Introducing EMMIE: An evidence rating scale to encourage mixed-method crime prevention synthesis reviews

Objectives This short report describes the need for, and the development of, a coding system to distil the quality and coverage of systematic reviews of the evidence relating to crime prevention interventions. The starting point for the coding system concerns the evidence needs of policymakers and practitioners. Methods The coding scheme (EMMIE) proposed builds on previous scales that have been developed to assess the probity, coverage and utility of evidence both in health and criminal justice. It also draws on the principles of realist synthesis and review. Results The proposed EMMIE scale identifies five dimensions to which systematic reviews intended to inform crime prevention should speak. These are the Effect of intervention, the identification of the causal Mechanism(s) through which interventions are intended to work, the factors that Moderate their impact, the articulation of practical Implementation issues, and the Economic costs of intervention

A visual category filter for Google images

We extend the constellation model to include heterogeneous parts which may represent either the appearance or the geometry of a region of the object. The pans and their spatial configuration are learnt simultaneously and automatically, without supervision, from cluttered images. We describe how this model can be employed for ranking the output of an image search engine when searching for object categories. It is shown that visual consistencies in the output images can be identified, and then used to rank the images according to their closeness to the visual object category. Although the proportion of good images may be small, the algorithm is designed to be robust and is capable of learning in either a totally unsupervised manner, or with a very limited amount of supervision. We demonstrate the method on image sets returned by Google's image search for a number of object categories including bottles, camels, cars, horses, tigers and zebras

Invasive earthworms erode soil biodiversity: A meta-analysis

Biological invasions pose a serious threat to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across ecosystems. Invasions by ecosystem engineers, in particular, have been shown to have dramatic effects in recipient ecosystems. For instance, invasion by earthworms, a below-ground invertebrate ecosystem engineer, in previously earthworm-free ecosystems alters the physico-chemical characteristics of the soil. Studies have shown that such alterations in the soil can have far-reaching impacts on soil organisms, which form a major portion of terrestrial biodiversity. Here, we present the first quantitative synthesis of earthworm invasion effects on soil micro-organisms and soil invertebrates based on 430 observations from 30 independent studies. Our meta-analysis shows a significant decline of the diversity and density of soil invertebrates in response to earthworm invasion with anecic and endogeic earthworms causing the strongest effects. Earthworm invasion effects on soil micro-organisms were context-dependent, such as depending on functional group richness of invasive earthworms and soil depth. Microbial biomass and diversity increased in mineral soil layers, with a weak negative effect in organic soil layers, indicating that the mixing of soil layers by earthworms (bioturbation) may homogenize microbial communities across soil layers. Our meta-analysis provides a compelling evidence for negative effects of a common invasive below-ground ecosystem engineer on below-ground biodiversity of recipient ecosystems, which could potentially alter the ecosystem functions and services linked to soil biota.European Union's Horizon 2020, Grant/ Award Number: 677232; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; German Research Foundation, Grant/Award Number: FZT 11

Does publication bias inflate the apparent efficacy of psychological treatment for major depressive disorder? A systematic review and meta-analysis of US national institutes of health-funded trials

Background The efficacy of antidepressant medication has been shown empirically to be overestimated due to publication bias, but this has only been inferred statistically with regard to psychological treatment for depression. We assessed directly the extent of study publication bias in trials examining the efficacy of psychological treatment for depression. Methods and Findings We identified US National Institutes of Health grants awarded to fund randomized clinical trials comparing psychological treatment to control conditions or other treatments in patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder for the period 1972–2008, and we determined whether those grants led to publications. For studies that were not published, data were requested from investigators and included in the meta-analyses. Thirteen (23.6%) of the 55 funded grants that began trials did not result in publications, and two others never started. Among comparisons to control conditions, adding unpublished studies (Hedges’ g = 0.20; CI95% -0.11~0.51; k = 6) to published studies (g = 0.52; 0.37~0.68; k = 20) reduced the psychotherapy effect size point estimate (g = 0.39; 0.08~0.70) by 25%. Moreover, these findings may overestimate the "true" effect of psychological treatment for depression as outcome reporting bias could not be examined quantitatively. Conclusion The efficacy of psychological interventions for depression has been overestimated in the published literature, just as it has been for pharmacotherapy. Both are efficacious but not to the extent that the published literature would suggest. Funding agencies and journals should archive both original protocols and raw data from treatment trials to allow the detection and correction of outcome reporting bias. Clinicians, guidelines developers, and decision makers should be aware that the published literature overestimates the effects of the predominant treatments for depression

