Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction Society orthopedic surgeons in the United States:An analysis of geographical distribution,academic,leadership,and demographic characteristics

BACKGROUND The Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction Society(LLRS)is a premier orthopedic specialty organization that promotes limb reconstruction for all ages.LLRS membership characteristics,however,are poorly reported.This study delineates orthopedic surgeon LLRS members’demographic traits,academic achievement,leadership attainment,and geographical distribution across the United States.AIM To inform aspiring orthopedic professionals,as well as to promote growth and diversity in both the LLRS organization and overarching field.METHODS This cross-sectional study examined United States LLRS members’academic,leadership,demographic,and geographical attributes.After reviewing the 2023 LLRS member directory,Google search results were matched to the listings and appended to the compiled data.Sex and ethnicity were evaluated visually utilizing retrieved images.The Hirsch index(H-index)of academic activity,residency and fellowship training,other graduate degrees,leadership positions,practice type(academic or non-academic),and spoken languages were categorized.LLRS members per state and capita determined geographic distribution.The Mann Whitney U test was applied to compare H-index between males and females,as well as to assess member differences pertaining to affiliation with academic vs non-academic practice facilities.RESULTS The study included 101 orthopedic surgeons,78(77.23%)Caucasian and 23(22.77%)non-Caucasian,79(78.22%)male and 22(21.78%)female.Surgeons with DO degrees comprised only 3.96%(4)of the cohort,while the vast majority held MDs[96.04%(97)].Mean H-index was 10.55,with male surgeons having a significantly higher score(P=0.002).Most orthopedic surgeons(88.12%,)practiced in academic centers.Of those professionals who occupied leadership positions,14%were women,while 86%were men.Additionally,19(37.25%)United States regions and the District of Columbia lacked an LLRS-member orthopedic surgeon.Total per capita rate across the United States was 0.30 LLRS orthopedic surgeons per 1 million people.CONCLUSION Over 21%of LLRS members are women,surpassing prior benchmarks noted in orthopedic faculty reporting.LLRS members’high research productivity scores imply field dedication that can refine expertise in the limb lengthening and reconstruction space.Gender disparities in leadership remain,however,necessitating greater equity efforts.A low rate of LLRS representation per capita must be addressed geographically as well,to affect improvements in regional care access.This study can serve to support aspiring orthopedic professionals,inform diversity,leadership,and field advancement strategies,and maintain the continued goal of enhanced patient care worldwide.

Breaking boundaries for sustainable and inclusive growth-ISO Annual Meeting 2024

The 46th Annual Meeting of ISO was held in Cartagena,Colombia.The event was attended by more than 700 representatives of ISO members,as well as international and regional organizations,with more than2,200 representatives participating in the series seminars virtually.The attendees listened to the report on the work of ISO in 2024,reviewed and approved the membership fees in 2025,and elected the next ISO President and board members.The conference focused on global cooperation,sustainable development,and inclusivity in international standardization.

Are You Willing to Pay to Go to the Supermarket?

In recent yea rs,t raditiona l offline supermarkets are facing big challenges,and warehouse membership superma rkets(hereinafter referred to as membership supermarkets)are quickly gaining p opu l a r it y.Ma ny t r ad it iona l supermarkets have become membership supermarkets,and even many retail enterprises have entered this field.

The New Year Ushers in New Members to BRICS

At the beginning of this year,the BRICS countries welcomed a wave of new members.On New Year’s Day,Saudi Arabia,Egypt,the United Arab Emirates,Iran and Ethiopia became full members,doubling the number of BRICS members from five to ten.At present,BRICS,as a multilateral cooperation organization of developing countries,is on the road towards substantial expansion and rapid development.In both historical and practical terms,the expansion of BRICS membership has profound historical logic and contemporary implications,which will have a significant impact on the world’s pattern and international order.

