HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray: The End Of A Battle

The launch decisions made by the HD DVD and Blu-ray clans are compared in order to explain the victory of the Blu-ray technology on the market of new generation digital versatile disc (DVD) players

Acute bacterial prostatitis: heterogeneity in diagnostic criteria and management. Retrospective multicentric analysis of 371 patients diagnosed with acute prostatitis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is currently a lack of consensus for the diagnosis, investigations and treatments of acute bacterial prostatitis (AP).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The symptoms, investigations and treatments of 371 inpatients diagnosed with AP were analyzed through a retrospective study conducted in four departments – Urology (U), Infectious Diseases (ID), Internal Medicine (IM), Geriatrics (G) – of two French university hospitals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The cause of admission, symptoms, investigations and treatments depended markedly on the department of admission but not on the hospital. In U, patients commonly presented with a bladder outlet obstruction, they had a large imaging and functional check-up, and received alpha-blockers and anti-inflammatory drugs. In ID, patients were febrile and received longer and more appropriate antibiotic treatments. In G, patients presented with cognitive disorders and commonly had post-void urine volume measurements. In IM, patients presented with a wide range of symptoms, and had very diverse investigations and antibiotic regimen.</p> <p>Overall, a 3:1 ratio of community-acquired AP (CA-AP) to nosocomial AP (N-AP) was observed. Urine culture isolated mainly <it>E. coli </it>(58% of AP, 68% of CA-AP), with venereal agents constituting less than 1%. The probabilistic antibiotic treatments were similar for N-AP and CA-AP (58% bi-therapy; 63% fluoroquinolone-based regimen). For N-AP, these treatments were more likely to be inadequate (42% <it>vs. </it>8%, p < 0.001) and had a higher rate of bacteriological failure (48% <it>vs. </it>19%, p < 0.001).</p> <p>Clinical failure at follow-up was more common than bacteriological failure (75% versus 24%, p < 0.001). Patients older than 49 had more underlying urinary tract disorders and a higher rate of clinical failure (30% versus 10%, p < 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study highlights the difficulties encountered on a daily basis by the physicians regarding the diagnosis and management of acute prostatitis.</p

Continuous parallel plate waveguide shaped delay lens-like beamformers for future high performance multiple beam space antennas

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Compact Planar Beamformer Using Multiple Continuous Parallel-Plate Waveguide Delay Lenses

International audienceA compact planar beamformer using multiple shaped continuous parallel-plate waveguide delay lenses is proposed in this letter. The original design, based on a single-shaped continuous delay lens, had demonstrated excellent scanning properties over the portion of the K-a-band allocated to uplink satcom (27.5-31 GHz). However, its height, due to the transversal ridge and cavity, was limiting its use in more advanced antenna systems. A design methodology is proposed here to achieve similar focusing properties while reducing significantly the beamformer's height. A specific design is demonstrated with a height reduced by a factor of three when compared to the original design. A reduction of the longitudinal dimension is also proposed by introducing two additional straight ridges and cavities. A prototype was manufactured and tested successfully, with RF performance similar to those of the reference design besides slightly higher insertion losses. This compact design enables to stack multiple lenses to produce two dimensional (2-D) beamforming

Design of continuous parallel plate waveguide lens-like beamformers for future low-cost and high-performance multiple beam antennas

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Circularly Polarized Parallel Plate Waveguide Multiple-Beam Lens-like Antenna for Satcom Applications

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Circularly Polarized Parallel Plate Waveguide Multiple-Beam Lens-like Antenna for Satcom Applications

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Dossier : la formation des enseignants et des enseignantes du collégial : réflexions autour de l'avis du Conseil supérieur de l'éducation.

Bibliogr.La FNEEQ [Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec] et la formation du personnel enseignant de l'ordre collégial / Réaction de la FAC [Fédération autonome du collégial] à l'avis du Conseil supérieur de l'éducation sur la formation du personnel enseignant au collégial : vers une déformation de l'enseignement collégial / La formation professionnelle des enseignants et la FEC [Fédération des enseignants et enseignantes de cégeps] (CSQ) / La FECQ [Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec] et la formation du personnel enseignant du collégial : un projet qui lui tient à coeur / PERFORMA et l'insertion professionnelle du nouveau personnel enseignant / L'avis du Conseil supérieur de l'éducation : réaction préliminaire de la Fédération des cégeps, L'AQPC [Association québécoise de pédagogie collégiale] et l'avis du Conseil supérieur de l'éducation, Pédagogie collégiale et les thèmes abordés dans l'avis du Conseil supérieur de l'éducation : bibliographie

Shaped Continuous Parallel Plate Delay Lens With Enhanced Scanning Performance

International audienceIn this paper, shaped continuous parallel plate waveguide delay lenses are proposed. The previous configurations introduced by the authors displayed a residual side lobe imbalance, showing the limitations of elliptical delay lens profiles, derived from a starting bifocal constrained lens. Polynomial profiles are proposed here as a way to enhance the scanning performance and the pattern shape. Optimized configurations demonstrate a reduction in the phase aberration levels over a large scanning range ([-30, 30]). The associated radiation patterns demonstrate lower and more balanced first side lobe levels (SLLs) ( $\cong -18$ dB), as compared to the previous elliptical approach ( $\cong -13.2$ dB). A validation has been proposed through the manufacturing and test of a prototype over the down-link Ka-band ([27.5-31] GHz). Excellent radiation performance [half-power beamwidth (HPBW), SLL] has been experimentally obtained over a wide angular range ([-31.5, 31.5]), including low scanning loss and high radiation stability over the entire frequency range. High radiation efficiencies are demonstrated with this fully metallic design, particularly suitable for space applications. The mechanical simplicity offered by the concept is also quite attractive for low-cost multi-beam platforms