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Combination Method (combination + method)
Selected AbstractsClinical Trial of Dual Treatment with an Ablative Fractional Laser and a Nonablative Laser for the Treatment of Acne Scars in Asian PatientsDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 7 2009SANGEUN KIM MD BACKGROUND Many methods have been proposed for the treatment of acne scars, with variable cosmetic results. Nonablative skin resurfacing is one method that has been proposed. Because of a need for more noticeable clinical improvements, the ablative fractional laser was recently introduced. OBJECTIVE To reduce complications and improve the results of ablative fractional laser resurfacing by combining this treatment of acne scars with nonablative lasers. METHODS A series of 20 patients (skin phototypes IV,V) with atrophic facial acne scars were randomly divided into two groups that received three successive monthly treatments with an ablative fractional laser using high (group A) and low (group B) energy on one facial half and an ablative fractional laser with low energy plus a nonablative resurfacing laser on the other facial half. Patients were evaluated using digital photography at each treatment visit and at 3 months postoperatively. Clinical assessment scores were determined at each treatment session and follow-up visit. RESULTS Although the use of the ablative fractional laser with high energy resulted in an improvement in patients' acne scars, the combination of ablative fractional laser resurfacing and nonablative laser resurfacing yielded the best results, as assessed in photographs as well as by the overall appearance of the acne scars. With the combination method, fewer complications were observed. [source] Techniques to measure the dry aeolian deposition of dust in arid and semi-arid landscapes: a comparative study in West NigerEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 2 2008Dirk Goossens Abstract Seven techniques designed to measure the dry aeolian deposition of dust on a desert surface were tested during field experiments in Niger, central-west Africa. Deposition fluxes were measured during eight periods of 3,4 days each. Experimental techniques tested were the MDCO (marble dust collector) method, the Frisbee method, the glass plate method (optical analysis of dust deposited on glass surfaces using particle imaging software), the soil surface method (deposition on a simulated desert floor) and the CAPYR (capteur pyramidal) method. Theoretical techniques tested were the inferential method and the combination method (gradient method extended with a deposition term for coarse dust particles). The results obtained by the MDCO, Frisbee, inferential and combination methods could be directly compared by converting the data to identical standard conditions (deposition on a water surface producing no resuspension). The results obtained by the other methods (glass plate, soil surface, CAPYR) were compared relatively. The study shows that the crude (unconverted) deposition fluxes of the five experimental techniques were similar, while the crude deposition fluxes calculated by the two theoretical techniques were substantially higher, of the order of four to five times as high as for the experimental techniques. Recalculation of the data to identical environmental conditions (the standard water surface) resulted in nearly identical deposition fluxes for the MDCO, Frisbee, inferential and combination techniques, although the latter two still had slightly higher values (but the differences remained small). The measurements illustrate the need to include a grain shape factor in theoretical dust deposition models. Without such a factor, theoretical models overestimate the deposition. The paper also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the techniques tested. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A quantitative identification technique for a two-dimensional subsurface defect based on surface temperature measurementHEAT TRANSFER - ASIAN RESEARCH (FORMERLY HEAT TRANSFER-JAPANESE RESEARCH), Issue 4 2009Chunli Fan Abstract The inverse identification of a subsurface defect boundary is an important part of an inverse heat conduction problem, and is also the basis for the quantitative development of a nondestructive thermographic inspection technique. For the commonly encountered quantitative thermographic defect identification problem when the test piece is heated from one part of the outer boundary, our previous study showed that some parts of the defect boundary are sensitive to the initial defect boundary prediction of the conjugate gradient method. In this paper, the heat transfer mechanism inside a test piece with this problem is analyzed by building a two-dimensional model. A new method, the multiple measurements combination method (MMCM), is also presented which combines the identification algorithm study with the optimization of the thermographic detection technique to solve the problem. Numerical experiments certified the effectiveness of the present method. The temperature measurement error and the initial prediction of the defect boundary shape have little effect on the identification result. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/htj.20251 [source] OPTIMAL FORECAST COMBINATION UNDER REGIME SWITCHING*INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 4 2005Graham Elliott This article proposes a new forecast combination method that lets the combination weights be driven by regime switching in a latent state variable. An empirical application that combines forecasts from survey data and time series models finds that the proposed regime switching combination scheme performs well for a variety of macroeconomic variables. Monte Carlo simulations shed light on the type of data-generating processes for which the proposed combination method can be expected to perform better than a range of alternative combination schemes. Finally, we show how time variations in the combination weights arise when the target variable and the predictors share a common factor structure driven by a hidden Markov process. [source] Synthesis of biocompatible and biodegradable block copolymers of polyvinyl alcohol- block -poly(,-caprolactone) using metal-free living cationic polymerizationJOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE (IN TWO SECTIONS), Issue 19 2009Izabela Magdalena Zaleska Abstract Applications of metal-free living cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers using HCl·Et2O are reported. Product of poly(vinyl ether)s possessing functional end groups such as hydroxyethyl groups with predicted molecular weights was used as a macroinitiator in activated monomer cationic polymerization of ,-caprolactone (CL) with HCl·Et2O as a ring-opening polymerization. This combination method is a metal-free polymerization using HCl·Et2O. The formation of poly(isobutyl vinyl ether)- b -poly(,-caprolactone) (PIBVE- b -PCL) and poly(tert -butyl vinyl ether)- b -poly(,-caprolactone) (PTBVE- b -PCL) from two vinyl ethers and CL was successful. Therefore, we synthesized novel amphiphilic, biocompatible, and biodegradable block copolymers comprised polyvinyl alcohol and PCL, namely PVA- b -PCL by transformation of acid hydrolysis of tert -butoxy moiety of PTBVE in PTBVE- b -PCL. The synthesized copolymers showed well-defined structure and narrow molecular weight distribution. The structure of resulting block copolymers was confirmed by 1H NMR, size exclusion chromatography, and differential scanning calorimetry. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 5169,5179, 2009 [source] DOP-tunable semiconductor fiber ring laserMICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 7 2009Nian Fang Abstract A novel laser with tunable and stable degree of polarization (DOP) is introduced. It consists of a polarization beam splitter (PBS) and a bidirectional semiconductor fiber ring, which is composed of a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), a polarization controller (PC) and a 2 × 2 wideband fiber coupler. By adjusting the PC or the injected current of the SOA, the time averaged DOP of the laser output varies optionally from 0.16 to 99%. Employing the bidirectional ring structure and PBS polarization combination method, DOP of the laser can be kept stable at any level in that range. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 1669,1671, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24403 [source] Combined class F monolithic PA designMICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 2 2007Paolo Colantonio Abstract Experimental results on two GaAs PHEMT MMIC Class F Power Amplifiers for X-band applications are reported, aimed to validate a novel devices' combination method. In particular, 28.1 dBm output power with 44% power added efficiency and 30.6 dBm output power with 40% of power added efficiency were measured at 9.6 GHz, for single and combined devices amplifiers respectively. Both realised amplifiers exhibit 12% operating bandwidth. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 360,362, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22141 [source] | ||||||||||