A GIS-based fuzzy classification for mapping the agricultural soils for N-fertilizers use.

Special attention should be paid to the choice of the proper N-fertilizer, in order to avoid a further acidification and degradation of acid soils and at the same time to improve nitrogen use efficiency and to limit the nitrate pollution of the ground waters. Therefore, the risk of leaching of the fertilizer and of the acidification of the soils must be considered prior to any N-fertilizer application. The application of N-fertilizers to the soil requires a good knowledge of the soil-fertilizer relationship, which those who are planning the fertilization policy and/or applying it might not have. In this study, a fuzzy classification methodology is presented for mapping the agricultural soils according to the kind and the rate of application of N-fertilizer that should be used. The values of pH, clay, sand and carbonates soil variables are estimated at each point of an area by applying geostatistical techniques. Using the pH values three fuzzy sets: "no-risk-acidification"; "low-risk-acidification"; and "high-risk-acidification" are produced and the memberships of each point to the three sets are estimated. Additionally, from the clay and sand values the membership grade to the fuzzy set "risk-of-leaching" is calculated. The parameters and their values, which are used for the construction of the fuzzy sets, are based on the literature, the existing knowledge and the experimentation, of the soil-fertilizer relationships and provide a consistent mechanism for mapping the soils according to the type of N-fertilizers that should be applied and the rate of applications. The maps produced can easily be interpreted and used by non-experts in the application of the fertilization policy at national, local and farm level. The methodology is presented through a case study using data from the Amfilochia area, west Greece.

Case report on primary and secondary aortoenteric fistula in patient.

A rare case is reported of a 77-year-old male with secondary aortoenteric fistula after earlier ligation of infrarenal aorta without any prosthetic grafting in the abdomen. The patient was admitted into our Clinic suffering from haematemesis and melaena. The combination of our patient's medical history, the endoscopic picture and MRI arteriography indicated the likelihood of a secondary aortoenteric fistula. Three years before this our patient had been successfully operated on for a primary aortoenteric fistula having an aneurysmectomy, ligation of the infrarenal aorta and an axillobifemoral bypass performed on him while the duodenum was sutured and patched with omentum. The choice of this surgical procedure was unavoidable because our patient had been operated on for a duodenal ulcer perforation 3 days before this. With the diagnosis of a secondary aortoenteric fistula very possible an urgent laparotomy was performed revealing a fistula between the third duodenal portion and the aortic stump. The duodenum was separated from the aortic stump to which a dacron patch, posterior peritoneum and omentum were sewn. Postoperatively the patient required respiratory support in intensive care for 4 days and was discharged within 8 days. Today, two years later, he continues to be in excellent condition.

A monitoring/auditing mechanism for SSL/TLS secured service sessions in Health Care Applications.

This paper analyzes the SSL/TLS procedures and defines the functionality of a monitoring/auditing entity running in parallel with the protocol, which is decoding, checking the certificate and permitting session establishment based on the decoded certificate information, the network addresses of the endpoints and a predefined access list. Finally, this paper discusses how such a facility can be used for detection impersonation attempts in Health Care applications and provides case studies to show the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method.

Pulmonary sequestration. Experience with eight consecutive cases.

Bronchopulmonary sequestration was diagnosed in eight patients, aged 6-47 years during a 13-year period. The sequestration was intralobar in six patients and extralobar in two. Only lower lobes were involved. Recurrent pulmonary infection was the main clinical presentation. Radiographs usually showed an aerated cyst in intralobar sequestration, while extralobar sequestration presented as a homogeneous shadow. Computed tomography of the chest after bolus infusion of contrast medium revealed the anomalous artery in two patients pre-operatively. The main source of arterial supply was the thoracic aorta in both sequestration types, but venous drainage differed between the types. Associated lesions were bronchogenic cyst and extensive bronchiectasis, each in one patient. Surgical treatment was sequestrectomy for extralobar and lobectomy for intralobar sequestration.

Large tension bronchogenic cyst in an adult mimicking the Swyer-James syndrome.

A case report of a large tension bronchogenic cyst in an adult that appeared as the Swyer-James/Macleod's syndrome is presented. Despite the thorough preoperative examinations the diagnosis was confirmed only after exploratory thoracotomy and histopathological study.

Intramural bronchogenic cyst of the oesophagus: a rare entity.

Bronchogenic cysts are congenital cystic lesions of foregut origin, usually intra-pulmonary or mediastinal in location. Peri-oesophageal bronchogenic cysts are rare, while intra-oesophageal cysts are almost always considered as enterogenous owing to their location and their composition. We report here an unusual case of a young adult with an intramural bronchogenic cyst causing dysphagia. Despite the fact that the cyst was completely embedded in the oesophageal wall, the pathological findings revealed the respiratory origin of the cyst. An extramucosal excision of the cyst was performed establishing the diagnosis and alleviating all our patient's symptoms.