Paper Published: Scan-Rescan Reproducibility of Carotid Geometry

Congratulations to PhD student Payam Bijari, whose first BSL paper, "Scan-rescan reproducibility of carotid bifurcation geometry from routine contrast-enhanced MR angiography", was recently published in the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

As suggested by the figure, this paper demonstrates that lumen geometry can be rapidly and reliably segmented from not-always-optimal MR angiograms, in our case from 60 participants in the ARIC Carotid MRI study, each scanned twice on separate occasions. This now sets the stage for our analysis of the full cohort, which seeks to identify whether the geometry of the carotid bifurcation can be considered a "missing" local risk factor for atherosclerosis.

Journal of Universal Rejection

A new and prestigious journal (100% rejection rate, talk about selective!). Got me thinking about starting a Journal of Universal Acceptance, which would guarantee a 100% acceptance rate* so you can pad your CV with "Accepted" submissions from the moment you submit them. Even better, maybe a Journal of Anticipated Submissions, so you can focus on padding your CV without wasting precious time actually writing manuscripts. Oooh, the possibilities are endless...

*guaranteed to be accepted before the end of the universe, or around the same time that the editor will reply to author queries regarding the status of their manuscripts.

Update: Starting from an NPR blog entry about the JUR, I came across a brief interview with the editor, which refers to a Journal of Are You Fucking Kidding, which has an entry about the seemingly "legitimate" journal Nature and Science (as in "I've had my work published in Nature and Science"). Indeed, there is a fine line between stupid and clever...

Welcome to Diego Gallo

The BSL welcomes Diego Gallo, PhD student from the group of Morbiducci and Montevecchi at the Politecnico di Torino, who will be spending the next six months at the BSL. (Sorry about the extreme cold alert, Diego! :-)