New Approaches to the Prognosis and Diagnosis of Breast Cancer Using Fuzzy Expert Systems

Breast cancer remains a significant global health challenge, necessitating effective early detection and prognosis to enhance patient outcomes. Current diagnostic methods, including mammography and MRI, suffer from limitations such as uncertainty and imprecise data, leading to late-stage diagnoses. To address this, various expert systems have been developed, but many rely on type-1 fuzzy logic and lack mobile-based applications for data collection and feedback to healthcare practitioners. This research investigates the development of an Enhanced Mobile-based Fuzzy Expert system (EMFES) for breast cancer pre-growth prognosis. The study explores the use of type-2 fuzzy logic to enhance accuracy and model uncertainty effectively. Additionally, it evaluates the advantages of employing the python programming language over java for implementation and considers specific risk factors for data collection. The research aims to dynamically generate fuzzy rules, adapting to evolving breast cancer research and patient data. Key research questions focus on the comparative effectiveness of type-2 fuzzy logic, the handling of uncertainty and imprecise data, the integration of mobile-based features, the choice of programming language, and the creation of dynamic fuzzy rules. Furthermore, the study examines the differences between the Mamdani Inference System and the Sugeno Fuzzy Inference method and explores challenges and opportunities in deploying the EMFES on mobile devices. The research identifies a critical gap in existing breast cancer diagnostic systems, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive, mobile-enabled, and adaptable solution by developing an EMFES that leverages Type-2 fuzzy logic, the Sugeno Inference Algorithm, Python Programming, and dynamic fuzzy rule generation. This study seeks to enhance early breast cancer detection and ultimately reduce breast cancer-related mortality.

Comprehensive Evaluation of New Maize Varieties for Grain and Fodder Based on Membership Function Method

To screen new maize(Zea mays L.)varieties suitable for food and fodder dual-purpose in Du'an Yao Autonomous County of Guangxi,the agronomic characters,yield and quality indexes of 12 new maize varieties were measured,and the correlation between various indexes were analyzed,and the comprehensive performance of tested varieties was evaluated by membership function method.The results showed that Guidan 671 had the highest grain yield and whole-plant biomass at 10908 and 49965 kg/hm^(2),respectively,and the second was Zhaoyu 215 with a grain yield and whole-plant biomass of 10086 and 47175 kg/hm^(2),respectively.Grain yield was highly significantly positively correlated with ear diameter and 100-grain weight(P<0.01),and significantly correlated with whole-plant biomass,starch content,ear length and grain number per row(P<0.05);and the whole-plant biomass was highly significantly correlated with the number of grains per row(P<0.01),and significantly correlated with starch content,panicle length,plant height and panicle height(P<0.05).The comprehensive performance scores of the tested varieties from high to low were Guidan 671,Zhaoyu 215,Guidan 669,Guidan 6208,Guidan 666,Guidan 6205,Guidan 660,Guidan 6203,Guidan 6206,Guidan 162,Guidan 668 and Guidan 673.According to the values of membership function and combined with various indexes,Guidan 671 and Zhaoyu 215 had good comprehensive performance,and could be used as the first choice for food and fodder dual-purpose maize varieties in Du'an Yao Autonomous County.

A New Approach for Solving Fuzzy Linear Multi-Criterion Problems: An Approach Based on Minimization of the Errors Functions

The main purpose of this paper is to build a new approach for solving a fuzzy linear multi-criterion problem by defining a function called “error function”. For this end, the concept of level set is used to construct the error function. In addition, we introduce the concept of deviation variable in the definition of the error function. The algorithm of the new approach is summarized in three main steps: first, we transform the original fuzzy problem into a deterministic one by choosing a specific level . second, we solve separately each uni-criteria problem and we compute the error function for each criteria. Finally, we minimize the sum of error functions in order to obtain the desired compromise solution. A numerical example is done for a comparative study with some existing approaches to show the effectiveness of the new approach.

New Methods of Fitting the Membership Function of Oceanic Water Masses

After reviewing the analytical theories of T S curve, some methods of T S relationship, and fuzzy sets for studying water masses, new methods of fitting the membership function of oceanic water masses are presented based on the characteristics of T S curve family of oceanic water masses. The membership functions of oceanic Subsurface Water Mass with high salinity and Intermediate Water Mass with low salinity are fitted and discussed using the new methods. The proposed methods are useful in analyzing the mixing and modifying processes of these water masses, especially in tracing their sources. The principles and formulae of the new methods and examples are given.

Incremental learning of the triangular membership functions based on single-pass FCM and CHC genetic model

In order to improve the efficiency of learning the triangular membership functions( TMFs) for mining fuzzy association rule( FAR) in dynamic database,a single-pass fuzzy c means( SPFCM)algorithm is combined with the real-coded CHC genetic model to incrementally learn the TMFs. The cluster centers resulting from SPFCM are regarded as the midpoint of TMFs. The population of CHC is generated randomly according to the cluster center and constraint conditions among TMFs. Then a new population for incremental learning is composed of the excellent chromosomes stored in the first genetic process and the chromosomes generated based on the cluster center adjusted by SPFCM. The experiments on real datasets show that the number of generations converging to the solution of the proposed approach is less than that of the existing batch learning approach. The quality of TMFs generated by the approach is comparable to that of the batch learning approach. Compared with the existing incremental learning strategy,the proposed approach is superior in terms of the quality of TMFs and time cost.

