Nonfunctioning pancreatic endocrine tumors (PETs) are rare and generally asymptomatic. A 68-year-old woman who had refused treatment for a pancreatic mass, revealed by ultrasonography to be 55 mm in diameter, was referred to us again 29 months later with jaundice. Investigations showed an 82-mm tumor in the head of pancreas, exposed from the papilla of Vater to the duodenal lumen. After biliary decompression and drainage, we performed pancreatoduodenectomy with resection of the portal vein and superior mesenteric vein, followed by reconstruction using a cylindrically customized autologous graft harvested from the right ovarian vein. The tumor was resected curatively. Microscopically, it consisted of trabecular and ribbon-like arrangement of neoplastic cells. Immunohistochemical staining wa...
Standard pancreaticresections, such as pancreaticoduodenectomy, distal pancreatectomy, or total pancreatectomy, result in an important loss of normal pancreatic parenchyma and may cause impairment...Full Text Available
The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical significance of nodal micrometastasis detected by immunohistochemistry in patients that had undergone curative surgery for pancreatic cancer....Full Text Available
The Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES) is taken as an example of the diagnostic and therapeutic strategy in gastro-entero-pancreatic endocrine tumours, given the standard characteristics of this procedure, whatever the nature of the primitive tumour. Management of ZES includes: anatomical localization of gastrinoma and of possible metastases, in 60 % of cases this step conditioning therapeutic indications and chances of cure; search of a type 1-multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN A), in 25 % of cases; therapeutic indications: ablative surgery with curative intent in case of gastrinoma and of resectable liver metastases, palliative treatment otherwise: anti-secretory drugs, somatostatin analogues, chemotherapy and interferon {alpha}; long-term follow-up of patients with resected tumour. At each step, somatostatin receptor scintigraphy with indium 111-pentetreotide does play a pivotal role. (author). 110 refs.
The solid-pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) of the pancreas is a rare type of exocrine pancreatic neoplasm. SPT predominantly affects young women and female children, and is usually discovered incidentally. This tumor is generally benign with a low incidence of malignancy. A 13-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital with a few weeks' history of mild abdominal pain and jaundice. On physical examination, there was no palpable mass. The laboratory tests showed increased SR, CRP, high bilirubin, amylase and lipase serum levels. Ultrasound imaging revealed a solid lesion in the region of the pancreatichead. On MRI, precise tumor localization in the head of the pancreas with pancreatic duct dilatation and compression of the common bile duct were visualized. Pancreaticoduodenectomy and cholecystectomy was performed with good clinical outcome. Microscopic and immunohistochemical studies ...
The bone scans of 33 patients (pts) with recent subcapital fractures (fx) of the femur were evaluated prospectively to determine their value in predicting femoral head visability. Each of the 33 pts (ll men, 22 women, age range 30-92) had a pre-operative bone scan within 72 hrs of the fx (23 pts within 24 hrs). Anterior and posterior planar views of both hips and pinhole views (50% of pts) were obtained 2 hrs after administration of Tc-99m HDP. The femoral head was classified as perfused if it showed the same activity as the opposite normal side or if it showed only slightly decreased activity. Femoral heads showing absent activity were classified as nonperfused. Overall, 20 of the 33 pts showed a photopenic femoral head on the side of the fx. Only 2 pts showed increased activity at hte site of the fx. Internal fixation of the fx was performed in 23 pts, 12 of whom had one or more follow-up scans. Five ...
Objective: Solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas (SPTP tumor) is a rare pancreatic neoplasm with low malignant potential, which usually affects female patients in the second or third decades of life. It is a non-functional, slow-growing neoplasm that very often reaches considerable size before the first symptoms appear. Symptomatology is frequently related to tumor size. Surgical excision is usually curative in most cases. Infrequently the tumor can appear in male patients or in aged women, which can make the diagnosis more difficult. Some patients develop liver metastases in the follow-up that can be resected. Our purpose is to review the radiological and pathological findings of SPTP with emphasis on these infrequent cases. Subjects and methods: The medical records and radiological findings of patients who underwent surgery for SPTP between 2000 and 2005 were retrospectively reviewed. Study eligibility required that patients had ...
Objective: Solid pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas (SPTP tumor) is a rare pancreatic neoplasm with low malignant potential, which usually affects female patients in the second or third decades of life. It is a non-functional, slow-growing neoplasm that very often reaches considerable size before the first symptoms appear. Symptomatology is frequently related to tumor size. Surgical excision is usually curative in most cases. Infrequently the tumor can appear in male patients or in aged women, which can make the diagnosis more difficult. Some patients develop liver metastases in the follow-up that can be resected. Our purpose is to review the radiological and pathological findings of SPTP with emphasis on these infrequent cases. Subjects and methods: The medical records and radiological findings of patients who underwent surgery for SPTP between 2000 and 2005 were retrospectively reviewed. Study eligibility required that patients had ...
Walled-off pancreatic necrosis (WOPN), formerly known as pancreatic abscess is a late complication of acute pancreatitis. It can be lethal, even though it is rare. This critical review provides an overview...Full Text Available
Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a rare cause of recurrent acute pancreatitis or chronic pancreatitis in middle-aged patients, and is characterised by a marked infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma...Full Text Available
Radiation therapy has had a significant and an expanded role in the management of cancer of the pancreas during the last decade. In particular, for locally advanced disease, radiation therapy has improved the median survival of patients to 1 year. Intraoperative electron beam therapy has been applied to unresectable and resectablepancreatic cancer in an attempt to enhance local control of disease and to improve patient survival. This paper presents a survey of the role of radiation therapy in treatment of cancer of the pancreas, provides information on the radiobiological aspects of this treatment modality and details the physical and dosimetric characteristics of intraoperative radiation therapy with electrons. Presented are the design specifics of an applicator system, central axis beam data, applicator parameters, dose distribution data, shielding, treatment planning and means of verification. Emphasis is placed on the collaboration and ...
Radiation therapy has had a significant and an expanded role in the management of cancer of the pancreas during the last decade. In particular, for locally advanced disease, radiation therapy has improved the median survival of patients to 1 year. Intraoperative electron beam therapy has been applied to unresectable and resectablepancreatic cancer in an attempt to enhance local control of disease and to improve patient survival. This paper presents a survey of the role of radiation therapy in treatment of cancer of the pancreas, provides information on the radiobiological aspects of this treatment modality and details the physical and dosimetric characteristics of intraoperative radiation therapy with electrons. Presented are the design specifics of an applicator system, central axis beam data, applicator parameters, dose distribution data, shielding, treatment planning and means of verification. Emphasis is placed on the collaboration and ...
Purpose: The occurrence of extraosseous Ewing's sarcoma (ES) in deep soft tissues has been well described, but cases in which this tumor occurs in a primary cutaneous or subcutaneous site have rarely been reported. The superficial variant may be less aggressive than are the more common bony and deep soft tissue counterparts with an apparently favorable outcome. A retrospective review of patients with cutaneous or subcutaneous ES was conducted to analyze outcome and patterns of failure. Methods and Materials: Between July 1985 and March 1997, 14 patients with cutaneous or subcutaneous ES were treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The median age at presentation was 16 years (range 7-21 years). Anatomic locations included trunk and pelvis (7), upper or lower extremity (4), and head and neck (3). The median size of the lesion was 3 cm (range, 1-12 cm). Thirteen had definitive surgical resections, and one had biopsy of the mass at the ...
The most common causes of omental sac collections (OSC) are necrotic pancreatitis (90%) and pancreatic trauma (10%). Acute OSC is a form of local peritonitis in acute pancreatitis, subacute OSC are caused by internal pancreatic fistulas. The clinical and radiological signs, enzymatic activity of the exudate, morphological features of peritonitis were investigated. Treatment of acute OSC included conservative measures, of subacute OSC-surgical procedures. PMID:9163152
Background:Liver resection of large hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), measuring at least 10 cm remains a controversial debate. Multiple studies on HCCs treated with surgical resection...Full Text Available
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:For treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), Plasma Kinetic loop Resection of the Prostate (PKRP) is an alternative to conventional monopolar...Full Text Available
The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes and wound complications in coccygectomy with or without subperiosteal resection. This retrospective study included 25 patients who underwent...Full Text Available
We have identified the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase syk as a marker of differentiation/tumor suppressor in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Syk expression is lost in poorly differentiated PDAC...Full Text Available
Pain caused by chronic pancreatitis is medically intractable and resistant to conventional interventional or surgical treatment. We report a case of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for intractable pain...Full Text Available
Objectives:Cachexia is common in pancreatic cancer and may have an influence on longterm survival but few studies have investigated this in patients with operable tumours. Therefore,...Full Text Available
BackgroundGastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) frequently occur in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1). It has been reported that GIST may co-exist with pancreatic endocrine...Full Text Available
Patients with pancreatic cancer normally present with advanced disease that is lethal and notoriously difficult to treat. Survival has not improved dramatically, despite routine use of chemotherapy...Full Text Available
The virtual lack of well-characterized metastatic pancreatic cancer tissues for study has limited systematic studies of the metastatic process of this deadly disease. To address this important...Full Text Available
BackgroundASCL1 role in pancreatic endocrine tumourigenesis has not been established. Recently it was suggested that ASCL1 negatively controls expression of the...Full Text Available
Of 868 patients admitted with pancreatitis between 1971 and 1976, coexisting hyperbilirubinemia was noted in 125 (14%). The patient population was primarily composed of alcoholics (84%) with chronic...Full Text Available
We examined the association between N-acetyltransferase 1 and 2 (NAT1 and NAT2) haplotype and risk of pancreatic cancer by genotyping eight...Full Text Available
Recently, there has been significant progress in the development of genetically-engineered mouse (GEM) models. By introducing genetic alterations and/or signaling alterations of human pancreatic cancer...Full Text Available
AIM: To distinguish anastomotic from parenchymal leakage at duct-to-mucosa reconstruction of the pancreatic remnant.METHODS: We reviewed the charts of 68 pancreaticod-uodenectomies performed...Full Text Available
Pancreatic cysts are challenging lesions to diagnose and to treat. Determining which of the five most common diagnoses—pancreatic pseudocyst, serous cystic neoplasm (SCN), solid pseudopapillary...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe elevated serum and peritoneal cytokine concentrations responsible for the systemic response syndrome (SIRS) and multiorgan failure in patients with severe acute pancreatitis...Full Text Available
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is one of the most lethal human malignancy with dismal prognosis and few effective therapeutic options. Novel agents that are safe and effective are urgently...Full Text Available
A hitherto unrecognized variant of solid-pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) of the pancreas is reported. The tumor presented in the pancreatic tail of a 44-year-old female patient. It was a well-defined, solid...Full Text Available
Autoimmune pancreatitis is frequently associated with elevated serum and tissue IgG4 levels in the adult population, but there are few reports of pediatric autoimmune pancreatitis, and even fewer reports...Full Text Available
In spite of the improved imaging techniques currently available, mortality for pancreatic cancer is still high, and pancreatics is often diagnosed only in its advanced stages. The authors investigated the value of different imaging techniques - i.e., US, CT, and ERCP - for an early diagnosis, when a more effective (curative?) treatment can be suggested. Fifty-six cases of pancreatic cancer and 36 cases of chronic pancreatitis were evaluated. The results indicate that ERCP, with the help of statistical methods, is superior to US and CT not only in evaluating early neoplastic or inflammatory lesions, but also for their differential diagnosis. In the letter case, ERCP can sometimes be used as a valid alternative to fine-needle aspiration biopsy.
CT of the gastrointestinal tract is commonly performed after administration of a high-density diluted iodinated oral contrast material. However, because if inadequate mixing of the contrast material with the gastrointestinal contents, pseudotumor and poor mucosal visualization are frequently shown on abdominal CT. To overcome these problem, 10% corn oil emulsion (COE) is tested as an alternative oral contrast agent in 40 patients. We analyse patients tolerance, gastric mucosal visualization and discrimination of pancreas from the duodenal C-loop to 10% COE in 40 patients compared with those obtained from 35 patients, who was received high-density diluted iodinated oral contrast agent (gastrografin). The results are as follows : 1. Patients' tolerance to 10% COE is similar to that to conventional oral contrast agent. 2. Image of the gastric mucosa from patients receiving 10% COE is superior to that receiving oral contrast agent. 3. The discrimination between ...
CT of the gastrointestinal tract is commonly performed after administration of a high-density diluted iodinated oral contrast material. However, because if inadequate mixing of the contrast material with the gastrointestinal contents, pseudotumor and poor mucosal visualization are frequently shown on abdominal CT. To overcome these problem, 10% corn oil emulsion (COE) is tested as an alternative oral contrast agent in 40 patients. We analyse patients tolerance, gastric mucosal visualization and discrimination of pancreas from the duodenal C-loop to 10% COE in 40 patients compared with those obtained from 35 patients, who was received high-density diluted iodinated oral contrast agent (gastrografin). The results are as follows : 1. Patients' tolerance to 10% COE is similar to that to conventional oral contrast agent. 2. Image of the gastric mucosa from patients receiving 10% COE is superior to that receiving oral contrast agent. 3. The discrimination between ...
BackgroundWide resection with tumor-free margins is necessary in soft-tissue sarcomas to minimize local recurrence and to contribute to long-term survival. Information about treatment...Full Text Available
In a consecutive series of 26 patients (10 men and 16 women) undergoing abdominoperineal resection of the rectum, cystometry and pressure-flow-EMG measurements were made preoperatively and three and...Full Text Available
Background:Solid pseudopapillary tumor is a rare pancreatic neoplasm with uncertain to low malignant potential. This is an uncommon neoplasm with many pseudonyms, occurring...Full Text Available
Background This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and follow-up results of endoscopic papilletomy (ESP) with pancreatic and biliary duct stent placement for ampullary tumors. The therapeutic approach to benign ampullary tumors remains unsettled. The ESP procedure is a curative treatment option for benign papillary tumors, but ESP raises concerns about a relatively high risk for procedure-related complications such as pancreatitis. A pancreatic stent may protect against complications. Methods Between September 2000 and June 2008, 36 patients with ampullary tumors confined to the mucosa and no intraductal tumor growth underwent ESP. The preprocedural diagnostic tools included endoscopic ultrasound, transpapillary intraductal ultrasound, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancr...
Purpose: To evaluate the outcomes of patients with Ewing's sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT) treated with modern radiotherapy techniques with MRI along with optimal chemotherapy. Methods and Materials: The records of all 60 patients with ESFT who received radiation to the primary site between 1990 and 2004 were reviewed. All patients received chemotherapy, including vincristine, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, and etoposide. Radiation was used as the sole modality for local control in 31 patients and was given either before (n = 3) or after surgical resection (n = 26) in the remainder. All patients had MRI and CT scan-based treatment planning, and 43% received intensity-modulated radiation therapy. Radiation doses ranged from 30 Gy to 60 Gy (median, 51 Gy), and 35% received hyperfractionated radiotherapy. Results: Median age was 16 years (range, 2-40 years). Because of selection bias for radiotherapy, the majority of primary tumors were centrally located ...
The typical MRI features of the most common pancreatic diseases, such as pancreatitis and adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, have been established. However, even in these common pancreatic disorders, MRI correlation with the underlying pathology is limited for clinical reasons. We emphasize MR-pathological correlation of inflammatory and neoplastic pancreatic changes, including pancreatitis, adenocarcinoma, acinar cell carcinoma, rare cystic and solid pancreatic neoplasms, and islet cell tumors. By highlighting the correlation of key pathological features with MR findings, a better understanding of the MR appearance of pancreatic pathology can be provided. In addition, MRI may prove a powerful tool in detection and characterization of pancreatic tumors. (orig.) [Deutsch] Das MR-tomographische Erscheinungsbild von ...
Pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP) is a secretory pancreatic protein present in small amounts in normal pancreas and overexpressed during the acute phase of pancreatitis. In this paper, the authors describe the cloning, characterization, and chromosomal mapping of the human PAP gene. The gene spans 2748 bp and contains six exons interrupted by five introns. The gene has a typical promoter containing the sequences TATAAA and CCAAT 28 and 52 bp upstream of the cap site, respectively. They found striking similarities in genomic organization as well as in the promoter sequences between the human and rat PAP genes. The human PAP gene was mapped to chromosome 2p12 using rodent-human hybrid cells and in situ chromosomal hybridization. This localization coincides with that of the reg/lithostathine gene, which encodes a pancreatic secretory protein structurally related to PAP, suggesting that both genes ...
OBJECTIVE To present our initial experience of thulium laser resection via a flexible cystoscope for recurrent non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (ThuRBT), as transurethral resection for bladder tumour (TURBT) is regarded as the reference standard for treating this disease, but alternative laser resection or ablation is suitable especially for recurrent tumours. PATIENTS AND METHODS From January 2005 to October 2005, 32 patients with early recurrent bladder tumour (recurrent within a year after TURBT) were treated with ThuRBT via a flexible cystoscope. The follow-up included urine analysis, ultrasonography and cystoscopy every 3 months. RESULTS All patients were treated successfully with ThuRBT in one session, with no bladder haemorrhage, obturator nerve reflex or vesicle perforation. Rand...
At present time, there is evidence from randomized controlled studies of the success of laparoscopic resection for the treatment of colon cancer with reported smaller incisions, lower morbidity rate...Full Text Available
Purpose Elective laparoscopic sigmoid resection (LSR) for symptomatic diverticular disease is supposed to have significant short-term advantages compared to open surgery (open sigmoid resection (OSR)). This opinion is rather based on inferences from trials on colonic resections for malignant diseases or minor laparoscopic surgery. This randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare quality of life as well as morbidity and clinical outcome after LSR vs. OSR following a midterm follow-up period. Methods Patients presenting with a symptomatic sigmoid diverticular disease stage II/III (Stock/Hansen) were randomly allocated to LSR or OSR in a prospective multicenter trial. Endpoints included the quality of life assessed with a standardized questionnaire, postoperative mortality, and compl...
The advantages of using heads of around 1000 m in conjunction with underground location of the lower reservoirs for pumped storage plants are described, and the possible layouts, equipment, and construction methods are discussed.
Changing the direction of the line of sight is essential for the visual exploration of our environment. When the head does not move, re-orientation of the visual axis is accomplished with high...Full Text Available
138 unselected head tomographies of children by computer are reported and analysed. The major aspect stressed by the authors is the excellent precision of this radiological technique.
... be able to watch the many intricate steps Dr. Richard Alexander must accomplish to remove the cancer. ... door to informed medical care. Now let's join Dr. Richard Alexander at the University of Maryland Medical ...
1. Proteolytic enzyme activities were examined in the pancreas of zinc-deficient and control rats. 2. No change was detected in trypsin-plus-chymotrypsin activity. 3. Carboxypeptidase activity was...Full Text Available
BACKGROUNDSolid-pseudopapillary neoplasms (SPNs) are rare pancreatic tumors with malignant potential. Clinicopathologic characteristics and outcomes of patients with...Full Text Available
We report here a case of a pathologically proven solitary fibrous tumor of the pancreas. A 54-year-old man was referred to our hospital for further evaluation of a pancreatic mass that was found incidentally....Full Text Available
AIM: To investigate differential points of solid-pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) of the pancreas and pancreatic endocrine tumor (PET).METHODS: Ten cases of SPN and fourteen cases of PET were studied...Full Text Available
Menin, which is encoded by the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) gene, is a tumor suppressor and transcriptional regulator. Menin controls proliferation and apoptosis of cells, especially pancreatic...Full Text Available
This case report describes the second known instance of a multifocal capillary pancreatic neoplasm. Both cases occurred in young African American females. A less-than-total pancreatectomy was performed...Full Text Available
Middle segment pancreatectomy (MSP) is a new operation where the advantages of parenchymal preservation are counterbalanced by a high postoperative complication rate and unease among surgeons with adopting...Full Text Available
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) results from insulin resistance and β-cell dysfunction, in the setting of hyperglucagonemia. Glucagon is a 29 amino acid peptide hormone, which is secreted from...Full Text Available
Pancreatic islet transplantation into the liver provides a possibility to treat selected patients with brittle type 1 diabetes mellitus. However, massive early β-cell death increases the number...Full Text Available
Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a widely used diagnostic and therapeutic modality in the management of biliary and pancreatic disease. Some of the complications of the procedure,...Full Text Available
In spite of their rarity, cystic neoplasms of the pancreas are characterized by existing or potential malignancy that cannot be ignored during decisive process with regard to the choice of treatment....Full Text Available
ObjectiveThe goal of the study was to investigate the genetic and molecular basis of a novel syndrome of marked hyperglucagonemia and pancreatic α cell hyperplasia...Full Text Available
Radiotherapy has been reported to be of benefit in prolonging the survival of patients with cholangiocarcinoma. This study examined whether radiotherapy in addition to endoscopic stenting improved survival. The survival advantage of radiotherapy in those with a type II/III stricture is seen only in the first 10 months after diagnosis. The costs of radiotherapy and significantly increased time spent in hospital, however, raise doubts over its routine use in the management of non-resectable cholangiocarcinoma. (Author).
Objective was to present our 8 year experience in the prevention of the obturator nerve reflex during transurethral resection of bladder tumors. This study was performed in Ataturk University Hospital between 1999 and 2007. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 89 patients with inferolateral bladder tumors, who underwent transurethral resection under epidural or general anesthesia and requested obturator nerve reflex inhibition. Epidural anesthesia was administered to 57 patients, while the remaining 32 patients underwent general anesthesia via mask; and succinylcholine was administered prior to resection. Of the 57 patients received epidural anesthesia, 18 were diagnosed as inferolateral bladder tumors during endoscopy and had to undergo general anesthesia. Obturator nerve block was attempted preoperatively in 39 patients. However, a nerve identification failure, hematoma and 4 obturator nerve reflex events, despite ...
The prospective study includes 25 patients without pathology of the femoral head for the evaluation of the normal femoral head perfusion. In addition 34 patients with femoral head necrosis underwent i.a. DSA preoperatively before pedicled pelvic bone grafting. 15 patients after pelvic bone graft operation and 7 patients with medial femoral head fracture were also examined via superselective DSA. In cases with femoral head necrosis a rarefaction or interruption of the rami nutricii proximales, or an occlusion of the medial circumflex femoral artery were observed. Patients with medial femoral neck fracture showed an interruption of the rami nutricii proximales of the femoral head. Postoperative DSA - after pedicled pelvic bone graft - revealed a regular arterial graft perfusion in 82%. (orig.).
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of dynamic MRI for femoral head perfusion. Objects were 64 femoral heads of 44 normal cases (20-95 years old), 10 cases (33-90 y) of femoral neck fracture and 8 cases (61-86 y) using steroid due to articular rheumatism, nephrosis and other diseases. Siemens 1.0 T Magneton Impact with body array coil was used for dynamic MRI by the fast low-angle shot 2D method for every 17 sec interval. Gd-DTPA was injected intravenously. ROI was defined in the center of femur head and of trochanter to monitor their values for the dynamic curve. Evaluation was done on the ratio of enhancement ratio (ER) in the head/trochanter and on the curve in both heads. In normal cases, the head ER was significantly lower in >60 years old cases. There was neither significant correlation between their ...
Purpose: Extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is a rare malignancy. Despite radical resection, survival remains poor, with high rates of local and distant failure. To clarify the role of radiotherapy with chemotherapy, we performed a retrospective analysis of resected patients who had undergone chemoradiotherapy. Methods and Materials: A total of 45 patients (13 with proximal and 32 with distal disease) underwent resection plus radiotherapy (median dose, 50.4 Gy). All but 1 patient received concurrent fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy. The median follow-up was 30 months for all patients and 40 months for survivors. Results: Of the 45 patients, 33 underwent adjuvant radiotherapy, and 12 were treated neoadjuvantly. The 5-year actuarial overall survival, disease-free survival, metastasis-free survival, and locoregional control rates were 33%, 37%, 42%, and 78%, respectively. The median survival was 34 months. No patient died ...
The incidence of hilar cholangiocarcinoma is very rare worldwide. Radical resection is the only prognostic factor for long survival in patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Postoperative radiation therapy can improve local control and survival rates for patients with palliative resection, but it remains controversial in patients with radical resection. Biliary drainage can effectively release bile duct obstruction for the majority of patients with locally advanced disease, and may even prolong survival when combined with radiation therapy. Radiation therapy includes extrernal beam therapy alone, external beam therapy with intraluminal brachytheapy and new radiation technique, such as three dimentional conformal therapy and intensity modulated radiation therapy. The propective randomized clinical study is needed for further investigation in the role of combined modality therapy especially for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. ...
Hilar cholangiocarcinoma is associated with a dismal prognosis; however, curative resection may offer a chance of cure. Various factors should be considered in the surgical planning for curative resection. These factors include extent of bile duct involvement, relationship between portal vein and tumor involvement, diffuse hepato duodenal ligament infiltration, vascular invasion, lymph node metastasis, peritoneal seeding, and hepatic volume. Using high-quality volume data from multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) and adequate postprocessing images, radiologists can provide various types of information, imperative for curative resection of a hilar cholangiocarcinoma. This review illustrates the role of MDCT in the preoperative workup of hilar cholangiocarcinoma.
Background There is some evidence that a patient?s pre-operative condition influences short-term and long-term post-operative outcomes. The aim of the present study is to compare the physiological and operative severity score for the enumeration of mortality and morbidity (POSSUM) and modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS) models in the prediction of post-operative outcome, both short term and long term, in patients undergoing resection of oesophago-gastric cancer. Patients and Methods Patients who underwent curative resection for oesophago-gastric cancer from January 2005 to May 2009 and who had data to score the POSSUM, P-POSSUM, O-POSSUM and mGPS models were included in the study. Observed morbidity and mortality rates were compared with predicted outcome in different risk groups. Bot...
BACKGROUND: A number of studies have shown that the early mortality following TURP is higher for patients with prostate cancer than those with benign disease. This study examines the effect of the histological...Full Text Available
The significance of residual lung metastasis from malignant gestational trophoblastic neoplasm (GTN) after the completion of chemotherapy is unknown. We currently do not advocate resection of these...Full Text Available
BackgroundEwing sarcoma (ES) is the second most common bone tumor in children, and survival of those with metastatic ES has not improved. Previous studies have shown...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe optimal treatment for locally recurrent rectal cancer (LRRC) is still a matter of debate. This study assessed the outcome of LRRC patients treated with multimodality...Full Text Available
A 6-year-old female, intact boxer presented with acute respiratory distress due to a mass in the left cranial thorax. The tumor, which originated in the left ...Full Text Available
Currently, the outcome of patients with intermediate-and poor-risk germ cell tumors at diagnosis is optimized by the use of risk-appropriate chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy surgical resection of...Full Text Available
Bone metastasis of primary colorectal cancer is uncommon. When it occurs, it is usually a late manifestation of disease and is indicative of poor prognosis. We describe a patient with multiple metachronous...Full Text Available
In view of poor local control rates obtained with standard treatment, intraoperative radiation (IORT) using electrons was combined with external beam irradiation and surgical resection, with or without...Full Text Available
We report 3 cases of gastric carcinoids with hypergastrinemia. Case 1: A 60-year-old man had a 2 cm carcinoid of the stomach and underwent partial resection. Involvement of...Full Text Available
BackgroundA systematic review was conducted to evaluate the literature regarding the impact of follow-up on colorectal cancer patient survival and, in a second phase, recommendations...Full Text Available
Background:During transurethral resection surgery (TUR), accidental stimulation of the obturator nerve can cause violent adductor contraction, leading to serious intraoperative...Full Text Available
The authors describe the different types of postoperative carcinoma recurrences, as seen on CT examinations of the chest, in 38 patients who underwent different surgical procedures for bronchogenic carcinoma (12 pneumonectomies, 22 lobectomies, 2 segmentectomies, and 2 atypical resections). The recurrences were classified as follows: 1) recurrence in the bronchial stump; 2) limph node enlargement; 3) recurrence in the thoracic wall; 4) recurrence in the residual lobe; 5) pleural effusion; 6) nodule in the contralateral lung. The CT findings, Correlated with those from plain chest radiographs and clinical simptoms, indicate a higher incidence of recurrences in the hilar region, either in the bronchial stump or as node after total and subtotal resection are separately analyzed. While after pneumonectomy plain chest radiographs fail to demonstrate the recurrence in most cases, so that CT is nearly always mandatory, after subtotal ...
The purpose of the meeting reported here was to develop a set of national evidence-based standards for assessing and managing patients with potentially resectable rectal cancer. This report represents...Full Text Available
We report a case of a female patient who was operated at the third relapse of an atrial myxoma caused by Carney complex. The difficult operation was performed without any complications despite extensive...Full Text Available
Postresection villus hyperplasia is a major compensatory mechanism in the short-bowel patient. Substances capable of augmenting postresection mucosal hyperplasia could have therapeutic implications. Human growth hormone (hGH) and human growth hormone releasing factor (hGHRF) stimulate growth of the gastrointestinal tract; however, the diabetogenic actions of growth hormone limit its usefulness in clinical practice. Plerocercoid larvae of the tapeworm Spirometra mansonoides produce an analog of hGH void of diabetogenic side effects. We assessed effects of plerocercoid growth factor (PGF) on mucosal adaptation following 70% proximal jejunoileal resection in young rats. Mucosal weight, DNA, protein, and total sucrase activity per centimeter of bowel were increased in resected PGF-treated animals compared to resected controls. We conclude PGF augments intrinsic postresection mucosal hyperplasia following extensive intestinal ...
Nerve growth factor (NGF), a survival factor for neurons enforces pain by sensitizing nociceptors. Also in the pancreas, NGF was associated with pain and it can stimulate the proliferation of pancreatic cancer cells. Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) respond to NGF with apoptosis. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-b, one of the strongest pro-fibrogenic activators of pancreatic stellate cells (PSC) induced NGF and its two receptors in an immortalized human cell line (ihPSC) and primary rat PSC (prPSC) as determined by RT-PCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence. In contrast to HSC, PSC expressed both NGF receptors, although p75NTR expression was weak in prPSC. In contrast to ihPSC TGF-b activated both Smad signaling cascades in prPSC. NGF secretion was diminished by the activin-like kinase (ALK)...
The purpose was to study the toxicity of drugs known to generate free radicals on isolated pancreatic islets. The accumulattion of "8"6Rb"+ by mouse pancreatic islets was measured in vitro. Exposing the islets to 6-hydroxydopamine, minhydrin, or phenazine methosulphate + NADH inhibited the Rb"+ uptake, whereas paraquat or acetylphenylhydrazine had no effect. This effect of 6-hydroxydopamine was prevented by either of the hydroxyl radical scavengers, sodium benzoate and mannitol, but not by the non-scavenger,urea; ninhydrin was partially protected against by mannitol but not by benzoate. Protection against 6-hydroxydopamine was also afforded by D-glucose but not by L-glucose or 3-O-methyl-D-glucose; none of the sugars protected against ninhydrin. In damaging islet beta-cells and in being protected against by D-glucose, 6-hydroxydopamine closely resembles the diabetogenic drug, alloxan. It is suggested that protection against alloxan may involve ...
The mortality in undrained abdominal abscesses is high with a mortality rate ranging between 45 and 100%. The outcome in abdominal abscesses, however, has improved due to advances in image guided percutaneous interventional techniques. The main indications for the catheter drainage include treatment or palliation of sepsis associated with an infected fluid collection, and alleviation of the symptoms that may be caused by fluid collections by virtue of their size, like pancreatic pseudocele or lymphocele. The single liver abscesses may be drained with ultrasound guidance only, whereas the multiple abscesses usually require computed tomography (CT) guidance and placement of multiple catheters. The pancreatic abscesses are generally drained routinely and urgently. Non-infected pancreatic pseudocysts may be simply observed unless they are symptomatic or cause problems such as pain or obstruction of the biliary or the ...
Macrocephaly was defined as a head measuring larger than 98th percentile. We have evaluated CT findings and head growth curves in 25 infants with large heads. Ten (40%) of 25 infants with large heads were normal developmentally and neurologically. Five (20%) of those were mentally retarded. The other 10 infants (40%) included hydrocephalus (4 cases), malformation syndrome (3 cases), brain tumor (1 case), metabolic disorder (1 case) and degenerative disorder (1 case). Their head growth curves were typed as (I), (II) and (III): Type (I) (excessive head growth curve to 2 SDs above normal); Type (II) (head growth curve gradually approached to 2 SDs above normal); Type (III) (head growth curve parallel to 2 SDs above normal). Ten of macrocephaly with normal psychomotor development were studied clinically and radiologically in ...
Purpose: To evaluate the results of radiotherapy in cholangiocarcinoma patients managed with various combinations of chemotherapy and surgical resection with selective liver transplantation. Methods and Materials: From January 1990 to December 1995, 61 patients with histologically confirmed biliary duct adenocarcinoma were seen in the Radiation Oncology Department of the University of Pittsburgh. Median follow-up was 22 months (1 to 91 months). The extent of surgery was complete resection in 23 patients (including 17 with orthotopic liver transplant), partial resection in 4, and biopsy in 34. All patients had radiotherapy; median dose was 49.5 Gy. Thirty patients received chemotherapy: 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-leucovorin with interferon alpha (IFN#alpha#) in 27, and taxol in 3. Results: The median survival was 20 months (95% CI 15-25 months). The 5-year actuarial survival was 23.8 #+-# 6.8%. The only significant variable in ...
OBJECTIVE: The aim was to assess the psychosocial effects on the quality of life (QOL) of adults with head and neck cancer (HNC) and any gender variations with predictive factors that may influence...Full Text Available
The design of a gaging head for a portable radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analyzer is described. The gaging head is designed as a construction unit system which enables the application of lateral reflexion geometry as well as of coaxial geometry. It is designed so that adjustment from one geometry to the other is labour and time saving. The selection of characteristic radiation is performed by a couple of Ross' differential filters. These filters are prepared by a novel technique developed by our laboratory. The filter exchange is effected by the longitudinal move of the couple of filters encapsulated in a holder. The shift of the filters is controlled by means of a triggering mechanism situated in the body of the gaging head handle. This design makes is possible to handle the gaging head during measurements with one hand. A simple interchange of the absorption filter for the transmissive filter allows ...
