anchors: Software for Anchoring Vignette Data

When respondents use the ordinal response categories of standard survey questions in different ways, the validity of analyses based on the resulting data can be biased. Anchoring vignettes is a survey design technique intended to correct for some of these problems. The anchors package in R includes methods for evaluating and choosing anchoring vignettes, and for analyzing the resulting data.

Toward A Common Framework for Statistical Analysis and Development

We describe some progress toward a common framework for statistical analysis and software development built on and within the R language, including R's numerous existing packages. The framework we have developed offers a simple unified structure and syntax that can encompass a large fraction of statistical procedures already implemented in R, without requiring any changes in existing approaches. We conjecture that it can be used to encompass and present simply a vast majority of existing statistical methods, regardless of the theory of inference on which they are based, notation with which they were developed, and programming syntax with which they have been implemented. This development enabled us, and should enable others, to design statistical software with a single, simple, and unified user interface that helps overcome the conflicting notation, syntax, jargon, and statistical methods existing across the methods subfields of numerous academic disciplines. The approach also enables one to build a graphical user interface that automatically includes any method encompassed within the framework. We hope that the result of this line of research will greatly reduce the time from the creation of a new statistical innovation to its widespread use by applied researchers whether or not they use or program in R.Governmen

anchors: Software for Anchoring Vignette Data

When respondents use the ordinal response categories of standard survey questions in different ways, the validity of analyses based on the resulting data can be biased. Anchoring vignettes is a survey design technique intended to correct for some of these problems. The anchors package in R includes methods for evaluating and choosing anchoring vignettes, and for analyzing the resulting data

Fact Sheet: Conducting effective skill building workshops

Workshops that build both research and clinical skills are popular learning events in primary health care. They are cost effective compared with individual training activities and provide a means of connecting the material to be learned to the leaders' context, as well as providing opportunities for group interaction

Renewing Ranobe for Tomorrow: An Integrated Approach to Sustainable Development in Madagascar

The Spiny Forest in southwest Madagascar is home to a 90% endemic array of species and the village of Ranobe. Climate change and deforestation through charcoal production, agricultural use, and development, have degraded 43% of land cover in the last decade. This project collaborated with Ho Avy, a local nonprofit, to design a sustainable development plan for the community. The plan is based on five key perspectives: 1) land use/land cover change management, 2) energy potential, 3) water and health, 4) food security, and 5) economic growth. The plan recommends increased education, shifting incentives, and investment in renewable technologies to be implemented in Ranobe to improve the health of the region’s population and unique environment.Master of ScienceNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83529/1/RenewingRanobeforTomorrow_SNRE_20110419.pd

Genomic DNA functions as a universal external standard in quantitative real-time PCR

Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) is a powerful tool for quantifying specific DNA target sequences. Although determination of relative quantity is widely accepted as a reliable means of measuring differences between samples, there are advantages to being able to determine the absolute copy numbers of a given target. One approach to absolute quantification relies on construction of an accurate standard curve using appropriate external standards of known concentration. We have validated the use of tissue genomic DNA as a universal external standard to facilitate quantification of any target sequence contained in the genome of a given species, addressing several key technical issues regarding its use. This approach was applied to validate mRNA expression of gene candidates identified from microarray data and to determine gene copies in transgenic mice. A simple method that can assist achieving absolute quantification of gene expression would broadly enhance the uses of real-time qPCR and in particular, augment the evaluation of global gene expression studies

A Clinical Decision Support System for Malignant Pleural Effusion Analysis

Pleural effusion occurs when fluid accumulates in the pleural cavity surrounding the lung. This condition is commonly caused by infection, but can also be associated with the presence of a metastatic tumor. Samples of pleural fluid are used to analyze the morphologies of mesothelial cells and can typically be used to make a diagnosis between benignity and malignancy. Atypical pleural effusion samples are not easily identified as benign or malignant due to a lack of differentiable visual features, and such a problem has a significant influence in clinicians\u27 decision making. In this paper, the goal is to develop a clinical decision support system (CDSS) using computer imaging and machine learning techniques for diagnosing atypical pleural effusion. The proposed approach involves four steps for analyzing slides of pleural effusion samples: image processing, feature measurement, feature selection, and classification. Processing and measurement of images produced a preliminary data set of 500 samples; each is described by 398 features. A genetic algorithm was applied for feature selection and identified a subset of 39 important features. The experimental results showed that the selected features can distinguish atypical nuclei as benign or malignant with a five-fold cross validation accuracy of 91%

