Faculty and Industry Conceptions of Successful Computer Programmers

Identifying success criteria for computer programmers can help improve training and development programs in academic and industrial settings. In the present research, we interviewed college faculty members and obtained a list of success criteria for both individual and group programming settings. Then, faculty and industry members rated the importance of these characteristics in each setting. The two settings showed both common and unique success criteria. Shared criteria included being creative and conscientious and enjoying problem solving. Important characteristics found for programming alone included cognitive and technical skills and being introverted. Important characteristics for programming in a group included interpersonal cooperation skills and personal maturity. Faculty and industry agreed on what constituted importance characteristics in both settings. Implications for programmer training and selection are discussed

A Study of the Effects of Tornado Translation on Wind Loading Using a Potential Flow Model

This paper investigates the effects of tornado translation on pressure and overall force experienced by an airfoil subjected to tornado loading and presents a framework to reproduce the flow conditions and effects of a moving tornado. A thin symmetrical airfoil was used to explore the effects of tornado translation on a body. A panel method was used to compute the flow around an airfoil and an idealised tornado is represented using a moving vortex via unsteady potential flow. Analysis showed that the maximum overall pressure at a point was found to increase by up to 20% when the normalised translating velocity was 10% of the tangential velocity, but increases up to 60% when the normalised translating velocity is 30% of the tangential velocity. Investigation on the impact of varying airfoil thickness (Case 2) revealed that the location of the tornado has significant effect on the overall lift force. However, the overall lift force appeared to be largely insensitive to the tornado translation velocity due gross changes in pressure on either side of the airfoil cancelling each other out. Further comparison with varying airfoil sizes and distance to tornado translating path (Case 3) showed that the relative inflow and outflow angle is the primary factor affecting the lift on the airfoil. Additionally, the maximum forces on a body subjected to a moving tornado can be predicted using uniform flow providing that the appropriate range of inflow angles are known. Based on the analysis on the database of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the normalised translation speed of the recorded tornadoes across the EF scales, appears to vary from 0.25 to 0.37, with an average of 0.32 (∼18.8 m/s). Finally, the framework using uniform flow to reproduce the flow conditions which are comparable to those generated by a translating vortex simulator is proposed and discussed in detail

Digital circuits using universal logic gates

According to the invention, a digital circuit design embodied in at least one of a structural netlist, a behavioral netlist, a hardware description language netlist, a full-custom ASIC, a semi-custom ASIC, an IP core, an integrated circuit, a hybrid of chips, one or more masks, a FPGA, and a circuit card assembly is disclosed. The digital circuit design includes first and second sub-circuits. The first sub-circuits comprise a first percentage of the digital circuit design and the second sub-circuits comprise a second percentage of the digital circuit design. Each of the second sub-circuits is substantially comprised of one or more kernel circuits. The kernel circuits are comprised of selection circuits. The second percentage is at least 5%. In various embodiments, the second percentage could be at least 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or 95%

Predictive Factors and Outcomes in Patients With Severe Postoperative Anemia Following Total Joint Arthroplasty

Background: Perioperative allogenic blood transfusions (ABT) have demonstrated associations with poor outcomes and increased complication rates following total joint arthroplasty (TJA). Recent strides in blood conservation methods have been made, including multimodal blood management, tranexamic acid (TXA) use, and restrictive transfusion strategies in order to reduce risk associated with transfusion. While the literature on transfusions and outcomes is extensive, the consequences of low postoperative hemoglobin is less well defined. This study aimed to identify factors and consequences associated with severe anemia (hemoglobin \u3c8g/dL) following primary TJA. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of all the elective primary TJA at a single tertiary care medical center from January 2017 to December 2018. One thousand six hundred and thirty-five cases were stratified based on the development of severe postoperative anemia, and compared based on patient preoperative hemoglobin, comorbidities, demographics, intraoperative variables, and postoperative outcomes. Logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of severe postoperative anemia. Results: Surgical duration (per 30 minute increase) (OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.59-2.58), preoperative hemoglobin (per 1g/dL decrease) (odds ratio [OR], 2.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.38-6.38), and THA vs. TKA (OR, 2.06; 95% CI 1.26-3.37) were independently associated with severe postoperative anemia. Use of TXA (OR, 0.42; 0.20-0.85), and body mass index (per 1kg/m2 increase) (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.86-0.95) were protective against it. Severe postoperative anemia was associated with acute kidney injury (AKI), longer length of stay (LOS), and 90-day emergency department visits/readmissions. Conclusions: Longer duration of surgery, lower preoperative hemoglobin, and THA are all associated with severe postoperative anemia, and lead to complications of AKI, increased LOS, and higher readmission rates. As the incidence of fast-track TJA and outpatient surgery steadily increase, reducing the extent of postoperative anemia is essential for patient outcomes

Challenges of Population-based Measurement of Suicide Prevention Activities Across Multiple Health Systems

Suicide is a preventable public health problem. Zero Suicide (ZS) is a suicide prevention framework currently being evaluated by Mental Health Research Network investigators embedded in six Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN) member health systems implementing ZS. This paper describes ongoing collaboration to develop population-based process improvement metrics for use in, and comparison across, these and other health systems. Robust process improvement metrics are sorely needed by the hundreds of health systems across the country preparing to implement their own best practices in suicide care. Here we articulate three examples of challenges in using health system data to assess suicide prevention activities, each in ascending order of complexity: 1) Mapping and reconciling different versions of suicide risk assessment instruments across health systems; 2) Deciding what should count as adequate suicide prevention follow-up care and how to count it in different health systems with different care processes; and 3) Trying to determine whether a safety planning discussion took place between a clinician and a patient, and if so, what actually happened. To develop broadly applicable metrics, we have advocated for standardization of care processes and their documentation, encouraged standardized screening tools and urged they be recorded as discrete electronic health record (EHR) variables, and engaged with our clinical partners and health system data architects to identify all relevant care processes and the ways they are recorded in the EHR so we are not systematically missing important data. Serving as embedded research partners in our local ZS implementation teams has facilitated this work

Effectiveness of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy among Injection Drug Users with Late-Stage Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been shown to be effective in different populations, but data among injection drug users are limited. Human immunodeficiency virus-infected injection drug users recruited into the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Link to Intravenous Experiences (ALIVE) Study as early as 1988 were tested semiannually to identify their first CD4-positive T-lymphocyte cell count below 200/ll; they were followed for mortality through 2002. Visits were categorized into the pre-HAART (before mid-1996) and the HAART eras and further categorized by HAART use. Survival analysis with staggered entry was used to evaluate the effect of HAART on acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related mortality, adjusting for other medications and demographic, clinical, and behavioral factors. Among 665 participants, 258 died during 2,402 person-years of follow-up. Compared with survival in the pre-HAART era, survival in the HAART era was shown by multivariate analysis to be improved for both those who did and did not receive HAART (relative hazards ~ 0.06 and 0.33, respectively; p < 0.001). Inferences were unchanged after restricting analyses to data starting with 1993 and considerations of leadtime bias and human immunodeficiency viral load. The annual CD4-positive T-lymphocyte cell decline was less in untreated HAART-era participants than in pre-HAART-era participants (-10/microliter vs. -37/microliter, respectively), suggesting that changing indications for treatment may have contributed to improved survival and that analyses restricted to the HAART era probably underestimate HAART effectiveness.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40266/2/Vlahov_Effectiveness of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy_2005.pd