Fusion and Matrix Protein Gene Sequence Analysis of Paramyxoviruses of Type 1(PMV-1) Isolated from Pigeons in Slovenia

Paramyxoviruses of type 1 (PMV-l) isolated from pigeons were genetically analyzed. A part of the fusion and the matrix protein genes were amplified and sequenced, Typical amino acid sequences associated with virulence were determined at the fusion protein cleavage site in all PMV-1 isolates. All Slovene pigeon PMV-1 strains share high amino acid sequence similarity with other pigeon strains. In the phylogenetic tree, they are clustered together with pigeon PMV-1 isolates with moderate pathogenicity. Phylogenetic analysis obtained from the fusion and the matrix protein gene alignments showed the same branching order. Viruses circulating among pigeons were found to form quite unique lineage of virulent NDV strains.     

The Status of Nursing Documentation in Slovenia: a Survey

Health documentation is a prerequisite for good and sustainable health and social care. It is especially important for patient involvement and their empowerment. A transition from paper to e-documentation together with the electronic patient record should be based on thorough knowledge of the current state of documentation and its usages. The main objective of this paper was to analyse which documents and work methods of documenting processes within nursing are being used within different environments. Furthermore, what are the main reasons for their discrepancies from theoretical approaches and best practices. The analysis is based on a survey carried out on all three levels of healthcare. The survey questionnaire consisted of 12 questions to which responded 286 nursing teams from community health centres, hospitals and retirement homes in Slovenia. The results point to diversity in documenting as well as lack of interoperability. This is reflected in a great number of different documents. All phases of the nursing process were being documented in only 31.8 % of cases. The main reasons for this can be attributed to work organisation, different definitions of data-set requirements and inadequate knowledge by nurses. Survey results pointed out a need for the renewal of nursing documentation towards a more uniform system based on contemporary health technologies.     

Cavity cooling of an optically levitated submicron particle

The coupling of a levitated submicron particle and an optical cavity field promises access to a unique parameter regime both for macroscopic quantum experiments and for high-precision force sensing. We report a demonstration of such controlled interactions by cavity cooling the center-of-mass motion of an optically trapped submicron particle. This paves the way for a light–matter interface that can enable room-temperature quantum experiments with mesoscopic mechanical systems.     

3D–2D registration in endovascular image-guided surgery: evaluation of state-of-the-art methods on cerebral angiograms

Purpose

Image guidance for minimally invasive surgery is based on spatial co-registration and fusion of 3D pre-interventional images and treatment plans with the 2D live intra-interventional images. The spatial co-registration or 3D–2D registration is the key enabling technology; however, the performance of state-of-the-art automated methods is rather unclear as they have not been assessed under the same test conditions. Herein we perform a quantitative and comparative evaluation of ten state-of-the-art methods for 3D–2D registration on a public dataset of clinical angiograms.

Methods

Image database consisted of 3D and 2D angiograms of 25 patients undergoing treatment for cerebral aneurysms or arteriovenous malformations. On each of the datasets, highly accurate “gold-standard” registrations of 3D and 2D images were established based on patient-attached fiducial markers. The database was used to rigorously evaluate ten state-of-the-art 3D–2D registration methods, namely two intensity-, two gradient-, three feature-based and three hybrid methods, both for registration of 3D pre-interventional image to monoplane or biplane 2D images.

Results

Intensity-based methods were most accurate in all tests (0.3 mm). One of the hybrid methods was most robust with 98.75% of successful registrations (SR) and capture range of 18 mm for registrations of 3D to biplane 2D angiograms. In general, registration accuracy was similar whether registration of 3D image was performed onto mono- or biplanar 2D images; however, the SR was substantially lower in case of 3D to monoplane 2D registration. Two feature-based and two hybrid methods had clinically feasible execution times in the order of a second.

Conclusions

Performance of methods seems to fall below expectations in terms of robustness in case of registration of 3D to monoplane 2D images, while translation into clinical image guidance systems seems readily feasible for methods that perform registration of the 3D pre-interventional image onto biplanar intra-interventional 2D images.

     

Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma: a multicenter study

Background

Sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma (SNUC) is a very rare entity with a poor prognosis. Due to the lack of studies on the subject, evidence is lacking concerning its management.

Methods

A multicenter collaborative study was conducted to assess treatment strategy, oncological outcome, and prognostic factors.

Results

Definitive analyses focused on 54 patients with a majority of advanced stage; the 3‐year overall survival (OS) and 3‐year recurrence‐free survival (RFS) rates were, respectively, 62.4% and 47.8%. During the follow‐up, 18 patients (33.3%) died, 10 (18.5%) developed metastases, 7 had lymph‐node involvement (13%), and 12 (22.2%) showed recurrence or local progression. In univariate analyses, treatment modalities associated with improved RFS were induction chemotherapy (p = 0.02) and intensity‐modulated radiotherapy (p = 0.007). In the multivariate analyses, only induction chemotherapy (p = 0.047, hazard ratio [HR] = 0.39) was significantly associated with improved RFS.

Conclusion

Multimodal therapies including induction chemotherapy and intensity‐modulated radiotherapy may improve the prognosis of SNUC; surgery might improve local control. Further multicenter studies are required.

