Identification alone versus intraoperative neuromonitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery: experience of 2034 consecutive patients

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of intraoperative neuromonitoring in reducing the postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy rate by a comparison between patients submitted to thyroidectomy with intraoperative neuromonitoring and with routine identification alone. Methods: Between June 2007 and December 2012, 2034 consecutive patients underwent thyroidectomy by a single surgical team. We compared patients who have had neuromonitoring and patients who have undergone surgery with nerve visualization alone. Patients in which neuromonitoring was not utilized (Group A) were 993, patients in which was utilized (group B) were 1041. Results: In group A 28 recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries were observed (2.82%), 21 (2.11%) transient and 7 (0.7%) permanent. In group B 23 recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries were observed (2.21%), in 17 cases (1.63%) transient and in 6 (0.58%) permanent. Differences were not statistically significative. Conclusions: Visual nerve identification remains the gold standard of recurrent laryngeal nerve management in thyroid surgery. Neuromonitoring helps to identify the nerve, in particular in difficult cases, but it did not decrease nerve injuries compared with visualization alone. Future studies are warranted to evaluate the benefit of intraoperative neuromonitoring in thyroidectomy, especially in conditions in which the recurrent nerve is at high risk of injury. Keywords: Neuromonitoring, Recurrent laryngeal nerve, Thyroidectom

Identification of relevant environmental descriptors

Based on previous experiences and a literature review the most relevant environmental descriptors were selected and tested by means of field experiments. These included: (i) the temperature-humidity index (THI), (ii) the cattle stocking system (rotational stocking, continuous stocking or strip-grazing), (iii) the botanical composition of the grasslands, (iv) the net grassland productivity in terms of Net Energy (NE) and/or energy-corrected milk (ECM) per unit grassland area, and (v) the behaviour of dairy cows within grazing herds as recorded with SensOor® technology

Student perceptions of handover diaries and reflective learning in an undergraduate MBChB anatomy course

Quantitative (Likert-type survey results) and Qualitative (student open comments) data sets supporting the results of a survey developed to assess student perceptions of a dissection diary and reflective learning

Identification of Morphometry and Carcass Composition of Local Sheep at Different Growth Rate

Sheep fattening farms have been recently growing rapidly to produce better quality of sheep meat and fullfill consumer's demand. Sheep fattening and breeding farms should be developed proportionally to obtain sustainable sheep flock in the market. Twelve male lambs (less than one year old) were selected based on their average daily gain (ADG), consisting into two groups: 6 fast growing (FG) and 6 slow growing (SG) sheep. Some morphometric parameters in body and head parts of sheep and their carcass production and composition were measured and compared between the groups. The results show that chest circumference, body height, body length, head length and muzzle, top and bottom neck circumferences of FG sheep were significantly higher than in SG sheep (P0.05). It is concluded that selection of fast growing sheep can be recommended by using some morphometric parameters. The selection would not also negatively affect the weight and percentage of carcass composition

Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci Determining Vegetative Growth Traits in Coffea Canephor

Recently the use of molecular markers has been successfully applied for some crops. For coffee, new opportunities have been opened since Nestlé R&D Centre in collaboration with ICCRI completed the first genetic map of Coffea canephora. This study was aimed both to evaluate the phenotypic trait and also to identify the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling the vegetative growth in Robusta coffee. Present study used three C. canephora populations and six genetic maps developed based on these populations using simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers. A total of 17 different quantitative data were used for the detection of QTLs on each of three populations. Present result showed that most of these traits were not heritable. The nine vegetative traits have been identified and distributed over seven different linkage groups. Due to some QTLs determining one given trait were overlapping on the same linkage group and were coming from the same favourable parent, a total of 19 QTLs detected for vegetative traits might finally be considered as only 12 QTLs involved. However, only two of them were shared for different traits. One involved for the number/length of primary branches and width of the canopy while the other for length of internodes and width of canopy. These two QTLs might determine the size of the tree canopy in this species

Identification and quantification of cell gas evolution in rigid polyurethane foams by novel GCMS methodology

