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Introduction: Phantom limb pain (PLP) as neuropathic pain affects the life of amputees. It is believed an efficient PLP treatment should consider the underlying neurological mechanisms. Hereby, we investigated brain activity in PLP and its relationships to the psychological and cognitive dimensions of chronic pain. We investigate differences in resting brain activities between amputees with and without pain. We hypothesize significant differences in the motor cortex and parietal cortex activity that are related to pain perception. Also, we hypothesize two groups have significant differences in cognitive and psychological components. Methods: Behavioral assessment (psychological status, life satisfaction, and pain level) and EEG signals of 19 amputees (12 without pain and 7 with pain) were recorded. Data were statistically compared between the two groups. Also, the association between behavioral and neurophysiological data was computed. Results: The results showed a significant decrease in the pain group for the beta and gamma waves, as well as, for the theta and delta waves in the posterior temporal on both sides, during the eye-open condition. The eyes-closed condition showed that the delta waves were decreased on the right side of the cortex. Also, data showed a significant difference in the correlation of pain features with brain waves between the two groups. Conclusion: Significant differences were mostly observed in regions related to pain perception rather than the motor cortex. This can be due to the learned strategies to deal with pain and the degree of pain. Results showed maladaptive cognitive processes had a relationship with brain wave activities. According to the result of brain wave activities, it seems that cognitive factors have a role in the experience of PLP rather than neuroplasticity through amputation.

Introduction: Natural rewards are essential for survival. However, drug-seeking behaviors can be maladaptive and endanger survival. The present study was conducted to enhance our understanding of how animals respond to food and morphine as natural and drug rewards, respectively, in a conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. Methods: We designed a protocol to induce food CPP and compare it as a natural reward with morphine CPP in rats. The protocol for reward induction in both groups (foods and morphine) consisted of three phases: pre-test, conditioning, and post-test. In morphine groups, we injected morphine as a reward (5 mg/kg, SC). To induce natural reward, we used two different protocols. In the first one, the rats were deprived of food for 24 h. In the other method, the rats were restricted to food for 14 days. During the conditioning period, the animals received daily chow, biscuits, or popcorn as a reward inducer. Results: Results revealed that CPP was not induced in food-deprived rats. A combination of food restriction (as a facilitator) and a biscuit or popcorn-induced reward using CPP. In contrast, food deprivation did not facilitate food CPP in response to regular food. Interestingly the CPP score of the group which received biscuits during a 7-day conditioning period was more than that of the morphine group. Conclusion: In conclusion, food restriction could be a better protocol than food deprivation to facilitate food reward.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are required to meet increasingly stringent effluent quality standards as well as to improve process sustainability in terms of energy efficiency, in line with the call for a paradigm shift towards the more sustainable concept of wastewater resource recovery facility (WRRF). In this context, optimised Instrumentation, Control and Automation (ICA) systems as well as process and plant-wide modelling have become key tools for optimising economic and environmental costs. The present work reports on the successfull integration of an innovative on-line continuous titrimeter and plant-wide modelling as a support tool for the optimisation of the nitritification unit in a large-scale industrial WWTP. The information gathered from the on-line titrimeter allowed for real-time estimation of the Ammonia Oxidation Rate of the activated sludge and, ultimately, of the nitrification residual capacity of the plant. Results on the titrimeter long-term operation and historical data modelling supported plant managing decisions, such as lowering the dissolved oxygen (DO) set-point of the oxidation unit, straightforwardly resulting in energy saving. Graphical abstract

Lesamnta‐LW‐BC is the internal block cipher of the Lesamnta‐LW lightweight hash function, specified in ISO/IEC 29192‐5:2016. It is based on the unbalanced Feistel network and Advanced Encryption Standard round function. In this study, the security of Lesamnta‐LW‐BC against integral and impossible‐differential attacks is evaluated. Specifically, the authors searched for the integral distinguishers and impossible differentials with Mixed‐Integer Linear Programming‐based methods. As a result, the discovered impossible differential can reach up to 21 rounds, while three integral distinguishers reaching 18, 19 and 25 rounds are obtained, respectively. Moreover, it is also feasible to construct a 47‐round integral distinguisher in the known‐key setting. Finally, a 20‐round key‐recovery attack is proposed based on the discovered 18‐round integral distinguisher and a 19‐round key‐recovery attack using a 17‐round impossible differential. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first third‐party cryptanalysis of Lesamnta‐LW‐BC.

