Surgical approach to abdominal wall defects: history and new trends

AbstractWe briefly outline the history of hernia surgery development from the Ebers Papyrus to modern prosthetic repairs. The rapid evolution of anatomical, physiological and pathogenetic concepts has involved the rapid evolution of surgical treatments. From hernia sack cauterization to sack ligation, posterior wall repair (Bassini), and prosthetic reinforcement there has been an evident improvement in surgical treatment results that has stimulated surgeons to find new technical solutions over time. The introduction of prosthetic repair, the laparoscopic revolution, the impact of local anesthesia and the diffusion of day surgery have been the main advances of the last 50 years. Searching for new gold standards, the introduction of new devices has also led to new complications and problems. Research of the last 10 years has been directed to overcome prosthetic repair complications, introducing every year new meshes and materials. Lightweight meshes, composite meshes and biologic meshes are novelties of the last few years. We also take a look at future trends

Revoltas regenciais na Corte: o movimento de 17 de abril de 1832

The regency period (1831-1840) was one of the richest one in terms of political organization, mobilization and debate, as well as the most turbulent in all of Brazil’s history. This article analyses one of the main rebellions that happened at that time in Rio de Janeiro’s Court in April 17, 1832, headed by the caramurus. This political group arose right after D. Pedro I’s resignation and it was composed by politicians and courtiers associated with the former emperor, by old public officers and militaries, and by tradesmen and sales clerks. They opposed to any reform in the Constitution of 1824, claiming a constitutional monarchy powerfully centralized, such as the First Reign, and even in exceptional cases, stimulating restoration. The movement, in which José Bonifacio was involved, intended to overthrow the ministry or the Regency, and perhaps to claim Pedro I’s back. The research sources are newspapers, pamphlets, manifestos and judicial papers.Uma das fases mais ricas e singulares em termos de organização, discussão e participação políticas, o Período Regencial (1831-1840), é também o mais agitado e conturbado da história do Brasil. Este artigo analisa uma das principais revoltas então ocorridas no Rio de Janeiro: a que, em 17 de abril de 1832, sacudiu a capital do Império, capitaneada pelos caramurus. Estes constituíam uma facção política surgida logo após a abdicação de Pedro I, essencialmente formada por políticos e cortesãos ligados ao ex-imperador, por antigos funcionários públicos civis e militares e por comerciantes e caixeiros portugueses. Opunham-se eles a qualquer reforma na Constituição de 1824 e defendiam uma monarquia constitucional fortemente centralizada, nos moldes do Primeiro Reinado, chegando, em casos excepcionais, a nutrir anseios restauradores. O movimento, no qual estava envolvido José Bonifacio, pretendia derrubar o ministério ou a Regência e, quiçá, reivindicar a volta de Pedro I. Jornais, panfletos, manifestos e processos judiciais constituem as principais fontes de pesquisa

Towards the Automated Coverlay Assembly in FPCB Manufacturing: Concept and Preliminary Tests

AbstractIn modern electronics, flexible and rigid-flex PCBs are largely used due to their intrinsic versatility and performance, allowing to increase the available volume, or enabling connection between unconstrained components. Rigid-flex PCBs consists of rigid board portions with flexible interconnections and are commonly used in a wide variety of industrial applications. However, the assembly process of these devices still has some bottlenecks. Specifically, they require the application of cover layers (namely, coverlays), to provide insulation and protection of the flexible circuits. Due to the variability in planar shape and dimensions, the coverlay application is still performed manually, requiring troublesome manipulation steps and resulting in undetermined time-cycle and precision.This paper aims at the improvement of the industrial process currently performed, by proposing an approach for the automation of Kapton coverlay manipulation and application. Since these products are commercially provided as a film with a protective layer to be removed, the peeling issue is addressed, representing a challenging step of the automated process; the results of a systematic series of tests, performed in order to validate the peeling strategy, are reported in the paper. The overall assembly strategy relies on the development of a customized multi-hole vacuum gripper, whose concept is presented and contextualized in the proposed assembly process by outlining a suitable workcell architecture

Drosophila Helical factor is an inducible protein acting as an immune-regulated cytokine in S2 cells.

