Heat flow in nanomaterials is an important area of study, with both fundamental and technological implications. However, little is known about heat flow in two-dimensional devices or interconnects with dimensions comparable to the phonon mean free path. Here we find that short, quarter-micron graphene samples reach ~35% of the ballistic thermal conductance limit up to room temperature, enabled by the relatively large phonon mean free path (~100 nm) in substrate-supported graphene. In contrast, patterning similar samples into nanoribbons leads to a diffusive heat-flow regime that is controlled by ribbon width and edge disorder. In the edge-controlled regime, the graphene nanoribbon thermal conductivity scales with width approximately as ~W1.80.3, being about 100 W m−1 K−1 in 65-nm-wide graphene nanoribbons, at room temperature. These results show how manipulation oftwo-dimensional device dimensions and edges can be used to achieve full control of their heat-carrying properties, approaching fundamentally limited upper or lower bounds. Understanding heat flow in two-dimensional nanomaterials has wide-ranging implications. Here, the authors show that the thermal conductance of quarter-micron graphene samples is quasi-ballistic, but patterning the graphene into nanoribbons leads to diffusive heat flow strongly limited by edge scattering.

The goal of this study was to evaluate associations between the meteorological conditions and the number of emergency cases for five distinctive causes of dispatch groups reported to SOS dispatch centre in Uppsala, Sweden. Center's responsibility include alerting to 17 ambulances in whole Uppsala County, area of 8,209 km2 with around 320,000 inhabitants representing the target patient group. Source of the medical data for this study is the database of dispatch data for the year of 2009, while the metrological data have been provided from Uppsala University Department of Earth Sciences yearly weather report. Medical and meteorological data were summoned into the unified data space where each point represents a day with its weather parameters and dispatch cause group cardinality. DBSCAN data mining algorithm was implemented to five distinctive groups of dispatch causes after the data spaces have gone through the variance adjustment and the principal component analyses. As the result, several point clusters were discovered in each of the examined data spaces indicating the distinctive conditions regarding the weather and daily cardinality of the dispatch cause, as well as the associations between these two. Most interesting finding is that specific type of winter weather formed a cluster only around the days with the high count of breathing difficulties, while one of the summer weather clusters made similar association with the days with low number of cases. Findings were confirmed by confidence level estimation based on signal to noise ratio for the observed data points.

Information about the regional distribution of health-related physical fitness status is necessary in order to tailor public health interventions, and due to a number of behavioral health risks caused by the increasing sedentary lifestyle. This study aimed to find differences between Croatian children's health-related physical fitness profiles in urban and rural areas. The sample for this study consisted of 2431 fifth-grade students (1248 boys and 1183 girls) from urban and rural areas of Croatia. The mean age of participants was 11.3 +/- 6.1 years. The differences between the health-related physical fitness of school children from urban and rural areas was computed using series of univariant analysis of variance and canonical discriminant analysis. The reliability of the tests was determined by Cronbach's alpha coefficients. Urban boys and girls significantly differ in body height from rural boys and girls. Body mass index and body fat percentage are slightly higher in the urban boys and girls but they do not differ significantly. Urban children perform significantly better in the 20 m dash, standing long jump and timed sit-ups. Urban and rural boys and girls do not differ significantly in the flexibility. This study determined if selected levels of urbanization affected the physical fitness status of children in Croatia. The results suggest that the differences in children's health-related physical fitness profiles are due to the level of urbanization.

