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The success of any business in the present scenario depends on the utilization of data effectively. Access of same data again for acquiring correct data for business analytics and each organization uses different sources to collect data hence most of the data are duplicated. This duplicated data increases the desirable data extraction time as well as the probability of errors. Data duplication is the major challenge in modern business. Data duplication may occur when data is collected from different sources. Data deduplication is generally called single-instance storage. This is the procedure that focuses to identify the duplicate copies and eliminates those duplicate copies and reduces the storage overhead. Many techniques are used in data deduplication for determining a single instance of stored data. If deduplication technology is used in the appropriate situation, it can help in a great impact and provide a better solution. This chapter provides a comprehensive review of different techniques and existing mechanisms that are used for data deduplication.

Background: Survival in transfusion dependent thalassemia is closely linked to iron overload with severe cardiac iron causing heart failure. MRI guided chelation improves survival in high income countries. We explored the use of rapid MRI to guide therapy in a Lower Middle Income Country (LMIC), India, via locally organized thalassemia patient medical camps. Methods: Rapid cardiac MRI (rCMR) was implemented at two sites with clinical assessment and therapy recommendations based on rCMR findings. Investigations and clinical reassessment were repeated at 13 months. Findings: The baseline visit was attended by 103 patients, the second by 86. Average time of scanning was 10 minutes. At baseline 29% had a cardiac T2* = 17ms). At 13 months more patients were taking 2 oral chelators (21% to 37%, p

Outcome-based education (OBE) provides effective ways for enhancing the employability of students enrolled in any program using attainment of predetermined outcomes. Literature survey reveals that OBE-based approaches to education adopt various methods for assessing direct and indirect course outcomes designed for achieving intended program outcomes, program educational objectives, mission and vision of institute. This chapter disseminates knowledge scientifically observed as analytical ways to efficient implementation of outcome-based education in various countries and compare the same for identification of effectiveness. The goals of OBE are achievement of similarities between student expectation and knowledge received through course items delivery of a teacher based on student-centred learning model, comparison of attainment of outcomes at institute and individual level, involvement of students for self-learning.

Objective Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) with its new quantitative mapping techniques has proved to be an essential diagnostic tool for detecting myocardial injury associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. This systematic review sought to assess the important imaging features on CMR in patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Materials and methods We performed a systematic literature review within the PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, and WHO databases for articles describing the CMR findings in COVID-19 patients. Results A total of 34 studies comprising 199 patients were included in the final qualitative synthesis. Of the CMRs 21% were normal. Myocarditis (40.2%) was the most prevalent diagnosis. T1 (109/150; 73%) and T2 (91/144; 63%) mapping abnormalities, edema on T2/STIR (46/90; 51%), and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) (85/199; 43%) were the most common imaging findings. Perfusion deficits (18/21; 85%) and extracellular volume mapping abnormalities (21/40; 52%), pericardial effusion (43/175; 24%), and pericardial LGE (22/100; 22%) were also seen. LGE was most commonly seen in the subepicardial location (81%) and in the basal-mid part of the left ventricle in inferior segments. In most of the patients, ventricular functions were normal. Kawasaki-like involvement with myocardial edema without necrosis/LGE (4/6; 67%) was seen in children. Conclusion CMR is useful in assessing the prevalence, mechanism, and extent of myocardial injury in COVID-19 patients. Myocarditis is the most common imaging diagnosis, with the common imaging findings being mapping abnormalities and myocardial edema on T2, followed by LGE. As cardiovascular involvement is associated with poor prognosis, its detection warrants prompt attention and appropriate treatment.

