Units of Evidence for Analyzing Subdisciplinary Difference in Data Practice Studies

Digital libraries (DLs) are adapting to accommodate research data and related services. The complexities of this new content spans the elements of DL development, and there are questions concerning data selection, service development, and how best to align these with local, institutional initiatives for cyberinfrastructure, data-intensive research, and data stewardship. Small science disciplines are of particular relevance due to the prevalence of this mode of research in the academy, and the anticipated magnitude of data production. To support data acquisition into DLs – and subsequent data reuse – there is a need for new knowledge on the range and complexities inherent in practice-data-curation arrangements for small science research. We present a flexible methodological approach crafted to generate data units to analyze these relationships and facilitate crossdisciplinary comparisons.Library Services (LG-06-07-0032-07) and National Science Foundation (OCI-0830976).is peer reviewe

Investigating the Role of CsgD in Salmonella Biofilm Formation and Virulence

When exposed to environmental stress, a pure culture of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) differentiates into two specialized cell types with 34% differential gene expression: planktonic cells and multicellular aggregates, also called biofilm. Some conditions that support phenotype switching are known, but many intrinsic and extrinsic origins of signals are unknown. S. Typhimurium phenotype switching may promote transmission under variable conditions; planktonic cells express virulence factors and are immediately able to infect a new host, whereas aggregates can resist harsh environmental conditions until an opportunity to infect a new host arises. The objective of these research projects was to determine whether signals in the host gut could promote phenotype switching, and to determine the suite of genes controlled during phenotype switching, to understand this phenomenon and how it contributes to transmission. Differences in expression between biofilm aggregates and planktonic cells are directed by bistable expression of CsgD, the central biofilm regulator. CsgD is expressed at low levels in planktonic cells and at high levels in biofilm cells, and coordinates the global shift in expression . A ChIP-seq experiment was performed to identify the regulatory targets of CsgD. The technique was refined for improved antibody binding and sample consistency; however, no statistically significant regulatory regions were identified by this method. Phenotype switching could initiate in the host gut, as a result of extrinsic signals from the host or microbiota, during infection. Gene expression of virulence- or persistence- associated genes that were differentially expressed in RNA-seq data were measured by luciferase assay with promoter-luxCDABE reporter in the presence of chemostat waste effluent. The only major changes to gene expression levels or times in the presence of waste effluent may be due to additional resources for growth provided by the waste effluent and chemostat media control

