Mean colony relatedness is a poor predictor of colony structure and female philopatry in the communally breeding Bechstein's bat ( Myotis bechsteinii )

2002 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Kerth ◽  
Kamran Safi ◽  
Barbara König
Keyword(s):  
Colony Structure ◽  
Female Philopatry ◽  
Poor Predictor ◽  
Myotis Bechsteinii

scholarly journals CT diagnosis of ilioinguinal lymph node metastases in melanoma using radiological characteristics beyond size and asymmetry

BJS Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M J Wilkinson ◽  
H Snow ◽  
K Downey ◽  
K Thomas ◽  
A Riddell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lymph Node ◽  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Multivariable Analysis ◽  
Ct Scans ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Poor Predictor ◽  
Contrast Enhanced Ct ◽  
Contrast Enhanced ◽  
Enhanced Ct ◽  
Node Metastases

Abstract Background Diagnosis of lymph node (LN) metastasis in melanoma with non-invasive methods is challenging. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of six LN characteristics on CT in detecting melanoma-positive ilioinguinal LN metastases, and to determine whether inguinal LN characteristics can predict pelvic LN involvement. Methods This was a single-centre retrospective study of patients with melanoma LN metastases at a tertiary cancer centre between 2008 and 2016. Patients who had preoperative contrast-enhanced CT assessment and ilioinguinal LN dissection were included. CT scans containing significant artefacts obscuring the pelvis were excluded. CT scans were reanalysed for six LN characteristics (extracapsular spread (ECS), minimum axis (MA), absence of fatty hilum (FH), asymmetrical cortical nodule (CAN), abnormal contrast enhancement (ACE) and rounded morphology (RM)) and compared with postoperative histopathological findings. Results A total of 90 patients were included. Median age was 58 (range 23–85) years. Eighty-eight patients (98 per cent) had pathology-positive inguinal disease and, of these, 45 (51 per cent) had concurrent pelvic disease. The most common CT characteristics found in pathology-positive inguinal LNs were MA greater than 10 mm (97 per cent), ACE (80 per cent), ECS (38 per cent) and absence of RM (38 per cent). In multivariable analysis, inguinal LN characteristics on CT indicative of pelvic disease were RM (odds ratio (OR) 3.3, 95 per cent c.i. 1.2 to 8.7) and ECS (OR 4.2, 1.6 to 11.3). Cloquet’s node is known to be a poor predictor of pelvic spread. Pelvic LN disease was present in 50 per cent patients, but only 7 per cent had a pathology-positive Cloquet’s node. Conclusion Additional CT radiological characteristics, especially ECS and RM, may improve diagnostic accuracy and aid clinical decisions regarding the need for inguinal or ilioinguinal dissection.

Reconciling state promises and practices: Constitutional promises and discrimination against religious minorities

2021 ◽  
pp. 003776862110123
Author(s):  
Roger Finke ◽  
Dane R Mataic
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
The State ◽  
Religious Discrimination ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Minority Religions ◽  
Independent Judiciary ◽  
Poor Predictor

Research on religious freedom has found a vast chasm between constitutional promises and state practices, with constitutional promises being a poor predictor of the state’s support of religious freedom. This research changes the focus from religious freedom to religious equality. We propose that constitutional promises of religious equality will be associated with less discrimination against minority religions and we explore the relationships governance and the promises of religious equality hold with religious discrimination. We find that promises of religious equality are associated with less discrimination. When exploring the interactions between promises of equality and our governance measures, we find constitutional promises of religious equality largely erase the differences in religious discrimination between countries with and without free elections and an independent judiciary. Yet, the reduced discrimination against minority religions does not suggest that the state removes restrictions on minority religions, only that they are equal with other religions.

scholarly journals Bedside tracer gas technique accurately predicts outcome in aspiration of spontaneous pneumothorax

Thorax ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 617-621
Author(s):  
D G Kiely ◽  
S Ansari ◽  
W A Davey ◽  
V Mahadevan ◽  
G J Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chest Radiograph ◽  
Spontaneous Pneumothorax ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Admission Rate ◽  
Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax ◽  
Tracer Gas ◽  
Secondary Spontaneous Pneumothorax ◽  
Poor Predictor ◽  
Bedside Test ◽  
Simple Bedside

BACKGROUNDThere is no technique in general use that reliably predicts the outcome of manual aspiration of spontaneous pneumothorax. We have hypothesised that the absence of a pleural leak at the time of aspiration will identify a group of patients in whom immediate discharge is unlikely to be complicated by early lung re-collapse and have tested this hypothesis by using a simple bedside tracer gas technique.METHODSEighty four episodes of primary spontaneous pneumothorax and 35 episodes of secondary spontaneous pneumothorax were studied prospectively. Patients breathed air containing a tracer (propellant gas from a pressurised metered dose inhaler) while the pneumothorax was aspirated percutaneously. Tracer gas in the aspirate was detected at the bedside using a portable flame ioniser and episodes were categorised as tracer gas positive (>1 part per million of tracer gas) or negative. The presence of tracer gas was taken to imply a persistent pleural leak. Failure of manual aspiration and the need for a further intervention was based on chest radiographic appearances showing either failure of the lung to re-expand or re-collapse following initial re-expansion.RESULTSA negative tracer gas test alone implied that manual aspiration would be successful in the treatment of 93% of episodes of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (p<0.001) and in 86% of episodes of secondary spontaneous pneumothorax (p=0.01). A positive test implied that manual aspiration would either fail to re-expand the lung or that early re-collapse would occur despite initial re-expansion in 66% of episodes of primary spontaneous pneumothorax and 71% of episodes of secondary spontaneous pneumothorax. Lung re-inflation on the chest radiograph taken immediately after aspiration was a poor predictor of successful aspiration, with lung re-collapse occurring in 34% of episodes by the following day such that a further intervention was required.CONCLUSIONSNational guidelines currently recommend immediate discharge of patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax based primarily on the outcome of the post-aspiration chest radiograph which we have shown to be a poor predictor of early lung re-collapse. Using a simple bedside test in combination with the post-aspiration chest radiograph, we can predict with high accuracy the success of aspiration in achieving sustained lung re-inflation, thereby identifying patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax who can be safely and immediately discharged home and those who should be observed overnight because of a significant risk of re-collapse, with an estimated re-admission rate of 1%.

Relationship between pre-operative anxiety and post-operative state

1980 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Johnston ◽  
Lucy Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Linear Relationship ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Surgical Patients ◽  
Curvilinear Relationship ◽  
High Anxiety ◽  
Subsequent Research ◽  
Poor Outcome ◽  
Poor Predictor

SYNOPSISJanis (1958) has proposed a curvilinear relationship between pre-operative anxiety and post-operative emotional state. While other hypotheses share the prediction of a poor outcome for patients with pre-operative high anxiety, Janis' theory is unique in predicting a poor outcome for those with low anxiety. Subsequent research has failed to confirm Janis' hypotheses, perhaps because the designs have been insensitive to the predictions for low anxiety patients.The current study tests the hypothesis more directly and finds some support for a linear relationship between pre-operative anxiety and post-operative negative affect, with no support for Janis' curvilinear hypothesis. On the whole, pre-operative anxiety was a poor predictor of other measures of recovery but, on one measure, patients with low anxiety showed a slower recovery than those with moderate anxiety, i.e. supporting the prediction of a poor outcome for low anxiety patients.The implications of these results for pre-operative preparation of surgical patients and the development of theories of anxiety are discussed.

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