paper uses three-dimensional image generation algorithm to validate the efficiency of the proposed model by comparing with the effectiveness of the Master-Slave and the Data Flow model.

Predicting multi-level drug response with gene expression profile in multiple myeloma using hierarchical ordinal regression.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xinyan; Li, Bingzong; Han, Huiying; Song, Sha; Xu, Hongxia; Hong, Yating; Yi, Nengjun; Zhuang, Wenzhuo

2018-05-10

Multiple myeloma (MM), like other cancers, is caused by the accumulation of genetic abnormalities. Heterogeneity exists in the patients' response to treatments, for example, bortezomib. This urges efforts to identify biomarkers from numerous molecular features and build predictive models for identifying patients that can benefit from a certain treatment scheme. However, previous studies treated the multi-level ordinal drug response as a binary response where only responsive and non-responsive groups are considered. It is desirable to directly analyze the multi-level drug response, rather than combining the response to two groups. In this study, we present a novel method to identify significantly associated biomarkers and then develop ordinal genomic classifier using the hierarchical ordinal logistic model. The proposed hierarchical ordinal logistic model employs the heavy-tailed Cauchy prior on the coefficients and is fitted by an efficient quasi-Newton algorithm. We apply our hierarchical ordinal regression approach to analyze two publicly available datasets for MM with five-level drug response and numerous gene expression measures. Our results show that our method is able to identify genes associated with the multi-level drug response and to generate powerful predictive models for predicting the multi-level response. The proposed method allows us to jointly fit numerous correlated predictors and thus build efficient models for predicting the multi-level drug response. The predictive model for the multi-level drug response can be more informative than the previous approaches. Thus, the proposed approach provides a powerful tool for predicting multi-level drug response and has important impact on cancer studies.

Loading Analysis of Modular Multi-level Converter for Offshore High-voltage DC Application under Various Grid Faults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Hui; Ma, Ke; Loh, Poh Chiang

2016-01-01

challenges but may also result in overstressed components for the modular multi-level converter. However, the thermal loading of the modular multi-level converter under various grid faults has not yet been clarified. In this article, the power loss and thermal performance of the modular multi-level converter...... low-voltage ride-through strongly depend on the types and severity values of grid voltage dips. The thermal distribution among the three phases of the modular multi-level converter may be quite uneven, and some devices are much more stressed than the normal operating condition, which may...

Distributed leader-follower flocking control for multi-agent dynamical systems with time-varying velocities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yu, Wenwu; Chen, Guanrong; Cao, Ming

Using tools from algebraic graph theory and nonsmooth analysis in combination with ideas of collective potential functions, velocity consensus and navigation feedback, a distributed leader-follower flocking algorithm for multi-agent dynamical systems with time-varying velocities is developed where

Anterior and posterior capsule densitometry levels after femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Txomin Alberdi

2018-04-01

Full Text Available AIM: To analyze and compare five different variables over one year follow-up (1wk, 1, 3, 6 and 12mo: anterior capsule (AC, and posterior capsule (PC area densitometry values, AC and PC linear densitometry values, and AC opening area reduction ratio after femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery. METHODS: This was a prospective comparative study. Seventy-one patients underwent femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery on single eye between June 2014 and December 2015. A 5.0 mm diameter laser assisted anterior capsulotomy was performed on all eyes. In every post-surgery evaluation, AC opacificaction (ACO and PC opacification (PCO density levels were provided by Oculus Pentacam®HR using area and linear densitometry methods. Digital images were captured with a slit-lamp Topcon photographic camera and IMAGEnet® 5 software. The AC opening area on the digital images was measured using the Sketchandcalc area calculator and converted to reduction ratio levels. RESULTS: Using Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC, we found no correlation (r=-0.091, P=0.46 in the twelfth month assessment between the evolution of ACO area densitometry values and PCO area densitometry values considered as independent variables. We found no correlation, using PCC (r=-0.096, P=0.43 between the evolution of ACO linear densitometry values and PCO linear densitometry values, in the twelfth month visit, working both as independent variables. AC linear densitometry levels and AC area densitometry levels continued to grow strongly from sixth to twelfth months. Analysis of the values of AC opening area reduction ratio (1wk, 1, 3, 6, 12mo revealed statistically significant differences between the values of successive examinations but the magnitude of the change decreased. In the final period of monitoring between six and twelve months the magnitude of change was low. CONCLUSION: Our results show strong increases of Scheimpflug ACO densitometry values from the sixth to the

Customized binary and multi-level HfO2-x-based memristors tuned by oxidation conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Weifan; Sun, Huajun; Zhou, Yaxiong; Lu, Ke; Xue, Kanhao; Miao, Xiangshui

2017-08-30

The memristor is a promising candidate for the next generation non-volatile memory, especially based on HfO 2-x , given its compatibility with advanced CMOS technologies. Although various resistive transitions were reported independently, customized binary and multi-level memristors in unified HfO 2-x material have not been studied. Here we report Pt/HfO 2-x /Ti memristors with double memristive modes, forming-free and low operation voltage, which were tuned by oxidation conditions of HfO 2-x films. As O/Hf ratios of HfO 2-x films increase, the forming voltages, SET voltages, and R off /R on windows increase regularly while their resistive transitions undergo from gradually to sharply in I/V sweep. Two memristors with typical resistive transitions were studied to customize binary and multi-level memristive modes, respectively. For binary mode, high-speed switching with 10 3 pulses (10 ns) and retention test at 85 °C (>10 4 s) were achieved. For multi-level mode, the 12-levels stable resistance states were confirmed by ongoing multi-window switching (ranging from 10 ns to 1 μs and completing 10 cycles of each pulse). Our customized binary and multi-level HfO 2-x -based memristors show high-speed switching, multi-level storage and excellent stability, which can be separately applied to logic computing and neuromorphic computing, further suitable for in-memory computing chip when deposition atmosphere may be fine-tuned.

Multi-target consensus circle pursuit for multi-agent systems via a distributed multi-flocking method

Science.gov (United States)

Pei, Huiqin; Chen, Shiming; Lai, Qiang

2016-12-01

This paper studies the multi-target consensus pursuit problem of multi-agent systems. For solving the problem, a distributed multi-flocking method is designed based on the partial information exchange, which is employed to realise the pursuit of multi-target and the uniform distribution of the number of pursuing agents with the dynamic target. Combining with the proposed circle formation control strategy, agents can adaptively choose the target to form the different circle formation groups accomplishing a multi-target pursuit. The speed state of pursuing agents in each group converges to the same value. A Lyapunov approach is utilised to analyse the stability of multi-agent systems. In addition, a sufficient condition is given for achieving the dynamic target consensus pursuit, and which is then analysed. Finally, simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.

The multi-stream flows and the dynamics of the cosmic web

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shandarin, Sergei F.

2011-01-01

A new numerical technique to identify the cosmic web is proposed. It is based on locating multi-stream flows, i.e. the places where the velocity field is multi-valued. The method is local in Eulerian space, simple and computationally efficient. This technique uses the velocities of particles and thus takes into account the dynamical information. This is in contrast with the majority of standard methods that use the coordinates of particles only. Two quantities are computed in every mesh cell: the mean and variance of the velocity field. Ideally in the cells where the velocity is single-valued the variance must be equal to zero exactly, therefore the cells with non-zero variance are identified as multi-stream flows. The technique has been tested in the Zel'dovich approximation and in the N-body simulation of the ΛCDM model. The effect of numerical noise is discussed. The web identified by the new method has been compared with the web identified by the standard technique using only the particle coordinates. The comparison has shown overall similarity of two webs as expected, however they by no means are identical. For example, the isocontours of the corresponding fields have significantly different shapes and some density peaks of similar heights exhibit significant differences in the velocity variance and vice versa. This suggests that the density and velocity variance have a significant degree of independence. The shape of the two-dimensional pdf of density and velocity variance confirms this proposition. Thus, we conclude that the dynamical information probed by this technique introduces an additional dimension into analysis of the web

The multi-stream flows and the dynamics of the cosmic web

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shandarin, Sergei F., E-mail: sergei@ku.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, 10082 Malott Hall, 1251 Wescoe Hall Dr, Lawrence, Kansas, 66045 (United States)

2011-05-01

A new numerical technique to identify the cosmic web is proposed. It is based on locating multi-stream flows, i.e. the places where the velocity field is multi-valued. The method is local in Eulerian space, simple and computationally efficient. This technique uses the velocities of particles and thus takes into account the dynamical information. This is in contrast with the majority of standard methods that use the coordinates of particles only. Two quantities are computed in every mesh cell: the mean and variance of the velocity field. Ideally in the cells where the velocity is single-valued the variance must be equal to zero exactly, therefore the cells with non-zero variance are identified as multi-stream flows. The technique has been tested in the Zel'dovich approximation and in the N-body simulation of the ΛCDM model. The effect of numerical noise is discussed. The web identified by the new method has been compared with the web identified by the standard technique using only the particle coordinates. The comparison has shown overall similarity of two webs as expected, however they by no means are identical. For example, the isocontours of the corresponding fields have significantly different shapes and some density peaks of similar heights exhibit significant differences in the velocity variance and vice versa. This suggests that the density and velocity variance have a significant degree of independence. The shape of the two-dimensional pdf of density and velocity variance confirms this proposition. Thus, we conclude that the dynamical information probed by this technique introduces an additional dimension into analysis of the web.

Dynamic multi-stage dispatch of isolated wind–diesel power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, Yu; Morales, Juan M.; Pineda, Salvador; Sánchez, María Jesús; Solana, Pablo

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Optimal decision-making model for isolated hybrid wind–diesel power system is proposed. • Wind power uncertainty and conditional operating cost are considered. • Battery wear cost of the energy storage system is included in the model. • The results are compared with deterministic dispatch strategies. - Abstract: An optimal dispatch strategy is crucial for an isolated wind–diesel power system to save diesel fuel and maintain the system stability. The uncertainty associated with the stochastic character of the wind is, though, a challenging problem for this optimization. In this paper, a dynamic multi-stage decision-making model is proposed to determine the diesel power output that minimizes the cost of running and maintaining the wind–diesel power system. Optimized operational decisions for each time period are generated dynamically considering the path-dependent nature of the optimal dispatch policy, given the plausible future realizations of the wind power production. A numerical case study is analyzed and it is demonstrated that the proposed stochastic dynamic optimization model significantly outperforms the traditional deterministic dispatch strategies

Dynamics of Microbeams under Multi-Frequency Excitations

KAUST Repository

Ibrahim, Alwathiqbellah

2017-01-24

This paper presents an investigation of the dynamics of microbeams under multiple harmonic electrostatic excitation frequencies. First, the response of a cantilever microbeam to two alternating current (AC) source excitation is examined. We show by simulations the response of the microbeam at primary resonance (near the fundamental natural frequency) and at secondary resonances (near half, superharmonic, and twice, subharmonic, the fundamental natural frequency). A multimode Galerkin method combined with the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation, accounting for the nonlinear electrostatic force, has been used to develop a reduced order model. The response of the cantilever microbeam to three AC source excitation is also investigated and shown as a promising technique to enhance the bandwidth of resonators. Finally, an experimental study of a clamped-clamped microbeam is conducted, demonstrating the multi-frequency excitation resonances using two, three, and four AC sources.

Dynamics of Microbeams under Multi-Frequency Excitations

KAUST Repository

Ibrahim, Alwathiqbellah; Jaber, Nizar; Chandran, Akhil; Thirupathi, Maloth; Younis, Mohammad I.

2017-01-01

This paper presents an investigation of the dynamics of microbeams under multiple harmonic electrostatic excitation frequencies. First, the response of a cantilever microbeam to two alternating current (AC) source excitation is examined. We show by simulations the response of the microbeam at primary resonance (near the fundamental natural frequency) and at secondary resonances (near half, superharmonic, and twice, subharmonic, the fundamental natural frequency). A multimode Galerkin method combined with the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation, accounting for the nonlinear electrostatic force, has been used to develop a reduced order model. The response of the cantilever microbeam to three AC source excitation is also investigated and shown as a promising technique to enhance the bandwidth of resonators. Finally, an experimental study of a clamped-clamped microbeam is conducted, demonstrating the multi-frequency excitation resonances using two, three, and four AC sources.

Multi-objective control of nonlinear boiler-turbine dynamics with actuator magnitude and rate constraints.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Pang-Chia

2013-01-01

This paper investigates multi-objective controller design approaches for nonlinear boiler-turbine dynamics subject to actuator magnitude and rate constraints. System nonlinearity is handled by a suitable linear parameter varying system representation with drum pressure as the system varying parameter. Variation of the drum pressure is represented by suitable norm-bounded uncertainty and affine dependence on system matrices. Based on linear matrix inequality algorithms, the magnitude and rate constraints on the actuator and the deviations of fluid density and water level are formulated while the tracking abilities on the drum pressure and power output are optimized. Variation ranges of drum pressure and magnitude tracking commands are used as controller design parameters, determined according to the boiler-turbine's operation range. Copyright © 2012 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A multilevel particle method for gas dynamics: application to multi-fluids simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weynans, Lisl

2006-12-01

In inertial confinement fusion, laser implosions require to know hydrodynamic flow in presence of shocks. This work is devoted to the evaluation of the ability of a particle-mesh method, inspired from Vortex-In-Cell methods, to simulate gas dynamics, especially multi-fluids. First, we develop a particle method, associated with a conservative re-meshing step, which is performed with high order interpolating kernels. We study theoretically and numerically this method. This analysis gives evidence of a strong relationship between the particle method and high order Lax-Wendroff-like finite difference schemes. We introduce a new scheme for the advection of particles. Then we implement a multilevel technique, inspired from AMR, which allows us to increase locally the accuracy of the computations. Finally we develop a level set-like technique, discretized on the particles, to simulate the interface between compressible flows. We use the multilevel technique to improve the interface resolution and the conservation of partial masses. (author)

Synchrony of sylvatic dengue isolations: a multi-host, multi-vector SIR model of dengue virus transmission in Senegal.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin M Althouse

Full Text Available Isolations of sylvatic dengue-2 virus from mosquitoes, humans and non-human primates in Senegal show synchronized multi-annual dynamics over the past 50 years. Host demography has been shown to directly affect the period between epidemics in other pathogen systems, therefore, one might expect unsynchronized multi-annual cycles occurring in hosts with dramatically different birth rates and life spans. However, in Senegal, we observe a single synchronized eight-year cycle across all vector species, suggesting synchronized dynamics in all vertebrate hosts. In the current study, we aim to explore two specific hypotheses: 1 primates with different demographics will experience outbreaks of dengue at different periodicities when observed as isolated systems, and that coupling of these subsystems through mosquito biting will act to synchronize incidence; and 2 the eight-year periodicity of isolations observed across multiple primate species is the result of long-term cycling in population immunity in the host populations. To test these hypotheses, we develop a multi-host, multi-vector Susceptible, Infected, Removed (SIR model to explore the effects of coupling multiple host-vector systems of dengue virus transmission through cross-species biting rates. We find that under small amounts of coupling, incidence in the host species synchronize. Long-period multi-annual dynamics are observed only when prevalence in troughs reaches vanishingly small levels (< 10(-10, suggesting that these dynamics are inconsistent with sustained transmission in this setting, but are consistent with local dengue virus extinctions followed by reintroductions. Inclusion of a constant introduction of infectious individuals into the system causes the multi-annual periods to shrink, while the effects of coupling remain the same. Inclusion of a stochastic rate of introduction allows for multi-annual periods at a cost of reduced synchrony. Thus, we conclude that the eight-year period

Weaknesses of a dynamic identity based authentication protocol for multi-server architecture

OpenAIRE

Han, Weiwei

2012-01-01

Recently, Li et al. proposed a dynamic identity based authentication protocol for multi-server architecture. They claimed their protocol is secure and can withstand various attacks. But we found some security loopholes in the protocol. Accordingly, the current paper demonstrates that Li et al.'s protocol is vulnerable to the replay attack, the password guessing attack and the masquerade attack.

A linear bi-level multi-objective program for optimal allocation of water resources.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ijaz Ahmad

Full Text Available This paper presents a simple bi-level multi-objective linear program (BLMOLP with a hierarchical structure consisting of reservoir managers and several water use sectors under a multi-objective framework for the optimal allocation of limited water resources. Being the upper level decision makers (i.e., leader in the hierarchy, the reservoir managers control the water allocation system and tend to create a balance among the competing water users thereby maximizing the total benefits to the society. On the other hand, the competing water use sectors, being the lower level decision makers (i.e., followers in the hierarchy, aim only to maximize individual sectoral benefits. This multi-objective bi-level optimization problem can be solved using the simultaneous compromise constraint (SICCON technique which creates a compromise between upper and lower level decision makers (DMs, and transforms the multi-objective function into a single decision-making problem. The bi-level model developed in this study has been applied to the Swat River basin in Pakistan for the optimal allocation of water resources among competing water demand sectors and different scenarios have been developed. The application of the model in this study shows that the SICCON is a simple, applicable and feasible approach to solve the BLMOLP problem. Finally, the comparisons of the model results show that the optimization model is practical and efficient when it is applied to different conditions with priorities assigned to various water users.

Multi-focus and multi-level techniques for visualization and analysis of networks with thematic data

Science.gov (United States)

Cossalter, Michele; Mengshoel, Ole J.; Selker, Ted

2013-01-01

Information-rich data sets bring several challenges in the areas of visualization and analysis, even when associated with node-link network visualizations. This paper presents an integration of multi-focus and multi-level techniques that enable interactive, multi-step comparisons in node-link networks. We describe NetEx, a visualization tool that enables users to simultaneously explore different parts of a network and its thematic data, such as time series or conditional probability tables. NetEx, implemented as a Cytoscape plug-in, has been applied to the analysis of electrical power networks, Bayesian networks, and the Enron e-mail repository. In this paper we briefly discuss visualization and analysis of the Enron social network, but focus on data from an electrical power network. Specifically, we demonstrate how NetEx supports the analytical task of electrical power system fault diagnosis. Results from a user study with 25 subjects suggest that NetEx enables more accurate isolation of complex faults compared to an especially designed software tool.

A Quasi-Feed-In-Tariff policy formulation in micro-grids: A bi-level multi-period approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taha, Ahmad F.; Hachem, Nadim A.; Panchal, Jitesh H.

