Function Of Years Research Articles

Delineating wildfire burns and regrowth using satellite imagery to assess moose (Alces alces) spatial responses to burns

AbstractClimate change is predicted to increase the frequency and size of wildfires. Wildfire burns can influence wildlife space use, but prior to understanding the relationship between wildlife and burns, the extent of wildfires and the regrowth of burned areas must be determined. We used remotely sensed, multispectral satellite imagery to calculate differenced normalized burn ratios (NBRs) to define areas burned by wildfire and assess temporal trends in burn frequency and extent in central British Columbia. We then used NBRs as an index of vegetation regrowth to model regrowth trajectories within burns. Next, we examined spatial responses to burns by a moose (Alces alces) population that recently declined in abundance. We utilized locations used by and available to collared moose to determine spatial responses as a function of years since wildfire and vegetation regrowth. We also assessed functional responses to burns by moose, dependent upon the proportion of burned areas available to each individual. We hypothesized that (h1) wildfire burns within our study area increased from 1985 to 2017, (h2) that moose increase their use of burns in comparison with availability as burns age as a result of vegetation regrowth, and (h3) that moose demonstrate functional responses to burns (i.e., selection of burns by individual moose declines as the amount of burned areas increases). We observed that the frequency and extent of burns are increasing within our study area. In contrast to h2, moose in summer and fall decreased the selection of burns as burns aged. We, however, observed that moose responded most positively to locations with intermediate vegetation regrowth (i.e., NBR values), which according to burn regrowth trajectories were most likely to be achieved 13 or more years post‐wildfire; given that most burns within our study area were ≤13 years of age, we predict that the use of burns will likely increase as vegetation regrows. Moose only selected for burns in fall, and we did not find support for the presence of a functional response. Our research demonstrated the utility of remotely sensed imagery and NBRs to define burn locations and to reveal current and probable future spatial responses to burns by a wildlife population of concern.

Significance of variation in wildlife red deer carcass yields

ABSTRACT Deer hunting has traditionally had great relevance due to the diversity of resources obtained from it, such as meat. Our aim has been to analyse the total post-mortem weight, dressed carcass weight and carcass yield, as well as their variations as a function of years, sex, age and hunting season (autumn vs. winter). Also, predictive equations for carcass weight from total weight were performed. A total of 947 red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus) of both sexes, hunted from 1989 to 1993 in the Quintos de Mora National Reserve, Spain, were analysed. Seasonal and interannual differences were detected in all weight measures and carcass yield, conditioned by sex, age and climatic factors such as temperature. In general, to obtain a higher meat yield deer extractions should be carried out in autumn. In addition, carcass weight variation (measured on cold carcasses dressed without head and feet, keeping skin, lateral diaphragm portions, fat deposits and legs) can be considered a good indicator of body condition that integrates seasonal nutritional gains and/or losses and long-term nutritional legacies. This index provides information on the animal's natural history and ecological environment conditions, making its standardized record an essential tool for monitoring wild game populations.

Polygenic risk score association with cognitive decline in Parkinson’s Disease

AbstractBackgroundCognitive impairment is a common and debilitating symptom in Parkinson’s disease (PD) with high variability in individual trajectory of decline. We sought to explore heterogeneity in the trajectory of individual cognitive change in a cohort of early stage PD patients and test association to cumulative genetic risk identified in large scale Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS).MethodUsing longitudinal measures of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) we employed latent class mixed modelling (LCMM) to identify and investigate unknown populations in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Inititative (PPMI) de‐novo PD cohort. Tranformed MoCA scores were modelled as a quadratic function of years from baseline, controlling for age, gender and motor symptom severity. Optimal group number was identified and determined using standardly advised model fit metrics. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for five GWAS were calculated using PRSice‐2 applied to genotyping array data. Association of PRS with cognitive groups was tested using linear models and ANOVA tests.ResultLCMM showed optimal fit statistics for three classes (lowest BIC, high entropy) and these groups were retained for further analysis The largest identified class (n = 240) on average, presented at baseline with higher MoCA scores and remained stable over time. The second class (n = 132) presented with lower MoCA scores and showed a slow declining trajectory whilst the smallest class (n = 13) presented with lower MoCA scores but declined at a rapid rate. Educational attainment and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) GWAS derived PRS were significantly associated with cognitive class and explained the highest amount of phenotypic variance. For PD case‐control status, only the PD PRS was significantly associated with Parkinson’s status and explained a similar level of phenotypic variation.ConclusionLatent class analysis may provide utility in subsetting longitudinal cognitive outcome groups for use in groupwise comparisons. Using this method we show evidence for association of educational attainment and AD cumulative genetic risk and worse cognitive outcomes in early PD.

