SAT0631 Inter-observer and intra-observer reliability of the omeract ultrasonographic (US) criteria for the diagnosis of calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (CPPD) at the metacarpal-phalangeal (MCP), wrist, acromion-clavicular (AC) and hip joints

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Could X-ray microbeams inhibit angioplasty-induced restenosis in the rat carotid artery?

Background: Parallel, thin (<100 μm) planes of synchrotron-generated X rays, have been shown to spare normal tissues and preferentially damage tumors in animal models. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of such microbeams directed unidirectionally on angioplasted rat carotid arteries. Methods and materials: Three groups of Sprague-Dawley rats were studied: (a) rats with normal, untreated arteries, (b) rats treated by balloon angioplasty, but not irradiated, and (c) rats treated with balloon angioplasty and exposed to single fraction, unidirectional, parallel, microbeams an hour after angioplasty. The microbeam array, 15 mm wide×7.6 mm high, consisting of 27-μm-wide beam slices, spaced 200 μm center-to-center laterally traversed the damaged artery. The in-depth in-beam dose was 150 Gy, the "valley" dose (dose midway between microbeams resulting mainly from X-ray scattering) was 4.5 Gy on average, and the "integrated" (averaged) dose was 26 Gy. Results: Microbeam irradiation, as given in the present study, was tolerated, but was insufficient to significantly suppress the neointimal hyperplasia. Discussion: The microbeam dose used is considered low. Dose escalation would be necessary to reach conclusive results regarding the X-ray microbeam efficacy to control restenosis. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

EEG-Based Eye Movement Recognition Using Brain–Computer Interface and Random Forests

Discrimination of eye movements and visual states is a flourishing field of research and there is an urgent need for non-manual EEG-based wheelchair control and navigation systems. This paper presents a novel system that utilizes a brain–computer interface (BCI) to capture electroencephalographic (EEG) signals from human subjects while eye movement and subsequently classify them into six categories by applying a random forests (RF) classification algorithm. RF is an ensemble learning method that constructs a series of decision trees where each tree gives a class prediction, and the class with the highest number of class predictions becomes the model’s prediction. The categories of the proposed random forests brain–computer interface (RF-BCI) are defined according to the position of the subject’s eyes: open, closed, left, right, up, and down. The purpose of RF-BCI is to be utilized as an EEG-based control system for driving an electromechanical wheelchair (rehabilitation device). The proposed approach has been tested using a dataset containing 219 records taken from 10 different patients. The BCI implemented the EPOC Flex head cap system, which includes 32 saline felt sensors for capturing the subjects’ EEG signals. Each sensor caught four different brain waves (delta, theta, alpha, and beta) per second. Then, these signals were split in 4-second windows resulting in 512 samples per record and the band energy was extracted for each EEG rhythm. The proposed system was compared with naïve Bayes, Bayes Network, k-nearest neighbors (K-NN), multilayer perceptron (MLP), support vector machine (SVM), J48-C4.5 decision tree, and Bagging classification algorithms. The experimental results showed that the RF algorithm outperformed compared to the other approaches and high levels of accuracy (85.39%) for a 6-class classification are obtained. This method exploits high spatial information acquired from the Emotiv EPOC Flex wearable EEG recording device and examines successfully the potential of this device to be used for BCI wheelchair technology

Curcumin and Radiotherapy Exert Synergistic Anti-Glioma Effect In Vitro

Curcumin, a bioactive polyphenol, is known to have anticancer properties. In this study, the effectiveness of curcumin pretreatment as a strategy for radio-sensitizing glioblastoma cell lines was explored. For this, U87 and T98 cells were treated with curcumin, exposed to 2 Gy or 4 Gy of irradiation, and the combined effect was compared to the antiproliferative effect of each agent when given individually. Cell viability and proliferation were evaluated with the trypan blue exclusion assay and the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The synergistic effects of the combination treatment were analyzed with CompuSyn software. To examine how the co-treatment affected different phases of cell-cycle progression, a cell-cycle analysis via flow cytometry was performed. Treatment with curcumin and radiation significantly reduced cell viability in both U87 and T98 cell lines. The combination treatment arrested both cell lines at the G2/M phase to a higher extent than radiation or curcumin treatment alone. The synergistic effect of curcumin when combined with temozolomide resulted in increased tumor cell death. Our results demonstrate for the first time that low doses of curcumin and irradiation exhibit a strong synergistic anti-proliferative effect on glioblastoma cells in vitro. Therefore, this combination may represent an innovative and promising strategy for the treatment of glioblastoma, and further studies are needed to fully understand the molecular mechanism underlying this effect

PENGARUH KOMUNIKASI INTERPERSONAL TERHADAP CITRA PERUSAHAAN DAN KINERJA KEUANGAN (Studi Kasus PT.Bank Pembiayaan Rakyat Syariah (BPRS) Lantabur Tebuireng Jl. A. Yani Ruko Citra Niaga Blok E No. 11 Jombang)

Komunikasi interpersonal berperan penting dalam sebuah organisasi atau perusahaan, kualitas komunikasi interpersonal yang baik perlu dimiliki oleh karyawan terutama yang berhubungan langsung dengan nasabah. Dengan adanya komunikasi interpersonal yang baik dapat dilihat dari sikap terbuka, empati, mendukung, positif dan sikap kesetaraan dapat menciptakan persepsi terhadap citra perusahaan. Komunikasi yang baik dapat menarik nasabah baru sehingga perusahaan dapat memperoleh laba yang berdampak pada kinerja keuangan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pengaruh komunikasi interpersonal terhadap citra perusahaan dan kinerja keuangan di PT.BPRS Lantabur Tebuiren g Jombang. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah seluruh nasabah PT.BPRS Lantabur Tebuireng Jombang yakni 980 nasabah dan sampel sebanyak 98 nasabah dengan menggunakan teknik random sampling. Selain itu juga menggunakan data laporan triwulan publikasi perusahaan tahun 2011-2016. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan menggunakan teknik analisis data regresi sederhana dengan signifikansi 5%. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa variabel komunikasi interpersonal berpengaruh signifikan tehadap citra perusahaan dengan nilai thitung sebesar 8,06 dan signifikansi 0,00. Sedangkan variabel komunikasi interpersonal tidak berpengruh terhadap kinerja keuangan karena nilai thitung sebesar 1,236 dengan signifikansi 0,236. Kata kunci: Komunikasi Interpersonal, Citra Perusahaan, Kinerja Keuanga