The prevalence of high dysplastic colonic adenomatous polyps in a 3 year endoscopic retrospective study from a single clinical center

Introduction: Many colon neoplastic tumors come from the malignancy of adenomatous polyps (70%-90%) that were not timely diagnosed in order to be resected. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study regarding the incidence of adenomatous polyps during 1.000 consecutive colonoscopies performed in our Upper and Lower Digestive Endoscopy Laboratory during a three-year period. Results: During these colonoscopies, some targeted polyps were biopsied or completely removed and the samples had been sent to a complete anatomopathological examination. Taking into consideration the results, the polyps were classified after the histological type and the form of dysplasia, in order to determine the polyp forms that present a high risk of malignancy. Conclusion: Given the rather high frequency of malignant polyps discovered during our study, we highly recommend colonoscopy as a method of choice for routine monitoring of selected cases

The Post-secular Debate: Introductory Remarks

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in European Legacy on 03/02/2015, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10848770.2015.100692

Economics, Politics, and the International Principles for Sound Compensation Practices: An Analysis of Executive Pay at European banks

In this Article, we submit that the compensation structures at banks before the financial crisis were not necessarily flawed and that recent reforms in this area largely reflect already existing best practices. In Part I we review recent empirical studies on corporate governance and executive pay at banks and suggest that there is no strong support for regulating bankers\u27 compensation structures. We also argue that detailed regulation of incentives would subtract essential decisionmaking powers from boards of directors and make compensation structures too rigid. In Part II we note that political support for regulating bankers\u27 pay has been strong and led to reforms promoting long- term incentives to executives on the assumption that short-term incentives were a cause of the crisis. The Financial Stability Board Principles for Sound Compensation Practices (the Principles\u27) follow this trend, at the same time representing a political compromise between the various interest groups concerned. They pick up traditional compensation criteria from pre-crisis best practices, adapting them to the post-crisis setting, while leaving some flexibility in pay structures. We suggest that a certain degree of flexibility should be kept when implementing the Principles in national jurisdictions. In Part III we analyze the regulatory developments concerning executive pay at banks in Europe and find variations in the implementation of the Principles. We also show that remuneration policies at large European banks are converging toward the international Principles, while varying in the implementation of individual standards. However, recent EU reforms may change the situation considerably by imposing detailed requirements as to pay structures in the financial sector. The analysis in Parts I, II, and III speaks directly to this issue by explaining why historic baselines will prove effective in certain applications but decidedly problematic in others

The Glove3:a new device for measurement of vital signs

Heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, oxygen saturation, and blood pressure are the main vital signs of the human body [1]. Monitoring of these parameters can provide information about the general health status of patients. In general, each vital parameter is measured with a different device. In this paper we present the details of a preclinical prototype for measurement of heart and respiratory rate plus oxygen saturation. This device is embedded in a glove that has an optical sensor to record the photopletysmographic (PPG) signal from the patient. The optical module situated on the palmar side of the glove uses a reflection mode pulse oximeter at 25 degrees incidence. Further, the PPG signal is recorded and transmitted wirelessly by a Shimmer sensor node situated on the dorsal side of the glove. On the same side a solar cell is located which is used to charge the battery of the glove system. The PPG signals are received by a laptop and processed in real time to extract the vital signs. To measure the vital signs, the nurse or the doctor simply touches the patient skin while using the glove. We evaluated the glove on 10 healthy volunteers. The respiratory and heart rate errors were under 4 breaths respective beats per minute when compared with reference. This device can be used in rural areas by doctors to evaluate the general health status of patients. In addition, the glove can communicate with smart phones where databases can be generated

Buckling Mode Interaction in Cold-formed Steel Columns and Beams

The buckling behaviour of cold-formed steel columns and beams is far from simple. The three generic forms of buckling, namely local buckling, distortional buckling and overall buckling, generally have different wavelengths and are usually restricted to different span ranges. However, there is also the possibility of interaction among these buckling modes at a certain span length. Thus, local plate buckling and distortional buckling may occur together with lateral-torsional buckling in such a way that they all have an influence on the ultimate load carrying capacity of a member. The influence of local buckling is taken into consideration in design codes by using either an effective width or an effective thickness for the plate element under consideration. However, the consideration of distortional buckling is less-well developed in the codes and the effect of its interaction with other buckling modes is far from clear. Another factor which influences the ultimate load carrying capacity of a thin-walled section is the interaction of compression force and bending moment. In current design codes, this is usually limited by a certain allowable stress in the extreme fibres of the cross-section. For a stocky member which is not subject to buckling, this is a reasonable assumption. However, for potentially unstable members, the behaviour is complicated and, in most cases, the test results are scattered high above the predictions given by the design codes. Generalised Beam Theory (GBT) [1-3] can provide explicit analytical expressions for the problems associated with the various interactions of the alternative buckling modes and also the interactions associated with combinations of axial load and bending. This paper, therefore, makes particular use of GBT in assessing the influence of local buckling and distortional buckling on lateral-torsional buckling and the interaction of compression force and bending moment. Based on analyses using GBT together with comparisons with available test results, conclusions are presented which the authors hope will be of benefit for future design codes

Further insights on predictors of environmental tobacco smoke exposure during the pediatric age

Background: The smoking ban in public places has reduced Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) exposure for non-smokers, but despite this, domestic environments still remain places at high risk of exposure, and, today, about 40% of children worldwide are exposed to ETS at home. The aims of the study are to investigate the contribution of several factors on ETS exposure among a group of Italian children and to evaluate the changes in smoking precautions adopted at home when the smoker is the mother, the father, or both parents, respectively. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on a sample of 519 Italian schoolchildren. Information was collected via a questionnaire. Results: 41.4% of the participants lived with at least one smoker. Almost half of the children exposed to ETS lived with one or more smokers who do not observe any home smoking ban. Lower maternal or paternal educational levels significantly increase the risk of ETS exposure at home and the “worst case” is represented by both parents who smoke. Conclusions: More effective preventive interventions are needed to protect children from ETS exposure. Some interventions should be specifically dedicated to smokers with a low educational level and to mothers that smoke