Percutaneous transhepatic biliojejunal rendezvous technique for biliary obstruction with Billroth II anatomy

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Technology options for earthquake resistant, eco-efficient buildings in Europe: Research needs

The built environment corresponds to the largest industrial sector not only in economic terms, but also in terms of resource flow. Moreover, European citizens spend most of their lives inside buildings, therefore buildings turn out to be at the centre of social and economic activity. In that light, Europe is involved in several initiatives and strategies aimed to make this sector one of the most competitive and innovative, focusing on the achievement of the environmental and energy targets in line with 2020 Europe Strategy and EU 2050 Roadmap, but also ensuring safety both in ordinary conditions and in presence of exceptional events, such as earthquakes. While new buildings can be constructed with high performance levels, the older buildings which are predominantly characterized by low energy performance and seismic vulnerability, typically need renovation measures. This report has the aim to define the research needs for exploiting old buildings potential to deliver energy and CO2-emission savings, as well as societal and economic benefits, so that energy efficient and earthquake resistant buildings can have a pivotal role in a sustainable future. In the first part of the report, a detailed analysis of the main characteristics of European buildings in terms of age, size, ownership, location, structural typology is presented in order to define the predominant typology of the European existing building stock. Secondly, the seismic hazard in Europe and the earthquake vulnerability of European buildings are analysed. Finally, energy consumptions and environmental impacts in terms of use of resources, construction and demolition (C&D) wastes and CO2 emissions are described. The analysis of the present situation turns out to be essential in order to define the starting point to assess the current and new technology options, examined in the second part of the report and necessary to obtain eco-efficient and seismic resistant buildings. In addition, the benefits that a renovation project could bring against a demolition and reconstruction programme have been underlined. Once these inputs have been defined, the requalification needs and the importance to improve renovation strategies, considered as outputs of the analysis, are examined for each of the two above-mentioned parts of this study. Finally, a critical discussion on the importance of considering research needs for this topic, with a focus on barriers and challenges which a renovation programme has to face, has been carried out.JRC.G.5-European laboratory for structural assessmen

El rol de la regulación responsiva en el procedimiento administrativo sancionador en gobiernos locales, Lima, 2020

La regulación responsiva es un enfoque moderno en la forma de crear normas legales adecuándose a las condiciones de la población donde la norma será aplicada, en tal razón, el objetivo principal de esta investigación fue determinar cuál es el rol de la regulación responsiva en el procedimiento administrativo sancionador en los gobiernos locales, es así que se propuso el supuesto de que sería una forma de fortalecer las normativas municipales y así exhortar a los ciudadanos al cumplimiento de la disposiciones. La forma de responder al objetivo trazado se realizó mediante las consignas del método científico, precisamente de las del enfoque cualitativo; con un tipo de investigación básica al momento de realizar el estudio, contando con un nivel descriptivo y el diseño de teoría fundamentada. Asimismo, las técnicas empleadas en la recolección de información fueron la entrevista y el análisis documental. Se concluyó que la regulación responsiva es un enfoque que esta direccionado al cumplimiento normativo y a la reducción en el inicio de procedimientos administrativos sancionadores, partiendo de que en ella se emplean medios exhortativos, los cuales buscan lograr la eficacia de la norma. Sin embargo, queda pendiente establecer los aspectos de gestión para su implementación

Synthesis and characterization of trans-di-(4-pyridyl)porphyrin dimers

Preparation and characterization of a small library of symmetric trans-di(4-pyridyl) porphyrin dimers, obtained by either Glaser\u2013Hay or Sonogashira coupling reactions from appropriately prepared trans-di-4-pyridylporphyrin precursors, is presented. The porphyrin dimers are differentiated by a phenyl-alkynyl bridge of increasing length at one meso-position, while for all the derivatives the two remaining opposite meso-positions are tailored with a phenyl moiety bearing a short polyether chain. Coordination of the four pyridyl groups with appropriate metal fragments may be exploited to construct tubular hollow structures, with varied internal sizes, depending on the choice of the porphyrin dimer component

Global SOLPS-ITER and ERO2.0 coupling in a linear device for the study of plasma-wall interaction in helium plasma

