Strategies for Public Engagement with Official Statistics

High quality data are available on a very wide range of topics. However, there are barriers to be overcome before citizens engage with these data. First is access; data are often distributed across different websites. Second is exposure; data need to be presented in the most commonly used information sources. Third is engagement – creating a climate where citizens are interested in evidence. The House of Commons Library (Library) and Durham University are collaborating in order to promote better use of data. The Library is the first port of call for politicians; their blogs and tweets are a major information resource for journalists. A website created ahead of the UK general election provides a rich resource for data at constituency level. Quizzes have been created which run on smartphones, in an effort to engage a broader section of people in evidence-based discussions. We discuss strategies designed to encourage public engagement with official statistics

Designing Interactive Displays to Promote Effective use of Evidence

Interactive displays are increasing being used to convey information, and are a significant factor in promoting statistical literacy (and illiteracy). Durham University and the House of Commons Library are collaborating to create data visualisations (DV) which will be accessible to politicians, researchers and journalists. The focus of this paper is a DV designed to be useful in the run-up to the 2015 general election. The aim was to assemble a rich resource from multiple sources, and to make it easy for target groups to manipulate data and draw conclusions. We identify important changes to the DV as it evolved over 13 iterations, and draw conclusions about appropriate design processes and validation

Real-world contexts in statistics components of UK mathematics examinations : aiming forward, walking backwards.

Reasoning with data is pervasive in society; evidence-based policy requires reasoning about complex data; many statistics curricula do not equip students to understand such reasoning. A new mathematics curriculum for upper secondary school (pre-university) students has been taught in England from September 2017, which includes assessment based on large-scale, pre-released data. Here, we critique the specimen examination papers, identifying inappropriate uses of statistics, and a failure to understand the rationale for working with large scale, authentic, data sets. We offer an account of how this poor state of affairs has come about

Prospective associations between a priori dietary patterns adherence and kidney function in an elderly Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk

Purpose To assess the association between three different a priori dietary patterns adherence (17-item energy reduced-Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet), Trichopoulou-MedDiet and Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH)), as well as the Protein Diet Score and kidney function decline after one year of follow-up in elderly individuals with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods We prospectively analyzed 5675 participants (55-75 years) from the PREDIMED-Plus study. At baseline and at one year, we evaluated the creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and food-frequency questionnaires-derived dietary scores. Associations between four categories (decrease/maintenance and tertiles of increase) of each dietary pattern and changes in eGFR (ml/min/1.73m(2)) or >= 10% eGFR decline were assessed by fitting multivariable linear or logistic regression models, as appropriate. Results Participants in the highest tertile of increase in 17-item erMedDiet Score showed higher upward changes in eGFR (beta: 1.87 ml/min/1.73m(2); 95% CI: 1.00-2.73) and had lower odds of >= 10% eGFR decline (OR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.47-0.82) compared to individuals in the decrease/maintenance category, while Trichopoulou-MedDiet and DASH Scores were not associated with any renal outcomes. Those in the highest tertile of increase in Protein Diet Score had greater downward changes in eGFR (beta: - 0.87 ml/min/1.73m(2); 95% CI: - 1.73 to - 0.01) and 32% higher odds of eGFR decline (OR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.00-1.75). Conclusions Among elderly individuals with overweight/obesity and MetS, only higher upward change in the 17-item erMedDiet score adherence was associated with better kidney function after one year. However, increasing Protein Diet Score appeared to have an adverse impact on kidney health. Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN89898870 (Data of registration: 2014).Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work was supported by the official Spanish Institutions for funding scientific biomedical research, CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutricion (CIBEROBN) and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), through the Fondo de Investigacion para la Salud (FIS), which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (six coordinated FIS projects leaded by JS-S and JVi, including the following projects: PI13/00673, PI13/00492, PI13/00272, PI13/01123, PI13/00462, PI13/00233, PI13/02184, PI13/00728, PI13/01090, PI13/01056, PI14/01722, PI14/00636, PI14/00618, PI14/00696, PI14/01206, PI14/01919, PI14/00853, PI14/01374, PI14/00972, PI14/00728, PI14/01471, PI16/00473, PI16/00662, PI16/01873, PI16/01094, PI16/00501, PI16/00533, PI16/00381, PI16/00366, PI16/01522, PI16/01120, PI17/00764, PI17/01183, PI17/00855, PI17/01347, PI17/00525, PI17/01827, PI17/00532, PI17/00215, PI17/01441, PI17/00508, PI17/01732, PI17/00926, PI19/00957, PI19/00386, PI19/00309, PI19/01032, PI19/00576, PI19/00017, PI19/01226, PI19/00781, PI19/01560, PI19/01332, PI20/01802, PI20/00138, PI20/01532, PI20/00456, PI20/00339, PI20/00557, PI20/00886, PI20/01158); the Especial Action Project entitled: Implementacion y evaluacion de una intervencion intensiva sobre la actividad fisica Cohorte PREDIMED-Plus grant to JS-S; the European Research Council (Advanced Research Grant 2014-2019; agreement #340918) granted to MAMG.; the Recercaixa (number 2013ACUP00194) grant to JS-S; grants from the Consejeria de Salud de la Junta de Andalucia (PI0458/2013, PS0358/2016, PI0137/2018); the PROMETEO/2017/017 and the PROMETEO 21/2021 grant from the Generalitat Valenciana; the SEMERGEN grant; the Boosting young talent call grant program for the development of IISPV research projects 2019-2021 (Ref.: 2019/IISPV/03 grant to AD-L); the Societat Catalana d'Endocrinologia i Nutricio (SCEN) Clinical-Research Grant 2019 (IPs: JS-S and AD-L). Collaborative Nutrition and/or Obesity Project for Young Researchers 2019 supported by CIBEROBN entitled: Lifestyle Interventions and Chronic Kidney Disease: Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Metabolomic Profile (LIKIDI study) grant to AD-L. Jordi Salas-Salvado, gratefully acknowledges the financial support by ICREA under the ICREA Academia programme. M.R.-G., is supported by the Ministry of Education of Spain (FPU17/06488). None of the funding sources took part in the design, collection, analysis, interpretation of the data, or writing the report, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication

Total and Subtypes of Dietary Fat Intake and Its Association with Components of the Metabolic Syndrome in a Mediterranean Population at High Cardiovascular Risk

Background: The effect of dietary fat intake on the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and in turn on cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains unclear in individuals at high CVD risk. Objective: To assess the association between fat intake and MetS components in an adult Mediterranean population at high CVD risk. Design: Baseline assessment of nutritional adequacy in participants (n = 6560, men and women, 55-75 years old, with overweight/obesity and MetS) in the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED)-Plus randomized trial. Methods: Assessment of fat intake (total fat, monounsatured fatty acids: MUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids: PUFA, saturated fatty acids: SFA, trans-fatty acids: trans-FA, linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid, and ω-3 FA) using a validated food frequency questionnaire, and diet quality using 17-item Mediterranean dietary questionnaire and fat quality index (FQI). Results: Participants in the highest quintile of total dietary fat intake showed lower intake of energy, carbohydrates, protein and fiber, but higher intake of PUFA, MUFA, SFA, TFA, LA, ALA and ω-3 FA. Differences in MetS components were found according to fat intake. Odds (5th vs. 1st quintile): hyperglycemia: 1.3-1.6 times higher for total fat, MUFA, SFA and ω-3 FA intake; low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c): 1.2 higher for LA; hypertriglyceridemia: 0.7 lower for SFA and ω-3 FA intake. Conclusions: Dietary fats played different role on MetS components of high CVD risk patients. Dietary fat intake was associated with higher risk of hyperglycemia

Real-world contexts in statistics components of UK mathematics examinations: aiming forward, walking backwards

