News Globe: Visualization of Geolocalized News Articles.

The number of online news articles available nowadays is rapidly increasing. When exploring articles on online news portals, navigation is mostly limited to the most recent ones. The spatial context and the history of topics are not immediately accessible. To support readers in the exploration or research of articles in large datasets, we developed an interactive 3D globe visualization. We worked with datasets from multiple online news portals containing up to 45,000 articles. Using agglomerative hierarchical clustering, we represent the referenced locations of news articles on a globe with different levels of detail. We employ two interaction schemes for navigating the viewpoint on the visualization, including support for hand-held devices and desktop PCs, and provide search functionality and interactive filtering. Based on this framework, we explore additional modules for jointly exploring the spatial and temporal domain of the dataset and incorporating live news into the visualization.

To Fill or Not to Fill? - Value of the Administration of Positive Rectal Contrast for CT Evaluation of Diverticular Disease of the Colon.

PURPOSE: To assess the value of the administration of positive rectal contrast at CT in patients referred for suspected diverticular disease (DD) of the colon. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 460 patients (253 male, 207 female; median age 62 years; interquartile range 24) with clinical suspicion of DD of the colon were included in this retrospective IRB-approved study. CT was performed with i. v. contrast only (n = 328, group M1), i. v. + positive rectal contrast (n = 82, group M2), neither i. v. nor rectal contrast (n = 32, group S1), or positive rectal contrast only (n = 19, group S2). Two readers in consensus evaluated all CT datasets concerning diagnosis of DD (yes/no) and categorized findings (classification of diverticular disease (CDD)). Sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive values for the diagnosis of DD were calculated for all groups, using either clinical follow-up (n = 335) or intraoperative findings (n = 125) as the reference standard. In patients undergoing surgery, radiological staging of DD was correlated with the histopathology (weighted Cohen-k). RESULTS: 224 patients (48.7 %) were diagnosed with DD. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were as follows. Group M1 / M2: 92 %/92 %, 97 %/94 %, 96 %/96 %, 94 %/89 %, respectively; group S1 / S2: 94 %/86 %, 93 %/80 %, 94 %/92 %, 93 %/67 %, respectively. Radiological staging and histopathology correlated substantially in all groups (k = 0.748-0.861). CONCLUSION: Abdominal CT had a high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of DD. Disease staging correlated well with the findings at surgery. Additional positive rectal contrast administration did not have a significant advantage and may therefore be omitted in patients with suspected DD. KEY POINTS: · CT has a high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of DD.. · CT staging using the CDD algorithm correlates very well with surgery.. · Positive rectal contrast administration does not improve diagnosis and radiological staging.. CITATION FORMAT: · Meyer S, Schmidbauer M, Wacker FK et al. To Fill or Not to Fill? - Value of the Administration of Positive Rectal Contrast for CT Evaluation of Diverticular Disease of the Colon. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2021; 193: 804 - 812.

Effect of preoperative immunonutrition on postoperative short-term outcomes of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) often acquire an impaired nutritional status resulting in compromised outcomes. Perioperative immunonutrition may have a positive effect on outcomes after elective surgery. METHODS: Short-term outcomes before and after implementation of preoperative immunonutrition were retrospectively assessed. Regression models adjusted for outcome predictors were used to compare the length of stay (LOS) in the hospital, local infections, and general complications. RESULTS: Four hundred eleven patients were included (control group = 209 and the intervention group = 202). With immunonutrition, hospital LOS was significantly lower (median 6 vs 8 days; adjusted mean difference of -5.65 days; P < .001) and local infections were significantly reduced (7.4% vs 15.3%; adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.30; P = .006). Subgroup analysis showed more pronounced effects in patients with previous radiotherapy and extensive surgery. CONCLUSION: Patients receiving preoperative immunonutrition had a shorter hospital LOS and a lower rate for wound infections and local complications. These effects remained robust after a multivariate adjustment.

Who will be the Radiologists of Tomorrow? A survey of radiology during the "Practical Year" in Germany.

Purpose Aim of our study was to evaluate the motivation of medical students in their final year of medical school to choose radiology for further specialization by means of a Germany-wide survey. Materials and Methods The survey was performed during the 2015/16 semester among German medical students in their four months radiology elective during the final year. Invitations for the study were distributed by the Student Secretariats of each university. The survey was web-based with EvaSys 7.0 software. Questions on radiology contents during medical studies and "practical year" were part of the survey. Plans for residency and possible advantages and disadvantages of radiology as medical specialty were inquired. Descriptive statistics and group comparisons were used as analysis methods. Results 89 students participated in the survey at the beginning and 60 students at the end of the practical year. Of these 39 students could be identified who answered both questionnaires. Most students were satisfied with their final year radiology elective (mean 1.8 on a range from 1 to 5). Nevertheless, they criticized mentoring during routine work (mean 2.1) and a lack of educational courses (mean 2.1). Most students (83 %) were uncertain about their residency choice at the beginning of their "practical year" and about one fifth changed their plans. From the students' point of view main advantages of radiology included contact with many other clinical disciplines (87 %) and the working conditions (68 %). The reduced patient contact (42 %), the large amount of work at a computer (43 %), and the dependency on referring physicians (42 %) were regarded as the main disadvantages. The students regarded the way radiology is taught during the studies as not practical enough. With regard to radiology the majority of students (63 %) felt poorly prepared for their future work. Conclusion The "practical year" is important regarding the choice of future specialization. There was a high degree of satisfaction with the "practical year" in radiology. The mentoring during routine work and a lack of educational courses was mildly criticized. These factors provide room for improvement to foster students' interest in radiology. Key Points · The "practical year" is important regarding the choice of further specialization.. · Criticisms of radiology in the "practical year" were mentoring and courses.. · Students feel poorly prepared for their future work regarding practical radiological skills.. Citation Format · Dettmer S, Fischer V, Paeßens C et al. Who will be the Radiologists of Tomorrow? A survey of radiology during the "Practical Year" in Germany. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2017; 189: 967 - 976.

Value of oral effervescent powder administration for multidetector CT evaluation of esophageal cancer.

PURPOSE: To assess the value of oral effervescent powder (EP) for evaluation of esophageal distension, and for detection and staging of esophageal cancer with contrast-enhanced CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 84 patients without esophageal pathology and 52 patients with histological confirmed diagnosis of esophageal cancer were included in this prospective IRB-approved study. Half of the patients in both groups received EP prior to CT. Esophageal distension was assessed by planimetry of the inner (IA) and outer area (OA). Two blinded readers evaluated the datasets separately with regard to diagnosis of esophageal cancer (yes/no) and staging (T0-T4), if applicable. Distension results were compared (t-Test). In patients with cancer sensitivity, specificity, NPV and PPV were calculated. CT staging results were compared to histopathology (Cohen-k). RESULTS: IA and IA/OA were significantly larger after EP as compared to the group without EP (p<0.05). Sensitivity, specificity, NPV and PPV for cancer detection cancer were as follows: 78%/78%, 98%/98%, 95%/95%, 87%/87% with EP; 60%/68%, 98%/98%, 94%/94%, 80%/83% without EP. Staging with EP was good (k=0.84/0.67) and moderate without EP (k=0.58/0.59). CONCLUSIONS: Administration of EP prior to CT results in good distension of the esophagus, and improves detection and staging of esophageal cancer, as compared to control studies without EP.