Empty reviews: a description and consideration of cochrane systematic reviews with no included studies

Journal ArticleBackground: There is no specific guidance for the reporting of Cochrane systematic reviews that do not have studies eligible for inclusion. As a result, the reporting of these so-called ‘‘empty reviews'' may vary across reviews. This research explores the incidence of empty systematic reviews in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (The CDSR) and describes their current characteristics. Methodology/Principal Findings: Empty reviews within The CDSR as of 15 August 2010 were identified, extracted, and coded for analysis. Review group, original publication year, and time since last update, as well as number of studies listed as excluded, awaiting assessment, or on-going within empty reviews were examined. 376 (8.7%) active reviews in The CDSR reported no included studies. At the time of data collection, 45 (84.9%) of the Cochrane Collaboration's 53 Review Groups sustained at least one empty review, with the number of empty reviews for each of these 45 groups ranging from 1 to 35 (2.2-26.9%). Time since original publication of empty reviews ranged from 0 to 15 years with a mean of 4.2 years (SD = 3.4). Time since last assessed as up-to-date ranged from 0 to 12 years with a mean of 2.8 years (SD = 2.2). The number of excluded studies reported in these reviews ranged from 0 to 124, with an average of 9.6 per review (SD = 14.5). Eighty-eight (23.4%) empty reviews reported no excluded studies, studies awaiting assessment, or on-going studies. Conclusions: There is a substantial number of empty reviews in The CDSR, and there is some variation in the reporting and updating of empty reviews across Cochrane Review Groups. This variation warrants further analysis, and may indicate a need to develop guidance for the reporting of empty systematic reviews in The CDSR

Online practice course development with action research: a case example

Journal ArticleAbstract. Despite the proliferation of online courses in social work, questions still exist about learning practice skills in an online instructional environment. This paper describes a case example of an action-oriented approach to the development of an online practice course. Lessons learned from students' and instructor's perspectives are shared as well as recommendations for future research relative to course development and evaluation of online courses. The study examined student feedback with respect to their overall learning experience. Findings indicated that involving students in the design and development of an online practice course benefited both students and faculty and can be an effective teaching and learning strategy regardless of the instructional medium used

Behaviorism, social learning, and exchange theory

Book ChapterBehaviorism focuses on learning and the way in which behavior is shaped by its antecedent conditions and consequences. In rejecting mentalistic constructs such as mind, consciousness, and other internal processes, behaviorism stresses the importance of studying observable behavior rather than phenomena that cannot be empirically verified. Social learning theory developed many years later as a reaction to behaviorism's failure to account for internal processes that affect human behavior. Social learning theory posits that learned behaviors are mediated by thoughts, expectations, and emotions and stresses the importance of observational learning or modeling. Exchange theory, which evolved from behavioral psychology, functional anthropology, and utilitarian economics, seeks to explain human interactions through the dynamics of rewards and benefits. Although there are a variety of theorists writing in this tradition, rational, purposive behavior is believed to underlie all exchange

University of Utah Child Care Task Force needs analysis survey: final report

reportThe Child Care Task Force, a subcommittee of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, was commissioned by University of Utah President Michael Young in 2008-2009 to conduct a child care needs assessment survey for students, staff and faculty at the University of Utah. In response, a campus-wide survey was conducted in the spring of 2011. A pilot survey to pretest the survey was conducted in the spring of 2010 and was refined by the Child Care Task Force for distribution in the spring of 2011. The survey was distributed via university email to every student, staff and faculty associated with the University of Utah in January 2011. The survey was conducted via StudentVoice, an online data collection service licensed by University of Utah Student Services

Assessing procedural descriptiveness: rationale and illustrative study

Journal ArticleProcedural descriptiveness refers to the extent to which the activities defined in a procedure are complete and specific. Procedures used in research or human service that are poorly described raise important questions such as whether the procedures can be replicated or generalized and, in the case of human service, whether they can be properly evaluated and made accountable. The assessment of procedural descriptiveness is an important and heretofore neglected area that should be an integral part of assessment methodology

