Intra-aortic Balloon Pump May Attenuate Adverse Hemodynamic Effects of Negative Intrathoracic Pressure in Cardiogenic Shock

High negative intrathoracic pressure (NIP), as occurs during obstructive sleep apnea or hiccups, results in adverse hemodynamic consequences, specifically a decrease in left ventricle (LV) performance. These untoward effects can potentially be catastrophic in the case of an already compromised LV in cardiogenic shock. The interplay of intra-aortic balloon pump counter pulsation during abrupt high NIP in cardiogenic shock is described

Pulseless Paradoxus: A Clue to the Presence of Cardiac Tamponade During Continuous-Flow Mechanical Circulatory Support

This letter to the editor is in response to the published article by by Akhtar et al

Promoting the Defence´s Role in the Preliminary Investigation, a Challenge in Maghrebian Criminal Proceedings

Maghrebian criminal procedures have long been based on a theory inherited from French legislation, based on the relationship between the effectiveness of police investigations and the weakening of the role of the lawyer, relying on the principles of the inquisitorial system, in particular the principle of secrecy that governs the entire preliminary phase of the trial. Through this article, the authors attempt to refute the latter theory, proving that any strengthening of the role of the lawyer during the preliminary investigation constitutes a deterrent and protection of the authorities against allegations of torture and ill-treatment, and a decisive means to guarantee the protection of the rights of the accused, and therefore, a contribution to the consecration of the efficiency of the investigations and the procedural fairness

Long Term Dynamic of Real Exchange Rate, Trade Liberalization and Financial Integration: The Case of South-East Mediterranean Countries

In this paper, we aim to test the empirical validity of the QTM relationship for the Turkish economy. Using some contemporaneous time series estimation techniques, our estimation results reveal that stationarity characteristics of the velocities of currency in circulation and the broad money aggregate in the economy cannot be rejected through a quantity theoretical co-integrating long-term variable space. We find that there exists an about one-to-one proportionality between money and prices and money and real income, and that exogeneity of money cannot be rejected for the currency in circulation in the economy. But, the exception here comes from the broad monetary aggregate used in the QTM equation such that money seems to be endogenous as for the long-term variable space.Equilibrium real exchange rate, Misalignment, Trade liberalization, International financial integration, Cointegration, PSEM

Studies on image compression and image reconstruction

During this six month period our works concentrated on three, somewhat different areas. We looked at and developed a number of error concealment schemes for use in a variety of video coding environments. This work is described in an accompanying (draft) Masters thesis. In the thesis we describe application of this techniques to the MPEG video coding scheme. We felt that the unique frame ordering approach used in the MPEG scheme would be a challenge to any error concealment/error recovery technique. We continued with our work in the vector quantization area. We have also developed a new type of vector quantizer, which we call a scan predictive vector quantization. The scan predictive VQ was tested on data processed at Goddard to approximate Landsat 7 HRMSI resolution and compared favorably with existing VQ techniques. A paper describing this work is included. The third area is concerned more with reconstruction than compression. While there is a variety of efficient lossless image compression schemes, they all have a common property that they use past data to encode future data. This is done either via taking differences, context modeling, or by building dictionaries. When encoding large images, this common property becomes a common flaw. When the user wishes to decode just a portion of the image, the requirement that the past history be available forces the decoding of a significantly larger portion of the image than desired by the user. Even with intelligent partitioning of the image dataset, the number of pixels decoded may be four times the number of pixels requested. We have developed an adaptive scanning strategy which can be used with any lossless compression scheme and which lowers the additional number of pixels to be decoded to about 7 percent of the number of pixels requested! A paper describing these results is included

Thrompella: Acute Impella Thrombosis During Ecpella Support

We present a case of acute Impella thrombosis during Ecpella support in a 48-year-old man listed for a heart transplant. After two weeks of Ecpella support, echocardiography revealed a 2.6 x 1.1 cm mobile thrombus attached to the Impella inlet (Video). The Impella and attached thrombus were pulled across the aortic valve into the descending aorta and removed without systemic thromboembolism. Due to the ongoing need for left ventricular venting, a new Impella CP was placed

