Effects of Spinal Decompression and Segmental Spinal Instrumentation on Lower Limb Functionality in Patients with Spinal Osteoarthritis.

Spinal osteoarthritis, a degenerative condition of the spine, significantly impairs quality of life, causing pain, stiffness, and limited mobility. Treatment primarily aims to improve functionality and quality of life. This study investigated the effects of lower back surgery (e.

IL-23/IL-17 Axis in Chronic Hepatitis C and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis-New Insight into Immunohepatotoxicity of Different Chronic Liver Diseases.

Considering the relevance of the research of pathogenesis of different liver diseases, we investigated the possible activity of the IL-23/IL-17 axis on the immunohepatotoxicity of two etiologically different chronic liver diseases. A total of 36 chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients, 16 with (CHC-SF) and 20 without significant fibrosis (CHC-NSF), 19 patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and 20 healthy controls (CG) were recruited. Anthropometric, biochemical, and immunological cytokines (IL-6, IL-10, IL-17 and IL-23) tests were performed in accordance with standard procedure.

Evaluation of the Limb Symmetry Index: The Side Hop Test.

The main objective of present study was to evaluate inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity of Side Hop Test stopwatch vs. force plates timing, and to determine the number of sessions and trials required to minimize the effects of learning on Side Hop Test total time and limb symmetry index. Fifteen healthy male physical education students (mean ± SD: age, 23 ± 3 years; height, 181 ± 9 cm; and weight 72 ± 6 kg) participated.

Endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the ovary: MRI findings with emphasis on diffusion-weighted imaging for the differentiation of ovarian tumors.

Background: Preoperative differentiation of ovarian malignant tumors still remains a challenge. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) provides information about cellularity of the lesion and might facilitate discrimination between different malignant ovarian lesions.

Purpose: To evaluate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the ovary and to determine the value of DWI in the differential diagnosis of malignant and benign adnexal tumors.

Evaluating the role of content in subjective video quality assessment.

Video quality as perceived by human observers is the ground truth when Video Quality Assessment (VQA) is in question. It is dependent on many variables, one of them being the content of the video that is being evaluated. Despite the evidence that content has an impact on the quality score the sequence receives from human evaluators, currently available VQA databases mostly comprise of sequences which fail to take this into account.

MR image based approach for metal artifact reduction in X-ray CT.

For decades, computed tomography (CT) images have been widely used to discover valuable anatomical information. Metallic implants such as dental fillings cause severe streaking artifacts which significantly degrade the quality of CT images. In this paper, we propose a new method for metal-artifact reduction using complementary magnetic resonance (MR) images.

Position of intragastric balloons in global initiative for obesity treatment.

Obesity is chronic disease with multiple health consequences and among the most severe health problems worldwide. According to public health records around 65% of population in Croatia are overweight and 20% obese. National physicians chamber with support of Health and Social Welfare Ministry gave recommendations on diagnosing and treating of obesity in form of national consensus.

Salient motion features for video quality assessment.

Design of algorithms that are able to estimate video quality as perceived by human observers is of interest for a number of applications. Depending on the video content, the artifacts introduced by the coding process can be more or less pronounced and diversely affect the quality of videos, as estimated by humans. While it is well understood that motion affects both human attention and coding quality, this relationship has only recently started gaining attention among the research community, when video quality assessment (VQA) is concerned.

[Reconstruction of the esophagus with a jejunal segment--case report].

Introduction: Portions of gastrointestinal tract may be used as microvascular transfers for reconstruction of hypopharynx and esophagus. Colon, jejunum and portions of stomach have also been successfully used. Intestinal transfer by revascularization was reported by Seidenberg in 1959, long before the development of other free tissue transfers.

[Gastrointestinal stromal tumor: case report].

Introduction: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors represent extremely rare tumors of the gastrointestinal system, especially when localized on the small intestine.

Case Report: We report a case of a female patient, with recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding and severe anemia, caused by gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the small intestine. After negative endoscopic findings, she underwent radiological examination of the small intestine.

[Hormonal and hyperglycemic response in laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy].

The aim of the study is to evaluate the intensity of the operative trauma during laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy measured by hormonal (cortisol level) and metabolic (blood sugar level) response. Prospective randomized study was conducted in seventy patients with cholelithiasis. They were divided in two groups: thirty five underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy and thirty five underwent open cholecystectomy (control group).