What scans we will read: imaging instrumentation trends in clinical oncology

Oncological diseases account for a significant portion of the burden on public healthcare systems with associated costs driven primarily by complex and long-lasting therapies. Through the visualization of patient-specific morphology and functional-molecular pathways, cancerous tissue can be detected and characterized non- invasively, so as to provide referring oncologists with essential information to support therapy management decisions. Following the onset of stand-alone anatomical and functional imaging, we witness a push towards integrating molecular image information through various methods, including anato-metabolic imaging (e.g., PET/ CT), advanced MRI, optical or ultrasound imaging. This perspective paper highlights a number of key technological and methodological advances in imaging instrumentation related to anatomical, functional, molecular medicine and hybrid imaging, that is understood as the hardware-based combination of complementary anatomical and molecular imaging. These include novel detector technologies for ionizing radiation used in CT and nuclear medicine imaging, and novel system developments in MRI and optical as well as opto-acoustic imaging. We will also highlight new data processing methods for improved non-invasive tissue characterization. Following a general introduction to the role of imaging in oncology patient management we introduce imaging methods with well-defined clinical applications and potential for clinical translation. For each modality, we report first on the status quo and point to perceived technological and methodological advances in a subsequent status go section. Considering the breadth and dynamics of these developments, this perspective ends with a critical reflection on where the authors, with the majority of them being imaging experts with a background in physics and engineering, believe imaging methods will be in a few years from now. Overall, methodological and technological medical imaging advances are geared towards increased image contrast, the derivation of reproducible quantitative parameters, an increase in volume sensitivity and a reduction in overall examination time. To ensure full translation to the clinic, this progress in technologies and instrumentation is complemented by progress in relevant acquisition and image-processing protocols and improved data analysis. To this end, we should accept diagnostic images as “data”, and – through the wider adoption of advanced analysis, including machine learning approaches and a “big data” concept – move to the next stage of non-invasive tumor phenotyping. The scans we will be reading in 10 years from now will likely be composed of highly diverse multi- dimensional data from multiple sources, which mandate the use of advanced and interactive visualization and analysis platforms powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) for real-time data handling by cross-specialty clinical experts with a domain knowledge that will need to go beyond that of plain imaging

Avaliação dos sintomas emocionais e comportamentais em crianças portadoras de dermatite atópica Evaluación de los síntomas emocionales y comportamentales en niños portadores de dermatitis atópica Evaluation of emotional and behavioral symptoms in children and adolescents with atopic dermatitis