Background: Serum uric acid (UA) is positively correlated with bone mineral density (BMD). However, the mechanism by which serum UA affects BMD remains unclear. Objective: The aim was carried out to search for the functional proteins related to serum UA and femoral neck BMD to better understand the pathophysiological mechanism of osteoporosis. Materials and Methods: In this study, patients in the UA group (hyperuricaemia combined with femoral neck fracture) and the control group (normal uricaemia combined with femoral neck fracture) were selected according to the inclusion criteria. Total protein was extracted from the femoral neck of each patient. Fluorescence differential gel electrophoresis was used to separate the total proteins, and the differentially expressed protein spots were detected by image analysis. After enzyme digestion, peptide mass fingerprinting and database searches were performed to identify the differentially expressed proteins. DAVID software and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) data were used for enrichment analysis of the screened differential proteins. Results: After mass spectrometry and database searching, 66 differentially expressed protein spots were identified between the UA group and the control group. Most differentially expressed proteins functioned in cytoskeleton formation, energy metabolism, or signal transduction. They were mainly involved in 50 biological processes, including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signalling and fatty acid metabolism. PPARγ and PLIN1 were subject to Western blotting analysis detection; results were consistent with the Label-Free result. Conclusion: Based on an analysis of the biological information, these proteins may be associated with the incidence and progression of the femoral neck bone tissues of hyperuricaemia patients.

У статті наведено результати хірургічного лікування 287 пацієнтів (463 стопи) з поперечно-розпластаною деформацією переднього відділу стоп і hallux valgus із застосуванням диференційованого підходу до вибору методу корекції деформації. Пацієнтам за індивідуальними показаннями виконувалися відомі у світі хірургічні втручання, такі як клиноподібна остеотомія першої плеснової кістки, остеотомія Austin, остеотомія Scarf, Lapidus артродез і остеотомія Akin на проксимальній фаланзі першого пальця. У 68 (23,7 %) і 159 (55,4 %) випадках досягнуті відмінні і добрі відповідно результати лікування згідно з бальною шкалою AOFAS.

Изложены представления об этиологии, патогенезе, диагностике, дифференциальной диагностике и лечении эритроцитозов. Особенные акценты сделаны на вопросах лабораторной диагностики.

A substrate integrated differential cavity-backed dual-polarized dielectric resonator antenna (DPDRA) with a wide bandwidth, low profile, high isolation and improved gain is presented. The proposed substrate integrated technique, in which the electric and magnetic walls of the cross-shaped dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) are realized by arrays of metallic and nonmetallic vias respectively, provides the design with high level of integration and low profile. The substrate integrated DRA is differentially fed by microstrip lines through coupling slots exciting a pair of orthogonal modes for the dual polarizations. The differential feeding scheme offers a direct connection to differential systems, and greatly improve the isolation between polarizations. Benefitting from the differential coupling slots and the substrate integrated back cavity, the bandwidth is broadened and the realized gain is improved. For demonstration, a prototype is designed and fabricated. The simulated and measured results show a good agreement.

It is an important task to learn how gene regulatory networks change under different conditions. Several Gaussian graphical model-based methods have been proposed to deal with this task by inferring differential networks from gene expression data. However, most existing methods define the differential networks as the difference of precision matrices, which may include false differential edges caused by the change of conditional variances. In addition, prior information about the condition-specific networks and the differential networks can be obtained from other domains. It is useful to incorporate prior information into differential network analysis. In this study, we propose a new differential network analysis method to address the above challenges. Instead of using the precision matrices, we define the differential networks as the difference of partial correlations, which can exclude the spurious differential edges due to the variants of conditional variances. Furthermore, prior information from multiple hypothesis testing is incorporated using a weighted fused penalty. Simulation studies show that our method outperforms the competing methods. We also apply our method to identify the differential network between luminal A and basal-like subtypes of breast cancers and the differential network between acute myeloid leukemia tumors and normal samples. The hub genes in the differential networks identified by our method carry out important biological functions.

