Reliability and Test Differences for the Impact: Implications for Concussion Testing Programs

This study was conducted to determine the long-term relatability of ImPACT scores among young athletes. Youth sport participants (n=294) who completed ImPACT tests one year apart were included in the study. Ages ranged from nine to 14 with a mean of 11.42 (SD = .96). The majority (n = 215) were males. Test-retest reliabilities for verbal memory, visual memory, response time, and impulse control were statistically significant but weak, ranging between .33 and .49. The index score had poor test-retest reliabilities (r = .26). Visual-motor test-retest reliability was also significant but moderate (r=.68). Scores for the verbal memory subtest and the index score did not change over time. However, there was significant improvement for the visual memory (t(293) = 2.24, p \u3c .03, d = .13), visualmotor (t(293) = 9.23, p \u3c .001, d = .54), response time (t(293) = 3.78, p \u3c .001, d = .22), and impulse (t(293) = 3.27, p \u3c .001, d = .19) subtests. These results indicate that the long-term test-retest reliability of the ImPACT is inadequate and that several subtests change over time. Therefore, it is recommended that baseline ImPACT scores are obtained on an annual basis

Where do hands go? An audit of sequential hand-touch events on a hospital ward

Reservoirs of pathogens could establish themselves at forgotten sites on a ward, posing a continued risk for transmission to patients via unwashed hands. To track potential spread of organisms between surfaces and patients, and to gaina greater understanding into transmission pathways of pathogens during patient care. Hand-touch activities were audited covertly for 40 30 min sessions during summer and winter, and included hand hygiene on entry; contact with near-patient sites; patient contact; contact with clinical equipment; hand hygiene on exit; and contact with sites outside the room. There were 104 entries overall: 77 clinical staff (59 nurses; 18 doctors), 21 domestic staff, one pharmacist and five relatives. Hand-hygiene compliance among clinical staff before and after entry was 25% (38/154), with higher compliance during 20 summer periods [47%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 35.6e58.8] than during 20 winter periods (7%; 95% CI: 3.2e14.4; P < 0.0001). More than half of the staff (58%; 45/77) touched the patient. Staff were more likely to clean their hands prior to contact with a patient [odds ratio (OR): 3.44; 95% CI: 0.94e16.0); P ¼ 0.059] and sites beside the patient (OR: 6.76; 95% CI: 1.40e65.77; P ¼ 0.0067). Nearly half (48%; 37/77) handled patient notes and 25% touched the bed. Most frequently handled equipment inside the room were intravenous drip (30%) and blood pressure stand (13%), and computer (26%), notes trolley (23%) and telephone (21%) outside the room. Hand-hygiene compliance remains poor during covert observation; understanding the most frequent interactions between hands and surfaces could target sites for cleaning

William H. Sorrell, Attorney General of Vermont, et al. v. IMS Health Inc., et al. - Amicus Brief in Support of Petitioners

On April 26, 2011, the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Vermont data mining case, Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc. Respondents claim this is the most important commercial speech case in a decade. Petitioner (the State of Vermont) argues this is the most important medical privacy case since Whalen v. Roe. The is an amicus brief supporting Vermont, written by law professors and submitted on behalf of the New England Journal of Medicin

The Tip of the Iceberg: A First Amendment Right To Promote Drugs Off-Label

Scholars, advocates, and courts have begun to recognize a First Amendment right for the makers of drugs and medical devices to promote their products “off-label,” without proving safety and efficacy of new intended uses. Yet, so far, this debate has occurred in a vacuum of peculiar cases, where convoluted commercial speech doctrine underdetermines the outcome. Juxtaposing these cases against other routine prosecutions of those who peddle unapproved drugs reveals the common legal regime at issue. Review of the seven arguments deployed in the off-label domain finds that, if they were valid, they would undermine the FDA’s entire premarket approval regime. Even more a companion paper shows that, if valid, this First Amendment logic would undermine a wide range of statutory regimes that have similar intent-based structures and that rely on speech as evidence of intent

