Validation of New Cancer Biomarkers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duffy, Michael J; Sturgeon, Catherine M; Söletormos, Georg

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Biomarkers are playing increasingly important roles in the detection and management of patients with cancer. Despite an enormous number of publications on cancer biomarkers, few of these biomarkers are in widespread clinical use. CONTENT: In this review, we discuss the key steps...... in advancing a newly discovered cancer candidate biomarker from pilot studies to clinical application. Four main steps are necessary for a biomarker to reach the clinic: analytical validation of the biomarker assay, clinical validation of the biomarker test, demonstration of clinical value from performance...... of the biomarker test, and regulatory approval. In addition to these 4 steps, all biomarker studies should be reported in a detailed and transparent manner, using previously published checklists and guidelines. Finally, all biomarker studies relating to demonstration of clinical value should be registered before...

Validation of SWAT+ at field level and comparison with previous SWAT models in simulating hydrologic quantity

Science.gov (United States)

GAO, J.; White, M. J.; Bieger, K.; Yen, H.; Arnold, J. G.

2017-12-01

Over the past 20 years, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) has been adopted by many researches to assess water quantity and quality in watersheds around the world. As the demand increases in facilitating model support, maintenance, and future development, the SWAT source code and data have undergone major modifications over the past few years. To make the model more flexible in terms of interactions of spatial units and processes occurring in watersheds, a completely revised version of SWAT (SWAT+) was developed to improve SWAT's ability in water resource modelling and management. There are only several applications of SWAT+ in large watersheds, however, no study pays attention to validate the new model at field level and assess its performance. To test the basic hydrologic function of SWAT+, it was implemented in five field cases across five states in the U.S. and compared the SWAT+ created results with that from the previous models at the same fields. Additionally, an automatic calibration tool was used to test which model is easier to be calibrated well in a limited number of parameter adjustments. The goal of the study was to evaluate the performance of SWAT+ in simulating stream flow on field level at different geographical locations. The results demonstrate that SWAT+ demonstrated similar performance with previous SWAT model, but the flexibility offered by SWAT+ via the connection of different spatial objects can result in a more accurate simulation of hydrological processes in spatial, especially for watershed with artificial facilities. Autocalibration shows that SWAT+ is much easier to obtain a satisfied result compared with the previous SWAT. Although many capabilities have already been enhanced in SWAT+, there exist inaccuracies in simulation. This insufficiency will be improved with advancements in scientific knowledge on hydrologic process in specific watersheds. Currently, SWAT+ is prerelease, and any errors are being addressed.

MCNP HPGe detector benchmark with previously validated Cyltran model.

Science.gov (United States)

Hau, I D; Russ, W R; Bronson, F

2009-05-01

An exact copy of the detector model generated for Cyltran was reproduced as an MCNP input file and the detection efficiency was calculated similarly with the methodology used in previous experimental measurements and simulation of a 280 cm(3) HPGe detector. Below 1000 keV the MCNP data correlated to the Cyltran results within 0.5% while above this energy the difference between MCNP and Cyltran increased to about 6% at 4800 keV, depending on the electron cut-off energy.

External validation of the Cairns Prediction Model (CPM) to predict conversion from laparoscopic to open cholecystectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Alan Shiun Yew; Donohue, Peter O'; Gunnarsson, Ronny K; de Costa, Alan

2018-03-14

Valid and user-friendly prediction models for conversion to open cholecystectomy allow for proper planning prior to surgery. The Cairns Prediction Model (CPM) has been in use clinically in the original study site for the past three years, but has not been tested at other sites. A retrospective, single-centred study collected ultrasonic measurements and clinical variables alongside with conversion status from consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy from 2013 to 2016 in The Townsville Hospital, North Queensland, Australia. An area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to externally validate of the CPM. Conversion was necessary in 43 (4.2%) out of 1035 patients. External validation showed an area under the curve of 0.87 (95% CI 0.82-0.93, p = 1.1 × 10 -14 ). In comparison with most previously published models, which have an AUC of approximately 0.80 or less, the CPM has the highest AUC of all published prediction models both for internal and external validation. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Critical appraisal of published literature

Science.gov (United States)

Umesh, Goneppanavar; Karippacheril, John George; Magazine, Rahul

2016-01-01

With a large output of medical literature coming out every year, it is impossible for readers to read every article. Critical appraisal of scientific literature is an important skill to be mastered not only by academic medical professionals but also by those involved in clinical practice. Before incorporating changes into the management of their patients, a thorough evaluation of the current or published literature is an important step in clinical practice. It is necessary for assessing the published literature for its scientific validity and generalizability to the specific patient community and reader's work environment. Simple steps have been provided by Consolidated Standard for Reporting Trial statements, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network and several other resources which if implemented may help the reader to avoid reading flawed literature and prevent the incorporation of biased or untrustworthy information into our practice. PMID:27729695

Critical appraisal of published literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goneppanavar Umesh

2016-01-01

Full Text Available With a large output of medical literature coming out every year, it is impossible for readers to read every article. Critical appraisal of scientific literature is an important skill to be mastered not only by academic medical professionals but also by those involved in clinical practice. Before incorporating changes into the management of their patients, a thorough evaluation of the current or published literature is an important step in clinical practice. It is necessary for assessing the published literature for its scientific validity and generalizability to the specific patient community and reader′s work environment. Simple steps have been provided by Consolidated Standard for Reporting Trial statements, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network and several other resources which if implemented may help the reader to avoid reading flawed literature and prevent the incorporation of biased or untrustworthy information into our practice.

Validation of conversion between mini-mental state examination and montreal cognitive assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawton, Michael; Kasten, Meike; May, Margaret T; Mollenhauer, Brit; Schaumburg, Martina; Liepelt-Scarfone, Inga; Maetzler, Walter; Vollstedt, Eva-Juliane; Hu, Michele T M; Berg, Daniela; Ben-Shlomo, Yoav

2016-04-01

Harmonizing data across cohorts is important for validating findings or combining data in meta-analyses. We replicate and validate a previous conversion of MoCA to MMSE in PD. We used five studies with 1,161 PD individuals and 2,091 observations measured with both the MoCA and MMSE. We compared a previously published conversion table using equipercentile equating with log-linear smoothing to our internally derived scores. Both conversions found good agreement within and across the studies when comparing true and converted MMSE (mean difference: 0.05; standard deviation: 1.84; median difference: 0; interquartile range: -1 to 1, using internal conversion). These results show that one can get a reliable and valid conversion between two commonly used measures of cognition in PD studies. These approaches need to be applied to other scales and domains to enable large-scale collaborative analyses across multiple PD cohorts. © 2016 The Authors. International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Development and validation of a multidimensional measure of lean manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan A. Marin-Garcia

2010-02-01

Full Text Available In the last 30 years of research of lean manufacturing many different questionnaires was proposed to check the degree of the use of the concept. The set of the items used changed considerably from one investigation to another one. Until now isn’t appreciate a movement that converge towards the use, by the investigators, of a few instruments whose validity and reliability have been compared in different surroundings. In fact, the majority of investigations are based on ad-hoc questionnaires and a few of them present the questionnaire validation checking only the unidimensionality and -Cronbach. Nevertheless it seems to have a consensus in identifying 5 big constructs that compose the lean manufacturing (TQM, JIT, TPM, supply chain management and high-involvement. Our research has consisted of identifying and summarizing the models that have been published previously to add the items in constructs or sub-scales of constructs. Later we developed an integrating questionnaire, starting off of the items that appeared in previous investigations. Finally we realized the sub-scales and models validation through a confirmatory factorial analysis, using date of a sample of Spanish Sheltered Work Centre’s (N=128. Of all proposed models, the best an adjustment takes place with the first order model with 20 sub-scales. Our investigation contributes to an integrating vision of the published models and the lean manufacturing sub-scales validity and reliability verification raised by other investigators. Due to his confirming approach, it can serve as generalization of studies that had been realized in contexts with different samples to which we have used for the replication.

Validating a benchmarking tool for audit of early outcomes after operations for head and neck cancer

OpenAIRE

Tighe, D.; Sassoon, I.; McGurk, M.

2017-01-01

INTRODUCTION In 2013 all UK surgical specialties, with the exception of head and neck surgery, published outcome data adjusted for case mix for indicator operations. This paper reports a pilot study to validate a previously published risk adjustment score on patients from separate UK cancer centres. METHODS A case note audit was performed of 1,075 patients undergoing 1,218 operations for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma under general anaesthesia in 4 surgical centres. A logistic regressi...

Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews Published in the Urological Literature from 1998 to 2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Corbyons, Katherine; Han, Julia; Neuberger, Molly M; Dahm, Philipp

2015-11-01

Systematic reviews synthesize the current best evidence to address a clinical question. Given the growing emphasis on evidence-based clinical practice, systematic reviews are being increasingly sought after and published. We previously reported limitations in the methodological quality of 57 individual systematic reviews published from 1998 to 2008. We provide an update to our previous study, adding systematic reviews published from 2009 to 2012. We systematically searched PubMed® and hand searched the table of contents of 4 major urological journals to identify systematic reviews related to questions of prevention and therapy. Two independent reviewers with prior formal evidence-based medicine training assessed the methodological quality using the validated 11-point AMSTAR (A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews) instrument. We performed predefined statistical hypothesis testing for differences by publication period (1998 to 2008 vs 2009 to 2012) and journal of publication. We performed statistical testing using SPSS®, version 23.0 with a 2-sided α of 0.05 using the Student t-test, ANOVA and the chi-square test. A total of 113 systematic reviews published from 2009 to 2012 met study inclusion criteria. The most common topics were oncology (44 reviews or 38.9%), voiding dysfunction (26 or 23.0%) and stones/endourology (13 or 11.5%). The largest contributor was European Urology (46 reviews or 40.7%), followed by BJU International (31 or 27.4%) and The Journal of Urology® (22 or 19.5%). The mean ± SD AMSTAR score for the 2009 to 2012 period was 5.3 ± 2.3 compared to 4.8 ± 2.0 for 1998 to 2008 with a mean difference of 0.5 (95% CI 0.2 to 1.2, p = 0.133). While the number of systematic reviews published in the urological literature has increased substantially, the methodological quality of these studies remains suboptimal. Systematic review authors and editors should make every effort to adhere to well established methodological standards to enhance

Desktop publishing and validation of custom near visual acuity charts.

Science.gov (United States)

Marran, Lynn; Liu, Lei; Lau, George

2008-11-01

Customized visual acuity (VA) assessment is an important part of basic and clinical vision research. Desktop computer based distance VA measurements have been utilized, and shown to be accurate and reliable, but computer based near VA measurements have not been attempted, mainly due to the limited spatial resolution of computer monitors. In this paper, we demonstrate how to use desktop publishing to create printed custom near VA charts. We created a set of six near VA charts in a logarithmic progression, 20/20 through 20/63, with multiple lines of the same acuity level, different letter arrangements in each line and a random noise background. This design allowed repeated measures of subjective accommodative amplitude without the potential artifact of familiarity of the optotypes. The background maintained a constant and spatial frequency rich peripheral stimulus for accommodation across the six different acuity levels. The paper describes in detail how pixel-wise accurate black and white bitmaps of Sloan optotypes were used to create the printed custom VA charts. At all acuity levels, the physical sizes of the printed custom optotypes deviated no more than 0.034 log units from that of the standard, satisfying the 0.05 log unit ISO criterion we used to demonstrate physical equivalence. Also, at all acuity levels, log unit differences in the mean target distance for which reliable recognition of letters first occurred for the printed custom optotypes compared to the standard were found to be below 0.05, satisfying the 0.05 log unit ISO criterion we used to demonstrate functional equivalence. It is possible to use desktop publishing to create custom near VA charts that are physically and functionally equivalent to standard VA charts produced by a commercial printing process.

Validity and reliability of the Achilles tendon total rupture score.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganestam, Ann; Barfod, Kristoffer; Klit, Jakob; Troelsen, Anders

2013-01-01

The best treatment of acute Achilles tendon rupture remains debated. Patient-reported outcome measures have become cornerstones in treatment evaluations. The Achilles tendon total rupture score (ATRS) has been developed for this purpose but requires additional validation. The purpose of the present study was to validate a Danish translation of the ATRS. The ATRS was translated into Danish according to internationally adopted standards. Of 142 patients, 90 with previous rupture of the Achilles tendon participated in the validity study and 52 in the reliability study. The ATRS showed moderately strong correlations with the physical subscores of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (r = .70 to .75; p questionnaire (r = .71; p validity. For study and follow-up purposes, the ATRS seems reliable for comparisons of groups of patients. Its usability is limited for repeated assessment of individual patients. The development of analysis guidelines would be desirable. Copyright © 2013 American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Applied and implied semantics in crystallographic publishing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McMahon Brian

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Crystallography is a data-rich, software-intensive scientific discipline with a community that has undertaken direct responsibility for publishing its own scientific journals. That community has worked actively to develop information exchange standards allowing readers of structure reports to access directly, and interact with, the scientific content of the articles. Results Structure reports submitted to some journals of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr can be automatically validated and published through an efficient and cost-effective workflow. Readers can view and interact with the structures in three-dimensional visualization applications, and can access the experimental data should they wish to perform their own independent structure solution and refinement. The journals also layer on top of this facility a number of automated annotations and interpretations to add further scientific value. Conclusions The benefits of semantically rich information exchange standards have revolutionised the scholarly publishing process for crystallography, and establish a model relevant to many other physical science disciplines.

Publishing studies: the search for an elusive academic object

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophie Noël

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper questions the validity of the so-called “publishing studies” as an academic discipline, while trying to situate them within the field of social sciences and to contextualize their success. It argues that a more appropriate frame could be adopted to describe what people studying the transformations of book publishing do – or should do – both at a theoretical and methodological level. The paper begins by providing an overview of the scholarly and academic context in France as far as book publishing is concerned, highlighting its genesis and current development. It goes on to underline the main pitfalls that such a sub-field as publishing studies is faced with, before making suggestions as to the bases for a stimulating analysis of publishing, making a case for an interdisciplinary approach nurtured by social sciences. The paper is based on a long-term field study on independent presses in France, together with a survey of literature on the subject.

Publishing with XML structure, enter, publish

CERN Document Server

Prost, Bernard

2015-01-01

XML is now at the heart of book publishing techniques: it provides the industry with a robust, flexible format which is relatively easy to manipulate. Above all, it preserves the future: the XML text becomes a genuine tactical asset enabling publishers to respond quickly to market demands. When new publishing media appear, it will be possible to very quickly make your editorial content available at a lower cost. On the downside, XML can become a bottomless pit for publishers attracted by its possibilities. There is a strong temptation to switch to audiovisual production and to add video and a

Competing risk bias was common in Kaplan-Meier risk estimates published in prominent medical journals.

Science.gov (United States)

van Walraven, Carl; McAlister, Finlay A

2016-01-01

Risk estimates from Kaplan-Meier curves are well known to medical researchers, reviewers, and editors. In this study, we determined the proportion of Kaplan-Meier analyses published in prominent medical journals that are potentially biased because of competing events ("competing risk bias"). We randomly selected 100 studies that had at least one Kaplan-Meier analysis and were recently published in prominent medical journals. Susceptibility to competing risk bias was determined by examining the outcome and potential competing events. In susceptible studies, bias was quantified using a previously validated prediction model when the number of outcomes and competing events were given. Forty-six studies (46%) contained Kaplan-Meier analyses susceptible to competing risk bias. Sixteen studies (34.8%) susceptible to competing risk cited the number of outcomes and competing events; in six of these studies (6/16, 37.5%), the outcome risk from the Kaplan-Meier estimate (relative to the true risk) was biased upward by 10% or more. Almost half of Kaplan-Meier analyses published in medical journals are susceptible to competing risk bias and may overestimate event risk. This bias was found to be quantitatively important in a third of such studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thomas Jefferson, Page Design, and Desktop Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hartley, James

1991-01-01

Discussion of page design for desktop publishing focuses on the importance of functional issues as opposed to aesthetic issues, and criticizes a previous article that stressed aesthetic issues. Topics discussed include balance, consistency in text structure, and how differences in layout affect the clarity of "The Declaration of…

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of Scales: A Survey of Published Articles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Foroozan Atashzadeh-Shoorideh

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background and purpose: Using valid and reliable instruments is an important way for collecting data in qualitative researches. This paper is a report of a study conducted to examine the extent of psychometric properties of the scales in research papers published in Journal of Advanced Nursing.Methods: In this study, the Journal of Advanced Nursing was chosen for systematic review. All articles which were published during 2007-2009 in this journal were collected and articles related to instrument development were selected. Each article was completely reviewed to identify the methods of instrument validation and reliability.Results: From 980 articles published in Journal of Advanced Nursing during 2007-2009, 41 (4.18% articles were about research methodology. In these, 12 articles (29.27% were related to developing an instrument. In this study, review of 12 articles that published in Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2007-2009, showed that some of the articles did not measure psychometric properties properly, thus some of the developed scales need to measure other types of necessary validity. In addition, reliability testing needs to be performed on each instrument used in a study before other statistical analysis are performed. From 12 articles, all of the articles measured and reported Cronbach’s alpha, but four of them did not measure test-retest.Conclusions: Although researchers put a great emphasis on methodology and statistical analysis, they pay less attention to the psychometric properties of their new instruments. The authors of this article hope to draw the attention of researcher to the importance of measuring psychometric properties of new instruments.Keywords: PSYCHOMETRIC, SCALES, CRITICAL REVIEW

Validation of a Radiosensitivity Molecular Signature in Breast Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Eschrich, Steven A.; Fulp, William J.; Pawitan, Yudi; Foekens, John A.; Smid, Marcel; Martens, John W. M.; Echevarria, Michelle; Kamath, Vidya; Lee, Ji-Hyun; Harris, Eleanor E.; Bergh, Jonas; Torres-Roca, Javier F.

2014-01-01

Purpose Previously, we developed a radiosensitivity molecular signature (RSI) that was clinically-validated in three independent datasets (rectal, esophageal, head and neck) in 118 patients. Here, we test RSI in radiotherapy (RT) treated breast cancer patients. Experimental Design RSI was tested in two previously published breast cancer datasets. Patients were treated at the Karolinska University Hospital (n=159) and Erasmus Medical Center (n=344). RSI was applied as previously described. Results We tested RSI in RT-treated patients (Karolinska). Patients predicted to be radiosensitive (RS) had an improved 5 yr relapse-free survival when compared with radioresistant (RR) patients (95% vs. 75%, p=0.0212) but there was no difference between RS/RR patients treated without RT (71% vs. 77%, p=0.6744), consistent with RSI being RT-specific (interaction term RSIxRT, p=0.05). Similarly, in the Erasmus dataset RT-treated RS patients had an improved 5-year distant-metastasis-free survival over RR patients (77% vs. 64%, p=0.0409) but no difference was observed in patients treated without RT (RS vs. RR, 80% vs. 81%, p=0.9425). Multivariable analysis showed RSI is the strongest variable in RT-treated patients (Karolinska, HR=5.53, p=0.0987, Erasmus, HR=1.64, p=0.0758) and in backward selection (removal alpha of 0.10) RSI was the only variable remaining in the final model. Finally, RSI is an independent predictor of outcome in RT-treated ER+ patients (Erasmus, multivariable analysis, HR=2.64, p=0.0085). Conclusions RSI is validated in two independent breast cancer datasets totaling 503 patients. Including prior data, RSI is validated in five independent cohorts (621 patients) and represents, to our knowledge, the most extensively validated molecular signature in radiation oncology. PMID:22832933

Analysis of Coaching Science Research Published from 1970-2001

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbert, Wade D.; Trudel, Pierre

2004-01-01

The study followed a four-phase design. In Phase I an exhaustive search was conducted for all English language coaching research published in journals from 1970 to 2001. In Phase II, copies of the research were obtained. An expert panel conducted a manual search and a review in Phase III to address validity. Analysis of the research was completed…

What comes first? Publishing business or publishing studies?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josipa Selthofer

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyze and compare publishing studies, their programmes at the undergraduate and graduate levels and scholars involved in the teaching of publishing courses at the top universities around the world and in Croatia. Since traditional publishing business is rapidly changing, new skills and new jobs are involved in it. The main research question is: Can modern publishing studies produce a modern publisher? Or, is it the other way around? The hypothesis of the paper is that scholars involved in the teaching of publishing courses at the top universities around the world have a background in publishing business. So, can they prepare their students for the future and can their students gain competencies they need to compete in a confusing world of digital authors and electronic books? The research methods used were content analysis and comparison. Research sample included 36 university publishing programmes at the undergraduate and graduate level worldwide (24 MA, 12 BA. The research sample was limited mainly to the English-speaking countries. In most non-English-speaking countries, it was difficult to analyse the programme curriculum in the native language because the programme and course description did not exit. In the data gathering phase, a customized web application was used for content analysis. The application has three main sections: a list of websites to evaluate, a visual representation of the uploaded website and a list of characteristics grouped by categories for quantifying data. About twenty years ago, publishing was not considered a separate scientific branch in Croatia. Publishing studies are therefore a new phenomenon to both scholars and publishers in Croatia. To create a new, ideal publishing course, can we simply copy global trends or is it better to create something of our own?

Mixed media : feminist presses and publishing politics in twentieth-century Britain

OpenAIRE

Murray, S. E.

1999-01-01

The high cultural profile of contemporary feminist publishing in Britain has previously met with a curiously evasive response from those spheres of academic discourse in which it might be expected to figure: women's studies, while asserting the innate politicality of all communication, has tended to overlook the subject of publishing in favour of less materialist cultural modes; while publishing studies has conventionally overlooked the significance of gender as a differential ...

Validation of limited sampling models (LSM) for estimating AUC in therapeutic drug monitoring - is a separate validation group required?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Proost, J. H.

Objective: Limited sampling models (LSM) for estimating AUC in therapeutic drug monitoring are usually validated in a separate group of patients, according to published guidelines. The aim of this study is to evaluate the validation of LSM by comparing independent validation with cross-validation

Convergent validity test, construct validity test and external validity test of the David Liberman algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Maldavsky

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The author first exposes a complement of a previous test about convergent validity, then a construct validity test and finally an external validity test of the David Liberman algorithm.  The first part of the paper focused on a complementary aspect, the differential sensitivity of the DLA 1 in an external comparison (to other methods, and 2 in an internal comparison (between two ways of using the same method, the DLA.  The construct validity test exposes the concepts underlined to DLA, their operationalization and some corrections emerging from several empirical studies we carried out.  The external validity test examines the possibility of using the investigation of a single case and its relation with the investigation of a more extended sample.

Desktop Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanley, Milt

1986-01-01

Defines desktop publishing, describes microcomputer developments and software tools that make it possible, and discusses its use as an instructional tool to improve writing skills. Reasons why students' work should be published, examples of what to publish, and types of software and hardware to facilitate publishing are reviewed. (MBR)

Structural Revision of Some Recently Published Iridoid Glucosides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Søren Rosendal; Calis, Ihsan; Gotfredsen, Charlotte Held

2007-01-01

). Finally, two alleged iridoid galactosides from Buddleja crispa named buddlejosides A and B (12a and 12b) have been shown to be the corresponding glucosides; the former is identical to agnuside (13a) while the latter is 3,4-dihydroxybenzoylaucubin (13b), an iridoid glucoside not previously published...

[Measurement properties of self-report questionnaires published in Korean nursing journals].

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Eun-Hyun; Kim, Chun-Ja; Kim, Eun Jung; Chae, Hyun-Ju; Cho, Soo-Yeon

2013-02-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate measurement properties of self-report questionnaires for studies published in Korean nursing journals. Of 424 Korean nursing articles initially identified, 168 articles met the inclusion criteria. The methodological quality of the measurements used in the studies and interpretability were assessed using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. It consists of items on internal consistency, reliability, measurement error, content validity, construct validity including structural validity, hypothesis testing, cross-cultural validity, and criterion validity, and responsiveness. For each item of the COSMIN checklist, measurement properties are rated on a four-point scale: excellent, good, fair, and poor. Each measurement property is scored with worst score counts. All articles used the classical test theory for measurement properties. Internal consistency (72.6%), construct validity (56.5%), and content validity (38.2%) were most frequently reported properties being rated as 'excellent' by COSMIN checklist, whereas other measurement properties were rarely reported. A systematic review of measurement properties including interpretability of most instruments warrants further research and nursing-focused checklists assessing measurement properties should be developed to facilitate intervention outcomes across Korean studies.

Rectification of invalidly published new names for plants from the late Eocene of North Bohemia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kvaček Zlatko

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Valid publication of new names of fossil plant taxa published since 1 January 1996 requires a diagnosis or description in English, besides other requirements included in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress, Melbourne, Australia, July 2011 (McNeill et al. 2012. In order to validate names published from the late Eocene flora of the Staré Sedlo Formation, North Bohemia, diagnosed only in German (Knobloch et al. 1996, English translations are provided, including references to the type material and further relevant information.

Music publishing

OpenAIRE

Simões, Alberto; Almeida, J. J.

2003-01-01

Current music publishing in the Internet is mainly concerned with sound publishing. We claim that music publishing is not only to make sound available but also to define relations between a set of music objects like music scores, guitar chords, lyrics and their meta-data. We want an easy way to publish music in the Internet, to make high quality paper booklets and even to create Audio CD's. In this document we present a workbench for music publishing based on open formats, using open-source t...

Toward feasible, valid, and reliable video-based assessments of technical surgical skills in the operating room

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aggarwal, R.; Grantcharov, T.; Moorthy, K.

2008-01-01

.72). Conclusions: Video-based technical skills evaluation in the operating room is feasible, valid and reliable. Global rating scales hold promise for summative assessment, though further work is necessary to elucidate the value of procedural rating scales Udgivelsesdato: 2008/2......Objective: To determine the feasibility, validity, inter-rater, and intertest reliability of 4 previously published video-based rating scales, for technical skills assessment on a benchmark laparoscopic procedure. Summary Background Data: Assessment of technical skills is crucial...... to the demonstration and maintenance of competent healthcare practitioners. Traditional assessment methods are prone to subjectivity through a lack of proven validity and reliability. Methods: Nineteen surgeons (6 novice and 13 experienced) performed a median of 2 laparoscopic cholecystectomies each (range 1-5) on 53...

Pioneers, publishers and the dissemination of archaeological knowledge: A study of publishing in British archaeology 1816-1851

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Scott

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The first half of the nineteenth century was a formative period in the development of archaeology as a discipline and archaeological publishing played a key role in this. Libraries were an essential marker of social and intellectual status and there now exists a considerable body of scholarship on the most impressive publications of the day and on the factors influencing their presentation; for example, in relation to the publication of Mediterranean classical antiquities. The crucial role which publishers played in the selection and dissemination of scholarship has been addressed in recent studies of the history of the book, and there is a growing literature on the role of publishers in the dissemination of scientific knowledge, but there has to date been very limited evaluation of the role of publishers in the selection and dissemination of archaeological knowledge in Britain in this period. This study will investigate the extent to which the publication and dissemination of archaeological knowledge, and hence the discipline itself, was shaped by the intellectual and/or commercial concerns of publishers, with a view to providing a more nuanced understanding of the ways in which knowledge was filtered and the impact that this had. Key trends in archaeological publishing in the period 1816-51 will be identified, based on the London Catalogue of Books, and will show how and why this kind of study should be seen as an essential component of any research which considers the history of the discipline. Selected case studies will show the immense, and previously unacknowledged, importance of decisions made during the publication process on the development of archaeology in Britain, and directions for further study will be identified.

No. 155-Guidelines for Vaginal Birth After Previous Caesarean Birth.

Science.gov (United States)

Martel, Marie-Jocelyne; MacKinnon, Catherine Jane

2018-03-01

To provide evidence-based guidelines for the provision of a trial of labour (TOL) after Caesarean section. Fetal and maternal morbidity and mortality associated with vaginal birth after Caesarean (VBAC) and repeat Caesarean section. MEDLINE database was searched for articles published from January 1, 1995, to February 28, 2004, using the key words "vaginal birth after Caesarean (Cesarean) section." The quality of evidence is described using the Evaluation of Evidence criteria outlined in the Report of the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Exam. VALIDATION: These guidelines were approved by the Clinical Practice Obstetrics and Executive Committees of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The global status of freshwater fish age validation studies and a prioritization framework for future research

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Kevin L.; Hamel, Martin J.; Pegg, Mark A.; Spurgeon, Jonathan J.

2016-01-01

Age information derived from calcified structures is commonly used to estimate recruitment, growth, and mortality for fish populations. Validation of daily or annual marks on age structures is often assumed, presumably due to a lack of general knowledge concerning the status of age validation studies. Therefore, the current status of freshwater fish age validation studies was summarized to show where additional effort is needed, and increase the accessibility of validation studies to researchers. In total, 1351 original peer-reviewed articles were reviewed from freshwater systems that studied age in fish. Periodicity and age validation studies were found for 88 freshwater species comprising 21 fish families. The number of age validation studies has increased over the last 30 years following previous calls for more research; however, few species have validated structures spanning all life stages. In addition, few fishes of conservation concern have validated ageing structures. A prioritization framework, using a combination of eight characteristics, is offered to direct future age validation studies and close the validation information gap. Additional study, using the offered prioritization framework, and increased availability of published studies that incorporate uncertainty when presenting research results dealing with age information are needed.

How valid are claims for synergy in published clinical studies?

Science.gov (United States)

Ocana, A; Amir, E; Yeung, C; Seruga, B; Tannock, I F

2012-08-01

Clinical trials evaluating drug combinations are often stimulated by claims of synergistic interactions in preclinical models. Overuse or misuse of the term synergy could lead to poorly designed clinical studies. We searched PubMed using the terms 'synergy' or 'synergistic' and 'cancer' to select articles published between 2006 and 2010. Eligible studies were those that referred to synergy in preclinical studies to justify a drug combination evaluated in a clinical trial. Eighty-six clinical articles met eligibility criteria and 132 preclinical articles were cited in them. Most of the clinical studies were phase I (43%) or phase II trials (56%). Appropriate methods to evaluate synergy in preclinical studies included isobologram analysis in 18 studies (13.6%) and median effect in 10 studies (7.6%). Only 26 studies using animal models (39%) attempted to evaluate therapeutic index. There was no association between the result of the clinical trial and the use of an appropriate method to evaluate synergy (P=0.25, chi-squared test). Synergy is cited frequently in phase I and phase II studies to justify the evaluation of a specific drug combination. Inappropriate methods for evaluation of synergy and poor assessment of therapeutic index have been used in most preclinical articles.

Assessing validity of observational intervention studies - the Benchmarking Controlled Trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Malmivaara, Antti

2016-09-01

Benchmarking Controlled Trial (BCT) is a concept which covers all observational studies aiming to assess impact of interventions or health care system features to patients and populations. To create and pilot test a checklist for appraising methodological validity of a BCT. The checklist was created by extracting the most essential elements from the comprehensive set of criteria in the previous paper on BCTs. Also checklists and scientific papers on observational studies and respective systematic reviews were utilized. Ten BCTs published in the Lancet and in the New England Journal of Medicine were used to assess feasibility of the created checklist. The appraised studies seem to have several methodological limitations, some of which could be avoided in planning, conducting and reporting phases of the studies. The checklist can be used for planning, conducting, reporting, reviewing, and critical reading of observational intervention studies. However, the piloted checklist should be validated in further studies. Key messages Benchmarking Controlled Trial (BCT) is a concept which covers all observational studies aiming to assess impact of interventions or health care system features to patients and populations. This paper presents a checklist for appraising methodological validity of BCTs and pilot-tests the checklist with ten BCTs published in leading medical journals. The appraised studies seem to have several methodological limitations, some of which could be avoided in planning, conducting and reporting phases of the studies. The checklist can be used for planning, conducting, reporting, reviewing, and critical reading of observational intervention studies.

An Electronic Publishing Model for Academic Publishers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gold, Jon D.

1994-01-01

Describes an electronic publishing model based on Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and considers its use by an academic publisher. Highlights include how SGML is used to produce an electronic book, hypertext, methods of delivery, intellectual property rights, and future possibilities. Sample documents are included. (two references) (LRW)

Reliability and Validity Testing of a Danish Translated Version of Spinal Appearance Questionnaire (SAQ) v 1.1

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simony, Ane; Carreon, Leah Y; Hansen, Karen Højmark

2016-01-01

Study Design Cross-sectional. Objective To develop a psychometrically reliable and valid Danish version of the Spinal Appearance Questionnaire (SAQ). Summary of Background Data The SAQ was developed as a disease-specific measure of quality of life in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis...... (AIS), specifically for younger patients, as it has more visual cues than verbal questions. A reliable and valid Danish Version is not available. Methods A Danish version of the SAQ was developed using previously published and widely accepted guidelines. The final Danish SAQ and the Danish SRS22-R were...... effect for SAQ Expectations. There was good to excellent internal consistency within each domain. Conclusion This purpose of this study was to translate and validate a Danish version of the SAQ. Although problems were identified with items 7 and 8, the Danish SAQ is reliable and valid....

Investigation of previously derived Hyades, Coma, and M67 reddenings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, B.J.

1980-01-01

New Hyades polarimetry and field star photometry have been obtained to check the Hyades reddening, which was found to be nonzero in a previous paper. The new Hyades polarimetry implies essentially zero reddening; this is also true of polarimetry published by Behr (which was incorrectly interpreted in the previous paper). Four photometric techniques which are presumed to be insensitive to blanketing are used to compare the Hyades to nearby field stars; these four techniques also yield essentially zero reddening. When all of these results are combined with others which the author has previously published and a simultaneous solution for the Hyades, Coma, and M67 reddenings is made, the results are E (B-V) =3 +- 2 (sigma) mmag, -1 +- 3 (sigma) mmag, and 46 +- 6 (sigma) mmag, respectively. No support for a nonzero Hyades reddening is offered by the new results. When the newly obtained reddenings for the Hyades, Coma, and M67 are compared with results from techniques given by Crawford and by users of the David Dunlap Observatory photometric system, no differences between the new and other reddenings are found which are larger than about 2 sigma. The author had previously found that the M67 main-sequence stars have about the same blanketing as that of Coma and less blanketing than the Hyades; this conclusion is essentially unchanged by the revised reddenings

Poet's Market, 1997: Where & How To Publish Your Poetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Christine, Ed.; Bentley, Chantelle, Ed.

This directory provides 1700 listings and evaluations of poetry publishers--300 more than in the previous edition--along with complete submission and contact information. Listings include both domestic and international markets, from mass circulation and literary magazines to small presses and university quarterlies, and contain complete profiles…

Validating a benchmarking tool for audit of early outcomes after operations for head and neck cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Tighe, D; Sassoon, I; McGurk, M

2017-04-01

INTRODUCTION In 2013 all UK surgical specialties, with the exception of head and neck surgery, published outcome data adjusted for case mix for indicator operations. This paper reports a pilot study to validate a previously published risk adjustment score on patients from separate UK cancer centres. METHODS A case note audit was performed of 1,075 patients undergoing 1,218 operations for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma under general anaesthesia in 4 surgical centres. A logistic regression equation predicting for all complications, previously validated internally at sites A-C, was tested on a fourth external validation sample (site D, 172 operations) using receiver operating characteristic curves, Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit analysis and Brier scores. RESULTS Thirty-day complication rates varied widely (34-51%) between the centres. The predictive score allowed imperfect risk adjustment (area under the curve: 0.70), with Hosmer-Lemeshow analysis suggesting good calibration. The Brier score changed from 0.19 for sites A-C to 0.23 when site D was also included, suggesting poor accuracy overall. CONCLUSIONS Marked differences in operative risk and patient case mix captured by the risk adjustment score do not explain all the differences in observed outcomes. Further investigation with different methods is recommended to improve modelling of risk. Morbidity is common, and usually has a major impact on patient recovery, ward occupancy, hospital finances and patient perception of quality of care. We hope comparative audit will highlight good performance and challenge underperformance where it exists.

Augmenting Data with Published Results in Bayesian Linear Regression

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de Leeuw, Christiaan; Klugkist, Irene

2012-01-01

In most research, linear regression analyses are performed without taking into account published results (i.e., reported summary statistics) of similar previous studies. Although the prior density in Bayesian linear regression could accommodate such prior knowledge, formal models for doing so are absent from the literature. The goal of this…

The ESO Survey of Non-Publishing Programmes

Science.gov (United States)

Patat, F.; Boffin, H. M. J.; Bordelon, D.; Grothkopf, U.; Meakins, S.; Mieske, S.; Rejkuba, M.

2017-12-01

One of the classic ways to measure the success of a scientific facility is the publication return, which is defined as the refereed papers produced per unit of allocated resources (for example, telescope time or proposals). The recent studies by Sterzik et al. (2015, 2016) have shown that 30–50 % of the programmes allocated time at ESO do not produce a refereed publication. While this may be inherent to the scientific process, this finding prompted further investigation. For this purpose, ESO conducted a Survey of Non-Publishing Programmes (SNPP) within the activities of the Time Allocation Working Group, similar to the monitoring campaign that was recently implemented at ALMA (Stoehr et al., 2016). The SNPP targeted 1278 programmes scheduled between ESO Periods 78 and 90 (October 2006 to March 2013) that had not published a refereed paper as of April 2016. The poll was launched on 6 May 2016, remained open for four weeks, and returned 965 valid responses. This article summarises and discusses the results of this survey, the first of its kind at ESO.

Ensuring validity in qualitative international business research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Poul Houman; Skaates, Maria Anne

2002-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of how the validity issue related to qualitative research strategies within the IB field may be grasped from an at least partially subjectivist point of view. In section two, we will first assess via the aforementioned literature review the extent...... to which the validity issue has been treated in qualitative research contributions published in six leading English-language journals which publish IB research. Thereafter, in section three, we will discuss our findings and relate them to (a) various levels of a research project and (b) the existing...... literature on potential validity problems from a more subjectivist point of view. As a part of this step, we will demonstrate that the assumptions of objectivist and subjectivist ontologies and their corresponding epistemologies merit different canons for assessing research validity. In the subsequent...

THE QUALITY CRITERIA AND SELF-PUBLISHING IN SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Almudena Mangas-Vega

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Self-publishing is a growing phenomenon in recent years. It is a process that goes beyond a simple change of leader in the publication, since it involves also a change of role of agents that were consolidated over time. A self-published work does not have to mean lack of quality, so it is important to define parameters and indicators that help its evaluation and identify who has the responsibility of those criteria. The article shows these aspects from the possibilities for cross-platform publishing and concludes with an analysis of the aspects that can be considered in assessing the quality of self-publishing.

Embracing Electronic Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wills, Gordon

1996-01-01

Electronic publishing is the grandest revolution in the capture and dissemination of academic and professional knowledge since Caxton developed the printing press. This article examines electronic publishing, describes different electronic publishing scenarios (authors' cooperative, consolidator/retailer/agent oligopsony, publisher oligopoly), and…

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FINDINGS PUBLISHED IN SCHOLARLY ARTICLES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin A. Hubbe

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Articles published in scholarly journals, such as this one, tend to be mainly addressed to researchers at universities. Industrial follow-up and implementation of results from a scholarly article appears to be the exception, rather than the rule. Research grant specifications, as well as university policies, favor the generation of new knowledge, rather than the implementation of good ideas. But without patent protection, corporations have low motivation to expend the considerable effort to reduce ideas to practice after they have been openly published. The author speculates that the situation could be much more dynamic if there were a system of priority of implementation. According to such a system, the first company to successfully implement an idea that first appears in a peer-reviewed journal article, as validated by its debut in the marketplace, would have a grace period during which competitors would have to pay them a fee to sell a generic version of the same thing.

Electronic publishing and information handling: Plenty of roses, but also some thorns

Science.gov (United States)

Heck, André

The current dramatic evolution in information technology is bringing major modifications in the way scientists communicate. The concept of 'electronic publishing' is too restrictive and has often different, sometimes conflicting, interpretations. It is giving way to the broader notion of 'electronic information handling' encompassing the diverse types of information, the different media, as well as the various communication methodologies and technologies. New problems and challenges result also from this new information culture, especially on legal, ethical, and educational grounds. The procedures for validating 'published material' and for evaluating scientific activities will have to be adjusted too. 'Fluid' information is becoming an omnipresent reality. Electronic publishing cannot be conceived without link to knowledge bases and information resources, nor without intelligent information retrieval tools.

Development and initial validation of a cessation fatigue scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathew, Amanda R; Heckman, Bryan W; Meier, Ellen; Carpenter, Matthew J

2017-07-01

Smoking cessation fatigue, or tiredness of attempting to quit smoking, has been posited as a latent construct encompassing loss of motivation, loss of hope in cessation success, decreased self-efficacy, and exhaustion of self-control resources. Despite the potential clinical impact of characterizing cessation fatigue, there is currently no validated measure to assess it. Using a rational scale development approach, we developed a cessation fatigue measure and examined its reliability and construct validity in relation to a) smokers' experience of a recently failed quit attempt (QA) and b) readiness to engage in a subsequent QA. Data were drawn from an online cross-sectional survey of 484 smokers who relapsed from a QA within the past 30days. Exploratory factor analysis identified three factors within the 17-item Cessation Fatigue Scale (CFS), which we labeled: emotional exhaustion, pessimism, and devaluation. High internal consistency was observed for each factor and across the full scale. As expected, CFS overall was positively associated with withdrawal severity and difficulty quitting. CFS was negatively associated with previously validated measures of intention to quit, self-efficacy, and abstinence-related motivational engagement, even after adjusting for nicotine dependence. Findings provide initial validation for a new tool to assess cessation fatigue and contribute needed information on a theory-driven component of cessation-related motivation and relapse risk. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Analysis of thirteen predatory publishers: a trap for eager-to-publish researchers.

Science.gov (United States)

Bolshete, Pravin

2018-01-01

To demonstrate a strategy employed by predatory publishers to trap eager-to-publish authors or researchers into submitting their work. This was a case study of 13 potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access publishers with similar characteristics. Eleven publishers were included from Beall's list and two additional publishers were identified from a Google web search. Each publisher's site was visited and its content analyzed. Publishers publishing biomedical journals were further explored and additional data was collected regarding their volumes, details of publications and editorial-board members. Overall, the look and feel of all 13 publishers was similar including names of publishers, website addresses, homepage content, homepage images, list of journals and subject areas, as if they were copied and pasted. There were discrepancies in article-processing charges within the publishers. None of the publishers identified names in their contact details and primarily included only email addresses. Author instructions were similar across all 13 publishers. Most publishers listed journals of varied subject areas including biomedical journals (12 publishers) covering different geographic locations. Most biomedical journals published none or very few articles. The highest number of articles published by any single biomedical journal was 28. Several editorial-board members were listed across more than one journals, with one member listed 81 times in different 69 journals (i.e. twice in 12 journals). There was a strong reason to believe that predatory publishers may have several publication houses with different names under a single roof to trap authors from different geographic locations.

Reproducibility discrepancies following reanalysis of raw data for a previously published study on diisononyl phthalate (DINP in rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min Chen

2017-08-01

Full Text Available A 2011 publication by Boberg et al. entitled “Reproductive and behavioral effects of diisononyl phthalate (DINP in perinatally exposed rats” [1] reported statistically significant changes in sperm parameters, testicular histopathology, anogenital distance and retained nipples in developing males. Using the statistical methods as reported by Boberg et al. (2011 [1], we reanalyzed the publically available raw data ([dataset] US EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2016 [2]. The output of our reanalysis and the discordances with the data as published in Boberg et al. (2011 [1] are highlighted herein. Further discussion of the basis for the replication discordances and the insufficiency of the Boberg et al. (2011 [1] response to address them can be found in a companion letter of correspondence (doi: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2017.03.013.; (Morfeld et al., 2011 [3].

Plagiarism in scientific publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Masic, Izet

2012-12-01

Scientific publishing is the ultimate product of scientist work. Number of publications and their quoting are measures of scientist success while unpublished researches are invisible to the scientific community, and as such nonexistent. Researchers in their work rely on their predecessors, while the extent of use of one scientist work, as a source for the work of other authors is the verification of its contributions to the growth of human knowledge. If the author has published an article in a scientific journal it cannot publish the article in any other journal h with a few minor adjustments or without quoting parts of the first article, which are used in another article. Copyright infringement occurs when the author of a new article with or without the mentioning the author used substantial portions of previously published articles, including tables and figures. Scientific institutions and universities should,in accordance with the principles of Good Scientific Practice (GSP) and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) have a center for monitoring,security, promotion and development of quality research. Establish rules and compliance to rules of good scientific practice are the obligations of each research institutions,universities and every individual-researchers,regardless of which area of science is investigated. In this way, internal quality control ensures that a research institution such as a university, assume responsibility for creating an environment that promotes standards of excellence, intellectual honesty and legality. Although the truth should be the aim of scientific research, it is not guiding fact for all scientists. The best way to reach the truth in its study and to avoid the methodological and ethical mistakes is to consistently apply scientific methods and ethical standards in research. Although variously defined plagiarism is basically intended to deceive the reader's own scientific contribution. There is no general regulation of control of

Development and validation of a web-based questionnaire for surveying the health and working conditions of high-performance marine craft populations.

