Non-palpable breast lesions localization techniques - A new priority: Results of a Senonetwork survey among breast centers in Italy.

INTRODUCTION: Non palpable breast tumors are increasingly diagnosed because of screening programs, and their localization during surgery is essential to ensure an adequate resection. Little is known regarding which techniques are used in "real world". MATERIALS AND METHODS: A national web-based survey, with a 21-items questionnaire, was conducted among Breast Centers (BCs) in Italy in 2023. RESULTS: Among 153 BCs, 110 (72 %) participated. Wire-guided localization was reported to be the most used technique, regardless of the volume of malignant tumors treated by each Center (N = 36, 33 %). However, newer techniques such as Radioactive occult lesion localization and magnetic seeds, were reported to be employed in 34 (31 %) BCs, and more often among high-volume BCs (>300 cases/year) (N = 32, 29 % vs. N = 13, 12 %; p = 0.02). Logistic problems of localization were reported to cause delays to the scheduled surgery at least once or in multiple occasions in 26 (24 %) and in 4 (3.5 %) BCs, respectively. Although the majority of BCs declared they were satisfied (N = 48, 44 %) or somewhat satisfied (N = 41, 37 %) with the procedure used in their center, responders stated that they would change their technique, or that they were strongly considering this possibility in 24 (22 %) and in 38 (35 %) cases, respectively. The main barrier to introducing a new technique was associated with procedure costs (90 BCs, 82 %). CONCLUSIONS: There are several critical issues regarding localization techniques at a national level. This should be recognized as a priority because of its impact on both patients and clinical practices.

Quantum computing architectures with signaling and control mimicking biological processes.

Earlier reports have described a quantum computing architecture, in which key elements are derived from control functions in biology. In this further continuing research, focus is on the signaling and control of a flow of qubits in that architecture, mimicking synapse signals and neurological controls. After a short description of that architecture, and of quantum sensing elements, it is first shown how the coloring of quantum particle flows, implemented as in mathematical colored algebras, can reduce decoherence and enhance the decidability of quantum processing elements. Next, after reviewing specific human biology functions, and exploiting experimental results on excitation modes in live animals, it is shown how to achieve separation of the quantum control & signaling signals. Technologies and designs from particle physics are discussed as well as open research issues towards a realization of a quantum computing architecture with decidable signaling.

Pre-harvest treatments with fungicides and post-harvest dips in sodium bicarbonate to control postharvest decay in stone fruit.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of different commercial formulations of fungicides containing one or more active ingredients in controlling postharvest decay of Thyrinthos and Boccuccia apricots, Red top peaches and Caldesi nectarines. Field treatments consisted of two sprays with cupric compounds, at the end of leaf fall and before bud swelling, one with sulfur compound, at fruit about half final size stage, and one with one of the following commercial formulations at the label suggested rates, one week before harvest: Teldor (fenexamid 50%; Bayer Crop Protection), Folicur (Tebuconazole 4.35%; Bayer Crop Protection), Signum (boscalid 26.7%, pyraclostrobin 6.7%; Basf Crop Protection), Score (difenoconazole 23.23%, Syngenta Crop Protection) and Switch (cyprodinil 37.5%, fludioxonil 25%, Syngenta Crop Protection). After harvest the fruit were stored for 1 week at 6 degrees C and 90% RH followed by 1 week at 20 degrees C and 60% RH to simulate retail conditions, or placed directly at 20 degrees C. All formulations significantly reduced decay in all cultivars. Switch, Signum and Folicur were the most active, while Score was slightly less effective. Teldor activity was low, especially in Thyrintos apricots, where the percentage of rotten fruit was slightly lower than in control fruit. Brown rot was the most representative disease, but in apricots a high percentage of fruit was affected by blue mold and grey mold. Rhizopus rot generally developed as a secondary disease on fruit previously affected by other pathogens and was more frequent in control and Teldor treated fruit. Preharvest sprays with Signum 3 days before harvest reduced postharvest decay after 1 week storage at 20 degrees C in Glo haven peaches and Venus nectarine harvested at advanced stage of maturity. Combining pre-harvest sprays with Signum and a 2-min postharvest dip in 2% sodium bicarbonate at 20 degrees C further reduced decay. In Sothern regions of Italy, the use of synthetic fungicides only immediately before harvest in years when the weather conditions are not favorable to brown rot and other pathogens inducing postharvest decay, combined with a postharvest treatment with sodium bicarbonate could be a feasible integrated approach to reduce the risk of selection of resistant strains of fungi to synthetic fungicides while controlling effectively postharvest decay.

