An assessment of the effectiveness of magnetic resonance imaging of the shoulder: literature review

Objective. To analyse and compare all papers published to date (August 2000) that quantify the effectiveness, defined as the impact of clinician’s diagnosis or management plans, or patient outcome, of MRI of the shoulder. Design. A computerised search of Index Medicus with a broad search strategy relating to shoulder MRI was performed. Manual assessment of all papers listed was undertaken with classification of each paper depending on whether it addressed questions of (1) technical performance, (2) diagnostic performance or (3) outcome. Results. Four of 265 qualifying papers addressed aspects of effectiveness and these were reviewed. The impact on the clinician’s diagnosis varied widely between papers: the primary diagnosis was altered in 23% to 68% of cases, and the management plans were subsequently changed in 15% to 61% of cases. Only one paper addressed the impact on patient health. Conclusions. The effectiveness of MRI of the shoulder depends on the clinical skills of the referring clinician and prevalence of disease in the study population. This will have implications when the effectiveness of an imaging technique between different institutions is compared, and this in turn will influence any comparisons of cost-effectiveness. Received: 22 October 1999 Revision requested: 31 January 2000 Revision received: 21 August 2000 Accepted: 24 August 2000     

Demonstration of ATP-Dependent,Transcellular Transport of Lipid Across the Lymphatic Endothelium Using an In Vitro Model of the Lacteal

Pharmaceutical Research - The lymphatic system plays crucial roles in tissue fluid balance, trafficking of immune cells, and the uptake of dietary lipid from the intestine. Given these roles there...     

Population-Level Administration of AlcoholEdu for College: An ARIMA Time-Series Analysis

Autoregressive integrated moving averages (ARIMA) is a powerful analytic tool for conducting interrupted time-series analysis, yet it is rarely used in studies of public health campaigns or programs. This study demonstrated the use of ARIMA to assess AlcoholEdu for College, an online alcohol education course for first-year students, and other health and safety programs introduced at a moderate-size public university in the South. From 1992 to 2009, the university administered annual Core Alcohol and Drug Surveys to samples of undergraduates (Ns = 498 to 1032). AlcoholEdu and other health and safety programs that began during the study period were assessed through a series of quasi-experimental ARIMA analyses. Implementation of AlcoholEdu in 2004 was significantly associated with substantial decreases in alcohol consumption and alcohol- or drug-related negative consequences. These improvements were sustained over time as succeeding first-year classes took the course. Previous studies have shown that AlcoholEdu has an initial positive effect on students' alcohol use and associated negative consequences. This investigation suggests that these positive changes may be sustainable over time through yearly implementation of the course with first-year students. ARIMA time-series analysis holds great promise for investigating the effect of program and policy interventions to address alcohol- and drug-related problems on campus.     

Randomized trial of an eLearning program for training family members of children with autism in the principles and procedures of applied behavior analysis

Effective training of caregivers is an integral part of top-quality treatment programs for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, traditional caregiver training can be time consuming and costly. The development of Web-based electronic training programs (e.g., “eLearning”) may extend training to rural areas, thereby increasing accessibility and improving efficiency. The eLearning approach has been shown to be effective and efficient in various disciplines and industries, but studies evaluating eLearning programs for training parents of children with ASD are limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an eLearning program for training family members of children with ASD in the principles and procedures of applied behavior analysis treatment. A total of 28 family members participated in this randomized, waitlist-controlled, between-groups study. Differences in change scores between groups were significant, with the trained group substantially outperforming the waitlist control group at post-test. The control group then received training and also demonstrated significant gains post training.