Celtic and Norse Cultures Interpreted Through Their Beliefs in Thor and the Morrígan

By comparing the Norse God, Thor, and the Celtic Goddess, The Morrigan, we see the similarities and differences in Celtic and Norse cultures through their practices in worshipping these main deities in their pantheons. Thor, the well-known Norse God of Thunder, held many roles in Norse culture such as the God of War for those who were sent into battle and was seen as a protector of the common people as opposed to his father Odin, who was seen as the God of the noble class. On the other hand, in the role of God of Thunder, Thor is also seen as a God of Fertility amongst those who worshipped him. His hammer, Mjollnir, was seen as a “fertility-giving symbol” . Thor and his hammer served the people through the consecration of marriages , and blessings of newborns, farm fields, and building sites.The Celtic Goddess, The Morrigan, was the Goddess of Death for the Celtic peoples of Ireland. She is a member of the Morrigna, a trio of sister Goddesses, along with Badb and Macha, who serve as fertility Goddesses in contrast to the Morrigan. She was responsible for the transporting of Irish people to their place in the afterlife after their time on Earth had come to an end. She was also known as a Goddess of War and Fate, often appearing to warriors as a crow, which revealed their impending fate in the battle to come. She is often referred to as “The Great Queen”, and is believed to lead the spirits of the dead out of caves on Samain (Hallowe’en).Unlike the Norse God Thor, The Morrigan represents the afterlife rather than life on Earth for the Celtic People. We argue that through the symbolism of their respective Pantheons, these differences show what these cultures valued most; life or death. In the case of the Norse, Thor represents a culture of family and agricultural fertility enjoyed by all of the Norsemen who worshipped him. On the other hand, for the Celtic peoples, The Morrigan represents war, fate, and death, emphasizing the importance the Celtic people placed on the afterlife rather than their lives on Earth. In comparison, we see that both cultures revere these deities as one of their greatest protectors throughout life and the afterlife

Ultrasound-assisted thrombolysis for acute pulmonary embolism: a systematic review

Pulmonary embolism remains a common and potentially life-threatening disease. For patients with intermediate- and high-risk pulmonary embolism, catheter-based revascularization therapy has emerged as potential alternative to systemic thrombolysis or surgical embolectomy. Ultrasound-assisted catheter-directed thrombolysis is a contemporary catheter-based technique and is the focus of the present review. Ultrasound-assisted catheter-directed thrombolysis is more effective in reversing right ventricular dysfunction and dilatation in comparison with anticoagulation alone in patients at intermediate risk. However, a direct comparison of ultrasound-assisted thrombolysis with systemic thrombolysis or surgical thrombectomy is not available. Ultrasound-assisted thrombolysis with initial intrapulmonary thrombolytic bolus may also be effective in high-risk patients, but evidence from randomized trials is not available. This review summarizes current data on ultrasound-assisted thrombolysis for acute pulmonary embolis

Annotated catalogue of primate type specimens in the mammal collection of the Museum of Natural History Vienna

Die vorliegende Arbeit ist der erste kommentierter Katalog der Primatentypen des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien. Von allen aufgefunden Typen wurde der taxonomische und nomenklatorische Status erhoben. Insgesamt konnten 110 Typusexemplare (15 Holotypen, 71 Syntypen, 8 Lectotypen, 1 Paratypus und 15 Paralectotypen) aus 46 nominalen Taxa gefunden werden. Ein geeigneter Typus von Lepilemur mustelinus rufescens wird für eine künftige Designation als Lectotypus vorgeschlagen. Die nominalen Taxa Cercopithecus toldti und Lasyopyga tantalus graueri werden mit Chlorocebus tantalus bzw. Chlorocebus cynosuros neu synonymisiert. Von den Namen Simia leukeurin, Macaco barriga und Simia polycomos wird gezeigt, dass sie keinen nomenklatorisch relevanten Status besitzen.For the first time an annotated catalogue of the primate type specimens in the mammal collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien is presented. The nomenclatorial and taxonomic status of all traceable type specimens was evaluated. Altogether 110 type specimens (15 holotypes, 71 syntypes, 8 lectotypes, 1 paratype and 15 paralectotypes), representing 46 nominal taxa, could be encountered. A proposal for the designation of a lectotype for Lepilemur mustelinus rufescens is made. The nominal taxa Cercopithecus toldti and Lasyopyga tantalus graueri were found to be synonyms of Chlorocebus tantalus and Chlorocebus cynosuros respectively, contrary to previous presumptions. It is additionally shown that the names Simia leukeurin, Macaco barriga and Simia polycomos possess no nomenclatorial relevant status

