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The rapid pace of research in the field of Artificial Intelligence in medicine has associated risks for near-term AI. Ethical considerations of the use of AI in medicine remain a subject of much debate. Concurrently, the Involvement of People living with disease and the Public (PPI) in research is becoming mandatory in the EU and UK. The goal of this research was to elucidate the important values for our relevant stakeholders: People with MS, Radiologists, neurologists, Registered Healthcare Practitioners and Computer Scientists concerning AI in radiology and synthesize these in an ethical matrix. An ethical matrix workshop co-designed with a patient expert. The workshop yielded a survey which was disseminated to the professional societies of the relevant stakeholders. Quantitative data were analysed using the Pingouin 0.53 python package. Qualitative data were examined with word frequency analysis and analysed for themes with grounded theory with a patient expert. 184 participants were recruited, (54, 60, 17, 12, 41 respectively). There were significant (p < 0.00001) differences in age, gender and ethnicity between groups. Key themes emerging from our results were the importance fast and accurate results, explanations over model performance and the significance of maintaining personal connections and choice. These themes were used to construct the ethical matrix. The ethical matrix is a useful tool for PPI and stakeholder engagement with particular advantages for near-term AI in the pandemic era. We have produced an ethical matrix that allows for the inclusion of stakeholder opinion in medical AI research design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Background High dropout rates and low compliance to pediatric weight-management programs have been reported. Socioeconomic status (SES) and ethnicity have been suggested as potentially important determinants of dropout and non-compliance. This review aims to assess the association between SES, ethnicity and study- and intervention dropout and non-compliance among participants in pediatric weight-management programs. Methods PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, Scopus, Cochrane, Web-of-Science and Google Scholar were searched for eligible studies up to March 2014. Included were randomised controlled trials (RCT), controlled clinical trials and cohort studies evaluating pediatric weight-management programs. Studies had to report dropout or non-compliance to the study or intervention with regard to ethnicity or SES. Associations between SES and ethnicity and dropout and non-compliance were analysed descriptively. Results Fourteen RCTs and 16 cohort studies were included, studying 7264 children and adolescents, aged 2–20 years. Twenty-four studies presented data on dropout or non-compliance regarding ethnicity and 26 studies presented data regarding SES. Black participants showed higher dropout rates in weight-management interventions (range 65–67%) than White participants (range 22–27%), and low family income was associated with lower compliance to weight-management interventions. Conclusions Black ethnicity and low family income seemed to be associated with higher dropout and lower compliance to pediatric weight-management interventions. Future qualitative studies may be needed to assess underlying reasons for increased dropout and non-compliance in these sub-populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Brief experimental analysis determined an effective Social Narrative format for children with ASD. • Personalized SN were more effective than general, non-personalized SN for three of three participants. • Strongest improvements were seen on days when social narratives were used immediately before the target setting. Individuals with ASD display deficits in social interaction and communication across multiple contexts, making social communication a primary intervention target in school and community-based settings. Social narratives (SN) are designed to be implemented easily and flexibly by numerous caregivers and interventionists, provided that correct training is given. However, research findings regarding the efficacy of SN have been mixed. Much previous research has used generic forms of SN, in which pictures are not individualized to the child and the setting in which change is desired. In addition, the presumed mechanism of change in most social narrative research has been that narratives are skill-building, thus resulting in long-term and persistent effects. However, little research has supported or examined that assumption. The present study examined the efficacy of SN presented via various delivery methods, including written narratives with generic pictures, written narratives with personalized pictures, and written narratives with personalized pictures plus role play. Brief experimental analysis followed by extended analysis facilitated an examination of whether SN resulted in rapid generalization, or may function more similarly to antecedent interventions, such as prompts. Findings with three children with ASD whose special education teacher implemented SN indicate that some degree of personalization is more effective than generic presentation of SN. While SN appeared to sometimes produce generalizable gains, such effects were neither immediate nor as strong as when SN was used immediately prior to observation. Implications and future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Examination of spontaneous intrinsic brain activity is drawing increasing interest, thus methods for such analyses are rapidly evolving. Here we describe a novel measure, “network homogeneity”, that allows for assessment of cohesiveness within a specified functional network, and apply it to resting-state fMRI data from adult ADHD and control participants. We examined the default mode network, a medial-wall based network characterized by high baseline activity that decreases during attention-demanding cognitive tasks. We found reduced network