Assessing serial recall as a measure of artificial grammar learning.

Introduction: Implicit statistical learning is, by definition, learning that occurs without conscious awareness. However, measures that putatively assess implicit statistical learning often require explicit reflection, for example, deciding if a sequence is 'grammatical' or 'ungrammatical'. By contrast, 'processing-based' tasks can measure learning without requiring conscious reflection, by measuring processes that are facilitated by implicit statistical learning.

Assessing processing-based measures of implicit statistical learning: Three serial reaction time experiments do not reveal artificial grammar learning.

Implicit statistical learning, whereby predictable relationships between stimuli are detected without conscious awareness, is important for language acquisition. However, while this process is putatively implicit, it is often assessed using measures that require explicit reflection and conscious decision making. Here, we conducted three experiments combining an artificial grammar learning paradigm with a serial reaction time (SRT-AGL) task, to measure statistical learning of adjacent and nonadjacent dependencies implicitly, without conscious decision making.

Methane Emission Reductions from the Alternate Wetting and Drying of Rice Fields Detected Using the Eddy Covariance Method.

Rice cultivation contributes 11% of the global 308 Tg CH anthropogenic emissions. The alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation practice can conserve water while reducing CH emissions through the deliberate, periodic introduction of aerobic soil conditions. This paper is the first to measure the impact of AWD on rice field CH emissions using the eddy covariance (EC) method.

Consolidation of vocabulary is associated with sleep in typically developing children, but not in children with dyslexia.

Sleep is known to play an active role in consolidating new vocabulary in adults; however, the mechanisms by which sleep promotes vocabulary consolidation in childhood are less well understood. Furthermore, there has been no investigation into whether previously reported differences in sleep architecture might account for variability in vocabulary consolidation in children with dyslexia. Twenty-three children with dyslexia and 29 age-matched typically developing peers were exposed to 16 novel spoken words.

Screening a Diverse Soybean Germplasm Collection for Reaction to Purple Seed Stain Caused by Cercospora kikuchii.

Purple seed stain (PSS), caused by Cercospora kikuchii, is a prevalent soybean disease that causes latent seed infection, seed decay, purple seed discoloration, and overall quality deterioration. The objective of this research was to screen soybean accessions from the United States Department of Agriculture germplasm collection for resistance to PSS. In total, 123 plant introductions (PI) from 28 different countries, representing maturity groups (MG) III, IV, and V, were screened.

Comorbidity profile and healthcare utilization in elderly patients with serious mental illnesses.

Objectives: Patients with serious mental illness are living longer. Yet, there remain few studies that focus on healthcare utilization and its relationship with comorbidities in these elderly mentally ill patients.

Design: Comparative study.

Cognitive impairment: an independent predictor of excess mortality: a cohort study.

Background: Dementia is a leading cause of death among older adults, but less is known about the mortality risk associated with milder forms of cognitive impairment.

Objective: To determine whether cognitive impairment is independently associated with increased long-term mortality in primary care patients aged 60 years and older.

Design: Linkage of electronic health records from a cohort recruited between January 1991 and May 1993 with data from the National Death Index through 31 December 2006.

Screening, referral, and participation in a weight management program implemented in five CHCs.

Community health centers have the potential to lessen obesity. We conducted a retrospective evaluation of a quality improvement program that included electronic body mass index (BMI) screening with provider referral to an in-clinic lifestyle behavior change counselor with weekly nutrition and exercise classes. There were 26,661 adult patients seen across five community health centers operating the weight management program.

Pharmacist intervention to improve medication adherence in heart failure: a randomized trial.

Background: Patients with heart failure who take several prescription medications sometimes have poor adherence to their treatment regimens. Few interventions designed to improve adherence to therapy have been rigorously tested.

Objective: To determine whether a pharmacist intervention improves medication adherence and health outcomes compared with usual care for low-income patients with heart failure.

An electronic medical record system for ambulatory care of HIV-infected patients in Kenya.

Administering and monitoring therapy is crucial to the battle against HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Electronic medical records (EMRs) can aid in documenting care, monitoring drug adherence and response to therapy, and providing data for quality improvement and research. Faculty at Moi University in Kenya and Indiana and University in the USA opened adult and pediatric HIV clinics in a national referral hospital, a district hospital, and six rural health centers in western Kenya using a newly developed EMR to support comprehensive outpatient HIV/AIDS care.

