Alternative Markers of Performance in Simulation: Where We Are and Where We Need To Go

This article on alternative markers of performance in simulation is the product of a session held during the 2017 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference â Catalyzing System Change Through Health Care Simulation: Systems, Competency, and Outcomes.â There is a dearth of research on the use of performance markers other than checklists, holistic ratings, and behaviorally anchored rating scales in the simulation environment. Through literature review, group discussion, and consultation with experts prior to the conference, the working group defined five topics for discussion: 1) establishing a working definition for alternative markers of performance, 2) defining goals for using alternative performance markers, 3) implications for measurement when using alternative markers, identifying practical concerns related to the use of alternative performance markers, and 5) identifying potential for alternative markers of performance to validate simulation scenarios. Five research propositions also emerged and are summarized.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142535/1/acem13321_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142535/2/acem13321.pd

PARP inhibitor efficacy depends on CD8+ T cell recruitment via intratumoral STING pathway activation in BRCA-deficient models of triple-negative breast cancer.

Combinatorial clinical trials of PARP inhibitors with immunotherapies are ongoing, yet the immunomodulatory effects of PARP inhibition have been incompletely studied. Here, we sought to dissect the mechanisms underlying PARP inhibitor-induced changes in the tumor microenvironment of BRCA1-deficient triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). We demonstrate that the PARP inhibitor olaparib induces CD8+ T cell infiltration and activation in vivo, and that CD8+ T cell depletion severely compromises anti-tumor efficacy. Olaparib-induced T cell recruitment is mediated through activation of the cGAS/STING pathway in tumor cells with paracrine activation of dendritic cells and is more pronounced in HR-deficient compared to HR-proficient TNBC cells and in vivo models. CRISPR-knockout of STING in cancer cells prevents proinflammatory signaling and is sufficient to abolish olaparib-induced T cell infiltration in vivo. These findings elucidate an additional mechanism of action of PARP inhibitors and provide rationale for combining PARP inhibition with immunotherapies for the treatment of TNBC

Data from: Effects of maternal investment, temperament, and cognition on guide dog success

A continuing debate in studies of social development in both humans and other animals is the extent to which early life experiences affect adult behavior. Also unclear are the relative contributions of cognitive skills (“intelligence”) and temperament for successful outcomes. Guide dogs are particularly suited to research on these questions. To succeed as a guide dog, individuals must accomplish complex navigation and decision making without succumbing to distractions and unforeseen obstacles. Faced with these rigorous demands, only ∼70% of dogs that enter training ultimately achieve success. What predicts success as a guide dog? To address these questions, we followed 98 puppies from birth to adulthood. We found that high levels of overall maternal behavior were linked with a higher likelihood of program failure. Furthermore, mothers whose nursing style required greater effort by puppies were more likely to produce successful offspring, whereas mothers whose nursing style required less effort were more likely to produce offspring that failed. In young adults, an inability to solve a multistep task quickly, compounded with high levels of perseveration during the task, was associated with failure. Young adults that were released from the program also appeared more anxious, as indicated by a short latency to vocalize when faced with a novel object task. Our results suggest that both maternal nursing behavior and individual traits of cognition and temperament are associated with guide dog success

Behavioral guide dog data

This is a data set for a study of the association of maternal style and young adult temperament and cognition with program outcome in a population of guide dogs

Improving understanding of bottlenose dolphin movements along the east coast of Scotland. Final report.:Report number SMRUC-VAT-2020-10 provided to European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), March 2021 (unpublished).

This report provides a summary of the photo-identification surveys conducted by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) in the summers of 2017 to 2019 in the Tay estuary and adjacent waters, supported by the European Offshore Wind Development Centre. The survey data were used to estimate the abundance of animals using this area since 2009, and compared to the total east coast of Scotland population, estimated using part of the long-term photo-identification dataset collected by the University of Aberdeen and SMRU (2009-2019). In addition, this collaborative long-term dataset (1989 - 2019) was used to provide estimates of survival and fecundity rate, as well as analyse the movement of animals between the Tay estuary and adjacent waters and the Moray Firth Special Area of Conservation (SAC). A total of 63 boat-based photo-identification surveys were conducted in the Tay estuary and adjacent waters across the three-year study period between May and September each year. These resulted in 54 encounters with bottlenose dolphin groups, and a total of 154 different individuals from all age classes identified from high quality photographs. The estimated abundance of animals in the Tay estuary and adjacent waters ranged between 84 dolphins (95% CI 77 - 93) in 2011 to 138 dolphins (95% CI 110 - 173) in 2016. On average, the number of animals using this area between 2009 and 2019 represented 53.8% of the estimated total population using the main range between the Moray Firth SAC and the Firth of Forth. A total of 230 identified juvenile or adult bottlenose dolphins were included in the analysis to estimate survival rate between 1989 and 2019. A total of 105 females gave birth at least once during that time period and were used to estimate birth rate, defined here as the annual probability of a reproductive female having a calf. The estimated apparent survival probability for juveniles/adults was 0.944 (95% CI 0.933 - 0.953) based on the most supported model. The expected inter-birth interval for the population was estimated at 3.95 years (95% CI 3.63 - 4.20), resulting in an estimated birth rate of 0.253 (95% CI 0.238 - 0.275). A continuous time hidden Markov model was used to assess movement patterns of male and female bottlenose dolphins between the Moray Firth SAC and the Tay estuary and adjacent waters. Between 2017 and 2019, 112 individuals were only seen in the Moray Firth SAC, 103 were only seen in the Tay estuary and adjacent waters and 51 were seen in both areas. Of the 51 seen in both areas, 40 were seen in both areas within the same year. Model results for the period 1990 - 2019 indicated that movement between the two sites is infrequent but that, despite the clear individual heterogeneity, there is a seasonal movement pattern that is directional and consistent over years. The transition intensities (movement rates) were highest from the Tay estuary and adjacent waters towards the Moray Firth SAC in early summer and from the Moray Firth SAC to the Tay estuary and adjacent waters in late summer. This pattern was consistent across individuals of both sexes, but male dolphins had higher transition intensities than females leading to differences in estimated mean sojourn times spent in one area or the other. It is unclear what drives different individuals to move between these two locations

Alternative Markers of Performance in Simulation: Where We Are and Where We Need To Go.

This article on alternative markers of performance in simulation is the product of a session held during the 2017 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference Catalyzing System Change Through Health Care Simulation: Systems, Competency, and Outcomes. There is a dearth of research on the use of performance markers other than checklists, holistic ratings, and behaviorally anchored rating scales in the simulation environment. Through literature review, group discussion, and consultation with experts prior to the conference, the working group defined five topics for discussion: 1) establishing a working definition for alternative markers of performance, 2) defining goals for using alternative performance markers, 3) implications for measurement when using alternative markers, identifying practical concerns related to the use of alternative performance markers, and 5) identifying potential for alternative markers of performance to validate simulation scenarios. Five research propositions also emerged and are summarized