Dupuytren`s contracture : a study of its incidence in Malta

Contracture of the hand has been described for centuries. Statistics compiled by various authors have established the incidence of the disease. A study of its incidence in Malta during the period 1964 – 1974 is presented. During this period twenty cases of Dupuytren's contracture were referred to the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at St. Luke's Hospital, Malta; the age incidence, patients and clinical conditions, as well as the relative treatments, including surgical interventions are discussed. It may be said that Dupuytren's contracture is present in these Islands perhaps in lesser proportion than in other countries; that males are affected four times more than females and mainly in late middle age; of these, fifty per cent are likely to be bilateral with the greater proportion affecting the ring or tittle fingers of the right hand.peer-reviewe

Compensation device of breakaway torque of reaction wheel assembly

Статья посвящена разработке устройства компенсации момента трогания в управляющихдвигателях-маховиках. В статье анализируются проблемы, связанные с возникновением явления момента трогания в двигателях. Автором предлагаются пути решения данной проблемы, а так же рассматриваются преимущества и недостатки каждого из них. В результате было предложено устройство, которое позволяет снизить момент трогания управляющих двигателей-маховиков и исключить зону нечувствительности к малым управляющим сигналам, описана его структура и представлен краткий алгоритм работы такого устройства. Оценка результатов была произведена на испытательном стенде, представляющем собой имитационную модель управляющего двигателя-маховика.The article is devoted to the development of compensation device of breakaway torque of reaction wheel assembly. The article analyses the problems associated with the emergence of phenomenon of breakaway torque in reaction wheel assembly. The author suggests ways of solving this problem, as well as discusses the advantages anddisadvantages of each of them. As a result, it was suggested the device which reduces breakaway torque of reaction wheel assembly and exclude the dead zone in range of small signals, described its structure and provides an algorithm for such a device. Evaluation of the results was carried out on a test bench, which represent a simulationmodel of reaction wheel assembly

Removal of micrometer size particles from surfaces using laser-induced thermocapillary flow: Experimental results

© 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc.Hypothesis: Reducing particle contaminations on solid and delicate surfaces is of great importance in a number of industries. A new non-destructive method is proposed, which is based on the laser-induced thermocapillary effect for the removal of micron size particles from surfaces. The cleaning mechanism is related to the surface-tension-driven flows produced by the laser heating of thin layer of a cleaning liquid deposited onto a surface contaminated with particles. Experiments: Focusing the laser irradiation into the line laser beam allowed using this method for a large-scale cleaning of surfaces. Hexadecane was used as a cleaning liquid to remove micron-sized polyethylene, Teflon, talc and Al2O3 particles from surfaces of welding glass, carbolite and soft magnetic disc using the line beam of the IR laser. Findings: A good cleaning efficiency was achieved for cases of polyethylene and Teflon particles on both the complete wettable welding glass and the low-wettable soft magnetic disc, while in case of oleophilic talc and Al2O3 particles the effectiveness of the cleaning method was lower on all three substrates investigated. The thermal influence of the laser irradiation on substrates used was measured with infrared camera. It was shown that temperature in the irradiated area during the long-time heating increases insignificantly and cannot cause any damage of the substrate

Vibrational and stochastic resonances in two coupled overdamped anharmonic oscillators

We study the overdamped version of two coupled anharmonic oscillators under the influence of both low- and high-frequency forces respectively and a Gaussian noise term added to one of the two state variables of the system. The dynamics of the system is first studied in the presence of both forces separately without noise. In the presence of only one of the forces, no resonance behaviour is observed, however, hysteresis happens there. Then the influence of the high-frequency force in the presence of a low-frequency, i.e. biharmonic forcing, is studied. Vibrational resonance is found to occur when the amplitude of the high-frequency force is varied. The resonance curve resembles a stochastic resonance-like curve. It is maximum at the value of $g$ at which the orbit lies in one well during one half of the drive cycle of the low-frequency force and in the other for the remaining half cycle. Vibrational resonance is characterized using the response amplitude and mean residence time. We show the occurrence of stochastic resonance behaviour in the overdamped system by replacing the high-frequency force by Gaussian noise. Similarities and differences between both types of resonance are presented.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figure

Wearable device to assist independent living.

