A symptomatic pelvic rib

Pelvic rib is a rare anomaly where ectopic rib is found in a pelvic region. It is usually found occasionally in asymptomatic patients. We report a case of 15-year-old male, diagnosed with a symptomatic pelvic rib. It had an unusual presentation creating a pseudotumour associated with pain and reduced range of motion in the hip joint. Patient was operated on with good result and final diagnosis was confirmed in pathological examination. (Folia Morphol 2018; 77, 2: 406–408

Persistent left superior vena cava with an absent right superior vena cava in a 72-year-old male with multivessel coronary artery disease

Congenital anomalies of systemic veins are usually asymptomatic and foundincidentally during ultrasonography, computed tomography (CT) or magneticresonance examinations performed for other clinical indications. Persistent leftsuperior vena cava (PLSVC) with absent right superior vena cava (RSVC) is thecongenital aberration in the thoracic venous system which occurs in only 0.09%to 0.13% of patients who have congenital heart defects. In this paper, we presentthe extremely rare case of a 72-year-old male with PLSVC associated withan absence of RSVC, referred for coronary CT angiography. Multidetector CTangiography is a powerful tool for the detection of venous anomalies, which isessential before invasive procedures such as the implantation of pacemakers

Prevalence of congenital coronary artery anomalies and variants in 726 consecutive patients based on 64-slice coronary computed tomography angiography

  Background: Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is helpful in making a precise noninvasive evaluation of coronary anatomy, allowing concomitant evaluation of other cardiac structures. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of coronary artery variations detected by 64-slice mutidetector CT. Materials and methods: The results of ECG-gated CCTA in 726 consecutive patients (mean age 58 years) were analysed retrospectively. The main indicationsfor CCTA were a typical chest pain, angina pectoris, screening for coronary artery disease and determination of the patency of bypass grafts or stents. Acquisitionwas performed with a 64-detector CT scanner with retrospective ECG gating. Imaging results were assessed by experienced cardiovascular radiologist. Results: The overall incidence of coronary artery anomalies was 1.1% (8 out of 726 participants). The most common anomaly was an anomalous origin of the circumflex artery from the right coronary sinus with a retroaortic course (4 patients,0.6%), followed by origin of right coronary artery from the left coronary sinus (2 patients, 0.3%). One patient with abnormal origin of the left main artery from the right coronary sinus (0.1%) and 1 patient with a circumflex artery origin from the proximal segment of the right coronary artery (0.1%) were observed, both with retroartic course. Conclusions: CCTA is a noninvasive imaging technique useful for the precise evaluation of variations of the coronary arteries. This study shows similar results to other reports on this subject.

The Optical Alignment System of the ZEUS MicroVertex Detector

The laser alignment system of the ZEUS microvertex detector is described. The detector was installed in 2001 as part of an upgrade programme in preparation for the second phase of electron-proton physics at the HERA collider. The alignment system monitors the position of the vertex detector support structure with respect to the central tracking detector using semi-transparent amorphous-silicon sensors and diode lasers. The system is fully integrated into the general environmental monitoring of the ZEUS detector and data has been collected over a period of 5 years. The primary aim of defining periods of stability for track-based alignment has been achieved and the system is able to measure movements of the support structure to a precision around $10 \mu$m.Comment: 38 pages; 17 figure

POLISH TOWNS AND THE CHANGES IN THEIR AREAS AND POPULATION DENSITIES

DOI: 10.2478 Available on-line at: http://www.bulletinofgeography.umk.pl http://versita.com/bgssThis article presents the spatial and population density changes in Polish towns in the years 1960–2003. The assumed time frame allowed identifying area changes for a complete set of towns in different socio-economic conditions: the period of intense industrialisation, the economic crisis of the 1980s, the period of economic transition and finally in the years of a market economy. The investigation revealed that the trend shown by changes and the size of a town as measured by the number of its population are distinctly interrelated. It also demonstrated a much stronger dynamics of changes in the first subperiod, i.e. years 1960–1985, followed by a phase of relative stabilization (compared with the previous period) after the year 1980 (mainly of the spatial changes). Moreover, change intensity and change trends observed for the urban areas and population densities vary considerably in terms of space

