The Impact of Provider Accessibility and Usability of Antibiotic Stewardship Guidelines

Aims for Improvement We worked with the antimicrobial stewardship team on the rollout of a new digital platform encompassing antibiotic prescribing guidelines and institutional antibiograms with userfriendly features such as mobile accessibility and clear selection menus. Our goal was to increase provider awareness and use of institutional guidelines by at least 25% with the ultimate hope of improving antimicrobial stewardship (measured by frequency of broad-spectrum antibiotic ordering) for the hospital within the calendar year

Up in the Air: A Global Estimate of Non-Violent Drone Use 2009-2015

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, has increased dramatically in recent years. While most attention has gone to military drone use, commercial drones have gained widespread popularity, with uses ranging from leisure activities by hobbyists to humanitarian aid and disaster relief support by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and activist groups. This use has been hard to quantify and regulate. In an effort to better understand the rapid growth of non-weaponized drone, this report analyzes cases of worldwide drone use reported during a six-year period (2009-2015). Utilizing a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, we engage two distinct research questions: (1) what is the nature of civilian drone use over time, and (2) what regulatory responses exist to use at the international, state, and sub-state levels. This six-year window generated more than 15,000 news items for analysis, and resulted in a dataset of 1,145 unique uses. The findings are in line with popular reports: drone usage has grown significantly. New platforms in civilian hands are challenging the status quo response of both regulators and human rights groups. While ethical considerations make direct comparisons nearly useless, non-military use has eclipsed military use. This reality poses fresh challenges to national governments, local municipalities, businesses, and individual actors.https://digital.sandiego.edu/gdl2016report/1000/thumbnail.jp

Sugar sweetened beverage consumption by Australian children: Implications for public health strategy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) has been linked to unhealthy weight gain and nutrition related chronic disease. Intake of SSB among children remains high in spite of public health efforts to reduce consumption, including restrictions on marketing to children and limitations on the sale of these products in many schools. Much extant literature on Australian SSB consumption is out-dated and lacks information on several key issues. We sought to address this using a contemporary Australian dataset to examine purchase source, consumption pattern, dietary factors, and demographic profile of SSB consumption in children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were from the 2007 Australian National Children's Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey, a representative random sample of 4,834 Australian children aged 2-16 years. Mean SSB intake by type, location and source was calculated and logistic regression models were fitted to determine factors associated with different levels of consumption.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>SSB consumption was high and age-associated differences in patterns of consumption were evident. Over 77% of SSB consumed was purchased via supermarkets and 60% of all SSB was consumed in the home environment. Less than 17% of SSB was sourced from school canteens and fast food establishments. Children whose parents had lower levels of education consumed more SSB on average, while children whose parents had higher education levels were more likely to favour sweetened juices and flavoured milks.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>SSB intake by Australian children remains high and warrants continued public health attention. Evidence based and age-targeted interventions, which also recognise supermarkets as the primary source of SSB, are recommended to reduce SSB consumption among children. Additionally, education of parents and children regarding the health consequences of high consumption of both carbonated and non-carbonated SSBs is required.</p

From the Chief Residents

The four of us have had the unique opportunity to work alongside you and watch you grow throughout the last three years. During an extremely turbulent time at Jefferson, in the city of Philadelphia, and the larger healthcare landscape you all have been the constant presence that has kept the Jefferson IM residency culture alive. Jefferson residents are: Compassionate, intelligent, dedicated, fun, and resilient. But most of all, Jefferson residents look out for each other and have each other’s backs. This is the culture that brings people to our program and the culture that makes residency training which would otherwise be grueling into a manageable, and at times, fun experience. You all have embodied this culture, and we as well as the residency program are so grateful to each and every one of you. While it is sad that we are now parting ways, we are so proud to have called you all colleagues during these crazy years, and we could not imagine a better group of people to have gone through this with than you. It’s been an honor and a privilege to be your Chieves this year. We cannot wait to work alongside you and see all that you will accomplish in your careers. Cheers to you all

The impact of risk factors on gastroparesis at an urban medical center.

BACKGROUND: Gastroparesis is a complex and poorly understood disease. The literature is lacking with respect to the epidemiology of patient comorbidities and their effect on gastric emptying. We aimed to describe the most common comorbid conditions among patients with gastroparesis in an urban population and quantify the effect of these comorbidities on the severity of delayed gastric emptying (DGE). METHODS: We examined the medical records of all patients diagnosed with gastroparesis at a quaternary care center between 2014 and 2015. The severity of DGE was analyzed after patients were stratified for possible causative etiologies. Likelihood ratio tests were used to assess the significance of demographic and scintigraphic variation in this population. RESULTS: Of the 221 patients, 56.1% were Caucasian and 31.7% were African American. Among these patients, 29.4% had evidence of medication-associated gastroparesis, 29.0% had diabetes-associated gastroparesis, and 31.7% had idiopathic disease. African American patients with gastroparesis were more likely to have diabetic gastroparesis than patients of other races (P=0.01). There was a statistically significant relationship between the number of major risk factors and the severity of a patient\u27s DGE (P=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Among a diverse urban population, patients with DGE often carry multiple comorbid conditions that serve as risk factors for the development of gastroparesis, including prescriptions for narcotic medications. Greater numbers of these comorbid conditions are associated with more severe disease. Demographics are significantly associated with the etiology and severity of gastroparesis; in particular, African American patients are more likely to have diabetic gastroparesis than patients of other races

Rural Cooperatives Magazine, November/December 2001

Features- Farm co-op business volume increases slightly in 2000; Coping with change; Tragedy from the sky; Bovine biogas; Co-ops and the transformation of global dairy relationships; Co-ops and trade sanctions; Sales climb, net income declines for local co-ops in 200

Rural Cooperatives Magazine, November/December 2001

Features- Farm co-op business volume increases slightly in 2000; Coping with change; Tragedy from the sky; Bovine biogas; Co-ops and the transformation of global dairy relationships; Co-ops and trade sanctions; Sales climb, net income declines for local co-ops in 200