The present research concerns the contextualisation and presentation of eleven small statues from the Tang era dated from the XI and XII centuries CE today housed at the Asian Art Museum in Turin ...(MAO). A multidisciplinary group with expertise in Asian art, digital representation, and information processing systems, with the support of VR@POLITO and MOD Lab Arch of the Politecnico di Torino is involved in the work. The goal is to present together several Tang-era pottery models not belonging to the same funerary outfit within the spaces of a coeval, philologically compatible hypogeal tomb. With a pronounced storytelling intent, the reconstructive 3D model represents a virtual exhibition project summarizing Tang art’s architectural, pictorial, and sculptural features. The pipeline was developed through photogrammetric acquisition with Structure from Motion (SfM) technology and 3D modeling of the artworks, reconstructive modeling and texturing of a Tang tomb as the ideal space of the statues, and communication through a virtual reality (VR) experience augmented with a set of information.
To analyze nationwide trends in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair and the use of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) in the emergency setting.
Data were obtained from the ...Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision-Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes for open and endovascular repairs from 2001-2009. Trends in outcome parameters and hospital charges were compared.
The number of emergency EVAR procedures increased from 382 in 2001 to 1,247 in 2009 (P < .001). During the study period, length of hospital stay associated with total number of EVAR procedures decreased from 3.8 days to 3.4 days (P < .05), and the in-hospital mortality decreased from 2.4% to 2% (P = .32). From 2001-2009, mean hospital charges associated with EVAR increased from $50,630 to $91,401 (74% increase), whereas charges associated with open repairs increased from $54,578 to $128,925 (136% increase). The proportion of patients needing rehabilitation or nursing home placement after EVAR increased from 5.8% to 7.7% (P < .01), and need for home health increased from 6.9% to 10.5% (P < .01).
There was a significant increase in the number of emergency EVAR procedures during the study period; however, the overall in-hospital mortality associated with EVAR remained unchanged, and the length of hospital stay showed a decreasing trend. The total hospital charges for EVAR were lower than the charges for open abdominal aneurysm repair throughout the study period; the difference in charges between the procedures showed a significant increasing trend with time.
Despite recent changes in the sociopolitical landscape of the United States, instances of discrimination and inequality faced by the transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) community are far ...from uncommon. TGNC individuals experience impactful disparities that their cisgender counterparts do not. This study explored implicit attitudes towards transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, through the examination of attitudes towards all-gender restrooms. This research explores consequences resulting from inequal access to restroom, including negative mental health outcomes, discrimination and displacement, and an increased risk for suicide amongst TGNC individuals. I hypothesized that those holding a minority identity status (e.g., female, transgender or non-cisgender, non-heterosexual) and individuals who are younger would be more likely to empathize with the TGNC population and be in favor of the installation of all-gender restroom facilities. Findings were significant for these predictors, with some inconsistencies. A strong level of allyship for TGNC individuals by other minority affiliated individuals was not measured as strongly as predicted. An explanation of possible contributing factors, clinical implications, and future directions is discussed.
Integrated computing curricula combine learning objectives in computing with those in another discipline, like literacy, math, or science, to give all students experience with computing, typically ...before they must decide whether to take standalone CS courses. One goal of integrated computing curricula is to provide an accessible path to an introductory computing course by introducing computing concepts and practices in required courses. This study analyzed integrated computing curricula to determine which CS practices and concepts are taught, how extensively the curricula are taught, and, by extension, how they might prepare students for later computing courses. The authors conducted a content analysis to examine primary and lower secondary (i.e., K-8) curricula that are taught in non-CS classrooms, have explicit CS learning objectives (i.e., CS+X), and that took 5+ hours to complete. Lesson plans, descriptions, and resources were scored based on frameworks developed from the K-12 CS Framework, including programming concepts, non-programming CS concepts, and CS practices. The results found that curricula most extensively taught introductory concepts and practices, such as sequences, and rarely taught more advanced content, such as conditionals. Students who engage with most of these curricula would have no experience working with fundamental concepts, like variables, operators, data collection or storage, or abstraction in the context of a program. While this focus might be appropriate for integrated curricula, it has implications for the prior knowledge that students should be expected to have when starting standalone computing courses.
