Cement Embolization into the Vena Cava and Pulmonal Arteries After Vertebroplasty: Interdisciplinary Management

AbstractPurposeTo report interdisciplinary management in a case of cement embolization into the inferior vena cava and peripheral pulmonary arteries after percutaneous vertebroplasty.Case reportA 50-year-old female patient with an osteoporotic compression fracture of the second lumbar vertebra underwent percutaneous vertebroplasty with polymethylmetaacrylate. Thereafter, CT scanning revealed small asymptomatic cement emboli in peripheral pulmonary arteries, along with a hook-shaped cement fragment in the inferior vena cava. Due to the risk that the large cement fragment could migrate to the pulmonary arteries and cause serious complications, they were retrieved from the inferior vena cava by an endovascular technique and extracted through a surgical groin incision. The patient received anticoagulant treatment for 3 months and is free of complaints after 1 year.ConclusionThis case shows that this rare complication following vertebroplasty can be successfully managed with an interdisciplinary approach

Epileptic monocular nystagmus and ictal diplopia as cortical and subcortical dysfunction

AbstractWe present the case of a patient with ictal monocular nystagmus and ictal diplopia who became seizure-free after resection of a right frontal focal cortical dysplasia (FCD), type 2B. Interictal neuroophthalmological examination showed several beats of a monocular nystagmus and a spasm of the contralateral eye. An exclusively ictal monocular epileptic nystagmus could be an argument for an exclusively cortical involvement in monocular eye movement control. The interictal findings in our patient, however, argue for an irregular ictal activation of both the cortical frontal eye field and the brainstem

Thermomagnetic history effects in SmMn2_2Ge2_2

The intermetallic compound SmMn$_2$Ge$_2$, displaying multiple magnetic phase transitions, is being investigated in detail for its magnetization behavior near the 145 K first order ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition occuring on cooling, in particular for thermomagnetic history effects in the magnetization data. The most unusual finding is that the thermomagnetic irreversibility, [= M$^{FCW}$(T)-M$^{ZFC}$(T)] at 135 K is higher in intermediate magnetic field strengths. By studying the response of the sample (i.e., thermomagnetic irreversibility and thermal hysteresis) to different histories of application of magnetic field and temperature, we demonstrate how the supercooling and superheating of the metastable magnetic phases across the first order transition at 145 K contribute to overall thermomagnetic irreversibility.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Physical Review

Remanent Magnetic Measurements on Perpendicular Recording Materials with Compensation for Demagnetizing Fields

Existing techniques for characterization of longitudinal recording media using remanence measurements are extended to perpendicular media, in particular to Alumite, and correction for demagnetizing fields is taken into account. It is found that these techniques have limited value because of the sensitivity of the analysis to the correction factor used. Measurement of the recoil lines is investigated as an alternative method of probing the reversal processes

Data Recovery Investigations: Murvaul Creek Site (41PN175), Panola County, Texas

This report summarizes the archeological findings of the 2011 data recovery investigations at the Murvaul Creek site, 41PN175, in far northeastern Texas in Panola County. The site is located along Farm-to-Market Road (FM) 10 approximately 1 mile north of Gary, Texas (Figure 1). Geo-Marine, Inc. (GMI), performed this work under contract to the Texas Department of Transportation, Environmental Affairs Division (TxDOT ENV) under the Texas Antiquities Permit Number 5879 (Work Authorization [WA] 579 06 SA005; WA 590 08 SA005; CSJ:1222-01-014; Geo-Marine project numbers 22005.00.06 and 22005.00.09). The fieldwork for this project was conducted in advance of the planned widening of FM 10 that was to replace three bridges and a culvert over Murvaul Creek with a larger structure and shift the road approximately 26 meters (m; 85 feet [ft]) to the east. Since the planned improvements of FM 10 would result in the loss of information at the Murvaul Creek site—a site that was recommended eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and for designation as a State Antiquities Landmark (SAL; formerly State Archeological Landmark)—the current data recovery investigations were initiated. The data recovery investigations were conducted between February 7, 2011, and April 3, 2011. During this period, the fieldwork was conducted in several stages: site clearing, geophysical survey, 50-x-50-centimeter (cm) excavations, block excavations, and mechanical site scraping. With the exception of the site clearing stage, the results of each of the fieldwork stages are reviewed individually in this report. The investigations resulted in the documentation of numerous features that appeared to have been the remains of a small Middle-to-Late Caddo settlement or farmstead situated on the edge of an interfluve south of the Murvaul Creek floodplain. Additionally, materials pertaining to the Archaic period were documented across the site. Although the site has been intensively studied within the TxDOT right-of-way (ROW), both the current investigations and previous work were limited to the ROW (cf. Cliff and Perttula 2002). Hence, the site is very likely larger than has been adequately documented

