181 research outputs found
A characterization of quasi-rational polygons
The aim of this paper is to study quasi-rational polygons related to the
outer billiard. We compare different notions introduced, and make a synthesis
of those.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Hand anthropometry in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome: a case-control study with a matched control group of healthy volunteers
Background: The aim of this study was to perform anthropometrical measure- ments of patients’ hands with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in order to evaluate if there is a correlation between CTS occurrence and hand features regarding sexual dimorphism, age and physical activity.
Materials and methods: Study sample consisted of 48 patients (33 females) and control group included 80 healthy volunteers (58 females) with no history of CTS. The following measurements were performed: the wrist circumference, length of the hand, the hand’s width, width of the wrist, thickness of the wrist, height of the hypothenar and thenar, length of the arm and forearm, circumference of the proximal phalanges and width of the digits; as well as several indexes were calculated i.e.: body mass index (BMI), shape index, digit index, wrist index, hand length/height ratio (HLH-ratio) and hand length/upper limb length ratio (HLULL-ratio).
Results: Correlation coincidences were analysed between circumferences within the hand, palm and body weight. All parameters except fingers were correlated with body weight in either gender in both groups (p < 0.05; r = 0.40–0.80); Furthermore, width of the hand was correlated with body height (p < 0.001; r = 0.56–0.71). Mean values of wrist index for CTS patients were: males: 0.8, females: 0.74 (significantly higher than in healthy individuals and indicating square shape); shape index: males 76.5, females 75.8; digit index: males 55.7, females 56.5. The calculated HLH-ratio in CTS group was: males 10.6, females 10.9; HLULL-ratio: males 23.6, females 24.9 and they did not differ significantly from healthy volunteers. Almost 90.0% of females with diagnosed CTS have BMI > 25.0 kg/m2.
Conclusions: There are significant differences in morphometrical features of the upper limbs between CTS patients and healthy individuals. Hands of patients with CTS are more massive and with ‘plumb’ fingers and square shape of the wrist. Furthermore, higher BMI values were confirmed to be predisposing factors in CTS occurrence.
Biokinetics of 131I after endogenous and exogenous stimulation of TSH in patients with DTC
BACKGROUND: The effective radioiodine treatment of patients
with DTC is possible only after raising the TSH value over
30 μUI/ml. This effect might be obtained by either endogenous
or exogenous stimulation. The aim of this study was to evaluate
differences in 131I biokinetics of selected regions of interest (ROIs)
in cases of endogenous and exogenous stimulation.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two groups of 50 patients were
enrolled in the study. All patients were treated with 3.7 GBq of
131I; the first group after thyroid hormone withdrawal (THW), the
second group after rhTSH administration (rhTSH). On the basis
of post-treatment images, the uptake ratios over selected ROIs
(thyroid remnants, mediastinum, liver, stomach, abdomen, and
whole-body) were compared between groups.
RESULTS: In the case of uptake over the whole-body and the
liver, statistically significant higher values were received for the
THW group. For the remaining regions, the differences between
groups were statistically insignificant, but uptake ratios in the
rhTSH group were generally numerically lower compared to
the THW group.
CONCLUSIONS: The revealed difference in radioiodine biokinetics
after thyroid hormone withdrawal or administration of
recombinant human TSH may influence many important aspects
of patients with DTC treatment, such as the choice of proper therapeutic
scheme, the cost of therapy, and the dose assessment.
