Robotic reconstructive surgery: The time has arrived

Thank you to the Asian Journal of Urology(AJU)for the honor of allowing me to be the guest editor for this special focus section on robotic urinary tract reconstruction.This topic has been a large focus for me in my career;in my pursuit of knowledge in this new sub-field of urology,I have been so fortunate to have met so many talented surgeons who share a similar passion.The urinary tract spans a large anatomical region,and due to the large variety of conditions that affect it,an endless variety of functional and structural urologic problems can arise.Urologists have always been adept surgeons capable of operating in various anatomical spaces and have embraced technological innovation.Historically,the trend has moved from open surgery to endoscopic treatment;however,many patients with reconstructive needs remain untreated or sub-optimally managed.

Solving the Generalized Traveling Salesman Problem Using Sequential Constructive Crossover Operator in Genetic Algorithm

The generalized travelling salesman problem(GTSP),a generalization of the well-known travelling salesman problem(TSP),is considered for our study.Since the GTSP is NP-hard and very complex,finding exact solutions is highly expensive,we will develop genetic algorithms(GAs)to obtain heuristic solutions to the problem.In GAs,as the crossover is a very important process,the crossovermethods proposed for the traditional TSP could be adapted for the GTSP.The sequential constructive crossover(SCX)and three other operators are adapted to use in GAs to solve the GTSP.The effectiveness of GA using SCX is verified on some GTSP Library(GTSPLIB)instances first and then compared against GAs using the other crossover methods.The computational results show the success of the GA using SCX for this problem.Our proposed GA using SCX,and swap mutation could find average solutions whose average percentage of excesses fromthe best-known solutions is between 0.00 and 14.07 for our investigated instances.

From Competition to Constructive Cooperation,No China Threat but China Opportunity

“The world is big enough to accommodate both countries”made headlines worldwide after Chinese President Xi Jinping said it at his meeting with U.S.President Joe Biden in San Francisco on November 15 to drive home the point that competition between two major countries like China and the United States cannot solve their or global problems.

Constructive alignment在财务管理教学中的应用探析

本文针对财务管理课程特点,提出了constructive alignment教学方法,并针对财务管理的投资决策部分,详细阐述了constructive alignment在财务管理教学中的具体应用。

Review of preventive and constructive measures for coal mine explosions:An Indian perspective

Firedamp and coal dust explosion constitute a lion’s share in mine accidents in a global mining scenario.This paper reports a list of mine explosion disasters since last two decades,a critical review of the different prevention and constructive measures,and its recent development to avoid firedamp and coal dust explosion.Preventive legislation in core coal-producing countries,viz.China,USA,Australia,South Africa,and India related to firedamp and coal dust explosion are critically analysed.Accidents occurred due to explosion after Nationalisation of Coal Mines(1973)in India are listed.Prevention and constructive measures adopted in India are critically analysed with respect to the global mining scenario.Measures like methane credit concept,classification of mines/seams with respect to explosion risk zone,deflagration index;installation of automatic fire warning devices,canopy air curtain technology,explosion-prevention measures,such as fire-retardant materials,inhibitors,extinguishing agent,dust suppressor,and active explosion barrier are discussed in detail to avoid explosion and thereby adhering to zero accident policy due to coal mine explosion.

A DATA MINING METHOD BASED ON CONSTRUCTIVE NEURAL NETWORKS

In this letter,Constructive Neural Networks (CNN) is used in large-scale data mining. By introducing the principle and characteristics of CNN and pointing out its deficiencies,fuzzy theory is adopted to improve the covering algorithms. The threshold of covering algorithms is redefined. "Extended area" for test samples is built. The inference of the outlier is eliminated. Furthermore,"Sphere Neighborhood (SN)" are constructed. The membership functions of test samples are given and all of the test samples are determined accordingly. The method is used to mine large wireless monitor data (about 3×107 data points),and knowledge is found effectively.

