Achieving Accurate Valve Deployment in Complex Anatomies

The Portico valve (Abbott) is a transcatheter, self-expanding, resheathable device with intra-annular positioning of the bovine leaflets, which has proven safety and performance in several studies.1,2 The major advantages of this device include its low profile and flexibility, making it easier to overcome potential challenges related to tortuous and calcified vessels, as well as horizontal aortic anatomy. The next-generation delivery system (FlexNav, Abbott) recently took its first step into the clinical arena, offering additional improvements in deliverability and accurate valve deployment in complex anatomies

Developing a support tool for global product development decisions

This paper investigates how global product development decisions are made through a multiple-case study in three Danish engineering. The paper identifies which information and methods are applied for making decisions and how decision-making can be supported based on previous experience. The paper presents results from 51 decisions made in the three companies, and based on the results of the studies a framework for a decision-support tool is outlined and discussed. The paper rounds off with an identification of future research opportunities in the area of global product development and decision-making

Montando o dragão na luta pela independência: cooperação sino-groenlandesa em projetos de grande escala no mar Ártico

The article examines the Chinese engagement in the Arctic, with specific focus on large-scale mineral and infrastructure projects in Greenland. Providing an important financial basis for potential Greenlandic independence, these projects also have significant environmental, geostrategic, and political reverberations. This leaves a complex geopolitical context in which Greenland will have to navigate interactions with China cautiously on its path to self-determination.   O artigo examina o envolvimento chinês no Ártico, com foco específico em projetos de infraestrutura e minerais em grande escala na Groenlândia. Fornecendo uma base financeira importante para a independência potencial da Groenlândia, esses projetos também têm repercussões ambientais, geoestratégicas e políticas significativas. Isso deixa um contexto geopolítico complexo no qual a Groenlândia terá que navegar com cautela nas interações com a China em seu caminho para a autodeterminação

Modern monoculture and periphery processes : a world systems analysis of the Brazilian soy expansion from 2000-2012

O artigo trata das implicações socioambientais e econômicas da expansão da produção de soja brasileira, durante o período entre 2000 e 2012. A perspectiva de análise de sistema mundo de Terence Hopkins e Immanuel Wallerstein (1982) é aplicada para avaliar em qual medida este desenvolvimento pode ser entendido como sendo característico do processo econômico de formação de periferia. Este arcabouço teórico é combinado com contribuições contemporâneas na literatura de Análise de Sistema Mundo que enfatizam assuntos ambientais e a natureza particular do agronegócio moderno, com a finalidade de entender as complexidades do atual setor de soja brasileiro. As dinâmicas de expansão produtiva e as suas diferentes implicações na sociedade são abordadas por meio de uma análise de cadeia de commodity da produção brasileira de soja. Uma estratégia de triangulação de dados é aplicada na análise, por meio de exame de documentos oficiais, pesquisas, entrevistas e material estatístico. O artigo conclui que enquanto algumas circunstâncias divergem das interpretações da perspectiva de Análise de Sistema Mundo, outros achados sugerem uma convergência entre a recente expansão da soja brasileira e as conceitualizações deste corpo teórico sobre periferia. A análise também aponta para a necessidade de reconsiderar o determinismo estrutural da perspectiva de Análise de Sistema Mundo, particularmente com relação ao possível potencial de agência política para confrontar os desafios associados com o desenvolvimento baseado em commodities.The article treats the broader socio-environmental and economic implications of the expansion in Brazilian soy production, during the period from 2000-2012. The World Systems Analysis (WSA) perspective of Terence Hopkins and Immanuel Wallerstein (1982) is applied in order to assess whether this development may be understood as characteristic of the economic processes of periphery formation. This theoretical framework is combined with contemporary contributions to the World Systems Analysis literature that emphasize environmental issues and the particular nature of modern agribusiness, in order to grasp the complexities of today´s Brazilian soy sector. The dynamics of production expansion and its different societal impacts are approached through a commodity chain analysis of the Brazilian soy production. A data triangulation strategy is applied within the analysis, through scrutiny of official documents, research papers, interviews and statistical material. The article concludes that while some circumstances diverge from the interpretations of the WSA perspective, other findings suggest a convergence between the recent Brazilian soy expansion and this theoretical body’s conceptualizations of global periphery. The analysis also points to the need to reconsider the structural determinism of the WSA perspective, particularly with regards to the possible potential of political agency to confront the challenges associated with commodity-based development

Pattern Dynamics of Vortex Ripples in Sand: Nonlinear Modeling and Experimental Validation

Vortex ripples in sand are studied experimentally in a one-dimensional setup with periodic boundary conditions. The nonlinear evolution, far from the onset of instability, is analyzed in the framework of a simple model developed for homogeneous patterns. The interaction function describing the mass transport between neighboring ripples is extracted from experimental runs using a recently proposed method for data analysis, and the predictions of the model are compared to the experiment. An analytic explanation of the wavelength selection mechanism in the model is provided, and the width of the stable band of ripples is measured.Comment: 4 page

Rational Management of Iron-Deficiency Anaemia in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Anaemia is the most frequent, though often neglected, comorbidity of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Here we want to briefly present (1) the burden of anaemia in IBD, (2) its pathophysiology, which mostly arises from bleeding-associated iron deficiency, followed by (3) diagnostic evaluation of anaemia, (4) a balanced overview of the different modes of iron replacement therapy, (5) evidence for their therapeutic efficacy and subsequently, (6) an updated recommendation for the practical management of anaemia in IBD. Following the introduction of various intravenous iron preparations over the last decade, questions persist about when to use these preparations as opposed to traditional and other novel oral iron therapeutic agents. At present, oral iron therapy is generally preferred for patients with quiescent IBD and mild iron-deficiency anaemia. However, in patients with flaring IBD that hampers intestinal iron absorption and in those with inadequate responses to or side effects with oral preparations, intravenous iron supplementation is the therapy of choice, although information on the efficacy of intravenous iron in patients with active IBD and anaemia is scare. Importantly, anaemia in IBD is often multifactorial and a careful diagnostic workup is mandatory for optimized treatment. Nevertheless, limited information is available on optimal therapeutic start and end points for treatment of anaemia. Of note, neither oral nor intravenous therapies seem to exacerbate the clinical course of IBD. However, additional prospective studies are still warranted to determine the optimal therapy in complex conditions such as IBD