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At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Phlebotomy skills expected of career entry CLS/CLT graduates: a Missouri hospital perspective.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how much, what type, and what proficiency of phlebotomy experience CLS/CLT students should have during the training program to be prepared to meet the needs of the majority of Missouri hospital employers. DESIGN: Survey to determine the role healthcare professionals, inside and outside the laboratory, play in today's blood collection patterns and phlebotomy management. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: The Missouri Organization of Clinical Laboratory Science mailed 204 surveys to the Missouri Hospital Association member laboratories. MAIN OUTCOMES/CONCLUSIONS: This research examined the need for modifying phlebotomy skills of clinical laboratory science students. Data gathered from employers support the premise that entry-level competencies of CLS/CLT graduates will vary according to clinical facility size. CLS/CLT programs may use data from this study to plan phlebotomy practicums. It can be extrapolated that Missouri employers who are most likely to employ career entry graduates expect them to draw blood from 9.3 patients within one hour. Fifty-three percent of 40 to 400 bed hospitals expect graduates to perform difficult draws in at least eight types of hospital units. Laboratories are the major managers of hospital wide phlebotomy services; thus, CLS/CLT curricula should include phlebotomy management methods.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1992

Workshop on two-dimensional gel protein databases.

A workshop on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) protein database, organized by the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) of the International Council of Scientific Unions Task Group on Biological Macromolecules, was held at the CODATA Secretariat in Paris on March 9, 1992. Eleven scientists from eight different countries represented various aspects of 2-DE analysis--namely, cellular protein database development and protein microsequencing methodologies. The purpose of the workshop was to explore means of integrating the rapidly expanding body of information on 2-DE resolved proteins from different laboratories. A major proposal emanating from the workshop was the establishment of an intermediary or "relational" 2-DE gel protein database. This intermediary database, which would catalogue pertinent information on 2-DE resolved proteins (experimental source, 2-DE loci, biological information, etc.) could be an adjunct to, and accessed through, the existing international protein sequence databanks. It would function as a pointer for researchers to the individual 2-DE protein databases where primary and more specialized 2-DE data would be housed.

Databases, Factual↗
PubMed2002

Toward a method of selecting among computational models of cognition.

The question of how one should decide among competing explanations of data is at the heart of the scientific enterprise. Computational models of cognition are increasingly being advanced as explanations of behavior. The success of this line of inquiry depends on the development of robust methods to guide the evaluation and selection of these models. This article introduces a method of selecting among mathematical models of cognition known as minimum description length, which provides an intuitive and theoretically well-grounded understanding of why one model should be chosen. A central but elusive concept in model selection, complexity, can also be derived with the method. The adequacy of the method is demonstrated in 3 areas of cognitive modeling: psychophysics, information integration, and categorization.

Cognition↗
PubMed2006

Enter the matrix: how to analyze the structure of behavior.

Several methods are available for analyzing different aspects of behavioral transition matrices, but a comprehensive framework for their use is lacking. We analyzed parasitoid foraging behavior in environments with different plant species compositions. The resulting complex data sets were analyzed using the following stepwise procedure. We detected abrupt changes in the event log files of parasitoids, using a maximum likelihood method. This served as a criterion for splitting the event log files into two parts. For both parts, Mantel's test was used to detect differences between first-order transition matrices, whereas an iterative proportional fitting method was used to find behavioral flows that deviated from random transitions. In addition, hidden repetitive sequences were detected in the transition matrices on the basis of their relative timing, using Theme. We discuss the results for the example from a biological context and the comprehensive use of the different methods. We stress the importance of such a combined stepwise analysis for detecting differences in some parts of event log files.

Adaptation, Biological↗
PubMed2007

Changes in public attitudes toward breastfeeding in the United States, 1999-2003.

