Correlation between morphologic carotid plaque findings based on color-Doppler and CT multidetector angiography with intraopertive findings in carotid artery stenosis

Bacground/Aim. Vast majority of patients with corotid artery sclerosis do not have transitory ischemic attacks (TIA) as working to the persistent silent disease, but stroke is the first sign. Precise and early diagnosis of the carotid artery disease and plaques are very important. The aim of this study was to determine how the composition / identity of diagnostic methods, color-Doppler, ultrasonography (US) CT multidetector angio (MDCTA) scan and intraoperative (IO) findings, as well as the morphology of plaques in patients with haemodynamic significant stenosis of the internal carotid artery. Methods. Carotid plaques were observed by two diagnostic methods, US and MDCTA, and these findings were correlated with the IO findings. Results. In 62 patients both carotid artheries were examined and 83 plaques were observed. There were 68 surgical interventions. The structure of plaques was divided into four types: lipid, fibrous, fibrocalcified and calcified plaque. US showed: lipid plaques 10.8%; fibrous 1.2%; fibrocalcified 44.6% and calcified 43.4%, and the MDCTA lipid plaques 8.4%; fibrocalcified 48.2% and calcified 43.4%. Intraoperative findings were: lipid plaques 10.3%; fibrocalcified 41.2% and calcified 48.5%. A statistically highly significant agreement between the US and MDCTA in the diagnosis of plaque morphology was obtained (Cramer's V = 0.919, p < 0.01; Lambda = 0.921, p < 0.01) and also statistically significant agreement between US and IO findings (Cramer' s V = 0.831, p < 0.01; Lambda = 0.859, p < 0.01). A statistically highly significant agreement between MDCTA and IO findings in plaque morphology was found, as well (Cramer's V = 0.815, p < 0.01; Lambda = 0.829, p < 0.01). Conclusion. There is statistically highly significant correlation between US and MDCTA diagnostic methods in the evaluation of plaque morphology in surgically significant stenosis of internal carotid artery as well as their agreement with the intraoperative finding

Analysis of Human Exhaled Breath in a Population of Young Volunteers

Analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in human breath can provide information about the current physiological state of an individual, such as clinical conditions and exposure to exogenous pollutants. The blood-borne VOCs present in exhaled breath offer the possibility of exploring physiological and pathological processes in a noninvasive way. However, the field of exhaled breath analysis is still in its infancy. We undertook this study in order to define inter-individual variation and common compounds in breath VOCs of 48 young human volunteers. Alveolar breath samples were analyzed by automated thermal desorption, gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (FID) and electron capture detector (ECD) using SUPELCO standards with 66 compounds. Predominant compounds in the alveolar breath of analyzed subjects are ethylbenzene, 1-ethyl-4-methylbenzene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (over 50% of the subjects). Isopropyl alcohol, propylene, acetone, ethanol were found as well. We detected substituted compounds in exhaled breath

Carnal encounters and producing socialist Yugoslavia: voluntary youth labour actions on the newsreel screen

This article explores the role that the newsreel genre played in the production of socialist Yugoslav territory, understood as reshaping the body of the socius. We analyse news reports concerning voluntary youth labour actions, which were one of the most important features of Yugoslav socialist society and which featured heavily in Yugoslav official newsreels. We argue that the newsreel provided a specific liminal space in between the ‘real’/non-cinematic and ‘screened’/cinematic experience, where we locate occurrences of carnal encounters between the body on the cinematic screen and the body of the audience. In this regard, we discuss two characteristic types of frame which were present in the newsreel reports on labour actions: the somatic frame and the machinic-labour frame

Understanding trends in lithium binding at two-dimensional materials

Layered structure and peculiar electronic properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials foster the concept of utilizing them as main components of lithium-ion batteries. Understanding basic physical mechanisms governing the interaction of Li with 2D crystals is of key importance to succeeding in a rational design of cathode and anode materials with superior functionalities. In this study density functional theory was applied to reveal the microscopic picture of Li interaction with 15 2D crystals, including several transition metal oxides and dichalcogenides, carbides of Group XIV elements, functionalized graphene, silicene, and germanene, as well as black phosphorus and Ti2C MXene. We found that the general trend in Li binding can be estimated from positions of conduction band minima of 2D materials, since the energy of the lowest empty electronic states shows a nice correlation with the strength of Li adsorption. At variance to the majority of studied surfaces where the electron transferred from Li is spread across the substrate, in monolayers of carbides of Group XIV elements the interaction with Li and the charge transfer are well localized. This gives rise to their capability to accommodate Li structures with a nearly constant binding energy of alkaline atoms over Li coverages ranging from well-separated adatoms to a full monolayer. © 2018 American Physical Society

Crystal growth of la(2)srb(10)o(19)from undercooled melt

The crystal growth rate of La(2)SrB(10)O(19)in an undercooled melt of stoichiometric composition was studied. The crystallization of the bulk samples was performed in a single-stage regime under isothermal conditions at the selected temperatures for the different time periods. The surface crystallization was observed and in all crystallized samples, the La(2)SrB(10)O(19)crystalline phase was identified. Based on the dependence of the crystalline layer thickness on treatment time at selected temperature, crystal growth rate was obtained. The crystal growth rates were from 1.65 x 10(-8)to 2.77 x 10(-7)m s(-1)in the temperature interval (700-780 degrees C). The experimental values were compared to the calculated values using theoretical model of the crystal growth. The experimental growth rate followed the same trend as the calculated growth rate, but the experimental values were higher than the calculated