The Turkish Model, the Double-Security Dilemma, and the Political Reproduction of State Polities in the Middle East

Conceptually the aims of this thesis are to show the salient features of the political reproduction of states as a necessity for their survival as they continually face a double-security dilemma in the neoliberal era. Empirically this thesis examines Turkey’s ruling party from 2002 to 2015. The Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) maintained authority by mitigating the polities and actors that posed vertical and horizontal competition to their power (the double-security dilemma of domestic and international threats faced by state rulers). To outcompete and absorb its rivals, the AKP maintained a post-Islamist alliance-building model of political reproduction through a globalized Islamic neoliberal authority pattern until 2011. This became popularized as the ‘Turkish Model’, a model of political reproduction framed as suitable for other Muslim-majority states. The findings from data analysis show that to maintain the constitutive sovereignty of the Turkish state, the AKP built a post-Islamist hegemony. Furthermore, this thesis explores how the AKP horizontally built a pluralist vision of neo-ottomanism enabling their navigation of the international political system. Their ‘zero-problems’ foreign policy was the cornerstone of building regional liberal peace. This policy was the basis of the AKP’s maintenance of functional sovereignty until the ‘Arab Spring’. Yet, the new double-security dilemma that emerged through the ‘Arab Spring’ not only threatened the existence of post-Islamism within Turkey, but the existence of the ‘Turkish Model’ itself. The AKP then moved towards a fortifying pattern of authority to shield both themselves and the Republic from emergent threatsMarie Curie European Commission Sustainable Peacebuilding Project through Sabancı University and the Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust

Muzyka jako nośnik „niewyrażalnego” w filmie Podwójne życie Weroniki Krzysztofa Kieślowskiego

In this article I try to interpret the music aspect of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s famous movie The Double Life of Véronique (1991, music: Z. Preisner). The director, whose works are full of allusions to music and generally to art, always paid special attention to the sound of his movies. The Double Life of Véronique, though not the last “fruit” of the cooperation between Kieslowski and Zbigniew Preisner, is the best illustration of this fact. The musical elements permeate almost all aspects of this work, from the plot to the structure of the movie (the use of the leitmotif technique), and correspond closely to the action. The key importance of music is illustrated by a description of what I consider to be the film’s three most significant scenes: two from the “Polish” and one from the “French” part of this work

Prevalence of obesity among adults in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

Background: There is an increasing prevalence of obesity globally which is associated with Non Communicable Diseases. As this trend continues even in UAE we decided to focus on determining the prevalence of obesity among adults in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), UAE.Methods: This was a retrospective observational study done in adults between the age group of 18 to 77 years using convenience sampling technique in 544 subjects. Anthropometric, bio chemical, clinical and demographic data was collected by direct interview for four consecutive years, i.e. from 2013 to 2016. Body Mass Index (BMI) was analyzed to classify individuals as overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9kg/m²), Obese grade I (BMI 30.0-34.9kg/m²), Obese grade II (BMI 35.0-39.9kg/m²) and obese grade III (BMI > 40.0kg/m²).Results: Data was obtained from 544 subjects and considered for analysis. Our results showed that the mean age of the study population was 39.29±13.43 years, the mean weight was 75.35±15.65 kilograms and the mean BMI was 27.62±5.43kg/m2. A total of 67.6% of the study population was either overweight or obese. The prevalence of overweight is 36.2% followed by obesity prevalence of 31.4% of which 22.8% were categorized as Grade I obese, 5.5% Grade II obese and 3.1% Grade III obese. We found that higher proportions of males were in overweight and obese category compared to females.Conclusions: The results derived from our study shows that obesity and overweight are widespread among Ras al khaimah population with the obesity prevalence of 31.4%. Hence, policy makers should focus on preparing national nutritional strategies and implement protocols to overcome this burden by giving practical solutions

„Próżny teatr życia”. Do Jana Libiniusza. Usprawiedliwienie swej samotności (Oda IV. 12) Macieja Kazimierza Sarbiewskiego

