Abstract 14101: A Correction Score for Comparison of Aortic Calcification in Post-contrast and Non-contrast Measurements From Computed Tomography Scans

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R Horbal ◽  
Edward Brown ◽  
Brian A Derstine ◽  
Peng Zhang ◽  
Andrea H Rossman ◽  
...  

Introduction: Aortic calcification can be utilized to assess cardiovascular risk. While contrast is useful for vascular enhancement in diagnostic imaging, enhancement creates heterogeneity between post and non-contrast scans and limits their direct comparability. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that post and non-contrast aortic calcification measures will correlate, and a correction score can be developed for statistical comparability. Methods: Retrospective CT-scans were obtained from the University of Michigan. Participants (N=330) received abdominal scans with and without contrast enhancement within 120 calendar days. Analytic Morphomics was used to obtain vertebral-indexed measurements of aortic calcium area, and aortic wall obfuscation percentage. Calcification was specifically identified as regions with a given morphology and pixel value five standard deviations above the defined central lumen zone. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression were used to explain the relationship between aortic measurements with and without contrast. Regressions include calcification percent (Model 1), and area (Model 2). Independent variables were non-contrast measurements and dependent variables were contrast measurements, age, and sex. Results: Correlations of calcification percent ranged from 0.86 at T11 and 0.94 and L2. Correlations of calcification area ranged from 0.66 at T12 to 0.84 at L3. In Model 1, for every percent increase in post-contrast calcification, non-contrast calcification percent increased by 11% (β=1.11, p <0.001, R2=0.85). In Model 2, for every mm2 increase in post-contrast calcification area, non-contrast calcification area increased by 0.45 mm2 (β=1.45, p <0.001, R2=0.69). Variance inflation factor for Model 1 was 1.08 and 1.07 for Model 2. Conclusion: In conclusion, this research proposes a correction score for comparisons of abdominal aortic calcification measurements in post-contrast and non-contrast scans.

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Fatima Mohammad Rashed Al Talahin ◽  
Hana Khaled Al –Raqqad ◽  
Eman Saeed Al- Bourini ◽  
Bilal Adel Al-Kateeb

The aim of this study is to clarify the relationship between self-concept and patterns of family climate among students at the University of Islamic Sciences, and also aimed to investigate the effect of gender and age on this relationship.The sample of the study consisted of a group of students were selected randomly, totaling (139) students; (58) male and (81) female students.Two questionnaires were distributed on 139 students. The first questionnaire was on the impact of patterns of family climate on self-concept and the second one about self-concept. Then the researcher analyzed the results of each item in the questionnaire using appropriated statistical methods, calculated the correlation between self-concept and patterns of family climate using the Pearson correlation coefficient, and G-test to find the difference between correlation coefficients.The results showed a positive statistical significance relationship between family climate patterns on one hand and between self-concept in all its dimensions on the other hand.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengyu Jia ◽  
Suxia Wang ◽  
Ying Jing ◽  
Hanhui Zhao ◽  
Peng Rong ◽  
...  

