Single-valued Sets Research Articles

349: EVALUATING CONCORDANCE BETWEEN LAB HEMOGLOBIN/HEMATOCRIT AND POINT-OF-CARE TESTS IN PEDIATRIC ECMO

Introduction: Accuracy of point-of-care (POC) hemoglobin (Hgb) and hematocrit (Hct) testing in critically ill patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support is unknown. Advantages of POC testing include immediate results and smaller blood volume, however inaccurate results can lead to repeat testing and could contribute to increased blood transfusion. The objectives of this study were to quantify agreement between lab-based and POC tests for Hgb and Hct in critically ill pediatric patients on ECMO. Methods: A single center retrospective study from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2021. Lab and POC results were recorded if obtained within 5 minutes of each other. A single set of values was recorded per day, using the values closest to 4AM if multiple sets were obtained, and up to 10 days of an individual ECMO course were included. POC measures included in-line hematocrit monitor and bedside blood gas analyzer. Discordance was a priori defined as > 0.5g/dL (Hgb) or > 1.5% (Hct) discrepancy. Exclusion criteria were: > 18 years of age, cannulated at outside hospital, converted to other mechanical circulatory support, ECMO support during OR only, and subsequent ECMO courses during the study. Results: 136 patients were included with an average age of 2 months. 51% were female. 66% VA ECMO and 34% VV ECMO. Diagnoses included sepsis (8.1%), trauma (2.9%), cardiac s/p CPB (29%), cardiac non-CPB (15%), congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) (12%), and non-CDH respiratory (31%). The average ECMO duration included in analyses was 7 days. 279 values compared lab-based to in-line, of which 27% were discordant for Hgb and 24% for Hct. 59 values compared lab-based to blood gas analyzer, of which 32% were discordant for Hgb and 36% for Hct. All discordant results had a lower POC value. Conclusions: Lab-based hemoglobin and hematocrit values compared to both blood gas analyzer and in-line hematocrit monitor were often discordant. In all cases, POC measures were lower, raising concerns that use of POC to guide transfusions could increase transfusion burden. Further study is needed to evaluate factors predictive of discordance and to determine effects of POC hemoglobin/hematocrit measures on transfusion burden in pediatric ECMO patients.

Face to Face: Evaluating Visual Comparison.

Data are often viewed as a single set of values, but those values frequently must be compared with another set. The existing evaluations of designs that facilitate these comparisons tend to be based on intuitive reasoning, rather than quantifiable measures. We build on this work with a series of crowdsourced experiments that use low-level perceptual comparison tasks that arise frequently in comparisons within data visualizations (e.g., which value changes the most between the two sets of data?). Participants completed these tasks across a variety of layouts: overlaid, two arrangements of juxtaposed small multiples, mirror-symmetric small multiples, and animated transitions. A staircase procedure sought the difficulty level (e.g., value change delta) that led to equivalent accuracy for each layout. Confirming prior intuition, we observe high levels of performance for overlaid versus standard small multiples. However, we also find performance improvements for both mirror symmetric small multiples and animated transitions. While some results are incongruent with common wisdom in data visualization, they align with previous work in perceptual psychology, and thus have potentially strong implications for visual comparison designs.

What Does It "Mean"? A Review of Interpreting and Calculating Different Types of Means and Standard Deviations.

Typically, investigations are conducted with the goal of generating inferences about a population (humans or animal). Since it is not feasible to evaluate the entire population, the study is conducted using a randomly selected subset of that population. With the goal of using the results generated from that sample to provide inferences about the true population, it is important to consider the properties of the population distribution and how well they are represented by the sample (the subset of values). Consistent with that study objective, it is necessary to identify and use the most appropriate set of summary statistics to describe the study results. Inherent in that choice is the need to identify the specific question being asked and the assumptions associated with the data analysis. The estimate of a “mean” value is an example of a summary statistic that is sometimes reported without adequate consideration as to its implications or the underlying assumptions associated with the data being evaluated. When ignoring these critical considerations, the method of calculating the variance may be inconsistent with the type of mean being reported. Furthermore, there can be confusion about why a single set of values may be represented by summary statistics that differ across published reports. In an effort to remedy some of this confusion, this manuscript describes the basis for selecting among various ways of representing the mean of a sample, their corresponding methods of calculation, and the appropriate methods for estimating their standard deviations.

Diffusion in thin bilayer films during rapid thermal annealing

The knowledge of pre-exponential factors and activation energies for low temperatures and short annealing times in nanoscaled systems is important for the downscaling of thermal processes. Here, the diffusion coefficients in aluminum–nickel, aluminum–titanium, titanium–silicon, and aluminum–copper bilayers were determined using rapid thermal annealing. The annealing time was set to 500 s and the investigated bilayer thin film thicknesses were 2 µm. The temperatures ranged from 389 to 613 K depending on the bilayer system. For the various material combinations, the diffusion coefficients were determined by elemental depth profiling and compared to literature values. For the aluminum–copper system, a good agreement with literature and a single set of values was found, whereas for aluminum–nickel, aluminum–titanium, and titanium–silicon two or more sets of values were observed.

