Awareness of using Radiology in Diagnosing COVID-19 among Radiological Students

The coronavirus (COVID-2019) has spread very rapidly over many countries around the world, producing an outbreak of acute infectious pneumonia. Medical imaging devices play a vital role in early diagnosis, evaluating severity and disease prognosis of confirmed patients with COVID-19. The aim of the study is to evaluate the awareness level of radiology students about COVID-19 and their understanding of the role of radiology devices in diagnosing COVID-19. An online cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted. Seventy-one students participated in this study. This study showed that students were properly aware of the basic knowledge of the COVID-19, 87 % of the students believed that radiology had an important role in diagnosing COVID-19. In addition, 50% of the students believed that CT was the most important modality in diagnosing COVID-19 and 32.35% believed that x-ray was the most important one. Lack of knowledge was found regarding the biomarkers that appear in radiological images in patients with COVID-19. 66.18 % of the students acquired the knowledge from their study in the radiology field and from social media (Twitter). The level of awareness among radiology students is high. There were two main reasons for this high level of awareness: gained education and social media, especially Twitter. The outbreak of the COVID-19 was not only about its health effects but also how the population persevered this pandemic. However, this level of awareness tended to be lower when discussing detailed findings of radiological images such as detailed biomarkers

Gender and cytoarchitecture differences: Functional connectivity of the hippocampal sub-regions

Introduction: The hippocampus plays a significant role in learning, memory encoding, and spatial navigation. Typically, the hippocampus is investigated as a whole region of interest. However, recent work has developed fully detailed atlases based on cytoarchitecture properties of brain regions, and the hippocampus has been sub-divided into seven sub-areas that have structural differences in terms of distinct numbers of cells, neurons, and other structural and chemical properties. Moreover, gender differences are of increasing concern in neuroscience research. Several neuroscience studies have found structural and functional variations between the brain regions of females and males, and the hippocampus is one of these regions. Aim: The aim of this study to explore whether the cytoarchitecturally distinct sub-regions of the hippocampus have varying patterns of functional connectivity with different networks of the brain and how these functional connections differ in terms of gender differences. Method: This study investigated 200 healthy participants using seed-based resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI). The primary aim of this study was to explore the resting connectivity and gender distinctions associated with specific sub-regions of the hippocampus and their relationship with major functional brain networks. Results: The findings revealed that the majority of the seven hippocampal sub-regions displayed functional connections with key brain networks, and distinct patterns of functional connectivity were observed between the hippocampal sub-regions and various functional networks within the brain. Notably, the default and visual networks exhibited the most consistent functional connections. Additionally, gender-based analysis highlighted evident functional resemblances and disparities, particularly concerning the anterior section of the hippocampus. Conclusion: This study highlighted the functional connectivity patterns and involvement of the hippocampal sub-regions in major brain functional networks, indicating that the hippocampus should be investigated as a region of multiple distinct functions and should always be examined as sub-regions of interest. The results also revealed clear gender differences in functional connectivity

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives: data from an international prospective cohort study

Background: Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling. Methods: The primary outcome was the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one COVID-19-related death in 1 year. NNVs were based on postoperative SARS-CoV-2 rates and mortality in an international cohort study (surgical patients), and community SARS-CoV-2 incidence and case fatality data (general population). NNV estimates were stratified by age (18-49, 50-69, 70 or more years) and type of surgery. Best- and worst-case scenarios were used to describe uncertainty. Results: NNVs were more favourable in surgical patients than the general population. The most favourable NNVs were in patients aged 70 years or more needing cancer surgery (351; best case 196, worst case 816) or non-cancer surgery (733; best case 407, worst case 1664). Both exceeded the NNV in the general population (1840; best case 1196, worst case 3066). NNVs for surgical patients remained favourable at a range of SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in sensitivity analysis modelling. Globally, prioritizing preoperative vaccination of patients needing elective surgery ahead of the general population could prevent an additional 58 687 (best case 115 007, worst case 20 177) COVID-19-related deaths in 1 year. Conclusion: As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population