Science.gov (United States)

de Alwis, Manudul Pahansen; Lo Martire, Riccardo; Äng, Björn O; Garme, Karl

2016-06-20

High-performance marine craft crews are susceptible to various adverse health conditions caused by multiple interactive factors. However, there are limited epidemiological data available for assessment of working conditions at sea. Although questionnaire surveys are widely used for identifying exposures, outcomes and associated risks with high accuracy levels, until now, no validated epidemiological tool exists for surveying occupational health and performance in these populations. To develop and validate a web-based questionnaire for epidemiological assessment of occupational and individual risk exposure pertinent to the musculoskeletal health conditions and performance in high-performance marine craft populations. A questionnaire for investigating the association between work-related exposure, performance and health was initially developed by a consensus panel under four subdomains, viz. demography, lifestyle, work exposure and health and systematically validated by expert raters for content relevance and simplicity in three consecutive stages, each iteratively followed by a consensus panel revision. The item content validity index (I-CVI) was determined as the proportion of experts giving a rating of 3 or 4. The scale content validity index (S-CVI/Ave) was computed by averaging the I-CVIs for the assessment of the questionnaire as a tool. Finally, the questionnaire was pilot tested. The S-CVI/Ave increased from 0.89 to 0.96 for relevance and from 0.76 to 0.94 for simplicity, resulting in 36 items in the final questionnaire. The pilot test confirmed the feasibility of the questionnaire. The present study shows that the web-based questionnaire fulfils previously published validity acceptance criteria and is therefore considered valid and feasible for the empirical surveying of epidemiological aspects among high-performance marine craft crews and similar populations. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted

Predictive effects of previous episodes on the risk of recurrence in depressive and bipolar disorders

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kessing, Lars Vedel; Andersen, Per Kragh

2005-01-01

Findings from several studies have suggested that the risk of recurrence increases with the number of previous episodes in depressive and bipolar disorders. However, a comprehensive and critical review of the literature published during the past century shows that in several previous studies...

Estimation of hand hygiene opportunities on an adult medical ward using 24-hour camera surveillance: validation of the HOW2 Benchmark Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Diller, Thomas; Kelly, J William; Blackhurst, Dawn; Steed, Connie; Boeker, Sue; McElveen, Danielle C

2014-06-01

We previously published a formula to estimate the number of hand hygiene opportunities (HHOs) per patient-day using the World Health Organization's "Five Moments for Hand Hygiene" methodology (HOW2 Benchmark Study). HHOs can be used as a denominator for calculating hand hygiene compliance rates when product utilization data are available. This study validates the previously derived HHO estimate using 24-hour video surveillance of health care worker hand hygiene activity. The validation study utilized 24-hour video surveillance recordings of 26 patients' hospital stays to measure the actual number of HHOs per patient-day on a medicine ward in a large teaching hospital. Statistical methods were used to compare these results to those obtained by episodic observation of patient activity in the original derivation study. Total hours of data collection were 81.3 and 1,510.8, resulting in 1,740 and 4,522 HHOs in the derivation and validation studies, respectively. Comparisons of the mean and median HHOs per 24-hour period did not differ significantly. HHOs were 71.6 (95% confidence interval: 64.9-78.3) and 73.9 (95% confidence interval: 69.1-84.1), respectively. This study validates the HOW2 Benchmark Study and confirms that expected numbers of HHOs can be estimated from the unit's patient census and patient-to-nurse ratio. These data can be used as denominators in calculations of hand hygiene compliance rates from electronic monitoring using the "Five Moments for Hand Hygiene" methodology. Copyright © 2014 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

French validation and adaptation of the Grobman nomogram for prediction of vaginal birth after cesarean delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Haumonte, J-B; Raylet, M; Christophe, M; Mauviel, F; Bertrand, A; Desbriere, R; d'Ercole, C

2018-03-01

To validate Grobman nomogram for predicting vaginal birth after cesarean delivery (VBAC) in a French population and adapt it. Multicenter retrospective study of maternal and obstetric factors associated with VBAC between May 2012 and May 2013 in 6 maternity units. External validation and adaptation of the prenatal and intrapartum Grobman nomograms for vaginal birth prediction after cesarean delivery in a French cohort. The study included 523 women with previous cesarean deliveries; 70% underwent a trial of labor for a subsequent delivery (n=367) with a success rate of 65% (n=240). In the univariate analysis, 5 factors were associated with successful VBAC: previous vaginal delivery before the cesarean (P6 (P=0.03). A potentially recurrent indication (defined as arrest of dilation or descent as the indication for the previous cesarean) (P=0.039), a hypertensive disorder during pregnancy (P=0.05), and labor induction (P=0.017) were each associated with failed VBAC. External validation of the prenatal and intrapartum Grobman nomograms showed an area under the ROC curve of 69% (95% CI: 0.638, 0.736) and 65% (95% CI: 0.599, 0.700) respectively. Adaptation of the nomogram to the French cohort resulted in the inclusion of the following factors: maternal age, body mass index at last prenatal visit, hypertensive disorder, gestational age at delivery, recurring indication, cervical dilatation, and induction of labor. Its area under the curve to predict successful VBAC was 78% (95% CI: 0.738, 0.825). The nomogram to predict VBAC developed by Grobman et al. is validated in the French population. Adaptation to the French population, by excluding ethnicity, appeared to improve its performance. Impact of the nomogram use on the caesarean section rate has to be validated in a randomized control trial. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Assessing validity of observational intervention studies – the Benchmarking Controlled Trials

Science.gov (United States)

Malmivaara, Antti

2016-01-01

Abstract Background: Benchmarking Controlled Trial (BCT) is a concept which covers all observational studies aiming to assess impact of interventions or health care system features to patients and populations. Aims: To create and pilot test a checklist for appraising methodological validity of a BCT. Methods: The checklist was created by extracting the most essential elements from the comprehensive set of criteria in the previous paper on BCTs. Also checklists and scientific papers on observational studies and respective systematic reviews were utilized. Ten BCTs published in the Lancet and in the New England Journal of Medicine were used to assess feasibility of the created checklist. Results: The appraised studies seem to have several methodological limitations, some of which could be avoided in planning, conducting and reporting phases of the studies. Conclusions: The checklist can be used for planning, conducting, reporting, reviewing, and critical reading of observational intervention studies. However, the piloted checklist should be validated in further studies.Key messagesBenchmarking Controlled Trial (BCT) is a concept which covers all observational studies aiming to assess impact of interventions or health care system features to patients and populations.This paper presents a checklist for appraising methodological validity of BCTs and pilot-tests the checklist with ten BCTs published in leading medical journals. The appraised studies seem to have several methodological limitations, some of which could be avoided in planning, conducting and reporting phases of the studies.The checklist can be used for planning, conducting, reporting, reviewing, and critical reading of observational intervention studies. PMID:27238631

Factor analysis methods and validity evidence: A systematic review of instrument development across the continuum of medical education

Science.gov (United States)

Wetzel, Angela Payne

Previous systematic reviews indicate a lack of reporting of reliability and validity evidence in subsets of the medical education literature. Psychology and general education reviews of factor analysis also indicate gaps between current and best practices; yet, a comprehensive review of exploratory factor analysis in instrument development across the continuum of medical education had not been previously identified. Therefore, the purpose for this study was critical review of instrument development articles employing exploratory factor or principal component analysis published in medical education (2006--2010) to describe and assess the reporting of methods and validity evidence based on the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing and factor analysis best practices. Data extraction of 64 articles measuring a variety of constructs that have been published throughout the peer-reviewed medical education literature indicate significant errors in the translation of exploratory factor analysis best practices to current practice. Further, techniques for establishing validity evidence tend to derive from a limited scope of methods including reliability statistics to support internal structure and support for test content. Instruments reviewed for this study lacked supporting evidence based on relationships with other variables and response process, and evidence based on consequences of testing was not evident. Findings suggest a need for further professional development within the medical education researcher community related to (1) appropriate factor analysis methodology and reporting and (2) the importance of pursuing multiple sources of reliability and validity evidence to construct a well-supported argument for the inferences made from the instrument. Medical education researchers and educators should be cautious in adopting instruments from the literature and carefully review available evidence. Finally, editors and reviewers are encouraged to recognize

EDITORIAL: Roberts Prize for the best paper published in 2010 Roberts Prize for the best paper published in 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Steve; Harris, Simon

2011-08-01

The publishers of Physics in Medicine and Biology (PMB), IOP Publishing, in association with the journal owners, the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), jointly award an annual prize for the best paper published in PMB during the previous year. The procedure for deciding the winner has been made as thorough as possible, to try to ensure that an outstanding paper wins the prize. We started off with a shortlist of the 10 research papers published in 2010 which were rated the best based on the referees' quality assessments. Following the submission of a short 'case for winning' document by each of the shortlisted authors, an IPEM college of jurors of the status of FIPEM assessed and rated these 10 papers in order to choose a winner, which was then endorsed by the Editorial Board. We have much pleasure in advising readers that the Roberts Prize for the best paper published in 2010 is awarded to M M Paulides et al from Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, for their paper on hyperthermia treatment: The clinical feasibility of deep hyperthermia treatment in the head and neck: new challenges for positioning and temperature measurement M M Paulides, J F Bakker, M Linthorst, J van der Zee, Z Rijnen, E Neufeld, P M T Pattynama, P P Jansen, P C Levendag and G C van Rhoon 2010 Phys. Med. Biol. 55 2465 Our congratulations go to these authors. Of course all of the shortlisted papers were of great merit, and the full top-10 is listed below (in alphabetical order). Steve Webb Editor-in-Chief Simon Harris Publisher References Alonzo-Proulx O, Packard N, Boone J M, Al-Mayah A, Brock K K, Shen S Z and Yaffe M J 2010 Validation of a method for measuring the volumetric breast density from digital mammograms Phys. Med. Biol. 55 3027 Bian J, Siewerdsen J H, Han X, Sidky E Y, Prince J L, Pelizzari C A and Pan X 2010 Evaluation of sparse-view reconstruction from flat-panel-detector cone-beam CT Phys. Med. Biol. 55 6575 Brun M-A, Formanek F, Yasuda A, Sekine M, Ando N

Publisher Correction: Measuring progress from nationally determined contributions to mid-century strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Iyer, Gokul; Ledna, Catherine; Clarke, Leon; Edmonds, James; McJeon, Haewon; Kyle, Page; Williams, James H.

2018-03-01

In the version of this Article previously published, technical problems led to the wrong summary appearing on the homepage, and an incorrect Supplementary Information file being uploaded. Both errors have now been corrected.

False gold: Safely navigating open access publishing to avoid predatory publishers and journals.

Science.gov (United States)

McCann, Terence V; Polacsek, Meg

2018-04-01

The aim of this study was to review and discuss predatory open access publishing in the context of nursing and midwifery and develop a set of guidelines that serve as a framework to help clinicians, educators and researchers avoid predatory publishers. Open access publishing is increasingly common across all academic disciplines. However, this publishing model is vulnerable to exploitation by predatory publishers, posing a threat to nursing and midwifery scholarship and practice. Guidelines are needed to help researchers recognize predatory journals and publishers and understand the negative consequences of publishing in them. Discussion paper. A literature search of BioMed Central, CINAHL, MEDLINE with Full Text and PubMed for terms related to predatory publishing, published in the period 2007-2017. Lack of awareness of the risks and pressure to publish in international journals, may result in nursing and midwifery researchers publishing their work in dubious open access journals. Caution should be taken prior to writing and submitting a paper, to avoid predatory publishers. The advantage of open access publishing is that it provides readers with access to peer-reviewed research as soon as it is published online. However, predatory publishers use deceptive methods to exploit open access publishing for their own profit. Clear guidelines are needed to help researchers navigate safely open access publishing. A deeper understanding of the risks of predatory publishing is needed. Clear guidelines should be followed by nursing and midwifery researchers seeking to publish their work in open access journals. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Reoperative sentinel lymph node biopsy after previous mastectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Karam, Amer; Stempel, Michelle; Cody, Hiram S; Port, Elisa R

2008-10-01

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is the standard of care for axillary staging in breast cancer, but many clinical scenarios questioning the validity of SLN biopsy remain. Here we describe our experience with reoperative-SLN (re-SLN) biopsy after previous mastectomy. Review of the SLN database from September 1996 to December 2007 yielded 20 procedures done in the setting of previous mastectomy. SLN biopsy was performed using radioisotope with or without blue dye injection superior to the mastectomy incision, in the skin flap in all patients. In 17 of 20 patients (85%), re-SLN biopsy was performed for local or regional recurrence after mastectomy. Re-SLN biopsy was successful in 13 of 20 patients (65%) after previous mastectomy. Of the 13 patients, 2 had positive re-SLN, and completion axillary dissection was performed, with 1 having additional positive nodes. In the 11 patients with negative re-SLN, 2 patients underwent completion axillary dissection demonstrating additional negative nodes. One patient with a negative re-SLN experienced chest wall recurrence combined with axillary recurrence 11 months after re-SLN biopsy. All others remained free of local or axillary recurrence. Re-SLN biopsy was unsuccessful in 7 of 20 patients (35%). In three of seven patients, axillary dissection was performed, yielding positive nodes in two of the three. The remaining four of seven patients all had previous modified radical mastectomy, so underwent no additional axillary surgery. In this small series, re-SLN was successful after previous mastectomy, and this procedure may play some role when axillary staging is warranted after mastectomy.

Developments in Publishing: The Potential of Digital Publishing

OpenAIRE

X. Tian

2007-01-01

This research aims to identify issues associated with the impact of digital technology on the publishing industry with a specific focus on aspects of the sustainability of existing business models in Australia. Based on the case studies, interviews and Australian-wide online surveys, the research presents a review of the traditional business models in book publishing for investigating their effectiveness in a digital environment. It speculates on how and what should be considered for construc...

PLAGIARISM IN SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING

Science.gov (United States)

Masic, Izet

2012-01-01

Scientific publishing is the ultimate product of scientist work. Number of publications and their quoting are measures of scientist success while unpublished researches are invisible to the scientific community, and as such nonexistent. Researchers in their work rely on their predecessors, while the extent of use of one scientist work, as a source for the work of other authors is the verification of its contributions to the growth of human knowledge. If the author has published an article in a scientific journal it cannot publish the article in any other journal h with a few minor adjustments or without quoting parts of the first article, which are used in another article. Copyright infringement occurs when the author of a new article with or without the mentioning the author used substantial portions of previously published articles, including tables and figures. Scientific institutions and universities should,in accordance with the principles of Good Scientific Practice (GSP) and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) have a center for monitoring,security, promotion and development of quality research. Establish rules and compliance to rules of good scientific practice are the obligations of each research institutions,universities and every individual-researchers,regardless of which area of science is investigated. In this way, internal quality control ensures that a research institution such as a university, assume responsibility for creating an environment that promotes standards of excellence, intellectual honesty and legality. Although the truth should be the aim of scientific research, it is not guiding fact for all scientists. The best way to reach the truth in its study and to avoid the methodological and ethical mistakes is to consistently apply scientific methods and ethical standards in research. Although variously defined plagiarism is basically intended to deceive the reader’s own scientific contribution. There is no general regulation of control of

A Study on New Pochonka Published in A.D. 1792

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Sang-Hyeon

2009-12-01

New Pochonka published in the eighteenth century of the Choson dynasty was composed of star-charts based on the new observations made by Jesuits in China and songs corrected a little bit from previous version of Pochonka. The asterisms in the previous Pochonka are listed in the same order to that in the Song dynasty's literature; while the asterisms in the new Pochonka are listed in accordance with Pu-tien-ko published in China after the Ming dynasty. The Chinese-style twelve-equatorial-section system is adopted in the new Pochonka, while in its song is adopted the zodiac system, which can be seen in the star-charts of previous version of Pochonka. The asterisms belonging to three or four neighboring lunar-mansions are drawn in one chart. Each chart covers asterisms not belonging to a certain range of right ascension, but to a certain lunar mansion. We estimate the forming era of the new Pochonka from the following facts; that the Ling-Tai-I-Hsiang-Chih was used to make charts and footnotes whose archetype can be found in the Chinese literature around A.D. 1700, that these Chinese books were imported into Choson in A.D. 1709, that the naming taboo to the emperor Khang-Hsi was used, that the order of Shen-Hsiu (參宿) was transposed with Tshui-Hsiu (자宿), and that the new Pochonka was substituted for the old version when the rules of Royal Astronomical Bureau was reformed in A.D. 1791. In conclusion, the parent sources of the charts and footnotes of the new Pochonka might be imported from the Ching dynasty around 1709 A.D. to form the new Pochonka between A.D. 1709 and A.D. 1791, and finally to be published in A.D. 1792. We discuss the possible future works to make a firm conclusion.

The medline UK filter: development and validation of a geographic search filter to retrieve research about the UK from OVID medline.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayiku, Lynda; Levay, Paul; Hudson, Tom; Craven, Jenny; Barrett, Elizabeth; Finnegan, Amy; Adams, Rachel

2017-07-13

A validated geographic search filter for the retrieval of research about the United Kingdom (UK) from bibliographic databases had not previously been published. To develop and validate a geographic search filter to retrieve research about the UK from OVID medline with high recall and precision. Three gold standard sets of references were generated using the relative recall method. The sets contained references to studies about the UK which had informed National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. The first and second sets were used to develop and refine the medline UK filter. The third set was used to validate the filter. Recall, precision and number-needed-to-read (NNR) were calculated using a case study. The validated medline UK filter demonstrated 87.6% relative recall against the third gold standard set. In the case study, the medline UK filter demonstrated 100% recall, 11.4% precision and a NNR of nine. A validated geographic search filter to retrieve research about the UK with high recall and precision has been developed. The medline UK filter can be applied to systematic literature searches in OVID medline for topics with a UK focus. © 2017 Crown copyright. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2017 Health Libraries GroupThis article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Design and validation of an oral health questionnaire for preoperative anaesthetic evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruíz-López Del Prado, Gema; Blaya-Nováková, Vendula; Saz-Parkinson, Zuleika; Álvarez-Montero, Óscar Luis; Ayala, Alba; Muñoz-Moreno, Maria Fe; Forjaz, Maria João

Dental injuries incurred during endotracheal intubation are more frequent in patients with previous oral pathology. The study objectives were to develop an oral health questionnaire for preanaesthesia evaluation, easy to apply for personnel without special dental training; and establish a cut-off value for detecting persons with poor oral health. Validation study of a self-administered questionnaire, designed according to a literature review and an expert group's recommendations. The questionnaire was applied to a sample of patients evaluated in a preanaesthesia consultation. Rasch analysis of the questionnaire psychometric properties included viability, acceptability, content validity and reliability of the scale. The sample included 115 individuals, 50.4% of men, with a median age of 58 years (range: 38-71). The final analysis of 11 items presented a Person Separation Index of 0.861 and good adjustment of data to the Rasch model. The scale was unidimensional and its items were not biased by sex, age or nationality. The oral health linear measure presented good construct validity. The cut-off value was set at 52 points. The questionnaire showed sufficient psychometric properties to be considered a reliable tool, valid for measuring the state of oral health in preoperative anaesthetic evaluations. Copyright © 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Utility-preserving anonymization for health data publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyukki; Kim, Soohyung; Kim, Jong Wook; Chung, Yon Dohn

2017-07-11

Publishing raw electronic health records (EHRs) may be considered as a breach of the privacy of individuals because they usually contain sensitive information. A common practice for the privacy-preserving data publishing is to anonymize the data before publishing, and thus satisfy privacy models such as k-anonymity. Among various anonymization techniques, generalization is the most commonly used in medical/health data processing. Generalization inevitably causes information loss, and thus, various methods have been proposed to reduce information loss. However, existing generalization-based data anonymization methods cannot avoid excessive information loss and preserve data utility. We propose a utility-preserving anonymization for privacy preserving data publishing (PPDP). To preserve data utility, the proposed method comprises three parts: (1) utility-preserving model, (2) counterfeit record insertion, (3) catalog of the counterfeit records. We also propose an anonymization algorithm using the proposed method. Our anonymization algorithm applies full-domain generalization algorithm. We evaluate our method in comparison with existence method on two aspects, information loss measured through various quality metrics and error rate of analysis result. With all different types of quality metrics, our proposed method show the lower information loss than the existing method. In the real-world EHRs analysis, analysis results show small portion of error between the anonymized data through the proposed method and original data. We propose a new utility-preserving anonymization method and an anonymization algorithm using the proposed method. Through experiments on various datasets, we show that the utility of EHRs anonymized by the proposed method is significantly better than those anonymized by previous approaches.

Open-Access Publishing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nedjeljko Frančula

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Nature, one of the most prominent scientific journals dedicated one of its issues to recent changes in scientific publishing (Vol. 495, Issue 7442, 27 March 2013. Its editors stressed that words technology and revolution are closely related when it comes to scientific publishing. In addition, the transformation of research publishing is not as much a revolution than an attrition war in which all sides are buried. The most important change they refer to is the open-access model in which an author or an institution pays in advance for publishing a paper in a journal, and the paper is then available to users on the Internet free of charge.According to preliminary results of a survey conducted among 23 000 scientists by the publisher of Nature, 45% of them believes all papers should be published in open access, but at the same time 22% of them would not allow the use of papers for commercial purposes. Attitudes toward open access vary according to scientific disciplines, leading the editors to conclude the revolution still does not suit everyone.

Publisher Correction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turcot, Valérie; Lu, Yingchang; Highland, Heather M

2018-01-01

In the published version of this paper, the name of author Emanuele Di Angelantonio was misspelled. This error has now been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.......In the published version of this paper, the name of author Emanuele Di Angelantonio was misspelled. This error has now been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article....

Reliability and validity of the Youth Leisure-time Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire (YLSBQ).

Science.gov (United States)

Cabanas-Sánchez, Verónica; Martínez-Gómez, David; Esteban-Cornejo, Irene; Castro-Piñero, José; Conde-Caveda, Julio; Veiga, Óscar L

2018-01-01

To develop a questionnaire able to assess time spent by youth in a wide range of leisure-time sedentary behaviors (SB) and evaluate its test-retest reliability and criterion validity. Cross-sectional observational. The reliability sample included 194 youth, aged 10-18 years, who completed the questionnaire twice, separated by one-week interval. The validity study comprised 1207 participants aged 8-18 years. Participants wore an accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. The questionnaire was designed to assess the amount of time spent in twelve different SB during weekdays and weekends, separately. In order to avoid usual phenomenon of time over reporting, values were adjusted to real available leisure-time (LT) for each participant. Reliability was assessed by using Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) and weighted (quadratic) kappa (k), and validity was assessed by using Pearson correlation and Bland-Altman plots. The reliability of questionnaire showed a moderate-to-substantial agreement for the most (91%) of items (k=0.43-0.74; ICC=0.41-0.79) with three items (4%) reaching an almost perfect agreement (ICC=0.82-0.83). Only 'sitting and talking' evidenced fair-to-moderate reliability (k=0.27-0.39; ICC=0.34-0.46). The relationship between average sedentary time assessed by the questionnaire and accelerometry was moderate (r=0.36; pquestionnaire and accelerometer sedentary time for average day (r=0.05; p=0.11) but Bland-Altman plots suggest moderate discrepancies between both methods of SB measurement (mean=19.86; limits of agreement=-280.04 to 319.76). The questionnaire showed moderate to good test-retest reliability and a moderate level of validity for assessing SB in youth, similar or slightly better to previously published in this population. Copyright © 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Publishing and Revising Content

Science.gov (United States)

Editors and Webmasters can publish content without going through a workflow. Publishing times and dates can be set, and multiple pages can be published in bulk. Making an edit to published content created a revision.

A second chance for authors of hijacked journals to publish in legitimate journals.

Science.gov (United States)

Jalalian, Mehrdad

2015-01-01

This article proposes the republication of articles that have previously been published in counterfeit websites of hijacked journals. The paper also discusses the technical and ethical aspects of republishing such articles.

Cigar Box Arthroscopy: A Randomized Controlled Trial Validates Nonanatomic Simulation Training of Novice Arthroscopy Skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandberg, Rory P; Sherman, Nathan C; Latt, L Daniel; Hardy, Jolene C

2017-11-01

The goal of this study was to validate the cigar box arthroscopy trainer (CBAT) as a training tool and then compare its effectiveness to didactic training and to another previously validated low-fidelity but anatomic model, the anatomic knee arthroscopy trainer (AKAT). A nonanatomic knee arthroscopy training module was developed at our institution. Twenty-four medical students with no prior arthroscopic or laparoscopic experience were enrolled as subjects. Eight subjects served as controls. The remaining 16 subjects were randomized to participate in 4 hours of either the CBAT or a previously validated AKAT. Subjects' skills were assessed by 1 of 2 faculty members through repeated attempts at performing a diagnostic knee arthroscopy on a cadaveric specimen. Objective scores were given using a minimally adapted version of the Basic Arthroscopic Knee Skill Scoring System. Total cost differences were calculated. Seventy-five percent of subjects in the CBAT and AKAT groups succeeded in reaching minimum proficiency in the allotted time compared with 25% in the control group (P arthroscopy trainer that may decrease the learning curve of residents without significant cost to a residency program. This study demonstrates the need for an agreed-upon objective scoring system to properly evaluate residents and compare the effectiveness of different training tools. Copyright © 2017 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Validity of randomized clinical trials in gastroenterology from 1964-2000

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjaergard, Lise L; Frederiksen, Sarah L; Gluud, Christian

2002-01-01

The internal validity of clinical trials depends on the adequacy of the reported methodological quality. We assessed the methodological quality of all 383 randomized clinical trials published in GASTROENTEROLOGY as original articles from 1964 to 2000.......The internal validity of clinical trials depends on the adequacy of the reported methodological quality. We assessed the methodological quality of all 383 randomized clinical trials published in GASTROENTEROLOGY as original articles from 1964 to 2000....

Intra-laboratory validation of a human cell based in vitro angiogenesis assay for testing angiogenesis modulators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jertta-Riina Sarkanen

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The developed standardized human cell based in vitro angiogenesis assay was intra-laboratory validated to verify that the method is reliable and relevant for routine testing of modulators of angiogenesis e.g. pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals. This assay is based on the earlier published method but it was improved and shown to be more sensitive and rapid than the previous assay. The performance of the assay was assessed by using 6 reference chemicals, which are widely used pharmaceuticals that inhibit angiogenesis: acetyl salicylic acid, erlotinib, 2-methoxyestradiol, levamisole, thalidomide, and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor. In the intra-laboratory validation, the sensitivity of the assay (upper and lower limits of detection and linearity of response in tubule formation, batch to batch variation in tubule formation between different Master cell bank batches, and precision as well as the reliability of the assay (reproducibility and repeatability were tested. The pre-set acceptance criteria for the intra-laboratory validation study were met. The relevance of the assay in man was investigated by comparing the effects of reference chemicals and their concentrations to the published human data. The comparison showed a good concordance, which indicates that this human cell based angiogenesis model predicts well the effects in man and has the potential to be used to supplement and/or replace of animal tests.

Publishing bioethics and bioethics--reflections on academic publishing by a journal editor.

Science.gov (United States)

Schüklenk, Udo

2011-02-01

This article by one of the Editors of Bioethics, published in the 25th anniversary issue of the journal, describes some of the revolutionary changes academic publishing has undergone during the last decades. Many humanities journals went from typically small print-runs, counting by the hundreds, to on-line availability in thousands of university libraries worldwide. Article up-take by our subscribers can be measured efficiently. The implications of this and other changes to academic publishing are discussed. Important ethical challenges need to be addressed in areas such as the enforcement of plagiarism-related policies, the so-called 'impact factor' and its impact on academic integrity, and the question of whether on-line only publishing can currently guarantee the integrity of academic publishing histories. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A web-based rapid assessment tool for production publishing solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Tong

2010-02-01

Solution assessment is a critical first-step in understanding and measuring the business process efficiency enabled by an integrated solution package. However, assessing the effectiveness of any solution is usually a very expensive and timeconsuming task which involves lots of domain knowledge, collecting and understanding the specific customer operational context, defining validation scenarios and estimating the expected performance and operational cost. This paper presents an intelligent web-based tool that can rapidly assess any given solution package for production publishing workflows via a simulation engine and create a report for various estimated performance metrics (e.g. throughput, turnaround time, resource utilization) and operational cost. By integrating the digital publishing workflow ontology and an activity based costing model with a Petri-net based workflow simulation engine, this web-based tool allows users to quickly evaluate any potential digital publishing solutions side-by-side within their desired operational contexts, and provides a low-cost and rapid assessment for organizations before committing any purchase. This tool also benefits the solution providers to shorten the sales cycles, establishing a trustworthy customer relationship and supplement the professional assessment services with a proven quantitative simulation and estimation technology.

What Desktop Publishing Can Teach Professional Writing Students about Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Dobberstein, Michael

1992-01-01

Points out that desktop publishing is a metatechnology that allows professional writing students access to the production phase of publishing, giving students hands-on practice in preparing text for printing and in learning how that preparation affects the visual meaning of documents. (SR)

Content and face validity of a comprehensive robotic skills training program for general surgery, urology, and gynecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Dulan, Genevieve; Rege, Robert V; Hogg, Deborah C; Gilberg-Fisher, Kristine K; Tesfay, Seifu T; Scott, Daniel J

2012-04-01

The authors previously developed a comprehensive, proficiency-based robotic training curriculum that aimed to address 23 unique skills identified via task deconstruction of robotic operations. The purpose of this study was to determine the content and face validity of this curriculum. Expert robotic surgeons (n = 12) rated each deconstructed skill regarding relevance to robotic operations, were oriented to the curricular components, performed 3 to 5 repetitions on the 9 exercises, and rated each exercise. In terms of content validity, experts rated all 23 deconstructed skills as highly relevant (4.5 on a 5-point scale). Ratings for the 9 inanimate exercises indicated moderate to thorough measurement of designated skills. For face validity, experts indicated that each exercise effectively measured relevant skills (100% agreement) and was highly effective for training and assessment (4.5 on a 5-point scale). These data indicate that the 23 deconstructed skills accurately represent the appropriate content for robotic skills training and strongly support content and face validity for this curriculum. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Discovery and validation of information theory-based transcription factor and cofactor binding site motifs.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Ruipeng; Mucaki, Eliseos J; Rogan, Peter K

2017-03-17

Data from ChIP-seq experiments can derive the genome-wide binding specificities of transcription factors (TFs) and other regulatory proteins. We analyzed 765 ENCODE ChIP-seq peak datasets of 207 human TFs with a novel motif discovery pipeline based on recursive, thresholded entropy minimization. This approach, while obviating the need to compensate for skewed nucleotide composition, distinguishes true binding motifs from noise, quantifies the strengths of individual binding sites based on computed affinity and detects adjacent cofactor binding sites that coordinate with the targets of primary, immunoprecipitated TFs. We obtained contiguous and bipartite information theory-based position weight matrices (iPWMs) for 93 sequence-specific TFs, discovered 23 cofactor motifs for 127 TFs and revealed six high-confidence novel motifs. The reliability and accuracy of these iPWMs were determined via four independent validation methods, including the detection of experimentally proven binding sites, explanation of effects of characterized SNPs, comparison with previously published motifs and statistical analyses. We also predict previously unreported TF coregulatory interactions (e.g. TF complexes). These iPWMs constitute a powerful tool for predicting the effects of sequence variants in known binding sites, performing mutation analysis on regulatory SNPs and predicting previously unrecognized binding sites and target genes. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Validation and upgrading of the recommended cross-section data of charged particle reactions: Gamma emitter radioisotopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takacs, S.; Tarkanyi, F.; Hermanne, A.

2005-01-01

An upgrade and validation test of the recommended cross-section database for production of gamma emitter radioisotopes by charged particle induced reactions, published by the IAEA in 2001, was performed. Experimental microscopic cross-section data published earlier or measured recently and not yet included in the evaluation work were collected and added to the primary database in order to improve the quality of the recommended data. The newly compiled experimental data in general supported the previous recommended data, but in a few cases they influenced the decision and resulted in different selected cross-section data sets. A Spline fitting method was used to calculate the recommended data from the selected data sets. Integral thick target yields were deduced from the newly calculated recommended cross-sections and were critically compared with the available experimental yield data

[Trends of electronic publishing in medicine and life sciences].

Science.gov (United States)

Strelski-Waisman, Neta; Waisman, Dan

2005-09-01

Scientific publication in the electronic media is gaining popularity in academic libraries, research institutions and commercial organizations. The electronic journal may shorten the processes of writing and publication, decrease publication and distribution costs, and enable access from any location in the world. Electronic publications have unique advantages: it is possible to search them, to create hyperlinks to references and footnotes, as well as to information on the web and to include graphics and photographs at a very low cost. Audio, video and tri-dimensional images may also be included. Electronic publishing may also speed up review and publication processes and enable the writer to receive immediate feedback through the web. However, in spite of the advantages, there are certain points that must be considered: accessibility to previously published material is not guaranteed as databases are not always stable and coverage may change without notice. In addition, the price that commercial publishers charge for their services may be very high or be subject to the purchase of a packaged deal that may include unwanted databases. Many issues of copyright and the use of published material are not yet finalized. In this review we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the electronic scientific publication, the feasibility of keeping appropriate quality and peer-review process, the stability and accessibility of databases managed by the publishers and the acceptance of the electronic format by scientists and clinicians.

Semi-physiologic model validation and bioequivalence trials simulation to select the best analyte for acetylsalicylic acid.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuesta-Gragera, Ana; Navarro-Fontestad, Carmen; Mangas-Sanjuan, Victor; González-Álvarez, Isabel; García-Arieta, Alfredo; Trocóniz, Iñaki F; Casabó, Vicente G; Bermejo, Marival

2015-07-10

The objective of this paper is to apply a previously developed semi-physiologic pharmacokinetic model implemented in NONMEM to simulate bioequivalence trials (BE) of acetyl salicylic acid (ASA) in order to validate the model performance against ASA human experimental data. ASA is a drug with first-pass hepatic and intestinal metabolism following Michaelis-Menten kinetics that leads to the formation of two main metabolites in two generations (first and second generation metabolites). The first aim was to adapt the semi-physiological model for ASA in NOMMEN using ASA pharmacokinetic parameters from literature, showing its sequential metabolism. The second aim was to validate this model by comparing the results obtained in NONMEM simulations with published experimental data at a dose of 1000 mg. The validated model was used to simulate bioequivalence trials at 3 dose schemes (100, 1000 and 3000 mg) and with 6 test formulations with decreasing in vivo dissolution rate constants versus the reference formulation (kD 8-0.25 h (-1)). Finally, the third aim was to determine which analyte (parent drug, first generation or second generation metabolite) was more sensitive to changes in formulation performance. The validation results showed that the concentration-time curves obtained with the simulations reproduced closely the published experimental data, confirming model performance. The parent drug (ASA) was the analyte that showed to be more sensitive to the decrease in pharmaceutical quality, with the highest decrease in Cmax and AUC ratio between test and reference formulations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Operator competence in fetoscopic laser surgery for twin-twin transfusion syndrome: validation of a procedure-specific evaluation tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Peeters, S H P; Akkermans, J; Bustraan, J; Middeldorp, J M; Lopriore, E; Devlieger, R; Lewi, L; Deprest, J; Oepkes, D

2016-03-01

Fetoscopic laser surgery for twin-twin transfusion syndrome is a procedure for which no objective tools exist to assess technical skills. To ensure that future fetal surgeons reach competence prior to performing the procedure unsupervised, we developed a performance assessment tool. The aim of this study was to validate this assessment tool for reliability and construct validity. We made use of a procedure-specific evaluation instrument containing all essential steps of the fetoscopic laser procedure, which was previously created using Delphi methodology. Eleven experts and 13 novices from three fetal medicine centers performed the procedure on the same simulator. Two independent observers assessed each surgery using the instrument (maximum score: 52). Interobserver reliability was assessed using Spearman correlation. We compared the performance of novices and experts to assess construct validity. The interobserver reliability was high (Rs  = 0.974, P performed by experts and in 9/13 (69%) procedures performed by novices (P = 0.005). Multivariable analysis showed that the checklist score, independent of age and gender, predicted competence. The procedure-specific assessment tool for fetoscopic laser surgery shows good interobserver reliability and discriminates experts from novices. This instrument may therefore be a useful tool in the training curriculum for fetal surgeons. Further intervention studies with reassessment before and after training may increase the construct validity of the tool. Copyright © 2015 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Copyright © 2015 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

ClinicalCodes: an online clinical codes repository to improve the validity and reproducibility of research using electronic medical records.

Science.gov (United States)

Springate, David A; Kontopantelis, Evangelos; Ashcroft, Darren M; Olier, Ivan; Parisi, Rosa; Chamapiwa, Edmore; Reeves, David

2014-01-01

Lists of clinical codes are the foundation for research undertaken using electronic medical records (EMRs). If clinical code lists are not available, reviewers are unable to determine the validity of research, full study replication is impossible, researchers are unable to make effective comparisons between studies, and the construction of new code lists is subject to much duplication of effort. Despite this, the publication of clinical codes is rarely if ever a requirement for obtaining grants, validating protocols, or publishing research. In a representative sample of 450 EMR primary research articles indexed on PubMed, we found that only 19 (5.1%) were accompanied by a full set of published clinical codes and 32 (8.6%) stated that code lists were available on request. To help address these problems, we have built an online repository where researchers using EMRs can upload and download lists of clinical codes. The repository will enable clinical researchers to better validate EMR studies, build on previous code lists and compare disease definitions across studies. It will also assist health informaticians in replicating database studies, tracking changes in disease definitions or clinical coding practice through time and sharing clinical code information across platforms and data sources as research objects.

Validation of a current definition of early allograft dysfunction in liver transplant recipients and analysis of risk factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Olthoff, Kim M; Kulik, Laura; Samstein, Benjamin; Kaminski, Mary; Abecassis, Michael; Emond, Jean; Shaked, Abraham; Christie, Jason D

2010-08-01

Translational studies in liver transplantation often require an endpoint of graft function or dysfunction beyond graft loss. Prior definitions of early allograft dysfunction (EAD) vary, and none have been validated in a large multicenter population in the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) era. We examined an updated definition of EAD to validate previously used criteria, and correlated this definition with graft and patient outcome. We performed a cohort study of 300 deceased donor liver transplants at 3 U.S. programs. EAD was defined as the presence of one or more of the following previously defined postoperative laboratory analyses reflective of liver injury and function: bilirubin >or=10mg/dL on day 7, international normalized ratio >or=1.6 on day 7, and alanine or aspartate aminotransferases >2000 IU/L within the first 7 days. To assess predictive validity, the EAD definition was tested for association with graft and patient survival. Risk factors for EAD were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. Overall incidence of EAD was 23.2%. Most grafts met the definition with increased bilirubin at day 7 or high levels of aminotransferases. Of recipients meeting the EAD definition, 18.8% died, as opposed to 1.8% of recipients without EAD (relative risk = 10.7 [95% confidence interval: 3.6, 31.9] P definition of EAD using objective posttransplant criteria identified a 23% incidence, and was highly associated with graft loss and patient mortality, validating previously published criteria. This definition can be used as an endpoint in translational studies aiming to identify mechanistic pathways leading to a subgroup of liver grafts with clinical expression of suboptimal function. (c) 2010 AASLD.

Validity and reliability of the NAB Naming Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Sachs, Bonnie C; Rush, Beth K; Pedraza, Otto

2016-05-01

Confrontation naming is commonly assessed in neuropsychological practice, but few standardized measures of naming exist and those that do are susceptible to the effects of education and culture. The Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) Naming Test is a 31-item measure used to assess confrontation naming. Despite adequate psychometric information provided by the test publisher, there has been limited independent validation of the test. In this study, we investigated the convergent and discriminant validity, internal consistency, and alternate forms reliability of the NAB Naming Test in a sample of adults (Form 1: n = 247, Form 2: n = 151) clinically referred for neuropsychological evaluation. Results indicate adequate-to-good internal consistency and alternate forms reliability. We also found strong convergent validity as demonstrated by relationships with other neurocognitive measures. We found preliminary evidence that the NAB Naming Test demonstrates a more pronounced ceiling effect than other commonly used measures of naming. To our knowledge, this represents the largest published independent validation study of the NAB Naming Test in a clinical sample. Our findings suggest that the NAB Naming Test demonstrates adequate validity and reliability and merits consideration in the test arsenal of clinical neuropsychologists.

Reinvention of publishers' revenue model: expectations of advertisers towards publishers' products

OpenAIRE

Koller, Hans; Dennstedt, Bianca

2017-01-01

Publishers have to reconsider their revenue model. Facing a massive decline in the circulation of newspapers and magazines over the past years, publishers have lost not only readers but also many advertisers. Thus, publishers are faced with both changed customer expectations as well as difficulty in generating profit. Users are increasingly less willing to pay for digital products and their expectations of digital content have changed: They would like to contribute their own content as well a...

Systematic Reviews Published in Emergency Medicine Journals Do Not Routinely Search Clinical Trials Registries: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Keil, Lukas G; Platts-Mills, Timothy F; Jones, Christopher W

2015-10-01

Publication bias compromises the validity of systematic reviews. This problem can be addressed in part through searching clinical trials registries to identify unpublished studies. This study aims to determine how often systematic reviews published in emergency medicine journals include clinical trials registry searches. We identified all systematic reviews published in the 6 highest-impact emergency medicine journals between January 1 and December 31, 2013. Systematic reviews that assessed the effects of an intervention were further examined to determine whether the authors described searching a clinical trials registry and whether this search identified relevant unpublished studies. Of 191 articles identified through PubMed search, 80 were confirmed to be systematic reviews. Our sample consisted of 41 systematic reviews that assessed a specific intervention. Eight of these 41 (20%) searched a clinical trials registry. For 4 of these 8 reviews, the registry search identified at least 1 relevant unpublished study. Systematic reviews published in emergency medicine journals do not routinely include searches of clinical trials registries. By helping authors identify unpublished trial data, the addition of registry searches may improve the validity of systematic reviews. Copyright © 2014 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publisher Correction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonàs-Guarch, Sílvia; Guindo-Martínez, Marta; Miguel-Escalada, Irene

2018-01-01

In the originally published version of this Article, the affiliation details for Santi González, Jian'an Luan and Claudia Langenberg were inadvertently omitted. Santi González should have been affiliated with 'Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Joint BSC-CRG-IRB Research Program in Computatio......In the originally published version of this Article, the affiliation details for Santi González, Jian'an Luan and Claudia Langenberg were inadvertently omitted. Santi González should have been affiliated with 'Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Joint BSC-CRG-IRB Research Program...

National programmes for validating physician competence and fitness for practice: a scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Horsley, Tanya; Lockyer, Jocelyn; Cogo, Elise; Zeiter, Jeanie; Bursey, Ford; Campbell, Craig

2016-04-15

To explore and categorise the state of existing literature for national programmes designed to affirm or establish the continuing competence of physicians. Scoping review. MEDLINE, ERIC, Sociological Abstracts, web/grey literature (2000-2014). Included when a record described a (1) national-level physician validation system, (2) recognised as a system for affirming competence and (3) reported relevant data. Using bibliographic software, title and abstracts were reviewed using an assessment matrix to ensure duplicate, paired screening. Dyads included both a methodologist and content expert on each assessment, reflective of evidence-informed best practices to decrease errors. 45 reports were included. Publication dates ranged from 2002 to 2014 with the majority of publications occurring in the previous six years (n=35). Country of origin--defined as that of the primary author--included the USA (N=32), the UK (N=8), Canada (N=3), Kuwait (N=1) and Australia (N=1). Three broad themes emerged from this heterogeneous data set: contemporary national programmes, contextual factors and terminological consistency. Four national physician validation systems emerged from the data: the American Board of Medical Specialties Maintenance of Certification Program, the Federation of State Medical Boards Maintenance of Licensure Program, the Canadian Revalidation Program and the UK Revalidation Program. Three contextual factors emerged as stimuli for the implementation of national validation systems: medical regulation, quality of care and professional competence. Finally, great variation among the definitions of key terms was identified. There is an emerging literature focusing on national physician validation systems. Four major systems have been implemented in recent years and it is anticipated that more will follow. Much of this work is descriptive, and gaps exist for the extent to which systems build on current evidence or theory. Terminology is highly variable across programmes

Publishing E-RDF linked data for many agents by single third-party server

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Dongsheng; Zhang, Yongyuan; Wang, Zhengjun

2017-01-01

do not have the ability or do not want to make an additional effort to publish linked data. Thus, for agents who are willing to open part of their data but do not want to make an effort, the task can be undertaken by a professional third-party server (together with professional experts......) that publishes linked data for these agents. Consequently, when a single third-party server is on behalf of multiple agents, it is also responsible to organize these multiple-source URIs (data) in a systematic way to make them referable, satisfying the 4-star data principles, as well as protect the confidential...... data. For validation, we implement a prototype system as a third-party server that publishes linked data for a number of agents. It demonstrates well-organized 5-star linked data plus E-RDF and shows the additional advantages of data integration and interlinking among agents....

Getting Your Textbook Published.

Science.gov (United States)

Irwin, Armond J.

