Yoxas/statistical_literacy huggingface dataset:
We analyzed the prevalence and type of bias in letters of recommendation (LOR) for pediatric surgical fellowship applications from 2016-2021 using natural language processing (NLP) at a quaternary care academic hospital. Demographics were extracted from submitted applications. The Valence Aware Dictionary for sEntiment Reasoning (VADER) model was used to calculate polarity scores. The National Research Council dataset was used for emotion and intensity analysis. The Kruskal-Wallis H-test was used to determine statistical significance. SETTING: This study took place at a single, academic, free standing quaternary care children's hospital with an ACGME accredited pediatric surgery fellowship. Applicants to a single pediatric surgery fellowship were selected for this study from 2016 to 2021. A total of 182 individual applicants were included and 701 letters of recommendation were analyzed. Black applicants had the highest mean polarity (most positive), while Hispanic applicants had the lowest. Overall differences between polarity distributions were not statistically significant. The intensity of emotions showed that differences in "anger" were statistically significant (p=0.03). Mean polarity was higher for applicants that successfully matched in pediatric surgery. This study identified differences in LORs based on racial and gender demographics submitted as part of pediatric surgical fellowship applications to a single training program. The presence of bias in letters of recommendation can lead to inequities in demographics to a given program. While difficult to detect for humans, natural language processing is able to detect bias as well as differences in polarity and emotional intensity. While the types of emotions identified in this study are highly similar among race and gender groups, the intensity of these emotions revealed differences, with "anger" being most significant. From this work, it can be concluded that bias in LORs, as reflected as differences in polarity, which is likely a result of the intensity of the emotions being used and not the types of emotions being expressed. Natural language processing shows promise in identification of subtle areas of bias that may influence an individual's likelihood of successful matching.
We are beginning to accept and address the role that medicine as an institution played in legitimizing scientific racism and creating structural barriers to health equity. There is a call for greater emphasis in medical education on explaining our role in perpetuating health inequities and educating learners on how bias and racism lead to poor health outcomes for historically marginalized communities. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI; also referred to as EDI) and antiracism are key parts of patient care and medical education as they empower health professionals to be advocates for their patients, leading to better health care outcomes and more culturally and socially humble health care professionals. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education has set forth standards to include structural competency and other equity principles in the medical curriculum, but medical schools are still struggling with how to specifically do so. Here, we highlight a stepwise approach to systematically developing and implementing medical educational curriculum content with a DEI and antiracism lens. This article serves as a blueprint to prepare institution leadership, medical faculty, staff, and learners in how to effectively begin or scale up their current DEI and antiracism curricular efforts.
We assess students' approaches to learning mathematics not only to predict students' learning outcomes but also for its crucial utilities in the teaching and learning process. These utilities range from evaluating effective instructional interventions, determining students with learning difficulties, and comparing teaching and learning experience in higher education. However, measures of the constructs have raised validity concerns among researchers. A root cause of these validity concerns is traceable to the failure of these measures to account for the content-specificity of approaches to learning. Building on a previously developed general measure of the constructs, I designed this study to bridge this gap by developing and validating approaches to learning mathematics questionnaire (ALMQ). 352 first-year engineering students who gave voluntary consent participated in the study. The students were mainly males with ages ranging from 15 years to 29 years. The average age was 20.67 years, and its standard deviation was 2.164. I analysed the generated data using confirmatory factor analysis and judged the consistency of hypothesised models with the generated data using a combination of criteria. The findings revealed a two-factor ALMQ with seven items which demonstrated an excellent global and local fit of the generated data. The standardised factor loadings for all the items were above 0.68 with an average of 0.73 showing the high strengths of the items in measuring their respective constructs. I also found a reliability coefficient of 0.81 for deep approaches, 0.77 for surface approaches, and 0.72 for the two-factor ALMQ. These findings suggest preliminary evidence of the validity and reliability of ALMQ. I discussed the practical implications of the findings for educators, policymakers, and researchers interested in improving the mathematics learning experience.