Plasma–wall interaction (PWI) is a great challenge in the development of a nuclear fusion power plant. To investigate phenomena like erosion of plasma-facing components, impurity transport and redeposition, one needs reliable numerical tools for the description of both the plasma and the material evolution. The development of such tools is essential to guide the design and interpretation of experiments in present and future fusion devices. This contribution presents the first global simulation of PWI processes in a linear plasma device mimicking the boundary plasma conditions in toroidal ones, including both the description of plasma and impurity transport and of plasma-facing material evolution. This integrated description is obtained by coupling two of the state-of-the-art numerical codes employed to model the plasma boundary and the PWI, namely SOLPS-ITER and ERO2.0. Investigation of helium plasma is also of primary importance due to the role helium will have during ITER pre-fusion power operation, when it is planned to be used as one of the main plasma species, as well as fusion ash in full power operation. The plasma background is simulated by SOLPS-ITER and the set of atomic reactions for helium plasmas is updated, including charge-exchange and radiative heat losses. ERO2.0 is used to assess the surface erosion in the GyM vessel, using different wall materials (e.g. carbon, iron or tungsten) and applying different biasing voltage. Eroded particles are followed within the plasma to assess their redeposition location. The ionization probability of the different materials in the GyM plasma is inferred through the energy distribution of impacting particles and its effects on migration are investigated

Using a fixed-wing UAS to map snow depth distribution: An evaluation at peak accumulation

We investigate snow depth distribution at peak accumulation over a small Alpine area ( 3c0.3 km 2 ) using photogrammetry-based surveys with a fixed-wing unmanned aerial system (UAS). These devices are growing in popularity as inexpensive alternatives to existing techniques within the field of remote sensing, but the assessment of their performance in Alpine areas to map snow depth distribution is still an open issue. Moreover, several existing attempts to map snow depth using UASs have used multi-rotor systems, since they guarantee higher stability than fixed-wing systems. We designed two field campaigns: during the first survey, performed at the beginning of the accumulation season, the digital elevation model of the ground was obtained. A second survey, at peak accumulation, enabled us to estimate the snow depth distribution as a difference with respect to the previous aerial survey. Moreover, the spatial integration of UAS snow depth measurements enabled us to estimate the snow volume accumulated over the area. On the same day, we collected 12 probe measurements of snow depth at random positions within the case study to perform a preliminary evaluation of UAS-based snow depth. Results reveal that UAS estimations of point snow depth present an average difference with reference to manual measurements equal to -0.073 m and a RMSE equal to 0.14 m. We have also explored how some basic snow depth statistics (e.g., mean, standard deviation, minima and maxima) change with sampling resolution (from 5 cm up to 3c100 m): for this case study, snow depth standard deviation (hence coefficient of variation) increases with decreasing cell size, but it stabilizes for resolutions smaller than 1 m. This provides a possible indication of sampling resolution in similar conditions

Measuring the snowpack depth with Unmanned Aerial System photogrammetry: comparison with manual probing and a 3D laser scanning over a sample plot

Photogrammetric surveys using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) may represent an alternative to existing methods for measuring the distribution of snow, but additional efforts are still needed to establish this technique as a low-cost, yet precise tool. Importantly, existing works have mainly used sparse evaluation datasets that limit the insight into UAS performance at high spatial resolutions. Here, we compare a UAS-based photogrammetric map of snow depth with data acquired with a MultiStation and with manual probing over a sample plot. The relatively high density of manual data (135\u2009pt over 6700\u2009m2, i.e., 2\u2009pt/100\u2009m2) enables to assess the performance of UAS in capturing the marked spatial variability of snow. The use of a MultiStation, which exploits a scanning principle, also enables to compare UAS data on snow with a frequently used instrument in high-resolution applications. Results show that the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between UAS and MultiStation data on snow is equal to 0.036\u2009m when comparing the two point clouds. A large fraction of this difference may be, however, due to spurious differences between datasets due to simultaneous snowmelt, as the RMSE on bare soil is equal to 0.02\u2009m. When comparing UAS data with manual probing, the RMSE is equal to 0.31\u2009m, whereas the median difference is equal to 0.12\u2009m. The statistics significantly decrease up to RMSE\u2009=\u20090.17\u2009m when excluding areas of likely water accumulation in snow and ice layers. These results suggest that UAS represent a competitive choice among existing techniques for high-precision, high-resolution remote sensing of snow