1982-01-01

Points to remember in getting a textbook published are examined: book idea, publisher's sales representatives, letter of inquiry, qualifications for authorship, author information form, idea proposal, reviews, marketing and sales, publishing agreement, author royalties, and copyright assignment. (CT)

Approaches to Demonstrating the Reliability and Validity of Core Diagnostic Criteria for Chronic Pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruehl, Stephen; Ohrbach, Richard; Sharma, Sonia; Widerstrom-Noga, Eva; Dworkin, Robert H; Fillingim, Roger B; Turk, Dennis C

2016-09-01

The Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks-American Pain Society Pain Taxonomy (AAPT) is designed to be an evidence-based multidimensional chronic pain classification system that will facilitate more comprehensive and consistent chronic pain diagnoses, and thereby enhance research, clinical communication, and ultimately patient care. Core diagnostic criteria (dimension 1) for individual chronic pain conditions included in the initial version of AAPT will be the focus of subsequent empirical research to evaluate and provide evidence for their reliability and validity. Challenges to validating diagnostic criteria in the absence of clear and identifiable pathophysiological mechanisms are described. Based in part on previous experience regarding the development of evidence-based diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders, headache, and specific chronic pain conditions (fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, temporomandibular disorders, pain associated with spinal cord injuries), several potential approaches for documentation of the reliability and validity of the AAPT diagnostic criteria are summarized. The AAPT is designed to be an evidence-based multidimensional chronic pain classification system. Conceptual and methodological issues related to demonstrating the reliability and validity of the proposed AAPT chronic pain diagnostic criteria are discussed. Copyright © 2016 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publisher Correction to

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barrio, Isabel C.; Lindén, Elin; Beest, Te Mariska; Olofsson, Johan; Rocha, Adrian; Soininen, Eeva M.; Alatalo, Juha M.; Andersson, Tommi; Asmus, Ashley; Boike, Julia; Bråthen, Kari Anne; Bryant, John P.; Buchwal, Agata; Bueno, C.G.; Christie, Katherine S.; Egelkraut, Dagmar; Ehrich, Dorothee; Fishback, Lee Ann; Forbes, Bruce C.; Gartzia, Maite; Grogan, Paul; Hallinger, Martin; Heijmans, Monique M.P.D.; Hik, David S.; Hofgaard, Annika; Holmgren, Milena; Høye, Toke T.; Huebner, Diane C.; Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg Svala; Kaarlejärvi, Elina; Kumpula, Timo; Lange, Cynthia Y.M.J.G.; Lange, Jelena; Lévesque, Esther; Limpens, Juul; Macias-Fauria, Marc; Myers-Smith, Isla; Nieukerken, van Erik J.; Normand, Signe; Post, Eric S.; Schmidt, Niels Martin; Sitters, Judith; Skoracka, Anna; Sokolov, Alexander; Sokolova, Natalya; Speed, James D.M.; Street, Lorna E.; Sundqvist, Maja K.; Suominen, Otso; Tananaev, Nikita; Tremblay, Jean Pierre; Urbanowicz, Christine; Uvarov, Sergey A.; Watts, David; Wilmking, Martin; Wookey, Philip A.; Zimmermann, Heike H.; Zverev, Vitali; Kozlov, Mikhail V.

2018-01-01

The above mentioned article was originally scheduled for publication in the special issue on Ecology of Tundra Arthropods with guest editors Toke T. Høye . Lauren E. Culler. Erroneously, the article was published in Polar Biology, Volume 40, Issue 11, November, 2017. The publisher sincerely

A survey on the reference citation in the case reports published in The Journal of the Korean Radiological Society

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Hong Jae; Lee, Han Jin; Park, Seog Hee; Kim, Choon Yul; Bahk, Yong Whee; Shinn, Kyung Sub

1993-01-01

We analyzed 105 case reports published in The Journal of the Korean Radiological Society between 1975 and 1985. The objectives of this studies were to find out (1) whether those case reports were truly original or not as far as domestic publications were concerned and (2) whether their citations of domestic literatures were correct. In two papers, we found previous reports published already in the domestic journal in spite of the authors' claim as their 'first case reports'. In 105 case reports, only 94 references were cited while 151 omitted. It is concluded that a case report must include a statement to authentically clarify whether similar report had been previously published through meticulous review of published literatures. We also recommend to computerize the index of domestic literatures

Validation and Refinement of Prediction Models to Estimate Exercise Capacity in Cancer Survivors Using the Steep Ramp Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Stuiver, Martijn M; Kampshoff, Caroline S; Persoon, Saskia; Groen, Wim; van Mechelen, Willem; Chinapaw, Mai J M; Brug, Johannes; Nollet, Frans; Kersten, Marie-José; Schep, Goof; Buffart, Laurien M

2017-11-01

To further test the validity and clinical usefulness of the steep ramp test (SRT) in estimating exercise tolerance in cancer survivors by external validation and extension of previously published prediction models for peak oxygen consumption (Vo 2peak ) and peak power output (W peak ). Cross-sectional study. Multicenter. Cancer survivors (N=283) in 2 randomized controlled exercise trials. Not applicable. Prediction model accuracy was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and limits of agreement (LOA). Multiple linear regression was used for model extension. Clinical performance was judged by the percentage of accurate endurance exercise prescriptions. ICCs of SRT-predicted Vo 2peak and W peak with these values as obtained by the cardiopulmonary exercise test were .61 and .73, respectively, using the previously published prediction models. 95% LOA were ±705mL/min with a bias of 190mL/min for Vo 2peak and ±59W with a bias of 5W for W peak . Modest improvements were obtained by adding body weight and sex to the regression equation for the prediction of Vo 2peak (ICC, .73; 95% LOA, ±608mL/min) and by adding age, height, and sex for the prediction of W peak (ICC, .81; 95% LOA, ±48W). Accuracy of endurance exercise prescription improved from 57% accurate prescriptions to 68% accurate prescriptions with the new prediction model for W peak . Predictions of Vo 2peak and W peak based on the SRT are adequate at the group level, but insufficiently accurate in individual patients. The multivariable prediction model for W peak can be used cautiously (eg, supplemented with a Borg score) to aid endurance exercise prescription. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Validation of intensive care unit-acquired infection surveillance in the Italian SPIN-UTI network.

Science.gov (United States)

Masia, M D; Barchitta, M; Liperi, G; Cantù, A P; Alliata, E; Auxilia, F; Torregrossa, V; Mura, I; Agodi, A

2010-10-01

Validity is one of the most critical factors concerning surveillance of nosocomial infections (NIs). This article describes the first validation study of the Italian Nosocomial Infections Surveillance in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) project (SPIN-UTI) surveillance data. The objective was to validate infection data and thus to determine the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of NI data reported on patients in the ICUs participating in the SPIN-UTI network. A validation study was performed at the end of the surveillance period. All medical records including all clinical and laboratory data were reviewed retrospectively by the trained physicians of the validation team and a positive predictive value (PPV), a negative predictive value (NPV), sensitivity and specificity were calculated. Eight ICUs (16.3%) were randomly chosen from all 49 SPIN-UTI ICUs for the validation study. In total, the validation team reviewed 832 patient charts (27.3% of the SPIN-UTI patients). The PPV was 83.5% and the NPV was 97.3%. The overall sensitivity was 82.3% and overall specificity was 97.2%. Over- and under-reporting of NIs were related to misinterpretation of the case definitions and deviations from the protocol despite previous training and instructions. The results of this study are useful to identify methodological problems within a surveillance system and have been used to plan retraining for surveillance personnel and to design and implement the second phase of the SPIN-UTI project. Copyright 2010 The Hospital Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Desktop Publishing Made Simple.

Science.gov (United States)

Wentling, Rose Mary

1989-01-01

The author discusses the types of computer hardware and software necessary to set up a desktop publishing system, both for use in educational administration and for instructional purposes. Classroom applications of desktop publishing are presented. The author also provides guidelines for preparing to teach desktop publishing. (CH)

Desktop Publishing: A Brave New World and Publishing from the Desktop.

Science.gov (United States)

Lormand, Robert; Rowe, Jane J.

1988-01-01

The first of two articles presents basic selection criteria for desktop publishing software packages, including discussion of expectations, required equipment, training costs, publication size, desired software features, additional equipment needed, and quality control. The second provides a brief description of desktop publishing using the Apple…

E-publishing and multimodalities

OpenAIRE

Yngve Nordkvelle

2008-01-01

In the literature of e-publishing there has been a consistent call from the advent of e-publishing on, until now, to explore new ways of expressing ideas through the new media. It has been claimed that the Internet opens an alley of possibilities and opportunites for publishing that will change the ways of publishing once and for all. In the area of publication of e-journals, however, the call for changes has received very modest responds.The thing is, it appears, that the conventional paper ...

Academic Nightmares: Predatory Publishing

Science.gov (United States)

Van Nuland, Sonya E.; Rogers, Kem A.

2017-01-01

Academic researchers who seek to publish their work are confronted daily with a barrage of e-mails from aggressive marketing campaigns that solicit them to publish their research with a specialized, often newly launched, journal. Known as predatory journals, they often promise high editorial and publishing standards, yet their exploitive business…

[Parathyroid cancer in a patient with previous history of hypernephroma: a clinical case].

Science.gov (United States)

Martín Navarro, J; Mendoza, E; Mateos, P; Cereceda, A; Coca, S

2007-01-01

We report the clinical case of a 55 year-old male patient, with a previous history of nephrectomy by hypernephroma sixteen years ago, first presenting hypercalcemia and rising of intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) levels. A localization study revealed an intrathyroid nodule with cystic appearance. After undergoing a hemi-thyroidectomy, the patient is diagnosed with parathyroid carcinoma. This article analyzes previously published cases presenting parathyroidal pathologies associated with hypernephroma. A broader differential diagnosis--including the screening of parathyroidal pathologies should be considered in patients with hypercalcemia and hypernephroma.

A website evaluation model by integration of previous evaluation models using a quantitative approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Moeini

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Regarding the ecommerce growth, websites play an essential role in business success. Therefore, many authors have offered website evaluation models since 1995. Although, the multiplicity and diversity of evaluation models make it difficult to integrate them into a single comprehensive model. In this paper a quantitative method has been used to integrate previous models into a comprehensive model that is compatible with them. In this approach the researcher judgment has no role in integration of models and the new model takes its validity from 93 previous models and systematic quantitative approach.

Publishing: The Creative Business.

Science.gov (United States)

Bohne, Harald; Van Ierssel, Harry

This book offers guidelines to emerging and would-be publishers, whether they plan to enter publishing as a career, a sideline, or a diversion. It stresses the business aspects of publishing and emphasizes the major housekeeping functions encountered in the business, except methods of sales and distribution. Contents include "The Mechanics of…

Persistent seropositivity for yellow fever in a previously vaccinated autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipient.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayakawa, Kayoko; Takasaki, Tomohiko; Tsunemine, Hiroko; Kanagawa, Shuzo; Kutsuna, Satoshi; Takeshita, Nozomi; Mawatari, Momoko; Fujiya, Yoshihiro; Yamamoto, Kei; Ohmagari, Norio; Kato, Yasuyuki

2015-08-01

The duration of a protective level of yellow fever antibodies after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in a previously vaccinated person is unclear. The case of a patient who had previously been vaccinated for yellow fever and who remained seropositive for 22 months after autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for malignant lymphoma is described herein. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

External validation of a PCA-3-based nomogram for predicting prostate cancer and high-grade cancer on initial prostate biopsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Daniel J; Elshafei, Ahmed; Nyame, Yaw A; Kara, Onder; Malkoc, Ercan; Gao, Tianming; Jones, J Stephen

2016-08-01

The aim of this study was to externally validate a previously developed PCA3-based nomogram for the prediction of prostate cancer (PCa) and high-grade (intermediate and/or high-grade) prostate cancer (HGPCa) at the time of initial prostate biopsy. A retrospective review was performed on a cohort of 336 men from a large urban academic medical center. All men had serum PSA PCa, PSA at diagnosis, PCA3, total prostate volume (TPV), and abnormal finding on digital rectal exam (DRE). These variables were used to test the accuracy (concordance index) and calibration of a previously published PCA3 nomogram. Biopsy confirms PCa and HGPCa in 51.0% and 30.4% of validation patients, respectively. This differed from the original cohort in that it had significantly more PCa and HGPCA (51% vs. 44%, P = 0.019; and 30.4% vs. 19.1%, P PCa detection the concordance index was 75% and 77% for overall PCa and HGPCa, respectively. Calibration for overall PCa was good. This represents the first external validation of a PCA3-based prostate cancer predictive nomogram in a North American population. Prostate 76:1019-1023, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Integration and Validation of Hysteroscopy Simulation in the Surgical Training Curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Elessawy, Mohamed; Skrzipczyk, Moritz; Eckmann-Scholz, Christel; Maass, Nicolai; Mettler, Liselotte; Guenther, Veronika; van Mackelenbergh, Marion; Bauerschlag, Dirk O; Alkatout, Ibrahim

The primary objective of our study was to test the construct validity of the HystSim hysteroscopic simulator to determine whether simulation training can improve the acquisition of hysteroscopic skills regardless of the previous levels of experience of the participants. The secondary objective was to analyze the performance of a selected task, using specially designed scoring charts to help reduce the learning curve for both novices and experienced surgeons. The teaching of hysteroscopic intervention has received only scant attention, focusing mainly on the development of physical models and box simulators. This encouraged our working group to search for a suitable hysteroscopic simulator module and to test its validation. We decided to use the HystSim hysteroscopic simulator, which is one of the few such simulators that has already completed a validation process, with high ratings for both realism and training capacity. As a testing tool for our study, we selected the myoma resection task. We analyzed the results using the multimetric score system suggested by HystSim, allowing a more precise interpretation of the results. Between June 2014 and May 2015, our group collected data on 57 participants of minimally invasive surgical training courses at the Kiel School of Gynecological Endoscopy, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospitals Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel. The novice group consisted of 42 medical students and residents with no prior experience in hysteroscopy, whereas the expert group consisted of 15 participants with more than 2 years of experience of advanced hysteroscopy operations. The overall results demonstrated that all participants attained significant improvements between their pretest and posttests, independent of their previous levels of experience (p hysteroscopic skills, proving an adequate construct validation of the HystSim. Using the multimetric scoring system enabled a more accurate analysis of the performance of the

Evolutionary Analysis Predicts Sensitive Positions of MMP20 and Validates Newly- and Previously-Identified MMP20 Mutations Causing Amelogenesis Imperfecta

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Gasse

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI designates a group of genetic diseases characterized by a large range of enamel disorders causing important social and health problems. These defects can result from mutations in enamel matrix proteins or protease encoding genes. A range of mutations in the enamel cleavage enzyme matrix metalloproteinase-20 gene (MMP20 produce enamel defects of varying severity. To address how various alterations produce a range of AI phenotypes, we performed a targeted analysis to find MMP20 mutations in French patients diagnosed with non-syndromic AI. Genomic DNA was isolated from saliva and MMP20 exons and exon-intron boundaries sequenced. We identified several homozygous or heterozygous mutations, putatively involved in the AI phenotypes. To validate missense mutations and predict sensitive positions in the MMP20 sequence, we evolutionarily compared 75 sequences extracted from the public databases using the Datamonkey webserver. These sequences were representative of mammalian lineages, covering more than 150 million years of evolution. This analysis allowed us to find 324 sensitive positions (out of the 483 MMP20 residues, pinpoint functionally important domains, and build an evolutionary chart of important conserved MMP20 regions. This is an efficient tool to identify new- and previously-identified mutations. We thus identified six functional MMP20 mutations in unrelated families, finding two novel mutated sites. The genotypes and phenotypes of these six mutations are described and compared. To date, 13 MMP20 mutations causing AI have been reported, making these genotypes and associated hypomature enamel phenotypes the most frequent in AI.

Evolutionary Analysis Predicts Sensitive Positions of MMP20 and Validates Newly- and Previously-Identified MMP20 Mutations Causing Amelogenesis Imperfecta.

Science.gov (United States)

Gasse, Barbara; Prasad, Megana; Delgado, Sidney; Huckert, Mathilde; Kawczynski, Marzena; Garret-Bernardin, Annelyse; Lopez-Cazaux, Serena; Bailleul-Forestier, Isabelle; Manière, Marie-Cécile; Stoetzel, Corinne; Bloch-Zupan, Agnès; Sire, Jean-Yves

2017-01-01

Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) designates a group of genetic diseases characterized by a large range of enamel disorders causing important social and health problems. These defects can result from mutations in enamel matrix proteins or protease encoding genes. A range of mutations in the enamel cleavage enzyme matrix metalloproteinase-20 gene ( MMP20 ) produce enamel defects of varying severity. To address how various alterations produce a range of AI phenotypes, we performed a targeted analysis to find MMP20 mutations in French patients diagnosed with non-syndromic AI. Genomic DNA was isolated from saliva and MMP20 exons and exon-intron boundaries sequenced. We identified several homozygous or heterozygous mutations, putatively involved in the AI phenotypes. To validate missense mutations and predict sensitive positions in the MMP20 sequence, we evolutionarily compared 75 sequences extracted from the public databases using the Datamonkey webserver. These sequences were representative of mammalian lineages, covering more than 150 million years of evolution. This analysis allowed us to find 324 sensitive positions (out of the 483 MMP20 residues), pinpoint functionally important domains, and build an evolutionary chart of important conserved MMP20 regions. This is an efficient tool to identify new- and previously-identified mutations. We thus identified six functional MMP20 mutations in unrelated families, finding two novel mutated sites. The genotypes and phenotypes of these six mutations are described and compared. To date, 13 MMP20 mutations causing AI have been reported, making these genotypes and associated hypomature enamel phenotypes the most frequent in AI.

Validity of selected cardiovascular field-based test among Malaysian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Based on emerge obese problem among Malaysian, this research is formulated to validate published tests among healthy female adult. Selected test namely; 20 meter multi-stage shuttle run, 2.4km run test, 1 mile walk test and Harvard Step test were correlated with laboratory test (Bruce protocol) to find the criterion validity ...

Publishing studies: what else?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bertrand Legendre

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper intends to reposition “publishing studies” in the long process that goes from the beginning of book history to the current research on cultural industries. It raises questions about interdisciplinarity and the possibility of considering publishing independently of other sectors of the media and cultural offerings. Publishing is now included in a large range of industries and, at the same time, analyses tend to become more and more segmented according to production sectors and scientific fields. In addition to the problems created, from the professional point of view, by this double movement, this one requires a questioning of the concept of “publishing studies”.

Potential of accuracy profile for method validation in inductively coupled plasma spectrochemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mermet, J.M.; Granier, G.

2012-01-01

Method validation is usually performed over a range of concentrations for which analytical criteria must be verified. One important criterion in quantitative analysis is accuracy, i.e. the contribution of both trueness and precision. The study of accuracy over this range is called an accuracy profile and provides experimental tolerance intervals. Comparison with acceptability limits fixed by the end user defines a validity domain. This work describes the computation involved in the building of the tolerance intervals, particularly for the intermediate precision with within-laboratory experiments and for the reproducibility with interlaboratory studies. Computation is based on ISO 5725‐4 and on previously published work. Moreover, the bias uncertainty is also computed to verify the bias contribution to accuracy. The various types of accuracy profile behavior are exemplified with results obtained by using ICP-MS and ICP-AES. This procedure allows the analyst to define unambiguously a validity domain for a given accuracy. However, because the experiments are time-consuming, the accuracy profile method is mainly dedicated to method validation. - Highlights: ► An analytical method is defined by its accuracy, i.e. both trueness and precision. ► The accuracy as a function of an analyte concentration is an accuracy profile. ► Profile basic concepts are explained for trueness and intermediate precision. ► Profile-based tolerance intervals have to be compared with acceptability limits. ► Typical accuracy profiles are given for both ICP-AES and ICP-MS techniques.

Integration of copy number and transcriptomics provides risk stratification in prostate cancer: A discovery and validation cohort study

Science.gov (United States)

Ross-Adams, H.; Lamb, A.D.; Dunning, M.J.; Halim, S.; Lindberg, J.; Massie, C.M.; Egevad, L.A.; Russell, R.; Ramos-Montoya, A.; Vowler, S.L.; Sharma, N.L.; Kay, J.; Whitaker, H.; Clark, J.; Hurst, R.; Gnanapragasam, V.J.; Shah, N.C.; Warren, A.Y.; Cooper, C.S.; Lynch, A.G.; Stark, R.; Mills, I.G.; Grönberg, H.; Neal, D.E.

2015-01-01

Background Understanding the heterogeneous genotypes and phenotypes of prostate cancer is fundamental to improving the way we treat this disease. As yet, there are no validated descriptions of prostate cancer subgroups derived from integrated genomics linked with clinical outcome. Methods In a study of 482 tumour, benign and germline samples from 259 men with primary prostate cancer, we used integrative analysis of copy number alterations (CNA) and array transcriptomics to identify genomic loci that affect expression levels of mRNA in an expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) approach, to stratify patients into subgroups that we then associated with future clinical behaviour, and compared with either CNA or transcriptomics alone. Findings We identified five separate patient subgroups with distinct genomic alterations and expression profiles based on 100 discriminating genes in our separate discovery and validation sets of 125 and 103 men. These subgroups were able to consistently predict biochemical relapse (p = 0.0017 and p = 0.016 respectively) and were further validated in a third cohort with long-term follow-up (p = 0.027). We show the relative contributions of gene expression and copy number data on phenotype, and demonstrate the improved power gained from integrative analyses. We confirm alterations in six genes previously associated with prostate cancer (MAP3K7, MELK, RCBTB2, ELAC2, TPD52, ZBTB4), and also identify 94 genes not previously linked to prostate cancer progression that would not have been detected using either transcript or copy number data alone. We confirm a number of previously published molecular changes associated with high risk disease, including MYC amplification, and NKX3-1, RB1 and PTEN deletions, as well as over-expression of PCA3 and AMACR, and loss of MSMB in tumour tissue. A subset of the 100 genes outperforms established clinical predictors of poor prognosis (PSA, Gleason score), as well as previously published gene

Assessing Discriminative Performance at External Validation of Clinical Prediction Models.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daan Nieboer

Full Text Available External validation studies are essential to study the generalizability of prediction models. Recently a permutation test, focusing on discrimination as quantified by the c-statistic, was proposed to judge whether a prediction model is transportable to a new setting. We aimed to evaluate this test and compare it to previously proposed procedures to judge any changes in c-statistic from development to external validation setting.We compared the use of the permutation test to the use of benchmark values of the c-statistic following from a previously proposed framework to judge transportability of a prediction model. In a simulation study we developed a prediction model with logistic regression on a development set and validated them in the validation set. We concentrated on two scenarios: 1 the case-mix was more heterogeneous and predictor effects were weaker in the validation set compared to the development set, and 2 the case-mix was less heterogeneous in the validation set and predictor effects were identical in the validation and development set. Furthermore we illustrated the methods in a case study using 15 datasets of patients suffering from traumatic brain injury.The permutation test indicated that the validation and development set were homogenous in scenario 1 (in almost all simulated samples and heterogeneous in scenario 2 (in 17%-39% of simulated samples. Previously proposed benchmark values of the c-statistic and the standard deviation of the linear predictors correctly pointed at the more heterogeneous case-mix in scenario 1 and the less heterogeneous case-mix in scenario 2.The recently proposed permutation test may provide misleading results when externally validating prediction models in the presence of case-mix differences between the development and validation population. To correctly interpret the c-statistic found at external validation it is crucial to disentangle case-mix differences from incorrect regression coefficients.

δ-dependency for privacy-preserving XML data publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Landberg, Anders H; Nguyen, Kinh; Pardede, Eric; Rahayu, J Wenny

2014-08-01

An ever increasing amount of medical data such as electronic health records, is being collected, stored, shared and managed in large online health information systems and electronic medical record systems (EMR) (Williams et al., 2001; Virtanen, 2009; Huang and Liou, 2007) [1-3]. From such rich collections, data is often published in the form of census and statistical data sets for the purpose of knowledge sharing and enabling medical research. This brings with it an increasing need for protecting individual people privacy, and it becomes an issue of great importance especially when information about patients is exposed to the public. While the concept of data privacy has been comprehensively studied for relational data, models and algorithms addressing the distinct differences and complex structure of XML data are yet to be explored. Currently, the common compromise method is to convert private XML data into relational data for publication. This ad hoc approach results in significant loss of useful semantic information previously carried in the private XML data. Health data often has very complex structure, which is best expressed in XML. In fact, XML is the standard format for exchanging (e.g. HL7 version 3(1)) and publishing health information. Lack of means to deal directly with data in XML format is inevitably a serious drawback. In this paper we propose a novel privacy protection model for XML, and an algorithm for implementing this model. We provide general rules, both for transforming a private XML schema into a published XML schema, and for mapping private XML data to the new privacy-protected published XML data. In addition, we propose a new privacy property, δ-dependency, which can be applied to both relational and XML data, and that takes into consideration the hierarchical nature of sensitive data (as opposed to "quasi-identifiers"). Lastly, we provide an implementation of our model, algorithm and privacy property, and perform an experimental analysis

Publishers and repositories

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2007-01-01

The impact of self-archiving on journals and publishers is an important topic for all those involved in scholarly communication. There is some evidence that the physics arXiv has had no impact on physics journals, while 'economic common sense' suggests that some impact is inevitable. I shall review recent studies of librarian attitudes towards repositories and journals, and place this in the context of IOP Publishing's experiences with arXiv. I shall offer some possible reasons for the mis-match between these perspectives and then discuss how IOP has linked with arXiv and experimented with OA publishing. As well as launching OA journals we have co-operated with Cornell and the arXiv on Eprintweb.org, a platform that offers new features to repository users. View Andrew Wray's biography

Previously unknown species of Aspergillus.

Science.gov (United States)

Gautier, M; Normand, A-C; Ranque, S

2016-08-01

The use of multi-locus DNA sequence analysis has led to the description of previously unknown 'cryptic' Aspergillus species, whereas classical morphology-based identification of Aspergillus remains limited to the section or species-complex level. The current literature highlights two main features concerning these 'cryptic' Aspergillus species. First, the prevalence of such species in clinical samples is relatively high compared with emergent filamentous fungal taxa such as Mucorales, Scedosporium or Fusarium. Second, it is clearly important to identify these species in the clinical laboratory because of the high frequency of antifungal drug-resistant isolates of such Aspergillus species. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has recently been shown to enable the identification of filamentous fungi with an accuracy similar to that of DNA sequence-based methods. As MALDI-TOF MS is well suited to the routine clinical laboratory workflow, it facilitates the identification of these 'cryptic' Aspergillus species at the routine mycology bench. The rapid establishment of enhanced filamentous fungi identification facilities will lead to a better understanding of the epidemiology and clinical importance of these emerging Aspergillus species. Based on routine MALDI-TOF MS-based identification results, we provide original insights into the key interpretation issues of a positive Aspergillus culture from a clinical sample. Which ubiquitous species that are frequently isolated from air samples are rarely involved in human invasive disease? Can both the species and the type of biological sample indicate Aspergillus carriage, colonization or infection in a patient? Highly accurate routine filamentous fungi identification is central to enhance the understanding of these previously unknown Aspergillus species, with a vital impact on further improved patient care. Copyright © 2016 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and

Does previous use affect litter box appeal in multi-cat households?

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, J J; McGowan, R T S; Martin, F

2017-08-01

It is commonly assumed that cats actively avoid eliminated materials (especially in multi-cat homes), suggesting regular litter box cleaning as the best defense against out-of-box elimination. The relationship between previous use and litter box appeal to familiar subsequent users is currently unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between previous litter box use and the identity of the previous user, type of elimination, odor, and presence of physical/visual obstructions in a multi-cat household scenario. Cats preferred a clean litter box to a dirty one, but the identity of the previous user had no impact on preferences. While the presence of odor from urine and/or feces did not impact litter box preferences, the presence of odorless faux-urine and/or feces did - with the presence of faux-feces being preferred over faux-urine. Results suggest neither malodor nor chemical communication play a role in litter box preferences, and instead emphasize the importance of regular removal of physical/visual obstructions as the key factor in promoting proper litter box use. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Common integration sites of published datasets identified using a graph-based framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandro Vasciaveo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available With next-generation sequencing, the genomic data available for the characterization of integration sites (IS has dramatically increased. At present, in a single experiment, several thousand viral integration genome targets can be investigated to define genomic hot spots. In a previous article, we renovated a formal CIS analysis based on a rigid fixed window demarcation into a more stretchy definition grounded on graphs. Here, we present a selection of supporting data related to the graph-based framework (GBF from our previous article, in which a collection of common integration sites (CIS was identified on six published datasets. In this work, we will focus on two datasets, ISRTCGD and ISHIV, which have been previously discussed. Moreover, we show in more detail the workflow design that originates the datasets.

Books average previous decade of economic misery.

Science.gov (United States)

Bentley, R Alexander; Acerbi, Alberto; Ormerod, Paul; Lampos, Vasileios

2014-01-01

For the 20(th) century since the Depression, we find a strong correlation between a 'literary misery index' derived from English language books and a moving average of the previous decade of the annual U.S. economic misery index, which is the sum of inflation and unemployment rates. We find a peak in the goodness of fit at 11 years for the moving average. The fit between the two misery indices holds when using different techniques to measure the literary misery index, and this fit is significantly better than other possible correlations with different emotion indices. To check the robustness of the results, we also analysed books written in German language and obtained very similar correlations with the German economic misery index. The results suggest that millions of books published every year average the authors' shared economic experiences over the past decade.

Validation of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C) among Chinese Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing Jing; Baranowski, Tom; Lau, Wc Patrick; Chen, Tzu An; Pitkethly, Amanda Jane

2016-03-01

This study initially validates the Chinese version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C), which has been identified as a potentially valid instrument to assess moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in children among diverse racial groups. The psychometric properties of the PAQ-C with 742 Hong Kong Chinese children were assessed with the scale's internal consistency, reliability, test-retest reliability, confirmatory factory analysis (CFA) in the overall sample, and multistep invariance tests across gender groups as well as convergent validity with body mass index (BMI), and an accelerometry-based MVPA. The Cronbach alpha coefficient (α=0.79), composite reliability value (ρ=0.81), and the intraclass correlation coefficient (α=0.82) indicate the satisfactory reliability of the PAQ-C score. The CFA indicated data fit a single factor model, suggesting that the PAQ-C measures only one construct, on MVPA over the previous 7 days. The multiple-group CFAs suggested that the factor loadings and variances and covariances of the PAQ-C measurement model were invariant across gender groups. The PAQ-C score was related to accelerometry-based MVPA (r=0.33) and inversely related to BMI (r=-0.18). This study demonstrates the reliability and validity of the PAQ-C in Chinese children. Copyright © 2016 The Editorial Board of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences. Published by China CDC. All rights reserved.

Validation of a Crowdsourcing Methodology for Developing a Knowledge Base of Related Problem-Medication Pairs.

Science.gov (United States)

McCoy, A B; Wright, A; Krousel-Wood, M; Thomas, E J; McCoy, J A; Sittig, D F

2015-01-01

Clinical knowledge bases of problem-medication pairs are necessary for many informatics solutions that improve patient safety, such as clinical summarization. However, developing these knowledge bases can be challenging. We sought to validate a previously developed crowdsourcing approach for generating a knowledge base of problem-medication pairs in a large, non-university health care system with a widely used, commercially available electronic health record. We first retrieved medications and problems entered in the electronic health record by clinicians during routine care during a six month study period. Following the previously published approach, we calculated the link frequency and link ratio for each pair then identified a threshold cutoff for estimated problem-medication pair appropriateness through clinician review; problem-medication pairs meeting the threshold were included in the resulting knowledge base. We selected 50 medications and their gold standard indications to compare the resulting knowledge base to the pilot knowledge base developed previously and determine its recall and precision. The resulting knowledge base contained 26,912 pairs, had a recall of 62.3% and a precision of 87.5%, and outperformed the pilot knowledge base containing 11,167 pairs from the previous study, which had a recall of 46.9% and a precision of 83.3%. We validated the crowdsourcing approach for generating a knowledge base of problem-medication pairs in a large non-university health care system with a widely used, commercially available electronic health record, indicating that the approach may be generalizable across healthcare settings and clinical systems. Further research is necessary to better evaluate the knowledge, to compare crowdsourcing with other approaches, and to evaluate if incorporating the knowledge into electronic health records improves patient outcomes.

The BiPublishers ranking: Main results and methodological problems when constructing rankings of academic publishers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Torres-Salinas, Daniel

2015-12-01

Full Text Available We present the results of the Bibliometric Indicators for Publishers project (also known as BiPublishers. This project represents the first attempt to systematically develop bibliometric publisher rankings. The data for this project was derived from the Book Citation Index and the study time period was 2009-2013. We have developed 42 rankings: 4 by fields and 38 by disciplines. We display six indicators for publishers divided into three types: output, impact and publisher’s profile. The aim is to capture different characteristics of the research performance of publishers. 254 publishers were processed and classified according to publisher type: commercial publishers and university presses. We present the main publishers by field and then discuss the principal challenges presented when developing this type of tool. The BiPublishers ranking is an on-going project which aims to develop and explore new data sources and indicators to better capture and define the research impact of publishers.Presentamos los resultados del proyecto Bibliometric Indicators for Publishers (BiPublishers. Es el primer proyecto que desarrolla de manera sistemática rankings bibliométricos de editoriales. La fuente de datos empleada es el Book Citation Index y el periodo de análisis 2009-2013. Se presentan 42 rankings: 4 por áreas y 38 por disciplinas. Mostramos seis indicadores por editorial divididos según su tipología: producción, impacto y características editoriales. Se procesaron 254 editoriales y se clasificaron según el tipo: comerciales y universitarias. Se presentan las principales editoriales por áreas. Después, se discuten los principales retos a superar en el desarrollo de este tipo de herramientas. El ranking Bipublishers es un proyecto en desarrollo que persigue analizar y explorar nuevas fuentes de datos e indicadores para captar y definir el impacto de las editoriales académicas.

Data Sharing & Publishing at Nature Publishing Group

Science.gov (United States)

VanDecar, J. C.; Hrynaszkiewicz, I.; Hufton, A. L.

2015-12-01

In recent years, the research community has come to recognize that upon-request data sharing has important limitations1,2. The Nature-titled journals feel that researchers have a duty to share data without undue qualifications, in a manner that allows others to replicate and build upon their published findings. Historically, the Nature journals have been strong supporters of data deposition in communities with existing data mandates, and have required data sharing upon request in all other cases. To help address some of the limitations of upon-request data sharing, the Nature titles have strengthened their existing data policies and forged a new partnership with Scientific Data, to promote wider data sharing in discoverable, citeable and reusable forms, and to ensure that scientists get appropriate credit for sharing3. Scientific Data is a new peer-reviewed journal for descriptions of research datasets, which works with a wide of range of public data repositories4. Articles at Scientific Data may either expand on research publications at other journals or may be used to publish new datasets. The Nature Publishing Group has also signed the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles5, and Scientific Data is our first journal to include formal data citations. We are currently in the process of adding data citation support to our various journals. 1 Wicherts, J. M., Borsboom, D., Kats, J. & Molenaar, D. The poor availability of psychological research data for reanalysis. Am. Psychol. 61, 726-728, doi:10.1037/0003-066x.61.7.726 (2006). 2 Vines, T. H. et al. Mandated data archiving greatly improves access to research data. FASEB J. 27, 1304-1308, doi:10.1096/fj.12-218164 (2013). 3 Data-access practices strengthened. Nature 515, 312, doi:10.1038/515312a (2014). 4 More bang for your byte. Sci. Data 1, 140010, doi:10.1038/sdata.2014.10 (2014). 5 Data Citation Synthesis Group: Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles. (FORCE11, San Diego, CA, 2014).

Kidnapping Detection and Recognition in Previous Unknown Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Tian

2017-01-01

Full Text Available An unaware event referred to as kidnapping makes the estimation result of localization incorrect. In a previous unknown environment, incorrect localization result causes incorrect mapping result in Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM by kidnapping. In this situation, the explored area and unexplored area are divided to make the kidnapping recovery difficult. To provide sufficient information on kidnapping, a framework to judge whether kidnapping has occurred and to identify the type of kidnapping with filter-based SLAM is proposed. The framework is called double kidnapping detection and recognition (DKDR by performing two checks before and after the “update” process with different metrics in real time. To explain one of the principles of DKDR, we describe a property of filter-based SLAM that corrects the mapping result of the environment using the current observations after the “update” process. Two classical filter-based SLAM algorithms, Extend Kalman Filter (EKF SLAM and Particle Filter (PF SLAM, are modified to show that DKDR can be simply and widely applied in existing filter-based SLAM algorithms. Furthermore, a technique to determine the adapted thresholds of metrics in real time without previous data is presented. Both simulated and experimental results demonstrate the validity and accuracy of the proposed method.

Performance and Symptom Validity Testing as a Function of Medical Board Evaluation in U.S. Military Service Members with a History of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Armistead-Jehle, Patrick; Cole, Wesley R; Stegman, Robert L

2018-02-01

The study was designed to replicate and extend pervious findings demonstrating the high rates of invalid neuropsychological testing in military service members (SMs) with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) assessed in the context of a medical evaluation board (MEB). Two hundred thirty-one active duty SMs (61 of which were undergoing an MEB) underwent neuropsychological assessment. Performance validity (Word Memory Test) and symptom validity (MMPI-2-RF) test data were compared across those evaluated within disability (MEB) and clinical contexts. As with previous studies, there were significantly more individuals in an MEB context that failed performance (MEB = 57%, non-MEB = 31%) and symptom validity testing (MEB = 57%, non-MEB = 22%) and performance validity testing had a notable affect on cognitive test scores. Performance and symptom validity test failure rates did not vary as a function of the reason for disability evaluation when divided into behavioral versus physical health conditions. These data are consistent with past studies, and extends those studies by including symptom validity testing and investigating the effect of reason for MEB. This and previous studies demonstrate that more than 50% of SMs seen in the context of an MEB will fail performance validity tests and over-report on symptom validity measures. These results emphasize the importance of using both performance and symptom validity testing when evaluating SMs with a history of mTBI, especially if they are being seen for disability evaluations, in order to ensure the accuracy of cognitive and psychological test data. Published by Oxford University Press 2017. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Validating MEDIQUAL Constructs

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sang-Gun; Min, Jae H.

In this paper, we validate MEDIQUAL constructs through the different media users in help desk service. In previous research, only two end-users' constructs were used: assurance and responsiveness. In this paper, we extend MEDIQUAL constructs to include reliability, empathy, assurance, tangibles, and responsiveness, which are based on the SERVQUAL theory. The results suggest that: 1) five MEDIQUAL constructs are validated through the factor analysis. That is, importance of the constructs have relatively high correlations between measures of the same construct using different methods and low correlations between measures of the constructs that are expected to differ; and 2) five MEDIQUAL constructs are statistically significant on media users' satisfaction in help desk service by regression analysis.

Reliability and validity of child/adolescent food frequency questionnaires that assess foods and/or food groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolodziejczyk, Julia K; Merchant, Gina; Norman, Gregory J

2012-07-01

Summarize the validity and reliability of child/adolescent food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) that assess food and/or food groups. We performed a systematic review of child/adolescent (6-18 years) FFQ studies published between January 2001 and December 2010 using MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. Main inclusion criteria were peer reviewed, written in English, and reported reliability or validity of questionnaires that assessed intake of food/food groups. Studies were excluded that focused on diseased people or used a combined dietary assessment method. Two authors independently selected the articles and extracted questionnaire characteristics such as number of items, portion size information, time span, category intake frequencies, and method of administration. Validity and reliability coefficients were extracted and reported for food categories and averaged across food categories for each study. Twenty-one studies were selected from 873, 18 included validity data, and 14 included test-retest reliability data. Publications were from the United States, Europe, Africa, Brazil, and the south Pacific. Validity correlations ranged from 0.01 to 0.80, and reliability correlations ranged from 0.05 to 0.88. The highest average validity correlations were obtained when the questionnaire did not assess portion size, measured a shorter time span (ie, previous day/week), was of medium length (ie, ≈ 20-60 items), and was not administered to the child's parents. There are design and administration features of child/adolescent FFQs that should be considered to obtain reliable and valid estimates of dietary intake in this population.

Inclusion at Work DEOCS 4.1 Construct Validity Summary

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-01

Inclusion at Work DEOCS 4.1 Construct Validity Summary DEFENSE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE DIRECTORATE...Report #10-18 1 Inclusion DEOCS 4.1 Construct Validity Summary Background In 2011, the Department of Defense (DoD) published the Government-Wide...Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan that established a government-wide initiative to promote Diversity and Inclusion . While the military is a

The Academic Publishing Industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nell, Phillip Christopher; Wenzel, Tim Ole; Schmidt, Florian

2014-01-01

The case starts with introducing the outstanding profitability of academic journal publishers such as Elsevier and then dives into describing the research process from an idea to conducting research and to publishing the results in academic journals. Subsequently, demand and supply for scientific...... journals and papers are discussed including drivers and involved parties. Furthermore, the case describes competition between suppliers, customers, and publishers. In sum, the case study features a rich description of the industry’s many unusual attributes which allows for discussing the benefits...

Copyright of Electronic Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Elaine; Wang, Bob

2002-01-01

Analyzes the importance of copyright, considers the main causes of copyright infringement in electronic publishing, discusses fair use of a copyrighted work, and suggests methods to safeguard copyrighted electronic publishing, including legislation, contracts, and technology. (Author/LRW)

Methodological and Epistemological Criticism on Experimental Accounting Research Published in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Frederico Homero Junior

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In this article, I analyze 17 experimental studies published in Brazilian accounting journals between 2006 and 2015, in order to develop both critical and methodological criticism on these articles. First, we discuss the methodological characteristics of the experiments and the main validity threats they face, analyzing how the selected articles deal with these threats. Overall, this analysis shows a lack of consideration of the validity of the constructs used, difficulty to develop internally valid experiments and inability to express confidence in the applicability of the results to contexts other than the experimental. Then, I compare the positivist theoretical perspective these articles have in common with constructionist conceptions of the social sciences and criticize them, based on these notions. I maintain that these articles are characterized by a behaviorist approach, a reified notion of subjectivity, disregard of the cultural and historical specificities and axiological commitment to submission, instead of the emancipation of the people in relation to management control. The paper contributes to the Brazilian accounting literature in two ways: raising awareness on the challenges faced in conducting appropriate experimental designs and showing how the experimental accounting research can be problematic from an epistemological point of view, aiming to promote an interparadigmatic debate to arouse greater awareness on the subject and more robust consideration of such issues by future researchers.

Elearning and digital publishing

CERN Document Server

Ching, Hsianghoo Steve; Mc Naught, Carmel

2006-01-01

""ELearning and Digital Publishing"" will occupy a unique niche in the literature accessed by library and publishing specialists, and by university teachers and planners. It examines the interfaces between the work done by four groups of university staff who have been in the past quite separate from, or only marginally related to, each other - library staff, university teachers, university policy makers, and staff who work in university publishing presses. All four groups are directly and intimately connected with the main functions of universities - the creation, management and dissemination

Books Average Previous Decade of Economic Misery

Science.gov (United States)

Bentley, R. Alexander; Acerbi, Alberto; Ormerod, Paul; Lampos, Vasileios

2014-01-01

For the 20th century since the Depression, we find a strong correlation between a ‘literary misery index’ derived from English language books and a moving average of the previous decade of the annual U.S. economic misery index, which is the sum of inflation and unemployment rates. We find a peak in the goodness of fit at 11 years for the moving average. The fit between the two misery indices holds when using different techniques to measure the literary misery index, and this fit is significantly better than other possible correlations with different emotion indices. To check the robustness of the results, we also analysed books written in German language and obtained very similar correlations with the German economic misery index. The results suggest that millions of books published every year average the authors' shared economic experiences over the past decade. PMID:24416159

How libraries use publisher metadata

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steve Shadle

2013-11-01

Full Text Available With the proliferation of electronic publishing, libraries are increasingly relying on publisher-supplied metadata to meet user needs for discovery in library systems. However, many publisher/content provider staff creating metadata are unaware of the end-user environment and how libraries use their metadata. This article provides an overview of the three primary discovery systems that are used by academic libraries, with examples illustrating how publisher-supplied metadata directly feeds into these systems and is used to support end-user discovery and access. Commonly seen metadata problems are discussed, with recommendations suggested. Based on a series of presentations given in Autumn 2012 to the staff of a large publisher, this article uses the University of Washington Libraries systems and services as illustrative examples. Judging by the feedback received from these presentations, publishers (specifically staff not familiar with the big picture of metadata standards work would benefit from a better understanding of the systems and services libraries provide using the data that is created and managed by publishers.

Electronic Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lancaster, F. W.

1989-01-01

Describes various stages involved in the applications of electronic media to the publishing industry. Highlights include computer typesetting, or photocomposition; machine-readable databases; the distribution of publications in electronic form; computer conferencing and electronic mail; collaborative authorship; hypertext; hypermedia publications;…

International Marketing Developing Publishing Business

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugenijus Chlivickas

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Lithuanian integration in the financial Eurozone and Lithuanian publishing business development in the European Union and outside it, becomes an important problem requiring a solution. Promoting the dissemination of printed books and literacy in Lithuania and beyond, to properly introduce the achievements of Lithuania in foreign countries, it is important to ensure Lithuanian letter, educational and scientific book publishing development. The article examines the characteristics of the international marketing publishing, the world and Lithuanian state publishing houses on the basis of foreign and Lithuanian scientists theoretical insights about the instruments of international marketing opportunities, developing proposals for publishing business integration of new economic conditions.

Electrons, Electronic Publishing, and Electronic Display.

Science.gov (United States)

Brownrigg, Edwin B.; Lynch, Clifford A.

1985-01-01

Provides a perspective on electronic publishing by distinguishing between "Newtonian" publishing and "quantum-mechanical" publishing. Highlights include media and publishing, works delivered through electronic media, electronic publishing and the printed word, management of intellectual property, and recent copyright-law issues…

PUBLISHER'S ANNOUNCEMENT: Refereeing standards

Science.gov (United States)

Bender, C.; Scriven, N.

