Detection rate of prostate cancer using prostate specific antigen in patients presenting with lower urinary tract symptoms: A retrospective study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chavan P

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Need for undertaking prostate biopsies for detection of prostate cancer is often decided on the basis of serum levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA. Aim: To evaluate the case detection rate of prostate cancer among patients presenting with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS on the basis of PSA levels and to assess the scope of prostate biopsy in these patients. Setting and Design: A retrospective study from a tertiary care center. Materials and Methods: The clinical and histopathological data of 922 patients presenting with LUTS in the last five years was obtained from the medical record section. They had been screened for prostate cancer using PSA and /or digital rectal examination examination followed by confirmation with prostate biopsy. Statistical Analysis Used: Detection rate and receiver operating characteristic curve were performed using SPSS 16 and Medcalc softwares. Results: The detection rate of prostate cancer according to the PSA levels was 0.6%, 2.3%, 2.5%, 34.1% and 54.9% in the PSA range of 0-4, 4-10, 10-20, 20-50 and> 50 ng/ml, respectively. Maximum prostate cancer cases were detected beyond a PSA value of 20 ng/ml whereas no significant difference in the detection rate was observed in the PSA range of 0-4, 4-10 and 10-20 ng/ml. Conclusion: A low detection rate of prostate cancer observed in the PSA range of 4-20 ng/ml in LUTS patients indicates the need for use of higher cutoff values of PSA in such cases. Therefore we recommend a cutoff of 20 ng/ml of PSA for evaluation of detection rate of prostate cancer among patients presenting with LUTS.

Double symbol error rates for differential detection of narrow-band FM

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, M. K.

1985-01-01

This paper evaluates the double symbol error rate (average probability of two consecutive symbol errors) in differentially detected narrow-band FM. Numerical results are presented for the special case of MSK with a Gaussian IF receive filter. It is shown that, not unlike similar results previously obtained for the single error probability of such systems, large inaccuracies in predicted performance can occur when intersymbol interference is ignored.

Leak rate models and leak detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

Leak detection may be carried out by a number of detection systems, but selection of the systems must be carefully adapted to the fluid state and the location of the leak in the reactor coolant system. Computer programs for the calculation of leak rates contain different models to take into account the fluid state before its entrance into the crack, and they have to be verified by experiments; agreement between experiments and calculations is generally not satisfactory for very small leak rates resulting from narrow cracks or from a closing bending moment

A case-control study of men with non-gonococcal urethritis at Auckland Sexual Health Service: rates of detection of Mycoplasma genitalium.

Science.gov (United States)

Hilton, Jackie; Azariah, Sunita; Reid, Murray

2010-03-01

Previous studies have identified Mycoplasma genitalium as a cause of urethritis in men. As there is no New Zealand data, a case-control study was conducted to determine whether this organism is a significant cause of urethritis in men presenting to Auckland Sexual Health Service. Enrollment for the study commenced in March 2006 and finished in February 2008. Inclusion criteria for cases of non-gonococcal urethritis were onset of urethritis symptoms within one month confirmed by urethral Gram staining showing >or=10 polymorphonuclear leucocytes per high-powered field. Controls were men presenting during the same time period for asymptomatic sexual health screening. All participants were tested for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, M. genitalium, and Chlamydia trachomatis. Information regarding symptoms, sexual behaviour and treatment was collected using a standard questionnaire. We recruited 209 cases and 199 controls with a participation rate of 96%. The prevalence of C. trachomatis and M. genitalium in non-gonococcal urethritis cases was 33.5% and 10% respectively. Co-infection with these organisms was uncommon (1.9%). C. trachomatis and M. genitalium were diagnosed in 4% and 2% of controls, respectively, and both infections were detected significantly less often than in the cases (P urethritis was a significant predictor of current symptoms (P urethritis in men presenting to our service.

Active pulmonary tuberculosis case detection and treatment among floating population in China: an effective pilot.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xinxu; Zhang, Hui; Jiang, Shiwen; Wang, Jia; Liu, Xiaoqiu; Li, Weibin; Yao, Hongyan; Wang, Lixia

2010-12-01

China has more and more floating population because of reform and opening-up. As one of the high burden countries in tuberculosis (TB) control in the world, China has to face more challenges about the TB case detection and treatment among floating population in China. Aim to evaluate the effect of case detection and treatment of the Floating Population TB Control Pilot Project from Global Fund Round Five (GFR5) TB Control Program in China. During October 2006 to September 2008, the pilot project was implemented gradually in 60 counties in Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong and Guangdong. All quarterly reports of the pilot project were collected, and these materials were summarized and analyzed. In seven coastal provinces, 19,584 active pulmonary TB (PTB) cases were registered among floating population in 2 years. Among the active PTB cases, 87.2% were 15-45 years old, and 62.8% were male. In second year, 15,629 active PTB cases were registered, and the overall registration rate was 68 per 100,000 people. DOT treatments were provided for 18,125 active PTB cases in 2 years, and overall DOT treatment rate was 92.6%. There were 3,955 active PTB cases registered in first year, and the overall cure rate was 86.0%. Through the implementation of the pilot project, the TB case detection and treatment among floating population have been enhanced in pilot areas of China. The useful experience and results from the pilot project have been being gradually generalized nationally.

Population-based screening versus case detection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Ravi

2002-01-01

Full Text Available India has a large burden of blindness and population-based screening is a strategy commonly employed to detect disease and prevent morbidity. However, not all diseases are amenable to screening. This communication examines the issue of "population-based screening" versus "case detection" in the Indian scenario. Using the example of glaucoma, it demonstrates that given the poor infrastructure, for a "rare" disease, case detection is more effective than population-based screening.

DOUBLE COMPACT OBJECTS. III. GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE DETECTION RATES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dominik, Michal; Belczynski, Krzysztof; Bulik, Tomasz [Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, 00-478 Warsaw (Poland); Berti, Emanuele [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677 (United States); O’Shaughnessy, Richard [Center for Gravitation, Cosmology, and Astrophysics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI (United States); Mandel, Ilya [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT (United Kingdom); Fryer, Christopher [CCS-2, MSD409, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Holz, Daniel E. [Enrico Fermi Institute, Department of Physics, and Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Pannarale, Francesco [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA (United Kingdom)

2015-06-20

The unprecedented range of second-generation gravitational-wave (GW) observatories calls for refining the predictions of potential sources and detection rates. The coalescence of double compact objects (DCOs)—i.e., neutron star–neutron star (NS–NS), black hole–neutron star (BH–NS), and black hole–black hole (BH–BH) binary systems—is the most promising source of GWs for these detectors. We compute detection rates of coalescing DCOs in second-generation GW detectors using the latest models for their cosmological evolution, and implementing inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational waveform models in our signal-to-noise ratio calculations. We find that (1) the inclusion of the merger/ringdown portion of the signal does not significantly affect rates for NS–NS and BH–NS systems, but it boosts rates by a factor of ∼1.5 for BH–BH systems; (2) in almost all of our models BH–BH systems yield by far the largest rates, followed by NS–NS and BH–NS systems, respectively; and (3) a majority of the detectable BH–BH systems were formed in the early universe in low-metallicity environments. We make predictions for the distributions of detected binaries and discuss what the first GW detections will teach us about the astrophysics underlying binary formation and evolution.

Novel Method For Low-Rate Ddos Attack Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Chistokhodova, A. A.; Sidorov, I. D.

2018-05-01

The relevance of the work is associated with an increasing number of advanced types of DDoS attacks, in particular, low-rate HTTP-flood. Last year, the power and complexity of such attacks increased significantly. The article is devoted to the analysis of DDoS attacks detecting methods and their modifications with the purpose of increasing the accuracy of DDoS attack detection. The article details low-rate attacks features in comparison with conventional DDoS attacks. During the analysis, significant shortcomings of the available method for detecting low-rate DDoS attacks were found. Thus, the result of the study is an informal description of a new method for detecting low-rate denial-of-service attacks. The architecture of the stand for approbation of the method is developed. At the current stage of the study, it is possible to improve the efficiency of an already existing method by using a classifier with memory, as well as additional information.

Rate modulation detection thresholds for cochlear implant users.

Science.gov (United States)

Brochier, Tim; McKay, Colette; McDermott, Hugh

2018-02-01

The perception of temporal amplitude modulations is critical for speech understanding by cochlear implant (CI) users. The present study compared the ability of CI users to detect sinusoidal modulations of the electrical stimulation rate and current level, at different presentation levels (80% and 40% of the dynamic range) and modulation frequencies (10 and 100 Hz). Rate modulation detection thresholds (RMDTs) and amplitude modulation detection thresholds (AMDTs) were measured and compared to assess whether there was a perceptual advantage to either modulation method. Both RMDTs and AMDTs improved with increasing presentation level and decreasing modulation frequency. RMDTs and AMDTs were correlated, indicating that a common processing mechanism may underlie the perception of rate modulation and amplitude modulation, or that some subject-dependent factors affect both types of modulation detection.

Detection limit for rate fluctuations in inhomogeneous Poisson processes

Science.gov (United States)

Shintani, Toshiaki; Shinomoto, Shigeru

2012-04-01

Estimations of an underlying rate from data points are inevitably disturbed by the irregular occurrence of events. Proper estimation methods are designed to avoid overfitting by discounting the irregular occurrence of data, and to determine a constant rate from irregular data derived from a constant probability distribution. However, it can occur that rapid or small fluctuations in the underlying density are undetectable when the data are sparse. For an estimation method, the maximum degree of undetectable rate fluctuations is uniquely determined as a phase transition, when considering an infinitely long series of events drawn from a fluctuating density. In this study, we analytically examine an optimized histogram and a Bayesian rate estimator with respect to their detectability of rate fluctuation, and determine whether their detectable-undetectable phase transition points are given by an identical formula defining a degree of fluctuation in an underlying rate. In addition, we numerically examine the variational Bayes hidden Markov model in its detectability of rate fluctuation, and determine whether the numerically obtained transition point is comparable to those of the other two methods. Such consistency among these three principled methods suggests the presence of a theoretical limit for detecting rate fluctuations.

Detection limit for rate fluctuations in inhomogeneous Poisson processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Shintani, Toshiaki; Shinomoto, Shigeru

2012-04-01

Estimations of an underlying rate from data points are inevitably disturbed by the irregular occurrence of events. Proper estimation methods are designed to avoid overfitting by discounting the irregular occurrence of data, and to determine a constant rate from irregular data derived from a constant probability distribution. However, it can occur that rapid or small fluctuations in the underlying density are undetectable when the data are sparse. For an estimation method, the maximum degree of undetectable rate fluctuations is uniquely determined as a phase transition, when considering an infinitely long series of events drawn from a fluctuating density. In this study, we analytically examine an optimized histogram and a Bayesian rate estimator with respect to their detectability of rate fluctuation, and determine whether their detectable-undetectable phase transition points are given by an identical formula defining a degree of fluctuation in an underlying rate. In addition, we numerically examine the variational Bayes hidden Markov model in its detectability of rate fluctuation, and determine whether the numerically obtained transition point is comparable to those of the other two methods. Such consistency among these three principled methods suggests the presence of a theoretical limit for detecting rate fluctuations.

Increased detection rate of syringomyelia by whole spine sagittal magnetic resonance images: Based on the data from military conscription of Korean young males

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Lee, Myoung Seok; Oh, Chang Hyun [Seoul Regional Military Manpower Administration, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Yoon, Seung Hwan; Park, Hyeong Chun; Park, Chong Oon; Kim, Yeo Ju [Inha Univ. Hospital/College of Medicine/Inha Univ., Incheon (Korea, Republic of)

2012-09-15

We compared the detection rate of syringomyelia according to the type of magnetic resonance (MR) images among the Korean military conscription. Among the total of 238910 examinees (males aged 18 to 32 years old) from January 2008 to December 2011, the examinees with conventional single lesion MR images (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar) with and without whole spine sagittal T2 weighted MR images (WSST2I) totaled 1206 cases, and syringomyelia was observed in 24 cases. The detection rate of syringomyelia according to the MR protocol (the presence of WSST2I or not) was done through analysis by annually and the clinical characters of syringomyelia was reviewed. The estimated prevalence of syringomyelia was approximately 10.0 cases per 100000 people. The detection rate was increased annually when the WSST2I proportion was increased (from 3.4 to 14.9 cases per 100000 persons, r = 0.939, p = 0.018). Clinical character of syringomyelia was ambiguous with other spinal diseases. The most affected spinal level was C5 to C7 (83%), and most cases were non communicating syringomyelia with benign central canal widening (79%). Whole spine sagittal MR image is useful to detect coexisting spinal diseases such as syringomyelia, and most syringomyelia in young males was benign hydromyelia. A whole spine sagittal MR image is recommended to increase the detection of syringomyelia.

Influence of depth, time and human activity on detection rate of acoustic tags: a case study on two fish farms.

Science.gov (United States)

Otterå, H; Skilbrei, O T

2016-03-01

The detection rates of stationary acoustic transmitters deployed at three depths on two Atlantic salmon Salmo salar cage farms for c. 2 months were investigated. Deployment depth, time of day, day of the year and specific incidences at the farm substantially affected the rate of signal detection by the receiver. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Nonlinear Heart Rate Variability features for real-life stress detection. Case study: students under stress due to university examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Melillo, Paolo; Bracale, Marcello; Pecchia, Leandro

2011-11-07

This study investigates the variations of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) due to a real-life stressor and proposes a classifier based on nonlinear features of HRV for automatic stress detection. 42 students volunteered to participate to the study about HRV and stress. For each student, two recordings were performed: one during an on-going university examination, assumed as a real-life stressor, and one after holidays. Nonlinear analysis of HRV was performed by using Poincaré Plot, Approximate Entropy, Correlation dimension, Detrended Fluctuation Analysis, Recurrence Plot. For statistical comparison, we adopted the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test and for development of a classifier we adopted the Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). Almost all HRV features measuring heart rate complexity were significantly decreased in the stress session. LDA generated a simple classifier based on the two Poincaré Plot parameters and Approximate Entropy, which enables stress detection with a total classification accuracy, a sensitivity and a specificity rate of 90%, 86%, and 95% respectively. The results of the current study suggest that nonlinear HRV analysis using short term ECG recording could be effective in automatically detecting real-life stress condition, such as a university examination.

75 FR 27375 - Postal Rate Case Management

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-14

... POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. PI2010-3; Order No. 456] Postal Rate Case Management AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Commission is seeking comments relevant to management of an anticipated exigent postal rate case. It has scheduled a technical conference...

Heart rate detection from an electronic weighing scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

González-Landaeta, R; Casas, O; Pallàs-Areny, R

2008-01-01

We propose a novel technique for beat-to-beat heart rate detection based on the ballistocardiographic (BCG) force signal from a subject standing on a common electronic weighing scale. The detection relies on sensing force variations related to the blood acceleration in the aorta, works even if wearing footwear and does not require any sensors attached to the body because it uses the load cells in the scale. We have devised an approach to estimate the sensitivity and frequency response of three commercial weighing scales to assess their capability to detect the BCG force signal. Static sensitivities ranged from 490 nV V −1 N −1 to 1670 nV V −1 N −1 . The frequency response depended on the subject's mass but it was broad enough for heart rate estimation. We have designed an electronic pulse detection system based on off-the-shelf integrated circuits to sense heart-beat-related force variations of about 0.24 N. The signal-to-noise ratio of the main peaks of the force signal detected was higher than 30 dB. A Bland–Altman plot was used to compare the RR time intervals estimated from the ECG and BCG force signals for 17 volunteers. The error was ±21 ms, which makes the proposed technique suitable for short-term monitoring of the heart rate

Leak rate measurements and detection systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kupperman, D.; Shack, W.J.; Claytor, T.

1983-10-01

A research program is under way to evaluate and develop improve leak detection systems. The primary focus of the work has been on acoustic emission detection of leaks. Leaks from artificial flaws, laboratory-generated IGSCCs and thermal fatigue cracks, and field-induced intergranular stress corrosion cracks (IGSCCs) from reactor piping have been examined. The effects of pressure, temperature, and leak rate and geometry on the acoustic signature are under study. The use of cross-correlation techniques for leak location and pattern recognition and autocorrelation for source discrimination is also being considered

Does preoperative breast MRI significantly impact on initial surgical procedure and re-operation rates in patients with screen-detected invasive lobular carcinoma?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinclair, K.; Sakellariou, S.; Dawson, N.; Litherland, J.

2016-01-01

Aim: To investigate whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes the management of patients with screen-detected invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). Materials and methods: A retrospective, controlled, single-centre analysis of 138 cases of screen-detected ILC was performed. All patients were assessed by a single multidisciplinary team as to whether preoperative MRI altered the initial management decision or reduced re-operation rates. Results: Forty-three percent of patients had preoperative MRI. MRI guided surgical management in 40.7% patients. Primary mastectomy rates were not significantly different between the MRI and non-MRI groups (32% and 30% respectively, p=0.71). The MRI group had a lower secondary surgery rate (6.8% versus 15.2%); however, the results did not reach statistical significance, and there were no unnecessary mastectomies. Conclusion: MRI can be used appropriately to guide primary surgery in screen-detected ILC cases and affects the initial management decision in 40.7% of patients. It does not significantly affect the overall mastectomy rate or re-operation rates, but reduces the likelihood of the latter. As a result of this review, the authors' local policy for the use of MRI in screen-detected ILC patients has been modified. For patients undergoing mastectomy for ILC, MRI is no longer performed routinely to search for contralateral malignancy as this has no proven added benefit. - Highlights: • Breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows more accurate tumour assessment and detects additional foci of disease in invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). • Over the study's 3 year time frame, MRI guided surgical management of 40.7% screen-detected ILC patients scanned. • No statistically significant difference in mastectomy rates between MRI and non MRI groups. • Observed lower re-operation rate (6.8%-v-15.2%) in MRI group not statistically significant. • No MRI benefit for contralateral disease detection in ILC patients for

Improved detection rate of structural abnormalities in the first trimester using an extended examination protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Iliescu, D; Tudorache, S; Comanescu, A; Antsaklis, P; Cotarcea, S; Novac, L; Cernea, N; Antsaklis, A

2013-09-01

To assess the potential of first-trimester sonography in the detection of fetal abnormalities using an extended protocol that is achievable with reasonable resources of time, personnel and ultrasound equipment. This was a prospective two-center 2-year study of 5472 consecutive unselected pregnant women examined at 12 to 13 + 6 gestational weeks. Women were examined using an extended morphogenetic ultrasound protocol that, in addition to the basic evaluation, involved a color Doppler cardiac sweep and identification of early contingent markers for major abnormalities. The prevalence of lethal and severe malformations was 1.39%. The first-trimester scan identified 40.6% of the cases detected overall and 76.3% of major structural defects. The first-trimester detection rate (DR) for major congenital heart disease (either isolated or associated with extracardiac abnormalities) was 90% and that for major central nervous system anomalies was 69.5%. In fetuses with increased nuchal translucency (NT), the first-trimester DR for major anomalies was 96%, and in fetuses with normal NT it was 66.7%. Most (67.1%) cases with major abnormalities presented with normal NT. A detailed first-trimester anomaly scan using an extended protocol is an efficient screening method to detect major fetal structural abnormalities in low-risk pregnancies. It is feasible at 12 to 13 + 6 weeks with ultrasound equipment and personnel already used for routine first-trimester screening. Rate of detection of severe malformations is greater in early- than in mid-pregnancy and on postnatal evaluation. Early heart investigation could be improved by an extended protocol involving use of color Doppler. Copyright © 2013 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Case-positive versus case-negative designs for low-rate lithium thionyl chloride cells

Science.gov (United States)

Mahy, T. X.

1982-03-01

Case polarity design choices are discussed. Two examples of case-negative designs are presented. One battery is thionyl chloride limited and the other is lithium limited. The case-positive design is thionyl chloride limited. It is found that the case-positive/case-negative design consideration does not seem to have much bearing on storage. However, during low rate discharge, the case-negative cells show a steadily decreasing capacity as you go to lower and lower rates.

Routine perinatal and paediatric post-mortem radiography: detection rates and implications for practice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arthurs, Owen J. [NHS Foundation Trust, Department of Radiology Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London (United Kingdom); University College London, Institute of Child Health, London (United Kingdom); Calder, Alistair D. [NHS Foundation Trust, Department of Radiology Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London (United Kingdom); Kiho, Liina [Camelia Botnar Laboratories Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Department of Paediatric Pathology, London (United Kingdom); Taylor, Andrew M. [Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Cardiorespiratory Unit, London (United Kingdom); UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science, London (United Kingdom); University College London, Institute of Child Health, London (United Kingdom); Sebire, Neil J. [Camelia Botnar Laboratories Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Department of Paediatric Pathology, London (United Kingdom); University College London, Institute of Child Health, London (United Kingdom)

2014-03-15

Routine perinatal and paediatric post-mortem plain radiography allows for the diagnosis and assessment of skeletal dysplasias, fractures and other bony abnormalities. The aim of this study was to review the diagnostic yield of this practice. We identified 1,027 cases performed in a single institution over a 21/2-year period, including babygrams (whole-body examinations) and full skeletal surveys. Images were reported prior to autopsy in all cases. Radiology findings were cross-referenced with the autopsy findings using an autopsy database. We scored each case from 0 to 4 according to the level of diagnostic usefulness. The overall abnormality rate was 126/1,027 (12.3%). There was a significantly higher rate of abnormality when a skeletal survey was performed (18%) rather than a babygram (10%; P < 0.01); 90% (665/739) of babygrams were normal. Of the 74 abnormal babygrams, we found 33 incidental non-contributory cases, 19 contributory, 20 diagnostic, and 2 false-positive cases. There were only 2 cases out of 739 (0.27%) in whom routine post-mortem imaging identified potentially significant abnormalities that would not have been detected if only selected imaging had been performed. A policy of performing selected, rather than routine, foetal post-mortem radiography could result in a significant cost saving. Routine post-mortem paediatric radiography in foetuses and neonates is neither diagnostically useful nor cost-effective. A more evidence-based, selective protocol should yield significant cost savings. (orig.)

Routine perinatal and paediatric post-mortem radiography: detection rates and implications for practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arthurs, Owen J.; Calder, Alistair D.; Kiho, Liina; Taylor, Andrew M.; Sebire, Neil J.

2014-01-01

Routine perinatal and paediatric post-mortem plain radiography allows for the diagnosis and assessment of skeletal dysplasias, fractures and other bony abnormalities. The aim of this study was to review the diagnostic yield of this practice. We identified 1,027 cases performed in a single institution over a 21/2-year period, including babygrams (whole-body examinations) and full skeletal surveys. Images were reported prior to autopsy in all cases. Radiology findings were cross-referenced with the autopsy findings using an autopsy database. We scored each case from 0 to 4 according to the level of diagnostic usefulness. The overall abnormality rate was 126/1,027 (12.3%). There was a significantly higher rate of abnormality when a skeletal survey was performed (18%) rather than a babygram (10%; P < 0.01); 90% (665/739) of babygrams were normal. Of the 74 abnormal babygrams, we found 33 incidental non-contributory cases, 19 contributory, 20 diagnostic, and 2 false-positive cases. There were only 2 cases out of 739 (0.27%) in whom routine post-mortem imaging identified potentially significant abnormalities that would not have been detected if only selected imaging had been performed. A policy of performing selected, rather than routine, foetal post-mortem radiography could result in a significant cost saving. Routine post-mortem paediatric radiography in foetuses and neonates is neither diagnostically useful nor cost-effective. A more evidence-based, selective protocol should yield significant cost savings. (orig.)

TB case detection in Tajikistan – analysis of existing obstacles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexei Korobitsyn

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Tajikistan National TB Control ProgramObjective: (1 To identify the main obstacles to increasing TB Detection in Tajikistan. (2 To identify interventions that improve TB detection.Methods: Review of the available original research data, health normative base, health systems performance and national economic data, following WHO framework for detection of TB cases, which is based on three scenarios of why incident cases of TB may not be notified.Results: Data analysis revealed that some aspects of TB case detection are more problematic than others and that there are gaps in the knowledge of specific obstacles to TB case detection. The phenomenon of “initial default” in Tajikistan has been documented; however, it needs to be studied further. The laboratory services detect infectious TB cases effectively; however, referrals of appropriate suspects for TB diagnosis may lag behind. The knowledge about TB in the general population has improved. Yet, the problem of TB related stigma persists, thus being an obstacle for effective TB detection. High economic cost of health services driven by under-the-table payments was identified as another barrier for access to health services.Conclusion: Health system strengthening should become a primary intervention to improve case detection in Tajikistan. More research on reasons contributing to the failure to register TB cases, as well as factors underlying stigma is needed.

Novel Fingertip Image-Based Heart Rate Detection Methods for a Smartphone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rifat Zaman

2017-02-01

Full Text Available We hypothesize that our fingertip image-based heart rate detection methods using smartphone reliably detect the heart rhythm and rate of subjects. We propose fingertip curve line movement-based and fingertip image intensity-based detection methods, which both use the movement of successive fingertip images obtained from smartphone cameras. To investigate the performance of the proposed methods, heart rhythm and rate of the proposed methods are compared to those of the conventional method, which is based on average image pixel intensity. Using a smartphone, we collected 120 s pulsatile time series data from each recruited subject. The results show that the proposed fingertip curve line movement-based method detects heart rate with a maximum deviation of 0.0832 Hz and 0.124 Hz using time- and frequency-domain based estimation, respectively, compared to the conventional method. Moreover, another proposed fingertip image intensity-based method detects heart rate with a maximum deviation of 0.125 Hz and 0.03 Hz using time- and frequency-based estimation, respectively.

Using risk-tracing snowball approach to increase HIV case detection among high-risk populations in Cambodia: an intervention study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chhim, Srean; Macom, John; Pav, Chettana; Nim, Nirada; Yun, Phearun; Seng, Sopheap; Chhim, Kolab; Tuot, Sovannary; Yi, Siyan

2017-10-18

Early HIV diagnosis and initiation onto antiretroviral therapy may prevent ongoing spread of HIV. Risk Tracing Snowball Approach (RTSA) has been shown to be effective in detecting new HIV cases in other settings. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of RTSA in increasing the rate of newly identified HIV cases among high-risk populations. Our second objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of RTSA, as compared to the walk-in group, in increasing the number of HIV tests and early case detection. This study was conducted from April 1 to September 30, 2016 at two NGO clinics in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Respondent driven sampling method was adapted to develop RTSA to reach high-risk populations, including key populations and the general population who have social connections with key populations. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. During the implementation period, 721 clients walked in for HIV testing (walk-in group), and all were invited to be seeds. Of the invited clients, 36.6% agreed to serve as seeds. Throughout the implementation, 6195 coupons were distributed to seeds or recruiters, and resulted in 1572 clients visiting the two clinics with coupons (RTSA group), for a coupon return rate of 25.3%. The rate of newly identified HIV cases among the RTSA group was significantly lower compared to that in walk-in group. However, the highest number of newly identified HIV cases was found during the implementation period, compared to both pre- and post-implementation period. Although statistically not significant, the mean CD4 count of newly identified HIV cases detected through RTSA was almost 200 cells/mm3 higher than that in the walk-in group. Although the rate of newly identified HIV cases among the RTSA group was lower than that in the walk-in group, the inclusion of RTSA in addition to the traditional walk-in method boosted new HIV case detection in the two participating clinics. A higher mean CD4

Endoscopic detection rate of sessile serrated lesions in Lynch syndrome patients is comparable with an age- and gender-matched control population: case-control study with expert pathology review.

Science.gov (United States)

Vleugels, Jasper L A; Sahin, Husna; Hazewinkel, Yark; Koens, Lianne; van den Berg, Jose G; van Leerdam, Monique E; Dekker, Evelien

2018-05-01

Carcinogenesis in Lynch syndrome involves fast progression of adenomas to colorectal cancer (CRC) because of microsatellite instability. The role of sessile serrated lesions (SSLs) and the serrated neoplasia pathway in these patients is unknown. The aim of this matched case-control study was to compare endoscopic detection rates and distribution of SSLs in Lynch syndrome patients with a matched control population. We collected data of Lynch syndrome patients with a proven germline mutation who underwent colonoscopy between January 2011 and April 2016 in 2 tertiary referral hospitals. Control subjects undergoing elective colonoscopy from 2011 and onward for symptoms or surveillance were selected from a prospectively collected database. Patients were matched 1:1 for age, gender, and index versus surveillance colonoscopy. An expert pathology review of serrated polyps was performed. The primary outcomes included the detection rates and distribution of SSLs. We identified 321 patients with Lynch syndrome who underwent at least 1 colonoscopy. Of these, 223 Lynch syndrome patients (mean age, 49.3; 59% women; index colonoscopy, 56%) were matched to 223 control subjects. SSLs were detected in 7.6% (95% confidence interval, 4.8-11.9) of colonoscopies performed in Lynch syndrome patients and in 6.7% (95% confidence interval, 4.1-10.8) of control subjects (P = .86). None of the detected SSLs in Lynch syndrome patients contained dysplasia. The detection rate of SSLs in Lynch syndrome patients undergoing colonoscopy is comparable with a matched population. These findings suggest that the role of the serrated neoplasia pathway in CRC development in Lynch syndrome seems to be comparable with that in the general population. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

BIRDNEST: Bayesian Inference for Ratings-Fraud Detection

OpenAIRE

Hooi, Bryan; Shah, Neil; Beutel, Alex; Gunnemann, Stephan; Akoglu, Leman; Kumar, Mohit; Makhija, Disha; Faloutsos, Christos

2015-01-01

Review fraud is a pervasive problem in online commerce, in which fraudulent sellers write or purchase fake reviews to manipulate perception of their products and services. Fake reviews are often detected based on several signs, including 1) they occur in short bursts of time; 2) fraudulent user accounts have skewed rating distributions. However, these may both be true in any given dataset. Hence, in this paper, we propose an approach for detecting fraudulent reviews which combines these 2 app...

Shifting the burden or expanding access to care? Assessing malaria trends following scale-up of community health worker malaria case management and reactive case detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Larsen, David A; Winters, Anna; Cheelo, Sanford; Hamainza, Busiku; Kamuliwo, Mulakwa; Miller, John M; Bridges, Daniel J

2017-11-02

Malaria is a significant burden to health systems and is responsible for a large proportion of outpatient cases at health facilities in endemic regions. The scale-up of community management of malaria and reactive case detection likely affect both malaria cases and outpatient attendance at health facilities. Using health management information data from 2012 to 2013 this article examines health trends before and after the training of volunteer community health workers to test and treat malaria cases in Southern Province, Zambia. An estimated 50% increase in monthly reported malaria infections was found when community health workers were involved with malaria testing and treating in the community (incidence rate ratio 1.52, p malaria testing and treating in the community. These results suggest a large public health benefit to both community case management of malaria and reactive case detection. First, the capacity of the malaria surveillance system to identify malaria infections was increased by nearly one-third. Second, the outpatient attendance at health facilities was modestly decreased. Expanding the capacity of the malaria surveillance programme through systems such as community case management and reactive case detection is an important step toward malaria elimination.

Probabilistic pipe fracture evaluations for leak-rate-detection applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahman, S.; Ghadiali, N.; Paul, D.; Wilkowski, G.

1995-04-01

Regulatory Guide 1.45, open-quotes Reactor Coolant Pressure Boundary Leakage Detection Systems,close quotes was published by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in May 1973, and provides guidance on leak detection methods and system requirements for Light Water Reactors. Additionally, leak detection limits are specified in plant Technical Specifications and are different for Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) and Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs). These leak detection limits are also used in leak-before-break evaluations performed in accordance with Draft Standard Review Plan, Section 3.6.3, open-quotes Leak Before Break Evaluation Proceduresclose quotes where a margin of 10 on the leak detection limit is used in determining the crack size considered in subsequent fracture analyses. This study was requested by the NRC to: (1) evaluate the conditional failure probability for BWR and PWR piping for pipes that were leaking at the allowable leak detection limit, and (2) evaluate the margin of 10 to determine if it was unnecessarily large. A probabilistic approach was undertaken to conduct fracture evaluations of circumferentially cracked pipes for leak-rate-detection applications. Sixteen nuclear piping systems in BWR and PWR plants were analyzed to evaluate conditional failure probability and effects of crack-morphology variability on the current margins used in leak rate detection for leak-before-break

Case-Based Multi-Sensor Intrusion Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Daniel G.; Long, Jidong

2009-08-01

Multi-sensor intrusion detection systems (IDSs) combine the alerts raised by individual IDSs and possibly other kinds of devices such as firewalls and antivirus software. A critical issue in building a multi-sensor IDS is alert-correlation, i.e., determining which alerts are caused by the same attack. This paper explores a novel approach to alert correlation using case-based reasoning (CBR). Each case in the CBR system's library contains a pattern of alerts raised by some known attack type, together with the identity of the attack. Then during run time, the alert streams gleaned from the sensors are compared with the patterns in the cases, and a match indicates that the attack described by that case has occurred. For this purpose the design of a fast and accurate matching algorithm is imperative. Two such algorithms were explored: (i) the well-known Hungarian algorithm, and (ii) an order-preserving matching of our own device. Tests were conducted using the DARPA Grand Challenge Problem attack simulator. These showed that the both matching algorithms are effective in detecting attacks; but the Hungarian algorithm is inefficient; whereas the order-preserving one is very efficient, in fact runs in linear time.

Case detection rates of impetigo by gender and age.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiriakis, Kyriakos P; Tadros, Aline; Dimou, Anastasia; Karamanou, Marianna; Banaka, Fotini; Alexoudi, Iliana

2012-06-01

A cross sectional study was carried out (impetigo cases n=265, relative prevalence 5.3%, among 50,237 outpatients). Males predominated in childhood, adulthood and overall (OR 2.0) and exhibited a more protracted susceptibility. Impetigo was more prevalent in summer months. Lesions were located on the head and neck (65.4%), followed by 19.6% on an upper extremity and by 7.5% each on the trunk and a lower extremity.

Correction to the count-rate detection limit and sample/blank time-allocation methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alvarez, Joseph L.

2013-01-01

A common form of count-rate detection limits contains a propagation of uncertainty error. This error originated in methods to minimize uncertainty in the subtraction of the blank counts from the gross sample counts by allocation of blank and sample counting times. Correct uncertainty propagation showed that the time allocation equations have no solution. This publication presents the correct form of count-rate detection limits. -- Highlights: •The paper demonstrated a proper method of propagating uncertainty of count rate differences. •The standard count-rate detection limits were in error. •Count-time allocation methods for minimum uncertainty were in error. •The paper presented the correct form of the count-rate detection limit. •The paper discussed the confusion between count-rate uncertainty and count uncertainty

Detectability and detection rate of acute cerebral hemisphere infarcts on CT and diffusion-weighted MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Urbach, H.; Flacke, S.; Keller, E.; Textor, J.; Berlis, A.; Reul, J.; Schild, H.H.; Hartmann, A.; Solymosi, L.

2000-01-01

Our purpose was to compare the detectability and detection rate of acute ischaemic cerebral hemisphere infarcts on CT and diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI). We investigated 32 consecutive patients with acute hemisphere stroke with unenhanced CT and DWI within 6 h of stroke onset. The interval between CT and DWI ranged from 15 to 180 min (mean 60 min). Infarct detectability on CT and DWI was determined by comparing the initial CT, DWI and later reference images in a consensus reading of five independent examiners. The ''true'' detection rate was assessed by analysing all single readings. Two patients had intracerebral haematomas on DWI and CT and were excluded. There were 27 patients with ischaemic infarcts; all were visible on DWI and proven by follow-up. DWI was negative in three patients without a final diagnosis of infarct (100 % sensitivity, 100 % specificity, χ 2 = 30, P 2 = 1.48, P = 0.224). With regard to the single readings (30 examinations x 5 examiners = 150 readings), 63 CT readings were true positive and 72 false negative (sensitivity 47 %, specificity 86 %, χ 2 = 2.88, P = 0.089). Of the DWI readings 128 were true positive and 7 false negative (sensitivity 95 %, specificity 87 %, χ 2 = 70.67, P < 0.0001). Interobserver agreement was substantial for CT (χ= 0.72, 95 % confidence interval, 0.6-0.84) and DWI (χ= 0.82, 95 % confidence interval, 0.46-1). Taken together, detectability and detection rate of acute (< 6 h) hemisphere infarcts are significantly higher with DWI than with CT. (orig.)

A Compound Detection System Based on Ultrasonic Flow Rate and Concentration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qing-Hui WANG

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a new detection system for monitoring gas concentration and flow rate. Velocity difference of ultrasonic wave in bi-directional propagation in measured gas is recorded and utilized for computing the online gas concentration and flow rate. Meanwhile, the temperature compensation, return signal processing and error analysis algorithms are applied to improve the accuracy. The experimental results show that, compared with the single sensor measurement of gas flow rate or concentration, the proposed detection system with lower cost and higher accuracy can be applied in the occasion which needs simultaneous monitoring of gas concentration and flow rate.

PET-CT detection rate of primary breast cancer lesions. Correlation with the clinicopathological factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogawa, Tomoko; Tozaki, Mitsuhiro; Fukuma, Eisuke

2008-01-01

One hundred and forty lesions of primary breast cancer underwent positron emission tomography (PET)-CT between June 2006 and May 2007. The PET-CT detection rate of primary breast cancer lesions was 72.1%. The detection rate was 52.1% for invasive cancer ≤20 mm, 92.8% for invasive breast cancers >20 mm, and these results were significant. In the present study, no significant relationship was observed between tumor types, however, invasive lobular carcinoma showed a lower detection rate, 58.3%. The PET-CT results were not significantly affected by either estrogen and progesterone receptors or distant metastasis. A significant correlation regarding the detection rate of PET-CT was found with HER2 status, tumor grade, and axillary lymph node status. The detection rate was 100% for invasive cancer ≤20 mm when the interval between prior diagnostic Mammotome biopsies and PET-CT was less than 3 weeks, 18.8% for invasive cancer ≤20 mm when the interval was more than 3 weeks, and these results were significant. Mammotome biopsies may therefore affect the detection rate of PET-CT. Invasive cancers ≤20 mm showed a low detection rate, therefore, it is considered to be insufficient to use PET-CT for the detection of early breast cancer. (author)

Detection of sentinel lymph node in breast cancer and malignant melanoma - Influence of some factors on detection success rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krafta, O.; Safarcika, K.; Stepien, A.

2004-01-01

Full text: The aim of this study was to compare three radiopharmaceuticals for sentinel lymph node detection in breast cancer and malignant melanoma patients. We examined 100 women and 2 men with breast cancer (average age 59.3 years) and 167 patients with malignant melanoma (69 men with mean age of 58.6 years and 98 women with mean age of 53.6 years). Lymphoscintigraphy was performed in all patients after injection of the radiotracer, either of the three: NANOCIS (average particle size 100 nm), SENTISCINT (particle size 100-600 nm), and NANOCOLL (particle size under 80 nm). Dynamic scintigraphy was performed in melanoma patients while breast cancer patients were subjected to stating imaging at 1-2 and 22 hours of injection. In patients with melanoma surgery was done on the same day, to remove the primary tumor, sentinel lymph node and other nodes, wherever required. In breast cancer patients, surgery, more or less, was done on the second day of radiotracer injection. In operation theatre isosulfan blue dye and gamma probe was used to detect sentinel lymph nodes. In breast cancer patients, scintigraphy detected a total of 231 lymph nodes but failed to show sentinel lymph node in 7 patients (success rate of lymphoscintigraphy 93.1 %). Using gamma probe 158 lymph nodes were detected in 89 patients but sentinel nodes were missed in 9 patients (success rate of probe was 89.9 %). 146 lymph nodes could be visualised using blue dye in 92 patients but were missed in 12 patients (detection rate by dye was 87 %). In 2 patients sentinel lymph node could not be detected by any method. In patients with melanoma, scintigraphy showed 304 lymph nodes. However, it did not detect sentinel lymph node in 9 patients (success rate of lymphoscintigraphy was 94.6 %). 104 patients were examined by means of gamma probe and 132 lymph nodes were detected and no lymph node was found in 13 patients (success rate of probe 87.5%). Using blue dye in 140 patients, 131 nodes were found but were

Isomers of fluoroamphetamines detected in forensic cases in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Sys Stybe; Hansen, Tina Maria

2012-01-01

A study was performed on the detection, separation and quantification of isomers from the new designer drugs named fluoroamphetamines (FAs) in forensic cases in eastern Denmark. The drugs were detected in whole blood extracts by ultraperformance liquid chromatography with time of flight mass...... of drugs (DUID) cases, involving 4-fluoroamphetamine (4-FA) have been observed with whole blood concentrations ranging from 0.006 to 0.58 mg/kg. One autopsy case involved 4-FA; however, it was determined to be a combined intoxication. In 2010, ortho-fluoroamphetamine (2-FA) was discovered in forensic...

Obesity detection rate among primary school students in the People's Republic of China: a meta-analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Y

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Yue-long Jin,* Ling-ling Ding,* Ying-shui Yao, Xiu-li Song, Hui Tang, Lian-ping He, Yan ChenFaculty of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health, Wannan Medical College, Anhui, People's Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: Obesity has become a major public health problem worldwide. The prevalence of obesity is rising alarmingly among children and adolescents in the People's Republic of China, with an estimated 120 million now in the obese range. It is estimated that 8% of children in the People's Republic of China are obese and 12% are overweight.Methods: Eligible papers on the prevalence of obesity among primary school students in the People's Republic of China and published between 2006 and 2011 were retrieved from PubMed and from online Chinese periodicals, ie, the full-text databases of VIP, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wan Fang. Meta-Analyst software was used to collate and analyze the detection rates cited in the papers retrieved.Results: After evaluation of the quality of the papers, 25 were finally included, giving a total sample population size for investigation of obesity of 219,763, in which 28,121 cases were detected. Meta-analysis showed that the combined obesity detection rate was 10.4% (95% confidence interval 8.6–12.6 among primary school students in the People's Republic of China, with a higher detection rate in boys (12.6% than in girls (7.2%. The prevalence of obesity was higher in the north (11.8% than in the south (9.5%, east (11.6%, and mid-west (8.0% regions. Obesity defined according to the World Health Organization weight-for-height standard (14.3% was higher than that using age-specific and gender-specific cutoff points for body mass index (9.0%.Conclusion: Our meta-analysis found an obesity prevalence rate of 10.4%, which does not seem as high as previous reports of childhood obesity rates in other countries. However, the prevalence of childhood

Adenoma detection rate varies greatly during colonoscopy training

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Doorn, Sascha C.; Klanderman, Robert B.; Hazewinkel, Yark; Fockens, Paul; Dekker, Evelien

2015-01-01

The adenoma detection rate (ADR) is considered the most important quality indicator for colonoscopy and varies widely among colonoscopists. It is unknown whether the ADR of gastroenterology consultants can already be predicted during their colonoscopy training. To evaluate the ADR of fellows in

An Effective Approach to Improving Day-Case Rates following Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. G. Clarke

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Day-case laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC is a safe and cost-effective treatment for gallstones. In 2006, our institution recorded an 86% laparoscopic, 10% day-case, and 5% readmission rate. A gallbladder pathway was therefore introduced in 2007 with the aim of increasing daycase rates. Methods. Patients with symptomatic gallstones, proven on ultrasound, were referred to a specialist-led clinic. Those suitable for surgery were consented, preassessed, and provided with a choice of dates. All defaulted to day case unless deemed unsuitable due to comorbidity or social factors. Results. The number of cholecystectomies increased from 464 in 2006 to 578 in 2008. Day-case rates in 2006, 2007, 2008, and June 2009 were 10%, 20%, 30%, and 61%, respectively. Laparoscopic and readmission rates remained unchanged. Conversion rates for elective cholecystectomy fell from 6% in 2006 to 3% in 2009. Conclusions. Development of a gallbladder pathway increased day-case rates sixfold without an associated increase in conversion or readmission rates.

A High Performance Impedance-based Platform for Evaporation Rate Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Wei-Lung; Lee, Pee-Yew; Chen, Cheng-You; Lin, Yu-Hsin; Lin, Yung-Sheng

2016-10-17

This paper describes the method of a novel impedance-based platform for the detection of the evaporation rate. The model compound hyaluronic acid was employed here for demonstration purposes. Multiple evaporation tests on the model compound as a humectant with various concentrations in solutions were conducted for comparison purposes. A conventional weight loss approach is known as the most straightforward, but time-consuming, measurement technique for evaporation rate detection. Yet, a clear disadvantage is that a large volume of sample is required and multiple sample tests cannot be conducted at the same time. For the first time in literature, an electrical impedance sensing chip is successfully applied to a real-time evaporation investigation in a time sharing, continuous and automatic manner. Moreover, as little as 0.5 ml of test samples is required in this impedance-based apparatus, and a large impedance variation is demonstrated among various dilute solutions. The proposed high-sensitivity and fast-response impedance sensing system is found to outperform a conventional weight loss approach in terms of evaporation rate detection.

Fault Detection Using the Zero Crossing Rate | Osuagwu | Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A method of fault detection based on the zero crossing rate of the signal, Z1, and the zero crossing rate of the first order difference signal. Z2, is presented. It is shown that the parameter pair (Z1, Z2) possesses adequate discriminating potential to classify a signature as good or defective. The parameter pair also carries ...

Leprosy New Case Detection Trends and the Future Effect of Preventive Interventions in Pará State, Brazil: A Modelling Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.J. de Matos (Haroldo José); D.J. Blok (David); S.J. de Vlas (Sake); J.H. Richardus (Jan Hendrik)

2016-01-01

textabstractBackground: Leprosy remains a public health problem in Brazil. Although the overall number of new cases is declining, there are still areas with a high disease burden, such as Pará State in the north of the country. We aim to predict future trends in new case detection rate (NCDR) and

EGFR status in oral squamous cell carcinoma: comparing immunohistochemistry, FISH and CISH detection in a case series study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernardes, Vanessa Fátima; Gleber-Netto, Frederico Omar; Sousa, Sílvia Ferreira de; Rocha, Rafael Malagoli; Aguiar, Maria Cássia Ferreira de

2013-01-28

To compare the immunohistochemistry (IHC) expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) with the gene amplification evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) and their association with clinicopathological parameters. Additionally, we tested the sensibility and specificity of CISH in comparison with FISH. Case series study Oral surgery and pathology department in a school of dentistry. 52 patients with histopathological diagnosis of OSCC. Tumour tissue samples from 52 patients with OSCC were evaluated by IHC, FISH and CISH using tissue microarray technology. Clinicopathological data from all patients were collected. EGFR+ rates were 53.8% (28/52) by IHC, 5.8% (3/52) by CISH and 15.4% (8/52) by FISH. Amplification detected by CISH and FISH with IHC negative occurred in 3.8% (2/52), and one case (1.9%) showed amplification detected by CISH and FISH and protein overexpression concomitantly. There were 9.6% FISH+ cases with IHC and CISH negative rates and 6/8 (75%) FISH+ and also EGFR+ cases; however, an association between protein expression and gene amplification was not found for both techniques. IHC and FISH rates were not associated with clinicopathological features. CISH+ rates were associated with T3-T4 status. Compared with FISH assay, CISH reached a sensitivity of 37.5% and specificity of 100%. There is no association between EGFR expression and gene amplification in OSCC when the IHC is driven to external epitopes of the protein. Although CISH demonstrates specificity, technical problems may influence sensibility when compared with FISH.

Low-Rate DDoS Attack Detection Using Expectation of Packet Size

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu Zhou

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Low-rate Distributed Denial-of-Service (low-rate DDoS attacks are a new challenge to cyberspace, as the attackers send a large amount of attack packets similar to normal traffic, to throttle legitimate flows. In this paper, we propose a measurement—expectation of packet size—that is based on the distribution difference of the packet size to distinguish two typical low-rate DDoS attacks, the constant attack and the pulsing attack, from legitimate traffic. The experimental results, obtained using a series of real datasets with different times and different tolerance factors, are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed measurement. In addition, extensive experiments are performed to show that the proposed measurement can detect the low-rate DDoS attacks not only in the short and long terms but also for low packet rates and high packet rates. Furthermore, the false-negative rates and the adjudication distance can be adjusted based on the detection sensitivity requirements.

Decision-case mix model for analyzing variation in cesarean rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Eldenburg, L; Waller, W S

2001-01-01

This article contributes a decision-case mix model for analyzing variation in c-section rates. Like recent contributions to the literature, the model systematically takes into account the effect of case mix. Going beyond past research, the model highlights differences in physician decision making in response to obstetric factors. Distinguishing the effects of physician decision making and case mix is important in understanding why c-section rates vary and in developing programs to effect change in physician behavior. The model was applied to a sample of deliveries at a hospital where physicians exhibited considerable variation in their c-section rates. Comparing groups with a low versus high rate, the authors' general conclusion is that the difference in physician decision tendencies (to perform a c-section), in response to specific obstetric factors, is at least as important as case mix in explaining variation in c-section rates. The exact effects of decision making versus case mix depend on how the model application defines the obstetric condition of interest and on the weighting of deliveries by their estimated "risk of Cesarean." The general conclusion is supported by an additional analysis that uses the model's elements to predict individual physicians' annual c-section rates.

Pipe fracture evaluations for leak-rate detection: Probabilistic models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahman, S.; Wilkowski, G.; Ghadiali, N.

1993-01-01

This is the second in series of three papers generated from studies on nuclear pipe fracture evaluations for leak-rate detection. This paper focuses on the development of novel probabilistic models for stochastic performance evaluation of degraded nuclear piping systems. It was accomplished here in three distinct stages. First, a statistical analysis was conducted to characterize various input variables for thermo-hydraulic analysis and elastic-plastic fracture mechanics, such as material properties of pipe, crack morphology variables, and location of cracks found in nuclear piping. Second, a new stochastic model was developed to evaluate performance of degraded piping systems. It is based on accurate deterministic models for thermo-hydraulic and fracture mechanics analyses described in the first paper, statistical characterization of various input variables, and state-of-the-art methods of modem structural reliability theory. From this model. the conditional probability of failure as a function of leak-rate detection capability of the piping systems can be predicted. Third, a numerical example was presented to illustrate the proposed model for piping reliability analyses. Results clearly showed that the model provides satisfactory estimates of conditional failure probability with much less computational effort when compared with those obtained from Monte Carlo simulation. The probabilistic model developed in this paper will be applied to various piping in boiling water reactor and pressurized water reactor plants for leak-rate detection applications

Assessing the role of case mix in cesarean delivery rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Lieberman, E; Lang, J M; Heffner, L J; Cohen, A

1998-07-01

Implicit in comparisons of unadjusted cesarean rates for hospitals and providers is the assumption that differences result from management practices rather than differences in case mix. This study proposes a method for comparison of cesarean rates that takes the effect of case mix into account. All women delivered of infants at our institution from December 1, 1994, through July 31, 1995, were classified according to whether they received care from community-based practitioners (N=3913) or from the hospital-based practice that serves a higher-risk population (N=1556). Women were categorized according to both obstetric history (nulliparas, multiparas without a previous cesarean, multiparas with a previous cesarean) and the presence of obstetric conditions influencing the risk of cesarean delivery (multiple birth, breech presentation or transverse lie, preterm, no trial of labor for a medical indication). We determined the percent of women in each parity-obstetric condition subgroup and calculated a standardized cesarean rate for the hospital-based practice using the case mix of the community-based practitioners as the standard. The crude cesarean rate was higher for the hospital-based practice (24.4%) than for the community-based practitioners (21.5%), a rate difference of 2.9% (95% confidence interval=0.4%, 5.4%; P=.02). However, the proportion of women falling into categories conferring a high risk of cesarean delivery (multiple pregnancy, breech presentation or transverse lie, preterm, no trial of labor permitted) was twice as high for the hospital-based practice (24.4% hospital, 12.1% community). The standardization indicates that if the hospital-based practitioners had the same case mix as community-based practitioners, their overall cesarean rate would be 20.1%, similar to the 21.5% rate of community providers (rate difference=-1.4%, 95% confidence interval =-3.1%, 0.3%; P=.11). Standardization for case mix provides a mechanism for distinguishing differences

QRS peak detection for heart rate monitoring on Android smartphone

Science.gov (United States)

Pambudi Utomo, Trio; Nuryani, Nuryani; Darmanto

2017-11-01

In this study, Android smartphone is used for heart rate monitoring and displaying electrocardiogram (ECG) graph. Heart rate determination is based on QRS peak detection. Two methods are studied to detect the QRS complex peak; they are Peak Threshold and Peak Filter. The acquisition of ECG data is utilized by AD8232 module from Analog Devices, three electrodes, and Microcontroller Arduino UNO R3. To record the ECG data from a patient, three electrodes are attached to particular body’s surface of a patient. Patient’s heart activity which is recorded by AD8232 module is decoded by Arduino UNO R3 into analog data. Then, the analog data is converted into a voltage value (mV) and is processed to get the QRS complex peak. Heart rate value is calculated by Microcontroller Arduino UNO R3 uses the QRS complex peak. Voltage, heart rate, and the QRS complex peak are sent to Android smartphone by Bluetooth HC-05. ECG data is displayed as the graph by Android smartphone. To evaluate the performance of QRS complex peak detection method, three parameters are used; they are positive predictive, accuracy and sensitivity. Positive predictive, accuracy, and sensitivity of Peak Threshold method is 92.39%, 70.30%, 74.62% and for Peak Filter method are 98.38%, 82.47%, 83.61%, respectively.