homogeneity within the default mode network in ADHD subjects compared to age-matched controls, particularly between the precuneus and other default mode network regions. This confirms previously published results using seed-based functional connectivity measures, and provides further evidence that altered precuneus connectivity is involved in the neuropathology of ADHD. Network homogeneity provides a potential alternative method for assessing functional connectivity of specific large-scale networks in clinical populations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aim: To determine and compare rates of descending aortic enlargement and complications in chronic aortic dissection with and without a proximal aortic graft. Methods and materials: Fifty-two patients with dissection involving the descending aorta and who had undergone at least two computed tomography (CT) examinations at our institution between November, 1993 and February, 2004 were identified, including 24 non-operated patients (four type A, 20 type B) and 28 operated patients (type A). CT examinations per patient ranged from two to 10, and follow-up ranged from 1–123 months (mean 49 months, median 38.5 months). On each CT image, the aortic short axis (SA), false lumen (FL), and true lumen (TL) diameters were measured at the longitudinal midpoint of the dissection and at the point of maximum aortic diameter. Complications were tabulated, including aortic rupture and aortic enlargement requiring surgery. Results: For non-operated patients, the midpoint and maximum point SA, TL, and FL diameters increased significantly over time. For operated patients, the midpoint and maximum point SA and FL diameters increased significantly over time. In both groups, aortic enlargement was predominantly due to FL expansion. Diameter increases in non-operated patients were significantly larger than those in operated patients. The rate of change in aortic diameter was constant, regardless of aortic size. Four non-operated and six operated patients developed aortic complications. Conclusions: In patients with a dissection involving the descending thoracic aorta, the FL increased in diameter over time, at a constant rate, and to a greater degree in non-operated patients (mostly type B) compared with operated patients (all type A). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Risk avoidance is a hallmark of psychopathological conditions such as anxiety disorders. Yet few studies have examined its neural basis. The present work sought to identify the neural correlates of risk avoidance. While functional MRI scans were acquired, healthy adults (N =23) played a Wheel of Fortune game during which they chose to bet or pass on each of 104 proposed gamble trials. Participants also completed the Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events (CARE, ), a self-report measure of “real world” risky behavior. As expected, decision-making was associated with activation, as measured by increased BOLD responses, of the striatum, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and parietal lobe. Risk avoidance during probabilistic trials (percent of trials passed) was significantly correlated with precuneus and striatal responses to trials with a certain outcome (No-Risk). Similarly, “real world” risk avoidance, as measured by the CARE, was significantly correlated with precuneus activity during No-Risk trials. Collectively, these data suggest that precuneus and striatal responses to decision-making under certainty represent putative neural markers of risk avoidance in the laboratory and in the “real world.” Further, they underline the need to extend neuroimaging research on risk avoidance, and associated anxiety disorders, to posterior cortical regions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An aging study of compositionally homogeneous U–5.6Nb and U–7.7Nb (wt.%) was undertaken to improve the understanding of the decomposition of metastable martensitic phases in the U–Nb system. Artificially aging these depleted (238U) uranium alloys at 373, 473, 523 and 573K for times up to 70 days resulted in significant age hardening. However, the microstructural changes giving rise to this hardening are subtle and elude standard light optical and electron microscopy techniques; this subtlety motivated the present study of aging-related changes by X-ray diffraction. A sealed tube X-ray diffractometer was used to record powder diffraction patterns from these aged polycrystalline U–Nb samples along with a CeO2 standard. Data were analyzed using GSAS for full-pattern Rietveld refinements. Planar defects as well as strain broadening appear to have caused unusual peak profiles, which makes data interpretation challenging. Lattice parameter and unit cell volume trends are presented. U–5.6Nb experienced a reversal in the b lattice parameter and unit cell volume during aging, which has both similarities and differences to aging in dilute U–Ti and U–Mo alloys. The longest-time aging unit cell volume trends of U–5.6Nb indicate Nb depletion of the matrix phase, while the corresponding behavior at all aging times in U–7.7Nb is indicative of Nb enrichment in its matrix phase. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: UPt3 exhibits anomalous, possibly time-fluctuating antiferromagnetic (AFM) order below 6K. Th substitution induces conventional AFM order with the same magnetic structure. Recent μSR studies on U1− x Th x Pt3 for showed that the transition into the conventional AFM state was sharp for , but broadened for (Phys. Rev. B 84 (2003) 224421), indicative of a crossover behavior. We present X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results that show no significant material inhomogeneity in those samples. However, specific heat measurements corroborate the μSR measurements and show signs of an increase near 7K for . This supports the conjecture that Th impurities slow down the fluctuating AFM, rendering them observable on the timescale of thermodynamic measurements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]