College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies Newsletter - January 2024

A five page newsletter created by the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies at Wright State University. This newsletter includes a upcoming events, message from the dean, and more.https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/grad_news/1011/thumbnail.jp

Automated Update Tools To Augment the Wisdom of Crowds in Geopolitical Forecasting

Despite the importance of predictive judgments, individual human forecasts are frequently less accurate than those of even simple prediction algorithms. At the same time, not all forecasts are amenable to algorithmic prediction. Here, we describe the evaluation of an automated prediction tool that enabled participants to create simple rules that monitored relevant indicators (e.g., commodity prices) to automatically update forecasts. We examined these rules in both a pool of previous participants in a geopolitical forecasting tournament (Study 1) and a naïve sample recruited from Mechanical Turk (Study 2). Across the two studies, we found that automated updates tended to improve forecast accuracy relative to initial forecasts and were comparable to manual updates. Additionally, making rules improved the accuracy of manual updates. Crowd forecasts likewise benefitted from rule-based updates. However, when presented with the choice of whether to accept, reject or adjust an automatic forecast update, participants showed little ability to discriminate between automated updates that were harmful versus beneficial to forecast accuracy. Simple prospective rule-based tools are thus able to improve forecast accuracy by offering accurate and efficient updates, but ensuring forecasters make use of tools remains a challenge

Obstetrics Emergency Labor and Delivery Case Simulations with Normal Vaginal Delivery Demonstration: A Hands-on Simulation for Clerkship Students

Introduction: Simulation is rarely used for medical student education in the field of obstetrics. This method is an effective model of learning for topics that are encountered in clinical situations and for topics that pose significant risk to patients when an untrained individual is involved. Methods: A 2-hour obstetric delivery simulation session was developed and incorporated into the third-year obstetrics and gynecology clerkship rotation at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. Medical students completed self-guided content reviews with resources provided prior to the session. During the session, each medical student conducted a normal vaginal delivery and one of the emergent cases (umbilical cord prolapse, pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, shoulder dystocia, and postpartum hemorrhage). During each case the Resident facilitator followed a script which included asking questions using gamification strategies to promote a low-stress learning environment. Critical action checklists were used to ensure students gained a strong understanding of topics. Simulation sessions were conducted both remotely and in-person. The simulation experience was evaluated using surveys and quizzes completed prior to and after participating in the simulation session. Results: Students reported that the simulation experience increased their comfort with emergent obstetric situations, increased their medical knowledge, and was beneficial to their education. Discussion: Simulation is an untapped learning method in obstetrics. We developed simulations for obstetric events to provide medical students with hands-on exposure to important obstetric experiences. This simulation session provides the framework for other medical schools to incorporate these obstetric simulations into their clerkship curriculum

Food Waste, Food Insecurity, and the Globalization of Food Banks

Food banks—warehouses that collect and systematize surplus food—have expanded into one of the largest mechanisms to redistribute food waste. From their origins in North America in the 1960s, food banks provide food to communities in approximately one hundred countries on six continents. This book analyzes the development of food banks across the world and the limits of food charity as a means to reduce food insecurity and food waste. Based on fifteen years of in-depth fieldwork on four continents, Daniel Warshawsky illustrates how and why food banks proliferate across the globe even though their impacts may be limited. He suggests that we need to reformulate the role of food banks. The mission of food banks needs to be more realistic, as food surpluses cannot reduce food insecurity on a significant scale. Food banks need to regain their institutional independence from the state and corporations, and incorporate the knowledge and experiences of the food insecure in the daily operations of the food system. These collective changes can contribute to a future where food banks play a smaller but more targeted role in food systems.https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/books/1247/thumbnail.jp