Anonymous and Unlinkable Membership Authentication with Illegal Privilege Transfer Detection

Anonymous authentication schemes, mostly based on the notion of group signatures, allow a group member to obtain membership from a server and gain access rights if the member can prove their authenticity to the verifier. However, existing authentication schemes are impractical because they neglect to provide an exclusive verification of the blacklist. In addition, the schemes are unaware of malicious members who are involved in privilege transferring. In this paper, a novel membership authentication scheme providing detection of membership transfer and proof of membership exclusiveness to the blacklist is proposed.

Describing Fuzzy Membership Function and Detecting the Outlier by Using Five Number Summary of Data

One of the most important activities in data science is defining a membership function in fuzzy system. Although there are few ways to describe membership function like artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms etc.;they are very complex and time consuming. On the other hand, the presence of outlier in a data set produces deceptive results in the modeling. So it is important to detect and eliminate them to prevent their negative effect on the modeling. This paper describes a new and simple way of constructing fuzzy membership function by using five-number summary of a data set. Five states membership function can be created in this new method. At the same time, if there is any outlier in the data set, it can be detected with the help of this method. Usually box plot is used to identify the outliers of a data set. So along with the new approach, the box plot has also been drawn so that it is understood that the results obtained in the new method are accurate. Several real life examples and their analysis have been discussed with graph to demonstrate the potential of the proposed method. The results obtained show that the proposed method has given good results. In the case of outlier, the proposed method and the box plot method have shown similar results. Primary advantage of this new procedure is that it is not as expensive as neural networks, and genetic algorithms.

Uruquay Round and the Resumption of China's Membership of GATT

The first stage of the Uruquay Round, the focus of world attention, was completed by the mid-December last year after seven years of difficulty and intense talks. The final agreement was endorsed on April 15 this year in Morocco. Li Zhongzhou, deputy director of International Economic and Trade Relations Department of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, was one of the chief members oftbe Chinese delegation to the Uruquay Round of conference.

Postdoctoral Openings in Wenzhou University(China)for Chemistry,Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

About us:The College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering(CME)in Wenzhou University(Zhejiang Province,China)is looking for postdoctoral candidates(up to 25)specialized in Chemistry,Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.The collegehas its Chemistry program ranking ESI Top 6%o worldwide,and Materials Scienceprogram ranking 589th in the world since 2023.The college has led publicationsappearing in journals such as Nat.Catal,Nat.Commun.,Sci.Ady.,J.Am.Chem.Soc.,Angew.Chem.Int.Ed.,Adv.Mater.,etc.The college is also the home for theinternational journal Carbon Energy,whose chief editor,Shun Wang,holds the Royal Society of Chemistry membership.

Fuzzy logic controller design with unevenly-distributed membership function for high performance chamber cooling system

Fuzzy logic controller adopting unevenly-distributed membership function was presented with the purpose of enhancing performance of the temperature control precision and robustness for the chamber cooling system.Histogram equalization and noise detection were performed to modify the evenly-distributed membership functions of error and error change rate into unevenly-distributed membership functions.Then,the experimental results with evenly and unevenly distributed membership functions were compared under the same outside environment conditions.The experimental results show that the steady-state error is reduced around 40% and the noise disturbance is rejected successfully even though noise range is 60% of the control precision range.The control precision is improved by reducing the steady-state error and the robustness is enhanced by rejecting noise disturbance through the fuzzy logic controller with unevenly-distributed membership function.Moreover,the system energy efficiency and lifetime of electronic expansion valve(EEV) installed in chamber cooling system are improved by adopting the unevenly-distributed membership function.

