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Introduction: With rapid industrialization and modernization rate of road traffic accidents has also increased concomitantly which has inadverantly increased rate of musculoskeletal injuries. In all these injuries supracondylar femur fracture contributes 1% of all the fractures and 3-6% of all femur fractures. In young patients the main reason is due to high energy trauma whereas in elderly this occurs due to trivial trauma attributed to osteopenia. Despite of various treatment modalities these fractures still possess a great challenge in front of orthopaedics surgeons. Method & Material: we conducted the study from March 2021 to Feb 2022 on 25 patients arrived at M.Y hospital emergency room with 13 of them treated with RN, while 12 are treated with locking plate. Patients were followed up for 6 months. Muller classification system was used to classify this fracture with only type A1-3 were taken into consideration. Results: KOOS scoring system was used to evaluate final outcome at the end of 6 months follow up which demonstrated that in RN group 3 cases were excellent, 7 were good, 2 were fair while 1 was poor. In LP group 2 were excellent, 4 were good, 4 were fair while 2 were poor. Over 90% fracture healed before 6 months with average time of union for RN and LP group being 17 weeks and 21 weeks respectively. Conclusion: Retrograde nailing and plating both provide an excellent means of treating such fracture. Early fracture healing, less intraop blood loss, less operative time were some advantages beared by RN group but it was also associated with more incidence of anterior knee pain. Both the method allows fracture healing with statistical significance. However, this difference was seen in both the group can be explained as more complex/communited fractures were treated with plating. At last, both the procedure requires proper planning and execution so as to get desirable result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having reliable and timely or ongoing field data from development projects or supply chains is a perennial challenge for decision makers. This is especially true for those operating in rural areas where traditional data gathering and analysis approaches are costly and difficult to operate while typically requiring so much time that their findings are useful mostly as learning after the fact. A series of innovations that we refer to as Agile Data are opening new frontiers of timeliness, cost, and accuracy. They are leveraging a range of technological advances to do so. This paper explores the differences between traditional and agile approaches and offers insights into costs and benefits by drawing on recent field research in agriculture conducted by diverse institutions such as the World Bank (WB), World Food Program (WFP), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA). The evidence collected in this paper about agile approaches—including those relying on internet and mobile-based data collection—contributes to define a contemporary dimension of data and analytics that can contribute to more optimal decision-making. Providing a theoretical, applied, and empirical foundation for the collection and use of Agile Data can offer a means to improve the management of development initiatives and deliver new value, as participants or beneficiaries are better informed and can better respond to a fast-changing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diarrheal disease, injuries, and respiratory infections form the major chunk of diseases among adolescents. Hence, this study was carried out to study the seasonal variation among these three diseases. Aim: To study the seasonal variation among three diseases. Methods: A record-based retrospective study was conducted among students of a medical college in Western Maharashtra who reported to the General OPD. The data were collected for a period of 7 years from Jan 2012 to Mar 2019. The diseases were characterized under three board headings based on the predefined criteria. Results: All 10,881 sick reports of students reported during the period were included in the study. After exclusion, the data were analyzed for 6,322 sick reports. A total of 67% of the cases were of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), followed by injuries (19%). On analyzing the seasonal variations among the three categories, it was observed that there was an increase in the cases of diarrhea in the postmonsoon months of September and October. Injuries were maximum from August to September. The seasonal trend could be seen in URTI cases with a maximum number of cases from January to March and August to October. Conclusions: The burden of these diseases could be reduced if we take measures to detect the changes in their trend through the implementation of surveillance programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Aneesh. Srivastava, Ankur. Bansal, Sanjoy. Sureka, Priyank. Yadav, Devarshi. Srivastava, Rahul. Jena, Uday. Singh, Saurabh. Vashishtha, M. Ansari, Rakesh. Kapoor Introduction: Kocak described a modification of Clavien-Dindo classification system [...]

