Background/Introduction Phrenic nerve palsy (PNP) is a well-recognized complication after cardiac surgery which might occur as a result of topical myocardial cooling, direct injury or ischemia. It can result in deleterious respiratory effects especially in children and in patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which adversely affect recovery and increase the length of ICU and hospit...

OBJECTIVES To compare the ability of five measures of comorbidity to predict mortality and incident disability in basic activities of daily living (BADLs) in unselected older persons. DESIGN An assessment of the data obtained from the Insufficienza Cardiaca negli Anziani Residenti a Dicomano (ICARe Dicomano) Study, a longitudinal epidemiological survey on heart failure in older people. SETT...

MOTIVATION Class distinction is a supervised learning approach that has been successfully employed in the analysis of high-throughput gene expression data. Identification of a set of genes that predicts differential biological states allows for the development of basic and clinical scientific approaches to the diagnosis of disease. The Independent Consistent Expression Discriminator (ICED) was ...

Shewanella putrefaciens has been considered the main spoilage bacteria of low-temperature stored marine seafood. However, psychrotropic Shewanella have been reclassified during recent years, and the purpose of the present study was to determine whether any of the new Shewanella species are important in fish spoilage. More than 500 H2S-producing strains were isolated from iced stored marine fish...

The objective of this paper is to investigate the trends of the dynamic behavior of a single iced conductor. Attention is focused not only on the initiation of galloping but also on boundaries where a periodic plunge or torsional motion emerge. Trends with respect to the iced conductor’s eccentricity and its inertia to mass ratio are particularly stressed. They are shown to be complicated becau...

This paper shows how mesh morphing can be effectively used as a tool for updating CFD models of wings into iced configurations, i.e. accounting for the presence of complex shapes originated during ice accretion. Although several approach are well established for the prediction of ice build up, a robust method capable to continuously update the original geometry into the iced one is a paramount ...

BACKGROUND Skin erosion is a dire complication of implantable cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators. Classical treatments involve removal of the entire generator and lead systems, however, these may result in fatal complications. In this study, we present our experience with a simplified salvage technique for exposed implantable cardiac electronic devices (ICEDs) without removing the implanted ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Tai Chi Chuan, a traditional Chinese exercise, is thought to improve cardiopulmonary function in patients with chronic disease. This study investigated the effect of Tai Chi Chuan on the pulmonary function and daily symptoms of asthmatic children. METHODS Thirty asthmatic children were enrolled into the study. Fifteen of the 30 children participated in a 12-week Tai Chi...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the usefulness of the following four comorbidity indices in gastric cancer patients who underwent surgery: Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), Cumulative Illness rating scale (CIRS), Index of Co-existent Disease (ICED), and Kaplan-Feinstein Scale (KFS). METHODS The study subjects were 614 adults who underwent surgery for gastric cancer...