129 research outputs found
Understanding and promoting student mental health in Scottish higher education - a mapping exercise
There has been an increase in the incidence of mental health difficulties among HE students over the past decade. Official statistics show that the proportion of undergraduates declaring a mental health difficulty on entry to HE rose from 5 in every 10,000 in 1994-5 to 30 in every 10,000 in 2004-5. Incidence of severe psychological problems has increased, and student mental health is generally worse than that of the general population (for agematched populations). Anxiety and depression are the most commonly noted difficulties. The research review identified a relationship between mental health and the following factors: finances, accommodation, academic issues, university systems and social factors. Academic issues, and specifically coursework, emerged as particularly related to stress levels and mental health issues
a multi-centre cross-country comparison of women in management and leadership in academic health centres in the European Union
Background Womenâs participation in medicine and the need for gender equality
in healthcare are increasingly recognised, yet little attention is paid to
leadership and management positions in large publicly funded academic health
centres. This study illustrates such a need, taking the case of four large
European centres: CharitĂ© â UniversitĂ€tsmedizin Berlin (Germany), Karolinska
Institutet (Sweden), Medizinische UniversitÀt Wien (Austria), and Oxford
Academic Health Science Centre (United Kingdom). Case The percentage of female
medical students and doctors in all four countries is now well within the
40â60% gender balance zone. Women are less well represented among specialists
and remain significantly under-represented among senior doctors and full
professors. All four centres have made progress in closing the gender
leadership gap on boards and other top-level decision-making bodies, but a
gender leadership gap remains relevant. The level of achieved gender balance
varies significantly between the centres and largely mirrors country-specific
welfare state models, with more equal gender relations in Sweden than in the
other countries. Notably, there are also similar trends across countries and
centres: gender inequality is stronger within academic enterprises than within
hospital enterprises and stronger in middle management than at the top level.
These novel findings reveal fissures in the âglass ceilingâ effects at top-
level management, while the barriers for women shift to middle-level
management and remain strong in academic positions. The uneven shifts in the
leadership gap are highly relevant and have policy implications. Conclusion
Setting gender balance objectives exclusively for top-level decision-making
bodies may not effectively promote a wider goal of gender equality. Academic
health centres should pay greater attention to gender equality as an issue of
organisational performance and good leadership at all levels of management,
with particular attention to academic enterprises and newly created management
structures. Developing comprehensive gender-sensitive health workforce
monitoring systems and comparing progress across academic health centres in
Europe could help to identify the gender leadership gap and utilise health
human resources more effectively
Symptomatic hemorrhage after alteplase therapy not due to silent ischemia
BACKGROUND: Stroke thrombolysis-related intracerebral hemorrhage may occur remotely from the anatomical site of ischemia. One postulated mechanism for this is simultaneous multiple embolization with hemorrhage into a "silent" area of ischemia. RESULTS: A patient suffered a disabling stroke affecting the right cerebral hemisphere. He was treated with intravenous alteplase and underwent extensive early imaging with multimodal MRI. Several hours after treatment he developed a brainstem hemorrhage despite having no evidence of ischemia on DWI MRI in the brainstem. CONCLUSION: Not all occurrences of remote ICH after stroke thrombolysis are secondary to multiple emboli with silent ischemia
Leukoaraiosis, intracerebral hemorrhage, and functional outcome after acute stroke thrombolysis
OBJECTIVE: To perform a systematic review and pooled meta-analysis of published studies to assess whether the presence of leukoaraiosis on neuroimaging before treatment with thrombolysis (IV or intra-arterial) is associated with an increased risk of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) or poor functional outcome.
METHODS: We included studies of patients with acute ischemic stroke, treated with IV or intra-arterial thrombolysis, which assessed functional outcome (3-month modified Rankin Scale [mRS]) or sICH in relation to leukoaraiosis on pretreatment neuroimaging (CT or MRI). We used random-effects models to calculate pooled relative risks (RR) of sICH and poor functional outcome (mRS \u3e /= 2) for any vs no leukoaraiosis (using any rating scale) and for no to mild vs moderate to severe leukoaraiosis (using the Van Swieten or Fazekas Schmidt scale).
RESULTS: We identified 15 studies (total n = 6,967). For sICH outcome, the RR was 1.65 (n = 5,551; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.26-2.16, p = 0.001) with an absolute risk (AR) increase of 2.5% for any leukoaraiosis vs none. The RR was 2.4 (n = 4,192; 95% CI 1.83-3.14, p = 0.001) with an AR increase of 6.2% for moderate to severe vs no to mild leukoaraiosis. For poor functional outcome; the RR was 1.30 (n = 3,401; 95% CI 1.19-1.42, p = 0.001) with an AR increase of 15.4% for any leukoaraiosis vs none. The RR was 1.31 (n = 3,659; 95% CI 1.22-1.42, p = 0.001) with an AR increase of 17.5% for moderate to severe vs no to mild leukoaraiosis. No statistical heterogeneity was noted for any of the analyses.
