1,125 research outputs found
What are the consequences of the AWG-projections for the adequacy of social security pensions? ENEPRI Research Report No. 65, 16 January 2009
This paper starts by describing the model MIDAS in detail. It next presents and discusses some simulation results for Belgium, Germany and Italy. Finally, the simulation results of two alternative policy scenarios are presented and discussed
Prepectoral breast reconstruction: an ideal approach to bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy
Background: Bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy (BRRM) has increased its popularity in the last years
because of its aim to minimise the chances of developing breast cancer in high-risk patients. Women
undergoing this procedure must be considered highly demanding patients given the need to combine
aesthetical, functional and preventive desires. This study aims to present the authors’ experience in
performing BRRM followed by single-stage prepectoral reconstruction (PPBR) with implant completely
covered by acellular dermal matrix (ADM) and to report indications, surgical techniques, functional and
aesthetic results.
Methods: A single-centre prospective data collection was carried out from January 2017 to January
2021 of patients at high risk of developing breast cancer undergoing BRRM and immediate PPBR with
ADM. Patients were subdivided into two groups according to the breast shape: Group A had small and
medium size breasts and Group B had large and ptotic breasts. Oncological and surgical outcomes were
collected. Satisfaction with reconstruction and related quality of life were evaluated through the BREAST-Q
questionnaire.
Results: A total of twenty-three patients met the inclusion criteria. Seventeen patients were included in
group A and six patients in group B. Average follow-up was 18.4 months. Minor complications occurred
in four breasts: one seroma, one hematoma and two cases of wound dehiscence. Capsular contracture was
not observed. All patients were satisfed with the fnal result according to the post-operative BREAST-Q
questionnaire.
Conclusions: Immediate prepectoral breast reconstruction could represent the ideal reconstruction option
after BRRM and should be offered to all women that fulfl the inclusion criteria
Entanglement swapping with photons generated on-demand by a quantum dot
Photonic entanglement swapping, the procedure of entangling photons without
any direct interaction, is a fundamental test of quantum mechanics and an
essential resource to the realization of quantum networks. Probabilistic
sources of non-classical light can be used for entanglement swapping, but
quantum communication technologies with device-independent functionalities
demand for push-button operation that, in principle, can be implemented using
single quantum emitters. This, however, turned out to be an extraordinary
challenge due to the stringent requirements on the efficiency and purity of
generation of entangled states. Here we tackle this challenge and show that
pairs of polarization-entangled photons generated on-demand by a GaAs quantum
dot can be used to successfully demonstrate all-photonic entanglement swapping.
Moreover, we develop a theoretical model that provides quantitative insight on
the critical figures of merit for the performance of the swapping procedure.
This work shows that solid-state quantum emitters are mature for quantum
networking and indicates a path for scaling up.Comment: The first four authors contributed equally to this work. 17 pages, 3
figure
Correction to: The Role of Laparoscopic Surgery in Localized Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours
n/
Laparoscopic R1 vascular hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (with video)
Surgical resection is considered the standard of treatment
for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), when realized
with negative margins (R0)1. Not infrequently, R0 resection
is unachievable, thus the concept of R1 vascular
hepatectomy has been introduced and has been defined as
exposure of the tumor on the specimen surface due to its
detachment from vascular structure
Combined Orthoplastic Approach in Fracture-Related Infections of the Distal Tibia
This series reports on the treatment of distal tibia (DT) fracture-related infections (FRI) with a combined orthoplastic approach. Thirteen patients were included. In eight patients with extensive bone involvement and in those with a non-healed fracture, the DT was resected ("staged approach"). In five cases, the DT was preserved ("single-stage approach"). A wide debridement was performed, and the cavity was filled with antibiotic-loaded PerOssal beads. All patients had a soft-tissue defect covered by a free vascularized flap (anterolateral thigh perforator flap in eight cases, latissimus dorsi flap in five). At the final follow-up (mean 25 months, range, 13-37), no infection recurrence was observed. In one patient, the persistence of infection was observed, and the patient underwent a repeated debridement. In two cases, a voluminous hematoma was observed. However, none of these complications impacted the final outcome. The successful treatment of FRI depends on proper debridement and obliteration of dead spaces with a flap. Therefore, when dealing with DT FRI, debridement of infected bone and soft tissues must be as radical as required, with no fear of the need for massive reconstructions
