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Currently, there is an active development of new frequency ranges (millimeter and submillimeter parts of the spectrum) due to the introduction of the 5G standard and the study of 6G networks. This leads to the fact that there is a need to develop flexible antennas for these frequency ranges. It is advisable to use graphene for these purposes, since it is possible to manufacture environmentally friendly flexible antennas on its basis. In this work, the authors aim to determine the minimum and maximum frequencies for which flexible graphene antennas can be fabricated using various graphene deposition technologies.The paper presents a comparative analysis of the possibility of using various technologies for deposition of graphene for the manufacture of antennas in the millimeter and submillimeter frequency ranges. To perform this analysis, a critical size parameter was introduced. On its basis, the minimum and maximum frequencies for which flexible graphene antennas can be fabricated are determined using the considered graphene deposition technologies.The design and characteristics of a graphene eco-friendly dipole antenna on a paper substrate, which is made using screen printing technology, are presented. An assessment of the applicability of the technology used for the manufacture of elements of the Internet of things operating in the 5G millimeter frequency range has been carried out.

We apply machine-learning algorithms to the calculated light-scattering patterns from particles having seven different common and naturally occurring shapes to assess the accuracy of shape classification based on light scattering. We consider different input data sets including one- and two-dimensional scattering functions of both intensity and polarization. Our scattering data set is produced from particles of volume-equivalent size parameter 5, and refractive index m = 1.5 + 0i. As expected, classification capabilities were much greater when the two-dimensional scattering data were used than when only one-dimensional data were considered. When the two-dimensional intensity patterns are considered, classification accuracies were approximately 70% for the regularly shaped particles and above 90% for the highly irregularly shaped particles. These capabilities increased slightly when linear polarization was used as input. Although all our results are specific to our particular data set, machine-learning techniques are easily generalizable. This exercise suggests that particle discrimination can be achieved in practical experiments using light-scattering patterns through deep learning.

Due to heat prosumers' dual roles of heat producer and heat consumer, the future district heating (DH) systems will become more flexible and competitive. However, the current heating price models have not yet supported the reverse heat supply from prosumers to the central DH system, which means the prosumers would gain no economic benefit from supplying heat to the central DH system. These unidirectional heating price models will reduce interest in prosumers, and thus hinder the promotion of prosumers in DH systems. This study aimed to optimize prosumers' economic performance under the current heating price models by introducing water tank thermal energy storage (WTTES). A dynamic optimization problem was formulated to explore prosumers' economic potentials. The size parameter of WTTESs was swept in prosumers to obtain the optimal storage size considering the trade-off between the payback period and the heating cost saving. The proposed method was tested on a campus DH system in Norway. The results showed that the prosumer's annual heating cost was saved up to 9%, and the investment of WTTES could be recovered in less than ten years. This study could provide guidelines on improving prosumers' economic performance and promote the development of prosumers during the transformation period of DH systems. Keywords 4th generation district heatingThermal energy storageDistributed heat sourcesHeating price modelPeak loadMismatch problem

Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems represent an efficient technology for power generation from low-to-medium temperature heat sources. Most of the efforts in the recent literature are addressed to the improvement of turbine design and efficiency by taking advantage of the low enthalpy drops while dealing with the large volume flow ratios across the expansion process and low speed of sound typical of high molecular weight fluids. These peculiar conditions make the choice and the design of an ORC turbine a challenging task, exacerbated by the only few experimental data available in the open literature. The aim of this paper is to obtain the optimum design and corresponding maximum efficiency of single stage radial inflow turbines for different cycle design specifications (i.e., mass flow rate and enthalpy drop) using the real gas properties of refrigerant R245fa. This aim is pursued by means of a mean-line model developed in Matlab ® which includes the design and performance analysis procedure suggested by Aungier (2005). Results indicate how different design choices in terms of specific speed and velocity ratio, and different working conditions in terms of expansion ratio and turbine size may affect the efficiency of single stage radial inflow turbines in ORC systems.

A data set of ventral-aspect insect radar cross-sections (RCSs) and polarization patterns, measured at X band (9.4 GHz, linear polarization) in laboratory rigs, has been collated from a number of sources. The data have been analysed to identify relationships between RCS parameters (one representing size and two the polarization-pattern shape) and the insects’ masses and morphological dimensions and forms. An improved mass-estimation relationship, with appropriate asymptotes for very small and very large insects, is presented. This relationship draws only on the RCS size parameter and it is shown that incorporating one or both of the RCS shape parameters provides little additional benefit. Small insects have polarization-pattern shapes that fall within a relatively limited region of the range of parameter values allowed by electromagnetic scattering theory. Larger insects have shapes that extend beyond this region, following a broad trajectory as size and mass increases; at masses above ~0.6 g, the pattern becomes ‘perpendicular’, with maxima when the E-field is orthogonal to the body axis rather than parallel to it. RCS shape can be used to infer morphological form for small insects (

The size and shape distributions of particles of a dispersive medium are retrieved from measurements of the scattering matrix for aqueous suspensions of copper and zinc oxides by solving the optimization problem for the sum of the squared deviations of the experimental values of matrix elements and their values calculated using the model of spheroidal scatterers. It is shown that for dispersive media with particles of irregular shapes and with sizes corresponding to the size parameter of 0.1–2, the retrieved distribution has a distortion expressed in an increased fraction of smaller sized particles.

