TASK DEFINITION: Given a passage, construct a question on the basis of the information present in the passage. Construct the question in such a way that (i) it is unambiguous, (ii) it is answerable from the passage, (iii) its answer is unique (iv) it answer uses text phrases from the passage. Avoid creating questions that (i) can't be answered correctly without actually understanding the passage and (ii) uses the same words or phrases given in the passage.
PROBLEM: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the implementation of evidence-based guidelines and subsequent feedback to surgeons in the management of acute pancreatitis.', 'An evidence-based Pancreatitis Proforma was developed. Data were prospectively recorded (01/06/2005-30/09/2007). Audit feedback (AFB) was performed at 9 months. A final analysis was performed comparing outcomes pre- and post-audit feedback.', '372 patients were included. Median age (range) was 57 (12-96) years. 168 (45.2%) patients were admitted pre-AFB. Post-AFB, there was a significant increase in the number of patients whose diagnosis was made within 48 hours (135/168 (80.4%) vs 189/204 (92.6%), p<0.001) and who underwent definitive treatment for mild biliary pancreatitis (33/61 (54.1%) vs 56/70 (80.0%), p=0.002). Post-AFB there was also a significant reduction in the number of computed tomography (CT) scans performed for patients with mild acute pancreatitis (23/85 (27.1%) vs 13/99 (13.1%), p=0.018). Mortality (9/168 (5.4%) vs 3/204 (1.4%), p=0.040) also decreased. On multivariate analysis, AFB was an independent factor for change in the use of CT scans (p=0.015) and management of patients with mild biliary pancreatitis (p=0.039).

SOLUTION: Is closing the audit loop necessary to achieve compliance with evidence-based guidelines in the management of acute pancreatitis?

PROBLEM: Immunologic abnormalities have been found in bipolar disorder but pentraxin 3, a marker of innate immunity, has not been studied in this population.', 'Levels of pentraxin 3 were measured in individuals with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and non-psychiatric controls. Linear regression models were used to compare the pentraxin 3 levels in each of the psychiatric groups to that in the control group, adjusting for demographic and clinical variables. Logistic regression models were used to calculate the odds ratios associated with levels of pentraxin 3 which differed from specified levels of the control group.', 'The sample consisted of 831 individuals: 256 with bipolar disorder, 309 with schizophrenia, and 266 without a psychiatric disorder. The levels of pentraxin 3 in the bipolar disorder, but not in the schizophrenia, group were significantly lower than those of controls, adjusting for age, gender, race, maternal education, smoking status, and body mass index (t = -3.78, p < 0.001). The individuals with bipolar disorder also had significantly increased odds of having low levels of pentraxin 3 relative to both the 10th and 25th percentile level of the controls and significantly decreased odds of having a level greater than the 75th and the 90th percentile level of the controls, adjusting for the same covariates.

SOLUTION: Is pentraxin 3 reduced in bipolar disorder?

PROBLEM: Research has shown that hand gestures affect comprehension and production of speech at semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic levels for both native language and second language (L2). This study investigated a relatively less explored question: Do hand gestures influence auditory learning of an L2 at the segmental phonology level?', 'To examine auditory learning of phonemic vowel length contrasts in Japanese, 88 native English-speaking participants took an auditory test before and after one of the following 4 types of training in which they (a) observed an instructor in a video speaking Japanese words while she made syllabic-rhythm hand gesture, (b) produced this gesture with the instructor, (c) observed the instructor speaking those words and her moraic-rhythm hand gesture, or (d) produced the moraic-rhythm gesture with the instructor.', 'All of the training types yielded similar auditory improvement in identifying vowel length contrast. However, observing the syllabic-rhythm hand gesture yielded the most balanced improvement between word-initial and word-final vowels and between slow and fast speaking rates.

SOLUTION:
Does effects of hand gestures on auditory learning of second-language vowel length contrast?