Books on the topic 'After-treatment technology'

This chapter is devoted to the technology of fixed-order calculations, in particular, in QCD. After a short summary of methods for the efficient evaluation of tree-level scattering amplitudes for multi-particle production, and their integration in phase space, next-to leading order corrections in QCD are addressed. Techniques for the evaluation of loop amplitudes with modern methods, based on the reduction to master integrals, either analytically or with numerical unitarity cut methods, are discussed in some detail. After identifying the problem of infrared divergences and illuminating their treatment with a toy model, Catani-Seymour subtraction is explicitly introduced and exemplified for two cases, namely inclusive hadron production in electron-positron annihilation and inclusive W boson production in hadron collisions. This chapter concludes with some remarks concerning the rapidly developing field of next-to-next-to leading order calculations.

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) transformed the cardiac catheter from a diagnostic tool into a treatment tool. The technology involved a special catheter fitted with a balloon near its tip that could be blown up to expand a narrowed coronary artery segment. For patients with angina, the procedure was an attractive alternative to coronary bypass surgery. Mayo cardiologists were among the first to adopt angioplasty and to call for controlled clinical trials to compare it to bypass surgery. Initially, cardiologists (who already performed coronary angiography) learned to perform PTCA informally. After attending one or more live demonstration courses, many began to perform angioplasty in their local hospitals. The philosophy in many contexts was “see one, do one.” By the mid-1980s, however, more rigorous training expectations were elaborated. Heart specialists who performed PTCA were described as “interventional cardiologists,” a phrase that acknowledged that this catheter-based treatment had immediate effects.

After its implementation in 1980, shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) became the first-line treatment for more than 80% of patients with urolithiasis. During the last three decades, SWL technology has advanced rapidly in terms of shock wave generation, focusing, patient coupling, and stone localization. Indications for SWL have evolved as well. Although endoscopic treatment techniques continue to improve, SWL continues to be considered first-line therapy for the treatment of many urinary stones. This chapter reviews the fundamental principles of SWL and presents advances in lithotripsy technology such as shock wave generation and focusing, advances in stone localization (imaging), different energy source concepts, and coupling modalities. Our understanding of the pathophysiology and the physics of shock waves can enhance extracorporeal SWL efficacy while limiting complications. Finally, current indications for and contraindications to SWL depending on stone location and in context of the updated AUA/EAU Guidelines are discussed.

The world's largest demonstrator of a revolutionary energy system in desalination for drinking water production is in operation. MIDES uses Microbial Desalination Cells (MDC) in a pre-treatment step for reverse osmosis (RO), for simultaneous saline stream desalination and wastewater treatment. MDCs are based on bio-electro-chemical technology, in which biological wastewater treatment can be coupled to the desalination of a saline stream using ion exchange membranes without external energy input. MDCs simultaneously treat wastewater and perform desalination using the energy contained in the wastewater. In fact, an MDC can produce around 1.8 kWh of bioelectricity from the energy contained in 1 m3 of wastewater. Compared to traditional RO, more than 3 kWh/m3 of electrical energy is saved. With this novel technology, two low-quality water streams (saline stream, wastewater) are transformed into two high-quality streams (desalinated water, treated wastewater) suitable for further uses. An exhaustive scaling-up process was carried out in which all MIDES partners worked together on nanostructured electrodes, antifouling membranes, electrochemical reactor design and optimization, life cycle assessment, microbial electrochemistry and physiology expertise, and process engineering and control. The roadmap of the lab-MDC upscaling goes through the assembly of a pre-pilot MDC, towards the development of the demonstrator of the MDC technology (patented). Nominal desalination rate between 4-11 Lm-2h-1 is reached with a current efficiency of 40 %. After the scalability success, two MDC pilot plants were designed and constructed consisting of one stack of 15 MDC pilot units with a 0.4 m2 electrode area per unit. This book presents the information generated throughout the EU funded MIDES project and includes the latest developments related to desalination of sea water and brackish water by applying microbial desalination cells. ISBN: 9781789062113 (Paperback) ISBN: 9781789062120 (eBook)

Memory and Attention Adaptation Training (MAAT) is a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) designed to help cancer survivors self-manage and mitigate the late and long-term effects of cancer and cancer therapy on memory function. Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is a set of mild to moderate memory and attention impairments that can have an adverse influence on quality of life. CRCI symptoms tend to present during active treatment, but for some individuals cognitive changes can persist for years. While the exact prevalence of CRCI is unknown, review of the literature estimates that nearly half of all survivors may experience some form of CRCI. Causes of CRCI are multiple and are the subject of continued research. Chemotherapy, genetic vulnerability, neurovascular damage, inflammation, and hormonal/endocrine disruption have all been identified as candidate mechanisms of persistent cognitive change. Given the multiple causal mechanisms, finding a biomedical treatment for CRCI remains elusive. MAAT was developed as a CBT to help cancer survivors make adaptive behavioral and cognitive changes to improve performance in the valued activities that CRCI hinders. MAAT consists of eight visits and has been designed for administration through telehealth technology, improving access to the survivorship care that so many cancer survivors may lack after the time and expense of cancer treatment. Survivors can use this workbook to reinforce their in-session learning and continue to build adaptive coping.