2004-08-01

On 1 January 2004 I will be assuming the position of Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General (J. Phys. A). I am flattered at the confidence expressed in my ability to carry out this challenging job and I will try hard to justify this confidence. The previous Editor-in-Chief, Ed Corrigan, has worked tirelessly for the last five years and has done an excellent job for the journal. Everyone at the journal is profoundly grateful for his leadership and for his achievements. Before accepting the position of Editor-in-Chief, I visited the office of J. Phys. A to examine the organization and to assess its strengths and weaknesses. This office is located at the Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP) headquarters in Bristol. J. Phys. A has been expanding rapidly and now publishes at the rate of nearly 1000 articles (or about 14,000 pages) per year. The entire operation of the journal is conducted in a very small space---about 15 square metres! Working in this space are six highly intelligent, talented, hard working, and dedicated people: Neil Scriven, Publisher; Mike Williams, Publishing Editor; Rose Gray and Sarah Nadin, Publishing Administrators; Laura Smith and Steve Richards, Production Editors. In this small space every day about eight submitted manuscripts are downloaded from the computer or received in the post. These papers are then processed and catalogued, referees are selected, and the papers are sent out for evaluation. In this small space the referees' reports are received, publication decisions are made, and accepted articles are then published quickly by IOPP. The whole operation is amazingly efficient. Indeed, one of the great strengths of J. Phys. A is the speed at which papers are processed. The average time between the receipt of a manuscript and an editorial decision is under sixty days. (Many distinguished journals take three to five times this amount of time.) This speed of publication is an extremely strong enticement for

Toxoplasma gondii and schizophrenia: a review of published RCTs.

Science.gov (United States)

Chorlton, Sam D

2017-07-01

Over the last 60 years, accumulating evidence has suggested that acute, chronic, and maternal Toxoplasma gondii infections predispose to schizophrenia. More recent evidence suggests that chronically infected patients with schizophrenia present with more severe disease. After acute infection, parasites form walled cysts in the brain, leading to lifelong chronic infection and drug resistance to commonly used antiparasitics. Chronic infection is the most studied and closely linked with development and severity of schizophrenia. There are currently four published randomized controlled trials evaluating antiparasitic drugs, specifically azithromycin, trimethoprim, artemisinin, and artemether, in patients with schizophrenia. No trials have demonstrated a change in psychopathology with adjunctive treatment. Published trials have either selected drugs without evidence against chronic infection or used them at doses too low to reduce brain cyst burden. Furthermore, trials have failed to achieve sufficient power or account for confounders such as previous antipsychotic treatment, sex, age, or rhesus status on antiparasitic effect. There are currently no ongoing trials of anti-Toxoplasma therapy in schizophrenia despite ample evidence to justify further testing.

Dear Publisher.

Science.gov (United States)

Chelton, Mary K.

1992-01-01

Addresses issues that concern the relationship between publishers and librarians, including differences between libraries and bookstores; necessary information for advertisements; out-of-stock designations and their effect on budgets; the role of distributors and vendors; direct mail for book promotions; unsolicited review copies; communications…

Publisher Correction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stokholm, Jakob; Blaser, Martin J.; Thorsen, Jonathan

2018-01-01

The originally published version of this Article contained an incorrect version of Figure 3 that was introduced following peer review and inadvertently not corrected during the production process. Both versions contain the same set of abundance data, but the incorrect version has the children...

EPIC: Electronic Publishing is Cheaper.

Science.gov (United States)

Regier, Willis G.

Advocates of inexpensive publishing confront a widespread complaint that there is already an overproduction of scholarship that electronic publishing will make worse. The costs of electronic publishing correlate to a clutch of choices: speeds of access, breadth and depth of content, visibility, flexibility, durability, dependability, definition of…

Desktop Publishing for Counselors.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucking, Robert; Mitchum, Nancy

1990-01-01

Discusses the fundamentals of desktop publishing for counselors, including hardware and software systems and peripherals. Notes by using desktop publishing, counselors can produce their own high-quality documents without the expense of commercial printers. Concludes computers present a way of streamlining the communications of a counseling…

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1596-6798. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1115-2613. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0856-7212. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0378-4738. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0254-2765. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0850-3907. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2141-8322. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0794-7410. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2078-6778. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2305-8862. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1596-9819. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0379-4350. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2408-8137. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1029-5933. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2467-8252. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0376-4753. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1118-1028. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1597-4292. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0189-9686. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1595-1413. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2078-5151. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1694-0423. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0855-4307. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1596-9827. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0379-9069. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1998-1279. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1606-7479. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1995-7262. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0856-8960. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0855-5591. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1531-4065. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1110-5607. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2076-7714. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1994-8220. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1596-6232. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2224-0020. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0556-8641. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1596-5414. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2305-2678. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1119-3077. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1027-4332. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1998-9881. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0376-8902. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2507-7961. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0189-5117. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1012-2796. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2313-1799. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1025-9848. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2141-9884. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1727-3781. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2090-7214. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2410-8936. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0856-0714. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1684-5374. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1998-8125. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1016-0728. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1821-9241. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1607-0011. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE ...

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2591 6831. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1999-7671. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1110-6859. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0794-4721. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2072-6589. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1680-6905. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1821-8148. AJOL African Journals Online.

A method to validate quantitative high-frequency power doppler ultrasound with fluorescence in vivo video microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinter, Stephen Z; Kim, Dae-Ro; Hague, M Nicole; Chambers, Ann F; MacDonald, Ian C; Lacefield, James C

2014-08-01

Flow quantification with high-frequency (>20 MHz) power Doppler ultrasound can be performed objectively using the wall-filter selection curve (WFSC) method to select the cutoff velocity that yields a best-estimate color pixel density (CPD). An in vivo video microscopy system (IVVM) is combined with high-frequency power Doppler ultrasound to provide a method for validation of CPD measurements based on WFSCs in mouse testicular vessels. The ultrasound and IVVM systems are instrumented so that the mouse remains on the same imaging platform when switching between the two modalities. In vivo video microscopy provides gold-standard measurements of vascular diameter to validate power Doppler CPD estimates. Measurements in four image planes from three mice exhibit wide variation in the optimal cutoff velocity and indicate that a predetermined cutoff velocity setting can introduce significant errors in studies intended to quantify vascularity. Consistent with previously published flow-phantom data, in vivo WFSCs exhibited three characteristic regions and detectable plateaus. Selection of a cutoff velocity at the right end of the plateau yielded a CPD close to the gold-standard vascular volume fraction estimated using IVVM. An investigator can implement the WFSC method to help adapt cutoff velocity to current blood flow conditions and thereby improve the accuracy of power Doppler for quantitative microvascular imaging. Copyright © 2014 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0258-252X. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0047-651X. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2360-994X. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1858-554X. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2078-676X. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 1814-232X. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0303-691X. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2449-108X. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 2520–7997. AJOL African Journals Online.

About this Publishing System

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This journal uses Open Journal Systems 2.4.3.0, which is open source journal management and publishing software developed, supported, and freely distributed by the Public Knowledge Project under the GNU General Public License. OJS Editorial and Publishing Process. ISSN: 0012-835X. AJOL African Journals Online.

Improving Learning Outcomes in Office Automation Subjects Through Development of Video-Based Media Learning Operating Microsoft Publisher 2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irma Mastumasari

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to produce instructional media video-based operate Microsoft Publisher 2010 which is validated by experts for student at class X of Office Administration in SMKN 1 Malang through experimental class and control class. This study uses Research and Development research design (R & D through 8 steps, namely: (1 research and information gathering early, (2 planning, (3 product development, (4 validation expert, (5 product revision, (6 the trial court (small groups, (7 the revision of the product, and (8 field trials (large group. Results of validation by material experts, media experts and 12 students, the media is expressed very valid and can be used. Based on t test, it is known that a significant difference between the average student learning outcomes experimental class and control class, so that learning media can be said to be effective for use in the learning process.

Validation of a Crowdsourcing Methodology for Developing a Knowledge Base of Related Problem-Medication Pairs

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, A.; Krousel-Wood, M.; Thomas, E. J.; McCoy, J. A.; Sittig, D. F.

2015-01-01

Summary Background Clinical knowledge bases of problem-medication pairs are necessary for many informatics solutions that improve patient safety, such as clinical summarization. However, developing these knowledge bases can be challenging. Objective We sought to validate a previously developed crowdsourcing approach for generating a knowledge base of problem-medication pairs in a large, non-university health care system with a widely used, commercially available electronic health record. Methods We first retrieved medications and problems entered in the electronic health record by clinicians during routine care during a six month study period. Following the previously published approach, we calculated the link frequency and link ratio for each pair then identified a threshold cutoff for estimated problem-medication pair appropriateness through clinician review; problem-medication pairs meeting the threshold were included in the resulting knowledge base. We selected 50 medications and their gold standard indications to compare the resulting knowledge base to the pilot knowledge base developed previously and determine its recall and precision. Results The resulting knowledge base contained 26,912 pairs, had a recall of 62.3% and a precision of 87.5%, and outperformed the pilot knowledge base containing 11,167 pairs from the previous study, which had a recall of 46.9% and a precision of 83.3%. Conclusions We validated the crowdsourcing approach for generating a knowledge base of problem-medication pairs in a large non-university health care system with a widely used, commercially available electronic health record, indicating that the approach may be generalizable across healthcare settings and clinical systems. Further research is necessary to better evaluate the knowledge, to compare crowdsourcing with other approaches, and to evaluate if incorporating the knowledge into electronic health records improves patient outcomes. PMID:26171079

Global approach for the validation of an in-line Raman spectroscopic method to determine the API content in real-time during a hot-melt extrusion process.

Science.gov (United States)

Netchacovitch, L; Thiry, J; De Bleye, C; Dumont, E; Cailletaud, J; Sacré, P-Y; Evrard, B; Hubert, Ph; Ziemons, E

2017-08-15

Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a guidance based on the Process Analytical Technology (PAT) approach, real-time analyses during manufacturing processes are in real expansion. In this study, in-line Raman spectroscopic analyses were performed during a Hot-Melt Extrusion (HME) process to determine the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) content in real-time. The method was validated based on a univariate and a multivariate approach and the analytical performances of the obtained models were compared. Moreover, on one hand, in-line data were correlated with the real API concentration present in the sample quantified by a previously validated off-line confocal Raman microspectroscopic method. On the other hand, in-line data were also treated in function of the concentration based on the weighing of the components in the prepared mixture. The importance of developing quantitative methods based on the use of a reference method was thus highlighted. The method was validated according to the total error approach fixing the acceptance limits at ±15% and the α risk at ±5%. This method reaches the requirements of the European Pharmacopeia norms for the uniformity of content of single-dose preparations. The validation proves that future results will be in the acceptance limits with a previously defined probability. Finally, the in-line validated method was compared with the off-line one to demonstrate its ability to be used in routine analyses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Issues in Science Publishing. What's Hot and What's not?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Science is in crisis: a crisis of trust, and a crisis of values. Yet, this is an opportune moment for scientists to examine the issues that underly science to discover how they may be of use, beyond their laboratory or field experience, to improve the research and publishing landscapes to create an environment that suits their needs more. Traditionally, the science publishing landscape had been controlled by the science, technology and medicine publishers, who have always taunted their peer review systems as being fail-safe. Yet, considerable moss has been gathered by the post-publication peer review (PPPR movement over the past few years, indicating that the voice of the average scientist now carries more weight, and more value, than ever before. Despite this, most scientists are unaware of their potential power of opinion. Especially when it comes to commenting on, and correcting, the already published literature. Commenting by name, or anonymously, is the new PPPR publishing reality. There needs to also be a concomitant movement away from artificial metrics, such as the impact factor, which serve only as ego-boosting parameters, and which distract the wider readership from the weaknesses of the traditional peer review system currently in place. Increasing cases of the abuse of peer review, such as the creation of fake identities, affiliations or e-mail addresses further highlights the need for scientists to be vigilant, without necessairly being vigilantes. The discovery, within a matter of years, that the literature is more corrupted than was previously thought, in some cases caused by clear cases of editorial cronyism, or abuse, has resulted in a need for scientists to exceed their functions as mere scientists to evolve into whistle-blowers. Some ethical guidelines are in place, such as those by COPE, yet what is being increasingly witnessed, is a discrepancy between preached values by select COPE member journals, and the literature that

Scientific Journal Publishing in India: Promoting electronic publishing of scholarly journals in India

OpenAIRE

Abraham, Thomas; Minj, Suvarsha

2007-01-01

Provides a report about the Scientific Journal Publishing in India (SJPI) Project which promotes electronic publishing of scholarly journals. It covers briefly the objectives, implementation and outcomes of the Project. Open Journal Systems and Open Archives Harvester were used to achieve the goals of the Project.

Control of uncertain systems by feedback linearization with neural networks augmentation. Part II. Controller validation by numerical simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrian TOADER

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The paper was conceived in two parts. Part I, previously published in this journal, highlighted the main steps of adaptive output feedback control for non-affine uncertain systems, having a known relative degree. The main paradigm of this approach was the feedback linearization (dynamic inversion with neural network augmentation. Meanwhile, based on new contributions of the authors, a new paradigm, that of robust servomechanism problem solution, has been added to the controller architecture. The current Part II of the paper presents the validation of the controller hereby obtained by using the longitudinal channel of a hovering VTOL-type aircraft as mathematical model.

Publishing: Alternatives and Economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Penchansky, Mimi; And Others

The Library Association of the City University of New York presents an annotated bibliography on the subject of small and alternative publishing. In the first section directories, indexes, catalogs, and reviews are briefly described. Book distributors for small publishers are listed next. The major portion of the bibliography is a listing of books…

Proposal to consistently apply the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) to names of the oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria (cyanobacteria), including those validly published under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN)/International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants (ICN), and proposal to change Principle 2 of the ICNP.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinevich, Alexander V

2015-03-01

This taxonomic note was motivated by the recent proposal [Oren & Garrity (2014) Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 64, 309-310] to exclude the oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria (cyanobacteria) from the wording of General Consideration 5 of the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP), which entails unilateral coverage of these prokaryotes by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN; formerly the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, ICBN). On the basis of key viewpoints, approaches and rules in the systematics, taxonomy and nomenclature of prokaryotes it is reciprocally proposed to apply the ICNP to names of cyanobacteria including those validly published under the ICBN/ICN. For this purpose, a change to Principle 2 of the ICNP is proposed to enable validation of cyanobacterial names published under the ICBN/ICN rules. © 2015 IUMS.

Moving beyond Traditional Methods of Survey Validation

Science.gov (United States)

Maul, Andrew

2017-01-01

In his focus article, "Rethinking Traditional Methods of Survey Validation," published in this issue of "Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives," Andrew Maul wrote that it is commonly believed that self-report, survey-based instruments can be used to measure a wide range of psychological attributes, such as…

Outcomes of Peripheral Endovascular Interventions Based on Hospital Volume: A Mini Review of Published Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samir V Patel

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Previous literature showed hospital procedural volume is an independent predictor for outcomes of various cardiac procedures. However, very few studies shown similar results for peripheral endovascular interventions especially peripheral atherectomy. Here we are reviewing previously published articles to provide volume-outcome relationship for peripheral atherectomy and angioplasty with or without endovascular stenting. We found higher hospital volume significantly and independently lowers in-hospital mortality, amputation rates, peri-procedural complications, length and cost of hospitalization for peripheral endovascular interventions.

Predictive validity of the post-enrolment English language assessment tool for commencing undergraduate nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Glew, Paul J; Hillege, Sharon P; Salamonson, Yenna; Dixon, Kathleen; Good, Anthony; Lombardo, Lien

2015-12-01

Nursing students with English as an additional language (EAL) may underperform academically. The post-enrolment English language assessment (PELA) is used in literacy support, but its predictive validity in identifying those at risk of underperformance remains unknown. To validate a PELA, as a predictor of academic performance. Prospective survey design. The study was conducted at a university located in culturally and linguistically diverse areas of western Sydney, Australia. Commencing undergraduate nursing students who were Australian-born (n=1323, 49.6%) and born outside of Australia (n=1346, 50.4%) were recruited for this study. The 2669 (67% of 3957) participants provided consent and completed a first year nursing unit that focussed on developing literacy skills. Between 2010 and 2013, commencing students completed the PELA and English language acculturation scale (ELAS), a previously validated instrument. The grading levels of the PELA tool were: Level 1 (proficient), Level 2 (borderline), and Level 3 (poor, and requiring additional support). Participants with a PELA Level 2 or 3 were more likely to be: a) non-Australian-born (χ(2): 520.6, df: 2, pstudent (χ(2): 225.6, df: 2, pstudents who are at risk of academic underachievement. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Two new prediction rules for spontaneous pregnancy leading to live birth among subfertile couples, based on the synthesis of three previous models.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C.C. Hunault; J.D.F. Habbema (Dik); M.J.C. Eijkemans (René); J.A. Collins (John); J.L.H. Evers (Johannes); E.R. te Velde (Egbert)

2004-01-01

textabstractBACKGROUND: Several models have been published for the prediction of spontaneous pregnancy among subfertile patients. The aim of this study was to broaden the empirical basis for these predictions by making a synthesis of three previously published models. METHODS:

Publishing integrity and good practices in editing in biomedicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Polenakovic, Momir; Gucev, Zoran

2014-01-01

accept reports which support the reviewer's concepts of thinking and, like Procrustes, cutting everything else out. Authorship is often a contentious issue, as undeserved authors appear on the list of authors. Some principles are now a norm in academic publishing. This applies to the declaration of a conflict of interest, the consent of the patient and the approval of the Ethical Board of the institution. This global informational technological revolution has, unfortunately, led to largely widespread and increasingly sophisticated deviations: plagiarism, data fabrication and data falsification as forms of scientific misconduct. Those events are now more widespread than in the past. Luckily new tools to track them are much better than previously. The race for perfect publishing integrity and for the best good practices in editing in biomedicine is on. New and old challenges will be met. The benevolent and caring society, educated professionals and an enlightened public remain essential preconditions. The wealth of nations depends on R&D and consequently on academic publishing.

Publisher Correction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turcot, Valérie; Lu, Yingchang; Highland, Heather M

2018-01-01

In the version of this article originally published, one of the two authors with the name Wei Zhao was omitted from the author list and the affiliations for both authors were assigned to the single Wei Zhao in the author list. In addition, the ORCID for Wei Zhao (Department of Biostatistics and E...

ValidatorDB: database of up-to-date validation results for ligands and non-standard residues from the Protein Data Bank.

Science.gov (United States)

Sehnal, David; Svobodová Vařeková, Radka; Pravda, Lukáš; Ionescu, Crina-Maria; Geidl, Stanislav; Horský, Vladimír; Jaiswal, Deepti; Wimmerová, Michaela; Koča, Jaroslav

2015-01-01

Following the discovery of serious errors in the structure of biomacromolecules, structure validation has become a key topic of research, especially for ligands and non-standard residues. ValidatorDB (freely available at http://ncbr.muni.cz/ValidatorDB) offers a new step in this direction, in the form of a database of validation results for all ligands and non-standard residues from the Protein Data Bank (all molecules with seven or more heavy atoms). Model molecules from the wwPDB Chemical Component Dictionary are used as reference during validation. ValidatorDB covers the main aspects of validation of annotation, and additionally introduces several useful validation analyses. The most significant is the classification of chirality errors, allowing the user to distinguish between serious issues and minor inconsistencies. Other such analyses are able to report, for example, completely erroneous ligands, alternate conformations or complete identity with the model molecules. All results are systematically classified into categories, and statistical evaluations are performed. In addition to detailed validation reports for each molecule, ValidatorDB provides summaries of the validation results for the entire PDB, for sets of molecules sharing the same annotation (three-letter code) or the same PDB entry, and for user-defined selections of annotations or PDB entries. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

The handbook of journal publishing

CERN Document Server

Morris, Sally; LaFrenier, Douglas; Reich, Margaret

2013-01-01

The Handbook of Journal Publishing is a comprehensive reference work written by experienced professionals, covering all aspects of journal publishing, both online and in print. Journals are crucial to scholarly communication, but changes in recent years in the way journals are produced, financed, and used make this an especially turbulent and challenging time for journal publishers - and for authors, readers, and librarians. The Handbook offers a thorough guide to the journal publishing process, from editing and production through marketing, sales, and fulfilment, with chapters on management, finances, metrics, copyright, and ethical issues. It provides a wealth of practical tools, including checklists, sample documents, worked examples, alternative scenarios, and extensive lists of resources, which readers can use in their day-to-day work. Between them, the authors have been involved in every aspect of journal publishing over several decades and bring to the text their experience working for a wide range of ...

Static Validation of a Voting Protocol

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Christoffer Rosenkilde; Andersen, Esben Heltoft; Nielson, Hanne Riis

2005-01-01

is formalised in an extension of the LySa process calculus with blinding signatures. The analysis, which is fully automatic, pinpoints previously undiscovered flaws related to verifiability and accuracy and we suggest modifications of the protocol needed for validating these properties....

Conceptualization and measurement of criminal thinking: initial validation of the Criminogenic Thinking Profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Damon; Tafrate, Raymond Chip

2012-10-01

This article describes two studies concerning the development of a new measure of criminal thinking, the CriminogenicThinking Profile (CTP), influenced by the construct of psychopathy, and traditional models of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). An experimental item pool based on verbalizations from offenders served as the pilot version of the instrument. Principal components analysis of the items resulted in a 62-item, eight-factor scale that was internally consistent. In terms of content, six of the resulting factors were conceptually related to psychopathy, one to CBT, and one to neutralization theory. The factor structure and internal reliability was supported by a subsequent confirmatory factor analysis. Initial support for the CTP's convergent validity was indicated by its positive correlations with psychopathy and personality disorders associated with criminal, aggressive, and impulsive behaviors. The CTP's divergent validity was supported by its inverse correlations with indices of healthy personality functioning. The CTP offers a somewhat different constellation of thinking patterns than those found on previously published criminal thinking instruments. The utility of the CTP to identify relevant cognitive targets for offender treatment is a recommended area of future research.

How to successfully publish interdisciplinary research: learning from an Ecology and Society Special Feature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Pohl

2015-06-01

Full Text Available What are the factors that hinder or support publishing interdisciplinary research? What does a successful interdisciplinary publishing process look like? We address these questions by analyzing the publishing process of the interdisciplinary research project titled "Mountland." Project researchers published most of their main results as a Special Feature of Ecology and Society. Using the story wall method and qualitative content analysis, we identified ten factors contributing to the success or failure of publishing interdisciplinary research. They can be assigned to four groups of resources: scientific resources, i.e., previous joint research, simultaneously written manuscripts; human resources, i.e., coordination, flexibility, composition of the team; integrative resources, i.e., vision of integration, chronology of results; and feedback resources, i.e., internal reviews, subject editors, external reviewers. According to this analysis, an ideal-typical publishing process necessitates, among other things, (1 a strong, interdisciplinary coordinator, (2 a clear shared vision of integration and a common framework, (3 flexibility in terms of money and time, (4 a certain sense of timing regarding when and how to exchange results and knowledge, (5 subject editors who are familiar with the specific project and its interdisciplinary merits, and (6 reviewers who are open minded about interdisciplinary efforts.

Leveraging biospecimen resources for discovery or validation of markers for early cancer detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Schully, Sheri D; Carrick, Danielle M; Mechanic, Leah E; Srivastava, Sudhir; Anderson, Garnet L; Baron, John A; Berg, Christine D; Cullen, Jennifer; Diamandis, Eleftherios P; Doria-Rose, V Paul; Goddard, Katrina A B; Hankinson, Susan E; Kushi, Lawrence H; Larson, Eric B; McShane, Lisa M; Schilsky, Richard L; Shak, Steven; Skates, Steven J; Urban, Nicole; Kramer, Barnett S; Khoury, Muin J; Ransohoff, David F

2015-04-01

Validation of early detection cancer biomarkers has proven to be disappointing when initial promising claims have often not been reproducible in diagnostic samples or did not extend to prediagnostic samples. The previously reported lack of rigorous internal validity (systematic differences between compared groups) and external validity (lack of generalizability beyond compared groups) may be effectively addressed by utilizing blood specimens and data collected within well-conducted cohort studies. Cohort studies with prediagnostic specimens (eg, blood specimens collected prior to development of clinical symptoms) and clinical data have recently been used to assess the validity of some early detection biomarkers. With this background, the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) and the Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) held a joint workshop in August 2013. The goal was to advance early detection cancer research by considering how the infrastructure of cohort studies that already exist or are being developed might be leveraged to include appropriate blood specimens, including prediagnostic specimens, ideally collected at periodic intervals, along with clinical data about symptom status and cancer diagnosis. Three overarching recommendations emerged from the discussions: 1) facilitate sharing of existing specimens and data, 2) encourage collaboration among scientists developing biomarkers and those conducting observational cohort studies or managing healthcare systems with cohorts followed over time, and 3) conduct pilot projects that identify and address key logistic and feasibility issues regarding how appropriate specimens and clinical data might be collected at reasonable effort and cost within existing or future cohorts. © Published by Oxford University Press 2015.

Structured P2P overlay of mobile brokers for realizing publish/subscribe communication in VANET.

Science.gov (United States)

Pandey, Tulika; Garg, Deepak; Gore, Manoj Madhava

2014-01-01

Publish/subscribe communication paradigm provides asynchrony and decoupling, making it an elegant alternative for designing applications in distributed and dynamic environment such as vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). In this paradigm, the broker is the most important component that decouples other two components, namely, publisher and subscriber. Previous research efforts have either utilized the deployment of distributed brokers on stationary road side info-stations or have assigned the role of broker to any moving vehicle on ad hoc basis. In one approach, lots of preinstalled infrastructures are needed whereas, in another, the quality of service is not guaranteed due to unpredictable moving and stopping patterns of vehicles. In this paper, we present the architecture of distributed mobile brokers which are dynamically reconfigurable in the form of structured P2P overlay and act as rendezvous points for matching publications and subscriptions. We have taken city buses in urban settings to act as mobile brokers whereas other vehicles are considered to be in role of publishers and subscribers. These mobile brokers also assist in locating a vehicle for successful and timely transfer of notifications. We have performed an extensive simulation study to compare our approach with previously proposed approaches. Simulation results establish the applicability of our approach.

Structured P2P Overlay of Mobile Brokers for Realizing Publish/Subscribe Communication in VANET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tulika Pandey

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Publish/subscribe communication paradigm provides asynchrony and decoupling, making it an elegant alternative for designing applications in distributed and dynamic environment such as vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs. In this paradigm, the broker is the most important component that decouples other two components, namely, publisher and subscriber. Previous research efforts have either utilized the deployment of distributed brokers on stationary road side info-stations or have assigned the role of broker to any moving vehicle on ad hoc basis. In one approach, lots of preinstalled infrastructures are needed whereas, in another, the quality of service is not guaranteed due to unpredictable moving and stopping patterns of vehicles. In this paper, we present the architecture of distributed mobile brokers which are dynamically reconfigurable in the form of structured P2P overlay and act as rendezvous points for matching publications and subscriptions. We have taken city buses in urban settings to act as mobile brokers whereas other vehicles are considered to be in role of publishers and subscribers. These mobile brokers also assist in locating a vehicle for successful and timely transfer of notifications. We have performed an extensive simulation study to compare our approach with previously proposed approaches. Simulation results establish the applicability of our approach.

Definition and initial validation of a Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS).

Science.gov (United States)

Franklyn, Kate; Lau, Chak Sing; Navarra, Sandra V; Louthrenoo, Worawit; Lateef, Aisha; Hamijoyo, Laniyati; Wahono, C Singgih; Chen, Shun Le; Jin, Ou; Morton, Susan; Hoi, Alberta; Huq, Molla; Nikpour, Mandana; Morand, Eric F

2016-09-01

Treating to low disease activity is routine in rheumatoid arthritis, but no comparable goal has been defined for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We sought to define and validate a Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS). A consensus definition of LLDAS was generated using Delphi and nominal group techniques. Criterion validity was determined by measuring the ability of LLDAS attainment, in a single-centre SLE cohort, to predict non-accrual of irreversible organ damage, measured using the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics Damage Index (SDI). Consensus methodology led to the following definition of LLDAS: (1) SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI)-2K ≤4, with no activity in major organ systems (renal, central nervous system (CNS), cardiopulmonary, vasculitis, fever) and no haemolytic anaemia or gastrointestinal activity; (2) no new lupus disease activity compared with the previous assessment; (3) a Safety of Estrogens in Lupus Erythematosus National Assessment (SELENA)-SLEDAI physician global assessment (scale 0-3) ≤1; (4) a current prednisolone (or equivalent) dose ≤7.5 mg daily; and (5) well tolerated standard maintenance doses of immunosuppressive drugs and approved biological agents. Achievement of LLDAS was determined in 191 patients followed for a mean of 3.9 years. Patients who spent greater than 50% of their observed time in LLDAS had significantly reduced organ damage accrual compared with patients who spent less than 50% of their time in LLDAS (p=0.0007) and were significantly less likely to have an increase in SDI of ≥1 (relative risk 0.47, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.79, p=0.005). A definition of LLDAS has been generated, and preliminary validation demonstrates its attainment to be associated with improved outcomes in SLE. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Alternative validation practice of an automated faulting measurement method.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-08

A number of states have adopted profiler based systems to automatically measure faulting, : in jointed concrete pavements. However, little published work exists which documents the : validation process used for such automated faulting systems. This p...

The Community Publishing Project: assisting writers to self-publish ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article examines the need for a small project such as the Community Publishing Project in South Africa and explores its aims. The method of involving writers and community groups in the publication process is described and two completed projects are evaluated. Lessons learnt by the Centre for the Book in managing ...

Academic Publishing: Making the Implicit Explicit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cecile Badenhorst

2016-07-01

Full Text Available For doctoral students, publishing in peer-reviewed journals is a task many face with anxiety and trepidation. The world of publishing, from choosing a journal, negotiating with editors and navigating reviewers’ responses is a bewildering place. Looking in from the outside, it seems that successful and productive academic writers have knowledge that is inaccessible to novice scholars. While there is a growing literature on writing for scholarly publication, many of these publications promote writing and publishing as a straightforward activity that anyone can achieve if they follow the rules. We argue that the specific and situated contexts in which academic writers negotiate publishing practices is more complicated and messy. In this paper, we attempt to make explicit our publishing processes to highlight the complex nature of publishing. We use autoethnographic narratives to provide discussion points and insights into the challenges of publishing peer reviewed articles. One narrative is by a doctoral student at the beginning of her publishing career, who expresses her desires, concerns and anxieties about writing for publication. The other narrative focuses on the publishing practices of a more experienced academic writer. Both are international scholars working in the Canadian context. The purpose of this paper is to explore academic publishing through the juxtaposition of these two narratives to make explicit some of the more implicit processes. Four themes emerge from these narratives. To publish successfully, academic writers need: (1 to be discourse analysts; (2 to have a critical competence; (3 to have writing fluency; and (4 to be emotionally intelligent.

Development and Cross-Validation of Equation for Estimating Percent Body Fat of Korean Adults According to Body Mass Index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hoyong Sung

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Background : Using BMI as an independent variable is the easiest way to estimate percent body fat. Thus far, few studies have investigated the development and cross-validation of an equation for estimating the percent body fat of Korean adults according to the BMI. The goals of this study were the development and cross-validation of an equation for estimating the percent fat of representative Korean adults using the BMI. Methods : Samples were obtained from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2008 and 2011. The samples from 2008-2009 and 2010-2011 were labeled as the validation group (n=10,624 and the cross-validation group (n=8,291, respectively. The percent fat was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and the body mass index, gender, and age were included as independent variables to estimate the measured percent fat. The coefficient of determination (R², standard error of estimation (SEE, and total error (TE were calculated to examine the accuracy of the developed equation. Results : The cross-validated R² was 0.731 for Model 1 and 0.735 for Model 2. The SEE was 3.978 for Model 1 and 3.951 for Model 2. The equations developed in this study are more accurate for estimating percent fat of the cross-validation group than those previously published by other researchers. Conclusion : The newly developed equations are comparatively accurate for the estimation of the percent fat of Korean adults.

Towards validation of the Internet Census 2012

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maan, Dirk; Cardoso de Santanna, José Jair; Sperotto, Anna; de Boer, Pieter-Tjerk; Kermarrec, Yvon

2014-01-01

The reliability of the ``Internet Census 2012'' (IC), an anonymously published scan of the entire IPv4 address space, is not a priori clear. As a step towards validation of this dataset, we compare it to logged reference data on a /16 network, and present an approach to systematically handle

Microsoft Visio 2013 business process diagramming and validation

CERN Document Server

Parker, David

2013-01-01

Microsoft Visio 2013 Business Process Diagramming and Validation provides a comprehensive and practical tutorial including example code and demonstrations for creating validation rules, writing ShapeSheet formulae, and much more.If you are a Microsoft Visio 2013 Professional Edition power user or developer who wants to get to grips with both the essential features of Visio 2013 and the validation rules in this edition, then this book is for you. A working knowledge of Microsoft Visio and optionally .NET for the add-on code is required, though previous knowledge of business process diagramming

THE TYPES OF PUBLISHING SLOGANS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryzhov Konstantin Germanovich

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The author of the article focuses his attention on publishing slogans which are posted on 100 present-day Russian publishing houses' official websites and have not yet been studied in the special literature. The author has developed his own classification of publishing slogans based on the results of analysis and considering the current scientific views on the classification of slogans. The examined items are classified into autonomous and text-dependent according to interrelationship with an advertising text; marketable, corporative and mixed according to a presentation subject; rational, emotional and complex depending on the method of influence upon a recipient; slogan-presentation, slogan-assurance, slogan-identifier, slogan-appraisal, slogan-appeal depending on the communicative strategy; slogans consisting of one sentence and of two or more sentences; Russian and foreign ones. The analysis of the slogans of all kinds presented in the actual material allowed the author to determine the dominant features of the Russian publishing slogan which is an autonomous sentence in relation to the advertising text. In spite of that, the slogan shows the publishing output, influences the recipient emotionally, actualizes the communicative strategy of publishing house presentation of its distinguishing features, gives assurance to the target audience and distinguishes the advertised subject among competitors.

A validated battery of vocal emotional expressions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierre Maurage

2007-11-01

Full Text Available For a long time, the exploration of emotions focused on facial expression, and vocal expression of emotion has only recently received interest. However, no validated battery of emotional vocal expressions has been published and made available to the researchers’ community. This paper aims at validating and proposing such material. 20 actors (10 men recorded sounds (words and interjections expressing six basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, neutral and sadness. These stimuli were then submitted to a double validation phase: (1 preselection by experts; (2 quantitative and qualitative validation by 70 participants. 195 stimuli were selected for the final battery, each one depicting a precise emotion. The ratings provide a complete measure of intensity and specificity for each stimulus. This paper provides, to our knowledge, the first validated, freely available and highly standardized battery of emotional vocal expressions (words and intonations. This battery could constitute an interesting tool for the exploration of prosody processing among normal and pathological populations, in neuropsychology as well as psychiatry. Further works are nevertheless needed to complement the present material.

Self-Published Books: An Empirical "Snapshot"

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, Jana; Fulton, Bruce; Helm, Marlene

2012-01-01

The number of books published by authors using fee-based publication services, such as Lulu and AuthorHouse, is overtaking the number of books published by mainstream publishers, according to Bowker's 2009 annual data. Little empirical research exists on self-published books. This article presents the results of an investigation of a random sample…

QlikView Server and Publisher

CERN Document Server

Redmond, Stephen

2014-01-01

This is a comprehensive guide with a step-by-step approach that enables you to host and manage servers using QlikView Server and QlikView Publisher.If you are a server administrator wanting to learn about how to deploy QlikView Server for server management,analysis and testing, and QlikView Publisher for publishing of business content then this is the perfect book for you. No prior experience with QlikView is expected.

Validation of Structures in the Protein Data Bank.

Science.gov (United States)

Gore, Swanand; Sanz García, Eduardo; Hendrickx, Pieter M S; Gutmanas, Aleksandras; Westbrook, John D; Yang, Huanwang; Feng, Zukang; Baskaran, Kumaran; Berrisford, John M; Hudson, Brian P; Ikegawa, Yasuyo; Kobayashi, Naohiro; Lawson, Catherine L; Mading, Steve; Mak, Lora; Mukhopadhyay, Abhik; Oldfield, Thomas J; Patwardhan, Ardan; Peisach, Ezra; Sahni, Gaurav; Sekharan, Monica R; Sen, Sanchayita; Shao, Chenghua; Smart, Oliver S; Ulrich, Eldon L; Yamashita, Reiko; Quesada, Martha; Young, Jasmine Y; Nakamura, Haruki; Markley, John L; Berman, Helen M; Burley, Stephen K; Velankar, Sameer; Kleywegt, Gerard J

2017-12-05

The Worldwide PDB recently launched a deposition, biocuration, and validation tool: OneDep. At various stages of OneDep data processing, validation reports for three-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules are produced. These reports are based on recommendations of expert task forces representing crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, and cryoelectron microscopy communities. The reports provide useful metrics with which depositors can evaluate the quality of the experimental data, the structural model, and the fit between them. The validation module is also available as a stand-alone web server and as a programmatically accessible web service. A growing number of journals require the official wwPDB validation reports (produced at biocuration) to accompany manuscripts describing macromolecular structures. Upon public release of the structure, the validation report becomes part of the public PDB archive. Geometric quality scores for proteins in the PDB archive have improved over the past decade. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Validation of asthma recording in electronic health records: protocol for a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Nissen, Francis; Quint, Jennifer K; Wilkinson, Samantha; Mullerova, Hana; Smeeth, Liam; Douglas, Ian J

2017-05-29

Asthma is a common, heterogeneous disease with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. It can be difficult to define in epidemiological studies using electronic health records as the diagnosis is based on non-specific respiratory symptoms and spirometry, neither of which are routinely registered. Electronic health records can nonetheless be valuable to study the epidemiology, management, healthcare use and control of asthma. For health databases to be useful sources of information, asthma diagnoses should ideally be validated. The primary objectives are to provide an overview of the methods used to validate asthma diagnoses in electronic health records and summarise the results of the validation studies. EMBASE and MEDLINE will be systematically searched for appropriate search terms. The searches will cover all studies in these databases up to October 2016 with no start date and will yield studies that have validated algorithms or codes for the diagnosis of asthma in electronic health records. At least one test validation measure (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value or other) is necessary for inclusion. In addition, we require the validated algorithms to be compared with an external golden standard, such as a manual review, a questionnaire or an independent second database. We will summarise key data including author, year of publication, country, time period, date, data source, population, case characteristics, clinical events, algorithms, gold standard and validation statistics in a uniform table. This study is a synthesis of previously published studies and, therefore, no ethical approval is required. The results will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. Results from this systematic review can be used to study outcome research on asthma and can be used to identify case definitions for asthma. CRD42016041798. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the

Peer-review: An IOP Publishing Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Timothy

2015-03-01

Online publishing is challenging, and potentially changing, the role of publishers in both managing the peer-review process and disseminating the work that they publish in meeting contrasting needs from diverse groups of research communities. Recognizing the value of peer-review as a fundamental service to authors and the research community, the underlying principles of managing the process for journals published by IOP Publishing remain unchanged and yet the potential and demand for alternative models exists. This talk will discuss the traditional approach to peer-review placed in the context of this changing demand.

Perception of Key Barriers in Using and Publishing Open Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Beno

2017-12-01

Full Text Available TThere is a growing body of literature recognizing the benefits of Open Data. However, many potential data providers are unwilling to publish their data and at the same time, data users are often faced with difficulties when attempting to use Open Data in practice. Despite various barriers in using and publishing Open Data still being present, studies which systematically collect and assess these barriers are rare. Based on this observation we present a review on prior literature on barriers and the results of an empirical study aimed at assessing both the users’ and publishers’ views on obstacles regarding Open Data adoption. We collected data with an online survey in Austria and internationally. Using a sample of 183 participants, we draw conclusions about the relative importance of the barriers reported in the literature. In comparison to a previous conference paper presented at the conference for E-Democracy and Open Government, this article includes new additional data from participants outside Austria, reports new analyses, and substantially extends the discussion of results and of possible strategies for the mitigation of Open Data barriers.

Verification and Validation of Multisegmented Mooring Capabilities in FAST v8: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andersen, Morten T.; Wendt, Fabian; Robertson, Amy; Jonkman, Jason; Hall, Matthew

2016-08-01

The quasi-static and dynamic mooring modules of the open-source aero-hydro-servo-elastic wind turbine simulation software, FAST v8, have previously been verified and validated, but only for mooring arrangements consisting of single lines connecting each fairlead and anchor. This paper extends the previous verification and validation efforts to focus on the multisegmented mooring capability of the FAST v8 modules: MAP++, MoorDyn, and the OrcaFlex interface. The OC3-Hywind spar buoy system tested by the DeepCwind consortium at the MARIN ocean basin, which includes a multisegmented bridle layout of the mooring system, was used for the verification and validation activities.

Validating presupposed versus focused text information.

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Murray; Solar, Kevin G; Spear, Jackie

2017-04-01

There is extensive evidence that readers continually validate discourse accuracy and congruence, but that they may also overlook conspicuous text contradictions. Validation may be thwarted when the inaccurate ideas are embedded sentence presuppositions. In four experiments, we examined readers' validation of presupposed ("given") versus new text information. Throughout, a critical concept, such as a truck versus a bus, was introduced early in a narrative. Later, a character stated or thought something about the truck, which therefore matched or mismatched its antecedent. Furthermore, truck was presented as either given or new information. Mismatch target reading times uniformly exceeded the matching ones by similar magnitudes for given and new concepts. We obtained this outcome using different grammatical constructions and with different antecedent-target distances. In Experiment 4, we examined only given critical ideas, but varied both their matching and the main verb's factivity (e.g., factive know vs. nonfactive think). The Match × Factivity interaction closely resembled that previously observed for new target information (Singer, 2006). Thus, readers can successfully validate given target information. Although contemporary theories tend to emphasize either deficient or successful validation, both types of theory can accommodate the discourse and reader variables that may regulate validation.

From protocol to published report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berendt, Louise; Callréus, Torbjörn; Petersen, Lene Grejs

2016-01-01

and published reports of academic clinical drug trials. METHODS: A comparison was made between study protocols and their corresponding published reports. We assessed the overall consistency, which was defined as the absence of discrepancy regarding study type (categorized as either exploratory or confirmatory...... in 1999, 2001, and 2003, 95 of which fulfilled the eligibility criteria and had at least one corresponding published report reporting data on trial subjects. Overall consistency was observed in 39% of the trials (95% CI: 29 to 49%). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) constituted 72% (95% CI: 63 to 81......%) of the sample, and 87% (95% CI: 80 to 94%) of the trials were hospital based. CONCLUSIONS: Overall consistency between protocols and their corresponding published reports was low. Motivators for the inconsistencies are unknown but do not seem restricted to economic incentives....

Types of Open Access Publishers in Scopus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Solomon

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This study assessed characteristics of publishers who published 2010 open access (OA journals indexed in Scopus. Publishers were categorized into six types; professional, society, university, scholar/researcher, government, and other organizations. Type of publisher was broken down by number of journals/articles published in 2010, funding model, location, discipline and whether the journal was born or converted to OA. Universities and societies accounted for 50% of the journals and 43% of the articles published. Professional publisher accounted for a third of the journals and 42% of the articles. With the exception of professional and scholar/researcher publishers, most journals were originally subscription journals that made at least their digital version freely available. Arts, humanities and social science journals are largely published by societies and universities outside the major publishing countries. Professional OA publishing is most common in biomedicine, mathematics, the sciences and engineering. Approximately a quarter of the journals are hosted on national/international platforms, in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia largely published by universities and societies without the need for publishing fees. This type of collaboration between governments, universities and/or societies may be an effective means of expanding open access publications.

Choosing the Right Desktop Publisher.

Science.gov (United States)

Eiser, Leslie

1988-01-01

Investigates the many different desktop publishing packages available today. Lists the steps to desktop publishing. Suggests which package to use with specific hardware available. Compares several packages for IBM, Mac, and Apple II based systems. (MVL)

[DESIGN AND VALIDATION OF AN IMAGE FOR DISSEMINATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CHILEAN DIETARY GUIDELINES].

