Faculty Standardization of Dental Hygiene Instrumentation Skill Evaluation: A Calibration Exercise

Faculty must be standardized so that student skills are assessed in an unbiased, equal fashion. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of calibration on dental hygiene faculty standardization. Examples of correct and incorrect instrumentation skill performance were demonstrated and discussed during the calibration exercise. Groups simultaneously viewed instrumentation skills while assessing correct or incorrect performance. Group standardization was determined through analysis of answer key agreement, intra-rater reliability, and inter-rater reliability. Data were statistically analyzed through the use of a z-test for both answer key agreement and inter-rater reliability, and chi-square (x2) for inter-rater reliability (a=0.05). Calibrating dental hygiene evaluators did not have statistically significant effects on their ability to achieve answer key agreement or intra-rater reliability. Significant results of x2 for effects of calibration on inter-rater reliability revealed the non-calibrated group more consistent in assessing skills (x2=2.80; p=.0475). Standardization as measured by answer key agreement, intra-rater, and inter-rater reliability was not influenced by the calibration exercise. Further exploration of methods to improve faculty standardization are needed to ensure that dental hygiene students receive fair and objective skill performance evaluation

HR PRACTICES, EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, AND RESTAURANT PERFORMANCE

This paper looks at performance at the individual restaurant level from the perspective of management, customers and employees. The results are based on surveys of each of these three groups conducted between June and September 2001 at a sit-down, casual restaurant chain. There are several key findings. Service-related employee training and giving staff a say in making decisions improves customer satisfaction and loyalty. How employees perceive the service climate in their restaurant is a better predictor of positive customer perceptions than managers' appraisal. Employees who score higher in terms of being conscientious and extroverted on a personality test perform better. The kind of service climate created by management affects employee performance and customer satisfaction and loyalty. This study is an important milestone which represents the Center's first research on the foodservice industry based on the collection and analysis of primary (original survey) data.Consumer/Household Economics, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing,

Characterization of Conjugated Polymer Actuation under Cerebral Physiological Conditions

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108056/1/adhm201300610-sup-0001-S1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108056/2/adhm201300610.pd

On involutions satisfying a system of functional equations

In this paper we investigate a system of functional equations J N O N = id \ W o/* = /„_!_* o AT k = o p - l in finite and infinite interval, where / 0 , . . . , fp-i are given real functions. Under suitable assumptions on / , we prove that the system has a unique solution and this solution is continuous and decreasing

Olfaction on a chip

Sensors and Actuators B: ChemicalThe article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2016.05.048. Supplementary material as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2016.05.048.On-chip sensing of physical signals is now relatively straightforward, with on-chip tilt sensors and cell phone cameras now ubiquitous, but sensing of odorants has proven to be far more challenging. A general purpose, mobile electronic nose would address pressing needs in security and food safety. We demonstrate here an approach that combines living olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) with integrated circuitry. The hybrid bio-electronic chip harnesses the as-yet unparalleled capabilities of olfactory sensory neurons – in variety, selectivity, and ability to function in the real world – and takes advantage of modern silicon chip technology for detecting and processing electrical signals. OSNs were cultured directly over an array of electrodes on the surface of a custom integrated circuit so that the signals, a series of “spikes” upon odorant binding, could be locally detected and processed. Consistent and selective responses to specific odorants were recorded from individual neurons.Funded by Naval Postgraduate SchoolMaryland NanoCenter and its FabLabNational Science Foundatio

Effectiveness and safety of vedolizumab for treatment of Crohn's disease : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: The aim of this systematic review (SR) and meta-analysis was to assess the efficacy and safety of vedolizumab in the treatment of Crohn’s disease (CD). Material and methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in Medline/PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library until 25 January, 2015. Included studies were critically appraised according to the PRISMA protocol. Assessment in specified subgroups of CD patients and meta-analysis with Revman software were performed. Results: Two randomized controlled trial (RCTs) were included in a meta-analysis for the induction phase of therapy: GEMINI II and GEMINI III. The clinical response was significantly higher for patients who received vedolizumab compared to placebo in the general population (risk benefit (RB) = 1.48; p = 0.0006) and in both analyzed subgroups: patients with previous failure of anti-TNFs treatment (RB = 1.51; p = 0.006) and patients naive to earlier anti-TNFs (RB = 1.41; p = 0.001). The clinical remission in the general population and subpopulation of TNF-antagonist naive patients was significantly higher for patients who received vedolizumab compared to placebo (RB = 1.77; p = 0.003; RB = 2.29; p = 0.0004; respectively). Meta-analysis for adverse events, serious adverse events (SAEs) and serious infections, revealed that vedolizumab was as safe as placebo in the induction phase of therapy. Conclusions: The clinical response was significantly higher for patients who received vedolizumab in the general population and in both analyzed subgroups of patients. The clinical remission in the general population and subpopulation of TNF-antagonist naive patients was significantly higher for vedolizumab, but no significant differences were revealed in the subgroup of patients with previous TNF antagonist failure

El “fast track”: ¿un mecanismo de flexibilización de la Constitución de 1991?

This paper presents a study about the special legislative procedure for peace, popularly known as fast track, and its role in the Colombian political transition. This study faces the interpretation that the fast track was an ineffective mechanism for the legislative implementation of the Peace Agreement, and attempts to explain this through two points of analysis. First, it presents the difficulty of implementing the constitutional amendments that the Agreement needed without activating the constituent power, which made it necessary to make the Constitution more flexible in order to integrate the pillars of the Agreement into the Constitution. Second, it explores the concept of constitutional aporia, that is the logical difficulty of reform the constitution through the categories of original and derived constituent power, and their consequences on the rigidity and flexibility of the Constitution.Este artículo presenta una lectura sobre el Procedimiento Legislativo Especial para la Paz, conocido popularmente como fast track, y su papel dentro de la transición política colombiana. La lectura enfrenta la interpretación de que el fast track fue un mecanismo poco eficaz para la implementación legislativa del Acuerdo de Paz, e intenta explicar esto a través de dos puntos de análisis. El primero presenta la dificultad de implementar las reformas constitucionales que necesitaba el Acuerdo sin activar el poder constituyente originario, lo cual hizo necesario flexibilizar la Constitución para integrar los pilares del Acuerdo a la Carta Política. El segundo ahonda en el concepto de aporía constitucional, es decir en la dificultad lógica de reformar la Constitución a través de la distinción de competencia entre poder constituyente originario y derivado, y sus consecuencias en la rigidez y flexibilidad de la Constitución

Sensing and Tactile Artificial Muscles from Reactive Materials

Films of conducting polymers can be oxidized and reduced in a reversible way. Any intermediate oxidation state determines an electrochemical equilibrium. Chemical or physical variables acting on the film may modify the equilibrium potential, so that the film acts as a sensor of the variable. The working potential of polypyrrole/DBSA (Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid) films, oxidized or reduced under constant currents, changes as a function of the working conditions: electrolyte concentration, temperature or mechanical stress. During oxidation, the reactive material is a sensor of the ambient, the consumed electrical energy being the sensing magnitude. Devices based on any of the electrochemical properties of conducting polymers must act simultaneously as sensors of the working conditions. Artificial muscles, as electrochemical actuators constituted by reactive materials, respond to the ambient conditions during actuation. In this way, they can be used as actuators, sensing the surrounding conditions during actuation. Actuating and sensing signals are simultaneously included by the same two connecting wires