How Can the European Federation for Colposcopy Promote High Quality Colposcopy Throughout Europe?

Since its inception in 1998, the European Federation for Colposcopy (EFC) now comprises 26 member societies. Its principle aim is to promote high quality colposcopy throughout Europe with special emphasis on training, education and treatment. This review summarises EFC’s activities and achievements to date

Additional file 1 of The efficacy of pregabalin for pain control after thoracic surgery: a meta-analysis

Supplementary Material

Plasmon Coupling in Gold Nanotube Assemblies: Insight from a Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TDDFT) Calculation

The plasmonic properties of gold nanotube assemblies are investigated using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). The plasmon resonance peak of gold nanotube assemblies is strongly dependent on the polarization direction and gap distance. The optical absorption exhibits that the resonances correspond to different modes. These modes can be regarded as dipole interaction from their charge distribution. The interaction between nanotubes is opposite for different polarization direction, which causes distinct anisotropy effects in the spectral behavior. These results offer us alternative ways to tune the plasmon resonance in this structure

Morphological Evolution within Spin-Cast Ultrathin Polymer Blend Films Clarified by a Freestanding Method

Polymer phase separation has established a series of bottom-up nanofabrication methods. Owing to the intrinsic immiscibility of most polymer blends, phase separation is typically produced by rapid quenching during spin-casting. However, the full sequence of events that occur during this process is still unclear, especially in the case of ultrathin polymer blend films. Herein, a freestanding method is first introduced to obtain morphological information from the bottom side of the film. We demonstrate that when the thickness of ultrathin film is comparable to the dimensional scale of the phase separation domains, it is feasible to prepare perforated films with uniform nanopores via selective solvent etching. Our results also provide direct evidence that the spinodal decomposition mechanism plays an important role in determining the final morphology within the ultrathin polymer blend films. These findings are of practical value in the fabrication of desired nanostructures by polymer phase separation

Tripolyphosphate-responsive release property of monoolein cubic phase containing sodium dodecyl sulfate and oligo chitosan

<p>Tripolyphosphate (TPP)-responsive MO cubic phase was prepared by immobilizing oligo chitosan in the water channel through its electrostatic attraction with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The phase transition temperature (PTT) increased with increasing the content of SDS. The PTT of cubic phase whose SDS content was 0%, 0.21%, 0.42%, 0.84%, and 1.68%, determined by polarized microscopy, was about 69.5°C, 72°C, 75°C, 80.5°C, and 95°C, respectively. The PTT did not markedly deviate from that determined by differential scanning calorimetry. The release degree for 72 h of dye (i.e., amaranth and methylene blue) was dependent on the pH value of release medium (pH 3.0 and pH 7.0). Moreover, the release degree significantly increased when the TPP concentration in the release medium increased to 0.4% (w/v). Oligo chitosan was electrostatically complexed with TPP and the complexation took place extensively at the oligo chitosan/TTP mass ratio of 1:0.125 and 1:0.25 and at the oligo chitosan concentration of 1.6% (w/v), evidenced by optical spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It was thought that the complexation was responsible for the TPP concentration-dependent release.</p

Noninvasive Measurement of Carbon Dioxide during One-Lung Ventilation with Low Tidal Volume for Two Hours: End-Tidal versus Transcutaneous Techniques

<div><p>Background</p><p>There may be significant difference between measurement of end-tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure (PetCO₂) and arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure (PaCO₂) during one-lung ventilation with low tidal volume for thoracic surgeries. Transcutaneous carbon dioxide partial pressure (PtcCO₂) monitoring can be used continuously to evaluate PaCO₂ in a noninvasive fashion. In this study, we compared the accuracy between PetCO₂ and PtcCO₂ in predicting PaCO₂ during prolonged one-lung ventilation with low tidal volume for thoracic surgeries.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Eighteen adult patients who underwent thoracic surgeries with one-lung ventilation longer than two hours were included in this study. Their PetCO₂, PtcCO₂, and PaCO₂ values were collected at five time points before and during one-lung ventilation. Agreement among measures was evaluated by Bland-Altman analysis.</p><p>Results</p><p>Ninety sample sets were obtained. The bias and precision when PtcCO₂ and PaCO₂ were compared were 4.1 ± 6.5 mmHg during two-lung ventilation and 2.9 ± 6.1 mmHg during one-lung ventilation. Those when PetCO₂ and PaCO₂ were compared were -11.8 ± 6.4 mmHg during two-lung ventilation and -11.8 ± 4.9 mmHg during one-lung ventilation. The differences between PtcCO₂ and PaCO₂ were significantly lower than those between PetCO₂ and PaCO₂ at all five time-points (p < 0.05).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>PtcCO₂ monitoring was more accurate for predicting PaCO₂ levels during prolonged one-lung ventilation with low tidal volume for patients undergoing thoracic surgeries.</p></div

