Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Epidemiology and clinical outcomes in a multicentre regional cohort of patients with severe acquired brain injury

Purpose: To evaluate epidemiological and clinical data on patients with severe acquired brain injury (sABI) admitted to rehabilitation units in the first 6 years since the inception of a regional register (2005–2010) in the Emilia-Romagna region (Italy). Method: Retrospective multicentre study of a regional cohort using data from an online regional register (GraviCerebrolesioni Emilia-Romagna – GRACER). The study included 318 patients who suffered sABI (defined by Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤8 recorded in the initial 24 h following injury), who were admitted to and subsequently discharged from rehabilitation units. Physical and cognitive functions were evaluated at admission and discharge. Other data recorded included aetiology, presence of secondary conditions and need for specific medical support. Results: Three-quarters of patients displayed improvements in physical and/or cognitive function at discharge from rehabilitation units, with 71.4% of patients returning home. Better outcomes at discharge were associated in particular with younger age, traumatic brain injury (versus non-traumatic), or absence of tracheostomy at admission. Conclusion: The GRACER register is a useful tool for the assessment of epidemiological and clinical information on sABI patients. In light of the positive impact on patient outcomes, rehabilitation in specialised units is highly encouraged and should occur as soon as possible.Implications for RehabilitationThere is a need for more epidemiological and clinical data associated with severe acquired brain injury, particular regarding those of non-traumatic origin.In a retrospective multicentre study of a regional cohort using data from an online regional register in Italy (GRACER), more than three-quarters of patients displayed improvements in physical and/or cognitive function at discharge from the rehabilitation units. Better outcomes at discharge were associated in particular with younger age, traumatic brain injury (versus non-traumatic) or absence of tracheostomy at admission.Admission to a specialised rehabilitation unit is highly encouraged for patients with severe acquired brain injury, and should occur as soon as possible.Policy-makers and service planners should continue to develop strategies and allocate adequate resources for rehabilitation services due to their positive impact on patient outcomes. In particular, patients with conditions associated with increased likelihood of poor outcomes may require special attention during rehabilitation to improve outcomes at discharge

Epidemiology and clinical outcomes in a multicentre regional cohort of patients with severe acquired brain injury

Purpose: To evaluate epidemiological and clinical data on patients with severe acquired brain injury (sABI) admitted to rehabilitation units in the first 6 years since the inception of a regional register (2005–2010) in the Emilia-Romagna region (Italy). Method: Retrospective multicentre study of a regional cohort using data from an online regional register (GraviCerebrolesioni Emilia-Romagna – GRACER). The study included 318 patients who suffered sABI (defined by Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤8 recorded in the initial 24 h following injury), who were admitted to and subsequently discharged from rehabilitation units. Physical and cognitive functions were evaluated at admission and discharge. Other data recorded included aetiology, presence of secondary conditions and need for specific medical support. Results: Three-quarters of patients displayed improvements in physical and/or cognitive function at discharge from rehabilitation units, with 71.4% of patients returning home. Better outcomes at discharge were associated in particular with younger age, traumatic brain injury (versus non-traumatic), or absence of tracheostomy at admission. Conclusion: The GRACER register is a useful tool for the assessment of epidemiological and clinical information on sABI patients. In light of the positive impact on patient outcomes, rehabilitation in specialised units is highly encouraged and should occur as soon as possible.Implications for RehabilitationThere is a need for more epidemiological and clinical data associated with severe acquired brain injury, particular regarding those of non-traumatic origin.In a retrospective multicentre study of a regional cohort using data from an online regional register in Italy (GRACER), more than three-quarters of patients displayed improvements in physical and/or cognitive function at discharge from the rehabilitation units. Better outcomes at discharge were associated in particular with younger age, traumatic brain injury (versus non-traumatic) or absence of tracheostomy at admission.Admission to a specialised rehabilitation unit is highly encouraged for patients with severe acquired brain injury, and should occur as soon as possible.Policy-makers and service planners should continue to develop strategies and allocate adequate resources for rehabilitation services due to their positive impact on patient outcomes. In particular, patients with conditions associated with increased likelihood of poor outcomes may require special attention during rehabilitation to improve outcomes at discharge

Familienpolitik: Ordnungspolitische Leitplanken im dichten Nebel des Verteilungskampfes

Die Familienpolitik ist in jüngster Zeit ins Zentrum der wirtschaftspolitischen Debatte in Deutschland gerückt. Der Beitrag analysiert, ob es aus ökonomischer Sicht Gründe dafür gibt, dass der Staat familienpolitische Verantwortung übernehmen sollte und welche Reformen im familienpolitischen Bereich angeraten erscheinen. Er weist darauf hin, dass die Entscheidung für oder gegen Kinder zunächst einmal einzig und allein bei den Eltern liegen sollte, dass aber ex post die Argumente Steuergerechtigkeit, Armutsvermeidung und externe Effekte für eine staatliche Unterstützung von Familien sprechen. Allerdings sollte diese nicht in einer weiteren drastischen Erhöhung des Kindergeldes bestehen, sondern vielmehr in verbesserten institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen für die Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie. Abstract Public interest in issues concerning family policy has substantially increased recently in Germany. This paper analyses whether there exist valid economic arguments in favour of the government assuming some responsibility in this area and which kind of reforms are called for. It is pointed out that it is first and foremost the private decision of the parents whether or not they want to have children. Nonetheless, equity considerations in the tax system, avoiding poverty and external effects speak ex post in favour of government support for families. However, government support should not consist in a further drastic increase in child benefits, but rather in improving the institutional framework concerning child care, schools etc. in such a way that it becomes easier for both parents to continue working