2014-01-01

A Quasi-Feed-In-Tariff (QFIT) policy formulation is presented for micro-grids that integrates renewable energy generation considering Policy Makers' and Generation Companies' (GENCOs) objectives assuming a bi-level multi-period formulation that integrates physical characteristics of the power-grid. The upper-level problem corresponds to the PM, whereas the lower-level decisions are made by GENCOs. We consider that some GENCOs are green energy producers, while others are black energy producers. Policy makers incentivize green energy producers to generate energy through the payment of optimal time-varying subsidy price. The policy maker's main objective is to maximize an overall social welfare that includes factors such as demand surplus, energy cost, renewable energy subsidy price, and environmental standards. The lower-level problem corresponding to the GENCOs is based on maximizing the players' profits. The proposed QFIT policy differs from the FIT policy in the sense that the subsidy price-based contracts offered to green energy producers dynamically change over time, depending on the physical properties of the grid, demand, and energy price fluctuations. The integrated problem solves for time-varying subsidy price and equilibrium energy quantities that optimize the system welfare under different grid and system conditions. - Highlights: • We present a bi-level optimization problem formulation for Quasi-Feed-In-Tariff (QFIT) policy. • QFIT dictates that subsidy prices dynamically vary over time depending on conditions. • Power grid's physical characteristics affect optimal subsidy prices and energy generation. • To maximize welfare, policy makers ought to increase subsidy prices during the peak-load

Dynamic bowtie filter for cone-beam/multi-slice CT.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fenglin Liu

Full Text Available A pre-patient attenuator ("bowtie filter" or "bowtie" is used to modulate an incoming x-ray beam as a function of the angle of the x-ray with respect to a patient to balance the photon flux on a detector array. While the current dynamic bowtie design is focused on fan-beam geometry, in this study we propose a methodology for dynamic bowtie design in multi-slice/cone-beam geometry. The proposed 3D dynamic bowtie is an extension of the 2D prior art. The 3D bowtie consists of a highly attenuating bowtie (HB filled in with heavy liquid and a weakly attenuating bowtie (WB immersed in the liquid of the HB. The HB targets a balanced flux distribution on a detector array when no object is in the field of view (FOV. The WB compensates for an object in the FOV, and hence is a scaled-down version of the object. The WB is rotated and translated in synchrony with the source rotation and patient translation so that the overall flux balance is maintained on the detector array. First, the mathematical models of different scanning modes are established for an elliptical water phantom. Then, a numerical simulation study is performed to compare the performance of the scanning modes in the cases of the water phantom and a patient cross-section without any bowtie and with a dynamic bowtie. The dynamic bowtie can equalize the numbers of detected photons in the case of the water phantom. In practical cases, the dynamic bowtie can effectively reduce the dynamic range of detected signals inside the FOV. Furthermore, the WB can be individualized using a 3D printing technique as the gold standard. We have extended the dynamic bowtie concept from 2D to 3D by using highly attenuating liquid and moving a scale-reduced negative copy of an object being scanned. Our methodology can be applied to reduce radiation dose and facilitate photon-counting detection.

Asymptotic numerical method for multi-degree-of-freedom nonlinear dynamic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mei Shuli; Du Chengjin; Zhang Senwen

2008-01-01

Homotopy perturbation method (HPM) proposed by Ji-Huan He is very effective and convenient for single-degree-of-freedom systems. In this paper a coupling technique of He's method and precise integration method (PIM) is suggested to solve multi-degree-of-freedom nonlinear dynamic systems. The new technique keeps the merits of the two methods. Some examples are given to illustrate its effectiveness and convenience. Furthermore the obtained solution is of high accuracy

Integration of multi-level marketing management systems geographically industry development

OpenAIRE

Aleksandr Lavrov; Lada Polikarpova; Alla Handramai

2015-01-01

In the article the authors attempt to develop a multi-level management system territorially industry development in market conditions, built in the widespread use of various types of marketing and their horizontal and vertical integration.

Distrofia corneana policromática posterior Polychromatic posterior corneal dystrophy

OpenAIRE

Patrick Frensel de Moraes Tzelikis; Ulisses Roberto dos Santos; Marco Antônio Guarino Tanure; Fernando Cançado Trindade

2007-01-01

Os autores descrevem quatro raros casos de distrofia corneana policromática posterior, ainda não descrito na literatura nacional. Observam-se opacidades puntiformes, policromáticas, de tamanho uniforme, localização estromal profunda, distribuídas de limbo a limbo e que não interferem na acuidade visual. É apresentada uma revisão dos casos de distrofia pré-Descemet existentes na literatura.The authors describe four rare cases of polychromatic posterior corneal dystrophy, not describe in nation...

Mapping transient hyperventilation induced alterations with estimates of the multi-scale dynamics of BOLD signal.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vesa J Kiviniemi

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Temporal blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD contrast signals in functional MRI during rest may be characterized by power spectral distribution (PSD trends of the form 1/f α. Trends with 1/f characteristics comprise fractal properties with repeating oscillation patterns in multiple time scales. Estimates of the fractal properties enable the quantification of phenomena that may otherwise be difficult to measure, such as transient, non-linear changes. In this study it was hypothesized that the fractal metrics of 1/f BOLD signal trends can map changes related to dynamic, multi-scale alterations in cerebral blood flow (CBF after a transient hyperventilation challenge. Twenty-three normal adults were imaged in a resting-state before and after hyperventilation. Different variables (1/f trend constant α, fractal dimension Df, and, Hurst exponent H characterizing the trends were measured from BOLD signals. The results show that fractal metrics of the BOLD signal follow the fractional Gaussian noise model, even during the dynamic CBF change that follows hyperventilation. The most dominant effect on the fractal metrics was detected in grey matter, in line with previous hyperventilation vaso-reactivity studies. The α was able to differentiate also blood vessels from grey matter changes. Df was most sensitive to grey matter. H correlated with default mode network areas before hyperventilation but this pattern vanished after hyperventilation due to a global increase in H. In the future, resting-state fMRI combined with fractal metrics of the BOLD signal may be used for analyzing multi-scale alterations of cerebral blood flow.

Mapping Transient Hyperventilation Induced Alterations with Estimates of the Multi-Scale Dynamics of BOLD Signal.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiviniemi, Vesa; Remes, Jukka; Starck, Tuomo; Nikkinen, Juha; Haapea, Marianne; Silven, Olli; Tervonen, Osmo

2009-01-01

Temporal blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) contrast signals in functional MRI during rest may be characterized by power spectral distribution (PSD) trends of the form 1/f(alpha). Trends with 1/f characteristics comprise fractal properties with repeating oscillation patterns in multiple time scales. Estimates of the fractal properties enable the quantification of phenomena that may otherwise be difficult to measure, such as transient, non-linear changes. In this study it was hypothesized that the fractal metrics of 1/f BOLD signal trends can map changes related to dynamic, multi-scale alterations in cerebral blood flow (CBF) after a transient hyperventilation challenge. Twenty-three normal adults were imaged in a resting-state before and after hyperventilation. Different variables (1/f trend constant alpha, fractal dimension D(f), and, Hurst exponent H) characterizing the trends were measured from BOLD signals. The results show that fractal metrics of the BOLD signal follow the fractional Gaussian noise model, even during the dynamic CBF change that follows hyperventilation. The most dominant effect on the fractal metrics was detected in grey matter, in line with previous hyperventilation vaso-reactivity studies. The alpha was able to differentiate also blood vessels from grey matter changes. D(f) was most sensitive to grey matter. H correlated with default mode network areas before hyperventilation but this pattern vanished after hyperventilation due to a global increase in H. In the future, resting-state fMRI combined with fractal metrics of the BOLD signal may be used for analyzing multi-scale alterations of cerebral blood flow.

Load-bearing evaluation of spinal posterior column by measuring surface strain from lumbar pedicles. An in vitro study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Peidong; Zhao, Weidong; Bi, Zhenyu; Wu, Changfu; Ouyang, Jun

2012-01-01

An understanding of the load transfer within spinal posterior column of lumbar spine is necessary to determine the influence of mechanical factors on potential mechanisms of the motion-sparing implant such as artificial intervertebral disc and the dynamic spine stabilization systems. In this study, a new method has been developed for evaluating the load bearing of spinal posterior column by the surface strain of spinal pedicle response to the loading of spinal segment. Six cadaveric lumbar spine segments were biomechanically evaluated between levels L1 and L5 in intact condition and the strain gauges were pasted to an inferior surface of L2 pedicles. Multidirectional flexibility testing used the Panjabi testing protocol; pure moments for the intact condition with overall spinal motion and unconstrained intact moments of ±8 Nm were used for flexion-extension and lateral bending testing. High correlation coefficient (0.967-0.998) indicated a good agreement between the load of spinal segment and the surface strain of pedicle in all loading directions. Principal compressive strain could be observed in flexion direction and tensile strain in extension direction, respectively. In conclusion, the new method seems to be effective for evaluating posterior spinal column loads using pedicles' surface strain data collected during biomechanical testing of spine segments.

A multi-level surface rebalancing approach for efficient convergence acceleration of 3D full core multi-group fine grid nodal diffusion iterations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geemert, René van

2014-01-01

Highlights: • New type of multi-level rebalancing approach for nodal transport. • Generally improved and more mesh-independent convergence behavior. • Importance for intended regime of 3D pin-by-pin core computations. - Abstract: A new multi-level surface rebalancing (MLSR) approach has been developed, aimed at enabling an improved non-linear acceleration of nodal flux iteration convergence in 3D steady-state and transient reactor simulation. This development is meant specifically for anticipating computational needs for solving envisaged multi-group diffusion-like SP N calculations with enhanced mesh resolution (i.e. 3D multi-box up to 3D pin-by-pin grid). For the latter grid refinement regime, the previously available multi-level coarse mesh rebalancing (MLCMR) strategy has been observed to become increasingly inefficient with increasing 3D mesh resolution. Furthermore, for very fine 3D grids that feature a very fine axial mesh as well, non-convergence phenomena have been observed to emerge. In the verifications pursued up to now, these problems have been resolved by the new approach. The novelty arises from taking the interface current balance equations defined over all Cartesian box edges, instead of the nodal volume-integrated process-rate balance equation, as an appropriate restriction basis for setting up multi-level acceleration of fine grid interface current iterations. The new restriction strategy calls for the use of a newly derived set of adjoint spectral equations that are needed for computing a limited set of spectral response vectors per node. This enables a straightforward determination of group-condensed interface current spectral coupling operators that are of crucial relevance in the new rebalancing setup. Another novelty in the approach is a new variational method for computing the neutronic eigenvalue. Within this context, the latter is treated as a control parameter for driving another, newly defined and numerically more fundamental

Global dynamics of a novel multi-group model for computer worms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gong Yong-Wang; Song Yu-Rong; Jiang Guo-Ping

2013-01-01

In this paper, we study worm dynamics in computer networks composed of many autonomous systems. A novel multi-group SIQR (susceptible-infected-quarantined-removed) model is proposed for computer worms by explicitly considering anti-virus measures and the network infrastructure. Then, the basic reproduction number of worm R 0 is derived and the global dynamics of the model are established. It is shown that if R 0 is less than or equal to 1, the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable and the worm dies out eventually, whereas, if R 0 is greater than 1, one unique endemic equilibrium exists and it is globally asymptotically stable, thus the worm persists in the network. Finally, numerical simulations are given to illustrate the theoretical results. (general)

Vorticity and symplecticity in multi-symplectic, Lagrangian gas dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, G. M.; Anco, S. C.

2016-02-01

The Lagrangian, multi-dimensional, ideal, compressible gas dynamic equations are written in a multi-symplectic form, in which the Lagrangian fluid labels, m i (the Lagrangian mass coordinates) and time t are the independent variables, and in which the Eulerian position of the fluid element {x}={x}({m},t) and the entropy S=S({m},t) are the dependent variables. Constraints in the variational principle are incorporated by means of Lagrange multipliers. The constraints are: the entropy advection equation S t = 0, the Lagrangian map equation {{x}}t={u} where {u} is the fluid velocity, and the mass continuity equation which has the form J=τ where J={det}({x}{ij}) is the Jacobian of the Lagrangian map in which {x}{ij}=\\partial {x}i/\\partial {m}j and τ =1/ρ is the specific volume of the gas. The internal energy per unit volume of the gas \\varepsilon =\\varepsilon (ρ ,S) corresponds to a non-barotropic gas. The Lagrangian is used to define multi-momenta, and to develop de Donder-Weyl Hamiltonian equations. The de Donder-Weyl equations are cast in a multi-symplectic form. The pullback conservation laws and the symplecticity conservation laws are obtained. One class of symplecticity conservation laws give rise to vorticity and potential vorticity type conservation laws, and another class of symplecticity laws are related to derivatives of the Lagrangian energy conservation law with respect to the Lagrangian mass coordinates m i . We show that the vorticity-symplecticity laws can be derived by a Lie dragging method, and also by using Noether’s second theorem and a fluid relabelling symmetry which is a divergence symmetry of the action. We obtain the Cartan-Poincaré form describing the equations and we discuss a set of differential forms representing the equation system.

Dynamic solar-powered multi-stage direct contact membrane distillation system: Concept design, modeling and simulation

KAUST Repository

Lee, Jung Gil; Kim, Woo-Seung; Choi, June-Seok; Ghaffour, NorEddine; Kim, Young-Deuk

2017-01-01

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the monthly average daily and hourly performances of a solar-powered multi-stage direct contact membrane distillation (SMDCMD) system with an energy recovery scheme and dynamic operating system. Mid

Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation of a Multi-Level Diode ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation of a Multi-Level Diode Clamped ... of MATLAB /SIMULINK modeling of the space vector pulse-width modulation and the ... two adjacent active vectors in determining the switching process of the multilevel ...

Dynamic analyses, FPGA implementation and engineering applications of multi-butterfly chaotic attractors generated from generalised Sprott C system

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Qiang; Zhao, Xiao-Wen; Rajagopal, Karthikeyan; Xu, Guanghui; Akgul, Akif; Guleryuz, Emre

2018-01-01

This paper considers the generation of multi-butterfly chaotic attractors from a generalised Sprott C system with multiple non-hyperbolic equilibria. The system is constructed by introducing an additional variable whose derivative has a switching function to the Sprott C system. It is numerically found that the system creates two-, three-, four-, five-butterfly attractors and any other multi-butterfly attractors. First, the dynamic analyses of multi-butterfly chaotic attractors are presented. Secondly, the field programmable gate array implementation, electronic circuit realisation and random number generator are done with the multi-butterfly chaotic attractors.

Hyperdense basilar artery sign diagnoses acute posterior circulation stroke and predicts short-term outcome

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tan, Xiaoping [Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University at Shenyang, Department of Neurology, Shengjing Hospital, Shenyang (China); Guo, Yang [Shengjing Hospital, Department of Neurology, Shenyang (China)

2010-12-15

It is well established that the hyperdense middle cerebral artery sign is a specific marker for early ischemia in anterior circulation. However, little is known about the hyperdense basilar artery sign (HDBA) in posterior circulation. Our aim was to determine whether the HDBA sign has utility in early diagnosis of acute posterior circulation stroke and prediction of short-term outcome. Three-blinded readers examined unenhanced computed tomography scans for the HDBA sign, and materials were classified into two groups according to this sign. Vascular risk factors, admission and discharge National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores, short-term outcome, and radiological findings between the two groups were compared. One hundred and twenty-six cases of acute posterior circulation stroke (PCS) were included in the study. No statistically significant differences were found in risk factors of ischemic stroke, except atrial fibrillation (P = 0.025). Admission and discharge NIHSS scores for the positive HDBA group were significantly higher than scores for the negative HDBA group (P = 0.001, 0.002, respectively). The infarction territory for the positive HDBA group was mainly multi-region in nature (51.6%, P < 0.001), while the negative HDBA group showed mainly middle territory infarction. Significant independent predictors of short-term outcome included the HDBA sign (P < 0.001) and admission NIHSS scores (P < 0.001). Approximately half of the HDBA patients showed multi-region infarction and a serious neurological symptom. Based on our results, this sign might not only be helpful in early diagnosis of acute PCS but also be able to correlate with a poor short-term outcome. (orig.)

Arthroscopic management of posterior instability: evolution of technique and results.

Science.gov (United States)

Savoie, Felix H; Holt, M Shaun; Field, Larry D; Ramsey, J Randall

2008-04-01

, and its attached superior glenohumeral ligament, the coracohumeral ligament, the inferior glenohumeral ligament complex, and the infraspinatus, in addition to the posterior labrum and capsule, allows excellent outcomes to be achieved with arthroscopic posterior reconstruction techniques. Level IV, therapeutic case series.

Dynamic Multi-Factor Credit Risk Model with Fat-Tailed Factors

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Gapko, Petr; Šmíd, Martin

2012-01-01

Roč. 62, č. 2 (2012), s. 125-140 ISSN 0015-1920 R&D Projects: GA ČR GD402/09/H045; GA ČR GA402/09/0965 Grant - others:Univerzita Karlova(CZ) GAUK 46108 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : credit risk * probability of default * loss given default * credit loss * credit loss distribution * Basel II Subject RIV: AH - Economics Impact factor: 0.340, year: 2012 http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2012/E/smid-dynamic multi-factor credit risk model with fat-tailed factors.pdf

A study of the dynamics of multi-player games on small networks using territorial interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Broom, Mark; Lafaye, Charlotte; Pattni, Karan; Rychtář, Jan

2015-12-01

Recently, the study of structured populations using models of evolutionary processes on graphs has begun to incorporate a more general type of interaction between individuals, allowing multi-player games to be played among the population. In this paper, we develop a birth-death dynamics for use in such models and consider the evolution of populations for special cases of very small graphs where we can easily identify all of the population states and carry out exact analyses. To do so, we study two multi-player games, a Hawk-Dove game and a public goods game. Our focus is on finding the fixation probability of an individual from one type, cooperator or defector in the case of the public goods game, within a population of the other type. We compare this value for both games on several graphs under different parameter values and assumptions, and identify some interesting general features of our model. In particular there is a very close relationship between the fixation probability and the mean temperature, with high temperatures helping fitter individuals and punishing unfit ones and so enhancing selection, whereas low temperatures give a levelling effect which suppresses selection.

Transmutation Dynamics: Impacts of Multi-Recycling on Fuel Cycle Performances

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

S. Bays; S. Piet; M. Pope; G. Youinou; A. Dumontier; D. Hawn

2009-09-01

From a physics standpoint, it is feasible to sustain continuous multi-recycle in either thermal or fast reactors. In Fiscal Year 2009, transmutaton work at INL provided important new insight, caveats, and tools on multi-recycle. Multi-recycle of MOX, even with all the transuranics, is possible provided continuous enrichment of the uranium phase to ~6.5% and also limitting the transuranic enrichment to slightly less than 8%. Multi-recycle of heterogeneous-IMF assemblies is possible with continuous enrichment of the UOX pins to ~4.95% and having =60 of the 264 fuel pins being inter-matrix. A new tool enables quick assessment of the impact of different cooling times on isotopic evolution. The effect of cooling time was found to be almost as controlling on higher mass actinide concentrations in fuel as the selection of thermal versus fast neutron spectra. A new dataset was built which provides on-the-fly estimates of gamma and neutron dose in MOX fuels as a function of the isotopic evolution. All studies this year focused on the impact of dynamic feedback due to choices made in option space. Both the equilibrium fuel cycle concentrations and the transient time to reach equilibrium for each isotope were evaluated over a range of reactor, reprocessing and cooling time combinations. New bounding cases and analysis methods for evaluating both reactor safety and radiation worker safety were established. This holistic collection of physics analyses and methods gives improved resolution of fuel cycle options, and impacts thereof, over that of previous ad-hoc and single-point analyses.

Posterior Pole Sparing Laser Photocoagulation Combined with Intravitreal Bevacizumab Injection in Posterior Retinopathy of Prematurity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca Kim

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To report the results of the posterior pole sparing laser photocoagulation combined with intravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVB in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP. Methods. A retrospective chart review of premature babies with ROP, all of whom received laser photocoagulation with IVB. Eleven eyes of 6 infants with advanced zone I ROP underwent laser ablation sparing posterior pole with concurrent IVB. The results were compared with those of full-laser treatment combined with IVB to 8 eyes of 5 infants with advanced ROP without involvement of the posterior pole. Results. The posterior pole sparing laser with IVB was performed with zone I, stage 3+ ROP at the mean postmenstrual age of 36 weeks and 5 days. The plus sign decreased significantly at postoperative day 1, the neovascular proliferation regressed by postoperative week 1, and the normal vascularization started at postoperative day 32 on the average. Two months after treatment, vascularization of the spared avascular area was completed. There was no macular dragging, tractional retinal detachment, foveal destruction by laser scars, or any other adverse event. No significant anatomical differences were identified from those of full-laser ablation combined with IVB. Conclusions. Posterior pole sparing laser with IVB can give favorable results without destruction of posterior pole retina.

