The effect of dance training on joint mobility,muscle flexibility,speed and agility in young cross-country skiers--a prospective controlled intervention study

We evaluated a short-term (3 months) and a long-term (8 months) effect of dance training on joint mobility and muscle flexibility of the spine, hip and ankle and on speed and agility in young cross-country skiers. Twenty elite cross-country skiers - aged 12-15 years - participated in the study. Five males and five females received dance training (intervention group) and five males and five females did not dance (reference group). Joint mobility and muscle flexibility of the spine, hip and ankle joints were measured using a goniometer, a kyphometer, a measuring tape and a ruler. Two sports-related functional tests - the slalom-test and the hurdle-test - were also performed. These measurements/tests were performed before the start of the dancing period and after 3 and 8 months. The subjects from the intervention group increased their speed with 0.3 s after 3 (P = 0.05) and 8 months (P = 0.02), respectively, when measured with the slalom-test. They also improved their speed and agility according to the hurdle-test after 3 months with 0.8 s (P = 0.000) and 8 months with 0.6 s (P = 0.01). Furthermore, they increased flexion-extension of the thoracic spine with 7.5 degrees after 3 months (P = 0.05) and with 9 degrees degrees after 8 months (P = 0.03) and lateral flexion of the spine with 0.04 m (P = 0.005) and 0.03 m (P = 0.02) after 3 and 8 months, respectively. The reference group was impaired or unchanged in the studied parameters after both 3 and 8 months. We conclude that dance training has a positive effect on speed and agility and on joint mobility and muscle flexibility in flexion-extension and lateral flexion of the spine in young cross-country skiers.     

Perception of breast cancer: eye-position analysis of mammogram interpretation

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE: The author performed this study to determine how image-based elements are translated into decisions by radiologists with different levels of experience in the reading of mammograms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three full-time mammographers and four radiology residents read 40 two-view mammogram cases. The observers' eye position was tracked while they searched the mammograms for malignancies. Spatial frequency analysis was performed to relate what the observers reported with where they looked. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found between lesion-containing areas that attracted visual attention and were correctly interpreted and those that were visually inspected but not reported. In addition, an artificial neural network was successfully trained to map the image characteristics in the visually selected areas on a mammogram and to linkthem to a likely decision by the observer. CONCLUSION: Spatial frequency analysis can be used to derive trends for how mammographers and radiology residents will respond to mammograms.     

Chest radiograph interpretation by medical students

AIM: To assess the ability of final year medical students to interpret conventional chest radiographs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten conventional chest radiographs were selected from a teaching hospital radiology department library that were good radiological examples of common conditions. All were conditions that a medical student should be expected to recognize by the end of their training. One normal radiograph was included. The radiographs were shown to 52 final year medical students who were asked to describe their findings. RESULTS: The median score achieved was 12.5 out of 20 (range 6-18). There was no difference between the median scores of male and female students (12.5 and 12.3, respectively, p=0.82) but male students were more likely to be certain of their answers than female students (median certainty scores 23.0 and 14.0, respectively). The overall degree of certainty was low. On no radiograph were more than 25% of students definite about their answer. Students had received little formal radiology teaching (2-42 h, median 21) and few expressed an interest in radiology as a career. Only two (3.8%) students thought they were good at interpreting chest radiographs, 17 (32.7%) thought they were bad or awful. CONCLUSION: Medical students reaching the end of their training do not perform well at interpreting simple chest radiographs. They lack confidence and have received little formal radiological tuition. Perhaps as a result, few are interested in radiology as a career, which is a matter for concern in view of the current shortage of radiologists in the UK.     

