Comparative ergonomic workflow and user experience analysis of MRI versus fluoroscopy-guided vascular interventions:an iliac angioplasty exemplar case study

Purpose A methodological framework is introduced to assess and compare a conventional fluoroscopy protocol for peripheral angioplasty with a new magnetic resonant imaging (MRI)-guided protocol. Different scenarios were considered during interventions on a perfused arterial phantom with regard to time-based and cognitive task analysis, user experience and ergonomics. Methods Three clinicians with different expertise performed a total of 43 simulated common iliac angioplasties (9 fluoroscopic, 34 MRI-guided) in two blocks of sessions. Six different configurations for MRI guidance were tested in the first block. Four of them were evaluated in the second block and compared to the fluoroscopy protocol. Relevant stages’ durations were collected, and interventions were audio-visually recorded from different perspectives. A cued retrospective protocol analysis (CRPA) was undertaken, including personal interviews. In addition, ergonomic constraints in the MRI suite were evaluated. Results Significant differences were found when comparing the performance between MRI configurations versus fluoroscopy. Two configurations [with times of 8.56 (0.64) and 9.48 (1.13) min] led to reduce procedure time for MRI guidance, comparable to fluoroscopy [8.49 (0.75) min]. The CRPA pointed out the main influential factors for clinical procedure performance. The ergonomic analysis quantified musculoskeletal risks for interventional radiologists when utilising MRI. Several alternatives were suggested to prevent potential low-back injuries. Conclusions This work presents a step towards the implementation of efficient operational protocols for MRI-guided procedures based on an integral and multidisciplinary framework, applicable to the assessment of current vascular protocols. The use of first-user perspective raises the possibility of establishing new forms of clinical training and education

Understanding Assistive Programs: Evaluating the Impact of Various Math Services on Student Performance

High school math performance has the potential to have a positive impact on later educational success. This project seeks to determine the role of math services and intervention programs including online and in-person tutoring, workshops, coaching, physical tools, and other class services on students’ performance in the North Carolina’s High School Math 1 course. Data being used was gathered from rural North Carolina middle and high schools by the college access program GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs). The effects of these services will be measured by End of Grade (EOG) test and course grades in the Math 1 course. This project will help develop a deeper understanding of how these types of intervention services impact students\u27 performance in current and future math courses

Gene variants influencing measures of inflammation or predisposing to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases are not associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: There are strong associations between measures of inflammation and type 2 diabetes, but the causal directions of these associations are not known. We tested the hypothesis that common gene variants known to alter circulating levels of inflammatory proteins, or known to alter autoimmune-related disease risk, influence type 2 diabetes risk. METHODS: We selected 46 variants: (1) eight variants known to alter circulating levels of inflammatory proteins, including those in the IL18, IL1RN, IL6R, MIF, PAI1 (also known as SERPINE1) and CRP genes; and (2) 38 variants known to predispose to autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. We tested the associations of these variants with type 2 diabetes using a meta-analysis of 4,107 cases and 5,187 controls from the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, the Diabetes Genetics Initiative, and the Finland-United States Investigation of NIDDM studies. We followed up associated variants (p < 0.01) in a further set of 3,125 cases and 3,596 controls from the UK. RESULTS: We found no evidence that inflammatory or autoimmune disease variants are associated with type 2 diabetes (at p <or= 0.01). The OR observed between the variant altering IL-18 levels, rs2250417, and type 2 diabetes (OR 1.00 [95% CI 0.99-1.03]), is much lower than that expected given (1) the effect of the variant on IL-18 levels (0.28 SDs per allele); and (2) estimates, based on other studies, of the correlation between IL-18 levels and type 2 diabetes risk (approximate OR 1.15 [95% CI 1.09-1.21] per 0.28 SD increase in IL-18 levels). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Our study provided no evidence that variants known to alter measures of inflammation, autoimmune or inflammatory disease risk, including type 1 diabetes, alter type 2 diabetes risk

Eight common genetic variants associated with serum dheas levels suggest a key role in ageing mechanisms

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) is the most abundant circulating steroid secreted by adrenal glands-yet its function is unknown. Its serum concentration declines significantly with increasing age, which has led to speculation that a relative DHEAS deficiency may contribute to the development of common age-related diseases or diminished longevity. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data with 14,846 individuals and identified eight independent common SNPs associated with serum DHEAS concentrations. Genes at or near the identified loci include ZKSCAN5 (rs11761528; p = 3.15×10-36), SULT2A1 (rs2637125; p = 2.61×10-19), ARPC1A (rs740160; p = 1.56×10-16), TRIM4 (rs17277546; p = 4.50×10-11), BMF (rs7181230; p = 5.44×10-11), HHEX (rs2497306; p = 4.64×10-9), BCL2L11 (rs6738028; p = 1.72×10-8), and CYP2C9 (rs2185570; p = 2.29×10-8). These genes are associated with type 2 diabetes, lymphoma, actin filament assembly, drug and xenobiotic metabolism, and zinc finger proteins. Several SNPs were associated with changes in gene expression levels, and the related genes are connected to biological pathways linking DHEAS with ageing. This study provides much needed insight into the function of DHEAS

New genetic loci implicated in fasting glucose homeostasis and their impact on type 2 diabetes risk.

