7 research outputs found

    Primary percutaneous coronary intervention in a patient with right internal mammary artery graft originating from arteria lusoria dextra

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    Introduction Congenital anomalies of the aortic arch, although numerous and heterogeneous, occur in less than 1% of individuals at autopsies. Left aortic arch with an aberrant right subclavian artery, also called arteria lusoria dextra, is the most common anomaly of the aortic arch, occurring in 0.5-2.5% of individuals. Case Outline We report the case of a 48-year-old man suffering from acute inferoposterior-wall ST elevation myocardial infarction successfully treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention. Ten years ago, the patient had undergone coronary artery bypass graft surgery with the implantation of two arterial grafts - left and right internal mammary arteries on both left anterior descending and right coronary artery. After several attempts to canulate truncus brachiocephalicus, angiogram revealed the left aortic arch with the aberrant right subclavian artery. To our knowledge, this is the first described case of primary percutaneous coronary intervention via the aberrant right subclavian artery and right internal mammary artery graft with stent implantation in the infarct related lesion of the distal segment of right coronary artery. Subsequent 64-multidetector computed tomography confirmed the angiographic findings. Conclusion Early recognition of congenital anomalies of the aortic arch and its great vessels, even before coronary artery bypass graft surgery, could be crucial for the urgent and successful treatment of patients with life-threatening conditions, such as ST segment elevation myocardial infarction

    Automated Generation of Indoor Accessibility Information for Mobility-Impaired Individuals

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    Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.One section of the general population that can greatly bene t from the current interest in indoor navigation systems comprises the various disabled groups. In developing assistive navigation systems an important issue is how to obtain information relevant for navigation from the perspective of these special user groups. The theory of a ordances coupled with computer-based simulation o ers a solution for automated extraction of this information from readily available sources - architectural oor plans. Simulation of movement in space can be used to derive a user-relative selection of accessible space by comparing the degree of match between the geometrical demands of navigation and the relevant physical properties of the environment. We also investigate what is the right level of representation of the environment for running the simulations as well as deriving higher-level networks of places and their connections that facilitate orientation and the interaction between user and navigation system

    Achieving a Superhydrophobic, Moisture, Oil and Gas Barrier Film Using a Regenerated Cellulose–Calcium Carbonate Composite Derived from Paper Components or Waste

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    It has been a persistent challenge to develop eco-friendly packaging cellulose film providing the required multiple barrier properties whilst simultaneously contributing to a circular economy. Typically, a cellulosic film made from nanocellulose materials presents severe limitations, such as poor water/moisture resistance and lacking water vapour barrier properties, related primarily to the hydrophilic and hygroscopic nature of cellulose. In this work, alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) and starch, both eco-friendly, non-toxic, cost-effective materials, were used to achieve barrier properties of novel cellulose–calcium carbonate composite films regenerated from paper components, including paper waste, using ionic liquid as solvent. AKD and starch were applied first into the ionic cellulose solution dope mix, and secondly, AKD alone was coated from hot aqueous suspension onto the film surface using a substrate surface precooling technique. The interactions between the AKD and cellulose film were characterised by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) showing the formation of a ketone ester structure between AKD and the hydroxyl groups of cellulose. The presence of calcium carbonate particles in the composite was seen to enhance the cellulose crystallinity. The initial high-water vapour and oxygen transmission rates of the untreated base films could be decreased significantly from 2.00 to 0.14 g m−2 d−1, and 3.85 × 102 to 0.45 × 102 cm3 m−2 d−1, respectively. In addition, by applying subsequent heat treatment to the AKD coating, the water contact angle was markedly increased to reach levels of superhydrophobicity (>150°, and roll-off angle < 5°). The resistance to water absorption, grease-permeation, and tensile strength properties were ultimately improved by 41.52%, 95.33%, and 127.33%, respectively, compared with those of an untreated pure cellulose film. The resulting regenerated cellulose–calcium carbonate composite-based film and coating formulation can be considered to provide a future bio-based circular economy barrier film, for example, for the packaging, construction and agriculture industries, to complement or replace oil-based plastics.Peer reviewe

    When Law Doesnt Rule: State Capture of the Judiciary, Prosecution, Police in Serbia

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    The study When the Law Doesn't Rule, by the Open Society European Policy Institute, Transparency Serbia, and the Centre of Investigative Journalism of Serbia, identifies seven ways in which political control is being exerted over the judiciary, prosecution, and police in Serbia, and how systemic weaknesses in the exercise of the rule of law are being exploited. These include limited accountability of judges and prosecutors for ineffectiveness; the appointment of public prosecutors and court presidents on political grounds; an inordinate amount of discretion allowed to law enforcement when making investigation and prosecution decisions; inappropriate and partial briefing of the media; the misuse and manipulation of statistics; direct political influence on law enforcement; and deliberately dysfunctional criminal investigations in politically sensitive cases.The report illustrates these seven administrative and systemic weaknesses through 12 case studies

    Exploratory querying of SPARQL endpoints in space and time

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    The linked data Web provides a simple and flexible way of accessing information resources in a self-descriptive format. This offers a realistic chance of perforating existing data silos. However, in order to do so, space, time and other semantic concepts need to function as dimensions for effectively exploring, querying and filtering contents. While triple stores, SPARQL endpoints, and RDF were designed for machine access, large burdens are still placed on a user to simultaneously explore and query the contents of a given endpoint according to these dimensions. First, one has to know the semantic concepts and the type of knowledge contained in an endpoint a-priori in order to query content effectively. Second, one has to be able to write and understand SPARQL and RDF. And third, one has to understand complex data type literals for space and time. In this article, we propose a way to deal with these challenges by interactive visual query construction, i.e., by letting query results feedback into both (space-time) exploration and filtering, and thus enabling exploratory querying. We propose design principles for SPEX (Spatio-temporal content explorer), a tool which helps people unfamiliar with the content of SPARQL endpoints or their syntax to explore the latter in space and time. In a preliminary user study on a repository of historical maps, we found that our feedback principles were effective, however, that successful question answering still requires improvements regarding space-time filtering, vocabulary explanation and the linking of space-time windows with other displays

    Stress neuropeptide levels in adults with chest pain due to coronary artery disease: potential implications for clinical assessment

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    : Substance P (SP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) are neuropeptides involved in nociception. The study of biochemical markers of pain in communicating critically ill coronary patients may provide insight for pain assessment and management in critical care. Purpose of the study was to to explore potential associations between plasma neuropeptide levels and reported pain intensity in coronary critical care adults, in order to test the reliability of SP measurements for objective pain assessment in critical care
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