6,674 research outputs found
Gynecomastia and Chest Masculinization: An Updated Comprehensive Reconstructive Algorithm
Background: Gynecomastia is a common finding in males. Clinical aspect varies widely in world populations showing peculiar hallmarks according to different body shapes reflecting personal expectations; therefore, a surgical plan must be tailored on individual basis to all type of patients. Materials and Method: A total of 522 patients, treated for bilateral gynecomastia from January 2007 to January 2019, were included and reviewed in this retrospective study. Considering physical status BMI, muscular trophism, hypertrophy of the mammary region, nipple–areola disorder, gland and skin cover consistency, a four-tier classification system has been used to classify the deformity and to assess a surgical plan. In all cases, a subcutaneous mastectomy was performed under direct vision. Results: No recurrence of the deformity was observed as well as major complications such as necrosis, and high level of satisfaction was observed in all groups. No breast cancer was found at the histological examinations Operative time ranged from 25 minutes up to 120 minutes and hospitalization time ranged from 1 to 3 days. Conclusion: Since the physical status is strictly related to the clinical features of the disorder, a comprehensive classification system and a reconstructive algorithm are proposed. Level of Evidence IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/0026
Bringing self assessment home: repository profiling and key lines of enquiry within DRAMBORA
Digital repositories are a manifestation of complex organizational, financial, legal, technological, procedural, and political interrelationships. Accompanying each of these are innate uncertainties, exacerbated by the relative immaturity of understanding prevalent within the digital preservation domain. Recent efforts have sought to identify core characteristics that must be demonstrable by successful digital repositories, expressed in the form of check-list documents, intended to support the processes of repository accreditation and certification. In isolation though, the available guidelines lack practical applicability; confusion over evidential requirements and difficulties associated with the diversity that exists among repositories (in terms of mandate, available resources, supported content and legal context) are particularly problematic. A gap exists between the available criteria and the ways and extent to which conformity can be demonstrated. The Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment (DRAMBORA) is a methodology for undertaking repository self assessment, developed jointly by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) and DigitalPreservationEurope (DPE). DRAMBORA requires repositories to expose their organization, policies and infrastructures to rigorous scrutiny through a series of highly structured exercises, enabling them to build a comprehensive registry of their most pertinent risks, arranged into a structure that facilitates effective management. It draws on experiences accumulated throughout 18 evaluative pilot assessments undertaken in an internationally diverse selection of repositories, digital libraries and data centres (including institutions and services such as the UK National Digital Archive of Datasets, the National Archives of Scotland, Gallica at the National Library of France and the CERN Document Server). Other organizations, such as the British Library, have been using sections of DRAMBORA within their own risk assessment procedures.
Despite the attractive benefits of a bottom up approach, there are implicit challenges posed by neglecting a more objective perspective. Following a sustained period of pilot audits undertaken by DPE, DCC and the DELOS Digital Preservation Cluster aimed at evaluating DRAMBORA, it was stated that had respective project members not been present to facilitate each assessment, and contribute their objective, external perspectives, the results may have been less useful. Consequently, DRAMBORA has developed in a number of ways, to enable knowledge transfer from the responses of comparable repositories, and incorporate more opportunities for structured question sets, or key lines of enquiry, that provoke more comprehensive awareness of the applicability of particular threats and opportunities
A model for liquid-striped liquid phase separation in liquids of anisotropic polarons
The phase separation between a striped polaron liquid at the particular
density and a high density polaron liquid is described by a modified Van der
Waals scheme. The striped polaron liquid represents the pseudo gap matter or
Wigner-like polaron phase at 1/8 doping in cuprate superconductors. The model
includes the tendency of pseudo- Jahn-Teller polarons to form anisotropic
directional bonds at a preferential volume with the formation of different
liquid phases. The model gives the coexistence of a first low density polaron
striped liquid and a second high density liquid that appears in cuprate
superconductors for doping larger than 1/8. We discuss how the strength of
anisotropic bonds controls the variation the phase separation scenarios for
complex systems in the presence of a quantum critical point where the phase
separation vanishes.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Cumulene Molecular Wire Conductance from First Principles
We present first principles calculations of current-voltage characteristics
(IVC) and conductance of Au(111):S2-cumulene-S2:Au(111) molecular wire
junctions with realistic contacts. The transport properties are calculated
using full self-consistent ab initio NEGF-DFT methods under external bias. The
conductance of the cumulene wires shows oscillatory behavior depending on the
number of carbon atoms (double bonds). Among all conjugated oligomers, we find
that cumulene wires with odd number of carbon atoms yield the highest
conductance with metallic-like ballistic transport behavior. The reason is the
high density of states in broad LUMO levels spanning the Fermi level of the
electrodes. The transmission spectrum and the conductance depend only weakly on
applied bias, and the IVC is nearly linear over a bias region from +1 to -1 V.