A new multi-objective reserve constrained combined heat and power dynamic economic emission dispatch

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niknam, Taher; Azizipanah-Abarghooee, Rasoul; Roosta, Alireza; Amiri, Babak

2012-01-01

Combined heat and power units are playing an ever increasing role in conventional power stations due to advantages such as reduced emissions and operational cost savings. This paper investigates a more practical formulation of the complex non-convex, non-smooth and non-linear multi-objective dynamic economic emission dispatch that incorporates combined heat and power units. Integrating these types of units, and their power ramp constraints, require an efficient tool to cope with the joint characteristics of power and heat. Unlike previous approaches, the spinning reserve requirements of this system are clearly formulated in the problem. In this way, a new multi-objective optimisation based on an enhanced firefly algorithm is proposed to achieve a set of non-dominated (Pareto-optimal) solutions. A new tuning parameter based on a chaotic mechanism and novel self adaptive probabilistic mutation strategies are used to improve the overall performance of the algorithm. The numerical results demonstrate how the proposed framework was applied in real time studies. -- Highlights: ► Investigate a practical formulation of the DEED (Dynamic Economic Emission Dispatch). ► Consider combined heat and power units. ► Consider power ramp constraints. ► Consider the system spinning reserve requirements. ► Present a new multi-objective optimization firefly.

Multi-pulse orbits and chaotic dynamics in motion of parametrically excited viscoelastic moving belt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Wei; Yao Minghui

2006-01-01

In this paper, the Shilnikov type multi-pulse orbits and chaotic dynamics of parametrically excited viscoelastic moving belt are studied in detail. Using Kelvin-type viscoelastic constitutive law, the equations of motion for viscoelastic moving belt with the external damping and parametric excitation are given. The four-dimensional averaged equation under the case of primary parametric resonance is obtained by directly using the method of multiple scales and Galerkin's approach to the partial differential governing equation of viscoelastic moving belt. From the averaged equations obtained here, the theory of normal form is used to give the explicit expressions of normal form with a double zero and a pair of pure imaginary eigenvalues. Based on normal form, the energy-phrase method is employed to analyze the global bifurcations and chaotic dynamics in parametrically excited viscoelastic moving belt. The global bifurcation analysis indicates that there exist the heteroclinic bifurcations and the Silnikov type multi-pulse homoclinic orbits in the averaged equation. The results obtained above mean the existence of the chaos for the Smale horseshoe sense in parametrically excited viscoelastic moving belt. The chaotic motions of viscoelastic moving belts are also found by using numerical simulation. A new phenomenon on the multi-pulse jumping orbits is observed from three-dimensional phase space

Multi-Level Risk Assessment of a Power Plant Gas Turbine Applying ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Multi-Level Risk Assessment of a Power Plant Gas Turbine Applying the Criticality Index Model. ... Journal of the Nigerian Association of Mathematical Physics ... This study has carefully shown and expressed a step by step computation of the severity level of the Turbine component parts, using the Criticality Index model.

A multi-band, multi-level, multi-electron model for efficient FDTD simulations of electromagnetic interactions with semiconductor quantum wells

Science.gov (United States)

Ravi, Koustuban; Wang, Qian; Ho, Seng-Tiong

2015-08-01

We report a new computational model for simulations of electromagnetic interactions with semiconductor quantum well(s) (SQW) in complex electromagnetic geometries using the finite-difference time-domain method. The presented model is based on an approach of spanning a large number of electron transverse momentum states in each SQW sub-band (multi-band) with a small number of discrete multi-electron states (multi-level, multi-electron). This enables accurate and efficient two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) simulations of nanophotonic devices with SQW active media. The model includes the following features: (1) Optically induced interband transitions between various SQW conduction and heavy-hole or light-hole sub-bands are considered. (2) Novel intra sub-band and inter sub-band transition terms are derived to thermalize the electron and hole occupational distributions to the correct Fermi-Dirac distributions. (3) The terms in (2) result in an explicit update scheme which circumvents numerically cumbersome iterative procedures. This significantly augments computational efficiency. (4) Explicit update terms to account for carrier leakage to unconfined states are derived, which thermalize the bulk and SQW populations to a common quasi-equilibrium Fermi-Dirac distribution. (5) Auger recombination and intervalence band absorption are included. The model is validated by comparisons to analytic band-filling calculations, simulations of SQW optical gain spectra, and photonic crystal lasers.

Endoscopic Management of Posterior Epistaxis

OpenAIRE

Paul, J.; Kanotra, Sohit Paul; Kanotra, Sonika

2011-01-01

The traditional method of management of posterior epistaxis has been with anteroposterior nasal packing. Apart from the high failure rate of 26–50% reported in various series, nasal packing is associated with marked discomfort and several complications. In order to avoid nasal packing, we started doing endoscopic cauterization in cases of posterior epistaxis. A total of 23 patients with posterior epistaxis were subjected to nasal endoscopy with the intent to stop bleeding by cauterization of ...

A novel method for a multi-level hierarchical composite with brick-and-mortar structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, Kristina; Wolff, Michael F H; Salikov, Vitalij; Heinrich, Stefan; Schneider, Gerold A

2013-01-01

The fascination for hierarchically structured hard tissues such as enamel or nacre arises from their unique structure-properties-relationship. During the last decades this numerously motivated the synthesis of composites, mimicking the brick-and-mortar structure of nacre. However, there is still a lack in synthetic engineering materials displaying a true hierarchical structure. Here, we present a novel multi-step processing route for anisotropic 2-level hierarchical composites by combining different coating techniques on different length scales. It comprises polymer-encapsulated ceramic particles as building blocks for the first level, followed by spouted bed spray granulation for a second level, and finally directional hot pressing to anisotropically consolidate the composite. The microstructure achieved reveals a brick-and-mortar hierarchical structure with distinct, however not yet optimized mechanical properties on each level. It opens up a completely new processing route for the synthesis of multi-level hierarchically structured composites, giving prospects to multi-functional structure-properties relationships.

A novel method for a multi-level hierarchical composite with brick-and-mortar structure

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, Kristina; Wolff, Michael F. H.; Salikov, Vitalij; Heinrich, Stefan; Schneider, Gerold A.

2013-07-01

The fascination for hierarchically structured hard tissues such as enamel or nacre arises from their unique structure-properties-relationship. During the last decades this numerously motivated the synthesis of composites, mimicking the brick-and-mortar structure of nacre. However, there is still a lack in synthetic engineering materials displaying a true hierarchical structure. Here, we present a novel multi-step processing route for anisotropic 2-level hierarchical composites by combining different coating techniques on different length scales. It comprises polymer-encapsulated ceramic particles as building blocks for the first level, followed by spouted bed spray granulation for a second level, and finally directional hot pressing to anisotropically consolidate the composite. The microstructure achieved reveals a brick-and-mortar hierarchical structure with distinct, however not yet optimized mechanical properties on each level. It opens up a completely new processing route for the synthesis of multi-level hierarchically structured composites, giving prospects to multi-functional structure-properties relationships.

Anomalous Posterior Intercostal Arterial Trunk Arising From the Abdominal Aorta

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jie, Bing, E-mail: jbshh@163.com; Yu, Dong, E-mail: yudong-mail@126.com; Jiang, Sen, E-mail: jasfly77@vip.163.com [Tongji University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital (China)

2016-04-15

A common trunk of the ipsilateral posterior intercostal artery (PIA) arising from the thoracic aorta is usually an anatomical variation. However, a common trunk of bilateral posterior intercostal arterial trunk (PIAT) arising from the abdominal aorta is rare. It is important to recognize this anatomical variation of PIA when performing interventional radiological procedures. We present a rare case of an anomalous PIAT that originated from the abdominal aorta in a patient with hemoptysis caused by tuberculosis sequelae. Bilateral 4th to 11th PIAs arose from a common trunk and the trunk arising from the posterior aspect of the abdominal aorta at the level of T12/L1 intervertebral space. The pathological right 4th and 5th PIAs and bronchial arteries were embolized. Hemoptysis has been controlled for 3 months.

Model-based dynamic multi-parameter method for peak power estimation of lithium-ion batteries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sun, F.; Xiong, R.; He, H.; Li, W.; Aussems, J.E.E.

2012-01-01

A model-based dynamic multi-parameter method for peak power estimation is proposed for batteries and battery management systems (BMSs) used in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The available power must be accurately calculated in order to not damage the battery by over charging or over discharging or

Dynamic supply chain network design with capacity planning and multi-period pricing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fattahi, Mohammad; Mahootchi, Masoud; Govindan, Kannan

2015-01-01

This paper addresses a new problem in designing and planning a multi-echelon and multi-product supply chain network over a multi-period horizon in which customer zones have price-sensitive demands. Based on price-demand relationships, a generic method is presented to obtain price levels...... for products and then, a mixed-integer linear programming model is developed. Due to the problem intractability, a simulated annealing algorithm that uses some developed linear relaxation-based heuristics for capacity planning and pricing is presented. Numerical results demonstrate the significance...

SPICODYN: A Toolbox for the Analysis of Neuronal Network Dynamics and Connectivity from Multi-Site Spike Signal Recordings.

Science.gov (United States)

Pastore, Vito Paolo; Godjoski, Aleksandar; Martinoia, Sergio; Massobrio, Paolo

2018-01-01

We implemented an automated and efficient open-source software for the analysis of multi-site neuronal spike signals. The software package, named SPICODYN, has been developed as a standalone windows GUI application, using C# programming language with Microsoft Visual Studio based on .NET framework 4.5 development environment. Accepted input data formats are HDF5, level 5 MAT and text files, containing recorded or generated time series spike signals data. SPICODYN processes such electrophysiological signals focusing on: spiking and bursting dynamics and functional-effective connectivity analysis. In particular, for inferring network connectivity, a new implementation of the transfer entropy method is presented dealing with multiple time delays (temporal extension) and with multiple binary patterns (high order extension). SPICODYN is specifically tailored to process data coming from different Multi-Electrode Arrays setups, guarantying, in those specific cases, automated processing. The optimized implementation of the Delayed Transfer Entropy and the High-Order Transfer Entropy algorithms, allows performing accurate and rapid analysis on multiple spike trains from thousands of electrodes.

Steam drum level dynamics in a multiple loop natural circulation system of a pressure-tube type boiling water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jain, Vikas; Kulkarni, P.P.; Nayak, A.K.; Vijayan, P.K.; Saha, D.; Sinha, R.K.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → We have highlighted the problem of drum level dynamics in a multiple loop type NC system using RELAP5 code. → The need of interconnections in steam and liquid spaces close to drum is established. → The steam space interconnections equalize pressure and liquid space interconnections equalize level. → With this scheme, the system can withstand anomalous conditions. → However, the controller is found to be inevitable for inventory balance. - Abstract: Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is a pressure tube type boiling water reactor employing natural circulation as the mode of heat removal under all the operating conditions. Main heat transport system (MHTS) of AHWR is essentially a multi-loop natural circulation system with all the loops connected to each other. Each loop of MHTS has a steam drum that provides for gravity based steam-water separation. Steam drum level is a very critical parameter especially in multi-loop natural circulation systems as large departures from the set point may lead to ineffective separation of steam-water or may affect the driving head. However, such a system is susceptible to steam drum level anomalies under postulated asymmetrical operating conditions among the different quadrants of the core like feedwater flow distribution anomaly among the steam drums or power anomaly among the core quadrants. Analyses were carried out to probe such scenarios and unravel the underlying dynamics of steam drum level using system code RELAP5/Mod3.2. In addition, a scheme to obviate such problem in a passive manner without dependence on level controller was examined. It was concluded that steam drums need to be connected in the liquid as well as steam space to make the system tolerant to asymmetrical operating conditions.

Posterior coronal plating for tibial fractures: technique and advantages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Montu Jain

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Objective:Tibial shaft fractures are straightforward to treat but when associated with soft tissue injury particularly at the nail entry/plate insertion site or there is significant comminution proximally or a large butterfly fragment/a second split component in the posterior coronal plane, it is a challenge to the treating surgeon. The aim of the present report is to describe the technique of posterior coronal plating in such a scenario and its advantages. Methods:Between July 2008 and June 2011, 12 patients were pro spectively treated by this approach using 4.5 mm broad dynamic compression plates. Results:The time of bony consolidation and full weight bearing averaged 21.7 weeks (range, 16-26 weeks. Patients were followed up for at least 24 months (range, 24-48 months. At 1 year postoper atively, no loss in reduction or alignment was observed. Mean Hospital for Lower Extremity Measurement Functional Score was 72.8 (range, 64-78. All patients were satisfied with their treatment outcomes. Conclusion:Direct posterior approach and fixation using prone position helps to visualise the fracture fragments and provide rigid fixation. The approach is simple and extensile easily, apart from advantages of less soft tissue and hardware problems compared to standard medial or lateral plating. Key words: Tibial fractures; Bone plates; Orthopedic procedures

Empirically Examining the Performance of Approaches to Multi-Level Matching to Study the Effect of School-Level Interventions

Science.gov (United States)

Hallberg, Kelly; Cook, Thomas D.; Figlio, David

2013-01-01

The goal of this paper is to provide guidance for applied education researchers in using multi-level data to study the effects of interventions implemented at the school level. Two primary approaches are currently employed in observational studies of the effect of school-level interventions. One approach employs intact school matching: matching…

Dynamic modeling and explicit/multi-parametric MPC control of pressure swing adsorption systems

KAUST Repository

Khajuria, Harish

2011-01-01

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a flexible, albeit complex gas separation system. Due to its inherent nonlinear nature and discontinuous operation, the design of a model based PSA controller, especially with varying operating conditions, is a challenging task. This work focuses on the design of an explicit/multi-parametric model predictive controller for a PSA system. Based on a system involving four adsorbent beds separating 70% H2, 30% CH4 mixture into high purity hydrogen, the key controller objective is to fast track H2 purity to a set point value of 99.99%. To perform this task, a rigorous and systematic framework is employed. First, a high fidelity detailed dynamic model is built to represent the system\\'s real operation, and understand its dynamic behavior. The model is then used to derive appropriate linear models by applying suitable system identification techniques. For the reduced models, a model predictive control (MPC) step is formulated, where latest developments in multi-parametric programming and control are applied to derive a novel explicit MPC controller. To test the performance of the designed controller, closed loop simulations are performed where the dynamic model is used as the virtual plant. Comparison studies of the derived explicit MPC controller are also performed with conventional PID controllers. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microcontroller based multi-channel ultrasonic level monitoring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambastha, K.P.; Chaudhari, Y.V.; Singh, Inder Jeet; Chadda, V.K.

2004-01-01

Microcontroller based Multi-channel Ultrasonic Level Monitoring System developed by Computer Division is based on echo ranging techniques to monitor level. The transmitter directs an ultrasonic burst towards the liquid, which gets reflected from the top of the liquid surface. The time taken for ultrasound to travel from the transmitter to the top of liquid surface is measured and used to calculate the liquid level. The system provides for temperature compensation for accurate measurement as the ultrasound velocity depends on the ambient temperature. It can measure liquid level up to 5 meters. A single monitor can be used to measure level in 6 tanks. PC connectivity has been provided via RS 232 and RS 485 for remote operation and data logging of level. A GUI program developed using LABVIEW package displays level on PC monitor. The program provides for pictorial as well as numerical display for level and temperature in the front panel on the PC monitor. A user can monitor level for any or all tanks from the PC. One unit is installed at CIRUS for measuring level in Acid/ Alkali tanks and one is installed at APSARA for measuring water level in the reactor pool. (author)

Posterior labral injury in contact athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Mair, S D; Zarzour, R H; Speer, K P

1998-01-01

Nine athletes (seven football offensive linemen, one defensive lineman, and one lacrosse player) were found at arthroscopy to have posterior labral detachment from the glenoid. In our series, this lesion is specific to contact athletes who engage their opponents with arms in front of the body. All patients had pain with bench pressing and while participating in their sport, diminishing their ability to play effectively. Conservative measures were ineffective in relieving their symptoms. Examination under anesthesia revealed symmetric glenohumeral translation bilaterally, without evidence of posterior instability. Treatment consisted of glenoid rim abradement and posterior labral repair with a bioabsorbable tack. All patients returned to complete at least one full season of contact sports and weightlifting without pain (minimum follow-up, > or = 2 years). Although many injuries leading to subluxation of the glenohumeral joint occur when an unanticipated force is applied, contact athletes ready their shoulder muscles in anticipation of impact with opponents. This leads to a compressive force at the glenohumeral joint. We hypothesize that, in combination with a posteriorly directed force at impact, the resultant vector is a shearing force to the posterior labrum and articular surface. Repeated exposure leads to posterior labral detachment without capsular injury. Posterior labral reattachment provides consistently good results, allowing the athlete to return to competition.

Bony landmark between the attachment of the medial meniscus posterior root and the posterior cruciate ligament: CT and MR imaging assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fujii, Masataka; Furumatsu, Takayuki; Miyazawa, Shinichi; Kodama, Yuya; Hino, Tomohito; Kamatsuki, Yusuke; Ozaki, Toshifumi [Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Science of Functional Recovery and Reconstruction, Okayama (Japan)

2017-08-15

(1) To reveal the prevalence of the bony recess (posterior dimple) and (2) to determine the position of the posterior dimple on the tibial plateau using three-dimensional computed tomography (3DCT). In this study, a retrospective review of 112 patients was performed to identify the posterior dimple and to evaluate its position on 3DCT. Magnetic resonance images (MRIs) were also used to determine the positional relationship among the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), medial meniscus posterior insertion (MMPI), and posterior dimple. The posterior dimple was observed in 100 of 112 knees (89.3%) on 3DCT. The center of the posterior dimple was 13.6 ± 0.8 mm from the medial tibial eminence apex. MRI showed that the posterior dimple separated the tibial attachment of the PCL and MMPI. This is the first study to discuss the prevalence and position of the bony recess in the posterior intercondylar fossa. (orig.)

Bony landmark between the attachment of the medial meniscus posterior root and the posterior cruciate ligament: CT and MR imaging assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujii, Masataka; Furumatsu, Takayuki; Miyazawa, Shinichi; Kodama, Yuya; Hino, Tomohito; Kamatsuki, Yusuke; Ozaki, Toshifumi

2017-01-01

(1) To reveal the prevalence of the bony recess (posterior dimple) and (2) to determine the position of the posterior dimple on the tibial plateau using three-dimensional computed tomography (3DCT). In this study, a retrospective review of 112 patients was performed to identify the posterior dimple and to evaluate its position on 3DCT. Magnetic resonance images (MRIs) were also used to determine the positional relationship among the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), medial meniscus posterior insertion (MMPI), and posterior dimple. The posterior dimple was observed in 100 of 112 knees (89.3%) on 3DCT. The center of the posterior dimple was 13.6 ± 0.8 mm from the medial tibial eminence apex. MRI showed that the posterior dimple separated the tibial attachment of the PCL and MMPI. This is the first study to discuss the prevalence and position of the bony recess in the posterior intercondylar fossa. (orig.)

Antecedents of Organisational Creativity: A Multi-Level Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ritu Gupta

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this literature review is to provide a better understanding of the antecedents of organisational creativity with a multi-level approach. Organisational creativity is a sum total of the creativity accounted for by the individual employees of the organisation, the cumulative creativity of a team or group and creativity arising out of different structural components of an organisation. Some of the antecedents identified from the literature include personality, intrinsic motivation, group cohesion, social inhibition, cognitive interference, leader member exchange, organisational culture and climate, amongst others at individual, group and organisational level. Based on the literature review, suggestions for future research and research propositions have been proposed.

