1,282 research outputs found
A Role for Dorsal and Ventral Hippocampus in Inter-Temporal Choice Cost-Benefit Decision Making
Previous studies suggest a preferential role for dorsal hippocampus (dHPC) in spatial memory tasks, whereas ventral hippocampus (vHPC) has been implicated in aspects of fear and/or anxiety. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that vHPC may be a critical subregion for performance on a delay-based, cost-benefit decision making task. Rats chose between the two goal arms of a T maze, one containing an immediately available small reward, the other containing a larger reward that was only accessible after a delay. dHPC, vHPC, and complete hippocampal (cHPC) lesions all reduced choice of the delayed high reward (HR) in favor of the immediately available low reward (LR). The deficits were not due to a complete inability to remember which reward size was associated with which arm of the maze. When an equivalent 10-s delay was introduced in both goal arms, all rats chose the HR arm on nearly all trials. The deficit was, however, reinstated when the inequality was reintroduced. Our results suggest an important role for both dHPC and vHPC in the extended neural circuitry that underlies intertemporal choice
Developing 21st century accreditation standards for teaching hospitals: the Taiwan experience
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this study is to establish teaching hospital accreditation standards anew with the hope that Taiwan's teaching hospitals can live up to the expectations of our society and ensure quality teaching.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The development process lasted two years, 2005-2006, and was separated into three stages. The first stage centered on leadership meetings and consensus building, the second on drafting the new standards with expert focus groups, and the third on a pilot study and subsequent revision.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our new teaching hospital accreditation standards have six categories and 95 standards as follows: educational resources (20 items), teaching and training plans and outcomes (42 items), research and results (9 items), development of clinical faculty and continuing education (8 items), academic exchanges and community education (8 items), and administration (8 items).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The new standards have proven feasible and posed reasonable challenges in the pilot study. We hope the new standards will strengthen teaching and research, and improve the quality of hospital services at the same time.</p
Impulsive choice in hippocampal but not orbitofrontal cortex-lesioned rats on a nonspatial decision-making maze task
Orbitofrontal cortical (OFC) and hippocampal (HPC) lesions in primates and rodents have been associated with impulsive behaviour. We showed previously that OFC- or HPC-lesioned rats chose the immediate low-reward (LR) option in preference to the delayed high-reward (HR) option, where LR and HR were associated with different spatial responses in a uniform grey T-maze. We now report that on a novel nonspatial T-maze task in which the HR and LR options are associated with patterned goal arms (black-and-white stripes vs. gray), OFC-lesioned rats did not show impulsive behaviour, choosing the delayed HR option, and were indistinguishable from controls. In contrast, HPC-lesioned rats exhibited impulsive choice in the nonspatial decision-making task, although they chose the HR option on the majority of trials when there was a 10-s delay associated with both goal arms. The previously reported impairment in OFC-lesioned rats on the spatial version of the intertemporal choice task is unlikely to reflect a general problem with spatial learning, because OFC lesions were without effect on acquisition of the standard reference memory water-maze task and spatial working memory performance (nonmatching-to-place) on the T-maze. The differential effect of OFC lesions on the two versions of the intertemporal choice task may be explained instead in terms of the putative role of OFC in using associative information to represent expected outcomes and generate predictions. The impulsivity in HPC-lesioned rats may reflect impaired temporal information processing, and emphasizes a role for the hippocampus beyond the spatial domain
Researching workplace friendships: drawing insights from the sociology of friendship
Although organizational research on workplace friendships is well established, it has been criticized for its predominately postpositivistic outlook, which largely focuses on how workplace friendships can be linked to improving organizational outcomes such as efficiency and performance. As a consequence other aspects of the lived experiences of work and friendship are obscured, in particular how these friendships are important in their own right and how they function as social and personal relationships. Supplementing postpositivistic research on workplace friendships, this article shows how researchers can derive theoretical insights from a âsociology of friendshipâ. The main contribution of this article relates to the development of a sociology of workplace friendship that understands the porous and mutable nature of these relationships and considers the social and personal factors that influence their role, place and meaning in the workplace. As such, three sociological frames of analysis are elaborated that encourage researchers to examine friendships at work as a set of contextually contingent social practices and as historically patterned social and personal relationships. This article articulates an agenda of research to inspire and guide researchers using these frames, one potential outcome of which is generating much needed scholarship that explores how workplace friendships contribute to human flourishing
The social value of a QALY : raising the bar or barring the raise?
