European IoT Use in Homes: Opportunity or Threat to Households?

The residential sector is characterized by new digital challenges. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a key-driver of innovation and operations management. This study aims to measure and assess IoT devices at the level of individuals, which are households, in European countries.

Cancer cachexia: towards integrated therapeutic interventions.

Biological treatments represent a novel approach to counteract cancer cachexia. Monoclonal antibodies targeting cytokines and molecules responsible for muscle wasting, with an anti-inflammatory effect, however, still have several limitations and need further clinical investigation. New research in this field will contribute to the better understanding of the multifactorial pathogenesis of cancer cachexia, while favoring the consolidation of multimodal preventive and therapeutic strategies encompassing nutritional and pharmacological treatments.

Ghrelin: from discovery to cancer cachexia therapy.

Purpose Of Review: Despite the high prevalence of cancer cachexia, a condition that negatively impacts patients' prognosis and quality of life, effective therapies are still lacking. Ghrelin is a peptide hormone involved in anabolic and homeostatic functions, whose mechanisms of action are still only partially clarified, but with promising positive effects in cancer cachexia. Recently, the therapeutic administration of ghrelin in cancer has been shown to counteract loss of body mass and function, including muscle, and we specifically focus on this novel evidence.

Interaction of caudate dopamine depletion and brain metabolic changes with cognitive dysfunction in early Parkinson's disease.

Damage to nonmotor dopamine (DA)-mediated frontostriatal circuits has been proposed as the main pathophysiological basis of cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD). In the present study, 18 early nondemented drug naive PD patients were investigated, by dual-tracer N-ω-fluoropropyl-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-4-[123I]iodophenyl-nortropane ([123I]FP-CIT) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/[18F] fluoro-deoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, to test whether an early and not yet treatment-modulated relation exists between cognitive functions, caudate nucleus (CN) DA impairment and brain metabolism (CMRglc) in associative frontostriatal circuits. Verbal fluency performance correlated with DA impairment in CN, and with CMRglc in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

Brain metabolic correlates of dopaminergic degeneration in de novo idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the reciprocal relationships between motor impairment, dopaminergic dysfunction, and cerebral metabolism (rCMRglc) in de novo Parkinson's disease (PD) patients.

Methods: Twenty-six de novo untreated PD patients were scanned with (123)I-FP-CIT SPECT and (18)F-FDG PET. The dopaminergic impairment was measured with putaminal (123)I-FP-CIT binding potential (BP), estimated with two different techniques: an iterative reconstruction algorithm (BP(OSEM)) and the least-squares (LS) method (BP(LS)).

Visually directed transrectal high intensity focused ultrasound for the treatment of prostate cancer: a preliminary report on the Italian experience.

Purpose: High intensity focused ultrasound is a minimally invasive treatment option for prostate cancer. Data from the literature show promising early oncological outcomes and a favorable side effect profile. This study is a preliminary report of the Italian experience (Perugia and Turin) of patients treated with the Sonablate(R)500 high intensity focused ultrasound device.

Time-related changes of metabolic and physicochemical profiles in patients with mechanical ileal neobladders.

Objective: To investigate metabolic disturbances, possibly leading to stone disease, in the Camey II technique for creating a urinary reservoir from an intestinal segment.

Patients, Subjects And Methods: Thirty patients with a Camey II ileal neobladder and 26 controls had metabolic investigations of blood samples, and 24-h and fasting urine samples, to assess renal function, the risk of stone formation, and bone turnover. The state of saturation with calcium oxalate, uric acid and brushite were calculated using a computer program.

A direct ROI quantification method for inherent PVE correction: accuracy assessment in striatal SPECT measurements.

Purpose: The clinical potential of striatal imaging with dopamine transporter (DAT) SPECT tracers is hampered by the limited capability to recover activity concentration ratios due to partial volume effects (PVE). We evaluated the accuracy of a least squares method that allows retrieval of activity in regions of interest directly from projections (LS-ROI).

Methods: An Alderson striatal phantom was filled with striatal to background ratios of 6:1, 9:1 and 28:1; the striatal and background ROIs were drawn on a coregistered X-ray CT of the phantom.

Cyanoacrylic glue: a minimally invasive nonsurgical first line approach for the treatment of some urinary fistulas.

Purpose: We evaluated the adaptability and the efficacy of a cyanoacrylic glue for the conservative treatment of urinary fistulas of different etiologies using an endoscopic, percutaneous or endovaginal approach.

Materials And Methods: From May 1998 to July 2004, 13 patients with long lasting iatrogenic and/or inflammatory urinary fistulas were treated conservatively with endoscopic, percutaneous or endovaginal application of 1 to 3 cc of cyanoacrylic glue.

Results: The complication rate in this cohort of 13 patients was low.

Brain networks underlying the clinical effects of long-term subthalamic stimulation for Parkinson's disease: a 4-year follow-up study with rCBF SPECT.

Unlabelled: The motor improvement derived from high-frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is maintained over time after surgery. The aim of the present prospective follow-up study was to assess regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) changes related to such improvement in the long term.

Methods: Ten PD patients with STN-DBS underwent 3 rCBF SPECT studies at rest-once preoperatively in the off-drug condition and the other 2 postoperatively in the off-drug/on-stimulation conditions at 5 +/- 2 and 42 +/- 7 mo.

Kinetic parameter estimation from renal measurements with a three-headed SPECT system: a simulation study.

We present here a direct least-squares estimation (DLSE) method for the determination of renal kinetic parameters from sequences of very fast acquisitions performed with a three-headed single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system. A simple linear model for the behavior of the radiopharmaceutical, as well as a spatial model for its spatial distribution are defined. The model enables one to estimate the kinetic parameters directly from the projections, once the plasma concentration function is known.

