Lmit and shakedown analysis based on solid shell models

The paper treats the formulation of the shakedown problem and, as special case, of the limit analysis problem, using solid shell models and ES-FEM discratization technology. In this proposal the Discrete shear gap method is applied to alleviate the shear locking phenomenon

It's not always varicocele: A strange case of Zinner syndrome

A 42-year-old man presented with a huge varicocele. The patient was completely asymptomatic and he did not complain of dysuria, perineal discomfort, or ejaculatory pain. During the visit, the mass mimicked a varicocele and during the Valsalva maneuver a reflux was documented by colour Doppler ultrasound and an abdominal ultrasound revealed an agenesis of the right kidney and a 4.5-cm diameter intra-prostatic cyst. An abdominal and pelvis magnetic resonance imaging was then performed, which confirmed the right renal agenesis, with an epididymal enlargement in the body and tail. This is a unique case of Zinner syndrome in which the patient presented with a paratesticular mass mimicking a varicocele. \ua9 2015 Canadian Urological Association

Assessing the impact of suppressing Southern Ocean SST variability in a coupled climate model

The Southern Ocean exerts a strong influence on global climate, regulating the storage and transport of heat, freshwater and carbon throughout the world's oceans. While the majority of previous studies focus on how wind changes influence Southern Ocean circulation patterns, here we set out to explore potential feedbacks from the ocean to the atmosphere. To isolate the role of oceanic variability on Southern Hemisphere climate, we perform coupled climate model experiments in which Southern Ocean variability is suppressed by restoring sea surface temperatures (SST) over 40 degrees-65 degrees S to the model's monthly mean climatology. We find that suppressing Southern Ocean SST variability does not impact the Southern Annular Mode, suggesting air-sea feedbacks do not play an important role in the persistence of the Southern Annular Mode in our model. Suppressing Southern Ocean SST variability does lead to robust mean-state changes in SST and sea ice. Changes in mixed layer processes and convection associated with the SST restoring lead to SST warming and a sea ice decline in southern high latitudes, and SST cooling in midlatitudes. These results highlight the impact non-linear processes can have on a model's mean state, and the need to consider these when performing simulations of the Southern Ocean

Using Artificial Intelligence for the Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer: The Paper of Yuichiro Oishi et al. Is a Step Forward on the Way of Precision Medicine

Yuichiro Oishi et al. presented an interesting study reporting the ability of Artifi- cial Intelligence (AI) to diagnose and locate prostate cancer from multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) [1]. The authors evaluated the diagnostic performance of their AI with a ROC analysis; interestingly the area under the ROC curve was 0.985, while the sensitivity and the specificity were 0.875 and 0.961 (p < 0.01), respectively. Figure 1 of the paper shows that the regions of the prostate labeled by AI as prostate cancer correspond strictly to the cancer areas identified at pathological examination of the gland. These good results justified the strong conclusions of the paper: “diagnostic partition using the superpixel method and SVM-computed likelihood maps enables automated diagnosis of prostate cancer location and shape in mpMRI” [1]. Many aspects of this paper deserve to be emphasized. During the last two decades, numerous attempts to use radiomics for the diagnosis of cancer have been made [2]. So far, the dimensions of the dataset have always been a major limiting factor for the AI training and consequently for its diagnostic performance. The AI-based computer-aided diagnosis used in this study interestingly reached a good result with only a small number of patients, apparently overcoming the need for a large dataset. The authors achieved this result by sampling all the peripheral zone pixels for training the Support Vector Machine. Using this strategy, the dataset which resulted was very large despite the small number of patients included in the study. Because of the previous consideration, the strategy proposed by Yuichiro Oishi et al. will probably be crucial in the development of future diagnostic tools

Regional Clima the Modeling of the Mediterranean and the Iberian Peninsula Climate Variability

