			Home About us Contact

Other Observers (other + observer)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Differentiation of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms from other pancreatic cystic masses: Comparison of multirow-detector CT and MR imaging using ROC analysis

JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING, Issue 1 2007
Su Jin Song MD
Abstract Purpose To compare the diagnostic performance of multirow-detector computed tomography (MDCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the differentiation of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) from other pancreatic cystic masses. Materials and Methods A total of 53 patients with pathologically proven pancreatic cystic lesions who had undergone MDCT and MRI were included in this study. Two radiologists analyzed the morphologic features of the lesions and graded the lesion conspicuity on each examination. The readers assigned their confidence level regarding the differentiation of IPMN from other lesions and predicting ductal communication of the lesion. The radiologists' diagnostic confidence was compared using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results The Az values for each observer for predicting ductal communication of the lesion and differentiating IPMN from other lesions were as follows: For MRI they were respectively 0.949 and 0.995 for reader 1, and 0.916 and 0.932 for reader 2. For MDCT they were respectively 0.790 and 0.875 for reader 1, and 0.774 and 0.850 for reader 2. In addition, for differentiating IPMNs from other lesions, MRI was significantly more accurate than MDCT (P < 0.05) for one observer, but for the other observer there was no significant difference between the two examinations (P = 0.059). For predicting ductal communication of the cystic lesions for both observers, MRI was significantly more accurate than MDCT (P < 0.05). The weighted , values indicate good agreement (, = 0.61) between observers for MDCT, and excellent agreement (, = 0.82) for MRI. Conclusion Pancreatic MRI shows better diagnostic performance than MDCT for differentiating IPMNs from other cystic lesions of the pancreas. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2007;26:86,93. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

AGENCY COSTS OF THIRD-PARTY FINANCING AND THE EFFECTS OF REGULATORY CHANGE ON UTILITY COSTS AND FACTOR CHOICES

ANNALS OF PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2007
Francis J. CRONIN
ABSTRACT,:,Beginning in 1999, the Canadian Province of Ontario undertook restructuring and tried to implement performance based regulation for local electricity distribution utilities. Regulatory parameters were based on productivity research covering 1988,1997 that found little productivity difference by size, but wide variations in costs, factor mix, financing, and returns to capital among utilities. While some utilities questioned their ability to improve efficiency, other observers maintained many utilities were over-capitalized, especially from third-party financing paid by customers for connection/development charges; these observers noted that rates, profits, and valuations would be inflated. Despite its pervasive use, we can find no literature dealing with the implications of third-party funding. We assess the effects and adjustment dynamics of regulatory and financing changes on costs, factor mix, and performance. [source]

From Shallow to Deep: Toward a Thorough Cultural Analysis of School Achievement Patterns

ANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2008
Mica Pollock
What do anthropologists of education do? Many observers think that we provide quick glosses on what various "cultures",typically racialized, ethnic, and national-origin groups,"do" in schools. Hervé Varenne and I each name an alternative form of analysis that we think should be central to the subfield. Varenne argues that anthropologists of education should expand analysis of teaching and learning beyond (American) schools and classrooms and examine everyday life in various places as containing countless moments of teaching and learning that are worth understanding. Varenne reminds us that teaching and learning occur nonstop in everyday life, not just in classrooms. "Education" is about far more than what we typically call "achievement," which usually translates into grades, graduation, or test scores.1 This long-standing way of thinking anthropologically about "education" is essential to exploding simplistic notions of what, when, how, and from whom people "learn." In my essay, I contend that U.S. anthropologists of education also need to analyze thoroughly how U.S. school achievement patterns take shape in real time. I argue that it is our particular responsibility to counteract "shallow" analyses of "culture" in schools, which purport to explain "achievement gaps" by making quick claims about how parents and children from various racial, ethnic, national-origin, or class groups react to schools. Such shallow analyses dangerously oversimplify the social processes, interactions, and practices that create disparate outcomes for children. Shallow cultural analyses are common in both journalism and popular discourse,and in schools of education as well (see Ladson-Billings 2006 for a related critique). They are explanatory claims that name a group as having a "cultural" set of behaviors and then name that "cultural" behavior as the cause of the group's school achievement outcomes. (E.g., some argue that "group x"[e.g., "Asians"] employs a "group x behavior"[e.g., "push their children"] that causes "high" or "low" achievement.) Such claims allow people to explain achievement outcomes too simply as the production of parents and children without ever actually examining the real-life experiences of specific parents and children in specific opportunity contexts. Going deeper requires pressing for actual, accurate information about the everyday interactions among real-life parents, children, and other actors that add up to school achievement patterns (graduation rates, dropout rates, skill-test scores, suspension lists, and the like). When anthropologists of education say that we study culture, we mean that we are studying the organization of people's everyday interactions in concrete contexts. Shallow analyses of "culture" that purport to describe only how a "group's" parents train its children blame a reduced set of actors, behaviors, and processes for educational outcomes, and they include a reduced set of actors and actions in a reduced set of projects for educational improvement. Anthropologists of education should make clear that we examine children's experiences both in context and in appropriate detail; we study interactional processes that other observers might describe too quickly or with insufficient information.2 I think that if anthropologists of education explicitly, publicly, and colloquially name what counts as deep, thorough cultural analysis of American school achievement patterns, we will make ourselves far better prepared to respond to harmfully shallow claims made by journalists, colleagues, and educators alike. We will also support other stakeholders in children's lives (including teachers and teacher educators) to think more thoroughly about which actions, by whom, and in what situations produce children's achievement. This short essay suggests four key ways that anthropologists of education can, do, and should get "deep" in analyzing American achievement patterns. I invite colleagues to edit and extend this list in future editions of AEQ. [source]

