Original Formula Research Articles

Towards a Clinical Implementation of Measuring the Elastic Modulus of the Aorta From Cardiac Computed Tomography Images.

The elasticity of the aortic wall varies depending on age, vessel location, and the presence of aortic diseases. Noninvasive measurement will be a powerful tool to understand the mechanical state of the aorta in a living human body. This study aimed to determine the elastic modulus of the aorta using computed tomography images. We constructed our original formulae based on mechanics of materials. Then, we performed computed tomography scans of a silicon rubber tube by applying four pressure conditions to the lumen. The segment elastic modulus was calculated from the scanned images using our formulae. The actual modulus was measured using a tensile loading test for comparison. The segment moduli of elasticity from the images were 0.525 [0.524, 0.527], 0.524 [0.520, 0.524], 0.520 [0.515, 0.523], and 0.522 [0.516, 0.532] (unit: MPa, median [25%, 75% quantiles]) for the four pressure conditions, respectively. The corresponding measurements in the tensile test were 0.548 [0.539, 0.566], 0.535 [0.528, 0.553], 0.526 [0.513, 0.543], and 0.523 [0.508, 0.530], respectively. These results indicated errors of 4.2%, 2.1%, 1.1%, and 0.2%, respectively. Our formulae provided good estimations of the segment elastic moduli of a silicon rubber tube under physiological pressure conditions using the computed tomography images. In addition to the elasticity, the formulae provide the strain energy as well. These properties can be better predictors of aortic diseases. The formulae consist of clinical parameters commonly used in medical settings (pressure, diameter, and wall thickness).

A pragmatic approach to adjusting early instrumental local magnitudes for seismic hazard assessments in Australia

Prior to the development of Australian-specific magnitude formulae, the 1935 magnitude correction factors by Charles Richter—originally developed for southern California—were almost exclusively used to calculate earthquake magnitudes throughout Australia prior to the 1990s. Due to the difference in ground-motion attenuation between southern California and much of the Australian continent, many earthquake magnitudes from the early instrumental era are likely to have been overestimated in the Australian earthquake catalogue. A method is developed that adjusts local magnitudes (ML) using the difference between the original (inappropriate) magnitude formulae (or look-up tables) and the Australian-specific formulae at a distance determined by the nearest recording station likely to have recorded the earthquake. Nationally, these adjustments have reduced the number of earthquakes of ML ≥ 4.5 in the early instrumental catalogue by approximately 25% since 1900, while the number of ML ≥ 5.0 earthquakes has reduced by approximately 32% over the same time period. The reduction in the number of moderate-to-large-magnitude earthquakes over the instrumental period yields long-term earthquake rates that are more consistent with present-day rates, since the development of Australian-specific magnitude formulae (approximately 1990). The adjustment of early instrumental magnitudes to obtain consistently derived earthquake catalogue is important for seismic hazard assessments.

Addition of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato and Iron-Rich Beans Improves Sensory, Nutritional and Physical Properties But Reduces Microbial Shelf Life of Cassava-Based Pancake (Kabalagala) Designed for Children 2-5 Years Old

ABSTRACT Innovative use of locally available food resources to develop products of enhanced nutritional quality is one of the strategies believed to alleviate deficiencies of essential micronutrients such as vitamin A and iron that are endemic among children 2–5 years in developing countries such as Uganda. New cassava-based pancake (kabalagala) formulae composed of orange-fleshed sweet potato, iron-rich beans, cassava and sweet banana were developed to target vitamin A and iron needs of children 2–5 years in Uganda. The new products had better sensory appeal and nutrient density, had better physical properties during storage, were stable to oxidative rancidity but had lower microbial shelf-life compared to the original pancake formula (composed of cassava and sweet banana). Notwithstanding bioavailability constraints, theoretical nutritional computation revealed that serving 100 g (approximately four pieces) of the new products would contribute approximately 99–102% of vitamin A and 110–119% of iron requirements of the targeted children.

