Ramification of the a. mesenterica cranialis and its variability in the guinea pig (Cavia aperea f. porcellus).

The authors studied ramification of the a. mesenterica cranialis and its variability in 30 guinea pigs (Cavia aperea f. porcellus) after injecting red-dyed latex into their arterial bed. In every case, this artery arose from the truncus hepato-mesentericus, which in turn was a branch of a thick arterial truncus coeliaco-mesentericus. After leaving its site of origin, the a. mesenterica cranialis formed a long arc whose convexity was directed leftwards and caudally. Its first branch was most frequently (18 cases-60%) the a. colica media. In seven cases (23.3%) this artery arose together with the a. pancreaticoduodenalis caudalis from the same site. The a. pancreaticoduodenalis caudalis was the first branch of the a. mesenterica cranialis in two cases only (6.7%). In 18 cases (69%) the a. pancreaticoduodenalis caudalis was the second branch of the a. mesenterica cranialis and in seven cases (23.3%) it arose from the same site as the a. colica media. It supplied the caudal part of the pancreas and the duodenum as far as the flexura duodenojejunalis, where it formed an anastomosis with the first a. jejunalis. In every case, the ileum, caecum and colon were supplied by a thick a. ileocaecocolica, which after giving off the last a. jejunalis, formed a continuation of the trunk of the a. mesenterica cranialis. Near the ileocaecal junction it divided into a r. ileacus, rr. caecales, a r. prae--and retrocaecalis and a r. colicus. The caecum was further fed by thick r1. caecales which usually branched from the middle segment of the a. mesenterica cranialis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS

Możliwości optymalizacji łańcucha logistycznego w zakładzie produkcyjnym

The market economy is, among other, characterized by the fact that businesses are able to respond promptly to market demands - customers. In practice, this means that the customer wants to have the goods at the location at a specific time and provided in adequate quality and price, which is determined by the market supply and demand. One of the options to increase business efficiency and competitiveness in general is to reduce production costs or the total cost. Logistics costs (in literature also referred to as "total costs") represent a very high proportion of these costs. They are part of the total cost, which greatly affect management of the company. The paper outlines the possibility of how these costs can be reduced, based on an analysis and using rationalization approach to the current state of the organization and its management, without requiring significant costs of implementing certain measures.Gospodarkę rynkową charakteryzuje między innymi fakt, że przedsiębiorstwa są w stanie natychmiast reagować na wymagania rynku - klientów. W praktyce oznacza to, że klient chce mieć towar w lokalizacji, w określonym czasie i dostarczony w odpowiedniej jakości i cenie, która jest określana przez podaż i popyt rynku. Jedną z możliwości zwiększenia wydajności biznesu i konkurencyjności jest zredukowanie kosztów produkcji lub kosztu całkowitego. Koszty logistyczne (w literaturze również określane jako „koszty całkowite“) stanowią bardzo wysoki odsetek tych kosztów. Są one częścią kosztu całkowitego, który w znacznym stopniu wpływa na zarządzanie firmą. W artykule nakreślono sposób, w jaki koszty te mogą zostać zredukowane, na podstawie analizy i wykorzystania podejścia racjonalizacyjnego do obecnego stanu organizacji i zarządzania nią, bez konieczności stosowania znaczących kosztów wdrożenia pewnych środków

Removing nondeterminism in constant height pushdown automata

We study the descriptional cost of converting constant height nondeterministic pushdown automata into equivalent deterministic devices. We show a double-exponential upper bound for this conversion, together with a super-exponential lower bound

The size cost of boolean operations on constant height deterministic pushdown automata

We study the size-cost of boolean operations on constant height deterministic pushdown automata. We prove an asymptotically optimal exponential blow-up for union and intersection, as well as polynomial blow-up for complement

Celiac artery in New Zealand rabbit: anatomical study of its origin and arrangement for experimental research and surgical practice Artéria celíaca em coelhos Nova Zelândia: estudo anatômico de sua origem e arranjo para a pesquisa experimental e a prática cirúrgica

