Lead-Free Piezoelectric Transducers for Microelectronic Wirebonding Applications

Author name used in this publication: K. W. KwokAuthor name used in this publication: S. H. ChoyAuthor name used in this publication: H. L. W. Chan2010-2011 > Academic research: refereed > Chapter in an edited book (author)published_fina

The Impact of the Costs of Subscription on Measured IPO Returns: The Case of Asia

Asian initial public offerings (IPOs) require investors to pay subscription funds up-front upon submission of applications, and these funds are locked-up for one to three weeks without interest. Hence, the IPO process entails an explicit financing cost (opportunity cost) whether investors borrow funds or use their own funds to apply for IPO shares. The IPO subscription costs are not trivial, especially in a high interest rate environment or when an IPO is highly oversubscribed. These costs should be considered in any comparison of IPO returns across countries

Functional Hand Proportion is Approximated by the Fibonacci Series

The debatable relationship of functional human hand proportion with the Fibonacci series has remained an obscure scientific enigma short of clinical interest. The main difficulty of proving such a relationship lies in defining what should constitute true "functional" proportion. In this study, we re-evaluate this unique relationship using hand flexion creases as anatomical surrogates for the functional axes of joint rotation. Standardized desktop photocopies of palmar views of both hands in full digital extension and abduction were obtained from 100 healthy male volunteers of Chinese ethnicity. The functional axes were represented by the distal digital crease (distal interphalangeal joint, DIPJ), proximal digital crease (proximal interphalangeal joint, PIPJ), as well as the midpoint between the palmar digital and transverse palmar creases (metacarpophalangeal joint, MCPJ). The ratio of DIPJ-Fingertip:PIPJ-DIPJ:MCPJ-PIPJ (p3:p2:p1) were measured by two independent observers and represented as standard deviation about the mean, and then compared to the theoretical ratio of 1:1:2. Our results showed that, for the 2nd to 5th digits, the p2:p3 ratios were 0.97±0.09, 1.10±0.10, 1.04±0.12 and 0.80±0.08 respectively; whilst the p1:p2 ratios were 1.91±0.17, 1.98±0.14, 1.89±0.16 and 2.09±0.24 respectively. When the data were analyzed for all digits, they showed a combined p3:p2:p1 ratio of 1:0.98:2.01. In conclusion, our results suggest that functional human hand proportion, as defined by flexion creases, is approximated by the Fibonacci series

Oncology modeling for fun and profit! Key steps for busy analysts in health technology assessment

In evaluating new oncology medicines, two common modeling approaches are state transition (e.g., Markov and semi-Markov) and partitioned survival. Partitioned survival models have become more prominent in oncology health technology assessment processes in recent years. Our experience in conducting and evaluating models for economic evaluation has highlighted many important and practical pitfalls. As there is little guidance available on best practices for those who wish to conduct them, we provide guidance in the form of 'Key steps for busy analysts,' who may have very little time and require highly favorable results. Our guidance highlights the continued need for rigorous conduct and transparent reporting of economic evaluations regardless of the modeling approach taken, and the importance of modeling that better reflects reality, which includes better approaches to considering plausibility, estimating relative treatment effects, dealing with post-progression effects, and appropriate characterization of the uncertainty from modeling itself

Effective conductivity of composites of graded spherical particles

We have employed the first-principles approach to compute the effective response of composites of graded spherical particles of arbitrary conductivity profiles. We solve the boundary-value problem for the polarizability of the graded particles and obtain the dipole moment as well as the multipole moments. We provide a rigorous proof of an {\em ad hoc} approximate method based on the differential effective multipole moment approximation (DEMMA) in which the differential effective dipole approximation (DEDA) is a special case. The method will be applied to an exactly solvable graded profile. We show that DEDA and DEMMA are indeed exact for graded spherical particles.Comment: submitted for publication

Effects of Promotional Materials on Attitudes and Fear towards Colorectal Cancer Screening among Chinese Older Adults: An Experimental Study

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