OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of the bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt, total cavopulmonary connection, and baffle fenestration on outcome of the Fontan operation in our unit.METHOD: We reviewed 123 bidirectional cavopulmonary shunts and 264 Fontan operations performed from 1980 to 1995. Analysis of pulmonary artery size (right and left main and lower lobe branches) before and after bidirectiona

From 1979 through 1991, 19 infants with absent pulmonary valve syndrome and airway obstruction were seen for surgical treatment. All patients underwent extensive pulmonary artery aneurysmorrhaphy using cardiopulmonary bypass. Fourteen patients had simultaneous transatrial ventricular septal defect (VSD) closure, infundibular resection, and placement of a short transannular patch; 2 had transventri

Biodegradable patches made from polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) were used to close experimentally induced atrial septal defect in six calves. The implants were evaluated after 3-12 months macroscopically and by light and scanning electron microscopy with regard to regeneration of tissue and degradation of the polymer. At implant degradation, complete endothelial layers facing the right and left atrium w

Plants have been modelled using different identification methods. Some results from the identification of the dynamics of a nuclear reactor, a distillation column, a superheater and a paper machine are presented. Models for the different processes, obtained by the maximum likelihood method, are compared to models, obtained by other identification methods: the least squares method, the tally princi

GrassPlot is a collaborative vegetation-plot database organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and listed in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD ID EU-00-003). GrassPlot collects plot records (relevés) from grasslands and other open habitats of the Palaearctic biogeographic realm. It focuses on precisely delimited plots of eight standard grain sizes (0.0001; 0.001; ...

The modelling of large systems is greatly simplified if their hierarchical decomposition and interconnection structure can be described graphically. The paper describes a system allowing input of block diagrams and continuous zooming to view internal details. Model equations are automatically transformed to assignment statements when possible, allowing efficient explicit integration routines to be

Collagenase injection and needle fasciotomy have similar short-term outcomes in the treatment of Dupuytren’s contracture. The purpose of this study was to compare the recurrence rate of these two procedures 3 years after index treatment of primary disease. We enrolled 93 patients (96 rays) from a previous two-centre randomized controlled trial. The rays that had been retreated or showed an increas

Purpose: The present study evaluates the usefulness of an ACTH suppression test shortly after surgery, and to determine optimal cut-off values of included laboratory analyses, in predicting short- and long-term remission after surgery of Cushing’s disease. Methods: A 48 h suppression test with betamethasone 2 mg/day applied after 45 transphenoidal adenomectomies in 28 patients was evaluated. Recei

We have implemented Thread-Level Speculation in the Squirrelfish JavaScript engine,which is part of the WebKit browser environment. We were able to speed up the execution time by a factor of up to 8.4 times compared to the sequential version for 15 very popular web applications on an 8-core computer, without making any modifications to the JavaScript source code. The results also show that we probab

Das Deutsche unterscheidet sich vom Schwedischen dadurch, dass das morphologische Mittel des Konjunktivs dem Sprecher zur Markierung der Redewiedergabe zur Verfügung steht. Bei der so genannten berichteten Rede ist im Deutschen der Konjunktiv grundsätzlich obligatorisch. Hier wird morphologisch signalisiert, dass es sich in der gegebenen Textpassage um Redewiedergabe handelt – eine Möglichkeit, di

Despite of having no explicit shape model, multi-atlas approaches to image segmentation have proved to be a top-performer for several diverse datasets and imaging modalities. In this paper, we show how one can directly incorporate shape regularization into the multi-atlas framework. Unlike traditional multi-atlas methods, our proposed approach does not rely on label fusion on the voxel level. Inst

METHODS: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data 2010-2014 from the Swedish national dementia registry (SveDem) and the Swedish national stroke registry (Riksstroke). Patients with dementia who suffered an acute ischemic stroke (AIS) (n = 1,356) were compared with matched non-dementia AIS patients (n = 6,755). Outcomes included length of stay in a stroke unit, total length of hospit

Background: Branch-duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (BD-IPMN) presents a clinical conundrum. Rigorous long-term surveillance or surgical resection is recommended. The economic consequences of the management have not been fully investigated. Methods: A Markov decision model compared 4 strategies for low-risk BD-IPMN: I = upfront total pancreatectomy, II = upfront partial pancreatectomy,

Background: In order to save potable water, this study aims to evaluate the contamination of soil and Capsicum annuum L. (chilli) watered with urban wastewater (sewage) pre-treated by various wetland systems. Methods: The appropriateness of wetland outflow for irrigation when applying reused wastewater with high contamination of minerals and pathogens was assessed. The impact of wastewaters pre-tr

Background: Post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) is considered a main reason for death after major hepatectomy. The reported PHLF-related mortality differs largely and the data mainly originate from single centers. Aim: A retrospective, population-based register study was designed to evaluate the impact of PHLF on 90-day mortality after hepatectomy. Method: All patients who underwent liver resect

Analytical-scale extraction and chromatography of oils, fats and other liposoluble compounds can be achieved by using supercritical carbon dioxide as a solvent. Since the 90's when supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) was a hot topic, this technology has developed into a robust, modern analytical technique that uses any proportions of compressed CO2 mixed with an organic solvent. Supercritical

A case of absent right aortic cusp causing serious aortic incompetence in a neonate is reported. A "bicuspidalization" repair broke down within 24 hours, but reoperation with annular enlargement and insertion of a 19-mm prosthetic valve resulted in complete recovery. This rare but life-threatening anomaly of the aortic valve can be recognized with Doppler echocardiography. Valve replacement in con