Comparison of three with six regions of interest analyses in patients with idiopathic constipation undertaking colon transit scintigraphy using 67Ga-citrate

OBJECTIVE AND INTRODUCTION: Preparation of data from 6 geometric regions of interest in the colon is time consuming, and can become impractical in the environment of busy Nuclear Medicine Departments. Therefore, we have investigated and demonstrated an alternative method for obtaining the same diagnostic information from an analysis of patients with idiopathic constipation who underwent colon transit scintigraphy using 67Ga-citrate. Data analysis methods using three regions of interest are compared to the results obtained using the more time consuming 6 regions of interest method to analyze the data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we report our results of the comparative reanalysis of data obtained by more traditional methods. We compare 3 regions of interest (ROI) which were taken from areas including the right colon, left colon and the rectosigmoid colon, with original work using our alternative 6 (ROI) diagnostic methodology. In addition, the proximal colonic emptying (PCE) was determined at 24 hr post ingestion among members of 3 identified subject groups. RESULTS: The distribution of activity as the ingested 67Ga-citrate passes through the colon constitutes an activity profile. The mean activity position in the colon can be determined from subsequent radiographic images and from this the mean clearance time can be calculated. In quantitative assessment, this represents the time at which half of activity was eliminated from colon (mean half clearance time - MCT) which did not appear different in the reanalysis. There is no significant difference in the current study in GMC 24h, GMC 48h and GMC 72h between two groups using the Man Whitney u test (p > 0.05), while in the previous work the results were statistically significant for the two later time periods GMC (GMC 48h and GMC 72h) (p = 0.016 and p = 0.027 respectively). The PCE in the group 1 was = 2.50 (0.37); group 2, 1.57 (0.47) and group 3, 2.97. The PCE was not different between the two groups (p = 0.21). CONCLUSIONS: This investigation demonstrated that the radionuclide colon transit study using 67Ga-citrate is a safe, physiologic, and quantitative method for evaluating the transit of fecal material from cecum to rectum. Although, the visual assessment of diagnosis of the subjects in the two analyses is the same, it was not completely supported by quantitative measurements. Therefore, further studies need to be done

Numerical simulation of fish freezing process by immersion cooling and cold air blasting methods

A three dimensional simulation of cooling and freezing process of fish as a complex geometry is presented. The 3d geometry of the fish was produced by digitizing and the thermo-physical properties of the fish were considered as functions of temperature and water content of the fish. Heating loads and product temperatures during chilling, freezing and post cooling processes for immersion cooling method in brine and for cold air blasting method were predicted. The influence of effective parameters such as initial temperature and fish water content are also investigated on processing time. Because of the slow freezing rate in immersion cooling technique, the results show that the initial temperature of fish highly affects freezing time. We suggest that a combination of immersion and cold air blasting methods will decrease the freezing time in comparison with immersion method when solely applied. Comparison of temperature distribution in present study shows a good agreement with other numerical and experimental results

The association of increased stomach wall radiotracer uptake with prolonged use of Omeprazole capsules on myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) using 99mTc-sestamibi SPECT

Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is widely used in routine practice for diagnosis and risk stratification of coronary artery disease (CAD). Intense curvilinear activity in the stomach wall of a patient was seen on MPI raw data. This phenomenon was completely dissimilar to the familiar intraluminal gastric reflux of sestamibi. This observed activity could have resulted in false-positive or false-negative artifacts - and inaccurate diagnosis - of the inferior wall of the left ventricle after MPI processing. On further exploration, the current researchers found that the patient had a history of 10-year Omeprazole capsule consumption. The authors present this infrequent case of intense stomach uptake to stress the related clinical and diagnostic implications with the aim to stimulate acute awareness of possible, unexpected infringements on image quality that could potentially interfere with accurate interpretation of the data. Copyright © 2013 Via Medica

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Disorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021. Methods: We estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined. Findings: Globally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer. Interpretation: As the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Modelling a successful performance measurement system

The performance measurement system (PMS) is one of the complex but most important systems in an organisation. Adopting a PMS is not a simple tecnical procedure and takes a lot of time, effort and resources. But could an organisation really have a successful PMS without an understanding of its requirements and critical success factors (CSF) and what are the enablers and barriers to the achievment of a successful PMS? This paper develops a successful PMS model, laying down a path for how to effectively operate a PMS successfully within an organisation. In particular the BSc is scrutinise

Journal of Business and Economic Review

The performance measurement system (PMS) is one of the complex but most important systems in any organization. Adopting a PMS is not a simple technical procedure and takes lots of time, efforts and resources. But, could an organization really have a successful PMS without an understanding of its requirements and critical success factors (CSFs)? and what are the enables/barriers to the achievement of a successful PMS? Therefore, recognizing requirements and CSFs of PMSs are among of the major challenges confronting PMSs and contribute significantly to their success in this highly competitive environment. This paper identifies and analyzes the most important challenges and CSFs confronting a PMS and introduces a successful PMS model. This model lays down a path for a PMS works efficiently and being successful within organizations. Furthermore, performance measurement frameworks and, in particular, the balanced scorecard (as the most popular framework) are scrutinized in this paper