Inhibition of N-linked glycosylation impairs ALK phosphorylation and disrupts pro-survival signaling in neuroblastoma cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) is an orphan receptor tyrosine kinase, which undergoes post-translational N-linked glycosylation. The catalytic domain of ALK was originally identified in the t(2;5) translocation that produces the unglycosylated oncogenic protein NPM-ALK, which occurs in Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL). Recently, both germline and somatic activating missense mutations of ALK have been identified in neuroblastoma (NB), a pediatric cancer arising from neural crest cells. Moreover, we previously reported that ALK expression is significantly upregulated in advanced/metastatic NB. We hypothesized that ALK function may depend on N-linked glycosylation and that disruption of this post-translational modification would impair ALK activation, regardless the presence of either gene mutations or overexpression.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We employed tunicamycin to inhibit N-linked glycosylation. The following ALK-positive NB cell lines were used: SH-SY5Y and KELLY (ALK mutation F1174L), UKF-NB3 (ALK mutation R1275Q) and NB1 (ALK amplification). As a control, we used the NB cell lines LA1-5S and NB5 (no ALK expression), and the ALCL cell line SU-DHL1 (NPM-ALK).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Tunicamycin treatment of ALK-positive NB cells resulted in a hypoglycosylated ALK band and in decreased amounts of mature full size receptor. Concomitantly, we observed a marked reduction of mature ALK phosphorylation. On the contrary, tunicamycin had no effects on NPM-ALK phosphorylation in SU-DHL1 cells. Moreover, phosphorylation levels of ALK downstream effectors (AKT, ERK1/2, STAT3) were clearly impaired only in ALK mutated/amplified NB cell lines, whereas no significant reduction was observed in both ALK-negative and NPM-ALK-positive cell lines. Furthermore, inhibition of N-linked glycosylation considerably impaired cell viability only of ALK mutated/amplified NB cells. Finally, the cleavage of the Poly-ADP-ribose-polymerase (PARP) suggested that apoptotic pathways may be involved in cell death.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this study we showed that inhibition of N-linked glycosylation affects ALK phosphorylation and disrupts downstream pro-survival signaling, indicating that inhibition of this post-translational modification may be a promising therapeutic approach. However, as tunicamycin is not a likely candidate for clinical use other approaches to alter N-linked glycosylation need to be explored. Future studies will assess whether the efficacy in inhibiting ALK activity might be enhanced by the combination of ALK specific small molecule and N-linked glycosylation inhibitors.</p

Centimetric accuracy in snow depth using unmanned aerial system photogrammetry and a multistation

Performing two independent surveys in 2016 and 2017 over a flat sample plot (6700 m2), we compare snow-depth measurements from Unmanned-Aerial-System (UAS) photogrammetry and from a new high-resolution laser-scanning device (MultiStation) with manual probing, the standard technique used by operational services around the world. While previous comparisons already used laser scanners, we tested for the first time aMultiStation, which has a different measurement principle and is thus capable of millimetric accuracy. Both remote-sensing techniques measured point clouds with centimetric resolution, while we manually collected a relatively dense amount of manual data (135 pt in 2016 and 115 pt in 2017). UAS photogrammetry and the MultiStation showed repeatable, centimetric agreement in measuring the spatial distribution of seasonal, dense snowpack under optimal illumination and topographic conditions (maximum RMSE of 0.036 m between point clouds on snow). A large fraction of this difference could be due to simultaneous snowmelt, as the RMSE between UAS photogrammetry and the MultiStation on bare soil is equal to 0.02 m. The RMSE between UAS data and manual probing is in the order of 0.20-0.30 m, but decreases to 0.06-0.17 m when areas of potential outliers like vegetation or river beds are excluded. Compact and portable remote-sensing devices like UASs or aMultiStation can thus be successfully deployed during operational manual snow courses to capture spatial snapshots of snow-depth distribution with a repeatable, vertical centimetric accuracy