Complicated sternal dehiscence treated with the strasbourg thoracic osteosyntheses system (STRATOS) and the transposition of greater omentum: a case report

Sternal dehiscence is a serious complication after cardiac surgery. Sternal refixation, performed by simple rewiring or techniqual modification of rewiring as described by Robicsek, can fail, overall when the bone quality is poor or the sternum is completely destroyed. The sternal closure systems, consisting of plates, screws or rib clips and titanium bars, have been recently introduced to treat the complicated sternal dehiscence. We describe for the first time the use of the Strasbourg Thoracic Osteosyntheses System (STRATOS) and the greater omentum, to treat a complicated sternal dehiscence, causing chest pain and respiratory failure

Spin manipulation and spin-lattice interaction in magnetic colloidal quantum dots

We report on the spin-lattice interaction and coherent manipulation of electron spins in Mn-doped colloidal PbS quantum dots (QDs) by electron spin resonance. We show that the phase memory time,TM, is limited by Mn-Mn dipolar interactions, hyperfine interactions of the protons (H1) on the QD capping ligands with Mn ions in their proximity (<1 nm), and surface phonons originating from thermal fluctuations of the capping ligands. In the low Mn concentration limit and at low temperature, we achieve a long phase memory time constant TM�0.9μs, thus enabling the observation of Rabi oscillations. Our findings suggest routes to the rational design of magnetic colloidal QDs with phase memory times exceeding the current limits of relevance for the implementation of QDs as qubits in quantum information processing. © Published by the American Physical Society

Surface Sensing of Quantum Dots by Electron Spins

The nanoscale design of quantum dots (QDs) requires advanced analytical techniques. However, those that are commonly used do not have sufficient sensitivity or spatial resolution. Here, we use magnetic resonance techniques combined with paramagnetic Mn impurities in PbS QDs for sensitive probing of the QD surface and environment. In particular, we reveal inequivalent proton spin relaxations of the capping ligands and solvent molecules, strengths and anisotropies of the Mn nuclear spin interactions, and Mn nuclei distances with ∼1 Å sensitivity. These findings demonstrate the potential of magnetically doped QDs as sensitive magnetic nanoprobes and the use of electron spins for surface sensing

Developing Mn-doped lead sulfide quantum dots for MRI labels

Magnetic interactions of Mn2+ions in lead sulfide (PbS) nanocrystals with protons in water are probed by NMR and MRI. A thin layer of capping molecules enables free solvent diffusion to the nanocrystal surface resulting in a decrease of proton relaxation times. Magnetic resonance imaging of neuronal cell pellets exposed to (PbMn)S at non-toxic concentrations demonstrates their prospects as MRI-labels

Come funziona la banca

Il volume analizza i tratti essenziali della gestione di una banca ovvero le fasi costitutive, la raccolta e l’impiego dei mezzi finanziari e le funzioni peculiari di questa specifica categoria di azienda. Il libro è suddiviso in cinque capitoli con una metodologia che prevede, per ognuno, dapprima un approccio prevalentemente divulgativo supportato “ad hoc” da tavole illustrate e successivamente una sezione di approfondimenti scientifici, che con un linguaggio il più possibile chiaro e lineare, concorrono a rendere più rigorosa la trattazione. Obiettivo del volume è quello di introdurre i giovani alla comprensione dei fenomeni finanziari non trascurando nel contempo di dare risposte il più possibile comprensibili anche ai lettori più adulti privi di adeguate conoscenze dei principi gestionali di un’azienda bancaria

Two cases of right atrial myxoma in redo patients. A mere coincidence?

We describe two cases of right atrial myxoma in redo patients who had previously undergone to coronary artery by-pass grafting (CABGs) and mitral valve replacement respectively. Both of patients experienced effort dyspnea and were assessed by trans-thoracic echocardiography, revealing the right atrial masses. They were operated on for myxoma resection and postoperative course was uneventful. Our report deals with the interesting topic of the location of benign masses that are usually more common in the left atrium. Should we hypothesize that the right atrial manipulation during the previous surgery induces the onset of the right atrial mass? It is an interesting matter to debate

Additional applications of the Foley catheter in cardiac surgery

We describe an additional use of the Foley catheter for preoperative and postoperative evaluation of the regurgitant mitral valve

Transcutaneous insertion of the Chitwood® clamp in case of minimally invasive cardiac surgery. Personal experience

We describe a simple trick consisting of an insertion of a trans-thoracic Chitwood® clamp (Scanlan International, Inc, St Paul, MN, USA) through a small skin incision (<1cm), via the second intercostal space along the anterior axillary line, in case of minimally invasive mitral surgery, through right thoracotomy. This trick has been used in more than 100 patients and no complication or discomfort have been reported so far

IMECE2008-68774 EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENT OF THE SKI BOOT STIFFNESS IN SAGITTAL AND FRONTAL PLANES

ABSTRACT In the present paper a novel device and a post-processing procedure are proposed to evaluate the mechanical behavior of a ski boot stiffness. The originality of the methodology consists in the following elements: (1) the stiffness is evaluated not only in plantar/dorsi flexion direction, but also in inversion/eversion one; (2) the loads are applied automatically and along programmable paths; and (3) the stiffness is calculated as the full jacobian of the applied moments. The testing apparatus is a XY Cartesian robot equipped with two linear potentiometers, a 6-axes load cell and a cardanic/prismatic joint for resembling the behavior of the knee complex. The experiments consisted of a cyclic horizontal displacement applied to the knee, with a period of 1 s in variable directions, and the measurement of the consequent boot reaction force. The chosen directions of load were straight lines passing through the neutral position of the boot; the lines changed their angle in respect to the ski when three displacement cycles were completed. The range of variation of flexion and inversion angles were 7° and 5°, respectively. The device showed a high level of repeatability, in comparison with the level of accuracy typical for the biomechanical evaluations, that permitted estimation of the stiffness of the tested boot as a 3rd order polynomial. The results achieved could be useful for the estimation of the reaction forces corresponding to ankle joint angles measurable during the skiing