Building an Open Dissemination System

COPIM's Work package 5 (WP5) is developing technical protocols and infrastructure to better integrate OA books into institutional library, digital learning, and repository systems. This will support wider discovery and dissemination of OA books. Existing print and ebook distribution channels are difficult for new or OA publishers to engage with, requiring submission of metadata in multiple different formats (e.g. MARC, ONIX, KBART), and many platforms requiring multiple different metadata submissions; In addition, existing distribution channels are not well suited to OA content, while entirely new discovery and dissemination platforms are emerging (e.g. Google Books/Scholar). Guided by the perspective of new and emerging not-for-profit OA presses that have not yet been sufficiently integrated into existing discovery systems, knowledge bases, and supply routes, the aim of WP5 is to develop methods and systems to better integrate the catalogues of OA publishers into curated research records. The implementation of “best practices” workflows for OA book publishers will allow their catalogues to be better integrated into the scholarly record (discoverability, reach, persistence), increasing the impact of OA books. WP5 will build an Open Dissemination System (ODS) for OA books and a shared “best practices” digital catalogue. The ODS will be built as a decentralised system, using open source code, open protocols and standards and distributed databases—all under collective control. Doing so will ensure the system cannot be operated for the benefit of a single entity (either commercial or not). The ODS is currently under development under the project name Thoth. It consists of a metadata management system and a suite of exporting functions to allow publication metadata to be exported to all main metadata formats and data transfer with all relevant major platforms in the library and book selling supply chain. This scoping report is a key deliverable of WP5, in order to support the creation of the ODS. The report itself will discuss the distribution of books via the traditional library supply and new forms of digital dissemination before looking at metadata in depth. Metadata creation and types will be investigated in order to form a number of key recommendations for WP5. These recommendations are noted throughout the report before being grouped and discussed further in the recommendation section (see 9.0). Rather than publishing this report at the outset of the work package, it was decided to publish a time-stamped version, while simultaneously continuing to develop the report as the project progressed over time, and to encourage comment from the community. Version 1.0 of this report is available here and on Zenodo as a PDF (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3961564), and on the COPIM documentation site as a living document

Effects of dental probing on occlusal surfaces - A scanning electron microscopy evaluation

The aim of this clinical-morphological study was to investigate the effects of dental probing on occlusal surfaces by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Twenty sound occlusal surfaces of third molars and 20 teeth with initial carious lesions of 17- to 26-year-old patients (n = 18) were involved. Ten molars of each group were probed with a sharp dental probe (No. 23) before extraction; the other molars served as negative controls. After extraction of the teeth, the crowns were separated and prepared for the SEM study. Probing-related surface defects, enlargements and break-offs of occlusal pits and fissures were observed on all occlusal surfaces with initial carious lesions and on 2 sound surfaces, respectively. No traumatic defects whatsoever were visible on unprobed occlusal surfaces. This investigation confirms findings of light-microscopic studies that using a sharp dental probe for occlusal caries detection causes enamel defects. Therefore, dental probing should be considered as an inappropriate procedure and should be replaced by a meticulous visual inspection. Critical views of tactile caries detection methods with a sharp dental probe as a diagnostic tool seem to be inevitable in undergraduate and postgraduate dental education programmes. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

Does a colour-coded blood pressure diary improve blood pressure control for patients in general practice: The CoCo trial

BACKGROUND: Insufficient blood pressure control is a frequent problem despite the existence of effective treatment. Insufficient adherence to self-monitoring as well as to therapy is a common reason. Blood pressure self-measurement at home (Home Blood Pressure Measurement, HBPM) has positive effects on treatment adherence and is helpful in achieving the target blood pressure. Only a few studies have investigated whether adherence to HBPM can be improved through simple measures resulting also in better blood pressure control. OBJECTIVE: Improvement of self-monitoring and improved blood pressure control by using a new colour-coded blood pressure diary. OUTCOME: Primary outcome: Change in systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure 6 months after using the new colour-coded blood pressure diary.Secondary outcome: Adherence to blood pressure self-measurement (number of measurements/entries). METHODS/DESIGN: Randomised controlled study.Population: 138 adult patients in primary care with uncontrolled hypertension despite therapy. The control group uses a conventional blood pressure diary; the intervention group uses the new colour-coded blood pressure diary (green, yellow, red according a traffic light system). EXPECTED RESULTS/CONCLUSION: The visual separation and entries in three colour-coded areas reflecting risk (green: blood pressure in the target range 140/>90 mmHg, red: blood pressure in danger zone > 180 mmHg/>110 mmHg) lead to better self-monitoring compared with the conventional (non-colour-coded) blood pressure booklet. The colour-coded, visualised information supports improved perception (awareness and interpretation) of blood pressure and triggers correct behaviour, in the means of improved adherence to the recommended treatment as well as better communication between patients and doctors resulting in improved blood pressure control. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT01013467

