Automatic detection of pulmonary nodules: Evaluation of performance using two different MDCT scanners

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system, on the detection of pulmonary nodules in multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT) images, by using two different MDCT scanners. The computerized scheme was based on the iris filter. We have collected CT cases of patients with pulmonary nodules. We have included in the study one hundred and thirty-two calcified and noncalcified nodules, measuring 4-30 mm in diameter. CT examinations were performed by using two different equipments: a CT scanner (SOMATOM Emotion 6), and a dual-source computed tomography system (SOMATOM Definition) (Siemens Medical System, Forchheim, Germany), with the following parameters: collimation, 6x1.0mm (Emotion 6); and 64×0.6mm (Definition); 100-130 kV; 70-110 mAs. Data were reconstructed with a slice thickness of 1.25mm (Emotion 6) and 1mm (Definition). True positive cases were determined by an independent interpretation of the study by three experienced chest radiologists, the panel decision being used as the reference standard. Free-response Receiver Operating Characteristic curves, sensitivity and number of false-positive per scan, were calculated. Our CAD scheme, for the test set of the study, yielded a sensitivity of 80%, with an average of 5.2 FPs per examination. At an average false positive rate of 9 per scan, our CAD scheme achieved sensitivities of 94% for all nodules, 94.5% for solid, 80% for non-solid, 84% for spiculated, and 97% for non-spiculated nodules. These encouraging results suggest that our CAD system, advocated as a second reader, may help radiologists in the detection of lung nodules in MDCTThis work has been partially supported by the Xunta de Galicia (expte. nº PGIDIT06BTF20802PR), and by the FIS (expte. nº PI060058) and (expte. nº PI080072)S

Truncating FLNC Mutations Are Associated With High-Risk Dilated and Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathies

BACKGROUND: Filamin C (encoded by the FLNC gene) is essential for sarcomere attachment to the plasmatic membrane. FLNC mutations have been associated with myofibrillar myopathies, and cardiac involvement has been reported in some carriers. Accordingly, since 2012, the authors have included FLNC in the genetic screening of patients with inherited cardiomyopathies and sudden death. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the association between truncating mutations in FLNC and the development of high-risk dilated and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies. METHODS: FLNC was studied using next-generation sequencing in 2,877 patients with inherited cardiovascular diseases. A characteristic phenotype was identified in probands with truncating mutations in FLNC. Clinical and genetic evaluation of 28 affected families was performed. Localization of filamin C in cardiac tissue was analyzed in patients with truncating FLNC mutations using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Twenty-three truncating mutations were identified in 28 probands previously diagnosed with dilated, arrhythmogenic, or restrictive cardiomyopathies. Truncating FLNC mutations were absent in patients with other phenotypes, including 1,078 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Fifty-four mutation carriers were identified among 121 screened relatives. The phenotype consisted of left ventricular dilation (68%), systolic dysfunction (46%), and myocardial fibrosis (67%); inferolateral negative T waves and low QRS voltages on electrocardiography (33%); ventricular arrhythmias (82%); and frequent sudden cardiac death (40 cases in 21 of 28 families). Clinical skeletal myopathy was not observed. Penetrance was >97% in carriers older than 40 years. Truncating mutations in FLNC cosegregated with this phenotype with a dominant inheritance pattern (combined logarithm of the odds score: 9.5). Immunohistochemical staining of myocardial tissue showed no abnormal filamin C aggregates in patients with truncating FLNC mutations. CONCLUSIONS: Truncating mutations in FLNC caused an overlapping phenotype of dilated and left-dominant arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies complicated by frequent premature sudden death. Prompt implantation of a cardiac defibrillator should be considered in affected patients harboring truncating mutations in FLNC.Instituto de Salud Carlos III [PI11/0699, PI14/0967, PI14/01477, RD012/0042/0029, RD012/0042/0049, RD012/0042/0066, RD12/0042/0069]; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [SAF2015-71863-REDT]; Plan Nacional de I+D+I; Plan Estatalde I+D+I, European Regional Development Fund; Health in Code SLS

Perspectivas actuales de los sujetos de derecho

En este volumen se recogen las intervenciones del II Seminario Internacional Permanente del Departamento de Derecho Internacional, Eclesiástico y Filosofía del Derecho de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid que se desarrolló en el curso académico 2010-2011Presentación / Rafael de Asís Roig. - Algunas reflexiones sobre el individuo en Derecho Internacional / Castor Díaz Barrado. - Sobre capacidad y derechos / Rafael de Asís Roig. - Derecho Común versus Derecho Especial : el individuo como sujeto del derecho de libertad de conciencia y religiosa en España y Portugal / Alejandro Torres Gutiérrez. - Las empresas transnacionales como actores y sujetos «potenciales» en la sociedad internacional / Romualdo Bermejo García. - Las minorías religiosas como sujetos de derechos en España : un sistema de desigualdad / José María Contreras Mazario. - Los colectivos como sujetos de Derecho / Olga Sánchez Martínez. - De «protectorado internacional» a Estado «protegido» (¿Es Kosovo un Estado?) / Cesáreo Gutiérrez Espada - Contra el Derecho Internacional : imperialismo americano y subjetividad jurídica / Cristina García Pascual. - Cooperación constitucional e internacionalidad de la Iglesia católica / Paulino Pardo Prieto. - El individuo como titular de la libertad religiosa : aproximación a un problema de filosofía jurídica / Fernando Arlettaz. - La adopción de un procedimiento de comunicaciones individuales : ¿asignatura pendiente en la consolidación de la «subjetividad internacional del niño»? / Mª del Rosario Carmona Luque. - La persona con discapacidad como sujeto de derechos : análisis desde dos modelos / Patricia Cuenca Gómez. - Los sujetos de Derecho Internacional y los desastres internacionales / Carlos R. Fernández Liesa. - Los inmigrantes como colectivo : ¿son sujeto de Derecho Internacional? / Rosana Garciandía Garmendia. - La empresa : ¿Sujeto de Derecho Internacional? : Importancia de la cuestión / Hilda Garrido Suárez. - La tolerancia étnica y religiosa en los proyectos para la independencia del Estado búlgaro de la dominación otomana, el punto de partida del concepto legal sobre la protección de los derechos fundamentales de las minorias en Bulgaria / Ángel Hristov Kolev. - El régimen jurídico del profesorado y de la asignatura de religión católica en la escuela pública. Comentario a la STC 51/2011 de 14 de abril / Andrés Murcia González. - El sujeto de derecho en Pufendorf / Antonio Pele. - ¿Puede un sujeto de Derecho Internacional juzgar a otro? Algunas consideraciones sobre la inmunidad de jurisdicción de las organizaciones internacionales / Juan Jorge Piernas Lópe

