A reject analysis of cone-beam CTs in under-aged patients

Objectives: The main objective of this study was to perform a retrospective reject analysis (or audit) of 79 cone-beam CTs (CBCTs) taken in under-aged patients at the Ghent University hospital over a 2-year timespan. Methods: Observer agreement between two oral radiologists and two senior year Master students in Paediatric Dentistry was performed for quality, diagnostic and therapeutic value. The senior year Master Students followed appropriate modules of an online course. Descriptive and comparative statistics were performed. Results: For the oral radiologists, all intra rater reliabilities were moderate to good (Gwet's AC1 = 0.41-0.75). For the senior students in Paediatric dentistry, these varied highly from fair to very good (Gwet's AC1 = 0.28-0.95). There was a high level of disagreement between oral radiologists and students (Gwet's AC1 = 0.16-0.45) and in-between students concerning observed quality (Gwet's AC1 = 0.29). A total of 16 CBCTs (20%) was rejected, 24 images (30%) were acceptable and 39 images (50%) had an excellent quality. 50 CBCTs were perceived to have a diagnostic advantage. 13 of the images would have no influence on the therapy, according to the oral radiologists. A significant correlation was found between unacceptable quality, absence of perceived diagnostic advantage (p = 0.004, RR = 2.4) and influence on therapy (p < 0.0005, RR = 1.8). A small field of view (FOV) was positively correlated to an excellent quality of the image (p = 0.011, RR = 2.8). Conclusions: Image quality did not reach the proposed boundary of 10% according to the European Guidelines on Radiation Protection in Dental Radiology. This is the first published audit on an overall database of under-age children for CBCT

Radiation Hardness of a Wide Spectral Range SiPM with Quasi-Spherical Junction

New pixel geometries are on the rise to achieve high sensitivity in near-infrared wavelengths with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). We test prototypes of the tip avalanche photo-diodes, which feature a quasi-spherical p-n junction and a high photodetection efficiency over a wide spectral range, and analyze the performance after neutron irradiation. The observed increase in dark count rate is significantly smaller than for a SiPM with a conventional design, indicating a good radiation hardness of the pixel geometry.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to NIM Proceedings. This work was presented at the NDIP20 conferenc

Monitoring the progression of erosive tooth wear (ETW) using BEWE index in casts and their 3D images : a retrospective longitudinal study

Objective: To determine if the Basic erosive tooth wear index (BEWE index) is able to assess and monitor ETW changes in two consecutive cast models, and detect methodological differences when using the corresponding 3D image replicas. Methods: A total of 480 pre-treatment and 2-year post-treatment orthodontic models (n = 240 cast models and n = 240 3D image replicas) from 120 adolescents treated between 2002 and 2013 at the Gent Dental Clinic, Belgium, were scored using the BEWE index. For data analysis only posterior sextants were considered, and inter-method differences were evaluated using Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, Kappa values and Me Nemar tests (p < 0.05). Correlations between methods were determined using Kendall tau correlation test. Results: Significant changes of ETW were detected between two consecutive models when BEWE index was used to score cast models or their 3D image replicas (p < 0.001). A strong significant correlation (tau b: 0.74; p < 0.001) was shown between both methods However, 3D image-BEWE index combination showed a higher probability for detecting initial surface changes, and scored significantly higher than casts (p < 0.001). Incidence and progression of ETW using 3D images was 13.3% (n = 16) and 60.9% (n = 56) respectively, with two subjects developing BEWE = 3 in at least one tooth surface. Conclusions: BEWE index is a suitable tool for the scoring of ETW lesions in 3D images and cast. The combination of both digital 3D records and index, can be used for the monitoring of ETW in a longitudinal approach. The higher sensibility of BEWE index when scoring 3D images might improve the early diagnosis of ETW lesions. Clinical significance: The BEWE index combined with digital 3D records of oral conditions might improve the practitioner performance with respect to early diagnosis, monitoring and managing ETW

Gewerkschaftliche Betriebspolitik und Arbeitskampf

In dem Beitrag geht es um den Zusammenhang zwischen der gewerkschaftlichen Betriebspolitik einerseits und der Arbeitskampffähigkeit und dem Arbeitskampfhandeln von Belegschaften andererseits. Bei den Überlegungen wird davon ausgegangen, daß die Gewerkschaften zur wirksamen Interessenwahrnehmung die Einschränkung der Konkurrenz der Lohnabhängigen und die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Kapital sowohl auf der überbetrieblichen (sektoralen, regionalen, nationalen) wie auf der Einzelkapitalebene (Betrieb, Unternehmen, Konzern) verfolgen müssen. Nach einer Skizze der gewerkschaftlichen Wahrnehmung der Arbeitnehmerinteressen werden aus der Arbeitskampfgeschichte der BRD drei Typen von Arbeitskämpfen auf seiten der Arbeitnehmer unterschieden: offizielle gewerkschaftliche Streiks; Wellen inoffizieller Streiks; isolierte Arbeitskämpfe. In bezug auf das Arbeitskampfverständnis der Gewerkschaften wird festgestellt, daß die konkrete Struktur gewerkschaftlicher Betriebspolitik sowohl in der einzelbetrieblichen als auch in der einzelgewerkschaftlichen Ausprägung Arbeitskampffähigkeit und Form der Streikführung erheblich beeinflußt, wie umgekehrt ein Arbeitskampf stets Wirkungen auf Struktur und Politik betrieblicher Arbeitnehmerinteressenvertretung und betriebsbezogener Gewerkschaftspolitik hat. Diese Feststellung wird mit Beispielen belegt: Chemiestreik 1971; Arbeitskampf der IG Metall 1978. Abschließend wird die Frage thematisiert, ob das traditionelle Verhältnis von gewerkschaftlicher Betriebspolitik und Arbeitskampf für die Lösung gewerkschaftlicher Aufgaben ausreicht. (RW