Science.gov (United States)

Olivares Cortés, Sonia; Zacarías Hasbún, Isabel; González González, Carmen Gloria; Fonseca Morán, Lilian; Mediano Stoltze, Fernanda; Pinheiro Fernandes, Anna Christina; Rodríguez Osiac, Lorena

2015-08-01

Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDG) are usually accompanied by an image for dissemination and implementation. to design and validate an image to represent the variety and proportions of the new Chilean dietary guidelines, include foods high in critical nutrients that should be avoided and physical activity guidelines. a panel of experts tested seven graphics and selected three that were validated with 12 focus groups of people aged 10-14 and 20-40 years, of both sexes, from different socioeconomic groups and from both rural and urban areas. We analyzed the perception of variety and proportions of the food groups for daily intake and motivation for action in diet and physical activity. We utilized the METAPLAN method used previously in the validation of FBDG. the final image was a circle that showed the variety and proportions of each food group for daily consumption (in pictures), included physical activity guidelines in a strip around the middle of the circle and a rectangle towards of bottom of the image with examples of foods high in critical nutrients in black and white. The chosen picture was modified using input from participants and validated with three additional focus groups, improving its understanding and acceptance. most participants understood that the image represented the relationship between healthy eating and daily physical activity, correctly identifying the food groups for which increased intake was suggested and those groups in which intake should be reduced or avoided. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

Validation of transcutaneous bilirubin nomogram for identifying neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in healthy Chinese term and late-preterm infants: a multicenter study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Zhangbin; Han, Shuping; Wu, Jinxia; Li, Mingxia; Wang, Huaiyan; Wang, Jimei; Liu, Jiebo; Pan, Xinnian; Yang, Jie; Chen, Chao

2014-01-01

to prospectively validate a previously constructed transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) nomogram for identifying severe hyperbilirubinemia in healthy Chinese term and late-preterm infants. this was a multicenter study that included 9,174 healthy term and late-preterm infants in eight hospitals of China. TcB measurements were performed using a JM-103 bilirubinometer. TcB values were plotted on a previously developed TcB nomogram, to identify the predictive ability for subsequent significant hyperbilirubinemia. in the present study, 972 neonates (10.6%) developed significant hyperbilirubinemia. The 40(th) percentile of the nomogram could identify all neonates who were at risk of significant hyperbilirubinemia, but with a low positive predictive value (PPV) (18.9%). Of the 453 neonates above the 95(th) percentile, 275 subsequently developed significant hyperbilirubinemia, with a high PPV (60.7%), but with low sensitivity (28.3%). The 75(th) percentile was highly specific (81.9%) and moderately sensitive (79.8%). The area under the curve (AUC) for the TcB nomogram was 0.875. this study validated the previously developed TcB nomogram, which could be used to predict subsequent significant hyperbilirubinemia in healthy Chinese term and late-preterm infants. However, combining TcB nomogram and clinical risk factors could improve the predictive accuracy for severe hyperbilirubinemia, which was not assessed in the study. Further studies are necessary to confirm this combination. Copyright © 2014 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Publishing for Learned Societies: The Secret Life of a Scholarly Publisher

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholson, David

Wiley-Blackwell was formed in February 2007 as a result of the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and the merger between Blackwell and Wiley's Scientific, Technical, and Medical business. Wiley-Blackwell publishes approximately 1,250 scholarly peer-reviewed journals including Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and Astronomische Nachrichten, and has relationships with over 800 learned societies. The "secret life" of the article's title refers to the two broad areas of activity we undertake for our society partners, namely practical assistance and strategic advice. One of our goals at Wiley-Blackwell is to set the standard for both areas, and this article illustrates how we are doing this with a series of tangible examples.

Validation of suitable reference genes for expression normalization in Echinococcus spp. larval stages.

Science.gov (United States)

Espínola, Sergio Martin; Ferreira, Henrique Bunselmeyer; Zaha, Arnaldo

2014-01-01

In recent years, a significant amount of sequence data (both genomic and transcriptomic) for Echinococcus spp. has been published, thereby facilitating the analysis of genes expressed during a specific stage or involved in parasite development. To perform a suitable gene expression quantification analysis, the use of validated reference genes is strongly recommended. Thus, the aim of this work was to identify suitable reference genes to allow reliable expression normalization for genes of interest in Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.) (G1) and Echinococcus ortleppi upon induction of the early pre-adult development. Untreated protoscoleces (PS) and pepsin-treated protoscoleces (PSP) from E. granulosus s.s. (G1) and E. ortleppi metacestode were used. The gene expression stability of eleven candidate reference genes (βTUB, NDUFV2, RPL13, TBP, CYP-1, RPII, EF-1α, βACT-1, GAPDH, ETIF4A-III and MAPK3) was assessed using geNorm, Normfinder, and RefFinder. Our qPCR data showed a good correlation with the recently published RNA-seq data. Regarding expression stability, EF-1α and TBP were the most stable genes for both species. Interestingly, βACT-1 (the most commonly used reference gene), and GAPDH and ETIF4A-III (previously identified as housekeeping genes) did not behave stably in our assay conditions. We propose the use of EF-1α as a reference gene for studies involving gene expression analysis in both PS and PSP experimental conditions for E. granulosus s.s. and E. ortleppi. To demonstrate its applicability, EF-1α was used as a normalizer gene in the relative quantification of transcripts from genes coding for antigen B subunits. The same EF-1α reference gene may be used in studies with other Echinococcus sensu lato species. This report validates suitable reference genes for species of class Cestoda, phylum Platyhelminthes, thus providing a foundation for further validation in other epidemiologically important cestode species, such as those from the

Validation of Suitable Reference Genes for Expression Normalization in Echinococcus spp. Larval Stages

Science.gov (United States)

Espínola, Sergio Martin; Ferreira, Henrique Bunselmeyer; Zaha, Arnaldo

2014-01-01

In recent years, a significant amount of sequence data (both genomic and transcriptomic) for Echinococcus spp. has been published, thereby facilitating the analysis of genes expressed during a specific stage or involved in parasite development. To perform a suitable gene expression quantification analysis, the use of validated reference genes is strongly recommended. Thus, the aim of this work was to identify suitable reference genes to allow reliable expression normalization for genes of interest in Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.) (G1) and Echinococcus ortleppi upon induction of the early pre-adult development. Untreated protoscoleces (PS) and pepsin-treated protoscoleces (PSP) from E. granulosus s.s. (G1) and E. ortleppi metacestode were used. The gene expression stability of eleven candidate reference genes (βTUB, NDUFV2, RPL13, TBP, CYP-1, RPII, EF-1α, βACT-1, GAPDH, ETIF4A-III and MAPK3) was assessed using geNorm, Normfinder, and RefFinder. Our qPCR data showed a good correlation with the recently published RNA-seq data. Regarding expression stability, EF-1α and TBP were the most stable genes for both species. Interestingly, βACT-1 (the most commonly used reference gene), and GAPDH and ETIF4A-III (previously identified as housekeeping genes) did not behave stably in our assay conditions. We propose the use of EF-1α as a reference gene for studies involving gene expression analysis in both PS and PSP experimental conditions for E. granulosus s.s. and E. ortleppi. To demonstrate its applicability, EF-1α was used as a normalizer gene in the relative quantification of transcripts from genes coding for antigen B subunits. The same EF-1α reference gene may be used in studies with other Echinococcus sensu lato species. This report validates suitable reference genes for species of class Cestoda, phylum Platyhelminthes, thus providing a foundation for further validation in other epidemiologically important cestode species, such as those from the

DTU PMU Laboratory Development - Testing and Validation

OpenAIRE

Garcia-Valle, Rodrigo; Yang, Guang-Ya; Martin, Kenneth E.; Nielsen, Arne Hejde; Østergaard, Jacob

2010-01-01

This is a report of the results of phasor measurement unit (PMU) laboratory development and testing done at the Centre for Electric Technology (CET), Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Analysis of the PMU performance first required the development of tools to convert the DTU PMU data into IEEE standard, and the validation is done for the DTU-PMU via a validated commercial PMU. The commercial PMU has been tested from the authors' previous efforts, where the response can be expected to foll...

The Changing Business of Scholarly Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Karen

1993-01-01

Discussion of changes and trends in scholarly publishing highlights monographs; journals; user-centered publishing; electronic products and services, including adding value, marketing strategies, and new pricing systems; changing attitudes regarding copyright; trends in publishing industry reorganization; and impacts on research libraries. (LRW)

Publishing in Open Access Journals

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

mbrunet

00054.x). • An ISSN (International Standard Serial Number e.g. 1234-5678) has ... Publisher uses direct and unsolicited marketing (i.e., spamming) or advertising is obtrusive (to publish articles or serve on editorial board). • No information is ...

Electronic Publishing: Baseline Data 1993.

Science.gov (United States)

Brock, Laurie

1993-01-01

Provides highlights of a report describing research conducted to analyze and compare publishers' and developers' current and planned involvement in electronic publishing. Topics include acceptance of new media, licensing issues, costs and other perceived obstacles, and CD-ROMs platforms. (EAM)

The Book Publishing Industry

OpenAIRE

Jean-Paul Simon; Giuditta de Prato

2012-01-01

This report offers an in-depth analysis of the major economic developments in the book publishing industry. The analysis integrates data from a statistical report published earlier as part of this project. The report is divided into 4 main parts. Chapter 1, the introduction, puts the sector into an historical perspective. Chapter 2 introduces the markets at a global and regional level; describes some of the major EU markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom). Chapter 3 ana...

The Effect of Previous Co-Worker Experience on the Survival of Knowledge Intensive Start-Ups

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Timmermans, Bram

The aim of the paper is to investigate the effect of previous co-worker experience on the survival of knowledge intensive start-ups. For the empirical analysis I use the Danish Integrated Database of Labor Market Research (IDA). This longitudinal employer-employee database allows me to identify co-worker...... experience among all members of the firm. In addition, I will make a distinction between ordinary start-ups and entrepreneurial spin-offs. The results show that previous co-worker experience has a positive effect on new firm survival. This effect appears to be valid predominantly for ordinary start-ups than...

External validation of models predicting the individual risk of metachronous peritoneal carcinomatosis from colon and rectal cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Segelman, J; Akre, O; Gustafsson, U O; Bottai, M; Martling, A

2016-04-01

To externally validate previously published predictive models of the risk of developing metachronous peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) after resection of nonmetastatic colon or rectal cancer and to update the predictive model for colon cancer by adding new prognostic predictors. Data from all patients with Stage I-III colorectal cancer identified from a population-based database in Stockholm between 2008 and 2010 were used. We assessed the concordance between the predicted and observed probabilities of PC and utilized proportional-hazard regression to update the predictive model for colon cancer. When applied to the new validation dataset (n = 2011), the colon and rectal cancer risk-score models predicted metachronous PC with a concordance index of 79% and 67%, respectively. After adding the subclasses of pT3 and pT4 stage and mucinous tumour to the colon cancer model, the concordance index increased to 82%. In validation of external and recent cohorts, the predictive accuracy was strong in colon cancer and moderate in rectal cancer patients. The model can be used to identify high-risk patients for planned second-look laparoscopy/laparotomy for possible subsequent cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Colorectal Disease © 2015 The Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland.

Integrated Disposal Facility FY 2016: ILAW Verification and Validation of the eSTOMP Simulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Freedman, Vicky L. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Bacon, Diana H. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Fang, Yilin [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2016-05-13

This document describes two sets of simulations carried out to further verify and validate the eSTOMP simulator. In this report, a distinction is made between verification and validation, and the focus is on verifying eSTOMP through a series of published benchmarks on cementitious wastes, and validating eSTOMP based on a lysimeter experiment for the glassified waste. These activities are carried out within the context of a scientific view of validation that asserts that models can only be invalidated, and that model validation (and verification) is a subjective assessment.

Ethics in Scientific Publishing

Science.gov (United States)

Sage, Leslie J.

2012-08-01

We all learn in elementary school not turn in other people's writing as if it were our own (plagiarism), and in high school science labs not to fake our data. But there are many other practices in scientific publishing that are depressingly common and almost as unethical. At about the 20 percent level authors are deliberately hiding recent work -- by themselves as well as by others -- so as to enhance the apparent novelty of their most recent paper. Some people lie about the dates the data were obtained, to cover up conflicts of interest, or inappropriate use of privileged information. Others will publish the same conference proceeding in multiple volumes, or publish the same result in multiple journals with only trivial additions of data or analysis (self-plagiarism). These shady practices should be roundly condemned and stopped. I will discuss these and other unethical actions I have seen over the years, and steps editors are taking to stop them.

Further validation and definition of the psychometric properties of the Asthma Impact Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Schatz, Michael; Zeiger, Robert S; Yang, Su-Jau; Chen, Wansu; Kosinski, Mark

2011-07-01

The Asthma Impact Survey (AIS-6) is a brief disease-specific quality-of-life instrument with limited published validation data. To obtain additional validation data and psychometric properties of the AIS-6. In November, 2007, patients with persistent asthma were mailed a survey that included the AIS-6, the mini-Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (mAQLQ), and the Asthma Control Test (ACT). Follow-up surveys were sent in April, July, and October 2008. Year 2008 exacerbations and short-acting β-agonist (SABA) dispensings were captured from administrative data. A total of 2680 patients had complete baseline survey data. Criterion validity was demonstrated by the strong correlations of the AIS-6 with the mAQLQ (r = -0.84 to -0.86); construct validity by significant relationships (P validity by significant relationships (P reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.86-0.91) were also demonstrated. The AIS-6 demonstrated good psychometric properties in a large independent sample and could be used to assess asthma-specific quality of life in clinical practice and clinical research. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Predicting the ungauged basin : Model validation and realism assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Emmerik, T.H.M.; Mulder, G.; Eilander, D.; Piet, M.; Savenije, H.H.G.

2015-01-01

The hydrological decade on Predictions in Ungauged Basins (PUB) led to many new insights in model development, calibration strategies, data acquisition and uncertainty analysis. Due to a limited amount of published studies on genuinely ungauged basins, model validation and realism assessment of

Validation of a tuber blight (Phytophthora infestans) prediction model

Science.gov (United States)

Potato tuber blight caused by Phytophthora infestans accounts for significant losses in storage. There is limited published quantitative data on predicting tuber blight. We validated a tuber blight prediction model developed in New York with cultivars Allegany, NY 101, and Katahdin using independent...

Predicting the ungauged basin: model validation and realism assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Emmerik, Tim; Mulder, Gert; Eilander, Dirk; Piet, Marijn; Savenije, Hubert

2015-01-01

The hydrological decade on Predictions in Ungauged Basins (PUB) led to many new insights in model development, calibration strategies, data acquisition and uncertainty analysis. Due to a limited amount of published studies on genuinely ungauged basins, model validation and realism assessment of

External validation of prognostic models to predict risk of gestational diabetes mellitus in one Dutch cohort: prospective multicentre cohort study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lamain-de Ruiter, M.; Kwee, A.; Naaktgeboren, C.A.; Groot, I. de; Evers, I.M.; Groenendaal, F.; Hering, Y.R.; Huisjes, A.J.M.; Kirpestein, C.; Monincx, W.M.; Siljee, J.E.; Zelfde, A. van't; Oirschot, C.M. van; Vankan-Buitelaar, S.A.; Vonk, M.A.A.W.; Wiegers, T.A.; Zwart, J.J.; Franx, A.; Moons, K.G.M.; Koster, M.P.H.

2016-01-01

Objective: To perform an external validation and direct comparison of published prognostic models for early prediction of the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus, including predictors applicable in the first trimester of pregnancy. Design: External validation of all published prognostic models in

Basics of Desktop Publishing. Second Edition.

Science.gov (United States)

Beeby, Ellen; Crummett, Jerrie

This document contains teacher and student materials for a basic course in desktop publishing. Six units of instruction cover the following: (1) introduction to desktop publishing; (2) desktop publishing systems; (3) software; (4) type selection; (5) document design; and (6) layout. The teacher edition contains some or all of the following…

The Decision to Publish Electronically.

Science.gov (United States)

Craig, Gary

1983-01-01

Argues that decision to publish a given intellectual product "electronically" is a business decision based on customer needs, available format alternatives, current business climate, and variety of already existing factors. Publishers are most influenced by customers' acceptance of new products and their own role as intermediaries in…

The Evolution of Electronic Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lancaster, F. W.

1995-01-01

Discusses the evolution of electronic publishing from the early 1960s when computers were used merely to produce conventional printed products to the present move toward networked scholarly publishing. Highlights include library development, periodicals on the Internet, online journals versus paper journals, problems, and the future of…

Validation of Yoon's Critical Thinking Disposition Instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Hyunsook; Park, Chang Gi; Kim, Hyojin

2015-12-01

The lack of reliable and valid evaluation tools targeting Korean nursing students' critical thinking (CT) abilities has been reported as one of the barriers to instructing and evaluating students in undergraduate programs. Yoon's Critical Thinking Disposition (YCTD) instrument was developed for Korean nursing students, but few studies have assessed its validity. This study aimed to validate the YCTD. Specifically, the YCTD was assessed to identify its cross-sectional and longitudinal measurement invariance. This was a validation study in which a cross-sectional and longitudinal (prenursing and postnursing practicum) survey was used to validate the YCTD using 345 nursing students at three universities in Seoul, Korea. The participants' CT abilities were assessed using the YCTD before and after completing an established pediatric nursing practicum. The validity of the YCTD was estimated and then group invariance test using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was performed to confirm the measurement compatibility of multigroups. A test of the seven-factor model showed that the YCTD demonstrated good construct validity. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis findings for the measurement invariance suggested that this model structure demonstrated strong invariance between groups (i.e., configural, factor loading, and intercept combined) but weak invariance within a group (i.e., configural and factor loading combined). In general, traditional methods for assessing instrument validity have been less than thorough. In this study, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis using cross-sectional and longitudinal measurement data allowed validation of the YCTD. This study concluded that the YCTD can be used for evaluating Korean nursing students' CT abilities. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Reliability and validity of the Safe Routes to school parent and student surveys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evenson Kelly R

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The purpose of this study is to assess the reliability and validity of the U.S. National Center for Safe Routes to School's in-class student travel tallies and written parent surveys. Over 65,000 tallies and 374,000 parent surveys have been completed, but no published studies have examined their measurement properties. Methods Students and parents from two Charlotte, NC (USA elementary schools participated. Tallies were conducted on two consecutive days using a hand-raising protocol; on day two students were also asked to recall the previous days' travel. The recall from day two was compared with day one to assess 24-hour test-retest reliability. Convergent validity was assessed by comparing parent-reports of students' travel mode with student-reports of travel mode. Two-week test-retest reliability of the parent survey was assessed by comparing within-parent responses. Reliability and validity were assessed using kappa statistics. Results A total of 542 students participated in the in-class student travel tally reliability assessment and 262 parent-student dyads participated in the validity assessment. Reliability was high for travel to and from school (kappa > 0.8; convergent validity was lower but still high (kappa > 0.75. There were no differences by student grade level. Two-week test-retest reliability of the parent survey (n = 112 ranged from moderate to very high for objective questions on travel mode and travel times (kappa range: 0.62 - 0.97 but was substantially lower for subjective assessments of barriers to walking to school (kappa range: 0.31 - 0.76. Conclusions The student in-class student travel tally exhibited high reliability and validity at all elementary grades. The parent survey had high reliability on questions related to student travel mode, but lower reliability for attitudinal questions identifying barriers to walking to school. Parent survey design should be improved so that responses clearly indicate

Reliability and validity of the Safe Routes to school parent and student surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Noreen C; Dwelley, Amanda E; Combs, Tabitha S; Evenson, Kelly R; Winters, Richard H

2011-06-08

The purpose of this study is to assess the reliability and validity of the U.S. National Center for Safe Routes to School's in-class student travel tallies and written parent surveys. Over 65,000 tallies and 374,000 parent surveys have been completed, but no published studies have examined their measurement properties. Students and parents from two Charlotte, NC (USA) elementary schools participated. Tallies were conducted on two consecutive days using a hand-raising protocol; on day two students were also asked to recall the previous days' travel. The recall from day two was compared with day one to assess 24-hour test-retest reliability. Convergent validity was assessed by comparing parent-reports of students' travel mode with student-reports of travel mode. Two-week test-retest reliability of the parent survey was assessed by comparing within-parent responses. Reliability and validity were assessed using kappa statistics. A total of 542 students participated in the in-class student travel tally reliability assessment and 262 parent-student dyads participated in the validity assessment. Reliability was high for travel to and from school (kappa > 0.8); convergent validity was lower but still high (kappa > 0.75). There were no differences by student grade level. Two-week test-retest reliability of the parent survey (n=112) ranged from moderate to very high for objective questions on travel mode and travel times (kappa range: 0.62-0.97) but was substantially lower for subjective assessments of barriers to walking to school (kappa range: 0.31-0.76). The student in-class student travel tally exhibited high reliability and validity at all elementary grades. The parent survey had high reliability on questions related to student travel mode, but lower reliability for attitudinal questions identifying barriers to walking to school. Parent survey design should be improved so that responses clearly indicate issues that influence parental decision making in regards to their

Exploring Digital News Publishing Business Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindskow, Kasper

News publishers in the industrialized world are experiencing a fundamental challenge to their business models because of the changing modes of consumption, competition, and production of their offerings that are associated with the emergence of the networked information society. The erosion...... of the traditional business models poses an existential threat to news publishing and has given rise to a continuing struggle among news publishers to design digital business models that will be sustainable in the future. This dissertation argues that a central and underresearched aspect of digital news publishing...... business models concerns the production networks that support the co-production of digital news offerings. To fill this knowledge gap, this dissertation explores the strategic design of the digital news publishing production networks that are associated with HTML-based news offerings on the open Web...

Leiomyosarcoma of the Prostate: Case Report and Review of 54 Previously Published Cases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerasimos P. Vandoros

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Prostate leiomyosarcoma is an extremely rare and highly aggressive neoplasm that accounts for less than 0.1% of primary prostate malignancies. We present a patient with primary leiomyosarcoma of the prostate and review 54 cases reported in the literature to discuss the clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of this uncommon tumor. Median survival was estimated at 17 months (95% C.I. 20.7–43.7 months and the 1-, 3-, and 5-year actuarial survival rates were 68%, 34%, and 26%, respectively. The only factors predictive of long-term survival were negative surgical margins and absence of metastatic disease at presentation. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary for appropriate management of this dire entity.

ESTABLISHING A PUBLISHING OUTFIT IN NIGERIA EMENYONU ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

CIU

stakeholders in the publishing industry,the legal environment of publishing, ... retailers. Publishing is a peculiar form of business for which a special group of very .... The publisher should provide furniture and fittings for the staff and intended ...

Decentralized provenance-aware publishing with nanopublications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tobias Kuhn

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Publication and archival of scientific results is still commonly considered the responsability of classical publishing companies. Classical forms of publishing, however, which center around printed narrative articles, no longer seem well-suited in the digital age. In particular, there exist currently no efficient, reliable, and agreed-upon methods for publishing scientific datasets, which have become increasingly important for science. In this article, we propose to design scientific data publishing as a web-based bottom-up process, without top-down control of central authorities such as publishing companies. Based on a novel combination of existing concepts and technologies, we present a server network to decentrally store and archive data in the form of nanopublications, an RDF-based format to represent scientific data. We show how this approach allows researchers to publish, retrieve, verify, and recombine datasets of nanopublications in a reliable and trustworthy manner, and we argue that this architecture could be used as a low-level data publication layer to serve the Semantic Web in general. Our evaluation of the current network shows that this system is efficient and reliable.

On the Validity of Student Evaluation of Teaching: The State of the Art

Science.gov (United States)

Spooren, Pieter; Brockx, Bert; Mortelmans, Dimitri

2013-01-01

This article provides an extensive overview of the recent literature on student evaluation of teaching (SET) in higher education. The review is based on the SET meta-validation model, drawing upon research reports published in peer-reviewed journals since 2000. Through the lens of validity, we consider both the more traditional research themes in…

MUCH Electronic Publishing Environment: Principles and Practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Zheng; Rada, Roy

1994-01-01

Discusses the electronic publishing system called Many Using and Creating Hypermedia (MUCH). The MUCH system supports collaborative authoring; reuse; formatting and printing; management; hypermedia publishing and delivery; and interchange. This article examines electronic publishing environments; the MUCH environment; publishing activities; and…

Desktop Publishing in the University.

Science.gov (United States)

Burstyn, Joan N., Ed.

Highlighting changes in the work of people within the university, this book presents nine essays that examine the effects of desktop publishing and electronic publishing on professors and students, librarians, and those who work at university presses and in publication departments. Essays in the book are: (1) "Introduction: The Promise of Desktop…

The Validity of International Sales Contracts: Irrelevance of the 'Validity Exception' in Article 4 Vienna Sales Convention and a Novel Approach to Determining the Convention's Scope

OpenAIRE

Schroeter, Ulrich

2017-01-01

in: Ingeborg Schwenzer and Lisa Spagnolo (eds.), Boundaries and Intersections: The 5th Annual MAA Schlechtriem CISG Conference, The Hague: Eleven International Publishing (2014), pp. 95-117 Throughout the history of uniform law for international sales, the rules governing the validity of cross-border sales contracts have proven particularly difficult to harmonize because they differ greatly between the various domestic laws. This dilemma inter alia resulted in the "validity exception" in Arti...

Web Publishing Schedule

Science.gov (United States)

Section 207(f)(2) of the E-Gov Act requires federal agencies to develop an inventory and establish a schedule of information to be published on their Web sites, make those schedules available for public comment. To post the schedules on the web site.

Recommendations for the validation of cell-based assays used for the detection of neutralizing antibody immune responses elicited against biological therapeutics.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Shalini; Devanarayan, Viswanath; Finco, Deborah; Gunn, George R; Kirshner, Susan; Richards, Susan; Rup, Bonita; Song, An; Subramanyam, Meena

2011-07-15

The administration of biological therapeutics may result in the development of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) in treated subjects. In some cases, ADA responses may result in the loss of therapeutic efficacy due to the formation of neutralizing ADAs (NAbs). An important characteristic of anti-drug NAbs is their direct inhibitory effect on the pharmacological activity of the therapeutic. Neutralizing antibody responses are of particular concern for biologic products with an endogenous homolog whose activity can be potentially dampened or completely inhibited by the NAbs leading to an autoimmune-type deficiency syndrome. Therefore, it is important that ADAs are detected and characterized appropriately using sensitive and reliable methods. The design, development and optimization of cell-based assays used for detection of NAbs have been published previously by Gupta et al. 2007 [1]. This paper provides recommendations on best practices for the validation of cell-based NAb assay and suggested validation parameters based on the experience of the authors. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Implementing an online tool for genome-wide validation of survival-associated biomarkers in ovarian-cancer using microarray data from 1287 patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Győrffy, Balázs; Lánczky, András; Szállási, Zoltán

2012-01-01

was set up using gene expression data and survival information of 1287 ovarian cancer patients downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus and The Cancer Genome Atlas (Affymetrix HG-U133A, HG-U133A 2.0, and HG-U133 Plus 2.0 microarrays). After quality control and normalization, only probes present on all......). A Kaplan–Meier survival plot was generated and significance was computed. The tool can be accessed online at www.kmplot.com/ovar. We used this integrative data analysis tool to validate the prognostic power of 37 biomarkers identified in the literature. Of these, CA125 (MUC16; P=3.7x10–5, hazard ratio (HR...... biomarker validation platform that mines all available microarray data to assess the prognostic power of 22 277 genes in 1287 ovarian cancer patients. We specifically used this tool to evaluate the effect of 37 previously published biomarkers on ovarian cancer prognosis....

Desktop Publishing Choices: Making an Appropriate Decision.

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, Walt

1991-01-01

Discusses various choices available for desktop publishing systems. Four categories of software are described, including advanced word processing, graphics software, low-end desktop publishing, and mainstream desktop publishing; appropriate hardware is considered; and selection guidelines are offered, including current and future publishing needs,…

Adverse obstetric outcomes in women with previous cesarean for dystocia in second stage of labor.

Science.gov (United States)

Jastrow, Nicole; Demers, Suzanne; Gauthier, Robert J; Chaillet, Nils; Brassard, Normand; Bujold, Emmanuel

2013-03-01

To evaluate obstetric outcomes in women undergoing a trial of labor (TOL) after a previous cesarean for dystocia in second stage of labor. A retrospective cohort study of women with one previous low transverse cesarean undergoing a first TOL was performed. Women with previous cesarean for dystocia in first stage and those with previous dystocia in second stage were compared with those with previous cesarean for nonrecurrent reasons (controls). Multivariable regressions analyses were performed. Of 1655 women, those with previous dystocia in second stage of labor (n = 204) had greater risks than controls (n = 880) to have an operative delivery [odds ratio (OR): 1.5; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.1 to 2.2], shoulder dystocia (OR: 2.9; 95% CI 1.1 to 8.0), and uterine rupture in the second stage of labor (OR: 4.9; 95% CI 1.1 to 23), and especially in case of fetal macrosomia (OR: 29.6; 95% CI 4.4 to 202). The median second stage of labor duration before uterine rupture was 2.5 hours (interquartile range: 1.5 to 3.2 hours) in these women. Previous cesarean for dystocia in the second stage of labor is associated with second-stage uterine rupture at next delivery, especially in cases of suspected fetal macrosomia and prolonged second stage of labor. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Support open access publishing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ekstrøm, Jeannette

2013-01-01

Projektet Support Open Access Publishing har til mål at få opdateret Sherpa/Romeo databasen (www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo) med fagligt relevante, danske tidsskrifter. Projektet skal endvidere undersøge mulighederne for at få udviklet en database, hvor forskere på tværs af relevante tidsskriftsinformati......Projektet Support Open Access Publishing har til mål at få opdateret Sherpa/Romeo databasen (www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo) med fagligt relevante, danske tidsskrifter. Projektet skal endvidere undersøge mulighederne for at få udviklet en database, hvor forskere på tværs af relevante...

Scientific impact of studies published in temporarily available radiation oncology journals: a citation analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nieder, Carsten; Geinitz, Hans; Andratschke, Nicolaus H; Grosu, Anca L

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to review all articles published in two temporarily available radiation oncology journals (Radiation Oncology Investigations, Journal of Radiosurgery) in order to evaluate their scientific impact. From several potential measures of impact and relevance of research, we selected article citation rate because landmark or practice-changing research is likely to be cited frequently. The citation database Scopus was used to analyse number of citations. During the time period 1996-1999 the journal Radiation Oncology Investigations published 205 articles, which achieved a median number of 6 citations (range 0-116). However, the most frequently cited article in the first 4 volumes achieved only 23 citations. The Journal of Radiosurgery published only 31 articles, all in the year 1999, which achieved a median number of 1 citation (range 0-11). No prospective randomized studies or phase I-II collaborative group trials were published in these journals. Apparently, the Journal of Radiosurgery acquired relatively few manuscripts that were interesting and important enough to impact clinical practice. Radiation Oncology Investigations' citation pattern was better and closer related to that reported in several previous studies focusing on the field of radiation oncology. The vast majority of articles published in temporarily available radiation oncology journals had limited clinical impact and achieved few citations. Highly influential research was unlikely to be submitted during the initial phase of establishing new radiation oncology journals.

Do clinical and translational science graduate students understand linear regression? Development and early validation of the REGRESS quiz.

Science.gov (United States)

Enders, Felicity

2013-12-01

Although regression is widely used for reading and publishing in the medical literature, no instruments were previously available to assess students' understanding. The goal of this study was to design and assess such an instrument for graduate students in Clinical and Translational Science and Public Health. A 27-item REsearch on Global Regression Expectations in StatisticS (REGRESS) quiz was developed through an iterative process. Consenting students taking a course on linear regression in a Clinical and Translational Science program completed the quiz pre- and postcourse. Student results were compared to practicing statisticians with a master's or doctoral degree in statistics or a closely related field. Fifty-two students responded precourse, 59 postcourse , and 22 practicing statisticians completed the quiz. The mean (SD) score was 9.3 (4.3) for students precourse and 19.0 (3.5) postcourse (P REGRESS quiz was internally reliable (Cronbach's alpha 0.89). The initial validation is quite promising with statistically significant and meaningful differences across time and study populations. Further work is needed to validate the quiz across multiple institutions. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Verification and validation of RADMODL Version 1.0

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimball, K.D.

1993-03-01

RADMODL is a system of linked computer codes designed to calculate the radiation environment following an accident in which nuclear materials are released. The RADMODL code and the corresponding Verification and Validation (V ampersand V) calculations (Appendix A), were developed for Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) by EGS Corporation (EGS). Each module of RADMODL is an independent code and was verified separately. The full system was validated by comparing the output of the various modules with the corresponding output of a previously verified version of the modules. The results of the verification and validation tests show that RADMODL correctly calculates the transport of radionuclides and radiation doses. As a result of this verification and validation effort, RADMODL Version 1.0 is certified for use in calculating the radiation environment following an accident

Verification and validation of RADMODL Version 1.0

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kimball, K.D.

1993-03-01

RADMODL is a system of linked computer codes designed to calculate the radiation environment following an accident in which nuclear materials are released. The RADMODL code and the corresponding Verification and Validation (V&V) calculations (Appendix A), were developed for Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) by EGS Corporation (EGS). Each module of RADMODL is an independent code and was verified separately. The full system was validated by comparing the output of the various modules with the corresponding output of a previously verified version of the modules. The results of the verification and validation tests show that RADMODL correctly calculates the transport of radionuclides and radiation doses. As a result of this verification and validation effort, RADMODL Version 1.0 is certified for use in calculating the radiation environment following an accident.

Prepare to publish.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, P M

2000-01-01

"I couldn't possibly write an article." "I don't have anything worthwhile to write about." "I am not qualified to write for publication." Do any of these statements sound familiar? This article is intended to dispel these beliefs. You can write an article. You care for the most complex patients in the health care system so you do have something worthwhile to write about. Beside correct spelling and grammar there are no special skills, certificates or diplomas required for publishing. You are qualified to write for publication. The purpose of this article is to take the mystique out of the publication process. Each step of publishing an article will be explained, from idea formation to framing your first article. Practical examples and recommendations will be presented. The essential components of the APA format necessary for Dynamics: The Official Journal of the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses will be outlined and resources to assist you will be provided.

The phenomenon of claimed memories of previous lives: possible interpretations and importance.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, I

2000-04-01

Several disorders or abnormalities observed in medicine and psychology are not explicable (or not fully explicable) by genetics and environmental influences, either alone or together. These include phobias and philias observed in early infancy, unusual play in childhood, homosexuality, gender identity disorder, a child's idea of having parents other than its own, differences in temperament manifested soon after birth, unusual birthmarks and their correspondence with wounds on a deceased person, unusual birth defects, and differences (physical and behavioral) between monozygotic twins. The hypothesis of previous lives can contribute to the further understanding of these phenomena. Copyright 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Validation of equations for pleural effusion volume estimation by ultrasonography.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassan, Maged; Rizk, Rana; Essam, Hatem; Abouelnour, Ahmed

2017-12-01

To validate the accuracy of previously published equations that estimate pleural effusion volume using ultrasonography. Only equations using simple measurements were tested. Three measurements were taken at the posterior axillary line for each case with effusion: lateral height of effusion ( H ), distance between collapsed lung and chest wall ( C ) and distance between lung and diaphragm ( D ). Cases whose effusion was aspirated to dryness were included and drained volume was recorded. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to determine the predictive accuracy of five equations against the actual volume of aspirated effusion. 46 cases with effusion were included. The most accurate equation in predicting effusion volume was ( H  +  D ) × 70 (ICC 0.83). The simplest and yet accurate equation was H  × 100 (ICC 0.79). Pleural effusion height measured by ultrasonography gives a reasonable estimate of effusion volume. Incorporating distance between lung base and diaphragm into estimation improves accuracy from 79% with the first method to 83% with the latter.

Summary of Notifiable Noninfectious Conditions and Disease Outbreaks: Surveillance Data Published Between April 1, 2016 and January 31, 2017 - United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Kimberly; Jajosky, Ruth; Coates, Ralph J; Calvert, Geoffrey M; Dewey-Mattia, Daniel; Raymond, Jaime; Singh, Simple D

2017-08-11

The Summary of Notifiable Noninfectious Conditions and Disease Outbreaks: Surveillance Data Published Between April 1, 2016 and January 31, 2017 - United States, herein referred to as the Summary (Noninfectious), contains official statistics for nationally notifiable noninfectious conditions and disease outbreaks. This Summary (Noninfectious) is being published in the same volume of MMWR as the annual Summary of Notifiable Infectious Diseases and Conditions (1). Data on notifiable noninfectious conditions and disease outbreaks from prior years have been published previously (2,3).

Social validation of vocabulary selection: ensuring stakeholder relevance.

Science.gov (United States)

Bornman, Juan; Bryen, Diane Nelson

2013-06-01

The vocabulary needs of individuals who are unable to spell their messages continue to be of concern in the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Social validation of vocabulary selection has been suggested as one way to improve the effectiveness and relevance of service delivery in AAC. Despite increased emphasis on stakeholder accountability, social validation is not frequently used in AAC research. This paper describes an investigation of the social validity of a vocabulary set identified in earlier research. A previous study used stakeholder focus groups to identify vocabulary that could be used by South African adults who use AAC to disclose their experiences as victims of crime or abuse. Another study used this vocabulary to create communication boards for use by adults with complex communication needs. In this current project, 12 South African adults with complex communication needs who use AAC systems used a 5-point Likert scale to score the importance of each of the previously identified 57 vocabulary items. This two-step process of first using stakeholder focus groups to identify vocabulary, and then having literate persons who use AAC provide information on social validity of the vocabulary on behalf of their peers who are illiterate, appears to hold promise as a culturally relevant vocabulary selection approach for sensitive topics such as crime and abuse.

An empirical study on critical success factors for electronic commerce in the Chinese publishing industry

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

HUANG Jinghua; ZHAO Chunjun; LI Jingting

2007-01-01

Critical success factors for electronic commerce (e-commerce) have been a hot topic in both the academe and industry. This paper puts forward hypotheses on success factors for e-commerce of traditional companies first. Then, it conducts an empirical study on the Chinese publishing industry in order to verify the hypotheses. After testing the validity and reliability of the data, this paper verifies the hypotheses with regression analyses, and finally identifies factors impacting e-commerce success such as leadership, strategy, organization, management, IT, customers, comprehensive functions of website and customer- oriented functions. In addition, customers, strategy, IT and comprehensive functions of website are identified as the critical factors impacting e-commerce success. This research not only stimulates e-commerce research in China, but also has an instructional effect on the implementation of e-commerce so that Chinese publishing enterprises can increase the success rate of their e-commerce objectives.

Validation of a virtual reality-based robotic surgical skills curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Connolly, Michael; Seligman, Johnathan; Kastenmeier, Andrew; Goldblatt, Matthew; Gould, Jon C

2014-05-01

The clinical application of robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) is rapidly increasing. The da Vinci Surgical System™ is currently the only commercially available RAS system. The skills necessary to perform robotic surgery are unique from those required for open and laparoscopic surgery. A validated laparoscopic surgical skills curriculum (fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery or FLS™) has transformed the way surgeons acquire laparoscopic skills. There is a need for a similar skills training and assessment tool specific for robotic surgery. Based on previously published data and expert opinion, we developed a robotic skills curriculum. We sought to evaluate this curriculum for evidence of construct validity (ability to discriminate between users of different skill levels). Four experienced surgeons (>20 RAS) and 20 novice surgeons (first-year medical students with no surgical or RAS experience) were evaluated. The curriculum comprised five tasks utilizing the da Vinci™ Skills Simulator (Pick and Place, Camera Targeting 2, Peg Board 2, Matchboard 2, and Suture Sponge 3). After an orientation to the robot and a period of acclimation in the simulator, all subjects completed three consecutive repetitions of each task. Computer-derived performance metrics included time, economy of motion, master work space, instrument collisions, excessive force, distance of instruments out of view, drops, missed targets, and overall scores (a composite of all metrics). Experienced surgeons significantly outperformed novice surgeons in most metrics. Statistically significant differences were detected for each task in regards to mean overall scores and mean time (seconds) to completion. The curriculum we propose is a valid method of assessing and distinguishing robotic surgical skill levels on the da Vinci Si™ Surgical System. Further study is needed to establish proficiency levels and to demonstrate that training on the simulator with the proposed curriculum leads to improved robotic

Comics, Copyright and Academic Publishing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronan Deazley

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This article considers the extent to which UK-based academics can rely upon the copyright regime to reproduce extracts and excerpts from published comics and graphic novels without having to ask the copyright owner of those works for permission. In doing so, it invites readers to engage with a broader debate about the nature, demands and process of academic publishing.

Validation of the actuator line/Navier Stokes technique using mexico measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shen, Wen Zhong; Zhu, Wei Jun; Sørensen, Jens Nørkær

2010-01-01

This paper concerns the contribution of DTU MEK in the international research collaboration project (MexNext) within the framework of IEA Annex 29 to validate aerodynamic models or CFD codes using the existing measurements made in the previous EU funded projectMEXICO (Model Experiments in Control......This paper concerns the contribution of DTU MEK in the international research collaboration project (MexNext) within the framework of IEA Annex 29 to validate aerodynamic models or CFD codes using the existing measurements made in the previous EU funded projectMEXICO (Model Experiments...... in Controlled Conditions). The Actuator Line/Navier Stokes (AL/NS) technique developed at DTU is validated against the detailed MEXICO measurements. The AL/NS computations without the DNW wind tunnel with speeds of 10m/s, 15m/s and 24m/s. Comparisons of blade loading between computations and measurements show...

Validation of software releases for CMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gutsche, Oliver

2010-01-01

The CMS software stack currently consists of more than 2 Million lines of code developed by over 250 authors with a new version being released every week. CMS has setup a validation process for quality assurance which enables the developers to compare the performance of a release to previous releases and references. The validation process provides the developers with reconstructed datasets of real data and MC samples. The samples span the whole range of detector effects and important physics signatures to benchmark the performance of the software. They are used to investigate interdependency effects of all CMS software components and to find and fix bugs. The release validation process described here is an integral part of CMS software development and contributes significantly to ensure stable production and analysis. It represents a sizable contribution to the overall MC production of CMS. Its success emphasizes the importance of a streamlined release validation process for projects with a large code basis and significant number of developers and can function as a model for future projects.

Electronic publishing and Acupuncture in Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Adrian

2006-09-01

The internet has fundamentally altered scientific publishing; this article discusses current models and how they affect this journal. The greatest innovation is a new range of open access journals published only on the internet, aimed at rapid publication and universal access. In most cases authors pay a publication charge for the overhead costs of the journal. Journals that are published by professional organisations primarily for their members have some functions other than publishing research, including clinical articles, conference reports and news items. A small number of these journals are permitting open access to their research reports. Commercial science publishing still exists, where profit for shareholders provides motivation in addition to the desire to spread knowledge for the benefit of all. A range of electronic databases now exists that offer various levels of listing and searching. Some databases provide direct links to journal articles, such as the LinkOut scheme in PubMed. Acupuncture in Medicine will continue to publish in paper format; all research articles will be available on open access, but non-subscribers will need to pay for certain other articles for the first 12 months after publication. All Acupuncture in Medicine articles will in future be included in the LinkOut scheme, and be presented to the databases electronically.

A novel enterovirus and parechovirus multiplex one-step real-time PCR-validation and clinical experience

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, A. C. Y.; Bottiger, B.; Midgley, S. E.

2013-01-01

As the number of new enteroviruses and human parechoviruses seems ever growing, the necessity for updated diagnostics is relevant. We have updated an enterovirus assay and combined it with a previously published assay for human parechovirus resulting in a multiplex one-step RT-PCR assay....... The multiplex assay was validated by analysing the sensitivity and specificity of the assay compared to the respective monoplex assays, and a good concordance was found. Furthermore, the enterovirus assay was able to detect 42 reference strains from all 4 species, and an additional 9 genotypes during panel...... testing and routine usage. During 15 months of routine use, from October 2008 to December 2009, we received and analysed 2187 samples (stool samples, cerebrospinal fluids, blood samples, respiratory samples and autopsy samples) were tested, from 1546 patients and detected enteroviruses and parechoviruses...

Site characterization and validation - stress field in the SCV block and around the validation drift. Stage 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKinnon, S.; Carr, P.

1990-04-01

The results of previous stress measurement and stress modelling programmes carried out in the vicinity of the SCV block have been reviewed. Collectively, the results show that the stress field is influenced by the presence of the old mine excavations, and the measurements can be divided into near-field and far-field locations. The near-field measurements denote the extent and magnitude of the mining induced stresses while the far-field measurements reflect virgin conditions. Because of large scatter in the previous data, additional stress measurements were carried out using the CSIRO hollow inclusion cell. Combining all measurements, an estimate of the virgin stress tensor was made. Three-dimensional stress modelling was carried out using the program BEFE to determine the state of stress in the SCV block, and around the validation drift. This modelling showed that most of the SCV block is in a virgin stress field. Stresses acting on the fracture zones in the SCV block will be due only to the virgin stress field and induced stresses from the validation drift. (orig.)

Self-reported previous knee injury and low knee function increase knee injury risk in adolescent female football.

Science.gov (United States)

Clausen, M B; Tang, L; Zebis, M K; Krustrup, P; Hölmich, P; Wedderkopp, N; Andersen, L L; Christensen, K B; Møller, M; Thorborg, K

2016-08-01

Knee injuries are common in adolescent female football. Self-reported previous knee injury and low Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) are proposed to predict future knee injuries, but evidence regarding this in adolescent female football is scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate self-reported previous knee injury and low KOOS subscale score as risk factors for future knee injuries in adolescent female football. A sample of 326 adolescent female football players, aged 15-18, without knee injury at baseline, were included. Data on self-reported previous knee injury and KOOS questionnaires were collected at baseline. Time-loss knee injuries and football exposures were reported weekly by answers to standardized text-message questions, followed by injury telephone interviews. A priori, self-reported previous knee injury and low KOOS subscale scores (female football. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Electronic publishing in radiology: economics and the future.

Science.gov (United States)

Chew, Felix S; Llewellyn, Kevin T; Olsen, Kathryn M

2004-11-01

Scholarly publishing is a large market involving thousands of peer-reviewed journals but a decreasing number of publishers. An economic model can be described in which authors give their work to publishers who then sell access to this work. Because each published article is a unique work with few if any substitutes, publishers have some degree of monopoly power and can price their products accordingly. The advent of desktop publishing using personal computers made it possible for individuals to publish material without publishers, an activity that gained momentum when the publishing medium shifted from paper to electronic, and from electronic publishing to the Internet. This activity destabilized the industry, and in the rush to gain market share by providing free content, unsustainable business models were created. Scholarly publishing is now dominated by a small number of multinational corporations that acquired many smaller publishing operations. As these companies have exercised their monopoly power, an open access movement has gained traction in which authors (or their institutions) initially pay for publication, but readers have free and open access to the published articles. This movement is in diametric opposition to the commercial publishing model, and it remains to be seen whether and how well the two can coexist in the future.

Catch-up validation study of an in vitro skin irritation test method based on an open source reconstructed epidermis (phase II).