Older people increasingly want to remain living independently in their own homes. The aim of the ENABLE project is to develop a wearable device that can be used both within and outside of the home to support older people in their daily lives and which can monitor their health status, detect potential problems, provide activity reminders and offer communication and alarm services. In order to determine the specifications and functionality required for development of the device user surveys and focus groups were undertaken and use case analysis and scenario modeling carried out. The project has resulted in the development of a wrist worn device and mobile phone combination that can support and assist older and vulnerable wearers with a range of activities and services both inside and outside of their homes. The device is currently undergoing pilot trials in five European countries. The aim of this paper is to describe the ENABLE device, its features and services, and the infrastructure within which it operates

Effect of tibolone on breast cancer cell proliferation in postmenopausal ER+ patients: Results from STEM trial

Purpose: Tibolone is a selective tissue estrogenic activity regulator, approved for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms in postmenopausal women. We have done an exploratory, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot trial to investigate the tissue-specific effects of 2.5 mg tibolone on breast cancer in postmenopausal women, in particular on tissue proliferation (STEM, Study of Tibolone Effects on Mamma carcinoma tissue). Experimental Design: Postmenopausal women with initially stage I/II, estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) primary breast cancer, were randomly assigned to 14 days of placebo or 2.5 mg/d tibolone. Core biopsies of the primary tumor were obtained before and after treatment. Ki-67 and apoptosis index were analyzed in baseline and corresponding posttreatment specimen. Results: Of 102 enrolled patients, 95 had evaluable data. Baseline characteristics were comparable between both treatment groups. Breast cancer cases are mainly invasive (99%), stage I or II (42% and 50% respectively), and ER+ (99%). Median intratumoral Ki-67 expression at baseline was 13.0%, in the tibolone group and 17.8% in the placebo group, and decreased to 12.0% after 14 days of tibolone while increasing to 19.0% in the placebo group. This change from baseline was not significantly different between tibolone and placebo (Wilcoxon test; P = 0.17). A significant difference was observed between the treatment groups when the median change from baseline apoptosis index was compared between the treatment groups (tibolone, 0.0%; placebo, +0.3%; Wilcoxon test; P = 0.031). The incidence of adverse effects was comparable. Conclusions: In ER+ breast tumors, 2.5 mg/d tibolone given for 14 days has no significant effect on tumor cell proliferation

Rearranging Edgeworth-Cornish-Fisher Expansions

This paper applies a regularization procedure called increasing rearrangement to monotonize Edgeworth and Cornish-Fisher expansions and any other related approximations of distribution and quantile functions of sample statistics. Besides satisfying the logical monotonicity, required of distribution and quantile functions, the procedure often delivers strikingly better approximations to the distribution and quantile functions of the sample mean than the original Edgeworth-Cornish-Fisher expansions.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure

Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroup JT is Related to Impaired Glycaemic Control and Renal Function in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

The association between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup and risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is undetermined and controversial. This study aims to evaluate the impact of the main mtDNA haplogroups on glycaemic control and renal function in a Spanish population of 303 T2D patients and 153 healthy controls. Anthropometrical and metabolic parameters were assessed and mtDNA haplogroup was determined in each individual. Distribution of the different haplogroups was similar in diabetic and healthy populations and, as expected, T2D patients showed poorer glycaemic control and renal function than controls. T2D patients belonging to the JT haplogroup (polymorphism m.4216T>C) displayed statistically significant higher levels of fasting glucose and HbA(1c) than those of the other haplogroups, suggesting a poorer glycaemic control. Furthermore, diabetic patients with the JT haplogroup showed a worse kidney function than those with other haplogroups, evident by higher levels of serum creatinine, lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and slightly higher (although not statistically significant) urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio. Our results suggest that JT haplogroup (in particular, change at position 4216 of the mtDNA) is associated with poorer glycaemic control in T2D, which can trigger the development of diabetic nephropathy

Vacuum effects in an asymptotically uniformly accelerated frame with a constant magnetic field

In the present article we solve the Dirac-Pauli and Klein Gordon equations in an asymptotically uniformly accelerated frame when a constant magnetic field is present. We compute, via the Bogoliubov coefficients, the density of scalar and spin 1/2 particles created. We discuss the role played by the magnetic field and the thermal character of the spectrum.Comment: 17 pages. RevTe

Influence of Anodic Conditions on Self-ordered Growth of Highly Aligned Titanium Oxide Nanopores

Self-aligned nanoporous TiO2templates synthesized via dc current electrochemical anodization have been carefully analyzed. The influence of environmental temperature during the anodization, ranging from 2 °C to ambient, on the structure and morphology of the nanoporous oxide formation has been investigated, as well as that of the HF electrolyte chemical composition, its concentration and their mixtures with other acids employed for the anodization. Arrays of self-assembled titania nanopores with inner pores diameter ranging between 50 and 100 nm, wall thickness around 20–60 nm and 300 nm in length, are grown in amorphous phase, vertical to the Ti substrate, parallel aligned to each other and uniformly disordering distributed over all the sample surface. Additional remarks about the photoluminiscence properties of the titania nanoporous templates and the magnetic behavior of the Ni filled nanoporous semiconductor Ti oxide template are also included