Advancements in Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy: Expanding the Feasibility of Nephron-Sparing

Partial nephrectomy (PN) offers equivalent oncologic outcomes to radical nephrectomy (RN) but has greater preservation of renal function and less risk of chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. Laparoscopic PN remains underutilized likely because it is a technically challenging operation with higher rates of perioperative complications compared to open PN and laparoscopic RN. A review of the latest PN literature demonstrates that recent advancements in laparoscopic approaches, imaging modalities, ischemic mitigating strategies, renorrhaphy techniques, and hemostatic agents will likely allow greater utilization of LPN and expand its usage to increasingly more complex tumors

Marcos legais e políticos da educação de surdos no Brasil

This text is based on Pietzak's Master dissertation (2023), developed in the Postgraduate Program in Education - Academic Master in Education - of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Santa Catarina - IFC Campus Camboriú, in the line of Educational Processes and Inclusion, which aimed to analyze in official documents and academic literature the education of deaf children in the early years of elementary education in a bilingual context and in school inclusion. To this end, it was necessary to describe the legal and political landmarks of deaf education in Brazil. In this paper, we emphasize chapter three of the dissertation which describes the legal and political landmarks of deaf education in Brazil, as we understand that these milestones are basic aspects in ensuring equality and equity in the educational process as a right for all, thus meeting the real needs of deaf students in their educational process.Este texto é embasado na dissertação de Mestrado de Pietzak (2023), desenvolvida no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação - Mestrado Acadêmico em Educação – do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Catarinense - IFC Campus Camboriú, na linha de Processos Educativos e Inclusão que objetivou analisar nos documentos oficiais e na literatura acadêmica a educação de crianças surdas nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental em contexto bilíngue e na inclusão escolar. Para tanto se fez necessário descrever os marcos legais e políticos da educação de surdos no Brasil. Neste artigo, damos ênfase ao capítulo três da referida dissertação que descreve os marcos legais e políticos da educação de surdos no Brasil, pois entendemos que estes marcos são aspectos basilares no asseguramento da igualdade e equidade do processo educativo enquanto direito de todos, atendendo assim as reais necessidades do estudante surdo em seu processo educacional

Prostate cancer family history and eligibility for active surveillance: a systematic review of the literature

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138281/1/bju13862.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138281/2/bju13862_am.pd

BILINGUISMO E INCLUSÃO ESCOLAR DOS ALUNOS SURDOS

A inclusão do aluno surdo é um tema ainda pouco discutido no contexto educacional, pois exige mudançade atitude, é um processo de transformação. Devido ao fato do aluno surdo não corresponder aos padrões de homogeneização, o seu processo ensino-aprendizagem é estigmatizado e inferiorizado. Tendo este artigo como tema o Bilinguismo e Inclusão escolar dos alunos surdos, elaborou-se como problemática de pesquisa: Como o bilinguismo pode contribuir na educação dos alunos surdos? O objetivo geral é compreender de que modo o bilinguismo pode contribuir na educação de surdos. Como objetivos específicos foram delimitados: analisar asimplicações da surdez no processo ensino-aprendizado; descrever a proposta de educação bilíngue no Brasil no contexto da surdez e comparar a proposta do bilinguismo com a inclusão escolar dos alunos surdos no contexto educacional vigente. A pesquisa do trabalho é de natureza básica, qualitativa, em relação aos objetivos é descritiva e os procedimentos técnicos bibliográficos. Foi possível constatar que, embora a inclusão avance enquanto processo que o é, ainda há muito a alcançar. Educação para todos ainda não é uma realidade no contexto educacional brasileiro. Enquanto os alunos surdos não tiverem suas singularidades linguísticas e culturais levada em conta, o sistema educacional estará fadado ao fracasso

Low temperature fullerene encapsulation in single wall carbon nanotubes: synthesis of N@C60_{60}@SWCNT