Data from the HealthStyles survey, an annual national mail survey to US adults, were examined to understand changes in public attitudes toward breastfeeding. The 1999 and 2003 HealthStyles surveys included four breastfeeding items related to public attitudes toward breastfeeding in public and toward differences between infant formula and breastmilk. The percentage of respondents in agreement with the statement, "Infant formula is as good as breastmilk," increased significantly from 14.3% in 1999 to 25.7% in 2003. The increase was particularly large among people of low socioeconomic status. The percentage increase in agreement that "feeding a baby formula instead of breastmilk increases the chances the baby will get sick" grew at a statistically significant level, but the total change was small (2.7 percentage points). No significant total changes were found for the other two survey items. The perception that infant formula is as good as breastmilk would be expected to soften a woman's commitment to breastfeeding should she be faced with obstacles to doing so. The findings underscore the need to educate the general public that breastfeeding is the best method of feeding and nurturing infants. Pediatricians and other health professionals should recommend human milk for all infants for whom breastfeeding is not specifically contraindicated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Cognitive interviewing: verbal data in the design and pretesting of questionnaires.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to discuss problems that occur in questionnaire responses and how cognitive interviewing can be used to identify problematic questions prior to using the questionnaire in the field. BACKGROUND: Questionnaire design involves developing wording that is clear, unambiguous and permits respondents successfully to answer the question that is asked. However, a number of problems in relation to respondents' understanding and successfully completing questionnaires have been identified. Cognitive interviewing, an amalgamation of cognitive psychology and survey methodology, has been developed to identify problematic questions that may elicit response error. The overall aim is to use cognitive theory to understand how respondents perceive and interpret questions and to identify potential problems that may arise in prospective survey questionnaires. METHODS: A literature review is used to examine the process of questionnaire design and how cognitive interviewing can be used to reduce sampling error and increase questionnaire response rates. FINDINGS: Cognitive interviewing involves interviewers asking survey respondents to think out loud as they go through a survey questionnaire and tell them everything they are thinking. This allows understanding of the questionnaire from the respondents' perspective rather than that of the researchers. Cognitive interviews have been used in a number of areas in health care research to pretest and validate questionnaires and to ensure high response rates. Interviewing has been found to be highly effective in developing questionnaires for age specific groups (children and adolescents) and in ascertaining respondents' understanding in health surveys prior to distribution. However, cognitive interviews have been criticized for being overly subjective and artificial. CONCLUSION: Cognitive interviews are a positive addition to current methods of pretesting questionnaires prior to distribution to the sample. They are most valuable in pretesting questions that are complex, where questions are sensitive and intrusive and for specific groups for whom questionnaire completion may pose particular difficulties.

Cognitive Science↗
PubMed1996

The geometric structure, construction, and interpretation of path-following (trail-making) tests.

Diagnostic comparisons of performance on parts A and B of the Trail Making Test (TMT) assume that path structure in the two parts is equivalent but that task complexity is greater for B. The two parts are shown to differ with respect to length and angular variability. However, measures of fractal dimension show no difference in structural complexity between paths A and B. This analysis suggests a principled method for generating alternative pathways, varying in complexity, and opens the way for a systematic study of path-following. It also suggests that path-following may be interpretable within a general approach, in which perceptual, linguistic, reasoning and motor processes are seen as related through different groups of geometric transformations.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

The biostatistician in medical research: allocating time and effort.

Biostatisticians in research juggle many responsibilities: short-term consulting; long-term collaboration; teaching/training, and statistical research. In an institutionally-supported service group, the biostatistician frequently faces allocation of limited resources (time and effort) over multiple projects, none of which individually supports the biostatistician. In addition to the level of support provided by a specific project, there are several major issues with resource allocation: the quality of the science and data in the project; the possibility that long-term support develops from the work; personal and institutional considerations that involve the specific investigator or project. In this paper, we discuss these considerations along with some examples. We present guidelines for making decisions about allocation of time and effort and the possible implications of setting such priorities.

Biometry↗
PubMed1995

Electronic surveillance of the pharmacology-toxicology literature: the need for controlled vocabularies and registry systems.

