Age, Gender, Biometry, Refractive Error, and the Anterior Chamber Angle among Alaskan Eskimos

The prevalence of angle-closure glaucoma (ACG) is greater for Eskimos/Inuit than it is for any other ethnic group in the world. Although it has been suggested that this prevalence may be due to a population tendency toward shallower anterior chamber angles, available evidence for other populations such as Chinese with high rates of ACG has not consistently demonstrated such a tendency

AUDIT OF LOGISTIC PROCESSES AS AN ELEMENT OF BUSINESS COOPERATION OF AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY ENTERPRISES

The audit of logistic processes is an important element of modern management of international enterprises. It is a mechanism that verifies the quality of processes carried out in an enterprise. The audit is a kind of confirmation of the requirements that business partners expect and which must be met in order to be able to establish business cooperation. The article has a theoretical and empirical character and is an introduction to the presented problem, requiring further in-depth research. The article is a case study analysing a logistics audit that was carried out in an automotive industry enterprise.The audit of logistic processes is an important element of modern management of international enterprises. It is a mechanism that verifies the quality of processes carried out in an enterprise. The audit is a kind of confirmation of the requirements that business partners expect and which must be met in order to be able to establish business cooperation. The article has a theoretical and empirical character and is an introduction to the presented problem, requiring further in-depth research. The article is a case study analysing a logistics audit that was carried out in an automotive industry enterprise

Assessment of the vehicle supercharging system operational functionality on the turbocharger example

This article is devoted to the issues of assessing the operational functionalities of the vehicle supercharging system on the turbocharge. The article presents assessment of turbocharger technical state verification procedure includes supercharging parameters, damage analysis, turbine blade strength analysis for chosen vehicles, and turbocharger impeller stand tests. The most frequently occurring failures and defects of supercharging devices are presented included their reasons. The main part of the work includes the strength analysis of the impeller blades, the verification of their deviations, and the stand tests by using specialized equipment

Complete Plastid Genome Sequence of the Chickpea (Cicer Arietinum) and the Phylogenetic Distribution of rps12 and clpP Intron Losses Among Legumes (Leguminosae)

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum, Leguminosae), an important grain legume, is widely used for food and fodder throughout the world. We sequenced the complete plastid genome of chickpea, which is 125,319 bp in size, and contains only one copy of the inverted repeat (IR). The genome encodes 108 genes, including 4 rRNAs, 29 tRNAs, and 75 proteins. The genes rps16, infA, and ycf4 are absent in the chickpea plastid genome, and ndhB has an internal stop codon in the 5′exon, similar to other legumes. Two genes have lost their introns, one in the 3′exon of the transpliced gene rps12, and the one between exons 1 and 2 of clpP; this represents the first documented case of the loss of introns from both of these genes in the same plastid genome. An extensive phylogenetic survey of these intron losses was performed on 302 taxa across legumes and the related family Polygalaceae. The clpP intron has been lost exclusively in taxa from the temperate “IR-lacking clade” (IRLC), whereas the rps12 intron has been lost in most members of the IRLC (with the exception of Wisteria, Callerya, Afgekia, and certain species of Millettia, which represent the earliest diverging lineages of this clade), and in the tribe Desmodieae, which is closely related to the tribes Phaseoleae and Psoraleeae. Data provided here suggest that the loss of the rps12 intron occurred after the loss of the IR. The two new genomic changes identified in the present study provide additional support of the monophyly of the IR-loss clade, and resolution of the pattern of the earliest-branching lineages in this clade. The availability of the complete chickpea plastid genome sequence also provides valuable information on intergenic spacer regions among legumes and endogenous regulatory sequences for plastid genetic engineering

Realizacja i użytkowanie sieci PACS w zakładzie radiologii : doświadczenia własne

Background: DICOM created a common software platform enabling communication between devices from different vendors. This allows the creation of a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) - a hospital network of imaging modalities, graphics workstations, film printers, and archiving devices. The aim of this study was to show the practical aspects of using a heterogeneous PACS, composed of equipment from several vendors. Both advantages and problems in the cooperation of theoretically "DICOM compatible" devices are presented. Material/Methods: A heterogeneous PACS was gradually created in our department between 1998 and 2003, currently consisting o f a Siemens CT multi-row scanner, a GE MRI scanner, a GE rotational angiograph, Siemens, GE, Marconi, and eFilm Medical graphics workstations, and Agfa thermal printers. DICOM 3.0 was used as a common protocol and the 100 Mb Ethernet as the hardware solution. Connectivity and interoperability in such a system were tested. Results: Using the DICOM protocol, it was possible to transfer images from the modality of one vendor to the graphics workstation of another vendor and then use sophisticated software for image processing. It was also possible to use storage devices such as CD recorders for images from modalities without a built-in storage option. In spite o f theoretical DICOM compatibility, in some cases it was not possible to achieve correct communication in practice. Conclusions: DICOM enables the gradual creation of a PACS with devices from different vendors, thus reducing implementation costs. Using a PACS, many different imaging modalities may use the same graphic workstations and digital printers. Usually one could expect full compatibility o f all DICOM devices; however, in practice cooperation is sometimes limited or erroneous, reducing the benefits of the standard. Archiving data on CD-ROMs is a solution which greatly reduces the operational costs of a radiology department

Optical magnetometry based on nanodiamonds with nitrogen-vacancy color centers

Nitrogen-vacancy color centers in diamond are a very promising medium for many sensing applications such as magnetometry and thermometry. In this work, we study nanodiamonds deposited from a suspension onto glass substrates. Fluorescence and optically detected magnetic resonance spectra recorded with the dried-out nanodiamond ensembles are presented and a suitable scheme for tracking the magnetic-field value using a continuous poly-crystalline spectrum is introduced. Lastly, we demonstrate a remote-sensing capability of the high-numerical-aperture imaging fiber bundle with nanodiamonds deposited on its end facet

Study on breast carcinoma Her2/neu and hormonal receptors status assessed by automated images analysis systems: ACIS III (Dako) and ScanScope (Aperio).

Her-2/neu is overexpressed in 20-30% of breast cancer patients and is associated with a more aggressive disease. Identification of Her-2/c-erbB-2-neu overexpression is based on immunohistochemical [ihc] detection of protein and/or gene amplification in fluorescence in situ hybridization test (FISH). Also Estrogen receptors [ER] and Progesterone receptors [PR] are the prognostic and predictive biomarkers, recently analysed by ihc methods. Subjective, manual scoring of the ihc Her-2/neu expression and expression of the ER/PR reported as the percentage of immunopositive cells are the most common mode of interpretation among pathologists. Automated microscopy and computerised processing have provided increased accuracy in quantification and standardisation. The aims of our study were: to evaluate the scoring reproducibility of Her-2 /neu ihc expression tested by two automated systems: ACIS (Dako) and ScanScope (Aperio); to estimate the ER/PR expression in ihc staining methods with different anti-ER/anti-PR antibodies (the monoclonal and the ER/PR pharmDx TM Kit) by the ACIS system. Her-2/neu ihc expression was measured in 114 primary invasive breast carcinomas by the manual and the automated scoring (ACIS and Aperio system). 106 slides stained ihc with two types of anti-ER/anti-PR antibodies entered the quantisation. The results of our investigations showed very high reproducibility of Her-2/neu scores in intra- and interobserver analysis by ACIS evaluation. The major concordance was present in strong 3+ ihc cases; very small discordance was shown by cases with low expression of Her-2/neu. The accuracy of scoring by the Aperio was little lower in comparison to ACIS but it might result from the smaller and variable series of samples analysed by Aperio. The concordance in scoring of two automated systems was 86.5% (