The INFluence of Remote monitoring on Anxiety/depRession, quality of lifE, and Device acceptance in ICD patients: a prospective, randomized, controlled, single-center trial.

Leppert F, Siebermair J, Wesemann U, et al. The INFluence of Remote monitoring on Anxiety/depRession, quality of lifE, and Device acceptance in ICD patients: a prospective, randomized, controlled, single-center trial. Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society. 2020.BACKGROUND: Impact of telemedicine with remote patient monitoring (RPM) in implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) patients on clinical outcomes has been investigated in various clinical settings with divergent results. However, role of RPM on patient-reported-outcomes (PRO) is unclear. The INFRARED-ICD trial aimed to investigate the effect of RPM in addition to standard-of-care on PRO in a mixed ICD patient cohort.; METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients were randomized to RPM (n=92) or standard in-office-FU (n=88) serving as control group (CTL). At baseline and on a monthly basis over 1 year, study participants completed the EQ-5D questionnaire for the primary outcome Quality of Life (QoL), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Florida Patient Acceptance Survey questionnaire for secondary outcomes. Demographic characteristics (82% men, mean age 62.3years) and PRO at baseline were not different between RPM and CTL. Primary outcome analysis showed that additional RPM was not superior to CTL with respect to QoL over 12months [+1.2 vs.+3.9 points in CTL and RPM group, respectively (p=0.24)]. Pre-specified analyses could not identify subgroups with improved QoL by the use of RPM. Neither levels of anxiety (-0.4 vs. -0.3, p=0.88), depression (+0.3 vs.±0.0, p=0.38), nor device acceptance (+1.1 vs.+1.6, p=0.20) were influenced by additional use of RPM.; CONCLUSION: The results of the present study show that PRO were not improved by RPM in addition to standard-of-care FU. Careful evaluation and planning of future trials in selected ICD patients are warranted before implementing RPM in routine practice

Increased Immunosignals of Collagen IV and Fibronectin Indicate Ischemic Consequences for the Neurovascular Matrix Adhesion Zone in Various Animal Models and Human Stroke Tissue

Ischemic stroke causes cellular alterations in the "neurovascular unit" (NVU) comprising neurons, glia, and the vasculature, and affects the blood-brain barrier (BBB) with adjacent extracellular matrix (ECM). Limited data are available for the zone between the NVU and ECM that has not yet considered for neuroprotective approaches. This study describes ischemia-induced alterations for two main components of the neurovascular matrix adhesion zone (NMZ), i.e., collagen IV as basement membrane constituent and fibronectin as crucial part of the ECM, in conjunction with traditional NVU elements. For spatio-temporal characterization of these structures, multiple immunofluorescence labeling was applied to tissues affected by focal cerebral ischemia using a filament-based model in mice (4, 24, and 72 h of ischemia), a thromboembolic model in rats (24 h of ischemia), a coagulation-based model in sheep (2 weeks of ischemia), and human autoptic stroke tissue (3 weeks of ischemia). An increased fibronectin immunofluorescence signal demarcated ischemia-affected areas in mice, along with an increased collagen IV signal and BBB impairment indicated by serum albumin extravasation. Quantifications revealed a region-specific pattern with highest collagen IV and fibronectin intensities in most severely affected neocortical areas, followed by a gradual decline toward the border zone and non-affected regions. Comparing 4 and 24 h of ischemia, the subcortical fibronectin signal increased significantly over time, whereas neocortical areas displayed only a gradual increase. Qualitative analyses confirmed increased fibronectin and collagen IV signals in ischemic areas from all tissues and time points investigated. While the increased collagen IV signal was restricted to vessels, fibronectin appeared diffusely arranged in the parenchyma with focal accumulations associated to the vasculature. Integrin alpha(5) appeared enriched in the vicinity of fibronectin and vascular elements, while most of the non-vascular NVU elements showed complementary staining patterns referring to fibronectin. This spatio-temporal characterization of ischemia-related alterations of collagen IV and fibronectin in various stroke models and human autoptic tissue shows that ischemic consequences are not limited to traditional NVU components and the ECM, but also involve the NMZ. Future research should explore more components and the pathophysiological properties of the NMZ as a possible target for novel neuroprotective approaches

Meeting report : 1st international functional metagenomics workshop May 7–8, 2012, St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada

This report summarizes the events of the 1st International Functional Metagenomics Workshop. The workshop was held on May 7 and 8 in St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada and was focused on building a core international functional metagenomics community, exploring strategic research areas, and identifying opportunities for future collaboration and funding. The workshop was initiated by researchers at the University of Waterloo with support from the Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the University of Waterloo