This paper presents an on-line monitoring method of IGBT module bond wires aging based on the phase-frequency characteristics (PFCs) of differential mode (DM) interference signal. Firstly, the collector current variation during IGBT chip switching is analyzed, and the relationship between the aging degree of bond wires and the PFCs of DM interference signal is studied; Secondly, a phase angle characteristic measurement system of DM interference signal is built and used to online monitor the aging of bond wires in IGBT module; Finally, taking the buck converter composed of IGBT module as the equipment under tested, the interference signal is extracted by the RF current probe and processed by the low-pass filter and signal amplifier, then the phase angle characteristics are measured by the oscilloscope board to realize the on-line monitoring of the bond wires aging of IGBT module. The experimental results show that compared with buck converter with healthy IGBT module, the phase angle of DM interference signal in Buck Converter with aging IGBT module is reduced. The proposed method does not need expensive equipment such as spectrum analyzer, and only needs to monitor the aging state of bond wires in IGBT module online through oscilloscope board. Besides, the research method in this paper provides an approximate linear monitoring method for bonding wire lift-off.

Recent advances in nanoscale optoelectronic Ge devices have exposed their enormous potential for highly sensitive visible and near-infrared CMOS compatible photodetectors. In this respect, Ge nanow...

BACKGROUND: The expression pattern of micro-RNAs (miRNA) has been implicated in the pathomechanism of various bone disorders, and has a role in differentiation of osteoblasts and osteoclasts. The purpose of the study was to investigate the differential miRNA profiles of osteoporotic hip fractures compared to young patients with hip fractures. METHODS: Blood samples from ten osteoporosis patients and ten young, healthy patients, presenting with acute hip fractures were collected and subjected to an initial miRNA profiling to detect those miRNAs with significant variations between the two groups based on polymerase chain reactions performed in duplicate. A real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based analysis was then performed for validation of specific miRNAs that were significantly different between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 182 miRNAs were analyzed. Thirty-nine of them showed significant differences between the two groups in the initial miRNA profiling. The validation results suggested that five miRNAs related to bone metabolism had significantly different expression among the osteoporotic hip fracture group compared to the young, healthy group: miR-23b-3p and miR-140-3p were up-regulated; miR-21-5p, miR-122-5p and miR-125b-5p were down-regulated. CONCLUSIONS: Differential expression of selected miRNAs in patients with osteoporotic hip fracture suggests a possible role of miRNAs as potential biomarkers in prevention or timely prediction of osteoporotic fractures in the elderly. Further research is required to elucidate the mechanism of their involvement in osteoporosis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Not applicable.

