1,721,441 research outputs found
Laparoscopic jejunostomy in a child with chronic intestinal pseudobstruction
No full textLaparoscopic jejunostomy in a child with chronic intestinal pseudobstruction
Li Voti G., Amoroso S.,Milazzo M.
Objective os the study: chronic intestinal pseudo obstruction (CIP) is a severe condition characterized by recurrent symptoms of bowel obstruction, in the absence of lumen occluding lesions. Because of motility disorders, since neonatal age these children show failure to thrive,vomiting,constipation and malnutrition. Long term enteral nutritional support, by gastrostomy or jejunostomy, appears the gold treatment. We performed a laparoscopy assisted jejunostomy in a patient with CIP. Our technique is described and results discussed.
Methods and procedures: a 14 years old male child, affected by CIP, was admitted to our unit with severe malnutrition. He had undergone,two years before, a duodeno jejunal anastomosis because of o diagnosis of duodenal compression by superior mesenteric artery. He had no improvement from this operation. Xray study demonstrated a persistent gastroparesis. A short term trial of nasojejunal feeding was effective in weight gain. Because of special anatomical pattern determined from previous operation we performed a laparoscopy assisted jejunostomy and inserted a mic key button for feeding.
A 5 mm laparoscopic camera poprt was placed through the umbilicus, by an open access. Two further 5 mm ports were placed in the left lower quadrant and in the cross point of umbilical transverse line and left breast midline. The camera was moved to the inferior port site. Avoding adhesions we managed to find the first jejunal loop. A bowel segment, approximately ten cm distal to the ligament of Treitz, was softly grasped and brought up to the abdominal wall at the left upper port site. Bowel was secured to abdominal wall by few unabsorbable sutures and minimally ostomy was done in order to insert the jejunostomy button. The correct position of the button was checked by laparoscopy. Enteral nutrition restarted via nasojejunal tube 3 days postoperatively and via jejunostomy 8 days later. We observed no intraoperative cpmplications or difficulties because of previous surgery adhesions.
Conclusions: laparoscopy assisted jejunostomy is a safe and effective procedure to achieving enteral access in patients with CIP
Fabrication of endoluminal medical devices
No full textIn this chapter, we provide a critical discussion on the fabrication challenges for endoluminal microdevices. We detail the physical laws that govern the miniaturization of a device, the theoretical mechanical limits of miniaturized structures, and the viability of different fabrication options depending on the application. Then, we provide fabrication examples based on the classification of endoluminal devices: rigid, articulated systems for minimally invasive surgery, flexible tethered systems for navigation and intervention inside tubular organs or cavities, and wireless systems for diagnosis and intervention inside hollow organs. The chapter will conclude with a discussion on main take-away lessons and future directions in the field
Designing and fabricating materials from fire using sonification and deep learning
Full text linkFire has fascinated humankind since the prehistoric era. Rooted in the interactions between sound and flames, here we report a method to use fire for a variety of purposes, including sonification, art, and the design and manufacturing nature-inspired materials. We present a method to sonify fire, thereby offering a translation from the silent nature of flames, to represent audible information and to generate de novo flame images. To realize material specimen derived from fire, we use the autoencoder to generate image stacks to yield continuous 3D geometries that are manufactured using 3D printing. This represents the first generation of nature-inspired materials from fire and can be a platform to be used for other natural phenomena in the quest for de novo architectures, geometries, and design ideas, thus creating additional directions in artistic and scientific research through the creative manipulation of data with structural similarities across fields
The First Tile for the Digital Onomastic Repertoire of the French Medieval Romance: Problems and Perspectives
No full textThis contribution provides an account of the design experience of a digital onomastic repertoire for the French medieval romance (12th-15th centuries). Given the large amount of data to analyze (more than 250 texts), the research project has been conceived as modular and integrable. After discussing the main methodological problems faced, especially in terms of knowledge organization, the achieved results are described: the onomastic portal on the old French Roman d’Alexandre, a first tile for a larger digital repertoire
The use of geoevents in the risk management of Wastewater Treatments
No full textVolcanic eruptions can endanger human health and threat structures, critical infrastructures and lifelines (such as wastewater treatments, electricity networks, etc.), even relatively moderate events often can cause severe damages and economic losses. Among different volcanic phenomena, this paper focuses on the study of the damage triggered by explosive volcanic eruptions (i.e. those causing volcanic ash emissions), due to the large impact area of the particles dispersion. In particular the focus is on the implementation of a procedure for the management of wastewater treatment equipment by using a GIS (Geographic Information System). To achieve this aim, the volcanic ash dispersion in the atmosphere has been considered a geoevent because of the possible description of its evolution by means of its geographical coordinates. The evolution representation for the cloud allows the management of the potential impacts on wastewater treatments. © 2015 Taylor & Francis Group
Frequencies assessment of loss containments including the effects of measures of riskprevention and mitigation.
