The Effect of Shear on Asa Sized Paper

Alkaline papermaking systems have many advantages over the conventional acid systems; however, they have disadvantages in that they do not produce a highly sized sheet of paper consistently. This study investigation how shear, at the point of addition of an Alkenyl Succinic Anhydride/starch emulsion to a cellulose system, effects the sizing properties of a sheet. It was found that at no agitation, the sizing was low and very non-uniform. This was probably due to a lack of mixing, and thus a lack of contact between the emulsion and the fiber. The sizing increased as the mixing and contact between the emulsion and the fiber increased. However, with extremely high agitation, no apparent increase or decrease in sizing was observed. This could be due to either a flattening of the curve towards the top of the peak prior to decline, or possibly a constant trend that would remain and not decline

Behavioural Differences in Sensorimotor Profiles: A Comparison of Preschool-Aged Children with Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorders

Sensory Processing Disorders (SPDs) define dysfunctions in modulating, organising, and using information from several sensory channels for regulating motor, behavioural, emotional and attention responses. Although SPD can be identified also as an isolated condition in young children, its presence in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) population is really frequent. The study purpose is to explore the SPD clinical expression and the putative correlation with several behavioural aspects both in children with ASD and in those with isolated SPD. Therefore, 43 preschool-aged children (25 ASD vs. 18 SPD) were recruited, and their parents completed three questionnaires (Developmental Profile-3, Sensory Processing Measure–Preschool, Repetitive Behaviour Scale-Revised) to evaluate behavioural alterations and developmental levels. The main result is that both ASD and SPD groups had significantly sensory-related behavioural symptoms, although ASD children seem to be more impaired in all areas. Several significant correlations were found between sensory processing difficulties and repetitive behaviours, but in the SPD group a specific relationship between Body Awareness and Ritualistic/Sameness Behaviour was found. Conversely, in the ASD group, more diffuse interlinks between sensory processing difficulties and motor behaviours were significant. In conclusion, the present study confirms the key role of sensory–motor skills in early diagnosis and intervention among children at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders

ROLE OF IMAGING IN THE PREOPERATIVE ASSESSMENT OF PELVIC AND EXTRAPELVIC ENDOMETRIOSIS: A PICTORIAL ESSAY

-To create a MR radiological template for endometriosis -To review MR reports and images in patients with endometriosis to assess the accurancy of the reports

SINCONAPP: A Computerized learning tool for CBCT normal anatomy and variants of the nose and paranasal sinuses

1. Purpose To supply an useful learning tool aimed to interactively display on mobile devices normal anatomy and variants of the nose and paranasal sinuses as seen on CBCT images. 2. Methods and Materials Images Images of the nose and paranasal sinuses were derived by a study series acquired by a CBCT device. CBCT studies of the paranasal sinuses were acquired in patients referred for nasal obstruction or sinusitis with the following parameters: 90 kVp, 12.5 mA, 20 s rotation time, FOV 13 x 14.5 cm, 0.25 x 0.25 x 0.25 mm voxel size. Software The application has been developed for iOS based mobile devices through the platform XCode provided by Apple®, and it is developed using the Objective-C programming language. The application has been configured as Master-Detail. This configuration splits the mobile device display in two panels. The left panel displays a list of the interesting items, while the right panel shows the relative details. Touching an item from the menu on the left panel, the textual description is shown on the same side, while the panel on the right will show the relative image. The application allows interactively navigation through normal anatomy and variants of the nose and paranasal sinuses, as represented on CBCT images in axial, sagittal and coronal planes. Cross-reference images to localize the same anatomic structures on different section planes are available. The navigation is intuitive, with multiple shortcuts. Different labels have been proposed in accordance with the specific anatomic lessic of the district and current literature references. High image quality with a zooming tool are available. 4. Conclusion An App for IOs devices was developed, that can represent an useful educational tool for medical students, residents and continuous medical education in radiology and other medical specialties dealing with nose and paranasal sinuses. This interactive atlas based on CBCT images could be also an useful option to be implemented on CBCT software

DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY OF IXIP INDEX AND PROSTATE MRI IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF PROSTATE CANCER: PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON A COMBINED APPROACH

The purpose of this study was to assess whether Immune CompleX Predictive Index (iXip) improves diagnostic accuracy of multiparametric prostate MRI (mpMRI) for clinically significant prostate cancer. This study included 72 patients (mean age: 68±8 years) with suspicion of prostate cancer and available iXip score. mpMRI images were evaluated by two radiologists according to the PI-RADS v2.1. Reference standard was based on fusion biopsy and standard transperineal 12-point biopsy. Diagnostic accuracy of iXip, mpMRI and their combination were calculated. Optimal cutoff of iXip with sensitivity and specificity was identified using the Youden index. Patients with clinically significant prostate cancers had significantly higher iXip values compared to patients without clinically significant prostate cancers (median 0.411 vs 0.273; p=0.026). The AUROC for iXip was 0.795 (95% CI 0.579-1.000, p=0.026). Sensitivity and specificity were 75% and 100% respectively for mpMRI alone, and 100% and 80% respectively for mpMRI combined with iXip > 0.375. The combination of mpMRI with a cutoff value of iXip > 0.375 has a very high sensitivity for the diagnosis of prostate cancer and a moderately high specificity

Perfusion MR Imaging in Differentiating High-Grade from Low-Grade Gliomas

To correlate perfusion MR imaging with histologic grade of cerebral gliomas. Materials & Methods Relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) maps were determined in 22 patients with pathologically proved gliomas (11 glioblastomas, 8 anaplastic gliomas and 2 low-grade gliomas) by dynamic contrast-enhanced T2*-weighted MR imaging. MR examination was completed with conventional T1- and T2-weighted imaging. The rCBV maps were calculated with an independent workstation by fitting a gamma-variate function to the contrast material concentration versus time curve. Relative CBV ratios obtained between tumor and normal white matter were compared between glioblastomas, anaplastic gliomas and low-grade gliomas by means of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results Mean rCBV ratios were 4.85 (\ub1 1) for glioblastomas, 3.87 (\ub1 0.7) for anaplastic gliomas and 1.65 (\ub1 1.6) for low-grade gliomas. Receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrates significant differences between glioblastomas and anaplastic gliomas (p<.05), between anaplastic gliomas and low-grade gliomas (p<.05) and between glioblastomas and low-grade gliomas (p<.01). The rCBV ratio cutoff value between highgrade gliomas and low-grade gliomas was 2.52 with a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 75% respectively. Conclusion Perfusion MR imaging is a reliable technique for differentiating high-grade from low-grade glioma

New-onset functional tics during the COVID-19 pandemic::Clinical characteristics of 105 cases from a single centre

Background and purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated amongst other things with a sharp increase in adolescents and young adults presenting acutely with functional tics. Initial reports have suggested clinically relevant differences between functional tics and neurodevelopmental tics seen in primary tic disorders such as Tourette syndrome. We aimed to provide confirmatory findings from the largest single-centre cohort to date. Methods In the present study we present data from 105 consecutive patients who developed functional tics during a 3-year period overlapping with the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020–March 2023). All patients underwent a comprehensive neuropsychiatric assessment at a single specialist centre for tic disorders. Results Female adolescents and young adults accounted for 69% of our sample. Functional tics had an acute/subacute onset in most cases (75% with a peak of severity within 1 month). We found a disproportionately high frequency of complex movements (81%) and vocalizations (75%). A subset of patients (23%) had a pre-existing primary tic disorder (Tourette syndrome with functional overlay). The most common psychiatric co-morbidities were anxiety (70%) and affective disorders (40%). Moreover, 41% of patients had at least one functional neurological disorder in addition to functional tics. Exposure to tic-related social media content was reported by half of the patients. Conclusions Our findings confirm substantial clinical differences between functional tics developed during the pandemic and neurodevelopmental tics. Both patient- and tic-related red flags support the differential diagnostic process and inform ongoing monitoring in the post-pandemic era