scholarly journals Diffusion tractography for awake craniotomy: accuracy and factors affecting specificity

Author(s):  
Natalie L. Voets ◽  
Pieter Pretorius ◽  
Martin D. Birch ◽  
Vasileios Apostolopoulos ◽  
Richard Stacey ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Despite evidence of correspondence with intraoperative stimulation, there remains limited data on MRI diffusion tractography (DT)’s sensitivity to predict morbidity after neurosurgical oncology treatment. Our aims were: (1) evaluate DT against subcortical stimulation mapping and performance changes during and after awake neurosurgery; (2) evaluate utility of early post-operative DT to predict recovery from post-surgical deficits. Methods We retrospectively reviewed our first 100 awake neurosurgery procedures using DT- neuronavigation. Intra-operative stimulation and performance outcomes were assessed to classify DT predictions for sensitivity and specificity calculations. Post-operative DT data, available in 51 patients, were inspected for tract damage. Results 91 adult brain tumor patients (mean 49.2 years, 43 women) underwent 100 awake surgeries with subcortical stimulation between 2014 and 2019. Sensitivity and specificity of pre-operative DT predictions were 92.2% and 69.2%, varying among tracts. Post-operative deficits occurred after 41 procedures (39%), but were prolonged (> 3 months) in only 4 patients (4%). Post-operative DT in general confirmed surgical preservation of tracts. Post-operative DT anticipated complete recovery in a patient with supplementary motor area syndrome, and indicated infarct-related damage to corticospinal fibers associated with delayed, partial recovery in a second patient. Conclusions Pre-operative DT provided very accurate predictions of the spatial location of tracts in relation to a tumor. As expected, however, the presence of a tract did not inform its functional status, resulting in variable DT specificity among individual tracts. While prolonged deficits were rare, DT in the immediate post-operative period offered additional potential to monitor neurological deficits and anticipate recovery potential.

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Buck ◽  
Noelle Liwski ◽  
Connie Wolfe ◽  
Maxx Somers ◽  
Kati Knight ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Siddique ◽  
Shandana Shoaib ◽  
Zahoor Jan

A key aspect of work processes in service sector firms is the interconnection between tasks and performance. Relational coordination can play an important role in addressing the issues of coordinating organizational activities due to high level of interdependence complexity in service sector firms. Research has primarily supported the aspect that well devised high performance work systems (HPWS) can intensify organizational performance. There is a growing debate, however, with regard to understanding the “mechanism” linking HPWS and performance outcomes. Using relational coordination theory, this study examines a model that examine the effects of subsets of HPWS, such as motivation, skills and opportunity enhancing HR practices on relational coordination among employees working in reciprocal interdependent job settings. Data were gathered from multiple sources including managers and employees at individual, functional and unit levels to know their understanding in relation to HPWS and relational coordination (RC) in 218 bank branches in Pakistan. Data analysis via structural equation modelling, results suggest that HPWS predicted RC among officers at the unit level. The findings of the study have contributions to both, theory and practice.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003151252110059
Author(s):  
Erik Lundkvist ◽  
Henrik Gustafsson ◽  
Gunilla Björklund ◽  
Paul Davis ◽  
Andreas Ivarsson

The present study examined relationships between golfers’ self-perceived emotions (e.g., irritability, nervousness, tension), task-oriented coping, perceived control, and performance during a golf competition. We implemented a process-oriented golf analysis in which competitors rated these variables hole-by-hole in a competitive golf round. Within a two-level Bayesian multivariate autoregressive model, we showed that (a) within persons, emotions and task-oriented coping were reactions that stemmed from performance on the previous hole; and (b) between persons, player skill level predicted both better scores and the ability to limit the influence of negative affect on performance. These findings highlight the complex nature of the relationship between emotions and performance. Future studies might use a similarly ecologically valid research design to more precisely measure aspects of time and potentially moderating effects of player skill level and personality. An increased understanding of the dynamic relationship between emotions and performance can promote the development of effective psychological interventions for optimal performance outcomes.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1717
Author(s):  
Aaron Persinger ◽  
Matthew Butawan ◽  
Martina Faietti ◽  
Ashley Pryke ◽  
Kyley Rose ◽  
...  