Evaluation of soft tissue around single-tooth implant crowns: the pink esthetic score

CLINICAL ORAL IMPLANTS RESEARCH, Issue 6 2005
Rudolf Fürhauser
Abstract Aim: In this study, the reproducibility of a newly developed pink esthetic score (PES) for evaluating soft tissue around single-tooth implant crowns was assessed. The effect of observer specialization was another point of interest. Material and methods: Twenty observers (five prosthodontists, five oral surgeons, five orthodontists and five dental students) were given photographs of 30 single-tooth implant crowns. Seven variables were evaluated vs. a natural reference tooth: mesial papilla, distal papilla, soft-tissue level, soft-tissue contour, alveolar process deficiency, soft-tissue color and texture. Using a 0-1-2 scoring system, 0 being the lowest, 2 being the highest value, the maximum achievable PES was 14. Each observer was requested to make two assessments at an interval of 4 weeks. At the second assessment, the photographs were scored in the reverse order. Results: The mean PES of evaluations at the first assessment (n=600) was 9.46 (±3.81 SD), and 9.24 (±3.8 SD) at the second one. The difference between these two means was not significant statistically (P=0.6379). Implant-related mean PES for single-tooth implants varied from 2.28 to 13.8, with standard deviations between 0.46 and 3.51. Very poor and very esthetic restorations showed the smallest standard deviations. The mean total PES was 10.6 for the prosthodontists, 9.2 for the oral surgeons, 9.9 for the dental students and 7.6 for the orthodontists. Conclusions: The PES reproducibly evaluates peri-implant soft tissue around single-tooth implants. Thus, an objective outcome of different surgical or prosthodontic protocols can be assessed. Orthodontists were clearly more critical than the other observers. Résumé Dans cette étude la reproduction d'un nouveau Score d'Esthétique Rose (PES) pour l'évaluation des tissus mous autour des couronnes d'implants uniques a étéévaluée. L'effet de la spécialisation de l'observateur était un autre point d'intérêt. Vingt observateurs (cinq spécialistes en prothèse, cinq chirurgiens, cinq orthodontistes et cinq étudiants en médecine dentaire) ont reçu des photographies de 30 couronnes sur implant unique. Sept variables ont étéévaluées vs une dent de référence naturelle : papille mésiale, papille distale, niveau du tissu mou, couleur du tissu mou, perte du processus alvéolaire, couleur du tissu mou et texture. En utilisant un système 0,1,2, zéro étant le plus bas et deux étant la plus haute valeur, le score maximum PES était donc de 14. Chaque observateur a reçu comme instruction de réaliser deux évaluations à un intervalle de quatre semaines. A la seconde évaluation les photographies ont étéévaluées dans un ordre inverse. Les PES moyens des évaluations de la première fois (n=600) étaient de 9,46±3,81 et 9,24±3,80 la seconde fois. La différence entre ces deux moyennes n'était pas significative (P=0,6379). Le PS moyen en relation pour les implants sur dent unique variait de 2,28 à 13,8 avec des déviations standards de 0,46 à 3,51. Les restaurations de moindre qualité et les excellentes affichaient les plus petites déviations standards. Le PES total moyen était de 10,6 pour les spécialistes en prothèse, 9,2 pour les chirurgiens, 9,9 pour les étudiants et 7,6 pour les orthodontistes. Le PES évalue donc les tissus mous paraïmplantaires autour des implants uniques. Un aboutissement objectif de différents protocoles chirurgicaux ou prothétiques peut donc être estimé. Les orthodontistes étaient clairement plus critiques que les autres observateurs. Zusammenfassung Ziel: In dieser Arbeit wird die Reproduzierbarkeit eines neu entwickelten Pink Esthetic Index (PES) zur