Research priorities for intra-articular corticosteroid injections for osteoarthritis:A Delphi study

OBJECTIVE: To identify research priorities for intra-articular corticosteroid injections for osteoarthritis using a Delphi study. DESIGN: In the Round 1 questionnaire, participants generated up to five potential research topics related to corticosteroid injections for osteoarthritis. These responses were collated and grouped to develop candidate research questions. Literature searches were conducted and questions with a lack of evidence were included in the next round. In Round 2, importance ratings (1–9; not important to very important) were assigned to each question. Those questions given an importance rating of 7–9 by ≥ 70% of participants were carried forward. In Round 3, participants were provided with the group ratings and the rating process was repeated to develop the final research priority list. RESULTS: All three Delphi rounds were completed by 75 participants (82%; 34 patients, 21 healthcare professionals and 20 academics). A total of 310 research topics were generated in Round 1, from which 26 research questions were developed. None had been robustly answered by research and therefore all were included in the Round 2 questionnaire. In Round 2, 14 research questions were retained; all 14 were prioritised in Round 3 and included in the final research priority list. The questions covered long-term effects, clinical and cost-effectiveness, measurement of outcomes, comparison to other treatments, provision, safety, identifying responders, maximising benefits, patient experience, delaying the need for joint replacement, and dosage. CONCLUSION: Using a robust consensus technique with key stakeholders, we have developed a research priority list to guide future research into corticosteroid injections for osteoarthritis

Field validation of habitat suitability models for vulnerable marine ecosystems in the South Pacific Ocean:Implications for the use of broad-scale models in fisheries management

AbstractManagement of human activities which impact the seafloor in the deep ocean is becoming increasingly important as bottom trawling and exploration for minerals, oil, and gas continue to extend into regions where fragile ecosystems containing habitat-forming deep-sea corals and sponges may be found. Spatial management of these vulnerable marine ecosystems requires accurate knowledge of their distribution. Predictive habitat suitability modelling, using species presence data and a suite of environmental predictor variables, has emerged as a useful tool for inferring distributions outside of known areas. However, validation of model predictions is typically performed with non-independent data. In this study, we describe the results of habitat suitability models constructed for four deep-sea reef-forming coral species across a large region of the South Pacific Ocean using MaxEnt and Boosted Regression Tree modelling approaches. In order to validate model predictions we conducted a photographic survey on a set of seamounts in an un-sampled area east of New Zealand. The likelihood of habitat suitable for reef-forming corals on these seamounts was predicted to be variable, but very high in some regions, particularly where levels of aragonite saturation, dissolved oxygen, and particulate organic carbon were optimal. However, the observed frequency of coral occurrence in analyses of survey photographic data was much lower than expected, and patterns of observed versus predicted coral distribution were not highly correlated. The poor performance of these broad-scale models is attributed to lack of recorded species absences to inform the models, low precision of global bathymetry models, and lack of data on the geomorphology and substrate of the seamounts at scales appropriate to the modelled taxa. This demonstrates the need to use caution when interpreting and applying broad-scale, presence-only model results for fisheries management and conservation planning in data poor areas of the deep sea. Future improvements in the predictive performance of broad-scale models will rely on the continued advancement in modelling of environmental predictor variables, refinements in modelling approaches to deal with missing or biased inputs, and incorporation of true absence data

Searching for stochastic gravitational-wave background with the co-located LIGO interferometers

This paper presents techniques developed by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration to search for the stochastic gravitational-wave background using the co-located pair of LIGO interferometers at Hanford, WA. We use correlations between interferometers and environment monitoring instruments, as well as time-shifts between two interferometers (described here for the first time) to identify correlated noise from non-gravitational sources. We veto particularly noisy frequency bands and assess the level of residual non-gravitational coupling that exists in the surviving data.Comment: Proceedings paper from the 7th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves, held in Sydney, Australia from 8-14 July 2007. Accepted to J. Phys.: Conf. Se

Stromal expression of decorin, Semaphorin6D, SPARC, Sprouty1 and Tsukushi in developing prostate and decreased levels of decorin in prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: During prostate development, mesenchymal-epithelial interactions regulate organ growth and differentiation. In adult prostate, stromal-epithelial interactions are important for tissue homeostasis and also play a significant role in prostate cancer. In this study we have identified molecules that show a mesenchymal expression pattern in the developing prostate, and one of these showed reduced expression in prostate cancer stroma. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Five candidate molecules identified by transcript profiling of developmental prostate mesenchyme were selected using a wholemount in situ hybridisation screen and studied Decorin (Dcn), Semaphorin6D (Sema6D), SPARC/Osteonectin (SPARC), Sprouty1 (Spry-1) and Tsukushi (Tsku). Expression in rat tissues was evaluated using wholemount in situ hybridisation (postnatal day (P) 0.5) and immunohistochemistry (embryonic day (E) E17.5, E19.5; P0.5; P6; 28 & adult). Four candidates (Decorin, SPARC, Spry-1, Tsukushi) were immunolocalised in human foetal prostate (weeks 14, 16, 19) and expression of Decorin was evaluated on a human prostate cancer tissue microarray. In embryonic and perinatal rats Decorin, Semaphorin6D, SPARC, Spry-1 and Tsukushi were expressed with varying distribution patterns throughout the mesenchyme at E17.5, E19.5, P0.5 and P6.5. In P28 and adult prostates there was either a decrease in the expression (Semaphorin6D) or a switch to epithelial expression of SPARC, and Spry-1, whereas Decorin and Tsukushi were specific to mesenchyme/stroma at all ages. Expression of Decorin, SPARC, Spry-1 and Tsukushi in human foetal prostates paralleled that in rat. Decorin showed mesenchymal and stromal-specific expression at all ages and was further examined in prostate cancer, where stromal expression was significantly reduced compared with non-malignant prostate. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: We describe the spatio-temporal expression of Decorin, Semaphorin6D, SPARC, Spry-1 and Tsukushi in developing prostate and observed similar mesenchymal expression patterns in rat and human. Additionally, Decorin showed reduced expression in prostate cancer stroma compared to non-malignant prostate stroma

