Principled Versus Statistical Thinking in Diagnosis and Treatment of Stroke

Medical science is now synonymous with probability-based statistics. Statistics deals with a group; it does not need probability theory. Probability theory is consistent with the worldview that the universe is infinite, bounded, random, and governed by chance. Its logic is binary, its geometry is Cartesian, its rules offer a scientific method by which hypotheses may be tested. Clinical trials and even hypothesis testing at the bedside have nestled into the probability foundation. As a result, scientific “evidence” now appears only through the lens of probability theory. Because there is no definitive truth in the worldview of probability theory, the truth of evidence lies in probabilities only. The probabilistic view of science has a firm impact on the practice of medicine and implications for medical–legal decisions

Quality Assurance, Meet Quality Appreciation: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Define Faculty Quality Standards

Objectives: This study outlines the journey of an online university to evaluate faculty performance standards, key performance indicators, and systems for quality assurance using an appreciative inquiry summit model. The study reveals the power of quality appreciation as an approach that elicits a shared vision for quality definitions and standards and serves as a historical marker in the higher education shift from data-driven faculty performance approaches to strengths-based, inclusive methods. Method: The retrospective business case outlines one university’s 2018 Appreciative Inquiry Summit, 5D (define, discover, dream, design, destiny/deliver) approach, resulting deliverables, lessons learned, and conclusions. Results: The summit and subsequent quality appreciation processes laid a foundation for inclusive leadership and inclusive teaching and learning. Quality appreciation was observed to be a third component to quality enhancement that had heretofore included quality control and quality assurance mechanisms. Quality appreciation, based on appreciative inquiry (AI) approaches, is a method for uncovering the positive core of an organization that results in ideal quality standards, definitions, and desires for ongoing quality creation. Conclusions: This case provides a view of one university’s building upon data-driven methods for faculty performance evaluation. The use of appreciative inquiry to advance a quality appreciation agenda and human-centered approaches served as a stepping-stone toward a vision for inclusive, strengths-based quality enhancement. Implication for Theory and/or Practice: Quality control mechanisms and systems for quality assurance are supported by quality appreciation. In this case, faculty quality appreciation is the integration of AI practices with ongoing evaluation and identification of faculty and classroom quality standards. Quality Appreciation leads to strengthened definitions of quality that are values-driven and founded in the heart and soul of the university’s teaching and learning

Picosecond timing of Microwave Cherenkov Impulses from High-Energy Particle Showers Using Dielectric-loaded Waveguides

We report on the first measurements of coherent microwave impulses from high-energy particle-induced electromagnetic showers generated via the Askaryan effect in a dielectric-loaded waveguide. Bunches of 12.16 GeV electrons with total bunch energy of $\sim 10^3-10^4$ GeV were pre-showered in tungsten, and then measured with WR-51 rectangular (12.6 mm by 6.3 mm) waveguide elements loaded with solid alumina ($Al_2 O_3$) bars. In the 5-8 GHz $TE_{10}$ single-mode band determined by the presence of the dielectric in the waveguide, we observed band-limited microwave impulses with amplitude proportional to bunch energy. Signals in different waveguide elements measuring the same shower were used to estimate relative time differences with 2.3 picosecond precision. These measurements establish a basis for using arrays of alumina-loaded waveguide elements, with exceptional radiation hardness, as very high precision timing planes for high-energy physics detectors.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figure

Vertebrate Natural History Notes from Arkansas, 2018

Because meaningful observations of natural history are not always part of larger studies, important pieces of information often are unreported. Small details, however, can fill gaps in understanding and lead to interesting questions about ecological relationships or environmental change. We have compiled recent important observations of distribution, deformities, and foods of various vertebrates, observations of winter activity of a woodchuck (Marmota monax) and winter torpor of a hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus), and also report a very unusual case of bilateral gynandromorphism in a Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). These unique observations continue to add immensely to the growth of knowledge of the biology of vertebrates in Arkansas

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: Executive Summary of a Workshop

Comment in Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: The Ongoing Search for One Definition to Rule Them All. [J Pediatr. 2018] Midlife crisis? In its 50th year, BPD redefines itself. [J Pediatr. 2018

Electron impact excitation cross sections for allowed transitions in atoms

We present a semiempirical Gaunt factor for widely used Van Regemorter formula [Astrophys. J. 136, 906 (1962)] for the case of allowed transitions in atoms with the LS coupling scheme. Cross sections calculated using this Gaunt factor agree with measured cross sections to within the experimental error.Comment: RevTeX, 3 pages, 10 PS figures, 2 PS tables, submitted to Phys. Rev.