Practical management of heterogeneous neuroimaging metadata by global neuroimaging data repositories

Rapidly evolving neuroimaging techniques are producing unprecedented quantities of digital data at the same time that many research studies are evolving into global, multi-disciplinary collaborations between geographically distributed scientists. While networked computers have made it almost trivial to transmit data across long distances, collecting and analyzing this data requires extensive metadata if the data is to be maximally shared. Though it is typically straightforward to encode text and numerical values into files and send content between different locations, it is often difficult to attach context and implicit assumptions to the content. As the number of and geographic separation between data contributors grows to national and global scales, the heterogeneity of the collected metadata increases and conformance to a single standardization becomes implausible. Neuroimaging data repositories must then not only accumulate data but must also consolidate disparate metadata into an integrated view. In this article, using specific examples from our experiences, we demonstrate how standardization alone cannot achieve full integration of neuroimaging data from multiple heterogeneous sources and why a fundamental change in the architecture of neuroimaging data repositories is needed instead

Relation of cardiovascular risk factors in women approaching menopause to menstrual cycle characteristics and reproductive hormones in the follicular and luteal phases

CONTEXT: Menstrual cycle characteristics may be associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe the relationships between menstrual cycle characteristics and daily reproductive hormone measures with CVD risk factors in middle-aged women. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional associations were examined between CVD risk factors and urinary LH, FSH, estrone conjugates, and pregnanediol glucuronide (Pdg) measured across one menstrual cycle or 50 d. PARTICIPANTS: Menstruating women (n = 500) who were free from diabetes or past stroke or heart attack enrolled in the Daily Hormone Study-Study of Women\u27s Health across the Nation were studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, hemostatic, and metabolic factors were measured. RESULTS: Few differences existed in risk factors between women with evidence of luteal activity and those with no evidence of luteal activity. Associations between elevated CVD risk factors and long cycle length were reduced substantially by age and BMI adjustments. Those with lower estrone conjugate and PdG averaged across the follicular phase had higher waist circumference, triglycerides, insulin, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1, tissue type plasminogen activator-antigen, and factor VIIc levels in age- and BMI-adjusted analyses (P \u3c 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In midlife menstruating women, a longer cycle length was related to CVD risk factors, in large part through their common association with BMI. More favorable levels of metabolic and hemostatic factors were associated with higher levels of follicular-phase estrogen, a pattern consistent with a more competent ovary, and higher levels of follicular-phase PdG, perhaps of adrenal origin. Metabolic and hemostatic factors may be sensitive to hormonal variation during the early perimenopausal transition

Gender and Patient Satisfaction with Primary Care: Tuning in to Women in Quality Measurement

This study analyzes the relationship between patient gender and satisfaction with primary care visits, using 1999 survey data on 1691 women and 760 men making primary care visits at multiple sites affiliated with a large academic health system designated as a National Center of Excellence in Women's Health (COE). The main findings are that in multivariate analyses controlling for patient and visit characteristics, different aspects of the content of primary care visits are important to women and men. Women's overall satisfaction with visits is more dependent than men's on informational content, continuity of care, and multidisciplinarity. Men's overall satisfaction is more dependent on the personal interest shown in them by providers. No differences in satisfaction are found between those seen in sites affiliated with the COE and other primary care sites within the health system that are not core sites of the COE. We conclude that quality improvement and research in women's primary care could benefit from gender analysis of patient satisfaction data and from more gender-sensitive patient satisfaction measures.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63266/1/15246090050118189.pd

The LONI QC System: A Semi-Automated, Web-Based and Freely-Available Environment for the Comprehensive Quality Control of Neuroimaging Data.

Quantifying, controlling, and monitoring image quality is an essential prerequisite for ensuring the validity and reproducibility of many types of neuroimaging data analyses. Implementation of quality control (QC) procedures is the key to ensuring that neuroimaging data are of high-quality and their validity in the subsequent analyses. We introduce the QC system of the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging (LONI): a web-based system featuring a workflow for the assessment of various modality and contrast brain imaging data. The design allows users to anonymously upload imaging data to the LONI-QC system. It then computes an exhaustive set of QC metrics which aids users to perform a standardized QC by generating a range of scalar and vector statistics. These procedures are performed in parallel using a large compute cluster. Finally, the system offers an automated QC procedure for structural MRI, which can flag each QC metric as being 'good' or 'bad.' Validation using various sets of data acquired from a single scanner and from multiple sites demonstrated the reproducibility of our QC metrics, and the sensitivity and specificity of the proposed Auto QC to 'bad' quality images in comparison to visual inspection. To the best of our knowledge, LONI-QC is the first online QC system that uniquely supports the variety of functionality where we compute numerous QC metrics and perform visual/automated image QC of multi-contrast and multi-modal brain imaging data. The LONI-QC system has been used to assess the quality of large neuroimaging datasets acquired as part of various multi-site studies such as the Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain Injury (TRACK-TBI) Study and the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). LONI-QC's functionality is freely available to users worldwide and its adoption by imaging researchers is likely to contribute substantially to upholding high standards of brain image data quality and to implementing these standards across the neuroimaging community

The menopause transition and women\u27s health at midlife: a progress report from the Study of Women\u27s Health Across the Nation (SWAN)