Multi-time, multi-scale correlation functions in turbulence and in turbulent models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Biferale, L.; Boffetta, G.; Celani, A.; Toschi, F.

1999-01-01

A multifractal-like representation for multi-time, multi-scale velocity correlation in turbulence and dynamical turbulent models is proposed. The importance of subleading contributions to time correlations is highlighted. The fulfillment of the dynamical constraints due to the equations of motion is

Effect of different levels of sunflower meal and multi-enzyme ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Helianthus annus; SFM) levels and a multi-enzyme complex (Natuzyme P50) on performance, biochemical parameters and antioxidant status of laying hens. A total of 288 Hy-Line W-36 laying hens (39-wk-old) were divided into six groups with six ...

An Online Discursive Inquiry into the Social Dynamics of Multi-stakeholder Brand Meaning Co-creation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vallaster, Christine; von Wallpach, Sylvia

2013-01-01

Brand research increasingly recognizes the active role of multiple stakeholders in co-creating brand meaning and the importance of new social media supporting stakeholders in their co-creation efforts. However, empirical insights into the social process of online multi-stakeholder brand meaning co......-creation are so far missing. This study contributes to existing research by illuminating the social dynamics that characterize multi-stakeholder brand meaning co-creation in a virtual environment. The authors undertake an online discursive inquiry focusing on stakeholders’ textual interactions regarding the UK...

Habit, custom, and power: a multi-level theory of population health.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Frederick J

2013-03-01

In multi-level theory, individual behavior flows from cognitive habits, either directly through social referencing, rules of thumb, or automatic behaviors; or indirectly through the shaping of rationality itself by framing or heuristics. Although behavior does not arise from individually rational optimization, it generally appears to be rational, because the cognitive habits that guide behavior evolve toward optimality. However, power imbalances shaped by particular social, political, and economic structures can distort this evolution, leading to individual behavior that fails to maximize individual or social well-being. Replacing the dominant rational-choice paradigm with a multi-level theoretical paradigm involving habit, custom, and power will enable public health to engage in rigorous new areas of research. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Imaging findings in posterior instability of the shoulder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harish, Srinivasan; Rebello, Ryan; O'Neill, John; Nagar, Arpit; Moro, Jaydeep; Pugh, David

2008-01-01

Posterior shoulder instability refers to the symptoms and signs resulting from excessive posterior translation of the humerus. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is the radiological modality of choice in the diagnostic assessment of posterior instability. Computed tomography (CT) is useful in the evaluation of osseous abnormalities associated with posterior instability. A detailed description of the posterior osseous and labroligamentous abnormalities has evolved recently, and many variant lesions of the posteroinferior labrum and/or capsular structures have been described. As the recommended surgical management of lesions associated with posterior instability is a lesion-specific approach, awareness of the specific lesions that have been described in association with posterior instability helps in pre-surgical planning. The purpose of this article is to review the classification of, and injury mechanisms leading to, posterior shoulder instability and to describe imaging findings associated with posterior instability, with emphasis on MR imaging. (orig.)

Imaging findings in posterior instability of the shoulder

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harish, Srinivasan; Rebello, Ryan; O' Neill, John [St. Joseph' s Healthcare, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Hamilton, ON (Canada); McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hamilton (Canada); Nagar, Arpit [St. Joseph' s Healthcare, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Hamilton, ON (Canada); Moro, Jaydeep [St. Joseph' s Healthcare, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Hamilton, ON (Canada); McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hamilton (Canada); Pugh, David [Brantford General Hospital, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Brantford, ON (Canada)

2008-08-15

Posterior shoulder instability refers to the symptoms and signs resulting from excessive posterior translation of the humerus. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is the radiological modality of choice in the diagnostic assessment of posterior instability. Computed tomography (CT) is useful in the evaluation of osseous abnormalities associated with posterior instability. A detailed description of the posterior osseous and labroligamentous abnormalities has evolved recently, and many variant lesions of the posteroinferior labrum and/or capsular structures have been described. As the recommended surgical management of lesions associated with posterior instability is a lesion-specific approach, awareness of the specific lesions that have been described in association with posterior instability helps in pre-surgical planning. The purpose of this article is to review the classification of, and injury mechanisms leading to, posterior shoulder instability and to describe imaging findings associated with posterior instability, with emphasis on MR imaging. (orig.)

Probabilistic Teleportation of Multi-particle d-Level Quantum State

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

CAO Min; ZHU Shi-Qun

2005-01-01

The general scheme for teleportation of a multi-particle d-level quantum state is presented when m pairs of partially entangled particles are utilized as quantum channels. The probabilistic teleportation can be achieved with a successful probability of d-1∏N=0(CN0)2/dM,which is determined by the smallest coefficients of each entangled channels.

Primary Posterior Mediastinum Hydatid Cyst

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmed, M.; Eid, A. F.; Sheikh, M. Y.; Yiannakou, N.

2014-01-01

Primary posterior mediastinal hydatid cyst is a serious health problem for the Mediterranean countries. We diagnosed a case of a 46-year-old female with a primary posterior mediastinum hydatid cyst on CT and MRI. It was provisionally identified as either a hydatid cyst or bronchogenic cyst or neuroenteric cyst. CT guided aspiration with 18 gauge needle confirmed as hydatid sand. This is very rare in this population but it should be kept in mind when one is looking at any cyst in the posterior mediastinum. (author)

Distributed cooperative H∞ optimal tracking control of MIMO nonlinear multi-agent systems in strict-feedback form via adaptive dynamic programming

Science.gov (United States)

Luy, N. T.

2018-04-01

The design of distributed cooperative H∞ optimal controllers for multi-agent systems is a major challenge when the agents' models are uncertain multi-input and multi-output nonlinear systems in strict-feedback form in the presence of external disturbances. In this paper, first, the distributed cooperative H∞ optimal tracking problem is transformed into controlling the cooperative tracking error dynamics in affine form. Second, control schemes and online algorithms are proposed via adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) and the theory of zero-sum differential graphical games. The schemes use only one neural network (NN) for each agent instead of three from ADP to reduce computational complexity as well as avoid choosing initial NN weights for stabilising controllers. It is shown that despite not using knowledge of cooperative internal dynamics, the proposed algorithms not only approximate values to Nash equilibrium but also guarantee all signals, such as the NN weight approximation errors and the cooperative tracking errors in the closed-loop system, to be uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is shown by simulation results of an application to wheeled mobile multi-robot systems.

Treatment implications of posterior fossa ependymoma subgroups.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramaswamy, Vijay; Taylor, Michael D

2016-11-15

Posterior fossa ependymoma comprises two distinct molecular entities, ependymoma_posterior fossa A (EPN_PFA) and ependymoma_posterior fossa B (EPN_PFB), with differentiable gene expression profiles. As yet, the response of the two entities to treatment is unclear. To determine the relationship between the two molecular subgroups of posterior fossa ependymoma and treatment, we studied a cohort of 820 patients with molecularly profiled, clinically annotated posterior fossa ependymomas. We found that the strongest predictor of poor outcome in patients with posterior fossa ependymoma across the entire age spectrum was molecular subgroup EPN_PFA, which was recently reported in the paper entitled "Therapeutic impact of cytoreductive surgery and irradiation of posterior fossa ependymoma in the molecular era: a retrospective multicohort analysis" in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Patients with incompletely resected EPN_PFA tumors had a very poor outcome despite receiving adjuvant radiation therapy, whereas a substantial proportion of patients with EPN_PFB tumors can be cured with surgery alone.

Metallic artefact reduction with monoenergetic dual-energy CT: systematic ex vivo evaluation of posterior spinal fusion implants from various vendors and different spine levels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guggenberger, R.; Winklhofer, S.; Andreisek, G.; Alkadhi, H.; Stolzmann, P. [University Hospital Zurich, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Zurich (Switzerland); Osterhoff, G.; Wanner, G.A. [University Hospital Zurich, Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma Surgery, Zurich (Switzerland); Fortunati, M. [The Spine Center, Thun (Switzerland)

2012-11-15

To evaluate optimal monoenergetic dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) settings for artefact reduction of posterior spinal fusion implants of various vendors and spine levels. Posterior spinal fusion implants of five vendors for cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine were examined ex vivo with single-energy (SE) CT (120 kVp) and DECT (140/100 kVp). Extrapolated monoenergetic DECT images at 64, 69, 88, 105 keV and individually adjusted monoenergy for optimised image quality (OPTkeV) were generated. Two independent radiologists assessed quantitative and qualitative image parameters for each device and spine level. Inter-reader agreements of quantitative and qualitative parameters were high (ICC = 0.81-1.00, {kappa} = 0.54-0.77). HU values of spinal fusion implants were significantly different among vendors (P < 0.001), spine levels (P < 0.01) and among SECT, monoenergetic DECT of 64, 69, 88, 105 keV and OPTkeV (P < 0.01). Image quality was significantly (P < 0.001) different between datasets and improved with higher monoenergies of DECT compared with SECT (V = 0.58, P < 0.001). Artefacts decreased significantly (V = 0.51, P < 0.001) at higher monoenergies. OPTkeV values ranged from 123-141 keV. OPTkeV according to vendor and spine level are presented herein. Monoenergetic DECT provides significantly better image quality and less metallic artefacts from implants than SECT. Use of individual keV values for vendor and spine level is recommended. (orig.)

Dynamical and quasi-static multi-physical models of a diesel internal combustion engine using Energetic Macroscopic Representation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horrein, L.; Bouscayrol, A.; Cheng, Y.; El Fassi, M.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) dynamical and static models. • Organization of ICE model using Energetic Macroscopic Representation. • Description of the distribution of the chemical, thermal and mechanical power. • Implementation of the ICE model in a global vehicle model. - Abstract: In the simulation of new vehicles, the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) is generally modeled by a static map. This model yields the mechanical power and the fuel consumption. But some studies require the heat energy from the ICE to be considered (i.e. waste heat recovery, thermal regulation of the cabin). A dynamical multi-physical model of a diesel engine is developed to consider its heat energy. This model is organized using Energetic Macroscopic Representation (EMR) in order to be interconnected to other various models of vehicle subsystems. An experimental validation is provided. Moreover a multi-physical quasi-static model is also derived. According to different modeling aims, a comparison of the dynamical and the quasi-static model is discussed in the case of the simulation of a thermal vehicle. These multi-physical models with different simulation time consumption provide good basis for studying the effects of the thermal energy on the vehicle behaviors, including the possibilities of waste heat recovery

Usefulness of multi-plane dynamic subtraction CT (MPDS-CT) for intracranial high density lesions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takagi, Ryo; Kumazaki, Tatsuo [Nippon Medical School, Tokyo (Japan)

1996-02-01

We present a new CT technique using the high speed CT scanner in detection and evaluation of temporal and spatial contrast enhancement of intracranial high density lesions. A multi-plane dynamic subtraction CT (MPDS-CT) was performed in 21 patients with intracranial high density lesions. These lesions consisted of 10 brain tumors, 7 intracerebral hemorrhages and 4 vascular malformations (2 untreated, 2 post-embolization). Baseline study was first performed, and 5 sequential planes of covering total high density lesions were selected. After obtaining the 5 sequential CT images as mask images, three series of multi-plane dynamic CT were performed for the same 5 planes with an intravenous bolus injection of contrast medium. MPDS-CT images were reconstructed by subtracting dynamic CT images from the mask ones. MPDS-CT were compared with conventional contrast-enhanced CT. MPDS-CT images showed the definite contrast enhancement of high density brain tumors and vascular malformations which were not clearly identified on conventional contrast-enhanced CT images because of calcified or hemorrhagic lesions and embolic materials, enabling us to eliminate enhanced abnormalities with non-enhanced areas such as unusual intracerebral hemorrhages. MPDS-CT will provide us further accurate and objective information and will be greatly helpful for interpreting pathophysiologic condition. (author).

A Coupled Helicopter Rotor/Fuselage Dynamics Model Using Finite Element Multi-body

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng Qi-you

2016-01-01

Full Text Available To develop a coupled rotor/flexible fuselage model for vibration reduction studies, the equation of coupled rotor-fuselage is set up based on the theory of multi-body dynamics, and the dynamic analysis model is established with the software MSC.ADMAS and MSC.NASTRAN. The frequencies and vibration acceleration responses of the system are calculated with the model of coupled rotor-fuselage, and the results are compared with those of uncoupled modeling method. Analysis results showed that compared with uncoupled model, the dynamic characteristic obtained by the model of coupled rotor-fuselage are some different. The intrinsic frequency of rotor is increased with the increase of rotational velocities. The results also show that the flying speed has obvious influence on the vibration acceleration responses of the fuselage. The vibration acceleration response in the vertical direction is much higher at the low speed and high speed flight conditions.

How to combine binary collision approximation and multi-body potential for molecular dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, Seiki; Nakamura, Hiroaki; Takayama, Arimichi; Ito, Atsushi M.; Kenmotsu, Takahiro

2010-01-01

Our group has been developing a hybrid simulation of the molecular dynamics (MD) and the binary collision approximation (BCA) simulation. One of the main problems of this hybridization model is that the multi-body potential suddenly appears at the moment when the simulation method switches from the BCA to the MD. This instantaneously emerged multi-body potential causes the acceleration or deceleration of atoms of the system. To solve this problem, the kinetic energy of atoms should be corrected to conserve the total energy in the system. This paper gives the solution. The hybrid simulation for hydrogen atom injection into a graphite material is executed in order to demonstrate the solution. (author)

Essential dynamics and relativity

CERN Document Server

O'Donnell, Peter J

2014-01-01

Essential Dynamics & Relativity provides students with an introduction to the core aspects of dynamics and special relativity. The author reiterates important ideas and terms throughout and covers concepts that are often missing from other textbooks at this level. He also places each topic within the wider constructs of the theory, without jumping from topic to topic to illustrate a point.The first section of the book focuses on dynamics, discussing the basic aspects of single particle motion and analyzing the motion of multi-particle systems. The book also explains the dynamical behavior of b

Simulation of dynamic pile-up corrections in the ATLAS level-1 calorimeter trigger

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Narrias-Villar, Daniel; Wessels, Martin; Brandt, Oleg [Heidelberg University, Heidelberg (Germany)

2015-07-01

The Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger is a crucial part of the ATLAS trigger effort to select only relevant physics events out of the large number of interactions at the LHC. In Run II, in which the LHC will double the centre-of-mass energy and further increase the instantaneous luminosity, pile-up is a limiting key factor for triggering and reconstruction of relevant events. The upgraded L1Calo Multi-Chip-Modules (nMCM) will address this problem by applying dynamic pile-up corrections in real-time, of which a precise simulation is crucial for physics analysis. Therefore pile-up effects are studied in order to provide a predictable parametrised baseline correction for the Monte Carlo simulation. Physics validation plots, such as trigger rates and turn-on curves are laid out.

Enabling multi-level relevance feedback on PubMed by integrating rank learning into DBMS.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Hwanjo; Kim, Taehoon; Oh, Jinoh; Ko, Ilhwan; Kim, Sungchul; Han, Wook-Shin

2010-04-16

Finding relevant articles from PubMed is challenging because it is hard to express the user's specific intention in the given query interface, and a keyword query typically retrieves a large number of results. Researchers have applied machine learning techniques to find relevant articles by ranking the articles according to the learned relevance function. However, the process of learning and ranking is usually done offline without integrated with the keyword queries, and the users have to provide a large amount of training documents to get a reasonable learning accuracy. This paper proposes a novel multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, called RefMed, which supports both ad-hoc keyword queries and a multi-level relevance feedback in real time on PubMed. RefMed supports a multi-level relevance feedback by using the RankSVM as the learning method, and thus it achieves higher accuracy with less feedback. RefMed "tightly" integrates the RankSVM into RDBMS to support both keyword queries and the multi-level relevance feedback in real time; the tight coupling of the RankSVM and DBMS substantially improves the processing time. An efficient parameter selection method for the RankSVM is also proposed, which tunes the RankSVM parameter without performing validation. Thereby, RefMed achieves a high learning accuracy in real time without performing a validation process. RefMed is accessible at http://dm.postech.ac.kr/refmed. RefMed is the first multi-level relevance feedback system for PubMed, which achieves a high accuracy with less feedback. It effectively learns an accurate relevance function from the user's feedback and efficiently processes the function to return relevant articles in real time.

Activity Sets in Multi-Organizational Ecologies : A Project-Level Perspective on Sustainable Energy Innovations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gerrit Willem Ziggers; Kristina Manser; Bas Hillebrand; Paul Driessen; Josée Bloemer

2014-01-01

Complex innovations involve multi-organizational ecologies consisting of a myriad of different actors. This study investigates how innovation activities can be interpreted in the context of multi-organizational ecologies. Taking a project-level perspective, this study proposes a typology of four

Advanced computational workflow for the multi-scale modeling of the bone metabolic processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Dao, Tien Tuan

2017-06-01

Multi-scale modeling of the musculoskeletal system plays an essential role in the deep understanding of complex mechanisms underlying the biological phenomena and processes such as bone metabolic processes. Current multi-scale models suffer from the isolation of sub-models at each anatomical scale. The objective of this present work was to develop a new fully integrated computational workflow for simulating bone metabolic processes at multi-scale levels. Organ-level model employs multi-body dynamics to estimate body boundary and loading conditions from body kinematics. Tissue-level model uses finite element method to estimate the tissue deformation and mechanical loading under body loading conditions. Finally, cell-level model includes bone remodeling mechanism through an agent-based simulation under tissue loading. A case study on the bone remodeling process located on the human jaw was performed and presented. The developed multi-scale model of the human jaw was validated using the literature-based data at each anatomical level. Simulation outcomes fall within the literature-based ranges of values for estimated muscle force, tissue loading and cell dynamics during bone remodeling process. This study opens perspectives for accurately simulating bone metabolic processes using a fully integrated computational workflow leading to a better understanding of the musculoskeletal system function from multiple length scales as well as to provide new informative data for clinical decision support and industrial applications.

Foot segmental motion and coupling in stage II and III tibialis posterior tendon dysfunction.

Science.gov (United States)

Van de Velde, Maarten; Matricali, Giovanni Arnoldo; Wuite, Sander; Roels, Charlotte; Staes, Filip; Deschamps, Kevin

2017-06-01

Classification systems developed in the field of posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction omit to include dynamic measurements. Since this may negatively affect the selection of the most appropriate treatment modality, studies on foot kinematics are highly recommended. Previous research characterised the foot kinematics in patients with posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction. However, none of the studies analysed foot segmental motion synchrony during stance phase, nor compared the kinematic behaviour of the foot in presence of different posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction stages. Therefore, we aimed at comparing foot segmental motion and coupling in patients with posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction grade 2 and 3 to those of asymptomatic subjects. Foot segmental motion of 11 patients suffering from posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction stage 2, 4 patients with posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction stage 3 and 15 asymptomatic subjects was objectively quantified with the Rizzoli foot model using an instrumented walkway and a 3D passive motion capture system. Dependent variables were the range of motion occurring at the different inter-segment angles during subphases of stance and swing phase as well as the cross-correlation coefficient between a number of segments. Significant differences in range of motion were predominantly found during the forefoot push off phase and swing phase. In general, both patient cohorts demonstrated a reduced range of motion compared to the control group. This hypomobility occurred predominantly in the rearfoot and midfoot (pfoot which should be considered in the decision making process since it may help explaining the success and failure of certain conservative and surgical interventions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Caudal regulates the spatiotemporal dynamics of pair-rule waves in Tribolium.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ezzat El-Sherif

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In the short-germ beetle Tribolium castaneum, waves of pair-rule gene expression propagate from the posterior end of the embryo towards the anterior and eventually freeze into stable stripes, partitioning the anterior-posterior axis into segments. Similar waves in vertebrates are assumed to arise due to the modulation of a molecular clock by a posterior-to-anterior frequency gradient. However, neither a molecular candidate nor a functional role has been identified to date for such a frequency gradient, either in vertebrates or elsewhere. Here we provide evidence that the posterior gradient of Tc-caudal expression regulates the oscillation frequency of pair-rule gene expression in Tribolium. We show this by analyzing the spatiotemporal dynamics of Tc-even-skipped expression in strong and mild knockdown of Tc-caudal, and by correlating the extension, level and slope of the Tc-caudal expression gradient to the spatiotemporal dynamics of Tc-even-skipped expression in wild type as well as in different RNAi knockdowns of Tc-caudal regulators. Further, we show that besides its absolute importance for stripe generation in the static phase of the Tribolium blastoderm, a frequency gradient might serve as a buffer against noise during axis elongation phase in Tribolium as well as vertebrates. Our results highlight the role of frequency gradients in pattern formation.