Evaluation of Membership Degree on Conventional Chemical Components in Tobacco from Tobacco Leaf Bases in Yunnan Province Based on Cigarette Brands

[Objective] This study was conducted to investigate the quality condition of chemical components of tobacco in Yunnan. [Method] The C3F samples were collected from 76 base units in Yunnan Province and their conventional chemical components were analyzed, and the evaluation was carded out based on the membership function and hierarchical cluster analysis of cigarette brands H1 and H2 in Yunnan. [Result] The results showed that： （1） Major chemical components of 76 base units were coordinated overall. （2） Total nitrogen of brand H1 was higher than that of the high-quality tobacco leaves by 12.08%; raw tobacco of brands H3 and H2 satisfied the quality requirements of high-quality tobacco in Yunnan; and the total sugar and reducing sugar in flue-cured tobacco of brand H4 were higher those of the high-quality tobacco leaves by 0.76% and 10.3%, respectively. （3） The total sugar, reducing sugar and potassium of tobacco leaves from bases of G1 group were higher than those of tobacco from bases of G2 group by 38.1%, 2.27% and 7.34%, respectively; and total nitrogen and chlorine were lower by 4.69% and 11.11%, respectively; and nicotine contents in tobacco of the two groups were similar. （4） H2 and H3 were not significantly different in main chemical components; H3 and H4 were significantly different in total nitrogen, while other main chemical components were not significant different; and there were no significant differences between H4 and H2. [Conclusion] The quality of tobacco leaves from tobacco base units of G1 and G2 groups was better. Therefore, the evaluation provides theoretical reference for construction of tobacco base units.

Rock burst laws in deep mines based on combined model of membership function and dominance-based rough set

Rock bursts are spontaneous, violent fracture of rock that can occur in deep mines, and the likelihood of rock bursts occurring increases as depth of the mine increases. Rock bursts are also affected by the compressive strength, tensile strength, tangential strength, elastic energy index, etc. of rock, and the relationship between these factors and rock bursts in deep mines is difficult to analyze from quantitative point. Typical rock burst instances as a sample set were collected, and membership function was introduced to process the discrete values of these factors with the discrete factors as condition attributes and rock burst situations as decision attributes. Dominance-based rough set theory was used to generate preference rules of rock burst, and eventually rock burst laws analysis in deep mines with preference relation was taken. The results show that this model for rock burst laws analysis in deep mines is more reasonable and feasible, and the prediction results are more scientific.

Membership Proof and Verification in Authenticated Skip Lists Based on Heap

How to keep cloud data intact and available to users is a problem to be solved. Authenticated skip list is an important data structure used in cloud data integrity verification. How to get the membership proof of the element in authenticated skip list efficiently is an important part of authentication. Kaouthar Blibech and Alban Gabillon proposed a head proof and a tail proof algorithms for the membership proof of elements in the authenticated skip list. However, the proposed algorithms are uncorrelated each other and need plateau function. We propose a new algorithm for computing the membership proof for elements in the authenticated skip list by using two stacks, one is for storing traversal chain of leaf node, the other is for storing authentication path for the leaf. The proposed algorithm is simple and effective without needing plateau function. It can also be applicable for other similar binary hash trees.

An Approach to Formulation of FNLP with Complex Piecewise Linear Membership Functions

Traditionally, extra binary variables are demanded to formulate a fuzzy nonlinear programming(FNLP) problem with piecewise linear membership functions(PLMFs). However, this kind of methodology usually suffers increasing computational burden associated with formulation and solution, particularly in the face of complex PLMFs. Motivated by these challenges, this contribution introduces a novel approach free of additional binary variables to formulate FNLP with complex PLMFs, leading to superior performance in reducing computational complexity as well as simplifying formulation. A depth discussion about the approach is conducted in this paper, along with a numerical case study to demonstrate its potential benefits.

On Income Distribution Mechanism of Farmer Cooperatives in the Context of Membership Heterogeneity

With reference to several possible solutions to the issue of two subject allocation,using the Accumulation Point analysis method in Game Theory,this paper analyzed the income distribution mechanism between large farmers and small farmers in farmer cooperatives in the context of membership heterogeneity. It found that,in the practice of the income distribution in farmer cooperatives,there possibly exists equalization solution,pure utility solution,Nash solution and Kalai-Smorodinsky solution and it will be affected by social conventions. Finally,it made an empirical analysis using five cases of farmer cooperatives.

BRI Opportunities for Overseas Chinese Businesses--An interview with Dr.Derek Goh Bak Heng,President of Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI).Countries along the route have been responding enthusiastically to the BRI since it was proposed by China,and many overseas Chinese people have acted as bridges for cooperation.The Teochew people or Chaoshan people,native to the historical Chaoshan region in south China’s Guangdong Province,represent around 20 percent of the entire Chinese population in Singapore.Established in Singapore in 1929,Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan(TPIHK,meaning Chaoshan eight districts association)has a membership of more than 6,000 Singaporeans who have traced their origins to the eight Chaoshan districts including Chao’an,Jieyang,Chenghai。