77 research outputs found
First-dose and steady-state pharmacokinetics of orally administered crizotinib in children with solid tumors: a report on ADVL0912 from the Children’s Oncology Group Phase 1/Pilot Consortium
Characterize the pharmacokinetics of oral crizotinib in children with cancer
Laser-generated ultrasound with optical fibres using functionalised carbon nanotube composite coatings
Optical ultrasound transducers were created by coating optical fibres with a composite of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Dissolution of CNTs in PDMS to create the composite was facilitated by functionalisation with oleylamine. Composite surfaces were applied to optical fibres using dip coating. Under pulsed laser excitation, ultrasound pressures of 3.6 MPa and 4.5 MPa at the coated end faces were achieved with optical fibre core diameters of 105 and 200 μm, respectively. The results indicate that CNT-PDMS composite coatings on optical fibres could be viable alternatives to electrical ultrasound transducers in miniature ultrasound imaging probes
A Partially Supervised Bayesian Image Classification Model with Applications in Diagnosis of Sentinel Lymph Node Metastases in Breast Cancer
A method has been developed for the analysis of images of sentinel lymph
nodes generated by a spectral scanning device. The aim is to classify the
nodes, excised during surgery for breast cancer, as normal or metastatic. The
data from one node constitute spectra at 86 wavelengths for each pixel of a
20*20 grid. For the analysis, the spectra are reduced to scores on two factors,
one derived externally from a linear discriminant analysis using spectra taken
manually from known normal and metastatic tissue, and one derived from the node
under investigation to capture variability orthogonal to the external factor.
Then a three-group mixture model (normal, metastatic, non-nodal background)
using multivariate t distributions is fitted to the scores, with external data
being used to specify informative prior distributions for the parameters of the
three distributions. A Markov random field prior imposes smoothness on the
image generated by the model. Finally, the node is classified as metastatic if
any one pixel in this smoothed image is classified as metastatic. The model
parameters were tuned on a training set of nodes, and then the tuned model was
tested on a separate validation set of nodes, achieving satisfactory
sensitivity and specificity. The aim in developing the analysis was to allow
flexibility in the way each node is modelled whilst still using external
information. The Bayesian framework employed is ideal for this.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figure
Asymmetric organocatalysis of the addition of acetone to 2-nitrostyrene using N-diphenylphosphinyl-1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-diamine (PODPEN)
The highly enantioselective addition of acetone to 2-nitrostyrene, using N–diphenylphosphinyl-trans-1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-diamine (PODPEN) as catalyst, is described
Endoscopic closure of transmural bladder wall perforations
Background: Traditionally, intraperitoneal bladder perforations caused by trauma or iatrogenic
interventions have been treated by open or laparoscopic surgery. Additionally, transvesical
access to the peritoneal cavity has been reported to be feasible and useful for natural orifice
translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) but would be enhanced by a reliable method of
closing the vesicotomy.
Objective: To assess the feasibility and safety of an endoscopic closure method for vesical
perforations using a flexible, small-diameter endoscopic suturing kit in a survival porcine model.
Design, setting, and participants: This pilot study was performed at the University of Minho,
Braga, Portugal, using six anesthetized female pigs.
Interventions: Closure of a full-thickness longitudinal incision in the bladder dome (up to 10 mm
in four animals and up to 20 mm in two animals) with the endoscopic suturing kit using one to
three absorbable stitches.
Measurements: The acute quality of sealing was immediately tested by distending the bladder
with methylene-blue dye under laparoscopic control (in two animals). Without a bladder
catheter, the animals were monitored daily for 2 wk, and a necropsy examination was performed
to check for the signs of peritonitis, wound dehiscence, and quality of healing.
Results and limitations: Endoscopic closure of bladder perforation was carried out easily and
quickly in all animals. The laparoscopic view revealed no acute leak of methylene-blue dye after
distension of the bladder. After recovery from anaesthesia, the pigs began to void normally, and
no adverse event occurred. Postmortem examination revealed complete healing of vesical
incision with no signs of infection or adhesions in the peritoneal cavity. No limitations have
yet been studied clinically.
Conclusions: This study demonstrates the feasibility and the safety of endoscopic closure of
vesical perforations with an endoscopic suturing kit in a survival porcine model. This study
provides support for further studies using endoscopic closure of the bladder which may lead to a
new era in management of bladder rupture and adoption of the transvesical port in NOTES
procedures
In search of the authentic nation: landscape and national identity in Canada and Switzerland
While the study of nationalism and national identity has flourished in the last decade, little attention has been devoted to the conditions under which natural environments acquire significance in definitions of nationhood. This article examines the identity-forming role of landscape depictions in two polyethnic nation-states: Canada and Switzerland. Two types of geographical national identity are identified. The first – what we call the ‘nationalisation of nature’– portrays zarticular landscapes as expressions of national authenticity. The second pattern – what we refer to as the ‘naturalisation of the nation’– rests upon a notion of geographical determinism that depicts specific landscapes as forces capable of determining national identity. The authors offer two reasons why the second pattern came to prevail in the cases under consideration: (1) the affinity between wild landscape and the Romantic ideal of pure, rugged nature, and (2) a divergence between the nationalist ideal of ethnic homogeneity and the polyethnic composition of the two societies under consideration
Head & neck optical diagnostics: vision of the future of surgery
Review paper and Proceedings of the Inaugural Meeting of the Head and Neck Optical Diagnostics Society (HNODS) on March 14th 2009 at University College London
The future of medical diagnostics: Review paper
While histopathology of excised tissue remains the gold standard for diagnosis, several new, non-invasive diagnostic techniques are being developed. They rely on physical and biochemical changes that precede and mirror malignant change within tissue. The basic principle involves simple optical techniques of tissue interrogation. Their accuracy, expressed as sensitivity and specificity, are reported in a number of studies suggests that they have a potential for cost effective, real-time, in situ diagnosis. We review the Third Scientific Meeting of the Head and Neck Optical Diagnostics Society held in Congress Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria on the 11th May 2011. For the first time the HNODS Annual Scientific Meeting was held in association with the International Photodynamic Association (IPA) and the European Platform for Photodynamic Medicine (EPPM). The aim was to enhance the interdisciplinary aspects of optical diagnostics and other photodynamic applications. The meeting included 2 sections: oral communication sessions running in parallel to the IPA programme and poster presentation sessions combined with the IPA and EPPM posters sessions. © 2011 Jerjes et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd
- …