Identifying Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment Using the FACT-Cog Perceived Cognitive Impairment.

Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is a concerning problem for many cancer survivors. Evaluating patients for CRCI has been a challenge, in part because of a lack of standardized practices. Self-report instruments are often used to assess CRCI, but there are no validated cutpoints. We present the results of receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identifying cutpoints of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognition perceived cognitive impairment (PCI) in female breast cancer survivors for identifying CRCI cases. We defined presence of CRCI based on elevated complaints on the Patient's Assessment of Own Functioning Inventory compared with healthy control scores. Our results indicate that scores less than 54 in PCI scores using 18 items and scores less than 60 in PCI scores using 20 items exhibited good ability to discriminate CRCI cases from noncases (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.84 [95% CI = 0.73 to 0.94]). These preliminary results represent an important contribution toward standardizing practices across CRCI studies

Femoroacetabuläres Impingement: Häufige Ursache von zur Arthrose führenden Hüftbeschwerden

Zusammenfassung: Während die Ursache der Gelenkschädigung bei der Hüftdysplasie auf eine überhöhte axiale Belastung der Gelenkpfanne klar zurückgeführt werden kann, ist die exakte Ursache der idiopathischen Koxarthrose bis heute nicht geklärt. Basierend auf der Entwicklung einer chirurgischen Technik zur gefahrlosen chirurgischen Luxation der Hüfte und der damit verbundenen Möglichkeit der intraoperativen Gelenkbeurteilung, fanden wir eine bewegungsinduzierte Schädigung, die peripher am Acetabulumrand beginnt und nach zentral fortschreitet. Dieses sog. "femoroacetabuläre Impingement" (FAI), welches durch eine vermehrte acetabuläre Überdachung und/oder fehlende Sphärizität des Femurkopfes zu einem Anschlagen bzw. Einpressen des Femurkopfes in die Gelenkpfanne führt, verursacht eine Schädigung des Labrum und/oder des Gelenkknorpels. Häufig kommt bei den bereits in der 2. und 3. Lebensdekade symptomatisch werdenden Patienten (Leistenschmerzen, reduzierte Innenrotation) eine vermehrte sportliche Aktivität hinzu. Basierend darauf, ob die acetabuläre oder femorale Pathologie dominiert, werden zwei verschiedene Typen des FAI, das Pincer- (Beißzangen-) und das Cam- (Nockenwellen-)FAI unterschieden. Neben diesen ossären Alterationen tragen auch eine supraphysiologische Beweglichkeit sowie eine Überbeanspruchung zum FAI bei. Das Impingement-Konzept hat zu einer Reihe neuer, mehrheitlich intrakapsulärer Chirurgieansätze geführ

A microcomputer based data acquisition system and experiment controller

A data acquisition system is described. The system monitors and records the signal strength of a radio beacon sent to Earth from a geosynchronous satellite. It acquires data from several devices such as a radar, a radiometer, and a rain gauge which monitor the meteorological conditions along the Earth space propagation path. The acquired data are stored in digital format on magnetic tape for analysis at the computer center. A detailed description of the design and operation of the system's various hardware components is given. Schematic diagrams, the theory of operation, and normal operating procedures are presented

Studies on proper simulation during static testing of forward speed effects on fan noise

Significant differences exist in the noise generated by engines in flight and engines operating on the test stand. It was observed that these differences can be reduced by the use of an inflow control structure (ICS) in the static test configuration. The results of the third phase of a three phase program are described. The work performed in the first two phases which dealt with the development of a model for atmospheric turbulence, studies of fan noise generated by rotor turbulence interaction, and the development of an inflow control structure design system are summarized. The final phase of the program covers procedures for performing static testing with an ICS projecting the resulting static test data to actual flight test data. Included is a procedures report which covers the design system and techniques for static testing and projecting the static data to flight

Hip morphology influences the pattern of damage to the acetabular cartilage. Femoroacetabular impingement as a cause of early osteoarthritis of the hip

Recently, femoroacetabular impingement has been recognised as a cause of early osteoarthritis. There are two mechanisms of impingement: 1) cam impingement caused by a non-spherical head and 2) pincer impingement caused by excessive acetabular cover. We hypothesised that both mechanisms result in different patterns of articular damage. Of 302 analysed hips only 26 had an isolated cam and 16 an isolated pincer impingement. Cam impingement caused damage to the anterosuperior acetabular cartilage with separation between the labrum and cartilage. During flexion, the cartilage was sheared off the bone by the non-spherical femoral head while the labrum remained untouched. In pincer impingement, the cartilage damage was located circumferentially and included only a narrow strip. During movement the labrum is crushed between the acetabular rim and the femoral neck causing degeneration and ossification. Both cam and pincer impingement lead to osteoarthritis of the hip. Labral damage indicates ongoing impingement and rarely occurs alone. © 2005 British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery

Femoroazetabuläres Impingement als Auslöser der Koxarthrose

Zusammenfassung: Das femoroazetabuläre Impingement (FAI) ist häufig, die geschätzte Prävalenz liegt bei 10-15%. Unsere bisher 10-jährige Erfahrung bestätigt das FAI als eine wesentliche, wenn auch nicht einzige Ursache der Koxarthrose. Isolierte azetabuläre oder femorale Fehlformen sind selten, obwohl bei Frauen die azetabuläre und bei Männern die femorale Pathomorphologie dominiert. Normalbefunde im Standardröntgen schließen ein FAI nicht aus. Symptome treten umso früher auf, je größer die Deformität und je intensiver hohe Bewegungsanforderungen gestellt werden. Die überwiegende Mehrzahl der Patienten ist <40Jahre alt. Im Unterschied zum Impingement bei der Hüftendoprothetik ist das natürliche Gelenk mechanisch viel satter gefasst, was kein Ausweichen im Sinne der Subluxation oder gar Luxation ermöglicht. Entsprechend hoch sind die Impingementkräfte, die beim häufigen, nicht-sphärischen Hüftkopf (femorale Fehlform, Cam-FAI) mit schnellen Bewegungen der Beugung und Innenrotation eine von außen nach innen verlaufende Ablösung des Pfannenknorpels hervorrufen. Der Knorpel des sphärischen Hüftanteils bleibt zunächst intakt, ein Bild, das mit der klassischen Entstehungstheorie der Koxarthrose nicht in Einklang zu bringen ist. Erst wenn der Hüftkopf in die Zone des geschädigten Pfannenknorpels migriert, beeinflussen auch vertikal verlaufende Kräfte den Arthroseverlauf. Risse zwischen Labrum und Knorpel, wie sie im MRT beobachtet werden, sind nicht als Abrisse des Labrum vom Knorpel, sondern Abrisse des Knorpels vom Labrum zu verstehen. Bei der azetabulären Über-Überdachung (azetabuläre Fehlform, Pincer-FAI) ist das Labrum die erste Struktur, die geschädigt wird, der Knorpelschaden tritt sekundär auf. Die Behandlung des FAI bei Patienten <40Jahren erfolgt, wenn möglich, gelenkerhaltend. Ist die Knorpelschädigung ausgedehnt, ist bei gleichem Aufwand ein schlechteres Ergebnis der chirurgischen Therapie zu erwarten als bei geringem Schaden. Entsprechend wichtig ist die frühe Diagnosestellung, mit der neben der Einleitung der kausalen Therapie auch die beruflichen und sportlichen Weichen angepasst werden solle

Automatic Segmentation of Polyps in Colonoscopic Narrow-Band Imaging Data

Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer worldwide. However, this disease can be prevented by detection and removal of precursor adenomatous polyps during optical colonoscopy (OC). During OC, the endoscopist looks for colon polyps. While hyperplastic polyps are benign lesions, adenomatous polyps are likely to become cancerous. Hence, it is a common practice to remove all identified polyps and send them to subsequent histological analysis. But removal of hyperplastic polyps poses unnecessary risk to patients and incurs unnecessary costs for histological analysis. In this paper, we develop the first part of a novel optical biopsy application based on narrow-band imaging (NBI). A barrier to an automatic system is that polyp classification algorithms require manual segmentations of the polyps, so we automatically segment polyps in colonoscopic NBI data. We propose an algorithm, Shape-UCM, which is an extension of the gPb-OWT-UCM algorithm, a state-of-the-art algorithm for boundary detection and segmentation. Shape-UCM solves the intrinsic scale selection problem of gPb-OWT-UCM by including prior knowledge about the shape of the polyps. Shape-UCM outperforms previous methods with a specificity of 92%, a sensitivity of 71%, and an accuracy of 88% for automatic segmentation of a test set of 87 images

The acetabular blood supply: implications for periacetabular osteotomies

As the popularity of juxta-acetabular osteotomies in adults increases, concern arises that such a procedure will potentially cause avascular necrosis of the acetabular fragment. In order to verify the remaining vascularization after a Bernese periacetabular osteotomy, an injection study with colored latex was performed. The vascularity of the outside of the periacetabular bone was studied in 16 hips after injection of colored latex into the abdominal aorta and the inside in four hips. To confirm the conclusions drawn from the anatomic study, a Bernese periacetabular osteotomy was performed in two additional hips after latex injection. This study demonstrated that through a modified Smith-Peterson approach and with execution of the osteotomies from the inside of the pelvis the acetabular fragment remains vascularized by the supra-acetabular and acetabular branches of the superior gluteal artery, the obturator artery and the inferior gluteal artery. Some uncertainty remains about how much correction is tolerated by the smaller blood vessel

Childhood maltreatment, psychological resources, and depressive symptoms in women with breast cancer.

Childhood maltreatment is associated with elevated risk for depression across the human lifespan. Identifying the pathways through which childhood maltreatment relates to depressive symptoms may elucidate intervention targets that have the potential to reduce the lifelong negative health sequelae of maltreatment exposure. In this cross-sectional study, 271 women with early-stage breast cancer were assessed after their diagnosis but before the start of adjuvant treatment (chemotherapy, radiation, endocrine therapy). Participants completed measures of childhood maltreatment exposure, psychological resources (optimism, mastery, self-esteem, mindfulness), and depressive symptoms. Using multiple mediation analyses, we examined which psychological resources uniquely mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and depressive symptoms. Exposure to maltreatment during childhood was robustly associated with lower psychological resources and elevated depressive symptoms. Further, lower optimism and mindfulness mediated the association between childhood maltreatment and elevated depressive symptoms. These results support existing theory that childhood maltreatment is associated with lower psychological resources, which partially explains elevated depressive symptoms in a sample of women facing breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. These findings warrant replication in populations facing other major life events and highlight the need for additional studies examining childhood maltreatment as a moderator of treatment outcomes