Design and implementation of a distributed teleradiaography system: DIPACS

Medical imaging informatics has origins spanning back over two or more decades. Currently, sharing of radiological images for diagnosis, collaborative and administrative purposes is one of the challenging issues in both medicine and computer science. In this study, we designed and implemented a distributed PACS system, namely DIPACS, for small and medium scale medical networks. DIPACS forms a virtual organization by combining the storage of health centers and providing transparent access to images. In this study, we introduce the DIPACS architecture together with the implementation details.     

Value of maturity models in performance measurement

Over the last 20 years, the field of performance measurement (PM) has evolved from measurement to management. Investigations demonstrated the relevance of PM in management of organisations’ results. Although maturity model concept was widely used, the value of maturity models in PM has not been purposefully investigated. To address this gap, this research formulated three research questions: (1) How do maturity models in the field of performance measurement and management (PM&;M) add value in practice? (2) How do such maturity models compliment and/or replicate the value added by an expert? (3) How do maturity models contribute to the development of the organisation’s PM&;M practices? Using a predefined research protocol, 12 European manufacturing organisations and independent experts were engaged in conducting two separate studies: (1) the experts conducted reviews with 12 companies using a standard business review format; (2) research team adopted one of the available maturity models and facilitated self-assessments with the management teams of the same 12 companies. Results from both the studies were compared and high levels of congruence were identified. The analysis demonstrates that the maturity models with certain characteristics, promote organisational learning as well as enabling efficient and effective assessment of the performance management practices of the organisations.     

Effect of extrusion process on antioxidant activity, total phenolics and β-glucan content of extrudates developed from barley-fruit and vegetable by-products

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of extrusion processing variables on antioxidant activity (AA), total phenolic content (TP) and β-glucan content (BG) of extrudates. Products were prepared by extrusion cooking of barley flour, barley flour–tomato pomace and barley flour–grape pomace blends. Antioxidant activity as measured by the DPPH method was 43.17 ± 0.362, 27.57 ± 0.120 and 82.23 ± 0.785% while TPs, expressed as ferulic acid equivalents, were 5.29 ± 0.126, 4.66 ± 0.023 and 9.15 ± 0.015 mg g⁻¹ dry sample in the extracts obtained from barley flour, tomato and grape pomaces, respectively. Extrusion cooking decreased AA and TP of barley, barley–tomato pomace and barley–grape pomace extrudates. Temperature and screw speed had significant ( P  <   0.05) effect on BGs of barley flour and barley–grape pomace extrudates. However, BG of tomato pomace blend extrudates had significantly ( P  <   0.05) influenced from pomace level only. Results indicated that the content of β-glucan is higher in barley flour than in extrudates of barley flour and pomace blends.     

Experience with continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration in four newborns: A case series and review of the literature

When conventional methods for treating complicated problems such as acute and chronic renal failure or metabolic diseases fail, the therapy of choice is peritoneal dialysis (PD) in neonatal period. However, in cases that involve technical difficulties, such as bulky lesions in the abdomen or complications from previous abdominal surgeries, it is not always possible to place a peritoneal catheter. In such situations, continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) can be effective. This case series presents our experience in 2013 with the administration of CVVHDF to four patients in our neonatal intensive care unit who could not undergo PD for various reasons.     

Effect of simultaneous chemical substitution of A and B sites on the electronic structure of BiFeO3 films grown on BaTiO3/SiO2/Si substrate

Electrical properties and electronic structure of Bi_1?xCa_xFe_1?yMn_yO_3?δ grown by pulsed-laser deposition on BaTiO₃/SiO₂/Si substrate were investigated. Results showed that Ca has drastic effect on symmetry of crystal and electrical poperties of BiFeO₃. On the other hand, Mn revealed to have more radical effect on optical properties and energy gap of the compound. XPS results represented that although Ca tend to decrease Fe valence state, Mn tends to stabilize it at 3+ (at least in this concentrations). UV–visible study yielded bandgap of 2.51–2.81 eV (at 300 K) for different concentrations of Ca and Mn. UV–visible spectra also revealed sub-bandgap defect transitions at 2.2 and 2.4 eV. Slave-particle approach has also been applied to elucidate nature of the metal–insulator transition.     

