Perceptions of future developments in the European Union

Political Science; European Unio

Dissipation equals production in the log layer of wall-induced turbulence

Asymptotic analysis is presented of the energy balance equations derived from statistically averagedNavier-Stokes equations pertinent to wall-induced turbulence. Attention is focused on the inertialsublayer, the region outside the viscous sublayer, and the buffer layer where the log-law for meanflow holds. Production and dissipation of turbulence are shown to be equal with a relative error of order(x2 /L), where x2 is the distance from the wall and L is the external length (pipe radius, channelhalf-height, boundary layer thickness). Diffusion of pressure and kinetic energy together are only ofrelative magnitude order (x2 /L). Pressure gradient terms are shown to redistribute longitudinalturbulence production in equal portions dissipated in the three orthogonal directions

Rational use of ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT in patients with advanced cutaneous melanoma:A systematic review

18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) is increasingly used in patients with advanced melanoma. Immune checkpoint inhibitors and BRAF/MEK-targeted therapy have transformed the therapeutic landscape of metastatic melanoma. Consequently, a need for markers predicting (early) response to treatment and for monitoring treatment (toxicity) has arisen. This systematic review appraises the current literature evidence for rational use of 18F-FDG PET/CT scans in staging, clinical decision-making, treatment monitoring and follow-up in advanced melanoma. 18F-FDG PET/CT has high overall accuracy for detection of distant metastases and is, combined with cerebral MRI, the preferred imaging strategy for staging metastatic melanoma. In contrast, strong evidence supporting the standard use of 18F-FDG PET/CT for predicting and monitoring therapy response and toxicity is currently lacking. Essential for determining the position of 18F-FDG PET/CT during treatment course in advanced melanoma are well-designed studies with standardized scanning protocols, incorporation of clinical parameters and comparison with contrast-enhanced CT alone

Pauli graphs, Riemann hypothesis, Goldbach pairs

Let consider the Pauli group $\mathcal{P}_q=$ with unitary quantum generators $X$ (shift) and $Z$ (clock) acting on the vectors of the $q$-dimensional Hilbert space via $X|s> =|s+1>$ and $Z|s> =\omega^s |s>$, with $\omega=\exp(2i\pi/q)$. It has been found that the number of maximal mutually commuting sets within $\mathcal{P}_q$ is controlled by the Dedekind psi function $\psi(q)=q \prod_{p|q}(1+\frac{1}{p})$ (with $p$ a prime) \cite{Planat2011} and that there exists a specific inequality $\frac{\psi (q)}{q}>e^{\gamma}\log \log q$, involving the Euler constant $\gamma \sim 0.577$, that is only satisfied at specific low dimensions $q \in \mathcal {A}=\{2,3,4,5,6,8,10,12,18,30\}$. The set $\mathcal{A}$ is closely related to the set $\mathcal{A} \cup \{1,24\}$ of integers that are totally Goldbach, i.e. that consist of all primes $p2$) is equivalent to Riemann hypothesis. Introducing the Hardy-Littlewood function $R(q)=2 C_2 \prod_{p|n}\frac{p-1}{p-2}$ (with $C_2 \sim 0.660$ the twin prime constant), that is used for estimating the number $g(q) \sim R(q) \frac{q}{\ln^2 q}$ of Goldbach pairs, one shows that the new inequality $\frac{R(N_r)}{\log \log N_r} \gtrapprox e^{\gamma}$ is also equivalent to Riemann hypothesis. In this paper, these number theoretical properties are discusssed in the context of the qudit commutation structure.Comment: 11 page

A retrospective analysis of the diagnostic performance of 11C-choline PET/CT for detection of hyperfunctioning parathyroid glands after prior negative or discordant imaging in primary hyperparathyroidism