Doxorubicin-loaded microgels composed of cinnamic acid–gelatin conjugate and cinnamic acid–Pluronic F127 conjugate

<p>Microgels were prepared by cinnamic acid–gelatin (type B) conjugate (CA-GelB) and cinnamic acid–Pluronic F127 conjugate (CA-Plur). ¹H NMR confirmed that CA was conjugated to gelatin and the gelatin to CA residue molar ratio was estimated to be 1:4.7 by a colorimetric method. CA-Plur of which the CA residue to Plur molar ratio was 1.2:1 was used as a thermo-sensitive polymer. The CA residues of CA-Plur/CA-GelB mixture were readily photo-dimerized to form microgels by UV irradiation. The isoelectric point of the microgel was found to be pH 5.8 and the hydrodynamic diameter decreased when the suspension temperature increased. The microgel could hardly retard the release of doxorubicin (DOX) at pH 3.0 and pH 5.0, but it could suppress and control the release at pH 7.4 possibly due to electrostatic attraction. Meanwhile, the release of DOX at pH 7.4 was less suppressed when the medium temperature was higher, possibly because of thermal thinning of Pluronic chain layer.</p

Bayesian Inference of Dynamic Mediation Models for Longitudinal Data

Mediation analysis is widely applied in various fields of science, such as psychology, epidemiology, and sociology. In practice, many psychological and behavioral phenomena are dynamic, and the corresponding mediation effects are expected to change over time. However, most existing mediation methods assume a static mediation effect over time, which overlooks the dynamic nature of mediation effect. To address this issue, we propose dynamic mediation models that can capture the dynamic nature of the mediation effect. Specifically, we model the path parameters of mediation models as auto-regressive (AR) processes of time that can vary over time. Additionally, we define the mediation effect under the potential outcome framework, and examine its identification and causal interpretation. Bayesian methods utilizing Gibbs sampling are adopted to estimate unknown parameters in the proposed dynamic mediation models. We further evaluate our proposed models and methods through extensive simulations and illustrate their application through a real data application.</p

Additional file 1 of Dietary intake and incidence risk of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a Mendelian randomization study

Supplementary Material 1. Table S1: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of Poultry intake on IPF risk; Table S2: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of Beef intake on IPF risk; Table S3: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of Pork intake on IPF risk; Table S4: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of Lamb/mutton intake on IPF risk; Table S5: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of Non-oily fish on IPF risk; Table S6: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of Oily fish intake on IPF risk; Table S7: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of Cooked vegetable intake on IPF risk; Table S8: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of Salad / raw vegetable intake on IPF risk; Table S9: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of Fresh fruit intake on IPF risk; Table S10: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of Dried fruit intake on IPF risk; Table S11: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of Coffee intake on IPF risk; Table S12: Univariate Mendelian randomization analysis for the effects of tea intake on IPF risk; Figure S1: Scatter plots of the causal relationship between dietary intake and IPF; Figure S2: Forest plots of the causal relationship between dietary intake and IPF; Figure S3: Funnel plots of the causal relationship between dietary intake and IPF

Carbon dioxide level in five time points.

<p>Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. OLV30, OLV60, OLV90 and OLV120 refer to 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes of OLV, respectively. TLV, two-lung ventilation; OLV, one-lung ventilation.</p><p>Carbon dioxide level in five time points.</p