Proliferative activity is the most significant predictor of recurrence in noninvasive papillary urothelial neoplasms of low malignant potential and grade 1 papillary carcinomas of the bladder.

Background: Recurrence of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder cannot be predicted accurately by traditional criteria alone. This study examined the value of cell proliferative activity, morphometry, and expression of p53, c-erbB-2, and bcl-2 oncogenes in predicting recurrence of superficial papillary urothelial neoplasms of low malignant potential (LMP) and Grade 1 (G1) papillary carcinomas of the bladder.

Methods: Sixty-two patients (mean age, 62 years) with newly diagnosed superficial pTa bladder tumors (19 LMP, and 43 G1) were analyzed retrospectively.

Collimators.

In this article the present knowledge of the collimators used for single photon imaging in Nuclear Medicine is recapped. In the introduction, the classic formulas to describe the performances of multihole collimator are presented with an overview of the basic concepts. In the subsequent sections, the tools available for the characterization of multihole collimators are described.

Biologic differences between noninvasive papillary urothelial neoplasms of low malignant potential and low-grade (grade 1) papillary carcinomas of the bladder.

We investigated the expression of oncogenes p53, c-erbB-2, and bcl-2 and cell proliferative activity in 62 newly diagnosed superficial pTa papillary bladder tumors. Based on the 1998 World Health Organization/International Society of Urological Pathology (WHO/ISUP) and 1999 WHO classifications, 19 were urothelial neoplasias of low malignant potential (LMP) and 43 low-grade (grade 1) papillary carcinomas. All the patients underwent transurethral resection and were followed up to 97 months; 42 had recurrences.

Bladder tumor antigen assay as compared to voided urine cytology in the diagnosis of bladder cancer.

Background: The study was aimed at comparing the diagnostic accuracy of the quantitative bladder tumor antigen (BTA) TRAK immunoassay with exfoliative urine cytology in the detection of primary and recurrent bladder cancer.

Methods: The analysis was carried out on 194 high risk patients undergoing a diagnostic cystoscopy, 279 patients with previous history of transitional cell carcinoma awaiting a follow-up cystoscopy, and 45 healthy controls. Urine cytology was performed by a skilled cytopathologist on three consecutive samples.

BTA quantitative assay and NMP22 testing compared with urine cytology in the detection of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Purpose: Both BTA TRAK and NMP22 urine concentrations have shown a sensitivity superior to urine cytology in the detection of bladder cancer. We compared these tumor markers with urine cytology performed on 3 consecutive samples and evaluated by an expert cytopathologist.

Patients And Methods: The investigations were conducted on 94 patients undergoing a diagnostic cystoscopy for a high suspicion of bladder cancer (group 1) and on 102 patients with previous history of transitional cell carcinoma awaiting a follow-up cystoscopy (group 2).

[Inflammatory type cutaneous metastasis of bladder neoplasm: erysipeloid carcinoma].

Background: Skin metastasis from transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder is quite uncommon. Especially, the inflammatory type of skin metastasis with features of carcinoma erysipeloid is a rare event.

Case Report: A 65-year-old man with bladder carcinoma who underwent radical cystectomy developed 6 months later red to violaceous papules, indurated plaques and edema in the perigenital area.

Geometrical response of multihole collimators.

A complete theory of camera multihole collimators is presented. The geometrical system response is determined in closed form in frequency space. This closed form accounts for the known efficiency and resolution formulae for parallel beam, fan beam, cone beam and astigmatic collimators as well as for the most frequent hole array patterns and hole shapes.

World Wide Web interface for advanced SPECT reconstruction algorithms implemented on a remote massively parallel computer.

Data from Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) studies are blurred by inevitable physical phenomena occurring during data acquisition. These errors may be compensated by means of reconstruction algorithms which take into account accurate physical models of the data acquisition procedure. Unfortunately, this approach involves high memory requirements as well as a high computational burden which cannot be afforded by the computer systems of SPECT acquisition devices.

Prognostic value of AgNOR counting.

The prognostic significance of the argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) in tumour pathology is still a matter of debate. A prospective study was performed in a series of renal cell carcinomas to clarify the prognostic value of AgNOR counting. Sections from 21 renal cell carcinomas were stained in 1990 with the method of Ploton.

High and low risk prostate carcinoma determined by histologic grade and proliferative activity.

Background: Histologic grade of differentiation is a strong prognostic factor for prostate carcinoma. However, most tumors fall in the intermediate group. Nuclear and nucleolar morphometry and analysis of the argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) were performed to improve prognosis, especially for patients with intermediate histologic grade tumors.

High-performance computing and networking as tools for accurate emission computed tomography reconstruction.

It is well known that the quantitative potential of emission computed tomography (ECT) relies on the ability to compensate for resolution, attenuation and scatter effects. Reconstruction algorithms which are able to take these effects into account are highly demanding in terms of computing resources. The reported work aimed to investigate the use of a parallel high-performance computing platform for ECT reconstruction taking into account an accurate model of the acquisition of single-photon emission tomographic (SPET) data.

[Obstructive azoospermia. Instrumental diagnosis: echography and endoscopy].

Obstructive disorders of seminal tract are mainly distinguished in Proximal and Distal Obstructive Syndrome, following typical seminal pattern. Fine localization of obstruction is very important for prognostic and therapeutic evaluation. In Proximal Obstruction the role of echography and endoscopy is today poorly defined and usefull.

Least squares algorithm for region-of-interest evaluation in emission tomography.

An accurate model of the nonstationary geometrical response of a camera-collimator system is discussed. The algorithm is compared to three other algorithms that are specialized for region-of-interest evaluation, as well as to the conventional method for summing the reconstructed quantity over the regions of interest. For noise-free data and for regions of accurate shape, least-squares estimates were unbiased within roundoff errors.