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) has emerged as important transmission technology to improve the spectral/energy efficiency in the next-generation (beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G) wireless communication network and has numerous applications in the areas of Internet of Things (IoT) and vehicular communication systems. Thus, in this paper, we investigate the application of RIS in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) enabled vehicular communication system with infinite and finite block length codes, where UAV communicates with the single antenna ground vehicle in the presence of several interfering vehicles on the road. We have obtained the approximate closed-form statistics of received SINR at ground vehicle in the presence of multiple nonidentical interference links. Furthermore, we analyze the performance of the considered system in terms of the coverage probability, bit-error-rate, block error rate (BLER) and goodput. It has been shown through the numerical results that the deployment of RIS significantly improves the performance of UAV-enabled vehicular communication network, even in the presence of the direct link between the UAV and the ground vehicle. Additionally, we also investigate the impact of various channel and system parameters like practical reflection coefficients of RIS, number of RIS reflecting elements, and number of interfering vehicles on the system performance. The analytical results are corroborated with Monte Carlo simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Healthy adulthood thrives on the foundation of a healthy childhood. Earlier studies show different morbidity patterns and prevalence of under-nutrition in children studying in Government primary schools. The present study was undertaken to explore the morbidity pattern and nutritional status of children studying in a government primary school in the field practice area of Rural Health Training Centre of a medical college in Pune, Western Maharashtra. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was done in a Government Primary School during January–February 2019. A total of 134 school children studying in classes 1st to 7th underwent anthropometric measurements, medical examination, dental examination, and haemoglobin estimation to bring out the common morbidities present in children of school-going age. School records of the past 6 months of the academic year 2018–19 were used to know the prevalence of absenteeism among the subjects studied, and an attempt was made to find any association between absenteeism and under-nutrition among school children. Results: Out of 134 children, 26 (19.4%) were stunted, 51 (38.64%) were underweight, and 2 (1.49%) were found to be obese. Dental caries was found in 73 (54.48%) pupils, and it was the commonest morbidity found. Eighty-six (64.18%) of the examined school children were anemic. Thirty-five (26.12%) had ear problems, skin problems were found in 35 (26.12%), 6 (4.48%) had refractive errors, and 2 (1.49%) were having Tachycardia. An association was found between abesentism and underweight (P = 0.02). Conclusions: The present study found that under-nutrition is present among children studying in a rural Government school despite the mid-day meal programme being implemented in the school. Targeted interventions may be planned for undernourished children to improve their nutritional status, and more studies are required to assess their health needs and problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the factors such as controllable mobility, ready-to-use technology, low cost, easy implementation, and so on, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) possesses tremendous potential to be one of the primary candidates for next-generation (6G) wireless networks. This paper presents a UAV-assisted multiuser communication network where a multiple antenna UAV base station (BS) serves multiple single antenna ground users (GUs). UAV-BS uses a laser source-based charging mechanism to fulfill its power requirement and applies simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) in the downlink in order to provide desired power to energy-constrained GUs. Also, a clustering-based hybrid multiple access technique is used that combines both orthogonal multiple access (OMA) and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) signaling to transmit the information to all GUs, simultaneously. Due to the involved analytical complexity corresponding to the multiple antennas and users, we use a hybrid beamforming method for efficient communication. Next, we analyze the performance of the proposed framework in terms of user outage probabilities, their respective throughput, and average power harvested considering non-linear energy harvesting and derive expressions of these performance metrics. Moreover, we formulate an optimization problem where the throughput of one GU is maximized by optimally choosing the power allocation parameter while ensuring the desired target throughput at other GU in each cluster. We also illustrate how crucial is the optimal selection of the target rates to maximize the network performance. Simulation results are provided to validate the accuracy of derived expressions and to highlight the dominance of hybrid beamforming and hybrid NOMA compared to conventional methods on the performance of the considered network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) has emerged as an important transmission technology for numerous applications in Internet of Things (IoT) systems. Thus, in this paper, we investigate the application of RIS in energy harvesting (EH) based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication network with finite block length (BL) codes, where a rotary wing type flying UAV communicates with the multiple single antenna IoT users with the aid of multiple RISs mounted on several skyscraper buildings. To transmit the signal to a particular IoT user, the UAV selects an RIS on the basis of either UAV-RIS (i.e., partial) or UAV-RIS-IoT (i.e., full) channel state information (CSI) and then transmits the signal through the selected RIS along with the direct link transmission. In particular, we derive (i) the expression for probability of RIS selection, (ii) the statistical distribution of instantaneously received information signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the IoT user. Based on the derived statistics, we analyze the performance of the considered system under finite BL codes in terms of the average outage probability, average block error rate (ABLER) and goodput averaged over entire flying duration. Moreover, the BLER performance with finite BL codes is also compared with the infinite BL codes scenario. Additionally, we also investigate the impact of various channel and system parameters like imperfect CSI, number of RISs and the number of reflecting elements at each RIS, location of IoT users, variable altitude of the UAV, and the severity of channel fading of UAV-RIS link on the system performance. Furthermore, we have obtained the optimum UAV location in each time slot which minimizes the ABLER per time slot over all the users in the network. The analytical results are corroborated with Monte Carlo simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we present a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-assisted space shift keying (SSK) modulation and reflection phase modulation (RPM) scheme, where RIS embeds its own information in the reflection phase shift of the reflected radio frequency (RF) signal. More specifically, the RIS simultaneously performs two tasks: i) reflecting the impinging RF signal with a discrete phase shift and ii) embedding the information bits in the phase shift. We perform joint detection for the RPM and SSK symbols using a maximum likelihood detector, and a unified analytical framework is presented for theoretical analysis of the average bit error rate (ABER) and ergodic capacity of the proposed scheme. All numerical results are thoroughly verified through Monte Carlo simulation. Numerical results reveal that the proposed scheme outperforms the conventional SSK scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Ankur. Bansal, Satyanarayan. Sankhwar, Apul. Goel, Manoj. Kumar, Bimalesh. Purkait, Ruchir. Aeron Introduction: Clavien–Dindo classification system is used for grading complications of various oncological, renal, and endourological procedures. We [...]

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) has recently emerged as a promising technology for 6 G wireless systems, due to its capability to reconfigure the wireless propagation environment. In this paper, we investigate a Rate-Splitting Multiple Access (RSMA) for IRS-assisted downlink system, where the base station (BS) communicates with single-antenna users with the help of an IRS. RSMA relies on rate-splitting (RS) at the BS and successive interference cancellation (SIC) at the users and provides a generalized multiple access framework. We derive a new architecture called IRS-RS that leverages the interplay between RS and IRS. For performance analysis, we utilize an on-off control technique to control the passive beamforming vector of the IRS-RS and derive the closed-form expressions for outage probability of cell-edge users and near users. Moreover, we also analyze the outage behavior of cell-edge users for a sufficiently large number of reflecting elements. Additionally, we also analyze the outage performance of cooperative RS based decode-and-forward (DF)-assisted framework called DF-RS. Through simulation results, it is shown that the proposed framework outperforms the corresponding DF-RS, RS without IRS and IRS-assisted conventional non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) schemes. Furthermore, the impact of various system's parameters such as the number of IRS reflecting elements and the number of users on the system performance is revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Assessment of results of repairing vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) with or without the use of interposition flaps. Material and methods: This prospective randomized study was conducted between January 2012 to December 2017 in the Department of Urology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India. Obstetric and gynecological simple fistula of ≤4 cm were included for evaluation. Those with complex or complicated fistula or fistula due to malignancy were excluded. Patients were divided into two groups (group 1 and group 2) depending upon route of repair i.e., transvaginal or transabdominal, respectively, as per the characteristics and location of the fistula. These two groups of patients were randomized into two subgroups (1A, 1B and 2A, 2B) based on the inclusion or omission of the interposition flap during fistula repair. Perioperative and postoperative parameters (blood loss, mean operating time, hospital stay, and requirement of analgesics) and success rates of fistula repair were compared. All