盆腔囊性肿块超声手术对比及与中医辨证分型关系

本文对８３例患者盆腔囊性肿块超声诊断结果与手术及病理检查进行对比,提高了超声诊断的准确性。同时结合中医辨证分型拟找寻出中医分型与超声诊断的内在联系,以提高中医诊疗水平     

Dyract复合充填材料与夹层技术修复楔形缺损的临床对照研究

目的：探讨Ｄｙｒａｃｔ复合充填材料在牙体修复方面替代夹层技术的可行性。方法：在同一个体上选择条件基本相同的楔形缺损患牙共３２０颗,分别采用Ｄｙｒａｃｔ复合充填材料和夹层技术充填修复,随访观察１８－２４月,并对其疗效进行比较。结果：Ｄｙｒａｃｔ组、夹层技术组分别有３、５颗修复物脱落,两组其余牙外形均完整、无缺损、表面光滑、色泽光亮 ; Ｄｙｒａｃｔ组修复物的脱落率为 １．８７％,边缘密合度失败率为１．８７％,均低于夹层技术组（ Ｐ＞ ０．０５）;两组均无牙髓病变及继发龋发生; Ｄｙｒａｃｔ总失败率为 １．８７％,低于夹层技术组（ Ｐ＞ ０．０５）２结论： Ｄｙｒａｃｔ复合充填材料具有玻璃离子复合树脂夹层技术的功效,在牙体修复方面可替代夹层技术     

Comparison of a Web-Based Dietary Assessment Tool with Software for the Evaluation of Dietary Records

Background

Dietary assessment in clinical practice is performed by means of computer support, either in the form of a web-based tool or software. The aim of the paper is to present the results of the comparison of a Slovenian web-based tool with German software for the evaluation of four-day weighted paper-and-pencil-based dietary records (paper-DRs) in pregnant women.

Methods

A volunteer group of pregnant women (n=63) completed paper-DRs. These records were entered by an experienced research dietitian into a web-based application (Open Platform for Clinical Nutrition, OPEN, http://opkp.si/en, Ljubljana, Slovenia) and software application (Prodi 5.7 Expert plus, Nutri-Science, Stuttgart, Germany, 2011). The results for calculated energy intake, as well as 45 macro- and micronutrient intakes, were statistically compared by using the non-parametric Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The cut-off for Spearman’s rho was set at >0.600.

Results

12 nutritional parameters (energy, carbohydrates, fat, protein, water, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, dietary fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, and stearic acid) were in high correlation (>0.800), 18 in moderate (0.600–0.799), 11 in weak correlation (0.400–0.599), while 5 (arachidonic acid, niacin, alpha-linolenic acid, fluoride, total sugars) did not show any statistical correlation.

Conclusion

Comparison of the results of the evaluation of dietary records using a web-based dietary assessment tool with those using software shows that there is a high correlation for energy and macronutrient content.     

Prospective Relations between Social Comparison Orientation and Weight Loss Outcomes

Abstract

Maintenance of weight loss after behavioral intervention tends to be poor, and there is need for an improved understanding of factors that are associated with successful maintenance. Social comparison is known to be a powerful influence on treatment outcomes for group-based behavioral weight loss programs, but little is known about the role of individual differences in social comparison orientation (i.e., tendency to value comparison information) in this context. The goal of this study was to examine prospective relations between social comparison orientation and long-term weight loss outcomes (percent weight loss and aerobic-intensity physical activity) among participants in behavioral weight loss treatment. Participants (n?=?161, M_Age?=?54, M_BMI?=?34.4?kg/m²) completed a measure of social comparison orientation at pre-treatment baseline. Height and weight were measured in the research center and aerobic-intensity physical activity was assessed via accelerometer at baseline, mid- and end-of-treatment, and at 6 and 12 months post-treatment (representing maintenance). Multilevel models tested prospective relations between comparison orientation and treatment outcomes over time, with emphasis on differences during the post-treatment maintenance phase. Stronger (vs. weaker) general comparison orientation was associated with better maintenance of aerobic-intensity physical activity. However, stronger (vs. weaker) orientation toward comparisons with better-off others (i.e., upward comparison) was associated with less weight loss success during and after treatment. Social comparison orientation thus shows meaningful relations with long-term maintenance of key outcomes in group-based behavioral weight loss treatment, and warrants further investigation in this context.     

