Epidemiology and long-term outcomes of primary congenital glaucoma: a population-based study.

Background/objectives: to establish the incidence, prevalence and long-term outcomes of primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) in Northern Ireland's general and Irish Traveller (IT) populations over a 59-year period.

Subjects/methods: chart review of all PCG cases in Northern Ireland between 1962 and 2020. Incidence and prevalence were calculated with the aid of national population statistics.

Digital breast tomosynthesis: sensitivity for cancer in younger symptomatic women.

Objective: Full-field digital mammography (FFDM) has limited sensitivity for cancer in younger women with denser breasts. Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) can reduce the risk of cancer being obscured by overlying tissue. The primary study aim was to compare the sensitivity of FFDM, DBT and FFDM-plus-DBT in women under 60 years old with clinical suspicion of breast cancer.

Frequency of Opioid Prescribing for Acute Low Back Pain in a Rural Emergency Department.

National guidelines created by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), and the American College of Physicians (ACP) support the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) over opioids when treating acute low back pain (; ; ). Opioids not only have many more side effects than NSAIDs but also carry the risk of opioid abuse and overdose (). The purpose of this study was to determine whether emergency department (ED) providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, are following evidence-based low back pain management guidelines by assessing the measurement of opioid versus NSAID prescribing.

Atypical Horner's syndrome: frequency, features and aetiology in a paediatric population.

Background/objectives: Paediatric Horner's syndrome (HS) may present atypically with incomplete or intermittent clinical features, yet could represent sinister pathology including neuroblastoma. We aim to report the frequency and features with which atypical HS presents in our population (Northern Ireland) and to propose an investigation algorithm to aid diagnosis in these challenging cases.

Subjects/methods: Retrospective chart review of all paediatric anisocoria and HS cases presenting to Belfast, Northern Ireland, between 2012 and 2018, identified through searching our paediatric ophthalmology database.

Validating the state motivation to foster social connections scale.

Motivations to foster social connections drive much of human behavior. While these motivations vary across both situations and time, no scale exists assessing them at the state level. In the current work, we develop such a state measure, yielding a two-factor solution: motivation to foster social connections with existing and with new social targets.

Del Nido cardioplegia in low risk adults undergoing first time coronary artery bypass surgery.

Objectives: Single-dose del Nido cardioplegia has been used in the pediatric population for many years. Only a small amount of data exists about its use in adult cardiac surgery. We sought to compare the outcomes of all patients undergoing coronary artery bypass, using our 4:1 blood cardioplegia versus single-dose 1:4 del Nido cardioplegia, at our institution.

A taxonomy for education and training in professional psychology health service specialties: evolution and implementation of new guidelines for a common language.

The Education and Training Guidelines: A Taxonomy for Education and Training in Professional Psychology Health Service Specialties was endorsed as a policy of the American Psychological Association in 2012. These Guidelines have the potential for broad impact on the field by providing both a structure and recommendations for the consistent usage of language--definitions and terminology--to reduce current descriptive inconsistencies across education and training programs in professional psychology. The Guidelines are not designed to define specifics of the training or practice of individual psychologists; they are to be used only to describe programmatic structure in a consistent manner.

Ocular surface squamous neoplasia in HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients and response to 5-fluorouracil in Angola.

Background: Ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) is becoming increasingly prevalent and aggressive in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a phenomenon linked with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, although association rates in Angola are currently unknown. A topical treatment that is effective in HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals may be preferable to surgery in some contexts.

A comparison of mood-dependent memory in bipolar disorder and normal controls.

Mood-dependent memory was investigated in a sample of 28 individuals, with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder I but not during acute episodes, and 30 non-clinical controls by using the word lists from Wechsler Memory Scale--Third Edition and abstract inkblot recognition. Positive or negative mood induction procedures were used prior to and after the stimuli were presented. After either the same or contrasting high or low mood inductions, participants attempted to recall the word list and performed an inkblot recognition task.

Simultaneous PET-MRI: a new approach for functional and morphological imaging.

Noninvasive imaging at the molecular level is an emerging field in biomedical research. This paper introduces a new technology synergizing two leading imaging methodologies: positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although the value of PET lies in its high-sensitivity tracking of biomarkers in vivo, it lacks resolving morphology.

PET/MR images acquired with a compact MR-compatible PET detector in a 7-T magnet.

Purpose: To prospectively use compact avalanche photodiodes instead of photomultiplier tubes to integrate a positron emission tomographic (PET) detector and a 7-T magnetic resonance (MR) imager.

Materials And Methods: All animal experiments were performed in accordance with the University of Tübingen guidelines and the German law for the protection of animals. A compact lutetium oxyorthosilicate-avalanche photodiode PET detector was built and optimized to operate within a 7-T MR imager.

