Recent advances in the understanding of the melting behavior of double-stranded DNA with statistical mechanics methods lead to improved estimates of the weight factors for the dissociation events of the chains, in particular for interior loop melting. So far, in the modeling of DNA melting, the entropy of denaturated loops has been estimated from the number of configurations of a closed self-av...

Recent advances in the understanding of the melting behavior of double-stranded DNA with statistical mechanics methods lead to improved estimates of the weight factors for the dissociation events of the chains, in particular for interior loop melting. So far, in the modeling of DNA melting, the entropy of denaturated loops has been estimated from the number of configurations of a closed self-av...

An interrupted stitch type with favorable tissue characteristics will reduce local wound complications. We describe a novel high-strength, low-tension repair for the interrupted closure of skin, cartilage, and muscle, the double loop mattress stitch, and compare it experimentally with other interrupted closure methods. The performance of the double loop mattress technique in porcine cartilage a...

Constraint problems with incomplete or erroneous data are often simplified to tractable deterministic models, or modified using error correction methods, with the aim of seeking a solution. However, this can lead us to solve the wrong problem because of the approximations made. Such an outcome is of little help to a user who expects the right problem to be tackled and reliable information retur...

The methionine salvage pathway is ubiquitous in all organisms, but metabolic variations exist between bacteria and mammals. 5-Methylthioribose (MTR) kinase is a key enzyme in methionine salvage in bacteria and the absence of a mammalian homolog suggests that it is a good target for the design of novel antibiotics. The structures of the apo-form of Bacillus subtilis MTR kinase, as well as its AD...

CONTEXT Recent studies have shown that local anesthesia for loop colostomy closure is as safe as spinal anesthesia for this procedure. OBJECTIVES Randomized clinical trial to compare the results from these two techniques. METHODS Fifty patients were randomized for loop colostomy closure using spinal anesthesia (n = 25) and using local anesthesia (n = 25). Preoperatively, the bowel was evalu...

Multi-fingered manipulation systems are important in the study of robotics. These are also challenging systems, in part because of the loop closure constraints required of several (virtual) loops each formed by two fingers and the grasped object. Most existing work describes system configurations using joint parameters, in which loop closure constraints are expressed by highly nonlinear equatio...

Over 60 years ago, Charles Kittel predicted that quadrant domains should spontaneously form in small ferromagnetic platelets. He expected that the direction of magnetization within each quadrant should lie parallel to the platelet surface, minimizing demagnetizing fields,and that magnetic moments should be configured into an overall closed loop, or flux-closure arrangement. Although now a ubiqu...

OBJECTIVE Low pelvic anastomoses are associated with a high leak rate. Loop ileostomies are commonly performed during ileoanal and coloanal anastomoses. This study was undertaken to review our experience with loop ileostomy closure after low anterior rectal resection and restorative proctocolectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS One hundred sixty five patients undergoing loop ileostomy closure at a si...