This work presents a framework for updating an estimate of a probability distribution, arising from an uncertainty propagation using Non-intrusive Polynomial Chaos (NIPC), with scarce experimental measurements of a Quantity of Interest (QoI). In recent years much work has been directed towards developing methods of combining models of different accuracies in order to propagate uncertainty, but the problem of improving uncertainty propagations by considering evidence from both computational models and experiments has received less attention. The framework described here uses the Maximum Entropy Principle (MEP) to find an updated, least biased estimate of a probability distribution by maximising the entropy between the original and updated estimates. A constrained optimisation is performed to find the coefficients of a Polynomial Chaos Expansion (PCE) that minimise the Kullback–Leibler (KL) divergence between estimates, while ensuring that the new estimate conforms to constraints imposed by the available experimental measurements of the QoI. In this work a novel constraint is used, based upon the Dvoretzky–Kiefer–Wolfowitz inequality and the Massart bound (DKWM), as opposed to the more commonly used moment-based constraints. Such a constraint allows scarce experimental data to be used in informing the updated estimate of the probability distribution.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is a sporadic zoonotic viral illness recently becoming endemic in regions in the western parts of India. It usually presents as a viral hemorrhagic fever with severe liver and kidney failure.An 18-year-old male from the western part of Rajasthan presented with rapidly progressing areflexic weakness of limbs a week after brief fever. He deteriorated rapidly with drowsiness, fulminant liver failure, and acute kidney injury with high creatine kinase. He also developed thrombocytopenia and hemorrhage from various sites. Workup for viral hemorrhagic fever revealed IgM positivity for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. The patient kept worsening and died of multiorgan failure and diffuse alveolar bleeding after 14 days.This report highlights the need to expand the differential diagnoses in the commonly encountered presentation of acute quadriparesis to include the possibility of tick-borne diseases like Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in the setting of bleeding diathesis and acute hepatorenal syndrome.

Myocardial iron overload (MIO) in thalassemia major (TM) may cause subclinical left ventricular (LV) dysfunction which manifests with abnormal strain parameters before a decrease in ejection fraction (EF). Early detection of MIO using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR)-T2* is vital. Our aim was to assess if CMR feature-tracking (FT) strain correlates with T2*, and whether it can identify early contractile dysfunction in patients with MIO but normal EF. One hundred and four consecutive TM patients with LVEF > 55% on echocardiography were prospectively enrolled. Those fulfilling the inclusion criteria underwent CMR, with T2* being the gold standard for detecting MIO. Group 1 included patients without significant MIO (T2* > 20 ms) and group 2 with significant MIO (T2* < 20 ms). Eighty-six patients (mean age, 17.32 years, 59 males) underwent CMR. There were 68 (79.1%) patients in group 1 and 18 (20.9%) in group 2. Fourteen patients (16.3%) had mild-moderate MIO, and four (4.6%) had severe MIO. Patients in group 2 had significantly lower global radial strain (GRS). Global longitudinal strain (GLS) and global circumferential strain (GCS) did not correlate with T2*. T1 mapping values were significantly lower in patients with T2* < 10 ms than those with T2* of 10–20 ms; however, FT-strain values were not significantly different between these two groups. CMR-derived GRS, but not GLS and GCS, correlated with CMR T2*. GRS is significantly decreased in TM patients with MIO and normal EF when compared with those without. FT-strain may be a useful adjunct to CMR T2* and maybe an early marker of myocardial dysfunction in TM. • A global radial strain of < 29.3 derived from cardiac MRI could predict significant myocardial iron overload in patients with thalassemia, with a sensitivity of 76.5% and specificity of 66.7%. • Patients with any myocardial iron overload have significantly lower GRS, compared to those without, suggesting the ability of CMR strain to identify subtle myocardial contractile disturbances. • T1 and T2 mapping values are significantly lower in those with severe myocardial iron than those with mild-moderate iron, suggesting a potential role of T1 and T2 mapping in grading myocardial iron.

Perovskite materials have attracted attention due to their excellent optical and electrical properties; however, their unsatisfactory stability limits their application in biochemical detection. In this paper, CsPbBr

Based on robust level I evidence, mastectomy has given way to breast conservation therapy for the treatment of early breast cancer. It involves wide excision and 5–6-week-long conventionally fractionated whole breast irradiation (WBI) and a tumor bed boost. Despite its proven efficacy, many patients forego radiation therapy or opt for mastectomy due to the inconvenience of its long duration. Hypofractionated WBI overcomes this limitation and is increasingly being used for post-mastectomy radiotherapy too. Here, we briefly review its rationale, the supporting scientific evidence, reasons for poor adoption, and the emerging future developments.

