British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The optimal management of men with very favorable clinicopathological factors who develop biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP) has not been previously reported. Both local and systemic recurrences are unlikely in this cohort. This study examines their management and outcomes. Between October 2000 to March 2010, 1627 men underwent open RP by a single surgeon. In all, 448 (27.5%) met the following criteria for extremely low risk disease: preoperative PSA level <10?ng?ml?1, clinical stage T1c/T2a, Gleason score ?6, estimated cancer volume in the surgical specimen ?5% and no evidence for positive surgical margin. Undetectable PSA was defined as ?0.04?ng?ml?1. BCR was defined as PSA ?0.2?ng?ml&#...

Science.gov (United States)

Recurrent Hepatocellular Carcinoma

CERN Document Server

A new method of food stuff energetic value scoring is offered

Science.gov (United States)

B-cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia; Nodal Marginal Zone B-cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Burkitt Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Mixed Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Small Cleaved Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Grade III Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis; Recurrent Adult Immunoblastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Recurrent Grade 1 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Grade 2 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Grade 3 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Mantle Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Marginal Zone Lymphoma; Recurrent Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma; Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma; Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

To evaluate the predictive factors for treatment response and prognostic factors affecting survival outcomes after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for patients with anal squamous cell carcinoma. Medical records of forty two patients with histologically confirmed analsquamous cell carcinoma, who had complete CCRT between 1993 and 2008, were reviewed retrospectively. Median age was 61.5 years (39-89 years), and median radiotherapy (RT) dose was 50.4 Gy (30.0-64.0 Gy). A total of 36 patients had equal to or less than T2 stage (85.7%). Fourteen patients (33.3%) showed regional nodal metastasis, 36 patients (85.7%) were treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) plus mitomycin, and the remaining patients were treated by 5-FU plus cisplatinum. The median follow--up time was 62 months (2-202 months).The 5-year overall survival, locoregional relapse-free survival, disease-free survival, and colostomy-free survival rates were 86.0%, 71.7%, 71.7%, 78.2%, respectively. Regarding overall survival, the ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

ObjectiveTo develop a simple summary risk score for the prediction of Alzheimer disease in elderly persons based on their vascular risk profiles.DesignFull Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

PMID:20602289

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This study is for chemoradiotherapy of unresectable and recurrent cholangiocarcinoma (CCC). Between April 2005 and March 2007, 5 patients were evaluated for unresectable and recurrent CCC. All patients were performed percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) and treated with chemoradiotherapy. The radiation method was an external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and remote after loading system (RALS). The chemotherapy was 5-fluorouracil (FU) and gemcitabine by intravenous injection. Three patients had unresectable and 2 had recurrent CCC. As for the side effects, 4 patients had a slight neutropenia and 1 had an uncontrollable gastric bleeding. No patient had cholangitis. The mean survival time for unresectable and recurrent CCC was 13.7 months and 17 months, respectively. Our results indicated that chemoradiotherapy had been consistent with efficacy in patients with unresectable and ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundInflammatory markers may be associated with recurrent vascular events after stroke. We aimed to: (1) determine the association between interleukin-6, C-reactive...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundIdentification of urinary biomarkers for detection of bladder cancer recurrence would be beneficial to minimize the frequency of cystoscopy. Our objective was to determine...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The authors describe the different types of postoperative carcinoma recurrences, as seen on CT examinations of the chest, in 38 patients who underwent different surgical procedures for bronchogenic carcinoma (12 pneumonectomies, 22 lobectomies, 2 segmentectomies, and 2 atypical resections). The recurrences were classified as follows: 1) recurrence in the bronchial stump; 2) limph node enlargement; 3) recurrence in the thoracic wall; 4) recurrence in the residual lobe; 5) pleural effusion; 6) nodule in the contralateral lung. The CT findings, Correlated with those from plain chest radiographs and clinical simptoms, indicate a higher incidence of recurrences in the hilar region, either in the bronchial stump or as node after total and subtotal resection are separately analyzed. While after pneumonectomy plain chest radiographs fail to demonstrate the ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that perioperative transfusion of allogeneic and autologous red blood cells (RBCs) stored for a prolonged period speeds biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Post amputation pain can be debilitating for patients and families. Chronic pain is a common phenomenon after lower extremity amputation, occurring in up to 80% of this population. The purpose of this...Full Text Available

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

OBJECTIVE To present our initial experience of thulium laser resection via a flexible cystoscope for recurrent non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (ThuRBT), as transurethral resection for bladder tumour (TURBT) is regarded as the reference standard for treating this disease, but alternative laser resection or ablation is suitable especially for recurrent tumours. PATIENTS AND METHODS From January 2005 to October 2005, 32 patients with early recurrent bladder tumour (recurrent within a year after TURBT) were treated with ThuRBT via a flexible cystoscope. The follow-up included urine analysis, ultrasonography and cystoscopy every 3 months. RESULTS All patients were treated successfully with ThuRBT in one session, with no bladder haemorrhage, obturator nerve reflex or vesicle perforation. Rand...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

We evaluated the relation between the lipiodol accumulative pattern on CT 1 month after 1st Lp-TAE and the effect of Lp-TAE and recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 70 cases undergoing Lp-TAE twice. The lipiodol accumulative pattern on CT can be classified into four types (I: homogeneous, II: defect, III: inhomogeneous, IV: no or slight). In the type I, recurrence of the main tumor was 26.7%, daughter was 73.7%, suggesting a good effect of Lp-TAE. In the types II, III and IV, recurrence of the main tumor was seen in 66.7%, 83.3% and 83.3%, respectively, suggesting that the effect of Lp-TAE was worse according to the lipiodol accumulative pattern on CT. The lipiodol accumulative pattern on CT is useful for the detection of recurrence and assessment of the effect of Lp-TAE. (author).

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundLate-onset sepsis in the premature infant is frequently revealed by severe, unusual and recurrent bradycardias. In view of the high morbidity and mortality...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Objective: To explore the interventional method to treat biliary recurrent jaundice after T tube drainage in patients with malignant obstructive jaundice due to cholangiocarcinoma. Methods: 7 biliary metallic stents were placed in 7 patients with recurrent jaundice after T-tube drainage in cholangiocarcinoma cases. Results: Stent placement was once successful in all 7 cases with successful rate of 100%. For all cases, TBIL, ALT, GTP and AKP values 7 days postoperatively were significantly lower than that of preoperation together with subsidence of jaundice satisfactorily for 100% after the treatment. Conclusions: Percutaneous placement of biliary metallic stents was effective economic, minimal invasive and safe for palliation of biliary recurrent jaundice after T tube drainage in cholangiocarcinoma-induced obstructive jaundice

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BACKGROUNDHirsutism is the presence of excess body or facial terminal (coarse) hair growth in females in a male-like pattern, affects 5–15% of women, and is an important...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

... proficiency, most Army personnel must shoot to the same standards required of ... Wild- flecken was to provide this standard range, but its scores ... I3a I] ...

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma is typically a clonal neoplasm of epidermotropic CD4+ T-lymphocytes that includes the entity mycosis fungoides (MF). After identification of patients with recurrent MF treated...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cholangiocarcinoma may be associated with recurrent pyogenic cholangitis as a complication of longstanding proliferative cholangitis in the presence of intrahepatic stones. Sonographic and CT findings of six patients with cholangiocarcinoma of the liver associated with recurrent pyogenic cholangitis are presented. The cases were among 128 patients who underwent partial resection of the liver because of recurrent pyogenic cholangitis and its complication. On sonogram the mass was depicted in four patients as an ill-defined heterogenously echogenic mass and in one patient as a bulging contour; in the remaining one case the mass was not detected. There were small or large, shadowing or non shadowing stones within the tumor in five cases. In one case, the stone was in the duct proximal to the tumor. On CT scans of four patients, the tumors were depicted as an ill-defined, irregular low attenuation masses with variable contrast ...

CERN Document Server

Partial words are sequences over a finite alphabet that may contain wildcard symbols, called holes, which match or are compatible with all letters; partial words without holes are said to be full words (or simply words). Given an infinite partial word w, the number of distinct full words over the alphabet that are compatible with factors of w of length n, called subwords of w, refers to a measure of complexity of infinite partial words so-called subword complexity. This measure is of particular interest because we can construct partial words with subword complexities not achievable by full words. In this paper, we consider the notion of recurrence over infinite partial words, that is, we study whether all of the finite subwords of a given infinite partial word appear infinitely often, and we establish connections between subword complexity and recurrence in this more general framework.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Intervertebral spacers for anterior spine fusion are made of different materials, such as titanium and cobalt chromium alloys and carbon fiber-reinforced polymers. Implant-related susceptibility artifacts can decrease the quality of MRI scans. The aim of this cadaveric study was to demonstrate the extent that implant-related MRI artifacting affects the postfusion differentiation of determined regions of interest (ROIs). In six cadaveric porcine spines, we evaluated the postimplantation MRI scans of a titanium, cobalt-chromium and carbon spacer that differed in shape and surface qualities. A spacer made of human cortical bone was used as a control. A defined evaluation unit was divided into ROIs to characterize the spinal canal as well as the intervertebral disc space. Considering 15 different MRI sequences read independently by an interobserver-validated team of specialists the artifact-affected image quality of the median MRI slice was rated on a score of 0-3. A ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Over a 6.5-year period a total of 2554 values were reported by nine laboratories for 259 certified or reference nutrient concentrations in 26 certified reference materials (CRM) submitted to contract laboratories, blinded, as part of the qualifying process for analytical contracts and in the routine sample stream as part of the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program. Each value was converted to a Z?-score, reflecting the difference from the assigned value related to the combined expected analytical uncertainty plus the uncertainty in the CRM value. Z?-scores >|3.0| were considered unacceptable. For some nutrients (Na, folate, dietary fiber, pantothenic acid, thiamin, tocopherols, carotenoids, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids), >20% of Z?-scores were >|3.0|. For total f...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Background There is some evidence that a patient?s pre-operative condition influences short-term and long-term post-operative outcomes. The aim of the present study is to compare the physiological and operative severity score for the enumeration of mortality and morbidity (POSSUM) and modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS) models in the prediction of post-operative outcome, both short term and long term, in patients undergoing resection of oesophago-gastric cancer. Patients and Methods Patients who underwent curative resection for oesophago-gastric cancer from January 2005 to May 2009 and who had data to score the POSSUM, P-POSSUM, O-POSSUM and mGPS models were included in the study. Observed morbidity and mortality rates were compared with predicted outcome in different risk groups. Bot...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

For the evaluation of diseases of salivary origin, ultrasound and/or sialography is recommended instead of MRI. In cases of salivary tumor, ultrasound may be helpful in delineating superficial tumors. For small tumors no further imaging is needed. When dealing with a large tumor or a tumor in the deep lobe of the parotid gland, MRI is the preferred imaging method. Not only does MRI provide a large variety of soft tissue signal differences, but also the multiplanar facilities are helpful in delineating the extent of the tumor, whether located in the submandibular, sublingual, or parotid gland. Skull base invasion is often well seen by MRI. Subtle changes may be missed and in those cases CT is recommended to exclude or prove destruction of the skull base. For the evaluation of patients presenting with a recurrent pleomorphic adenoma, MRI is recommended in all patients. MRI delineates the extent and number of recurrent tumors better than palpation ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Recurrent or primary carcinoma of the breast en cuirasse, which may involve the skin of the entire thorax and abdomen, cannot be controlled by means of surgery or conventional local irradiation. The...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Polymers are required to use in radiation environments as insulation materials. However, they often suffer from tracking failure. There is an increasing demand to evaluate radiation effects on dielectric performance. This paper presents a recurrence plot (RP) approach to analyse surface discharge sequences of gamma-ray irradiated polymer materials based on tracking test. Studying the non-linear characteristics of discharge sequences can assist in understanding the underlying mechanism of the discharge process. Discharge sequences of the test are extended to m-dimensional phase space by using the phase space reconstructed method. As test samples, polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and polybutylene naphthalate (PBN) were irradiated to 100 kGy and then up to 1 MGy with a dosage rate of 10 kGy h{sup -1} by using a {sup 60}Co gamma source. The tracking tests were carried out according to the test method described in IEC60112. It is found that the RPs can give visual ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The T-loop motif is an important recurrent RNA structural building block consisting of a U-turn sub-motif and a UA trans Watson–Crick/Hoogsteen base pair. In the presence of...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The objective of this article is to evaluate two-year clinical and radiological follow-up results for patients who were treated with microdiscectomy and posterior dynamic transpedicular stabilisation...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

While genomic alterations identified in human tumors using techniques such as comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) may be recurrent, they frequently encompass large regions, in some cases...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

Large-scale invariant sets such as chaotic attractors undergo bifurcations as a parameter is varied. These bifurcations include sudden changes in the size and/or type of the set. An explosion is a bifurcation in which new recurrent points suddenly appear at a non-zero distance from any pre-existing recurrent points. We discuss the following. In a generic one-parameter family of dissipative invertible maps of the plane there are only four known mechanisms through which an explosion can occur: (1) a saddle-node bifurcation isolated from other recurrent points, (2) a saddle-node bifurcation embedded in the set of recurrent points, (3) outer homoclinic tangencies, and (4) outer heteroclinic tangencies. (The term ``outer tangency'' refers to a particular configuration of the stable and unstable manifolds at tangency.) In particular, we examine different types of tangencies of stable and unstable manifolds ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

PurposeDistant metastasis and recurrence are major prognostic factors associated with breast cancer. Both lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and blood vessel invasion (BVI) are important...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to compare clinical and radiological outcomes of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) and open lumbar microdiscectomy (OLM) for...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

We report a case of a female patient who was operated at the third relapse of an atrial myxoma caused by Carney complex. The difficult operation was performed without any complications despite extensive...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a rare cause of recurrent acute pancreatitis or chronic pancreatitis in middle-aged patients, and is characterised by a marked infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

A 13 year- old girl presented to the department with sternomental contractures as a result of facial burns from kerosene explosion. Difficult airway was envisaged. Over the period of time she developed...Full Text Available

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Back pain from osteoporosis is commonly related to compression fractures. The patient with vertebral compression fractures additionally suffers from an ongoing risk of recurrent fractures and postural abnormalities that can result in impaired respiratory function, leading to increased risk of morbidity. Weakened back muscles, especially the back extensor group, are felt to contribute significantly to this risk. The combination of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions, through physical activity, exercise, and modalities, are potential interventions that could be used to help reduce the pain of osteoporotic compression fractures as well as potentially reducing recurrent fracture rates.