BACKGROUND: Identifying the correct location of a parathyroid adenoma in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is crucial as it can guide surgical treatment. This study aimed to determine the diagnostic performance of 11C-choline PET/CT in patients with pHPT as a next in-line scan after primary negative or discordant first-line imaging. METHODS: This was a retrospective single-center cohort study. All patients with pHPT that were scanned utilizing 11C-choline PET/CT, after prior negative or discordant imaging, between 2015 and 2019 and who subsequently underwent parathyroid surgery were included. The results of the 11C-choline PET/CT were evaluated lesion-based, with surgical exploration and histopathological examination as the gold standard. RESULTS: In total, 36 patients were included of which three patients were known to have Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN) syndrome. In these 36 patients, 40 lesions were identified on 11C-choline PET/CT and 37 parathyroid lesions were surgically removed. In 34/36 (94%) patients a focused parathyroidectomy was performed, in one patient a cervical exploration due to an ectopically identified adenoma, and in one patient a bilateral exploration was performed because of a double adenoma. Overall, per-lesion sensitivity of 11C-choline PET/CT was 97%, the positive predictive value was 95% and the accuracy was 94% for all parathyroid lesions. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with pHPT and prior negative or discordant first-line imaging results, pathological parathyroid glands can be localized by 11C-choline PET/CT with high sensitivity and accuracy

The Diagnostic Value of 18F-FDG PET/CT Scan in Characterizing Adrenal Tumors

CONTEXT: Imaging plays an important role in the characterization of adrenal tumors, but findings might be inconclusive. The clinical question is whether 18F fluodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) is of diagnostic value in this setting.OBJECTIVE: This meta-analysis was aimed at the diagnostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in differentiating benign from malignant adrenal tumors discovered either as adrenal incidentaloma or during staging or follow-up of oncologic patients.DATA SOURCES: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched to select articles between 2000 and 2021.STUDY SELECTION: We included studies describing the diagnostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in adult patients with an adrenal tumor. Exclusion criteria were 10 or fewer participants, insufficient data on histopathology, clinical follow-up, or PET results. After screening of title and abstract by 2 independent reviewers, 79 studies were retrieved, of which 17 studies met the selection criteria.DATA EXTRACTION: Data extraction using a protocol and quality assessment according to QUADAS-2 was performed independently by at least 2 authors.DATA SYNTHESIS: A bivariate random-effects model was applied using R (version 3.6.2.). Pooled sensitivity and specificity of 18F-FDG PET/CT for identifying malignant adrenal tumors was 87.3% (95% CI, 82.5%-90.9%) and 84.7% (95% CI, 79.3%-88.9%), respectively. The pooled diagnostic odds ratio was 9.20 (95% CI, 5.27-16.08; P &lt; .01). Major sources of heterogeneity (I2, 57.1% [95% CI, 27.5%-74.6%]) were in population characteristics, reference standard, and interpretation criteria of imaging results.CONCLUSIONS: 18F-FDG PET/CT had good diagnostic accuracy for characterization of adrenal tumors. The literature, however, is limited, in particular regarding adrenal incidentalomas. Large prospective studies in well-defined patient populations with application of validated cutoff values are needed.</p

LION/web:a web-based ontology enrichment tool for lipidomic data analysis

Background: A major challenge for lipidomic analyses is the handling of the large amounts of data and the translation of results to interpret the involvement of lipids in biological systems. Results: We built a new lipid ontology (LION) that associates &gt; 50,000 lipid species to biophysical, chemical, and cell biological features. By making use of enrichment algorithms, we used LION to develop a web-based interface (LION/web, www.lipidontology.com) that allows identification of lipid-associated terms in lipidomes. LION/web was validated by analyzing a lipidomic dataset derived from well-characterized sub-cellular fractions of RAW 264.7 macrophages. Comparison of isolated plasma membranes with the microsomal fraction showed a significant enrichment of relevant LION-terms including "plasma membrane", "headgroup with negative charge", "glycerophosphoserines", "above average bilayer thickness", and "below average lateral diffusion". A second validation was performed by analyzing the membrane fluidity of Chinese hamster ovary cells incubated with arachidonic acid. An increase in membrane fluidity was observed both experimentally by using pyrene decanoic acid and by using LION/web, showing significant enrichment of terms associated with high membrane fluidity ("above average", "very high", and "high lateral diffusion" and "below average transition temperature"). Conclusions: The results demonstrate the functionality of LION/web, which is freely accessible in a platform-independent way.</p