4,406 research outputs found
Vais-je publier ce résumé? Déterminer les caractéristiques de résumés de présentations orales associés au potentiel de publication
Background: Prior studies have shown that most conference submissions fail to be published. Understanding factors that facilitate publication may be of benefit to authors. Using data from the Canadian Conference on Medical Education (CCME), our goal was to identify characteristics of conference submissions that predict the likelihood of publication with a specific focus on the utility of peer-review ratings.
Methods: Study characteristics (scholarship type, methodology, population, sites, institutions) from all oral abstracts from 2011-2015 and peer-review ratings for 2014-2015 were extracted by two raters. Publication data was obtained using online database searches. The impact of variables on publication success was analyzed using logistic regressions.
Results: Of 531 abstracts with peer-review ratings, 162 (31%) were published. Of the 9 analyzed variables, those associated with a greater odds of publication were: multiple vs. single institutions (odds ratio (OR) = 1.72), post-graduate research vs. others (OR=1.81) and peer-review ratings (OR=1.60). Factors with decreased odds of publication were curriculum development (OR=0.17) and innovation vs. others (OR=0.22).
Conclusion: Similar to other studies, the publication rate of CCME presentations is low. However, peer ratings were predictive of publication success suggesting that ratings could be a useful form of feedback to authors. Contexte : Des Ă©tudes ont montrĂ© que la plupart des rĂ©sumĂ©s soumis pour prĂ©sentations orales ne sont pas ultĂ©rieurement publiĂ©s. Il pourrait ĂȘtre utile aux auteurs de comprendre les facteurs qui favorisent la publication. Ă lâaide de donnĂ©es provenant de la ConfĂ©rence canadienne sur lâĂ©ducation mĂ©dicale (CCĂM), notre objectif Ă©tait dâidentifier les caractĂ©ristiques des rĂ©sumĂ©s permettant de prĂ©dire les chances de publication et en particulier lâutilitĂ© des cotes attribuĂ©es par les rĂ©viseurs.
MĂ©thodologie : Les caractĂ©ristiques des Ă©tudes (type de projet dâĂ©rudition, mĂ©thodologie, population, Ă©tablissements, institutions) de tous les rĂ©sumĂ©s de prĂ©sentation orale soumis pour les confĂ©rences de 2011 Ă 2015 et les cotes attribuĂ©es par les rĂ©viseurs entre 2014 et 2015 ont Ă©tĂ© extraites par deux Ă©valuateurs. On a obtenu des donnĂ©es de publication en faisant des recherches dans des bases de donnĂ©es en ligne. Lâeffet des variables sur le potentiel de publication a Ă©tĂ© examinĂ© Ă lâaide de rĂ©gressions logistiques.
RĂ©sultats : Au total, 953 rĂ©sumĂ©s ont Ă©tĂ© rĂ©visĂ© des annĂ©es 2011 Ă 2015. Le taux de publication Ă©tait de 30.5% (291/953) en somme. Des 531 rĂ©sumĂ©s ayant Ă©tĂ© Ă©valuĂ©s des pairs, entre 2014 et 2015, 162 (31 %) ont Ă©tĂ© publiĂ©s. Parmi les neuf variables analysĂ©es, celles qui ont Ă©tĂ© associĂ©es Ă un nombre Ă©levĂ© de chances de publication Ă©taient les suivantes : projet multi-institutionnel par rapport Ă institution unique (risque relatif (RR) = 1,72), travaux de recherche post-graduĂ©e par rapport Ă dâautres types (RR = 1,81) et prĂ©sence de cotes attribuĂ©es par les rĂ©viseurs (RR = 1,6). Les facteurs associĂ©s Ă des moindres chances de publication Ă©taient les suivants : articles portant sur le dĂ©veloppement de cursus (RR = 0,17) et les innovations, par rapport Ă dâautres (RR = 0,22).
