Epidemiology of Malignant Pleural Mesotheliomas in Croatia in the Period from 1989 to 1998

Malignant pleural mesotheliomas are rare tumors. Their occurrence is often associated with the exposure to asbestos. Asbestos is widely used in various industries as well as for many types of products in everyday use. In Croatia in the period from 1989 to 1998, the rate of incidence was 0.4–1.1 / 100,000. The highest rate of incidence was in the Districts of Istria (2.9) and Split-Dalmatia (2.5). It is more frequent among males than among females with a ratio of 3.2:1. It rarely occurs before the age of 40 and most of the patients suffering from the disease are more than 65 years old. About 12% of mesotheliomas metastasize into regional lymph nodes and 17% of them into distant organs. The disease unavoidably leads to death and, according to the data obtained in Croatia in the period from 1989 to 1998 the mortality and incidence are very close

Lung Lavage Neutrophils, Neutrophil Elastase and Albumin in the Prognosis of Pulmonary Sarcoidosis

The authors measured the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) neutrophils, neutrophil elastase and albumin in 60 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis, 18 patients with other interstitial lung diseases and 14 healthy controls in order to evaluate its significance in the prognosis of sarcoidosis. The concentrations were measured by enzymoimmunoassay and radial immunodiffusion (LC plates). Obtained values were correlated with some clinical indices, radiological stage and lung function values. The patients were followed up for 22.3 6.8 months. At the end of observation period the outcome of sarcoidosis has been evaluated upon the findings of chest radiograms and lung function tests. The length of duration of the disease correlated with the lung lavage neutrophil counts (r = 0.2535; p < 0.05). Significantly higher values of BALF elastase were obtained in III radiologic stage than II and I. Patients with high BALF albumin had more often dispnoa (p < 0.05) and chronic forms of the disease (p < 0.05). The values were high in patients in II and III radiologic stage. Unfavorable outcome of chest radiograms was announced by high BALF albumins (p < 0.05). The measurement of BALF neutrophils, neutrophil elastase and albumin are helpful in clinical management and estimation of the prognosis in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis

Lung Lavage Neutrophils, Neutrophil Elastase and Albumin in the Prognosis of Pulmonary Sarcoidosis

The authors measured the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) neutrophils, neutrophil elastase and albumin in 60 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis, 18 patients with other interstitial lung diseases and 14 healthy controls in order to evaluate its significance in the prognosis of sarcoidosis. The concentrations were measured by enzymoimmunoassay and radial immunodiffusion (LC plates). Obtained values were correlated with some clinical indices, radiological stage and lung function values. The patients were followed up for 22.3 6.8 months. At the end of observation period the outcome of sarcoidosis has been evaluated upon the findings of chest radiograms and lung function tests. The length of duration of the disease correlated with the lung lavage neutrophil counts (r = 0.2535; p < 0.05). Significantly higher values of BALF elastase were obtained in III radiologic stage than II and I. Patients with high BALF albumin had more often dispnoa (p < 0.05) and chronic forms of the disease (p < 0.05). The values were high in patients in II and III radiologic stage. Unfavorable outcome of chest radiograms was announced by high BALF albumins (p < 0.05). The measurement of BALF neutrophils, neutrophil elastase and albumin are helpful in clinical management and estimation of the prognosis in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis

Tools for BIM-GIS integration (IFC georeferencing and conversions): Results from the GeoBIM benchmark 2019

The integration of 3D city models with Building Information Models (BIM), coined as GeoBIM, facilitates improved data support to several applications, e.g., 3D map updates, building permits issuing, detailed city analysis, infrastructure design, context-based building design, to name a few. To solve the integration, several issues need to be tackled and solved, i.e., harmonization of features, interoperability, format conversions, integration of procedures. The GeoBIM benchmark 2019, funded by ISPRS and EuroSDR, evaluated the state of implementation of tools addressing some of those issues. In particular, in the part of the benchmark described in this paper, the application of georeferencing to Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) models and making consistent conversions between 3D city models and BIM are investigated, considering the OGC CityGML and buildingSMART IFC as reference standards. In the benchmark, sample datasets in the two reference standards were provided. External volunteers were asked to describe and test georeferencing procedures for IFC models and conversion tools between CityGML and IFC. From the analysis of the delivered answers and processed datasets, it was possible to notice that while there are tools and procedures available to support georeferencing and data conversion, comprehensive definition of the requirements, clear rules to perform such two tasks, as well as solid technological solutions implementing them, are still lacking in functionalities. Those specific issues can be a sensible starting point for planning the next GeoBIM integration agendas

