Generating creative ideas through crowds: An experimental study of combination

The crowd is emerging as a new source of innovation, and here a new way of organizing the crowd to produce new ideas is discussed: an idea generation system using combination in which participants synthesize new designs from the efforts of their peers. A crowd generates designs; then another crowd combines the designs of the previous crowd. In an experiment with 540 participants, the combined designs are compared to the initial designs, and to a control condition in which fresh idea generation rather than combination is used. The results show that designs become more creative in later generations of the combination system, and the combination produces more creative ideas than the fresh idea generation. The model of crowdsourced idea generation discussed here may be used to instantiate systems that can be applied to a wide range of design problems. The work has pragmatic implications, and also theoretical implications: new forms of coordination are now possible, and, using the crowd, it is possible to build and test existing and emerging theories of coordination and design

What Diagrams Say About Technology

By examining the diagrams of technology users, we can gain insight into their perceptions. In this study, we collected diagrams from 41 participants. We found that these participants make use of both shape and position to differentiate themselves from the technology they use. Shape and position also differentiate hardware devices from software applications. Most users also draw direct connections between themselves and their applications, bypassing in their diagrams the devices that mediate this communication. Thus, devices may recede from awareness as we focus on applications and the information they make available

Matching Mechanisms to Situations Through the Wisdom of the Crowd

Designing a system often begins with matching existing solutions to current problems. Specifically, integration mechanisms are mapped onto situations. Novices are not good at this task, and experts are rare. Could crowdsourcing, that is, aggregating the suggestions of individuals working independently, be effective? Two experiments, one with design students in a classroom, and another with participants on the web, demonstrated that the crowd possesses wisdom about how to match mechanisms to situations. Participants also categorized situations, and those who name their categories were better at matching than those who didn’t. The results have pragmatic implications, suggesting it is possible to crowdsource design, and providing new ways of eliciting, testing, and training expertise. More generally, the paper suggests a new model for information system design based on analogical mapping

Efficacy and Safety of Compound Kushen Injection on Patients with Advanced Colon Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Objective. The efficacy and safety of Compound Kushen Injection (CKI) on advanced colon cancer remain controversial. We undertook a systematic meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical studies on this issue. Methods. A comprehensive literature search was conducted by searching the following electronic databases: PubMed, Cochrane, Chinese Biological Medical disc, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wan-Fang Database in China by the end of January 31, 2017, without language restriction. Meta-analysis was performed by using the random effects model to estimate the summary odd ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) according to the study design. Stata 12.0 software was used for data analysis. The heterogeneity, sensitivity, and publication bias were assessed, respectively. Results. A total of 14 trials met the inclusion criteria in present meta-analysis. The results suggested that CKI combined with chemotherapeutic drugs was favorable for the treatment of advanced colon cancer and could improve the patients’ life quality. Funnel plot analysis and Egger’s test suggested that there was not significant publication bias, and the sensitivity analysis indicated stable results. Conclusion. The current evidence suggested that CKI is favorable to improve the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs in patients with advanced colon cancer

Association among Dietary Flavonoids, Flavonoid Subclasses and Ovarian Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND:Previous studies have indicated that intake of dietary flavonoids or flavonoid subclasses is associated with the ovarian cancer risk, but presented controversial results. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to derive a more precise estimation of these associations. METHODS:We performed a search in PubMed, Google Scholar and ISI Web of Science from their inception to April 25, 2015 to select studies on the association among dietary flavonoids, flavonoid subclasses and ovarian cancer risk. The information was extracted by two independent authors. We assessed the heterogeneity, sensitivity, publication bias and quality of the articles. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled risk estimates. RESULTS:Five cohort studies and seven case-control studies were included in the final meta-analysis. We observed that intake of dietary flavonoids can decrease ovarian cancer risk, which was demonstrated by pooled RR (RR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.68-0.98). In a subgroup analysis by flavonoid subtypes, the ovarian cancer risk was also decreased for isoflavones (RR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.50-0.92) and flavonols (RR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.58-0.80). While there was no compelling evidence that consumption of flavones (RR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.71-1.03) could decrease ovarian cancer risk, which revealed part sources of heterogeneity. The sensitivity analysis indicated stable results, and no publication bias was observed based on the results of Funnel plot analysis and Egger's test (p = 0.26). CONCLUSIONS:This meta-analysis suggested that consumption of dietary flavonoids and subtypes (isoflavones, flavonols) has a protective effect against ovarian cancer with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer except for flavones consumption. Nevertheless, further investigations on a larger population covering more flavonoid subclasses are warranted