Does the effectiveness of forest protected areas differ conditionally on their type of governance?

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ROSES RepOrting standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses: pro forma, flow-diagram and descriptive summary of the plan and conduct of environmental systematic reviews and systematic maps.

Reliable synthesis of the various rapidly expanding bodies of evidence is vital for the process of evidence-informed decision-making in environmental policy, practice and research. With the rise of evidence-base medicine and increasing numbers of published systematic reviews, criteria for assessing the quality of reporting have been developed. First QUOROM (Lancet 354:1896–1900, 1999) and then PRISMA (Ann Intern Med 151:264, 2009) were developed as reporting guidelines and standards to ensure medical meta-analyses and systematic reviews are reported to a high level of detail. PRISMA is now widely used by a range of journals as a pre-submission checklist. However, due to its development for systematic reviews in healthcare, PRISMA has limited applicability for reviews in conservation and environmental management. We highlight 12 key problems with the application of PRISMA to this field, including an overemphasis on meta-analysis and no consideration for other synthesis methods. We introduce ROSES (RepOrting standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses), a pro forma and flow diagram designed specifically for systematic reviews and systematic maps in the field of conservation and environmental management. We describe how ROSES solves the problems with PRISMA. We outline the key benefits of our approach to designing ROSES, in particular the level of detail and inclusion of rich guidance statements. We also introduce the extraction of meta-data that describe key aspects of the conduct of the review. Collated together, this summary record can help to facilitate rapid review and appraisal of the conduct of a systematic review or map, potentially speeding up the peer-review process. We present the results of initial road testing of ROSES with systematic review experts, and propose a plan for future development of ROSES

Response to “Every ROSE has its thorns”

Abstract: Sharp et al. [1] raise a number of concerns about the development and communication of ROSES (RepOrting standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses), and we welcome the opportunity to explain some of the underlying thinking behind development of the reporting standards for environmental evidence syntheses

The effect of shielding gas composition on the toughness and crack growth parameters of AlMg4,5Mn weld metals

The experiment have been performed using samples of welded joints of the three components aluminium alloy AlMg4,5Mn. The welding was performed with GTAW in the shielded atmosphere of Ar+0,015N2, mixture of the inert gases Ar+50%He+0,015N2 and Ar+70%He+0,015N2. After welding has been completed, the metallographic tests, the tensile test and the tests of the hardness were performed. Also, the weld metal toughness was estimated, using the instrumental Charpy impact testing system, followed by estimating the crack initiation energy, crack growth energy and the fracture mechanics parameters. The goal was to establish the effects of shielding atmosphere composition on the mechanical properties and fracture mechanics parameters of weld metal

Technologies for recovery and reuse of plant nutrients from human excreta and domestic wastewater: a protocol for a systematic map and living evidence platform

Background: Research and development on the recovery and reuse of nutrients found in human excreta and domestic wastewater has intensified over the past years, continuously producing new knowledge and technologies. However, research impact and knowledge transfer are limited. In particular, uptake and upscaling of new and innovative solutions in practice remain a key challenge. Achieving a more circular use of nutrients thus goes beyond technological innovation and will benefit from a synthesis of existing research being readily available to various stakeholders in the field. The aim of the systematic map and online evidence platform described in this protocol is threefold. First, to collate and summarise scientific research on technologies that facilitate the recovery and reuse of plant nutrients and organic matter found in human excreta and domestic and municipal wastewater. Second, to present this evidence in a way that can be easily navigated by stakeholders. Third, to report on new relevant research evidence to stakeholders as it becomes available.Methods: Firstly, we will produce a baseline systematic map, which will consist of an extension of two previous related syntheses. In a next stage, with help of machine learning and other automation technologies, the baseline systematic map will be transformed into 'living mode' that allows for a continually updated evidence platform. The baseline systematic map searches will be performed in 4 bibliographic sources and Google Scholar. All searches will be performed in English. Coding and meta-data extraction will include bibliographic information, locations as well as the recovery and reuse pathways. The living mode will mostly rely on automation technologies in EPPI-Reviewer and the Microsoft Academic database. The new records will be automatically identified and ranked in terms of eligibility. Records above a certain 'cut-off' threshold will be manually screened for eligibility. The threshold will be devised based on the empirically informed machine learning model. The evidence from the baseline systematic map and living mode will be embedded in an online evidence platform that in an interactive manner allows stakeholders to visualise and explore the systematic map findings, including knowledge gaps and clusters