R-Allyl Nickel(II) Complexes with Chelating N-Heterocyclic Carbenes: Synthesis, Structural Characterization, and Catalytic Activity

The N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) nickel complexes [(L)Ni(NHC)][BArF4] (ArF = 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)- phenyl; L = allyl (1), methylallyl (2); NHC = 1-(2-picolyl)-3-methylimidazol-2-ylidene (a), 1-(2-picolyl)-3-isopropylimidazol-2-ylidene (b), 1-(2-picolyl)-3-n-butylimidazol-2-ylidene (c), 1-(2-picolyl)-3-phenylimidazol-2-ylidene (d), 1-(2-picolyl)-3- methylbenzoimidazol-2-ylidene (e), 1-(2-picolyl)-4,5-dichloro-3-methylimidazol-2-ylidene (f)) have been obtained in high yields and characterized by NMR spectroscopy. Furthermore, 1d was unambiguously characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Complexes 1a−f/2a−f have shown catalytic activity toward dimerization and hydrosilylation of styrenes. In particular, 1a proved to be the most efficient catalyst in the dimerization of styrene derivatives in the absence of cocatalyst. Also, complexes 1a,d showed high selectivity and moderate to good yields in hydrosilylation reactions

Diagnostic accuracy of a clinical diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: An international case-cohort study

We conducted an international study of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) diagnosis among a large group of physicians and compared their diagnostic performance to a panel of IPF experts. A total of 1141 respiratory physicians and 34 IPF experts participated. Participants evaluated 60 cases of interstitial lung disease (ILD) without interdisciplinary consultation. Diagnostic agreement was measured using the weighted kappa coefficient (\u3baw). Prognostic discrimination between IPF and other ILDs was used to validate diagnostic accuracy for first-choice diagnoses of IPF and were compared using the Cindex. A total of 404 physicians completed the study. Agreement for IPF diagnosis was higher among expert physicians (\u3baw=0.65, IQR 0.53-0.72, p20 years of experience (C-index=0.72, IQR 0.0-0.73, p=0.229) and non-university hospital physicians with more than 20 years of experience, attending weekly MDT meetings (C-index=0.72, IQR 0.70-0.72, p=0.052), did not differ significantly (p=0.229 and p=0.052 respectively) from the expert panel (C-index=0.74 IQR 0.72-0.75). Experienced respiratory physicians at university-based institutions diagnose IPF with similar prognostic accuracy to IPF experts. Regular MDT meeting attendance improves the prognostic accuracy of experienced non-university practitioners to levels achieved by IPF experts

IMPLEMENTING TWO-COLOR TWO-DIMENSIONAL ELECTRONIC SPECTROSCOPY

Author Institution: Department of Physics and Biophysics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109Two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) is a powerful tool for revealing electronic coupling and solvation dynamics in condensed phase systems. One of the key problems in implementing 2DES at optical frequencies is maintaining adequate phase stability between the requisite pulse pairs. We present two-color 2DES data obtained with pulse-shaping and diffractive-optics-based approaches and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods

Prevalence, diagnostics and management of musculoskeletal disorders in primary health care in Sweden : an investigation of 2000 randomly selected patient records

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study is to investigate the prevalence of patients seeking care due to different musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) at primary health care centres (PHCs), to chart different factors such as symptoms, diagnosis and actions prescribed for patients that visited the PHCs due to MSD and to make comparisons regarding differences due to gender, age and rural or urban PHC. METHODS: Patient records (2000) for patients in working age were randomly selected equally distributed on one rural and one urban PHC. A 3-year period was reviewed retrospectively. For all patient records' background data, cause to the visit and diagnosis were registered. For visits due to MSD, type and location of symptoms and actions to resolve the patients problems were registered. Data was analysed using cross tabulation, multidimensional chi-squared. RESULTS: The prevalence of MSD was high; almost 60% of all patients were seeking care due to MSD. Upper and lower limb problems were most common. Symptoms were most prevalent in the young and middle age groups. The patients got a variety of different diagnoses, and between 13 and 35% of the patients did not receive a MSD diagnose despite having MSD symptoms. There was a great variation in how the cases were handled. CONCLUSIONS: The present study points out some weaknesses regarding diagnostics and management of MSD in primary care