Two-Armed, Mobile, Sensate Research Robot

The Anthropomorphic Robotic Testbed (ART) is an experimental prototype of a partly anthropomorphic, humanoid-size, mobile robot. The basic ART design concept provides for a combination of two-armed coordination, tactility, stereoscopic vision, mobility with navigation and avoidance of obstacles, and natural-language communication, so that the ART could emulate humans in many activities. The ART could be developed into a variety of highly capable robotic assistants for general or specific applications. There is especially great potential for the development of ART-based robots as substitutes for live-in health-care aides for home-bound persons who are aged, infirm, or physically handicapped; these robots could greatly reduce the cost of home health care and extend the term of independent living. The ART is a fully autonomous and untethered system. It includes a mobile base on which is mounted an extensible torso topped by a head, shoulders, and two arms. All subsystems of the ART are powered by a rechargeable, removable battery pack. The mobile base is a differentially- driven, nonholonomic vehicle capable of a speed >1 m/s and can handle a payload >100 kg. The base can be controlled manually, in forward/backward and/or simultaneous rotational motion, by use of a joystick. Alternatively, the motion of the base can be controlled autonomously by an onboard navigational computer. By retraction or extension of the torso, the head height of the ART can be adjusted from 5 ft (1.5 m) to 6 1/2 ft (2 m), so that the arms can reach either the floor or high shelves, or some ceilings. The arms are symmetrical. Each arm (including the wrist) has a total of six rotary axes like those of the human shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints. The arms are actuated by electric motors in combination with brakes and gas-spring assists on the shoulder and elbow joints. The arms are operated under closed-loop digital control. A receptacle for an end effector is mounted on the tip of the wrist and contains a force-and-torque sensor that provides feedback for force (compliance) control of the arm. The end effector could be a tool or a robot hand, depending on the application

The challenge of posttraumatic thrombus embolization from abdominal aortic aneurysm causing acute limb ischemia

We report the first documented case of distal thromboembolism originating from an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) after a blunt trauma. A 72-year-old man with a known 6.2 cm AAA was brought to our emergency department with signs of bilateral acute limb ischemia developing immediately after an accidental fall. The occlusion was confirmed at computed tomographic angiography, and the aneurysm showed a fragmentated/ulcerated mural thrombus, morphologically different as compared to the previous computed tomography (CT). A thromboembolectomy was performed and, after treatment of the ischemic complications, the aneurysm was repaired by open surgery. Embolization from aneurysms in the setting of a trauma is a challenge for the vascular surgeon, also because of its rare occurrence. We describe the management and discuss the operative strategy we opted for in this patient

Towards a better understanding of the posttreatment hemodynamic behaviors in femoropopliteal arteries through personalized computational models based on OCT images.

