The Glasgow outcome at discharge scale: an inpatient assessment of disability after brain injury

This study assesses the validity and reliability of the Glasgow Outcome at Discharge Scale (GODS), which is a tool that is designed to assess disability after brain injury in an inpatient setting. It is derived from the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOS-E), which assesses disability in the community after brain injury. Inter-rater reliability on the GODS is high (quadratic-weighted kappa 0.982; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.968, 0.996) as is concurrent validity with the Disability Rating Scale (DRS) (Spearman correlation −0.728; 95% CI −0.819, −0.601). The GODS is significantly associated with physical and fatigue subscales of the short form (SF)-36 in hospital. In terms of predictive validity the GODS is highly associated with the GOS-E after discharge (Spearman correlation 0.512; 95% CI 0.281, 0.687), with the DRS, and with physical, fatigue, and social subscales of the SF-36. The GODS is recommended as an assessment tool for disability after brain injury pre-discharge and can be used in conjunction with the GOS-E to monitor disability between hospital and the community

Hamiltonian effective field theory study of the N∗(1440)\mathbf{N^*(1440)} resonance in lattice QCD

We examine the phase shifts and inelasticities associated with the $N^*(1440)$ Roper resonance and connect these infinite-volume observables to the finite-volume spectrum of lattice QCD using Hamiltonian effective field theory. We explore three hypotheses for the structure of the Roper resonance. All three hypotheses are able to describe the scattering data well. In the third hypothesis the Roper resonance couples the low-lying bare basis-state component associated with the ground state nucleon with the virtual meson-baryon contributions. Here the non-trivial superpositions of the meson-baryon scattering states are complemented by bare basis-state components explaining their observation in contemporary lattice QCD calculations. The merit of this scenario lies in its ability to not only describe the observed nucleon energy levels in large-volume lattice QCD simulations but also explain why other low-lying states have been missed in today's lattice QCD results for the nucleon spectrum.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures; version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Hamiltonian effective field theory study of the N∗(1535)\mathbf{N^*(1535)} resonance in lattice QCD

Drawing on experimental data for baryon resonances, Hamiltonian effective field theory (HEFT) is used to predict the positions of the finite-volume energy levels to be observed in lattice QCD simulations of the lowest-lying $J^P=1/2^-$ nucleon excitation. In the initial analysis, the phenomenological parameters of the Hamiltonian model are constrained by experiment and the finite-volume eigenstate energies are a prediction of the model. The agreement between HEFT predictions and lattice QCD results obtained on volumes with spatial lengths of 2 and 3 fm is excellent. These lattice results also admit a more conventional analysis where the low-energy coefficients are constrained by lattice QCD results, enabling a determination of resonance properties from lattice QCD itself. Finally, the role and importance of various components of the Hamiltonian model are examined.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; version published in Phys. Rev. Let

Review 3: Community engagement for health via coalitions, collaborations and partnerships (on-line social media and social networks) – a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: This report describes the methods and findings of a systematic review on community engagement (CE) for health via online social media and social networks. It is the third and final review of a programme of work on the use and effectiveness of CE in interventions that target health outcomes. Social networks are one of many forms of CE. Our first two reviews suggested that the extent and particular processes of CE may be linked to effects on people’s health. The emergence of online, electronic peer-to-peer social network sites (e.g. Facebook) and online social media tools (e.g. Twitter) have increased exponentially in recent years, and existing evidence on their effectiveness is ambiguous. AIMS: We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of online social media/social networks on: the extent of CE across designs, delivery and evaluation; the types of health issues and populations that have been studied; their effectiveness in improving health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities; and any particular features that account for heterogeneity in effect size estimates across studies. METHODS: Systematic review methods were applied to comprehensively locate and assess the available research evidence. The search strategy employed previously run searches used for Reviews 1 and 2 of this project (described elsewhere). The included studies were descriptively analysed and the findings were synthesised using three components: framework synthesis, meta-analysis and qualitative component analysis (QCA). RESULTS: A total of 11 studies were included in the review, none of which was set in the UK. The community was not explicitly involved in identifying the health need for any of the 11 studies. No studies demonstrated a high level of CE, where participants were involved in the three measured elements: design, delivery and evaluation. Framework analysis indicated that peer delivery of the intervention was the predominant type of CE. Two processes of CE were reported – bidirectional communication and the use of facilitators – but none of the studies evaluated these processes. Professional facilitators were used more often in healthy eating/physical activity studies. Peer facilitators were used more often in youth-focused interventions and professional facilitators were utilised more frequently for interventions targeting older populations. Studies focusing on women only may incorporate peer or professional facilitators to aid intervention delivery. Peer or professional facilitators were used slightly more consistently in interventions targeting minority ethnic groups. Meta-analyses and meta-regression showed no evidence of beneficial effects on any outcomes. There was moderate (I 2 = 25≤50) to high (I 2 = ≥50) heterogeneity between studies for primary outcomes, suggesting the existence of potential moderators. None of the tested study characteristics explained the variation in effect sizes. The QCA demonstrated that including a facilitator in online social media/social networking interventions showed higher effect sizes for studies that focused on topics other than healthy eating and physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: The results from this study suggest that CE is not utilised across the design or evaluation of health interventions, and the type of CE undertaken with intervention delivery focuses on peer interactions alone. This suggests that there is very little co-creation of knowledge or building of social capital occurring in evaluated health intervention studies using online social media/networking

Sex-selective abortion: a systematic map of the volume and nature of research

Background - This report takes the form of a systematic map examining the volume and nature of research concerning sex-selective abortion. The map is not intended to supply an answer to the question "What is the extent of sex-selective abortion in England, Wales and -Scotland?" Rather, the purpose of the map is to describe the volume and key characteristics of research concerning sex-selective abortion; i.e. to identify and describe what research has been carried out in this area. Methodology Empirical, quantitative, English language research focussed upon sex-selective abortion and published from the year 2000 onwards was sought via bibliographic database and citation searching. Results – volume and nature of the research A sizeable international literature in relation to sex-selective abortion was found totalling 332 studies. The country of focus was India in almost half (153) of these studies, China in 79 studies (24%), and Asia (not including India, China or Pakistan) in 37 (11%) of studies. OECD countries were examined in 23 (7%) reports of 20 relevant studies (four secondary, linked reports of existing analyses were identified). Six unique studies focussed upon populations within the UK, five the US, four Canada, two Greece, two Norway and one Italy. The extent of sex-selective abortion taking place in a population is often assessed by examining the sex ratio at birth (SRB) – the number of boys born alive per 100 girls born alive. The research in this map appeared to examine relatively few confounders or moderators of the SRB, although this is likely due to the constraints imposed by analysis of pre-existing datasets. Conclusions/Further research To the extent that it is possible, future research should give further consideration to important confounders such as socio-economic status, marital status, birth order, parity and parental age. Future research might also be situated within the context of alternative explanations for perturbations and prevailing trends in the SRB. In order to establish the extent to which sex-selective abortion is taking place in UK-relevant contexts, relevant studies would have to be subjected to critical appraisal to assess the reliability of their findings. Where results are robust but inconsistent, examination of the scope of the studies and the specification of their analytical models would be required in order to explain mixed and conflicting findings