Update to the PRISMA guidelines for network meta-analyses and scoping reviews and development of guidelines for rapid reviews: a study protocol for a scoping review

Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to develop a list of items for potential inclusion in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) reporting guidelines for network meta-analysis (NMA), scoping reviews (ScRs), and rapid reviews (RRs). Introduction: The PRISMA extensions for NMA and ScRs were published in 2015 and 2018. However, since then, their methodologies and innovations, including automation, have evolved. There is no reporting guideline for RRs. In 2020, an updated PRISMA statement was published, reflecting advances in the conduct and reporting of systematic reviews. These advances are not yet incorporated into these PRISMA extensions. We will update our previous methods scoping reviews to inform the update of PRISMA-NMA and PRISMA-ScR as well as the development of the PRISMA-RR reporting guidelines. Inclusion criteria: This review will include any study designs evaluating the completeness of reporting, or offering reporting guidance, or assessing methods relevant to NMA, ScRs, or RRs. Editorial guidelines and tutorials that describe items related to reporting completeness will also be eligible. Methods: We will follow the JBI guidance for scoping reviews. For each PRISMA extension, we will (1) search multiple electronic databases from inception, (2) search for unpublished studies, and (3) scan the reference lists of included studies. There will be no language limitations. Screening and data extraction will be conducted by 2 researchers independently. A third researcher will resolve discrepancies. We will conduct frequency analyses of the identified items. The final list of items will be considered for potential inclusion in the relevant PRISMA reporting guidelines. Review registration: NMA protocol (OSF: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/7BKWY); ScR protocol (OSF: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/MTA4P); RR protocol (OSF: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3JCPE); EQUATOR registration link: https://www.equator-network.org/library/reporting-guidelines-under-development/reporting-guidelines-under-development-for-systematic-reviews

Intelligent frozen gait monitoring using software-defined radio frequency sensing

Frozen gait (FG) is an increasingly prevalent concern in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) that limits mobility and increases the risk of falls. Traditional FG detection and monitoring methods using clinical observations and wearable sensors face limitations, such as inflexibility, lack of portability, inaccessibility to individuals, and the inability to provide continuous monitoring in real-life environments. To address these challenges, this experimental study presents the development of a software-defined radio (SDR)-based radio frequency (RF) sensing platform for continuous FG monitoring. Data were collected through multiple experiments involving various physical activities, including FG episodes. The acquired data were processed using advanced signal-processing (ASP) techniques to extract relevant wireless channel state information (WCSI) patterns. The physical activities were classified using machine learning and deep learning models developed on the dataset prepared from the SDR-based RF sensing system. The results demonstrated that the deep learning models outperformed the machine learning models. The bidirectional gated recurrent unit (BiGRU) achieved the highest accuracy of 99.7%. This indicates that the developed system has the potential for accurate, real-time monitoring of FG and other PD symptoms. The proposed RF sensing platform using SDR technology and artificial intelligence (AI) offers an intelligent and continuous monitoring solution, addressing the limitations of traditional methods. This system provides portable, continuous detection of FG events, potentially improving patient care, safety, and early intervention

Being-with-staff-in-a-technology-enabled-fashion-store: from Gen Z’s interpersonal experiences with staff to integration of human, technology and the store environment

In the digital age the fashion retailing sector has witnessed the transformation of conventional fashion stores into technology-enabled spaces. However, whilst the store environment and technology have been overly-studied, it has tended to neglect the human aspect of the store as an amalgamation of people, technology and store environment. The purpose of this study is to explore consumers’ interaction with staff in technology-enabled fashion stores, in a daily life-world context, to seek how people, technology and the store environment can be better integrated. The study uses servicescape theory, which is synthesised through two phases that transform it from a psychological perspective into a phenomenological, individual-centric one. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was employed based on Heidegger’s existential philosophy. Phenomenological interviews were conducted to collect data centred on Gen Z consumers’ interpersonal experiences with staff within a technology-enabled fashion store environment. The interpretation of data and the presentation of findings use an innovative approach that adheres to Heidegger’s philosophy. A four-layers, comprehensive framework emerged from the findings to illustrate the interpersonal experience and its formation by bringing to light the intentional structure that has already been operative in consumers’ everyday patronage of fashion stores. In doing so, this study reveals the essence of consumers’ in-store interaction, thereby forming an enhanced understanding of consumers’ being-in-relation to staff and things in a technologically-enabled servicescape context against the backdrop of individuals’ everyday life. Intra-temporally, this approach provides insights into the improved integration of services provided by staff, technology and other environmental components for enhanced in-store experience, while inter-temporally, it reveals the subtleness and elusiveness of consumer-to-staff (human-to-human level) communication as well as the position of a fashion store in Gen Z consumers’ everyday life. As an innovatory, non-psychological approach aiming to understand consumer everyday experience, this study integrates Heidegger’s philosophy into the field of fashion marketing. As such, it provides an alternative methodological worldview for fashion business studies, with broader implications for practice and theory

Problematic Internet use among adults: a longitudinal European study

There are few cross-cultural studies utilizing longitudinal analysis to explore problematic internet use (PIU), and almost none among adults. The present follow-up study compared three waves across 12-month period every six months and observed the natural course and trajectory of PIU in a European multi-country sample of adults from 11 countries (Finland, Belgium). A total of 139 participants (45.5% females) provided data across all three waves with an average age of 26.14 years (SD = 5.92). There were longitudinal effects in PIU, with statistical differences between at-risk users compared to healthy users in Waves 1 and 2, and Waves 1 and 3. The analyses of variance showed a longitudinal effect of waves on the PIU symptoms. PIU was significantly affected by time and type of user, with those classed as at-risk having higher scores than healthy users, although PIU decreased over time. In addition, the type of PIU detected in adults contained mild addictive symptoms. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that PIU was generally low among European adult population and tended to decrease over the one-year period, what contrasts with adolescent population findings