With the analysis example of a cast iron component a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) based modelling and post-processing methodology is proposed for the multiaxial high-cycle fatigue assessment of surface defects. Methods are proposed for the measurement and mechanical description of surface defects using an ellipsoid simplification and the well-known size parameter from Murakami (2002). Different methods are compared for the stress-computation near surface defects: elastic FEA, elastic-plastic FEA with nonlinear kinematic hardening material model, and analytical calculations with the Equivalent Inclusion Method from Eshelby (1957). The Defect Stress Gradient (DSG) approach from Vincent et al. (2014) is applied to predict crack initiation, whereby a new method is proposed for the estimation of the stress gradient, which allows the presentation of the DSG utilisation factor results field.

Music is one of the entertainments for the community both in Indonesia and throughout the world. Music is enjoyed in the form of instruments and has lyrics that can express emotions. The emotions produced by a song can be distinguished based on the lyrics. Songs that are in accordance with the mood are sometimes needed to enjoy music, so we need tools to distinguish emotions in the song called classification. This study uses the Recurrent Neural Network method to classify emotions based on song lyrics. The parameters of the Recurrent Neural Network that were tested in this study were hidden size, learning rate, and dropout. Data in this study were divided into development dataset and dataset testing. K-fold cross-validation is used in the model training process. The highest accuracy obtained was 82.4 percent during the testing process. Accuracy is obtained by using a hidden size parameter of 128, a learning rate of 0, 01, and a dropout of 0, 4. The highest accuracy model is used as a basis for classifying emotions based on Indonesian song lyrics into happy and sad classes. When the live process uses 10 complete songs, the average accuracy is 83.13 percent.

Introduction. Patellar instability (PI) is a common finding in children. Current parameters describing patellofemoral joint alignment do not account for knee size. Additionally, most parameters utilize joint-crossing tibiofemoral landmarks and are prone to errors. The aim of the present study was to develop a knee size-independent parameter that is suitable for pediatric or small knees and determines the malpositioning of the distal patellar tendon insertion solely utilizing tibial landmarks. Methods. Sixty-one pediatric knees were included in the study. The tibial tubercle posterior cruciate ligament distance (TTPCL) was measured via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The tibial head diameter (THD) was utilized as a parameter for knee size. An index was calculated for the TTPCL and THD (TTPCL/THD). One-hundred adult knees were analyzed to correlate the data with a normalized cohort. Results. The THD was significantly lower in healthy females than in males (69.3 mm ± 0.8 mm vs. 79.1 mm ± 0.7 mm; p<0.001) and therefore was chosen to serve as a knee size parameter. However, no gender differences were found for the TTPCL/THD index in the healthy adult study cohort. The TTPCL/THD was significantly higher in adult PI patients than in the control group (0.301 ± 0.007 vs. 0.270 ± 0.007; p=0.005). This finding was repeated in the PI group when the pediatric cohort was analyzed (0.316 ± 0.008 vs. 0.288 ± 0.010; p=0.033). Conclusion. The TTPCL/THD index represents a novel knee size-independent measure describing malpositioning of the distal patellar tendon insertion determined solely by tibial landmarks.

The retail network as a variable subsystem of a cultural landscape is an important feature of the settlement system and the inner structure of the settlements. In the urban environment of post-socialist countries under the influence of globalization the retail network belongs to the most dynamic elements. Our goal is to identify the spatial configuration of demographic and retail indicators. Data obtained from field passportization were processed by using statistical-mathematical methods. We also deal with the processes and specifics of the retail network of the city of Žilina, which impact on the modeling of its spatial structure, polycentrism, increase of disparities, and commercial suburbanization. The development of the retail network in the city of Žilina is significantly influenced by the following factors: purchasing power of residents, globalization impacts of supranational retail chains´ entrance, accessibility, synergy effect, development of new retail forms, and self-government policies. The paper is part of a broader research into the retail network of large cities in Slovakia. The research has been carried out with the same methodology as in the two regional cities of Nitra and Trnava. The automotive industry as an important economic factor is the common feature of all of them. URL:https://www.gcass.science.upjs.sk/&nbsp

PurposeTo find a radiographic method that best correlates with the mean subaxial cervical space available for the cord (MSCSAC) by using a fixed size parameter as radiographic reference, in contrast to the use of vertebral bodies as reference in the mean subaxial cervical Torg ratio (MTorg).MethodsThe study was approved by an institutional review board and written informed consent was obtained. Radiographs and cervical neck MRI were obtained from 18 male rugby athletes (age 18–30 years). Rheumatic disease, symptomatic cervical orthopaedic disease and previous cervical injury were used as exclusion criteria. MSCSAC and MTorg were calculated for each individual as the space available for the cord and Torg ratio averages from C3 to C6, respectively. A new radiographic method, using a metal bar as a size parameter (the corrected diameter of the cervical canal - CDCC), was also calculated for each individual, as well as its average from C3 to C6 (mean corrected diameter of the cervical canal - MCDCC). Values obtained for MCDCC and MTorg were correlated with those obtained by the MSCSAC using Pearson’s coefficient.ResultsFour volunteers were excluded due to previous cervical injury. In total, 14 subjects had their radiographs and MRIs analysed. Pearson’s correlation between MSCSAC and MTorg was 0.5706 (p=0.033). The correlation between MSCSAC and MCDCC was 0.6903 (p=0.006).ConclusionMCDCC correlates better than MTorg with MSCSAC and may be a better radiographic option than MTorg for cervical stenosis evaluation.

