Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 307-323).

We analyze performance under pressure and estimate the causal effect of audience size on the success of free throws in top-level professional basketball. We use data from the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the seasons 2007/08 through 2015/16. We exploit the exogenous variation in weather conditions on game day to establish a causal link between attendance size and performance. Our results confirm a sizeable and strong negative effect of the number of spectators on performance. Home teams in (non-critical) situations at the beginning of games perform worse when the audience is larger. This result is consistent with the theory of a home choke rather than a home field advantage. Our results have potentially large implications for general questions of workplace design and help to further understand how the social environment affects performance. We demonstrate that the amount of support, i.e. positive feedback, from a friendly audience does affect performance. / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Blood pressure measurement has been and continues to be one of the most important measurements in clinical practice and yet, it remains one of the most inaccurately performed. The use of oscillometric blood pressure measurement monitors has become common in hospitals, clinics and even homes. Typically, these monitors assume that the heartbeat rate remains stable, which is contrary to what happens in atrial fibrillation. In this thesis, a new method that provides a more precise estimate of Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) is proposed using anon-invasive oscillometric blood pressure monitor. The proposed method is based on calculating a ratio of peak amplitude to trough amplitude for every pulse, then identifying where the ratio first reaches a value of 2. The performance of the proposed method is assessed by comparing the accuracy and variability of the readings against reference monitors -first in healthy subjects, then in atrial fibrillation patients. In healthy subjects and in atrial fibrillation patients, the proposed method achieved a performance accuracy that is well within the ANSI/AAMI SP10 protocol requirements of the reference monitors. The presence of atrial fibrillation diminished the performance of the reference monitor by increasing the variability of the reference readings. The proposed algorithm, on the other hand, performed better by achieving substantially lower variability in the readings than the reference device.

Information about the central venous pressure is important in evaluating several clinical conditions including cardiac failure and volume overload. The jugular veins serve as a primary route for the indirect estimation of the central venous pressure or waveform. The conventional methods for acquiring the central venous pressure in these veins have been through neck visualization and the insertion of catheters. Even though these procedures are effective if done properly, they have various downsides such as being invasive, inaccurate and time consuming. In this research, a sensor is proposed for the noninvasive detection of central venous waveforms within the jugular veins. The sensor is a reflectance configured probe which utilizes laser based on the photoplethysmography principle. The effectiveness of the sensor was tested in-vitro using a mock circulatory loop and was also tested on a single human subject. The results from the tests indicated a very good sensor response in estimating pressure waveforms.

The purpose of the study was to examine psychological and methodological factors which would predict the white coat effect (WCE). The WCE is defined as the difference (mm Hg) between ambulatory and office measured blood pressure (BP). Sixty three community volunteers participated in this study. Participants were divided into 3 Response style groups: (1) Office responders had ambulatory BP values which were lower than office BP, (2) Non responders showed a minimal difference between office and ambulatory BP, and (3) Home responders had significantly higher ambulatory BP compared to office BP. Participants were asked to have a series of BP readings taken by a physician, nurse and by themselves and participate in 24 hour ambulatory monitoring. State and trait self-report psychological measures were completed. Self measured BP was the most representative of ambulatory BP for the sample as a whole, and in particular for the Home responders. State anxiety, previously dismissed as mediating factor in the expression of the white coat effect, proved to discriminate between the groups. Office responders had significantly higher levels of state anxiety, directly related to BP measurements, compared to Home and Non responders. Habituation to the experience of having BP measured by a physician, and habituation of the anxiety prior to the BP measurement, was different among the three groups. Trait psychological variables did not distinguish group membership. Self measured systolic BP, state anxiety prior to self measured BP, habituation to physician measured BP and the anxiety preceding it, were entered as predictors variables in a discriminant function analyses. These variables were able to correctly classify group membership for 63% of the sample. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

In the vast majority of cases, appropriate identification and mitigation of risk factors can prevent or minimize pressure ulcer (PU) formation. However, some PUs are unavoidable. Based on the importance of this topic and the lack of literature focused on PU unavoidability, the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel hosted a multidisciplinary conference in 2014 to explore the issue of PU unavoidability within an organ system framework, which considered the complexities of nonmodifiable intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors. Prior to the conference, an extensive literature review was conducted to analyze and summarize the state of the science in the area of unavoidable PU development and items were developed. An interactive process was used to gain consensus based on these items among stakeholders of various organizations and audience members. Consensus was reached when 80% agreement was obtained. The group reached consensus that unavoidable PUs do occur. Consensus was also obtained in areas related to cardiopulmonary status, hemodynamic stability, impact of head-of-bed elevation, septic shock, body edema, burns, immobility, medical devices, spinal cord injury, terminal illness, and nutrition.

Because of the high cost of some wound management regimens, payors may require that moist wound therapies be used before other treatment approaches, such as negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), are implemented but few studies have investigated the effect of delayed initiation of NPWT on patient outcomes. To examine the impact of early versus late initiation of NPWT on patient length of stay in home health care, a nonrandomized, retrospective analysis was performed on the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) information for home care patients with NPWT-treated Stage III or Stage IV pressure ulcers (N = 98) or surgical wounds (N = 464) gathered between July 2002 and September 2004. Early initiation of NPWT following the start of home care was defined as <30 days for pressure ulcers and <7 days for surgical wound patients. Median duration of NPWT was 31 days (range 3 to 169) for pressure ulcers and 27 days (range 5 to 119) for the surgical wound group. Median lengths of stay in the early treatment groups were 85 days (range 11 to 239) for pressure ulcers and 57 days (range 7 to 119) for the surgical group versus 166 days (range 60 to 657) and 87 days (range 31 to 328), respectively, for the late treatment pressure ulcer and surgical groups (P <0.0001). After controlling demographic patient variables, regression analysis indicated that for each day NPWT initiation was delayed, almost 1 day was added to the total length of stay (β = 0.96, P <0.0001 [pressure ulcers]; β = 0.97, P <0.0001 [surgical wounds]). Early initiation of NPWT may be associated with shorter length of stay for patients receiving home care for Stage III or Stage IV pressure ulcers or surgical wounds. Additional studies to ascertain the cost-effectiveness of treatments and treatment approaches in home care patients are needed.

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No description available.

A new pressure-measurement technique which employs the tools of molecular spectroscopy has recently received considerable attention in the fluid mechanics community. Measurements are made via oxygen-sensitive molecules attached to the surface of interest as a coating, or paint. The pressure-sensitive-paint (PSP) technique is now commonly used in stationary wind-tunnel tests; this thesis presents the extension of the technique to advanced turbomachinery applications. New pressure- and temperature-sensitive paints (TSPs) have been developed for application to a state-of-the-art transonic compressor where pressures up to 2 atm and surface temperatures up to 140° C are expected for the first-stage rotor. PSP and TSP data has been acquired from the suction surface of the first-stage rotor of a transonic compressor operating at its peak-efficiency condition. The shock structure is clearly visible in the pressure image, and visual comparison to the corresponding computational fluid dynamics (CFD) prediction shows qualitative agreement to the PSP data. / Master of Science