ObjectivesTo investigate the serum level of osteocalcin (OC), also known as bone Gla protein, in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients and its correlation with abdominal aortic calcification (AAC).MethodsFrom July 2017 to February 2020, we enrolled 108 adult MHD patients. Routine fasting blood laboratory tests were performed before the start of the second hemodialysis in a week. Abdominal aortic calcification score (AACs) was assessed within 1 month. Pearson correlation and Logistic regression were used to analyze the data.ResultsThe OC level was 231.56 (25.92,361.33) ng/ml, elevating significantly in this group of MHD patients. It had a positive correlation with serum phosphorus (r = 0.511, P = 0.001), intact parathyroid hormone(iPTH) (r = 0.594, P = 0.0001), fibroblast growth factor 23(FGF23) (r = 0.485, P = 0.003) and a negative correlation with age(r = -0.356, P = 0.039). Based on the AACs, patients were divided into two groups. Serum OC level were higher in patients with AACs≥5 (p=0.032). A multiple logistics regression analysis revealed that age (odds ratio [OR]1.14, P=0.005) and OC(OR=1.10, P=0.008)were risk factors for high AACs(≥5).ConclusionThe study implicated that OC elevated significantly in this group of MHD patients.OC is positively correlated with phosphorus, iPTH, FGF23, and a negative correlation with age. OC was a risk factor for vascular calcification in this study, but this study did not classify osteocalcin as c-OC and unOC. Whether unOC is associated more directly with vascular calcification requires further study.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Likosky ◽  
Steven J Yule ◽  
Michael R Mathis ◽  
Roger D Dias ◽  
Jason J Corso ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Of the 150,000 patients annually undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, 35% develop complications that increase mortality 5 fold and expenditure by 50%. Differences in patient risk and operative approach explain only 2% of hospital variations in some complications. The intraoperative phase remains understudied as a source of variation, despite its complexity and amenability to improvement. OBJECTIVE The objectives of this study are to (1) investigate the relationship between peer assessments of intraoperative technical skills and nontechnical practices with risk-adjusted complication rates and (2) evaluate the feasibility of using computer-based metrics to automate the assessment of important intraoperative technical skills and nontechnical practices. METHODS This multicenter study will use video recording, established peer assessment tools, electronic health record data, registry data, and a high-dimensional computer vision approach to (1) investigate the relationship between peer assessments of surgeon technical skills and variability in risk-adjusted patient adverse events; (2) investigate the relationship between peer assessments of intraoperative team-based nontechnical practices and variability in risk-adjusted patient adverse events; and (3) use quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the feasibility of using objective, data-driven, computer-based assessments to automate the measurement of important intraoperative determinants of risk-adjusted patient adverse events. RESULTS The project has been funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in 2019 (R01HL146619). Preliminary Institutional Review Board review has been completed at the University of Michigan by the Institutional Review Boards of the University of Michigan Medical School. CONCLUSIONS We anticipate that this project will substantially increase our ability to assess determinants of variation in complication rates by specifically studying a surgeon’s technical skills and operating room team member nontechnical practices. These findings may provide effective targets for future trials or quality improvement initiatives to enhance the quality and safety of cardiac surgical patient care. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT PRR1-10.2196/22536


2019 ◽  
Vol IV (IV) ◽  
pp. 360-366
Author(s):  
Abdur Rashid ◽  
Roohul Amin ◽  
Shabir Ahmad

Leadership styles play an important role and position in pedagogical activities and school effectiveness because they play a major role in the learning process. The current study looked at the relationship between teacher leadership styles (including democratic, autocratic, transformational and transactional) and student academic achievement at the university level. Head of the Departments of Social Sciences and Master degree students made up the study population. Twenty-nine Heads of Departments (HODs) and two hundred and six students from five public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtukhawa were selected through simple random and stratified (proportionate) sampling techniques. Data was collected through a questionnaire, the reliability co-efficient of which was 0.72 and 0.82 for HODs and students respectively. The data collected was analyzed using Mean, Standard Deviation and Pearson Correlation. The study results indicate that teacher leadership styles are strongly linked to student academic success


1962 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-131
Author(s):  
D. E. Willis ◽  
James T. Wilson

Abstract A series of controlled high explosive shots were conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission in a salt mine near Winnfield, Louisiana, to investigate seismic decoupling theories. Two recording stations were used by the University of Michigan at various distances between 1.1 and 14.7 kilometers for a majority of these shots. Frequency analyses of the magnetic tape recordings were made and the results are presented showing the relationship of the frequency spectra as a function of charge size, distance from the source, and coupled vs decoupled shots. The smaller decoupled shots detonated in the large spherical cavities were observed to have somewhat higher predominate frequencies than the equivalent size coupled shots. A change in cavity size produced no significant difference in the shape of the spectra of the large decoupled shots.


1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Ross ◽  
Jürgen Rehm ◽  
Gordon Walsh

This study examined the relationship between patterns of alcohol consumption, including problem drinking, and psychiatric disorders in the general population. The paper utilizes data on 8,116 adults age 15–64 living in households who were interviewed for the Ontario Health Survey and the Mental Health Supplement. The University of Michigan Composite International Diagnostic Interview (UM-CIDI) was administered by trained lay interviewers to generate lifetime DSM-III-R diagnoses. Unlike previous studies, the results of this study provided no evidence of a U-shaped or J-shaped curve or relationship between alcohol use and mental health. Lifetime abstainers had the lowest risks for all mental disorders examined, while former at-risk drinkers (those who had not had a drink in the previous year but at one time regularly drank more than 12 drinks a week) had the highest risks, even after adjustment for age and gender.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 257
Author(s):  
Mahiswaran Selvanathan ◽  
Nisha Nair Surendran ◽  
Thilageswary Arumugam ◽  
Sri Jeyanthirar Subramaniam ◽  
Noraini Mohamad Yusof