complications that occurred in the postoperative period till the last follow-up appointment were recorded. The Clavien-Dindo Classification was used to stratify the complications. Results: Fifty-seven patients underwent transvaginal repair in group 1 (29 with Martius flap: group 1A; 28 without Martius flap: group 1B), while 69 patients underwent transabdominal repair in group 2 (35 with interposition flap: group 2A; 34 without flap: group 2B). Blood loss, mean operating time, hospital stay, and the requirement of analgesics were comparable between each subgroup-1A versus 1B and 2A versus 2B, respectively. The overall success rate of repair across all groups was 96.04% (121/126). The success rate was 93.1% in transvaginal repair with Martius flap versus 96.43% in transvaginal repair with no flap (p=1.0). Success rate was 97.1% in transabdominal repair with an omental flap versus 97.06% in without an omental flap (p=1.0). Mean follow-up period was 39.6 months (range: 6-68 months). Out of 29 patients with Martius flap interposition, 9 (31.03%) of them reported a significantly reduced sensation on the labia majora. Of these 9 patients, 5 reported numbness while the remaining 4 experienced pain as compared to the patients in subgroup IB, who did not report any altered sensation in the labia. (p=0.0019). Conclusion: The success rates are similar in simple VVF repair (fistula size less than 4 cm) irrespective of the use of interposition flaps. However, overall morbidities following repair with the interposition flap are higher when compared with repair without interposition flap, either by the transvaginal or by the transabdominal route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the performance of a multihop decode-and-forward (DF) based freespace optical (FSO) network is investigated over a unified exponentiated Weibull distributed atmospheric turbulence channel with pointing error and both types of detection techniques, i.e., heterodyne detection and intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD). We consider the aperture averaging receivers at both the intermediate relays and the destination to diminish the disadvantageous impact of atmospheric turbulence. First, we derive the new unified expression of the probability density function of the instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Based on the derived statistics, the unified closed-form expression of the average symbol error rate (SER) for the considered multihop network employing differentially modulated M-ary phase shift keying data, is obtained by utilizing a transition probability matrix. It is shown that increasing the hop count by 1 provides similar performance gain under both detection schemes. Further, a small increase in aperture size results in greater improvement under moderate turbulence rather than strong turbulence. The mutual information of the considered network is obtained with binary differential data, and it is demonstrated through results that, in the low-SNR region, the heterodyne receiver provides less mutual information as compared with the IM/DD receiver. However, beyond a particular SNR value (which depends on the hop count, aperture size, and turbulence strength), the heterodyne receiver attains more mutual information in comparison with the IM/DD receiver. The unified expression of outage probability for the DF-based multihop FSO network is also derived in terms of Meijer's G function. In addition, the asymptotic SER performance is examined in order to get impactful insight of network performance at high SNRs. All analytical results derived are verified through simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the unified performance of a free space optical link with a finite-sized receiver over an exponentiated Weibull distributed atmospheric turbulence in the presence of a misalignment error (ME). The unification is done for two detection techniques namely heterodyne and intensity modulation/direct detection. First, the unified expressions for probability density function, cumulative distribution function, moment generating function, and moments of instantaneously received signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) at the receiver, have been derived. By utilising the derived statistics, the unified novel expressions for outage probability, average error probability (AEP), and ergodic capacity are obtained. Furthermore, the AEP performance is examined at a high SNR in order to obtain the diversity order and coding gain, analytically. The derived results clearly demonstrate the impact of severe atmospheric conditions, ME, aperture size, and type of detection scheme on the system performance. The derived analytical results are verified through simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors analyse a dual-hop mixed radio frequency/free space optical (RF/FSO) communication system comprising of single-input multiple-output (SIMO) RF hop and a single FSO hop. The RF source is connected to an optical destination through a decode-and-forward relay having RF/FSO capabilities. Each link in SIMO-RF hop is assumed to experience independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) Nakagami-m fading. For FSO hop, a unified novel expression for the probability density function (PDF) of irradiance has been derived which unifies Gamma-Gamma and generalised-K (KG) distributions with misalignment