Tenant Placement Strategies within Multi-Level Large-Scale Shopping Centers

OpenAIRE

Tony Shun-Te Yuo; Colin Lizieri

2013-01-01

This paper argues that tenant placement strategies for large-scale multi-unit shopping centers differ depending on the number of floor levels. Two core strategies are identified: dispersion and departmentalization. There exists a trade-off between three income effects: basic footfall effects, spillover effects, and an effective floor area effect, which varies by the number of floor levels. Departmentalization is favored for centers with more than four floors. Greater spatial complexity also p...

Collaborative-Hybrid Multi-Layer Network Control for Emerging Cyber-Infrastructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lehman, Tom [USC; Ghani, Nasir [UNM; Boyd, Eric [UCAID

2010-08-31

At a high level, there were four basic task areas identified for the Hybrid-MLN project. They are: o Multi-Layer, Multi-Domain, Control Plane Architecture and Implementation, including OSCARS layer2 and InterDomain Adaptation, Integration of LambdaStation and Terapaths with Layer2 dynamic provisioning, Control plane software release, Scheduling, AAA, security architecture, Network Virtualization architecture, Multi-Layer Network Architecture Framework Definition; o Heterogeneous DataPlane Testing; o Simulation; o Project Publications, Reports, and Presentations.

The Integrated Multi-Level Bilingual Teaching of "Social Research Methods"

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yanhan; Ye, Jian

2012-01-01

"Social Research Methods," as a methodology course, combines theories and practices closely. Based on the synergy theory, this paper tries to establish an integrated multi-level bilingual teaching mode. Starting from the transformation of teaching concepts, we should integrate interactions, experiences, and researches together and focus…

Distributed Circumnavigation Control with Dynamic Spacings for a Heterogeneous Multi-robot System

OpenAIRE

Yao, Weijia; Luo, Sha; Lu, Huimin; Xiao, Junhao

2018-01-01

Circumnavigation control is useful in real-world applications such as entrapping a hostile target. In this paper, we consider a heterogeneous multi-robot system where robots have different physical properties, such as maximum movement speeds. Instead of equal-spacings, dynamic spacings according to robots' properties, which are termed utilities in this paper, will be more desirable in a scenario such as target entrapment. A distributed circumnavigation control algorithm based on utilities is ...

49 CFR Figure 2b to Subpart B of... - Example of an Intermediate Level Seating Area of a Multi-Level Car Complying With Window Location...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Example of an Intermediate Level Seating Area of a Multi-Level Car Complying With Window Location Requirements-§§ 238.113 and 238.114 2B Figure 2B to... Intermediate Level Seating Area of a Multi-Level Car Complying With Window Location Requirements—§§ 238.113 and...

49 CFR Figure 2a to Subpart B of... - Example of an Intermediate Level Seating Area of a Multi-Level Car Complying With Window Location...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Example of an Intermediate Level Seating Area of a Multi-Level Car Complying With Window Location Requirements-§§ 238.113 and 238.114 2A Figure 2A to... Intermediate Level Seating Area of a Multi-Level Car Complying With Window Location Requirements—§§ 238.113 and...

Multi-Level Marketing - a Tool of Relationship Marketing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Constantin C.

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to analyse the opportunity of using multi-level marketing (MLM as a tool of relationship marketing. The research is firstly based on an analysis regarding the issues about the legality of MLM techniques in the context of EU and US regulation systems. The outcomes of this research stress the main characteristics of legal network marketing and how a person which wants to become independent distributor could avoid the cooperation with an illegal pyramid scheme. The second research is based on a case study at the level of an insurance broker, which emphasizes the benefits that all parties involved in a transaction (broker, distributor and customer could obtain by using an MLM scheme.

Model Reduction in Co-Rotated Multi-Body Dynamics Based on the Dual Craig-Bampton Method

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weerathunge Kadawathagedara, S.T.; Rixen, D.J.

2011-01-01

A new reduction method for dynamical analsis of multi-body systems is presented in this paper. It fundamentally differs from the ones previously published in the way kinematical constraints are handled. Our approach is based on component mode synthesis, but the specificity of articulated mechanism,

Analysing stakeholder power dynamics in multi-stakeholder processes : insights of practice from Africa and Asia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouwer, J.H.; Hiemstra, W.; Vugt, van S.M.; Walters, H.

2013-01-01

This paper examines different practical methods for stakeholders to analyse power dynamics in multi-stakeholders processes (MSPs), taking into account the ambiguous and uncertain nature of complex adaptive systems. It reflects on an action learning programme which focused on 12 cases in Africa and

Percutaneous vertebroplasty for multi-level osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Gefang; Cheng Yongde; Wu Chungen; Zhang Ji; Gu Yifeng; Li Minghua

2008-01-01

Objective: To prospectively evaluate the clinical efficiency and safety of patients receiving percutaneous vertebroplasty due to multi-level osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to review eighty-six osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture patients including 23 with three and more levels of vertebroplasty. The outcome was considered carefully by pre and postoperatively the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)for pain relief, the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)for the improvement activity of daily life and also the accompanied imaging information. Results: All procedures were performed successfully. Three patients had a transient high blood pressure and dyspnea, and recovered after sublingual nitroglycerin. The VAS and ODI improved from a mean preoperative score of 8.58±1.12 and 81.43 ±12.54 to a mean postoperative score of 3.03±0.98 and 31.04±11.11 one day afterward. Asymptomatic cement leakage rate was 17.8% with no major complications occurred during operation or post-operation. Five patients had new symptomatic vertebral fracture (s) during follow-up in one year. Conclusions: Vertebroplasty with cement to treat multi-level osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures in the elderly is safe and effective, providing immediate and long-term pain relief with improvement in quality of life. Due to the risk of fat embolism, the limitation of three per session must be kept strictly. (authors)

Leveling up? An inter-neighborhood experiment on parochialism and the efficiency of multi-level public goods provision

OpenAIRE

Gallier, Carlo; Goeschl, Timo; Kesternich, Martin; Lohse, Johannes; Reif, Christiane; Römer, Daniel

2017-01-01

Many public goods can be provided at different spatial levels. Evidence from social identity theory and in-group favoritism raises the possibility that where higher-level provision is more efficient, subjects’ narrow concern for local outcomes (parochialism) could harm efficiency. Building on the experimental paradigm of multi-level public good games and the ‘neighborhood attachment’ concept, we conduct an artefactual field experiment with 600 participants in a setting conducive to parochial...

Dynamic Behavior of Nanocomposites Reinforced with Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Yu Lai

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The influence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT on the structural dynamic behavior of MWCNT/epoxy nanocomposites was investigated. Two different types of MWCNTs, pristine MWCNT and functionalized MWCNT, were used in this study. Carboxylic acid-functionalized MWCNTs (MWCNT-COOH were obtained by oxidation pristine MWCNTs via sonication in sulfuric-nitric acid and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR. Dynamic behaviors of the MWCNT reinforced nanocomposite including the natural frequency and damping ratio were determined using free vibration test. Experimental results showed that the damping ratio of the nanocomposite decreases with the increase of the MWCNT addition, while the natural frequency is increasing with the increase of the MWCNT addition. Functionalized MWCNTs improved the interfacial bonding between the nanotubes and epoxy resin resulting in the reduction of the interfacial energy dissipation ability and enhancement of the stiffness.

Endoscopic management of posterior epistaxis.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, J; Kanotra, Sohit Paul; Kanotra, Sonika

2011-04-01

The traditional method of management of posterior epistaxis has been with anteroposterior nasal packing. Apart from the high failure rate of 26-50% reported in various series, nasal packing is associated with marked discomfort and several complications. In order to avoid nasal packing, we started doing endoscopic cauterization in cases of posterior epistaxis. A total of 23 patients with posterior epistaxis were subjected to nasal endoscopy with the intent to stop bleeding by cauterization of the bleeding vessel. Of these, in four cases unsuspected diagnosis was made. Of the remaining 19, in three patients, the bleeding point could not be localized accurately and these patients were managed by anteroposterior packing. The rest of the 16 patients were managed by endoscopic cauterization. In four patients, there was recurrence of bleeding within 24 h. In one of these, cauterization controlled the bleeding while in the rest nasal packing had to be resorted to. Thus, of the 23 patients of posterior epistaxis subjected to nasal endoscopy, we could avoid nasal packing in 17 (74%). To conclude, endoscopic nasal cauterization is recommended as the first line to treatment in all cases of posterior epistaxis. This will not only prevent the uncomfortable and potentially dangerous nasal packing but also help in finding the underlying pathology.

Management of posterior urethral disruption injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Jeremy B; McAninch, Jack W

2009-03-01

Posterior urethral disruption is a traumatic injury to the male urethra, which most often results from pelvic fracture. After trauma, the distraction defect between the two ends of the urethra often scars and becomes fibrotic, blocking the urethra and bladder emptying. Increasing evidence suggests that many posterior urethral disruptions occur at the junction between the membranous urethra and the bulbar urethra, which is distal to the rhabdosphincter. In the acute setting, when a posterior urethral disruption is suspected, retrograde urethrography should be performed. Posterior urethral disruptions can be managed acutely by realignment of the urethra over a urethral catheter or by placement of a suprapubic catheter for bladder drainage only. Once fibrosis has stabilized, the patient can undergo posterior urethroplasty. In most cases, this procedure can be performed via a perineal approach in a single-stage surgery. The results of this single-stage perineal urethroplasty are excellent, and a patent urethra can be re-established in the majority of men who undergo surgery.

A Method to Estimate the Dynamic Displacement and Stress of a Multi-layered Pavement with Bituminous or Concrete Materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng LU

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this research work, a method to estimate the dynamic characteristics of a multilayered pavement with bituminous or concrete materials is proposed. A mechanical model is established to investigate the dynamic displacement and stress of the multi-layered pavement structure. Both the flexible and the rigid pavements, corresponding to bituminous materials and concrete materials, respectively, are studied. The theoretical solutions of the multi-layered pavement structure are deduced considering the compatibility condition at the interface of the structural layers. By introducing FFT (Fast Fourier Transform algorithm, some numerical results are presented. Comparisons of the theoretical and experimental result implied that the proposed method is reasonable in predicting the stress and displacement of a multi-layered pavement with bituminous or concrete materials. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.20.4.6071

Acoustic properties of perforates under high level multi-tone excitation

OpenAIRE

Bodén, Hans

2013-01-01

This paper discusses the effect of high level multi-tone acoustic excitation on the acoustic properties of perforates. It is based on a large experimental study of the nonlinear properties of these types of samples without mean grazing or bias flow. Compared to previously published results the present investigation concentrates on the effect of multiple harmonics. It is known from previous studies that high level acoustic excitation at one frequency will change the acoustic impedance of perfo...

Multi-coupling dynamic model and 3d simulation program for in-situ leaching of uranium mining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan Kaixuan; Zeng Sheng; Sang Xiao; Sun Bing

2010-01-01

The in-situ leaching of uranium mining is a very complicated non-linear dynamic system, which involves couplings and positive/negative feedback among many factors and processes. A comprehensive, coupled multi-factors and processes dynamic model and simulation method was established to study the in-situ leaching of uranium mining. The model accounts for most coupling among various processes as following: (1) rock texture mechanics and its evolution, (2)the incremental stress rheology of rock deformation, (3) 3-D viscoelastic/ plastic multi-deformation processes, (4) hydrofracturing, (5) tensorial (anisotropic) fracture and rock permeability, (6) water-rock interactions and mass-transport (both advective and diffusive), (7) dissolution-induced chemical compaction, (8) multi-phase fluid flow. A 3-D simulation program was compiled based on Fortran and C++. An example illustrating the application of this model to simulating acidification, production and terminal stage of in situ leaching of uranium mining is presented for the some mine in Xinjiang, China. This model and program can be used for theoretical study, mine design, production management, the study of contaminant transport and restoration in groundwater of in-situ leaching of uranium mining. (authors)

Stochastic Rotation Dynamics simulations of wetting multi-phase flows

Science.gov (United States)

Hiller, Thomas; Sanchez de La Lama, Marta; Brinkmann, Martin

2016-06-01

Multi-color Stochastic Rotation Dynamics (SRDmc) has been introduced by Inoue et al. [1,2] as a particle based simulation method to study the flow of emulsion droplets in non-wetting microchannels. In this work, we extend the multi-color method to also account for different wetting conditions. This is achieved by assigning the color information not only to fluid particles but also to virtual wall particles that are required to enforce proper no-slip boundary conditions. To extend the scope of the original SRDmc algorithm to e.g. immiscible two-phase flow with viscosity contrast we implement an angular momentum conserving scheme (SRD+mc). We perform extensive benchmark simulations to show that a mono-phase SRDmc fluid exhibits bulk properties identical to a standard SRD fluid and that SRDmc fluids are applicable to a wide range of immiscible two-phase flows. To quantify the adhesion of a SRD+mc fluid in contact to the walls we measure the apparent contact angle from sessile droplets in mechanical equilibrium. For a further verification of our wettability implementation we compare the dewetting of a liquid film from a wetting stripe to experimental and numerical studies of interfacial morphologies on chemically structured surfaces.

Multi-photon UV photolysis of gaseous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Extinction spectra and dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walsh, A. J.; Gash, E. W.; Mansfield, M. W. D. [Physics Department, University College Cork, Cork (Ireland); Ruth, A. A. [Physics Department, University College Cork, Cork (Ireland); Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork (Ireland)

2013-08-07

The extinction spectra of static naphthalene and static biphenylene vapor, each buffered with a noble gas at room temperature, were measured as a function of time in the region between 390 and 850 nm after UV multi-photon laser photolysis at 308 nm. Employing incoherent broadband cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (IBBCEAS), the spectra were found to be unstructured with a general lack of isolated features suggesting that the extinction was not solely based on absorption but was in fact dominated by scattering from particles formed in the photolysis of the respective polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Following UV multi-photon photolysis, the extinction dynamics of the static (unstirred) closed gas-phase system exhibits extraordinary quasi-periodic and complex oscillations with periods ranging from seconds to many minutes, persisting for up to several hours. Depending on buffer gas type and pressure, several types of dynamical responses could be generated (classified as types I, II, and III). They were studied as a function of temperature and chamber volume for different experimental conditions and possible explanations for the oscillations are discussed. A conclusive model for the observed phenomena has not been established. However, a number of key hypotheses have made based on the measurements in this publication: (a) Following the multi-photon UV photolysis of naphthalene (or biphenylene), particles are formed on a timescale not observable using IBBCEAS. (b) The observed temporal behavior cannot be described on basis of a chemical reaction scheme alone. (c) The pressure dependence of the system's responses is due to transport phenomena of particles in the chamber. (d) The size distribution and the refractive indices of particles are time dependent and evolve on a timescale of minutes to hours. The rate of particle coagulation, involving coalescent growth and particle agglomeration, affects the observed oscillations. (e) The walls of the chamber act as a

Tibialis posterior in health and disease: a review of structure and function with specific reference to electromyographic studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Woodburn James

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Tibialis posterior has a vital role during gait as the primary dynamic stabiliser of the medial longitudinal arch; however, the muscle and tendon are prone to dysfunction with several conditions. We present an overview of tibialis posterior muscle and tendon anatomy with images from cadaveric work on fresh frozen limbs and a review of current evidence that define normal and abnormal tibialis posterior muscle activation during gait. A video is available that demonstrates ultrasound guided intra-muscular insertion techniques for tibialis posterior electromyography. Current electromyography literature indicates tibialis posterior intensity and timing during walking is variable in healthy adults and has a disease-specific activation profile among different pathologies. Flat-arched foot posture and tibialis posterior tendon dysfunction are associated with greater tibialis posterior muscle activity during stance phase, compared to normal or healthy participants, respectively. Cerebral palsy is associated with four potentially abnormal profiles during the entire gait cycle; however it is unclear how these profiles are defined as these studies lack control groups that characterise electromyographic activity from developmentally normal children. Intervention studies show antipronation taping to significantly decrease tibialis posterior muscle activation during walking compared to barefoot, although this research is based on only four participants. However, other interventions such as foot orthoses and footwear do not appear to systematically effect muscle activation during walking or running, respectively. This review highlights deficits in current evidence and provides suggestions for the future research agenda.

Delayed Single Stage Perineal Posterior Urethroplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Shahzad; Shahnawaz; Shahzad, Iqbal; Baloch, Muhammad Umar

2015-06-01

To determine the delayed single stage perineal posterior urethroplasty for treatment of posterior urethral stricture/distraction defect. Descriptive case series. Department of Urology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, from January 2009 to December 2011. Patients were selected for delayed single stage perineal posterior urethroplasty for treatment of posterior urethral stricture / distraction defect. All were initially suprapubically catheterized followed by definitive surgery after at least 3 months. Thirty male patients were analyzed with a mean follow-up of 10 months, 2 patients were excluded as they developed failure in first 3 months postoperatively. Mean patient's age was 26.25 ± 7.9 years. On follow-up, 7 patients (23.3%) experienced recurrent stricture during first 10 months. Five (16.6%) patients were treated successfully with single direct visual internal urethrotomy. Two patients (6.6%) had more than one direct visual internal urethrotomy and considered failed. Re-do perineal urethroplasty was eventually performed. The overall success rate was 93.3% with permissive criteria allowing single direct visual internal urethrotomy and 76.6% with strict criteria allowing no more procedures postoperatively. Posterior anastomotic urethroplasty offers excellent long-term results to patients with posterior urethral trauma and distraction defect even after multiple prior procedures.

In Good Company? A Multi-Study, Multi-Level Investigation of the Effects of Coworker Relationships on Employee Well-Being

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Lauren S.; Judge, Timothy A.; Halvorsen-Ganepola, Marie D. K.

2010-01-01

Two multi-level studies were conducted to examine the effects of attitudes towards coworkers on daily well-being. Study 1 linked daily levels of coworker satisfaction to job satisfaction and life satisfaction and examined the extent to which job satisfaction mediated the relationship between coworker satisfaction and life satisfaction among 33…

Hematomas na fossa craniana posterior Haematomata in the posterior fossa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mário S. Cademartori

1969-09-01

Full Text Available São relatados 6 casos de hematomas sub-tentorias (um de hematoma subdural crônico, quatro de hematomas intra-cerebelares, um de hematoma extra-dural. Salientando a pequena freqüência dos hematomas da fossa craniana posterior, o autor mostra a necessidade de vários exames complementares para o diagnóstico exato, indispensável para a aplicação de terapêutica cirúrgica adequada.Six cases of sub-tentorial haematomata (one chronic sub-dural, four intra-cerebellar, one extra-dural are reported. Emphasizing the relative rarity of haematomata in the posterior cranial fossa, the author claims the necessity of complementary examinations for proper diagnosis, indispensable for adequate surgical treatment.