Background and purposeRadial head fractures are common, and may be associated with other injuries of clinical importance. We present the results of a standard additional MRI scan...Full Text Available
PurposeTo assess the prevalence and the dosimetric and clinical predictors of mandibular osteoradionecrosis (ORN) in patients with head and neck (HN) cancer who underwent...Full Text Available
Sentinel node biopsy is an alternative to elective neck dissection for the management of T1/T2 oral and oro-pharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas and is also finding application to head and neck cancer...Full Text Available
PurposeTo determine the effects of age on global and sectoral peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), macular thicknesses and optic nerve head (ONH) parameters...Full Text Available
The read/write characteristics for perpendicular magnetic recording media of focused-ion-beam (FIB)-etched recording heads were investigated. It was found that the trailing edge of an FIB-etched head produces a higher gradient in the magnetic field perpendicular to the medium than a head which has not been etched. The signal-to-noise ratio of the medium increased with the FIB-etched write gap. A high-Bs and thin pole increased the magnetic field's gradient in the perpendicular direction, resulting in excellent read/write characteristics.
The purpose of this invention is to assure operating reliability of a Mandrel head in tubes of various diameters. This goal is achieved in that it is equipped with movable expanding sectors, which are installed on a rigid conical plunger dye. It is also equipped with spring-loaded conical slides blocks which are installed on a shaft. The upper ends of the sectors of the sectorial head are attached by hinges to a rigid cone shaped plunger dye. The lower ends are installed with the possibility of interacting with the slide blocks.
In both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, pancreatic islet dysfunction results in part from cytokine-mediated inflammation. The ubiquitous eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A), which is the...Full Text Available
Previous studies using in vitro cell culture systems have shown the role of the dynamin-related GTPase Opa1 in apoptosis prevention and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) maintenance. However, it remains to...Full Text Available
The nucleotide sequence of the 5'-terminal oligonucleotides produced by pancreatic RNase digestion of bacteriophage T3 RNA polymerase (EC 2.7.7.6) transcripts of T3 DNA has been determined. The sequence...Full Text Available
Background/AimsAlthough endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) has been introduced and its use has been increasing in Korea, there have not been many reports...Full Text Available
Extracellular ATP has been proposed as a paracrine signal in rodent islets, but it is unclear what role ATP plays in human islets. We now show the presence of an ATP signaling pathway that enhances...Full Text Available
The capacity to estimate the head pose of another person is a common human ability that presents a unique challenge for computer vision systems. Compared to face detection and recognition, which have been the primary foci of face-related vision research, identity-invariant head pose estimation has fewer rigorously evaluated systems or generic solutions. In this paper, we discuss the inherent difficulties in head pose estimation and present an organized survey describing the evolution of the field. Our discussion focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of each approach and spans 90 of the most innovative and characteristic papers that have been published on this topic. We compare these systems by focusing on their ability to estimate coarse and fine head pose, highlighting approaches that are well suited for unconstrained environments. PMID:19229078
In cluster-based routing protocol (CBRP), two-level hierarchical structure is successfully used to reduce over-flooding in wireless Ad Hoc networks. As it is vulnerable to a single point of failure, we propose a new adaptive distributed threshold scheme to replace the cluster head by a group of cluster heads within each cluster, called COUNCIL, and distribute the service of single cluster head to multiple cluster heads using (k,n) threshold secret sharing scheme. An Ad Hoc network formed by COUNCIL based clusters can work correctly when the number of compromised cluster heads is smaller than k. To implement this adaptive threshold scheme in wireless Ad Hoc Networks, membership of the clusters should be defined in an adaptive way. In this paper, we mainly discuss our algorithm for forming COUNCIL based clusters using the concept of dominating set from graph theory.
In 10 cases of femoral neck fracture treated with prosthetic replacement, the preoperative sup(99m)Tc-MDP scintigraphs were investigated and then compared with each histological findings of the extracted femoral head. The appearances of the scintigraphs were classified into following 3 patterns; increased activity pattern of sup(99m)Tc-MDP uptake in the overall femoral head (type I) in 4 cases, deficient activity pattern at the lateral side correspond to weight-bearing area (type II) in 2 cases and considerably deficient activity pattern in the whole femoral head (type III) in remaining 4 cases. Histological examination of the extracted femoral heads revealed the narrow part of ischemic necrosis in type I. However type II showed extensive necrosis in the portion of deficient activity by scintigraphs and in type III, the femoral heads except articular cartilage were entirely ...
In IO cases of femoral neck fracture treated with prosthetic replacement, the preopera tive sup(99m)Tc-MDP scintigraphs were investigated and then compared with each histological findings of the extracted femoral head. The appearances of the scintigraphs were classified into following 3 patterns; increased activity pattern of sup(99m)Tc-MDP uptake in the overall femoral head (type I) in 4 cases, deficient activity pattern at the lateral side correspond to weight-bearing area (type II) in 2 cases and considerably deficient activity pattern in the whole femoral head (type III) in remaining 4 cases. Histological examination of the extracted femoral heads revealed the narrow part of ischemic necrosis in type I. However type II showed extensive necrosis in the portion of deficient activity by scintigraphs and in type III, the femoral heads except articular cartilage were entirely ...
The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of postoperative radiotherapy in a case of perihilar cholagiocarcinoma by analyzing overall survival rate, patterns of failure, prognostic factors for overall survival, and toxicity. Between January 1998 and March 2008, 38 patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma underwent a surgical resection and adjuvant radiotherapy. The median patient age was 59 years (range, 28 to 72 years), which included 23 men and 15 women. The extent of surgery was complete resection in 9 patients, microscopically positive margins in 25 patients, and a subtotal resection in 4 patients. The tumor bed and regional lymphatics initially received 45 Gy or 50 Gy, but was subsequently boosted to a total dose of 59.4 Gy or 60 Gy in incompletely resected patients. The median radiotherapy dose was 59.4 Gy. Concurrent chemotherapy was administered in 30 patients. The median follow-up ...
The waterjet technique enables precise tissue dissection without thermal damage and with preservation of vessels in general surgery. In neurosurgery, these qualities could help to avoid damage of intact brain parenchyma in tumour resections. The present study reports our first results with this technique in brain metastases. Ten patients with intracranial metastases underwent surgery with the aid of the waterjet. Resection was performed in combination with conventional neurosurgical methods. The follow-up consisted of neurological examination and MRI studies. Intraoperatively, the device was easy to handle. No complications due to the device were observed. Vessels were preserved at pressures below 20 bars. Six of the tumours consisted of soft tissue which was poorly demarcated from the surrounding brain. In these tumours, the waterjet was very helpful. It enabled tumour debulking by aspiration and - more important - precise separation of tumour ...
To define the prognostic factors after surgical resection and evaluate the effectiveness of Post Operative Radiotherapy (PORT) in cases with cholangiocarcinoma, 44 cases with proximal cholangiocarcinoma were examined. The mean observation period was 20.6 months, and the survival rates 1, 3 and 5 years after the resection were 79.9%, 59.8% and 39.3%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that the presence of lymph node metastasis and absence of PORT were significant poor prognostic factors. Multivariate analysis revealed that the absence of PORT was a significant poor prognostic factor. The survival rates for 1 and 3 years after the resection were 80.0% and 40.0% in the curable A/B and PORT (-) group, and 100% and 53.3% in curable C and PORT (+) group. There were no local reccurences in the pathologically classified hm2 and em2 patients who underwent PORT. Even when the surgical margin is positive for the carcinoma ...
The primary aim was to evaluate delayed contrast-enhanced MRI in depicting perineural spread of hilar cholangiocarcinoma (CCC) and consequently to determine the capability of MRI/MRCP for staging CCC. Fifteen patients that underwent MRI/MRCP and surgical treatment were retrospectively included. Two radiologists evaluated MR images to assess delayed periductal enhancement, extent of bile duct stenosis, liver parenchymal and vascular involvement and presence of liver atrophy. An agreement between delayed enhancement of the bile duct walls and perineural neoplastic spread showed a very good correlation factor (0.93). The overall accuracy in detecting biliary neoplastic invasion was higher for delayed T1-weighted images (93.3%) than for the MRCP images (80%), and T1-delayed image increased the MR accuracy in assessing the neoplastic resectability (p < 0.05). MRI correctly predicted vascular involvement in 73% and liver involvement in 80% of the cases. The number of ...
The paper introduces the disposal procedures of the old reactor pressure vessel head. Reactor pressure vessel (RPV) heads were replaced successfully in Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant. The on-site treatment and disposal of replaced heads was thereafter implemented. This is the first time in China for large size radioactive article disposal. To guarantee the safety of old head treatment, issues of radiation protection have to be taken into account. Dose rate distribution of the old head surface and radioactivity were initially calculated according to the operation history and the neutron flux rate of the reactor. Shielding calculation and package design was thereafter worked out based on the data obtained from the old head, e.g. neutron flux, sorts of nuclides, radioactivity and dose rates. Shielding package was afterwards manufactured in special factories and ...
Abstract Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of transvesical obturator nerve block (ONB) in the prevention of obturator nerve reflex and leg jerking during transurethral resection of bladder tumors (TURBT). Patients and Methods: A total of 60 patients were studied, in whom the transurethral resection of tumors on the posterolateral bladder wall were performed under spinal anesthesia (SA). The patients were randomly divided into two groups. In the first group, we performed transvesical ONB and SA together, while the second group received only SA. The patients underwent TURBT using monopolar cautery. Incidence of leg jerking was registered and compared in these two groups. We used a nerve stimulator to detect the obturator nerve next to the lateral bladder wall. The obturator nerve was identif...
The surgical management of osteoradionecrosis of the temporal bone has met with limited success because of the difficulty in accurate assessment of the viability of nonnecrotic bone intraoperatively. Failure to resect all nonviable bone results in recurrence of a necrotic focus. With the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to stabilize marginal bone and oral tetracycline to label viable bone preoperatively, removal of all nonviable bone can be accomplished. Postoperatively, a second course of hyperbaric therapy enhances wound healing, thus assuring a successful outcome. This article details a successful systematic approach that was developed to resect a necrotic focus in the temporal bone of a 10-year-old boy who had undergone a full course of radiotherapy for treatment of a rhabdomyosarcoma.
Abstract Aim- Conventional outcomes such as survival, tumour recurrence and complication rates after surgery for rectal cancer have been rigorously assessed, but the importance of maintaining quality of life (QOL) after surgery for rectal cancer has received less attention. The aim of the current study was to analyse QOL and the occurrence of pelvic dysfunction after the surgical treatment of rectal cancer. Method- Between May 2005 and May 2008, 150 patients with rectal cancer underwent abdominoperineal resection (APR) or anterior resection (AR). Seventy-four answered two preoperative questionnaires. At a follow up of 1-year, 65 were alive without sign of recurrence and answered the same questionnaires: (a) validated RAND 36-item health survey QOL questionnaire; and (b) self-administered d...
Subcutaneous involvement frequently occurs in maxillary sinus carcinoma. Radical resection does not include removal of the skin at risk. In standard postoperative wedge-pair treatment plans, the surface dose is dependent upon beam weighting, beam energy, and patient contour. Thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) measurements were performed to evaluate the surface dose of patients undergoing postoperative irradiation of maxillary sinus carcinoma following primary resection. When 60 Gy was delivered to isocenter with a 45 degrees wedge pair and 6 MV photons with 1 cm bolus, the subcutaneous tissues at risk received {approximately} 30 Gy. Based upon presented TLD measurements, supplemental electron beam therapy to the subcutaneous tissues if primarily involved should be considered.
The behaviors of peripheral eosinophils during radiotherapy were examined in 200 cases of non-resected cervical cancer. Before irradiation, the mean absolute eosinophil count had been 170 +- 168/mm_3, and eosinophilia (more than 500/mm_3) had been observed in 11 cases (5.5%). Postirradiation eosinophilia occurred in 126 cases (63%). The mean period between institution of irradiation and the peak of the eosinophil count was 27.8 days. The mean highest eosinophil count was 691 +- 437/mm_3, and the mean bone marrow dose in this period was 906 rad. Comparisons of the eosinophil count according to the stage showed no significant differences. (Chiba, N.).
Abstract Purpose: To compare the safety and efficiency of conventional monopolar, plasmakinetic and holmium laser transurethral resection of bladder tumor (CM-TURBT, PK-TURBT and HoL-TURBT) while managing primary non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Patients and Methods: From 2005 to 2009, 173 patients with primary non-muscle invasive bladder cancer underwent endoscopic surgery. Among them, 51 patients underwent CM-TURBT, 58 patients underwent PK-TURBT, and 64 patients underwent HoL-TURBT. All patients were divided into three risk groups (low, intermediate, and high) based on the European Association of Urology guidelines and prognostic factors of recurrence. Clinical data, included preoperative, operative, and postoperative management and follow-up, were recorded. Results: Patient demograp...
Secondary ischemic necrosis of femoral head due to loss of blood supply following to femoral neck fracture is well known. The regional distribution of bone-seeking radiopharmaceuricals in the skeleton can depend on a number of factors, but bone blood flow is a major physiological determinant of regional skeletal uptake of Tc-99m polyphosphate and bone imaging may thus be used for the evaluation of vascularity of the femoral head. The authors made a comparative study of scintigraphic findings and operative findings of 28 cases of femoral neck fracture treated at Kyung Hee University Hospital from April 1980 to May 1984. The results were as follows: 1. In 16 cases of proven avascular necorsis of femoral head, scintigraphy showed absent or decreased activity in 14 cases (87.5%), while radiography showed increased density in 10 cases (62.5%). 2. In 12 cases of proven vital femoral head, scintigraphy showed ...
Non-traumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONF) is considered to be a disease that occurs primarily due to ischemia of the femoral head, while its etiology and pathology are not fully understood. It is therefore necessary to identify the characteristics of the hemodynamics of the femoral head. In this study, the hemodynamics in the ilium and proximal regions of the femur, including the femoral head, was investigated using positron emission tomography (PET). The subjects of this study consisted of 8 hip joints of four healthy male adults and 3 hip joints on the contralateral side of a femoral neck fracture, avulsion fracture of the greater trochanter and coxarthrosis (1 case each, all females) for a total of 11 hip joints of 7 subjects. The ages of the subjects ranged from 25 to 87 years (average age: 54 years). Blood flow was measured by means of the H_2"1"5O dynamic study method and blood volume ...
The Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kempi, is an endangered species. The National Marine Fisheries Service's Head Start program is part of an international operation to save the turtles from extinction. Under the Head Start program, eggs from the Ridley's only known wild nesting beach at Rancho Nuevo in Mexico are transported to Padre Island on the Texas coast to be hatched. The head start enables the turtles to develop a survival advantage. The principal objective was to develop baseline waste-characterization data required to design a waste-water treatment scheme for the Galveston Head Start facility. As a secondary objective, preliminary testing of some filtration components was undertaken to determine which units were most appropriate for inclusion in a wastewater treatment scheme.
Visualization of falx cerebral on non-enhanced computer tomography (CT) of children with severe head injuries (the falx sign) has been regarded as an evidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage. On the contrary, other authors have reported reverse results. To evaluate clinical significance of the falx sign, authors studied frequency of visualization and CT number of falx cerebri and dural sinuses in 65 children with head injury and 65 children without head injury examined by cranial computer tomography at the Department of radiology, St Paul's Hospital, Catholic Medical College from March to September, 1981. All patients with head trauma were studied within 1 week of the traumatic event. Visualization of falx cerebri was observed at slice in the region of lateral ventricle and slice near to vertex respectively. On the slice in the region of lateral ventricle, falx cerebri was identified in 82% of all ...
Cambridge scientists in the late 1980's. This same team, then headed by Professor John Baldwin, built the world's first separated-element optical/infrared aperture synthesis...
... in MEDCAP "the level of interface was left up ... of these patients had peripheral nerve injuries, head ... with poorly constructed prosthesis or waiting for ...
Purpose of this item is to report the CT patterns of pancreatic mesenchymal lesions and to investigate the capabilities and limitations of this technique in terms of characterization. In selected cases, CT can provide virtually diagnostic information (lipoma and teratoma), or at least highly suggestive findings (NHL, plexiform neurofibroma, lymphangioma). Moreover, knowledge of the variable morphostructural patterns of mesenchymal hisototypes (SCH, Sarcoma etc.) permits to include them in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic masses. [Italian] Scopo di questo rapporto e' descrivere gli aspetti semeiologici dei tumori mesenchimali del pancreas con la TC verificandone le possibilita e i limiti per la caratterizzazione. Pur nella rarita' dei reperti considerati, la TC puo' consentire l'effettiva caratterizzazione in alcuni casi (lipoma, neurofibroma plessiforme, linfangioma) o includere anche istotipi meno ...
We have studied the impact of overexpression of an intracellular signaling protein, integrin-linked kinase (ILK), on the survival and function of encapsulated islet tissue used for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. The dimensions of the encapsulated tissue can impact the stresses placed on the tissue and ILK overexpression shows the ability to extend function of dissociated cells as well as intact islets. These results suggest that lost cell-extracellular matrix interactions in cell encapsulation systems can lead to decreased insulin secretion and ILK signaling is a target to overcome this phenomenon. (communication)
The right upper lung lobe of a 74 year old man was resected for a central tumour. Two primary cancers were found; a central small cell carcinoma and a peripheral squamous cell carcinoma. In addition,...Full Text Available
We present the case of a 68-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with cancer of the descending colon in July 1994 and underwent partial resection of the colon (type 2, moderately to well differentiated...Full Text Available
One hundred and thirty-seven lung cancer patients (123 non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC), 10 small-cell lung cancers (SCLC) and four carcinoid tumours) who underwent surgery in an attempt at complete...Full Text Available
Chondrosarcomas are the most frequently occurring primary malignant chest wall tumors. Furthermore, the lungs serve as the most frequent sites for metastases. Pulmonary metastases from sarcomas usually...Full Text Available
Purpose: To evaluate the effect of low-dose radiation therapy and surgery on local control in patients with Ewing's Sarcoma. Materials and Methods: Between 1979 and 1995 24 patients (ages 4-47) with Ewing's sarcoma were treated with combined modality therapy that included multi agent chemotherapy, surgical resection, and radiation therapy. Twelve patients had metastatic disease at the time of presentation (pleura = 3, lung = 5, bone 4). Tumor location was central in 16 and peripheral in 8. Multi agent chemotherapy consisted of vincristine/actinomycin D/cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin in 19. The same agents with the addition of ifosfamide and etoposide were given in 5. The extent of resection was considered to be radical in 14 and of the 16 patients who received preoperative chemotherapy, 5 were found to have a pathologic complete response. All patients with lung metastases at diagnosis received whole-lung irradiation to 1400 cGy in 10 fractions. ...
Background. New-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) may solve several problems encountered with first-generation DES, but there is a lack of prospective head-to-head comparisons between...Full Text Available
This device has and head-race pipe with an external part and a coaxial inner part. A measuring head is mounted movable between these 2 parts and has at least a thermocouple and a mobile grid for varying the section and the sodium flow to facilitate the impurities dissolution. This ensemble is completed by a longitudinal body containing the main parts of the indicator and surrounded by a thermal exchanger to cool the sodium.
This document provides data on aerosol concentrations in tank head spaces, total mass of aerosols in the tank head space and mass of aerosols sent to the exhauster during Rotary Mode Core Sampling from November 1994 through June 1999. A decontamination factor for the RMCS exhauster filter housing is calculated based on operation data.
Different sized ROIs within the femoral head and different modes of calculation were used in (/sup 99m/Tc)MDP scintimetry after femoral neck fracture. In preoperative scintimetry, correction for increased trochanteric uptake gave the best discrimination, whereas in postoperative scintimetry the direct ratio fractured/intact femoral head was superior. The change in ROI size had little influence.
A device for marking and searching for information on a magnetic carrier is described. In order to increase the noise immunity and reliability of the data recording and reading paths, the recording head is included between the amplifier of the clock pulses for the master oscillator and through the amplifier of the code pulses for the logical element unit. The reproduction head is connected through the code pulse shaper-amplifier with a switch which is connected with the display unit, and through another analogous clock pulse amplifier with a multivibrator.
The crabbing of an incident photon beam from a laser, and the electron beam with which it interacts at the conversion point, is shown to have the same efficiency as in head-on Compton scattering, but with the advantages of a crossing geometry. The resulting #gamma#-ray beam is also crabbed, which allows for a crossing collision point, while maintaining the luminosity at the same value it would have in a head-on collision.
The crabbing of an incident photon beam from a laser, and the electron beam with which it interacts at the conversion point, is shown to have the same efficiency as in head-on Compton scattering, but with the advantages of a crossing geometry. The resulting {gamma}-ray beam is also crabbed, which allows for a crossing collision point, while maintaining the luminosity at the same value it would have in a head-on collision. ((orig.)).
The crabbing of an incident photon beam from a laser, and the electron beam with which it interacts at the conversion point, is shown to have the same efficiency as in head-on Compton scattering, but with the advantages of a crossing geometry. The resulting #gamma#-ray beam is also crabbed, which allows for a crossing collision point, while maintaining the luminosity at the same value it would have in a head-on collision. ((orig.)).
Our goal is to determine an optimized image-guided setup by comparing setup errors determined by two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) image guidance for head and neck cancer (HNC)...Full Text Available
The device, aimed at non destructive control of the inner side of tubes such as steam generator tubes, is composed of a control sensor mounted on a support; the sensor head may rotate in the tube and a measuring system and signal processing allow for the exact determination of the angular position of the sensor head (application to ultrasonic or eddy current probes).
A 2-year follow-up regarding healing complications, such as redisplacement, nonunion, and segmental collapse of the femoral head, was performed in 306 patients operated on for femoral neck fracture and examined with /sup 99m/Technetium-MDP scintimetry within 2 weeks postoperatively. Scintimetric evaluation was performed by selecting regions of interest over the femoral head on the fracture side and the intact side and by comparing the uptake. A femoral head ratio fractured/intact side thus was obtained. Of 199 patients with an intact femoral head uptake (ratio less than or equal to 1.0), 181 showed no signs of healing complications at 2 years, whereas 18 had developed healing complications. Of 107 cases with a deficient femoral-head uptake (ratio < 1.0), 96 had developed healing complications within 2 years from the operation, while 11 cases had no signs of radiographic ...
A 2-year follow-up regarding healing complications, such as redisplacement, nonunion, and segmental collapse of the femoral head, was performed in 306 patients operated on for femoral neck fracture and examined with "9"9"mTechnetium-MDP scintimetry within 2 weeks postoperatively. Scintimetric evaluation was performed by selecting regions of interest over the femoral head on the fracture side and the intact side and by comparing the uptake. A femoral head ratio fractured/intact side thus was obtained. Of 199 patients with an intact femoral head uptake (ratio #<=# 1.0), 181 showed no signs of healing complications at 2 years, whereas 18 had developed healing complications. Of 107 cases with a deficient femoral-head uptake (ratio < 1.0), 96 had developed healing complications within 2 years from the operation, while 11 cases had no signs of radiographic complications. We conclude ...
Femoral head vitality before, during and at various intervals from the operation was determined by tetracycline labeling and/or _9_9 sp (m)Tc-MDP scintimetry. In a three-year follow-up, healing prognosis could be determined by scintimetry 3 weeks from operation; deficient femoral head vitality predicting healing complications and retained vitality predicting uncomplicated healing. A comparison between pre- and postoperative scintimetry indicated that further impairment of the femoral head vitality could be caused by the operative procedure, and as tetracycline labeling prior to and after fracture reduction in 370 fractures proved equivalent, it was concluded that the procedure of osteosynthesis probably was responsible for capsular vessel injury, using a four-flanged nail. The four-flanged nail was compared with a low-traumatic method of osteosynthesis, two hook-pins, in a prospective randomized 14 month study, and the ...
A retrospective study was made of all radionuclide (RN) bone images performed at our institution over a two-year period to evaluate femoral head viability after nonpathologic fracture of the femoral neck. Twelve patients had avascular femoral heads during the perioperative period, of which nine had adequate follow-up. Seven of these nine patients had follow-up bone images. Revascularization occurred in four patients, while three had persistent absence of femoral head uptake. With clinical follow-up ranging from four to 29 months (median: 14 months), only two of these nine patients developed clinical or radiographic evidence of osteonecrosis. RN bone imaging performed in the perioperative period does not reliably predict the development of post-traumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head and, at present, should not be used to determine prospectively method of treatment of femoral neck fracture.
A retrospective study was made of all radionuclide (RN) bone images performed at our institution over a two-year period to evaluate femoral head viability after nonpathologic fracture of the femoral neck. Twelve patients had avascular femoral heads during the perioperative period, of which nine had adequate follow-up. Seven of these nine patients had follow-up bone images. Revascularization occurred in four patients, while three had persistent absence of femoral head uptake. With clinical follow-up ranging from four to 29 months (median: 14 months), only two of these nine patients developed clinical or radiographic evidence of osteonecrosis. RN bone imaging performed in the perioperative period does not reliably predict the development of post-traumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head and, at present, should not be used to determine prospectively method of treatment of femoral neck fracture.
The Control Rod Drive(CRD) nozzles for PWR nuclear power plants(NPP) house the control rod drives. The number of nozzle penetrations range from the mid-30's to over 100 in each reactor head. The integrity of CRD nozzles is very important, because the primary pressure boundary is established with the J-groove weld joining the nozzle to the head clad surface. The Alloy 600 PWSC CRD nozzle leaks discovered in the fall of 2000 and spring of 2001 in several US plants. Therefore the NRC has recommended a more proactive effort by US utilities to inspect similarly susceptible nozzles in all US plants. The primary safety concern is circumferential cracks that can permit the nozzles to separate from the head at high velocity and produce a large-break leak in the reactor vessel. A secondary concern is head leakage from any through-wall cracks in the nozzle or J-groove weld area. Numerous inspection and ...
The vascular status of femoral heads in the post-traumatic period of intracapsular femoral neck fracture (ICFNF) remains uncertain until the patient actually develops avascular necrosis (AVN). Several methods for predicting the viability of femoral head have been reported, that are not effective or widely used because of unreliability, potential complications, and technical difficulties. The present study involved the use of Dynamic MRI (DMRI) in assessing femoral head vascularity to predict AVN. The role of DMRI was studied prospectively in 30 patients with 31 ICFNF. Fractures were divided in to three types (Type A, B, or C) based on the femoral head vascularity shown by dynamic curve patterns on MRI evaluation. Type A was preserved vascularity, Type B was some decrease in vascularity but still viable while Type C was significantly reduced vascularity. These were followed-up for 6 months to 2 years to ...
Intracapsular femoral neck fractures remain unsolved fractures even after improvement in techniques of diagnosis and internal fixation. Individuals who sustain displaced femoral neck fractures are at high risk of developing avascular necrosis and non-union. Although several methods for predicting the viability of femoral head have been reported, they are not effective or widely used because of unreliability, potential complications and technical difficulties. Dynamic MRI was introduced in the recent past as a simple, non-invasive technique to predict the femoral head viability after the femoral neck fractures. In this study role of dynamic MRI was studied in 30 patients with 31 intracapsular femoral neck fractures. Fractures were divided in to three types according to dynamic curve patterns on MRI evaluation and were followed up for 6 months to 2 years to observe the final outcome. Sensitivity, Specificity and the Accuracy of dynamic MRI in ...
Intracapsular femoral neck fractures remain unsolved fractures even after improvement in techniques of diagnosis and internal fixation. Individuals who sustain displaced femoral neck fractures are at high risk of developing avascular necrosis and non-union. Although several methods for predicting the viability of femoral head have been reported, they are not effective or widely used because of unreliability, potential complications and technical difficulties. Dynamic MRI was introduced in the recent past as a simple, non-invasive technique to predict the femoral head viability after the femoral neck fractures. In this study role of dynamic MRI was studied in 30 patients with 31 intracapsular femoral neck fractures. Fractures were divided in to three types according to dynamic curve patterns on MRI evaluation and were followed up for 6 months to 2 years to observe the final outcome. Sensitivity, Specificity and the Accuracy of dynamic MRI in ...
Femoral head replacement was performed for femoral neck fracture or femoral head necrosis on 36 hips of 34 patients on whom Tc-99m MDP scintigraphy was done for analysis of radioisotope uptake around the prosthesis. In the cases with satisfactory clinical course after replacement surgery the uptake was high in the area between the prosthesis and the trochanter, in the area of the stem tip of the prosthesis and in the acetabular area. The high uptake decreased gradually and reached a normal level by 8 months after surgery. The cases with no decrease of high uptake by 8 months after surgery were considered to have had an eventful postoperative course associated with some complication such as infection, fracture, loosening etc. Tc-99m MDP scintigraphy was useful for early detection of complications and to evaluate progress of the operated patients. (author)
The conductive ultra thin films were fabricated from mixed monolayers containing stearic acid and Head-to-Tail poly(3-alkylthiophene). These films exhibited well-defined layered structures as determined by optical absorption and X-ray diffraction measurements. The UV-Vis absorption spectra of these films showed lower energy absorption shifts of 48 nm from that of the random poly(3-alkylthiophene)/stearic acid LB films. The blue shift of absorption maximum of the LB film is attributed to the increase of {pi}-conjugation length caused by no steric hindrance of alkyl side chains. The conductivity of the Head-to-Tail poly(3-hexylthiophene)/stearic acid LB films was greatly improved in the range of 67-100 S/cm. (orig.)
substrate). Within each group of simulations, three lubricant film thicknesses are studied to examine the effect of varying lubricant thickness. Statistical data are collected from each simulation and presented in this work. Via these data, together with the evolution, of atomic and molecular configurations, a very detailed picture of the properties of this thin film interface is presented. In particular, we conclude that perfluoropolyether lubricant forms distinct molecular layers when confined between two substrates, the rate of heat generation under shearing conditions typical of those in a head-disk interface is insufficient for thermal mechanisms to result directly in lubricant degradation, and mechanical stresses attained in the head-disk interface are unlikely to result in any significant degree of lubricant degradation. This thesis examines the tribology of a head-disk interface in an operating hard disk drive via ...
Over 300 delegates participated in this scientific meeting to celebrate the career of the late Professor Tony Hart, who was Head of Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Liverpool, from 1986 until his death in September 2007. The meeting, which was opened by Professor James Stewart (Head, School of Infection and Host Defence, University of Liverpool) and closed by Professor Bernard Brabin (Head of the Child Health Group, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine), captured some of the major elements that distinguished Tony Harts remarkable career. These included: broad research interests spanning both human and veterinary medicine; the ability to conduct both clinical and basic science research with equal skill and vigour; and his phenomenal mentorship of postgraduate students. Eac...
This invention is comprised of an improved combustion system for an internal combustion engine is disclosed wherein a rich air/fuel mixture is furnished at high pressure to one or more jet plume generator cavities adjacent to a cylinder and then injected through one or more orifices from the cavities into the head space of the cylinder to form one or more turbulent jet plumes in the head space of the cylinder prior to ignition of the rich air/fuel mixture in the cavity of the jet plume generator. The portion of the rich air/fuel mixture remaining in the cavity of the generator is then ignited to provide a secondary jet, comprising incomplete combustion products which are injected into the cylinder to initiate combustion in the already formed turbulent jet plume. Formation of the turbulent jet plume in the head space of the cylinder prior to ignition has been found to yield a higher maximum combustion pressure in the ...
An intake system is described for a direct fuel injection diesel engine having a cylinder block, at least one cylinder in the cylinder block, a piston in the cylinder having a recess on a top surface thereof, a cylinder head mounted on the cylinder block on top of the cylinder, a fuel injector adapted to directly inject fuel into a combustion chamber formed between the lower side of the cylinder head and the recess on the top surface of the piston, and below the injector, and a single exhaust passage opening to the combustion chamber at a location near the injector, the intake system comprising first and second intake passages in the cylinder head, the first and second intake passages are independent of each other and adapted to introduce air into the combustion chamber. The controller means are coupled to the second intake passage for controlling the flow of air therethrough.
Results are presented of an extensive investigation of the characteristics of over two hundred low-head turbines manufactured all over the world that have been installed or are due to be installed in hydropower plants between 1953 and 1984. The research focused mainly on bulb turbines, with horizontal shaft arrangement and tubular turbines with their shafts either horizontal or inclined at an angle to the horizontal. The characteristics of the above mentioned type of turbines are presented in the form of statistical diagrams and regression equations suitable for preliminary design and feasibility studies of low-head hydro projects. Nomographs have been developed for displaying the relationships between the various turbine characteristics and comparing the important dimensions and parameters of turbines which have found common application in the hydropower technology. New simplified parametric ratio for selection of turbines have been developed ...
Bladder perforation due to the obturator nerve reflex (ONR) is a serious complication during TUR of bladder tumor using the conventional TUR system; requiring monopolar electrocautery and non-conductive solution as perfusate. Recently, the TURis system, which employs bipolar electrocautery and physiological saline as perfusate, has been developed. Electrical resistance of physiological saline and human tissues are approximately 40 and 500 omega, respectively. Thus, theoretically, electrical current flows between the resection loop and the recovery electrode integrated in the outer sleeve of the endoscope, without forming electrical circuit in the patient's body; suggesting possible elimination of the ONR. Here we describe a case of bladder perforation during surgery using the TURis system; the ONR was exaggerated during the procedure to stop bleeding at the lateral wall using bipolar electrocautery. In addition to this case, there have been a few reports of the ONR ...
In this paper, we put forward a systematic method to analyze, control and evaluate the safety issues of medical robotics. We created a safety model that consists of three axes to analyze safety factors. Software and hardware are the two material axes. The third axis is the policy that controls all phases of design, production, testing and application of the robot system. The policy was defined as hazard identification and safety insurance control (HISIC) that includes seven principles: definitions and requirements, hazard identification, safety insurance control, safety critical limits, monitoring and control, verification and validation, system log and documentation. HISIC was implemented in the development of a robot for urological applications that was known as URObot. The URObot is a universal robot with different modules adaptable for 3D ultrasound image-guided interstitial laser coagulation, radiation seed implantation, laser resection, and electrical ...
Full text: Tumour ablation with radiofrequency (RF) energy is a relatively new procedure for the treatment of focal malignant disease. At our institution this is currently being used in the treatment of certain liver and lung lesions with the patients involved being enrolled in clinical trials. The poster describes the technique used at our institution for the placement of the radiofrequency ablation electrode using CT fluoroscopy. Criteria for patient selection are included. Complications from the procedure are described, as well as follow up appearances and results. Our results from the treatment of primary and secondary lesions in the liver correlate well with published literature. Treatment is still not as successful as surgical resection but there is significantly less morbidity. Where this method may be appropriate is when the patient is not a candidate for surgical resection. The treatment of colorectal metastases in the lung shows early ...