The influence of the size parameter of the scatterers on ultrafast optical Kerr gate (OKG) imaging is investigated in highly scattering poly-disperse turbid media. The results show that in a poly-disperse turbid medium, which in our case, is a suspension of two different sized mono-disperse microspheres, the temporal and spatial behaviors of the light pulses transmitted through it are dominated by the smaller microspheres. The contrasts of the OKG images for the poly-disperse microsphere sample are closer to the contrasts of the OKG images for the smaller sized mono-disperse microsphere sample.

Wind turbine blade is the key component of wind power system. Curing is one of the important processes in its production of large-scale composite wind turbine blade. Mold heating system of circulating water affects the quality of resin curing and the productive efficiency of turbine blade directly. The heat transfer model of heating system for 1.2 MW wind turbine blade is built, and influencing analysis of size parameters on heating effect to mold heating system, such as thickness of heat conduction layer, thickness of insulating layer, inner diameter of parallel pipeline, wall thickness of pipe and distance between pipes are accomplished in this paper. The conclusion provides reference for determining variables and their span of system optimum design.

This article describes the basic principles for determining the geometry of different types of power transforming machines with rotating pistons. Those machines can be used as internal combustion engines, pumps, hydraulic engines, compressors, flowmeters, feeders etc. An attempt is made to clarify whether it is possible to construct machines with rotating pistons for more general use. Differences in description in many sources lead to problems when it comes to comparison of information coming from these sources. An analysis of the data indicates that reorganizing the basic mathematical issues would be useful. In this article we choose and describe one most convenient name and form of mathematical equation. Many other applications of the chosen form of mathematical equation ascertain proper and convenient use. This is the first time that the chosen form of mathematical equation is proposed to be used to find constructions of different types of power transforming machines with rotating pistons. The main advantage of this form of mathematical equation is the application of two main parameters: curve size parameter and dimensionless curve parameter. These two parameters decided about the convenience in changing volume of internal combustion engines and comparisons of performance characteristic of different types of power transforming machines with rotating pistons. In this paper some convenient values of parameters dimensionless curve parameter are put and discussed.

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method reliability can be determined by a statistical flaw detection study called probability of detection (POD) study. In many instances, the NDE flaw detectability is given as a flaw size such as crack length. An alternate approach is to use a more complex flaw size parameter. Earlier models by the author did not include scattering effects in detection of cracks. X-ray flaw size parameter model, given here, investigates one of scattering effects namely specular reflectivity of low energy x-rays impinging on crack faces at grazing angle. Reflectivity of x-rays at low grazing angle to crack faces is almost 100%. If crack faces are smooth and flat, the grazing angle x-rays channel between the crack faces. The paper models the specular reflection to study its effect on contrast of x-ray image. The channeling of x-rays can improve x-ray image contrast significantly. Normalized exposure and image width are used to calculate the flaw size parameter. Reflectivity of grazing angle x-rays can be used to improve x-ray crack detectability in thin low density materials.

Color segmentation of breast thermograms can have a crucial performance in tumor detection. There is a relation between blood vessel activity and the surrounding area temperature . Once a cancer increases blood vessel activity, the cancer cells and their surrounding tissue become hotter than normal tissue. Pre-cancer and cancer cells need plenty of nutrients to multiply and survive consequently; they are highly metabolic tissue and have different thermal patterns compared to the normal one. In this paper, a comparison work is presented for three modeled color segmentation approaches: K-means, mean shift (MS), and fuzzy c-means (FCM) applied to infrared breast images. There are some drawbacks for K-means and MS approaches. Almost empty clusters may be obtained in the segmentation results using K-means algorithm. In addition, we frequently confront almost empty clusters with MS algorithm due to its sensitiveness to the window size parameter. Choosing an appropriate window size parameter is not an easy task. On the other hand, the fuzzy inherent breast thermal images aid the FCM technique to obtain more precise outcomes. Malignant tumors show hotter thermal patterns than healthy tissues and even with benign tissues. Segmenting different parts of two breasts in terms of their temperature has potential helping to identify abnormal breast tissues.

Approach slab is mainly used to slowdown or reduce uneven settlement of bridge heads as far as possible. Setting approach slab at back of bridges and culverts is an effective and necessary way to avoid faulting slab ends between abutment and road in high-grade highway. It has come into general application and achieved good results. But nowadays, approach slab is designed based on previous experience or being set a size parameter directly instead of being made a special design. Theory and experience that the design based on is unreasonable. Author confirm the need for setting approach slab and give the reference value about length of approach slab for different grade highway according to analysis and study on the forced state of the moving vehicles at highway-bridge junction with or without approach slab.