This chapter describes the challenges experienced by individuals and families after diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, as the disease progresses, and in the face of significant disability. Common emotional reactions such as grief, anxiety, anger, and guilt are described, along with specific recommendations for physicians, rehabilitation professionals, and mental health professionals on how to support their patients throughout the disease course. Challenges related to diagnosis, disclosure, and treatment decisions, as well as the variability and unpredictability of the disease are highlighted. Understanding disease progression, communicating one’s needs, and utilizing assistive technology are the focus as the disease progresses. Redefining one’s sense of self, independence, and control are the primary challenges for those with more advanced multiple sclerosis. For families, the recommended interventions are designed to support healthy, balanced care partnerships; address the needs of children and elderly parents; and promote effective planning and problem-solving.

The postscript surveys a number of changes that can be found in the key SF memes and their treatment as animation moved into postwar film and television. It frames these alterations in terms of a question that is often asked about cartoons: whether they are simply harmless amusements or “instrumental” works that can motivate their audiences after the fashion that, many argue, the best SF literature does. The chapter chronicles a variety of postwar scientific and technological developments that would quickly appear in and become staples of both live-action and animated films, including rockets, robots, computers, and the space race. The popularity of these elements demonstrates the postwar persistence of the SF memes explored in the previous chapters and suggests how animation was working, much like SF literature, not only to familiarize audiences with the impact of science and technology, but also to make that impact less threatening and more acceptable to popular culture.

Memory and Attention Adaptation Training (MAAT) is a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) designed to help cancer survivors self-manage and mitigate the late and long-term effects of cancer and cancer therapy on memory function. Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is a set of mild to moderate memory and attention impairments that can have an adverse influence on quality of life. CRCI symptoms tend to present during active treatment, but for some individuals cognitive changes can persist for years. While the exact prevalence of CRCI is unknown, review of the literature estimates that nearly half of all survivors may experience some form of CRCI. Causes of CRCI are multiple and are the subject of continued research. Chemotherapy, genetic vulnerability, neurovascular damage, inflammation, and hormonal/endocrine disruption have all been identified as candidate mechanisms of persistent cognitive change. Given the multiple causal mechanisms, finding a biomedical treatment for CRCI remains elusive. MAAT was developed as a CBT to help cancer survivors make adaptive behavioral and cognitive changes to improve performance in the valued activities that CRCI hinders. MAAT consists of eight visits and has been designed for administration through telehealth technology, improving access to survivorship care that so many cancer survivors may lack after the time and expense of cancer treatment. Survivors are provided a workbook they can use to work with their clinician and to reinforce learning and adaptive coping. This clinician manual guides the clinician step by step on MAAT administration and provides background on the theoretical underpinnings of CRCI and MAAT.

Contemporary Endoscopic Spine Surgery brings the reader the most up-to-date information on the endoscopy of the spine. Key opinion leaders from around the world have come together to present the clinical evidence behind their competitive endoscopic spinal surgery protocols. Chapters in the series cover a range of aspects of spine surgery including spinal pain generators, preoperative workup with modern independent predictors of favorable clinical outcomes with endoscopy, anesthesia in an outpatient setting, management of complications, and a fresh look at technology advances in a historical context. The reader will have a first-row seat during the illustrative discussions of expanded surgical indications from herniated disc to more complex clinical problems, including stenosis, instability, and deformity in patients with advanced degenerative disease of the human spine. Contemporary Endoscopic Spine Surgery is divided into three volumes: Cervical Spine, Lumbar Spine, and Advanced Technologies to capture an accurate snapshot in time of this fast-moving field. It is intended as a comprehensive go-to reference text for surgeons in graduate residency and postgraduate fellowship training programs and for practicing spine surgeons interested in looking for the scientific foundation for expanding their clinical practice towards endoscopic surgery. This volume (Advanced Technologies) covers the following endoscopic spine surgery topics in 19 detailed chapters: endoscopic intradiscal therapy and foraminoplasty, evidence based medicine in spine surgery, artificial intelligence for spine surgery, postoperative management, transforaminal lumbar endoscopy and associated complications, laser applications in full endoscopy of the spine, high frequency surgery for the treatment of herniated discs, lumbar MRI, cost and maintenance management of endoscopic spine systems, regenerative medicine, interbody fusion, endoscopic intravertebral canal decompression after spinal fracture, treatment of lumbar tuberculosis, treatment of degenerative scoliosis, treatment of thoracic meningioma with spinal canal decompression, and cervical endoscopic unilateral laminotomy for bilateral decompression (CE-ULBD).