The hemodynamic behavior following endovascular treatment of patients with peripheral arterial disease plays a significant role on the occurrence of restenosis in femoro-popliteal (FP) arteries. The atheroprone flow conditions that are generally accepted to promote restenosis can be calculated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses, and these results can be used to assess individualized treatment outcomes. However, the impact of endovascular therapy on the flow behaviors of FP arteries are still poorly understood, as the imaging modalities used in existing numerical works (X-ray angiography, computed tomography angiography) are unable to accurately represent the post-treatment arterial geometry due to their low resolutions. Therefore, this study proposes a new algorithm that combines intra-arterial lumen geometry obtained from high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) images with centerlines generated from X-ray images to reconstruct the FP artery with an in-plane resolution of 10 µm. This superior accuracy allows modeling characteristic geometrical structures, such as angioplasty-induced arterial dissections, that are too small to be reconstructed with other imaging modalities. The framework is applied on the clinical data of patients treated either with only-percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) (n = 4) or PTA followed by stenting (n = 4). Based on the generated models, PTA was found to cause numerous arterial dissections, covering approximately 10% of the total surface area of the lumen, whereas no dissections were identified in the stented arteries. CFD simulations were performed to investigate the hemodynamic conditions before and after treatment. Regardless of the treatment method, the areas affected by low time-averaged wall shear stress (< 0.5 Pa) were significantly higher (p < 0.05) following endovascular therapy (pre-PTA: 0.95 ± 0.59 cm2; post-PTA: 2.10 ± 1.09cm2; post-stent: 3.10 ± 0.98 cm2). There were no statistical differences between the PTA and the stent groups. However, within the PTA group, adverse hemodynamics were mainly concentrated at regions created by arterial dissections, which may negatively impact the outcomes of a leave-nothing-behind strategy. These observations show that OCT-based numerical models have great potential to guide clinicians regarding the optimal treatment approach

Predictors of in-hospital mortality in elderly patients with acute venous thrombo-embolism: the SWIss Venous ThromboEmbolism Registry (SWIVTER)

Aims Although acute venous thrombo-embolism (VTE) often afflicts patients with advanced age, the predictors of in-hospital mortality for elderly VTE patients are unknown. Methods and results Among 1247 consecutive patients with acute VTE from the prospective SWIss Venous ThromboEmbolism Registry (SWIVTER), 644 (52%) were elderly (≥65 years of age). In comparison to younger patients, the elderly more often had pulmonary embolism (PE) (60 vs. 42%; P< 0.001), cancer (30 vs. 20%; P< 0.001), chronic lung disease (14 vs. 8%; P= 0.001), and congestive heart failure (12 vs. 2%; P< 0.001). Elderly VTE patients were more often hospitalized (75 vs. 52%; P< 0.001), and there was no difference in the use of thrombolysis, catheter intervention, or surgical embolectomy between the elderly and younger PE patients (5 vs. 6%; P= 0.54), despite a trend towards a higher rate of massive PE in the elderly (8 vs. 4%; P= 0.07). The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 6.6% in the elderly vs. 3.2% in the younger VTE patients (P= 0.033). Cancer was associated with in-hospital death both in the elderly [hazard ratio (HR) 4.91, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.32-10.38; P< 0.001] and in the younger patients (HR 4.90, 95% CI 1.37-17.59; P= 0.015); massive PE was a predictor of in-hospital death in the elderly only (HR 3.77, 95% CI 1.63-8.74; P= 0.002). Conclusion Elderly patients had more serious VTE than younger patients, and massive PE was particularly life-threatening in the elderl

Fixed low-dose ultrasound-assisted catheter-directed thrombolysis for intermediate and high-risk pulmonary embolism

Aims No standardized local thrombolysis regimen exists for the treatment of pulmonary embolism (PE). We retrospectively investigated efficacy and safety of fixed low-dose ultrasound-assisted catheter-directed thrombolysis (USAT) for intermediate- and high-risk PE. Methods and results Fifty-two patients (65 ± 14 years) of whom 14 had high-risk PE (troponin positive in all) and 38 intermediate-risk PE (troponin positive in 91%) were treated with intravenous unfractionated heparin and USAT using 10 mg of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator per device over the course of 15 h. Bilateral USAT was performed in 83% of patients. During 3-month follow-up, two [3.8%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.5-13%] patients died (one from cardiogenic shock and one from recurrent PE). Major non-fatal bleeding occurred in two (3.8%; 95% CI, 0.5-13%) patients: one intrathoracic bleeding after cardiopulmonary resuscitation requiring transfusion, one intrapulmonary bleeding requiring lobectomy. Mean pulmonary artery pressure decreased from 37 ± 9 mmHg at baseline to 25 ± 8 mmHg at 15 h (P < 0.001) and cardiac index increased from 2.0 ± 0.7 to 2.7 ± 0.9 L/min/m2 (P < 0.001). Echocardiographic right-to-left ventricular end-diastolic dimension ratio decreased from 1.42 ± 0.21 at baseline to 1.06 ± 0.23 at 24 h (n = 21; P < 0.001). The greatest haemodynamic benefit from USAT was found in patients with high-risk PE and in those with symptom duration < 14 days. Conclusion A standardized catheter intervention approach using fixed low-dose USAT for the treatment of intermediate- and high-risk PE was associated with rapid improvement in haemodynamic parameters and low rates of bleeding complications and mortalit

