Transrectal endoscopy with three different techniques of rectal suture associate: NOTES survival study with liver biopsy in a swine model

A cirurgia endoscópica por orifícios naturais (NOTES) representa um novo conceito de cirurgia, caracterizada por ausência de incisões abdominais. Os acessos mais comumente usados são o transvaginal e o transgástrico. Entretanto, as rotas transcolônica e transretal representam alternativas promissoras. O presente estudo objetiva avaliar três diferentes técnicas de sutura retal em três suínos submetidos a NOTES transretal para biópsia hepática, avaliando-se concomitantemente as repercussões clínicas e hematológicas. Sob anestesia geral, foi realizada uma incisão transversal no reto para a passagem do endoscópio até a cavidade abdominal em todos os animais para a realização da biópsia hepática. Cada animal recebeu um tipo de sutura retal: sutura em dois planos; reforço com tela de polipropileno ou reforço com membrana de pericárdio bovino. A NOTES transretal em modelo experimental suíno não apresentou implicações clínicas e hematológicas importantes, o que demonstra um acesso alternativo para biópsia hepática. Nenhum animal apresentou sinais de peritonite, aderências ou deiscência de pontos. O uso de reforço com pericárdio bovino para a sutura retal apresenta um atraso na cicatrização quando comparado com a sutura convencional ou com o uso de tela de polipropileno

Pitfalls in Parallel Job Scheduling Evaluation

There are many choices to make when evaluating the performance of a complex system. In the context of parallel job scheduling, one must decide what workload to use and what measurements to take. These decisions sometimes have subtle implications that are easy to overlook. In this paper we document numerous pitfalls one may fall into, with the hope of providing at least some help in avoiding them. Along the way, we also identify topics that could benefit from additional research

Parallel job scheduling - a status report

The popularity of research on the scheduling of parallel jobs demands a periodic review of the status of the field. Indeed, several surveys have been written on this topic in the context of parallel supercomputers [17, 20]. The purpose of the present paper is to update that material, and to extend it to include wor

In situ variation in leaf anatomy and morphology of Andira legalis (Leguminosae) in two neighbouring but contrasting light environments in a Brazilian sandy coastal plain

Andira legalis (Vell.) Toledo is a legume shrub widespread along the sandy plains of the Brazilian coast. It occurs both shaded, in forest habitats, or exposed to full sunlight, in the vegetation islands growing on sand deposits. Previous studies reported a high range of morpho-physiological variation for this species along a geographical gradient. This study compared leaf morphology and anatomy of A. legalis in two distinct but adjacent light environments: a dense forest (shaded) and a scrub of Palmae (exposed). We studied the amplitude of variation for these traits within a small (0.5 ha) geographical area. Leaf anatomy parameters were measured for five leaves collected from five plants in each habitat. The parameters measured were leaf and mesophyll thickness, thickness of the outer periclinal cell wall, thickness of the adaxial and abaxial epidermis and vascular bundle transversal section area, and also common epidermal cells, stomata and trichome density. Leaf morphology parameters were obtained from five leaves of each of 20 plants in each site. Dry and fresh weights were measured to obtain leaf specific mass and succulence. All anatomy and morphology parameters, except trichome density, were significantly higher for the sun-exposed plants. Less expected, however, was the marked qualitative difference between exposed and shaded plants: in the former the mesophyll had a unilateral symmetry (i.e., the whole mesophyll occupied by photosynthetic tissue), whereas in the latter there was a dorsiventral symmetry (i.e., partly palisade and partly spongy parenchyma). Such amplitude of variation shows that even within a small geographic area A. legalis has a broad ecological plasticity