High filling of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) with C$_{60}$ and C$_{70}$ fullerenes in solvent is reported at temperatures as low as 69 $^{o}$C. A 2 hour long refluxing in n-hexane of the mixture of the fullerene and SWCNT results in a high yield of C$_{60}$,C$_{70}$@SWCNT, fullerene peapod, material. The peapod filling is characterized by TEM, Raman and electron energy loss spectroscopy and X-ray scattering. We applied the method to synthesize the temperature sensitive (N@C$_{60}$:C$_{60}$)@SWCNT as proved by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The solvent prepared peapod samples can be transformed to double walled nanotubes enabling a high yield and industrially scalable production of DWCNT

An approach for normalization and quality control for NanoString RNA expression data

The NanoString RNA counting assay for formalin-fixed paraffin embedded samples is unique in its sensitivity, technical reproducibility and robustness for analysis of clinical and archival samples. While commercial normalization methods are provided by NanoString, they are not optimal for all settings, particularly when samples exhibit strong technical or biological variation or where housekeeping genes have variable performance across the cohort. Here, we develop and evaluate a more comprehensive normalization procedure for NanoString data with steps for quality control, selection of housekeeping targets, normalization and iterative data visualization and biological validation. The approach was evaluated using a large cohort (N= 1649$) from the Carolina Breast Cancer Study, two cohorts of moderate sample size (N=359 and 130) and a small published dataset (N=12). The iterative process developed here eliminates technical variation (e.g. from different study phases or sites) more reliably than the three other methods, including NanoString's commercial package, without diminishing biological variation, especially in long-term longitudinal multiphase or multisite cohorts. We also find that probe sets validated for nCounter, such as the PAM50 gene signature, are impervious to batch issues. This work emphasizes that systematic quality control, normalization and visualization of NanoString nCounter data are an imperative component of study design that influences results in downstream analyses

Quantum cellular automata quantum computing with endohedral fullerenes

We present a scheme to perform universal quantum computation using global addressing techniques as applied to a physical system of endohedrally doped fullerenes. The system consists of an ABAB linear array of Group V endohedrally doped fullerenes. Each molecule spin site consists of a nuclear spin coupled via a Hyperfine interaction to an electron spin. The electron spin of each molecule is in a quartet ground state $S=3/2$. Neighboring molecular electron spins are coupled via a magnetic dipole interaction. We find that an all-electron construction of a quantum cellular automata is frustrated due to the degeneracy of the electronic transitions. However, we can construct a quantum celluar automata quantum computing architecture using these molecules by encoding the quantum information on the nuclear spins while using the electron spins as a local bus. We deduce the NMR and ESR pulses required to execute the basic cellular automata operation and obtain a rough figure of merit for the the number of gate operations per decoherence time. We find that this figure of merit compares well with other physical quantum computer proposals. We argue that the proposed architecture meets well the first four DiVincenzo criteria and we outline various routes towards meeting the fifth criteria: qubit readout.Comment: 16 pages, Latex, 5 figures, See http://planck.thphys.may.ie/QIPDDF/ submitted to Phys. Rev.

Mean platelet volume could be a promising biomarker to monitor dietary compliance in celiac disease

Background. Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disease that develops in patients with a genetic predisposition, incurring a susceptibility to gluten-containing foods such as barley, wheat, and rye. The elimination of gluten from the diet is the main therapeutic approach and usually leads to clinical and laboratory improvement. There are no ideal markers that objectively assess dietary compliance in CD patients. Materials and methods. Sixty newly diagnosed CD patients (male/female: 43/17) and 40 healthy subjects (male/female: 23/17) were enrolled in this study. The diagnosis of CD was established by both histological findings of duodenum biopsy (total villous atrophy and lymphocytic infiltration) and positive antibodies against endomysium or gliadin. Results. A significantly higher mean platelet volume (MPV) was observed in the CD group compared with healthy subjects (8.45 +/- 0.96 fL versus 7.93 +/- 0.63 fL; p = 0.004). After introduction of a gluten-free diet, the MPV of CD patients in the dietary adherent group was significantly lower than that of the non-adherent group (8.09 +/- 0.6 fL versus 8.9 +/- 1.08 fL; p = 0.001). Overall dietary adherence rate was 71.6% (43/60 CD patients). In the dietary compliant group, initiation of gluten-free diet was associated with a significant decrease in MPV from base-line values (8.56 fL versus 8.25 fL; p = 0.008). In the non-adherent group, MPV on 3-month follow-up was higher than at base-line (8.05 fL versus 8.91 fL; p = 0.001). Conclusion. MPV could be a promising and easily available biomarker for monitoring of dietary adherence in CD patients at a low cost in comparison with other modalities.WoSScopu