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The changes in protein species synthesized during early Drosophila embryogenesis were characterized by two-dimensional electrophoresis. Of the 261 proteins scored, 68 (26%) show dramatic changes in...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Prostate biopsy is the current gold-standard procedure for prostate cancer diagnosis. Existing prostate biopsy procedures have been mostly focusing on detecting cancer presence. However, they...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

Probabilistic sensitivities using the score function method are developed for a lifing analysis of an alpha + beta titanium alloy in a round bar under axial fatigue load. Sensitivities with respect to the statistical inputs of the crack initiation size (a...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

OBJECTIVE: The management and outcome of 138 abdominal shotgun wounds were examined over a 5-year period. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: It has been proposed that exploratory laparotomy may be unnecessary...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundFor the clinical management of adrenocortical neoplasms it is crucial to correctly distinguish between benign and malignant tumours. Even histomorphologically based scoring...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

Preliminary psychometric properties of a new instrument, Angie/Andy Cartoon Trauma Scales (ACTS), are presented. Angie/Andy features a cartoon-based methodology, measuring trauma-related sequelae of prolonged, repeated abuse. A sample of 208 children comprised intrafamilial trauma, extrafamilial trauma, combined trauma, and nontrauma groups. Angie/Andy demonstrated high internal consistency, with coefficient alphas from 0.70 to 0.95. The three trauma groups scored significantly higher than the nontrauma group on all scales (p's < 0.0001). Generally, the most severely traumatized group scored significantly higher than the less severely traumatized groups. The number of types of violence exposures correlated with Angie/Andy scores from 0.55 to 0.74. The frequency and severity of trauma exposure correlated with Angie/Andy scores from 0.44 to 0.56. The Angie/Andy parent version correlated with a ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Five methods of personality assessment are evaluated to provide guidance for the psychological treatment of patients with chronic back pain. Patient pain drawings, pentothal pain studies, stress score...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

Taobao website online transaction evaluation has been well accepted, but its value has not been measured. This paper quantifies the value of commercial credit of salers in bringing sale purchase on Taobao website through three aspects of data as credit score buyer to saler, number of comments and rate of bad comments. The illustration results on Taobao online transaction credit evaluation show that number of comments, credit score and rate of bad comments have significant impact on sale revenue.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

{sup 99m}Tc-N-pyridoxyl-5-methyl-tryptophan (PMT) scintigraphy, which exhibits highly specific for the diagnosis of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), was performed for recurrent HCC following non-surgical treatment. Eighty-four patients (total 351 examinations) were selected for the study. The ability of PMT scintigraphy to diagnose recurrent HCC after treatment was compared with that of computed tomography, ultrasonography and angiography. The results showed that sixty-three (75%) of 84 cases demonstrated positive findings during our follow-up period, most of the tumors initially showing positive findings remained PMT positive when they recurred and PMT studies shortly after treatment demonstrated wider tracer uptake rather than the actual tumor area. In conclusion, PMT scintigraphy for patients with HCC after non-surgical treatment exhibited high accuracy in identifying viable HCC only for tumors indicating positive findings. (author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Screening Risk Evaluation (SRE) guidance document is a set of guidelines provided for the uniform implementation of SREs performed on decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) facilities. Although this method has been developed for D&D facilities, it can be used for transition (EM-60) facilities as well. The SRE guidance produces screening risk scores reflecting levels of risk through the use of risk ranking indices. Five types of possible risk are calculated from the SRE: current releases, worker exposures, future releases, physical hazards, and criticality. The Current Release Index (CRI) calculates the current risk to human health and the environment, exterior to the building, from ongoing or probable releases within a one-year time period. The Worker Exposure Index (WEI) calculates the current risk to workers, occupants and visitors inside contaminated D&D facilities due to contaminant exposure. The Future Release Index (FRI) calculates the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Although the radioisotope liver scan has primarily been of use in the detection of the intra-hepatic space occupying lesions, there has been an increasing awareness of its use in evaluation of liver function. In this study, the degree of hepatomegaly, changes in shape and mottling radiodensity on each lobe and splenic visualization in the liver scans done with colloidal radiogold were numerically expressed as scores under the arbitrary standard in 210 patients with liver cirrhosis. The clinical value of this scoring system was studied with special regards to the correlation between the radiogold hepatic uptake half time and conventional liver function tests. Following were the results; 1) The normal scan appeared in 6.7% of 210 patients with liver cirrhosis. 2) The colloidal radiogold hepatic uptake half time was abnormally and progressively prolonged in parallel to severity of hepatocellular dysfunction. The mean hepatic uptake half time in ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

PurposeTo conduct a retrospective analysis within a large university teaching hospital, comparing outcomes between patients receiving either radical surgery or radiotherapy as curative treatment for bladder cancer.Patients and MethodsBetween March 1996 and December 2000, 169 patients were treated radically for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Data were collected from patient notes. Statistical analyses were performed using Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to compare radiotherapy and surgical outcome data.ResultsThere was no difference in overall, cause-specific, and distant recurrence-free survival at 5 years between the two groups, despite the radiotherapy group being older (median age, 75.3 years vs. 68.2 years). There were 31 local bladder recurrences...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purpose. We report a case of Ewing's sarcoma in the right distal femur in a 6-year-old male to demonstrate how dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DEMRI) findings predicted histopathology. Materials and methods. DEMRI was performed at presentation and during and after completion of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Histopathologic studies were done at presentation, at 77 weeks (20 weeks after a pathological fracture), and from the en bloc resection at 104 weeks. Results. DEMRI predicted the early tumor response, absence of tumor recurrence, presence of necrosis and lack of fracture healing, confirmed by histopathology. Conclusion. DEMRI is a clinically useful tool in managing Ewing's sarcoma. (orig.)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A new recurrent neural network power system stabilizer (RNNPSS) based on genetic algorithm (GA) was presented. It shows faster convergence than the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) stabilizer in a multi-machine power system, because the proposed GA based neural network was first trained off-line to determine the optimal values of the learning rates. Otherwise, the RNNPSS consists of just two layers. As such, the time consumption of the damping oscillations is lower than with conventional methods. In addition, the operating range of the RNNPSS is greater than that of the LQR and conventional three layer neural networks, since the RNNPSS can greatly reduce system complexity and effectively damp system oscillations. 9 refs., 7 figs.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

A 21-year-old woman developed midesophageal stricture two weeks after ingestion of aluminium phosphide (AlP) tablets. Aluminium phosphide is a lethal protoplasmic toxin and is also the most common cause of suicidal poisoning in northern India. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGIE) showed a tight esophageal stricture 29?cm from the incisors with a circumferential ulcer. Dilatation up to 17?mm was done using Savary-Gilliard dilators. She had repeated dilatations three times at nearly two-week intervals. In view of the resistant stricture, a silicone Polyflex stent was placed across the stricture and removed after 3?months; there was no recurrence of stricture even after three months of follow-up. Patients with recurrent esophageal stricture and those with fistula may benefit from silicone ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The adverse effects and diagnostic accuracy of thallium-201 myocardial SPECT after intravenous infusion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were studied and compared with SPECT examinations with other type of loading. The subjects of the study were 147 patients with or without coronary artery disease, who underwent some type of loading SPECT and coronary arteriography (CAG) within 30 days. Myocardial ischemia was evaluated qualitatively in SPECT and was compared with CAG for the diagnostic accuracy of coronary artery disease. The degree of myocardial uptake defect was also calculated semiquantitatively using visual scoring method and compared with coronary artery severity score. The adverse effects occurred in 46.7% of ATP loading SPECT which was more frequent that DIP loading SPECT, but all of them were transient and mild. As for the diagnostic ability the ATP loading SPECT was as effective as other type of loading in qualitative interpretation, ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

To assess the diagnostic capability Fuji computed radiography (FCR) using a dual side reading system was compared to the conventional radiography using a film-screen system. Twenty-eight patients with lung cancer were examined with a new FCR system (FCR 5501D) and a conventional screen-film system concurrently. FCR utilizes a reading system that detects emissions from dual sides of imaging plate. Chest X-rays were obtained with same exposure factors in both systems. Image qualities of both systems were compared by two radiologists using a five-level score. There were no lesion that FCR images were inferior to film-screen images. The frequency of score +1 or +2 that FCR images were superior to film-screen images was 31% in large nodular shadows, 40% in accompanying shadows with a nodule, 67% of small nodular shadows, and 43% of the lymph node swelling in the hilum of the lung or mediastinum. In large nodular shadows which were the most frequent ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A four-stage scoring system for brain maturation was established with MR imaging. First, gyration and myelination were analyzed in 50 anamnestically normal children (32-240 weeks postconceptional age). Subsequently 60 patients (same age range) with birth asphyxia, seizures, or developmental delays were evaluated analogously. T1- and T2-weighted images (500/30 and 3,000/120 [repetition time msec/echo time msec]) were obtained with a 2.35-T magnet in all children. Whereas gyration abnormalities were seen in some patients, all handicapped children presented with delayed myelination. In conclusion, prospective staging of brain development (gyration and myelination) is possible and is best obtained with T2-weighted images.

Science.gov (United States)

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Anti-fat Attitudes Scale (AFAS), a 5-item instrument developed by the authors to measure negative attitudes toward overweight individuals. A total of 4 studies were conducted among Canadian adolescents (n = 1,452) and university students (n = 424). Results suggested that the AFAS possessed a unidimensional factor structure and satisfactory reliability for both men and women. As predicted, men obtained higher scores than women on the AFAS, and antifat attitudes were positively associated with authoritarianism, homonegativity, and political conservatism. Participants who were overweight had lower scores on the AFAS than participants who were thin or average weight. Responses on the AFAS did not appear to be contaminated by social desirability bias. PMID:10457760

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative joint disorder and a major cause of pain and disability. The hypothesis tested in this study was that the passion fruit peel extract (PFP), a flavonoid-rich dietary supplement, would reduce symptoms due to knee OA. Thirty-three OA patients were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with parallel-group design. Patients received either placebo or PFP pills (150 mg, daily) in a double-blinded fashion for 2 months. The OA clinical symptoms were evaluated monthly with Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index. In the PFP group, there was a significant improvement in total WOMAC score and WOMAC subscale score of physical function after 30 days and pain after 60 days. At 60 days, reductions o...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The need to evolve with our ever-changing student bodies has never been as great as it is today, particularly given the advanced technological aptitude of today's students. This retrospective study evaluates student outcomes as they relate to overall course score and composite quiz and examination scores from a basic pharmacology course taught over three separate semesters using three different lecture delivery modalities: traditional in-class; blended; and online-only. A total of 48 students from a US university's health sciences bachelor degree programme enrolled in one of these three sections between 2009 and 2010. A one-way analysis of variance test with Tukey's honestly significant difference post hoc testing was utilized to determine if any statistical difference existed between the ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Purpose - Holding the number of outside directorships constant, this paper aims to test whether executive directors from superior performing firms are subsequently rewarded with better quality outside directorships. Design/methodology/approach - The quality of new outside directorship appointments is modelled using a two-step Heckman selection procedure to control for the probability of acquiring a new outside board seat. Outside directorship quality is estimated using an index formed from series of observable firm-specific characteristics proxying for the following three latent aspects of quality: prestige, reputational risk and monetary rewards. The index aggregates across these three dimensions to produce an overall quality score, with higher scores signifying higher quality directorshi...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ewing's sarcoma and Triton's tumor are two uncommon bone tumors of the skull that have nonspecific clinical and imaging features. However, imaging methods are important in the detection of the lesions during the diagnostic investigation in order to evaluate the extent of the bone lesions, involvement of the soft tissues and brain, and to determine the presence of local recurrence and metastases. The confirmatory diagnosis relies on histological studies and immunohistochemistry. The authors report two cases of patients with these tumors and present the radiological findings. (author)

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Background and ObjectivesClopidogrel resistance or low-responsiveness may be associated with recurrent atherothrombotic events after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. We prospectively...Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

To alleviate recurrent pericardial effusion secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus, pericardio-peritoneal window was performed. Subsequently, end stage renal disease developed and the patient required peritoneal dialysis. Patency of the pericardio-peritoneal window was demonstrated by intraperitoneal injection of Tc-99m SC through a Tenckhoff catheter, which prompted special counsel to the patient in order to prevent infectious pericarditis potentially complicating peritoneal dialysis induced-peritonitis. PMID:7554664

CERN Document Server

Given a countable set X (usually taken to be the natural numbers or integers), an infinite permutation, \\pi, of X is a linear ordering of X. This paper investigates the combinatorial complexity of infinite permutations on the natural numbers associated with the image of uniformly recurrent aperiodic binary words under the letter doubling map. An upper bound for the complexity is found for general words, and a formula for the complexity is established for the Sturmian words and the Thue-Morse word.

CERN Document Server

It is well known that the zeros of orthogonal polynomials interlace. In this paper we study the case of multiple orthogonal polynomials. We recall known results and some recursion relations for multiple orthogonal polynomials. Our main result gives a sufficient condition, based on the coefficients in the recurrence relations, for the interlacing of the zeros of neighboring multiple orthogonal polynomials. We give several examples illustrating our result.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

A popular myth in football (soccer) that it is unwise tactically to score early against Brazil is busted using data from 1993 to 2010. This result provides further evidence about the choice of timing of effort exertion by an underdog in a finite-length industry contest against a more favoured opponent.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The purpose of this study was to correlate MR imaging findings with pathology in experimental hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury, which has similar pathology to diffuse alveolar damage (DAD). Seventeen Yorkshire pigs were studied. These animals were exposed to more than 80% oxygen for 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours in a sealed cage. The lungs were removed and inflated with air infused through the trachea, and then examined by both MRI and high-resolution CT (HRCT). T1-weighted spin-echo (T1WSE), T2-weighted fast (T2WFSE), and half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo (HASTE) sequences were performed. Severity in MR findings and signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) on MR images were well correlated with pathological scores. CT values were also correlated well with pathologic scores. Abnormal SNR values were obtained from a pathological score of 5, whereas abnormal CT values were obtained from a pathological ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The diagnostic value of the portable chest radiography obtained with Fuji computed radiography (FCR) was evaluated in comparison with conventional images in 23 patients who were admitted to ICU in Yokohama City University Hospital. On the whole , FCR produced more exellent images than conventional screen-film radiographs. Especially the evaluation for the demonstration of the catheters, the endotracheal tubes and the tracheal shadows obtained high score. We discuss the clinically utility of FCR for the portable chest radiographs in ICU. (author).

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

CT is the most accurate method to detect pulmonary emphysema in vivo. They compared prospectively two different methods for emphysema quantitation in 5 normal volunteers and 20 consecutive patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). All subjects were submitted to function tests and HRCT; three scans were acquired at preselected levels during inspiration. The type and extent of pulmonary emphysema were defined by two independent observers under blind conditions. Disagreements were subsequently settled by consent. All subjects were also examined with expiratory spiral CT using a density mask program, at two different cut-off levels (-850,-900 HU). Visual score and expiratory spiral density mask values (-850 HU) were significantly correlated (r = 0.86), but the visual extent of emphysema was always higher than shown by expiratory spiral CT. The emphysema extent assessed with both CT methods correlated with the function result of expiratory airflow ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MRT criteria have been developed to distinguish between tumour and implant material following examination of 50 patients who had transsphenoidal hypophysectomies for tumours. Judgements were based on the postoperative hormonal status and the operation notes. Following contrast injection of Gd-DTPA and using T[sub 1] weighted spin-echo sequences, implant material appeared as sandwich-like, linear or circular structures. Residual recurrent tumour produced homogenous or non-homogenous aspects without marginal enhancement in 84% of cases. Postoperative displacement of the infundibulum to the opposite side was observed in 73% of patients with tumour remnants. Sensitivity of MRT was 70%, specificity 95%. There was a positive predictive value of 94% and a negative predictive value of 72% with an accuracy of 81%. This provides assistance in differentiating between tumour remnants and implant material. MRT is recommended as a method of examination for hypophyseal tumours to ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Between 1984 and 1988, seven women with breast cancer were treated with intraoperative electron beam therapy (IOEBT). All patients were Caucasian. Patient age ranged from 37 to 62 (median 53) years. Histopathology was infiltrating duct carcinoma (6/7) or medullary carcinoma (1/7). Four tumors were staged T1 N0 MO, one T1 N1 MO, one T2 N1 MO, and one lesion was recurrent. At the time of primary lumpectomy or axillary node dissection, a dose of 10 or 15 Gy IOEBT was administered to the tumor bed with 6 or 9 MeV electrons through the lumpectomy wound. All patients received 45 or 50 Gy over five to six weeks with 6 MV photons to the breast and, in four patients, to the regional nodes. Three patients received adjuvant chemotherapy and tamoxifen. No post-operative complications were observed. All patients are alive as of August, 1989, with no evidence of recurrent disease. Excellent cosmesis is the rule. Clinical and technical aspects of treatment ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

An overall view of the 1982 plant operating performance is presented. All periods of ON-FEED operation, UNSCHEDULED SHUTDOWNS, and SCHEDULED SHUTDOWNS are accounted for and tabulated. Causes of UNSCHEDULED SHUTDOWNS are identified and discussed. Plant solutions aimed at reducing the effect of similar future shutdowns or preventing recurrence of such shutdowns are explained. Details of repeated, major maintenance problems with various pieces of equipment are presented. Discussion of each problem and solutions found during 1982 are given, where applicable.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract Background- Vitiligo, characterized by destruction of melanocytes, causes a patchy depigmentation of the skin. It has been hypothesized to have an autoimmune pathogenesis. Autoimmune disorders are more common among women and may be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as recurrent abortions, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), and pre-eclampsia. Objective- The purpose of this study was to investigate whether patients with vitiligo have increased rates of gestational complications. Methods- A retrospective comparative study was undertaken comparing pregnancy complications of patients with and without vitiligo. The population was composed of all singleton deliveries that occurred at the Soroka University Medical Center in Israel during the years 1988-2006. Women lack...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Computed tomography (CT) has already proved extremely effective both in cerebral and abdominal pathology. Several recent publications describing first heterogeneous series [1, 2, 7, 11-17], then studies of a single type of lesion [3-6, 8] have illustrated its usefulness in the study of bone lesions. This report deals with 41 cases of Ewing's sarcoma studied by CT at the Institut Gustave Roussy from October 1977 to July 1981, and tries to show both the limitations and indications of this technique for the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of Ewing's sarcoma as well as in the diagnosis of any eventual recurrence. (orig.).