Through the study of the seat size parameter change on the body pressure distribution effect, the powerful references to comfort design of office chair were explored. By using Canadian XSENSOR X3 PRO V6 test system, human body pressure distribution and subjective comfort evaluation in different back angle of 6 objects were tested. The data were processed by statistical analysis software SPSS 16. Then the change of maximum pressure, average pressure, contact area of seat surface and backrest, as well as the vertical pressure distribution curve with the back angle were obtained. Finally the comfort indicators of daily office chair were determined based on body pressure distribution, and the most comfortable back angle of office chair were also solved. Thereby it can provide reference for those who want to design comfortable daily office chair.

Pedestrians on Delhi roads are often exposed to high risks. This is because the basic needs of pedestrians are not recognized as a part of the urban transport infrastructure improvement projects in Delhi. Rather, an ever increasing number of cars and motorized two-wheelers encourage the construction of large numbers of flyovers/grade separators to facilitate signal free movement for motorized vehicles, exposing pedestrians to greater risk. This paper describes the statistical analysis of pedestrian risk taking behavior while crossing the road, before and after the construction of a grade separator at an intersection of Delhi. A significant number of pedestrians are willing to take risks in both before and after situations. The results indicate that absence of signals make pedestrians behave independently, leading to increased variability in their risk taking behavior. Variability in the speeds of all categories of vehicles has increased after the construction of grade separators. After the construction of the grade separator, the waiting time of pedestrians at the starting point of crossing has increased and the correlation between waiting times and gaps accepted by pedestrians show that after certain time of waiting, pedestrians become impatient and accepts smaller gap size to cross the road. A Logistic regression model is fitted by assuming that the probability of road crossing by pedestrians depends on the gap size (in s) between pedestrian and conflicting vehicles, sex, age, type of pedestrians (single or in a group) and type of conflicting vehicles. The results of Logistic regression explained that before the construction of the grade separator the probability of road crossing by the pedestrian depends on only the gap size parameter; however after the construction of the grade separator, other parameters become significant in determining pedestrian risk taking behavior.

Unburned carbon (UBC) percentage in coal ash can be considered as an economic and environmental constraint since it is not only an important characteristic in terms of combustion efficiency but also it becomes more of an issue of further utilization of ash. In this study, particle size distribution (PSD) effect on UBC in fly ash (FA) was discussed and efficient size parameter of PSD in terms of UBC formation was determined. At the first stage of the study, regarding ash formation, percentage of any set of coal particles which are more likely to form fly ash (FA) was theoretically determined. For this purpose, a formulation including the size parameters was proposed. Secondly, with the help of a 3-day long systematical control of power, the effect of size distribution on UBC was obtained. The size distributions of these samples showed that an increase in D 32 size parameter causes an increase in the amount of UBC as well. Relationships between the amount of UBC and mean values of size parameters (D 10 , D 50 , D 90 , D 32 , D 43 ) were all statistically meaningful for both units of power plant concerned but D 32 size parameter has a better fit among all the size parameters. In summary, D 32 & UBC have a regression coefficient of 0.90 (R 2 ~ 0.9), while other size parameters (D 10 , D 50 , D 90 , D 43 ) & UBC have regression coefficients of 0.2 (R 2 ~ 0.2) for both units. Finally, a model including these size parameters was proposed to predict UBC in FA. The model proposed was in good agreement with the measured UBC in FA.

This chapter aims to define a set of general correlations for the estimation of axial-flow turbine efficiency in the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) field. A dedicated numerical tool is used for the optimization of several hundreds of turbines and the results are presented in terms of specific parameters ( SP , V r , and Ns ) according to similarity rules. The analysis is carried out for single, two, and three stages turbines. For each case a correlation of efficiency at optimal rotational speed is calibrated in function of the equivalent single stage SP and the total isentropic V r . Three sensitivity analyses are proposed in order to highlight the effects of each single parameter on stage efficiency. Finally, the effect of fluid choice on turbine performance and dimension is discussed with a numerical example.

The variety of decision variables involved in the design of Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs) and equipment still open opportunities to enhance efficiency and performance in the recovery of low grade and waste heat in spite of the high number of studies already available in the literature and the rapidly growing number of existing applications. Most of the literature focuses on cycle configuration, design parameters and working fluid that maximize different performance metrics, but often ignores the expander design features that are necessary to obtain them, by fixing in advance the expander efficiency. This approach is questionable for ORC systems where the high volumetric expansion ratios, variable sizes and working fluids may markedly affect expander efficiency. This study provides a design criterion of axial flow turbines which gives a reliable estimate of their efficiency for a wide range of operating duty specifications and working fluids. For fixed values of size parameter and volumetric expansion ratio the optimum values of duty parameters (flow and loading coefficients, degrees of reaction) and the associated turbine efficiency are obtained by a mean line design procedure including real gas properties and the recent loss correlations proposed by Aungier. For each working fluid, all the efficiency values obtained by this procedure for a wide set of size parameter and volumetric expansion ratio are included in a map, which updates a similar map obtained for high molecular weight ideal gases by Macchi and Perdichizzi in the eighties. A wide spectrum of working fluids and operating conditions is considered here to explore the effect of fluid characteristics on the shape of the efficiency maps. Results show that the influence of the working fluid on the efficiency maps may be not negligible, and can be taken into account by including the working fluid critical temperature in addition to the size parameter and volumetric expansion ratio. Accordingly, a generalized efficiency map is obtained which is valid for any fluid, and can be easily integrated into a comprehensive thermodynamic cycle analysis and optimization to account for the real turbine performance.