Der Artikel verfolgt das Ziel, die Anschauungen von Matthias Kasimir Sarbiewski über gewählte Fragen der Poetik darzustellen sowie seine Ode IV. 12 An Johann Libinius. Die Entschuldigung der eigenen Einsamkeit in einem vertieften Kontext (Horaz, Jan Kochanowski) zu interpretieren. Die Überlegungen wurden durch Bezüge auf lyrische Dichtung und theoretische Traktate des Jesuiten unterstützt. Eine wertvolle Untermauerung bilden darüber hinaus die Abhandlungen u. a. von Andrzej Borowski, Piotr Urbański oder Elwira Buszewicz über das Schaffen des sarmatischen Horaz. Der Artikel setzt sich aus zwei grundlegenden Teilen, von denen der erste der von Sarbiewski formulierten Poetik gewidmet ist. Die Verfasserin stellt darin die Ideen des Denkers über die Rolle des Dichters, die Hierarchie der Künste, die Funktion des Allegorisierungsverfahrens und seine Beziehung zum Konzept von Theologia fabulosa vor. Im nächsten Teil wird auf die Anwesenheit der ignatianischen Motive in der Dichtung des Jesuiten nach 1625 fokussiert. Verweise auf die Doktrin des Ordens des Heiligen Ignatius Loyola prägen auch im starken Maße das Gefüge der Ode IV. 12, darüber hinaus erweisen sich als genauso wichtige Kontexte das Topos von Theatrum mundi und das literarische Werk von Horaz (besonders Carm. III. 1). Die Überlegungen münden in der These über die Kohärenz der in seinen theoretischen Schriften erläuterten Ideen mit der Aussage der "späteren" Gedichte von Sarbiewski.The author elaborates on Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewskiʼs views on poetics and interprets his Ode IV. 12 (The vain theatre of life. To Jan Libiniusz. An excuse for my solitude) with references to works by Horace and Jan Kochanowski. Quoted are Jesuit Sarbiewski’s lyrical works and theoretical treaties as well as essays written about this ‘Polish Horace’ by Polish literary critics. The first part of the article deals with poetics as interpreted by Sarbiewski,  highlighting  the role of a poet and the hierarchy of arts as well as the function of allegorization and its relation to  the idea of fabulosa theologia. The second part takes up Ignatian themes in his lyrical works written after 1625. References to the doctrine of the Society of Jesus are strongly evident in Ode IV.12 and so are those to the concept of “theatrum mundi” and in particular to Horace’s literary works (especially Carmina III.1).  The author concludes that the ideas outlined in Sarbiewski’s theoretical treatises are consistent with his works in later years.Celem niniejszego artykułu jest przedstawienie zapatrywań Macieja Kazimierza Sarbiewskiego na wybrane kwestie z zakresu poetyki oraz interpretacja – wzbogacona o inne konteksty (Horacy, Jan Kochanowski) – jego Ody IV. 12 Do Jana Libiniusza. Usprawiedliwienie swej samotności. Rozważania poparte zostały odwołaniami do liryków i traktatów teoretycznych jezuity, cenną podbudowę stanowią ponadto rozprawy dotyczące twórczości sarmackiego Horacjusza autorstwa m.in. Andrzeja Borowskiego, Piotra Urbańskiego czy Elwiry Buszewicz.Artykuł składa się z dwóch zasadniczych części, z których pierwsza poświęcona jest poetyce sformułowanej Sarbiewskiego. Autorka przybliża w niej idee myśliciela dotyczące roli poety, hierarchii sztuk oraz funkcji zabiegu alegoryzacji i jego związku z koncepcją fabulosa theologia. W kolejnej części zwraca się uwagę na obecność motywów ignacjańskich w lirykach jezuity powstałych po 1625 roku. Nawiązania do doktryny zakonu św. Ignacego Loyoli w silnym stopniu naznaczają także tkankę Ody IV. 12, równie istotnymi kontekstami są ponadto topos theatrum mundi oraz dorobek literacki Horacego (zwłaszcza Carm. III. 1). Rozważania zostają zwieńczone tezą o spójności wyłożonych w rozprawach teoretycznych idei z wydźwiękiem „późnych” utworów Sarbiewskiego