Cancer Patients' Social Relationships During 3 Years After Diagnosis-Generic and Cancer-Specific Social Networks.

Background: Social relationships are important health resources and may be investigated as social networks. We measured cancer patients' social subnetworks divided into generic social networks (people known to the patients) and disease-specific social networks (the persons talked to about the cancer) during 3 years after diagnosis.

Method: Newly diagnosed patients with localized breast cancer (n = 222), lymphoma (n = 102), and prostate cancer (n = 141) completed a questionnaire on their social subnetworks at 2-5 months after diagnosis and 9, 18, and 36 months thereafter.

Health-related quality of life is improved after coronary artery bypass graft surgery: a 1-year follow-up study.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to detect changes in QoL after coronary artery bypass grafting surgeries (CABG) in one year, and to identify the possible predictive factors associated with the change.

Design: A single-center prospective study of 501 patients was conducted between 2013 and 2018 using the EQ-5D VAS questionnaire for estimating the QoL. The patients filled in a questionnaire preoperatively, at 6 and at 12 months postoperatively.

Rapid-deployment aortic valve replacement during challenging aortic valve reoperation: a case report.

A previously implanted stenotic aortic valve bioprosthesis with stenotic coronary ostia and intramyocardial calcium was surgically debrided resulting in disruption of the left outflow track. A rapid-deployment aortic valve bioprosthesis was implanted to cover the remnant aortic valve annulus, ensure open coronary ostia, and secure a well-functioning aortic valve bioprosthesis with low postoperative gradient.

Improved health-related quality of life in patients 6 and 12 months after surgical aortic valve replacement.

. Quality of life (QoL) is possibly the most important variable for the patient when subjective results of heart procedures are evaluated. The purpose of this study was to analyze the change in the quality of life 1 year after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR).

Standardized spider (Arachnida, Araneae) inventory of Hankoniemi, Finland.

Background: During a field course on spider taxonomy and ecology at the University of Helsinki, the authors had the opportunity to sample four plots with a dual objective of both teaching on field methods, spider identification and behaviour and uncovering the spider diversity patterns found in the southern coastal forests of Hankoniemi, Finland. As an ultimate goal, this field course intended to contribute to a global project that intends to uncover spider diversity patterns worldwide. With that purpose, a set of standardised methods and procedures was followed that allow the comparability of obtained data with numerous other projects being conducted across all continents.

Wolbachia increases the susceptibility of a parasitoid wasp to hyperparasitism.

The success of maternally transmitted endosymbiotic bacteria, such as Wolbachia, is directly linked to their host reproduction but in direct conflict with other parasites that kill the host before it reaches reproductive maturity. Therefore, symbionts that have evolved strategies to increase their host's ability to evade lethal parasites may have high penetrance, while detrimental symbionts would be selected against, leading to lower penetrance or extinction from the host population. In a natural population of the parasitoid wasp Hyposoter horticola in the Åland Islands (Finland), the Wolbachia strain wHho persists at an intermediate prevalence (∼50%).

Effect of particulate contamination on adhesive ability and repellence in two species of ant (Hymenoptera; Formicidae).

Tarsal adhesive pads are crucial for the ability of insects to traverse their natural environment. Previous studies have demonstrated that for both hairy and smooth adhesive pads, significant reduction in adhesion can occur because of contamination of these pads by wax crystals present on plant surfaces or synthetic microspheres. In this paper, we focus on the smooth adhesive pads of ants and study systematically how particulate contamination and the subsequent loss of adhesion depends on particle size, particle surface energy, humidity and species size.

The influence of surface energy on the self-cleaning of insect adhesive devices.

The ability of insects to adhere to surfaces is facilitated by the use of adhesive organs found on the terminal leg segments. These adhesive pads are inherently 'tacky' and are expected to be subject to contamination by particulates, leading to loss of function. Here, we investigated the self-cleaning of ants and beetles by comparing the abilities of both hairy and smooth pad forms to self-clean on both high and low energy surfaces after being fouled with microspheres of two sizes and surface energies.

