During the study of chest using positron emission tomography (PET) with [18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG), a significant myocardial FDG uptake can prevent detection of the lesion that is located either behind or closely attached to the heart border. Two well-known and possible factors of myocardial FDG uptake are blood glucose level and fasting duration before FDG PET scanning. This study investigates whether the two factors are related to myocardial FDG uptake. Our study also explores the possibility of eliminating myocardial FDG uptake by controlling patients' blood glucose level and/or fasting duration. Whole-body FDG PET scans performed on 270 consecutive patients performed were reviewed. The study subjects were classified into four grades of myocardial FDG uptake according to the visual interpretation of the FDG PET image hard-copy films. For all study subjects, the blood sugar level and fasting duration before FDG injection were recorded. Then, the blood sugar levels and fasting duration were compared to the visual grade of myocardial FDG uptake for each study subject. About half of the study subjects showed graded 0 myocardial FDG uptake when the blood glucose levels were < or = 120 mg x dl(-1) or when the fasting duration was between 5 and 12 h. One hundred and thirty-one of the 142 (92%) patients with graded 0 uptake were asked to fast for> or = 4 h and had blood glucose levels < or = 120 mg x dl(-1). Based on our findings, we conclude that controlling the patients' blood glucose levels to < or = 120 mg x dl(-1) and at least 5 h fasting should be recommended to decrease myocardial FDG uptake.

To evaluate of the effect of dancing on bone mineral density (BMD) we compared 29 Chinese girls who had been receiving regular ballet training for at least 6 years with a control group of 20 nonathletic sex-and age-matched Chinese girls. BMD was measured at the second to fourth lumbar spine and at the right femoral neck using a commercial dual-energy X-ray absorptiometer (DEXA). There were no significant differences in either measured BMD or spinal BMD after adjusting for body weight (body mass index). Adjusted BMD of the femoral neck, however, showed significant differences (P <0.05). Results revealed that the ballet dancers were significantly thinner than the control group and the negative effect of a lower bodyweight may neutralize the positive effect of ballet dancing on BMD, especially in the femoral neck.Résumé Pour évaluer l'effet de la danse sur la densité minérale de l'os (DMO) nous avons comparé vingt-neuf filles qui avaient reçu une formation régulière de ballet pendant au moins 6 ans avec vingt patientes non-athléti-ques en appariant l'âge. La DMO a été mesuré au niveau de la seconde et de la quatrième vertèbre lombaire et au niveau du col fémoral droit, utilisant un appareil d'absorptiométrie du commerce (DEXA). Il n'y avait pas de différence notable dans la DMO vertébrale après ajustement en fonction de l'index de masse corporelle, mais des différences significatives pour la DMO du col fémo-ral (p<0.05). Les résultats ont révélé que les danseurs étaient nettement plus minces que les patients-contrôles. Pour les danseurs de ballet, l'effet négatif d'un poids du corps inférieur peut se neutraliser par l'effet positif de la danse, surtout au niveau du col fémoral.

In a complex digital space---where information is shared without vetting from central authorities and where emotional content, rather than factual veracity, better predicts content spread---individuals often need to learn through experience which news sources to trust and rely on. Although public and experts' intuition alike call for stronger scrutiny of public information providers, and reliance on global trusted outlets, there is a statistical argument to be made that counter these prescriptions. We consider the scenario in which news statements are used by individuals to achieve a collective payoff---as is the case in many electoral contexts. In this case we find that a plurality of independent, even though less accurate, voices dominates over having fewer but highly accurate information sources. In this carefully controlled experiment, we ask people to make binary forecasts and reward them for their individual or collective performance. We find that when collectively rewarded (compared to when individually rewarded) people learn to rely more on local information cues, a strategy that accrues better collective performance. Importantly, and in accordance with existing collective reinforcement-learning models and the Condorcet theorem, these effects positively scale with group size. These findings show the importance of independent (instead of simply accurate) voices in any information landscape, but particularly when large groups of people want to maximize their collective payoff. Speculatively, these results suggest that, at least statistically speaking, emphasizing collective payoffs in large networks of news end-users might foster resilience to collective information failures.

Technetium-99m ethyl cysteinate dimer (Tc-99m ECD) brain single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was used to detect abnormal regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 78 SLE patients with neuropsychiatric manifestations. These patients were separated into two subgroups: group 1 including 48 cases with definite neuropsychiatric symptoms/signs and group 2 with 30 cases having no neuropsychiatric symptoms/signs. Tc-99m ECD brain SPECT demonstrated hypoperfusion brain lesions in 90% and 20% of patients in groups 1 and 2, respectively. In both groups, parietal lobe and cerebellum are the most and least common areas with hypoperfusion lesions, respectively. This study suggests that Tc-99m ECD brain SPECT may provide objective information for detection of hypoperfusion brain lesions in SLE patients.