Background: Dementia causes a long-term and gradual cognitive decline and there is no treatment to slow or stop the progression of dementia. Methods: Middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats was employed to investigate the effects of BAC in neural inflammation. A phase II study was conducted in Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia patients. BAC or matched vehicle was applied topically on the subject’s external nasal skin, scalp, and neck, twice daily, 30 grams per day for 12 weeks. Cognitive evaluation questionnaires including ADAS-Cog, ADCS-ADL, MMSE, NPI, CIBIS, and CIBIC-plus scores were performed to evaluate the efficacy. A responder analysis was conducted with stratification of different sub-groups of receiving/not receiving dementia medication or donepezil hydrochloride and type of dementia.Results: The responder analysis showed that the naïve and not using donepezil hydrochloride sub-groups in the BAC-treated group had a higher responder rate compared to using donepezil hydrochloride and any dementia medication sub-groups. The BAC group showed a higher percentage of responders than the vehicle group in the mixed dementia population.Conclusion: BAC was safe for human use. BAC improved the responder rate in naïve dementia patients regardless of dementia type and in patients not receiving donepezil hydrochloride. The bigger sample size is required to confirm the efficacy of BAC.Trial registration: NCT02886494 (First posted: September 1, 2016)

Objective: This study sought to investigate the association between volume and attenuation of epicardial fat and presence of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) and high-risk plaque features (HRPF) on CT angiography (CTA) in patients with atypical chest pain and whether the association, if any, is independent of conventional cardiovascular risk factors and coronary artery calcium score (CACS). Methods: Patients referred for coronary CTA with atypical chest pain and clinical suspicion of CAD were included in the study. Quantification of CACS, epicardial fat volume (EFV) and epicardial fat attenuation (EFat) was performed on non-contrast images. CTA was evaluated for presence of obstructive CAD and presence of HRPF. Results: 255 patients (median age [interquartile range; IQR]: 51[41-60] years, 51.8% males) were included. On CTA, CAD, obstructive CAD (≥50% stenosis) and CTA-derived HRPFs was present in 133 (52.2%), 37 (14.5%) and 82 (32.2%) patients respectively. A significantly lower EFat was seen in patients with obstructive CAD than in those without (−86HU [IQR:−88 to −82 HU] vs −84 [IQR:−87 HU to −82 HU]; p = 0.0486) and in patients with HRPF compared to those without (−86 HU [IQR:−88 to −83 HU] vs −83 HU [−86 HU to −81.750 HU]; p < 0.0001). EFat showed significant association with obstructive CAD (unadjusted Odd’s ratio (OR) [95% CI]: 0.90 [0.81–0.99];p = 0.0248) and HRPF (unadjusted OR [95% CI]: 0.83 [0.76–0.90];p < 0.0001) in univariate analysis, which remained significant in multivariate analysis. However, EFV did not show any significant association with neither obstructive CAD nor HRPF in multivariate analysis. Adding EFat to conventional coronary risk factors and CACS in the pre-test probability models increased the area-under curve (AUC) for prediction of both obstructive CAD (AUC[95% CI]: 0.76 [0.70–0.81] vs 0.71 [0.65–0.77)) and HRPF (AUC [95% CI]: 0.92 [0.88–0.95] vs 0.89 [0.85–0.93]), although not reaching statistical significance. Conclusion: EFat, but not EFV, is an independent predictor of obstructive CAD and HRPF. Addition of EFat to traditional cardiovascular risk factors and CACS improves estimation for pretest probability of obstructive CAD and HRPF. Advances in knowledge: EFat is an important attribute of epicardial fat as it reflects the “quality” of fat, taking into account the effects of brown-white fat transformation and fibrosis, as opposed to mere evaluation of “quantity” of fat by EFV. Our study shows that EFat is a better predictor of obstructive CAD and HRPF than EFV and can thus explain the inconsistent association of increased EFV alone with CAD.