Conclusion : Comme ce fut le cas pour dâautres Ă©tudes, le taux de publication Ă la suite dâune prĂ©sentation au CCME est faible. Cependant, les cotes attribuĂ©es par les rĂ©viseurs permettaient de prĂ©dire les chances de publication ce qui semble indiquer que les cotes pourraient constituer une forme de rĂ©troaction utile aux auteurs
P-splines with derivative based penalties and tensor product smoothing of unevenly distributed data
The P-splines of Eilers and Marx (1996) combine a B-spline basis with a
discrete quadratic penalty on the basis coefficients, to produce a reduced rank
spline like smoother. P-splines have three properties that make them very
popular as reduced rank smoothers: i) the basis and the penalty are sparse,
enabling efficient computation, especially for Bayesian stochastic simulation;
ii) it is possible to flexibly `mix-and-match' the order of B-spline basis and
penalty, rather than the order of penalty controlling the order of the basis as
in spline smoothing; iii) it is very easy to set up the B-spline basis
functions and penalties. The discrete penalties are somewhat less interpretable
in terms of function shape than the traditional derivative based spline
penalties, but tend towards penalties proportional to traditional spline
penalties in the limit of large basis size. However part of the point of
P-splines is not to use a large basis size. In addition the spline basis
functions arise from solving functional optimization problems involving
derivative based penalties, so moving to discrete penalties for smoothing may
not always be desirable. The purpose of this note is to point out that the
three properties of basis-penalty sparsity, mix-and-match penalization and ease
of setup are readily obtainable with B-splines subject to derivative based
penalization. The penalty setup typically requires a few lines of code, rather
than the two lines typically required for P-splines, but this one off
disadvantage seems to be the only one associated with using derivative based
penalties. As an example application, it is shown how basis-penalty sparsity
enables efficient computation with tensor product smoothers of scattered data
HOIL1 regulates group 2 innate lymphoid cell numbers and type 2 inflammation in the small intestine
Patients with mutations in HOIL1 experience a complex immune disorder including intestinal inflammation. To investigate the role of HOIL1 in regulating intestinal inflammation, we employed a mouse model of partial HOIL1 deficiency. The ileum of HOIL1-deficient mice displayed features of type 2 inflammation including tuft cell and goblet cell hyperplasia, and elevated expression of Il13, Il5 and Il25 mRNA. Inflammation persisted in the absence of T and B cells, and bone marrow chimeric mice revealed a requirement for HOIL1 expression in radiation-resistant cells to regulate inflammation. Although disruption of IL-4 receptor alpha (IL4Rα) signaling on intestinal epithelial cells ameliorated tuft and goblet cell hyperplasia, expression of Il5 and Il13 mRNA remained elevated. KLRG
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Enriched job design, high involvement management and organizational performance: The mediating roles of job satisfaction and well-being
The relationship between organizational performance and two dimensions of the 'high performance work system' - enriched job design and high involvement management (HIM) - is widely assumed to be mediated by worker well-being. We outline the basis for three models: mutual-gains, in which employee involvement increases well-being and this mediates its positive relationship with performance; conflicting outcomes, which associates involvement with increased stress for workers, accounting for its positive performance effects; and counteracting effects, which associates involvement with increased stress and dissatisfaction, reducing its positive performance effects. These are tested using the UK's Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2004. Job satisfaction mediates the relationship between enriched job design and four performance indicators, supporting the mutual gains model; but HIM is negatively related to job satisfaction and this depresses a positive relationship between HIM and the economic performance measures, supporting a counteracting effects model. Finally, HIM is negatively related to job-related anxiety-comfort and enriched job design is unrelated to it. © The Author(s) 2012
A novel multi-network approach reveals tissue-specific cellular modulators of fibrosis in systemic sclerosis
BACKGROUND: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multi-organ autoimmune disease characterized by skin fibrosis. Internal organ involvement is heterogeneous. It is unknown whether disease mechanisms are common across all involved affected tissues or if each manifestation has a distinct underlying pathology. METHODS: We used consensus clustering to compare gene expression profiles of biopsies from four SSc-affected tissues (skin, lung, esophagus, and peripheral blood) from patients with SSc, and the related conditions pulmonary fibrosis (PF) and pulmonary arterial hypertension, and derived a consensus disease-associate signature across all tissues. We used this signature to query tissue-specific functional genomic networks. We performed novel network analyses to contrast the skin and lung microenvironments and to assess the functional role of the inflammatory and fibrotic genes in each organ. Lastly, we tested the expression of macrophage activation state-associated gene sets for enrichment in skin and lung using a Wilcoxon rank sum test. RESULTS: We identified a common pathogenic gene expression signature-an immune-fibrotic axis-indicative of pro-fibrotic macrophages (MĂs) in multiple tissues (skin, lung, esophagus, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells) affected by SSc. While the co-expression of these genes is common to all tissues, the functional consequences of this upregulation differ by organ. We used this disease-associated signature to query tissue-specific functional genomic networks to identify common and tissue-specific pathologies of SSc and related conditions. In contrast to skin, in the lung-specific functional network we identify a distinct lung-resident MĂ signature associated with lipid stimulation and alternative activation. In keeping with our network results, we find distinct MĂ alternative activation transcriptional programs in SSc-associated PF lung and in the skin of patients with an "inflammatory" SSc gene expression signature. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the innate immune system is central to SSc disease processes but that subtle distinctions exist between tissues. Our approach provides a framework for examining molecular signatures of disease in fibrosis and autoimmune diseases and for leveraging publicly available data to understand common and tissue-specific disease processes in complex human diseases
General practice responses to opioid prescribing feedback: a qualitative process evaluation
Background: The rise in opioid prescribing in primary care represents a significant public health challenge, associated with increased psychosocial problems, hospitalisations, and mortality. An evidence-based bimonthly feedback intervention to reduce opioid prescribing was developed and implemented, targeting 316 general practices in West Yorkshire over 1 year.