Drift and Scaling in Estimation of Distribution Algorithms

This paper considers a phenomenon in Estimation of Distribution Algorithms (EDA) analogous to drift in population genetic dynamics. Finite population sampling in selection results in fluctuations which get reinforced when the probability model is updated. As a consequence, any probability model which can generate only a single set of values with probability 1 can be an attractive fixed point of the algorithm. To avoid this, parameters of the algorithm must scale with the system size in strongly problem-dependent ways, or the algorithm must be modified. This phenomenon is shown to hold for general EDAs as a consequence of the lack of ergodicity and irreducibility of the Markov chain on the state of probability models. It is illustrated in the case of UMDA, in which it is shown that the global optimum is only found if the population size is sufficiently large. For the needle-in-a haystack problem, the population size must scale as the square-root of the size of the search space. For the one-max problem, the population size must scale as the square-root of the problem size.

The First Ten Principles for the Ethical Administration of Nursing Services

At the dawn of the 20th century, postmodern academics stressed the cultural differences among human beings. Philosophers predicated differing value systems based on these cultural differences, and conflicts have arisen among those who hold distinctly different religious traditions. Many people believe there can be no universal system to explain reality and thus form the basis for norms in human behavior. However, at the close of the 20th century scientists and philosophers had come full circle: physics quite literally became metaphysics, and ethical systems made sense. Rush Kidder interviewed two dozen "men and women of good conscience" from around the world and asked them if there is a single set of values that wise people use to make decisions. They answered with a resounding YES! Thus, in addition to the customary principles of beneficence, nonmalfeasance, honesty, and so forth, the author proposes a set of ethical principles based on those universal values, adapted to fit nursing administrators' dual responsibilities. Ethical decision making and behavior, the author contends, help to reconcile perspectives and interests and to keep values and mission uppermost in one's mind. In the process, ethical behavior establishes long-term relations of trust and cooperation, which in turn promote consistency and stability in an unstable world.

Legal Pluralism and the Adjudication of Internet Disputes

No single entity-academic, corporate, governmental or non-profit-administers the Internet. (American Civil Liberties Union v Reno \\[E.D. Pa. 1996] 929 F. Supp. 824, 832) The problems of regulation on the Internet are simply stated. First, it allows novel activities: e-mail, electronic discussion groups, simple transfer or viewing of text, images, sound and video. These activities may fall foul of laws of obscenity or defamation in some or all of the jurisdictions in which it is available. Second, the Internet is a distributed system that straddles geographical and jurisdictional boundaries; the regulation of such activities is likely to fall within two or more national 'legal' jurisdictions. It may therefore be difficult to choose an appropriate jurisdiction. Third, the inevitable need to choose a jurisdiction will mean that the values to be imposed upon the dispute will be the values of that jurisdiction, values that may be different from the values of those involved in the dispute. Much has been written on the first two problems and significant developments have been made in the formulation of principles to be applied to the problem of choosing a jurisdiction. In this paper, I will begin to focus on the third problem, the problem of inappropriate values being imposed upon Internet behaviour. The paper will develop the theme that the need for a single jurisdiction and, in consequence, the need for a single set of values to be imposed upon Internet activities is a fiction born out of centralist systems of western jurisprudence. The paper will review how courts have turned against pluralistic approaches in the past when dealing with clashes in cultural and religious values, particularly the clash in the English courts in the case of Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses'. Western courts have been dismissive of cultural and religious claims either treating them as 'repugnant' or contrary to public policy, or else questioning the validity of the motives of the applicants. It is evident from recent cases in the US, that judges will use similar techniques to impose their own value values upon Internet activity. The concept of legal pluralism is not recognised within westernised systems of law. The paper will then consider whether a more pluralistic strategy would provide a more satisfactory approach to dealing with such disputes on the Internet: an approach that would enable the resolution of the conflict between different cultural and religious values.

Determination of the potential parameters of a site model from calculations of second virial coefficients of linear and branched alkanes

A previously established method to assign Lennard-Jones parameters for the methyl and methylene site groups in n-alkanes is now generalized to the case of branched alkanes. The method is based on Monte Carlo calculations of the binary cluster integral of the chain molecules, and their comparison with experimental data of second virial coefficients in the gas phase. We have arrived at a single set of values for the parameters epsilon and sigma of the different sites, CH3, CH2, CH and C, that reproduces adequately the virial coefficient data of linear and branched molecules, and also of their mixtures. This way we have also clarified the validity of the different alternative sets proposed in our earlier study for n-alkanes.

Legistrothanatry: a new specialty for assisting in death.

