Long-term results of the surgical treatment of Peyronie＇s disease with Egydio＇s technique： a European multicentre study

The long-term outcomes of 157 patients affected by Peyronie＇s disease （PD） who underwent penile straightening with Egydio＇s technique between January 2004 and December 2008 are reported. Only patients with PD who were stable for at least 6-12 months prior to surgery were enrolled in this study. Preoperative assessment included a dynamic echo colour Doppler ultrasound scan to evaluate the degree of penile deformity and the peak systolic velocity in the cavernosal arteries and an assessment of erectile function with the administration of the International Index of Erectile Function 5 （IIEF-5） questionnaire. Stretched penile length was recorded pre- and postoperatively. Surgical complications, cosmesis and sexual function, patient satisfaction and postoperative erectile function were assessed postoperatively at 3 months, I year and 2 years, respectively. After a median follow-up period of 20 months （range： 12-24 months）, we found that mild residual curvature （12%） and glans hypoesthesia （3%） were the only causes of partial dissatisfaction. No rejection of the graft was observed. All patients recovered their ability to penetrate with no difficulty. In addition, an intraoperative average increase of 2.5 cm （range： 1.7-4.1 cm） in stretched penile length was recorded, with all patients engaging in penetrative sexual intercourse. In conclusion, this procedure represents a safe and reproducible technique for the correction of penile curvature resulting from PD and yields excellent cosmetic and functional results.

The Application of Modern Art Techniques in T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land

The literature in 20th century is mainly characterized by irrationalism presented in modernism. Under the background, this paper aims to explore how Eliot attempts to use modern art techniques in The Waste Land to reveal a real life to readers.

基于CD-BSMOTE的D-S证据融合变压器故障诊断

针对变压器油中溶解气体数据集不均衡特性对故障诊断结果的影响,提出一种基于清除临界点改进的边界合成少数类过采样算法均衡数据集和Pearson冲突距离改进D-S证据融合的变压器故障诊断模型。首先,对少数类样本进行均衡化处理,根据K-means聚类结果清除处于临界位置的样本;其次,搭建梯度提升树、随机森林、BP神经网络的故障诊断模型,实现变压器故障初步诊断;接着引入Pearson冲突距离改进D-S证据融合模型,实现诊断结果的融合决策;最后,经实际算例分析,诊断精确率达到92.65%。结果表明,所建模型能有效解决数据不平衡对诊断结果的影响,提高故障诊断精度。

Extrusion–spheronization a promising pelletization technique: In-depth review

This review article deals with various aspects of the extrusion–spheronization technique.The first part includes different steps in the production process of pellets such as granulation, extrusion, spheronization, and drying. In the second part, the parameters which can influence the quality of pellets including formulation(moisture content, granulating liquid,excipients, and drugs), equipment(mixer, extruder, friction plate, and extrusion screen) and process(extrusion speed, extrusion temperature, spheronizer load, spheronization time,spheronization speed, and drying method) are discussed. In the final part, methods available for characterization(particle size distribution, surface area, shape and sphericity, porosity,density, hardness and friability, flow properties, disintegration, and dissolution) of the pellets are explained.

Magnetic resonance enterography in Crohn’s disease: Standard and advanced techniques

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that affects mainly young people. The clinical management is based on the Crohn's Disease Activity Index and especially on biologic parameters with or without additional endoscopic and imaging procedures, such as barium and computed tomography examinations. Recently, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has been a promising diagnostic radiologic technique with lack of ionizing radiation, enabling superior tissue contrast resolution due to new pulse-sequence developments. Therefore, MR enterography has the potential to become the modality of choice for imaging the small bowel in CD patients.

Evolving screening and surveillance techniques for Barrett's esophagus

Barrett's esophagus(BE) is a change in the esophageal lining and is known to be the major precursor lesion for most cases of esophageal adenocarcinoma(EAC).Despite an understanding of its association with BE for many years and the falling incidence rates of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, the incidence for EAC continues to rise exponentially. In association with this rising incidence, if the delay in diagnosis of EAC occurs after the onset of symptoms,then the mortality at 5 years is greater than 80%. Appropriate diagnosis and surveillance strategies are therefore vital for BE. Multiple novel optical technologies and other advanced approaches are being utilized to assist in making screening and surveillance more cost effective. We review the current guidelines and evolving techniques that are currently being evaluated.