Estudio del efecto de la sequía inducida por polietilenglicol en Capsicum frutescens en un sistema hidropónico

La sequía es el factor más común que limita el desarrollo y productividad de los cultivos, afectando severamente a la agricultura. En México, uno de los cultivos de importancia económica y gastronómica sensible al estrés hídrico es el género Capsicum. En el presente estudio se evaluó la aplicación de prolina en plantas de Capsicum frutescens expuestas a sequía inducida por polietilenglicol (PEG) en un sistema hidropónico. Empleando un diseño factorial 22, se evaluaron un total de 60 plántulas durante 120 h dividas en cuatro tratamientos: PEG (0 y 10 %) y Pro (0 y 10 mM) como variables de estudio. Los resultados demostraron que la exposición a 10 mM de Pro indujo un aumento significativo en la concentración de clorofila y de prolina endógena (hoja y raíz) en las plántulas en ausencia de estrés. Además, se observó un 80 % de supervivencia de las plántulas y un aumento en el contenido de prolina en aquellas que estuvieron expuestas a 10 mM Pro + 10 % PEG. De igual manera, se presentó un aumento en el contenido de clorofila (13 µg • mL-1), contenido relativo de agua (CRA) en raíz (77.6 %), porcentaje de electrolitos en hoja y raíz (~44 y ~52 % respectivamente), en comparación con el tratamiento de 0 mM Pro + 10 % PEG. Los resultados sugieren que la aplicación previa de prolina tiene un efecto positivo en la supervivencia de las plántulas bajo condiciones de sequía inducida por PEG

What Does It Mean for a Case to be ‘Local’?: the Importance of Local Relevance and Resonance for Bioethics Education in the Asia-Pacific Region

Contemporary bioethics education has been developed predominately within Euro-American contexts, and now, other global regions are increasingly joining the field, leading to a richer global understanding. Nevertheless, many standard bioethics curriculum materials retain a narrow geographic focus. The purpose of this article is to use local cases from the Asia-Pacific region as examples for exploring questions such as ‘what makes a case or example truly local, and why?’, ‘what topics have we found to be best explained through local cases or examples?’, and ‘how does one identify a relevant local case?’ Furthermore, we consider the global application of local cases to help extend the possible scope of the discussion, opening new avenues for the development of practical bioethics educational materials. We begin with a background description and discussion of why local cases enhance bioethics education, move to an overview of what is currently available and what is not for the region, and then outline a discussion of what it means to be local using example cases drawn from Hong Kong, Australia, Pakistan, and Malaysia. We are not creating a casebook but rather constructing by example a toolbox for designing active and dynamic learning cases using regional diversity as contextualised cases with generalised principles

Obstetric professionals’ perceptions of non-invasive prenatal testing for Down syndrome: clinical usefulness compared with existing tests and ethical implications

Background: While non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for fetal aneuploidy is commercially available in many countries, little is known about how obstetric professionals in non-Western populations perceive the clinical usefulness of NIPT in comparison with existing first-trimester combined screening (FTS) for Down syndrome (DS) or invasive prenatal diagnosis (IPD), or perceptions of their ethical concerns arising from the use of NIPT. Methods: A cross-sectional survey among 327 obstetric professionals (237 midwives, 90 obstetricians) in Hong Kong. Results: Compared to FTS, NIPT was believed to: provide more psychological benefits and enable earlier consideration of termination of pregnancy. Compared to IPD, NIPT was believed to: provide less psychological stress for high-risk women and more psychological assurance for low-risk women, and offer an advantage to detect chromosomal abnormalities earlier. Significant differences in perceived clinical usefulness were found by profession and healthcare sector: (1) obstetricians reported more certain views towards the usefulness of NIPT than midwives and (2) professionals in the public sector perceived less usefulness of NIPT than the private sector. Beliefs about earlier detection of DS using NIPT were associated with ethical concerns about increasing abortion. Participants believing that NIPT provided psychological assurance among low-risk women were less likely to be concerned about ethical issues relating to informed decision-making and pre-test consultation for NIPT. Conclusions: Our findings suggest the need for political debate initially on how to ensure pregnant women accessing public services are informed about commercially available more advanced technology, but also on the potential implementation of NIPT within public services to improve access and equity to DS screening services