622 research outputs found
A Decisive Role of [18F] Fdg PET/CT for Diagnosis of Neoplastic Vascular Thrombosis: Report of A Case
The combined use of PET scan with CT and fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) can modify, in selected oncologic patients, the clinical management and care. We report here the case of a 63-year old female who showed increase serum level of CEA 3 years following left colectomy for cancer. Ultrasound and CT (computed tomography) of the abdomen showed a single lesion in the segment II of the liver with portal thrombosis. [18F] FDG PET/CT revealed two lesions (the first area was histologically proven to be a colorectal carcinoma metastasis, the second one corresponded to the portal thrombosis). No antithrombotic drugs were administered and patient underwent chemotherapy for 4 courses (eloxatin plus 5-fluorouracil anf leucovorin). Liver resection was performed 2 weeks after the end of chemotherapy, and intraoperative ultrasound revealed a normal portal flow
Synchronous mucinous adenocarcinoma of the rectosigmoid seeding onto a pre-existing anal fistula
Carcinoma within a long-standing fistula-in-ano is rare and may be defined by specific neoplastic involvement of the fistulous track in the absence of rectal mucosal carcinoma. The presence of a carcinoma of mucinous histology occurring synchronously in the perianal region and the colon is exceptionally rare. We present a case with a review of the literature concerning its aetiopathogenesis and treatment. A 72-year-old man with a 2 months history of dark red rectal bleeding and mucus per rectum with alternating constipation and diarrhoea, was observed. Clinical examination and a barium enema showed a perianal fistula and an annular stenosing lesion of the rectosigmoid. Preoperative CT scan confirmed the colonic lesion. Colonic resection and wide fistula excision were performed. Histology showed an adenocarcinoma with a clear resection margins. The fistula also showed a similar histology. Chemoradiation (5-Fluorouracil (425 mg/m(2)) and Leucovorin (20 mg/m(2)) with 4500 cGy external beam radiotherapy was utilized. Subsequent clinical follow-up and CT examination of the patient has not revealed recurrent disease at 14 months
Recent progress in the truncated Lanczos method : application to hole-doped spin ladders
The truncated Lanczos method using a variational scheme based on Hilbert
space reduction as well as a local basis change is re-examined. The energy is
extrapolated as a power law function of the Hamiltonian variance. This
systematic extrapolation procedure is tested quantitatively on the two-leg t-J
ladder with two holes. For this purpose, we have carried out calculations of
the spin gap and of the pair dispersion up to size 2x15.Comment: 5 pages, 4 included eps figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B; revised
versio
Recanalization of the Native Artery in Patients with Bypass Failure
Our objective was to evaluate the possible role
of endovascular recanalization of occluded native artery
after a failed bypass graft in the case of either acute or
chronic limb-threatening ischemia otherwise leading to
amputation. In a single-center retrospective clinical analysis,
from January 2004 to March 2007 we collected 31
consecutive high-surgical-risk patients (32 limbs) with
critical limb ischemia following late ([30 days after surgery)
failure of open surgery bypass graft reconstruction.
All patients deemed unfit for surgery underwent tentative
endovascular recanalization of the native occluded arterial
tract. The mean follow-up period was 24 (range, 6–42)
months. Technical success was achieved in 30 (93.7%) of
32 limbs. The cumulative primary assisted patency calculated
by Kaplan–Meyer analysis was 92% and 88%,
respectively, at 12 and 24 months. The limb salvage rate
approached 90% at 30 months. In conclusion, our experience
shows the feasibility of occluded native artery endovascular
recanalization after a failed bypass graft, with
optimal results in terms of midterm arterial patency and
limb salvage. Our opinion is that successful recanalization
of the arterial tract previously considered unsuitable for
endovascular approach is allowed by improved competency
and experience of vascular specialists, as well as the
advances made in catheter and guidewire technology. This
group of patients would previously have been relegated to
repeat bypass grafts, with their inherently inferior patency
and recognized added technical demands. We recognize
previous surgical native artery disconnection and lack of
pedal runoff to be the main cause of technical failure.
Keywords Native artery Bypass failure
Endovascular recanalizatio
EEG-based BCI Systems and IDIAP EEG Database
After giving an overview of the current BCI systems that use non-invasive techniques, we describe in details the database that has been acquired at IDIAP, under the Brain Machine Interface project
Mechanical analysis of the ENEA TF coil proposal for the EU DEMO fusion reactor
The design of the superconducting magnet system of the European DEMO fusion reactor is currently being pursued in the framework of the EUROfusion Magnets Work Package (WPMAG). Three alternative winding pack (WP) options for the Toroidal Field Coils (TFCs) are being proposed by different research units, each featuring a different conductor manufacturing technology (react-and-wind vs. wind-and-react) or winding layout (layer vs. pancake).
One of the options (namely, WP#2), proposed by Italian ENEA, features a layer-wound WP design adopting a wind-and-react conductor with rectangular cross section with high aspect ratio, obtained squeezing an initially circular conductor.
In order to assess the capability of all the TFC components to withstand the electromagnetic loads due to the huge Lorentz forces without any structural failure during the magnet lifetime, the mechanical analysis of the 2016 version of the WP#2 design option is performed here applying a hierarchical approach herein defined as the Stress Recovery Tool (SRT): the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of a whole magnet (including the casing) is performed at a low computational cost adopting a coarse WP model with smeared (homogenized) properties. The displacements computed on the smeared WP are then used as boundary conditions for a refined FEA of some WP slices, located in selected (critical) poloidal positions, where all the conductors detailed features (jacket, insulations) are properly accounted for
Evolution of the Spin Gap Upon Doping a 2-Leg Ladder
The evolution of the spin gap of a 2-leg ladder upon doping depends upon the
nature of the lowest triplet excitations in a ladder with two holes. Here we
study this evolution using various numerical techniques for a t-t'-J ladder as
the next-near-neighbor hopping t' is varied. We find that depending on the
value of t', the spin gap can evolve continuously or discontinuously and the
lowest triplet state can correspond to a magnon, a bound magnon-hole-pair, or
two separate quasi-particles. Previous experimental results on the
superconducting two-leg ladder Sr12Ca2Cu24O41 are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, latex, submitted to PR
Evolution of the Mental States Operating a Brain-Computer Interface
This study analyses the location of patterns of brain activity in the signal space while a human subject is trained to operate a brain-computer interface. This evaluation plays an important role in the understanding of the underlying system, and it gives valuable information about the translation algorithms. The relative position and morphology of the patterns in a training session, and from one session to another, enable us to evaluate the performance of both the interface and the user. Thanks to these aforementioned variables we are also able to appreciate stable trajectories of the mental states during the sessions, which shows both the adaptability of the user to the interface, and vice versa
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