Hemolytic anemia associated with lead poisoning from shotgun pellets and the response to Succimer treatment

The recent development of mini-invasive surgery includes appendectomy. We report our results of 4 years experience in this type of approach. We have operated on 154 patients (61 men, 93 women), mean age 26.7 years, presenting with clinical signs of appendicitis. The operation was completely carried out by laparoscopy in 144 cases, including treatment of abscess in 13 and peritonitis in 8 cases. Operation was converted into laparotomy in 10 cases, 4 of which because of some difficulty in appendix dissection. No deaths were recorded. Eight (5.2%) post-operative complications occurred: 4 infections of the trocar hole, one of which the cause of readmission; 3 cases of pain and fever (in one a re-laparoscopy was performed because of suspicion of leakage of the appendicular stump); 1 residual hematoma requiring second laparoscopy. Mean duration of hospitalisation was 4.9 days (range 2-25 days): at present, mean hospitalisation is 2 and 6 days respectively in cases with and without peritonitis. In conclusion, laparoscopic appendectomy appears to be feasible in the majority of cases, with better results when the appendix is ectopic and/or in the presence of peritoneal reaction.     

Gene transfer in dendritic cells, induced by oral DNA vaccination with Salmonella typhimurium, results in protective immunity against a murine fibrosarcoma

A live attenuated AroA- auxotrophic mutant of Salmonella typhimurium (SL7207) has been used as carrier for the pCMVbeta vector that contains the beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) gene under the control of the immediate early promoter of Cytomegalovirus (CMV). We tested whether orally administered bacterial carrier could enter and deliver the transgene to antigen-presenting cells (APCs) through the natural enteric route of infection and whether beta-gal expression could generate a protective response against an aggressive murine fibrosarcoma transduced with the beta-gal gene (F1.A11) that behaves operationally as a tumor-associated antigen. After three courses, at 15-day intervals, mice developed both cell-mediated and systemic humoral responses to beta-gal. Mice vaccinated with the Salmonella harboring pCMVbeta, but not with plasmid-less carrier, showed resistance to a challenge with F1.A11 cells. These experiments suggest that Salmonella-based DNA immunization allows us to specifically target antigen expression in vivo to APCs. To prove that the transgene is actually expressed by APCs as a function of an eukaryotic promoter, the green fluorescent protein (GFP) was placed under the control of either the eukariotic CMV or a prokaryotic promoter. Using cytofluorometric analysis, GFP was detected only in splenocytes of mice receiving a Salmonella carrier harboring GFP under the CMV promoter. These results indicate that transgene expression occurs because of a Salmonella-mediated gene transfer to eukaryotic cells. Finally, approximately 19% of the splenocytes expressed GFP. Among them, F4/80(+) macrophages and CD11cbright dendritic cells (DCs) were scored as positive for GFP expression. Extensive work has been performed trying to optimize the way to transfect DCs, ex vivo, with genes coding for relevant antigens. We show here, for the first time, that DCs can be directly and specifically transduced in vivo such to induce DNA vaccination against tumors.     

Computational fluid dynamic and magnetic resonance analyses of flow distribution between the lungs after total cavopulmonary connection

Total cavopulmonary connection is a surgical procedure adopted to treat complex congenital malformations of the right heart. It consists basically in a connection of both venae cavae directly to the right pulmonary artery. In this paper a three-dimensional model of this connection is presented, which is based on in vivo measurements performed by means of magnetic resonance. The model was developed by means of computational fluid dynamics techniques, namely the finite element method. The aim of this study was to verify the capability of such a model to predict the distribution of the blood flow into the pulmonary arteries, by comparison with in vivo velocity measurements. Different simulations were performed on a single clinical case to test the sensitivity of the model to different boundary conditions, in terms of inlet velocity profiles as well as outlet pressure levels. Results showed that the flow distribution between the lungs is slightly affected by the shape of inlet velocity profiles, whereas it is influenced by different pressure levels to a greater extent.     

