Medical image computing in diagnosis and intervention of spinal diseases

Spinal image analysis and computer assisted intervention have emerged as new and independent research areas, due to the importance of treatment of spinal diseases, increasing availability of spinal imaging, and advances in analytics and navigation tools. Among others, multiple modality spinal image analysis and spinal navigation tools have emerged as two keys in this new area. We believe that further focused research in these two areas will lead to a much more efficient and accelerated research path, avoiding detours that exist in other applications, such as in brain and heart.

Computer-Assisted Orthopedic Surgery: Current State and Future Perspective

Introduced about two decades ago, computer-assisted orthopedic surgery (CAOS) has emerged as a new and independent area, due to the importance of treatment of musculoskeletal diseases in orthopedics and traumatology, increasing availability of different imaging modalities, and advances in analytics and navigation tools. The aim of this paper is to present the basic elements of CAOS devices and to review state-of-the-art examples of different imaging modalities used to create the virtual representations, of different position tracking devices for navigation systems, of different surgical robots, of different methods for registration and referencing, and of CAOS modules that have been realized for different surgical procedures. Future perspectives will also be outlined.

Frequencies and risk factors for bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw in cancer patients: A matched case-control study

Bisphosphonates represent a unique class of drugs that effectively treat and prevent a variety of bone-related disorders including metastatic bone disease and osteoporosis. High tolerance and high efficacy rates quickly ranked bisphosphonates as the standard of care for bone-related diseases. However, in the early 2000s, case reports began to surface that linked bisphosphonates with osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ). Since that time, studies conducted have corroborated the linkage. However, as with most disease states, many factors can contribute to the onset of disease. The aim of this study was to determine which comorbid factors presented an increased risk for developing ONJ in cancer patients.^ Using a case-control study design, investigators used a combination of ICD-9 codes and chart review to identify confirmed cases of ONJ at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC). Each case was then matched to five controls based on age, gender, race/ethnicity, and primary cancer diagnosis. Data querying and chart review provided information on variables of interest. These variables included bisphosphonate exposure, glucocorticoids exposure, smoking history, obesity, and diabetes. Statistical analysis was conducted using PASW (Predictive Analytics Software) Statistics, Version 18 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois).^ One hundred twelve (112) cases were identified as confirmed cases of ONJ. Variables were run using univariate logistic regression to determine significance (p < .05); significant variables were included in the final conditional logistic regression model. Concurrent use of bisphosphonates and glucocorticoids (OR, 18.60; CI, 8.85 to 39.12; p < .001), current smokers (OR, 2.52; CI, 1.21 to 5.25; p = .014), and presence of diabetes (OR, 1.84; CI, 1.06 to 3.20; p = .030) were found to increase the risk for developing ONJ. Obesity was not associated significantly with ONJ development.^ In this study, cancer patients that received bisphosphonates as part of their therapeutic regimen were found to have an 18-fold increase in their risk of developing ONJ. Other factors included smoking and diabetes. More studies examining the concurrent use of glucocorticoids and bisphosphonates may be able to strengthen any correlations.^

Inorganic carbon and geochemistry measurements from landfast sea ice in Resolute Passage, Nunavut, Canada, as part of the Arctic-ICE project, May - June 2010

We conducted a six-week investigation of the sea ice inorganic carbon system during the winter-spring transition in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Samples for the determination of sea ice geochemistry were collected in conjunction with physical and biological parameters as part of the 2010 Arctic-ICE (Arctic - Ice-Covered Ecosystem in a Rapidly Changing Environment) program, a sea ice-based process study in Resolute Passage, Nunavut. The goal of Arctic-ICE was to determine the physical-biological processes controlling the timing of primary production in Arctic landfast sea ice and to better understand the influence of these processes on the drawdown and release of climatically active gases. The field study was conducted from 1 May to 21 June, 2010.

La Reforma Universitaria como Kulturkampf : La lectura gramsciana de Juan Carlos Portantiero

En las últimas décadas hemos asistido a un renovado interés por la temprana recepción argentina de las categorías analíticas de Antonio Gramsci. Compartiendo ese interés, el presente trabajo se propone analizar las novedades introducidas por la lectura gramsciana de la Reforma Universitaria que propone Juan Carlos Portantiero en la década del setenta. Para ello, el trabajo comienza por ubicar las tesis de Estudiantes y política en América Latina. El proceso de la reforma universitaria (1918-1938) en el marco de las interpretaciones sobre la Reforma, para luego explicitar el proyecto político-intelectual en el que participa Portantiero en el momento de elaboración de su lectura, y concentrarse en las principales tesis del autor

La Reforma Universitaria como Kulturkampf : La lectura gramsciana de Juan Carlos Portantiero