In this study, we investigate the effects of elliptical shape of Asian dust particles on the estimation of aerosol optical depth by implementing T-matrix method into WRF/Chem Dust Model. The phase function calculated by assuming elliptical particle shape near of scattering angle showed about 20 times larger than that calculated by assuming spherical particle shape. Significant difference of extinction efficiency was found with an increase of size parameter and aspect ratio. From the simulations of two Asian dust events occurred on 1 April 2007 and 16 March 2010, we found that the difference of extinction efficiency between elliptical and spherical particle shape was about 5~8%. The aerosol optical depth calculated by assuming elliptical particle shape with 1.6, 1.4 and 1.2 of aspect ratio was about , , and larger than those estimated by assuming spherical particle shape.

A high necesarry data service and bigger network capacity becomes a critical issue in the GSM network. One of the good and bad size parameter reference-quality GSM network can be viewed on the performance parameters MLSLOT Allocation Blocking. The default value for parameter MLSLOT Allocation Blocking are ? 40 % that the network is otherwise well. To overcome these problems it is applied to UMTS technology. The study was conducted to determine how the performance of the 2G PT Indosat Tbk. Before and after the application of technology and how it compares to the performance of UMTS cellular network PT Indosat Tbk. before and after implementation of a UMTS network. In conducting this study the authors to collect the necessary data and did the interview if the supervisor does not know From the research the average value MLSlot Bocking Allocation has decreased, for the first sector decreased on average uplink 0.70% to 0.17% down 0.53%.The average downlink 26.49% to 14.98% down 11.51%. Sector 2 uplink average 0.24% to 0.00% down 0.24%, the average downlink 5.16% to 0.04% down 5.12%, Sector 3 uplink average 0.6% to 0.21% down 0.39%, the average downlink 23.99% to14.98% down 9.01%.

A method to approximate azimuthally resolved light scattering patterns and phase functions due to diffraction and external reflection by strongly absorbing facetted particles is demonstrated for a cube and compared with results from an exact method, T-matrix. A phase function averaged over a range of orientations of a strongly absorbing hexagonal column of aspect ratio unity has been calculated and tested against Discrete Dipole Approximation (DDA) results for a size parameter of 50., Final Accepted Version

We use the superposition T-matrix method to compute the linear and circular depolarization ratios for randomly oriented spheroids with an equivalent-volume size parameter kreq = 10 and absorptive inclusions (black carbon). Peterson and Strom's method was used to compute the depolarization ratios for inhomogeneous particles, together with Mishchenko's orientation averaging procedure. The effects of the size, shape and location of the core are computed and analyzed for spheroid and sphere particle. From the results, we can see that light backscattering differences by spheroid particles has to be taken into account when an inner core exists.

Summary In the wake of rapid developments in nanotechnologies and nanosciences, the need for an internationally agreed definition of a ‘nanomaterial’ has gained more urgency. A number of definitions are currently available. These are, however, mainly based on size parameter(s), and fall short in terms of applicability to particulate materials that only have a size fraction in the nano-scale, or that contain primary nanostructures in highly agglomerated or aggregated forms. To overcome these shortcomings, we are proposing a complementary definition based on volume specific surface area (VSSA) that can be used as a basis for classification and regulation purposes.

Monte Carlo simulations of the extinction rate of electromagnetic wave propagation in the duststorm were presented. The numerical procedure was based on the multiple scattering and independent scattering. The calculated multiple scattering attenuation rate is in good agreement with the measured one, but differs significantly from those obtained under the independent scattering assumption. At the same time, the factors of size parameter, frequency of incident wave, the angle of incident, and sands permittivity and water content have been considered in the attenuation of electromagnetic wave propagation in the duststorm. Numerical results obtained showed that the attenuation rate increases as the fractional volume, frequency of incident wave and sands permittivity increase, and as the angle of incident increases, the attenuation rate decreases.