Background: Since the inception of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in England,
there have been questions about the empirical basis for the cost-per-QALY threshold used by NICE and whether
QALYs gained by different beneficiaries of health care should be weighted equally. The Social Value of a QALY
(SVQ) project, reported in this paper, was commissioned to address these two questions. The results of SVQ were
released during a time of considerable debate about the NICE threshold, and authors with differing perspectives
have drawn on the SVQ results to support their cases. As these discussions continue, and given the selective use of
results by those involved, it is important, therefore, not only to present a summary overview of SVQ, but also for
those who conducted the research to contribute to the debate as to its implications for NICE.
Discussion: The issue of the threshold was addressed in two ways: first, by combining, via a set of models, the
current UK Value of a Prevented Fatality (used in transport policy) with data on fatality age, life expectancy and
age-related quality of life; and, second, via a survey designed to test the feasibility of combining respondentsâ
answers to willingness to pay and health state utility questions to arrive at values of a QALY. Modelling resulted in
values of ÂŁ10,000-ÂŁ70,000 per QALY. Via survey research, most methods of aggregating the data resulted in values
of a QALY of ÂŁ18,000-ÂŁ40,000, although others resulted in implausibly high values. An additional survey, addressing
the issue of weighting QALYs, used two methods, one indicating that QALYs should not be weighted and the
other that greater weight could be given to QALYs gained by some groups.
Summary: Although we conducted only a feasibility study and a modelling exercise, neither present compelling
evidence for moving the NICE threshold up or down. Some preliminary evidence would indicate it could be
moved up for some types of QALY and down for others. While many members of the public appear to be open to
the possibility of using somewhat different QALY weights for different groups of beneficiaries, we do not yet have
any secure evidence base for introducing such a system
The Wiener-Hopf Formulation of the Penetrable Wedge Problem. Part III: The skew incidence case
Calibration and Characterization of the IceCube Photomultiplier Tube
Over 5,000 PMTs are being deployed at the South Pole to compose the IceCube
neutrino observatory. Many are placed deep in the ice to detect Cherenkov light
emitted by the products of high-energy neutrino interactions, and others are
frozen into tanks on the surface to detect particles from atmospheric cosmic
ray showers. IceCube is using the 10-inch diameter R7081-02 made by Hamamatsu
Photonics. This paper describes the laboratory characterization and calibration
of these PMTs before deployment. PMTs were illuminated with pulses ranging from
single photons to saturation level. Parameterizations are given for the single
photoelectron charge spectrum and the saturation behavior. Time resolution,
late pulses and afterpulses are characterized. Because the PMTs are relatively
large, the cathode sensitivity uniformity was measured. The absolute photon
detection efficiency was calibrated using Rayleigh-scattered photons from a
nitrogen laser. Measured characteristics are discussed in the context of their
relevance to IceCube event reconstruction and simulation efforts.Comment: 40 pages, 12 figure
Balancing equity and efficiency in the Dutch basic benefits package using the principle of proportional shortfall
Economic evaluations are increasingly used to inform decisions regarding the allocation of scarce health care resources. To systematically incorporate societal preferences into these evaluations, quality-adjusted life year gains could be weighted according to some equity principle, the most suitable of which is a matter of frequent debate. While many countries still struggle with equity concerns for priority setting in health care, the Netherlands has reached a broad consensus to use the concept of proportional shortfall. Our study evaluates the concept and its support in the Dutch health care context. We discuss arguments in the Netherlands for using proportional shortfall and difficulties in transitioning from principle to practice. In doing so, we address universal issues leading to a systematic consideration of equity concerns for priority setting in health care. The article thus has relevance to all countries struggling with the formalization of equity concerns for priority setting
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