587 research outputs found
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A protocol paper on the preservation of identity: understanding the technology adoption patterns of older adults with age-related vision loss (ARVL)
There are a growing number of older adults with age-related vision loss (ARVL) for whom technology holds promise in supporting their engagement in daily activities. Despite the growing presence of technologies intended to support older adults with ARVL, there remains high rates of abandonment. This phenomenon of technology abandonment may be partly explained by the concept of self-image, meaning that older adults with ARVL avoid the use of particular technologies due to an underlying fear that use of such technologies may mark them as objects of pity, ridicule, and/or stigmatization. In response to this, the proposed study aims to understand how the decision-making processes of older adults with ARVL, as it relates to technology adoption, is influenced by the negotiation of identity. The study protocol will justify the need for this critical ethnographic study, unpack the theoretical underpinnings of this work, detail the sampling/recruitment strategy, describe the methods which included a home tour, go-along, and semi-structured in-depth interview, as well as the collective approach taken to analyze the data. The protocol concludes by examining the ethical tensions associated with this study, including a focus on the methods adopted as well as the ethical challenges inherent when working with an older adult population experiencing vision loss
Academic research groups: evaluation of their quality and quality of their evaluation
In recent years, evaluation of the quality of academic research has become an
increasingly important and influential business. It determines, often to a
large extent, the amount of research funding flowing into universities and
similar institutes from governmental agencies and it impacts upon academic
careers. Policy makers are becoming increasingly reliant upon, and influenced
by, the outcomes of such evaluations. In response, university managers are
increasingly attracted to simple indicators as guides to the dynamics of the
positions of their various institutions in league tables. However, these league
tables are frequently drawn up by inexpert bodies such as newspapers and
magazines, using rather arbitrary measures and criteria. Terms such as
"critical mass' and "metrics" are often bandied about without proper
understanding of what they actually mean. Rather than accepting the rise and
fall of universities, departments and individuals on a turbulent sea of
arbitrary measures, we suggest it is incumbent upon the scientific community
itself to clarify their nature. Here we report on recent attempts to do that by
properly defining critical mass and showing how group size influences research
quality. We also examine currently predominant metrics and show that these fail
as reliable indicators of group research quality.Comment: Presented at the International Conference on Computer Simulation in
Physics and Beyond in Moscow, 2015. The Proceedings will appear in Journal of
Physics: Conference Series (JPCS
A systematic review of high quality randomized controlled trials investigating motor skill programmes for children with developmental coordination disorder.
To identify effective motor training interventions for children with developmental coordination disorder from research graded as high quality (using objective criteria) for the purpose of informing evidence-based clinical practice.We followed the guidance for conducting systematic reviews issued by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Six OvidSP electronic databases (AMED, All EBM reviews (including Cochrane), Embase, Ovid MEDLINE, PsychARTICLES Full Text, PsycINFO) were searched systematically. We aimed to retain only randomized control trials and systematic reviews of randomized control trials, defined as the highest level of evidence by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. We searched reference lists of retained articles to identify further appropriate articles.Two reviewers critically appraised and categorized articles by effect size (including confidence intervals), inclusion of power calculations and quality using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. Only studies scoring seven or more on the PEDro scale (classed by the PEDro as high reliability) were retained.No systematic reviews met our criteria for inclusion from 846 articles yielded by the systematic search. Nine randomized control trials investigating 15 interventions to improve motor skills met our inclusion criteria for 'high quality'. Nevertheless, not all included studies were adequately powered for determining an effect.Large effect sizes associated with 95 % confidence intervals suggest that 'Neuromotor Task Training', 'Task-oriented Motor Training' and 'Motor Imagery + Task Practice Training' are the most effective reported interventions for improving motor skills in children with developmental coordination disorder
Talking about links between sexually transmitted infections and infertility with college and university students from SE England, UK: a qualitative study
Background
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea are largely symptomless diseases which, left untreated, can result in serious complications including infertility. Fertility problems currently affect approximately one in seven couples in the UK and there is increasing demand for couples seeking reproductive technologies. Young people are at greatest risk of contracting STIs, therefore this study aimed to identify young peopleâs knowledge and beliefs about the link between untreated STIs and infertility.
Methods
Focus groups were conducted with participants aged 16â24 years old inclusive in college or university settings in the SE of England. Groups were quota sampled on the basis of age and gender. A topic guide was used. The data were analysed using a framework analysis approach.
Results
Ten single-sex focus groups were conducted with sixty participants: six groups of college students and four groups of university students. Participants were generally aware of the link between STIs and potential infertility and considered the discussion of this subject very relevant at their age. Knowledge about how and why STIs potentially lead to fertility complications was poor. The issues of blame relating to infertility following an STI emerged, although most participants did not think that access to free reproductive technologies after an untreated STI should be limited.