Objective The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the key imaging manifestations of COVID-19 on chest CT in adult patients by providing a comprehensive review of the published literature. Methods We performed a systematic literature search from the PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, and WHO databases for studies mentioning the chest CT imaging findings of adult COVID-19 patients. Results A total of 45 studies comprising 4410 patients were included. Ground glass opacities (GGO), in isolation (50.2%) or coexisting with consolidations (44.2%), were the most common lesions. Distribution of GGOs was most commonly bilateral, peripheral/subpleural, and posterior with predilection for lower lobes. Common ancillary findings included pulmonary vascular enlargement (64%), intralobular septal thickening (60%), adjacent pleural thickening (41.7%), air bronchograms (41.2%), subpleural lines, crazy paving, bronchus distortion, bronchiectasis, and interlobular septal thickening. CT in early follow-up period generally showed an increase in size, number, and density of GGOs, with progression into mixed areas of GGOs plus consolidations and crazy paving, peaking at 10–11 days, before gradually resolving or persisting as patchy fibrosis. While younger adults more commonly had GGOs, extensive/multilobar involvement with consolidations was prevalent in the older population and those with severe disease. Conclusion This review describes the imaging features for diagnosis, stratification, and follow-up of COVID-19 patients. The most common CT manifestations are bilateral, peripheral/subpleural, posterior GGOs with or without consolidations with a lower lobe predominance. It is pertinent to be familiar with the various imaging findings to positively impact the management of these patients. Key Points • Ground glass opacities (GGOs), whether isolated or coexisting with consolidations, in bilateral and subpleural distribution, are the most prevalent chest CT findings in adult COVID-19 patients. • Follow-up CT shows a progression of GGOs into a mixed pattern, reaching a peak at 10–11 days, before gradually resolving or persisting as patchy fibrosis. • Younger people tend to have more GGOs. Older or sicker people tend to have more extensive involvement with consolidations. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00330-020-06975-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In this article, Justification Diagrams are introduced for structuring evidence to support conclusions that are reached from results of simulation studies. An industrial application is used to illustrate the use of the Justification Diagrams. Adapted from the Toulmin schema, the aim of Justification Diagram is to define a comprehensive, auditable and shareable notation to explain the results, the input data, the assumptions made and the techniques applied, to construct a cogent conclusion. Further, the Justification Diagrams provide a visual representation of the argument that aims to corroborate the specified claims, or conclusions. A large part of this work is based on the application of the Justification Diagrams in the context of the European project, TOICA. The Justification Diagrams were used to structure all justifications that would be needed to convince an authority that a simulation process, and the associated results, upheld a particular conclusion. These diagrams are built concurrently in a product development process that accompanies the various stages of Verification and Validation (V&V) and where, for each design stage of V&V, argumentation is constructed by aggregating evidence and documents produced at this design stage.

Collaborative filtering is one of the rapidly grown techniques in Machine learning for the recommendation. Several algorithms based on Collaborative filtering are developed and analysis by researchers in e-commerce and other areas of the business. As data is becoming the next economy of the world, the online social network is now playing a crucial role in various regions of the humankind and organization. It is uttermost important to have a secure and trustworthy Online Social Network. To achieve the goal, the techniques required to predict trustworthy users. Collaborative filtering can be one of the technique to predict the trusted users in the online social network. The study will provide different Collaborative filtering techniques, classify the collaborative filtering techniques, analysis the issue with the techniques, also discuss the use of collaborative filtering in perspective with OSN and compare these algorithms with the real-life dataset.

Cognitive science and computation studies are going to be the often utilizing subjects to intersect many other academic disciplines in coming years. The reason being that one reflects knowledge of etiology of understanding in humans and another replicates the same intending to serve the human society; one mirrors the mind while another represents that mind through mechanical instrumentation. If the human cognition and computation of human cognitivity are exercised well together or are joined together positively, it will be a magical experimentation in the history of knowledge. It would help cope with challenges to deal with many human crimes committed knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally, or unintentionally for an irrecoverable human loss.

