Search

Remote photoplethysmography (RPPG) is a camera-based optical technique for detecting volumetric changes of organs. This technique enables the non-contact measurement of respiration and pulse. Monitoring newborn infants is a challenging task, due to the weak pulse signals, the rather irregular respiratory pattern, and the frequent movements. Therefore, heavy optimization of the sensing and evaluation process is a must in a resource-limited embedded vision system. This is a two-faceted study, with a special focus on low computational complexity. In the field of respiration monitoring, the paper introduces an optimized convolutional neural network (CNN) and a novel, light Long Short-term Memory (LSTM) motion classifier with a narrow CNN layer. From heart rate measurement point of view, a skin segmentation based algorithm is presented. The performance of each algorithm is evaluated on a database collected at the Ist Dept. of Neonatology of Pediatrics, Dept of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.

Abstract: Infrequent solitary fibrous tumours of the pleura are associated with hypoglycaemia only in a few percent of the cases; this condition is called Doege–Potter syndrome, named after its first descriptors. Our 63 years old male patient has previously undergone clinical treatment for intrathoracic fluid accumulation on the left side caused by a giant tumour-like mass in the lower left lobe detected by CT scan. In the course of further investigations performed due to increasing load-induced dyspnoea, lung core biopsy verified low grade sarcoma in the tumour. Tumour board suggested surgery. The patient was transferred from the intensive care unit into the operation theater due to increasing dyspnoea and repeated hypoglycaemic periods in rapidly worsening general condition. Pneumonectomy and removal of the tumour was performed on the left side. Histology showed solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura corresponding to Doege–Potter syndrome. The patient was discharged without complications and underwent adjuvant chemotherapy due to pleural dissemination of the tumour observed intraoperatively. One year after surgery the patient underwent surgical removal of a locally recurrent tumour. In spite of repeated chemotherapy local and multiplex contralateral pulmonary progression was observed. Three-year survival was noted from the time of the first surgery. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(41): 149–153.

The presence of organ metastases is a major factor for unfavorable prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma (LADC). However, the influence of primary tumor location on metastatic sites and sequence has not been extensively analyzed.We performed a multicenter cohort study, evaluating clinicopathological data of 1126 Caucasian LADC patients, focusing on the distinct location of primary tumors and metastatic sites during disease progression.Metastases to the lung (p 0.001), pleura (p 0.001) and adrenal glands (p 0.001) occurred earlier during disease progression and central primary tumors were associated with early metastases (OR 1.43, p = 0.02). In secondary exploratory analysis we found that bone metastases were more frequent in patients with central tumors (OR 1.86, p = 0.017), whereas lung metastases in those with peripheral tumors (OR 1.35, p = 0.015). Central primary LADCs were associated with decreased median overall survival (vs. peripheral tumors, 10.2 vs. 22 months) both in univariate (HR 2.075, p = 0.001) and in multivariate (HR 1.558, p 0.001) analyses and independent from stage and T factor. By subsequent analysis, we found that bone metastases tend to appear together with adrenal and liver metastases, and adrenal with skin, and pleural with pericardial metastases more frequently than expected if metastatic events occurred independently.This comprehensive large cohort analysis demonstrates metastatic site- and sequence-specific variations in patients with LADC. Central LADC is associated with early metastatic disease, bone involvement and, consequently, decreased survival.

The PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cell line is an in vitro model system widely used for the investigation of intracellular signaling events contributing to neuronal differentiation and cell death. We found earlier that the nitric oxide donor compound sodium nitroprusside (SNP) induced apoptosis of PC12 cells if it was applied in high concentration (400 µM). Yoshioka et al. (J Pharmacol Sci 101:126-134, 2006) reported that cell death evoked by cytotoxic concentrations of SNP could be prevented by a 100 µM SNP pre-treatment in a murine macrophage cell line. The apoptosis caused by toxic-dose SNP treatment (400 µM) could be partially overcome in PC12 cells as well by the low-dose SNP pre-treatment. The partial inhibition of apoptosis was accompanied by reduced phosphorylation of certain proteins (such as stress-activated protein kinases, the p53, and the eIF2α proteins), decreased caspase activation, and less intense internucleosomal DNA fragmentation. The 100 µM SNP pre-treatment reduced the pro-apoptotic potential of certain other stress stimuli (serum withdrawal, cisplatin and tunicamycin treatments) as well, although the underlying biochemical changes were not entirely uniform. On the contrary, the 100 µM SNP pre-treatment was unable to prevent cell death caused by the protein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin. Further clarification of the above-mentioned processes may be important in understanding the mechanisms by which mild nitrosative stress protects cells against certain forms of cellular stress conditions.

Infrequent solitary fibrous tumours of the pleura are associated with hypoglycaemia only in a few percent of the cases; this condition is called Doege-Potter syndrome, named after its first descriptors. Our 63 years old male patient has previously undergone clinical treatment for intrathoracic fluid accumulation on the left side caused by a giant tumour-like mass in the lower left lobe detected by CT scan. In the course of further investigations performed due to increasing load-induced dyspnoea, lung core biopsy verified low grade sarcoma in the tumour. Tumour board suggested surgery. The patient was transferred from the intensive care unit into the operation theater due to increasing dyspnoea and repeated hypoglycaemic periods in rapidly worsening general condition. Pneumonectomy and removal of the tumour was performed on the left side. Histology showed solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura corresponding to Doege-Potter syndrome. The patient was discharged without complications and underwent adjuvant chemotherapy due to pleural dissemination of the tumour observed intraoperatively. One year after surgery the patient underwent surgical removal of a locally recurrent tumour. In spite of repeated chemotherapy local and multiplex contralateral pulmonary progression was observed. Three-year survival was noted from the time of the first surgery. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(41): 149-153.

The aim of this paper is to analyze human factors related and methodological constraints that prevent the distributed crewing or single pilot operational concept to be pushed forward in commercial aviation. First, it has been argued that alternatives for current commercial flight operations are not necessarily constrained by technology, but by the human factors characteristics of the socio-technical systems enabling these operations. In this paper, we present a constraint analysis of the landing phase of flight (both manual and automatic) using Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA). Given that CWA enables linking constraints related to human and non-human elements of the system and their interactions, CWA supports exploring systemic design solutions for distributed crewing operation. We argue that automatic landing calls for designing for distributed situational awareness, whereas manual landing calls for designing novel human roles in the overall system. Second, distributed crewing concept is being researched by several research groups simultaneously and with various methodologies, including expert interviews, semi-structured task analysis, experiments, policy and historical analysis. In the second half of the paper we argue that successfully progressing towards distributed crewing will require collaboration between research groups and integrating findings obtained with mixed methods. We explore strategies for mixed-method integration in the context of designing distributed crewing operations.

Az elmúlt években megfigyelhető tendencia, hogy az önkormányzatokra számos közfeladat ellátásának kötelezettsége hárult, gondoljunk csak a magyarország helyi önkormányzatairól szóló törvény rendelkezéseire. A gyarapodó feladatokhoz azonban nem feltétlenül társulnak azok ellátásához szükséges források, így az önkormányzatok a jogszabályok, illetve lakosaik által megfogalmazott, feléjük irányuló kötelezettségek ellátására új, az igazgatás weberi szemléletétől gyakran idegen megoldásokra, akár saját költségvetésükön kívül erőforrások felkutatására és igénybevételére kényszerülnek.

PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells are widely used to investigate signaling pathways. The p143p53PC12 cell line expresses a Val143Ala mutant p53 protein that is less capable of binding to the p53 consensus site in DNA than its wild-type counterpart. Nitric oxide (NO), depending on its concentration, is able to activate several signal transduction pathways. We used sodium nitroprusside (SNP), an NO donor compound, to analyze NO-induced cellular stress in order to clarify the mechanism and role of nitrosative stress in pathological processes, including inflammation and cancer. SNP caused cell death when applied at a concentration of 400 μM, p143p53PC12 cells showing higher sensitivity than wild-type PC12 cells. The mechanisms leading to the increased SNP-sensitivity of p143p53PC12 cells were then investigated. The 400-μM SNP treatment caused stress kinase activation, phosphorylation of the eukaryotic initiation factor eIF2α and p53 protein, proteolytic activation of protein kinase R, caspase-9, and caspase-3, p53 stabilization, CHOP induction, cytochrome c release from mitochondria, and a decline in the level of the Bcl-2 protein in both cell lines. All these SNP-induced changes were more robust and/or permanent in cells with the mutant p53 protein. We thus conclude that (1) the main cause of the SNP-induced apoptosis of PC12 cells is the repression of the bcl-2 gene, evoked through p53 stabilization, stress kinase activation, and CHOP induction; (2) the higher SNP sensitivity of p143p53PC12 cells is the consequence of the stronger and earlier activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway.

The bacterial antibiotic anisomycin is known to induce apoptosis by activating several mitogen-activated protein kinases and by inhibiting protein synthesis. In this study, the influence of p53 protein on the apoptosis-inducing effect of anisomycin was investigated. The effect of protein synthesis-inhibiting concentration of anisomycin on apoptotic events was analyzed using Western blot, DNA fragmentation, and cell viability assays in wild-type PC12 and in mutant p53 protein expressing p143p53PC12 cells. Anisomycin stimulated the main apoptotic pathways in both cell lines, but p143p53PC12 cells showed lower sensitivity to the drug than their wild-type counterparts. Anisomycin caused the activation of the main stress kinases, phosphorylation of the p53 protein and the eukaryotic initiation factor eIF2α, proteolytic cleavage of protein kinase R, Bid, caspase-9 and -3. Furthermore, anisomycin treatment led to the activation of TRAIL and caspase-8, two proteins involved in the extrinsic apoptotic pathway. All these changes were stronger and more sustained in wtPC12 cells. In the presence of the dominant inhibitory p53 protein, p53- dependent genes involved in the regulation of apoptosis may be less transcribed and this can lead to the decrease of apoptotic processes in p143p53PC12 cells.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a mediator of a diverse array of inter- and intracellular signal transduction processes. The aim of the present study was to analyze its possible role as a second messenger in the process of neuronal differentiation of PC12 pheochromocytoma cells. Upon NGF treatment wildtype PC12 cells stop dividing and develop neurites. In contrast, a PC12 subclone (designated M-M17-26) expressing a dominant-negative mutant Ras protein keeps proliferating and fails to grow neurites after NGF treatment. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP), an NO donor, was found to induce the p53 protein and to inhibit proliferation of both PC12 and M-M17-26 cells, but failed to induce neuronal differentiation in these cell lines. Key signaling pathways (the ERK and Akt pathways) were also not affected by SNP treatment, and the phosphorylation of CREB transcription factor was only slightly stimulated. It is thus concluded from the results presented in this paper that NO is unable to activate signaling proteins acting downstream or independent of Ras that are required for neuronal differentiation.

