Intraoperative Extracorporeal Irradiation for the Treatment of the Meningioma-Infiltrated Calvarium.

Objectives Complete removal of infiltrated bone is required to achieve a Simpson Grade 1 meningioma resection. Reconstruction of the resulting bone defect is typically achieved with a nonnative implant that can result in poor cosmesis, foreign body reaction, or infection. Extracorporeal irradiation and reimplantation of tumorous bone has been used for limb-sparing surgery with excellent results, but this treatment option is not routinely considered in meningioma surgery. We present a case of anterior fossa meningioma with tumorous overlying calvarium that was successfully managed with intraoperative extracorporeal irradiation and reimplantation. Design, Setting, and Participant A 37-year-old woman with persistent chronic headaches was found to have an anterior skull base meningioma with extension into the forehead frontal bone. Concurrently with mass resection, the bone flap was irradiated intraoperatively with 120 Gy. After resection of the tumor, the bone flap was replaced in its native position. Main Outcome Measures and Results Twenty-nine months postoperatively, the patient had an excellent cosmetic outcome with no radiographic evidence of tumor recurrence or significant bone flap resorption. Conclusion Intraoperative extracorporeal irradiation of tumorous calvaria during meningioma surgery is an effective, logistically feasible treatment option to achieve local tumor control and excellent cosmetic outcome

Passive strategies for energy optimisation of social housing in the Mediterranean climate

Los objetivos prioritarios del Horizonte 2020 han llevado a la actualización del Documento Básico de Ahorro de la Energía del CTE en 2013, introduciendo un nuevo modelo en las exigencias, basado en parámetros tecnológicos y constructivos, asociado a una mayor valoración de las condiciones arquitectónicas del edificio. Este trabajo pretende analizar la repercusión del nuevo marco normativo en la vivienda social del área mediterránea, en la zona climática B4. Se plantea el análisis energético en un modelo base de bloque lineal entre medianeras al que se incorporan individualmente, distintas estrategias pasivas asociadas a la compacidad, materialidad de la envolvente, control solar, acumulación solar y ventilación, analizando la mejora de la demanda de energía, la calificación energética y el confort interior. La consideración de la orientación, junto con la combinación de la mejora de las prestaciones energéticas de la envolvente térmica, de la tasa de ventilación y de la adecuada protección solar constituyen las principales acciones de mejora energética que permiten conseguir importantes reducciones de la demanda energética, de las emisiones de CO2 y mejora del confort interior.The main goals of Horizon 2020 have led to the updating of the Basic Document on Energy Saving of the Technical Building Code in 2013. The demands of the new model, based on technological and construction parameters, are associated with a more extensive assessment of the architectural conditions of buildings. This study aims to analyze the repercussion of the new regulations on Mediterranean social housing in climate zone B4. It proposes energy analysis on a basic model of a single linear block, adding different individual passive strategies relating to compactness, envelope material, solar control, solar accumulation and ventilation, analyzing the improvement in energy demand, energy rating and indoor comfort. The main energy improvement actions used take into account orientation as well as the combined improvement in energy performance of the thermal envelope, ventilation rate and suitable solar protection. These lead to major reductions in energy demand and CO2 emissions while improving indoor comfort conditions

Nesting behavior of the Elegant Euphonia (Euphonia elegantissima, Aves: Fringillidae) in urban and suburban sites of east Mexico

Between 2005, 2014–2017, we studied six Elegant Euphonia (Euphonia elegantissima) nests from two sites (urban and suburban) in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz. They were located in a macadamia tree crown, under epiphytic bromeliads, and under hanging fern and Euphorbia pots. The two nests we extracted and measured (7.2 x 7.5 x 5.6 cm; 10.1 x 8.6 x 11 cm), were closed and globular, with a lateral entry and mainly made of plant fibers, leaves, and cobwebs. Our observations included nest construction, egg incubation and chick care (nestling phase). Nest construction took at least 10–11 days, while egg incubation took 14–18 days. Incubation was done by the female in all but one observation, and the male escorted the female to the nest on every occasion. Time of incubation sessions ranged from 36–88 min (mean = 62 min) with shorter out nest sessions (3–18 min, mean = 9 min). There were three eggs in two of the nests, and in one only two eggs hatched; four chicks were observed in another nest. The nestling phase lasted 20 days in two nests, with the male spending more time (35–300 s, mean = 109 s) than the female taking care of the chicks (25–99 s, mean = 53 s). Reciprocal escorting was observed during the nestling phase, with the male always arriving first. Breeding occurred in January, April, May (two nests), June, and July. Observing the male of the Elegant Euphonia escorting the female during the incubation period, corroborates previous observations of this behavior in genera Euphonia and Chlorophonia. Incubation and nestling time periods were similar to other species of these genera.Durante los años 2005, 2014–2017, estudiamos seis nidos del monjito (Euphonia elegantissima) en dos sitios urbanos y suburbanos de la ciudad de Xalapa. Los nidos se localizaron en la punta de un árbol de macadamia, debajo de bromelias epífitas y debajo de macetas colgantes con helechos o euforbiáceas. Los dos nidos que fueron colectados fueron cerrados y esféricos (7.2 x 7.5 x 5.6 cm; 10.1 x 8.6 x 11 cm), con una entrada lateral y estuvieron fabricados principalmente de fibras vegetales, hojas y telarañas. Las observaciones incluyeron la construcción del nido, la incubación de los huevos y el cuidado de los polluelos. La construcción de los nidos tardó al menos entre 10 y 11 días. La incubación de los huevos duró entre 14 y 18 días. En todos los casos con excepción de uno, la incubación fue hecha por la hembra y en todas las observaciones el macho escoltó a la hembra al nido. El tiempo de incubación por sesión fue de 36–88 min (media = 62 min) con sesiones fuera del nido más cortas (3–18 min, media = 9 min). En dos nidos se encontraron tres huevos, en uno de los cuales sólo dos huevos eclosionaron; en otro nido se observaron cuatro polluelos. En dos nidos la fase de polluelos duró lo mismo, 20 días, presentando los machos un mayor tiempo de cuidado de los polluelos (35–300 s, media = 109 s) que las hembras (25–99 s, media = 53 s). Se observó una escolta recíproca durante la fase de polluelos, siendo el macho el primero en llegar siempre. La reproducción ocurrió en los meses de enero, abril, mayo (dos nidos), junio y julio. Al registrarse para el monjito la escolta de la hembra por el macho durante la fase de incubación, se corroboran observaciones previas en los géneros Euphonia y Chlorophonia. Los tiempos observados para las fases de incubación y polluelos fueron similares a valores previamente publicados para las especies de ambos géneros