Актуальність. При ендопротезуванні хворих на диспластичний коксартроз (ДК) спостерігається високий відсоток негативних результатів, обумовлених складною деформацією проксимального відділу стегнової кістки, вузьким кістковомозковим каналом та невідповідністю 25 % стандартних стегнових компонентів (СК) ендопротезів цій патології, що призводить до інтраопераційних переломів стегнової кістки, розвитку стрес­шилдінг синдрому та переломів імплантата. Мета роботи полягає в розробці та клінічному обґрунтуванні диференційованого вибору СК при ендопротезуванні хворих на ДК. Матеріали та методи. Під нашим спостереженням знаходились 322 хворі, яким було виконано 394 ендопротезування з приводу ДК. Переважну кількість становили хворі з високими ступенями ДК за Crowe: I ступінь — 40 (12,4 %), II — 142 (44,1 %), III — 126 (39,1 %) та IV — 14 (4,4 %). На етапі планування операції проводилась рентгенологічна оцінка форми стегнової кістки за L. Dorr et al. (1993) та P. Noble (1990), а поведінки СК ендопротеза — за J. Chanley, De Lec, а також шляхом порівняльної оцінки даних рентгенографії в динаміці. Результати. В 375 випадках використані безцементні технології фіксації СК ендопротеза кульшового суглоба, в тому числі 342 (86,8 %) СК системи ОРТЕН, в 24 (6 %) — Versys (Zimmer) та у 9 (2,3 %) — Omnifit (Striker), в інших 19 випадках застосована цементна технологія фіксації СК. За результатами попередніх рентгеноморфологічних та біомеханічних досліджень були розроблені наступні різновиди СК: конічний стандартний — для метафізарної фіксації, конічний об’ємний — для метафізарно­діафізарної фіксації та два різновиди СК з діафізарним типом фіксації вкороченої та подовженої версій. Проведено аналіз залежності диференційованого підбору різних видів СК ендопротеза залежно від ступеня ДК за Crowe та типу кістковомозкового каналу за L. Dorr. Оцінка результатів використання розроблених СК у термін від 2 до 10 років показала високий рівень вторинної стабільності СК. Нестабільність СК в ранні терміни — до 5 років — спостерігалася в 3 випадках і була обумовлена помилками в розмірах СК при первинному ендопротезуванні. В терміни від 5 до 10 років спостерігався стрес­шилдінг у вигляді гіпертрофії стегнової кістки у 14 випадках при використанні ніжок типу ДД, а в 5 випадках у зв’язку з нестабільністю була виконана ревізійна операція. Висновки. На ступінь адаптаційного контакту СК з кістковим ложем стегнової кістки впливають просторова форма та розміри кістковомозкового каналу стегнової кістки, які треба ретельно оцінювати за допомогою маркерів планування при передопераційному плануванні. Розроблений та сертифікований набір СК ОРТЕН дозволяє диференційовано підібрати різновиди СК, адаптувати його до форми кістковомозкового каналу стегнової кістки та забезпечити якісну первину стабільність та позитивний віддалений результат ендопротезування кульшового суглоба при ДК. Двоплощинна оцінка проксимального відділу стегнової кістки за L. Dorr et al. дозволила сформувати наступний алгоритм диференційованого використання СК ОРТЕН при ендопротезуванні хворих на диспластичний коксартроз: тип А — використовувати конічні стандартні ніжки з метафізарним типом фіксації, тип В — конічні об’ємні СК з метафізарно­діафізарним типом фіксації; тип С — СК з квадратним профілем та подовженою ніжкою для діафізарної фіксації або, у випадках остеопорозу, ніжки з цементним типом фіксації.

Although neuroimaging studies of collision (COLL) sport athletes demonstrate alterations in brain structure and function from pre- to post-season, reliable tools to detect behavioral/cognitive change relevant to functional networks associated with participation in collision sports are lacking. This study evaluated the use of eye-movement testing to detect change in cognitive and sensorimotor processing among male club collegiate athletes after one season of participation in collision sports of variable exposure. We predicted that COLL (High Dose [hockey], n = 8; Low Dose [rugby], n = 9) would demonstrate longer reaction times (antisaccade and memory-guided saccade [MGS] latencies), increased inhibitory errors (antisaccade error rate), and poorer spatial working memory (MGS spatial accuracy) at post-season, relative to pre-season, whereas non-collision collegiate athletes (NON-COLL; n = 17) would remain stable. We also predicted that whereas eye-movement performance would detect pre- to post-season change, ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test) performance would remain stable. Our data showed that NON-COLL had shorter (improved performance) post- versus pre-season antisaccade and MGS latencies, whereas COLL groups showed stable, longer, or attenuated reduction in latency (ps ≤ 0.001). Groups did not differ in antisaccade error rate. On the MGS task, NON-COLL demonstrated improved spatial accuracy over time, whereas COLL groups showed reduced spatial accuracy (p

