Locating one pairwise interaction: Three recursive constructions

In a complex component-based system, choices (levels) for components (factors) may interact to cause faults in the system behaviour. When faults may be caused by interactions among few factors at specific levels, covering arrays provide a combinatorial test suite for discovering the presence of faults. While well studied, covering arrays do not enable one to determine the specific levels of factors causing the faults; locating arrays ensure that the results from test suite execution suffice to determine the precise levels and factors causing faults, when the number of such causes is small. Constructions for locating arrays are at present limited to heuristic computational methods and quite specific direct constructions. In this paper three recursive constructions are developed for locating arrays to locate one pairwise interaction causing a fault

Classification of Cyclic Steiner Quadruple Systems

The problem of classifying cyclic Steiner quadruple systems (CSQSs) is considered. A computational approach shows that the number of isomorphism classes of such designs with orders 26 and 28 is 52,170 and 1,028,387, respectively. It is further shown that CSQSs of order 2p, where p is a prime, are isomorphic iff they are multiplier equivalent. Moreover, no CSQSs of order less than or equal to 38 are isomorphic but not multiplier equivalent

Effects of Kevlar® 29 yarn twist on tensile and tribological properties of self-lubricating fabric liner

Yarn twist in textile technology is an important characteristic since it considerably affects the properties of knitted or woven fabrics. Many researchers have investigated the effect of staple-spun yarn twist on the properties of the yarns and fabrics. However, the effects of twist level of Kevlar® 29 filament yarn on the properties of yarn and its resin-impregnated self-lubricating fabric liner are not fully known yet. In this study, we have investigated the effects of Kevlar® 29 twist level on the tensile and tribological properties of the fabric liner (Kevlar® 29/polytetrafluoroethylene fabric-resin composite). Two unexpected findings about the effect of yarn twist have been observed, namely (1) asynchronous twist effect on the yarn’s and the liner’s tensile strength and (2) dissimilar yarn twist effect on the liner’s performance. These findings are mainly attributed to the synergic contributions of the yarn twist and strength and the interaction of the resin with the yarn orientation in the woven fabric structure of the liner

Optimized electroacupuncture treatment for female stress urinary incontinence: study protocol for a multi-center randomized controlled trial

BackgroundStress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a common condition that can severely affect women’s life quality. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been proved to be an optional treatment for SUI, but the tolerance of EA becomes a factor affecting efficiency, which should not be ignored and needs to be solved urgently. The purpose of this study is to find out whether the use of alternating acupoints combination can solve this problem or not and provide an optimization of EA treatment for female SUI.MethodsThis multi-center randomized controlled trial will enroll 360 patients with SUI. They will be randomly assigned to one of the three groups—sacral acupoints group (sacral group), abdominal acupoints group (abdominal group), or alternating acupoints group (alternating group)—at a 1:1:1 ratio. The patients will receive 18 sessions of EA treatment and will be followed up for 48 weeks after the treatment. The primary outcome measure of the study is the change of urine leakage at week 6. The secondary outcomes include the incontinence episode frequency (IEF), International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF), severity of SUI, patient self-evaluation of therapeutic effects, weekly usage of urine pads, ultrasonography of pelvic floor, specialty therapies for SUI, evaluation of discomfort during EA treatment, patient acceptability evaluation and adverse events related to intervention.DiscussionThis trial is specifically designed to offer an optimized EA treatment for female SUI, aiming to enhance their quality of life.Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier ID:NCT05635669