Normal distal pulmonary vein anatomy

Background. It is well known that the pulmonary veins (PVs), especially their myocardial sleeves play a critical role in the initiation and maintenance of atrial fibrillation. Understanding the PV anatomy is crucial for the safety and efficacy of all procedures performed on PVs. The aim of this study was to present normal distal PV anatomy and to create a juxtaposition of all PV ostium variants.Methods. A total of 130 randomly selected autopsied adult human hearts (Caucasian) were examined. The number of PVs ostia was evaluated and their diameter was measured. The ostium-to-last-tributary distance and macroscopic presence of myocardial sleeves were also evaluated.Results. Five hundred forty-one PV ostia were identified. Four classical PV ostia patterns (two left and two right PVs) were observed in 70.8% of all cases. The most common variant was the classical pattern with additional middle right PV (19.2%), followed by the common ostium for the left superior and the inferior PVs (4.44%). Mean diameters of PV ostia (for the classical pattern) were: left superior = 13.8 ± 2.9 mm; left inferior = 13.3 ± 3.4 mm; right superior = 14.3 ± 2.9 mm; right inferior = 13.7 ± 3.3 mm. When present, the additional middle right PV ostium had the smallest PV ostium diameter in the heart (8.2 ± 4.1 mm). The mean ostium-to-last-tributary (closest to the atrium) distances were: left superior = 15.1 ± 4.6 mm; left inferior = 13.5 ± 4.0 mm; right superior = 11.8 ± 4.0 mm; right inferior = 11.0 ± 3.7 mm. There were no statistically significant differences between sexes in ostia diameters and ostium-to-last-tributary distances.Conclusion. Only 71% of the cases have four standard pulmonary veins. The middle right pulmonary vein is present in almost 20% of patients. Presented data can provide useful information for the clinicians during interventional procedures or radiologic examinations of PVs

To Activate the University Leaving Venture

At present, as the initiator to replay Japanese economy, expectations are moved by the venture activity. The university leaving venture which utilizes the research results in the university for the venture activity is remarkable. In this paper, the 1st, I examine the meanings of the university leaving venture. The 2nd, I consider the measure to promote the university leaving venture, and moreover I consider about its relating of the industry-university cooperation. As a result, I made following measures to the university leaving venture clear. The 1st is to add the evaluation index as it contributes to the utilization in the industrial world to the achievement evaluation by the researcher in the university. The 2nd is to introduce the viewpoint in the market to evaluate the research results in the university properly. The 3rd is the aggressive utilization of the outside network about the university leaving venture. The 4th is to bring the success case of the university leaving venture

Anthropometry and body composition of adolescents in Cracow, Poland

The aim of the present study was to determine the level of adiposity and obesity in Polish adolescents and compare the results with earlier studies conducted in this population as well as those carried out in other populations.The study group consisted of 456 boys and 514 girls aged 14-18 years living in Cracow chosen from randomly selected secondary schools. Weight, height, waist, and hip circumference (WC, HC) as well as triceps, biceps, subscapular, and suprailiac skinfold thickness (SFT) were measured. Body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), subscapular/triceps skinfold ratio (STR), and percentage body fat were computed. The prevalence of overweight and obesity based on Polish children growth reference were calculated and age-dependent and gender-specific smoothed percentile curves for BMI and ROC curves were generated.Weight, height, WC, HC (up 16yr), WHtR (up 15yr), and WHR were considerably higher in males than females. Weight, height, and HC increased with age; WHtR remained the same. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 10.2% (boys 10.3%; girls 10.1%) and 4.2% (boys 5.3%; girls 3.3%). ROC analysis revealed that WHtR was the best tool for detection of obesity (AUC of 0.982±0.007) in males, whereas the sum of four SFTs (AUC: 0.968±0.011) and WHtR (AUC: 0.963±0.012) were the best predictors of obesity in females.The level of adiposity in Cracow adolescents increased during the last decade. However, it is still lower than in other well-developed societies struggling with obesity epidemics

Formy aktywizacji mieszkańców domów pomocy społecznej

Aktywność to synonim życia stały i dopasowany do możliwości danej osoby wysiłek. Jest on warunkiem prawidłowego rozwoju, umożliwia prowadzenie twórczego i harmonijnego życia, stanowi podstawę leczenia wielu chorób, opóźnia procesy starzenia się. Celem pracy jest ukazanie istniejących form aktywności w domach pomocy społecznej na przykładzie mieszkańców Domu Pomocy Społecznej w Kozuli. Materiał empiryczny zgromadzono w 2013 roku przy pomocy autorskiego kwestionariusza wywiadu. Domy pomocy społecznej są nie tylko miejscem zapewnienia opieki, ale także substytutem utraconego domu rodzinnego. Ponadto zaspokajana jest w nich potrzeba aktywności mieszkańców w zakresie aktywności prostej (poprzez pracę, czynności samoobsługi) jak i twórczej. Na podstawie przeprowadzonych badań oraz przestudiowanej literatury o tematyce procesu starzenia się sformułowano następujące wnioski. Główne formy aktywności pensjonariuszy Domów Pomocy Społecznej to: czynności samoobsługowe (zabiegi higieniczne, pranie, sprzątanie); aktywność fizyczna (spacery, praca w ogródku); zabiegi leczniczo-rehabilitacyjne; terapia zajęciowa; rekreacja (zabawy, ogniska, wieczorki, wycieczki); oraz odpoczynek bierny (oglądanie telewizji). Mężczyźni najchętniej z zajęć terapeutycznych wybierają zajęcia rehabilitacyjne, a kobiety tkactwo (gobeliny i krosna). Ulubioną formą spędzania czasu wolnego przez kobiety jest oddawanie się modlitwie i odpoczynek bierny, gdy mężczyźni w tym czasie oddają się najczęściej tylko odpoczynkowi biernem

Influence of different fixation protocols on the preservation and dimensions of cardiac tissue

Recent extensive progress in invasive cardiac procedures has triggered a wave of dozens of heart morphometric anatomical studies that are carried out largely using autopsied samples fixed in formaldehyde solution prior to observations and measurements. In reality, very little is known about changes in heart tissue dimensions during fixation. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate how fixation affects the dimensions of cardiac tissue, and if different types and concentrations of reagents affect this phenomenon. A total of 40 pig heart samples were investigated, and seven different measuring sites were permanently marked in every heart prior to fixation. Four study groups (n = 10 each) were assembled that differed only in concentration and the type of fixative: (i) 2% formaldehyde solution; (ii) 4% formaldehyde solution (formalin); (iii) 10% formaldehyde solution; (iv) alcoholic formalin. The samples were measured before and after fixation at the following time points: 24 h, 72 h and 168 h. It was found that different fixatives significantly affected different parameters. Almost all of the heart dimensions that were measured stabilized after 24 h; later changes were statistically insignificant in the point‐to‐point comparison. Change in the length of the interatrial septum surface was not altered significantly in any of the fixatives after 24 h of preservation. It was found that 10% formaldehyde increased the thickness of muscular tissue only after 24 h; this thickening was reduced after 72 h and was insignificant at 168 h. Other heart parameters in this group do not present significant changes over the entire fixation time duration. In conclusion, the 10% formaldehyde phosphate‐buffered solution appeared to be the best fixative among the fixatives that were studied for cardiac morphometric purposes; this solution caused the smallest changes in tissue dimensions. Measurements should be obtained at least after 1 week of preservation when most parameters exhibit the smallest changes compared with the non‐preserved samples