A Novel Cyclic Time to Digital Converter Based on Triple-Slope Interpolation and Time Amplification

This paper investigates a novel cyclic time-to-digital converter (TDC) which employs triple-slope analog interpolation and time amplification techniques for digitizing the time interval between the rising edges of two input signals(Start and Stop). The proposed converter will be a 9-bit cyclic time-to-digital converter that does not use delay lines in its structure. Therefore, it has a low sensitivity to temperature, power supply and process (PVT) variations. The other advantages of the proposed converter are low circuit complexity, and high accuracy compared with the time-to-digital converters that have previously been proposed. Also, this converter improves the time resolution and the dynamic range. In the same resolution, linear range and dynamic range, the proposed cyclic TDC reduces the number of circuit elements compared with the converters that have a similar circuit structure. Thus, the converter reduces the chip area, the power consumption and the figure of merit (FoM). In this converter, the integral nonlinearity (INL) and differential nonlinearity (DNL) errors are reduced. In order to evaluate the idea, the proposed time-to-digital converter is designed in TSMC 45 nm CMOS technology and simulated. Comparison of the theoretical and simulation results confirms the benefits of the proposed TDC

Prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and purpose: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the most common entrapment neuropathy caused by increased pressure of median nerve in the wrist area. The results of electronic searches in several studies have shown different prevalence rates of this syndrome in Iran in different populations. So, the purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran using meta-analysis. Materials and methods: Relevant keywords were searched in national and international databases. The articles were then selected based on inclusion/ exclusion criteria and quality assessment. Data including author names, year of publication, sample size, sample descriptions, assessment criteria, and the prevalence rate of carpal tunnel syndrome were entered in Excel. The standard error of the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in each study was calculated based on the formula for binomial distribution. According to the I-squared heterogeneity and Q indices, the random or fixed effect model were used to estimate the overall prevalence. Also, sensitivity analysis, meta-regression, and survey of publication bias were carried out. Results: A systematic search was completed and 10 articles met the inclusion criteria with 11 evidence of the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran. A total of 14525 people had been studied in whom the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome varied from 1.82 to 64.6. The overall prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome with physical examination based on the random effect model was estimated to be 17.53 (95 CI, 13.74-21.31). Conclusion: This meta-analysis showed a relatively high prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran. But, the frequency of this syndrome in different target groups requires further investigations. © 2018, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and purpose: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the most common entrapment neuropathy caused by increased pressure of median nerve in the wrist area. The results of electronic searches in several studies have shown different prevalence rates of this syndrome in Iran in different populations. So, the purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran using meta-analysis. Materials and methods: Relevant keywords were searched in national and international databases. The articles were then selected based on inclusion/ exclusion criteria and quality assessment. Data including author names, year of publication, sample size, sample descriptions, assessment criteria, and the prevalence rate of carpal tunnel syndrome were entered in Excel. The standard error of the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in each study was calculated based on the formula for binomial distribution. According to the I-squared heterogeneity and Q indices, the random or fixed effect model were used to estimate the overall prevalence. Also, sensitivity analysis, meta-regression, and survey of publication bias were carried out. Results: A systematic search was completed and 10 articles met the inclusion criteria with 11 evidence of the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran. A total of 14525 people had been studied in whom the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome varied from 1.82 to 64.6. The overall prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome with physical examination based on the random effect model was estimated to be 17.53 (95 CI, 13.74-21.31). Conclusion: This meta-analysis showed a relatively high prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Iran. But, the frequency of this syndrome in different target groups requires further investigations. © 2018, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Improving hydro-formability of stainless steel tubes by tube channel pressing

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. Tube channel pressing (TCP), which is one of the severe plastic deformation (SPD) technologies to refine grain size into submicron size for tubular materials, have been applied to ferritic stainless steel tubes for one pass, in order to alleviate ridging and enhance the hydro-formability. It was found that grain-scale shear bands were introduced by one-pass TCP, and texture and microstructure was successfully modified by promoting recrystallization of deformation microstructure, which is otherwise hard-to-recrystallize, in the post-TCP annealing. Elongation to failure, strain-hardening exponent (n-value) and Lankford values of both longitudinal and circumferential directions increased in comparison to with the tube fabricated by conventional process.Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) matching planner program