La región Mediterránea se caracteriza por una fuerte interacción entre mar y atmósfera y por sistemas dominantes de alta y baja presión que resultan en un clima complejo y fuertemente estacional. Las proyecciones para el clima futuro obtenidas forzando el clima con concentraciones crecientes de gases a efecto invernadero muestran como esta región sea un “hotspot” del cambio climático proyectado por el siglo 21. La vulnerabilidad del clima Mediterráneo al cambio climático en curso, y el importante papel que la interacción océano-atmósfera juega en esta región, ha motivado coordinar un esfuerzo común en la realización de simulaciones regionales acopladas regionales. Este esfuerzo común se ha formalizado en el marco del proyecto Med-CORDEX, cuyos objetivos primarios son mejorar el conocimiento de la variabilidad climática y de la tendencia en el clima del pasado y proporcionar proyecciones para el clima futuro con mayor precisión y exactitud. Parte de este trabajo de tesis ha sido desarrollado como contribución al proyecto Med-CORDEX. En este trabajo de tesis se analiza un ensamble de modelos regionales climáticos (RCMs) para estudiar la variabilidad climática de la región mediterránea y de la Península Ibérica (IP). A pesar de que de la IP sea una región relativamente pequeña, su clima, que está influenciado tanto por el oceano Atlántico como por el mar Mediterráneo, presenta una gran variedad climática. Puesto que la variabilidad climática de la IP y de la región Mediterránea están conectadas, un estudio integrado de las dos regiones resulta ser un marco excelente para investigar los mecanismos físicos responsables de la variabilidad climática observada en estas regiones. Aunque los proyectos de investigación que han producido los ensembles de RCM han realizado simulaciones para el clima actual y el clima futuro, este manuscrito solo presenta los resultados obtenidos para las del clima actual. El primer paso ha sido un enfoque en la variabilidad climática de la cuenca mediterránea y en particular en la asociada con el intercambio de calor entre el océano y la atmósfera. Este flujo de calor a la interfaz mar-aire afecta a muchos procesos que controlan el clima del Mediterráneo como, por ejemplo, la formación de aguas profundas, principal motor de la circulación termohalina. Combinando modelos y observaciones, se ha podido asociar los primeros dos modos de variabilidad del flujo de calor a la interfaz mar-aire con algunos patrones de variabilidad atmosférica de gran escala. Además, calculando el balance calor entre mar y atmósfera, hemos identificado los mecanismos físicos que conectan la variabilidad de los flujos de calor con los patrones de variabilidad atmosférica. Tras valorar la variabilidad de los flujos de calor en la cuenca Mediterránea, se ha estudiado la variabilidad de la IP usando un ensemble de RCM formado por 4 modelos. En particular, se han investigado el estado medio de parámetros básicos atmosféricos y la variabilidad interanual de los extremos de temperatura y precipitación. También se ha valorado la distribución espacial de los eventos extremos y, comparando los cuatro RCMs, se han identificado las regiones con alta y baja variabilidad interna

Disinfection by-Products and Ecotoxic Risk Associated with Hypochlorite Treatment of Tramadol

In recent years, many studies have highlighted the consistent finding of tramadol (TRA) in the effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WTPs) and also in some rivers and lakes in both Europe and North America, suggesting that TRA is removed by no more than 36% by specific disinfection treatments. The extensive use of this drug has led to environmental pollution of both water and soil, up to its detection in growing plants. In order to expand the knowledge about TRA toxicity as well as the nature of its disinfection by-products (DBPs), a simulation of the waste treatment chlorination step has been reported herein. In particular, we found seven new by-products, that together with TRA, have been assayed on different living organisms (Aliivibrio fischeri, Raphidocelis subcapitata and Daphnia magna), to test their acute and chronic toxicity. The results reported that TRA may be classified as a harmful compound to some aquatic organisms whereas its chlorinated product mixture showed no effects on any of the organisms tested. All data suggest however that TRA chlorination treatment produces a variety of DBPs which can be more harmful than TRA and a risk for the aquatic environment and human health

