In this paper, we establish leading coefficient of Wiener index for open and closed 2-dimensional rectangular lattices, for various open and closed polygonal lattices, and for open and closed multidimensional cubes. These results enable us to establish compression ratio of Wiener index when number of rows and columns in the lattice tends to infinity.

BackgroundThe rigorous elicitation of user needs is a crucial step for both medical device design and purchasing. However, user needs elicitation is often based on qualitative methods whose findings can be difficult to integrate into medical decision-making. This paper describes the application of AHP to elicit user needs for a new CT scanner for use in a public hospital.MethodsAHP was used to design a hierarchy of 12 needs for a new CT scanner, grouped into 4 homogenous categories, and to prepare a paper questionnaire to investigate the relative priorities of these. The questionnaire was completed by 5 senior clinicians working in a variety of clinical specialisations and departments in the same Italian public hospital.ResultsAlthough safety and performance were considered the most important issues, user needs changed according to clinical scenario. For elective surgery, the five most important needs were: spatial resolution, processing software, radiation dose, patient monitoring, and contrast medium. For emergency, the top five most important needs were: patient monitoring, radiation dose, contrast medium control, speed run, spatial resolution.ConclusionsAHP effectively supported user need elicitation, helping to develop an analytic and intelligible framework of decision-making. User needs varied according to working scenario (elective versus emergency medicine) more than clinical specialization. This method should be considered by practitioners involved in decisions about new medical technology, whether that be during device design or before deciding whether to allocate budgets for new medical devices according to clinical functions or according to hospital department.

Aim of the study Exposure to radiation and aging are the leading causes of breast cancer among female patients. We aimed to investigate and assess the relationship between exposure to medical, diagnostic and iatrogenic radiation and breast cancer using a questionnaire among 100 newly diagnosed female breast cancer patients and 100 control female subjects without cancer. Material and methods A case control study using a family ambulatory based survey was conducted among 200 female patients from all municipalities of Zenica-Doboj Canton. New cases of breast cancer among subjects of experimental groups (n = 100) were diagnosed between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2007 using the institutional clinical procedure for breast cancer diagnosis. Data were obtained using a self-rated questionnaire on radiation as a breast carcinogen. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 19.0. Results There were no significant differences between the two groups and their subgroups for individual data and demographics except for prevalence of decreased family financial situation (practical poverty) among subjects with breast cancer in relation to control subjects (31%: 17% among control subjects; p = 0.001). Female patients who are exposed to iatrogenic radiation before the 3rd year of life (OR = 1.29; 95% CI: 0.839–1.985) and those who are exposed to CT more than twice per year are more than twice as likely to have breast carcinoma (OR = 2.02; 95% CI: 1.254–3.261) compared to control subjects. Poverty and low family income are vulnerability factors associated with elevated levels of breast carcinoma. This result is not in accordance with prior study results. ConcIusions It is necessary to develop an adequate registration system of iatrogenic exposure to radiation for each patient of any age, particularly for children aged < 3 years and for CT iatrogenic exposure.

Introducao: O tumor de celulas granulares e uma neoplasia benigna rara que pode ocorrer em qualquer parte do corpo. Na mama, representa 5-6% de todos os tumores de celulas da granulares. Geralmente sao nodulos que podem simular um carcinoma invasivo em exames de imagem. Histologicamente e caracterizado por uma proliferacao de celulas poligonais de aspecto granular que se agrupam em ninhos, cordoes ou lencois e apresentam uma forte marcacao imuno-histoquimica para a proteina S-100. A doenca de Castleman e um disturbio linfoproliferativo benigno rarode origem controverso, caracterizada pela proliferacao de tecido linfoide em qualquer cadeia linfatica. Clinicamente,essa doenca e dividida em forma unicentrica e multicentrica, a cura na forma unicentrica e possivel por meio daexcisao cirurgica, enquanto a forma multicentrica tem um prognostico mais reservado em longo prazo. Relato docaso: Descreveu-se o caso de uma paciente com um nodulo de mama sugestivo de carcinoma e que teve o diagnostico de tumor de celulas da granulares e, em exames de estadiamento, foi encontrada uma massa em retroperitonio que,apos resseccao cirurgica, foi diagnosticada como doenca de Castleman. Conclusao: Deve-se ter, como diagnostico diferencial de tumores malignos de mama, o tumor de celulas granulares, devido a similaridade ao exame clinico e em exames de imagem. A doenca de Castleman deve estar no diagnostico diferencial de massas retroperitoneais.

Analog network coding (ANC) as a simple implementation of physical layer network coding based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been proposed to increase the network capacity and reliability of bi-directional link between a pair of users. In ANC protocol, an information between a pair of users is exchanged through two orthogonal time phases (i.e., multiple-access and broadcast phases). On the other hand, the phase noise (PN) introduces phase offset and inter carrier interference (ICI) to the useful signal. Thus, in ANC scheme PN will affect the useful signal during both multiple-access and broadcast phases. In this article, we present a performance analysis of ANC scheme using OFDM in the presence of PN in frequency-selective fading channel. We derive the total composite variance of ANC scheme in the presence of PN to obtain the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) expression. Then, we evaluate the system’s performance in terms of bit error rate (BER), SINR degradation, and ergodic capacity through both numerical and computer simulations. Computer simulated average BER has been consistent with the numerical results, validating the presented analysis. Our results have shown that the ANC scheme is more sensitive to the PN introduced during the broadcast phase (i.e., at destination) than during the multiple-access phase (i.e., at relay). This is because of the higher ICI to the useful signal and enhanced noise due to the imperfect self-information removal at the destination. In addition, the performance degradation of ANC scheme based on OFDM in the presence of PN is highly expressed for the PN linewidth values up to 20 Hz.

The paper reports the profile of individual organic acids and phenolic content in fresh fruit and jam from three populations of cornelian cherry ( Cornus mas L.) wild genotypes originating from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Immediately after harvest, jams were cooked at maximum 80°C from the corresponding fruit. The jam was sampled in five replications at three different storage times for each region: immediately after processing, and then after four and six months of storage, for individual organic acids and phenolics by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The phenolic compounds found in the fresh fruit were also found in the jams - however, in significantly lower amounts in jam. The three most abundant phenolic compounds found in cornelian cherry fruit as well as in the corresponding jams were procyanidin B1, quercetin 3- O -robinobioside and peonidin 3- O -glucoside. Jam contained dramatically lower levels of phenolic compounds compared to fresh fruit. The most stable phenolic compounds were flavonols where the smallest losses were recorded. The levels of flavan 3-ols, hydroxycinnamicacid, flavonols and anthocyanins declined more during jam processing than during storage, with a significant influence of the growing region.