Evaluation of tiros iii radiation data

Troposphere relative humidity and cloud surface temperature determination by radiation data from TIROS III satellit

Manifold Learning in MR spectroscopy using nonlinear dimensionality reduction and unsupervised clustering

Purpose To investigate whether nonlinear dimensionality reduction improves unsupervised classification of 1H MRS brain tumor data compared with a linear method. Methods In vivo single-voxel 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (55 patients) and 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (MRSI) (29 patients) data were acquired from histopathologically diagnosed gliomas. Data reduction using Laplacian eigenmaps (LE) or independent component analysis (ICA) was followed by k-means clustering or agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) for unsupervised learning to assess tumor grade and for tissue type segmentation of MRSI data. Results An accuracy of 93% in classification of glioma grade II and grade IV, with 100% accuracy in distinguishing tumor and normal spectra, was obtained by LE with unsupervised clustering, but not with the combination of k-means and ICA. With 1H MRSI data, LE provided a more linear distribution of data for cluster analysis and better cluster stability than ICA. LE combined with k-means or AHC provided 91% accuracy for classifying tumor grade and 100% accuracy for identifying normal tissue voxels. Color-coded visualization of normal brain, tumor core, and infiltration regions was achieved with LE combined with AHC. Conclusion Purpose To investigate whether nonlinear dimensionality reduction improves unsupervised classification of 1H MRS brain tumor data compared with a linear method. Methods In vivo single-voxel 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (55 patients) and 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (MRSI) (29 patients) data were acquired from histopathologically diagnosed gliomas. Data reduction using Laplacian eigenmaps (LE) or independent component analysis (ICA) was followed by k-means clustering or agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) for unsupervised learning to assess tumor grade and for tissue type segmentation of MRSI data. Results An accuracy of 93% in classification of glioma grade II and grade IV, with 100% accuracy in distinguishing tumor and normal spectra, was obtained by LE with unsupervised clustering, but not with the combination of k-means and ICA. With 1H MRSI data, LE provided a more linear distribution of data for cluster analysis and better cluster stability than ICA. LE combined with k-means or AHC provided 91% accuracy for classifying tumor grade and 100% accuracy for identifying normal tissue voxels. Color-coded visualization of normal brain, tumor core, and infiltration regions was achieved with LE combined with AHC. Conclusion The LE method is promising for unsupervised clustering to separate brain and tumor tissue with automated color-coding for visualization of 1H MRSI data after cluster analysis

Stimulation of endothelial adenosine Al receptors enhances adhesion of neutrophils in the intact guinea pig coronary system

Objective: The primary aim was to determine the action of pathophysiologically relevant adenosine concentrations (0.1-1 μM) on adhesion of neutrophils to coronary endothelium. Further aims were to evaluate the nature and localisation of the adenosine receptor involved. and to assess the effect of endogenous adenosine. Methods: Adhesion was studied in isolated perfused guinea pig hearts by determining the number of cells emerging in the coronary effluent after intracoronary bolus injections of 600 000 neutrophils prepared from guinea pig or human blood. The system was characterised by the use of the proadhesive stimulus thrombin. Results: A 5 rnin infusion of adenosine (0.1-0.3 μM) or the A1 receptor agonist N6-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA, 0.01 μM) significantly increased adhesion from about 20% (control) to 30%. This effect was prevented by the A1 receptor antagonist dipropyl-8-cyclopentylxanthine (DPCPX. 0.1 μM). It was not diminished by cessation of adenosine infusion 90 s prior to neutrophil injection. At a higher concentration of adenosine (1 μM), adhesion did not seem to be enhanced. However, coinfusion of the A2 receptor antagonist 3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine (DMPX. 0.1 μM) with 1 μM adenosine unmasked the A1 action, adhesion rising to 39%. Adenosine had a quantitatively identical effect on adhesion of human neutrophils. Total ischaemia of 15 min duration raised adhesion of subsequently applied neutrophils to 35%. This effect was completely blocked by DPCPX, as well as by ischaemic preconditioning (3 X 3 min). Preconditioning raised initial postischaemic coronary effluent adenosine from about 0.8 μM to 1.5 μM. Conclusions: The findings suggest a bimodal participation of adenosine in the development of postischaemic dysfunction by an endothelium dependent modulation of neutrophil adhesion. Stimulation occurs via endothelial A1 receptors at submicromolar adenosine levels, whereas cardioprotection by adenosine may in part relate to the use of pharmacologically high concentrations of adenosine or enhanced endogenous production after preconditioning

