Pressure Acquisition System for In Vitro Mitral Valve Analysis

In vitro testing of the mitral valve chordae tendineae is utilized to aid in the understanding of the stresses that occur in vivo and improve upon surgical solutions that exist for mitral valve repair. This project aimed to design the water control system for a left heart simulation chamber, as well as the pressure acquisition inside the chamber. A solenoid valve was utilized to control the water supply to the tank and was powered utilizing National Instruments software. National Instruments hardware and software was also used with the pressure transducer in order to obtain pressure readings from the chamber. The system was able to be fully controlled using LabVIEW and a pressure trend line was acquired. Future work will focus on developing a way to obtain more precise pressure measurements and automating the solenoid valve to shut off the water supply once physiological pressure has been met inside the chamber

Using Impact Evaluation Tools to Unpack the Black Box and Learn What Works

Researchers and policy makers are increasingly dissatisfied with the “average treatment effect.” Not only are they interested in learning about the overall causal effects of policy interventions, but they want to know what specifically it is about the intervention that is responsible for any observed effects. This discusses Peck's (2003) approach to creating symmetrically-predicted subgroups for analyzing endogenous features of experimentally evaluated interventions and then it identifies several possible extensions that might help evaluators better understand complex interventions. It aims to enrich evaluation methodologists’ toolbox, to improve our ability to analyze “what works” in addressing important questions for policy and program practice

Comparison Group Identification for Difficult-to-Evaluate Populations: Lessons from Evaluating 1n10 LGBTQ Youth Support Services

programs is largely absent of quantitative studies, likely in part due to the challenge of using experimental or quasi-experimental evaluation designs. This paper proposes the creative use of a national data set to overcome the problem of estimating a counterfactual for this population. In addition to discussing lessons from this approach, we describe the program and its impacts. Evidence suggests that the program under study—1n10, a local support group for LGBTQ youth in the Phoenix, AZ, metropolitan area—draws a relatively more disadvantaged group than the national average but that their levels of suicide ideation are lower. By addressing key threats to the internal validity of evaluation designs, we rule out plausible rival explanations for program impacts. hile many stressors are evident in yout

An Evaluation Use Framework and Empirical Assessment

Background: Research on evaluation use focuses on putting evaluation recommendations into practice. Prior theoretical research proposes varied frameworks for understanding the use (or lack) of program evaluation results.   Purpose: Our purpose is to create and test a single, integrated framework for understanding evaluation use. This article relies on prior theoretical research regarding categories of utilization, typologies of recommendations, and factors affecting utilization to frame an empirical study of evaluation use that then tests the integrated theory.   Setting: The empirical part of the article draws on post-evaluation interviews with sixteen agencies that have engaged in evaluation research.   Subjects: The agencies are mostly local non-profits, but the sample also includes a state agency, a city agency, and two university-community partnerships. All agencies had undergone a program evaluation between 2003 and 2006.   Intervention: Having participated in an evaluation is the main “intervention” of interest in this article, in which we consider the relationship between evaluation use theory and empirical evidence on the topic.   Research Design: A qualitative approach, our research design involved examining each of the sixteen agencies within two years of their having been evaluated.   Data Collection and Analysis: Data collection included structured in-person interviews with at least one key informant in each agency. In addition, a short, closed-ended survey was administered to research participants. Interview data were analyzed using content analysis of themes and grouping agencies according to their evaluation’s outcomes (favorable or not) and experiences. Survey data were analyzed with simple descriptive statistics and similarly involved a subgroup analysis, according to agencies’ reported use of evaluation.   Findings: Most evaluation use is conceptual, and few agencies studied actually implemented specific evaluation recommendations. Agencies perceived recommendations as changes to rules and structure, which theory and prior research suggest suppresses use. An important human factor that influenced evaluation use was minimal post-evaluation interaction with evaluators. Some long-term influence of the evaluation is evident, but only as conceptual and not as instrumental. In fact, very little instrumental use existed in this empirical assessment.   Conclusions: Evidence suggests that evaluation use in practice aligns with theory, specifically emphasizing the conceptual use dimension. The proposed integrated model of prior evaluation use theories may hold value for future theoretical and empirical work

