Do Community College Students Benefit When Transferring with Other Transfers? A Cross-Section Peer Effects Analysis

Using grouped data, Ehrenberg and Smith (2004) found that community college students who transfer to four-year colleges have higher graduation rates when attending four-year campuses with large shares of transfer students. I test this hypothesis with student-level data and control for heterogeneity among transfer students. “Traditional” transfers—transfers who spend two or more years at community college—are the majority of community college transfers, and graduate at higher rates when attending campuses with larger shares of traditional transfer students. However, this effect is not significant when I omit students who have not declared a major at a late point in their academic careers from the estimations, or when I omit one outlier campus with a large number of transfer students with undeclared majors from the estimations. I also find that traditional transfers have significantly lower graduation rates when they declare majors in departments with large shares of traditional transfers. This last finding is robust to multiple specifications

Time-of-Transfer and the Outcomes of Attending a Four-Year College: Evidence from SUNY

This paper examines the relationships between time of transfer from community college to four-year college and three outcomes of attending four-year college: probability of baccalaureate, time to baccalaureate, and credits earned at baccalaureate. Using enrollment data from the State University of New York, I establish that transfer students from community colleges have a longer and more widespread time-to-baccalaureate distribution than do non-transfer (“native”) students, are more likely to have taken time off than natives with the same number of terms completed, and also have fewer credits accumulated than equivalent natives. Multinomial Logit estimations show that “transferring up” after the first, second, and fourth semester of community college attendance is associated with the highest probability of eventual baccalaureate receipt. However, when I add controls for time taken off and credits accumulated, there is a “U-shaped” impact of time spent at a two-year college on the probability of earning a baccalaureate within eight years, with transferring after five semesters now yielding the lowest likelihood of 8-year baccalaureate. Those who transfer “early”—having completed fewer than four community college terms—and do not quickly attrite do not maintain the credit and enrollment statuses of equivalent natives; those who transfer “late”—after six or more semesters at community college—typically earn more credits in a semester than equivalent natives. Without controlling for pre-transfer attendance factors, transferring after four semesters appears to yield the shortest time-to-baccalaureate for those who eventually graduate; when controls for demographics and credits accumulated are added, transferring after exactly one semester yields a significantly higher time-to-baccalaureate for engineering and biological science majors. Transferring up after four or more semesters is associated with extra credits at baccalaureate receipt for students in both math/science majors and majors in large occupational fields, though the impacts are not particularly large in important fields of study

Air flow through poppet valves

Report discusses the comparative continuous flow characteristics of single and double poppet valves. The experimental data presented affords a direct comparison of valves, single and in pairs of different sizes, tested in a cylinder designed in accordance with current practice in aviation engines

Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in patients with carcinomas of the paranasal sinuses: clinical benefit for complex shaped target volumes

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in 46 patients with paranasal sinus tumors with special respect to treatment-related toxicity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We treated 46 patients with histologically proven tumors of the paranasal sinuses with IMRT. Histological classification included squamous cell carcinoma in 6, adenocarcinoma in 8, adenoidcystic carcinoma in 20 and melanoma in 8 patients, respectively. Six patients had been treated with RT during initial therapy after primary diagnosis, and IMRT was performed for the treatment of tumor progression as re-irradiation. RESULTS: Overall survival rates were 96% at 1 year, 90% at 3 years. Calculated from the initiation of IMRT as primary radiotherapy, survival rates at 1 and 3 years were 95% and 80%. In six patients IMRT was performed as re-irradiation, and survival rate calculated from re-irradiation was 63% at 1 year. Local control rates were 85% at 1, 81% at 2 and 49% at 3 years after primary RT and 50% at 1 year after re-irradiation. Distant metastases-free survival in patients treated with IMRT as primary RT was 83% after 1 and 64% after 3 years. For patients treated as primary irradiation with IMRT, the distant control rate was 83% at 1 year and 0% at 2 years. No severe radiation-induced side-effects could be observed. CONCLUSION: IMRT for tumors of the paranasal sinuses is associated with very good tumor control rates. Treatment-related acute and long-term toxicity can be minimized as compared to historical results with conventional RT

The breadth of primary care: a systematic literature review of its core dimensions

Background: Even though there is general agreement that primary care is the linchpin of effective health care delivery, to date no efforts have been made to systematically review the scientific evidence supporting this supposition. The aim of this study was to examine the breadth of primary care by identifying its core dimensions and to assess the evidence for their interrelations and their relevance to outcomes at (primary) health system level. Methods: A systematic review of the primary care literature was carried out, restricted to English language journals reporting original research or systematic reviews. Studies published between 2003 and July 2008 were searched in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, King's Fund Database, IDEAS Database, and EconLit. Results: Eighty-five studies were identified. This review was able to provide insight in the complexity of primary care as a multidimensional system, by identifying ten core dimensions that constitute a primary care system. The structure of a primary care system consists of three dimensions: 1. governance; 2. economic conditions; and 3. workforce development. The primary care process is determined by four dimensions: 4. access; 5. continuity of care; 6. coordination of care; and 7. comprehensiveness of care. The outcome of a primary care system includes three dimensions: 8. quality of care; 9. efficiency care; and 10. equity in health. There is a considerable evidence base showing that primary care contributes through its dimensions to overall health system performance and health. Conclusions: A primary care system can be defined and approached as a multidimensional system contributing to overall health system performance and health

90Y Radioembolization for Hepatic Malignancy in Patients with Previous Biliary Intervention: Multicenter Analysis of Hepatobiliary Infections

PurposeTo determine the frequency of hepatobiliary infections after transarterial radioembolization (TARE) with yttrium 90 (90Y) in patients with liver malignancy and a history of biliary intervention.Materials and MethodsFor this retrospective study, records of all consecutive patients with liver malignancy and history of biliary intervention treated with TARE at 14 centers between 2005 and 2015 were reviewed. Data regarding liver function, 90Y dosimetry, antibiotic prophylaxis, and bowel preparation prophylaxis were collected. Primary outcome was development of hepatobiliary infection.ResultsOne hundred twenty-six patients (84 men, 42 women; mean age, 68.8 years) with primary (n = 39) or metastatic (n = 87) liver malignancy and history of biliary intervention underwent 180 procedures with glass (92 procedures) or resin (88 procedures) microspheres. Hepatobiliary infections (liver abscesses in nine patients, cholangitis in five patients) developed in 10 of the 126 patients (7.9%) after 11 of the 180 procedures (6.1%; nine of those procedures were performed with glass microspheres). All patients required hospitalization (median stay, 12 days; range, 2–113 days). Ten patients required percutaneous abscess drainage, three patients underwent endoscopic stent placement and stone removal, and one patient needed insertion of percutaneous biliary drains. Infections resolved in five patients, four patients died (two from infection and two from cancer progression while infection was being treated), and one patient continued to receive suppressive antibiotics. Use of glass microspheres (P = .02), previous liver resection or ablation (P = .02), and younger age (P = .003) were independently predictive of higher infection risk.ConclusionInfectious complications such as liver abscess and cholangitis are uncommon but serious complications of transarterial radioembolization with 90Y in patients with liver malignancy and a history of biliary intervention.© RSNA, 2018Online supplemental material is available for this article