Although spatial smoothing of fMRI data can serve multiple purposes, increasing the sensitivity of activation detection is probably its greatest benefit. However, this increased detection power comes with a loss of specificity when non-adaptive smoothing (i.e. the standard in most software packages) is used. Simulation studies and analysis of experimental data was performed using the R packages neuRosim and fmri. In these studies, we systematically investigated the effect of spatial smoothing on the power and number of false positives in two particular cases that are often encountered in fMRI research: (1) Single condition activation detection for regions that differ in size, and (2) multiple condition activation detection for neighbouring regions. Our results demonstrate that adaptive smoothing is superior in both cases because less false positives are introduced by the spatial smoothing process compared to standard Gaussian smoothing or FDR inference of unsmoothed data. 相似文献
Patient matched instrumentation is a new operative tool in the field of total knee arthroplasty. Custom made cutting blocks are designed to perform distal femoral and tibial bone cuts according to a pre-operative planning. This study evaluates the Visionaire system of Smith & Nephew. Thirty-one patients, operated with the Visionaire technique, were compared to an equal control group for different clinical and radiographic outcome parameters. Between both groups, no statistical significant difference could be found in post-operative pain, satisfaction, functional outcome, hospital stay, blood loss, radiographic alignment and precision of bone cuts. Only tibial plateau backslope can be created with more precision in the Visionaire group. But there was a statistical significant difference for residual flexion deformity after a mean follow-up time of 200 days. 相似文献
To assess undiagnosed and comorbid disorders in patients referred to a tertiary care center with a presumed diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
Methods
Patients referred for chronic unexplained fatigue entered an integrated diagnostic pathway, including internal medicine assessment, psychodiagnostic screening, physiotherapeutic assessment and polysomnography + multiple sleep latency testing. Final diagnosis resulted from a multidisciplinary team discussion. Fukuda criteria were used for the diagnosis of CFS, DSM-IV-TR criteria for psychiatric disorders, ICSD-2 criteria for sleep disorders.
Results
Out of 377 patients referred, 279 (74.0%) were included in the study [84.9% female; mean age 38.8 years (SD 10.3)].A diagnosis of unequivocal CFS was made in 23.3%. In 21.1%, CFS was associated with a sleep disorder and/or psychiatric disorder, not invalidating the diagnosis of CFS. A predominant sleep disorder was found in 9.7%, 19.0% had a psychiatric disorder and 20.8% a combination of both. Only 2.2% was diagnosed with a classical internal disease.In the total sample, a sleep disorder was found in 49.8%, especially obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, followed by psychophysiologic insomnia and periodic limb movement disorder. A psychiatric disorder was diagnosed in 45.2%; mostly mood and anxiety disorder.
Conclusions
A multidisciplinary approach to presumed CFS yields unequivocal CFS in only a minority of patients, and reveals a broad spectrum of exclusionary or comorbid conditions within the domains of sleep medicine and psychiatry. These findings favor a systematic diagnostic approach to CFS, suitable to identify a wide range of diagnostic categories that may be subject to dedicated care. 相似文献
BACKGROUND: Asthma and excessive body weight frequently coexist, whereas the exact relationship between the 2 diseases is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To study whether asthma combined with excessive body weight has a greater effect on quality of life in children than the separate effects of asthma or excessive body weight alone. METHODS: In a cross-sectional design, 1758 school children (age 7-10 years) participated: 4 study groups were composed of children with asthma and with/without excessive body weight, and healthy controls with/without excessive body weight. Diagnosis of asthma was defined by either a doctor's diagnosis or by core questions of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire in combination with either reversible airway obstruction or bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Excessive body weight was defined by using international cutoff points for body mass index. Quality of life was evaluated by the Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire. RESULTS: For all domains of quality of life, children with both asthma and excessive body weight had lower scores than children with either asthma alone or excessive body weight alone. Compared with healthy controls, the score was 25% lower in children with asthma and excessive body weight, 14% lower in children with asthma and normal weight, and only 1% lower in overweight controls. CONCLUSION: Excessive body weight is associated with an additional decrease in quality of life in children with asthma. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Clinicians should be aware of the interaction between asthma and excessive body weight and the effect on quality of life and should give extra attention to children with both conditions. 相似文献
The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of stereo vision to the acquisition of a natural interception task. Poor catchers with good (N = 8; Stereo+) and weak (N = 6; Stereo-) stereo vision participated in an intensive training program spread over 2 weeks, during which they caught over 1,400 tennis balls in a pre-post-retention design. While the Stereo+ group improved from a catching percentage of 18% to 59%, catchers in the Stereo- group did not significantly improve (from 10 to 31%), this progress being indifferent from a control group (N = 9) that did not practice at all. These results indicate that the development and use of of compensatory cues for depth perception in people with weak stereopsis is insufficient to successfully deal with interceptions under high temporal constraints, and that this disadvantage cannot be fully attenuated by specific and intensive training. 相似文献
Aims: Alcohol advertising, in the form of product placement, has been shown to influence the viewer’s alcohol consumption. However, it is not just the portrayal itself that affects behavioural outcomes; the particular message that is conveyed in an alcohol portrayal may actually influence consumer behaviour in a manner known as “framing”. Therefore, the prevalence and framing of alcohol portrayals in movies was investigated by focussing on product placement strategies, several portrayal characteristics and compliance with relevant guidelines/laws. Furthermore, a comparison is made between movies sponsored by an alcohol brand and non-sponsored movies.
Methods: Sixteen Dutch movies (of which 50% were sponsored) underwent content analysis using a four-category, 21-item coding scheme. Alcohol was present in every movie and a total of 937 alcohol portrayals were analysed.
Findings: The results show that the alcohol portrayals were predominantly positive. In the sponsored movies, more liquor was consumed and alcohol portrayals had a lower plot connection.
Conclusions: In general, the differences between alcohol portrayals in movies sponsored by an alcohol brand compared with non-sponsored movies were rather small. However, the portrayals sometimes offend the legislation regarding regular alcohol commercials, and given the effects of alcohol portrayals on young viewers, this needs attention. 相似文献
Congenital left ventricular diverticula are rare cardiac malformations that usually remain asymptomatic. However, life-threatening complications as ventricular arrhythmias, systemic embolism, spontaneous rupture and development of valvular regurgitation, are described. Diagnosis is based on excluding coronary artery disease, traumatic or inflammatory causes, and other underlying cardiomyopathies. Treatment is directed towards the potential complications, yielding mainly therapy of ventricular arrhythmia. Surgical resection is required for larger-sized congenital aneurysms with adverse hemodynamic effects. We present two cases of a left ventricular diverticulum causing cardiac arrhythmia which led to further surgical treatment. 相似文献