\n\nMethods: Patients with lesions of the ampulla were identified over 5 years. Patients who did not undergo EUS were compared with those who did.\n\nResults: A total of 27 of 58 (47%) patients were investigated with EUS. Pretreatment diagnoses were correct in 93% of the EUS group vs. 78% of the no-EUS group. Rates of diagnostic accuracy in low-grade dysplasia (LGD), high-grade

dysplasia (HGD) and adenocarcinoma (ADC) were 72%, 20% and 96%, respectively, in the no-EUS group, and 93%, 50% and 100%, respectively, in the EUS group. Every diagnosis of LGD in the EUS group was correct, whereas these diagnoses accounted for the majority of errors (eight of 13) in the no-EUS group. High-grade dysplasia was frequently misdiagnosed. More patients were treated by endoscopic resection in the EUS group (12 of 27 vs. five of 31; P= 0.025).\n\nConclusions: Endoscopic ultrasound increases the accuracy of preoperative QNZ diagnosis of ampullary lesions and is particularly useful in patients with LGD because it permits safe endoscopic management. Patients with HGD must be reviewed carefully

and considered for pancreatoduodenectomy.”
“The VEGFR inhibitor correlation between surface domain structure (SDS) and high frequency magneto-impedance (MI) in amorphous microwires has been systematically studied. First, we applied the magneto-optical polarizing microscopy to determine the SDS and found that it is considerably different in unstressed microwire and in microwires to which tensile and torsional stress were applied. Then, we measured the longitudinal and off-diagonal MI in these microwires and also observed quite different MI dependencies. We analyzed DAPT the experimental MI curves and their dependence on the SDS with the help of a simple model that nevertheless yields good qualitative agreement with experiment.

We have demonstrated that the analysis of the MI dependencies, especially the off-diagonal one, can reveal the SDS in the microwires. The obtained results can also be useful for magnetic and stress sensing applications. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3596808]“
“Several heat-based sap flow methods, such as the heat field deformation method and the heat ratio method, include the thermal diffusivity D of the sapwood as a crucial parameter. Despite its importance, little attention has been paid to determine D in a plant physiological context. Therefore, D is mostly set as a constant, calculated during zero flow conditions or from a method of mixtures, taking into account wood density and moisture content. In this latter method, however, the meaning of the moisture content is misinterpreted, making it theoretically incorrect for D calculations in sapwood. A correction to this method, which includes the correct application of the moisture content, is proposed. This correction was tested for European and American beech and Eucalyptus caliginosa Blakely & McKie.