Autoimmune Diseases and COVID-19 as Risk Factors for Poor Outcomes: Data on 13,940 Hospitalized Patients from the Spanish Nationwide SEMI-COVID-19 Registry

(1) Objectives: To describe the clinical characteristics and clinical course of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and autoimmune diseases (ADs) compared to the general population. (2) Methods: We used information available in the nationwide Spanish SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, which retrospectively compiles data from the first admission of adult patients with COVID-19. We selected all patients with ADs included in the registry and compared them to the remaining patients. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality during admission, readmission, and subsequent admissions, and secondary outcomes were a composite outcome including the need for intensive care unit (ICU) admission, invasive and non-invasive mechanical ventilation (MV), or death, as well as in-hospital complications. (3) Results: A total of 13,940 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were included, of which 362 (2.6%) had an AD. Patients with ADs were older, more likely to be female, and had greater comorbidity. On the multivariate logistic regression analysis, which involved the inverse propensity score weighting method, AD as a whole was not associated with an increased risk of any of the outcome variables. Habitual treatment with corticosteroids (CSs), age, Barthel Index score, and comorbidity were associated with poor outcomes. Biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) were associated with a decrease in mortality in patients with AD. (4) Conclusions: The analysis of the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry shows that ADs do not lead to a different prognosis, measured by mortality, complications, or the composite outcome. Considered individually, it seems that some diseases entail a different prognosis than that of the general population. Immunosuppressive/immunoregulatory treatments (IST) prior to admission had variable effects

Quantification of Right and Left Ventricular Function in Cardiac MR Imaging: Comparison of Semiautomatic and Manual Segmentation Algorithms

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of a semiautomatic segmentation method for the anatomical and functional assessment of both ventricles from cardiac cine magnetic resonance (MR) examinations, reducing user interaction to a “mouse-click”. Fifty-two patients with cardiovascular diseases were examined using a 1.5-T MR imaging unit. Several parameters of both ventricles, such as end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV) and ejection fraction (EF), were quantified by an experienced operator using the conventional method based on manually-defined contours, as the standard of reference; and a novel semiautomatic segmentation method based on edge detection, iterative thresholding and region growing techniques, for evaluation purposes. No statistically significant differences were found between the two measurement values obtained for each parameter (p > 0.05). Correlation to estimate right ventricular function was good (r > 0.8) and turned out to be excellent (r > 0.9) for the left ventricle (LV). Bland-Altman plots revealed acceptable limits of agreement between the two methods (95%). Our study findings indicate that the proposed technique allows a fast and accurate assessment of both ventricles. However, further improvements are needed to equal results achieved for the right ventricle (RV) using the conventional methodology

La función de la Corte Penal Internacional: visiones plurales desde una perspectiva interdisciplinar

El presente libro hace parte de los trabajos del grupo de justicia nacional de la “Red de Investigación Perspectivas Iberoamericanas sobre la Justicia”, coordinada desde el Instituto Ibero-Americano de la Haya para la Paz, los Derechos Humanos y la Justicia Internacional (IIH) (Países Bajos). Así mismo, se inscribe dentro de los proyectos de investigación: (a) “La función de la Corte Penal Internacional desde las teorías de la justicia en el derecho internacional” (2019-2020), cofinanciado por la Facultad de Jurisprudencia de la Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá, Colombia) y el IIH (Países Bajos); y (b) “La respuesta del derecho internacional a la corrupción asociada al crimen transnacional organizado” (2019-2021), con número de referencia VFPC009, cofinanciado por la Dirección de Investigación e Innovación y la Facultad de Jurisprudencia de la Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá, Colombia), así como por el IIH (Países Bajos). Ambos proyectos se encuentran adscritos a la línea de investigación “Crítica al derecho internacional desde fundamentos filosóficos”, del Grupo de Investigación en DI de la Facultad de Jurisprudencia de la Universidad del Rosario

Anuario del Centro de Estudios Martianos (Vol. 36 2013)

El Anuario del Centro de Estudios Martianos es la publicación insignia de esta institución y heredera directa del Anuario Martiano de la Biblioteca Nacional José Martí, que se publicó entre 1969 y 1977, bajo la dirección del poeta y ensayista Cintio Vitier.<br> Desde que salió a la luz su primera entrega, en 1978, se han publicado treinta y cinco números, en los que aparecen artículos y ensayos de importantes estudiosos de la vida y obra del Apóstol, en Cuba y el resto del mundo.<br> En sus secciones fijas (Otros textos de José Martí, Documentos, Estudios y aproximaciones, Vigencias, Publicaciones, Bibliografía, Constante) y los apartados especiales, los lectores pueden conocer disímiles temas del quehacer martiano internacional, en el año que termina además de mantenerse al tanto de las últimas contribuciones de los promotores e investigadores de la obra martiana en el orbe