����� The debate on physician-assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia is still active and unresolved. Clear resolution in the near future seems unlikely, because moral visions of the acceptable and unacceptable are diverse, and arguments on practical grounds are supported by little data. Suicide itself is viewed by some as morally unacceptable, but most of that opinion is religiously based. Because we are a secular, pluralistic society, suicide should be viewed, if not as morally acceptable, at least as lying within an individual's moral purview and not subject to legal prohibition [I]. If suicide should not be subject to legal prohibition on moral grounds, then it seems difficult tojustify on moral grounds, prima facie, prohibiting assisted suicide or its close cousin, voluntary euthanasia. There is afundamental difference, however, between suicide and assisted suicide: the former is ultimately chosen and executed by one person with a single set ofvalues; the latter draws in a second person with a second set ofvalues. While the second person may be concerned only with the interests of the suicide subject, there is potential that he may act in his own interest, based on his own values, in encouraging and assisting suicide [2] . Thus, there is an important empirical question that looms larger under conditions of assisting suicide than suicide: to what extent and with what frequency is the act ofsuicide motivated by the best interests ofthe subject? Self-serving motivation by the assister may be an attendant risk ofa permissive social attitude toward assisted suicide; debate on the subject has provided no clear answers because few unequivocal data are available. Objective evidence that the interests of second or third parties will frequently motivate assisters to encourage suicide would argue stronglyfor legal prohibition of assisted suicide; whereas evidence tiiat this will seldom occur

Intergranular and intragranular current distribution in sintered ybco from transport and inductive measurements

Abstract The magnetization of and voltage drop across a superconducting YBCO wire were measured when an a.c. current, whose maximum amplitude was below the critical current, was flowing through the wire. Experimental results are interpreted assuming that the wires were made of two superconducting phases; that in each phase, the current density depended on the inner magnetic field according to the Kim-Anderson relation; and that the current distribution inside the wire was such that the variation of the overall magnetic field proceeded from the outer part of the superconductor toward the center (critical-state model). It was possible to fit very well the results of both measurements with a single set of values for the model parameters.

Static and Dynamic Moments of the 7Li Nucleus

The data of Weller et al. (1985) on the tensor analysing powers for elastic and inelastic Coulomb scattering of aligned 7U ions have been reanalysed in order to obtain information on the values of the four 7U moments Q, B(E2)j, Til and T12. It is shown that a single set of values, chosen primarily to be consistent with the value of Q measured by molecular techniques and the values of B(E2)T and TI2 required to fit unpolarised 7U data, and also with the theoretical constraint Til "" -I Tl2I, gives a good fit to the aligned 7U data.

Computability in higher types, Pω and the completeness of type assignment

Pω, the powerset of the natural numbers, may be turned into an applicative structure by Myhill and Shepherdson, “·”. Then, for A, B ⊆ Pω, set A → B = { d ϵ Pω | ∀ a ϵ A, da ϵ B}. Any effectively given domain (in the sense of Scott (1982)) can be embedded into Pω by a continuous and computable retraction ( notation: X 〈 c A X , for some A X ⊆ Pω, which is also an effectively given domain). We first prove that if X 〈 c A X and Y 〈 c A Y , then also A X → A Y is an effectively given domain and (☆): Cont( X, Y) 〈 c A X → A Y , i.e., the continuous functions can be embedded into A X → A Y . Let now P ⊆ Pω be the collection of single-valued sets, i.e., P is isomorphic to the effectively given domain of the partial functions on ω, and let T be the function-type symbols, with (1) ϵ T. Then, for P 1 = P, P σ→ τ = P σ → P τ extends the classical recursive operators at higher types. By (☆), Ershov's model of the Kleene-Kreisel countable functionals can effectively be embedded, by some G σ 's, into the type structure { P σ } σϵT in Pω. Thus, the recursive functionals correspond to the r.e. sets in the due types, for example, f has type σ → τ iff G σ→ τ ( f) is an r.e. set in P σ → P τ . { P σ } σϵT clearly yields a model for formal type assingnment to terms of λ-calculus, i.e., for any assignment B of types to variables and any σ ϵ T one has B ⊢ σM⇒[ M] ξB ϵ P σ , where ξ B : Var → Pω, according to B. We prove that also the reverse implication holds for typable terms. Thus, a completeness theorem for type checking is established over a model defined by an independent recursion-theoretical motivation.

The desirability of goal conflict within the criminal justice system

A pervasive interest in the creation of a monolithic system for the administration of justice which is characterized by the lack of fragmentation and goal conflict is found throughout the criminal justice literature. This paper questions the basis and desirability of such a proposal. It is argued that criminal justice exists in a sociopolitical environment in which diverse groups exercise influence in accordance with their own interests. For this reason, it is highly unlikely that a single set of values could be identified upon which to base a monolithic system. It is further argued that goal conflict within criminal justice is desirable in that different interests can be reflected, there is a basis for system adaptation and change, and the system can better promote the smooth processing of offenders.

A critical review of alcohol education for adolescents

Alcohol education programs for adolescents operate without a clear cut philosophy or evidence of impact. Little innovative work is being undertaken to remedy the situation. Based on a review of present research and programmatic materials, the difficulties in the development of sound and appropriate objectives are identified. The view is advanced that the current emphasis on pluralistic values should be abandoned and the objectives of programs should be a single set of values about the development af alcohol use. In considering new directions for alcohol education programs, short range, intermediate, and long range program goals are identified.