Centrality Behaviour of J/ψ\psi Production in Na50

The J/$\psi$ production in 158 A GeV Pb-Pb interactions is studied, in the dimuon decay channel, as a function of centrality, as measured with the electromagnetic or with the very forward calorimeters. After a first sharp variation at mid centrality, both patterns continue to fall down and exhibit a curvature change at high centrality values. This trend excludes any conventional hadronic model and is in agreement with a deconfined quark-gluon phase scenario. We report also preliminary results on the measured charged multiplicity, as given by a dedicated detector.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures (in eps) talk given at XXXI International Symposium on Multiparticle Dynamics, Sep. 1-7, 2001, Datong China URL http://ismd31.ccnu.edu.cn

Natriuresis as a Way to Assess the Effectiveness of Diuretic Therapy for Acute Decompensated Heart Failure: Data from a Pilot Study

Aim. To analyze the clinical significance of the sodium level in a single urine test obtained 2 hours after the first dose of a loop diuretic was administered in patients with acute decompensation of chronic heart failure (ADHF).Material and methods. An observational study was conducted on the basis of a rapid-care hospital. The concentration of sodium in urine analysis obtained 2 hours after intravenous administration of the first dose of loop diuretic and natriuresis for the first day of hospitalization were evaluated. The development of resistance to diuretics was taken as the primary endpoint (the need to increase the daily dose of furosemide by more than 2 times compared to the initial one or the addition of another class of diuretic drugs).Results. 25 patients with ADHF were included. The average age of patients was 69.0±14.8 years, 16 (64%) of them were men. The average left ventricular ejection fraction was 49.0±13.5%. The level of the N‐terminal fragment of the brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was 3416 (2128; 5781) pg/ml. The average sodium concentration in the urine analysis obtained 2 hours after the start of treatment was 100.6±41.0 mmol / l. The concentration of sodium in urine for the first day was 102.2±39.0 mmol/l. 2 hours after the start of treatment, the sodium concentration in a single urine test was less than 50 mmol/l in 5 (20%) patients. Upon further observation, oligoanuria (defined as diuresis of less than 400 ml within 24 hours) developed in 2 of them. Oligoanuria was not detected among patients whose sodium concentration was more than 50 mmol/l. The need for escalation (any increase in the dose of a loop diuretic and/or the addition of another class of diuretic drugs) arose in 7 (28%) patients; at the same time, we diagnosed the development of resistance to diuretics in 5 (20%) of them. Resistance to diuretics was more common among patients with a sodium concentration in a single urine test obtained 2 hours after the start of furosemide administration, less than 50 mmol/l (p=0.037); when dividing the recruited patient population into subgroups with a sodium concentration in a single urine test ≥50 mmol/l and <50 mmol/l there was no significant difference in the need for any escalation of diuretic therapy [3 (60%) vs 4 (20%), p=0.07].Conclusion. Resistance to diuretics is more common among patients with a sodium concentration in a single urine test obtained 2 hours after the first dose of furosemide, less than 50 mmol / l. Evaluation of natriuresis allows to identify insufficient effectiveness of diuretic therapy already at the beginning of treatment

Mid- and Late-Life Diabetes in Relation to the Risk of Dementia: A Population-Based Twin Study

OBJECTIVE—We aimed to verify the association between diabetes and the risk of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and vascular dementia in twins and to explore whether genetic and early-life environmental factors could contribute to this association

Comparative anatomy and angiography of the cardiac coronary venous system in four species: human, ovine, porcine, and canine.

INTRODUCTION: The coronary arterial system has been the subject of greater investigation than its venous system due to the importance of human coronary artery disease. With the advent of new percutaneous treatments, the anatomy of the coronary venous system has increasing relevancy. We compared the organization of the coronary venous circulation in three species commonly used in research and compared these to normal humans using both macroscopic anatomic and angiographic studies. ANIMALS: The anatomy of five explanted hearts from healthy dogs, pigs, and sheep were studied macroscopically, and 10 explanted hearts per animal species and 10 clinically normal human were examined by angiography. METHODS: Animal hearts were injected with latex and dissected macroscopically. The coronary venous system of humans was evaluated from clinical angiographic studies. In the animal hearts, a retrograde angiographic study was performed via a Foley catheter in the coronary sinus. RESULTS: The general organization of the coronary venous circulation was similar among humans, dogs, sheep, and pigs. Despite overall similarities to humans, animal hearts demonstrated the absence of the oblique vein of the left atrium and differences in position and organization of venous valves; venous diameters; number of tributary veins; and presence of an anastomosis between the left and right (human anterior and posterior) venous tree. The left azygos of the pig and sheep joined the coronary sinus. CONCLUSIONS: Anatomical differences must be considered when planning biomedical and veterinary studies incorporating cardiac veins. This study provides baseline data regarding structure and organization of the cardiac venous system