Search

Existing research on the transit network design problem has tended to focus on minimizing the various costs for both transit operators and users. However, to implement an appropriate and effective transit network in urban environments, it is important not to overly simplify the intrinsically complex nature of real-life network designs. In particular, the minimization of variance in transit service levels typically employed in existing methods can be significantly improved by incorporating a transit equity component. This paper adopts a multiobjective approach that considers system efficiency, user inconvenience, and transit equity without the use of weights in order to design a more realistic and efficient transit network. In particular, the multiobjective Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II and the neighborhood local search method are employed in a logit-based mode-choice model in order to incorporate the variable transit demand arising from the private vehicle traffic volume. A toy test network and a real-life network from the city of Goyang, Republic of Korea, are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model. The model finds a set of solutions that improve transit equity with minimal losses of other objectives when compared to existing approaches, which produce a significant variance in the level of service, mainly due to the spatially condensed and overlapping distribution of their transit networks. In addition, the relationship between the three objective functions and their resulting patterns in response to key influential factors are also analyzed to verify the robustness of the proposed method in response to changing future conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. To evaluate intraoperative complications and utilization of adjunctive devices between microscope and intracameral illuminations during cataract surgery in the elderly over 75 years. Design. A retrospective, consecutive, interventional case series Participants. Two hundred eighty-six eyes of 184 patients older than 75 years who underwent cataract surgery using microscope and intracameral illuminations. Methods. A chart review was performed on an advanced cataract surgery group of 141 consecutive cases in which the intracameral illumination was used and on a standard cataract surgery group of 145 consecutive cases in which the intracameral illumination was not used. Main Outcome Measures. Intraoperative complications (posterior capsule rupture, radial tear of the anterior capsule, dropped nucleus, or sulcus-implanted/sclera-fixated IOL) and utilization of adjunctive devices (pupil expansion device or anterior capsule staining). Results. The frequency of use of the pupil expansion device was lower in the advanced cataract surgery group than that in the standard cataract surgery group (0.7% vs 6.9%; p=0.007). Furthermore, the rates of a posterior capsule rupture and at least one intraoperative complication were lower in the advanced cataract surgery group than those in the standard cataract surgery group (0.7% vs 4.8%; p=0.067) (0.7% vs 7.6%; p=0.004). Conclusions. In the current cohort of patients over 75 years, the rate of intraoperative complications was lower when using the intracameral illumination than that when using the conventional method. Cataract surgery using intracameral illumination would be good option for elderly people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim Of the Study: Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) is a rare cyanotic congenital heart defect. This study aimed to evaluate the outcome of isolated TAPVC repairs and the prognoses of affected patients in the last 12 years at a single center.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 51 patients who underwent isolated TAPVC repair from 2007 to 2018.Results: The median age at operation was 19 days, and the median body weight was 3.3 kg. Thirteen (25.5%) patients had emergency operations, and the median follow-up period was 29.54 ± 36.77 months. Early mortality was noted in five patients and late mortality was noted in one patient. Pulmonary vein stenosis was observed in 22 patients within 3 to 6 months after the operation, and six patients required reoperation or transcatheter interventions. Low birth weight, small left atrial volume, long operation time, and preoperative heart failure were identified as risk factors for mortality.Conclusions: Isolated TAPVC can rapidly lead to hemodynamic instability during the neonatal period and is associated with high mortality rates. Increasing the prenatal diagnosis rate and stabilizing the patients' condition before the operation are considered important for improving the surgical outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to compare the severity of reproductive failure caused by either a single or a dual infection with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV)‐1 and PRRSV‐2 in late‐term pregnancy gilts. Pregnant gilts were intranasally administered PRRSV‐1, PRRSV‐2 or both at 3 weeks before the expected farrowing date (93 days of gestation). Regardless of single and dual infection, PRRSV‐infected pregnant gilts experienced premature farrowing (103–109 days of gestation) compared with negative control gilts which carried their pregnancy to full term (114–115 days of gestation). Pregnant gilts infected with only PRRSV‐1 had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher number of genomic copies of PRRSV‐1 in their blood compared with dually infected gilts. Additionally, stillborn foetuses and live‐born piglets from pregnant gilts infected with only PRRSV‐1 had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher number of PRRSV‐1‐positive cells per unit area of tissue sections examined, compared to pregnant gilts dually infected with PRRSV‐1 and PRRSV‐2. In contrast, pregnant gilts infected with only PRRSV‐2 showed no difference in the number of genomic copies of PRRSV‐2 compared with dually infected pregnant gilts and there were no significant differences in PRRSV‐2‐positive cells per unit area in tissues of stillborn foetuses and live‐born piglets from pregnant gilts infected with PRRSV‐2 only compared with dually infected gilts. Interestingly, even though PRRSV‐2 was shown to replicate more efficiently compared with PRRSV‐1 in dually infected pregnant gilts, neither PRRSV type was able to exacerbate reproductive failure in pregnant gilts already dually infected with PRRSV‐1 and PRRSV‐2. Our results suggest that the severity of reproductive failure is similar between dual (PRRSV‐1 and PRRSV‐2) and single infection (PRRSV‐1 or PRRSV‐2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]