Integrated testing and algorithms for visual inspection of integrated circuits.

This paper deals with the integrated pre-cap testing of integrated circuits (IC's), defined as a simultaneous combination of electrical testing and of visual inspection using image analysis techniques. The emphasis is on image analysis models and algorithms for integrated testing of small and large defects. Two algorithms are presented for the analysis of visible and infrared imagery during electrical testing. Algorithm 1 matches bridges or subgraphs derived from the topological layout. Algorithm 2 computes a figure of merit for the IC from a fuzzy language description.

Game theoretical pattern recognition: application to imperfect noncooperative learning and to multiclass classification.

This paper studies in theory, and gives a solution to, the following concerns which may eventually be simultaneous: 1) obtain alternative classification decisions, ranked by some decreasing order of class membership probabilities; 2) imperfect teacher at the learning stage, or effects of labeling errors due to unsupervised learning by clustering; 3) noncooperative teacher, manipulating the a priori class probabilities; 4) unknown a priori class probabilities. These requirements are taken into account by considering a game between the recognition system and the teacher, in a game theoretical framework. Both players will ultimately select ``mixed strategies,'' which are probability distributions over the set of N alternative pattern classes, determined for each feature vector to be classified. This solution concept is interpreted in terms of the requirements 1)-4); numerical algorithms, as well as numerical examples are given with their solutions.

Medication use patterns and predictors of nonpersistence and nonadherence with oral 5-aminosalicylic acid therapy in patients with ulcerative colitis.

