A new technique for simultaneous validation of two manual nonmercury auscultatory sphygmomanometers (A;D UM-101 and Accoson Greenlight 300) based on the International protocol

Auscultatory nonmercury manual devices seem good alternatives for the mercury sphygmomanometers in the clinic and for research settings, but individual internal validation of each device is time-consuming. The aim of this study was to validate a new technique capable of testing two devices simultaneously, based on the International protocol of the European Society of Hypertension.

64-section multidetector CT of the upper abdomen: optimization of a saline chaser injection protocol for improved vascular and parenchymal contrast enhancement

To prospectively investigate the effect of varying the injection flow rates of a saline chaser on vascular and parenchymal contrast enhancement during abdominal MDCT.

Evaluation of a bolus/infusion protocol for 11C-ABP688, a PET tracer for mGluR5

(11)C-ABP-688 is a selective tracer for the mGluR5 receptor. Its kinetics is fast and thus favourable for an equilibrium approach to determine receptor-related parameters. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the pattern of the (11)C-ABP688 uptake using a bolus-plus-infusion (B/I) protocol at early time points corresponds to the perfusion and at a later time point to the total distribution volume. METHODS: A bolus and a B/I study (1 h each) was performed in five healthy male volunteers. With the B/I protocol, early and late scans were normalized to gray matter, cerebellum and white matter. The same normalization was done on the maps of the total distribution volume (Vt) and K(1) which were calculated in the study with bolus only injection and the Logan method (Vt) and a two-tissue compartment model (K(1)). RESULTS: There was an excellent correlation close to the identity line between the pattern of the late uptake in the B/I study and Vt of the bolus-only study for all three normalizations. The pattern of the early uptake in the B/I study correlated well with the K(1) maps, but only when normalized to gray matter and cerebellum, not to white matter. CONCLUSION: It is demonstrated that with a B/I protocol the (11)C-ABP688 distribution in late scans reflects the pattern of the total distribution volume and is therefore a measure for the density pattern of mGluR5. The early scans following injection are related to blood flow, although not in a fully quantitative manner. The advantage of the B/I protocol is that no arterial blood sampling is required, which is advantageous in clinical studies.

A smooth transition protocol for patients with multifocal motor neuropathy going from intravenous to subcutaneous immunoglobulin therapy: an open-label proof-of-concept study

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is the first-line therapy for multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN). This open-label multi-centre study (NCT00701662) assessed the efficacy, safety, and convenience of subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIG) in patients with MMN over 6 months, as an alternative to IVIG. Eight MMN patients (42-66 years), on stable IVIG dosing, received weekly SCIG at doses equivalent to previous IVIG using a "smooth transition protocol". Primary efficacy endpoint was the change from baseline to week 24 in muscle strength. Disability, motor function, and health-related quality of life (HRQL) endpoints were also assessed. One patient deteriorated despite dose increase and was withdrawn. Muscle strength, disability, motor function, and health status were unchanged in all seven study completers who rated home treatment as extremely good. Four experienced 18 adverse events, of which only two were moderate. This study suggests that MMN patients with stable clinical course on regular IVIG can be switched to SCIG at the same monthly dose without deterioration and with a sustained overall improvement in HRQL.

MaxMAC: a Maximally Traffic-Adaptive MAC Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Energy efficiency is a major concern in the design of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and their communication protocols. As the radio transceiver typically accounts for a major portion of a WSN node’s power consumption, researchers have proposed Energy-Efficient Medium Access (E2-MAC) protocols that switch the radio transceiver off for a major part of the time. Such protocols typically trade off energy-efficiency versus classical quality of service parameters (throughput, latency, reliability). Today’s E2-MAC protocols are able to deliver little amounts of data with a low energy footprint, but introduce severe restrictions with respect to throughput and latency. Regrettably, they yet fail to adapt to varying traffic load at run-time. This paper presents MaxMAC, an E2-MAC protocol that targets at achieving maximal adaptivity with respect to throughput and latency. By adaptively tuning essential parameters at run-time, the protocol reaches the throughput and latency of energy-unconstrained CSMA in high-traffic phases, while still exhibiting a high energy-efficiency in periods of sparse traffic. The paper compares the protocol against a selection of today’s E2-MAC protocols and evaluates its advantages and drawbacks.