Let D be a set of disks of arbitrary radii in the plane, and let P be a set of points. We study the following three problems: (i) Assuming P contains the set of center points of disks in D, find a minimum-cardinality subset P∗ of P (if exists), such that each disk in D is pierced by at least h points of P∗, where h is a given constant. We call this problem minimum h-piercing. (ii) Assuming P is...

BACKGROUND This study aimed to evaluate the application of 3D printing in assisting preoperative plan of pedicle screw placement for treating middle-upper thoracic trauma. METHODS A preoperative plan was implemented in seven patients suffering from middle-upper thoracic (T3-T7) trauma between March 2013 and February 2016. In the 3D printing models, entry points of 56 pedicle screws (Magerl me...

Injection drug use (IDU) is a known risk factor for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, but the strength of other parenteral and sexual risk factors is unclear. In 1997, we performed a case-control study of 2,316 HCV-seropositive blood donors and 2,316 seronegative donors matched on age, sex, race/ethnicity, blood center, and first-time versus repeat-donor status. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confid...

PURPOSE We report a newly developed device to fragment thrombi in retinal vein occlusion. METHODS The new instrument consists of a 23-gauge (G) pipe and a 37-G needle with an internal wire. A total of 40 porcine eyes were used; 20 eyes for experiments in the branch retinal vein (BRV group) and 20 eyes for experiments in the central retinal vein (CRV group). We placed 25-G 3-port trocars, and ...

We theoretically study the behavior of critical current a thermally-biased tunnel Josephson junction with particular design, in which electrodes are enclosed two different superconducting loops pierced by independent magnetic fluxes. In this setup, gaps can be modified independently through fluxes threading loops. investigate response device as function fluxes, changing asymmetry parameter, i.e...

In the 1970s, O'Keefe and Dostrovsky discovered that certain neurons, called place cells, in an animal's brain are tied to its location within arena. A combinatorial neural code is a collection of $0/1$-vectors which encode patterns co-firing activity among cells. Gross, Obatake, Youngs have recently used techniques from toric algebra study when $0$- $1$-, or $2$-inductively pierced: property a...

The growth of large-area diamond films with low dislocation density is a landmark in the fabrication diamond-based power electronic devices or high-energy particle detectors. Here, we report development strategy based on use micrometric laser-pierced hole arrays to reduce densities heteroepitaxial chemical vapor deposition diamond. We show that, under optimal conditions, this leads reduction by...

This study aims to examine the phenomena that occur due projectile penetration on fiber metal laminate. Ballistic testing was carried out experimentally according National Institute of Justice standards (NIJ Standard 0101.06 level III-A) using a 9 mm full-metal jacket with normal angle attack (90° target). The results showed laminate could withstand rate by penetrating first layer (aluminum pla...