A new islanding detection technique for multiple mini hydro based on rate of change of reactive power and load connecting strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laghari, J.A.; Mokhlis, H.; Bakar, A.H.A.; Karimi, M.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • The requirement of DG interconnection with existing power system is discussed. • Various islanding detection techniques are discussed with their merits and demerits. • New islanding detection strategy is proposed for multiple mini hydro type DGs. • The proposed strategy is based on dq/dt and load connecting strategy. • The effectiveness of strategy is verified on various other cases. - Abstract: The interconnection of distributed generation (DG) into distribution networks is undergoing a rapid global expansion. It enhances the system’s reliability, while simultaneously reduces pollution problems related to the generation of electrical power. To fully utilize the benefits of DGs, certain technical issues need to be addressed. One of the most important issues in this context is islanding detection. This paper presents a new islanding detection technique that is suitable for multiple mini-hydro type DG units. The proposed strategy is based on the rate of change of reactive power and load connecting strategy to detect islanding within the system. For a large power mismatch, islanding is detected by rate of change of reactive power only. However, for a close power mismatch, the rate of change of reactive power initiates a load connecting strategy, which in turn alters the load on the distribution network. This load variation in the distribution network causes a variation in the rate of change of reactive power, which is utilized to distinguish islanding and other events. The simulation results show that the proposed strategy is effective in detecting islanding occurrence in a distribution network

Link Between RI-ISI and Inspection Qualification: Relationship between Defect Detection Rate and Margin of Detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepherd, Barrie; Goujon, Sophie; Whittle, John

2007-01-01

Quantitative risk-informed in-service inspection (RI-ISI) requires a quantitative measurement of inspection effectiveness if the risk change associated with an inspection is to be determined. Knowing the probability of detection (POD) as a function of defect depth (through wall dimension) would provide ideal information. However the main in-service inspection method for nuclear plant is ultrasonics, for which defect detection capability depends on a wide variety of parameters besides defect depth, such as defect orientation, roughness, location, shape etc. In recognition of this the European approach to inspection qualification is generally based on some combination of technical justification, and practical trials on a relatively limited number of defects. This inspection qualification process involves demonstrating that defects of concern will generate responses in excess of the specified recording level or noise, depending on the inspection. It is not currently designed to quantify the probability with which defects will be detected. The work described in this report has been performed in order to help address the problem of how the information generated during inspection qualification can be used as an input for RI-ISI. The approach adopted has been to recognise that as the defect response increases above the recording or noise level, the probability of detecting defects is likely to increase. The work therefore involved an investigation of the relationship between POD (strictly speaking defect detection rate) and margin of detection. It involved blind manual and automated ultrasonic trials on artificial defects in test plates designed to generate a range of signal responses. The detection rate for defects which provided signals at a particular level above noise or above a recording level was then measured. A relationship between defect detection rate and margin of detection has been established based on these trials. In addition to establishing a stronger link

Direct inference of SNP heterozygosity rates and resolution of LOH detection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaohong Li

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs have been increasingly utilized to investigate somatic genetic abnormalities in premalignancy and cancer. LOH is a common alteration observed during cancer development, and SNP assays have been used to identify LOH at specific chromosomal regions. The design of such studies requires consideration of the resolution for detecting LOH throughout the genome and identification of the number and location of SNPs required to detect genetic alterations in specific genomic regions. Our study evaluated SNP distribution patterns and used probability models, Monte Carlo simulation, and real human subject genotype data to investigate the relationships between the number of SNPs, SNP HET rates, and the sensitivity (resolution for detecting LOH. We report that variances of SNP heterozygosity rate in dbSNP are high for a large proportion of SNPs. Two statistical methods proposed for directly inferring SNP heterozygosity rates require much smaller sample sizes (intermediate sizes and are feasible for practical use in SNP selection or verification. Using HapMap data, we showed that a region of LOH greater than 200 kb can be reliably detected, with losses smaller than 50 kb having a substantially lower detection probability when using all SNPs currently in the HapMap database. Higher densities of SNPs may exist in certain local chromosomal regions that provide some opportunities for reliably detecting LOH of segment sizes smaller than 50 kb. These results suggest that the interpretation of the results from genome-wide scans for LOH using commercial arrays need to consider the relationships among inter-SNP distance, detection probability, and sample size for a specific study. New experimental designs for LOH studies would also benefit from considering the power of detection and sample sizes required to accomplish the proposed aims.

Variability in case-mix adjusted in-hospital cardiac arrest rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Merchant, Raina M; Yang, Lin; Becker, Lance B; Berg, Robert A; Nadkarni, Vinay; Nichol, Graham; Carr, Brendan G; Mitra, Nandita; Bradley, Steven M; Abella, Benjamin S; Groeneveld, Peter W

2012-02-01

It is unknown how in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) rates vary across hospitals and predictors of variability. Measure variability in IHCA across hospitals and determine if hospital-level factors predict differences in case-mix adjusted event rates. Get with the Guidelines Resuscitation (GWTG-R) (n=433 hospitals) was used to identify IHCA events between 2003 and 2007. The American Hospital Association survey, Medicare, and US Census were used to obtain detailed information about GWTG-R hospitals. Adult patients with IHCA. Case-mix-adjusted predicted IHCA rates were calculated for each hospital and variability across hospitals was compared. A regression model was used to predict case-mix adjusted event rates using hospital measures of volume, nurse-to-bed ratio, percent intensive care unit beds, palliative care services, urban designation, volume of black patients, income, trauma designation, academic designation, cardiac surgery capability, and a patient risk score. We evaluated 103,117 adult IHCAs at 433 US hospitals. The case-mix adjusted IHCA event rate was highly variable across hospitals, median 1/1000 bed days (interquartile range: 0.7 to 1.3 events/1000 bed days). In a multivariable regression model, case-mix adjusted IHCA event rates were highest in urban hospitals [rate ratio (RR), 1.1; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.0-1.3; P=0.03] and hospitals with higher proportions of black patients (RR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.0-1.3; P=0.01) and lower in larger hospitals (RR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.45-0.66; PCase-mix adjusted IHCA event rates varied considerably across hospitals. Several hospital factors associated with higher IHCA event rates were consistent with factors often linked with lower hospital quality of care.

Case mix adjusted variation in cesarean section rate in Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Mesterton, Johan; Ladfors, Lars; Ekenberg Abreu, Anna; Lindgren, Peter; Saltvedt, Sissel; Weichselbraun, Marianne; Amer-Wåhlin, Isis

2017-05-01

Cesarean section (CS) rate is a well-established indicator of performance in maternity care and is also related to resource use. Case mix adjustment of CS rates when performing comparisons between hospitals is important. The objective of this study was to estimate case mix adjusted variation in CS rate between hospitals in Sweden. In total, 139 756 deliveries in 2011 and 2012 were identified in administrative systems in seven regions covering 67% of all deliveries in Sweden. Data were linked to the Medical birth register and population data. Twenty-three different sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were used for adjustment. Analyses were performed for the entire study population as well as for two subgroups. Logistic regression was used to analyze differences between hospitals. The overall CS rate was 16.9% (hospital minimum-maximum 12.1-22.6%). Significant variations in CS rate between hospitals were observed after case mix adjustment: hospital odds ratios for CS varied from 0.62 (95% CI 0.53-0.73) to 1.45 (95% CI 1.37-1.52). In nulliparous, cephalic, full-term, singletons the overall CS rate was 14.3% (hospital minimum-maximum: 9.0-19.0%), whereas it was 4.7% for multiparous, cephalic, full-term, singletons with no previous CS (hospital minimum-maximum: 3.2-6.7%). In both subgroups significant variations were observed in case mix adjusted CS rates. Significant differences in CS rate between Swedish hospitals were found after adjusting for differences in case mix. This indicates a potential for fewer interventions and lower resource use in Swedish childbirth care. Best practice sharing and continuous monitoring are important tools for improving childbirth care. © 2017 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Impact of ASHA training on active case detection of visceral leishmaniasis in Bihar, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Vidya Nand Ravi; Pandey, Ravindra Nath; Pandey, Krishna; Singh, Varsha; Kumar, Vijay; Matlashewski, Greg; Das, Pradeep

2014-05-01

One of the major challenges for management of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is early diagnosis of cases to improve treatment outcome and reduce transmission. We have therefore investigated active case detection of VL with the help of accredited social health activists (ASHA). ASHAs are women who live in the community and receive performance-based incentives for overseeing maternal and other health-related issues in their village. Through conducting interviews with 400 randomly selected ASHAs from four primary health care centers (PHCs), it was observed that their level of knowledge about visceral leishmaniasis (VL) regarding transmission, diagnosis, and treatment was limited. The baseline data indicated that less than 10% of VL cases seeking treatment at the PHCs were referred by ASHAs. To increase the knowledge and the referral rate of VL cases by ASHAs, training sessions were carried out during the monthly ASHA meetings at their respective PHCs. Following a single training session, the referral rate increased from less than 10% to over 27% and the overall knowledge about VL substantially improved. It was not possible, however, to demonstrate that ASHA training reduced the time that individuals had fever before treatment at the PHC. Training ASHAs to identify VL cases in villages for early diagnosis and treatment at the local PHC is feasible and should be undertaken routinely to improve knowledge about VL.

Impact of ASHA training on active case detection of visceral leishmaniasis in Bihar, India.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vidya Nand Ravi Das

2014-05-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: One of the major challenges for management of visceral leishmaniasis (VL is early diagnosis of cases to improve treatment outcome and reduce transmission. We have therefore investigated active case detection of VL with the help of accredited social health activists (ASHA. ASHAs are women who live in the community and receive performance-based incentives for overseeing maternal and other health-related issues in their village. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDING: Through conducting interviews with 400 randomly selected ASHAs from four primary health care centers (PHCs, it was observed that their level of knowledge about visceral leishmaniasis (VL regarding transmission, diagnosis, and treatment was limited. The baseline data indicated that less than 10% of VL cases seeking treatment at the PHCs were referred by ASHAs. To increase the knowledge and the referral rate of VL cases by ASHAs, training sessions were carried out during the monthly ASHA meetings at their respective PHCs. Following a single training session, the referral rate increased from less than 10% to over 27% and the overall knowledge about VL substantially improved. It was not possible, however, to demonstrate that ASHA training reduced the time that individuals had fever before treatment at the PHC. CONCLUSIONS: Training ASHAs to identify VL cases in villages for early diagnosis and treatment at the local PHC is feasible and should be undertaken routinely to improve knowledge about VL.

Frequency of suspected cases of neurocysticercosis detected by computed skull tomography in Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, J E; Diefenthäler, A P; Palma, J K

2000-01-01

Due to the lack of studies about neurocysticercosis in the South of Brazil, an investigation was conducted to determine the percentage of suspected cases of neurocysticercosis in computed tomography diagnoses in Santa Maria, RS, from January 1997 to December 1998. Of 6300 computed tomographies (CT) of the skull performed at the private Hospital de Caridade Astrogildo de Azevedo, 80, i.e., 1.27% were suspected of neurocysticercosis. Fifty were women (62.5%) and 30 were men (37.5%). The most frequent radiological manifestation indicating neurocysticercosis was the presence of calcifications (isolated or associated), with a 95% rate (76 cases), while the presence of hypodense lesions reached a 5% rate (4 cases). After routine analysis, each CT was evaluated again and the suspected cases were confirmed. The percentage of suspected cases of neurocysticercosis detected by CT in the present study carried out in Santa Maria was considered low (1.27%). This can be explained by the fact that tomography is not accessible to the economically underprivileged population of Santa Maria. We hope that the present study can alert the population and the professionals to the fact that neurocysticercosis is a more frequent disease than indicated by the few diagnoses made.

Correlation analysis of EV71 detection and case severity in hand, foot, and mouth disease in the Hunan Province of China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li-Dong Gao

Full Text Available An increase in the incidence of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD cases has been observed in the Hunan province of mainland China since 2009 with a particularly higher level of severe cases in 2010-2012. Intestinal viruses of the picornaviridae family are responsible for the human syndrome associated with HFMD with enterovirus 71 (EV71 and Coxsackievirus A16 (Cox A16 being the most common causative strains. HFMD cases associated with EV71 are generally more severe with an increased association of morbidity and mortality. In this study, the etiology surveillance data of HFMD cases in Hunan province from March 2010 to October 2012 were analyzed to determine if there is a statistically relevant linear correlation exists between the detection rate of EV71 in mild cases and the proportion of severe cases among all HFMD patients. As the cases progressed from mild to severe to fatal, the likelihood of EV71 detection increased (25.78%, 52.20% and 84.18%, respectively. For all cases in the timeframe evaluated in this study, the presence of virus was detected in 63.21% of cases; among cases showing positivity for virus, EV71 infection accounted for 50.14%. These results provide evidence to support the observed higher morbidity and mortality associated with this outbreak and emphasizes the importance of early detection in order to implement necessary prevention measures to mitigate disease progression.

Accuracy Rates of Ancestry Estimation by Forensic Anthropologists Using Identified Forensic Cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Richard M; Parks, Connie L; Richard, Adam H

2017-07-01

A common task in forensic anthropology involves the estimation of the ancestry of a decedent by comparing their skeletal morphology and measurements to skeletons of individuals from known geographic groups. However, the accuracy rates of ancestry estimation methods in actual forensic casework have rarely been studied. This article uses 99 forensic cases with identified skeletal remains to develop accuracy rates for ancestry estimations conducted by forensic anthropologists. The overall rate of correct ancestry estimation from these cases is 90.9%, which is comparable to most research-derived rates and those reported by individual practitioners. Statistical tests showed no significant difference in accuracy rates depending on examiner education level or on the estimated or identified ancestry. More recent cases showed a significantly higher accuracy rate. The incorporation of metric analyses into the ancestry estimate in these cases led to a higher accuracy rate. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

High mutation detection rate in the COL4A5 collagen gene in suspected Alport syndrome using PCR and direct DNA sequencing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martin, P; Heiskari, N; Zhou, J

1998-01-01

-amplified and sequenced from DNA of 50 randomly chosen patients with suspected Alport syndrome. Mutations were found in 41 patients, giving a mutation detection rate of 82%. Retrospective analysis of clinical data revealed that two of the cases might be autosomal. Although it could not be determined whether the remaining...

Ten-year detection rate of brain arteriovenous malformations in a large, multiethnic, defined population.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabriel, Rodney A; Kim, Helen; Sidney, Stephen; McCulloch, Charles E; Singh, Vineeta; Johnston, S Claiborne; Ko, Nerissa U; Achrol, Achal S; Zaroff, Jonathan G; Young, William L

2010-01-01

To evaluate whether increased neuroimaging use is associated with increased brain arteriovenous malformation (BAVM) detection, we examined detection rates in the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program of northern California between 1995 and 2004. We reviewed medical records, radiology reports, and administrative databases to identify BAVMs, intracranial aneurysms (IAs: subarachnoid hemorrhage [SAH] and unruptured aneurysms), and other vascular malformations (OVMs: dural fistulas, cavernous malformations, Vein of Galen malformations, and venous malformations). Poisson regression (with robust standard errors) was used to test for trend. Random-effects meta-analysis generated a pooled measure of BAVM detection rate from 6 studies. We identified 401 BAVMs (197 ruptured, 204 unruptured), 570 OVMs, and 2892 IAs (2079 SAHs and 813 unruptured IAs). Detection rates per 100 000 person-years were 1.4 (95% CI, 1.3 to 1.6) for BAVMs, 2.0 (95% CI, 1.8 to 2.3) for OVMs, and 10.3 (95% CI, 9.9 to 10.7) for IAs. Neuroimaging utilization increased 12% per year during the time period (PIAs (PIAs (P4) per 100 000 person-years, without heterogeneity between studies (P=0.25). Rates for BAVMs, OVMs, and IAs in this large, multiethnic population were similar to those in other series. During 1995 to 2004, a period of increasing neuroimaging utilization, we did not observe an increased rate of detection of unruptured BAVMs, despite increased detection of unruptured IAs.

Technological advances for improving adenoma detection rates: The changing face of colonoscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishaq, Sauid; Siau, Keith; Harrison, Elizabeth; Tontini, Gian Eugenio; Hoffman, Arthur; Gross, Seth; Kiesslich, Ralf; Neumann, Helmut

2017-07-01

Worldwide, colorectal cancer is the third commonest cancer. Over 90% follow an adenoma-to-cancer sequence over many years. Colonoscopy is the gold standard method for cancer screening and early adenoma detection. However, considerable variation exists between endoscopists' detection rates. This review considers the effects of different endoscopic techniques on adenoma detection. Two areas of technological interest were considered: (1) optical technologies and (2) mechanical technologies. Optical solutions, including FICE, NBI, i-SCAN and high definition colonoscopy showed mixed results. In contrast, mechanical advances, such as cap-assisted colonoscopy, FUSE, EndoCuff and G-EYE™, showed promise, with reported detections rates of up to 69%. However, before definitive recommendations can be made for their incorporation into daily practice, further studies and comparison trials are required. Copyright © 2017 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reactive case detection for malaria elimination: real-life experience from an ongoing program in Swaziland.

Science.gov (United States)

Sturrock, Hugh J W; Novotny, Joe M; Kunene, Simon; Dlamini, Sabelo; Zulu, Zulisile; Cohen, Justin M; Hsiang, Michelle S; Greenhouse, Bryan; Gosling, Roly D

2013-01-01

As countries move towards malaria elimination, methods to identify infections among populations who do not seek treatment are required. Reactive case detection, whereby individuals living in close proximity to passively detected cases are screened and treated, is one approach being used by a number of countries including Swaziland. An outstanding issue is establishing the epidemiologically and operationally optimal screening radius around each passively detected index case. Using data collected between December 2009 and June 2012 from reactive case detection (RACD) activities in Swaziland, we evaluated the effect of screening radius and other risk factors on the probability of detecting cases by reactive case detection. Using satellite imagery, we also evaluated the household coverage achieved during reactive case detection. Over the study period, 250 cases triggered RACD, which identified a further 74 cases, showing the value of RACD over passive surveillance alone. Results suggest that the odds of detecting a case within the household of the index case were significantly higher than in neighbouring households (odds ratio (OR) 13, 95% CI 3.1-54.4). Furthermore, cases were more likely to be detected when RACD was conducted within a week of the index presenting at a health facility (OR 8.7, 95% CI 1.1-66.4) and if the index household had not been sprayed with insecticide (OR sprayed vs not sprayed 0.11, 95% CI 0.03-0.46). The large number of households missed during RACD indicates that a 1 km screening radius may be impractical in such resource limited settings such as Swaziland. Future RACD in Swaziland could be made more effective by achieving high coverage amongst individuals located near to index cases and in areas where spraying has not been conducted. As well as allowing the programme to implement RACD more rapidly, this would help to more precisely define the optimal screening radius.

Microcephaly Case Fatality Rate Associated with Zika Virus Infection in Brazil: Current Estimates.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunha, Antonio José Ledo Alves da; de Magalhães-Barbosa, Maria Clara; Lima-Setta, Fernanda; Medronho, Roberto de Andrade; Prata-Barbosa, Arnaldo

2017-05-01

Considering the currently confirmed cases of microcephaly and related deaths associated with Zika virus in Brazil, the estimated case fatality rate is 8.3% (95% confidence interval: 7.2-9.6). However, a third of the reported cases remain under investigation. If the confirmation rates of cases and deaths are the same in the future, the estimated case fatality rate will be as high as 10.5% (95% confidence interval: 9.5-11.7).

Subarachnoid haemorrhage in Sweden 1987-2002 : regional incidence and case fatality rates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koffijberg, H.; Buskens, E.; Granath, F.; Adami, J.; Ekbom, A.; Rinkel, G. J. E.; Blomqvist, P.

Background: Incidence estimates of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) in Sweden vary, which may be caused by regional variations. Reliable estimates of age-specific case fatality rates are lacking. We analysed regional incidence rates and case fatality rates of SAH in Sweden. Methods: The Swedish

The Detection and Correction of Bias in Student Ratings of Instruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Haladyna, Thomas; Hess, Robert K.

1994-01-01

A Rasch model was used to detect and correct bias in Likert rating scales used to assess student perceptions of college teaching, using a database of ratings. Statistical corrections were significant, supporting the model's potential utility. Recommendations are made for a theoretical rationale and further research on the model. (Author/MSE)

Estimating detection rates for the LIGO-Virgo search for gravitational-wave burst counterparts to gamma-ray bursts using inferred local GRB rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leonor, I; Frey, R; Sutton, P J; Jones, G; Marka, S; Marka, Z

2009-01-01

One of the ongoing searches performed using the LIGO-Virgo network of gravitational-wave interferometers is the search for gravitational-wave burst (GWB) counterparts to gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). This type of analysis makes use of GRB time and position information from gamma-ray satellite detectors to trigger the GWB search, and the GWB detection rates possible for such an analysis thus strongly depend on the GRB detection efficiencies of the satellite detectors. Using local GRB rate densities inferred from observations which are found in the science literature, we calculate estimates of the GWB detection rates for different configurations of the LIGO-Virgo network for this type of analysis.

[The process of detection and treatment of cases of tuberculosis in a prison].

Science.gov (United States)

Valença, Mariana Soares; Cezar-Vaz, Marta Regina; Brum, Clarice Brinck; Silva, Pedro Eduardo Almeida da

2016-06-01

This study seeks to analyze the process of detection and treatment of cases of tuberculosis (TB) in a prison in the south of Brazil. An active and passive search for TB was conducted to estimate the scale of TB in a prison with 764 inmates. In conjunction with the detection strategies and clinical follow-up of the 41 TB cases, participant observation and records in field diaries were performed, making it possible to analyze the scope and limitations of detection and treatment of cases of TB in prison. The development of search strategies is discussed along with the use of questionnaires to detect symptomatic cases, as well as the inadequacy of the clinical follow-up of TB cases, involvement of different workers and coordination between prison and health services. There is clear potential for the control of TB using an active search to induce the passive detection and screening for symptoms that - even skewed by the perceptions of inmates regarding symptoms of TB - enabled an increase in detection. The functional dynamics of prison life hamper the inclusion of health routines and can restrict actions to control TB and other diseases. In the process of control of TB in prisons, the feasibility of effective detection methods is as important as planning based on disease conditions, network services and workers involved.

Adaptive heart rate-based epileptic seizure detection using real-time user feedback

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

De Cooman, Thomas; Kjær, Troels Wesenberg; Van Huffel, Sabine

2017-01-01

Automated seizure detection in a home environment has been of increased interest the last couple of decades. Heart rate-based seizure detection is a way to detect temporal lobe epilepsy seizures at home, but patient-independent algorithms showed to be insufficiently accurate due to the high patient...... with incorrect user feedback, making it ideal for implementation in a home environment for a seizure warning system....

A comparative analysis of molecular genetic and conventional cytogenetic detection of diagnostically important translocations in more than 400 cases of acute leukemia, highlighting the frequency of false-negative conventional cytogenetics.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Rebecca L; Naghashpour, Mojdeh; Watt, Christopher D; Morrissette, Jennifer J D; Bagg, Adam

2011-06-01

In this study, we correlated the results of concurrent molecular and cytogenetic detection of entity-defining translocations in adults with acute leukemia to determine the frequency of cryptic translocations missed by conventional cytogenetics (CC) and of recurrent, prognostically relevant translocations not detectable by multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (MRP). During a 5.5-year period, 442 diagnostic acute leukemia specimens were submitted for MRP-based detection of 7 common recurrent translocations: t(8;21), t(15;17), inv(16), t(9;22), t(12;21), t(4;11), and t(1;19), with a detection rate of 15.2% (67/442). CC was performed in 330 (74.7%) of 442 cases. In 7 of these 330 cases, CC missed the translocation detected by MRP. In 50 additional cases, CC revealed 1 of the MRP-detectable translocations (all were also MRP positive), yielding a false-negative rate of 12% (7/57) for the CC assay. The remaining 140 of 190 cases with clonal cytogenetic changes harbored abnormalities that were not targeted by the MRP assay, including 8 that define specific acute myeloid leukemia entities. This study revealed the frequent occurrence of false-negative, entity-defining CC analysis and highlighted the complementary nature of MRP and CC approaches in detecting genetic abnormalities in acute leukemia.

A Compound Detection System Based on Ultrasonic Flow Rate and Concentration

OpenAIRE

Qing-Hui WANG; Fang MU; Li-Feng WEI

2014-01-01

This paper proposes a new detection system for monitoring gas concentration and flow rate. Velocity difference of ultrasonic wave in bi-directional propagation in measured gas is recorded and utilized for computing the online gas concentration and flow rate. Meanwhile, the temperature compensation, return signal processing and error analysis algorithms are applied to improve the accuracy. The experimental results show that, compared with the single sensor measurement of gas flow rate or conce...

The impact of ambient dose rate measuring network and precipitation radar system for detection of environmental radioactivity released by accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bleher, M; Stoehlker, U.

2003-01-01

For the surveillance of environmental radioactivity, the German measuring network of BfS consists of more than 2000 stations where the ambient gamma dose rate is continuously measured. This network is a helpful tool to detect and localise enhanced environmental contamination from artificial radionuclides. The threshold for early warning is so low, that already an additional dose rate contribution of 0,07 μGy/h is detectable. However, this threshold is frequently exceeded due to precipitation events caused by washout of natural activity in air. Therefore, the precipitation radar system of the German Weather Service provides valuable information on the problem, whether the increase of the ambient dose rate is due to natural or man-made events. In case of an accidental release, the data of this radar system show small area precipitation events and potential local hot spots not detected by the measuring network. For the phase of cloud passage, the ambient dose rate measuring network provides a reliable database for the evaluation of the current situation and its further development. It is possible to compare measured data for dose rate with derived intervention levels for countermeasures like ''sheltering''. Thus, critical regions can be identified and it is possible to verify implemented countermeasures. During and after this phase of cloud passage the measured data of the monitoring network help to adapt the results of the national decision support systems PARK and RODOS. Therefore, it is necessary to derive the actual additional contribution to the ambient dose rate. Map representations of measured dose rate are rapidly available and helpful to optimise measurement strategies of mobile systems and collection strategies for samples of agricultural products. (orig.)

Efficacy of computer-aided detection system for screening mammography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, Mioko; Ohnuki, Koji; Yamada, Takayuki; Saito, Haruo; Ishibashi, Tadashi; Ohuchi, Noriaki; Takahashi, Shoki

2002-01-01

A study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a computer-aided detection (CAD) system for screening mammography (MMG). Screening mammograms of 2,231 women aged over 50 yr were examined. Medio-lateral oblique (MLO) images were obtained, and two expert observers interpreted the mammograms by consensus. First, each mammogram was interpreted without the assistance of CAD, followed immediately by a re-evaluation of areas marked by the CAD system. Data were recorded to measure the effect of CAD on the recall rate, cancer detection rate and detection rate of masses, microcalcifications and other findings. The CAD system increased the recall rate from 2.3% to 2.6%. Six recalled cases were diagnosed as breast cancer pathologically, and CAD detected all of these lesions. Seven additional cases in which CAD detected abnormal findings had no malignancy. The detection rate of CAD for microcalcifications was high (95.0%). However, the detection rate for mass lesions and other findings was low (29.2% and 25.0% respectively). The false positivity rate was 0.13/film for microcalcifications, and 0.25/film for mass lesions. The efficacy of the CAD system for detecting microcalcifications on screening mammograms was confirmed. However, the low detection rate of mass lesions and relatively high rate of false positivity need to be further improved. (author)

Postmortem computed tomography for detecting causes of sudden death in infants and children. Retrospective review of cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oyake, Yuji; Aoki, Takeshi; Shiotani, Seiji; Kohno, Mototsugu; Ohashi, Noriyoshi; Akutsu, Hiroyoshi; Yamazaki, Kentaro

2006-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) in detecting causes of sudden death in infants and children. Our subjects were 15 nontraumatically deceased patients (nine boys and six girls, ranging in age from 20 days after birth to 12 years old, mean age 1.6 years), who had been in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest on arrival at our hospital. PMCT was performed within 2 h after certification of death: head (15 cases), chest (11 cases), and abdomen (12 cases). Blood was collected from 11 of the patients at the time of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. An autopsy was conducted on two. PMCT did not show any traumatic changes indicating child abuse. It was difficult to presume the cause of death with PMCT alone, but the cause of death in 14 of 15 cases could be presumed by combining information from their medical history, clinical course before death, PMCT findings, laboratory data, and bacterial culture. The remaining subject was classified as cause unknown. The causes of sudden death in infants and children were detected at a high rate when we comprehensively investigated the PMCT and other examination findings. (author)

Enhanced detection rate of typhoid fever among clinically suspected patients in a tertiary referral hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh using nested polymerase chain reaction technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, S; Miah, M R; Khatun, S

2015-12-01

A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specific for Salmonella enterica subspecies enteric serovar Typhi was used for the detection of the pathogen, in blood. This study was done during the period of March 2013 to February 2014. A total of 80 clinically suspected cases of typhoid fever were included in the study. Blood was collected from all participating individuals. Nested PCR targeting the flagellin gene (fliC) of Salmonella Typhi & blood culture were done for each of the cases. The positivity rate of PCR & blood culture was 70%& 20% respectively. The positivity rate of PCR was significantly higher than blood culture (Ptyphoid fever cases on the basis of clinical features but with negative cultures. We conclude that the PCR technique could be used as a novel diagnostic method of typhoid fever, particularly in culture-negative cases in an endemic country like Bangladesh.

Detection Rate and Clinical Impact of Respiratory Viruses in Children with Kawasaki Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ja Hye Kim

2012-12-01

Full Text Available &lt;B&gt;Purpose:&lt;/B&gt; The purpose of this prospective case-control study was to survey the detection rate of respiratory viruses in children with Kawasaki disease (KD by using multiplex reverse transcriptasepolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR, and to investigate the clinical implications of the prevalence of respiratory viruses during the acute phase of KD. &lt;B&gt;Methods:&lt;/B&gt; RT-PCR assays were carried out to screen for the presence of respiratory syncytial virus A and B, adenovirus, rhinovirus, parainfluenza viruses 1 to 4, influenza virus A and B, metapneumovirus, bocavirus, coronavirus OC43/229E and NL63, and enterovirus in nasopharyngeal secretions of 55 KD patients and 78 control subjects. &lt;B&gt;Results:&lt;/B&gt; Virus detection rates in KD patients and control subjects were 32.7% and 30.8%, respectively (P=0.811. However, there was no significant association between the presence of any of the 15 viruses and the incidence of KD. Comparisons between the 18 patients with positive RT-PCR results and the other 37 KD patients revealed no significant differences in terms of clinical findings (including the prevalence of incomplete presentation of the disease and coronary artery diameter. &lt;B&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/B&gt; A positive RT-PCR for currently epidemic respiratory viruses should not be used as an evidence against the diagnosis of KD. These viruses were not associated with the incomplete presentation of KD and coronary artery dilatation.

Rating the Effectiveness of Fishery Closures With Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Boat Detection Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher D. Elvidge

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Fishery closures are widely used to promote the sustainability of fish stocks. Fishery agencies typically have very little data relevant to planning closure enforcement actions and evaluating the effectiveness of closures, due in part to the vast expanse and remote nature of many closures. In some cases the effectiveness of closures can be evaluated using data from GPS based beacons, such as Automatic Identification System (AIS or Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS installed on fishing boats. In fisheries where few boats are equipped with AIS or VMS, the rating of closures relies on other data sources capable of detecting or inferring fishing activity. One such source comes from low light imaging data collected by the NASA/NOAA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS, which can detect fishing boats using lights to attract catch. This is a widely used practice in Asia and several other regions. NOAA has developed an automatic system for reporting the locations of VIIRS boat detections with a nominal 4 h temporal latency. VIIRS boat detection alerts are running for more than 900 fishery closures in the Philippines, with email and SMS transmission modes. These alerts are being actively used in the Philippines to plan enforcement actions and there is a growing list of apprehensions that occurred based on tip-offs from VIIRS. The VIIRS boat detection archive extends back to April 2012. A VIIRS closure index (VCI has been developed to rate the effectiveness of closures on monthly increments in terms of a percentage. The VCI analysis was performed on three types of closures: an ad hoc fishery closure associated with a toxic industrial discharge, a seasonal fishery closure and a permanent closure in restricted coastal waters. The VCI results indicate that it is possible to rank the effectiveness of different closure, year-to-year differences in compliance levels, and to identify closure encroachments which may warrant additional enforcement effort.

A Comparative Study of Data Mining Algorithms for High Detection Rate in Intrusion Detection System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nabeela Ashraf

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the fast growth and tradition of the internet over the last decades, the network security problems are increasing vigorously. Humans can not handle the speed of processes and the huge amount of data required to handle network anomalies. Therefore, it needs substantial automation in both speed and accuracy. Intrusion Detection System is one of the approaches to recognize illegal access and rare attacks to secure networks. In this proposed paper, Naive Bayes, J48 and Random Forest classifiers are compared to compute the detection rate and accuracy of IDS. For experiments, the KDD_NSL dataset is used.

Twenty cases of ectopic thyroid gland detected by thyroid scintigraphy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashimoto, Teisuke; Kubo, Atsushi; Hashimoto, Shozo

1988-01-01

20 cases of ectopic thyroid gland were detected out of 5,261 thyroid scintigraphy from 1973. Except for 1 case, all cases were female. Considering of thyroid function, 11 cases were euthyroid and rest of 9 cases were hypothyroid function. Clinical symptom of hypothyroid cases were mainly retarded linear growth and high value of serum TSH and in case of euthyroid cases were sublingual tumor and fullness or tightness in throat. Thyroid scintigraphy is very useful to diagnose the sublingual tumor whether it is ectopic thyroid gland or not. In case of congenital hypothyroidism children, ectopic thyroid gland causing hypothyroidism is definitely diagnosed by thyroid scintigraphy. (author)

Non-contact detection of cardiac rate based on visible light imaging device

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Huishi; Zhao, Yuejin; Dong, Liquan

2012-10-01

We have developed a non-contact method to detect human cardiac rate at a distance. This detection is based on the general lighting condition. Using the video signal of human face region captured by webcam, we acquire the cardiac rate based on the PhotoPlethysmoGraphy theory. In this paper, the cardiac rate detecting method is mainly in view of the blood's different absorptivities of the lights various wavelengths. Firstly, we discompose the video signal into RGB three color signal channels and choose the face region as region of interest to take average gray value. Then, we draw three gray-mean curves on each color channel with time as variable. When the imaging device has good fidelity of color, the green channel signal shows the PhotoPlethysmoGraphy information most clearly. But the red and blue channel signals can provide more other physiological information on the account of their light absorptive characteristics of blood. We divide red channel signal by green channel signal to acquire the pulse wave. With the passband from 0.67Hz to 3Hz as a filter of the pulse wave signal and the frequency spectrum superimposed algorithm, we design frequency extracted algorithm to achieve the cardiac rate. Finally, we experiment with 30 volunteers, containing different genders and different ages. The results of the experiments are all relatively agreeable. The difference is about 2bmp. Through the experiment, we deduce that the PhotoPlethysmoGraphy theory based on visible light can also be used to detect other physiological information.

Lobular neoplasia detected in MRI-guided core biopsy carries a high risk for upgrade: a study of 63 cases from four different institutions

Science.gov (United States)

Khoury, Thaer; Kumar, Prasanna R; Li, Zaibo; Karabakhtsian, Rouzan G; Sanati, Souzan; Chen, Xiwei; Wang, Dan; Liu, Song; Reig, Beatriu

2017-01-01

There are certain criteria to recommend surgical excision for lobular neoplasia diagnosed in mammographically detected core biopsy. The aims of this study are to explore the rate of upgrade of lobular neoplasia detected in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided biopsy and to investigate the clinicopathological and radiological features that could predict upgrade. We reviewed 1655 MRI-guided core biopsies yielding 63 (4%) cases of lobular neoplasia. Key clinical features were recorded. MRI findings including mass vs non-mass enhancement and the reason for biopsy were also recorded. An upgrade was defined as the presence of invasive carcinoma or ductal carcinoma in situ in subsequent surgical excision. The overall rate of lobular neoplasia in MRI-guided core biopsy ranged from 2 to 7%, with an average of 4%. A total of 15 (24%) cases had an upgrade, including 5 cases of invasive carcinoma and 10 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ. Pure lobular neoplasia was identified in 34 cases, 11 (32%) of which had upgrade. In this group, an ipsilateral concurrent or past history of breast cancer was found to be associated with a higher risk of upgrade (6/11, 55%) than contralateral breast cancer (1 of 12, 8%; P = 0.03). To our knowledge, this is the largest series of lobular neoplasia diagnosed in MRI-guided core biopsy. The incidence of lobular neoplasia is relatively low. Lobular neoplasia detected in MRI-guided biopsy carries a high risk for upgrade warranting surgical excision. However, more cases from different types of institutions are needed to verify our results. PMID:26564004

Full-signature real-time corrosion detection of underground casing pipes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yin, Jiming; Lu, Mi; Pineda de Gyvez, J.

2000-01-01

Corrosion monitoring and early detection of pits and wall thinning for casing pipes are considerably important to gas and petroleum industries since the frequently occurring corrosion at the internal or external parts of those steel casing pipes used in underground gas storage or oil fields causes

EUROCAT website data on prenatal detection rates of congenital anomalies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garne, Ester; Dolk, Helen; Loane, Maria

2010-01-01

The EUROCAT website www.eurocat-network.eu publishes prenatal detection rates for major congenital anomalies using data from European population-based congenital anomaly registers, covering 28% of the EU population as well as non-EU countries. Data are updated annually. This information can be us...

EUROCAT website data on prenatal detection rates of congenital anomalies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Garne, Ester; Dolk, Helen; Loane, Maria; Boyd, Patricia A.

2010-01-01

The EUROCAT website www.eurocat-network.eu publishes prenatal detection rates for major congenital anomalies using data from European population-based congenital anomaly registers, covering 28% of the EU population as well as non-EU countries. Data are updated annually. This information can be

Drowsiness detection using heart rate variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Vicente, José; Laguna, Pablo; Bartra, Ariadna; Bailón, Raquel

2016-06-01

It is estimated that 10-30 % of road fatalities are related to drowsy driving. Driver's drowsiness detection based on biological and vehicle signals is being studied in preventive car safety. Autonomous nervous system activity, which can be measured noninvasively from the heart rate variability (HRV) signal obtained from surface electrocardiogram, presents alterations during stress, extreme fatigue and drowsiness episodes. We hypothesized that these alterations manifest on HRV and thus could be used to detect driver's drowsiness. We analyzed three driving databases in which drivers presented different sleep-deprivation levels, and in which each driving minute was annotated as drowsy or awake. We developed two different drowsiness detectors based on HRV. While the drowsiness episodes detector assessed each minute of driving as "awake" or "drowsy" with seven HRV derived features (positive predictive value 0.96, sensitivity 0.59, specificity 0.98 on 3475 min of driving), the sleep-deprivation detector discerned if a driver was suitable for driving or not, at driving onset, as function of his sleep-deprivation state. Sleep-deprivation state was estimated from the first three minutes of driving using only one HRV feature (positive predictive value 0.80, sensitivity 0.62, specificity 0.88 on 30 drivers). Incorporating drowsiness assessment based on HRV signal may add significant improvements to existing car safety systems.

Multi-disciplinary team for early gastric cancer diagnosis improves the detection rate of early gastric cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Di, Lianjun; Wu, Huichao; Zhu, Rong; Li, Youfeng; Wu, Xinglong; Xie, Rui; Li, Hongping; Wang, Haibo; Zhang, Hua; Xiao, Hong; Chen, Hui; Zhen, Hong; Zhao, Kui; Yang, Xuefeng; Xie, Ming; Tuo, Bigung

2017-12-06

Gastric cancer is a frequent malignant tumor worldwide and its early detection is crucial for curing the disease and enhancing patients' survival rate. This study aimed to assess whether the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) can improve the detection rate of early gastric cancer (EGC). The detection rate of EGC at the Digestive Endoscopy Center, Affiliated Hospital, Zunyi Medical College, China between September 2013 and September 2015 was analyzed. MDT for the diagnosis of EGC in the hospital was established in September 2014. The study was divided into 2 time periods: September 1, 2013 to August 31, 2014 (period 1) and September 1, 2014 to September 1, 2015 (period 2). A total of 60,800 patients' gastroscopies were performed during the two years. 61 of these patients (0.1%) were diagnosed as EGC, accounting for 16.44% (61/371) of total patients with gastric cancer. The EGC detection rate before MDT (period 1) was 0.05% (16/29403), accounting for 9.09% (16/176) of total patients with gastric cancer during this period. In comparison, the EGC detection rate during MDT (period 2) was 0.15% (45/31397), accounting for 23% (45/195) of total patients with gastric cancer during this period (P cooperation with Department of Pathology (OR = 10.1, 95% CI 2.39-43.3, P < 0.05). MDT could improve the endoscopic detection rate of EGC.

Leprosy Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (LPEP) programme: Study protocol for evaluating the feasibility and impact on case detection rates of contact tracing and single dose rifampicin

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barth-Jaeggi, T. (Tanja); Steinmann, P. (Peter); Mieras, L. (Liesbeth); W.H. van Brakel (Wim); J.H. Richardus (Jan Hendrik); Tiwari, A. (Anuj); Bratschi, M. (Martin); Cavaliero, A. (Arielle); Vander Plaetse, B. (Bart); Mirza, F. (Fareed); Aerts, A. (Ann)

2016-01-01

textabstractIntroduction: The reported number of new leprosy patients has barely changed in recent years. Thus, additional approaches or modifications to the current standard of passive case detection are needed to interrupt leprosy transmission. Large-scale clinical trials with single dose

Detecting subsurface fluid leaks in real-time using injection and production rates

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Harpreet; Huerta, Nicolas J.

2017-12-01

CO2 injection into geologic formations for either enhanced oil recovery or carbon storage introduces a risk for undesired fluid leakage into overlying groundwater or to the surface. Despite decades of subsurface CO2 production and injection, the technologies and methods for detecting CO2 leaks are still costly and prone to large uncertainties. This is especially true for pressure-based monitoring methods, which require the use of simplified geological and reservoir flow models to simulate the pressure behavior as well as background noise affecting pressure measurements. In this study, we propose a method to detect the time and volume of fluid leakage based on real-time measurements of well injection and production rates. The approach utilizes analogies between fluid flow and capacitance-resistance modeling. Unlike other leak detection methods (e.g. pressure-based), the proposed method does not require geological and reservoir flow models to simulate the behavior that often carry significant sources of uncertainty; therefore, with our approach the leak can be detected with greater certainty. The method can be applied to detect when a leak begins by tracking a departure in fluid production rate from the expected pattern. The method has been tuned to detect the effect of boundary conditions and fluid compressibility on leakage. To highlight the utility of this approach we use our method to detect leaks for two scenarios. The first scenario simulates a fluid leak from the storage formation into an above-zone monitoring interval. The second scenario simulates intra-reservoir migration between two compartments. We illustrate this method to detect fluid leakage in three different reservoirs with varying levels of geological and structural complexity. The proposed leakage detection method has three novelties: i) requires only readily-available data (injection and production rates), ii) accounts for fluid compressibility and boundary effects, and iii) in addition to

25 CFR 213.26 - Rate of royalty on casing-head gas.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... gasoline the minimum rate of royalty shall be 121/2 percent of the value of the casing-head gas, which... operating regulations of the Department. (b) In cases where gas produced and sold has a value for drip gasoline, casing-head gasoline content, and as dry gas from which the casing-head gasoline has been...

Misalignment under different exchange rate regimes: the case of Turkey

OpenAIRE

Dağdeviren, Sengül; Ogus Binatli, Ayla; Sohrabji, Niloufer

2011-01-01

The paper examines misalignment of the Turkish lira between 1998 to 2008. Misalignment, specifically overvaluation has been linked to fixed exchange rate regimes. By studying the case of Turkey during this period which covers both a fixed and floating exchange rate regime, we contribute to the literature on the relation between misalignment and exchange rate regimes. We first estimate the equilibrium real exchange rate for Turkey, then compute misalignment and finally test for structural brea...

Comparison of detectable bleeding rates of radiopharmaceuticals for localization of gastrointestinal bleeding in sheep using a closed system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Owunwanne, A.; Sadek, S.; Yacoub, T.; Awdeh, M.; Abdel-Dayem, H.M.; Al-Wafai, I.; Vallgren, S.

1989-01-01

The closed experimental animal model system was used to compare the detectable gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding rates of 99m Tc-DTPA, 99m Tc-RBCs and 99m Tc tin colloid in sheep. The three radiopharmaceuticals were used to detect the upper GI bleeding sites at rates of 0.57 and 0.25 ml/min. At the lower bleeding rate of 0.1 ml/min, both 99m Tc-DTPA and 99m Tc-RBCs were successful in detecting the bleeding site. At the lowest rate of 0.07 ml/min only 99m Tc-DTPA was successful in detecting the bleeding site. The results indicate that 99m Tc-DTPA is the most useful 99m Tc radiopharmaceutical for detecting the upper GI bleeding site at the slowest bleeding rate studied. (orig.) [de

Improving tuberculosis case detection in underdeveloped multi-ethnic regions with high disease burden: a case study of integrated control program in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jun; Liu, Xiao-Qiu; Jiang, Shi-Wen; Li, Xue; Yu, Fei; Wang, Yan; Peng, Yong; Gu, Xiao-Ming; Sun, Yan-Ni; Zhang, Hui; Wang, Li-Xia

2017-11-29

In the underdeveloped multi-ethnic regions of China, high tuberculosis (TB) burden and regional inequity in access to healthcare service increase the challenge of achieving the End TB goals. Among all the provinces, the highest TB burden is reported in Xinjiang, where ethnic minorities and older people have suffered most. However, current case-finding strategy is inadequate given the complex social determinants and suboptimal case detection rates. Thus, we developed an integrated TB control program to improve case detection and conducted a pilot in Xinjiang from 2014 to 2015. In this case study, we summarized the activities and key findings. We also shared the experiences and challenges of implementing interventions and provided recommendations to inform the TB control program in the future. The pilot interventions were implemented in one selected town in Yining based on local TB control programs. By applying tailor-made educational materials, outreach TB educational activities were conducted in diverse ways. In 22 Masjids, the trained imams promoted TB education to the Muslims, covering 20,440 person-times in 88 delivered preaching sessions. In seven schools, 1944 students were educated by the teachers and contributed to educating 6929 family members. In the village communities, 13,073 residents participated in household education and screening. Among them, 12,292 people aged under 65 years were investigated for suspicious pulmonary TB symptoms, where six TB patients were diagnosed out of 89 TB suspects; 781 older people were mobilized for screening directly by chest X-ray, where 10 patients were diagnosed out of 692 participants. Supportive healthcare system, multi-sectoral cooperation and multi-channel financing mechanism were the successful experiences of implementation. The interventions were proved to be more effective than the previous performance: the number of TB suspects consulting doctors and patients detected increased by 50% and 26%, respectively

The case for regional exchange rate arrangement in East Asia

OpenAIRE

Takuji Kinkyo

2004-01-01

The Asian crisis highlighted the difficulties for developing countries to actively manage exchange rates in an environment of high capital mobility. Now it became fashionable to argue that the exchange rate should be either allowed to float freely or irrevocably fixed. This paper examines the case for regional exchange rate arrangements as an instrument to enhance the manageability of exchange rates and discusses the options in East Asia. It critically assess the existing proposal of common b...

Factors influencing variation in physician adenoma detection rates: a theory-based approach for performance improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Atkins, Louise; Hunkeler, Enid M; Jensen, Christopher D; Michie, Susan; Lee, Jeffrey K; Doubeni, Chyke A; Zauber, Ann G; Levin, Theodore R; Quinn, Virginia P; Corley, Douglas A

2016-03-01

Interventions to improve physician adenoma detection rates for colonoscopy have generally not been successful, and there are little data on the factors contributing to variation that may be appropriate targets for intervention. We sought to identify factors that may influence variation in detection rates by using theory-based tools for understanding behavior. We separately studied gastroenterologists and endoscopy nurses at 3 Kaiser Permanente Northern California medical centers to identify potentially modifiable factors relevant to physician adenoma detection rate variability by using structured group interviews (focus groups) and theory-based tools for understanding behavior and eliciting behavior change: the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation behavior model; the Theoretical Domains Framework; and the Behavior Change Wheel. Nine factors potentially associated with adenoma detection rate variability were identified, including 6 related to capability (uncertainty about which types of polyps to remove, style of endoscopy team leadership, compromised ability to focus during an examination due to distractions, examination technique during withdrawal, difficulty detecting certain types of adenomas, and examiner fatigue and pain), 2 related to opportunity (perceived pressure due to the number of examinations expected per shift and social pressure to finish examinations before scheduled breaks or the end of a shift), and 1 related to motivation (valuing a meticulous examination as the top priority). Examples of potential intervention strategies are provided. By using theory-based tools, this study identified several novel and potentially modifiable factors relating to capability, opportunity, and motivation that may contribute to adenoma detection rate variability and be appropriate targets for future intervention trials. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Device to detect the presence of a pure signal in a discrete noisy signal measured at an average rate of constant noise with a probability of false detection lower than one predeterminated

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poussier, E.; Rambaut, M.

1986-01-01

Detection consists of a measurement of a counting rate. A probability of wrong detection is associated with this counting rate and with an average estimated rate of noise. Detection consists also in comparing the wrong detection probability to a predeterminated rate of wrong detection. The comparison can use tabulated values. Application is made to corpuscule radiation detection [fr

Adding Endoscopist-Directed Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing to the Videofluoroscopic Swallowing Study Increased the Detection Rates of Penetration, Aspiration, and Pharyngeal Residue.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Won Young; Lee, Tae Hee; Ham, Nam Seok; Park, Ji Woong; Lee, Yang Gyun; Cho, Sang Jin; Lee, Joon Seong; Hong, Su Jin; Jeon, Seong Ran; Kim, Hyun Gun; Cho, Joo Young; Kim, Jin Oh; Cho, Jun Hyung; Lee, Ji Sung

2015-09-23

Currently, the videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) is the standard tool for evaluating dysphagia. We evaluated whether the addition of endoscopist-directed flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) to VFSS could improve the detection rates of penetration, aspiration, and pharyngeal residue, compared the diagnostic efficacy between VFSS and endoscopist-directed FEES and assessed the adverse events of the FEES. In single tertiary referral center, a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data was conducted. Fifty consecutive patients suspected of oropharyngeal dysphagia were enrolled in this study between January 2012 and July 2012. The agreement in the detection of penetration and aspiration between VFSS and FEES of viscous food (κ=0.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15 to 0.53) and liquid food (κ=0.22; 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.42) was "fair." The agreement in the detection of pharyngeal residue between the two tests was "substantial" with viscous food (κ=0.63; 95% CI, 0.41 to 0.94) and "fair" with liquid food (κ=0.37; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.63). Adding FEES to VFSS significantly increased the detection rates of penetration, aspiration, and pharyngeal residue. No severe adverse events were noted during FEES, except for two cases of epistaxis, which stopped spontaneously without requiring any packing. This study demonstrated that the addition of endoscopist-directed FEES to VFSS increased the detection rates of penetration, aspiration, and pharyngeal residue.

Comparison of detectable bleeding rates of radiopharmaceuticals for localization of gastrointestinal bleeding in sheep using a closed system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Owunwanne, A.; Sadek, S.; Yacoub, T.; Awdeh, M.; Abdel-Dayem, H.M. (Kuwait Univ. (Kuwait). Dept. of Nuclear Medicine); Al-Wafai, I.; Vallgren, S. (Kuwait Univ. (Kuwait). Dept. of Surgery)

1989-06-01

The closed experimental animal model system was used to compare the detectable gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding rates of {sup 99m}Tc-DTPA, {sup 99m}Tc-RBCs and {sup 99m}Tc tin colloid in sheep. The three radiopharmaceuticals were used to detect the upper GI bleeding sites at rates of 0.57 and 0.25 ml/min. At the lower bleeding rate of 0.1 ml/min, both {sup 99m}Tc-DTPA and {sup 99m}Tc-RBCs were successful in detecting the bleeding site. At the lowest rate of 0.07 ml/min only {sup 99m}Tc-DTPA was successful in detecting the bleeding site. The results indicate that {sup 99m}Tc-DTPA is the most useful {sup 99m}Tc radiopharmaceutical for detecting the upper GI bleeding site at the slowest bleeding rate studied. (orig.).

Worst-Case Portfolio Optimization under Stochastic Interest Rate Risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tina Engler

2014-12-01

Full Text Available We investigate a portfolio optimization problem under the threat of a market crash, where the interest rate of the bond is modeled as a Vasicek process, which is correlated with the stock price process. We adopt a non-probabilistic worst-case approach for the height and time of the market crash. On a given time horizon [0; T], we then maximize the investor’s expected utility of terminal wealth in the worst-case crash scenario. Our main result is an explicit characterization of the worst-case optimal portfolio strategy for the class of HARA (hyperbolic absolute risk aversion utility functions.

