Search results for "EFT"

A multiscale X-ray phase-contrast tomography dataset of whole human left lung

2021

ABSTRACTTechnological advancements in X-ray imaging using bright and coherent synchrotron sources now allows to decouple sample size and resolution, while maintaining high sensitivity to the microstructure of soft, partially dehydrated tissues. The recently developed imaging technique, hierarchical phase-contrast tomography, is a comprehensive approach to address the challenge of organ-scale (up to tens of centimeters) soft tissue imaging with resolution and sensitivity down to the cellular level. Using this technique, we imaged ex vivo an entire human left lung at an isotropic voxel size of 25.08 μm along with local zooms down to 6.05 - 6.5 μm and 2.45 - 2.5 μm in voxel size. The high tiss…

A giant left atrium in a patient with Barlow syndrome, abnormal chordae tendineae, and perforation of the anterior mitral leaflet

2019

Preparation of monolithic polymer-magnetite nanoparticle composites into poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) tubes for uses in micro-bore HPLC sepa…

2021

[EN] This paper describes the fabrication of a novel microbore monolithic column modified with magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) prepared in a poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) (EFTE) tubing, and its application as stationary phase for the chromatographic separation of phosphorylated compounds. In order to obtain the composite column, a two-step procedure was performed. The formation of a glycidyl methacrylate-based monolith inside the activated ETFE tube was firstly carried out. Then, two incorporation approaches of MNPs in monoliths were investigated. The generic polymer was modified with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) to be subsequently attached to MNP surfaces. Alternatively, AP…

Isolation of the left atrial surface from cardiac multi-detector CT images based on marker controlled watershed segmentation

2006

The delineation of left atrium (LA) and pulmonary veins (PVs) anatomy from high resolution images holds importance for atrial fibrillation (AF) investigation and treatment. In this study, a semiautomatic segmentation procedure for LA and PVs inner surface from contrast enhanced CT data was developed. The procedure consists of a three dimensional marker controlled watershed segmentation applied to the external morphological gradient, followed by variable threshold surface extraction from the original intensity image. A preliminary anisotropic non-linear filtering was implemented to improve the S/N ratio of CT images. The performance of segmentation was evaluated on cardiac CT scans of 12 AF …

Quantitative study of cardiac wall motion from cine-MRI using frequency-based optical flow methods

2010

The aim of this thesis is to study parietal desynchronisation of the left ventricle from conventional cine-MRI. The first part of our work consisted in the quantification of the left ventricle wall motion of the heart directly from conventional retrospective SSFP type cine-MRI sequences used in the study of cardiac function. The developed methods for measuring displacements within the images are frequency-based optical flow methods. These techniques seem to be particularly adapted to MRI specificities. We have demonstrated their robustness in the event of Rician noise and pixel intensity variations as a function of time. These variations are often associated with the through-plane motion of…

2015

The execution of unilateral hand contractions before performance has been reported to produce behavioral aftereffects in various tasks. These effects have been regularly attributed to an induced shift in activation asymmetry to the contralateral hemisphere produced by the contractions. An alternative explanation proposes a generalized state of reduced bilateral cortical activity following unilateral hand contractions. The current experiment contrasted the above explanation models and tested the state of cortical activity after the termination of unilateral hand contractions. Twenty right-handed participants performed hand contractions in two blocks, one for each hand. Using electroencephalo…

Testis asymmetry in birds: the influences of sexual and natural selection

2014

Gonad size and shape asymmetries are particularly common in birds. Although some obvious size and shape differences between the left and right testes in birds were first documented more than a century ago, little is known about what influences the variation across species in either the degree or the direction of these asymmetries. Here we show that a left bias in size is the most likely ancestral state in most orders and families, and that there is a weak but significant negative relation between the degree of size and shape asymmetries. In extant species, testis size and shape symmetries increase with the degree of sperm competition (relative testes mass), but those relations are significa…

Taking inspiration from nature: rules and procedures for a good building practice

2016

Sin dai tempi antichi si sono sfruttati gli alberi ed altri elementi vegetali per scopi costruttivi: la natura, in generale, è stata di ispirazione e ha insegnato una serie di regole, a lungo imitate ed applicate. Alcune delle numerose specie arboree hanno rappresentato, infatti, degli esempi per le costruzioni primitive e, successivamente, per gli stili architettonici classici: possiamo annoverare i primi rifugi estemporanei ed ispirati a criteri di urgenza e praticità, o anche ben più ragionati edifici, fatti di elementi vegetali assemblati fra di loro. Questi manufatti architettonici richiamavano la natura nel suo fiorente sviluppo e nel sapiente e preciso equilibrio. L’architettura clas…

Association between biomarkers of inflammation and left ventricular hypertrophy in moderate chronic kidney disease.

2007

Aims: Left ventricular hyper- trophy (LVH) is a predictor for cardiovascu- lar mortality, and it is considered to be a surro- gate marker of preclinical cardiovascular dis- ease. This study aimed at evaluating whether fetuin-A plasma levels are decreased in pa- tients with moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD) and their linkage to plasma concentra- tions of hs-C-reactive protein (CRP), cardio- trophyn-1 (CT-1), tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-), propeptide of collagen Type I (PIP) and to LVH. Material and methods: We enrolled 64 moderate CKD and 55 essential hypertensives (EH) with normal renal func- tion as controls. All the patients underwent an echocardiographic examination; plasma sam- ples…

Randomized Comparative Trial with Ceftizoxime and Cefotaxime in Urinary Tract Infections

1984

Ceftizoxime, a new, semisynthetic, beta-lactamase-resistant cephalosporin, is not metabolized in man and is excreted almost entirely as the original active compound in the urine. The efficacy and safety of ceftizoxime were assessed in 80 patients with acute and chronic urinary infections, with and without associated pathological conditions, in comparison with cefotaxime. Two dosage schedules, 1 g or 0.5 g every 12 h, i.v. or i.m. for 10 days, were adopted according to the severity of each case and to separate randomization tables for each schedule; causal agents were all sensitive to both drugs in vitro. The overall results were excellent. Safety was excellent in almost all cases. In this t…