The Predictive Validity of a Text-Based Situational Judgment Test in Undergraduate Medical and Dental School Admissions

PROBLEM: Situational judgment tests (SJTs) can be used to assess the nonacademic attributes necessary for medical and dental trainees to become successful practitioners. Evidence for SJTs' predictive validity, however, relates predominantly to selection in postgraduate settings or using video-based SJTs at the undergraduate level; it may not be directly transferable to text-based SJTs in undergraduate medical and dental school selection. This preliminary study aimed to address these gaps by assessing the validity of the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) text-based SJT. APPROACH: Study participants were 218 first-year medical and dental students from four UK undergraduate schools who completed the first UKCAT text-based SJT in 2013. Outcome measures were educational supervisor ratings of in-role performance in problem-based learning tutorial sessions-mean rating across the three domains measured by the SJT (integrity, perspective taking, and team involvement) and an overall judgment of performance-collected in 2015. OUTCOMES: There were significant correlations between SJT scores and both mean supervisor ratings (uncorrected r = 0.24, P < .001; corrected r = 0.34) and overall judgments (uncorrected rs = 0.16, P < .05; corrected rs = 0.20). SJT scores predicted 6% of variance in mean supervisor ratings across the three nonacademic domains. NEXT STEPS: The results provide evidence that a well-designed text-based SJT can be appropriately integrated, and add value to, the selection process for undergraduate medical and dental school. More evidence is needed regarding the longitudinal predictive validity of SJTs throughout medical and dental training pathways, with appropriate outcome criteria

The requirements of a specialist breast centre

Abstract This article is an update of the requirements of a specialist breast centre, produced by EUSOMA and endorsed by ECCO as part of Essential Requirements for Quality Cancer Care (ERQCC) programme, and ESMO. To meet aspirations for comprehensive cancer control, healthcare organisations must consider the requirements in this article, paying particular attention to multidisciplinarity and patient-centred pathways from diagnosis, to treatment, to survivorship.Peer reviewe

The ocean sampling day consortium

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world’s oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a single day. This will be achievable only through the coordinated efforts of an Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, supportive partnerships and networks between sites. This commentary outlines the establishment, function and aims of the Consortium and describes our vision for a sustainable study of marine microbial communities and their embedded functional traits

Digital Scholarly Editions as Interfaces

The present volume “Digital Scholarly Editions as Interfaces” is the follow-up publication of the same-titled symposium that was held in 2016 at the University of Graz and the twelfth volume of the publication series of the Institute for Documentology and Scholarly Editing (IDE). It is the result of a successful collaboration between members of the Centre for Information Modelling at the University of Graz, the Digital Scholarly Editions Initial Training Network DiXiT, a EC Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action, and the IDE. All articles have undergone a peer reviewing process and are published in Open Access. They document the current state of research on design, application and implications of both user and machine interfaces in the context of digital scholarly editions. The editors of the volume are grateful to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions for enabling not only the symposium in 2016 but also the publication of the present volume with their financial support. Special thanks are also due to the staff of the Centre for Information Modelling, above all Georg Vogeler, who contributed to the successful organisation and completion of the symposium and this volume with their ideas and continuous support. Furthermore we want to thank all authors as well as all peer reviewers for the professional cooperation during the publication process. Last but not least we want to thank the many people involved in creating the present volume: Barbara Bollig (Trier) for language corrections and formal suggestions, Bernhard Assmann and Patrick Sahle (Cologne) for support and advises during the typese ing process, Selina Galka (Graz) for verifying and archiving (archive.org) all referenced URLs in January 2018, Julia Sorouri (Cologne) for the design of the cover as well as the artist Franz Konrad (Graz), who provided his painting “Desktop” (www.franzkonrad.com/gallery/desktop-2008-2010/) as cover image. We hope you enjoy reading and get as much intrigued by the topic “Digital Scholarly Editions as Interfaces” as we did

The Ocean Sampling Day Consortium

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world’s oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a single day. This will be achievable only through the coordinated efforts of an Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, supportive partnerships and networks between sites. This commentary outlines the establishment, function and aims of the Consortium and describes our vision for a sustainable study of marine microbial communities and their embedded functional traits

The 2022 symposium on dementia and brain aging in low‐ and middle‐income countries: Highlights on research, diagnosis, care, and impact

Two of every three persons living with dementia reside in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). The projected increase in global dementia rates is expected to affect LMICs disproportionately. However, the majority of global dementia care costs occur in high‐income countries (HICs), with dementia research predominantly focusing on HICs. This imbalance necessitates LMIC‐focused research to ensure that characterization of dementia accurately reflects the involvement and specificities of diverse populations. Development of effective preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic approaches for dementia in LMICs requires targeted, personalized, and harmonized efforts. Our article represents timely discussions at the 2022 Symposium on Dementia and Brain Aging in LMICs that identified the foremost opportunities to advance dementia research, differential diagnosis, use of neuropsychometric tools, awareness, and treatment options. We highlight key topics discussed at the meeting and provide future recommendations to foster a more equitable landscape for dementia prevention, diagnosis, care, policy, and management in LMICs. Highlights: Two‐thirds of persons with dementia live in LMICs, yet research and costs are skewed toward HICs. LMICs expect dementia prevalence to more than double, accompanied by socioeconomic disparities. The 2022 Symposium on Dementia in LMICs addressed advances in research, diagnosis, prevention, and policy. The Nairobi Declaration urges global action to enhance dementia outcomes in LMICs

The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015

A never-ending story: the steadily growing family of the FA and FA-like genes

International audienc

Flavonoids from Teucrium fruticans L.

From aerial parts of Teucrium fncticans L. three flavonoids were isolated and identified as 5-hydroxy-6, 7, 3', 4'-tetramethoxyflavone, 5, 4'-dihydroxy-6, 7, 3'-trimethoxyflavone (cirsilineol) and 5, 4'-dihydroxy-6, 7-dimethoxyflavone (cirsimaritin). The former compound was found to be a predominant flavone aglycone constituent of the plant material. This is the first report on the isolation of flavonoids from the plant