Photonic design is a process of mathematical optimization of a desired objective (beam formation, mode conversion, etc.) subject to the constraint of Maxwell's equations. Finding the optimal design is challenging: Generically, these problems are highly nonconvex and finding global optima is NP hard.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProgram evaluation for interventions aimed at enhancing diversity can fall short when the evaluation unintentionally reifies the exclusion of multiple marginalized student experiences. The present study presents a Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit) approach to program evaluation to understand outcomes for Women of Color undergraduates involved in a national biomedical training program called the Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) initiative. Using longitudinal data, we examined the impact of participation in the BUILD Scholars programs and BUILD-developed novel biomedical curriculum on undergraduate's research self-efficacy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBull World Health Organ
October 2024
The normative role of the World Health Organization (WHO) involves creating evidence-based, principled guidelines to guide its Member States in making well-informed public health decisions. While these guidelines often need to be adapted to ensure contextual relevance, foster better implementation and adherence, adapting existing guidelines is more efficient than creating new ones. Here we describe the adaptation of the WHO coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) living guideline on pharmacological interventions for the Caribbean using the grading of recommendations, assessment, development and evaluation (GRADE)-ADOLOPMENT method.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Physical activity (PA) and nutrition in children have an impact on overall physical and mental well-being, cognitive, and social development. This study aims to report on the best current available evidence on PA, body composition proxies, and nutritional status of South African children and adolescents, based on the published findings between 2018 and 2022, which comprise the 2022 Healthy Active Kids South Africa Report Card.
Methods: A comprehensive literature search of online databases, along with hand searching and a gray literature search, was conducted based on PA, body composition proxies, and nutrition indicators defined, in part, by the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance.
Objective: The objective of this study was to determine risk factors predictive of external ventricular drain (EVD)-related hemorrhage and the association of such hemorrhages with mortality, discharge disposition, length of stay (LOS), and total cost.
Methods: After Institutional Review Board approval, data was collected retrospectively for adult patients requiring EVD placement from 2015 to 2018 at the authors' institution. Collected data included demographic patient information, peri-procedural factors, and relevant post-procedural measures.