Computer-aided design and manufacturing technology applied to total nasal reconstruction

The principles of nasal reconstruction include the need to reconstruct three tissue layers, the need to restore entire skin aesthetical units, and, possibly, the replacement with like tissues. Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manu- facturing (CAM) technologies were applied to two total nasal reconstructions in male patients who underwent rhinectomy for cancer. Three-dimensional (3D) data were obtained from computerized tomography (CT) scan-derived DICOM files (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine), this allowed us to design the shape of the reconstructive nose in order to mimic the native nose and to plan dimensions and angles. A custom-made titanium plate was manufactured for the struc- ture and a bi-dimensional template for the forehead flap was printed. The patients underwent a total nasal reconstruction in three layers: local flaps for the lining, custom-made titanium plate for the structure, and expanded forehead flap for the skin. Forehead flap pedicle was divided 3 weeks postoperatively under local anesthesia in an outpatient clinic, as well as further minor refinements. The patients underwent a 6-month post-operative CT scan in order to compare the result to the planned nose. No complications were reported. The superimposition demonstrated a 92% match in case 1 and 95% match in case 2 between the reconstructed nose and the planned one. Forehead flap is still the most favorable option for nasal reconstruction, CAD technology allows to implement the planning and makes the procedure easier; moreover, the use of a CAM plate for the structure allows to reconstruct a nose with the desired naso-frontal angle

Structural role of PufX in the dimerization of the photosynthetic core complex of Rhodobacter sphaeroides.

Monomeric and dimeric PufX-containing core complexes have been purified from membranes of wild-type Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Reconstitution of both samples by detergent removal in the presence of lipids leads to the formation of two-dimensional crystals constituted of dimeric core complexes. Two-dimensional crystals were further analyzed by cryoelectron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. A projection map at 26-A resolution reveals that core complexes assemble in an "S"-shaped dimeric complex. Each core complex is composed of one reaction center, 12 light-harvesting 1 alpha/beta-heterodimers, and one PufX protein. The light-harvesting 1 assemblies are open with a gap of density of approximately 30-A width and surround oriented reaction centers. A maximum density is found at the dimer junction. Based on the projection map, a model is proposed, in which the two PufX proteins are located at the dimer junction, consistent with the finding of dimerization of monomeric core complexes upon reconstitution. This localization of PufX in the core complex implies that PufX is the structural key for the dimer complex formation rather than a channel-forming protein for the exchange of ubiquinone/ubiquinol between the reaction center and the cytochrome bc1 complex

Intrapartum fetal heart rate between 150 and 160 bpm at or after 40 weeks and labor outcome

INTRODUCTION: A baseline fetal heart rate between 110 and 160 bpm is considered normal. However among normal fetuses the average baseline heart rate has been shown to diminish progressively and the 90th centile of the fetal heart rate at 40 weeks of gestation has been consistently found at around 150 bpm. The aim of our study was to assess the labor and neonatal outcome of fetuses at 40 gestational weeks or beyond, whose intrapartum baseline fetal heart rate was between 150 and 160 bpm.MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective cohort study including singleton pregnancies with spontaneous onset of labor, gestational age between 40+0 and 42+0 , category I CTG trace according to the FIGO guidelines 2015 with baseline fetal heart rate between 110-160 bpm during the first 60 minutes of the active labor. Exclusion criteria were maternal hyperpyrexia at admission, fetal arrhythmias, maternal tachycardia (>110 bpm) and uterine tachysystole (>5 contractions/10 minutes). The following outcomes were compared between fetuses with a baseline ranging between 110-149 bpm and those with a baseline ranging between 150-160 bpm: incidence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid, intrapartum hyperpyrexia, mode of delivery, Apgar at 5th minute<7, arterial pH<7.1 and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit admission, incidence of a composite adverse neonatal outcome.RESULTS: One-thousand and four CTG traces were included in the analysis, 860 in Group 110-149 bpm and 144 in Group 150-160. Group 150-160 bpm had a significantly higher incidence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid (OR 2.6; 95%CI 1.8-3.8), maternal intrapartum hyperpyrexia (OR 4.7; 95%CI 1.1-14.6), urgent/emergent cesarean section for suspected fetal distress (OR 13.4; 95% CI 3.3-54.3), Apgar <7 at 5th min (OR 9.13; 95%CI 1.5-55.1) and neonatal acidemia (OR 3.5; 95%CI 1.5-55.1). Logistic regression including adjusted for potential confounders showed that fetal heart rate between 150-160 bpm is an independent predictor of meconium-stained amniotic fluid (aOR 2.2; 95% CI 1.5-3.3), cesarean section during labor for fetal distress (aOR 10.7; 95%CI 2.9-44.6), neonatal acidemia (aOR 2.6; 95%CI 1.1-6.7) and adverse composite neonatal outcome (aOR 2.6; 95% CI 1.2-5.6).CONCLUSIONS: In fetuses at 40 weeks or beyond, an intrapartum fetal heart rate baseline ranging between 150 and 160 bpm seems associated with a higher incidence of labor complications

A magnetar powering the ordinary monster GRB 130427A?

