Search

The field of sociology is uniquely poised as a discipline that can be combined with specialized training in other fields. Many work sectors are undergoing systemic or cultural changes based on demographic, political, and economic trends. At the same time, many graduates of sociology programs do not find jobs as “sociologists” or academics and must seek additional skill sets to enter the job market. In this paper, we introduce the concept of Integrated Sociology Programs (ISPs), outlining five pillars of such programs: (1) a focus on sociology as a skill set, (2) integration with a non-academic industry, (3) applied experiences, (4) integrated Industry Advisory Boards, and (5) inclusion of career-focused outcomes. We present a case study ISP that integrates Medical Sociology with the emerging field of Population Health Management. While there are many innovative combinations of subfields of sociology and non-academic fields, our case study offers an example that informed the conception of the five pillars of ISPs.

Background Despite its importance, teaching at the bedside is declining over time. This purported decline has not been quantified. Quantifying bedside teaching is challenging, and we found only one study quantifying bedside teaching on a hospitalist service. Objective We conducted a study to understand the prevalence of bedside teaching in our medical intensive care unit. Methods We conducted a single-center single-unit study in the medical intensive care unit of an academic tertiary care institution. We used a survey tool to assess perceived time spent on bedside teaching, quality of teaching, and total rounding time. In parallel, independent observers objectively measured time spent on rounds and on bedside teaching. Residents were asked to complete the survey once a week. Independent observers collected data daily and weekly averages were obtained. Results 43 responses were collected over a 4-month period. Most respondents (73%) reported a total rounding time of either 90–120 min or greater than 120 min. Median reported bedside teaching time was 16–20 min with 16 respondents (37%) reporting less than 15 min and 27 respondents (63%) reporting 16 min or more. The amount of time spent on bedside teaching was reported as adequate or more than adequate by 77% (33) of respondents with 58% (25) reporting that bedside teaching was very or extremely effective in helping them learn. Mean census reported by the independent observers was 12.75 patients per team. Bedside teaching represented an average of 12% of total rounding time, 16.85 min per day. While total rounding time increased with increasing census, there was no decline in bedside teaching time. Conclusion It is reported that bedside teaching has decreased over time. Our study has demonstrated that bedside teaching occurs in our Medical ICU, and though it represents a minority of the time spent on rounds, residents still reported teaching in the ICU to be adequate.

Lung cancer screening is underused nationwide, particularly in rural areas where incidence and mortality rates are high, suggesting the need for innovative methods to reach underserved populations. Partners from national, state, and community positions can combine the service and science needed to save lives with mobile lung cancer screening.

The effects of inclusions within a Nitinol alloy on the fatigue performance has been largely accepted by the Nitinol community. With significant reduction in size and density of non-metallic inclusions, the statistical probability of an inclusion being at the region of high stress and facilitating fatigue failure is much reduced. A new generation of commercial scale, ultra-low inclusion Nitinol material has been developed. The purpose of this study was to characterize this new alloy and demonstrate the improved fatigue performance. It was shown that a significant improvement fatigue performance can be realized with the new commercial scale ultra-low inclusion NiTi alloy. The results further suggest that inclusion size and density play a critical role in fatigue performance.

Objectives To assess the incidence of barotrauma and its impact on mortality in COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU. Design Single-center retrospective study of consecutive COVID-19 patients admitted to a rural tertiary-care ICU. The primary outcomes were incidence of barotrauma in COVID-19 patients and all-cause 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes were the length of stay (LOS) in the hospital and ICU. Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used in the survival data analysis. Setting Medical ICU, West Virginia University Hospital (WVUH), USA. Patients All adult patients were admitted to the ICU for acute hypoxic respiratory failure due to coronavirus disease 2019 between September 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. Historical controls were ARDS patients admitted pre-COVID. Intervention Not applicable. Measurements and main results One hundred and sixty-five consecutive patients with COVID-19 were admitted to the ICU during the defined period, compared to 39 historical non-COVID controls. The overall incidence of barotrauma in COVID-19 patients was 37/165 (22.4%) compared to 4/39 (10.3%) in the control group. Patients with COVID-19 and barotrauma had a significantly worse survival (HR = 1.56, p = 0.047) compared to controls. In those requiring invasive mechanical ventilation, the COVID group also had significantly higher rates of barotrauma (OR 3.1, p = 0.03) and worse all-cause mortality (OR 2.21, p = 0.018). COVID-19 with barotrauma had significantly higher LOS in the ICU and the hospital. Conclusions Our data on critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU shows a high incidence of barotrauma and mortality compared to the controls. Additionally, we report a high incidence of barotrauma even in non-ventilated ICU patients.