Evaluation of A Post-Treatment Follow-Up Program in Patients with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objectives The duration and the frequency of follow-up after treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma are not standardized in the current literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate our local standard post-treatment and follow-up protocol. Materials and methods Overall, 228 patients treated curatively from 01/2006 to 07/2013 were reviewed. To evaluate the follow-up program, data on the secondary event were used. To determine risk groups, all patients with tumor recurrence were specifically analyzed. Relapse-free rate were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier product limit method. The chi-square test was used to identify independent risk factors for tumor relapse. Results In total, 29.8 % patients had a secondary event. The majority of the relapse cases (88.2 %) were detected within 2 years postoperatively, 61.8 % of them within the first year. Most events were local recurrences (34.7 %). UICC-stage IV was significantly associated with tumor recurrence (p = 0.001). Gender (p = 0.188), age (p = 0.195), localization (p = 0.739), T-stage (p = 0.35), N-stage (p = 0.55), histologic grade (p = 0.162), and tobacco and alcohol use (p = 0.248) were not significantly associated with tumor recurrence. Patients with positive neck nodes relapsed earlier (p = 0.011). The majority of relapses (86.3 %) were found in asymptomatic patients at routine follow-up. Conclusions The results of this study suggest an intensified follow-up within the first 2 years after surgery. Clinical relevance Given the higher relapse rate of patients exhibiting an UICC-stage IV and/or positive neck nodes, it seems to be from special interest to perform in this group a risk-adapted follow-up with monthly examinations also in the second year

Oral Health and Dental Anxiety in a German Practice-based Sample

Objective Does dental anxiety have an effect on dental and periodontal health? Methods Survey data was collected from n = 200 adults (53 % females, average age 49 years) in a cross-sectional study. Dental anxiety was measured with the modified dental anxiety scale (MDAS, score 1–5, the greater the score, the greater the anxiety). Clinical parameters including probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), plaque index (SLI), and bleeding on probing (BoP) as well as the DMFT index were recorded and statistically analyzed. Results Rating of dental anxiety was higher in women than in men (65 vs 35 %). Subjects with higher MDAS values visited the dentist less frequently (p = 0.001) and had more decay (DT 6.7 ± 4.2 vs 1.7 ± 2.4; p \u3c 0.001) but fewer filled teeth than subjects with lower ratings of dental anxiety (FT 7.1 ± 4.5 vs 9.8 ± 5.7; p = 0.042). There were no differences in PD or CAL between subjects with or without dental anxiety, while patients with higher MDAS value showed significantly more BoP (50 ± 19 vs 34 ± 20 %; p = 0.002) than patients with low MDAS scores (no or low dental anxiety). Conclusions Patients with higher ratings of dental anxiety had significantly more caries experience and gingivitis. Therefore, dental anxiety is associated with negative effect on dental and periodontal health. Clinical relevance Identifying patients with high dental anxiety and helping to manage this anxiety has important implications to improve oral health in adults. The MDAS appears to be an easy and efficient tool that can be used to identify patients with dental anxiety in dental practices

The Isolated Orbital Floor Fracture from a Transconjunctival or Subciliary Perspective-A Standardized Anthropometric Evaluation