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purpose: To conduct a retrospective analysis within a large university teaching hospital, comparing outcomes between patients receiving either radical surgery or radiotherapy as curative treatment for bladder cancer. Patients and Methods: Between March 1996 and December 2000, 169 patients were treated radically for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Data were collected from patient notes. Statistical analyses were performed using Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to compare radiotherapy and surgical outcome data. Results: There was no difference in overall, cause-specific, and distant recurrence-free survival at 5 years between the two groups, despite the radiotherapy group being older (median age, 75.3 years vs. 68.2 years). There were 31 local bladder recurrences in the radiotherapy group (24 solitary), but there was no significant difference in distant recurrence-free survival. In a more ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Each disease affecting the bile ducts tends to produce characteristic pattern of biliary dilatation: recurrent pyogenic cholangitis causes dilatation and straightening of the larger (central) intrahepatic ducts: clonorchiasis causes dilatation of the smaller (peripheral) intrahepatic ducts; and carcinoma along the extrahepatic ducts causes (proportional) dilatation and tortuosity of both larger and smaller intrahepatic ducts. To evaluate the specificity of the pattern and morphology of the dilated biliary tree on CT scans (CT characterization) three independent radiologists who were unifamiliar with the cases were asked to classify 62 CT scans in patients with obstructive jaundice. The case population consisted of 14 cases with recurrent pyogenic cholangitis, 18 cases with clonorchiasis and 30 cases with carcinoma along the extrahepatic ducts, which were intermixed randomly. Classification was made only on the basis of CT characterization: ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Total 125 patients with primary and metastatic Ewing's sarcoma were treated in various ways between 1963 to 1977. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to the treatment methods. Group 1 was nonprotocol patients with or without chemotherapy. Total 58 patients were entered. Group 1 was divided into 2 subgroups. 33 patients were treated locally without chemotherapy and 25 patients were treated with local therapy and nonprotocol chemotherapy. Group 2 was treated with local therapy and plus T-2 regimen multiagent chemotherapy. 29 patients were entered. Group 3 was treated with local therapy and T-6 regimen multiagent chemotherapy. 38 patients were entered. Local treatments for primary tumor were surgery and/or radiation therapy. Radiation dose ranged between 2,000 and 8,000 rad. Patients with pulmonary metastases received bilateral pulmonary RT. Local recurrence rate was analyzed according to treatment groups and was 16.8%. Total 15 yr survival was 33% and 8 yr ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

There are several methods for the risk assessment and risk management applied to pipelines, among them the Muhlbauer's Method. W. Kent Muhlbauer is an internationally recognized authority on pipeline risk management. He made a detailed identification about 300 distinct conditions that influence the risk assessment in pipelines and he proposed a score system that is known as method of Muhlbauer. The purpose of this model is to evaluate the public exposure to the risk and identify ways for management that risk in fact. The assessment is made by the attribution of quantitative values to the several items that influences in the pipeline risk. This paper approaches the Muhlbauer's basic model for risk assessment and management in pipelines. In the beginning, the basic model for risk assessment is presented, and methodology for pipelines in onshore environment is detailed. After, presents major items in risk assessment and this relative ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Twenty-four male weanling rats were fed either copper-adequate or -deficient diets until 9 or 11 weeks of age. Deficient rat hearts had increased mitochondria: myofibril compared to adequate rats. Eleven week old deficient rat hearts had decreased mitochondria: myofibril as the hearts increased in weight, but the larger hearts had greater myofibril volume densities. Cardiac mitochondria of deficient rats appeared vacuolated with fragmented cristae and translucent matrix. Valves from copper deficient rats appeared to have less connective tissue and were fragmented in areas. For deficient rats, heart:body weights of 9 wk old rats were negatively correlated with bicuspid valve pathology scores, whereas tricuspid valve scores from 11 wk old rats were negatively correlated with myofibril volume densities. These data suggest that the enlargement of the copper-deficient rat heart is due to: larger (1) mitochondria and (2) myofibril volume densities.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Many assays for oncogenic transformation have been developed ranging from those in established rodent cell lines where morphological alteration is scored, to those in human cells growing in nude mice where tumor invasiveness is scored. In general, systems that are most quantitaive are also the least relevant in terms of human carcinogenesis and human risk estimation. The development of cell culture systems has made it possible to assess at the cellular level the oncogenic potential of a variety of chemical, physical and viral agents. Cell culture systems afford the opportunity to identify factors and conditions that may prevent or enhance cellular transformation by radiation and chemicals. Permissive and protective factors in radiation-induced transformation include thyroid hormone and the tumor promoter TPA that increase the transformation incidence for a given dose of radiation, and retinoids, selenium, vitamin E, and 5-aminobenzamide that ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The effect of fetal distress on the neonatal brain was investigated by neonatal CT brain scan, FHR monitoring and mode of delivery. This study involved 11 cases of full term vertex delivery in which FHR was recorded by fetal direct ECG during the second stage labor. All infants weighed 2,500 g or more. FHR monitoring was evaluated by Hon's classification. Neonatal brain edema was evaluated by cranial CT histgraphic analysis (Nakada's method). 1) Subdural hemorrhage was noted in 6 of 7 infants delivered by vacuum extraction or fundal pressure (Kristeller's method). 2) Intracranial hemorrhage was demonstrated in all of 3 infants with 5-min. Apgar score 7 or less. 3) Two cases with prolonged bradycardia and no variability had intraventricular or intracerebral hemorrhage which resulted in severe central nervous system damage. 4) The degree of neonatal brain edema correlated with 5-min. Apgar score. 5) One case with ...

Science.gov (United States)

We examined fat phobia, defined as a pathological fear of fatness, by constructing the Fat Phobia Scale, determining its reliability and validity, examining correlates of fat phobia, and using a treatment approach designed to decrease fat phobia. Study 1 describes the development of the Fat Phobia Scale, a 50-item, modified 5-point semantic differential scale. Subjects (974 females and 117 males) completed the scale; factor analysis yielded six factors. Respondents who are average weight, female, younger, have more than a high school education, or are nonmedical professionals are more likely to have fat phobic attitudes. Study 2 examines fat phobic attitudes of women (N = 40) who had negative feelings about their bodies. Subjects completed the Fat Phobia Scale before and after a treatment approach designed to reduce their feelings of responsibility for fatness. Total scores on the Fat Phobia Scale and scores on all six factors decreased ...

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

INTRODUCTION: Fatigue is a prominent symptom in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and it has distinctive features; however, there is a need for a robust scale to measure fatigue in COPD. METHODS: At baseline, 122 patients with COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) 52%, women 38%, mean age 66 years) completed a pilot fatigue scale covering a pool of 57 items and underwent a range of tests, including indicators of mood and a short general fatigue questionnaire. All patients responded to the 57-item scale and it was readministered to a subset of 30 patients. The pilot scale was first subjected to constructive validated shortening steps and then to a principal components analysis. RESULTS: The Manchester COPD fatigue scale (MCFS) consists of 27 items, loading into three dimensions: physical, cognitive and psychosocial fatigue. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.97) and test-retest repeatability (r = 0.97, por=16 scores in the Center for ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The long-term survival of certain patients after treatment with radiation or chemotherapeutic agents has allowed the realization that agents that effectively control cancer in the human subject may also possess an oncogenic potential, resulting in secondary malignancies in a significant proportion of surviving patients. A quantitative assessment of the oncogenic effects of these agents at a cellular level is important, as is information on conditions and agents that may effectively alter the development of the neoplastic state. Cell culture systems where the neoplastic transformation of cells can be scored after exposure to carcinogens offer powerful tools for evaluating the oncogenic potential of radiation and chemotherapeutic agents.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

In many industrialised societies, women remain underrepresented in the sciences, which can be predicted by the gender gap in math achievement at school. Using PISA 2006 data, we explore the role of family background and single-sex schooling in girls' disadvantage in maths in South Korea and Hong Kong. This disadvantage is found to be associated with single-sex schooling, but not with family background. Attending a girls' school confers a benefit only in South Korea, whereas the gendered curriculum counteracts the selectivity advantage of girls' schools in Hong Kong. We find that a gendered social structure prevalent in both societies.

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the recent literature on the prognostic value of biomarkers of liver fibrosis and impaired liver function in patients with chronic hepatitis C with or without HIV coinfection. RECENT FINDINGS: A combination of standard blood tests seems to be useful in identifying patients at risk of liver-related complications. Findings from studies investigating the validity of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score in HIV-infected liver transplant candidates are conflicting. Two large studies of HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfected patients have shown that plasma levels of the fibrosis marker hyaluronic acid are a strong predictor of clinical complications. A smaller study found hyaluronic acid and two other fibrosis tests, aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and Fib-4, to be independent predictors of mortality when included in models with the MELD or the Child-Pugh-Turcotte scores. SUMMARY: ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Identification of factors that determine individual patient risk for recurrence and progression in superficial papillary carcinoma of the bladder is a subject of extensive research as it would be a major outcome in patient management. It has been well recognized that traditional prognostic markers as tumor grade and stage are not accurate enough in predicting biological behavior. A large number of markers have been investigated as potential prognostic factors and relatively few can help in predicting outcome. Material and Methods: Forty-nine cases undergoing complete transurethral resection for primary superficial papillary transitional cell carcinoma were subjected to clinicopathologic evaluation as well as immunohistochemical staining for p53, bcl-2, cytokeratin 20 and Ki-67. The CAS-200 image analyzer was used to estimate the Ki-67 labeling index. Results: Recurrence was observed in 19 cases (38.8%) and progression in 7 cases (14.3%) with a ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Early recognition of recurrence and work-up of clinically indeterminate lesions may be impaired after reconstruction with silicone implants due to superimposition of the implant or to scarring. This study was undertaken to evaluate the use of contrast-enhanced MRI in patients with silicone implant after breast cancer. Contrast-enhanded MRI was offered to 169 patients. Comparative two- to three-view mammography was also performed in 169 patients, as well as comparative sonography in 144 patients. Conventional imaging and clinical examination detected only 8/13 recurrences, whereas 12/13 were detected by MRI. One recurrence had been visible as a strongly enhancing 2-mm dot in a previous examination (2 years before), but was not called. It was therefore counted as false negative. In addition, multicentricity was detected by MRI alone in two of three cases. MRI correctly diagnosed scar tissue in all cases with indeterminate ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radio-frequency catheter ablation (RFCA) of the distal pulmonary veins is increasingly being used to treat recurrent or refractory atrial fibrillation that doesn't respond to pharmacologic therapy or cardioversion. Successful RFCA of atrial al fibrillation depends on the pre-procedural understanding of the complex anatomy of the distal pulmonary veins and the left atrium. Aim of this parer is to describe the technical main features that characterise the multidetector helical computed tomography in the evaluation of this anatomic region before and after RFCA procedure. The 3D post-processing techniques useful for pre-RFCA planning are straightforward.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Purpose To evaluate disease failure patterns and overall survival (OS) of women with triple-negative (TN) breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving therapy (BCT) and to understand the relationship of TN tumors with other prognostic factors. Patients and Methods The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry identified 562 women diagnosed and/or treated with unilateral invasive breast cancer during 2003?2004 at three Emory hospitals. After medical record review, 193 eligible women, with all tumor types, received BCT. Primary endpoints (local, regional, and distant recurrences) and secondary endpoint (OS) were evaluated using chi-square tests and Cox proportional hazards models. Results Of the 193 women, 33 (17.1%) had TN tumors and 160 (82.9%) had non-TN tumors. Patient...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seventy-one patients with intestinal injury secondary to pelvic irradiation had predominantly large bowel lesions. Seventeen cases were treated conservatively and 54 came to surgery, 28 patients having more than one operation. Following this essentially salvage surgery there were more ileal than colonic anastomotic leaks. Thirty-four patients died during the follow-up period (2-12 years), 19 from recurrent malignancy, and nine as a result of continuing radiation effects. Seventy per cent of the patients who had a radiation fistula died as a result of malignancy. Of 42000 cases of pelvic malignancy treated by irradiation over the decade 1972-1982, surgical referrals for complications constituted 1.7%, with an overall radiation-related mortality of 0.2%. It is our opinion that colostomy alone has little part to play in this condition, and a policy based on excisional surgery is suggested.

CERN Document Server

A recurrent idea in the study of complex systems is that optimal information processing is to be found near bifurcation points or phase transitions. However, this heuristic hypothesis has few (if any) concrete realizations where a standard and biologically relevant quantity is optimized at criticality. Here we give a clear example of such a phenomenon: a network of excitable elements has its sensitivity and dynamic range maximized at the critical point of a non-equilibrium phase transition. Our results are compatible with the essential role of gap junctions in olfactory glomeruli and retinal ganglionar cell output. Synchronization and global oscillations also appear in the network dynamics. We propose that the main functional role of electrical coupling is to provide an enhancement of dynamic range, therefore allowing the coding of information spanning several orders of magnitude. The mechanism could provide a microscopic neural basis for psychophysical laws.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Industrial radiography accounts for approximately half of all the reported accidents for the nuclear related industry, in both developed and developing countries. This Safety Report is the result of a review made of a large selection of accidents in industrial radiography reported by regulatory authorities, professional associations and scientific journals. A small, representative selection of 43 accident descriptions has been used to illustrate the primary causes of radiography accidents, and a set of measures provided to prevent the recurrence of such accidents or to mitigate the consequences of those that do occur. These accident descriptions were categorized by primary causes as follows: inadequate regulatory control; failure to follow operational procedures; inadequate training; inadequate maintenance; human error; equipment malfunction or defect; design flaws; and wilful violation. The information in this Safety report is intended for use by those regulatory ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract Copy number variants (CNVs) are known to be associated with complex neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia and autism) but have not been explored in the isolated features of aggressive behaviors such as intermittent explosive disorder (IED). IED is characterized by recurrent episodes of aggression in which individuals act impulsively and grossly out of proportion from the involved stressors. Previous studies have identified genetic variants in the serotonergic pathway that play a role in susceptibility to this behavior, but additional contributors have not been identified. Therefore, to further delineate possible genetic influences, we investigated CNVs in individuals diagnosed with IED and/or personality disorder (PD). We carried out array comparative genomic hybridizati...

