Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been recently proposed for the evaluation of the esophagus. Our aim is to assess the role of fMRI as a technique to assess morphological and functional parameters of the esophagus in patients with esophageal motor disorders and in healthy controls. Subsequently, we assessed the diagnostic efficiency of fMRI in comparison to videofluoroscopic and ...

Intersections are considered as the most critical parts of the bus rapid transit (BRT) system. Transit signal priority is one of the efficient solutions to reduce BRT fleet delays at intersections. The aim of this study is to propose a new algorithm to decrease the BRT fleet delays at actuated intersections, while reducing the negative impacts on different approaches. The adaptive strategy is a...

N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a routinely used prognostic parameter in patients with pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension (PH). As it accumulates in the presence of impaired renal function, the clinical utility of NT-proBNP in PH patients with concomitant renal insufficiency remains unclear. In a retrospective approach, patients with pre-capillary PH (group I or IV) an...

This study describes quantitative perfusion analysis by ultrasound. The main task of this study is to apply a general perfusion model for intravascular contrast agents to ultrasound perfusion analysis. For this investigation a phantom model using a dialyser tubing as the model of the tissue was constructed. Two quantitative parameters (mean transit time and fractional blood volume) are estimate...

Objective- To consider the use of renal scintigraphic evaluation of kidney function in Persian cat and make a comparison between 99mTechnetium ethylenedicysteine and 99mTechnetium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic in renal scintigraphy. Design- Descriptive study Animals- 6 male healthy adult Persian cats - no clinical sign of renal disorders and prior to presentation. Proce...

Transit time is a fundamental catchment descriptor that reveals information about storage, flow pathways and source of water in a single characteristic. Given the importance of transit time, little guidance exists for the application of transit time modeling in complex catchment systems. This paper presents an evaluation and review of the transit time literature in the context of catchments and...

Introduction: Liver ischemia/reperfusion (IR) is a major clinical problem, which occurs during several conditions such as liver damage, trauma and transplantation. Recent studies indicate that IR-induced acute liver failure causes injuries of distant organs such as heart and lungs by systematic inflammatory responses. Therefore, in the present study, effects of hepatic IR induction were stud...