Obesity, the disease of the twenty-first century, has a range of serious consequences to health. These are related in part to abnormal glucose levels, resulting in inflammatory and atherogenic response, hypertension and abnormal lipid profile. This increases the risk of cardiovascular disease significantly besides developing diabetes later. Hyperglycaemia is diagnosed with impaired fasting glucose and/or impaired glucose tolerance or elevated glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c). The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) guidelines for diagnosis using oral glucose tolerance test (or HbA1c) recognise the importance of extending diagnosis beyond simply identifying diabetes. This is relevant in view of the risk of composite cardiovascular events, coronary heart disease, stroke, and all-cause mortality associated with abnormal blood glucose. Since the pilot population mirrors this morbidity, the aviation regulator has an obligation to consider the impact in terms of aviation safety. Furthermore, although primary care literature predominantly focusses on the importance of diagnosing diabetes, from a regulator’s perspective there are incapacitation risks originating outside that narrow diagnosis. They arise once the control of glucose has begun to deteriorate. This article considers the regulatory importance of pilots and controllers who present with hyperglycaemia, or what is sometimes termed “prediabetes”. This includes the evidence for the risk assessment to help minimise the likelihood of an adverse event due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease among those holding aviation medical certificates, in turn promoting aviation safety.

Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) has a crucial role in lacunar stroke and brain hemorrhages and is a leading cause of cognitive decline and functional loss in elderly patients. Based on underlying pathophysiology, cSVD can be subdivided into amyloidal and non-amyloidal subtypes. Genetic factors of cSVD play a pivotal role in terms of unraveling molecular mechanism. An important pathophysiological mechanism of cSVD is blood-brain barrier leakage and endothelium dysfunction which gives a clue in identification of the disease through circulating biological markers. Detection of cSVD is routinely carried out by key neuroimaging markers including white matter hyperintensities, lacunes, small subcortical infarcts, perivascular spaces, cerebral microbleeds, and brain atrophy. Application of neural networking, machine learning and deep learning in image processing have increased significantly for correct severity of cSVD. A linkage between cSVD and other neurological disorder, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and non-cerebral disease, has also been investigated recently. This review draws a broad picture of cSVD, aiming to inculcate new insights into its pathogenesis and biomarkers. It also focuses on the role of deep machine strategies and other dimensions of cSVD by linking it with several cerebral and non-cerebral diseases as well as recent advances in the field to achieve sensitive detection, effective prevention and disease management.

Objectives A trial of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a prerequisite to determine efficacy of the therapy prior to placement of a permanent implanted system. A trial may be conducted employing a percutaneously placed temporary cylindrical lead or via a permanently anchored cylindrical lead placed and subsequently secured via open surgical method. There has been little investigation comparing the two methods of trial. This study is a comparative analysis of the two methods both for prediction of success as well as associated morbidity. Study Design Retrospective chart review. Materials and Methods SCS outcomes of percutaneous temporary lead trial or the temporary lead (TL) group and permanent anchored lead trial or permanent lead (PL) group were analyzed for lack of relief, poor paresthesia coverage, false positive trial phase, fading relief, and biological complications. Results Outcome data was analyzed for 148 patients in the TL group and 138 patients in the PL group. In comparing the two trial methods, false positive rate of trial was higher (p

Introduction To determine whether Computed Tomography Perfusion (CTP) can predict treatment response and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). To determine which one of the perfusion parameter correlated best with treatment outcome. Methods Sixteen patients with NSCLC underwent CTP before and after completion of chemo-radiotherapy. Patients with complete and partial response were grouped as responders and patients with stable and progressive disease were grouped as non-responders. Pre and post-treatment whole tumour perfusion parameters (blood flow - BF, blood volume - BV, mean transit time - MTT and permeability surface area product - PS) were compared between responders and non-responders. Results Responders had higher baseline BF and PS values than non-responders; P = 0.047, 0.028 respectively. On 1 year follow up, patients with even 2.65% increase in PS value from baseline developed metastasis while patients with decrease in PS value by 24% did not develop metastasis (P = 0.05). Greater decrease in BF values (17%) were noted among responders than non-responders (2.4%) following chemoradiation, though the results were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Conclusions Tumours with higher baseline BF and PS respond well to chemo-radiation. Changes in the PS values can predict the development of metastasis and hence, the long term outcome.

