Cochrane Centralised Search Service showed high sensitivity identifying randomized controlled trials: A retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND: The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) is compiled from a number of sources, including PubMed and Embase. Since 2017, we have increased the number of sources feeding into CENTRAL and improved the efficiency of our processes through the use of APIs, machine learning and crowdsourcing. OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were twofold: (1) Assess the effectiveness of Cochrane's centralised search and screening processes to correctly identify references to published reports which are eligible for inclusion in Cochrane systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials (RCTs). (2) Identify opportunities to improve the performance of Cochrane's centralised search and screening processes to identify references to eligible trials. METHODS: We identified all references to RCTs (either published journal articles or trial registration records) with a publication or registration date between 1st January 2017 and 31st December 2018 that had been included in a Cochrane intervention review. We then viewed an audit trail for each included reference to determine if it had been identified by our centralised search process and subsequently added to CENTRAL. RESULTS: We identified 650 references to included studies with a publication year of 2017 or 2018. Of those, 634 (97.5%) had been captured by Cochrane's Centralised Search Service (CSS). Sixteen references had been missed by the CSS: six had PubMed-not-MEDLINE status, four were missed by the centralised Embase search, three had been misclassified by Cochrane Crowd, one was from a journal not indexed in MEDLINE or Embase, one had only been added to Embase in 2019, and one reference had been rejected by the automated RCT machine learning classifier. Of the sixteen missed references, eight were the main or only publication to the trial in the review in which it had been included. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis has shown that Cochrane's centralised search and screening processes are highly sensitive. It has also helped us to understand better why some references to eligible RCTs have been missed. The CSS is playing a critical role in helping to populate CENTRAL and is moving us towards making CENTRAL a comprehensive repository of RCTs

Analysis of weighted networks

The connections in many networks are not merely binary entities, either present or not, but have associated weights that record their strengths relative to one another. Recent studies of networks have, by and large, steered clear of such weighted networks, which are often perceived as being harder to analyze than their unweighted counterparts. Here we point out that weighted networks can in many cases be analyzed using a simple mapping from a weighted network to an unweighted multigraph, allowing us to apply standard techniques for unweighted graphs to weighted ones as well. We give a number of examples of the method, including an algorithm for detecting community structure in weighted networks and a new and simple proof of the max-flow/min-cut theorem.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Expression of TLR-2 in hepatocellular carcinoma is associated with tumour proliferation, angiogenesis and Caspase-3 expression

Aims: Unlike other Toll-like receptors (TLRs), the role of toll like receptor 2 (TLR-2) in the pathogenesis of chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not well studied. We, therefore, set out to investigate the expression of TLR-2 in different chronic liver disease states along with other markers of cell death, cellular proliferation and tissue vascularisation Methods and results: Immunohistochemistry was performed on liver tissue microarrays comprising hepatitis, cirrhosis and HCC patient samples using antibodies against TLR-2, Ki-67, Caspase-3 and VEGF. This was done in order to characterise receptor expression and translocation, apoptosis, cell proliferation and vascularisation. Cytoplasmic TLR-2 expression was found to be weak in 5/8 normal liver cases, 10/19 hepatitis cases and 8/21 cirrhosis patients. Moderate to strong TLR-2 expression was observed in some cases of hepatitis and cirrhosis. Both, nuclear and cytoplasmic TLR-2 expression was present in HCC with weak intensity in 11/41 cases, and moderate to strong staining in 19/41 cases. Eleven HCC cases were TLR-2 negative. Surprisingly, both cytoplasmic and nuclear TLR-2 expression in HCC were found to significantly correlate with proliferative index (r = 0.24 and 0.37), Caspase-3 expression (r = 0.27 and 0.38) and vascularisation (r = 0.56 and 0.23). Further, nuclear TLR-2 localisation was predominant in HCC, whereas cytoplasmic expression was more prevalent in hepatitis and cirrhosis. Functionally, treatment of HUH7 HCC cells with a TLR-2 agonist induced the expression of cellular proliferation and vascularisation markers CD34 and VEGF. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate a positive correlation between the expression of TLR-2 and other markers of proliferation and vascularisation in HCC which suggests a possible role for TLR-2 in HCC pathogenesi