Mobile phone-based interventions for improving adherence to medication prescribed for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in adults.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of disability and mortality globally. Premature fatal and non-fatal CVD is considered to be largely preventable through the control of risk factors via lifestyle modifications and preventive medication. Lipid-lowering and antihypertensive drug therapies for primary prevention are cost-effective in reducing CVD morbidity and mortality among high-risk people and are recommended by international guidelines. However, adherence to medication prescribed for the prevention of CVD can be poor. Approximately 9% of CVD cases in the EU are attributed to poor adherence to vascular medications. Low-cost, scalable interventions to improve adherence to medications for the primary prevention of CVD have potential to reduce morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs associated with CVD. OBJECTIVES: To establish the effectiveness of interventions delivered by mobile phone to improve adherence to medication prescribed for the primary prevention of CVD in adults. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and two other databases on 21 June 2017 and two clinical trial registries on 14 July 2017. We searched reference lists of relevant papers. We applied no language or date restrictions. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials investigating interventions delivered wholly or partly by mobile phones to improve adherence to cardiovascular medications prescribed for the primary prevention of CVD. We only included trials with a minimum of one-year follow-up in order that the outcome measures related to longer-term, sustained medication adherence behaviours and outcomes. Eligible comparators were usual care or control groups receiving no mobile phone-delivered component of the intervention. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard methodological procedures recommended by Cochrane. We contacted study authors for disaggregated data when trials included a subset of eligible participants. MAIN RESULTS: We included four trials with 2429 randomised participants. Participants were recruited from community-based primary care or outpatient clinics in high-income (Canada, Spain) and upper- to middle-income countries (South Africa, China). The interventions received varied widely; one trial evaluated an intervention focused on blood pressure medication adherence delivered solely through short messaging service (SMS), and one intervention involved blood pressure monitoring combined with feedback delivered via smartphone. Two trials involved interventions which targeted a combination of lifestyle modifications, alongside CVD medication adherence, one of which was delivered through text messages, written information pamphlets and self-completion cards for participants, and the other through a multi-component intervention comprising of text messages, a computerised CVD risk evaluation and face-to-face counselling. Due to heterogeneity in the nature and delivery of the interventions, we did not conduct a meta-analysis, and therefore reported results narratively.We judged the body of evidence for the effect of mobile phone-based interventions on objective outcomes (blood pressure and cholesterol) of low quality due to all included trials being at high risk of bias, and inconsistency in outcome effects. Of two trials targeting medication adherence alongside other lifestyle modifications, one reported a small beneficial intervention effect in reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mean difference (MD) -9.2 mg/dL, 95% confidence interval (CI) -17.70 to -0.70; 304 participants), and the other found no benefit (MD 0.77 mg/dL, 95% CI -4.64 to 6.18; 589 participants). One trial (1372 participants) of a text messaging-based intervention targeting adherence showed a small reduction in systolic blood pressure (SBP) for the intervention arm which delivered information-only text messages (MD -2.2 mmHg, 95% CI -4.4 to -0.04), but uncertain evidence of benefit for the second intervention arm that provided additional interactivity (MD -1.6 mmHg, 95% CI -3.7 to 0.5). One study examined the effect of blood pressure monitoring combined with smartphone messaging, and reported moderate intervention benefits on SBP and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (SBP: MD -7.10 mmHg, 95% CI -11.61 to -2.59; DBP: -3.90 mmHg, 95% CI -6.45 to -1.35; 105 participants). There was mixed evidence from trials targeting medication adherence alongside lifestyle advice using multi-component interventions. One trial found large benefits for SBP and DBP (SBP: MD -12.45 mmHg, 95% CI -15.02 to -9.88; DBP: MD -12.23 mmHg, 95% CI -14.03 to -10.43; 589 participants), whereas the other trial demonstrated no beneficial effects on SBP or DBP (SBP: MD 0.83 mmHg, 95% CI -2.67 to 4.33; DBP: MD 1.64 mmHg, 95% CI -0.55 to 3.83; 304 participants).Two trials reported on adverse events and provided low-quality evidence that the interventions did not cause harm. One study provided low-quality evidence that there was no intervention effect on reported satisfaction with treatment.Two trials were conducted in high-income countries, and two in upper- to middle-income countries. The interventions evaluated employed between three and 16 behaviour change techniques according to coding using Michie's taxonomic method. Two trials evaluated interventions that involved potential users in their development. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is low-quality evidence relating to the effects of mobile phone-delivered interventions to increase adherence to medication prescribed for the primary prevention of CVD; some trials reported small benefits while others found no effect. There is low-quality evidence that these interventions do not result in harm. On the basis of this review, there is currently uncertainty around the effectiveness of these interventions. We identified six ongoing trials being conducted in a range of contexts including low-income settings with potential to generate more precise estimates of the effect of primary prevention medication adherence interventions delivered by mobile phone

Annotating genericity: a survey, a scheme, and a corpus

Generics are linguistic expressions that make statements about or refer to kinds, or that report regularities of events. Non-generic expressions make statements about particular individuals or specific episodes. Generics are treated extensively in semantic theory (Krifka et al., 1995). In practice, it is often hard to decide whether a referring expression is generic or non-generic, and to date there is no data set which is both large and satisfactorily annotated. Such a data set would be valuable for creating automatic systems for identifying generic expressions, in turn facilitating knowledge extraction from natural language text. In this paper we provide the next steps for such an annotation endeavor. Our contributions are: (1) we survey the most important previous projects annotating genericity, focusing on resources for English; (2) with a new agreement study we identify problems in the annotation scheme of the largest currently available resource (ACE-2005); and (3) we introduce a linguistically-motivated annotation scheme for marking both clauses and their subjects with regard to their genericity. (4) We present a corpus of MASC (Ide et al., 2010) and Wikipedia texts annotated according to our scheme, achieving substantial agreement

