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Central metatarsalgia is a disease of the second, third and fourth metatarsal heads, described as pain in the forefoot, which extends from the plantar to the heel and on the dorsum of the foot; in some cases, it may be associated to hyperkeratosis. It is often accompanied by other symptoms like hallux rigidus and hallux valgus and/or the claw-foot syndrome. Usually the surgeon is able to clinically diagnose it with a radiographic foot survey, which allows him to calculate the “metatarsal formula”. Surgical treatment is suggested in case conservative treatment fails. The operation consists of radical surgical techniques, such as resection and realignment of the bone, as well as conservative techniques like distal and proximal osteotomies.

The Risk Map of Italian Cultural Heritage is a current research project of the Istituto Centrale del Restauro (ICR), with the aim of developing a more rational and economical means of undertaking the maintenance, conservation, and restoration of the architectural and archaeological monuments of Italy.The first step of the project has been to create a geographical information system (GIS), which collects, processes, and manages both cartographic and alphanumerical data coming from peripheral units based in many Italian towns by the ‘Soprintendenze’, being the territorial departments of the Ministry of Culture. The connection between environmental danger and risk to the monuments is highlighted through a mapping process, by overlapping computerized maps having a thematic content (such as air pollution, climate, and earthquakes) and the distribution of cultural assets. The second step has ensured that the above data were homogeneous through defining standardized schedules at different levels of detai...

Critical processing steps of COB manufacturing, as implemented at Epitek, are reported. They include testing of incoming boards, cleaning, bonding parameters, bonding defects and statistical process control.

This paper describes the design goals and engineering efforts that led to the realization of AMBER (Astronomical Multi BEam combineR) and to the achievement of its present performance. On the basis of the general instrumental concept, AMBER was decomposed into modules whose functions and detailed characteristics are given. Emphasis is put on the spatial filtering system, a key element of the instrument. We established a budget for transmission and contrast degradation through the different modules, and made the detailed optical design. The latter confirmed the overall performance of the instrument and defined the exact implementation of the AMBER optics. The performance was assessed with laboratory measurements and commissionings at the VLTI, in terms of spectral coverage and resolution, instrumental contrast higher than 0.80, minimum magnitude of 11 in K, absolute visibility accuracy of 1%, and differential phase stability of 1E-3 rad over one minute., Comment: 14 pages

We present a near-infrared cooled grating spectrometer that has been developed at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory for the 1.5 m Infrared Telescope at Gornergrat (TIRGO). The spectrometer is equipped with cooled reflective optics and a grating in Littrow configuration. The detector is an engineering grade Rockwell NICMOS3 array (256x256 pixels of 40 $\mu$m). The scale on the focal plane is 1.73 arcsec/pixel and the field of view along the slit is 70 arcsec. The accessible spectral range is 0.95-2.5 $\mu$m with a dispersion, at first order, of about 11.5 angstroms/pixel. This paper presents a complete description of the instrument, including its optics and cryo-mechanical system, along with astronomical results from test observations, started in 1994. Since January 1996, LonGSp is offered to TIRGO users and employed in several Galactic and extragalactic programs., Comment: 5 pages LaTeX with 5 eps figures (included). To appear in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Supp. Require LaTeX style l-aa (from A&A)

A set of rules is presented for printing thick film resistors, whose implementation minimises losses due to resistors firing too high or too low, and also results in the shortest possible set‐up times. To the best of the authors' knowledge, some of the concepts and relations reported here are nowhere to be found spelled out in the published literature, let alone presented in quantitative form. One example is the relationship between sheet resistance vs resistor length curves and the mesh/emulsion of the screen used to obtain such curves. Another example is the relationship between the choice (or lack of it) of resistors used to set up thickness at the beginning of a print, and the spread in resistance values. Then there are better known relationships, like the dependence of thickness on resistor width or print direction—still no quantitative data are available and the potential relevance of these effects is generally not appreciated. Long set‐up times and yield losses need not exist, as they arise from non‐rigorous printing rules which call for a standard dry thickness (usually 25±3 µm) regardless of resistor dimensions, print direction and ink jar value, and which only call for a range of screen mesh/emulsion values, rather than for specific ones. In fact, for any given sheet resistance vs resistor length curve, only one choice of screen mesh/emulsion and resistor thickness is logically possible. Also reported are experimental data relating resistor thickness to resistor length as a function of screen mesh/emulsion, resistor width and print direction as well as data on sheet resistance as a function of resistor dry thickness. Finally, results from thirty‐eight production runs are reported and discussed.

Patients with sports injuries were treated with pirprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, in two separate studies. In the single centre study, 39 athletes were treated with 1000 mg/day pirprofen for 2 weeks. In the multicentre study, a further 80 athletes were treated with a variable dosage (600 − 1200 mg/day) until the disappearance of symptoms, but for no longer than 2 weeks. Efficacy was considered excellent or good in 99/119 (83%) of the patients treated. The clinical variables of pain and mobility significantly ( P

The effects of regular intensive exercise training on immune system homeostasis and the potential value of treatment with an immunostimulating agent were assessed in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. A total of 60 athletes were studied over a 3-month period of regular intensive physical activity. After 1 and 3 months there were significant decreases in the immunoglobulin levels in the whole athlete population compared with baseline values. Specifically there were significant decreases in immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G (G1 and G2 subclasses). There was also a significant decrease in natural killer cells and a slight but significant increase in B and T lymphocytes. In the thymomodulin-treated group, unlike the placebo group, there was no significant decrease in the immunoglobulin G2 subclass and there was a significant increase in the T-helper cell subpopulation. The clinical relevance of these immunological findings should be evaluated in larger clinical and epidemiological studies.