Global Research Report – South and East Asia

Global Research Report – South and East Asia by Jonathan Adams, David Pendlebury, Gordon Rogers & Martin Szomszor. Published by Institute for Scientific Information, Web of Science Group

全球研究报告——东南亚

Jonathan Adams, David Pendlebury, Gordon Rogers, Martin Szomszor. 全球研究报告——东南亚[J]. 科学观察, 2020, 15(3): 54-65

Bibliometrics, Research Performance Evaluation, and Beyond: Towards Actionable Intelligence for Science Administrators, Policymakers, and Funders

Abstract Over the last four decades, bibliometric analysis for research assessment has moved from rejection to acceptance. Current uses of these metrics, however, can be helpful or destructive. Evaluation has its place within the realm of accountability for the use of public and private funding, as well as for research portfolio review and strategic planning. On the other hand, when the measures become the goal in and of themselves, researcher behavior may change leading to unintended negative consequences. Mere scoring or ranking is a low-level, one-dimensional application of rich and multivariate publication and citation data. These data, when exploited in many ways and from many angles, can contribute to a much deeper understanding of the activity, direction, and dynamics of contemporary science. That, when combined with peer review, adds an extra depth of understanding and informs decisions, usually hard ones. Beyond evaluation, bibliometric data can describe fruitful collaborations, intensive exchanges, and extreme distributions. Typically, the nature of the distributions suggests a radical approach to the use of research resources, but this must be balanced by social and political necessities as well as consideration for seeding the ground for the next generation. Visualization tools are beginning to appear but are today not yet adequate for practical use by science administrators, policymakers, and funders. Actionable intelligence is what they need -- to make difficult choices, optimize resources, and build a strong science base for the future.</p

Cancer patient preferences for communication of prognosis in the metastatic setting

PURPOSE: To identify preferences for and predictors of prognostic information among patients with incurable metastatic cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred twenty-six metastatic cancer patients seeing 30 oncologists at 12 outpatient clinics in New South Wales, Australia, participated in the study. Patients were diagnosed with incurable metastatic disease within 6 weeks to 6 months of recruitment. Patients completed a survey eliciting their preferences for prognostic information, including type, quantity, mode, and timing of presentation; anxiety and depression levels; and information and involvement preferences. RESULTS: More than 95% of patients wanted information about side effects, symptoms, and treatment options. The majority wanted to know longest survival time with treatment (85%), 5-year survival rates (80%), and average survival (81%). Words and numbers were preferred over pie charts or graphs. Fifty-nine percent (59%) wanted to discuss expected survival when first diagnosed with metastatic disease. Thirty-eight percent and 44% wanted to negotiate when expected survival and dying, respectively, were discussed. Patients with higher depression scores were more likely to want to know shortest time to live without treatment (P = .047) and average survival (P = .049). Lower depression levels were significantly associated with never wanting to discuss expected survival (P = .03). Patients with an expected survival of years were more likely to want to discuss life expectancy when first diagnosed with metastases (P = .02). CONCLUSION: Most metastatic cancer patients want detailed prognostic information but prefer to negotiate the extent, format, and timing of the information they receive from their oncologists.<br /

Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS)

A remotely piloted aircraft research facility is described that will provide new capabilities for atmospheric and oceanographic measurements. The aircraft can fly up to 24 h over remote ocean regions, at low or high altitude, and in various other challenging mission scenarios. The aircraft will fly research missions at speeds of 40 m s^(−1) and provide high spatial resolution measurements. Data will be transmitted in real time to a ground station for analysis and decision-making purposes. The facility will expand the opportunities for universities to participate in field measurement programs

METACOHORTS for the study of vascular disease and its contribution to cognitive decline and neurodegeneration: an initiative of the Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Disease Research