Redefinition of the formula for aldermanite, [Mg(H2O)6][Na(H2O)2Al3(PO4)2(OH,F)6]⋅H2O, and its crystal structure

AbstractAldermanite from Tom's quarry in the Kapunda–Angaston area of the Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia has been characterised by electron microprobe analyses and single-crystal structure analysis. The empirical formula is Na0.72K0.13Ca0.06Mg1.15Al2.92(PO4)2.05[(OH)2.92F2.96]Σ5.88⋅8.91H2O, based on 23 anions. Analysis of a specimen from the type locality, the nearby Klemm's quarry, Moculta, gave a similar formula, Na0.59K0.06Ca0.36Mg0.92Al3.16(PO4)1.97[(OH)4.08F2.70]Σ6.78⋅8.36H2O. Na and F were not analysed in the original description of the mineral. The ideal end-member formula is [Mg(H2O)6][Na(H2O)2Al3(PO4)2(OH)6]⋅H2O, compared to the original formula of Mg5Al12(PO4)8(OH)22⋅nH2O withn≈ 32. Aldermanite is monoclinic,P21/cwitha= 13.524(3),b= 9.958(2),c= 7.013(1) Å and β = 97.40(3)°. The crystal structure of aldermanite is built from sawtooth layers ofcis- andtrans-corner-connected, Al-centred octahedra, decorated with corner-connected PO4tetrahedra to give (100) layers of composition Al3(PO4)2(OH,F)6. Interlayer Mg(H2O)6octahedra and H2O molecules hold the layers together through H bonding. The corner-connected octahedra form 6-membered rings that are centred by 8-coordinated Na and have a topology identical to a 3-octahedra-wide {110} slice of the pyrochlore structure. This pyrochlore element contains intersecting kagomé nets of Al atoms, parallel to (111) and (11$\bar{1}$) of cubic pyrochlore. Minerals of the walentaite group, as well as zirconolite-3Opolytypes have the same type of intersecting kagomé nets of small cations.

Applicability of several Feynman-α formulae to a subcritical thermal reactor

ABSTRACT For an university training and research reactor of Kindai University, the Feynman-α analyses based on several formulae are carried out to examine the applicability of these formulae to the subcritical thermal reactor system. The original formula, in which the effect of delayed neutrons is neglected, results in a prompt-neutron decay constant sensitive to an upper limit of the gate time range of the analysis and consequently has difficulty in determining the decay constant. This difficulty originates from the neglect of delayed neutrons. An improved formula, where a term proportional to the gate time is added to the original formula, gives a desirable decay constant insensitive to the upper limit and the insensitive decay constant well agrees with that obtained from the Rossi-α analysis. The application of a difference filtering technique also leads to a successful result similar to the above improved formula. An alternative index Z to the traditional index Y of the original formula has been sometimes employed as an indication of the non-Poisson nature of the counting statistics. The Z is defined as dividing the Y by the mean number of neutron counts accumulated in the gate time. The formula for the Z never results in a reasonable decay constant even though the effect of delayed neutrons is considered. This study suggests that the improved formula considering delayed neutrons for the Y and the formula for the difference filtering technique should be employed to determine the prompt-neutron decay constant of thermal reactors.

Considering Situational Variety in Contextualized Aging Research - Opinion About Methodological Perspectives.

Due to the increasingly heterogeneous trajectories of aging, gerontology requires theoretical models and empirical methods that can meaningfully, reliably, and precisely describe, explain, and predict causes and effects within the aging process, considering particular contexts and situations. Human behavior occurs in contexts; nevertheless, situational changes are often neglected in context-based behavior research. This article follows the tradition of environmental gerontology research based on Lawton’s Person-Environment-Interaction model (P-E model) and the theoretical developments of recent years. The authors discuss that, despite an explicit time component, current P-E models could be strengthened by focusing on detecting P-E interactions in various everyday situations. Enhancing Lawton’s original formula via a situationally based component not only changes the theoretical perspectives on the interplay between person and environment but also demands new data collection approaches in empirical environmental research. Those approaches are discussed through the example of collecting mobile data with smartphones. Future research should include the situational dimension to investigate the complex nature of person environment interactions.