Some studies suggest that giving radiation therapy after surgery for hilar cholangiocarcinoma improves the survival rate; however, many of these studies did not specify numbers of subjects or provide an impartial analysis. Thus, we evaluated the effectiveness of radiation therapy as adjuvant treatment after surgery and attempted to establish appropriate adaptation standards. We reviewed the records of 69 patients who underwent surgery for hilar cholangiocarcinoma between June 1980 and April 1998. Thirty-nine patients were treated with surgery followed by radiation therapy and 30 were treated with surgery alone. The clinicopathologic features that might have influenced prognosis were similar in the patients who received radiation therapy and those who did not. Radiation as adjuvant therapy did not have a beneficial effect on overall survival (P=0.554, log-rank test); however, it tended to improve survival in the group of patients who underwent curative resection for ...
The clinical courses of heterotopic ossification (HO) as a consequence of trauma and central nervous system insults have many similarities as well as dissimilarities. Detection is commonly noted at two months. The incidence of clinically significant HO is 10%-20%. Approximately 10% of the HO is massive and causes severe restriction in joint motion or ankylosis. The most common sign and symptom are decreased range of motion and pain. The locations are the proximal limbs and joints. Sites of HO about a joint may vary according to the etiology of the HO. Roentgenographic evolution of HO occurs during a six-month period in the majority of patients. Treatment modalities include diphosphonates, indomethacin, radiation, range of motion exercises, and surgical excision. Surgical timing differs according to etiology: traumatic HO may be resected at six months; spinal cord injury HO is excised at one year; and traumatic brain injury HO is removed at 1.5 years. A small number ...
The clinical courses of heterotopic ossification (HO) as a consequence of trauma and central nervous system insults have many similarities as well as dissimilarities. Detection is commonly noted at two months. The incidence of clinically significant HO is 10%-20%. Approximately 10% of the HO is massive and causes severe restriction in joint motion or ankylosis. The most common sign and symptom are decreased range of motion and pain. The locations are the proximal limbs and joints. Sites of HO about a joint may vary according to the etiology of the HO. Roentgenographic evolution of HO occurs during a six-month period in the majority of patients. Treatment modalities include diphosphonates, indomethacin, radiation, range of motion exercises, and surgical excision. Surgical timing differs according to etiology: traumatic HO may be resected at six months; spinal cord injury HO is excised at one year; and traumatic brain injury HO is removed at 1.5 years. A small number ...
Purpose: We present an update analysis of the multiinstitutional Ewing's sarcoma study CESS 86. Methods and Materials: From January 1986 through June 1991, 177 patients with localized Ewing's sarcoma of bone, aged 25 years or less, were recruited. Chemotherapy consisted of four 9-week courses of vincristine, actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide, and adriamycin (VACA) in low-risk tumors (extremity tumors =# 100 cm"3). Local therapy was an individual decision in each patient and was either radical surgery (amputation, wide resection) or resection plus postoperative irradiation with 45 Gy or definitive radiotherapy with 60 Gy (45 Gy plus boost). Irradiated patients were randomized concerning the type of fractionation in either conventional fractionation (once daily 1.8-2.0 Gy, break of chemotherapy) or hyperfractionated split-course irradiation simultaneously with the VACA/VAIA chemotherapy (twice daily 1.6 Gy, break of 12 days after 22.4 Gy and 44.8 ...
Periosteal Ewing's sarcoma is an uncommon, but well documented origin of this malignant condition with radiography signs, different from intramedullary growing tumours. Imaging modalities like CT or MRI supply proof of macroscopically intact endosteal cortical surface and free medullary cavity in long bones affected by this periosteal type of malignancy. Definite confirmation is valid after a careful microscopic investigation of the resected specimen. The prognosis of this type of Ewing's sarcoma may be favourable than that of the central type. Early diagnosis and therapy are thus essential. A clinical survey of six observations is given. (orig.).
Clinical studies have proved the effectiveness of local ablading methods in pations with non-resectable liver metastases of a colorectal carcinoma. RF ablation and LITT are a potentially curative therapy option and an alternative to systemic chemotherapy; the latter is carried out primarily for reducing tumour size with the goal of secondary resectability. The number of R0-sesectable metastases can be enhanced by a combined therapy of surgery and local ablading methods, e.g. by preoperative, intraoperative or postoperative ablasion of further non-resectable tumours during surgery. Systemic chemotherapy combined with surgery as an adjuvant method is not recommended unless in cases of non-abladable tumour recidivation. Currently, systemic chemotherapy is used as a neo-adjuvant therapy for tumour size reduction with the goal of secondary resectability or, in case of inoperability, local ablation. (orig.) ...
The profitability of combustion turbines intended for export is of extreme importance for Electricite de France. It is principally during the development phase of a project that one can ensure resect of two indissociable factors, essential to the per-kWh production cost: global operating costs and performance in terms of reliability and availability. The approach proposed here advocates the global acquisition of the installation and its logistic support. Generally applicable recommendations are given. They enable integrating in the future plant specifications all requirements relative to plant reliability, availability, maintainability and logistic support. They are structured according to type: expression of needs and management factors. (orig.) 4 refs.
We compared the characteristics on thin-section CT images with the histological structure of thirty-four surgically resected peripheral lung lesions 30 mm or less in diameter with a greater than 50% area of GGA on thin-section CT. Pathologically, focal area of GGA corresponded to alveolar replacement growth of tumor or interstitial fibrotic thickening of inflammation. It is considered that determination of the GGA in small peripheral lung lesions on thin-section CT is useful for the diagnosis of early adenocarcinomas. (author)
Trastuzumab increases survival amongst women with human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2 receptor positive metastatic breast cancer, but maternal and fetal risks are associated with advanced disease and its treatment in pregnancy. We present a case of a primigravid with HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer who received trastuzumab throughout pregnancy. She presented with cerebral metastases, requiring surgical decompression and resection. Reversible oligohydramnios developed during pregnancy. Fetal safety data on trastuzumab in pregnancy is limited, but case reports suggest a recurring pattern of (mostly reversible) oligohydramnios.
Porcine pancreatic lipase immobilized on celite particles has been employed as a catalyst for the esterification of dodecanol and decanoic acid in a predominantly organic system. Solvent influence on the equilibrium position and on the catalyst activity has been studied using 20 solvents, including aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, ethers, ketones, nitro- and halogenated hydrocarbons, and esters. The equilibrium constant for esterification correlates well with the solubility of water in the organic solvent, which in turn shows a good relationship with a function of Guttman's donor number and the electron pair acceptance index number of the solvent. This may be rationalized in terms of the requirements for solvation of water and of the reactants. The catalyst activity, measured as the initial rate of the esterification reaction, is best correlated as a function of both n-octanol-water partition coefficient (log P) and either the electron pair acceptance index or ...
The authors have cloned a full-length putative rat pancreatic lysophospholipase cDNA by an improved mRNA isolation method and cDNA cloning strategy using (/sup 32/P)-labelled nucleotides. These new methods allow the construction of a cDNA library from the adult rat pancreas in which the majority of recombinant clones contained complete sequences for the corresponding mRNAs. A previously recognized but unidentified long and relatively rare cDNA clone containing the entire sequence from the cap site at the 5' end to the poly(A) tail at the 3' end of the mRNA was isolated by single-step screening of the library. The size, amino acid composition, and the activity of the protein expressed in heterologous cells strongly suggest this mRNA codes for lysophospholipase.
Glucagon plays critical roles in regulating glucose homeostasis, mainly by counteracting the effects of insulin. Consequently, the dysregulated glucagon secretion that is evident in type 2 diabetes has significant implications in the pathophysiology of the disease. Glucagon secretion from pancreatic -cells has been suggested to be modulated by blood glucose, signals from the nervous system and endocrine components. In addition to these regulators, intraislet factors acting in a paracrine manner from neighbouring -cells are emerging as central modulator(s) of -cell biology. One of the most important of these paracrine factors, insulin, modulates glucagon secretion. Indeed, the -cell-specific insulin receptor knockout (IRKO) mouse manifests hypersecretion of glucagon in the postprandial stag...
Flying insects use visual cues to stabilize their heading in a wind stream. Many animals additionally track odors carried in the wind. As such, visual stabilization of upwind tracking directly aids...Full Text Available
The authors report a case of a cephalopagus conjoined twin that was diagnosed at 29 weeks of gestation despite the mother having had two ultrasounds done previously. The fetus had one head and face,...Full Text Available
... and sperm showed an association with the oviduct epithelial tissue. Estimate of sperm storage duration At ASDP in ... Sperm heads show no particular association with the epithelial tissue. enlarge fig...
According to the International Headache Society, idiopathic stabbing headache (ISH), an indomethacin-responsive headache syndrome, is a paroxysmal disorder of short duration manifested as head pain...Full Text Available
Five studies show that disabling p53, an essential tumour-suppressor protein, improves the efficiency of stem-cell production. Are these results a ‘heads up’ that cancer cells...Full Text Available
In recent years, many researchers have investigated the various factors that can influence body posture: mood states, anxiety, head and neck positions, oral functions (respiration,...Full Text Available
Japan has upwards of 40 pumped storage plants in operation and new river sites are becoming scarce, but peak demand is still rising. A plant under construction in Okinawa offers a solution: make use of the head between the coastal cliffs and sea level, using seawater as the medium. (author)
A review is presented of the quest for superheavy elements under the following headings - early history; physical and nuclear properties unique to superheavy elements; searches in nature; terrestrial samples; extra-terrestrial samples; and searches at accelerators. 72 references. (U.K.).
Six related Staphylococcus phages spontaneously produced various abnormal head and tail structures: (i) giant capsids which were tailed and apparently contained nucleic acid; (ii) regular and irregular...Full Text Available
BackgroundSpindle cell carcinoma (SpCC) is a rare microscopic type of cancer of the mouth and oropharynx. Although SpCC is thought to arise from squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), it...Full Text Available
A class-V myosin, myosin V, one of 18 known classes of actin-based motor proteins, plays a role in transporting organelles within a cell. Unlike myosin-II, which functions as an assembly in the thick filaments of muscle, myosin V is a two-headed processive motor protein, which functions as a single molecule: myosin V performs many consecutive steps before it detaches from an actin filament accompanied by catalytic cycles of ATP (adenosine 5'-triphosphate) ase. The mechanism of such chemomechanical steps is explained by a 'Hand-over-hand model' in which two heads of myosin V alternately repeat single-headed and double-headed bindings with an actin filament. To investigate the binding state of myosin V at several key nucleotide states during ATP hydrolysis, we measured the mechanical properties of a single myosin V - actin complex by applying an external load with optical trap.
BackgroundPercutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) allows long-term tube feeding. Safety of pull-type and introducer PEG placement in oncology patients with head/neck or oesophageal...Full Text Available
THEMIS-A: The Solid State Telescope (SST) measures the incoming intensity ... units (heads), each SST unit has two pairs of opposing ion and electron sensors. .... The five small satellites were launched together on a Delta II rocket and they ...
The ability to achieve tumor selective expression of therapeutic genes is an area that needs improvement for cancer gene therapy to be successful. One approach to address this is through the...Full Text Available
Research progress is reported in 20 activities under the headings: spent fuels, defense waste management, commercial waste management, remedial action, and conventional reactors. Separate entries were prepared for each activity.
The purpose of the piezometer network is to establish baseline hydraulic head data for the water table aquifer at the F- and H-Area seeplines prior to startup of the groundwater extraction/injection remediation system.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who flew four space shuttle missions, talks about how space travel changed his life and how he applies his astronaut training to his work as the head of the space agency.
Purpose: Understanding the kinetics of tumor growth∕shrinkage represents a critical step in quantitative assessment of therapeutics and realization of adaptive radiation therapy....Full Text Available
A centrifugal pump was developed for the efficient and reliable transfer of liquid helium in space. The pump can be used to refill cryostats on orbiting satellites which use liquid helium for refrigeration at extremely low temperatures. The pump meets the head and flow requirements of on-orbit helium transfer: a flow rate of 800 L/hr at a head of 128 J/kg. The overall pump efficiency at the design point is 0.45. The design head and flow requirements are met with zero net positive suction head, which is the condition in an orbiting helium supply Dewar. The mass transfer efficiency calculated for a space transfer operation is 0.99. Steel ball bearings are used with gas fiber-reinforced teflon retainers to provide solid lubrication. These bearings have demonstrated the longest life in liquid helium endurance tests under simulated pumping conditions. Technology developed in the project also has application ...
Orientation and movement relies on both visual and vestibular information mapped in separate coordinate systems. Here, we examine how coordinate systems interact to guide eye movements of rabbits....Full Text Available
Global Soil Water Holding Capacity Dataset from UNEP/GRID. Entry ID: GNV0025 ... Dao at unep.org. Contact Address: Head of Metadata & Socio-Economics Unit ...
Transcription factors drive organogenesis, from the initiation of cell fate decisions to the maintenance and implementation of these decisions. The Drosophila embryonic salivary gland...Full Text Available
An overview is presented of the FFTF reactor and plant together with descriptions of core components, core internals, core system, primary and secondary control rod system, reactor instrumentation, reactor vessel and closure head, and supporting test programs. (DG)
An overview is presented of the FFTF reactor and plant together with descriptions of core components, core internals, core system, primary and secondary control rod system, reactor instrumentation, reactor vessel and closure head, and supporting test programs.
The head of KEK expressed his dismay that SLAC has entered into a collaboration with 3 other US labs and proposes to build the next linear collider at Fermilab, Ilinois. KEK wants the next accelerator to be built somewhere in the Asian Pacific region (1 page).
This multiauthored text is aimed particularly toward the resident or registrar training in diagnostic radiology. This is a text book on the entire scope of diagnostic imaging. It includes techniques and imaging modalities of all the systems, head, face and neck. The book covers the entire gamut of diagnostic radiology.
We study the integration of multisensory and central input at the level of an identified fly motoneuron, the ventral cervical nerve motoneuron (VCNM) cell, which controls head movements of the animal....Full Text Available
Based on the assumption that an accelerated proliferation process prevails in tumour cell residues after surgery, the possibility that treatment acceleration would offer a therapeutic advantage in postoperative...Full Text Available
...8Eligibility Criteria: Emotional/Behavioral Disorders Guidance for Paragraph...at-risk for emotional/behavioral disorders and their parents to help...Evaluation Team for Emotional/behavioral Disorders: Psychologist,...
...false Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research Presidential Documents ...2009 Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research Memorandum for the Heads...scientifically worthy human stem cell research, including human...
September 2008 - Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations Office and specialised institutions in Geneva, Ambassador C. Strohal, visiting the ATLAS control with Collaboration physicist M. Aleksa, accompanied by CMS Collaboration physicist F. Pauss and Physics Deputy Department Head M. Doser.
The viability of osteocytes can be demonstrated in sawn decalcified sections of bone by their lactate dehydrogenase activity. In the cancellous bone of the femoral head, the proportion of lacunae containing viable osteocytes decreased from 88 +/- 7% (mean +/- SD) at 10-29 years to 58 +/- 12% (P Ultimate compressive strength did not correlate with osteocyte viability. In the femoral head there is gradual, age-related reduction in osteocyte viability that can be more pronounced in hip fracture. Osteocyte death may affect bone quality by impairing repair of fatigue damage. PMID:8275364
Organ and tissue doses and integral doses in patients due to diagnostic x-ray examinations of the chest and of the head will be presented. These data have been obtained by measuring the dose distributions in man phantoms by LiF-dosimetry. The data will be compared with data obtained by Monte-Carlo calculations. To obtain average organ doses for a special type of examination for the population or for a specified subpopulation in the variation of the exposure, data due to the different techniques used by the different radiologists has to be known. Such data will be presented. The results of the investigation will be discussed in connection with the concept of the 'somatic significant.
Wood-plastic combination (WPC) was produced by {gamma}-irradiation of persimmon impregnated with acrylonitrile and styrene. The hardness and strength of WPC obtained were higher than those of an unmodified wood. Thus, it was found that the WPC is suited for a head of golf club, because the Shore hardness value of WPC is 36% greater than that of unmodified wood. An impregnation method of monomers with some pigments could produce colored WPC without diminishing natural grain. Head of golf club could be manufactured from colored WPC in practice. (auhtor).
Wood-plastic combination (WPC) was produced by #gamma#-irradiation of persimmon impregnated with acrylonitrile and styrene. The hardness and strength of WPC obtained were higher than those of an unmodified wood. Thus, it was found that the WPC is suited for a head of golf club, because the Shore hardness value of WPC is 36% greater than that of unmodified wood. An impregnation method of monomers with some pigments could produce colored WPC without diminishing natural grain. Head of golf club could be manufactured from colored WPC in practice. (auhtor).
The clinical and radiographic features of the intermediate form of osteopetrosis in two sibs are presented in which the disorder appears to have been inherited as a recessive trait. Although this form of osteopetrosis has been poorly delineated, its recognition is practically important in order to give an accurate prognosis. This paper also presents an unusual complication of bilateral avascular necrosis of the femoral head in the younger sib. Radiographic changes of the femoral heads suggest those of Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, though the possibility of avascular necrosis following unrecognized femoral neck fracture is not completely excluded. (orig.).
We treated 13 patients for femoral neck fracture. They consisted of 2 males and 11 females, and were classified according to Garden stage classification; Stage I, 3 cases; Stage II, 2 cases; Stage III, 2 cases; Stage IV, 4 cases. Two trochanteric fracture cases were used by control. We evaluated perfusion of the femoral head after femoral neck fracture using bone scintigraphy, which is considered useful for evaluation of perfusion of the femoral neck before operation. (author)
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has been developing the integral reactor. The reactor head structure assembly (RHSA) is the structure installed over the reactor cover. Due to the characteristics of an integral reactor, there are many instrument cables and power cables coming out from the reactor cover and main components. The RHSA provides an interface location to connect these cables from Architecture Engineer (AE) and System Designer (SD). It also prevents a pipe whip and it prohibits instruments from becoming missiles. In this research, the axiomatic design approach for the RHSA is performed.
During the last decade, new radiopharmaceutical have been introduced for brain imaging. The marked differences of these tracers in tissue specificity within the brain and their increasing use for diagnostic studies support the need for a more anthropomorphic model of the human brain and head. Brain and head models developed in the past have been only simplistic representations of this anatomic region. For example, the brain within the phantom of MIRD Pamphlet No. 5 Revised is modeled simply as a single ellipsoid of tissue With no differentiation of its internal structures. To address this need, the MIRD Committee established a Task Group in 1992 to construct a more detailed brain model to include the cerebral cortex, the white matter, the cerebellum, the thalamus, the caudate nucleus, the lentiform nucleus, the cerebral spinal fluid, the lateral ventricles, and the third ventricle. This brain model has been included within a slightly modified ...
During the last decade, new radiopharmaceutical have been introduced for brain imaging. The marked differences of these tracers in tissue specificity within the brain and their increasing use for diagnostic studies support the need for a more anthropomorphic model of the human brain and head. Brain and head models developed in the past have been only simplistic representations of this anatomic region. For example, the brain within the phantom of MIRD Pamphlet No. 5 Revised is modeled simply as a single ellipsoid of tissue With no differentiation of its internal structures. To address this need, the MIRD Committee established a Task Group in 1992 to construct a more detailed brain model to include the cerebral cortex, the white matter, the cerebellum, the thalamus, the caudate nucleus, the lentiform nucleus, the cerebral spinal fluid, the lateral ventricles, and the third ventricle. This brain model has been included within a slightly modified ...
The definition of episodic memory includes the concept of mental time travel: the ability to re-experience a previously experienced trajectory through continuous dimensions of space and time, and to recall specific events or stimuli along this trajectory. Lesions of the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex impair human episodic memory function and impair rat performance in tasks that could be solved by retrieval of trajectories. Recent physiological data suggests a novel model for encoding and retrieval of trajectories, and for associating specific stimuli with specific positions along the trajectory. During encoding in the model, external input drives the activity of head direction cells. Entorhinal grid cells integrate the head direction input to update an internal representation of location, and drive hippocampal place cells. Trajectories are encoded by Hebbian modification of excitatory synaptic connections between hippocampal place cells and ...
The aim of this study is three folds: to compare the eight-channel phased-array and standard circularly polarized (CP) head coils in visualiazation of the intracranial vessels, to compare the three-dimentional (3D) time-of-flight (TOF) MR angiography (MRA) techniques, and to define the effects of parallel imaging in 3D TOF MRA. Fifteen healthy volunteers underwent 3D TOF MRA of the intracranial vessels using eight-channel phased-array and CP standard head coils. The following MRA techniques were obtained on each volunteer: (1) conventional 3D TOF MRA with magnetization transfer; (2) 3D TOF MRA with water excitation for background suppression; and (3) low-dose (0.5 ml) gadolinium-enhanced 3D TOF MRA with water excitation. Results are demonstrating that water excitation is a valuable background suppression technique, especially when applied with an eight-channel phased-array head coil. For central and proximal portions of the ...
PURPOSE: To determine the recommended dose of radiotherapy when combined with full-dose gemcitabine and erlotinib for unresected pancreas cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients with unresected pancreatic cancer (Zubrod performance status 0-2) were eligible for the present study. Gemcitabine was given weekly for 7 weeks (1,000 mg/m(2)) with erlotinib daily for 8 weeks (100 mg). A final toxicity assessment was performed in Week 9. Radiotherapy (starting at 30 Gy in 2-Gy fractions, 5 d/wk) was given to the gross tumor plus a 1-cm margin starting with the first dose of gemcitabine. A standard 3 plus 3 dose escalation (an additional 4 Gy within 2 days for each dose level) was used, except for the starting dose level, which was scheduled to contain 6 patients. In general, Grade 3 or greater gastrointestinal toxicity was considered a dose-limiting toxicity, except for Grade 3 anorexia or Grade 3 fatigue alone. RESULTS: A total of 20 patients were treated (10 men and 10 ...
Pancreatic amyloid deposits of amylin are a hallmark of Type II diabetes and considerable evidence indicates that amylin oligomers are cytotoxic to beta-cells. Many efforts are presently spent to find out naturally occurring molecules, or to design synthetic ones, able to hinder amylin aggregation or to protect cells against aggregate cytotoxicity. In this context, a protective effect of some polyphenols against amyloid cytotoxicity was reported. Actually dietary polyphenols are endowed with multiple health benefits, and extra virgin olive oil is attracting increasing interest as a source of these substances. Here, we investigated the effects on amylin aggregation and cytotoxicity of the secoiridoid oleuropein aglycon, the main phenolic component of extra virgin olive oil. We found that oleuropein, when present during the aggregation of amylin, consistently prevented its cytotoxicity to RIN-5F pancreatic beta-cells, as determined by the ...
Insulitis is considered the histopathological hallmark of type I diabetes. In the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse, diabetes has never been observed in the absence of insulitis. The in vivo detection of insulitis could be of relevance for early prediction of diabetes. As approximately 15% of islet-infiltrating lymphocytes express interleukin 2 receptors, the authors have labelled recombinant inter-leukin 2 with "1"2"3I and used this radiopharmaceutical to detect insulitis by gamma camera imaging. The authors studied 71 prediabetic NOD and 27 normal Balb/c mice. Labelled #alpha#-lactalbumin was used as the control protein. In the first set of experiments the tissue distribution of radiolabelled interleukin 2 in isolated organs from animals sacrificed at different time points was studied. Higher radioactivity was detected in the pancreas of NOD mice injected with labelled interleukin 2, as compared to NOD mice receiving labelled #alpha#-lactalbumin. In another set of experiments, gamma ...
BackgroundDespite an ever-improving understanding of the molecular biology of cancer, the treatment of most cancers has not changed dramatically in the past three decades and drugs that do not discriminate between tumor cells and normal tissues remain the mainstays of anticancer therapy. Since Hsp90 is typically involved in cell proliferation and survival, this is thought to play a key role in cancer, and Hsp90 has attracted considerable interest in recent years as a potential therapeutic target.MethodsWe focused on the interaction of Hsp90 with its cofactor protein p60/Hop, and engineered a cell-permeable peptidomimetic, termed "hybrid Antp-TPR peptide", modeled on the binding interface between the molecular chaperone Hsp90 and the TPR2A domain of Hop.ResultsIt was demonstrated that this designed hybrid Antp-TPR peptide inhibited the interaction of Hsp90 with the TPR2A domain, inducing cell death of breast, pancreatic, renal, lung, prostate, and gastric cancer ...
The aim of this study was to compare multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) findings between cases of sclerosing cholangitis with autoimmune pancreatitis (SC-AIP) and infiltrative extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IEC). We retrospectively assessed MDCT findings from 16 IEC cases and 13 SC-AIP cases. MDCT findings were analyzed with regard to location, length, wall thickness, contour, stricture wall enhancement pattern, proximal duct diameter, and the presence of diffuse concentric thickening in the proximal duct and gallbladder wall thickness. Stricture length, stricture wall thickness, and proximal duct diameter were significantly smaller for SC-AIP than for IEC: 19.3#+-#8.7 vs. 31.8#+-#12.0 mm (P=0.004), 2.1#+-#1.3 vs. 4.1#+-#1.3 mm (P<0.001), and 9.2#+-#3.9 vs. 13.3#+-#5.0 mm (P=0.012), respectively. SC-AIP was correlated with stricture location in both the intrapancreatic and hilar hepatic bile ducts, concentric stricture contour (P<0.001), and ...
The integrity of the RPV head and reactor internals was assessed by means of fluid-structural analyses using a coupled method to evaluate the water hammer phenomenon arising from high burnup fuel failure under RIA conditions. The fluid viscosity effect on the water column burst as well as the complex three-dimensional flow paths caused by a core shroud and standpipes were considered in this study. The three analysis scenarios were designed to investigate the above mentioned influential factors separately. In the first scenario, a two-dimensional axisymmetric reactor vessel model without any reactor internals was modeled to assess the influence of the fluid dynamics in the NSC RIA regulatory evaluation. This model has an actual RPV geometry and can be simply separated from other influential factors in order to concentrate only on investigation of the fluid viscosity effect. In the second scenario, a two-dimensional axisymmetric reactor vessel model with major ...
A selected series of 24 patients with displaced medial femoral neck fracture, treated with closed reduction and osteosynthesis with cancellous bone screws (ASIF), were investigated. During an observation period of 6 to 26 months, serial hip joint scintigraphies were performed and compared with serial X-ray examinations. At the first scintigraphic examination performed on average 5-6 weeks after the fracture, two separate investigators found a decreased amount of activity or no activity in the femoral head of 10 and 8 patients, respectively. At the second scintigraphic examination performed on average 11.1 weeks after the fracture both investigators found no activity or a decreased amount of activity in 8 patients. This figure declined to 7 during the following period, because one patient with decreased activity was recorded as having normal activity 15 months after the fracture. These 7 patients all developed radiological signs of femoral head ...
An asymptomatic pink discoloration of a maxillary right fourth premolar tooth was discovered during a routine oral examination on a 9 year-old Belgian Malinois dog. A radiolucent lesion was seen in the pulpal chamber on radiographic examination. The lesion had perforated the mesiobuccal root of the tooth. The primary differential diagnosis was idiopathic internal resorption. The tooth was treated by partial resection (removal of the mesiobuccal root and associated crown). A vital pulpotomy and amalgam restoration was performed on the remaining tooth structure. A follow-up 1 year later demonstrated a successful treatment outcome. The animal was asymptomatic and able to perform military duties. Clinical and radiographic signs of healing were evident and the tooth was functional. PMID:10518874
Background The crucial role of cigarette smoking in the development of pneumothorax is unclear because nonsmokers can also develop primary spontaneous pneumothorax. The purpose of this study was to clarify the pathophysiologic effects of cigarette smoking and its clinical correlations in primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Methods Included were 115 specimens of lung tissue from patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery from January 2001 to December 2002. We reviewed the clinical features of 56 smokers and 59 nonsmokers with an average follow-up of 67 months. The pathologic findings of resected lung specimens were analyzed retrospectively. Results There were no statistical differences in sex, age, body height, body weight, body mass inde...
Background: Intestinal failure (IF) is the dependence upon parenteral nutrition to maintain minimal energy requirements for growth and development. It may occur secondary to a loss of bowel length, disorders of motility, or both. Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is a malabsorptive state resulting from surgical resection, congenital defect, or diseases associated with loss of absorptive surface area. A particularly vexing problem is associated with whole bowel and/or segmental intestinal dysmotility. Motility disorders within the context of SBS and IF may relate to rapid intestinal transit secondary to loss of intestinal length, dysmotility associated with loss or poor antegrade peristalsis, or gastroparesis. Therapy may be classified into medical (prokinetic and antidiarrheal agents) and surgica...
In a retrospective single-centre study 170 consecutive patients were included who received a Kotz modular prosthesis after resection of bone tumours of the proximal femur to evaluate the management of prosthetic infection. Infection occurred in 12 of 166 patients available for follow-up (six males; six females; mean age, 47?years; range, ten to 75?years) after a mean of 39?months (range, one to 166?months; infection rate, 7.2%). Mean follow-up was 54?months (range, four to 200?months). One patient died of septic shock. Two patients were treated by wound revision only. Treatment of infection in the remaining patients was one-stage revision in eight and hip disarticulation in one. Infection control by one-stage revision was achieved in five of eight patients; re-infection occurred in three p...
A 46-year-old man was referred to us after he presented to his local physician complaining of difficulty eating. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a tumor at the esophagogastric junction (EGJ), and moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma was diagnosed from the biopsy findings. Computed tomography (CT) showed apparent enlargement of the pretracheal lymph nodes, the lymph nodes around the bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerves, and the lower thoracic paraesophageal lymph nodes, confirming metastasis. Since the disease was far advanced esophagogastric cancer with marked lymph node metastases throughout the mediastinum, curative resection would have been unlikely. Thus, he was commenced on systemic chemotherapy with cisplatin (90 mg/body, day 8) + S-1 (120 mg/body/day, given for 3 weeks...
Childhood cancer survivors at highest risk of developing a secondary malignancy are those with hereditary retinoblastoma. The majority of such secondary cancers will be sarcomas, most commonly of bone. One-third of these occur outside a typical radiation field, commonly in an extremity. Bone sarcoma is also the most commonly reported secondary cancer to develop among survivors of Ewing's sarcoma. In this group, radiation doses greater than 60 Gy as well as alkylating agent chemotherapy have been identified as contributors to the increased risk. The prognosis for patients with a secondary sarcoma has been poor, with few cures reported to date. However, an aggressive, combined modality approach, including radical resection, postoperative radiation, and adjuvant chemotherapy, may improve the survival rate.
Purpose Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has recently been adopted for complicated anatomical lung resections. During these thoracoscopic procedures, surgeons view the operative field on a two-dimensional (2-D) video monitor and cannot palpate the organ directly, thus frequently encountering anatomical difficulties. This study aimed to estimate the usefulness of preoperative three-dimensional (3-D) imaging of thoracic organs. Methods We compared the preoperative 64-row three-dimensional multidetector computed tomography (3DMDCT) findings of lung cancer-affected thoracic organs to the operative findings. Results In comparison to the operative findings, the branches of pulmonary arteries, veins, and bronchi were well defined in the 3D-MDCT images of 27 patients. Conclusion 3D-MDCT imag...
Purpose. We report a case of Ewing's sarcoma in the right distal femur in a 6-year-old male to demonstrate how dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DEMRI) findings predicted histopathology. Materials and methods. DEMRI was performed at presentation and during and after completion of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Histopathologic studies were done at presentation, at 77 weeks (20 weeks after a pathological fracture), and from the en bloc resection at 104 weeks. Results. DEMRI predicted the early tumor response, absence of tumor recurrence, presence of necrosis and lack of fracture healing, confirmed by histopathology. Conclusion. DEMRI is a clinically useful tool in managing Ewing's sarcoma. (orig.)
Purpose Suprasellar meningiomas usually present with visual deterioration, including decreased visual acuity and/or visual field defects. Suprasellar meningiomas have a close relationship with the optic apparatus, arteries of the anterior circulation, pituitary stalk and hypothalamus, which makes safe surgical resection a challenge especially with dissection around an already compromised optic apparatus. In this report 21 patients operated on for a suprasellar meningioma over a 4-year period are reviewed. Postoperative outcome and visual recovery are evaluated, including analysis of its determinants. Methods Over a 4-year period (2002?2006), patients surgically treated for suprasellar meningiomas were included in this retrospective study. All tumors were located at the tuberculum sellae an...
Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the world and about half of the patients with colorectal cancer require adjuvant therapy after surgical resection. Therefore, the eradication of cancer cells via chemotherapy constitutes a viable approach to treating patients with colorectal cancer. In this study, the effects of bufalin isolated from a traditional Chinese medicine were evaluated and characterized in HT-29 and Caco-2 human colon cancer cells. Contrary to its well-documented apoptosis-promoting activity in other cancer cells, bufalin did not cause caspase-dependent cell death in colon cancer cells, as indicated by the absence of significant early apoptosis as well as poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and caspase-3 cleavage. Instead, bufalin activated an autophagy...
BackgroundAlthough benign ampullary tumors are removed endoscopically, due to their potential to progress to malignant disease, the favored treatment for adenocarcinoma is pancreaticoduodenectomy. We reviewed our institutions experience in order to identify which patients were at highest risk of disease progression following surgical resection, as well as evaluate whether localized T1 tumors are best treated by pancreaticoduodenectomy. MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 157 patients who presented with an ampullary mass, from 2001 to 2010, and identified 51 with benign adenoma and 106 with adenocarcinoma. ResultsPatients with malignant tumors most often presented with larger tumors and jaundice, which alone was predictive of survival (OR = 67). Forty-five percent of patients with pathologic...
The thermal dissolver, the main reactor of the SRC unit, has suffered a recurring problem. Specifically, it has been observed that whenever the reactor vessel is cooled to below 400/sup 0/F, its bottom head gasket leaks. An analysis of the thermal stress induced in the gasket, owing to transients across the bottom head flange, was sought. The analysis was facilitated by judiciously dividing a symmetric section of the reactor into 79 differential elements. Heat balances have been developed around each element. A numerical technique, the backward finite-difference approach, was employed to obtain the thermal behavior across the bottom head flange as a function of reactor heat-up time. The analysis performed affords an explanation for the failure of the gasket. Based on results of this work, recommendations have been suggested to provide the gasket and bolt stress requirements that are necessary to avoid leaks due to ...
