Scientific production and impact of nuclear medicine in Europe: how do we publish?

We performed a bibliometric search covering a 1-year period to evaluate the number and the scientific weight of nuclear medicine papers published from European as compared with other countries. The scientific impact of our discipline was evaluated according to the impact factor of each publication, and we also aimed to identify those countries and topics that are making the principal contributions to the development of our discipline. To this end, a search on MEDLINE (PubMed) was run to find all peer-reviewed articles published between April 2002 and May 2003, using isotope definitions as search terms. A total of 3,292 publications were identified. Of these, 650 were of no nuclear medicine interest, 229 were reviews and 82 had no country specified. In absolute numbers, Europe leads research in nuclear medicine (939 papers, 38.9%) followed by the USA (608 papers, 25.2%). Among European countries, Germany is the nation that is currently making the greatest contribution to the scientific production of nuclear medicine in Europe. Articles concerning the use of nuclear medicine in oncology account for more than one-quarter of all published nuclear medicine papers.     

搜索引擎的渐增式爬行和备份式更新模式

介绍了搜索引擎的总体结构,分析了搜索引擎中爬行器的爬行策略和网页库的更新模式。介绍了其中一种较为合理的爬行和更新模式及其实现技术,实现了渐增式地爬行高质量网页和提高网页库新鲜度的目的。     

The effects of saliency and task difficulty on visual search performance in ageing and Alzheimer's disease

We asked whether the poor performance on visual search tasks typical of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the result of a selective deficit in the ability to shift attention from item to item, or the consequence of an inefficient processing of each item within the search set. We attempted to manipulate the ease of attention shifting and item processing in a visual search task by manipulating target salience and task difficulty, respectively. Significant effects of both target saliency and task difficulty for both AD patients and age-matched controls were obtained, with the AD group displaying greater effects of both of these manipulations than the controls. This interaction remained even when the reaction time data were log-transformed to account for the overall slower reaction times of the AD group. We conclude that inefficiency in visual search tasks in AD probably represents the product of both attention shifting and target processing factors.     

Multiple visual memory phenomena in a memory search task

This paper reports evidence of the existence of multiple and distinct visual memory processes in a memory search task in which a divided field stimulus presentation was used at study (Experiments 1-3) and either a foveal (Experiments 1 and 2) or a lateralized (Experiment 3) stimulus presentation was used at test. These memory processes can be distinguished on the basis of (1) whether or not they are hemispherically organized; and (2) the locus of their underlying brain activity, as evidenced by the scalp distribution of the event-related brain potentials and by the localization of the event-related optical signal that accompany them. These memory effects are discussed in the context of visual form memory.     

Searching for nodules: what features attract attention and influence detection?

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The goal of the study was to determine whether there are certain physical features of pulmonary nodules that attract visual attention and contribute to increased recognition and detection by observers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A series of posteroanterior chest images with solitary pulmonary nodules were searched by six radiologists as their eye-position was recorded. The signal-to-noise ratio, size, conspicuity, location, and calcification status were measured for each nodule. Dwell parameters were correlated with nodule features and related to detection rates. RESULTS: Only nodule size (F = 5.08, P = .0254) and conspicuity (F = 4.625, P = .0329) influenced total dwell time on nodules, with larger, more conspicuous nodules receiving less visual attention than smaller, less conspicuous nodules. All nodule features examined influenced overall detection performance (P < .05) even though most did not influence visual search and attention. CONCLUSION: Individual nodule features do not attract attention as measured by "first hit" fixation data, but certain features do tend to hold attention once the nodule has been fixated. The combination of all features influences whether or not it is detected.     

Selective attention in anxiety: distraction and enhancement in visual search

According to cognitive models of anxiety, anxiety patients exhibit an attentional bias towards threat, manifested as greater distractibility by threat stimuli and enhanced detection of them. Both phenomena were studied in two experiments, using a modified visual search task, in which participants were asked to find single target words (GAD-related, speech-related, neutral, or positive) hidden in matrices made up of distractor words (also GAD-related, speech-related, neutral, or positive). Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) patients, social phobia (SP) patients afraid of giving speeches, and healthy controls participated in the visual search task. GAD patients were slowed by GAD-related distractor words but did not show statistically reliable evidence of enhanced detection of GAD-related target words. SP patients showed neither distraction nor enhancement effects. These results extend previous findings of attentional biases observed with other experimental paradigms.     