CERN Document Server

In a recent paper [4], Duarte and Jutten investigated the Blind Source Separation (BSS) problem, for the nonlinear mixing model that they introduced in that paper. They proposed to solve this problem by using information-theoretic tools, more precisely by minimizing the mutual information (MI) of the outputs of the separating structure. When applying the MI approach to BSS problems, one usually determines the analytical expressions of the derivatives of the MI with respect to the parameters of the considered separating model. In the literature, these calculations were mainly reported for linear mixtures up to now. They are more complex for nonlinear mixtures, due to dependencies between the considered quantities. Moreover, the notations commonly employed by the BSS community in such calculations may become misleading when using them for nonlinear mixtures, due to the above-mentioned dependencies. We claim that the calculations reported in [4] contain an error, because they did not take ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract Purpose: To compare the safety and efficiency of conventional monopolar, plasmakinetic and holmium laser transurethral resection of bladder tumor (CM-TURBT, PK-TURBT and HoL-TURBT) while managing primary non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Patients and Methods: From 2005 to 2009, 173 patients with primary non-muscle invasive bladder cancer underwent endoscopic surgery. Among them, 51 patients underwent CM-TURBT, 58 patients underwent PK-TURBT, and 64 patients underwent HoL-TURBT. All patients were divided into three risk groups (low, intermediate, and high) based on the European Association of Urology guidelines and prognostic factors of recurrence. Clinical data, included preoperative, operative, and postoperative management and follow-up, were recorded. Results: Patient demograp...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Automatic ultrasonic testing is presented as a method for recurrent inspections of pressure gas vessels, from validation to practical testing to customised test applications. National and international regulations and standards are presented along with related implementation problems. [German] Es wird die automatisierte Ultraschallpruefung im Bereich der wiederkehrenden Pruefung von Druckgasbehaeltern, als Alternative zur herkoemmlichen, klassischen Wasserdruckpruefung, vorgestellt. Von der Validierung ueber die praktische Erprobung bis hin zur kundenspezifisch entwickelten Pruefapplikation. Es werden die Anforderungen aus nationalen und internationalen Vorschriften und Normen sowie die damit zusammenhaengenden Umsetzungsprobleme behandelt.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Records of 154 patients with Ewing's sarcoma treated at the National Cancer Institute were reviewed to assess the incidence and risk of developing isolated central nervous system (CNS) Ewing's sarcoma. Sixty-two of the 154 patients had received CNS irradiation and intrathecal (i.t.) methotrexate as part of their initial therapy to prevent the occurrence of isolated CNS Ewing's sarcoma. The risk of developing isolate CNS Ewing's sarcoma was greatest within the first two years after diagnosis and was approximately 10%. The overall risk of CNS recurrence in the group of patients receiving DNS treatment was similar to the group receiving no therapy directed to the CNS. The occurrence of isolated CNS involvement was not prevented by the use of CNS irradiation and i.t. methotrexate. Because of a lack of efficacy to the CNS irradiation regimen, current treatment regimens do not include therapy directed to CNS.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Malformations in farmed fish are a prime research topic as it has a major impact on fish welfare and on the economical value of the product. In this study, the genetic component of spine deformities was estimated in European sea bass, a major species of Mediterranean aquaculture, with the use of a posteriori reconstruction of pedigree with microsatellites. Our population exhibited a very high malformation rate (81%), probably due to intense swimming of fish during pre-growing. The heritability of global spine deformities was evaluated to be 0.21?0.04 on the underlying scale (0.33?0.06 for lordosis, 0.13?0.04 for scoliosis). Deformities scored by an internal or external examination turned out to be genetically the same trait (genetic correlations>0.9), although phenotypic correlations were ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Pai ALH, Gray E, Kurivial K, Ross J, Schoborg D, Goebel J. The Allocation of Treatment Responsibility scale: A novel tool for assessing patient and caregiver management of pediatric medical treatment regimens. Pediatr Transplantation 2010: 14:993 999. 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Abstract: The purpose of the current study is to report preliminary psychometric properties of the ATR scale, a brief measure of the distribution of treatment tasks across the family members of children with a kidney transplant. Pediatric patients with renal transplants (ages 7 18 yr) and their caregivers completed the ATR and measures of adherence and family functioning. Internal consistency for the ATR (total score and subscales) was strong (range = 0.75 0.93). Validity for the ATR was supported by significant co...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

OBJECTIVE:- To determine the effectiveness and safety of short-term treatment of infliximab (IFX) in a group of Chinese patients with active Crohn's disease (CD). METHODS:- Patients with established diagnosis of active CD were treated with IFX intravenously with a dose of 5-mg/kg at week 0, 2, 6. Clinical assessments were performed at baseline (week 0) and every week after IFX infusion until 8 weeks after the induction dose. RESULTS:- Fourteen patients (nine male, five female) with a mean age of 29.7 years (range from 15 to 65 years) were included in the analysis. The mean subjective scores were decreased from 2.85--0.57 at baseline to 1.3--0.4 at week 14 (P-CONCLUSIONS:- Treatment with three infusions of IFX at a dose of 5-mg/kg was effective for induction of remission for active CD patie...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The authors summarize the significant dose-related effects on brain development which have emerged largely within the last six years of study of prenatally exposed A-bomb survivors. The results are described primarily in terms of the DS86 estimates and differences between these and the older T65DR dose estimates are discussed. The severe mental retardation sample was based on 1598 individuals taken from the PE-86 sample, and the intelligence test scores considered from the same sample involved 1673 children. The authors also discuss some of the recent neurobiological developments that appear relevant to an understanding of the biological bases of dose-related events observed, and suggest future research that may contribute either to further delineation of exposure consequences or to the explanation of the cellular and molecular origins of observed effects. (UK).

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a disorder characterized by skin thickness and vasculopathy. The objective of the study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect and safety of the association of pentoxyphylline and vitamin E in SSc patients. Twelve SSc patients (American College of Rheumatology criteria) enrolled this 24-week open-label study. Patients received daily 800?mg of pentoxyphylline and 800?UI of vitamin E and were evaluated at 4-week interval. The primary efficacy endpoint was the change in Modified Rodnan Skin Score (MRSS) at week 24. Nine diffuse SSc patients treated 6?months with cyclophosphamide were used as a historical control group. The mean age of the treated group was 43.6?years, and ten of 12 (84%) patients were women. Their mean MRSS reduced from 25.7 to 18.7 (p?=?0.03) at 1...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract Introduction.- Sling erosion/extrusion is a complication after suburethral sling insertion for female stress urinary incontinence that occurs in approximately 6% of patients. Symptoms may include vaginal discharge, infections, postcoital bleeding, and alterations of the sexual function. Little is known about the effect of sling erosion on the sexual function of the male partner. Aim.- The aim of this study was to determine male sexual function in partners of women who had undergone sling insertion for stress urinary incontinence and who developed sling erosion postoperatively. Main Outcome Measures.- Main outcome measures were the Brief Male Sexual Function Inventory (BMSFI) and visual analog scale (VAS) scores. Methods.- Male partners of patients who presented with sling erosion ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

China's fast-growing online consumer-to-consumer (C2C) market merits widespread research efforts. However, it has so far received little research attention. In this exploratory study, we chose Taobao - a leading online C2C auction company in China with more than 70% of market shares - as our research context. We focus on the general market structure of Taobao in terms of three factors: market distribution, market growth, and market concentration. Based on these factors, we reveal the differences between Taobao and eBay. In our preliminary data analyses, we adopt total online reputation scores to measure the transaction volumes of online sellers. We also propose the sample-based Herfindal-Hirschman Index as a measure in the comparison of concentration levels between the two markets and at d...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The treatment of acetabular bone defects presents a great challenge in revision total hip arthroplasty (THA). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and radiological outcome of revision THA using jumbo cups for acetabular reconstruction after applying the bone-grafting technique. We studied 17?patients with acetabular defects ranging from Type 2A to Type 3A according to Paprosky`s classification. According to the AAOS-score twelve patients were classified as Type II and five patients as Type III. Uncemented press-fit cups with an outer diameter larger than 64?mm were used in all cases. Fifteen patients received morselized bone allografts. In eight patients an additional screw fixation was necessary. The mean follow-up period was 82?months (range 33?149). The mean Harris Hip...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

OBJECTIVE --To evaluate the consequences on male sexual function of intraprostatic injection of botulinum toxin type A (BoNT/A) as a treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Although BoNT/A is effective in decreasing symptoms of BPH, neuronal impairment caused by the neurotoxin might affect emission/ejaculation. These aspects have not been evaluated before. PATIENTS AND METHODS --In all, 16 sexually active men aged >60 years with BPH/benign prostatic enlargement (BPE), International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) -8 and a maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax) <15mL/s refractory to standard medical therapy volunteered for the study. --Patients were injected transrectally, under ultrasonographic control, with 200U of BoNT/A in the prostate. Evaluation was carried out at baseline and 1, 3 ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

A multivariate logistic regression model, based upon National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) data for calendar years 1999-2008, was developed to predict the probability that a crash-involved vehicle will contain one or more occupants with serious or incapacitating injuries. These vehicles were defined as containing at least one occupant coded with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of greater than or equal to 15, in planar, non-rollover crash events involving Model Year 2000 and newer cars, light trucks, and vans. The target injury outcome measure was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-led National Expert Panel on Field Triage in their recent revision of the Field Triage Decision Scheme (American College of Surgeons, 2006). The ...

CERN Document Server

We present a method for grouping the synonyms of a lemma according to its dictionary senses. The senses are defined by a large machine readable dictionary for French, the TLFi (Tr\\'esor de la langue fran\\c{c}aise informatis\\'e) and the synonyms are given by 5 synonym dictionaries (also for French). To evaluate the proposed method, we manually constructed a gold standard where for each (word, definition) pair and given the set of synonyms defined for that word by the 5 synonym dictionaries, 4 lexicographers specified the set of synonyms they judge adequate. While inter-annotator agreement ranges on that task from 67% to at best 88% depending on the annotator pair and on the synonym dictionary being considered, the automatic procedure we propose scores a precision of 67% and a recall of 71%. The proposed method is compared with related work namely, word sense disambiguation, synonym lexicon acquisition and WordNet construction.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) plaster for knee osteoarthritis among Japanese patients. An open-labeled, randomized, controlled, multiclinic trial was performed involving outpatient clinic groups. Two comparative groups?plaster NSAIDs and oral NSAIDs?were randomly allocated. The drugs used were limited to the current top three in both groups in Japan. Treatments were assessed after four?weeks and compared with the baseline scores. Outcomes were evaluated by two psychometric measures: Japanese knee osteoarthritis measure, and pain with the visual analogue scale. The total number of patients included in the final evaluation was 165 (87 for the plaster group and 78 for the oral group). Between these two groups there were ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract Purpose: We evaluated complications of urologic laparoscopic surgery at our institution. Patients and Methods: From December 1991 to January 2009, 1017 urologic laparoscopic surgical procedures were performed in Kansai Medical University, including 277 radical prostatectomies, 13 donor nephrectomies, 74 partial nephrectomies, 158 radical nephrectomies, 55 pyeloplasties, 97 nephrouretectomies, 54 simple nephrectomies, 128 adrenalectomies, 34 varicocelectomies, and 127 other procedures. Medical records of each procedure were retrospectively evaluated. The difficulty of each procedure was classified according to the European Scoring System (ESS). Intraoperative and postoperative complications were graded according to the Satava and Clavien classifications, respectively. Results: Amon...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The relationship between X chromosome-linked adrenoleukodystrophy and the red/green color pigment gene cluster on Xq28 was investigated in a large kindred. The DNA in a hemizygous male showed altered restriction fragment sizes compatible with at least a deletion extending from the 5[prime] end of the color pigment genes. Segregation analysis using a DNA probe within the color pigment gene cluster showed significant linkage with adrenoleukodystrophy (logarithm of odds score of 3.19 at [theta] = 0.0). These data demonstrate linkage, rather than association, between a unique molecular rearrangement in the color pigment gene cluster and adrenoleukodystrophy. The DNA changes in this region are thus likely to be helpful for determining the location and identity of the responsible gene. 33 refs., 4 figs.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

This paper assesses farming eco-efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques. Eco-efficiency scores at both farm and environmental pressure-specific levels are computed for a sample of Spanish farmers operating in the rain-fed agricultural system of Campos County. The determinants of eco-efficiency are then studied using truncated regression and bootstrapping techniques. We contribute to previous literature in this field of research by including information on slacks in the assessment of the potential environmental pressure reductions in a DEA framework. Our results reveal that farmers are quite eco-inefficient, with very few differences emerging among specific environmental pressures. Moreover, eco-inefficiency is closely related to technical inefficiencies in the managemen...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Abstract Objective. Anti-TNF-a antibodies has been suggested to modulate regulatory T cell (Treg) percentages in rheumatoid arthritis, but results from studies of Crohn's disease (CD) are conflicting. We investigated dynamic changes of circulating Tregs in CD during treatment with the anti-TNF-a-antibody adalimumab (Humira, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Emdrupvej 28C, DK-2100 Copenhagen). Material and methods. Blood samples from 26 CD patients were analysed using flow cytometry before and 1 and 26 weeks after initiation of adalimumab treatment to determine the percentage of Tregs among CD4++ T cells. Results. In spite of a significant decline in disease activity scores and biochemical markers of inflammation, during the first week of treatment, we did not observe early modulating effects of ada...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Summary Background:- Cholinesterase inhibitors form the mainstay of treatment for persons with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer-s disease (AD). The rivastigmine patch may increase compliance and the proportion of patients maintaining an efficacious dose compared with oral cholinesterase inhibitors. Objective:- To investigate the proportion of patients who reached and maintained the target rivastigmine patch dose compared with the target rivastigmine capsule dose reported in clinical trials. Methods:- This was a multicentre, 24-week, open-label study in persons with probable AD and a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of --10 and --26. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients (ITT population) treated with 9.5-mg/24-h rivastigmine patch for at least 8-weeks at week 24. Secondary ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colerectal cancer (CRC) is the second commonest cancer in the Western World. Successful treatment relies significantly on accurate detection and staging of primary disease as well as the early identification of the presence and extent of recurrence. Morphological imaging techniques, particularly computed tomography (CT), are well established and widely available to carry out these tasks in addition to predicting and monitoring response to therapy. This review analyses the current inadequacies for imaging CRC and critically assesses the potential role of functional imaging with positron emission tomography (PET). It was reviewed the current literature, to use the experience from the firs 1000 PET studies carried out at the institution and the perspective of surgical colleagues. It was found little evidence for the use of 2-["1"8F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-PET for screening asymptomatic individuals and current modalities appear better suited for detection of ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clinical information is indispensable for swift and cost-effective clarification of diseases of the larynx. While quality clarification of neurological changes in the area of the posterior cranial fossa and in the course of the vagus nerve as a cause of glottis malfunction is possible with MRI, localized disease of the larynx can more effectively be assessed with low-artifact CT. In the particularly difficult assessment of the post-operative larynx, a recurrence can be diagnosed only after a baseline study has been carried out after the end of therapy. With knowledge of the pretherapeutic findings, the findings immediately post-therapy, and the operation technique used, the optimal CT examination, which can be carried out quickly, will be able to provide more information about recurrence. (orig.) [Deutsch] Zur schnellen und kostenguenstigen Abklaerung von Erkrankungen des Larynx ist die klinische Information unabdingbar: Wenn neurologische ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This report deals with the preliminary results of trials in the DATECA project with stage I, II and III patients with non-seminomatous germ cell tumours. Stage 1 patients were randomized between infradiaphragmatic irradiation and observation. No significant difference in recurrence rates has been observed as yet. Eighteen of 95 patients had recurrence with a median time to relapse of 3 months. Fifteen patients achieved complete remission after treatment by combiantion chemotherapy while 3 patients are still undergoing treatment. Stage II patients received 6 series of cis-platinum, bleomycin, and vinblastine. The patients were initially randomized to receive chemotherapy alone versus chemotherapy plus irradiation. Irradiation led to increased toxicity and decreased doses of the antineoplastic drugs. Fifty-one patients were studied. The overall complete remission rate was 89 per cent including 7 patients who achieved complete remission after ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The clinical results of electron beam therapy using intraoral cone in 8 cases of primary and recurrence carcinoma of tongue (T1 and smaller T2) were reported. The primary and recurrence cases were 5 and 3, respectively. In the 5 cases, a total dose of 10-30 Gy external radiation therapy were combined prior to electron beam therapy. The total dose of electron beam therapy varied from 40 to 60 Gy. In all cases, tumor showed good response and disappeared clinically. Radiation stomatitis, pain of the tongue with masticatory disturbance due to tenderness were complicated in all cases. These complications gradually disappeared 2 to 6 months after treatment. However, loss of body weight and bone exposure were not recognized in any case. Intraoral-cone electron beam therapy is thought to be available and has less complications comparing interstitial irradiation therapy from the review of literature. Within 6 months after radiation, submandibular ...

