Augmentation of facial soft-tissue defects with Alloderm dermal graft

The aim of the study was TPS diagnostic value determination in the serum of women with breast cancer as compared with MCA and CA 15-3. The relationship between the serum concentration of these antigens and patient age, clinical stage, histological grade, presence of metastases to lymph nodes and histological type of neoplasm was evaluated. Studies were conducted on the sera of 139 women before surgical procedure aged 28-81, treated in the Clinic of Oncology, at Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences in Poznań. The TPS concentration was determined using the "BEKI Diagnostics" immunoenzymatic method, MCA - by the "Roche" test and CA 15-3 concentration was determined by the "Abbott" immunofluorescent test. The study showed significantly higher levels of TPS, CA 15-3 and MCA in women with cancer, compared with values in healthy women and women with mastopathy. The highest median of concentration and frequency of occurrence was obtained for TPS. A correlation between enhancement of TPS and CA 15-3 concentration with clinical stage was observed. A similar connection was noted in women with metastases to the lymph nodes. Serum MCA concentration results did not demonstrate the above effects. The study suggests, that in estimating the clinical condition of women with breast cancer, the simultaneous determination of TPS with CA 15-3 seems to be a more useful prognostic factor than TPS or CA 15-3 with MCA.     

Microcirculatory bed of the rat ovary in health and under laser irradiation

Personal clinical observations during the recent years allow the authors to confirm the indisputable value of surgical experience got during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) and in particular, the "fourfold" scheme proposed by V. I. Voiachek for the diagnosis and treatment of blind gunshot wounds to the skull base. Computed tomography considerably increases the probability of detection of the exact localization of foreign bodies in complex anatomical structures of the skull and thus facilitates choosing the most rational surgical management. The use of the electro-optical transducer for the extraction of foreign bodies from almost inaccessible areas of the skull base decreases the risk of operation.     

Flux line lattice states and pinning in niobium wire networks in high magnetic fields

The properties of the flux line lattice in the thin strands of superconducting niobium wire networks with thickness and width comparable to the penetration depth are investigated in the limit of very few flux lines. An angle dependent upper critical field is observed that is consistent with the existence of surface superconductivity. Our results indicate the existence of a flux line lattice in the complete field range B_c1 B B_c 1.4 B_c2. The flux line lattice undergoes a dimensional crossover when the transversal correlation length R_c is of the order of the strand width. The field dependence of the Labusch parameter due to surface pinning is determined and compared to a model for surface pinning by Bean-Livingston barriers.     

Ultrarapid metabolizers of debrisoquine: characterization and PCR-based detection of alleles with duplication of the CYP2D6 gene

During a six-month period 2,221 haemocultures obtained from patients hospitalized in the Faculty Hospital Olomouc were examined. In all 304 isolated bacteria the sensitivity was assessed by the standard dilution micromethod and moreover all positive haemocultures were examined the "direct" disc method. Agreement between the results of the two methods was proved in 84% of pairs of tests and within a range from 67 to 100%, depending on the type of antimicrobial preparation. Based on these findings it may be stated that assessment of the sensitivity by the "direct" method agrees significantly with assessment of the sensitivity according to minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC). In patients with septicaemia this procedure makes it possible to change empirical antibiotherapy by 24 hours sooner to aimed therapy.     

The lactulose breath hydrogen test and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth

OBJECTIVES: To i) document the sensitivity and specificity of a combined scintigraphic/lactulose breath hydrogen test for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and ii) investigate the validity of currently accepted definitions of an abnormal lactulose breath hydrogen test based on "double peaks" in breath hydrogen concentrations. METHODS: Twenty-eight subjects were investigated with culture of proximal small intestinal aspirate and a 10-g lactulose breath hydrogen test combined with scintigraphy. Gastroduodenal pH, the presence or absence of gastric bacterial overgrowth, and the in vitro capability of overgrowth flora to ferment lactulose were determined. RESULTS: Sensitivity (16.7%) and specificity (70.0%) of the lactulose breath hydrogen test alone for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth were poor. Combination with scintigraphy resulted in 100% specificity, because double peaks in serial breath hydrogen concentrations may occur as a result of lactulose fermentation by cecal bacteria. Sensitivity increased to 38.9% with scintigraphy, because a single rise in breath hydrogen concentrations, commencing before the test meal reaches the cecum, may occur in this disorder. Sensitivity remained suboptimal irrespective of the definition of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth used, the nature of the overgrowth flora, favorable luminal pH, the presence of concurrent gastric bacterial overgrowth, or the in vitro ability of the overgrowth flora to ferment lactulose. CONCLUSIONS: Definitions of an abnormal lactulose breath hydrogen test based on the occurrence of double peaks in breath hydrogen concentrations are inappropriate. Not even the addition of scintigraphy renders this test a clinically useful alternative to culture of aspirate for diagnosing small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.     