Purpose To assess the within- and between-examiner reliability of corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) measurements with 2 noncontact specular microscopes: a video-based system (SeaEagle) and a photographic system (Noncon Robo). Methods In 57 eyes of 57 subjects, 47 healthy subjects and 10 patients with corneal disease, ECD was measured in the center and at 4 paracentral areas with the video-based system (SeaEagle) and in the center with a photographic system (Noncon Robo). For the between-examiner reliability, a second examiner measured the central ECD with the SeaEagle device in 12 healthy subjects. The video-based system was also used to evaluate the agreement between the automated and the manually corrected (semiautomated) modes of repeated measurements. Results For central ECD in all eyes, the test-retest reliability assessed by the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.77, 0.99, and 0.91 for the automated SeaEagle, semiautomated SeaEagle, and Noncon Robo, respectively. Correlation was poor to good between the 3 measurement methods (range, 0.61-0.84). For between-examiner reliability, the upper (lower) limits of agreement were 200 (-384) and 149 (-92) cell/mm for the automated and semiautomated SeaEagle, respectively. Conclusions The best reliability of repeated measurements was found for the semiautomated SeaEagle. However, the semiautomated method showed significantly higher ECD values than the Noncon Robo, and this difference was highly dependent on ECD. Thus, we suggest that these methods should not be used interchangeably. The fully automated mode may need a further refinement of the cell detection algorithm.

SummaryIn response to various inflammatory stimuli, neutrophils secrete neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), web-like meshworks of DNA, histones and granular components forming supplementary scaffolds in venous and arterial thrombi. Isolated DNA and histones are known to promote thrombus formation and render fibrin clots more resistant to mechanical forces and tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA)-induced enzymatic digestion. The present study extends our earlier observations to a physiologically more relevant environment including plasma clots and NET-forming neutrophils. A range of techniques was employed including imaging (scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confocal laser microscopy, and photoscanning of macroscopic lysis fronts), clot permeability measurements, turbidimetric lysis and enzyme inactivation assays. Addition of DNA and histones increased the median fibre diameter of plasma clots formed with 16 nM thrombin from 108 to 121 and 119 nm, respectively, and decreased their permeability constant from 6.4 to 3.1 and 3.7×10−9 cm2. Histones effectively protected thrombin from antithrombin-induced inactivation, while DNA inhibited plasminogen activation on the surface of plasma clots and their plasmin-induced resolution by 20 and 40 %, respectively. DNA and histones, as well as NETs secreted by phorbol-myristate-acetate-activated neutrophils, slowed down the tPA-driven lysis of plasma clots and the latter effect could be reversed by the addition of DNase (streptodornase). SEM images taken after complete digestion of fibrin in NET-containing plasma clots evidenced retained NET scaffold that was absent in DNase-treated clots. Our results show that DNA and histones alter the fibrin architecture in plasma clots, while NETs contribute to a decreased lytic susceptibility that can be overcome by DNase.

Toxic concentrations of the second messenger nitric oxide cause cellular stress leading to cell death. Ras proteins, possible targets of nitric oxide–induced nitrosylation, may act as mediators in nitrosative stress. To analyze the possible involvement of Ras proteins in nitric oxide cytotoxicity, a PC12 rat phaeochromocytoma cell line expressing a dominant negative Ras mutant protein was used in this study. Cytotoxic concentrations of the nitric oxide donor sodium nitroprusside activated several proapoptotic mechanisms, including stimulation of the stress kinase pathways mediated by c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), inhibition of the translation initiation factor eIF2α, induction and phosphorylation of the p53 protein, and inhibited Akt-mediated antiapoptotic signaling, independent of Ras function. Simultaneously, Ras-dependent stimulation of the prosurvival ERK pathway was also observed, followed by an increased activation of the caspase-9/caspase-3 cascade in cells with impaired Ras function. It is concluded that nitric oxide stimulation of multiple signaling pathways contributes to the cell death program, whereas concomitant activation of the Ras/ERK pathway provides a certain degree of protection.

Az obstruktiv alvasi apnoe szindroma a felnőtt lakossag szamottevő reszet erintő, sulyos cardiovascularis szovődmenyekkel jaro es a betegek eletminőseget jelentősen ronto megbetegedes. A kronikus obstruktiv tudőbetegseg szinten a kozepkoru korosztaly legmagasabb prevalenciaju megbetegedesei kozott szerepel. E ket, nepbetegsegkent szamon tartott leguti szindroma egyuttes fennallasa sulyos, kombinalt alvas alatti legzeszavart eredmenyez. Kronikus obstruktiv tudőbetegsegben szenvedő betegek eseteben az alvasi apnoe fennallasanak mielőbbi felismerese es a kevert legzeszavar adekvat kezelese alapvető fontossagu. Orv. Hetil., 2012, 153, 892–897.