Antagonistic Activities of Sox2 and Brachyury Control the Fate Choice of Neuro-Mesodermal Progenitors

The spinal cord and mesodermal tissues of the trunk such as the vertebral column and skeletal musculature derive from neuro-mesodermal progenitors (NMPs). Sox2, Brachyury (T), and Tbx6 have been correlated with NMP potency and lineage choice; however, their exact role and interaction in these processes have not yet been revealed. Here we present a global analysis of NMPs and their descending lineages performed on purified cells from embryonic day 8.5 wild-type and mutant embryos. We show that T, cooperatively with WNT signaling, controls the progenitor state and the switch toward the mesodermal fate. Sox2 acts antagonistically and promotes neural development. T is also involved in remodeling the chromatin for mesodermal development. Tbx6 reinforces the mesodermal fate choice, represses the progenitor state, and confers paraxial fate commitment. Our findings refine previous models and establish molecular principles underlying mammalian trunk development, comprising NMP maintenance, lineage choice, and mesoderm formation

Eight problems with literature reviews and how to fix them.

Traditional approaches to reviewing literature may be susceptible to bias and result in incorrect decisions. This is of particular concern when reviews address policy- and practice-relevant questions. Systematic reviews have been introduced as a more rigorous approach to synthesizing evidence across studies; they rely on a suite of evidence-based methods aimed at maximizing rigour and minimizing susceptibility to bias. Despite the increasing popularity of systematic reviews in the environmental field, evidence synthesis methods continue to be poorly applied in practice, resulting in the publication of syntheses that are highly susceptible to bias. Recognizing the constraints that researchers can sometimes feel when attempting to plan, conduct and publish rigorous and comprehensive evidence syntheses, we aim here to identify major pitfalls in the conduct and reporting of systematic reviews, making use of recent examples from across the field. Adopting a 'critical friend' role in supporting would-be systematic reviews and avoiding individual responses to police use of the 'systematic review' label, we go on to identify methodological solutions to mitigate these pitfalls. We then highlight existing support available to avoid these issues and call on the entire community, including systematic review specialists, to work towards better evidence syntheses for better evidence and better decisions

Integrated Multiparametric Radiomics and Informatics System for Characterizing Breast Tumor Characteristics with the OncotypeDX Gene Assay

Optimal use of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) can identify key MRI parameters and provide unique tissue signatures defining phenotypes of breast cancer. We have developed and implemented a new machine-learning informatic system, termed Informatics Radiomics Integration System (IRIS) that integrates clinical variables, derived from imaging and electronic medical health records (EHR) with multiparametric radiomics (mpRad) for identifying potential risk of local or systemic recurrence in breast cancer patients. We tested the model in patients (n = 80) who had Estrogen Receptor positive disease and underwent OncotypeDX gene testing, radiomic analysis, and breast mpMRI. The IRIS method was trained using the mpMRI, clinical, pathologic, and radiomic descriptors for prediction of the OncotypeDX risk score. The trained mpRad IRIS model had a 95% and specificity was 83% with an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.89 for classifying low risk patients from the intermediate and high-risk groups. The lesion size was larger for the high-risk group (2.9 ± 1.7 mm) and lower for both low risk (1.9 ± 1.3 mm) and intermediate risk (1.7 ± 1.4 mm) groups. The lesion apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map values for high- and intermediate-risk groups were significantly (p \u3c 0.05) lower than the low-risk group (1.14 vs. 1.49 × 10−3 mm2/s). These initial studies provide deeper insight into the clinical, pathological, quantitative imaging, and radiomic features, and provide the foundation to relate these features to the assessment of treatment response for improved personalized medicine