Review of the literature on the use of social media by people with traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Purpose: To review the literature relating to use of social media by people with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), specifically its use for social engagement, information exchange or rehabilitation. Method: A systematic review with a qualitative meta-synthesis of content themes was conducted. In June 2014, 10 databases were searched for relevant, peer-reviewed research studies in English that related to both TBI and social media. Results: Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria, with Facebook™ and Twitter™ being the most common social media represented in the included studies. Content analysis identified three major categories of meaning in relation to social media and TBI: (1) risks and benefits; (2) barriers and facilitators; and (3) purposes of use of social media. A greater emphasis was evident regarding potential risks and apparent barriers to social media use, with little focus on facilitators of successful use by people with TBI. Conclusions: Research to date reveals a range of benefits to the use of social media by people with TBI however there is little empirical research investigating its use. Further research focusing on ways to remove the barriers and increase facilitators for the use of social media by people with TBI is needed. Implications for Rehabilitation: Communication disabilities following traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be wide-ranging in scope and social isolation with loss of friendships after TBI is common. For many people, social media is rapidly becoming a usual part of everyday communication and its use has the potential to increase communication and social participation for people with TBI.There is emerging evidence and commentary regarding the perceived benefits and risks, barriers and facilitators and purposes of use of social media within the TBI population.Risks associated with using social media, and low accessibility of social media sites, form barriers to its use. Facilitators for social media use in people with TBI include training the person with TBI and their communication partners in ways to enjoy and use social media safely.There is minimal rigorous evaluation of social media use by people with TBI and scant information regarding social media use by people with communication disabilities after TBI. Further investigation is needed into the potential benefits of social media use on communication, social participation and social support with the aim of reducing social isolation in people with TBI

A cohort study of the service-users of online contraception.

BACKGROUND: In January 2017, the first free service providing oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) ordered online and posted home became available in the London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark - ethnically and socioeconomically diverse areas with high rates of unplanned pregnancy. There are concerns that online services can increase health inequalities; therefore, we aimed to describe service-users according to age, ethnicity and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile of area of residence and to examine the association of these with repeated use. METHODS: We analysed routinely collected data from January 2017 to April 2018 and described service-users using available sociodemographic factors and information on patterns of use. Logistic regression analysis examined factors associated with repeat ordering of OCPs. RESULTS: The service was accessed by 726 individuals; most aged between 20 and 29 years (72.5%); self-identified as being of white ethnic group (58.8%); and residents of the first and second most deprived IMD quintiles (79.2%). Compared with those of white ethnic group, those of black ethnic group were significantly less likely to make repeat orders (adjusted OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.89; p=0.001), as were those of Asian and mixed ethnic groups. CONCLUSIONS: These are the first empirical findings on free, online contraception and suggest that early adopters broadly reflect the population of the local area in terms of ethnic diversity and deprivation as measured by IMD. Ongoing service development should prioritise the identification and removal of barriers which may inhibit repeat use for black and minority ethnic groups

RamStart

According to the 2015 Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationally, students with disabilities are less likely to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and more likely to be unemployed.1 At VCU, these students are served by the Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity Office (SAEO), which currently has only two case managers for 1500 registered students while the Association for Higher Education and Disabilities (AHEAD) recommends an individual case load of 350 or fewer students. While these students attend New Student Orientation, there are currently no programs or sessions specifically designed to address their needs. RamStart is a model for presemester transition workshops for new students who have been granted accommodations through SAEO for disabilities and their families which is designed to provide them with tools for self-advocacy and independence. The goal of these workshops is to help ease the students’ transition to VCU by educating them and their parents about SAEO’s services, their rights and responsibilities, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), campus resources, and University policies and procedures to improve their chances of success

Clinical Simulations in Academic Courses: Four Case Studies Across the Medical SLP Graduate Curriculum

Simulation practices are growing in both popularity and necessity within speech pathology programs. Simulation use can serve to not only minimize client risk but to increase student confidence and competence prior to patient contact, particularly with low incidence or medically fragile patients. This paper describes and reflects on four individual simulation experiences within one graduate speech language pathology program and their outcomes. The use of both simulated patients and mannequin training resulted in an increase in students\u27 perception of knowledge and confidence in their clinical skills with medical patients

Linking discourse modes and situation entity types in a cross-linguistic corpus study

The main contribution of this paper is a cross-linguistic empirical analysis of two interacting levels of linguistic analysis of written text: situation entity (SE) types, the semantic types of situations evoked by clauses of text, and discourse modes (DMs), a characterization of passages at the sub-document level. We adapt an existing annotation scheme for SEs in English to be used for German data, with a detailed discussion of the most important differences. We create the first parallel corpus annotated for SEs, and the first DM-annotated corpus. We find that: (a) the adapted scheme is supported by evidence from a large-scale experimental study; (b) SEs mainly correspond to each other in parallel text, and a large part of the mismatches are systematic; (c) the DM annotation task can be performed intuitively with reasonable agreement; and (d) the annotated DMs show the predicted differences in the distributions of SE types