Evaluating Quality of Decision-Making Processes in Medicines' Development, Regulatory Review, and Health Technology Assessment : A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Introduction: Although pharmaceutical companies, regulatory authorities, and health technology assessment (HTA) agencies have been increasingly using decision-making frameworks, it is not certain whether these enable better quality decision making. This could be addressed by formally evaluating the quality of decision-making process within those organizations. The aim of this literature review was to identify current techniques (tools, questionnaires, surveys, and studies) for measuring the quality of the decision-making process across the three stakeholders. Methods: Using MEDLINE, Web of Knowledge, and other Internet-based search engines, a literature review was performed to systematically identify techniques for assessing quality of decision making in medicines development, regulatory review, and HTA. A structured search was applied using key words and a secondary review was carried out. In addition, the measurement properties of each technique were assessed and compared. Ten Quality Decision-Making Practices (QDMPs) developed previously were then used as a framework for the evaluation of techniques identified in the review. Due to the variation in studies identified, meta-analysis was inappropriate. Results: This review identified 13 techniques, where 7 were developed specifically to assess decision making in medicines' development, regulatory review, or HTA; 2 examined corporate decision making, and 4 general decision making. Regarding how closely each technique conformed to the 10 QDMPs, the 13 techniques assessed a median of 6 QDMPs, with a mode of 3 QDMPs. Only 2 techniques evaluated all 10 QDMPs, namely the Organizational IQ and the Quality of Decision Making Orientation Scheme (QoDoS), of which only one technique, QoDoS could be applied to assess decision making of both individuals and organizations, and it possessed generalizability to capture issues relevant to companies as well as regulatory authorities. Conclusion: This review confirmed a general paucity of research in this area, particularly regarding the development and systematic application of techniques for evaluating quality decision making, with no consensus around a gold standard. This review has identified QoDoS as the most promising available technique for assessing decision making in the lifecycle of medicines and the next steps would be to further test its validity, sensitivity, and reliability.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

What factors influence training opportunities for older workers? Three factorial surveys exploring the attitudes of HR professionals

The core research questions addressed in this paper are: what factors influence HR professionals in deciding whether to approve training proposals for older workers? What kind of training are they more likely to recommend for older employees and in which organizational contexts? We administered three factorial surveys to 66 HR professionals in Italy. Participants made specific training decisions based on profiles of hypothetical older workers. Multilevel analyses indicated that access to training decreases strongly with age, while highly-skilled older employees with low absenteeism rates are more likely to enjoy training opportunities. In addition, older workers displaying positive performance are more likely to receive training than older workers who perform poorly, suggesting that training late in working life may serve as a reward for good performance rather than as a means of enhancing productivity. The older the HR professional evaluating training proposals, the higher the probability that older workers will be recommended for training. keywords: training; older workers; HR professionals; factorial survey; multilevel model

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Efek Proteksi dari Terapi Oksigen Hiperbarik terhadap Ekspresi Bcl-2 Miometrium Rattus norvegicus Bunting yang Terinfeksi oleh Tachyzoite Toxoplasma gondii

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) can increase oxygen delivery to tissues and stimulate the formation of H2O2 as a secondary messenger for phosphorylation of nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-kB) which plays an important role in the transcription of the anti apoptotic gene. This study aimed to determine the effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) in enhancing the expressions of Bcl-2 in the myometrium of pregnant rats infected by Toxoplasma gondii. This study was an experimental study with a randomized control group of post-test only and designed by 37 pregnant Rattus norvegicus Sprague Dawley. Randomly, the rats were divided into four groups. Group A is infected pregnant rats that exposed by 10 sessions of HBOT 2.4 ATA in 3x30 minutes. Group B is non-infected pregnant rats and exposed by 10 sessions of HBOT 2.4 ATA in 3x30 minutes. Group C is infected pregnant rats without any exposure. Group D is non-infected pregnant rats without any exposure. Each infected pregnant rat was given a 103 tachyzoite of T.gondii by intraperitoneal injection. Bcl-2 expressions were measured through immunohistochemistry. All data were analyzed using ANOVA test through SPSS 21 program application. There was a significant difference in Bcl-2 expression between Group A and Group C because p<α (p<0.017). HBOT can increase the expression of Bcl-2 from infected and not infected rat myometrium, in the provision of HBOT 2.4 ATA for 3x30 minutes, twice a day for 5 days

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