56 research outputs found

    Point-of-care versus central testing of hemoglobin during large volume blood transfusion.

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    BACKGROUND: Point-of-care (POC) hemoglobin testing has the potential to revolutionize massive transfusion strategies. No prior studies have compared POC and central laboratory testing of hemoglobin in patients undergoing massive transfusions. METHODS: We retrospectively compared the results of our point-of-care hemoglobin test (EPOC®) to our core laboratory complete blood count (CBC) hemoglobin test (Sysmex XE-5000™) in patients undergoing massive transfusion protocols (MTP) for hemorrhage. One hundred seventy paired samples from 90 patients for whom MTP was activated were collected at a single, tertiary care hospital between 10/2011 and 10/2017. Patients had both an EPOC® and CBC hemoglobin performed within 30 min of each other during the MTP. We assessed the accuracy of EPOC® hemoglobin testing using two variables: interchangeability and clinically significant differences from the CBC. The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) proficiency testing criteria defined interchangeability for measurements. Clinically significant differences between the tests were defined by an expert panel. We examined whether these relationships changed as a function of the hemoglobin measured by the EPOC® and specific patient characteristics. RESULTS: Fifty one percent (86 of 170) of paired samples\u27 hemoglobin results had an absolute difference of ≤7 and 73% (124 of 170) fell within ±1 g/dL of each other. The mean difference between EPOC® and CBC hemoglobin had a bias of - 0.268 g/dL (p = 0.002). When the EPOC® hemoglobin was \u3c 7 g/dL, 30% of the hemoglobin values were within ±7, and 57% were within ±1 g/dL. When the measured EPOC® hemoglobin was ≥7 g/dL, 55% of the EPOC® and CBC hemoglobin values were within ±7, and 76% were within ±1 g/dL. EPOC® and CBC hemoglobin values that were within ±1 g/dL varied by patient population: 77% for cardiac surgery, 58% for general surgery, and 72% for non-surgical patients. CONCLUSIONS: The EPOC® device had minor negative bias, was not interchangeable with the CBC hemoglobin, and was less reliable when the EPOC® value was \u3c 7 g/dL. Clinicians must consider speed versus accuracy, and should check a CBC within 30 min as confirmation when the EPOC® hemoglobin is \u3c 7 g/dL until further prospective trials are performed in this population

    Experiential Exposure as the Key to Recruiting Medical Students Into Pathology

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    Medical student interest and pursuit of a career in pathology have been steadily declining since 2015. We conducted three separate surveys of medical students to better understand these trends. In our first survey, we focused on assessing U.S. allopathic medical students understanding and perceptions of pathology. We later surveyed U.S. osteopathic medical students as a companion to the allopathic medical student survey, in which many similarities were discovered with some key differences. In our final survey, we specifically looked at curriculum differences between the U.S. allopathic medical schools that graduate the most students who enter pathology training programs (Group 1) versus those schools that graduate the fewest future pathologists (Group 2) to determine if the curriculum had an impact on medical student matriculation into pathology. Together, through these surveys, we were able to identify several remarkable recurring trends, presenting areas of targetable action. Here, we summarize themes from the three studies as well as a review of pertinent literature to offer best practices for exposing and engaging medical students to pathology and possibly recruiting students to consider pathology as a career

    A large scale hearing loss screen reveals an extensive unexplored genetic landscape for auditory dysfunction

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    The developmental and physiological complexity of the auditory system is likely reflected in the underlying set of genes involved in auditory function. In humans, over 150 non-syndromic loci have been identified, and there are more than 400 human genetic syndromes with a hearing loss component. Over 100 non-syndromic hearing loss genes have been identified in mouse and human, but we remain ignorant of the full extent of the genetic landscape involved in auditory dysfunction. As part of the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium, we undertook a hearing loss screen in a cohort of 3006 mouse knockout strains. In total, we identify 67 candidate hearing loss genes. We detect known hearing loss genes, but the vast majority, 52, of the candidate genes were novel. Our analysis reveals a large and unexplored genetic landscape involved with auditory function

    How Influential Are Medical School Curriculum and Other Medical School Characteristics in Students’ Selecting Pathology as a Specialty?