Time-restricted feeding (TRF) is becoming a popular way of eating in physically active populations, despite a lack of research on metabolic and performance outcomes as they relate to the timing of food consumption in relation to the time of exercise. The purpose of this study was to determine if the timing of feeding/fasting after exercise training differently affects muscle metabolic flexibility and response to an acute bout of exercise. Male C57BL/6 mice were randomized to one of three groups for 8 weeks. The control had ad libitum access to food before and after exercise training. TRF-immediate had immediate access to food for 6 h following exercise training and the TRF-delayed group had access to food 5-h post exercise for 6 h. The timing of fasting did not impact performance in a run to fatigue despite TRF groups having lower hindlimb muscle mass. TRF-delayed had lower levels of muscle HSL mRNA expression and lower levels of PGC-1α expression but displayed no changes in electron transport chain enzymes. These results suggest that in young populations consuming a healthy diet and exercising, the timing of fasting may not substantially impact metabolic flexibility and running performance.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Stefan Röttger ◽  
Hannes Krey

Abstract The objective of this work was to assess whether the implementation of a bridge resource management (BRM) unit into the simulator-based nautical training of the German Navy is effective in improving non-technical skills and navigation performance. To this end, questionnaire data, observations of behaviour and performance outcomes were compared between a control group and an experimental group. Data of 24 bridge teams (126 sailors) were used for the analyses. Ten teams received BRM training and 14 teams served as the control group with unchanged simulator training. Reactions to simulator training were positive in both groups but more favourable in the control group. In the BRM group, significantly more positive attitudes towards open communication and coordination, more frequent sharing of information and fewer collisions were found than in the control group. Effect sizes were rather small. This may be due to the limited scale of the BRM unit, which consisted of only one instruction-training-feedback cycle. The extension of BRM-related feedback to all simulator runs of the nautical training can be expected to produce larger effects on attitudes, behaviour and performance.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147612702098287
Author(s):  
Peng Wang ◽  
Xu Jiang ◽  
Maggie Chuoyan Dong

Alliance experience has been a frequent topic in strategic alliance research in recent decades. Nonetheless, its performance consequences, either as a whole or differentiated into general versus partner-specific alliance experience, are neither theoretically clear nor empirically consistent. We use a range of meta-analytic techniques to integrate the empirical findings of 143 studies and provide a more conclusive assessment compared to prior research. Our study thus addresses a long-standing, understudied, and controversial topic: the distinction between the two types of alliance experiences. Going beyond traditional sub-group analysis, we reveal the contextual contingencies by examining how different types of alliance experiences and performance outcomes jointly affect the alliance experience–performance relationship. Moreover, we identify critical country-level institutional contingencies that moderate the focal effect.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 1850039
Author(s):  
TUGBA GURCAYLILAR-YENIDOGAN ◽  
SAFAK AKSOY

This study aims to determine innovation capacity of a firm and to investigate the correlations between performance outcomes and innovation types. In this study, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted to classify firms with respect to different novelty degrees of innovation activities in developing new products and the magnitude of market impact shortly after innovations have been introduced and then appraise the association between innovation types and performance outcomes. The data obtained from the Turkish industrial clusters show that the higher firm innovativeness in product and market with a wide-spread diffusion effect of innovations, the greater is the market and production performance. To the best of our knowledge, this study is one of the few studies applying the product-market growth matrix to determine/manage innovation portfolio of firms.


2016 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard R. Jahan-Tigh ◽  
Garrett M. Chinn ◽  
Ronald P. Rapini

Context The incorporation of high-resolution cameras into smartphones has allowed for a variety of medical applications including the use of lens attachments that provide telescopic, macroscopic, and dermatoscopic data, but the feasibility and performance characteristics of such a platform for use in dermatopathology have not been described. Objective To determine the diagnostic performance of a smartphone microscope compared to traditional light microscopy in dermatopathology specimens. Design A simple smartphone microscope constructed with a 3-mm ball lens was used to prospectively evaluate 1021 consecutive dermatopathology cases in a blinded fashion. Referred, consecutive specimens from the community were evaluated at a single university hospital. The performance characteristics of the smartphone platform were calculated by using conventional light microscopy as the gold standard. The sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of melanoma, nonmelanoma skin cancers, and other miscellaneous conditions by the phone microscopy platform, as compared with traditional light microscopy, were calculated. Results For basal cell carcinoma (n = 136), the sensitivity and specificity of smartphone microscopy were 95.6% and 98.1%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity for squamous cell carcinoma (n = 94) were 89.4% and 97.3%, respectively. The lowest sensitivity was found in melanoma (n = 15) at 60%, although the specificity was high at 99.1%. The accuracy of diagnosis of inflammatory conditions and other neoplasms was variable. Conclusions Mobile phone–based microscopy has excellent performance characteristics for the inexpensive diagnosis of nonmelanoma skin cancers in a setting where a traditional microscope is not available.


2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio González ◽  
Paola Verónica Paoloni

Previous research has shown that perceived control, task value, behavioral engagement and disaffection are personal determinants of academic performance. However, little research has simultaneously examined these constructs in secondary education. The present study analyzed the structural relationships between these variables and the role of engagement and disaffection as mediators of control and value on performance. Participants were 446 students (51.3% girls) ranging in age from 12 to 16 years attending six Spanish compulsory secondary schools (from 7th to 10th grades). The variables were assessed over a nine-month period. Structural equation models results confirmed the hypotheses: control and value significantly predicted engagement, disaffection, and performance; engagement and disaffection predicted performance and partially mediated the effects from control and value on performance. Implications for psycho-educational theory and practice are discussed.


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