Functional and reconstructive urology (part one)

Dear Colleagues,It is a great honour that the Asian Journal of Urology has agreed to host two special issues on the subject of functional and reconstructive urology and to introduce the first of these editions.In an era when technology has come to the fore in urological practice with new developments(not only in terms of the equipment used to facilitate minimally invasive surgery but also developments such as the robot which have revolutionised access to laparoscopic surgery),it is very important to realise that functional and reconstructive urology still remains an important cornerstone of urological practice.

Constructive thinking,rational intelligence and irritable bowel syndrome

AIM： To evaluate rational and experiential intelligence in irritable bowel syndrome （IBS） sufferers. METHODS： We recruited 100 subjects with IBS as per Rome 11 criteria （50 consulters and 50 non-consulters） and 100 healthy controls, matched by age, sex and educational level. Cases and controls completed a clinical questionnaire （including symptom characteristics and medical consultation） and the following tests： rational- intelligence （Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 3rd edition）; experiential-intelligence （Constructive Thinking Inventory）; personality （NEO personality inventory）; psychopathology （MMPI-2）, anxiety （state-trait anxiety inventory） and life events （social readjustment rating scale）. Analysis of variance was used to compare the test results of IBS-sufferers and controls, and a logistic regression model was then constructed and adjusted for age, sex and educational level to evaluate any possible association with IBS. RESULTS： No differences were found between IBS cases and controls in terms of IQ （102.0 ± 10.8 vs 102.8 ± 12.6）, but IBS sufferers scored significantly lower in global constructive thinking （43.7± 9.4 vs 49.6 ± 9.7）. In the logistic regression model, global constructive thinking score was independently linked to suffering from IBS [OR 0.92 （0.87-0.97）], without significant OR for total IQ. CONCLUSION： IBS subjects do not show lower rational intelligence than controls, but lower experiential intelligence is nevertheless associated with IBS.

A constructive method for approximating trigonometric functions and their integrals

This paper presents an interpolation-based method(IBM)for approximating some trigonometric functions or their integrals as well.It provides two-sided bounds for each function,which also achieves much better approximation effects than those of prevailing methods.In principle,the IBM can be applied for bounding more bounded smooth functions and their integrals as well,and its applications include approximating the integral of sin(x)/x function and improving the famous square root inequalities.

Constructive Texture Steganography Based on Compression Mapping of Secret Messages

This paper proposes a new constructive texture synthesis steganographic scheme by compressing original secret messages.First,we divide the original message into multiple bit blocks,which are transferred to decimal values and compressed into small decimal values by recording their interval sign characters.Then,a candidate pattern is generated by combining the given source pattern and boundary extension algorithm.Furthermore,we segment the candidate pattern into multiple candidate patches and use affine transformation algorithm to locate secret positions on a blank canvas,which are used to hide the sign characters by mapping the candidate patches.Finally,we select the candidate patches with minimal mean square error to represent secret bits to generate stego image by image quilting.Extensive experiments demonstrate that compared with existing texture steganographic methods,our method has a better visual quality,higher embedding capacity and security performance,while maintaining strong anti-steganalysis capability.

Greedy Constructive Procedure-Based Hybrid Differential Algorithm for Flexible Flow shop Group Scheduling

Aiming at the flexible flowshop group scheduling problem,taking sequence dependent setup time and machine skipping into account, a mathematical model for minimizing makespan is established,and a hybrid differential evolution( HDE) algorithm based on greedy constructive procedure( GCP) is proposed,which combines differential evolution( DE) with tabu search( TS). DE is applied to generating the elite individuals of population,while TS is used for finding the optimal value by making perturbation in selected elite individuals. A lower bounding technique is developed to evaluate the quality of proposed algorithm. Experimental results verify the effectiveness and feasibility of proposed algorithm.

Neglect and Constructive Disorder

A 61 year-old right handed man, who suffered from right cerebral infarction with evidences of visual-spatial neglect and constructive disorder, was reported. When copying simple geometric designs, he omitted to copy figures on the left side of the page; he tended to bisect the line to the right of the line's real center; after memorizing the familiar pictures he mainly mentioned the pictures on the right side of the page; when copying the 'Rey Complex' he also ignored the structures on the left side. The relations of the neglect and construction disorder are discussed.

