Evaluating layperson interpretation of actuarial sexual violence risk data: A multi-method comparison of risk communication with attention to gender bias.

Forensic clinicians are often called upon to help courts determine the likelihood that someone will continue to commit sexually violent acts in the future. The utility of these evaluations depends largely on how effectively the results are communicated to and understood by the trier of fact. Actuarial results, such as those commonly reported in sexual offense risk assessments, appear particularly challenging for laypersons to understand.

Quantifying ventilation by X-ray velocimetry in healthy adults.

Rationale: X-ray velocimetry (XV) has been utilized in preclinical models to assess lung motion and regional ventilation, though no studies have compared XV-derived physiologic parameters to measures derived through conventional means.

Objectives: To assess agreement between XV-analysis of fluoroscopic lung images and pitot tube flowmeter measures of ventilation.

Methods: XV- and pitot tube-derived ventilatory parameters were compared during tidal breathing and with bilevel-assisted breathing.

Functional imaging for assessing regional lung ventilation in preclinical and clinical research.

Dynamic heterogeneity in lung ventilation is an important measure of pulmonary function and may be characteristic of early pulmonary disease. While standard indices like spirometry, body plethysmography, and blood gases have been utilized to assess lung function, they do not provide adequate information on regional ventilatory distribution nor function assessments of ventilation during the respiratory cycle. Emerging technologies such as xenon CT, volumetric CT, functional MRI and X-ray velocimetry can assess regional ventilation using non-invasive radiographic methods that may complement current methods of assessing lung function.

Tried and True? A Psychometric Evaluation of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles-Short Form.

The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles-Short Form (PICTS-SF) is an abbreviated 35-item version of the PICTS, a measure of cognitions that support a criminal lifestyle. Despite use in research and clinical work, the PICTS-SF's psychometric properties have not been tested. Using two archival datasets, we analyzed the PICTS-SF's reliability and structural validity in multiply imputed data from adult males and females on probation in a residential treatment facility ( = 514).

Association between terminal pleural elastance and radiographic lung re-expansion after therapeutic thoracentesis in patients with symptomatic pleural effusion: a post-hoc analysis of a randomised trial.

Objectives: Recurrent symptomatic effusions can be durably managed with pleurodesis or placement of indwelling pleural catheters. Recent pleurodesis trials have largely relied on lung re-expansion on post-thoracentesis radiograph as an inclusion criterion rather than pleural elastance as determined by manometry, which is an important predictor of successful pleurodesis. We investigated the association between lung re-expansion on post-pleural drainage chest imaging and pleural physiology, with particular attention to pleural elastance over the final 200 mL aspirated.

Changing criminal thinking: An examination of heterogeneity in treatment effects in a sample of justice-involved persons with dual diagnoses.

Recent studies have indicated variable reductions in criminal thinking for justice-involved persons with mental illness exposed to cognitive-behavioral treatments. To date, however, no studies have identified risk factors for limited response or modeled observed disparities in responsivity to interventions aimed at reducing criminal thinking. Using an archival data set of 162 probationers with a dual diagnosis who were exposed to a latent profile analysis modeled unobserved heterogeneity in treatment response per observed changes in criminal thinking.

High Accuracy of Digital Tomosynthesis-Guided Bronchoscopic Biopsy Confirmed by Intraprocedural Computed Tomography.

Background: Digital fluoroscopic tomosynthesis-guided electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy (F-ENB) is a novel adjunct to ENB associated with higher diagnostic yield. The likelihood of F-ENB allowing accurate placement of a biopsy needle within a target remains unclear.

Objective: This study intends to determine the accuracy of F-ENB as confirmed by cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan.

STEERABLE NEEDLE TRAJECTORY FOLLOWING IN THE LUNG: TORSIONAL DEADBAND COMPENSATION AND FULL POSE ESTIMATION WITH 5DOF FEEDBACK FOR NEEDLES PASSING THROUGH FLEXIBLE ENDOSCOPES.

Bronchoscopic diagnosis and intervention in the lung is a new frontier for steerable needles, where they have the potential to enable minimally invasive, accurate access to small nodules that cannot be reliably accessed today. However, the curved, flexible bronchoscope requires a much longer needle than prior work has considered, with complex interactions between the needle and bronchoscope channel, introducing new challenges in steerable needle control. In particular, friction between the working channel and needle causes torsional windup along the bronchoscope, the effects of which cannot be directly measured at the tip of thin needles embedded with 5 degree-of-freedom magnetic tracking coils.

Initiation of a multidisciplinary telemental health clinic for rural justice-involved populations: Rationale, recommendations, and lessons learned.

Videoconferencing technology (VCT) is rapidly increasing in the mental healthcare industry and is becoming an attractive option to reach justice-involved populations. This paper first highlights the need for alternative service delivery solutions and reviews current literature on the use of VCT for correctional clients. We then outline the specific timeline, procedures, and barriers associated with the initiation of a virtual, multidisciplinary telemental health clinic for jailed and community-released offenders in a rural Mississippi county aimed at reducing criminogenic and psychiatric risks.