CONCLUSIONS: Leukoaraiosis presence and severity are consistently associated with an increased risk of sICH and poor functional outcome after IV or intra-arterial thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke
Gender parity in scientific authorship in a National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre : a bibliometric analysis
Objective: Scientific authorship is a vital marker of achievement in academic careers and gender equity is a key performance metric in research. However, there is little understanding of gender equity in publications in biomedical research centres funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). This study assesses the gender parity in scientific authorship of biomedical research.
Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective bibliometric study.
Setting: NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC).
Data: Data comprised 2409 publications that were either accepted or published between April 2012 and March 2017. The publications were classified as basic science studies, clinical studies (both trial and non-trial studies) and other studies (comments, editorials, systematic reviews, reviews, opinions, book chapters, meeting reports, guidelines and protocols).
Main outcome measures: Gender of authors, defined as a binary variable comprising either male or female categories, in six authorship categories: first author, joint first authors, first corresponding author, joint corresponding authors, last author and joint last authors.
Results: Publications comprised 39% clinical research (n=939), 27% basic research (n=643) and 34% other types of research (n=827). The proportion of female authors as first author (41%), first corresponding authors (34%) and last author (23%) was statistically significantly lower than male authors in these authorship categories (p<0.001). Of total joint first authors (n=458), joint corresponding authors (n=169) and joint last authors (n=229), female only authors comprised statistically significant (p<0.001) smaller proportions, that is, 15% (n=69), 29% (n=49) and 10% (n=23) respectively, compared with male only authors in these joint authorship categories. There was a statistically significant association between gender of the last author with gender of the first author (p<0.001), first corresponding author (p<0.001) and joint last author (p<0.001). The mean journal impact factor (JIF) was statistically significantly higher when the first corresponding author was male compared with female (Mean JIF: 10.00 vs 8.77, p=0.020); however, the JIF was not statistically different when there were male and female authors as first authors and last authors.
Conclusions: Although the proportion of female authors is significantly lower than the proportion of male authors in all six categories of authorship analysed, the proportions of male and female last authors are comparable to their respective proportions as principal investigators in the BRC. These findings suggest positive trends and the NIHR Oxford BRC doing very well in gender parity in the senior (last) authorship category. Male corresponding authors are more likely to publish articles in prestigious journals with high impact factor while both male and female authors at first and last authorship positions publish articles in equally prestigious journals
How to establish the outer limits of reperfusion therapy
Reperfusion therapy with intravenous alteplase and endovascular therapy are effective treatments for selected patients with acute ischemic stroke. Guidelines for treatment are based upon randomized trials demonstrating substantial treatment effects for highly selected patients based on time from stroke onset and imaging features. However, patients beyond the current established guidelines might benefit with lesser but still clinically significant treatment effects. The STAIR (Stroke Treatment Academic Industry Roundtable) XI meeting convened a workgroup to consider the âouter limitsâ of reperfusion therapy by defining the current boundaries, and exploring optimal parameters and methodology for determining the outer limits. In addition to statistical significance, the minimum clinically important difference should be considered in exploring the limits of reperfusion therapy. Societal factors and quality of life considerations should be incorporated into assessment of treatment efficacy. The threshold for perception of benefit in the medical community may differ from that necessary for the Food and Drug Administration approval. Data from alternative sources such as platform trials, registries and large pragmatic trials should supplement randomized controlled trials to improve generalizability to routine clinical practice. Further interactions between industry and academic centers should be encouraged
Acute stroke imaging research roadmap IV : imaging selection and outcomes in acute stroke clinical trials and practice
Background and Purpose:
The Stroke Treatment Academic Industry Roundtable (STAIR) sponsored an imaging session and workshop during the Stroke Treatment Academic Industry Roundtable XI via webinar on October 1 to 2, 2020, to develop consensus recommendations, particularly regarding optimal imaging at primary stroke centers.
Methods:
This forum brought together stroke neurologists, neuroradiologists, neuroimaging research scientists, members of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, industry representatives, and members of the US Food and Drug Administration to discuss imaging priorities in the light of developments in reperfusion therapies, particularly in an extended time window, and reinvigorated interest in brain cytoprotection trials.
Results:
The imaging session summarized and compared the imaging components of recent acute stroke trials and debated the optimal imaging strategy at primary stroke centers. The imaging workshop developed consensus recommendations for optimizing the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of computed tomography and magnetic resonance acute stroke imaging, and also recommendations on imaging strategies for primary stroke centers.
Conclusions:
Recent positive acute stroke clinical trials have extended the treatment window for reperfusion therapies using imaging selection. Achieving rapid and high-quality stroke imaging is therefore critical at both primary and comprehensive stroke centers. Recommendations for enhancing stroke imaging research are provided
Stroke: Working Toward a Prioritized World Agenda
The aim of the Synergium was to devise and prioritize new ways of accelerating progress in reducing the risks, effects, and consequences of stroke
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