A Novel Similarity Learning Method via Relative Comparison for Content-Based Medical Image Retrieval

Nowadays, the huge volume of medical images represents an enormous challenge towards health-care organizations, as it is often hard for clinicians and researchers to manage, access, and share the image database easily. Content-based medical image retrieval (CBMIR) techniques are employed to facilitate the above process. It is known that a few concrete factors, including visual attributes extracted from images, measures encoding the similarity between images, user interaction, etc. play important roles in determining the retrieval performance. This paper concentrates on the similarity learning problem of CBMIR. A novel similarity learning paradigm is proposed via relative comparison, and a large database composed of 5,000 images is utilized to evaluate the retrieval performance. Extensive experimental results and comprehensive statistical analysis demonstrate the superiority of adopting the newly introduced learning paradigm, compared with several conventional supervised and semi-supervised similarity learning methods, in the presented CBMIR application.     

Evaluation and comparison of in-vitro dissolution profiles for different brands of amoxicillin capsules

Background

Amoxicillin is an oral semi-synthetic, β-lactam antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections caused by susceptible micro organisms. It is usually prepared in capsule, tablet and powder for oral suspension form. Solid dosage forms for oral administration pose bioavailability problems related to the absorption process The World Health Organization (WHO) has promoted the use of generic brands in order to make the cost of medicines affordable. Generic substitution could be considered when a generic copy of a reference drug contains identical amounts of the same active ingredient in the same dose formulation and route of administration. However, the presences of generic products those are not interchangeable with that of the innovator and/or with each others have been reported.

Objectives

To evaluate and compare the in-vitro dissolution profiles of different generic brands of amoxicillin capsules with the innovator that are available in Ethiopian market.

Methods

Dissolution profiles for nine brands of amoxicillin capsules contained amoxicillin 500 mg which are available in Ethiopian market were determined using a method from the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP, 2009). The obtained dissolution profile data of the eight brands were evaluated and compared with the innovator brand (Amoxil™) using two different statistical methods: the fit factors (f1 & f2) and the dissolution efficiency (D.E.) model. Most generic brands of amoxicillin capsules (62.5% of the tested brands) are not interchangeable with the innovator brand.

Results

The calculated f1 factor for Brand A and Brand G are 10.1 and 1.1 respectively. However, for the rest six brands the f1 factors are greater than 15. The f2 factor for Brand G is 74.1 and for Brand A is 48.5 which is near to 50. Similarly, the f2 factors for the six brands are less than 50 which support the result of the f1 factors for the dissimilarity of these brands with the innovator brand. The mean dissolution efficiencies as well as the 95% confidence intervals are within ±10% only for two brands, Brand F and Brand G.

Conclusions

Most generic brands of amoxicillin capsules (62.5%) are not interchangeable with the innovator brand (Amoxil™).     

CAD/CAM氧化锆及Empress全瓷冠修复三年临床效果比较

目的:比较CAD/CAM氧化锆及Empress全瓷冠修复3年的临床效果。方法:选择350例患者共838个全冠修复体(其中CAD/CAM氧化锆全冠428颗、Empress铸瓷全冠410颗),平均观察期36.2±5月,随访检查基牙和修复体情况,分别对两组全瓷冠的存留率和修复成功率进行统计学分析。结果:观察期内共有41颗全瓷冠(19颗为氧化锆,22颗为Empress铸瓷)完全失败,需重新制作。氧化锆全瓷冠和Empress铸瓷全冠的存留率分别为95.1%和95.8%,成功率分别为90.7%和91.2%,其差异均无统计学意义。结论:CAD/CAM氧化锆和Empres铸瓷全冠均能满足临床需要,有较好的修复效果。     

In-vivo evaluation of convex array synthetic aperture imaging

This paper presents an in-vivo study of synthetic transmit aperture (STA) imaging in comparison with conventional imaging, evaluating whether STA imaging is feasible in-vivo and whether the image quality obtained is comparable with traditional scanned imaging in terms of penetration depth, spatial resolution, contrast resolution and artifacts. Acquisition was performed using our research scanner RASMUS and a 5.5 MHz convex array transducer. STA imaging was acquired using circular wave emulation by 33-element subapertures and a 20 micros linear FM signal as excitation pulse. For conventional imaging, a 64 element aperture was used in transmit and receive with a 1.5 cycle sinusoid excitation pulse. Conventional and STA images were acquired interleaved, ensuring that the exact same anatomical location was scanned. Image sequences were recorded in real time and processed off-line. Seven male volunteers were scanned abdominally and the resulting images were compared by three medical doctors using randomized blinded presentation. Penetration and image quality were scored and evaluated statistically. Results showed slightly but significantly (0.48 cm, p = 0.008) increased penetration using STA. Image quality was also highly significantly (p < 0.001) increased. Results show that in-vivo ultrasound imaging using STA is feasible for abdominal imaging without severe motion artifacts.