The role of cognitive group therapy and happiness training on cerebral blood flow using 99mTc-ECD brain perfusion SPECT: A quasi-experimental study of depressed patients

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of cognitive group therapy and happiness training objectively in the local cerebral blood flow of patients with major depression (MD). Patients, material, methods: The present research is semi-experimental to pre- and post-test with a control group. Three groups were formed, and this number was incorporated in each group: 12 patients were chosen randomly; the first group of depressed patients benefited from the combination of pharmacotherapy and sessions of cognitive group therapy; the second group used a combination of pharmaco-therapy and sessions of happiness training; and a third group used only pharmacother-apy. We compared cognitive-behavioural therapy and happiness training efficacy with only pharmacotherapy in MD patients. We performed brain perfusion SPECT in each group, before and after each trial. Results: The study was conducted on 36 patients with MD (32 women and 4 men; mean age: 41.22 ± 9.08; range: 27–65 years). There were significant differences regarding the two trial effects into two experimental groups (p 0.05). In addition, there was significant difference among the regional cerebral blood flow in the frontal and prefrontal regions into two experimental groups before and after trials (p 0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrated decreased cerebral perfusion in the frontal regions in MD patients, which increased following cognitive group therapy and happiness training. Because of its availability, low costs, easy performance, and the objective semi-quantitative information supplied, brain perfusion SPECT scanning might be useful to assess the diagnosis and therapy efficacy. Further exploration is needed to validate its clinical role. © Schattauer 2014

Assessment of the prevalence of diabetic gastroparesis and validation of gastric emptying scintigraphy for diagnosis [Diyabetik Gastroparezi Prevalansı ve Tanısında Mide Boşalma Sintigrafisinin Geçerliliğinin Araştırılması]

Objective: Gastroparesis is defined as delayed gastric emptying and is a common medical condition in diabetic patients. Scintigraphy is commonly used as a standard diagnostic procedure for the quantitative assessment of gastroparesis. The aims of this study were to determine an optimum imaging time for the diagnosis of gastroparesis, to assess the prevalence of gastroparesis, to evaluate the correlation between endoscopy and scintigraphy findings as well as the correlation between gastric emptying with patient genders, blood glucose concentration, and functional dyspepsia. Methods: Gastric emptying was assessed in 50 diabetic patients with a mean age of 50.16 years. For evaluation of gastric emptying, a test meal containing 2 pieces of toast, 120 cc non-labeled water and fried egg labeled with 1 mCi of99mTc was given to each patient. The scintigraphy was performed immediately after ingestion and was repeated at 1, 1.5, 2 and 4 hours after ingestion. In some patients, an additional 90-minute dynamic scan was also acquired. Results: The prevalence of gastroparesis in this study population was determined as 64. Also, the results of this study revealed that a 4-hour scan after ingestion is more relevant than a 90-minute dynamic scan for the evaluation of delayed gastric emptying. There was no statistically significant difference between 1-hour and 2-hour scans, 1-hour and 90-minute scans, 2-hour and 90-minute scans, 2-hour and 4-hour scans. Likewise there was no significant correlation between blood glucose levels, gender and calculated values of gastric emptying time in all groups. Conclusion: According to our findings, it can be suggested that the prevalence of gastroparesis is higher than that mentioned in some previous studies. Also, this study indicates that a gastric emptying scintigraphy at 2 and 4 hours after meal ingestion might provide the anticipated clinical information in diabetic patients with dyspepsia without other evident reasons. © 2017 by Turkish Society of Nuclear Medicine

Decline in Iran's Groundwater Recharge

Iran's groundwater dat

A study on the prevalence of rotavirus infection among the HIV-positive patients with gastroenteritis

Background: Gastroenteritis is one of the most common symptoms in AIDS patients. Although gastroenteritis in these patients is caused by several factors, the role of viral agents, especially rotavirus, is still unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of rotavirus infection among the HIV-positive cases. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 75 fecal samples were collected from HIV-positive patients with gastroenteritis referred to Imam Khomeini hospital. After viral RNA extraction, the sixth conserved segment of the virus genome (VP6) was amplified using RT-PCR method. Finally, the products were detected on 1.5 agarose gel electrophoresis and confirmed by sequencing. Results: RT-PCR products with the expected size (433bp) were obtained for all rotavirus- positive as well as the wild-type standard viral isolates. Among the samples taken from 75 HIV-positive cases, 19 (25.3) were rotavirus-positive and confirmed using direct sequencing. Conclusion: Although in this study the anticipated prevalence of rotavirus among the HIV-positive cases is about 25, further studies are required to characterize the genotype of rotavirus in HIV- positive cases with gastroenteritis