In Character Recognition, the Feature extraction has encompassed a well-known role. Here, Feature Extraction centered on Chain code (CC) is implemented. CC encodes every stroke with a string of numbers, in which every number signifies a specific direction wherein the subsequent point on the stroke is present. CC centered feature safeguard information and permits reasonable data to decrease. Disparate CC can signify the same shape since the CC is reliant on starting point. So here, Starting Point and rotation invariant feature extraction technique using Normalized Differential Chain Code (NDCC) is proposed. A two-stage classifier is employed for classification. Here, the NDCC feature is utilized in the pre-classifier and pre-processed (x,y) coordinates are used in the post classifier. In both stages K-NN classifier is used. This feature is verified in HP-Lab data that is present in the UNIPEN format. Investigational outcomes proved that the proposed feature enhances recognition accuracy over the selected dataset.

The last decades in maxillofacial surgery and surgical dentistry are marked by the fact that one of the most popular and frequently encountered research topics is the pathology of the salivary glands. Patients with this pathology make up 2.3-5.2% of the total number of persons hospitalized during the year in specialized inpatient departments. The spectrum of these diseases is wide and includes: malformations, traumatic injuries, inflammatory processes of both viral and bacterial nature, reactive dystrophic lesions, salivary stone disease, benign and malignant neoplasms. Sialoadenitis can occur in both acute and chronic forms. At the same time, the ways of penetration of the infectious agent were determined: hematogenic, lymphogenic, contact, intraductal. The most frequently diagnosed inflammatory pathology of the salivary glands is chronic sialoadenitis. The purpose of the study is to identify unsolved problems and determine the directions of further research based on the analysis of available domestic and foreign specialized literature on epidemiology, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of chronic sialoadenitis. Materials and methods. The analysis of specialized literature containing information on the epidemiology, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of chronic sialoadenitis was carried out. The article analyzes periodicals for the last 10 years, as well as basic manuals, monographs, and textbooks without a statute of limitations. The descriptive method is used for the analysis. Results and discussion. Chronic sialoadenitis and sialosis account for 42.0-54.4% of the total pathology of the salivary glands. This is due to: an increase in the number of neoplasms, including malignant ones both in the maxillofacial region and in the salivary glands; an increase in the number of patients with thyroid diseases who use radioactive iodine for therapeutic purposes, which also accumulates in the salivary glands, which causes the appearance of symptoms of xerostomia and sialoadenitis; a significant share of publications indicating the complexity of the differential diagnosis of chronic sialoadenitis and a large number of diagnostic errors. Conclusion. The presented material proves that the task of developing diagnostic and differential-diagnostic tests used in chronic sialoadenitis is socially significant and belongs to the category of priority and determines the need for its early effective solution. The development and implementation of new diagnostic and differential-diagnostic tests developed and scientifically based on the principles of evidence-based medicine, used in patients with chronic sialoadenitis, will reduce the number of complications, improve the quality of life of patients, and increase the level of specialized medical care to the population

Midface advancement at the monobloc level can be the seminal life event for patients with craniofacial dysostosis. Monobloc reconstruction, when planned appropriately, can simultaneously and definitively address multiple functional and aesthetic deficiencies in these patients. The application of distraction has reduced the morbidity experienced with traditional monobloc surgery. The purpose of this study is to report on the outcomes, stability, and growth in younger patients after monobloc advancement in syndromic craniosynostosis patients. The authors report a consecutive series of thirty patients with craniofacial dysostosis treated through monobloc differential distraction osteogenesis. Detailed history, photographic, and long-term radiographic data are reviewed, including a subset of patients who were skeletally immature at the time of their treatment. Differential distraction allows control of midface pitch, roll, and yaw, optimizing functional and aesthetic outcomes. There were no infectious complications requiring reoperation. The average surgical age for all patients was 12.5 years. For the 7 patients age7 years, average age was 6 years. For all patients, the mean horizontal movement was 12 mm at nasion and 10 mm at A-point. At mean follow-up (4.8 years entire group and 6.2 years age7 years group) a positive horizontal advancement of 1.1 mm at nasion and 0.8 mm at A-point was observed. More pronounced positive horizontal changes were seen in the age7 years group. Monobloc differential distraction osteogenesis affords safe and precise repositioning of the midface. The advancement is skeletally stable and young patients show moderate continued growth.

