An Effective Approach for Endocrine Dynamic Function Tests Workflow and Reporting Using Cerner Millennium®

Introduction/Objective Endocrine dynamic function testing (DFT), also known as hormone stimulation tests, are indispensable tools in the endocrine practice. Common pitfalls of ineffective testing and misdiagnosis are due to incorrect sample recordings, delay in sample collections and disorganized or confusing result presentation. Clinical and laboratory data deserves careful attention and discrepancies must be reviewed by a clinical biochemist before releasing results for proper patient diagnosis. The main objective of this Cerner DFT project is to design and implement Cerner Millennium applications for effective management and organized result reporting of hospital-wide DFT protocols. Methods/Case Report The DFT Cerner workflow is uniquely designed in-house and known as a pioneer build for Cerner Millenium. The design involves the use of Cerner Discern Analytics 2.0 and clinical modules to complete such a complex build. Five DFT panels are defined as care-sets with specific hormone discrete task assays (DTA). For each care-set, an ‘order sentence’ is created to produce the order priority rules. The DFT panels can only be requested as future orders in PowerChart and activated by the medical staff upon collection of the baseline sample. On Cerner PathNet, results are pre-verified by the medical technologists then auto-filtered in the clinical Review Queue (RQ) module for final verification and addition of comments by the biochemistry consultant. A word processing template is used to collate the results and present the summary of the DFT report where standardized canned comments are added using pre-defined codes. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) See Conclusion Section Conclusion The Cerner DFT project mproves the diagnosis and treatment of patients with hormone disorders. Before, there was a danger of misdiagnosis when samples are individually requested producing separate reports with no organized presentation. Report comments from the clinical biochemist consultant also served as good diagnostic guidance. This quality initiative has definitely improved the previous and long term issues of endocrine dynamic function tests.

Representation, learning, and planning algorithms for geometric task and motion planning

We present a framework for learning to guide geometric task-and-motion planning (G-TAMP). G-TAMP is a subclass of task-and-motion planning in which the goal is to move multiple objects to target regions among movable obstacles. A standard graph search algorithm is not directly applicable, because G-TAMP problems involve hybrid search spaces and expensive action feasibility checks. To handle this, we introduce a novel planner that extends basic heuristic search with random sampling and a heuristic function that prioritizes feasibility checking on promising state–action pairs. The main drawback of such pure planners is that they lack the ability to learn from planning experience to improve their efficiency. We propose two learning algorithms to address this. The first is an algorithm for learning a rank function that guides the discrete task-level search, and the second is an algorithm for learning a sampler that guides the continuous motion-level search. We propose design principles for designing data-efficient algorithms for learning from planning experience and representations for effective generalization. We evaluate our framework in challenging G-TAMP problems, and show that we can improve both planning and data efficiency.

Integrated Task and Motion Planning

The problem of planning for a robot that operates in environments containing a large number of objects, taking actions to move itself through the world as well as to change the state of the objects, is known as task and motion planning (TAMP). TAMP problems contain elements of discrete task planning, discrete–continuous mathematical programming, and continuous motion planning and thus cannot be effectively addressed by any of these fields directly. In this article, we define a class of TAMP problems and survey algorithms for solving them, characterizing the solution methods in terms of their strategies for solving the continuous-space subproblems and their techniques for integrating the discrete and continuous components of the search. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Volume 4 is May 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Two faces of the attentional blink: Gradual and discrete loss of perceptual awareness

In a series of experiments, the nature of perceptual awareness during the attentional blink was investigated. Previous work has considered the attentional blink as a discrete, all-or-none phenomenon, indicative for access to conscious awareness. Using continuous report measures in combination with mixture modeling, the current outcomes show that, in fact, the attentional blink can be a gradual phenomenon. The nature of the blink depended on whether targets might compete for the same spatial location or not. Without the possibility of spatial overlap, the attentional blink was of a gradual nature, in which representations of blinked targets were impoverished, but nonetheless approached the actual identity of the target that was presented. Conversely, with spatial overlap, the attentional blink was discrete; no partially correct reports could be made about blinked targets. These two different faces of the attentional blink challenge current accounts of awareness and temporal attention, which do not recognize the critical role of feature-location binding in producing discrete task performance, and consequently cannot explain the existence of gradual awareness, including that of targets subject to the attentional blink.

Influence of Attentional Focus Instructions on Motor Performance Among Adolescents With Severe Visual Impairment

Substantial research has demonstrated that an external (vs. internal) attentional focus enhances motor performance among various populations. Interest has recently grown in examining the effects of attentional focus among individuals with visual impairments (VI), and, to date, research results have been conflicting with some studies supporting a potential benefit to an external focus among adults with VI, while a study of children with severe VI was inconclusive regarding this benefit. The present investigation compared the effects of an internal versus an external attentional focus on a discrete throwing task among adolescents with severe VI. We recruited 13 participants with a visual acuity score of less than 6/60 and had them throw a Goalball (25 cm ball with bells often used in competitive sports designed for people with VI) as fast as possible for three familiarization trials, three internal focus trials, and three external focus trials. These participants threw the ball with significantly higher velocity when using an external focus than in other conditions, indicating a benefit from an external focus for this population when performing this discrete task.

Research Ethics 101: Dilemmas and Responsibilities

The emphasis in political science on procedural ethics has led to a neglect of how researchers should consider and treat study participants, from design to publication stage. This article corrects this oversight and calls for a sustained discussion of research ethics across the discipline. The article's core argument is twofold: that ethics should matter to everyone, not just those who spend extended time in the field; and that ethics is an ongoing responsibility, not a discrete task to be checked off a “to do” list. Ethics matter in all types of political science research because most political science involves “human subjects.” Producers and consumers of political science research need to contemplate the ambiguous and oftentimes uncomfortable dimensions of research ethics, lest we create a discipline that is “nonethical,” or worse, unethical.