Aluminium and its alloys represent very important group of structural materials. They have many applications in mechanical and civil engineering, and welding is considered to be one of the most important joining techniques. However, welding of aluminium has several issues, like high thermal conductivity and easy formation of oxide layer with high melting temperature. Recently, solid state friction stir welding process has been developed to overcome such issues, but it is not easily applicable in every situation. Therefore, welding of aluminium still greatly relies on arc welding. Among commonly used TIG and MIG processes, pulsed MIG (and its variants) are developed to fulfil requests regarding heat input and oxide layer removal during welding. This paper gives brief general overview of technical and technological aspects of these processes, and then more details regarding welding of widely used aluminium 5754 alloy with thickness of 4 mm. Comparison of relevant costs is given as well. All welds were made using digitally controlled equipment, while voltage and current were additionally measured. Based on evaluation of welds and calculated costs, conclusion regarding feasibility of each process is given.

Episiotomy is obstetric procedure during which the incision extends the vestibule of the vagina during the second stage of labor. Episiotomy was extensively spread with gradual increase of rates in the first half of the 20th century and was performed medio-laterally in all nulliparous women with the idea to protect fetal head from trauma and pelvic floor from injuries. However, reports claiming that episiotomy had no such benefits were published. It was shown that routine medio-lateral episiotomy did not protect against the appearance of urinary incontinence after vaginal delivery, while the risk of anal incontinence could be increased. The role of episiotomy in development of pelvic floor dysfunction remains quite unclear. Due to the mentioned reason, restricted episiotomy approach should be accepted. The origin of stress incontinence during pregnancy is controversial and not definitely scientifically proven. Pregnancy per se and older age at first delivery may have impact on the onset of pelvic floor dysfunction. Urinary incontinence in pregnancy increases the risk of later urinary incontinence, both postpartum and later in life. Vaginal delivery is just one of the potential risk factors for development of urinary incontinence. Mechanical pressure by fetus on the pelvic floor structures, limited denervation of the pelvic floor and soft tissue damage during delivery are some of explanations for the onset of stress urinary incontinence. On the other hand, cesarean delivery might not be protective against emergence of urinary incontinence. Further research in this field is needed.

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and surgical outcome of the sling procedures in stress incontinent women in comparison to conventional anterior colporrhaphy. Total of 56 patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) were treated with sling procedure between November 2011 and March 2013, 39/56 (69.6%) with suprapubic arc (SPARC) and 17/56 (30.4%) with MiniArc method. During the same period total of 49 patients with SUI were treated with traditional anterior colporrhaphy according to Bagovid method as the control group. All patients were prospectively clinically assessed over aperiod of 3, 6 and l2 months after surgery. The objective cure rate after the follow-up was 92.9% (52/56) in observed group of patients and 79.6% (39/49) in control group and improvement was occurred in rest of 5.4% (3/56) and 18.4% (9/49), respectively (p < 0.05). The overall complications rate was significantly lower in the observed group of patients than in the control group, 12.5% (7/56) vs. 28.6% (14/49), (p < 0.05). In the sling group was postoperatively noticed slightly higher rate of urinary incontinence, but in the colporrhaphy group was emphasized rate of urinary retention. Only one from the each group of patients failed the surgical procedure and required additional correction for SUI. The mean operating time for SPARC and MiniArc procedure was 19 +/- 7 and 9 +/- 5 minutes, respectively (p < 0.0001). Mean duration of hospitalization was significantly shorter in the sling group of patients (2.6 +/- 1.0, range 2-7) days than in the control group of (9.6 +/- 1.8, range 6-18), (p < 0.001 < 0.0001). According to presented results, sling is a highly effective method in patients with SUI with low incidence of perioperative complications, promising long-term results and high patient's satisfaction.