Science.gov (United States)

Groeber, F; Schober, L; Schmid, F F; Traube, A; Kolbus-Hernandez, S; Daton, K; Hoffmann, S; Petersohn, D; Schäfer-Korting, M; Walles, H; Mewes, K R

2016-10-01

To replace the Draize skin irritation assay (OECD guideline 404) several test methods based on reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) have been developed and were adopted in the OECD test guideline 439. However, all validated test methods in the guideline are linked to RHE provided by only three companies. Thus, the availability of these test models is dependent on the commercial interest of the producer. To overcome this limitation and thus to increase the accessibility of in vitro skin irritation testing, an open source reconstructed epidermis (OS-REp) was introduced. To demonstrate the capacity of the OS-REp in regulatory risk assessment, a catch-up validation study was performed. The participating laboratories used in-house generated OS-REp to assess the set of 20 reference substances according to the performance standards amending the OECD test guideline 439. Testing was performed under blinded conditions. The within-laboratory reproducibility of 87% and the inter-laboratory reproducibility of 85% prove a high reliability of irritancy testing using the OS-REp protocol. In addition, the prediction capacity was with an accuracy of 80% comparable to previous published RHE based test protocols. Taken together the results indicate that the OS-REp test method can be used as a standalone alternative skin irritation test replacing the OECD test guideline 404. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Adventures in semantic publishing: exemplar semantic enhancements of a research article.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Shotton

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Scientific innovation depends on finding, integrating, and re-using the products of previous research. Here we explore how recent developments in Web technology, particularly those related to the publication of data and metadata, might assist that process by providing semantic enhancements to journal articles within the mainstream process of scholarly journal publishing. We exemplify this by describing semantic enhancements we have made to a recent biomedical research article taken from PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, providing enrichment to its content and increased access to datasets within it. These semantic enhancements include provision of live DOIs and hyperlinks; semantic markup of textual terms, with links to relevant third-party information resources; interactive figures; a re-orderable reference list; a document summary containing a study summary, a tag cloud, and a citation analysis; and two novel types of semantic enrichment: the first, a Supporting Claims Tooltip to permit "Citations in Context", and the second, Tag Trees that bring together semantically related terms. In addition, we have published downloadable spreadsheets containing data from within tables and figures, have enriched these with provenance information, and have demonstrated various types of data fusion (mashups with results from other research articles and with Google Maps. We have also published machine-readable RDF metadata both about the article and about the references it cites, for which we developed a Citation Typing Ontology, CiTO (http://purl.org/net/cito/. The enhanced article, which is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000228.x001, presents a compelling existence proof of the possibilities of semantic publication. We hope the showcase of examples and ideas it contains, described in this paper, will excite the imaginations of researchers and publishers, stimulating them to explore the possibilities of semantic publishing for their own

The Impact of Electronic Commerce on the Publishing Industry: Towards a Business Value Complementarity Framework of Electronic Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Scupola, Ada

1999-01-01

Discussion of the publishing industry and its use of information and communication technologies focuses on the way in which electronic-commerce technologies are changing and could change the publishing processes, and develops a business complementarity model of electronic publishing to maximize profitability and improve the competitive position.…

Validity of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis to Estimation Fat-Free Mass in the Army Cadets.

Science.gov (United States)

Langer, Raquel D; Borges, Juliano H; Pascoa, Mauro A; Cirolini, Vagner X; Guerra-Júnior, Gil; Gonçalves, Ezequiel M

2016-03-11

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) is a fast, practical, non-invasive, and frequently used method for fat-free mass (FFM) estimation. The aims of this study were to validate predictive equations of BIA to FFM estimation in Army cadets and to develop and validate a specific BIA equation for this population. A total of 396 males, Brazilian Army cadets, aged 17-24 years were included. The study used eight published predictive BIA equations, a specific equation in FFM estimation, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as a reference method. Student's t-test (for paired sample), linear regression analysis, and Bland-Altman method were used to test the validity of the BIA equations. Predictive BIA equations showed significant differences in FFM compared to DXA (p FFM variance. Specific BIA equations showed no significant differences in FFM, compared to DXA values. Published BIA predictive equations showed poor accuracy in this sample. The specific BIA equations, developed in this study, demonstrated validity for this sample, although should be used with caution in samples with a large range of FFM.

DNA Commission of the International Society for Forensic Genetics: Recommendations on the validation of software programs performing biostatistical calculations for forensic genetics applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Coble, M D; Buckleton, J; Butler, J M; Egeland, T; Fimmers, R; Gill, P; Gusmão, L; Guttman, B; Krawczak, M; Morling, N; Parson, W; Pinto, N; Schneider, P M; Sherry, S T; Willuweit, S; Prinz, M

2016-11-01

The use of biostatistical software programs to assist in data interpretation and calculate likelihood ratios is essential to forensic geneticists and part of the daily case work flow for both kinship and DNA identification laboratories. Previous recommendations issued by the DNA Commission of the International Society for Forensic Genetics (ISFG) covered the application of bio-statistical evaluations for STR typing results in identification and kinship cases, and this is now being expanded to provide best practices regarding validation and verification of the software required for these calculations. With larger multiplexes, more complex mixtures, and increasing requests for extended family testing, laboratories are relying more than ever on specific software solutions and sufficient validation, training and extensive documentation are of upmost importance. Here, we present recommendations for the minimum requirements to validate bio-statistical software to be used in forensic genetics. We distinguish between developmental validation and the responsibilities of the software developer or provider, and the internal validation studies to be performed by the end user. Recommendations for the software provider address, for example, the documentation of the underlying models used by the software, validation data expectations, version control, implementation and training support, as well as continuity and user notifications. For the internal validations the recommendations include: creating a validation plan, requirements for the range of samples to be tested, Standard Operating Procedure development, and internal laboratory training and education. To ensure that all laboratories have access to a wide range of samples for validation and training purposes the ISFG DNA commission encourages collaborative studies and public repositories of STR typing results. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Strategic Brand Management Tools in Publishing

OpenAIRE

Pitsaki, Irini

2011-01-01

Further to the introduction of the brand concept evolution and theory, as well as the ways these operate in the publishing sector (see paper: Pitsaki, I. 2010), the present paper treats publishing strategies and the tools used to establish them. Publishers often base their brand strategy on classic marketing approaches, such as the marketing mix -product, price, promotion, placement and people. They also direct their products to specific market segments in regard to the type of content and te...

Ethical issues in publishing in predatory journals.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferris, Lorraine E; Winker, Margaret A

2017-06-15

Predatory journals, or journals that charge an article processing charge (APC) to authors, yet do not have the hallmarks of legitimate scholarly journals such as peer review and editing, Editorial Boards, editorial offices, and other editorial standards, pose a number of new ethical issues in journal publishing. This paper discusses ethical issues around predatory journals and publishing in them. These issues include misrepresentation; lack of editorial and publishing standards and practices; academic deception; research and funding wasted; lack of archived content; and undermining confidence in research literature. It is important that the scholarly community, including authors, institutions, editors, and publishers, support the legitimate scholarly research enterprise, and avoid supporting predatory journals by not publishing in them, serving as their editors or on the Editorial Boards, or permitting faculty to knowingly publish in them without consequences.

Multimission satellite altimetric data validation in the Baltic Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cheng, Yongcun; Andersen, Ole Baltazar; Knudsen, Per

2014-01-01

The assessment of altimetric data is crucial for investigating the regional sea level variability. Few works has been performed to validate the altimetric data [1, 2] in the Baltic Sea. The exploring of multi-mission altimetric data in the Baltic Sea has yet to be published. The number of available...

INNOVATION MANAGEMENT TOOLS IN PUBLISHING COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Shegda

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This article is devoted to the highly topical issue of modern publishing business as innovation management. introduction of technological innovation, measured as a promising strategy for the development of a constructive industry. The paper deals with main problems in managing of publishing companies. The reference consider of innovation management tools. In the article are exams the problems of books trend decline which require publishers introducing innovative methods of production and distribution. It was found that while the tools can be used. The process of innovation management with the following basic tools like as marketing innovation bench marketing, franchising, engineering innovation. It was found that while the tools can be used. So, the aim of the article is to analyze the modern tools of innovation management in the publishing field.

Critical analysis of marketing in Croatian publishing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvija Gašparić

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Marketing is an inevitable part of today's modern lifestyle. The role that marketing plays is so big that it has become the most important part of business. Due to crisis that is still affecting publishers in Croatia, this paper emphasizes the power of advertising as a key ingredient in how to overcome this situation and upgrade the system of publishing in Croatia. The framework of the paper is based on marketing as a tool that leads to popularization of books and sales increase. Beside the experimental part which gives an insight into public's opinion about books, publishing and marketing, the first chapter gives the literature review and analysis conducted on the whole process of book publishing in Croatia with pointing out mistakes that Croatian publishers make. Also, benefits of foreign publishing will be mentioned and used for comparison and projection on to the problems of the native market. The aim of this analysis and this viewpoint paper is to contribute the comprehension of marketing strategies and activities and its use and gains in Croatian publishing.

Validation study of genetic biomarkers of response to TNF inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosario Lopez-Rodriguez

Full Text Available Genetic biomarkers are sought to personalize treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA, given their variable response to TNF inhibitors (TNFi. However, no genetic biomaker is yet sufficiently validated. Here, we report a validation study of 18 previously reported genetic biomarkers, including 11 from GWAS of response to TNFi. The validation was attempted in 581 patients with RA that had not been treated with biologic antirheumatic drugs previously. Their response to TNFi was evaluated at 3, 6 and 12 months in two ways: change in the DAS28 measure of disease activity, and according to the EULAR criteria for response to antirheumatic drugs. Association of these parameters with the genotypes, obtained by PCR amplification followed by single-base extension, was tested with regression analysis. These analyses were adjusted for baseline DAS28, sex, and the specific TNFi. However, none of the proposed biomarkers was validated, as none showed association with response to TNFi in our study, even at the time of assessment and with the outcome that showed the most significant result in previous studies. These negative results are notable because this was the first independent validation study for 12 of the biomarkers, and because they indicate that prudence is needed in the interpretation of the proposed biomarkers of response to TNFi even when they are supported by very low p values. The results also emphasize the requirement of independent replication for validation, and the need to search protocols that could increase reproducibility of the biomarkers of response to TNFi.

Desktop Publishing: Changing Technology, Changing Occupations.

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Stanton, Michael

1991-01-01

Describes desktop publishing (DTP) and its place in corporations. Lists job titles of those working in desktop publishing and describes DTP as it is taught at secondary and postsecondary levels and by private trainers. (JOW)

A Survey of Patients' Preoperative Need for Information About Postoperative Pain-Effect of Previous Surgery Experience.

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Mavridou, Paraskevi; Manataki, Adamantia; Arnaoutoglou, Elena; Damigos, Dimitrios

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to determine the kind of information patients need preoperatively about postoperative pain (POP) and whether this is affected by previous surgery experience. A descriptive study design using preoperative questionnaires. Questionnaires with fixed questions related to POP and its management were distributed preoperatively to consenting, consecutive surgical patients. Patients were divided into two groups: patients with previous surgery experience (group A) and patients without previous surgery experience (group B). Of the patients who participated in the study, 94.2% wanted information about POP and 77.8% of them believe that they will feel calmer if they get the information they need. The patients' biggest concern relates to pain management issues after discharge. Next, in order of preference is information about the analgesics that they need to take. The patients want to be informed primarily with a personal interview (59.4%). Previous surgery experience has no effect on patients' needs for information. Most of the patients want to be informed about the management of the POP after being discharged. It is remarkable that patients who had previous surgery experience need the same information with those who had no previous surgery. Copyright © 2016 American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Validation testing of a soil macronutrient sensing system

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Rapid on-site measurements of soil macronutrients (i.e., nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) are needed for site-specific crop management, where fertilizer nutrient application rates are adjusted spatially based on local requirements. This study reports on validation testing of a previously develop...

Modeling, implementation, and validation of arterial travel time reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-01

Previous research funded by Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) developed a method for estimating : travel time reliability for arterials. This method was not initially implemented or validated using field data. This : project evaluated and r...

Promises and Realities of Desktop Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Patricia A.; Craig, Robert L.

1991-01-01

Examines the underlying assumptions of the rhetoric of desktop publishing promoters. Suggests four criteria to help educators provide insights into issues and challenges concerning desktop publishing technology that design students will face on the job. (MG)

Making the Leap to Desktop Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Schleifer, Neal

1986-01-01

Describes one teacher's approach to desktop publishing. Explains how the Macintosh and LaserWriter were used in the publication of a school newspaper. Guidelines are offered to teachers for the establishment of a desktop publishing lab. (ML)

Electronic Journal Publishing: Observations from Inside.

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Hunter, Karen

1998-01-01

Focuses on electronic scholarly-journal publishing. Discusses characteristics of current academic electronic publishing; effects of the World Wide Web; user needs and positions of academic libraries; costs; and decisions of research librarians that drive the industry. (AEF)

Open Access Publishing in the Electronic Age.

Science.gov (United States)

Kovács, Gábor L

2014-10-01

The principle of open-access (OA) publishing is more and more prevalent also on the field of laboratory medicine. Open-access journals (OAJs) are available online to the reader usually without financial, legal, or technical barriers. Some are subsidized, and some require payment on behalf of the author. OAJs are one of the two general methods for providing OA. The other one is self-archiving in a repository. The electronic journal of the IFCC (eJIFCC) is a platinum OAJ- i.e. there is no charge to read, or to submit to this journal. Traditionally, the author was required to transfer the copyright to the journal publisher. Publishers claimed this was necessary in order to protect author's rights. However, many authors found this unsatisfactory, and have used their influence to affect a gradual move towards a license to publish instead. Under such a system, the publisher has permission to edit, print, and distribute the article commercially, but the author(s) retain the other rights themselves. An OA mandate is a policy adopted by a research institution, research funder, or government which requires researchers to make their published, peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers OA by self-archiving their peer-reviewed drafts in a repository ("green OA") or by publishing them in an OAJ ("gold OA"). Creative Commons (CC) is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. The free, easy-to-use copyright licenses provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use creative work. CC licenses let you easily change your copyright terms from the default of "all rights reserved" to "some rights reserved." OA publishing also raises a number of new ethical problems (e.g. predatory publishers, fake papers). Laboratory scientists are encouraged to publish their scientific results OA (especially in eJIFCC). They should, however, be aware of their rights, institutional mandate

Monoclonal Antibody and Fusion Protein Biosimilars Across Therapeutic Areas: A Systematic Review of Published Evidence.

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Jacobs, Ira; Petersel, Danielle; Shane, Lesley G; Ng, Chee-Keng; Kirchhoff, Carol; Finch, Gregory; Lula, Sadiq

2016-12-01

Despite regulatory efforts to formalize guidance policies on biosimilars, there remains a need to educate healthcare stakeholders on the acknowledged definition of biosimilarity and the data that underpin it. The objectives of the study were to systematically collate published data for monoclonal antibodies and fusion protein biosimilars indicated for cancer, chronic inflammatory diseases, and other indications, and to explore differences in the type and weight (quantity and quality) of available evidence. MEDLINE, Embase, and ISI Web of Science were searched to September 2015. Conference proceedings (n = 17) were searched 2012 to July 2015. Included studies were categorized by originator, study type, and indication. To assess data strength and validity, risk of bias assessments were undertaken. Across therapeutic areas, 43 named (marketed or proposed) biosimilars were identified for adalimumab, abciximab, bevacizumab, etanercept, infliximab, omalizumab, ranibizumab, rituximab, and trastuzumab originators. Infliximab CT-P13, SB2, and etanercept SB4 biosimilars have the greatest amount of published evidence of similarity with their originators, based on results of clinical studies involving larger numbers of patients or healthy subjects (N = 1405, 743, and 734, respectively). Published data were also retrieved for marketed intended copies of etanercept and rituximab. This unbiased synthesis of the literature exposed significant differences in the extent of published evidence between molecules at preclinical, clinical, and post-marketing stages of development, providing clinicians and payers with a consolidated view of the available data and remaining gaps.

Validation of previously reported predictors for radiation-induced hypothyroidism in nasopharyngeal cancer patients treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy, a post hoc analysis from a Phase III randomized trial.

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Lertbutsayanukul, Chawalit; Kitpanit, Sarin; Prayongrat, Anussara; Kannarunimit, Danita; Netsawang, Buntipa; Chakkabat, Chakkapong

2018-05-10

This study aimed to validate previously reported dosimetric parameters, including thyroid volume, mean dose, and percentage thyroid volume, receiving at least 40, 45 and 50 Gy (V40, V45 and V50), absolute thyroid volume spared (VS) from 45, 50 and 60 Gy (VS45, VS50 and VS60), and clinical factors affecting the development of radiation-induced hypothyroidism (RHT). A post hoc analysis was performed in 178 euthyroid nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) patients from a Phase III study comparing sequential versus simultaneous-integrated boost intensity-modulated radiation therapy. RHT was determined by increased thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) with or without reduced free thyroxin, regardless of symptoms. The median follow-up time was 42.5 months. The 1-, 2- and 3-year freedom from RHT rates were 78.4%, 56.4% and 43.4%, respectively. The median latency period was 21 months. The thyroid gland received a median mean dose of 53.5 Gy. Female gender, smaller thyroid volume, higher pretreatment TSH level (≥1.55 μU/ml) and VS60 treatment planning.

Predatory publishing and cybercrime targeting academics.

Science.gov (United States)

Umlauf, Mary Grace; Mochizuki, Yuki

2018-04-01

The purpose of this report is to inform and warn academics about practices used by cybercriminals who seek to profit from unwary scholars and undermine the industry of science. This report describes the signs, symptoms, characteristics, and consequences of predatory publishing and related forms of consumer fraud. Methods to curb these cybercrimes include educating scholars and students about tactics used by predatory publishers; institutional changes in how faculty are evaluated using publications; soliciting cooperation from the industries that support academic publishing and indexing to curb incorporation of illegitimate journals; and taking an offensive position by reporting these consumer fraud crimes to the authorities. Over and above the problem of publishing good science in fraudulent journals, disseminating and citing poor-quality research threaten the credibility of science and of nursing. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Exploring the reliability and validity of the social-moral awareness test.

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Livesey, Alexandra; Dodd, Karen; Pote, Helen; Marlow, Elizabeth

2012-11-01

The aim of the study was to explore the validity of the social-moral awareness test (SMAT) a measure designed for assessing socio-moral rule knowledge and reasoning in people with learning disabilities. Comparisons between Theory of Mind and socio-moral reasoning allowed the exploration of construct validity of the tool. Factor structure, reliability and discriminant validity were also assessed. Seventy-one participants with mild-moderate learning disabilities completed the two scales of the SMAT and two False Belief Tasks for Theory of Mind. Reliability of the SMAT was very good, and the scales were shown to be uni-dimensional in factor structure. There was a significant positive relationship between Theory of Mind and both SMAT scales. There is early evidence of the construct validity and reliability of the SMAT. Further assessment of the validity of the SMAT will be required. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Free Publishing Culture. Sustainable Models?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvia Nanclares Escudero

2013-03-01

Full Text Available As a result of the collective research on the possibilities for publishing production and distribution offered nowadays by the Free Culture scenario, we present here a mapping of symptoms in order to propose a transitory diagnostic of the question: Is it possible to generate an economically sustainable publishing model based on the uses and customs generated and provided by Free Culture? Data, intuitions, experiences and ideas attempt to back up our affirmative answer.

Valid methods: the quality assurance of test method development, validation, approval, and transfer for veterinary testing laboratories.

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Wiegers, Ann L

2003-07-01

Third-party accreditation is a valuable tool to demonstrate a laboratory's competence to conduct testing. Accreditation, internationally and in the United States, has been discussed previously. However, accreditation is only I part of establishing data credibility. A validated test method is the first component of a valid measurement system. Validation is defined as confirmation by examination and the provision of objective evidence that the particular requirements for a specific intended use are fulfilled. The international and national standard ISO/IEC 17025 recognizes the importance of validated methods and requires that laboratory-developed methods or methods adopted by the laboratory be appropriate for the intended use. Validated methods are therefore required and their use agreed to by the client (i.e., end users of the test results such as veterinarians, animal health programs, and owners). ISO/IEC 17025 also requires that the introduction of methods developed by the laboratory for its own use be a planned activity conducted by qualified personnel with adequate resources. This article discusses considerations and recommendations for the conduct of veterinary diagnostic test method development, validation, evaluation, approval, and transfer to the user laboratory in the ISO/IEC 17025 environment. These recommendations are based on those of nationally and internationally accepted standards and guidelines, as well as those of reputable and experienced technical bodies. They are also based on the author's experience in the evaluation of method development and transfer projects, validation data, and the implementation of quality management systems in the area of method development.

The development of a self-administered dementia checklist: the examination of concurrent validity and discriminant validity.

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Miyamae, Fumiko; Ura, Chiaki; Sakuma, Naoko; Niikawa, Hirotoshi; Inagaki, Hiroki; Ijuin, Mutsuo; Okamura, Tsuyoshi; Sugiyama, Mika; Awata, Shuichi

2016-01-01

The present study aims to develop a self-administered dementia checklist to enable community-residing older adults to realize their declining functions and start using necessary services. A previous study confirmed the factorial validity and internal reliability of the checklist. The present study examined its concurrent validity and discriminant validity. The authors conducted a 3-step study (a self-administered survey including the checklist, interviews by nurses, and interviews by doctors and psychologists) of 7,682 community-residing individuals who were over 65 years of age. The authors calculated Spearman's correlation coefficients between the scores of the checklist and the results of a psychological test to examine the concurrent validity. They also compared the average total scores of the checklist between groups with different Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores to examine discriminant validity and conducted a receiver operating characteristic analysis to examine the discriminative power for dementia. The authors analyzed the data of 131 respondents who completed all 3 steps. The checklist scores were significantly correlated with the respondents' Mini-Mental State Examination and Frontal Assessment Battery scores. The checklist also significantly discriminated the patients with dementia (CDR = 1+) from those without dementia (CDR = 0 or 0.5). The optimal cut-off point for the two groups was 17/18 (sensitivity, 72.0%; specificity, 69.2%; positive predictive value, 69.2%; negative predictive value, 72.0%). This study confirmed the concurrent validity and discriminant validity of the self-administered dementia checklist. However, due to its insufficient discriminative power as a screening tool for older people with declining cognitive functions, the checklist is only recommended as an educational and public awareness tool.

Analyses of the studies on cancer-related quality of life published in Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Eun Hyun; Park, Hee Boong; Kim, Myung Wook; Kang, Sung Hee; Chun, Mi Son; Lee, Hye Jin; Lee, Won Hee

2002-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to analyze and evaluate prior studies published in Korea on the cancer-related quality of life, in order to make recommendations for further research. A total of 31 studies were selected from three different databases. The selected studies were analyzed according to 11 criteria, such as site of cancer, domain, independent variable, research design, self/proxy rating, single/battery instrument, translation/back translation, reliability, validity, scoring, and findings. Of the 31 studies, approximately half of them were conducted using a mixed cancer group of patient. Many of the studies asserted that the concept of quality of life had a multidimensional attribute. Approximately 30% were longitudinal design studies giving information about the changes in quality of life. In all studies, except one, patients directly rated their level of quality of life. With respect to the questionnaires used for measuring the quality of life, most studies did not consider whether or not their reliability and validity had been established. In addition, when using questionnaires developed in other languages, no studies employed a translation/back-translation technique. All studies used sum or total scoring methods when calculating the level of quality of life. The types of variables tested for their influence on quality of life were quite limited. It is recommended that longitudinal design studies be performed, using methods of data collection whose validity and reliability has been confirmed, and that studies be conducted to identify new variables having an influence on the quality of life

Evaluation and analytical validation of a handheld digital refractometer for urine specific gravity measurement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara P. Wyness

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Refractometers are commonly used to determine urine specific gravity (SG in the assessment of hydration status and urine specimen validity testing. Few comprehensive performance evaluations are available demonstrating refractometer capability from a clinical laboratory perspective. The objective of this study was therefore to conduct an analytical validation of a handheld digital refractometer used for human urine SG testing. Design and methods: A MISCO Palm Abbe™ refractometer was used for all experiments, including device familiarization, carryover, precision, accuracy, linearity, analytical sensitivity, evaluation of potential substances which contribute to SG (i.e. “interference”, and reference interval evaluation. A manual refractometer, urine osmometer, and a solute score (sum of urine chloride, creatinine, glucose, potassium, sodium, total protein, and urea nitrogen; all in mg/dL were used as comparative methods for accuracy assessment. Results: Significant carryover was not observed. A wash step was still included as good laboratory practice. Low imprecision (%CV, <0.01 was demonstrated using low and high QC material. Accuracy studies showed strong correlation to manual refractometry. Linear correlation was also demonstrated between SG, osmolality, and solute score. Linearity of Palm Abbe performance was verified with observed error of ≤0.1%. Increases in SG were observed with increasing concentrations of albumin, creatinine, glucose, hemoglobin, sodium chloride, and urea. Transference of a previously published urine SG reference interval of 1.0020–1.0300 was validated. Conclusions: The Palm Abbe digital refractometer was a fast, simple, and accurate way to measure urine SG. Analytical validity was confirmed by the present experiments. Keywords: Specific gravity, Osmolality, Digital refractometry, Hydration, Sports medicine, Urine drug testing, Urine adulteration

I publish in I edit?--Do editorial board members of urologic journals preferentially publish their own scientific work?

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Mani, Jens; Makarević, Jasmina; Juengel, Eva; Ackermann, Hanns; Nelson, Karen; Bartsch, Georg; Haferkamp, Axel; Blaheta, Roman A

2013-01-01

Scientists who are members of an editorial board have been accused of preferentially publishing their scientific work in the journal where they serve as editor. Reputation and academic standing do depend on an uninterrupted flow of published scientific work and the question does arise as to whether publication mainly occurs in the self-edited journal. This investigation was designed to determine whether editorial board members of five urological journals were more likely to publish their research reports in their own rather than in other journals. A retrospective analysis was conducted for all original reports published from 2001-2010 by 65 editorial board members nominated to the boards of five impact leading urologic journals in 2006. Publications before editorial board membership, 2001-2005, and publications within the period of time as an editorial board member, 2006-2010, were identified. The impact factors of the journals were also recorded over the time period 2001-2010 to see whether a change in impact factor correlated with publication locality. In the five journals as a whole, scientific work was not preferentially published in the journal in which the scientists served as editor. However, significant heterogeneity among the journals was evident. One journal showed a significant increase in the amount of published papers in the 'own' journal after assumption of editorship, three journals showed no change and one journal showed a highly significant decrease in publishing in the 'own' journal after assumption of editorship.

Human DNA quantification and sample quality assessment: Developmental validation of the PowerQuant(®) system.

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Ewing, Margaret M; Thompson, Jonelle M; McLaren, Robert S; Purpero, Vincent M; Thomas, Kelli J; Dobrowski, Patricia A; DeGroot, Gretchen A; Romsos, Erica L; Storts, Douglas R

2016-07-01

Quantification of the total amount of human DNA isolated from a forensic evidence item is crucial for DNA normalization prior to short tandem repeat (STR) DNA analysis and a federal quality assurance standard requirement. Previous commercial quantification methods determine the total human DNA and total human male DNA concentrations, but provide limited information about the condition of the DNA sample. The PowerQuant(®) System includes targets for quantification of total human and total human male DNA as well as targets for evaluating whether the human DNA is degraded and/or PCR inhibitors are present in the sample. A developmental validation of the PowerQuant(®) System was completed, following SWGDAM Validation Guidelines, to evaluate the assay's specificity, sensitivity, precision and accuracy, as well as the ability to detect degraded DNA or PCR inhibitors. In addition to the total human DNA and total human male DNA concentrations in a sample, data from the degradation target and internal PCR control (IPC) provide a forensic DNA analyst meaningful information about the quality of the isolated human DNA and the presence of PCR inhibitors in the sample that can be used to determine the most effective workflow and assist downstream interpretation. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Immediate breast reconstruction after skin- or nipple-sparing mastectomy for previously augmented patients: a personal technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Salgarello, Marzia; Rochira, Dario; Barone-Adesi, Liliana; Farallo, Eugenio

2012-04-01

Breast reconstruction for previously augmented patients differs from breast reconstruction for nonaugmented patients. Many surgeons regard conservation therapy as not feasible for these patients because of implant complications, whether radiotherapy-induced or not. Despite this, most authors agree that mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction is the most suitable choice, ensuring both a good cosmetic result and a low complication rate. Implant retention or removal remains a controversial topic in addition to the best available surgical technique. This study reviewed the authors' experience with immediate breast reconstruction after skin-sparing mastectomy (SSM) and nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) with anatomically definitive implants. The retrospective records of 12 patients were examined (group A). These patients were among 254 patients who underwent SSM or NSM for breast carcinoma. The control group comprised 12 of the 254 patients submitted to SSM or NSM (group B) who best matched the 12 patients in the studied group. All of them underwent immediate breast reconstruction, with an anatomically definitive implant placed in a submuscular-subfascial pocket. The demographic, technical, and oncologic data of the two groups were compared as well as the aesthetic outcomes using the Breast Q score. The proportion of complications, the type of implant, the axillary lymph node procedure, and the histology were compared between the two groups using Fisher's exact test. Student's t test was used to compare the scores for the procedure-specific modules of the breast Q questionnaire in the two groups. A validated patient satisfaction score was obtained using the breast Q questionnaire after breast reconstruction. The demographic, technical, and oncologic characteristics were not significantly different between the two groups. The previously augmented patients reported a significantly higher level of satisfaction with their breast than the control patients. The scores

Estimating uncertainty of inference for validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Booker, Jane M [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Langenbrunner, James R [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Hemez, Francois M [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Ross, Timothy J [UNM

2010-09-30

We present a validation process based upon the concept that validation is an inference-making activity. This has always been true, but the association has not been as important before as it is now. Previously, theory had been confirmed by more data, and predictions were possible based on data. The process today is to infer from theory to code and from code to prediction, making the role of prediction somewhat automatic, and a machine function. Validation is defined as determining the degree to which a model and code is an accurate representation of experimental test data. Imbedded in validation is the intention to use the computer code to predict. To predict is to accept the conclusion that an observable final state will manifest; therefore, prediction is an inference whose goodness relies on the validity of the code. Quantifying the uncertainty of a prediction amounts to quantifying the uncertainty of validation, and this involves the characterization of uncertainties inherent in theory/models/codes and the corresponding data. An introduction to inference making and its associated uncertainty is provided as a foundation for the validation problem. A mathematical construction for estimating the uncertainty in the validation inference is then presented, including a possibility distribution constructed to represent the inference uncertainty for validation under uncertainty. The estimation of inference uncertainty for validation is illustrated using data and calculations from Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). The ICF measurements of neutron yield and ion temperature were obtained for direct-drive inertial fusion capsules at the Omega laser facility. The glass capsules, containing the fusion gas, were systematically selected with the intent of establishing a reproducible baseline of high-yield 10{sup 13}-10{sup 14} neutron output. The deuterium-tritium ratio in these experiments was varied to study its influence upon yield. This paper on validation inference is the

Preparing and Publishing a Scientific Manuscript

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Padma R Jirge

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Publishing original research in a peer-reviewed and indexed journal is an important milestone for a scientist or a clinician. It is an important parameter to assess academic achievements. However, technical and language barriers may prevent many enthusiasts from ever publishing. This review highlights the important preparatory steps for creating a good manuscript and the most widely used IMRaD (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion method for writing a good manuscript. It also provides a brief overview of the submission and review process of a manuscript for publishing in a biomedical journal.

Issues in Electronic Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Meadow, Charles T.

1997-01-01

Discusses issues related to electronic publishing. Topics include writing; reading; production, distribution, and commerce; copyright and ownership of intellectual property; archival storage; technical obsolescence; control of content; equality of access; and cultural changes. (Author/LRW)

Validity in Mixed Methods Research in Education: The Application of Habermas' Critical Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Haiying

2017-01-01

Mixed methods approach has developed into the third methodological movement in educational research. Validity in mixed methods research as an important issue, however, has not been examined as extensively as that of quantitative and qualitative research. Additionally, the previous discussions of validity in mixed methods research focus on research…

Structure and navigation for electronic publishing

Science.gov (United States)

Tillinghast, John; Beretta, Giordano B.

1998-01-01

The sudden explosion of the World Wide Web as a new publication medium has given a dramatic boost to the electronic publishing industry, which previously was a limited market centered around CD-ROMs and on-line databases. While the phenomenon has parallels to the advent of the tabloid press in the middle of last century, the electronic nature of the medium brings with it the typical characteristic of 4th wave media, namely the acceleration in its propagation speed and the volume of information. Consequently, e-publications are even flatter than print media; Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet share the same computer screen with a home-made plagiarized copy of Deep Throat. The most touted tool for locating useful information on the World Wide Web is the search engine. However, due to the medium's flatness, sought information is drowned in a sea of useless information. A better solution is to build tools that allow authors to structure information so that it can easily be navigated. We experimented with the use of ontologies as a tool to formulate structures for information about a specific topic, so that related concepts are placed in adjacent locations and can easily be navigated using simple and ergonomic user models. We describe our effort in building a World Wide Web based photo album that is shared among a small network of people.

New journals for publishing medical case reports.

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Akers, Katherine G

2016-04-01

Because they do not rank highly in the hierarchy of evidence and are not frequently cited, case reports describing the clinical circumstances of single patients are seldom published by medical journals. However, many clinicians argue that case reports have significant educational value, advance medical knowledge, and complement evidence-based medicine. Over the last several years, a vast number (∼160) of new peer-reviewed journals have emerged that focus on publishing case reports. These journals are typically open access and have relatively high acceptance rates. However, approximately half of the publishers of case reports journals engage in questionable or "predatory" publishing practices. Authors of case reports may benefit from greater awareness of these new publication venues as well as an ability to discriminate between reputable and non-reputable journal publishers.

Open Access, data capitalism and academic publishing.

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Hagner, Michael

2018-02-16

Open Access (OA) is widely considered a breakthrough in the history of academic publishing, rendering the knowledge produced by the worldwide scientific community accessible to all. In numerous countries, national governments, funding institutions and research organisations have undertaken enormous efforts to establish OA as the new publishing standard. The benefits and new perspectives, however, cause various challenges. This essay addresses several issues, including that OA is deeply embedded in the logic and practices of data capitalism. Given that OA has proven an attractive business model for commercial publishers, the key predictions of OA-advocates, namely that OA would liberate both scientists and tax payers from the chains of global publishing companies, have not become true. In its conclusion, the paper discusses the opportunities and pitfalls of non-commercial publishing.

Electronic Publishing: Introduction to This Issue.

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Siegel, Martin A.

1994-01-01

Provides an overview of this special issue that addresses the possibilities and implications of electronic publishing and information dissemination as key components of effective education. Highlights include the theory and framework of electronic publishing; differences between electronic text and print; development of new educational materials;…

Remission, continuation, and incidence of eating disorders during early pregnancy: A validation study on a population-based birth cohort

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Hunna J.; Von Holle, Ann; Hamer, Robert M.; Berg, Cecilie Knoph; Torgersen, Leila; Magnus, Per; Stoltenberg, Camilla; Sullivan, Patrick; Reichborn-Kjennerud, Ted; Bulik, Cynthia M.

2014-01-01

Background The objective of this study was to validate previously published rates of remission, continuation, and incidence of broadly defined eating disorders during pregnancy. The previous rate modeling was done by our group (Bulik et al. 2007) and yielded participants halfway into recruitment of the planned 100,000 pregnancies in the Norwegian Mother and Child (MoBa) Cohort at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. This study aimed to internally validate the findings with the completed cohort. Methods 77267 pregnant women enrolled at 17 weeks gestation between 2001 and 2009 were included. Participants were split into a “training” sample (n=41243) based on participants in the MoBa version 2 dataset of the original study and a “validation” sample (n=36024) comprising individuals in the MoBa version 5 dataset that were not in the original study (Bulik et al. 2007). Internal validation of all original rate models involved fitting a calibration model to compare model parameters between the “training” and “validation” samples as well as bootstrap estimates of bias in the entire version 5 dataset. Results Remission, continuation, and incidence estimates from the “training” sample remained stable when evaluated via a split sample validation procedure. Pre-pregnancy prevalence estimates in the “validation” sample were 0.1% for anorexia nervosa, 1.0% for bulimia nervosa (BN), 3.3% for binge eating disorder (BED), and 0.1% for purging disorder (EDNOS-P). In early pregnancy, estimates were 0.2% for BN, 4.8% for BED, and eating disorders during pregnancy. Eating disorders during pregnancy were relatively common, occurring in nearly 1 in every 20 women, although almost all were cases of BED. Pregnancy was a window of remission from BN but a window of vulnerability for onset and continuation of BED. Training to detect the signs and symptoms of eating disorders by obstetricians/gynecologists and interventions to enhance pregnancy and neonatal outcomes

EDITORIAL: Roberts Prize for the best paper published in 2009 Roberts Prize for the best paper published in 2009

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Webb, Steve; Harris, Simon

2010-07-01

The publishers of Physics in Medicine and Biology (PMB), IOP Publishing, in association with the journal owners, the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), jointly award an annual prize for the best paper published in PMB during the previous year. The procedure for deciding the winner has been made as thorough as possible, to try to ensure that an outstanding paper wins the prize. We started off with a shortlist of the 10 research papers published in 2009 which were rated the best based on the referees' quality assessments. Following the submission of a short 'case for winning' document by each of the shortlisted authors, an IPEM college of jurors of the status of FIPEM assessed and rated these 10 papers in order to choose a winner, which was then endorsed by the Editorial Board. We have a clear, and very worthy, winner this year. We have much pleasure in advising readers that the 2009 Roberts Prize is awarded to E Z Zhang et al from University College London for their paper on photoacoustic tomography. In vivo high resolution 3D photoacoustic imaging of superficial vascular anatomy E Z Zhang, J G Laufer, R B Pedley and P C Beard 2009 Phys. Med. Biol. 54 1035-46 Our congratulations go to these authors. Of course all of the shortlisted papers were of great merit, and the full top-10 is listed below (in alphabetical order). Steve Webb Editor-in-Chief Simon Harris Publisher References Cheng Y-C N , Neelavalli J and Haacke E M 2009 Limitations of calculating field distributions and magnetic susceptibilities in MRI using a Fourier based method Phys. Med. Biol. 54 1169-89 Cho S, Ahn S, Li Q and Leahy R M 2009 Exact and approximate Fourier rebinning of PET data from time-of-flight to non time-of-flight 2009 Phys. Med. Biol. 54 467-84 Davidson S R H, Weersink R A, Haider M A, Gertner M R, Bogaards A, Giewercer D, Scherz A, Sherar M D, Elhilali M, Chin J L, Trachtenberg J and Wilson B C 2009 Treatment planning and dose analysis for interstitial

Sisyphus desperately seeking publisher

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Antoinette Molinié

The editors wield their Olympian authority by making today's scientists endlessly push their weighty boulders up ... since publishing has become a highly lucrative business. ... estimate that the richest 8.4 % own 83.3 % (see Global Wealth.

Desktop Publishing in Libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Cisler, Steve

1987-01-01

Describes the components, costs, and capabilities of several desktop publishing systems, and examines their possible impact on work patterns within organizations. The text and graphics of the article were created using various microcomputer software packages. (CLB)

Web-based magazine design for self publishers

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Andrew; Slatter, David; Greig, Darryl

2011-03-01

Short run printing technology and web services such as MagCloud provide new opportunities for long-tail magazine publishing. They enable self publishers to supply magazines to a wide range of communities, including groups that are too small to be viable as target communities for conventional publishers. In a Web 2.0 world where users constantly discover new services and where they may be infrequent patrons of any single service, it is unreasonable to expect users to learn the complex service behaviors. Furthermore, we want to open up publishing opportunities to novices who are unlikely to have prior experience of publishing and who lack design expertise. Magazine design automation is an ambitious goal, but recent progress with another web service, Autophotobook, proves that some level of automation of publication design is feasible. This paper describes our current research effort to extend the automation capabilities of Autophotobook to address the issues of magazine design so that we can provide a service to support professional-quality self publishing by novice users for a wide range of community types and sizes.

[Relationship between previous severity of illness and outcome of in-hospital cardiac arrest].

Science.gov (United States)

Serrano, M; Rodríguez, J; Espejo, A; del Olmo, R; Llanos, S; Del Castillo, J; López-Herce, J

2014-07-01

To analyze the relationship between previous severity of illness, lactic acid, creatinine and inotropic index with mortality of in-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) in children, and the value of a prognostic index designed for adults. The study included total of 44 children aged from 1 month to 18 years old who suffered a cardiac arrest while in hospital. The relationship between previous severity of illness scores (PRIMS and PELOD), lactic acid, creatinine, treatment with vasoactive drugs, inotropic index with return of spontaneous circulation and survival at hospital discharge was analyzed. The large majority (90.3%) of patients had a return of spontaneous circulation, and 59% survived at hospital discharge. More than two-thirds (68.2%) were treated with inotropic drugs at the time of the CA. The patients who died had a higher lactic acid before the CA (3.4 mmol/L) than survivors (1.4 mmol/L), P=.04. There were no significant differences in PRIMS, PELOD, creatinine, inotropic drugs, and inotropic index before CA between patients who died and survivors. A high lactic acid previous to cardiac arrest could be a prognostic factor of in-hospital cardiac arrest in children. Copyright © 2013 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Development and validation of a predictive risk model for all-cause mortality in type 2 diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Tom E; Elley, C Raina; Kenealy, Tim; Drury, Paul L

2015-06-01

Type 2 diabetes is common and is associated with an approximate 80% increase in the rate of mortality. Management decisions may be assisted by an estimate of the patient's absolute risk of adverse outcomes, including death. This study aimed to derive a predictive risk model for all-cause mortality in type 2 diabetes. We used primary care data from a large national multi-ethnic cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes in New Zealand and linked mortality records to develop a predictive risk model for 5-year risk of mortality. We then validated this model using information from a separate cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes. 26,864 people were included in the development cohort with a median follow up time of 9.1 years. We developed three models initially using demographic information and then progressively more clinical detail. The final model, which also included markers of renal disease, proved to give best prediction of all-cause mortality with a C-statistic of 0.80 in the development cohort and 0.79 in the validation cohort (7610 people) and was well calibrated. Ethnicity was a major factor with hazard ratios of 1.37 for indigenous Maori, 0.41 for East Asian and 0.55 for Indo Asian compared with European (P<0.001). We have developed a model using information usually available in primary care that provides good assessment of patient's risk of death. Results are similar to models previously published from smaller cohorts in other countries and apply to a wider range of patient ethnic groups. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Desktop Publishing for the Gifted/Talented.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Wayne

1987-01-01

Examines the nature of desktop publishing and how it can be used in the classroom for gifted/talented students. Characteristics and special needs of such students are identified, and it is argued that desktop publishing addresses those needs, particularly with regard to creativity. Twenty-six references are provided. (MES)

Publishers' Sales Strategies: A Questionable Business.

Science.gov (United States)

Eaglen, Audrey B.

1988-01-01

Speed, fill rate, and discount are reasons why it is often preferable for libraries to order directly from publishers rather than through a distributor. Nevertheless, some publishers have decided not to accept orders from libraries and schools. This has had a deleterious effect on libraries and library collections. (MES)

The Library as Publisher.

Science.gov (United States)

Field, Roy

1979-01-01

Presents a guide to for-profit library publishing of reprints, original manuscripts, and smaller items. Discussed are creation of a publications panel to manage finances and preparation, determining prices of items, and drawing up author contracts. (SW)

Short communications published online in the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery during 2010-2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Colbert, S; Southorn, B; Rosenbaum, G; Aldridge, T; Brennan, P A

2012-09-01

The British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (BJOMS) publishes many types of papers including original articles, review articles, and short communications. Many of the latter are isolated case reports of rare or interesting diseases or of difficult or unexpected complications. While case reports are sometimes considered to be of little educational or clinical value, and as such do little to advance medical knowledge, they do have an important role, and many trainees begin their publishing careers writing such papers. There is increasing pressure for space in paper medical journals and, for this reason, some journals either limit or do not publish short publications in print copy but instead put them online. Using established criteria, we previously evaluated all 142 short communications published in the BJOMS during 2008-2009 and found that 48% of them had little or no educational value. As a result, the editorial board of BJOMS took the decision to publish most short communications online only. We have now analysed 48 short communications that were published online only during 2010-2011. Most (80%) were single case reports that covered virtually the whole remit of the specialty, and over half (56%) were published by authors based in the UK. While many of these papers did not add important new information to existing knowledge, these types of article are clearly of value both for trainees and for experienced surgeons. We think that these should continue to be supported as, in addition to their educational value, they are an excellent way for trainees to start to write. Copyright © 2012 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electronic publishing and intelligent information retrieval

Science.gov (United States)

Heck, A.

1992-01-01

Europeans are now taking steps to homogenize policies and standardize procedures in electronic publishing (EP) in astronomy and space sciences. This arose from an open meeting organized in Oct. 1991 at Strasbourg Observatory (France) and another business meeting held late Mar. 1992 with the major publishers and journal editors in astronomy and space sciences. The ultimate aim of EP might be considered as the so-called 'intelligent information retrieval' (IIR) or better named 'advanced information retrieval' (AIR), taking advantage of the fact that the material to be published appears at some stage in a machine-readable form. It is obvious that the combination of desktop and electronic publishing with networking and new structuring of knowledge bases will profoundly reshape not only our ways of publishing, but also our procedures of communicating and retrieving information. It should be noted that a world-wide survey among astronomers and space scientists carried out before the October 1991 colloquium on the various packages and machines used, indicated that TEX-related packages were already in majoritarian use in our community. It has also been stressed at each meeting that the European developments should be carried out in collaboration with what is done in the US (STELLAR project, for instance). American scientists and journal editors actually attended both meetings mentioned above. The paper will offer a review of the status of electronic publishing in astronomy and its possible contribution to advanced information retrieval in this field. It will also report on recent meetings such as the 'Astronomy from Large Databases-2 (ALD-2)' conference dealing with the latest developments in networking, in data, information, and knowledge bases, as well as in the related methodologies.