Air Exposure Induced Recombination in PTB7:PC₇₁BM Solar Cells

SAJT acknowledges studentship funding from EPSRC under grant number EP/G03673X/1. I. D. W. S. acknowledges support EPSRC (EP/L012294/1) and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. S. C. H. acknowledges funding from EPSRC under grant number EP/J500045/1. We also acknowledge support from the Wellcome Trust (099149) and from EPSRC (EP/F039034/1)Understanding degradation pathways in organic photovoltaic cells (OPV) is essential to achieve long term device stability and allow commercialisation. Upon exposure to an ambient atmosphere the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PTB7:PC71BM solar cells, cast using the solvent additive DIO, is markedly reduced. Using electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR) spectroscopy, trap sites, which are formed when the blend is exposed to air and DIO, are identified. Spin-Rabi oscillations reveal that the resonance arises from a weakly coupled pair of spin 1/2 species, while selective injection of charge carriers into the cell demonstrates that the spin-pair corresponds to recombination of electrons and holes. The recombination is assigned to holes on the PTB7 recombining with electrons localised to oxygen induced PC71BM trap sites.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Capsule Endoscopy: A Valuable Tool in the Follow-Up of People With Celiac Disease on a Gluten-Free Diet

OBJECTIVES: Traditional celiac disease guidelines recommend follow-up endoscopy and duodenal biopsies at 6–12 months after commencing a gluten-free diet (GFD). However, histology may remain abnormal even 1–2 years later. We evaluated the role of capsule endoscopy in patients with celiac disease after treatment with a GFD. METHODS: Twelve adult patients with newly diagnosed celiac disease were prospectively enrolled. All patients had baseline symptom assessment, celiac serology (tissue transglutaminase antibody, tTG), and capsule endoscopy. Twelve months after commencing a GFD, patients underwent repeat symptom assessment, celiac serology, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, and capsule endoscopy. RESULTS: At baseline, capsule endoscopy detected endoscopic markers of villous atrophy in the duodenum and extending to a variable distance along the small intestine. On the basis of small bowel transit time, the mean±s.e.m. percentage of small intestine with villous atrophy was 18.2±3.7%. After 12 months on a GFD, repeat capsule endoscopy demonstrated mucosal healing from a distal to proximal direction, and the percentage of small intestine with villous atrophy was significantly reduced to 3.4±1.2% (P¼0.0014) and this correlated with improvement in the symptom score (correlation 0.69, P¼0.01). There was a significant improvement in symptom score (5.2±1.0 vs. 1.7±0.4, P¼0.0012) and reduction in immunoglobulin A–tTG levels (81.5±10.6 vs. 17.5±8.2, P¼0.0005). However, 42% of subjects demonstrated persistent villous abnormality as assessed by duodenal histology. CONCLUSIONS: After 12 months on a GFD, patients with celiac disease demonstrate an improvement in symptoms, celiac serology, and the extent of disease as measured by capsule endoscopy. Mucosal healing occurs in a distal to proximal direction. The extent of mucosal healing correlates with improvement in symptoms. Duodenal histology does not reflect the healing that has occurred more distally.Ilmars Lidums, Edward Teo, John Field and Adrian G. Cummin