Study protocol: differential effects of diet and physical activity based interventions in pregnancy on maternal and fetal outcomes--individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis and health economic evaluation.

© 2014 Ruifrok et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.BACKGROUND: Pregnant women who gain excess weight are at risk of complications during pregnancy and in the long term. Interventions based on diet and physical activity minimise gestational weight gain with varied effect on clinical outcomes. The effect of interventions on varied groups of women based on body mass index, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, parity, and underlying medical conditions is not clear. Our individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis of randomised trials will assess the differential effect of diet- and physical activity-based interventions on maternal weight gain and pregnancy outcomes in clinically relevant subgroups of women. METHODS/DESIGN: Randomised trials on diet and physical activity in pregnancy will be identified by searching the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS, LILACS, Pascal, Science Citation Index, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and Health Technology Assessment Database. Primary researchers of the identified trials are invited to join the International Weight Management in Pregnancy Collaborative Network and share their individual patient data. We will reanalyse each study separately and confirm the findings with the original authors. Then, for each intervention type and outcome, we will perform as appropriate either a one-step or a two-step IPD meta-analysis to obtain summary estimates of effects and 95% confidence intervals, for all women combined and for each subgroup of interest. The primary outcomes are gestational weight gain and composite adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. The difference in effects between subgroups will be estimated and between-study heterogeneity suitably quantified and explored. The potential for publication bias and availability bias in the IPD obtained will be investigated. We will conduct a model-based economic evaluation to assess the cost effectiveness of the interventions to manage weight gain in pregnancy and undertake a value of information analysis to inform future research. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO 2013: CRD42013003804.This study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) HTA (Health Technology Assessment) UK programme 12/01

Erratum to: Study protocol: differential effects of diet and physical activity based interventions in pregnancy on maternal and fetal outcomes: individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis and health economic evaluation

After publication of this work [1], we noted that we inadvertently failed to include the complete list of all coauthors and that sample sizes of some of the trials listed in Table two were incorrect

Attitudes towards the effects of automation : A qualitative study on the attitudes of accounting workers towards automation in accounting

Bakgrund och problem: I takt med att automatiseringen blir alltmer integrerad inom redovisningsarbetet så försvinner allt fler rutinbaserade arbetsuppgifter som tidigare utfördes manuellt av redovisningsarbetaren. Automatiseringen beskrivs vara i sin inledande fas och en fortsatt utveckling är förväntat. Dess utveckling har hittills medfört både positiva effekter för redovisningsarbetet och samtidigt haft en negativ inverkan, då arbetstillfällena samt behovet av den mänskliga arbetaren minskar. Automatiseringens effekter har vidare bland annat mynnat ut i att högre krav ställs på redovisningsarbetarna för att de ska fortsätta vara relevanta på arbetsplatsen. Attityderna är därmed viktiga här för att bilda sig en uppfattning om hur automatiseringen upplevs av den mänskliga redovisningsarbetaren. Attityden är avgörande för hur väl automatiseringens omfamnas och utnyttjas för att uppnå dess fulla potential. Syfte: Studien syftar till att identifiera redovisningsarbetarnas attityder mot automatiseringens effekter i redovisningen. Som ett resultat av detta kommer även sättet deras arbete präglas av automatiseringen att redogöras för. Metod: Syftet har uppnåtts genom att ha tillämpat en abduktiv ansats och en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter inom redovisningsbranschen. Genom detta har vi samlat in data som analyserats med hjälp av en egenritad teoretisk attitydmodell som består av ABC-modellen och ett antal faktorer från Unified Theory of acceptance and use of technology-modellen. Slutsats: Slutsatsen som dragits är att det generellt är en positiv attityd mot automatiseringens effekter. Den positiva inställningen visar sig bero delvis på den ökade effektiviteten, de tidsbesparingar som uppnås samt möjligheten till personlig utveckling, som respondenterna uttryckt. Introduction: As automation becomes increasingly integrated within the accounting practice, more and more routine tasks that were previously performed manually by the accounting worker are disappearing. The automation is described as being in its initial phase and continued development is expected. Its development has so far brought both positive effects for the accounting work and at the same time had a negative impact, as the job opportunities and the need for the human worker decreases. The effects of automation have also resulted in higher demands being placed on accounting workers, in order for them to continue to be relevant in the workplace. The attitudes are therefore important here to form an idea of how automation is perceived by the human accounting worker. Their attitude is critical to how well automation is embraced and leveraged to achieve its full potential. Purpose: The study aims to identify the accounting workers' attitudes towards the effects of automation in accounting. As a result of this, the way their work is shaped by automation will also be explained. Method: The purpose has been achieved by applying an abductive approach and a qualitative research method in the form of semi-structured interviews with respondents in the accounting industry. Through this, we have collected data that was analyzed using a self-designed theoretical attitude model consisting of the ABC model and several factors from the Unified Theory of acceptance and use of technology model. Conclusion: The conclusion drawn is that there is generally a positive attitude towards the effects of automation. The positive attitude turns out to be partially due to the increased efficiency, the time savings achieved and the opportunity for personal development as it has been expressed by the respondents

