OBJECTIVE Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) can be used to obtain 3-dimensional vascular images and soft-tissue definition. The goal of this study was to evaluate the reliability, usefulness, and pitfalls of CTA in preoperative planning of microvascular reconstructive surgery. METHODS A retrospective review of patients who obtained preoperative CTA in preparation for planned microvascula...

Decision support tools are key components of intelligent sociotechnical systems, and their successful implementation faces a variety challenges, including the multiplicity information sources, heterogeneous format, constant changes. Handling such challenges requires ability to analyze process inconsistent incomplete with varying degrees associated uncertainty. Moreover, some domains require sys...

Thermoacoustic instabilities often occur in a combustion chamber of jet engine when pressure fluctuations from the released heat create closed feedback loop with inlet air velocity, causing further that enhance cycle back again. Since most chambers use liquid fuel dispersed into droplets by an airblast atomizer, any occurring entering nozzle could affect atomization process and air-to-fuel rati...

PURPOSE We aimed to perform intraindividual comparison of computed tomography (CT) parameters, image quality, and radiation exposure between standard CT angiography (CTA) and high-pitch dual source (DS)-CTA, in subjects undergoing serial CTA of thoracoabdominal aorta. METHODS Eighteen subjects with thoracoabdominal CTA by standard technique and high-pitch DS-CTA technique within 6 months of e...

Tracking bolus peak position is a crucial issue for computed tomography angiography(CTA). In this paper, a local maximum tracking method is proposed and tested using real patient data. The method uses a second order polynomial to approximate bolus density function locally. By estimating the local maximum density position at next sampling time, bolus peak trajectory is closely followed. Experime...

SUMMARY Here we report a method for estimating ecosystem respiration (R e) by exclusive use of remotely sensed land surface temperature (T r) from NASA's moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors. A combination of daytime and nighttime MODIS T r data was used to model an 8-day mean value of land surface temperature (T r(mean)), which was then used in a modified Arrhenius-bas...

Studies have been made on the temperature dependence of both the hydraulic conductivity, L(p), and the THO diffusion coefficient, omega, for a series of cellulose acetate membranes (CA) of varying porosity. A similar study was also made of a much less polar cellulose triacetate membrane (CTA). The apparent activation energies, E(a), for diffusion across CA membranes vary with porosity, being 7....

We have prepared all-biopolymer nanocomposite films using lignin as a filler and cellulose triacetate (CTA) as a polymer matrix, and characterized them by several analytical methods. Three types of lignin were tested: organosolv, hydrolytic and kraft, with or without acetylation. They were used in the form of nanoparticles incorporated at 1 wt% in CTA. Self-supported films were prepared by vapo...