Three experienced specialists in nuclear medicine independently read 52 liver scans for the presence or absence of metastases. The accuracy of the assessments was, for each of the observers and for ...the observers' agreed-upon assessments, determined against findings at laparotomy or autopsy. Overall accuracy, predictive values of a positive and negative test result, sensitivity, and specificity were 0.71-0.79, 0.80-0.90, 0.63-0.72, 0.63-0.77, and 0.77-0.91. The accuracy was not higher for the agreed-upon assessment than for each of the observers' assessments. The inter-observer variation was calculated as overall agreement between pairs of observers and ranged from 0.85 to 0.94. After adjustment of overall agreement for chance agreement, kappa values from 0.70 to 0.88 were obtained. In the determination of intraobserver variation overall agreement rates and kappa values ranged from 0.90 to 0.94 and 0.84 to 0.88. The scintigraphic diagnosis of hepatic metastases is reliable but, to increase the reliability further, it should be examined whether observer error reflects error in the primary detection of findings in the scans or error in the overall interpretation.
Epidemiological studies of mental health problems in the first years of life are few. This study aims to investigate infancy predictors of psychopathology in the second year of life.
A random general ...population sample of 210 children from the Copenhagen Child Birth Cohort CCC 2000 was investigated by data from National Danish registers and data collected prospectively from birth in a general child health surveillance programme. Mental health outcome at 1(1/2) years was assessed by clinical and standardised measures including the Child Behavior Check List 1(1/2)-5 (CBCL 1(1/2)-5), Infant Toddler Symptom Check List (ITSCL), Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (CHAT), Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID II), Mannheim Eltern Interview (MEI), Parent Child Early Relational Assessment (PC ERA) and Parent Infant Relationship Global Assessment Scale (PIR-GAS), and disordered children were diagnosed according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and Diagnostic Classification Zero to Three (DC: 0-3).
Deviant language development in the first 10 months of life predicted the child having any disorder at 1(1/2) years, OR 3.3 (1.4-8.0). Neuro-developmental disorders were predicted by deviant neuro-cognitive functioning, OR 6.8 (2.2-21.4), deviant language development, OR 5.9 (1.9-18.7) and impaired social interaction and communication, OR 3.8 (1.3-11.4). Unwanted pregnancy and parents' negative expectations of the child recorded in the first months of the child's life were significant predictors of relationship disturbances at 1(1/2) years.
Predictors of neuro-developmental disorders and parent-child relationship disturbances can be identified in the first 10 months of life in children from the general population.
We describe a pairing mean-field theory related to the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach, and apply it to the dynamics of dissociation of a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) into correlated ...bosonic atom pairs. We also perform the same simulation using two stochastic phase-space techniques for quantum dynamics -- the positive P-representation method and the truncated Wigner method. By comparing the results of our calculations we are able to assess the relative strength of these theoretical techniques in describing molecular dissociation in one spatial dimension. An important aspect of our analysis is the inclusion of atom-atom interactions which can be problematic for the positive-P method. We find that the truncated Wigner method mostly agrees with the positive-P simulations, but can be simulated for significantly longer times. The pairing mean-field theory results diverge from the quantum dynamical methods after relatively short times.
The global farming of fish and shellfish has been the fastest growing food producing sector in the last few decades and has become an important industry in many countries. Fishmeal made from pelagic ...fish used to be the major dietary protein source in compounded feed for many important farmed species, but the limited amount available has resulted in massive research to identify alternative protein sources. The average levels of pelagic fishmeal in aquaculture feed have decreased substantially in the last decade and recent published results in the scientific literature show that it is possible to replace even more in diets both for carnivorous and herbivorous/omnivorous species. If the predicted low inclusion levels are reached in the next decade, there may be room for a relatively large increase in the total production of farmed fish and shellfish without any increased use of fishmeal.
► The aquaculture industry is a fast growing food producing sector. ► The industry is important for many developing countries. ► Fishmeal used to be a major protein source in the diet of farmed species. ► Limited amount of fishmeal is available in the future. ► Further growth of the industry can occur without the use of more fishmeal.
We present the first evidence of the decay B- --> tau- nu(tau), using 414 fb(-1) of data collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+ e- collider. ...Events are tagged by fully reconstructing one of the B mesons in hadronic modes. We detect the signal with a significance of 3.5 standard deviations including systematics and measure the branching fraction to be B(B- --> tau- nu(tau)) = (1.79(-0.49) +0.56(stat)(-0.51) +0.46(syst)) x 10(-4). This implies that fB = 0.229(-0.031) +0.036(stat)(-0.037) +0.034(syst) GeV and is the first direct measurement of this quantity.
The radiative decay B-->phi K gamma is observed for the first time. The branching fraction for the charged B--->phi K- gamma decay mode is measured to be B(B--->phi K- ...gamma)=(3.4+/-0.9+/-0.4)x10(-6). The photon energy distribution for the B--->phi K- gamma decay is presented. The signal for the neutral B(0)-->phi K(0)gamma decay mode is not statistically significant and an upper limit, B(B(0)-->phi K(0)gamma)<8.3x10(-6) at 90% C.L., is set. The analysis is based on a data set of 90 fb(-1) collected by the Belle experiment at the e(+)e(-) asymmetric collider KEKB.
To characterize somatostatin receptor status in vivo and ex vivo and immunoreactivity and gene transcription for proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) in a case of ...Cushing's syndrome caused by a sporadic metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC).
(111)In octreoscan, analysis of tumorous mRNA transcripts for somatostatin receptor subtypes (SSTR) as well as for POMC and CRH.
The tissue was intensely positive by (111)In octreoscan but expressed only SSTR 1, 3 and 5. There was immunopositivity only for CRH, but gene transcription for both POMC and CRH was seen.
(1) This first comparison between somatostatin receptor status in vivo and ex vivo in MTC shows a marked positive octreoscan despite absent SSTR 2 expression, and (2) this is the first report of a discrepancy between immunostaining and gene transcription for POMC and CRH.
Abstract Objective To examine the long-term functional and oncologic results in patients who underwent transoral robotic surgery (TORS) as primary therapy or as part of combined therapy for ...oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma arising in the tonsil or base of tongue. Patients and Methods We reviewed a prospective TORS database of patients with squamous cell carcinoma arising in the tonsil or base of tongue treated between March 2007 and February 2009 to determine oncologic outcomes at 24 months or more of follow-up. The presenting tumor stage, histopathologic factors, surgical margins, and adjuvant treatment extent were evaluated. Functional outcomes included gastrostomy tube dependence and tracheostomy dependence. Oncologic outcomes included local, regional, and distant control and disease-specific and recurrence-free survival. Results A total of 66 TORS patients were followed up for a minimum of 2 years. Most (97.0%; 64 of 66) were able to eat orally within 3 weeks after surgery before starting adjuvant therapy. Long-term gastrostomy tube use was required in 3 of the 66 (4.5%) and long-term tracheotomy in 1 (1.5%). Three-year estimated local control and regional control were 97.0% and 94.0%, respectively. Two-year disease-specific survival and recurrence-free survival were 95.1% and 92.4%, respectively. Conclusion With appropriate adjuvant therapy, TORS achieves excellent functional results for patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Oncologic outcomes are equivalent or superior to results of other surgical and nonsurgical treatments.
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