En las últimas décadas hemos asistido a un renovado interés por la temprana recepción argentina de las categorías analíticas de Antonio Gramsci. Compartiendo ese interés, el presente trabajo se propone analizar las novedades introducidas por la lectura gramsciana de la Reforma Universitaria que propone Juan Carlos Portantiero en la década del setenta. Para ello, el trabajo comienza por ubicar las tesis de Estudiantes y política en América Latina. El proceso de la reforma universitaria (1918-1938) en el marco de las interpretaciones sobre la Reforma, para luego explicitar el proyecto político-intelectual en el que participa Portantiero en el momento de elaboración de su lectura, y concentrarse en las principales tesis del autor

La Reforma Universitaria como Kulturkampf : La lectura gramsciana de Juan Carlos Portantiero

En las últimas décadas hemos asistido a un renovado interés por la temprana recepción argentina de las categorías analíticas de Antonio Gramsci. Compartiendo ese interés, el presente trabajo se propone analizar las novedades introducidas por la lectura gramsciana de la Reforma Universitaria que propone Juan Carlos Portantiero en la década del setenta. Para ello, el trabajo comienza por ubicar las tesis de Estudiantes y política en América Latina. El proceso de la reforma universitaria (1918-1938) en el marco de las interpretaciones sobre la Reforma, para luego explicitar el proyecto político-intelectual en el que participa Portantiero en el momento de elaboración de su lectura, y concentrarse en las principales tesis del autor

Properties of seawater (partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2)) from a ProOceanus CO2-Pro sensor mounted on the continuous surface water sampling system during the Tara Oceans expedition 2009-2013

The Tara Oceans Expedition (2009-2013) sampled the world oceans on board a 36 m long schooner, collecting environmental data and organisms from viruses to planktonic metazoans for later analyses using modern sequencing and state-of-the-art imaging technologies. Tara Oceans Data are particularly suited to study the genetic, morphological and functional diversity of plankton. The present data set provides continuous measurements of partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2), using a ProOceanus CO2-Pro instrument mounted on the flowthrough system. This automatic sensor is fitted with an equilibrator made of gas permeable silicone membrane and an internal detection loop with a non-dispersive infrared detector of PPSystems SBA-4 CO2 analyzer. A zero-CO2 baseline is provided for the subsequent measurements circulating the internal gas through a CO2 absorption chamber containing soda lime or Ascarite. The frequency of this automatic zero point calibration was set to be 24 hours. All data recorded during zeroing processes were discarded with the 15-minute data after each calibration. The output of CO2-Pro is the mole fraction of CO2 in the measured water and the pCO2 is obtained using the measured total pressure of the internal wet gas. The fugacity of CO2 (fCO2) in the surface seawater, whose difference with the atmospheric CO2 fugacity is proportional to the air-sea CO2 fluxes, is obtained by correcting the pCO2 for non-ideal CO2 gas concentration according to Weiss (1974). The fCO2 computed using CO2-Pro measurements was corrected to the sea surface condition by considering the temperature effect on fCO2 (Takahashi et al., 1993). The surface seawater observations that were initially estimated with a 15 seconds frequency were averaged every 5-min cycle. The performance of CO2-Pro was adjusted by comparing the sensor outputs against the thermodynamic carbonate calculation of pCO2 using the carbonic system constants of Millero et al. (2006) from the determinations of total inorganic carbon (CT ) and total alkalinity (AT ) in discrete samples collected at sea surface. AT was determined using an automated open cell potentiometric titration (Haraldsson et al. 1997). CT was determined with an automated coulometric titration (Johnson et al. 1985; 1987), using the MIDSOMMA system (Mintrop, 2005). fCO2 data are flagged according to the WOCE guidelines following Pierrot et al. (2009) identifying recommended values and questionable measurements giving additional information about the reasons of the questionability.

"Alexander von Humboldt als internationaler Publizist. Zur Edition seiner sämtlichen Schriften"

Alexander von Humboldt veröffentlichte rund 800 Aufsätze, Artikel und Essays in zahlreichen Wissensgebieten und diversen Sprachen. Die Verteilung ihrer Publikati-onsorte entspricht der Reichweite seiner Reisen und der globalen Perspektive seiner Forschungen. Die Vielfalt seiner Co-Autoren und Kooperationspartner spiegelt seine Multidisziplinarität. Humboldts umfangreiches publizistisches Werk dokumentiert sei-ne internationale Bedeutung als Wissenschaftler, Reiseschriftsteller und Kulturver-mittler. An der Universität Bern entsteht die erste Gesamtedition dieses Humboldt-schen Œuvres, die 2019 zum 250. Geburtstag des Autors vorliegen soll. Ihr Ziel ist Systematisierung, Dokumentation und Erschließung des Corpus – in einer Buchausgabe mit Text- und Apparatbänden und in einer digitalen Edition mit computerphilo-logischen Werkzeugen. Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), Aufsätze und Essays, internationale Publizistik, Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Editionsphilologie.