How do psychiatrists address delusions in first meetings in acute care? A qualitative study

Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

The Forms of Bullying Scale (FBS): Validity and reliability estimates for a measure of bullying victimization and perpetration in adolescence

The study of bullying behavior and its consequences for young people depends on valid and reliable measurement of bullying victimization and perpetration. Although numerous self-report bullying-related measures have been developed, robust evidence of their psychometric properties is scant, and several limitations inhibit their applicability. The Forms of Bullying Scale (FBS), with versions to measure bullying victimization (FBS-V) and perpetration (FBS-P), was developed on the basis of existing instruments, for use with 12-to 15-year-old adolescents to economically, yet comprehensively measure both bullying perpetration and victimization. Measurement properties were estimated. Scale validity was tested using data from 2 independent studies of 3,496 Grade 8 and 783 Grade 8-10 students, respectively. Construct validity of scores on the FBS was shown in confirmatory factor analysis. The factor structure was not invariant across gender. Strong associations between the FBS-V and FBS-P and separate single-item bullying items demonstrated adequate concurrent validity. Correlations, in directions as expected with social-emotional outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, conduct problems, and peer support), provided robust evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Responses to the FBS items were found to be valid and concurrently reliable measures of self-reported frequency of bullying victimization and perpetration, as well as being useful to measure involvement in the different forms of bullying behaviors

Digitally engaged? Reflections and recommendations for engaging citizens in smart cities

A significant cultural shift occurred over recent decades, with the majority of the world’s population now living in cities and contributing over two thirds of global carbon emissions. If countries around the world are to meet challenging global carbon reduction targets, then how our cities are governed and managed to maximize energy efficiency is of vital importance. Faith is increasingly being placed in what are commonly referred to as ‘smart cities.’ Smart cities seemingly offer a utopian vision of urban integration, efficiency and [subsequent] carbon reductions, yet urbanisation presents real challenges, as noted by Sustainable Development Goal 11: “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. Cities are made up of people and increasingly both policymakers and practitioners are starting to see citizens as an essential stakeholder, even if there is a blurring over the boundaries between citizens and consumers. It is unclear what these people actually refer to when they talk about citizen engagement. Adopting key theoretical underpinning of ladder of participation (Arnstein), this research will present findings from case studies of novel citizen engagement from around the world, notably Nottingham (UK), Espoo (Finland) and Portland (USA). Utilising semi-structured interview material findings are analysed through critical framework of citizen engagement to see whether they fulfil the notion of smart cities and communities. Specifically, new forms of engagement that do not fit previously held assumptions around participation need to be considered. Recommendations are provided for increasing new forms of citizen engagement in smart city strategies in order to ensure they are fully adopted and embedded

Comprehension as social and intellectual practice: Rebuilding curriculum in low socioeconomic and cultural minority schools

This article reframes the concept of comprehension as a social and intellectual practice. It reviews current approaches to reading instruction for linguistically and culturally diverse and low socioeconomic students, noting an emphasis on comprehension as autonomous skills. The Four Resources model (Freebody & Luke, 1990) is used to make the case for the integration of comprehension instruction with an emphasis on student cultural and community knowledge, and substantive intellectual and sociocultural content in elementary school curricula. Illustrations are drawn from research underway on the teaching of literacy in primary schools in low SES communities

Technological Devices in the Archives: A Policy Analysis

Doing research in the archive is the cornerstone of humanities scholarship. Various archives institute policies regarding the use of technological devices, such as mobile phones, laptops, and cameras in their reading rooms. Such policies directly affect the scholars as the devices mediate the nature of their interaction with the source materials in terms of capturing, organizing, note taking, and record keeping for future use of found materials. In this paper, we present our analysis of the policies of thirty archives regarding the use of technology in their reading rooms. This policy analysis, along with data from interviews of scholars and archivists, is intended to serve as a basis for developing mobile applications for assisting scholars in their research activities. In this paper we introduce an early prototype of such a mobile application— AMTracker.Informatio