Multivariate Analysis of Femoral Adductor Muscle Contracture after Total Hip Arthroplasty in Patients with Avascular Necrosis of Femoral Head

Objective:This study is to investigate the nisk factors of femoral head contracture after total hip arthroplasty(THA)in patients with avascular necrosis of femoral head.Methods:Retrospective analysis was perfomed in 361 cases of femoral head necrosis patients taking THA fom September 2016 to December 2017.A total of 179 patents with no significant preoperative adductor muscle contraction were finally enrolled in this study.These 179 patients were further divided into two groups:contracture group(64 cases)and noncompaction group(115 cases).The chi-square test was used to compare the differences between the two groups.Risk factors were identifed by logistic regession analysis.Results:of the patients included,64 patients (35.75%)developed into end adductor muscle contracture.There were signuificant differences in limb shortening.surgical history,whether taction,surgical approach,surgical methods,and fumctional training between the two goups(P<0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that shortness of extremity,sugical approach,effective taction,surgical history,and etiology were the factors affecting femoral head contracture after THA in patients with avascular necrosis of femoral head.Conclusions:Preoperative traction therapy,surgical methods,and postoperative functional training are the factors that affect the adductor muscle contraction after THA.

SMONTE CARLO CALCULATION FOR CALIBRATION FUNCTIONS IN TOTAL REFLECTION X-RAY FLUORESCENCE SPECTROMETRY

Simulation approach includes such processes as photon emissions from X-ray tube with a spectral distribution, total reflection on the sample support, photoelectric effect in thin layer sample, as well as characteristic line absorption and detection. The calculation results are in agreement with experimental ones.

Correspondence of bubble size and frother partitioning in flotation

The size of bubbles created in the flotation process is of great importance to the efficiency of the mineral separation achieved.Meanwhile,it is believed that frother transport between phases is perhaps the most important reason for the interactive nature of the phenomena occurring in the bulk and froth phases in flotation,as frother adsorbed in the surface of rising bubbles is removed from the bulk phase and then released into the froth as a fraction of the bubbles burst.This causes the increased concentration in the froth compared to the bulk concentration,named as frother partitioning.Partitioning reflects the adsorption of frother on bubbles and how to influence bubble size is not known.There currently exists no such a topic aiming to link these two key parameters.To fill this vacancy,the correspondence between bubble size and frother partitioning was examined.Bubble size was measured by sampling-for-imaging(SFI)technique.Using total organic carbon(TOC)analysis to measure the frother partitioning between froth and bulk phases was determined.Measurements have shown,with no exceptions including four different frothers,higher frother concentration is in the bulk than in the froth.The results also show strong partitioning giving an increase in bubble size which implies there is a compelling relationship between these two,represented by CFroth/CBulk and D32.The CFroth/CBulkand D32 curves show similar exponential decay relationships as a function of added frother in the system,strongly suggesting that the frother concentration gradient between the bulk solution and the bubble interface is the driving force contributing to bubble size reduction.

Locality Preserving Discriminant Projection for Speaker Verification

In this paper, a manifold subspace learning algorithm based on locality preserving discriminant projection (LPDP) is used for speaker verification. LPDP can overcome the deficiency of the total variability factor analysis and locality preserving projection (LPP). LPDP can effectively use the speaker label information of speech data. Through optimization, LPDP can maintain the inherent manifold local structure of the speech data samples of the same speaker by reducing the distance between them. At the same time, LPDP can enhance the discriminability of the embedding space by expanding the distance between the speech data samples of different speakers. The proposed method is compared with LPP and total variability factor analysis on the NIST SRE 2010 telephone-telephone core condition. The experimental results indicate that the proposed LPDP can overcome the deficiency of LPP and total variability factor analysis and can further improve the system performance.

Feedstock choice,pyrolysis temperature and type influence biochar characteristics:a comprehensive meta-data analysis review

