In patients with β-lactam allergies, administration of non–β-lactam surgical prophylaxis is associated with increased risk of infection. Although many patients self-report β-lactam allergies, most are unconfirmed or mislabeled. A quality improvement process, utilizing a structured β-lactam allergy tool, was implemented to improve the utilization of preferred β-lactam surgical prophylaxis.

A major goal of Gardner, Ryan, and Snoeyink (2018) was to determine what steps are needed moving forward in examining gender representation in industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology. Specifically, on the topic of pay differences, we highlight that gender differences in pay are in part due to differences in negotiation behaviors and/or experiences. Prior research demonstrates that female negotiators receive greater backlash than male negotiators—a possible explanation to why men tend to negotiate more often and more successfully than women (Bowles, Babcock, & Lai, 2007). Based on this evidence, one next step in moving forward should involve providing resources and knowledge to improve negotiation skills and practices specifically aimed at eliminating differences between women and men in both propensity to negotiate and the evaluation/consequences of negotiating.

The final effort of the CLIMAP project was a study of the last interglaciation, a time of minimum ice volume some 122,000 yr ago coincident with the Substage 5e oxygen isotopic minimum. Based on detailed oxygen isotope analyses and biotic census counts in 52 cores across the world ocean, last interglacial sea-surface temperatures (SST) were compared with those today. There are small SST departures in the mid-latitude North Atlantic (warmer) and the Gulf of Mexico (cooler). The eastern boundary currents of the South Atlantic and Pacific oceans are marked by large SST anomalies in individual cores, but their interpretations are precluded by no-analog problems and by discordancies among estimates from different biotic groups. In general, the last interglacial ocean was not significantly different from the modern ocean. The relative sequencing of ice decay versus oceanic warming on the Stage 6/5 oxygen isotopic transition and of ice growth versus oceanic cooling on the Stage 5e/5d transition was also studied. In most of the Southern Hemisphere, the oceanic response marked by the biotic census counts preceded (led) the global ice-volume response marked by the oxygen-isotope signal by several thousand years. The reverse pattern is evident in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, where the oceanic response lagged that of global ice volume by several thousand years. As a result, the very warm temperatures associated with the last interglaciation were regionally diachronous by several thousand years. These regional lead-lag relationships agree with those observed on other transitions and in long-term phase relationships; they cannot be explained simply as artifacts of bioturbational translations of the original signals.

Using the concept of “orbital tuning”, a continuous, high-resolution deep-sea chronostratigraphy has been developed spanning the last 300,000 yr. The chronology is developed using a stacked oxygen-isotope stratigraphy and four different orbital tuning approaches, each of which is based upon a different assumption concerning the response of the orbital signal recorded in the data. Each approach yields a separate chronology. The error measured by the standard deviation about the average of these four results (which represents the “best” chronology) has an average magnitude of only 2500 yr. This small value indicates that the chronology produced is insensitive to the specific orbital tuning technique used. Excellent convergence between chronologies developed using each of five different paleoclimatological indicators (from a single core) is also obtained. The resultant chronology is also insensitive to the specific indicator used. The error associated with each tuning approach is estimated independently and propagated through to the average result. The resulting error estimate is independent of that associated with the degree of convergence and has an average magnitude of 3500 yr, in excellent agreement with the 2500-yr estimate. Transfer of the final chronology to the stacked record leads to an estimated error of ±1500 yr. Thus the final chronology has an average error of ±5000 yr.

Describing and understanding growth patterns in tropical forests is crucial to assessing their role in carbon balance. Growth and vital rates of a protected gallery forest in central Brazil were estimated, based on six measurement intervals between 1985 and 2009. The sample consisted of all stems ≥ 10 cm diameter at breast height measured in 151 permanent plots (10 × 20 m), distributed in 10 transects perpendicular to the watercourse and 100 m apart from each other. Statistical significance of changes in density, basal area, growth and vital rates were tested using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Vital rates oscillated during the study period. Growth, recruitment and turnover rates fluctuated, but had a net decrease over the whole study period, whereas mortality seemed to be affected by a high disturbance event during the 1994–1999 period. The oscillatory behaviour of growth suggests that the forest is pulsating around a stable state (dynamic equilibrium). Nonetheless, persistence of decelerating growth trends may force the site's carrying capacity to a lower density or biomass state.

The floral biology, breeding system and pollination of Caryocar brasiliense were studied in the cerrado vegetation of Central Brazil. The large, yellowish-cream, brush-like flowers are pollinated mainly by glossophagine bats (Glossophaga soricina and Anoura geoffroyi). Three non-glossophagine bats (Phyllostomus discolor, Vampyrops lineatus and Carollia perspicillata) and two short probosisced hawk moths (Erinyis ello and Pseudosphinx tetrio) may also act as occasional pollinators. Caryocar brasiliense is self-compatible although it sets significantly more fruits when crossed than when selfed. The natural fruit set (fruit/flower ratio) and seed set (seed/ovule ratio) are 3.1% and 1.0% respectively. Most of the fruits and seeds are formed through the action of the flower visitors, despite the fact that about 20% of the non-visited flowers receive self pollen on at least one stigma.

Objective: To enhance the validity of a well-known expert panel process, we used data from patient surveys to identify and correct rating errors.

Methods: We used the two-round RAND/UCLA panel method to rate indications of harmful (presence of problems), hazardous (at risk for problems), and nonhazardous (no known risks) drinking in older adults. Results from the panel provided guidelines for classifying older individuals as harmful, hazardous, or nonhazardous drinkers, using a survey. The classifications yielded unexpectedly high numbers of harmful and hazardous drinkers. We hypothesized possible misclassifications of drinking risks and used the survey data to identify indications that may have led to invalid ratings. We modified problematic indications and asked three clinician panelists to evaluate the clinical usefulness of the modifications in a third panel round. We revised the indications based on panelist response and reexamined drinking classifications.

Results: Using the original indications, 48% of drinkers in the sample were classified as harmful, 31% as hazardous, and 21% as nonhazardous. A review of the indications revealed framing bias in the original rating task and vague definitions of certain symptoms and conditions. The modified indications resulted in classifications of 22% harmful, 47% hazardous, and 31% nonhazardous drinkers.

Conclusions: Analysis of survey data led to identification and correction of specific errors occurring during the panel-rating process. The validity of the RAND/UCLA method can be enhanced using data-driven modifications.

In 1996, the Ministry of Health in Ghana included emergency contraception (EC) in its newly issued National Reproductive Health Service Policy and Standards. A short survey was conducted in the summer of 1997 to evaluate health providers' knowledge of EC. Of the 325 providers interviewed, about one-third (34%) had heard of EC. No provider had sufficient knowledge to prescribe EC correctly. A well-coordinated training programme for providers will have to precede successful introduction of EC in Ghana. Moreover, a dedicated product may be critical for the successful introduction of EC in a country like Ghana, where provider knowledge is low.