We assessed the quality of narrative feedback given to surgical residents during the first five years of Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) implementation. CBME requires ongoing formative assessments and feedback on learners' performance. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study using assessments of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in the Surgical Foundations curriculum at Queen's University from 2017-2022. Two raters independently evaluated quality of narrative feedback using the Quality of Assessment of Learning (QuAL) Score (0-5). A total of 3,900 EPA assessments were completed over 5 years. Fifty-seven percent (2229/3900) of assessments had narrative feedback documented with a mean QuAL score of 2.16±1.49. Of these, 1614 (72.4%) provided evidence about the resident's performance, 951 (42.7%) provided suggestions for improvement, and 499/2229 (22.4%) connected suggestions to the evidence. There was no meaningful change in narrative feedback quality over time (r=0.067, P=0.002). Variables associated with lower quality of narrative feedback include: Attending role (2.04±1.48) compared to medical student (3.13±1.12, P<0.001) and clinical fellow (2.47±1.54, P<0.001), concordant specialties between the assessor and learner (2.06±1.50 vs. 2.21±1.49, P=0.025), completion of the assessment one month or more after the encounter versus one week (1.85±1.48 vs. 2.23±1.49, P<0.001), and resident entrustment versus not entrusted to perform the assessed EPA (2.13±1.45 vs. 2.35±1.66; P=0.008). The quality of narrative feedback was similar for assessments completed under direct and indirect observation (2.18±1.47 vs. 2.06±1.54; P=0.153). Just over half of the EPA assessments of surgery residents contained narrative feedback with overall fair quality. There was no meaningful change in the quality of feedback over 5 years. These findings prompt future research and faculty development.
We assessed university students' knowledge, attitude, and practice toward blood donation and identified the factors that promote or hinder their willingness to donate. We employed a multicenter cross-sectional design, collecting data from August to October 2022 through self-administered questionnaires available in Arabic and English. Both online (Google Forms) and paper surveys were utilized. Data were analyzed using R Statistical Software (v4.1.3; R Core Team 2022). A total of 12,606 university students (7966 females and 4640 males) from 16 countries completed the questionnaire; of them, 28.5% had a good knowledge level regarding blood donation, and 22.7% had donated blood at least once. Students in health science colleges had significantly more awareness of blood donation (p-value < 0.001), but there were no significant differences in practice (p-value = 0.8). Barriers to donation included not being asked (37%), medical ineligibility (33%), fear of pain or infection (18%), concerns about negative health effects (18%), difficulty accessing donation centers (15%), and medical mistrust (14%). Individuals aged > 20 years had significantly higher odds of possessing a high knowledge level (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.77, p < 0.001). Private and international university enrollment was associated with increased knowledge (aOR 1.19, p-value < 0.001 and aOR 1.44, p-value = 0.003), while non-health science college students had lower odds (aOR 0.36, p < 0.001). Regarding blood donation status, participants > 20 years old were more likely to donate (aOR 2.21, p < 0.001). Conversely, being female, having congenital or chronic diseases, and possessing low knowledge levels were associated with decreased odds of blood donation (all p < 0.05). University students show insufficient knowledge about blood donation, with health science students displaying higher awareness levels. Despite their positive attitudes, blood donation rates remain low across all disciplines. It is imperative to enhance education and accessibility to foster a culture of blood donation among students.
We bridge two analogous concepts of comorbidity, dyslexia-dyscalculia and reading-mathematical disabilities, in neuroscience and education, respectively. We assessed the cognitive profiles of 360 individuals (mean age 25.79 ± 13.65) with disability in reading alone (RD group), mathematics alone (MD group) and both (comorbidity: MDRD group), with tests widely used in both psychoeducational and neuropsychological batteries. As expected, the MDRD group exhibited reading deficits like those shown by the RD group. The former group also exhibited deficits in quantitative reasoning like those shown by the MD group. However, other deficits related to verbal working memory and semantic memory were exclusive to the MDRD group. These findings were independent of gender, age, or socioeconomic and demographic factors. Through a systematic exhaustive review of clinical neuroimaging literature, we mapped the resulting cognitive profiles to correspondingly plausible neuroanatomical substrates of dyslexia and dyscalculia. In our resulting "probing" model, the complex set of domain-specific and domain-general impairments shown in the comorbidity of reading and mathematical disabilities are hypothesized as being related to atypical development of the left angular gyrus. The present neuroeducational approach bridges a long-standing transdisciplinary divide and contributes a step further toward improved early prediction, teaching and interventions for children and adults with combined reading and math disabilities.
