Application of adipose-derived stromal cells in fat grafting: Basic science and literature review

Autologous fat is considered the ideal material for soft‑tissue augmentation in plastic and reconstructive surgery. The primary drawback of autologous fat grafting is the high resorption rate. The isolation of mesenchymal stem cells from adipose tissue inevitably led to research focusing on the study of combined transplantation of autologous fat and adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) and introduced the theory of ʻcell‑assisted lipotransferʼ. Transplantation of ADSCs is a promising strategy, due to the high proliferative capacity of stem cells, their potential to induce paracrine signalling and ability to differentiate into adipocytes and vascular cells. The current study examined the literature for clinical and experimental studies on cell‑assisted lipotransfer to assess the efficacy of this novel technique when compared with traditional fat grafting. A total of 30 studies were included in the present review. The current study demonstrates that cell‑assisted lipotransfer has improved efficacy compared with conventional fat grafting. Despite relatively positive outcomes, further investigation is required to establish a consensus in cell‑assisted lipotransfer

Design and construction of the CMS Inner Tracker for the HL-LHC Upgrade

The High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) at CERN is expected to collide protons at a center-of-mass energy of 14 TeV and to reach the unprecedented peak instantaneous luminosity of 5–7.5×1034cm−2s−1 with an average number of pileup events of 140–200. This will allow the ATLAS and CMS experiments to collect integrated luminosities up to 3000–4000fb−1 during the project lifetime. To cope with this extreme scenario the CMS detector will be substantially upgraded before starting the HL-LHC, a plan known as the CMS Phase-2 upgrade. The entire CMS silicon pixel detector will be replaced and the new detector will feature increased radiation hardness, higher granularity and capability to handle the higher data rate and the longer trigger latency. In this contribution, the Phase-2 upgrade of the CMS silicon pixel detector will be reviewed, focusing on the features of the detector layout and technological choices and summarizing the R&D activities

Analog performance of the CROCv1 pixel readout chip for the CMS Phase-2 Tracker Upgrade

The CROCv1 front-end (FE) chip was designed by the RD53 Collaboration for the CMS Phase-2 Inner Tracker Upgrade. It is designed to cope with the extreme radiation and hit rates of the HL-LHC and it is based on the 65\,nm CMOS technology and a novel analog FE design featuring linear charge to Time-over-Threshold conversion. In this contribution, the characterization measurements of the analog part of the chip are presented with a special focus on the linear analog FE, including Total Ionizing Dose radiation damage studies

A RealTime Graphic Environment for a Urological Operation Training Simulator

of a training simulator for urological operations, is presented. The graphic environment simulates endoscope insertion in a small diameter deformable tube and is used with a low-force 5-dof force-feedback haptic mechanism. Piecewise Bezier interpolations are used for smooth urethra deformations. A novel particle-based model computes the forces and torques fed to the haptics. Realistic textures from medical databases are employed and a 25 fps refresh rate is achieved using the Rendering Thread method. The overall simulator software is made of three processes running on two distinct platforms, communicating via Ethernet and TCP/IP. Keywords_Graphical training simulator, force model, haptics. I

Development of a Real-time Visual and Force Environment for a Haptic Medical Training Simulator

Submitted as a full paper to Artificial Life and Robotic

Soft-tissue sarcomas and reconstruction options - Twenty-two years of experience

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are particularly rare malignancies that constitute less than 1% of all malignancies. In recent years, prognostic clinical factors have been defined that help to stratify patients regarding their risk for local and distant recurrence and death from disease. Tumor grade, size, depth, completeness of resection, and presentation status are among the independent prognostic factors. At present, the treatment of these tumors constitutes a wide or marginal excision, adequate primary reconstruction, and radiotherapy. Surgery has generally been recommended as the primary method of treatment for achieving local control. Modem reconstructive surgery, especially musculocutaneous, either pedicle or free flaps, has made more extensive resections possible, while providing acceptable cosmetic and functional results. This study deals with our experience in the treatment of resectable STS with selective combination of treatment modalities

Characterization of Salmonella isolates from municipal sewage, patients, foods, and animals in Greece using antimicrobial susceptibility testing and pulsed field gel electrophoresis

Aims: We aimed to compare Salmonella isolates from different sources using molecular and phenotypic methods, targeting better possibility of understanding the epidemiology of this organism in the Greek context with emphasis in municipal wastewater. Materials and Methods: In this study, we used pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) in combination with antimicrobial susceptibility testing to analyze a total of 88 Salmonella Enterica isolates from municipal sewage (n=25), humans (n=36), animals (n=24), and foods (n=3) in Greece. Results: The higher resistance rates were found to the following antimicrobials: streptomycin (59.1%), tetracycline (47.7%), nalidixic acid (46.6%), ampicillin (37.5%), and oxolinic acid (35.2%). Resistance to ciprofloxacin was not observed; 22 isolates (25%) were sensitive to all 9 antimicrobials, 36%, 25% and 12% of human, animal and wastewater origin, respectively, showing a significant difference. Salmonella ser. Hadar was the serovar with the highest resistance rates followed by Salmonella ser. Anatum and Salmonella ser. Typhimurium; Salmonella ser. Infantis strains were almost pansusceptible. Cluster analysis did not reveal close genetic relationship between human animal food and wastewater strains belonging to the same serovars. In most of the cases, distinct clusters were observed between human and non-human isolates indicating diversity and no epidemiological connection. Conclusion: This study indicates that municipal wastewater would be of interest to further monitor the community’s prevalence of subclinical or non-reported S. Enterica infections