Scintigraphic Demonstration of Urine Extravasation Secondary to Acute Ureteral Obstruction: A Case Report and Some Considerations about Acute Ureteral Obstruction

Acute ureteral obstruction produces renal damage and complications that are proportional to the severity and length of the obstruction. Anatomic diagnosis of the obstruction may be insufficient to manage the patient. Intravenous urogram (IVU) is the method usually advised by radiologists to obtain functional information, but requires iodinated contrast agents. IVU anatomic information is superior to anatomic information obtained with renal scintigraphy, but normally the physician already has the anatomic information (unenhanced CT or ultrasound). A renal scan offers better physiologic information than the IVU, has neither adverse effects nor complications, is accurate to confirm or discard significant ureteral obstruction, and depicts obstruction complications. This paper presents a patient with spontaneous urine extravasation secondary to acute renal obstruction who is diagnosed with renal scintigraphy. The authors describe the scintigraphic signs of extraperitoneal, diffuse perinephric, urine extravasation and emphasize the role of renal scintigraphy in diagnosis and follow-up of renal colic

Towards a Semantic Gas Source Localization under Uncertainty

Towards a Semantic Gas Source Localization under Uncertainty.Communications in Computer and Information Science book series (CCIS, volume 855), doi:10.1007/978-3-319-91479-4_42This work addresses the problem of efficiently and coherently locating a gas source in a domestic environment with a mobile robot, meaning efficiently the coverage of the shortest distance as possible and coherently the consideration of different gas sources explaining the gas presence. The main contribution is the exploitation, for the first time, of semantic relationships between the gases detected and the objects present in the environment to face this challenging issue. Our proposal also takes into account both the uncertainty inherent in the gas classification and object recognition processes. These uncertainties are combined through a probabilistic Bayesian framework to provide a priority-ordered list of (previously observed) objects to check. Moreover the proximity of the different candidates to the current robot location is also considered by a cost function, which output is used for planning the robot inspection path. We have conducted an initial demonstration of the suitability of our gas source localization approach by simulating this task within domestic environments for a variable number of objects, and comparing it with an greedy approach.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Harvesting Thermal Fluctuations: Activation Process Induced by a Nonlinear Chain in Thermal Equilibrium

We present a model in which the immediate environment of a bistable system is a molecular chain which in turn is connected to a thermal environment of the Langevin form. The molecular chain consists of masses connected by harmonic or by anharmonic springs. The distribution, intensity, and mobility of thermal fluctuations in these chains is strongly dependent on the nature of the springs and leads to different transition dynamics for the activated process. Thus, all else (temperature, damping, coupling parameters between the chain and the bistable system) being the same, the hard chain may provide an environment described as diffusion-limited and more effective in the activation process, while the soft chain may provide an environment described as energy-limited and less effective. The importance of a detailed understanding of the thermal environment toward the understanding of the activation process itself is thus highlighted

Optimized Tip Cooling Using AM Process

This Final Design Review (FDR) reports on the senior design project undertaken by our team of mechanical engineering seniors at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. This project seeks to use the additive manufacturing process to improve the existing design of a Taurus 60 gas turbine injector tip. The current injector tip is owned by Solar Turbines, a designer and manufacturer of gas turbines for electric generation, propulsion, as well as natural resource transportation. The challenge at hand is to design a new injector tip that will be reliable for at least 60,000 hours and provide ease of replacement, whilst employing a cost-effective additive manufacturing process. Our Final Design Review (FDR) report will be divided into seven categories: compiled research findings, our understanding of the challenge, a design strategy outline, concept designs and design direction, current design iterations, manufacturing plan, design verification, and project management strategy. Furthermore, the Final Design Review will document the progress of design validation through a series of computational analyses. Current analytical results show that there is potential for our designs to meet specifications of the 1350 °F threshold and additive manufacturing compliance. Some details have been omitted for sponsor privacy

Fracture healing following high energy tibial trauma: Ilizarov versus Taylor Spatial Frame

Introduction: The optimal treatment of high energy tibial fractures remains controversial and a challenging orthopaedic problem. The role of external fi xators for all these tibial fractures has been shown to be crucial. Methods: A fi ve-year consecutive series was reviewed retrospectively, identifying two treatment groups: Ilizarov and Taylor Spatial Frame (TSF; Smith & Nephew, Memphis, TN, US). Fracture healing time was the primary outcome measure. Results: A total of 112 patients (85 Ilizarov, 37 TSF) were identifi ed for the review with a mean age of 45 years. This was higher in women (57 years) than in men (41 years). There was no signifi cant difference between frame types (p=0.83). The median healing time was 163 days in both groups. There was no signifi cant difference in healing time between smokers and non-smokers (180 vs 165 days respectively, p=0.07), open or closed fractures (p=0.13) or age and healing time (Spearman's r=0.12, p=0.18). There was no incidence of non-union or re-fracture following frame removal in either group. Conclusions: Despite the assumption of the rigid construct of the TSF, the median time to union was similar to that of the Ilizarov frame and the TSF therefore can play a signifi cant role in complex tibial fractures