The prevailing hypothesis of thyroid carcinogenesis is that thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is a prime factor in the growth and possibly the genesis of thyroid carcinoma. On the other hand, Graves' ...disease is a hyperthyroid state caused presumably by human thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin (HTSI), not TSH. However, the literature does contain scattered reports of an association between Graves' disease and thyroid carcinoma. With this background, we retrospectively reviewed our series of 117 consecutive patients operated on for Graves' disease from 1961 through 1984. The series contains 23 male and 94 female patients, with a mean age of 26.3 years at operation (median 26 years; range 8 to 58 years). Of these patients, six (two males and four females) were found to have carcinoma, four papillary and two follicular, for an incidence of 5.1%. Four of the 117 patients had a history of head and neck irradiation; two (50%) subsequently developed carcinoma. For the six patients with carcinoma, mean follow-up has been 8.1 years (median 8 years; range 1 to 14 years). To date there have been no recurrences of carcinoma, and all six are alive and well. Thus our series shows a carcinoma rate of 5.1% in patients with Graves' disease, which is markedly higher than the 0.1% to 0.2% incidence in random autopsy series of all patients. This raises the question of a possible carcinogenic role for HTSI, similar to that hypothesized for TSH, in patients with presumably suppressed TSH.
The reported incidence of thyroid carcinoma in Hashimoto's thyroiditis varies widely. For this reason the specific subpopulation of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and a solitary cold nodule ...was analyzed. Between 1972 and 1984 we operated on 146 consecutive patients with solitary cold nodules and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. There were 47 carcinomas, for an incidence of 32%. The mean age of the 146 patients was 43 1/2 years (median 44 years), with 126 females and 20 males. There was a history of prior head and neck radiation exposure in 54 patients, with a 33% incidence of thyroid carcinoma. The 92 patients without a history of radiation exposure had a 31.5% incidence of carcinoma. The frequency of multicentricity (bilateralism) was 33% in the group that underwent radiation and 24% in the group that did not. To date, with a mean follow-up of 4.7 years, there have been no deaths and no evidence of recurrence. In conclusion, we report a 32% incidence of thyroid carcinoma in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and a solitary cold nodule, with no apparent difference between the patients with or without a history of radiation exposure, although there was a higher incidence of bilateralism (33% versus 24%) in the carcinomas of the patients with a history of head and neck irradiation. We suggest that the operative management of these patients is total thyroidectomy for those with a history of head and neck radiation and thyroid lobectomy for patients with no history of radiation, followed by contralateral lobectomy if a carcinoma is demonstrated.
The impact of the pericardium on right ventricular performance in the presence of normal filling pressures was evaluated using a rapid response RVEF thermodilution pulmonary artery catheter and TEE. ...In eight patients with normal right coronary arteries undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery, hemodynamic measurements revealed increased right ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes with diminished RVEF after opening the pericardium. In eight additional patients with right coronary artery disease, directionally similar changes in right ventricular volume were seen. Ejection fraction, however, was unchanged possibly due to altered right ventricular compliance. Echocardiogram evaluation of right ventricular area changes in patients with compromised right coronary systems corresponded to ejection fraction determinations obtained with thermodilution technique.
The recent controversy concerning the prognosis of Hürthle cell tumors instigated the review of our experience with 34 patients treated between 1972 and 1984. On the basis of strict histopathologic ...criteria, 14 patients with Hürthle cell hyperplasia, 10 with Hürthle cell adenoma, and 10 with Hürthle cell carcinoma were identified. There was a 40% incidence of bilateralism in Hürthle cell carcinoma, whereas we documented bilateral disease in only one of 10 patients with Hürthle cell adenoma. Lobectomies were performed in patients with tumors considered histopathologically benign and total thyroidectomy in patients with histologically malignant lesions as well as in most patients with a history of radiation exposure. Follow-up ranges from 4 months to 12 years (mean 3.1 years). To the present time there has been no evidence of recurrence and no deaths from Hürthle cell tumors. Consequently, in our experience, Hürthle cell tumors seem to behave in a rather benign manner. Therefore it seems that the appropriate treatment for Hürthle cell adenoma and nodular hyperplasia is a lobectomy. Total thyroidectomy is reserved for patients with Hürthle cell carcinoma primarily because of the high incidence of bilateralism.