Locally advanced cancer of the cervix is treated by concurrent chemoradiation followed by brachytherapy. Interstitial brachytherapy is used to treat large tumors with involvement of parametrium, post-hysterectomy, and narrow, conical vagina. The GYN GEC-ESTRO working group described target volume delineation and also 3D image-based planning using MRI and 3D dose-volume parameters for brachytherapy of carcinoma cervix. CT-based as compared to MR-based image-guided brachytherapy (IGBT) is much more feasible and practical because MR access is still difficult for most departments. This is a retrospective study done to assess the local control in cancer of the cervix, treated based on these guidelines and dose received by 2 cm(3) of the rectum as defined by the GEC-ESTRO guidelines and its correlation with long-term toxicity. Sixty-three patients of cancer of the cervix received 45 Gy/25 fractions of external beam radiotherapy with concurrent weekly cisplatin followed by interstitial brachytherapy. A central tandem was inserted into the uterine cavity. The needles were inserted based on the concept of gross tumor volume (GTV), high-risk clinical target volume (HRCTV), and intermediate-risk CTV (IR CTV) as defined by the GYN GEC-ESTRO guidelines. All patients underwent CT-based planning. A dose of 6.5 Gy × 4 fractions was delivered in two sessions such that the HRCTV received a total dose of 26 Gy. Dose optimization was done to prevent 2 cm(3) of rectum from receiving > 400 cGy (60% of prescribed dose) per fraction and 2 cm(3) of bladder from receiving 500 cGy per fraction. At a median follow-up of 41.5 months (range 6–106 months), 74.6% (47/63) of the patients were alive, with no local, loco-regional, or distant metastasis. Loco-regional control rate was 88% (56/63). Eight percent (5/63) of the patients developed grade I proctitis which was managed conservatively. There was no grades II, III, or IV proctitis. There was no bladder or sigmoid toxicity. GEC-ESTRO guidelines can be modified for CT-based planning also with very minimal late toxicity without compromising local control.

Background Lead fracture is a well-known complication of cylindrical spinal cord stimulator leads. In order to reduce this complication, anchor design and techniques have been modified, but internal lead design has received little attention. Objectives The goal of this study was to study the impact of lead design by a retrospective determination of the fracture rate of multilumen concentric (MLC) 8-contact leads. Study design Retrospective chart review. Setting University teaching hospital. Methods A registry of spinal cord stimulator implants and corresponding billing data were used to identify patients. Procedural details were reviewed for technique, lead insertion, anchoring details, manufacturer, and lead longevity from 2002 to 2014. Data storage was in RedCap data-capturing software (REDCap eData Collection web-based application). All analyses were performed using SAS 9.3 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, U.S.A.). Results In a near 12"-year time period, 172 patients received 305 permanently implanted 8-contact leads, with an overall fracture rate of 4.3%. Of these, 191 leads were of the MLC design. No lead fracture was observed in the MLC leads over an average 4.5 years of follow-up. Limitation Retrospective single center. Conclusion MLC lead design has the potential to significantly mitigate lead fracture.

In this article, we study the change in the sensitivity and the electrochemical impedance of continuous glucose monitoring sensors over time. In total, 28-day sensitivity and electrical impedance spectroscopy measurement results on four similar sensors are presented. The sensitivity of the sensor is observed to be related to its double-layer capacitance and charge-transfer resistance, based on results acquired from a sensor that showed substantial sensitivity drop. Two data clusters are extracted that relate the sensor sensitivity to its impedance before and after the sensitivity drops by more than 50.