Progress in therapeutics for rare disorders like prion disease is impeded by the lack of validated outcome measures and a paucity of natural history data derived from prospective observational studies. The first analysis of the U.K. National Prion Monitoring Cohort involved 1337 scheduled clinical assessments and 479 telephone assessments in 437 participants over 373 patient-years of follow-up. Scale development has included semi-quantitative and qualitative carer interviews, item response modelling (Rasch analysis), inter-rater reliability testing, construct analysis and correlation with several existing scales. The proposed 20-point Medical Research Council prion disease rating scale assesses domains of cognitive function, speech, mobility, personal care/feeding and continence, according to their relative importance documented by carer interviews. It is quick and simple to administer, and has been validated for use by doctors and nurses and for use over the telephone, allowing for frequent assessments that capture the rapid change typical of these diseases. The Medical Research Council Scale correlates highly with widely used cognitive and single item scales, but has substantial advantages over these including minimal floor effects. Three clear patterns of decline were observed using the scale: fast linear decline, slow linear decline (usually inherited prion disease) and in some patients, decline followed by a prolonged preterminal plateau at very low functional levels. Rates of decline and progress through milestones measured using the scale vary between sporadic, acquired and inherited prion diseases following clinical expectations. We have developed and validated a new functionally-oriented outcome measure and propose that future clinical trials in prion disease should collect data compatible with this scale, to allow for combined and comparative analyses. Such approaches may be advantageous in orphan conditions, where single studies of feasible duration will often struggle to achieve statistical power.

The most often complication of breast surgery with dissection of axilla is decrease in the range of shoulder joint of the ipsilateral arm motion, the feeling of heavy arm, secondary lymphedema of the arm, and very rarely pain and weakness of the arm’s muscles. Persistence of these symptoms leads to permanent dysfunction of the arm . Decrease in the range of motion is a consequence of surgery and scarring of the healed wound, which decreases the amount of movement at each joint on the operated side 4, . A reduced range of shoulder joint motion is diagnosed in 2%–51% patients who underwent surgery for breast carcinoma 2, . Secondary lymphedema of the arm is a consequence of mechanical insufficiency of the lymphatic system caused by the surgery and later, by post-irradiation fibrotic changes, and is manifested by abnormal accumulation of interstitial fluid, rich in proteins . In the majority of studies, secondary lymphedema of the arm occurs in 10%–30% of patients following the breast carcinoma therapy . For postoperative complications reduction, numerous rehabilitation programs and instructions were developed with the aim of damage prevention, maximizing the occurred damage (range of motion, muscle power) and minimizing the risk for development of secondary lymphedema of the arm 1–4, . In breast carcinoma patients, rehabilitation has become more significant due to quality of life awareness of the oncological patients . It arises dilemma when to start with the rehabilitation program: most of the authors agree in that the program should start in the first several days after the surgery 1–4, , while the other authors consider that early beginning of rehabilitation in patients with axilla dissection is associated with an increased risk from postoperative complications: longer drainage period, seroma formation, postoperative infection and consequential longer hospitalization 1, 2, . In a controlled, randomized study, a hypothesis that exercises do not increase the risk of occurrence of secondary lymphedema of the arm has been confirmed . Exercises are efficient, safe and preferred interventions in a postoperative period . Early rehabilitation and later home-based exercises program, education 14, , as well as a continuous follow-up of patients 7, 9 were identified as interventions for the improvement of life in women with breast carcinoma in all 4 dimensions: physical, emotional, social and cognitive . Type, duration, frequency and intensity of exercises vary in the studies . Education and follow-up of patients with breast carcinoma enable prevention, detection of early and late occurrences of postoperative damages . A lack of rehabilitation interventions in patients operated for breast cancer is a consequence of no standardized exercises program avalable, so it is necessary to homogenize a reproducible regime .