Tribological Behaviour of Aluminium/Alumina/Graphite Hybrid Metal Matrix Composite Using Taguchi’s Techniques

Tribological behaviour of aluminium alloy (Al-Si10Mg) reinforced with alumina (9%) and graphite (3%) fabricated by stir casting process was investigated. The wear and frictional properties of the hybrid metal matrix composites was studied by performing dry sliding wear test using a pin-on-disc wear tester. Experiments were conducted based on the plan of experiments generated through Taguchi’s technique. A L27 Orthogonal array was selected for analysis of the data. Investigation to find the influence of applied load, sliding speed and sliding distance on wear rate, as well as the coefficient of friction during wearing process was carried out using ANOVA and regression equations for each response were developed. Objective of the model was chosen as ‘smaller the better’ characteristics to analyse the dry sliding wear resistance. Results show that sliding distance has the highest influence followed by load and sliding speed. Finally, confirmation tests were carried out to verify the experimental results and Scanning Electron Microscopic studies were done on the wear surfaces.

Computed tomography of Crohn's disease:The role of three dimensional technique

Crohn's disease,a transmural inflammatory bowel disease,remains a difficult entity to diagnose clinically.Over the last decade,multidetector computed tomography(CT) has become the method of choice for noninvasive evaluation of the small bowel,and has proved to be of significant value in the diagnosis of Crohn's disease.Advancements in CT enterography protocol design,three dimensional(3-D) post-processing software,and CT scanner technology have allowed increasing accuracy in diagnosis,and the acquisition of studies at a much lower radiation dose.The cases in this review will illustrate that the use of 3-D technique,proper enterography protocol design,and a detailed understanding of the different manifestations of Crohn's disease are all critical in properly diagnosing the full range of possible complications in Crohn's patients.In particular,CT enterography has proven to be effective in identifying involvement of the small and large bowel(including active inflammation,stigmata of chronic inflammation,and Crohn's-related bowel neoplasia) by Crohn's disease,as well as the extra-enteric manifestations of the disease,including fistulae,sinus tracts,abscesses,and urologic/hepatobiliary/osseous complications.Moreover,the proper use of 3-D technique(including volume rendering and maximum intensity projection) as a routine component of enterography interpretation can play a vital role in improving diagnostic accuracy.

An Analysis on the Discourse Cohesion Techniques in Children's English Books

Discourse cohesion techniques analysis attracts much attention both at home and abroad and many scholars have conducted their research in this field, however, few of them focus on children's English books which has its own characteristics and cohesion techniques and deserves our research.

Surgical treatment of inflammatory bowel disease:From the gastroenterologist’s stand-point

Treatment of ulcerative colitis(UC)and Crohn’s disease(CD)represents,in the majority of cases,a real challenge to the gastroenterologist’s abilities and skills as well as a clinical test concerning his/her levels of medical knowledge and experience.During the last two decades,our pharmaceutical arsenal was significantly strengthened,especially after the introduction of the so-called biological agents,drugs which to a large extent not only improved the results of conservative treatment but also changed the natural history of the disease.However,colectomy is still necessary for some patients with severe UC although smaller compared to the past,precisely because of the improvements achieved in the available conservative treatment.Nevertheless,surgeries to treat colon dysplasia and cancer are increasing to some extent.At the same time,satisfactory improvements in surgical techniques,the pre-and post-operative care of patients,as well as the selection of the appropriate time for performing the surgery have been noticed.Regarding patients with CD,the improvement of conservative treatment did not significantly change the need for surgical treatment since two-thirds of patients need to undergo surgery at some point in the course of their disease.On the other hand,the outcome of the operation has improved through good preoperative care as well as the wide application of more conservative surgical techniques aimed at keeping as much of the bowel in situ as possible.This article discusses the indications for surgical management of UC patients from the gastroenterologist’s point of view,the results of the emerging new techniques such as transanal surgery and robotics,as well as alternative operations to the classic ileo-anal-pouch anastomosis.The author also discusses the basic principles of surgical management of patients with CD based on the results of the relevant literature.The self-evident is emphasized,that is,to achieve an excellent therapeutic result in patients with severe inflammatory bowel disease in today’s era;the close cooperation of gastroenterologists with surgeons,pathologists,imaging,and nutritionists is of paramount importance.

