First evaluation of a year of ambulatory surgery in urology

Day surgery in urology is in full growth actually. The present report is based on our first 120 patients. Low post-operative complication rate, patients' satisfaction and economical savings are the main factors for the important increase in this type of surgery.     

Fertilization in vitro. A review over the medical indications and suggestion to unified guidelines for public fertility clinics in Denmark

Medical indications for in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) internationally and in Denmark are reviewed. Reports from large international centres document that tubal infertility, unexplained infertility, endometriosis and male infertility are equally good indications for IVF. Traditionally, tubal infertility has been the only medical indication qualifying for IVF treatment within the National Health Service in Denmark. Thus, in this country, couples with unexplained and male infertility and with endometriosis have to pay up to 25,000 D.Kr. per IVF-ET treatment in private fertility clinics. Since there is no scientific basis for this discrimination, it is urged that the present rules are changed, so that couples with unexplained and male infertility and endometriosis are also allowed IVF treatment free of charge in the public fertility clinics.     

Interobserver variation in the assessment of the sampling quality of cervical smears

The present study was carried out to investigate the biochemical and morphological changes in the liver after ligation of the hepatic artery (HA) in the presence and in the absence of extrahepatic cholestasis (EHC). The study was conducted on 100 rats divided into four groups of 25 animals each: group 1, sham operation; group 2, hepatic artery ligation (HAL); group 3, bile duct ligation (BDL); and group 4, HAL plus BDL. All animals were sacrificed 7 days after surgery when total bilirubin and fractions, alkaline phosphatase (AP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured in serum and on the inner hepatocyte mitochondrial membrane (IHMM); the incidence of necrosis and the volume fractions of vessels, bile ducts and hepatocytes in the liver were also determined. HAL reduces the relative volumes of bile ducts, with no changes in levels of bilirubin and fractions, AP, ALT, AST and IHMM, but HAL associated with EHC reduces duct proliferation and the liver becomes more vulnerable to necrosis. In conclusion, the normal liver depends on HA flow and this dependence is more evident in the presence of EHC.     

Optical and electrical characterization of fluorine doped cadmium oxide thin films prepared by the sol-gel method

Highly transparent and conducting fluorine (F) doped cadmium oxide (CdO) thin films were deposited on glass slides by the sol-gel method. The films were doped by the addition of ammonium fluoride to the precursor solution whose optimum concentration was determined. The films were fired in an open atmosphere at 350 °C and after that, exposed to annealing treatments in different atmospheres (N₂, N₂/H₂ mixture and Ar) at the same temperature. The films were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The resistivity was determined by the four probes method and current-voltage measurements in accordance with the standard Van der Pauw configuration. The CdO:F thin films obtained, showed high polycrystalline quality and high transmission in the visible region (≥ 90%), shifting towards the blue region of the absorption edge as the fluorine concentration in the precursor solution was increased from 0 to 30 at.%. The lowest resistivity values were reached for the samples with F content higher or equal to 5% and annealed in either N₂ or a 96/4 N₂/H₂ gas mixture. Our resistivity value reached in the CdO:F layers was 4.5 × 10^{− 4} Ω cm (20 Ω/square).