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Prevalence and characteristics of student attitude surveys used in public elementary schools in the United States
There is anecdotal evidence of an increase in school administrator\u27s use of surveys of students to obtain school climate information even though it is difficult to obtain valid measurement from student self-report. To better understand the context, this research estimated the prevalence of the use of student surveys in elementary schools and reviewed the types of questions and response options currently used in applied settings. A survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of 300 public elementary school principals (34% response rate). Approximately half of the schools use surveys of students in their schools, with rates of surveying depending on the grade. A qualitative review of example surveys suggests that many typically-used questions may be problematic, given research on best methods of attitude measurement. Suggestions for practice and future research directions are provided. Accessed 11,640 times on https://pareonline.net from May 18, 2010 to December 31, 2019. For downloads from January 1, 2020 forward, please click on the PlumX Metrics link to the right
Long range transcriptional control of virulence critical genes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by nucleoid-associated proteins?
Association of Disposable Perioperative Jackets With Surgical Site Infections in a Large Multicenter Health Care Organization
Fractionation of polydisperse systems: multi-phase coexistence
The width of the distribution of species in a polydisperse system is employed
in a small-variable expansion, to obtain a well-controlled and compact scheme
by which to calculate phase equilibria in multi-phase systems. General and
universal relations are derived, which determine the partitioning of the fluid
components among the phases. The analysis applies to mixtures of arbitrarily
many slightly-polydisperse components. An explicit solution is approximated for
hard spheres.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Microbial contamination of hydrogel contact lenses
Bacterial contamination of contact lenses (CLs) may contribute to CL-related corneal infection and inflammation. This study reports CL biota over time during daily and extended wear. Microbial contamination of a 58% water, ionic hydrogel CL and a 38% water, non-ionic hydrogel CL was evaluated in an Australian and an Indian population. Fifty wearers were repeatedly sampled over 18 months. Overnight CL use did not alter the frequency of positive cultures, nor the spectrum of organisms compared with daily CL wear. There were no differences in type and frequency of CL contamination between the CL types. Positive cultures were more frequently recovered from the Indian population compared with the Australian population. Streptococcus spp. and Propionibacterium spp. were more frequently isolated from the Australian population. Fungi and Bacillus spp. were more frequently isolated from the Indian population. Normal CL biota alone cannot explain the increased rate of infection and inflammation in extended wear
Determination of HBCD, PBDEs and MeO-BDEs in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) stranded between 1993 and 2003
Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Pollution Bulletin 52 (2006): 522-531, doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.09.045.Blubber samples from male California sea lions (Zalphophus californianus) stranded between 1993 and 2003 were analyzed for 27 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners, three isomers of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and 14 methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ether (MeO-BDE) congeners. Total PBDEs ranged from 450 ng/g to 4740 ng/g wet mass and total HBCD ranged from <0.3 ng/g to 12 ng/g wet mass. The concentration of HBCD increased from 0.7 ng/g to12.0 ng/g wet mass in sea lion blubber between 1993 and 2003. However, no significant temporal trend was observed for any of the other brominated compounds over this ten year period. Only one of the 14 MeO-BDE congeners was detected in the blubber samples, 6-methoxy- 2,2’,4,4’-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (6-MeO-BDE 47), and concentrations ranged from <0.2 ng/g to 12 ng/g wet mass. A bromo-, chloro- heterocyclic compound, 1,1’-dimethyl-tetrabromo-dichloro-2,2’-bipyrrole (DBP-Br4Cl2), previously reported in marine species along the Pacific coast, was also identified in the sea lion blubber. DBP-Br4Cl2 ranged from 44 ng/g wet mass to 660 ng/g wet mass and was present at concentrations rivaling the dominant PBDE congener, BDE 47 (2,2’,4,4’-tetrabromodiphenyl ether). Concentrations of DBP-Br4Cl2 were positively correlated with 6-MeO-BDE 47 (r= 0.7; p<0.05). Both of these compounds have been identified in marine algae and sponges, and studies suggest they are both produced from natural sources. This study demonstrates that brominated compounds from both anthropogenic and biogenic sources can accumulate to similar levels in marine mammals. In addition, HBCD concentrations appear to be increasing in California sea lion populations, whereas PBDE concentrations, between 1993 and 2003, were highly variable
Comparison of Citrate-Fluoride-EDTA with Fluoride-EDTA Additives to Stabilize Plasma Glucose Measurements in Women Being Screened during Pregnancy with an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test: A Prospective Observational Study
Universal law of fractionation for slightly polydisperse systems
By perturbing about a general monodisperse system, we provide a complete description of two-phase equilibria in any system which is slightly polydisperse in some property (e.g., particle size, charge, etc.). We derive a universal law of fractionation which is corroborated by comprehensive experiments on a model colloid-polymer mixture. We furthermore predict that phase separation is an effective method of reducing polydispersity only for systems with a skewed distribution of the polydisperse property
Predicting phase equilibria in polydisperse systems
Many materials containing colloids or polymers are polydisperse: They
comprise particles with properties (such as particle diameter, charge, or
polymer chain length) that depend continuously on one or several parameters.