The innate immunity of Drosophila melanogaster is based on cellular and humoral components. Drosophila Helical factor (Hf), is a molecule previously discovered using an in silico approach and whose expression is controlled by the immune deficiency (Imd) pathway. Here we present evidence demonstrating that Hf is an inducible protein constitutively produced by the S2 hemocyte-derived cell line. Hf expression is stimulated by bacterial extracts that specifically trigger the Imd pathway. In absence of any bacterial challenge, the recombinant form of Hf can influence the expression of the antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) defensin but not drosomycin. These data suggest that in vitro Hf is an inducible and immune-regulated factor, with functions comparable to those of secreted vertebrate cytokine

In vivo probabilistic atlas of white matter tracts of the human subthalamic area combining track density imaging and optimized diffusion tractography

The human subthalamic area is a region of high anatomical complexity, tightly packed with tiny fiber bundles. Some of them, including the pallidothalamic, cerebello-thalamic, and mammillothalamic tracts, are relevant targets in functional neurosurgery for various brain diseases. Diffusion-weighted imaging-based tractography has been suggested as a useful tool to map white matter pathways in the human brain in vivo and non-invasively, though the reconstruction of these specific fiber bundles is challenging due to their small dimensions and complex anatomy. To the best of our knowledge, a population-based, in vivo probabilistic atlas of subthalamic white matter tracts is still missing. In the present work, we devised an optimized tractography protocol for reproducible reconstruction of the tracts of subthalamic area in a large data sample from the Human Connectome Project repository. First, we leveraged the super-resolution properties and high anatomical detail provided by short tracks track-density imaging (stTDI) to identify the white matter bundles of the subthalamic area on a group-level template. Tracts identification on the stTDI template was also aided by visualization of histological sections of human specimens. Then, we employed this anatomical information to drive tractography at the subject-level, optimizing tracking parameters to maximize between-subject and within-subject similarities as well as anatomical accuracy. Finally, we gathered subject level tracts reconstructed with optimized tractography into a large-scale, normative population atlas. We suggest that this atlas could be useful in both clinical anatomy and functional neurosurgery settings, to improve our understanding of the complex morphology of this important brain region

Comparison between Culture Conditions Improving Growth and Differentiation of Blood and Bone Marrow Cells Committed to the Endothelial Cell Lineage

The aim of this study was to compare different cell sources and culture conditions to obtain endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) with predictable antigen pattern, proliferation potential and in vitro vasculogenesis. Pig mononuclear cells were isolated from blood (PBMCs) and bone marrow (BMMCs). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were also derived from pig bone marrow. Cells were cultured on fibronectin in the presence of a high concentration of VEGF and low IGF-1 and FGF-2 levels, or on gelatin with a lower amount of VEGF and higher IGF-1 and FGF-2 concentrations. Endothelial commitment was relieved in almost all PBMCs and BMMCs irrespective of the protocol used, whilst MSCs did not express a reliable pattern of EPC markers under these conditions. BMMCs were more prone to expand on gelatin and showed a better viability than PBMCs. Moreover, about 90% of the BMMCs pre-cultured on gelatin could adhere to a hyaluronan-based scaffold and proliferate on it up to 3 days. Pre-treatment of BMMCs on fibronectin generated well-shaped tubular structures on Matrigel, whilst BMMCs exposed to the gelatin culture condition were less prone to form vessel-like structures. MSCs formed rough tubule-like structures, irrespective of the differentiating condition used. In a relative short time, pig BMMCs could be expanded on gelatin better than PBMCs, in the presence of a low amount of VEGF. BMMCs could better specialize for capillary formation in the presence of fibronectin and an elevated concentration of VEGF, whilst pig MSCs anyway showed a limited capability to differentiate into the endothelial cell lineage

Beta-Blocker Use in Older Hospitalized Patients Affected by Heart Failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: An Italian Survey From the REPOSI Register

Beta (β)-blockers (BB) are useful in reducing morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure (HF) and concomitant chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Nevertheless, the use of BBs could induce bronchoconstriction due to β2-blockade. For this reason, both the ESC and GOLD guidelines strongly suggest the use of selective β1-BB in patients with HF and COPD. However, low adherence to guidelines was observed in multiple clinical settings. The aim of the study was to investigate the BBs use in older patients affected by HF and COPD, recorded in the REPOSI register. Of 942 patients affected by HF, 47.1% were treated with BBs. The use of BBs was significantly lower in patients with HF and COPD than in patients affected by HF alone, both at admission and at discharge (admission, 36.9% vs. 51.3%; discharge, 38.0% vs. 51.7%). In addition, no further BB users were found at discharge. The probability to being treated with a BB was significantly lower in patients with HF also affected by COPD (adj. OR, 95% CI: 0.50, 0.37-0.67), while the diagnosis of COPD was not associated with the choice of selective β1-BB (adj. OR, 95% CI: 1.33, 0.76-2.34). Despite clear recommendations by clinical guidelines, a significant underuse of BBs was also observed after hospital discharge. In COPD affected patients, physicians unreasonably reject BBs use, rather than choosing a β1-BB. The expected improvement of the BB prescriptions after hospitalization was not observed. A multidisciplinary approach among hospital physicians, general practitioners, and pharmacologists should be carried out for better drug management and adherence to guideline recommendations