Graduate Attribute Attainment in a Multi-Level Undergraduate Geography Course

Science.gov (United States)

Mager, Sarah; Spronken-Smith, Rachel

2014-01-01

We investigated students' perceptions of graduate attributes in a multi-level (second and third year) geography course. A case study with mixed methodology was employed, with data collected through focus groups and a survey. We found that undergraduate geography students can identify the skills, knowledge and attributes that are developed through…

Posterior encephalopathy with vasospasm: MRI and angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weidauer, S.; Gaa, J.; Lanfermann, H.; Zanella, F.E.; Sitzer, M.; Hefner, R.

2003-01-01

Posterior encephalopathy is characterised by headache, impairment of consciousness, seizures and progressive visual loss. MRI shows bilateral, predominantly posterior, cortical and subcortical lesions with a distribution. Our aim was to analyse the MRI lesion pattern and angiographic findings because the pathophysiology of posterior encephalopathy is incompletely understood. We report three patients with clinical and imaging findings consistent with posterior encephalopathy who underwent serial MRI including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and construction of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps, and four-vessel digital subtraction angiography (DSA). DWI revealed symmetrical subcortical and cortical parieto-occipital high signal. High and also low ADCs indicated probable vasogenic and cytotoxic oedema. On follow-up there was focal cortical laminar necrosis, while the white-matter lesions resolved almost completely, except in the arterial border zones. DSA revealed diffuse arterial narrowing, slightly more marked in the posterior circulation. These findings suggest that posterior encephalopathy may in some cases be due to diffuse, severe vasospasm affecting especially in the parieto-occipital grey matter, with its higher vulnerability to ischemia. Cerebral vasospasm due to digitoxin intoxication, resulting in posterior encephalopathy, has not yet been described previously. (orig.)

Innovation in Multi-Level Governance for Energy Efficiency. Sharing experience with multi-level governance to enhance energy efficiency. Information paper

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jollands, Nigel; Gasc, Emilien; Pasquier, Sara Bryan

2009-12-15

Despite creating a plethora of national and international regulations and voluntary programmes to improve energy efficiency, countries are far from achieving full energy efficiency potential across all sectors of the economy. One major challenge, among numerous barriers, is policy implementation. One strategy that many national governments and international organisations have used to address the implementation issue is to engage regional and local authorities. To that end, many programmes have been created that foster energy efficiency action and collaboration across levels of government. The aim of this report is to identify trends and detail recent developments in multi-level governance in energy efficiency (MLGEE). By sharing lessons learned from daily practitioners in the field, the IEA hopes energy efficiency policy makers at all levels of government will be able to identify useful multilevel governance (MLG) practices across geographical and political contexts and use these to design robust programmes; modify existing programmes, and connect and share experiences with other policy makers in this field.

Agent-based model with multi-level herding for complex financial systems

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jun-Jie; Tan, Lei; Zheng, Bo

2015-02-01

In complex financial systems, the sector structure and volatility clustering are respectively important features of the spatial and temporal correlations. However, the microscopic generation mechanism of the sector structure is not yet understood. Especially, how to produce these two features in one model remains challenging. We introduce a novel interaction mechanism, i.e., the multi-level herding, in constructing an agent-based model to investigate the sector structure combined with volatility clustering. According to the previous market performance, agents trade in groups, and their herding behavior comprises the herding at stock, sector and market levels. Further, we propose methods to determine the key model parameters from historical market data, rather than from statistical fitting of the results. From the simulation, we obtain the sector structure and volatility clustering, as well as the eigenvalue distribution of the cross-correlation matrix, for the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges. These properties are in agreement with the empirical ones. Our results quantitatively reveal that the multi-level herding is the microscopic generation mechanism of the sector structure, and provide new insight into the spatio-temporal interactions in financial systems at the microscopic level.

One-stage posterior approaches for treatment of thoracic spinal infection: Transforaminal and costotransversectomy, compared with anterior approach with posterior instrumentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kao, Fu-Cheng; Tsai, Tsung-Ting; Niu, Chi-Chien; Lai, Po-Liang; Chen, Lih-Huei; Chen, Wen-Jer

2017-10-01

Treating thoracic infective spondylodiscitis with anterior surgical approaches carry a relatively high risk of perioperative and postoperative complications. Posterior approaches have been reported to result in lower complication rates than anterior procedures, but more evidence is needed to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of 1-stage posterior approaches for treating infectious thoracic spondylodiscitis.Preoperative and postoperative clinical data, of 18 patients who underwent 2 types of 1-stage posterior procedures, costotransversectomy and transforaminal thoracic interbody debridement and fusion and 7 patients who underwent anterior debridement and reconstruction with posterior instrumentation, were retrospectively assessed.The clinical outcomes of patients treated with 1-stage posterior approaches were generally good, with good infection control, back pain relief, kyphotic angle correction, and either partial or solid union for fusion status. Furthermore, they achieved shorter surgical time, fewer postoperative complications, and shorter hospital stay than the patients underwent anterior debridement with posterior instrumentation.The results suggested that treating thoracic spondylodiscitis with a single-stage posterior approach might prevent postoperative complications and avoid respiratory problems associated with anterior approaches. Single-stage posterior approaches would be recommended for thoracic spine infection, especially for patients with medical comorbidities.

[Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome after neurosurgery: A literature review].

Science.gov (United States)

Durán Paz, S; Moreno Casanova, I; Benatar-Haserfaty, J

2015-12-01

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome is a clinical-radiological characterized by decreased level of consciousness, seizures, and visual disturbances, as well as radiologically ras brain edema, predominantly in parieto-occipital white matter regions. There are many situations that can trigger the disorder, including the administration of immunosuppressants, chemotherapy agents, hypertensive disorders, and sepsis. The case is described of a patient diagnosed with stage IV prostate adenocarcinoma, receiving chemotherapy, andundergoing a posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome after surgery for resection of brain metastasis. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Cellular Particle Dynamics simulation of biomechanical relaxation processes of multi-cellular systems

Science.gov (United States)

McCune, Matthew; Kosztin, Ioan

2013-03-01

Cellular Particle Dynamics (CPD) is a theoretical-computational-experimental framework for describing and predicting the time evolution of biomechanical relaxation processes of multi-cellular systems, such as fusion, sorting and compression. In CPD, cells are modeled as an ensemble of cellular particles (CPs) that interact via short range contact interactions, characterized by an attractive (adhesive interaction) and a repulsive (excluded volume interaction) component. The time evolution of the spatial conformation of the multicellular system is determined by following the trajectories of all CPs through numerical integration of their equations of motion. Here we present CPD simulation results for the fusion of both spherical and cylindrical multi-cellular aggregates. First, we calibrate the relevant CPD model parameters for a given cell type by comparing the CPD simulation results for the fusion of two spherical aggregates to the corresponding experimental results. Next, CPD simulations are used to predict the time evolution of the fusion of cylindrical aggregates. The latter is relevant for the formation of tubular multi-cellular structures (i.e., primitive blood vessels) created by the novel bioprinting technology. Work supported by NSF [PHY-0957914]. Computer time provided by the University of Missouri Bioinformatics Consortium.

Protein complexes and cholesterol in the control of late endosomal dynamicsCholesterol and multi-protein complexes in the control of late endosomal dynamics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kant, Rik Henricus Nicolaas van der

2013-01-01

Late endosomal transport is disrupted in several diseases such as Niemann-Pick type C, ARC syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease. This thesis describes the regulation of late endosomal dynamics by cholesterol and multi-protein complexes. We find that cholesterol acts as a cellular tomtom that steers the

Theoretical and algorithmic advances in multi-parametric programming and control

KAUST Repository

Pistikopoulos, Efstratios N.; Dominguez, Luis; Panos, Christos; Kouramas, Konstantinos; Chinchuluun, Altannar

2012-01-01

This paper presents an overview of recent theoretical and algorithmic advances, and applications in the areas of multi-parametric programming and explicit/multi-parametric model predictive control (mp-MPC). In multi-parametric programming, advances include areas such as nonlinear multi-parametric programming (mp-NLP), bi-level programming, dynamic programming and global optimization for multi-parametric mixed-integer linear programming problems (mp-MILPs). In multi-parametric/explicit MPC (mp-MPC), advances include areas such as robust multi-parametric control, multi-parametric nonlinear MPC (mp-NMPC) and model reduction in mp-MPC. A comprehensive framework for multi-parametric programming and control is also presented. Recent applications include a hydrogen storage device, a fuel cell power generation system, an unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) and a hybrid pressure swing adsorption (PSA) system. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

Theoretical and algorithmic advances in multi-parametric programming and control

KAUST Repository

Pistikopoulos, Efstratios N.

2012-04-21

This paper presents an overview of recent theoretical and algorithmic advances, and applications in the areas of multi-parametric programming and explicit/multi-parametric model predictive control (mp-MPC). In multi-parametric programming, advances include areas such as nonlinear multi-parametric programming (mp-NLP), bi-level programming, dynamic programming and global optimization for multi-parametric mixed-integer linear programming problems (mp-MILPs). In multi-parametric/explicit MPC (mp-MPC), advances include areas such as robust multi-parametric control, multi-parametric nonlinear MPC (mp-NMPC) and model reduction in mp-MPC. A comprehensive framework for multi-parametric programming and control is also presented. Recent applications include a hydrogen storage device, a fuel cell power generation system, an unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) and a hybrid pressure swing adsorption (PSA) system. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

Multi-Objective Emergency Material Vehicle Dispatching and Routing under Dynamic Constraints in an Earthquake Disaster Environment

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Jincheng Jiang

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Emergency material vehicle dispatching and routing (EMVDR is an important task in emergency relief after large-scale earthquake disasters. However, EMVDR is subject to dynamic disaster environment, with uncertainty surrounding elements such as the transportation network and relief materials. Accurate and dynamic emergency material dispatching and routing is difficult. This paper proposes an effective and efficient multi-objective multi-dynamic-constraint emergency material vehicle dispatching and routing model. Considering travel time, road capacity, and material supply and demand, the proposed EMVDR model is to deliver emergency materials from multiple emergency material depositories to multiple disaster points while satisfying the objectives of maximizing transport efficiency and minimizing the difference of material urgency degrees among multiple disaster points at any one time. Furthermore, a continuous-time dynamic network flow method is developed to solve this complicated model. The collected data from Ludian earthquake were used to conduct our experiments in the post-quake and the results demonstrate that: (1 the EMVDR model adapts to the dynamic disaster environment very well; (2 considering the difference of material urgency degree, the material loss ratio is −10.7%, but the variance of urgency degree decreases from 2.39 to 0.37; (3 the EMVDR model shows good performance in time and space, which allows for decisions to be made nearly in real time. This paper can provide spatial decision-making support for emergency material relief in large-scale earthquake disasters.

Analysis of Harmonic Injection to the Modulation of Multi-Level ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper explores the analysis of third and ninth harmonic injection to the modulation of a multilevel diode clamped converter (DCC) at a varying modulation index. The spectral distributions of the various multi-level waveforms obtained under normal modulation index of 0.8 and over modulation index of 1.15 were ...

The Dynamic Photometric Stereo Method Using a Multi-Tap CMOS Image Sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoda, Takuya; Nagahara, Hajime; Taniguchi, Rin-Ichiro; Kagawa, Keiichiro; Yasutomi, Keita; Kawahito, Shoji

2018-03-05

The photometric stereo method enables estimation of surface normals from images that have been captured using different but known lighting directions. The classical photometric stereo method requires at least three images to determine the normals in a given scene. However, this method cannot be applied to dynamic scenes because it is assumed that the scene remains static while the required images are captured. In this work, we present a dynamic photometric stereo method for estimation of the surface normals in a dynamic scene. We use a multi-tap complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor to capture the input images required for the proposed photometric stereo method. This image sensor can divide the electrons from the photodiode from a single pixel into the different taps of the exposures and can thus capture multiple images under different lighting conditions with almost identical timing. We implemented a camera lighting system and created a software application to enable estimation of the normal map in real time. We also evaluated the accuracy of the estimated surface normals and demonstrated that our proposed method can estimate the surface normals of dynamic scenes.

Trends Analysis of rhBMP Utilization in Single-Level Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Lao, Lifeng; Cohen, Jeremiah R; Buser, Zorica; Brodke, Darrel S; Youssef, Jim A; Park, Jong-Beom; Yoon, S Tim; Wang, Jeffrey C; Meisel, Hans-Joerg

2017-10-01

Retrospective study. Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) has been widely used in spinal fusion surgery, but there is little information on rhBMP-2 utilization in single-level posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF). The purpose of our study was to evaluate the trends and demographics of rhBMP-2 utilization in single-level PLIF. Patients who underwent single-level PLIF from 2005 to 2011 were identified by searching ICD-9 diagnosis and procedure codes in the PearlDiver Patient Records Database, a national database of orthopedic insurance records. The year of procedure, age, gender, and region of the United States were recorded for each patient. Results were reported for each variable as the incidence of procedures identified per 100 000 patients searched in the database. A total of 2735 patients had single-level PLIF. The average rate of single-level PLIF with rhBMP-2 maintained at a relatively stable level (28% to 31%) from 2005 to 2009, but decreased in 2010 (9.9%) and 2011 (11.8%). The overall incidence of single-level PLIF without rhBMP-2 (0.68 cases per 100 000 patients) was statistically higher ( P level PLIF with rhBMP-2 (0.21 cases per 100 000 patients). The average rate of single-level PLIF with rhBMP-2 utilization was the highest in West (30.1%), followed by Midwest (26.9%), South (20.5%), and Northeast (17.8%). The highest incidence of single-level PLIF with rhBMP-2 was observed in the age group level PLIF. There was a 3-fold increase in the rate of PLIF without rhBMP-2 compared to PLIF with rhBMP-2, with both procedures being mainly done in patients less than 65 years of age.

Prefrontal, posterior parietal and sensorimotor network activity underlying speed control during walking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas C Bulea

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Accumulating evidence suggests cortical circuits may contribute to control of human locomotion. Here, noninvasive electroencephalography (EEG recorded from able-bodied volunteers during a novel treadmill walking paradigm was used to assess neural correlates of walking. A systematic processing method, including a recently developed subspace reconstruction algorithm, reduced movement-related EEG artifact prior to independent component analysis and dipole source localization. We quantified cortical activity while participants tracked slow and fast target speeds across two treadmill conditions: an active mode that adjusted belt speed based on user movements and a passive mode reflecting a typical treadmill. Our results reveal frequency specific, multi-focal task related changes in cortical oscillations elicited by active walking. Low γ band power, localized to the prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices, was significantly increased during double support and early swing phases, critical points in the gait cycle since the active controller adjusted speed based on pelvis position and swing foot velocity. These phasic γ band synchronizations provide evidence that prefrontal and posterior parietal networks, previously implicated in visuo-spatial and somotosensory integration, are engaged to enhance lower limb control during gait. Sustained μ and β band desynchronization within sensorimotor cortex, a neural correlate for movement, was observed during walking thereby validating our methods for isolating cortical activity. Our results also demonstrate the utility of EEG recorded during locomotion for probing the multi-regional cortical networks which underpin its execution. For example, the cortical network engagement elicited by the active treadmill suggests that it may enhance neuroplasticity for more effective motor training.

Fatal atypical reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome: a case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Golombeck Stefanie Kristin

2013-01-01

admission the patient showed a rapidly decreasing level of consciousness, extension and flexion synergisms, bilaterally extensor plantar responses and rapid cardiopulmonary decompensation requiring ventilatory and cardiocirculatory support. Follow-up cerebral imaging demonstrated widespread and confluent cytotoxic edematous lesions in different arterial territories, global cerebral swelling, and subsequent upper and lower brainstem herniation. Four days after admission, the patient was declared dead because of brain death. Conclusion This case demonstrates that fulminant and fatal reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome may occur spontaneously, that is, in the absence of any of the known predisposing systemic conditions.

Stochastic partial differential fluid equations as a diffusive limit of deterministic Lagrangian multi-time dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Cotter, C J; Gottwald, G A; Holm, D D

2017-09-01

In Holm (Holm 2015 Proc. R. Soc. A 471 , 20140963. (doi:10.1098/rspa.2014.0963)), stochastic fluid equations were derived by employing a variational principle with an assumed stochastic Lagrangian particle dynamics. Here we show that the same stochastic Lagrangian dynamics naturally arises in a multi-scale decomposition of the deterministic Lagrangian flow map into a slow large-scale mean and a rapidly fluctuating small-scale map. We employ homogenization theory to derive effective slow stochastic particle dynamics for the resolved mean part, thereby obtaining stochastic fluid partial equations in the Eulerian formulation. To justify the application of rigorous homogenization theory, we assume mildly chaotic fast small-scale dynamics, as well as a centring condition. The latter requires that the mean of the fluctuating deviations is small, when pulled back to the mean flow.

Design of shared unit-dose drug distribution network using multi-level particle swarm optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Linjie; Monteiro, Thibaud; Wang, Tao; Marcon, Eric

2018-03-01

Unit-dose drug distribution systems provide optimal choices in terms of medication security and efficiency for organizing the drug-use process in large hospitals. As small hospitals have to share such automatic systems for economic reasons, the structure of their logistic organization becomes a very sensitive issue. In the research reported here, we develop a generalized multi-level optimization method - multi-level particle swarm optimization (MLPSO) - to design a shared unit-dose drug distribution network. Structurally, the problem studied can be considered as a type of capacitated location-routing problem (CLRP) with new constraints related to specific production planning. This kind of problem implies that a multi-level optimization should be performed in order to minimize logistic operating costs. Our results show that with the proposed algorithm, a more suitable modeling framework, as well as computational time savings and better optimization performance are obtained than that reported in the literature on this subject.

Stochastic identification of temperature effects on the dynamics of a smart composite beam: assessment of multi-model and global model approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hios, J D; Fassois, S D

2009-01-01

The temperature effects on the dynamics of a smart composite beam are experimentally studied via conventional multi-model and novel global model identification approaches. The multi-model approaches are based on non-parametric and parametric VARX representations, whereas the global model approaches are based on novel constant coefficient pooled (CCP) and functionally pooled (FP) VARX parametric representations. The analysis indicates that the obtained multi-model and global model representations are in rough overall agreement. Nevertheless, the latter simultaneously use all available data records offering more compact descriptions of the dynamics, improved numerical robustness and estimation accuracy, which is reflected in significantly reduced modal parameter uncertainties. Although the CCP-VARX representations provide only 'averaged' descriptions of the structural dynamics over temperature, their FP-VARX counterparts allow for the explicit, analytical modeling of temperature dependence exhibiting a 'smooth' deterministic dependence of the dynamics on temperature which is compatible with the physics of the problem. In accordance with previous studies, the obtained natural frequencies decrease with temperature in a weakly nonlinear or approximately linear fashion. The damping factors are less affected, although their dependence on temperature may be of a potentially more complex nature

Evaluating the reliability of multi-body mechanisms: A method considering the uncertainties of dynamic performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Jianing; Yan, Shaoze; Zuo, Ming J.

2016-01-01

Mechanism reliability is defined as the ability of a certain mechanism to maintain output accuracy under specified conditions. Mechanism reliability is generally assessed by the classical direct probability method (DPM) derived from the first order second moment (FOSM) method. The DPM relies strongly on the analytical form of the dynamic solution so it is not applicable to multi-body mechanisms that have only numerical solutions. In this paper, an indirect probability model (IPM) is proposed for mechanism reliability evaluation of multi-body mechanisms. IPM combines the dynamic equation, degradation function and Kaplan–Meier estimator to evaluate mechanism reliability comprehensively. Furthermore, to reduce the amount of computation in practical applications, the IPM is simplified into the indirect probability step model (IPSM). A case study of a crank–slider mechanism with clearance is investigated. Results show that relative errors between the theoretical and experimental results of mechanism reliability are less than 5%, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method. - Highlights: • An indirect probability model (IPM) is proposed for mechanism reliability evaluation. • The dynamic equation, degradation function and Kaplan–Meier estimator are used. • Then the simplified form of indirect probability model is proposed. • The experimental results agree well with the predicted results.