Participation of the nucleobases in the regioselective backbone fragmentation of nucleic acids. A molecular dynamics and tandem mass spectrometric investigation on a model dinucleoside phosphotriester

The anions (I–III) obtained from O-methyl 5′-O-(5′-deoxythymidine) 3′-O-(2′,3′-dideoxyuridine) phosphate by the competitive removal of the 3-N-H protons of the nucleobases and of the methyl group from the phosphotriester bond, assume in the gas phase stable conformations as a function of their charge site. The mass-analyzed ion kinetic energy (MIKE) spectra of I and III show that the regioselective backbone cleavage of the internucleotidic linkage is controlled by the 2′-H proton transfer to the nucleobase within the 5′-end nucleoside. Similar pathways are taken by species II when the nucleobase is eliminated as neutral from the 5′-end nucleoside

Penile revascularization using the descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery: An alternative vascular graft

Introduction and relevance: Microsurgical revascularization stands as the preferred method for addressing erectile dysfunction (ED) resulting from traumatic penile arterial insufficiency. Traditional microarterial bypass surgery (MABS) techniques have typically relied on utilizing the inferior epigastric artery (IEA) as the graft vessel. However, issues such as endothelial dysfunction in the vessel and alterations in abdominal tissue can negatively impact surgical outcomes. MABS using the descending branch of the lateral circumflex artery of the femur (DLCFA) should be proposed as a surgical option for penile arterial revascularization. Case presentation: A 29-year-old who experienced ED after a pelvic bone fracture with hypogastric vascular injury was referred to our center. Preoperatory penile Doppler ultrasound (PDU) examination documented the presence of arterial insufficiency. Selective hypogastric angiography pointed out the interruption of arterial blood flow at the level of the distal right internal pudendal artery. Case discussion: Access to the dorsal penile artery was gained through an infrapubic incision, the DLCFA pedicle was isolated through an incision along the anterolateral right thigh. After its transposition, the arterial bundle was anastomosed to the dorsal penile artery in an end-to-end fashion. Intraoperative PDU has been used to verify the patency of the anastomosis. At 6 months follow-up, optimal flow parameters on PDU were persistently registered, and the patient had consistent clinical improvement on the IIEF-5 score. Conclusion: DLCFA grafting for penile revascularization is a suitable therapeutic option in traumatic ED due to its size and accessibility. Further experience is necessary to compare clinical outcomes among different revascularization techniques

Primary Lateral Sclerosis: An Overview

Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder which causes the selective deterioration of the upper motor neurons (UMNs), sparing the lower motor neuron (LMN) system. The clinical course is defined by a progressive motor disability due to muscle spasticity which typically involves lower extremities and bulbar muscles. Although classically considered a sporadic disease, some familiar cases and possible causative genes have been reported. Despite it having been recognized as a rare but distinct entity, whether it actually represents an extreme end of the motor neuron diseases continuum is still an open issue. The main knowledge gap is the lack of specific biomarkers to improve the clinical diagnostic accuracy. Indeed, the diagnostic imprecision, together with some uncertainty about overlap with UMN-predominant ALS and Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), has become an obstacle to the development of specific therapeutic trials. In this study, we provided a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature, including neuropathological, clinical, neuroimaging, and neurophysiological features of the disease, and highlighting the controversies still unsolved in the differential diagnoses and the current diagnostic criteria. We also discussed the current knowledge gaps still present in both diagnostic and therapeutic fields when approaching this rare condition

Determination of the noise parameters in a one-dimensional open quantum system

We consider an electron magnetically interacting with a spin-1/2 impurity, embedded in an external environment whose noisy term acts only on the impurity's spin, and we find expressions for the electron transmission and reflection probabilities in terms of the phenomenological noise parameters. Moreover, we give a simple example of the necessity of complete positivity for physical consistency, showing that a positive but not completely positive dissipative map can lead to negative transmission probabilities