Challenges for modern wine production in dry areas: dedicated indicators to preview wastewater flows

Wine production is an important socio-economic activity in Mediterranean countries. This study is focused on wine production under warm and dry climate conditions in south Portugal, in two major wine-producing regions (Tejo and Alentejo), characterized by small to medium sized wineries. Vineyards have been expanding in this region of Portugal, where about 50–70% of the vineyards are irrigated, increasing regional water demand. The aim of this study is to propose an integrative approach for wine production, where a simple calculation model has been developed and validated to preview water consumption and wastewater production, as functions of winemaking periods and type of processed grapes. Results revealed a global ratio of 2.2 ±0.45 and 2.1 ±0.17 Lwater/Lwine. Concerning dedicated indicators, 60–75% of the wastewater was produced during Period I and the red wine production represented a 50–64% increase in water consumption. This tool will enable winemakers to calculate Global and Dedicated Indicators, based on their own parameters, which provide information on flow volumes and peak flows. In this context, it will be possible to identify improvements for wastewater treatment and management towards water reuse as a promising solution for the wine sector in the framework of the circular economyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A trusted infrastructure for symbolic analysis of event-driven web applications

We introduce a trusted infrastructure for the symbolic analysis of modern event-driven Web applica-tions. This infrastructure consists of reference implementations of the DOM Core Level 1, DOM UIEvents, JavaScript Promises and the JavaScriptasync/awaitAPIs, all underpinned by a simpleCore Event Semantics which is sufficiently expressive to describe the event models underlying theseAPIs. Our reference implementations are trustworthy in that three follow the appropriate standardsline-by-line and all are thoroughly tested against the official test-suites, passing all the applicabletests. Using the Core Event Semantics and the reference implementations, we develop JaVerT.Click,a symbolic execution tool for JavaScript that, for the first time, supports reasoning about JavaScriptprograms that use multiple event-related APIs. We demonstrate the viability of JaVerT.Click byproving both the presence and absence of bugs in real-world JavaScript code

COPD and cardiovascular disease

COPD is one of the major public health problems in people aged 40 years or above. It is currently the 4th leading cause of death in the world and projected to be the 3rd leading cause of death by 2020. COPD and cardiac comorbidities are frequently associated. They share common risk factors, pathophysiological processes, signs and symptoms, and act synergistically as negative prognostic factors. Cardiac disease includes a broad spectrum of entities with distinct pathophysiology, treatment and prognosis. From an epidemiological point of view, patients with COPD are particularly vulnerable to cardiac disease. Indeed, mortality due to cardiac disease in patients with moderate COPD is higher than mortality related to respiratory failure. Guidelines reinforce that the control of comorbidities in COPD has a clear benefit over the potential risk associated with the majority of the drugs utilized. On the other hand, the true survival benefits of aggressive treatment of cardiac disease and COPD in patients with both conditions have still not been clarified. Given their relevance in terms of prevalence and prognosis, we will focus in this paper on the management of COPD patients with ischemic coronary disease, heart failure and dysrhythmia.Novartis Portugal Novartisinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Expression and Roles of Nde1 and Ndel1 in the Adult Mammalian Central Nervous System

Open Access funded by Wellcome Trust Under a Creative Commons license Acknowledgments We thank Prof Angelo Sementilli, Department of Pathology, Universidade Metropolitana de Santos, SP, Brazil, for the human sample collection. This study is funded by Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (HR07019 to S. Shen and C.D. McCaig), Medical Research Scotland (384 FRG to B. Lang, United Kingdom), Tenovus Scotland (G12/25 to B. Lang), Sino-UK Higher Education Research Partnership for PhD Studies (C.D. McCaig and Y.Q. Ding) and Wellcome Trust (WT081633MA-NCE to P.J.A. McCaffery, United Kingdom).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Selecting the Very Best: The Selection of High-Level Judges in the United States, Europe and Asia

This paper has been prepared by Kirkland & Ellis LLP for the Due Process of Law Foundation (“DPLF”), an organization dedicated to promoting and strengthening the rule of law and the respect for human rights in the Americas. The goal is to provide further stimulus to the enhancement of due process and the rule of law in Latin America by encouraging the transparent, merit-based selection and appointment of competent, independent, and impartial judges. An independent and impartial judiciary is an essential precondition to the effective operation of the rule of law, with due process for all. This, in turn, is vital for the existence of democratic societies. In sum, there is no “perfect” model for selecting judges for the highest courts of a country. The results that will be obtained by any particular model are highly dependent on the political and social context of a country—or state. A method that works well in a particular country might not produce desirable results elsewhere, which is why an analysis of the local context is always an essential starting point. That said, the analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of the selection methods adopted in the United States and in various European and Asian countries may be instructive in assessing what might work for any country considering efforts to enhance the effectiveness of the operation of the rule of law in that country