Two major developments have given impetus to wider adoption of variable-speed turbine/generators in hydroelectric plants, both essentially environmental: (1) the need for stream-bed stability below river dams, and (2) the need to minimize fish damage. Also, the need to stabilize pumped-storage and generating efficiencies to match extreme changes in head levels has been a driving force. Variable-speed operation in hydro applications is relatively new to North America. In other parts of the world, it has been used in pumped-storage plants since 1971. In the US, and increasing potential exists for variable-speed hydro, considering the 30 pumped-storage plants already in operation and several river plants struggling with high head fluctuations--including four at stations operated by the Bonneville Power Administration. Several modifications to hydro-plant hardware and operating procedures are actively being considered at Bonneville--all of them ...
Quantitative assessment of bone scintigraphy was performed in fifty-six patients with hip joint disease including femoral neck fracture, aseptic necrosis of the femoral head, traumatic dislocation of the hip, Perthes disease, and transient synovitis of the hip. In the static study, bone scintigraphy was obtained 3 hours after injection of sup(99m)Tc-MDP by gamma camera equipped with a computer and uptake ratios were calculated. In the dynamic study, bone scintigraphy was performed in one, 3 and 5 hours after injection of radionuclide. Femoral head uptake ratio was markedly decreased in osteonecrosis following femoral neck fracture and characteristically increased in aseptic necrosis of the femoral head but prolonged retention of sup(99m)Tc-MDP could be observed. Uptake ratios of epiphysis were decreased in Perthes disease but normal in transient synovitis of the hip. Static and dynamic study of bone scintigraphy may be ...
The Underground Hydroelectric Pumped Storage (UHPS) Program Plan describes in detail the planned activities and expected accomplishments in the conduct of UHPS technology development and validation envisioned in the 1976 to 1990 time frame. This document describes the program objectives, implementation strategy, and management methodology. The concept of underground hydroelectric pumped storage is fully directed to application in the electric utility industry. This technology involves using electrical energy generated by base-load plants during off-peak load periods to drive a high-head pump/turbine which pumps water from a lower reservoir to a substantially elevated (upper) reservoir corresponding to a head of 1000 m or so. The upper reservoir is at ground level and the lower reservoir is below ground. Then, during peak-load periods, water in the upper reservoir is allowed to flow to the lower reservoir which, in turn, drives a hydraulic ...
Purpose To analyze the clinical profile, management and outcome of non-hematological tumors in head and neck region in children less than 18?years of age. Patients and methods Medical records of patients (0?18?years) presenting with non-hematological tumors of head and neck region from 2000 to 2010 were reviewed. Result Out of the 78 patients identified, 50 were males with median age of 14?years (3?months to 18?years). Histologically, 58 out of the 78 patients had malignant tumors and 20 were metastatic at presentation. Common site of tumor origin was noted as thyroid (23/78), salivary glands (21/78) and nasopharynx (13/78). Out of 78 patients, 44 patients were treated by surgery, 26 patients received radiation and 13 patients received chemotherapy, while 9 patients received radio-iodine (...
Fourteen patients with cervical hip fractures were treated with internal fixation using titanium screws. The femoral head vitality was evaluated with "9"9Tc"m-MDP scintigraphy and scintimetry within 2 weeks postoperatively and by serial low field magnetic resonance imaging (MR). Two patients with reduced radionuclide uptake (femoral head ratio =# 1.0), MR revealed a focal decrease of the signal intensity in the femoral head or neck at 2, 3 and 7 months after fracture, respectively. The radiographs in one of these patients were normal at 7 months after fracture. The second one showed signs of necrosis at 16 months and the last one developed delayed/non-union. With a non-ferromagnetic osteosynthesis the healing course after femoral neck fracture can be studied with low field MR equipment without disturbing artifacts. The time period between ischaemia and definite abnormalities on MR may embrace several months. (orig.).
The device for removing drilling fines from the well head includes a support disk encompassing the sucker rod of the drilling machine with frame made in the form of a dish with inner conical surface, and overturned truncated cone located in the dish of the support disk with the formation between them of a ring guide slit. In order to improve the effectiveness of removing the drilling fines and convenience of operation by excluding heavy manual auxiliary operations to clean the well head and to move the device from one well to another, it is equipped with a mechanism for suspension with a drive. The inner conical surface of the dish is equipped with slide blocks, while the overturned truncated cone is equipped with projections. The suspension mechanism is made in the form of a hydrocylinder and two pairs of levers connected in pairs by means of hinges. The hinges of each pair of levers are connected to the hydrocylinder, and the levers are ...
Background. To determine total upper limb function following selective neck dissection over a mean follow-up of 1.6 years. Methods. A retrospective questionnaire study in a tertiary head and neck surgical unit. One hundred forty-eight patients who underwent selective neck dissection for head and neck cancer from January 2000 to December 2005 were invited to participate. The main outcome measure was ipsilateral upper limb dysfunction as measured by the Disability of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire. Results. Sixty-five patients responded to the invitation to join the study from 148 invited. Despite accessory nerve conserving surgery for all the selective neck dissections studied, 23% reported no upper limb dysfunction, 54% reported mild upper limb dysfunction, 15% reported modera...
Drosophila melanogaster is a model organism rich in genetic tools to manipulate and identify neural circuits involved in specific behaviors. Here we present a technique for two-photon calcium imaging in the central brain of head-fixed Drosophila walking on an air-supported ball. The ball's motion is tracked at high resolution and can be treated as a proxy for the fly's own movements. We used the genetically encoded calcium sensor, GCaMP3.0, to record from important elements of the motion-processing pathway, the horizontal-system lobula plate tangential cells (LPTCs) in the fly optic lobe. We presented motion stimuli to the tethered fly and found that calcium transients in horizontal-system neurons correlated with robust optomotor behavior during walking. Our technique allows both behavior ...
Most of previous study for creep rupture of RPV lower head under severe accident condition, have been focused on global failure of RPV lower head. In contract, the local failure of the RPV nozzle region has not been studied in detail. The existence and features of nozzle failure in LAVA-ICI specimen of KAERI and LHF-4 specimen of Sandia National Lab., are observed. It is confirmed that the nozzle failure of LHF-4 specimen is due to the hoop stress in the RPV. The tensile tests in various temperatures and the creep rupture tests in various temperatures and stresses, are accomplished. The finite element analysis for LAVA-ICI experiment was confirmed, and the stress and deformation analysis results are used in LAVA-ICI experiment. 17 refs., 34 figs., 3 tabs. (Author)
Slurry characteristics have a significant impact on centrifugal pump performance. For instance, as particle size increases or the percent solids concentration increases, pump head and efficiency decrease. Therefore, before a slurry pump is selected, it is important to define the slurry characteristics as accurately as possible. The effect of the slurry characteristics on the head and efficiency of the centrifugal pump will be emphasized (the effect on flowrate is less significant). The effect of slurry characteristics is more predominant in smaller pumps (with smaller diameter impellers) than in larger pumps. The data and relationship between the various slurry parameters have been developed from correlations and nomographs published by pump vendors from their field data and test results. The information helps to avoid specifying an undersized pump/motor assembly for slurry service.
Abstract. The pathogenesis of normal (intraocular) pressure glaucoma has remained unclear so far. As hospital-based studies showed an association of normal-pressure glaucoma with low systemic blood pressure, particularly at night, and with vasospastic symptoms, it has been hypothesized that a vascular factor may play a primary role in the pathogenesis of normal-pressure glaucoma. That assumption may, however, be contradicted by the morphology of the optic nerve head. Eyes with normal-pressure glaucoma and glaucomatous eyes with high-intraocular pressure can show a strikingly similar appearance of the optic nerve head, including a loss of neuroretinal rim, a deepening of the optic cup, and an enlargement of parapapillary atrophy. These features, however, are not found in any (other) vascula...
Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) content is increased in many types of tumor cells. We have investigated the mechanism by which resveratrol, a stilbene that is pro-apoptotic in many tumor cell lines, causes apoptosis in human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma UMSCC-22B cells by a mechanism involving cellular COX-2. UMSCC-22B cells treated with resveratrol for 24 h, with or without selected inhibitors, were examined: (1) for the presence of nuclear activated ERK1/2, p53 and COX-2, (2) for evidence of apoptosis, and (3) by chromatin immunoprecipitation to demonstrate p53 binding to the p21 promoter. Stilbene-induced apoptosis was concentration-dependent, and associated with ERK1/2 activation, serine-15 p53 phosphorylation and nuclear accumulation of these proteins. These effects were blocked by ...
...The RSPB: Great crested grebe A delightfully elegant waterbird with ornate head plumes which led to its being hunted for its feathers, almost leading to its extermination from the UK. E-mail to a friendE-newsletterContact us Home England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales About Overview Awards & recognition Contact us Facts and figures History How we are run Inspiring work Job vacancies Looking to the future Media centre Offices The RSPB view ...status: Green Listen Get Flash player Play sound 1 videoLatin name Podiceps cristatusFamily Grebes (Podicipedidae)Overview A delightfully elegant waterbird with ornate head plumes which led to its being hunted for its feathers, almost leading to its extermination from the UK. They dive to feed and also to escape, preferring this to flying. On land they are clumsy because their feet are placed so far back on their bodies. ...
One of the most popular stories found in the Upani?ads centers around a debate between the ritualist and philosopher, Yajnavalkya, and a series of interlocutors about the nature of sacrifice, the self, and the cosmos. This story, from a textual-historical perspective, is unique in that the last interlocutor, Sakalya, is said to die by having his head shatter because he is unable to answer a question about the fundamental nature of immortality. In this paper, I analyze the interrelationship of these two main characters and argue that this relationship is one key to not only understanding the portrayal of these characters, but also the larger import of this debate about immortality. I provide an intratextual rationale for the head-shattering conclusion and discuss how character and d...
An 80-K Joule-Thomson (J-T) cooling system designed for the Probe Infrared Laser Spectrometer (PIRLS) proposed for the Huygens Titan Probe of the Cassini Saturn orbiter mission is presented. The cryogenic cooling requirements of the PIRLS instrument are listed, and the cooler system design including details of a J-T cryostat, cold head, and dewar design is described along with the results of a thermal modeling effort and lab cooler performance testing. It is shown that by using active feedback temperature control of the cold head in combination with the self-regulating action of the J-T cryostat, a temperature stability of less than 0.1 mK/min is achieved by the cooler weighting 1.8 kg.
339 CT und 95 MRT examinations in 210 partients were evaluated retrospectively to determine the value of CT and MRT for follow-up of head and neck tumors and for diagnosing recurrences. Semi-quantitative evaluation of tumor extent during and after radiotherapy showed advantages for MRT since changes induced by treatment, particularly oedema, produced less contrast loss in the images. CT had a sensitivity of 81% for the recognition of recurrences; this was 92% for MRT. Specificity for CT was 76% and for MRT 86%. Concerning the reliability of individual diagnostic criteria, space occupying lesions were the most valuable in CT diagnosis. For MRT, space occupying lesions and infiltration into neighbouring structures were of equal value. Because of differences in the nature of the signals, MRT proved better than CT in characterising recurrent masses and this improved the differentiation between scarring and local tumour recurrence. (orig.).
Harvested plant organs such as heads of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) experience a range of stresses that can lead to premature reduction in quality and eventual senescence. Understanding plant responses to stress may open up novel opportunities to extend postharvest life. One of the first stresses experienced by harvested organs is likely to be water deficit stress since severance of the vascular system halts the normal flux of water into the tissue. For broccoli branchlets with their cut ends held in water, transcriptome analysis based on hybridization of broccoli floret mRNA to a heterologous Arabidopsis microarray revealed that the transcript abundance of 431 genes reliably changed within 48h of harvest. Of these, transcripts of 146 genes increased and 34 genes decreased...
This paper presents the development of technical requirements for the design of aircraft-mounted sampling equipment for the airborne radioactivity monitoring. A design concept and internal equipments required for the sampling system will be described in detail to provide information for the development of technical requirements for aircraft-mounted sampling equipment. This will be followed by description of the exterior designing process. Difficulties of designing exterior of the sampling system lie in the fluid dynamics performance of the system. The objective of the design is to maximize the suction flow necessary for achieving high efficiency of radionuclide sampling, while minimizing disturbance to the aircraft which carries the system. The design optimization was performed with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. The design options considered here were (1) diameter to head ratio of top and back head, (2) nozzle length and ...
The Reactor Head Structure Assembly(RHSA) is the structure located on the reactor assembly. The purpose of the assembly is providing interface location for cables, preventing pipe whips, prohibiting instruments from becoming missiles, and restraining CEDMs' horizontal motion. On the RHSA, Reactor Disconnect Panels(RDP) are installed. The installation location of RDP is to be decided to minimize the geometric interface with other components. Since the neighborhood of RHSA is crowded due to many connectors and cables, it is necessary to find the good design of RHSA to make an intricate situation attenuated and the required function maintained. The geometric shape and overall configuration of RHSA are determined by axiomatic design approach. The FRs of RHSA are specified and the corresponding DPs are found to satisfy FRs in sequence. The finite element analysis is carried out based on the result of the axiomatic design to evaluate the structural integrity.
In 15 patients (16 hip joints) we found the clinical and radiological signs of BMOS. On T1-weighted MRI images areas of low signal intensity could be observed in the head, neck and the intertrochanteric region of the femur in various extensions. These areas showed a significant increase in signal intensity on the T2-weighted images. Because pain was resistant to conservative therapy all these patients were treated by core decompression of the femoral head in a prospective study. Bone cores were evaluated histologically using undecalcified sections and quantitative microradiography. The existence of intramedullary oedema in exactly the regions exhibiting the MRI pattern of bone marrow oedema was verified histologically; however, bone and marrow changes similar to those of early avascular necrosis (AVN) were also visible. (orig.)
A detector head for in situ inspection of irradiated nuclear fuel assemblies submerged in a water-filled nuclear fuel storage pond. The detector head includes two parallel arms which extend from a housing and which are spaced apart so as to be positionable on opposite sides of a submerged fuel assembly. Each arm includes an ionization chamber and two fission chambers. One fission chamber in each arm is enclosed in a cadmium shield and the other fission chamber is unshielded. The ratio of the outputs of the shielded and unshielded fission chambers is used to determine the boron content of the pond water. Correcting for the boron content, the neutron flux and gamma ray intensity are then used to verify the declared exposure, cooling time and fissile material content of the irradiated fuel assembly.
Forty-seven subtraction images of FCR were compared with subtraction images of conventional angiography of the head. Quality of the FCR images were equal or superior to that of conventional angiography. Antero-posterior projection of external carotid arteriography by FCR was most useful because of its wide dynamic range. As contrast resolution of FCR is superior to that of conventional angiography, only half diluted contrast media was needed. As for spacial resolution, FCR is slightly inferior to conventional angiography. However, most vessels which are clinically important were adequately demonstrated. A weak point of FCR which should be improved is relatively long time to process the images after radiation exposure. (author).
Active oxygens produced by low-dose irradiation can induce the synthesis of proteins involved in the active oxygen reduction path and can activate the chemical self-defense mechanisms in vivo, which can alleviate the injuries caused by active oxygens themselves. The following findings suggests that it is not only by low-dose irradiation that can induce the responses described above but also by any physical and/or chemical stresses which can produce small amount of active oxygens in vivo. 1. X-irradiation with 0.5 Gy and/or water immersion and restraint induced heat shock protein (HSP)70 in rat stomach cells. HSP70 was also induced in adrenal cells by paraquat administration. 2. The SOD activity in pancreas of rat significantly increased by #gamma#-irradiation with 0.5 Gy. 0.5 Gy irradiation preceeding the alloxan administration significantly suppressed the increase in pancreatic lipid peroxides and in blood glucose levels, degranulation in #beta# cells, and ...
The authors studied the resolution of racemic glycidol through esterification with butyric acid catalyzed by porcine pancreatic lipase in organic media. A screening of seven solvents (log P values between 0.49 and 3.0, P being the n-octanol-water partition coefficient of the solvent) showed that neither log P nor the logarithm of the molar solubility of water in the solvent provides good correlations between enantioselectivity and the properties of the organic media. Chloroform was one of the best solvents as regards the enantiometic purity (e.p.) of the ester produced. In this solvent, the optimum temperature for the reaction was determined to be 35C. The enzyme exhibited maximum activity at a water content of 13 [plus minus] 2% (w/w). The enantiomeric purity obtained was 83 [plus minus] 2% of (S)-glycidol butyrate and did not depend on the alcohol concentration or the enzyme water content for values of these parameters up to 200 mM and 25% (w/w), respectively. ...
A radioimmunoassay is described for the molluscan neuropeptide, Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-NH"2(FMRFamide). The antibody used is C-terminal-specific and shows slight but significant (1-2%) cross-reactivity with chicken pancreatic polypeptide (APP). The assay has been used to identify in rat brain extracts a pair of molecules that may represent mammalian counterparts of FMRFamide. Their concentrations were highest in spinal cord and hypothalamus (>10 pmol.g"-_1) and lowest in cerebellum and striatum (<3.5 pmol.g"-_1). The two immunoreactive peptides were separated on CM ion-exchange chromatography where they appeared to be less basic than FMRFamide. On Sephadex G50 gel filtration one eluted in a similar position to FMRFamide and the other slightly earlier suggesting it may be of higher molecular weight. The rat immunoreactive components do not correspond to previously described neuropeptides or hormones, and may be members of a new group of mammalian neuropeptides with ...
Gallstone is a common disease with a 10% prevalence in the United States and Western Europe. However, it is only symptomatic in 20-30% of patients, with biliary pain "colic" being the most common symptom. Complications of asymptomatic gallstone disease are generally rare, with an incidence of <1 %/yr. The most common complications of gallstone disease are acute cholecystitis, acute pancreatitis, ascending cholangitis, and gangrenous gallbladder. Less frequent complications include Mirizzi syndrome, cholecystocholedochal fistula, and gallstone ileus. Mirizzi syndrome and cholecystocholedochal fistula are two manifestations of the same process that starts with impaction of a gallstone in the gallbladder neck that results in obstruction of the bile duct, causing jaundice. The gallstone may erode into the bile duct, causing cholecystocholedochal fistula. Gallstone ileus refers to small bowel obstruction resulting from the impaction of one or more gallstones after ...
Serum ferritin levels were measured in 72 normal subjects and in 214 cases with various diseases by an immunoradiometric assay. In normal subjects, the serum ferritin levels were 27-230 ng/ml. Elevated serum ferritins were observed in most cases with iron excess and acute hepatitis. Markedly elevated levels were found in the majority of cases with acute leukemia, malignant lymphoma, hepatoma, and pancreatic cancer. High ferritin levels were also found in other malignant diseases. However, the range overlapped broadly with that of nonmalignant diseases. The serum ferritin correlated significantly with serum iron in normals and in those with iron deficiency anemia. In most nonmalignant cases, the serum ferritin and iron levels distributed on a regression line obtained from levels in normals and those with iron deficiency anemia. However, 92% of the malignant cases showed a serum ferritin to iron ratio higher than that of normal subjects. The estimation of the serum ...
The evaluation of radiotherapy and surgery as exclusive local treatment in comparably selected subgroups of patients with Ewing's sarcoma on the basis of the CESS 86-data. In the German multicenter Ewing's sarcoma study CESS 86, treatment consisted for four 9-week-courses of VACA- or VAIA-chemotherapy plus local therapy. VACA (vincristine, actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide, adriamycin) was given in low-risk extremity tumors with a tumor volume below 100 cm"3. Highrisk patients with central lesions or a tumor volume >100 m"3 received VAIA (ifosfamide instead of cyclophosphamide). Local therapy started after one complete chemotherapy course in week 10. Based on an individual decision in each patient, local therapy was either radical surgery or resection plus postoperative irradiation with 45 Gy or definitive radiotherapy with 60 Gy. Because of poor results with radiotherapy in a preceeding study, it was intended to restrict irradiation to patients with small ...
Background: In the German CESS-studies, Ewing's sarcoma patients with pulmonary metastases at diagnosis were considered as candidates for additional bilateral lung irradiation. We have retrospectively analyzed the impact of radiotherapy on survival. Material and methods: Out of 42 patients presenting with pulmonary metastases of Ewing's sarcoma between 1981 and June 1992, 30 were evaluable. One patient died of progressive disease prior to lung irradiation. The other patients had a complete radiographic remission either after chemotherapy (n=25) or chemotherapy plus resection of lung metastases (n=4). 22 patients received bilateral lung irradiation with doses of 12 to 21 Gy (once daily 1.5 Gy or twice daily 1.25 Gy), six had no further treatment and one had bone marrow transplantation for consolidation. Results: Ten patients are in complete remission, nine of them had received lung irradiation and one had a complete resection of three lung ...
The results of 144 previously untreated cases of primary Ewing's sarcoma of bone are reported with a minimum follow-up of 5 years. This series was treated between 1972 and 1982 at Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli with a combined therapy. The local control of the disease consisted of amputation (ten cases), resection followed by radiation therapy (35-45 Gy) (48 cases) and radiation therapy alone (40-60 Gy) (86 cases). Adjuvant chemotherapy, rigorously standardized, was performed according two different protocols: the first (85 cases treated in the period 1972-1978) consisted of vincristine (VCR) Adriamycin (doxorubicin) (ADM), and cyclophosphamide (EDX); the second (59 cases treated in the period 1979-1982) of VCR, ADM, EDX and dactinomycin (DACT). At a follow-up of 5 to 16 years (median, 9), 59 patients (41%) are continuously disease-free (CDF), 81 (56%) developed metastatic disease and/or local recurrence, and four (3%) had a second malignancy. Three factors seem to be ...
Background and purpose: In order to investigate the feasibility, toxicity and antitumor efficacy of hyperfractionated radiation therapy, 37 adult patients with incompletely resected supratentorial low-grade glioma were entered into a phase II study. Materials and methods: The radiation therapy dose was 55 Gy in 50 fractions in 25 treatment days over 5 weeks to the tumor plus a 2-cm margin, with an additional 17.6 Gy given in 16 fractions in 8 treatment days over 1.5 weeks to the tumor plus a 1-cm margin, using 1.1 Gy b.i.d. fractionation with a 6 h interfraction interval. The total tumor dose was 72.6 Gy in 66 fractions in 33 treatment days over 6.5 weeks. Results: The median survival time (MST) for all 37 patients has not yet been attained, while 5- and 7-year survival rates were 75% and 69%, respectively. The median time to tumor progression (MTP) has also not yet been attained, while 5- and 7-year progression-free survival (PFS) rates were both 70%. There was no ...
Aim: To evaluate magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) with high-resolution dynamic gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in determining the imaging features of hilar cholangiocarcinoma that relate to tumour extent and influence resectability. Materials and methods: Twenty-six patients that underwent resection were reviewed. Tumour location and extent, lobar atrophy, the degree of portal vein and hepatic artery involvement were recorded. The findings were correlated with surgical and histopathological findings. Results: Biliary assessment was concordant in 14 and discordant in eight of 14 stented and four of 12 non-stented patients. In 63/82 veins and 43/74 arteries results were fully concordant. The mean sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV) in predicting involvement of the main portal vein (MPV) at surgery were 83.3, 100, 100, and 92.5%; of the left main branch of the portal vein (LPV) ...
Hemodynamic characteristics were studied by using in vivo vascular imaging techniques in 17 resected early stage hepatocellular carcinoma (e-HCC) by comparing them with 49 resected advanced HCCs (ad-HCC) less than 3 cm in diameter. In this study, e-HCC was defined as the nodule being uniformly composed of well-differentiated HCC or adenomatous hyperplastic nodule containing well-differentiated HCC foci within the nodule. In vivo vascular imaging techniques are as follows; US angiography with intraarterial CO{sub 2} microbubbles were performed to assess the tumor arterial vascularity, and CT during arterial portography (CTAP) was performed to assess the portal perfusion within the nodule. Of 17 e-HCC nodules 5 were hypervascular, 5 were isovascular, 4 were hypovascular, and 3 were vascular spot in hypovascular pattern in contrast to 49 ad-HCC nodules, 43 of which were hypervascular and 6 were isovascular. Of 14 e-HCCs, 9 nodules showed perfusion ...
From 1979 to 1986, 182 patients with biopsy proven diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma of bone were observed. One hundred of the 182 patients (72 males, 28 females, median age 15.8 years) with localized disease and no previous treatment were treated with chemotherapy (VCR, ADM, CTX, D-ACT) for 15-18 months. Local treatment was radiotherapy (42 patients), surgery (31 patients), or a combination of both (27 pts). Radiation doses ranged from 45 to 64 Gy given with conventional fractionation. Median follow-up was 51.2 months (24-106). Overall and disease-free survival were, respectively, 58.7 and 42.6%. Resected patients tended to have a better local control (Surgery 93.6%, Surgery + Radiation therapy 92.6%, Radiation therapy 69.1%). Disease-free survival was significantly related to the volume of the primary tumor (bulky: 33.2%, not-bulky: 57.7%), to site (extremities 54.6%, central sites 16.6%, other sites 40.9%), and to local treatment (Radiation therapy 30.3%, Surgery + ...
Larvae of the sunburst diving beetle, Thermonectus marmoratus, have a cluster of six stemmata (E1-6) and one eye patch on each side of the head. Each eye has two retinas: a...Full Text Available
An irradiation head with sample holders is described and measurement geometry is reported. Measurements were made for optimizing the distance between the source and the sample and for optimizing the sample diameter. The optimal distance between the source and the sample does not depend on the collimator diameter. The sample diameter should not exceed 30 - 35 mm. Sensitivity and detection limits were determined for Zn, Pb and Br and calibration curves were plotted. (M.D.) 6 figs., 2 tabs., 4 refs.
The Lowell Hydroelectric Project (Eldred L. Field) is a key feature of the Departments of Energy's National Low Head Hydroelectric Power Demonstration Program. This report summarizes the Project's Construction which began in October 1983 and was completed in November 1985. It also details project construction costs.
Authors obtained T1-weighted MRI images of the femoral head after fracture of the femoral neck and classified the signals into four patterns to investigate the sequential changes of the femoral head. The T1-weighted MRI images obtained initially after femoral neck fracture showed a normal pattern in 10 of the 15 hip joints studied. MRI images obtained subsequently still showed the normal signal pattern in eight of the 10 hip joints which had shown the normal pattern in the first MRI, while two of the 10 joints subsequently showed a band pattern. The joint with the homogeneous pattern in the first MRI subsequently showed a band pattern. Of the three joints with an inhomogeneous pattern in the first MRI, two joints showed a subsequent band pattern, and the other a normal pattern. The joints which showed a band pattern continued to show a similar band pattern. Eventually, all hip joints studied showed a normal or band pattern within six months ...
The proton therapy gives an irradiation adapted to the shape and the depth of tumors ( eyes, head and neck) with a millimetric, even sub millimetric precision for the ophthalmological tumors. It is equally an excellent tool for the pediatrics tumors. For numerous treatments in France the proton therapy is associated to the photons treatments (x radiation). however, others physical treatments could modulate the medical offer, such thermal therapy or treatments by ultrasonic waves. (N.C.)
Grain yield is a major goal for the improvement of durum wheat, particularly in drought-prone areas. In this study, the genetic basis of grain yield (GY), heading date (HD), and plant height (PH) was...Full Text Available
Papers are presented under the session headings: research in mechanical fragmentation; rock characterization, remote sensing and interface detection; monitoring, data transmission and communications; tunnel boring machines; minewide monitoring and expert systems for ground control; machine guidance; shaft and raise boring; automation of drilling equipment; machine automation and control; new developments in mechanical miners; materials handling; innovative mining systems; general minewide monitoring and expert systems; ground support; human factors; and extraterrestrial mining.
This book is organized under the following headings: Electrohydrodynamic heat transfer augmentation; Forced convection augmentation and heat transfer control; Turbulent heat transfer; Thermal problems in the environment; Energy conversion systems; Measurement, visualization, and imaging; Thermal problems in space technology; and Thermal properties.
Loss of the sense of smell can be easily confirmed in any physician's office by having the patient try to identify various odors. The etiology of anosmia can be extremely varied, including nasopharyngeal disorders such as rhinitis and tumors; neurologic conditions such as head trauma, neoplasms, vascular lesions and infections of the central nervous system; viral infections; familial and congenital disorders; drugs; industrial exposure; endocrine diseases, and several other disorders. The prognosis of anosmia is guarded, and its treatment depends on the etiology.
LIMD1 is a tumour suppressor gene (TSG) down regulated in ∼80% of lung cancers with loss also demonstrated in breast and head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. LIMD1 is also a candidate TSG...Full Text Available
Two patients receiving maintenance dialysis therapy developed osteonecrosis, the first in the humeral head and the second in the talus. Both patients lacked known risk factors for developing osteonecrosis. A possible pathogenic role of secondary hyperparathyroidism in this disorder is suggested. Rheumatologists evaluating patients receiving maintenance dialysis with rheumatic manifestations should be aware of this potential complication. PMID:2185360
As part of a handbook on the efficient use of energy a chapter is included which is intended to give an appreciation of the principles and problems involved in the generation of nuclear power. The subject is discussed under the following headings: introductory nuclear physics; basic reactor physics; thermal reactors; fast reactors; fuel reserves and utilization; environmental considerations; nuclear fusion. (U.K.).
In 2000, a network of twenty-three piezometers was used to measure hydraulic head in the water-table aquifer (Upper Aquifer Zone of the Upper Three Runs Aquifer, or UAZ of the UTRA) along the ground water outcrops (i.e. seeplines) near the F- and H-Areas.
Due to their good hydraulic characteristic semi-axial pump turbines are used in the medium head range of pumped storage plants. This paper describes model tests performed on a semiaxial pump turbine model and shows the results of these tests. The aim of the model tests was the optimization of the hydraulic water passage, the measurement of the hydraulic characteristics over the whole operating range, the investigation of the cavitation behaviour, the investigation of the hydraulic forces and torques as well as the proof of the values guaranteed to the customer.
The authors propose an integrated indicator of pump-rod couplings that allows both the couplings and the pump operations to be appraised according to the given formula. (Formula provided). The dynamic relationships of rod operations were determined with nomographs. These relationships involve such factors as: the type and size of the sucker-rod string; the pressure load at the equalizer head and its correlation to threshold pressure at pump discharge; pump diameter; the rod weight and construction; and integral reliability indicators.
This paper reports that Sen. Bennett Johnston (D-La.) has vowed if Congress enacts an omnibus energy bill in the fall, it will not include a restriction on states' rights to proration natural gas production. Johnston, Senate energy committee chairman, will lead Senate conferees in their negotiations with members of the House of Representatives. The House energy bill has an antiproration amendment. The Senate's bill does not. Oklahoma's and Texas' recent actions to proration gas production prompted the federal legislation.
This bibliography includes over 600 references (with abstracts) on all aspects of waterjet cutting and cleaning. The references are listed under the following chapter headings: fluid mechanics of jets; jet impact; equipment; jet cleaning; jet cutting; civil engineering; mining and tunnelling; precision cutting; underwater; safety; and bibliographies. Separate author and corporate source indexes are provided.
As low temperature cryocoolers become more frequently used to cool superconducting magnets, it becomes increasingly apparent that the connection between the cooler and the magnet has an effect on the design and performance of the magnet. In general, the use of small coolers can be considered in two different temperature ranges; (1) from 3.8 to 4.8 K for magnet fabricated with LTS conductor and (2) from 18 to 35 K for magnets fabricated using HTS conductor. In general, both temperature ranges call for the use of a two-stage cooler. The best method for connecting a cooler to the magnet depends on a number of factors. The factors include: (1) whether the cooler must be used to cool down the magnet from room temperature, (2) whether the magnet must have one or more reservoirs of liquid cryogen to keep the magnet cold during a loss of cooling, and (3) constraints on the distance from the cooler cold heads and the magnet and its shield. Two methods for connecting low ...
Four new mutants are described whose phenotypic expression affects the length of the head of bacteriophage T4D. All mutants produce some phenotypically normal phage particles. Mutant pt21-34...Full Text Available
IntroductionPharyngo-laryngeal tumors classified as T3-4, N0-3, M0, are conventionally treated by mutilating surgery (total (pharyngo)-laryngectomy). Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy with...Full Text Available
Present-day requirements for radiotherapy equipment are considered. The recently developed linacs of LUE-5, LUE-25, LUE-15MM models, as well as a newly designed unified series of medical linacs of LUER-5M, LUER-20M, LUER-40M models are described in brief. The main scientific and technical problems that were solved during their construction, namely, development of accelerating structures, a radiation head, dosimetry equipment, a programming unit, a magnetic mirror etc. are described.
Summaries of the highlights of programs in the Earth Sciences Division are presented under four headings; Geosciences, Geothermal Energy Development, Nuclear Waste Isolation, and Marine Sciences. Utilizing both basic and applied research in a wide spectrum of topics, these programs are providing results that will be of value in helping to secure the nation's energy future. Separate abstracts have been prepared for each project for inclusion in the Energy Data Base. (DMC)
Analytical techniques for analyzing the effects of ship motion and attitude on the primary coolant system flow rates are presented. Design data for minimizing these effects are given. (C.J.G.)
Abstract Adult rhabdomyoma is a rare primary benign tumour of striated muscle origin that almost exclusively presents in the head and neck region with predilection for male. We herein report a case of an adult rhabdomyoma in a 67-year-old male with cytologic features. The lesions was located in the tongue extended to the left parapharyngeal region. We discuss the cytological findings with a brief review of the literature on this entity. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2010. 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
In connection with the Public Inquiry into the CEGB proposal to build a pressurised water reactor at Sizewell in Suffolk, the case for nuclear power is examined under the headings: the economics of nuclear power - how they would like them to be; systems analysis - net effective cost; CEGB prejudices the results (comparison with coal-fired plants; forecasting on various assumptions); discounting future costs; back-end costs soar (reprocessing); real reprocessing costs; AGR costs balloon.
Since the most efficient way to improve fuel economy in the part-load range is to increase the compression ratio, emphasis is placed on combustion chambers allowing high compression ratios combined with low octane requirements. According to Porsche experience, many demands can be met in the simplest manner by locating the combustion chamber in the piston crown. This configuration offers various advantages over its counterpart installed in the cylinder head. 24 refs.