Drug-coated balloons (DCB) are commonly used to treat peripheral artery disease (PAD) and are often used in combination with or in place of a stent or rotational atherectomy. DCB’s are manufactured with the drug, Paclitaxel with the first-line indication of preventing restenosis of arteries following an intervention. Recent literature has suggested an increased mortality risk at years 2 and 5 post DCB angioplasty. Inspired by Katsanos et al. and their important work in researching outcomes for DCBs in PAD, we conducted a thorough review of all literature to compile an informed conclusion.

Purpose: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is recommended in patients with locally advanced breast cancer. Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) enables evaluation of the tumour neovasculature that occurs prior to any volume change, which helps identify early treatment failures and allows prompt implementation of second-line therapy. Material and methods: We conducted a prospective study in 14 patients with histopathologically proven breast cancer. DCE-MRI data were acquired using multisection, T1-weighted, 3D vibe sequences with fat suppression before, during, and after IV bolus injection (0.1 mmol/kg body weight, Gadoversetamide, Optimark). Post-processing of dynamic contrast perfusion data was done with the vendor's Tissue 4D software to generate various dynamic contrast parameters, i.e. Ktrans, Kep, Ve, initial area under the time signal curve (IAUC), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and enhancement curve. Patients underwent MRI examinations at baseline, and then after two cycles, and finally at completion of chemotherapy. Results: Based on Sataloff criteria for pathological responses, four patients out of 14 were responders, and 10 were non-responders. At the 2nd MRI examination, IAUC was significantly smaller in responders than in non-responders (p = 0.023). When the results of the first and second MRI examinations were compared, Kep decreased from baseline to the second MRI (p = 0.03) in non-responders and in responders (p = 0.04). This change was statistically significant in both groups. The ADC values increased significantly in responders from baseline to the third MRI (p = 0.012). Conclusions: In our study, IAUC and ADC were the only parameters that reliably differentiated responders from non-responders after two and three cycles of chemotherapy.

Neurotoxicity related to intra-arterial use of iodinated contrast agents is a relatively uncommon complication of angiography. The authors describe the case of a 42-year-old patient with type B aortic dissection, who developed contrast-related neurological symptoms.

Persistence of the embryological fifth aortic arch in postnatal life has been a subject of debate for over more than a century. We describe a patient with congenital kyphoscoliosis and variant anatomy in the aortic arch and brachiocephalic trunk which could be possibly explained by the persistence of bilateral fifth aortic arches, a pattern which has never been previously reported in literature.

This work presents a framework for predicting the unknown probability distributions of input parameters, starting from scarce experimental measurements of other input parameters and the Quantity of Interest (QoI), as well as a computational model of the system. This problem is relevant to aeronautics, an example being the calculation of the material properties of carbon fibre composites, which are often inferred from experimental measurements of the full-field response. The method presented here builds a probability distribution for the missing inputs with an approach based on probabilistic equivalence. The missing inputs are represented with a multi-modal Polynomial Chaos Expansion (mmPCE), a formulation which enables the algorithm to efficiently handle multi-modal experimental data. The parameters of the mmPCE are found through an optimisation process. The mmPCE is used to produce a dataset for the missing inputs, the input uncertainties are then propagated through the computational model of the system using arbitrary Polynomial Chaos (aPC) in order to produce a probability distribution for the QoI. This is in addition to an estimate of the QoI’s probability distribution arising from experimental measurements. The coefficients of the mmPCE are adjusted such that the statistical distance between the two estimates of the probability distribution of the QoI is minimised. The algorithm has two key aspects: the metric used to quantify the statistical distance between distributions and the aPC formulation used to propagate the input uncertainties. In this work the Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) distance was used to quantify the distance between probability distributions for the QoI as it allowed high order statistical moments to be matched and is non-parametric. The framework for back-calculating unknown input distributions was demonstrated using a dataset comprising scarce experimental measurements of the material properties of a batch of carbon fibre coupons. The ability of the algorithm to back-calculate a distribution for the shear and compression strength of the composite, based on limited experimental data, was demonstrated. It was found that it was possible to recover reasonably accurate probability distributions for the missing material properties, even when an extremely scarce data set with a fairly simplistic computational model was used.