The relationship between a plant-based diet and mental health: Evidence from a cross-sectional multicentric community trial (LIPOKAP study)

BACKGROUND: Dietary patterns emphasizing plant foods might be neuroprotective and exert health benefits on mental health. However, there is a paucity of evidence on the association between a plant-based dietary index and mental health measures. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to examine the association between plant-based dietary indices, depression and anxiety in a large multicentric sample of Iranian adults. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed in a sample of 2,033 participants. A validated food frequency questionnaire was used to evaluate dietary intakes of participants. Three versions of PDI including an overall PDI, a healthy PDI (hPDI), and an unhealthy PDI (uPDI) were created. The presence of anxiety and depression was examined via a validated Iranian version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). RESULTS: PDI and hPDI were not associated to depression and anxiety after adjustment for potential covariates (age, sex, energy, marital status, physical activity level and smoking). However, in the crude model, the highest consumption of uPDI approximately doubled the risk of depression (OR= 2.07, 95% CI: 1.49, 2.87; P<0.0001) and increased the risk of anxiety by almost 50% (OR= 1.56, 95% CI: 1.14, 2.14; P= 0.001). Adjustment for potential confounders just slightly changed the associations (OR for depression in the fourth quartile= 1.96; 95% CI: 1.34, 2.85, and OR for anxiety in the fourth quartile= 1.53; 95% CI: 1.07, 2.19). CONCLUSIONS: An unhealthy plant-based dietary index is associated with a higher risk of depression and anxiety, while plant-based dietary index and healthy plant-based dietary index were not associated to depression and anxiety

Class-AB Square-Root Domain Filters Based on the Floating

In this paper a new approach for design of class-AB current-mode square-root domain filters based on the electronically simulated translinear loop principle is presented. FG-MOS transistors that operate in strong inverted saturation region are employed for implementation of translinear loop circuit. The filter achieves immunity to body effect, low circuit complexity, large input dynamic range, and also works in low voltage compared to those reported before. With supply voltage 1.2V a dynamic range of 46dB at 1% THD is achieved. Simulation results by HSPICE confirm the validity of the proposed design technique and show high performance of the filter

The factors relevant to the onset of vascular complications after coronary intervention in Shahid Rajaei Cardiovascular Center in Tehran, Iran

&quot;nBackground: Vascular complications, as the most common complications of diagnostic catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), are important factors in the morbidity of patients undergoing such procedures; thus, this study was done to evaluate the prevalence of these complications and their related factors.&quot;n &quot;nMethods: This is a descriptive study composed of 2097 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention in Shahid Rajaei Cardiovascular Center in Tehran, Iran from January 2008 to January 2009. Occurrence of vascular complications in course of hospitalization and the related factors leading to the complications were investigated.&quot;n &quot;nResults: Out of 2097 patients, 1544 (73.6%) were male and 553 (26.4%) were female, and the mean age of the participants was 57&amp;plusmn;10 years. Vascular complications from the time of PCI to the time discharge were observed in 19 (0.9%) patients. The other complications included: hematoma in 10 cases (52.6%), pseudoaneurysm in five cases (26.3%), retroperitoneal hemorrhage and arteriovenous fistula in 2 (10.5%) patients each. The complications were significantly more common in female patients (P=0.003), in patients with a history of hypertension (P=0.02), people of shorter stature (P=0.004), and being on gp IIIa/IIb inhibitors (P=0.003).&quot;n &quot;nConclusion: The rate of vascular complications post-percutaneous coronary interventions is low and it is considered to be a good treatment option for patients with coronary stenosis; provided that sufficient compression is applied on the vascular access point in the right time after removal of the arterial sheath. PCI is of fewer vascular complications, especially in female patients, history of hypertension, and higher anticoagulant concentrations