Food Waste, Food Insecurity, and the Globalization of Food Banks

Food banks—warehouses that collect and systematize surplus food—have expanded into one of the largest mechanisms to redistribute food waste. From their origins in North America in the 1960s, food banks provide food to communities in approximately one hundred countries on six continents. This book analyzes the development of food banks across the world and the limits of food charity as a means to reduce food insecurity and food waste. Based on fifteen years of in-depth fieldwork on four continents, Daniel Warshawsky illustrates how and why food banks proliferate across the globe even though their impacts may be limited. He suggests that we need to reformulate the role of food banks. The mission of food banks needs to be more realistic, as food surpluses cannot reduce food insecurity on a significant scale. Food banks need to regain their institutional independence from the state and corporations, and incorporate the knowledge and experiences of the food insecure in the daily operations of the food system. These collective changes can contribute to a future where food banks play a smaller but more targeted role in food systems

Small Trees or Shrubs

Small trees or shrubs at an unidentified location, perhaps a park or orchard. Small placards, presumably for identifying the plants, are visible in the image. This is probably a park or arboretum.https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_sc381_photographs/1153/thumbnail.jp

Stress Shielding in Cemented Hip Implants Assessed From Computed Tomography

Background: Aseptic loosening is the major cause of revisions for hip replacement. This mode of failure is often caused by stress shielding. Stress shielding in the femur occurs when some of the loads are taken by the prosthesis and shielded from going to the bone. There is little information regarding the stress shielding among cemented hip implants. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of stress shielding on the proximal femur with a femoral prosthesis. Methods: A patient had undergone open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) due to a comminuted reversed oblique fracture of the right intertrochanteric hip. ORIF had failed and was converted to bipolar hemiarthroplasty. CT scans were performed on both the right and left hips. Housefield units were determined by using the probe tool. By using equations formulated by Carter and Hays, Linde et al., various parameters such as apparent density, Young’s’ modulus and ultimate strength were calculated. The results were compared to that a native hip. Results: The hip with the cemented implant had a significant increase in the apparent density, Young’s modulus and ultimate strength, when compared to the left hip. In addition, it was found that the right hip had a higher strain energy density than that of the left. Interpretation: It has been concluded the most stress shielding occurred in the calcar region of the femur. The instances of stress shielding have been extensively reported for non-cemented or direct bone to implant constructs, this paper reports stress shielding in cemented implants supported by imaging data and biomechanical calculations carried out at the bone-cement-metal interface

Investigation of A Neuro-Stimulator Retrieved Posthumously

A neurostimulator was investigated in this paper posthumously. Device was presented to our anatomical gift program. Investigation was multi-fold and contained visual inspection, using an optical microscope, and mechanical and electrical testing of leads and its insulator. It was concluded that the device could have been damaged during implantation, in vivo, during removal, and/or during transportation to author’s laboratories. The damage observed on the lead insulation is similar to that which can occur due to anchoring of the lead and hardening due to oxidation. Insulation stiffness was determined to be 1/10 of new insulator. The results reported here on the insulation may or may not have affected the electrical operation of the neurostimulator

Finite Element Analysis of Femoral Components Paper III – Hip Joints

Finite element analysis of the hip implant is conducted in this paper for representative femoral cross-section geometries and development of stress in the presence of bone cement is elucidated. Differences in cement stresses generated by varying implant cross-sections were compared with conventional features derived from representative implants. The analysis was performed under idealized implant assemblies by constraining the implant movement in the assembly. The cross-sections and implant geometries used are generic and intended to be representative of available geometries. This paper is a part of student research projects, prepared from a series of activities in biomedical implant research currently underway at Ohio Northern and Arkansas Tech Universities

Creep-Fatigue Life Prediction of Low Alloy Steels

The creep-fatigue behavior of Cr-Mo steels has been examined from published data. The published data were compiled in an earlier effort and used in this paper to develop a multivariate best-fit equation to predict the low cycle fatigue life. The fatigue test temperatures were representative of temperatures experienced in nuclear power plants, which varied from room temperature to 600°C. Within this temperature range, depending upon the test parameters used, creep and fatigue processes interact and failure occurs in the lowcycle fatigue regime