Objectives: The relationships between simple testicular sizes, including the testicular length, width, and depth and testicular function were evaluated to determine the usefulness of measuring these simple parameters. Methods: The mean of right and left testicular length, width and depth were measured in 408 men with infertility (mean age, 35.9 ± 5.3 years) using ultrasonography. The ultrasonographic testicular volumes were calculated as the length x width x depth x 0.71. To evaluate the relationship between the testicular size and function, the patients were divided into seven to ten groups according to each testicular size parameter. Results: The mean testicular volume, length, depth, and width were 13.4 ml, 3.86 cm, 1.80 cm, and 2.59 cm, respectively. These three testicular dimensions significantly correlated with sperm density, total sperm count, total motile sperm count, serum follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone equal to ultrasonographic testicular volume. The mean sperm density was in the oligozoospermic range in patients with a mean testicular volume below 10 ml, a mean length below 3.5 cm, a mean depth below 1.75 cm, and a mean width below 2.5 cm. The mean total sperm count was subnormal in patients with a mean testicular volume below 10 ml, a mean length below 3.5 cm, a mean depth below 1.5 cm, and a mean width below 2.25 cm. Conclusions: The testicular length, width, and depth measured by ultrasonography significantly correlated with the testicular function as well as the ultrasonographic testicular volume. A simple measurement of the testicular length, width, and depth is useful for evaluating the testicular function.

The quantitative errors of extinction efficiency during the particulate measurement caused by the refractive in- dex are studied. And the quantitative results are acquired when the real part of the refractive index and the imaginary part change respectively. The change ranges of the real part are 1+0.5 i to 2+0.5i at a 0.1 interval and 1.5+0.5 i to 1.59+0.5 i at a 0.01 interval. Another the change ranges of the imaginary part are 1.57+0.1i to 1.57+1i at a 0.1 i interval and 1.57+1i to 1.57+10i at a 1 i interval. Firstly, the result shows the extinction efficiency change is linear with the real part change of the refractive index, but not linear with the imaginary part change. Secondly, when both the real part and the imaginary part change, the extinction efficiency will go to a constant value about 2.24 with the size parameter x infinitely increasing. Thirdly, the errors are different with the change of x when the real part changes. The maximal error value is 1.168% at x =2 and the end constant value is about 0.05%. Also the extinction efficiency errors are 0.67% and 0.036% when the size of x are 1 and 20 respectively when the imaginary part changes.

BACKGROUND Dermatofibroma (DF) is one of the most basic and common dermatologic diseases treated by practicing dermatologists on a daily basis. Although benign, it can be pruritic or tender. Furthermore, it is difficult to treat effectively with optimal cosmetic outcomes. OBJECTIVE We report a safe, effective, and cosmetically superior method of treating DF with the 600 nm pulsed dye laser (PDL). METHODS We used a 600 nm PDL to treat 20 lesions from 18 Caucasian patients. The laser parameter was set at a fluence of 7 J/cm2, a spot size of 7 mm and a pulse duration of 1.5 ms. Each lesion was treated three times at a 6- to 8-week interval. For each treatment, the lesion was double pulsed with a 20 to 30% overlap. Clinical improvement was graded by a single examiner in evaluating three clinical parameters: color, size/volume, and symptoms. For each parameter, improvement was ranked as no improvement, partial improvement, and complete response. RESULTS All 18 patients (17 women) completed the study. For the volume/size parameter, 15 of 20 lesions (75%) showed complete response. For improvement in color, 12 of 20 patients (60%) showed complete response. Only six lesions were symptomatic (i.e., tender and irritating), and all six lesions showed complete resolution of symptoms after the PDL treatments. After each treatment, all patients experienced blistering, crusting, and purpura that usually resolved after 10 days. CONCLUSIONS We have demonstrated for the first time that PDL (600 nm and 1.5 ms pulse duration) is an effective and safe treatment of DF. It may provide superior cosmetic outcomes compared with other modalities such as surgical excision.

We consider percolation thresholds which arise in the homogenization of composite mediums based on three different types of component particles. An extension of the standard Bruggeman homogenization formalism is implemented in order to take account of the sizes, shapes, and orientations of the component particles. The relationships between the geometric attributes of the component particles and the constitutive parameters of the homogenized composite mediums are investigated. In particular, percolation thresholds arising in the homogenization of conducting component particles oriented in two directions and nonconducting component particles are explored via representative numerical examples. Anisotropies in these percolation thresholds are highlighted.

Purpose: To prospectively determine the accuracy of using an ultrasonographic (US) strain imaging technique known as lesion size comparison to differentiate benign from malignant breast lesions. Materials and Methods: Institutional Review Board approval and patient informed consent were obtained for this HIPPA-compliant study. US strain imaging was performed prospectively for 89 breast lesions in 88 patients. Lesions were imaged by using freehand compression and a real-time strain imaging algorithm. Five observers obtained manual measurements of lesion height, width, and area from B-mode and strain images. By using these size measurements, individual observer and group performances were assessed by using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (Az). The performance of a single size parameter versus that of a combination of size parameters was evaluated by using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Group Az values showed that width ratio and area ratio yielded the be...

The efiects of averaging of the enhancement factor for absorption of light by carbon particles inside water microdroplets are investigated numerically. A uniform distribution of carbon inclusions inside the water droplets is assumed. We perform the averaging over the size parameter of the droplet x=2…R=‚ (R - radius of the droplet, ‚ - the incident wavelength) with difierent resolution in x.