Improved on-the-fly MCTDH simulations with many-body-potential tensor decomposition and projection diabatisation

We have recently demonstrated how potential energy surface (PES) interpola- tion methods such as kernel ridge regression (KRR), can be combined with accu- rate wavefunction time-propagation methods, specifically the multi-configuration time- dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method, to generate a new “on-the-fly” MCTDH scheme (DD-MCTDH) which does not require the pre-fitting of the PES which is normally re- quired by MCTDH. Specifically, we have shown how our DD-MCTDH strategy can be used to model non-adiabatic dynamics in a 4-mode/2-state model of pyrazine, with ab initio electronic structure calculations performed directly during propagation, requir- ing around 100 hours of computer wall-time. In this Article, we show how the efficiency and accuracy of DD-MCTDH can be dramatically improved further still by: (i) using systematic tensor decompositions of the KRR PES, and (ii) using a novel scheme for di- abatisation within the framework of configuration interaction (CI) methods which only requires local adiabatic electronic states, rather than non-adiabatic coupling matrix el- ements. The result of these improvements is that our latest version of DD-MCTDH can perform a 12-mode/2-state simulation of pyrazine, with PES evaluations at CAS level, in just 29-90 hours on a standard desktop computer; this work therefore represents an enormous step towards direct quantum dynamics with MCTDH

Tailored codes for small quantum memories

We demonstrate that small quantum memories, realized via quantum error correction in multi-qubit devices, can benefit substantially by choosing a quantum code that is tailored to the relevant error model of the system. For a biased noise model, with independent bit and phase flips occurring at different rates, we show that a single code greatly outperforms the well-studied Steane code across the full range of parameters of the noise model, including for unbiased noise. In fact, this tailored code performs almost optimally when compared with 10,000 randomly selected stabilizer codes of comparable experimental complexity. Tailored codes can even outperform the Steane code with realistic experimental noise, and without any increase in the experimental complexity, as we demonstrate by comparison in the observed error model in a recent 7-qubit trapped ion experiment.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, supplementary material; v2 published versio

Role of the Srs2-Rad51 Interaction Domain in Crossover Control in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Srs2, in addition to its well-documented antirecombination activity, has been proposed to play a role in promoting synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA). Here we report the identification and characterization of an SRS2 mutant with a single amino acid substitution (srs2-F891A) that specifically affects the Srs2 pro-SDSA function. This residue is located within the Srs2-Rad51 interaction domain and embedded within a protein sequence resembling a BRC repeat motif. The srs2-F891A mutation leads to a complete loss of interaction with Rad51 as measured through yeast two-hybrid analysis and a partial loss of interaction as determined through protein pull-down assays with purified Srs2, Srs2-F891A, and Rad51 proteins. Even though previous work has shown that internal deletions of the Srs2-Rad51 interaction domain block Srs2 antirecombination activity in vitro, the Srs2-F891A mutant protein, despite its weakened interaction with Rad51, exhibits no measurable defect in antirecombination activity in vitro or in vivo Surprisingly, srs2-F891A shows a robust shift from noncrossover to crossover repair products in a plasmid-based gap repair assay, but not in an ectopic physical recombination assay. Our findings suggest that the Srs2 C-terminal Rad51 interaction domain is more complex than previously thought, containing multiple interaction sites with unique effects on Srs2 activity

Field Experiments Show Effects of Clariva™ Seed Treatment in 2014

Clariva™ Complete Beans is a seed treatment from Syngenta for management of the soybean cyst nematode (SCN). Clariva Complete Beans contains Clariva™, with the active ingredient Pasteuria nishizawae, a bacterium that parasitizes SCN. Clariva Complete Beans also contains the seed treatment insecticide and fungicides that are in CruiserMaxx® Advanced and Vibrance®