Crowdsourced knowledge catalyzes software development (Extended abstract)

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Four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy of phase transitions

Reported here is direct imaging (and diffraction) by using 4D ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM) with combined spatial and temporal resolutions. In the first phase of UEM, it was possible to obtain snapshot images by using timed, single-electron packets; each packet is free of space–charge effects. Here, we demonstrate the ability to obtain sequences of snapshots ("movies") with atomic-scale spatial resolution and ultrashort temporal resolution. Specifically, it is shown that ultrafast metal–insulator phase transitions can be studied with these achieved spatial and temporal resolutions. The diffraction (atomic scale) and images (nanometer scale) we obtained manifest the structural phase transition with its characteristic hysteresis, and the time scale involved (100 fs) is now studied by directly monitoring coordinates of the atoms themselves

Scattering of slow-light gap solitons with charges in a two-level medium

The Maxwell-Bloch system describes a quantum two-level medium interacting with a classical electromagnetic field by mediation of the the population density. This population density variation is a purely quantum effect which is actually at the very origin of nonlinearity. The resulting nonlinear coupling possesses particularly interesting consequences at the resonance (when the frequency of the excitation is close to the transition frequency of the two-level medium) as e.g. slow-light gap solitons that result from the nonlinear instability of the evanescent wave at the boundary. As nonlinearity couples the different polarizations of the electromagnetic field, the slow-light gap soliton is shown to experience effective scattering whith charges in the medium, allowing it for instance to be trapped or reflected. This scattering process is understood qualitatively as being governed by a nonlinear Schroedinger model in an external potential related to the charges (the electrostatic permanent background component of the field).Comment: RevTex, 14 pages with 5 figures, to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Theo

Retrosternal goiters

Clinica 1 Chirurgie, Clinica de Endocrinologie, Spitalul „Sf.Spiridon”, UMF ”Gr.T.Popa”, Iaşi, România, Al XII-lea Congres al Asociației Chirurgilor „Nicolae Anestiadi” din Republica Moldova cu participare internațională 23-25 septembrie 2015Introducere: Noțiunea de guşă retrosternală sau substernală reprezintă coborîrea a mai mult de 50% de glanda tiroidă în cavitatea toracică. Material şi metode: A fost efectuat un studiu retrospectiv a cazurilor de guşă retrosternală sau substernală din totalul de 2482 pacienți ce au suportat tiroidectomie în Clinica 1 Chirurgie din Iaşi în perioada 2000-2010. Guşa retrosternală a fost depistată la 54 (2,17%) pacienți. Toți bolnavii au fost îndreptați la operație din Clinica de Endocrinologie. Rezultate: Vîrsta medie a pacienților la momentul instalării diagnosticului a constituit 55,3±3,58 ani, majoritatea fiind femei – 83,3%. În manifestările clinice ale guşei retrosternale au dominat fenomenele de compresie. Dereglările funcției glandei tiroide au fost determinate prin teste hormonale efectuate în Clinica de Endocrinologie în 15 (27,7%) cazuri. Diagnoza de guşă retrosternală a fost suspectată în baza examenului clinic şi confirmată imagistic: radiografie toracică, ultrasonografie, computer tomografie. Abordul cervical a fost utilizat cu siguranță, sternotomia fiind necesară doar în 8 (14,8%) cazuri. Morbiditatea postoperatorie a constituit 5,5% (3 cazuri) cu mortalitate nulă. Durata medie de spitalizare a fost 4,3 zile. Noi am comparat datele noastre recente cu raportul privind tratamentul guşei retrosternale şi toracice în Clinica 1 Chirurgie din Iaşi în perioada anilor 1950-1979, publicat în revista „Chirurgia” în 1981. Concluzii: Guşa retrosternală reprezintă o formă specifică de patologie a glandei tiroide cu o incidență scăzută. Diagnosticul şi tratamentul guşei retrosternale implică o abordare multidisciplinară. Medicul endocrinolog are un rol important în diagnosticul şi supravegherea postoperatorie. Deşi intervenția chirurgicală este o metoda curativă de elecție pentru guşa substernală, persistă controverse privind abordul chirurgical şi rata complicațiilor. Abordul cervical poate fi utilizat cu siguranță aproape în toate cazurile, sternotomia fiind efectuată fără ezitare în caz de necesitate.Introduction: The term of retrosternal or substernal goiter means that more than 50% of thyroid gland descends in the thorax. Material and methods: There is a retrospective study on retrosternal and substernal goiter and its pathological features among 2482 patients who underwent thyroidectomy between 2000 and 2010 in the First Surgery Clinic of Iasi. Retrosternal goiter was diagnosed in 54 (2.17%) patients. All patients were referred to surgery from the Clinic of Endocrinology. Results: Mean age at diagnosis was 55.3±3.58 years, and most cases were found in women – 83.3%). The clinical picture of retrosternal goiter was dominated by compressive disorders. Thyroid function abnormalities were identified by hormonal assays performed on Endocrinology Clinic Iasi in 15 (27.7%) cases. The diagnosis of retrosternal goiter was suggested by clinical examination and confirmed by imaging: chest X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan. The cervical approach was safely performed. Only in 8 cases (14.8%), sternotomy was necessary. There was no mortality, and morbidity was 5.5% (3 cases). The length of stay in the hospital was 4.3 days. We compared our recent data with a previous report on retrosternal and thoracic goiter treated in First Surgery Clinic of Iasi during 1950 to 1979 and published in the journal “Chirurgia” in 1981. Conclusions: Retrosternal goiter is a particular form of thyroid surgical pathology presented with reduced incidence. Diagnosis and treatment of retrosternal goiter involve a multidisciplinary team. The endocrinologist has an important role in diagnosis and postoperative follow-up. Surgery is the treatment of choice for substernal goiters, but there are still some controversies on surgical approach, and complication rate. The cervical approach can be safely performed in almost all cases but when required, sternotomy should be performed without hesitation