Controlled vocabularies of "preferred names" and registry systems are essential in electronic indexing, storing, searching, and retrieving the world's published literature. The most efficient and comprehensive search is accomplished by using the preferred name. Without a controlled vocabulary or a registry system, it would be necessary to remember every name that might have been used by authors since January 1966, in order to retrieve all the citations on a chemical from over 7.8 million citations currently in the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE and its backfiles. The task of creating the list of subject descriptors that make possible the surveillance of published literature via electronic databases requires the participation of the scientific community in developing domain-specific nomenclature, drug classification, controlled vocabularies, and registry systems as well. The biological unions of the International Council of Scientific Unions and its Committee on Data for Science and Technology are major contributors to the establishment and dissemination of standards for biological terminology and nomenclature. The objectives of the IUPHAR Nomenclature Committee include the development of a rational framework for the nomenclature of receptor classes or families and a classification for therapeutic agents. This will help define rules for the characterization and classification of receptors that are stable and easy to comprehend. The International Union of Pharmacology publishes guidelines for the classification of drugs and the nomenclature of receptors and ion channels.

Abstracting and Indexing↗
PubMed1995

Harmless omission in the standardization of demographic rates.

"Standardization is a well-known technique used to avoid compositional effects when schedules of demographic rates are compared for two or more subpopulations. Common sense tells us that such standardization can be omitted when the subpopulations have the same structure with respect to the covariates one could standardize for. The present paper gives a theoretical justification of this intuitive insight and relates it to the theory for harmless model mis-specification in intensity-regression analysis. The idea of the latter notion is that under certain circumstances one can omit factors without producing biases which affect the coefficients of remaining covariates, even when the omitted factors genuinely affect the investigated behavior." The method is illustrated using risk of divorce. (SUMMARY IN FRE)

Bias↗
PubMed1983

Segregation index: an orsametric for measuring discrimination against minorities.

Orsametrics, the science of data and measurement appropriate to decision-making models, was proposed by H. M. Wagner in 1971. This paper proposes an orsametric measuring the distance between the current distribution of minorities in the organization and the worst distribution that minorities could have, given a specified proportion of minorities present in the organization. Measurement of this distance via the absolute value norm leads to a constrained model in which a convex, absolute-value functional must be maximized. This is accomplished by means of an algorithm designed to take advantage of the special structural properties of the model. An example is provided to demonstrate how the segregation index can be used to track discrimination levels within an organization through time. (Orsametrics: public sector applications-quantification of discriminatory hiring promotion practices; mathematical modelling-nonlinear, maximizing a convex function subject to linear constraints.

Abstracting and Indexing↗
PubMed2006

Consideration of some taphonomic variables of relevance to forensic palynological investigation in the United Kingdom.

Palynology is a long established and respected branch of environmental science that has been applied to criminal investigation in a meaningful way only in recent years. It has proved to be remarkably versatile in many kinds of criminal enquiry. It is not, however, an absolute science; palynological data are on a par with the suites of symptoms which allow medical practitioners to make diagnoses. Taphonomic variability is the main factor complicating interpretation of forensic palynological data. Palynological taphonomy may be defined as "all the factors that influence whether a palynomorph (pollen, spore, or other microscopic entity) will be found at a specific place at a specific time". If taphonomic variability is anticipated, and regularly tested, palynology will continue to keep its place in the armoury of useful forensic methods. Some assumptions made by palynologists engaged in palaeoecology and archaeology have been shown to be untenable in the forensic context. Palynological and botanical profiling of crime scenes has demonstrated anomalies which challenge received wisdoms. It has proved impossible to obtain palynological population data because every site is unique - expectations of any palynological profile can only be crude. The palynological status of any place must be tested every time. Without a body of analytical data from the actual crime scene, it is difficult to see how any palynologist can hope to present credible arguments under cross-examination. The statements made in this paper relate mainly to work carried out in the United Kingdom.

Automobiles↗
PubMed2026

Identification of CD55 as a downstream factor of EP4 receptor signaling in colorectal cancer cells.