Do Case Rates Affect Physicians' Clinical Practice in Radiation Oncology?: An Observational Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryan A Loy

Full Text Available Case rate payments combined with utilization monitoring may have the potential to improve the quality of care by reducing over and under-treatment. Thus, a national managed care organization introduced case rate payments at one multi-site radiation oncology provider while maintaining only fee-for-service payments at others. This study examined whether the introduction of the payment method had an effect on radiation fractions administered when compared to clinical guidelines. The number of fractions of radiation therapy delivered to patients with bone metastases, breast, lung, prostate, and skin cancer was assessed for concordance with clinical guidelines. The proportion of guideline-based care ascertained from the payer's claims database was compared before (2011 and after (2013 the payment method introduction using relative risks (RR. After the introduction of case rates, there were no significant changes in guideline-based care in breast, lung, and skin cancer; however, patients with bone metastases and prostate cancer were significantly more likely to have received guideline-based care (RR = 2.0 and 1.1, respectively, p<0.05. For the aggregate of all cancers, the under-treatment rate significantly declined (p = 0.008 from 4% to 0% after the introduction of case rate payments, while the over-treatment rate remained steady at 9%, with no significant change (p = 0.20. These findings suggest that the introduction of case rate payments did not adversely affect the rate of guideline-based care at the provider examined. Additional research is needed to isolate the effect of the payment model and assess implications in other populations.

Do Case Rates Affect Physicians' Clinical Practice in Radiation Oncology?: An Observational Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Loy, Bryan A; Shkedy, Clive I; Powell, Adam C; Happe, Laura E; Royalty, Julie A; Miao, Michael T; Smith, Gary L; Long, James W; Gupta, Amit K

2016-01-01

Case rate payments combined with utilization monitoring may have the potential to improve the quality of care by reducing over and under-treatment. Thus, a national managed care organization introduced case rate payments at one multi-site radiation oncology provider while maintaining only fee-for-service payments at others. This study examined whether the introduction of the payment method had an effect on radiation fractions administered when compared to clinical guidelines. The number of fractions of radiation therapy delivered to patients with bone metastases, breast, lung, prostate, and skin cancer was assessed for concordance with clinical guidelines. The proportion of guideline-based care ascertained from the payer's claims database was compared before (2011) and after (2013) the payment method introduction using relative risks (RR). After the introduction of case rates, there were no significant changes in guideline-based care in breast, lung, and skin cancer; however, patients with bone metastases and prostate cancer were significantly more likely to have received guideline-based care (RR = 2.0 and 1.1, respectively, p<0.05). For the aggregate of all cancers, the under-treatment rate significantly declined (p = 0.008) from 4% to 0% after the introduction of case rate payments, while the over-treatment rate remained steady at 9%, with no significant change (p = 0.20). These findings suggest that the introduction of case rate payments did not adversely affect the rate of guideline-based care at the provider examined. Additional research is needed to isolate the effect of the payment model and assess implications in other populations.

Efficient examination to detect the location of cancer in cases with positive sputum cytology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moriya, Hiroshi; Yaginuma, Koji; Shibuya, Hiroko

1993-01-01

In order to localize cancers in 55 cases with positive sputum cytology, we examined chest CT and otolaryngeal findings, in addition to performing bronchoscopic examinations. Consequently, 30 cases had lung cancer, 5 had laryngopharyngeal cancer and 3 had cancer of the oral cavity. Otolaryngeal observation was useful for detection of these cancers of the upper respiratory tract. In 30 lung cancers, 23 were roentgenographically occult cancers. But, among these 23, 12 had positive findings on chest CT. CT was useful for the cases of roentgenographically occult lung cancer. Especially, CT was very effective for detection of small cancer lesions in the peripheral lung, which were undetectable bronchofiberscopically. Three of 20 cases, in which no cancers were detected after the initial examination, had cancer lesions 1-2 years later. These results suggest that CT, otolaryngeal observation and intensive follow-up of undetectable cases are useful for localizing cancer in cases with positive sputum cytology. (author)

Traffic Sign Detection System for Locating Road Intersections and Roundabouts: The Chilean Case.

Science.gov (United States)

Villalón-Sepúlveda, Gabriel; Torres-Torriti, Miguel; Flores-Calero, Marco

2017-05-25

This paper presents a traffic sign detection method for signs close to road intersections and roundabouts, such as stop and yield (give way) signs. The proposed method relies on statistical templates built using color information for both segmentation and classification. The segmentation method uses the RGB-normalized (ErEgEb) color space for ROIs (Regions of Interest) generation based on a chromaticity filter, where templates at 10 scales are applied to the entire image. Templates consider the mean and standard deviation of normalized color of the traffic signs to build thresholding intervals where the expected color should lie for a given sign. The classification stage employs the information of the statistical templates over YCbCr and ErEgEb color spaces, for which the background has been previously removed by using a probability function that models the probability that the pixel corresponds to a sign given its chromaticity values. This work includes an analysis of the detection rate as a function of the distance between the vehicle and the sign. Such information is useful to validate the robustness of the approach and is often not included in the existing literature. The detection rates, as a function of distance, are compared to those of the well-known Viola-Jones method. The results show that for distances less than 48 m, the proposed method achieves a detection rate of 87.5 % and 95.4 % for yield and stop signs, respectively. For distances less than 30 m, the detection rate is 100 % for both signs. The Viola-Jones approach has detection rates below 20 % for distances between 30 and 48 m, and barely improves in the 20-30 m range with detection rates of up to 60 % . Thus, the proposed method provides a robust alternative for intersection detection that relies on statistical color-based templates instead of shape information. The experiments employed videos of traffic signs taken in several streets of Santiago, Chile, using a research platform implemented at

Traffic Sign Detection System for Locating Road Intersections and Roundabouts: The Chilean Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriel Villalón-Sepúlveda

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a traffic sign detection method for signs close to road intersections and roundabouts, such as stop and yield (give way signs. The proposed method relies on statistical templates built using color information for both segmentation and classification. The segmentation method uses the RGB-normalized (ErEgEb color space for ROIs (Regions of Interest generation based on a chromaticity filter, where templates at 10 scales are applied to the entire image. Templates consider the mean and standard deviation of normalized color of the traffic signs to build thresholding intervals where the expected color should lie for a given sign. The classification stage employs the information of the statistical templates over YCbCr and ErEgEb color spaces, for which the background has been previously removed by using a probability function that models the probability that the pixel corresponds to a sign given its chromaticity values. This work includes an analysis of the detection rate as a function of the distance between the vehicle and the sign. Such information is useful to validate the robustness of the approach and is often not included in the existing literature. The detection rates, as a function of distance, are compared to those of the well-known Viola–Jones method. The results show that for distances less than 48 m, the proposed method achieves a detection rate of 87.5 % and 95.4 % for yield and stop signs, respectively. For distances less than 30 m, the detection rate is 100 % for both signs. The Viola–Jones approach has detection rates below 20 % for distances between 30 and 48 m, and barely improves in the 20–30 m range with detection rates of up to 60 % . Thus, the proposed method provides a robust alternative for intersection detection that relies on statistical color-based templates instead of shape information. The experiments employed videos of traffic signs taken in several streets of Santiago, Chile, using a research

A Novel Passive Islanding Detection Scheme for Distributed Generations Based on Rate of Change of Positive Sequence Component of Voltage and Current

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rostami, Ali; Jalilian, Amin; Naderi, Seyed Behzad

2017-01-01

) based wind turbine and synchronous diesel generator DGs by MATLAB/Simulink software. Different non-islanding case studies are taken into account to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The simulation results show that the proposed method has advantage of detecting the islanding rapidly......Islanding operation is one of serious hazards of distributed generation (DG) applications. According to IEEE 1547 standard, its occurrence must be detected within two seconds. This paper presents a novel passive islanding detection method based on rate of change of positive sequence component...... of RCPSC and RCPSV exceed the predetermined threshold values, it is concluded that the islanding condition has occurred. Otherwise, it is considered as a non-islanding event. The performance of the proposed method is investigated on a sample network in the presence of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG...

Consensus review of discordant findings maximizes cancer detection rate in double-reader screening mammography: Irish National Breast Screening Program experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Colette M; Flanagan, Fidema L; Fenlon, Helen M; McNicholas, Michelle M

2009-02-01

To assesses consensus review of discordant screening mammography findings in terms of its sensitivity, safety, and effect on overall performance in the first 6 years of operation of the Irish National Breast Screening Program (NBSP). Women who participated in the Irish NBSP gave written informed consent for use of their data for auditing purposes. Local ethics committee approval was obtained. The study population consisted of women who participated in the Irish NBSP and underwent initial screening mammography at one of the two screening centers serving the eastern part of Ireland between 2000 and 2005. Independent double reading of mammograms was performed. When the readers disagreed regarding referral, the case was reviewed by a consensus panel. Of the 128 569 screenings performed, 1335 (1%) were discussed by consensus. Of the 1335 cases discussed by consensus, 606 (45.39%) were recalled for further assessment. This resulted in an overall recall rate of 4.41%. In those recalled to assessment, 71 cases of malignant disease were diagnosed (ductal carcinoma in situ, n = 24; invasive cancer, n = 47). The remaining 729 patients were returned to biennial screening. Of these 729 patients, seven had false-negative findings that were identified in the subsequent screening round. Use of the highest reader recall method, in which a patient is recalled if her findings are deemed abnormal by either reader, could potentially increase the cancer detection rate by 0.6 per 1000 women screened but would increase the recall rate by 12.69% and the number of false-positive findings by 15.37%. The consensus panel identified 71 (7.33%) of 968 cancers diagnosed. Consensus review substantially reduced the number of cases recalled and was associated with a low false-negative rate.

CpG Oligonucleotide and Interleukin 2 stimulation enables higher cytogenetic abnormality detection rates than 12-o-tetradecanolyphorbol-13-acetate in Asian patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL).

Science.gov (United States)

Liaw, Fiona Pui San; Lau, Lai Ching; Lim, Alvin Soon Tiong; Lim, Tse Hui; Lee, Geok Yee; Tien, Sim Leng

2014-12-01

The present study was designed to compare abnormality detection rates using DSP30 + IL2 and 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in Asian patients with B-CLL. Hematological specimens from 47 patients (29 newly diagnosed, 18 relapsed) were established as 72 h-DSP30 + IL2 and TPA cultures. Standard methods were employed to identify clonal aberrations by conventional cytogenetics (CC). The B-CLL fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) panel comprised ATM, CEP12, D13S25, and TP53 probes. DSP30 + IL2 cultures had a higher chromosomal abnormality detection rate (67 %) compared to TPA (44 %, p 0.05). Thirteen cases with abnormalities were found exclusively in DSP30 + IL2 cultures compared to one found solely in TPA cultures. DSP30 + IL2 cultures were comparable to the FISH panel in detecting 11q-, +12 and 17p- but not 13q-. It also has a predilection for 11q- bearing leukemic cells compared to TPA. FISH had a higher abnormality detection rate (84.1 %) compared to CC (66.0 %) with borderline significance (p = 0.051), albeit limited by its coverage. In conclusion, DSP30 + IL2 showed a higher abnormality detection rate. However, FISH is indispensable to circumvent low mitotic indices and detect subtle abnormalities.

Factors affecting tuberculosis case detection in Kersa District, South West Ethiopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Desalegn Dabaro

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Tuberculosis is one of the deadly communicable diseases which claim the lives of millions in the world. Early case detection and prompt treatment cures the patients, breaks the transmission and improves the control program. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting tuberculosis case detection in Kersa District, south west Ethiopia. Method: Facility based cross sectional study design was employed in four directly observed treatment short course service providing public health centers. Three hundred eighty four patient folders were reviewed. In-depth interviews was conducted with 18 health care workers including heads of health centers, tuberculosis focal persons, clinicians, laboratory technicians, tuberculosis program coordinator and head of health office. Result: Significant number, 135(35.2% of tuberculosis suspects were not requested for microscopic examination of sputum smear, the laboratory results 21(8.4% of requested patients were not recorded in both patient folders and laboratory registers. Only 10 (4.4% of those examined and recorded were smearing positive. Participants described that the shortage and irregular supply of acid fast bacilli reagents and consumable, inadequate infrastructures, frequent electricity interruption, shortage of trained care providers, negligence of care providers, weakness of laboratory quality assurance system and poor health information use culture were major factors for low case identification. Conclusion: The resource shortage, electricity interruption, low commitment of care providers, weak quality assurance practice and poor health information use culture were major factors for low tuberculosis case identification and should be considered. Keywords: Tuberculosis, Diagnosis, Case detection, Factors

Frequency of suspected cases of neurocysticercosis detected by computed skull tomography in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Jose Edson Paz da

2000-01-01

Due to the lack of studies about neurocysticercosis in the South of Brazil, an investigation was conducted to determine the percentage cases of neurocysticercosis in computed tomography diagnoses in Santa Maria, RS, from January 1997 to December 1998. Of 6300 computed tomographs (CT) of the skull performed at the private Hospital de Caridade Astrogildo de Azevedo, 80, i.e. 1.27% were suspected of neurocysticercosis. Fifty were women (62.5%) and 30 were men (37.5). The most frequent radiological manifestation indicating neurocysticercosis was the presence of calcifications (isolated or associated), with a 95% rate (76 cases), while the presence of hypodense lesions reached a 5% rate (4 cases). After routine analysis, each CT was evaluated again and the suspected cases were confirmed. The percentage of suspected cases of neurocysticercosis detected by CT in the present study carried out in santa Maria was considered low (1.27%). This can be explained by the fact that tomography is not accessible to the economically underprivileged population of Santa Maria. We hope that the present study can alert the population and the professionals to the fact neurocysticercosis is a more frequent disease than indicated by the few diagnoses made. (author)

Frequency of suspected cases of neurocysticercosis detected by computed skull tomography in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva, Jose Edson Paz da [Santa Maria Univ., RS (Brazil). Dept. de Analises Clinicas e Toxicologicas; Diefenthaeler, Ana Paula [Santa Maria Univ., RS (Brazil). Curso de Farmacia e Bioquimica; Palma, Jose Knoll [Hospital de Caridade Astrogildo de Azevedo, Santa Maria, RS (Brazil)

2000-02-01

Due to the lack of studies about neurocysticercosis in the South of Brazil, an investigation was conducted to determine the percentage cases of neurocysticercosis in computed tomography diagnoses in Santa Maria, RS, from January 1997 to December 1998. Of 6300 computed tomographs (CT) of the skull performed at the private Hospital de Caridade Astrogildo de Azevedo, 80, i.e. 1.27% were suspected of neurocysticercosis. Fifty were women (62.5%) and 30 were men (37.5). The most frequent radiological manifestation indicating neurocysticercosis was the presence of calcifications (isolated or associated), with a 95% rate (76 cases), while the presence of hypodense lesions reached a 5% rate (4 cases). After routine analysis, each CT was evaluated again and the suspected cases were confirmed. The percentage of suspected cases of neurocysticercosis detected by CT in the present study carried out in santa Maria was considered low (1.27%). This can be explained by the fact that tomography is not accessible to the economically underprivileged population of Santa Maria. We hope that the present study can alert the population and the professionals to the fact neurocysticercosis is a more frequent disease than indicated by the few diagnoses made. (author)

General practice performance in referral for suspected cancer: influence of number of cases and case-mix on publicly reported data.

Science.gov (United States)

Murchie, P; Chowdhury, A; Smith, S; Campbell, N C; Lee, A J; Linden, D; Burton, C D

2015-05-26

Publicly available data show variation in GPs' use of urgent suspected cancer (USC) referral pathways. We investigated whether this could be due to small numbers of cancer cases and random case-mix, rather than due to true variation in performance. We analysed individual GP practice USC referral detection rates (proportion of the practice's cancer cases that are detected via USC) and conversion rates (proportion of the practice's USC referrals that prove to be cancer) in routinely collected data from GP practices in all of England (over 4 years) and northeast Scotland (over 7 years). We explored the effect of pooling data. We then modelled the effects of adding random case-mix to practice variation. Correlations between practice detection rate and conversion rate became less positive when data were aggregated over several years. Adding random case-mix to between-practice variation indicated that the median proportion of poorly performing practices correctly identified after 25 cancer cases were examined was 20% (IQR 17 to 24) and after 100 cases was 44% (IQR 40 to 47). Much apparent variation in GPs' use of suspected cancer referral pathways can be attributed to random case-mix. The methods currently used to assess the quality of GP-suspected cancer referral performance, and to compare individual practices, are misleading. These should no longer be used, and more appropriate and robust methods should be developed.

Immunostimulatory oligonucleotide-induced metaphase cytogenetics detect chromosomal aberrations in 80% of CLL patients: A study of 132 CLL cases with correlation to FISH, IgVH status, and CD38 expression.

Science.gov (United States)

Dicker, Frank; Schnittger, Susanne; Haferlach, Torsten; Kern, Wolfgang; Schoch, Claudia

2006-11-01

Compared with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), conventional metaphase cytogenetics play only a minor prognostic role in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) so far, due to technical problems resulting from limited proliferation of CLL cells in vitro. Here, we present a simple method for in vitro stimulation of CLL cells that overcomes this limitation. In our unselected patient population, 125 of 132 cases could be successfully stimulated for metaphase generation by culture with the immunostimulatory CpG-oligonucleotide DSP30 plus interleukin 2. Of 125 cases, 101 showed chromosomal aberrations. The aberration rate is comparable to the rate detected by parallel interphase FISH. In 47 patients, conventional cytogenetics detected additional aberrations not detected by FISH analysis. A complex aberrant karyotype, defined as one having at least 3 aberrations, was detected in 30 of 125 patients, compared with only one such case as defined by FISH. Conventional cytogenetics frequently detected balanced and unbalanced translocations. A significant correlation of the poor-prognosis unmutated IgV(H) status with unbalanced translocations and of the likewise poor-prognosis CD38 expression to balanced translocations and complex aberrant karyotype was found. We demonstrate that FISH analysis underestimates the complexity of chromosomal aberrations in CLL. Therefore, conventional cytogenetics may define subgroups of patients with high risk of progression.

Case-mix analysis and variation in rates of non-surgical treatment of older women with operable breast cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, J; Richards, P; Ward, S; Francis, M; Lawrence, G; Collins, K; Reed, M; Wyld, L

2015-08-01

Non-surgical management of older women with oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive operable breast cancer is common in the UK, with up to 40 per cent of women aged over 70 years receiving primary endocrine therapy. Although this may be appropriate for frailer patients, for some it may result in treatment failure, contributing to the poor outcomes seen in this age group. Wide variation in the rates of non-operative management of breast cancer in older women exists across the UK. Case mix may explain some of this variation in practice. Data from two UK regional cancer registries were analysed to determine whether variation in treatment observed between 2002 and 2010 at hospital and clinician level persisted after adjustment for case mix. Expected case mix-adjusted surgery rates were derived by logistic regression using the variables age, proxy Charlson co-morbidity score, deprivation quintile, method of cancer detection, tumour size, stage, grade and node status. Data on 17,129 women aged 70 years or more with ER-positive operable breast cancer were analysed. There was considerable variation in rates of surgery at both hospital and clinician level. Despite adjusting for case mix, this variation persisted at hospital level, although not at clinician level. This study demonstrates variation in selection criteria for older women for operative treatment of early breast cancer, indicating that some older women may be undertreated or overtreated, and may partly explain the inferior disease outcomes in this age group. It emphasizes the urgent need for evidence-based guidelines for treatment selection criteria in older women with breast cancer. © 2015 BJS Society Ltd Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Detection of behind casing water flow at an angle to the axis of a well borehole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-01-01

Methods and apparatus for detecting the undesired flow of water in cement channels or voids behind the casing in a producing well are described. A source of high-energy neutrons (approx. 14 MeV) is placed inside the well borehole opposite the area to be investigated for cement channelling, and used to irradiate the area. An oxygen 16 nucleus is transmuted upon capture of an approximately 10 MeV neutron to radioactive nitrogen 16. This decays with a half life of 7.1 sec by emission of a beta particle and high energy gamma rays. With a sufficiently high flux of bombarding neutrons enough nitrogen 16 is created to be detected at a pair of longitudinally spaced detectors. This measurement can be used directly to indicate the speed of flow of water in the cement channels. However the volume flow rate can be determined from the detection of the high energy gamma rays from the decay of the nitrogen 16. If a pulsed neutron source is used a more accurate detection is provided. The angle of flow can be determined by suitable instrumentation. Full specifications are given. (U.K.)

Unexpected second primary malignancies detected by f-18 FDG PET/CT during follow-up for primary malignancy: Two case report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bang, Ji In; Lee, Eun Seong; Kim, Tae Sung; Kim, Seok Ki [Nuclear Medicine, Research Institute and Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang (Korea, Republic of)

2015-03-15

As the survival rate of cancer patients has increased over the last few decades, the risk of cancer survivors developing second primary malignancies has gained attention. We report two rare cases of second primary hematologic malignancy detected by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) during follow-up for primary solid malignancies. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia developed in a breast cancer patient and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in an anal cancer patient. F-18 FDG PET/CT findings led to the diagnosis of unexpected second primary hematologic malignancy in cancer survivors in these two cases.

Unexpected second primary malignancies detected by f-18 FDG PET/CT during follow-up for primary malignancy: Two case report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bang, Ji In; Lee, Eun Seong; Kim, Tae Sung; Kim, Seok Ki

2015-01-01

As the survival rate of cancer patients has increased over the last few decades, the risk of cancer survivors developing second primary malignancies has gained attention. We report two rare cases of second primary hematologic malignancy detected by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) during follow-up for primary solid malignancies. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia developed in a breast cancer patient and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in an anal cancer patient. F-18 FDG PET/CT findings led to the diagnosis of unexpected second primary hematologic malignancy in cancer survivors in these two cases

Bayesian analysis of energy and count rate data for detection of low count rate radioactive sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klumpp, John [Colorado State University, Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Molecular and Radiological Biosciences Building, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523 (United States)

2013-07-01

We propose a radiation detection system which generates its own discrete sampling distribution based on past measurements of background. The advantage to this approach is that it can take into account variations in background with respect to time, location, energy spectra, detector-specific characteristics (i.e. different efficiencies at different count rates and energies), etc. This would therefore be a 'machine learning' approach, in which the algorithm updates and improves its characterization of background over time. The system would have a 'learning mode,' in which it measures and analyzes background count rates, and a 'detection mode,' in which it compares measurements from an unknown source against its unique background distribution. By characterizing and accounting for variations in the background, general purpose radiation detectors can be improved with little or no increase in cost. The statistical and computational techniques to perform this kind of analysis have already been developed. The necessary signal analysis can be accomplished using existing Bayesian algorithms which account for multiple channels, multiple detectors, and multiple time intervals. Furthermore, Bayesian machine-learning techniques have already been developed which, with trivial modifications, can generate appropriate decision thresholds based on the comparison of new measurements against a nonparametric sampling distribution. (authors)

Human care system for heart-rate and human-movement trajectory in home and its application to detect mental disease

Science.gov (United States)

Hata, Yutaka; Kanazawa, Seigo; Endo, Maki; Tsuchiya, Naoki; Nakajima, Hiroshi

2012-06-01

This paper proposes a heart rate monitoring system for detecting autonomic nervous system by the heart rate variability using an air pressure sensor to diagnose mental disease. Moreover, we propose a human behavior monitoring system for detecting the human trajectory in home by an infrared camera. In day and night times, the human behavior monitoring system detects the human movement in home. The heart rate monitoring system detects the heart rate in bed in night time. The air pressure sensor consists of a rubber tube, cushion cover and pressure sensor, and it detects the heart rate by setting it to bed. It unconstraintly detects the RR-intervals; thereby the autonomic nervous system can be assessed. The autonomic nervous system analysis can examine the mental disease. While, the human behavior monitoring system obtains distance distribution image by an infrared camera. It classifies adult, child and the other object from distance distribution obtained by the camera, and records their trajectories. This behavior, i.e., trajectory in home, strongly corresponds to cognitive disorders. Thus, the total system can detect mental disease and cognitive disorders by uncontacted sensors to human body.

A broad-application microchannel-plate detector system for advanced particle or photon detection tasks large area imaging, precise multi-hit timing information and high detection rate

CERN Document Server

Jagutzki, O; Mergel, V; Schmidt-Böcking, H; Spielberger, L; Spillmann, U; Ullmann-Pfleger, K

2002-01-01

New applications for single particle and photon detection in many fields require both large area imaging performance and precise time information on each detected particle. Moreover, a very high data acquisition rate is desirable for most applications and eventually the detection and imaging of more than one particle arriving within a microsecond is required. Commercial CCD systems lack the timing information whereas other electronic microchannel plate (MCP) read-out schemes usually suffer from a low acquisition rate and complicated and sometimes costly read-out electronics. We have designed and tested a complete imaging system consisting of an MCP position readout with helical wire delay-lines, single-unit amplifier box and PC-controlled time-to-digital converter (TDC) readout. The system is very flexible and can detect and analyse position and timing information at single particle rates beyond 1 MHz. Alternatively, multi-hit events can be collected and analysed at about 20 kHz rate. We discuss the advantage...

Inversion Method for Early Detection of ARES-1 Case Breach Failure

Science.gov (United States)

Mackey, Ryan M.; Kulikov, Igor K.; Bajwa, Anupa; Berg, Peter; Smelyanskiy, Vadim

2010-01-01

A document describes research into the problem of detecting a case breach formation at an early stage of a rocket flight. An inversion algorithm for case breach allocation is proposed and analyzed. It is shown how the case breach can be allocated at an early stage of its development by using the rocket sensor data and the output data from the control block of the rocket navigation system. The results are simulated with MATLAB/Simulink software. The efficiency of an inversion algorithm for a case breach location is discussed. The research was devoted to the analysis of the ARES-l flight during the first 120 seconds after the launch and early prediction of case breach failure. During this time, the rocket is propelled by its first-stage Solid Rocket Booster (SRB). If a breach appears in SRB case, the gases escaping through it will produce the (side) thrust directed perpendicular to the rocket axis. The side thrust creates torque influencing the rocket attitude. The ARES-l control system will compensate for the side thrust until it reaches some critical value, after which the flight will be uncontrollable. The objective of this work was to obtain the start time of case breach development and its location using the rocket inertial navigation sensors and GNC data. The algorithm was effective for the detection and location of a breach in an SRB field joint at an early stage of its development.

Incorporating a Time Horizon in Rate-of-Return Estimations: Discounted Cash Flow Model in Electric Transmission Rate Cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chatterjee, Bishu; Sharp, Peter A.

2006-01-01

Electric transmission and other rate cases use a form of the discounted cash flow model with a single long-term growth rate to estimate rates of return on equity. It cannot incorporate information about the appropriate time horizon for which analysts' estimates of earnings growth have predictive powers. Only a non-constant growth model can explicitly recognize the importance of the time horizon in an ROE calculation. (author)

Aggressive active case detection: a malaria control strategy based on the Brazilian model.

Science.gov (United States)

Macauley, Cameron

2005-02-01

Since 1996, the Brazilian Ministry of Health has adopted a malaria control strategy known as aggressive active case detection (AACD) in which most or all members of every community are tested and treated for malaria on a monthly basis. The strategy attempts to identify and treat cases of asymptomatic malaria, which, if untreated, continue to transmit the infection. Malaria remains uncontrolled because almost all health care systems in the world rely on passive case detection: the treatment of only symptomatic cases of malaria. Research has shown conclusively that asymptomatic cases exist in any population where malaria transmission is stable and incidence is high: therefore passive case detection simply will not succeed in breaking the cycle of transmission. Numerous case studies show that malaria has been successfully controlled on a regional or national level by mass blood surveys. AACD is an effective malaria control strategy if used in conjunction with other methods, especially when (1) an effective treatment exists, (2) influx of potential carriers of the infection can be monitored, and (3) people are inclined to cooperate with monthly blood testing. AACD requires access to rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), microscopy supplies, extensive human resources, and prompt, affordable, and effective treatment. AACD is compared to PCD in terms of clinical efficacy and cost effectiveness in a case study of malaria in the Brazilian Yanomami Indians. Where it is feasible, AACD could drastically reduce the incidence of malaria and should be an integral part of the World Health Organization's Roll Back Malaria strategy.

Universal design of a microcontroller and IoT system to detect the heart rate

Science.gov (United States)

Uwamahoro, Raphael; Mushikiwabeza, Alexie; Minani, Gerard; Mohan Murari, Bhaskar

2017-11-01

Heart rate analysis provides vital information of the present condition of the human body. It helps medical professionals in diagnosis of various malfunctions of the body. The limitation of vision impaired and blind people to access medical devices cause a considerable loss of life. In this paper, we intended to develop a heart rate detection system that is usable for people with normal and abnormal vision. The system is based on a non-invasive method of measuring the variation of the tissue blood flow rate by means of a photo transmitter and detector through fingertip known as photoplethysmography (PPG). The signal detected is firstly passed through active low pass filter and then amplified by a two stages high gain amplifier. The amplified signal is feed into the microcontroller to calculate the heart rate and displays the heart beat via sound systems and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). To distinguish arrhythmia, normal heart rate and abnormal working conditions of the system, recognition is provided in different sounds, LCD readings and Light Emitting Diodes (LED).

Shilling attack detection for recommender systems based on credibility of group users and rating time series.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Wei; Wen, Junhao; Qu, Qiang; Zeng, Jun; Cheng, Tian

2018-01-01

Recommender systems are vulnerable to shilling attacks. Forged user-generated content data, such as user ratings and reviews, are used by attackers to manipulate recommendation rankings. Shilling attack detection in recommender systems is of great significance to maintain the fairness and sustainability of recommender systems. The current studies have problems in terms of the poor universality of algorithms, difficulty in selection of user profile attributes, and lack of an optimization mechanism. In this paper, a shilling behaviour detection structure based on abnormal group user findings and rating time series analysis is proposed. This paper adds to the current understanding in the field by studying the credibility evaluation model in-depth based on the rating prediction model to derive proximity-based predictions. A method for detecting suspicious ratings based on suspicious time windows and target item analysis is proposed. Suspicious rating time segments are determined by constructing a time series, and data streams of the rating items are examined and suspicious rating segments are checked. To analyse features of shilling attacks by a group user's credibility, an abnormal group user discovery method based on time series and time window is proposed. Standard testing datasets are used to verify the effect of the proposed method.

Internet addiction detection rate among college students in the People's Republic of China: a meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Yao-Jun; Zheng, Tong; Wang, Yan-Qiu; Liu, Ling; Chen, Yan; Yao, Ying-Shui

2018-01-01

With the development of economy and technology, the Internet is becoming more and more popular. Internet addiction has gradually become a serious issue in public health worldwide. The number of Internet users in China has reached 731 million, with an estimated 24 million adolescents determined as having Internet addiction. In this meta-analysis, we attempted to estimate the prevalence of Internet addiction among College Students in the People's Republic of China in order to improve the mental health level of college students and provide evidence for the prevention of Internet addiction. Eligible articles about the prevalence of Internet addiction among college students in China published between 2006 and 2017 were retrieved from online Chinese periodicals, the full-text databases of Wan Fang, VIP, and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, as well as PubMed. Stata 11.0 was used to perform the analyses. A total of 26 papers were included in the analyses. The overall sample size was 38,245, with 4573 diagnosed with Internet addiction. The pooled detection rate of Internet addiction was 11% (95% confidence interval [CI] 9-13%) among college students in China. The detection rate was higher in male students (16%) than female students (8%). The Internet addiction detection rate was 11% (95% CI 8-14%) in southern areas, 11% (95% CI 7-14%) in northern areas, 13% (95% CI 8-18%) in eastern areas and 9% (95% CI 8-11%) in the mid-western areas. According to different scales, the Internet addiction detection rate was 11% (95% CI 8-15%) using the Young scale and 9% (95% CI 6-11%) using the Chen scale respectively. Cumulative meta analysis showed that the detection rate had a slight upward trend and gradually stabilized in the last 3 years. The pooled Internet addiction detection rate of Chinese college students in out study was 11%, which is higher than in some other countries and strongly demonstrates a worrisome situation. Effective measures should be taken to prevent

Incidentally detected gastrointestinal stromal tumor: A case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tolga Canbak

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST are mesenchymal tumors located primarily in the gastrointestinal tract. We aimed to present a case report of GIST incidentally detected during laparoscopic cholecystectomy.A 60-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency room due to abdominal pain for one day. The physical examination revealed sensitivity on the right upper quadrant. In the laboratory examinations, white blood cell count 6,490 k/uL, hemoglobin 12 g/dL, hematocrit 35% and other biochemical tests were normal. Abdominal ultrasound revealed hydropic gallbladder, several gallstones with a maximum diameter of 15 mm and pericholecystic fluid collection was present. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was planned due to acute cholecystitis. In exploration, beside the presence of acute cholecystitis, a mass of approximately 5 cm, located 15 cm distal to the ligament of Treitz was detected. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed. Conversion to open laparotomy was done; small intestine resection with end-to-end anastomosis was performed. Gastrointestinal stromal tumor with CD117, CD34 and S100 positivity was detected on histopathologic examination.It is thought that GISTs are mesenchymal tumors originating from precursors of Kajal cells. GISTs are usually detected in their 60s. The first option for treatment is surgical resection.

Can iridology detect susceptibility to cancer? A prospective case-controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Münstedt, Karsten; El-Safadi, Samer; Brück, Friedel; Zygmunt, Marek; Hackethal, Andreas; Tinneberg, Hans-Rudolf

2005-06-01

This prospective case-control study aimed to investigate the value of iridology as a diagnostic tool in detecting some common cancers. One hundred ten (110) subjects were enrolled in the study: 68 subjects had histologically proven cancers of the breast, ovary, uterus, prostate, or colorectum, and 42 were control subjects. All subjects were examined by an experienced practitioner of iridology, who was unaware of their gender or medical details. He was allowed to suggest up to five diagnoses for each subject and his results were then compared with each subject's medical diagnosis to determine the accuracy of iridology in detecting malignancy. Iridology identified the correct diagnosis in only 3 cases (sensitivity, 0.04). Iridology was of no value in diagnosing the cancers investigated in this study.

Fetal QRS detection and heart rate estimation: a wavelet-based approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almeida, Rute; Rocha, Ana Paula; Gonçalves, Hernâni; Bernardes, João

2014-01-01

Fetal heart rate monitoring is used for pregnancy surveillance in obstetric units all over the world but in spite of recent advances in analysis methods, there are still inherent technical limitations that bound its contribution to the improvement of perinatal indicators. In this work, a previously published wavelet transform based QRS detector, validated over standard electrocardiogram (ECG) databases, is adapted to fetal QRS detection over abdominal fetal ECG. Maternal ECG waves were first located using the original detector and afterwards a version with parameters adapted for fetal physiology was applied to detect fetal QRS, excluding signal singularities associated with maternal heartbeats. Single lead (SL) based marks were combined in a single annotator with post processing rules (SLR) from which fetal RR and fetal heart rate (FHR) measures can be computed. Data from PhysioNet with reference fetal QRS locations was considered for validation, with SLR outperforming SL including ICA based detections. The error in estimated FHR using SLR was lower than 20 bpm for more than 80% of the processed files. The median error in 1 min based FHR estimation was 0.13 bpm, with a correlation between reference and estimated FHR of 0.48, which increased to 0.73 when considering only records for which estimated FHR > 110 bpm. This allows us to conclude that the proposed methodology is able to provide a clinically useful estimation of the FHR. (paper)

A visible light imaging device for cardiac rate detection with reduced effect of body movement

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Xiaotian; Liu, Ming; Zhao, Yuejin

2014-09-01

A visible light imaging system to detect human cardiac rate is proposed in this paper. A color camera and several LEDs, acting as lighting source, were used to avoid the interference of ambient light. From people's forehead, the cardiac rate could be acquired based on photoplethysmography (PPG) theory. The template matching method was used after the capture of video. The video signal was discomposed into three signal channels (RGB) and the region of interest was chosen to take the average gray value. The green channel signal could provide an excellent waveform of pulse wave on the account of green lights' absorptive characteristics of blood. Through the fast Fourier transform, the cardiac rate was exactly achieved. But the research goal was not just to achieve the cardiac rate accurately. With the template matching method, the effects of body movement are reduced to a large extent, therefore the pulse wave can be detected even while people are in the moving state and the waveform is largely optimized. Several experiments are conducted on volunteers, and the results are compared with the ones gained by a finger clamped pulse oximeter. The contrast results between these two ways are exactly agreeable. This method to detect the cardiac rate and the pulse wave largely reduces the effects of body movement and can probably be widely used in the future.

Factors influencing the detection rate of drug-related problems in community pharmacy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Westerlund, T; Almarsdóttir, Anna Birna; Melander, A

1999-01-01

This study analyzes relationships between the number of drug-related problems detected in community pharmacy practice and the educational level and other characteristics of pharmacy personnel and their work sites. Random samples of pharmacists, prescriptionists and pharmacy technicians were drawn...... by each professional. The regression analysis showed the educational level of the professional to have a statistically significant effect on the detection rate, with pharmacists finding on average 2.5 more drug-related problems per 100 patients than prescriptionists and about 3.6 more than technicians....... The results of this study indicate the importance of education and training of pharmacy personnel in detection of drug-related problems. This findings speaks in favor of increasing the pharmacist to other personnel ratio, provided the higher costs will be offset by societal benefits....

[Costs estimation of tuberculosis cases detection. La Habana Vieja Municipality, Cuba. 2002].

Science.gov (United States)

Peralta Pérez, Mariana; Gálvez González, Ana M; González Ochoa, Edilberto

2007-01-01

The Cuban Tuberculosis Control Program has been able to significantly reduce the tuberculosis cases incidence in all its forms. La Habana Vieja municipality has maintained the highest incidence in Havana City province during 5 years and one of the highest in the country. To estimate the cost of Tuberculosis cases detection in Habana Vieja municipality, in the year 2002. A descriptive retrospective study to estimate the costs with social perspective was carried out. The costs of cases detection and their departures in health facilities were considered. For patients with cough/expectoration > or =14 days (RS+14) the pocket expense and monetary losses for labour absences were considered. Costs were expressed in equivalent Cuban pesos to American dollars (1 CUC = 1 USD). Information from official records in health institutions and from interviews to workers and RS+14 was obtained. Social cost of tuberculosis cases detection for an RS+14 was in average 24,11 CUC, and institutional cost was 12,55; for clinical investigation 0.37; for sputum smear microscopy 2,25; for culture 7,05; for thorax X-ray 1,67; for notification 3,07; and for registering 0,36. The biggest costs were observed in sputum smear microscopies and cultures performance; salaries and reagents were the issues contributing more in that cost. The results obtained in this study could be extrapolated to other municipalities in the country with social and economic conditions similar to La Habana Vieja.

Detecting Parental Deception Using a Behavior Rating Scale during Assessment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: An Experimental Study

Science.gov (United States)

Norfolk, Philip A.; Floyd, Randy G.

2016-01-01

It is often assumed that parents completing behavior rating scales during the assessment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can deliberately manipulate the outcomes of the assessment. To detect these actions, items designed to detect over-reporting or under-reporting of results are sometimes embedded in such rating scales. This…

Measles cases among adolescents in southern Pakistan 2012-2015: The case for revisiting vaccination strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Shakoor, Sadia; Khan, Erum; Rajput, Muhammad Imran; Rahimoon, Wali Muhammad

2017-07-03

Surveillance of adult measles in Pakistan is a challenge as it does not enjoy the status of a reportable disease unlike childhood cases and therefore cases remain undetected and unreported or misdiagnosed. Consequently no data or estimates of young adult cases, seroprevalence, or estimates of susceptible preadolescent or young adult population exist. We have presented both laboratory conformed and clinically suspected cases of measles occurring in adolescents and adults in the southern province of Sindh in Pakistan. Through an examination of 2 independent databases, i.e. a laboratory database of measles IgM positive cases and clinically detected cases on surveillance performed by the Disease Early Warning System, we have analyzed and reported age-specific positivity rates from 2012 to 2015 in Sindh, Pakistan. High rates of laboratory confirmed measles were observed in those aged 9 y and younger. Among adolescents and adults, significantly higher positivity rates were observed among those aged 10-19 y. Clinically detected cases from Sindh showed similar distribution of cases. High burden of cases among children <9 y of age confirm that supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) among this age group are inadequate and need to be strengthened. Cases among those 10-19 y further demonstrate the need for consolidating SIAs with an additional strategy to vaccinate those who remain non-immune at college entry and in institutions where outbreaks can be prevented. Such measures are essential to achieving the goal of measles elimination in the country and region.

Cooperation schemes for rate enhancement in detect-and-forward relay channels

KAUST Repository

Benjillali, Mustapha

2010-05-01

To improve the spectral efficiency of "Detect-and-Forward" (DetF) half-duplex relaying in fading channels, we propose a cooperation scheme where the relay uses a modulation whose order is higher than the one at the source. In a new common framework, we show that the proposed scheme offers considerable gains - in terms of achievable information rates - compared to the conventional DetF relaying schemes for both orthogonal and non-orthogonal source/relay cooperation. This allows us to propose an adaptive cooperation scheme based on the maximization of the information rate at the destination which needs to observe only the average signal-to-noise ratios of direct and relaying links. ©2010 IEEE.

Ability of Ultrasonography in Detection of Different Extremity Bone Fractures; a Case Series Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bozorgi, Farzad; Shayesteh Azar, Massoud; Montazer, Seyed Hossein; Chabra, Aroona; Heidari, Seyed Farshad; Khalilian, Alireza

2017-01-01

Despite radiography being the gold standard in evaluation of orthopedic injuries, using bedside ultrasonography has several potential supremacies such as avoiding exposure to ionizing radiation, availability in pre-hospital settings, being extensively accessible, and ability to be used on the bedside. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography in detection of extremity bone fractures. This study is a case series study, which was prospectively conducted on multiple blunt trauma patients, who were 18 years old or older, had stable hemodynamic, Glasgow coma scale 15, and signs or symptoms of a possible extremity bone fracture. After initial assessment, ultrasonography of suspected bones was performed by a trained emergency medicine resident and prevalence of true positive and false negative findings were calculated compared to plain radiology. 108 patients with the mean age of 44.6 ± 20.4 years were studied (67.6% male). Analysis was done on 158 sites of fracture, which were confirmed with plain radiography. 91 (57.6%) cases were suspected to have upper extremity fracture(s) and 67 (42.4%) to have lower ones. The most frequent site of injuries were forearm (36.7%) in upper limbs and leg (27.8%) in lower limbs. Prevalence of true positive and false negative cases for fractures detected by ultrasonography were 59 (64.8%) and 32 (35.52%) for upper and 49 (73.1%) and 18 (26.9%) for lower extremities, respectively. In addition, prevalence of true positive and false negative detected cases for intra-articular fractures were 24 (48%) and 26 (52%), respectively. The present study shows the moderate sensitivity (68.3%) of ultrasonography in detection of different extremity bone fractures. Ultrasonography showed the best sensitivity in detection of femur (100%) and humerus (76.2%) fractures, respectively. It had low sensitivity in detection of in intra-articular fractures.

A burst-mode photon counting receiver with automatic channel estimation and bit rate detection

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, Hemonth G.; DeVoe, Catherine E.; Fletcher, Andrew S.; Gaschits, Igor D.; Hakimi, Farhad; Hamilton, Scott A.; Hardy, Nicholas D.; Ingwersen, John G.; Kaminsky, Richard D.; Moores, John D.; Scheinbart, Marvin S.; Yarnall, Timothy M.

2016-04-01

We demonstrate a multi-rate burst-mode photon-counting receiver for undersea communication at data rates up to 10.416 Mb/s over a 30-foot water channel. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of burst-mode photon-counting communication. With added attenuation, the maximum link loss is 97.1 dB at λ=517 nm. In clear ocean water, this equates to link distances up to 148 meters. For λ=470 nm, the achievable link distance in clear ocean water is 450 meters. The receiver incorporates soft-decision forward error correction (FEC) based on a product code of an inner LDPC code and an outer BCH code. The FEC supports multiple code rates to achieve error-free performance. We have selected a burst-mode receiver architecture to provide robust performance with respect to unpredictable channel obstructions. The receiver is capable of on-the-fly data rate detection and adapts to changing levels of signal and background light. The receiver updates its phase alignment and channel estimates every 1.6 ms, allowing for rapid changes in water quality as well as motion between transmitter and receiver. We demonstrate on-the-fly rate detection, channel BER within 0.2 dB of theory across all data rates, and error-free performance within 1.82 dB of soft-decision capacity across all tested code rates. All signal processing is done in FPGAs and runs continuously in real time.

Respiration rate detection based on intensity modulation using plastic optical fiber

Science.gov (United States)

Anwar, Zawawi Mohd; Ziran Nurul Sufia, Nor; Hadi, Manap

2017-11-01

This paper presents the implementation of respiration rate measurement via a simple intensity-based optical fiber sensor using optical fiber technology. The breathing rate is measured based on the light intensity variation due to the longitudinal gap changes between two separated fibers. In order to monitor the breathing rate continuously, the output from the photodetector conditioning circuit is connected to a low-cost Arduino kit. At the sensing point, two optical fiber cables are positioned in series with a small gap and fitted inside a transparent plastic tube. To ensure smooth movement of the fiber during inhale and exhale processes as well as to maintain the gap of the fiber during idle condition, the fiber is attached firmly to a stretchable bandage. This study shows that this simple fiber arrangement can be applied to detect respiration activity which might be critical for patient monitoring.

Respiration rate detection based on intensity modulation using plastic optical fiber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Anwar Zawawi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the implementation of respiration rate measurement via a simple intensity-based optical fiber sensor using optical fiber technology. The breathing rate is measured based on the light intensity variation due to the longitudinal gap changes between two separated fibers. In order to monitor the breathing rate continuously, the output from the photodetector conditioning circuit is connected to a low-cost Arduino kit. At the sensing point, two optical fiber cables are positioned in series with a small gap and fitted inside a transparent plastic tube. To ensure smooth movement of the fiber during inhale and exhale processes as well as to maintain the gap of the fiber during idle condition, the fiber is attached firmly to a stretchable bandage. This study shows that this simple fiber arrangement can be applied to detect respiration activity which might be critical for patient monitoring.

Detection of new paternal dystrophin gene mutations in isolated cases of dystrophinopathy in females

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pegoraro, E.; Wessel, H.B.; Schwartz, L.; Hoffman, E.P. (Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)); Schimke, R.N. (Kansas Univ. Medical Center, Kansas City (United States)); Arahata, Kiichi; Hayashi, Yukiko (National Institute of Neurosciences, Tokyo (Japan)); Stern, H. (Children' s National Medical Center, Washington, DC (United States)); Marks, H. (A.I. duPont Institute, Wilmington (United States)); Glasberg, M.R. (Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI (United States)) (and others)

1994-06-01

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is one of the most common lethal monogenic disorders and is caused by dystrophin deficiency. The disease is transmitted as an X-linked recessive trait; however, recent biochemical and clinical studies have shown that many girls and women with a primary myopathy have an underlying dystrophinopathy, despite a negative family history for Duchenne dystrophy. These isolated female dystrophinopathy patients carried ambiguous diagnoses with presumed autosomal recessive inheritance (limb-girdle muscular dystrophy) prior to biochemical detection of dystrophin abnormalities in their muscle biopsy. It has been assumed that these female dystrophinopathy patients are heterozygous carries who show preferential inactivation of the X chromosome harboring the normal dystrophin gene, although this has been shown for only a few X:autosome translocations and for two cases of discordant monozygotic twin female carriers. Here the authors study X-inactivation patterns of 13 female dystrophinopathy patients - 10 isolated cases and 3 cases with a positive family history for Duchenne dystrophy in males. They show that all cases have skewed X-inactivation patterns in peripheral blood DNA. Of the nine isolated cases informative in the assay, eight showed inheritance of the dystrophin gene mutation from the paternal germ line. Only a single case showed maternal inheritance. The 10-fold higher incidence of paternal transmission of dystrophin gene mutations in these cases is at 30-fold variance with Bayesian predictions and gene mutation rates. Thus, the results suggest some mechanistic interaction between new dystrophin gene mutations, paternal inheritance, and skewed X inactivation. The results provide both empirical risk data and a molecular diagnostic test method, which permit genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis of this new category of patients. 58 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs.

A Case of a Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy-Defibrillator Exhibiting a Lower and Alternately Variable Basic Rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwazaki, Keigo; Kojima, Toshiya; Murasawa, Takahide; Yokota, Jun; Tanimoto, Hikaru; Matsuda, Jun; Fukuma, Nobuaki; Matsubara, Takumi; Shimizu, Yu; Oguri, Gaku; Hasumi, Eriko; Kubo, Hitoshi; Chang, Kyungho; Fujiu, Katsuhito; Komuro, Issei

2018-04-06

A cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D) (Medtronic Inc. Protecta XT) was implanted in a 67-year-old man who had cardiac sarcoidosis with extremely low cardiac function. He had ventricular tachycardia which was controlled by catheter ablation, medication and pacing. The programmed mode was DDI, lower rate was 90 beats/minute, paced AV delay was 150 ms, and the noncompetitive atrial pacing (NCAP) function was programmed as 300 ms.After his admission for pneumonia and heart failure, we changed his DDI mode to a DDD mode because he had atrial tachycardia, which led to inadequate bi-ventricular pacing. After a while, there were cycle lengths which were longer than his device setting and alternately varied. We were able to avoid this phenomenon with AV delay of 120 ms and NCAP of 200 ms.NCAP is an algorithm which creates a gap above a certain period after the detection of an atrial signal during the postventricular atrial refractory period of the pacemaker. This is to prevent atrial tachycardia and repetitive non-reentrant ventriculoatrial (VA) synchrony in the presence of retrograde VA conduction. But in this case, NCAP algorithm induced much lower rate than the programmed basic lower rate. This situation produced some arrhythmias and exacerbated symptoms of heart failure. This had to be paid attention to, especially when the device was programmed at high basic heart rate.

The Diurnal Variation of the Wimp Detection Event Rates in Directional Experiments

CERN Document Server

Vergados, J D

2009-01-01

The recent WMAP data have confirmed that exotic dark matter together with the vacuum energy (cosmological constant) dominate in the flat Universe. Modern particle theories naturally provide viable cold dark matter candidates with masses in the GeV-TeV region. Supersymmetry provides the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), theories in extra dimensions supply the lightest Kaluza-Klein particle (LKP) etc. The nature of dark matter can only be unraveled only by its direct detection in the laboratory. All such candidates will be called WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). In any case the direct dark matter search, which amounts to detecting the recoiling nucleus, following its collision with WIMP, is central to particle physics and cosmology. In this work we briefly review the theoretical elements relevant to the direct dark matter detection experiments, paying particular attention to directional experiments. i.e experiments in which, not only the energy but the direction of the recoiling nucleus is ob...

Leadership training to improve adenoma detection rate in screening colonoscopy: A randomised trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.F. Kaminski (Michal); J. Anderson (John); R.M. Valori (Roland ); E. Kraszewska (Ewa); M. Rupinski (Maciej); J. Pachlewski (Jacek); E. Wronska (Ewa); M. Bretthauer (Michael); S. Thomas-Gibson (Siwan); E.J. Kuipers (Ernst); J. Regula (J.)

2016-01-01

textabstractObjective Suboptimal adenoma detection rate (ADR) at colonoscopy is associated with increased risk of interval colorectal cancer. It is uncertain how ADR might be improved. We compared the effect of leadership training versus feedback only on colonoscopy quality in a countrywide

FPGA Implementation of Heart Rate Monitoring System.

Science.gov (United States)

Panigrahy, D; Rakshit, M; Sahu, P K

2016-03-01

This paper describes a field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation of a system that calculates the heart rate from Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. After heart rate calculation, tachycardia, bradycardia or normal heart rate can easily be detected. ECG is a diagnosis tool routinely used to access the electrical activities and muscular function of the heart. Heart rate is calculated by detecting the R peaks from the ECG signal. To provide a portable and the continuous heart rate monitoring system for patients using ECG, needs a dedicated hardware. FPGA provides easy testability, allows faster implementation and verification option for implementing a new design. We have proposed a five-stage based methodology by using basic VHDL blocks like addition, multiplication and data conversion (real to the fixed point and vice-versa). Our proposed heart rate calculation (R-peak detection) method has been validated, using 48 first channel ECG records of the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. It shows an accuracy of 99.84%, the sensitivity of 99.94% and the positive predictive value of 99.89%. Our proposed method outperforms other well-known methods in case of pathological ECG signals and successfully implemented in FPGA.

Detection unit for measuring dose rate and/or dose of gamma radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Viererbl, L.

1987-01-01

A detection unit is designed consisting of a scintillation detector of the NaI(Tl) type on which there is a correction filter. The filter is an aluminium case in which are placed alternately side by side lead and iron absorption layers. The sensitivity of the detector with this filter is constant for gamma energy within the range 50 to 1300 keV. (M.D.). 2 figs

Detection device for pipeway water leakage in building

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanawa, Jun.

