Analysis of a complexity-based pruning scheme for classification trees

A complexity-based pruning procedure for classification trees is described, and bounds on its finite sample performance are established. The procedure selects a subtree of a (possibly random) initial tree in order to minimize a complexity penalized measure of empirical risk. The complexity assigned to a subtree is proportional to the square root of its size. Two cases are considered. In the first, the growing and pruning data sets are identical, and in the second, they are independent Using the performance bound, the Bayes risk consistency of pruned trees obtained via the procedure is established when the sequence of initial trees satisfies suitable geometric and structural constraints. The pruning method and its analysis are motivated by work on adaptive model selection using complexity regularization.     

The evolution and development of the urinary catheter

The urinary catheter is one of the most frequently used medical devices and has a long and intriguing history of development. This paper describes the catheter from its simple beginnings through the subtle but important changes it has undergone paralleling the advances in plastics technology witnessed this century. The changes have not been without controversy and the recent association of catheters with tissue toxicity, which has forced the implementation of strict guidelines for their manufacture and use, is described.     

Computer aided instruction of rotating electric machines viaanimated graphics

A menu-driven interactive graphics software package has been developed for use as an instructional aid for the electric machines course in the electrical engineering curriculum. The main purpose of this tool is to give the students a clearer understanding of the basics of the operation of rotating electric machines. The animation program was developed for displaying live and rotating diagrams depicting different modes of operation of synchronous generators. Different parts are identified with different colors. The interaction of the magnetic poles on the stator and on the rotor, and the relative spatial positions and time variations of the magnetic and electric quantities are demonstrated through moving images. The software features are described     

Restenosis and arterial remodelling after coronary angioplasty

Restenosis after coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is a complex process and is still the major problem, despite improvements in equipment and technique. Thrombus formation and intimal hyperplasia have been considered to be the main causes of the development of restenosis after primary successful angioplasty. As yet, pharmacological trials to prevent restenosis have failed to prevent it, despite the fact that the therapy has been aimed at reducing thrombus formation and intimal hyperplasia. Several new angioplasty devices have been developed. Series of observations and a few controlled trials have demonstrated restenosis rates similar to those obtained with conventional balloon angioplasty, except in the case of stent implantation, which appears to be promising. Intravascular ultrasound studies have provided new insight and a more complete understanding of the process leading to restenosis. Vascular remodeling is now considered as an important pathogenetic factor. It consists of a change in the cross-sectional vessel area and may involve an actual constriction of the artery. This may lead to lumen-narrowing and finally restenosis with minimal neointimal formation. In this review we summarise the literature on the restenosis process and the current status of the clinical trials aimed at preventing restenosis.     

Bone grafts to the nose in Binder's syndrome (maxillonasal dysplasia): a follow-up of eleven patients with the use of profile roentgenograms

Bone grafts are used to lengthen the dorsum and elevate the tip of the nose in patients with Binder's syndrome. Disappointing long-term results in some patients generally have been assumed to be a result of resorption and/or displacement of the grafts. Treatment outcome was studied in 11 patients with the use of serial profile roentgenograms. At 40 months, the mean values after surgery were reduction of the initial transplant length by 28 percent and reduction of the transplant angle by 4 degrees. The initial nose length was increased by 1 mm, and nose tip projection was increased by 2 mm. Although the mean changes of nose length and nose tip projection seemed small, treatment outcome varied considerably between patients. In contrast with earlier assumptions, no correlation could be found between the degree of transplant resorption and/or displacement and the effect of surgery on nose length and nose tip projection.     

Self-ignition and combustion of a water-fuel emulsion during its injection into heated air. II. Ignition delay time of M-40 fuel oil

We studied experimentally the influence of the degree of water emulsification ofM-40 mazut heated to the water boiling point on the self-ignition time with its pulsed high-pressure injection into heated air. It is shown that water addition does not change the chemistry of the reaction and heating the water-fuel emulsion leads to the disappearance of differences in the ignition character of the emulsion and the moisture-free fuel. It is confirmed that the features of selfignition are determined mostly by conditions of mixture formation. Indirect evidence is obtained that the dynamic tensile strength of the fluid strongly influences the primary dispersion of the jet during its outflow from the sprayer nozzle.Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 20–25, July–August, 1995.     

Structural studies of TiN/ZrN multilayer coating deposited by physical vapour deposition

Multilayer coatings have been produced using unbalanced magnetron physical vapour deposition in which discrete layers of TiN and ZrN were co-deposited. It has been shown that the multilayers exhibited two-fold periodicity having values of 13 and 2.8 nm. This periodicity, measured both by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and low-angle X-ray diffraction, has been precisely related to the process parameters used. Analysis has shown that a third, previously unreported, phase existed within the coating having a lattice parameter comparable to that of TiN and a well-defined orientation relationship with the primary phases. The existence of this phase has been explained in terms of variations in the stoichometry of the coating due to non-uniform metal to nitrogen deposition rates within the chamber. Textural studies revealed that preferred orientation existed in the coating; the degree of which was greater in the ZrN layers than the TiN layers.