What Characterizes Academic Radiology Departments That Secure Large Amounts of External Funding for Research?

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: We sought to identify factors associated with high levels of external research funding in order to provide departments with information that may help them increase their external research funding. MATERIALS AND METHODS: National Institutes of Health (NIH) data on grants were analyzed to identify the 72 radiology departments receiving funds for diagnostic radiology research. A survey was sent to these departments. We placed them into one of three categories according to total NIH funds to the department. The survey asked about department characteristics such as size; breakdown of full-time faculty among MDs, MD/PhDs, and PhDs; research space; equipment type; and number and types of trainees. RESULTS: Thirty-nine surveys were returned, including 20 from the 21 departments with the most NIH funding. PhDs played a larger role in the most research funding-intensive departments than in others. These departments also were more likely than others to give protected time to all MDs and to devote over 5% of clinical revenues to research, and they had a lower clinical workload per MD. NIH was the source of 70% of their research funding, The role of MD/PhDs and research space per 1000 research dollars did not vary by research intensity. CONCLUSIONS: These findings only demonstrate associations; they do not show the direction of causality. Nonetheless, they suggest what departments need to do if they wish to increase their external research funding.     

Associations Between Lifestyle Physical Activity and Body Image Attitudes Among Women

Structured exercise can improve body image among women. Less is known if these associations extend to lifestyle physical activity—all activities of daily living with a full range of intensity. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationships between lifestyle physical activity and body image in undergraduate women (n = 120; 18–23 years) during the spring of 2010 and 2011. One week of lifestyle physical activity was measured objectively (accelerometer) and subjectively (7-Day Physical Activity Recall Questionnaire). Attitudinal dimensions of body image were assessed using the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire. Physical activity was unrelated to appearance-related dimensions of women's body image. Objectively-measured vigorous physical activity was positively related to investment in fitness and health (p < .005), while moderate physical activity was related to investment in fitness (p < .005). Light physical activity was unrelated to women's body image. A greater amount of self-reported vigorous physical activity was related to greater investment in fitness (p < .005). Results suggested that unlike structured exercise, lifestyle physical activity was generally unrelated to women's body image. The act of exercising may be more important than accumulation of lifestyle physical activity when considering women's body image.     

Recurrent pregnancy loss with antiphospholipid antibody: a systematic review of therapeutic trials

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of interventions given to improve pregnancy outcome in women with antiphospholipid antibodies. DATA SOURCES: Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, Cochrane Collaboration Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Specialized Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, and MEDLINE were searched in December 1999. STUDY SELECTION: Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials of therapy for pregnancy loss associated with antiphospholipid antibodies were identified. TABULATION, INTEGRATION, AND RESULTS: Trial selection, data extraction, and quality assessment were performed by two authors independently. Quantitative analysis of summary data was performed using the fixed- and random-effects models with heterogeneity assessments. Pregnancy loss and adverse neonatal outcomes were the main outcome measures. Ten trials (n = 627) fulfilled the inclusion criteria (of which four lacked adequate allocation concealment). Three trials of aspirin alone showed no significant reduction in pregnancy loss (relative risk [RR] 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.66, 1.68). Heparin combined with aspirin (two trials, 140 patients) significantly reduced pregnancy loss compared with aspirin alone (RR 0.46, 95% CI 0.29, 0.71). Prednisone and aspirin resulted in a significant increase in prematurity (RR 4.83, 95% CI 2.85, 8.21) but no significant reduction in pregnancy loss (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.53, 1.36). CONCLUSION: Combination therapy with aspirin and heparin may reduce pregnancy loss in women with antiphospholipid antibodies by 54%. Further large, randomized controlled trials with adequate allocation concealment are necessary to exclude significant adverse effects.     

An analytic approach to quantifying pain scores

Statistical problems in clinical trials frequently involve fitting regression lines when the underlying data are categorical or ordinal response variables. Usually an ad hoc a priori quantification is used to assign values to these ordinal responses. For pain intensity data collected in analgesic trials, the usual approach is to set none equal to 0, mild equal to 1, moderate equal to 2, and severe equal to 3. While this scheme has been generally accepted, on the basis that for similar clinical trials reasonably similar results are obtained by different investigators, concern exists that the distances between pain scores are probably not equal. A method is presented for quantifying categorical responses so that the resulting scores maximize the simultaneous fit of the dose-response regression lines. The optimal scores derived by this technique may then be used in a bioassay analysis to estimate the relative potency of 2 compounds. As illustrative examples, this method was applied to data from 2 clinical trials and the results were compared to the usual method.     

Augmentation of acetaminophen analgesia by the antihistamine phenyltoloxamine

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study was performed to compare the analgesic activity of the combination of 650 mg acetaminophen plus 60 mg phenyltoloxamine citrate with that of 650 mg acetaminophen alone. Two hundred female inpatients who had severe pain associated with a recent episiotomy procedure were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of one of the two active treatments or a placebo. Analgesia was assessed over a 6-hour period. Treatments were compared on the basis of standard subjective scales for pain intensity and relief, a number of derived variables based on these data and two global measures. For essentially all measures, the two active treatments were significantly superior to the placebo control. The combination was significantly superior to acetaminophen alone for all analgesic measures including SPID, TOTAL, and global ratings. The results of this study demonstrate that 60 mg phenyltoloxamine produces significant augmentation of the analgesic activity of 650 mg acetaminophen in postepisiotomy pain.     

Combined enzyme immunoassay-LCEC method for the identification, confirmation, and quantitation of opiates in biological fluids

An enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) was used to test for opiates (morphine, hydromorphone, and codeine) in extracts of blood, bile, and tissue homogenates. All immunoassay opiate positive specimens were then tested by a reversed-phase liquid chromatographic procedure using electrochemical detection (LCEC). Blood specimens were then quantitated by LCEC. The sensitivity of the immunoassay (as morphine) was 0.020 mg/L, 0.200 mg/L, and 0.100 mg/kg for blood, bile, and tissue homogenates, respectively, with 2% intrarun and 7% interrun precision. The LCEC method was linear from 0.005 to 0.300 mg/L for morphine, hydromorphone, and codeine (nalorphine internal standard) with detection limits of 0.005 mg/L for each analyte. Intrarun and interrun precision varied from 1 to 2% and 6 to 11%, respectively. Recoveries, using a double extraction technique, ranged from 70 to 95%. These two methods, applied to 495 post mortem cases, demonstrated a 6% incidence of opiates, with no false positives.