This review focusses on the theoretical prediction of phase equilibria in
polydisperse systems; the presence of an effectively infinite number of
distinguishable particle species makes this a highly nontrivial task. I first
describe qualitatively some of the novel features of polydisperse phase
behaviour, and outline a theoretical framework within which they can be
explored. Current techniques for predicting polydisperse phase equilibria are
then reviewed. I also discuss applications to some simple model systems
including homopolymers and random copolymers, spherical colloids and
colloid-polymer mixtures, and liquid crystals formed from rod- and plate-like
colloidal particles; the results surveyed give an idea of the rich
phenomenology of polydisperse phase behaviour. Extensions to the study of
polydispersity effects on interfacial behaviour and phase separation kinetics
are outlined briefly.Comment: 48 pages, invited topical review for Journal of Physics: Condensed
Matter; uses Institute of Physics style file iopart.cls (included
Effect of early vasopressin vs norepinephrine on kidney failure in patients with septic shock. The VANISH Randomized Clinical Trial
IMPORTANCE: Norepinephrine is currently recommended as the first-line vasopressor in septic shock; however, early vasopressin use has been proposed as an alternative. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of early vasopressin vs norepinephrine on kidney failure in patients with septic shock. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A factorial (2×2), double-blind, randomized clinical trial conducted in 18 general adult intensive care units in the United Kingdom between February 2013 and May 2015, enrolling adult patients who had septic shock requiring vasopressors despite fluid resuscitation within a maximum of 6 hours after the onset of shock. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomly allocated to vasopressin (titrated up to 0.06 U/min) and hydrocortisone (n = 101), vasopressin and placebo (n = 104), norepinephrine and hydrocortisone (n = 101), or norepinephrine and placebo (n = 103). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome was kidney failure-free days during the 28-day period after randomization, measured as (1) the proportion of patients who never developed kidney failure and (2) median number of days alive and free of kidney failure for patients who did not survive, who experienced kidney failure, or both. Rates of renal replacement therapy, mortality, and serious adverse events were secondary outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 409 patients (median age, 66 years; men, 58.2%) were included in the study, with a median time to study drug administration of 3.5 hours after diagnosis of shock. The number of survivors who never developed kidney failure was 94 of 165 patients (57.0%) in the vasopressin group and 93 of 157 patients (59.2%) in the norepinephrine group (difference, -2.3% [95% CI, -13.0% to 8.5%]). The median number of kidney failure-free days for patients who did not survive, who experienced kidney failure, or both was 9 days (interquartile range [IQR], 1 to -24) in the vasopressin group and 13 days (IQR, 1 to -25) in the norepinephrine group (difference, -4 days [95% CI, -11 to 5]). There was less use of renal replacement therapy in the vasopressin group than in the norepinephrine group (25.4% for vasopressin vs 35.3% for norepinephrine; difference, -9.9% [95% CI, -19.3% to -0.6%]). There was no significant difference in mortality rates between groups. In total, 22 of 205 patients (10.7%) had a serious adverse event in the vasopressin group vs 17 of 204 patients (8.3%) in the norepinephrine group (difference, 2.5% [95% CI, -3.3% to 8.2%]). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among adults with septic shock, the early use of vasopressin compared with norepinephrine did not improve the number of kidney failure-free days. Although these findings do not support the use of vasopressin to replace norepinephrine as initial treatment in this situation, the confidence interval included a potential clinically important benefit for vasopressin, and larger trials may be warranted to assess this further. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: ISRCTN 20769191
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