Accuracy of Frozen Section Analysis Versus Specimen Radiography During Breast-Conserving Surgery for Nonpalpable Lesions

Background: Whereas specimen radiography (SR) is an established strategy for intraoperative resection margin analysis during breast-conserving surgery for nonpalpable lesions, the use of frozen section analysis (FSA) is still a matter of debate. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of 115 consecutive operations in which the two objectives sought were the excision of nonpalpable malignant lesions and breast conservation. Breast surgery was performed in the Gynecology and the Surgery Departments at the Basel University Hospital Breast Center. Whereas one department preferably uses SR for intraoperative margin assessments of lesions involving ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or atypical ductal hyperplasia, the other uses FSA to increase the rate of complete removal of these lesions with a single procedure. The respective accuracy and therapeutic impact of these two techniques are compared here. Results: Intraoperative resection margin assessments were performed with FSA in 80 and SR in 35 of a total of 115 operations performed on 111 patients with pTis, pT1, or pT2 nonpalpable breast cancer. FSA diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 83.8%, 80.0%, and 87.5%, respectively, compared to 60%, 60%, and 60%, respectively, for SR. FSA tended to have a stronger therapeutic impact than SR in terms of the number of patients in whom initially positive margins were rendered margin-negative thanks to intraoperative analysis and immediate reexcision or mastectomy (27.5% vs. 14.3%; p=0.124). More importantly, significantly fewer secondary reexcisions were performed in the FSA series than in the SR series (12.5% vs. 37.1%; p=0.002). Finally, the intraoperative detection of invasive cancer with FSA led to a significantly lower number of secondary procedures for axillary lymph node staging (5% vs. 25.7%; p=0.001). Conclusions: The present results suggest that FSA may be more accurate than SR for analyzing intraoperative resection margins during breast-conserving surgery for nonpalpable lesion

Differences in duration of anticoagulation after pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis: Findings from the SWIss Venous ThromboEmbolism Registry (SWIVTER).

Although the two manifestations of venous thromboembolism (VTE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), vary considerably, the consensus guidelines recommend similar algorithms for therapeutic anticoagulation in both conditions. Real-world data assessing contemporary management strategies in PE and DVT alone may help tailoring future recommendations towards more individualized patient care. In the present analysis, we compared demographics, comorbidities, treatment patterns, and clinical outcomes of PE versus DVT only among 2062 consecutive patients with confirmed VTE enrolled by 11 acute care hospitals between November 2012 and February 2015 in the SWIss Venous ThromboEmbolism Registry (SWIVTER). Overall, 1246 (60 %) patients were diagnosed with PE. In comparison to DVT alone, PE patients were older (66 vs. 59 years; p &lt; 0.001), more frequently had acute and chronic comorbidities, less frequently had prior VTE and hormone replacement, and were less often pregnant. VTE was considered similarly often provoked in patients with PE and DVT alone (33.8 % vs. 33.5 %; p = 0.88). Anticoagulation for an indefinite duration was more often prescribed to patients with PE than those with DVT alone (45.7 vs. 19.6 %; p &lt; 0.001), and PE diagnosis was the strongest independent predictor of indefinite anticoagulation (OR 3.21; 95 % CI 2.55-4.06; p &lt; 0.001). Diagnosis of PE was associated with both increased risk of 90-day mortality (HR 2.31, 95 % CI 1.44-3.71; p = 0.001) and major bleeding (HR 3.88, 95 % CI 1.63-9.22; p = 0.002). Our analysis affirms differences in demographics, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of PE versus DVT alone. In routine clinical practice, duration of anticoagulation is being managed differently between the two manifestations of VTE, in contrast to recommendations of the current consensus guidelines