Optical anisotropy composition of benign and malignant prostate tissues revealed by Mueller-matrix imaging

A Mueller matrix imaging approach is employed to disclose the three-dimensional composition framework of optical anisotropy within cancerous biotissues. Visualized by the Mueller matrix technique spatial architecture of optical anisotropy of tissues is characterised by high-order statistical moments. Thus, quantitative analysis of the spatial distribution of optical anisotropy, such as linear and circular birefringence and dichroism, is revealed by using high-order statistical moments, enabling definitively discriminate prostate adenoma and carcinoma. The developed approach provides greater (>90%) accuracy of diagnostic achieved by using either the 3-rd or 4-th order statistical moments of the linear anisotropy parameters. Noticeable difference is observed between prostate adenoma and carcinoma tissue samples in terms of the extinction coefficient and the degree of depolarisation. Juxtaposition to other optical diagnostic modalities demonstrates the greater accuracy of the approach described herein, paving the way for its wider application in cancer diagnosis and tissue characterization

3D Mueller Matrix Reconstruction of the Optical Anisotropy Parameters of Myocardial Histopathology Tissue Samples

Diseases affecting myocardial tissues are currently a leading cause of death in developed nations. Fast and reliable techniques for analysing and understanding how tissues are affected by disease and respond to treatment are fundamental to combating the effects of heart disease. A 3D Mueller matrix method that reconstructs the linear and circular birefringence and dichroism parameters has been developed to image the biological structures in myocardial tissues. The required optical data is gathered using a Stokes polarimeter and then processed mathematically to recover the individual optical anisotropy parameters, expanding on existing 2D Mueller matrix implementations by combining with a digital holography approach. Changes in the different optical anisotropy parameters are rationalised with reference to the general tissue structure, such that the structures can be identified from the anisotropy distributions. The first to fourth order statistical moments characterising the distribution of the parameters of the optical anisotropy of the polycrystalline structure of the partially depolarising layer of tissues in different phase sections of their volumes are investigated and analysed. The third and fourth order statistical moments are found to be the most sensitive to changes in the phase and amplitude anisotropy. The possibility of forensic medical differentiation of death in cases of acute coronary insufficiency (ACI) and coronary heart disease (CHD) is considered as a diagnostic application. The optimal phase plane ( θ ∗ = 0.7 r a d ) has been found, in which excellent differentiation accuracy is achieved ACI and CHD - A c ( Δ Z 4 ( θ ∗ , Φ L , Δ L ) ) = 93.05 % ÷ 95.8 % . A comparative analysis of the accuracy of the Mueller-matrix reconstruction of the parameters of the optical anisotropy of the myocardium in different phase planes ( θ = 0.9 r a d and θ = 1.2 r a d ), as well as the 2D Mueller-matrix reconstruction method was carried out. This work demonstrates that a 3D Mueller matrix method can be used to effectively analyse the optical anisotropy parameters of myocardial tissues with potential for definitive diagnostics in forensic medicine

Book review: Gerald D. Feldman, Austrian banks in the period of National Socialism

Even though Germany, Austria, and Hungary experienced a major financial crisis simultaneously in 1931, of the three, only Germany's and Austria's episodes have been investigated in depth. This article offers a thorough assessment of the missing piece. It finds that, just like Germany, Hungary also experienced a twin crisis. The primary reason for the weakness of the financial sector was banks’ excessive exposure to agricultural loans. The fragility of the currency was the result of an early balance-of-payments crisis in 1928/9. The vulnerability of the banking and monetary systems culminated in a twin crisis in 1931