BACKGROUND: 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) is the recommended first-line treatment for active mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis (UC) and for maintenance of UC remission. However, persistence and adherence to prescribed 5-ASAs are often suboptimal. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate 5-ASA medication use patterns and assess risk factors associated with nonpersistence and nonadherence to oral 5-ASA medications in UC patients. METHODS: IMS LifeLink Health Plan claims data (January 2007 to June 2011) were analyzed. We identified adult patients (18 years or older) with at least 1 diagnosis of UC (ICD-9-CM code = 556.x [ulcerative colitis]) and at least 1 pharmacy claim for an oral 5-ASA (balsalazide disodium, sulfasalazine, mesalamine delayed-release, and Multi-Matrix System mesalamine) during the study period. Patients were required to have continuous eligibility on both health and pharmacy plans for 6 months pre- and 12 months post-initial pharmacy claim (index date). Medication use patterns (discontinuation, time to discontinuation [days], switch, and nonadherence) in the 12 months following the index date were evaluated. Nonpersistence or discontinuation with the index medication was defined as a treatment gap ≥ 60 days. Switch was identified as patients changing to another 5-ASA product after discontinuing the index medication. Nonadherence to index medication was determined by medication possession ratio (MPR) less than 0.8 for the index medication. Nonadherence to any 5-ASA treatment was determined by a proportion of days covered (PDC) less than 0.8 for any 5-ASA. A Cox model was used to assess the relative hazards associated with discontinuation. Multiple logistic regression models were used to assess risk factors associated with nonadherence to either the index or any 5-ASA medications. RESULTS: A total of 5,664 patients met selection criteria. The median time to discontinuation of index drug differed significantly across index medications (range, 98.5 days [sulfasalazine] to 177.5 days [Multi-Matrix System mesalamine], P less than 0.0001). Patients on Multi-Matrix System mesalamine were less likely to discontinue (63.3% vs. ≥ 68.6%, P = 0.001) and more likely to adhere to their medication (MPR ≥ 0.8; 23.1% vs. ≤ 17.4%, P less than 0.0001) than patients on other medications. Patients on mesalamine delayed-release (13.8%) or Multi-Matrix System mesalamine (14.3%) had lower switch rates than the patients on balsalazide (17.2%) or sulfasalazine (17.8%), P = 0.01. Significant predictors of nonpersistence included index medication versus Multi-Matrix System mesalamine (balsalazide disodium: HR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.07-1.36; mesalamine delayed-release: HR = 1.21, CI = 1.11-1.32; sulfasalazine: HR = 1.40, CI = 1.25-1.57), female gender (HR = 1.16, CI = 1.09-1.23), never receiving specialist care (HR = 1.14, CI = 1.07-1.21), preferred provider organization (PPO) versus health maintenance organization (HR = 1.14, CI = 1.04-1.24), and Medicare fee for service or self-insured health plan versus commercial plan (HR = 1.29, CI = 1.10-1.52). Significant variables associated with nonadherence with 5-ASA treatment (PDC less than 0.8) included not switching medication (OR = 1.90, CI = 1.58-2.29), age less than 65 (OR = 1.90, CI = 1.56-2.31), index medication as compared with Multi-Matrix System mesalamine (balsalazide disodium: OR = 1.43, CI = 1.10-1.85; mesalamine delayed-release: OR = 1.41, CI = 1.19-1.68; sulfasalazine: OR = 1.66, CI = 1.30, 2.12), female gender (OR = 1.33, CI = 1.17-1.52), residing in different regions as compared with the Midwest region (the South [OR = 1.40, CI = 1.20-1.64] and Northeast [OR = 1.29, CI = 1.05-1.58]), no use of rectal forms during the post-index period (OR = 1.28, CI = 1.08-1.50), no use of immunosuppressive/biologic agents during the post-index period (OR = 1.70, CI = 1.35-2.14), never receiving specialist care (OR = 1.25, CI = 1.08-1.44), and Medicaid/Medicare versus commercial plan (OR = 1.48, CI = 1.03-2.13). CONCLUSIONS: Patients on once-daily dosed Multi-Matrix System mesalamine had the lowest risk of discontinuation and the highest adherence rate. Multiple factors were associated with either nonpersistence or nonadherence, including multiple-daily dosed index medication, younger age, female gender, residing in the South region, PPO plan, noncommercial payer, not using immunosuppressive/biologic agents, not using rectal 5-ASA, and never receiving specialist care.

Tensor methods for hyperspectral data analysis: a space object material identification study.

An important and well-studied problem in hyperspectral image data applications is to identify materials present in the object or scene being imaged and to quantify their abundance in the mixture. Due to the increasing quantity of data usually encountered in hyperspectral datasets, effective data compression is also an important consideration. In this paper, we develop novel methods based on tensor analysis that focus on all three of these goals: material identification, material abundance estimation, and data compression. Test results are reported in all three perspectives.

[Antithyroid antibodies and endemic goiter]. / Autoanticorpi antitiroidei e gozzo endemico.

Relationship between thyroid autoantibodies and endemic goiter have been studied in 164 subjects from three different areas of endemic goiter: 91 patients and 31 healthy controls from Central Sardinia, 23 patients from Northern Latium, and 19 patients from Southern Latium. In subjects with endemic goiter from Sardinia higher levels of thyroid autoantibodies were present as compared to the healthy controls; microsomal fraction autoantibodies titer was higher than antithyroglobulin autoantibodies. In subjects from the two other endemic goiter areas the antimicrosomal and antithyroglobulin autoantibodies were absent, with the exception of one patient with basedow's goiter. It is suggested that some of the areas classified as positive for endemic goiter are indeed characterized by an extensive genetic predisposition to lymphocytic chronic thyroiditis complicated by nodular goiter.