Dementia is a global problem and major target for health care providers. Although up to 45% of cases are primarily or partly due to cerebrovascular disease, little is known of these mechanisms or treatments because most dementia research still focuses on pure Alzheimer's disease. An improved understanding of the vascular contributions to neurodegeneration and dementia, particularly by small vessel disease, is hampered by imprecise data, including the incidence and prevalence of symptomatic and clinically “silent” cerebrovascular disease, long-term outcomes (cognitive, stroke, or functional), and risk factors. New large collaborative studies with long follow-up are expensive and time consuming, yet substantial data to advance the field are available. In an initiative funded by the Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, 55 international experts surveyed and assessed available data, starting with European cohorts, to promote data sharing to advance understanding of how vascular disease affects brain structure and function, optimize methods for cerebrovascular disease in neurodegeneration research, and focus future research on gaps in knowledge. Here, we summarize the results and recommendations from this initiative. We identified data from over 90 studies, including over 660,000 participants, many being additional to neurodegeneration data initiatives. The enthusiastic response means that cohorts from North America, Australasia, and the Asia Pacific Region are included, creating a truly global, collaborative, data sharing platform, linked to major national dementia initiatives. Furthermore, the revised World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases version 11 should facilitate recognition of vascular-related brain damage by creating one category for all cerebrovascular disease presentations and thus accelerate identification of targets for dementia prevention

The Brain Health Index: Towards a combined measure of neurovascular and neurodegenerative structural brain injury

Background: A structural magnetic resonance imaging measure of combined neurovascular and neurodegenerative burden may be useful as these features often coexist in older people, stroke and dementia. Aim: We aimed to develop a new automated approach for quantifying visible brain injury from small vessel disease and brain atrophy in a single measure, the brain health index. Materials and methods: We computed brain health index in N = 288 participants using voxel-based Gaussian mixture model cluster analysis of T1, T2, T2*, and FLAIR magnetic resonance imaging. We tested brain health index against a validated total small vessel disease visual score and white matter hyperintensity volumes in two patient groups (minor stroke, N = 157; lupus, N = 51) and against measures of brain atrophy in healthy participants (N = 80) using multiple regression. We evaluated associations with Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Exam Revised in patients and with reaction time in healthy participants. Results: The brain health index (standard beta = 0.20–0.59, P &#60; 0.05) was significantly and more strongly associated with Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Exam Revised, including at one year follow-up, than white matter hyperintensity volume (standard beta = 0.04–0.08, P &#62; 0.05) and small vessel disease score (standard beta = 0.02–0.27, P &#62; 0.05) alone in both patient groups. Further, the brain health index (standard beta = 0.57–0.59, P &#60; 0.05) was more strongly associated with reaction time than measures of brain atrophy alone (standard beta = 0.04–0.13, P &#62; 0.05) in healthy participants. Conclusions: The brain health index is a new image analysis approach that may usefully capture combined visible brain damage in large-scale studies of ageing, neurovascular and neurodegenerative disease

STEPWISE - STructured lifestyle Education for People WIth SchizophrEnia : a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: People with schizophrenia are two to three times more likely to be overweight than the general population. The UK National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends an annual physical health review with signposting to, or provision of, a lifestyle programme to address weight concerns and obesity. The purpose of this randomised controlled trial is to assess whether a group-based structured education programme can help people with schizophrenia to lose weight. METHODS: Design: a randomised controlled trial of a group-based structured education programme. SETTING: 10 UK community mental health trusts. PARTICIPANTS: 396 adults with schizophrenia, schizoaffective, or first-episode psychosis who are prescribed antipsychotic medication will be recruited. Participants will be overweight, obese or be concerned about their weight. INTERVENTION: participants will be randomised to either the intervention or treatment as usual (TAU). The intervention arm will receive TAU plus four 2.5-h weekly sessions of theory-based lifestyle structured group education, with maintenance contact every 2 weeks and 'booster' sessions every 3 months. All participants will receive standardised written information about healthy eating, physical activity, alcohol and smoking. OUTCOMES: the primary outcome is weight (kg) change at 1 year post randomisation. Secondary outcomes, which will be assessed at 3 and 12 months, include: the proportion of participants who maintained or reduced their weight; waist circumference; body mass index; objectively measured physical activity (wrist accelerometer); self-reported diet; blood pressure; fasting plasma glucose, lipid profile and HbA1c (baseline and 1 year only); health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L and RAND SF-36); (adapted) brief illness perception questionnaire; the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; the Client Service Receipt Inventory; medication use; smoking status; adverse events; depression symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9); use of weight-loss programmes; and session feedback (intervention only). Outcome assessors will be blind to trial group allocation. Qualitative interviews with a subsample of facilitators and invention-arm participants will provide data on intervention feasibility and acceptability. Assessment of intervention fidelity will also be performed. DISCUSSION: The STEPWISE trial will provide evidence for the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a tailored intervention, which, if successful, could be implemented rapidly in the NHS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN19447796 , registered on 20 March 2014