Effect of chemical substitution on the morphology and optical properties of Bi1−xCaxFeO3 films grown by pulsed-laser deposition

The morphological characteristics as well the optical properties of Ca-doped BiFeO₃ films grown by pulsed-laser deposition technique have been investigated. AFM images revealed that calcium has a radical effect on the surface features of BiFeO₃ films. By utilizing spectrophotometer, transmission behaviour of the films was investigated. Local IV characteristics of the films disclosed about three orders of magnitude enhancement concerning electrical conductivity through Ca doping. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results revealed that Ca can reduce the valence state of iron in the compound.     

Linkage isomerism for 4-methylimidazole and a new coordination mode of pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxylate ligand in {[Cd(pzdc)(4-mim)(5-mim)2]·½H2O}n coordination polymer

A novel one dimensional coordination polymer of Cd(II)-pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxylate with a new coordination mode of pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxylate ligand (pzdc), {[Cd(pzdc)(4-mim)(5-mim)₂]·½H₂O}_n (1) (4(5)-methylimidazole = 4(5)-mim), has been synthesized and characterized by elemental, thermal analysis, IR spectrum and single crystal X-ray diffraction technique. In complex 1, the Cd(II) ion has a distorted octahedral geometry, in which the pzdc moiety acts as a bridging ligand. Linkage isomerism of the coordinated 4(5)-methylimidazole ligand was observed in 1. The two adjacent one-dimensional chains connected by interchain hydrogen bonds among the N-H groups of methylimidazoles and carboxylate oxygens of pzdc, leading to a three-dimensional framework. The hydrogen bonds account for the coexistence of two unique coordination forms of methylimidazoles in the same coordination sphere.     

Testing non-additivity (interaction) in two-way ANOVA tables with no replication

Testing for any significant interaction between two variables depends on the number of replicates in each cell of the two-way table and structure of the interaction. If there is interaction between two factors model of observations include interaction term and is called 'non-additive model' which makes interaction and non-additivity equivalent in terms of meaning. When there are several observations taken at each level combination of two variables, testing non-additivity can easily be done by usual two-way ANOVA method which cannot be used when there is only one observation per cell. For the cases with only one observation per cell, some methods have been developed starting with Tukey's one-degree-of-freedom test in which interaction is supposed to be the product of two factor's effects. There are other methods which are used for different structures of interaction when there is only one observation. In this paper, we review some of these tests. After presenting general methodology for the two-factor linear model with interaction effect and the general two-way ANOVA method when there are n > 1 observations per cell, we present some methods for testing non-additivity when there is only one observation per cell. Finally, we illustrate these methods on examples.     

Streaming of scalable h.264 videos over the Internet

To investigate the benefits of scalable codecs in the case of rate adaptation problem, a streaming system for scalable H.264 videos has been implemented. The system considers congestion level in the network and buffer status at the client during adaptation process. The rate adaptation algorithm is content adaptive. It selects an appropriate substream from the video file by taking into account the motion dynamics of video. The performance of the system has been tested under congestion-free and congestion scenarios. The performance results indicate that the system reacts to congestion properly and can be used for Internet video streaming where losses occur unpredictably.

68Ga-Labelled Tropane Analogues for the Visualization of the Dopaminergic System

The development of radiometal-labelled pharmaceuticals for neuroimaging could offer great potential due to easier handling during labelling and availability through radionuclide generator systems. Nonetheless, to date, no such tracers are available for positron emission tomography, primarily owing to the challenge of crossing the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and loss of affinity through chelator attachment. We have prepared a variety of ⁶⁸Ga-labelled phenyltropanes showing that, through a simple hydrocarbon-linker, it is possible to introduce a chelator onto the lead structure while maintaining its high affinity for hDAT (human dopamine transporter) and simultaneously achieving adequate lipophilicity. One of the candidates, [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-HBED-hexadiyne-tropane, showed an IC₅₀ value of 66 nM, together with a log D_7.4 of 0.96. A μPET study in a hemi-parkinsonian rat model showed a fast wash-out of the tracer, and no specific uptake in the brain, thus implying an inability to penetrate the BBB.