Cumulene wires are therefore potential candidates for metallic connections in
nanoelectronic applications.Comment: Accepted in Phys. Rev. B; 5 pages and 6 figure
Altruism and Gender in the Trust Game
2This paper analyses gender differences in the trust game. Our experiment implements the triadic design proposed by Cox (2004) to discriminate between transfers resulting from trust or trustworthiness and transfers resulting from altruistic preferences. We observe that women exhibit a higher degree of altruism than men for both trust and trustworthiness but relatively more for trustworthiness. This result provides an explanation to the experimental finding that women reciprocate more than men.reservedmixedA. INNOCENTI; MARIA GRAZIA PAZIENZAInnocenti, Alessandro; MARIA GRAZIA, Pazienz
Experimental determination of the frequency and field dependence of Specific Loss Power in Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia
Magnetic nanoparticles are promising systems for biomedical applications and
in particular for Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia, a promising therapy that
utilizes the heat released by such systems to damage tumor cells. We present an
experimental study of the physical properties that influences the capability of
heat release, i.e. the Specific Loss Power, SLP, of three biocompatible
ferrofluid samples having a magnetic core of maghemite with different core
diameter d= 10.2, 14.6 and 19.7 nm. The SLP was measured as a function of
frequency f and intensity of the applied alternating magnetic field H, and it
turned out to depend on the core diameter, as expected. The results allowed us
to highlight experimentally that the physical mechanism responsible for the
heating is size-dependent and to establish, at applied constant frequency, the
phenomenological functional relationship SLP=cH^x, with 2<x<3 for all samples.
The x-value depends on sample size and field frequency/ intensity, here chosen
in the typical range of operating magnetic hyperthermia devices. For the
smallest sample, the effective relaxation time Teff=19.5 ns obtained from SLP
data is in agreement with the value estimated from magnetization data, thus
confirming the validity of the Linear Response Theory model for this system at
properly chosen field intensity and frequency
Assessing n-type organic materials for lithium batteries: A techno-economic review
The high demand for critical minerals such as lithium, copper, nickel, and cobalt, required for lithium-ion batteries, has raised questions regarding the feasibility of maintaining a steady and affordable supply of raw materials for their production. In the last years, researchers have shifted their attention toward organic materials, which are potentially more widely available, affordable, and sustainable due to the ubiquitous presence of the constituent organic elements. The n-type materials have a redox mechanism analogous to that of lithium-ion cathodes and anodes, hence they are suitable for a meaningful comparison with the state-of-the-art technology. While many reviews have evaluated the properties of organic materials at the material or electrode level, herein, the properties of n-type organic materials are assessed in a complex system, such as a full battery, to evaluate the feasibility and performance of these materials in commercial-scale battery systems. The most relevant cathode materials for organic batteries are reviewed, and a detailed cost and performance analysis of n-type material-based battery packs using the BatPaC 5.0 software is presented. The analysis considers the influence of electrode design choices, such as the conductive carbon content, active material mass loading, and electrode density, on energy density and cost. The potential of n-type organic materials as a low-cost and sustainable solution for energy storage applications is highlighted, while emphasizing the need for further advancements of organic materials for energy storage applications
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