"How I Do It"-Radical Right Colectomy with Side-to-Side Stapled Ileo-Colonic Anastomosis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Standardization of surgical technique helps to reproduce excellent clinical outcomes, especially in teaching institutions. We aim to describe in detail our established approach for oncological right colectomy. TECHNIQUE: The right colon is mobilized in a five-step latero-inferior approach starting off with (1) the terminal ileum, visualizing the duodenum and the head of pancreas. (2) The ascending colon is dissected from the retroperitoneum, and takedown of the hepatic flexure is completed coming retrograde from the transverse colon (3). (4) Transection of the remaining retroperitoneal attachments completes exposure of the duodenum and mobilization of the right colon. (5) Ileocolic vessels are dissected out and divided close to their origin, and the mesocolon is divided. We then establish intestinal continuity by use of a side-to-side stapled technique. (1) The arms of a linear cutting stapler are inserted via transverse incisions at the anti-mesenteric sides of the terminal ileum and the transverse colon (tenia) and fired. (2) The enterotomy site is closed by removal of the specimen using a second transverse firing of the linear cutting stapler. An important final step is the (3) reinforcement of the anastomotic ends and the crossing of the staple lines; an omental patch and closure of the mesenteric window are optional. CONCLUSION: The suggested standardized five-step lateral-to-medial dissection of the right colon and the three-step side-to-side stapled technique for ileo-colonic anastomosis are easy to learn and to reproduce. Careful adherence to pivotal technical details will help to obtain an optimal oncological outcome and a consistently low leak rate around 2 %.

Estimating patterns of leaf herbivory along an altitudinal transect in NE Queensland rainforests: might global warming increase leaf herbivory in tropical rainforests?

Climate change has been taking place at unprecedented rates over the past decades. These fast alterations caused by human activities are leading to a global warming of the planet. Warmer temperatures are going to have important effects on vegetation and especially on tropical forests. Insects as well will be affected by climate change. This study tested the hypothesis that higher temperatures lead to a higher insect pressure on vegetation. Visual estimations of leaf damage were recorded and used to assess the extent of herbivory in nine 0.1ha plots along an altitudinal gradient, and therefore a temperature gradient. These estimations were made at both a community level and a species level, on 2 target species. Leaf toughness tests were performed on samples from the target species from each plot. Results showed a strong evidence of increasing insect damage along increasing temperature, with no significant effect from the leaf toughness.

Estudio de gestión de la finca La Esperanza, municipio de Pueblo Nuevo, Nicaragua

El presente proyecto tiene como finalidad el análisis de la Finca la Esperanza, en la localidad de Pueblo Nuevo, en la República de Nicaragua. En dicho análisis se estudian parámetros edáficos, calidad de agua y económicos, con el objetivo de poder plantear una propuesta de mejora en los rendimientos de la finca tanto a nivel económico como ambiental. La iniciativa de realizar este estudio surge de las necesidades del propio agricultor, que plantea el desarrollo rural sobre la base de actividades respetuosas con el medio. Las estrategias a los problemas sociales originados por la producción agraria industrial, como el éxodo rural, la pérdida de la agricultura convencional, la nueva función de los espacios agrarios de la sociedad, etc., se formalizaron en el denominado Desarrollo Sostenible. A nivel de finca cualquier concepción de sustentabilidad necesita que el agrosistema sea considerado como un ecosistema, en el que la investigación y la producción busquen no solamente altos rendimientos sino la optimización del sistema como un todo. Tal propósito requiere armonizar una viabilidad económica con otras variables, como estabilidad ecológica y equidad social. Para ello, los principios básicos de un sistema sostenible son: la conservación de los recursos renovables, la adaptación del cultivo al ambiente y el mantenimiento de un moderado pero sostenible nivel de producción. Como resultado de los análisis y observaciones hechas a lo largo de la estancia en la finca, se propone un plan de actuación de 10 años de duración en los cuales se procura alcanzar no únicamente unas cuotas máximas de rendimiento sino también la supervivencia de los recursos, base de la familia Videa Vanegas, propietarios.