Background: The influence of orbital fractures and their repair on the rate of deformities of the lower eyelid is an ongoing source of discussion in the literature. Most of the present studies include isolated blow-out as well as combined orbital fractures. Material and Methods: We present a retrospective evaluation of a series of 100 patients after isolated blow-out fracture repair using reference anthropometric data on standardized photographs. Analysis included eye fissure width and height, lid sulcus height, upper lid height, upper and lower iris coverage, position of cornea to palpebra inferior, canthal tilt, scleral show, ectropion and entropion. It was clearly distinguished between operated and contralateral eyelid, whether a transconjunctival or a subciliary approach was performed and amount of fracture. Our main interests were changes of the aforementioned parameters with regards to eyelid deformities. Results: Surgery per se did not significantly influence eyelid deformities. However, the surgical approach selected significantly affected eye fissure index, lower iris coverage and rate of scleral show, indicating retraction of the lower eyelid. Conclusions: The standardized measurements described here are accurate and objective to evaluate postoperative results. The subciliary approach included the highest risk of lower lid retraction as compared to transconjunctival approaches

Quality of Postoperative Pain Management after Midfacial Fracture Repair—An Outcome-oriented Study

Objectives There is a lack of literature regarding the procedure-specific quality of acute postoperative pain management after midfacial fracture repair. The purpose of the presented prospective clinical study was to evaluate postoperative pain management after surgical repair of midfacial fractures. Materials and methods Eighty-five adults were evaluated on the first postoperative day following midfacial repair using the questionnaire of the Quality Improvement in Postoperative Pain Management (QUIPS) project. The main outcome measures were patients’ characteristics and clinical- and patient-reported outcome parameters. Results Overall, pain on the first postoperative day was moderate. A significant correlation between process and outcome parameters could be shown. Duration of surgery above the calculated median was significantly associated with higher maximum pain intensity (p = 0.017). Patients requiring opioids in the recovery room presented significantly higher pain on activity (p = 0.029) and maximum pain (p = 0.035). Sleeping impairment (p = 0.001) and mood disturbance (p = 0.008) were significantly more prevalent in patients undergoing repair of a centrolateral midfacial fracture. Conclusions QUIPS is a simple and qualified tool to evaluate the procedure specific quality of acute postoperative pain management. Pain on the first postoperative day following midfacial fracture repair seems overall to be moderate. Nearly a third of the patients showed inadequate postoperative pain management. To prevent inadequate postoperative pain management, it is necessary to establish a continued procedure-specific outcome measurement

Measuring degree-degree association in networks

The Pearson correlation coefficient is commonly used for quantifying the global level of degree-degree association in complex networks. Here, we use a probabilistic representation of the underlying network structure for assessing the applicability of different association measures to heavy-tailed degree distributions. Theoretical arguments together with our numerical study indicate that Pearson's coefficient often depends on the size of networks with equal association structure, impeding a systematic comparison of real-world networks. In contrast, Kendall-Gibbons' $\tau_{b}$ is a considerably more robust measure of the degree-degree association

POLDER observations of cloud bidirectional reflectances compared to a plane-parallel model using the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project cloud phase functions

International audienceThis study investigates the validity of the plane-parallel cloud model and in addition the suitability of water droplet and ice polycrystal phase functions for stratocumulus and cirrus clouds, respectively. To do that, we take advantage of the multidirectional viewing capability of the Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances (POLDER) instrument which allows us to characterize the anisotropy of the reflected radiation field. We focus on the analysis of airborne-POLDER data acquired over stratocumulus and cirrus clouds during two selected flights (on April 17 and April 18, 1994) of the European Cloud and Radiation Experiment (EUCREX'94) campaign. The bidirectional reflectances measured in the 0.86 μm channel are compared to plane-parallel cloud simulations computed with the microphysical models used by the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP). Although clouds are not homogeneous plane-parallel layers, the extended cloud layers under study appear to act, on average, as a homogeneous plane-parallel layer. The standard water droplet model (with an effective radius of 10 μm) used in the ISCCP analysis seems to be suitable for stratocumulus clouds. The relative root-mean-square difference between the observed bidirectional reflectances and the model is only 2%. For cirrus clouds, the water droplet cloud model is definitely inadequate since the rms difference rises to 9%; when the ice polycrystal model chosen for the reanalysis of ISCCP data is used instead, the rms difference is reduced to 3%