Underwater three-dimensional imaging with an amplitude-modulated laser radar at a 405 nm wavelength

We report the results of underwater imaging with an amplitude-modulated single-mode laser beam and miniaturized piezoactuator-based scanning system. The basic elements of the device are a diode laser source at 405 nm with digital amplitude modulation and a microscanning system realized with a small-aperture aspheric lens mounted on a pair of piezoelectric translators driven by sawtooth waveforms. The system has been designed to be a low-weight and rugged imaging device suitable to operate at medium range (approximately 10 m) in clear seawater as also demonstrated by computer simulation of layout performance. In the controlled laboratory conditions a submillimeter range accuracy has been obtained at a laser amplitude modulation frequency of 36.7 MHz.     

Thermal cis–trans isomerization of 4-diethylamino-4′-methoxyazobenzene in poly(D(−)3-hydroxybutyrate) and its hydroxyvalerate copolymer as a probe for characterizing their aging

The aging of bacterial polyester poly(D (—)3-hydroxybutyrate) has been studied by coloring it with 4-diethylamino-4′-methoxyazobenzene and determining the reduction in isomerization rate of the dye with aging, such a reduction being a measure of the loss in polymer sequential mobility that is responsible for the considered phenomenon. A preliminary test carried out on poly(ethylene terephthalate) colored with 4-diethylaminoazobenzene proved the isomerization of the dispersed dye to be a sound probe for determining the aging process. In the case of the bacterial polyester, the aging process appeared even above the polymer T_g value measured by calorimetric analysis. The kinetics and rate coefficients of aging were determined at 30°C for the examined polymers. Aging in the copolymer poly(hydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate) was also investigated. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Local optimal scale in a hierarchical segmentation method for satellite images

Over recent decades, remote sensing has emerged as an effective tool for improving agriculture productivity. In particular, many works have dealt with the problem of identifying characteristics or phenomena of crops and orchards on different scales using remote sensed images. Since the natural processes are scale dependent and most of them are hierarchically structured, the determination of optimal study scales is mandatory in understanding these processes and their interactions. The concept of multi-scale/multi-resolution inherent to OBIA methodologies allows the scale problem to be dealt with. But for that multi-scale and hierarchical segmentation algorithms are required. The question that remains unsolved is to determine the suitable scale segmentation that allows different objects and phenomena to be characterized in a single image. In this work, an adaptation of the Simple Linear Iterative Clustering (SLIC) algorithm to perform a multi-scale hierarchical segmentation of satellite images is proposed. The selection of the optimal multi-scale segmentation for different regions of the image is carried out by evaluating the intra-variability and inter-heterogeneity of the regions obtained on each scale with respect to the parent-regions defined by the coarsest scale. To achieve this goal, an objective function, that combines weighted variance and the global Moran index, has been used. Two different kinds of experiment have been carried out, generating the number of regions on each scale through linear and dyadic approaches. This methodology has allowed, on the one hand, the detection of objects on different scales and, on the other hand, to represent them all in a single image. Altogether, the procedure provides the user with a better comprehension of the land cover, the objects on it and the phenomena occurring.     

Global Problem: National Accountability: Framing Accountability in the Australian Context of Climate Change

Climate change has been seen as a crisis looming in the future, and has therefore not reached the top of the political agenda. This no longer holds true when looking at Australia, where climate change has become high politics. In this paper we examine the Australian electoral debate in terms of accountability framing, where the Government and Opposition were involved in a ‘framing contest’. We argue that theories on accountability framing in crisis need to be modified in order to capture the complex dynamics of climate change due to its inherent scientific uncertainty and global nature. After conducting an inductive analysis of Australian Broadcasting Corporation‐reporting we found three themes to be of importance for accountability framing in the ‘risk society’: labeling, linking and coping.     

Energy Efficient Wireless Networks Towards Green Communications

Wireless networks have become an essential part of the modern life. However, currently, 3% of the world-wide energy is consumed by the ICT infrastructures which causes about 2% of the world-wide CO₂ emissions. The transmitted data-volume increases rapidly and wireless communications are used extensively while network design rules have practically ignored the energy efficient network design approach to limit CO₂ emissions. This approach is currently named Green Communications. Significant energy savings in mobile networks can be expected by defining and standardizing energy efficiency metrics and combining energy aware flexible radios and networks. This paper discusses several techniques such as cross layer approach, multiple antennas, cell size reduction and cognitive radio, from the system-wide energy efficiency point of view, outlining challenges and open issues.