Evaluation vom Weichgewebe um Kronen auf Einzelzahnimplantaten untersucht. Zusätzlich interessierte der Einfluss des Spezialisierungsgrades eines Untersuchers. Material und Methoden: Man gab zwanzig Untersuchern (5 Prothetiker, 5 Oralchirurgen, 5 Orthodonten und 5 Zahnmedizinstudenten) Fotoaufnahmen von 30 Kronen auf Einzelzahnimplantaten. Sie hatten 7 Variabeln gegenüber einem natürlichen Referenzzahn zu beurteilen: mesiale Papille, distale Papille, Niveau der Weichgewebe, Form der Weichgewebe, Defizit an Alveolarkamm, Farbe und Struktur der Weichgewebe. Man definierte eine Bewertungsskala 0-1-2, wobei 0 für den schlechtesten und 2 für den besten Wert stehen, so dass man einen maximalen PES von 14 erreichen konnte. Jeder Untersucher war angehalten, im Abstand von 4 Wochen zwei Beurteilungen durchzuführen. Anlässlich des zweiten Untersuchungstermins wurden die Fotoaufnahmen in ungekehrter Reihenfolge beurteilt. Resultate: Der mittlere PES bei den Untersuchungen im ersten Umgang (n=600) betrug 9.46 (±3.81 SD) und 9.24 (±3.8 SD) im zweiten Umgang. Der Unterschied zwischen diesen zwei Mittelwerten war statistisch nicht signifikant (P=0.6379). Der mittlere implantatspezifische PES für die Einzelzahnimplantate variierte zwischen 2.28 und 13.8 mit Standardabweichungen zwischen 0.46 und 3.51. Sehr schlechte und sehr schöne Rekonstruktionen zeigten die kleinesten Standardabweichungen. Der mittlere Gesamt-PES war bei den Prothetikern 10.6, bei den Oralchirurgen 9.2, bei den Zahnmedizinstudenten 9.9 und bei den Orthodonten 7.6. Zusammenfassung: Der Pink Esthetic Index untersucht die periimplantären Weichgewebe um Einzelzahnimplantate und wird auf seine Reproduzierbarkeit überprüft. Damit kann man die Ergebnisse von verschiedenen chirurgischen und prothetischen Protokollen objektivieren. Die Orthodonten waren deutlich kritischer bei ihrer Beurteilung als die anderen Behandler. Resumen Intencion: En este estudio se valoró la reproductibilidad de una nueva Valor de Rosado Estético (PES) para evaluar el tejido blando alrededor de coronas de implantes unitarios. El efecto de la especialización del observador fue otro punto de interés. Material y metodos: Se entregó a veinte observadores (5 prostodoncistas, 5 cirujanos orales, 5 ortodoncistas y 5 estudiantes dentales) fotografías de 30 coronas de implantes unitarios. Se evaluaron 7 variables frente a dientes naturales de referencia: papila mesial, papila distal, nivel de tejido blando, contorno de tejido blando, deficiencia del proceso alveolar, color y textura del tejido blando. Usando un sistema de puntuación de 0-1-2, siendo 0 el valor más bajo, 2 el valor más alto, el PES más alto alcanzable era de 14. Se solicitó a cada observador que llevara a cabo dos valoraciones en un intervalo de 4 semanas. En la segunda valoración las fotografías se valoraron en orden inverso. Resultados: El PES medio de evaluaciones a la primera valoración (n=600) fue 9.46 (±3.81 SD) y 9.24 (±3.8 SD) en la segunda. La diferencia entre estas dos medias no fue estadísticamente significativo (P=0.6379). El PES medio relacionado al implante para implantes unitarios varió desde 2.28 a 13.8 con desviaciones estándar entre 0.46 y 3.51. Las restauraciones más pobres y más estéticas mostraron las desviaciones estándar más bajas. El PES total fue de 10.6 para los prostodoncistas, 9.2 para los cirujanos orales, 9.9 para los estudiantes dentales y 7.6 para los ortodoncistas. Conclusiones: Las Puntuaciones de Estética Rosa evalúa reproduciblemente el tejido blando periimplantario alrededor de implantes unitarios. De este modo, se puede valorar un resultado objetivo de diferentes protocolos quirúrgicos o prostodónticos. Los ortodoncistas fueron claramente más críticos que los otros observadores. [source]