OBJECTIVE: Our initial understanding of the menopause transition (MT) has been framed by clinical samples of women seeking treatment rather than by population-based studies. The Study of Women\u27s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) initiated in 1996 with an overall goal to define the MT, to characterize its biological and psychosocial antecedents and sequelae in an ethnically and racially diverse sample of midlife women. METHODS: This review summarizes the central findings of SWAN to date that can inform women and their healthcare providers about the impact of the MT and midlife aging on overall health and well-being. RESULTS: SWAN characterized changes in reproductive axis and menstrual cycle patterns that informed the development of the reproductive aging staging system Staging of Reproductive Aging Workshop+10; MT-related symptoms and mental health (vasomotor symptoms, sleep complaints, psychological symptoms, cognitive performance, and urogenital and sexual health); and physiological systems and functions (cardiovascular and cardiometabolic health, bone health, physical function performance) that are influenced by the MT. SWAN demonstrated substantial interrelations among these changes and significant racial/ethnic differences in the rate and magnitude of change in multiple health indictors in midlife women. The findings point to midlife as a critical stage for adopting healthy behavior and preventive strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Over the past 23 years, SWAN has advanced our understanding of the impact of the MT and midlife aging on health and well-being in women. SWAN will be instrumental to determine whether MT-related changes during midlife are related to unfavorable health and well-being in early old age

Family and home correlates of television viewing in 12–13 year old adolescents: The Nepean Study

BACKGROUND: Few young people meet television viewing guidelines. PURPOSE: To determine the association between factors in the family and home environment and watching television, including videos and DVDs, in early adolescence. METHODS: Cross-sectional, self-report survey of 343 adolescents aged 12–13 years (173 girls), and their parents (338 mothers, 293 fathers). Main measures were factors in the family and home environment potentially associated with adolescents spending ≥ 2 hours per day in front of the television. Factors examined included family structure, opportunities to watch television/video/DVDs, perceptions of rules and regulations on television viewing, and television viewing practices. RESULTS: Two-thirds of adolescents watched ≥ 2 hours television per day. Factors in the family and home environment associated with adolescents watching television ≥ 2 hours per day include adolescents who have siblings (Adjusted Odds Ratio [95%CI] AOR = 3.0 [1.2, 7.8]); access to pay television (AOR = 2.0 [1.1, 3.7]); ate snacks while watching television (AOR = 3.1 [1.8, 5.4]); co-viewed television with parents (AOR = 2.3 [1.3, 4.2]); and had mothers who watched ≥ 2 hours television per day (AOR = 2.4 [1.3, 4.6]). CONCLUSION: There are factors in the family and home environment that influence the volume of television viewed by 12–13 year olds. Television plays a central role in the family environment, potentially providing a means of recreation among families of young adolescents for little cost. Interventions which target family television viewing practices and those of parents, in particular, are more likely to be effective than interventions which directly target adolescent viewing times

Myo/Nog cell regulation of bone morphogenetic protein signaling in the blastocyst is essential for normal morphogenesis and striated muscle lineage specification

AbstractCells that express MyoD mRNA, the G8 antigen and the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) inhibitor noggin (Nog) are present in the epiblast before gastrulation. Ablation of “Myo/Nog” cells in the blastocyst results in an expansion of canonical BMP signaling and prevents the expression of noggin and follistatin before and after the onset of gastrulation. Once eliminated in the epiblast, they are neither replaced nor compensated for as development progresses. Older embryos lacking Myo/Nog cells exhibit severe axial malformations. Although Wnts and Sonic hedgehog are expressed in ablated embryos, skeletal muscle progenitors expressing Pax3 are missing in the somites. Pax3+ cells do emerge adjacent to Wnt3a+ cells in vitro; however, few undergo skeletal myogenesis. Ablation of Myo/Nog cells also results in ectopically placed cardiac progenitors and cardiomyocytes in the somites. Reintroduction of Myo/Nog cells into the epiblast of ablated embryos restores normal patterns of BMP signaling, morphogenesis and skeletal myogenesis, and inhibits the expression of cardiac markers in the somites. This study demonstrates that Myo/Nog cells are essential regulators of BMP signaling in the early epiblast and are indispensable for normal morphogenesis and striated muscle lineage specification

Aquilegia, Vol. 17 No. 1, January-March 1993: Newsletter of the Colorado Native Plant Society

https://epublications.regis.edu/aquilegia/1066/thumbnail.jp

Optimal technical management of stump closure following distal pancreatectomy: a retrospective review of 215 cases.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic fistula (PF) is a major source of morbidity following distal pancreatectomy (DP). Our aim was to identify risk factors related to PF following DP and to determine the impact of technique of transection and stump closure. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of 215 consecutive patients who underwent DP. Perioperative and postoperative data were collected and analyzed with attention to PF as defined by the International Study Group of Pancreatic Fistula. RESULTS: PF developed in 36 patients (16.7%); fistulas were classified as Grade A (44.4%), B (44.4%), or C (11.1%). The pancreas was transected with stapler (n = 139), cautery (n = 70), and scalpel (n = 3). PF developed in 19.8% of remnants which were stapled/oversewn and 27.7% that were stapled alone (p = 0.4). Of the 69 pancreatic remnants transected with cautery and oversewn, a fistula developed in 4.3% (p = 0.004 compared to stapled/oversewn; p = 0.006 compared to stapled/not sewn). The median length of postoperative hospital stay was significantly increased in patients who developed PF (10 vs. 6 days, p = 0.002) CONCLUSION: The method of transection and management of the pancreatic remnant plays a critical role in the formation of PF following DP. This series suggests that transection using electrocautery followed by oversewing of the pancreatic remnant has the lowest risk of PF