Prolongation of greater occipital neural blockade with 10% lidocaine neurolysis: a case series of a new technique

INTRODUCTION: Greater occipital nerve blocks (GONB) have been used for headache but their benefit may be short. Ready et al performed intrathecal injections on rabbits and reported neurologic/histologic changes that required concentrations of at least 8%. Our study tests the hypothesis that the neurolytic effects of GONB with 10% lidocaine can prolong relief. METHODS: After an approval from Henry Ford Hospital Institutional Review Board, a chart review was performed for patients who had GONB with 10% lidocaine. Patients received 10% lidocaine after short response (/ \u3e50% relief) to GONB with 1 cc of a solution containing 9 mL 0.5 % bupivacaine and 40 mg methylprednisolone. They received a block with 10% lidocaine with volume given at RESULTS: Thirteen patients were reviewed; 12 were female and the mean age was 47. Ten were diagnosed with migraine, and three with occipital neuralgia; 12 had bilateral symptoms. Baseline VAS prior to 10% lidocaine averaged 86.92 mm. The mean volume injected per nerve was 1.096 mL. There was significant decrease in mean% VAS with 10% lidocaine at 60.4% (mean: -52.69 mm) ( CONCLUSION: Ten percent lidocaine may be a useful neurolytic agent in prolonging the duration of GONB

SAR automatic target recognition based on convolutional neural networks

We propose a multi-modal multi-discipline strategy appropriate for Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery. Our architecture relies on a pre-trained, in the RGB domain, Convolutional Neural Network that is innovatively applied on SAR imagery, and is combined with multiclass Support Vector Machine classification. The multi-modal aspect of our architecture enforces the generalisation capabilities of our proposal, while the multi-discipline aspect bridges the modality gap. Even though our technique is trained in a single depression angle of 17°, average performance on the MSTAR database over a 10-class target classification problem in 15°, 30° and 45° depression is 97.8%. This multi-target and multi-depression ATR capability has not been reported yet in the MSTAR database literature

Vibratory Loads Data from a Wind-Tunnel Test of Structurally Tailored Model Helicopter Rotors

An experimental study was conducted in the Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel to investigate the use of a Bell Helicopter Textron (BHT) rotor structural tailoring concept, known as rotor nodalization, in conjunction with advanced blade aerodynamics as well as to evaluate rotor blade aerodynamic design methodologies. A 1/5-size, four-bladed bearingless hub, three sets of Mach-scaled model rotor blades were tested in forward flight from transition up to an advance ratio of 0.35. The data presented pertain only to the evaluation of the structural tailoring concept and consist of fixed-system and rotating system vibratory loads. These data will be useful for evaluating the effects of tailoring blade structural properties on fixed-system vibratory loads, as well as validating analyses used in the design of advanced rotor systems

Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of Alternative Reinforcement Materials for Bridge Superstructures Considering Cost and Maintenance Uncertainties

A life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) was conducted on prestressed concrete bridges using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars and strands. Traditional reinforcement materials of uncoated steel with cathodic protection and epoxy-coated steel were also considered for comparison. A series of deterministic LCCAs were first conducted to identify a range of expected cost outcomes for different bridge spans and traffic volumes. Then, a probabilistic LCCA was conducted on selected structures that included activity timing and cost random variables. It was found that although more expensive initially, the use of CFRP reinforcement has the potential to achieve significant reductions in life cycle cost, having a 95% probability to be the least expensive alternative beginning at year 23-77 after initial construction, depending on the bridge case considered. In terms of life cycle cost, the most effective use of CFRP reinforcement was found to be for an AASHTO beam bridge in a high traffic volume area

Existence of naked singularities in Brans-Dicke theory of gravitation. An analytical and numerical study

Within the framework of the scalar-tensor models of gravitation and by relying on analytical and numerical techniques, we establish the existence of a class of spherically symmetric spacetimes containing a naked singularity. Our result relies on and extends a work by Christodoulou on the existence of naked singularities for the Einstein-scalar field equations. We establish that a key parameter in Christodoulou's construction couples to the Brans-Dicke field and becomes a dynamical variable, which enlarges and modifies the phase space of solutions. We recover analytically many properties first identified by Christodoulou, in particular the loss of regularity (especially at the center), and then investigate numerically the properties of these spacetimes.Comment: 26 pages, PACS numbers: 04.20.Dw, 04.25.dc, 04.50.K

ANALYTICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE MUZZLE BRAKE EFFICIENCY

The muzzle brake efficiency was investigated both analytically and experimentally in this paper. An experimental test system was developed to measure the recoil force of a 12.7 mm anti-material rifle. Two types of the muzzle brake were used. The recoil force with and without muzzle brake and the muzzle velocity of the projectile were recorded. Then the muzzle brake efficiency was calculated. Besides, an analytical model based on the Orlov method for calculating muzzle brake efficiency was adopted. The obtained results were discussed. The maximum of the muzzle brake force, projectile velocity and muzzle brake efficiency obtained experimentally and analytically were compared. The analytical results were in a good agreement with the experimental ones