Diagrammatic calculation of thermodynamical quantities in nuclear matter

In medium T-matrix calculations for symmetric nuclear matter at zero and finite temperatures are presented. The internal energy is calculated from the Galitskii-Koltun's sum rule and from the summation of the diagrams for the interaction energy. The pressure at finite temperature is obtained from the generating functional form of the thermodynamic potential. The entropy at high temperature is estimated and compared to expressions corresponding to a quasiparticle gas.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Reconstruction of superoperators from incomplete measurements

We present strategies how to reconstruct (estimate) properties of a quantum channel described by the map E based on incomplete measurements. In a particular case of a qubit channel a complete reconstruction of the map E can be performed via complete tomography of four output states E[rho_j ] that originate from a set of four linearly independent test states j (j = 1, 2, 3, 4) at the input of the channel. We study the situation when less than four linearly independent states are transmitted via the channel and measured at the output. We present strategies how to reconstruct the channel when just one, two or three states are transmitted via the channel. In particular, we show that if just one state is transmitted via the channel then the best reconstruction can be achieved when this state is a total mixture described by the density operator rho = I/2. To improve the reconstruction procedure one has to send via the channel more states. The best strategy is to complement the total mixture with pure states that are mutually orthogonal in the sense of the Bloch-sphere representation. We show that unitary transformations (channels) can be uniquely reconstructed (determined) based on the information of how three properly chosen input states are transformed under the action of the channel.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Clinical Article A retrospective review of cervical corpectomy: indications, complications and outcome

Summary Background. Cervical corpectomy is a common spinal surgery procedure used to decompress the spinal cord in numerous degenerative, traumatic and neoplastic conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the indications, complications and outcomes in past cervical corpectomy cases at one centre. Method. 72 patients who underwent cervical corpectomy between February 1992 and June 2001 were retrospectively investigated. Findings. The indications for this operation were degenerative spondylitic disease (26 cases; 36.1%), trauma (18 cases; 25%), tumour (11 cases; 15.3%), infection (10 cases; 13.9%), and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (7 cases; 9.7%). Thirty-seven patients (51.4%) underwent one-level corpectomy, and 35 (48.6%) underwent two-level corpectomy. Autografts were used in 13 cases (18.1%) and allografts were used in 59 cases (81.9%). Anterior plate-screw fixation was performed in all cases. There were 31 postoperative complications in 15 (20.8%) patients. Twelve of the complications were surgical, 5 were graft-related, 7 were plating-related, and 7 were medical. Solid bony fusion was achieved in 65 (92.9%) of the 70 surviving patients. The mean follow-up time was 23.4 months. An overall favourable outcome was achieved in 88% of cases. Conclusion. The outcomes in this series indicate that cervical corpectomy is an effective method for treating traumatic lesions, degenerative disease, tumours and infectious processes involving the anterior and middle portions of the cervical spine

COMPOSITION OF THE VOLATILE METABOLITES FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF TORILIS LEPTOPHYLLA (L.) REICHB. AND T. UCRANICA SPRENGEL

The volatile metabolites obtained from different aerial parts of Torilis leptophylla (L.) Reichb. and T. ucranica Sprengel (Umbelliferae) were analyzed by GC-FID and GC/MS methods. Plants were collected at the end of June 2007 in the Eskisehir province of the Central Anatolian region of Turkey. The leaves, fruits and flowers were separately subjected to micro-distillation, using an Eppendorf MicroDistiller to obtain volatile metabolites. The leaf and fruit volatiles of T. leptophylla were characterized by high percentages of myrcene (8.9% and 15.6%, respectively), germacrene D (13.9% and 13.7%, resp.) and spathulenol (6.5% and 3.6%, resp.). The leaf and flower volatiles of T. ucranica were characterized by high amounts of sesquiterpenes with germacrene D (31.7% and 27.5%, resp.), ß-ylangene (6.8% and 5.9%, resp.) and bicyclogermacrene (5.3% and 6.9%, resp.) as major constituents. Among the fruit volatiles of T. ucranica himachalene-type sesquiterpenes, namely 1-á-H-himachal-4-en-1-ß-ol (50.6%), ß-himachalene (10.2%) and 1-himachalen-7-ol (0.8%) were predominant. The major monoterpene of the flowers and fruits of T. ucranica was found to be ß-pinene (15.1% and 11.3%, resp.). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the volatiles of T. ucranica