Purpose: To introduce and investigate effective diameter ratios as a new patient metric for use in computed tomography protocol selection as a supplement to patient-specific size parameter data. Methods: The metrics of outer effective diameter and inner effective diameter were measured for 7 post-mortem subjects scanned with a standardized chest/abdomen/pelvis (CAP) protocol on a 320-slice MDCT scanner. The outer effective diameter was calculated by obtaining the anterior/posterior and lateral dimensions of the imaged anatomy at the middle of the scan range using Effective Diameter= SQRT(AP height*Lat Width). The inner effective diameter was calculated with the same equation using the AP and Lat dimensions of the anatomy excluding the adipose tissue. The ratio of outer to inner effective diameter was calculated for each subject. A relationship to BMI, weight, and CTDI conversion coefficients was investigated. Results: For the largest subject with BMI of 43.85 kg/m2 and weight of 255 lbs the diameter ratio was calculated as 1.33. For the second largest subject with BMI of 33.5 kg/m2 and weight of 192.4 lbs the diameter ratio was measured as 1.43, indicating a larger percentage of adipose tissue in the second largest subject’s anatomical composition. For the smallest subject at BMI of 17.4more » kg/m2 and weight of 86 lbs a similar tissue composition was indicated as a subject with BMI of 24.2 kg/m2 and weight of 136 lbs as they had the same diameter ratios of 1.11. Conclusion: The diameter ratio proves to contain information about anatomical composition that the BMI and weight alone do not. The utility of this metric is still being examined but could prove useful for determining MDCT techniques and for giving a more in depth detail of the composition of a patient’s body habitus.« less

In a recent paper, Liu et al. [Liu, C., Jonas, P.R., Saunders, C.P.R., 1996. Accuracy of the anomalous diffraction approximation to the light scattering by column-like ice crystals. Atmos. Res. 41, 63–69] reported that the anomalous diffraction approximation (ADA) accuracy is not sensitive to van de Hulst's condition | m −1|≪1, but is dependent on the size parameter χ . Videen and Chýlek [Videen, G., Chýlek, P., 1998. Anomalous diffraction approximation limits. Atmos. Res., this issue] pointed out that this result is at odds with previous research, and their results indicated that the accuracy of ADA is much dependent on the condition of | m −1|≪1. Some calculated results are presented here to provide further discussion of the ADA validity in the calculation of particle extinction and absorption efficiencies.

Error contour charts have been generated comparing scattered intensities calculated using the RGD and the single-wave and two-wave WKB approximations against Mie theory in the range of real refractive index from 1 to 1.5 and of size parameter from 0 to 20. It is demonstrated that the two-wave WKB method is superior to the others. Nonetheless its range of applicability is very limited, especially at scattering angles larger than .}

The diffraction method for the measurement of the droplet size distributions produced by medical nebulizers was investigated. The technique was found to be robust and reliable. Correlation of published results obtained from laser diffraction droplet size analysis to characterize the nebulizer clouds with radiolabel deposition profiles and predictions of an empirical deposition model, shows that the diffraction technique measures a size parameter relevant to the clinical situation. The high degree of correlation makes laser diffraction suitable for the predictive assessment of aerosols generated by nebulization of drug solutions.

This report describes in detail the procedures, methods, and resources used to complete the demonstration project at the former Pole Mountain Target and Maneuver Area. The objective of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) participation was to learn to use advanced classification processes and apply them to making dig/no-dig decisions on munitions response sites. A total of 2,370 data files were inverted and analyzed using the UX-Analyze add-on to Geosoft's Oasis Montaj software package. Once analysis was complete, theoretical ranked dig lists were submitted for scoring by the Institute for Defense Analyses. Dig list scoring was based on the number of targets of interest (TOIs) correctly identified as items that should be dug and the number of non-TOI or clutter items that were correctly classified as items that did not need to be intrusively investigated. The dig list submitted by USACE Omaha District correctly identified all of the TOI on site as TOI and the number of false positives was reduced by approximately 59%. A retrospective analysis was performed to examine ways of improving the results of the advanced classification. Results indicate that more aggressive use of a size parameter leads to a reduction of false positives by up to 77%.

The relationship between the Hart-Montroll approximation and various other soft particle approximations has been examined for the scattering of light by infinitely long homogeneous cylinders. Numerical comparisons of this approximation with exact results and other approximations have been presented. It is noted that this approximation can be used to obtain the diameter of the particles to within 1% in the domain 1·05  m  1·15 and 5  x  20·0, m and x being the relative refractive index and the size parameter of the particle respectively.

Light scattering by single irregularly shaped particles whose sizes are comparable with wavelength plays an important role in numerous remote-sensing applications. It especially concerns applications dealing with both terrestrial and cosmic dust particles having truly irregular and random structure. The knowledge of the scattering by single irregular particles is absolutely necessary for a realistic modeling and successful interpretation of measurements of light scattering by a powder-like surface, such as, soils, sand-drift or planetary regolith. Note that, though the multiple scattering between constituent particles could significantly dominate over single scattering, it is quite evident that the one is a function of other.