Pipeline Scheduling Based on Constructive Interference in Strip Wireless Sensor Networks

Strip Wireless Sensor Networks(SWSNs)have drawn much attention in many applications such as monitoring rivers,highways and coal mines.Packet delivery in SWSN usually requires a large number of multi-hop transmissions which leads to long transmission latency in low-duty-cycle SWSNs.Several pipeline scheduling schemes have been proposed to reduce latency.However,when communication links are unreliable,pipeline scheduling is prone to failure.In this paper,we propose a pipeline scheduling transmission protocol based on constructive interference.The protocol first divides the whole network into multiple partitions and uses a pipelined mechanism to allocate active time slots for each partition.The nodes in the same partition wake up at the same time for concurrent transmission.Multiple identical signals interfere constructively at the receiver node,which enhances received signal strength and improves link quality.Simulations show that the proposed scheme can significantly reduce the transmission latency while maintaining low energy consumption compared with other schemes.

Highly efficient four-wave mixing induced by quantum constructive interference in rubidium vapour

We demonstrate efficient four-wave mixing with an intensity conversion efficiency of nearly 100% in theory without considering the Doppler-broadening effect in a four-level double-A system of hot 87Rb gas. The corresponding experimental value of about 73% was reported in our earlier work under the same conditions. This dramatic efficiency is critically dependent on the constructive interference between two four-wave mixing processes relevant to the internally generated four-wave mixing signal.

A CONSTRUCTIVE PROOF ON HERMITIAN SCALAR PRODUCTS AND DIAGONAL OF H-MATRICES

Suppose that D is a division ring in which there is defined an anti-automorphism α→(?)is involutorial,R is a left vector space over D.Using the given anti-automorphism α→(?),it is easy to turn R into a right vector space over D by seting x(?)=ax.Bilinear form g(x,y)connecting the left vector space R and the right vector space R is a Hermitian scalar.

Interrogating the Contending Issues in Nigeria-Ghana Relations: Reciprocity of Consequences or Constructive Engagement

The objective of this paper is to offer theoretical,analytical,and methodological investigations into the character of Nigeria’s relations and reactions towards Ghana on how it has been able to get to the level of reciprocity over trade disputes,political differences/relevance and superiority of influence in West Africa,Africa,and the world.In recent times,the counter measurers over demolition of Nigeria’s High Commission building in Accra and here conducts against the Ghana’s moves while it opted for constructive engagement and downplay the call for retaliatory or regulatory steps on Ghana.It also investigated how Nigeria has been able to use its constructive dialogue skills/diplomacy over reasons of reciprocity on other matters of national interest in relation to Ghana as citizens of both states have been deeply affected while businesses shutdown in both capitals at critical stages.The paper posits to examine the point of departure and seek ways for diplomatic intervention,and calls for leadership political will,factoring in the case of African Continental Free Trade Area Agreements,National and Strategic interests of both states,and the establishment of a compensation fund to Nigeria and Nigerians in Ghana.The paper makes use of secondary data while it adopts theories of interdependence and reciprocity as theoretical frameworks for the study.

Fast,Exact and Robust Set Operations on Polyhedrons Using Localized Constructive Solid Geometry Trees

Regularized Boolean operations have been widely used in 3D modeling systems. However, evaluating Boolean operations may be quite numerically unstable and time consuming, especially for iterated set operations. A novel and unified technique is proposed in this paper for computing single and iterated set operations efficiently, robustly and exactly. An adaptive octree is combined with a nested constructive solid geometry （CSG） tree by this technique. The intersection handling is restricted to the cells in the octree where intersection actually occurs. Within those cells, a CSG tree template is instanced by the surfaces and the tree is converted to planebased binary space partitioning （BSP） for set evaluation; Moreover, the surface classification is restricted to the ceils in the octree where the surfaces only come from a model and are within the bounding-boxes of other polyhedrons. These two ways bring about the efficiency and scalability of the operations, in terms of runtime and memory. As all surfaces in such a cell have the same classification relation, they are classified as a whole. Robustness and exactness are achieved by integrating plane-based geometry representation with adaptive geometry predicate technique in intersection handling, and by applying divide-and-conquer arithmetic on surface classification. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can guarantee the robustness of Boolean computations and runs faster than other existing approaches.

