661 research outputs found
Building a Prediction Model for Vacuum-Assisted Operative Vaginal Delivery Risk
Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk factors
for operative vaginal delivery and to propose a new nomogram
for predicting the risk. Methods: We retrospectively
analyzed the data of 1,955 pregnancies that occurred in
our clinic between the years 2007 and 2008. Included were
singleton pregnancies with labor diagnosis after the 36th
gestational week in which spontaneous or operative vaginal
deliveries occurred. In this study, the operative delivery was
carried out exclusively by vacuum extraction. Results: After
univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression stepwise
model selection, maternal age, nulliparity, medically assisted
procreation, gestational age at birth, male fetus, epidural
analgesia and medical induction of labor were found
to be the most predictive variables for operative vaginal delivery.
Considering these factors we propose a new nomogram
for an objectified determination of the risk of operative
vaginal delivery. Conclusions: The new nomogram we propose
could be an important tool for an objectified determination
of the risk of operative vaginal delivery by vacuum
extraction in individualized patient counseling
Redesigning doctor-patient relationship in the private health care during COVID-19 pandemic: Retrospective cohort study
AbstractSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is experiencing pandemic diffusion. The experience of an Italian private health care structure was reviewed.We retrospectively collected data about services provided in a single medium complexity private health care structure. Furthermore, we classified specialties within 4 categories, based on the performance of urgent non-deferrable services and possible provision of services without a necessary contact with the patient.The structure canceled/postponed almost every deferrable service, providing only 3% of services that could be performed without direct contact with patients. Regarding non-deferrable services requiring the presence of the patient, about 42% of booked services have been autonomously canceled/postponed by patients for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) fear. The administrative services have been remotely performed by smart working as far as possible.Private health care structures may safely continue to provide non-deferrable services while respecting the restrictive measures imposed by the government, encouraging telehealth and smart working modalities
Scaling dependence on the fluid viscosity ratio in the selective withdrawal transition
In the selective withdrawal experiment fluid is withdrawn through a tube with
its tip suspended a distance S above a two-fluid interface. At sufficiently low
withdrawal rates, Q, the interface forms a steady state hump and only the upper
fluid is withdrawn. When Q is increased (or S decreased), the interface
undergoes a transition so that the lower fluid is entrained with the upper one,
forming a thin steady-state spout. Near this transition the hump curvature
becomes very large and displays power-law scaling behavior. This scaling allows
for steady-state hump profiles at different flow rates and tube heights to be
scaled onto a single similarity profile. I show that the scaling behavior is
independent of the viscosity ratio.Comment: 33 Pages, 61 figures, 1 tabl
Local and Global Well-Posedness for Aggregation Equations and Patlak-Keller-Segel Models with Degenerate Diffusion
Recently, there has been a wide interest in the study of aggregation
equations and Patlak-Keller-Segel (PKS) models for chemotaxis with degenerate
diffusion. The focus of this paper is the unification and generalization of the
well-posedness theory of these models. We prove local well-posedness on bounded
domains for dimensions and in all of space for , the
uniqueness being a result previously not known for PKS with degenerate
diffusion. We generalize the notion of criticality for PKS and show that
subcritical problems are globally well-posed. For a fairly general class of
problems, we prove the existence of a critical mass which sharply divides the
possibility of finite time blow up and global existence. Moreover, we compute
the critical mass for fully general problems and show that solutions with
smaller mass exists globally. For a class of supercritical problems we prove
finite time blow up is possible for initial data of arbitrary mass.Comment: 31 page
Analysis of cancellation in two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
A signed measure analysis of two-dimensional intermittent magnetohydrodynamic
turbulence is presented. This kind of analysis is performed to characterize the
scaling behavior of the sign-oscillating flow structures, and their geometrical
properties. In particular, it is observed that cancellations between positive
and negative contributions of the field inside structures, are inhibited for
scales smaller than the Taylor microscale, and stop near the dissipative scale.
