The use of arterial allografts in aortic graft infections. A three year experience on eighteen patients

BACKGROUND: We describe our experience in the treatment of aortic graft infections by replacing them with arterial homografts as suggested by the good results recently described. METHODS: Between March 1994 and March 1997 eighteen patients with infections of the aortofemoral bifurcation segments have been treated. All patients underwent a complete explantation of the infected graft and an in situ revascularization with arterial homograft harvested in multiorgan removal. Eight segments were freshly preserved, 10 were cryopreserved. Four patients were operated as emergencies, of which 3 for aorto-enteric fistulas. All others presented a serious septic state. RESULTS: Three patients died in the early postoperative period: one of acute infarction and two of homograft related causes. In the follow-up there was only one death from acute infarction, a branch occlusion and two allograft enteric fistulas successfully treated by surgery. All surviving patients are submitted to periodical haemodynamic and tomographic control with an average follow-up of 22 months (range 3 months to 3 years) and there has been no allograft degeneration so far. CONCLUSIONS: The use of homologue arterial allografts has shown good results in the treatment of serious aortic graft infections resulting in adequate peripheral vascularization. There have been no significant degenerations to date, either in fresh or cryopreserved allografts.     

Kinetic and catalytic aspects in melt transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol

The kinetics of melt transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol in the presence of zinc acetate as catalyst has been studied in semibatch conditions. We observed that this reaction occurs with the formation of many oligomers characterized from the terminal groups of the chains that can be hydroxyl–hydroxyl, methyl–hydroxyl or methyl–methyl. Experimental runs have been performed at different temperatures, initial reagents ratios, and catalyst concentrations, following the amount of methanol released during the time as well as the concentration of any kind of oligomer. All the oligomers have been identified and determined by HPLC analysis. A classic Kinetic model based on a complex reaction scheme containing four or five reaction sequences has been developed. The scheme with four sequences foresees 24 oligomeric species involved in 58 different reactions, while the scheme with five sequences has 48 oligomeric species involved in 228 reactions. Despite the large number of oligomers and occurring reactions, only two kinetic parameters and two equilibrium constants are necessary to simulate the kinetic behaviour of all the oligomers. A kinetic constant is related to the reaction of a methyl group with a hydroxyl of ethylene glycol, while the other corresponds to the reaction of a methyl group with a hydroxyl in a chain. Both kinetic constants show an activation energy of about 15 kcal/mol. We observed a nonlinear correlation between activity and catalyst concentration and interpreted this fact by assuming two different catalytic activity levels for a dissociated and an undissociated zinc ionic couple, respectively. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Exposure to magnetic fields of railway engine drivers: a case study in Italy

A case study of exposure assessment of railway workers to static and extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields is presented. A measurement campaign was conducted in aboard Italian main line trains. All measurements were performed on board during regular service (two engine drivers were simultaneously present), in all places potentially accessible to personnel, considering routes ranging from a few tens of kilometres to hundreds of kilometres. The measurement protocol was mostly based on broadband metres and personal metres were employed to assess individual exposure. Surveys on static and ELF magnetic fields were performed for seven different models of engine or electrified train. Traction motors were fed by alternating current (AC) current, except for two engines, where AC current fed only auxiliary services. The final result is that the average exposure to static magnetic field was a little higher than the background geomagnetic field; occasionally in few areas it could reach levels of the order of millitesla. The average exposure to ELF magnetic fields was in the order of 1-2 μT, with higher levels (few microtesla) only for one engine; occasionally in hot spots, close to wiring or specific equipment, the field values could reach several tens of microtesla.     

Aneurysm of the hepatic artery. Report of a case

Hepatic artery aneurysms are considered a rare event even though their report in the literature are becoming more and more frequent. A case of a 50-year-old man with common hepatic artery arterial aneurysm is reported. Initially, aspecific upper abdominal symptoms were found, but the great improvement in the diagnosis of vascular disease allows us to recognize this pathology which has a high risk of rupture so that an aggressive treatment is required.     