Scientific Electronic Library Online (English)

Abstract in english The aim of this study was to verify validity and reliability of the scores for physical exercise in leisure (PEL), leisure and locomotion activities (LLA), and total score (TS) of the Baecke habitual physical activity questionnaire in adult males. Twenty-one students of Physical Education were evaluated. For validation, the maximum oxygen uptake (O2max) and the decrease of the heart rate in percentile (%DH (more) R) were measured through the Cooper's 12-minute walk or run test, and an annual index of physical exercise (IPE), and a week index of locomotion activities (ILA). The reliability was verified through test-retest with interval of 45 days. The Pearson correlation coefficient, and partial correlation adjusted for age and body mass index were used for validation. The intraclass correlation and paired t-test were used for reliability. The results indicated that %DHR was correlated with LLA and TS (r = 0.47 and p = 0.030; ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coronary angiography provides anatomical information whereas thellium myocardial scintigraphy measures resistive tissue perfusion. Because of this fundamental difference. The authors question the validity of using coronary angiography as the gold standard to judge thellium myocardial scintigraphy. The authors studied 20 patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary angioplasty who fulfilled the following criteria: (1) history of chest pain; (2) angiographically significant single vessel disease (>50% stenosis); (3) no prior myocardial infarction. All patients underwent maximal exercise thallium single photon emission computed tomography (T1-SPECT). Tl-SPECT was scored visually according to a 0 to 3 scale (0=absent uptake; 1=markedly decreased uptake; 2=minimally decreased uptake; 3=normal uptake). Translesional gradient and percent stenosis were measured before and after angioplasty. The authors found that significant linear relationship exists between ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qualitative technetium Tc 99m bone scintigraphy using phosphate compounds and gallium 67 scintigraphy were described as a helpful means in diagnosing necrotizing external otitis (NEO). They were, however, claimed to be nonspecific. Quantitative Tc 99m methylene diphosphonate bone scintigraphy and gallium 67 scintigraphy were performed in eight patients with NEO and in 20 patients with severe external otitis, in order to prove usefulness of scintigraphy in the diagnosis of NEO. Ratios of lesion to nonlesion for bone scintigraphy were 1.67 #+-# 0.16 in patients with NEO and 1.08 #+-# 0.09 in patients with severe external otitis, and for gallium 67 scintigraphy they were 1.35 #+-# 0.24 in NEO patients and 1.05 #+-# 0.03 in patients with severe external otitis. There was no difference in uptake between diabetic patients with severe external otitis and nondiabetic patients. The scintigraphic studies were also evaluated using a qualitative scoring method ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Early white matter (WM) injury affects brain maturation in preterm infants as revealed by diffusion tensor imaging and volumetric magnetic resonance (MR) imaging at term postmenstrual age (PMA). The aim of the study was to assess quantitatively brain maturation in preterm infants with and without milder forms of WM damage (punctate WM lesions, PWML) using conventional MRI. Brain development was quantitatively assessed using a previously validated scoring system (total maturation score, TMS) which utilizes four parameters (progressive myelination and cortical infolding, progressive involution of glial cell migration bands and germinal matrix tissue). PWML were defined as foci of increased signal on T1-weighted images and decreased signal on T2-weighted images with no evidence of cystic degeneration. A group of 22 preterm infants with PWML at term PMA (PWML group) were compared with 22 matched controls with a normal MR appearance. The two groups ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stargardt`s disease (MIM 248200), originally described in 1909, is an autosomal recessive condition of childhood, characterized by a sudden and bilateral loss of central vision. Typically, it has an early onset (7 to 12 years), a rapidly progressive course and a poor final outcome. The central area of the retina (macula) displays pigmentary changes in a ring form with depigmentation and atrophy of the retinal pigmentary epithelium (RPE). Perimacular yellowish spots, termed fundus flavimaculatus, are observed in a high percentage of patients. We have recently reported the genetic mapping of Stargardt`s disease to chromosome 1p13. On the other hand, considering that fundus flavimaculatus (MIM 230100) is another form of fleck fundus disease, with a Stargardt-like retinal aspect but with a late-onset and a more progressive course, we decided to test the hypothesis of allelism between typical Stargardt`s disease and late-onset autosomal recessive fundus flavimaculatus. Significant pairwise ...

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Twenty-six unclassified Campylobacter-like strains previously isolated from 15 chicken carcasses and caecal contents, together with two more strains isolated from chicken faeces on a different occasion, were identified as Helicobacter pullorum using various phenotypic identification methods. API Campy identification kits and a 16-test identification scheme developed for campylobacters failed to identify these bacteria, or identified them as Campylobacter spp. Eighteen strains (including the two isolated on a different occasion) were chosen for examination using a more comprehensive probabilistic identification scheme. Using this method, 14 of the 18 strains were identified as H. pullorum with ID scores > 95%; two strains were also identified as H. pullorum with lower ID scores. Of the remaining two strains, one was not identified with this scheme and the other was misidentified to the H, acinonyx pylori complex. Whole cell protein profiling ...

Science.gov (United States)

Eight of 100 normotensive children who had pyelonephritic scarring secondary to urinary infection and vesicoureteric reflux were found in an earlier study to have increased plasma renin activity (PRA). Because the risk of these patients becoming hypertensive is between 10% and 20% and because renin activity may play a part in the pathogenesis of the hypertension, PRA and blood pressure were studied in 98 of the original group after five years of follow up. Two patients could not be traced, and other factors that might influence blood pressure or PRA led us to exclude 13 others, 10 of whom were girls taking oral hormonal contraceptives. Increased PRA was found in 11 of the remaining 85 patients but not in five of the eight patients with increased PRA in the first study. Of eight children identified as hypertensive in the follow up study, only three had had increased PRA five years previously. In normal children PRA decreases with age. In the initial study this tendency was less ...

Science.gov (United States)

Background: Determinants of warfarin use and anticoagulation levels in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients have not been clarified thoroughly. Methods and Results: A total of 6,324 patients with non-valvular AF and congestive heart failure, hypertension, age, diabetes, prior stroke (CHADS(2)) score ?1 were used to investigate determinants of warfarin use, and 6,932 patients with AF receiving warfarin were used to investigate determinants of international normalized ratio (INR) of prothrombin time. Target INR levels for non-valvular AF patients were 1.6-2.6 for patients aged ?70 years and 2-3 for patients aged transient ischemic attack (TIA), and had higher CHADS(2) scores than those not receiving warfarin. Determinants of warfarin use were age (?60 years), AF type (persistent and permanent), and comorbidities (congestive heart failure, diabetes mellitus, and prior stroke or TIA). Use of antiplatelet drugs was a negative determinant of warfarin ...

Science.gov (United States)

9 9 simulated Purex waste oxides was investigated as a function of Na/sub 2/O, CaO and P/sub 2/O/sub 5/ content. All compositions lost some sulfate at 50 to 100 deg C above the softening point. In generai the volatility decreased with increase of either Na/ sub 2/O or CaO relative to P/sub 2/O/sub 5/, but no simple correlation Was indicated. Softening temperatures were lowered by inc ease in Na/sub 2/O vs CaO. Ceramic solids were obtained but no true glasses. Attempts to produce glasses by addition of varying combinations of Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/, PbO, BaO, and B/sub 2/O/ sub 3/ to simulated Pure x waste plus phosphite were unsuccessful. The use of 0.005 M Na/sub 2/C/O/sub 3/ to precipitate calcium from wastes containing up to 3 ppm of phosphate was demonstrated in four pilot plant runs and produced a decrease in the hardness of the waste leaving the clarifier. An inadvertent Sr/ sup 90/ and Cs/sup 137/ breakthrough occurred during one run which was caused ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The microbial transport simulator (MTS) is a three-dimensional, three-phase, multiple-component numerical model that permits the study of the transport of microorganisms and nutrients in porous media. Microbial parameters incorporated into MTS include: Microbial growth and decay, microbial deposition, chemotaxis, diffusion, convective dispersion, tumbling, and nutrient consumption. Governing equations for microbial and nutrient transport are coupled with continuity and flow equations under conditions appropriate for a black oil reservoir. The model`s mathematical formulations and preparation procedures of data files for conducting simulations using MTS are described. A general background of microbial transport simulation is given in Section I and the governing equations, mechanisms, and numerical solutions of MTS are given in Section II. Explanations for preparing an input data file with reservoir and microbial transport data are described in Section III, and ...

CERN Document Server

We report the results of a worldwide campaign to observe WZ Sagittae during its 2001 superoutburst. After a 23-year slumber at V=15.5, the star rose within 2 days to a peak brightness of 8.2, and showed a main eruption lasting 25 days. The return to quiescence was punctuated by 12 small eruptions, of ~1 mag amplitude and 2 day recurrence time; these "echo outbursts" are of uncertain origin, but somewhat resemble the normal outbursts of dwarf novae. After 52 days, the star began a slow decline to quiescence. Periodic waves in the light curve closely followed the pattern seen in the 1978 superoutburst: a strong orbital signal dominated the first 12 days, followed by a powerful /common superhump/ at 0.05721(5) d, 0.92(8)% longer than P_orb. The latter endured for at least 90 days, although probably mutating into a "late" superhump with a slightly longer mean period [0.05736(5) d]. The superhump appeared to follow familiar rules for such phenomena in dwarf novae, with ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Up to this time the sigmoid colostomy has been widely accepted and conventional treatment for radiation-injured rectum, but patients without residual malignancy strongly desire to live without colostomy. We have tried to remove the involved rectal segments by sphincter-saving procedures. Four patients underwent these procedures, pull-through procedure in three and low anterior resection in one. Among sphincter-saving procedures, pull-through procedure was most adequate. Provided the following five conditions are fulfilled, pull-through procedure should be considered for severe radiation-injured rectum. (1) No recurrence of initial malignancy in the pelvis. (2) More than 2 cm intact rectal segment above dentate line may be preserved. (3) No radiation-injured segment in upper sigmoid. (4) No severe radiation damage in small intestine. (5) Patients under 70 year-old, with normal tonus of anal sphincter.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

To define the prognostic factors after surgical resection and evaluate the effectiveness of Post Operative Radiotherapy (PORT) in cases with cholangiocarcinoma, 44 cases with proximal cholangiocarcinoma were examined. The mean observation period was 20.6 months, and the survival rates 1, 3 and 5 years after the resection were 79.9%, 59.8% and 39.3%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that the presence of lymph node metastasis and absence of PORT were significant poor prognostic factors. Multivariate analysis revealed that the absence of PORT was a significant poor prognostic factor. The survival rates for 1 and 3 years after the resection were 80.0% and 40.0% in the curable A/B and PORT (-) group, and 100% and 53.3% in curable C and PORT (+) group. There were no local reccurences in the pathologically classified hm2 and em2 patients who underwent PORT. Even when the surgical margin is positive for the carcinoma pathologically, it is possible to avoid local ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sonography, subtraction scintigraphy, computed tomography and MRI were compared in 100 patients who had surgery 105 times for hyperparathyroidism (HPT). Surgical and pathological data were available for all operations. A total of 105 MR, 77 CT, 84 sonograms and 70 subtraction scintigrams were performed. The ability of the imaging modalities, individually and in combination, to detect HPT, histology, size, concomitant thyroid disease and location of the diseased glands has been evaluated. For primary HPT, sensitivity ranged from 68% for MRI to 40% for scintigraphy but was much lower for tertiary HPT with all modalities. The ability to identify diseased glands was strongly size dependent for all methods. If patients had had previous neck surgery, the most sensitive methods were MRI and scintigraphy and this also held true for patients with concomitant thyroid disease and ectopically located glands. The findings presented suggest that while sonography may be the only imaging examination ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The present study was undertaken in 27 children with localized Ewing's sarcoma treated at our hospital. In 9 cases the lesion was central and in 18 peripheral. Treatment consisted of: 1) Chemotherapy with 6 drugs (vincristine, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, bleomycin, dactinomycin and doxorubicin) for one year in all patients; 2) Radiotherapy in 24 patients at a dose of 30-40 Gy in the entire bone with a booster dose of 10-15 Gy in the lesion. In 7 patients debulking surgery was performed followed by irradiation. Two cases with tumor in expendable bones and one with extensive destructive lesion in the tibia underwent radical surgery. One patient suffered local recurrence (femur) and 6 developed distant metastases. The remaining 20 (74%) patients were alive and tumor-free after follow-up periods of 17-80 months. Among the 12 patients with extremity lesions who were alive, 7 (58%) had minimal or mild treatment sequelae, 2 moderate, and 3 severe sequelae but no ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

From 1964 to 1973 at the Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology, Havana City, 18 clinical histories were studied, all of them from patients with Erwing's sarcoma, histologically diagnosticated by biopsy. Age, sex, race, traumatism background, hemogram disturbances, radiographic signs, primary tumor localization, and early treatment, were exposed. Early treatment in 14(83%) patients as radiotherapy. Local recurrence or metastasis was presented in 10(55,5%) patients during the two first years following attack treatment. Five (35,7%) patients was the survival rate within five years starting early treatemt. After five years, three (21,4%) patients were alive: for 18 and 14 year, and 64 month period; two patients died at 62 and 64 months. It is concluded that this survival may be increased by initial behaviour enclosed at the technologic therapeutic patterns of the the Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology, of Havana City. (author).

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

As yet, the role of Computed Tomography (CT) as a routine imaging technique in the staging and follow-up of thoracic Hodgkin's disease has not been assessed. The authors reported the results obtained in 120 patients affected with thoracic Hodgkin's disease, staged and followed by means af chest X-rays and CT. CT better identified intrathoracic involvement of mediastinal nodes, of lung parenchyma, of pleura, and of pericarcial and chest walls in 54/120 patients (45%), with staging modifications in 18 (15%) of them only. Treatment was changed only in 12 patients (19%) where radiation therapy had been planned. The clinical value of the additional information yielded by CT was especially evident in the follow-up: CT allowed the correct evaluation of persistent/ recurrent disease in 51/117 patients (43.5%), a figure high enough to suggest the use of CT in the routive follow-up of patients affected with thoracic Hodgkin's disease.