Producción CientíficaThis paper presents a new methodology based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) in order to separate and quantify the gases presented inside the cells of rigid polyurethane (RPU) foams. To demonstrate this novel methodology, the gas composition along more than three years of aging is herein determined for two samples: a reference foam and foam with 1.5 wt% of talc. The GCMS method was applied, on one hand, for the accurate determination of C5H10 and CO2 cell gases used as blowing agents and, on the other hand, for N2 and O2 air gases that diffuse rapidly from the surrounding environment into foam cells. GCMS results showed that CO2 leaves foam after 2.5 month (from 21% to 0.03% for reference foam and from 17% to 0.03% for foam with 1.5% talc). C5H10 deviates during 3.5 months (from 28% up to 39% for reference foam and from 29% up to 36% for foam with talc), then it starts to leave the foam and after 3.5 year its content is 13% for reference and 10% for foam with talc. Air diffuses inside the cells faster for one year (from 51% up to 79% for reference and from 54% up to 81% for foam with talc) and then more slowly for 3.5 years (reaching 86% for reference and 90% for foam with talc). Thus, the fast and simple presented methodology provides valuable information to understand the long-term thermal conductivity of the RPU foams.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grants MAT2015-69234-R and RTC-2016-5285-5)Junta de Castilla y Leon (grant VA275P18)Agencia austriaca para la promoción de la investigación (grant 850697

Identification of Design and Development Needs for Preschool-aged Children's Educational Bags

Bags for students, especially for preschool-aged children have an important role, namely as learning media in the field of education. Attractive and innovative bag designs are highly required to make acceptable and favorable bags for children. This research uses quantitative method. Design and development of educational bags for preschool-aged children were done through the early stages of planning (mind mapping) and of concept development (determining needs identification). The concept development process began with the dissemination of 30 questionnaires to preschool-aged children to identify the consumers' need for the bags. From the development process, there were three primary needs and 14 target specifications which were then linked in 8 matrices in the chart of a needs-metrics matrix. This research resulted in educational bag designs for preschool-aged children based on need matrix. Keywords: bags, product design, ergonomics, innovation, primary needs, target specification, need matrix. AbstractBags for students, especially for preschool-aged children have an important role, namely as learning media in the field of education. Attractive and innovative bag designs are highly required to make acceptable and favorable bags for children. This research uses quantitative method. Design and development of educational bags for preschool-aged children were done through the early stages of planning (mind mapping) and of concept development (determining needs identification). The concept development process began with the dissemination of 30 questionnaires to preschool-aged children to identify the consumers' need for the bags. From the development process, there were three primary needs and 14 target specifications which were then linked in 8 matrices in the chart of a needs-metrics matrix. This research resulted in educational bag designs for preschool-aged children based on need matrix

Identification of two-dimensional pantographic structure via a linear D4 orthotropic second gradient elastic model

A linear elastic second gradient orthotropic two-dimensional solid that is invariant under (Formula presented.) rotation and for mirror transformation is considered. Such anisotropy is the most general for pantographic structures that are composed of two identical orthogonal families of fibers. It is well known in the literature that the corresponding strain energy depends on nine constitutive parameters: three parameters related to the first gradient part of the strain energy and six parameters related to the second gradient part of the strain energy. In this paper, analytical solutions for simple problems, which are here referred to the heavy sheet, to the nonconventional bending, and to the trapezoidal cases, are developed and presented. On the basis of such analytical solutions, gedanken experiments were developed in such a way that the whole set of the nine constitutive parameters is completely characterized in terms of the materials that the fibers are made of (i.e., of the Young’s modulus of the fiber materials), of their cross sections (i.e., of the area and of the moment of inertia of the fiber cross sections), and of the distance between the nearest pivots. On the basis of these considerations, a remarkable form of the strain energy is derived in terms of the displacement fields that closely resembles the strain energy of simple Euler beams. Numerical simulations confirm the validity of the presented results. Classic bone-shaped deformations are derived in standard bias numerical tests and the presence of a floppy mode is also made numerically evident in the present continuum model. Finally, we also show that the largeness of the boundary layer depends on the moment of inertia of the fibers