error. Moreover, we obtain a unified PDF of instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by unifying the heterodyne detection and intensity modulation/direct detection schemes. Utilising the unified PDF, we derive novel unified closed-form expressions for average symbol error probability (for different RF modulation techniques), outage probability, and ergodic capacity for the system under consideration. We have also analysed the considered system for high SNR conditions and have analytically obtained the unified diversity order of the same. The derived results clearly show the impact of misalignment error, severe atmospheric conditions, type of detection scheme, and number of RF links on the system performance. All the analytical results are validated through simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of short-duration use of finasteride and dutasteride before transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) on intraoperative blood loss and microvessel density (MVD) of prostate stroma and suburethral tissues in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods: This study includes 450 patients who were planned for TURP. They were prospectively randomized into three groups (150 patients each). Group 1 received placebo, group 2 received finasteride, 5mg per day, and group 3 patients received dutasteride, 0.5 mg per day, for 4 weeks before surgery. The total blood loss, requirement of blood, and MVDs in prostate stroma and suburethral tissues were calculated in each patient and then compared among three groups. Results: There was significant reduction in mean blood loss, blood loss/time, and total blood loss per gram of resected tissue in finasteride and dutasteride groups compared with placebo. Prostate stromal and suburethral MVDs were significantly higher compared with placebo. Blood transfusion was required in 9.3%, 2.7%, and 2% of the patients, respectively ( p = 0.004). However, no statistically significant differences were observed between finasteride and dutasteride groups for these parameters ( p > 0.05). The weight of resected prostate, operating time, and amount of irrigation fluid used did not show any significant difference between the three groups. Conclusion: Short-term pretreatment with finasteride and dutasteride has similar efficacy and significantly reduces perioperative bleeding during TURP and has minimal negative impact on sexual function. According to our findings, a 4-week prior administration of 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors may reduce operative blood loss and prostatic MVD in TURP, thus potentially decreasing blood loss-related complications and the requirement of blood transfusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The incidence of ureteral stricture is showing a rising trend due to increased use of laparoscopic and upper urinary tract endoscopic procedures. Boari flap is the preferred method of repairing long- segment ureteral defects of 8-12 cm. The procedure has undergone change from classical open (transperitoneal and retroperitoneal) method to laparoscopic surgery and recently robotic surgery. Laparoscopic approach is cosmetically appealing, less morbid and with shorter hospital stay. In this case series, we report our experience of performing laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation with Boari flap in 3 patients. Material and methods: This prospective study was conducted between January 2011 December 2014. The patients with a long- segment ureteral defect who had undergone laparoscopic Boari flap reconstruction were included in the study. Outcome of laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation with Boari flap for the manangement of long segment ureteral defect was evaluated. Results: The procedure was performed on 3 patients, and male to female ratio was 1:2. One patient had bilateral and other two patient had left ureteral stricture. The mean length of ureteral stricture was 8.6 cm (range 8.2 -9.2 cm). The mean operative time was 206 min (190 to 220 min). The average estimated blood loss was 100 mL (range 90-110 mL) and mean hospital stay was 6 days (range 5 to 7 days). The mean follow up was 19 months (range 17-22 months). None of the patients experienced any complication related to the procedure in perioperative period. Conclusion: Laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation with Boari flap is safe, feasible and has excellent long term results. However, the procedure is technically challenging, requires extensive experience of intracorporeal suturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To evaluate the parameters which predict the success or failure of trial without catheter (TWOC) for acute urine retention (AUR). Materials and methods Medical records of 2 188 patients presenting with first episode of AUR were analyzed. All patients underwent catheterization and were started on α-blocker followed by TWOC. Age, baseline American urological association (AUA) score, prostate volume (PV), residual volume of urine (RV) and intravesical prostatic protrusion (IPP), prostate specific antigen (PSA) were recorded. Results TWOC was successful in 737 patients (33.7%) and failed in 1 451 patients (66.3%). Patients with successful TWOC had lower mean age, PV, IPP, RV, AUA score, and PSA than those with failed TWOC. On multivariate analysis, the significant independent predictors were IPP, age, AUA score, PV, and RV at odds ratios of 3.11, 1.84, 1.78, 1.53, and 1.23, respectively. From ROC curve, IPP had cut off value of 9 mm and detected success of TWOC with sensitivity (S) of 91% and failure with specificity (s) of 90%. Similarly, cut off value of 64 years for age (S:86%, s:87%), 20 for AUA symptom score (S:83%, s:81%), 56 cc for PV (S:80%, s:74%) and 750 mL for RV (S:71%, s:68%) were obtained. Conclusion Age, baseline AUA score, IPP, PV, and RV independently predict the outcome of TWOC. Patients with IPP > 9 mm, age > 65 years, baseline AUA score > 20, PV > 56 cc, or RV > 750 mL have less probability of successful TWOC in AUR and can be considered for immediate surgery following an episode of AUR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To highlight changing trend of clinical spectrum, comparing management options and predictors of outcome of emphysematous pyelonephritis. Material and methods: This study included patients who were diagnosed as emphysematous pyelonephritis between August, 2001 to July, 2015. We excluded other possible causes of gas in renal system. Baseline patient characteristics, clinical spectrum, serum and urinary biochemical parameters, radio- logical findings, management and outcomes were recorded. Patients were classified as "responders" and "non-responders". Results: We studied a total of 74 patients and categorised them as responders (62 patients) and non- responders (12 patients). Women outnumbered men constituting 62.16% of the study population (M: F; 1: 1.6). Fever was the most common presenting symptom followed by flank pain. Diabetes mellitus (85.14%) was the most common comorbidity followed by urolithiasis (32.43%). Escherichia coli was the common- est organism grown in urine culture (79.73%). Non-responders had distinct laboratory findings relative to responders as low hemoglobin (7.8±2.1/11.2±3.2 g/dL; p=0.0007), thrombocytopenia (91.67% vs. 11.29%; p=0.0001), proteinuria >3 g/L (50% vs. 6.45%; p=0.0008) and positive blood culture (100% vs. 67.74%; p=0.0288). Conclusion: Advanced age, higher body mass index, renal impairment, thrombocytopenia, altered sensorium, shock at presentation can be used as scores for poor prognosis. Emphysematous pyelonephritis management requires multidisciplinary collaboration including hydration and electrolyte management, broad spectrum antibiotics, strict glycaemic control, effective urinary drainage and lastly it may require emergency nephrectomy as a salvage procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Photovaporization of prostate (PVP) is a newer surgical modality of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) which is gaining importance recently. There are a few randomized controlled trials that showed safety and efficacy of PVP in comparison with transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) with limited follow- up period (<2 years). Here, we are presenting a comparative study performed on potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) PVP laser versus TURP for the treatment of BPH with long- term follow-up period. Material and methods: After institutional ethical clearance, 150 patients were prospectively included in the study from January 2010 to March, 2012. Improvement of International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS), Qmax, post- void residual (PVR) urine, International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF)-5 score and complications were assessed at 12, 24, 36 and 48 months. Results: Mean age of the study group was 65.3±7.86 years in the TURP and 63.6±8.12 years in the PVP groups (p=0.45). IPSS symptom score improved significantly in both TURP and KTP groups (p<0.003). There was improvement in Q max during follow- up in both groups (p<0.001) which was maintained at 48 months. Most of the patients in both groups were satisfied with symptoms and bothersome at 48 months. All the sexual parameters are similar to both groups except retrograde ejaculation. Overall complication noted in 23 patients (15.33%). Conclusion: Both KTP Laser PVP and TURP afford durable relief from symptoms of BPH at 48 months follow- up. Both procedures are safe and associated with minimal complications. Both procedures do not have any detrimental effect on sexual function on long- term follow- up. Quality of life remains high even at 4 years in both groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyze an optical wireless communication (OWC) system having a source and a destination node, equipped with multiple transmit and receive apertures, respectively. We utilize generalized orthogonal space-time block codes (OSTBCs) of any arbitrary order and subcarrier intensity modulation scheme for data transmission over gamma-gamma (GG) fading optical links using M-ary phase-shift keying (PSK) constellation. A symbol-wise decoding is utilized, and the closed-form expression of the approximate average symbol error rate (SER) of multi-aperture-based OWC system is obtained for the generalized OSTBC and an arbitrary M-PSK constellation. Using the derived SER expression, we analytically evaluate the diversity order and the coding gain of the OWC system with GG atmospheric turbulence. It has been shown by the numerical results that the maximum possible diversity is achieved by using the symbol-wise maximum likelihood decoding in the destination. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]