A case of multiple coronary microfistulas to the left ventricle and apical myocardial hypertrophy coexisting with stable angina

AbstractA coronary artery fistula consists of a communication between a coronary artery and a cardiac chamber, a great artery or the vena cava. It is the most common congenital anomaly that can affect coronary perfusion. However, coronary fistulas to one of the cardiac chambers and coexisting apical myocardial hypertophy are infrequent anomalies, and usually are found unexpectedly. Herein, we report a case in which all three major coronary arteries emptied into the left ventricle with apical hypertrophy, through multiple microfistulas

An in vitro comparison of different adhesive strategies on the micro push-out bond strength of a glass fiber post

Objectives: To evaluate in vitro the push-out bond strengths of a glass fiber post adhesively luted with self-etching resin based and self-adhesive luting cements, as well as modified application procedure of self-adhesive luting cements in combination with single step self-etch adhesives. Materials and methods: Fifty single-rooted human maxillary central incisor teeth were endodontically treated and divided into five groups (n=10). Glass fiber posts (RelyX Fiber Post) were cemented with the following materials: group 1: ED Primer II/Panavia F 2.0 (PAN); group 2: RelyX Unicem (RU); group 3: Maxcem (MC); group 4: Adper Prompt L-Pop (PLP)/RelyX Unicem; group 5: Optibond all-in-one (OB)/Maxcem. Bonded specimens were cut (1-mm-thick sections) and push-out tests were performed (crosshead-speed, 0.5 mm/min). Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey-HSD test for post hoc comparisons at ? = 0.05. Results: The highest bond strength was recorded for groups 4 and 2, with no statistically significant differences among them (p>0.05). Group 4 showed significantly higher bond strength than group 1 (p<0.001), group 3 (p<0.0001) and group 5 (p<0.0001). Group 1 showed significantly higher bond strength than the group 3 (p<0.05). No statistically significant differences were observed among group 1 and group 2, group 1 and group 5, group 3 and group 5. Group 3 showed significantly lower push-out bond strength than the all other luting strategies except for the group 5. Conclusions: The push-out bond strength values of modified application procedure of self-adhesive luting cements (RU and MC) in combination with single step self-etch dentin adhesives (PLP and OB) did not improve the push-out bond strength of fiber post when compared with those where the conventional use of self-adhesive cements. © Medicina Oral S. L

A New Approach to the Determination of Warp-Weft Densities in Textile Fabrics by Using an Image Processing Technique

ABSTRACT This paper presents a new approach for processing images of woven fabrics to determine the warp-weft densities. This approach includes three main steps, namely; image transformation, image enhancement, and analyzing signals of the image. In the experimental process, 19 different woven fabric images were scanned at a high resolution (2400 dpi); then these images were transferred to the MATLAB program. By using the vertical and horizontal frequencies of the textile image, the FFT analyses were carried out. Consequently with 97 % accuracy, the densities were predicted only by using the images instead of counting them by hand

Seed Dormancy

Dormancy is when there is a lack of germination in seeds or tubers even though the required conditions (temperature, humidity, oxygen, and light) are provided. Dormancy is based on hard seed coat impermeability or the lack of supply and activity of enzymes (internal dormancy) necessary for germination. Dormancy is an important factor limiting production in many field crops. Several physical and chemical pretreatments are applied to the organic material (seeds/tubers) to overcome dormancy. Physical and physiological dormancy can be found together in some plants, and this makes it difficult to provide high-frequency, healthy seedling growth, since the formation of healthy seedlings from the organic material (seeds/tubers) sown is a prerequisite for plant production. This chapter will focus on the description of four different methods we have not seen reported elsewhere for overcoming dormancy

Rational design and direct fabrication of multi-walled hollow electrospun fibers with controllable structure and surface properties

Multi-walled hollow fibers with a novel architecture are fabricated through utilizing a direct,one-step tri-axial electrospinning process with a manufacturing methodology which does not require any post-treatments for the removal of core material for creating hollowness in the fiber structure. The hydrophilicity of both inner and outer layers’ solution needs to be dissimilar and carefully controlled for creating a two-walled/layered hollow fiber tructure with a sharp interface. To this end, Hansen solubility parameters are used as n index of layer solution affinity hence allowing for control of diffusion across the layers and the surface porosity whereby an ideal multi-walled hollow electrospun fiber is shown to be producible by tri-axial electrospinning process. Multi-walled hollow electrospun fibers with different inner and outer diameters and different surface morphology are successfully produced by using dissimilar material combinations for inner and outer layers (i.e., hydrophobic polymers as outer layer and hydrophilic polymer as inner layer). Upon using different material combinations for inner and outer layers, it is shown that one may control both the outer and inner diameters of the fiber. The inner layer not only acts as a barrier and thus provides an ease in the encapsulation of functional core materials of interest with different viscosities but also adds stiffness to the fiber. The structure and the surface morphology of fibers are controlled by changing applied voltage, polymer types, polymer concentration, and the evaporation rate of solvents. It is demonstrated that if the vapor pressure of the solvent for a given outer layer polymer is low, the fiber diameter decreases down to 100 nm whereas solvents with higher vapor pressure result in fibers with the outer diameter of up to 1 μm. The influence of electric field strength on the shape of Taylor cone is also monitored during the production process and the manufactured fibers are structurally investigated by relevant surface characterization techniques

The Clinical Value of Flow Cytometric DNA Content Analysis in Patients with Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to evaluate: (1) the correlation between grade and ploidy or S-phase fraction (SPF), (2) the prognostic value of DNA flow cytometric study in soft tissue sarcomas

Clinical symptoms and diagnostic tools that are related to infertility and hydrosalpinx formation in women with advanced stage endometriosis complicated by endometrioma

Objectives: The study included patients suffering from stage III-IV endometriosis complicated by an endometrioma (OMA). We investigated the association between age, presence of dysmenorrhea/dyspareunia, preoperative CA 125 level, size of OMA on ultrasonographic exam and infertility, as well as the risk of intraoperative detection of hydrosalpinx that was not suspected on pre-operative assessment. Materials and Methods: The study included patients with stage III-IV endometriosis complicated by OMA who underwent a laparoscopic or open surgery due to pre-diagnosis of infertility or adnexal mass. Results: Dysmenorrhea had statistically significant association with infertility (p=0.031). There was no statistically significant relation between age, dyspareunia, preoperative CA 125 level, size of OMA on ultrasonographic exam and infertility (p=0. 203, p=0.561, p=0.561 and p=0.668, respectively). No statistically significant relation was found between age, CA 125 level, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia and detection of an unilateral/bilateral hydrosalpinx, that was not suspected on pre-operative assessment (p=0.179, p=0.295, p=0.895, p=0.424, respectively). There was an association between OMA size (p=0.023) and detection of unilateral/bilateral hydrosalpinx. Conclusions: Patients who desire to have children but suffer from severe dysmenorrhea must be preoperatively informed about the possibility of having stage III-IV endometriosis. Infertile patients who are about to undergo an operation, especially due to a large OMA, may turn out to have hydrosalpinx. These patients should be informed preoperatively about the possibility of having salpingectomy or the proximal tubal surgery for improving fertility