Control de instrumentos mediante el bus GPIB programado con MATLAB

El proyecto que se expone a continuación está dedicado al control de instrumentos mediante el bus de instrumentación GPIB programado con el software Matlab. Está dividido en dos partes. La primera, será llevada a cabo en el laboratorio de docencia y el objetivo será controlar el osciloscopio y el generador de funciones. Como ejemplo del control realizado se desarrollará una aplicación que permitirá obtener el diagrama de Bode de módulo de cualquier sistema electrónico. La segunda parte será llevada a cabo en el laboratorio de investigación y el objetivo será controlar el analizador de semiconductores. En este caso, la aplicación desarrollada permitirá la realización de medidas para la caracterización de transistores. Las aplicaciones de ambas partes estarán realizadas mediante una interfaz gráfica de usuario diseñada con la herramienta GUIDE de Matlab.

Some solutions to obtain very efficient separations in isocratic and gradient modes using small particles size and ultra-high pressure.

The UHPLC strategy which combines sub-2 microm porous particles and ultra-high pressure (>1000 bar) was investigated considering very high resolution criteria in both isocratic and gradient modes, with mobile phase temperatures between 30 and 90 degrees C. In isocratic mode, experimental conditions to reach the maximal efficiency were determined using the kinetic plot representation for DeltaP(max)=1000 bar. It has been first confirmed that the molecular weight of the compounds (MW) was a critical parameter which should be considered in the construction of such curves. With a MW around 1000 g mol(-1), efficiencies as high as 300,000 plates could be theoretically attained using UHPLC at 30 degrees C. By limiting the column length to 450 mm, the maximal plate count was around 100,000. In gradient mode, the longest column does not provide the maximal peak capacity for a given analysis time in UHPLC. This was attributed to the fact that peak capacity is not only related to the plate number but also to column dead time. Therefore, a compromise should be found and a 150 mm column should be preferentially selected for gradient lengths up to 60 min at 30 degrees C, while the columns coupled in series (3x 150 mm) were attractive only for t(grad)>250 min. Compared to 30 degrees C, peak capacities were increased by about 20-30% for a constant gradient length at 90 degrees C and gradient time decreased by 2-fold for an identical peak capacity.

The First Christian Historian. Writing the "Acts of the Apostles"

As the first historian of Christianity, Luke's reliability is vigorously disputed among scholars. The author of the Acts is often accused of being a biased, imprecise, and anti-Jewish historian who created a distorted portrait of Paul. Daniel Marguerat tries to avoid being caught in this true/false quagmire when examining Luke's interpretation of history. Instead he combines different tools - reflection upon historiography, the rules of ancient historians and narrative criticism - to analyse the Acts and gauge the historiographical aims of their author. Marguerat examines the construction of the narrative, the framing of the plot and the characterization, and places his evaluation firmly in the framework of ancient historiography, where history reflects tradition and not documentation. This is a fresh and original approach to the classic themes of Lucan theology: Christianity between Jerusalem and Rome, the image of God, the work of the Spirit, the unity of Luke and the Acts.

Purification and characterization of (Na+ + K+)-ATPase from toad kidney

This report describes the partial purification and the characteristics of (Na+ + K+)-ATPase (ATP phosphohydrolase, EC 3.6.1.3) from an amphibian source. Toad kidney microsomes were solubilized with sodium deoxycholate and further purified by sodium dodecyl sulphate treatment and sucrose gradient centrifugation, according to the methods described by Lane et al. [(1973) J. Biol. Chem. 248, 7197--7200], Jørgensen [(1974) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 356, 36--52] and Hayashi et al. [(1977) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 482, 185--196]. (Na+ + K+)-ATPase preparations with specific activities up to 1000 mumol Pi/mg protein per h were obtained. Mg2+-ATPase only accounted for about 2% of the total ATPase activity. Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed three major protein bands with molecular weights of 116 000, 62 000 and 26 000. The 116 000 dalton protein was phosphorylated by [gamma-32P]ATP in the presence of sodium but not in the presence of potassium. The 62 000 dalton component stained for glycoproteins. The Km for ATP was 0.40 mM, for Na+ 12.29 mM and for K+ 1.14 mM. The Ki for ouabain was 35 micron. Temperature activation curves showed two activity peaks at 37 degrees C and at 50 degrees C. The break in the Arrhenius plot of activity versus temperature appeared at 15 degrees C.

