Evaluation of a Quasi Coaxial Printed Circuit Board Transformer

Abstract: Minimization of leakage inductance of a transformer is very often one of the main focus points during the design because of the adverse effects it may have on some power electronics circuit topologies. There are however applications in which the leakage inductance may be used as a circuit element, in which case it should be predictable and easily realizable. Coaxial transformers are known for the ease with which the leakage inductance may be predicted but obtaining these values repetitively is still a problem because of the manner of manufacture. This work investigates the possibility of utilizing printed circuit board (PCB) technology to manufacture coaxial transformers and to increase the accuracy with which the desired leakage inductance may be obtained. Finite element methods (FEM) as well as experimental results are used to support the proposed ideas. A planar transformer is also analyzed in the same way to accentuate the design advantages offered by the proposed quasi-coaxial transformer

Het strafrecht als vicieus sluitstuk van het beleid ten aanzien van criminele vreemdelingen. Het sluimerende probleem van de niet-uitzetbare ongewenst verklaarde vreemdeling

Op grond van artikel 67 Vreemdelingenwet (Vw) kan een in Nederland verblijvende vreemdeling ongewenst worden verklaard. Dit kan bijvoorbeeld wanneer hij bij herhaling strafbare feiten pleegt of door de rechter is veroordeeld voor een misdrijf dat is bedreigd met een gevangenisstraf van drie jaar of meer. Als de ongewenst verklaarde vreemdeling toch in Nederland blijft, maakt hij zich schuldig aan het strafbare feit van artikel I97 Sr. In dit artikel laten we zien dat het beleid is aangescherpt in lijn met de retoriek van de harde aanpak. We laten ook zien dat het middel van de ongewenstverklaring steeds vaker wordt toegepast, zowel bij rechtmatig verblijvende vreemdelingen als bij illegalen': Een verkenning van de handhavingspraktijk brengt echter enkele problemen aan het licht. Zo zijn bij een deel van de ongewenste vreemdelingen de problemen met het uitzetten niet opgelost, maar verschoven. Ook is er een categorie vreemdelingen die in een vicieuze cirkel terechtkomt waarbij permanente strafbaarheid op grond van artikel I97 Sr bestaat maar de persoon ook het land niet kan worden uitgezet. In dit artikel verkennen we de consequenties hiervan voor de verschillende schakels in de handhavingsketen

Coronary vasodilatory action of elgodipine in coronary artery disease

The effects of intravenous elgodipine, a new second-generation dihydropyridine calcium antagonist, on hemodynamics and coronary artery diameter were investigated in 15 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization for suspected coronary artery disease. Despite a significant decrease in systemic blood pressure, elgodipine infused at a rate of 1.5 micrograms/kg/min over a period of 10 minutes did not affect heart rate and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure. The contractile responses during isovolumic contraction showed a slight but significant increase in maximum velocity (56 +/- 10 to 60 +/- 10 seconds-1; p less than 0.005), whereas the time constant of early relaxation was shortened from 49 +/- 11 to 44 +/- 9 ms (p less than 0.05). Coronary sinus and great cardiac vein flow increased significantly by 15 and 26%, respectively. As mean aortic pressure decreased, a significant decrease in coronary sinus (-27%) and great cardiac vein (-28%) resistance was observed, while the calculated myocardial oxygen consumption remained unchanged. In all, 69 coronary segments (including 13 stenotic segments) were analyzed quantitatively using computer-assisted quantitative coronary angiography. A significant increase in mean coronary artery diameter (2.27 +/- 0.53 to 2.48 +/- 0.53 mm; p less than 0.000001), as well as in obstruction diameter, (1.08 +/- 0.29 to 1.36 +/- 0.32 mm; p less than 0.02), was observed. The results demonstrate that elgodipine, in the route and dose described, induces significant vasodilatation of both coronary resistance and epicardial conductance vessels, without adverse effects on heart rate, myocardial oxygen demand and contractile indexes

Observation Versus Embolization in Patients with Blunt Splenic Injury after Trauma: A Propensity Score Analysis

Background: Non-operative management (NOM) is the standard of care in hemodynamically stable patients with blunt splenic injury after trauma. Splenic artery embolization (SAE) is reported to increase observation success rate. Studies demonstrating improved splenic salvage rates with SAE primarily compared SAE with historical controls. The aim of this study was to investigate whether SAE improves success rate compared to observation alone in contemporaneous patients with blunt splenic injury. Methods: We included adult patients with blunt splenic injury admitted to five Level 1 Trauma Centers between January 2009 and December 2012 and selected for NOM. Successful treatment was defined as splenic salvage and no splenic re-intervention. We calculated propensity scores, expressing the probability of undergoing SAE, using multivariable logistic regression and created five strata based on the quintiles of the propensity score distribution. A weighted relative risk (RR) was calculated across strata to express the chances of success with SAE. Results: Two hundred and six patients were included in the study. Treatment was successful in 180 patients: 134/146 (92 %) patients treated with observation and 48/57 (84 %) patients treated with SAE. The weighted RR for success with SAE was 1.17 (0.94-1.45); for complications, the weighted RR was 0.71 (0.41-1.22). The mean number of transfused blood products was 4.4 (SD 9.9) in the observation group versus 9.1 (SD 17.2) in the SAE group. Conclusions: After correction for confounders with propensity score stratification technique, there was no significant difference between embolization and observation alone with regard to successful treatment in patients with blunt splenic injury after trauma

Acute and long-term outcome of directional coronary atherectomy for stable and unstable angina

The clinical efficacy and safety of directional coronary atherectomy for the treatment of stable and unstable angina were assessed in 82 patients with stable and 68 patients with unstable angina. Therefore, clinical and angiographic follow-up was obtained in a prospectively collected consecutive series of 150 atherectomy procedures. Restenosis was assessed clinically and by quantitative angiography. The overall clinical success rate of atherectomy for patients with unstable and stable angina was 88% and 91%, respectively. No significant differences were found for in-hospital event rates between the unstable and stable angina groups: death (1.5% vs 0%), myocardial infarction (10% vs 6%), and emergency bypass operation (3% vs 2%). These clinical events were related to the occurrence of abrupt occlusions (8.8% in patients with stable and 6.1% in those with unstable angina; p = NS). Clinical follow-up was achieved in 100% of the patients with stable and unstable angina at a mean interval of 923 and 903 days, respectively. Two-year survival rates were 96% and 97% in the populations with unstable and stable angina, respectively. There were no significant differences with respect to bypass surgery and angioplasty, but event-free survival at 2 years was significantly lower in the unstable (54%) than the stable (69%) angina group. Quantitative coronary angiography did not detect any difference in luminal renarrowing during the 6-month angiographic follow-up period. Although directional coronary atherectomy can be performed effectively in patients with unstable and stable angina, the long-term clinical outcome was less favorable in the unstable angina group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS

Directional atherectomy: combining basic research and intervention

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Analysis of VNTR loci amplified by the polymerase chain reaction for investigating the origin of intimal smoth muscle cells in a coronary artery lesion developing after heart transplantation in man

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