Standardized cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) protocols, society for cardiovascular magnetic resonance: board of trustees task force on standardized protocols

<p/> <p>Index</p> <p><b>1. General techniques</b></p> <p>1.1. Stress and safety equipment</p> <p>1.2. Left ventricular (LV) structure and function module</p> <p>1.3. Right ventricular (RV) structure and function module</p> <p>1.4. Gadolinium dosing module.</p> <p>1.5. First pass perfusion</p> <p>1.6. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE)</p> <p><b>2. Disease specific protocols</b></p> <p><b>2.1. Ischemic heart disease</b></p> <p>2.1.1. Acute myocardial infarction (MI)</p> <p>2.1.2. Chronic ischemic heart disease and viability</p> <p>2.1.3. Dobutamine stress</p> <p>2.1.4. Adenosine stress perfusion</p> <p><b>2.2. Angiography:</b></p> <p>2.2.1. Peripheral magnetic resonance angiography (MRA)</p> <p>2.2.2. Thoracic MRA</p> <p>2.2.3. Anomalous coronary arteries</p> <p>2.2.4. Pulmonary vein evaluation</p> <p><b>2.3. Other</b></p> <p>2.3.1. Non-ischemic cardiomyopathy</p> <p>2.3.2. Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC)</p> <p>2.3.3. Congenital heart disease</p> <p>2.3.4. Valvular heart disease</p> <p>2.3.5. Pericardial disease</p> <p>2.3.6. Masses</p

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in the colored Hubbard model

The Hubbard model is reformulated in terms of different ``colored'' fermion species for the electrons or holes at different lattice sites. Antiferromagnetic ordering or d-wave superconductivity can then be described in terms of translationally invariant expectation values for colored composite scalar fields. A suitable mean field approximation for the two dimensional colored Hubbard model shows indeed phases with antiferromagnetic ordering or d-wave superconductivity at low temperature. At low enough temperature the transition to the antiferromagnetic phase is of first order. The present formulation also allows an easy extension to more complicated microscopic interactions.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

Chosen-ciphertext security from subset sum

We construct a public-key encryption (PKE) scheme whose security is polynomial-time equivalent to the hardness of the Subset Sum problem. Our scheme achieves the standard notion of indistinguishability against chosen-ciphertext attacks (IND-CCA) and can be used to encrypt messages of arbitrary polynomial length, improving upon a previous construction by Lyubashevsky, Palacio, and Segev (TCC 2010) which achieved only the weaker notion of semantic security (IND-CPA) and whose concrete security decreases with the length of the message being encrypted. At the core of our construction is a trapdoor technique which originates in the work of Micciancio and Peikert (Eurocrypt 2012

Systematic event generator tuning for the LHC

In this article we describe Professor, a new program for tuning model parameters of Monte Carlo event generators to experimental data by parameterising the per-bin generator response to parameter variations and numerically optimising the parameterised behaviour. Simulated experimental analysis data is obtained using the Rivet analysis toolkit. This paper presents the Professor procedure and implementation, illustrated with the application of the method to tunes of the Pythia 6 event generator to data from the LEP/SLD and Tevatron experiments. These tunes are substantial improvements on existing standard choices, and are recommended as base tunes for LHC experiments, to be themselves systematically improved upon when early LHC data is available.Comment: 28 pages. Submitted to European Physical Journal C. Program sources and extra information are available from http://projects.hepforge.org/professor

Evaluation of Sine Spin flat detector CT imaging compared with multidetector CT.

BACKGROUND Flat detector computed tomography (FDCT) is widely used for periprocedural imaging in the angiography suite. Sine Spin FDCT (SFDCT) is the latest generation of cone beam CT using a double oblique trajectory for image acquisition to reduce artefacts and improve soft tissue brain imaging. This study compared the effective dose, image quality and diagnostic performance of the latest generation of SFDCT with multidetector CT (MDCT). METHODS An anthropomorphic phantom equipped with MOSFET detectors was used to measure the effective dose of the new 7sDCT Sine Spin protocol on a latest generation biplane angiographic C-arm system. Diagnostic performance was evaluated on periprocedurally acquired SFDCT for depiction of anatomical details, detection of hemorrhage, and ischemia and was compared with preprocedurally acquired MDCT. Inter- and intra-rater correlation as well as sensitivity and specificity were calculated. RESULTS Both modalities showed equal diagnostic performance in the supratentorial ventricular system. SFDCT provided inferior image quality in grey-white matter differentiation and infratentorial structures. Intraventricular, subarachnoid and parenchymal hemorrhages were diagnosed with a sensitivity of 83.3%, 84.2% and 75% and a specificity of 97.3%, 80.0% and 100%, respectively; early ischemic lesions with a sensitivity of 73.3% and specificity 94.7%. The effective dose measured for the 7sDCT Sine Spin protocol was 2 mSv. CONCLUSIONS Our findings confirm the high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of SFDCT in detecting intracranial hemorrhage and early ischemic lesions. The delineation of grey-white matter differentiation and infratentorial structures remains a limiting factor. In comparison to previous studies, the new 7sDCT Sine Spin protocol showed a lower effective dose