Narrative Diagrammatik. Mit einer Modellanalyse: Die Diagrammatik des "Decameron"

Taking as a starting point the seeming inconsistency of late-medieval romances notoriously 'run wild' (verwildert), this article is concerned with the description of an abstract form of narrative coherence that is based on the notion of the diagrammatic. In a first section, this concept is illustrated in a simplified manner by an analysis of Boccaccio's Decameron based on two levels of spatial structure: that of the autograph Berlin manuscript (Codex Hamilton 90) and that of the recipient's mental visualisation of the relations between the frame and the tales of the work. It is argued that the connectivity of the work as a whole depends on the perception of those two spatial representations of the plot. A second section develops this concept in a more theoretical fashion, drawing on Charles Sanders Peirce's notion of diagrammatic reasoning as a way of perceiving relations through mental and material topological representations. Correspondingly, a view of narrative is proposed that does not depend on the traditional perspective of temporal sequence but emphasizes the spatial structure of literary narrative. It is argued that these conditions form the primary ontological mode of narrative, whereas the temporal development of a story is an aesthetic illusion that has been specifically stimulated by the narrative conventions of approximately the past three centuries and must thus be considered a secondary effect. To conclude, an interpretation in miniature of an aspect of Heinrich von Neustadt's Apollonius von Tyrland that seems to have 'run wild' is undertaken from a diagrammatic perspective.

Effect of epinephrine on oxygen consumption and delivery during progressive hemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether, during hemorrhagic shock, the effect of epinephrine on energy metabolism could be deleterious, by enhancing the oxygen requirement at a given level of oxygen delivery (DO2). DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, control trial. SETTING: Experimental laboratory. SUBJECTS: Two groups of seven mongrel dogs were studied. The epinephrine group received a continuous infusion of epinephrine (1 microgram/min/kg) while the control group received saline. INTERVENTION: Dogs were anesthetized with pentobarbital, and shock was produced by stepwise hemorrhage. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Oxygen consumption (VO2) was continuously measured by the gas exchange technique, while DO2 was independently calculated from cardiac output (measured by thermodilution) and blood oxygen content. A dual-lines regression fit was applied to the DO2 vs. VO2 plot. The intersection of the two regression lines defined the critical value of DO2. Values above critical DO2 belonged to phase 1, while phase 2 occurred below critical DO2. In the control group, VO2 was independent of DO2 during phase 1; VO2 was dependent on DO2 during phase 2. In the epinephrine group, the expected increase in VO2 (+19%) and DO2 (+50%) occurred under normovolemic conditions. During hemorrhage, VO2 immediately decreased, and the slope of phase 1 was significantly (p < .01) different from zero, and was significantly (p < .05) steeper than in the control group (0.025 +/- 0.005 vs. 0.005 +/- 0.010). However, the critical DO2 (8.7 +/- 1.7 vs. 9.7 +/- 2.4 mL/min/kg), the critical VO2 (5.6 +/- 0.5 vs. 5.5 +/- 0.9 mL/min/kg), and the slope of phase 2 (0.487 +/- 0.080 vs. 0.441 +/- 0.130) were not different from control values. CONCLUSIONS: The administration of pharmacologic doses of epinephrine significantly increased VO2 under normovolemic conditions due to the epinephrine-induced thermogenic effect. This effect progressively decreased during hemorrhage. The critical DO2 and the relationship between DO2 and VO2 in the supply-dependent phase of shock were unaffected by epinephrine infusion. These results suggest that during hemorrhagic shock, epinephrine administration did not exert a detrimental effect on the relationship between DO2 and VO2.

Advantages of digital holographic microscopy for real-time full field absolute phase imaging

Different interferometric techniques were developed last decade to obtain full field, quantitative, and absolute phase imaging, such as phase-shifting, Fourier phase microscopy, Hilbert phase microscopy or digital holographic microscopy (DHM). Although, these techniques are very similar, DHM combines several advantages. In contrast, to phase shifting, DHM is indeed capable of single-shot hologram recording allowing a real-time absolute phase imaging. On the other hand, unlike to Fourier phase or Hilbert phase microscopy, DHM does not require to record in focus images of the specimen on the digital detector (CCD or CMOS camera), because a numerical focalization adjustment can be performed by a numerical wavefront propagation. Consequently, the depth of view of high NA microscope objectives is numerically extended. For example, two different biological cells, floating at different depths in a liquid, can be focalized numerically from the same digital hologram. Moreover, the numerical propagation associated to digital optics and automatic fitting procedures, permits vibrations insensitive full- field phase imaging and the complete compensation for a priori any image distortion or/and phase aberrations introduced for example by imperfections of holders or perfusion chamber. Examples of real-time full-field phase images of biological cells have been demonstrated. ©2008 COPYRIGHT SPIE