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Citrate is an important naturally occurring inhibitor of calcium stone formation in urine. Urinary citrate excretion was examined in 43 consecutive patients with recurrent idiopathic calcium nephrolithiasis and in 50 normal controls by a specific enzymatic technique. Hypocitraturia (<1.6 mmol/24h) was found in 14 (33%) stone formers compared to 6 (12%) normal controls (p = 0.03). Citrate excretion expressed as citrate-creatinine ratio in 24 hour urine samples was significantly lower in the stone formers than in the healthy controls (p = 0.03), and significantly lower in healthy men, compared to healthy females (p = 0.006). There was a great variability in urinary citrate levels in both groups, and a considerable overlap in the urinary citrate excretion between normal subjects and stone formers. Factors other than urinary citrate excretion must therefore be of importance in the pathophysiology of calcium stone formation. Citrate-calcium ratio in urine proved to ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In August 1982, a 44-year-old man was diagnosed as having rectal cancer, histologically diagnosed as well differentiated adenocarcinoma, and abdominoperineal resection and colostomy were performed. Postoperatively, he received chemotherapy with mitomycin C up to a total dose of 100 mg. In September 1986, lung metastasis occurred and he was treated with a combination chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin, pirarubicin and 5-fluorouracil. In the following year, radiation treatment (total: 6900 rad) was given for a recurrent pelvic lesion. Peripheral blood on April 30, 1988, showed anemia, thrombocytopenia and appearance of myeloblasts, and a diagnosis of acute myelogenous leukemia (FAB: M1) was made. Combination chemotherapy (including aclarubicin, vincristine, behenoyl ara-C, daunorubicin, 6-mercaptopurine, cytarabine, etoposide and prednisolone) failed to induce remission and the patient died in June 1988. This case was thought to be one of secondary leukemia ...

CERN Document Server

This paper reports on the detection of optical novae in our neighbour galaxy M31 based on digitized historical Tautenburg Schmidt plates. The accurate positions of the detected novae lead to a much larger database for searches for recurrent novae in M31. We conducted a systematic search for novae on 306 digitized Tautenburg Schmidt plates covering a time span of 36 years from 1960 to 1996. From the database of both ~ 300 000 light curves and about one million detections on only one plate per colour band, nova candidates were efficiently selected by automated algorithms and subsequently individually inspected by eye. We report the detection of 84 nova candidates. In detail we found 55 nova candidates from the automated analysis of the light curves. Among these, 22 were previously unknown, 12 were known but have not been identified on Tautenburg Schmidt plates before and 21 novae have been discovered on Tautenburg plates previously. An additional 29 known novae could ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The clinical courses of heterotopic ossification (HO) as a consequence of trauma and central nervous system insults have many similarities as well as dissimilarities. Detection is commonly noted at two months. The incidence of clinically significant HO is 10%-20%. Approximately 10% of the HO is massive and causes severe restriction in joint motion or ankylosis. The most common sign and symptom are decreased range of motion and pain. The locations are the proximal limbs and joints. Sites of HO about a joint may vary according to the etiology of the HO. Roentgenographic evolution of HO occurs during a six-month period in the majority of patients. Treatment modalities include diphosphonates, indomethacin, radiation, range of motion exercises, and surgical excision. Surgical timing differs according to etiology: traumatic HO may be resected at six months; spinal cord injury HO is excised at one year; and traumatic brain injury HO is removed at 1.5 years. A small number of patients have ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

To compare the accuracy in the detection and staging of various malignant tumors with high resolution whole-body MRI using parallel imaging with whole-body dual-modality PET-CT. Preliminary results of an interim analysis from a prospective, blinded study are presented, in which 20 patients (mean age 59 years, range 27-77 years) with different oncological diseases underwent whole-body dual modality FDG-PET-CT screening for tumor search or staging in case of confirmed or suspected metastatic disease. All patients also underwent whole-body MRI imaging with the use of parallel imaging (iPAT). High-resolution coronal T1w- and STIR-sequences of 5 body levels with 512 x 512 matrix, axial fast T2w imaging of lung and abdomen (HASTE), contrast-enhanced dynamic and static T1w-sequences of liver, brain, abdomen, and pelvis were performed. Using a 32-channel whole-body MRI scanner (Magnetom Avanto, Siemens Medical Solutions) with a total field of view of 205 cm and free table movement, all ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The synovial and bone uptake of tracer in the knees of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was quantified using {sup 99}Tc{sup m}-hexamethyl propylene amine oxime-labelled leucocytes and {sup 99}Tc{sup m}-methylene diphosphonate (MDP), respectively. Significant neutrophil migration and MDP uptake occurred in the knees of patients with RA irrespective of the disease duration. In all but one patient neutrophil migration was reduced after intra-articular steroid injection. The change in MDP uptake after steroid injection was variable. There was a significant correlation between the percentage reduction in neutrophil migration and pain score, while the latter correlated poorly with the change in MDP uptake. The quantification of the neutrophil component of the inflammatory process is a sensitive index for monitoring RA activity and response to pharmacological interventions, while quantitative bone scintigraphy should not be employed to monitor changes in joint ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of this study is to develop a method to aid in the selection of an overburden handling system in surface coal mining. The selection procedure consists of three major parts. The first part is aimed at rating the equipment's potential to perform the environmental protection related activities and then integrating this rating into the system selection process. The second part is an engineering analysis of the design of pit layouts and the operation of alternative overburden handling systems. The third part consists of a cost and sensitivity analysis of alternative systems on different mining situations. Specifically, the work includes: (1) a Delphi study to determine the magnitude of the environmental impacts and to quantify the relationship between mining practices and environmental remedies, (2) a scoring model to set up an index of the relative capability of equipment to do the environmental protection related jobs, (3) an evaluation of the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Results reported are for single dose exposures and refer to "6"0Co-#gamma#-irradiation. The RBE determined by V79 cell survival and based on the Do ratio was found to be 1.70#+-#0.4 ranging from 1.5 to 1.8. In the case of the regeneration of mouse jejunal crypts the RBE was calculated at ten cell curvival and was found to be 1.68. The maximum acute mouse skin reaction at a skin score of 2.0 was found to be 2.1 while the average skin reaction was 1.7. Growth retardation of Vicia faba bean roots measured at the level of 50% indicated an average RBE of 3.0 and a range of 2.7 to 3.7. The OER obtained for V79 cell survival was found to be 1.7 to 1.8. Comparison is made with the RBE and OER measurements for the neutron facilities at Clatterbridge, Fermilab and Louvain-la-Neuve which produce neutrons by the same nuclear reaction and whose physical specifications closely resemeble those of the Faure neutrons. This comparison indicates that the Faure beam shows no unusual ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The purpose of the study was to optimise the technique employed for AP shoulder and lateral cervical spine examinations following an investigation into image quality, based on clinical assessment, and effective dose, calculated from patient entrance surface dose measurements. A study was therefore conducted in an attempt to determine whether the increased radiation dose to the patient following the introduction of an anti-scatter grid was justified by the level of improvement in image quality. The study, involving 100 patients, was able to demonstrate that the increase in radiation dose to the patient when using an anti-scatter grid for AP shoulder examinations is not justified by the improved image quality. A poor level of inter-rater reliability between the consultants scoring the lateral cervical spine images prevented a firm conclusion from being reached. The fact that all images were of diagnostic quality, however, suggested that the use of the anti-scatter ...

CERN Document Server

We describe a clustering method for labeled link network (semantic graph) that can be used to group important nodes (highly connected nodes) with their relevant link's labels by using PARAFAC tensor decomposition. In this kind of network, the adjacency matrix can not be used to fully describe all information about the network structure. We have to expand the matrix into 3-way adjacency tensor, so that not only the information about to which nodes a node connects to but by which link's labels is also included. And by applying PARAFAC decomposition on this tensor, we get two lists, nodes and link's labels with scores attached to each node and labels, for each decomposition group. So clustering process to get the important nodes along with their relevant labels can be done simply by sorting the lists in decreasing order. To test the method, we construct labeled link network by using blog's dataset, where the blogs are the nodes and labeled links are the shared words ...

Science.gov (United States)

Therapeutic hypothermia is a promising method for controlling intracranial pressure (ICP) in severely brain-injured patients. However, clinical data regarding the effect of brain hypothermia on overall outcome of these patients is limited. This may be because there are specific pitfalls associated with the clinical management of induced hypothermia in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). These pitfalls may be avoided by preventing specific risk factors when cooling is induced and with rewarming. However, these risk factors have not been well systematically discussed in the literature. In this paper, three categories of clinical issues regarding the management of brain hypothermia are discussed: (1) stress-induced secondary brain injury mechanisms; (2) technical aspects of intensive care unit (ICU) cooling management; and (3) rewarming rates and methods. For patients with a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of less than 8, management of stress-induced ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The main aims of the study were: 1) the evaluation of iron and zinc status in women of Lodz aged 18-45 years, 2) adaptation of the whole body counter to in vivo measurements absorption of iron given to the gastro-intestinal tract of volunteers and 3) in rat model estimation iron bioavailability from fortified wheat flour combined with products usually consumed in Poland. During five months investigations thirty seven women were examined each one twice in two months interval. Following variables were measured: iron and zinc in blood serum, in public and scalp hair and in food, taste acuity score, serum ferritin, hemoglobin, total iron binding capacity, red blood cells, mean corpuscular concentration and corpuscular volume. Prevalence of iron deficiency and iron deficient anemia were assessed by two models in terms of the depression of serum ferritin and hemoglobin concentrations. 64 refs, 6 figs, 23 tabs.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

As part of on-going study of acid mine drainage (AMD), a comprehensive ecological risk assessment was conducted in the Leading Creek Watershed in southeast Ohio. The watershed is influenced by agriculture and active and abandoned coal-mining operations. This work presents a broad overview of several quantitative measures of hydrology and hydraulic watershed properties available for in risk assessment and evaluates their relation to metrics of ecology. Data analysis included statistical comparisons of metrics of ecology, ecotoxicology, water quality, and physically based parameters describing land use, geomorphology, flow, velocity, and particle size. A multiple regression analysis indicated that abandoned mining operations dominated impacts upon aquatic ecology. It also indicated low flow velocity measurements and a ratio of maximum velocity to average velocity at low flow where helpful in describing variation in macroinvertebrate Total Taxa scores. Other key ...

Science.gov (United States)

BACKGROUND: : Skills related to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) use by lay responders decay rapidly after training, and efforts are required to maintain competence among trainees. We examined whether repeated viewing of a reminder video on a mobile phone would be an effective means of maintaining CPR and AED skills in lay responders. METHODS: : In a single-blind case-control study, 75 male students received training in CPR and AED use. They were allocated either to the control or to the video-reminded group, who received a memory card containing a video clip about CPR and AED use for their mobile phone, which they were repeatedly encouraged to watch by SMS text message. CPR and AED skills were assessed in scenario format by examiners immediately and 3 months after initial training. RESULTS: : Three months after initial training, the video-reminded group showed more accurate airway opening (PCPR after defibrillation (PCPR confidence ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This study develops a framework for analysis and assessment of the cost of ownership and use of major cooking appliances. This involved an assessment of the monetary cost as well as the cost of human resources required to maintain and operate cooking systems. The goal was to provide information useful in making purchase decisions within a framework that can be used to organize information about cost beyond the initial purchase price. Five cooktops - conventional electric oil, induction, solid element with thermostatic control, solid element with thermal limiter, and gas - and a microwave oven were used to develop a decision-making matrix. Results were used to assign weights in the matrix used to develop a 10-point scale that represented the total cost of owning and using a cooking system in food preparation. Based on the matrix, the microwave oven received the highest score followed by gas, conventional electric coil, solid element with thermostatic control, solid ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This study was aimed at evaluating CT sensitivity in identifying the signs of pulmonary cystic fibrosis (CF). The chests of 39 patients (16 males and 23 females, mean age 19.1 years) were examined by CT: all patients had been given a clinical score according to Schwachman and Kulckzycki criteria. Thickened bronchial walls were observed in all cases, which are typical of peribronchitis. Bronchiectases were present in 87% of cases; their extent, pattern and localization were exactly shown on CT scans. Bronchoceles were seen on CT scans in 64% of patients; less frequent was the finding of atelectases and subpleural bullous emphysema. In a great number of patients (64% and 82%, respectively) pleural thickening and hilar adenopathy were demonstrated on CT scans. In conclusion, our results confirm CT as a more sensitive method than conventional radiography to identify and locate the signs of pulmonary CF. The early identification of the lesions of high prognostic value, ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

It has recently been found that many buildings in Taiwan were constructed with radioactively contaminated rebar, which raised great concern among the residents as well as governmental officials. In order to investigate the possible cytogenetic damage to the residents of contaminated buildings, a G-banding method was carried out on the lymphocytes of 30 radiation-exposed individuals from four families and one office building, as well as 15 control individuals from laboratory personnel. The estimated cumulative radiation doses for the exposed people range from 19.63 to 280.50 mSv. Altogether, 13 females and 17 males belonging to the radiation-exposed group, and 7 females and 8 males in the control group, were included in this study. With the exception of one sample, at least 500 metaphase spreads were scored and analyzed for each individual. All the recognizable structural aberrations of chromosomes or chromatids were recorded and statistically analyzed. Comparison ...

Science.gov (United States)

OBJECTIVE To identify patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) who will need antenatal insulin treatment (AIT) by using a risk-prediction tool based on maternal clinical and biochemical characteristics at diagnosis. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Data from 3,009 women attending the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital GDM Clinic, Australia, between 1995 and 2010 were studied. A risk engine was developed from significant factors identified for AIT using a logistic regression model. RESULTS A total of 51% of GDM patients required AIT. Ethnicity, gestation at diagnosis, HbA(1c), fasting and 60-min glucose oral glucose tolerance test, BMI, and diabetes family history were significant independent determinants of AIT. Notably, only 9% of the attributable risk for AIT can be explained by the clinical factors studied. A modeled risk-scoring system was therefore a poor predictor of AIT. CONCLUSIONS Baseline maternal characteristics including HbA(1c) alone cannot predict the ...