Nuclear Med Rev 2010; 13, 2: 55–5
Analysis of power consumption in heterogeneous virtual machine environments
Reduction of energy consumption in Cloud computing datacenters today is a hot a research topic, as these consume large amounts of energy. Furthermore, most of the energy is used inefficiently because of the improper usage of computational resources such as CPU, storage and network. A good balance between the computing resources and performed workload is mandatory. In the context of data-intensive applications, a significant portion of energy is consumed just to keep alive virtual machines or to move data around without performing useful computation. Moreover, heterogeneity of resources increases the difficulty degree, when trying to achieve energy efficiency. Power consumption optimization requires identification of those inefficiencies in the underlying system and applications. Based on the relation between server load and energy consumption, we study the efficiency of data-intensive applications, and the penalties, in terms of power consumption, that are introduced by different degrees of heterogeneity of the virtual machines characteristics in a cluster
Analysis of power consumption in heterogeneous virtual machine environments
Reduction of energy consumption in Cloud computing datacenters today is a hot a research topic, as these consume large amounts of energy. Furthermore, most of the energy is used inefficiently because of the improper usage of computational resources such as CPU, storage and network. A good balance between the computing resources and performed workload is mandatory. In the context of data-intensive applications, a significant portion of energy is consumed just to keep alive virtual machines or to move data around without performing useful computation. Moreover, heterogeneity of resources increases the difficulty degree, when trying to achieve energy efficiency. Power consumption optimization requires identification of those inefficiencies in the underlying system and applications. Based on the relation between server load and energy consumption, we study the efficiency of data-intensive applications, and the penalties, in terms of power consumption, that are introduced by different degrees of heterogeneity of the virtual machines characteristics in a cluster
Conductance spectra of (Nb, Pb, In)/NbP -- superconductor/Weyl semimetal junctions
The possibility of inducing superconductivity in type-I Weyl semimetal
through coupling its surface to a superconductor was investigated. A single
crystal of NbP, grown by chemical vapor transport method, was carefully
characterized by XRD, EDX, SEM, ARPES techniques and by electron transport
measurements. The mobility spectrum of the carriers was determined. For the
studies of interface transmission, the (001) surface of the crystal was covered
by several hundred nm thick metallic layers of either Pb, or Nb, or In. DC
current-voltage characteristics and AC differential conductance through the
interfaces as a function of the DC bias were investigated. When the metals
become superconducting, all three types of junctions show conductance increase,
pointing out the Andreev reflection as a prevalent contribution to the subgap
conductance. In the case of Pb-NbP and Nb-NbP junctions, the effect is
satisfactorily described by modified Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk model. The
absolute value of the conductance is much smaller than that for the bulk
crystal, indicating that the transmission occurs through only a small part of
the contact area. An opposite situation occurs in In-NbP junction, where the
conductance at the peak reaches the bulk value indicating that almost whole
contact area is transmitting and, additionally, a superconducting proximity
phase is formed in the material. We interpret this as a result of indium
diffusion into NbP, where the metal atoms penetrate the surface barrier and
form very transparent superconductor-Weyl semimetal contact inside. However,
further diffusion occurring already at room temperature leads to degradation of
the effect, so it is observed only in the pristine structures. Despite of this,
our observation directly demonstrates possibility of inducing superconductivity
in a type-I Weyl semimetal.Comment: Accepted for Phys. Rev. B. 13 pages, 12 figures. Second version with
major revisions. The title was changed. One author R. Jakiela added. New
inset to Fig. 8(A). New fits in Fig. 8 (B) and Fig. 10 (B). Added figures 12
(C)-(E). Added Fig. 12 (F) with SIMS data. Rewritten chapters III-C-2 and
III-C-3. Reference no. 38 removed, 11 new references: 9, 21, 22, 40-44, 46-49
were adde
Effect of sow age on the apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients in the diet
Abstract The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of sow age on apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients and the concentration of metabolizable energy in the diet. The experiment was carried out on 20 gestating sows, divided into two groups: Group I -10 sows in first pregnancy (131 ± 4.5 kg) and Group II -10 sows in fourth pregnancy (225 ± 8.2 kg). Sows in the two groups were fed identical diets for sows during early pregnancy. The total collection of faeces began on day 30 of pregnancy and lasted eight days. Sows in the fourth pregnancy had greater digestibility coefficients of dry matter (4.1 percentage units), organic matter (3.4 percentage units), crude protein (5.5 percentage units) and crude fibre (6.2 percentage units) than sows in the first pregnancy. The total tract digestibility of ether extract, starch and sugars was not affected by pig age. The metabolizable energy, determined according to the content of digestible nutrients, in the sow diet in fourth pregnancy was 0.7 MJ/kg higher than in the diet of sows in their first pregnancy. Results of this research indicate that sow age should be considered when formulating diets during early pregnancy
Precision Predictions for (Un)Stable W+W- Pair Production At and Beyond LEP2 Energies Beyond LEP2 Energies
We present precision calculations of the processes e+e- -> 4-fermions in
which the double resonant W+W- intermediate state occurs. Referring to this
latter intermediate state as the 'signal process', we show that, by using the
YFS Monte Carlo event generators YFSWW3-1.14 and KORALW1.42 in an appropriate
combination, we achieve a physical precision on the signal process, as isolated
with LEP2 MC Workshop cuts, below 0.5 per cent. We stress the full gauge
invariance of our calculations and we compare our results with those of other
authors where appropriate. In particular, sample Monte Carlo data are
explicitly illustrated and compared with the results of the program RacoonWW of
Dittmaier {\it et al.}. In this way, we show that the total (physical plus
technical) precision tag for the WW signal process cross section is 0.4 per
cent for 200 GeV, for example. Results are also given for 500 GeV with an eye
toward the LC.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figs;corrected Tab. 3;improved refs.,figs.,text;improved
refs.,text;improved tex
- …