Nonlinearities and Effects of Transverse Beam Size in Beam Position Monitors (revised)

The fields produced by a long beam with a given transverse charge distribution in a homogeneous vacuum chamber are studied. Signals induced by a displaced finite-size beam on electrodes of a beam position monitor (BPM) are calculated and compared to those produced by a pencil beam. The non-linearities and corrections to BPM signals due to a finite transverse beam size are calculated for an arbitrary chamber cross section. Simple analytical expressions are given for a few particular transverse distributions of the beam current in a circular or rectangular chamber. Of particular interest is a general proof that in an arbitrary homogeneous chamber the beam-size corrections vanish for any axisymmetric beam current distribution.Comment: REVTeX, 8 pages, 9 figures. Corrected Eqs. (7),(22),(25) and Figs. 2-9. Expande

Records of five bryozoan species from offshore gas platforms rare for the Dutch North Sea

This study reports on bryozoan species collected at three offshore gas platforms in the Dutch part of the North Sea. Four out of thirteen observed species are considered as rare in the Netherlands, whereas Cribrilina punctata is anew species for Dutch waters

HAYMARKET: A first year summary

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Scoping review of clinical practice guidelines on the management of benign liver tumours

OBJECTIVE: Benign liver tumours (BLT) are increasingly diagnosed as incidentalomas. Clinical implications and management vary across and within the different types of BLT. High-quality clinical practice guidelines are needed, because of the many nuances in tumour types, diagnostic modalities, and conservative and invasive management strategies. Yet, available observational evidence is subject to interpretation which may lead to practice variation. Therefore, we aimed to systematically search for available clinical practice guidelines on BLT, to critically appraise them, and to compare management recommendations. DESIGN: A scoping review was performed within MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science. All BLT guidelines published in peer-reviewed, and English language journals were eligible for inclusion. Clinical practice guidelines on BLT were analysed, compared, and critically appraised using the Appraisal of Guidelines, Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) checklist regarding hepatic haemangioma, focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH), and hepatocellular adenoma (HCA). Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses recommendations (PRISMA) for scoping reviews were adhered to. RESULTS: The literature search yielded unique 367 papers, 348 were excluded after screening of title/abstract, and 16 after full-text screening. Three guidelines were included: the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG; 2014), Brazilian Society of Hepatology (SBH; 2015), and European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL; 2016). There was no uniformity in the assessment methods for grading and gravity of recommendations between guidelines. Among observed differences were: (1) indications for biopsy in all three tumours; (2) advices on contraceptive pills and follow-up in FNH and HCA; (3) use of an individualised approach to HCA; (4) absence of recommendations for treatment of HCA in men; and (5) approaches to HCA subtype identification on magnetic resonance imaging. CONCLUSION: Recognising differences in recommendations can assist in harmonisation of practice standards and identify unmet needs in research. This may ultimately contribute to improved global patient care

Postponing surgery to optimise patients with acute right-sided obstructing colon cancer - A pilot study

Background: Right-sided obstructing colon cancer is most often treated with acute resection. Recent studies on right-sided obstructing colon cancer report higher mortality and morbidity rates than those in patients without obstruction. The aim of this study is to retrospectively analyse whether it is possible to optimise the health condition of patients with acute right-sided obstructing colon cancer, prior to surgery, and whether this improves postoperative outcomes. Method: All consecutive patients with high suspicion of, or histologically proven, right-sided obstructing colon cancer, treated with curative intent between March 2013 and December 2019, were analysed retrospectively. Patients were divided into two groups: optimised group and non-optimised group. Pre-operative optimisation included additional nutrition, physiotherapy, and, if needed, bowel decompression. Results: In total, 54 patients were analysed in this study. Twenty-four patients received optimisation before elective surgery, and thirty patients received emergency surgery, without optimisation. Scheduled surgery was performed after a median of eight days (IQR 7–12). Postoperative complications were found in twelve (50%) patients in the optimised group, compared to twenty-three (77%) patients in the non-optimised group (p = 0.051). Major complications were diagnosed in three (13%) patients with optimisation, compared to ten (33%) patients without optimisation (p = 0.111). Postoperative in-hospital stay, 30-day mortality, as well as primary anastomosis were comparable in both groups. Conclusion: This pilot study suggests that pre-operative optimisation of patients with obstructing right sided colonic cancer may be feasible and safe but is associated with longer in-patient stay.</p

The Effect of Serial Passaging of Lactobacilli in Liquid Medium on their Physico-Chemical and Structural Surface Characteristics

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of serial passaging in liquid medium on physico-chemical and structural surface characteristics of two lactobacillus strains. To this end, starting cultures (p = 1) of urogenital isolate L. acidophilus RC 14 and poultry isolate L. fermentum B54 were serially passaged in liquid medium up to 20 times (p = 20). In both strains, similar physico-chemical and structural changes were observed following serial passaging. According to water contact angle measurements , cells in p = 20 cultures became less hydrophobic. Microelectrophoresis showed that isoelectric points shifted towards the acidic region upon serial passaging. Jn addition, the strains had become heterogeneous with respect to the pH dependence of their zeta potentials. According to FTIR and XPS, the surfaces of p = 20 cultures of both strains showed decreasing amounts of proteinaceous material and increasing amounts of polysaccharide-like substances as compared to p = 1 cultures. Heterogeneity of p = 20 strains was also reflected in structural features of the cell surface at the electron microscopic level. In p = 1 cultures of both strains, all cells had a stained layer: in contrast , in p = 20 cultures about half of the cells became devoid of this layer. The study clearly showed that surface characteristics of lactobacilli may change following serial passaging in liquid medium. Knowledge of these changes is of importance because these microorganisms are considered for use in biomedical applications like the restoration of a healthy vaginal microflora by cell seeding

‘Effects of a home-based bimodal lifestyle intervention in frail patients with end-stage liver disease awaiting orthotopic liver transplantation’:study protocol of a non-randomised clinical trial

Introduction Patients with end-stage liver disease awaiting orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) are generally classified as frail due to disease-related malnutrition and a progressive decline in musculoskeletal and aerobic fitness, which is associated with poor pre-OLT, peri-OLT and post-OLT outcomes. However, frailty in these patients may be reversable with adequate exercise and nutritional interventions. Methods and analysis Non-randomised clinical trial evaluating the effect of a home-based bimodal lifestyle programme in unfit patients with a preoperative oxygen uptake (VO2) at the ventilatory anaerobic threshold ≤13 mL/ kg/min and/or VO2 at peak exercise ≤18 mL/kg/min listed for OLT at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). The programme is patient tailored and comprises high-intensity interval and endurance training, and functional exercises three times per week, combined with nutritional support. Patients will go through two training periods, each lasting 6 weeks. The primary outcome of this study is the impact of the programme on patients’ aerobic fitness after the first study period. Secondary outcomes include aerobic capacity after the second study period, changes in sarcopenia, anthropometry, functional mobility, perceived quality of life and fatigue, incidence of hepatic encephalopathy and microbiome composition. Moreover, number and reasons of intercurrent hospitalisations during the study and postoperative outcomes up to 12 months post OLT will be recorded. Finally, feasibility of the programme will be assessed by monitoring the participation rate and reasons for non-participation, number and severity of adverse events, and dropout rate and reasons for dropout. Ethics and dissemination This study was approved by the Medical Research Ethics Committee of the UMCG (registration number NL83612.042.23, August 2023) and is registered in the Clinicaltrials.gov register (NCT05853484). Good Clinical Practice guidelines and the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki will be applied. Results of this study will be submitted for presentation at (inter)national congresses and publication in peer-reviewed journals.</p