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    There has been a significant decline in the number of United States allopathic medical students matching to pathology residency programs. Data acquired from the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) show sustained variation in the medical school production of students who go on to pathology residency. When divided into groups based on the medical school\u27s historical volume of graduates entering pathology, the schools in groups labeled Group 1 and Group 2 produced significantly higher and lower proportions of pathology residents, respectively. This study aimed to identify what medical school curriculum elements and other medical school characteristics might explain the differences observed in the AAMC data. The Dean or another undergraduate medical education contact from the Group 1 and Group 2 schools was invited to participate in an interview. Pathology Program Directors and Pathology Department Chairs were also included in communications. Thirty interviews were completed with equal numbers from each group. Interview questions probed pathology experiences, existence, and structure of a pathology interest group, options for post-sophomore fellowships, recent curriculum changes, and the extent of mentoring programs. Surprisingly, the curriculum does not appear to be a predictor of a medical school\u27s production of students who enter pathology residency. A significantly greater percentage of Group 1 schools are public institutions compared to Group 2 schools. Other factors that may increase the number of students who go into pathology include mentoring, active learning versus observation, and post-sophomore fellowships or other opportunities to work in the capacity of a new pathology resident

    Sustainable Urban Systems: Co-design and Framing for Transformation

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    Rapid urbanisation generates risks and opportunities for sustainable development. Urban policy and decision makers are challenged by the complexity of cities as social–ecological–technical systems. Consequently there is an increasing need for collaborative knowledge development that supports a whole-of-system view, and transformational change at multiple scales. Such holistic urban approaches are rare in practice. A co-design process involving researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders, has progressed such an approach in the Australian context, aiming to also contribute to international knowledge development and sharing. This process has generated three outputs: (1) a shared framework to support more systematic knowledge development and use, (2) identification of barriers that create a gap between stated urban goals and actual practice, and (3) identification of strategic focal areas to address this gap. Developing integrated strategies at broader urban scales is seen as the most pressing need. The knowledge framework adopts a systems perspective that incorporates the many urban trade-offs and synergies revealed by a systems view. Broader implications are drawn for policy and decision makers, for researchers and for a shared forward agenda

    Technology Diffusion, Abatement Cost and Transboundary Pollution

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    This paper studies countries' incentives to develop advanced pollution abatement technology when technology may spillover across countries and pollution abatement is a global public good. We are motivated in part by the problem of global warming: a solution to this involves providing a global public good, and will surely require the development and implementation of new technologies. We show that at the Nash equilibrium of a simultaneous-move game with R&D investment and emission abatement, whether the free rider effect prevails and under-investment and excess emissions occur depends on the degree of technology spillovers and the effect of R&D on the marginal abatement costs. There are cases in which, contrary to conventional wisdom, Nash equilibrium investments in emissions reductions exceed the first-best case

    A Forgotten Adivasi Landscape: Museums and Memory in western India

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    This article focuses on processes of remembering, forgetting and re-remembering. It examines a fundamental tension between the project of retrieving an adivasi past, initiated by an adivasi museum in rural western India, and the social and material landscape surrounding it, characterised instead by fragmentation and separation from the identity of adivasi. The article reflects on a collaborative research project between the researcher, young adivasi curators and inhabitants of the area adjoining the museum. It shows how, while curators engaged in a project of recuperation, at the same time, they were distancing themselves from their traditional identity by joining reform movements and new religious sects. Processes of memory and forgetting, however, also co-existed. People held multiple identities and the process of retrieving the past also called for transformation and reform. The article is a timely contribution to debates about adivasi identity, social transformation and religious reform. It also offers a reflection on the new role of indigenous museums and their potential to address a ‘crisis of postcolonial memory’ (Werbner 1998). Finally, it contributes to discussions of methodology with a focus on the collaborative process of collecting and its role in eliciting or preventing certain kinds of memories

    O manuscrito e o iconográfico em cartões-postais belicosos: da apologia cavalheiresca à contestação da Grande Guerra (1914-1918) na França

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    O trabalho analisa mensagens transmitidas por cartões-postais produzidos e circulados na França no contexto da Primeira Guerra Mundial (1914-1918), apresentando temática associada ao conflito. O objetivo é contrapor as mensagens iconográficas e textuais neles impressas à quelas que foram manuscritas por seus remetentes, de modo a evidenciar formas de expressão e percepções do conflito, conforme empregadas por civis e militares, em diferentes momentos de seu desenvolvimento.The paper analyzes messages conveyed by postcards produced and circulated in France during the First World War (1914-1918), with themes referring to the conflict. The intention is to compare the iconographic and textual messages printed with handwritten messages, to display forms of expression and perception of war, used by civilian and military on different occasions
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