New systematic insights about plio-pleistocene moles from poland

The generic attribution of the Plio-Pleistocene Polish moles ?Neurotrichus polonicus and ?Neurotrichus skoczeni has been questioned several times in the past. The fossil material belonging to ?Neurotrichus polonicus and ?Neurotrichus skoczeni is re-evaluated here and a new diagnosis is provided on the basis of qualitative considerations. In addition, a Geometric Morphometric analysis of the humerus has been performed including both extant and extinct Neurotrichini and Urotrichini taxa for comparison. Our results proved the unique morphology of the Polish material suggesting a distinct taxonomic state. The morphological variations evidenced by the humeral shape analysis agree with the observed qualitative differences and support a new generic allocation. The new genus Rzebikia gen. nov. is proposed for all the material previoulsly ascribed to ?Neurotrichus polonicus and ?Neurotrichus skoczeni

A combination of tryptophan, Satureja montana, Tribulus terrestris, Phyllanthus emblica extracts is able to improve sexual quality of life in patient with premature ejaculation

Objective: The management of patient affected by premature ejaculation (PE) is nowadays not highly satisfactory. Here, we aimed to evaluate the tolerability and efficacy of a combination of tryptophan, Satureja montana, Tribulus terrestris, Phyllanthus emblica extracts in order to improve sexual quality of life in patients with premature ejaculation. Materials and methods: All patients attending to 5 urological centers from January 2015 to March 2015, due to premature ejaculation were enrolled in this study. At the enrolment visit, all subjects underwent self-administered IIEF-5, Male Sexual Health Questionnaire-Ejaculation Disorder (MSHQ-EjD), PEDT and IELTS (calculated as mean from that perceived by partner and that perceived by patient) and underwent urological visit and laboratory examinations. All patients received one tablet per day of a combination of tryptophan, Satureja montana, Tribulus terrestris, Phyllanthus emblica extracts for 3 months (Group A). After 3 months all patients underwent follow-up visit with the same investigations that have been carried out in the enrolment visit. The results were compared with a cohort of patients enrolled in the same period in another urological center and considered as a control group (Group B). All patients in the control group underwent counseling and sexual behavioral treatment without any pharmacological compound. Results: At the follow-up analysis, significant changes in terms of IELT in the Group A (mean difference: 31.90; p < 0.05) at 3 months and versus Group B at the intergroup analysis (mean difference: 30.30; p < 0.05) were reported. In the group A, significant differences from baseline to last follow-up were observed relative to IIEF-5 (mean difference: 1.04; p < 0.05), PEDT (mean difference: -2.57; p < 0.05) and FSH (mean difference: -16.46; p < 0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, patients affected by PE may significantly benefit from oral therapy with a combination of tryptophan, Satureja montana, Tribulus terrestris, Phyllanthus emblica extracts in terms of IELT and PEDT scores improvement

Peyronie's Reconstruction for Maximum Length and Girth Gain: Geometrical Principles

Peyronie's disease has been associated with penile shortening and some degree of erectile dysfunction. Surgical reconstruction should be based on giving a functional penis, that is, rectifying the penis with rigidity enough to make the sexual intercourse. The procedure should be discussed preoperatively in terms of length and girth reconstruction in order to improve patient satisfaction. The tunical reconstruction for maximum penile length and girth restoration should be based on the maximum length of the dissected neurovascular bundle possible and the application of geometrical principles to define the precise site and size of tunical incision and grafting procedure. As penile rectification and rigidity are required to achieve complete functional restoration of the penis and 20 to 54% of patients experience associated erectile dysfunction, penile straightening alone may not be enough to provide complete functional restoration. Therefore, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, self-injection, or penile prosthesis may need to be added in some cases

Three-Scale Multiphysics Modeling of Transport Phenomena within Cortical Bone

Bone tissue can adapt its properties and geometry to its physical environment. This ability is a key point in the osteointegration of bone implants since it controls the tissue remodeling in the vicinity of the treated site. Since interstitial fluid and ionic transport taking place in the fluid compartments of bone plays a major role in the mechanotransduction of bone remodeling, this theoretical study presents a three-scale model of the multiphysical transport phenomena taking place within the vasculature porosity and the lacunocanalicular network of cortical bone. These two porosity levels exchange mass and ions through the permeable outer wall of the Haversian-Volkmann canals. Thus, coupled equations of electrochemohydraulic transport are derived from the nanoscale of the canaliculi toward the cortical tissue, considering the intermediate scale of the intraosteonal tissue. In particular, the Onsager reciprocity relations that govern the coupled transport are checked

Surgical Repair of Late Complications in Patients Having Undergone Primary Hypospadias Repair during Childhood: A New Perspective

Background. The repair of complications in patients who had undergone hypospadias repair is still an open problem. Patients and Methods. We conducted a retrospective study of patients treated for late complications after hypospadias repair. Study inclusion criteria were patients presenting urethral, corpora cavernosa deformity, and/or penile defects due to previous hypospadias repair. Exclusion criteria were precancerous or malignant lesions and incomplete data on personal medical charts. Preoperative evaluation included clinical history, physical examination, urine culture, residual urine measurement, uroflowmetry, urethrography, urethral sonography, and urethroscopy. The patients were classified into four different groups. Success was defined as a normal functional urethra, with apical meatus, no residual penile curvature or esthetic deformity of the genitalia. Results. A total of 1,176 patients were entered in our survey. Out of the 1,176 patients, 301 patients (25.5%) underwent urethroplasty (group 1), 60 (5.2%) corporoplasty (group 2), 166 (14.1%) urethroplasty and corporoplasty (group 3), and 649 (55.2%) complex genitalia resurfacing (group 4). Mean followup was 60.4 months. Out of the 1,176 cases, 1,036 (88.1%) were considered successful and 140 (11.9%) failures. Conclusion. The majority of patients (55.2%) with failed hypospadias repair require surgical reconstruction to fully resurfacing the glans and penile shaft