References covering the years 1904-80 are listed under the following headings: cultivation and occurrence (India and Pakistan, Africa, South America, Pacific, Middle East); Taxonomy, morphology, variation and selection; Reference works and reviews; Ecology of Prosopis (General effects on surrounding soil and vegetation): Physiology (General, Roots, Growth, Hydrology, Saline tolerance); Control of mesquite: Propagation (Germination and other nursery techniques, Vegetative propagation): and Utilization (General, Chemical analyses, Food and Ethnobiology, Fodder, Wood, Charcoal, Gum, Paper). 141 references.
The World Wide Web has its historical roots in things such as the creation of the telegraph, the launching of the Sputnik and more, but it really all started in March 1989, when Tim Berners-Lee, a computer scientist at CERN in Geneva wrote a paper called Information Management: A proposal
Objective: To characterize the protocols with low-dose radiation in survey CT scans for localization. Methods: Eighty standard adult patients, head and body phantoms were recruited. Default protocols provided by operator's manual setting were that all the tube voltage for head, chest, abdomen and lumbar was 120 kV; the tube currents were 20,10,20 and 40 mA, respectively. Values of kV and mA in the low-dose experiments were optimized according to the device options. For chest and abdomen, the tube position were compared between default (0 degree) and 180 degree. Phantoms were scanned with above protocols, and the radiation doses were measured respectively. Paired t-test were used for comparisons of standard deviation in CT value, noise and exposure surface dose (ESD) between group with default protocols and group with optimized protocols. Results: The optimized protocols in low-dose CT survey scans were 80 kV, 10 mA for ...
Purpose: To determine if involved field radiation (IF) is equivalent to standard whole bone radiation (SF) in local tumor control; to establish patterns of failure following treatment; and to determine response, event free (EFS) and overall survival rates from multi-disciplinary therapy in Ewing's Sarcoma (ES). Materials and Methods: Between 1983 and 1988, 184 children with ES were enrolled onto POG 8346. 178 (97%) met eligibility criteria; 6 had non-ES pathology. Induction treatment of Cyclophosphamide/Adriamycin (C/A) x 12 weeks was followed by local treatment either surgery or radiation therapy (XRT) and C/A, Dactinomycin and Vincristine for 50 weeks. Resection was advised for patients with small primary tumors if accomplished without functional loss. 40 patients were randomized to receive SF, whole bone XRT to 39.6 Gy plus a 16.2 Gy boost (total 55.8 Gy) or IF to 55.8 Gy while 84 were assigned to IF XRT. Results: Of 179 eligible patients, 141 (79%) had ...
Subjects were 18 cases with adenocarcinoma of 20 mm or less in diameter, which were detected and resected surgically from September, 1993 to August, 1998. On these cases, thin-Section CT (TSCT) images were compared with pathological findings. Patients were 15 men and 3 women, with mean age of 63.4-year-old. An average tumor size was 11.5 mm (5-17 mm). According to pathological classification of Noguchi, type A as in 6 cases, type B in 3, type C in 7 and type F in 2. TSCT was carried by vas voltage =150 kVp, vas current =200 mA, beam width =2 mm, WW =2000 HU, and WL =-700 HU. The ratio of CT attenuation value in cancer by TSCT correlated with the ratio of aeration rate in the pathologic specimen. The cases of 30% or less on the ratio of CT attenuation value were 100% in types A and B, and 71% in type C. These results suggested that it is necessary to devide into two type in group of type C and the ratio of CT attenuation value is important on diagnosis of prognosis ...
Up to this time the sigmoid colostomy has been widely accepted and conventional treatment for radiation-injured rectum, but patients without residual malignancy strongly desire to live without colostomy. We have tried to remove the involved rectal segments by sphincter-saving procedures. Four patients underwent these procedures, pull-through procedure in three and low anterior resection in one. Among sphincter-saving procedures, pull-through procedure was most adequate. Provided the following five conditions are fulfilled, pull-through procedure should be considered for severe radiation-injured rectum. (1) No recurrence of initial malignancy in the pelvis. (2) More than 2 cm intact rectal segment above dentate line may be preserved. (3) No radiation-injured segment in upper sigmoid. (4) No severe radiation damage in small intestine. (5) Patients under 70 year-old, with normal tonus of anal sphincter.
Between 1970 and 1981, 348 patients underwent definitive irradiation. Of these patients 6 (1.7 per cent) sustained severe rectal injury as manifest by major rectal bleeding, rectal stricture, rectal mucosal slough and rectal ulceration. Severe rectal injury was observed in 0 of 13 patients (0 per cent) treated with 125iodine, 3 of 329 (1 per cent) treated with 6,400 to 6,800 rad external irradiation, 2 of 39 (5 per cent) treated with 7,000 to 7,300 rad external irradiation, and 1 of 7 (14 per cent) treated with 198gold and external irradiation. The impact of radiation dose, radiation therapy technique and surgical trauma was assessed. Rectal injury was managed by supportive measures in 2 patients and by diverting colostomy in 3 with benefit. One patient underwent abdominoperineal resection. A small bowel fistula and an intra-abdominal abscess developed, and the patient died.
Severe damage to the pelvic viscera is a complication of irradiation therapy that, unfortunately, cannot always be avoided. Resulting rectal and rectocolonic strictures, rectovaginal fistulas, and shortening and stenosis of the vagina present very difficult problems that frequently require a colostomy for relief and may permanently impair sexual function. The authors present a new approach to correction of these unfortunate lesions based on the use of proximal nonirradiated colon which serves as a vascular pedicle graft to correct the defect without a complicated and massive resection. Twenty-two such operations have been done with 19 satisfactory to excellent results and two total failures (one death from small bowel complications). All patterns and combinations of irradiation injury have been found amenable to this technique of repair. These have included both web and linear strictures with and without fistulas. In half of the patients, it was possible to make ...
Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an important tool in the radiologic diagnosis of diseases of the brain as it measures molecular motion of water that characterizes the microstructure of tissues. Its most important clinical use to date is the early detection of cerebral ischemia by revealing the ischemic injury shortly after vessel occlusion and simultaneously providing therapy-relevant information on the tissue at risk. Furthermore, diffusion MRI is diagnostically promising in other diseases of the brain and is thus increasingly becoming part of routine clinical protocols in the diagnosis of tumors, inflammation, trauma, demyelination, dysmyelination and neurodegeneration. Although abnormalities of diffusion are generally not pathognomonic, diffusion MRI affords information about tissue changes for specific disorders that complements information obtained with standard MR techniques and frequently shows pathology earlier. In addition, diffusion MRI can be applied to ...
Ten patients with suspected islet cell tumors (seven with possible gastrinomas, three with insulinomas) underwent diagnostic evaluation with dynamic CT scanning, routine CT scanning, angiography, and sonography. Venous sampling was also performed in selected instances. Nine sites of gastrinoma and three insulinomas were confirmed surgically in eight patients. Two patients had negative surgical explorations. Routine CT demonstrated five of the nine gastrinomas and one of two insulinomas. Angiography was positive in six of nine gastrinomas and all three insulinomas. Sonography showed only two of the nine gastrinomas and two of the three insulinomas. Dynamic CT scanning demonstrated three additional lesions (two gastrinomas, on insulinoma) not visible on routine CT scanning. Although most of these lesions were visible arteriographically, dynamic CT scans at the appropriate level localized the pathology in the transverse plane and greatly aided in surgical resection of ...
Ectopically located parathyroid adenomas may be difficult to find during initial neck exploration. They account for over 70 percent of missed adenomas found at reexploration. Preoperative localization of parathyroid adenomas would reduce unnecessary dissection and possibly reduce the number of negative results of initial neck exploration. Before reoperative parathyroid surgery is performed, some means of localization is mandatory to detect ectopic adenomas in the neck and mediastinum. Computed tomography and ultrasonography cannot effectively evaluate the mediastinum. Angiography and venous parathyroid hormone sampling are invasive, costly, and tedious to perform. We have shown that thallium-201 will accurately localize ectopic parathyroid adenomas. All 10 adenomas found in positions not immediately adjacent to the thyroid gland were detected by thallium-201 scintigraphy. One was a mediastinal adenoma resected with a median sternotomy. Our results suggest that ...
Early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (hepatoma) along with surgical resection is the most appropriate therapeutic modality. For this purpose, there have been many reports concerning the diagnostic value of Lipiodol-CT scan. The authors selected 45 patients with hepatoma during the period of Feb.1986 to Jan. 1988 who received a conventional CT scan, hepatic angiography and a Lipiodol-CT scan. The results were as follows: 1. There was no statistical significant between serum AFP level and mass size, morphology and amount of necrosis. 2. Tumor necrosis was observed in a single massive and multinodular type when the tumor size exceeded 5 cm. 3. Pattern II on Lipiodol-CT, homogenous accumulation of Lipiodol except for the area of inner necrosis, was most frequently demonstrated, which means that a tumor mass with hypervascularity and increased blood flow will attract Lipiodol better. 4. Lipiodol-CT was superior to conventional CT in detecting small, daughter ...
Until recently no active treatment for advanced or metastatic gastrointestinal stroma tumors (GIST) was available. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib has revolutionized the treatment of this disease and the median overall survival now reaches 5 years. The standard dose of imatinib is 400 mg per day. Locally advanced GIST should be treated with systemic therapy prior to surgical resection. Imatinib was recently licensed for adjuvant therapy following complete surgical removal of GIST in patients with a significant risk of recurrence. (orig.) [German] Bis vor einigen Jahren existierte keine wirksame systemische Therapie fuer fortgeschrittene oder metastasierte gastrointestinale Stromatumoren (GIST). Der Tyrosinkinaseinhibitor Imatinib hat die Behandlung dieser Tumoren revolutioniert, die mediane Ueberlebenszeit liegt heute bei etwa 5 Jahren. Die Standarddosierung von Imatinib betraegt initial 400 mg/Tag. Lokal fortgeschrittene Tumoren werden primaer systemisch ...
Ewing's sarcoma is a highly malignant neoplasm of the bone whose origin is still uncertain. A strong relationship exists between Ewing's sarcoma and tumors of neural origin (Ewing family of tumors). Ewing's sarcoma must be distinguished from other round-cell tumors like lymphoma and neuroblastoma and also must be differentiated from osteogenic sarcomas. On plain radiographs, Ewing's sarcoma appears as a lytic or mixed lytic-sclerotic, rarely as predominantly sclerotic lesion with margins Lodwick grade III. It is located primarily in the diaphyseal and metadiaphyseal regions of the long bones of the lower extremities. A large soft tissue tumor is usually present. Magnetic resonance imaging is the imaging modality of choice to evaluate the extent of the primary lesion, to monitor the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and to follow up non-resected Ewing's sarcomas. Bone scintigraphy is necessary to detect skeletal metastasis, and "2"0"1thallium scanning has been ...
In 1981, the German Society of Pediatric Oncology initiated a multi-institutional study for the treatment of Ewing's sarcoma. The protocol (Cooperative Ewing's Sarcoma Study, CESS 81) consisted of four courses of a four-drug-regimen (VACA), each course taking nine weeks. Local therapy (radical surgery or resection plus irradiation or radiotherapy alone) was performed after the second course. The results of CESS 81 can be summarized as follows: VACA-chemotherapy is effective in controlling systemic disease. Initial tumor mass and response to initial chemotherapy are of major prognostic value for local control and survival. Permanent local control is a problem, especially in irradiated patients. The high local failure rate in irradiated patients in CESS 81 could be attributable to the following reasons: Late start of local therapy (after 18 weeks of chemotherapy), uneven distribution of prognostic parameters: Large tumors were more often irradiated than operated, ...
Abstract Background & aims: Hepatitis B or C virus infection is considered to be the main cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Japan. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a carcinogen associated with HCC in regions with high exposure. Mutations in codon 249, exon 7 are a hallmark of AFB1 exposure. Therefore, to clarify the role of AFB1 in hepatocarcinogenesis, we examined AFB1-DNA in liver tissue and sequenced TP53 in Japanese patients with HCC. Methods: Hepatocyte AFB1-DNA adducts were determined immunohistochemically and direct sequencing of TP53 was done to determine mutations in 188 of 279 patients who underwent hepatic resection for HCC. We assessed hepatitis C virus antibodies (HCV Ab) and HBSAg expression; patients without either were defined as having non-B non-C hepatocellular carcinoma (...
Forty resected cases of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma were classified into four types according to the gross appearance; type I: mass forming type (n=8), type II: mass forming with periductal infiltrating type (n=20), type III: periductal infiltrating type (n=9) and type IV: intraductal growth type (n=3). Diagnostic features of these four types were studied. Peripheral enhancement was a common angiographic feature and tumor stains were recognized in 88%, 20%, 0%, 33%, respectively. Angiography and dynamic computed tomography (D-CT) were useful in differential diagnosis with hepatocellular carcinoma. Accuracy rate in diagnosis of portal vein involvement by angiography and D-CT was 82% and 91%, respectively. MRI was more useful in tumor detection than D-CT in cases with attenuation difference, in 55% of type II and in 75% of type III. Increase of arterial involvement, biliary tract involvement and portal vein involvement, incidence of lymph nodes metastases became ...
Cholangiocarcinoma may be associated with recurrent pyogenic cholangitis as a complication of longstanding proliferative cholangitis in the presence of intrahepatic stones. Sonographic and CT findings of six patients with cholangiocarcinoma of the liver associated with recurrent pyogenic cholangitis are presented. The cases were among 128 patients who underwent partial resection of the liver because of recurrent pyogenic cholangitis and its complication. On sonogram the mass was depicted in four patients as an ill-defined heterogenously echogenic mass and in one patient as a bulging contour; in the remaining one case the mass was not detected. There were small or large, shadowing or non shadowing stones within the tumor in five cases. In one case, the stone was in the duct proximal to the tumor. On CT scans of four patients, the tumors were depicted as an ill-defined, irregular low attenuation masses with variable contrast enhancement, the periphery being more ...
In cases of obstructive colorectal cancer (CRC), preoperative diagnosis of the proximal lesion is often difficult when the primary lesion impedes the passage of the endoscope. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in such cases. A total of 52 obstructive CRC patients who underwent preoperative FDG-PET and subsequent surgical resection were retrospectively reviewed. The correlation between characteristics of the proximal lesion and FDG-PET findings was analyzed statistically. There was a significant correlation between the proximal lesion size and the maximum standardized uptake value (P=0.00016). Abnormal FDG accumulation in the proximal colon indicated the existence of proximal cancer or adenoma with a sensitivity of 50% and a specificity of 100%. There was a significant difference in the distribution of tumor size between the cases with proximal abnormal accumulation and those ...
Summary Background Treatment of localised renal cell carcinoma consists of partial or radical nephrectomy. A substantial proportion of patients are at risk for recurrence because no effective adjuvant therapy exists. We investigated the use of an autologous, tumour-derived heat-shock protein (glycoprotein 96)-peptide complex (HSPPC-96; vitespen) as adjuvant treatment in patients at high risk of recurrence after resection of locally advanced renal cell carcinoma. Methods In this open-label trial, patients were randomly assigned to receive either vitespen (n=409) or observation alone (n=409) after nephrectomy. Randomisation was done in a one to one ratio by a computer-generated pseudo-random number generator, with a block size of four, and was stratified by performance score, lymph node stat...
In August 1982, a 44-year-old man was diagnosed as having rectal cancer, histologically diagnosed as well differentiated adenocarcinoma, and abdominoperineal resection and colostomy were performed. Postoperatively, he received chemotherapy with mitomycin C up to a total dose of 100 mg. In September 1986, lung metastasis occurred and he was treated with a combination chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin, pirarubicin and 5-fluorouracil. In the following year, radiation treatment (total: 6900 rad) was given for a recurrent pelvic lesion. Peripheral blood on April 30, 1988, showed anemia, thrombocytopenia and appearance of myeloblasts, and a diagnosis of acute myelogenous leukemia (FAB: M1) was made. Combination chemotherapy (including aclarubicin, vincristine, behenoyl ara-C, daunorubicin, 6-mercaptopurine, cytarabine, etoposide and prednisolone) failed to induce remission and the patient died in June 1988. This case was thought to be one of secondary leukemia ...
Fuel assemblies in a reactor pressure vessel are disposed in a reactor core shroud. The own weight of the fuel assembly is supported by a reactor core support plate, and is supported, for the horizontal direction, by an upper lattice plate and the reactor core support plate. A support portion for the upper portion of the fuel assembly is disposed above the fuel assembly, and a support portion for the support portion described above is joined to a shroud head by welding. The support portion for the upper portion of the fuel assembly has a network-like portion which absorbs and disperses rising force which exerted on the fuel assembly when the fuel assembly is risen by seismic forces. The rising force exerted on the fuel assembly absorbed by the network-like portion is effectively transferred to the shroud head by the support portion. With such a constitution, rising of the fuel assembly can be prevented against the seismic vibrations having ...
This paper examines the feasibility of returning coal mine wastes to the mined-out areas, as encouraged by PL 95-87, the ''Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977'' (SMCRA). Reviews a National Academy of Sciences report which identified alternative backfilling methods. Presents diagram of mechanical backfilling with gravity and mechanical transport, and tables of existing underground mine waste disposal methods and a summary of technical feasibility of alternative disposal systems. Evaluated systems include gravity disposal with mechanical surface transport; gravity disposal with mechanical in-mine transport; complete mechanical disposal; mechanical disposal with gravity surface to underground transport; direct hydraulic disposal; hydraulic disposal with natural head; hydraulic disposal with artificial head; pneumatic disposal with mechanical surface transport; pneumatic disposal with mechanical ...
Discussions were given on the characteristics of a diesel engine to emit unburned hydrocarbon (HC) created in a long idling operation. The engine tested in the experiment is a direct injection diesel engine with six water-cooled were investigated varying the jet hole diameter and length of the jet nozzle. In the initial operation period, the HC showed high values. This is thought because part of the injected fuel has deposited on the wall because of low combustion chamber wall temperature, and the fuel deposit that did not evaporate during combustion evaporated during expansion process and emitted unburned. The head was dismantled to investigate the carbon flowers deposited on the nozzle and the relationship between the carbon and the HC deposited on the head face and the combustion chamber wall. It was clarified that the HC increase was phenomenal compared with that of the carbon. This is because the injected fuel was adsorbed into the carbon, ...
Experimental investigations are being conducted on a single-cylinder direct-injection diesel engine to examine the effects of combustion chamber specifications and swirl ratios on the heat release and transient heat transfer characteristics. Heat rejection was examined on the basis of heat release calculations using cylinder pressure time histories. Transient surface temperature data obtained from stationary locations in the piston and cylinder head were used as the basis for determining the transient heat flux rates. The results showed good agreement with the heat rejection calculated from cylinder pressure data and that transient heat flux in a piston cavity was reduced with the larger cavity diameter and a higher swirl ratio. On the other hand, a transient heat flux in a piston head was not changed by the cavity diameter and swirl ratio. 5 refs., 19 figs.
Method is proposed for expanding the pile foundation elastic analysis method (displacement method) to cover a larger displacement region, and its appropriateness is verified by a field test. In this report, stability calculation is discussed in which the present displacement method is expanded by assuming an equivalent plastic hinge on the pile head and by replacing the soil spring in the large displacement region with an equivalent linear elastic spring. A static horizontal loading test is conducted for a foundation using a real pile, which is an application of this method. On the assumption that a hinge is generated on the pile head, the pile spring constant of the current displacement method is replaced with a value that takes into consideration the plastic hinge region, and this enables the analysis of pile behavior even after breakdown. This method is applied to the result of a loading test using a real foundation, and it is found that it ...
A scintimetric study using Tc-99m MDP was made of 54 patients with delayed union, nonunion, or late segmental collapse of the femoral head, 4-92 months after femoral neck fracture. In radiographically verified collapse, the radionuclide uptake ratio between the femoral head on the fractured and on the intact side (HHR) was significantly higher than in fractures resulting in delayed union or nonunion. On the basis of scintimetric and radiographic findings, the patients with healing disturbances could be divided into three groups, characterized by the following features: (1) Satisfactory post-reduction position of the fracture without subsequent redisplacement and a high HHR, which as a rule turned out to be delayed union; (2) The same radiographic pattern but with a lower HHR, which in most cases resulted in nonunion; (3) Inadequate reduction or early redisplacement of the fracture with a high HHR, which resulted in nonunion. The fractional ...
A brain weight deficit of about 70 mg was induced at doses of approximately 75-mGy and a deficit of 60 mg was induced at 100 mGy. This confirms the effects projected and observed by Wanner and Edwards. Although the data do not demonstrate a clear dose-response relationship between the 75-mGy and 100-mGy groups, the data are statistically consistent with a dose-response effect because of the overlapping confidence intervals. The lack of a statistically significant observation is most likely related to the small difference in doses and the limited numbers of animals examined. There are several factors that can influence the brain weight of guinea pig pups, such as caging and housing conditions, the sex of the animal, and litter size. These should be taken into account for accurate analysis. Dam weight did not appear to have a significant effect. The confirmation of a micrencephalic effect induced x rays at doses of 75-mGy during this late embryonic stage of development is consistent with ...
Purpose: In an experimental study, the correlation between the trabecular bone density of the different regions of the proximal femur and the fracture load in the setting of femoral neck fractures was examined. Methods: The bone mineral density 41 random proximal human femora was estimated by single-energy quanitative CT (SE-QCT). The trabecular bone density was measured at the greatest possible extracortical volume at midcapital, midneck and intertrochanteric level and in the 1 cm"3 volumes of the centres of these regions in a standardised 10 mm thick slice in the middle of the femoral neck axis (in mg/ml Ca-hydroxyl apatite). The proximal femora were then isolated and mounted on a compression/bending device under two-legged stand conditions and loaded up to the point when a femoral neck fracture occurred. Results: Statistical analysis revealed a linear correlation between the trabecular bone density and the fracture load for the greater regions, with the highest value in the maximal ...
Two headed motor proteins, such as kinesin and dynein, hidrolyze environmental ATP in order to propel unidirectionally along cytoskeletal filaments such as microtubules. In the case of kinesin, protein heads bind primarily on the alpha tubulin site of asymmetric alpha-beta 8nm-long tubulin dimers that constitute the microtubular protofilaments. Kinesin dimers overcome local binding forces up to 5pN and are known to move on protofilaments with ATP concentration-dependent speeds while hydrolizing on average one ATP molecule per 8nm step. The salient features of protein trajectories are the distinct abrupt usually 8nm-long steps from one tubulin dimer to the next interlaced with long quiescent binding periods at a tubulin site. Discrete walks of this type are characterized by substantially reduced variances compared to pure biased random walks, and as a result rule out flashing-type ratchet models as possible mechanisms for motor movement. On the ...
Motivated by recent experiments on KIF1A, a representative member of single-headed kinesin motor proteins family, we develop a theoretical model of intra-cellular transport by mutually interacting molecular motors. The model explicitly accounts not only for the hydrolysis of ATP, but also for the ratchet mechanism which is believed to drive each individual KIF1A motor. We study the model by a combination of analytical and numerical techniques. A remarkable feature of this model is that all the parameters in it can be completely evaluated from experimental data. Our results in the dilute limit are in excellent quantitative agreement with the empirical data from single molecule experiments. In the high density regime the predictions of the model also agree qualitatively with the corresponding experimental observations. We derive a phase diagram that shows the influence of hydrolysis and Langmuir kinetics on the collective spatio-temporal organization of the motors. ...
'The use of personal protective clothing that covers the head is a common practice in many industries. Such personal protective clothing will impact the sound pressure level and the frequency content of sounds to which the wearer will be exposed. The use of such clothing, then, may impact speech and alarm audibility. A measure of the impact of such clothing is its insertion loss. Insertion loss measurements were performed on four types of personal protective clothing in use by Westinghouse Savannah River Company personnel which utilize cloth and plastic hood configurations to protect the head. All clothing configurations tested at least partially cover the ears. The measurements revealed that insertion loss of the items tested was notable at frequencies above 1000 Hz only and was a function of material stiffness and acoustic flanking paths to the ear. Further, an estimate of the clothing''s noise reduction rating ...
The efficacy of external flooding of a reactor vessel as a severe accident management strategy is assessed for an AP600-like reactor design. The overall approach is based on the Risk Oriented Accident Analysis Methodology (ROAAM), and the assessment includes consideration of bounding scenarios and sensitivity studies, as well as arbitrary parametric evaluations that allow the delineation of the failure boundaries. Quantification of the input parameters is carried out for an AP600-like design, and the results of the assessment demonstrate that lower head failure is physically unreasonable. Use of this conclusion for any specific application is subject to verifying the required reliability of the depressurization and cavity-flooding systems, and to showing the appropriateness (in relation to the database presented here, or by further testing as necessary) of the thermal insulation design and of the external surface properties of the lower head, ...
For the assessment of the intra-dialysis stability of the {sup 99m}Tc-HSA complex, a scintigraphic scanning of the organs accumulation of the free 99mTcO{sub 4}{sup -} was carried out during peritoneal dialysis. 740 MBg {sup 99m}Tc-HSA in dialization fluid was administered during kinetic peritoneal examination of the patient. The organs accumulating the free pertechnetion (head and neck), as well as whole body imaging of pt were carried out. The results show that the radioactivity is accumulated mainly in peritoneal cavity. Minimal radioactivity was indicated in the head and neck ({approx}2.3% of the total whole body radioactivity). Our results show that the {sup 99m}Tc-HSA complex is stable during 3.5 h peritoneal dialysis in vivo. (author) 6 refs, 3 figs
Objective: To review data on efficacy and safety of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) in children and adolescents with psychotic and bipolar spectrum disorders. Methods: Medline/PubMed/Google Scholar search for studies comparing efficacy and/or tolerability: (i) between two or more SGAs; (ii) between SGAs and placebo; and (iii) between at least one SGA and one first-generation antipsychotic (FGA). The review focused on three major side-effect clusters: 1. body weight, body mass index, and cardiometabolic parameters, 2. prolactin levels, and 3. neuromotor side effects. Results: In total, 34 studies with 2719 children and adolescents were included. Studies lasted between 3weeks and 12months, with most studies (79.4%) lasting 3months or less. Nine studies (n=788) were conducted in patie...
Due to the advantages of the flexibility and economics in exploration and production of offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG), the floating production storage and offloading unit for liquefied natural gas (LNG-FPSO) has attracted wide attentions in recent years. The offloading system for LNG transportation from LNG-FPSO to LNG carrier is one of the most important parts in LNG-FPSO. The influences of the main parameters such as the mass flow rate and the height difference of the pipeline. on the performance of LNG offloading in offshore associated gas fields were investigated. A model based on a typical offshore LNG offloading system was first established and simulations were conducted. The governing equations were then used to evaluate the effects of parameters together with the simulation results. It was found that there was an economic mass flow rate for practical design on balance of the cost in pump head and BOG. The height difference of the pipeline must be ...
When a rotary excavator is operated at locations where there is artesian water, the aquiclude is fractured under pressure of the artesian water upon the penetration of the pile tip through the aquiclude. Since the equipment is provided with a gap for the reduction of friction between the casing and the excavation face, soil and sand near the pile tip burst forth out of the ground together with underground water through the casing or along the outer circumference of the casing. The newly contrived method introduced here is a double pipe process, in which a large casing (2.0m in diameter) is driven until it lands on the aquiclude, water is injected into the casing for the creation of equilibrium between the artesian head and the head in the casing, and finally a casing as large as the pile (1m in diameter) to be installed is used for the excavation of the artesian water section. Since February, 1996, 4 systems/16 legs have been operated for the ...
Implementation of Noble Metal Chemical Application (NMCA) in a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) requires injection of a noble metal compound while the reactor is idle at hot shutdown conditions. In order to minimize outage time, utilities are very pro-actively finding ways to reduce the number of critical path tasks. One of these tasks is to remove some containment vessel drywell head bolts during the NMCA idle time. This, thereby, saves the utilities outage time, or they can perform other tasks as desired. Using design basis conditions and state-of-the-art analytical techniques, detailed finite element stress analyses of the closure region are performed. Two acceptance criteria are evaluated. The first is that contained within Section III of the ASME Code for allowable stresses. The second relates to leak tightness, i.e., with bolt removal the joint must still remain leak tight. This paper describes the activities performed to justify bolt removal during the noble ...
We studied the interactions of tetracycline (TC) antibiotic molecules with phospholipid monolayers with the two-fold aim of elucidating the mechanism of action and providing a first step for the realization of bio-mimetic sensors for such drugs by means of the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. We examined spreading monolayers of three phospholipids in the presence of tetracycline in the subphase by means of surface pressure-area and surface potential-area isotherms as a function of bulk pH. We selected phospholipids with hydrophobic chains of the same length but polar head groups differing either in dimensions and protonation equilibria, i.e. dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DPPE) and dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid (DPPA). The interaction of tetracycline with the three phospholipids was found to be highly dependent on the electric charge of the antibiotic and on the ionization state of the lipid. Significant interactions are ...
In this study, adjoint sensitivity theory is developed for equations of two-dimensional steady-state flow in a confined aquifer. Both the primary flow equation and the adjoint sensitivity equation are solved using the Galerkin finite element method. The developed computer code is used to investigate the regional flow parameters of the Leadville Formation of the Paradox Basin in Utah and the Wolcamp carbonate/sandstone aquifer of the Palo Duro Basin in the Texas Panhandle. Two performance measures are evaluated, local heads and velocity in the vicinity of potential high-level nuclear waste repositories. The results illustrate the sensitivity of calculated local heads to the boundary conditions. Local velocity-related performance measures are more sensitive to hydraulic conductivities. The uncertainty in the performance measure is a function of the parameter sensitivity, parameter variance and the correlation between parameters. Given a parameter ...
The aim of our experiment was the testing of effects of common ammunition on usable and slightly accessible biological tissue thereby to create fundamental simple biological model for trials of wounded ballistic. Like objective tissue was elected biological material - pork and beef hind-limbs, pork head, pork bodily cavity. It was discovered that objective tissue is able to react to singles types of shots in all spectrum results namely simple smooth penetration wound as well as splintery fracture in dependence on kind of using ammunition. Pork hind-limb was evaluated like the most suitable biological material for given object. PMID:17172163
Computed tomography allows today to reconstruct three-dimensional (eD) images fram axial scans. The authors report their experience in cranio-facial pathology achived in two Departments of Radiology (University of Trieste, Italy and University of Standford, California). 3D images have been realized using two different softwares, one of which allows to reconstruct both soft tissue and bone structures. The application in maxillo-facial traumas, cranio-facial malformations and head tumours are disscussed. 3D images turned out to be very useful for the optimal visualization and for the spatial demostration of the lesion and have potential applications in cranio-facial surgery and radiotherapy.
Superplastic deformation behavior in an alpha + beta titanium alloy Ti-3A-4V has been investigated by using the method of cross head speed cycling in the temperature range 750-910 /sup 0/C. On the basis of flow stress-strain rate-strain rate sensitivity data, the alloy was found to be superplastic in the entire temperature range studied. Optimum superplasticity was observed in the strain-rate range 3 x 10/sup -5/ sec./sup -1/ to 6 x 10/sup -5/ and at the highest temperature of 910 deg. C. (author).
Effect of strain and temperature on high temperature deformation properties of an alpha + beta titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V has been investigated in the temperature range 800 to 910 deg. C by using the method of cross head speed cycling. On the basis of flow stress strain rate-strain rate sensitivity data and microstructural studies of the undeformed and deformed regions of tensile test pieces, both strain introduced hardening and softening effects were observed during the course of deformation which could be associated with grain coarsening and refining respectively. (author)
High temperature deformation behavior of an alpha + beta titanium alloy Ti-3Al-4V has been investigated at 910 deg. C. by using the method of cross head speed cycling. On the basis of flow stress, strain rate and strain rate sensitivity data, the alloy was found to exhibit strain hardening at this temperature which resulted in degradation in superplastic properties of the alloy. A high beta-phase volume fraction and grain-growth in both alpha and beta phases were considered responsible for the observed hardening effect. (author)
Recent research work on adjustable speed pumped storage plants conducted in Japan, the USA and Europe suggests that they have many advantages over fixed-speed plants, and can contribute to power system regulation even in pump mode. This paper describes two types of static frequency converter for such pumped storage plants, especially those with greatly fluctuating heads. The design characteristics and operation of the doubly fed induction machine and the synchronous machine with DC link converter are set out and the devices compared. (UK)
Precisely measuring $\\theta_{13}$ is one of the highest priority in neutrino oscillation study. Reactor experiments can cleanly determine $\\theta_{13}$. Past reactor neutrino experiments are reviewed and status of next precision $\\theta_{13}$ experiments are presented. Daya Bay is designed to measure $\\sin^22\\theta_{13}$ to better than 0.01 and Double Chooz and RENO are designed to measure it to 0.02-0.03. All are heading to full operation in 2010. Recent improvements in neutrino moment measurement are also briefed.
On-power refuelling is an integral feature of PHWR units. The most notable aspect of refuelling system of 540 MWe PHWR (TAPP-3 and 4) is that the FM Head is based on rack and pinion mechanism for B-ram and C-ram of Ram assembly. Latch ram used during plug operations, is assembled in between B-ram and C-ram and is moved by a ballscrew driven by oil hydraulic motors. This unique design has been employed for the first time in a PHWR unit. In comparison, B-ram is ballscrew driven and C-ram is moved by heavy water hydraulic force in FM Heads of 220 MWe PHWR units. Over the years, a number of design improvements have been carried out in the 220 MWe Fuelling Machines to meet the challenge of increasing demands of higher refuelling rates. However, in 540 MWe unit, the average refuelling rate for an equilibrium core is nearly twice that of 220 MWe units. Apart from other assemblies in FM Head, the performance of Ram assembly plays a ...
Morocco is among the world's leading countries in terms of total indigenous oil shale resources. Following the 1973 oil crisis, Morocco has been determined to develop its oil shale energy resources. In the subsequent years following the crisis, a tremendous number and variety of studies and research efforts have resulted in an enormous amount of data, covering geological, hydrogeological, mining, physical and chemical aspects of the two main deposits, Timahdit and Tarfaya. This article represents a tentative analysis of oil shale development in Morocco and offers a few ideas on where it might be heading. 1 fig., 2 photos.
