Reporting nuclear cardiology: a joint position paper by the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI)

The report of an imaging procedure is a critical component of an examination, being the final and often the only communication from the interpreting physician to the referring or treating physician. Very limited evidence and few recommendations or guidelines on reporting imaging studies are available; therefore, an European position statement on how to report nuclear cardiology might be useful. The current paper combines the limited existing evidence with expert consensus, previously published recommendations as well as current clinical practices. For all the applications discussed in this paper (myocardial perfusion, viability, innervation, and function as acquired by single photon emission computed tomography and positron emission tomography or hybrid imaging), headings cover laboratory and patient demographics, clinical indication, tracer administration and image acquisition, findings, and conclusion of the report. The statement also discusses recommended terminology in nuclear cardiology, image display, and preliminary reports. It is hoped that this statement may lead to more attention to create well-written and standardized nuclear cardiology reports and eventually lead to improved clinical outcom

Standardized voluntary force measurement in a lower extremity rehabilitation robot

BACKGROUND: Isometric force measurements in the lower extremity are widely used in rehabilitation of subjects with neurological movement disorders (NMD) because walking ability has been shown to be related to muscle strength. Therefore muscle strength measurements can be used to monitor and control the effects of training programs. A new method to assess isometric muscle force was implemented in the driven gait orthosis (DGO) Lokomat. To evaluate the capabilities of this new measurement method, inter- and intra-rater reliability were assessed. METHODS: Reliability was assessed in subjects with and without NMD. Subjects were tested twice on the same day by two different therapists to test inter-rater reliability and on two separate days by the same therapist to test intra-rater reliability. RESULTS: Results showed fair to good reliability for the new measurement method to assess isometric muscle force of lower extremities. In subjects without NMD, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for inter-rater reliability ranged from 0.72 to 0.97 and intra-rater reliability from 0.71 to 0.90. In subjects with NMD, ICC ranged from 0.66 to 0.97 for inter-rater and from 0.50 to 0.96 for intra-rater reliability. CONCLUSION: Inter- and intra- rater reliability of an assessment method for measuring maximal voluntary isometric muscle force of lower extremities was demonstrated. We suggest that this method is a valuable tool for documentation and controlling of the rehabilitation process in patients using a DGO

Negotiating sacred roles:a sociological exploration of priests who are mothers

In 1992, in a historic move, the Church of England voted to allow women's ordination to priesthood and in 1994 the first women priests started to be ordained. Despite much research interest, the experiences of priests who are mothers to dependent children have been minimally investigated. Based on in-depth interviews with seventeen mothers ordained in the Church, this paper will focus on how the sacred-profane boundary is managed. Priests who are mothers have a particular insight into the Church hierarchy as they symbolically straddle the competing discourses of sacred and profane. However, instead of reifying these binaries, the experiences of these women show how such dualisms are challenged and managed in everyday life. Indeed, in terms of experience, ritual, ministry and preaching, priests who are mothers are resisting, recasting and renegotiating sacred terrain in subtle and nuanced ways. Mothers thus not only negotiate the practical and sacramental demands placed on priests, but also illuminate how the sacred domain is regulated and constructed

Further Fallout from the Global Financial Crisis

We examine the recent credit slowdown in emerging markets from three analytical angles. First, we find that, similar to past history, a credit boom preceded the current slowdown in many emerging markets, and argue that, going forward, a protracted period of sluggish growth is likely. Second, we focus on a relatively understudied region – the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – using a more detailed banking data. We uncover a key role played by bank funding, in particular, deposit growth and external borrowing slowed considerably, despite expansionary monetary policy. Finally, we show that bank-level fundamentals – capitalisation and loan quality – helped to explain differences in credit growth across banks and countries.

Two-dimensional visualization of multicolor FISH-generated data as a helpful tool for the analysis and understanding of cytogenetic and chromosomal alterations in melanocytic lesions

For the evaluation of data generated by multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), we present here a synergistic approach that integrates the 3 most commonly used numerical algorithms in conjunction with 2 newly devised graphic tools for data visualization, namely "signal curves" and "rhombic heat maps." These two graphic tools provide information additional to the currently used numerical algorithms and thus facilitate the recognition and compensation of inherent errors that occur with the numerical method

Recent Credit Stagnation in the Mena Region

This paper examines the recent credit slowdown among Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries from three analytical angles. First, it finds that, similar to other regions and to its past history, a credit boom preceded the current slowdown, and that a protracted period of sluggish growth is likely going forward. Second, it uncovers a key role played by bank funding (deposit growth and external borrowing slowed considerably) but whose effect was frequently dampened by expansionary monetary policy. Third, bank-level fundamentals - capitalization and loan quality - helped to explain differences in credit growth across banks and countries.Bank credit;Banking sector;Credit expansion;Economic growth;credit booms, credit boom, banking, pre-crisis, bank lending, banking system, financial crisis, bank balance sheets, bank reserves, income statement, bank soundness, recessions, bank liquidity, bank capital, bank behavior, post-crisis periods, banks balance sheet, banks ? balance sheets, financial crises, country comparison, banking crisis, financial deepening, banking practices, banking systems, bank loans, retained earnings, blanket deposit guarantees, global financial crisis, bank data, corporate sector, nonperforming loan, deposit guarantees, bank funding, bank profits

The Economic Status of Areas Surrounding Major U.S. Container Ports: Evidence and Policy Issues

This article examines the current economic status of the areas surrounding major U.S. container ports. We define a "port district" as the geographic area within a 7.5-mile radius of a port. Our sample includes the 10 largest container ports in the U.S. We find that when we compare port districts to their surrounding metropolitan areas, household unemployment and poverty rates are significantly higher in port districts. Thus, the same ports that serve as "economic engines" for the region and nation may be the cause of economic decline and deterioration in the immediate areas that surround them. This presents a challenge for policy makers who want to preserve the benefits of international trade while facing increasing opposition to port expansion by local communities. Copyright (c) 2008 Copyright the Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc..