Assessing some statistical and physical modelling uncertainties of extreme responses for monopile-based offshore wind turbines, using metocean contours

This study examines the influence of probabilistic models for wave parameters in the joint environmental model and hydrodynamic/soil models on extreme mudline bending moments for monopile-based wind turbines at representative wind speeds, using the environmental contour method. For significant wave height, the 3-parameter Weibull model using the method of moments (MoM) provides the best fit to hindcast data across different wind classes, for the statistical models and data considered in the study. The hybrid Log-normal-Weibull (LonoWe) model also provides a reasonable fit but is sensitive to the transition point between distributions. Both models yield the largest extreme responses, with differences of approximately 0.5–3.5%. The 3-parameter Weibull model with maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) and the 2-parameter Weibull model result in less conservative contours, leading to up to 13% lower extreme responses, compared to LonoWe and Weibull (MoM). Regarding peak period, both the Log-normal and 3-parameter Weibull models provide reasonable fits, with the latter being more accurate near the steepness (breaking) limit. The stochastic variation among maxima due to seed variability and the uncertainty in quantile estimates as a function of number of samples was found to be crucial, particularly for severe sea states at the cut-out speed. Soil modelling is particularly important when the turbine is parked and encounters peak wave periods close to the turbine’s natural periods, while the effect of soil modelling on the extremes during turbine operation is negligible. Additionally, the impact of diffraction becomes relatively important for short wave periods. However, it is worth noting that the choice of load models has less impact on extreme responses compared to variations in the contours caused by different statistical models or seed variability.publishedVersio

Management of Sigmoid Volvulus Avoiding Sigmoid Resection

Acute sigmoid volvulus is typically caused by an excessively mobile and redundant segment of colon with a stretched mesenteric pedicle. When this segment twists on its pedicle, the result can be obstruction, ischemia and perforation. A healthy, 18-year-old Caucasian woman presented to the emergency department complaining of cramping abdominal pain, distention, constipation and obstipation for the last 72 h, accompanied by nausea, vomiting and abdominal tenderness. The patient had tympanitic percussion tones and no bowel sounds. She was diagnosed with acute sigmoid volvulus. Although urgent resective surgery seems to be the appropriate treatment for those who present with acute abdominal pain, intestinal perforation or ischemic necrosis of the intestinal mucosa, the first therapeutic choice for clinically stable patients in good general condition is considered, by many institutions, to be endoscopic decompression. Controversy exists on the decision of the time, the type of definitive treatment, the strategy and the most appropriate surgical technique, especially for teenagers for whom sigmoid resection can be avoided

A case of typical pulmonary carcinoid tumor treated with bronchoscopic therapy followed by lobectomy

Carcinoid bronchopulmonary tumors represent approximately 25% of all carcinoid tumors and 1%–2% of all lung neoplasms. The most common symptoms are: persistent cough, asthma-like wheezing, chest pain, dyspnea, hemoptysis and obstructive pneumonitis. We present a case of a young adult diagnosed with a typical carcinoid tumor. The diagnosis was established on the basis of imaging examination and bronchoscopic biopsy. The patient was treated with bronchoscopic electrocautery therapy to relieve the obstructed airway, followed by surgical lobectomy in order to entirely remove the exophytic damage. This approach was not only a palliative management to bronchial obstruction but also avoided pneumonectomy. Recent studies support the use of such interventional resection methods, as they may result in a more conservative surgical resection

Current surgical status of thyroid diseases

Thyroid nodules are a common clinical problem for surgeons. The clinical importance of nodules is the need to exclude thyroid cancer, which occurs in 5%–15% of patients. If fine needle aspiration cytology is positive, or suspicious for malignancy, surgery is recommended. During the past decade, with the tendency to develop smaller incisions, an endoscopic approach has been applied to thyroid surgery, called minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy. This approach was immediately followed by other minimally invasive or scarless neck techniques, such as the breast approach, axillary-breast approach, and robot-assisted method. All these techniques follow the same principles of surgery and oncology. This review presents the current surgical management of the thyroid gland, including the surgical techniques and compares them by describing benefits and drawbacks of each one

Endometriosis of the lung: report of a case and literature review

This paper reports a case of endometriosis of the lung in a 29-year-old woman with long-term periodic catamenial hemoptysis. A chest computed tomography image obtained during menstruation revealed a radiographic opaque lesion in the lingular segment of the left superior lobe. During bronchoscopy, bleeding in the mucosa of the distal bronchus of the lingular segment of the left superior lobe was observed. Histopathology subsequent to an exploratory thoracotomy confirmed the diagnosis of endometriosis of the left lung. The 2-year follow-up after lingular lobectomy of the left superior lobe showed no recurrence or complications