Bone and Joint Infections: The Role of Imaging in Tailoring Diagnosis to Improve Patients' Care
Imaging is needed for the diagnosis of bone and joint infections, determining the severity and extent of disease, planning biopsy, and monitoring the response to treatment. Some radiological features are pathognomonic of bone and joint infections for each modality used. However, imaging diagnosis of these infections is challenging because of several overlaps with non-infectious etiologies. Interventional radiology is generally needed to verify the diagnosis and to identify the microorganism involved in the infectious process through imaging-guided biopsy. This narrative review aims to summarize the radiological features of the commonest orthopedic infections, the indications and the limits of different modalities in the diagnostic strategy as well as to outline recent findings that may facilitate diagnosis
Strain-induced dynamic control over the population of quantum emitters in two-dimensional materials
The discovery of quantum emitters in two-dimensional materials has triggered
a surge of research to assess their suitability for quantum photonics. While
their microscopic origin is still the subject of intense studies, ordered
arrays of quantum emitters are routinely fabricated using static
strain-gradients, which are used to drive excitons toward localized regions of
the 2D crystals where quantum-light-emission takes place. However, the
possibility of using strain in a dynamic fashion to control the appearance of
individual quantum emitters has never been explored so far. In this work, we
tackle this challenge by introducing a novel hybrid semiconductor-piezoelectric
device in which WSe2 monolayers are integrated onto piezoelectric pillars
delivering both static and dynamic strains. Static strains are first used to
induce the formation of quantum emitters, whose emission shows photon
anti-bunching. Their excitonic population and emission energy are then
reversibly controlled via the application of a voltage to the piezoelectric
pillar. Numerical simulations combined with drift-diffusion equations show that
these effects are due to a strain-induced modification of the
confining-potential landscape, which in turn leads to a net redistribution of
excitons among the different quantum emitters. Our work provides relevant
insights into the role of strain in the formation of quantum emitters in 2D
materials and suggests a method to switch them on and off on demand.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
Risk factors for persistent enterococcal bacteraemia: a multicentre retrospective study
Objectives: Conditions favouring persistent enterococcal bacteraemia (p-EB) have not been fully investigated yet. The aim of our study is to analyse risk factors for p-EB and its impact on mortality.Methods: International two-centre retrospective study of all hospitalised adults with enterococcal bacteraemia managed with follow-up blood cultures (BCs) during the period 2011-2019. Exclusion criteria were: (1) death within 72 hours from index BCs and (2) polymicrobial bacteraemia. Primary endpoint was p-EB, defined as further isolation of the same species of Enterococcus spp. from BCs after at least 72 hours of appropriate antibiotic therapy. Multivariable logistic regression model was performed to assess risk factors for p-EB. The impact of p-EB on 30-day mortality was assessed by Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox regression multivariable model.Results: During the study period, 244 enterococcal bacteraemia were diagnosed. P-EB were 13.5% (33/244). At multivariable analysis, factors independently associated with p-EB were hematologic malignancy (OR 4.60 [95% CI 1.32-16.00], P = 0.01), infective endocarditis (OR 7.99 [95% CI 2.20-28.9], P = 0.002), and use of daptomycin as initial treatment (OR 4.50 [95% CI 1.29-15.61], P = 0.018). Mortality rate was higher in the p-EB group (32% vs. 18%). Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that patients with p-EB were less likely to survive at 30 days from index BCs (log-rank P = 0.002). Using a Cox regression model, independent predictors of 30-day mortality were hematologic malignancy (HR 2.30 [95% CI 1.02-4.11], P = 0.043), p-EB (HR 1.93 [95% CI 0.92-4.04], P = 0.08), and septic shock (HR 5.92 [95% CI 2.17-16.30], P = 0.001).Conclusion: P-EB was diagnosed mainly in very fragile patients and in those receiving daptomycin as frontline therapy. P-EB may have an impact on mortality.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
- …