Linking QKD Testbeds across Europe.

Quantum-key-distribution (QKD) networks are gaining importance and it has become necessary to analyze the most appropriate methods for their long-distance interconnection. In this paper, four different methods of interconnecting remote QKD networks are proposed. The methods are used to link three different QKD testbeds in Europe, located in Berlin, Madrid, and Poznan.

Magnetic resonance imaging diagnosis of carcinoid heart disease.

Carcinoid tumors are associated with the production of a number of bioactive substances that might deposit on the endocardium (endocardial fibroelastosis) and produce cardiac failure. Carcinoid heart disease usually presents as right-sided valvular heart disease. Even if the diagnosis is frequently made by transthoracic echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging adds valuable information when evaluating cardiac structures that might be difficult to analyze on echocardiography.

Eighteen-year follow up after Hancock II bioprosthesis insertion.

Background And Aim Of The Study: The long-term (18 years) results after aortic (AVR), mitral (MVR) and double (aortic/mitral, DVR) valve replacement with Hancock II bioprosthesis were investigated.

Methods: Between 1978 and 1996, 279 Hancock II bioprostheses were implanted in 269 patients (166 males, 113 females; mean age 61.8+/-13.