Repeatability of Female Midurethral Measurement Using High-Frequency 3-Dimensional Transvaginal Ultrasonography.

OBJECTIVES: Imaging assessment of the female urethra is critical for diagnosis and treatment of urinary incontinence. High-frequency 3-dimensional (3D) transvaginal ultrasonography (TVUS) is a novel technique for evaluating the female urethra. The aim of this study was to test the repeatability of 3D TVUS between examiners without prior experience with TVUS. METHODS: Fifty women underwent 3D TVUS. Two examiners without prior experience analyzed the urethral volumes and measured the urethral parameters. Two-dimensional (2D) parameters included urethral sphincter length and urethral sphincter thickness; 3D parameters included urethral sphincter volume, midurethral complex volume, and inner core volume. One of the examiners repeated the evaluations 1 month later. Subsequently, the measurements were compared. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients ± SD was 34.1 ± 8.1 (range, 23-55) years; the mean height, weight, and body mass index were 160.44 ± 5.12 (range, 150-173) cm, 61.80 ± 13.64 (range, 45-110) kg, and 23.98 ± 4.91 (range, 17.53-39.92) kg/m2 , respectively. The results of our study showed excellent to good intraobserver repeatability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC], 0.75-0.87) for the evaluations of all parameters but urethral sphincter length (moderate ICC, 0.53), whereas they showed good to moderate interobserver repeatability (ICC, 0.44-0.77) for all parameters. The repeatability of 3D volumes (ICC, 0.59-0.87) tended to be better than that of 2D parameters (ICC, 0.44-0.76). CONCLUSIONS: The intraobserver and interobserver repeatability of high-frequency 3D TVUS measurements of the female urethra was excellent to moderate between examiners without previous experience. The repeatability of 3D measurements tended to be better than that of 2D parameters.

Comparison of CaO's effect on the fate of heavy metals during thermal treatment of two typical types of MSWI fly ashes in China.

Both grate and fluidized bed incinerators are widely used for MSW incineration in China. CaO addition for removing hazardous emissions from MSWI flue gas changes the characteristics of fly ash and affects the thermal behavior of heavy metals when the ash is reheated. In the present work, two types of MSWI fly ashes, sampled from both grate and fluidized bed incinerators respectively, were thermal treated at 1023-1323 K and the fate of heavy metals was observed. The results show that both of the fly ashes were rich in Ca and Ca-compounds were the main alkaline matter which strongly affected the leaching behavior of heavy metals. Ca was mostly in the forms of Ca(OH)2 and CaCO3 in the fly ash from grate incinerator in which nascent fly ash particles were covered by Ca-compounds. In contrast, the content of Ca was lower in the fly ash from fluidized bed incinerator and Ca was mostly in the form of CaSO4. Chemical reactions among Ca-compounds caused particle agglomeration in thermal treated fly ash from grate incinerator, restraining the heavy metals volatilization. In thermal treated fly ash from fluidized bed incinerator, Ca was converted into aluminosilicates especially at 1323 K which enhanced heavy metals immobilization, decreasing their volatile fractions as well as leaching concentrations. Particle agglomeration hardly affected the leaching behavior of heavy metals. However, it suppressed the leachable-CaCrO4 formation and lowered Cr leaching concentration.

WITHDRAWN: Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) ultrasound imaging of breast lesions.

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Preliminary results of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) ultrasound imaging of breast lesions.

The aim of this study was to determine the appearance of breast lesions using acoustic radiation force impulse imaging (ARFI) and to correlate the ARFI values with the pathologic results. The area ratio (AR) and virtual touch tissue quantification (VTQ) values were analyzed in 86 patients (mean age 45.6 years, range 17-78 years) with 92 breast lesions (65 benign, 27 malignant; mean size 25.7 mm). The diagnostic performance of ultrasound (US) alone and US plus ARFI values were compared with respect to sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve (AUC) using a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The mean AR of the benign lesions (1.08 ± 0.21) differed from that of the malignant lesions (1.99 ± 0.63; p < 0.0001), as did the mean VTQ values (3.25 ± 2.03 m/s vs. 8.22 ± 1.27 m/s; p < 0.0001). In conclusion, ARFI provides quantitative elasticity measurements, which may complement B-mode US and potentially improve the characterization of breast lesions.