A machine learning based method for sensitivity estimation for accelerated magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging using phased array coils

Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) enables in-vivo analysis of the spatial distribution of chemicals within the human body. Through MRSI, one can infer the concentration of various metabolites in different regions throughout the body. While the medical implications of such an imaging paradigm are remarkable, a poor trade-off between imaging speed and image resolution has stunted development of MRSI applications. A combination of many technological advancements is necessary to bring MRSI to its full potential; one advancement is an accelerated imaging technique known as parallel imaging. Parallel imaging exploits differences in receiver sensitivities in phased array coils to recover additional location information. Accurate estimation of the sensitivity profiles is necessary to prevent parallel imaging induced artifacts. However, accurate sensitivity profile estimations require fully sampled high-resolution images which adds an excessive data acquisition burden. A novel sensitivity profile estimation strategy which relies on deep learning is presented. It is shown how prior information in the form of learned image feature representations may be combined with noisy imaging data to produce high-resolution, artifact-free sensitivity profiles. An in-vivo experiment demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method. The relative SENSE reconstruction error for the proposed method is 1.96% compared to a signal processing baseline of 2.52%

First step on the road

Farm Radio International was invited by FAO to contribute content to an online course on experience capitalization, and later by CTA to attend the Inception Meeting of its project. Recognising the value of this approach - for improving relationships, for detailing gaps or successes, and for supporting innovation and learning - we decided to introduce it to some of our larger project

The Influence of Omniscient Technology on Algorithms

Unified game-theoretic theory have led to many unfortunate advances, including the lookaside buffer and redundancy. Given the trends in knowledge-based communication, physicists famously note the improvement of the Ethernet, which embodies the private principles of machine learning. We use mobile communication to confirm that the famous stochastic algorithm for the construction of kernels by Stephen Simmons et al. runs in Ω(log√log n) time

Clinic outcomes of the Pathway to Care Model: A cross-sectional survey of adolescent depression in Malawi

Background: Depression is one of the leading contributors to the global burden of disease and often has an onset during adolescence. While effective treatments are available, many low-income countries, such as Malawi, lack appropriately trained health providers in community health settings, and this limits access to effective mental healthcare for young people with depression. To address this need, a Canadian-developed youth depression Pathway to Care Model, linking school-based mental health literacy interventions to training of community healthcare providers, was adapted for use in Malawi and successfully applied.Methods: A sample of healthcare providers (N = 25) from community health clinics (N = 9) were trained in the use of comprehensive, systematic clinical interventions, addressing the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of depression in youth who had been referred from schools where mental health literacy interventions had been implemented. Referral outcomes were obtained using a standardised clinical record form.Results: Over 120 clinical outcome forms were available for analysis. Seventy percent of youth referred by their teachers were diagnosed with depression. Most youth diagnosed with depression identified physical symptoms as their primary difficulty. Available standardised outcome measures applied by clinicians indicated that, overall, youth showed positive outcomes as a result of treatment.Conclusions: Community healthcare providers in Malawi were trained in the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of youth depression. When this training was applied in usual clinical care to youth referred from schools, it led to generally favourable clinical outcomes. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a clinically feasible intervention that results in positive outcomes for young people with depression in Malawi, and it may provide a useful model to replicate elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa

Interactive radio’s promising role in climate information services: Farm Radio International concept paper

This paper focuses on how interactive radio programming can increase the reach of weather and seasonal climate information and related advisory services. In doing so, they can enhance small-scale farmers’ capacity to make optimal decisions and manage risks based on a better understanding of probabilistic seasonal forecasts. The objective is to outline strategy that could vastly and affordably expand the number of small-scale farmers that are reached by and benefit from weather and climate information and related advisory services. Building on Farm Radio International’s (FRI) pioneering African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI), we assess the opportunities for interactive radio to provide integrated climate and advisory information while increasing farmers’ equitable access to salient and legitimate programming. We describe a number of practical strategies that can be used to make radio-based climate communication interactive, outline elements of a successful interactive radio service targeting rural communities, and discuss costs and other issues required for sustainability

Domains of Need in a High Secure Hospital Setting:A Model for Streamlining Care and Reducing Length of Stay