1988-01-01

Purpose: To rapidly detect pipeway leakage at predetermined areas over a wide range in a building. Constitution: If flooding should occur in a power plant building and left as it is, emergency core cooling system, as well as auxiliary equipments and electrical equipments of the system are flooded to make the safety shutdown of the plant impossible. The present invention copes with such a risk. That is, an inlet flow meter and as exit flow meter are disposed to the inlet and the exit of pipeways disposed in a predetermined region in the building and a flow rate difference detector between them is disposed. In this way, pipeway leakage is detected by detecting the flow rate difference between the inlet flow rate and the exit flow rate of the pipeway in the predetermined region. According to the present invention, if a pipeway in a predetermined region is raptured to cause water leakage, the pipeway leakage can rapidly be detected depending on the flow rate difference between the inlet flow rate and the exit flow rate. Further, the water leakage over the entire the predetermined region can be detected rapidly as compared with the conventional case of detecting the leakage at a restricted portion where the leakage detector is disposed. (Kamimura, M.)

The detection rates and tumor clinical/pathological stages of whole-body FDG-PET cancer screening

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ono, Ken; Omagari, Junichi; Ochiai, Reiji; Yoshida, Tsuyoshi; Kitagawa, Mami; Kobayashi, Hisashi; Yamashita, Yasuyuki

2007-01-01

Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) has been used for cancer screening, mainly in East-Asia, and cancers are found not infrequently. However, their stages have not been clarified. We examined the detection rates of various cancers using whole-body PET for the screening of cancers in asymptomatic individuals, focusing on their clinical and pathological stages. Whole-body PET was obtained as a part of our cancer screening program among 3,426 healthy subjects. All subjects participated in a course of PET examination in conjunction with conventional examinations including a medical questionnaire, tumor markers, immunological fecal occult blood test, neck and abdominal ultrasonography and whole body computed tomography. A diagnosis and staging was obtained by an analysis of the pathological findings or by an analysis of the clinical follow-up data. Malignant tumors were discovered in 65 lesions found in 3,426 participants (1.90%). The PET findings were true-positive in 46 of the 65 cancer cases. The cancers were found in the following organs: the colon 14; thyroid gland 10; stomach 7; lung 5; liver 3; breast 2; and one each in the kidney, gallbladder, esophagus, pancreas and retroperitoneum. The stages were as follows: stage 0 5, stage I 17, stage II 10, stage III 7, and stage IV 6. One was an unknown primary. There were 19 false-negative findings (0.6%) on PET. Six cancers (0.18%) were missed in our screening program. PET imaging has the potential to detect a wide variety of cancers at potentially curative stages. Most PET-negative cancers are early stage cancers, and thus can be detected using other conventional examinations such as endoscopy. (author)

Detecting a Defective Casing Seal at the Top of a Bedrock Aquifer.

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, Sandra K; Chesnaux, Romain; Rouleau, Alain

2016-03-01

An improperly sealed casing can produce a direct hydraulic connection between two or more originally isolated aquifers with important consequences regarding groundwater quantity and quality. A recent study by Richard et al. (2014) investigated a monitoring well installed in a fractured rock aquifer with a defective casing seal at the soil-bedrock interface. A hydraulic short circuit was detected that produced some leakage between the rock and the overlying deposits. A falling-head permeability test performed in this well showed that the usual method of data interpretation is not valid in this particular case due to the presence of a piezometric error. This error is the direct result of the preferential flow originating from the hydraulic short circuit and the subsequent re-equilibration of the piezometric levels of both aquifers in the vicinity of the inlet and the outlet of the defective seal. Numerical simulations of groundwater circulation around the well support the observed impact of the hydraulic short circuit on the results of the falling-head permeability test. These observations demonstrate that a properly designed falling-head permeability test may be useful in the detection of defective casing seals. © 2015, National Ground Water Association.

Transfer Rate Edited experiment for the selective detection of Chemical Exchange via Saturation Transfer (TRE-CEST)

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Joshua I.; Xia, Ding; Regatte, Ravinder R.; Jerschow, Alexej

2015-07-01

Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) magnetic resonance experiments have become valuable tools in magnetic resonance for the detection of low concentration solutes with far greater sensitivity than direct detection methods. Accurate measures of rates of chemical exchange provided by CEST are of particular interest to biomedical imaging communities where variations in chemical exchange can be related to subtle variations in biomarker concentration, temperature and pH within tissues using MRI. Despite their name, however, traditional CEST methods are not truly selective for chemical exchange and instead detect all forms of magnetization transfer including through-space NOE. This ambiguity crowds CEST spectra and greatly complicates subsequent data analysis. We have developed a Transfer Rate Edited CEST experiment (TRE-CEST) that uses two different types of solute labeling in order to selectively amplify signals of rapidly exchanging proton species while simultaneously suppressing 'slower' NOE-dominated magnetization transfer processes. This approach is demonstrated in the context of both NMR and MRI, where it is used to detect the labile amide protons of proteins undergoing chemical exchange (at rates ⩾ 30 s-1) while simultaneously eliminating signals originating from slower (∼5 s-1) NOE-mediated magnetization transfer processes. TRE-CEST greatly expands the utility of CEST experiments in complex systems, and in-vivo, in particular, where it is expected to improve the quantification of chemical exchange and magnetization transfer rates while enabling new forms of imaging contrast.

A pragmatic approach to measuring, monitoring and evaluating interventions for improved tuberculosis case detection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blok, Lucie; Creswell, Jacob; Stevens, Robert; Brouwer, Miranda; Ramis, Oriol; Weil, Olivier; Klatser, Paul; Sahu, Suvanand; Bakker, Mirjam I.

2014-01-01

The inability to detect all individuals with active tuberculosis has led to a growing interest in new approaches to improve case detection. Policy makers and program staff face important challenges measuring effectiveness of newly introduced interventions and reviewing feasibility of scaling-up

A pragmatic approach to measuring, monitoring and evaluating interventions for improved tuberculosis case detection.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blok, L; Creswell, J; Stevens, R.; Brouwer, M; Ramis, O; Weil, O; Klatser, P.R.; Sahu, S; Bakker, M.I.

2014-01-01

The inability to detect all individuals with active tuberculosis has led to a growing interest in new approaches to improve case detection. Policy makers and program staff face important challenges measuring effectiveness of newly introduced interventions and reviewing feasibility of scaling-up

Time-Frequency Analysis of Terahertz Radar Signals for Rapid Heart and Breath Rate Detection

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Massar, Melody L

2008-01-01

We develop new time-frequency analytic techniques which facilitate the detection of a person's heart and breath rates from the Doppler shift the movement of their body induces in a terahertz radar signal...

Interest of the technical detection of the sentinel node applied to uterine cancers: about three cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ech charraq, I.; Ben Rais, N.; Ech charra, I.; Albertini, A.F.

2009-01-01

Introduction The sentinel node technique (S.N.) was proposed in cervical cancers in order to optimise the diagnosis of metastases and the lymphatic micrometastases in the early stages while avoiding useless wide clearings out. The identification of this node is done by injection of a dye and/or a radioactive colloid and its ablation for pathological examination. Patients and methods We report the case of three patients followed for a uterine cancer having benefited from a lymphoscintigraphy before surgery. During the surgical procedure, the detection of the sentinel node was carried out after cervical injection of blue dye and using a gamma detection probe. Results The lymphoscintigraphy was positive for two cases with a positive detection for the three cases during the operation. The pathological study revealed a node metastasis for one case. The technical of the sentinel node applied to uterine cancers appears realizable essentially for uterine cancers of early stage (I). However the risk of false negative can be observed in advanced cancer (III), as it is the case of our patient having a negative lymphoscintigraphy. Conclusion The nuclear medicine is important in the detection of the sentinel node of various cancers, uterine cancer included, thus allowing an appropriate cardiologic management. (authors)

Detection rate of serrated polyps and serrated polyposis syndrome in colorectal cancer screening cohorts: a European overview.

Science.gov (United States)

IJspeert, J E G; Bevan, R; Senore, C; Kaminski, M F; Kuipers, E J; Mroz, A; Bessa, X; Cassoni, P; Hassan, C; Repici, A; Balaguer, F; Rees, C J; Dekker, E

2017-07-01

The role of serrated polyps (SPs) as colorectal cancer precursor is increasingly recognised. However, the true prevalence SPs is largely unknown. We aimed to evaluate the detection rate of SPs subtypes as well as serrated polyposis syndrome (SPS) among European screening cohorts. Prospectively collected screening cohorts of ≥1000 individuals were eligible for inclusion. Colonoscopies performed before 2009 and/or in individuals aged below 50 were excluded. Rate of SPs was assessed, categorised for histology, location and size. Age-sex-standardised number needed to screen (NNS) to detect SPs were calculated. Rate of SPS was assessed in cohorts with known colonoscopy follow-up data. Clinically relevant SPs (regarded as a separate entity) were defined as SPs ≥10 mm and/or SPs >5 mm in the proximal colon. Three faecal occult blood test (FOBT) screening cohorts and two primary colonoscopy screening cohorts (range 1.426-205.949 individuals) were included. Rate of SPs ranged between 15.1% and 27.2% (median 19.5%), of sessile serrated polyps between 2.2% and 4.8% (median 3.3%) and of clinically relevant SPs between 2.1% and 7.8% (median 4.6%). Rate of SPs was similar in FOBT-based cohorts as in colonoscopy screening cohorts. No apparent association between the rate of SP and gender or age was shown. Rate of SPS ranged from 0% to 0.5%, which increased to 0.4% to 0.8% after follow-up colonoscopy. The detection rate of SPs is variable among screening cohorts, and standards for reporting, detection and histopathological assessment should be established. The median rate, as found in this study, may contribute to define uniform minimum standards for males and females between 50 and 75 years of age. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

The lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative gamma detection of sentinel lymph node in oral cavity carcinoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Xinming; Zhang Jingmian; Wang Jianfang; Li Dezhi; Sun Li; Dai Chunnuan; He Yang

2006-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the role of lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative gamma probe detection of sentinel lymph node (SLN) in oral cavity carcinoma. Methods: 99 Tc m labeled dextran (DX) was injected submucously at the center of oral cavity carcinoma before operation. The SLN identified by lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative gamma counter probe were dissected out from the exited tissue. All sentinel and other lymph nodes were sent for pathological examination. Results: In all 33 cases, SLN and other lymph nodes were clear identified by lymphoscintigraphy. Forty-three SLNs were seen, among them 1 in 25 cases, 2 in 6 cases and 3 in 2 cases. Metastases were detected by biopsy in SLN in 9 cases, however, 11 cases showed positive neck lymph node metastases. The sensitivity of SLN gamma detection was 100% and in biopsy sensitivity was 81.82%, accuracy was 93.94%, false positive rate was 0, and false negative rate was 18.18%. Conclusions: Intraoperative gamma probe detection is the reliable approach to identify SLN in oral cavity carcinoma. Lymphoscintigraphy is the base of localization for oral cavity carcinoma. (authors)

Narrow Band Imaging Enhances the Detection Rate of Penetration and Aspiration in FEES.

Science.gov (United States)

Nienstedt, Julie C; Müller, Frank; Nießen, Almut; Fleischer, Susanne; Koseki, Jana-Christiane; Flügel, Till; Pflug, Christina

2017-06-01

Narrow band imaging (NBI) is widely used in gastrointestinal, laryngeal, and urological endoscopy. Its original purpose was to visualize vessels and epithelial irregularities. Based on our observation that adding NBI to common white light (WL) improves the contrast of the test bolus in fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES), we now investigated the potential value of NBI in swallowing disorders. 148 FEES images were analyzed from 74 consecutive patients with swallowing disorders, including 74 with and 74 without NBI. All images were evaluated by four dysphagia specialists. Findings were classified according to Rosenbek's penetration-aspiration scale modified for evaluating these FEES images. Intra- and inter-rater reliability was determined as well as observer confidence. A better visualization of the bolus is the main advantage of NBI in FEES. This generally leads to sharper optical contrasts and better detection of small bolus quantities. Accordingly, NBI enhances the detection rate of penetration and aspiration. On average, identification of laryngeal penetration increased from 40 to 73% and of aspiration from 13 to 24% (each p dysphagia evaluation and shortening FEES evaluation time. It leads to a markedly higher detection rate of pathological findings. The significantly better intra- and inter-rater reliability argues further for a better overall reproducibly of FEES interpretation.

High prevalence of tuberculosis and insufficient case detection in two communities in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mareli Claassens

Full Text Available In South Africa the estimated incidence of all forms of tuberculosis (TB for 2008 was 960/100000. It was reported that all South Africans lived in districts with Directly Observed Therapy, Short-course. However, the 2011 WHO report indicated South Africa as the only country in the world where the TB incidence is still rising.To report the results of a TB prevalence survey and to determine the speed of TB case detection in the study communities.In 2005 a TB prevalence survey was done to inform the sample size calculation for the ZAMSTAR (Zambia South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction trial. It was a cluster survey with clustering by enumeration area; all households were visited within enumeration areas and informed consent obtained from eligible adults. A questionnaire was completed and a sputum sample collected from each adult. Samples were inoculated on both liquid mycobacterium growth indicator tube (MGIT and Löwenstein-Jensen media. A follow-up HIV prevalence survey was done in 2007.In Community A, the adjusted prevalence of culture positive TB was 32/1000 (95%CI 25-41/1000 and of smear positive TB 8/1000 (95%CI 5-13/1000. In Community B, the adjusted prevalence of culture positive TB was 24/1000 (95%CI 17-32/1000 and of smear positive TB 9/1000 (95%CI 6-15/1000. In Community A the patient diagnostic rate was 0.38/person-year while in community B it was 0.30/person-year. In both communities the adjusted HIV prevalence was 25% (19-30%.In both communities a higher TB prevalence than national estimates and a low patient diagnostic rate was calculated, suggesting that cases are not detected at a sufficient rate to interrupt transmission. These findings may contribute to the rising TB incidence in South Africa. The TB epidemic should therefore be addressed rapidly and effectively, especially in the presence of the concurrently high HIV prevalence.

Leveraging tuberculosis case relative locations to enhance case detection and linkage to care in Swaziland.

Science.gov (United States)

Brunetti, Marie; Rajasekharan, Sathyanath; Ustero, Piluca; Ngo, Katherine; Sikhondze, Welile; Mzileni, Buli; Mandalakas, Anna; Kay, Alexander W

2018-01-01

In Swaziland, as in many high HIV/TB burden settings, there is not information available regarding the household location of TB cases for identifying areas of increased TB incidence, limiting the development of targeted interventions. Data from "Butimba", a TB REACH active case finding project, was re-analyzed to provide insight into the location of TB cases surrounding Mbabane, Swaziland. The project aimed to identify geographical areas with high TB burdens to inform active case finding efforts. Butimba implemented household contact tracing; obtaining landmark based, informal directions, to index case homes, defined here as relative locations. The relative locations were matched to census enumeration areas (known location reference areas) using the Microsoft Excel Fuzzy Lookup function. Of 403 relative locations, an enumeration area reference was detected in 388 (96%). TB cases in each census enumeration area and the active case finders in each Tinkhundla, a local governmental region, were mapped using the geographic information system, QGIS 2.16. Urban Tinkhundla predictably accounted for most cases; however, after adjusting for population, the highest density of cases was found in rural Tinkhundla. There was no correlation between the number of active case finders currently assigned to the 7 Tinkhundla surrounding Mbabane and the total number of TB cases (Spearman rho = -0.57, p  = 0.17) or the population adjusted TB cases (Spearman rho = 0.14, p  = 0.75) per Tinkhundla. Reducing TB incidence in high-burden settings demands novel analytic approaches to study TB case locations. We demonstrated the feasibility of linking relative locations to more precise geographical areas, enabling data-driven guidance for National Tuberculosis Programs' resource allocation. In collaboration with the Swazi National Tuberculosis Control Program, this analysis highlighted opportunities to better align the active case finding national strategy with the TB disease

Effect of recall rate on earlier screen detection of breast cancers based on the Dutch performance indicators.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Otten, J.D.M.; Karssemeijer, N.; Hendriks, J.H.C.L.; Groenewoud, J.H.; Fracheboud, J.; Verbeek, A.L.M.; Koning, H.J. de; Holland, R.

2005-01-01

BACKGROUND: The recall rate (i.e., the rate at which mammographically screened women are recalled for additional assessment) in the Dutch breast screening program (0.89% in 2000 for subsequent examinations) is the lowest worldwide, with possible consequences including higher rates of late-detected

Radiological evaluation of early gastric cancer: analysis of 104 cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Byung Ihn; Kim, Jae Hyung; Han, Man Chung

1987-01-01

During the two year period from January 1985 to December 1986, 161 cases were confirmed as early gastric cancer by pathologic mapping at Seoul National University Hospital. Among them, the authors reviewed 104 cases of early gastric cancer for the evaluation of diagnostic value of double contrast upper gastrointestinal series. Early gastric cancer was most common in 5th and 6th decade (64%) and male to female ratio was 2:1. Double contrast upper GI series could detect 97 out of 104 cases (93%). Among them, 62 cases were diagnosed as early gastric cancer, 32 as advanced gastric cancer and 3 as benign lesion. Detection rate according to the size was 100% in lesion larger than 2cm and 87% in lesion smaller than 2cm. Predictability of early gastric cancer according to size was 66% in lesion smaller than 3cm and 43% in lesion larger than 3cm. Detection rate according to the location of the tumor was almost similar between gastric body (94%) and antrum (93%), however was very low in anterior wall lesion (70%). Predictability of early gastric cancer was 69% in gastric body lesion, 52% in gastric antral lesion and 44% in greater curvature lesion. Detection rate according to the type of macrospecimen was 100% in type I, III and IIc+III. Type IIb showed the lowest detection rate (75%). Predictability of early gastric cancer was high in type IIc (68%) and low in type I (20%)

Response rates in case-control studies of cancer by era of fieldwork and by characteristics of study design.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Mengting; Richardson, Lesley; Campbell, Sally; Pintos, Javier; Siemiatycki, Jack

2018-04-09

The purpose of this study was to describe time trends in response rates in case-control studies of cancer and identify study design factors that influence response rate. We reviewed 370 case-control studies of cancer published in 12 journals during indicator years in each of the last four decades. We estimated time trends of response rates and reasons for nonresponse in each of the following types of study subjects: cases, medical source controls, and population controls. We also estimated response rates according to characteristics of study context. Median response rates among cases and population controls were between 75% and 80% in the 1970s. Between 1971 and 2010, study response rates declined by 0.31% per year for cases and 0.78% for population controls. Only a minority of studies reported reasons for nonparticipation; subject refusal was the most common reported reason. Studies conducted in North America had lower median response rates than studies conducted in Europe. In-person and telephone interviews elicited higher response rates than mail questionnaires. Response rates from case-control studies of cancer have declined, and this could threaten the validity of results derived from these studies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mobile phones improve case detection and management of malaria in rural Bangladesh

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background The recent introduction of mobile phones into the rural Bandarban district of Bangladesh provided a resource to improve case detection and treatment of patients with malaria. Methods During studies to define the epidemiology of malaria in villages in south-eastern Bangladesh, an area with hypoendemic malaria, the project recorded 986 mobile phone calls from families because of illness suspected to be malaria between June 2010 and June 2012. Results Based on phone calls, field workers visited the homes with ill persons, and collected blood samples for malaria on 1,046 people. 265 (25%) of the patients tested were positive for malaria. Of the 509 symptomatic malaria cases diagnosed during this study period, 265 (52%) were detected because of an initial mobile phone call. Conclusion Mobile phone technology was found to be an efficient and effective method for rapidly detecting and treating patients with malaria in this remote area. This technology, when combined with local knowledge and field support, may be applicable to other hard-to-reach areas to improve malaria control. PMID:23374585

[Detection rates of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents with different ethnicities in Xinjiang Uigur areas].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Haixia; Li, Xiaomei; Tao, Jing; Ma, Yitong; Yang, Yining; Liu, Fen; Chen, Bangdang; Xie, Xiang; Yang, Hong

2014-01-01

To investigate the detection rates of overweight and obesity among Han,Uygur and Kazakh Children and adolescents in Xinjiang. Random samples were used to analyze the detection rates on overweight and obesity based on data from Han,Uygur and Kazakh Children and adolescents aged 7-14 years from 3 regions-Hetian, Kashi and Fuhai prefectures in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Anthropometric data including weight and height was collected. Overweight and obesity were defined according to body mass index [BMI, weight (kg)/height (m²)] cutoffs recommended by the Chinese Working Group on Obesity for Children (WGOC)aged 7-14 years. The present study was performed in 11 894 Han, Uygur and Kazakh Children and adolescents aged 7-14 years. The overall prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were 5.6% and 2.9% respectively, which the difference between male and female was significant (χ² = 39.765, P overweight and obesity rate showed differences, with detection rate of overweight among Kazakh students was 12.0% , higher than the other ethnic groups. The obesity detection rate was 7.2% among Han students, which was the highest of the three ethnic groups, with differences statistically significant(χ² = 363.885, P overweight and obesity decreased with increasing age in various ethnic groups, showing a clear downward trend, with the peak at 7-9 year-olds and the difference was statistically significant(χ² = 101.479, P overweight and obesity among children and adolescents were significantly lower in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region than the national average level, with differences also seen in different ethnic, gender and age groups.

Delayed Detection of Esophageal Intubation in Anesthesia Malpractice Claims: Brief Report of a Case Series.

Science.gov (United States)

Honardar, Marzieh R; Posner, Karen L; Domino, Karen B

2017-12-01

This retrospective case series analyzed 45 malpractice claims for delayed detection of esophageal intubation from the Anesthesia Closed Claims Project. Inclusion criteria were cases from 1995 to 2013, after adoption of identification of CO2 in expired gas to verify correct endotracheal tube position as a monitoring standard by the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Forty-nine percent (95% confidence interval 34%-64%) occurred in the operating room or other anesthesia location where CO2 detection equipment should have been available. The most common factors contributing to delayed detection were not using, ignoring, or misinterpreting CO2 readings. Misdiagnosis, as with bronchospasm, occurred in 33% (95% confidence interval 20%).

Nodule detection methods using autocorrelation features on 3D chest CT scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hara, T.; Zhou, X.; Okura, S.; Fujita, H.; Kiryu, T.; Hoshi, H.

2007-01-01

Lung cancer screening using low dose X-ray CT scan has been an acceptable examination to detect cancers at early stage. We have been developing an automated detection scheme for lung nodules on CT scan by using second-order autocorrelation features and the initial performance for small nodules (< 10 mm) shows a high true-positive rate with less than four false-positive marks per case. In this study, an open database of lung images, LIDC (Lung Image Database Consortium), was employed to evaluate our detection scheme as an consistency test. The detection performance for solid and solitary nodules in LIDC, included in the first data set opened by the consortium, was 83% (10/12) true-positive rate with 3.3 false-positive marks per case. (orig.)

Medicaid payment rates, case-mix reimbursement, and nursing home staffing--1996-2004.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Zhanlian; Grabowski, David C; Intrator, Orna; Zinn, Jacqueline; Mor, Vincent

2008-01-01

We examined the impact of state Medicaid payment rates and case-mix reimbursement on direct care staffing levels in US nursing homes. We used a recent time series of national nursing home data from the Online Survey Certification and Reporting system for 1996-2004, merged with annual state Medicaid payment rates and case-mix reimbursement information. A 5-category response measure of total staffing levels was defined according to expert recommended thresholds, and examined in a multinomial logistic regression model. Facility fixed-effects models were estimated separately for Registered Nurse (RN), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), and Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) staffing levels measured as average hours per resident day. Higher Medicaid payment rates were associated with increases in total staffing levels to meet a higher recommended threshold. However, these gains in overall staffing were accompanied by a reduction of RN staffing and an increase in both LPN and CNA staffing levels. Under case-mix reimbursement, the likelihood of nursing homes achieving higher recommended staffing thresholds decreased, as did levels of professional staffing. Independent of the effects of state, market, and facility characteristics, there was a significant downward trend in RN staffing and an upward trend in both LPN and CNA staffing. Although overall staffing may increase in response to more generous Medicaid reimbursement, it may not translate into improvements in the skill mix of staff. Adjusting for reimbursement levels and resident acuity, total staffing has not increased after the implementation of case-mix reimbursement.

Invariance of the bit error rate in the ancilla-assisted homodyne detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Yuhsuke; Takeoka, Masahiro; Sasaki, Masahide

2010-01-01

We investigate the minimum achievable bit error rate of the discrimination of binary coherent states with the help of arbitrary ancillary states. We adopt homodyne measurement with a common phase of the local oscillator and classical feedforward control. After one ancillary state is measured, its outcome is referred to the preparation of the next ancillary state and the tuning of the next mixing with the signal. It is shown that the minimum bit error rate of the system is invariant under the following operations: feedforward control, deformations, and introduction of any ancillary state. We also discuss the possible generalization of the homodyne detection scheme.

Interventions to increase tuberculosis case detection at primary healthcare or community-level services.

Science.gov (United States)

Mhimbira, Francis A; Cuevas, Luis E; Dacombe, Russell; Mkopi, Abdallah; Sinclair, David

2017-11-28

Pulmonary tuberculosis is usually diagnosed when symptomatic individuals seek care at healthcare facilities, and healthcare workers have a minimal role in promoting the health-seeking behaviour. However, some policy specialists believe the healthcare system could be more active in tuberculosis diagnosis to increase tuberculosis case detection. To evaluate the effectiveness of different strategies to increase tuberculosis case detection through improving access (geographical, financial, educational) to tuberculosis diagnosis at primary healthcare or community-level services. We searched the following databases for relevant studies up to 19 December 2016: the Cochrane Infectious Disease Group Specialized Register; the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), published in the Cochrane Library, Issue 12, 2016; MEDLINE; Embase; Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index; BIOSIS Previews; and Scopus. We also searched the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO ICTRP), ClinicalTrials.gov, and the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) for ongoing trials. Randomized and non-randomized controlled studies comparing any intervention that aims to improve access to a tuberculosis diagnosis, with no intervention or an alternative intervention. Two review authors independently assessed trials for eligibility and risk of bias, and extracted data. We compared interventions using risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). We assessed the certainty of the evidence using the GRADE approach. We included nine cluster-randomized trials, one individual randomized trial, and seven non-randomized controlled studies. Nine studies were conducted in sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe), six in Asia (Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Nepal, and Pakistan), and two in South America (Brazil and Colombia); which are all high tuberculosis prevalence areas.Tuberculosis outreach

Reactive Case Detection for Plasmodium vivax Malaria Elimination in Rural Amazonia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo S Fontoura

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Malaria burden in Brazil has reached its lowest levels in 35 years and Plasmodium vivax now accounts for 84% of cases countrywide. Targeting residual malaria transmission entrenched in the Amazon is the next major challenge for ongoing elimination efforts. Better strategies are urgently needed to address the vast reservoir of asymptomatic P. vivax carriers in this and other areas approaching malaria elimination.We evaluated a reactive case detection (RCD strategy tailored for P. vivax transmission in farming settlements in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. Over six months, 41 cases detected by passive surveillance triggered four rounds of RCD (0, 30, 60, and 180 days after index case enrollment, using microscopy- and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR-based diagnosis, comprising subjects sharing the household (HH with the index case (n = 163, those living in the 5 nearest HHs within 3 km (n = 878, and individuals from 5 randomly chosen control HHs located > 5 km away from index cases (n = 841. Correlates of infection were identified with mixed-effects logistic regression models. Molecular genotyping was used to infer local parasite transmission networks.Subjects in index and neighbor HHs were significantly more likely to be parasitemic than control HH members, after adjusting for potential confounders, and together harbored > 90% of the P. vivax biomass in study subjects. Clustering patterns were temporally stable. Four rounds of microscopy-based RCD would identify only 49.5% of the infections diagnosed by qPCR, but 76.8% of the total parasite biomass circulating in the proximity of index HHs. However, control HHs accounted for 27.6% of qPCR-positive samples, 92.6% of them from asymptomatic carriers beyond the reach of RCD. Molecular genotyping revealed high P. vivax diversity, consistent with complex transmission networks and multiple sources of infection within clusters, potentially complicating malaria elimination efforts.

Polysplenia Syndrome Detected after Chest Symptoms in Two Adult Patients: Case Report and Review of Literature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yılmaz, Güliz; Akpınar, Süha H.; Alıcıoğlu, Banu

2014-01-01

Polisplenia syndrome (PSS) is a rare subtype of heterotaxy syndrome and means ambiguous location of the major thoracic and abdominal organs with vascular anomalies and multiple spleens. We reported on the findings of computed tomography (CT) of PSS in adults, detected incidentally. Two woman underwent a CT examination of the thorax for different thoracic pathologies. There were common abnormalities such as hyparterial bronchi and absence of middle lobe fissure on CTscans suggesting heterotaxy syndrome. Therefore, the abdominal CTs were performed to detect the accompanying abdominal anomalies. Our two cases defined as PSS were diagnosed with multiple spleens in the normal location in the abdomen. The left-dominant liver and short pancreas with agenesis of the pancreatic tail and lateral part of the body were detected on CT scan. In the first case, the vascular abnormalities were as follows: variant entrance of the main portal vein into the liver and atypically located superior mesenteric vein (SMV) joining with the splenic vein to form the portal vein. In the second case, the preduodenal portal vein and hemiazygos continuation with interruption of the hepatic segment of the inferior vena cava (IVC) were the vascular anomalies. The bowels were malrotated in the second case. Although such cases are usually admitted as abdominal emergency, our two cases were detected during examinations for thoracic and cardiac pathologies. The knowledge and awareness of PSS can be helpful to diagnose pathology and plan surgical procedures

Induced Temporal Signatures for Point-Source Detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stephens, Daniel L.; Runkle, Robert C.; Carlson, Deborah K.; Peurrung, Anthony J.; Seifert, Allen; Wyatt, Cory R.

2005-01-01

Detection of radioactive point-sized sources is inherently divided into two regimes encompassing stationary and moving detectors. The two cases differ in their treatment of background radiation and its influence on detection sensitivity. In the stationary detector case the statistical fluctuation of the background determines the minimum detectable quantity. In the moving detector case the detector may be subjected to widely and irregularly varying background radiation, as a result of geographical and environmental variation. This significant systematic variation, in conjunction with the statistical variation of the background, requires a conservative threshold to be selected to yield the same false-positive rate as the stationary detection case. This results in lost detection sensitivity for real sources. This work focuses on a simple and practical modification of the detector geometry that increase point-source recognition via a distinctive temporal signature. A key part of this effort is the integrated development of both detector geometries that induce a highly distinctive signature for point sources and the development of statistical algorithms able to optimize detection of this signature amidst varying background. The identification of temporal signatures for point sources has been demonstrated and compared with the canonical method showing good results. This work demonstrates that temporal signatures are efficient at increasing point-source discrimination in a moving detector system

Nonlinear detection for a high rate extended binary phase shift keying system.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xian-Qing; Wu, Le-Nan

2013-03-28

The algorithm and the results of a nonlinear detector using a machine learning technique called support vector machine (SVM) on an efficient modulation system with high data rate and low energy consumption is presented in this paper. Simulation results showed that the performance achieved by the SVM detector is comparable to that of a conventional threshold decision (TD) detector. The two detectors detect the received signals together with the special impacting filter (SIF) that can improve the energy utilization efficiency. However, unlike the TD detector, the SVM detector concentrates not only on reducing the BER of the detector, but also on providing accurate posterior probability estimates (PPEs), which can be used as soft-inputs of the LDPC decoder. The complexity of this detector is considered in this paper by using four features and simplifying the decision function. In addition, a bandwidth efficient transmission is analyzed with both SVM and TD detector. The SVM detector is more robust to sampling rate than TD detector. We find that the SVM is suitable for extended binary phase shift keying (EBPSK) signal detection and can provide accurate posterior probability for LDPC decoding.

Nonlinear Detection for a High Rate Extended Binary Phase Shift Keying System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Le-Nan Wu

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The algorithm and the results of a nonlinear detector using a machine learning technique called support vector machine (SVM on an efficient modulation system with high data rate and low energy consumption is presented in this paper. Simulation results showed that the performance achieved by the SVM detector is comparable to that of a conventional threshold decision (TD detector. The two detectors detect the received signals together with the special impacting filter (SIF that can improve the energy utilization efficiency. However, unlike the TD detector, the SVM detector concentrates not only on reducing the BER of the detector, but also on providing accurate posterior probability estimates (PPEs, which can be used as soft-inputs of the LDPC decoder. The complexity of this detector is considered in this paper by using four features and simplifying the decision function. In addition, a bandwidth efficient transmission is analyzed with both SVM and TD detector. The SVM detector is more robust to sampling rate than TD detector. We find that the SVM is suitable for extended binary phase shift keying (EBPSK signal detection and can provide accurate posterior probability for LDPC decoding.

Bleeding rates necessary for detecting acute gastrointestinal bleeding with technetium-99m-labeled red blood cells in an experimental model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorne, D.A.; Datz, F.L.; Remley, K.; Christian, P.E.

1987-01-01

Proponents of [/sup 99m/Tc]sulfur colloid for GI bleeding studies argue that, although labeled red blood cells are useful for intermittent bleeding, they are not capable of detecting low bleeding rates. Studies of dogs with experimental GI bleeding have indicated bleeding rates of 0.05 ml/min can be detected with [/sup 99m/Tc]sulfur colloid. Since similar data in the dog model were unavailable for /sup 99m/Tc-labeled red blood cells, we undertook this study. To simulate lower GI bleeding, catheters were inserted into the bowel lumen. Each dog's blood was labeled with /sup 99m/Tc using an in vitro technique. Venous blood was then withdrawn and re-infused into the lumen of the bowel using a Harvard pump. Fourteen dogs were studied, ten receiving a bleeding rate from 4.6-0.02 ml/min in the descending colon and four with proximal jejunal bleeds of 0.20-0.02 ml/min. Bleeding rates of 4.6-0.2 ml/min were detected within 10 min in the colon and bleeding rates as low as 0.04 ml/min were seen by 55 min. Slower bleeding rates were not detected. Similar findings were noted for proximal jejunal bleeds. Based on the time of appearance, a minimum volume of approximately 2-3 ml labeled blood was necessary to detect bleeding. We conclude that /sup 99m/Tc-labeled RBCs are sensitive for low bleeding rates in the dog model. The rates are comparable to those described for [/sup 99m/Tc]sulfur colloid in this experimental setting. The time of appearance of activity is related to the bleeding rate

Do Case Rates Affect Physicians' Clinical Practice in Radiation Oncology?: An Observational Study

Science.gov (United States)

Loy, Bryan A.; Shkedy, Clive I.; Powell, Adam C.; Happe, Laura E.; Royalty, Julie A.; Miao, Michael T.; Smith, Gary L.; Long, James W.; Gupta, Amit K.

2016-01-01

Case rate payments combined with utilization monitoring may have the potential to improve the quality of care by reducing over and under-treatment. Thus, a national managed care organization introduced case rate payments at one multi-site radiation oncology provider while maintaining only fee-for-service payments at others. This study examined whether the introduction of the payment method had an effect on radiation fractions administered when compared to clinical guidelines. The number of fractions of radiation therapy delivered to patients with bone metastases, breast, lung, prostate, and skin cancer was assessed for concordance with clinical guidelines. The proportion of guideline-based care ascertained from the payer's claims database was compared before (2011) and after (2013) the payment method introduction using relative risks (RR). After the introduction of case rates, there were no significant changes in guideline-based care in breast, lung, and skin cancer; however, patients with bone metastases and prostate cancer were significantly more likely to have received guideline-based care (RR = 2.0 and 1.1, respectively, ppayment model and assess implications in other populations. PMID:26870963

Automatic optimisation of gamma dose rate sensor networks: The DETECT Optimisation Tool

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helle, K.B.; Müller, T.O.; Astrup, Poul

2014-01-01

of the EU FP 7 project DETECT. It evaluates the gamma dose rates that a proposed set of sensors might measure in an emergency and uses this information to optimise the sensor locations. The gamma dose rates are taken from a comprehensive library of simulations of atmospheric radioactive plumes from 64......Fast delivery of comprehensive information on the radiological situation is essential for decision-making in nuclear emergencies. Most national radiological agencies in Europe employ gamma dose rate sensor networks to monitor radioactive pollution of the atmosphere. Sensor locations were often...... source locations. These simulations cover the whole European Union, so the DOT allows evaluation and optimisation of sensor networks for all EU countries, as well as evaluation of fencing sensors around possible sources. Users can choose from seven cost functions to evaluate the capability of a given...

A case of early detection of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw

OpenAIRE

Mori, Miyu; Koide, Tetsuro; Matsui, Yuriyo; Matsuda, Toru

2015-01-01

Osteonecrosis of the jaws is an adverse reaction associated with the use of bisphosphonates. Although the diagnosis of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) is based on symptomatology, it is often detected late because the patients become symptomatic only after osteonecrosis is well established. We describe a case of early oral BRONJ detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) accidentally. Head MRI revealed low signal of T1-weight images in left mandibula. Patient had been...

High detection rate of dog circovirus in diarrheal dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Han-Siang; Lin, Ting-Han; Wu, Hung-Yi; Lin, Lee-Shuan; Chung, Cheng-Shu; Chiou, Ming-Tang; Lin, Chao-Nan

2016-06-17

Diarrhea is one of the most common clinical symptoms reported in companion animal clinics. Dog circovirus (DogCV) is a new mammalian circovirus that is considered to be a cause of alimentary syndromes such as diarrhea, vomiting and hemorrhagic enteritis. DogCV has previously only been identified in the United States, Italy, Germany (GeneBank accession number: KF887949) and China (GeneBank accession number: KT946839). Therefore, the aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of DogCV in Taiwan and to explore the correlation between diarrhea and DogCV infection. Clinical specimens were collected between 2012 and 2014 from 207 dogs suffering from diarrhea and 160 healthy dogs. In this study, we developed a sensitive and specific SYBR Green-based real-time PCR assays to detected DogCV in naturally infected animals. Of the analyzed fecal samples from diarrheal dogs and health dogs, 58 (28.0 %) and 19 (11.9 %), respectively, were DogCV positive. The difference in DogCV prevalence was highly significant (P = 0.0002755) in diarrheal dogs. This is the first study to reveal that DogCV is currently circulating in domestic dogs in Taiwan and to demonstrate its high detection rate in dogs with diarrhea.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Genotype and Case Notification Rates, Rural Vietnam, 2003-2006

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buu, T.N.; Huyen, M.N.T.; Lan, N.N.T.; Quy, H.T.; Hen, N.V.; Zignol, M.; Borgdorff, M.W.; van Soolingen, D.; Cobelens, F.G.J.

2009-01-01

Tuberculosis case notification rates (CNRs) for young adults in Vietnam are increasing. To determine whether this finding could reflect emergence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype, we studied all new sputum smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients registered for treatment in 3

Global parameter optimization for maximizing radioisotope detection probabilities at fixed false alarm rates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Portnoy, David, E-mail: david.portnoy@jhuapl.edu [Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723 (United States); Feuerbach, Robert; Heimberg, Jennifer [Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723 (United States)

2011-10-01

Today there is a tremendous amount of interest in systems that can detect radiological or nuclear threats. Many of these systems operate in extremely high throughput situations where delays caused by false alarms can have a significant negative impact. Thus, calculating the tradeoff between detection rates and false alarm rates is critical for their successful operation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves have long been used to depict this tradeoff. The methodology was first developed in the field of signal detection. In recent years it has been used increasingly in machine learning and data mining applications. It follows that this methodology could be applied to radiological/nuclear threat detection systems. However many of these systems do not fit into the classic principles of statistical detection theory because they tend to lack tractable likelihood functions and have many parameters, which, in general, do not have a one-to-one correspondence with the detection classes. This work proposes a strategy to overcome these problems by empirically finding parameter values that maximize the probability of detection for a selected number of probabilities of false alarm. To find these parameter values a statistical global optimization technique that seeks to estimate portions of a ROC curve is proposed. The optimization combines elements of simulated annealing with elements of genetic algorithms. Genetic algorithms were chosen because they can reduce the risk of getting stuck in local minima. However classic genetic algorithms operate on arrays of Booleans values or bit strings, so simulated annealing is employed to perform mutation in the genetic algorithm. The presented initial results were generated using an isotope identification algorithm developed at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The algorithm has 12 parameters: 4 real-valued and 8 Boolean. A simulated dataset was used for the optimization study; the 'threat' set of

Global parameter optimization for maximizing radioisotope detection probabilities at fixed false alarm rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Portnoy, David; Feuerbach, Robert; Heimberg, Jennifer

2011-01-01

Today there is a tremendous amount of interest in systems that can detect radiological or nuclear threats. Many of these systems operate in extremely high throughput situations where delays caused by false alarms can have a significant negative impact. Thus, calculating the tradeoff between detection rates and false alarm rates is critical for their successful operation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves have long been used to depict this tradeoff. The methodology was first developed in the field of signal detection. In recent years it has been used increasingly in machine learning and data mining applications. It follows that this methodology could be applied to radiological/nuclear threat detection systems. However many of these systems do not fit into the classic principles of statistical detection theory because they tend to lack tractable likelihood functions and have many parameters, which, in general, do not have a one-to-one correspondence with the detection classes. This work proposes a strategy to overcome these problems by empirically finding parameter values that maximize the probability of detection for a selected number of probabilities of false alarm. To find these parameter values a statistical global optimization technique that seeks to estimate portions of a ROC curve is proposed. The optimization combines elements of simulated annealing with elements of genetic algorithms. Genetic algorithms were chosen because they can reduce the risk of getting stuck in local minima. However classic genetic algorithms operate on arrays of Booleans values or bit strings, so simulated annealing is employed to perform mutation in the genetic algorithm. The presented initial results were generated using an isotope identification algorithm developed at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The algorithm has 12 parameters: 4 real-valued and 8 Boolean. A simulated dataset was used for the optimization study; the 'threat' set of spectra

Global parameter optimization for maximizing radioisotope detection probabilities at fixed false alarm rates

Science.gov (United States)

Portnoy, David; Feuerbach, Robert; Heimberg, Jennifer

2011-10-01

Today there is a tremendous amount of interest in systems that can detect radiological or nuclear threats. Many of these systems operate in extremely high throughput situations where delays caused by false alarms can have a significant negative impact. Thus, calculating the tradeoff between detection rates and false alarm rates is critical for their successful operation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves have long been used to depict this tradeoff. The methodology was first developed in the field of signal detection. In recent years it has been used increasingly in machine learning and data mining applications. It follows that this methodology could be applied to radiological/nuclear threat detection systems. However many of these systems do not fit into the classic principles of statistical detection theory because they tend to lack tractable likelihood functions and have many parameters, which, in general, do not have a one-to-one correspondence with the detection classes. This work proposes a strategy to overcome these problems by empirically finding parameter values that maximize the probability of detection for a selected number of probabilities of false alarm. To find these parameter values a statistical global optimization technique that seeks to estimate portions of a ROC curve is proposed. The optimization combines elements of simulated annealing with elements of genetic algorithms. Genetic algorithms were chosen because they can reduce the risk of getting stuck in local minima. However classic genetic algorithms operate on arrays of Booleans values or bit strings, so simulated annealing is employed to perform mutation in the genetic algorithm. The presented initial results were generated using an isotope identification algorithm developed at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The algorithm has 12 parameters: 4 real-valued and 8 Boolean. A simulated dataset was used for the optimization study; the "threat" set of spectra

Automated detection of retinal disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Helmchen, Lorens A; Lehmann, Harold P; Abràmoff, Michael D

2014-11-01

Nearly 4 in 10 Americans with diabetes currently fail to undergo recommended annual retinal exams, resulting in tens of thousands of cases of blindness that could have been prevented. Advances in automated retinal disease detection could greatly reduce the burden of labor-intensive dilated retinal examinations by ophthalmologists and optometrists and deliver diagnostic services at lower cost. As the current availability of ophthalmologists and optometrists is inadequate to screen all patients at risk every year, automated screening systems deployed in primary care settings and even in patients' homes could fill the current gap in supply. Expanding screens to all patients at risk by switching to automated detection systems would in turn yield significantly higher rates of detecting and treating diabetic retinopathy per dilated retinal examination. Fewer diabetic patients would develop complications such as blindness, while ophthalmologists could focus on more complex cases.

Measurement of the modification and interference rate of urinary albumin detected by size-exclusion HPLC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Markó, Lajos; Molnár, Gergő Attila; Wagner, Zoltán; Szijártó, István; Mérei, Ákos; Wittmann, István; Böddi, Katalin; Szabó, Zoltán; Matus, Zoltán; Kőszegi, Tamás; Nagy, Géza

2009-01-01

The measurement of the excretion of urinary albumin (albuminuria) is an important and well-established method to assess clinical outcomes. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been introduced to measure albuminuria. Using this method, it was found that commonly used immunological methods do not measure a fraction of urinary albumin. Some authors presumed that the reason of immuno-unreactivity is the modification of urinary albumin; some others presumed that the difference is merely because of interference. In order to decide this question, we established an HPLC method equipped with tandem UV and fluorescent detection to assess the changes in the detectability of albumin with the rate of modification. For this measurement, differently modified forms of albumin were used. Urine samples of diabetic patients were also measured to find a potential connection between the modification rate and clinical parameters. Secondly, we have established a reversed phase HPLC method to assess the interference rate. We conclude that albumin modification does not affect immunoreactivity. The modification rate of urinary albumin in diabetic patients showed a correlation with renal function. The interference rate of the albumin peak was found to be 12.7% on average, which does not explain the difference between the two methods

A study of the transferability of influenza case detection systems between two large healthcare systems.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ye Ye

Full Text Available This study evaluates the accuracy and transferability of Bayesian case detection systems (BCD that use clinical notes from emergency department (ED to detect influenza cases.A BCD uses natural language processing (NLP to infer the presence or absence of clinical findings from ED notes, which are fed into a Bayesain network classifier (BN to infer patients' diagnoses. We developed BCDs at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (BCDUPMC and Intermountain Healthcare in Utah (BCDIH. At each site, we manually built a rule-based NLP and trained a Bayesain network classifier from over 40,000 ED encounters between Jan. 2008 and May. 2010 using feature selection, machine learning, and expert debiasing approach. Transferability of a BCD in this study may be impacted by seven factors: development (source institution, development parser, application (target institution, application parser, NLP transfer, BN transfer, and classification task. We employed an ANOVA analysis to study their impacts on BCD performance.Both BCDs discriminated well between influenza and non-influenza on local test cases (AUCs > 0.92. When tested for transferability using the other institution's cases, BCDUPMC discriminations declined minimally (AUC decreased from 0.95 to 0.94, p<0.01, and BCDIH discriminations declined more (from 0.93 to 0.87, p<0.0001. We attributed the BCDIH decline to the lower recall of the IH parser on UPMC notes. The ANOVA analysis showed five significant factors: development parser, application institution, application parser, BN transfer, and classification task.We demonstrated high influenza case detection performance in two large healthcare systems in two geographically separated regions, providing evidentiary support for the use of automated case detection from routinely collected electronic clinical notes in national influenza surveillance. The transferability could be improved by training Bayesian network classifier locally and increasing the

Physical Activity in Individuals with Severe Mental Illness: Client versus Case Manager Ratings

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Bezyak, Jill L.; Chan, Fong; Lee, Eun-Jeong; Catalano, Denise; Chiu, Chung-Yi

2012-01-01

The "Physical Activity Scale for Individuals With Physical Disabilities" was examined as a physical activity measure for people with severe mental illness. Case manager ratings were more closely related to body mass index than clients' ratings, challenging the accuracy of self-report physical activity measures for individuals with severe mental…

Detectability of changes in cosmic-ray counting rate measured with the Liulin detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malusek, A.; Kubancak, J.; Ambrozova, I.

2011-05-01

Experimental data are needed to improve and validate models predicting the dynamics of solar particle events because the mechanisms of processes leading to the acceleration of solar energetic particles are not yet fully understood. The aim of this work was to examine whether the spectrometer of deposited energy, Liulin, positioned at the Lomnický štít mountain observatory can collect such data. Decision thresholds and detection limits for the increase or decrease in the average number of particles detected by Liulin were determined for a period in February 2011. The changes in counts corresponding to the decision thresholds and detection limits relative to the average number of detected particles were about 17% and 33%, respectively. The Forbush decrease with a maximum change of about 6.8%, which started on February 18, was detectable neither during the 10-minute acquisition time nor during any other, longer period. Statistical analysis showed that an acquisition time about 7 hours would be needed to detect a 5% decrease. As this time was shorter than the duration of the Forbush decrease (about 56 hours), we theorize that the current placement of the Liulin detector inside a living room shielded by a thick concrete ceiling may have had an adverse impact on the detectability of the the cosmic ray counting rate decrease. To test this hypothesis, we recommend positioning the Liulin detector outside the main observatory building.. (author)

Detection and Modeling of Non-Tidal Oceanic Effects on the Earth's Rotation Rate

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Marcus, S. L.; Chao, Y.; Dickey, J. O.; Gegout, P.

1998-01-01

Sub-decadal changes in the Earth's rotation rate, and hence in the length-of-day (LOD), are largely controlled by variations in atmospheric angular momentum. Results from two oceanic general circulation models (OGCMs), forced by observed wind stress and heat flux for the years 1992-1994, show that ocean current and mass distribution changes also induce detectable LOD variations.

Transfer Rate Edited experiment for the selective detection of Chemical Exchange via Saturation Transfer (TRE-CEST).

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Friedman, Joshua I; Xia, Ding; Regatte, Ravinder R; Jerschow, Alexej

2015-07-01

Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) magnetic resonance experiments have become valuable tools in magnetic resonance for the detection of low concentration solutes with far greater sensitivity than direct detection methods. Accurate measures of rates of chemical exchange provided by CEST are of particular interest to biomedical imaging communities where variations in chemical exchange can be related to subtle variations in biomarker concentration, temperature and pH within tissues using MRI. Despite their name, however, traditional CEST methods are not truly selective for chemical exchange and instead detect all forms of magnetization transfer including through-space NOE. This ambiguity crowds CEST spectra and greatly complicates subsequent data analysis. We have developed a Transfer Rate Edited CEST experiment (TRE-CEST) that uses two different types of solute labeling in order to selectively amplify signals of rapidly exchanging proton species while simultaneously suppressing 'slower' NOE-dominated magnetization transfer processes. This approach is demonstrated in the context of both NMR and MRI, where it is used to detect the labile amide protons of proteins undergoing chemical exchange (at rates⩾30s(-1)) while simultaneously eliminating signals originating from slower (∼5s(-1)) NOE-mediated magnetization transfer processes. TRE-CEST greatly expands the utility of CEST experiments in complex systems, and in-vivo, in particular, where it is expected to improve the quantification of chemical exchange and magnetization transfer rates while enabling new forms of imaging contrast. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Imaging screening of breast cancer: primary results in 5307 cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao Qin; Zheng Xiaojing; Wang Xiaohong; Liu Quan; Jiang Chaoxia; Xu Linghui; Peng Weijun; Hu Danting; Wang Yufang; Gu Yajia; Liu Guangyu; Shao Zhimin; Shen Kunwei; Chang Cai; Han Chao

2008-01-01

Objective: To discuss the values of three screening methods for the detection of early breast cancer, and to analyze the features of the screening cancer. Methods: The first screening of breast cancer were performed in 5307 women who aged from 20 to 76 years with median age of 49 years. The three screening methods included physical examination with ultrasound and mammography, physical examination with mammography and mammography only. The rate of recall, biopsy, cancer detection of three methods were analyzed and the mammographic findings were reviewed. Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test were used for the statistics. Results: The recall rates were 4.90% (49/1001), 6.90% (166/2407) and 4. 48% (85/1899) in three methods respectively, the biopsy rates were 1.60% (16/1001), 1.04% (25/2407) and 0.63% (12/1899), the cancer detection rates were 0.50% (5/1001), 0.17% (4/2407) and 0 (0/1899). There were statistical differences among the three groups (χ 2 =12.99,6.264,8.764, P<0.05). Physical examination with ultrasound and mammography had the highest cancer detection rate, ten breast cancers were detected and 8 were early stage breast cancer. Of seven cancers detected by mammography, only two were found by ultrasound. A cluster of calcifications were found in 2 cases, linear calcifications in 2 cases. One case presented as a asymmetric density, one as a asymmetric density with calcifications, one as multiple nodules with a cluster of calcifications. Two breast cancers presented as asymmetric density were missed on mammography and diagnosed correctly after retrospective review. Conclusion: Physical examination with ultrasound and mammography is the best method for breast cancer screening. The breast cancer can be detected by mammography earlier than other methods. (authors)

Family motivation card: An innovative tool for increasing case detection in a resource poor setting.

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Padhi, Tanmay; Pradhan, Swetalina

2015-06-01

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease, causing various physical disabilities and deformities. Even today, stigma leads to late detection of new cases. Household contacts are considered a primary focus for the spread of infection. To find new cases among household contacts of leprosy patients by providing a family motivation card (FMC) to each leprosy patient, thereby enabling early diagnosis and treatment leading to a decrease in disease and disability burden in the community. 100 patients diagnosed with leprosy (both new and old cases) were enrolled in the study. All patients were provided with a family motivation card. The purpose of giving the card was discussed in detail with each patient. New family contacts brought by old patients were examined thoroughly for the presence of leprosy. Digital color photographs were taken of all family contacts. Data analysis was done. 23 new cases of leprosy (15 (65%) MB and eight (35%) PB cases) were detected among family members of primary cases. Most cases belonged to the under 15 years (43.47%) and over 60 years (34.78%) age groups. Adoption of a simple, cheap yet effective strategy such as the FMC could act as a bridge between intensive case-finding approaches, such as the Modified Leprosy Elimination Campaign (MLEC) and voluntary reporting.