Differential microstrip antennas have received considerable attention in the design of highly integrated radio transceivers for wireless communications. A study of the surface waves excited by the single-ended and differential feeds is presented for the circular microstrip antennas. The cavity-mode theory and the dyadic Green's function method are combined to rigorously calculate the surface-wave field excited by each mode for the circular microstrip antennas under single-ended and differential feedings, respectively. The vertical monopole probe antenna is used to measure the TM0-mode surface wave excited by the single-ended and differential circular microstrip antennas, respectively. The measured and calculated results confirm that the surface wave excited by the differential feeding is smaller than that excited by the single-ended counterpart.

Optical Spatial mode-division multiplexing that exploits the new few-mode fiber (FMF) technology is a promoted solution for the new optical communication systems. We work on the multilayers method of designing the new optical communication systems FMF. These systems suffer essentially from differential mode delay. In this article, we implement the multilayers method of designing an arbitrary fiber profiles with our own Matlab code and we proposed a fiber profile design with a full control of differential mode delay regions in the C-and L-bands, for six linearly polarized modes circulating in FMF with the cited method.

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a rare progressive form of systemic thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) that develops as a result of uncontrolled activation of the alternative pathway of the complement system. In the case of late diagnosis and inadequate treatment, aHUS has an unfavorable outcome with death rates as high as 25% during the acute phase and up to 50% of cases progressing to end-stage renal disease. Clinically, aHUS is very similar to disseminated intravascular coagulation, other TMAs: HUS associated with enterohemorrhagic E. coli, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, etc. The article presents the sequence and scope of studies for the differential diagnosis of aHUS. Eculizumab and its biosimilars, blocking the terminal complement complex, have changed the future of patients with aHUS, so timely diagnosis and early treatment are crucial in the outcome of the disease.

Currently, the diagnosis of chronic bronchitis as an independent nosological form in children is being improved. This direction provides for the differentiation of chronic bronchitis from other bronchopulmonary diseases occurring with bronchitis syndrome. It is known that chronic bronchitis is a constant companion of bronchiectasis, primary ciliary dyskinesia and its main form - Kartagener's syndrome, and is also one of the manifestations of cystic fibrosis. The viciousness of the development of the bronchopulmonary system (aplasia, hypoplasia of the lungs, Mounier-Kuhn syndrome, Williams-Campbell syndrome, polycystic lung disease, bronchial branching anomalies), as a rule, predisposes to the formation of chronic bronchitis.

The security of the block cipher largely depends upon the cryptographic strength of the S-Boxes resistance to the existing cryptanalytic attacks. The nonlinearity and differential uniformity of S-Boxes are used as a quantitative measurement to measure its resistance against linear approximation attack, and differential attack, respectively. The S-Box with high nonlinearity, and low differential uniformity is considered as cryptographically secure S-Boxes. However, as the size of S-Boxes increases, finding a cryptographically strong S-Boxes with high nonlinearity and low differential uniformity is computationally hard. We considered the problem of constructing bijective S-Boxes as a combinatorial optimization problem. In this paper, we use the genetic algorithm, hybrid genetic algorithm, adaptive genetic algorithm and adaptive genetic algorithm with the integration of a local search procedure called hybrid adaptive genetic algorithm (HAGA) for constructing highly nonlinear S-Boxes along with other important cryptographic properties. We Construct $$8 \times 8$$ bijective S-Boxes and compare the results of our produced S-Boxes with the previously published S-Boxes generated by different heuristic and evolutionary techniques. The S-Boxes generated by our HAGA attains the nonlinearity 108, differential uniformity 6, and algebraic degree 7, which outperforms most of the existing heuristic and evolutionary techniques.

