The Fry method applied to an augen orthogneiss: Problems and results

The application of the Fry method to measure strain in deformed porphyritic granites is discussed. This method requires that the distribution of markers has to satisfy at least two conditions. It has to be homogeneous and isotropic. Statistics on point distribution with the help of a Morishita diagram can easily test homogeneity. Isotropy can be checked with a cumulative histogram of angles between points. Application of these tests to undeformed (Mte Capanne granite, Elba) and to deformed (Randa orthogneiss, Alps of Switzerland) porphyritic granite reveals that their K-feldspars phenocrysts both satisfy these conditions and can be used as strain markers with the Fry method. Other problems are also examined. One is the possible distribution of deformation on discrete shear-bands. Providing several tests are met, we conclude that the Fry method can be used to estimate strain in deformed porphyritic granites. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a Method to Determine Pavement Damage Due to Detours, Project 02-105, Apirl 2005

The research presented in this report provides the basis for the development of a new procedure to be used by the Iowa DOT and cities and counties in the state to deal with detours. Even though the project initially focused on investigating new tools to determine condition and compensation, the focus was shifted to traffic and the gas tax method to set the basis for the new procedure. It was concluded that the condition-based approach, even though accurate and consistent condition evaluations can be achieved, is not feasible or cost effective because of the current practices of data collection (two-year cycle) and also the logistics of the procedure (before and after determination). The gas tax method provides for a simple, easy to implement, and consistent approach to dealing with compensation for use of detours. It removes the subjectivity out of the current procedures and provides for a more realistic (traffic based) approach to the compensation determination.

A simplified method of stabilization and hemostasis for minimally invasive coronary artery bypass.

We describe a simple method to achieve both hemostasis and stabilization of the left anterior descending coronary artery during minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting. This technique allows the surgeon to perform a precise anastomosis of the left internal mammary artery to the target vessel on a beating heart.

Three-dimensional morphological analysis of intracranial aneurysms: a fully automated method for aneurysm sac isolation and quantification

Morphological descriptors are practical and essential biomarkers for diagnosis andtreatment selection for intracranial aneurysm management according to the current guidelinesin use. Nevertheless, relatively little work has been dedicated to improve the three-dimensionalquanti cation of aneurysmal morphology, automate the analysis, and hence reduce the inherentintra- and inter-observer variability of manual analysis. In this paper we propose a methodologyfor the automated isolation and morphological quanti cation of saccular intracranial aneurysmsbased on a 3D representation of the vascular anatomy.

A method for extracting semantic information from on-line art music discussion forums

In this paper a method for extracting semantic informationfrom online music discussion forums is proposed. The semantic relations are inferred from the co-occurrence of musical concepts in forum posts, using network analysis. The method starts by defining a dictionary of common music terms in an art music tradition. Then, it creates a complex network representation of the online forum by matchingsuch dictionary against the forum posts. Once the complex network is built we can study different network measures, including node relevance, node co-occurrence andterm relations via semantically connecting words. Moreover, we can detect communities of concepts inside the forum posts. The rationale is that some music terms are more related to each other than to other terms. All in all, this methodology allows us to obtain meaningful and relevantinformation from forum discussions.

A Method Towards the Fully Automatic Merging of Lexical Resources

Lexical Resources are a critical component for Natural Language Processing applications. However, the high cost of comparing and merging different resources has been a bottleneck to obtain richer resources and a broader range of potential uses for a significant number of languages. With the objective of reducing cost by eliminating human intervention, we present a new method towards the automatic merging of resources. This method includes both, the automatic mapping of resources involved to a common format and merging them, once in this format. This paper presents how we have addressed the merging of two verb subcategorization frame lexica for Spanish, but our method will be extended to cover other types of Lexical Resources. The achieved results, that almost replicate human work, demonstrate the feasibility of the approach.

Cost-effectiveness of temozolomide for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme: a report from the EORTC 26981/22981 NCI-C CE3 Intergroup Study.

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to compare the cost-effectiveness of concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme versus initial radiotherapy alone from a public health care perspective. METHODS: The economic evaluation was performed alongside a randomized, multicenter, phase 3 trial. The primary endpoint of the trial was overall survival. Costs included all direct medical costs. Economic data were collected prospectively for a subgroup of 219 patients (38%). Unit costs for drugs, procedures, laboratory and imaging, radiotherapy, and hospital costs per day were collected from the official national reimbursement lists based on 2004. For the cost-effectiveness analysis, survival was expressed as 2.5 years restricted mean estimates. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was constructed. Confidence intervals for the ICER were calculated using the Fieller method and bootstrapping. RESULTS: The difference in 2.5 years restricted mean survival between the treatment arms was 0.25 life-years and the ICER was euro37,361 per life-year gained with a 95% confidence interval (CI) ranging from euro19,544 to euro123,616. The area between the survival curves of the treatment arms suggests an increase of the overall survival gain for a longer follow-up. An extrapolation of the overall survival per treatment arm and imputation of costs for the extrapolated survival showed a substantial reduction in ICER. CONCLUSIONS: The ICER of euro37,361 per life-year gained is a conservative estimate. We concluded that despite the high TMZ acquisition costs, the costs per life-year gained are comparable to accepted first-line treatment with chemotherapy in patients with cancer.

Comparing deep sclerectomy with collagen implant to the new method of very deep sclerectomy with collagen implant: a single-masked randomized controlled trial.

