The role of the GI radiographer: A UK perspective

Context: Since the 1990s radiographers in the United Kingdom have expanded their role in gastrointestinal (GI) radiology, first by performing double-contrast barium enema (DCBE) examinations independently and later by interpreting and reporting the results of these exams. Objective: This article will trace the evolution of GI radiographers in the United Kingdom, evaluate their success and explore how the U.K. experience could apply to American radiologist assistants. Methods: The authors surveyed the professional literature to determine the historical context in which GI radiographers emerged and assess how their performance on DCBE exams compares with radiologists’ performance. Results: DCBE exams performed by GI radiographers have been shown to be efficient, cost effective and safe. In addition, GI radiographers have helped reduce waiting and turnaround times for DCBE exams. Summary: The success of GI radiographers in the United Kingdom offers assurance that radiologist assistants can benefit American patients, radiologists and radiologic technologists

Creating and validating self-efficacy scales for students

Purpose: student radiographers must possess certain abilities to progress in their training; these can be assessed in various ways. Bandura’s social cognitive theory identifies self-efficacy as a key psychological construct with regard to how people adapt to environments where new skills are developed. Use of this construct is common in health care literature but little has been noted within radiographic literature. The authors sought to develop a self-efficacy scale for student radiographers. Method: the scale was developed following a standard format. An initial pool of 80 items was generated and psychometric analysis was used to reduce this to 68 items. Radiography students drawn from 7 universities were participants (N=198) in validating the scale. Results: the psychometric properties of the scale were examined using analysis of variance (ANOVA), factor analysis and item analysis. ANOVA demonstrated an acceptable level of known group validity: first-year, second-year, and third-year students all scored significantly differently (P=.035) from one another. Factor analysis identified the most significant factor as confidence in image appraisal. The scale was refined using item and factor analysis to produce the final 25-item scale. Conclusion This is the first published domain-specific self-efficacy scale validated specifically for student radiographers. In its current format it may have pedagogical utility. The authors currently are extending the work to add to the scale’s validity and embedding it into student training to assess its predictive value

Single-Step Quantum Search Using Problem Structure

The structure of satisfiability problems is used to improve search algorithms for quantum computers and reduce their required coherence times by using only a single coherent evaluation of problem properties. The structure of random k-SAT allows determining the asymptotic average behavior of these algorithms, showing they improve on quantum algorithms, such as amplitude amplification, that ignore detailed problem structure but remain exponential for hard problem instances. Compared to good classical methods, the algorithm performs better, on average, for weakly and highly constrained problems but worse for hard cases. The analytic techniques introduced here also apply to other quantum algorithms, supplementing the limited evaluation possible with classical simulations and showing how quantum computing can use ensemble properties of NP search problems.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures. Revision describes further improvement with multiple steps (section 7). See also http://www.parc.xerox.com/dynamics/www/quantum.htm

Euro-American discussion document on entry and advanced level practice in nuclear medicine

The European Association of Nuclear Medicine Technologist Committee (EANMTC) and the Society of Nuclear Medicine Technologist Section (SNMTS) meet biannually to consider matters of mutual importance. These meetings are held during the SNM and EANM annual conferences. For several years, within these meetings, EANMTC and SNMTS have considered the value of having a Euro-American initiative in defining entry-level and advanced practice competencies for nuclear medicine radiographers (NMRs) and nuclear medicine technologists (NMTs). In June 2009, during the SNM annual conference in Toronto, it was agreed that a Euro-American working party would be established to consider advanced practice. It was recognized that any consideration of a definition for advanced practice would be predicated on an understanding or definition of entry-level practice. As a result, both types of practice would have to be considered. This discussion document outlines some of the background issues associated with advanced practice generally and specifically within nuclear medicine. The primary purpose of this document is to stimulate debate, on a Euro-American level, about the perceived value of advanced practice for NMRs and NMTs within nuclear medicine and to develop an internationally accepted list of entry-level competencies and scope of practice for NMRs and NMTs within nuclear medicine

A systematic search for massive black hole binaries in SDSS spectroscopic sample

We present the results of a systematic search for massive black hole binaries in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopic database. We focus on bound binaries, under the assumption that one of the black holes is active. In this framework, the broad lines associated to the accreting black hole are expected to show systematic velocity shifts with respect to the narrow lines, which trace the rest-frame of the galaxy. For a sample of 54586 quasars and 3929 galaxies at redshifts 0.1<z<1.5 we brute-force model each spectrum as a mixture of two quasars at two different redshifts. The spectral model is a data-driven dimensionality reduction of the SDSS quasar spectra based on a matrix factorization. We identified 32 objects with peculiar spectra. Nine of them can be interpreted as black hole binaries. This doubles the number of known black hole binary candidates. We also report on the discovery of a new class of extreme double-peaked emitters with exceptionally broad and faint Balmer lines. For all the interesting sources, we present detailed analysis of the spectra, and discuss possible interpretations.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Optimising image quality for medical imaging

OPTIMAX 2016 was held at the University of Salford in Greater Manchester. It is the fourth summer school of OPTIMAX with other renditions having been organized at the University of Salford (2013), ESTeSL, Lisbon (2014) and Hanze UAS, Groningen (2015). For OPTIMAX 2016, 72 people participated from eleven countries, comprising PhD, MSc and BSc students as well as tutors from the seven European partner universities. Professional mix was drawn from engineering, medical physics/ physics and radiography. OPTIMAX 2016 was partly funded by the partner universities and partly by the participants. Two students from South Africa and two from Brazil were invited by Hanze UAS (Groningen) and ESTeSL (Lisbon). One student from the United Kingdom was funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The summer school included lectures and group projects in which experimental research was conducted in five teams. Each team project focus varied and included: optimization of full spine curvature radiography in paediatrics; ultrasound assessment of muscle thickness and muscle cross-sectional area: a reliability study; the Influence of Source-to-Image Distance on Effective Dose and Image Quality for Mobile Chest X-rays; Impact of the anode heel effect on image quality and effective dose for AP Pelvis: A pilot study; and the impact of pitch values on Image Quality and radiation dose in an abdominal adult phantom using CT. OPTIMAX 2016 culminated in a poster session and a conference, in which the research teams presented their posters and oral presentations. This book comprises of two sections, the first four chapters concern generic background information which has value to summer school organization and also theory on which the research projects were built. The second section contains the research papers in written format. The research papers have been accepted for the ECR conference, Vienna, 2017 as either oral presentations or posters