     

Fluoroless catheter ablation of various right and left sided supra-ventricular tachycardias in children and adolescents

Electrophysiology study (EPS) and catheter ablation (CA) in children and adolescents carries a potentially harmful effect of radiation exposure when performed with the use of fluoroscopy. Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of fluoroless EPS and CA of various supra-ventricular tachycardias (SVTs) with the use of the 3D mapping system and intracardiac echocardiography (ICE). Forty-three consecutive children and adolescents (age 13?±?3 years) underwent fluoroless EPS and CA for various supra-ventricular tachycardias. A three-dimensional (3D) mapping system NavX? was used for guidance of diagnostic and ablation catheters in the heart. ICE was used as a fundamental imaging tool for transseptal punctures. Acute procedural success rate was 100?%. There were no procedure related complications and short-term follow up (10?±?3 months) revealed 93?% arrhythmia free survival rate. Fluoroless CA of various SVTs in the paediatric population is feasible, safe and can be performed successfully with 3D mapping system and ICE.     

Knot theory realizations in nematic colloids

Nematic braids are reconfigurable knots and links formed by the disclination loops that entangle colloidal particles dispersed in a nematic liquid crystal. We focus on entangled nematic disclinations in thin twisted nematic layers stabilized by 2D arrays of colloidal particles that can be controlled with laser tweezers. We take the experimentally assembled structures and demonstrate the correspondence of the knot invariants, constructed graphs, and surfaces associated with the disclination loop to the physically observable features specific to the geometry at hand. The nematic nature of the medium adds additional topological parameters to the conventional results of knot theory, which couple with the knot topology and introduce order into the phase diagram of possible structures. The crystalline order allows the simplified construction of the Jones polynomial and medial graphs, and the steps in the construction algorithm are mirrored in the physics of liquid crystals.From the invention of ropes and textiles, up to the present day, knots have played a prominent role in everyday life, essential crafts, and artistic expression. Beyond the simple tying of strings, the intriguing irreducibility of knots has led to Kelvin’s vortex model of atoms, and, subsequently, a more systematic study of knots and links in the context of knot theory (1–3). As a branch of topology, knot theory is a developing field, with many unresolved questions, including the ongoing search for an algorithm that will provide an exact identification of arbitrary knots.As knots cannot be converted one into another without the crossing of the strands––a discrete singular event––knotting topologically stabilizes the structure. In physical fields, this coexistence of discrete and continuous phenomena leads to the stabilization of geometrically and topologically nontrivial high-energy excitations (4, 5). Examples of strand-like objects in physics that can be knotted include vortices in fluids (6–9), synthetic molecules (10, 11), DNA, polymer strands and proteins (12–14), electromagnetic field lines (15, 16), zero-intensity loci in optical interference patterns (17), wave functions in topological insulators (18), cosmic strings (19), and defects in a broad selection of ordered media (20–23).Nematic liquid crystals (NLC) are liquids with a local apolar orientational order of rod-like molecules. The director field, which describes the spatial variation of the local alignment axis, supports topological point and line defects, making it an interesting medium for the observation of topological phenomena (20, 24). Defect structures in NLC and their colloidal composites (25) have been extensively studied for their potential in self-assembly and light control (26), but also to further the theoretical understanding of topological phenomena in director fields (23, 27). Objects of interest include chiral solitons (28, 29), fields around knotted particles (30–35), and knotted defects in nematic colloids (36–42). Each of these cases is unique, as the rules of knot theory interact with the rules and restrictions of each underlying material and confinement. The investigation of knotted fields is thus a specialized topic where certain theoretical aspects of knot theory emerge in a physical context.In nematic colloids––dispersions of spherical particles confined in a twisted nematic (TN) cell––disclination lines entangle arrays of particles into “nematic braids,” which can be finely controlled by laser tweezers to form various linked and knotted structures (38, 39, 43). In this paper, we focus on the diverse realizations of knot theory in such nematic colloidal structures. We complement and extend the classification and analysis of knotted disclinations from refs. 32, 38, 40 with the direct application of graph and knot theory to polarized optical micrographs. We further analyze the nematic director with constructed Pontryagin–Thom surfaces and polynomial knot invariants, which enables a comprehensive topological characterization of the knotted nematic field based on experimental data and analytical tools. We use a λ-retardation plate to observe and distinguish differently twisted domains in the optical micrograph, which correspond to medial graphs of the represented knots and contribute to the Pontryagin–Thom construction of the nematic director. Finally, we explore the organization of the space of possible configurations on a selected rectangular particle array and discuss the observed hierarchy of entangled and knotted structures.     

Association of CCR5-delta32 Mutation with Reduced Risk of Nonatopic Asthma in Slovenian Children

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. Asthma results from the interaction of several genes and environmental influences. Viral infections are common triggers of asthma attacks, especially in nonatopic asthmatics. CCR5 is a chemokine receptor involved in the immune response against a number of viruses. A 32 base pair deletion (delta32) in the CCR5 receptor gene causes loss of gene function and is associated with several chronic diseases due to the resulting altered immunity. The results of the association studies exploring the role of the CCR5 receptor gene in asthma pathogenesis are contradictory. We studied 111 children aged between 5 and 18 years with mild or moderate persistent asthma; 75 of them were atopic and 36 had nonatopic asthma. We carried out allergy and spirometry tests, a bronchoprovocation test with methacholine and performed measurement of exhaled nitric oxide and genotyping for CCR5-delta32 mutation. Compared with 365 nonatopic, nonasthmatic controls we found significantly lower CCR5-delta32 allelic frequency in nonatopic asthmatics (p = 0.016, OR 0.139, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.984) but not in atopic asthmatics. CCR5-delta32 mutation protects against nonatopic asthma. This association offers new insights into the pathogenesis of an important asthma phenotype and could serve as useful information for the future research of new asthma management strategies.