Interrelationships of pressure-dependent hole fraction and elongational viscosity in polymer melts

The elongational flow behavior of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate), and polycarbonate, temperatures from 70 to 290∘ C and pressures up to 70 MPa, is examined with the Yahsi-Dinc-Tav (YDT) model and its particular case known as the Cross model. The viscosity data employed in the range of 3-405 s-1 elongational rates were acquired from the literature at ambient and elevated pressures. The predictions and the fitting results of the proposed YDT model with the same measurement data are compared with the Cross model. The average absolute deviations of the viscosities predicted by the YDT model range from 0.54% to 9.44% at ambient and 1.95% to 6.28% at high pressures. Additionally, the linear formulations derived from the YDT model are employed to relate the viscosity with temperature and hole fraction (“thermooccupancy” function) at zero level of elongational rate and constant elongational rate along with constant elongational stress. The effects of the four viscosity parameters (such as transmission and activation energy coefficients in these equations) on the elongational viscosity are analyzed in detail and some conclusions on the structural differences for the polymers are discussed. © 2019 Fatma Sahin-Dinc et al

EPIdemiology of Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury (EPIS-AKI) : Study protocol for a multicentre, observational trial

More than 300 million surgical procedures are performed each year. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after major surgery and is associated with adverse short-term and long-term outcomes. However, there is a large variation in the incidence of reported AKI rates. The establishment of an accurate epidemiology of surgery-associated AKI is important for healthcare policy, quality initiatives, clinical trials, as well as for improving guidelines. The objective of the Epidemiology of Surgery-associated Acute Kidney Injury (EPIS-AKI) trial is to prospectively evaluate the epidemiology of AKI after major surgery using the latest Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) consensus definition of AKI. EPIS-AKI is an international prospective, observational, multicentre cohort study including 10 000 patients undergoing major surgery who are subsequently admitted to the ICU or a similar high dependency unit. The primary endpoint is the incidence of AKI within 72 hours after surgery according to the KDIGO criteria. Secondary endpoints include use of renal replacement therapy (RRT), mortality during ICU and hospital stay, length of ICU and hospital stay and major adverse kidney events (combined endpoint consisting of persistent renal dysfunction, RRT and mortality) at day 90. Further, we will evaluate preoperative and intraoperative risk factors affecting the incidence of postoperative AKI. In an add-on analysis, we will assess urinary biomarkers for early detection of AKI. EPIS-AKI has been approved by the leading Ethics Committee of the Medical Council North Rhine-Westphalia, of the Westphalian Wilhelms-University Münster and the corresponding Ethics Committee at each participating site. Results will be disseminated widely and published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at conferences and used to design further AKI-related trials. Trial registration number NCT04165369

Intersubjective recognition and normativity of law

This thesis develops a content-independent, non-evaluative and non-individualist account of the normativity of law. In distinction from the action-centred questions of the moral obligation to obey the law and the legal obligation, this thesis views the question of the normativity of law as a normative reasoning-centred relationship between an individual and a given legal rule. It asks, when one confronts a given legal rule in the way of determining her course of action, in what terms she can come to a normative judgement that the guidance of that legal rule possesses or lacks normative force. In pursuit of an answer, the thesis takes a stand against the generally established case for individual reasons on the strength of two legal-conceptual arguments which stand in one’s way of establishing her normative relationship with a legal rule in reference to her individual reasons, namely that each legal rule addresses a certain formal social group and, second, that it functions on the general mode of operation. Instead, the thesis makes a legal-conceptual case in favour of intersubjective-recognitive reasons by drawing on the accounts of intersubjective recognition by G.W.F. Hegel and Axel Honneth. Further, the thesis sets a connection between the puzzles of the normativity of law and freedom and argues that the intersubjective-recognitive reasons as the only conceptually appropriate reasons referable in one’s normative relationship with a legal rule should lead us to reconceptualize the idea of freedom viable under the governance of legal rules in Hegelian, relational terms. Additionally, the thesis develops two derivative concepts out of the intersubjective-recognitive reasoning, the ontological decentralization of individuals in relation to each other in the context of a social group and the construal of one’s subjectivity in a social group as social subjectivity

Morphological features of the chiasma tendinum and its relation with surface landmarks and pulleys: a cadaveric study

Aim!#!Chiasma tendinum (Camper's chiasm) is of great importance in the delicate movements and stability of the fingers and takes place poorly in the literature. This study aims to reveal the morphometric details of the chiasma tendinum in relation with pulleys and other relevant structures.!##!Materials and methods!#!Palm and 2nd to 5th fingers of 10 (6 male, 4 female) formalin fixed cadavers were used bilaterally. After determining the superficial reference points on the fingers, the skin and the tendon sheath were incised, and then measurements of chiasma tendinum and related tendons were performed. The measurements were analyzed with respect to fingers, genders, and sides. Finally, the types of chiasma tendinum were identified and then grouped as symmetrical, asymmetrical, and pseudo chiasm.!##!Results!#!Pulley and chiasma tendinum positions were correlated with finger length (p < 0.01). Pulley lengths were significantly less in females. Asymmetrical chiasma tendinum types were found in 45% of the fingers. In most comparisons, values for fifth finger were significantly different than that of other fingers and chiasma tendinum types differed according to fingers and gender. The case of no fiber exchange was observed only in the 5th finger in 15%.!##!Conclusion!#!Findings related to the prediction of location of the pulleys and chiasma tendinum according to the superficial signs, awareness of cases where one of the two arms of the flexor digitorum superficialis is extremely thin and no fiber exchanges that may be risk factors for spontaneous tendon rupture may help provide more accurate approaches in relevant clinical applications

Original Article Platelet function parameters in management of hepatic hydatid disease: a case-controlled study

Abstract: Aim: To evaluate platelet function in patients with a history of surgical treatment for hepatic hydatid disease (HD). Methods: This retrospective case-controlled study was performed in a state hospital in Turkey from January 2009 to November 2013. The patients were divided into two groups: those evaluated in the preoperative period (Group 1) and those evaluated in the postoperative period (Group 2). The patient groups were compared with a control group (Group 3). All three groups were evaluated using laboratory records from day 1 of the preoperative period and day 30 of the postoperative period. The haematocrit level (HTC), platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), and percentage of eosinophils (EOS) were compared among the groups. Results: Fifty-three patients who had undergone surgical treatment of hepatic HD and 55 healthy controls were included in the study. The mean follow-up time for all patients was 45 (14-70) months. The patients comprised 33 (62%) females and 20 (38%) males. The control group comprised 37 (67%) females and 18 (33%) males. The median age of the patients was 48 (19-78) years, while that of the control group was 42 (16-64) years. No significant differences in the HTC, PLT, or EOS were present among the groups. The MPV and PDW indicated that platelet function was significantly different between Group 1 and Groups 2 and 3. Additionally, nine patients had undergone previous surgical treatment for HD. In a separate long-term follow-up, these patients exhibited no statistically significant differences in MPV or PDW between the preoperative and postoperative periods. Conclusions: MPV and PDW can be used in the initial follow-up of patients with hepatic HD, but have limited use in long-term follow-up