We compared experiences of patients who reported usually being seen by a resident with those usually seen by a staff physician. We analyzed responses to a patient experience survey distributed at 13 family medicine teaching practices affiliated with the University of Toronto between May and June 2020. We analyzed responses to seven questions pertaining to timely access, continuity, and patient-centeredness. We compared responses between two types of usual primary care clinicians and calculated odds ratios before and after adjustment for patient characteristics. We analyzed data from 6,545 unique surveys; 18.6% reported their usual clinician was a resident physician. Resident patients were more likely to be older, born outside of Canada, report a high school education or less, and report having difficulty making ends meet. Compared to patients of staff physicians, patients of resident physicians had lower odds of being able to see their preferred primary care clinician and lower odds of getting nonurgent care in a reasonable time. They also had lower odds of reporting patient-centered care, but we found no significant differences in whether the time for an urgent appointment was about right or whether accessing care after hours was easy. In our setting, patients who reported usually seeing resident physicians had worse continuity of care and timeliness for nonurgent care than patients who reported usually seeing staff physicians despite resident patients being older, sicker, and having a lower socioeconomic position. Postgraduate training programs need to test models to support access and continuity for resident patient panels.
We compared the educational achievements of very low-birthweight (VLBW) and low-birthweight (LBW) adolescents (ages 16 to 19) to those of their normal-birthweight (NBW) peers in the complete Finnish birth cohorts of 1987 to 1997. We focused on three key phases of the education process: the end of compulsory education (9th-grade completion), and the transition to and the completion of upper secondary-level education. We used register data on grades, educational transitions and completed education. We employed multiple indicators on the progression of the education process and estimated population-level and within-families linear probability (LPM) models with robustness checks at the population level using logistic regression. We tested whether parental education and the child's sex modify the association between (V)LBW and educational achievement. Results of both descriptive analysis and the population-level and within-family LPM models indicate that (V)LBW is associated with an increased risk of not being able to keep up with the normative education process and to compete for upper secondary education study places at the end of compulsory education. The modifying effect of parental education was robust, whereas that of the child's sex was not. Among (V)LBW students who were able to keep up with the normative education process, (V)LBW was not associated with a lower grade point average or with a meaningfully lower probability of completing upper secondary education by the normative age. The upper secondary-level educational choices and achievements of the children born with (V)LBW who managed to complete the standard compulsory education curriculum and complete the transition to upper secondary-level education within the expected time did not, in essence, differ from those of the NBW children. Some specific characteristics of the Finnish education system likely contributed to these results, such as the grading at compulsory education being only relatively loosely standardized.
We conduct a large (N = 6567) online experiment to measure the features of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) that citizens of six European countries perceive to lower the risk of transmission of SARS-Cov-2 the most. We collected data in Bulgaria (n = 1069), France (n = 1108), Poland (n = 1104), Italy (n = 1087), Spain (n = 1102) and Sweden (n = 1097). Based on the features of the most widely adopted public health guidelines to reduce SARS-Cov-2 transmission (mask wearing vs not, outdoor vs indoor contact, short vs 90 min meetings, few vs many people present, and physical distancing of 1 or 2 m), we conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to estimate the public's perceived risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in scenarios that presented mutually exclusive constellations of these features. Our findings indicate that participants' perception of transmission risk was most influenced by the NPI attributes of mask-wearing and outdoor meetings and the least by NPI attributes that focus on physical distancing, meeting duration, and meeting size. Differentiating by country, gender, age, cognitive style (reflective or intuitive), and perceived freight of COVID-19 moreover allowed us to identify important differences between subgroups. Our findings highlight the importance of improving health policy communication and citizens' health literacy about the design of NPIs and the transmission risk of SARS-Cov-2 and potentially future viruses.
We conducted a pre/post study of a post-partum hemorrhage (PPH) simulation exercise at Korle Bu Hospital, using a low-fidelity birthing simulator and questionnaires. We aimed to evaluate low-fidelity simulation as a feasible and effective method of improving resident knowledge and confidence in a low-resource setting. Knowledge and confidence in PPH management were measured before and after using 5-point Likert scales and multiple-choice questions. A feedback survey was administered. Descriptive statistics were calculated to summarize demographics, confidence, and knowledge, with frequencies, means and standard deviations reported. Statistical significance of the change in scores was assessed using paired t tests. Statistically significant improvements in knowledge and confidence in managing PPH were evident following the simulation exercise. All participants agreed the simulation was educational, relevant and realistic, and 94% felt it could be incorporated into their training.