Reasoning with data is pervasive in society; evidence-based policy requires reasoning about complex data; many statistics curricula do not equip students to understand such reasoning. A new mathematics curriculum for upper secondary school (pre-university) students has been taught in England from September 2017, which includes assessment based on large-scale, pre-released data. Here, we critique the specimen examination papers, identifying inappropriate uses of statistics, and a failure to understand the rationale for working with large scale, authentic, data sets. We offer an account of how this poor state of affairs has come about

Data Science for all: A stroll in the foothills

Data science presents both opportunities and threats to conventional statistics courses. Opportunities include being at the bleeding edge of data analysis, and learning new ways to model phenomena; threats include the challenge of learning new skills and reviewing fundamental assumptions about explanation, prediction and modeling. Powerful data visualisations makes it easier to introduce students to fundamental statistical ideas associated with multivariate data. Data science provides methods to tackle problems that are intractable using analytic methods. Students need to learn how to model complex problems, and to understand the problematic nature of modeling – and they need to consider the practical and ethical implications of their (and others’) work. Here, we offer a stroll into the foothills, along with aphorisms and heuristics for data analysts

A filosofia do direito entre o global e o local, em face dos direitos humanos.

Si cerca di distinguere modelli alternativi di normatività e scoprire in che modo le istanze sociali nuove o già affermate interferiscano in questa normatività sopravvivente nel mondo globale alla ricerca di sostenibilità economica, sociale e ambientale con parametri locali. Lo studio è realizzato con l'ausilio di conoscenze interdisciplinari provenienti da fonti culturali svariate, e materie affini come la sociologia, la filosofia, l'antropologia, le scienze naturali, la psicologia, il design (importante il collegamento fra design e pubblica sicurezza, ad esempio). Ricerca interuniversità di 24 mesi, da concludersi nel dicembre 2010

Revealing Conceptual Difficulties when Interpreting Histograms: An Eye-Tracking Study

Many people misinterpret histograms. The conjecture is that some of these misinterpretations emerge from the application of interpretation strategies associated with case-value plots. To investigate this, eye-movement data were collected from six university students solving questions on histograms and case-value plots. Analysis of gaze data and cued retrospective verbal reports showed that participants seemed to use a histogram interpretation strategy, a case-value plot interpretation strategy or an elimination strategy. Several participants appeared to use a single preferred strategy without distinguishing between the type of graphs at stake. As conjectured, some participants applied a casevalue plot strategy also to histograms. In addition, analysis of gaze data and verbal reports suggest that more experienced participants abandoned their nitial strategy when necessary

Efficiency of rapd, issr, aflp and istr markers for the detection of polymorphisms and genetic relationships in camote de cerro (dioscorea spp.)

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease, which leads to focal plaques of demyelination and tissue injury in the central nervous system. Oxidative stress is also thought to promote tissue damage in multiple sclerosis. Current research findings suggest that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as eicosapenta-enoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) contained in fish oil may have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective effects. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the efficacy of fish oil supplementation on serum proinflammatory cytokine levels, oxidative stress markers, and disease progression in MS. 50 patients with relapsing-remitting MS were enrolled. The experimental group received orally 4 g/day of fish oil for 12 months. The primary outcome was serum TNF? levels; secondary outcomes were IL-1? 1b, IL-6, nitric oxide catabolites, lipoperoxides, progression on the expanded disability status scale (EDSS), and annualized relapses rate (ARR). Fish oil treatment decreased the serum levels of TNF?, IL-1?, IL-6, and nitric oxide metabolites compared with placebo group (P?0.001). There was no significant difference in serum lipoperoxide levels during the study. No differences in EDSS and ARR were found. Conclusion. Fish oil supplementation is highly effective in reducing the levels of cytokines and nitric oxide catabolites in patients with relapsing-remitting MS. " 2013 V. Ramirez-Ramirez et al.",,,,,,"10.1155/2013/709493",,,"http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12104/41164","http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84880179627&partnerID=40&md5=d05323ee095abeb7cb5a928d230bf7cf",,,,,,,,"Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity",,,,,,"Scopu