An interdisciplinary national program developed at Baylor to make science exciting for all K-5 students.

The achievement gap in science begins in elementary school, where many students lose interest in science-related studies, particularly students from traditionally underrepresented groups. The "My Health My World" Project (hereafter, "the Project"), developed at Baylor College of Medicine with the assistance of federal funds, is a national effort to address this problem. The Project's goals are to make science appealing and relevant for elementary school students (i.e., kindergarten through grade five), including those from underrepresented minorities (URMs), and easy to teach for teachers and parents. It is achieving this goal by the development of interdisciplinary instructional materials that use environmental health issues as a unifying theme. The Project provides its materials (including take-home materials for parents) and training for teachers at seven dissemination centers across the country, established in 1997. Workshops are also held to train facilitators, chosen from among local science education leaders, who in turn hold workshops to train other teachers. Each center receives a mini-grant to cover costs related to the training it provides, and all coordinate their training to offer comparable experiences for all participants. Field tests in 1995, 1996, and 1997 involving culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse students and teachers in two sites indicate that the participating teachers found that the Project's materials promote science learning and enthusiasm for science and are easy to use and engaging for teachers. Ratings for workshops in 1998 were also high for all characteristics evaluated. All signs after the Project's first full year of dissemination activities (1998) indicate that it will continue to reach more teachers and students across the nation and will eventually help more students from all backgrounds achieve in science-related studies.     

Olfactory esthesioneuroblastoma: scintigraphic expression of somatostatin receptors

Esthesioneuroblastoma is an uncommon tumor originating in the upper nasal cavity and constitutes 3% of all intranasal neoplasms. Few references exist about the expression of somatostatin receptors in these tumors. Our case demonstrates a good correlation between the somatostatin receptor scintigraphy and magnetic resonance imaging.     

Subjective versus statistical model assessment of mortality risk in open heart surgical procedures

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare the predictive accuracy for open heart surgical mortality between a statistical model based on collection of clinical data and surgeons' subjective risk assessment. METHODS: Predictive discrimination of both risk assessments (surgeons' and model) was compared through the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relation between surgeons' and model predictions to actual outcomes. Calibration of the subjective estimates was evaluated with a chi2 test. RESULTS: Overall, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.76 for the statistical model and 0.70 for the subjective assessment. Logistic regression analysis showed that the statistical model remained significant after accounting for the subjective assessment. Calibration of subjective mortality predictions was poor. CONCLUSIONS: Surgeons' risk assessment tends to cluster in the middle ranges of risk. Subjective assessment seems accurate in identifying the two extremes of risk but is inaccurate for intermediate risk levels. A multivariate statistical model improves the accuracy of subjective predictions.     

Specific prognostic factors for secondary pancreatic infection in severe acute pancreatitis

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether there are specific prognostic factors to predict the development of secondary pancreatic infection (SPI) in severe acute pancreatitis in order to perform a computed tomography-fine needle aspiration with bacteriological sampling at the right moment and confirm the diagnosis. METHODS: Twenty-five clinical and laboratory parameters were determined sequentially in 150 patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and univariate, and multivariate regression analyses were done looking for correlation with the development of SPI. RESULTS: Only APACHE II score and C-reactive protein levels were related to the development of SPI in the multivariate analysis. A regression equation was designed using these two parameters, and empiric cut-off points defined the subgroup of patients at high risk of developing secondary pancreatic infection. CONCLUSION: The results showed that it is possible to predict SPI during SAP allowing bacteriological confirmation and early treatment of this severe condition.