Accuracy Screening for ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction in a Task-switching Simulation.

Introduction: Interruptions in the emergency department (ED) are associated with clinical errors, yet are important when providing care to multiple patients. Screening triage electrocardiograms (ECG) for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) represent a critical interrupting task that emergency physicians (EP) frequently encounter. To address interruptions such as ECG interpretation, many EPs engage in task switching, pausing their primary task to address an interrupting task.

Pump excited-state absorption in erbium-doped fibers.

Ground-state and excited-state absorption spectra covering the wavelength range of 450-1050 nm are presented for erbium-doped silica fibers with four different core codopants: GeO(2), GeO(2)/B(2)O(3), GeO(2) /P(2)O(5), and Al(2)O(3). It is shown that the host glass influences the excited-state absorption spectra and that P(2)O(5)- or A1(2)O(3)-codoped fibers are the preferred choice for 514.5-, 655-, or 807-nm pump wavelengths owing to reduced pump excited-state absorption.

Coiled-birefringent-fiber polarizers.

Experimental results are presented that illustrate the excellent reproducibility and thermal stability of fiber polarizers made by coiling highly birefringent bow-tie fibers. The effective extinction ratio of the polarizer when used in a fiber-optic gyroscope is shown to be 62 dB.