AI-powered effective lens position prediction improves the accuracy of existing lens formulas

AimsTo assess whether incorporating a machine learning (ML) method for accurate prediction of postoperative anterior chamber depth (ACD) improves the refraction prediction performance of existing intraocular lens (IOL) calculation formulas.MethodsA...

Static and seismic bearing capacity of shallow strip foundations on slopes

In this paper the static and seismic values of bearing capacity factors for shallow strip foundations adjacent to slopes have been evaluated using the method of characteristics, accounting, through the pseudo-static approach, for the effect of horizontal and vertical inertia forces arising in the soil and transmitted by the superstructure. Differently from most of the available studies, the effect of the inertia forces in the soil, due to the seismic wave propagation, and the effect of inertia forces acting in the superstructure, due to the structural seismic response, are dealt with independently. It was also demonstrated that the above-mentioned effects can be superimposed without significant error. Original empirical formulas and, in some cases, closed-form solutions, have been provided to calculate bearing capacity factors or suitable corrective coefficients which allow accounting for slope inclination and for horizontal and vertical seismic accelerations in the soil and in the superstructure. The proposed solutions, obtained assuming Hill's and Prandtl's failure mechanisms, have been checked against those obtained through finite-element analyses and compared with results already available in the literature.

Cuban Television Police Series 1969–1981: A Weapon for the Revolution

: This article analyzes the Cuban television production of police series between 1969 and 1981. It shows the relationship between the series, the cultural policy of the Cuban Revolution, and the primarily educational role of television after the 1959 revolutionary triumph. These series have been produced and developed, until today, under the strict supervision of MININT (Ministerio del Interior, Home Office) and the FAR (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, Revolutionary Armed Forces), and perceived mainly as an invaluable means of propaganda and education. First, the article establishes the relationship between the sociopolitical context of the moment, Cuban cultural policies in the 1970s, and the decision to begin production of homegrown police dramas. Then, the series Sector 40 and Móvil 8 are examined. Both screened during prime time on alternating weekends for a decade (1969–1979), depicting the Cuban security forces’ fight against counterrevolutionary groups and common crime. Next, the article focuses on a number of series that depicted the work of Cuban agents who had infiltrated counterrevolutionary groups. Finally, the series El regreso de David is considered, to show how, by the time it was screened (1981), the Cuban sociopolitical context had undergone deep transformations, which rendered outdated the original formula.

Improved discrete cuckoo‐search algorithm for mixed no‐idle permutation flow shop scheduling with consideration of energy consumption

The increasing number and types of industrial tasks require factories to be more flexible in production. An improved discrete cuckoo search algorithm (CSA) is proposed and used to optimise the mixed no-idle permutation flow shop scheduling problem (MNPFSP). This problem considers MNPFSP energy consumption (MNPFSP_EC) an optimisation objective. Firstly, according to the characteristics of the individual update formula in the two stages of the standard CSA, the paper replaces the real number calculation or vector calculation in the original update formula with a discrete operation to keep the update mechanism of each stage unchanged. The change allows the algorithm to directly find a feasible solution in the discrete solution space that significantly improves the global search capability of cuckoo search. Secondly, an adaptive-starting local search based on quasi-entropy (QE) is constructed using swap, insert and 2-OPT operations with an exploitation that is adaptively executed based on QE, and QE is used to represent the diversity of population and control individuals in deciding whether to execute local search, thereby reducing computational complexity. Simulation experiments and comparisons of different instances demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can effectively solve MNPFSP_EC.

