Five-year review of an international clinical research-training program

The exponential increase in clinical research has profoundly changed medical sciences. Evidence that has accumulated in the past three decades from clinical trials has led to the proposal that clinical care should not be based solely on clinical expertise and patient values, and should integrate robust data from systematic research. As a consequence, clinical research has become more complex and methods have become more rigorous, and evidence is usually not easily translated into clinical practice. Therefore, the instruction of clinical research methods for scientists and clinicians must adapt to this new reality. To address this challenge, a global distance-learning clinical research-training program was developed, based on collaborative learning, the pedagogical goal of which was to develop critical thinking skills in clinical research. We describe and analyze the challenges and possible solutions of this course after 5 years of experience (2008-2012) with this program. Through evaluation by students and faculty, we identified and reviewed the following challenges of our program: 1) student engagement and motivation, 2) impact of heterogeneous audience on learning, 3) learning in large groups, 4) enhancing group learning, 5) enhancing social presence, 6) dropouts, 7) quality control, and 8) course management. We discuss these issues and potential alternatives with regard to our research and background

First Neutrino Observations from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

The first neutrino observations from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory are presented from preliminary analyses. Based on energy, direction and location, the data in the region of interest appear to be dominated by 8B solar neutrinos, detected by the charged current reaction on deuterium and elastic scattering from electrons, with very little background. Measurements of radioactive backgrounds indicate that the measurement of all active neutrino types via the neutral current reaction on deuterium will be possible with small systematic uncertainties. Quantitative results for the fluxes observed with these reactions will be provided when further calibrations have been completed.Comment: Latex, 7 pages, 10 figures, Invited paper at Neutrino 2000 Conference, Sudbury, Canada, June 16-21, 2000 to be published in the Proceeding

Five-year review of an international clinical research-training program

Claudia Kimie Suemoto,1,2 Sherine Ismail,1,3 Paulo César Rodrigues Pinto Corrêa,1,4,5 Faiza Khawaja,1,6 Teodoro Jerves,1 Laura Pesantez,1 Ana Claudia Camargo Gonçalves Germani,1,7 Fabio Zaina,1,8 Augusto Cesar Soares dos Santos Junior,1,9,10 Ricardo Jorge de Oliveira Ferreira,1,11 Priyamvada Singh,1,12 Judy Vicente Paulo,1,13 Suely Reiko Matsubayashi,1,14 Liliane Pinto Vidor,1,15 Guilherme Andretta,1,16 Rita Tomás,1,17 Ben MW Illigens,1,18 Felipe Fregni1,18,19 1Collaborative Learning in Clinical Research Program, Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 2Discipline of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil; 3King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Pharmaceutical Care Department, King Khalid Hospital, NGHA, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 4Discipline of Internal Medicine and Medical Semiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP) Medical School, Ouro Preto, Brazil; 5Discipline of Pneumology, Department of Internal Medicine, Centro Universitário de Belo Horizonte (Uni-BH), Belo Horizonte, Brazil; 6Canadian Centre for Advanced Eye Therapeutics, Mississauga, ON, Canada; 7Department of Preventive Medicine, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil; 8Italian Scientific Spine Institute (ISICO), Milan, Italy; 9Hospital Osvaldo Rezende Franco, Betim, Brazil; 10Nucleo de Avaliação de Tecnologia em Saude, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; 11Department of Rheumatology, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; 12Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, MA, USA; 13Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Coimbra, Portugal; 14Acupuncture Center, Orthopedics and Traumatology Institute, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil; 15Department of Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University Federal of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil; 16Quintiles Transnational, São Paulo, Brazil; 17Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hospital de Curry Cabral, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, EPE, Lisbon, Portugal; 18Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 19Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA Abstract: The exponential increase in clinical research has profoundly changed medical sciences. Evidence that has accumulated in the past three decades from clinical trials has led to the proposal that clinical care should not be based solely on clinical expertise and patient values, and should integrate robust data from systematic research. As a consequence, clinical research has become more complex and methods have become more rigorous, and evidence is usually not easily translated into clinical practice. Therefore, the instruction of clinical research methods for scientists and clinicians must adapt to this new reality. To address this challenge, a global distance-learning clinical research-training program was developed, based on collaborative learning, the pedagogical goal of which was to develop critical thinking skills in clinical research. We describe and analyze the challenges and possible solutions of this course after 5 years of experience (2008–2012) with this program. Through evaluation by students and faculty, we identified and reviewed the following challenges of our program: 1) student engagement and motivation, 2) impact of heterogeneous audience on learning, 3) learning in large groups, 4) enhancing group learning, 5) enhancing social presence, 6) dropouts, 7) quality control, and 8) course management. We discuss these issues and potential alternatives with regard to our research and background. Keywords: education, distance learning, biomedical research, critical thinking, e-learnin

Species diversification – which species should we use?

Large detector systems for particle and astroparticle physics; Particle tracking detectors; Gaseous detectors; Calorimeters; Cherenkov detectors; Particle identification methods; Photon detectors for UV. visible and IR photons; Detector alignment and calibration methods; Detector cooling and thermo-stabilization; Detector design and construction technologies and materials. The LHCb experiment is dedicated to precision measurements of CP violation and rare decays of B hadrons at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (Geneva). The initial configuration and expected performance of the detector and associated systems. as established by test beam measurements and simulation studies. is described. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA

Measurement of the rate of ve + d → p + p + e- interactions produced by 8B solar neutrinos at the sudbury neutrino observatory

The 8B flux from elastic scattering (ES) and charged current (CC) of electrons was recorded at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) between November 2, 1999 and January 15, 2001. Data were partitioned into two sets then analyzed. As a result, the first direct indication of a nonelectron flavor component in the solar neutrino flux was established.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Measurement of the rate of ve + d → p + p + e- interactions produced by 8B solar neutrinos at the sudbury neutrino observatory

The 8B flux from elastic scattering (ES) and charged current (CC) of electrons was recorded at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) between November 2, 1999 and January 15, 2001. Data were partitioned into two sets then analyzed. As a result, the first direct indication of a nonelectron flavor component in the solar neutrino flux was established.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Measurement of day and night neutrino energy spectra at SNO and constraints on neutrino mixing parameters

The measurement of day and night neutrino energy spectra at Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) and constraints on neutrino mixing parameters were presented. A global solar neutrino analysis in terms of matter-enhanced oscillations of two active flavors strongly favored the large mixing angle solution. Results obtained were the first direct measurements of the day-night asymmetries in the νe flux and the total ν flux from the Sun was deduced

Clinical impact of sexual dimorphism in non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)

: NAFLD/NASH is a sex-dimorphic disease, with a general higher prevalence in men. Women are at reduced risk of NAFLD compared to men in fertile age, whereas after menopause women have a comparable prevalence of NAFLD as men. Indeed, sexual category, sex hormones and gender habits interact with numerous NAFLD factors including cytokines, stress and environmental factors and alter the risk profiles and phenotypes of NAFLD. In the present review, we summarized the last findings about the influence of sex on epidemiology, pathogenesis, progression in cirrhosis, indication for liver transplantation and alternative therapies, including lifestyle modification and pharmacological strategies. We are confident that an appropriate consideration of sex, age, hormonal status and sociocultural gender differences will lead to a better understanding of sex differences in NAFLD risk, therapeutic targets and treatment responses and will aid in achieving sex-specific personalized therapies