Accelerating progress of Milenium Development Goals 6 on HIV/AIDS in the Republic of Moldova

The Government is committed to maintaining good public health services, so combatting the socially-conditioned diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, remains a priority. Despite the Government’s commitments and effort that has been made in collaboration with the development partners, the incidence of HIV has risen. In 2011, in order to accelerate the sustainable progress of HIV/AIDS, the Governments and relevant stakeholders decided to apply the Development Goals of Millennium Acceleration Framework (MAF), the methodology endorsed by the United Nations Development Group. With the support from UNDP, WHO and other UN institutions, the application of the MAF has helped investigate the social and medical determinants of health and identify the potential barriers within and outside the health system – bottlenecks at socio-economic and institutional levels. MAF is also focused on the needs of socially vulnerable groups of people that bear the brunt of HIV epidemics. Economic and social marginalization, stigmatization and discrimination they face are the underlying reasons of their vulnerability to these diseases

Translation Representations and Scattering By Two Intervals

Studying unitary one-parameter groups in Hilbert space (U(t),H), we show that a model for obstacle scattering can be built, up to unitary equivalence, with the use of translation representations for L2-functions in the complement of two finite and disjoint intervals. The model encompasses a family of systems (U (t), H). For each, we obtain a detailed spectral representation, and we compute the scattering operator, and scattering matrix. We illustrate our results in the Lax-Phillips model where (U (t), H) represents an acoustic wave equation in an exterior domain; and in quantum tunneling for dynamics of quantum states

Radiation damage in the LHCb vertex locator

The LHCb Vertex Locator (VELO) is a silicon strip detector designed to reconstruct charged particle trajectories and vertices produced at the LHCb interaction region. During the first two years of data collection, the 84 VELO sensors have been exposed to a range of fluences up to a maximum value of approximately 45 × 1012 1 MeV neutron equivalent (1 MeV neq). At the operational sensor temperature of approximately −7 °C, the average rate of sensor current increase is 18 μA per fb−1, in excellent agreement with predictions. The silicon effective bandgap has been determined using current versus temperature scan data after irradiation, with an average value of Eg = 1.16±0.03±0.04 eV obtained. The first observation of n+-on-n sensor type inversion at the LHC has been made, occurring at a fluence of around 15 × 1012 of 1 MeV neq. The only n+-on-p sensors in use at the LHC have also been studied. With an initial fluence of approximately 3 × 1012 1 MeV neq, a decrease in the Effective Depletion Voltage (EDV) of around 25 V is observed. Following this initial decrease, the EDV increases at a comparable rate to the type inverted n+-on-n type sensors, with rates of (1.43±0.16) × 10−12 V/ 1 MeV neq and (1.35±0.25) × 10−12 V/ 1 MeV neq measured for n+-on-p and n+-on-n type sensors, respectively. A reduction in the charge collection efficiency due to an unexpected effect involving the second metal layer readout lines is observed

