Radiographer reporting of magnetic resonance imaging breast examinations: findings of an accredited postgraduate programme

Aim To present the objective structured examination (OSE) results of the initial cohorts of radiographers (n=6) who have completed a postgraduate education programme (accredited by the College of Radiographers) to report magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) investigations of the breast. Method Twenty-five MRI investigations (prevalence of abnormal cases approximately 50%) were used in the OSE which included the following appearances: malignancy (mass; multi-focal disease; nipple and/or lymph node involvement); benign cysts; implant rupture (intra and extra capsular); and normal breast (with and without implant). The radiographers indicated if the appearances were normal or abnormal and provided a description and interpretation of any abnormal appearances. Responses (n=150) were compared to the expected answers previously agreed with a consultant radiologist external examiner. Sensitivity and specificity rates were calculated on the normal/abnormal decision and the total percentage agreement rates were calculated using a pre-determined marking scheme. Results The mean % rates (and 95% Confidence Intervals) for sensitivity, specificity and agreement were 96.0% (82-98); 95% (85-98) and 89.8% (80-96), respectively. The most common false positive and false negative errors were lymph node involvement, fibroadenoma and implant rupture. Conclusion These results suggest that this group of radiographers can report MRI breast examinations to a satisfactory level of competence to be of benefit to clinical departments committed to achieving recent guidelines. Further work is required to confirm the clinical application of these findings

Radiographer reporting of neurological magnetic resonance imaging examinations of the head and cervical spine: findings of an accredited postgraduate programme

Introduction To analyse the objective structured examination (OSE) results of the first cohorts of radiographers (n = 13) who successfully completed an accredited postgraduate programme in clinical reporting of neurological magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations of the head and cervical spine. Methods Forty MRI examinations were used in the OSE which included a range of abnormal cases (prevalence of abnormal examinations approximated 50%) and included: haemorrhage, infarction, demyelination disease, abscess, mass lesions (metastatic deposits, meningioma, glioma, astrocytoma); and disc disease, cord compression, stenosis, ligament rupture, syringomyelia appearances on patients referred from a range of referral sources. Normal variants and incidental findings were also included. True/false positive and negative fractions were used to mark the responses which were also scored for agreement with the previously agreed expected answers based on agreement between three consultant radiologists' reports. Results The mean sensitivity, specificity and agreement rates for all head and cervical spine investigations (n = 520) combined were 98.86%, 98.08% and 88.37%, respectively. The highest scoring cases were cases which included astrocytoma, disc protrusion with cord compression and glioma. The most common errors were related to syringomyelia, ligament rupture and vertebral fracture. Conclusions These OSE results suggest that in an academic setting, and following an accredited postgraduate education programme, this group of radiographers has the ability to correctly identify normal MRI examinations of the head/cervical spine and are able to provide a report on the abnormal appearances to a high standard. Further work is required to confirm the clinical application of these findings. Highlights •Following accredited training, radiographers can report MRI examinations of the head or cervical spine to a high standard. •The accuracy of the radiographers' reports is similar to rates in other MRI reporting studies of the lumbar spine or knee. •Radiographers in an academic setting, can report to a similar standard to non-specialised consultant radiologists

Pisces IV submersible observations in the epicentral region of the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake

The PISCES IVsubmersible was used to investigate the upper continental slope around 44 ON, 56 W, near the epicentre of the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake. Four dives in water depths of 800-2000 m were undertaken to observe speci3c features identijied with the SeaMARC I sidescan system in 1983. Two dives were made in the head of Eastern Valley where pebbly mudstones ofprobable Pleistocene age were recognized outcropping on the seafloor. Constructional features of cobbles and boulders, derived by exhumation and reworking of the pebbly mudstone, were also observed. These include gravel/sand bedforms (transverse waves) on the valley floor. Slope failure features in semiconsolidated mudstone were recognized on two dives onto the St. Pierre slope. Exposures in these mudstones are rapidly eroded by intense burrowing by benthic organisms

A Review of Prospective Study of Risk Factors for Erectile Dysfunction by Bacon et al.

Recent studies have indicated a possible link between risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease and cancer to an increased prevalence of erectile dysfunction. Smoking, weight, and exercise were all assessed in respect to erectile dysfunction in a study conducted by Bacon et al

A Human Capital Approach to Reduce Health Disparities

Objective: To introduce a human capital approach to reduce health disparities in South Carolina by increasing the number and quality of trained minority professionals in public health practice and research. Methods: The conceptual basis and elements of Project EXPORT in South Carolina are described. Project EXPORT is a community based participatory research (CBPR) translational project designed to build human capital in public health practice and research. This project involves Claflin University (CU), a Historically Black College University (HBCU) and the African American community of Orangeburg, South Carolina to reduce health disparities, utilizing resources from the University of South Carolina (USC), a level 1 research institution to build expertise at a minority serving institution. The elements of Project EXPORT were created to advance the science base of disparities reduction, increase trained minority researchers, and engage the African American community at all stages of research. Conclusion: Building upon past collaborations between HBCU’s in South Carolina and USC, this project holds promise for a public health human capital approach to reduce health disparities

Wellington : a novel method for the accurate identification of digital genomic footprints from DNase-seq data

The expression of eukaryotic genes is regulated by cis-regulatory elements such as promoters and enhancers, which bind sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins. One of the great challenges in the gene regulation field is to characterise these elements. This involves the identification of transcription factor (TF) binding sites within regulatory elements that are occupied in a defined regulatory context. Digestion with DNase and the subsequent analysis of regions protected from cleavage (DNase footprinting) has for many years been used to identify specific binding sites occupied by TFs at individual cis-elements with high resolution. This methodology has recently been adapted for high-throughput sequencing (DNase-seq). In this study, we describe an imbalance in the DNA strand-specific alignment information of DNase-seq data surrounding protein–DNA interactions that allows accurate prediction of occupied TF binding sites. Our study introduces a novel algorithm, Wellington, which considers the imbalance in this strand-specific information to efficiently identify DNA footprints. This algorithm significantly enhances specificity by reducing the proportion of false positives and requires significantly fewer predictions than previously reported methods to recapitulate an equal amount of ChIP-seq data. We also provide an open-source software package, pyDNase, which implements the Wellington algorithm to interface with DNase-seq data and expedite analyses