Introduction
Assessment of the Achilles tendon thickness (ATT) using B-mode ultrasound is a common technique for clinical evaluation of chronic mid-part tendinosis. Currently used image-based ...assessment is limited by relatively high inter- and intra-observer variability. In this study, it was tested whether a new sequence-based automated assessment of ATT provides more reliable and reproducible results than the standard image-based procedure.
Materials and methods
A total of 118 non-operated tendons of 59 healthy subjects (44, range 28–50 years) were analysed using an automated image based as well as a newly developed automated sequence-based method. Correlation and agreement of both methods were evaluated. The root mean square deviation (RMSD) and a Bland–Altman analysis were performed to highlight observer (
n
= 18 tendons) as well as reader (
n
= 40 tendons) dependent variabilities of both methods.
Results
A strong correlation was found between image and sequence-based ATT assessment (
p
= 0.92). The Bland–Altman analysis showed a good agreement between both methods (mean difference 0.0018, 95 % CI: −0.046; 0.05). In repetitive examinations, sequence-based analysis showed a significant reduction concerning reader- and observer-dependent variability compared to image-based assessment. The RMSD for repetitive sequence-based measurements was approximately 0.3 mm (compared to 0.6 mm for image-based measurement), respectively.
Conclusions
The study shows sequence-based automated assessment of ATT being clearly superior to the standard image-based procedure. The new method provides a clear reduction of reader as well as observer-dependent variability. Due to the decreased scattering of measurement data sequence-based measurement seems especially valuable for quantification of small tendon thickness changes such as exercise-induced hypertrophy.
In the wake of the 22 May 2014 military coup, Thailand began drafting its twentieth constitution since 1932. But the drafting process was dogged from the start by fundamental differences between the ...military junta and legal experts working on the new constitution. The military wanted to invoke "the people", yet at the same time suppress their actual political participation. The constitution drafters wanted to create "active citizens" who were loyal to conservative, royalist notions about Thailand's state and society, hoping they would be mobilized to police those notions, and so undermine those forces supporting a more open democratic politics. In the end, attempts to craft a charter shaped by legalistic ideas of moral citizenship and virtuous bureaucratic rule foundered in September 2015 when the draft constitution was voted down by the National Reform Council, a body whose members had been appointed by the junta itself. This article examines what was at stake in the struggles over the meanings of Thailand's 2015 draft constitution, arguing that the junta deliberately sabotaged a constitution which embodied a view of the populace that was radically at variance with military preferences.
The Optical Spectrograph and Infra-Red Imager System (OSIRIS) and the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) have been taking measurements from space since 2001 and 2003, respectively. This paper ...presents intercomparisons between ozone and NO2 measured by the ACE and OSIRIS satellite instruments and by ground-based instruments at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), which is located at Eureka, Canada (80A degrees N, 86A degrees W) and is operated by the Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change (CANDAC). The ground-based instruments included in this study are four zenith-sky differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) instruments, one Bruker Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and four Brewer spectrophotometers. Ozone total columns measured by the DOAS instruments were retrieved using new Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) guidelines and agree to within 3.2%. The DOAS ozone columns agree with the Brewer spectrophotometers with mean relative differences that are smaller than 1.5%. This suggests that for these instruments the new NDACC data guidelines were successful in producing a homogenous and accurate ozone dataset at 80A degrees N. Satellite 14-52 km ozone and 17-40 km NO2 partial columns within 500 km of PEARL were calculated for ACE-FTS Version 2.2 (v2.2) plus updates, ACE-FTS v3.0, ACE-MAESTRO (Measurements of Aerosol Extinction in the Stratosphere and Troposphere Retrieved by Occultation) v1.2 and OSIRIS SaskMART v5.0x ozone and Optimal Estimation v3.0 NO2 data products. The new ACE-FTS v3.0 and the validated ACE-FTS v2.2 partial columns are nearly identical, with mean relative differences of 0.0 +/- 0.2% and -0.2 +/- 0.1% for v2.2 minus v3.0 ozone and NO2, respectively. Ozone columns were constructed from 14-52 km satellite and 0-14 km ozonesonde partial columns and compared with the ground-based total column measurements. The satellite-plus-sonde measurements agree with the ground-based ozone total columns with mean relative differences of 0.1-7.3%. For NO2, partial columns from 17 km upward were scaled to noon using a photochemical model. Mean relative differences between OSIRIS, ACE-FTS and ground-based NO2 measurements do not exceed 20%. ACE-MAESTRO measures more NO2 than the other instruments, with mean relative differences of 25-52%. Seasonal variation in the differences between NO2 partial columns is observed, suggesting that there are systematic errors in the measurements and/or the photochemical model corrections. For ozone spring-time measurements, additional coincidence criteria based on stratospheric temperature and the location of the polar vortex were found to improve agreement between some of the instruments. For ACE-FTS v2.2 minus Bruker FTIR, the 2007-2009 spring-time mean relative difference improved from -5.0 +/- 0.4% to -3.1 +/- 0.8% with the dynamical selection criteria. This was the largest improvement, likely because both instruments measure direct sunlight and therefore have well-characterized lines-of-sight compared with scattered sunlight measurements. For NO2, the addition of a +/- 1A degrees latitude coincidence criterion improved spring-time intercomparison results, likely due to the sharp latitudinal gradient of NO2 during polar sunrise. The differences between satellite and ground-based measurements do not show any obvious trends over the missions, indicating that both the ACE and OSIRIS instruments continue to perform well.
