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Challenging infrarenal aortic neck characteristics have been associated with an increased risk of type Ia endoleak after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Short apposition (< 10 mm circumferential shortest apposition length [SAL]) on the first post-operative computed tomography angiography (CTA) has been associated with type Ia endoleak. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a model to predict post-operative SAL in patients with an abdominal aortic aneurysm based on the pre-operative shape. A statistical shape model was developed to obtain principal component scores. The dataset comprised patients treated by standard EVAR without complications (n = 93) enriched with patients with a late type Ia endoleak (n = 54). The infrarenal SAL was obtained from the first post-operative CTA and subsequently binarised (< 10 mm and ≥ 10 mm). The principal component scores that were statistically different between the SAL groups were used as input for five classification models, and evaluated by means of leave one out cross validation. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were determined for each classification model. Of the 147 patients, 24 patients had an infrarenal SAL < 10 mm and 123 patients had a SAL ≥ 10 mm. The gradient boosting model resulted in the highest AUC of 0.77. Using this model, 114 patients (77.6%) were correctly classified; sensitivity (< 10 mm apposition was correctly predicted) and specificity (≥ 10 mm apposition was correctly predicted) were 0.70 and 0.79 based on a threshold of 0.21, respectively. A model was developed to predict which patients undergoing EVAR will achieve sufficient graft apposition (≥ 10 mm) in the infrarenal aortic neck based on a statistical shape model of pre-operative CTA data. This model can help vascular specialists during the planning phase to accurately identify patients who are unlikely to achieve sufficient apposition after standard EVAR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of Gazi Husrev-Beg's Library / Anali Gazi Husrev-Begove Biblioteke is the property of Gazi Husrev-Begove Biblioteke (GHB) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this article is to complement and refine Ellen Prince's well-known taxonomy of given/new information (Prince 1981, 1992), which distinguishes between discourse-related and assumed familiarity-related newness/givenness. What we suggest is that a new category should be added to the existing hearer new, hearer old, and inferrable information categories, so as to include cases where the informational status of an entity or a propositional content cannot be determined with certainty. We call this new category 'the (hearer) indeterminables', and we justify its existence through a case study on nonrestrictive, relevance-oriented constructions (appositive relative clauses, non-restrictive pre-modifiers, apposition). We also argue that it is possible for speakers/writers to simulate informational statuses for politeness considerations, and that such simulation should be included in the definition of assumed familiarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of N1N2 constructions, or nouns in apposition, is controversial: depending on the theoretical framework, they can be considered as compounds or as syntactic constructions. Indeed, nouns in apposition function as a hybrid category, in a double way: (i) the same lexical structure in apposition is viewed either as a coordinative construction, as a subordinative or as an attributive construction. (ii) N2 functions as a modifier or as an attributive item of N1; in Portuguese, when plural is syntactically mandatory, N1 (the head) is systematically pluralized; N2 either rejects inflection or behaves as a predicator, allowing inflectional marks. We claim that Romance NN behave as a specific type of compounds. This assumption is grounded on their behaviour by contrast with phrasal properties. Portuguese compounds are characterized by a narrow relationship between internal structure, headness and inflectional patterns. In Portuguese, by default, the head of compound is inflected. NN related by an attributive semantic link are nowadays particularly unstable and problematic regarding inflection. Inflectional variation -- widely attested -- helps in determining the status of NN in apposition: as two inflectional patterns are available, we must verify if they correspond to two different constructions or to one structure with two readings. The analysis addressed is supported by empirical data of contemporary Portuguese language extracted from Brazilian and European databases, and requires the theoretical articulation of a double predicative class of N2 (holistic and partitive) with inflectional fluctuation of attributive N2 in the second situation: performing a continuum, double inflection is close to holistic predication and single inflection (of N1) is close to partitive predication; systematic double inflection is close to coordination and inflectional oscillation is close to attribution. The predicative power of nouns in apposition supports their partitive and their holistic reading. Inflectional fluctuation of N2 illustrate in an optimistic way their hybrid nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Veredas is the property of Revista Veredas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Veredas is the property of Revista Veredas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Fluorochrome labelling of bone formation was used to examine the effect of exercise (flight) on the wing skeleton of fruit bats, Ptero pus po!iocephalus, over a 194 day period. The bats in this study had been born and raised in captivity and it was hypothesised that the large increases in bone strain that accompanied active flight would result in bone formation at the periosteal bone surface, leading to increased mechanical stiffness and strength. This hypothesis was not supported by the results. Bone formation rates, percentage mineralising surface and mineral apposition rates at the mid-shaft periosteal surface of the radius, metacarpal III and metacarpal V were small. The proximal phalanx of digit V did not display any bone formation at this surface. Bone appositional activity was not significantly different between baseline, control (non-flight) and treatment (flight) groups at any time- point of the experiment. Apposition, although limited, occurred primarily at the endocortical surface in all bones of all animals. No correlation was found between activity and bone formation. Active intracortical remodelling (a total of four secondary osteons) was only seen in three individuals.There was evidence of earlier remodelling activity in most bones, although there was no evidence of any secondary remodelling in the proximal phalanx. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Ca2+ Signaling During Embryonic Cytokinesis in Animal Systems," by Sarah E. Webb and Andrew L. Miler is presented.