Regulatory networks, legal federalism, and multi-level regulatory systems

OpenAIRE

Kerber, Wolfgang; Wendel, Julia

2016-01-01

Transnational regulatory networks play important roles in multi-level regulatory regimes, as e.g, the European Union. In this paper we analyze the role of regulatory networks from the perspective of the economic theory of legal federalism. Often sophisticated intermediate institutional solutions between pure centralisation and pure decentralisation can help to solve complex tradeoff problems between the benefits and problems of centralised and decentralised solutions. Drawing upon the insight...

Delayed Single Stage Perineal Posterior Urethroplasty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, S.; Shahnawaz; Shahzad, I.; Baloch, M. U.

2015-01-01

Objective: To determine the delayed single stage perineal posterior urethroplasty for treatment of posterior urethral stricture/distraction defect. Study Design: Descriptive case series. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Urology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, from January 2009 to December 2011. Methodology: Patients were selected for delayed single stage perineal posterior urethroplasty for treatment of posterior urethral stricture / distraction defect. All were initially suprapubically catheterized followed by definitive surgery after at least 3 months. Results: Thirty male patients were analyzed with a mean follow-up of 10 months, 2 patients were excluded as they developed failure in first 3 months postoperatively. Mean patients age was 26.25 ± 7.9 years. On follow-up, 7 patients (23.3 percentage) experienced recurrent stricture during first 10 months. Five (16.6 percentage) patients were treated successfully with single direct visual internal urethrotomy. Two patients (6.6 percentage) had more than one direct visual internal urethrotomy and considered failed. Re-do perineal urethroplasty was eventually performed. The overall success rate was 93.3 percentage with permissive criteria allowing single direct visual internal urethrotomy and 76.6% with strict criteria allowing no more procedures postoperatively. Conclusion: Posterior anastomotic urethroplasty offers excellent long-term results to patients with posterior urethral trauma and distraction defect even after multiple prior procedures. (author)

Development of Constraint Force Equation Methodology for Application to Multi-Body Dynamics Including Launch Vehicle Stage Seperation

Science.gov (United States)

Pamadi, Bandu N.; Toniolo, Matthew D.; Tartabini, Paul V.; Roithmayr, Carlos M.; Albertson, Cindy W.; Karlgaard, Christopher D.

2016-01-01

The objective of this report is to develop and implement a physics based method for analysis and simulation of multi-body dynamics including launch vehicle stage separation. The constraint force equation (CFE) methodology discussed in this report provides such a framework for modeling constraint forces and moments acting at joints when the vehicles are still connected. Several stand-alone test cases involving various types of joints were developed to validate the CFE methodology. The results were compared with ADAMS(Registered Trademark) and Autolev, two different industry standard benchmark codes for multi-body dynamic analysis and simulations. However, these two codes are not designed for aerospace flight trajectory simulations. After this validation exercise, the CFE algorithm was implemented in Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II (POST2) to provide a capability to simulate end-to-end trajectories of launch vehicles including stage separation. The POST2/CFE methodology was applied to the STS-1 Space Shuttle solid rocket booster (SRB) separation and Hyper-X Research Vehicle (HXRV) separation from the Pegasus booster as a further test and validation for its application to launch vehicle stage separation problems. Finally, to demonstrate end-to-end simulation capability, POST2/CFE was applied to the ascent, orbit insertion, and booster return of a reusable two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) vehicle concept. With these validation exercises, POST2/CFE software can be used for performing conceptual level end-to-end simulations, including launch vehicle stage separation, for problems similar to those discussed in this report.

Just how multi-level is leadership research? : A document co-citation analysis 1980–2013 on leadership constructs and outcomes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Batistic, S.; Cerne, Matej; Vogel, Bernd

2017-01-01

The use of multi-level theories and methodologies in leadership has gained momentum in recent years. However, the leadership field still suffers from a fragmented and unclear evolution and practice of multi-level approaches. The questions of how and to what extent multi-level research has evolved in

Learning Natural Selection in 4th Grade with Multi-Agent-Based Computational Models

Science.gov (United States)

Dickes, Amanda Catherine; Sengupta, Pratim

2013-01-01

In this paper, we investigate how elementary school students develop multi-level explanations of population dynamics in a simple predator-prey ecosystem, through scaffolded interactions with a multi-agent-based computational model (MABM). The term "agent" in an MABM indicates individual computational objects or actors (e.g., cars), and these…

Developing the multi-level functioning interface framework for DER models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Han, Xue; Bindner, Henrik W.; You, Shi

2013-01-01

The paper summarises several modelling applications of distributed energy resources (DERs) for various purposes, and describes the related operational issues regarding the complexity of the future distribution grid. Furthermore, a multi-level functioning interface framework is proposed for DER mo....... The information mapping for photovoltaic panel (PV) modelling is also provided as an example....

Enhancement tuning and control for high dynamic range images in multi-scale locally adaptive contrast enhancement algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Cvetkovic, Sascha D.; Schirris, Johan; de With, Peter H. N.

2009-01-01

For real-time imaging in surveillance applications, visibility of details is of primary importance to ensure customer confidence. If we display High Dynamic-Range (HDR) scenes whose contrast spans four or more orders of magnitude on a conventional monitor without additional processing, results are unacceptable. Compression of the dynamic range is therefore a compulsory part of any high-end video processing chain because standard monitors are inherently Low- Dynamic Range (LDR) devices with maximally two orders of display dynamic range. In real-time camera processing, many complex scenes are improved with local contrast enhancements, bringing details to the best possible visibility. In this paper, we show how a multi-scale high-frequency enhancement scheme, in which gain is a non-linear function of the detail energy, can be used for the dynamic range compression of HDR real-time video camera signals. We also show the connection of our enhancement scheme to the processing way of the Human Visual System (HVS). Our algorithm simultaneously controls perceived sharpness, ringing ("halo") artifacts (contrast) and noise, resulting in a good balance between visibility of details and non-disturbance of artifacts. The overall quality enhancement, suitable for both HDR and LDR scenes, is based on a careful selection of the filter types for the multi-band decomposition and a detailed analysis of the signal per frequency band.

Epidural hematomas of posterior fossa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radulović Danilo

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Posterior fossa epidural hematomas represent 7-14% of all traumatic intracranial epidural hematomas. They are most frequently encountered posttraumatic mass lesions in the posterior fossa. The aim of this study was to identify clinical features that could lead to the early diagnosis of posterior fossa epidural hematoma. Methods. Between 1980 and 2002, 28 patients with epidural hematoma of the posterior fossa were operated on at the Institute for Neurosurgery, Belgrade. Clinical course neuroradiological investigations, and the results of surgical treatment of the patients with posterior fossa epidural hematomas were analyzed retrospectively. Results. Almost two thirds of patients were younger than 16 years of age. In 20 cases injury was caused by a fall, in 6 cases by a traffic accident, and in 2 by the assault. Clinical course was subacute or chronic in two thirds of the patients. On the admission Glasgow Coma Scale was 7 or less in 9 injured, 8-14 in 14 injured, and 15 in 5 injured patients. Linear fracture of the occipital bone was radiographically evident in 19 patients, but was intraoperatively encountered in all the patients except for a 4-year old child. In 25 patients the diagnosis was established by computer assisted tomography (CAT and in 3 by vertebral angiography. All the patients were operated on via suboccipital craniotomy. Four injured patients who were preoperatively comatose were with lethal outcome. Postoperatively, 24 patients were with sufficient neurologic recovery. Conclusion. Posterior fossa epidural hematoma should be suspected in cases of occipital injury, consciousness disturbances, and occipital bone fracture. In such cases urgent CAT-scan is recommended. Early recognition early diagnosis, and prompt treatment are crucial for good neurological recovery after surgery.

Distrofia corneana policromática posterior Polychromatic posterior corneal dystrophy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Frensel de Moraes Tzelikis

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Os autores descrevem quatro raros casos de distrofia corneana policromática posterior, ainda não descrito na literatura nacional. Observam-se opacidades puntiformes, policromáticas, de tamanho uniforme, localização estromal profunda, distribuídas de limbo a limbo e que não interferem na acuidade visual. É apresentada uma revisão dos casos de distrofia pré-Descemet existentes na literatura.The authors describe four rare cases of polychromatic posterior corneal dystrophy, not describe in national literature. The opacities are deep in the stroma, dotlike, polychromatic, uniform in size, distributed from limbus to limbus, leading no reduction in visual acuity. It is also presented a bibliographic review of pre-Descemet's dystrophy.

Simulation and Analysis of a Grid Connected Multi-level Converter Topologies and their Comparison

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Shadab Mirza

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents simulation and analysis of a grid connected multi-level converter topologies. In this paper, converter circuit works as an inverter by controlling the switching angle (α. This paper, presents a MATLAB/SIMULINK model of multi-level converter topologies (topology1 & topology2. Topology1 is without transformer while topology2 with transformer. Both the topologies are simulated and analyzed for three level converters in order to reduce the total harmonic distortion (THD. A comparative study of topology1 and topology2 is also presented in this paper for different switching angles (α and battery voltages. The results have been tabulated and discussed.

Cervical disc hernia operations through posterior laminoforaminotomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Yolas, Coskun; Ozdemir, Nuriye Guzin; Okay, Hilmi Onder; Kanat, Ayhan; Senol, Mehmet; Atci, Ibrahim Burak; Yilmaz, Hakan; Coban, Mustafa Kemal; Yuksel, Mehmet Onur; Kahraman, Umit

2016-01-01

The most common used technique for posterolateral cervical disc herniations is anterior approach. However, posterior cervical laminotoforaminomy can provide excellent results in appropriately selected patients with foraminal stenosis in either soft disc prolapse or cervical spondylosis. The purpose of this study was to present the clinical outcomes following posterior laminoforaminotomy in patients with radiculopathy. We retrospectively evaluated 35 patients diagnosed with posterolateral cervical disc herniation and cervical spondylosis with foraminal stenosis causing radiculopathy operated by the posterior cervical keyhole laminoforaminotomy between the years 2010 and 2015. The file records and the radiographic images of the 35 patients were assessed retrospectively. The mean age was 46.4 years (range: 34-66 years). Of the patients, 19 were males and 16 were females. In all of the patients, the neurologic deficit observed was radiculopathy. The posterolaterally localized disc herniations and the osteophytic structures were on the left side in 18 cases and on the right in 17 cases. In 10 of the patients, the disc level was at C5-6, in 18 at C6-7, in 2 at C3-4, in 2 at C4-5, in 1 at C7-T1, in 1 patient at both C5-6 and C6-7, and in 1 at both C4-5 and C5-6. In 14 of these 35 patients, both osteophytic structures and protruded disc herniation were present. Intervertebral foramen stenosis was present in all of the patients with osteophytes. Postoperatively, in 31 patients the complaints were relieved completely and four patients had complaints of neck pain and paresthesia radiating to the arm (the success of operation was 88.5%). On control examinations, there was no finding of instability or cervical kyphosis. Posterior cervical laminoforaminotomy is an alternative appropriate choice in both cervical soft disc herniations and cervical stenosis.

Climate technology transfer at the local, national and global levels: analyzing the relationships between multi-level structures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tessema Abissa, Fisseha; Tessema Abissa, Fisseha

2014-01-01

This thesis examines the relationships between multi-leveled decision structures for climate technology transfer through an analysis of top-down macro-policy and bottom-up micro-implementation. It examines how international climate technology transfer policy under the UNFCCC filters down to the

Dynamic Power Dispatch Considering Electric Vehicles and Wind Power Using Decomposition Based Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boyang Qu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The intermittency of wind power and the large-scale integration of electric vehicles (EVs bring new challenges to the reliability and economy of power system dispatching. In this paper, a novel multi-objective dynamic economic emission dispatch (DEED model is proposed considering the EVs and uncertainties of wind power. The total fuel cost and pollutant emission are considered as the optimization objectives, and the vehicle to grid (V2G power and the conventional generator output power are set as the decision variables. The stochastic wind power is derived by Weibull probability distribution function. Under the premise of meeting the system energy and user’s travel demand, the charging and discharging behavior of the EVs are dynamically managed. Moreover, we propose a two-step dynamic constraint processing strategy for decision variables based on penalty function, and, on this basis, the Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm Based on Decomposition (MOEA/D algorithm is improved. The proposed model and approach are verified by the 10-generator system. The results demonstrate that the proposed DEED model and the improved MOEA/D algorithm are effective and reasonable.

Analysis of Decadal Vegetation Dynamics Using Multi-Scale Satellite Images

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, Y.; Chen, K.

2013-12-01

This study aims at quantifying vegetation fractional cover (VFC) by incorporating multi-resolution satellite images, including Formosat-2(RSI), SPOT(HRV/HRG), Landsat (MSS/TM) and Terra/Aqua(MODIS), to investigate long-term and seasonal vegetation dynamics in Taiwan. We used 40-year NDVI records for derivation of VFC, with field campaigns routinely conducted to calibrate the critical NDVI threshold. Given different sensor capabilities in terms of their spatial and spectral properties, translation and infusion of NDVIs was used to assure NDVI coherence and to determine the fraction of vegetation cover at different spatio-temporal scales. Based on the proposed method, a bimodal sequence of intra-annual VFC which corresponds to the dual-cropping agriculture pattern was observed. Compared to seasonal VFC variation (78~90%), decadal VFC reveals moderate oscillations (81~86%), which were strongly linked with landuse changes and several major disturbances. This time-series mapping of VFC can be used to examine vegetation dynamics and its response associated with short-term and long-term anthropogenic/natural events.

Posterior alien hand syndrome: case report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rohde, S.; Weidauer, S.; Lanfermann, H.; Zanella, F.

2002-01-01

The alien hand syndrome (AHS) is involuntary uncontrolled movement of an arm with a sense of estrangement from the limb itself. AHS was initially used to describe interhemispheric disconnection phenomena in patients with lesions in the anterior corpus callosum, but it has been found in patients with posterior cerebral lesions without involvement of the corpus callosum, for example parietal infarcts or corticobasal degeneration. The posterior alien hand syndrome is less frequent and presents with nonpurposive behaviour like lifting the arm or writhing fingers. We report an 80-year-old woman with a posterior AHS of the dominant right hand. MRI showed atrophy of the pre- and postcentral gyri without involvement of the corpus callosum. We discuss the aetiology of the posterior AHS and the differences from the anterior varieties. (orig.)

Clinical evaluation of patients undergoing dynamic pedicle fixation in lumbar spine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe José Vieira Figueiredo

2015-06-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the preliminary clinical results and complications in patients undergoing dynamic pedicle fixation of the spine in the treatment of a specific group of degenerative lumbar disease.METHODS: In this preliminary retrospective study, we selected 14 patients who underwent surgery from January 2006 to July 2010. We selected only patients with spondylolisthesis without spondylolysis (Grade 1 Meyerding. All patients underwent surgery at one level and the levels mostly addressed were: L3-L4, L4-L5 or L5-S1. The approach was the same in all patients (posterior median approach with preservation of the posterior elements. All patients underwent intense conservative treatment without clinical response and the same research algorithm preoperatively.RESULTS: Retrospective analysis of Oswestry questionnaire after selection and publication of results of 14 patients with Grade 1 spondylolisthesis who underwent dynamic pedicle stabilization in a total of 56 pedicle screws, being all in one level. There was no fracture of any screws, the mean hospital stay was a day and a half, no patient required blood transfusion and there were no cases of infection, with significant improvement in the Oswestry questionnaire.CONCLUSION: In this study, the dynamic pedicle stabilization method proved to be an excellent treatment option when surgical criteria are strictly adhered to. There was an improvement in Oswestry values, lower hospital stay and low rate of complications, consisting of an alternative in motion preservation surgery.

Multi-scale dynamic modeling of atmospheric pollution in urban environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thouron, Laetitia

2017-01-01

Urban air pollution has been identified as an important cause of health impacts, including premature deaths. In particular, ambient concentrations of gaseous pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) are regulated, which means that emission reduction strategies must be put in place to reduce these concentrations in places where the corresponding regulations are not respected. Besides, air pollution can contribute to the contamination of other media, for example through the contribution of atmospheric deposition to runoff contamination. The multifactorial and multi-scale aspects of urban make the pollution sources difficult to identify. Indeed, the urban environment is a heterogeneous space characterized by complex architectural structures (old buildings alongside a more modern building, residential, commercial, industrial zones, roads, etc.), non-uniform atmospheric pollutant emissions and therefore the population exposure to pollution is variable in space and time. The modeling of urban air pollution aims to understand the origin of pollutants, their spatial extent and their concentration/deposition levels. Some pollutants have long residence times and can stay several weeks in the atmosphere (PM2.5) and therefore be transported over long distances, while others are more local (NO x in the vicinity of traffic). The spatial distribution of a pollutant will therefore depend on several factors, and in particular on the surfaces encountered. Air quality depends strongly on weather, buildings (canyon-street) and emissions. The aim of this thesis is to address some of these aspects by modeling: (1) urban background pollution with a transport-chemical model (Polyphemus / POLAIR3D), which makes it possible to estimate atmospheric pollutants by type of urban surfaces (roofs, walls and roadways), (2) street-level pollution by explicitly integrating the effects of the building in a three-dimensional way with a multi-scale model of

Multi level governance framework for sustainable urban mobility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gudmundsson, Henrik

2013-01-01

Cities constitute the backbone of European historic development and provide the basis of its economic future. The near neglect of cities in existing European policies for sustainable growth and development such as the Europe 2020 strategy is untenable. The 2011 White Paper has sought to face...... seem essential to move cities beyond business as usual. Research-wise we need to understand in more detail the political and contextual background for successes - and failures - of European cities. This could help build an effective multi level governance framework for sustainable urban mobility...

Application of the level set method for multi-phase flow computation in fusion engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, X-Y.; Ni, M-J.; Ying, A.; Abdou, M.

2006-01-01

Numerical simulation of multi-phase flow is essential to evaluate the feasibility of a liquid protection scheme for the power plant chamber. The level set method is one of the best methods for computing and analyzing the motion of interface among the multi-phase flow. This paper presents a general formula for the second-order projection method combined with the level set method to simulate unsteady incompressible multi-phase flow with/out phase change flow encountered in fusion science and engineering. The third-order ENO scheme and second-order semi-implicit Crank-Nicholson scheme is used to update the convective and diffusion term. The numerical results show this method can handle the complex deformation of the interface and the effect of liquid-vapor phase change will be included in the future work

Spinal level of myelomeningocele lesion as a contributing factor in posterior fossa volume, intracranial cerebellar volume, and cerebellar ectopia.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Sweeney, Kieron J

2013-02-01

McLone and Knepper\\'s unified theory of Chiari malformation Type II (CM-II) describes how the loss of CSF via the open posterior neuropore fails to create adequate distending pressure for the developing rhomboencephalic vesicle. The authors of the present article describe the relationship between the posterior fossa volume and intracranial cerebellar volume as being related to the distance from the obex of the fourth ventricle to the myelomeningocele lesion using a common mathematical model, the Hagen-Poiseuille law.

Multi-segmental movement patterns reflect juggling complexity and skill level.

