PURPOSE: To present our experience of using an Adjustable male sling، Argus® (Promedone SA; Cordoba، Argentina)، in patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI)، and report its success، extension of indications، and management of complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated Argus implantation results in 17 patients، including 15 post prostatectomy incontinence، one exstrophy-epispadias، and one neurogenic bladder patient. Of 17 patients، 12 had severe (more than 5 pads daily) and 5 had moderate SUI (2 to 5 pads daily). Seven patients had history of previous surgeries. Patients were evaluated pre-operatively with urodynamic study and cystoscopy. RESULTS: After median follow-up of 11. 8 months (range، 3 to 22 months)، 9 patients were continent، 7 had mild SUI (1 pad daily)، and one had the device removed due to perineal and bladder symptoms. Argus adjustment was done in 10 out of 17 patients; 8 tightening and 2 loosening. In a totally incontinent exstrophy-epispadias patient with a history of multiple bladder surgeries، continence was achieved after device readjustment. In a patient with neurogenic bladder with a history of cystoplasty، severe SUI changed into a moderate sporadic SUI. In 2 patients، prosthesis infection occurred، which was managed with antibiotics without the need for Argus explantation. CONCLUSION: Argus is a simple and good device to control incontinence in men. It may also be used in exstrophy-epispadias patient who is not a candidate for urinary sphincter implantation. Infection complication may be managed conservatively. To the best of our knowledge، this is the first report of successful Argus implantation in exstrophy-epispadias patient.

Thermoacoustics describes energy conversion processes, activated by interaction temperature oscillation, accompanying the pressure oscillation in a sound wave, with solid boundaries. In ordinary experience this interaction of sound and heat cannot be observed, because of the very low temperature differences, but under suitable conditions, it can be emphasized and amplified to create remarkable thermodynamic effects such as, steep thermal gradients, powerful convective heat fluxes, and strong sound fields. We designed and constructed a simple thermoacoustic refrigerator with an Adjustable mechanical resonator, coupled with the acoustic resonator. Our experimental data showed about %10 increase in the efficiency of the refrigeration in comparison with a simple thermoacoustic refrigerator with no mechanical resonator.

In this paper, one of the applications of MEMS technology in the field of telecommunication systems is introduced. For the first time, by using a variable MEMS capacitor in the CSRR resonator, a new method for adjusting and multi-banding telecommunication resonators is provided independently and simultaneously. In addition, the CSRR resonator is implemented on a HMSIW line and fabricated with the integrated circuit fabrication technology in order to reduce the noise caused by incomplete connection as well as area and loss and to integrate with the MEMS structure. Also, in this paper, the frequency behavior of structures was investigated by magnetic simulation with HFSS software. The results indicate that the transmission loss of the proposed structures is less than 1 dB and the return loss is greater than 15 dB. The proposed resonator works in the S-band frequency with the same frequency behavior as PCB board while its area is reduced by five times compared to the conventional structure by choosing the appropriate substrate for the integration. The proposed fabrication process for the Adjustable and dual-band structure is presented which is based on existing integrated circuit technology.

High dynamic range and adjustability of gain are the main requirements in low-voltage audio-frequency transconductors. There are several methods for designing a low voltage transconductor however, most of them have a fixed transconductance over their input range. In this paper a low distortion ohmic transconductor with Adjustable gain has been designed. The circuit can operate from 3 V single power supply and has a very low distortion by choosing normal dimension for W/L of feedback transistors. To consider stray capacitances of the circuit we also perform L-Edit extraction. Then the final circuit has been carried out with 0.8.um CMOS Technology. Simulation has resulted a very low distortion as small as 0.2% for a 1.8Vpp sinusoidal input.

Background and aims: The study is aimed at designing and testing a new ergonomic armrest that can address musculoskeletal problems among computer keyboard operators in Iran.Methods: Twenty seven operators from an educational institute were selected as subjects. Direct observations and subjective assessment using Karlqvist et al.’S (1996) questionnaires were used to discover the weaknesses of their existing armrest. The existing armrest was replaced with the new armrest which allows height adjustment, and length, width and direction/rotation movements to suite various arm positions for keying and mousing tasks. Data on the hand and arm postures were collected and compared to common armrest.Results: With the new armrest, results showed significant improvements in the postures of forearm, elbow, hand and wrist which facilitate easy access of the entire surface of keyboard and mouse. In addition, majority of the subjects were satisfied, in different aspects, with the use of the ergonomic armrest.Conclusion: Because of its positive and dynamic features, the new armrest could well be replaced with the traditional and even forign ergonomic armrests attachable to the table. The new armrest do not disrupt the user's job.

Design and realization of a broadband H-plane Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) power divider with equal and unequal output powers is presented. The configuration of the proposed structure is based on the three equal width SIW lines. In proposed SIW power divider septum has been realized with a row of metalized vias. The inclusive input bandwidth in the proposed structures is achieved due to the proper septum design. The output powers are controlled with the septum offset. The parametric analysis shows that the magnitude of outputs could be adjusted with septum offset and the width of SIW could control the cutoff frequency. Power flow from input port toward output port confirm the proposed design concept. Two SIW H-plane power dividers with the same and different outputs have been designed and produced. There are good agreements between simulation and measurement results for both structures. The input impedance bandwidth for equal and unequal prototypes is 3. 4 GHz and 2 GHz respectively.

Purpose: To evaluate the success rate of strabismus surgery with both Adjustable and non-Adjustable suture technique, Moreover, compared the success rate of these methods regardless of cause, type and amount of deviation and history of previous surgery.Methods: In this study 296 patients were included (from 2003 to 2011). Patients divided in two groups; strabismus surgery with Adjustable and non-Adjustable suture technique. Required information were extracted from medical records sheets and were analyzed.Results: Of the 296 patients studied, 115 (38.9%) underwent Adjustable suture surgery and 181 patients (61.1%) also operated with non-Adjustable suture method. Post-operative day success (deviation less than 8 prism diopter) was 82.06% in Adjustable suture technique and 65.19% in non-Adjustable suture group, This is statistically significant. There was no significant relationship between a history of previous surgery and current surgery (P=0.052). Moreover, there was no statistically significant relationship between the type of surgical procedure and limitation horizontal movement (P=0.051).Conclusion: According to the result of previous studies and similar results have also been obtained in this study, it is suggested Adjustable suture method is ideal for all types of strabismus.