An alternative technique of dealing special cases of bronchopleural fistulas

The closure of a bronchopleural fistula (BPF) complicating pneumonectomy remains a serious challenge for the surgeon. Although several endoscopic, surgical and combined (surgical + endoscopic) techniques have been proposed to manage this complication, serious technical challenges appear when the bronchial stump is too rigid and/or is in very close proximity to the carina. In such cases the use of common staplers can be proved ineffective or even hazardous. In the present we describe a tension-free technique for buttressing the bronchial stump with intercostal muscle flap. Although we have not applied this technique neither in humans nor in animals yet, its theoretic advantages are obvious and we believe that it can be applied to specific cases of BPF’s with very short and rigid bronchial stump

+Spaces: Intelligent Virtual Spaces for eGovernment

Intelligent Environments most commonly take a physical form such as homes, offices, hotels, restaurants, shops, that are equipped with advanced networked computer based systems, which enable better or new lifestyles for people. However, Intelligent Environments can also take the form of virtual online spaces such as SecondLife, which can both mimic the real world and provide functionalities which could not be provided in reality, such as advanced simulations and movement. There is the growing trend for people to spend more time in such virtual environments and, to these ends, this work in progress paper reports on a new project, +Spaces which is developing a range of virtual world tools for e-government applications, and presents some of the concepts and technical challenges involved in creating these intelligent virtual spaces for e-government. © 2010 IEEE

Debatable results of surgery for lung cancer in a patient with long existing pulmonary metastases from differentiated thyroid carcinoma

Introduction: The appropriate following treatment in a patient with a new presented non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and history of chronic lung metastases of thyroid origin has never been reported. In such cases, the presence of long­standing thyroid metastatic disease with proven “limited malignant potential” could be considered as a minor treatment problem justifying one’s the decision to focus on the primary lung carcinoma as the only serious threat for the patient’s life.Case report: We report the surgical treatment of a new presented NSCLC in a patient with chronic lung metastases of thyroid origin and we present all the diagnostic, staging and treatment problems.Conclusion: The therapeutic results of our surgical approach were not encouraging. This could be owed to our staging prob­lems of NSCLC and the well documented limited immunological response of such patients with multiple neoplasms

”Mä ainakin haluun osallistua” : lasten kokemuksia osallisuudestaan Suomenlinnan päiväkodin musiikkituokiossa

Opinnäytetyömme toteutettiin yhteistyössä Suomenlinnan päiväkodin kanssa. Opinnäytetyömme tarkoituksena oli saada päiväkodin lapsilta subjektiivisia kokemuksia omasta osallisuudestaan liittyen päiväkodin musiikkituokioon. Musiikkituokio on päiväkodin kaikkien lasten yhteinen, viikoittain järjestettävä toimintatuokio. Työn tavoitteena oli löytää lasten mielestä tärkeimmät osallisuutta tukevat seikat musiikkituokiossa sekä ne keinot, joilla lapsi kokee voivansa vaikuttaa tuokion suunnitteluun ja toteutukseen. Opinnäytetyön tuloksia hyödyntäen päiväkodin henkilökunnalla on mahdollisuus kehittää musiikkituokiota ja muita ryhmätilanteita vastaamaan enemmän lasten toiveita. Opinnäytetyömme oli kvalitatiivinen tutkimus. Aineiston keräsimme saduttamalla ja teemahaastattelemalla yhdeksää päiväkodin 5-6-vuotiasta lasta. Aineistonkeruu toteutettiin kahdella eri kerralla, musiikkituokioiden jälkeen. Analysoimme aineiston litteroimalla ja sitten teemoittelemalla. Tutkimuksessamme jaoimme tulokset neljään eri teemaan; Musiikkituokion herättämät tunteet, Oma osallistuminen, Lapsen mahdollisuus vaikuttaa suunnitteluun ja kehittämiseen sekä Musiikkituokion jakaminen muiden lasten ja aikuisten kanssa. Tuloksista ilmeni, että lapset kokivat musiikkituokion pääosin toimivaksi viikoittaiseksi toiminnaksi. Lapset kokivat tulevansa kuulluiksi sekä pääsevänsä osallistumaan tuokioihin. Lapset toivoivat kuitenkin voivansa osallistua nykyistä enemmän tuokion suunnitteluun sekä saavansa vaikuttaa enemmän toteutuksen aikana. Lasten osallisuuden taso vaihtelee musiikkituokion suunnittelussa ja toteutuksessa. Aikui-sen rooli osallistumisen mahdollistajana on suuri, mutta siihen vaikuttaa myös toisten lasten osallistuminen ja lapsen oma aktiivisuus. Lapsilla on kuitenkin tarve kokea kuuluvansa samaan ryhmään muiden lasten kanssa. Osallisuuden kautta lapselle kehittyy kuva itses-tään ja siitä, kuka hän on suhteessa muihin.Our Bachelor’s Thesis was executed in co-operation with Suomenlinna Day Care Centre. The purpose of our thesis was to examine children’s experiences on their own participation during the music session in the day care centre. The music session is a weekly activity for all the children of the day care centre. The study was conducted from the children’s point of view. The goal of this study was to find the key elements for children’s participation and the ways how children experienced their opportunities to influence planning and executing the music session. Suomenlinna Day Care Centre can benefit from the results of our thesis in planning the music session and other group activities in the future. The study was qualitative. Data for this study was collected with nine children, aged five to six, by using the story-crafting method and themed interviews. We gathered the data in two different sessions after the music moments. With data we used transcription and then ana-lysed it thematically. We categorized the results into four different themes in our study. These themes were the emotions attached to the music session, the child’s own participation, the child’s opportunity to influence planning and developing and sharing the music session with other children and adults. The results showed that the children mostly considered the music session a well-made weekly activity. The children felt that they were heard and were able to participate during the music session. They wished that adults would involve them more in planning the content of the music session. They also said that they would like to have more influence during the session. Children’s level of participation varies in planning and executing the music session. We draw a conclusion that adults have a big role as enablers when it comes to children’s par-ticipation, but also the participation of other children and the child’s own activity have an influence. Children have a need to feel that they are an important part of a group. Partici-pation strengthens the child’s self-image and the way children interact with each other

Orchestrating global systems science and information technologies for policy modelling: The SYMPHONY approach

In our globalized world public policy making and society at large face challenges like climate change and financial crises that are global, shared worldwide and tightly connected with policies across different sectors. Solutions for addressing such highly interconnected challenges in a 'system of systems' world, tend to address only subsystems and so fail to achieve systemic change and anticipate impact and unintended consequences of public action. Pursuing the necessity of informing the policy decision process and proactively sensing possible problems concerning global matters we are proposing a novel computational platform called SYMPHONY that offers a solution for designing and testing policies and regulatory measures. Our aim is to offer policy modellers and policy makers tools that will support them to make decisions which will prevent and mitigate economic and financial crises as well as foster an economically and ecologically sustainable growth path

Mean monthly notification rate of hepatitis A for 2004–2012 and monthly notification rate in 2013, Mandatory Notification System, Greece.

<p>Mean monthly notification rate of hepatitis A for 2004–2012 and monthly notification rate in 2013, Mandatory Notification System, Greece.</p

Geographical distribution of hepatitis A reported cases, Mandatory Notification System, Greece, 1982–2012 (5-year time intervals with the exception of 1992–1997 because of the following change of the system).

<p>Geographical distribution of hepatitis A reported cases, Mandatory Notification System, Greece, 1982–2012 (5-year time intervals with the exception of 1992–1997 because of the following change of the system).</p