We conducted this mixed-method study by focusing on the influx relationship among teacher beliefs, agency, and resilience during the pandemic and exploring the relationships and tensions among these constructs or capacities. Specifically, we surveyed 93 language teachers across seven different regions in China and collected their perceptions and beliefs about challenges and solutions during the first wave of the pandemic. In a further step, we interviewed six participants, analyzed the transcripts of the interviews, and then explored how their agency and resilience emerged and developed during the pandemic. From the quantitative statistics, we reported teacher beliefs about emotional, physical, mentoring, and support challenges in emergency remote teaching and their adopted strategies to handle these challenges during the pandemic. We also reported significant correlations among different perceived challenges and solutions. From the qualitative analysis, we found that language teacher beliefs, agency, and resilience co-evolved from intrapersonal and interpersonal reflections through temporal and contextual affordances. Drawing from the sociocultural theory, we contributed a theoretical framework for studying language teacher beliefs, agency, and resilience. We discussed our findings around the global traits that language teachers are required to develop in the increasingly complex world and also offered implications for language teacher education programs.
We conducted two experiments that tested for conflation of fictitious disease awareness and prescription drug promotional communications in a television advertising context and whether similarity, proximity, and number of exposures to the disease awareness communication contributed to this conflation. Study 1 involved a 1-h television segment, and Study 2 used a longitudinal design with participants exposed to communications over time. The promoted product was indicated to treat asthma. Participants (Study 1, n = 2190; Study 2, n = 1621) were adults who had experienced asthma or asthma symptoms. In Study 1, mere exposure to disease awareness communication prompted benefit and risk conflation, but the degree of similarity or proximity did not have an effect. In Study 2, similar ads prompted greater conflation of benefits than distinct ads, and greater conflation of risks occurred with greater proximity to disease awareness and promotional communications. In addition, asthma knowledge, health literacy, and perceived ad effectiveness increased conflation of benefits in both studies but tended not to modify the impact of similarity or proximity. The findings demonstrate the potential for disease awareness communications to confuse consumers regarding the benefits and risks of a drug.
We consider a time-continuous Markov branching process of proliferating cells with a countable collection of types. Among-type transitions are inspired by the Tug-of-War process introduced by McFarland et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci 111(42):15138-15143, 2014) as a mathematical model for competition of advantageous driver mutations and deleterious passenger mutations in cancer cells. We introduce a version of the model in which a driver mutation pushes the type of the cell L-units up, while a passenger mutation pulls it 1-unit down. The distribution of time to divisions depends on the type (fitness) of cell, which is an integer. The extinction probability given any initial cell type is strictly less than 1, which allows us to investigate the transition between types (type transition) in an infinitely long cell lineage of cells. The analysis leads to the result that under driver dominance, the type transition process escapes to infinity, while under passenger dominance, it leads to a limit distribution. Implications in cancer cell dynamics and population genetics are discussed.
We consider the proposition that reasoners represent causal conditionals such as "if John studies hard, he will do well in the test" as a causal model in which the antecedent (John studies hard) is a potential cause of the consequent (John does well in the test). Some studies suggest that reasoners ignore alternative causes of the consequent in predictive judgments. Similarly, reasoners may not fully consider alternative causes in diagnostic judgments either. We tested these assumptions in a comparison of 2 causal models with and without alternative causes. In Experiments 1 and 2, only the model with alternative causes tended to overestimate predictive and diagnostic judgments. In Experiment 3, we tested whether the causal models account for the participants' judgments of the probability of the conditional. However, neither model's predictions were accurate. Based on the assumption that probability judgments only follow ordinal relations, we tested qualitative, rather than quantitative predictions of the causal models in Experiments 4 and 5. Participants provided predictive and diagnostic judgments for causal scenarios they observed in the experiments. The results suggest that reasoners consider alternative causes. Finally, in Experiment 6, participants considered pairs of causal conditionals, matched in causal power but differing in the probability of alternative causes. On average, participants preferred to bet on the predictive conclusions of those conditionals that had a higher probability of alternative causes. Because of the uncertain metric properties of probability judgments, we conclude that reasoners likely consider alternative causes in predictive and diagnostic judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
We derive an exact one-component equation of motion for the probability amplitude of a target time-dependent state, and use the equation to reformulate quantum dynamics and control for both closed and open systems. Using the one-component equation, we show that an unexpected time-dependent leakage-free path can be induced and we capture a necessary quantity in determining the effect of decoherence suppression. Our control protocol based on the nonperturbative leakage elimination operator provides a unified perspective connecting some subtle, popular, and important concepts of quantum control, such as dynamical decoupling, quantum Zeno effect, and adiabatic passage. The resultant one-component equation will promise significant advantages in both quantum dynamics and control.