Science.gov (United States)

SNAP25 occurs on chromosome 20p12.2, which has been linked to schizophrenia in some samples, and recently linked to latent classes of psychotic illness in our sample. SNAP25 is crucial to synaptic functioning, may be involved in axonal growth and dendritic sprouting, and its expression may be decreased in schizophrenia. We genotyped 18 haplotype-tagging SNPs in SNAP25 in a sample of 270 Irish high-density families. Single marker and haplotype analyses were performed in FBAT and PDT. We adjusted for multiple testing by computing q values. Association was followed up in an independent sample of 657 cases and 411 controls. We tested for allelic effects on the clinical phenotype by using the method of sequential addition and 5 factor-derived scores of the OPCRIT. Nine of 18 SNPs had P values Irish family sample. Although we failed to replicate this in an independent sample, this gene should be further tested in other samples. PMID:19806613

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stargardt disease (STGD) and fundus flavimaculatus are infrequent autosomal recessive conditions characterized by a juvenile macular dystrophy and variable degrees of peripheral retinal changes. Linkage analysis performed in 47 STGD/fundus flavimaculatus families demonstrated significant linkage to 13 polymorphic DNA markers on chromosome 1p. The maximum combined two-point lod score was 32.7 (maximum recombination fraction [{theta}{sub max}] = .006) with the polymorphic marker D1S188. Our data demonstrate that STGD and fundus flavimaculatus are the same disorder clinically and genetically and provide further evidence for genetic homogeneity of this phenotype. Analysis of recombination on disease chromosomes placed the STGD gene within a 4-cM interval between markers D1S435 and D1S236. A physical map was constructed of a YAC contig flanking STGD, from markers D1S500 to D1S495, and includes the critical interval delineated by historical recombinants. This contig ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Objective: To determine the optimal contrast injection protocol for 64-MDCT coronary angiography. Materials and methods: One hundred and fifty consecutive patients scheduled to undergo retrospectively electrocardiographically gated 64-MDCT. Each 30 patients were assigned to use a different contrast protocol: group 1: uniphasic protocol (contrast injection without saline flush); group 2: biphasic protocol (contrast injection with saline flush); group 3A, 3B and 3C: triphasic protocol (contrast media + different saline diluted contrast media + saline flush). Image quality scores and artifacts were compared and evaluated on both transaxial and three-dimensional coronary artery images among each contrast protocol. Results: Among the triphasic protocol groups, group 3A (30%:70% contrast media-saline mixture was used in second phase) used the least contrast media and had the least frequency of streak artifacts, but there were no significant differences in coronary artery ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purpose: To assess the prognostic value of biologic (p53, Ki-67) and clinical factors in squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx after radical surgery and postoperative radiotherapy (RT). Methods and Materials: Between 1985 and 1995, a total of 102 patients with 104 tumor sites were entered onto the study. Fifty-five primary tumors (53%) involved the tonsils, 26 (25%) the soft palate, and 23 (22%) the base of the tongue. Median age was 53 years (range 36-80 years). The clinical T- and N-categories (UICC 1997) were: T1 (30), T2 (47), T3 (22), T4 (5), N0 (33), N1 (28), N2 (42), and N3 (1). Histologically-clear margins were achieved in all patients by initial surgery. Postoperative RT to the primary and regional lymphatics was given, to a total of 60 Gy in 6 weeks, and single daily fractions of 2 Gy. The expression of the nuclear p53- and Ki-67-labeling index (LI) was investigated by immunostaining using the monoclonal antibodies DO-7 and MIB 1. The nuclear p53-intensity (p53-I) was ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The endovascular treatment of atherosclerotic intracranial arterial stenoses has previously been based on balloon dilatation or the deployment of a balloon expandable stent. Both methods have advantages (balloon: flexibility; balloon expandable stent: high radial force) and drawbacks (balloon: risk of elastic recoil and dissection; balloon expandable stent: limited flexibility, risk of injury to the vessel due to excessive straightening, overexpansion at ends of stent). A new combination of balloon dilatation, followed by the deployment of a self-expanding microstent has been applied in 15 patients with atherosclerotic arterial stenoses, symptomatic despite medical treatment. An anatomically and clinically adequate result was achieved in all patients. The initial degree of stenosis was 72% (mean). Balloon dilatation resulted in an average residual stenosis of 54% (mean), reduced further to a mean of 38% after stent deployment. Arterial dissection, occlusion of the target artery or ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of postoperative radiotherapy in a case of perihilar cholagiocarcinoma by analyzing overall survival rate, patterns of failure, prognostic factors for overall survival, and toxicity. Between January 1998 and March 2008, 38 patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma underwent a surgical resection and adjuvant radiotherapy. The median patient age was 59 years (range, 28 to 72 years), which included 23 men and 15 women. The extent of surgery was complete resection in 9 patients, microscopically positive margins in 25 patients, and a subtotal resection in 4 patients. The tumor bed and regional lymphatics initially received 45 Gy or 50 Gy, but was subsequently boosted to a total dose of 59.4 Gy or 60 Gy in incompletely resected patients. The median radiotherapy dose was 59.4 Gy. Concurrent chemotherapy was administered in 30 patients. The median follow-up period was 14 months (range, 6 to 45 months). The 3-year overall survival and 3-year ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

We wanted to determine the technical and clinical efficacy of placing a self-expandable PTFE-covered nitinol stent for the management of inoperable malignant biliary obstruction. Thirty six patients with inoperable malignant biliary obstructions were treated by placement of self-expandable PTFE-covered nitinol stents (S and G Biotech Corporation, Seongnam, Korea). Clinical evaluation was done with assessment of the serum bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase levels, which were measured before and after stent placement within 1 week, at 1 month and at 3 months. The patient survival rate and stent patency rate were calculated with performing Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Successful stent placement was achieved in all the patients without procedure-related complication. Pancreatitis as an early complication occurred in two cases. The serum bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase levels were significantly decreased after the procedure. During the follow-up, recurrent ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of percutaneous ultrasound (US)-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICCA) in a small, nonrandomized series. From February 2004 to July 2008, six patients (four men and two women; mean age 69.8 years [range 48 to 83]) with ICCA underwent percutaneous US-guided RFA. Preintervetional transarterial embolization was performed in two cases to decrease heat dispersion during RFA in order to increase the area of ablation. The efficacy of RFA was evaluated using contrast-enhanced dynamic computed tomography (CT) 1 month after treatment and then every 3 months thereafter. Nine RFA sessions were performed for six solid hepatic tumors in six patients. The duration of follow-up ranged from 13 to 21 months (mean 17.5). Posttreatment CT showed total necrosis in four of six tumors after one or two RFA sessions. Residual tumor was observed in two patients with larger tumors (5 and 5.8 cm ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

To evaluate the efficacy of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) and stent insertion in central venous steno-occlusion. Between August 1992 and January 1998, 11 patients with symptomatic central venous steno-occlusion (six stenoses and five occlusions) underwent pereutaneous treatment. Eleven PTAs were performed and stents were introduced in two patients because of incomplete PTA. During follow-up, a total of eight revisions were performed in five patients with recurrence (six stenoses and two occlusions). Success and long term patency rates were evaluated. The length and degree of the lesion and degree of residual stenosis, as well as pressure gradient through the lesion and decrease of the gradient after PTA, were correlated with patency rates. Complications during the procedures and follow-up period were evaluated. The overall success rate was 89.5%;those of primary and revision intervention were 90. 9% and 87.5%, respectively. Primary and revision ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purpose: Efficacy and safety of the own single-center experience with moderately dosed radiosurgery (SRS) for limited (one to four) brain metastases were analyzed and correlated with patient- and treatment-related variables. Patients and Methods: Between 05/1998 and 10/2006, 93 patients received SRS for a total of 142 brain metastases. The median number of brain metastases treated per patient was one (range, one to four). 46 patients (49%) received initial SRS alone, 13 patients (14%) SRS with up-front whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), and 34 patients (37%) SRS for recurrent metastases after WBRT. Median dose was 16 Gy (range, 10-20 Gy). Results: Median overall survival (OS) was 7.5 months. The actuarial 6- and 12-month data for OS were 60% and 35%, for local brain control (LBC) 87% and 79%, and for distant brain control (DBC) 48% and 37%, respectively. Only ten of 46 patients (22%) with initial SRS alone ultimately received WBRT. Ten patients suffered from seizures ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mucociliary transport so critical in nasal, paranasal sinus, and middle ear physiology is impaired in chronic sinsusitis and otitis media by factors such as increased mucus viscoelasticity, decreased ciliary area, and primary or secondary ciliary immotility. We reviewed the pathophysiology of primary ciliary dyskinesia, otitis media with effusion, chronic sinusitis, and allergic rhinitis in terms of mucociliary transport. Subjects with primary ciliary dyskinesia may experience recurrent middle ear infection, chronic airway infection, predominantly lower-lobe bronchiectasis, male sterility, or situs inversus. Primary ciliary dyskinesia is sometimes difficult to diagnose in cases without situs inversus. Nasal nitric oxide concentration in such patients decreases, although why is unclear. Mutations may involve dynein arm intermediate chain 1 (DNAI1) or dynein arm heavy chain 5 (DNAH5). Mucociliary clearance decreases more in those with otitis media with effusion than ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purpose: To identify results and prognostic factors on long-term survival and local control following treatment of localized Ewing's sarcoma. Patients and Methods: Between 1979 and 2004, a total of 60 children and young adults with Ewing's sarcoma were treated. Patients with distant metastases at presentation (n = 6) and recurrent cases (n = 2) were excluded from this analysis. Patients were exclusively treated within ongoing national and international protocols CESS-81, CESS-86, EICESS-92, EURO-EWING-99. All patients received local irradiation with a total dose of 45-60 Gy; in addition, 41 (79%) of the patients had local surgical procedures, 27 (52%) of them with clear margins. Results: Overall survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 56% and 45%, respectively. Patients #<=# 14 years at diagnosis had overall survival rates of 66% and 61% at 5 and 10 years compared to older patients with corresponding survival rates of 47% and 31%, respectively (p = 0.05). Patients ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Continental facies of Scythian-early Anisian age (Buntsandstein) of East of the Paris Basin form the underground gas storage reservoir exploited by Gaz de France in the area of Nancy (east of France). An accurate sedimentological study and the application of Genetic Stratigraphy principles lead to the understanding of the deposition of fluvial, which form the reservoirs, and to the reconstruction of their geometries. The subsurface data are calibrated on outcrops. Three types of fluvial systems (braided, sinuous to straight and anastomosed) are defined. A special focus on anastomosed channels permits to differentiate a proximal and a distal facies. Study of laterally continuous outcrops induces recurrent cycles of thickness, velocity and time variations (few tens to hundred ka). These correspond to the highest frequence stratigraphic units, i.e. parasequences or genetic units. Maximum of channel and levee presentation occurs during base-level rise: base-level fall ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cervix cancer is the most common female cancer in Korea. In spite of their relatively local invasive tendency, still 44% of patient will develop recurrent cancer This result suggests that more aggressive local treatment may increase the cure rate but increased complication risk also cannot be avoidable. Various institutions proposed different treatment regimen, but recommended dose were about 4500 cGy for whole pelvis and 8000 cGy at point A, even though they agreed that those doses may not be satisfactory for control of bulky disease. 96 cases of invasive cervical cancer, treated with postoperative or primary radiation therapy were analyzed to determine the complication rate and prognostic factor in our treatment regimen which is 500-1000 cGy higher than other institution. Mean follow up duration was 21 months. Symptomatic patients including mild but persistent abdominal discomfort was 46%, but only 1 patient (1%) had operative treatment because of incomplete ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Earth`s history has been witness to recurrently alternating phases of catastrophic evolution and dominant tectonic deformations, contractions and extension of rifting and spreading leading to quasi-cyclic changes in sedimentary environment and various earth processes. Recent studies have shown quasi-periodicities of 32{+-}2 Million years (Myr) in various endogenic (geomagnetic reversals, magmatic events, mantle convection, various tectonic activities, climate change and biological extinctions) and exogenic (impact catering) processes indicating a remarkable kinship. A time series analysis is presented of the available CO{sub 2} record over the past 250 Myr decoded from global CaCO{sub 3} accumulation rates in sedimentary environment. The time series analysis reveals an intriguing evidence of a dominant periodicity of 33{+-}2 Myr which matches closely with a `common catastrophic periodicity` of 32 Myr identified in various terrestrial and extra-terrestrial records. ...

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mutations in the FGD1 gene have been shown to cause Aarskog-Scott syndrome (AAS), or facio-digito-genital dysplasia (OMIM#305400), an X-linked disorder characterized by distinctive genital and skeletal developmental abnormalities with a broad spectrum of clinical phenotypes. To date, 20 distinct mutations have been reported, but little phenotypic data are available on patients with molecularly confirmed AAS. In the present study, we report on our experience of screening for mutations in the FGD1 gene in a cohort of 60 European patients with a clinically suspected diagnosis of AAS. We identified nine novel mutations in 11 patients (detection rate of 18.33%), including three missense mutations (p.R402Q; p.S558W; p.K748E), four truncating mutations (p.Y530X; p.R656X; c.806delC; c.1620delC), one in-frame deletion (c.2020_2022delGAG) and the first reported splice site mutation (c.1935+3A>C). A recurrent mutation (p.R656X) was detected in three independent families. ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

For a given linac design, the dosimetric characteristics of a photon beam are determined uniquely by the energy and radial distributions of the electron beam striking the x-ray target. However, in the usual commissioning of a beam from measured data, a large number of variables can be independently tuned, making it difficult to derive a unique and self-consistent beam model. For example, the measured dosimetric penumbra in water may be attributed in various proportions to the lateral secondary electron range, the focal spot size and the transmission through the tips of a non-divergent collimator; the head-scatter component in the tails of the transverse profiles may not be easy to resolve from phantom scatter and head leakage; and the head-scatter tails corresponding to a certain extra-focal source model may not agree self-consistently with in-air output factors measured on the central axis. To reduce the number of adjustable variables in beam modelling, we replace the focal and ...

Science.gov (United States)

Grassroots education is imperative if economic development is to be actualized. Therefore, it becomes necessary to study the primary school teachers' perception of the Universal Basic Education (UBE). This study attempted to find out the primary school teachers' perception of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme and their perceived contribution towards the success of the programme. It further examined how favorable perception towards the scheme could be a catalyst in the successful implementation of the UBE. To accomplish this task, two research questions and a hypothesis were raised to guide the study. The opinion of one hundred and eighteen (118) teachers, out of four hundred and forty-seven teachers (447) that constituted the population of the teachers in Esan West Public Primary Schools was obtained. The respondents were randomly selected. The questionnaire was used for data collection. A 1-4 Likert-type scale ranging from Strongly Agreed to Strongly Disagreed was used to ...

Science.gov (United States)

Analysts working at the International Data Centre in support of treaty monitoring through the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization spend a significant amount of time reviewing hypothesized seismic events produced by an automatic processing system. When reviewing these events to determine their legitimacy, analysts take a variety of approaches that rely heavily on training and past experience. One method used by analysts to gauge the validity of an event involves examining the set of stations involved in the detection of an event. In particular, leveraging past experience, an analyst can say that an event located in a certain part of the world is expected to be detected by Stations A, B, and C. Implicit in this statement is that such an event would usually not be detected by Stations X, Y, or Z. For some well understood parts of the world, the absence of one or more 'expected' stations - or the presence of one or more 'unexpected' ...

Science.gov (United States)

Purpose: To determine the rankings of 6 input-output functions for understanding low-level, conversational, and high-level speech in multitalker babble without manipulating volume control for listeners with normal hearing, flat sensorineural hearing loss, and mildly sloping sensorineural hearing loss. Method: Peak clipping, compression limiting, and 4 wide dynamic range compression (WDRC) input-output functions were compared in a repeated-measure design. Interactions among the compression characteristics were minimized. Speech and babble were processed and recorded at 3 input levels: 45, 65, and 90 dB sound pressure level. Speech recognition of 3 groups of listeners (n = 6/group) was tested for speech processed by each input-output function and at each input level. Results: Input-output functions that made low-level speech audible and high-level speech less distorted by avoiding peak clipping or severe compression yielded higher speech recognition scores. These ...

Science.gov (United States)

Ramsar, a city in the northern Iran, has the highest level of natural background radiation in the world. It has been clearly shown that low doses of ionising radiation can induce resistance to subsequent higher exposures. This phenomenon is termed radioadaptive response. We have compared induction of cytogenetic radioadaptive response by High Natural Background Radiation (HNBR) in Ramsar and X-ray occupational exposure as conditioning doses in human peripheral blood lymphocytes. 30 healthy control individuals, living in Ramsar but in normal background radiation areas, 15 healthy individuals from Talesh Mahalleh, a region with extraordinary high level of background radiation, and 7 X-ray radiographers working in Ramsar hospital located in normal natural background ionising radiation area were evaluated. Peripheral blood samples were prepared and exposed to challenge dose of 0 and 2 Gy. Lymphocytes were scored using analysis of metaphase, for the presence of ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

To compare the accuracy of MR imaging using an endorectal-pelvic and a pelvic phased-array coil for preoperative local staging of rectal carcinoma. To determine preoperative staging, 38 patients with rectal carcinoma underwent MR imaging. All patients were examined with both an endorectal-pelvic and a pelvic phased-array coil. All underwent surgery and staging was pathologically confirmed. Two radiologists blinded to pathologic stage analyzed perirectal invasion and perirectal node metastasis, and scored according to a four-point scale. Radiologic and pathologic findings were correlated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of Wilcoxon statistic (W values) was used to compare diagnostic accuracy between the two different MR methods. Interobserver variation was measured using {kappa} statistics. For perirectal invasion, T1WI endorectal-pelvic phased-array coil images (reader 1:0. 854, reader 2:0.818) showed higher W values than pelvic phased-array coil ...

