Approach in treatement of primary intrahepatic lithiasis

Clinica III Chirurgie, Sp. ‘Sf. Spiridon’, Iaşi, Al XI-lea Congres al Asociației Chirurgilor „Nicolae Anestiadi” din Republica Moldova și cea de-a XXXIII-a Reuniune a Chirurgilor din Moldova „Iacomi-Răzeșu” 27-30 septembrie 2011Litiaza căilor biliare intrahepatice (CBIH) reprezintă în statele vestice o entitate clinica rară, cu incidenţa în creştere în ultimele decade în seriile de cazuri raportate, odată cu creşterea sensibilităţii metodelor diagnostice.Etiologia este neclară, dar asocierea dintre staza biliară şi infecţie sunt factori determinanţi .Tratamentul este complex, scopul tratamentului este obţinerea statusului “stone-free”, decomprimarea arborelui biliar şi controlul infecţiei. Ca prima opţiune se propune derivaţia biliară asociată sau nu cu rezecţia hepatică, ca şi alternativă non-invazivă se enumeră abordul endoscopic retrograd sau litotritia percutană. Prezentam cazul unei paciente diagnosticate în urma unui puseu de angiocolită cu litiază de CBIH cantonată la nivelul segmentelor VII, VIII hepatice.Tratamentul chirurgical a presupus abordul bipolar al căilor biliare intrahepatice prin segmentectomie hepatică şi coledocotomie şi extracţia bipolară a calculilor, urmată apoi de sfincterotomie endoscopică. Primary intrahepatic lithiasis represents in western countries a rare clinical feature with an increas in incidence. The etiology is unclear but the association of biliary stasis and infection are determinant factors for stone formation. The treatment is complex, and the goal is to promote completestone clearance, decompression of the biliary tree, and control of bile infection. Most groups propose surgical treatment with bilioenteric anastomosis and/or liver resection as the first approach and nonsurgical procedures such as percutaneous cholangioscopic lithotripsy or endoscopic therapy.We present the case of a patient diagnosed with intrahepatic lithiasis after an episode of cholangitis.The surgical approachs consisted in a hepatic resection combined with bipolar exploration of bile ducts and extraction of bile stones

InterGEO: a digital platform for university education on geomorphological heritage

The project InterGEO was carried out with the objective to disseminate knowledge on geomorphological heritage by developing a digital learning platform. It aims at improving students' autonomy by the reduction of face-to-face teaching and increasing autonomous learning as well as promoting international interactions between students interested in geomorphological heritage. A completely free-access virtual course on geomorphosites was developed with the Learning Management System Moodle. The course is divided into 24 thematic chapters, each of them containing a short description, a list of references and selected publications, as well as other educational material (videos, virtual fieldtrips, etc.). In particular, several videos allow presenting in a dynamic way concepts and examples. The paper presents the tool and its use in academic programmes in six European universities, where it was tested, in various contexts (Bachelors' and Masters' programmes; students in geography or geology; general courses in geomorphology and specific courses on geoheritage and geoconservation), before discussing the advantages and challenges the tool is facing. The InterGEO platform is an easy-to-use and friendly educational tool, which allows developing blended learning activities; it is flexible and adaptable in various learning contexts.The coordination tasks (appointment of an assistant) and two workshops in Lausanne were financed by the University of Lausanne (Teaching Innovation Fund and Investment Fund of the Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, FGSE). The videos were designed and created with support of the universities of Lausanne (TIF) and Savoie Mont Blanc (IDEFI Promising and ReflexPro; LabEx ITEM)

The incommensurate charge-density-wave instability in the extended three-band Hubbard model

The infinite-U three-band Hubbard model is considered in order to describe the CuO_2 planes of the high temperature superconducting cuprates. The charge instabilities are investigated when the model is extended with a nearest-neighbor repulsion between holes on copper d and oxygen p orbitals and in the presence of a long-range Coulombic repulsion. It is found that a first-order valence instability line ending with a critical point is present like in the previously investigated model without long-range forces. However, the dominant critical instability is the formation of incommensurate charge-density-waves, which always occur before the valence-instability critical point is reached. An effective singular attraction arises in the proximity of the charge-density wave instability, accounting for both a strong pairing mechanism and for the anomalous normal state properties.Comment: 15 pages in RevteX. Figures available from M. Grill

Transport properties of copper phthalocyanine based organic electronic devices

Ambipolar charge carrier transport in Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) is studied experimentally in field-effect transistors and metal-insulator-semiconductor diodes at various temperatures. The electronic structure and the transport properties of CuPc attached to leads are calculated using density functional theory and scattering theory at the non-equilibrium Green's function level. We discuss, in particular, the electronic structure of CuPc molecules attached to gold chains in different geometries to mimic the different experimental setups. The combined experimental and theoretical analysis explains the dependence of the mobilityand the transmission coefficient on the charge carrier type (electrons or holes) and on the contact geometry. We demonstrate the correspondence between our experimental results on thick films and our theoretical studies of single molecule contacts. Preliminary results for fluorinated CuPc are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures; to be published in Eur. Phys. J. Special Topic