Exploring the World of Membrane Proteins: Techniques and Methods for Understanding Structure, Function, and Dynamics

International audienceIn eukaryotic cells, membrane proteins play a crucial role. They fall into three categories: intrinsic proteins, extrinsic proteins, and proteins that are essential to the human genome (30% of which is devoted to encoding them). Hydrophobic interactions inside the membrane serve to stabilize integral proteins, which span the lipid bilayer. This review investigates a number of computational and experimental methods used to study membrane proteins. It encompasses a variety of technologies, including electrophoresis, X-ray crystallography, cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), biophysical methods, computational methods, and artificial intelligence. The link between structure and function of membrane proteins has been better understood thanks to these approaches, which also hold great promise for future study in the field. The significance of fusing artificial intelligence with experimental data to improve our comprehension of membrane protein biology is also covered in this paper. This effort aims to shed light on the complexity of membrane protein biology by investigating a variety of experimental and computational methods. Overall, the goal of this review is to emphasize how crucial it is to understand the functions of membrane proteins in eukaryotic cells. It gives a general review of the numerous methods used to look into these crucial elements and highlights the demand for multidisciplinary approaches to advance our understanding

Significant Increase in Mortality and Risk of Acute Ischemic Stroke in Infective Endocarditis Patients With Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Secondary to Mycotic Aneurysms

Infective Endocarditis (IE) patients are known to have a variety of complications with one of the rarest, but serious being cerebral mycotic aneurysm, which can result in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Using the National In-Patient Sample database, we sought to determine the rate of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and outcomes in IE- patients with and without SAH. In total, we identified 82,844 IE-patients from 2010 to 2016, of which 641 had a concurrent diagnosis of SAH. IE patients with SAH had a more complicated course, higher mortality rate (OR 4.65 CI 95% 3.9-5.5, P \u3c 0.001), and worse outcomes. This patient population also had a significantly higher rate of AIS (OR 6.3 CI 95% 5.4-7.4, P \u3c 0.001). Overall, 41.5% of IE-patients with SAH had AIS during their hospitalization as compared to 10.1% of IE only patients. IE-patients with SAH were more likely to undergo endovascular treatment (3.6%) with 0.8% of the IE patients with AIS undergoing mechanical thrombectomy. While IE-patients are at risk for various complications, our study suggests a significant increase in the mortality and risk of AIS in those with SAH

Infection and inflammation: New perspectives on Alzheimer's disease.

peer reviewedNeuroinflammation has been recognized as a component of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathology since the original descriptions by Alois Alzheimer and a role for infections in AD pathogenesis has long been hypothesized. More recently, this hypothesis has gained strength as human genetics and experimental data suggest key roles for inflammatory cells in AD pathogenesis. To review this topic, Duke/University of North Carolina (Duke/UNC) Alzheimer's Disease Research Center hosted a virtual symposium: "Infection and Inflammation: New Perspectives on Alzheimer's Disease (AD)." Participants considered current evidence for and against the hypothesis that AD could be caused or exacerbated by infection or commensal microbes. Discussion focused on connecting microglial transcriptional states to functional states, mouse models that better mimic human immunity, the potential involvement of inflammasome signaling, metabolic alterations, self-reactive T cells, gut microbes and fungal infections, and lessons learned from Covid-19 patients with neurologic symptoms. The content presented in the symposium, and major topics raised in discussions are reviewed in this summary of the proceedings