Sport officials are crucial members of sport. Researchers have studied their roles numerous times, with results often informing sport procedures (e.g., athlete order in artistic sports). As the research on sport officiating spans five decades and several topics of interest, it is important that researchers periodically synthesize the literature. Purpose: The purpose of this study, therefore, was to conduct an analysis of literature on sport officiating research. Method: Guided by previous researchers, we executed four methodological steps including the article search, article retrieval, sample validity, and article coding. These steps yielded 386 articles for analysis, which ranged from 1971 to 2018. We coded the articles based on four main categories: article information, participant demographics, contextual information, and methodology. Results: Key findings from this analysis include a recent influx in sport officiating research, a vast number of publication journals, few studies dedicated to female-only participants, many studies missing relevant demographic information, an over-representation of interactors, and a reliance on quantitative studies. Conclusions: Though many researchers have conducted studies on sport officiating, several articles had poor methodological rigor (e.g., not reporting key demographic information). In the discussion and conclusion sections, we highlight strengths and weaknesses within the field and provide recommendations to guide future researchers and practitioners, to ensure robust research designs and guide applied practice.

Identification of terminally ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) would facilitate decision making and timely palliative care.To develop and validate a patient-specific integrated prognostic model to predict 6-month mortality in medical ICU patients.A longitudinal prospective cohort study of temporally split samples of 1,049 consecutive medical ICU patients in a tertiary care hospital was performed. For each patient, we collected demographic data, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III score, Charlson comorbidity index, intensivist response to a surprise question (SQ; "Would I be surprised if this patient died in the next 6 months?") on admission, and vital status at 6 months.Between November 2013 and May 2015, derivation and validation cohorts of 500 and 549 consecutive patients were studied to develop a multivariate logistic regression model. In the multivariate logistic regression model, Charlson comorbidity index (P = 0.033), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III score (P 0.001), and SQ response (P 0.001) were predictors of vital status at 6 months. The odds of dying within 6 months were significantly higher when the SQ was answered "no" than when it was answered "yes" (odds ratio, 7.29; P 0.001). The c-statistic for the derivation and validation cohorts were 0.832 (95% confidence interval, 0.795-0.870) and 0.84 (95% confidence interval, 0.806-0.875), respectively.Our integrated prognostic model, which includes the SQ, has strong discrimination and calibration to predict 6-month mortality in medical ICU patients. This model can aid clinicians in identifying ICU patients who may benefit from the integration of palliative care into their treatment.

We describe a new algorithm, the reflection method, to generate off-lattice random walks of specified, though arbitrarily large, thickness in $\mathbb{R}^3$ and prove that our method is ergodic on the space of thick walks. The data resulting from our implementation of this method is consistent with the scaling of the squared radius of gyration of random walks, with no thickness constraint. Based on this, we use the data to describe the complex relationship between the presence and nature of knotting and size, thickness and shape of the random walk. We extend the current understanding of excluded volume by expanding the range of analysis of how the squared radius of gyration scales with length and thickness. We also examine the profound effect of thickness on knotting in open chains. We will quantify how thickness effects the size of thick open chains, calculating the growth exponent for squared radius of gyration as a function of thickness. We will also show that for radius $r \leq 0.4$, increasing thickness by 0.1 decreases the probability of knot formation by 50% or more.