The impact of spin–orbit coupling on fine-structure and spin polarisation in photoexcited porphyrin triplet states

The photoexcited triplet states of porphyrins show great promise for applications in the fields of opto-electronics, photonics, molecular wires, and spintronics. The magnetic properties of porphyrin triplet states are most conveniently studied by time-resolved continuous wave and pulse electron spin resonance (ESR). This family of techniques is singularly able to probe small yet essential details of triplet states: zero-field splittings, g-anisotropy, spin polarisation, and hyperfine interactions. These characteristics are linked to spin–orbit coupling (SOC) which is known to have a strong influence on photophysical properties such as intersystem crossing rates. The present study explores SOC effects induced by the presence of Pd2+ in various porphyrin architectures. In particular, the impact of this relativistic interaction on triplet state fine-structure and spin polarisation is investigated. These properties are probed using time-resolved ESR complemented by electron-nuclear double resonance. The findings of this study could influence the future design of molecular spintronic devices. The Pd2+ ion may be incorporated into porphyrin molecular wires as a way of controlling spin polarisation

Diffusing an Innovation: Clinician Perceptions of Continuous Predictive Analytics Monitoring in Intensive Care

Background The purpose of this article is to describe neonatal intensive care unit clinician perceptions of a continuous predictive analytics technology and how those perceptions influenced clinician adoption. Adopting and integrating new technology into care is notoriously slow and difficult; realizing expected gains remain a challenge. Methods Semistructured interviews from a cross-section of neonatal physicians (n ¼ 14) and nurses (n ¼ 8) from a single U.S. medical center were collected 18 months following the conclusion of the predictive monitoring technology randomized control trial. Following qualitative descriptive analysis, innovation attributes from Diffusion of Innovation Theory-guided thematic development. Results Results suggest that the combination of physical location as well as lack of integration into work flow or methods of using data in care decisionmaking may have delayed clinicians from routinely paying attention to the data. Once data were routinely collected, documented, and reported during patient rounds and patient handoffs, clinicians came to view data as another vital sign. Through clinicians’ observation of senior physicians and nurses, and ongoing dialogue about data trends and patient status, clinicians learned how to integrate these data in care decision making (e.g., differential diagnosis) and came to value the technology as beneficial to care delivery. Discussion The use of newly created predictive technologies that provide early warning of illness may require implementation strategies that acknowledge the risk–benefit of treatment cliniciansmust balance and take advantage of existing clinician trainingmethods

The changing information environment for nanotechnology: online audiences and content

The shift toward online communication in all realms, from print newspapers to broadcast television, has implications for how the general public consumes information about nanotechnology. The goal of this study is threefold: to investigate who is using online sources for information and news about science and nanotechnology, to examine what the general public is searching for online with regards to nanotechnology, and to analyze what they find in online content of nanotechnology. Using survey data, we find those who report the Internet as their primary source of science and technology news are diverse in age, more knowledgeable about science and nanotechnology, highly educated, male, and more diverse racially than users of other media. In a comparison of demographic data on actual visits by online users to general news and science Web sites, science sites attracted more male, non-white users from the Western region of the United States than news sites did. News sites, on the other hand, attracted those with a slightly higher level of education. Our analysis of published estimates of keyword searches on nanotechnology reveals people are turning to the Internet to search for keyword searches related to the future, health, and applications of nanotechnology. A content analysis of online content reveals health content dominates overall. Comparisons of content in different types of sites—blogs, government, and general sites—are conducted

Joint LIGO and TAMA300 search for gravitational waves from inspiralling neutron star binaries

We search for coincident gravitational wave signals from inspiralling neutron star binaries using LIGO and TAMA300 data taken during early 2003. Using a simple trigger exchange method, we perform an intercollaboration coincidence search during times when TAMA300 and only one of the LIGO sites were operational. We find no evidence of any gravitational wave signals. We place an observational upper limit on the rate of binary neutron star coalescence with component masses between 1 and 3M of 49 per year per Milky Way equivalent galaxy at a 90% confidence level. The methods developed during this search will find application in future network inspiral analyses. © 2006 The American Physical Society

Upper limits from the LIGO and TAMA detectors on the rate of gravitational-wave bursts

We report on the first joint search for gravitational waves by the TAMA and LIGO collaborations. We looked for millisecond-duration unmodeled gravitational-wave bursts in 473 hr of coincident data collected during early 2003. No candidate signals were found. We set an upper limit of 0.12 events per day on the rate of detectable gravitational-wave bursts, at 90% confidence level. From software simulations, we estimate that our detector network was sensitive to bursts with root-sum-square strain amplitude above approximately 1-3×10-19Hz-1/2 in the frequency band 700-2000 Hz. We describe the details of this collaborative search, with particular emphasis on its advantages and disadvantages compared to searches by LIGO and TAMA separately using the same data. Benefits include a lower background and longer observation time, at some cost in sensitivity and bandwidth. We also demonstrate techniques for performing coincidence searches with a heterogeneous network of detectors with different noise spectra and orientations. These techniques include using coordinated software signal injections to estimate the network sensitivity, and tuning the analysis to maximize the sensitivity and the livetime, subject to constraints on the background. © 2005 The American Physical Society