A közfeladat-ellátásban megjelenő új eszközök válaszul szolgálnak napjainkban bekövetkező gazdasági, társadalmi változásokra, oly módon, hogy közben a megelőző időszakban megjelent igényeket továbbra is képesek legyenek kiszolgálni. Beszéljünk akár a jóléti, vagy az egykori szocialista blokk országairól mindkét kormányzati berendezkedésben közös vonás: az állam igyekezet a tőle telhető legmagasabb színvonalon, a lehető legtöbb közszolgáltatást biztosítani polgárainak. A társadalomnak volt elvárása, vagy ha nem volt, lett a közszféra által nyújtott szolgáltatásokra nézve. Azonban ezeknek az igényeknek a kielégítése egyre költségesebbé vált. A színvonal növelése, illetve az intézményrendszer fenntartása már önmagában véve is rengeteg forrást emészt fel. A globalizáció, a „világ felgyorsulása” hatására a ciklikusan kirobbanó válságok egyre gyorsabb egymás utániban bukkantak fel, a rohanó gazdasági változásokra az államszervezet csak később, utóbb tud reagálni. A gazdasági változások mellett a társadalmi szerkezetben bekövetkező átrendeződés, kiemelten a nyugati társadalmakban jelentkező népességfogyás további nehézséget jelentett. Összegezve: a meglévő közszolgáltatások iránti igény megmaradt, ehhez társult a színvonallal, ellátás javításával kapcsolatos elvárások. Azonban ezeket a kormányzatok a korábbi eszközkészletük, jogintézményeik útján nem voltak képesek a megváltozott gazdasági, társadalmi környezetben biztosítani. Új megoldásokra volt szükség. A fenti kihívásokra adott válaszként több másik eszközzel egyetemben megjelent, elsőként az angolszász országokban, egy jogintézmény, amelyet public private parnership-nek neveztek, azaz a köz- és magánszféra közötti együttműködés.

Absztrakt nélkül.

Various properties of a composite type adhesive opaque resin were investigated. When this resin was used to adhere the same kind of alloy, Sn plated Type IV gold and Au-Ag-Pd alloys or alumina blasted stainless steel showed excellent adhesive durability. However, when this resin was used to adhere veneering resin and alloy, methods of handling must be improved. Temperature and irradiation time had some effects on the properties of the light-curing veneering resin.

The effects of some adhesives on the bonding of amalgam filling to tooth substance were studied. The bonding agents were 4-META resin with adhesive ability derived from the acid anhydride functional group and PANAVIA EX, a composite type adhesive. The sealing and the bonding effects were measured using the dye penetration and shear tests. Both of the adhesive materials had an excellent ability to seal the leakage between the amalgam and the tooth substance.

The alloy “ALBABOND E”, consisting mainly of palladium was given various kinds of surface treatment and then adhered with two different adhesive resins. The surface treatments were: mirror-polishing, sand-blasting with alumina, electrolytical etching, Sn plating and for the last step heating once to 400°C. The adhesive used were: 4-META-MMA-TBB type resin and PANAVIA EX. For comparison, an alloy containing only a small percentage of Pd was tested. To examine the adhesive bonding strength it was tested by thermal cycle for a maximum of 2000 times. The samples were dipped for 1-1 minutes in water of 4°C and 60°C alternatively and then the tensile bonding strength was measured. The treatments that were successful were oxidation by heating, Sn plating and Silicoating in this order and out of two adhesives the durability of adhesive bonding strength of 4-META type resin was stronger than that of PANAVIA EX. The electrolytical etching made the surface rough but had no effect to the adhesive bonding strength, which appears to be because the precious metallic components of the alloy are retained in larger quantities on superficial layer.