Modified basket plate for inferior patellar pole avulsion fractures—A report of three cases

AbstractIn patients who have sustained an avulsion fracture of the inferior patellar pole, the extensor mechanism is disrupted and should be repaired. The normal height of the patella can be maintained by preserving the patellar pole, but fractures of the inferior pole of the patella are not easy to reduce and fix firmly. In contrast with partial patellectomy, which requires postoperative immobilization, internal fixation with a basket plate allows for immediate mobilization and early weight-bearing. Owing to the unavailability of the basket plate in Taiwan, we have modified the plate with the titanium mesh as a possible alternative. We present three cases of this modified basket plate, which took place between 2008 and 2010. This technique avoided long-term immobilization of the knee with good clinical results

Noninvasive prediction of Blood Lactate through a machine learning-based approach.

We hypothesized that blood lactate concentration([Lac]blood) is a function of cardiopulmonary variables, exercise intensity and some anthropometric elements during aerobic exercise. This investigation aimed to establish a mathematical model to estimate [Lac]blood noninvasively during constant work rate (CWR) exercise of various intensities. 31 healthy participants were recruited and each underwent 4 cardiopulmonary exercise tests: one incremental and three CWR tests (low: 35% of peak work rate for 15 min, moderate: 60% 10 min and high: 90% 4 min). At the end of each CWR test, venous blood was sampled to determine [Lac]blood. 31 trios of CWR tests were employed to construct the mathematical model, which utilized exponential regression combined with Taylor expansion. Good fitting was achieved when the conditions of low and moderate intensity were put in one model; high-intensity in another. Standard deviation of fitting error in the former condition is 0.52; in the latter is 1.82 mmol/liter. Weighting analysis demonstrated that, besides heart rate, respiratory variables are required in the estimation of [Lac]blood in the model of low/moderate intensity. In conclusion, by measuring noninvasive cardio-respiratory parameters, [Lac]blood during CWR exercise can be determined with good accuracy. This should have application in endurance training and future exercise industry

Dynamic Impact Mechanism of Birth Rate and GDP in Liaoning Province

This paper's objective is to study the issue of impact mechanism of birth rate between Liaoning province and China integrating unit root test, cointegrating test, vector error correction model (VECM), generalized impulse response function and variance decomposition. After selecting the data of birth rate, infant mortality rate and real GDP per capita of Liaoning province and China, we’ve found that: (1) The log series of birth rate, infant mortality and real GDP per capita are integrated of order one; (2) Long-term co-integration relationships exist among these three series, and the impacts of infant mortality rate and GDP per capita on birth rate are more significant in Liaoning province; (3) According to VECM, the adjustment of birth rate in Liaoning province is 0.09067971446 while it is 0.463901315 in China, which means self- regulatory ability of birth rate in Liaoning province is relatively weak; (4) According to generalized impulse response function and variance decomposition in the short-term birth rate fluctuation of Liaoning isn’t affected by infant mortality rate and GDP per capita while in the national level the effect is great. The conclusions and suggestions are: (1) China is in the period of “Demographic window of opportunity” nowadays so high-speed economic growth and low birth rate are both necessary. China should improve professional education and training to build the harmonious society; (2) Remove obstacles of labor migration in order that the most active factor of production – labor force can flow into Liaoning freely, therefore, we can improve the allocative efficiency without a larger population.Key words: Population Bonus; Social Security System; Education and Training; Birth Rate; Vector Error Correction ModelRésumé: L'objectif de cet article est d'étudier le problème du mécanisme de l'impact du taux de natalité dans la province du Liaoning et en Chine, en intégrant le test de racine unitaire, le test de cointégration, le modèle à correction d'erreur vectorielle (MCEV), la fonction de réponse impulsionnelle généralisée et la décomposition de la variance. Après avoir sélectionné les données du taux de natalité, du taux de mortalité infantile et du PIB réel par habitant de la province de Liaoning et de la Chine, nous avons constaté que: (1) Les séries de logarithme du taux de natalité, du taux de mortalité infantile et du PIB réel par habitant sont intégrés dans le premier ordre; (2) Des relations de co-intégration à long terme existent entre ces trois séries, et les impacts du taux de mortalité infantile et du PIB par habitant sur le taux de natalité sont plus importants dans la province du Liaoning, (3) Selon MCEV, l'ajustement du taux de natalité dans la province de Liaoning est de 0,09067971446, alors qu'il est de 0,463901315 en Chine, ce qui signifie que la capacité d'auto-réglementation du taux de natalité dans la province de Liaoning est relativement faible; (4) Selon la fonction de réponse impulsionnelle généralisée et la décomposition de la variance à court terme, la fluctuation du taux de natalité du Liaoning n'est pas affectée par le taux de mortalité infantile et le PIB par habitant alors qu'au niveau national, l’impact est plus important. Les conclusions et les suggestions sont les suivantes: (1) Aujourd'hui, la Chine est en une période de "fenêtre démographique d'opportunité", donc une croissance économique rapide et un taux de natalité faible sont tous nécessaires. La Chine devrait améliorer l'éducation et la formation professionnelle pour construire une société harmonieuse; (2) Il faut supprimer les obstacles de la migration du travail afin que le facteur le plus actif de la production - la main-d'œuvre peut circuler librement dans la province du Liaoning, par conséquent, nous pouvons améliorer l'efficience allocative sans une population plus grande. Mots-clés: bonus de la population; système de sécurité sociale, éducation et formation; taux de natalité; modèle à correction d'erreur vectoriell

Provision of reinforcement in concrete solids using the generalized genetic algorithm

A generalized genetic algorithm has been developed to find the global optimal reinforcement contents for a concrete solid structure subjected to a general three-dimensional (3D) stress field. Feasible solutions were examined based on the genetic algorithm, and the heterogeneous strategy used ensures that all of the local optimal regions are searched and the most optimal reinforcement content found. The effectiveness of the proposed approach has been validated by comparing the steel contents evaluated using the present method with those obtained from other available methods. A more economic design is achieved by the proposed algorithm. The method developed provides the designer with a valuable tool for the determination of reinforcements in complicated solid concrete structures. © 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.postprin