A mixed rigid-flexible virtual prototype of a certain vehicle is constructed by body finite element model and geometry models of vehicle components. Based on multi-body dynamics simulation of the vehicle prototype under several typical driving conditions, the total loads acting on the vehicle body at the moment when the body stress is maximal are exported and imposed on the body finite element model. After static analysis and sensitivity analysis, structural size parameter optimization of the body are carried out, then we adjust size parameters of the body by optimization results. Dynamics simulation is executed again with reconstructed virtual prototype, and we can compare the stress and deformation of the body with the former. Experimental results show that the total weight of the vehicle body is reduced by 14.4% subject to strength requirements and our scheme is effective for vehicle structural parameter optimization.

The angular variations of scattering-matrix elements of coated cylindrical particles are presented. The sensitivity of different elements for a number of physical parameters are discussed, including size parameter, real and imaginary parts of the refractive index of the outer coat, and the inner core. The numerical predictions are presented for typical index-of-refraction values of cotton fibers. These results show that the physical structure of coated cylinders can be determined from carefully conducted light-scattering experiments.

The extinction coefficients of monodispersed spherical particles suspended in water were measured by monochromatic light. PSL particles and silica particles were used as samples, and the particle sizes were O.1-1μm and 1-10μm, respectively. The wavelength was changed from 200 to 1100nm. Good correlation between the measured extinction coefficients and the size parameter assured the accuracy of the measurement

The size-driven mechanism is only applied in automatically reconstructing parts by most of recent popular 3D CAD tools, however, most of them have not realized the automatic reconstructing assemblies at all. In this paper, we propose a novel 3D modeling method, which integrates size parameter and change rules into the model, so that an assembly becomes an object which can automatically reconstruct any parts according to the rules once the whole model size changes. Using this method, we not only keep the size- driven mechanism in part, but also make assemblies have the ability of automatic reconstruction. The results of experiments in furniture design application show our method can greatly improve models' flexibility and reusability.

Environmental context Microplastics, either purposefully manufactured or formed by fragmentation of discarded ‘end-of-life’ macroplastic items, are accumulating in environmental compartments. As more and more data are collected on microplastics in the environment, discussion of two issues has become indispensable: (i) how reliable are the results in terms of the inherent capabilities and limitations of current methods used for sampling, counting and measuring microplastic particles; and (ii) how can the fate of microplastics be understood in the context of natural particles and colloids? Abstract A first important step in evaluating the impact of microplastic pollution in natural systems is assessing the reliability of the results obtained according to the inherent capabilities and limitations of the methods used for sampling, counting and measuring microplastic particles. This study, based on the critical reading of 55 studies containing quantitative microplastic data in waters and sediments, is an attempt to analyse these issues in the light of existing knowledge in the field of natural colloid studies. Existing results are highly dependent on the sampling and methodological procedure chosen and are essentially descriptive. Moreover, often they lack standardisation and adequate reporting of basic information such as the meaning of the size parameter measured. Colloid theory may provide the theoretical background needed to explain microplastic behaviour or, at least, to identify the parameters (e.g. density, surface characteristics, shape) that need to be known in order to gain a predictive knowledge of the subject. They are introduced and discussed. Finally, microplastics are not alone in environmental compartments. For this reason, when possible, published microplastic particle size distributions in natural waters have been quantitatively situated in the context of natural particles.

An algorithm for GPS receivers to mitigate narrowband interference is proposed in this paper, in which the step size parameter of LMS is adaptively updated by virtue of higher order statistics (HOS). Ad result, it makes the convergence speed is less sensitive to the choice of step size parameter, and consequently, that of the power of interference. Simulations show that both narrowband and multiple stationary narrowband interferences can be mitigated by the HOS-based filter proposed in our algorithm.

Recent studies suggest that resonant absorption of sunlight by cloud droplets may constitute a significant and unaccounted-for solar energy sink in the atmosphere. We spectrally resolve, for the first time, all solar absorption, including sharp resonances, in typical liquid water clouds. Resolving all sharp resonances requires a resolution in size parameter χ = 2 π r / λ ( r —droplet radius, λ —incident wavelength) of about 10 - 7 . The canonical integration resolution Δ χ ≈ 10 - 1 produces absorption biases up to 70% over 10 nm spectral bands. Hence, neglecting Mie resonances may cause substantial biases in radiance-based retrievals from sensor channels where atmospheric absorption is particle dominated. The canonical resolution produces broadband solar mean and RMS absorption coefficient biases of about 0.02% and 4%, respectively. Self-cancellation of the pseudo-randomly distributed biases explains why the mean bias is much smaller than the RMS bias. Exceeding 1% RMS accuracy in solar absorption requires Δ χ 10 - 5 . Increased cloud heating due to resolving all resonant absorption is less than 0.1%, equivalent to about 0.01 W m - 2 global annual mean heating. Overlap of droplet and water vapor absorption within clouds helps diminish the net enhanced absorption by sharp resonances. Hence, the heretofore unrepresented absorption is negligible for global climate, though very important for narrow spectral regions. These results apply to homogeneous liquid water clouds and aerosols.