INTRODUÇÃO: A dermatite atópica (DA) é uma doença inflamatória crônica da pele que apresenta um impacto significativo na qualidade de vida dos pacientes, em conseqüência de episódios recorrentes durante a vida. Considerando estudos recentes que descrevem a associação entre aspectos psicológicos e DA, acredita-se que a investigação da existência de um possível perfil comportamental destas crianças possa auxiliar o desenvolvimento de intervenções psicoterápicas específicas, assim como aumentar o conhecimento sobre a doença. MÉTODOS: Este trabalho tem como objetivo realizar uma avaliação do perfil sociocomportamental de crianças portadoras de DA, comparando-as com crianças sem a doença. Neste estudo, do tipo caso-controle, foram incluídos dois grupos com idades entre 4 e 18 anos: o grupo-estudo, com pacientes portadores de DA que consultam no ambulatório do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), e o grupo-controle, composto por crianças e adolescentes sem doença dermatológica, matriculados em escola da rede pública de Porto Alegre. O tamanho estimado da amostra foi de 25 indivíduos em cada grupo. A coleta dos dados realizou-se através do Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), validado no Brasil com o nome de Inventário de Comportamento da Infância e Adolescência. RESULTADOS: Foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significativas nas duas dimensões globais (internalização e externalização), sendo que as crianças portadoras de DA mostraram mais sintomas relacionados com ansiedade, depressão, alterações de pensamento e comportamento agressivo quando comparadas com crianças sem a doença. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados demonstram a necessidade de abordagens interdisciplinares no tratamento da criança com DA, valorizando não só as lesões dermatológicas, como também os aspectos emocionais dos indivíduos.<br>INTRODUCCIÓN: La dermatitis atópica (DA) es una enfermedad inflamatoria crónica de la piel que presenta un impacto significativo en la calidad de vida de los pacientes, en consecuencia de episodios recurrentes durante la vida. Considerando estudios recientes que describen la asociación entre aspectos psicológicos y la dermatitis atópica, se cree que la investigación de la existencia de un posible perfil comportamental de estos niños puede auxiliar el desarrollo de intervenciones psicoterápicas específicas, así como aumentar el conocimiento sobre la enfermedad. MÉTODO: Este trabajo tiene por objetivo realizar una evaluación del perfil socio-comportamental de niños portadores de DA y comparar con el perfil de niños sin la enfermedad. El estudio fue epidemiológico de tipo caso-control. Fueron incluidos dos grupos, siendo un grupo estudio, con pacientes de edad entre 4-18 años, portadores de dermatitis atópica, que consultan en el ambulatorio del Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre- HCPA, y un grupo control, con niños y adolescentes matriculados en escuela de la red pública de Porto Alegre, sin enfermedad dermatológica. El tamaño estimado de la muestra fue de 25 individuos en cada grupo. La colecta de los datos se realizó a través del CBCL (Child Behavior Checklist), validado en Brasil con el nombre de Inventario de Comportamiento de la Infancia y Adolescencia. Este trabajo fue aprobado por el comité de ética en investigación del Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre. RESULTADOS: Como resultados fueron encontradas diferencias estadísticamente significativas en las dos dimensiones globales (Internalización y Externalización) siendo que los niños portadores de dermatitis atópica del grupo estudiado mostraron síntomas relacionados a ansiedad, depresión, alteraciones de pensamiento y comportamiento agresivo cuando comparadas con niños sin la enfermedad. CONCLUSIÓN: Este resultado enfatiza la necesidad de abordajes interdisciplinarios en el tratamiento del niño con DA, valorando no sólo el aspecto dermatológico, sino también el individuo que está en sufrimiento.<br>INTRODUCTION: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that has a significant impact on the patients' quality of life due to recurrent episodes during their lives. Considering recent studies describing the association between psychological aspects and atopic dermatitis, it can be suggested that the search of a possible behavioral profile of children presenting AD may be of help in the development of specific psychotherapeutic interventions as well as it will increase knowledge on the disease. METHODOLOGY: This research aims at evaluating the social behavior profile of children with AD compared with others without the disease. In this case-control study, two groups aged 4 to 18 years old have been included; the study-group includes patients with atopic dermatitis who have been assisted at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA) and the control-group is composed of children and adolescents without AD enrolled at public schools in Porto Alegre. The estimated sample size was 25 individuals in each group. Data collection was accomplished with the Child Behavior Cheklist (CBCL), which was validated in Brazil as Inventário de Comportamento da Infância e Adolescência. RESULTS: Significant statistic differences were demonstrated in both global dimensions (internalizing and externalizing). Children with AD presented more symptoms related to anxiety, depression, thought alterations and aggressive behavior as compared to children without the disease. CONCLUSION: The results emphasize the need of interdisciplinary approaches in treating children with AD, comprising not only the dermatological but also the emotional aspects of the disease

LHCb detector performance

The LHCb detector is a forward spectrometer at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The experiment is designed for precision measurements of CP violation and rare decays of beauty and charm hadrons. In this paper the performance of the various LHCb sub-detectors and the trigger system are described, using data taken from 2010 to 2012. It is shown that the design criteria of the experiment have been met. The excellent performance of the detector has allowed the LHCb collaboration to publish a wide range of physics results, demonstrating LHCb's unique role, both as a heavy flavour experiment and as a general purpose detector in the forward region