Korea faces two challenges in the twenty-first century: unification and globalization. Both entail problems of economic, political and cultural integration. In the past, Koreans successfully ...'unified' in various forms, and 'globalized' in many ways. This book is a study of the theme of globalization, addressing various aspects of Korea's integration into the global community from a social scientific or humanistic perspective. This investigation begins with a focus on contemporary South and North Korea: the 'globalized' southern daily life, South Korean labour as a global player, the southern development state, and the cultural division that poses the greatest threat to reunification.
Moving outwards in concentric circles, chapters address Korea's connections with its region and Koreans' contributions to the wider world. Relations with Japan, Korea's most difficult bi-lateral relationship, are surveyed to identify both patterns and images. The thirteenth century Tripitaka Koreana is the most complete collection of Buddhist scripture in Chinese and its recent digitization points towards a renaissance of this world religion. South Korea's pursuit of a Nobel Prize in Literature is put in perspective when one considers Korean contribution to the pre-modern Sinitic literary world. South Korea may owe its existence to the United Nations, but since entering the UN in 1991, it has taken to heart the altruistic urge of global peacekeeping.
Contrary to the claims of its critics, the introduction of self-managing schools in the United Kingdom under the Education Reform Act (ERA) and its counterpart in other countries did not lead to the ...privatisation of public education. Self-managing schools have been one manifestation of a general trend to decentralisation in public education in many countries since the late 1960s. The practice was introduced for a range of reasons but much of the heat from often contentious debates about its efficacy was dissipated in the early years of the 21st century as most governments and system authorities settled on the enhancement of learning as its primary purpose. A realistic assessment of impact suggests that the self-management of schools is an appropriate strategy given that each school contains a unique mix of needs, aptitudes and aspirations of students. A system-wide framework for self-management is important. Leaders in self-managing schools will need to be adept at drawing on all of the resources of the community to meet expectations, and these include intellectual capital, social capital, spiritual capital (broadly defined) as well as financial capital. The concept of self-management will continue to change as schools will continue to change. Author abstract
A decrease in the need for liver transplantations (LTX) in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC), possibly related to treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), has been reported in the USA and UK. The ...aim of this study was to assess LTX requirements in PBC over the past 20 years in the Netherlands.
Analysis of PBC transplant data of the Dutch Organ Transplant Registry during the period 1988-2008, including both absolute and proportional numbers. The indication for LTX was categorized as liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma or poor quality of life (severe fatigue or pruritus). Data were analysed for two decades: 1.1.1988-31.12.1997 (1(st)) and 1.1.1998-31.12.2007 (2(nd)). The severity of disease was quantified using MELD scores. To fit lines which show trends over time we applied a linear regression model.
A total of 110 patients (87% women) was placed on the waiting list. 105 patients were transplanted (1(st): 61, 2(nd): 44), 5 (5%) died while listed. The absolute annual number of LTX for PBC slightly decreased during the 20 year period, the proportional number decreased significantly. At the time of LTX the mean age was 53.6 yrs. (1(st): 53.4, 2(nd): 53.8), the mean MELD score 13.9 (1(st):14.5, 2(nd):13.0). The median interval from diagnosis to LTX was 90.5 months (1(st):86.5, 2(nd): 93.5). 69% of patients was treated with UDCA (1(st) 38%, 2(nd) 82%).
Over the past 20 years the absolute number of LTX for PBC in the Netherlands showed a tendency to decrease whereas the proportional decrease was significant. There was a trend over time toward earlier transplantation.
Drawing from his own experiences and gaining information from his teenage brother and sisters, Luke Jackson wrote this enlightening, honest and witty book in an attempt to address difficult topics ...such as bullying, friendships, when and how to tell others about AS, school problems, dating and relationships, and morality.
Thailand Since the Coup Pongsudhirak, Thitinan
Journal of democracy,
10/2008, Letnik:
19, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
On 19 Sept 2006, the Royal Thai Army overthrew the government of elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the latest of a long line of coups. This event resulted from a hot political crisis that ...had begun in early 2005, when Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (TRT Thais Love Thais) party won reelection. A new constitution has been written, elections held, and civilian government restored under the People's Power Party (PPP) led by 73-year-old Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej -- a traditional establishment based on a non-elected "holy trinity of monarchy, military, and bureaucracy." The underlying tensions that led to the coup remain, however. Thailand badly needs to find a middle ground, in which the best of its old traditions can be adapted to help the country adjust to the new challenges it faces. FR: S. Stanton. Adapted from the source document.
Chile: Are the Parties Over? Luna, Juan Pablo; Mardones, Rodrigo
Journal of democracy,
07/2010, Letnik:
21, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
For the first time since the fall of Pinochet, the Chilean right has come to power via free elections. The long-ruling center-left coalition leaves behind many achievements, but also disturbing signs ...of a weakened party system. Adapted from the source document.
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