Practical-Empirical Modeling on Envelope Design towards Sustainability in Tropical Architecture

The building envelope’s overall thermal transfer value (OTTV) is an essential aspect of creating sustainable and energy-saving architecture. The original OTTV formula makes it difficult for any user who is not an expert to calculate OTTV. Designers usually need an empirical formula to determine the design direction in the initial design stage. Instead of replacing the previous SNI (The Indonesian National Standard) 6389:2011, this paper will introduce several simple equations as empirical formulas covering solar factor (SF), effective shading coefficient (SCeff), and OTTV. Three hundred architraves units of facade models were investigated to make the formulas or equations. Regression analysis was used to make three practical formulas in this paper. The research validation consists of first and crossed-validation to determine the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Average Percentage of Error (APE) between the rule of thumb and original equation of OTTV from the Indonesian standard. The results show that the RMSE is only 1.12 W/m2, while the APE is 1.05%. By these results, the empirical formulas can be implemented to be the rules of thumb in the first stage of the design process because the values of RMSE and APE are still under the design margin of thermal design in the building.

A Structural Entropy Measurement Principle of Propositional Formulas in Conjunctive Normal Form.

The satisfiability (SAT) problem is a core problem in computer science. Existing studies have shown that most industrial SAT instances can be effectively solved by modern SAT solvers while random SAT instances cannot. It is believed that the structural characteristics of different SAT formula classes are the reasons behind this difference. In this paper, we study the structural properties of propositional formulas in conjunctive normal form (CNF) by the principle of structural entropy of formulas. First, we used structural entropy to measure the complex structure of a formula and found that the difficulty solving the formula is related to the structural entropy of the formula. The smaller the compressing information of a formula, the more difficult it is to solve the formula. Secondly, we proposed a -approximation strategy to approximate the structural entropy of large formulas. The experimental results showed that the proposed strategy can effectively approximate the structural entropy of the original formula and that the approximation ratio is more than 92%. Finally, we analyzed the structural properties of a formula in the solution process and found that a local search solver tends to select variables in different communities to perform the next round of searches during a search and that the structural entropy of a variable affects the probability of the variable being flipped. By using these conclusions, we also proposed an initial candidate solution generation strategy for a local search for SAT, and the experimental results showed that this strategy effectively improves the performance of the solvers CCAsat and Sparrow2011 when incorporated into these two solvers.

Surrogate‐assisted optimal re‐dispatch control for risk‐aware regulation of dynamic total transfer capability

To enable reliable power delivery through transmission tie-lines, total transfer capability (TTC) must be calculated and regulated to accommodate the transferred amount. However, the traditional optimal power flow (OPF)-based total transfer capability calculation is computationally expensive for efficient total transfer capability control due to the inclusion of a large set of differential-algebraic equations (DAEs) to verify transient stability constraints. In order to enable practicable total transfer capability regulation, a novel risk-aware deep learning-assisted paradigm is proposed here. First, a deep belief network (DBN) is employed to establish the total transfer capability predictor and surrogate the computation-intensive differential-algebraic equations in original optimal power flow formulas, simplifying the high-dimensional and intractable constraints deep belief networks without loss of nonlinearity. Particularly, in order to be aware of control risk from the predictive error of the deep belief networks, prediction intervals (PIs) are produced improved by using ensemble learning and used to disclose the probability of insufficient actions, further guaranteeing the sufficient and cost-effective control by compromising the tradeoff between cost and risk. Symbiotic organisms search (SOS) is then applied to solve the proposed risk-aware deep belief network-assisted total transfer capability control problem globally. The numerical studies testify that the proposed method enables economical, reliable, and full nonlinearity-retained dynamic total transfer capability regulation control within a risk-free surrogate-assisted and tractable physical model-driven hybrid framework.