Introduction The incidence of accessory renal arteries is very high. Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT) is a minimally invasive alternative to conventional angiography in preoperative evaluation. The aim of this study was to document the incidence of accessory renal arteries and the level of origin of main renal arteries from abdominal aorta. Methods The study was conducted on one hundred patients in whom aortofemoropopliteal or aortic CT angiography was done for various indications at a tertiary care center in North India. CT angiography was performed on 64 slice MDCT scanner. The reconstructed images were analyzed using vessel analysis software. Results Accessory renal arteries were present in 36% cases with unilateral anomaly in 30% cases and bilateral in 6% cases. The dominant side of renal artery variations was the right side. All the accessory arteries took origin from the aorta and 52.8% of these supplied the inferior pole of the kidney. In 99% cases the origin of main renal artery was between upper border of L 1 vertebra and lower border of L 2 vertebra. The most common site of origin was at the level of intervertebral disc between L 1 and L 2 . Discussion The incidence of multiple renal arteries is much higher than predicted by various studies. Comprehensive anatomic depiction of the renal arterial pattern aids in determining the technical feasibility of surgical and endourological interventions. It helps to avoid postoperative complications.

In the original article, the section "Fact Sheet" was not published. This section should give the reader an overview on the most important take-home messages on aortitis. Please see below the missing section.

Chest-drain insertion is considered to be a benign procedure. A 6-year-old girl who is a known case of hyper-IgE/Job's syndrome presented to us following three episodes of fresh bleed following chest-drain insertion for the left lung abscess. The site of bleed was localized to be the ruptured pseudoaneurysm of the anterior segmental branch of the left pulmonary artery. For successful management, various pitfalls and gray areas have been highlighted: (a) the procedure of chest-drain insertion has a potential for many complications some of which may be life-threatening, (b) the importance of proper history taking and a complete evaluation of all patients before surgical intervention, (c) role of ultrasound-guided chest-drain insertion, and (d) the importance of lateral and pragmatic approach with multidisciplinary involvement in such unusual and challenging cases cannot be overemphasized.

Engineers account for uncertainties by using Design Margins, typically by introducing them implicitly. Although methods for quantifying uncertainty are well established at discipline level, they are not applied systematically. A hierarchy of assumed independent design margins makes it difficult to deduce architect level margins. Further, the implicit application of margins and reserve factors also obfuscates the mutualisation of the margins. Therefore, uncertainty aggregation is difficult, in the quantitative sense, leading to potential over design. Quantifying these uncertainties, making them explicit and aggregating them correctly enable the discovery of appropriate margins to manage the identified risks and opportunities.

Big Data is a collection of large amount of data which is growing very rapidly with the popularity of social networking sites. The size of the Big data has been extended from terabytes to petabytes. Big data are characterized by four important attributes: volume, velocity, variety and veracity. The volume attributes describe the data at rest in the range from terabytes to Exabyte’s, the velocity deals with data in motion, i.e streaming the data to respond within milliseconds rather than in seconds, the variety discuss the data in many different forms such as structured, unstructured, text and multimedia data, whereas the veracity deals with the data in doubt, i.e. uncertainty in data due to data inconsistency. These attributes of big data make it a challenge for organizations to have control over, and use such data. In today’s era we are overloaded with the information, however we are lacking the insight. The 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years by various social networking sites. As big data grows it challenges the capabilities of traditional data warehouses that collect and store large amounts of internal and external data. Data drawn from these repositories are used to improve decision making, increase organizational efficiencies, and improve organizational effectiveness. In this paper an attempt has been made to explore the real life application of Big Data , cloud database, Hadoop, Map Reduce and Cloud Computing, in various domains.