The Relationship between Nurses＇ Errors of Treatment and Supervisors＇ Constructive Listening

Nurses＇ unintentional medication errors during treatment are relatively frequent and yet inevitable. Errors provoke emotions which influence the nurses＇ professional careers. Little is known about the relationship between nurses＇ supervisors constructive listening （CL） and the emotional reactions of nurses who committed an error and its relation to patients＇ safety. Our purpose was to explore the relationship between nurses＇ perceptions regarding their supervisors＇ CL and their emotional experiences after committing an error related to patient care. Dependent variables included of guilt, empathy towards the patient, general and professional self-assessment, shame, and Negative and Positive Affect （NA/PA）. In this descriptive study, we used a snowball sampling method. Participants were asked to sign an informed-consent form and complete the questionnaire before or after work. No compensation （material or otherwise） was offered to participants. The study was approved by the ethics committee of the academic institution involved. A total of 162 nurses participated： 103 （63.6%） held a registered and 40 （25%） held a managerial role. Seniority had high variability, ranging from 3 months to 45 years （M=1 3.54, SD=0.78）. The majority of errors reported （67.7%） concerned the administration of medications. We used Structural Equation Modeling to measure relationships between the main variables （X2（9）=14.52, p=.105, CFI=.911, RMSEA=.062 （90% CI=.00-. 11）. The main findings were： a high rating of perceived supervisor＇s CL led to high state-guilt （β=. 15, p=.04）. Next, higher state-guilt led to high PA （β=.18, p=.02） and to high NA （β=.45, p〈.001）. High PA led to reporting the error （β=.17, p=.03）, whereas high NA led to a high degree of empathy towards the patient （β=.17, p=.03）. Our findings show the importance of CL, which led to reporting error and to empathy towards patients, mediated by increased state-guilt and by increased positive and negative effect. Supervisor nurses should use CL to create an atmosphere of trust which fosters the reporting of errors and improves patients＇ safety.

The Effectiveness of Using Constructive Learning Strategies in Teaching English Language on Developing the Achievement of Grammar, Translation, and Critical Thinking Skills for the Third Grade Intermediate Students

The study aimed to reveal the effectiveness of the integration between some constructive learning strategies in teaching a unit of the English language course to collect translation skills, using grammar, and the acquisition of critical thinking skills for intermediate third grade students in Mecca. Also, it aimed to acknowledge the statistical differences between the modified averages for the study sample groups degrees in the dimensional collecting of grammar and translation skills at the knowledge of the grammar level and using it, and at the macro level for collecting translation and grammar skills after adjusting the old collecting, as well as the knowledge of the statistical differences between the modified averages for the study sample groups in the total telemetric for the critical thinking skills after adjusting the old collecting. To achieve the study objectives, the researcher used the semi-experimental method that had several experimental groups （four groups）, and applied it to a sample of intermediate third-grade students in the city of Makkah （99 students） in teaching the unit of the English language course, which is （Healthy Eating） in the second semester in 2011/2012. After using the appropriate statistical methods, the study came to a result that there are no statistically significant differences in the old implementation for the test of skills of academic achievement of grammar, translation, and critical thinking skills, and that there are statistically significant differences in the new implementation due to the four strategies. According to the results of the study, the researcher recommended a number of recommendations including： the necessity to focus on the constructive theory in teaching English language skills, the importance of expanding the use of the suggested integrative oriented and its development in the field of English language teaching, to hold an intensive training courses for teachers of the English language to train them on using the suggested integrative strategy, the emphasis on the importance of the curriculum activities which focus on the integration between the constructive learning strategies, the importance of expanding of scientific research in the field of integrative strategies, and the development of synthesis methods that combine two strategies or more.

Constructive Proofs of the Brouwer Type Coincidence Theorems

This note gives constructive proofs of the Brouwer type coincidence theorems via the homotopy method.