A Modified Chezy Formula for One-Dimensional Unsteady Frictional Resistance in Open Channel Flow

Abstract It has been observed in literature that for unsteady flow conditions the one-to-one relationships between flow depth, cross-sectional averaged velocity, and frictional resistance as determined from steady uniform flow cases may not be appropriate for these more complex flow systems. Thus, a general friction resistance formula needs to be modified through the addition of new descriptive terms to account for flow unsteadiness, in order to eliminate errors due to uniform and steady-flow assumptions. An extended Chezy formula incorporating both time and space partial derivatives of hydraulic parameters was developed using dimensional analysis to investigate the relationship between flow unsteadiness and friction resistance. Results show that the proposed formula performs better than the traditional Chezy formula for simulating real hydrograph cases whereby both formula coefficients are individually identified for each flood event and coefficients are predetermined using other flood events as calibration cases. Although the extended Chezy formula as well as the original Chezy formula perform worse with the increasing degree of flow unsteadiness, its results are less dramatically affected by unsteadiness intensity, thereby improving estimations of flood routing. As a result, it tends to perform much better than traditional Chezy formula for severe flood events. Under more complex conditions whereby peak flooding events may occur predominantly under unsteady flow, the extended Chezy model may provide as a valuable tool for researchers, practitioners, and water managers for assessing and predicting impacts for flooding and for the development of more appropriate mitigation strategies and more accurate risk assessments.

Comparison of PSORI-CM01 granules and Yinxieling tablets for patients with chronic plaque psoriasis: a pilot study for a randomized, double-blinded, double-dummy, multicentre trial.

To compare the efficacy and safety of PSORI-CM01 granules with Yinxieling tablets in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis (CPP), we plan to conduct a multicentre, randomized, double-blinded, double-dummy, controlled trial. This pilot study was conducted to determine the feasibility and the potential of the protocol for the full-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT). This pilot study was conducted in three centers, and compared PSORI-CM01 granules with Yinxieling tablets in patients with CPP during a 12-week treatment and 3-month follow-up period. The primary efficacy endpoint was the decrease of the psoriasis area severity index (PASI) at week 12. The secondary outcome measures included reduction rates of PASI, pruritus scores on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), body surface area (BSA), and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). Safety was assessed via the incidence of adverse events (AEs) in each treatment group. A total of 211 patients were screened, and 63 subjects who met the inclusion criteria were randomised to PSORI-CM01 granule group (N=31) or Yinxieling tablets group (N=32) while 39 subjects finished the study. The primary outcome measure showed a mean decrease of PASI of 2.03 in the PSORICM01 group compared to 0.89 in the Yinxieling group at week 12. Except for the VAS score (t=-2.261, P=0.027), the secondary outcomes showed no significant improvement from baseline in both groups at week 12. No safety or tolerability concerns related to the drugs were observed in either group. This pilot study showed that the RCT is feasible for randomization, patient recruitment, and assessment. Major strategies are necessary to reduce the patient dropout rate before conducting the full RCT. In this pilot study, the PSORI-CM01 granule exhibited greater potential for development compared to its original formula (Yinxieling tablets) for the treatment of CPP.

Improving on the Adrogué-Madias Formula.

The Adrogué-Madias (A-M) formula is correct as written, but technically, it only works when adding 1 L of an intravenous (IV) fluid. For all other volumes, the A-M algorithm gives an approximate answer, one that diverges further from the truth as the IV volume is increased. If 1 L of an IV fluid is calculated to change the serum sodium by some amount, then it was long assumed that giving a fraction of the liter would change the serum sodium by a proportional amount. We challenged that assumption and now prove that the A-M change in [sodium] ([Na]) is not scalable in a linear way. Rather, the Δ[Na] needs to be scaled in a way that accounts for the actual volume of IV fluid being given. This is accomplished by our improved version of the A-M formula in a mathematically rigorous way. Our equation accepts any IV fluid volume, eliminates the illogical infinities, and most importantly, incorporates the scaling step so that it cannot be forgotten. However, the nonlinear scaling makes it harder to obtain a desired Δ[Na]. Therefore, we reversed the equation so that clinicians can enter the desired Δ[Na], keeping the rate of sodium correction safe, and then get an answer in terms of the volume of IV fluid to infuse. The improved equation can also unify the A-M formula with the corollary A-M loss equation wherein 1 L of urine is lost. The method is to treat loss as a negative volume. Because the new equation is just as straightforward as the original formula, we believe that the improved form of A-M is ready for immediate use, alongside frequent [Na] monitoring.