Intraoperative pressure measurement in radial artery harvest. A tool with additional value?

Objectives: The radial artery is widely used as a graft in coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). Due to its location and function it should be screened prior to harvesting to avoid ischaemic complications of the hand. In acute situations the Allen test is often the only preoperative screening method available.

Forearm vessel atherosclerosis. A harbinger of carotid disease?

Objectives: Atherosclerosis is a systemic disease affecting several vessels of the body. Coronary artery patients requiring bypass surgery have increased prevalence of carotid artery atherosclerosis which is known to increase operative risk in coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). Radial artery is often screened for grafting purposes preoperatively.

Non-harvestable radial artery. A bilateral problem?

Since radial artery is preferably harvested from a non-dominant hand, our aim was to study whether there are contraindications for radial artery harvest in the dominant hand if the radial artery of the other hand is not suitable for harvesting. Thirty-three patients scheduled to coronary artery bypass grafting with contraindication for radial artery harvest in the non-dominant hand underwent Allen test, upper arm Doppler ultrasonography and digital pletysmography. In ultrasonography, both anatomical and circulatory measurements were performed.

Is the Allen test reliable enough?

Objective: The Allen test is a widely used screening method of hand circulation. Our aim was to study whether the Allen test alone gives sufficient information for harvesting the radial artery in coronary artery bypass grafting.

Methods: One hundred and forty-five patients scheduled for coronary artery bypass grafting underwent the Allen test, upper arm Doppler ultrasonography and digital plethysmography.

Engineered wettability in tree capillaries.

The water-conducting network of capillaries in plants has evolved to cope with the frequent occurrence of cavitation, which leads to air-filled capillaries that are unable to function in water transport. However, the material from which the capillaries are constructed is not perfectly wetted by water, contrary to what is often assumed and to what one might expect in an optimal design. I demonstrate that nature is able to overcome this deficiency by engineering the roughness of the capillary walls to achieve near complete wetting, a strategy analogous to that used in the natural engineering of the wettability of plant leaves and insect wings.

Outcome of surgery for oesophageal carcinoma in a low volume centre, with and without preoperative chemoradiotherapy.

Aims: To critically assess the outcome of surgery for oesophageal carcinoma, with or without neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

Methods: Since April 1998 until August 2002 resectable oesophageal cancer patients referred to us have received multimodal treatment, consisting of two courses of fluorouracil, cisplatin and hydroxyurea and 2 x 20 Gy of radiotherapy followed by surgery. The outcome of this treatment was compared to the outcome of a historical group of oesophageal cancer patients, treated with surgery alone in the time period 1994 to 1998.

Mixing and condensation in a wet granular medium.

We have studied the effect of small amounts of added liquid on the dynamic behavior of a granular system consisting of a mixture of glass beads of two different sizes. Segregation of the large beads to the top of the sample is found to depend in a nontrivial way on the liquid content. A transition to viscoplastic behavior occurs at a critical liquid content, which depends upon the bead size.

Evaporation and instabilities of microscopic capillary bridges.

The formation and disappearance of liquid bridges between two surfaces can occur either through equilibrium or nonequilibrium processes. In the first instance, the bridge molecules are in thermodynamic equilibrium with the surrounding vapor medium. In the second, chemical potential gradients result in material transfer; mechanical instabilities, because of van der Waals force jumps on approach or a Rayleigh instability on rapid separation, may trigger irreversible film coalescence or bridge snapping.

Phase transition of n-alkane layers adsorbed on mica.

Thin (thickness h approximately 3 nm) films of n-octadecane and n-hexadecane adsorbed on mica surfaces from vapor close to their bulk melting points (T(m)) have been studied in a surface force apparatus. Using data on the growth rate of capillary condensates between the mica surfaces in contact and measurements of h, we have identified a transition in the structure of the adsorbed films a few degrees above T(m). As T decreases the alkane layers appear to undergo a transition to a more ordered structure, akin to the postulated "surface freezing" of long-chain liquid n-alkanes.