GPU acceleration of a model-based iterative method for Digital Breast Tomosynthesis

Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) is a modern 3D Computed Tomography X-ray technique for the early detection of breast tumors, which is receiving growing interest in the medical and scientific community. Since DBT performs incomplete sampling of data, the image reconstruction approaches based on iterative methods are preferable to the classical analytic techniques, such as the Filtered Back Projection algorithm, providing fewer artifacts. In this work, we consider a Model-Based Iterative Reconstruction (MBIR) method well suited to describe the DBT data acquisition process and to include prior information on the reconstructed image. We propose a gradient-based solver named Scaled Gradient Projection (SGP) for the solution of the constrained optimization problem arising in the considered MBIR method. Even if the SGP algorithm exhibits fast convergence, the time required on a serial computer for the reconstruction of a real DBT data set is too long for the clinical needs. In this paper we propose a parallel SGP version designed to perform the most expensive computations of each iteration on Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). We apply the proposed parallel approach on three different GPU boards, with computational performance comparable with that of the boards usually installed in commercial DBT systems. The numerical results show that the proposed GPU-based MBIR method provides accurate reconstructions in a time suitable for clinical trials

A novel biweekly multidrug regimen of gemcitabine, oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and folinic acid (FA) in pretreated patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma

Previous results suggest that GEM affects 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) metabolism and pharmacokinetics in cancer patients, while combined with oxaliplatin, levo-folinic acid, and 5-FU (GOLF regimen), at doses achievable in cancer patients, determines high cytotoxic and proapoptotic antitumour activity in colon cancer cells in vitro. On these bases we designed a phase I–II clinical trial testing the GOLF regimen in patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma, who had received at least a prior line of chemotherapy. In total, 29 patients (20 males and nine females) enrolled in the study received every 2 weeks, gemcitabine (patients #1–3 received 600 mgm2; patients # 4–6 received 850 mgm2; while patients # 7–29 received 1000 mgm2) on the day 1, levo-folinic acid (100 mgm2) on the days 1 and 2; 5-fluorouracil (400 mgm2) in bolus injection, followed by a 22-h continuous infusion (800 mgm2) on the days 1 and 2, and oxaliplatin (85 mgm2), 6 h after the 5-FU bolus on day 2. The most frequent side effect was grade I–II haematological toxicity. In total, 28 patients were evaluable for response: three achieved a complete response, nine a partial response, 10 had a stable disease, and six progressed. The average time to progression and overall survival of the patients was, respectively, 7.26 and 22 months. Our GOLF combination is well tolerated and seems promising for the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer

Cooking pots, tableware, and the changing sounds of sociability in Italy, 1300–1700

This article considers how the sounds produced by the preparation and consumption of meals in Italy changed between around 1300 and 1700. It argues that by focusing on sound, and by using ecological approaches, we can rediscover obscured connections between different categories of material objects. By examining material and textual evidence for three categories of objects associated with cooking and dining – metalwork, ceramics, and glass – the article traces changes in the material cultures of kitchen and table, and the clear impact these changes had on domestic soundscapes. It considers these sound-producing objects as agents of social interaction, exploring the social relationships they constructed, and the role sound played in those relationships. The article then focuses on the practices of cooking and dining, and the way they shaped the sound of objects. Finally, the article situates objects and social practices within the spatial context of the home, tracing an increasing impetus to manage and control specific types of sound in relation to gender. In the discourse on hospitality, noise came to signify a badly-managed, and therefore morally dubious, household, while silence testified to decorous and authoritative domestic management

Maltese children's construction of identities through their engagement with the media

The aim of this study was to explore how children construct identity through their engagement with a variety of media and communication technologies. This research was conducted with ten children who were aged between nine and ten at the start of the study and lived in Malta, a small bilingual island in the Mediterranean. Over the past two decades, the media has become a central phenomenon in the lives of Maltese children and as with their counterparts abroad, they are provided with broader opportunities for social relationships and space to interact and construct identity. By adopting a social constructionist perspective, this study examined how Maltese children's engagement with the media contributes towards the construction of their identities and likewise, how it is shaped by their identities. The research design consisted of a series of online interactive sessions followed by small group interviews between the children and the researcher. The findings from this study showed that by actively engaging with the media, the children used various strategies to move through three stages, namely initiating, sustaining and extending the media experience. The researcher identified a number of discourses which the children drew upon in their engagement with the media, namely; an interplay between local and foreign media, parental regulations, intergenerational attitudes towards the media and perceptions of difference. This study has also identified three distinctive identity descriptors which are the learner, hobbyist and consumer. These identity descriptors could possibly be grouped as relating to social practices. Given the historical and cultural conditions of the Current era, they seem to emerge at an early age and could potentially last until later on in life.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Risk assessment of human ingestion of Trichinella larvae through meat of slaughter horses imported in Italy

The risk of ingestion of Trichinella spp. larvae through meat of imported horses in Italy was assessed. In depicting the possible scenarious different prevalences of infection in imported slaughter horses and different sensitivities of the control measures were hypothesized. In the present situation the annual estimated mean risk for the consumer (about 2*10-7) seems to be acceptable. A further drop in risk levels could be obtained by health education programmes

In vitro and in vivo microbiological evaluations of cefoperazone

Evaluations of minimum inhibitory concentrations MICs) were carried out with cefoperazone on 35 gram-positive, 60 gram-negative, and 64 anaerobic strains. Results were compared to those obtained with cefuroxime, cefoxitin, cephaloridine, cefazolin, cephalexin and (for the anaerobic bacteria only) cephalothin. In vitro activity of cefoperazone was excellent against strains of Streptococcus faecalis (MICs between 6.25 and 12.5 μg/ml) and Staphylococcus aureus (100% of the tested strains were inhibited by ≤ 12.5 μg/ml). Cefoperazone activity against gram-negative strains was superior to that of all the other cephalosporins tested. It is noteworthy that all of the Proteus species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were inhibited by ≤ 50 μg/ml cefoperazone, a level readily achievable in serum with normal dosages. All Escherichia coli were inhibited by ≤ 1.56 μg/ml. In vitro activity of cefoperazone was extremely high against anaerobic bacteria: 100% of the strains tested were susceptible at ≤ 1.56 μg/ml. The PD50 values in experimental infections in mice confirmed the high in vitro activity of cefoperazone, with lower doses required for protection than for the other cephalosporins tested. This may be due to the favorable pharmacokinetics of cefoperazone. The stability of cefoperazone in the presence of beta-lactamase was also confirmed