Fluorescent Voltage Imaging Technique for the Measurement of Molluscan Neural Activities

The electrophysiological methods using microelectrodes are not appropriate for the simultaneous measurement of neural activities of many neurons. To overcome the difficulty, the fluorescent imaging technique using voltage sensitive dyes can be a powerful technique. The voltage sensitive dyes, however, generally exhibit a relatively small change in their fluorescence intensities, resulting in a low S/N ratio. Additionally, they often exhibit photobleaching and phototoxity. We have therefore improved the fluorescent voltage imaging technique by using a LED as the light source and an electron multiplying (EM)-CCD camera as the fluorescence detector. In this study, we applied our imaging system for the measurement of two kind of molluscan neural activities;one of which is involved in the olfactory processing of the land slug Limax valentianus and the other is involved in the feeding rhythm of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. The system enabled us to measure the neural activities for a long time with a high speed and a high S/N ratio, and the obtained results showed some new physiological findings.

Strength criterion of porous media: Application of homogenization techniques

The present paper aims at giving some general ideas concerning the micromechanical approach of the strength of a porous material. It is shown that its determination theoretically amounts to solving a nonlinear boundary value problem defined on a representative elementary volume(REV). The principle of nonlinear homogenization is illustrated based on the case of a solid phase having a Green’s strength criterion. An original refinement of the so-called secant method(based on two reference strains) is also provided. The paper also describes the main feature of the Gurson’s model which implements the principle of limit analysis on a conceptual model of hollow sphere. The last part of the paper gives some ideas concerning poromechanical couplings.

The Vibrational Motion of a Dynamical System Using Homotopy Perturbation Technique

This paper outlines the vibrational motion of a nonlinear system with a spring of linear stiffness. Homotopy perturbation technique (HPT) is used to obtain the asymptotic solution of the governing equation of motion. The numerical solution of this equation is obtained using the fourth order Runge-Kutta method (RKM). The comparison between both solutions reveals high consistency between them which confirms that, the accuracy of the obtained solution using aforementioned perturbation technique. The time history of the attained solution is represented through some plots to reveal the good effect of the different parameters of the considered system on the motion at any instant. The conditions of the stability of the attained solution are presented and discussed.

Non-Conventional MRI Techniques as an Alternative Role to the Clinical Diagnosis in Alzheimer’s Disease

Improved methods for early diagnosis and non-invasive surrogates for the diagnosis of disease severity in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are becoming the new challenge. Dementia can now be accurately determined through clinical evaluation, cognitive screening, basic laboratory evaluation and structural imaging. Magnetic resonance (MRI) techniques are being evaluated as possible surrogate measures to monitor disease progression. The purpose of this work is to correlate the results of combined advanced MR techniques with neuropsychological performance in order to identify a sensible and sensitive imaging approach to quantify neurodegenerative disease progression. One of the most relevant evidences in our study is the degeneration of the fibers of the corpus callosum in the pathogenesis of cognitive disorders in AD patients, as demonstrated by the relationship between altered neuropsychological tests and reduced FA (Fractional Anisotrophy) values of the corpus callosum in such patients. This data is also integrated by the evidence of anatomic reduction of the total volume of the corpus callosum assessed by FreeSurfer, thus supporting the hypothesis that the “brain disconnects” play a key role in the pathogenesis of AD. Statistical evaluation of regression consisting in the identification of different numerical coefficients that are multiplied by the thickness of the right fusiform value or by the volume of left inferoparietal region and left middle-temporal region, allows us to obtain the predictive numeric value of the related neuropsychological test. Combination of non-conventional magnetic resonance imaging, including morphometry, spectroscopy, MD (mean diffusivity) and FA evaluation, could be an alternative to clinic in the evaluation of neurodegeneration in AD.

