Application of image analysis in the myocardial biopsies of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

The aim of our study is to investigate if myocardial fibrosis measured by image analysis may be considered as an important and accurate index of dilated cardiomyopathy and its prognosis. The study group consisted of 24 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy which was diagnosed by echocardiography, radionuclide ventriculography, cardiac catheterization and left ventricular endomyocardial biopsy. The patients' overall disability was conventionally expressed with the criteria for functional capacity. Using image analysis the percentage of fibrosis in a total of 35 myocardial biopsies was measured accurately. A comparison study between the percentage of myocardial fibrosis and the clinical parameters (left ventricular ejection fraction and overall functional capacity) showing the degree of each patient's heart failure followed. A correlation was found among fibrosis, left ventricular ejection fraction and overall functional capacity. The cases with small values of fibrosis (less than 10%) have big values of ejection fraction and belong in Class I of overall functional capacity. The cases with big values of fibrosis (greater than 10%) belong in Classes III and IV of overall functional capacity and have small values of ejection fraction. The results of the comparison study were presented graphically and were considered significant. Myocardial fibrosis measured by image analysis might be considered an important prognostic index of dilated cardiomyopathy

iWebCare: an Integrated Web Services Platform for the Facilitation of Fraud Detection in Health Care e-Government Services

The iWebCare project (EC Fund: FP6-2004-IST-4-028055) aims at designing and developing a flexible fraud detection web services platform, which will be able to serve e-government processes of fraud detection and prevention, in order to ensure quality and accuracy and minimize loss of health care funds. The approach the project adopts involves the introduction of a fraud detection methodology combining business process modelling and knowledge engineering as well as the development of an integrated fraud detection platform combining an ontology-based rule engine and a self-learning module based on data mining offered together as an advanced and flexible web-based fraud detection service. iWebCare promotes interoperability in two ways; through its generic and extendible ontological framework that can be adapted to virtually any e-government process which needs to be examined for fraud and through its technical architecture which is based on web services and facilitates the cooperation with other existing egovernment systems. The users of the iWebCare platform, who in the course of the project will be authorised actors involved in the heath care business, will be able to access the iWebCare services via the Internet. They will be able to detect erroneous or suspicious records in submitted health care data sets, ensuring homogeneity and consistency and promoting awareness and harmonization of fraud detection practices among health care systems in the EU. 1

Vampire stories in Greece and the reinforcement of socio-cultural norms

This paper investigates the relationship of humans with the supernatural and the function of the latter as a normalizing factor in social organization. The focus is on traditional Greek stories about vampires and the aim is to study the relationship between vampires and the cultural capital of the local community, on the one hand, and, on the other, beliefs about the progress of the soul after its departure from the body upon death. The Greek vampire (vrikolakas) is examined in relation to both the concept of faith in Orthodox Christianity and traditional death rituals, some of them pagan survivals. © 2013 The Folklore Society