Talent management has been an ongoing focus in teaching and career development among lecturers in universities. However, this effective practice lies in the conduct of certain factors in an organisation. Some of the important factors that contribute to talent management of an organisation are; the ability of lecturers to perform, organizational culture and retention practice of an organisation. Hence, this paper took a milestone in explaining the relationship among talent management and three antecedent factors; performance, organisational culture and retention. Importantly, the research focuses on academicians who are teaching Information Technology related subjects. The leading universities in Malaysia have a tendency to lose competent academicians thus creating a gap in the organisational outcome. Thus, respondents were sampled from Private Higher Learning Institutions in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The data was collected from 133 respondents who have been teaching in IT related modules. Hypotheses were built based on the relationship between variables and analysed using Pearson Correlation in via the SPSS software.  The results showthat two hypotheses are not supported except for one of the hypothesis on retention has indicated a significant relationship with the talent management practice of the university.  Information Technology is a fast growing industry as lecturers in this field need to be constantly updated in their knowledge, skills and ability. This requires talent management. Academicians who are unable to do this with the support and motivation of an organisation may not be able to offer their services in the university. Consequently, this can lead to poor outcome on knowledge delivery to students or the turnover rate may be affected. Overall, this paper has called for good human resource practices for lecturers in the teaching profession.


2021 ◽  
Vol VI (I) ◽  
pp. 148-155
Author(s):  
Shahnaz Perveen ◽  
Khalil Ur Rehman Sikander ◽  
Nimra Anam

Alienation is a state of mind in which an individual feels lonely and has a low level of attachment with her society, fails to get control over the environment and gradually becomes isolated and helpless. Psychiatric disorders refer to what a person feels, thinks and act that lead her towards the mental disturbance or spoil his areas of functioning. The present study investigated the relationship between social alienation and psychiatric disorders among university students. 600 students were selected as a sample from different departments of a university. A scale for alienation developed by Guerrero and Castillo (1966) and a scale for psychiatric disorders developed by Lovibond and Lovibond (1995) were used to collect the data. The collected data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Pearson Correlation. Results showed that certain level of social alienation and psychiatric disorders exist among students, and there was a positive association between social alienation and psychiatric disorders.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-92
Author(s):  
Inga Aleksandrovna Mezinova ◽  
Janetta Benikovna Amirkhanyan ◽  
Oleg Valerjevich Bodiagin ◽  
Milena Miroslavovna Balanova

Abstract The main purpose of this paper is to study the influence of home-multinational enterprises on country global competitiveness and to determine how this influence changes with the stage of country competitiveness. Based on the regression model, Variance Inflation Factor test and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering method, we analyzed the WEF Global Competitiveness Index 2017–2018 of those countries whose multinational firms were included into the Forbes Global 2000 list of 2017. The findings highlighted the important role of home-MNEs as determinants of countries‘ competitiveness, however MNE-related contribution of different pillars and components of the Global Competitiveness Index vary, depending on the stage of competitiveness of the studied 58 countries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-155
Author(s):  
Nazatul Shima Abdul Rani ◽  
K. Sarojani Krishnan ◽  
Zulkifli Saidun ◽  
Haniza Ahmad

Purpose: The unemployment rate among graduates is considered high in Malaysia despite concerted efforts taken by the Malaysian government in resolving the issue.  If this issue is not tackled immediately by the government, the unemployment rate may soar and hence lead to social problems in the country. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention of Universiti Kuala Lumpur TEKNOPUTRA Alumni. Methodology: An online survey was conducted to explore if there is a relationship between entrepreneurship education the graduates had received at the university and their entrepreneurial intention to become entrepreneurs. About 50 graduates responded to the survey and they consisted of male and female graduates most of who were aged between 20 and 25 with less than 2 years of working experience. The sample had ventured into service types of business while others were sole proprietors, and most of them have been involved in their business for less than 5 years. Results: Cronbach Alpha values for the reliability analysis of items for entrepreneurship education (α=0.953) and entrepreneurial intention (α=0.893) show that the items are reliable. Inferential statistics, that is Pearson r correlation was run to determine the relationship between the independent variable, entrepreneurship education and the dependent variable entrepreneurship intention. Implications:  Pearson Correlation analysis shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between entrepreneurship educations with entrepreneurial intention among TEKNOPUTRA Alumni. In short, this implies that most of the TEKNOPUTRA Alumni agreed that entrepreneurship education they had received at the university has influenced their entrepreneurial intention to become entrepreneurs.


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