Visual search and urban driving under the influence of marijuana and alcohol

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of low doses of marijuana and alcohol, and their combination, on visual search at intersections and on general driving proficiency in the City Driving Test. Sixteen recreational users of alcohol and marijuana (eight males and eight females) were treated with these substances or placebo according to a balanced, 4-way, cross-over, observer- and subject-blind design. On separate evenings, subjects received weight-calibrated doses of THC, alcohol or placebo in each of the following treatment conditions: alcohol placebo + THC placebo, alcohol + THC placebo, THC 100 &mgr;g/kg + alcohol placebo, THC 100 &mgr;g/kg + alcohol. Alcohol doses administered were sufficient for achieving a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of about 0.05 g/dl. Initial drinking preceded smoking by one hour. The City Driving Test commenced 15 minutes after smoking and lasted 45 minutes. The test was conducted over a fixed route within the city limits of Maastricht. An eye movement recording system was mounted on each subject's head for providing relative frequency measures of appropriate visual search at intersections. General driving quality was rated by a licensed driving instructor on a shortened version of the Royal Dutch Tourist Association's Driving Proficiency Test. After placebo treatment subjects searched for traffic approaching from side streets on the right in 84% of all cases. Visual search frequency in these subjects did not change when they were treated with alcohol or marijuana alone. However, when treated with the combination of alcohol and marijuana, the frequency of visual search dropped by 3%. Performance as rated on the Driving Proficiency Scale did not differ between treatments. It was concluded that the effects of low doses of THC (100 &mgr;g/kg) and alcohol (BAC < 0.05 g/dl) on higher-level driving skills as measured in the present study are minimal. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

搜索引擎的个性化发展趋势

 

从用户需求和搜索引擎市场竞争两个方面论述了搜索引擎个性化发展的背景及个性化的内涵，重点分析近年来国内外搜索引擎推出的个性化搜索和个性化服务及其发展趋势。

     

遗传算法与变邻域搜索混合模型在护士排班中的应用

目的在探讨基于层级管理的护士APN排班模型的基础上,引入具有精确的全局搜索能力的遗传算法与变邻域搜索混合模型来解决护士排班过程中人员层级复杂、不同班次人员需求量不同等问题。方法首先,初始化排班表,然后利用遗传算法对初始化的排班表进行搜索,得到一个初步的排班表,最后利用变邻域搜索优化排班表,得到满足要求的排班表。结果使用该混合模型得到的排班表,能满足每日护士的人数需求和每名护士的工作量要求。同时,基于层级管理,各层级护士分开排班,能降低排班难度,在增加护士人员时,效率仍然较高。结论遗传算法与变邻域搜索的混合模型能解决护士排班中的各种复杂问题,是一种符合实际需求的模型。基于此模型来编制护士排班软件,能提升护理工作效率和满意度,便于对护理人员进行量化考核统计分析。     

Optimal marker placement in hadrontherapy: Intelligent optimization strategies with augmented Lagrangian pattern search

PurposeIn high precision photon radiotherapy and in hadrontherapy, it is crucial to minimize the occurrence of geometrical deviations with respect to the treatment plan in each treatment session. To this end, point-based infrared (IR) optical tracking for patient set-up quality assessment is performed. Such tracking depends on external fiducial points placement. The main purpose of our work is to propose a new algorithm based on simulated annealing and augmented Lagrangian pattern search (SAPS), which is able to take into account prior knowledge, such as spatial constraints, during the optimization process.Material and methodsThe SAPS algorithm was tested on data related to head and neck and pelvic cancer patients, and that were fitted with external surface markers for IR optical tracking applied for patient set-up preliminary correction. The integrated algorithm was tested considering optimality measures obtained with Computed Tomography (CT) images (i.e. the ratio between the so-called target registration error and fiducial registration error, TRE/FRE) and assessing the marker spatial distribution. Comparison has been performed with randomly selected marker configuration and with the GETS algorithm (Genetic Evolutionary Taboo Search), also taking into account the presence of organs at risk.ResultsThe results obtained with SAPS highlight improvements with respect to the other approaches: (i) TRE/FRE ratio decreases; (ii) marker distribution satisfies both marker visibility and spatial constraints. We have also investigated how the TRE/FRE ratio is influenced by the number of markers, obtaining significant TRE/FRE reduction with respect to the random configurations, when a high number of markers is used.ConclusionsThe SAPS algorithm is a valuable strategy for fiducial configuration optimization in IR optical tracking applied for patient set-up error detection and correction in radiation therapy, showing that taking into account prior knowledge is valuable in this optimization process. Further work will be focused on the computational optimization of the SAPS algorithm toward fast point-of-care applications.