University of Lincoln

About: University of Lincoln is a education organization based out in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Higher education. The organization has 2341 authors who have published 7025 publications receiving 124797 citations.

MRI Brain Tumor Segmentation and Patient Survival Prediction Using Random Forests and Fully Convolutional Networks

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a learning based method for automated segmentation of brain tumor in multimodal MRI images, which incorporates two sets of machine-learned and hand-crafted features. Fully convolutional networks (FCN) forms the machine-learned features and texton based histograms are considered as hand-crafted features. Random forest (RF) is used to classify the MRI image voxels into normal brain tissues and different parts of tumors. The volumetric features from the segmented tumor tissues and patient age applying to an RF is used to predict the survival time. The method was evaluated on MICCAI-BRATS 2017 challenge dataset. The mean Dice overlap measures for segmentation of validation dataset are 0.86, 0.78 and 0.66 for whole tumor, core and enhancing tumor, respectively. The validation Hausdorff values are 7.61, 8.70 and 3.76. For the survival prediction task, the classification accuracy, pairwise mean square error and Spearman rank are 0.485, 198749 and 0.334, respectively.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis of Patients’ Experiences and Perceptions of Seeking and Using Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs: Towards Safer Prescribing

Abstract: Benzodiazepines and Z-drugs are used to treat complaints like insomnia, anxiety and pain. These drugs are recommended for short-term use only, but many studies report long-term use, particularly in older people. The aim of this study was to identify and synthesise qualitative studies exploring patients’ experiences and perceptions of receiving benzodiazepines and Z-drugs, and through this identify factors which perpetuate use of these drugs, and strategies for achieving safer prescribing. A systematic search of six databases for qualitative studies exploring patients’ experiences and perceptions of primary care benzodiazepine and z-drug prescribing published between January 2000 and April 2014 in a European language, and conducted in Europe, the United States, Australia or New Zealand. Reference lists of included papers were also searched. Study quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme qualitative checklist. Findings were synthesised using thematic synthesis. Nine papers were included and seven analytical themes were identified relating to patients’ experiences and perceptions and, within that, strategies for safer prescribing of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs: (1) patients’ negative perceptions of insomnia and its impact, (2) failed self-care strategies, (3) triggers to medical help-seeking, (4) attitudes towards treatment options and service provision, (5) varying patterns of use, (6) withdrawal, (7) reasons for initial or ongoing use. Inappropriate use and prescribing of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs is perpetuated by psychological dependence, absence of support and patients’ denial/lack of knowledge of side effects. Education strategies, increased availability of alternatives, and targeted extended dialogue with patients could support safer prescribing.

Influences on academics' approaches to development: voices from below

Abstract: The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to explore faculty‐based academics' views on what influences their behaviours and attitudes towards their development. Informed by critical realist ontology, the data collection was carried out through narrative interviews with academics in two contrasting English universities. Findings, or areas for reflection, have emerged about the constraints and enablements academics perceive in respect of their professional development. In particular, themes such as: the significance of professional status; misaligned initiatives and priorities; the influence of supportive networks; and emergent personal, individual concerns have surfaced. The conclusion is drawn that the significance of agency raises the importance of responding to the ‘voices from below’.

An adaptive spherical view representation for navigation in changing environments

Abstract: Real-world environments such as houses and offices change over time, meaning that a mobile robot’s map will become out of date. In previous work we introduced a method to update the reference views in a topological map so that a mobile robot could continue to localize itself in a changing environment using omni-directional vision. In this work we extend this longterm updating mechanism to incorporate a spherical metric representation of the observed visual features for each node in the topological map. Using multi-view geometry we are then able to estimate the heading of the robot, in order to enable navigation between the nodes of the map, and to simultaneously adapt the spherical view representation in response to environmental changes. The results demonstrate the persistent performance of the proposed system in a long-term experiment.