Science.gov (United States)

Zago, Matteo; Pacifici, Ilaria; Lovecchio, Nicola; Galli, Manuela; Federolf, Peter Andreas; Sforza, Chiarella

2017-08-01

The juggling action of six experts and six intermediates jugglers was recorded with a motion capture system and decomposed into its fundamental components through Principal Component Analysis. The aim was to quantify trends in movement dimensionality, multi-segmental patterns and rhythmicity as a function of proficiency level and task complexity. Dimensionality was quantified in terms of Residual Variance, while the Relative Amplitude was introduced to account for individual differences in movement components. We observed that: experience-related modifications in multi-segmental actions exist, such as the progressive reduction of error-correction movements, especially in complex task condition. The systematic identification of motor patterns sensitive to the acquisition of specific experience could accelerate the learning process. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Small Area and Individual Level Predictors of Physical Activity in Urban Communities: A Multi-Level Study in Stoke on Trent, England

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hilde Stephansen

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Reducing population physical inactivity has been declared a global public health priority. We report a detailed multi-level analysis of small area indices and individual factors as correlates of physical activity in deprived urban areas. Multi-level regression analysis was used to investigate environmental and individual correlates of physical activity. Nine individual factors were retained in the overall model, two related to individual intentions or beliefs, three to access to shops, work or fast food outlets and two to weather; age and gender being the other two. Four area level indices related to: traffic, road casualties, criminal damage and access to green space were important in explaining variation in physical activity.

Dynamic Multi-team Antagonistic Games Model with Incomplete Information and Its Application to Multi-UAV

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Wenzhong Zha; Jie Chen; Zhihong Peng

2015-01-01

At present, the studies on multi-team antagonistic games(MTAGs) are still in the early stage, because this complicated problem involves not only incompleteness of information and conflict of interests, but also selection of antagonistic targets.Therefore, based on the previous researches, a new framework is proposed in this paper, which is dynamic multi-team antagonistic games with incomplete information(DMTAGII) model.For this model, the corresponding concept of perfect Bayesian Nash equilibrium(PBNE) is established and the existence of PBNE is also proved. Besides, an interactive iteration algorithm is introduced according to the idea of the best response for solving the equilibrium. Then, the scenario of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs) against multiple military targets is studied to solve the problems of tactical decision making based on the DMTAGII model. In the process of modeling, the specific expressions of strategy, status and payoff functions of the games are considered, and the strategy is coded to match the structure of genetic algorithm so that the PBNE can be solved by combining the genetic algorithm and the interactive iteration algorithm.Finally, through the simulation the feasibility and effectiveness of the DMTAGII model are verified. Meanwhile, the calculated equilibrium strategies are also found to be realistic, which can provide certain references for improving the autonomous ability of UAV systems.

Study of multi-level atomic systems with the application of magnetic field

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jianping; Roy, Subhankar; Ummal Momeen, M.

2018-04-01

The complexity of multiple energy levels associated with each atomic system determines the various processes related to light- matter interactions. It is necessary to understand the influence of different levels in a given atomic system. In this work we focus on multi- level atomic schemes with the application of magnetic field. We analyze the different EIT windows which appears in the presence of moderately high magnetic field (∼ 10 G) strength.

Multi-Stakeholder Dynamic Optimization Framework for System-of-Systems Development and Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Zhemei

Architecture design for an "acknowledged" System-of-Systems (SoS), under performance uncertainty and constrained resources, remains a difficult problem. Composing an SoS via a proper mix of systems under the special control structure of an "acknowledged" SoS requires efficient distribution of the limited resources. However, due to the special traits of SoS, achieving an efficient distribution of the resources is not a trivial challenge. Currently, the major causes that lead to inefficient resource management for an "acknowledged" SoS include: 1) no central SoS managers with absolute authority to address conflict; 2) difficult balance between current and future decisions; 3) various uncertainties during development and operations (e.g., technology maturation, policy stability); 4) diverse sources of the resources; 5) high complexity in efficient formulation and computation due to the previous four factors. Although it is beyond the scope of this dissertation to simultaneously address all the five items, the thesis will focus on the first, second, and fifth points, and partially cover the third point. In a word, the dissertation aims to develop a generic framework for "acknowledged" SoS that leads to appropriate mathematical formulation and a solution approach that generates a near-optimal set of multi-stage architectural decisions with limited collaboration between conflicted and independent stakeholders. This dissertation proposes a multi-stakeholder dynamic optimization (MUSTDO) method, which integrates approximate dynamic programming and transfer contract coordination mechanism. The method solves a multi-stage architecture selection problem with an embedded formal, but simple, transfer contract coordination mechanism to address resource conflict. Once the values of transfer contract are calculated appropriately, even though the SoS participants make independent decisions, the aggregate solutions are close to the solutions from a hypothetical ideal centralized

The dynamics of the multi-planet system orbiting Kepler-56

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Gongjie; Naoz, Smadar; Johnson, John Asher [Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Institute for Theory and Computation, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Valsecchi, Francesca; Rasio, Frederic A., E-mail: gli@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: snaoz@cfa.harvard.edu [Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208 (United States)

2014-10-20

Kepler-56 is a multi-planet system containing two coplanar inner planets that are in orbits misaligned with respect to the spin axis of the host star, and an outer planet. Various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the broad distribution of spin-orbit angles among exoplanets, and these theories fall under two broad categories. The first is based on dynamical interactions in a multi-body system, while the other assumes that disk migration is the driving mechanism in planetary configuration and that the star (or disk) is titled with respect to the planetary plane. Here we show that the large observed obliquity of Kepler 56 system is consistent with a dynamical origin. In addition, we use observations by Huber et al. to derive the obliquity's probability distribution function, thus improving the constrained lower limit. The outer planet may be the cause of the inner planets' large obliquities, and we give the probability distribution function of its inclination, which depends on the initial orbital configuration of the planetary system. We show that even in the presence of precise measurement of the true obliquity, one cannot distinguish the initial configurations. Finally we consider the fate of the system as the star continues to evolve beyond the main sequence, and we find that the obliquity of the system will not undergo major variations as the star climbs the red giant branch. We follow the evolution of the system and find that the innermost planet will be engulfed in ∼129 Myr. Furthermore we put an upper limit of ∼155 Myr for the engulfment of the second planet. This corresponds to ∼3% of the current age of the star.

Barriers to Uptake of Conservation Agriculture in southern Africa: Multi-level Analyses from Malawi

Science.gov (United States)

Dougill, Andrew; Stringer, Lindsay; Whitfield, Stephen; Wood, Ben; Chinseu, Edna

2015-04-01

Conservation agriculture is a key set of actions within the growing body of climate-smart agriculture activities being advocated and rolled out across much of the developing world. Conservation agriculture has purported benefits for environmental quality, food security and the sustained delivery of ecosystem services. In this paper, new multi-level analyses are presented, assessing the current barriers to adoption of conservation agriculture practices in Malawi. Despite significant donor initiatives that have targeted conservation agriculture projects, uptake rates remain low. This paper synthesises studies from across 3 levels in Malawi: i.) national level- drawing on policy analysis, interviews and a multi-stakeholder workshop; ii.) district level - via assessments of development plans and District Office and extension service support, and; iii) local level - through data gained during community / household level studies in Dedza District that have gained significant donor support for conservation agriculture as a component of climate smart agriculture initiatives. The national level multi-stakeholder Conservation Agriculture workshop identified three areas requiring collaborative research and outlined routes for the empowerment of the National Conservation Agriculture Task Force to advance uptake of conservation agriculture and deliver associated benefits in terms of agricultural development, climate adaptation and mitigation. District level analyses highlight that whilst District Development Plans are now checked against climate change adaptation and mitigation criteria, capacity and knowledge limitations exist at the District level, preventing project interventions from being successfully up-scaled. Community level assessments highlight the need for increased community participation at the project-design phase and identify a pressing requirement for conservation agriculture planning processes (in particular those driven by investments in climate

Influences of posterior-located center of gravity on lumbar extension strength, balance, and lumbar lordosis in chronic low back pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dae-Hun; Park, Jin-Kyu; Jeong, Myeong-Kyun

2014-01-01

In patients with chronic low back pain, the center of gravity (COG) is abnormally located posterior to the center in most cases. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of posterior-located COG on the functions (lumbar extension strength, and static and dynamic balance) and structure (lumbar lordosis angle and lumbosacral angle) of the lumbar spine. In this study, the COG of chronic low back pain patients who complained of only low back pain were examined using dynamic body balance equipment. A total of 164 subjects participated in the study (74 males and 90 females), and they were divided into two groups of 82 patients each. One group (n=82) consisted of patients whose COG was located at the center (C-COG); the other group (n=82) consisted of patients whose COG was located posterior to the center (P-COG). The following measures assessed the lumber functions and structures of the two groups: lumbar extension strength, moving speed of static and dynamic COGs, movement distance of the static and dynamic COGs, lumbar lordosis angle, and lumbosacral angle. The measured values were analyzed using independent t-tests. The group of patients with P-COG showed more decreases in lumbar extension strength, lumbar lordosis angle, and lumbosacral angle compared to the group of patients with C-COG. Also this group showed increases in moving speed and movement distance of the static COG. However, there were no differences in moving speed and movement distance of the dynamic COG between the two groups. These findings suggest that chronic LBP patients with P-COG have some disadvantages to establish lumbar extension strength and static and dynamic balance, which require specific efforts to maintain a neutral position and to control posture.

Scalable Task Assignment for Heterogeneous Multi-Robot Teams

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Paula García

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This work deals with the development of a dynamic task assignment strategy for heterogeneous multi-robot teams in typical real world scenarios. The strategy must be efficiently scalable to support problems of increasing complexity with minimum designer intervention. To this end, we have selected a very simple auction-based strategy, which has been implemented and analysed in a multi-robot cleaning problem that requires strong coordination and dynamic complex subtask organization. We will show that the selection of a simple auction strategy provides a linear computational cost increase with the number of robots that make up the team and allows the solving of highly complex assignment problems in dynamic conditions by means of a hierarchical sub-auction policy. To coordinate and control the team, a layered behaviour-based architecture has been applied that allows the reusing of the auction-based strategy to achieve different coordination levels.

Super-selective Balloon Test Occlusion of the Posterior Communicating Artery in the Treatment of a Posterior Cerebral Artery Fusiform Aneurysm: a Case Report.

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Isozaki, Makoto; Arai, Hiroshi; Neishi, Hiroyuki; Kitai, Ryuhei; Kikuta, Ken-Ichiro

2016-10-01

We report the case of a 49-year-old man with underlying hypertension who developed diplopia lasting 2 months. Magnetic resonance imaging and digital subtraction angiography showed multi-lobular unruptured aneurysms in the P2 portion of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) migrating into the interpeduncular cistern of the midbrain. Because the shapes of the aneurysms were serpentine fusiform and the posterior communicating artery (PCoA) was the fetal type, we planned anastomosis of the occipital artery to the P4 portion of the PCA followed by endovascular obliteration of the parent artery including the aneurysms. Endovascular treatment was performed via a femoral approach one week after the anastomosis. Super-selective balloon test occlusion (BTO) of the PCoA was performed by using an occlusion balloon microcatheter before endovascular treatment. Occlusion of the proximal segment of the PCoA induced disturbance of consciousness of the patient. Occlusion of the distal segment other than the first point of the PCoA did not induce any neurological symptoms. The information from this super-selective BTO helped us to perform precise endovascular obliteration. The aneurysm was successfully obliterated, and the diplopia almost disappeared in a few months. Super-selective BTO of the PCoA might be a useful method for preventing ischemic complications due to occlusion of invisible perforators.

Distrofia corneana amorfa posterior: relato de caso Posterior amorphous corneal dystrophy: case report

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Lauro Augusto de Oliveira

2006-12-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho é alertar o oftalmologista da possibilidade de se deparar com casos raros de distrofias corneanas. Neste caso correlacionamos os achados clínicos da distrofia amorfa posterior com refração, topografia e biomicroscopia ultra-sônica.The purpose of this paper is to warn the ophthalmologist about the possibility of facing rare cases of corneal dystrophies. Clinical findings of a case of posterior amorphous dystrophy were correlated with refraction, topography, and ultrasound biomicroscopy.

Distrofia polimorfa posterior: a propósito de un caso Posterior polymorphous dystrophy: A case presentation

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Alexeide de la C. Castillo Pérez

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Presentamos el caso de una paciente del sexo femenino de 15 años de edad con antecedentes de miopía que acude a consulta para chequeo de su ametropía. En el examen biomicroscópico se observaron opacidades disciformes, pequeñas, de color blanco grisáceo, irregulares a nivel de la membrana de Descemet y del endotelio. Se realizó examen ocular completo, refracción, topografía, paquimetría, queratometría, biometría y microscopia confocal in vivo de la córnea. Finalmente llegamos al diagnóstico de distrofia polimorfa posterior.The case of a female 15 years-old patient with a history of myopia, who went to the physician´s office for an ametrophy checkout, was presented in this paper. The biomicroscopic examination revealed small white/gray-coloured irregular and diffuse opacities at the level of Descement´s membrane and of the endothelium. A complete ophthalmological examination was performed including visual acuity, refraction, corneal topography, pakimetry, keratometry, biometry and in vivo confocal microscopy of the cornea. Finally, posterior polymorphous dystrophy was diagnosed.

Predisposing factors in posterior circulation infarcts: a vascular morphological assessment

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Coban, Goekcen; Cifci, Egemen; Yildirim, Erkan; Agildere, Ahmet Muhtesem [Baskent University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Konya (Turkey)

2015-05-01

The aim of the study is to assess the effect of shape, diameter, elongation and deviation criteria of basilar artery (BA), convergence angle and diameter variations of vertebral arteries, and concurrent chronic diseases on posterior circulation infarcts. Between January 2010 and May 2013, 186 patients who underwent brain and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with suspected cerebrovascular accident and were diagnosed with posterior circulation infarct and 120 infarct negative control subjects were included in this case-control retrospective study. Vertebral artery (VA) and BA diameter, right (R) and left (L) VA angles at the level of bifurcation, and BA elongation-deviation, and shape of BA were assessed in a total of 306 subjects. Ischemic lesions in the posterior circulation were classified according to their anatomical location and vascular perfusion areas. No significant difference was noted between the control and patient groups with respect to BA diameter (p = 0.676). The most effective risk factors for posterior circulation infarcts were as follows: BA elongation of 2 or 3, BA transverse location of 2 or 3, increase in left VA angle, and history of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes mellitus. Our results suggest that prominent elongation and deviation, C and J shape of BA, and increased L VA angle may be the predictors of at-risk patients in posterior circulation infarcts. Reporting marked morphological BA and VA variations detected at routine brain MRI will aid in selection of patients. Timely detection and treatment of at-risk patients may be life-saving. (orig.)

Predisposing factors in posterior circulation infarcts: a vascular morphological assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coban, Goekcen; Cifci, Egemen; Yildirim, Erkan; Agildere, Ahmet Muhtesem

2015-01-01

The aim of the study is to assess the effect of shape, diameter, elongation and deviation criteria of basilar artery (BA), convergence angle and diameter variations of vertebral arteries, and concurrent chronic diseases on posterior circulation infarcts. Between January 2010 and May 2013, 186 patients who underwent brain and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with suspected cerebrovascular accident and were diagnosed with posterior circulation infarct and 120 infarct negative control subjects were included in this case-control retrospective study. Vertebral artery (VA) and BA diameter, right (R) and left (L) VA angles at the level of bifurcation, and BA elongation-deviation, and shape of BA were assessed in a total of 306 subjects. Ischemic lesions in the posterior circulation were classified according to their anatomical location and vascular perfusion areas. No significant difference was noted between the control and patient groups with respect to BA diameter (p = 0.676). The most effective risk factors for posterior circulation infarcts were as follows: BA elongation of 2 or 3, BA transverse location of 2 or 3, increase in left VA angle, and history of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes mellitus. Our results suggest that prominent elongation and deviation, C and J shape of BA, and increased L VA angle may be the predictors of at-risk patients in posterior circulation infarcts. Reporting marked morphological BA and VA variations detected at routine brain MRI will aid in selection of patients. Timely detection and treatment of at-risk patients may be life-saving. (orig.)

Predisposing factors in posterior circulation infarcts: a vascular morphological assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Çoban, Gökçen; Çifçi, Egemen; Yildirim, Erkan; Ağıldere, Ahmet Muhteşem

2015-05-01

The aim of the study is to assess the effect of shape, diameter, elongation and deviation criteria of basilar artery (BA), convergence angle and diameter variations of vertebral arteries, and concurrent chronic diseases on posterior circulation infarcts. Between January 2010 and May 2013, 186 patients who underwent brain and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with suspected cerebrovascular accident and were diagnosed with posterior circulation infarct and 120 infarct negative control subjects were included in this case-control retrospective study. Vertebral artery (VA) and BA diameter, right (R) and left (L) VA angles at the level of bifurcation, and BA elongation-deviation, and shape of BA were assessed in a total of 306 subjects. Ischemic lesions in the posterior circulation were classified according to their anatomical location and vascular perfusion areas. No significant difference was noted between the control and patient groups with respect to BA diameter (p = 0.676). The most effective risk factors for posterior circulation infarcts were as follows: BA elongation of 2 or 3, BA transverse location of 2 or 3, increase in left VA angle, and history of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes mellitus. Our results suggest that prominent elongation and deviation, C and J shape of BA, and increased L VA angle may be the predictors of at-risk patients in posterior circulation infarcts. Reporting marked morphological BA and VA variations detected at routine brain MRI will aid in selection of patients. Timely detection and treatment of at-risk patients may be life-saving.

Multi-link faults localization and restoration based on fuzzy fault set for dynamic optical networks.

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Zhao, Yongli; Li, Xin; Li, Huadong; Wang, Xinbo; Zhang, Jie; Huang, Shanguo

2013-01-28

Based on a distributed method of bit-error-rate (BER) monitoring, a novel multi-link faults restoration algorithm is proposed for dynamic optical networks. The concept of fuzzy fault set (FFS) is first introduced for multi-link faults localization, which includes all possible optical equipment or fiber links with a membership describing the possibility of faults. Such a set is characterized by a membership function which assigns each object a grade of membership ranging from zero to one. OSPF protocol extension is designed for the BER information flooding in the network. The BER information can be correlated to link faults through FFS. Based on the BER information and FFS, multi-link faults localization mechanism and restoration algorithm are implemented and experimentally demonstrated on a GMPLS enabled optical network testbed with 40 wavelengths in each fiber link. Experimental results show that the novel localization mechanism has better performance compared with the extended limited perimeter vector matching (LVM) protocol and the restoration algorithm can improve the restoration success rate under multi-link faults scenario.

Silicon photonic dynamic optical channel leveler with external feedback loop.

Science.gov (United States)

Doylend, J K; Jessop, P E; Knights, A P

2010-06-21

We demonstrate a dynamic optical channel leveler composed of a variable optical attenuator (VOA) integrated monolithically with a defect-mediated photodiode in a silicon photonic waveguide device. An external feedback loop mimics an analog circuit such that the photodiode directly controls the VOA to provide blind channel leveling within +/-1 dB across a 7-10 dB dynamic range for wavelengths from 1530 nm to 1570 nm. The device consumes approximately 50 mW electrical power and occupies a 6 mm x 0.1 mm footprint per channel. Dynamic leveling is accomplished without tapping optical power from the output path to the photodiode and thus the loss penalty is minimized.

Congenital abnormalities of the posterior fossa.

Science.gov (United States)

Bosemani, Thangamadhan; Orman, Gunes; Boltshauser, Eugen; Tekes, Aylin; Huisman, Thierry A G M; Poretti, Andrea