TASK DEFINITION: In this task, you are given a passage which has a question and the context. You have to generate an answer to the question based on the information present in the context.
PROBLEM: Context: The etiology of idiopathic scoliosis remains unknown, but growth is a risk factor for progression. Growth pattern differs in children with and without scoliosis. Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) may be associated with scoliosis and growth. We, therefore, studied COMP in children with and without idiopathic scoliosis.', 'We included 105 children, with mean age 14.4 years (range 10-16), under observation or treatment for idiopathic scoliosis, and 103 children from an age-matched population-based cohort. COMP was measured in serum at the time of inclusion. Growth velocity was estimated from repeated height measurements. T tests, analysis of covariance or linear regression were used for statistical comparisons.', 'COMP was mean (SD) 11 (5) units/liter (U/L) in children with scoliosis and 13 (5) U/L in the control cohort (p = 0.005, adjusted for sex and sampling time of the day). When patients and controls were analyzed together, high COMP was correlated with high growth velocity (β = 0.19, p = 0.003). When patients and controls were analyzed separately, COMP was correlated with growth velocity in children with scoliosis (β = 0.27, p = 0.007), but not in children without scoliosis (β = 0.02, p = 0.83) (all analyses adjusted for age, sex and sampling time). Low COMP was significantly correlated with large curve size in children with scoliosis (β = -0.29, p = 0.003), but not after adjustment for age, sex and sampling time (β = -0.16; p = 0.14).\Question: Is serum level of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein lower in children with idiopathic scoliosis than in non-scoliotic controls?

SOLUTION: COMP was lower in children with idiopathic scoliosis than in a control cohort. In children with scoliosis, high COMP was modestly correlated with high growth velocity, but not with curve severity.

PROBLEM: Context: In developmental research, infants are commonly assumed to be early stakeholders in interactions with their caregivers. The tools that infants can use to interact with others vary from visual contact to smiling or vocalizing, and also include motor activity. However, surprisingly few studies have explored how the nature and context of social interactions affect infants' engagement in motor activity.", "We investigated the kinematic properties of foot and face movements produced by 11 infants aged between 5 and 9 months during six contrasting dyadic episodes (i.e. passive presence of a stranger or the infant's mother, weak or intense interaction with the stranger/mother as she sings a nursery play song).", "The infants' face and foot motor activity was significantly reduced during the interactive episodes, compared with the episodes without any interaction, in both the mother and stranger conditions. Furthermore, the level of their motor activity was significantly lower in the stranger condition than in the mother one for some parameters.\Question: Is social interaction associated with changes in infants ' motor activity?

SOLUTION: These results are in line with those reported by previous studies and confirm the relevance of using motor activity to delineate the early forms of interactive episodes in infants.

PROBLEM: Context: To determine the utility of a prehospital sepsis screening protocol utilizing systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria and end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2).', 'We conducted a prospective cohort study among sepsis alerts activated by emergency medical services during a 12 month period after the initiation of a new sepsis screening protocol utilizing ≥2 SIRS criteria and ETCO2 levels of ≤25 mmHg in patients with suspected infection. The outcomes of those that met all criteria of the protocol were compared to those that did not. The main outcome was the diagnosis of sepsis and severe sepsis. Secondary outcomes included mortality and in-hospital lactate levels.', 'Of 330 sepsis alerts activated, 183 met all protocol criteria and 147 did not. Sepsis alerts that followed the protocol were more frequently diagnosed with sepsis (78% vs 43%, P < .001) and severe sepsis (47% vs 7%, P < .001), and had a higher mortality (11% vs 5%, P = .036). Low ETCO2 levels were the strongest predictor of sepsis (area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.99, 95% CI 0.99-1.00; P < .001), severe sepsis (AUC 0.80, 95% CI 0.73-0.86; P < .001), and mortality (AUC 0.70, 95% CI 0.57-0.83; P = .005) among all prehospital variables. Sepsis alerts that followed the protocol had a sensitivity of 90% (95% CI 81-95%), a specificity of 58% (95% CI 52-65%), and a negative predictive value of 93% (95% CI 87-97%) for severe sepsis. There were significant associations between prehospital ETCO2 and serum bicarbonate levels (r = 0.415, P < .001), anion gap (r = -0.322, P < .001), and lactate (r = -0.394, P < .001).\Question: Does a prehospital screening tool utilizing end-tidal carbon dioxide predict sepsis and severe sepsis?

SOLUTION:
A prehospital screening protocol utilizing SIRS criteria and ETCO2 predicts sepsis and severe sepsis, which could potentially decrease time to therapeutic intervention.