Laparoscopic Gynecology Procedures: Avoid the Risk

Laparoscopic approaches to gynecological surgery have been developed by an elite group of highly skilled surgeons. As these procedures become more prevalent in the general gynecological approach to disease and the general gynecologist's approach to treatment, the complication rate for these procedures is likely to increase. In an effort to assist in avoiding these complications, guidelines for the performance of laparoscopic gynecological procedures need to be established. This article presents approaches to the most common gynecological procedures that can assist in the prevention of complications

Complications of Laparoscopic Hysterectomy: Avoid the Risks

Results of more than 1500 laparoscopic hysterectomies have been reported since 1989. The complication rate is 10 to 11% in expert hands. However, a complication rate of 60% was reported in one community hospital series. The risks of laparoscopic hysterectomy are acceptable at 10% but not at 60%. Practitioners of laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy must review and understand the risks associated with the procedure in order to avoid them. This article addresses the complications of laparoscopic hysterectomy and gives techniques to avoid them

The set theory of arithmetic decomposition

Journal ArticleThe Set Theory of Arithmetic Decomposition is a method for designing complex addition/ subtraction circuits at any radix using strictly positional, sign-local number systems. The specification of an addition circuit is simply an equation that describes the inputs and the outputs as weighted digit sets. Design is done by applying a set of rewrite rules known as decomposition operators to the equation. The order in which and weight at which each operator is applied maps directly to a physical implementation, including both multiple-level logic and connectivity. The method is readily automated and has been used to design some higher radix arithmetic circuits. It is possible to compute the cost of a given adder before the detailed design is complete

Radix-16 signed-digit division

Journal ArticleFor use in the context of a linearly scalable arithmetic architecture supporting high/variable precision arithmetic operations (integer or fractional), a two-stage algorithm for fixed point, radix-16 signed-digit division is presented. The algorithm uses two limited precision radix-4 quotient digit selection stages to produce the full radix-16 quotient digit.The algorithm requires a two digit estimate of the (initial) partial remainder and a three digit estimate of the divisor to correctly select each successive quotient digit. The normalization of redundant signed-digit numbers requires accommodation of some fuzziness at one end of the range of numeric values that are considered normalized. A set of general equations for determining the ranges of normalized signed-digit numbers is derived. Another set of general equations for determining the precisions of estimates of the divisor and dividend required in a limited precision SRT model signed-digit division are derived. These two sets of equations permit design tradeoff analyses to be made with respect to the complexity of the model division. The specific case of a two-stage radix-16 signed-digit division is presented. The staged division algorithm used can be extended to other radices as long as the signed-digit number representation used has certain properties

MODELING THE EFFECT OF SPATIAL EXTERNALITIES ON INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT

Changes in production conditions associated with biological invasions can be complex. As a result, modeling invasive species management decisions can be difficult. Modeling these decisions is further compounded by externalities associated with spatial relationships among growers. In order to calculate optimal management decisions, an accurate bioeconomic model of the feedback between grower decisions and the new biological interactions created by an invasive species population is needed. In this paper, a bioeconomic model is used to explicitly analyze how externalities caused by spatial relationships among agricultural producers affect optimal invasive species management decisions. The example of the coordinated greenhouse whitefly management in the Oxnard, CA, area is discussed. This is an interesting example because of the complex cycle of host crops used by the whitefly and the effect this cycle has on the optimal whitefly management decisions for strawberry growers. Three research objectives achieved in this paper include first, using the model to assess how the spatial relationship among growers affects incentives for regional invasive pest management. Second, analyze whether current policies could be adjusted to substitute for coordination among growers. Third, the use of the bioeconomic model to identify factors for this specific case that affect whether or not growers may voluntarily coordinate their management decisions. We find that spatial relationships among growers affect the need for coordination in the strawberry/whitefly case. Whitefly migrations across host crop fields require growers to manage the whitefly on a regional basis in order to maximize strawberry producer welfare. The results also indicate that the amount of effort needed to achieve coordination required is limited; the only requirement is that information related to field management be shared among growers of whitefly host crops. The results from the bioeconomic model describe the biological and economic feedback of the grower's decision which allows policymakers to identify the willingness of producers to coordinate at various times of year. In the Oxnard strawberry/whitefly case, for example, growers will not find it optimal to adjust their application timing for a second immigration of adult greenhouse whiteflies when they occur near the end of the season, such as in May or June, but will for earlier points in the season. Three policy implications of the results from the strawberry/whitefly case are also discussed in the paper. First, adjustments to current policies regulating whitefly management do not remove the need for coordination among growers to them. Also, it was found that current policies do not, by themselves, generate the need for coordination. Finally, the results show it is not always necessary to create a central agency for regional invasive species management.Invasive species, strawberry, greenhouse whitefly, externality, optimal management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,