On the Feasibility of Extending Social Experiments to Wider Applications

Background: When deciding how to allocate limited funds for social programs, policymakers and program managers increasingly ask for evidence of effectiveness based on studies that rely on solid methodology, providing credible scientific evidence. The basic claim for the “social experiment”—that the “coin flip” of randomization creates two statistically equivalent groups that do not diverge except through an intervention’s effects—makes resulting estimates unbiased. Despite the transparency and conceptual strength of the experimental strategy for revealing the causal connection between an intervention and the outcomes of its participants, the wisdom or feasibility of conducting social experiments is often questioned on a variety of grounds. Purpose: This article defines 15 common concerns about the viability and policy reliability of social experiments, in order to assess how much these issues need constrain the use of the method in providing policy evidence. Setting: NA Intervention: NA Research Design: The research uses the authors’ experience designing and conducting dozens of social experiments to examine the basis for and soundness of each concern.  It  provides examples from the scholarly literature and evaluations in practice of both the problems posed and responses to each issue. Data Collection and Analysis: NA Findings: We conclude that none of the 15 concerns precludes substantially extending the use of randomized experiments as a means of evaluating the impacts of government and foundation social policies and programs

The Sequential Costs of Poverty: What Traditional Measures Overlook

This research note proposes an addition to the poverty measurement debate. Motivated by dissatisfaction with the official poverty measure, which many scholars and practitioners share, we propose the use of sequential costs of poverty to enrich the poverty measure so that it might capture more closely the life-experiences of low-income families. After presenting some background on poverty measurement, this research note explores the conceptual framework that surrounds the notion of sequential costs. Drawing on our past research, we propose ways in which these sequential costs surface, with illustrative examples from health, employment, housing, and income maintenance

Multiyear trend in reproduction underpins interannual variation in gametogenic development of an Antarctic urchin.

Ecosystems and their biota operate on cyclic rhythms, often entrained by predictable, small-scale changes in their natural environment. Recording and understanding these rhythms can detangle the effect of human induced shifts in the climate state from natural fluctuations. In this study, we assess long-term patterns of reproductive investment in the Antarctic sea urchin, Sterechinus neumayeri, in relation to changes in the environment to identify drivers of reproductive processes. Polar marine biota are sensitive to small changes in their environment and so serve as a barometer whose responses likely mirror effects that will be seen on a wider global scale in future climate change scenarios. Our results indicate that seasonal reproductive periodicity in the urchin is underpinned by a multiyear trend in reproductive investment beyond and in addition to, the previously reported 18–24 month gametogenic cycle. Our model provides evidence that annual reproductive investment could be regulated by an endogenous rhythm since environmental factors only accounted for a small proportion of the residual variation in gonad index. This research highlights a need for multiyear datasets and the combination of biological time series data with large-scale climate metrics that encapsulate multi-factorial climate state shifts, rather than using single explanatory variables to inform changes in biological processes

At Risk Students at Urban and Rural Community Colleges

Research conducted at one urban and one rural community college illustrated factors that lead to persistence in completing educational goals, what specific factors put the students at risk, and how formal and informal actions taken at community colleges can improve successful completion for first generation college students living in poverty

Applying neurobiology to the treatment of adults with anorexia nervosa

BackgroundAnorexia nervosa is a severe, biologically based brain disorder with significant medical complications. It is critical that new, effective treatments are developed to interrupt the persistent course of the illness due to the medical and psychological sequelae. Several psychosocial, behavioral and pharmacologic interventions have been investigated in adult anorexia nervosa; however, evidence shows that their impact is weak and treatment effects are generally small.MethodThis paper describes a new neurobiological anorexia nervosa model that shifts focus from solely external influences, such as social and family, to include internal influences that integrate genetic and neurobiological contributions, across the age span. The model serves as a theoretical structure for a new, five-day treatment, outlined in this paper, targeting anorexia nervosa temperament, which integrates neurobiological dimensions into evidence-based treatment interventions. The treatment is in two phases. Phase I is a five day, 40 hour treatment for anorexia nervosa adults. Phase II is the follow-up and is currently being developed.ResultsPreliminary qualitative acceptability data on 37 adults with anorexia nervosa and 60 supports (e.g., spouses, parents, aunts, friends, partners, children of anorexia nervosa adults) are promising from Phase I. Clients with anorexia nervosa and their supports report that learning neurobiological facts improved their understanding of the illness and helped equip them with better tools to manage anorexia nervosa traits and symptoms. In addition, nutritional knowledge changed significantly.ConclusionsThis is the first neurobiologically based, five-day treatment for adults with anorexia nervosa and their supports. It is a new model that outlines underlying genetic and neurobiological contributions to anorexia nervosa that serves as a foundation to treat both traits and symptoms. Preliminary qualitative findings are promising, with both clients and supports reporting that the neurobiological treatment approach helped them better understand the illness, while better conceptualizing how to respond to their traits and manage their symptoms. Data in Phase I shows promise as a neurobiologically based intervention for anorexia nervosa, and it serves as a foundation for the development of Phase II. Evidence of ongoing program efficacy will be described as data are reported on Phase II.Trial registrationNCT NCT02852538 Registered 1 August 2016