We present the analysis of the extraordinarily bright Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 130427A under the hypothesis that the GRB central engine is an accretion-powered magnetar. In this framework, initially proposed to explain GRBs with precursor activity, the prompt emission is produced by accretion of matter onto a newly-born magnetar, and the observed power is related to the accretion rate. The emission is eventually halted if the centrifugal forces are able to pause accretion. We show that the X-ray and optical afterglow is well explained as the forward shock emission with a jet break plus a contribution from the spin-down of the magnetar. Our modelling does not require any contribution from the reverse shock, that may still influence the afterglow light curve at radio and mm frequencies, or in the optical at early times. We derive the magnetic field ($B\sim 10^{16}$ G) and the spin period ($P\sim 20$ ms) of the magnetar and obtain an independent estimate of the minimum luminosity for accretion. This minimum luminosity results well below the prompt emission luminosity of GRB 130427A, providing a strong consistency check for the scenario where the entire prompt emission is the result of continuous accretion onto the magnetar. This is in agreement with the relatively long spin period of the magnetar. GRB 130427A was a well monitored GRB showing a very standard behavior and, thus, is a well-suited benchmark to show that an accretion-powered magnetar gives a unique view of the properties of long GRBs.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

Theory Meets Experiment for Noncovalent Complexes: The Puzzling Case of Pnicogen Interactions

A gas-phase nitrogen\u2013nitrogen noncovalent interaction has been unveiled in the nitroethane\u2013trimethylamine complex in an environment free from solvent and matrix effects using rotational spectroscopy in supersonic expansion. Different quantum chemical models (NOCV/CD and NBO) agree in indicating that this interaction largely prevails over the C 12H c5 c5 c5O and C 12H c5 c5 c5N hydrogen bonds. Furthermore, a SAPT analysis shows that electrostatic and dispersion interactions play a comparable role in stabilizing the complex. The conformational landscape exploration and stationary points characterization have been performed using state-of-the-art quantum-chemical computations providing significant insights on structure determination

The host-galaxy response to the afterglow of GRB 100901A

For Gamma-Ray Burst 100901A, we have obtained Gemini-North and Very Large Telescope optical afterglow spectra at four epochs: one hour, one day, three days and one week after the burst, thanks to the afterglow remaining unusually bright at late times. Apart from a wealth of metal resonance lines, we also detect lines arising from fine-structure levels of the ground state of Fe II, and from metastable levels of Fe II and Ni II at the host redshift (z = 1.4084). These lines are found to vary significantly in time. The combination of the data and modelling results shows that we detect the fall of the Ni II 4 F9/2 metastable level population, which to date has not been observed. Assuming that the population of the excited states is due to the UV-radiation of the afterglow, we estimate an absorber distance of a few hundred pc. This appears to be a typical value when compared to similar studies. We detect two intervening absorbers (z = 1.3147, 1.3179). Despite the wide temporal range of the data, we do not see significant variation in the absorption lines of these two intervening systems.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures. Accepted by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on Jan 11th 201

THE COMPLEX OF SANTA CROCE IN RAVENNA AS A CASE STUDY: INTEGRATION OF 3D TECHNIQUES FOR SURVEYING AND MONITORING OF A HISTORICAL SITE

Over the last decades, climate change has brought more and more challenges to managers of cultural heritage and researchers. The increasing effects of natural hazards on assets have required the development of a new protocol of techniques and methodologies for the monitoring of Cultural Heritage and the adoption of management plans adapted to the new challenges at every stage of risk management. The work here presented aims at providing an insight of the work undertaken under the framework of the H2020 SHELTER project, to showcase the first steps of the multi-disciplinary research conducted in one of the project’s case studies, the complex of Santa Croce in Ravenna, Italy. The paper provides the presentation of the case study and the description of the surveying activities with some first results, to provide a preliminary assessment of the site criticalities to be addressed in the future activities in the area, in line with the EU project expected outcomes

Multi-messenger prospects for black hole - neutron star mergers in the O4 and O5 runs

The existence of merging black hole-neutron star (BHNS) binaries has been ascertained through the observation of their gravitational wave (GW) signals. However, to date, no definitive electromagnetic (EM) emission has been confidently associated with these mergers. Such an association could help unravel crucial information on these systems, for example, their BH spin distribution, the equation of state (EoS) of NS and the rate of heavy element production. We model the multi-messenger (MM) emission from BHNS mergers detectable during the fourth (O4) and fifth (O5) observing runs of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA GW detector network, in order to provide detailed predictions that can help enhance the effectiveness of observational efforts and extract the highest possible scientific information from such remarkable events. Our methodology is based on a population synthesis-approach, which includes the modelling of the signal-to-noise ratio of the GW signal in the detectors, the GW-inferred sky localization of the source, the kilonova (KN) optical and near-infrared light curves, the relativistic jet gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt emission peak photon flux, and the GRB afterglow light curves in the radio, optical and X-ray bands. The resulting prospects for BHNS MM detections during O4 are not promising, with a GW detection rate of $15.0^{+15.4}_{-8.8}$ yr$^{-1}$, but joint MM rates of $\sim 10^{-1}$ yr$^{-1}$ for the KN and $\sim 10^{-2}$ yr$^{-1}$ for the jet-related emission. In O5 we find an overall increase in expected detection rates by around an order of magnitude, owing to both the enhanced sensitivity of the GW detector network, and the coming online of future EM facilities. Finally, we discuss direct searches for the GRB radio afterglow with large-field-of-view instruments as a new possible follow-up strategy in the context of ever-dimming prospects for KN detection.Comment: Submitted to A&A. 17 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables. Comments are welcome