Moreover, from a simple geometrical argument, the relationship between the
cancellation exponent and the typical fractal dimension of the structures in
the flow is obtained.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures (3 .jpg not included in the latex file
Risk-Reducing Breast and Gynecological Surgery for BRCA Mutation Carriers: A Narrative Review
This narrative review aims to clarify the role of breast and gynecological risk-reduction surgery in BRCA mutation carriers. We examine the indications, contraindications, complications, technical aspects, timing, economic impact, ethical issues, and prognostic benefits of the most common prophylactic surgical options from the perspectives of a breast surgeon and a gynecologist. A comprehensive literature review was conducted using the PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and EMBASE databases. The databases were explored from their inceptions to August 2022. Three independent reviewers screened the items and selected those most relevant to this review’s scope. BRCA1/2 mutation carriers are significantly more likely to develop breast, ovarian, and serous endometrial cancer. Because of the Angelina effect, there has been a significant increase in bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy (BRRM) since 2013. BRRM and risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) significantly reduce the risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. RRSO has significant side effects, including an impact on fertility and early menopause (i.e., vasomotor symptoms, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, cognitive impairment, and sexual dysfunction). Hormonal therapy can help with these symptoms. Because of the lower risk of developing breast cancer in the residual mammary gland tissue after BRRM, estrogen-only treatments have an advantage over an estrogen/progesterone combined treatment. Risk-reducing hysterectomy allows for estrogen-only treatments and lowers the risk of endometrial cancer. Although prophylactic surgery reduces the cancer risk, it has disadvantages associated with early menopause. A multidisciplinary team must carefully inform the woman who chooses this path of the broad spectrum of implications, from cancer risk reduction to hormonal therapies
Existence of solutions for a higher order non-local equation appearing in crack dynamics
In this paper, we prove the existence of non-negative solutions for a
non-local higher order degenerate parabolic equation arising in the modeling of
hydraulic fractures. The equation is similar to the well-known thin film
equation, but the Laplace operator is replaced by a Dirichlet-to-Neumann
operator, corresponding to the square root of the Laplace operator on a bounded
domain with Neumann boundary conditions (which can also be defined using the
periodic Hilbert transform). In our study, we have to deal with the usual
difficulty associated to higher order equations (e.g. lack of maximum
principle). However, there are important differences with, for instance, the
thin film equation: First, our equation is nonlocal; Also the natural energy
estimate is not as good as in the case of the thin film equation, and does not
yields, for instance, boundedness and continuity of the solutions (our case is
critical in dimension in that respect)
Inhibition of the prokaryotic pentameric ligand-gated ion channel ELIC by divalent cations.
The modulation of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (pLGICs) by divalent cations is believed to play an important role in their regulation in a physiological context. Ions such as calcium or zinc influence the activity of pLGIC neurotransmitter receptors by binding to their extracellular domain and either potentiate or inhibit channel activation. Here we have investigated by electrophysiology and X-ray crystallography the effect of divalent ions on ELIC, a close prokaryotic pLGIC homologue of known structure. We found that divalent cations inhibit the activation of ELIC by the agonist cysteamine, reducing both its potency and, at higher concentrations, its maximum response. Crystal structures of the channel in complex with barium reveal the presence of several distinct binding sites. By mutagenesis we confirmed that the site responsible for divalent inhibition is located at the outer rim of the extracellular domain, at the interface between adjacent subunits but at some distance from the agonist binding region. Here, divalent cations interact with the protein via carboxylate side-chains, and the site is similar in structure to calcium binding sites described in other proteins. There is evidence that other pLGICs may be regulated by divalent ions binding to a similar region, even though the interacting residues are not conserved within the family. Our study provides structural and functional insight into the allosteric regulation of ELIC and is of potential relevance for the entire family
Thin film evolution equations from (evaporating) dewetting liquid layers to epitaxial growth
In the present contribution we review basic mathematical results for three
physical systems involving self-organising solid or liquid films at solid
surfaces. The films may undergo a structuring process by dewetting,
evaporation/condensation or epitaxial growth, respectively. We highlight
similarities and differences of the three systems based on the observation that
in certain limits all of them may be described using models of similar form,
i.e., time evolution equations for the film thickness profile. Those equations
represent gradient dynamics characterized by mobility functions and an
underlying energy functional.
Two basic steps of mathematical analysis are used to compare the different
system. First, we discuss the linear stability of homogeneous steady states,
i.e., flat films; and second the systematics of non-trivial steady states,
i.e., drop/hole states for dewetting films and quantum dot states in epitaxial
growth, respectively. Our aim is to illustrate that the underlying solution
structure might be very complex as in the case of epitaxial growth but can be
better understood when comparing to the much simpler results for the dewetting
liquid film. We furthermore show that the numerical continuation techniques
employed can shed some light on this structure in a more convenient way than
time-stepping methods.
Finally we discuss that the usage of the employed general formulation does
not only relate seemingly not related physical systems mathematically, but does
as well allow to discuss model extensions in a more unified way
Hadrons in the Nuclear Medium
Quantum Chromodynamics, the microscopic theory of strong interactions, has
not yet been applied to the calculation of nuclear wave functions. However, it
certainly provokes a number of specific questions and suggests the existence of
novel phenomena in nuclear physics which are not part of the the traditional
framework of the meson-nucleon description of nuclei. Many of these phenomena
are related to high nuclear densities and the role of color in nucleonic
interactions. Quantum fluctuations in the spatial separation between nucleons
may lead to local high density configurations of cold nuclear matter in nuclei,
up to four times larger than typical nuclear densities. We argue here that
experiments utilizing the higher energies available upon completion of the
Jefferson Laboratory energy upgrade will be able to probe the quark-gluon
structure of such high density configurations and therefore elucidate the
fundamental nature of nuclear matter. We review three key experimental
programs: quasi-elastic electro-disintegration of light nuclei, deep inelastic
scattering from nuclei at , and the measurement of tagged structure
functions. These interrelated programs are all aimed at the exploration of the
quark structure of high density nuclear configurations.
The study of the QCD dynamics of elementary hard processes is another
important research direction and nuclei provide a unique avenue to explore
these dynamics. We argue that the use of nuclear targets and large values of
momentum transfer at would allow us to determine whether the physics of the
nucleon form factors is dominated by spatially small configurations of three
quarks.Comment: 52 pages IOP style LaTex file and 20 eps figure
- …