No full textDecreasing in patch-size of Cystoseira forests reduces the diversity of their associated molluscan assemblage in Mediterranean rocky reefs
No full textCanopy-forming seaweeds of the genus Cystoseira (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) form diverse and productive habitats along temperate rocky coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. During the last decade, Cystoseira forests have retracted their range considerably due to many interacting environmental, biological and anthropogenic pressures. We investigated how reducing in patch-size of C. montagnei affects their associated molluscan communities at the shallow northwest rocky shores of Palermo (Sicily, Italy). Molluscs were sampled from the fronds of individual thalli, clumps of 3 and 5 thalli of C. montagnei over an annual vegetative cycle (May–September) in two sites within the Marine Protected Area “Capo Gallo-Isola delle Femmine”. We measured five substrate attributes of the alga (thallus volume, canopy volume, interstitial volume, algal surface, and biomass) and explored their relationships with the diversity of the associated molluscan assemblage. A total of 3756 individuals of molluscs were collected, belonging to 30 families and 57 species, being Rissoidae the most speciose family and Barleeidae the dominant in terms of abundance. The molluscan assemblage on C. montagnei displayed significant spatial and seasonal variations, with the maximum number of individuals and species in summer, whereas evenness and diversity displayed maximum values in spring. The abundance, species richness and diversity of the molluscan assemblage decreased with decreasing in patch-size of C. montagnei, regardless of the vegetative phase of the alga or the sites considered in the study, while evenness showed an opposite trend. The substrate attributes of C. montagnei changed over the vegetative cycle of the alga and showed a similar pattern across sites with values that tended to decrease in autumn during the quiescence phase of the alga. Variation in patch-size of C. montagnei affected also the substrate attributes of the individual alga, with individual thalli becoming smaller with increasing patch-size. The algal surface of a single thallus of C. montagnei ranged on average from 956 cm2 in spring to 289 cm2 in autumn. Furthermore, algal surface together with thallus volume and dry weight were the substrate attributes that explained better the variation of the number of molluscan individuals and species. Overall, our results suggest that the reduction of both patch-size and algal substrate of C. montagnei forests altered the structure and composition of its associated molluscan assemblage. We argue that a reduction or loss of Cystoseira forests could probably trigger bottom-up effects in rocky shores habitats, with consequences for the whole ecosystem structure, functioning and services provided to humans
Cellulose-Based Fibrous Materials From Bacteria to Repair Tympanic Membrane Perforations
Full text linkPerforation is the most common illness of the tympanic membrane (TM), which is commonly treated with surgical procedures. The success rate of the treatment could be improved by novel bioengineering approaches. In fact, a successful restoration of a damaged TM needs a supporting biomaterial or scaffold able to meet mechano-acoustic properties similar to those of the native TM, along with optimal biocompatibility. Traditionally, a large number of biological-based materials, including paper, silk, Gelfoam®, hyaluronic acid, collagen, and chitosan, have been used for TM repair. A novel biopolymer with promising features for tissue engineering applications is cellulose. It is a highly biocompatible, mechanically and chemically strong polysaccharide, abundant in the environment, with the ability to promote cellular growth and differentiation. Bacterial cellulose (BC), in particular, is produced by microorganisms as a nanofibrous three-dimensional structure of highly pure cellulose, which has thus become a popular graft material for wound healing due to a number of remarkable properties, such as water retention, elasticity, mechanical strength, thermal stability, and transparency. This review paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current experimental studies of BC, focusing on the application of BC patches in the treatment of TM perforations. In addition, computational approaches to model cellulose and TM are summarized, with the aim to synergize the available tools toward the best design and exploitation of BC patches and scaffolds for TM repair and regeneration
An application of ARIPAR methodology to manage the risk and the environment impact in the industrial area of Gela
No full textThis paper is focused on safety and environmental issues and analyses the problems connected
with chemical processes and the transport of hazardous goods.
During recent years incidents in chemical plants have shown that there are serious problems regarding their
reliability, safety and environmental impact. Great attention is now paid to the serious risks associated with
industrial processes, the transport of hazardous substances and the storage of fuels and chemicals.
The aim of this work is to study the safety and environmental problems associated with the industrial activity
in the area of Gela. In order to evaluate the risk connected by sea and land transportation of hazardous materials
and to chemical processes in the industrial area of Gela the methodology of Quantified Area Risk Analysis
has been applied.
A complete inventory of dangerous substances, was the basis of a complete risk analysis, whose results, obtained
by means of the ARIPAR-GIS code, have been analysed and discussed.
The results data shows that the major contribution to the risk is due to the sea and land transport of ammonia.
The impact of ammonia dispersion can involve highly populated areas of the city of Gela and this paper aims
to find suggestions to manage the risk connected with ammonia transport
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