Histological validation of diagnoses of thyroid cancer among adults in the registries of Belarus and the Ukraine

In order to evaluate the diagnostic reliability of the thyroid cancers listed in adult registries from the Ukraine and Belarus, a histological review was organised of 327 randomly selected thyroid carcinoma cases diagnosed between 1980 and 1999. A final diagnosis was reached at a 5-day consensus conference by six pathologists who met around a multiheaded microscope. The study concluded with a comparison between the final diagnosis and the initial diagnosis. The pathologists agreed with the initial diagnosis of malignancy in 286 cases (88%). A final diagnosis of papillary, follicular or medullary thyroid carcinoma was reached in 86, 4, and 6% of the cases respectively. In 2.8% of the cases reviewed, diagnostic discrepancies persisted. The percentage of agreement between the final diagnosis and the initial diagnosis was 93%, with a weighted kappa-statistic of 0.61 (confidence interval 95% (CI(95%)): [0.45-0.77]). In all, 89% of the 286 confirmed cancer cases were in agreement for the type of cancer, with a kappa-statistic of 0.56 (CI(95%): [0.43-0.69]). The level of agreement differed according to cancer categories, with concordance rates of 94, 40 and 33% for papillary, follicular and medullary thyroid carcinomas respectively. The low prevalence of follicular thyroid carcinomas in the adult population studied calls for further exploration. The discrepancies and classification difficulties encountered were analysed.     

Diagnostic and prognostic prediction using gene expression profiles in high-dimensional microarray data

DNA microarrays are a potentially powerful technology for improving diagnostic classification, treatment selection and therapeutics development. There are, however, many potential pitfalls in the use of microarrays that result in false leads and erroneous conclusions. This paper provides a review of the key features to be observed in developing diagnostic and prognostic classification systems based on gene expression profiling and some of the pitfalls to be aware of in reading reports of microarray-based studies.     

Oral cancer knowledge and opinions among Maryland nurse practitioners

OBJECTIVES: As part of a Maryland statewide oral cancer needs assessment, a census of adult and family practice nurse practitioners was conducted to determine their knowledge of oral cancer risk factors, diagnostic procedures and related opinions. METHODS: Information was obtained through a pretested, 40-item, self-administered mail questionnaire of 389 nurse practitioners. A second complete mailing was sent three weeks after the initial mailing; two postal card reminders were mailed at 10 and 17 days after the second mailing, which yielded a response rate of 56 percent. RESULTS: Most nurse practitioners identified the use of tobacco, alcohol, and prior oral cancer lesions as real risk factors. But only 35 percent identified exposure to the sun as a risk for lip cancer. Respondents were not overly knowledgeable about the early signs of oral cancer, most common forms, or sites for oral cancer. Only 19 percent believed their knowledge of oral cancer was current. Nurse practitioners who reported having a continuing education course on oral cancer within the past two to five years were 3.1 times more likely to have a high score on knowledge of risk factors and 2.9 times more likely to have a high score on knowledge of both risk factors and of diagnostic procedures than were those who had never had a continuing education course. CONCLUSIONS: The reported knowledge of oral cancer, in conjunction with opinions about level of knowledge and training, point to a need for systematic educational updates in oral cancer prevention and early detection.     

Problem in diagnostic imaging: Mediastinal venous anomalies

This article presents as a diagnostic problem a rare mediastinal venous anomaly detected in a patient with a primary intrathoracic tumor. Its appearance on computed tomography (CT) is discussed and compared with that of other developmental mediastinal venous anomalies. The individual CT characteristics of these anomalies and their clinical significance with respect to the management of patients with cancer are also reviewed.     

The predictive value of diagnostic imaging for histological lesions of the upper poles in duplex systems with ureteroceles

OBJECTIVE: To compare the diagnostic imaging findings with the histological lesions in upper pole nephrectomy (UPN) specimens of duplex system ureteroceles, using renal ultrasonography (US) and nuclear renal scintigraphy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 1992 and 2000, 86 patients with a ureterocele in a duplex system underwent surgery. The results from US were reviewed in 84 patients by a radiologist, for echogenicity, parenchymal thinning and hydronephrosis; 77 nuclear renal scans describing the differential function of the upper poles were also reviewed. Fifty-five patients underwent UPN (25 antenatal, 30 postnatal; 18 intravesical, 37 extravesical) and the specimens were available for independent review by a pathologist, describing five histological categories, i.e. chronic interstitial inflammation, fibrosis, tubular atrophy, glomerulosclerosis and dysplasia. Histological lesions were categorized as severe (> 25%) or minimal (相似文献