There are financial and humanitarian consequences to unmet need amongst service users of high secure hospital care, not least in terms of length of stay. This article presents two reviews of high secure service user needs. They provide support for the sequencing of interventions to meet service user needs and the utility of a structured framework for their review. Through analyses of these reviews, eight domains of need were identified: Therapeutic Engagement, Risk Reduction, Education, Occupational, Mental Health Recovery, Physical Health Restoration, Cultural and Spiritual Needs, Care Pathway Management. A model is presented, within which logically sequenced, timely and relevant interventions could be framed in order to provide a comprehensive and streamlined pathway through a high secure hospital

Prescribed Fire Use Among Black Landowners in the Red Hills Region, USA

The Red Hills Region of southern Alabama, northern Florida, and southwestern Georgia is one of the most prominent areas in the United States for conducting prescribed fire research and is the birthplace of fire ecology. The culture of prescribed burning in the Red Hills has been influenced by multiple ethnic groups, including the Seminole and Creek nations, Black landowners, and White researchers. Given the distinctive reliance of the region on prescribed fire, it is noteworthy that the combined issues of Black land loss, underrepresentation, and incentives for using prescribed fire on private lands in the southeastern United States have generated questions about diversity and inclusion in landowner outreach. To increase understanding about Black landowner historic and current use of prescribed fire for land management in the Red Hills Region, formal and informal interviews were conducted from May through August 2019 with 21 Black landowners and tenants to document the perspectives and thoughts of Black landowners and tenants of southern Alabama, northern Florida, and southwestern Georgia. The results of this research show that Black landowners, tenants, and fire experts, have been, and continue to be, influential in the development and sustainment of fire traditions in the RedHills and in the resilience of the longleaf pine ecosystem

Validity of the Short Recovery and Stress Scale in Collegiate Weightlifters

Introduction: Monitoring an athlete’s stress and recovery state across sequential training bouts can be used to gauge fitness and fatigue levels (i.e., preparedness). Previous studies have used jumping performance, biochemical markers, and questionnaires to estimate preparedness. However, self-report questionnaires are the most common due to economical and practical means. The Short Recovery and Stress Scale (SRSS) is an 8-item questionnaire ideal for monitoring; however, convergent validity of the SRSS with physiological and performance measures needs to be investigated. Purpose: Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine whether changes in collegiate weightlifter’s training volume-load, biochemical markers, and jumping performance correlate to changes in the SRSS. Methods: 12 collegiate weightlifters (8 males, 4 females) with \u3e1yr of competition experience trained for 4 weeks and were tested at the beginning of each week (T1-T4). Training volume-load with displacement (VLd) was monitored weekly for all exercises. Testing was conducted following an overnight fast and included hydration, SRSS (0-6 scale with 6 indicating highest recovery and stress), and blood draws (resting testosterone (T), cortisol (C), T:C, creatine kinase (CK)) followed by unloaded (0kg) and loaded (20kg) squat jumps (SJ) on force platforms. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between the change in SRSS scores and all other variables from T1-T2, T1-T3, and T1-T4. Alpha level was set at p\u3c 0.05. Results: Inverse relationships were observed between changes in recovery items and C (r= -0.61 to -0.72, p\u3c 0.05), and unloaded and loaded SJ height and relative peak power (r= -0.59 to -0.64, p\u3c 0.05) from T1 to T2, and T1 to T3. Similarly, positive relationships were observed between changes in stress items and C (r=0.61 to 0.72, p\u3c 0.05), and unloaded and loaded SJ height and relative peak power (r=0.58 to 0.84, p\u3c 0.05) across all time points. No significant relationships were observed between changes in SRSS items and VLd or T, T:C, CK. Conclusion: Relationships between changes in some SRSS items and C agree with previous findings highlighting C as an indicator of training stress. Nonetheless, the non-significant relationships between changes in SRSS items, VLd, and other biochemical markers disagrees with previous findings. This may partly be explained by the smaller undulations in VLd in the current study, which is characteristic of actual training. Further, relationships between changes in some SRSS items and jumping performance were opposite of what was expected indicating athlete’s perception of their stress and recovery state does not always correspond with their ability to perform. Practical Application: These results provide some evidence for the convergent validity of the SRSS. Nonetheless, weightlifting coaches should be cautious in using results from a single test to estimate an athlete’s preparedness. Thus, we recommend the SRSS be included as part of a multi-dimensional monitoring program for weightlifters