Rapture of renal angiomyolipoma during pregnancy: a case report

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

The major barriers to evidence-informed conservation policy and possible solutions

Conservation policy decisions can suffer from a lack of evidence, hindering effective decision-making. In nature conservation, studies investigating why policy is often not evidence-informed have tended to focus on Western democracies, with relatively small samples. To understand global variation and challenges better, we established a global survey aimed at identifying top barriers and solutions to the use of conservation science in policy. This obtained the views of 758 people in policy, practice, and research positions from 68 countries across six languages. Here we show that, contrary to popular belief, there is agreement between groups about how to incorporate conservation science into policy, and there is thus room for optimism. Barriers related to the low priority of conservation were considered to be important, while mainstreaming conservation was proposed as a key solution. Therefore, priorities should focus on convincing the public of the importance of conservation as an issue, which will then influence policy-makers to adopt pro-environmental long-term policies.NERC (1653183) Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment Kenneth Miller Trust (unknown) NERC (1653183) NERC (NE/L002507/1) European Commission (308454

The oil-dispersion bath in anthroposophic medicine – an integrative review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Anthroposophic medicine offers a variety of treatments, among others the oil-dispersion bath, developed in the 1930s by Werner Junge. Based on the phenomenon that oil and water do not mix and on recommendations of Rudolf Steiner, Junge developed a vortex mechanism which churns water and essential oils into a fine mist. The oil-covered droplets empty into a tub, where the patient immerses for 15–30 minutes. We review the current literature on oil-dispersion baths.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The following databases were searched: Medline, Pubmed, Embase, AMED and CAMbase. The search terms were 'oil-dispersion bath' and 'oil bath', and their translations in German and French. An Internet search was also performed using Google Scholar, adding the search terms 'study' and 'case report' to the search terms above. Finally, we asked several experts for gray literature not listed in the above-mentioned databases. We included only articles which met the criterion of a clinical study or case report, and excluded theoretical contributions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among several articles found in books, journals and other publications, we identified 1 prospective clinical study, 3 experimental studies (enrolling healthy individuals), 5 case reports, and 3 field-reports. In almost all cases, the studies described beneficial effects – although the methodological quality of most studies was weak. Main indications were internal/metabolic diseases and psychiatric/neurological disorders.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Beyond the obvious beneficial effects of warm bathes on the subjective well-being, it remains to be clarified what the unique contribution of the distinct essential oils dispersed in the water can be. There is a lack of clinical studies exploring the efficacy of oil-dispersion baths. Such studies are recommended for the future.</p

Low-value care practice in headache: a Spanish mixed methods research study

Background Headache is one of the most prevalent diseases. The Global Burden of Disease Study ranks it as the seventh most common disease overall and the second largest neurological cause of disability in the world. The "Do Not Do" recommendations are a strategy for increasing the quality of care and reducing the cost of care for headache. This study aimed to identify specific low-value practices in headache care, determine their frequency, and estimate the cost overrun that they represent, in order to establish "Do not Do" recommendations specifically for headache by consensus and according to scientific evidence. Methods This was a mixed methods research study that combined qualitative consensus-building techniques, involving a multidisciplinary panel of experts to define the "Do Not Do" recommendations in headache care, and a retrospective observational study with review of a randomized set of patient records from the past 6 months in four hospitals, to quantify the frequency of these "Do Not Do" practices. We calculated the sum of direct costs of medical consultations, medicines, and unnecessary diagnostic tests. Results Seven "Do Not Do" recommendations were established for headache. In total, 3507 medical records were randomly reviewed. Low-value practices had a highly variable occurrence, depending on the hospital and type of headache. Overall, 34.1% of low-value practices were related to treatment, 21% were related to overuse of imaging in consultation, and 19% were related to emergency care. The estimated cost of low-value practices in the four hospitals was 203,520.47 euros per 1000 patients. Conclusions This study identified low-value headache practices that need to be eradicated and provided data on their frequency and cost overruns

The clinical features of the piriformis syndrome: a systematic review

Piriformis syndrome, sciatica caused by compression of the sciatic nerve by the piriformis muscle, has been described for over 70 years; yet, it remains controversial. The literature consists mainly of case series and narrative reviews. The objectives of the study were: first, to make the best use of existing evidence to estimate the frequencies of clinical features in patients reported to have PS; second, to identify future research questions. A systematic review was conducted of any study type that reported extractable data relevant to diagnosis. The search included all studies up to 1 March 2008 in four databases: AMED, CINAHL, Embase and Medline. Screening, data extraction and analysis were all performed independently by two reviewers. A total of 55 studies were included: 51 individual and 3 aggregated data studies, and 1 combined study. The most common features found were: buttock pain, external tenderness over the greater sciatic notch, aggravation of the pain through sitting and augmentation of the pain with manoeuvres that increase piriformis muscle tension. Future research could start with comparing the frequencies of these features in sciatica patients with and without disc herniation or spinal stenosis