A simple and cheap method is described for the manufacturing of individual positioning aids made of foamed polyurethane. Some examples are given to demonstrate the applicability of these positioning aids for the irradiation of different body regions. The reproducibility of the radiation field in the head and neck area was investigated with and without positioning aid. It was proved that the field is adjusted more exactly when positioning aids are applied. The dosimetric investigations performed showed a negligible influence of foamed polyurethane on the radiation quality. So the positioning aids could be left within the radiation field when drawing the field borders.
Oral mucositis associated with head and neck radiotherapy can substantially hinder completion of cancer therapy. Alleviation of this often severe stomatitis can provide enhanced patient comfort and facilitate appropriate care. A double-blind format was used in a pilot project to measure, against a control rinse, the effectiveness of an oral rinse consisting of hydrocortisone, nystatin, tetracycline, and diphenhydramine in controlling radiation-related mucositis. A combination of clinical evaluation and patient responses to a questionnaire was used to judge the results of the topical medications. Patients using the experimental medication developed less mucositis than did patients in the control group.
A nonlinear dynamic transient analysis merging hand calculations and the NASTRAN structural analysis computer code was conducted for a Fast Flux Test Facility in-reactor test assembly during an extremely unlikely design basis accidental event which is considered a Hypothetical Core Disruptive Accident (HCDA). The finite element modeling of the problem took advantage of NASTRAN's versatility to create loads and nonlinear elements not previously found in NASTRAN's library. The structural criteria for the test assembly to withstand an HCDA stipulates that the test assembly and its spoolpiece shall remain integral with the reactor head such that missiles are not generated.
...The RSPB: Birds by family: Owls E-mail to a friendE-newsletterContact us Home England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales About Overview Awards & recognition Contact ...Birds by family PrintHome Birds and wildlife Bird guide Birds by family Owls Owls Owls are specialised birds with round heads and rather flat ...or dished faces, with forward-facing eyes and a short, hooked bill. Most are nocturnal or crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk)... Owls are found all over the temperate and tropical parts of the world. Barn owl With heart shaped face, buff back ...
A manipulator for checking the inside of a vertical, flange-shaped collector of a horizontal steam generator consists of a rotating mast with bearings at the top and bottom ends with a support that can be moved along the length of the mast for the checking system mountings. The support is propelled by a drive spindle placed parallel to the mast with its drive head bearing in the support and locked into a toothed rack attached to the mast. The checking system mountings are fitted in or on the walls of the support and are very close to the box-shaped support. Their retractable arms are hinged.
A method and apparatus for operating a compression ignition engine having a cylinder wall, a piston, and a head defining a combustion chamber. The method and apparatus includes delivering fuel substantially uniformly into the combustion chamber, the fuel being dispersed throughout the combustion chamber and spaced from the cylinder wall, delivering an oxidant into the combustion chamber sufficient to support combustion at a first predetermined combustion duration, and delivering a diluent into the combustion chamber sufficient to change the first predetermined combustion duration to a second predetermined combustion duration different from the first predetermined combustion duration.
All power plant engineers face the problem of peak power demands. Pumped storage plants are used to generate peak load power by pumping up water utilizing off-peak energy of hydrothermal and thermonuclear plants. This is the first accessible text/reference to cover hydroelectric power generation with emphasis on engineering to meet peak power demands by means of pumped storge plants, tidal power plants, and low head power generation. Text covers hydrology, mechanical and electrical equipment, accessories such as penstocks and valves, and civil engineering considerations. Contains descriptions of several existing plants. Includes 200 diagrams and 50 photographs.
All power plant engineers face the problem of peak power demands. Pumped storage plants are used to generate peak load power by pumping up water utilizing off-peak energy of hydrothermal and thermonuclear plants. This is a reference to cover hydroelectric power generation with emphasis on engineering to meet peak power demands by means of pumped storage plants, tidal power plants, and low head power generation. Text covers hydrology, mechanical and electrical equipment, accessories such as penstocks and valves, and civil engineering considerations. Contains descriptions of several existing plants. Includes 200 diagrams and 50 photographs.
Delayed cerebral necroses after irradiation are to be divided into hemispheric and midline lesions, as they differ from each other in several aspects. Apart from the symptoms, they are differing in the duration of latency, in the course and prognosis, and also with regard to morphology. Though there is no doubt that radiation tolerance of cerebral midline structures is relatively limited, on biological grounds, evidence of a difference between the tolerated doses could not be given from the existent inhomogeneous radiation data, with the help of the NSD-concept. Radiation planning for the region of the head, nevertheless, carefully should avoid in every case to involve the structures of the cerebral midline.
A new aiming point guidance (APG) law in 3-dimensional space is derived analytically. The guidance law is capable of guiding the missile (interceptor) to a straight collision course with respect to the target. The missile turning rate command proportional to the error angle between the current missile heading and the predicted aim point is calculated based on the predicted target position. Performance of the APG law is numerically evaluated and compared with the proportional navigation guidance (PNG) law. The result of numerical simulation shows that the APG law is superior to the PNG law in terms of miss distance, time of interception and final stage missile turning rate demand.
sup(99m)Tc-MDP bone scintigraphy was performed on patients who received muscle-pedicle bone graft. In each of the bone head and the bone graft, a time-activity curve was obtained. In this muscle-pedicle bone graft, active revascularization and marked osteogenesis, which suggested rapid bone repairing, were observed. The bone scintigraphy was considered to be useful in observing the result of bone grafts, blood circulation, and time of bone fusion, and of value for early detection of secondary changes.
Two patients with femoral neck fractures, one displaced and one undisplaced, are presented. Preoperative intravital staining with tetracycline and Tc-MDP scintimetry both showed intact femoral head circulation while Tc-MDP-scintimetry 1 week after operation showed pronounced circulatory deficiency. Sr/sup 85/-scintimetry performed at the same time was inconclusive. Segmental collapse was observed radiographically, 8 and 12 months postoperatively. The major vascular injury resulting in avascularity most probably occured during the procedure of osteosynthesis, and Tc-MDP-scintimetry was found suitable for early postoperative recognition of avascular necrosis in both fractures.
Two patients with femoral neck fractures, one displaced and one undisplaced, are presented. Preoperative intravital staining with tetracycline and Tc-MDP scintimetry both showed intact femoral head circulation while Tc-MDP-scintimetry 1 week after operation showed pronounced circulatory deficiency. SR"8"5-scintimetry performed at the same time was inconclusive. Segmental collapse was observed radiographically, 8 and 12 months postoperatively. The major vascular injury resulting in avascularity most probably occured during the procedure of osteosynthesis, and Tc-MDP-scintimetry was found suitable for early postoperative recognition of avascular necrosis in both fractures. (author).
The major inquiry of the political party 'Die Gruenen' touches all problems connected with air pollution. The Federal Government states that an extensive air pollution abatement program, i.e. the revision of existing regulations and implementation of new ones has been allowing the realization of all essential environmental aims originally headed for three years ago in the field of air pollution abatement. Achievements such as these will bring about another obvious improvement of the air quality of the Federal Republic of Germany in the coming years. The recent development of energy economy has also proved to be having an obivously positive effect on the environment and pollution abatement. (HSCH).
For a given linac design, the dosimetric characteristics of a photon beam are determined uniquely by the energy and radial distributions of the electron beam striking the x-ray target. However, in the usual commissioning of a beam from measured data, a large number of variables can be independently tuned, making it difficult to derive a unique and self-consistent beam model. For example, the measured dosimetric penumbra in water may be attributed in various proportions to the lateral secondary electron range, the focal spot size and the transmission through the tips of a non-divergent collimator; the head-scatter component in the tails of the transverse profiles may not be easy to resolve from phantom scatter and head leakage; and the head-scatter tails corresponding to a certain extra-focal source model may not agree self-consistently with in-air output factors measured on the central axis. To reduce the number of ...
Performance and emissions data were gathered on a normally aspirated single cylinder DI engine with various combinations of ceramic coatings installed. Thin ceramic thermal barrier coatings were applied to the piston crown and bowl, the head and valves, and the cylinder liner. The coated piston and head were run singly and in combination with the cylinder liner to investigate the effects of these different coated surfaces on emissions and performance. Coating the piston crown alone results in generally lower cylinder pressure, lower brake specific fuel consumption and lower NO(x) emission compared to the baseline engine. Soot emission is typically increased below 2000 RPM and decreased above 2000 RPM. Coating the head alone reduces cylinder pressure, but generally increases specific fuel consumption and NO(x) and soot emission. The KIVA-II code was used to model the Hydra engine with the thermal coatings. The computer ...
A Siemens Mevatron KV2 accelerator installed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital employs cylindrical solid-walled electron cones for some electron collimation. The cones being used at present result in treatment fields that do not always conform with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Standards (particularly at high energies). The aim of this project was to simulate the existing cones using Monte Carlo methods in order to evaluate potential cone modifications required to overcome the field irregularities. Simulations were performed using the EGS4 (Electron Gamma Shower version 4, distribution II) Monte Carlo code installed on a DEC Alpha workstation at the University of South Australia. To rigorously simulate the existing electron cones it was necessary to also simulate various components within the treatment head of the linear accelerator. Results of simulations for existing cones were found to be consistent with experimental data. (obtained from Royal ...
Complications of non-union and avascular necrosis during fracture healing process are the most important problems. Early detection of the evidence of non-union and avascular necrosis and follow-up study of fracture healing process will reduce complications and sequellae in fracture patients. Femoral neck and tibial shaft are the most important fracture sites where non-union and/or avascular necorsis are frequently developed. Osteomedullography was performed in 30 cases of fracture, 21 femoral neck, 8 tibial shafts and 1 talar neck, in the Department of Radiology of national Medical Center during the period form August 1977 to March 1981. The following results were obtained: 1. 16 patients of femoral neck fracture were performed osteomedullography one. Non-union showing no crossing vein through the fracture site was noted in 12 cases from 16 patients. 4 cases from the 12 patients of non-union showed decreased viability but 2 case revealed good viability of the femoral ...
January, 1992, to October, 1995, sixty-four patients with advanced head and neck cancer underwent head and neck reconstructive surgery using myocutaneous or revascularized flaps; in the same period, all patients were consecutively examined with CT and MRI. Myocutaneous flaps were used in 26 patients: 12 flaps were tubular and 14 linear. Revascularized flaps were used in 38 patients: to repair a large defect in 26 patients (14 latissimus dorsi flaps and 12 temporal muscle flaps) and to repair an oral damage in 12 patients (5 revascularized radial and 7 jejunal flaps). CT and MR images of myocutaneous flaps showed the flaps as fatty areas, repairing large surgical defects, hypodense at CT and hyperintense at MRI, with no post-contrast enhancement. The appearance of revascularized flaps at CT and MRI depends on the characteristics of the structure used to repair the surgical defect: jejunal and radial flaps appeared as mostly fatty thickened ...
January, 1992, to October, 1995, sixty-four patients with advanced head and neck cancer underwent head and neck reconstructive surgery using myocutaneous or revascularized flaps; in the same period, all patients were consecutively examined with CT and MRI. Myocutaneous flaps were used in 26 patients: 12 flaps were tubular and 14 linear. Revascularized flaps were used in 38 patients: to repair a large defect in 26 patients (14 latissimus dorsi flaps and 12 temporal muscle flaps) and to repair an oral damage in 12 patients (5 revascularized radial and 7 jejunal flaps). CT and MR images of myocutaneous flaps showed the flaps as fatty areas, repairing large surgical defects, hypodense at CT and hyperintense at MRI, with no post-contrast enhancement. The appearance of revascularized flaps at CT and MRI depends on the characteristics of the structure used to repair the surgical defect: jejunal and radial flaps appeared as mostly fatty thickened ...
To investigate the problems of the Hanaro stent (Solco Intermed, Seoul, Korea) when used in the palliative treatment of patients with inoperable malignant biliary obstruction. Between January 2000 and May 2001, the treatment of 46 patients with malignant biliary obstruction involved percutaneous placement of the Hanaro stent. Five patients encountered problems during removal of the stent's introduction system. The causes of obstruction were pancreatic carcinoma (n=2), cholangiocarcinoma (n=2), and gastric carcinoma with biliary invasion (n=1). In one patient, percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography and stent insertion were performed as a one-step procedure, while the others underwent conventional percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage for at least two days prior to stent insertion. A self-expandable Hanaro stent, 8-10 mm in deameter and 50-100 mm in lengh, and made from a strand of nitinol wire, was used in all cases. Among the five patients who ...
We wanted to determine the technical and clinical efficacy of placing a self-expandable PTFE-covered nitinol stent for the management of inoperable malignant biliary obstruction. Thirty six patients with inoperable malignant biliary obstructions were treated by placement of self-expandable PTFE-covered nitinol stents (S and G Biotech Corporation, Seongnam, Korea). Clinical evaluation was done with assessment of the serum bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase levels, which were measured before and after stent placement within 1 week, at 1 month and at 3 months. The patient survival rate and stent patency rate were calculated with performing Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Successful stent placement was achieved in all the patients without procedure-related complication. Pancreatitis as an early complication occurred in two cases. The serum bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase levels were significantly decreased after the procedure. During the follow-up, recurrent ...
To evaluate repeated hepatic intraarterial chemotherapy (HIC) as a palliative treatment option for unresectable cholangiocarcinoma and liver metastases of various origins that were progressive under systemic chemotherapy. Between 2002 and 2006, 55 patients were treated in 4-week intervals (mean five sessions). Combined gemcitabine/mitomycin was administered intraarterially within 1 h. Tumor response was evaluated after the third session according to RECIST. Treated tumor entities were colorectal carcinoma (CRC) (n = 12), breast cancer (BC) (n = 12), cholangiocarcinoma (CCC) (n = 10), pancreatic (n = 4), ovarian (n = 3), gastric, cervical, papillary (each n = 2), prostate, esophageal carcinoma, leiomyosarcoma (each n = 1), cancer of unknown primacy (CUP) (n = 5). All patients tolerated the treatment well without any major side effects or complications. In total, there were 1 complete response (CR), 19 partial responses (PR), 19 stable (SD) and 16 progressive ...
To evaluate the feasibility and clinical effectiveness of using a polyurethane-covered expandable nitinol stent in the palliative treatment of malignant duodenal obstruction. Under fluoroscopic guidance, a polyurethane-covered expandable nitinol stent was placed in 12 consecutive patients with malignant duodenal obstructions. All presented with severe nausea and recurrent vomiting. The underlying causes of obstruction were duodenal carcinoma (n=4), pancreatic carcinoma (n=4), gall bladder carcinoma (n=2), distal CBD carcinoma (n=1), and uterine cervical carcinoma (n=1). The sites of obstruction were part I (n=1), part II (n=8), and III (n=3). Due to pre-existing jaundice, eight patients with part II obstructions underwent biliary decompression prior to stent placement. An introducer sheath with a 6-mm outer diameter and stents 16 mm in diameter were employed, and to place the stent, and after-loading technique was used. Stent placement was technically successful in ...
The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) developed neoplastic disorders when experimentally exposed both in the laboratory and field to chemically contaminated sediment from Black Rock Harbor (BRH), Bridgeport, Connecticut. Neoplasia was observed in oysters after 30 or 60 days of continuous exposure in a laboratory flow-through system to a 20 mg/L suspension of BRH sediment plus postexposure periods of 3, 30, or 60 days. Composite tumor incidence was 13.6% for both exposures. Tumor occurrence was highest in the renal excretory epithelium, followed in order by gill, gonad, gastrointestinal, heart, and embryonic neural tissue. Regression of experimental neoplasia was not observed when the stimulus was discontinued. In field experiments, gill neoplasms developed in oysters, deployed in cages for 30 days at BRH and 36 days at a BRH dredge material disposal area in Central Long Island Sound, and kidney and gastrointestinal neoplasms developed in caged oysters deployed 40 days in Quincy ...
Purpose: To determine if involved field radiation (IF) is equivalent to standard whole bone radiation (SF) in local tumor control; to establish patterns of failure following treatment; and to determine response, event-free survival (EFS), and overall survival rates from multidisciplinary therapy in Ewing's sarcoma. Methods and Materials: Between 1983 and 1988, 184 children with Ewing's sarcoma were enrolled onto Pediatric Oncology Group 8346 (POG 8346). A total of 178 (97%) met eligibility criteria; 6 had pathology other than Ewing's sarcoma. Induction chemotherapy of cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin (adriamycin )(C/A) x 12 weeks was followed by local treatment either surgery or radiation therapy and C/A, dactinomycin, and vincristine for 50 weeks. Resection was advised for patients with small primary tumors if accomplished without functional loss. Forty patients were randomized to receive SF, whole bone radiation to 39.6 Gy plus a 16.2 Gy boost (total 55.8 Gy) or IF ...
It is important for the trauma surgeon to understand the basic principles of terminal gunshot ballistics and the study of the projectile's effect on striking soft tissue. The amount of kinetic energy dissipated to the tissue is directly related to the mass and velocity of the projectile as follows: K = MV2/2. Doubling the velocity quadruples the energy, while doubling the mass only doubles the energy. A temporary tissue cavity is produced as the striking projectile compresses the surrounding tissue; the higher the energy release, the more extensive the inapparent compressive damage. The permanent cavity that remains is the result of extrusion of tissue from the pathway of the projectile. The higher the velocity, the higher the likelihood of extensive damage. If the missile expands or fragments within the tissues, more damage will occur. PMID:6847483
This paper describes the National Research Council (NRC) Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD) system, as applied to the English Lexical Sample (ELS) task in Senseval-3. The NRC system approaches WSD as a classical supervised machine learning problem, using familiar tools such as the Weka machine learning software and Brill's rule-based part-of-speech tagger. Head words are represented as feature vectors with several hundred features. Approximately half of the features are syntactic and the other half are semantic. The main novelty in the system is the method for generating the semantic features, based on word \\hbox{co-occurrence} probabilities. The probabilities are estimated using the Waterloo MultiText System with a corpus of about one terabyte of unlabeled text, collected by a web crawler.
Aim.- To identify what determinants influence the prevalence and accuracy of nursing diagnosis documentation in clinical practice. Background.- Nursing diagnoses guide and direct nursing care. They are the foundation for goal setting and provide the basis for interventions. The literature mentions several factors that influences nurses- documentation of diagnoses, such as a nurse-s level of education, patient-s condition and the ward environment. Design.- Systematic review. Method.- MEDLINE and CINAHL databases were searched using the following headings and keywords: nursing diagnosis, nursing documentation, hospitals, influence, utilisation, quality, implementation and accuracy. The search was limited to articles published between 1995-October 2009. Studies were only selected if they were...
Summary Objective Community-based information on the delivery and use of health interventions is important to monitor the effectiveness of the Roll Back Malaria programme. However, community surveys to determine coverage for insecticide-treated bed nets are time-consuming and costly. We wanted to assess whether schoolchildren's reports of household ownership of a bed net and coverage among high-risk groups monitored by schoolteachers through a questionnaire could be used as a proxy of household ownership of bed net and coverage at community level, for routine monitoring of malaria control programmes. Method 3602 schoolchildren in 39 randomly selected schools and 2798 heads of households in 39 villages were interviewed about their use of either insecticide-treated or untreated bed nets. Res...
Time-resolved characterizations of electron beams using optical transition radiation (OTR) as a prompt conversion mechanism have recently been extended on the Los Alamos Free-electron Laser (FEL) facility 40-MeV linac. Two key timescales for rf-linac driven FELs are the micropulse (10 ps) and the macropulse (5 {mu}s to 1 ms). In the past we have used gated, intensified cameras to select a single or few micropulses (25 to 400 ns gate width) out of the pulse train to evaluate submacropulse effects. Recently, we have obtained some of the first measurements of micropulse bunch length (7 to 10 ps) and submacropulse spatial position and profile using OTR and a Hamamatsu streak camera. Additionally, micropulse elongation effects and head-to-tail transverse kicks are reported as a function of charge.
Time-resolved characterizations of electron beams using optical transition radiation (OTR) as a prompt conversion mechanism have recently been extended on the Los Alamos Free-electron Laser (FEL) facility 40-MeV linac. Two key timescales for rf-linac driven FELs are the micropulse (10 ps) and the macropulse (5 {mu}s to 1 ms). In the past we have used gated, intensified cameras to select a single or few micropulses (25 to 400 ns gate width) out of the pulse train to evaluate submacropulse effects. Recently, we have obtained some of the first measurements of micropulse bunch length (7 to 10 ps) and submacropulse spatial position and profile using OTR and a Hamamatsu streak camera. Additionally, micropulse elongation effects and head-to-tail transverse kicks are reported as a function of charge.
Problems experienced during Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) tandem offloading operations were investigated. The aim of this research was to improve the reliability of such systems, and it needed a means to assess them. Time-domain simulation and analysis of offloading systems was performed using the multi-body mooring software ARIANE 7.0. Hydrodynamic interaction between the vessels was considered. The responses of the offloading system in different loading cases, different parameters of offloading hawsers and the effects of challenging environmental conditions were calculated. There was a focus on the problems of relative motion between the two bodies and its effects on the intensity of hawser forces. Minimum relative distance, maximum relative headings and maximum tens...
The aim of this report was to assess the usefulness of cerebral blood flow (CBF) scanning utilising the SPECT technique in forensic medicine cases in the area of civil law cases. CBF SPECT scanning was performed in four patients utilising "9"9"mTc-ECD and a triple-head gammacamera. In the analysis both the asymmetry index and cerebellar normalisation were applied. Reference values were obtained by studying 30 healthy volunteers. In those cases CBF SPECT scanning played an important role in forensic argument. It influenced the sentence and the amount of financial compensation. CBF SPECT scanning may provide valuable information in forensic medicine argument in civil law cases, but only when taken together with psychometric tests and other neuroimaging methods (CT, MRI). The value of CBF SPECT scanning alone may be limited in judicial proceedings. (author)
The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of splitting each head of the gastrocnemius muscle into two segments. This prospective study was conducted on 35 fresh cadavers with injection of radio-opaque contrast material in the popliteal artery. Seventy medial gastrocnemius and 70 lateral gastrocnemius muscle specimens were obtained. Gastrocnemius intramuscular arterial anatomy was analysed by using the digital X-ray technique. The most common vascular pattern found in this study was both bellies supplied by individual sural arteries, which shows distal bifurcation. The medial sural artery always showed bifurcation in the medial gastrocnemius muscle in both lower limbs, whereas this bifurcation of the lateral sural artery was present in only 87% cases and 13% of cases showed a si...
There is limited information on the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) although AKI may contribute to morbidity and mortality. We investigated the incidence of AKI in patients with moderate and severe TBI and the association of AKI with risk factors and outcomes in these patients. We studied all TBI patients over 16 years of age admitted to the two designated trauma hospitals in the state of Victoria, Australia from 1 January to 31 December 2008. Patients were included if they had head trauma and presented with a Glasgow coma scale (GCS) <13. Prospectively collected data from the hospital trauma registries, ICUs, and pathology databases were analyzed retrospectively. Risk injury failure loss end (RIFLE) criteria were used to categorize rena...
This presentation deals with innovation in teaching and understanding of thermodynamic principles. Key features of the approach being advocated are: (a) postulation of the existence of entropy, (b) explicitly associating energy transfers with other transports, (c) stating the 2nd Law in terms of Gibbs' available-energy, (d) systematic use of software such as EES. The paper outlines and elaborates upon an introductory course. Major headings in the course are: basic concepts: properties, additive properties and balances, primitive properties, energy, 1st Law. entropy, elementary academic applications of balances, available-energy, second law, exergy, thermostatic property relations, EES. Applications to processes, fluid flow, Heat transfer, thermochemical. Applications to devices, single-pro...
Spastic equinovarus foot deformity commonly occurs after stroke or head trauma. Management by split anterior tibial tendon transfer to the lateral border of the foot was chosen by the authors. The purpose of that work was to assess the reliability of this method to improve patient's functional autonomy and investigate the relationship between the initial clinical examination findings and the quality of the functional results. 84 feet, operated in 82 patients out of 130, of mean age 46 years, were reviewed at a mean follow-up of 65 months. Very few complications were observed. Toe deformities remain a commonly associated problem. 80 patients were able to walk barefoot, 74 reported an increase in their walking distance, and 73 could regularly wear normal shoes. There is a strong relationship...
A widely used veterinary antibiotic, tetracycline (TC), has been incorporated in Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid (DPPA) by means of two different procedures: co-transfer and incubation in solution. The resulting structures were characterized by means of contact angle and ellipsometric measurements. The presence of the antibiotic in the phospholipid film was evidenced by means of UV-Vis electronic absorption and infrared vibrational spectroscopy. The two sets of measurements unambiguously indicated the presence of the drug in the LB layer films obtained with both methods, although incubation led to a smaller content of immobilized tetracycline. In both cases, the drug was found to reside in the hydrophilic portion of the layers due to specific interactions of the dimethylamino group of the molecule with the polar head groups of the phospholipid.
This study report presents the shutdown chemistry of PWR primary system to reduce and remove the radioactive corrosion products which were deposited on the nuclear fuel rods surface and the outside of core like steam generator channel head, RCS pipings etc. The major research results are the follows ; the deposition radioactive mechanism of corrosion products, the radiochemical composition, the condition of coolant chemistry to promote the dissolution of radioactive cobalt and nickel ferrite, the control method of dissolved hydrogen concentration in the coolant by the mechanical and chemical methods. The another part of study is to investigate the removal characteristics of corrosion product ions and particles by the demineralization system to suggest the method which the system could be operate effectively in shut-down purification period. (author). 19 refs., 25 figs., 48 tabs.
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is one of the most common environmental endocrine disrupters and has a wide range of effects on central nervous system. Adolescence is another important developmental period besides the early critical prenatal and neonatal periods. In the present study, we exposed mice to BPA (40, 400 mg/kg/d) between adolescence and young adulthood for 8 weeks and investigated its effects on the non-reproductive behaviors. In open field tests, rearing and grooming sex differences were abolished by BPA exposure. In the elevated plus maze test, the number of open arm entries, the time spent in open arms, and the number of unprotected head dips in the center area were reduced in males but increased in females by BPA at 40 or 400 mg/kg/d, thus eliminating or reversing sex differences in thes...
Forty-five patients with recent cervical hip fractures were included in a prospective, clinical, radiographic and sequential scintimetric study. Striking changes in radionuclide uptake over the entire hip region on the fracture side were found during the first 5 postoperative months. Fractures that healed without complications showed the highest relative femoral head uptake at 1 week and a peak value at 6 weeks, followed by a gradual decline at the subsequent examinations. Fractures with complications (redisplacement, nonunion, or late segmental collapse) showed a lower initial uptake and a more gradual increase and only a slight tendency towards increased uptake after 3 months. The accuracy in predicting nonunion with scintimetric examination alone is high both at 1 and at 6 weeks, and the accuracy is almost equally high with combined scintimetric, radiographic, and clinical assessment 3-5 months postoperatively.
Preliminary plans for the 90 to 100-MW coal-fired combined cycle plant due to be built by a team headed by Southern California Edison and Texaco in the mid-1980s are reviewed. The basic operating goals call for having a gasifier with a 1,000 ton coal capacity per day feeding a 70-MW turbine which then provides waste heat to run a 30-MW steam turbine. Texaco will have responsibility for the gasifier part of the facility with the turbine-generator vendor charged with providing both gas and steam turbine equipment. If the 100-MW demonstration plant achieves 32 to 33% design efficiency, then a commercial plant with expansion turbines and steam reheat should hit 38% and require 20 to 30% less water than a conventional coal fired plant.
This report describes the empirical research into barriers to energy efficiency in the German higher education (HE) sector. It is one of nine such reports in the BARRIERS project. The report contains description and analysis of six case studies of energy management in German universities. The results are analysed using the theoretical framework developed for the BARRIERS project (Sorrell et al., 2000). The report also provides brief recommendations on how these barriers to the rational use of energy (RUE) may be overcome and how energy efficiency within the sector may be improved. The results of the study for the higher education sector in Germany are summarised in this executive summary under the following headings: - Characterising the higher education sector; - Case studies of energy management in the German higher education sector; - Evidence of barriers in the German higher education sector; - The role of energy service companies in the higher education ...
Ground-water monitoring near the Raft River site was initiated in 1974 by the IDWR. This effort consisted of semiannual chemical sampling of 22 irrigation wells near the Raft River geothermal development area. This program yielded useful baseline chemical data; however, several problems were inherent. For example, access to water pumped from the wells is limited to the irrigation season (April through September). All the wells are not continuously pumped; thus, some wells that are sampled one season cannot be sampled the next. In addition, information on well construction, completion, and production is often unreliable or not available. These data are to be supplemented by establishing a series of monitor wells in the proposed geothermal withdrawal and injection area. These wells were to be located and designed to provide data necessary for evaluating and predicting the impact of geothermal development on the Shallow Aquifer system.
Cellular telephones emit a radiofrequency electromagnetic field, part of which is absorbed in the user's head. Many studies have been conducted to look for their possible health hazard to human, at the experimental, epidemiological or clinical level. After a short recall on dosimetry, the author describes the state-of-the art about harmful and irreversible effects, up to now not confirmed, and about some benign symptoms which look absolutely actual. A causal relationship of the electromagnetic field on these benign symptoms is however not proven; other, studies are running to evaluate their possible long-term consequences. Interferences with cardiac pacemakers can easily be avoided by holding the telephone handset farther than 10 cm. (author)
In this work an analysis of the influence of the choice of the algorithm or planning system, on the calculus of the same treatment plan is introduced. For this purpose specific software has been developed for comparing plans of a series of IMRT cases of prostate and head and neck cancer calculated using the convolution, superposition and fast superposition algorithms implemented in the XiO 4.40 planning system (CMS). It has also been used for the comparison of the same treatment plan for lung pathology calculated in XiO with the mentioned algorithms, and calculated in the Plan 4.1 planning system (Brainlab) using its pencil beam algorithm. Differences in dose among the treatment plans have been quantified using a set of metrics. The recommendation for the dosimetrist of a careful choice of the algorithm has been numerically confirmed. (Author).
Actinide recycling by partitioning and transmutation is considered as one of the most promising strategies to reduce the inventory of radioactive waste, thus contributing to make nuclear energy sustainable. To make advances beyond the current state of the art in pyrochemical separations processes, the Domain 2 (DM2) of ACSEPT has been built on considering a process approach based on system studied. Four work packages that represent the main steps of a process block diagram have been identified: head-end steps, core process development, and salt treatment for recycling and waste conditioning. The results obtained in this domain will be integrated in DM 3 (Process) in order to orientate the R and D studies of DM2 and to propose and validate flowsheets at the end of the project. The state of the art on pyrochemical separation within the European Community and the working program of ACSEPT in pyrometallurgy are presented in this work. (authors)
Currently the construction of small-scale hydroelectric and pumped storage plants is booming in the USA. The technology is attractive because of its relatively cheap construction methods and operation. Electric utilities are seeing it as a viable source of peaking power and a means of system regulation. Two schemes are described. One is a high-head/small flow river project designed to generate 3.5 MW and is about to come on line having overcome tight environmental and commercial constraints. The second is a pumped-storage project using two man-made reservoirs with an average elevation difference of 1280 ft. It is deemed to be of minimum environmental impact construction and good physical characteristics. Completion is hoped for by 1995 and the plant will deliver 1000 MW. (UK)
Introduction Postoperative alopecia is a relatively rare event, and therefore both patients and surgeons are puzzled once it develops even though it is said to improve spontaneously with time in most cases. We report a parieto-occipital pressure-induced alopecia firstly developed in a patient who had undergone repeated surgery for 10?years after a traffic accident. Case report A 29-year-old male underwent segmental osteotomy at the upper and lower frontal edentulous areas for distraction osteogenesis. Throughout the operation, he was in the supine position with the hair covered with a paper cap and the head on a plastic vinyl chloride-covered soft foam horseshoe-shaped urethane sponge placed on the horseshoe-shaped headrest. About 2?weeks after the surgery, two patches of parieto-occipital...
SummaryPermeable pavement functions as a porous infrastructure interface allowing the infiltration and evaporation of rainfall-runoff while functioning as a relatively smooth load-bearing surface for vehicular transport. Hydraulic conductivity (k) of permeable pavement is an important hydraulic property and is a function of the pore structure. This study examines k for a cementitious permeable pavement (CPP) through a series of pore-structure models. Measurements utilized include hydraulic head as well as total porosity, (t), effective porosity (e), tortuosity (Le/L) and pore size distribution (PSD) indices generated through X-ray tomography (XRT). XRT results indicate that the permeable pavement pore matrix is hetero-disperse, with high tortuosity and t!=e. Power law models of k-t and k-e...
The study investigates the possibility of enhancing crop water productivity in the parts of Northwest India where groundwater quality is marginal and canal water supply is severely scarce. Soil, Water, Atmosphere and Plant (SWAP) model was calibrated and validated in three farmers' fields with varying canal water availability and groundwater quality in the Kaithal Irrigation Circle of the Bhakra Canal system, Haryana. On the basis of predicted and observed soil water content, pressure heads, salt concentration at 2 week intervals and crop yields, the model was found suitable for use in the region. A few nomographs were prepared to provide a graphical method to predict the effect of different combinations of water quality and depth of water application on crop yield and soil salinity and to...
The aim of this study is to clarify the relation among developmental outcome, nutritional state during the neonatal period, maturational electroencephalographic changes. Thirteen extremely low birth weight infants who completed 6- or 9-year follow-up were a subject of this study. Undernutrition was defined as enteral feeding below 100mL/kg/day at 3weeks of age. Dysmature patterns were defined as the persistence of EEG patterns 2weeks or more immature for post-conceptional age. IQ was examined at 6 and 9years of age. Body height and weight, and head circumference at 6years of age were stratified by the percentile grades. Full and verbal IQ was significantly lower in infants with undernutrition than those with normal nutrition. Among infants with undernutrition, those with persistent dysmatu...
To represent a heterogeneous unsaturated fractured rock by its homogeneous equivalent, Monte Carlo simulations are used to obtain upscaled (effective) flow properties. In this study, we present a numerical procedure for upscaling the van Genuchten parameters of unsaturated fractured rocks by conducting Monte Carlo simulations of the unsaturated flow in a domain under gravity-dominated regime. The simulation domain can be chosen as the scale of block size in the field-scale modeling. The effective conductivity is computed from the steady-state flux at the lower boundary and plotted as a function of the averaging pressure head or saturation over the domain. The scatter plot is then fitted using van Genuchten model and three parameters, i.e., the saturated conductivity K{sub s}, the air-entry parameter {alpha}, the pore-size distribution parameter n, corresponding to this model are considered as the effective K{sub s}, effective {alpha}, and effective n, respectively.
