Initial clinical evaluation of stationary digital chest tomosynthesis in adult patients with cystic fibrosis

Objective: The imaging evaluation of cystic fibrosis currently relies on chest radiography or computed tomography. Recently, digital chest tomosynthesis has been proposed as an alternative. We have developed a stationary digital chest tomosynthesis (s-DCT) system based on a carbon nanotube (CNT) linear x-ray source array. This system enables tomographic imaging without movement of the x-ray tube and allows for physiological gating. The goal of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of clinical CF imaging with the s-DCT system. Materials and methods: CF patients undergoing clinically indicated chest radiography were recruited for the study and imaged on the s-DCT system. Three board-certified radiologists reviewed both the CXR and s-DCT images for image quality relevant to CF. CF disease severity was assessed by Brasfield score on CXR and chest tomosynthesis score on s-DCT. Disease severity measures were also evaluated against subject pulmonary function tests. Results: Fourteen patients underwent s-DCT imaging within 72 h of their chest radiograph imaging. Readers scored the visualization of proximal bronchi, small airways and vascular pattern higher on s-DCT than CXR. Correlation between the averaged Brasfield score and averaged tomosynthesis disease severity score for CF was -0.73, p = 0.0033. The CF disease severity score system for tomosynthesis had high correlation with FEV1 (r = -0.685) and FEF 25–75% (r = -0.719) as well as good correlation with FVC (r = -0.582). Conclusion: We demonstrate the potential of CNT x-ray-based s-DCT for use in the evaluation of cystic fibrosis disease status in the first clinical study of s-DCT. Key Points: • Carbon nanotube-based linear array x-ray tomosynthesis systems have the potential to provide diagnostically relevant information for patients with cystic fibrosis without the need for a moving gantry. • Despite the short angular span in this prototype system, lung features such as the proximal bronchi, small airways and pulmonary vasculature have improved visualization on s-DCT compared with CXR. Further improvements are anticipated with longer linear x-ray array tubes. • Evaluation of disease severity in CF patients is possible with s-DCT, yielding improved visualization of important lung features and high correlation with pulmonary function tests at a relatively low dose

Native renal artery duplex sonography

The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) is a multidisciplinary association dedicated to advancing the safe and effective use of ultrasound in medicine through professional and public education, research, development of guidelines, and accreditation. To promote this mission, the AIUM is pleased to publish, in conjunction with the American College of Radiology (ACR), the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR), and the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound (SRU), this AIUM Practice Guideline for the Performance of Native Renal Artery Duplex Sonography. We are indebted to the many volunteers who contributed their time, knowledge, and energy to bringing this document to completion. The AIUM represents the entire range of clinical and basic science interests in medical diagnostic ultrasound, and, with hundreds of volunteers, the AIUM has promoted the safe and effective use of ultrasound in clinical medicine for more than 50 years. This document and others like it will continue to advance this mission. Practice guidelines of the AIUM are intended to provide the medical ultrasound community with guidelines for the performance and recording of high-quality ultrasound examinations. The guidelines reflect what the AIUM considers the minimum criteria for a complete examination in each area but are not intended to establish a legal standard of care. AIUM-accredited practices are expected to generally follow the guidelines with recognition that deviations from these guidelines will be needed in some cases, depending on patient needs and available equipment. Practices are encouraged to go beyond the guidelines to provide additional service and information as needed

Problematising the role of the white researcher in social justice research

This article contributes to the debate on decolonising methodologies in qualitative research by considering how a white researcher can try and destabilise white supremacy when explicitly conducting research with social justice aims. It draws on data from a recent ethnographic study of minority ethnic pupils’ experiences in secondary schools in England and interrogates the tensions between the research aim to challenge racial stereotyping in education and issues of race and power emerging from the research process. This article investigates specifically the ways in which interaction is shaped by – frequently hidden, particularly to those privileged by them – structures of white supremacy. Developing an innovative analytical framework which draws on insights from both critical race theory and the work of Judith Butler, the researcher problematises issues of voice and representation in conducting social justice research. It is argued that an approach which engages with elements of both structural and post-structural theory allows a more critical exploration of white supremacy through an understanding of the performativity of race. The author works towards a possible research methodology which not only takes into account, but also tries to destabilise processes of white supremacy in research by both recognising participants’ efforts to do this, and trying to make researchers better able to take responsibility for their own complicity in perpetuating unequal racial structures. It is argued that such a recognition by white researchers will necessarily be an uncomfortable process

Search for Nonminimal Neutral Bosons from Z-Boson Decays

Using the Mark II detector at the SLAC Linear Collider, we search for decays of the Z boson to a pair of nonminimal Higgs bosons (ZHs0Hp0), where one of them is relatively light (10 GeV). We find no evidence for these decays and we obtain limits on the ZHs0Hp0 coupling as a function of the Higgs-boson masses. © 1990 The American Physical Society

Measurement of the charged multiplicity of events containing bottom hadrons at Ec.m.=91 GeV.

Using an impact-parameter tag to select an enriched sample of Z0bb» events, we have measured the difference between the average charged multiplicity of bb» and all hadronic Z0 decays to be 2.11.8(stat) 0.6(syst) tracks per event. The resulting total (nonleading) charged multiplicity for Z0 bb» events is 23.1(12.0)1.8 0.6 tracks. A comparison of this nonleading multiplicity to hadronic multiplicity data in the range of 10 to 60 GeV supports the hypothesis of flavor-independent hadronic fragmentation, and yields a measurement of the average energy fraction of bottom hadrons in Z0 decays of xEb=0.620.100.04. © 1992 The American Physical Society