[Proportion of breast cancer in women aged 50 to 69 years from Girona, Spain, according to detection method].

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Puig-Vives, Montse; Osca-Gelis, Gemma; Camprubí-Font, Carla; Vilardell, M Loreto; Izquierdo, Angel; Marcos-Gragera, Rafael

2014-10-07

The aim of this study was to determine the tumor stage, the proportion of cases and the age specific rate of breast cancer (BC) cases according to detection method. Cases of women aged 50 to 69 years diagnosed with BC in the Girona province during 1999-2006 were extracted from the population-based Girona Cancer Registry (n=1,254). BC was classified by detection method: screen-detected cancer, interval cancer and others. Proportion of cases and age-specific incidence were calculated according to detection method. During the period 2002-2006, the proportion of screen-detected cancers, interval cancers and other cancers were 42.2%, 5.8% and 52.2%, respectively. After implementation of the early detection of breast cancer program (PDPCM), the incidence of screen-detected cases raised; thereafter, interval cancers also increased and the rate of other cancers decreased. In the Girona province during the fully implemented PDPCM period (2002-2006), interval cancers represented a low proportion (5.8%) of women diagnosed with BC at 50 to 69 years old. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of cirrhosis undiagnosed during life: a comparative analysis of 73 undiagnosed cases and 149 diagnosed cases of cirrhosis, detected in 4929 consecutive autopsies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Graudal, Niels; Leth, Peter Mygind; Mårbjerg, Lone

1991-01-01

In 4929 consecutive autopsies performed during a period of 4 years, 222 cases (4.5%) of cirrhosis were found, of which 149 (3%) were detected while the patients were alive (diagnosed cirrhosis) and 73 (1.5%) were not detected while the patients were living (undiagnosed cirrhosis). Fifty-three of ......In 4929 consecutive autopsies performed during a period of 4 years, 222 cases (4.5%) of cirrhosis were found, of which 149 (3%) were detected while the patients were alive (diagnosed cirrhosis) and 73 (1.5%) were not detected while the patients were living (undiagnosed cirrhosis). Fifty......-three of the 73 undiagnosed patients appeared to be completely without signs of cirrhosis (silent cirrhosis). In the diagnosed group, 70% of patients died from hepatic causes, in contrast to 16% in the undiagnosed group. At autopsy, the following complications of cirrhosis were found more frequently...

Congenital Left Circumflex Coronary Artery Atresia Detected by 64-Slice Computed Tomography: A Case Report

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Chen-Yuan Liu

2007-06-01

Full Text Available A variety of coronary artery disorders, including intramyocardial coronary segments and coronary artery anomalies, can result in sudden cardiac death, especially in young adults. The detection of structural coronary artery abnormalities is important in the management of patients at risk of sudden cardiac death. Coronary artery anomalies occur in about 1% of the population. Congenital absence of left circumflex coronary artery (LCX is a very rare vascular anomaly, and few cases have been reported in the literature, with a frequency of only 0.003% in all patients who underwent coronary angiography. Although coronary catheterization is the gold standard for the evaluation of coronary arterial patency disease, noninvasive computed tomography (CT is considered the diagnostic method of choice for the detection and evaluation of coronary artery anomaly. Herein, we report the case of a 17-year-old girl who presented with exertional dyspnea and chest pain and who was studied at our emergency department with the final diagnosis of LCX atresia detected by 64-slice CT. She may be the first case of congenital LCX atresia proved by multislice CT.

Computer-aided detection system applied to full-field digital mammograms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vega Bolivar, Alfonso; Sanchez Gomez, Sonia; Merino, Paula; Alonso-Bartolome, Pilar; Ortega Garcia, Estrella; Munoz Cacho, Pedro; Hoffmeister, Jeffrey W.

2010-01-01

Background: Although mammography remains the mainstay for breast cancer screening, it is an imperfect examination with a sensitivity of 75-92% for breast cancer. Computer-aided detection (CAD) has been developed to improve mammographic detection of breast cancer. Purpose: To retrospectively estimate CAD sensitivity and false-positive rate with full-field digital mammograms (FFDMs). Material and Methods: CAD was used to evaluate 151 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) (n=48) and invasive breast cancer (n=103) detected with FFDM. Retrospectively, CAD sensitivity was estimated based on breast density, mammographic presentation, histopathology type, and lesion size. CAD false-positive rate was estimated with screening FFDMs from 200 women. Results: CAD detected 93% (141/151) of cancer cases: 97% (28/29) in fatty breasts, 94% (81/86) in breasts containing scattered fibroglandular densities, 90% (28/31) in heterogeneously dense breasts, and 80% (4/5) in extremely dense breasts. CAD detected 98% (54/55) of cancers manifesting as calcifications, 89% (74/83) as masses, and 100% (13/13) as mixed masses and calcifications. CAD detected 92% (73/79) of invasive ductal carcinomas, 89% (8/9) of invasive lobular carcinomas, 93% (14/15) of other invasive carcinomas, and 96% (46/48) of DCIS. CAD sensitivity for cancers 1-10 mm was 87% (47/54); 11-20 mm, 99% (70/71); 21-30 mm, 86% (12/14); and larger than 30 mm, 100% (12/12). The CAD false-positive rate was 2.5 marks per case. Conclusion: CAD with FFDM showed a high sensitivity in identifying cancers manifesting as calcifications or masses. CAD sensitivity was maintained in small lesions (1-20 mm) and invasive lobular carcinomas, which have lower mammographic sensitivity

Computer-aided detection system applied to full-field digital mammograms

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Vega Bolivar, Alfonso; Sanchez Gomez, Sonia; Merino, Paula; Alonso-Bartolome, Pilar; Ortega Garcia, Estrella (Dept. of Radiology, Univ. Marques of Valdecilla Hospital, Santander (Spain)), e-mail: avegab@telefonica.net; Munoz Cacho, Pedro (Dept. of Statistics, Univ. Marques of Valdecilla Hospital, Santander (Spain)); Hoffmeister, Jeffrey W. (iCAD, Inc., Nashua, NH (United States))

2010-12-15

Background: Although mammography remains the mainstay for breast cancer screening, it is an imperfect examination with a sensitivity of 75-92% for breast cancer. Computer-aided detection (CAD) has been developed to improve mammographic detection of breast cancer. Purpose: To retrospectively estimate CAD sensitivity and false-positive rate with full-field digital mammograms (FFDMs). Material and Methods: CAD was used to evaluate 151 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) (n=48) and invasive breast cancer (n=103) detected with FFDM. Retrospectively, CAD sensitivity was estimated based on breast density, mammographic presentation, histopathology type, and lesion size. CAD false-positive rate was estimated with screening FFDMs from 200 women. Results: CAD detected 93% (141/151) of cancer cases: 97% (28/29) in fatty breasts, 94% (81/86) in breasts containing scattered fibroglandular densities, 90% (28/31) in heterogeneously dense breasts, and 80% (4/5) in extremely dense breasts. CAD detected 98% (54/55) of cancers manifesting as calcifications, 89% (74/83) as masses, and 100% (13/13) as mixed masses and calcifications. CAD detected 92% (73/79) of invasive ductal carcinomas, 89% (8/9) of invasive lobular carcinomas, 93% (14/15) of other invasive carcinomas, and 96% (46/48) of DCIS. CAD sensitivity for cancers 1-10 mm was 87% (47/54); 11-20 mm, 99% (70/71); 21-30 mm, 86% (12/14); and larger than 30 mm, 100% (12/12). The CAD false-positive rate was 2.5 marks per case. Conclusion: CAD with FFDM showed a high sensitivity in identifying cancers manifesting as calcifications or masses. CAD sensitivity was maintained in small lesions (1-20 mm) and invasive lobular carcinomas, which have lower mammographic sensitivity

Understanding environmental DNA detection probabilities: A case study using a stream-dwelling char Salvelinus fontinalis

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Wilcox, Taylor M; Mckelvey, Kevin S.; Young, Michael K.; Sepulveda, Adam; Shepard, Bradley B.; Jane, Stephen F; Whiteley, Andrew R.; Lowe, Winsor H.; Schwartz, Michael K.

2016-01-01

Environmental DNA sampling (eDNA) has emerged as a powerful tool for detecting aquatic animals. Previous research suggests that eDNA methods are substantially more sensitive than traditional sampling. However, the factors influencing eDNA detection and the resulting sampling costs are still not well understood. Here we use multiple experiments to derive independent estimates of eDNA production rates and downstream persistence from brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in streams. We use these estimates to parameterize models comparing the false negative detection rates of eDNA sampling and traditional backpack electrofishing. We find that using the protocols in this study eDNA had reasonable detection probabilities at extremely low animal densities (e.g., probability of detection 0.18 at densities of one fish per stream kilometer) and very high detection probabilities at population-level densities (e.g., probability of detection > 0.99 at densities of ≥ 3 fish per 100 m). This is substantially more sensitive than traditional electrofishing for determining the presence of brook trout and may translate into important cost savings when animals are rare. Our findings are consistent with a growing body of literature showing that eDNA sampling is a powerful tool for the detection of aquatic species, particularly those that are rare and difficult to sample using traditional methods.

Influence of Referral Pathway on Ebola Virus Disease Case-Fatality Rate and Effect of Survival Selection Bias

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rudolf, Frauke; Damkjær, Mads; Lunding, Suzanne

2017-01-01

Case-fatality rates in Ebola treatment centers (ETCs) varied widely during the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa. We assessed the influence of referral pathway on ETC case-fatality rates with a retrospective cohort of 126 patients treated at the Mathaska ETC in Port Loko, Sierra...... Leone. The patients consisted of persons who had confirmed EVD when transferred to the ETC or who had been diagnosed onsite. The case-fatality rate for transferred patients was 46% versus 67% for patients diagnosed onsite (p = 0.02). The difference was mediated by Ebola viral load at diagnosis...

A study of the transferability of influenza case detection systems between two large healthcare systems.

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Ye, Ye; Wagner, Michael M; Cooper, Gregory F; Ferraro, Jeffrey P; Su, Howard; Gesteland, Per H; Haug, Peter J; Millett, Nicholas E; Aronis, John M; Nowalk, Andrew J; Ruiz, Victor M; López Pineda, Arturo; Shi, Lingyun; Van Bree, Rudy; Ginter, Thomas; Tsui, Fuchiang

2017-01-01

This study evaluates the accuracy and transferability of Bayesian case detection systems (BCD) that use clinical notes from emergency department (ED) to detect influenza cases. A BCD uses natural language processing (NLP) to infer the presence or absence of clinical findings from ED notes, which are fed into a Bayesain network classifier (BN) to infer patients' diagnoses. We developed BCDs at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (BCDUPMC) and Intermountain Healthcare in Utah (BCDIH). At each site, we manually built a rule-based NLP and trained a Bayesain network classifier from over 40,000 ED encounters between Jan. 2008 and May. 2010 using feature selection, machine learning, and expert debiasing approach. Transferability of a BCD in this study may be impacted by seven factors: development (source) institution, development parser, application (target) institution, application parser, NLP transfer, BN transfer, and classification task. We employed an ANOVA analysis to study their impacts on BCD performance. Both BCDs discriminated well between influenza and non-influenza on local test cases (AUCs > 0.92). When tested for transferability using the other institution's cases, BCDUPMC discriminations declined minimally (AUC decreased from 0.95 to 0.94, pdetection performance in two large healthcare systems in two geographically separated regions, providing evidentiary support for the use of automated case detection from routinely collected electronic clinical notes in national influenza surveillance. The transferability could be improved by training Bayesian network classifier locally and increasing the accuracy of the NLP parser.

A method of detection of respiration rate on Android using UWB Impulse Radar

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Young-Jin Park

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Monitoring respiration rate is important because it can help to detect and prevent abnormal respiratory rates that can lead to cardiac arrest and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Nowadays, most medical measurement and monitoring devices are either invasive or wired but people are hesitant to attach physiological sensors to their body. In this study, we investigated whether real-time medical measurement of breathing using Novelda’s Ultra-Wideband Impulse Radio (IR-UWB–which does not need to be attached to the human body and is also non-invasive–is possible on Android. Experimental results obtained were found to be comparable to those of a commercial healthcare device.

Dysplastic change rate in cases of oral lichen planus: A retrospective study of 112 cases in an Iranian population

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Irani, Soussan; Esfahani, Alireza Monsef; Ghorbani, Anahita

2016-01-01

Backgrounds: Lichen planus is a chronic systemic disease and oral mucosa is commonly involved. Oral lichen planus (OLP) most commonly affects middle-aged women. The prevalence of the disease ranges between 0.5% and 2.6% in the general population and the range of malignant transformation varies between 0% and 10%. Objectives: To assess the rate of malignant transformation of OLP samples. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was carried out on 112 medical records of patients with histological diagnosis of OLP who attended the Department of Pathology at the Educational Hospital from 2005 to 2012. H&E-stained slides were reviewed by two pathologists using strict clinical and histopathological diagnostic World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Dysplastic changes were diagnosed and graded according to the latest WHO classification. Results: Of the 112 cases diagnosed as OLP, there were 39 males and 73 females and the patients’ ages ranged from 15 to 86 years (mean age 44.5 years). The erosive form with fifty cases was the most common clinical type and the papular type with one case was the least common clinical type. Regarding the site, the buccal mucosa was the most common site with 52 cases. Totally, dysplastic changes were found in 12 samples, among them five cases showed mild dysplasia and seven cases showed moderate dysplasia. One case developed oral squamous cell carcinoma after 3 years. Conclusion: OLP is considered as a premalignant condition by the WHO and several authors. Although the malignancy rate is not so high, to reduce morbidity and mortality from cancer arising on OLP lesions, a regular follow-up examination is recommended. PMID:27721603

Measles Case Fatality Rate in Bihar, India, 2011–12

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Murhekar, Manoj V.; Ahmad, Mohammad; Shukla, Hemant; Abhishek, Kunwar; Perry, Robert T.; Bose, Anindya S.; Shimpi, Rahul; Kumar, Arun; Kaliaperumal, Kanagasabai; Sethi, Raman; Selvaraj, Vadivoo; Kamaraj, Pattabi; Routray, Satyabrata; Das, Vidya Nand; Menabde, Nata; Bahl, Sunil

2014-01-01

Background Updated estimates of measles case fatality rates (CFR) are critical for monitoring progress towards measles elimination goals. India accounted for 36% of total measles deaths occurred globally in 2011. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to estimate measles CFR and identify the risk factors for measles death in Bihar–one of the north Indian states historically known for its low vaccination coverage. Methods We systematically selected 16 of the 31 laboratory-confirmed measles outbreaks occurring in Bihar during 1 October 2011 to 30 April 2012. All households of the villages/urban localities affected by these outbreaks were visited to identify measles cases and deaths. We calculated CFR and used multivariate analysis to identify risk factors for measles death. Results The survey found 3670 measles cases and 28 deaths (CFR: 0.78, 95% confidence interval: 0.47–1.30). CFR was higher among under-five children (1.22%) and children belonging to scheduled castes/tribes (SC/ST, 1.72%). On multivariate analysis, independent risk factors associated with measles death were age Measles CFR in Bihar was low. To further reduce case fatality, health authorities need to ensure that SC/ST are targeted by the immunization programme and that outbreak investigations target for vitamin A treatment of cases in high risk groups such as SC/ST and young children and ensure regular visits by health-workers in affected villages to administer vitamin A to new cases. PMID:24824641

Impact of changing from staining to culture techniques on detection rates of Campylobacter spp. in routine stool samples in Chile.

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Porte, Lorena; Varela, Carmen; Haecker, Thomas; Morales, Sara; Weitzel, Thomas

2016-05-13

Campylobacter is a leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis, but sensitive diagnostic methods such as culture are expensive and often not available in resource limited settings. Therefore, direct staining techniques have been developed as a practical and economical alternative. We analyzed the impact of replacing Campylobacter staining with culture for routine stool examinations in a private hospital in Chile. From January to April 2014, a total of 750 consecutive stool samples were examined in parallel by Hucker stain and Campylobacter culture. Isolation rates of Campylobacter were determined and the performance of staining was evaluated against culture as the gold standard. Besides, isolation rates of Campylobacter and other enteric pathogens were compared to those of past years. Campylobacter was isolated by culture in 46 of 750 (6.1 %) stool samples. Direct staining only identified three samples as Campylobacter positive and reached sensitivity and specificity values of 6.5 and 100 %, respectively. In comparison to staining-based detection rates of previous years, we observed a significant increase of Campylobacter cases in our patients. Direct staining technique for Campylobacter had a very low sensitivity compared to culture. Staining methods might lead to a high rate of false negative results and an underestimation of the importance of campylobacteriosis. With the inclusion of Campylobacter culture, this pathogen became a leading cause of intestinal infection in our patient population.

Biometric Quantization through Detection Rate Optimized Bit Allocation

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C. Chen

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Extracting binary strings from real-valued biometric templates is a fundamental step in many biometric template protection systems, such as fuzzy commitment, fuzzy extractor, secure sketch, and helper data systems. Previous work has been focusing on the design of optimal quantization and coding for each single feature component, yet the binary string—concatenation of all coded feature components—is not optimal. In this paper, we present a detection rate optimized bit allocation (DROBA principle, which assigns more bits to discriminative features and fewer bits to nondiscriminative features. We further propose a dynamic programming (DP approach and a greedy search (GS approach to achieve DROBA. Experiments of DROBA on the FVC2000 fingerprint database and the FRGC face database show good performances. As a universal method, DROBA is applicable to arbitrary biometric modalities, such as fingerprint texture, iris, signature, and face. DROBA will bring significant benefits not only to the template protection systems but also to the systems with fast matching requirements or constrained storage capability.

Dedicated Barrett's surveillance sessions managed by trained endoscopists improve dysplasia detection rate.

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Ooi, Joanne; Wilson, Patrick; Walker, Giles; Blaker, Paul; DeMartino, Sabina; O'Donohue, John; Reffitt, David; Lanaspre, Effie; Chang, Fuju; Meenan, John; Dunn, Jason M

2017-06-01

Background and study aim  Barrett's esophagus (BE)-associated dysplasia is an important marker for risk of progression to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and an indication for endoscopic therapy. However, BE surveillance technique is variable. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of dedicated BE surveillance lists on dysplasia detection rate (DDR). Patients and methods  This was a prospective study of patients undergoing BE surveillance at two hospitals - community (UHL) and upper gastrointestinal center (GSTT). Four endoscopists (Group A) were trained in Prague classification, Seattle protocol biopsy technique, and lesion detection prior to performing BE surveillance endoscopies at both sites, with dedicated time slots or lists. The DDR was then compared with historical data from 47 different endoscopists at GSTT and 24 at UHL (Group B) who had undertaken Barrett's surveillance over the preceding 5-year period. Results  A total of 729 patients with BE underwent surveillance endoscopy between 2007 and 2012. There was no significant difference in patient age, sex, or length of BE between the two groups. There was a significant difference in detection rate of confirmed indefinite or low grade dysplasia and high grade dysplasia (HGD)/EAC between the two groups: 18 % (26 /142) Group A vs. 8 % (45/587) in Group B ( P  < 0.001). Documentation of Prague criteria and adherence to the Seattle protocol was significantly higher in Group A. Conclusion  This study demonstrated that a group of trained endoscopists undertaking Barrett's surveillance on dedicated lists had significantly higher DDR than a nonspecialist cohort. These findings support the introduction of dedicated Barrett's surveillance lists. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

LASER: A Maximum Likelihood Toolkit for Detecting Temporal Shifts in Diversification Rates From Molecular Phylogenies

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Daniel L. Rabosky

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Rates of species origination and extinction can vary over time during evolutionary radiations, and it is possible to reconstruct the history of diversification using molecular phylogenies of extant taxa only. Maximum likelihood methods provide a useful framework for inferring temporal variation in diversification rates. LASER is a package for the R programming environment that implements maximum likelihood methods based on the birth-death process to test whether diversification rates have changed over time. LASER contrasts the likelihood of phylogenetic data under models where diversification rates have changed over time to alternative models where rates have remained constant over time. Major strengths of the package include the ability to detect temporal increases in diversification rates and the inference of diversification parameters under multiple rate-variable models of diversification. The program and associated documentation are freely available from the R package archive at http://cran.r-project.org.

Detection of exudates in fundus imagery using a constant false-alarm rate (CFAR) detector

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Khanna, Manish; Kapoor, Elina

2014-05-01

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in adults in the United States. The presence of exudates in fundus imagery is the early sign of diabetic retinopathy so detection of these lesions is essential in preventing further ocular damage. In this paper we present a novel technique to automatically detect exudates in fundus imagery that is robust against spatial and temporal variations of background noise. The detection threshold is adjusted dynamically, based on the local noise statics around the pixel under test in order to maintain a pre-determined, constant false alarm rate (CFAR). The CFAR detector is often used to detect bright targets in radar imagery where the background clutter can vary considerably from scene to scene and with angle to the scene. Similarly, the CFAR detector addresses the challenge of detecting exudate lesions in RGB and multispectral fundus imagery where the background clutter often exhibits variations in brightness and texture. These variations present a challenge to common, global thresholding detection algorithms and other methods. Performance of the CFAR algorithm is tested against a publicly available, annotated, diabetic retinopathy database and preliminary testing suggests that performance of the CFAR detector proves to be superior to techniques such as Otsu thresholding.

Detection and recurrence rate of transurethral resection of bladder tumors by narrow-band imaging: Prospective, randomized comparison with white light cystoscopy

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Seung Bin Kim

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of narrow-band imaging (NBI as a diagnostic tool for detecting bladder tumors during cystoscopy compared with white light cystoscopy (WLC. Materials and Methods: From December 2013 to June 2017, a randomized prospective study was conducted on 198 patients underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor by a single surgeon. The patients were divided into two groups according to diagnostic method. In Group I, WLC only was performed. In Group II, NBI was additionally performed after WLC. We analyzed the rate of detection of bladder tumors as a primary endpoint. In addition, we evaluated rates of recurrence in each group. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in characteristics except hypertension. In the analysis of rates of detection, the probability of diagnosing cancer was 80.9% (114/141 in the WLC group, and the probability of diagnosing cancer using WLC in the NBI group was 85.5% (159/186. After switching from WLC to NBI for second-look cystoscopy in the NBI group, NBI was shown to detect additional tumors with a detection rate of 35.1% (13/37 from the perspective of the patients and 42.2% (27/64 from the perspective of the tumors. The 1-year recurrence-free rate was 72.2% in the WLC group and 85.2% in the NBI group (p=0.3. Conclusions: NBI had benefits for detecting tumors overlooked by WLC. Although the difference in the 1-year recurrence-free rate was not statistically significant, our results showed a trend for higher recurrence in the NBI group.

Noise-tolerant instantaneous heart rate and R-peak detection using short-term autocorrelation for wearable healthcare systems.

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Fujii, Takahide; Nakano, Masanao; Yamashita, Ken; Konishi, Toshihiro; Izumi, Shintaro; Kawaguchi, Hiroshi; Yoshimoto, Masahiko

2013-01-01

This paper describes a robust method of Instantaneous Heart Rate (IHR) and R-peak detection from noisy electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. Generally, the IHR is calculated from the R-wave interval. Then, the R-waves are extracted from the ECG using a threshold. However, in wearable bio-signal monitoring systems, noise increases the incidence of misdetection and false detection of R-peaks. To prevent incorrect detection, we introduce a short-term autocorrelation (STAC) technique and a small-window autocorrelation (SWAC) technique, which leverages the similarity of QRS complex waveforms. Simulation results show that the proposed method improves the noise tolerance of R-peak detection.

Detection of Chlamydophila (Chlamydia) abortus and Toxoplasma gondii in smears from cases of ovine and caprine abortion by the streptavidin-biotin method.

Science.gov (United States)

Szeredi, L; Bacsadi, A

2002-11-01

Fetal membranes from 59 cases of ovine and six of caprine abortion from a total of 52 flocks or herds were collected. Immunohistochemical examination of cotyledons fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin wax detected Chlamydophila abortus in 44 (68%) cases. Immunocytochemical examination of smears made from the surface of fetal membranes detected the organism in 37 (57%) cases. Light microscopical examination of such smears stained by Stamp's method detected C. abortus in 26 (40%) cases. The streptavidin-biotin method described proved to have 100% specificity and 84% sensitivity in the detection of C. abortus in cotyledon smears. Sensitivity could probably be increased still further by the simultaneous examination of smears made from the cut surface of several cotyledons. In five cases Toxoplasma gondii was detected in the cotyledons by immunohistochemical examination. In three of these cases the presence of T. gondii was revealed also by immunocytological examination. In four cases, simultaneous C. abortus and T. gondii infection of the cotyledons was observed. The two pathogens and the lesions caused by them occurred in separate locations. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Factors associated with low cure rate of tuberculosis in remote poor areas of Shaanxi Province, China: a case control study

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Zhang Hongwei

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The directly observed therapy-short course (DOTS strategy was introduced in Shaanxi province, China to improve tuberculosis (TB control by means of improved case detection (target: > = 70% and treatment success rates (target: > = 85% in new smear positive (SS+ TB patients. At a provincial level the targets were both reached in 2005. However in 30 (28% out of 107 counties of Shaanxi province the cure rate was below 85%. This study aimed to investigate patient and treatment characteristics associated with non-cure after tuberculosis (TB treatment in these counties. Methods In this case-control study, new smear positive TB cases in 30 counties with a cure rate Results Of the 659 patients included, 153 (23.2% did not have cure as treatment outcome. Interruption of treatment was most strongly associated with non-cure (OR = 8.7, 95% CI 3.9-18.4. Other independent risk factors were co-morbidity, low education level, lack of appetite as an initial symptom of TB disease, diagnosis of TB outside of the government TB control institutes, missing sputum re-examinations during treatment, and not having a treatment observer. Twenty-six percent of patients did not have a treatment observer. The non-cure rate was better for those with a doctor (odds ratio (OR 0.38, 95% confidence interval (CI 0.17-0.88 as treatment observer than for those with a family member (OR 0.62, 95%CI 0.37-1.03. The main reason for interrupted treatment mentioned by patients was presence of adverse effects during treatment (46.5%. Conclusions Interruption of treatment was most strongly associated with non-cure. Although treatment observation by medical staff is preferred, in order to diminish the proportion of patients who do not have a treatment observer and thereby reduce the proportion of patients who interrupt treatment, we suggest making it possible for family members, after sufficient training, to be treatment observers in remote areas where it is logistically

Value of mammography in the early detection of breast cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabate, J.; Molina, L.; Jimenez, A.; Fernandez, E.

1997-01-01

Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignant tumor in women; the etiopathogenesis is unknown and it is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. In the fifties, different screening programs were developed for the early detection of breast cancer in the attempt to reduce the mortality attributed to this disease process. Mammography is one of the cornerstones of these programs because of its efficacy in the detection of subclinical tumors. We carried out a retrospective review of nine campaigns for the early detection of breast cancer, studying 11, 328 case reports; among these patients, there were 43 cases of breast cancer. Mammography was positive in 90.6% of these cases. Only in two patients did the image fail to reveal changes indicative of possible neoplasm; in both cases, the breasts involved were very dense. (Author) 26 refs

[Electron microscopic detection rate of enteral viruses in diarrhea of dogs, cats, calves, swine and foals in the year 1988--electron microscopic study results].

Science.gov (United States)

Biermann, U; Herbst, W; Krauss, H; Schliesser, T

1989-12-01

During 1988 fecal and gut samples of 641 dogs, 198 cats, 576 calves, 108 piglets and 64 foals with diarrhoea were investigated for virus infections by electron microscopy. In samples of dogs and cats parvovirus was detected at a proportion of 21.9% and 16.7%, respectively; rotavirus alone or together with coronavirus was found only in 0.3-1.5% of the specimens. In samples of calves rotavirus, as well as coronavirus dominated with a detection rate amounting to 17.4% and 26.6% respectively (including 4.5% of mixed infections); parvovirus was present in a ratio of 0.5%. Specimens of piglets mainly contained coronavirus (25.0%), and in lower percentages rotavirus (2.8%), rota- and coronaviruses (0.9%) and parvovirus (0.9%). In feces of foals rotavirus was detected in 6.3% and particles resembling picornavirus in 4.7% of cases. Not identifiable virus particles resembling corona-or picornaviruses were rarely found (between 0.6-2.5) also in specimens of the other animal species.

Elevated Extinction Rates as a Trigger for Diversification Rate Shifts: Early Amniotes as a Case Study

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Brocklehurst, Neil; Ruta, Marcello; Müller, Johannes; Fröbisch, Jörg

2015-01-01

Tree shape analyses are frequently used to infer the location of shifts in diversification rate within the Tree of Life. Many studies have supported a causal relationship between shifts and temporally coincident events such as the evolution of “key innovations”. However, the evidence for such relationships is circumstantial. We investigated patterns of diversification during the early evolution of Amniota from the Carboniferous to the Triassic, subjecting a new supertree to analyses of tree balance in order to infer the timing and location of diversification shifts. We investigated how uneven origination and extinction rates drive diversification shifts, and use two case studies (herbivory and an aquatic lifestyle) to examine whether shifts tend to be contemporaneous with evolutionary novelties. Shifts within amniotes tend to occur during periods of elevated extinction, with mass extinctions coinciding with numerous and larger shifts. Diversification shifts occurring in clades that possess evolutionary innovations do not coincide temporally with the appearance of those innovations, but are instead deferred to periods of high extinction rate. We suggest such innovations did not cause increases in the rate of cladogenesis, but allowed clades to survive extinction events. We highlight the importance of examining general patterns of diversification before interpreting specific shifts. PMID:26592209

MONETARY TRANSMISSION CHANNELS IN FLEXIBLE MONETARY AND EXCHANGE RATE REGIMES: THE CASE OF SELECTED TRANSITION ECONOMIES

OpenAIRE

JOSIFIDIS, Kosta; PUCAR, Emilija Beker; SUPIĆ, Novica

2010-01-01

The paper explores selected monetary transmission channels in the case of transition economies. Namely, an exchange rate channel, an interest rate channel, direct and indirect influence to an exchange rate, are focused. Specific (former) transition economies are differentiated according the combination of implemented monetary and exchange rate regimes: exchange rate as a nominal anchor and rigid exchange rate regimes, exchange rate as a nominal anchor and intermediate exchange rate regimes, a...

Developing a Digital Medicine System in Psychiatry: Ingestion Detection Rate and Latency Period.

Science.gov (United States)

Profit, Deborah; Rohatagi, Shashank; Zhao, Cathy; Hatch, Ainslie; Docherty, John P; Peters-Strickland, Timothy S

2016-09-01

A digital medicine system (DMS) has been developed to measure and report adherence to an atypical antipsychotic, aripiprazole, in psychiatric patients. The DMS consists of 3 components: ingestible sensor embedded in a medication tablet, wearable sensor, and secure mobile and cloud-based applications. An umbrella study protocol was designed to rapidly assess the technical performance and safety of the DMS in multiple substudies to guide the technology development. Two sequential substudies enrolled 30 and 29 healthy volunteers between March-April 2014 and February-March 2015, respectively, to assess detection accuracy of the ingestible sensor by the DMS and the latency period between ingestion and detection of the ingestion by the wearable sensor or the cloud-based server. The first substudy identified areas for improvement using early versions of the wearable sensor and the mobile application. The second substudy tested updated versions of the components and showed an overall ingestion detection rate of 96.6%. Mean latency times for the signal transmission were 1.1-1.3 minutes (from ingestion to the wearable sensor detection) and 6.2-10.3 minutes (from the wearable sensor detection to the server detection). Half of transmissions were completed in < 2 minutes, and ~90% of ingestions were registered by the smartphone within 30 minutes of ingestion. No serious adverse events, discontinuations, or clinically significant laboratory/vital signs findings were reported. The DMS implementing modified versions of the smartphone application and the wearable sensor has the technical capability to detect and report tablet ingestion with high accuracy and acceptable latency time. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02091882. © Copyright 2016 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Simplifying consent for HIV testing is associated with an increase in HIV testing and case detection in highest risk groups, San Francisco January 2003-June 2007.

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Nicola M Zetola

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Populations at highest risk for HIV infection face multiple barriers to HIV testing. To facilitate HIV testing procedures, the San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center eliminated required written patient consent for HIV testing in its medical settings in May 2006. To describe the change in HIV testing rates in different hospital settings and populations after the change in HIV testing policy in the SFDH medical center, we performed an observational study using interrupted time series analysis.Data from all patients aged 18 years and older seen from January 2003 through June 2007 at the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH medical care system were included in the analysis. The monthly HIV testing rate per 1000 had patient-visits was calculated for the overall population and stratified by hospital setting, age, sex, race/ethnicity, homelessness status, insurance status and primary language.By June 2007, the average monthly rate of HIV tests per 1000 patient-visits increased 4.38 (CI, 2.17-6.60, p<0.001 over the number predicted if the policy change had not occurred (representing a 44% increase. The monthly average number of new positive HIV tests increased from 8.9 (CI, 6.3-11.5 to 14.9 (CI, 10.6-19.2, p<0.001, representing a 67% increase. Although increases in HIV testing were seen in all populations, populations at highest risk for HIV infection, particularly men, the homeless, and the uninsured experienced the highest increases in monthly HIV testing rates after the policy change.The elimination of the requirement for written consent in May 2006 was associated with a significant and sustained increase in HIV testing rates and HIV case detection in the SFDPH medical center. Populations facing the higher barriers to HIV testing had the highest increases in HIV testing rates and case detection in response to the policy change.

Low-sampling-rate ultra-wideband digital receiver using equivalent-time sampling

KAUST Repository

Ballal, Tarig

2014-09-01

In this paper, we propose an all-digital scheme for ultra-wideband symbol detection. In the proposed scheme, the received symbols are sampled many times below the Nyquist rate. It is shown that when the number of symbol repetitions, P, is co-prime with the symbol duration given in Nyquist samples, the receiver can sample the received data P times below the Nyquist rate, without loss of fidelity. The proposed scheme is applied to perform channel estimation and binary pulse position modulation (BPPM) detection. Results are presented for two receivers operating at two different sampling rates that are 10 and 20 times below the Nyquist rate. The feasibility of the proposed scheme is demonstrated in different scenarios, with reasonable bit error rates obtained in most of the cases.

Low-sampling-rate ultra-wideband digital receiver using equivalent-time sampling

KAUST Repository

Ballal, Tarig; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.

2014-01-01

In this paper, we propose an all-digital scheme for ultra-wideband symbol detection. In the proposed scheme, the received symbols are sampled many times below the Nyquist rate. It is shown that when the number of symbol repetitions, P, is co-prime with the symbol duration given in Nyquist samples, the receiver can sample the received data P times below the Nyquist rate, without loss of fidelity. The proposed scheme is applied to perform channel estimation and binary pulse position modulation (BPPM) detection. Results are presented for two receivers operating at two different sampling rates that are 10 and 20 times below the Nyquist rate. The feasibility of the proposed scheme is demonstrated in different scenarios, with reasonable bit error rates obtained in most of the cases.

Data-Driven Approaches for Computation in Intelligent Biomedical Devices: A Case Study of EEG Monitoring for Chronic Seizure Detection

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Naveen Verma

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Intelligent biomedical devices implies systems that are able to detect specific physiological processes in patients so that particular responses can be generated. This closed-loop capability can have enormous clinical value when we consider the unprecedented modalities that are beginning to emerge for sensing and stimulating patient physiology. Both delivering therapy (e.g., deep-brain stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, etc. and treating impairments (e.g., neural prosthesis requires computational devices that can make clinically relevant inferences, especially using minimally-intrusive patient signals. The key to such devices is algorithms that are based on data-driven signal modeling as well as hardware structures that are specialized to these. This paper discusses the primary application-domain challenges that must be overcome and analyzes the most promising methods for this that are emerging. We then look at how these methods are being incorporated in ultra-low-energy computational platforms and systems. The case study for this is a seizure-detection SoC that includes instrumentation and computation blocks in support of a system that exploits patient-specific modeling to achieve accurate performance for chronic detection. The SoC samples each EEG channel at a rate of 600 Hz and performs processing to derive signal features on every two second epoch, consuming 9 μJ/epoch/channel. Signal feature extraction reduces the data rate by a factor of over 40×, permitting wireless communication from the patient’s head while reducing the total power on the head by 14×.

Sensitivity of new detection method for ultra-low frequency gravitational waves with pulsar spin-down rate statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Yonemaru, Naoyuki; Kumamoto, Hiroki; Takahashi, Keitaro; Kuroyanagi, Sachiko

2018-04-01

A new detection method for ultra-low frequency gravitational waves (GWs) with a frequency much lower than the observational range of pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) was suggested in Yonemaru et al. (2016). In the PTA analysis, ultra-low frequency GWs (≲ 10-10 Hz) which evolve just linearly during the observation time span are absorbed by the pulsar spin-down rates since both have the same effect on the pulse arrival time. Therefore, such GWs cannot be detected by the conventional method of PTAs. However, the bias on the observed spin-down rates depends on relative direction of a pulsar and GW source and shows a quadrupole pattern in the sky. Thus, if we divide the pulsars according to the position in the sky and see the difference in the statistics of the spin-down rates, ultra-low frequency GWs from a single source can be detected. In this paper, we evaluate the potential of this method by Monte-Carlo simulations and estimate the sensitivity, considering only the "Earth term" while the "pulsar term" acts like random noise for GW frequencies 10-13 - 10-10 Hz. We find that with 3,000 milli-second pulsars, which are expected to be discovered by a future survey with the Square Kilometre Array, GWs with the derivative of amplitude of about 3 × 10^{-19} {s}^{-1} can in principle be detected. Implications for possible supermassive binary black holes in Sgr* and M87 are also given.

Effectiveness of reactive case detection for malaria elimination in three archetypical transmission settings: a modelling study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerardin, Jaline; Bever, Caitlin A; Bridenbecker, Daniel; Hamainza, Busiku; Silumbe, Kafula; Miller, John M; Eisele, Thomas P; Eckhoff, Philip A; Wenger, Edward A

2017-06-12

Reactive case detection could be a powerful tool in malaria elimination, as it selectively targets transmission pockets. However, field operations have yet to demonstrate under which conditions, if any, reactive case detection is best poised to push a region to elimination. This study uses mathematical modelling to assess how baseline transmission intensity and local interconnectedness affect the impact of reactive activities in the context of other possible intervention packages. Communities in Southern Province, Zambia, where elimination operations are currently underway, were used as representatives of three archetypes of malaria transmission: low-transmission, high household density; high-transmission, low household density; and high-transmission, high household density. Transmission at the spatially-connected household level was simulated with a dynamical model of malaria transmission, and local variation in vectorial capacity and intervention coverage were parameterized according to data collected from the area. Various potential intervention packages were imposed on each of the archetypical settings and the resulting likelihoods of elimination by the end of 2020 were compared. Simulations predict that success of elimination campaigns in both low- and high-transmission areas is strongly dependent on stemming the flow of imported infections, underscoring the need for regional-scale strategies capable of reducing transmission concurrently across many connected areas. In historically low-transmission areas, treatment of clinical malaria should form the cornerstone of elimination operations, as most malaria infections in these areas are symptomatic and onward transmission would be mitigated through health system strengthening; reactive case detection has minimal impact in these settings. In historically high-transmission areas, vector control and case management are crucial for limiting outbreak size, and the asymptomatic reservoir must be addressed through

Retrospective observation on contribution and limitations of screening for breast cancer with mammography in Korea: detection rate of breast cancer and incidence rate of interval cancer of the breast.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kunsei; Kim, Hyeongsu; Lee, Jung Hyun; Jeong, Hyoseon; Shin, Soon Ae; Han, Taehwa; Seo, Young Lan; Yoo, Youngbum; Nam, Sang Eun; Park, Jong Heon; Park, Yoo Mi

2016-11-18

The purpose of this study was to determine the benefits and limitations of screening for breast cancer using mammography. Descriptive design with follow-up was used in the study. Data from breast cancer screening and health insurance claim data were used. The study population consisted of all participants in breast cancer screening from 2009 to 2014. Crude detection rate, positive predictive value and sensitivity and specificity of breast cancer screening and, incidence rate of interval cancer of the breast were calculated. The crude detection rate of breast cancer screening per 100,000 participants increased from 126.3 in 2009 to 182.1 in 2014. The positive predictive value of breast cancer screening per 100,000 positives increased from 741.2 in 2009 to 1,367.9 in 2014. The incidence rate of interval cancer of the breast per 100,000 negatives increased from 51.7 in 2009 to 76.3 in 2014. The sensitivities of screening for breast cancer were 74.6% in 2009 and 75.1% in 2014 and the specificities were 83.1% in 2009 and 85.7% in 2014. To increase the detection rate of breast cancer by breast cancer screening using mammography, the participation rate should be higher and an environment where accurate mammography and reading can be performed and reinforcement of quality control are required. To reduce the incidence rate of interval cancer of the breast, it will be necessary to educate women after their 20s to perform self-examination of the breast once a month regardless of participation in screening for breast cancer.

Improving digital breast tomosynthesis reading time: A pilot multi-reader, multi-case study using concurrent Computer-Aided Detection (CAD).

Science.gov (United States)

Balleyguier, Corinne; Arfi-Rouche, Julia; Levy, Laurent; Toubiana, Patrick R; Cohen-Scali, Franck; Toledano, Alicia Y; Boyer, Bruno

2017-12-01

Evaluate concurrent Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) with Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) to determine impact on radiologist performance and reading time. The CAD system detects and extracts suspicious masses, architectural distortions and asymmetries from DBT planes that are blended into corresponding synthetic images to form CAD-enhanced synthetic images. Review of CAD-enhanced images and navigation to corresponding planes to confirm or dismiss potential lesions allows radiologists to more quickly review DBT planes. A retrospective, crossover study with and without CAD was conducted with six radiologists who read an enriched sample of 80 DBT cases including 23 malignant lesions in 21 women. Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve (AUC) compared the readings with and without CAD to determine the effect of CAD on overall interpretation performance. Sensitivity, specificity, recall rate and reading time were also assessed. Multi-reader, multi-case (MRMC) methods accounting for correlation and requiring correct lesion localization were used to analyze all endpoints. AUCs were based on a 0-100% probability of malignancy (POM) score. Sensitivity and specificity were based on BI-RADS scores, where 3 or higher was positive. Average AUC across readers without CAD was 0.854 (range: 0.785-0.891, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.769,0.939) and 0.850 (range: 0.746-0.905, 95% CI: 0.751,0.949) with CAD (95% CI for difference: -0.046,0.039), demonstrating non-inferiority of AUC. Average reduction in reading time with CAD was 23.5% (95% CI: 7.0-37.0% improvement), from an average 48.2 (95% CI: 39.1,59.6) seconds without CAD to 39.1 (95% CI: 26.2,54.5) seconds with CAD. Per-patient sensitivity was the same with and without CAD (0.865; 95% CI for difference: -0.070,0.070), and there was a small 0.022 improvement (95% CI for difference: -0.046,0.089) in per-lesion sensitivity from 0.790 without CAD to 0.812 with CAD. A slight reduction in specificity with a -0

Plagiarism by Adult Learners Online: A case study in detection and remediation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christine Jocoy

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Detecting and combating plagiarism from Web-based sources is a concern for administrators and instructors involved in online distance education. In this paper, we quantify copy-and-paste plagiarism among adult learners in an online geography course offered through Penn State’s World Campus Geographic Information Systems (GIS certificate program. We also evaluate the effectiveness of an “expectation management” strategy intended to discourage adult learners from unintentional violations. We found that while manual methods detected plagiarism in only about 3 percent of assignments, Turnitin.com revealed a 13 percent plagiarism rate among the same assignments. Our attempts to increase awareness and manage expectations decreased infractions measurably, but not significantly. In contrast, Turnitin.com substantially improved our ability to detect infractions. We conclude that raising awareness and managing expectations about plagiarism may be worthwhile, but is no substitute for systematic detection and vigilant enforcement, even among adult learners.

Monetary and exchange rate regimes changes: The cases of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Republic of Serbia

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Josifidis Kosta

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper explores (former transition economies, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Republic of Serbia, concerning abandonment of the exchange rate targeting and fixed exchange rate regimes and movement toward explicit/implicit inflation targeting and flexible exchange rate regimes. The paper identifies different subperiods concerning crucial monetary and exchange rate regimes, and tracks the changes of specific monetary transmission channels i.e. exchange rate channel, interest rate channel, indirect and direct influences to the exchange rate, with variance decomposition of VAR/VEC model. The empirical results indicate that Polish monetary strategy toward higher monetary and exchange rate flexibility has been performed smoothly, gradually and planned, compared to the Slovak and, especially, Czech case. The comparison of three former transition economies with the Serbian case indicate strong and persistent exchange rate pass-through, low interest rate pass-through, significant indirect and direct influence to the exchange rate as potential obstacles for successful inflation targeting in the Republic of Serbia.

[Evaluation of heart impact in the 100 m extreme intensity sport using near-infrared non-invasive muscle oxygen detecting device and sports heart rate detection technology].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Pei-Yong; Long, Fei-Xiao; Fu, Lan-Ying; Li, Yue; Ding, Hai-Shu; Qu, An-Lian; Zhou, Xiao-Ping

2010-02-01

Using continuous two wavelength near-infrared technology to detect the variation in the consistency of oxygen hemoglobin in the muscle and the sports heart rate wireless real time collection technology, we devised the real time muscle tissue oxygenation and instantaneous heart rate experiment scheme and implemented it for the process of the 100 m run with two parameters given simultaneously. The experiment shows that the concentration of the oxygen hemoglobin in the muscle tissue continues decreasing after the end of the 100 m run, and the time interval between the moment when the concentration of the oxygen hemoglobin attains the minimum value and the moment when the athletes finish the 100 m run is (6.65 +/- 1.10) sec; while the heart rate continues increasing after the end of the 100 m run, and the time interval between the moment when the heart rate attains the maximum value and the moment when the athletes finish the 100 m run is (8.00 +/- 1.57) sec. The results show that the two wavelength near-infrared tissue oxygenation detection technology and the sports heart rate real time collection equipment can accurately measure the sports tissue oxygenation and the heart rate in the extreme intensity sport, and reveal the process of muscle oxygen transportation and consumption and its dynamic character with the heart rate in the extreme intensity sport.

A Low-Power Wireless Image Sensor Node with Noise-Robust Moving Object Detection and a Region-of-Interest Based Rate Controller

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-01

from both environment and hardware further reduces the transmission energy with negligible computation and memory overhead. The rate controller...detection, Region-of-interest, Rate control Introduction In wireless image sensor nodes for moving object surveillance, energy efficiency can be...noise, reliable moving object detection is required to avoid unnecessary transmission of background scenes [1]. Transmission energy can be further

[sup 99m]Tc-RBC subtraction scintigraphy; Assessmet of bleeding site and rate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Inagaki, Syoichi; Tonami, Syuichi; Yasui, Masakazu; Kuranishi, Makoto; Sugishita, Kouki; Nakamura, Mamoru (Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical Univ. (Japan). Hospital)

1994-03-01

Sequential abdominal scintigrams with [sup 99m]Tc-labelled red blood cells (RBC) were subtracted for observing a site of gastrointestinal bleeding and calculating the bleeding rate. This method is technically very easy and can detect the site of bleeding with the minimum rate, as low as 0.2 ml/min., in a phantom experiment. In 23 cases with final diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding, conventional non-subtraction scintigraphy detected only 30% (7/23), but subtraction scintigraphy detected 61% (14/23). It was concluded that subtraction scintigraphy had higher sensitivity than conventional scintigraphy for early diagnosing bleeding. A combination of non-subtraction and subtraction scintigraphy is recommended to detect a site of gastrointestinal bleeding in a clinical setting. (author).

Rural health centres, communities and malaria case detection in Zambia using mobile telephones: a means to detect potential reservoirs of infection in unstable transmission conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamanga, Aniset; Moono, Petros; Stresman, Gillian; Mharakurwa, Sungano; Shiff, Clive

2010-04-15

Effective malaria control depends on timely acquisition of information on new cases, their location and their frequency so as to deploy supplies, plan interventions or focus attention on specific locations appropriately to intervene and prevent an upsurge in transmission. The process is known as active case detection, but because the information is time sensitive, it is difficult to carry out. In Zambia, the rural health services are operating effectively and for the most part are provided with adequate supplies of rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) as well as effective drugs for the diagnosis and treatment of malaria. The tests are administered to all prior to treatment and appropriate records are kept. Data are obtained in a timely manner and distribution of this information is important for the effective management of malaria control operations. The work reported here involves combining the process of positive diagnoses in rural health centres (passive case detection) to help detect potential outbreaks of malaria and target interventions to foci where parasite reservoirs are likely to occur. Twelve rural health centres in the Choma and Namwala Districts were recruited to send weekly information of rapid malaria tests used and number of positive diagnoses to the Malaria Institute at Macha using mobile telephone SMS. Data were entered in excel, expressed as number of cases per rural health centre and distributed weekly to interested parties. These data from each of the health centres which were mapped using geographical positioning system (GPS) coordinates were used in a time sensitive manner to plot the patterns of malaria case detection in the vicinity of each location. The data were passed on to the appropriate authorities. The seasonal pattern of malaria transmission associated with local ecological conditions can be seen in the distribution of cases diagnosed. Adequate supplies of RDT are essential in health centres and the system can be expanded throughout the

Rural health centres, communities and malaria case detection in Zambia using mobile telephones: a means to detect potential reservoirs of infection in unstable transmission conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamanga Aniset

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Effective malaria control depends on timely acquisition of information on new cases, their location and their frequency so as to deploy supplies, plan interventions or focus attention on specific locations appropriately to intervene and prevent an upsurge in transmission. The process is known as active case detection, but because the information is time sensitive, it is difficult to carry out. In Zambia, the rural health services are operating effectively and for the most part are provided with adequate supplies of rapid diagnostic tests (RDT as well as effective drugs for the diagnosis and treatment of malaria. The tests are administered to all prior to treatment and appropriate records are kept. Data are obtained in a timely manner and distribution of this information is important for the effective management of malaria control operations. The work reported here involves combining the process of positive diagnoses in rural health centres (passive case detection to help detect potential outbreaks of malaria and target interventions to foci where parasite reservoirs are likely to occur. Methods Twelve rural health centres in the Choma and Namwala Districts were recruited to send weekly information of rapid malaria tests used and number of positive diagnoses to the Malaria Institute at Macha using mobile telephone SMS. Data were entered in excel, expressed as number of cases per rural health centre and distributed weekly to interested parties. Results These data from each of the health centres which were mapped using geographical positioning system (GPS coordinates were used in a time sensitive manner to plot the patterns of malaria case detection in the vicinity of each location. The data were passed on to the appropriate authorities. The seasonal pattern of malaria transmission associated with local ecological conditions can be seen in the distribution of cases diagnosed. Conclusions Adequate supplies of RDT are essential in

Rapid detection of pandemic influenza in the presence of seasonal influenza

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background Key to the control of pandemic influenza are surveillance systems that raise alarms rapidly and sensitively. In addition, they must minimise false alarms during a normal influenza season. We develop a method that uses historical syndromic influenza data from the existing surveillance system 'SERVIS' (Scottish Enhanced Respiratory Virus Infection Surveillance) for influenza-like illness (ILI) in Scotland. Methods We develop an algorithm based on the weekly case ratio (WCR) of reported ILI cases to generate an alarm for pandemic influenza. From the seasonal influenza data from 13 Scottish health boards, we estimate the joint probability distribution of the country-level WCR and the number of health boards showing synchronous increases in reported influenza cases over the previous week. Pandemic cases are sampled with various case reporting rates from simulated pandemic influenza infections and overlaid with seasonal SERVIS data from 2001 to 2007. Using this combined time series we test our method for speed of detection, sensitivity and specificity. Also, the 2008-09 SERVIS ILI cases are used for testing detection performances of the three methods with a real pandemic data. Results We compare our method, based on our simulation study, to the moving-average Cumulative Sums (Mov-Avg Cusum) and ILI rate threshold methods and find it to be more sensitive and rapid. For 1% case reporting and detection specificity of 95%, our method is 100% sensitive and has median detection time (MDT) of 4 weeks while the Mov-Avg Cusum and ILI rate threshold methods are, respectively, 97% and 100% sensitive with MDT of 5 weeks. At 99% specificity, our method remains 100% sensitive with MDT of 5 weeks. Although the threshold method maintains its sensitivity of 100% with MDT of 5 weeks, sensitivity of Mov-Avg Cusum declines to 92% with increased MDT of 6 weeks. For a two-fold decrease in the case reporting rate (0.5%) and 99% specificity, the WCR and threshold methods

Value of multi-slice spiral CT in diagnosis the detection of fish bone impaction in the esophagus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo Min; Hu Daoyu; Wang Qiuxia; Pei Yigang

2009-01-01

Objective: To investigate the detection rate and diagnostic value of multi-slice spiral CT scan in detecting fish bone impaction in the esophagus. Methods: Experimental group: 30 fresh water fish bones from three variety classes were divided into three groups with length of (23.36±0.15), (28.51± 0.07) and (30.89±0.10) mm, and diameter of (4.49±0.31), (1.78±0.09) and (0.49±0.07) mm. The fish bones were put into esophagus models in three different types including parallel, perpendicular and oblique. MSCT with axial scan combined with three dimensional reconstruction technique and plain X-ray film ( CR and DR) were used to examine the model. The relations of the number and rate of fish bones were compared between MSCT and X-ray film. Clinical group: MSCT imaging were performed in 20 cases proved by esophageal endoscope or clinical operation, among which 11 cases received plain X-ray film (CR and DR), 15 cases received Barium-soaked cotton and 17 cases received endoscope. Paired Chi-square test was used to compare the differences of detection of fishbone by the different ways. Results: In experimental group: All the 90 cases (100%) fish bones of three different species were clearly revealed on MSCT image; only 60 cases (66.7%) fish bones were revealed by plain X-ray film (CR and DR). The number and rate of fish bones detected by MSCT was higher than that of plain X-ray film (CR and DR) (χ 2 =28.03, P 2 =7.11, P 2 =4.17, P<0.05). Conclusions: The sensitivity and detection rate of fish bone with MSCT was high and could evaluate the surrounding and complications of the esophagus. MSCT could be used as the first examination of impacted fish bones in the esophagus. (authors)

Tuberculosis case notification data in Viet Nam, 2007 to 2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Nhung, Nguyen Viet; Hoa, Nguyen Binh; Khanh, Pham Huyen; Hennig, Cornelia

2015-01-01

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality, and Viet Nam ranks 12 among the 22 high-TB burden countries. This study analyses surveillance data of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme in Viet Nam for the six-year period 2007 to 2012. During the study period, 598,877 TB cases (all forms) were notified, and 313,225 (52.3%) were new smear-positive cases. The case notification rate of new smear-positive cases was decreased, from 65 per 100,000 population in 2007 to 57 per 100,000 population in 2012; this decrease was observed for males and females in all age groups except males aged 0-14 and females aged 15-24 years. The male-to-female ratio of new smear-positive TB cases increased from 2.85 in 2007 to 3.02 in 2012. The average annual cure rate of new smear-positive cases was 90.3%. The high male-to-female ratio for new smear-positive TB cases in this notification data was lower than that from the 2007 TB prevalence survey in Viet Nam, suggesting a lower case detection for males. The decrease in new smear-positive case notification rates may reflect a decline in TB incidence in Viet Nam as several programmatic improvements have been made, although further research is required to increase case detection among young males and children.