Non-functional properties in the model-driven development of service-oriented systems

Systems based on the service-oriented architecture (SOA) principles have become an important cornerstone of the development of enterprise-scale software applications. They are characterized by separating functions into distinct software units, called services, which can be published, requested and dynamically combined in the production of business applications. Service-oriented systems (SOSs) promise high flexibility, improved maintainability, and simple re-use of functionality. Achieving these properties requires an understanding not only of the individual artifacts of the system but also their integration. In this context, non-functional aspects play an important role and should be analyzed and modeled as early as possible in the development cycle. In this paper, we discuss modeling of non-functional aspects of service-oriented systems, and the use of these models for analysis and deployment. Our contribution in this paper is threefold. First, we show how services and service compositions may be modeled in UML by using a profile for SOA (UML4SOA) and how non-functional properties of service-oriented systems can be represented using the non-functional extension of UML4SOA (UML4SOA-NFP) and the MARTE profile. This enables modeling of performance, security and reliable messaging. Second, we discuss formal analysis of models which respect this design, in particular we consider performance estimates and reliability analysis using the stochastically timed process algebra PEPA as the underlying analytical engine. Last but not least, our models are the source for the application of deployment mechanisms which comprise model-to-model and model-to-text transformations implemented in the framework VIATRA. All techniques presented in this work are illustrated by a running example from an eUniversity case study.     

Review Paper: A critical review of the present and future prospects for electronic paper

Abstract— The commercial success of monochrome electronic paper (e‐Paper) is now propelling the development of next‐generation flexible, video, and color e‐Paper products. Unlike the early battles in the 1980s and 1990s between transmissive and emissive display technologies, there is a extraordinary diversity of technologies vying to become the next generation of e‐Paper. A critical review of all major e‐Paper technologies, including a technical breakdown of the performance limitations based on device physics and commentary on possible future breakthroughs, is presented. In addition, the visual requirements for color e‐Paper are provided and compared to standards used in conventional print. It is concluded that researchers have much work remaining in order to bridge the significant gap between reflective electronic displays and print‐on‐paper.     

Experimental test of a robust formation controller for marine unmanned surface vessels

Experiments with two formation controllers for marine unmanned surface vessels are reported. The formation controllers are designed using the nonlinear robust model-based sliding mode approach. The marine vehicles can operate in arbitrary formation configurations by using two leader-follower control schemes. For the design of these controller schemes 3 degrees of freedom (DOFs) of surge, sway, and yaw are assumed in the planar motion of the marine surface vessels. Each vessel only has two actuators; therefore, the vessels are underactuated and the lack of a kinematic constraint puts them into the holonomic system category. In this work, the position of a control point on the vessel is controlled, and the orientation dynamics is not directly controlled. Therefore, there is a potential for an oscillatory yaw motion to occur. It is shown that the orientation dynamics, as the internal dynamics of this underactuated system, is stable, i.e., the follower vehicle does not oscillate about its control point during the formation maneuvers. The proposed formation controller relies only on the state information obtained from the immediate neighbors of the vessel and the vessel itself. The effectiveness and robustness of formation control laws in the presence of parameter uncertainty and environmental disturbances are demonstrated by using both simulations and field experiments. The experiments were performed in a natural environment on a lake using a small test boat, and show robust performance to parameter uncertainty and disturbance. This paper reports the first experimental verification of the above mentioned approach, whose unique features are the use of a control point, the zero-dynamic stability analysis, the use of leader-follower method and a nonlinear robust control approach.     

Systems modelling for effective mine water management

Concerns about the difficulties in securing water have led the Australian coal mining industry to seek innovative ways to improve its water management and to adopt novel strategies that will lead to less water being used and more water being reused. Simulation tools are essential to assess current water management performance and to predict the efficiency of potential strategies. As water systems on coal mines are complex and consist of various inter-connected elements, a systems approach was selected, which views mine site water management as a system that obtains water from various sources (surface, groundwater), provides sufficient water of suitable quality to the mining tasks (coal beneficiation, dust suppression, underground operations) and maintains environmental performance. In this paper, the model is described and its calibration is illustrated. The results of applying the model for the comparison of the water balances of 7 coal mines in the northern Bowen Basin (Queensland, Australia) are presented. The model is used to assess the impact of applying specific water management strategies. Results show that a simple systems model is an appropriate tool for assessing site performance, for providing guidance to improve performance through strategic planning, and for guiding adoption of site objectives.