The intrahepatic signalling niche of hedgehog is defined by primary cilia positive cells during chronic liver injury

Background & Aims: In vertebrates, canonical Hedgehog (Hh) pathway activation requires Smoothened (SMO) translocation to the primary cilium (Pc), followed by a GLI-mediated transcriptional response. In addition, a similar gene regulation occurs in response to growth factors/cytokines, although independently of SMO signalling. The Hh pathway plays a critical role in liver fibrosis/regeneration; however, the mechanism of activation in chronic liver injury is poorly understood. This study aimed to characterise Hh pathway activation upon thioacetamide (TAA)- induced chronic liver injury in vivo by defining Hh-responsive cells, namely cells harbouring Pc and Pc-localised SMO. Methods: C57BL/6 mice (wild-type or Ptc1+/_) were TAA-treated. Liver injury and Hh ligand/pathway mRNA and protein expression were assessed in vivo. SMO/GLI manipulation and SMO dependent/ independent activation of GLI-mediated transcriptional response in Pc-positive (Pc+) cells were studied in vitro. Results: In vivo, Hh activation was progressively induced following TAA. At the epithelial-mesenchymal interface, injured hepatocytes produced Hh ligands. Progenitors, myofibroblasts, leukocytes and hepatocytes were GLI2+. Pc+ cells increased following TAA, but only EpCAM+/GLI2+ progenitors were Pc+/SMO+. In vitro, SMO knockdown/hGli3-R overexpression reduced proliferation/viability in Pc+ progenitors, whilst increased proliferation occurred with hGli1 overexpression. HGF induced GLI transcriptional activity independently of Pc/SMO. Ptc1+/_ mice exhibited increased progenitor, myofibroblast and fibrosis responses. Conclusions: In chronic liver injury, Pc+ progenitors receive Hh ligand signals and process it through Pc/SMO-dependent activation of GLI-mediated transcriptional response. Pc/SMO-independent GLI activation likely occurs in Pc_/GLI2+ cells. Increased fibrosis in Hh gain-of-function mice likely occurs by primary progenitor expansion/proliferation and secondary fibrotic myofibroblast expansion, in close contact with progenitors

ECFA Detector R&D Panel, Review Report

Two special calorimeters are foreseen for the instrumentation of the very forward region of an ILC or CLIC detector; a luminometer (LumiCal) designed to measure the rate of low angle Bhabha scattering events with a precision better than 10$^{-3}$ at the ILC and 10$^{-2}$ at CLIC, and a low polar-angle calorimeter (BeamCal). The latter will be hit by a large amount of beamstrahlung remnants. The intensity and the spatial shape of these depositions will provide a fast luminosity estimate, as well as determination of beam parameters. The sensors of this calorimeter must be radiation-hard. Both devices will improve the e.m. hermeticity of the detector in the search for new particles. Finely segmented and very compact electromagnetic calorimeters will match these requirements. Due to the high occupancy, fast front-end electronics will be needed. Monte Carlo studies were performed to investigate the impact of beam-beam interactions and physics background processes on the luminosity measurement, and of beamstrahlung on the performance of BeamCal, as well as to optimise the design of both calorimeters. Dedicated sensors, front-end and ADC ASICs have been designed for the ILC and prototypes are available. Prototypes of sensor planes fully assembled with readout electronics have been studied in electron beams.Comment: 61 pages, 51 figure

An improved measurement of muon antineutrino disappearance in MINOS

We report an improved measurement of muon anti-neutrino disappearance over a distance of 735km using the MINOS detectors and the Fermilab Main Injector neutrino beam in a muon anti-neutrino enhanced configuration. From a total exposure of 2.95e20 protons on target, of which 42% have not been previously analyzed, we make the most precise measurement of the anti-neutrino "atmospheric" delta-m squared = 2.62 +0.31/-0.28 (stat.) +/- 0.09 (syst.) and constrain the anti-neutrino atmospheric mixing angle >0.75 (90%CL). These values are in agreement with those measured for muon neutrinos, removing the tension reported previously.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. In submission to Phys.Rev.Let