Behavioral correlates of olfactory and trigeminal gaseous stimulation in chickens, Gallus domesticus.

Despite growing evidence of avian olfactory abilities, there are few reports of behavioral correlates of chemosensory stimulation in birds. The present study aimed to determine how the behavioral responses of hens to selected gases might be affected by input from different chemosensory systems. We also hoped to relate electrophysiological thresholds previously measured in our laboratory to behavioral evidence of perception.

Can computer-generated evidence-based care suggestions enhance evidence-based management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease? A randomized, controlled trial.

Objective: Translation of evidence-based guidelines into clinical practice has been inconsistent. We performed a randomized, controlled trial of guideline-based care suggestions delivered to physicians when writing orders on computer workstations.

Study Setting: Inner-city academic general internal medicine practice.

Methodology of an ongoing, randomized, controlled trial to improve drug use for elderly patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Medications can improve the functioning and health-related quality of life of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and reduce morbidity, mortality, and costs of treatment. However, patients may not adhere to therapy. Patients with complex medication regimens and low health literacy are at risk for nonadherence.

Failure of computerized treatment suggestions to improve health outcomes of outpatients with uncomplicated hypertension: results of a randomized controlled trial.

Study Objective: To assess the effects of evidence-based treatment suggestions for hypertension made to physicians and pharmacists using a comprehensive electronic medical record system.

Design: Randomized controlled trial with a 2 x 2 factorial design of physician and pharmacist interventions, which resulted in four groups of patients: physician intervention only, pharmacist intervention only, intervention by physician and pharmacist, and intervention by neither physician nor pharmacist (control).

Setting: Academic primary care internal medicine practice.

A controlled trial of including symptom data in computer-based care suggestions for managing patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Heart failure is common and associated with considerable morbidity and cost, yet physician adherence to treatment guidelines is suboptimal. We conducted a randomized controlled study to determine if adding symptom information to evidence-based, computer-generated care suggestions would affect treatment decisions among primary care physicians caring for outpatients with heart failure at two Veterans Affairs medical centers.

Methods: Physicians were randomly assigned to receive either care suggestions generated with electronic medical record data and symptom data obtained from questionnaires mailed to patients within 2 weeks of scheduled outpatient visits (intervention group) or suggestions generated with electronic medical record data alone (control group).

Risk factors for nonelective hospitalization in frail and older adult, inner-city outpatients.

Purpose: In our study, we sought to improve the accuracy of predicting the risk of hospitalization and to identify older, inner-city patients who could be targeted for preventive interventions.

Design And Methods: Participants (56% were African American) in a randomized trial were from a primary care practice and included 1,041 patients living in the inner city who were either > or = 75 years of age or were > or = 50 years of age with severe disease. As a secondary analysis, we assessed patient characteristics at baseline involving five domains of health, including utilization and satisfaction.

Effects of computerized guidelines for managing heart disease in primary care.

Background: Electronic information systems have been proposed as one means to reduce medical errors of commission (doing the wrong thing) and omission (not providing indicated care).

Objective: To assess the effects of computer-based cardiac care suggestions.

Design: A randomized, controlled trial targeting primary care physicians and pharmacists.

Installing and implementing a computer-based patient record system in sub-Saharan Africa: the Mosoriot Medical Record System.

The authors implemented an electronic medical record system in a rural Kenyan health center. Visit data are recorded on a paper encounter form, eliminating duplicate documentation in multiple clinic logbooks. Data are entered into an MS-Access database supported by redundant power systems.

Structure, functions, and activities of a research support informatics section.

The authors describe a research group that supports the needs of investigators seeking data from an electronic medical record system. Since its creation in 1972, the Regenstrief Medical Records System has captured and stored more than 350 million discrete coded observations on two million patients. This repository has become a central data source for prospective and retrospective research.

Crossing the "digital divide:" implementing an electronic medical record system in a rural Kenyan health center to support clinical care and research.

To improve care, one must measure it. In the US, electronic medical record systems have been installed in many institutions to support health care management, quality improvement, and research. Developing countries lack such systems and thus have difficulties managing scarce resources and investigating means of improving health care delivery and outcomes.

Effectiveness of pharmacist care for patients with reactive airways disease: a randomized controlled trial.

Context: It is not known whether patient outcomes are enhanced by effective pharmacist-patient interactions.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a pharmaceutical care program for patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Randomized controlled trial conducted at 36 community drugstores in Indianapolis, Ind.