Coated long-period fiber gratings as high-sensitivity optochemical sensors

In this paper, the numerical and the experimental analyses of coated long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) as a high-sensitivity optochemical sensor are presented. The proposed structure relies on LPFGs coated with nanoscale high refractive index chemical-sensitive overlays. The deposition of overlays with refractive index higher than the cladding one leads to a modification of the cladding-mode distribution. If the overlay features are properly chosen, a strong field enhancement within the overlay occurs, leading to an excellent sensitivity of the cladding-mode distribution to the coating properties. The effects of overlay thickness and cladding-mode order on sensor performances have been numerically and experimentally investigated. In order to provide a high-sensitivity and species-specific optochemical sensor, this mechanism has been proved with nanoscale overlays of syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) in the nanoporous crystalline /spl delta/ form. The sensitive material has been chosen in light of its selectivity and high sorption properties towards chlorinated and aromatic compounds. Sensor probes were prepared by using dip-coating technique and an adequate procedure to obtain the /spl delta/-form sPS. Experimental demonstration of the sensor capability to perform subparts-per-million detection of chloroform in water at room temperature is also reported.     

Type I and Type II Alignment of the Light Hole Band in In0.15Ga0.85As/GaAs and in ln0.15Ga0.85As/Al0.15Ga0.85As Strained Quantum Wells

We present results of photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence measurements of strained undoped In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs and In_0.15Ga_0.85As/Al_0.15Ga_0.85As quantum well structures, designed to throw light on the current controversy over light-hole band alignment at low In content. We compare these data with theoretical calculations of the confined state energies within the eight band effective mass approximation. Our analysis shows that for In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs, the observed two transitions are consistent with either type I or type II alignment of the light hole band for band offset ratios within the accepted range. In the case of In_0.15Ga_0.85As/Al_0.15Ga_0.85As, however, our results clearly indicate type II alignment for the light hole band. We derive the band offset ratio Q, defined here as Q = δE_c/δE_g where δE_c is the conduction band offset and δE_g is the bandgap difference between the quantum well and the barrier in the presence of strain, for the In_0.15Ga_0.85As/Al_0.15Ga_0.85As system to be Q = 0.83 and discuss it in the context of the common anion rule.     

New Active Packaging Based on Biopolymeric Mixture Added with Bacteriocin as Active Compound

The objective of this work was to develop a chitosan/agar-agar bioplastic film incorporated with bacteriocin that presents active potential when used as food packaging. The formulation of the film solution was determined from an experimental design, through the optimization using the desirability function. After establishing the concentrations of the biopolymers and the plasticizer, the purified bacteriocin extract of Lactobacillus sakei was added, which acts as an antibacterial agent. The films were characterized through physical, chemical, mechanical, barrier, and microbiological analyses. The mechanical properties and water vapor permeability were not altered by the addition of the extract. The swelling property decreased with the addition of the extract and the solubility increased, however, the film remained intact when in contact with the food, thus allowing an efficient barrier. Visible light protection was improved by increased opacity and antibacterial capacity was effective. When used as Minas Frescal cream cheese packaging, it contributed to the increase of microbiological stability, showing a reduction of 2.62 log UFC/g, contributing a gradual release of the active compound into the food during the storage time. The film had an active capacity that could be used as a barrier to the food, allowing it to be safely packaged.     

Micromechanics of uniaxial tensile deformation and failure in high impact polystyrene (HIPS)

While it is recognized that the heterogeneous particles in HIPS play the dual role of providing multiple sites for craze initiation in the polystyrene (PS) matrix and allow the stabilization of the crazing process through cavitation/fibrillation in the PB phase within the particle, the precise role of particle morphology is not well understood or quantified. This work probes the micromechanics of uniaxial tensile deformation and failure in rubber-toughened PS through axi-symmetric finite element representative volume element (RVE) models that can guide the development of blends of optimal toughness. The RVE models reveal the effect on craze morphology and toughness by various factors such as particle compliance, particle morphology, particle fibrillation and particle volume fraction. The principal result of our study is that fibrillation/cavitation of PB domains within the heterogeneous particle provides the basic key ingredient to account for the micro- and macro-mechanics of HIPS.