Audio Description in Video Games Research in Progress

As video games continue to grow in popularity, accessibility is a key concern which developers must consider to ensure the most people possible can enjoy the games they create (Cairns et al., 2019; Nova et al., 2021). With approximately 500,000 blind and partially sighted people in Canada alone, visual accessibility is a central concern of game accessibility. Visual accessibility has developed for decades with one of the most popular and effective methods of this being audio description (AD) (Fryer, 2016). Audio description comes in different styles depending on its use, with standard and extended AD being 2 of the most common types (Canadian National Institute for the Blind, 2019). Despite the success of this option in film and television, AD has not caught on in the game industry (SightlessKombat, 2020). This research looks to investigate AD as a method for visual accessibility in video games with a focus on determining the advantages and disadvantages of both standard and extended AD in this medium

Impact echo data from bridge deck testing: Visualization and interpretation

Accurate assessment of the condition of bridges leads to their economic management. Ultrasonic seismic methods can be successfully used for this purpose through evaluation of changes in material characteristics and detection of the development of defects and zones of deterioration. The impact echo (IE) method is of special benefit in evaluation of corrosion-induced deck delamination, due to the method's nondestructive nature, speed of evaluation, and ability to detect delaminated zones at various stages of deterioration: from initial to progressed and developed. The traditional approach in condition assessment of bridge decks by IE on the basis of review of individual test point records and a new automated approach based on three-dimensional (3-D) data visualization are presented. The developed 3-D visualization platform allows both the advanced presentation and interpretation of IE data. The data presentation is provided as 3-D translucent visualizations of reflectors in a bridge deck section and horizontal and vertical cross sections through all distinctive zones, including a zone of delamination. The associated interpretation platform allows both (a) the overall assessment of the condition of the deck, through cumulative distributions and histograms of reflection intensity, and (b) identification of deteriorated zones of the deck for repair or rehabilitation in an efficient and intuitive way. The visualization platform effectively enables an IE device to be used as a type of bridge deck sonar device

Bone orthotropic remodeling as a thermodynamically-driven evolution

International audienceIn this contribution we present and discuss a model of bone remodeling set up in the framework of the theory of generalized continuum mechanics and first introduced by DiCarlo et al.[1]. Bone is described as an orthotropic body experiencing remodeling as a rotation of its microstruc-ture. Thus, the complete kinematic description of a material point is provided by its position in space and a rotation tensor describing the orientation of its microstructure. Material motion is driven by energetic considerations , namely by the application of the Clausius-Duhem inequality to the microstructured material. Within this framework of orthotropic re-modeling, some key features of the remodeling equilibrium configurations are deduced in the case of homogeneous strain or stress loading conditions. First, it is shown that remodeling equilibrium configurations correspond to energy extrema. Second, stability of the remodeling equilibrium configurations is assessed in terms of the local convexity of the strain and complementary energy functionals hence recovering some classical energy theorems. Eventually, it is shown that the remodeling equilibrium configurations are not only highly dependent on the loading conditions, but also on the material properties

Permeable Asphalt Hydraulic Conductivity and Particulate Matter Separation With XRT

Permeable asphalt (PA) is a composite material with an open graded mix design that provides a pore structure facilitating stormwater infiltration. PA is often constructed as a wearing course for permeable pavements and on impervious pavements to reduce aquaplaning and noise. The pore structure of PA functions as a filter promoting particulate matter (PM) separation. The infiltrating flow characteristics are predominately dependent on pore diameter and pore interconnectivity. X-Ray microTomography (XRT) has successfully estimated these parameters that are otherwise difficult to obtain through conventional gravimetric methods. Pore structure parameters allow modeling of hydraulic conductivity (k) and filtration mechanisms; required to examine the material behavior for infiltration and PM separation. In this study, pore structure parameters were determined through XTR for three PA mixture designs. Additionally, the Kozeny-Kovav model was implemented to estimate k. PM separation was evaluated using a pore-to-PM diameter categorical model. This filtration mechanism model was validated with data from a rainfall simulator. The filtration model provided a good correlation between measured and modeled data. The identification of filtration mechanisms and k facilitate the design and evaluation of permeable pavement systems as a best management practice (BMP) for runoff volume and peak flow as well as PM and PM-partitioned chemical separation

The role of psychological interventions in chronic headache management: a case report

According to the biopsychosocial model, biological, psychological, and social factors entwine and influence each other bi-directionally concerning health conditions. Therefore, especially in disorders such as chronic headache, where behavioral and environmental factors are prominent risk factors and triggers, psychosocial interventions might contribute to reduce the burden of the health condition and related affective disorders and disability.We present the case of a Medication Overuse Headache patient self-reporting psychosocial and cognitive issues, that prompted further clinical-psychological and neuro-cognitive assessment and eventually psychological interventions targeted at headache management in conjunction with medical treatment. Psychological interventions were tailored to the patient’s features and presentation and were successful in reducing headache attacks in terms of intensity, frequency, and debilitation, thereby resulting also in a better perceived general health