Diagnostic telepathology: long-term experience of a single institution

Objectives: The paper reviews the development of the application of telepathology in a department of surgical pathology between 1991 and 2003. The goal of the efforts during this time was to give up the concept of programming a single application, available only between two fixed workstations with sophisticated devices and special software, and to find the virtual "largest common denominator” for implementing as many different applications as possible with the same basic system. Methods: A new telepathology system was designed as a client-server system with a relational database at its centre. The clients interact together by transferring the questions (texts and images) to a record (case) in the database on the server and by transferring the answers to the same record on the database. Results: The new "open” telepathology system iPath ( http://telepath.patho.unibas.ch ) has been very well accepted by many groups around the world. The main application fields are: consultations between pathologists and medical institutions without a pathologist (e.g. for frozen section diagnoses or for surgical diagnoses in hospitals in South Asia or Africa), tumour boards, field studies and distance education ( http://teleteach.patho.unibas.ch ). Conclusions: Having observed that with iPath we have succeeded in satisfying all our telepathology needs, we are inclined to put the emphasis on the nature of the tasks being performed, as opposed to the methods or technical means for performing a given task. The three organisation models proposed by Weinstein et al. (2001) [24] can be reduced to only two models: the model of discussion groups and the model of expert groups (virtual institutes

Spintronics: Fundamentals and applications

Spintronics, or spin electronics, involves the study of active control and manipulation of spin degrees of freedom in solid-state systems. This article reviews the current status of this subject, including both recent advances and well-established results. The primary focus is on the basic physical principles underlying the generation of carrier spin polarization, spin dynamics, and spin-polarized transport in semiconductors and metals. Spin transport differs from charge transport in that spin is a nonconserved quantity in solids due to spin-orbit and hyperfine coupling. The authors discuss in detail spin decoherence mechanisms in metals and semiconductors. Various theories of spin injection and spin-polarized transport are applied to hybrid structures relevant to spin-based devices and fundamental studies of materials properties. Experimental work is reviewed with the emphasis on projected applications, in which external electric and magnetic fields and illumination by light will be used to control spin and charge dynamics to create new functionalities not feasible or ineffective with conventional electronics.Comment: invited review, 36 figures, 900+ references; minor stylistic changes from the published versio

Regulatory assessment of in vitro skin corrosion and irritation data within the European framework: Workshop recommendations

Validated in vitro methods for skin corrosion and irritation were adopted by the OECD and by the European Union during the last decade. In the EU, Switzerland and countries adopting the EU legislation, these assays may allow the full replacement of animal testing for identifying and classifying compounds as skin corrosives, skin irritants, and non irritants. In order to develop harmonised recommendations on the use of in vitro data for regulatory assessment purposes within the European framework, a workshop was organized by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health together with ECVAM and the BfR. It comprised stakeholders from various European countries involved in the process from in vitro testing to the regulatory assessment of in vitro data. Discussions addressed the following questions: (1) the information requirements considered useful for regulatory assessment; (2) the applicability of in vitro skin corrosion data to assign the corrosive subcategories as implemented by the EU Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation; (3) the applicability of testing strategies for determining skin corrosion and irritation hazards; and (4) the applicability of the adopted in vitro assays to test mixtures, preparations and dilutions. Overall, a number of agreements and recommendations were achieved in order to clarify and facilitate the assessment and use of in vitro data from regulatory accepted methods, and ultimately help regulators and scientists facing with the new in vitro approaches to evaluate skin irritation and corrosion hazards and risks without animal data

Mechanisms of mass and heat transport during Barrovian metamorphism: A discussion based on field evidence from the Central Alps (Switzerland/northern Italy)

Tectonic and metamorphic data for the Central Alps (Switzerland/Italy) are used to discuss this classic example of a Barrovian metamorphic terrain, notably the evolution of its thermal structure in space and time.  Available P‐T‐t data indicate variable contributions of advective and conductive heat transport during collision and subsequent cooling and exhumation. Some areas experienced a prolonged period of partial melting while other areas, at the same time, show but moderate heating. The Barrow‐type metamorphic field gradient observed in the final orogen is the result of two distinct tectonic processes, with their related advective and conductive heat transport processes. The two tectonic processes are (1) accretion of material within a subduction channel related to decompression and emplacement of high‐pressure units in the middle crust and  (2) wedging and related nappe formation in the continental lower plate. The second process postdates the first one. Wedging and underthrusting of continental lower plate material produces heat input into lower crustal levels, and this process is responsible for predominantly conductive heat transport in the overlying units. The interacting processes lead to different maximum temperatures at different times, producing the final Barrovian metamorphic field gradient. The south experienced rapid cooling, whereas the north shows moderate cooling rates. This discrepancy principally reflects differences in the temperature distribution in the deeper crust prior to cooling. Differences in the local thermal gradient that prevailed before the cooling also determined the relationships between cooling rate and exhumation rate in the different areas