Validation of the Polish version of P-QoL questionnaire

Objective: Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a common morbidity that affects many women and significantly decreases quality of life. The severity and the impact of the prolapse on the quality of life are important parameters in the management and follow-up of affected patients. The aim of this validation study was to validate the Polish version of the Prolapse Quality of Life questionnaire (P-QoL). Material and methods: The P-QOL questionnaire was translated into Polish and administered to women recruited from two gynecological outpatient clinics (n = 231). Both symptomatic and asymptomatic women were included in the study and examined in supine position using the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification System (POP-Q). The validity was assessed by comparing symptom scores and quality-of-life scores between symptomatic and asymptomatic women. Results: A total number of 154 symptomatic and 77 asymptomatic women were included. There was a strong correlation between severity of the disease based on physical findings (POP-Q scale) and the P-QoL scores in main prolapse quality-of-life domains. The overall scores for each life domain were significantly different between symptomatic and asymptomatic women (p < 0.001). All the questions regarding symptoms showed significant differences (p < 0.001) between both groups. Conclusions: The Polish version of P-QoL is a valid, reliable, and easily comprehensible instrument to assess quality of life and symptoms in Polish-speaking women suffering from urogenital prolapse

Characterization of partial discharge performance of die attach adhesives

In this paper, the suitability of two types of die attach (DA) material within an isolating system is compared: non-conductive and antistatic epoxy adhesives, respectively. The electrical conductivity of second material has been adjusted by density, size, and shape of carbon filler particles incorporated into the resin matrix. The study shows that micro-voids inside die attach layers of a semiconductor package can lead to partial discharges (PD). Such discharges are reduced by a design-in of carbon filled glues into the device. The experimental verification of the simulation shows increased partial discharge immunity, improved by conductivity tuning of the adhesive materials

Lifetime modeling based on anodic oxidation failure for packages with internal galvanic isolation

In More-than-Moore technologies, the number and complexity of micro and nano devices, that are directly integrated into control units of power electronics and mechatronics systems, increase. These systems typically operate at working voltages in the range of 220–1000 VRMS

Measurement of the linear polarization of parametric X-radiation

The linear polarization of Parametric X-radiation (PXR) produced by 80.5 MeV electrons in a 13 μm thick silicon single crystal has been analyzed by means of a novel method of polarimetry exploiting directional information of the photoeffect in a charge coupled device consisting of 1.3×106 square pixels of 6.8 μm. The experiment was carried out at the Darmstadt superconducting linear accelerator S-DALINAC providing a low-emittance electron beam. The linear polarization of the (2 2 0) reflection observed in eight narrow angular bins between 20∘ and 21∘ with respect to the electron beam direction is consistent with complete local linear polarization. The orientation of the polarization plane, within measurement errors of typically 10∘, varies over the diffraction pattern in such a way as to be expected from kinematical theory. The result of this experiment is in contradiction to the only other PXR polarization measurement performed so far