Survival of dental implants placed in sites of previously failed implants.

Science.gov (United States)

Chrcanovic, Bruno R; Kisch, Jenö; Albrektsson, Tomas; Wennerberg, Ann

2017-11-01

To assess the survival of dental implants placed in sites of previously failed implants and to explore the possible factors that might affect the outcome of this reimplantation procedure. Patients that had failed dental implants, which were replaced with the same implant type at the same site, were included. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the patients and implants; survival analysis was also performed. The effect of systemic, environmental, and local factors on the survival of the reoperated implants was evaluated. 175 of 10,096 implants in 98 patients were replaced by another implant at the same location (159, 14, and 2 implants at second, third, and fourth surgeries, respectively). Newly replaced implants were generally of similar diameter but of shorter length compared to the previously placed fixtures. A statistically significant greater percentage of lost implants were placed in sites with low bone quantity. There was a statistically significant difference (P = 0.032) in the survival rates between implants that were inserted for the first time (94%) and implants that replaced the ones lost (73%). There was a statistically higher failure rate of the reoperated implants for patients taking antidepressants and antithrombotic agents. Dental implants replacing failed implants had lower survival rates than the rates reported for the previous attempts of implant placement. It is suggested that a site-specific negative effect may possibly be associated with this phenomenon, as well as the intake of antidepressants and antithrombotic agents. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Where is smoking research published?

Science.gov (United States)

Liguori, A.; Hughes, J. R.

1996-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To identify journals that have a focus on human nicotine/smoking research and to investigate the coverage of smoking in "high-impact" journals. DESIGN: The MEDLINE computer database was searched for English-language articles on human studies published in 1988-1992 using "nicotine", "smoking", "smoking cessation", "tobacco", or "tobacco use disorder" as focus descriptors. This search was supplemented with a similar search of the PSYCLIT computer database. Fifty-eight journals containing at least 20 nicotine/smoking articles over the five years were analysed for impact factor (IF; citations per article). RESULTS: Among the journals with the highest percentage of nicotine- or smoking-focused articles (that is, 9-39% of their articles were on nicotine/smoking), Addiction, American Journal of Public Health, Cancer Causes and Control, Health Psychology, and Preventive Medicine had the greatest IF (range = 1.3-2.6). Among the journals highest in impact factor (IF > 3), only American Journal of Epidemiology, American Review of Respiratory Disease, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and Journal of the American Medical Association published more than 10 nicotine/smoking articles per year (3-5% of all articles). Of these, only Journal of the American Medical Association published a large number of nicotine/smoking articles (32 per year). CONCLUSIONS: Although smoking causes 20% of all mortality in developed countries, the topic is not adequately covered in high-impact journals. Most smoking research is published in low-impact journals. 




 PMID:8795857

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Access: STM Publishing Today

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Kathleen

Electronic publishing is changing the fundamentals of the entire printing/delivery/archive system that has served as the distribution mechanism for scientific research over the last century and a half. The merger-mania of the last 20 years, preprint pools, and publishers' licensing and journals-bundling plans are among the phenomena impacting the scientific information field. Science-Technology-Medical (STM) publishing is experiencing a period of intense consolidation and reorganization. This paper gives an overview of the economic factors fueling these trends, the major STM publishers, and the government regulatory bodies that referee this industry in Europe, Canada, and the USA.

Validation of prediction model for successful vaginal birth after Cesarean delivery based on sonographic assessment of hysterotomy scar.

Science.gov (United States)

Baranov, A; Salvesen, K Å; Vikhareva, O

2018-02-01

To validate a prediction model for successful vaginal birth after Cesarean delivery (VBAC) based on sonographic assessment of the hysterotomy scar, in a Swedish population. Data were collected from a prospective cohort study. We recruited non-pregnant women aged 18-35 years who had undergone one previous low-transverse Cesarean delivery at ≥ 37 gestational weeks and had had no other uterine surgery. Participants who subsequently became pregnant underwent transvaginal ultrasound examination of the Cesarean hysterotomy scar at 11 + 0 to 13 + 6 and at 19 + 0 to 21 + 6 gestational weeks. Thickness of the myometrium at the thinnest part of the scar area was measured. After delivery, information on pregnancy outcome was retrieved from hospital records. Individual probabilities of successful VBAC were calculated using a previously published model. Predicted individual probabilities were divided into deciles. For each decile, observed VBAC rates were calculated. To assess the accuracy of the prediction model, receiver-operating characteristics curves were constructed and the areas under the curves (AUC) were calculated. Complete sonographic data were available for 120 women. Eighty (67%) women underwent trial of labor after Cesarean delivery (TOLAC) with VBAC occurring in 70 (88%) cases. The scar was visible in all 80 women at the first-trimester scan and in 54 (68%) women at the second-trimester scan. AUC was 0.44 (95% CI, 0.28-0.60) among all women who underwent TOLAC and 0.51 (95% CI, 0.32-0.71) among those with the scar visible sonographically at both ultrasound examinations. The prediction model demonstrated poor accuracy for prediction of successful VBAC in our Swedish population. Copyright © 2017 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Copyright © 2017 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Ins and the Outs of Electronic Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wills, Mathew; Wills, Gordon

1996-01-01

Examines electronic publishing for academic and professional publishers. Discusses benefits of electronic publishing to authors and readers, argues that the hard sell and product-driven mindsets will not work in a customer-focused communications medium, and outlines characteristics of electronic publishing that must be incorporated in successful…

Validation of a radiosensitivity molecular signature in breast cancer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S.A. Eschrich (Steven); C. Fulp (Carl); Y. Pawitan (Yudi); J.A. Foekens (John); M. Smid (Marcel); J.W.M. Martens (John); M. Echevarria (Michelle); P.S. Kamath (Patrick); J.-H. Lee (Ji-Hyun); E.E. Harris (Eleanor); J. Bergh (Jonas); J.F. Torres-Roca (Javier)

2012-01-01

textabstractPurpose: Previously, we developed a radiosensitivity molecular signature [radiosensitivity index (RSI)] that was clinically validated in 3 independent datasets (rectal, esophageal, and head and neck) in 118 patients. Here, we test RSI in radiotherapy (RT)-treated breast cancer patients.

[SciELO: method for electronic publishing].

Science.gov (United States)

Laerte Packer, A; Rocha Biojone, M; Antonio, I; Mayumi Takemaka, R; Pedroso García, A; Costa da Silva, A; Toshiyuki Murasaki, R; Mylek, C; Carvalho Reisl, O; Rocha F Delbucio, H C

2001-01-01

It describes the SciELO Methodology Scientific Electronic Library Online for electronic publishing of scientific periodicals, examining issues such as the transition from traditional printed publication to electronic publishing, the scientific communication process, the principles which founded the methodology development, its application in the building of the SciELO site, its modules and components, the tools use for its construction etc. The article also discusses the potentialities and trends for the area in Brazil and Latin America, pointing out questions and proposals which should be investigated and solved by the methodology. It concludes that the SciELO Methodology is an efficient, flexible and wide solution for the scientific electronic publishing.

Validating and improving a zero-dimensional stack voltage model of the Vanadium Redox Flow Battery

Science.gov (United States)

König, S.; Suriyah, M. R.; Leibfried, T.

2018-02-01

Simple, computationally efficient battery models can contribute significantly to the development of flow batteries. However, validation studies for these models on an industrial-scale stack level are rarely published. We first extensively present a simple stack voltage model for the Vanadium Redox Flow Battery. For modeling the concentration overpotential, we derive mass transfer coefficients from experimental results presented in the 1990s. The calculated mass transfer coefficient of the positive half-cell is 63% larger than of the negative half-cell, which is not considered in models published to date. Further, we advance the concentration overpotential model by introducing an apparent electrochemically active electrode surface which differs from the geometric electrode area. We use the apparent surface as fitting parameter for adapting the model to experimental results of a flow battery manufacturer. For adapting the model, we propose a method for determining the agreement between model and reality quantitatively. To protect the manufacturer's intellectual property, we introduce a normalization method for presenting the results. For the studied stack, the apparent electrochemically active surface of the electrode is 41% larger than its geometrical area. Hence, the current density in the diffusion layer is 29% smaller than previously reported for a zero-dimensional model.

Validity of an observation method for assessing pain behavior in individuals with multiple sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Karon F; Roddey, Toni S; Bamer, Alyssa M; Amtmann, Dagmar; Keefe, Francis J

2013-09-01

Pain is a common and complex experience for individuals who live with multiple sclerosis (MS) and it interferes with physical, psychological, and social function. A valid and reliable tool for quantifying observed pain behaviors in MS is critical to understand how pain behaviors contribute to pain-related disability in this clinical population. To evaluate the reliability and validity of a pain behavioral observation protocol in individuals who have MS. Community-dwelling volunteers with MS (N=30), back pain (N=5), or arthritis (N=8) were recruited based on clinician referrals, advertisements, fliers, web postings, and participation in previous research. Participants completed the measures of pain severity, pain interference, and self-reported pain behaviors and were videotaped doing typical activities (e.g., walking and sitting). Two coders independently recorded frequencies of pain behaviors by category (e.g., guarding and bracing) and interrater reliability statistics were calculated. Naïve observers reviewed videotapes of individuals with MS and rated their pain. The Spearman's correlations were calculated between pain behavior frequencies and self-reported pain and pain ratings by naïve observers. Interrater reliability estimates indicated the reliability of pain codes in the MS sample. Kappa coefficients ranged from moderate (sighing=0.40) to substantial agreements (guarding=0.83). These values were comparable with those obtained in the combined back pain and arthritis sample. Concurrent validity was supported by correlations with self-reported pain (0.46-0.53) and with self-reports of pain behaviors (0.58). Construct validity was supported by a finding of 0.87 correlation between total pain behaviors observed by coders and mean pain ratings by naïve observers. Results support the use of the pain behavior observation protocol for assessing pain behaviors of individuals with MS. Valid assessments of pain behaviors of individuals with MS could lead to

20 CFR 902.3 - Published information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Published information. 902.3 Section 902.3 Employees' Benefits JOINT BOARD FOR THE ENROLLMENT OF ACTUARIES RULES REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION § 902.3 Published information. (a) Federal Register. Pursuant to sections 552 and 553 of title 5 of the...

Construct validity of the ovine model in endoscopic sinus surgery training.

Science.gov (United States)

Awad, Zaid; Taghi, Ali; Sethukumar, Priya; Tolley, Neil S

2015-03-01

To demonstrate construct validity of the ovine model as a tool for training in endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). Prospective, cross-sectional evaluation study. Over 18 consecutive months, trainees and experts were evaluated in their ability to perform a range of tasks (based on previous face validation and descriptive studies conducted by the same group) relating to ESS on the sheep-head model. Anonymized randomized video recordings of the above were assessed by two independent and blinded assessors. A validated assessment tool utilizing a five-point Likert scale was employed. Construct validity was calculated by comparing scores across training levels and experts using mean and interquartile range of global and task-specific scores. Subgroup analysis of the intermediate group ascertained previous experience. Nonparametric descriptive statistics were used, and analysis was carried out using SPSS version 21 (IBM, Armonk, NY). Reliability of the assessment tool was confirmed. The model discriminated well between different levels of expertise in global and task-specific scores. A positive correlation was noted between year in training and both global and task-specific scores (P variable, and the number of ESS procedures performed under supervision had the highest impact on performance. This study describes an alternative model for ESS training and assessment. It is also the first to demonstrate construct validity of the sheep-head model for ESS training. © 2014 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Laparoscopy After Previous Laparotomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zulfo Godinjak

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Following the abdominal surgery, extensive adhesions often occur and they can cause difficulties during laparoscopic operations. However, previous laparotomy is not considered to be a contraindication for laparoscopy. The aim of this study is to present that an insertion of Veres needle in the region of umbilicus is a safe method for creating a pneumoperitoneum for laparoscopic operations after previous laparotomy. In the last three years, we have performed 144 laparoscopic operations in patients that previously underwent one or two laparotomies. Pathology of digestive system, genital organs, Cesarean Section or abdominal war injuries were the most common causes of previouslaparotomy. During those operations or during entering into abdominal cavity we have not experienced any complications, while in 7 patients we performed conversion to laparotomy following the diagnostic laparoscopy. In all patients an insertion of Veres needle and trocar insertion in the umbilical region was performed, namely a technique of closed laparoscopy. Not even in one patient adhesions in the region of umbilicus were found, and no abdominal organs were injured.

Are validated patient-reported outcomes used on children in pediatric otolaryngology? A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Kevin; Piraquive, Jacquelyn; Troiano, Chelsea A; Sulibhavi, Anita; Grundfast, Kenneth M; Levi, Jessica R

2018-02-01

Review the pediatric otolaryngology literature to 1) identify studies in which children completed patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures and 2) appraise the psychometric quality and validity of these PROs as they apply to pediatrics. In October 2016, a systematic review was performed by two reviewers on PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE for all otolaryngology-related studies that utilized PROs in children. Inclusion criteria included articles that required children (ageotolaryngology and some studies utilized PROs that were not validated or not validated for use in this age group. Future efforts to design and validate more instruments may be warranted. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Behind the Spam: A ``Spectral Analysis'' of Predatory Publishers

Science.gov (United States)

Beall, Jeffrey

2016-10-01

Most researchers today are bombarded with spam email solicitations from questionable scholarly publishers. These emails solicit article manuscripts, editorial board service, and even ad hoc peer reviews. These ``predatory'' publishers exploit the scholarly publishing process, patterning themselves after legitimate scholarly publishers yet performing little or no peer review and quickly accepting submitted manuscripts and collecting fees from submitting authors. These counterfeit publishers and journals have published much junk science? especially in the field of cosmology? threatening the integrity of the academic record. This paper examines the current state of predatory publishing and advises researchers how to navigate scholarly publishing to best avoid predatory publishers and other scholarly publishing-related perils.

Structural revision of some recently published iridoid glucosides.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Søren R; Caliş, Ihsan; Gotfredsen, Charlotte H; Søtofte, Inger

2007-01-01

The structures of six different iridoid glucosides have been revised. Three compounds isolated from Eremostachys glabra and designated 6,9-epi-8-O-acetylshanziside (1), 5,9-epi-penstemoside (2), and 5,9-epi-7,8-didehydropenstemoside (3) have been shown to be identical to the known iridoids barlerin (4, 8-O-acetylshanziside), penstemoside (5), and 7,8-didehydropenstemoside (6), respectively. Another compound named harpagoside-B, isolated from Scrophularia deserti and proposed to be 9-epi-6-O-methylharpagoside (11), was demonstrated from the spectroscopic data given to be the known harpagoside (10b). Finally, two alleged iridoid galactosides from Buddleja crispa named buddlejosides A and B (12a and 12b) have been shown to be the corresponding glucosides; the former is identical to agnuside (13a), while the latter is 3,4-dihydroxybenzoylaucubin (13b), an iridoid glucoside not previously published. This clearly showed that care should be taken with the interpretation of NOEs involving bridgehead protons in iridoid structures because they can be capricious and lead to erroneous structural assignments.

Music Consumption and Publishing in Todays Music Industry : Music publishing for an independent record label

OpenAIRE

Pienimäki, Kristian

2015-01-01

For the last two decades the changes in music technology and music consumption have affected music publishing as well as its viability. Much due to music digitalization and the overall decline in physical sales, the music industry has been forced to re-evaluate the means of publishing. The topic of the thesis is of current interest since the music industry is still in the state of change and new research is important. The thesis was assigned by an independent record label called Meiän Mu...

Validation of biomarkers for the study of environmental carcinogens: a review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gallo, Valentina; Khan, Aneire; Gonzales, Carlos

2008-01-01

There is a need for validation of biomarkers. Our aim is to review published work on the validation of selected biomarkers: bulky DNA adducts, N-nitroso compounds, 1-hydroxypyrene, and oxidative damage to DNA. A systematic literature search in PubMed was performed. Information on the variability...... and reliability of the laboratory tests used for biomarkers measurements was collected. For the evaluation of the evidence on validation we referred to the ACCE criteria. Little is known about intraindividual variation of DNA adduct measurements, but measurements have a good repeatability irrespective...... of the technique used for their identification; reproducibility improved after the correction for a laboratory factor. A high-sensitivity method is available for the measurement of 1-hydroxypyrene in urine. There is consensus on validation of biomarkers of oxidative damage DNA based on the comet assay...

Ethical leadership: meta-analytic evidence of criterion-related and incremental validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Thomas W H; Feldman, Daniel C

2015-05-01

This study examines the criterion-related and incremental validity of ethical leadership (EL) with meta-analytic data. Across 101 samples published over the last 15 years (N = 29,620), we observed that EL demonstrated acceptable criterion-related validity with variables that tap followers' job attitudes, job performance, and evaluations of their leaders. Further, followers' trust in the leader mediated the relationships of EL with job attitudes and performance. In terms of incremental validity, we found that EL significantly, albeit weakly in some cases, predicted task performance, citizenship behavior, and counterproductive work behavior-even after controlling for the effects of such variables as transformational leadership, use of contingent rewards, management by exception, interactional fairness, and destructive leadership. The article concludes with a discussion of ways to strengthen the incremental validity of EL. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Scientific publishing: some food for thought

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vittorio Bo

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Scientific publishing, here to be considered in a broader sense, as publishing of both specialised scientific journals and science popularisation works addressed to a wider audience, has been sailing for some years on troubled waters. To gather some possible food for thought is the purpose of this brief article.

Publisher Correction: Invisible Trojan-horse attack

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sajeed, Shihan; Minshull, Carter; Jain, Nitin

2017-01-01

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML version of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.......A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML version of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper....

An Integrated Research Infrastructure for Validating Cyber-Physical Energy Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strasser, T. I.; Moyo, C.; Bründlinger, R.

2017-01-01

quality and ensure security of supply. At the same time, the increased availability of advanced automation and communication technologies provides new opportunities for the derivation of intelligent solutions to tackle the challenges. Previous work has shown various new methods of operating highly...... interconnected power grids, and their corresponding components, in a more effective way. As a consequence of these developments, the traditional power system is being transformed into a cyber-physical energy system, a smart grid. Previous and ongoing research have tended to mainly focus on how specific aspects...... of smart grids can be validated, but until there exists no integrated approach for the analysis and evaluation of complex cyber-physical systems configurations. This paper introduces integrated research infrastructure that provides methods and tools for validating smart grid systems in a holistic, cyber...

Contact Modelling in Resistance Welding, Part II: Experimental Validation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Song, Quanfeng; Zhang, Wenqi; Bay, Niels

2006-01-01

Contact algorithms in resistance welding presented in the previous paper are experimentally validated in the present paper. In order to verify the mechanical contact algorithm, two types of experiments, i.e. sandwich upsetting of circular, cylindrical specimens and compression tests of discs...... with a solid ring projection towards a flat ring, are carried out at room temperature. The complete algorithm, involving not only the mechanical model but also the thermal and electrical models, is validated by projection welding experiments. The experimental results are in satisfactory agreement...

Predicting Radiation Pneumonitis After Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy in Patients Previously Treated With Conventional Thoracic Radiation Therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Hui; Zhang Xu; Vinogradskiy, Yevgeniy Y.; Swisher, Stephen G.; Komaki, Ritsuko; Chang, Joe Y.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To determine the incidence of and risk factors for radiation pneumonitis (RP) after stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR) to the lung in patients who had previously undergone conventional thoracic radiation therapy. Methods and Materials: Seventy-two patients who had previously received conventionally fractionated radiation therapy to the thorax were treated with SABR (50 Gy in 4 fractions) for recurrent disease or secondary parenchymal lung cancer (T 10 and mean lung dose (MLD) of the previous plan and the V 10 -V 40 and MLD of the composite plan were also related to RP. Multivariate analysis revealed that ECOG PS scores of 2-3 before SABR (P=.009), FEV1 ≤65% before SABR (P=.012), V 20 ≥30% of the composite plan (P=.021), and an initial PTV in the bilateral mediastinum (P=.025) were all associated with RP. Conclusions: We found that severe RP was relatively common, occurring in 20.8% of patients, and could be predicted by an ECOG PS score of 2-3, an FEV1 ≤65%, a previous PTV spanning the bilateral mediastinum, and V 20 ≥30% on composite (previous RT+SABR) plans. Prospective studies are needed to validate these predictors and the scoring system on which they are based.

DTU PMU Laboratory Development - Testing and Validation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garcia-Valle, Rodrigo; Yang, Guang-Ya; Martin, Kenneth E.

2010-01-01

This is a report of the results of phasor measurement unit (PMU) laboratory development and testing done at the Centre for Electric Technology (CET), Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Analysis of the PMU performance first required the development of tools to convert the DTU PMU data into IEEE...... standard, and the validation is done for the DTU-PMU via a validated commercial PMU. The commercial PMU has been tested from the authors' previous efforts, where the response can be expected to follow known patterns and provide confirmation about the test system to confirm the design and settings....... In a nutshell, having 2 PMUs that observe same signals provides validation of the operation and flags questionable results with more certainty. Moreover, the performance and accuracy of the DTU-PMU is tested acquiring good and precise results, when compared with a commercial phasor measurement device, PMU-1....

Open Access Publishing: What Authors Want

Science.gov (United States)

Nariani, Rajiv; Fernandez, Leila

2012-01-01

Campus-based open access author funds are being considered by many academic libraries as a way to support authors publishing in open access journals. Article processing fees for open access have been introduced recently by publishers and have not yet been widely accepted by authors. Few studies have surveyed authors on their reasons for publishing…

22 CFR 212.11 - Materials to be published.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Materials to be published. 212.11 Section 212... Federal Register § 212.11 Materials to be published. (a) USAID separately states and currently publishes... section. (b) USAID Public Notice No. 1 and the USAID Regulations published in chapter II of Title 22 and...

Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics

CERN Document Server

2007-01-01

Particle Physics, often referred to as High Energy Physics (HEP), spearheaded the Open Access dissemination of scientific results with the mass mailing of preprints in the pre-Web era and with the launch of the arXiv preprint system at the dawn of the '90s. The HEP community is now ready for a further push to Open Access while retaining all the advantages of the peerreview system and, at the same time, bring the spiralling cost of journal subscriptions under control. I will present a plan for the conversion to Open Access of HEP peer-reviewed journals, through a consortium of HEP funding agencies, laboratories and libraries: SCOAP3 (Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics). SCOAP3 will engage with scientific publishers towards building a sustainable model for Open Access publishing, which is as transparent as possible for HEP authors. The current system in which journals income comes from subscription fees is replaced with a scheme where SCOAP3 compensates publishers for the costs...

Standardized mortality in eating disorders--a quantitative summary of previously published and new evidence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Søren; Møller-Madsen, S.; Isager, Torben

2011-01-01

strong evidence for an increase in SMR for anorexia nervosa (AN), whereas no firm conclusions could be drawn for bulimia nervosa (BN). Bias caused by loss to follow-up was quantified and found non-negligable in some samples (possible increase in SMR from 25% to 240%). We did not find a significant effect...

Standardized mortality in eating disorders--a quantitative summary of previously published and new evidence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Søren; Møller-Madsen, S.; Isager, Torben

1998-01-01

strong evidence for an increase in SMR for anorexia nervosa (AN), whereas no firm conclusions could be drawn for bulimia nervosa (BN). Bias caused by loss to follow-up was quantified and found non-negligable in some samples (possible increase in SMR from 25% to 240%). We did not find a significant effect...

Addiction-Like Mobile Phone Behavior - Validation and Association With Problem Gambling.

Science.gov (United States)

Fransson, Andreas; Chóliz, Mariano; Håkansson, Anders

2018-01-01

Mobile phone use and its potential addiction has become a point of interest within the research community. The aim of the study was to translate and validate the Test of Mobile Dependence (TMD), and to investigate if there are any associations between mobile phone use and problem gambling. This was a cross-sectional study on a Swedish general population. A questionnaire consisting of a translated version of the TMD, three problem gambling questions (NODS-CLiP) together with two questions concerning previous addiction treatment was published online. Exploratory factor analysis based on polychoric correlations was performed on the TMD. Independent samples T -tests, Mann-Whitney test, logistic regression analyses and ANOVA were performed to examine mean differences between subjects based on TMD test score, gambling and previous addiction treatment. A total of 1,515 people (38.3% men) answered the questionnaire. The TMD showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.905), and significant correlation with subjective dependence on one's mobile phone. Women scored higher on the TMD and 15-18 year olds had the highest mean test score. The TMD test score was significantly associated with problem gambling, but only when controlling for age and sex. Various separated items related to mobile phone use were associated with problem gambling. The TMD had acceptable internal consistency and correlates with subjective dependence, while future confirmatory factor analysis is recommended. An association between mobile phone use and problem gambling may be possible, but requires further research.

Behind the Spam: A "Spectral Analysis" of Predatory Publishers

Science.gov (United States)

Beall, Jeffrey

2015-08-01

Most researchers today are bombarded with spam email solicitations from questionable scholarly publishers. These emails solicit article manuscripts, editorial board service, and even ad hoc peer reviews. These "predatory" publishers exploit the scholarly publishing process, patterning themselves after legitimate scholarly publishers yet performing little or no peer review and quickly accepting submitted manuscripts and collecting fees from submitting authors. These counterfeit publishers and journals have published much junk science — especially in the field of cosmology — threatening the integrity of the academic record. This presentation examines the current state of predatory publishing and related scams such as fake impact factors and advises researchers how to navigate scholarly publishing to best avoid predatory publishers and other scholarly publishing-related perils.

Equity for open-access journal publishing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stuart M Shieber

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Open-access journals, which provide access to their scholarly articles freely and without limitations, are at a systematic disadvantage relative to traditional closed-access journal publishing and its subscription-based business model. A simple, cost-effective remedy to this inequity could put open-access publishing on a path to become a sustainable, efficient system.

Development and Validation of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale--Brief

Science.gov (United States)

Burgess, Alexandra M.; Frost, Randy O.; DiBartolo, Patricia Marten

2016-01-01

Twenty-five years ago, one of the first empirically validated measures of perfectionism, the Frost et al. Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (F-MPS) was published. Since that time, psychometric studies of the original F-MPS have provided a plethora of evidence to support the potential development of a shorter yet still psychometrically robust…

Antibody Selection for Cancer Target Validation of FSH-Receptor in Immunohistochemical Settings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nina Moeker

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background: The follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH-receptor (FSHR has been reported to be an attractive target for antibody therapy in human cancer. However, divergent immunohistochemical (IHC findings have been reported for FSHR expression in tumor tissues, which could be due to the specificity of the antibodies used. Methods: Three frequently used antibodies (sc-7798, sc-13935, and FSHR323 were validated for their suitability in an immunohistochemical study for FSHR expression in different tissues. As quality control, two potential therapeutic anti-hFSHR Ylanthia® antibodies (Y010913, Y010916 were used. The specificity criteria for selection of antibodies were binding to native hFSHR of different sources, and no binding to non-related proteins. The ability of antibodies to stain the paraffin-embedded Flp-In Chinese hamster ovary (CHO/FSHR cells was tested after application of different epitope retrieval methods. Results: From the five tested anti-hFSHR antibodies, only Y010913, Y010916, and FSHR323 showed specific binding to native, cell-presented hFSHR. Since Ylanthia® antibodies were selected to specifically recognize native FSHR, as required for a potential therapeutic antibody candidate, FSHR323 was the only antibody to detect the receptor in IHC/histochemical settings on transfected cells, and at markedly lower, physiological concentrations (ex., in Sertoli cells of human testes. The pattern of FSH323 staining noticed for ovarian, prostatic, and renal adenocarcinomas indicated that FSHR was expressed mainly in the peripheral tumor blood vessels. Conclusion: Of all published IHC antibodies tested, only antibody FSHR323 proved suitable for target validation of hFSHR in an IHC setting for cancer. Our studies could not confirm the previously reported FSHR overexpression in ovarian and prostate cancer cells. Instead, specific overexpression in peripheral tumor blood vessels could be confirmed after thorough validation of the antibodies used.

Validating a Technology Enhanced Student-Centered Learning Model

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Myunghee; Hahn, Jungsun; Chung, Warren

2015-01-01

The Technology Enhanced Student Centered Learning (TESCL) Model in this study presents the core factors that ensure the quality of learning in a technology-supported environment. Although the model was conceptually constructed using a student-centered learning framework and drawing upon previous studies, it should be validated through real-world…

Web publishing today and tomorrow

CERN Document Server

Lie, Hakon W

1999-01-01

The three lectures will give participants the grand tour of the Web as we know it today, as well as peeks into the past and the future. Many three-letter acronyms will be expanded, and an overview will be provided to see how the various specifications work together. Web publishing is the common theme throughout the lectures and in the second lecture, special emphasis will be given to data formats for publishing, including HTML, XML, MathML and SMIL. In the last lectures, automatic document manipulation and presentation will be discussed, including CSS, DOM and XTL.

Do emotional intelligence and previous caring experience influence student nurse performance? A comparative analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Stenhouse, Rosie; Snowden, Austyn; Young, Jenny; Carver, Fiona; Carver, Hannah; Brown, Norrie

2016-08-01

Reports of poor nursing care have focused attention on values based selection of candidates onto nursing programmes. Values based selection lacks clarity and valid measures. Previous caring experience might lead to better care. Emotional intelligence (EI) might be associated with performance, is conceptualised and measurable. To examine the impact of 1) previous caring experience, 2) emotional intelligence 3) social connection scores on performance and retention in a cohort of first year nursing and midwifery students in Scotland. A longitudinal, quasi experimental design. Adult and mental health nursing, and midwifery programmes in a Scottish University. Adult, mental health and midwifery students (n=598) completed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-short form and Schutte's Emotional Intelligence Scale on entry to their programmes at a Scottish University, alongside demographic and previous caring experience data. Social connection was calculated from a subset of questions identified within the TEIQue-SF in a prior factor and Rasch analysis. Student performance was calculated as the mean mark across the year. Withdrawal data were gathered. 598 students completed baseline measures. 315 students declared previous caring experience, 277 not. An independent-samples t-test identified that those without previous caring experience scored higher on performance (57.33±11.38) than those with previous caring experience (54.87±11.19), a statistically significant difference of 2.47 (95% CI, 0.54 to 4.38), t(533)=2.52, p=.012. Emotional intelligence scores were not associated with performance. Social connection scores for those withdrawing (mean rank=249) and those remaining (mean rank=304.75) were statistically significantly different, U=15,300, z=-2.61, p$_amp_$lt;0.009. Previous caring experience led to worse performance in this cohort. Emotional intelligence was not a useful indicator of performance. Lower scores on the social connection factor were associated

Systematic review of the risk of uterine rupture with the use of amnioinfusion after previous cesarean delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Paul

2005-04-01

Amnioinfusion is commonly used for the intrapartum treatment of women with pregnancy complicated by thick meconium or oligohydramnios with deep variable fetal heart rate decelerations. Its benefit in women with previous cesarean deliveries is less known. Theoretically, rapid increases in intrauterine volume would lead to a higher risk of uterine rupture. Searches of the Cochrane Library from inception to the third quarter of 2001 and MEDLINE, 1966 to November 2001, were performed by using keywords "cesarean" and "amnioinfusion." Search terms were expanded to maximize results. All languages were included. Review articles, editorials, and data previously published in other sites were not analyzed. Four studies were retrieved having unduplicated data describing amnioinfusion in women who were attempting a trial of labor after previous cesarean section. As the studies were of disparate types, meta-analysis was not possible. The use of amnioinfusion in women with previous cesarean delivery who are undergoing a trial of labor may be a safe procedure, but confirmatory large, controlled prospective studies are needed before definitive recommendations can be made.

Predicting Hemorrhagic Transformation of Acute Ischemic Stroke: Prospective Validation of the HeRS Score.

Science.gov (United States)

Marsh, Elisabeth B; Llinas, Rafael H; Schneider, Andrea L C; Hillis, Argye E; Lawrence, Erin; Dziedzic, Peter; Gottesman, Rebecca F

2016-01-01

Hemorrhagic transformation (HT) increases the morbidity and mortality of ischemic stroke. Anticoagulation is often indicated in patients with atrial fibrillation, low ejection fraction, or mechanical valves who are hospitalized with acute stroke, but increases the risk of HT. Risk quantification would be useful. Prior studies have investigated risk of systemic hemorrhage in anticoagulated patients, but none looked specifically at HT. In our previously published work, age, infarct volume, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) significantly predicted HT. We created the hemorrhage risk stratification (HeRS) score based on regression coefficients in multivariable modeling and now determine its validity in a prospectively followed inpatient cohort.A total of 241 consecutive patients presenting to 2 academic stroke centers with acute ischemic stroke and an indication for anticoagulation over a 2.75-year period were included. Neuroimaging was evaluated for infarct volume and HT. Hemorrhages were classified as symptomatic versus asymptomatic, and by severity. HeRS scores were calculated for each patient and compared to actual hemorrhage status using receiver operating curve analysis.Area under the curve (AUC) comparing predicted odds of hemorrhage (HeRS score) to actual hemorrhage status was 0.701. Serum glucose (P hemorrhages were more likely to be symptomatic and more severe.The HeRS score is a valid predictor of HT in patients with ischemic stroke and indication for anticoagulation.

Are any public-reported earthquake precursors valid?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. E. Whitehead

2004-01-01

Full Text Available This article examines retrospective public-supplied precursor reports statistically, and confirms published hypotheses that some alleged precursors within 100km and within a day prior to the large 1995 Kobe and 1999 Izmit earthquakes, may be valid. The confirmations are mostly at the p<0.001 level of significance. Most significant were alleged meteorological and geophysical precursors, and less often, animal reports. The chi-squared test used, for the first time eliminates the distorting effects of psychological factors on the reports. However it also shows that correct reports are diluted with about the same number which are merely wishful thinking, and obtaining more reliable data would be logistically difficult. Some support is found for another published hypothesis in which other precursors occurred within the ten days prior to the earthquake.

Reclaiming Society Publishing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip E. Steinberg

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Learned societies have become aligned with commercial publishers, who have increasingly taken over the latter’s function as independent providers of scholarly information. Using the example of geographical societies, the advantages and disadvantages of this trend are examined. It is argued that in an era of digital publication, learned societies can offer leadership with a new model of open access that can guarantee high quality scholarly material whose publication costs are supported by society membership dues.

Hprints - Licence to publish

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rabow, Ingegerd; Sikström, Marjatta; Drachen, Thea Marie

2010-01-01

realised the potential advantages for them. The universities have a role here as well as the libraries that manage the archives and support scholars in various aspects of the publishing processes. Libraries are traditionally service providers with a mission to facilitate the knowledge production...

Preoperative screening: value of previous tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Macpherson, D S; Snow, R; Lofgren, R P

1990-12-15

To determine the frequency of tests done in the year before elective surgery that might substitute for preoperative screening tests and to determine the frequency of test results that change from a normal value to a value likely to alter perioperative management. Retrospective cohort analysis of computerized laboratory data (complete blood count, sodium, potassium, and creatinine levels, prothrombin time, and partial thromboplastin time). Urban tertiary care Veterans Affairs Hospital. Consecutive sample of 1109 patients who had elective surgery in 1988. At admission, 7549 preoperative tests were done, 47% of which duplicated tests performed in the previous year. Of 3096 previous results that were normal as defined by hospital reference range and done closest to the time of but before admission (median interval, 2 months), 13 (0.4%; 95% CI, 0.2% to 0.7%), repeat values were outside a range considered acceptable for surgery. Most of the abnormalities were predictable from the patient's history, and most were not noted in the medical record. Of 461 previous tests that were abnormal, 78 (17%; CI, 13% to 20%) repeat values at admission were outside a range considered acceptable for surgery (P less than 0.001, frequency of clinically important abnormalities of patients with normal previous results with those with abnormal previous results). Physicians evaluating patients preoperatively could safely substitute the previous test results analyzed in this study for preoperative screening tests if the previous tests are normal and no obvious indication for retesting is present.

Validation of the process control system of an automated large scale manufacturing plant.

Science.gov (United States)

Neuhaus, H; Kremers, H; Karrer, T; Traut, R H

1998-02-01

The validation procedure for the process control system of a plant for the large scale production of human albumin from plasma fractions is described. A validation master plan is developed, defining the system and elements to be validated, the interfaces with other systems with the validation limits, a general validation concept and supporting documentation. Based on this master plan, the validation protocols are developed. For the validation, the system is subdivided into a field level, which is the equipment part, and an automation level. The automation level is further subdivided into sections according to the different software modules. Based on a risk categorization of the modules, the qualification activities are defined. The test scripts for the different qualification levels (installation, operational and performance qualification) are developed according to a previously performed risk analysis.

Refinement, Validation and Benchmarking of a Model for E-Government Service Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Magoutas, Babis; Mentzas, Gregoris

This paper presents the refinement and validation of a model for Quality of e-Government Services (QeGS). We built upon our previous work where a conceptualized model was identified and put focus on the confirmatory phase of the model development process, in order to come up with a valid and reliable QeGS model. The validated model, which was benchmarked with very positive results with similar models found in the literature, can be used for measuring the QeGS in a reliable and valid manner. This will form the basis for a continuous quality improvement process, unleashing the full potential of e-government services for both citizens and public administrations.

Validation of the DRAGON/DONJON code package for MNR using the IAEA 10 MW benchmark problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Day, S.E.; Garland, W.J.

2000-01-01

The first step in developing a framework for reactor physics analysis is to establish the appropriate and proven reactor physics codes. The chosen code package is tested, by executing a benchmark problem and comparing the results to the accepted standards. The IAEA 10 MW Benchmark problem is suitable for static reactor physics calculations on plate-fueled research reactor systems and has been used previously to validate codes for the McMaster Nuclear (MNR). The flexible and advanced geometry capabilities of the DRAGON transport theory code make it a desirable tool, and the accompanying DONJON diffusion theory code also has useful features applicable to safety analysis work at MNR. This paper describes the methodology used to benchmark the DRAGON/DONJON code package against this problem and the results herein extend the domain of validation of this code package. The results are directly applicable to MNR and are relevant to a reduced-enrichment fuel program. The DRAGON transport code models, used in this study, are based on the 1-D infinite slab approximation whereas the DONJON diffusion code models are defined in 3-D Cartesian geometry. The cores under consideration are composed of HEU (93% enrichment), MEU (45% enrichment) and LEU (20% enrichment) fuel and are examined in a fresh state, as well as at beginning-of-life (BOL) and end-of-life (EOL) exposures. The required flux plots and flux-ratio plots are included, as are transport theory code k∞and diffusion theory code k eff results. In addition to this, selected isotope atom densities are charted as a function of fuel burnup. Results from this analysis are compared to and are in good agreement with previously published results. (author)

Verification and validation of computer based systems for PFBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thirugnanamurthy, D.

2017-01-01

Verification and Validation (V and V) process is essential to build quality into system. Verification is the process of evaluating a system to determine whether the products of each development phase satisfies the requirements imposed by the previous phase. Validation is the process of evaluating a system at the end of the development process to ensure compliance with the functional, performance and interface requirements. This presentation elaborates the V and V process followed, documents submission requirements in each stage, V and V activities, check list used for reviews in each stage and reports

High prevalence of genetic variants previously associated with Brugada syndrome in new exome data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Risgaard, B; Jabbari, R; Refsgaard, L

2013-01-01

More than 300 variants in 12 genes have been associated with Brugada syndrome (BrS) which has a prevalence ranging between 1:2000 and 1:100,000. Until recently, there has been little knowledge regarding the distribution of genetic variations in the general population. This problem was partly solved......, when exome data from the NHLI GO Exome Sequencing Project (ESP) was published. In this study, we aimed to report the prevalence of previously BrS-associated variants in the ESP population. We performed a search in ESP for variants previously associated with BrS. In addition, four variants in ESP were...... to a surprisingly high genotype prevalence of 1:23 (274:6258). Genotyping the four common ESP-derived variants CACNA2D1 S709N, SCN5A F2004L, CACNB2 S143F, and CACNB2 T450I in the Danish controls, we found a genotype prevalence comparable with that found in ESP. We suggest that exome data are used in research...

The Academic Publishing Industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nell, Phillip Christopher; Wenzel, Tim Ole; Schmidt, Florian

2014-01-01

. The case is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective handling of a managerial situation. It is based on published sources, interviews, and personal experience. The authors have disguised some names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality....

Development and validation of an international appraisal instrument for assessing the quality of clinical practice guidelines: the AGREE project.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cluzeau, F.A.; Burgers, J.S.; Brouwers, M.M.; Grol, R.P.T.M.; et al.,

2003-01-01

BACKGROUND: International interest in clinical practice guidelines has never been greater but many published guidelines do not meet the basic quality requirements. There have been renewed calls for validated criteria to assess the quality of guidelines. OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate an

Towards mainstreaming of biodiversity data publishing: recommendations of the GBIF Data Publishing Framework Task Group.

Science.gov (United States)

Moritz, Tom; Krishnan, S; Roberts, Dave; Ingwersen, Peter; Agosti, Donat; Penev, Lyubomir; Cockerill, Matthew; Chavan, Vishwas

2011-01-01

Data are the evidentiary basis for scientific hypotheses, analyses and publication, for policy formation and for decision-making. They are essential to the evaluation and testing of results by peer scientists both present and future. There is broad consensus in the scientific and conservation communities that data should be freely, openly available in a sustained, persistent and secure way, and thus standards for 'free' and 'open' access to data have become well developed in recent years. The question of effective access to data remains highly problematic. Specifically with respect to scientific publishing, the ability to critically evaluate a published scientific hypothesis or scientific report is contingent on the examination, analysis, evaluation - and if feasible - on the re-generation of data on which conclusions are based. It is not coincidental that in the recent 'climategate' controversies, the quality and integrity of data and their analytical treatment were central to the debate. There is recent evidence that even when scientific data are requested for evaluation they may not be available. The history of dissemination of scientific results has been marked by paradigm shifts driven by the emergence of new technologies. In recent decades, the advance of computer-based technology linked to global communications networks has created the potential for broader and more consistent dissemination of scientific information and data. Yet, in this digital era, scientists and conservationists, organizations and institutions have often been slow to make data available. Community studies suggest that the withholding of data can be attributed to a lack of awareness, to a lack of technical capacity, to concerns that data should be withheld for reasons of perceived personal or organizational self interest, or to lack of adequate mechanisms for attribution. There is a clear need for institutionalization of a 'data publishing framework' that can address sociocultural

Towards mainstreaming of biodiversity data publishing: recommendations of the GBIF Data Publishing Framework Task Group

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moritz Tom

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Data are the evidentiary basis for scientific hypotheses, analyses and publication, for policy formation and for decision-making. They are essential to the evaluation and testing of results by peer scientists both present and future. There is broad consensus in the scientific and conservation communities that data should be freely, openly available in a sustained, persistent and secure way, and thus standards for 'free' and 'open' access to data have become well developed in recent years. The question of effective access to data remains highly problematic. Discussion Specifically with respect to scientific publishing, the ability to critically evaluate a published scientific hypothesis or scientific report is contingent on the examination, analysis, evaluation - and if feasible - on the re-generation of data on which conclusions are based. It is not coincidental that in the recent 'climategate' controversies, the quality and integrity of data and their analytical treatment were central to the debate. There is recent evidence that even when scientific data are requested for evaluation they may not be available. The history of dissemination of scientific results has been marked by paradigm shifts driven by the emergence of new technologies. In recent decades, the advance of computer-based technology linked to global communications networks has created the potential for broader and more consistent dissemination of scientific information and data. Yet, in this digital era, scientists and conservationists, organizations and institutions have often been slow to make data available. Community studies suggest that the withholding of data can be attributed to a lack of awareness, to a lack of technical capacity, to concerns that data should be withheld for reasons of perceived personal or organizational self interest, or to lack of adequate mechanisms for attribution. Conclusions There is a clear need for institutionalization of a

Validation of models that predict Cesarean section after induction of labor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhoeven, C. J. M.; Oudenaarden, A.; Hermus, M. A. A.; Porath, M. M.; Oei, S. G.; Mol, B. W. J.

2009-01-01

Objective Models for the prediction of Cesarean delivery after induction of labor can be used to improve clinical decision-making. The objective of this study was to validate two existing models, published by Peregrine et al. and Rane et al., for the prediction of Cesarean section after induction of

Derivation and Cross-Validation of Cutoff Scores for Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders on WAIS-IV Digit Span-Based Performance Validity Measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Glassmire, David M; Toofanian Ross, Parnian; Kinney, Dominique I; Nitch, Stephen R

2016-06-01

Two studies were conducted to identify and cross-validate cutoff scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition Digit Span-based embedded performance validity (PV) measures for individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. In Study 1, normative scores were identified on Digit Span-embedded PV measures among a sample of patients (n = 84) with schizophrenia spectrum diagnoses who had no known incentive to perform poorly and who put forth valid effort on external PV tests. Previously identified cutoff scores resulted in unacceptable false positive rates and lower cutoff scores were adopted to maintain specificity levels ≥90%. In Study 2, the revised cutoff scores were cross-validated within a sample of schizophrenia spectrum patients (n = 96) committed as incompetent to stand trial. Performance on Digit Span PV measures was significantly related to Full Scale IQ in both studies, indicating the need to consider the intellectual functioning of examinees with psychotic spectrum disorders when interpreting scores on Digit Span PV measures. © The Author(s) 2015.