Science.gov (United States)

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of disclosure to network members of being hepatitis C virus (HCV)- or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected among injecting dyads of infected injection drug users (IDUs) in Budapest, Hungary and Vilnius, Lithuania,. Multivariate generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to assess associations. Very strong infection disclosure norms exist in Hungary, and HCV disclosure was associated with using drugs and having sex within the dyad. Non-ethnic Russian IDUs in Lithuania were more likely to disclose HCV infection to non-Roma, emotionally close and HCV-infected network members, and to those with whom they shared cookers, filters, drug solutions or rinse water or got used syringes from, and if they had fewer non-IDU or IDU network members. Ethnic Russian Lithuanian IDUs were more likely to disclose HCV if they had higher disclosure attitude and knowledge scores, 'trusted' network members, and ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The standard protocol in multislice spiral CT (MSCT) angiography for coronary arteries with fixed tube current-time settings leads to an overexposure and thus to an unnecessary high radiation dose in patients with lower weight when compared to heavier patients. The purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of reducing the radiation dose by adapting the tube current-time settings individually. Fifty patients underwent retrospectively ECG-gated MSCT of the heart. In 25 patients (group A_1) a standard protocol with constant tube current-time settings was used (4 x 1-mm collimation, 120 kV, 400 mAs_e_f_f). Subsequently, artificial image noise was added to the data of these patients simulating a directive for weight-adapted tube current-time settings (group A_2). In the other 25 patients (group B) an alternative protocol with individually weight-adapted tube current-time settings was applied. The data of all groups were evaluated by a regression analysis. The image quality was ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cassava is cultivated almost all over the world and it is considered one of the most important nutritious sources of calories in the human diet. Cassava is a viable food against starvation in several poor areas of the world because it is an extremely resistant culture and may reach satisfactory economical yield. We utilized vacuum packed industrialized cassava irradiated with 0,1 kGy, 3kGy and 5kGy and stored under refrigeration for 1, 21, 30 and 50 days. Our objective was to analyse the synergistic effect of vacuum packing, irradiation and refrigeration on the preservation of minimally processed cassava. The samples were analyzed for pH, acidity, weight, humidity, texture and color. The irradiation did not affect the chemical characteristics of the cassava. Neither the pH nor the acidity, the most relevant variables to verify deterioration in cassava, presented significant alterations during the period of storage. Comparing the irradiated treatments, the dose of 1kGy and 3kGy affected ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

No living analogue exists for the hypothetical early hominid hard/tough-seed, coarse-root-eating, and bone-crushing masticatory adaptation. To investigate possible microdamage/microwear to dental enamel caused by such usage, puncture-crushing experiments were carried out on single human teeth, using an Instron compression apparatus on the following six test materials: Makapansgat Limeworks chert (e.g., taphonomy), fresh steer longbone, mongongo nuts, Grewia berries, Carob beans, and wild-onion bulbs. Pairs of extracted unworn third molars were utilized, with one tooth acting as the control. The teeth were mounted, ultrasonically cleaned, and two-stage replicas made with a vinyl polysiloxane elastomer and araldite epoxy resin. After Instron loading and materials failure (1.2-395.0 kg) the test items and the crowns were prepared for comparison with scanning electron microscopy and dispersive x-ray elemental analysis and mapping. The results revealed that although grit adhering to food ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Protocol changes and options contained within US Environmental Protection Agency whole effluent toxicity tests represent variables that have the potential to affect bioassay performance and interpretation of results. Variables evaluated in this study include: the change in allowable age in the Pimephales promelas acute bioassay from up to 90 d to a maximum of 14 d, age-specific acute responses of P. promelas among the allowable ages of 1 to 14 d, change in the chronic growth endpoint definition from final mass to biomass, differences between hemacytometer and fluorometer measurements in the Selenastrum capricornutum protocol, and options for statistical interpretation of species sensitivity in multiple test/species screening bioassays. Clear age-related sensitivity and precision differences were observed in acute responses of P. promelas. Results obtained using the younger age classes were typically more variable in studies of both 1- to 14-d-old and 14- to 90-d-old P. promelas. In the ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been known as psychiatric disorder in childhood associated with dopamine dysregulation. In present study, we investigated changes in dopamine transporter (DAT) density of the basal ganglias using I-123 N-(3-iodopropen-2-yl) -2-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-chlorphenyl) tropane (I-123 IPT) SPECT in children with ADHD before and after methylphenidate treatment. Nine drug-naive children with ADHD and seven normal children were included in the study. We performed brain SPECT two hours after the intravenous administration of I-123 IPT and made both quantitative and qualitative analyses using the obtained SPECT data, which were reconstructed for the assessment of specific/nonspecific DAT binding ratios in the basal ganglia. All children with ADHD reperformed (123I)IPT SPECT after treatment with methylphenidate (0.7mg/kg/d) during about 8 weeks. SPECT data reconstructed for the assessment of specific/nonspecific DAT binding ratio of the basal ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The purpose of the paper is to investigate whether high-resolution CT (HRCT) can detect the subjects with massive emphysematous destruction in a group of patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and therefor be of help in selecting the candidates to surgical lung volume reduction. Have been examined 40 former smokers with severe COPD (FEV_1#<=#40% of the predicted value, with no major improvement after inhalation of bronchodilators). The emphysema extent score was significantly correlated with the hematocrit value and Tiffeneau index (p<2) in all the 40 patients. The severity of bronchial obstruction was the same in bronchitis and dyspnoeic patients. The subject with chronic bronchitis had milder emphysema (mean extent 35% versus 47% in the dyspnoeic subjects) and a higher frequency of bronchial involvement. A decrease in FEV_1 was significantly correlated with emphysema extent (p<1) in dyspnoeic, but not in bronchitis, patients. ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Introduction: Previous studies have published the correlation between myocardial perfusion SPECT (MP) during cold pressor test (CPT) and intracoronary acetylcholine and its usefulness as independent marker of endothelial dysfunction (ED). Objective: To analyze the incidence of positivization of MP exercise studies in the follow up of asymptomatic patients with moderate cardiovascular risk (CV) and ED detected by PF. Material and Methods: Of 301 patients of the PARADIGMA Registry (normal exercise MP SPECT and clinical probability < 20% of events at 10 years [moderate risk by Framingham index]) 55 had positive PF (+) (18.3%). Prospectively and consecutively, 15 asymptomatic patients with PF (+), and a control group (CG) of 15 patients with negative PF, with paired sex, age and coronary risk factors (CRF), that accomplished a 12 #+-# 2 months follow up, and that underwent a new exercise and resting MP SPECT were analyzed. An MP extension score was used in a model ...

Science.gov (United States)

Excitotoxicity plays a major role in various neurological disorders. In this study, we explored the behavioral and neurotoxic effects of intraventricular NMDA administration in mice. After NMDA injection, acute seizures were followed by impairments in locomotor activity, motor performance on a rotarod, and climbing ability. Mice killed 1 day after NMDA administration showed increased synaptosomal reactive oxygen species ROS production and calcium concentration and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, mitochondrial reductase activities, and neuronal membrane Na+, K+ -ATPase and mg2+ -ATPase activities. One and 3 days after excitotoxic injury, Golgi stains showed that dendritic length and spine density were significantly decreased in neurons of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Some mice received honokiol, tea polyphenol plus memantine, and honokiol plus memantine prior to NMDA treatment; the occurrence of generalized seizures was attenuated, seizure scores were ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A Task Group of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has finished a report Biological Effects after Prenatal Irradiation (Embryo and Fetus) which has been approved by the Main Commission and Will be Published. Some new important scientific data shall be discussed in this contribution. During the preimplantation period lethality of the mammalian embryo is the dominating radiation effect. However, in mouse strains with genetic predispositions it has been shown that also malformations can be caused. This effect is genetically determined and its mechanisms is different from the induction of malformations during major organogenesis. Radiation exposures during this prenatal period leads ato an increase of genomic instability of cells in the normal appearing fetuses. These radiation effects can be transmitted to the next generation. A renewed analysis of individuals with severe mental retardation after exposures during the 8th to 15th week post conception in ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

No prospective studies have evaluated the effects of correction of iron deficiency anemia on insulin resistance in non-diabetic premenopausal women with iron deficiency anemia. All patients were treated with oral iron preparations. Insulin resistance was calculated with the Homeostasis Model Assessment formula. All patients were dichotomized by the median for age and BMI to assess how the relationship between iron deficiency anemia and insulin resistance was affected by the age and BMI. Although the fasting glucose levels did not change meaningfully, statistically significant decreases were found in fasting insulin levels following anemia treatment both in the younger age (<40 years) (P=0.40) women and in the low BMI (27 kg/m) (P=0.22) subgroups but not in the older age (>= 40 years) and the high BMI (>-27Kg/m) subgroups. Post-treatment fasting insulin levels were positively correlated both with BMI (r=0.386, P=0.004) and post-treatment hemoglobin levels. (r=0.285, P=0.036). ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

To evaluate the efficacy of newly designed covered and non-covered coated colorectal stents for colonic decompression. Twenty-six patients, (15 palliative cases and 11 preoperative) underwent treatment for the relief of colorectal obstruction using metallic stents positioned under fluoroscopic guidance. In 24 of the 26, primary colorectal carcinoma was diagnosed, and in the remaining two, recurrent colorectal carcinoma. Twenty-one patients were randomly selected to receive either a type A or type B stent; for the remaining five, type C was used. Type A, an uncovered nitinol wire stent, was lightly coated to ensure structural integrity. Type B (flare type) and C (shoulder type) stents were polyurethane covered and their diameter was 24 and 26mm, respectively. The rates of technical success, clinical success, and complications were analyzed using the chi-square test, and to analyse the mean period of patency, the Kaplan-Meier method was used. Thirty of 31 attempted ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

It is expected that the progressive increase of tropospheric trace gases such as CO{sub 2} and O{sub 3} will have a significant impact on agricultural production. The single and combined effects of CO{sub 2} enrichment and tropospheric O{sub 3} on grain quality characteristics in soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were examined in field studies using 3 m in diam. open-top chambers. Wheat cultivars {open_quotes}Massey{close_quotes} (1991) and {open_quotes}Saluda{close_quotes} (1992) were exposed to two CO{sub 2} concentrations (350 vs. 500 {mu}mol CO{sub 2} mol{sup {minus}1}; 12 h d{sup {minus}1}) in combination with two O{sub 3} regimes (charcoal-filtered air vs. ambient air + 40 {plus_minus} 20 nmol O{sub 3} mol{sup {minus}1}, 7 h d{sup {minus}1}; Monday to Friday) from late March until maturity in June. Grain quality characteristics investigated included: test weight, milling and baking quality, flour yield, protein content, softness equivalent, alkaline water retention ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

There is a lot of interest in the studies that would help to understand whether there is a casual association between cancer and various types of molecular or cytogenetic damage detected in human cells. One major oncogenesis process is activation of proto-oncogenes by point mutations or chromosomal translocation. There are substantial evidence that indicates that the loss of heterozygosity of certain chromosomes is involved in human cancerogenesis. Our study aimed to elicit the possible association between cancer and DNA and cytogenetic abnormalities induced in lymphocytes of people bearing various categories of skin cancer cells. Fresh blood was collected by venipuncture from 25 individuals (including nine prior to cancer treatment). All patients were nonsmoking males, however 42.3 % of them were former smokers. Blood samples were divided into two parts and in the first part of samples cytogenetic studies were performed immediately, while from the second part lymphocytes were isolated ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A set of materials property data for potential wear resistant materials was collected. These materials are designated for use as the ''core'' materials in the Fibrous Monolith structure. The material properties of hardness, toughness, thermal conductivity and cost were selected as determining factors for material choice. Data for these four properties were normalized, and weighting factors were assigned for each property to establish priority and evaluate the effects of priority fluctuation. Materials were then given a score based on the normalized parameters and weighting values. Using the initial estimates for parameter priority, the highest ranking material was tungsten carbide, with diamond as the second ranked material. Several materials were included in the trade study, and five were selected as promising ''core'' materials to include in this effort. These materials are tungsten carbide, ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The role of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of preoperative and postoperative complications caused by acquired cholesteatomas will be described in this paper. The pre- and postoperative imaging of the temporal bone was performed with HRCT and MRI. HRCT and MRI were performed in the axial and coronal plane. MRI was done with T2 weighted and T1 weighted sequences both before and after the intravenous application of contrast material. All imaging findings were confirmed clinically or surgically. The preoperative cholesteatoma-caused complications depicted by HRCT included bony erosions of the ossicles, scutum, facial canal in the middle ear, tympanic walls including the tegmen tympani, and of the labyrinth. The preoperative cholesteatoma-caused complications depicted by MRI included signs indicative for labyrinthitis, and brain abscess. Postoperative HRCT depicted bony erosions caused by recurrent ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Methods: Systemic irradiation of neuroaxis is an essential part in the management of medulloblastoma, stPNET and intracranial germ cell tumors. The introduction of quality assurance programs in radiooncology assures a precise radiotherapy of target volumes and is a prerequisite to improve survival. Results: Hyperfractionated radiotherapy has the potential of increasing dose to tumor more safely without increasing the risk for late adverse effects. Pilot studies revealed excellent tumor control in medulloblastoma with acceptable acute toxicity and a long-term survival of up to 96%. In medulloblastoma stereotactic radiation techniques reveal an acceptable toxicity and promising results in tumor control in recurrent disease or as primary treatment. They are now part of future treatment protocols in case of persisting residual tumor. Radiotherapy alone in pure germinoma is continuously yielding high cure rates. In secreting germ cell tumors cisplatin containing ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

To compare the accuracy in the detection and staging of various malignant tumors with high resolution whole-body MRI using parallel imaging with whole-body dual-modality PET-CT. Preliminary results of an interim analysis from a prospective, blinded study are presented, in which 20 patients (mean age 59 years, range 27-77 years) with different oncological diseases underwent whole-body dual modality FDG-PET-CT screening for tumor search or staging in case of confirmed or suspected metastatic disease. All patients also underwent whole-body MRI imaging with the use of parallel imaging (iPAT). High-resolution coronal T1w- and STIR-sequences of 5 body levels with 512 x 512 matrix, axial fast T2w imaging of lung and abdomen (HASTE), contrast-enhanced dynamic and static T1w-sequences of liver, brain, abdomen, and pelvis were performed. Using a 32-channel whole-body MRI scanner (Magnetom Avanto, Siemens Medical Solutions) with a total field of view of 205 cm and free table movement, all ...

Science.gov (United States)

1. Contest rules The European Space Agency (ESA) is launching a public competition to find the most suitable names for its four Cluster II space weather satellites. The quartet, which are currently known as flight models 5, 6, 7 and 8, are scheduled for launch from Baikonur Space Centre in Kazakhstan in June and July 2000. Professor Roger Bonnet, ESA Director of Science Programme, announced the competition for the first time to the European Delegations on the occasion of the Science Programme Committee (SPC) meeting held in Paris on 21-22 February 2000. The competition is open to people of all the ESA member states (*). Each entry should include a set of FOUR names (places, people, or things from history, mythology, or fiction, but NOT living persons). Contestants should also describe in a few sentences why their chosen names would be appropriate for the four Cluster II satellites. The winners will be those which are considered most suitable and relevant for the Cluster II mission. ...