Abstract This is a global financial and economic crisis, which can be considered the largest since the World War II. It has become a frequently discussed topic by various analysts, numerous governments, and in particular, a favourite topic of the media. We can rightly say that this is a crisis of the neoliberal system, which has greatly increased the wealth of the rich and impoverished the poor. Such crisis can be overcome by changing the system. Therefore, the directions and guidelines are necessary in order to determine the goals for resolving the crisis. The defined key objectives must be accompanied by specific sub-objectives, followed by establishing certain policies, which will contribute to the realization of these goals. We need to advocate and implement policies that will assist in accomplishing the defined goals. Some of those policies include the following: industrial policy, fiscal policy, monetary policy, regional development policy, public administration policy, and social policy. Rezime Ovaj rad se bavi globalnom finansijskom i ekonomskom krizom koja se može smatrati najvecom krizom nakon Drugog svetskog rata. To pitanje je cest predmet rasprave među brojnim analiticarima, predstavnicima vlasti, a narocito je omiljena tema medija. S pravom možemo reci da je rec o krizi neoliberalnog sistema, koja je u velikoj meri uticala na porast imovine bogatih a koja je još više osiromašila siromašne.Takva kriza može se prevazici promenom samog sistema. Stoga je neophodno da postoje uputstva i smernice kako bi se definisali ciljevi za prevazilaženje krize. Pored tih kljucnih ciljeva, neophodno je definisati podciljeve, koji ce doprineti realizaciji primarnih ciljeva. Neophodno je zagovarati i primenjivati politike koje ce olakšati realizaciju jasno definisanih ciljeva i podciljeva. Neke od tih politika su sledece: industrijska politika, fiskalna politika, monetarna politika, politika regionalnog razvoja, politika javne administracije i socijalna politika.

Objective: In recent years regional anesthesia has gained great popularity. However, like any other medical procedure, the regional anesthesia carries certain risk of unintended intraneural injection and consequential neurological complications. Studies in animals have suggested that intraneural application of local anesthetics may cause mechanical injury. Previous studies, however, have used small animal models and clinically irrelevant injection speed or equipment. In this study we used equipment and injection methods in common clinical use to study the consequences and pressure dynamics of intraneural injection. Our hypothesis is that an intraneural injection is heralded by higher injection pressure and leads to neurologic impairment in pigs. Materials and Methods: Ten pigs of mixed breed (21-26 kg, 4-6 months old) were studied. After general anesthesia, the sciatic nerves (n = 20) were exposed bilaterally. Under direct vision, a 25-gauge insulated nerve block needle was placed either intraneurally (n = 10) or perineurally (n = 10), and 4 ml of preservative-free lidocaine 2% was injected using an automated infusion pump (15 ml/min). Injection pressure data were acquired using an in-line manometer coupled to a computer via an analog-to-digital conversion board. After injection, the animals were awakened and subjected to serial neurologic examinations during next 7 days. Results: All perineural injections resulted in injection pressures below 40 kPa. In contrast, intraneural injections resulted in significantly higher peak pressures (P 140 k Pa. Conclusion: High injection pressure (>140 kPa) predicts intraneural injection and consequential neurologic deficit. As long as the injection pressure is low, injection into poorly compliant tissue can be avoided and neurological complication can be prevented.

Introduction: Willis arterial circle (circulus arteriosus cerebri Willisi) is the most important part of the collateral circulatory system of the brain. It functions in normal and pathological situations such as valvular mechanism and thus allows optimal blood supply of all parts of the brain tissue, which reduces the risk of transient ischemic attack (TIA) and stroke. The main pre-requisite for the normal function of the circle is its completeness and the lack of hypoplastic vessels. Materials and Methods: In this research, we used 100 angiograms of carotid system shown by serial angiography by Seldinger taken from the archives of the Department of Radiology, Clinical Center University of Sarajevo. For morphometric analysis of blood vessels, we used specially designed software program ELLIPSE (ViDiTo, Zoltan Tomoris, Kosice, Slovak Republic, tomori@saske.sk. In this way, it was possible to more easily store and analyze angiograms that were used for morphometric analysis. Results: In our study, larger diameters of blood vessels in Willis circle were observed in the younger subjects compared to older except the diameter of the internal carotid artery, which was about 0.2 to 0.3 mm larger in the older subjects. In both age groups among males, we recorded larger diameters of the internal carotid artery and segment before the circle of the posterior cerebral artery in relation to the female population, while the rear communicating artery in females was 0.1 mm wider in diameter compared to men in category of younger respondents.