Aim: To understand how general practice staff received and responded to the feedback intervention.
Design and setting: Qualitative process evaluation involving semi-structured interviews, guided by Normalisation Process Theory (NPT), of primary care healthcare professionals targeted by feedback.
Method: Participants were purposively recruited according to baseline opioid prescribing levels and degree of change following feedback. Interview data were coded to NPT constructs, and thematically analysed.
Results: Interviews were conducted with 21 staff from 20 practices. Reducing opioid prescribing was recognised as a priority. While high achievers had clear structures for quality improvement, feedback encouraged some less structured practices to embed changes. The non-prescriptive nature of the feedback reports allowed practices to develop strategies consistent with their own ways of working and existing resources. Practice concerns were allayed by the credibility of the reports and positive experiences of reducing opioid prescribing. The scale, frequency, and duration of feedback may have ensured a good overall level of practice population reach.
Conclusion: The intervention engaged general practice staff in change by targeting an issue of emerging concern, and allowing adaption to different ways of working. Practice efforts to reduce opioid prescribing were reinforced by regular feedback, credible comparative data showing progress, and shared experiences of patient benefit
Propagation of an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection in three dimensions
Solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are the most significant drivers of
adverse space weather at Earth, but the physics governing their propagation
through the heliosphere is not well understood. While stereoscopic imaging of
CMEs with the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) has provided
some insight into their three-dimensional (3D) propagation, the mechanisms
governing their evolution remain unclear due to difficulties in reconstructing
their true 3D structure. Here we use a new elliptical tie-pointing technique to
reconstruct a full CME front in 3D, enabling us to quantify its deflected
trajectory from high latitudes along the ecliptic, and measure its increasing
angular width and propagation from 2-46 solar radii (approximately 0.2 AU).
Beyond 7 solar radii, we show that its motion is determined by an aerodynamic
drag in the solar wind and, using our reconstruction as input for a 3D
magnetohydrodynamic simulation, we determine an accurate arrival time at the
Lagrangian L1 point near Earth.Comment: 5 figures, 2 supplementary movie
Opportunities to improve the impact of two national clinical audit programmes: a theory-guided analysis
Background
Audit and feedback is widely used in healthcare improvement, with evidence of modest yet potentially important effects upon professional practice. There are approximately 60 national clinical audit programmes in the UK. These programmes often develop and adapt new ways of delivering feedback to optimise impacts on clinical practice. Two such programmes, the National Diabetes Audit (NDA) and the Trauma Audit Research Network (TARN), recently introduced changes to their delivery of feedback. We assessed the extent to which the design of these audit programmes and their recent changes were consistent with best practice according to the Clinical Performance Feedback Intervention Theory (CP-FIT). This comprehensive framework specifies how variables related to the feedback itself, the recipient, and the context operate via explanatory mechanisms to influence feedback success.
Methods
We interviewed 19 individuals with interests in audit and feedback, including researchers, audit managers, healthcare staff, and patient and public representatives. This range of expert perspectives enabled a detailed exploration of feedback from the audit programmes. We structured interviews around the CP-FIT feedback cycle and its component processes (e.g. Data collection and analysis, Interaction). Our rapid analytic approach explored the extent to which both audits applied features consistent with CP-FIT.
Results
Changes introduced by the audit programmes were consistent with CP-FIT. Specifically, the NDAâs increased frequency of feedback augmented existing strengths, such as automated processes (CP-FIT component: Data collection and analysis) and being a credible source of feedback (Acceptance). TARNâs new analytic tool allowed greater interactivity, enabling recipients to interrogate their data (Verification; Acceptance). We also identified scope for improvement in feedback cycles, such as targeting of feedback recipients (Interaction) and feedback complexity (Perception) for the NDA and specifying recommendations (Intention) and demonstrating impact (Clinical performance improvement) for TARN.
Conclusions
The changes made by the two audit programmes appear consistent with suggested best practice, making clinical improvement more likely. However, observed weaknesses in the feedback cycle may limit the benefits of these changes. Applying CP-FIT via a rapid analysis approach helps identify strengths and remediable weaknesses in the design of audit programmes that can be shared with them in a timely manner
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