Restoration of linear disturbances from oil-and-gas exploration in boreal landscapes: How can network models help?

In western Canada, decades of oil-and-gas exploration have fragmented boreal landscapes with a dense network of linear forest disturbances (seismic lines). These seismic lines are implicated in the decline in wildlife populations that are adapted to function in unfragmented forest landscapes. In particular, anthropogenic disturbances have led to a decline of woodland caribou populations due to increasing predator access to core caribou habitat.

Early repeated 18F-FDG PET scans during neoadjuvant chemoradiation fail to predict histopathologic response or survival benefit in adenocarcinoma of the esophagus.

Unlabelled: This study evaluated the role of (18)F-FDG PET as an early predictor of histopathologic response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and overall survival in patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagus undergoing multimodal therapy.

Methods: Thirty-seven patients with locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the esophagus underwent pretreatment and an intratreatment (18)F-FDG PET scan in the second week of a 6-wk regimen of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Histopathologic response and overall survival were correlated with percentage change in (18)F-FDG uptake (%Δmaximum standardized uptake value [%ΔSUVmax]).

Radionuclide impurities in proton-irradiated [18O]H2O for the production of 18F-: activities and distribution in the [18F]FDG synthesis process.

Proton- and neutron-induced activation products in the components of a high-pressure [(18)O]H(2)O target vessel used for the production of (18)F(-) in a medical cyclotron have been identified using high resolution gamma spectrometry. The activities leached from the target vessel into the [(18)O]H(2)O during irradiation, and the distribution of the identified radionuclide impurities in the various cartridges and solutions used in the [(18)F]FDG synthesis process have been measured and are discussed from the perspective of waste disposal. The results indicate that, at the energies and beam currents employed, only a few, relatively short-lived radionuclides are present in the irradiated [(18)O]H(2)O, and that the activities involved (<10 kBq in each case) are well below typical exemption limits.

FDG PET in preoperative assessment of colorectal liver metastases combining "evidence-based practice" and "technology assessment" methods to develop departmental imaging protocols: should FDG PET be routinely used in the preoperative assessment of patients with colorectal liver metastases?

In today's environment of progressively evolving and expensive imaging modalities, radiologists are asked to justify the use of resources to patients, referring physicians, hospital management, and third party payers. With this aim, the radiologist may use "top-down" or "bottom-up" "evidence-based practice" (EBP) techniques. "Top-down" suggests that the practitioner should wait until a higher authority, external to their practice, generates a solution to practice dilemmas (e.

Evaluation of the impact of addition of PET to CT and MR scanning in the staging of patients with head and neck carcinomas.

The addition of whole body positron emission tomography (PET) to the investigation of patients with newly diagnosed head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) was assessed over a 6-month period. Staging investigations included laryngoscopy, oesophagoscopy, CXR, CT and MRI. In addition, all patients had an extended-field (whole body) FDG-PET scan and were restaged.