Thin-film transducers for the detection and imaging of Brillouin oscillations in transmission on cultured cells

Mechanical imaging and characterisation of biological cells has been a subject of interest for the last twenty years. Ultrasonic imaging based on the scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) and mechanical probing have been extensively reported. Large acoustic attenuation at high frequencies and the use of conventional piezo-electric transducers limit the operational frequency of a SAM. This limitation results in lower resolution compared to an optical microscope. Direct mechanical probing in the form of applied stress by contacting probes causes stress to cells and exhibits poor depth resolution. More recently, laser ultrasound has been reported to detect ultrasound in the GHz range via Brillouin oscillations on biological cells. This technique offers a promising new high resolution acoustic cell imaging technique. In this work, we propose, design and apply a thin-film based opto-acoustic transducer for the detection in transmission of Brillouin oscillations on cells. The transducer is used to generate acoustic waves, protect the cells from laser radiation and enhance signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Experimental traces are presented in water films as well as images of the Brillouin frequency of phantom and fixed 3T3 fibroblast cells

Mandatory reporting of sexual and gender-based violence in humanitarian settings: a qualitative analysis of international guidelines for humanitarian practitioners and scoping review of existing evidence

Background: Mandatory reporting requirements create an ethical and legal dilemma for humanitarian practitioners working with survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), as they are required to report known instances of SGBV to law enforcement, sometimes without the consent of victims or as a precondition to administering care. However, there remains a paucity of research on this topic in the context of humanitarian settings to guide practitioners on how to navigate mandatory reporting requirements from a survivor-centered approach. This study seeks to contribute to the existing knowledge and debate on mandatory reporting for SGBV in humanitarian settings by reviewing the current literature and international GBV guidelines for humanitarian practitioners. Methods: We conducted an abductive thematic analysis of key international GBV guidelines for humanitarian workers to explore the practices and guidance developed around mandatory reporting. GBV guidelines were identified by a search on agencies’ websites under consultations with experts in the field of sexual and reproductive health. In parallel, we conducted a scoping review of five academic databases with no earliest inclusion date, and a final inclusion date of 31 March 2023 to identify the scope and extent of research on SGBV mandatory reporting in humanitarian settings. Findings: We identified thirty-one relevant international GBV guideline documents which provide guidance for humanitarian practitioners on implementing mandatory reporting requirements. The availability and depth of information regarding mandatory reporting varies in the international guidelines. Three themes, including “GBV guiding principles”, “consideration for the impact of mandatory reporting and the reporting obligations” and “guidance for humanitarian providers on how to implement mandatory reporting requirements” emerged from the GBV guideline content analysis. As part of the scoping review, 1474 records were reviewed, with only 5 publications meeting our eligibility criteria. The 5 selected publications contained only limited information about mandatory reporting. Conclusion: Existing guidelines would benefit from incorporating more systematic and detailed guidance on how to navigate mandatory reporting requirements while upholding survivor-centered responses. There remains little evidence on the implementation or effectiveness of mandatory reporting in humanitarian settings, and of the implementation of guidance pertaining to mandatory reporting included in international GBV guidelines. Further research is necessary to clarify its implications and support evidence-based guidance for humanitarian personnel

Developing serious games for cultural heritage: a state-of-the-art review

Although the widespread use of gaming for leisure purposes has been well documented, the use of games to support cultural heritage purposes, such as historical teaching and learning, or for enhancing museum visits, has been less well considered. The state-of-the-art in serious game technology is identical to that of the state-of-the-art in entertainment games technology. As a result, the field of serious heritage games concerns itself with recent advances in computer games, real-time computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the main strengths of serious gaming applications may be generalised as being in the areas of communication, visual expression of information, collaboration mechanisms, interactivity and entertainment. In this report, we will focus on the state-of-the-art with respect to the theories, methods and technologies used in serious heritage games. We provide an overview of existing literature of relevance to the domain, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the described methods and point out unsolved problems and challenges. In addition, several case studies illustrating the application of methods and technologies used in cultural heritage are presented