Vascular patients require admission to an intensive care unit at a number of stages during their hospital stay. They often have multiple co-morbidities and are at risk of major complications. Their management strategy requires a multidisciplinary approach with locally agreed pathways taking national frameworks into account. Vascular emergencies require immediate resuscitation and transfer to a tertiary cardiovascular centre. Vascular disease occurs throughout the arterial vascular tree, affecting both large and small vessels. The major cause is atherosclerosis. The management of vascular conditions is complex, and includes both medical and surgical interventions. Disease can be classified as non-occlusive where there is restricted blood flow or occlusive where the vessels are completely obstructed. Aneurysmal disease occurs when vessels walls weaken. The surgical treatment of these lesions is to either replace the diseased segment of artery with a vascular graft or to exclude it with an endovascular stent. Occlusive vascular disease can occur because of atherosclerotic emboli or thrombosis, and can be treated by embolectomy, bypass, or endovascular procedures. Medical therapy with β‎-blockade, lipid-lowering agents, anti-hypertensives agents, and control of diabetes reduces cardiovascular risk. Recent advances in medical technology have shifted treatment options from open surgical to endovascular procedures. The long-term outcome and cost benefit of endovascular procedures is yet to be established.

Physical Ultrasonics of Composites is a rigorous introduction to the characterization of composite materials by means of ultrasonic waves. Composites are treated here not simply as uniform media, but as inhomogeneous layered anisotropic media with internal structure characteristic of composite laminates. The objective here is to concentrate on exposing the singular behavior of ultrasonic waves as they interact with layered, anisotropic materials, materials which incorporate those structural elements typical of composite laminates. This book provides a synergistic description of both modeling and experimental methods in addressing wave propagation phenomena and composite property measurements. After a brief review of basic composite mechanics, a thorough treatment of ultrasonics in anisotropic media is presented, along with composite characterization methods. The interaction of ultrasonic waves at interfaces of anisotropic materials is discussed, as are guided waves in composite plates and rods. Waves in layered media are developed from the standpoint of the "Stiffness Matrix", a major advance over the conventional, potentially unstable Transfer Matrix approach. Laminated plates are treated both with the stiffness matrix and using Floquet analysis. The important influence on the received electronic signals in ultrasonic materials characterization from transducer geometry and placement are carefully exposed in a dedicated chapter. Ultrasonic wave interactions are especially susceptible to such influences because ultrasonic transducers are seldom more than a dozen or so wavelengths in diameter. The book ends with a chapter devoted to the emerging field of air-coupled ultrasonics. This new technology has come of age with the development of purpose-built transducers and electronics and is finding ever wider applications, particularly in the characterization of composite laminates.

The origins of Santa Claus, or so I am told, is that the young Bishop Nicholas secretly delivered three bags of gold as dowries for three young girls to their indebted father to save them from a life of prostitution. Armed with immortality, a factory of elves and a fleet of reindeer, his has been a lasting legacy, inextricably linked to Christmas. Of course, this Christmas looks a little different. Amidst a global pandemic, shimmying down the chimneys of strangers certainly does not adhere to social distancing guidelines. Some borders remain closed, and in some instances, the quarantine period is far too long. After all, he only has 24 hours to spread cheer across the world. As with the rest of us, Santa Claus is likely to get the remote working treatment. The reindeers this year are likely to be self-driving, reminiscent of an Amazon swarm of technology, and the naughty and nice lists are likely to be based on algorithms derived from social media accounts. In the age of the fourth industrial revolution, it is difficult to imagine that letters suffice anymore. How many posts were verified as real before shared? Enough to get you a drone. Fake news? Here is a lump of coal. Will we see elves in personal protective equipment (PPE) and will Santa Claus, high risk because of age and his likely comorbidities from the copious amount of cookies, have to self-isolate in the North Pole? In fact, will there be any toys at all this year? Surely production has been stalled with the restrictions on imports and exports into the North Pole. Perhaps, there is a view to outsourcing, or perhaps, there is a shift towards local production and supply chains. More importantly, as we have done in many instances in this period, maybe we should pause to reflect on the current structures in place. The sanctification of a figure so clearly dismissive of the Global South and to be critical, quite classist must be called into question. From some of the keenest minds, the contributions in this book make a strong case against this holly jolly man. We traverse important topics such as, is the constitution too lenient with a clear intruder who has conveniently branded himself a Good Samaritan? Allegations of child labour under the guise of elves, blatant animal cruelty, constant surveillance in stark contrast to many democratic ideals and his possible threat to national security come to the fore. Nevertheless, as the song goes, he is aware when you are asleep, and he knows when you are awake. Is feminism a farce to this beloved man – what role does Mrs Claus play and why are there inherent gender norms in his toys? Then is the worry of closed borders and just how accurate his COVID-19 tests are. Of course, this brings his ethics into question. While there is an agreement that transparency, justice and fairness, nonmaleficence, responsibility, and privacy are the core ethical principles, the meaning of these principles differs, particularly across countries and cultures. Why are we subject to Santa Claus’ notions of good and evil when he is so far removed from our context? As Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein would tell you, this is fundamentally a nudge from Santa Claus for children to fit into his ideals. A nudge, coined by Thaler, is a choice that predictably changes people’s behaviour without forbidding any options or substantially changing their economic incentives. Even with pinched cheeks and an air of holiday cheer, Santa Claus has to come under scrutiny. In the process of decolonising knowledge and looking at various epistemologies, does Santa still make the cut?