Hemoglobin Q-Iran detected in family members from Northern Iran: a case report

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Khorshidi Mohammad

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Hemoglobin Q-Iran (α75Asp→His is an important member of the hemoglobin Q family, molecularly characterized by the replacement of aspartic acid by histidine. The first report of hemoglobin Q-Iran and the nomenclature of this hemoglobinopathy dates back to 1970. Iran is known as a country with a high prevalence of α- and β-thalassemia and different types of hemoglobinopathy. Many of these variants are yet to be identified as the practice of molecular laboratory techniques is limited in this part of the world. Applying such molecular methods, we report the first hemoglobin Q-Iran cases in Northern Iran. Case presentation An unusual band was detected in an isoelectric focusing test and cellulose acetate electrophoresis of a sample from a 22-year-old Iranian man from Mazandaran Province. Capillary zone electrophoresis analysis identified this band as hemoglobin Q. A similar band was also detected in his mother's electrophoresis (38 years, Iranian ethnicity. The cases underwent molecular investigation and the presence of a hemoglobin Q-Iran mutation was confirmed by the amplification refractory mutation system polymerase chain reaction method. Direct conventional sequencing revealed a single guanine to cytosine missense mutation (c.226G > C; GAC >CAC at codon 75 in the α-globin gene in both cases. Conclusion The wide spectrum and high frequency of nondeletional α-globin mutations in Mazandaran Province is remarkable and seem to differ considerably from what has been found in Mediterranean populations. This short communication reports the first cases of patients with hemoglobin Q found in that region.

A Robust Motion Artifact Detection Algorithm for Accurate Detection of Heart Rates From Photoplethysmographic Signals Using Time-Frequency Spectral Features.

Science.gov (United States)

Dao, Duy; Salehizadeh, S M A; Noh, Yeonsik; Chong, Jo Woon; Cho, Chae Ho; McManus, Dave; Darling, Chad E; Mendelson, Yitzhak; Chon, Ki H

2017-09-01

Motion and noise artifacts (MNAs) impose limits on the usability of the photoplethysmogram (PPG), particularly in the context of ambulatory monitoring. MNAs can distort PPG, causing erroneous estimation of physiological parameters such as heart rate (HR) and arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2). In this study, we present a novel approach, "TifMA," based on using the time-frequency spectrum of PPG to first detect the MNA-corrupted data and next discard the nonusable part of the corrupted data. The term "nonusable" refers to segments of PPG data from which the HR signal cannot be recovered accurately. Two sequential classification procedures were included in the TifMA algorithm. The first classifier distinguishes between MNA-corrupted and MNA-free PPG data. Once a segment of data is deemed MNA-corrupted, the next classifier determines whether the HR can be recovered from the corrupted segment or not. A support vector machine (SVM) classifier was used to build a decision boundary for the first classification task using data segments from a training dataset. Features from time-frequency spectra of PPG were extracted to build the detection model. Five datasets were considered for evaluating TifMA performance: (1) and (2) were laboratory-controlled PPG recordings from forehead and finger pulse oximeter sensors with subjects making random movements, (3) and (4) were actual patient PPG recordings from UMass Memorial Medical Center with random free movements and (5) was a laboratory-controlled PPG recording dataset measured at the forehead while the subjects ran on a treadmill. The first dataset was used to analyze the noise sensitivity of the algorithm. Datasets 2-4 were used to evaluate the MNA detection phase of the algorithm. The results from the first phase of the algorithm (MNA detection) were compared to results from three existing MNA detection algorithms: the Hjorth, kurtosis-Shannon entropy, and time-domain variability-SVM approaches. This last is an approach

Topic-oriented community detection of rating-based social networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Reihanian

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, real world social networks contain a vast range of information including shared objects, comments, following information, etc. Finding meaningful communities in this kind of networks is an interesting research area and has attracted the attention of many researchers. The community structure of complex networks reveals both their organization and hidden relations among their constituents. Most of the researches in the field of community detection mainly focus on the topological structure of the network without performing any content analysis. In recent years, a number of researches have proposed approaches which consider both the contents that are interchanged in networks, and the topological structures of the networks in order to find more meaningful communities. In this research, the effect of topic analysis in finding more meaningful communities in social networking sites in which the users express their feelings toward different objects (like movies by means of rating is demonstrated by performing extensive experiments.

Use of Selective Fungal Culture Media Increases Rates of Detection of Fungi in the Respiratory Tract of Cystic Fibrosis Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Gina; Miller, Heather B; Allgood, Sarah; Lee, Richard; Lechtzin, Noah; Zhang, Sean X

2017-04-01

The prevalence of fungi in the respiratory tracts of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients has risen. However, fungal surveillance is not routinely performed in most clinical centers in the United States, which may lead to an underestimation of the true prevalence of the problem. We conducted a prospective study comparing the rates of detection for clinically important fungi (CIF), defined as Aspergillus , Scedosporium , and Trichosporon species and Exophiala dermatitidis , in CF sputa using standard bacterial and selective fungal culture media, including Sabouraud dextrose agar with gentamicin (SDA), inhibitory mold agar (IMA), and brain heart infusion (BHI) agar with chloramphenicol and gentamicin. We described the prevalence of these fungi in an adult CF population. A total of 487 CF respiratory samples were collected from 211 unique participants. CIF were detected in 184 (37.8%) samples. Only 26.1% of CIF-positive samples were detected in bacterial culture medium, whereas greater rates of detection for fungi were found in IMA (65.8%; P culture media and longer incubation periods yielded higher rates of detection for CIF in CF sputum samples compared with that detected in bacterial culture medium, resulting in an underdetection of fungi by bacterial culture alone. The prevalence of fungi in CF may be better estimated by using selective fungal culture media, and this may translate to important clinical decisions. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Thin film organic photodetectors for indirect X-ray detection demonstrating low dose rate sensitivity at low voltage operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Starkenburg, Daken J. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA; Johns, Paul M. [Nuclear Engineering Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA; Detection Systems Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99354, USA; Baciak, James E. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA; Nuclear Engineering Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA; Nino, Juan C. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA; Xue, Jiangeng [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA

2017-12-14

Developments in the field of organic semiconductors have generated organic photodetectors with high quantum efficiency, wide spectral sensitivity, low power consumption, and unique form factors that are flexible and conformable to their substrate shape. In this work, organic photodetectors coupled with inorganic CsI(Tl) scintillators are used to showcase the low dose rate sensitivity that is enabled when high performance organic photodetectors and scintillator crystals are integrated. The detection capability of these organic-inorganic coupled systems to high energy radiation highlights their potential as an alternative to traditional photomultiplier tubes for nuclear spectroscopy applications. When exposed to Bremsstrahlung radiation produced from an X-ray generator, SubPc:C60, AlPcCl:C70, and P3HT:PC61BM thin film photodetectors with active layer thicknesses less than 100 nm show detection of incident radiation at low and no applied bias. Remarkably low dose rates, down to at least 0.28 µGy/s, were detectable with a characteristic linear relationship between exposure rate and photodetector current output. These devices also demonstrate sensitivities as high as 5.37 mC Gy-1 cm-2 when coupled to CsI(Tl). Additionally, as the tube voltage across the X-ray generator was varied, these organic-inorganic systems showed their ability to detect a range of continuous radiation spectra spanning several hundred keV.

Thin film organic photodetectors for indirect X-ray detection demonstrating low dose rate sensitivity at low voltage operation

Science.gov (United States)

Starkenburg, Daken J.; Johns, Paul M.; Baciak, James E.; Nino, Juan C.; Xue, Jiangeng

2017-12-01

Developments in the field of organic semiconductors have generated organic photodetectors with high quantum efficiency, wide spectral sensitivity, low power consumption, and unique form factors that are flexible and conformable to their substrate shape. In this work, organic photodetectors coupled with inorganic CsI(Tl) scintillators are used to showcase the low dose rate sensitivity that is enabled when high performance organic photodetectors and scintillator crystals are integrated. The detection capability of these organic-inorganic coupled systems to high energy radiation highlights their potential as an alternative to traditional photomultiplier tubes for nuclear spectroscopy applications. When exposed to Bremsstrahlung radiation produced from an X-ray generator, SubPc:C60, AlPcCl:C70, and P3HT:PC61BM thin film photodetectors with active layer thicknesses less than 100 nm show detection of incident radiation at low and no applied bias. Remarkably low dose rates, down to at least 0.18 μGy/s, were detectable with a characteristic linear relationship between exposure rate and photodetector current output. These devices also demonstrate sensitivities as high as 5.37 mC Gy-1 cm-2 when coupled to CsI(Tl). Additionally, as the tube voltage across the X-ray generator was varied, these organic-inorganic systems showed their ability to detect a range of continuous radiation spectra spanning several hundred keV.

42 CFR 484.220 - Calculation of the adjusted national prospective 60-day episode payment rate for case-mix and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... address changes to the case-mix that are a result of changes in the coding or classification of different...-day episode payment rate for case-mix and area wage levels. 484.220 Section 484.220 Public Health... Calculation of the adjusted national prospective 60-day episode payment rate for case-mix and area wage levels...

Probabilistic pipe fracture evaluations for applications to leak-rate detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahman, S; Wilkowski, G; Ghadiali, N [Battelle Columbus Labs., OH (United States)

1993-12-31

Stochastic pipe fracture evaluations are conducted for applications to leak-rate detection. A state-of-the-art review was first conducted to evaluate the adequacy of current deterministic models for thermo-hydraulic and elastic-plastic fracture analyses. Then a new probabilistic model was developed with the above deterministic models for structural reliability analysis of cracked piping systems and statistical characterization of crack morphology parameters, material properties of pipe, and crack location. The proposed models are then applied for computing conditional probability of failure for various nuclear piping systems in BWR and PWR plants. The PRAISE code was not used, and the probabilistic model is based on modern methods of stochastic mechanics, computationally far superior to Monte Carlo and Stratified Sampling methods used in PRAISE. 10 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.

Probabilistic pipe fracture evaluations for applications to leak-rate detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahman, S.; Wilkowski, G.; Ghadiali, N.

1992-01-01

Stochastic pipe fracture evaluations are conducted for applications to leak-rate detection. A state-of-the-art review was first conducted to evaluate the adequacy of current deterministic models for thermo-hydraulic and elastic-plastic fracture analyses. Then a new probabilistic model was developed with the above deterministic models for structural reliability analysis of cracked piping systems and statistical characterization of crack morphology parameters, material properties of pipe, and crack location. The proposed models are then applied for computing conditional probability of failure for various nuclear piping systems in BWR and PWR plants. The PRAISE code was not used, and the probabilistic model is based on modern methods of stochastic mechanics, computationally far superior to Monte Carlo and Stratified Sampling methods used in PRAISE. 10 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab

3D versus 2D Systematic Transrectal Ultrasound-Guided Prostate Biopsy: Higher Cancer Detection Rate in Clinical Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandre Peltier

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives. To compare prostate cancer detection rates of extended 2D versus 3D biopsies and to further assess the clinical impact of this method in day-to-day practice. Methods. We analyzed the data of a cohort of 220 consecutive patients with no prior history of prostate cancer who underwent an initial prostate biopsy in daily practice due to an abnormal PSA and/or DRE using, respectively, the classical 2D and the new 3D systems. All the biopsies were done by a single experienced operator using the same standardized protocol. Results. There was no significant difference in terms of age, total PSA, or prostate volume between the two groups. However, cancer detection rate was significantly higher using the 3D versus the 2D system, 50% versus 34% (P<0.05. There was no statistically significant difference while comparing the 2 groups in term of nonsignificant cancer detection. Conclusion. There is reasonable evidence demonstrating the superiority of the 3D-guided biopsies in detecting prostate cancers that would have been missed using the 2D extended protocol.

Detection of butane gas inhalation at 16days after hypoxic encephalopathy: A case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Takako; Nishioka, Hiroshi; Tsuboi, Kento; Katagi, Munehiro; Miki, Akihiro; Saito, Takashi; Abe, Shuntaro; Nomura, Masakatsu; Kitagawa, Misa; Tsuchihashi, Hitoshi; Suzuki, Koichi

2017-11-01

In Japan, there are increasing reports of death by poisoning following butane abuse. To determine the specific cause of death in such cases, it is important to confirm the presence of fuel gas components in the body, although careful analysis is required because of their volatile properties. In most reported cases, the subject died suddenly during or immediately after butane aspiration. Thus, the butane concentration in the samples from the deceased should be relatively high. Herein, we present a case of an 18-year-old man found with cardiopulmonary arrest, who then exhibited hypoxic encephalopathy for 16days in a hospital. At autopsy, we detected hypoxic encephalopathy, pneumonia, and ischemia-reperfusion injury of the myocardium, while the cause of cardiac arrest remained unclear. Toxicological analysis was then performed for fuel gas components in several specimens collected at autopsy. Results showed that n-butane and isobutane were detected in the adipose tissue at 16days after inhalation, indicating a role of butane gas inhalation as the cause of death. These data suggest that adipose tissue may be the most appropriate analysis sample to be collected at postmortem in cases where involvement of volatile and fat-soluble gas inhalation is suspected. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Aftershocks following crash of currency exchange rate: The case of RUB/USD in 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Usmanova, Vasilya; Lysogorskiy, Yury V.; Abe, Sumiyoshi

2018-02-01

The dynamical behavior of the currency exchange rate after its large-scale catastrophe is discussed through a case study of the rate of Russian rubles to US dollars after its crash in 2014. It is shown that, similarly to the case of the stock market crash, the relaxation is characterized by a power law, which is in analogy with the Omori-Utsu law for earthquake aftershocks. The waiting-time distribution is found to also obey a power law. Furthermore, the event-event correlation is discussed, and the aging phenomenon and scaling property are observed. Comments are made on (non-)Markovianity of the aftershock process and on a possible relevance of glassy dynamics to the market system after the crash.

A simulation study comparing aberration detection algorithms for syndromic surveillance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Painter Ian

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The usefulness of syndromic surveillance for early outbreak detection depends in part on effective statistical aberration detection. However, few published studies have compared different detection algorithms on identical data. In the largest simulation study conducted to date, we compared the performance of six aberration detection algorithms on simulated outbreaks superimposed on authentic syndromic surveillance data. Methods We compared three control-chart-based statistics, two exponential weighted moving averages, and a generalized linear model. We simulated 310 unique outbreak signals, and added these to actual daily counts of four syndromes monitored by Public Health – Seattle and King County's syndromic surveillance system. We compared the sensitivity of the six algorithms at detecting these simulated outbreaks at a fixed alert rate of 0.01. Results Stratified by baseline or by outbreak distribution, duration, or size, the generalized linear model was more sensitive than the other algorithms and detected 54% (95% CI = 52%–56% of the simulated epidemics when run at an alert rate of 0.01. However, all of the algorithms had poor sensitivity, particularly for outbreaks that did not begin with a surge of cases. Conclusion When tested on county-level data aggregated across age groups, these algorithms often did not perform well in detecting signals other than large, rapid increases in case counts relative to baseline levels.

Astrophysical limitations to the identification of dark matter: Indirect neutrino signals vis-a-vis direct detection recoil rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serpico, Pasquale D.; Bertone, Gianfranco

2010-01-01

A convincing identification of dark matter (DM) particles can probably be achieved only through a combined analysis of different detections strategies, which provides an effective way of removing degeneracies in the parameter space of DM models. In practice, however, this program is made complicated by the fact that different strategies depend on different physical quantities, or on the same quantities but in a different way, making the treatment of systematic errors rather tricky. We discuss here the uncertainties on the recoil rate in direct-detection experiments and on the muon rate induced by neutrinos from dark matter annihilations in the Sun, and we show that, contrarily to the local DM density or overall cross section scale, irreducible astrophysical uncertainties affect the two rates in a different fashion, therefore limiting our ability to reconstruct the parameters of the dark matter particles. By varying within their respective errors astrophysical parameters such as the escape velocity and the velocity dispersion of dark matter particles, we show that the uncertainty on the relative strength of the neutrino and direct-detection signal is as large as a factor of 2 for typical values of the parameters, but can be even larger in some circumstances.

Opportunistic mammography screening provides effective detection rates in a limited resource healthcare system.

Science.gov (United States)

Teh, Yew-Ching; Tan, Gie-Hooi; Taib, Nur Aishah; Rahmat, Kartini; Westerhout, Caroline Judy; Fadzli, Farhana; See, Mee-Hoong; Jamaris, Suniza; Yip, Cheng-Har

2015-05-15

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women world-wide. In low and middle income countries, where there are no population-based mammographic screening programmes, late presentation is common, and because of inadequate access to optimal treatment, survival rates are poor. Mammographic screening is well-studied in high-income countries in western populations, and because it has been shown to reduce breast cancer mortality, it has become part of the healthcare systems in such countries. However the performance of mammographic screening in a developing country is largely unknown. This study aims to evaluate the performance of mammographic screening in Malaysia, a middle income country, and to compare the stage and surgical treatment of screen-detected and symptomatic breast cancer. A retrospective review of 2510 mammograms performed from Jan to Dec 2010 in a tertiary medical centre is carried out. The three groups identified are the routine (opportunistic) screening group, the targeted (high risk) screening group and the diagnostic group. The performance indicators of each group is calculated, and stage at presentation and treatment between the screening and diagnostic group is analyzed. The cancer detection rate in the opportunistic screening group, targeted screening group, and the symptomatic group is 0.5 %, 1.25 % and 26 % respectively. The proportion of ductal carcinoma in situ is 23.1 % in the two screening groups compared to only 2.5 % in the diagnostic group. Among the opportunistic screening group, the cancer detection rate was 0.2 % in women below 50 years old compared to 0.65 % in women 50 years and above. The performance indicators are within international standards. Early-staged breast cancer (Stage 0-2) were 84.6 % in the screening groups compared to 61.1 % in the diagnostic group. From the results, in a setting with resource constraints, targeted screening of high risk individuals will give a higher yield, and if more resources are

[Positive Distribution Rate of Coombs Test in Patients with Clinical Anemia and Blood Transfusion and Its Effect on Clinical Blood Transfusion].

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Gang; Duan, Yu-Han

2018-02-01

To study the positive distribution rate of Coombs test in patients with clinical anemia and blood transfusion, and its effect on clinical blood transfusion. Seventy patients with hemoglobin level in the normal range were enrolled into control group, while 130 patients with anemia or blood transfusion who' s hemoglobin level was lower comfirmed by micro-column gel antihuman globin detection card and 70 surgical patients with anemia or blood transfusion who' s hemoglobin level was lower comfirmed by micro-column gel anti-human globin card were enrolled into anemia or blood transfusion (A or BT) group. And coomb' s test performed for all the patients, in which the positive patients in Department of Internal Medicine need to be re-typed. Among 70 surgical patients with anemia or blood transfusion, 14 cases were directly detected to be anti-human globine positive with detection rate 20%; among 130 internal medicine patients with anemia or blood transfusion, 54 cases were directly detected to be anti-human globine positive with detection rate 41.4%. Among 270 cases, the highest positive rate (66.7%) was observed in patients with 50-59 g/L of hemoglobin. According to type test, the samples of 54 patients with anemia in Department of Internal Medicine, who were directly selected to be anti-human globin positive, could be divided into anti-C3d(7 cases, accounting for 13.0%), anti-IgG(12 cases accounting for, 22.2%) and anti-C3d+anti-IgG(35 cases, accounting for 64.8%), while according to diseases, the anti-human globin positive ratio was high in tumor cancer, hephropathy and gastroenteropathy patients, and patients in intensive care unit, moreover the blood transfusion frequency of these patients was higher than that of patients with anti-human globin negative(Pblood transfusion, so as to ensure the effectiveness of blood transfusion.

Evaluating cessation of the type 2 oral polio vaccine by modeling pre- and post-cessation detection rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Kroiss, Steve J; Famulare, Michael; Lyons, Hil; McCarthy, Kevin A; Mercer, Laina D; Chabot-Couture, Guillaume

2017-10-09

The globally synchronized removal of the attenuated Sabin type 2 strain from the oral polio vaccine (OPV) in April 2016 marked a major change in polio vaccination policy. This change will provide a significant reduction in the burden of vaccine-associated paralytic polio (VAPP), but may increase the risk of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) outbreaks during the transition period. This risk can be monitored by tracking the disappearance of Sabin-like type 2 (SL2) using data from the polio surveillance system. We studied SL2 prevalence in 17 countries in Africa and Asia, from 2010 to 2016 using acute flaccid paralysis surveillance data. We modeled the peak and decay of SL2 prevalence following mass vaccination events using a beta-binomial model for the detection rate, and a Ricker function for the temporal dependence. We found type 2 circulated the longest of all serotypes after a vaccination campaign, but that SL2 prevalence returned to baseline levels in approximately 50days. Post-cessation model predictions identified 19 anomalous SL2 detections outside of model predictions in Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and western Africa. Our models established benchmarks for the duration of SL2 detection after OPV2 cessation. As predicted, SL2 detection rates have plummeted, except in Nigeria where OPV2 use continued for some time in response to recent cVDPV2 detections. However, the anomalous SL2 detections suggest specific areas that merit enhanced monitoring for signs of cVDPV2 outbreaks. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Analysis of acoustic cardiac signals for heart rate variability and murmur detection using nonnegative matrix factorization-based hierarchical decomposition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shah, Ghafoor; Koch, Peter; Papadias, Constantinos B.

2014-01-01

The detection of heart rate variability (HRV) via cardiac auscultation examination can be a useful and inexpensive tool which, however, is challenging in the presence of pathological signals and murmurs. The aim of this research is to analyze acoustic cardiac signals for HRV and murmur detection...

Characterizing the malaria rural-to-urban transmission interface: The importance of reactive case detection.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen Molina Gómez

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Reported urban malaria cases are increasing in Latin America, however, evidence of such trend remains insufficient. Here, we propose an integrated approach that allows characterizing malaria transmission at the rural-to-urban interface by combining epidemiological, entomological, and parasite genotyping methods.A descriptive study that combines active (ACD, passive (PCD, and reactive (RCD case detection was performed in urban and peri-urban neighborhoods of Quibdó, Colombia. Heads of households were interviewed and epidemiological surveys were conducted to assess malaria prevalence and identify potential risk factors. Sixteen primary cases, eight by ACD and eight by PCD were recruited for RCD. Using the RCD strategy, prevalence of 1% by microscopy (6/604 and 9% by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR (52/604 were found. A total of 73 houses and 289 volunteers were screened leading to 41 secondary cases, all of them in peri-urban settings (14% prevalence. Most secondary cases were genetically distinct from primary cases indicating that there were independent occurrences. Plasmodium vivax was the predominant species (76.3%, 71/93, most of them being asymptomatic (46/71. Urban and peri-urban neighborhoods had significant sociodemographic differences. Twenty-four potential breeding sites were identified, all in peri-urban areas. The predominant vectors for 1,305 adults were Anopheles nuneztovari (56,2% and An. Darlingi (42,5%. One An. nuneztovari specimen was confirmed naturally infected with P. falciparum by ELISA.This study found no evidence supporting the existence of urban malaria transmission in Quibdó. RCD strategy was more efficient for identifying malaria cases than ACD alone in areas where malaria transmission is variable and unstable. Incorporating parasite genotyping allows discovering hidden patterns of malaria transmission that cannot be detected otherwise. We propose to use the term "focal case" for those primary cases that

Case-mix adjustment approach to benchmarking prevalence rates of nosocomial infection in hospitals in Cyprus and Greece.

Science.gov (United States)

Kritsotakis, Evangelos I; Dimitriadis, Ioannis; Roumbelaki, Maria; Vounou, Emelia; Kontou, Maria; Papakyriakou, Panikos; Koliou-Mazeri, Maria; Varthalitis, Ioannis; Vrouchos, George; Troulakis, George; Gikas, Achilleas

2008-08-01

To examine the effect of heterogeneous case mix for a benchmarking analysis and interhospital comparison of the prevalence rates of nosocomial infection. Cross-sectional survey. Eleven hospitals located in Cyprus and in the region of Crete in Greece. The survey included all inpatients in the medical, surgical, pediatric, and gynecology-obstetrics wards, as well as those in intensive care units. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria were used to define nosocomial infection. The information collected for all patients included demographic characteristics, primary admission diagnosis, Karnofsky functional status index, Charlson comorbidity index, McCabe-Jackson severity of illness classification, use of antibiotics, and prior exposures to medical and surgical risk factors. Outcome data were also recorded for all patients. Case mix-adjusted rates were calculated by using a multivariate logistic regression model for nosocomial infection risk and an indirect standardization method.Results. The overall prevalence rate of nosocomial infection was 7.0% (95% confidence interval, 5.9%-8.3%) among 1,832 screened patients. Significant variation in nosocomial infection rates was observed across hospitals (range, 2.2%-9.6%). Logistic regression analysis indicated that the mean predicted risk of nosocomial infection across hospitals ranged from 3.7% to 10.3%, suggesting considerable variation in patient risk. Case mix-adjusted rates ranged from 2.6% to 12.4%, and the relative ranking of hospitals was affected by case-mix adjustment in 8 cases (72.8%). Nosocomial infection was significantly and independently associated with mortality (adjusted odds ratio, 3.6 [95% confidence interval, 2.1-6.1]). The first attempt to rank the risk of nosocomial infection in these regions demonstrated the importance of accounting for heterogeneous case mix before attempting interhospital comparisons.

Using field feedback to estimate failure rates of safety-related systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brissaud, Florent

2017-01-01

The IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 functional safety standards encourage the use of field feedback to estimate the failure rates of safety-related systems, which is preferred than generic data. In some cases (if “Route 2_H” is adopted for the 'hardware safety integrity constraints”), this is even a requirement. This paper presents how to estimate the failure rates from field feedback with confidence intervals, depending if the failures are detected on-line (called 'detected failures', e.g. by automatic diagnostic tests) or only revealed by proof tests (called 'undetected failures'). Examples show that for the same duration and number of failures observed, the estimated failure rates are basically higher for “undetected failures” because, in this case, the duration observed includes intervals of time where it is unknown that the elements have failed. This points out the need of using a proper approach for failure rates estimation, especially for failures that are not detected on-line. Then, this paper proposes an approach to use the estimated failure rates, with their uncertainties, for PFDavg and PFH assessment with upper confidence bounds, in accordance with IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 requirements. Examples finally show that the highest SIL that can be claimed for a safety function can be limited by the 90% upper confidence bound of PFDavg or PFH. The requirements of the IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 relating to the data collection and analysis should therefore be properly considered for the study of all safety-related systems. - Highlights: • This paper deals with requirements of the IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 for using field feedback to estimate failure rates of safety-related systems. • This paper presents how to estimate the failure rates from field feedback with confidence intervals for failures that are detected on-line. • This paper presents how to estimate the failure rates from field feedback with confidence intervals for failures that are only revealed by

Targeted Screening With Combined Age- and Morphology-Based Criteria Enriches Detection of Lynch Syndrome in Endometrial Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Douglas I; Hecht, Jonathan L

2016-06-01

Endometrial cancer is associated with Lynch syndrome in 2% to 6% of cases. Adequate screening may prevent of a second cancer and incident cancers in family members via risk-reducing strategies. The goal of the study was to evaluate the detection rate of Lynch syndrome via a targeted screening approach. In 2009, we incorporated targeted Lynch syndrome screening via immunohistochemistry for MLH1, PMS2, MSH2, and MSH6, followed by MLH1 promoter hypermethylation, in select cases of endometrial carcinoma. Criteria for patient selection included (1) all patients Lynch syndrome. Therefore, targeted screening with combined age and morphology based criteria enriches detection of Lynch syndrome in endometrial cancer. However, the detection rate is lower than the rates from published series that offer universal screening. © The Author(s) 2016.

Loss of Excitation Detection in Doubly Fed Induction Generator by Voltage and Reactive Power Rate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. J. Abbasi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The doubly fed induction generator (DFIG is one of the most popular technologies used in wind power systems. With the growing use of DFIGs and increasing power system dependence on them in recent years, protecting of these generators against internal faults is more considered. Loss of excitation (LOE event is among the most frequent failures in electric generators. However, LOE detection studies heretofore were usually confined to synchronous generators. Common LOE detection methods are based on impedance trajectory which makes the system slow and also prone to interpret a stable power swing (SPS as a LOE fault. This paper suggests a new method to detect the LOE based on the measured variables from the DFIG terminal. In this combined method for LOE detection, the rate of change of both the terminal voltage and the output reactive power are utilized and for SPS detection, the fast Fourier transform (FFT analysis of the output instantaneous active power has been used. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated using Matlab/Simulink interface for various power capacities and operating conditions. The results proved the method's quickness, simplicity and security.

Cardiac arrhythmia detection using combination of heart rate variability analyses and PUCK analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahananto, Faizal; Igasaki, Tomohiko; Murayama, Nobuki

2013-01-01

This paper presents cardiac arrhythmia detection using the combination of a heart rate variability (HRV) analysis and a "potential of unbalanced complex kinetics" (PUCK) analysis. Detection performance was improved by adding features extracted from the PUCK analysis. Initially, R-R interval data were extracted from the original electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings and were cut into small segments and marked as either normal or arrhythmia. HRV analyses then were conducted using the segmented R-R interval data, including a time-domain analysis, frequency-domain analysis, and nonlinear analysis. In addition to the HRV analysis, PUCK analysis, which has been implemented successfully in a foreign exchange market series to characterize change, was employed. A decision-tree algorithm was applied to all of the obtained features for classification. The proposed method was tested using the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database and had an overall classification accuracy of 91.73%. After combining features obtained from the PUCK analysis, the overall accuracy increased to 92.91%. Therefore, we suggest that the use of a PUCK analysis in conjunction with HRV analysis might improve performance accuracy for the detection of cardiac arrhythmia.

Ngram-derived pattern recognition for the detection and prediction of epileptic seizures.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir Eftekhar

Full Text Available This work presents a new method that combines symbol dynamics methodologies with an Ngram algorithm for the detection and prediction of epileptic seizures. The presented approach specifically applies Ngram-based pattern recognition, after data pre-processing, with similarity metrics, including the Hamming distance and Needlman-Wunsch algorithm, for identifying unique patterns within epochs of time. Pattern counts within each epoch are used as measures to determine seizure detection and prediction markers. Using 623 hours of intracranial electrocorticogram recordings from 21 patients containing a total of 87 seizures, the sensitivity and false prediction/detection rates of this method are quantified. Results are quantified using individual seizures within each case for training of thresholds and prediction time windows. The statistical significance of the predictive power is further investigated. We show that the method presented herein, has significant predictive power in up to 100% of temporal lobe cases, with sensitivities of up to 70-100% and low false predictions (dependant on training procedure. The cases of highest false predictions are found in the frontal origin with 0.31-0.61 false predictions per hour and with significance in 18 out of 21 cases. On average, a prediction sensitivity of 93.81% and false prediction rate of approximately 0.06 false predictions per hour are achieved in the best case scenario. This compares to previous work utilising the same data set that has shown sensitivities of up to 40-50% for a false prediction rate of less than 0.15/hour.

Heart Rate Detection Using Microsoft Kinect: Validation and Comparison to Wearable Devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Gambi, Ennio; Agostinelli, Angela; Belli, Alberto; Burattini, Laura; Cippitelli, Enea; Fioretti, Sandro; Pierleoni, Paola; Ricciuti, Manola; Sbrollini, Agnese; Spinsante, Susanna

2017-08-02

Contactless detection is one of the new frontiers of technological innovation in the field of healthcare, enabling unobtrusive measurements of biomedical parameters. Compared to conventional methods for Heart Rate (HR) detection that employ expensive and/or uncomfortable devices, such as the Electrocardiograph (ECG) or pulse oximeter, contactless HR detection offers fast and continuous monitoring of heart activities and provides support for clinical analysis without the need for the user to wear a device. This paper presents a validation study for a contactless HR estimation method exploiting RGB (Red, Green, Blue) data from a Microsoft Kinect v2 device. This method, based on Eulerian Video Magnification (EVM), Photoplethysmography (PPG) and Videoplethysmography (VPG), can achieve performance comparable to classical approaches exploiting wearable systems, under specific test conditions. The output given by a Holter, which represents the gold-standard device used in the test for ECG extraction, is considered as the ground-truth, while a comparison with a commercial smartwatch is also included. The validation process is conducted with two modalities that differ for the availability of a priori knowledge about the subjects' normal HR. The two test modalities provide different results. In particular, the HR estimation differs from the ground-truth by 2% when the knowledge about the subject's lifestyle and his/her HR is considered and by 3.4% if no information about the person is taken into account.

49 CFR 1109.4 - Mandatory mediation in rate cases to be considered under the stand-alone cost methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Mandatory mediation in rate cases to be considered... § 1109.4 Mandatory mediation in rate cases to be considered under the stand-alone cost methodology. (a) A... methodology must engage in non-binding mediation of its dispute with the railroad upon filing a formal...

Measurement of radiocesium concentration in trees using cumulative gamma radiation dose rate detection systems - A simple presumption for radiocesium concentration in living woods using glass-badge based gamma radiation dose rate detection system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoshihara, T.; Hashida, S.N. [Plant Molecular Biology, Laboratory of Environmental Science, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI), 1646 Abiko, Chiba 270-1194 (Japan); Kawachi, N.; Suzui, N.; Yin, Y.G.; Fujimaki, S. [Radiotracer Imaging Gr., Quantum Beam Science Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 1233 Watanuki, Takasaki, Gunma 370-1292 (Japan); Nagao, Y.; Yamaguchi, M. [Takasaki Advanced Radiation Research Institute, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 1233 Watanuki, Takasaki, Gunma 370-1292 (Japan)

2014-07-01

Radiocesium from the severe accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant on 11 March 2011 contaminates large areas. After this, a doubt for forest products, especially of mushroom, is indelible at the areas. Pruned woody parts and litters are containing a considerable amount of radiocesium, and generates a problem at incineration and composting. These mean that more attentive survey for each subject is expected; however, the present survey system is highly laborious/expensive and/or non-effective for this purpose. On the other hand, we can see a glass-badge based gamma radiation dose rate detection system. This system always utilized to detect a personal cumulative radiation dose, and thus, it is not suitable to separate a radiation from a specific object. However, if we can separate a radiation from a specific object and relate it with the own radiocesium concentration, it would enable us to presume the specific concentration with just an easy monitoring but without a destruction of the target nature and a complicated process including sampling, pre-treatment, and detection. Here, we present the concept of the measurement and results of the trials. First, we set glass-badges (type FS, Chiyoda Technol Corp., Japan) on a part of bough (approximately 10 cm in diameter) of Japanese flowering cherry trees (Prunus x yedoensis cv. Somei-Yoshino) with four different settings: A, a direct setting without any shield; B, a setting with an aluminum shield between bough and the glass-badge; C, a setting with a lead shield between bough and the glass-badge; D, a setting with a lead shield covering the glass-badge to shut the radiation from the surrounding but from bough. The deduction between the amount of each setting should separate a specific radiation of the bough from unlimited radiation from the surrounding. Even if the hourly dose rate is not enough to count the difference, a moderate cumulative dose would clear the difference. In fact, results demonstrated a

Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis and carriage rate among Egyptian children: a case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Abd El-Ghany, Shereen Mohamed; Abdelmaksoud, Abeer Ahmed; Saber, Sally Mohamed; Abd El Hamid, Dalia Hosni

2015-01-01

Improper prescription of antibiotics for treatment of acute pharyngitis predisposes to emergence of a carrier state and antibiotic-resistant strains of group A streptococci (GAS). We sought to identify the frequency and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of group A streptococci among Egyptian children with acute pharyngitis compared with asymptomatic children. Case-control study conducted from September 2013 to August 2014 at a pediatric outpatient clinic in Egypt. Throat swabs were collected from children with acute pharyngitis and from asymptomatic children. We evaluated the accuracy of McIsaac scores and the rapid antigen detection test (RADT) for diagnosis of GAS pharyngitis with throat culture as a reference test. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of GAS isolates was done by the disc diffusion method. Of 142 children with acute pharyngitis (cases) and 300 asymptomatic children (controls) (age range, 4-16 years), GAS pharyngitis was diagnosed in 60/142 children (42.2%); 48/300 (16%) were found to be carriers. All GAS isolates in the case group were sensitive to penicillin; however, an MIC90 (0.12 micro g/mL) for penicillin is high and an alarming sign. The resistance rate to macrolides was 70% with the cMLSB phenotype in 65.1%. The sensitivities and specificities were 78.3% and 73.2% for McIsaac score of >=4 and 81.1% and 93.9% for RADT, respectively. GAS isolates in the control group were 100% sensitive to penicillin, while 12.5% and 37.5% were resistant to macrolides and tetracycline, respectively. An increased MIC90 for GAS isolates to penicillin is an alarming sign. A high frequency of resistance to macrolides was also observed.

A national cholera epidemic with high case fatality rates--Kenya 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Loharikar, Anagha; Briere, Elizabeth; Ope, Maurice; Langat, Daniel; Njeru, Ian; Gathigi, Lucy; Makayotto, Lyndah; Ismail, Abdirizak M; Thuranira, Martin; Abade, Ahmed; Amwayi, Samuel; Omolo, Jared; Oundo, Joe; De Cock, Kevin M; Breiman, Robert F; Ayers, Tracy; Mintz, Eric; O'Reilly, Ciara E

2013-11-01

Cholera remains endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. We characterized the 2009 cholera outbreaks in Kenya and evaluated the response. We analyzed surveillance data and estimated case fatality rates (CFRs). Households in 2 districts, East Pokot (224 cases; CFR = 11.7%) and Turkana South (1493 cases; CFR = 1.0%), were surveyed. We randomly selected 15 villages and 8 households per village in each district. Healthcare workers at 27 health facilities (HFs) were surveyed in both districts. In 2009, cholera outbreaks caused a reported 11 425 cases and 264 deaths in Kenya. Data were available from 44 districts for 6893 (60%) cases. District CFRs ranged from 0% to 14.3%. Surveyed household respondents (n = 240) were aware of cholera (97.5%) and oral rehydration solution (ORS) (87.9%). Cholera deaths were reported more frequently from East Pokot (n = 120) than Turkana South (n = 120) households (20.7% vs. 12.3%). The average travel time to a HF was 31 hours in East Pokot compared with 2 hours in Turkana South. Fewer respondents in East Pokot (9.8%) than in Turkana South (33.9%) stated that ORS was available in their village. ORS or intravenous fluid shortages occurred in 20 (76.9%) surveyed HFs. High CFRs in Kenya are related to healthcare access disparities, including availability of rehydration supplies.

Time of day variation in polyp detection rate for colonoscopies performed on a 3-hour shift schedule.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Munson, Gregory W

2011-03-01

Recent research suggests that the colonoscopy polyp detection rate (PDR) varies by time of day, possibly because of endoscopist fatigue. Mayo Clinic Rochester (MCR) schedules colonoscopies on 3-hour shifts, which should minimize fatigue.

Case fatality ratio and mortality rate trends of community-onset Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tom, S; Galbraith, J C; Valiquette, L

2014-01-01

Lethal outcomes can be expressed as a case fatality ratio (CFR) or as a mortality rate per 100 000 population per year (MR). Population surveillance for community-onset methicillin-sensitive (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant (MRSA) Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia was conducted in Canada, Austral...

THE DETECTION RATE OF EARLY UV EMISSION FROM SUPERNOVAE: A DEDICATED GALEX/PTF SURVEY AND CALIBRATED THEORETICAL ESTIMATES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ganot, Noam; Gal-Yam, Avishay; Ofek, Eran O.; Sagiv, Ilan; Waxman, Eli; Lapid, Ofer [Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Faculty of Physics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel); Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.; Kasliwal, Mansi M. [Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Ben-Ami, Sagi [Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Chelouche, Doron; Rafter, Stephen [Physics Department, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, 31905 Haifa (Israel); Behar, Ehud; Laor, Ari [Physics Department, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa (Israel); Poznanski, Dovi; Nakar, Ehud; Maoz, Dan [School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv (Israel); Trakhtenbrot, Benny [Institute for Astronomy, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27 Zurich 8093 (Switzerland); Neill, James D.; Barlow, Thomas A.; Martin, Christofer D., E-mail: noam.ganot@gmail.com [California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, MC 278-17, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Collaboration: ULTRASAT Science Team; WTTH consortium; GALEX Science Team; Palomar Transient Factory; and others

2016-03-20

The radius and surface composition of an exploding massive star, as well as the explosion energy per unit mass, can be measured using early UV observations of core-collapse supernovae (SNe). We present the first results from a simultaneous GALEX/PTF search for early ultraviolet (UV) emission from SNe. Six SNe II and one Type II superluminous SN (SLSN-II) are clearly detected in the GALEX near-UV (NUV) data. We compare our detection rate with theoretical estimates based on early, shock-cooling UV light curves calculated from models that fit existing Swift and GALEX observations well, combined with volumetric SN rates. We find that our observations are in good agreement with calculated rates assuming that red supergiants (RSGs) explode with fiducial radii of 500 R{sub ⊙}, explosion energies of 10{sup 51} erg, and ejecta masses of 10 M{sub ⊙}. Exploding blue supergiants and Wolf–Rayet stars are poorly constrained. We describe how such observations can be used to derive the progenitor radius, surface composition, and explosion energy per unit mass of such SN events, and we demonstrate why UV observations are critical for such measurements. We use the fiducial RSG parameters to estimate the detection rate of SNe during the shock-cooling phase (<1 day after explosion) for several ground-based surveys (PTF, ZTF, and LSST). We show that the proposed wide-field UV explorer ULTRASAT mission is expected to find >85 SNe per year (∼0.5 SN per deg{sup 2}), independent of host galaxy extinction, down to an NUV detection limit of 21.5 mag AB. Our pilot GALEX/PTF project thus convincingly demonstrates that a dedicated, systematic SN survey at the NUV band is a compelling method to study how massive stars end their life.

Flaw detection device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasahara, Toshihiko

1998-01-01

The present invention provides a device for detecting welded portions of a reactor pressure vessel. Namely, the device of the present invention comprises (1) a casing to be disposed on the surface to be detected, (2) a probe driving means loaded to the casing, (3) a probe driven along the surface to be detected and (4) a pressure reduction means for keeping the hollow portion in the casing to an evacuated atmosphere. The casing comprises a flexible suction edge to be tightly in contact with the surface to be tested for maintaining the air tight state, (6) a guide wheel for moving the casing along the surface to be tested and (7) a handle for performing transferring operation. The flaw detection device thus constituted has following features. The working efficiency upon conducting detection is improved. The influence of the weight of the device on the detection is small. The device can be applied on the surface of a nonmagnetic material. The efficiency for the flaw detection can be improved. (I.S.)

Reaction rate constant of HO2+O3 measured by detecting HO2 from photofragment fluorescence

Science.gov (United States)

Manzanares, E. R.; Suto, Masako; Lee, Long C.; Coffey, Dewitt, Jr.

1986-01-01

A room-temperature discharge-flow system investigation of the rate constant for the reaction 'HO2 + O3 yields OH + 2O2' has detected HO2 through the OH(A-X) fluorescence produced by photodissociative excitation of HO2 at 147 nm. A reaction rate constant of 1.9 + or - 0.3 x 10 to the -15th cu cm/molecule per sec is obtained from first-order decay of HO2 in excess O3; this agrees well with published data.

Military otolaryngology resident case numbers and board passing rates during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Science.gov (United States)

Scalzitti, Nicholas; Brennan, Joseph; Bothwell, Nici; Brigger, Matthew; Ramsey, Mitchell; Gallagher, Thomas; Maturo, Stephen

2014-05-01

During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US military has continued to train medical residents despite concern that postgraduate medical education at military training facilities has suffered. This study compares the experience of otolaryngology residents at military programs with the experience of their civilian counterparts. Retrospective review. Academic military medical centers. Resident caseload data and board examination passing rates were requested from each of the 6 Department of Defense otolaryngology residency programs for 2001 to 2010. The American Board of Otolaryngology and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education provided the national averages for resident caseload. National board passing rates from 2004 to 2010 were also obtained. Two-sample t tests were used to compare the pooled caseloads from the military programs with the national averages. Board passing rates were compared with a test of proportions. Data were available for all but one military program. Regarding total cases, only 2001 and 2003 showed a significant difference (P < .05), with military residents completing more cases in those years. For individual case categories, the military averages were higher in Otology (299.6 vs 261.2, P = .033) and Plastics/Reconstruction (248.1 vs 149.2, P = .003). Only the Head & Neck category significantly favored the national average over the military (278.3 and 226.0, P = .039). The first-time board passing rates were identical between the groups (93%). Our results suggest that the military otolaryngology residency programs are equal in terms of caseload and board passing rates compared with civilian programs over this time period.

Rapid detection of pandemic influenza in the presence of seasonal influenza

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robertson Chris

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Key to the control of pandemic influenza are surveillance systems that raise alarms rapidly and sensitively. In addition, they must minimise false alarms during a normal influenza season. We develop a method that uses historical syndromic influenza data from the existing surveillance system 'SERVIS' (Scottish Enhanced Respiratory Virus Infection Surveillance for influenza-like illness (ILI in Scotland. Methods We develop an algorithm based on the weekly case ratio (WCR of reported ILI cases to generate an alarm for pandemic influenza. From the seasonal influenza data from 13 Scottish health boards, we estimate the joint probability distribution of the country-level WCR and the number of health boards showing synchronous increases in reported influenza cases over the previous week. Pandemic cases are sampled with various case reporting rates from simulated pandemic influenza infections and overlaid with seasonal SERVIS data from 2001 to 2007. Using this combined time series we test our method for speed of detection, sensitivity and specificity. Also, the 2008-09 SERVIS ILI cases are used for testing detection performances of the three methods with a real pandemic data. Results We compare our method, based on our simulation study, to the moving-average Cumulative Sums (Mov-Avg Cusum and ILI rate threshold methods and find it to be more sensitive and rapid. For 1% case reporting and detection specificity of 95%, our method is 100% sensitive and has median detection time (MDT of 4 weeks while the Mov-Avg Cusum and ILI rate threshold methods are, respectively, 97% and 100% sensitive with MDT of 5 weeks. At 99% specificity, our method remains 100% sensitive with MDT of 5 weeks. Although the threshold method maintains its sensitivity of 100% with MDT of 5 weeks, sensitivity of Mov-Avg Cusum declines to 92% with increased MDT of 6 weeks. For a two-fold decrease in the case reporting rate (0.5% and 99% specificity, the WCR and

DNA amplification for detection of leprosy and assessment of efficacy of leprosy chemotherapy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kampirapap, K.; Singtham, N.; Klatser, P. R.; Wiriyawipart, S.

1998-01-01

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of Mycobacterium leprae was applied to fresh skin biopsies and slit-skin smears from 122 untreated leprosy patients. The PCR positivity rates in biopsies were 95.6% in multibacillary (MB) cases and 44.2% in paucibacillary (PB) cases. Following 1

Radiologic aspects of breast cancers detected through a breast cancer screening program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azavedo, E.; Svane, G.

1991-01-01

Early detection in breast cancer and reduced mortality in women with this disease is today attributed to widespread use of mammography. High-quality performance is essential in all steps of breast cancer screening programs in order to avoid unnecessary anxiety and surgery in the women concerned. This report presents radiologic aspects of screening cancers. A total of 8370 asymptomatic women aged 50-69 years were screened with 2-view mammography, of which only 70 (0.84 percent) were selected for surgery after a thorough work-up. Cancers were verified histologically in 61 women and 9 showed non-malignant histology, giving a cancer detection rate of 7.3 cancers per thousand screened asymptomatic women. The benign/malignant ratio in the operated cases is thus approximately 1:7. The cancers detected showed all existing types of mammographic features where 77 percent (47 cases) showed rather typical findings, such as spiculated densities both with and without microcalcifications. The results indicate that surgery can be minimized without impairing the breast cancer detection rate. Radiologists in screening programs should be aware that a large proportion of non-palpable breast cancers present in rather unconventional forms. This point is important in order to maintain a high cancer detection rate and thereby justify the widespread use of mammography as a screening tool for breast cancer in asymptomatic women. (author). 20 refs.; 1 tab

Survey of prenatal screening policies in Europe for structural malformations and chromosome anomalies, and their impact on detection and termination rates for neural tube defects and Down's syndrome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boyd, P A; Devigan, C; Khoshnood, B

2008-01-01

tube defects (NTDs) using the EUROCAT database. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Existence of national prenatal screening policies, legal gestation limit for TOPFA, prenatal detection and termination rates for Down's syndrome and NTD. RESULTS: Ten of the 18 countries had a national country-wide policy for Down...... cases. Six of the 18 countries had a legal gestational age limit for TOPFA, and in two countries, termination of pregnancy was illegal at any gestation. CONCLUSIONS: There are large differences in screening policies between countries in Europe. These, as well as organisational and cultural factors...

Colour Doppler and microbubble contrast agent ultrasonography do not improve cancer detection rate in transrectal systematic prostate biopsy sampling.

Science.gov (United States)

Taverna, Gianluigi; Morandi, Giovanni; Seveso, Mauro; Giusti, Guido; Benetti, Alessio; Colombo, Piergiuseppe; Minuti, Francesco; Grizzi, Fabio; Graziotti, Pierpaolo

2011-12-01

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Transrectal gray-scale ultrasonography guided prostate biopsy sampling is the method for diagnosing prostate cancer (PC) in patients with an increased prostate specific antigen level and/or abnormal digital rectal examination. Several imaging strategies have been proposed to optimize the diagnostic value of biopsy sampling, although at the first biopsy nearly 10-30% of PC still remains undiagnosed. This study compares the PC detection rate when employing Colour Doppler ultransongraphy with or without the injection of SonoVue™ microbubble contrast agent, versus the transrectal ultrasongraphy-guided systematic biopsy sampling. The limited accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and the additional cost of using the contrast agent do not justify its routine application in PC detection. • To compare prostate cancer (PC) detection rate employing colour Doppler ultrasonography with or without SonoVue™ contrast agent with transrectal ultrasonography-guided systematic biopsy sampling. • A total of 300 patients with negative digital rectal examination and transrectal grey-scale ultrasonography, with PSA values ranging between 2.5 and 9.9 ng/mL, were randomized into three groups: 100 patients (group A) underwent transrectal ultrasonography-guided systematic bioptic sampling; 100 patients (group B) underwent colour Doppler ultrasonography, and 100 patients (group C) underwent colour Doppler ultrasonography before and during the injection of SonoVue™. • Contrast-enhanced targeted biopsies were sampled into hypervascularized areas of peripheral, transitional, apical or anterior prostate zones. • All the patients included in Groups B and C underwent a further 13 systematic prostate biopsies. The cancer detection rate was calculated for each group. • In 88 (29.3%) patients a histological diagnosis of PC was made, whereas 22 (7.4%) patients were diagnosed with high-grade prostatic intraepithelial

Improved Pulse Detection from Head Motions Using DCT

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Irani, Ramin; Nasrollahi, Kamal; Moeslund, Thomas B.