In vivo molecular imaging biomarkers: clinical pharmacology's new "PET"?

Medicine, including the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries as well as many clinical practitioners, has recognized the importance of using molecular imaging biomarkers, including those labeled in such a way as to be imaged by positron emission tomography (PET), as tools for predicting outcomes in drug development and creating opportunities for "personalized" medicine, for diagnosing early-stage disease, and for the follow-up of the effectiveness of treatment.(1) However, only one important and widely used PET biomarker is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If the technology is so important, we can ask why there is such a limitation to the availability of these biomarkers.

Development of a combined microPET-MR system.

As evidenced by the success of PET-CT, there are many benefits from combining imaging modalities into a single scanner. The combination of PET and MR offers potential advantages over PET-CT, including improved soft tissue contrast, access to the multiplicity of contrast mechanisms available to MR, simultaneous imaging and fast MR sequences for motion correction. In addition, PET-MR is more suitable than PET-CT for cancer screening due to the elimination of the radiation dose from CT.

Performance test of an LSO-APD detector in a 7-T MRI scanner for simultaneous PET/MRI.

Unlabelled: PET combined with CT has proven to be a valuable multimodality imaging device revealing both functional and anatomic information. Although PET/CT has become completely integrated into routine clinical application and also has been used in small-animal imaging, CT provides only limited soft-tissue contrast and, in preclinical studies, exposes the animal to a relatively high radiation dose. Unlike CT, MRI provides good soft-tissue contrast even without application of contrast agents and, furthermore, does not require ionizing radiation.

Metabolic rates in small brain nuclei determined by high-resolution PET.

Unlabelled: Identification of small nuclei in the brain by PET has been limited by the spatial resolution of conventional scanners. The new detector technology and advanced signal analysis of a high-resolution research tomograph (HRRT) has improved 3-dimensional spatial resolution to 2.2 mm at sufficient efficiency and permitted the quantification of tracer concentrations in small volumes.

Lutetium oxyorthosilicate block detector readout by avalanche photodiode arrays for high resolution animal PET.

Avalanche photodiodes (APDs) have proven to be useful as light detectors for high resolution positron emission tomography (PET). Their compactness makes these devices excellent candidates for replacing bulky photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) in PET systems where space limitations are an issue. The readout of densely packed, 10 x 10 lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) block detectors (crystal size 2.

Effects of central nervous system residua on cochlear implant results in children deafened by meningitis.

Background: This study explored factors associated with speech recognition outcomes in postmeningitic deafness (PMD). The results of cochlear implantation may vary in children with PMD because of sequelae that extend beyond the auditory periphery.

Objective: To determine which factors might be most determinative of outcome of cochlear implantation in children with PMD.

Use of an in-field-of-view shield to improve count rate performance of the single crystal layer high-resolution research tomograph PET scanner for small animal brain scans.

The count rate performance of the single LSO crystal layer high-resolution research tomograph (HRRT-S) PET scanner is limited by the processing speed of its electronics. Therefore, the feasibility of using an in-field-of-view (in-FOV) shield to improve the noise equivalent count rates (NECR) for small animal brain studies was investigated. The in-FOV shield consists of a lead tube of 12 cm length, 6 cm inner diameter and 9 mm wall thickness.

1999 ICP Distinguished Scientist Award. The history of positron emission tomography.

The history of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is rich in technological achievements and advancements. The advancements that have benchmarked PET progress are the result of key components that include human intellect and passion for PET technology, relentless persuasion of key political forces to eliminate the barriers precluding PET usage, tireless efforts to raise awareness about PET and a crucial network of support throughout the PET community. This article sets forth a timeline of significant events that have contributed to the development of PET as it is known today.

The ECAT ART Scanner for Positron Emission Tomography. 1. Improvements in Performance Characteristics.

The widespread use of positron emission tomography (PET) has been to some extent limited by the cost and complexity of PET instrumentation. Recognition of the wider applicability of clinical PET imaging is reflected in the ECAT ART design, a low cost PET scanner targeted for clinical applications, particularly in oncology. The ART comprises two asymmetrically opposed arrays of BGO block detectors.

Rule extraction from a mutagenicity data set using adaptively grown phylogenetic-like trees.

A public bacterial mutagenicity database was classified into 2-D structural families using a set of specific algorithms and clustering techniques that find overlapping classes of compounds based upon chemical substructures. Structure-activity relationships were learned from the biological activity of the compounds within each class and used to identify rules that define substructures potentially responsible for mutagenic activity. In addition, this method of analysis was used to compare the pharmacologically relevant substructure of test compounds with their potential toxic substructures making this a potentially valuable in silico profiling tool for lead selection and optimization.