86,571 research outputs found
Brainstem cavernous angioma in an octagenarian cardiopathic patient: anesthesiologic and neurosurgical challanges
No full textLearning Track: 6. Neuroanaesthesiology
Title: Brainstem cavernous angioma in an octogenarian cardiopathic patient: anesthesiologic and neurosurgical challenges
Author(s): Urli T.1, Nicolini F.2, Giulioni M.2, Sturiale C.2, Zanello M.1
Institute(s): 1IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche, Bellaria Hospital, Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Bologna, Italy, 2IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche, Bellaria Hospital, Neurosurgery, Bologna, Italy
Text: Background: Cerebral cavernous angiomas are uncommon diseases mostly affecting young and middle-aged people. Brainstem location can be related to severe complications both in cases of conservative or surgical management. Anesthesiologic concern is the hemodynamic instability due to manipulation of brainstem (dysrhythmias, hypertension, hypotension), and the risk of cranial nerves dysfunction.
Case report: A 81-year-old male presented painful dysesthesias and gait instability. The Magnetic Resonance Imaging revealed a large hemorrhagic multicystic lesion in the medulla oblongata. The patient had a cardiac disease with previous heart surgery (biological prosthesis, Bentall procedure); the artificial aortic valve was degenerating with moderate regurgitation. According to patient will, surgical intervention was scheduled for reducing the brainstem compression and the risk of rebleeding. Preoperative anesthesiologic evaluation pointed out the high risk of the procedure. The anesthetic plan included: prone position, balanced anesthesia with midazolam, sevoflurane and remifentanil, endocarditis prophylaxis, and a hemodynamic management fit for a patient with aortic regurgitation. External pacemaker-defibrillator pads were applied in advance. Surgical resection was carried out until occurrence of sudden bradycardia with hypotension, managed with atropine. After a short stay in ICU, the patient was transferred to the ward and then to the rehabilitation unit. Postoperatively he presented hemiparesis, slowly improving after physical therapy. The histopathological analysis confirmed the diagnosis of cavernoma.
Discussion: We found no previous report of brainstem cavernoma surgery in octogenarian cardiopathic patients, but advanced age is not a sufficient reason to deny surgical treatment if the patient may benefit. In this case the usual concern about intraoperative hemodynamic instability was increased by the type of cardiac valvulopathy: intraoperative dysrhythmias, especially bradycardia, can worsen the degree of aortic regurgitation and can precipitate left ventricular failure. The medical team weighted carefully risk benefit ratio as well as the patient wish.
Learning points: Neurosurgery of brainstem cavernomas can be performed in selected elderly patients in Hospitals with specific neurosurgical and anesthesiologic experience. The presence of serious comorbidities should not rule out the possibility of anesthesiologic and surgical treatment.
Preferred Presentation Type: Case report
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Conference: Euroanaesthesia 2017 · Abstract: A-805-0061-00727 · Status: Draf
Beyond word embeddings: A survey
No full textThe goal of this paper is to provide an overview of the methods that allow text representations with a focus on embeddings for text of different lengths, specifically on works that go beyond word embeddings. Analyzing pieces of text can be more challenging in comparison to the analysis of single words, because several additional factors come into play. For this reason, representations of longer pieces of text can be obtained with different strategies, leveraging additional information with respect to what is done for single words. A text is defined by its components and how these are combined together, and this should be taken into account when integrating information to obtain a single document embedding. In addition, multimodal approaches are described to show how it is possible to fuse information of different nature (aural, visual and knowledge) in order to obtain enriched representations. The aim of this survey is to help navigate through the existing methods proposed in the literature and understand which strategies are most suitable to specific needs
Defect detection MultiHeadAttention Fusion model on images acquired with different light sources
No full textIn this paper, we discuss and try a multi-image fusion approach with a multibranch Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) that implies a MultiHeadAttention (MHA) technique in the fusion center. This work studies the employment of the architecture on actual data containing different images of the same USB device. The images differ in the direction of the light at the moment of the acquisition. We observed that instead of employing a simple concatenation fusion of the outputs, the network architecture could employ a multibranch classification featurewise, which utilizes a multi-head attention mechanism instead of a channel attention one
Experimental supplements to the computational complexity analysis of genetic programming for problems modelling isolated program semantics
No full textIn this paper, we carry out experimental investigations that complement recent theoretical investigations on the runtime of simple genetic programming algorithms [3, 7]. Crucial measures in these theoretical analyses are the maximum tree size that is attained during the run of the algorithms as well as the population size when dealing with multi-objective models. We study those measures in detail by experimental investigations and analyze the runtime of the different algorithms in an experimental way.Tommaso Urli, Markus Wagner and Frank Neuman