Chronic-Phase Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Times to Death By Disease Support Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Dose Reductions When BCR::ABL1 Level Is

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are commonly believed to provide almost-normal lifespans to patients with chronic-phase (CP) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). This is, however, not supported by Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) mortalities >10 years after diagnoses that reveal a CP-CML relative risk (RR) of death of 2.14 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.97-2.32); normal lifespans yield RR = 1.00, and by 10 years after diagnoses, most CML patients still alive were in CP at diagnosis, dates of which were between 2001 and 2009. This CP-CML RR estimate of 2.14 is comparable to those of Hodgkin's lymphoma (2.08; 95% CI, 1.95-2.22) and acute myeloid leukemia (2.22; 95% CI, 1.99-2.47) and higher than those of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (1.62; 95% CI, 1.59-1.65) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (1.84; 95% CI, 1.79-1.9). Thus, CP-CML is not functionally cured. In contrast, the RRs of hairy cell leukemia (1.14; 95% CI, 0.98-1.31) and acute promyelocytic leukemia (1.15; 95% CI, 0.87-1.49) are consistent with these leukemias being functionally cured. Of excess CP-CML deaths, roughly two thirds were by disease. These excess deaths by disease may be due in part to prolonged dose interruptions in response to treatment-related toxicities or to reduce financial burdens (ie, absence of TKI therapy). Frequencies of such events, and thus deaths by disease, could be decreased by reducing TKI doses moderately as cancer loads fall low enough to pose negligible progression risks. We present CML-intrinsic, TKI-agnostic support for reducing TKI doses when BCR::ABL1IS is <1% and decreasing. Times from diagnosis to death for 2732 SEER patients with CML diagnosed between 1975 and 1985 (before the availability of TKIs) informed a Markov model of CP → accelerated phase → blast crisis → death that assumed CML-saturated marrows in the absence of disease-modifying therapies during this time. The probabilities of transitioning from each phase to the next were fitted to the excess absolute risk of death (compared with the general US population) as a function of years after diagnosis (Panel A). To predict TKI effects on the probability of death by disease, the chronic-to-accelerated phase transition rate was assumed to be proportional to TKI-induced reductions in CML load fraction L, due to the reduced number of leukemic cells susceptible to a transforming mutation. Reducing L by a factor of 10 (from 1 to 0.1) increased the amount of time needed to reach a 5% probability of death by disease from 1 to 3 years. Lowering L by an additional factor of 10 (to 0.01 [1%]) increased the expected number of years to 16 (ie, ~5-fold). Finally, a third reduction of L by a factor of 10 (to 0.001 [0.1%]) yielded nearly an additional 10-fold increase in the time needed to reach a 5% probability of death by disease, from 16 to 145 years (Panel B). Gains in relative delay in 5% probability of death by disease divided by relative decrease in L were maximal at L = 0.015, which can be argued to correspond to BCR::ABLIS = 0.75% = ~1%, which appears to be a point of departure in Panel B. Based on data that predates TKIs, our analysis suggests that there is a strong need to lower disease burdens (BCR::ABLIS) below 1% and essentially no need to lower them below 0.1%. Thus, while it is important to use drug dosing that maintains responses at 1% or lower, if BCR::ABLIS is <1% and decreasing, dose reductions should be considered. Such reductions may prevent deaths associated with mismanagement of drug directly and deaths by disease indirectly, as reducing doses prospectively may avoid toxicities that may otherwise result in prolonged interruptions that cause to rise enough to cause death by disease. These dose reduction benefits should be included in patient-physician discussions of pursuing lower BCR::ABLIS levels in hopes of achieving a treatment-free remission versus pursuing lower doses to mitigate toxicity risks. Envisioned here is a future in which personalized patient safety parameters are weighed against personalized predictions of BCR::ABLIS response dynamics that, through computer simulations incorporating our Markov model, project to risks of progression and death by disease. Decision support based on such models may help patients and physicians balance drug versus disease risks. Figure 1View largeDownload PPTFigure 1View largeDownload PPT Close modal

Forecasting sunflower grain yield using remote sensing data and statistical models

Forecasting crop production a few weeks before harvest is of strategical interest for the cooperatives which collect, store and market grains. The recent development of Sentinel satellites opened new avenues for yield forecasting at field and farm level, thanks to their operational spatial resolution and revisiting time. In this study, we combined remote sensing data (in-season green area index, GAI) and statistical modeling to forecast sunflower yield at field level for a range of cultivars and crop practices over different small production areas and years in southwestern France. From 2014–2016, 359 sunflower fields were monitored throughout the growing season in the ‘Haute-Garonne’ and ‘Gers’ administrative departments (SW France). From the satellite GAI estimates, two variables were calculated: GAImax (maximum GAI, between F1 stage and F1 + 10 days) and GAD (Green Area Duration). Different statistical modeling procedures were tested namely a linear regression (LR), a second degree polynomial regression (PR), a random forest regressor (RF) and a Gaussian process (GP). In each case, the models were tested using either GAD, GAImax or both variables, and each model was trained using in a first time GAD and GAImax obtained with linear interpolation, and in a second time, the same variables computed using the double sigmoid interpolation. In a perspective of yield prediction, GAD was calculated from anthesis to maturity but also from anthesis to 10/07, 20/07, 30/07 and 10/08 using remote sensing data. Sunflower grain yield at maturity was predicted with 10 models differing by their forms and the agronomic variables involved. At individual level, GY was slightly better predicted by models including GAD + GAImax or GAD, while models based only on GAImax were the less accurate. This was consistent with the major importance of post-anthesis radiation interception and senescence dynamics in the development of grain yield in sunflower. Better predictions were achieved in 2014, then in 2015 and finally 2016. However, at the grain catchment area level, PR models including GAD were the most accurate ones with absolute errors ranging from 0.53 to 4.68 q.ha−1 as a function of years. Only the predictions obtained with 2014 data and over the 3 years were sufficiently accurate to be of operational value for a cooperative manager.

IMPACT OF YEARS OF SCHOOLING AND EXPERIENCE ON THE INCOME LEVEL OF THE EMPLOYEES USING THE MINCER EARNING FUNCTION: SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MALLAWAPITIYA DIVISIONAL SECRETARIAT

This earning function is useful as an explanation of historical developments of wage differentials. This study aimed to find the relationship between the income and education and experience. In the most widely used version of Mincer’s “human capital earnings function”, log earnings are modelled as the sum of a linear function of years of education and a quadratic function of years of potential experience. According to the model, there is positive and significant relationship between the years of education and income. Hence, if the years of education increases by the year income will increase by the 0.114%. Even though, years of experience related with the income significantly and negatively. Therefore, this study suggests that if the year of education increases, that will lead to higher earning of the individual and to improve the national income of the country.

Business Angel Investment as an Informal Learning Process: Does Experience Matter?

AbstractThis paper addresses the question of how the informal learning processes of angel investors shape the way in which they assess new investment opportunities. Previous research has suggested that angels learn from their previous investment activity. However, the measurement of investment experience as a function of years of investing and number of investments made does not take into account how, and to what extent, learning occurs and how it impacts investors’ decision‐making. To address this deficiency, we suggest a dynamic model of informal learning which incorporates the informal learning typology developed by Schugurensky and extended by Bennett, as a conceptual framework to understand how learning experiences impact angel investment decisions. Based on interviews and verbal protocol analysis with 30 investors, we demonstrate how learning impacts learning processes and outcomes as angels assess an investment opportunity. The findings highlight the importance of supporting angel learning with support for angel groups and angel training programmes.

Identification of Rotundone as an Important Contributor to the Flavor of Oak-Aged Spirits.

Experiments were conducted to identify a compound responsible for a spicy, woody, incense-like odor note in oak-aged spirits. The target compound was extracted from oak wood and various oak-aged spirits and analyzed by multidimensional (heart-cut) gas chromatography–mass spectrometry–olfactometry (MD–GC–MS–O), and was unambiguously identified as the sesquiterpene ketone, 5-isopropenyl-3,8-dimethyl-3,4,5,6,7,8-hexadydro-1(2H)-azulenone (rotundone). Quantitation of the trace-level target compound was done by stable isotope dilution analysis (SIDA) in a variety of oak-aged spirits, including bourbon, rye, Tennessee whiskey, scotch, rum, and tequila. The content of rotundone was found to increase as a function of years of barrel aging for 4-, 8-, and 12-year-old bourbons obtained from the same manufacturer, thus confirming its origin to be from oak. In addition, odor-activity values (OAVs) were compared for selected potent odorants, including rotundone, in the same 4-, 8-, and 12-year-old bourbons, which indicated the relative importance of rotundone in the overall flavor of oak-aged spirits.

Fast vertex-based graph convolutional neural network and its application to brain images

This paper proposes a vertex-based graph convolutional neural network (vertex-CNN) for analyzing structured data on graphs. We represent graphs using semi-regular triangulated meshes in which each vertex has 6 connected neighbors. We generalize classical CNN defined on equi-spaced grids to that defined on semi-regular triangulated meshes by introducing main building blocks of the CNN, including convolution, down-sampling, and pooling, on a vertex domain. By exploiting the regularity of semi-regular meshes in terms of vertex connections, the proposed vertex-CNN keeps the inherent properties of classical CNN in a Euclidean space, such as shift-invariance and down-sampling at a rate of 2, 4, etc. We employ brain images from Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) (n = 6767) and extract cortical features (e.g., cortical thickness, surface area, curvature, Jacobian, sulcal depth, and volume) for the classification of healthy controls (CON), patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Based on cortical thickness, we show that the proposed vertex-CNN is near 3 times faster and performs significantly better in the classification performance of CON, MCI, and AD than an existing graph CNN defined on the graph spectral domain given in Defferrard (2016). Moreover, we examine the robustness of a multi-channel implementation of vertex-CNN on 6 cortical measures for the MCI and AD classification. Finally, we show a promising finding of the prediction accuracy from MCI to AD as a function of years before the onset of AD. Our experiments demonstrate the fast computation and promising classification performance of the vertex-CNN.

Mind the Gap: Schooling, Informality and Fiscal Externalities in Nepal

While increasing average years of school has been a development priority for decades, the associated fiscal costs and benefits have been less studied, in part because of the lack of appropriate data. Recently UNESCO organized a project measuring the extent of subsidies, by level of schooling, from all levels of government, in eight developing countries. One of these countries was Nepal, which also has a household budget survey that permits us to estimate the degree of formality, tax payment, and benefit receipt as a function of years of schooling. Using a simple Mincer-like model, we estimate the fiscal externality associated with an additional year of school. In contrast to previous literature on social returns and assumptions underlying multilateral development goals, we find that within primary school, fiscal benefits and costs, on the margin, are quite balanced, with subsidies closest to the present value of future taxes minus benefits. At higher levels of schooling, however, marginal fiscal benefits exceed costs by 5 percent of per-capita consumption.

Change of Age Distribution of Childhood and Adolescent Thyroid Cancer after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Compared with the Chernobyl Cases

Background and Methods: Comparison of age patterns of childhood and adolescent childhood thyroid cancer after the nuclear accidents in Fukushima and Chernobyl is often used as a criterion of radiationinduced thyroid cancer in Fukushima. The Fukushima Health Management Survey reports that thyroid cancers in Fukushima are unlikely to be radiation-induced, and one reason for the conclusion was no case was found in the age of 0-5 years at exposure. Published data on the health effects of the Chernobyl accident were analysed to assess whether there was one age pattern common in Chernobyl to be used as a criterion of radiation-induced thyroid cancer. Various age distributions of thyroid cancer as to the age at exposure and age at diagnosis, which depend on the country and the extent of radiation contamination, were studied as a function of years after exposure. Results and Conclusion: The highest incidence of thyroid cancer for infants aged 0-4 at exposure was observed only in Belarus. The high incidence of age group 0-4 AE became apparent only after 12 years from the accident in Ukraine and Russia. Age distribution of diagnosed or suspected thyroid cancer cases in Fukushima by age at exposure shifts to younger age side, average age from 14.9 to 8.3 years in 9 years after the accident. This trend agrees with the one in Ukraine and Russia. Because there is no common age pattern in Chernobyl, we should better not use age pattern as a simple criterion of radiation-induced thyroid cancer.

Reexamining Rates of Decline in Lung Cancer Risk after Smoking Cessation. A Meta-analysis.

Rationale: Prior studies have questioned whether prevailing eligibility criteria for lung cancer screening are sufficiently inclusive of former smokers who remain at elevated risk of disease outside current screening windows.Objectives: To characterize the percentage of the reducible relative risk (RR) remaining for lung cancer as a function of years since quitting (YSQ).Methods: MEDLINE and PubMed were searched from January 2011 to May 2018; key search terms included "smoking" and "cancer." Current smoker RRs were extracted to represent former smokers at 0 YSQ; data were transformed assuming a lognormal distribution.Results: The main review included 49 prospective cohorts across 18 studies comprising a total of 139 RRs from 20 countries and territories. At 1 year since quitting, the percentage of reducible RR remaining for lung cancer was 81.4% (64.1-98.2%). At 5 YSQ, the percentage of reducible RR remaining was 57.2% (45.7-67.3%); at 10 years, it was 36.9% (28.3-47.9%); at 15 years, it was 26.7% (20.2-34.3%); and at 20 years, it was 19.7% (13.3-26.4%). If eligibility criteria in the United States were broadened to screen former smokers at up to 20 YSQ, we estimate an additional 4.2 (3.9-4.5) million former smokers between 55 and 80 years of age would be eligible for lung cancer screening.Conclusions: At the critical screening threshold of 15 YSQ, the percentage of excess risk for lung cancer remains high and only marginally declines at time points afterward, excluding millions of former smokers who remain at elevated risk of malignancy. A risk-based algorithm for lung cancer screening that deemphasizes time after cessation as a key screening determinant would more likely capture these former smokers who remain at elevated risk of malignancy.

Tracking replicate syntheses

Materials Synthesis Many synthetic routes are published each year for materials, but for how many of these materials is replicate synthesis reported? Agrawal et al. studied this question for metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), as these materials are often resynthesized to take advantage of the sorption properties or to make direct comparisons with new materials. They randomly selected 130 MOFs from a database of more than 4700 such materials and found that reported replicate syntheses were few and that the number diminished as a power law. Separately, they identified six MOFs that were resynthesized at rates far in excess of the power law prediction (some several hundred times). They also tracked the variation in their reported adsorption capacity as a function of years since the original publication. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 10.1073/pnas.1918484117 (2019).

Gender-Affirming Surgery Linked to Positive MH Outcomes Over Time

Gender-Affirming Surgery Linked to Positive MH Outcomes Over Time

Ability Grouping in the Early Grades: Long-Term Consequences for Educational Equity in the United States

Background Ability grouping has resurged in U.S. schools despite long-standing debates over its consequences for educational equity. Proponents argue that it is the best response to variation in academic skills because it allows teachers to customize the content and pace of instruction to students’ diverse needs. Critics answer that this practice places students in divergent educational paths that reproduce educational and social inequalities. Despite the contested nature of ability grouping, research has yet to produce reliable longitudinal evidence to evaluate critics’ claims. Objective We examine the degree to which exposure to within-class grouping for reading instruction from kindergarten to third grade is predictive of students’ reading test scores and English coursework in the middle grades. Research Design We use multilevel achievement growth models predicting average reading achievement from kindergarten to eighth grade as a function of years of exposure in low, average, or high ability groups in kindergarten through third grade and control variables relevant to each grade. We evaluate the achievement differences between students who are grouped in these ability groups for one or more years and those who were never ability grouped. We use multinomial logistic regression models to estimate the degree to which number of years in each ability group in K–3 grades predicts placements in eighth-grade English classes (below grade or honors, as opposed to regular English classes). Data We use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS–K), a national panel study of the 1998 U.S. kindergarten cohort sponsored by National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. Our sample consists of 7,800 students with data for fall of kindergarten, and spring of kindergarten and first, third, fifth, and eighth grades. Findings Compared with similar students who were ungrouped in the early grades, those in high-ability reading groups have higher test scores, whereas those in low-ability groups have lower test scores in every grade from kindergarten to the eighth grade. In addition, compared with their ungrouped counterparts, students in low-ability groups in the early grades are more likely to enroll in eighth grade English classes that are below grade level, whereas those in high-ability groups in these grades are more likely to enroll in honors eighth-grade English classes. Achievement gaps between previously grouped and ungrouped students increase with every additional year of exposure to ability grouping. Conclusions Students’ ability group placements in the early grades evolve into divergent educational paths that grow further apart with multiple years of grouping. These findings provide the first longitudinal evidence linking ability grouping to the reproduction of educational inequalities.

Cultivation Ages Effect on Soil Physicochemical Properties and Heavy Metal Accumulation in Greenhouse Soils

The intensive management practices in greenhouse production may alter the soil physicochemical properties and contribute to the accumulation of heavy metals (HMs). To determine the HM concentrations in vegetable soil in relation to soil physicochemical properties and cultivation age, we conducted a soil survey for typical greenhouse soils in Shouguang, China. The results indicated that Cd is a major HM pollutant in the tested soils, as the only HM element exceeding the allowed limit for vegetable soil. The surveyed data was analyzed with regression analysis, correlation analysis and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). A positive correlation is observed between HM pollution level and cultivation age. CCA results suggest that the HM pollution level and distribution in soil are significantly affected by soil physicochemical properties, which was a function of years of cultivation as revealed by regression analysis. In summary, cultivation age is an important factor to affect soil physicochemical properties (organic matter and inorganic nutrients) as well as HM contamination.

Exchanging social support on online teacher groups: Relation to teacher self-efficacy

The present study explored the relation between exchanging social support on online teacher groups and teacher self-efficacy. An online survey was conducted inside a massive Facebook teacher group, and 584 elementary school teachers provided information regarding Facebook use, self-efficacy for creative teaching, and the extent to which they provided and received support on the online teacher group. Results showed that teacher self-efficacy varied as a function of years of teaching experience, length of group membership, and the extent to which teachers provided and received social support on the online teacher group. Furthermore, the providing of online support predicted teacher self-efficacy after taking into account the effects of teaching experience and group membership. The findings are discussed in terms of the features and importance of social support exchange on online teacher support groups.

Acute Stress and Anxiety in Medical Residents on the Emergency Department Duty

The objectives of this longitudinal study were to compare salivary cortisol release patterns in medical residents and their self-perceived anxiety levels between a regular working day and a day when on call in the emergency department (ED-duty day) and to determine any differences in cortisol release pattern as a function of years of residency or sex. The study included 35 residents (physicians-in-training) of the Granada University Hospital, Granada, Spain. Acute stress was measured on a regular working day and an ED-duty day, evaluating anxiety-state with the Spanish version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Physiological stress assessment was based on salivary cortisol levels. Cortisol release concentrations were higher on an ED-duty day than on a regular working day, with a significantly increased area under the curve (AUC) (p < 0.006). This difference slightly attenuated with longer residency experience. No gender difference in anxiety levels was observed (p < 0.001). According to these findings, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and anxiety levels of medical residents are higher on an ED-duty day than on a regular working day.

Physical Educators’ Habitual Physical Activity and Self-Efficacy for Regular Exercise

The purpose of this study was to examine physical education teachers’ habitual physical activity and self-efficacy for regular exercise. In-service physical education teachers (N = 168) voluntarily completed an online questionnaire that included items to collect demographic information (gender, race/ethnicity, years of teaching experience, and perceived weight status), self-efficacy, and habitual physical activity. The physical educators reported a high level of physical activity with an estimated total weekly MET-minutes > 3,000, and a relatively high self-efficacy for exercise. A multiple regression analysis showed years of teaching experience as a significant negative predictor (? = -.35, p < .05), but self-efficacy as a positive predictor (? = .39, p < .05) for physical educators’ daily moderate to vigorous physical activity. These findings illustrate the positive role of self-efficacy for promoting physical activity participation, but indicate diminishing physical activity as a function of years of teaching experience among physical educators.Subscribe to TPE

Association of Hospitalist Years of Experience With Mortality in the Hospitalized Medicare Population

ImportanceSubstantial numbers of hospitalists are fresh graduates of residency training programs. Current data about the effect of hospitalist years of experience on patient outcomes are lacking.ObjectiveTo describe the association of hospitalist years of experience with 30-day mortality and hospital mortality of their patients.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsWe used a 5% sample of national Medicare data of patient and hospital characteristics to build a multilevel logistic regression model to predict mortality as a function of years of experience of the hospitalists. We created 2 cohorts. The first was a cross-sectional cohort of 21 612 hospitalists working between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014, with a 5-year look-back period to assess their years of prior experience as a hospitalist, and the second was a longitudinal cohort of 3860 hospitalists in their first year of practice between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2011, who continued practicing hospital medicine for at least 4 years.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThirty-day postadmission mortality adjusted for patient and hospital characteristics in a 3-level logistic regression model. Hospital mortality was a secondary outcome.ResultsAmong 21 612 hospitalists caring for Medicare inpatients from July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014, 5445 (25%) had 1 year of experience or less, while 11 596 (54%) had 4 years of experience or more. We then identified 3860 physicians in their first year as hospitalists who continued to practice as hospitalists for 4 years. There was a significant association between hospitalist experience and mortality. Observed 30-day mortality was 10.50% for patients of first-year hospitalists vs 9.97% for patients of hospitalists in their second year. The mortality odds for patients of second-year hospitalists were 0.90 (95% CI, 0.84-0.96) compared with patients of first-year hospitalists. Observed hospital mortality was 3.33% for patients cared for by first-year hospitalists vs 2.96% for second-year hospitalists. (odds ratio, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.75-0.95). For both 30-day and hospital mortality, there was little change in odds of mortality between the second year and subsequent years of experience.Conclusions and RelevancePatients cared for by hospitalists in their first year of practice experience higher mortality. Early-career hospitalists may require additional support to ensure optimal outcomes for their patients.