Biphasic pulses enhance bleomycin efficacy in a spontaneous canine genital tumor model of chemoresistance: Sticker sarcoma

Sticker's sarcoma (also known as transmissible venereal tumor) is a horizontally transmitted neoplasm of the dog, that is passed with coitus. It is a locally aggressive tumor with a low tendency to metastatic spread. The most common locations are the genitals, the nose, the perianal area. Standard treatment consists with chemotherapy with vincristine, however other therapies such as, cryotherapy, immunotherapy or, in selected cases, radiation therapy, have been reported. In this article we describe the outcome of a small cohort of canine patients, with chemotherapy resistant transmissible venereal tumor (TVT), treated with bleomycin selectively driven by trains of biphasic pulses (electrochemotherapy). Three canine patients, with refractory TVT, entered the study and received two sessions of ECT under sedation. The pets had local injection of bleomycin at the concentration of 1.5 mg/ml and five minutes after the chemotherapy, trains of 8 biphasic electric pulses lasting 50 + 50 μs each, with 1 ms interpulse intervals, were delivered by means of modified caliper or, for difficult districts, through paired needle electrode. All the patients responded to the treatment and are still in remission at different times. Electrochemotherapy appears as a safe and efficacious modality for the treatment of TVT and warrants further investigations

The Internal Discussions in the Belarusian Orthodox Church on Identity and Policy Issues : A Contemporary Perspective

Based on extensive fieldwork across Belarus, this article analyses an ongoing discussion within the Belarusian Orthodox Church (boc) regarding various issues that are key inassessing the country’s identity politics and politico-ideological developments. Since the independence of Belarus in 1991, the Church has continuously played an important public and societal function. A special agreement, signed between the Church and Belarusian Government in 2003, has fostered Church cooperation with various governmental institutions, including educational establishments. Discussing the contribution of the boc to the construction of a distinct Belarusian national identity, we will address the national language, relationships with the state, foreign policy orientation and the Church’s autocephaly. The empirical part of this study is based on seventeen in-depth interviews with clergymen and laypeople from the boc. Our study shows that Church representatives have not hesitated to develop their profound perspectives on the important issues of identity politics and the relationships of the boc and state, and these perspectives were often reflective of wider debates within Belarusian intellectual circles

Transthoracic Impedance Study with Large Self-adhesive Electrodes

The external electrical therapy of the heart requires the application of high voltage electrical pulses via large external electrodes, placed on selected locations on the thorax surface. The position of the electrodes is one of the major determinants of the transthoracic impedance (TTI), which influences the intracardiac current flow during electric shock and therefore affects the defibrillation success. The indefinite nature of the factors affecting TTI raised our interest in clinical study of the TTI behavior during long-term applications of the defibrillation pads in different positions on the patient's chest. The study involved 86 randomly selected patients (39 male and 49 female, age (20-83) years, height (150-190) cm, weight (50-110) kg, chest size (86-130) cm, 67 patients with normal skin, 13 patients with dry skin and 6 patients with greasy skin, 70 patients without and 16 patients with chest pilosity). TTI was measured by passing of a low-amplitude high-frequency (23 kHz) current between the two PADs (active area about 92 cm2). For each patient, the TTI was measured 10 s, 1 min and 5 min after sticking on the electrodes to the skin surface, separately for the two tested electrode positions - Position 1 (sub-clavicular/sub-axillar position) and Position 2 (antero-posterior position). TTI range is comparable for the two tested PAD positions - between 58 Ohm and 152 Ohm for Position 1 and between 55 Ohm and 149 Ohm for Position 2. TTI mean +/- SD value in Position 1 (107,2 +/- 22,3) Ohm is significantly higher than TTI in Position 2 (96,6 +/- 19,2) Ohm. Both the pilosity and the skin type do not change significantly the TTI value, however the patients with chest pilosity presented slightly higher TTI than those without pilosity. The TTI was higher for normal skin, followed by dry and greasy skin. TTI presented weak correlation with both the patient chest size and weight (r<0.5, p<0.05). The mean value of the TTI decreases in time. In time-interval (10s to 1min) after sticking on the electrodes, TTI drops with about (3,8 +/- 4,03) Ohm for Position 1 and (2,44 +/- 3,75) Ohm. for Position 2. The TTI drop (10s-5min) is (7,36 +/- 5,33) Ohm for Position 1 and (5,06 +/- 7,08) Ohm for Position 2

Assessment of the stability of morphological ECG features and their potential for person verification/identification

This study investigates the potential of a set of ECG morphological features for person verification/identification. The measurements are done over 145 pairs of ECG recordings from healthy subjects, acquired 5 years apart (T1, T2 = T1+5 years). Time, amplitude, area and slope descriptors of the QRS-T pattern are analysed in 4 ECG leads, forming quasi-orthogonal lead system (II&III, V1, V5). The correspondence between feature values in T1 and T2 is verified via factor analysis by principal components extraction method; correlation analysis applied over the measurements in T1 and T2; synthesis of regression equations for prediction of features’ values in T2 based on T1 measurements; and cluster analysis for assessment of the correspondence between measured and predicted feature values. Thus, 11 amplitude descriptors of the QRS complex are highlighted as stable, i.e. keeping their strong correlation (≥0.7) within a certain factor, weak correlation (<0.3) with the features from the remaining factors and presenting high correlation in the two measurement periods that is a sign for their person verification/identification potential. The observed coincidence between feature values measured in T2 and predicted via the designed regression models (r=0.93) suggests about the confidence of person identification via the proposed morphological features

Assessment of the stability of morphological ECG features and their potential for person verification/identification

This study investigates the potential of a set of ECG morphological features for person verification/identification. The measurements are done over 145 pairs of ECG recordings from healthy subjects, acquired 5 years apart (T1, T2 = T1+5 years). Time, amplitude, area and slope descriptors of the QRS-T pattern are analysed in 4 ECG leads, forming quasi-orthogonal lead system (II&III, V1, V5). The correspondence between feature values in T1 and T2 is verified via factor analysis by principal components extraction method; correlation analysis applied over the measurements in T1 and T2; synthesis of regression equations for prediction of features’ values in T2 based on T1 measurements; and cluster analysis for assessment of the correspondence between measured and predicted feature values. Thus, 11 amplitude descriptors of the QRS complex are highlighted as stable, i.e. keeping their strong correlation (≥0.7) within a certain factor, weak correlation (<0.3) with the features from the remaining factors and presenting high correlation in the two measurement periods that is a sign for their person verification/identification potential. The observed coincidence between feature values measured in T2 and predicted via the designed regression models (r=0.93) suggests about the confidence of person identification via the proposed morphological features