Levels of circulating glucose are tightly regulated. To identify new loci influencing glycemic traits, we performed meta-analyses of 21 genome-wide association studies informative for fasting glucose, fasting insulin and indices of beta-cell function (HOMA-B) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in up to 46,186 nondiabetic participants. Follow-up of 25 loci in up to 76,558 additional subjects identified 16 loci associated with fasting glucose and HOMA-B and two loci associated with fasting insulin and HOMA-IR. These include nine loci newly associated with fasting glucose (in or near ADCY5, MADD, ADRA2A, CRY2, FADS1, GLIS3, SLC2A2, PROX1 and C2CD4B) and one influencing fasting insulin and HOMA-IR (near IGF1). We also demonstrated association of ADCY5, PROX1, GCK, GCKR and DGKB-TMEM195 with type 2 diabetes. Within these loci, likely biological candidate genes influence signal transduction, cell proliferation, development, glucose-sensing and circadian regulation. Our results demonstrate that genetic studies of glycemic traits can identify type 2 diabetes risk loci, as well as loci containing gene variants that are associated with a modest elevation in glucose levels but are not associated with overt diabetes

An Experimental Analysis Of the Demand For Payday Loans

The payday loan industry is one of the fastest growing segments of the consumer financial services market in the United States. We design an environment similar to the one that payday loan customers face and then conduct a laboratory experiment to examine what effect, if any, the existence of payday loans has on individuals\u27 abilities to manage and to survive financial setbacks. Our primary objective is to examine whether access to payday loans improves or worsens the likelihood of financial survival in our experiment. We also test the degree to which people\u27s use of payday loans affects their ability to survive financially. We find that payday loans help the subjects to absorb expenditure shocks and therefore survive financially. However, subjects whose demand for payday loans exceeds a certain threshold level are at a greater risk than a corresponding subject in the treatment in which payday loans do not exist

Measurement of the open-charm contribution to the diffractive proton structure function

Production of D*+/-(2010) mesons in diffractive deep inelastic scattering has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 82 pb^{-1}. Diffractive events were identified by the presence of a large rapidity gap in the final state. Differential cross sections have been measured in the kinematic region 1.5 < Q^2 < 200 GeV^2, 0.02 < y < 0.7, x_{IP} < 0.035, beta 1.5 GeV and |\eta(D*+/-)| < 1.5. The measured cross sections are compared to theoretical predictions. The results are presented in terms of the open-charm contribution to the diffractive proton structure function. The data demonstrate a strong sensitivity to the diffractive parton densities.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures, 6 table

Measurement of event shapes in deep inelastic scattering at HERA

Inclusive event-shape variables have been measured in the current region of the Breit frame for neutral current deep inelastic ep scattering using an integrated luminosity of 45.0 pb^-1 collected with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The variables studied included thrust, jet broadening and invariant jet mass. The kinematic range covered was 10 < Q^2 < 20,480 GeV^2 and 6.10^-4 < x < 0.6, where Q^2 is the virtuality of the exchanged boson and x is the Bjorken variable. The Q dependence of the shape variables has been used in conjunction with NLO perturbative calculations and the Dokshitzer-Webber non-perturbative corrections (`power corrections') to investigate the validity of this approach.Comment: 7+25 pages, 6 figure

TEOSINTE BRANCHED1 regulates height and stem internode length in bread wheat

Regulation of plant height and stem elongation has contributed significantly to improvement of cereal productivity by reducing lodging and improving distribution of assimilates to the inflorescence and grain. In wheat, genetic control of height has been largely contributed by the Reduced height-1 alleles that confer gibberellin insensitivity; the beneficial effects of these alleles are associated with less favourable effects involving seedling emergence, grain quality, and inflorescence architecture that have driven new research investigating genetic variation of stem growth. Here, we show that TEOSINTE BRANCHED1 (TB1) regulates height of wheat, with TB1 being expressed at low levels in nodes of the main culm prior to elongation, and increased dosage of TB1 restricting elongation of stem internodes. The effect of TB1 on stem growth is not accompanied by poor seedling emergence, as transgenic lines with increased activity of TB1 form longer coleoptiles than null transgenic controls. Analysis of height in a multiparent mapping population also showed that allelic variation for TB1 on the B genome influences height, with plants containing the variant TB-B1b allele being taller than those with the wild-type TB-B1a allele. Our results show that TB1 restricts height and stem elongation in wheat, suggesting that variant alleles that alter the expression or function of TB1 could be used as a new source of genetic diversity for optimizing architecture of wheat in breeding programmes