This article reviews the use of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding in the United States today. It comments on the history of the procedure as well as technical aspects of the operation. Short-term and long-term outcomes of the procedure are examined, and the advantages and disadvantages of this procedure in comparison with the laparoscopic gastric bypass are discussed.

The main objective of this chapter is to present a hybrid model for bus load forecasting. This approach represents an essential tool for the operation of the electrical power system and the hybrid model combines a bus clustering process and a load forecasting model. As a case study, the model was applied to the real Brazilian electrical system, and the results revealed a performance similar to ...

The goals of transmission pricing are brieey reviewed and discussed. We focus on the goals of short-term operational ee-ciency and of long-term incentives for investment in transmission capital equipment, and on the potential connict between these goals. We ignore the issues of allocation of xed costs and stranded investment. Some of the counter-intuitive aspects of optimal short-term pricing (...

background: otitis media with effusion (ome) is the most frequent indication for surgery in children. some surgeons prefer to use adenoidectomy and myringotomy with tympanostomy tubes insertion to prevent the sequelae of the disease and also more improvement of hearing. the aim of this study is to compare adenoidectomy-myringotomy with adenoidectomy-myringotomy plus tympanostomy tube in the man...

multiplanar or global laxity in arthritic knee is rare , most of this patients have neuromuscular disorder (post poliomyelitis , spinal dystrophy) or history of knee trauma. ligament insufficiency and severe bone loss is significant in this patient. the estimated prevalence for the concurrence of charcot marie-tooth (cmt) with myasthenia gravis (mg) suggests an extremely rare event. we have pre...

The efficiency of plant production in a greenhouse depends significantly on the control of climate conditions. A system has been developed to control greenhouse climate. The thermodynamic relations between system variables have been modelled into a set of differential equations and a pseudo-derivative feedback controller is applied. Varying the desired indoor air temperature and humidity ratio ...

Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits behavior plasticity that appears to correspond to non-associative and associative learning, and short-term and long-term memory. Recent finding revealed that evolutionally conserved molecules such as insulin, monoamines, and neuropeptides are required for the plasticity. We propose the concept of human brain operation from the C. elegans studies.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the prognostic factors predicting the recovery of pre-fracture functional mobility, we evaluated this by the use of ambulatory assistive devices in short-term follow-up. METHODS Five hundred and fifty-three elderly patients who had undergone hip fracture operations from January 2006 to June 2013 were enrolled in this retrospective study. Clinical characteristics and p...

two omega-3 fatty acids including docosahexaenoic acid (dha) and eicosapentaenoic acid (epa) are essential for the physiologic function of neuronal cell membrane. normal function of neuronal cell membrane requires appropriate composition of fatty in its structure. present study was designed to compare the effect of short-term and long-term pretreatment with omega-3 fatty acids on scopolamine-in...