The nuclear effect analysis in relativistic heavy ion collisions at BNL energies

In this article, an attempt has been made to understand the behavior of the secondary charged particles multiplicity distributions produced during the heavy ion collisions at ultra-relativistic energies by using the Hurst exponent of the two dimensional (2D) factorial moments, Fq. For this purpose the experimental data have been analyzed by using the “Hurst exponent” in the original intermittency formula by considering different values of Hurst exponent (H = 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5). The investigations reveal the power-law behavior, exhibited in self-affine or nuclear effect analysis, better than that in the self-similar analysis. Finally, the described works were found very much significant and also it was within good agreement with some other works.

Medium optimization for high yield production of human serum albumin in Pichia pastoris and its efficient purification

ObjectiveTo improve the yield of recombinant human serum albumin (HSA) in Pichia pastoris by medium optimization and establish the related purification scheme. ResultsA simplified version of the generally used buffered glycerol complex medium (BMGY), which contained yeast extract, glycerol and potassium salts, was found to be applicable. By decreasing the salt concentration of basal salt medium (BSM) to half of the original formula further, we achieved a high yield of 17.47 g/L HSA in the supernatant within a 192 h induction, which is the highest rHSA yield ever reported as far as we know. Accompanied with a three-step purification procedure which recovered two thirds of the desired protein at high purity, our work lays a solid foundation for large-scale industrial production of HSA. ConclusionMedium optimization plays a significant role in improving the yield of desired protein, lowering the production cost and helping to explore the producing strain's character.

Distance matrices of subsets of the Hamming cube

Graham and Winkler derived a formula for the determinant of the distance matrix of a full-dimensional set of n+1 points {x0,x1,…,xn} in the Hamming cube Hn=({0,1}n,ℓ1). In this article we derive a formula for the determinant of the distance matrix D of an arbitrary set of m+1 points {x0,x1,…,xm} in Hn. It follows from this more general formula that det(D)≠0 if and only if the vectors x0,x1,…,xm are affinely independent. Specializing to the case m=n provides new insights into the original formula of Graham and Winkler. A significant difference that arises between the cases m<n and m=n is noted. We also show that if D is the distance matrix of an unweighted tree on n+1 vertices, then 〈D−11,1〉=2∕n where 1 is the column vector all of whose coordinates are 1. Finally, we derive a new proof of Murugan’s classification of the subsets of Hn that have strict 1-negative type.

An Improved Cavity-Perturbation Approach for Simultaneously Measuring the Permittivity and Permeability of Magneto-Dielectric Materials in Sub-6G

Magneto-electric materials with low loss have prospective applications in microwave systems as they enable miniaturization and broadband impedance matching. Two example applications are antennas and filters in sub-6G communication systems. Therefore, high-accuracy and wideband testing are critical for magneto-electric materials, whose complex permittivity and permeability are usually dependent on frequency. In this paper, the mutual interference between the electric and magnetic field within magneto-electric material samples was seriously considered. It was found that the results calculated with the original perturbation formula were overestimated when the sample size was not so small or higher-order modes are used, especially when the electric or magnetic field is perpendicular to the material under test. Two methods based on perturbation, namely the iteration method and the multi-state method are proposed to reduce the impact of the mutual interference, which have been proven to be direct and effective through theoretical analysis and experiments. Finally, several rod-shaped specimens processed from several standard dielectric materials (PTFE, fused silica, Al2O3) and synthesized magneto-electric materials were measured in a fabricated cavity with a vector network analyzer. Experimental results show that the results obtained by the modified formula are more accurate than those obtained by the original formula, and are in good agreement with the data measured by other methods.