Pilot Study expert, guest artist education experiences for music students at the university level.

Many Universities have opportunities to work with guest and visiting artists of every musical genre and instrumentation. The University of Alaska Fairbanks, mainly because of the extreme distance between peer and aspirational universities, does not often host a visiting artist. We wanted to gather data on how UAF music majors, students, and community members and Fairbanks high school students would respond to a visiting artist. Vijay Singh, currently on faculty at Central Washington University, has visited Fairbanks in the past. He has presented at UAF Jazz Fest and the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. Mr. Singh is also versed in several genres of music from jazz to choral and composition. After a performance by Vijay Singh on Saturday, April 28, we will survey attendees to garner data on how the performance was received. Our hope is that Fairbanks will grow and flourish from visiting artists and such visits will become common at UAF

Comparison of different CT metal artifact reduction strategies for standard titanium and carbon-fiber reinforced polymer implants in sheep cadavers

BACKGROUND CT artifacts induced by orthopedic implants can limit image quality and diagnostic yield. As a number of different strategies to reduce artifact extent exist, the aim of this study was to systematically compare ex vivo the impact of different CT metal artifact reduction (MAR) strategies on spine implants made of either standard titanium or carbon-fiber-reinforced-polyetheretherketone (CFR-PEEK). METHODS Spine surgeons fluoroscopically-guided prepared six sheep spine cadavers with pedicle screws and rods of either titanium or CFR-PEEK. Samples were subjected to single- and dual-energy (DE) CT-imaging. Different tube voltages (80, DE mixed, 120 and tin-filtered 150 kVp) at comparable radiation dose and iterative reconstruction versus monoenergetic extrapolation (ME) techniques were compared. Also, the influence of image reconstruction kernels (soft vs. bone tissue) was investigated. Qualitative (Likert scores) and quantitative parameters (attenuation changes induced by implant artifact, implant diameter and image noise) were evaluated by two independent radiologists. Artifact degree of different MAR-strategies and implant materials were compared by multiple ANOVA analysis. RESULTS CFR-PEEK implants induced markedly less artifacts than standard titanium implants (p < .001). This effect was substantially larger than any other tested MAR technique. Reconstruction algorithms had small impact in CFR-PEEK implants and differed significantly in MAR efficiency (p < .001) with best MAR performance for DECT ME 130 keV (bone kernel). Significant differences in image noise between reconstruction kernels were seen (p < .001) with minor impact on artifact degree. CONCLUSIONS CFR-PEEK spine implants induce significantly less artifacts than standard titanium compositions with higher MAR efficiency than any alternate scanning or image reconstruction strategy. DECT ME 130 keV image reconstructions showed least metal artifacts. Reconstruction kernels primarily modulate image noise with minor impact on artifact degree

Geschwisterposition – ein Einfluss auf die Schulleistung?

In dieser Arbeit wird der Zusammenhang zwischen der Geburtsposition und den Schulleistungen von Stadtkindern untersucht. Im Theorieteil werden alle typischen Charaktereigenschaften der entsprechenden Geburtsposition und andere Einflussfaktoren zusammengefasst. In einem weiteren Bereich wird auf das Geschlecht der Geschwister eingegangen. Zusätzlich wird die Veränderung der Geschwisterbeziehung im Laufe der Jahre beschrieben. Im zweiten Teil sind die mit Hilfe eines Fragebogens erhobenen Daten ausgewertet worden. Zudem wird ein Vergleich mit der Theorie gezogen. Abschliessend werden die Ergebnisse noch einmal zusammengefasst und kommentiert