Laparoscopy for abdominal emergencies

Clinica I Chirurgie, Clinica Universitară „Sf.Spiridon”, Universitatea de Medicină și Farmacie „Gr.T.Popa”, Iași, România, Al XII-lea Congres al Asociației Chirurgilor „Nicolae Anestiadi” din Republica Moldova cu participare internațională 23-25 septembrie 2015Introducere: În patologia abdomenului acut laparoscopia are multiple scopuri: stabilirea sau confirmarea diagnosticului, tratarea patologiilor și identificarea acelor pacienți care necesită tratament chirurgical.Material și metode: Scopul acestui studiu retrospectiv a constat în evaluarea rezultatelor experienței noastre laparoscopice în patologiile abdomenului acut, în perioada anilor 1993-2013; timp în care am efectuat peste 15.000 de intervenții laparoscopice. Rezultate: În studiul de față noi prezentăm analiza datelor a 3.785 pacienți internați în Clinică cu diagnosticul de abdomen acut: ulcer peptic perforat – 54 cazuri, trauma abdominală – 44 cazuri, infarct intestinal – 12 cazuri, ocluzie intestinală – 12 cazuri, apendicită acută – 1.332 cazuri, patologie acută a anexelor – 54 cazuri, colecistită acută – 2.251 cazuri, pancreatită acută – 9 cazuri, abcese abdominale – 12 cazuri, abdomen acut fals – 5 cazuri. Toți pacienții au fost supuși intervenției chirurgicale laparoscopice de urgență. Operația a fost realizată integral prin abord laparoscopic în 3.217 cazuri (85%), în timp ce conversia spre laparotomie a fost necesară în 568 cazuri (15%, numai 6% pentru abdomen acut non-traumatic). Morbiditatea în cazul intervențiilor realizate integral pe cale laparoscopică a fost 2,2%; mortalitatea – 0,3%; iar perioada medie de spitalizare a fost de 5 zile. Concluzii: Experiența noastră arată în mod clar posibilitatea de a combina o procedură de diagnosticare cu una curativă și indică asupra fezabilității și siguranței laparoscopiei în chirurgia de urgență. Laparotomia negativă se poate asocia cu o an umită rată de complicații, în timp ce laparoscopia pare a fi o modalitate de valoare pentru a îmbunătăți acuratețea diagnosticului sindromului algic în abdomenul acut și a oferi modalități promițătoare de tratament. Cu toate acestea, chirurgia laparoscopic ă de urgență este încă o procedură dificilă sub aspect tehnic, care necesită a fi efectuată de către o echipă specializată.Introduction: In acute abdominal disorders laparoscopy has a multiple goals: to establish or to confirm diagnosis; treating the disorders and identifies those patients who do not need surgery. Material and methods: The purpose of this retrospective study is to evaluate the results of our experience in laparoscopy for acute abdominal disorders, between 1993-2013, when we performed over 15.000 laparoscopic interventions. Results: In the present study we report on 3.785 patients admitted to hospital, with a diagnosis of acute abdominal disorders: perforated peptic ulcer – 54 cases, abdominal trauma – 44 cases, intestinal infarction – 12 cases, intestinal obstruction – 12 cases, acute appendicitis – 1.332 cases, acute adnexal pathologies – 54 cases, acute cholecystitis – 2.251 cases, acute pancreatitis – 9 cases, abdominal abscesses – 12 cases, false acute abdomen – 5 cases. All patients were submitted to emergency laparoscopic surgery. The operation was completed laparoscopically in 3.217 cases (85%), while conversion to laparotomy proved necessary in 568 cases (15%, only 6% - for non-traumatic acute abdomen). The morbidity of the cases completed laparoscopically was 2.2%; the mortality – 0.3%, and the mean hospital stay – 5 days. Conclusions: Our experience shows clearly both diagnostic and curative values of laparoscopy; suggests the feasibility and safety of the laparoscopy in emergency surgery. A negative laparotomy may have complications, while laparoscopy appears to be a valuable way to improve the accuracy of diagnosis of acute abdominal pain and offers a promising modality of treatment. Nevertheless, emergency laparoscopic surgery is still a technically difficult procedure that needs to be performed by an experienced surgical team