Nuclear astrophysics seeks for a possible explanation of the observed abundance distribution of various elements and their isotopes in the universe. Most of the relevant nuclear reactions take place in thermally equilibrium environments with bare nuclei, rather than accelerated and head-on colliding situations with low ionisation states of reactant atoms and molecules that are emulated in the laboratories. Moreover, the temperature of the astrophysical environments is quite often low compared to the centre-of-mass energy of the projectile nuclides, that is required for the reaction to be meaningfully investigated in the laboratory. Therefore, an extrapolation of the data on the reaction cross sections to very low energies and to extremely high density situations is generally called for, which are substantially altered every now and then for a number of astrophysically important reactions. The radioactive ion beams will provide us important data on some of those ...
A noninvasive method is described for estimating local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) and local partition coefficients by means of computed tomographic scanning during inhalation of 30% stable xenon gas in oxygen. Time-dependent xenon concentrations in arterial blood and brain tissue during the wash-in and washout phases are used to calculate partition coefficients and LCBF values by means of a least-squares curve-fitting analysis. Control values for partition coefficient and LCBF obtained from control subjects with minor head trauma in the chronic stage were compatible with those in several past reports, and reproducibility was satisfactory. The theoretic grounds underlying this new method of curve-fitting analysis are discussed.
A noninvasive method is described for estimating local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) and local partition coefficients by means of computed tomographic scanning during inhalation of 30% stable xenon gas in oxygen. Time-dependent xenon concentrations in arterial blood and brain tissue during the wash-in and washout phases are used to calculate partition coefficients and LCBF values by means of a least-squares curve-fitting analysis. Control values for partition coefficient and LCBF obtained from control subjects with minor head trauma in the chronic stage were compatible with those in several past reports, and reproducibility was satisfactory. The theoretic grounds underlying this new method of curve-fitting analysis are discussed.
A successful boron neutron capture treatment (BNCT) of a patient with multiple liver metastases has been first given in Italy, by placing the removed organ into the thermal neutron column of the Triga research reactor of the University of Pavia. In Finland, FiR 1 Triga reactor with an epithermal neutron beam well suited for BNCT has been extensively used to irradiate patients with brain tumors such as glioblastoma and recently also head and neck tumors. In this work we have studied by MCNP Monte Carlo simulations, whether it would be beneficial to treat an isolated liver with epithermal neutrons instead of thermal ones. The results show, that the epithermal field penetrates deeper into the liver and creates a build-up distribution of the boron dose. Our results strongly encourage further studying of irradiation arrangement of an isolated liver with epithermal neutron fields.
The aim of the present investigation was to study the effect of weather and available protection on the behaviour of outdoor-wintered beef cattle (Bos taurus). A herd of 78-85 cattle head was studied during four winter months in the Southwest of Sweden. Protection was offered by coniferous forest situated on and around the 12ha pasture, which we divided into protection categories. During 240h we observed 10 cows and 10 heifers as focal animals (each 3h/month) during day time and adjusted observation times to the altitude of the sun. Close to the animals and at an unprotected spot of the pasture we measured temperature, wind speed and solar radiation and combined these variables to a single measure called Wind Chill Temperature (WCT). During observations the animals were in the forest in 12...
The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii (Homoptera: Aphididae), is increasing in importance as a pest worldwide since the introduction of Bt-cotton, which controls lepidopteran but not homopteran pests. The chemical ecology of interactions between cotton, Gossypium hirsutum (Malvaceae), A. gossypii, and the predatory lacewing Chrysoperla lucasina (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), was investigated with a view to providing new pest management strategies. Behavioral tests using a four-arm (Pettersson) olfactometer showed that alate A. gossypii spent significantly more time in the presence of odor from uninfested cotton seedlings compared to clean air, but significantly less time in the presence of odor from A. gossypii infested plants. A. gossypii also spent significantly more time in the presence of heads...
Odontocetes are believed to receive sounds primarily through the pan bone region of the lower jaw although much variation in jaw morphology exists among species. In order to further examine this jaw hearing hypothesis we tested the head receiving sensitivity and directional hearing of a beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas. Hearing thresholds were measured using auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). The subject proved to have highly directional hearing for far-field click stimuli similar to that of bottlenose dolphins and more directional than the harbor porpoise. For near-field jawphone stimulation, the beluga's lowest thresholds were found when click stimuli were presented at the rostrum tip (76?dB re: 1??Pa) although thresholds from the pan bone region stimulation were only 2?3?dB higher. S...
High temperature deformation behavior of an alpha + beta titanium alloy Ti-3Al-2.5V has been investigated in the temperature range 830 deg. C to 910 deg. C by using the method of cross head speed cycling. On the basis of flow stress-strain rate and strain rate sensitivity data, it was found that the alloy exhibits a hardening effect in the entire temperature range studied, amount of hardening being significant at the highest test temperature of 910 deg. C which resulted in a degradation of superplastic properties of the alloy. Grain growth in beta-phase due to strain was considered responsible for the hardening effect observed.
Time-resolved characterizations of electron beams using optical transition radiation (OTR) as a prompt conversion mechanism have recently been extended on the Los Alamos Free-electron Laser (FEL) facility 40-MeV linac. Two key timescales for rf-linac driven FELs are the micropulse (10 ps) and the macropulse (5 [mu]s to 1 ms). In the past we have used gated, intensified cameras to select a single or few micropulses (25 to 400 ns gate width) out of the pulse train to evaluate submacropulse effects. Recently, we have obtained some of the first measurements of micropulse bunch length (7 to 10 ps) and submacropulse spatialposition and profile using OTR and a Hamamatsu streak camera. Additionally, micropulse elongation effects and head-to-tail transverse kick effects are reported as a function of charge.
Time-resolved characterizations of electron beams using optical transition radiation (OTR) as a prompt conversion mechanism have recently been extended on the Los Alamos Free-electron Laser (FEL) facility 40-MeV linac. Two key timescales for rf-linac driven FELs are the micropulse (10 ps) and the macropulse (5 {mu}s to 1 ms). In the past we have used gated, intensified cameras to select a single or few micropulses (25 to 400 ns gate width) out of the pulse train to evaluate submacropulse effects. Recently, we have obtained some of the first measurements of micropulse bunch length (7 to 10 ps) and submacropulse spatialposition and profile using OTR and a Hamamatsu streak camera. Additionally, micropulse elongation effects and head-to-tail transverse kick effects are reported as a function of charge.
Displacement Ventilation (DV) offers a great opportunity to improve indoor air quality while reducing the energy consumption compared to mixing ventilation. A frequent problem with displacement ventilation is however the draft discomfort caused by the cold air movement at foot level and excessive temperature difference between head and ankle. Despite numerous past studies, there is still a lack of detailed data regarding the velocity and temperature distribution inside DV jets. In this experimental study, measurements of the air velocity and temperature are performed in the DV jet produced by a flat wall-mounted DV diffuser, using a fine mesh focused on the 0.00-0.20 m height range. Two supply conditions are studied. Three planes of measurements are covered: the vertical longitudinal plane...
Vapor-liquid equilibria, by head-space gas-chromatographic analysis of the equilibrated vapor phase directly withdrawn from the equilibration apparatus, and molar excess volumes, V[sup E], by means of a vibrating-tube densimeter, of binary mixtures containing thiaalkanes or dithiaalkanes with n-alkanes or cyclohexane, were determined at 298.15 K. The excess molar Gibbs free energies, GE, of the examined mixtures were obtained by a least-squares treatment of the equilibrium data. The GE and V[sup E] values indicate that the steric effect exerted by the alkyl groups adjacent to the S group causes a regular decrease of the G[sup E] (or V[sup E]) with increasing the number of alkyl groups in the thiaalkane. A tentative approach, based on an additivity scheme of surface interactions combined with the scaled particle theory, is presented to estimate the energies of solvation in terms of group contributions.
The unburned HC in a direct-injection diesel engine is a cause of exhaust odor and SOF emission. Reduction of HC by changing the injection nozzle specifications was attempted in previous studies. In this study, some experiments in which the mixture formation was varied by using different hole diameters in a multihole nozzle and spray angles to the combustion chamber wall have been conducted. When the diameter of injection holes, which influences the fuel adhering to on the cylinder head walls and the combustion chamber wall, becomes smaller, the HC emission in the idling condition, HC deviation from cylinder to cylinder and HC increase with long idling time are decreased. The same effects were obtained by decreasing the diameter of all holes and by injecting the spray downward to the combustion chamber. 13 refs., 13 figs., 1 tab.
This article is the second part of a review of recent empirical and theoretical developments usually grouped under the heading Econophysics. In the first part, we reviewed the statistical properties of financial time series, the statistics exhibited in order books and discussed some studies of correlations of asset prices and returns. This second part deals with models in Econophysics from the point of view of agent-based modeling. Of the large number of multi-agent-based models, we have identified three representative areas. First, using previous work originally presented in the fields of behavioral finance and market microstructure theory, econophysicists have developed agent-based models of order-driven markets that we discuss extensively here. Second, kinetic theory models designed to ...
This document is the report of a task group of the Radiation Therapy Committee of the AAPM and has been prepared primarily to advise hospital physicists involved in external beam treatment of patients with pelvic malignancies who have high atomic number (Z) hip prostheses. The purpose of the report is to make the radiation oncology community aware of the problems arising from the presence of these devices in the radiation beam, to quantify the dose perturbations they cause, and, finally, to provide recommendations for treatment planning and delivery. Some of the data and recommendations are also applicable to patients having implanted high-Z prosthetic devices such as pins, humeral head replacements. The scientific understanding and methodology of clinical dosimetry for these situations is still incomplete. This report is intended to reflect the current state of scientific understanding and technical methodology in clinical dosimetry for radiation oncology patients ...
The development of an electrolytic reduction technology for spent fuels in the form of oxide is of essence to introduce LWR SFs to a pyroprocessing. In this research, the technology was investigated to scale a reactor up, the electrochemical behaviors of FPs were studied to understand the process and a reaction rate data by using U{sub 3}O{sub 8} was obtained with a bench scale reactor. In a scale of 20 kgHM/batch reactor, U{sub 3}O{sub 8} and Simfuel were successfully reduced into metals. Electrochemical characteristics of LiBr, LiI and Li{sub 2}Se were measured in a bench scale reactor and an electrolytic reduction cell was modeled by a computational tool.
In a retrospective study of 21 patients, in whom the acetabular fractures were suspected on initial radiographs, we compared and analysed the computed tomographic findings and plain radiographic findings. The results were as follow: 1. In patients with multiple trauma, no further change in position was required during CT examinations. 2. CT showed intraarticular loose bodies, which were invisible on plain radiographs. 3. CT was useful in detecting the fractures of acetabular rims, medial wall of acetabulum, and femoral head. 4. CT permitted better evaluation of shape, extent, and degree of separation of fracture fragments. 5. CT was helpful in detecting the associated fractures and soft tissue injuries. 6. CT also demonstrated the adequacy of reduction, the position of metallic fixation devices, and the presence or absence of remaining intraarticular osseous fragments after surgery.
Twenty-six patients with late complications following femoral neck fracture were examined with both skeletal and bone marrow radionuclide scintimetry. There was no correlation between the methods with respect to the quantitative assessment of femoral head vascularity based on different uptake ratios comparing the fractured and the intact side. Skeletal scintimetry always had good image quality and permitted reliable differentation between nonunion of the fracture and late segmental collapse, in contrast to bone marrow scintimetry which gave poor image quality. Skeletal scintimetry thus seems superior to bone marrow scintimetry for assessment and differential diagnosis of late complications following femoral neck fracture. It is emphasized that the physiological mechanisms for radionuclide uptake must be taken into account when comparing scintimetric studies using different tracers.
Twenty-six patients with late complications following femoral neck fracture were examined with both skeletal and bone marrow radionuclide scintimetry. There was no correlation between the methods with respect to the quantitative assessment of femoral head vascularity based on different uptake ratios comparing the fractured and the intact side. Skeletal scintimetry always had good image quality and permitted reliable differentation between nonunion of the fracture and late segmental collapse, in contrast to bone marrow scintimetry which gave poor image quality. Skeletal scintimetry thus seems superior to bone marrow scintimetry for assessment and differential diagnosis of late complications following femoral neck fracture. It is emphasized that the physiological mechanisms for radionuclide uptake must be taken into account when comparing scintimetric studies using different tracers. (author).
In the present study, surfaces of cylinder head, piston, exhaust and inlet valve of a four-stroke, direct injection, single cylinder diesel engine were coated with molybdenum (Mo) by plasma spray method. Thus, thermal barrier characteristic was brought to these parts. Variances in performance and emission values of cotton methyl ester and 2D fuel mixtures were studied in the ceramic coated and uncoated engines under the same running conditions. Performance (6.0% for specific fuel consumption) and emission values (up to 18.0% for CO, 8.0% for smoke density) of the test fuel were improved in the coated engine compared with the uncoated engine. NO_x increase (4.5%) with the increased temperatures expected in the coated engine.
The aim of this study was to measure the nociceptive response (avoidance latency) of the land snail Megalobulimus abbreviatus (N=8 in each group) after topical capsaicin exposure (0.1% and 0.5% in 20% ethanol) and to compare it to a well-studied stressful (50??C) thermal stimulus model. We also tested if ruthenium red, and capsazepine, respectively nonselective and selective TRPV1 receptor antagonists, could modify both capsaicin- and thermal-evoked responses. Finally, animals were pretreated with morphine, naloxone or morphine plus naloxone prior to capsaicin stimuli. Latencies were measured when the animal lifted its head?foot complex 1?cm from the substrate. Data were compared using ANOVA and LSD post hoc, and the Student T Test (pM. abbreviatus.
This paper develops optimal bidding strategies for a pumped-storage plant in a pool-based electricity market. In the competitive regime, when compared to simple hydroelectric generator, profit of the pumped-storage plant is maximized by operating it as a generator when market clearing price is high and as a pump when the price is low. Based on forecasted hourly market clearing price, a multistage looping algorithm to maximize the profit of a pumped-storage plant is developed, considering both the spinning and non-spinning reserve bids and meeting the technical operating constraints of the plant. The proposed model is adaptive for the nonlinear three-dimensional relationship between the power produced, the energy stored, and the head of the associated reservoir. Different operating cycles for a realistic pumped-storage plant are considered and simulation results are reported and compared. (author)
A brief overview is given of a report on Emergency Core Cooling Systems (ECCS) Recirculation Reliability Knowledge Base compiled by the International Working Group on ECCS Reliability for the OECD/NEA/CSNI. Four safety issues are identified which arise in the context of loss of coolant accidents (LOCAs) and are connected with materials and/or processes that interfere with the ECCS safety function in ways other than just strainer head loss generation. They are: the generation of missiles during a LOCA from encapsulated insulation materials used to reduce insulation debris production; clogging of BWR pressure suppression containment vent pipes by insulation jackets or metallic insulation foil pieces; strainer or sump debris ingestion and the effects of ingested debris on ECCS equipment and core cooling; miscellaneous items such as material aging and self-cleaning strainer concepts. The emphasis is mainly on BWRs but many of the considerations also apply to PWRs. ...
Fifty-nine patients underwent free flap osteocutaneous reconstruction that consisted of flaps of the dorsum of the foot in 26 patients and iliac crest flaps in 33 with a success rate of 92 percent and a mortality rate of 1.6 percent. These flaps, which require the expertise of microvascular surgeons, are time-consuming and complicate operating room and time management, but they represent a remarkable advance in reconstruction that can facilitate cosmetic and functional recovery of the patient. In particular, they promote healing in radiation-recurrent oral cancer and represent a definitive form of management for established radionecrosis of the mandible. The large volume of tissue available with iliac crest osteocutaneous grafts permits the management of patients with extensive cancer involving the skin, mucosa, and bone, but cancer control may still be disappointing and there is a need for improved adjuvant chemotherapy protocols. This technique appears to be a dependable, repeatable, ...
Canadian-based Anderson Group Company has developed an innovative round baler for harvesting a large variety of woody biomass. The baler was initially developed in 2005 in collaboration with the University Laval and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The third generation BIOBALER{sup TM} is currently built, engineered and commercialized by Anderson. It can produce up to 40 bales/hr in short rotations woody crops such as willow and hybrid poplar. The unit can harvest brushes up to 125 mm in diameter. A standard tractor can pull the BIOBALER in fallow or abandoned land, under power transmission lines, and between planted trees. The patented BIOBALER includes a mulcher head attachment, a choice of long or short swivel tongue, a fixed chamber and an undercarriage frame.
As part of the EPRI Motor-Operated Valve (MOV) Performance Prediction Methodology, a System Flow Model (SFM) has been developed to determine the differential pressure (DP) across MOVs as they are stroked in typical power plant systems. Input to the SFM includes valve flow characteristics (such as flow coefficient) and system characteristics (such as pump head/flow curve). The primary output is differential pressure across the valve at each stroke position. The SFM was validated by comparison with test data from the EPRI Flow Loop Test Program. In this study, we calculated DP using SFM and performed DP test for four MOVs. Compared between calculated DP and test DP of four MOV, respectively good agreements are found. (author). 6 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.
Fibre-reinforced-polymer-composite material has been suggested as a bearing material to overcome tribological problems witnessed during the testing of Ram assembly of the 540 MWe fuelling machine at RTD. After successful trials at B-Ram the composite material has been adapted for B-RAM, C-Ram and RDB head at fuelling machines being tested at RTD, Hall 7 and at Tarapur. Laboratory evaluations were also carried out at Tribology Lab RTD to study effect of radiation on the composite. Paper deals with the various aspects of life prediction of this material in term of wear and radiation damage. (author)
In previous work, several significant improvements in the measurement of distillation curves for complex fluids were introduced. The modifications to the classical measurement provide for (1) temperature and volume measurement(s) of low uncertainty, and most important, (2) a composition-explicit data channel in addition to the usual temperature?volume relationship. This latter modification is achieved with a new sampling approach that allows precise qualitative as well as quantitative analyses of each fraction, on the fly. In the new approach, the distillation temperature is measured in two locations. The temperature is measured in the usual location, at the bottom of the take-off in the distillation head, but it is also measured directly in the fluid. We have further modified our developm...
Ten patients with traumatic femoral neck fracture were studied with MR imaging (0.5 T, Magnetom, Siemens): unenhanced (multiecho, TR/TE = 1,600/30--240 [repetition time/echo time, msec]; gradient echo, TR/TE = 315/14, #theta# = 90 degrees) and Gd-DTPA enhanced (0.1 mM/kg body weight, Magnevist, Schering; gradient echo, TR/TE = 315/14, #theta# = 90 degrees). MR images were compared with clinical-radiographic findings. Digital subtraction angiography of the femoral head (FH) in five patients showed complete interruption of blood supply to the FH in three patients (signal intensity of FH did not increase on postcontrast images) and intact FH arteries in two patients (FH signal increased on postcontrast images, as did the healthy-side signal).
The goals of the program include predicting the impact of proposed new generating facilities, evaluating proposed high voltage transmission lines, assessing the impact of existing generating facilities, forecasting future demand for electric power, and investigating numerous information gaps through a long-range research program. The Power Plant Assessment Division (PPAD) is responsible for all PSC licensing support, site specific research, and radiological monitoring. The list of reports summarizes information of over 190 technical publications that represent the Program`s formalized research and monitoring efforts over the last five years. Reports are listed in chronological order by topical heading.
A method for the determination of stereotaxic coordinates in radiography, e.g. angiography, pneumoencephalography or digital vascular radiography, is described. A special localization frame containing radiopaque structures and scales defines a diagnostic coordinate system. This frame is fixed to the X-ray-table prior to the radiographic procedure and two projections are obtained at arbitrary angles to each other. The focus-film distances do not have to be fixed. The target coordinates are then determined either by a simple graphical procedure or with the use of a digitizing x-y-table, by a computer. With the computer method the films are placed on the digitizing table and the target and a few reference points are marked using a cursor. From the relative positions the computer calculates the coordinates. With the special head fixation system, coordinates of structures visualized in radiographic examinations can be transferred to various therapeutic or diagnostic ...
Authors retrospectively analyzed the CT findings of mediastinal lesions in surgically or clinically confirmed 37 cases at Kosin Medical College during recent 4 years from September 1979 to August 1983. 1. Among 37 caes, malignant lymphoma were 7 cases, thymoma and vascular lesion or anomaly were 5 cases respectively, benign teratoma and tuberculous mediastinal lymphadenitis and neurogenic tumor were 4 cases respectively, pericardial cyst were 2 cases, bronchogenic cyst, non-specific cyst, pancreatic pseudocyst, mesothelioma, Bochdalek hernia was 1 case respectively. 2. The sex ratio between male and female was about 1 : 1 and the majority of the patients with malignant lymphoma and teratoma was under 20 years old. 3. CT findings of the each mediastinal lesion. 1) Primary mediastinal malignant lymphoma. (1) A large, matted, continuous and midline-crossing mass was observed in the superior and the anterior mediastinums in all cases. (2) In 3 cases, irregular lower ...
Surgical resection is the only curative treatment strategy for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (CC). Therefore, accurate staging is essential for appropriate management of patients with CC. We assessed the usefulness of 2-["1"8F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in the staging of CC. We undertook a retrospective review of FDG PET images in 21 patients (10 female, 11 male; mean age 57 years) diagnosed with CC. Ten patients had hilar CC and 11, peripheral CC. Patients underwent abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (n=20) and computed tomography (CT) (n=12) for the evaluation of primary tumours, and chest radiography and whole-body bone scintigraphy for work-up of distant metastases. For semi-quantitative analysis, the maximum voxel standardised uptake value (SUV_m_a_x) was obtained from the primary tumour. All peripheral CCs showed intensely increased FDG uptake, and some demonstrated ring-shaped uptake corresponding to ...
Retrospective analyses were performed to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of intra-oral cone (IOC) radiation therapy for carcinoma of the oral tongue, especially about its faculty of local control and complications. Thirty-nine patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue were treated with IOC radiation therapy alone or in combination with external irradiation. IOC radiation therapy was given not only for T1 and T2, but also for T3 tumors. Hypofractionation was used for IOC radiation therapy. The 2 year local control rates, including surgical salvage, for T1, T2, T3 and T4 were 100%, 73.3%, 40% and 0%, respectively. The 5 year actuarial survival rates for Stage I, II, III and IV were 100%, 65.3%, 35.4% and 0%, respectively. The incidences of radiation complications, i.e. soft tissue ulceration and osteoradionecrosis, were 42.9% and 2.9%, respectively. It is suggested that relatively high rate of soft tissue ulceration was due to hypofractionation. We have found summated Gy ...
Purpose: To evaluate the outcome of repeat stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for acoustic neuromas, we assessed tumor control, clinical outcomes, and the risk of adverse radiation effects in patients whose tumors progressed after initial management. Methods and Materials: During a 21-year experience at our center, 1,352 patients underwent SRS as management for their acoustic neuromas. We retrospectively identified 6 patients who underwent SRS twice for the same tumor. The median patient age was 47 years (range, 35-71 years). All patients had imaging evidence of tumor progression despite initial SRS. One patient also had incomplete surgical resection after initial SRS. All patients were deaf at the time of the second SRS. The median radiosurgery target volume at the time of the initial SRS was 0.5 cc and was 2.1 cc at the time of the second SRS. The median margin dose at the time of the initial SRS was 13 Gy and was 11 Gy at the time of the second SRS. The median ...
Gastrointestinal lymphomas are almost exclusively of a non Hodgkin's type. The Western form is characterized by a higher incidence of stomach location (50 %), a MALT type (mucosa associated lymphoid tissue) (40 %), a B-cell type (90 %), and a high grade (55 %). Chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori is an important risk factor. Mediterranean lymphomas form a particular clinical and pathological entity with diffuse involvement of the small bowel and are frequently being associated with a chronic malabsorption disorder. Eradication of Helicobacter pylori in early lymphomas, and the use of tetracyclines in early Mediterranean lymphomas, have been shown to induce durable remissions. For more advanced gastric lymphomas, treatment usually consists of anthracycline-based chemotherapy followed by involved field radiotherapy. Surgery is usually reserved for complications such as perforation or bleeding, or in some selected cases for salvage after failure of non-surgical therapy. For ...
From 1981 up to February 1985, a total of 93 protocol patients entered the study CESS 81. The protocol recommended an initial 18-week period of polychemotherapy (VACA) followed by local therapy and two additional cycles of chemotherapy. Local therapy consisted either of radical surgery or of incomplete resection plus postoperative irradiation with 36 Gy or of radiotherapy alone (46 and 60 Gy). Centrally located lesions were always irradiated with 60 Gy. This article summarizes the data after 5 years. Data of 93 patients were analysed in October 1986 after a median follow-up of 37 months. The projected 5-year survival is 50%. The relapse rate was 42%, distant relapses occurred in 19%, local (plus distant) relapses in 23%. Most of the relapses occurred during the first 3 years of observation. Failure rate was high in patients undergoing irradiation alone (44%). Initial tumour mass (> 100 ml) and histopathologic response to initial chemotherapy were identified as ...
Ewing's sarcoma is the most common malignant bone tumour occurring in children and adolescents and exists in two different clinico pathological entities: osseous Ewing's sarcoma (OES) and extraosseous Ewing's sarcoma (EES). Five cases of primary epidural EES are described, which presented with non-specific symptoms leading to a long diagnostic delay. The median age at diagnosis was 22 years (range 13-36 years). The median diagnostic delay was 3 months. All patients had one or more neurological deficits. All underwent surgical exploration with a laminectomy and partial resection followed by adjuvant radiotherapy to a dose of 46-50 Gy and chemotherapy with VAC (vincristine, adriamycin and cyclophosphamide) alternating with ICE (ifosphamide, cisplatin and etoposide) for at least six cycles. The mean follow-up period is 21.2 months (range 11-32 months). Four of the five patients achieved a complete remission and are disease free at the time of writing this report. Two ...
Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed in 26 patients with Ewing's sarcoma of bone preceding and following neoadjuvant chemotherapy, to assess tumour response non-invasively prior to surgery. T1- and T2-weighted spin echo images were obtained. Changes including intra- and extramedullary signal intensities, tumour demarcation, tumour volume and the appearance of residual extramedullary tumour were compared with histophathology of the resected specimens. Reduction of tumour volume was significantly higher in good responders. Other single parameters did not correlated with histologic tumour response. However, when several MR parameters summarized in a classification system were combined, a positive correlation with histopathologic response was found. A limited decrease of tumour volume (<25 %) and/or residual soft tissue mass following chemotherapy correlated with a poor response. An inhomogeneous, well-defined cuff of abnormal tissue encircling the bone ...
(Materials and Methods) (I) VX/sub 2/ carcinoma was transplanted to the rabbit tibia, sup(99m)Tc-MDP was intravenously injected when bone destruction was radiologically seen. Preoperative scintigraphs, postoperative one of the resected tibia and fibra and scintigraphs of sliced tumor were compared with each other. Tissue fragments were collected from the sliced tumor, and RI was measured to compare concentration rates at different parts together with histological investigations. (II) Tetracycline was given to the rabbit of Experiment (I) to compare with the concentration of sup(99m)Tc-MDP. (III) Microautoradiography method was done on the experimental animals for investigation of the concentration of sup(99m)Tc-MDP. (Results) (I) Localization of sup(99m)Tc-MDP was increased at the sites of tumorous bone formation, of reactive bone formation at tumor edges, and of cartilage calcification, with little concentration at tumor cells or necrotic tissue. (II) Deposition ...
Tc-MDP 10mCi was intravenously given preoperatively to 20 patients with primary bone tumors and 1 with a metastatic bone tumor. Preoperative and postoperative scintigraphs of resected tumor and scintigraphs of sliced tumor were compared. Tissue fragments were collected from the sliced tumor, and RI measured to compare concentration rates at different areas. Histological investigations were also done. Localization of Tc-MDP was increased at sites of tumorous bone formation, of reactive bone formation at tumor edges, and of cartilage calcification, with little concentration at tumor cells or necrotic tissue. VX/sub 2/ carcinoma was transplanted into the rabbit tibia, Tc-MDP was intravenously injected when bone destruction was radiologically evident, and investigations were done as in the clinical cases. In experimental bone tumor, increased uptake localization of Tc-MDP was much the same as in clinical cases. Tetracycline was given to the rabbit of Experiment to ...
Purpose: For planning the therapeutic strategies and estimating the prognosis in esophageal cancer, N-staging is very important. To date, MRI still is of minor importance as imaging modality of the mediastinum despite promising developments in the past, like ECG-gating or 'averaging' sequences, e.g. LOTA (Long-term averaging), which facilitate mediastinal and thoracic MR-imaging. In a prospective approach, the value of MRI based N-staging was examined with respect to LOTA-sequences. Material and Methods: Within from weeks prior to esophagectomy, standardized MRI of the esophagus was performed in 15 patients (10 squamous-cell-carcinomas and 5 adenocarcinomas) using a 1.5 T whole body scanner. Imaging quality was classified based on depiction of aortic wall or tracheal wall layers. Criteria for malignant infiltration were a diameter of more than 15 mm or a round appearance of a lymph node together with GD-DTPA enhancement. All data were blinded and separately read by two radiologists. ...
Background and Purpose: In an earlier phase II study, irradiation together with razoxane was shown to improve local control in recurrent rectal cancer. Therefore, the Austrian Society of Radiooncology (OeGRO) initiated a randomized controlled trial in 1992 to compare this combined treatment versus radiation therapy alone. Patients and Methods: Between 1992 and 1999, 36 patients with localized recurrences of rectal cancer were randomized to receive radiotherapy without (group A) or with razoxane (group B). The prognostic variables of the two groups were similar except for a longer median latency period from initial surgery to local recurrence in group A. High-energy photons with daily fractions between 170 and 200 cGy were used. The median total radiation dose was 60 Gy in each group. The patients in group B received a median razoxane dose of 9.6 g (range, 5-12 g). Main outcome measures were local control, overall survival, and toxicity. Results: The combined treatment with razoxane ...
A 36-year-old woman underwent amniocentesis for advanced maternal age. The fetal karyotype had an extra dark staining G band on the long arm of chromosome 11 with no other identifiable abnormalities. FISH studies using a chromosome 11 paint probe confirmed the origin of the extra band. The abnormality was identified as a partial duplication of 11q: 46,XX dir dup (11)(q13.5q21) or (q21q23.1). The specific duplicated band could not be identified with certainty. Detailed fetal sonograms were normal. Family studies revealed the identical duplication in the mother but normal karyotypes in both maternal grandparents. The mother had strabismus and a short tongue frenulum which required surgical correction. Menses occurred late in adolescence and complete development of secondary sexual characteristics was delayed until adulthood. An infertility evaluation revealed duplication of the uterus, cervix, and vagina. An evaluation for metorrhagia identified a pituitary adenoma which was ...
A report on the long-term follow up of the first cooperative Scandinavian Sarcoma Group study in Ewing's sarcoma of bone is presented. Fifty-two previously untreated patients entered the study between 1984 and 1990. Half of the tumors were located in the extremities and one quarter in the pelvis. The combined modality treatment consisted of 5 cycles of chemotherapy - including vincristine, methotrexate, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, bleomycin and dactinomycin. The first two cycles were followed by local resection or amputation in 35 patients and by radiotherapy alone in 17 patients. When surgery was not performed, was incomplete or yielded poor margins radiotherapy was given at a dose of 40-60 Gy. Local tumor relapses developed in 10 patients and in all but one patient were accompanied by metastatic disease. Five patients had metastasis at diagnosis and distant metastases developed after primary treatment in 27 patients after a median of 14 months. The median ...
Purpose To investigate the sensitivity and accuracy of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) for restaging the mediastinum after induction chemotherapy in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and Methods One hundred twenty-four consecutive patients with tissue-proven stage IIIA-N2 disease who were treated with induction chemotherapy and who had undergone mediastinal restaging by EBUS-TBNA were reviewed. On the basis of computed tomography, 58 patients were classified as having stable disease and 66 were judged to have had a partial response. All patients subsequently underwent thoracotomy with attempted curative resection and a lymph node dissection regardless of EBUS-TBNA findings. Results Persistent nodal metastases were detected by using EBUS-TBNA in 89 patients (72%). Of the 35 patients in whom no metastases were assessed by EBUS-TBNA, 28 were found to have residual stage IIIA-N2 disease at ...
Ewing's sarcoma is a small round-cell tumor typically arising in the bones, rarely in soft tissues, of children and adolescents. Ewing's sarcoma has retained the most unfavorable prognosis of all primary musculoskeletal tumors. Prior to the use of multi-drug chemotherapy, long-term survival was less than 10%. The development of multi-disciplinary therapy with chemotherapy, irradiation, and surgery has increased current long-term survival rates in most clinical centers to greater than 50%. In addition, the preferred method of tumor resection has changed; limb salvage has nearly replaced amputation of the affected limb. Limb salvage procedures can be performed in place of amputation without compromising patient survival rates. Recent studies have revealed that the pathognomonic translocations involving the EWS gene on chromosome 22 and an ETS-type gene, which is most commonly the Fli1 gene on chromosome 11, are implicated in more than 95% of Ewing's sarcomas, ...
L-[3-"1"8F]-#alpha#-methyltyrosine ("1"8F-FMT) is an amino-acid tracer for positron-emission tomography (PET). We have conducted a clinicopathologic study to elucidate the correlation of angiogenesis with "1"8F-FMT and 2-["1"8F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ("1"8F-FDG) uptake in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Thirty-seven NSCLC patients were enrolled in this study, and two PET studies with "1"8F-FMT and "1"8F-FDG were performed. Uptake of PET tracers was evaluated with standardized uptake value. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), CD31, CD34, L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) and Ki-67 labeling index of the resected tumors were analyzed by immunohistochemical staining, and correlated with the clinicopathologic variables and the uptake of PET tracers. The median VEGF rate was 45% (range, 10-78%). High expression was seen in 30 patients (81%, 30/37). VEGF expression was statistically associated with progressively growing microvessel count. ...