Conclusions
Young people would benefit from more education in order to improve their understanding of the long-term consequences of untreated STIs, such as infertility. Participants in our sample felt these were extremely relevant and important issues for them to understand alongside current education about STIs
Correlation functions of eigenvalues of multi-matrix models, and the limit of a time dependent matrix
We consider the correlation functions of eigenvalues of a unidimensional
chain of large random hermitian matrices. An asymptotic expression of the
orthogonal polynomials allows to find new results for the correlations of
eigenvalues of different matrices of the chain. Eventually, we consider the
limit of the infinite chain of matrices, which can be interpreted as a time
dependent one-matrix model, and give the correlation functions of eigenvalues
at different times.Comment: Tex-Harvmac, 27 pages, submitted to Journ. Phys.
A prospective evaluation of the predictive value of faecal calprotectin in quiescent Crohnâs disease
Background: The faecal calprotectin (FC) test is a non-invasive marker for gastrointestinal inflammation.
Aim: To determine whether higher FC levels in individuals with quiescent Crohnâs disease are associated with clinical relapse over the ensuing 12 months.<p></p>
Methods: A single centre prospective study was undertaken in Crohn's disease patients in clinical remission attending for routine review. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the primary endpoint of clinical relapse by 12 months, based on FC at baseline, was calculated. Kaplan-Meier curves of time to relapse were based on the resulting optimal FC cutoff for predicting relapse.<p></p>
Results: Of 97 patients recruited, 92 were either followed up for 12 months without relapsing, or reached the primary endpoint within that period. Of these, 10 (11%) had relapsed by 12 months. The median FC was lower for non-relapsers, 96”g/g (IQR 39-237), than for relapsers, 414”g/g (IQR 259-590), (p=0.005). The area under the ROC curve to predict relapse using FC was 77.4%. An optimal cutoff FC value of 240”g/g to predict relapse of quiescent Crohnâs had sensitivity of 80.0% and specificity of 74.4%. Negative predictive value was 96.8% and positive predictive value was 27.6%. FCâ„240ÎŒg/g was associated with likelihood of relapse 5.7 (95% CI 1.9-17.3) times higher within 2.3 years than lower values (p=0.002).<p></p>
Conclusions: In this prospective dataset, FC appears to be a useful, non-invasive tool to help identify quiescent Crohnâs disease patients at a low risk of relapse over the ensuing 12 months. FC of 240”g/g was the optimal cutoff in this cohort.<p></p>
Teacher fabrication as an impediment to professional learning and development: the external mentor antidote
This paper reports findings from a study of the work of 'external mentors' associated with three programmes of support for the professional learning and development (PLD) of secondary science teachers in England. Focusing on outcomes from analyses of data derived from interviews with 47 mentees and 19 mentors, the paper supports and extends existing research on the construction and maintenance of fabrications in schools, and identifies omissions in the evidence base relating to teacher PLD. It is argued that the kinds of fabrications revealed by the teachers interviewed for this research present a serious impediment to their opportunities for school-based PLD, and that the deployment of external mentors (i.e. those not based in the same schools as the teachers they support) can provide a potentially powerful antidote to this. A number of implications for policy and practice in teacher professional learning and development are discussed. Amongst these, it is argued that more teachers should have the opportunity to access external support for their PLD, and that policy makers and head teachers should seek to reduce the degree to which teachers' 'performance' is observed, inspected and assessed
Effectiveness of agriâenvironmental management on pollinators is moderated more by ecological contrast than by landscape structure or landâuse intensity
Agri-environment management (AEM) started in the 1980s in Europe to mitigate biodiversity decline, but the effectiveness of AEM has been questioned. We hypothesize that this is caused by a lack of a large enough ecological contrast between AEM and non-treated control sites. The effectiveness of AEM may be moderated by landscape structure and land-use intensity. Here, we examined the influence of local ecological contrast, landscape structure and regional land-use intensity on AEM effectiveness in a meta-analysis of 62 European pollinator studies. We found that ecological contrast was most important in determining the effectiveness of AEM, but landscape structure and regional land-use intensity played also a role. In conclusion, the most successful way to enhance AEM effectiveness for pollinators is to implement measures that result in a large ecological improvement at a local scale, which exhibit a strong contrast to conventional practices in simple landscapes of intensive land-use regions
An assessment of image distortion and CT number accuracy within a wide-bore CT extended field of view
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Biomarker disclosure protocols in prodromal Alzheimer's disease clinical trials
IntroductionThe development of biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) has allowed researchers to increase sample homogeneity and test candidate treatments earlier in the disease. The integration of biomarker "screening" criteria should be met with a parallel implementation of standardized methods to disclose biomarker testing results to research participants; however, the extent to which protocolized disclosure occurs in trials is unknown.MethodsWe reviewed the literature to identify prodromal AD trials published in the past 10 years. From these, we quantified the frequency of biomarker disclosure reporting and the depth of descriptions provided.ResultsOf 30 published trials using positron emission tomography or cerebrospinal fluid-based amyloid positivity as an eligibility criterion, only one mentioned disclosure, with no details on methods.DiscussionPossible reasons for and implications of this information gap are discussed. Recommendations are provided for trialists considering biomarker screening as part of intervention trials focused on prodromal AD.HighlightsFew prodromal Alzheimer's disease (AD) trial papers discuss biomarker disclosure. Disclosure has implications for participants, family members, and trial success. Disclosure must be consistently integrated and reported in prodromal AD trials. Best practice guidelines and training resources for disclosure are needed
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