Researchers' experience with project management in health and medical research: Results from a post-project review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Project management is widely used to deliver projects on time, within budget and of defined quality. However, there is little published information describing its use in managing health and medical research projects. We used project management in the <it>Alcohol and Pregnancy Project </it>(2006-2008) <url>http://www.ichr.uwa.edu.au/alcoholandpregnancy</url> and in this paper report researchers' opinions on project management and whether it made a difference to the project.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A national interdisciplinary group of 20 researchers, one of whom was the project manager, formed the Steering Committee for the project. We used project management to ensure project outputs and outcomes were achieved and all aspects of the project were planned, implemented, monitored and controlled. Sixteen of the researchers were asked to complete a self administered questionnaire for a post-project review.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The project was delivered according to the project protocol within the allocated budget and time frame. Fifteen researchers (93.8%) completed a questionnaire. They reported that project management increased the effectiveness of the project, communication, teamwork, and application of the interdisciplinary group of researchers' expertise. They would recommend this type of project management for future projects.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our post-project review showed that researchers comprehensively endorsed project management in the <it>Alcohol and Pregnancy Project </it>and agreed that project management had contributed substantially to the research. In future, we will project manage new projects and conduct post-project reviews. The results will be used to encourage continuous learning and continuous improvement of project management, and provide greater transparency and accountability of health and medical research. The use of project management can benefit both management and scientific outcomes of health and medical research projects.</p

Archaeological Ethnography, Heritage Management, and Community Archaeology: A Pragmatic Approach from Crete

This article examines the introduction of archaeological ethnography as an approach to establish positioned research and bring context-specific and reflexive considerations into community archaeology projects. It considers recent cri-tiques of heritage management in archaeology and the role of archaeologists as experts in it, contending that smaller and less prominent sites exist in different contexts and pose different problems than large-scale projects usually addressed in the literature. We describe how the ‘Three Peak Sanctuaries of Central Crete’ project, investigating prehistoric Minoan ritual sites, involves communities and stakeholders and what demands the latter pose on experts in the field. Archae-ological work is always already implicated in local development projects which create and reproduce power hierarchies. It is therefore important that archaeol-ogists maintain their critical distance from official heritage discourses, as they are materialized in development programmes, while at the same time engaging with local expectations and power struggles; they also have to critically address and position their own assumptions. We use examples from our community archae-ology project to propose that these goals can be reached through archaeological ethnographic fieldwork that should precede any archaeological project to inform its methodological decisions, engage stakeholders, and collaboratively shape heritage management strategies

Sex Differences in Substance Use and Psychological Distress Among Prisoners in Queensland, Australia

Introduction and Aims: High rates of cannabis use and dependence are significant issues in remote Indigenous communities. We have previously shown extremely high rates of cannabis use, dependence and adverse mental health impacts in Arnhem Land. This study reports the first data on cannabis use and its mental health impacts in Cape York. \ud \ud Design and Methods: We interviewed over 300 Aboriginal people aged 16–40 years in three remote Cape York communities. Data was gathered on rates of cannabis use, mental health impacts including dependence and withdrawal, and reasons for quitting. \ud \ud Results: One in two individuals interviewed was using cannabis, with most using cannabis daily or weekly. Approximately 70% reported cannabis dependence. Encouragingly, more than 70% of current users were considering quitting/cutting down or had made previous attempts. In current users, seeking or starting employment was the most common motivation for wanting to quit, whilst former users quit primarily for family reasons. Users reported negative mental health impacts of cannabis. One in four reported ‘stressing out’ when cannabis was unavailable, suggesting withdrawal. Anger/ irritability, paranoia, auditory hallucinations, thoughts of suicide/ self-harm and memory impairment were reported in up to 10% of users. \ud \ud Discussion and Conclusions: Rates of use and dependence are much higher than national rates (4.9% of males and 2.2% of females nationally used cannabis in the past week, 21% exhibiting dependence), and are similar to Northern Territory rates. One in four Aboriginal users in remote communities may be suffering mental ill health. Interventions should enhance quit support and employment opportunities and strengthen families

The cytokeratin 17 expression in primary ovarian tumors has diagnostic but not prognostic significance

We assessed the value of cytokeratin 17 (CK17) expression for the differential diagnosis between primary ovarian mucinous tumors and metastases from the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and the significance of CK17 expression in a broad spectrum of primary ovarian tumors with respect to their prognosis. The sample set consisted of 554 primary ovarian tumors and 255 GIT tumors. In the primary ovarian tumors, a higher CK17 expression (in > 10% of tumors cells) was present only in 0-11.4% of all tumors (including mucinous tumors, micropapillary serous borderline tumors, clear cell, endometrioid, and high-grade serous carcinomas). The only exception was low-grade serous carcinoma, where higher CK17 expression was present in 24% of cases. Concerning GIT tumors, the higher levels of CK 17 expression (in > 10% of tumor cells) were observed in the upper GIT tumors (68.5% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, 61.6% of gallbladder adenocarcinoma, and 46% of gastric adenocarcinoma), which differs substantially not only from most of the primary ovarian tumors, but also from colorectal carcinoma (3.7%; p < 0.001). The results of our study suggest that expression of CK17 can potentially be used as an adjunct marker in differential diagnosis between primary ovarian mucinous tumors and metastases from the upper GIT, but not from colorectal carcinoma. However, in GIT tumors, CK17 can be used in the differential diagnosis between adenocarcinomas of the upper and lower GIT. Statistical analysis did not reveal strong association of CK17 expression with clinicopathological variables or patient outcomes in any primary ovarian tumors