AIM: To prospectively study the intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering effect and safety of the new method of very deep sclerectomy with collagen implant (VDSCI) compared with standard deep sclerectomy with collagen implant (DSCI). METHODS: The trial involved 50 eyes of 48 patients with medically uncontrolled primary and secondary open-angle glaucoma, randomized to undergo either VDSCI procedure (25 eyes) or DSCI procedure (25 eyes). Follow-up examinations were performed before surgery and after surgery at day 1, at week 1, at months 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months. Ultrasound biomicroscopy was performed at 3 and 12 months. RESULTS: Mean follow-up period was 18.6+/-5.9 (VDSCI) and 18.9+/-3.6 (DSCI) months (P=NS). Mean preoperative IOP was 22.4+/-7.4 mm Hg for VDSCI and 20.4+/-4.4 mm Hg for DSCI eyes (P=NS). Mean postoperative IOP was 3.9+/-2.3 (VDSCI) and 6.3+/-4.3 (DSCI) (P<0.05) at day 1, and 12.2+/-3.9 (VDSCI) and 13.3+/-3.4 (DSCI) (P=NS) at month 24. At the last visit, the complete success rate (defined as an IOP of < or =18 mm Hg and a percentage drop of at least 20%, achieved without medication) was 57% in VDSCI and 62% in DSCI eyes (P=NS) ultrasound biomicroscopy at 12 months showed a mean volume of the subconjunctival filtering bleb of 3.9+/-4.2 mm3 (VDSCI) and 6.8+/-7.5 mm3 (DSCI) (P=0.426) and 5.2+/-3.6 mm3 (VDSCI) and 5.4+/-2.9 mm3 (DSCI) (P=0.902) for the intrascleral space. CONCLUSIONS: Very deep sclerectomy seems to provide stable and good control of IOP at 2 years of follow-up with few postoperative complications similar to standard deep sclerectomy with the collagen implant.

Paediatric cardiac CT examinations: impact of the iterative reconstruction method ASIR on image quality--preliminary findings.

BACKGROUND: Radiation dose exposure is of particular concern in children due to the possible harmful effects of ionizing radiation. The adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR) method is a promising new technique that reduces image noise and produces better overall image quality compared with routine-dose contrast-enhanced methods. OBJECTIVE: To assess the benefits of ASIR on the diagnostic image quality in paediatric cardiac CT examinations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four paediatric radiologists based at two major hospitals evaluated ten low-dose paediatric cardiac examinations (80 kVp, CTDI(vol) 4.8-7.9 mGy, DLP 37.1-178.9 mGy·cm). The average age of the cohort studied was 2.6 years (range 1 day to 7 years). Acquisitions were performed on a 64-MDCT scanner. All images were reconstructed at various ASIR percentages (0-100%). For each examination, radiologists scored 19 anatomical structures using the relative visual grading analysis method. To estimate the potential for dose reduction, acquisitions were also performed on a Catphan phantom and a paediatric phantom. RESULTS: The best image quality for all clinical images was obtained with 20% and 40% ASIR (p < 0.001) whereas with ASIR above 50%, image quality significantly decreased (p < 0.001). With 100% ASIR, a strong noise-free appearance of the structures reduced image conspicuity. A potential for dose reduction of about 36% is predicted for a 2- to 3-year-old child when using 40% ASIR rather than the standard filtered back-projection method. CONCLUSION: Reconstruction including 20% to 40% ASIR slightly improved the conspicuity of various paediatric cardiac structures in newborns and children with respect to conventional reconstruction (filtered back-projection) alone.

Trabecular bone score: a noninvasive analytical method based upon the DXA image.

The trabecular bone score (TBS) is a gray-level textural metric that can be extracted from the two-dimensional lumbar spine dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) image. TBS is related to bone microarchitecture and provides skeletal information that is not captured from the standard bone mineral density (BMD) measurement. Based on experimental variograms of the projected DXA image, TBS has the potential to discern differences between DXA scans that show similar BMD measurements. An elevated TBS value correlates with better skeletal microstructure; a low TBS value correlates with weaker skeletal microstructure. Lumbar spine TBS has been evaluated in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. The following conclusions are based upon publications reviewed in this article: 1) TBS gives lower values in postmenopausal women and in men with previous fragility fractures than their nonfractured counterparts; 2) TBS is complementary to data available by lumbar spine DXA measurements; 3) TBS results are lower in women who have sustained a fragility fracture but in whom DXA does not indicate osteoporosis or even osteopenia; 4) TBS predicts fracture risk as well as lumbar spine BMD measurements in postmenopausal women; 5) efficacious therapies for osteoporosis differ in the extent to which they influence the TBS; 6) TBS is associated with fracture risk in individuals with conditions related to reduced bone mass or bone quality. Based on these data, lumbar spine TBS holds promise as an emerging technology that could well become a valuable clinical tool in the diagnosis of osteoporosis and in fracture risk assessment.

Watching Corn Grow: A Hedonic Study of the Iowa Landscape, april 2007

Landscape amenities can be scarce in places with large areas of open space. Intensely farmed areas with high levels of monocropping and livestock production are akin to developed open space areas and do not provide many services in terms of landscape amenities. Open space in the form of farmland is plentiful, but parks and their services are in short supply. This issue is of particular importance for public policy because it is closely linked to the impact of externalities caused by agricultural activities and to the indirect effects of land use dynamics. This study looks at the impact of landscape amenities on rural residential property values in five counties in North Central Iowa using a hedonic pricing model based on geographic information systems. The effect of cropland, pasture, forest, and developed land as land uses surrounding the property is considered, as well as the impact of proximity to recreational areas. The study also includes the effect of other disamenities, such as livestock facilities and quarries, which can be considered part of the developed open space and are a common feature of the Iowa landscape.