Numerical Solution of Green’s Function for Solving Inhomogeneous Boundary Value Problems with Trigonometric Functions by New Technique

A numerical technique is presented for solving integration operator of Green’s function. The approach is based on Hermite trigonometric scaling function on [0,2π], which is constructed for Hermite interpolation. The operational matrices of derivative for trigonometric scaling function are presented and utilized to reduce the solution of the problem. One test problem is presented and errors plots show the efficiency of the proposed technique for the studied problem.

SEPARATION OF OVERLAPPING INCISIONS OF A.C.OSCILLOPOLAROGRAM USING KALMAN'S FILTER TECHNIQUE

Kalman's Filter Technique for the separation of overlapping incisions of an a.c.oscillopolarogram is presented,the experimental verifications were carried out in various systems with the ions of Pb^(2+),Tl^+,In^(3+)and Cd^(2+).The results showed that the concentration of the depolarizer can be determined directly and easily with this technique in the presence of interference elements.

A Study on S.R.Topography of the Structural Defects in High-J_c Superconducting YBaCuO Crystal Prepared by the MTG Technique

It is well known that for technological application,a great effort has been done to enchance Jvalue ofsuperconducting YBaCuO sintered bulk.Except oxygen content,the main problem for increasing critical cur-rent density Jis to eliminate the weak link and to control crystallographic anisotropy.It is necessary tomake YBaCuO superconducting bulk have a strong texture with C-axis orientation.Since Jin et al.has suc-

Comparison of in Clinic-Based Fecal Microbiome Collection Techniques for Increase in Study Participation and Utilization of Microbiome Analysis

We compared the collection techniques of fecal specimens for DNA extraction and fecal microbiome analysis by utilizing the glove from a standard-of-care digital rectal exam (DRE) and the rectal swab from a pre-prostate biopsy bacterial rectal culture collected in clinical care settings. DNA yield from the swab technique compared to the glove technique yielded similar amounts of DNA (18.1 vs. 13.1 ng/μL, p = 0.06), slightly favoring the swab technique. However, utilizing DNA yield cutoffs of 15 ng/μL (37% vs. 29%, p = 0.18) and 30 ng/μL (15% and 9%, p = 0.16), we identified no differences in yield between the swab versus glove technique, respectively. Absorbance values for overall DNA quality were significantly different in favor of the glove technique (mean 1.6 vs. 2.0, p < 0.001). Using an absorbance value of 1.5 as an indication of DNA quality, only 26% (19/91) met the cutoff value using the swab group compared to 47.3% (53/112) if the glove technique was used (p < 0.001). Similar results occurred for the RNA quality with an absorbance value cutoff of 2.0 (2.2% vs. 30.4%, p < 0.001). To increase sampling feasibility and improve population sampling, gloves used from a DRE may be utilized as a consistent and efficient fecal DNA collection technique for fecal microbiome analysis. DNA yield and quality from the glove technique are comparable to—if not better than—rectal swab collection.

Acupuncture Techniques Handed Down from Dr.Zheng Kuishan's Family

It has been proved by the ancient and modemacupuncture practices that needling techniques are ofvital importance in the acupuncture treatment ofdiseases.At present,much has been reported aboutthe researches on acupuncture techniques,which canbe roughly divided into the following three types:reinforcing,reducing,and even methods.Throughlong years of study and clinical practice,Dr.

Nutrition Bowl"Double Covering"Cutting Propagation Technique for Llex cornuta var.fortunei S.Y.Hu

Llex cornuta var.fortunei S.Y.Hu is a good ornamental tree species for viewing fruits and leaves,and has a wide range of garden uses.Nutrition bowl cutting seedlings can improve the survival rate of L.cornut a var.fortunei S.Y.Hu transplanting and greening,and has the advantages of no time limit for planting and saving management costs.Based on this,this paper introduced the container seedling double-covering cutting technology for L.cornut a var.fortunei,to provide a reference for the propagation of L.cornut a var.fortunei.