ABSTRACT
This work presents a double sliding mode control designed for accelerating the measurement of heat fluxes using thermopiles. The slow transient response generated in the thermopile, when it is placed in contact with the surface to be measured, is due to the changes in the temperature distributions that this operation triggers. It is shown that under some conditions the proposed controls keep the temperature distribution of the whole system constant and that changes in the heat flux at the thermopile are almost instantaneously compensated by the controls. One-dimensional simulations and experimental results using a commercial thermopile, showing the goodness of the proposed approach, are presented. A first rigorous analysis of the control using the Sliding Mode Control and Diffusive Representation theories is also made.
ABSTRACT
Introducción. La citología obtenida por aspiración con aguja fina (cACAF) es la mejor herramienta diagnóstica para decidir la conducta frente al nódulo tiroideo. La determinación del rendimiento diagnóstico para este procedimiento sustenta este hecho y ayuda a conocer el comportamiento de la enfermedad. Materiales y métodos. Se hizo una revisión retrospectiva de las historias clínicas de los pacientes con impresión diagnóstica de nódulo tiroideo, con citología obtenida por aspiración con aguja fina y manejados quirúrgicamente, en el período de 2007 a 2013. A partir de estos pacientes, se determinaron sensibilidad, especificidad, valor diagnóstico positivo, valor diagnóstico negativo, precisión y concordancia diagnóstica. Resultados. La población de estudio fue de 161 pacientes. Para la citología obtenida por aspiración con aguja fina, se calcularon los siguientes parámetros: sensibilidad, 54,5 %; especificidad, 98 %; falsos positivos, 1,8 %; falsos negativos, 4,5 %; valor diagnóstico positivo, 75 %; valor diagnóstico negativo, 98 %; precisión diagnóstica, 93 %; índice kappa, 0,598 excluyendo los microcarcinomas. Conclusión. La citología obtenida por aspiración con aguja fina es una prueba diagnóstica con gran especificidad para el diagnóstico citológico de las lesiones de la glándula tiroides. Sin embargo, la variabilidad anatómica de las lesiones y el hecho de ser una prueba que depende del operador, disminuyen su sensibilidad, por lo que el estudio histopatológico es el método de referencia en el diagnóstico definitivo de las lesiones de la glándula tiroides.
Background: Fine needle aspiration cytology is the best diagnostic tool to choose the conduct regarding a thyroid nodule. Determination of the diagnostic performance of this procedure supports this fact and helps to recognize the behavior of this pathology in our environment. Methods: A retrospective review of medical records of patients with the diagnostic impression of thyroid nodule in the period of 2007 – 2013 that had fine needle aspiration cytology and were managed surgically was conducted. Sensibility, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, diagnostic accuracy and concordance were determined in these patients. Results: The study population was conformed by 161 patients. The following parameters were determined: sensibility, 54,5%; specificity, 98%; false positive rate, 1.8%; false negative rate, 4.5%; positive predictive value, 75%; negative predictive value, 98%; diagnostic accuracy, 93%; and Kappa index, 0.598 excluding micro carcinomas. Conclusion: Fine needle aspiration cytology is a diagnostic test with high specificity for the diagnosis of thyroid gland nodular lesions. Nonetheless, the variability of the anatomic lesions and the fact that it is an operator dependent test decreases its sensibility, and therefore the histopathologic diagnosis is the gold standard for the definitive diagnosis of thyroid gland lesions.
Subject(s)
Thyroid Gland , Thyroid Nodule , Cell Biology , Biopsy, Fine-NeedleABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assemble a biohybrid cardiac patch consisting of a large (5 × 5 cm) elastomer scaffold whose pores are filled with a self-assembling peptide (SAP) gel entrapping adipose stem cells, to be used as a novel implant in a big animal model (sheep) of myocardial infarction. The study focuses on the way to determine optimal procedures for incorporating the SAP solution and the cells in the patch to ensure cell colonization and a homogeneous cell distribution in the construct before implantation. The problems associated with the scale-up of the different procedures raised by the large size of the construct are discussed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Experiments were performed to choose between different assembling alternatives: incorporation of the SAP gel before cell seeding or simultaneous SAP and cell loading of the scaffold; surface seeding of cells or cell injection into the scaffold pores; dissemination of the cells throughout the scaffold before incubation by gentle shaking or by centrifugation. Immunocytochemistry techniques and confocal and scanning electron microscopies were employed to assess and quantify cell colonization of the material and early cell distribution. Cell concentrations and the uniformity of cellular distribution throughout the scaffold were taken as the main criteria to decide between the different alternative procedures. RESULTS: The combination of peptide preloading, cell injection, and shaking before incubation yielded the best results in terms of greater cell density and the most uniform distribution after 24 h of culture compared with the other methods. These techniques could be scaled-up to obtain large biohybrid cardiac patches with success. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained after the different seeding methods allowed us to establish an effective protocol for the assembly of large biohybrid patches for their subsequent implantation in the heart of a big animal model of myocardial infarct in the context of a preclinical study.