Various studies have established that feedstock choice,pyrolysis temperature,and pyrolysis type influence final biochar physicochemical characteristics.However,overarching analyses of pre-biochar creation choices and correlations to biochar characteristics are severely lacking.Thus,the objective of this work was to help researchers,biochar-stakeholders,and practitioners make more well-informed choices in terms of how these three major parameters influence the final biochar product.Utilizing approximately 5400 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 50,800 individual data points,herein we elucidate the selections that influence final biochar physical and chemical properties,total nutrient content,and perhaps more importantly tools one can use to predict biochar’s nutrient availability.Based on the large dataset collected,it appears that pyrolysis type(fast or slow)plays a minor role in biochar physico-(inorganic)chemical characteristics;few differences were evident between production styles.Pyrolysis temperature,however,affects biochar’s longevity,with pyrolysis temperatures>500℃ generally leading to longer-term(i.e.,>1000 years)half-lives.Greater pyrolysis temperatures also led to biochars containing greater overall C and specific surface area(SSA),which could promote soil physico-chemical improvements.However,based on the collected data,it appears that feedstock selection has the largest influence on biochar properties.Specific surface area is greatest in wood-based biochars,which in combination with pyrolysis temperature could likely promote greater changes in soil physical characteristics over other feedstock-based biochars.Crop-and other grass-based biochars appear to have cation exchange capacities greater than other biochars,which in combination with pyrolysis temperature could potentially lead to longer-term changes in soil nutrient retention.The collected data also suggest that one can reasonably predict the availability of various biochar nutrients(e.g.,N,P,K,Ca,Mg,Fe,and Cu)based on feedstock choice and total nutrient content.Results can be used to create designer biochars to help solve environmental issues and supply a variety of plant-available nutrients for crop growth.

Fluidic Control System Employing Micropump and Microvalves for Cell Isolation

A micro fluidic system was developed and used for cell isolation on biochips. The flow speed could be precisely adjusted by a micropump, and the flow direction could be controlled by switching valves. The complete operation was computer controlled. The control system for the micropump and microvalves is discussed here. This control system can be combined with other biochip devices to construct a micro total analysis system (μTAS).

Effects of Nozzle-Strut Integrated Design Concepton on the Subsonic Turbine Stage Flowfield

In order to shorten aero-engine axial length,substituting the traditional long chord thick strut design accompanied with the traditional low pressure(LP) stage nozzle,LP turbine is integrated with intermediate turbine duct(ITD).In the current paper,five vanes of the first stage LP turbine nozzle is replaced with loaded struts for supporting the engine shaft,and providing oil pipes circumferentially which fulfilled the areo-engine structure requirement.However,their bulky geometric size represents a more effective obstacle to flow from high pressure(HP) turbine rotor.These five struts give obvious influence for not only the LP turbine nozzle but also the flowfield within the ITD,and hence cause higher loss.Numerical investigation has been undertaken to observe the influence of the Nozzle-Strut integrated design concept on the flowfield within the ITD and the nearby nozzle blades.According to the computational results,three main conclusions are finally obtained.Firstly,a noticeable low speed area is formed near the strut's leading edge,which is no doubt caused by the potential flow effects.Secondly,more severe radial migration of boundary layer flow adjacent to the strut's pressure side have been found near the nozzle's trailing edge.Such boundary layer migration is obvious,especially close to the shroud domain.Meanwhile,radial pressure gradient aggravates this phenomenon.Thirdly,velocity distribution along the strut's pressure side on nozzle's suction surface differs,which means loading variation of the nozzle.And it will no doubt cause nonuniform flowfield faced by the downstream rotor blade.

Fungal diversity in adult date palm(Phoenix dactylifera L.) revealed by culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches

Endophytic flora plays a vital role in the colonization and survival of host plants, especially in harsh environments, such as arid regions. This flora may, however, contain pathogenic species responsible for various troublesome host diseases. The present study is aimed at investigating the diversity of both cultivable and non-cultivable endophytic fungal floras in the internal tissues(roots and leaves) of Tunisian date palm trees(Phoenix dactylifera). Accordingly, 13 isolates from both root and leaf samples, exhibiting distinct colony morphology, were selected from potato dextrose agar(PDA) medium and identified by a sequence match search wherein their 18S–28S internal transcribed spacer(ITS) sequences were compared to those available in public databases. These findings revealed that the cultivable root and leaf isolates fell into two groups, namely Nectriaceae and Pleosporaceae. Additionally, total DNA from palm roots and leaves was further extracted and ITS fragments were amplified. Restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) analysis of the ITS from 200 fungal clones(leaves: 100; roots: 100) using HaeIII restriction enzyme revealed 13 distinct patterns that were further sequenced and led to the identification of Alternaria, Cladosporium, Davidiella(Cladosporium teleomorph), Pythium, Curvularia, and uncharacterized fungal endophytes. Both approaches confirmed that while the roots were predominantly colonized by Fusaria(members of the Nectriaceae family), the leaves were essentially colonized by Alternaria(members of the Pleosporaceae family). Overall, the findings of the present study constitute, to the authors' knowledge, the first extensive report on the diversity of endophytic fungal flora associated with date palm trees(P. dactylifera).