Accurate conductor Q-factor of dielectric resonator placed in anMIC environment

The unloaded Q-factor of a dielectric resonator is degraded due to conductor loss when it is placed in an MIC environment. The authors report approximate but quite accurate closed form expressions for the Q-factor due to conductor loss. The results obtained are in good agreement with those of rigorous numerical methods. The effect of geometrical parameters on the useful tuning range of the structure is studied. Finally, an explicit relationship between the resonant frequency sensitivity factors and the conductor Q-factor is derived     

Large scale transmission network planning using optimization andheuristic techniques

Pursuing optimal solutions for large scale transmission network planning problems is a formidable task due to their combinatorial nature and also due to the nonconvexities involved. Successful approaches using hierarchical Benders decomposition incur in a high computational cost mainly due to the need to solve a large integer program (the investment sub-problem) for every Benders iteration. In this work the authors propose to use heuristics within the decomposition framework, therefore avoiding to solve to optimality each integer sub-problem. The global computational effort is substantially reduced, and allows coping with large problems that would be intractable using classical combinatorial techniques. Case studies with the 6 bus Garver test system and a reduced Southeastern Brazilian power network are presented and discussed     

Employment and alcohol: analysis of a clinical casuistic

The relationship between alcohol and work was studied in a group of 537 voluntary patients (393 male and 144 female) admitted to the department of Medicina del Lavoro, Pavia University for alcohol rehabilitation. The highest incidence of alcohol abuse was found in non-working subjects (pensioners, unemployed, housewives) although the start of excessive drinking takes place after beginning a working activity; a cause-effect relationship between these two factors can not be clearly determined, however. It is true that the stress provoked by this new condition (introduction to the work experience) can, in certain subjects, be a contributing factor in alcohol abuse. The increasingly lower age of initiation to alcohol reconfirms the need for prevention and instruction even at scholastic level. We can deduce how no working condition, low age and low education can constitute makers of risk for alcohol abuse.     

Meniscal lesions

The menisci of the knee play an important role in joint congruence, stability and absorption. They thus contribute to cartilage preservation. This is why current treatment of meniscal lesions is based on the notion of maximum preservation of the menisci: meniscectomy as partial as possible, but also whenever possible, meniscal repair (meniscal suture), or abstention from surgery (the lesion left in place). The type of therapy depends on the one hand on the type of meniscal lesion (traumatic or degenerative), but also on the context (age, state of the cartilage, and especially state of the ligaments). In case of associated rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, treatment of the ligament lesion (ACL reconstruction) usually takes precedence over treatment of the meniscal lesion; the latter, whenever possible, is preserved (suture or abstention). In the case of meniscal lesion on an otherwise intact knee, the usual approach is very partial arthroscopic meniscectomy. Arthroscopy has shortened the immediate postsurgical effect, but long-term results still show a certain percentage of narrowing joint's space, in particular on the lateral meniscus.     

Allelic diversity at the primate Mhc-G locus: exon 3 bears stop codons in all Cercopithecinae sequences

The aim of this study was to determine whether bisaramil-an antiarrhythmic compound under clinical investigation-influences the reperfusion-induced arrhythmias and biochemical parameters characterizing occlusion-reperfusion-induced free-radical reactions. The left descending coronary artery (LAD) was occluded for 60 min in anaesthetized dogs followed by one hour of reperfusion. Blood samples were taken at different times of the occlusion and reperfusion for the determination of plasma concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG); furthermore of the activity of catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Free-radical generating capacity of polymorph neutrophil granulocytes (PMN) was also measured. At the end of the experiments heart tissue samples were excised from the injured areas and from the intact part of the left ventricular muscle. In tissues samples the concentrations of MDA and GSH and the activity of SOD were determined. Bisaramil was given as an i.v. bolus injection at a dose of 2 mg kg-1 several minutes prior to the end of LAD-occlusion; then the administration was repeated in the 30th minute of reperfusion. In the control group (10 dogs) ventricular fibrillation (VF) occurred in seven cases which resulted in death in three. In the bisaramil-treated group, however. VF was seen in three cases and no death was recorded. Bisaramil inhibited the elevation of the plasma concentration of MDA and GSSG during the reperfusion and abolished the decrease in the plasma concentration of GSH during the occlusion and reperfusion. The activity of SOD and catalase in plasma was much better preserved in the bisaramil-treated group then in the controls. Bisaramil significantly inhibited the increase of the superoxide-radical generating capacity of PMNs during the reperfusion. The data obtained from myocardial tissue samples supported the cardioprotective effect of bisaramil. The biochemical investigation of ischemic-reperfused myocardium showed that bisaramil promoted preservation of SOD-activity and of tissue glutathione. Results of this study clearly showed that bisaramil has a significant effect on ischemiareperfusion injury. Besides its inhibitory effects on ischaemia-reperfusion induced arrhythmias it has a special benefit in influencing free-radical mediated damage leading to better preservation of membranes and to limitations of irreversible cell injuries.     

Array pattern synthesis in the complex plane optimised by a geneticalgorithm

Array pattern nulling by operating on the roots of the array polynomial in the complex plane using a genetic algorithm (GA) is demonstrated. A pattern envelope constraint and an array efficiency criterion are applied. The algorithm is much faster than a similar GA operating on the complex weights of the array factor     

Amyloid disease and extreme macroglossia. Apropos of a case

A case of extreme macroglossia was observed in a patient with amyloid disease and dysglobulinaemia. A medial diamond-shaped glossectomy was required to reduce the size of the tongue. The details of the surgical and anaesthetic procedure are presented. This type of surgery, greatly appreciated by the patient, can only be undertaken after careful preparation. The reported cases are rare and the indication for surgery is difficult due to the unpredictable nature of the local and general clinical course of the disease.