Prospective randomized study to evaluate and compare the post-procedural sexual function in patients undergoing semi-rigid ureterorenoscopy for distal ureteric stones in three different operating room settings

Objective:To evaluate and compare the effect of semi-rigid ureterorenoscopy on post-procedural sexual function with three different operating room settings.Methods:In this prospective randomized study,consecutive sexually active patients with normal pre-operative sexual function undergoing uncomplicated semi-rigid ureterorenoscopy for distal ureteric stones were randomized into three groups,with three different operating room settings.Procedure-related anxiety and sexual function were assessed pre-operatively using Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale and Brief Sexual Function Inventory(in males)and Female Sexual Function Index-6(in females),respectively.All the participants were stented following the procedure,and the stent was removed after 3 weeks.Post-procedural sexual function and general discomfort were assessed and compared between three groups at 1 week,3 weeks,and 12 weeks.The effect of surgery-related anxiety,preoperative sexual function,age,and general discomfort(including stent-related discomfort)on post-procedural sexual function were analyzed using multiple regression analysis.A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results:Totally,327 eligible patients were randomized into three groups.The group of patients who underwent the procedural with a screen separating the operating area from the patient vision,while the patient could watch the endoscopy through a separate monitor,had better post-procedural sexual function compared to those who had total vision of the operating area as well as to those whose eyes were blocked.This difference was statistically significant.This post-procedural reduction in sexual function could not be attributed to in situ stent alone.Conclusions:Our study showed that semi-rigid ureterorenoscopy can have significant negative effect on sexual function,which can be reduced with proper preoperative counseling and an ideal operating room settings.

Spherical Linear Diophantine Fuzzy Sets with Modeling Uncertainties in MCDM

The existing concepts of picture fuzzy sets(PFS),spherical fuzzy sets(SFSs),T-spherical fuzzy sets(T-SFSs)and neutrosophic sets(NSs)have numerous applications in decision-making problems,but they have various strict limitations for their satisfaction,dissatisfaction,abstain or refusal grades.To relax these strict constraints,we introduce the concept of spherical linearDiophantine fuzzy sets(SLDFSs)with the inclusion of reference or control parameters.A SLDFSwith parameterizations process is very helpful formodeling uncertainties in themulti-criteria decisionmaking(MCDM)process.SLDFSs can classify a physical systemwith the help of reference parameters.We discuss various real-life applications of SLDFSs towards digital image processing,network systems,vote casting,electrical engineering,medication,and selection of optimal choice.We show some drawbacks of operations of picture fuzzy sets and their corresponding aggregation operators.Some new operations on picture fuzzy sets are also introduced.Some fundamental operations on SLDFSs and different types of score functions of spherical linear Diophantine fuzzy numbers(SLDFNs)are proposed.New aggregation operators named spherical linear Diophantine fuzzy weighted geometric aggregation(SLDFWGA)and spherical linear Diophantine fuzzy weighted average aggregation(SLDFWAA)operators are developed for a robust MCDM approach.An application of the proposed methodology with SLDF information is illustrated.The comparison analysis of the final ranking is also given to demonstrate the validity,feasibility,and efficiency of the proposed MCDM approach.

Tianwan sets a national record for continuous and safe operation in first fuel cycle

On May 1st, China National Nuclear Corporation(CNNC) announced in Beijing that unit 1 and unit 2 ofTianwan Nuclear Power Plant cooperatively constructedby China and Russia have completed in succession thefirst fuel cycle operation continuously and safely. It is

Comprehensive Evaluation Model of Reservoir Operation Based on Improved Set Pair Analysis

A comprehensive evaluation model based on improved set pair analysis is established. Considering the complexity in decision-making process, the model combines the certainties and uncertainties in the schemes, i.e., identical degree, different degree and opposite degree. The relations among different schemes are studied, and the traditional way of solving uncertainty problem is improved. By using the gray correlation to determine the difference degree, the problem of less evaluation indexes and inapparent linear relationship is solved. The difference between the evaluation parameters is smaller in both the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model and fuzzy matter-element method, and the dipartite degree of the evaluation result is unobvious. However, the difference between each integrated connection degree is distinct in the improved set pair analysis. Results show that the proposed method is feasible and it obtains better effects than the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method and fuzzy matter-element method.

THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF ALGORITHM OF MINIMUM COST SPANNING TREE

This paper provides a method of producing a minimum cost spanning tree (MCST) using set operations. It studies the data structure for implementation of set operations and the algorithm to be applied to this structure and proves the correctness and the complexity of the algorithm. This algorithm uses the FDG (formula to divide elements into groups) to sort (the FDG sorts a sequence of n elements in expected tir O(n)) and uses the method of path compression to find and to unite. Therefore. n produces an MCST of an undirected network having n vertices and e edges in expected time O(eG(n)).

A Heuristic Algorithm to Solve the Task Partition Problem in MDOCEM

This paper examines task partition problem in a Multiagent based Distributed Open Computing Environment Model(MDOCEM). We first present a formal method to describe the task partition problem, then give a heuristic algorithm to solve the task partition problem that gives an approximate optimum solution.

Note on the Paper “Representation of Set Valued Operators” *

The aim of this paper is to show that one main theorem in is not correct by a counterexample and to give its correction.

Fuzzy Set Operation Based on Measure Theory

Differrent kinds of operations have been proposed in fuzzy set theory although Zadeh's operation is the most popoular. We discuss a new kind of fuzzy set operations which is based on measurement. In the measure based operation, there are only two basic operators: operator for intersection and operator for union. These two operators are interrelated with each other, and conditional fuzzy measures(or conditional membership functions) are also included in these operators. Moreover, the operator for complement is not independently defined, and it is derived from the above two basic operators. The measure based operation brings to light some relations between Zadeh's operation and probabilistic operation. We show that both Zadeh's operation and probabilistic operation are special cases of measure based operators.We also discuss the problem of the law of excluded middle and the law of contradiction. It is shown that these laws still hold in fuzzy sets and this conclusion causes no difficulty in explaining the nature of fuzziness.

Common Properties of the Operator Products in Local Spectral Theory

Let X,Y be Banach spaces, A,D ： X - Y and B,C ： Y - X be the bounded linear operators satisfying operator equation set ACD=DBD DBA=ACAIn this paper, we show that AC and BD share some basic operator properties such as the injectivity and the invertibility. Moreover, we show that AG＇ and BD share many common local spectral properties including SVEP, Bishop property （β） and Dunford property （C）.

Separation and Visualization of Arteries and Heart in3D Computed Tomography Angiography Images

The visualization of arteries and heart usually plays a crucial role in the clinical diagnosis, but researchers face the problems of region selection and mutual occlusion in clinical visualization. Therefore, the arteries and the heart cannot be easily visualized by current visualization methods. To solve the problems, we propose a new framework for arteries and cardiac visualization by combining a priori knowledge and the set operations.Firstly, a suitable region can be easily determined in the transfer function space with a priori knowledge and the visual feedback results. Secondly, the arteries and the heart can be directly extracted by the marked seed point.Finally, the arteries and the heart are separated for solving mutual occlusion through the set operations. This framework can easily solve the mutual occlusion problem in clinical visualization and greatly improve the region selection method in the transfer function space. Its effectiveness has been demonstrated on the basis of many experimental results.

Advanced Geometric Modeler with Hybrid Representation

An advanced geometric modeler GEMS4.0 has been developed, in whichfeature representation is used at the highest level abstraction of a productmodel. Boundary representation is used at the bottom level, while CSG modelis adopted at the median level. A BRep data structure capable of modelingnon-manifold is adopted. NURBS representation is used for all curved surfaces.Quadric surfaces have dual representations consisting of their geometric datasuch as radius, center point, and center tals. Boundary representation of freeform surfaces is easily built by sweeping and skinning method with NURBSgeometry Set operations on curved solids with boundary representation areperformed by an evaluation process consisting of four steps. A file exchangefacility is provided for the conversion between product data described by STEPand product information generated by GEMS4.0

Development of a mathematical model to evaluate the rate of aggregate risk of invasive alien plant species： Fuzzy risk assessment approach

This study presents a novel approach to evaluate the rate of aggregate risk of Invasive Alien Plant Species. Using risk values and grade of importance of weights of risk factors which may reflect invasiveness of plant species are considered. We use Linguistic Ordered Weighted Averaging operator to evaluate the grade of important of weights. Since the risk values and important weights are identified from two different linguistic term sets, fuzzy set theory techniques were used to combine the two sets. The rates obtained from the model were compared with NRA risk levels and the model was validated with data from known and non-invasive species. The model is improved by weighting the risk values of risk factors. The improved model produced significant results and resulted a better tracking system for identifying potential invaders than the conventional risk assessment.