Nontrivial Solutions for Time Fractional Nonlinear Schrödinger-Kirchhoff Type Equations

We study the existence of solutions for time fractional Schrödinger-Kirchhoff type equation involving left and right Liouville-Weyl fractional derivatives via variational methods

Assessing the suitability of GlobeLand30 for mapping land cover in Germany

Global land cover (LC) maps have been widely employed as the base layer for a number of applications including climate change, food security, water quality, biodiversity, change detection, and environmental planning. Due to the importance of LC, there is a pressing need to increase the temporal and spatial resolution of global LC maps. A recent advance in this direction has been the GlobeLand30 dataset derived from Landsat imagery, which has been developed by the National Geomatics Center of China (NGCC). Although overall accuracy is greater than 80%, the NGCC would like help in assessing the accuracy of the product in different regions of the world. To assist in this process, this study compares the GlobeLand30 product with existing public and online datasets, that is, CORINE, Urban Atlas (UA), OpenStreetMap, and ATKIS for Germany in order to assess overall and per class agreement. The results of the analysis reveal high agreement of up to 92% between these datasets and GlobeLand30 but that large disagreements for certain classes are evident, in particular wetlands. However, overall, GlobeLand30 is shown to be a useful product for characterizing LC in Germany, and paves the way for further regional and national validation efforts

Frequency of inter- and intraventricular dyssynchrony in patients with heart failure according to QRS width

Aims: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an effective treatment for heart failure patients with prolongation of QRS duration. Despite careful patient selection, some do not respond to CRT based on QRS complex duration. We sought to evaluate the presence of left ventricular dyssynchrony using tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) according to QRS duration in heart failure patients. Methods and results: Ninety-nine patients (mean age 52.6 ± 15.3 years) with severe heart failure left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, 40 ms and intra-LV mechanical delays (defined as Ts-SD >33.4 ms and Ts-diff >100 ms) were correlated with the QRS width and morphology. We found a greater IVMD in Group II patients, compared with patients in Group I (42.5 ± 22.3 vs. 26.8 ± 21, respectively, P 40 ms. Conclusion: A substantial proportion of patients with prolonged QRS (32.1%) did not exhibit inter- or intraventricular dyssynchrony, which may represent a limitation in identifying the ideal QRS interval for the selection of patients for CRT. © The Author 2007

Early septal activation, successful lateral ablation

The coronary sinus activation pattern is an important clue for the detection of arrhythmia mechanisms and/or localization of accessory pathways. Any change in this pattern during radiofrequency ablation should be evaluated carefully to recognize the presence of another accessory pathway or innocence of the accessory pathway during arrhythmia. Intra-atrial conduction block can change the coronary sinus activation pattern. Negligence regarding this phenomenon can cause irreversible complications. Here we describe a case with left lateral accessory pathway conduction in which intra-atrial conduction block completely reversed the coronary sinus activation pattern. Copyright © 2008 Via Medica

Agreement of Bitewing and Digital Panoramic Radiographies in the Detection of Proximal Caries

Abstract: Background & Aims: Conventional radiography is used for the diagnosis of problems such as dental caries and failure in root canal therapy. The diagnosis accuracy of conventional radiography is acceptable in the evaluation of anatomical and pathological structures. However, it seems that by using digital radiography we can obtain more information in this field. The aim of this study is to compare the diagnosis accuracy of bitewing radiography and digital panoramic imaging (filtered and unfiltered) in detection of proximal caries. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study which has evaluated 56 files of patients who were referred to a private office in Qazvin, Iran. These patients had digital panoramic (with CD) and bitewing radiographies in their records. The presence of decay and depth of decay were evaluated at the basis of 5-scale and 4-scale measurements, respectively. After collecting the data, data were entered into SPSS and ANOVA and Kappa coefficient were used. Values of P < 0.05 were considered significant. Results: The highest agreement in terms of presence or absence of caries based on location was obtained for bitewing (Kappa > 0.76), unfiltered panoramic, and filtered panoramic, respectively. General agreement between the two observers in terms of depth of caries was higher for panoramic views than bitewing radiography. Conclusion: According to the results of this study digital panoramic imaging, in spite of its digital imaging which the manufacturer claims can increase diagnostic accuracy, cannot be as accurate as bitewing radiography in detection of proximal caries. Thus, bitewing radiography is always the best option for evaluation of proximal surfaces. Keywords: Bitewing, Filtered panoramic, Unfiltered panoramic, Interproximal carie

Analyzing crop change scenario with the SmartScape spatial decision support system

Agricultural land use is increasingly changing due to different anthropogenic activities. A combination of economic, socio-political, and cultural factors exerts a direct impact on agricultural changes. This study aims to illustrate how stakeholders and policymakers can take advantage of a web-based spatial decision support system (SDSS), namely SmartScape™ to either test existing crop change policies or produce effective crop change decisions using tradeoff analysis. We addressed the consequences of two common crop change scenarios for Dane county in Wisconsin, United States, (a) replacing perennial energy crops with annual energy crops and (b) replacing annual energy crops with perennial energy crops. The results suggested that converting areas under grass and alfalfa production that were located on high quality soil and flat slope to corn promoted a net-income and availability of gross biofuel. Additionally, the model outcome proposed that converting areas under corn and soy production that were located on high slope to grass promoted net-energy, phosphorus loading, soil loss, soil carbon sequestration, nitrous oxide emission, grassland bird habitat, pollinator abundance, and biocontrol. Therefore, SmartScape™ can assist strategic crop change policy by comparing the tradeoff among ecosystem services to ensure that crop change policies have outcomes that are agreeable to a diversity of policymakers