Evaluation of wraparound services for severely emotionally disturbed youth

ManuscriptObjective: Services to children and adolescents with a severe emotional disturbance (SED) have long been inadequate. The wraparound approach has emerged as a promising practice that could address the needs of children with SED and their families through a strength-based, individualized, family-focused team process that emphasizes flexible service planning. This study compares the outcomes of youth receiving the wraparound approach with youth receiving tradition child welfare case management. Method: Child behavior and community integration outcomes were measured at intake and at 6 months in services. Results: Results indicated that youth receiving the wraparound approach showed significant improvement on the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) when compared with youth receiving traditional child welfare services. Results also showed that youth receiving traditional child welfare services experienced significantly fewer placements. However, neither group showed significant differences on other clinical or functional outcomes. Discussion: Results are discussed, as well as applications to social work practice, study limitations, and recommendations for additional research on wraparound

Hypermedia computer-based education in social work education

Journal ArticleHypermedia computer-based education (CBE) is an emerging information technology that makes possible user-directed, nonsequential exploration of, and interaction with, information presented through a variety of media including text, animation, graphics, sound, and video

Online Practice Course Development with Action Research: A Case Example

Despite the proliferation of online courses in social work, questions still exist about learning practice skills in an online instructional environment. This paper describes a case example of an action-oriented approach to the development of an online practice course. Lessons learned from students’ and instructor’s perspectives are shared as well as recommendations for future research relative to course development and evaluation of online courses. The study examined student feedback with respect to their overall learning experience. Findings indicated that involving students in the design and development of an online practice course benefited both students and faculty and can be an effective teaching and learning strategy regardless of the instructional medium used

A dual function for Pex3p in peroxisome formation and inheritance

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pex3p has been shown to act at the ER during de novo peroxisome formation. However, its steady state is at the peroxisomal membrane, where its role is debated. Here we show that Pex3p has a dual function: one in peroxisome formation and one in peroxisome segregation. We show that the peroxisome retention factor Inp1p interacts physically with Pex3p in vitro and in vivo, and split-GFP analysis shows that the site of interaction is the peroxisomal membrane. Furthermore, we have generated PEX3 alleles that support peroxisome formation but fail to support recruitment of Inp1p to peroxisomes, and as a consequence are affected in peroxisome segregation. We conclude that Pex3p functions as an anchor for Inp1p at the peroxisomal membrane, and that this function is independent of its role at the ER in peroxisome biogenesis

Structure of the Mg-Chelatase Cofactor GUN4 Reveals a Novel Hand-Shaped Fold for Porphyrin Binding

In plants, the accumulation of the chlorophyll precursor Mg-protoporphyrin IX (Mg-Proto) in the plastid regulates the expression of a number of nuclear genes with functions related to photosynthesis. Analysis of the plastid-to-nucleus signaling activity of Mg-Proto in Arabidopsis thaliana led to the discovery of GUN4, a novel porphyrin-binding protein that also dramatically enhances the activity of Mg-chelatase, the enzyme that synthesizes Mg-Proto. GUN4 may also play a role in both photoprotection and the cellular shuttling of tetrapyrroles. Here we report a 1.78-Å resolution crystal structure of Synechocystis GUN4, in which the porphyrin-binding domain adopts a unique three dimensional fold with a “cupped hand” shape. Biophysical and biochemical analyses revealed the specific site of interaction between GUN4 and Mg-Proto and the energetic determinants for the GUN4 • Mg-Proto interaction. Our data support a novel protective function for GUN4 in tetrapyrrole trafficking. The combined structural and energetic analyses presented herein form the physical-chemical basis for understanding GUN4 biological activity, including its role in the stimulation of Mg-chelatase activity, as well as in Mg-Proto retrograde signaling