Sailing the straits of approval: The nature of FDA approval and its implications for surgeons

Products approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for one use are often put to other uses. This practice, known colloquially as off-label usage, is neither illegal nor unethical. Physicians can and should pursue scientifically sound use supported by medical evidence. The FDA requires only that we: --Be well informed about the product --Base its use on firm scientific rationale and sound medical evidence, if available --Maintain records of the product’s use and effects --Carry out good medical practice --Use good judgment --Consider the best interests of the patient before all els

Constructing families of moderate-rank elliptic curves over number fields

We generalize a construction of families of moderate rank elliptic curves over $\mathbb{Q}$ to number fields $K/\mathbb{Q}$. The construction, originally due to Steven J. Miller, \'Alvaro Lozano-Robledo and Scott Arms, invokes a theorem of Rosen and Silverman to show that computing the rank of these curves can be done by controlling the average of the traces of Frobenius, the construction for number fields proceeds in essentially the same way. One novelty of this method is that we can construct families of moderate rank without having to explicitly determine points and calculating determinants of height matrices.Comment: Version 1.0, 4 pages, sequel to arXiv:math/040657

An online learning approach to in-vivo tracking using synergistic features

In this paper we present an online algorithm for robustly tracking surgical tools in dynamic environments that can assist a surgeon during in-vivo robotic surgery procedures. The next generation of in-vivo robotic surgical devices includes integrated imaging and effector platforms that need to be controlled through real-time visual feedback. Our tracking algorithm learns the appearance of the tool online to account for appearance and perspective changes. In addition, the tracker uses multiple features working together to model the object and discover new areas of the tool as it moves quickly, exits and re-enters the scene, or becomes occluded and requires recovery. The algorithm can persist through changes in lighting and pose by using a memory database, which is built online, using a series of features working together to exploit different aspects of the object being tracked. We present results using real in-vivo imaging data from a human partial nephrectomy

A pragmatics of intimacy

This study examines the ways in which multiple modern communication technologies facilitate, across time and space, the maintenance of a close interpersonal relationship between two best friends. The analysis, which focuses mainly on the openings and closings of the different types of communications, reveals a tendency for the friends to shorten openings and extend closings. However, this is possible only if the friends are fully aware of, and care about, the practical, social and emotional details of each other’s lives during periods of absence. The concomitant linguistic behaviours in their interpersonal interactions could be described as a kind of pragmatics of intimacy which cannot be achieved without the explicit and practical demonstration of that mutual care and concern

MR Spectroscopic Imaging of Peripheral Zone in Prostate Cancer Using a 3T MRI Scanner: Endorectal versus External Phased Array Coils.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) detects alterations in major prostate metabolites, such as citrate (Cit), creatine (Cr), and choline (Ch). We evaluated the sensitivity and accuracy of three-dimensional MRSI of prostate using an endorectal compared to an external phased array "receive" coil on a 3T MRI scanner. Eighteen patients with prostate cancer (PCa) who underwent endorectal MR imaging and proton (1H) MRSI were included in this study. Immediately after the endorectal MRSI scan, the PCa patients were scanned with the external phased array coil. The endorectal coil-detected metabolite ratio [(Ch+Cr)/Cit] was significantly higher in cancer locations (1.667 ± 0.663) compared to non-cancer locations (0.978 ± 0.420) (P < 0.001). Similarly, for the external phased array, the ratio was significantly higher in cancer locations (1.070 ± 0.525) compared to non-cancer locations (0.521 ± 0.310) (P < 0.001). The sensitivity and accuracy of cancer detection were 81% and 78% using the endorectal 'receive' coil, and 69% and 75%, respectively using the external phased array 'receive' coil