Environmental Factors Affecting the Reproductive Efficiency of Italian Simmental Young Bulls
No full textThe objectives of the study aimed to evaluate the effect of weather conditions and scrotal circumference (SC) on standard semen characteristics of Italian Simmental young bulls (n = 577), all raised in the same performance station and sampled by the artificial vagina (AV) method. Considering the increasing SC, the results showed a significant increase in quantitative semen parameters (p < 0.05 and p < 0.0001, for sperm concentration and total number of spermatozoa, respectively); for every extra centimeter of SC, 17.5 × 106 spermatozoa/mL and 0.102 × 109 of total spermatozoa were produced. The age of the animal at semen collection (395 and 465 days) had similar positive effects. The effect of the average temperature humidity index (THI limits ≤ 40 and ≥70) in the previous 60, 30, and 10 days before the semen collection was also considered. Sixty days before the semen collection, the increasing THI increased both primary (p < 0.0001) and secondary (p < 0.0001) abnormalities while the percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa decreased (p < 0.0001). Thirty and ten days before collection, the same effect on morphological traits was maintained, but total and progressive motility was also influenced (p < 0.01) with an unexpected increasing pattern. Thus, environmental conditions can influence semen quality during the entire spermatogenesis and results can guide future research on this breed
Connecting the Dots: Livestock Animals as Missing Links in the Chain of Microplastic Contamination and Human Health
No full textPlastic pollution is a global diffuse threat, especially considering its fragmentation into microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs). Since the contamination of the aquatic environment is already well studied, most studies have now focused on the soil. Moreover, the number of studies on the exposure routes and toxic effects of MNPs in humans is continuously increasing. Although MNPs can cause inflammation, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and immune toxicity in livestock animals, which can accumulate ingested/inhaled plastic particles and transfer them to humans through the food chain, research on this topic is still lacking. In considering farm animals as the missing link between soil/plant contamination and human health effects, this paper aims to describe their importance as carriers and vectors of MNP contamination. As research on this topic is in its early stages, there is no standard method to quantify the amount and the characteristics of MNPs in different matrices. Therefore, the creation of a common database where researchers can report data on MNP characteristics and quantification methods could be helpful for both method standardization and the future training of an AI tool for predicting the most abundant/dangerous polymer(s), thus supporting policy decisions to reduce plastic pollution and perfectly fitting with One Health principles
Variations on the Author
No full text“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Single- and multi-objective genetic programming: new bounds for weighted order and majority
No full textWe consolidate the existing computational complexity analysis of genetic programming (GP) by bringing together sound theoretical proofs and empirical analysis. In particular, we address computational complexity issues arising when coupling algorithms using variable length representation, such as GP itself, with different bloat-control techniques. In order to accomplish this, we first introduce several novel upper bounds for two single- and multi-objective GP algorithms on the generalised Weighted ORDER and MAJORITY problems. To obtain these, we employ well-established computational complexity analysis techniques such as fitness-based partitions, and for the first time, additive and multiplicative drift. The bounds we identify depend on two measures, the maximum tree size and the maximum population size, that arise during the optimization run and that have a key relevance in determining the runtime of the studied GP algorithms. In order to understand the impact of these measures on a typical run, we study their magnitude experimentally, and we discuss the obtained findings.Anh Nguyen, Tommaso Urli, Markus Wagnerhttp://www.sigevo.org/foga-2013
[Newspaper Clipping: Author Claims Evidence of Second JFK Assassin #1]
No full textNewspaper article titled "Author Claims Evidence of Second JFK Assassin." The article states that author Richard J. Whalen concluded "that there is circumstantial evidence to support the theory of a second assassin in the shooting of President John F. Kennedy.
Also By The Same Author: AKTiveAuthor, a Citation Graph Approach to Name Disambiguation
No full textThe desire for definitive data and the semantic web drive for inference over heterogeneous data sources requires co-reference resolution to be performed on those data. In particular, name disambiguation is required to allow accurate publication lists, citation counts and impact measures to be determined. This paper describes a graph-based approach to author disambiguation on large-scale citation networks. Using self-citation, co-authorship and document source analyses, AKTiveAuthor clusters papers, achieving precision of 0.997 and recall of 0.818 over a test group of eight surname clusters
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