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) signaling through the E-type prostanoid 4 (EP4) receptor has been implicated in the pathophysiology of colorectal cancer (CRC). We herein identified decay-accelerating factor, also known as CD55, as a novel CRC-associated downstream factor of the EP4 receptor. The integration of transcriptomic profiling of PGE2-stimulated HCA-7 human colon cancer cells with analyses of cancer genomic databases predicted CD55 as a potential EP4 receptor-regulated target. Inhibitor-based experiments showed the induction of CD55 after a PGE2 stimulation required the EP4 receptor and Gi protein in HCA-7 cells, whereas protein kinase A signaling was dispensable. In combination with a toxicogenomic database analysis, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) was identified as the predominant effector connecting the EP4 receptor to CD55 upregulation. A single-cell RNA-seq re-analysis of human CRC tissues revealed CD55 upregulation and p38 MAPK-related gene set enrichment in epithelial cells expressing the EP4 receptor, suggesting that this induction mechanism may operate in a subset of epithelial cells in clinical specimens. Collectively, these results delineate a PGE2/EP4 receptor/Gi protein/p38 MAPK signaling axis that induces CD55 expression in HCA-7 cells and epithelial tumor cells, provide new mechanistic clues for understanding the regulation of complement regulatory molecule CD55 expression by prostaglandin signaling.

Humans↗
PubMed2006

Left atrial size: physiologic determinants and clinical applications.

Left atrial (LA) enlargement has been proposed as a barometer of diastolic burden and a predictor of common cardiovascular outcomes such as atrial fibrillation, stroke, congestive heart failure, and cardiovascular death. It has been shown that advancing age alone does not independently contribute to LA enlargement, and the impact of gender on LA volume can largely be accounted for by the differences in body surface area between men and women. Therefore, enlargement of the left atrium reflects remodeling associated with pathophysiologic processes. In this review, we discuss the normal size and phasic function of the left atrium. Further, we outline the clinically important aspects and pitfalls of evaluating LA size, and the methods for assessing LA function using echocardiography. Finally, we review the determinants of LA size and remodeling, and we describe the evidence regarding the prognostic value of LA size. The use of LA volume for risk stratification is an evolving science. More data are required with respect to the natural history of LA remodeling in disease, the degree of LA modifiability with therapy, and whether regression of LA size translates into improved cardiovascular outcomes.

Atrial Function↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Assessing food system attitudes among youth: development and evaluation of attitude measures.

OBJECTIVE: To design and pilot a questionnaire for assessing youth attitudes about the food system. DESIGN: Nutrition educators provided important topics for food system education through a survey using the Delphi method. The resulting questionnaire of attitude scales was piloted with high school students. SETTING: The Delphi survey of nutrition educators was conducted through the mail and electronically. A paper and pencil questionnaire was administered to high school students in Family and Consumer Science classes. PARTICIPANTS: Delphi participants were members of the Society for Nutrition Education's Division of Sustainable Food Systems. A convenience sample of high school students completed the pilot questionnaire. VARIABLES MEASURED: Scales measured attitudes about farmland protection, participation in the local food system, hunger in the United States, organic agriculture, and environmental issues related to food. ANALYSIS: Factor analysis was used to identify constructs. The internal consistency of each resulting scale was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: Reliability of attitude scales ranged from .59 to .73. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Attitude scales were created for the purpose of assessing youth thoughts and beliefs about the local or regional food system. Such assessments can serve as a starting point for food system educators interested in developing effective curricula on food system topics.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Are real-time displays of benefit in the singing studio? An exploratory study.

This article reports on an exploratory research project to evaluate the usefulness or otherwise of real-time visual feedback in the singing studio. The primary purpose of the work was not to optimize the technology for this application, but to work alongside teachers and students to study the impact of real-time visual feedback technology use on the students' learning experiences. An action research methodology was used to explore the benefit of real-time displays over an extended period. The experimental phase of the work was guided by a Liaison Panel of teachers and academics in the areas of singing, pedagogy, voice science, speech therapy, and linguistic science. Qualitative data were collected from eight students working with two professional singing teachers. The teachers and students acted as co-researchers under the action research paradigm. Teachers and students alike kept journals of their teaching and learning experiences. Singing lessons were observed regularly by the research team, coded for teacher and student behaviors, and all co-researchers were interviewed at the mid- and endpoint of the project. The use of technology had a positive impact on the learning process, and this is evidenced through case study data.

Equipment Design↗