Validation of nursing management diagnoses.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, R S

1995-01-01

Nursing management diagnosis based on nursing and management science, merges "nursing diagnosis" and "organizational diagnosis". Nursing management diagnosis is a judgment about nursing organizational problems. The diagnoses provide a basis for nurse manager interventions to achieve outcomes for which a nurse manager is accountable. A nursing organizational problem is a discrepancy between what should be happening and what is actually happening that prevents the goals of nursing from being accomplished. The purpose of this study was to validate 73 nursing management diagnoses identified previously in 1992: 71 of the 72 diagnoses were considered valid by at least 70% of 136 participants. Diagnoses considered to have high priority for future research and development were identified by summing the mean scores for perceived frequency of occurrence and level of disruption. Further development of nursing management diagnoses and testing of their effectiveness in enhancing decision making is recommended.

Establishing a publishing outfit in Nigeria | Emenyonu | International ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal Home > Vol 12, No 1 (2017) > ... The paper examines the steps in establishing a publishing firm in the Nigerian environment. ... to follow in establishing a publishing company, networking with stakeholders in the publishing industry,the ...

Desktop Publishing in Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Wendy; Layman, J.

1989-01-01

Discusses the state of desktop publishing (DTP) in education today and describes the weaknesses of the systems available for use in the classroom. Highlights include document design and layout; text composition; graphics; word processing capabilities; a comparison of commercial and educational DTP packages; and skills required for DTP. (four…

FTP: Full-Text Publishing?

Science.gov (United States)

Jul, Erik

1992-01-01

Describes the use of file transfer protocol (FTP) on the INTERNET computer network and considers its use as an electronic publishing system. The differing electronic formats of text files are discussed; the preparation and access of documents are described; and problems are addressed, including a lack of consistency. (LRW)

Validation of Metrics as Error Predictors

Science.gov (United States)

Mendling, Jan

In this chapter, we test the validity of metrics that were defined in the previous chapter for predicting errors in EPC business process models. In Section 5.1, we provide an overview of how the analysis data is generated. Section 5.2 describes the sample of EPCs from practice that we use for the analysis. Here we discuss a disaggregation by the EPC model group and by error as well as a correlation analysis between metrics and error. Based on this sample, we calculate a logistic regression model for predicting error probability with the metrics as input variables in Section 5.3. In Section 5.4, we then test the regression function for an independent sample of EPC models from textbooks as a cross-validation. Section 5.5 summarizes the findings.

Trends in scientific publishing: Dark clouds loom large.

Science.gov (United States)

Vinny, Pulikottil Wilson; Vishnu, Venugopalan Y; Lal, Vivek

2016-04-15

The world wide web has brought about a paradigm shift in the way medical research is published and accessed. The ease with which a new journal can be started/hosted by publishing start-ups is unprecedented. The tremendous capabilities of the world wide web and the open access revolution when combined with a highly profitable business have attracted unscrupulous fraudulent operators to the publishing industry. The intent of these fraudulent publishers is solely driven by profit with utter disregard to scientific content, peer reviews and ethics. This phenomenon has been referred to as "predatory publishing". The "international" tag of such journals often betrays their true origins. The gold open access model of publishing, where the author pays the publisher, when coupled with a non-existent peer review threatens to blur the distinction between science and pseudoscience. The average researcher needs to be made more aware of this clear and present danger to the scientific community. Prevention is better than cure. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Citations of plenary-session articles published in the Proceedings of the International Symposium on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Salman, M D; Dewell, Reneé; Willeberg, Preben; GrandMaison, Nadine; Schoenbaum, Melissa; Moothart, Tom

2007-06-15

We measured the potential impact of articles representing the International Symposium on Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE) plenary-session presentations in subsequent published literature. Between July 1, 2004 and November 9, 2004, we searched the Web of Science for citations in the scientific literature to all 99 plenary-session articles published in the proceedings of the previous nine ISVEEs (or in journal special issues dedicated to the ISVEE plenary articles). We used a 4-year window around the publication of each of the ISVEE proceedings. We located 187 citations for 37 (of the 99) articles. We infer that the ISVEE proceedings represent an important resource for veterinary epidemiology.

The development and validation of a psychological contract of safety scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Arlene

2010-08-01

This paper builds on previous research by the author and describes the development and validation of a new measure of the psychological contract of safety. The psychological contract of safety is defined as the beliefs of individuals about reciprocal safety obligations inferred from implicit and explicit promises. A psychological contract is established when an individual believes that perceived employer and employee safety obligations are contingent on each other. A pilot test of the measure is first undertaken with participants from three different occupations: nurses, construction workers, and meat processing workers (N=99). Item analysis is used to refine the measure and provide initial validation of the scale. A larger validation study is then conducted with a participant sample of health care workers (N=424) to further refine the measure and to determine the psychometric properties of the scale. Item and correlational analyses produced the final employer and employee obligations scales, consisting of 21 and 17 items, respectively. Factor analyses identified two underlying dimensions in each scale comparable to that previously established in the organizational literature. These transactional and relational-type obligations provided construct validity of the scale. Internal consistency ratings using Cronbach's alpha found the components of the psychological contract of safety measure to be reliable. The refined and validated psychological contract of safety measure will allow investigation of the positive and negative outcomes associated with fulfilment and breach of the psychological contract of safety in future research. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of biologic occupational risk control practices: quality indicators development and validation.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Renata Ferreira; Gryschek, Anna Luíza F P L; Izumi Nichiata, Lúcia Yasuko; Lacerda, Rúbia Aparecida; Ciosak, Suely Itsuko; Gir, Elucir; Padoveze, Maria Clara

2010-05-01

There is growing demand for the adoption of qualification systems for health care practices. This study is aimed at describing the development and validation of indicators for evaluation of biologic occupational risk control programs. The study involved 3 stages: (1) setting up a research team, (2) development of indicators, and (3) validation of the indicators by a team of specialists recruited to validate each attribute of the developed indicators. The content validation method was used for the validation, and a psychometric scale was developed for the specialists' assessment. A consensus technique was used, and every attribute that obtained a Content Validity Index of at least 0.75 was approved. Eight indicators were developed for the evaluation of the biologic occupational risk prevention program, with emphasis on accidents caused by sharp instruments and occupational tuberculosis prevention. The indicators included evaluation of the structure, process, and results at the prevention and biologic risk control levels. The majority of indicators achieved a favorable consensus regarding all validated attributes. The developed indicators were considered validated, and the method used for construction and validation proved to be effective. Copyright (c) 2010 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

A Systematic Method for Verification and Validation of Gyrokinetic Microstability Codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bravenec, Ronald [Fourth State Research, Austin, TX (United States)

2017-11-14

My original proposal for the period Feb. 15, 2014 through Feb. 14, 2017 called for an integrated validation and verification effort carried out by myself with collaborators. The validation component would require experimental profile and power-balance analysis. In addition, it would require running the gyrokinetic codes varying the input profiles within experimental uncertainties to seek agreement with experiment before discounting a code as invalidated. Therefore, validation would require a major increase of effort over my previous grant periods which covered only code verification (code benchmarking). Consequently, I had requested full-time funding. Instead, I am being funded at somewhat less than half time (5 calendar months per year). As a consequence, I decided to forego the validation component and to only continue the verification efforts.

Fungal Keratitis Due to Beauveria bassiana in a Contact Lenses Wearer and Review of Published Reports.

Science.gov (United States)

Lara Oya, Ana; Medialdea Hurtado, María Eloisa; Rojo Martín, María Dolores; Aguilera Pérez, Antonia; Alastruey-Izquierdo, Ana; Miranda Casas, Consuelo; Rubio Prats, Marina; Medialdea Marcos, Santiago; Navarro Marí, José María

2016-10-01

Fungal keratitis is a severe ocular infection that primarily affects subjects engaged in outdoor activities. Risk factors include allergic conjunctivitis, previous eye surgery, previous treatment with wide-spectrum antimicrobial agents and corticosteroids and using contact lenses. Corneal infection is usually secondary to trauma involving organic material, which is often the only predisposing factor. Early diagnosis based on clinical examination and microbiological investigation (microscopy, cultures and molecular techniques) is crucial to selecting the appropriate antifungal therapy and prevent progression. We report the case of a patient with keratitis due to Beauveria bassiana, an opportunistic and entomopathogenic filamentous fungus that is used as a biological insecticide and which is a rare cause of corneal infection. We review previous cases reports of B. bassiana keratitis published and its main features to compare with our case, a female occasional agriculture worker who had not suffered any trauma involving organic material. The patient received topical and oral antifungal therapy and debridement surgery, with a satisfactory outcome.

Validity of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis to Estimation Fat-Free Mass in the Army Cadets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raquel D. Langer

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA is a fast, practical, non-invasive, and frequently used method for fat-free mass (FFM estimation. The aims of this study were to validate predictive equations of BIA to FFM estimation in Army cadets and to develop and validate a specific BIA equation for this population. Methods: A total of 396 males, Brazilian Army cadets, aged 17–24 years were included. The study used eight published predictive BIA equations, a specific equation in FFM estimation, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA as a reference method. Student’s t-test (for paired sample, linear regression analysis, and Bland–Altman method were used to test the validity of the BIA equations. Results: Predictive BIA equations showed significant differences in FFM compared to DXA (p < 0.05 and large limits of agreement by Bland–Altman. Predictive BIA equations explained 68% to 88% of FFM variance. Specific BIA equations showed no significant differences in FFM, compared to DXA values. Conclusion: Published BIA predictive equations showed poor accuracy in this sample. The specific BIA equations, developed in this study, demonstrated validity for this sample, although should be used with caution in samples with a large range of FFM.

The biomechanics of running in athletes with previous hamstring injury: A case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Daly, C; Persson, U McCarthy; Twycross-Lewis, R; Woledge, R C; Morrissey, D

2016-04-01

Hamstring injury is prevalent with persistently high reinjury rates. We aim to inform hamstring rehabilitation by exploring the electromyographic and kinematic characteristics of running in athletes with previous hamstring injury. Nine elite male Gaelic games athletes who had returned to sport after hamstring injury and eight closely matched controls sprinted while lower limb kinematics and muscle activity of the previously injured biceps femoris, bilateral gluteus maximus, lumbar erector spinae, rectus femoris, and external oblique were recorded. Intergroup comparisons of muscle activation ratios and kinematics were performed. Previously injured athletes demonstrated significantly reduced biceps femoris muscle activation ratios with respect to ipsilateral gluteus maximus (maximum difference -12.5%, P = 0.03), ipsilateral erector spinae (maximum difference -12.5%, P = 0.01), ipsilateral external oblique (maximum difference -23%, P = 0.01), and contralateral rectus femoris (maximum difference -22%, P = 0.02) in the late swing phase. We also detected sagittal asymmetry in hip flexion (maximum 8°, P = 0.01), pelvic tilt (maximum 4°, P = 0.02), and medial rotation of the knee (maximum 6°, P = 0.03) effectively putting the hamstrings in a lengthened position just before heel strike. Previous hamstring injury is associated with altered biceps femoris associated muscle activity and potentially injurious kinematics. These deficits should be considered and addressed during rehabilitation. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Validation of a Self-Report Questionnaire Assessing the Bodily and Physiological Sensations of Orgasm.

Science.gov (United States)

Dubray, Samantha; Gérard, Marina; Beaulieu-Prévost, Dominic; Courtois, Frédérique

2017-02-01

Despite a plethora of research on sexual functioning during the past decades, the field is still lacking standardized measurements specifically characterizing orgasm. Although several validated tools are available to assess sexual function in healthy and clinical populations, items on orgasm are limited to frequency or dichotomous responses. A neurophysiologic model of orgasm developed from previous research in able-bodied and spinally injured populations offers a promising framework for the construction of a new questionnaire. To develop and validate a brief self-report measurement of orgasm by the assessment of bodily and physiologic sensations perceived during climax by able-bodied individuals. Although the currently available tool focuses on the phenomenological sensations associated with climax, the goal of this questionnaire was to capture the more specific genital and extragenital sensations associated with orgasm. The current Bodily Sensations of Orgasm questionnaire and the Orgasm Rating Scale. Data from previous research conducted on individuals with spinal cord injury and the available empirical literature provided a pool of 45 items organized into four categories, which were reviewed by an expert panel. Upon review, a 28-item questionnaire was created and administered to a community sample of 227 participants, including men and women, 18 to 73 years old. Exploratory factor analyses supported the four-factor model, in which orgasm is comprised of extragenital sensations, genital sensations and spasms, nociceptive sensations, and sweating responses. Overall, a high degree of internal consistency was found for the final 22-item questionnaire (Cronbach α = 0.87), with individual reliability coefficients showing moderate to high internal consistency (r = 0.65-0.79) for each dimension. Overall temporal stability of the measurement was acceptable (r = 0.74). Using the Orgasm Rating Scale, satisfying convergent validity was confirmed, thereby indicating

Validity of bioelectrical impedance measurement in predicting fat-free mass of Chinese children and adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lin; Hui, Stanley Sai-chuen; Wong, Stephen Heung-sang

2014-11-15

The current study aimed to examine the validity of various published bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) equations in estimating FFM among Chinese children and adolescents and to develop BIA equations for the estimation of fat-free mass (FFM) appropriate for Chinese children and adolescents. A total of 255 healthy Chinese children and adolescents aged 9 to 19 years old (127 males and 128 females) from Tianjin, China, participated in the BIA measurement at 50 kHz between the hand and the foot. The criterion measure of FFM was also employed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). FFM estimated from 24 published BIA equations was cross-validated against the criterion measure from DEXA. Multiple linear regression was conducted to examine alternative BIA equation for the studied population. FFM estimated from the 24 published BIA equations yielded high correlations with the directly measured FFM from DEXA. However, none of the 24 equations was statistically equivalent with the DEXA-measured FFM. Using multiple linear regression and cross-validation against DEXA measurement, an alternative prediction equation was determined as follows: FFM (kg)=1.613+0.742×height (cm)2/impedance (Ω)+0.151×body weight (kg); R2=0.95; SEE=2.45 kg; CV=6.5, 93.7% of the residuals of all the participants fell within the 95% limits of agreement. BIA was highly correlated with FFM in Chinese children and adolescents. When the new developed BIA equations are applied, BIA can provide a practical and valid measurement of body composition in Chinese children and adolescents.

The author training manual develop marketable ideas, craft books that sell, become the author publishers want, and self-publish effectively

CERN Document Server

Amir, Nina

2014-01-01

Anyone can publish a book and become an ""author,"" but if you want to become a successful author with a profitable publishing career, you need a clear, step-by-step guide to help you develop book ideas that sell. In The Author Training Manual, expert editor and book coach Nina Amir reveals the exact process successful authors have used to create business plans and proposals for their books and teaches you how to view your ideas through the eyes of acquisitions editors and literary agents. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, plan to traditionally publish or self-publish, The Author Tra

Measuring the construct of executive control in schizophrenia: defining and validating translational animal paradigms for discovery research.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilmour, Gary; Arguello, Alexander; Bari, Andrea; Brown, Verity J; Carter, Cameron; Floresco, Stan B; Jentsch, David J; Tait, David S; Young, Jared W; Robbins, Trevor W

2013-11-01

Executive control is an aspect of cognitive function known to be impaired in schizophrenia. Previous meetings of the Cognitive Neuroscience Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (CNTRICS) group have more precisely defined executive control in terms of two constructs: "rule generation and selection", and "dynamic adjustments of control". Next, human cognitive tasks that may effectively measure performance with regard to these constructs were identified to be developed into practical and reliable measures for use in treatment development. The aim of this round of CNTRICS meetings was to define animal paradigms that have sufficient promise to warrant further investigation for their utility in measuring these constructs. Accordingly, "reversal learning" and the "attentional set-shifting task" were nominated to assess the construct of rule generation and selection, and the "stop signal task" for the construct of dynamic adjustments of control. These tasks are described in more detail here, with a particular focus on their utility for drug discovery efforts. Presently, each assay has strengths and weaknesses with regard to this point and increased emphasis on improving practical aspects of testing, understanding predictive validity, and defining biomarkers of performance represent important objectives in attaining confidence in translational validity here. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

E-publishing and multimodalities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yngve Nordkvelle

2008-12-01

Full Text Available In the literature of e-publishing there has been a consistent call from the advent of e-publishing on, until now, to explore new ways of expressing ideas through the new media. It has been claimed that the Internet opens an alley of possibilities and opportunites for publishing that will change the ways of publishing once and for all. In the area of publication of e-journals, however, the call for changes has received very modest responds.The thing is, it appears, that the conventional paper journal has a solid grip on the accepted formats of publishing. In a published research paper Mayernik (2007 explaines some of the reasons for that. Although pioneers of e-publishing suggested various areas where academic publishing could be expanded on, the opportunities given are scarsely used. Mayernik outlines "Non-linearity", "Multimedia", "Multiple use", "Interactivity" and "Rapid Publication" as areas of expansion for the academic e-journal. (2007. The paper deserves a thorough reading in itself, and I will briefly quote from his conclusion: "It is likely that the traditional linear article will continue to be the prevalent format for scholarly journals, both print and electronic, for the foreseeable future, and while electronic features will garner more and more use as technology improves, they will continue to be used to supplement, and not supplant, the traditional article."This is a challenging situation. If we accept the present dominant style of presenting scientific literature, we would use our energy best in seeking a way of improving the efficiency of that communication style. The use of multimedia, non-linearity etc. would perfect the present state, but still keep the scientific article as the main template. It is very unlikely that scientific publication will substitute the scholarly article with unproven alternatives. What we face is a rather conservative style of remediation that blurs the impact of the new media, - or "transparency" if

Validating relationships among attachment, emotional intelligence and clinical communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherry, M Gemma; Fletcher, Ian; O'Sullivan, Helen

2014-10-01

In a previous study, we found that emotional intelligence (EI) mediates the negative influences of Year 1 medical students' attachment styles on their provider-patient communication (PPC). However, in that study, students were examined on a relatively straightforward PPC skill set and were not assessed on their abilities to elicit relevant clinical information from standardised patients. The influence of these psychological variables in more demanding and realistic clinical scenarios warrants investigation. This study aimed to validate previous research findings by exploring the mediating effect of EI on the relationship between medical students' attachment styles and their PPC across an ecologically valid PPC objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Year 2 medical students completed measures of attachment (the Experiences in Close Relationships-Short Form [ECR-SF], a 12-item measure which provides attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety dimensional scores) and EI (the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test [MSCEIT], a 141-item measure on the perception, use, understanding and management of emotions), prior to their summative PPC OSCE. Provider-patient communication was assessed using OSCE scores. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to validate our earlier model of the relationships between attachment style, EI and PPC. A total of 296 of 382 (77.5%) students participated. Attachment avoidance was significantly negatively correlated with total EI scores (r = -0.23, p < 0.01); total EI was significantly positively correlated with OSCE scores (r = 0.32, p < 0.01). Parsimonious SEM confirmed that EI mediated the negative influence of attachment avoidance on OSCE scores. It significantly predicted 14% of the variance in OSCE scores, twice as much as the 7% observed in the previous study. In more demanding and realistic clinical scenarios, EI makes a greater contribution towards effective PPC. Attachment is perceived to be stable

Validity and Reliability of the Achilles Tendon Total Rupture Score

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ganestam, Ann; Barfod, Kristoffer; Klit, Jakob

2013-01-01

study was to validate a Danish translation of the ATRS. The ATRS was translated into Danish according to internationally adopted standards. Of 142 patients, 90 with previous rupture of the Achilles tendon participated in the validity study and 52 in the reliability study. The ATRS showed moderately......The best treatment of acute Achilles tendon rupture remains debated. Patient-reported outcome measures have become cornerstones in treatment evaluations. The Achilles tendon total rupture score (ATRS) has been developed for this purpose but requires additional validation. The purpose of the present...... = .07). The limits of agreement were ±18.53. A strong correlation was found between test and retest (intercorrelation coefficient .908); the standard error of measurement was 6.7, and the minimal detectable change was 18.5. The Danish version of the ATRS showed moderately strong criterion validity...

High spatial validity is not sufficient to elicit voluntary shifts of attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Pauszek, Joseph R; Gibson, Bradley S

2016-10-01

Previous research suggests that the use of valid symbolic cues is sufficient to elicit voluntary shifts of attention. The present study interpreted this previous research within a broader theoretical context which contends that observers will voluntarily use symbolic cues to orient their attention in space when the temporal costs of using the cues are perceived to be less than the temporal costs of searching without the aid of the cues. In this view, previous research has not addressed the sufficiency of valid symbolic cues, because the temporal cost of using the cues is usually incurred before the target display appears. To address this concern, 70%-valid spatial word cues were presented simultaneously with a search display. In addition, other research suggests that opposing cue-dependent and cue-independent spatial biases may operate in these studies and alter standard measures of orienting. After identifying and controlling these opposing spatial biases, the results of two experiments showed that the word cues did not elicit voluntary shifts of attention when the search task was relatively easy but did when the search task was relatively difficult. Moreover, the findings also showed that voluntary use of the word cues changed over the course of the experiment when the task was difficult, presumably because the temporal cost of searching without the cue lessened as the task got easier with practice. Altogether, the present findings suggested that the factors underlying voluntary control are multifaceted and contextual, and that spatial validity alone is not sufficient to elicit voluntary shifts of attention.

Assessing decentering: validation, psychometric properties, and clinical usefulness of the Experiences Questionnaire in a Spanish sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Soler, Joaquim; Franquesa, Alba; Feliu-Soler, Albert; Cebolla, Ausias; García-Campayo, Javier; Tejedor, Rosa; Demarzo, Marcelo; Baños, Rosa; Pascual, Juan Carlos; Portella, Maria J

2014-11-01

Decentering is defined as the ability to observe one's thoughts and feelings in a detached manner. The Experiences Questionnaire (EQ) is a self-report instrument that originally assessed decentering and rumination. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of EQ-Decentering and to explore its clinical usefulness. The 11-item EQ-Decentering subscale was translated into Spanish and psychometric properties were examined in a sample of 921 adult individuals, 231 with psychiatric disorders and 690 without. The subsample of nonpsychiatric participants was also split according to their previous meditative experience (meditative participants, n=341; and nonmeditative participants, n=349). Additionally, differences among these three subgroups were explored to determine clinical validity of the scale. Finally, EQ-Decentering was administered twice in a group of borderline personality disorder, before and after a 10-week mindfulness intervention. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated acceptable model fit, sbχ(2)=243.8836 (p.46; and divergent validity: r<-.35). The scale detected changes in decentering after a 10-session intervention in mindfulness (t=-4.692, p<.00001). Differences among groups were significant (F=134.8, p<.000001), where psychiatric participants showed the lowest scores compared to nonpsychiatric meditative and nonmeditative participants. The Spanish version of the EQ-Decentering is a valid and reliable instrument to assess decentering either in clinical and nonclinical samples. In addition, the findings show that EQ-Decentering seems an adequate outcome instrument to detect changes after mindfulness-based interventions. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Publisher Correction: Predicting unpredictability

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Steven J.

2018-06-01

In this News & Views article originally published, the wrong graph was used for panel b of Fig. 1, and the numbers on the y axes of panels a and c were incorrect; the original and corrected Fig. 1 is shown below. This has now been corrected in all versions of the News & Views.

Translation of oswestry disability index into Tamil with cross cultural adaptation and evaluation of reliability and validity(§).

Science.gov (United States)

Vincent, Joshua Israel; Macdermid, Joy Christine; Grewal, Ruby; Sekar, Vincent Prabhakaran; Balachandran, Dinesh

2014-01-01

Prospective longitudinal validation study. To translate and cross-culturally adapt the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) to the Tamil language (ODI-T), and to evaluate its reliability and construct validity. ODI is widely used as a disease specific questionnaire in back pain patients to evaluate pain and disability. A thorough literature search revealed that the Tamil version of the ODI has not been previously published. The ODI was translated and cross-culturally adapted to the Tamil language according to established guidelines. 30 subjects (16 women and 14 men) with a mean age of 42.7 years (S.D. 13.6; Range 22 - 69) with low back pain were recruited to assess the psychometric properties of the ODI-T Questionnaire. Patients completed the ODI-T, Roland-Morris disability questionnaire (RMDQ), VAS-pain and VAS-disability at baseline and 24-72 hours from the baseline visit. The ODI-T displayed a high degree of internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.92. The test-retest reliability was high (n=30) with an ICC of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.84 to 0.96) and a mean re-test difference of 2.6 points lower on re-test. The ODI-T scores exhibited a strong correlation with the RMDQ scores (r = 0.82) pTamil version of the ODI Questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool that can be used to measure subjective outcomes of pain and disability in Tamil speaking patients with low back pain.

Validation of the ISAAC Standardized Questionnaire Used by Schoolchildren from Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico

OpenAIRE

Gorozave-Car, Karla; Barraza-Villarreal, Albino; Escamilla-Núñez, Consuelo; Hernandez-Cadena, Leticia; Sanín-Aguirre, Luz Helena; Cortez-Lugo, Marlene; Blanco-Muñoz, J.; Riojas-Rodríguez, Horacio; Moreno-Macias, Hortensia; Romieu, Isabelle

2013-01-01

Background. In Mexico, several studies have been conducted under the ISAAC methodology; nevertheless, no validation studies of the ISAAC questionnaire based on objective clinical testing in our country have been published. Aims of the Study. To validate the ISAAC questionnaire, used in a study of prevalence of allergic diseases, based on medical, respiratory, and allergic evaluations of schoolchildren being 11 to 16 years old in Mexicali, Mexico. Material and Methods. We conducted a cross-sec...

Fit for purpose? Validation of a conceptual framework for personal recovery with current mental health consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Bird, Victoria; Leamy, Mary; Tew, Jerry; Le Boutillier, Clair; Williams, Julie; Slade, Mike

2014-07-01

Mental health services in the UK, Australia and other Anglophone countries have moved towards supporting personal recovery as a primary orientation. To provide an empirically grounded foundation to identify and evaluate recovery-oriented interventions, we previously published a conceptual framework of personal recovery based on a systematic review and narrative synthesis of existing models. Our objective was to test the validity and relevance of this framework for people currently using mental health services. Seven focus groups were conducted with 48 current mental health consumers in three NHS trusts across England, as part of the REFOCUS Trial. Consumers were asked about the meaning and their experience of personal recovery. Deductive and inductive thematic analysis applying a constant comparison approach was used to analyse the data. The analysis aimed to explore the validity of the categories within the conceptual framework, and to highlight any areas of difference between the conceptual framework and the themes generated from new data collected from the focus groups. Both the inductive and deductive analysis broadly validated the conceptual framework, with the super-ordinate categories Connectedness, Hope and optimism, Identity, Meaning and purpose, and Empowerment (CHIME) evident in the analysis. Three areas of difference were, however, apparent in the inductive analysis. These included practical support; a greater emphasis on issues around diagnosis and medication; and scepticism surrounding recovery. This study suggests that the conceptual framework of personal recovery provides a defensible theoretical base for clinical and research purposes which is valid for use with current consumers. However, the three areas of difference further stress the individual nature of recovery and the need for an understanding of the population and context under investigation. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2014.

What is a biomarker? Research investments and lack of clinical integration necessitate a review of biomarker terminology and validation schema.

Science.gov (United States)

Ptolemy, Adam S; Rifai, Nader

2010-01-01

A continual trend of annual growth can be seen within research devoted to the discovery and validation of disease biomarkers within both the natural and clinical sciences. This expansion of intellectual endeavours was quantified through database searches of (a) research grant awards provided by the various branches of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and (b) academic publications. A search of awards presented between 1986 and 2009 revealed a total of 28,856 grants awarded by the NIH containing the term "biomarker". The total funds for these awards in 2008 and 2009 alone were over $2.5 billion. During the same respective time frames, searches of "biomarker" and either "discovery", "genomics", "proteomics" or "metabolomics" yielded a total of 4,928 NIH grants whose combined funding exceeded $1.2 billion. The derived trend in NIH awards paralleled the annual expansion in "biomarker" literature. A PubMed search for the term, between 1990 and 2009, revealed a total of 441,510 published articles, with 38,457 published in 2008. These enormous investments and academic outputs however have not translated into the expected integration of new biomarkers for patient care. For example no proteomics derived biomarkers are currently being utilized in routine clinical management. This translational chasm necessitates a review of the previously proposed biomarker definitions and evaluation schema. A subsequent discussion of both the analytical and pre-analytical considerations for such research is also presented within. This required knowledge should aid scientists in their pursuit and validation of new biological markers of disease.

[A brief history of resuscitation - the influence of previous experience on modern techniques and methods].

Science.gov (United States)

Kucmin, Tomasz; Płowaś-Goral, Małgorzata; Nogalski, Adam

2015-02-01

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is relatively novel branch of medical science, however first descriptions of mouth-to-mouth ventilation are to be found in the Bible and literature is full of descriptions of different resuscitation methods - from flagellation and ventilation with bellows through hanging the victims upside down and compressing the chest in order to stimulate ventilation to rectal fumigation with tobacco smoke. The modern history of CPR starts with Kouwenhoven et al. who in 1960 published a paper regarding heart massage through chest compressions. Shortly after that in 1961Peter Safar presented a paradigm promoting opening the airway, performing rescue breaths and chest compressions. First CPR guidelines were published in 1966. Since that time guidelines were modified and improved numerously by two leading world expert organizations ERC (European Resuscitation Council) and AHA (American Heart Association) and published in a new version every 5 years. Currently 2010 guidelines should be obliged. In this paper authors made an attempt to present history of development of resuscitation techniques and methods and assess the influence of previous lifesaving methods on nowadays technologies, equipment and guidelines which allow to help those women and men whose life is in danger due to sudden cardiac arrest. © 2015 MEDPRESS.

Influence of Previous Knowledge in Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Aranguren

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work is to analyze the influence of study field, expertise and recreational activities participation in Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT, 1974 performance. Several hypotheses were postulated to explore the possible effects of previous knowledge in TTCT verbal and TTCT figural university students’ outcomes. Participants in this study included 418 students from five study fields: Psychology;Philosophy and Literature, Music; Engineering; and Journalism and Advertising (Communication Sciences. Results found in this research seem to indicate that there in none influence of the study field, expertise and recreational activities participation in neither of the TTCT tests. Instead, the findings seem to suggest some kind of interaction between certain skills needed to succeed in specific studies fields and performance on creativity tests, such as the TTCT. These results imply that TTCT is a useful and valid instrument to measure creativity and that some cognitive process involved in innovative thinking can be promoted using different intervention programs in schools and universities regardless the students study field.

Reporting of various methodological and statistical parameters in negative studies published in prominent Indian Medical Journals: a systematic review.

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Charan, J; Saxena, D

2014-01-01

Biased negative studies not only reflect poor research effort but also have an impact on 'patient care' as they prevent further research with similar objectives, leading to potential research areas remaining unexplored. Hence, published 'negative studies' should be methodologically strong. All parameters that may help a reader to judge validity of results and conclusions should be reported in published negative studies. There is a paucity of data on reporting of statistical and methodological parameters in negative studies published in Indian Medical Journals. The present systematic review was designed with an aim to critically evaluate negative studies published in prominent Indian Medical Journals for reporting of statistical and methodological parameters. Systematic review. All negative studies published in 15 Science Citation Indexed (SCI) medical journals published from India were included in present study. Investigators involved in the study evaluated all negative studies for the reporting of various parameters. Primary endpoints were reporting of "power" and "confidence interval." Power was reported in 11.8% studies. Confidence interval was reported in 15.7% studies. Majority of parameters like sample size calculation (13.2%), type of sampling method (50.8%), name of statistical tests (49.1%), adjustment of multiple endpoints (1%), post hoc power calculation (2.1%) were reported poorly. Frequency of reporting was more in clinical trials as compared to other study designs and in journals having impact factor more than 1 as compared to journals having impact factor less than 1. Negative studies published in prominent Indian medical journals do not report statistical and methodological parameters adequately and this may create problems in the critical appraisal of findings reported in these journals by its readers.

A New Statistical Method to Determine the Degree of Validity of Health Economic Model Outcomes against Empirical Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Corro Ramos, Isaac; van Voorn, George A K; Vemer, Pepijn; Feenstra, Talitha L; Al, Maiwenn J

2017-09-01

The validation of health economic (HE) model outcomes against empirical data is of key importance. Although statistical testing seems applicable, guidelines for the validation of HE models lack guidance on statistical validation, and actual validation efforts often present subjective judgment of graphs and point estimates. To discuss the applicability of existing validation techniques and to present a new method for quantifying the degrees of validity statistically, which is useful for decision makers. A new Bayesian method is proposed to determine how well HE model outcomes compare with empirical data. Validity is based on a pre-established accuracy interval in which the model outcomes should fall. The method uses the outcomes of a probabilistic sensitivity analysis and results in a posterior distribution around the probability that HE model outcomes can be regarded as valid. We use a published diabetes model (Modelling Integrated Care for Diabetes based on Observational data) to validate the outcome "number of patients who are on dialysis or with end-stage renal disease." Results indicate that a high probability of a valid outcome is associated with relatively wide accuracy intervals. In particular, 25% deviation from the observed outcome implied approximately 60% expected validity. Current practice in HE model validation can be improved by using an alternative method based on assessing whether the model outcomes fit to empirical data at a predefined level of accuracy. This method has the advantage of assessing both model bias and parameter uncertainty and resulting in a quantitative measure of the degree of validity that penalizes models predicting the mean of an outcome correctly but with overly wide credible intervals. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What was hidden in the Publisher's Archive

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mai, Anne-Marie

2015-01-01

On the Danish Author Elsa Gress and her correspondence on American Literature with the Publisher, K. E. Hermann, Arena.......On the Danish Author Elsa Gress and her correspondence on American Literature with the Publisher, K. E. Hermann, Arena....

Management strategies to improve the academic performance of previously disadvantaged secondary schools in the grade 12 examination.

OpenAIRE

2004-01-01

The importance of secondary school education in moulding learners into responsible citizens of tomorrow cannot be ignored or undermined. Secondary school education is the stepping stone for unlimited opportunities for learners to explore the career choices that they have to pursue further in their lives. Every year the performance of secondary schools in the matric examination come under spotlight as soon as the results are published. Many schools in the previously disadvantaged communities p...

Impact of applying the more stringent validation criteria of the revised European Society of Hypertension International Protocol 2010 on earlier validation studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Stergiou, George S; Karpettas, Nikos; Atkins, Neil; O'Brien, Eoin

2011-04-01

Since 2002 when the European Society of Hypertension International Protocol (ESH-IP) was published it has become the preferred protocol for validating blood pressure monitors worldwide. In 2010, a revised version of the ESH-IP with more stringent criteria was published. This study assesses the impact of applying the revised ESH-IP criteria. A systematic literature review of ESH-IP studies reported between 2002 and 2010 was conducted. The impact of applying the ESH-IP 2010 criteria retrospectively on the data reported in these studies was investigated. The performance of the oscillometric devices in the last decade was also investigated on the basis of the ESH-IP criteria. Among 119 published studies, 112 with sufficient data were analyzed. According to ESH-IP 2002, the test device failed in 19 studies, whereas by applying the ESH-IP 2010 criteria in 28 additional studies increased the failure rate from 17 to 42%. Of these 28 studies, in 20 (71%) the test device failed at part 1 (accuracy per measurement) and in 22 (79%) at part 2 (accuracy per subject). Most of the failures involved the '5 mmHg or less' criterion. In the last decade there has been a consistent trend toward improved performance of oscillometric devices assessed on the basis of the ESH-IP criteria. This retrospective analysis shows that the stricter revised ESH-IP 2010 criteria will noticeably increase the failure rate of devices being validated. Oscillometric devices are becoming more accurate, and the revised ESH-IP by acknowledging this trend will allow more accurate devices to enter the market.

Navigating the heavy seas of online publishing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carpentier, Samuel; Dörry, Sabine; Lord, Sébastien

2015-01-01

Articulo – Journal of Urban Research celebrates its 10th anniversary! To celebrate this milestone, the current editors discuss the numerous changes and challenges related to publishing a peer-reviewed online journal. Since 2005, Articulo has progressively become more international, more professio......Articulo – Journal of Urban Research celebrates its 10th anniversary! To celebrate this milestone, the current editors discuss the numerous changes and challenges related to publishing a peer-reviewed online journal. Since 2005, Articulo has progressively become more international, more...... rough seas of online publishing in the future....

Addiction-Like Mobile Phone Behavior – Validation and Association With Problem Gambling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Fransson

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Mobile phone use and its potential addiction has become a point of interest within the research community. The aim of the study was to translate and validate the Test of Mobile Dependence (TMD, and to investigate if there are any associations between mobile phone use and problem gambling. This was a cross-sectional study on a Swedish general population. A questionnaire consisting of a translated version of the TMD, three problem gambling questions (NODS-CLiP together with two questions concerning previous addiction treatment was published online. Exploratory factor analysis based on polychoric correlations was performed on the TMD. Independent samples T-tests, Mann-Whitney test, logistic regression analyses and ANOVA were performed to examine mean differences between subjects based on TMD test score, gambling and previous addiction treatment. A total of 1,515 people (38.3% men answered the questionnaire. The TMD showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.905, and significant correlation with subjective dependence on one's mobile phone. Women scored higher on the TMD and 15-18 year olds had the highest mean test score. The TMD test score was significantly associated with problem gambling, but only when controlling for age and sex. Various separated items related to mobile phone use were associated with problem gambling. The TMD had acceptable internal consistency and correlates with subjective dependence, while future confirmatory factor analysis is recommended. An association between mobile phone use and problem gambling may be possible, but requires further research.

Addiction-Like Mobile Phone Behavior – Validation and Association With Problem Gambling

Science.gov (United States)

Fransson, Andreas; Chóliz, Mariano; Håkansson, Anders

2018-01-01

Mobile phone use and its potential addiction has become a point of interest within the research community. The aim of the study was to translate and validate the Test of Mobile Dependence (TMD), and to investigate if there are any associations between mobile phone use and problem gambling. This was a cross-sectional study on a Swedish general population. A questionnaire consisting of a translated version of the TMD, three problem gambling questions (NODS-CLiP) together with two questions concerning previous addiction treatment was published online. Exploratory factor analysis based on polychoric correlations was performed on the TMD. Independent samples T-tests, Mann-Whitney test, logistic regression analyses and ANOVA were performed to examine mean differences between subjects based on TMD test score, gambling and previous addiction treatment. A total of 1,515 people (38.3% men) answered the questionnaire. The TMD showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.905), and significant correlation with subjective dependence on one's mobile phone. Women scored higher on the TMD and 15-18 year olds had the highest mean test score. The TMD test score was significantly associated with problem gambling, but only when controlling for age and sex. Various separated items related to mobile phone use were associated with problem gambling. The TMD had acceptable internal consistency and correlates with subjective dependence, while future confirmatory factor analysis is recommended. An association between mobile phone use and problem gambling may be possible, but requires further research. PMID:29780345

Modelling the pre-assessment learning effects of assessment: evidence in the validity chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Cilliers, Francois J; Schuwirth, Lambert W T; van der Vleuten, Cees P M

2012-11-01

We previously developed a model of the pre-assessment learning effects of consequential assessment and started to validate it. The model comprises assessment factors, mechanism factors and learning effects. The purpose of this study was to continue the validation process. For stringency, we focused on a subset of assessment factor-learning effect associations that featured least commonly in a baseline qualitative study. Our aims were to determine whether these uncommon associations were operational in a broader but similar population to that in which the model was initially derived. A cross-sectional survey of 361 senior medical students at one medical school was undertaken using a purpose-made questionnaire based on a grounded theory and comprising pairs of written situational tests. In each pair, the manifestation of an assessment factor was varied. The frequencies at which learning effects were selected were compared for each item pair, using an adjusted alpha to assign significance. The frequencies at which mechanism factors were selected were calculated. There were significant differences in the learning effect selected between the two scenarios of an item pair for 13 of this subset of 21 uncommon associations, even when a p-value of value. For a subset of uncommon associations in the model, the role of most assessment factor-learning effect associations and the mechanism factors involved were supported in a broader but similar population to that in which the model was derived. Although model validation is an ongoing process, these results move the model one step closer to the stage of usefully informing interventions. Results illustrate how factors not typically included in studies of the learning effects of assessment could confound the results of interventions aimed at using assessment to influence learning. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

Technical Services in the Age of Electronic Publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Brownrigg, Edwin; And Others

1984-01-01

Examination of the traditional library technical services functions and how they may change with the advent of widespread computer-based electronic publishing emphasizes ways in which technical services will have to adapt in electronic publishing environment. Implications of electronic publishing for library management and budgeting are explored.…

Assessing the construct validity of aberrant salience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristin Schmidt

2009-12-01

Full Text Available We sought to validate the psychometric properties of a recently developed paradigm that aims to measure salience attribution processes proposed to contribute to positive psychotic symptoms, the Salience Attribution Test (SAT. The “aberrant salience” measure from the SAT showed good face validity in previous results, with elevated scores both in high-schizotypy individuals, and in patients with schizophrenia suffering from delusions. Exploring the construct validity of salience attribution variables derived from the SAT is important, since other factors, including latent inhibition/learned irrelevance, attention, probabilistic reward learning, sensitivity to probability, general cognitive ability and working memory could influence these measures. Fifty healthy participants completed schizotypy scales, the SAT, a learned irrelevance task, and a number of other cognitive tasks tapping into potentially confounding processes. Behavioural measures of interest from each task were entered into a principal components analysis, which yielded a five-factor structure accounting for ~75% percent of the variance in behaviour. Implicit aberrant salience was found to load onto its own factor, which was associated with elevated “Introvertive Anhedonia” schizotypy, replicating our previous finding. Learned irrelevance loaded onto a separate factor, which also included implicit adaptive salience, but was not associated with schizotypy. Explicit adaptive and aberrant salience, along with a measure of probabilistic learning, loaded onto a further factor, though this also did not correlate with schizotypy. These results suggest that the measures of learned irrelevance and implicit adaptive salience might be based on similar underlying processes, which are dissociable both from implicit aberrant salience and explicit measures of salience.

Performances on Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and Rey Complex Figure Test in a healthy, elderly Danish sample--reference data and validity issues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vogel, Asmus; Stokholm, Jette; Jørgensen, Kasper

2012-01-01

. The RCFT copy score was significantly related to age and the DART score. On RCFT recall a highly significant difference was found between persons who could make a faultless copy and persons with incomplete copy performance. Thus, this study presents separate data for RCFT recall scores according...... to the subjects' copying performance (in separate tables for age and education groups). For all measures on both RAVLT and RCFT wide distributions of scores were found and the impact of this broad score range on the tests' discriminative validity is discussed. RAVLT performances for elderly were similar...... to previous published meta-norms, but the included sample of elderly Danes performed better on RCFT (copy and recall) than elderly from the United States....

Validation of self-reported cellular phone use

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Samkange-Zeeb, Florence; Berg, Gabriele; Blettner, Maria

2004-01-01

BACKGROUND: In recent years, concern has been raised over possible adverse health effects of cellular telephone use. In epidemiological studies of cancer risk associated with the use of cellular telephones, the validity of self-reported cellular phone use has been problematic. Up to now there is ......BACKGROUND: In recent years, concern has been raised over possible adverse health effects of cellular telephone use. In epidemiological studies of cancer risk associated with the use of cellular telephones, the validity of self-reported cellular phone use has been problematic. Up to now...... there is very little information published on this subject. METHODS: We conducted a study to validate the questionnaire used in an ongoing international case-control study on cellular phone use, the "Interphone study". Self-reported cellular phone use from 68 of 104 participants who took part in our study...... was compared with information derived from the network providers over a period of 3 months (taken as the gold standard). RESULTS: Using Spearman's rank correlation, the correlation between self-reported phone use and information from the network providers for cellular phone use in terms of the number of calls...

Development and validation of Burkholderia pseudomallei-specific real-time PCR assays for clinical, environmental or forensic detection applications.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erin P Price

Full Text Available The bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei causes melioidosis, a rare but serious illness that can be fatal if untreated or misdiagnosed. Species-specific PCR assays provide a technically simple method for differentiating B. pseudomallei from near-neighbor species. However, substantial genetic diversity and high levels of recombination within this species reduce the likelihood that molecular signatures will differentiate all B. pseudomallei from other Burkholderiaceae. Currently available molecular assays for B. pseudomallei detection lack rigorous validation across large in silico datasets and isolate collections to test for specificity, and none have been subjected to stringent quality control criteria (accuracy, precision, selectivity, limit of quantitation (LoQ, limit of detection (LoD, linearity, ruggedness and robustness to determine their suitability for environmental, clinical or forensic investigations. In this study, we developed two novel B. pseudomallei specific assays, 122018 and 266152, using a dual-probe approach to differentiate B. pseudomallei from B. thailandensis, B. oklahomensis and B. thailandensis-like species; other species failed to amplify. Species specificity was validated across a large DNA panel (>2,300 samples comprising Burkholderia spp. and non-Burkholderia bacterial and fungal species of clinical and environmental relevance. Comparison of assay specificity to two previously published B. pseudomallei-specific assays, BurkDiff and TTS1, demonstrated comparable performance of all assays, providing between 99.7 and 100% specificity against our isolate panel. Last, we subjected 122018 and 266152 to rigorous quality control analyses, thus providing quantitative limits of assay performance. Using B. pseudomallei as a model, our study provides a framework for comprehensive quantitative validation of molecular assays and provides additional, highly validated B. pseudomallei assays for the scientific research community.