Elvioza Elvioza,1,2 Denny Agustiningsih,3 Suhardjo Prawiroranu,2 Muhammad Bayu Sasongko2 1JEC Eye Hospitals & Clinics, Jakarta, Indonesia; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada - Sardjito Eye Center, Dr. Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; 3Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, IndonesiaCorrespondence: Muhammad Bayu SasongkoDepartment of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada - Sardjito Eye Center, Dr. Sardjito General Hospital, Jalan Farmako Sekip Utara, Yogyakarta, IndonesiaTel/Fax +62 274 552850Email mb.sasongko@ugm.ac.id

Neoplasms of the spinal column and spinal cord, depending on their localization relative to the spinal cord and its membranes, are classified into extradural, intradural extramedullary and intramedullary. Extradural tumors are located outside the dura mater. This category includes tumors of the vertebral bodies and tumors lying in the extradural space of the spinal canal. Intradural extramedullary tumors are found within the dura but outside the spinal parenchyma. Intramedullary tumors originate within the spinal cord and are the rarest group of spinal tumors. The aim of the study is to determine the criteria for the differential diagnosis of studied pathology.

Integration of distribution generation (DG) makes the growth of the microgrid protection scheme very challenging issues. Researchers from all over the world continuously are doing hard work for developing the microgrid protection schemes. A differential positive sequence power angle (DPSPA) based microgrid protection scheme is proposed in this paper using positive sequence (PS) components of voltages and currents. The DPSPA for the feeder is calculated considering both ends of voltage and current signal information, when it is more than threshold, internal fault is reported otherwise, it is an external fault. Taking into consideration the varying operational modes of the microgrid, variations in DG penetration, and variations in fault variables namely fault types, and fault locations, the proposed protection scheme is verified on a modified IEEE-13 bus feeder. Moreover, to test the robustness and efficacy of the suggested scheme, various non-faulty events including induction motor starting, non-linear loading, load switching, capacitor switching, and section cutoff have been conducted. The proposed scheme is also verified for external faults and it is found that it continues to be stable for the external faults. The findings exhibit this proposed scheme, which is based on DPSPA, can successfully protect the microgrid under changing operating conditions.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a high-quality factor fractal inductor for wireless applications such as satellite, WLAN, Bluetooth, microwave, radar and cellular phone. Design/methodology/approach The Hilbert fractal curve is used in the implementation of the proposed inductor. In the proposed inductor, the metal width has split into multiple paths based on the skin depth of the metal. The simulations of the proposed inductor are performed in 180 nm CMOS technology using the Advanced Design System EM simulator. Findings The multipath technique reduces the skin effects and proximity effects, which, in turn, decreases the series resistance of the inductor and attains high-quality factor over conventional fractal inductor for the equal on-chip area. Research limitations/implications The width of the path has chosen higher than the skin depth of the metal for a required operating frequency. Due to cost constraints, the manufacturing of the proposed fractal inductor is limited to a single layer. Practical implications The proposed inductor will be useful for the implementation of critical building blocks of radio frequency integrated circuits and monolithic microwave integrated circuits such as low-noise amplifiers, voltage-controlled oscillators, mixers, filters and power amplifiers. Originality/value This paper presents for the first time the use of a multipath technique for the fractal inductors to enhance the quality factor.

Differential morphological profile (DMP) and differential attribute profile (DAP) are effective tools for automated building extraction from very high-resolution (VHR) images. Compared to the DMP, ...

Differential Hall Effect Metrology (DHEM) technique was used to study dopant activation in n-Si and p-SiGe materials. n-type Si samples were prepared by P ion implantation followed by RTA at temperatures ranging from 750ºC to 950ºC. Junction depth and dopant activation through the layers were correlated with process parameters. Using DHEM mobility profiles, a correlation was also established between the EOR defect location and their elimination through high temperature annealing. DHEM resistivity depth profile displayed increased resistivity in the surface region of B-doped SiGe (50%) epi layer. This electrical behavior is in excellent agreement with expected reduction in B incorporation as strain-relaxation occurs towards the free surface. These results demonstrate prime importance of DHEM capabilities for engineering of advanced contacts.