Stepping Up, Stepping Out: A program description and preliminary findings.

Research on the effects of restricted housing on inmate well-being indicates mild to moderate psychological effects and barriers opportunities for treatment and positive growth. Yet, there are few interventions tailored both to the needs of this high-risk population and to the institutional constraints of their environment. Given the financial and safety burdens associated with housing someone in segregation compared to the general population, correctional psychology should focus on developing programs that work.

Decoupling Steerability from Diameter: Helical Dovetail Laser Patterning for Steerable Needles.

The maximum curvature of a steerable needle in soft tissue is highly sensitive to needle shaft stiffness, which has motivated use of small diameter needles in the past. However, desired needle payloads constrain minimum shaft diameters, and shearing along the needle shaft can occur at small diameters and high curvatures. We provide a new way to adjust needle shaft stiffness (thereby enhancing maximum curvature, i.

Bag-Mask Ventilation during Tracheal Intubation of Critically Ill Adults.

Background: Hypoxemia is the most common complication during tracheal intubation of critically ill adults and may increase the risk of cardiac arrest and death. Whether positive-pressure ventilation with a bag-mask device (bag-mask ventilation) during tracheal intubation of critically ill adults prevents hypoxemia without increasing the risk of aspiration remains controversial.

Methods: In a multicenter, randomized trial conducted in seven intensive care units in the United States, we randomly assigned adults undergoing tracheal intubation to receive either ventilation with a bag-mask device or no ventilation between induction and laryngoscopy.

Manual ventilation to prevent hypoxaemia during endotracheal intubation of critically ill adults: protocol and statistical analysis plan for a multicentre randomised trial.

Introduction: Hypoxaemia is the most common complication during endotracheal intubation of critically ill adults, and it increases the risk of cardiac arrest and death. Manual ventilation between induction and intubation has been hypothesised to decrease the incidence of hypoxaemia, but efficacy and safety data are lacking.

Methods And Analysis: The Preventing Hypoxemia with Manual Ventilation during Endotracheal Intubation trial is a prospective, multicentre, non-blinded randomised clinical trial being conducted in seven intensive care units in the USA.

Developing a statewide childhood body mass index surveillance program.

Background: Several states have implemented childhood obesity surveillance programs supported by legislation. Representatives from Idaho wished to develop a model for childhood obesity surveillance without the support of state legislation, and subsequently report predictors of overweight and obesity in the state.

Methods: A coalition comprised of the Idaho State Department of Education and 4 universities identified a randomized cluster sample of schools.

The distribution and extent of heavy metal accumulation in song sparrows along Arizona's upper Santa Cruz River.

Heavy metals are persistent environmental contaminants, and transport of metals into the environment poses a threat to ecosystems, as plants and wildlife are susceptible to long-term exposure, bioaccumulation, and potential toxicity. We investigated the distribution and cascading extent of heavy metal accumulation in southwestern song sparrows (Melospiza melodia fallax), a resident riparian bird species that occurs along the US/Mexico border in Arizona's upper Santa Cruz River watershed. This study had three goals: (1) quantify the degree of heavy metal accumulation in sparrows and determine the distributional patterns among study sites, (2) compare concentrations of metals found in this study to those found in studies performed prior to a 2009 international wastewater facility upgrade, and (3) assess the condition of song sparrows among sites with differing potential levels of exposure.

Isolation, structure and biological activities of platencin A(2)-A(4) from Streptomyces platensis.

Natural products serve as a great reservoir for chemical diversity and are the greatest source for antibacterial agents. Recent discoveries of platensimycin and platencin as inhibitors of bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis enzymes supplied new chemical scaffolds for potential antibacterial agents to overcome resistant pathogens. Discovery of natural congeners augment chemical modification in understanding of structure-activity relationship (SAR).

Pilot-scale process development and scale up for antifungal production.

A pilot-scale fermentation was developed for an antifungal compound produced by a filamentous fungus. Replacement of galactose with lactose (20-fold cost savings) and a threefold phosphate reduction (15 to 5 g/L) improved productivity 2.5-fold.

Feasibility of an in situ measurement device for bubble size and distribution.

The feasibility of in situ measurement device for bubble size and distribution was explored. A novel in situ probe measurement system, the EnviroCam, was developed. Where possible, this probe incorporated strengths, and minimized weaknesses of historical and currently available real-time measurement methods for bubbles.

Sustainable reduction of bioreactor contamination in an industrial fermentation pilot plant.

Facility experience primarily in drug-oriented fermentation equipment (producing small molecules such as secondary metabolites, bioconversions, and enzymes) and, to a lesser extent, in biologics-oriented fermentation equipment (producing large molecules such as recombinant proteins and microbial vaccines) in an industrial fermentation pilot plant over the past 15 years is described. Potential approaches for equipment design and maintenance, operational procedures, validation/verification testing, medium selection, culture purity/sterility analysis, and contamination investigation are presented, and those approaches implemented are identified. Failure data collected for pilot plant operation for nearly 15 years are presented and best practices for documentation and tracking are outlined.