BACKGROUND Open mesh used in anterior inguinal hernia repair can be configured as a flat patch (Lichtenstein operation) or as a cone-shaped preformed plug and supplementary patch (plug-and-patch operation; Perfix Plug; Davol Inc, Cranston, RI). METHODS One hundred forty-one patients were randomly allocated and blinded to receive either a Lichtenstein patch or a Perfix plug-and-patch. Informat...

Dense phase pneumatic conveying is widely used to transport granular materials or powder due to its efficiencies gained on cost and abrasion and erosion. To date these systems have been designed and analyzed using average frictional representation for the conveyed plug. This study explores the effect of this friction force by measuring strains on the pipe wall when the plug is moving passed the...

The management of technical debt and the use of productivity games are important aspects of developing software projects. A productivity game was created in the form of a competitive source control plug-in that rewards technical debt-reducing actions. The plug-in was tested by simulating source control usage with in a small sample project. Analysis showed that the plug-in appropriately assigned...

Our knowledge as to how to solve software engineering problems is increasingly being encapsulated in tools. These tools are at their strongest when they operate in a preexisting development that can provide integration with existing elements such as compilers, debuggers, profilers, and visualizers as well as numerous other development and, often, runtime tools. However, building tools as plug-i...

The objective of the present study was to develop and evaluate a pulsatile system of theophylline based on chronopharmaceutical considerations. The basic design consists of an impermeable capsule body, which contains the drug and is closed by an erodible tablet plug. The body portion of the hard gelatin capsules was cross-linked by the combined effect of formaldehyde and heat treatment. The for...

Code Bubbles is an attempt to redefine the user interface for an integrated programming environment. As it represents a whole new user interface, implementing it as a plug-in is inherently difficult. We get around this difficulty by combining two different plug-in architectures, a standard one based on registrations and callbacks, and a message-based one that puts the plug-in at arm’s length an...

In view of the uneven artificial sowing, low sowing, as well as the fact that the existing seeders cannot meet the sowing requirements of Pteris vittata, this paper designed an automatic plug seeder by using the method of spraying and sowing after mixing spores and water. In order to obtain the optimum working parameters of the seeder, response surface method (RSM) was employed to desi...

The MPCS Plug Maker is a microcapillary-based protein-crystallization system for generating diffraction-ready crystals from nanovolumes of protein. Crystallization screening using the Plug Maker was used as a salvage pathway for proteins that failed to crystallize during the initial observation period using the traditional sitting-drop vapor-diffusion method. Furthermore, the CrystalCards used ...

The Royal College of Surgeons Working Party recommends the Lichtenstein ‘tension free’ mesh repair, to be the treatment of choice for inguinal hernia repair in adults. It is a relatively easy, and a quick procedure to perform, can be mastered by junior staff, and can be done as a day-case under local or general anaesthesia. It is well tolerated by patients, and has very low reported recurrence ...