Time to graduate level employment for new graduates in the United Kingdom

This paper estimates the time to graduate employment of new graduates from universities in the UK. Using data from the UK Graduate Outcomes Survey, survival functions are estimated to identify differences in time to graduate employment among different groups of graduates, stratified by institution. Differences in survival functions are confirmed across the different categories of university in the UK, with Russell Group universities holding a greater probability of employment at each time interval. A Cox Proportional Hazard model is estimated to identify the determinants of the differences in the time to graduate employment, with constant effects associated with secondary school performance, parental degree status, private school status and ethnicity. The remaining effects were shown to be time varying, including institution, degree classification and degree subject, with Russell Group graduates, graduates with high degree classifications and graduates of STEM displaying a persistent advantage in the early career labour market

Organisational career growth and work engagement: a moderated mediated model

Purpose – Drawing from the Conservation of Resources Theory and Organisational Justice Theory, this study examined the direct and indirect (via career resilience) effects of organisational career growth on work engagement. We further examined the boundary condition of procedure justice in the relationship between organisational career growth, career resilience, and work engagement. Design/methodology/approach – We employed time-lagged data collected in three waves from 431 employees working in the public health sector. Hierarchical regression analysis and Hayes Process Macro were used to test the study hypotheses. Findings – The findings revealed that organisational career growth has a significant positive direct and indirect influence on work engagement in the presence of career resilience. Also, the boundary condition of procedural justice was significant for employees who perceived procedural justice to be high as opposed to low. Practical implications – Organisational career growth has a positive influence on employee work engagement. Therefore, public health organisations need to prioritise employee career growth by creating an enabling environment that will help employees' career prospects and mitigate employees’ perception of low procedural justice. Originality/value – The originality of this study is in empirically establishing career resilience as an underlying mechanism in the relationship between organisational career growth and work engagement while considering the interactive effect of procedural justice. Additionally, the originality of this paper is demonstrated by empirically establishing that a perceived high level of procedural justice helps healthcare employees improve their work engagement, thus deepening our understanding of work engagement amongst health professionals

Dominance of leading business schools in top journals: Insights for increasing institutional representation

The competitive push for business schools to publish in prestigious journals has resulted in a disproportionate number of papers in prestigious Management and Operations Research/Management Science (OR/MS) journals coming from a select group of institutions. Our analysis shows the Matthew effect of prestigious journals favors established schools with 51.2 % of papers in 18 Management ABS 4* journals and 61.3 % of papers in 3 OR/MS ABS 4* journals involving authors from the 100 top business schools identified by the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). Citation patterns are similarly concentrated among papers authored by scholars from UTD-listed business schools, with nearly 80 % of citations from 4* Management journals directed to equally rated 4* Management journals (67.8 % for 4* OR/MS journals). An initial regression analysis suggested a positive correlation between the percentage of papers in a journal attributed to authors affiliated with those leading business schools and journal citation performance. However, further examination using multi-level regression adjusted for journal prestige, using the ABS and FT50 lists, showed a negative interaction effect on citation rates for papers from these schools in prestigious OR/MS journals. This insightful finding was confirmed by a post-hoc comparison revealing no significant citation advantage in prestigious journals for papers from leading business schools over those from a broader range of institutions. Thus, while leading business schools benefit from disproportionate space in prestigious journals, this does not translate to a citation advantage for the journals themselves, indicating no Matthew effect at the journal level driven by these schools. We argue that our findings show a unique opportunity for prestigious journals and business schools to expand collaborations with institutions in geographies historically underrepresented without a significant impact on the citation performance of those journals. This inclusion would only benefit research excellence, as our results demonstrate convergence in citation rates, citation patterns on external research areas, and topics across both subsets of papers—from leading institutions and those from a broader institutional spectrum—published in prestigious journals, indicating that diversifying contributions does not compromise the performance of these journals

Comparing the psychometric evidence of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) between Spanish and Chinese primary schoolteachers: insights from classical test theory and rasch analysis

Background: Primary schoolteachers play a pivotal role in the education of children, highlighting the importance of addressing their psychological well-being and mental health. While the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) is a globally recognized instrument for evaluating mental health, its systematic validation among primary schoolteachers, particularly in a cross-national context, remains understudied. The present cross-cultural study evaluated the psychometric properties of DASS-21 among primary schoolteachers in Spain and China to compare the DASS-21 between teachers across Western and Eastern cultures. Methods: The study sample comprised 1,350 Spanish and 2,580 Chinese primary schoolteachers. The DASS-21, alongside the Emotional Exhaustion Scale for Teachers, was used to evaluate its psychometric properties. The construct and concurrent validity of the DASS-21 were examined using Rasch analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Additionally, measurement invariance was tested across two national teacher cohorts. Results: Rasch analysis confirmed the validity of most DASS-21 items among both the Spanish and Chinese teachers, with only the same item from the Anxiety subscale showing inadequate fit in both countries. CFA across both countries initially favored a bifactor model, which was subsequently excluded due to problematic factor loadings. Instead, a single-factor model provided the best fit for Chinese teachers, while a correlated three-factor model was optimal for Spanish teachers. SEM demonstrated the DASS-21’s concurrent validity with emotional exhaustion, with consistent findings across both samples. After excluding Differential Item Functioning (DIF) items, strict measurement invariance between Spanish and Chinese teachers was achieved, as verified by multi-group CFA. Conclusion: The DASS-21 exhibits commendable psychometric properties, rendering it a suitable instrument for evaluating the mental illness of primary schoolteachers in both Spain and China