Hemodynamic evaluation of the right portal vein in healthy dogs of different body weights

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Doppler ultrasonography is an important tool for evaluating hepatic portal hemodynamics. However, no study in dogs of different body weights, in the range encountered in routine clinical veterinary practice, has been reported. It can be difficult to obtain an ideal insonation angle when evaluating the main portal vein, so evaluation of the right portal vein branch has been described in humans as an alternative. The aim of this study was to analyze, through Doppler ultrasonography, the hemodynamics in the right portal vein branch in dogs of different body weights.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirty normal dogs were divided in three groups by weight, in order to establish normal values for mean velocity, flow volume and portal congestion index of the right portal vein branch by means of Doppler ultrasonography.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all dogs ideal insonation angles were obtained for the right portal vein branch. The average velocity was similar in the three groups, but the portal congestion index and the flow volume differed, showing that the weight of the dog can influence these values.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Doppler ultrasonography for the evaluation of flow in the right branch of the portal vein could be a viable alternative, or complement, to examining the main vessel segment. This is especially so in those animals in which an ideal insonation angle for examination of the main portal vein is hard to obtain. In addition, the weight of the dog must be considered for the correct evaluation of the portal system hemodynamics, particularly for portal blood flow and the congestion index.</p

Analisa Kepuasan Pelanggan Atas Customer Relationship Management Melalui Implementasi Program Keanggotaan Hotel X Studi Kasus Di Hotel X

Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui tingkat kepuasan pelanggan atas keuntungan-keuntungan yang diperoleh melalui program keanggotaan hotel X di Surabaya. Hotel X sebagai salah satu hotel berbintang 5(lima) di Surabaya membangun sebuah program yang menawarkan keuntungan lebih bagi para anggota program. Namun, terjadi penurunan jumlah anggota yang signifikan dalam beberapa tahun terakhir, dikarenakan semakin sedikit dari anggota yang memperbaharui keanggotaan. Kepuasan anggota baik dari segi finansial, sosial, maupun ikatan struktural sangat menentukan keefektifan program yang diadakan. Teknik analisa yang digunakan dalam penilitian ini adalah eksploratif degan metode Taguchi untuk mengetahui kelemahan dan keunggulan dari program melalui persepsi anggota akan manfaat yang mereka terima. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa program yang ditawarkan membuat anggota merasa istimewa namun masih memiliki kelemahan dalam memberikan keuntungan finasial bagi anggota

Патогенез ренальных дисфункций при метаболическом синдроме

Анализируются патофизиологические механизмы возникновения и развития ренальных дисфункций в условиях метаболического синдрома (МС). Рассматриваются результаты популяционных клинических исследований деятельности почек у лиц с МС, а также механизмы, вызывающие нарушения гомеостатических функций почек в условиях течения МС. Проведен обзор литературы о роли ренин-ангиотензиновой системы и оксида азота в патогенезе ренальных дисфункций при МС.Analysis of pathophisiological mechanisms of renal dysfunctions development was carried out during metabolic syndrome. Results of clinic researches of renal activity in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS) and disturbances of homeostatic renal functions during MS were established. The literature review about research of renin-angiotensin system’s role and nitric oxide in pathogenesis of renal functions during MS was conducted

Ladder operators for subtle hidden shape invariant potentials

Ladder operators can be constructed for all potentials that present the integrability condition known as shape invariance, satisfied by most of the exactly solvable potentials. Using the superalgebra of supersymmetric quantum mechanics we construct the ladder operators for two exactly solvable potentials that present a subtle hidden shape invariance.Comment: 9 pages, based on the talk given at International Conference Progress in Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics (PSQM03), Valladolid, Spain, 15-19 July, 2003, to appear in a Special Issue of J. Phys. A: Math. Ge

Entropic Penalty Switches Li⁺ Solvation Site Formation and Transport Mechanisms in Mixed Polarity Copolymer Electrolytes

Emerging solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) designs for efficient Li-ion (Li+) conduction have relied on polarity and mobility contrast to improve conductivity. To further develop this concept, we employ simulations to examine Li+ solvation and transport in poly(oligo ethylene methacrylate) (POEM) and its copolymers with poly(glycerol carbonate methacrylate) (PGCMA). We find that Li+ is solvated by ether oxygens instead of the highly polar PGCMA, due to lower entropic penalties. The presence of PGCMA promotes single-chain solvation, thereby suppressing interchain Li+ hopping. The conductivity difference between random copolymer PGCMA-r-POEM and block copolymer PGCMA-b-POEM is explained in terms of a hybrid solvation site mechanism. With diffuse microscopic interfaces between domains, PGCMA near the POEM contributes to Li+transport by forming hybrid solvation sites. The formation of such sites is hindered when PGCMA is locally concentrated. These findings help explain how thermodynamic driving forces govern Li+ solvation and transport in mixed SPEs

Morally Respectful Listening and its Epistemic Consequences

What does it mean to listen to someone respectfully, that is, insofar as they are due recognition respect? This paper addresses that question and gives the following answer: it is to listen in such a way that you are open to being surprised. A specific interpretation of this openness to surprise is then defended

Cooperative Throttle and Brake Fuzzy Control for ACC+Stop&Go Maneuvers

The authors are with the Industrial Computer Science Department, Instituto de Automática Industrial (CSIC), 28500 Madrid, SpainThe goal that a car be driven autonomously is far in the future and probably unreachable, but as a first step in that direction, adaptive cruise control (ACC) and Stop&Go maneuver systems are being developed. These kind of controllers adapt the speed of a car to that of the preceding one (ACC) and get the car to stop if the lead car stops. This paper presents one such system and related experiments performed on a real road with real cars. The driving system gets its input via an RTK DGPS device and communicates its positions to one another via a wireless local area network link. It outputs signals controlling the pressure on the throttle and brake pedals. The control system is based on fuzzy logic, which is considered best to deal with processes as complex as driving. Two mass produced Citroën Berlingo electric vans have been instrumented, providing them with computer controlled actuators over the brake and the throttle to achieve human-like driving. The results of the experiments show that the behavior of the vehicles is very close to human and that they adapt to driving incidences, increasing the safety of the driving and permitting cooperation with manually driven cars.This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministry of Education under Grant ISAAC CICYT DPI2002-04064-C05-02, by the Spanish Ministry of Public Works under Grant COPOS BOE 280 22/11/2002, and by the Res. 22778, Citroën España S.A. under Contract “Adquirir nuevos conocimientos sobre la introducción de las tecnologías de la información en el mundo del automóvil y para difundirlos en los ámbitos científicos, empresariales y comerciales (AUTOPIA),” and by Cybecars-2 Project UE-STREP 28062, 6th Framework Programme, 2006.Peer reviewe

A phenomenological approach to the simulation of metabolism and proliferation dynamics of large tumour cell populations

A major goal of modern computational biology is to simulate the collective behaviour of large cell populations starting from the intricate web of molecular interactions occurring at the microscopic level. In this paper we describe a simplified model of cell metabolism, growth and proliferation, suitable for inclusion in a multicell simulator, now under development (Chignola R and Milotti E 2004 Physica A 338 261-6). Nutrients regulate the proliferation dynamics of tumor cells which adapt their behaviour to respond to changes in the biochemical composition of the environment. This modeling of nutrient metabolism and cell cycle at a mesoscopic scale level leads to a continuous flow of information between the two disparate spatiotemporal scales of molecular and cellular dynamics that can be simulated with modern computers and tested experimentally.Comment: 58 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, pdf onl