Physical processes in a quantum two-barrier heterostructure, which is the basis for the development of tunnel-resonant diodes, are considered. These studies have shown that tunnel resonance diodes can be used as temperature sensors with a frequency output signal. The use of devices with negative differential resistance makes it possible to significantly simplify the design of temperature sensors in the entire radio frequency range, at which, depending on the operating modes of the sensor, an output signal can be obtained both in the form of harmonic oscillations and in the form of impulse oscillations of a special form. The study of the characteristics of the sensor is based on the equivalent circuit of the tunnel-resonant diode, which takes into account its capacitive and inductive properties. The current-voltage characteristic of the sensor has a falling section, which is responsible for the appearance of a negative differential resistance in this section. The descending section arises due to a decrease in the current that flows through the double-barrier quantum heterostructure, with an increase in voltage. A decrease in the current occurs due to a decrease in the transparency coefficient of the potential barriers of the heterostructure. A mathematical model of the temperature sensor has been developed, on the basis of which the analytical dependences of the change in the elements of the equivalent circuit of the sensor on temperature, as well as the transformation function and sensitivity, have been determined. It is shown that the main contribution to changes in the conversion function and sensor sensitivity is made by the change in the negative differential resistance with a change in temperature. This, in turn, results in different readings of the instrument’s output frequency. The sensor sensitivity was varied from 480 kHz/0С to 220 kHz/0С in the temperature range from -150 0С to 50 0С.

Introduction: Misclassification of clinical periodontitis can occur by partial-mouth protocols, particularly when tooth-based case definitions are applied. In these cases, the true prevalence of periodontal disease is underestimated, but specificity is perfect. In association studies of periodontal disease etiology, misclassification by this mechanism is independent of exposure status (i.e., nondifferential). Despite nondifferential mechanisms, differential misclassification may be realized by virtue of random errors. Objectives: To gauge the amount of uncertainty around the expectation of differential periodontitis outcome misclassification due to random error only, we estimated the probability of differential outcome misclassification, its magnitude, and expected impacts via simulation methods using values from the periodontitis literature. Methods: We simulated data sets with a binary exposure and outcome that varied according to sample size (200, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000), exposure effect (risk ratio; 1.5, 2), exposure prevalence (0.1, 0.3), outcome incidence (0.1, 0.4), and outcome sensitivity (0.6, 0.8). Using a Bernoulli trial, we introduced misclassification by randomly sampling individuals with the outcome in each exposure group and repeated each scenario 10,000 times. Results: The probability of differential misclassification decreased as the simulation parameter values increased and occurred at least 37% of the time across the 10,000 repetitions. Across all scenarios, the risk ratio was biased, on average, toward the null when the sensitivity was higher among the unexposed and away from the null when it was higher among the exposed. The extent of bias for absolute sensitivity differences ≥0.04 ranged from 0.05 to 0.19 regardless of simulation parameters. However, similar trends were not observed for the odds ratio where the extent and direction of bias were dependent on the outcome incidence, sensitivity of classification, and effect size. Conclusions: The results of this simulation provide helpful quantitative information to guide interpretation of findings in which nondifferential outcome misclassification mechanisms are known to be operational with perfect specificity. Knowledge Transfer Statement: Measurement of periodontitis can suffer from classification errors, such as when partial-mouth protocols are applied. In this case, specificity is perfect and sensitivity is expected to be nondifferential, leading to an expectation for no bias when studying periodontitis etiologies. Despite expectation, differential misclassification could occur from sources of random error, the effects of which are unknown. Proper scrutiny of research findings can occur when the probability and impact of random classification errors are known.

Assembly deviations of wheelsets cause differential wheelset misalignments and change the wheel-rail contact relationship in railway turnouts. In this paper, the motion conditions of wheelsets unde...

A novel configuration of focused laser differential interferometry (FLDI) was developed, simulated, and tested. The new configuration is referred to as cylindrical FLDI or CFLDI. Using cylindrical ...