Do we need a UK vascular journal? Survey of multidisciplinary UK vascular specialists

Background: Prior to the development of the Journal of Vascular Societies Great Britain & Ireland (JVSGBI), there were limited opportunities for UK based vascular health professionals to publish research relevant for UK vascular practice. A survey was developed to evaluate the appetite and potential infrastructure for a UK vascular journal amongst vascular healthcare professionals. Methods: In May 2020, an online questionnaire was administered by The Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland (VSGBI) Research Committee, surveying vascular health professionals regarding the development of a UK-specific vascular journal. The survey was disseminated via email to multi-disciplinary members of the vascular community with links promoted on social media. Results: Responses were received from 359 individuals identifying predominantly as surgeons (38%), nurses (8%), technologists (10%), radiologists (20%), trainees (10%), physiotherapists (7%) and other (7%). The majority of participants (67%) indicated they would be in favour of a UK-specific vascular journal and that it should be available as an online quarterly publication. Almost three quarters (74%) of respondents thought a subscription fee should be included in societies’ membership fees. Free text comments highlighted a few concerns, suggesting the focus should instead be to improve the quality of existing vascular journals. However, most respondents welcomed the idea of a journal relevant to UK practice, with inclusivity of all UK vascular professions to encourage more collaborative working. Conclusions: Overall, feedback collected from the survey was positive and suggested a demand for a UK-specific vascular journal, providing an indication that the development of such a journal should be further explored. The results of this survey helped to inform the development of the JVSGBI.

Redesigning library orientation for first-year medical students during the pandemic

Background: Prior to 2020, library orientation for first-year medical students at Weill Cornell Medicine took the form of an on-site treasure hunt competition. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the orientation for the MD class of 2024 was shifted to an all-virtual format. This shift mandated a full redesign of the library orientation.Case Presentation: The Samuel J. Wood Library sought to preserve the excitement and fun of the treasure hunt in the new virtual format. The competition was redesigned as a Zoom meeting using breakout rooms, with library faculty and staff serving as team facilitators. Tasks were rewritten, shifting the focus from the library’s physical spaces to its virtual services and online resources. The redesigned orientation was evaluated using two data sources: a postsession survey of student participants and a debriefing of the library employees who participated. Student evaluations were positive, while the faculty and staff provided numerous suggestions for improving future virtual orientations.Conclusions: A successful virtual library orientation requires careful preparation, including testing the competition tasks, full rehearsal with library facilitators, and a thoughtful approach to technology and logistics. We have chosen to share the materials we developed for other academic health sciences libraries that may wish to take a similar approach to their own virtual orientations.

Communicating climate change findings from IPCC reports: insights from outreach events in India

In recent years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been collaborating with Indian institutions to organise outreach events. This essay draws on the perspective of participants, speakers and organisers of 17 in-person outreach events conducted across India in 2018 and 2020, to share insights and recommendations for future IPCC events in India and other developing country contexts. The formats analysed in this essay range from panel events with very large public audiences to more focused workshops, meetings and seminars. Target audiences covered both academic and non-academic audiences and included researchers, teachers, students, industry and NGOs. The events, while achieving their main objective of communicating the findings of IPCC reports, also provided a platform for open discussion of localised climate impacts and good practices in adaptation and mitigation. There are, however, notable challenges to public outreach in India, specifically in terms of attracting an adequate number of participants, experts’ availability, communicating to a diverse audience and translation into local languages. The biggest challenge faced by speakers was a lack of knowledge about the number of attendees and the composition of the audience prior to an event. It is our recommendation that future outreach events in India are designed to be interactive, tailored to the regional context and complemented by simplified communication materials. Speakers should be provided with audience information and background prior to the event, and greater reach into rural areas, including school children, could be achieved with material in local languages. Additionally, event organisers often require logistical and operational support to host outreach events.

