The dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI measures of relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) play a central role in monitoring therapeutic response and disease progression in patients with gliomas. Previous investigations have demonstrated promise of using rCBV in classifying tumor grade, elucidating tumor viability after therapy, and differentiating pseudoprogression and pseudoresponse. However, the quantification and reproducibility of rCBV measurements across patients, devices, and software remain a critical barrier to routine or clinical trial use of longitudinal DSC MRI in patients with gliomas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This paper identifies differences in all-cancer incidence and mortality between Pakistani-born (PB), Bangladeshi-born (BB), their descendants, and the White British (WB) in England and Wales. Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are the most marginalised and disadvantaged groups in England and Wales yet, are found to have low cancer mortality and low all-cause mortality. Previous studies though have not looked at generational differences, applied individual-level data nor separated Pakistanis and Bangladeshis from each other and other Asian groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTissue-mimicking reference phantoms are indispensable for the development and optimization of magnetic resonance (MR) measurement sequences. Phantoms have greatest utility when they mimic the MR signals arising from tissue physiology; however, many of the properties underlying these signals, including tissue relaxation characteristics, can vary as a function of magnetic field strength. There has been renewed interest in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at field strengths less than 1 T, and phantoms developed for higher field strengths may not be physiologically relevant at these lower fields.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudies in low-fertility settings have consistently found positive relationships between parents' and children's fertility timing and family sizes, and these persist after accounting for socio-demographic factors. We explore intergenerational transmission of fertility in Great Britain, where socio-economic inequalities are larger and could play a greater role in explaining intergenerational continuities than in other settings. Using the 1970 British Cohort Study, a long-running longitudinal data set, we estimate parity-specific discrete-time event-history models to investigate the role of mother's family size and age at first birth in birth transitions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe search for new approaches in cancer therapy requires a mechanistic understanding of cancer vulnerabilities and anti-cancer drug mechanisms of action. Problematically, some effective therapeutics target cancer vulnerabilities that have poorly defined mechanisms of anti-cancer activity. One such drug is decitabine, a frontline therapeutic approved for the treatment of high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Low levels of vitamin D during pregnancy are associated with offspring behavioral problems but little is known about pre-pregnancy influences. Additionally, Black American individuals are underrepresented in studies, limiting translational impact. We tested independent and interactive effects of preconception and prenatal vitamin D in Black women in relation to positive behavioral and emotional outcomes in early childhood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To harmonize the use of color for MR relaxometry maps and therefore recommend the use of specific color-maps for representing , , and maps and their inverses.
Methods: Perceptually linearized color-maps were chosen to have similar color settings as those proposed by Griswold et al. in 2018.
Objective: This work presents an automated quality control (QC) system within quantitative MRI (qMRI) workflows. By leveraging the ISMRM/NIST quantitative MRI system phantom, we establish an open-source pipeline for rapid, repeatable, and accurate validation and stability tracking of sequence quantification performance across diverse clinical settings.
Materials And Methods: A microservice-based QC system for automated vial segmentation from quantitative maps was developed and tested across various MRF acquisition and protocol designs, with reports generated and returned to the scanner in real time.
Background: Black American children are at higher risk for developing asthma than White children. Identifying potential scalable preventive interventions that can reduce the racial disparities in asthma prevalence and associated morbidity and mortality are needed. We leveraged data from an RCT of prenatal supplementation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in Black American women, to explore whether prenatal fatty acid supplementation is associated with offspring wheeze and asthma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Racial Ethn Health Disparities
September 2024
Introduction: Pregnancy-related health in the USA fares worse than similarly resourced countries and the gap continues to widen. This trend however is disproportionately experienced by women of color. We have come to understand that this is due to the systems and structures that perpetuate racism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Bacterial pneumonia is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The extensive misuse and overuse of antibiotics observed during the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have changed the patterns of pathogens causing bacterial pneumonia and their antibiotic susceptibility profiles. This study was designed to establish the prevalence of culture-confirmed bacterial pneumonia and describe their antimicrobial susceptibility profile in adult patients who presented with signs and symptoms of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPresenting quantitative data using non-standardized color maps potentially results in unrecognized misinterpretation of data. Clinically meaningful color maps should intuitively and inclusively represent data without misleading interpretation. Uniformity of the color gradient for color maps is critically important.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To evaluate a new triage workflow aimed at improving time to intravenous antibiotics in open fractures to under less than 60 minutes of arrival to the Pediatric Emergency Department.
Design: A prospective, multidisciplinary, quality improvement project.
Setting: A tertiary care, Level 1 pediatric trauma hospital in New York.
Background: is a common pathogen that contributes to progressive lung disease in cystic fibrosis (CF). Genetic factors other than CF-causing (CF transmembrane conductance regulator) variations contribute ∼85% of the variation in chronic infection age in CF according to twin studies, but the susceptibility loci remain unknown. Our objective is to advance understanding of the genetic basis of host susceptibility to infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In low- and middle-income countries, symptomatic urinary tract infection (UTI) patients are often prescribed antibiotics without microbiological confirmation. UTIs caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria are increasingly common, and this heightens the risk of empirical treatment failure. This study evaluates the appropriateness of empirical antibiotic therapy to UTI patients in Nairobi County, Kenya.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: This article describes alternate models and policy recommendations created by an interdisciplinary team of researchers to increase gender integration at U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) recruit training.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Recruit training is designed to transform civilians into physically fit military service members, who embody their service's core values and possess military discipline and skills. At the time this research began, the U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs) occur frequently in military personnel. U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Elevated rates of musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs) and attrition are documented in military recruit training. By identifying and addressing modifiable risk factors, the rate of successful training completion and military readiness can be enhanced. Despite their impact, the causes of MSIs and attrition among U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Injury epidemiology research with military populations typically utilizes data obtained through medical chart review (MCR) or injury self-reports (ISRs). MCR data will not capture musculoskeletal injury (MSKI) data for which medical care was not sought, which is common during military recruit training. Injury self-report is affected by issues with recall, especially for MSKIs perceived as less severe.
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