Rabbits have been used as an experimental model in many diseases and for the study of toxicology, pharmacology and surgery in many universities. However, some aspects of their macro anatomy need a more detailed description, especially the abdominal and pelvic arterial vascular system, which has a huge variability in distribution and trajectory. Thirty cadaveric adult New Zealand rabbits, 13 male and 17 female, with an average weight and rostrum-sacral length of 2.5 kg and 40cm, respectively, were used. The thoracic aorta was cannulated and the vascular system was filled with stained latex S-65. The celiac artery and its proximal branches were dissected and lengthened in order to evidence origin and proximal ramifications. The celiac artery emerged between the 12th and 13th thoracic vertebra in 11 (36.7%) rabbits; at the level of the 13th thoracic vertebra in 6 (20%) rabbits; between the 13th thoracic vertebra and the 1st lumbar vertebra in 12 (40%) rabbits; and at the level of the 1st lumbar vertebra in only one (3.3%) rabbit. The mean length of the celiac artery was 0.5cm. The celiac artery first branch was the lienal artery, the second branch was the left gastric artery and the hepatic artery arose from the left gastric artery in all the dissected rabbits. No relation was observed between the celiac artery length and the rostrum-sacral length in rabbits. The number of left gastric and lienal artery branches and the distribution of celiac artery origin are not gender dependent.<br>Os coelhos têm sido usados como modelo experimental em diferentes patologias e para estudos de toxicologia, farmacologia e cirurgia em várias universidades. Entretanto apesar de sua grande utilização, muitos aspectos de sua macroanatomia, em especial os que se referem ao sistema vascular arterial que irrigam as viscerais abdomino-pélvicas ainda carecem de uma descrição mais detalhada, pois os vasos arteriais apresentam grande variabilidade na sua distribuição e trajeto. Foram utilizados 30 coelhos, 13 machos e 17 fêmeas, pesando em media 2,5 kg e apresentando comprimento rostro-sacral em torno de 40cm. A artéria aorta torácica foi canulada e através da mesma foi feita à fixação com solução de formaldeído a 10% e repleções vasculares com solução de Petrolátex S65 corado. A artéria celíaca e suas ramificações proximais foram dissecadas ao longo do seu percurso, registrando com auxílio de um paquímetro seu comprimento e sua esqueletopia. A artéria celíaca teve sua emergência de forma única diretamente da artéria aorta abdominal em todos os animais dissecados. Emitiu inicialmente a artéria lienal e a seguir a artéria gástrica esquerda que se continuou como hepática em todos os 30 animais. A artéria celíaca teve sua origem entre a 12ªe 13ª vértebra torácica em 11 animais (36,7 %), na 13ª vértebra torácica em 6 (20 %), entre a 13ª vértebra torácica e a 1ª vértebra lombar em 12 (40 %) e na 1ª vértebra lombar em apenas 1 animal (3,3%). O comprimento médio da artéria celíaca foi de 0,5cm. Não foi observada relação entre o comprimento da artéria celíaca e o comprimento rostro-sacral dos coelhos. O número de artérias gástricas esquerdas, ramificações principais da artéria lienal, bem como a origem da artéria celíaca independeram do sexo do animal

Effect of sibutramine on cardiovascular outcomes in overweight and obese subjects.

BACKGROUND: The long-term effects of sibutramine treatment on the rates of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular death among subjects at high cardiovascular risk have not been established. METHODS: We enrolled in our study 10,744 overweight or obese subjects, 55 years of age or older, with preexisting cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, or both to assess the cardiovascular consequences of weight management with and without sibutramine in subjects at high risk for cardiovascular events. All the subjects received sibutramine in addition to participating in a weight-management program during a 6-week, single-blind, lead-in period, after which 9804 subjects underwent random assignment in a double-blind fashion to sibutramine (4906 subjects) or placebo (4898 subjects). The primary end point was the time from randomization to the first occurrence of a primary outcome event (nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, resuscitation after cardiac arrest, or cardiovascular death). RESULTS: The mean duration of treatment was 3.4 years. The mean weight loss during the lead-in period was 2.6 kg; after randomization, the subjects in the sibutramine group achieved and maintained further weight reduction (mean, 1.7 kg). The mean blood pressure decreased in both groups, with greater reductions in the placebo group than in the sibutramine group (mean difference, 1.2/1.4 mm Hg). The risk of a primary outcome event was 11.4% in the sibutramine group as compared with 10.0% in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03 to 1.31; P=0.02). The rates of nonfatal myocardial infarction and nonfatal stroke were 4.1% and 2.6% in the sibutramine group and 3.2% and 1.9% in the placebo group, respectively (hazard ratio for nonfatal myocardial infarction, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.57; P=0.02; hazard ratio for nonfatal stroke, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.77; P=0.03). The rates of cardiovascular death and death from any cause were not increased. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects with preexisting cardiovascular conditions who were receiving long-term sibutramine treatment had an increased risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction and nonfatal stroke but not of cardiovascular death or death from any cause. (Funded by Abbott; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00234832.

X-ray absorption near-edge structure micro-spectroscopy study of vanadium speciation in Phycomyces blakesleeanus mycelium

Vanadium speciation in the fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus was examined by X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy, enabling assessment of oxidation states and related molecular symmetries of this transition element in the fungus. The exposure of P. blakesleeanus to two physiologically important vanadium species (V5+ and V4+) resulted in the accumulation of this metal in central compartments of 24 h old mycelia, most probably in vacuoles. Tetrahedral V5+, octahedral V4+, and proposed intracellular complexes of V5+ were detected simultaneously after addition of a physiologically relevant concentration of V5+ to the mycelium. A substantial fraction of the externally added V4+ remained mostly in its original form. However, observable variations in the pre-edge-peak intensities in the XANES spectra indicated intracellular complexation and corresponding changes in the molecular coordination symmetry. Vanadate complexation was confirmed by V-51 NMR and Raman spectroscopy, and potential binding compounds including cell-wall constituents (chitosan and/or chitin), (poly)phosphates, DNA, and proteins are proposed. The evidenced vanadate complexation and reduction could also explain the resistance of P. blakesleeanus to high extracellular concentrations of vanadium