Prosthesis Position after TAVI with Balloon-Expandable SAPIEN 3 in Bicuspid Aortic Valves

Background: Prior data suggest a correlation between the position of transcatheter heart valves (THV) and the occurrence of complications after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients with tricuspid aortic valves (TAV). However, data including a detailed analysis of prosthesis positioning in bicuspid aortic valves (BAV) are limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate THV position after TAVI in BAV. Methods: We evaluated the THV position in 50 BAV and 50 TAV patients (all received the balloon-expandable Sapien 3 prosthesis) using fusion imaging of pre- and post-procedural computed tomography angiography. According to the manufacturers’ recommendations, a low implantation position was defined as >30% of the prosthesis below the annulus. Results: THV position was appropriate in the majority of the patients within both groups (90.0% for BAV vs. 96.0% for TAV, p = 0.240). In BAV, we observed a more pronounced THV waist (7.4 ± 4.5% vs. 5.8 ± 3.0%, p = 0.043) and a lower average THV expansion (91.9 ± 12.2% vs. 95.5 ± 2.7% of nominal expansion, p = 0.044). Conclusions: Accurate positioning in relation to the aortic annulus of the TAVI Sapien 3 prosthesis is possible in patients with BAV with results comparable to TAV. However, there is a more pronounced prosthesis waist and a lower average THV expansion in BAV.

Perceived Barriers to COVID-19 Testing

(1) Background: Prior studies have documented that access to testing has not been equitable across all communities in the US, with less testing availability and lower testing rates documented in rural counties and lower income communities. However, there is limited understanding of the perceived barriers to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing. The purpose of this study was to document the perceived barriers to COVID-19 testing. (2) Methods: Arkansas residents were recruited using a volunteer research participant registry. Participants were asked an open-ended question regarding their perceived barriers to testing. A qualitative descriptive analytical approach was used. (3) Results: Overall, 1221 people responded to the open-ended question. The primary barriers to testing described by participants were confusion and uncertainty regarding testing guidelines and where to go for testing, lack of accessible testing locations, perceptions that the nasal swab method was too painful, and long wait times for testing results. (4) Conclusions: This study documents participant reported barriers to COVID-19 testing. Through the use of a qualitative descriptive method, participants were able to discuss their concerns in their own words. This work provides important insights that can help public health leaders and healthcare providers with understanding and mitigating barriers to COVID-19 testing.

Biomonitoring Studies in Geothermal Areas: A Review

Biomonitoring is a widely employed approach to track changes in the environment. Its use to assess the impact of geothermal energy exploitation for power production is comparatively minor, and largely referred to Tuscany, Italy, geothermal fields. Most examples describe impacts on vegetation, particularly lichens. Biomonitoring proved useful as a tool to reveal the distribution of specific contaminants (e.g., mercury and H2S), and as an overall indicator of the impact on ecosystems. In consideration of the comparatively low cost/benefit ratio, the use of biomonitoring should be encouraged. In particular, it could prove useful to establish the natural background prior to development of geothermal exploitation, and to document any subsequent change.

Salient Ship Detection via Background Prior and Foreground Constraint in Remote Sensing Images

Automatic ship detection in complicated maritime background is a challenging task in the field of optical remote sensing image interpretation and analysis. In this paper, we propose a novel and reliable ship detection framework based on a visual saliency model, which can efficiently detect multiple targets of different scales in complex scenes with sea clutter, clouds, wake and islands interferences. Firstly, we present a reliable background prior extraction method adaptive for the random locations of targets by computing boundary probability and then generate a saliency map based on the background prior. Secondly, we compute the prior probability of salient foreground regions and propose a weighting function to constrain false foreground clutter, gaining the foreground-based prediction map. Thirdly, we integrate the two prediction maps and improve the details of the integrated map by a guided filter function and a wake adjustment function, obtaining the fine selection of candidate regions. Afterwards, a classification is further performed to reduce false alarms and produce the final ship detection results. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations on two public available datasets demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of the proposed method against four advanced baseline methods.

Radiology Education and the Quality of Care: Radiation Dose

The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to analyze whether the education of radiology personnel mandated by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) affects the quality of care delivered to radiology patients. One area of radiology quality of care was focused on the findings presented in this study: radiation dosage. Three groups of study participants were used. The participants were chosen and divided into groups based on their radiology background, non-radiology medical background, or lack of medical background. All study participants were required to complete an assessment asking participants what radiation dosage and shields they would use for a standard set of radiographic examinations. A training video was shown to those participants with no radiology background prior to the assessment. The data provided by each group was compared to determine similarities and variances between the groups and ANOVA calculations were completed. Differences were found between the assessments completed by members of all three groups. The results support the perception that ARRT-mandated education does affect radiation dosage chosen in the care of radiology patients.