2014-01-01

. To measure it, physicians traditionally, either sense the pulsations of some blood vessels or install some sensors on the body. In either case, there is a need for a physical contact between the sensor and the body to obtain the heartbeat rate. This might not be always feasible, for example, for applications......The heart pulsation sends out the blood throughout the body. The rate in which the heart performs this vital task, heartbeat rate, is of curial importance to the body. Therefore, measuring heartbeat rate, a.k.a. pulse detection, is very important in many applications, especially the medical ones...

Non-contact acquisition of respiration and heart rates using Doppler radar with time domain peak-detection algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiaofeng Yang; Guanghao Sun; Ishibashi, Koichiro

2017-07-01

The non-contact measurement of the respiration rate (RR) and heart rate (HR) using a Doppler radar has attracted more attention in the field of home healthcare monitoring, due to the extremely low burden on patients, unconsciousness and unconstraint. Most of the previous studies have performed the frequency-domain analysis of radar signals to detect the respiration and heartbeat frequency. However, these procedures required long period time (approximately 30 s) windows to obtain a high-resolution spectrum. In this study, we propose a time-domain peak detection algorithm for the fast acquisition of the RR and HR within a breathing cycle (approximately 5 s), including inhalation and exhalation. Signal pre-processing using an analog band-pass filter (BPF) that extracts respiration and heartbeat signals was performed. Thereafter, the HR and RR were calculated using a peak position detection method, which was carried out via LABVIEW. To evaluate the measurement accuracy, we measured the HR and RR of seven subjects in the laboratory. As a reference of HR and RR, the persons wore contact sensors i.e., an electrocardiograph (ECG) and a respiration band. The time domain peak-detection algorithm, based on the Doppler radar, exhibited a significant correlation coefficient of HR of 0.92 and a correlation coefficient of RR of 0.99, between the ECG and respiration band, respectively.

ESR measurements and the detection of radiosterilization of drugs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibella, M.; Crucq, A.S.; Tilquin, B.

1993-01-01

The ESR spectrum of trapped radicals in irradiated solid antibiotics could permit the detection of the radiosterilization. The ESR signal is detected only after radiolysis; at room temperature, this ESR spectrum is observable for a few hours or until several years. The rate of the metathesis reactions can be fast or very slow, the reaction path is unknown,. However, in many cases, the polycrystalline solid phase exhibits its ability to keep radicals for a long period of time and the detection of the radiolysis is possible during this period. 10 figs., 1 tab

Combining Benford's Law and machine learning to detect money laundering. An actual Spanish court case.

Science.gov (United States)

Badal-Valero, Elena; Alvarez-Jareño, José A; Pavía, Jose M

2018-01-01

This paper is based on the analysis of the database of operations from a macro-case on money laundering orchestrated between a core company and a group of its suppliers, 26 of which had already been identified by the police as fraudulent companies. In the face of a well-founded suspicion that more companies have perpetrated criminal acts and in order to make better use of what are very limited police resources, we aim to construct a tool to detect money laundering criminals. We combine Benford's Law and machine learning algorithms (logistic regression, decision trees, neural networks, and random forests) to find patterns of money laundering criminals in the context of a real Spanish court case. After mapping each supplier's set of accounting data into a 21-dimensional space using Benford's Law and applying machine learning algorithms, additional companies that could merit further scrutiny are flagged up. A new tool to detect money laundering criminals is proposed in this paper. The tool is tested in the context of a real case. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Variable terrestrial GPS telemetry detection rates: Addressing the probability of successful acquisitions

Science.gov (United States)

Ironside, Kirsten E.; Mattson, David J.; Choate, David; Stoner, David; Arundel, Terry; Hansen, Jered R.; Theimer, Tad; Holton, Brandon; Jansen, Brian; Sexton, Joseph O.; Longshore, Kathleen M.; Edwards, Thomas C.; Peters, Michael

2017-01-01

Studies using global positioning system (GPS) telemetry rarely result in 100% fix success rates (FSR), which may bias datasets because data loss is systematic rather than a random process. Previous spatially explicit models developed to correct for sampling bias have been limited to small study areas, a small range of data loss, or were study-area specific. We modeled environmental effects on FSR from desert to alpine biomes, investigated the full range of potential data loss (0–100% FSR), and evaluated whether animal body position can contribute to lower FSR because of changes in antenna orientation based on GPS detection rates for 4 focal species: cougars (Puma concolor), desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni), Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni), and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). Terrain exposure and height of over story vegetation were the most influential factors affecting FSR. Model evaluation showed a strong correlation (0.88) between observed and predicted FSR and no significant differences between predicted and observed FSRs using 2 independent validation datasets. We found that cougars and canyon-dwelling bighorn sheep may select for environmental features that influence their detectability by GPS technology, mule deer may select against these features, and elk appear to be nonselective. We observed temporal patterns in missed fixes only for cougars. We provide a model for cougars, predicting fix success by time of day that is likely due to circadian changes in collar orientation and selection of daybed sites. We also provide a model predicting the probability of GPS fix acquisitions given environmental conditions, which had a strong relationship (r 2 = 0.82) with deployed collar FSRs across species.

Occult Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of Breast Detected by Stomach Metastasis: A Case Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

KIm, So Jung; Jung, Hae Kyoung; Ko, Kyung Hee; Yoon, Jung Hyun

2012-01-01

Gastric metastasis from primary breast cancer is a rare phenomenon that is more prevalent in the invasive lobular type of breast cancer. We describe a very rare case of occult invasive lobular cancer of the breast detected by the initial presentation of gastric metastasis in a patient without a history of breast cancer. A 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) which showed increased FDG uptake in the stomach, abdominal mesentery and the right breast, and played pivotal roles in the detection of occult primary breast cancer and a diagnosis of gastric metastasis as an ancillary method for obtaining histological results and immunohistochemical stains.

Occult Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of Breast Detected by Stomach Metastasis: A Case Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

KIm, So Jung; Jung, Hae Kyoung; Ko, Kyung Hee; Yoon, Jung Hyun [Dept. of Radiology, Bundang CHA general Hospital, CHA University College of Medicine, Seongnam (Korea, Republic of)

2012-02-15

Gastric metastasis from primary breast cancer is a rare phenomenon that is more prevalent in the invasive lobular type of breast cancer. We describe a very rare case of occult invasive lobular cancer of the breast detected by the initial presentation of gastric metastasis in a patient without a history of breast cancer. A 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) which showed increased FDG uptake in the stomach, abdominal mesentery and the right breast, and played pivotal roles in the detection of occult primary breast cancer and a diagnosis of gastric metastasis as an ancillary method for obtaining histological results and immunohistochemical stains.

Is MR imaging useful for detecting prostate cancer in cases requiring repeat biopsy?. Presidential award proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Hirotoshi; Takahata, Akiko; Goto, Mariko; Masunami, Terutoshi; Yuen, Sachiko; Yamada, Kei; Nishimura, Tsunehiko

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in detecting prostate cancer in cases requiring repeat biopsy. Twenty patients with negative first prostate biopsy were evaluated by T2-weighted images (T 2 W), diffusion weighted image (DWI), and contrast-enhanced dynamic MRI at 1.5T prior to repeat biopsy. Eleven of the 20 also underwent MR imaging before initial biopsy. Cancer criteria were defined as an area of low signal intensity on T 2 W, high signal intensity on DWI, and early enhancement on dynamic MR imaging. We compared MR imaging findings with biopsy results. Prostate cancer was detected by repeat biopsy in nine of 20 patients. MR imaging demonstrated the cancer lesion in seven of the 9 patients whose biopsies were positive for cancer. MR imaging of 5 patients whose biopsies showed cancer also demonstrated cancer lesion previous to initial biopsy. Most cancers were detected in the anterior, apex, and far lateral areas. False-negative cases were low-grade cancers and had a few positive biopsy cores. In patients with repeat prostate biopsy, prior MR imaging may be valuable for detecting and localizing prostate cancer. (author)

Early breast cancer detection in the hospital setting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vega, A.; Ortega, E.; Garcia-Valtuille, R.; Erasun, F.; Millan, R.; Garijo, F.

1997-01-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the benefits of mammography in general and particularly as a screening method in the early detection of breast cancer in our hospital. All the cases of breast carcinoma registered in our section between 1989 and 1995 were reviewed retrospectively. The total number of carcinomas was 775, 168 (22%) of which were diagnosed solely on the basis of mammography. The percentage of carcinomas detected on the basis of mammography alone increased progressively (from 13% in 1989-1990 to 28% in 1994-1995), coinciding with a progressive rise in the volume of screening mammography. Early carcinomas, referring to those in stages O or I, represented 67% of those detected by mammography in general and 17% of those detected by palpation (p<0.001). The proportion was even greater among cases of carcinoma detected exclusively by screening mammography (78 versus 17%; p<0.001). Although mammography has been instrumental in increasing the rate of early detection of breast carcinoma in our center, a large number of patients still present with palpable lesions. Thus, a greater effort should be made to increase the practice of mammography in asymptomatic women. (Author) 13 refs

How Well Can We Detect Lineage-Specific Diversification-Rate Shifts? A Simulation Study of Sequential AIC Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

May, Michael R; Moore, Brian R

2016-11-01

Evolutionary biologists have long been fascinated by the extreme differences in species numbers across branches of the Tree of Life. This has motivated the development of statistical methods for detecting shifts in the rate of lineage diversification across the branches of phylogenic trees. One of the most frequently used methods, MEDUSA, explores a set of diversification-rate models, where each model assigns branches of the phylogeny to a set of diversification-rate categories. Each model is first fit to the data, and the Akaike information criterion (AIC) is then used to identify the optimal diversification model. Surprisingly, the statistical behavior of this popular method is uncharacterized, which is a concern in light of: (1) the poor performance of the AIC as a means of choosing among models in other phylogenetic contexts; (2) the ad hoc algorithm used to visit diversification models, and; (3) errors that we reveal in the likelihood function used to fit diversification models to the phylogenetic data. Here, we perform an extensive simulation study demonstrating that MEDUSA (1) has a high false-discovery rate (on average, spurious diversification-rate shifts are identified [Formula: see text] of the time), and (2) provides biased estimates of diversification-rate parameters. Understanding the statistical behavior of MEDUSA is critical both to empirical researchers-in order to clarify whether these methods can make reliable inferences from empirical datasets-and to theoretical biologists-in order to clarify the specific problems that need to be solved in order to develop more reliable approaches for detecting shifts in the rate of lineage diversification. [Akaike information criterion; extinction; lineage-specific diversification rates; phylogenetic model selection; speciation.]. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Society of Systematic Biologists.

High-Frame-Rate Power Doppler Ultrasound Is More Sensitive than Conventional Power Doppler in Detecting Rheumatic Vascularisation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M. van der Ven (Myrthe); J.J. Luime (Jolanda); van der Velden, L.L. (Levinia L.); J.G. Bosch (Hans); J.M.W. Hazes (Mieke); H.J. Vos (Rik)

2016-01-01

textabstractEarly recognition of joint inflammation will increase treatment efficacy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Yet, conventional power Doppler (PD) ultrasound might not be sufficiently sensitive to detect minor inflammation. We investigated the sensitivity of high-frame rate Doppler, combined

On the hazard rate process for imperfectly monitored multi-unit systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barros, A.; Berenguer, C.; Grall, A.

2005-01-01

The aim of this paper is to present a stochastic model to characterize the failure distribution of multi-unit systems when the current units state is imperfectly monitored. The definition of the hazard rate process existing with perfect monitoring is extended to the realistic case where the units failure time are not always detected (non-detection events). The so defined observed hazard rate process gives a better representation of the system behavior than the classical failure rate calculated without any information on the units state and than the hazard rate process based on perfect monitoring information. The quality of this representation is, however, conditioned by the monotony property of the process. This problem is mainly discussed and illustrated on a practical example (two parallel units). The results obtained motivate the use of the observed hazard rate process to characterize the stochastic behavior of the multi-unit systems and to optimize for example preventive maintenance policies

On the hazard rate process for imperfectly monitored multi-unit systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barros, A. [Institut des Sciences et Techonologies de l' Information de Troyes (ISTIT-CNRS), Equipe de Modelisation et Surete des Systemes, Universite de Technologie de Troyes (UTT), 12, rue Marie Curie, BP2060, 10010 Troyes cedex (France)]. E-mail: anne.barros@utt.fr; Berenguer, C. [Institut des Sciences et Techonologies de l' Information de Troyes (ISTIT-CNRS), Equipe de Modelisation et Surete des Systemes, Universite de Technologie de Troyes (UTT), 12, rue Marie Curie, BP2060, 10010 Troyes cedex (France); Grall, A. [Institut des Sciences et Techonologies de l' Information de Troyes (ISTIT-CNRS), Equipe de Modelisation et Surete des Systemes, Universite de Technologie de Troyes (UTT), 12, rue Marie Curie, BP2060, 10010 Troyes cedex (France)

2005-12-01

The aim of this paper is to present a stochastic model to characterize the failure distribution of multi-unit systems when the current units state is imperfectly monitored. The definition of the hazard rate process existing with perfect monitoring is extended to the realistic case where the units failure time are not always detected (non-detection events). The so defined observed hazard rate process gives a better representation of the system behavior than the classical failure rate calculated without any information on the units state and than the hazard rate process based on perfect monitoring information. The quality of this representation is, however, conditioned by the monotony property of the process. This problem is mainly discussed and illustrated on a practical example (two parallel units). The results obtained motivate the use of the observed hazard rate process to characterize the stochastic behavior of the multi-unit systems and to optimize for example preventive maintenance policies.

Fatal adverse drug reactions of anticancer drugs detected by all-case post-marketing surveillance in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Mori, Jinichi; Tanimoto, Tetsuya; Miura, Yuji; Kami, Masahiro

2015-06-01

All-case post-marketing surveillance of newly approved anticancer drugs is usually conducted on all patients in Japan. The present study investigates whether all-case post-marketing surveillance identifies fatal adverse drug reactions undetected before market entry. We examined fatal adverse drug reactions identified via all-case post-marketing surveillance by reviewing the disclosed post-marketing surveillance results, and determined the time points in which the fatal adverse drug reactions were initially reported by reviewing drug labels. We additionally scanned emergency alerts on the Japanese regulatory authority website to assess the relationship between all-case post-marketing surveillance and regulatory action. Twenty-five all-case post-marketing surveillances were performed between January 1999 and December 2009. Eight all-case post-marketing surveillances with final results included information on all fatal cases. Of these, the median number of patients was 1287 (range: 106-4998), the median number of fatal adverse drug reactions was 14.5 (range: 4-23). Of the 111 fatal adverse drug reactions detected in the eight post-marketing surveillances, only 28 (25.0%) and 22 (19.6%) were described on the initial global and the initial Japanese drug label, respectively, and 58 (52.3%) fatal adverse drug reactions were first described in the all-case post-marketing surveillance reports. Despite this, the regulatory authority issued only four warning letters, and two of these were prompted by case reports from the all-case post-marketing surveillance. All-case post-marketing surveillance of newly approved anticancer drugs in Japan was useful for the rigorous compilation of non-specific adverse drug reactions, but it rarely detected clinically significant fatal adverse drug reactions. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The case-fatality rate of meningococcal disease in Catalonia, 1990-1997.

Science.gov (United States)

Domínguez, Angela; Cardeñosa, Neus; Pañella, Helena; Orcau, Angels; Companys, Maria; Alseda, Miquel; Oviedo, Manuel; Carmona, Glòria; Minguell, Sofia; Salleras, Lluis

2004-01-01

The objective was to analyse the case-fatality rate (CFR) of meningococcal disease (MD) in Catalonia, Spain. A retrospective study was carried out. Clinical histories of cases of MD reported for the period 1990-1997 in Catalonia were reviewed. For all cases, the variables gender, age, clinical type, y of presentation, province, phenotype and death by meningococcal disease were collected. The association between death and the other variables was studied by bivariate and unconditional logistic regression analysis. In the 2343 cases studied there were 146 deaths (6.2%) due to meningococcal disease. The CFR was higher in females (OR: 1.5, 95%CI: 1.1-2.1), in the 20 to 49 y (OR: 2.4, 95%CI: 1.2-4.9) and > or = 50 y (OR: 5.3, 95%CI: 2.8-10.1) age groups, in cases with septicaemia (OR: 2.4, 95%CI: 1.6-3.5), in the cases produced by serogroup A (OR: 4.7, 95%CI: 1.0-23.4) and in cases occurring during 1993 (OR: 2.1, 95%CI: 1.1-4.1) or in the province of Lleida (OR: 2.9, 95%CI: 1.2-7.2). In the multivariate analysis, death was associated with the 20-49 y age group (OR: 3.9, 95%CI: 1.8-8.4), the > or = 50 y age group (OR: 7.3, 95%CI: 3.6-14.7), septicaemia (OR: 3.1; 95%CI: 2.0-4.7) and residing in the province of Lleida (OR: 3.2; 95%CI: 1.2-8.5). The CFR of meningococcal disease in Catalonia was not associated with the emergent phenotype C:2b:P1.2,5 strain, which caused an outbreak in other regions of Spain.

Cases with focal FDG uptake in the thyroid gland detected by FDG-PET screening

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, Yutaka; Iguchi, Atsuko; Matsuo, Chikashi; Otawa, Kouichi; Nakamura, Mamoru

2007-01-01

We examined fifteen cases with focal fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in the thyroid gland detected by FDG-positron emission tomography (PET) screening for cancer. Examination of the thyroid gland was carried out by using computer tomography, ultrasound sonography, laboratory test and fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Surgical operation was performed to the patient who was suspected of having thyroid cancer by FNAC or clinical findings. Thyroid cancer was histologically confirmed in 4 cases. Malignancy was not ruled out by FNAC in one patient. Seven patients were suspected of having benign thyroid tumor (adenoma, adenomatous goiter). Three patients were diagnosed with thyroiditis (Hashimoto thyroiditis, subacute thyroiditis, painless thyroiditis) by laboratory tests. It was not easy to differentiate between cancer and benign diseases only by FDG-PET. However, it was useful to detect thyroid tumor especially if the tumor is hardly palpable. FDG-PET was also valuable as a diagnostic imaging technique to evaluate metastasis and the extent of cancer. (author)

The analysis of a case rate a skin melanoma in the Samara region for 1999-2009

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kozlov S.V.

2011-06-01

Full Text Available In article one of oncology problems — a skin melanoma is surveyed. The theme urgency proves to be true that annually the case rate of patients with an oncologic pathology is constantly enlarged. One of oncology problems still has a skin melanoma. The work purpose is studying of a case rate by a skin melanoma in large industrial area on an example of the Samara region over the last 10 years. In article one of oncology problems — a skin melanoma is surveyed. For the task in view decision following materials and methods were used: primary registration documentation for 11 years (1999-2009 About for the first time taped disease a skin melanoma, annual reports of the Samara regional clinical oncologic dispensary, annual statistical reports of the State statistical committee, bureau MSE annual reports. At processing and the forecast of results of research following statistical methods — an extrapolation method, model of linear regress were used. Reliability of the taped pattern of dynamics was defined by means of an error of regress with the subsequent definition t and p. The received results testify to growth of a case rate of all population of the Samara region at the expense of the senior age groups. According to the analysis the invalid population is more often is ill. Conclusions are drawn on appreciable influence on occurrence of this pathology occurring in an organism involutes processes, necessity of carrying out of sanitary-educational work, carrying out of additional profound inspection among the population with high level of a case rate

Early detection of left ventricular dysfunction in asymptomatic diabetic patient using strain and strain rate echocardiographic imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rania Gaber

2014-03-01

Conclusion: Type 2 diabetes mellitus deteriorate both LV systolic and diastolic performance. Strain and strain rate by tissue Doppler Imaging is superior to conventional Doppler in early detection and evaluation of systolic and diastolic dysfunction in type 2 diabetic patients.

Detection of Human Bocavirus DNA by Multiplex PCR Analysis: Postmortem Case Report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nihan Ziyade

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Human bocavirus (HBoV is a virus belonging to the Parvoviridae family, which has been newly discovered to be associated with respiratory tract infections in children. There are many reports worldwide on the endemicity of this virus. Since it is relatively new, it is not routinely detected in clinical laboratory investigations. Case Report: We demonstrated that HBoV infection caused the death of a 5-month-old girl with a history of high fever and wheezing. Human bocavirus (HBoV 1/2/3/4 was found in a nasopharyngeal swab, paraffin-embedded lung tissue and stool samples by multiplex PCR methods using postmortem microbiological analysis. Conclusion: This case suggests that lower respiratory tract infections due to HBoV may cause severe and life-threatening diseases. Postmortem microbiology is useful in both clinical and forensic autopsies, and allows a suspected infection to be confirmed. To our knowledge, this report is the first document of a HBoV postmortem case in Turkey.

Separating the effect of respiration from the heart rate variability for cases of constant harmonic breathing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kircher Michael

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Heart Rate Variability studies are a known measure for the autonomous control of the heart rate. In special situations, its interpretation can be ambiguous, since the respiration has a major influence on the heart rate variability. For this reason it has often been proposed to measure Heart Rate Variability, while the subjects are breathing at a constant respiration rate. That way the spectral influence of the respiration is known. In this work we propose to remove this constant respiratory influence from the heart rate and the Heart Rate Variability parameters to gain respiration free autonomous controlled heart rate signal. The spectral respiratory component in the heart rate signal is detected and characterized. Subsequently the respiratory effect on Heart Rate Variability is removed using spectral filtering approaches, such as the Notch filter or the Raised Cosine filter. As a result new decoupled Heart Variability parameters are gained, which could lead to new additional interpretations of the autonomous control of the heart rate.

Case Study: IBM Watson Analytics Cloud Platform as Analytics-as-a-Service System for Heart Failure Early Detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriele Guidi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available In the recent years the progress in technology and the increasing availability of fast connections have produced a migration of functionalities in Information Technologies services, from static servers to distributed technologies. This article describes the main tools available on the market to perform Analytics as a Service (AaaS using a cloud platform. It is also described a use case of IBM Watson Analytics, a cloud system for data analytics, applied to the following research scope: detecting the presence or absence of Heart Failure disease using nothing more than the electrocardiographic signal, in particular through the analysis of Heart Rate Variability. The obtained results are comparable with those coming from the literature, in terms of accuracy and predictive power. Advantages and drawbacks of cloud versus static approaches are discussed in the last sections.

Molecular evolution of enterovirus 68 detected in the Philippines.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tadatsugu Imamura

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Detection of Enterovirus 68 (EV68 has recently been increased. However, underlying evolutionary mechanism of this increasing trend is not fully understood. METHODS: Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 5,240 patients with acute respiratory infections in the Philippines from June 2009 to December 2011. EV68 was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR targeting for 5' untranslated region (5'UTR, viral protein 1 (VP1, and VP4/VP2. Phylogenetic trees were generated using the obtained sequences. RESULTS: Of the 5,240 tested samples, 12 EV68 positive cases were detected between August and December in 2011 (detection rate, 0.23%. The detection rate was higher among inpatients than outpatients (p<0.0001. Among VP1 sequences detected from 7 patients in 2011, 5 in lineage 2 were diverged from those detected in the Philippines in 2008, however, 2 in lineage 3 were not diverged from strains detected in the Philippines in 2008 but closely associated with strains detected in the United States. Combined with our previous report, EV68 occurrences were observed twice in the Philippines within the last four years. CONCLUSIONS: EV68 detections might be occurring in cyclic patterns, and viruses might have been maintained in the community while some strains might have been newly introduced.

[The estimated incidence and case fatality rate of ischemic and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease in 2002 in Catalonia].

Science.gov (United States)

Marrugat, Jaume; Arboix, Adrià; García-Eroles, Lluís; Salas, Teresa; Vila, Joan; Castell, Conxa; Tresserras, Ricard; Elosua, Roberto

2007-06-01

The aim of this study was to obtain an estimate of the incidence of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) in the Spanish population in 2002. The study involved data on patients aged over 24 years for the year 2002 contained in both the death register and the Minimum Basic Data Set from 65 of the 84 Catalan general hospitals (i.e., 90.7% of all acute hospital beds in Catalonia). Total and age-adjusted mortality rates, cumulative incidence, and hospitalization rates, and the 28-day case fatality rate for CVD in the Catalan population were calculated after cases of traumatic and transient disease had been excluded. The unadjusted CVD mortality rate per 100,000 population aged over 24 years in Catalonia was 92 in men and 119 in women. The age-adjusted rates were 58 (95% confidence interval or CI, 56-61) and 43 (95% CI, 41-44), respectively. The cumulative incidence of CVD per 100,000 population was 218 (95% CI, 214-221) in men and 127 (95% CI, 125-128) in women. The unadjusted 28-day case fatality rate in the population was 36.2%: 30.3% in men and 42.0% in women. Some 62.5% of patients (57.2% of men and 66.4% of women) died from CVD outside hospital. These findings indicate that CVD mortality and incidence rates in Catalonia are among the lowest in developed countries. More than half of the deaths that took place within 28 days after the onset of symptoms occurred outside hospital.

A Longitudinal Study of Adenoma Detection Rate in Gastroenterology Fellowship Training.

Science.gov (United States)

Gianotti, Robert J; Oza, Sveta Shah; Tapper, Elliot B; Kothari, Darshan; Sheth, Sunil G

2016-10-01

Current guidelines suggest that a gastroenterology fellow in training needs to perform 140 colonoscopies to achieve competency. Data are limited regarding adenoma detection rate (ADR) in fellowship. To assess how fellow ADR correlates with number of colonoscopies performed. We performed a retrospective study examining consecutive colonoscopies performed by gastroenterology fellows. Fellow ADR before and after the 140 procedure benchmark was compared to colonoscopies performed by attending only with whom these fellows trained. A threshold for ideal procedure count was performed using ROC analysis. We analyzed 2021 average-risk colonoscopies performed by 10 gastroenterology fellows under the supervision of an attending physician. When fellows had performed 140 colonoscopies under attending supervision (p = 0.02). The ADR of fellows who had performed >140 colonoscopies under attending supervision was greater than that of attending-only colonoscopies (36 vs. 25 %, p 325 (male patients) and 539 (female patients) colonoscopies was determined to be ideal for achieving adequate ADR based on ROC analysis. Our data suggest that ADR increases after fellows perform >140 colonoscopies under attending supervision, and thereafter surpasses the ADR of attending-only colonoscopies. Some of the differences may be driven by detection of small adenomas. The findings of this study suggest that a higher threshold for number of colonoscopies performed under attending supervision may be needed to achieve adequate ADR during fellowship prior to independent practice.

Fiber optic sensor based on reflectivity configurations to detect heart rate

Science.gov (United States)

Yunianto, M.; Marzuki, A.; Riyatun, R.; Lestari, D.

2016-11-01

Research of optical fiber-based heart rate detection sensor has been conducted using the reflection configurationon the thorax motion modified. Optical fiber used in this research was Plastic Optical Fiber (POF) with a diameter of 0.5. Optical fiber system is made with two pieces of fiber, the first fiber is to serve as a transmitter transmitting light from the source to the reflector membrane, the second fiber serves as a receiver. One of the endsfrom the two fibersis pressed and positioned perpendicular of reflector membrane which is placed on the surface of the chest. The sensor works on the principle of intensity changes captured by the receiver fiber when the reflector membrane gets the vibe from the heart. The light source used is in the form of Light Emitting Diode (LED) and Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) as a light sensor. Variations are performed on the reflector membrane diameter. The light intensity received by the detector increases along with the increasing width of the reflector membrane diameter. The results show that this sensor can detect the harmonic peak at a frequency of 1.5 Hz; 7.5 Hz; 10.5 Hz; and 22.5 Hz in a healthy human heart with an average value of Beat Per Minute (BPM) by 78 times, a prototype sensor that is made can work and function properly.

Detection of delirium by nurses among long-term care residents with dementia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danjou Christine

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Delirium is a prevalent problem in long-term care (LTC facilities where advanced age and cognitive impairment represent two important risk factors for this condition. Delirium is associated with numerous negative outcomes including increased morbidity and mortality. Despite its clinical importance, delirium often goes unrecognized by nurses. Although rates of nurse-detected delirium have been studied among hospitalized older patients, this issue has been largely neglected among demented older residents in LTC settings. The goals of this study were to determine detection rates of delirium and delirium symptoms by nurses among elderly residents with dementia and to identify factors associated with undetected cases of delirium. Methods In this prospective study (N = 156, nurse ratings of delirium were compared to researcher ratings of delirium. This procedure was repeated for 6 delirium symptoms. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were computed. Logistic regressions were conducted to identify factors associated with delirium that is undetected by nurses. Results Despite a high prevalence of delirium in this cohort (71.5%, nurses were able to detect the delirium in only a minority of cases (13%. Of the 134 residents not identified by nurses as having delirium, only 29.9% of them were correctly classified. Detection rates for the 6 delirium symptoms varied between 39.1% and 58.1%, indicating an overall under-recognition of symptoms of delirium. Only the age of the residents (≥ 85 yrs was associated with undetected delirium (OR: 4.1; 90% CI: [1.5–11.0]. Conclusion Detection of delirium is a major issue for nurses that clearly needs to be addressed. Strategies to improve recognition of delirium could result in a reduction of adverse outcomes for this very vulnerable population.

Detection of Influenza C Viruses Among Outpatients and Patients Hospitalized for Severe Acute Respiratory Infection, Minnesota, 2013-2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Thielen, Beth K; Friedlander, Hannah; Bistodeau, Sarah; Shu, Bo; Lynch, Brian; Martin, Karen; Bye, Erica; Como-Sabetti, Kathryn; Boxrud, David; Strain, Anna K; Chaves, Sandra S; Steffens, Andrea; Fowlkes, Ashley L; Lindstrom, Stephen; Lynfield, Ruth

2018-03-19

Existing literature suggests that influenza C typically causes mild respiratory tract disease. However, clinical and epidemiological data are limited. Four outpatient clinics and 3 hospitals submitted clinical data and respiratory specimens through a surveillance network for acute respiratory infection (ARI) from May 2013 through December 2016. Specimens were tested using multitarget nucleic acid amplification for 19-22 respiratory pathogens, including influenza C. Influenza C virus was detected among 59 of 10 202 (0.58%) hospitalized severe ARI cases and 11 of 2282 (0.48%) outpatients. Most detections occurred from December to March, 73% during the 2014-2015 season. Influenza C detections occurred among patients of all ages, with rates being similar between inpatients and outpatients. The highest rate of detection occurred among children aged 6-24 months (1.2%). Among hospitalized cases, 7 required intensive care. Medical comorbidities were reported in 58% of hospitalized cases and all who required intensive care. At least 1 other respiratory pathogen was detected in 40 (66%) cases, most commonly rhinovirus/enterovirus (25%) and respiratory syncytial virus (20%). The hemagglutinin-esterase-fusion gene was sequenced in 37 specimens, and both C/Kanagawa and C/Sao Paulo lineages were detected in inpatients and outpatients. We found seasonal circulation of influenza C with year-to-year variability. Detection was most frequent among young children but occurred in all ages. Some cases that were positive for influenza C, particularly those with comorbid conditions, had severe disease, suggesting a need for further study of the role of influenza C virus in the pathogenesis of respiratory disease.

EUROmediCAT signal detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Luteijn, Johannes Michiel; Morris, Joan K; Garne, Ester

2016-01-01

AIMS: Information about medication safety in pregnancy is inadequate. We aimed to develop a signal detection methodology to routinely identify unusual associations between medications and congenital anomalies using data collected by 15 European congenital anomaly registries. METHODS: EUROmedi...... for 40 385 medication anomaly combinations in the data. Simes multiple testing procedure with a 50% false discovery rate (FDR) identified associations least likely to be due to chance and those associations with more than two cases with the exposure and the anomaly were selected for further investigation...

Autonomous Rule Creation for Intrusion Detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Todd Vollmer; Jim Alves-Foss; Milos Manic

2011-04-01

Many computational intelligence techniques for anomaly based network intrusion detection can be found in literature. Translating a newly discovered intrusion recognition criteria into a distributable rule can be a human intensive effort. This paper explores a multi-modal genetic algorithm solution for autonomous rule creation. This algorithm focuses on the process of creating rules once an intrusion has been identified, rather than the evolution of rules to provide a solution for intrusion detection. The algorithm was demonstrated on anomalous ICMP network packets (input) and Snort rules (output of the algorithm). Output rules were sorted according to a fitness value and any duplicates were removed. The experimental results on ten test cases demonstrated a 100 percent rule alert rate. Out of 33,804 test packets 3 produced false positives. Each test case produced a minimum of three rule variations that could be used as candidates for a production system.

[Clinical utility of real-time fluorescent PCR for combined detection of anaplastic lymphoma kinase and c-ros oncogene 1 receptor tyrosine kinase in non-small cell lung cancer].

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, D Y; Zhang, H P; Zhong, S; Suo, W H; Gao, D H; Ding, Y; Tu, J H

2016-12-23

Objective: To investigate the clinical application value of combined detection of ALK fusion gene and c-ros oncogene 1 receptor tyrosine kinase (ROS1) fusion gene in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using real-time fluorescent PCR. Methods: A kit for combined detection of ALK fusion gene and ROS1 fusion gene based on fluorescent PCR was used to simultaneously detect the two fusion genes in 302 cases of NSCLC specimens. The results were validated through Sanger sequencing. The consistency of the two detection methods was analyzed. Results: All 302 cases of NSCLC specimens were successfully analyzed through fluorescent PCR (302/302). 12 cases (4.0%) were found to contain ALK fusion gene, including 3 cases with ALK-M1, 3 with ALK-M2, 3 with ALK-M3, 1 with ALK-M4, and 2 with ALK-M6 fusion gene.12 cases (4.0%) were found to contain ROS1 fusion gene, including 1 case with ROS1-M7, 8 cases with ROS1-M8, 1 case with ROS1-M12, 1 case with ROS1-M14, and 1 case with double-positive ROS1-M3 and ROS1-M8 fusion genes. The total detection rate of ALK fusion gene and ROS1 fusion gene was 7.9% (24/302) and 278 cases showed to be negative for ALK fusion gene and ROS1 fusion gene. The successful detection rates for Sanger DNA sequencing were also 100%. The positive, negative and total coincidence rates obtained by real-time fluorescent PCR and by Sanger DNA sequencing were all 100%. Conclusions: The results of Sanger DNA sequencing demonstrate that the real-time fluorescent PCR assay is equally effective in detecting ALK and ROS1 fusion genes in NSCLC tissues. Furthermore, real-time fluorescent PCR assay can be used to detect trace ALK and ROS1 fusion gene simultaneously in tiny samples, and can save time and avoid repeated sampling. It is worthy of recommendation as a rapid and reliable detection technique.

Heart rate variability analysis in postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome: a case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raffaele Calabrò

2006-09-01

Full Text Available The authors present a case of 36 year old male patient with idiopathic postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS diagnosed during head-up tilt testing. Power spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV during the tilt test revealed that the ratio of low and high frequency powers (LF/HF increased with the onset of orthostatic intolerance. This analysis confirmed in our patient a strong activation in sympathetic tone.

Analyzing data from a fuzzy rating scale-based questionnaire. A case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gil, María Ángeles; Lubiano, María Asunción; de la Rosa de Sáa, Sara; Sinova, Beatriz

2015-01-01

The fuzzy rating scale was introduced to cope with the imprecision of human thought and experience in measuring attitudes in many fields of Psychology. The flexibility and expressiveness of this scale allow us to properly describe the answers to many questions involving psychological measurement. Analyzing the responses to a fuzzy rating scale-based questionnaire is indeed a critical problem. Nevertheless, over the last years, a methodology is being developed to analyze statistically fuzzy data in such a way that the information they contain is fully exploited. In this paper, a summary review of the main procedures is given. The methods are illustrated by their application on the dataset obtained from a case study with nine-year-old children. In this study, children replied to some questions from the well-known TIMSS/PIRLS questionnaire by using a fuzzy rating scale. The form could be filled in either on the computer or by hand. The study indicates that the requirements of background and training underlying the fuzzy rating scale are not too demanding. Moreover, it is clearly shown that statistical conclusions substantially often differ depending on the responses being given in accordance with either a Likert scale or a fuzzy rating scale.

The capsule endoscopy "suspected blood indicator" (SBI) for detection of active small bowel bleeding: no active bleeding in case of negative SBI.

Science.gov (United States)

Tal, Andrea Oliver; Filmann, Natalie; Makhlin, Konstantin; Hausmann, Johannes; Friedrich-Rust, Mireen; Herrmann, Eva; Zeuzem, Stefan; Albert, Jörg G

2014-09-01

Capsule endoscopy (CE) is the gold standard to diagnose small bowel bleeding. The "suspected blood indicator" (SBI) offers an automated detection of active small bowel bleeding but validity of this technique is unknown. The objective was to analyze specificity and sensitivity of the SBI using the second small bowel capsule generation for the detection of active bleeding. This is a retrospective analysis of all patients (199) who attended our clinic for CE from June 2008 through March 2013. The second-generation PillCam SB 2 capsule was used for detection of (1) luminal blood content and (2) potentially responsible small bowel lesions. The findings of an independent investigator were correlated to SBI findings and a number of SBI markings were analyzed by a receiver operating characteristic (ROC). In 157/199 cases, no sign of active bleeding or altered blood was detected. One hundred and thirty-seven of these 157 cases provided at least one SBI marking and a mean of 18.4 positive SBI markings per record were found. In 20 cases, neither SBI nor the human investigator detected abnormalities. Thirteen patients showed investigator-detected minor bleeding with mean SBI findings of 36 positive screenshots per record. When major bleeding was diagnosed by the investigator (n = 29), SBI detected a mean of 46.6 SBI-positive markings. SBI turned positive in 179 patients, whereas the investigator detected active bleeding in 42 cases. All patients with active bleeding were detected by SBI (sensitivity 100%, specificity 13%). ROC analysis revealed 51.0 SBI markings being the optimal cutoff for active versus no bleeding (sensitivity 79.1%, specificity 90.4%, misclassification of 15.3%). The new SBI software is a reliable tool to exclude active bleeding and/or major lesions but analysis of the CE video by a trained investigator is still important for the detection of lesions responsible for past bleeding.

Atlantoaxial Ankylosis Detected on Neck CT Scans in a Patient with Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Case Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jeong Ah; Lee, Seung Hun; Joo, Kyung Bin [Dept. of Radiology, Seoul Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Ryu, Jeong Ah [Dept. of Radiology, Guri Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Guri (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Tae Hwan [Dept. of Rheynmatology, Seoul Hospital, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2011-07-15

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder of unknown cause that principally affects the axial skeleton. The cervical spine is also vulnerable to this disease process and the characteristic feature of cervical involvement is atlantoaxial subluxation. However, only a few cases of atlantoaxial ankylosis have been reported to date. We report a case of atlantoaxial ankylosis in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis with radiologic findings incidentally detected on neck CT scans.

Atlantoaxial Ankylosis Detected on Neck CT Scans in a Patient with Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Case Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jeong Ah; Lee, Seung Hun; Joo, Kyung Bin; Ryu, Jeong Ah; Kim, Tae Hwan

2011-01-01

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder of unknown cause that principally affects the axial skeleton. The cervical spine is also vulnerable to this disease process and the characteristic feature of cervical involvement is atlantoaxial subluxation. However, only a few cases of atlantoaxial ankylosis have been reported to date. We report a case of atlantoaxial ankylosis in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis with radiologic findings incidentally detected on neck CT scans.

[Detection of metals and metalloids in the lavage fluid of whole-lung lavage of the cases of pneumoconiosis].

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, K; Ding, C G; Chen, G; Ma, G X; Wang, H Q

2017-11-20

Objective: To detect of the components and concentration of the metals and metalloids in the lavage fluid of whole-lung lavage (WLL) of the cases of pneumoconiosis, and analyze the characteristics, and explore the method to sample and process the samples of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) . Methods: The samples of urine and serum of three cases of pneumoconiosis were collected before WLL, and the samples of BAL were collected during the WLL from the left and right lungs according to the sequence of four pressured gas flow and five negative pressure drainage. Each of 10ml original samples of WLL was collected firstly, and the left was centrifuged to acquire all the sediment samples and each of 10 ml samples from the centrifuge clear liquids, The components and concentration of the metals and metalloids in the samples were measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) . Results: The average volume of BAL from unilat-eral lung for 3 patients was 10 758.3±1518 ml, and the average recovery rate was 89.7%. The average dry weight of sediment samples of BAL of three cases of pneumoconiosis was 0.292 gram with the right lung sam-ples slightly higher than the left lung samples. The detectable elements from the samples included Barium (Ba) , Strontium (Sr) , Calcium (Ca) , Magnesium (Mg) , Manganum (Mn) , Ferrum (Fe) , Cuprum (Cu) , Zinc (Zn) , Kalium (K) , Natrium (Na) , Selenium (Se) , Silicon (Si) and Uranium (U) . Each of concentration dis-tributions of these elements were not normal. Except for Cuprum, Selenium and Uranium, the concentrations of the other ten elements in the supernatant samples, mixture samples and sediments samples were statistical-ly different with the nonparametric test of Kruskal-Wallis. The concentrations of Natrium, Kalium and Barium in supernatant samples were higher, while the others in precipitation samples were higher. The concentration of elements in the sample from the right lung was slightly higher than that from the

Sensitive detection of a small parathyroid adenoma using fluorocholine PET/CT: A case report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Padinhare-Keloth, Thanseer N. T. K.; Bhadada, Sanjay K.; Sood, Ashwani; Kumar, Rajender; Behera, Arunanshu; Radotra, Bishan D.; Mittal, Bhagwant R. [PGIMER, Chandigarh (India)

2017-06-15

Primary hyperparathyroidism is caused by parathyroid adenoma in the majority of cases and diagnosis is usually made biochemically. Pre-surgical localization of parathyroid adenoma is essential to limit the extent of surgery and avoid missing them at ectopic sites. Anatomical and functional imaging are used for the localization, but may fail to identify the small and ectopic parathyroid adenoma. We present a case of small sized ectopic parathyroid adenoma at unusual location detected by F-18 fluorocholine (FCH) PET/CT, where other imaging modalities failed. The post-operative histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of ectopic parathyroid adenoma.

Impact of a shift in nuchal translucency measurements on the detection rate of first-trimester Down syndrome screening: A population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Fries, Nicolas; Salomon, Laurent J; Muller, Françoise; Dreux, Sophie; Houfflin-Debarge, Véronique; Coquel, Philippe; Kleinfinger, Pascale; Dommergues, Marc

2018-01-01

To assess the distribution of nuchal translucency (NT) measurements following a national policy without credentialing and its impact on first-trimester Down syndrome screening (DSS) detection rate. All first-trimester DSS data recorded in France (2010-2014) were collected by the laboratories in charge via an Internet database (https://www.bionuqual.org/echo.php). There was no minimal requirement for image quality to allow sonographers to enter the screening process. A subgroup of DSS with complete DS follow-up corresponded to 1614 sonographers. Based on the distribution of maternal age, DS detection rate was calculated and split as a function of the distribution of NT multiple of the median (MoM). Four thousand nine hundred forty-three sonographers performed 2,337,372 NT measurements. Median NT expressed in MoM was 0.83. Screenings with complete follow-up consisted of 197,417 screenings, in which DSS detection rates were respectively 70.4%, 70.9%, 79.4%, 87.7%, and 79.5% for the following median NT MoM ranges: 0.99 (trend χ = 12.21; P = .0158). In France, following a policy of quality assessment without standardized credentialing, the distribution of NT measurements did not fit the expected distribution. Down syndrome detection rate was 10% lower in screenings by sonographers with a median NT < 0.80 MoM. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Incorporating an Exercise Detection, Grading, and Hormone Dosing Algorithm Into the Artificial Pancreas Using Accelerometry and Heart Rate

OpenAIRE

Jacobs, Peter G.; Resalat, Navid; El Youssef, Joseph; Reddy, Ravi; Branigan, Deborah; Preiser, Nicholas; Condon, John; Castle, Jessica

2015-01-01

In this article, we present several important contributions necessary for enabling an artificial endocrine pancreas (AP) system to better respond to exercise events. First, we show how exercise can be automatically detected using body-worn accelerometer and heart rate sensors. During a 22 hour overnight inpatient study, 13 subjects with type 1 diabetes wearing a Zephyr accelerometer and heart rate monitor underwent 45 minutes of mild aerobic treadmill exercise while controlling their glucose ...

Sensitivity of the Dengue Surveillance System in Brazil for Detecting Hospitalized Cases

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

We evaluated the sensitivity of the dengue surveillance system in detecting hospitalized cases in ten capital cities in Brazil from 2008 to 2013 using a probabilistic record linkage of two independent information systems hospitalization (SIH-SUS) adopted as the gold standard and surveillance (SINAN). Sensitivity was defined as the proportion of cases reported to the surveillance system amid the suspected hospitalized cases registered in SIH-SUS. Of the 48,174 hospitalizations registered in SIH-SUS, 24,469 (50.7%) were reported and registered in SINAN, indicating an overall sensitivity of 50.8% (95%CI 50.3–51.2). The observed sensitivity for each of the municipalities included in the study ranged from 22.0% to 99.1%. The combination of the two data sources identified 71,161 hospitalizations, an increase of 97.0% over SINAN itself. Our results allowed establishing the proportion of underreported dengue hospitalizations in the public health system in Brazil, highlighting the use of probabilistic record linkage as a valuable tool for evaluating surveillance systems. PMID:27192405

Atrial fibrillation detection by heart rate variability in Poincare plot.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jinho; Lee, Sangwook; Jeon, Moongu

2009-12-11

Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is one of the prominent causes of stroke, and its risk increases with age. We need to detect AFib correctly as early as possible to avoid medical disaster because it is likely to proceed into a more serious form in short time. If we can make a portable AFib monitoring system, it will be helpful to many old people because we cannot predict when a patient will have a spasm of AFib. We analyzed heart beat variability from inter-beat intervals obtained by a wavelet-based detector. We made a Poincare plot using the inter-beat intervals. By analyzing the plot, we extracted three feature measures characterizing AFib and non-AFib: the number of clusters, mean stepping increment of inter-beat intervals, and dispersion of the points around a diagonal line in the plot. We divided distribution of the number of clusters into two and calculated mean value of the lower part by k-means clustering method. We classified data whose number of clusters is more than one and less than this mean value as non-AFib data. In the other case, we tried to discriminate AFib from non-AFib using support vector machine with the other feature measures: the mean stepping increment and dispersion of the points in the Poincare plot. We found that Poincare plot from non-AFib data showed some pattern, while the plot from AFib data showed irregularly irregular shape. In case of non-AFib data, the definite pattern in the plot manifested itself with some limited number of clusters or closely packed one cluster. In case of AFib data, the number of clusters in the plot was one or too many. We evaluated the accuracy using leave-one-out cross-validation. Mean sensitivity and mean specificity were 91.4% and 92.9% respectively. Because pulse beats of ventricles are less likely to be influenced by baseline wandering and noise, we used the inter-beat intervals to diagnose AFib. We visually displayed regularity of the inter-beat intervals by way of Poincare plot. We tried to design an

Non-Invasive Detection of Respiration and Heart Rate with a Vehicle Seat Sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Wusk, Grace; Gabler, Hampton

2018-05-08

This study demonstrates the feasibility of using a seat sensor designed for occupant classification from a production passenger vehicle to measure an occupant’s respiration rate (RR) and heart rate (HR) in a laboratory setting. Relaying occupant vital signs after a crash could improve emergency response by adding a direct measure of the occupant state to an Advanced Automatic Collision Notification (AACN) system. Data was collected from eleven participants with body weights ranging from 42 to 91 kg using a Ford Mustang passenger seat and seat sensor. Using a ballistocardiography (BCG) approach, the data was processed by time domain filtering and frequency domain analysis using the fast Fourier transform to yield RR and HR in a 1-min sliding window. Resting rates over the 30-min data collection and continuous RR and HR signals were compared to laboratory physiological instruments using the Bland-Altman approach. Differences between the seat sensor and reference sensor were within 5 breaths per minute for resting RR and within 15 beats per minute for resting HR. The time series comparisons for RR and HR were promising with the frequency analysis technique outperforming the peak detection technique. However, future work is necessary for more accurate and reliable real-time monitoring of RR and HR outside the laboratory setting.

The importance of pheochromocytoma case detection in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1: A case report and review of literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Tate, Joshua M; Gyorffy, Janelle B; Colburn, Jeffrey A

2017-01-01

Neurofibromatosis type 1 is a complex, multi-system genetic disorder that is associated with an increased prevalence of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma compared to the general population, 1.0%-5.7% versus 0.2%-0.6%, respectively. A delay in pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma diagnosis or undiagnosed pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma, as seen in normotensive and asymptomatic patients, may portend a significant morbidity and mortality risk due to excess catecholamine secretion. Currently, there are no generally accepted guidelines of screening for pheochromocytoma and paragangliomas in asymptomatic individuals of this population with approaches and practices varying considerably between physicians. Emerging data suggest benefit in routine pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma screening of all individuals with neurofibromatosis type 1. Herein, we present a case to highlight how routine case detection screening would have identified pheochromocytoma earlier in an active duty military member.

Case-Detection Rate of Direct Sputum Smear Microscopy for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

de la culture sur milieu de Löwenstein- Jensen en tant que norme de référence . Sur les 150 participants testés, 51 étaient à frottis positif pour les bacilles acido rapide (taux de positivité, 34,0%, 51/150), tandis que 79 étaient positifs à la culture pour complexe Mycobacterium tuberculosis et 12 pour les mycobactéries non ...

A Method for Harmonic Sources Detection based on Harmonic Distortion Power Rate

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Ruixing; Xu, Lin; Zheng, Xian

2018-03-01

Harmonic sources detection at the point of common coupling is an essential step for harmonic contribution determination and harmonic mitigation. The harmonic distortion power rate index is proposed for harmonic source location based on IEEE Std 1459-2010 in the paper. The method only based on harmonic distortion power is not suitable when the background harmonic is large. To solve this problem, a threshold is determined by the prior information, when the harmonic distortion power is larger than the threshold, the customer side is considered as the main harmonic source, otherwise, the utility side is. A simple model of public power system was built in MATLAB/Simulink and field test results of typical harmonic loads verified the effectiveness of proposed method.

The impact of alternative diagnoses on the utility of influenza-like illness case definition to detect the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

Science.gov (United States)

Rumoro, Dino P; Bayram, Jamil D; Silva, Julio C; Shah, Shital C; Hallock, Marilyn M; Gibbs, Gillian S; Waddell, Michael J

2012-01-01

To investigate the impact of excluding cases with alternative diagnoses on the sensitivity and specificity of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) influenza-like illness (ILI) case definition in detecting the 2009 H1N1 influenza, using Geographic Utilization of Artificial Intelligence in Real-Time for Disease Identification and Alert Notification, a disease surveillance system. Retrospective cross-sectional study design. Emergency department of an urban tertiary care academic medical center. 1,233 ED cases, which were tested for respiratory viruses from September 5, 2009 to May 5, 2010. The main outcome measures were positive predictive value, negative predictive value, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the ILI case definition (both including and excluding alternative diagnoses) to detect H1N1. There was a significant decrease in sensitivity (chi2 = 9.09, p < 0.001) and significant improvement in specificity (chi2 = 179, p < 0.001), after excluding cases with alternative diagnoses. When early detection of an influenza epidemic is of prime importance, pursuing alternative diagnoses as part of CDC's ILI case definition may not be warranted for public health reporting due to the significant decrease in sensitivity, in addition to the resources required for detecting these alternative diagnoses.