Recent Deforestation Pattern Changes (2000-2017) in the Central Carpathians:A Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrix and Fractal Analysis Approach

The paper explores the distribution of tree cover and deforested areas in the Central Carpathians in the central-east part of Romania, in the context of the anthropogenic forest disturbances and sustainable forest management. The study aims to evaluate the spatiotemporal changes in deforested areas due to human pressure in the Carpathian Mountains, a sensitive biodiverse European ecosystem. We used an analysis of satellite imagery with Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (Landsat-7 ETM+) from the University of Maryland (UMD) Global Forest Change (GFC) dataset. The workflow started with the determination of tree cover and deforested areas from 2000–2017, with an overall accuracy of 97%. For the monitoring of forest dynamics, a Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix analysis (Entropy) and fractal analysis (Fractal Fragmentation-Compaction Index and Tug-of-War Lacunarity) were utilized. The increased fragmentation of tree cover (annually 2000–2017) was demonstrated by the highest values of the Fractal Fragmentation-Compaction Index, a measure of the degree of disorder (Entropy) and heterogeneity (Lacunarity). The principal outcome of the research reveals the dynamics of disturbance of tree cover and deforested areas expressed by the textural and fractal analysis. The results obtained can be used in the future development and adaptation of forestry management policies to ensure sustainable management of exploited forest areas

Opposite-side flavour tagging of B mesons at the LHCb experiment

The calibration and performance of the oppositeside flavour tagging algorithms used for the measurements of time-dependent asymmetries at the LHCb experiment are described. The algorithms have been developed using simulated events and optimized and calibrated with B + →J/ψK +, B0 →J/ψK ∗0 and B0 →D ∗− μ + νμ decay modes with 0.37 fb−1 of data collected in pp collisions at √ s = 7 TeV during the 2011 physics run. The oppositeside tagging power is determined in the B + → J/ψK + channel to be (2.10 ± 0.08 ± 0.24) %, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic

Measurement of the ratio of branching fractions BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma)

The ratio of branching fractions of the radiative B decays B0 -> K*0 gamma and Bs0 -> phi gamma has been measured using 0.37 fb-1 of pp collisions at a centre of mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, collected by the LHCb experiment. The value obtained is BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma)/BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) = 1.12 +/- 0.08 ^{+0.06}_{-0.04} ^{+0.09}_{-0.08}, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third is associated to the ratio of fragmentation fractions fs/fd. Using the world average for BR(B0 -> K*0 gamma) = (4.33 +/- 0.15) x 10^{-5}, the branching fraction BR(Bs0 -> phi gamma) is measured to be (3.9 +/- 0.5) x 10^{-5}, which is the most precise measurement to date.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, 2 table

Differential branching fraction and angular analysis of the decay B0→K∗0μ+μ−

The angular distribution and differential branching fraction of the decay B 0→ K ∗0 μ + μ − are studied using a data sample, collected by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1. Several angular observables are measured in bins of the dimuon invariant mass squared, q 2. A first measurement of the zero-crossing point of the forward-backward asymmetry of the dimuon system is also presented. The zero-crossing point is measured to be q20=4.9±0.9GeV2/c4 , where the uncertainty is the sum of statistical and systematic uncertainties. The results are consistent with the Standard Model predictions

Search for CP violation in D+→K−K+π+D^{+} \to K^{-}K^{+}\pi^{+} decays

A model-independent search for direct CP violation in the Cabibbo suppressed decay $D^+ \to K^- K^+\pi^+$ in a sample of approximately 370,000 decays is carried out. The data were collected by the LHCb experiment in 2010 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb$^{-1}$. The normalized Dalitz plot distributions for $D^+$ and $D^-$ are compared using four different binning schemes that are sensitive to different manifestations of CP violation. No evidence for CP asymmetry is found.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Observation of two new Ξb−\Xi_b^- baryon resonances

Two structures are observed close to the kinematic threshold in the $\Xi_b^0 \pi^-$ mass spectrum in a sample of proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$ recorded by the LHCb experiment. In the quark model, two baryonic resonances with quark content $bds$ are expected in this mass region: the spin-parity $J^P = \frac{1}{2}^+$ and $J^P=\frac{3}{2}^+$ states, denoted $\Xi_b^{\prime -}$ and $\Xi_b^{*-}$. Interpreting the structures as these resonances, we measure the mass differences and the width of the heavier state to be $m(\Xi_b^{\prime -}) - m(\Xi_b^0) - m(\pi^{-}) = 3.653 \pm 0.018 \pm 0.006$ MeV$/c^2$, $m(\Xi_b^{*-}) - m(\Xi_b^0) - m(\pi^{-}) = 23.96 \pm 0.12 \pm 0.06$ MeV$/c^2$, $\Gamma(\Xi_b^{*-}) = 1.65 \pm 0.31 \pm 0.10$ MeV, where the first and second uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The width of the lighter state is consistent with zero, and we place an upper limit of $\Gamma(\Xi_b^{\prime -}) < 0.08$ MeV at 95% confidence level. Relative production rates of these states are also reported.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure