Moderate Bias Research Articles

A-287 Attention Shifting Individual Differences Moderate Attention Bias Modification Training Effects Among Formerly Depressed Persons

Abstract Objective: Biased information processing towards negative content is associated with depressive disorders and may be reduced by training attention away from dysphoric stimuli (attention bias modification training, ABM). Empirical findings are mixed concerning ABM outcomes within depressed clinical and analog samples, which may reflect methodological differences (e.g., reaction time- vs. eye-tracking-based measurement), and individual attention-shifting differences. This study tests attention-shifting as a moderator of ABM outcomes among adults with depression histories via reaction-time and eye-tracking-based paradigms. Method: Adults (N=197, Mage=26.83, 46% female, n=28 depressed) completed psychiatric interviews and received dot-probe-based ABM (n=126) or sham training (SHAM-ABM) (n=71) in 3 laboratory sessions. Across training conditions, respondents viewed sad-neutral same-actor face pairs with incongruent trials (probe following the neutral face) comprising 85% of the 288 session trials in ABM vs. 50% in SHAM-ABM. Training effects reflect pre-to-post-training change in average reaction times to incongruent (vs. congruent) image-probe trials via another dot-probe task and times to first visual fixation across same-actor sad-neutral face-pairs in response to visual prompts (i.e., a shape framing the target face) collected through E-prime 3.0 and the Tobii x2-60 system. Attention-shifting indexes time-to-first-fixation across neutral-neutral face-pair trials. Results. Pre-training attention-shifting differences moderated training effects when shifting attention away (but not towards) sad faces (F=3.98, p=.047): slow attention-shifting predicted rapid sad-face disengagement for those in SHAM-ABM (ΔM=-61ms, F=7.96, p=.005), but not other conditions. No other training effects emerged for eye-tracking and reaction time indices. Conclusion: Findings support the utility of measuring attention processes via eye-tracking methods, and the need to account for individual attention-shifting differences.

Redshift and stellar mass dependence of intrinsic shapes of disc-dominated galaxies from COSMOS observations below z = 1.0

ABSTRACT The high abundance of disc galaxies without a large central bulge challenges predictions of current hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation. We aim to shed light on the formation of these objects by studying the redshift and mass dependence of their intrinsic 3D shape distributions in the COSMOS galaxy survey below redshift z = 1.0. This distribution is inferred from the observed distribution of 2D shapes, using a reconstruction method which we test using hydrodynamic simulations. Our tests reveal a moderate bias for the inferred average disc circularity and relative thickness, but a large bias on the dispersion of these quantities. Applying the reconstruction method on COSMOS data, we find variations of the average disc circularity and relative thickness with redshift of around ∼1 per cent and ∼10 per cent, respectively, which is comparable to the error estimates on these quantities. The average relative disc thickness shows a significant mass dependence which can be accounted for by the scaling of disc radius with galaxy mass. We conclude that our data provides no evidence for a strong dependence of the average circularity and absolute thickness of disc-dominated galaxies on redshift and mass that is significant with respect to the statistical uncertainties in our analysis. These findings are expected in the absence of disruptive merging or feedback events that would affect galaxy shapes. They hence support a scenario where present-day discs form early ( z > 1.0) and subsequently undergo a tranquil evolution in isolation. However, more data and a better understanding of systematics are needed to reaffirm our results.

Separated electrodes for the enhancement of high-speed data transmission in vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays.

In this work, a novel design for the electrodes in a near quasi-single-mode (QSM) vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array with Zn-diffusion apertures inside is demonstrated to produce an effective improvement in the high-speed data transmission performance. By separating the electrodes in a compact 2×2 coupled VCSEL array into two parts, one for pure dc current injection and the other for large ac signal modulation, a significant enhancement in the high-speed data transmission performance can be observed. Compared with the single electrode reference, which parallels 4 VCSEL units in the array, the demonstrated array with its separated electrode design exhibits greater dampening of electrical-optical (E-O) frequency response and a larger 3-dB E-O bandwidth (19 vs. 15 GHz) under the same amount of total bias current (20 mA). Moreover, this significant improvement in dynamic performance does not come at the cost of any degradation in the static performance in terms of the maximum near QSM optical output power (17 mW @ 20 mA) and the Gaussian-like optical far-field pattern which has a narrow divergence angle (full-width half maximum (FWHM): 10° at 20 mA). The advantages of the separated electrode design lead to a much better quality of 32 Gbit/sec eye-opening as compared to that of the reference device (jitter: 1.5 vs. 2.8 ps) and error-free 32 Gbit/sec transmissions over a 500 m multi-mode fiber has been achieved under a moderate total bias current of 20 mA.

The first study on analysis of the codon usage bias and evolutionary analysis of the glycoprotein envelope E2 gene of seven Pestiviruses.

Background and Aim:Pestivirus, a genus of the Flaviviridae family, comprises viruses that affect bovines, sheep, and pigs. Symptoms, including hemorrhagic syndromes, abortion, respiratory complications, and deadly mucosal diseases, are produced in infected animals, which cause huge economic losses to the farmers. Bovine viral diarrhea virus-1, bovine viral diarrhea virus-2, classical swine fever virus, border disease virus, Bungowannah, Hobi-like, and atypical porcine pestivirus belonging to the Pestivirus genus were selected for the study. This study aimed to estimate the codon usage bias and the rate of evolution using the glycoprotein E2 gene. Furthermore, codon usage bias analysis was performed using publicly available nucleotide sequences of the E2 gene of all seven Pestiviruses. These nucleotide sequences might elucidate the disease epidemiology and facilitate the development of designing better vaccines.Materials and Methods:Coding sequences of the E2 gene of Pestiviruses A (n = 89), B (n = 60), C (n = 75), D (n = 10), F (n = 07), H (n = 52), and K (n = 85) were included in this study. They were analyzed using different methods to estimate the codon usage bias and evolution. In addition, the maximum likelihood and Bayesian methodologies were employed to analyze a molecular dataset of seven Pestiviruses using a complete E2 gene region.Results:The combined analysis of codon usage bias and evolutionary rate analysis revealed that the Pestiviruses A, B, C, D, F, H, and K have a codon usage bias in which mutation and natural selection have played vital roles. Furthermore, while the effective number of codons values revealed a moderate bias, neutrality plots indicated the natural selection in A, B, F, and H Pestiviruses and mutational pressure in C, D, and K Pestiviruses. The correspondence analysis revealed that axis-1 significantly contributes to the synonymous codon usage pattern. In this study, the evolutionary rate of Pestiviruses B, H, and K was very high. The most recent common ancestors of all Pestivirus lineages are 1997, 1975, 1946, 1990, 2004, 1990, and 1990 for Pestiviruses A, B, C, D, F, H, and K, respectively. This study confirms that both mutational pressure and natural selection have played a significant role in codon usage bias and evolutionary studies.Conclusion:This study provides insight into the codon usage bias and evolutionary lineages of pestiviruses. It is arguably the first report of such kind. The information provided by the study can be further used to elucidate the respective host adaptation strategies of the viruses. In turn, this information helps study the epidemiology and control methods of pestiviruses.

Efficacy of Topical Wound Oxygen Therapy in Healing Chronic Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of recently published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that employed the use of topical oxygen therapy (TOT) as an adjunct therapy in the treatment of Wagner 1 and 2 diabetic foot ulcers. Approach: Following a literature search of eligible studies from 2010 onward, four RCTs were included. Studies were analyzed for patient and wound characteristics, outcomes, risk of bias, and quality of the evidence assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. A random-effects meta-analysis for complete wound healing was carried out due to statistical heterogeneity of included studies. Results: Risk of bias judgment (RoB2 analysis) resulted in one low-risk trial and three trials with some risk. One study was determined to be the origin of the statistical heterogeneity. Pooled results showed statistical significance with a risk ratio (RR) of 1.59 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07-2.37; p = 0.021). Sensitivity analysis, based on imputed values for missing outcomes, demonstrated that both the RR and 95% CIs changed little. The GRADE ratings for each domain were as follows: (a) risk of bias: moderate (3); (b) imprecision: moderate (2), high (1); (c) inconsistency: low (2), high (1); (d) indirectness: moderate (2), high (1); and (e) publication bias: moderate (1), high (2). Overall, the evidence was moderate. Innovation: Our study shows that TOT is a viable diabetic foot ulcer therapy. Conclusions: These data support the use of TOT for the treatment of chronic Wagner 1 or 2 diabetic foot ulcers in the absence of infection and ischemia.

The secretary problem with biased arrival order via a Mallows distribution

We solve the secretary problem in the case that the ranked items arrive in a statistically biased order rather than in uniformly random order. The bias is given by a Mallows distribution with parameter q∈(0,1), so that higher ranked items tend to arrive later and lower ranked items tend to arrive sooner. In the classical problem, the asymptotically optimal strategy is to reject the first Mn⁎ items, where Mn⁎∼ne, and then to select the first item ranked higher than any of the first Mn⁎ items (if such an item exists). This yields 1e as the limiting probability of success. The Mallows distribution with parameter q=1 is the uniform distribution. For the regime qn=1−cn, with c>0, the case of weak bias, the optimal strategy occurs with Mn⁎∼n(1clog⁡(1+ec−1e)), with the limiting probability of success being 1e. For the regime qn=1−cnα, with c>0 and α∈(0,1), the case of moderate bias, the optimal strategy occurs with n−Mn∼nαc, with the limiting probability of success being 1e. For fixed q∈(0,1), the case of strong bias, the optimal strategy occurs with Mn⁎=n−L where L−1L<q≤LL+1, with limiting probability of success being (1−q)qL−1L>1e.

Magnetron sputtering deposition of Mo2N catalytic films on vanadium foils for high temperature hydrogen separation

The present study evaluated the possibility that the molybdenum nitrides serve as H2 dissociation catalyst in the application of high temperature membrane. Mo2N films were prepared on vanadium (V) substrates using reactive magnetron sputtering (RMS). The structure and properties of Mo2N/V hydrogen permeable membranes were investigated. It is found that the substrate bias during RMS has a great influence on the catalytic activity of Mo2N, thereby affecting the hydrogen permeability of Mo2N/V. With a moderate substrate bias during RMS, the resulted Mo2N/V membranes exhibit a hydrogen permeability of 5.73 × 10-8 mol H2 m-1 s-1 Pa-0.5 at 650 °C, approximately ∼1.9 times that of Pd. The Mo2N/V membranes also exhibit high stability during a continuous hydrogen permeation operation for 30 h. This work demonstrates that Mo2N/V exhibits high potential to replace Pd for high temperature hydrogen permeation.

Mid-Infrared HgCdTe Heterostructure and Its Potential Application to APD Operation

Mid-wave infrared HgCdTe photodiode grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition was characterized for its use in avalanche operation. N^&#x002B;/N/p/P/P^&#x002B;/n^&#x002B; heterostructure meets the assumptions of the separated absorption and multiplication design. The p-type absorber, with an assumed Cd molar composition of 0.305, was optimized to operate up to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$4.4 ~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> at 230 K. The multiplication region is contained within the N layer with a wider energy gap (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{x}_{\textit {Cd}}=0.33$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). Satisfactory gain of &#x007E;50 was achieved for a moderate reverse bias of &#x2212;3.5 V and a temperature of 160 K.

Proportional bias of multifrequency bioimpedance analysis is larger in Hispanic females than males

Body composition algorithms are typically validated using multiethnic populations without accounting for ethnicity. This might be problematic when using multifrequency bioimpedance analysis (MF-BIA) for Hispanics. Group error (i.e., constant error [CE]), individual error (i.e., 95% limits of agreement [LOAs]), and proportional bias of MF-BIA were determined in Hispanic men and women (n=84 and 97, respectively) when using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as a reference method. Because of the lack of an ethnic-specific impedance equation for Hispanics, it was hypothesized that MF-BIA would be biased when compared with DXA. For body fat percent, MF-BIA displayed similar CE ± 95% LOA for the sample (-3.17 ± 5.45%), males (-3.2 ± 5.5%), and females (-3.2 ± 5.4%) compared with DXA. However, moderate proportional bias was present for females (r=0.48). The sample (r=0.22) and males (r=-0.04) had trivial to no-proportional bias. Regarding fat mass, MF-BIA exhibited CE ± 95% LOA values of -1.4 ± 4.2 kg for the sample, -1.9 ± 4.6 kg for males, and -0.9 ± 3.6 kg for females. There was strong proportional bias for females (0.68) and moderate bias for the sample (r=0.36). No proportional bias was observed for males (r=-0.02). For fat-free mass, males demonstrated the largest CE ± 95% LOA (1.6 ± 4.6), compared with the sample (1.2 ± 3.9 kg) and females (0.9 ± 3.4 kg) when MF-BIA was compared with DXA. No proportional biases existed for the sample (r=-0.01) or males (r=-0.10). However, females exhibited a moderate, negative bias (r=-0.38). Because of the observed moderate-to-strong proportional biases within body composition estimates, the need for ethnic-specific algorithms is warranted, particularly for the Hispanic female population.

Implicit and Explicit Stigma of Chronotype in Emerging Adults

ABSTRACT Background Individuals with poor sleep (e.g., insomnia) and mental health (e.g., depression) experience negative stigma but no studies have examined the relationship between stigma and evening chronotype. The present mixed methods study aimed to assess and describe explicit and implicit attitudes about evening and morning chronotypes in a sample of emerging adults. Participants 49 undergraduates (M age = 19.9 [SD = 1.5], 83.7% female). Methods Participants completed self-reports of demographics and chronotype. Attitudes about “night owls” and “early birds” were measured with self-report questionnaires (explicit attitudes) and an Implicit Association Task (implicit attitudes). Participants described associations with evening and morning chronotypes in free-text responses, which were qualitatively coded. Results We found evidence of implicit bias against night owls and for early birds. The positive mean implicit d score was 0.57 (SD = 0.47), indicating a moderate implicit bias for pairing “bad” with “night owl” and “good” with “early bird.” No baseline characteristics, including chronotype, were significantly associated with implicit bias. Analyses of explicit bias revealed participants perceived night owls as significantly more lazy, unhealthy, undisciplined, immature, creative, and young. Analysis of free-text responses provided further evidence of these associations. Conclusions Consistent with hypothesis, undergraduates demonstrated predominantly negative implicit and explicit stigma toward evening chronotypes compared to morning types. As stigma can lead to adverse consequences, future studies should assess the impact of negative societal and self-stigma on evening types. Consideration of societal stigma within clinical intervention contexts could have the potential to reduce shame or other emotions that interfere with sleep.

Understanding the Present-Day Spatiotemporal Variability of Precipitable Water Vapor over Ethiopia: A Comparative Study between ERA5 and GPS

Atmospheric water vapor plays a crucial role in atmospheric, climate change, meteorological, and hydrological processes. In a country like Ethiopia, with its complex topography and synoptic-scale spatiotemporal circulation patterns, the analysis of the spatiotemporal variability of precipitable water vapor (PWV) is very challenging, and is hampered by the lack of long observational datasets. In this study, we process the PWV over eight Ethiopian global positioning system (GPS) sites and one close to the Ethiopian eastern border, for the available common period 2013–2020, and compare with the PWV retrieved from the state-of-the-art ERA5 reanalysis. Both PWV datasets agree very well at our sample, with correlation coefficients between 0.96 and 0.99, GPS-PWV show a moderate wet bias compared to ERA5-PWV for the majority of the sites, and an overall root mean square error of 3.4 mm. Seasonal and diurnal cycles are also well captured by these datasets. The seasonal variations of PWV and precipitation at the sites agree very well. Maximum diurnal PWV amplitudes are observed for stations near water bodies or dense vegetation, such as Arbaminch (ARMI) and Bahir Dar (BDMT). At those stations, the PWV behavior at heavy rainfall events has been investigated and an average 25% increase (resp. decrease) from 12 h before (resp. 12 h after) the start of the rainfall event, when the PWV peaks, has been observed.

Simulation of Arctic Thin Ice Clouds with Canadian Regional Climate Model Version 6: Verification against CloudSat-CALIPSO

Polar clouds are, as a consequence of the paucity of in situ observations, poorly understood compared to their lower latitude analogs, yet highly climate-sensitive through thermal radiation emission. The prevalence of Thin Ice Clouds (TIC) dominates in cold Polar Regions and the Upper Troposphere Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) altitudes. They can be grouped into 2 broad categories. The first thin ice cloud type (TIC1) is made up of high concentrations of small, non-precipitating ice crystals. The second type (TIC2) is composed of relatively small concentrations of larger, precipitating ice crystals. In this study, we investigate the ability of a developmental version of the Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM6) in simulating cold polar-night clouds over the Arctic Ocean, a remote region that is critical to atmospheric circulation reaching out to the mid-latitudes. The results show that, relative to CloudSat-CALIPSO vertical profile products, CRCM6 simulates high-latitude and low spatial frequency variations of Ice Water Content (IWC), effective radius (re) and cooling rates reasonably well with only small to moderate wet and dry biases. The model can also simulate cloud type, location, and temporal occurrence effectively. As well, it successfully simulated higher altitude TIC1 clouds whose small size evaded CloudSat detection while being visible to CALIPSO.

Brief online implicit bias education increases bias awareness among clinical teaching faculty

ABSTRACT Problem and Purpose Healthcare provider implicit bias influences the learning environment and patient care. Bias awareness is one of the key elements to be included in implicit bias education. Research on education enhancing bias awareness is limited. Bias awareness can motivate behavior change. The objective was to evaluate whether exposure to a brief online course, Implicit Bias in the Clinical and Learning Environment, increased bias awareness. Materials and Methods The course included the history of racism in medicine, social determinants of health, implicit bias in healthcare, and strategies to reduce the impact of implicit bias in clinical care and teaching. A sample of U.S. academic family, internal, and emergency medicine providers were recruited into the study from August to December 2019. Measures of provider implicit and explicit bias, personal and practice characteristics, and pre–post-bias awareness measures were collected. Results Of 111 participants, 78 (70%) were female, 81 (73%) were White, and 63 (57%) were MDs. Providers held moderate implicit pro-White bias on the Race IAT (Cohen’s d = 0.68) and strong implicit stereotypes associating males rather than females with ‘career’ on the Gender-Career IAT (Cohen’s d = 1.15). Overall, providers held no explicit race bias (Cohen’s d = 0.05). Providers reported moderate explicit male-career (Cohen’s d = 0.68) and strong female-family stereotype (Cohen’s d = 0.83). A statistically significant increase in bias awareness was found after exposure to the course (p = 0.03). Provider implicit and explicit biases and personal and practice characteristics were not associated with an increase in bias awareness. Conclusions Implicit bias education is effective to increase providers’ bias awareness regardless of strength of their implicit and explicit biases and personal and practice characteristics. Increasing bias awareness is one step of many toward creating a positive learning environment and a system of more equitable healthcare.

Performance of the Global Forecast System's medium-range precipitation forecasts in the Niger river basin using multiple satellite-based products

Abstract. Accurate weather forecast information has the potential to improve water resources management, energy, and agriculture. This study evaluates the accuracy of medium-range (1–15 d) precipitation forecasts from the Global Forecast System (GFS) over watersheds of eight major dams (Selingue Dam, Markala Dam, Goronyo Dam, Bakolori Dam, Kainji Dam, Jebba Dam, Dadin Kowa Dam, and Lagdo Dam) in the Niger river basin using NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals (IMERG) Final Run merged satellite gauge rainfall observations. The results indicate that the accuracy of GFS forecast varies depending on climatic regime, lead time, accumulation timescale, and spatial scale. The GFS forecast has large overestimation bias in the Guinea region of the basin (wet climatic regime), moderate overestimation bias in the Savannah region (moderately wet climatic regime), but has no bias in the Sahel region (dry climate). Averaging the forecasts at coarser spatial scales leads to increased forecast accuracy. For daily rainfall forecasts, the performance of GFS is very low for almost all watersheds, except for Markala and Kainji dams, both of which have much larger watershed areas compared to the other watersheds. Averaging the forecasts at longer timescales also leads to increased forecast accuracy. The GFS forecasts, at 15 d accumulation timescale, have better performance but tend to overestimate high rain rates. Additionally, the performance assessment of two other satellite products was conducted using IMERG Final estimates as reference. The Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) merged satellite gauge product has similar rainfall characteristics to IMERG Final, indicating the robustness of IMERG Final. The IMERG Early Run satellite-only rainfall product is biased in the dry Sahel region; however, in the wet Guinea and Savannah regions, IMERG Early Run outperforms GFS in terms of bias.

Effect of immunoglobulin Y formulations on oral microorganisms in human subjects - A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials

Passive immunization using egg yolk-based antibodies has been tested against oral microorganisms. Our study assessed the effect of immunoglobulin Y (IgY) formulations on Streptococcus mutans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Candida albicans in human subjects. VS and UT independently searched articles using keyword combinations in four search engines; studies in English were selected. Either parallel-arm or split-mouth randomized controlled trials on healthy human subjects were considered. Ten studies remained in the selection; six studies compared the effect of IgY formulations on S. mutans, three on P. gingivalis, and one on C. albicans. Five studies (422 subjects) compared the effect of IgY formulations on S. mutans. When fixed-effect model (FEM) was applied, the risk ratio (RR) (confidence interval [CI]) was found to be 7.81 (6.00, 10.18). Three studies (167 subjects) compared the effect of IgY formulations on P. gingivalis. When FEM was applied, the RR (CI) was found to be 0.06 (-0.03, 0.15) in relation to reduction in probing depth. When FEM was applied, for percentage reduction in bleeding on probing (BOP), the RR (CI) was 1.99 (1.64, 2.41). Only one study (26 subjects) was available of IgY formulation and C. albicans; hence meta-analysis was not performed.The search was extended using Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, cross-references and by contacting authors and researchers in the field which further yielded five articles. . IgY formulations were effective in the reduction of S. mutans. They were not effective on P. gingivalis in relation to probing depth but were effective in relation to reduction in BOP. No harms were reported. Evidence is of low quality due to high heterogeneity. The ROB was moderate and publication bias was low.

Correlation Between Pharmacy Students’ Implicit Bias Scores, Explicit Bias Scores, and Responses to Clinical Cases

Objective. The purpose of this study was to identify the extent of implicit and explicit bias in a sample of pharmacy students and to determine whether there is an association between implicit bias, explicit bias, and responses to clinical cases.Methods. Investigators sent links to two online surveys to students at six US schools and colleges of pharmacy. In the first survey, students responded to two clinical cases. Students were presented with a picture of a White or Black patient with each clinical case. On the second survey, students indicated their level of racial implicit bias as assessed by the Harvard Implicit Association Test and their level of racial explicit bias. Pearson's correlation was used to determine the correlation between bias and responses to the clinical cases.Results. Three hundred fifty-seven first, second, and third year pharmacy students responded to both surveys (response rate 52%). The students who were presented with the picture of a Black patient rated the patient's pain and the reliability of the patient's family as higher than students presented with the picture of a White patient. Students had more negative implicit and explicit bias towards Black patients. Neither implicit nor explicit bias correlated with student responses to the clinical cases.Conclusion. Evidence of slight to moderate negative implicit bias and slight negative explicit bias towards Black patients was identified in this group of pharmacy students. Future studies that include a more representative population and heighten the stakes of the clinical scenario should be done to investigate a possible correlation between bias and clinical behaviors.

Abstract PO-078: Introduction of implicit bias training to oncology faculty as a quality improvement initiative

Abstract Background: In a review, Hall (2015) found that implicit bias was significantly related to patient-provider interactions and health outcomes. Implicit Bias Training is a tool to help individuals understand and take corrective action for unfair behaviors. Purpose: Our goal was to assess physician attitudes towards Implicit Bias Training and to measure physician participation in the training when implemented as an NCCN quality measure. Methodology: Implicit Bias Training was offered by the DEI Office at Yale-New Haven Health. This incentivized quality initiative was required for all practicing oncologists. Of 109 physicians, 45 (41.3%) completed this training. The anonymous survey, which included a link to the Harvard Implicit Project's Implicit Association Test (IAT), was emailed to the 45 oncologists prior to participation in the session. There were 21 respondents (46.7% response rate). Results: The self-reported results of the IAT are as follows: 9.5% (n=2) report a strong automatic preference for European Americans (EA) vs. African Americans (AA). 23.8% (n=5) report a moderate automatic preference for EAs vs. AAs 42.9% (n=9) reported little to no automatic preference between AAs vs. EAs. 4.8% (n=1) report a slight automatic preference for AAs vs. EAs. 19% (n=4) did not participate in the IAT. 33.3% (n=7) of physicians report being either extremely or moderately surprised by the result of their IAT, while 33.3% (n=7) report being neither surprised nor unsurprised. 14.3% (n=3) report being moderately unsurprised, and the remainder did not respond. Physicians were asked to report their enthusiasm about Implicit Bias Training on a scale of 0 to 10. The Mean was 6. While physician enthusiasm reports show polarization not apparent by the mean, 57.1% (n=12) of physicians report being hopeful or very hopeful that training would help to improve both collegial and patient-physician relationships. Conclusion: Though this was a mandatory quality initiative that was incentivized, participation was less than 50%. Explanations for the observed participation rate are multifactorial and nuanced. Of the 17 respondents who completed the IAT, nearly one-half (n=7) reported strong or moderate bias for one racial group, and 41% report being surprised by their result. Our findings suggest that unconscious bias was demonstrated in a significant percentage of participants, many of whom were surprised by their results. The results support the need for Implicit Bias Training as part of ongoing oncology quality improvement. 57% of participating physicians were optimistic that the initiative would lead to positive changes. Future Work: We postulate that bias training could increase awareness and result in improved communication with minority patients. Our next project will evaluate the effect of Implicit Bias Training on minority participation in clinical trials. Inclusivity and representation in clinical trials is paramount in efforts to democratize cancer care and our study suggests that bias training could be a valuable tool to achieve this goal. Citation Format: Renee C. Taylor, Andrea Silber. Introduction of implicit bias training to oncology faculty as a quality improvement initiative [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: 14th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2021 Oct 6-8. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-078.

The prognostic ability of cardiac output determined by inert gas rebreathing technique in pulmonary hypertension.

This investigation validated the inert gas rebreathing (IGR) technique and determined IGR prognostic ability compared to invasive cardiac output measurements in patients with pulmonary hypertension. IGR compared with thermodilution cardiac output demonstrated a moderate bias. IGR technique demonstrated long-term prognostic value comparable to invasive cardiac output in pulmonary hypertension patients

The effectiveness of nudging: A meta-analysis of choice architecture interventions across behavioral domains

Over the past decade, choice architecture interventions or so-called nudges have received widespread attention from both researchers and policy makers. Built on insights from the behavioral sciences, this class of behavioral interventions focuses on the design of choice environments that facilitate personally and socially desirable decisions without restricting people in their freedom of choice. Drawing on more than 200 studies reporting over 450 effect sizes (n = 2,149,683), we present a comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of choice architecture interventions across techniques, behavioral domains, and contextual study characteristics. Our results show that choice architecture interventions overall promote behavior change with a small to medium effect size of Cohen's d = 0.45 (95% CI [0.39, 0.52]). In addition, we find that the effectiveness of choice architecture interventions varies significantly as a function of technique and domain. Across behavioral domains, interventions that target the organization and structure of choice alternatives (decision structure) consistently outperform interventions that focus on the description of alternatives (decision information) or the reinforcement of behavioral intentions (decision assistance). Food choices are particularly responsive to choice architecture interventions, with effect sizes up to 2.5 times larger than those in other behavioral domains. Overall, choice architecture interventions affect behavior relatively independently of contextual study characteristics such as the geographical location or the target population of the intervention. Our analysis further reveals a moderate publication bias toward positive results in the literature. We end with a discussion of the implications of our findings for theory and behaviorally informed policy making.

Population Pharmacokinetic Model Development of Tacrolimus in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Background: With a notably narrow therapeutic window and wide intra- and interindividual pharmacokinetic (PK) variability, initial weight-based dosing along with routine therapeutic drug monitoring of tacrolimus are employed to optimize its clinical utilization. Both supratherapeutic and subtherapeutic tacrolimus concentrations can result in poor outcomes, thus tacrolimus PK variability is particularly important to consider in the pediatric population given the differences in absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion among children of various sizes and at different stages of development. The primary goals of the current study were to develop a population PK (PopPK) model for tacrolimus IV continuous infusion in the pediatric and young adult hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) population and implement the PopPK model in a clinically available Bayesian forecasting tool. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted of 111 pediatric and young adult patients who received IV tacrolimus by continuous infusion early in the post-transplant period during HCT from February 2016 to July 2020 at our institution. PopPK model building was performed in NONMEM. The PopPK model building process included identifying structural and random effects models that best fit the data and then identifying which patient-specific covariates (if any) further improved model fit. Results: A total of 1,648 tacrolimus plasma steady-state trough concentrations were included in the PopPK modeling process. A 2-compartment structural model best fit the data. Allometrically-scaled weight was a covariate that improved estimation of both clearance and volume of distribution. Overall, model predictions only showed moderate bias, with minor under-prediction at lower concentrations and minor over-prediction at higher predicted concentrations. The model was implemented in a Bayesian dosing tool and made available at the point-of-care. Discussion: Novel therapeutic drug monitoring strategies for tacrolimus within the pediatric and young adult HCT population are necessary to reduce toxicity and improve efficacy in clinical practice. The model developed presents clinical utility in optimizing the use of tacrolimus by enabling model-guided, individualized dosing of IV, continuous tacrolimus via a Bayesian forecasting platform.