Improving case detection of tuberculosis among children in Bangladesh: lessons learned through an implementation research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ziaul Islam

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background According to the Bangladesh National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP, the proportion of childhood tuberculosis (TB among all reported cases is only 3%. This is considerably lower compared to other high-burden countries. One of our previous studies identified substantial gaps at the primary care level related to capacity of service providers, supply of required logistics and community awareness about childhood TB. Therefore, we conducted an implementation study with the objectives to address those gaps. Methods This implementation research was designed with pre and post-test evaluation at selected primary care facilities in urban and rural areas. Three interventions were implemented: (1 Training on childhood TB management for all categories of service providers (2 mass awareness campaign among primary and secondary school students and their teachers, mothers of <5y children, religious and community leaders and (3 facilitation of logistics supply at the study facilities. Training was conducted following the national guideline. We developed posters, leaflets, flipcharts and organized folksongs and street dramas as awareness campaign strategy. Quarterly follow up meetings were held with the facility managers of the study clinics. Cross-sectional surveys were conducted at the baseline and end line alongside review of service statistics to compare the change in community awareness and case detection of childhood TB. Results Awareness regarding childhood TB among all target audience increased significantly showing better understanding of child TB symptoms, transmission, duration and treatment option. Overall proportion of TB case detection among children increased in all three sites compared to baseline as well as NTP estimate with relatively higher proportion in urban site. Majority of the children were suffering from extra-pulmonary TB and there were more female TB cases than male. However, supply and maintenance of necessary

A Combined Syntactical and Statistical Approach for R Peak Detection in Real-Time Long-Term Heart Rate Variability Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Pang

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Long-term heart rate variability (HRV analysis is useful as a noninvasive technique for autonomic nervous system activity assessment. It provides a method for assessing many physiological and pathological factors that modulate the normal heartbeat. The performance of HRV analysis systems heavily depends on a reliable and accurate detection of the R peak of the QRS complex. Ectopic beats caused by misdetection or arrhythmic events can introduce bias into HRV results, resulting in significant problems in their interpretation. This study presents a novel method for long-term detection of normal R peaks (which represent the normal heartbeat in electrocardiographic signals, intended specifically for HRV analysis. The very low computational complexity of the proposed method, which combines and exploits the advantages of syntactical and statistical approaches, enables real-time applications. The approach was validated using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology–Beth Israel Hospital Normal Sinus Rhythm and the Fantasia database, and has a sensitivity, positive predictivity, detection error rate, and accuracy of 99.998, 99.999, 0.003, and 99.996%, respectively.

[Application of anaerobic bacteria detection in oral and maxillofacial infection].

Science.gov (United States)

Bao, Zhen-ying; Lin, Qin; Meng, Yan-hong; He, Chun; Su, Jia-zeng; Peng, Xin

2016-02-18

To investigate the distribution and drug resistance of anaerobic bacteria in the patients with oral and maxillofacial infection. Aerobic and anaerobic bacteria cultures from 61 specimens of pus from the patients with oral and maxillofacial infection in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Peking University School of Stomatology were identified. The culture type was evaluated by API 20A kit and drug resistance test was performed by Etest method. The clinical data and antibacterial agents for the treatment of the 61 cases were collected, and the final outcomes were recorded. The bacteria cultures were isolated from all the specimens, with aerobic bacteria only in 6 cases (9.8%), anaerobic bacteria only in 7 cases (11.5%), and both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in 48 cases (78.7%). There were 55 infected cases (90.2%) with anaerobic bacteria, and 81 anaerobic bacteria stains were isolated. The highest bacteria isolation rate of Gram positive anaerobic bacteria could be found in Peptostreptococcus, Bifidobacterium and Pemphigus propionibacterium. No cefoxitin, amoxicillin/carat acid resistant strain was detected in the above three Gram positive anaerobic bacteria. The highest bacteria isolation rate of Gram negative anaerobic bacteria could be detected in Porphyromonas and Prevotella. No metronidazole, cefoxitin, amoxicillin/carat acid resistant strain was found in the two Gram negative anaerobic bacteria. In the study, 48 patients with oral and maxillofacial infection were treated according to the results of drug resistance testing, and the clinical cure rate was 81.3%. Mixed aerobic and anaerobic bacteria cultures are very common in most oral and maxillofacial infection patients. Anaerobic bacteria culture and drug resistance testing play an important role in clinical treatment.

The effect of humidity on the detection of radon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Money, M.; Heaton, B.

1976-01-01

As part of the investigation into the performance of a radon monitoring system the effect of altering the humidity on the levels of radon detected by the system whilst attempting to keep other factors constant, has been investigated. The variations in the levels of radon detected in four experiments, as the humidity of the surrounding atmosphere was artificially raised, are shown graphically together with the variations in temperature and water vapour pressure, as calculated from the relative humidity and saturation vapour pressure. In each case a general rise and fall in radon detected follows a similar rise and fall in humidity, but temperature rise has only a small effect on the radon emanation rate. As the levels of humidity do not alter the rate of emanation it is assumed that the efficiency of collection is altered in some way. Mechanisms are discussed. (U.K.)

Use of dew-point detection for quantitative measurement of sweating rate

Science.gov (United States)

Brengelmann, G. L.; Mckeag, M.; Rowell, L. B.

1975-01-01

A method of measuring sweat rate (SR) based on detection of dew point (DP) is proposed which has advantages that may be attractive to other laboratories concerned with recording SR from selected areas of skin. It is similar to other methods in that dry gas is passed through a capsule which isolates several square centimeters of skin surface. The difference is in the means of determining how much gaseous water is carried off in the effluent moist gas. The DP detector used is free of the drawbacks of previous devices. DP is obtained through the fundamental technique of determining the temperature at which condensate forms on a mirror. Variations in DP are tracked rapidly, and accurately (+ or - 0.8 C nominal, sensitivity + or - 0.05 C) over a wide range ( -40 C to +50 C) without measurable hysteresis. The detector asembly is rugged and readily opened for cleaning and inspection.

Active Surveillance of Hansen's Disease (Leprosy): Importance for Case Finding among Extra-domiciliary Contacts

Science.gov (United States)

Moura, Maria L. N.; Dupnik, Kathryn M.; Sampaio, Gabriel A. A.; Nóbrega, Priscilla F. C.; Jeronimo, Ana K.; do Nascimento-Filho, Jose M.; Miranda Dantas, Roberta L.; Queiroz, Jose W.; Barbosa, James D.; Dias, Gutemberg; Jeronimo, Selma M. B.; Souza, Marcia C. F.; Nobre, Maurício L.

2013-01-01

Hansen's disease (leprosy) remains an important health problem in Brazil, where 34,894 new cases were diagnosed in 2010, corresponding to 15.3% of the world's new cases detected in that year. The purpose of this study was to use home visits as a tool for surveillance of Hansen's disease in a hyperendemic area in Brazil. A total of 258 residences were visited with 719 individuals examined. Of these, 82 individuals had had a previous history of Hansen's disease, 209 were their household contacts and 428 lived in neighboring residences. Fifteen new Hansen's disease cases were confirmed, yielding a detection rate of 2.0% of people examined. There was no difference in the detection rate between household and neighbor contacts (p = 0.615). The two groups had the same background in relation to education (p = 0.510), household income (p = 0.582), and the number of people living in the residence (p = 0.188). Spatial analysis showed clustering of newly diagnosed cases and association with residential coordinates of previously diagnosed multibacillary cases. Active case finding is an important tool for Hansen's disease control in hyperendemic areas, enabling earlier diagnosis, treatment, decrease in disability from Hansen's disease and potentially less spread of Mycobacterium leprae. PMID:23516645

Detection rates of geckos in visual surveys: Turning confounding variables into useful knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Lardner, Bjorn; Rodda, Gordon H.; Yackel Adams, Amy A.; Savidge, Julie A.; Reed, Robert N.

2016-01-01

Transect surveys without some means of estimating detection probabilities generate population size indices prone to bias because survey conditions differ in time and space. Knowing what causes such bias can help guide the collection of relevant survey covariates, correct the survey data, anticipate situations where bias might be unacceptably large, and elucidate the ecology of target species. We used negative binomial regression to evaluate confounding variables for gecko (primarily Hemidactylus frenatus and Lepidodactylus lugubris) counts on 220-m-long transects surveyed at night, primarily for snakes, on 9,475 occasions. Searchers differed in gecko detection rates by up to a factor of six. The worst and best headlamps differed by a factor of at least two. Strong winds had a negative effect potentially as large as those of searchers or headlamps. More geckos were seen during wet weather conditions, but the effect size was small. Compared with a detection nadir during waxing gibbous (nearly full) moons above the horizon, we saw 28% more geckos during waning crescent moons below the horizon. A sine function suggested that we saw 24% more geckos at the end of the wet season than at the end of the dry season. Fluctuations on a longer timescale also were verified. Disturbingly, corrected data exhibited strong short-term fluctuations that covariates apparently failed to capture. Although some biases can be addressed with measured covariates, others will be difficult to eliminate as a significant source of error in longterm monitoring programs.

[Blood Test Patterns for Blood Donors after Nucleic Acid Detection in the Blood Center].

Science.gov (United States)

Men, Shou-Shan; Lv, Lian-Zhi; Chen, Yuan-Feng; Han, Chun-Hua; Liu, Hong-Yu; Yan, Yan

2017-12-01

To investigate the blood test patterns for blood donors after nucleic acid detection in blood center. The collected blood samples after voluntary blood donors first were detected by conventional ELISA, then 31981 negative samples were detected via HBV/HCV/HIV combined nucleic acid test of 6 mixed samples(22716 cases) or single samples(9265 cases) by means of Roche cobas s201 instrument. The combined detection method as follows: the blood samples were assayed by conventional nucleic acid test of 6 mixed samples, at same time, 6 mixed samples were treated with polyethylene glycol precipitation method to concentrate the virus, then the nucleic acid test of blood samples was performed; the single detection method as follows: firstly the conventional nucleic acid test of single sample was performed, then the positive reactive samples after re-examination were 6-fold diluted to simulate the nucleic acid test of 6-mixed samples. The positive rate of positive samples detected by combined nucleic acid test, positive samples detected by nucleic acid test of mixed virus concentration and positive samples detected by single nucleic acid test was statistically analyzed. In addition, for HBV + persons the serological test yet should be performed. In 22 716 samples detected by nucleic acid test of 6 mixed samples (MP-6-NAT) , 9 cases were HBV + (0.40‰, 9/22716); at same time, the detection of same samples by nucleic acid test of mixed sample virus concentration showed 29 cases of HBV + (1.28‰, 29/22716). In 9265 samples detected by single nucleic acid test(ID-NAT) 12 cases showed HBV + (1.30‰, 12/9265), meanwhile the detection of these 12 samples with HBV + by 6-fold dilution for virus concentration found only 4 samples with HBV + . In serological qualified samples, ID-NAT unqualified rate was 1.28‰, which was higher than that of MP-6-NAT(0.4‰) (χ 2 =8.11, P0.05). In 41 samples with HBsAg - HBV DNA + detected by ELISA, 36 samples were confirmed to be occult HBV

Reliability analysis for the quench detection in the LHC machine

CERN Document Server

Denz, R; Vergara-Fernández, A

2002-01-01

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will incorporate a large amount of superconducting elements that require protection in case of a quench. Key elements in the quench protection system are the electronic quench detectors. Their reliability will have an important impact on the down time as well as on the operational cost of the collider. The expected rates of both false and missed quenches have been computed for several redundant detection schemes. The developed model takes account of the maintainability of the system to optimise the frequency of foreseen checks, and evaluate their influence on the performance of different detection topologies. Seen the uncertainty of the failure rate of the components combined with the LHC tunnel environment, the study has been completed with a sensitivity analysis of the results. The chosen detection scheme and the maintainability strategy for each detector family are given.

DETERMINING VAT PRO RATE. CASE STUDY AT A PAWNSHOP IN ROMANIA

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NICOLAE ECOBICI

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Determining VAT pro rate entails in terms of theory the calculation of the share of taxable transactions made by an entity in total transactions. Thus, the entities that use VAT mixed regimes will be able to deduct the VAT related to operations afferent to the transactions with deductibility right and without deduction right, just in the same proportion with calculated pro rata. Also, regulations and adjustments will be made using the final pro rate applied for the entire ending year in the last statement of every year. By the 25th of the first month of the financial year, any entity must declare the provisional pro rate for the coming year to the tax administration body, which is equal to that determined for the ended year. The method used for capturing the main practical tax and accounting problems inherent to determine the VAT pro rate is the case study made at a pawn shop in Romania over the year 2016. Thus, given the multiplicity of operations carried out by pawnshops (pawnshop with gold and silver goods, pawnshop with electronics, selling goods unclaimed at the expiration of the pawn contracts, melting gold and silver and sale in the form of ingots or bars etc., in this article there will be discussed the main problems which may occur in practice on the VAT pro rata, using the example of an entity of this kind in Romania for 2016.

The added value of a portable gamma camera for intraoperative detection of sentinel lymph node in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity: A case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayoral, M; Paredes, P; Sieira, R; Vidal-Sicart, S; Marti, C; Pons, F

2014-01-01

The use of sentinel lymph node biopsy in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity is still subject to debate although some studies have reported its feasibility. The main reason for this debate is probably due to the high false-negative rate for floor-of-mouth tumors per se. We report the case of a 54-year-old man with a T1N0 floor-of-mouth squamous cell carcinoma who underwent the sentinel lymph node procedure. Lymphoscintigraphy and SPECT/CT imaging were performed for lymphatic mapping with a conventional gamma camera. Sentinel lymph nodes were identified at right Ib, left IIa and Ia levels. However, these sentinel lymph nodes were difficult to detect intraoperatively with a gamma probe owing to the activity originating from the injection site. The use of a portable gamma camera made it possible to localize and excise all the sentinel lymph nodes. This case demonstrates the usefulness of this tool to improve sentinel lymph node detecting in floor-of-mouth tumors, especially those close to the injection area. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L. and SEMNIM. All rights reserved.

Efficacy of DSP30-IL2/TPA for detection of cytogenetic abnormalities in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, P J; Peiper, S C; Uppal, G K; Gong, J Z; Wang, Z-X; Bajaj, R

2016-10-01

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is the most prevalent leukaemia in the Western Hemisphere. Cytogenetic abnormalities in CLL are used for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. However, detecting these is difficult because mature B cells do not readily divide in culture. Here, we present data on two mitogen cocktails: CpG-oligonucleotide DSP30/Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and DSP30/IL-2 in combination with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). We analysed 165 cases of CLL with FISH and cytogenetics from January 2011 to June 2013. In 2011, three cultures were set-up: unstimulated, DSP30/IL-2-stimulated and TPA-stimulated. In 2012-2013, two cultures were set-up: unstimulated and stimulated with TPA/DSP30/IL-2. In 2011, FISH had a detection rate of 91% and cytogenetics using DSP30/IL2 had a detection rate of 91% (n = 22). In 2012-2013, FISH had a detection rate of 79% and cytogenetics using TPA/DSP30/IL-2 had a detection rate of 98% (n = 40). The percentage of cases with normal FISH but abnormal cytogenetics increased from 9% in 2011 to 21% in 2012-2013. The TPA/DSP30/IL-2 cultures in 2012-2013 detected more novel abnormalities (n = 5) as compared to DSP30/IL-2 alone (n = 3). TPA/DSP30/IL2 was as good as or better than DSP30/IL2 alone. TPA/DSP30/IL-2 offers a high detection rate for CLL abnormalities with a single stimulated culture and may increase detection of clinically significant abnormalities. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A case study of application of guided waves for detecting corrosion in pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

Rostami, Javad; Safizadeh, Mir Saeed

2012-05-01

Every year noticeable amount of money is spent on fixing and replacing the damaged pipes which carry gas and fuel. Since there is a possibility for a catastrophic failure, knowing the proper time of this repair is of great importance. Because significant proportion of failures is due to wall thinning of pipes because of the corrosion, detecting the wall thinning has been a main part of nondestructive testing of pipes. There are wide variety of NDT techniques to detect this kind of defect such as conventional ultrasonic, eddy current, radiography etc. but some of these techniques, for example conventional ultrasonic needs the insulation of pipes removed and in some other cases such as radiography the test is not done at a reasonable speed. A new method of nondestructive testing of pipes which has the potential to test a long distance in a short period of time and does not need the whole insulation removed, has drawn a lot of attention. In this paper, the ability of ultrasonic guided waves for detecting corrosion in gas pipelines is experimentally investigated.

The value of RI scintigraphy and angiography in small intestinal bleeding; Report of eight cases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurosawa, Susumu; Kuwata, Hajime; Kushibiki, Kyoko; Akimoto, Kimihiko; Hashimoto, Toshiyuki; Kojima, Toshiya (Showa General Hospital, Kodaira, Tokyo (Japan))

1991-07-01

We retrospectively reviewed eight cases of small intestinal bleeding and assessed the value of RI scintigraphy and angiography in diagnosing the bleeding site. The patients' average age was 56.2 years. Chief complaint was melena of variable degree. In most cases neither upper endoscopy nor colonoscopy was diagnostic. RI scientigraphy (Tc-99 labeled human serum albumin) showed 75% of positive rate whereas angiography showed 66.7% (4/6) of positive rate. All four cases of leiomyosarcoma and leiomyoma demonstrated hypervascular stain and/or extra-vasation in angiography whereas RI scintigraphy failed to detect active gastrointestinal bleeding in 2 of the 4 cases. Therefore angiography was considered useful for the detection of bleeding from leiomyoma and leiomyosarcoma which are often hypervascular. Scintigraphy is thought of most value in the demonstration of small amount of bleeding with minimum vascular abnormality. (author).

Acute Myocardial Infarction Population Incidence and Mortality Rates, and 28-day Case-fatality in Older Adults. The REGICOR Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Vázquez-Oliva, Gabriel; Zamora, Alberto; Ramos, Rafel; Marti, Ruth; Subirana, Isaac; Grau, María; Dégano, Irene R; Marrugat, Jaume; Elosua, Roberto

2017-11-22

Our aims were to determine acute myocardial infarction (AMI) incidence and mortality rates, and population and in-hospital case-fatality in the population older than 74 years; variability in clinical characteristics and AMI management of hospitalized patients, and changes in the incidence and mortality rates, case-fatality, and management by age groups from 1996 to 1997 and 2007 to 2008. A population-based AMI registry in Girona (Catalonia, Spain) including individuals with suspected AMI older than 34 years. The incidence rate increased with age from 169 and 28 cases/100 000 per year in the group aged 35 to 64 years to 2306 and 1384 cases/100 000 per year in the group aged 85 to 94 years, in men and women, respectively. Population case-fatality also increased with age, from 19% in the group aged 35 to 64 years to 84% in the group aged 85 to 94 years. A lower population case-fatality was observed in the second period, mainly explained by a lower in-hospital case-fatality. The use of invasive procedures and effective drugs decreased with age but increased in the second period in all ages up to 84 years. Acute myocardial infarction incidence, mortality, and case-fatality increased exponentially with age. There is still a gap in the use of invasive procedures and effective drugs between younger and older patients. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

A Native American community with a 7% cesarean delivery rate: does case mix, ethnicity, or labor management explain the low rate?

Science.gov (United States)

Leeman, Lawrence; Leeman, Rebecca

2003-01-01

Cesarean delivery rates vary widely across populations. Studying communities with low rates of cesarean delivery may identify practices that can lower the cesarean rate. A population-based historical cohort study included all pregnant women (N = 1132) from 1992 through 1996 in a predominantly Native American region of northwestern New Mexico known to have a high prevalence of gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. The outcomes studied included delivery type (eg, cesarean, operative vaginal, spontaneous vaginal), indication for cesarean delivery, presence of obstetrical risk factors, and use of labor induction or augmentation. The cesarean delivery rate of the study group (7.3%) was only 35% of the 1996 US rate of 20.7%. Among study participants, the relative risk of a primary cesarean delivery for dystocia was 0.22 (95% CI, 0.14, 0.35). Trial of labor after cesarean delivery was attempted by 93% of study participants compared with 42% of women nationwide in 1994. The cesarean delivery rates for women with diabetes in pregnancy (11.5% versus 35.4%) and preeclampsia (14.8% versus 37.4%) were significantly lower than nationwide rates. Case-mix analysis comparison with a standardized population and comparison of standard (ie, term, singleton, vertex) primiparous women demonstrate that the low rate of cesarean delivery was not because of a lower prevalence of risk factors. The community's low rate of cesarean delivery is primarily the result of a decreased use of cesarean delivery for labor dystocia and an almost universal acceptance of trial of labor after cesarean delivery. Cultural attitudes toward childbirth, design of the perinatal system, and genetic factors also may explain the low rate of cesarean delivery.

Fuzzy Based Advanced Hybrid Intrusion Detection System to Detect Malicious Nodes in Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rupinder Singh

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an Advanced Hybrid Intrusion Detection System (AHIDS that automatically detects the WSNs attacks is proposed. AHIDS makes use of cluster-based architecture with enhanced LEACH protocol that intends to reduce the level of energy consumption by the sensor nodes. AHIDS uses anomaly detection and misuse detection based on fuzzy rule sets along with the Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network. The Feed Forward Neural Network along with the Backpropagation Neural Network are utilized to integrate the detection results and indicate the different types of attackers (i.e., Sybil attack, wormhole attack, and hello flood attack. For detection of Sybil attack, Advanced Sybil Attack Detection Algorithm is developed while the detection of wormhole attack is done by Wormhole Resistant Hybrid Technique. The detection of hello flood attack is done by using signal strength and distance. An experimental analysis is carried out in a set of nodes; 13.33% of the nodes are determined as misbehaving nodes, which classified attackers along with a detection rate of the true positive rate and false positive rate. Sybil attack is detected at a rate of 99,40%; hello flood attack has a detection rate of 98, 20%; and wormhole attack has a detection rate of 99, 20%.

Role of ultrasonography in detecting mammographically occult breast carcinoma in women with dense breasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Corsetti, V; Ferrari, A; Ghirardi, M; Bergonzini, R; Bellarosa, S; Angelini, O; Bani, C; Ciatto, S

2006-04-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of routine ultrasonography in women with negative mammography and dense breasts [Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BIRADS D3-4)]. We applied a protocol involving routine ultrasonography in a consecutive series of subjects with negative mammography and dense breasts. After evaluation by internal and external reviewers of cancers detected by ultrasonography performed to confirm negative mammography, we determined the additional cancer detection rate of ultrasonography and the cost of the protocol. Out of 17,883 total mammographies, 167 cancers were diagnosed (detection rate: 0.93%). Out of 257 suspicious mammographies, 138 cancers were detected. Out of 17,626 negative mammographies, 6,449 (36.5%) were classified as "dense breast" and underwent ultrasonography: 29 cancers were detected (detection rate: 0.44%, or 17.3% of total cancers). Out of 25 cancer cases reviewed, negative mammography and asymptomatic status was confirmed in 15 (detection rate 0.23%, or 8.9% of total cancers). The cancer detection rate was 0.11%, 0.22%, 0.32% and 0.14% for age groups 59, respectively. The cost per additional carcinoma detected by ultrasonography alone was euro 25,847.85 whereas that per examined woman was euro 21.68. The study confirms the possibility that ultrasonography can detect mammographically occult breast carcinoma in dense breasts. The evidence is insufficient to recommend this policy in routine screening practice but suggests that, at least in current clinical practice, adding ultrasonography in dense breasts may be useful despite the substantial costs.

Detection of Hodgkin Transformation in a Case of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia by PET/CT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sabire Yılmaz

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Richter’s transformation (RT represents the development of high grade lymphoma, most commonly diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL. CLL/SLL may convert also to Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the so-called Hodgkin’s variant of Richter transformation. Histopathological proof is needed to confirm a definitive diagnosis. Patients with RT generally have a poor prognosis, with prompt recognition optimise clinical management. Whole-body PET scan with 18F-FDG can be used for detection of RT of CLL/SLL. We describe the case of 64-year-old woman with CLL/SLL who developed Hodgkin lymphoma detected with PET/CT.

Multi-Functional Sensor System for Heart Rate, Body Position and Movement Intensity Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael MAO

2008-12-01

Full Text Available A novel multi-functional wearable sensor has been developed with multi-axis accelerometer, disposable hydro-gel electrodes, and analog filtering components. This novel sensor implementation can be used for detecting common body positions, movement intensity, and measures bio-potential signals for ECG and heart rate analysis. Based on the novel sensor principle, a prototype combines position detection, heart rate detection, and motion intensity level detection together in a handheld device that records the physiological information and wirelessly transmits the signals through Bluetooth to a mobile phone. Static body positions such as standing/sitting, lying supine, prone, and on the sides have been detected with high accuracy (97.7 % during the subject tests. Further, an algorithm that detects body movement intensity that can potentially be applied in real-time monitoring physical activity level is proposed based on average variance values. Motion intensity results show variance values increase and exercise intensity increases for almost all of the cases. A clear relation between movement intensity level shown by an increase in frequency and/or speed of exercise increases the variance values detected in all three spatial axes.

Comparison of Abbott RealTime High-Risk HPV and Hybrid Capture 2 Assays for Detection of HPV Infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Kiwoong; Yu, Shinae; Lee, Eun Hee; Park, Hyosoon; Woo, Hee-Yeon; Kwon, Min-Jung

2016-09-01

Various assays for detecting high-risk human papillomavirus (HR HPV) have been introduced recently, including the Abbott RealTime High-Risk HPV assay. We sought to compare the performance of Abbott PCR to Hybrid Capture 2 for the detection of HR HPV. A total of 941 cervical swab specimens were obtained. We submitted all specimens for HR HPV detection with HC2 and Abbott PCR, and then additionally analyzed discordant and concordant positive results using restriction fragment mass polymorphism (RFMP) genotyping analysis. HC2 detected one of 13 HR HPV types in 12.3% (116/941) of cases, while Abbott PCR detected one of 14 detectable HR HPV types in 12.9% (121/941) of cases. The overall agreement rate was 97.3% with a kappa coefficient of 0.879. Discordant results between these two assays were observed in 25 cases. HC2 showed a sensitivity of 90.0% and specificity of 95.9%, while Abbott PCR showed a sensitivity of 98.0% and specificity of 96.8% when using RFMP results as the gold standard. For HPV 16/18 detection, Abbott PCR showed 95.8%/88.9% sensitivity and 99.2%/99.8% specificity, respectively. The overall coinfection rate between HPV 16, 18 and non-16/18 was 9.9% (12/121) in Abbott PCR analysis. Considering its high agreement rate with HC2, higher sensitivity/specificity compared to HC2, and ability to differentiate HPV 16/18 from other HPV types, Abbott PCR could be a reliable laboratory testing method for the screening of HPV infections. © 2016 by the Association of Clinical Scientists, Inc.

A prescription fraud detection model.

Science.gov (United States)

Aral, Karca Duru; Güvenir, Halil Altay; Sabuncuoğlu, Ihsan; Akar, Ahmet Ruchan

2012-04-01

Prescription fraud is a main problem that causes substantial monetary loss in health care systems. We aimed to develop a model for detecting cases of prescription fraud and test it on real world data from a large multi-center medical prescription database. Conventionally, prescription fraud detection is conducted on random samples by human experts. However, the samples might be misleading and manual detection is costly. We propose a novel distance based on data-mining approach for assessing the fraudulent risk of prescriptions regarding cross-features. Final tests have been conducted on adult cardiac surgery database. The results obtained from experiments reveal that the proposed model works considerably well with a true positive rate of 77.4% and a false positive rate of 6% for the fraudulent medical prescriptions. The proposed model has the potential advantages including on-line risk prediction for prescription fraud, off-line analysis of high-risk prescriptions by human experts, and self-learning ability by regular updates of the integrative data sets. We conclude that incorporating such a system in health authorities, social security agencies and insurance companies would improve efficiency of internal review to ensure compliance with the law, and radically decrease human-expert auditing costs. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Avoiding misdiagnosis of imported malaria: screening of emergency department samples with thrombocytopenia detects clinically unsuspected cases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hänscheid, Thomas; Melo-Cristino, José; Grobusch, Martin P.; Pinto, Bernardino G.

2003-01-01

BACKGROUND: Misdiagnosis of imported malaria is not uncommon and even abnormal routine laboratory tests may not trigger malaria smears. However, blind screening of all thrombocytopenic samples might be a possible way to detect clinically unsuspected malaria cases in the accident and emergency

An Examination of Three Spatial Event Cluster Detection Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hensley H. Mariathas

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In spatial disease surveillance, geographic areas with large numbers of disease cases are to be identified, so that targeted investigations can be pursued. Geographic areas with high disease rates are called disease clusters and statistical cluster detection tests are used to identify geographic areas with higher disease rates than expected by chance alone. In some situations, disease-related events rather than individuals are of interest for geographical surveillance, and methods to detect clusters of disease-related events are called event cluster detection methods. In this paper, we examine three distributional assumptions for the events in cluster detection: compound Poisson, approximate normal and multiple hypergeometric (exact. The methods differ on the choice of distributional assumption for the potentially multiple correlated events per individual. The methods are illustrated on emergency department (ED presentations by children and youth (age < 18 years because of substance use in the province of Alberta, Canada, during 1 April 2007, to 31 March 2008. Simulation studies are conducted to investigate Type I error and the power of the clustering methods.

Detection of eosinophilic myocarditis using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging: case report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takahashi, N.; Murakami, Y.; Shimada, T.; Kashima, Y.; Nakamura, K.; Inoue, S.-I.; Sugamori, T.; Katoh, H.; Ishibashi, Y.; Maruyama, R.

2001-01-01

Hypereosinophilic syndrome is characterized by idiopathic eosinophilia in the peripheral blood and multiorgan dysfunction secondary to mature eosinophil infiltration. It is essential to diagnose myocardial involvement in the early stage of the disease when active myocarditis due to cardiotoxic substances from eosinophils is still taking place, but clinical tools for the diagnosis of myocardial lesions in patients without overt cardiac dysfunction are not yet available. We present a case of successful detection of myocarditis due to hypereosinophilic syndrome by gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaascetic acid (Gd-DTPA) enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). (author)

Detection of eosinophilic myocarditis using contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging: case report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takahashi, N.; Murakami, Y.; Shimada, T.; Kashima, Y.; Nakamura, K.; Inoue, S.-I.; Sugamori, T.; Katoh, H.; Ishibashi, Y. [Shimane Medical Univ., The Fourth Dept. of Internal Medicine, Izumo City, Shimane (Japan); Maruyama, R. [Shimane Medical Univ., Dept. of Laboratory Medicine, Izumo City, Shimane (Japan)

2001-02-01

Hypereosinophilic syndrome is characterized by idiopathic eosinophilia in the peripheral blood and multiorgan dysfunction secondary to mature eosinophil infiltration. It is essential to diagnose myocardial involvement in the early stage of the disease when active myocarditis due to cardiotoxic substances from eosinophils is still taking place, but clinical tools for the diagnosis of myocardial lesions in patients without overt cardiac dysfunction are not yet available. We present a case of successful detection of myocarditis due to hypereosinophilic syndrome by gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaascetic acid (Gd-DTPA) enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). (author)

Improved cancer detection in automated breast ultrasound by radiologists using Computer Aided Detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zelst, J.C.M. van; Tan, T.; Platel, B.; Jong, M. de; Steenbakkers, A.; Mourits, M.; Grivegnee, A.; Borelli, C.; Karssemeijer, N.; Mann, R.M.

2017-01-01

Objective: To investigate the effect of dedicated Computer Aided Detection (CAD) software for automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) on the performance of radiologists screening for breast cancer. Methods: 90 ABUS views of 90 patients were randomly selected from a multi-institutional archive of cases collected between 2010 and 2013. This dataset included normal cases (n = 40) with >1 year of follow up, benign (n = 30) lesions that were either biopsied or remained stable, and malignant lesions (n = 20). Six readers evaluated all cases with and without CAD in two sessions. CAD-software included conventional CAD-marks and an intelligent minimum intensity projection of the breast tissue. Readers reported using a likelihood-of-malignancy scale from 0 to 100. Alternative free-response ROC analysis was used to measure the performance. Results: Without CAD, the average area-under-the-curve (AUC) of the readers was 0.77 and significantly improved with CAD to 0.84 (p = 0.001). Sensitivity of all readers improved (range 5.2–10.6%) by using CAD but specificity decreased in four out of six readers (range 1.4–5.7%). No significant difference was observed in the AUC between experienced radiologists and residents both with and without CAD. Conclusions: Dedicated CAD-software for ABUS has the potential to improve the cancer detection rates of radiologists screening for breast cancer.

Improved cancer detection in automated breast ultrasound by radiologists using Computer Aided Detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zelst, J.C.M. van, E-mail: Jan.vanZelst@radboudumc.nl [Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Tan, T.; Platel, B. [Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Jong, M. de [Jeroen Bosch Medical Centre, Department of Radiology, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands); Steenbakkers, A. [Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Mourits, M. [Jeroen Bosch Medical Centre, Department of Radiology, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands); Grivegnee, A. [Jules Bordet Institute, Department of Radiology, Brussels (Belgium); Borelli, C. [Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Department of Radiological Sciences, Rome (Italy); Karssemeijer, N.; Mann, R.M. [Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Nijmegen (Netherlands)

2017-04-15

Objective: To investigate the effect of dedicated Computer Aided Detection (CAD) software for automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) on the performance of radiologists screening for breast cancer. Methods: 90 ABUS views of 90 patients were randomly selected from a multi-institutional archive of cases collected between 2010 and 2013. This dataset included normal cases (n = 40) with >1 year of follow up, benign (n = 30) lesions that were either biopsied or remained stable, and malignant lesions (n = 20). Six readers evaluated all cases with and without CAD in two sessions. CAD-software included conventional CAD-marks and an intelligent minimum intensity projection of the breast tissue. Readers reported using a likelihood-of-malignancy scale from 0 to 100. Alternative free-response ROC analysis was used to measure the performance. Results: Without CAD, the average area-under-the-curve (AUC) of the readers was 0.77 and significantly improved with CAD to 0.84 (p = 0.001). Sensitivity of all readers improved (range 5.2–10.6%) by using CAD but specificity decreased in four out of six readers (range 1.4–5.7%). No significant difference was observed in the AUC between experienced radiologists and residents both with and without CAD. Conclusions: Dedicated CAD-software for ABUS has the potential to improve the cancer detection rates of radiologists screening for breast cancer.

Improvement of Automated POST Case Success Rate Using Support Vector Machines

Science.gov (United States)

Zwack, Matthew R.; Dees, Patrick D.

2017-01-01

an 8% pass rate, tens or hundreds of thousands of reps may be needed to be confident that the best repetition is at least close to the global optima. However, typical design study time constraints require that fewer repetitions be attempted, sometimes resulting in seed points that have only a handful of successful completions. If a small number of successful repetitions are used to generate a seed point, the graph method may inherit some inaccuracies as it chains DOE cases from the non-global-optimal seed points. This creates inherent noise in the graph data, which can limit the accuracy of the resulting surrogate models. For this reason, the goal of this work is to improve the seed point generation method and ultimately the accuracy of the resulting POST surrogate model. The work focuses on increasing the case pass rate for seed point generation.

Detection of hepatic tumor by means of single photon emission computed tomography, gray scale ultrasonography, and x-ray computed tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yumoto, Yasuhiro; Jinno, Kenji; Tokuyama, Katsuyuki [Shikoku National Cancer Center Hospital, Matsuyama (Japan)

1984-07-01

We have studied the detection of hepatic tumor by single photon emmision computed tomography (SPECT) using rotatory chair and gamma camera. SPECT were taken by multiple section slice not in transaxial but also in frontal and sagital view. The detectability of SPECT turned out to be superior to the conventional liver scintiphoto. By SPECT, minute hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) of 1.9 cm in diameter was detectable. Simultaneous interpretation of SPECT, US and XCT was more helpful than each independent interpertation. Subject comprised 108 patients with focal hepatic lesions including 48 cases of HCC and 44 cases of metastatic liver tumor. SPECT and celiac angiography on a 63-year-old female with liver cirrhosis revealed hepatic mass lesion in subphrenic region in right hepatic lobe, but XCT or US could not detect any lesion of hepatic tumor. Operated specimen showed confluent-massive type of HCC according to Nakashima's classification with 7 x 7 x 6.5 cm in size, representing replacing proliferation by histological examination. Both sensitivity and false positive rate of detectability of HCC were superior in decreasing order as combined three modalities, US XCT and SPECT. The diagnosis by combined three modalities shows 99% of sensitivity rate with 1% of false negative rate and 0% of false positive rate and 99.5% of accuracy. Differenciation of HCC from metastatic liver cancer or another benign tumor was possible with sensitivity rate of 94.8% and specificity rate of 90.0% by three combined modalities.

Single particle detecting telescope system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, I.; Tomiyama, T.; Iga, Y.; Komatsubara, T.; Kanada, M.; Yamashita, Y.; Wada, T.; Furukawa, S.

1981-01-01

We constructed the single particle detecting telescope system for detecting a fractionally charged particle. The telescope consists of position detecting counters, wall-less multi-cell chambers, single detecting circuits and microcomputer system as data I/0 processor. Especially, a frequency of double particle is compared the case of the single particle detecting with the case of an ordinary measurement

Heart rate detection from single-foot plantar bioimpedance measurements in a weighing scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Diaz, Delia H; Casas, Oscar; Pallas-Areny, Ramon

2010-01-01

Electronic bathroom scales are an easy-to-use, affordable mean to measure physiological parameters in addition to body weight. They have been proposed to obtain the ballistocardiogram (BCG) and derive from it the heart rate, cardiac output and systolic blood pressure. Therefore, weighing scales may suit intermittent monitoring in e-health and patient screening. Scales intended for bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) have also been proposed to estimate the heart rate by amplifying the pulsatile impedance component superimposed on the basal impedance. However, electronic weighing scales cannot easily obtain the BCG from people that have a single leg neither are bioimpedance measurements between both feet recommended for people wearing a pacemaker or other electronic implants, neither for pregnant women. We propose a method to detect the heart rate (HR) from bioimpedance measured in a single foot while standing on an bathroom weighting scale intended for BIA. The electrodes built in the weighing scale are used to apply a 50 kHz voltage between the outer electrode pair and to measure the drop in voltage across the inner electrode pair. The agreement with the HR simultaneously obtained from the ECG is excellent. We have also compared the drop in voltage across the waist and the thorax with that obtained when measuring bioimpedance between both feet to compare the possible risk of the proposed method to that of existing BIA scales.

Constraints on the bulk Lorentz factor of gamma-ray bursts with the detection rate by Fermi LAT

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ye; Liu, Ruo-Yu; Wang, Xiang-Yu

2018-05-01

The bulk Lorentz factor(Γ) of the outflow is an essential parameter to understanding the physics of gamma-ray burst (GRB). Informations about the Lorentz factors of some individual GRBs have been obtained from the spectral features of the high-energy gamma-ray emissions (>100 MeV), assuming that the spectral breaks or cutoffs are due to the pair-production attenuation (i.e., γγ → e+e-). In this paper, we attempt to interpret the dependence of the LAT detection rate of GRBs on the number of high-energy gamma-rays, taking into account the attenuation effect. We first simulate a long-GRB sample with Monte Carlo method using the luminosity function, rate distribution with redshift and properties of the GRB spectrum. To characterize the distribution of the Lorentz factors, we assume that the Lorentz factors follow the relation Γ =Γ _0E_iso,52k, where Eiso, 52 is the isotropic photon energy in unit of 1052erg. After taking into account the attenuation effect related with the above Lorentz factor distribution, we are able to reproduce the LAT-detected rate of GRBs as the function of the number of gamma-rays for suitable choice of the values of Γ0 and k. The result suggests that the distribution of the bulk Lorentz factor for the majority of GRBs is in the range of 50 - 250.

Bit-error-rate performance analysis of self-heterodyne detected radio-over-fiber links using phase and intensity modulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yin, Xiaoli; Yu, Xianbin; Tafur Monroy, Idelfonso

2010-01-01

We theoretically and experimentally investigate the performance of two self-heterodyne detected radio-over-fiber (RoF) links employing phase modulation (PM) and quadrature biased intensity modulation (IM), in term of bit-error-rate (BER) and optical signal-to-noise-ratio (OSNR). In both links, self...

Pulmonary intravascular lymphoma detected by FDG PET-CT: a case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohan, A A; Paganini, L; Biedak, P; Arma, J I; Dalurzo, M C L; Garcia-Monaco, R D

2013-01-01

Intravascular lymphoma is a rare subtype of extranodal Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Its prognosis is poor in a high percentage of cases due to its insidious appearance and low clinical suspicion. Its diagnosis is usually only reached after an autopsy. It may affect different organs as a whole or only one organ. It is extremely rare that the lung is the only damaged organ. Its diagnosis depends of the clinician's suspicion and proper evaluation with imaging studies as well as correct selection of the organ to be biopsied. When detected on time, the treatment of choice is a combination of a series of chemotherapy associated to a monoclonal antibody (anti-CD20). We present the case of a male patient who underwent a positron emission tomography-computed tomography with 2-[F-18]-fluoro-2 deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) due to symptoms suggestive of a lymphoproliferative disease with no clear structural abnormalities. The images led to a diagnosis of pulmonary intravascular large B cell lymphoma. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. and SEMNIM. All rights reserved.

Limiter discriminator detection of M-ary FSK signals

Science.gov (United States)

Fonseka, John P.

1990-10-01

The performance of limiter discriminator detection of M-ary FSK signals is analyzed at arbitrary modulation indices. It is shown that the error rate performance of limiter discriminator detection can be significantly improved by increasing the modulation index above 1/M. The optimum modulation index that minimizes the overall error probability is determined for the cases M = 2, 4 and 8. The analysis is carried out for wideband and bandlimited channels with Gaussian and second-order Butterworth filters. It is shown that the optimum modulation index depends on the signal/noise ratio (SNR), in a wideband channel, and on both SNR and time-bandwidth product in a bandlimited channel. Finally, it is shown that the optimum sampling instance in presence of a nonzero phase IF filter can be approximately determined by using only the worst case symbol pattern.

Screening detected celiac disease in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus : Effect on the clinical course - (A case control study)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rami, B; Sumnik, Z; Schober, E; Waldhor, T; Battelino, T; Bratanic, N; Kurti, K; Lebl, J; Limbert, C; Madacsy, L; Odink, RJH; Paskova, M; Soltesz, G

Objective: To investigate clinical and metabolic characteristics of diabetic children with screening detected celiac disease in a multicenter case-control study. Methods: Cases: 98 diabetic patients were diagnosed as having silent celiac disease by screening with endomysial antibodies and subsequent

Achievable Rate of Spectrum Sharing Cognitive Radio Multiple-Antenna Channels

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman

2015-04-28

We investigate the spectral efficiency gain of an uplink Cognitive Radio (CR) Multi-Input-Multi-Output system in which the Secondary User (SU) is allowed to share the spectrum with the Primary User (PU) using a specific precoding scheme to communicate with a common receiver. The proposed scheme exploits, at the same time, the free eigenmodes of the primary channel after a space alignment procedure and the interference threshold tolerated by the PU. At the common receiver, we adopt a Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) technique to eliminate the effect of the detected primary signal transmitted through the exploited eigenmodes. Furthermore, we analyze the SIC operation inaccuracy as well as the CSI estimation imperfection on the PU and SU throughputs. Numerical results show that our proposed scheme enhances considerably the cognitive achievable rate. For instance, in case of a perfect detection of the PU signal, the CR rate remains non-zero for high Signal to Noise Ratio which is usually impossible when we only employ a space alignment technique. We show that a modified water-filling power allocation policy at the PU can increase the secondary rate with a marginal degradation of the primary rate. Finally, we investigate the behavior of the PU and SU rates through the study of the rate achievable region.

A Case for Intermediate Exchange-Rate Regimes

OpenAIRE

Agnès Bénassy-Quéré; Véronique Salins

2010-01-01

Despite increasing capital mobility and the subsequent difficulty in controlling exchange rates, intermediate exchange-rate regimes have remained widespread, especially in emerging and developing economies. This piece of evidence hardly fits the "impossible Trinity" theory arguing that it becomes difficult to control the exchange rate without a "hard" device when capital flows are freed. Calvo and Reinhart (2000) have suggested several explanations for such "fear of floating": exchange rate p...

Early Detection of Sporadic Pancreatic Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Kenner, Barbara J.; Chari, Suresh T.; Cleeter, Deborah F.; Go, Vay Liang W.

2015-01-01

Abstract Innovation leading to significant advances in research and subsequent translation to clinical practice is urgently necessary in early detection of sporadic pancreatic cancer. Addressing this need, the Early Detection of Sporadic Pancreatic Cancer Summit Conference was conducted by Kenner Family Research Fund in conjunction with the 2014 American Pancreatic Association and Japan Pancreas Society Meeting. International interdisciplinary scientific representatives engaged in strategic facilitated conversations based on distinct areas of inquiry: Case for Early Detection: Definitions, Detection, Survival, and Challenges; Biomarkers for Early Detection; Imaging; and Collaborative Studies. Ideas generated from the summit have led to the development of a Strategic Map for Innovation built upon 3 components: formation of an international collaborative effort, design of an actionable strategic plan, and implementation of operational standards, research priorities, and first-phase initiatives. Through invested and committed efforts of leading researchers and institutions, philanthropic partners, government agencies, and supportive business entities, this endeavor will change the future of the field and consequently the survival rate of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. PMID:25938853

The Influence of Base Rate and Case Information on Health-Risk Perceptions: A Unified Model of Self-Positivity and Self-Negativity

OpenAIRE

Dengfeng Yan; Jaideep Sengupta

2013-01-01

This research examines how consumers use base rate (e.g., disease prevalence in a population) and case information (e.g., an individual's disease symptoms) to estimate health risks. Drawing on construal level theory, we propose that consumers' reliance on base rate (case information) will be enhanced (weakened) by psychological distance. A corollary of this premise is that self-positivity (i.e., underestimating self-risk vs. other-risk) is likely when the disease base rate is high but the cas...

A Comparative Survey of Methods for Remote Heart Rate Detection From Frontal Face Videos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Wang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Remotely measuring physiological activity can provide substantial benefits for both the medical and the affective computing applications. Recent research has proposed different methodologies for the unobtrusive detection of heart rate (HR using human face recordings. These methods are based on subtle color changes or motions of the face due to cardiovascular activities, which are invisible to human eyes but can be captured by digital cameras. Several approaches have been proposed such as signal processing and machine learning. However, these methods are compared with different datasets, and there is consequently no consensus on method performance. In this article, we describe and evaluate several methods defined in literature, from 2008 until present day, for the remote detection of HR using human face recordings. The general HR processing pipeline is divided into three stages: face video processing, face blood volume pulse (BVP signal extraction, and HR computation. Approaches presented in the paper are classified and grouped according to each stage. At each stage, algorithms are analyzed and compared based on their performance using the public database MAHNOB-HCI. Results found in this article are limited on MAHNOB-HCI dataset. Results show that extracted face skin area contains more BVP information. Blind source separation and peak detection methods are more robust with head motions for estimating HR.

First-Ever Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack Incidence and 30-Day Case-Fatality Rates in a Population-Based Study in Argentina

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bahit, M Cecilia; Coppola, Mariano L; Riccio, Patricia M

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Epidemiological data about stroke are scarce in low- and middle-income Latin-American countries. We investigated annual incidence of first-ever stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) and 30-day case-fatality rates in a population-based setting in Tandil, Argentina....... METHODS: We prospectively identified all first-ever stroke and TIA cases from overlapping sources between January 5, 2013, and April 30, 2015, in Tandil, Argentina. We calculated crude and standardized incidence rates. We estimated 30-day case-fatality rates. RESULTS: We identified 334 first-ever strokes.......1% (95% CI, 14.2-36.6) for intracerebral hemorrhage, and 1.9% (95% CI, 0.4-5.8) for TIA. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first prospective population-based stroke and TIA incidence and case-fatality estimate in Argentina. First-ever stroke incidence was lower than that reported in previous Latin...

Efficiency of Nested-PCR in Detecting Asymptomatic Cases toward Malaria Elimination Program in an Endemic Area of Iran.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Habibollah Turki

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to detect low parasite and asymptomatic malaria infections by means of three malaria diagnostic tests, in a low transmission region of Minab district, Hormozgan Province, southern Iran.Blood samples of 200 healthy volunteers from Bagh-e-Malek area were evaluated using microscopic, rapid diagnostic tests (RDT and nested-PCR to inspect malaria parasite.The results showed no Plasmodium parasite in subjects by means of microscopy and RDT. However, 3 P. vivax positive samples (1.5% were discovered by Nested-PCR while microscopy and RDT missed the cases.Microscopy as the gold standard method and RDT correctly identified 98.5% of cases, and molecular analysis is sensitive and reliable, especially in the detection of "asymptomatic" infections for active case surveillance. Regarding the existence of asymptomatic malaria in endemic area of Hormozgan, Iran, nested-PCR could be considered as a sensitive tool to interrupt malaria transmission in the country, beside the microscopic and RDT methods.

Efficiency of Nested-PCR in Detecting Asymptomatic Cases toward Malaria Elimination Program in an Endemic Area of Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Turki, Habibollah; Raeisi, Ahmad; Malekzadeh, Kianoosh; Ghanbarnejad, Amin; Zoghi, Samaneh; Yeryan, Masoud; Abedi Nejad, Masoumeh; Mohseni, Fatemeh; Shekari, Mohammad

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to detect low parasite and asymptomatic malaria infections by means of three malaria diagnostic tests, in a low transmission region of Minab district, Hormozgan Province, southern Iran. Blood samples of 200 healthy volunteers from Bagh-e-Malek area were evaluated using microscopic, rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and nested-PCR to inspect malaria parasite. The results showed no Plasmodium parasite in subjects by means of microscopy and RDT. However, 3 P. vivax positive samples (1.5%) were discovered by Nested-PCR while microscopy and RDT missed the cases. Microscopy as the gold standard method and RDT correctly identified 98.5% of cases, and molecular analysis is sensitive and reliable, especially in the detection of "asymptomatic" infections for active case surveillance. Regarding the existence of asymptomatic malaria in endemic area of Hormozgan, Iran, nested-PCR could be considered as a sensitive tool to interrupt malaria transmission in the country, beside the microscopic and RDT methods.

Reduction of false positives in the detection of architectural distortion in mammograms by using a geometrically constrained phase portrait model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayres, Fabio J.; Rangayyan, Rangaraj M.

2007-01-01

Objective One of the commonly missed signs of breast cancer is architectural distortion. We have developed techniques for the detection of architectural distortion in mammograms, based on the analysis of oriented texture through the application of Gabor filters and a linear phase portrait model. In this paper, we propose constraining the shape of the general phase portrait model as a means to reduce the false-positive rate in the detection of architectural distortion. Material and methods The methods were tested with one set of 19 cases of architectural distortion and 41 normal mammograms, and with another set of 37 cases of architectural distortion. Results Sensitivity rates of 84% with 4.5 false positives per image and 81% with 10 false positives per image were obtained for the two sets of images. Conclusion The adoption of a constrained phase portrait model with a symmetric matrix and the incorporation of its condition number in the analysis resulted in a reduction in the false-positive rate in the detection of architectural distortion. The proposed techniques, dedicated for the detection and localization of architectural distortion, should lead to efficient detection of early signs of breast cancer. (orig.)

Pumping and leak detection system of the HL-2A

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Zeng; Xu Yunxian; Fu Weidong

2001-01-01

The pumping system is a combination of 8 turbomolecular pumps with three stages pumping for HL-2A vacuum vessel, a total effective pumping speed at the vessel of 12 m 3 ·s -1 for nitrogen. The leak detection of element and vessel is performed with inspiration, case of leak detection and two mass spectrometry. The total leak rate of vessel is bellow 1 x 10 -5 Pa ·m 3 ·s -1 . The base pressure is 1 x 10 -5 Pa

Xpert(®) MTB/RIF for improved case detection of extra-pulmonary TB in a tertiary care setting in urban India.

Science.gov (United States)

Nataraj, G; Kanade, S; Mehta, P

2016-07-01

Department of microbiology at a tertiary care hospital, Mumbai, India. To determine 1) the sensitivity and specificity of the Xpert(®) MTB/RIF assay in comparison with microscopy and culture in extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB), and 2) the number of additional cases of EPTB and rifampicin (RMP) resistance detected using this assay. The study was conducted from July 2013 to April 2015. All consecutive patients with clinically suspected EPTB referred for microscopic examination to the Department of Microbiology that were sufficient in specimen volume were included in the study. Of the 728 specimens included in the study, respectively 5.5%, 23.5% and 20.9% were positive on smear, culture and Xpert. Compared to culture, Xpert had a sensitivity of 84.2% (95%CI 81.4-86.6) and specificity of 98.2% (95%CI 90-104). All specimens with high and medium load on assay were positive on culture; 28 (18.4%) specimens were RMP-resistant and 124 (81.6%) were Xpert-susceptible. No additional RMP-resistant cases were detected using Xpert as compared to phenotypic drug susceptibility testing. The ability of the Xpert assay to rapidly detect a significantly greater number of bacteriologically confirmed EPTB cases, including RMP-resistant cases, makes it an important diagnostic tool in a TB-endemic country.

Mammographic features and misdiagnosed analysis on 92 cases with breast cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Mingjuan; Zhang Xiaoling; Guo Yan

2010-01-01

Objective: To investigate the atypical X-ray features in breast cancer and improve the accuracy of diagnosis. Methods: Mammographic features of 92 cases with pathologically confirmed breast cancer were analyzed retrospectively. Results: High-density mass with speculated margined, clusters of small calcification, stellate-like lesions were found in 51 cases, the rate of correct diagnosis was 96%-100%. Lobulated high-density mass were found in 17 cases, the correct diagnosis rate was about 88.3% cases with skin thickening were all correctly diagnosed. Round mass, focal parenchymal asymmetry and unidentified lesions were found in 20 cases, the diagnosing rate was less than 20%. Conclusion: Round mass, focal parenchymal asymmetry and unidentified lesions were atypical mammographic features of breast cancer. These lesions were misdiagnosed frequently. It is essential to find the indirect signs and associated finding to avoid misdiagnosis. On the other hand, further ultrasound or MRI were helpful to improve the diagnosis by detecting mass in breast, showing cystic lesions and blood supply. (authors)