Entre el Gulag y el supermercado : en busca de Alexander Zinoviev

Aquest treball, que còpia en part el títol del llibre de Symons, intenta configurar-se també sobre un doble plànol expositiu. El priemr pla el primer objectiu-, es el més obvi: oferir un panorama del contingut de les principals obres d'un autor, Alexander Zinoviev, i tractar de contextualitzar-les (efectuant per allò incursions al pensament d'altres autors - a mode de breus razzies predatòries). Però el treball aspira a incloure una segona trama: l'intent d'observar una trajectòria intel·lectual determinada -en aquest cas, la de Zinoviev- de d'una certa distància i esbrinar si pot extreure's alguna lliçó no ja de les teories que l'autor va consignar per escrit, sinó de l'actitud existencial i intel·lectual amb la que un individu es va enfrontar als cataclismes produïts pels successius derrumbaments i encumbraments de les grans ideologies de la seva època.

Late Jurassic oceanic crust and Upper Cretaceous Caribbean plateau picritic basalts exposed in the Duarte igneous complex, Hispaniola

Four distinct rock units have been recognized near El Aguacate, in the Janico-Juncalito-La Vega area of the Duarte complex (Dominican Republic): (1) serpentinites crosscut by numerous diabasic dikes, (2) basalts interbedded with Late Jurassic ribbon cherts, (3) picrites and ankaramites relatively enriched in incompatible trace elements, and (4) amphibolites and gneissic amphibolites chemically similar to Oceanic Plateau Basalts. Similar Ar-Ar ages of late magmatic amphibole from a picrite, and hornblende from an amphibolite (86.1 +/- 1.3 Ma and 86.7 +/- 1.6 Ma, respectively), suggest that the Duarte picrites are contemporaneous with the Deep Sea Drilling Program Leg 15 and Ocean Drilling Program Leg 126 basalts drilled from the Caribbean oceanic plateau. These basalts are associated with sediments containing Late Cretaceous faunas. Sr, Nd, and Pb data show that enriched picrites and amphibolites are isotopically similar to mafic lavas from previously described Caribbean plateau and Galapagos hotspot basalts. Major element, trace element, and lead isotopic features of Late Jurassic basalts and diabases are consistent with those of normal oceanic crust basalt. However, these basalts differ from typical N-MORB because they have lower epsilon Nd ratios that plot within the range of Ocean Island Basalts. These rocks appear to represent remnants of the Caribbean Jurassic oceanic crust formed from an oceanic ridge possibly close to a hotspot. Later, they were tectonically juxtaposed with Late Cretaceous slices of the Caribbean-Colombian plateau.

Real-time dual-wavelength digital holographic microscopy for extended measurement range with enhanced axial resolution

We report on advanced dual-wavelength digital holographic microscopy (DHM) methods, enabling single-acquisition real-time micron-range measurements while maintaining single-wavelength interferometric resolution in the nanometer regime. In top of the unique real-time capability of our technique, it is shown that axial resolution can be further increased compared to single-wavelength operation thanks to the uncorrelated nature of both recorded wavefronts. It is experimentally demonstrated that DHM topographic investigation within 3 decades measurement range can be achieved with our arrangement, opening new applications possibilities for this interferometric technique. ©2008 COPYRIGHT SPIE

Spatial distribution of schistosomiasis foci on Itamaracá Island, Pernambuco, Brazil

Acute cases of schistosomiasis have been found on the coastal area of Pernambuco, Brazil, due to environmental disturbances and disorderly occupation of the urban areas. This study identifies and spatially marks the main foci of the snail host species, Biomphalaria glabrata on Itamaracá Island. The chaotic occupation of the beach resorts has favoured the emergence of transmission foci, thus exposing residents and tourists to the risk of infection. A database covering five years of epidemiological investigation on snails infected by Schistosoma mansoni in the island was produced with information from the geographic positioning of the foci, number of snails collected, number of snails tested positive, and their infection rate. The spatial position of the foci were recorded through the Global Positioning System (GPS), and the geographical coordinates were imported by AutoCad. The software packages ArcView and Spring were used for data processing and spatial analysis. AutoCad 2000 was used to plot the pairs of coordinates obtained from GPS. Between 1998 and 2002 5009 snails, of which 12.2% were positive for S. mansoni, were collected in Forte Beach. A total of 27 foci and areas of environmental risk were identified and spatially analyzed allowing the identification of the areas exposed to varying degrees of risk.