Cholangiocarcinoma is synonymous with bile duct carcinoma, and can originate in a small intrahepatic bile duct (peripheral type), a major intrahepatic duct including the hepatic hills, an extrahepatic duct, or near the papilla of Vater (central type). In a sense bile duct carcinoma of the peripheral type is cholangiocarcinoma of the liver; it has the same gross configuration as hepatocellular carcinoma, resulting in difficulty to differentiate on the CT. The authors studied CT findings of 14 cases of pathologically proven peripheral type cholangiocarcinoma of the liver during the last 4 years. The results were as follows: 1. Of 14 cases, 8 were female and 6 were male, and the age ranged from 5th to 7th decades. 2. Preoperative clinical diagnosis were as follows: hepatoma 8 cases, abscess 5 cases and metastasis 1 case in order of frequency. 3. Diagnosis were confirmed by hepatic lobectomy in 7 cases, wedge resection in 5 cases and needle biopsy in 2 case. 4. ...
Purpose. We have tested a procedure of focal injection of the contrast medium Lipiodol as a fiducial marker for image-guided boost of the tumor in bladder cancer radiotherapy (RT). In this study, we have evaluated the feasibility and the safety of the method as well as the inter- and intra-fraction shift of the bladder tumor. Materials and methods. Five patients with muscle invasive urinary bladder cancer were included in the study. Lipiodol was injected during flexible cystoscopy into the submucosa of the bladder wall at the periphery of the tumor or the post resection tumor-bed. Cone-beam CT (CBCT) scans were acquired daily throughout the course of RT. Results. Lipiodol demarcation of the bladder tumor was feasible and safe with only a minimum of side effects related to the procedure. The Lipiodol spots were visible on CT and CBCT scans for the duration of the RT course. More than half of all the treatment fractions required a geometric shift of 5 mm or more to ...
Vladimir P. Demikhov was born in a Russian peasant family in 1916. As a biology student at The Moscow University in 1937, he constructed a metal artificial heart and maintained the circulation of a dog for 5.5 hours. From 1946, after his military service, he worked in the Surgical Institute of The Moscow Academy of Sciences performing heterotopic heart transplantations in dogs. In 1947, he performed the first orthotopic lung transplant. Later he performed complex cardiothoracic transplantations as well as renal and hepatic transplantations. He restarted his investigations with the artificial heart and performed coronary bypass operations in dogs. In 1954 he performed a head transplantation, for which he gained worldwide infamy. Stalinist propaganda advertised this fact as the superiority of Soviet science. In fact, it was the upper body of a smaller dog to the neck of a bigger one. The two heads could eat and drink separately. But he could not ...
The ECOTEC combustion system and the architecture of the new Opel 2.2 l aluminum engine have been configured to achieve low noise and exhaust emissions. This power unit, employed in Germany for the first time in the Astra Coupe, already complies with the Euro IV emissions standard. It features minimum maintenance requirements and a long operating life. The DOHC spark-ignition engine with four valves per cylinder has two chain-driven camshafts, valve gear with roller cam followers and hydraulic lash adjusters. Two chain driven balancer shafts have been integrated into the engine block. The cylinder head and block, lower crankcase, oil pan, and cylinder head cover are all made of aluminum. A modular concept makes it possible to adapt the engine effectively to different vehicle concepts and markets. (orig.) [German] Das ECOTEC-Verbrennungssystem und die Motorarchitektur des neuen 2,2-l-Aluminium-Triebwerks von Opel sind auf niedrige Geraeusch- und ...
This spring, Newfoundland will send off a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel to the offshore Terra Nova field. The Terra Nova will proceed southeast through Bull Arm, then northeast out of Trinity Bay, then heads southeast to the Jeanne d'Arc Basin on the Grand Banks. The Terra Nova is expected to produce 115,000 barrels of oil per day for six years, when it reaches full capacity. The consortium, headed by Petro-Canada as senior ownership partner and operator, built an environment protection program into every aspect of the project. Some of the features of the environment protection program include glory holes excavated on the ocean floor for the protection of production equipment from icebergs, to a flare stack on the platform, which has four legs to provide stability in rough seas. The FPSO was designed to withstand sea ice, icebergs, and severe winter storms. Flow lines are also protected, and in the event ...
In 1996, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the University of Washington completed the fourth year of a multi-year study to estimate survival of juvenile salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) passing through dams and reservoirs on the Snake River. Actively migrating smolts were collected near the head of Lower Granite Reservoir and at Lower Granite Dam, tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags, and released to continue their downstream migration. Individual smolts were subsequently detected at PIT-tag detection facilities at Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, McNary, John Day and Bonneville Dams. Survival estimates were calculated using the Single-Release (SR) and Paired-Release (PR) Models. Timing of releases of tagged hatchery steelhead (O. mykiss) from the head of Lower Granite Reservoir and yearling chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) from Lower Granite Dam in 1996 spanned the major portion of their juvenile migrations. ...
Lawrence Livermore, Sandia Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories have a joint project to develop an optimized hydrogen fueled engine for series hybrid automobiles. The major divisions of responsibility are: system analysis, engine design and kinetics modeling by LLNL; performance and emission testing, and friction reduction by SNL; computational fluid mechanics and combustion modeling by LANL. This project is a component of the Department of Energy, Office of Utility Technology, National Hydrogen Program. We report here on the progress on system analysis and preliminary engine testing. We have done system studies of series hybrid automobiles that approach the PNGV design goal of 34 km/liter (80 mpg), for 384 km (240 mi) and 608 km (380 mi) ranges. Our results indicate that such a vehicle appears feasible using an optimized hydrogen engine. The impact of various on-board storage options on fuel economy are evaluated. Experiments with an available engine at the Sandia Combustion ...
Lawrence Livermore, Sandia Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories have a joint project to develop an optimized hydrogen fueled engine for series hybrid automobiles. The major divisions of responsibility are: system analysis, engine design and kinetics modeling by LLNL; performance and emission testing, and friction reduction by SNL; computational fluid mechanics and combustion modeling by LANL. This project is a component of the Department of Energy, Office of Utility Technology, National Hydrogen Program. We report here on the progress on system analysis and preliminary engine testing. We have done system studies of series hybrid automobiles that approach the PNGV design goal of 34 km/liter (80 mpg), for 384 km (240 mi) and 608 km (380 mi) ranges. Our results indicate that such a vehicle appears feasible using an optimized hydrogen engine. The impact of various on-board storage options on fuel economy are evaluated. Experiments with an available engine at the Sandia Combustion ...
Background: the fact that therapeutic irradiation can induce significant stenosis in the arteries of the head, neck, and chest, as welt as in the aorta and the iliac arteries, is familiar in daily practice and well documented in the literature. By contrast, radiation-induced renal artery stenosis seems to be a less widely known complication. Patients and methods: the sudden onset of medically refractory arterial hypertension and coma in a 27-year-old man is reported, who had been treated at age 20 with chemotherapy and radiotherapy for Ewing's sarcoma in the lumbar region. This treatment had been performed at the hospital of Sion, Switzerland in 2001. Also, the relevant literature from 1965 to 2007 is reviewed to underscore various aspects of this problem and to demonstrate the clinical relevance of renal artery stenosis as a potential long-term sequela of radiotherapy. Conclusion: radiation-induced renal artery stenosis has only rarely been described in the ...
Purpose: The predictive potential of tumor cell kinetic parameters may be improved when they are studied in relation to other microenvironmental parameters. The purpose of this investigation was to quantitatively categorize human tumor samples according to proliferation patterns. Second, it was examined whether these characteristics are retained after xenotransplantation. Methods and Materials: Fifty tumor samples from head-and-neck cancer patients were immunohistochemically stained for Ki-67 and vessels. Also, parts of the samples were transplanted into nude mice. Tumors were categorized according to previously described patterns of proliferation. Vascular and proliferation patterns were analyzed using an image processing system. Results: The 50 tumors were categorized into four patterns of proliferation by visual assessment: marginal (6), intermediate (10), random (21), and mixed (12). One tumor could not be classified. These patterns were quantified by ...
Prototype tests conducted during the winter of 1989/90 have successfully demonstrated an economical design for air stripping volatile hydrocarbons from oily tanker ballast water. The prototype air stripper, developed for Alyeska's Ballast Water Treatment (BWT) facility in Valdez, Alaska, ran continuously for three months with an average removal of 88% of the incoming volatile organics. Initially designed to remove oil and grease compounds from tanker ballast water, the BWT system has been upgraded to a three-step process to comply with new, stringent regulations. The BWT biological oxidation process enhances the growth of bacteria present in the incoming ballast water through nutrient addition, aeration, and recirculation within a complete-mixed bioreactor. The average removal of BETX is over 95%, however, occassional upsets required the placement of a polishing air stripper downstream of the aeration tanks. Packed-tower air stripping was investigated but deemed economically ...
We have done system studies of series hydrogen hybrid automobiles that approach the PNGV design goal of 34 km/liter (80 mpg), for 384 km (240 mi) and 608 km (380 mi) ranges. Our results indicate that such a vehicle appears feasible using an optimized hydrogen engine. We have evaluated the impact of various on-board storage options on fuel economy. Experiments in an available engine at the Sandia CRF demonstrated NO{sub x} emissions of 10 to 20 ppM at an equivalence ratio of 0.4, rising to about 500 ppm at 0.5 equivalence ratio using neat hydrogen. Hybrid simulation studies indicate that exhaust NO{sub x} concentrations must be less than 180 ppM to meet the 0.2 g/mile ULEV or Federal Tier II emissions regulations. LLNL has designed and fabricated a first generation optimized hydrogen engine head for use on an existing Onan engine. This head features 15:1 compression ratio, dual ignition, water cooling, two valves and open quiescent combustion ...
Acanthamoeba castellanii myosins IA and IB demonstrate the catalytic properties of a myosin and can support analogues of contractile and motile activity in vitro, but their single, low molecular weight heavy chains, roughly globular shapes, and inabilities to self-assemble into filaments make them structurally atypical myosins. The authors present the complete amino acid sequence of the 128-kDa myosin IB heavy chain, which they deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the gene and which reveals that the polypeptide is a fusion of myosin-like and non-myosin-like sequences. Specifically, the amino-terminal approx. 76 kDa of amino acid sequence is highly similar to the globular head sequences of conventional myosins. By contrast, the remaining approx. 51 kDa of sequence shows no similarity to any portion of conventional myosin sequences, contains regions that are rich in glycine, proline, and alanine residues, and lacks the distinctive sequence characteristics of an ...
Acanthamoeba castellanii myosins IA and IB demonstrate the catalytic properties of a myosin and can support analogues of contractile and motile activity in vitro, but their single, low molecular weight heavy chains, roughly globular shapes, and inabilities to self-assemble into filaments make them structurally atypical myosins. The authors present the complete amino acid sequence of the 128-kDa myosin IB heavy chain, which they deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the gene and which reveals that the polypeptide is a fusion of myosin-like and non-myosin-like sequences. Specifically, the amino-terminal #approx# 76 kDa of amino acid sequence is highly similar to the globular head sequences of conventional myosins. By contrast, the remaining #approx# 51 kDa of sequence shows no similarity to any portion of conventional myosin sequences, contains regions that are rich in glycine, proline, and alanine residues, and lacks the distinctive sequence characteristics of an ...
In this study the distribution of sup(99m)Tc-diphosphonate and tetracycline and histological examination were also investigated in femoral heads obtained during replacement surgery. One hundred patients received scintigraphic examinations immediately after the occurrence of injury and every month thereafter. Ten mCi of sup(99m)Tc-diphosphonate was injected intravenously. Three hours later, detailed scintigrams of the bilateral hip areas were made with a scintillation camera connected to a computer. The uptake of sup(99m)Tc-diphosphonate in the fracture was expressed as a ratio of the counts recorded in one area to those recorded in the other area. A peak value in count ratio was recorded in all patients 4 to 6 weeks after fractures. One hundred patients were classified into a normal healing group and a delayed or non-union group. Namely, sup(99m)Tc-diphosphonate uptake was significantly higher in the delayed or non-union group than in the normal healing group 10 ...
In this study the distribution of sup(99m)Tc-diphosphonate and tetracycline and histological examination were also investigated in femoral heads obtained during replacement surgery. One hundred patients received scintigraphic examinations immediately after the occurrence of injury and every month thereafter. Ten mCi of sup(99m)Tc-diphosphonate was injected intravenously. Three hours later, detailed scintigrams of the bilateral hips areas were made with a scintillation camera connected to a computer. The uptake of sup(99m)Tc-diphosphonate in the fracture was expressed as a ratio of the counts recorded in one area to those recorded in the other area. A peak value in count ratio was recorded in all patients 4 to 6 weeks after fractures. One hundred patients were classified into a normal healing group and a delayed or non-union group. Namely, sup(99m)Tc-diphosphonate uptake was significantly higher in the delayed or non-union group than in the normal healing group 10 ...
Purpose: To report our clinical experiences with on-board imager (OBI) kV image verification for cranial stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and radiotherapy (SRT) treatments. Methods and Materials: Between January 2007 and May 2008, 42 patients (57 lesions) were treated with SRS with head frame immobilization and 13 patients (14 lesions) were treated with SRT with face mask immobilization at our institution. No margin was added to the gross tumor for SRS patients, and a 3-mm three-dimensional margin was added to the gross tumor to create the planning target volume for SRT patients. After localizing the patient with stereotactic target positioner (TaPo), orthogonal kV images using OBI were taken and fused to planning digital reconstructed radiographs. Suggested couch shifts in vertical, longitudinal, and lateral directions were recorded. kV images were also taken immediately after treatment for 21 SRS patients and on a weekly basis for 6 SRT patients to assess any ...
When preadipocytes differentiate into adipocytes, several differentiation-linked genes are activated. Lipo-protein lipase (LPL) is one of the first genes induced during this process. To investigate early events in adipocyte development, we have focused on the transcriptional activation of the LPL gene. For this purpose, we have cloned and fused different parts of intragenic and flanking sequences with a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene. Transient transfection experiments and DNase I hypersensitivity assays indicate that several positive as well as negative elements contribute to transcriptional regulation of the LPL gene. When reporter gene constructs were stably introduced into preadipocytes, we were able to monitor and compare the activation patterns of different promoter deletion mutants at selected time points representing the process of adipocyte development. We could delimit two cis-regulatory elements important for gradual activation of the LPL gene during ...
Identification of factors that determine individual patient risk for recurrence and progression in superficial papillary carcinoma of the bladder is a subject of extensive research as it would be a major outcome in patient management. It has been well recognized that traditional prognostic markers as tumor grade and stage are not accurate enough in predicting biological behavior. A large number of markers have been investigated as potential prognostic factors and relatively few can help in predicting outcome. Material and Methods: Forty-nine cases undergoing complete transurethral resection for primary superficial papillary transitional cell carcinoma were subjected to clinicopathologic evaluation as well as immunohistochemical staining for p53, bcl-2, cytokeratin 20 and Ki-67. The CAS-200 image analyzer was used to estimate the Ki-67 labeling index. Results: Recurrence was observed in 19 cases (38.8%) and progression in 7 cases (14.3%) with a median followup of 49 ...
Objective: To compare the histopathology of nodular fasciitis (NF) with the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in order to evaluate the basis of the MR signal characteristics. Design and patients: Ten patients with NF, nine females and 1 male, with an age ranging from 13 to 58 years (mean 26.8 years) were studied. MRI findings, available in all 10 patients, were compared with the histopathology in nine patients, and an area-to-area comparative study of the whole specimen section histopathology and MRI was performed in two patients. Results: On the basis of an excisional biopsy or resection specimen, the nine lesions were classified into myxoid (n=4), cellular (n=3) and fibrous (n=2) subtypes. Four myxoid lesions with a subcutaneous location showed a homogeneous SI comparable with muscle on T1-weighted images, high SI on T2-weighted images, and had homogeneous enhancement. One cellular lesion presented with homogeneous, slightly higher SI than muscle on ...
The project involved several studies of vesicles and micelles and their constituent surfactants. The primary objective of the project was an elucidation of factors involved in the stabilization and destabilization of vesicles and micelles. Work was performed on seven individual studies. Several different types of novel cleavable surfactants were synthesized, including systems with two chains and two head groups, and their aqueous micelles and vesicles were characterized by methods including dynamic laser light scattering (to give aggregate sizes) and differential scanning calorimetry (to give vesicle bilayer phase transition temperatures). A cleavable surfactant is stable under certain conditions but liable under other conditions with respect to cleavage to give nonsurfactant products and/or other surfactants with different properties. The destruction of several cleavable surfactant-derived aggregates was demonstrated, indicating that they have potential as ...
Portal verification images were generated from the photon contamination in electron beams produced by a linear accelerator during treatment of patients receiving high-energy electron radiation therapy (8-14 MeV). An experimental storage phosphor system was used to record the images and display them on laser-printed film. Images were obtained from four or more treatment fractions from 21 cases of head and neck cancer. Precision in field placement was estimated by determining the position of a selected anatomic landmark relative to the center of the field for each series of images. The average standard deviation in the field-position measurements was 3.8 mm. Several procedural problems were also detected and corrected after review of the verification images. The results indicate that the emphasis placed on monitoring and control of field-positioning error in high-energy electron treatments should be similar to the emphasis placed on this aspect of error in photon ...
This work come along of the necessity to utilize an unique High-Energy Electron Linear Accelerator (10 MV) for radiant treatments which require higher doses in the surface levels of tissue. It is analyzed the interposition of acrylic degraders (spoilers) in the beam, especially for opposed and parallel fields in the cases of head and neck. It was analyzed the possible combinations of the following parameters: 1) Field sizes defined at isocenter (100 cm) 6 x 6 cm"2, 8 x 8 cm"2 and 10 x 10 cm"2 ; 2) Surface-spoiler distance (DSS) of 4, 7 and 10 cm; 3) Spoilers with different thickness 1.1 and 1.5 cm. It was observed a displacement of the maximum dose toward the surface, and an increase in the percentile doses in the build-up zone when the spoiler is nearing and/or increasing its thickness. It is verified that the use of spoilers, support the symmetry and plane of the beam inside of the clinically acceptable margins. When the results obtained are analyzed then it is ...
Estuaries and coastal regions are highly variable in the physical and hydrographic conditions. As a result of heavy urbanization and industrialization of the head waters of most estuaries, there are substantial localized inputs of contaminants to the estuary. These factors combined with the flushing characteristics of individual estuaries to create relatively unique features that result in variation in the typical levels of trace metals for these systems. This makes intercomparison of the estuaries difficult. Comparability among estuaries becomes even more difficult when metals analyses are conducted without proper control of field and laboratory contamination, now firmly established in the trace metal analytical literature as a prerequisite for reliable marine trace metals analysis. This paper compares the concentrations of selected trace metal (Ag, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) concentrations in the waters of several major estuaries of the United States. The basis of ...
We tried to apply a quartz crystal as a sensor by using the resonant frequency and the resistance properties of quartz crystals. Four kinds of fatty acids that have the same head groups were coated on the surfaces of the quartz crystals, and the shift of the resonant frequency and the resistance were observed based on the lengths of the tail groups. Myristic acid (C{sub 14}), palmitic acid (C{sub 16}), stearic acid (C{sub 18}), and arachidic acid (C{sub 20}) were deposited on the surfaces of quartz crystals by using the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) method. As a result, the resonant frequency change was more sensitive to high molecular-weight fatty acids than to low molecular-weight ones. We also observed the effect of temperature on stearic acid LB films, and the response properties of quartz crystals coated with stearic-acid LB films to organic gases were investigated. As a result, the sensitivity of quartz crystals to organic gases was higher for higher ...
Today, as a result of increase in oil prices, limited fossil fuel resources, environmental consideration and global warming, the methyl ester fuels have been focused on alternative fuels. Methyl ester fuels can be used more efficiently in low heat rejection engines (LHR), in which the temperature of combustion chamber is increased by creating a thermal barrier. In this study, the piston, cylinder head, exhaust and inlet valves of a diesel engine were coated with the ceramic material Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-TiO{sub 2} by the plasma spray method. Thus, a thermal barrier was provided for the parts of the combustion chamber with these coatings. The effects of corn oil methyl ester that produced by the transesterification method, and No. D2 fuels' performance and exhaust emissions' rate were studied by using equal in every respect coated and uncoated engines. Tests were performed on the uncoated engine, and then repeated on the coated engine and the results ...
A system for partial mechanisation of the support work with roadway driving machines consisting of a crawler undercarriage carrying a selective cutter with a cutting jib on a rotary tower is claimed. The system comprises a support manipulator movable in longitudinal direction over the rotary tower and cutting jib and a preassembly table with a number of brackets to take up and preassemble a support structure consisting of profile segments, preferably an arc-shaped support with a cap made up for several parts. The system is characterized in that the preassembly table is mounted on one side of the selective cutter and has one straight vertical guide bar each for at least two cap brackets which can be continuously adjusted in height, and in that the manipulator mounted on the selective cutter has a horizontally suivelling head which may grip under the cap of the preassembled structure on the preassembly table.
In interventional radiology (IVR) of cerebral aneurysms, it is important to understand the form and physical relationships between the cerebral aneurysm and the surrounding vessels. However, because the vessels in the head area are highly complex, it can be difficult to comprehend the structure using conventional angiography. Therefore, three-dimensional rotational angiography (3D-RA) has been used in recent years. This article discusses studies of the spatial resolution of 3D-RA. We reconstructed 3D-RA of an acrylic slit phantom (slit widths: 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.5 mm) and examined spatial resolution by visual evaluation and profile curves. When the slit phantom was arranged to avoid the effect of beam hardening, the spatial resolution of 3D-RA was found to be as high as 0.75 mm. When the slit phantom was placed orthogonal to the rotational axis of the C-arm, the spatial resolution of 3D-RA was decreased because of the cone angle effect of X-rays. However, it was ...
Once containment recirculation pumps are activated and emergency core cooling (ECC) flow is supplied from the recirculation sump during loss of coolant accident (LOCA), various insulations and coatings on a pipe, equipments and structures damaged by LOCA break jet as well as additional debris sources are transported to recirculation sump screen by the break flow and containment spray flow drainage. This debris may result in loss of net pressure suction head (NPSH) of the recirculation pumps, and have a threat to long term cooling and containment heat removal capacity. In this case, flow patterns of containment pool are important to confirm behaviors of debris transport for predicting various flow paths to the recirculation sump screen. In this paper, models using commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software CFX are developed for containment pool simulation during recirculation mode. The specific plant used for this analysis is CANDU type plant, in Korea
A characteristic trait of Francis turbines operating at low-head is pressure pulsations that occur during certain load levels of the generator. These stem from pressure variations across the turbine due to pulsating flow in the draft-tube. This surging action of the water column is related to draft-tube geometry and flow-rate of water in the penstock. The pressure pulsations cause torque variations on the turbine and corresponding electric power pulsations. If electric power is used as a feedback signal to the Power System Stabilizer (PSS), then Mvar and terminal voltage pulsations will occur when the generator is operating in the ``rough zone``. This paper describes field test results for investigating feedforward control from the penstock, draft tube and spiral case pressure to reduce the effects of Mw pulsations on PSS output signals. This investigation involved a PSS with generator power as the feedback signal and the PSS tuned for local and inter-area damping.
Objective: Traditional nasolacrimal duct stenting possesses some shortcoming including difficulty of pulling ball head guide wire from the nasal cavity with turbinate hypertrophy and nasal septal deviation. The new method of nose-oral tube track establishment can overcome the forementioned and increase the successful rate. Methods: 5 F catheter and arterial sheath were modified to be nasolacrimal duct stent delivery device respectively. Antegrade dacryocystography was taken firstly to display the obstructed site and followed by the modified protocol of inserting the guide wire through nasolacrimal duct and nasal cavity, and establishing the stent delivery track for retrograde stent placement. Results: 5 epiphora patients with failure implantation by traditional method were all succeeded through the modified stenting (100%). During 6-mouth follow-up, no serious complications and reocclusion occurred. Conclusion: The establishment of eye-nose-mouth-nose of external ...
Electric currents induced due to 60 Hz magnetic fields in a human body placed in a close proximity of various high voltage transmission lines are computed. A realistic model of the human body from the anatomical and electrical point of view with resolution of 1.3 cm for the body and 0.665 cm for the head is used. The computations are performed using the impedance method. Three representative configurations of high voltage transmission lines, namely 500 kV, 138 kV and 25 kV are analyzed. The results indicate that the maximum current densities of the order of 0.2 {micro}A/cm{sup 2} can be induced in a lineman working on a 500 kV line (0.5 m away from closest conductors). A good correlation can be seen between the computed magnetic field in the location of the human body and the induced current densities. The induced currents computed here and estimated from measured magnetic fields in various power line environments are compared to those for typical home and office ...
The dose distribution in a Rando phantom has been measured for typical EMI 5005 CT scans of the head, chest, abdomen and pelvis. These dose distributions have been used to generate quantitative estimates of the somatic and genetic radiation risks associated with these CT examinations and also to measure the total energy imparted during each scan. A comparison has been made between the radiation risk estimates and the energy imparted measurements. The energy imparted measurements are not a good indicator of the somatic and/or genetic risks when one type of CT scan is compared with another. However, for a given type of scan, the energy imparted may be a reasonable indicator of the relative somatic risks associated with different CT examinations. Considerable care should be taken when interpreting and using any measured value of energy imparted in a radiological examination since published values of the risk per unit energy imparted can significantly underestimate the ...
The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal technique for delivering postoperative radiotherapy for vulvar cancer and other tumors requiring treatment of the inguinal nodes. This project compared tumor coverage and normal tissue sparing for the 5 main radiotherapy techniques that are used to treat vulvar cancer. The intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plan was undesirable because it resulted in an excessive dose to portions of the central pelvic structures. The photon thunderbird with skin match was unacceptable because it underdosed a portion of the groin region. The electron thunderbird was ideal for thin patients but was not applicable for most patients because of excessive dose to the skin and subcutaneous tissues. The photon through-and-through and the photon thunderbird with deep match were acceptable in most situations. In thin patients, where the depth of the inguinal vessels is less than 3 cm, the electron thunderbird is the technique of choice. In the ...
Computer simulated small-angle neutron scattering curves of spherical poly disperse extruded unilamellar liposomes from saturated 1,2-diacylphosphatidylcholines in the aqueous phase are evaluated by using a multi shell model, which divides the lipid bilayer of liposomes into the polar head group region, and the nonpolar hydrocarbon region consisting of the chains of methylene groups and of the region of methyl groups. In the each of these regions, the coherent neutron scattering length density is supposed to by homogeneous. The evaluation is based on obtaining of radius of gyration from Kratky-Porod plot of small-angle neutron scattering data in the Guinier region of small scattering vector values. From radii of gyration obtained at several different molar fractions N_D_2_O/(N_D-2_O + N_H_2_O) in the aqueous phase (contrasts) and independent volumetric data, the lipid surface area A_L (or the bilayer thickness d_L) and the number of water molecules N_L penetrated ...
This report is an appraisal of the state of the European Union`s environment. It was requested by the European Commission as part of the review process of the Fifth Environmental Action Programme `Toward sustainability`. Main sections of the report are headed: societal developments and driving forces; environmental themes and topics; integration economy and environment. Themes covered are: climate change, ozone depletion, acidification, air pollution and quality, waste management, urban-issues, inland water resources, coastal zones and marine waters, risk management, soil quality, and nature and diversity. The main conclusions of this report are that the European Union is making progress towards reducing certain pressures on the environment, though this is not enough to improve the general quality of the environment and represents even less progress towards sustainability. Without accelerated policies, pressures on the environment will remain exceeding human health ...
This article describes the nature of the electromagnetic waves, what they are and how do they affect us. Current concern is focused on exposure to low level power-frequency magnetic fields like microwave radiation from mobile phones and leaking microwave ovens; high power radiation from defence and airport radars; fields close to high voltage transmission lines; radio frequency fields from industrial welders and heaters and DC magnetic fields in aluminium smelters. These fields with frequency less than 300 GHz do not carry sufficient energy to break chemical bonds and it is assumed that they cannot damage cell DNA. The amount of radiation absorbed by a human exposed to far field electromagnetic radiation (EMR) depends on the orientation and size of the person. In the 30-300 MHz range it is possible to excite resonance in the whole or partial body such as the head. It is emphasised that since there are some evidence that electromagnetic fields do harm, a policy of ...
Most radiologists accept that modest doses of irradiation (4500-5000 rad/4 1/2-5 weeks) can control subclinical regional lymph node metastases from squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck and adenocarcinomas of the breast. There have been few reports concerning elective irradiation of the ilioinguinal region. Between October 1964 and March 1980, 91 patients whose primary cancers placed the ilioinguinal lymph nodes at risk received elective irradiation at the University of Florida. Included are patients with cancers of the vulva, penis, urethra, anus and lower anal canal, and cervix or vaginal cancers that involved the distal one-third of the vagina. In 81 patients, both inguinal areas were clinically negative; in 10 patients, one inguinal area was positive and the other negative by clinical examination. The single significant complication was a bilateral femoral neck fracture. The inguinal areas of four patients developed mild to moderate fibrosis. One ...
The effects of focused-ion-beam (FIB) irradiation on writer performance were examined on a perpendicular recording system. The entire top pole was irradiated by FIB with ion doses from 0 to 300 pC/#mu#m"2. PW_5_0 and signal to noise ratio (SNR) were characterized using a spin stand before and after FIB irradiation. It was found that there is degradation of PW_5_0 and SNR due to FIB irradiation. At the maximum dose (300 pC/#mu#m"2), PW_5_0 increased by 33 nm (>30%) and SNR decreased by 5 dB (>25%). The degradation was attributed to the physical pole tip recession and the formation of a magnetic dead layer. The thickness of the magnetic dead layer was estimated by analyzing the write spacing loss. Using atomic force microscopy and stage current change monitored during FIB process, it was found that the entire 4-nm protective carbon layer was etched away with a dose of 25 pC/#mu#m"2. This result implies that the degradation with ion doses <25 pC/#mu#m"2 is exclusively due to ...
Sub sea pipeline construction at oil and gas fields, with high concentration of on-bottom facilities, becomes more difficult when mooring operations and pipeline approach to a congested platform have to be performed. One method that has often been applied in Brazil is the so-called 'DP (Dynamic Positioning) pull-in', where PETROBRAS owned pipelay Barge, BGL-1, is moored away from the congested area, while a DP anchor handler pulls the rigid pipeline from BGL-1 to a target near the platform. The method was conceived to avoid mooring operations near the congested platforms as well as to minimize risks due to the pipeline initiation process. Inside the congested area the initiation with aid of a 'dead-man' anchor on the sea bottom, which would be a more conventional solution, becomes impossible in most cases. This paper will discuss the engineering work required to perform the 'DP pull-in' as well as show the operational steps, from ...
This patent describes in an dual gas-liquid fuel four cycle engine having cylinders and wherein each cylinder is operatively connected thereto and each cylinder has a piston, two inlet valves, two exhaust valves and a first liquid fuel injector. It comprises: at least one fuel torch cell operatively connected to at least one cylinder, the torch cell having a torch cell nozzle at one end thereof and the other end having appropriate means to connect the torch cell to a fuel supply, a second fuel injector mounted in the torch cell at a predetermined angle to an axis of the torch cell, the torch cell defining an auto-ignition chamber, the second fuel injector being in operative communication with the auto-ignition chamber by an injector nozzle passageway, the injector nozzle passageway entering the auto-ignition chamber at a predetermined angle relative to the axis, and a torch nozzle passage connecting the auto-ignition chamber with the cylinder at a predetermined angle to a top inner ...
Recently, the capabilities of the CORMLT code, which was designed to predict heatup, degradation, and meltdown of core and Reactor Pressure VEssel (RPV) internals during postulated severe accidents, were enhanced to enable tracking of individual fission product species during core meltdown. In addition, a mechanistic treatment of the release and flow of molten materials was developed to replace the engineering models developed earlier. In the present paper, the improved models are described and predictions of melt progression for a postullated accident sequence (TMLB') are discussed. A key issue in the new modeling is the mechanical behavior of fuel pellet stacks during run-off of molten cladding. One view is that capillary forces result in ''welding'' of porous fuel, thereby promoting free-standing pellet stacks; another is that rubblization and slumping of fuel take place. Results are reported for the first view point and its impact on the ...
Over 300 cases of femoral neck fractures following radiotherapy for intrapelvic malignant tumor have been reported in various countries since Baensch reported this disease in 1927. In Japan, 40 cases or so have been reported, and cases of bilateral femoral neck fractures have not reached to ten cases. The authors experienced a case of 75 year-old female who received radiotherapy for cancer of the uterus, and suffered from right femoral neck fracture 3 months after and left femoral neck fracture one year and half after. As clinical symptoms, she had not previous history of trauma in bilateral femurs, but she complained of a pain in a hip joint and of gait disturbance. The pain in left femoral neck continued for about one month before fracture was recognized with roentgenogram. As histopathological findings, increase of fat marrow, decrease of bone trabeculae, and its marked degeneration were recognized. Proliferation of some blood vessels was found out, but thickness of the internal ...
The natural convection characteristics of gas in a vertical narrow annular gap which had its bottom opened to high temperature fluid and its upper shielding exposed to low temperature sealant have been evaluated from simulated fluid experiments using water and from calculations using the three-dimensional thermal hydraulic analysis computer code THERVIS-III. The following results were obtained: (1) The critical Rayleigh number which represented the limit of convection generation increased as the aspect ratios #epsilon#_1 (height/circumference) and #epsilon#_2 (height/gap distance) increased. (2) The flow pattern along the circumferential direction was seen to depend more strongly on the radiant heat from the side wall, rather than the aspect ratios #epsilon#_1 and #epsilon#_2. (3) The temperature difference along the circumferential direction in the annular gap obtained from the calculation code coincided with that obtained from experiments within #+-# 10 %, by taking account of a loss ...
Commercially available CT devices reconstruct cross-sectional slices of the human body. A sequence of such abutting cross-sectional slices can be, and usually is, used to obtain information about the region of the head, which requires several slices to cover it. However, there are situations for which such asequence of displays is far from optimal - for example, when one would like to see the anatomic relationship between two features appearing in different slices or the shape of a particular region or tumor. The Computer Aided Three-Dimensional Reconstruction and Imaging System (CATRIS), developed at our university, can build up a three-dimensional image from a series of CT cross-sections and can display its stereoscopic image on a three-dimensional graphic display system, thus providing helpful information for clinical use in recognizing the anatomic relationship between two features appearing in different slices or the shape of particular organ or tumor. This ...