A comparative evaluation of PDQ-Evidence

BACKGROUND: A strategy for minimising the time and obstacles to accessing systematic reviews of health system evidence is to collect them in a freely available database and make them easy to find through a simple ‘Google-style’ search interface. PDQ-Evidence was developed in this way. The objective of this study was to compare PDQ-Evidence to six other databases, namely Cochrane Library, EVIPNet VHL, Google Scholar, Health Systems Evidence, PubMed and Trip. METHODS: We recruited healthcare policy-makers, managers and health researchers in low-, middle- and highincome countries. Participants selected one of six pre-determined questions. They searched for a systematic review that addressed the chosen question and one question of their own in PDQ-Evidence and in two of the other six databases which they would normally have searched. We randomly allocated participants to search PDQ-Evidence first or to search the two other databases first. The primary outcomes were whether a systematic review was found and the time taken to find it. Secondary outcomes were perceived ease of use and perceived time spent searching. We asked open-ended questions about PDQ-Evidence, including likes, dislikes, challenges and suggestions for improvements. RESULTS: A total of 89 people from 21 countries completed the study; 83 were included in the primary analyses and 6 were excluded because of data errors that could not be corrected. Most participants chose PubMed and Cochrane Library as the other two databases. Participants were more likely to find a systematic review using PDQ-Evidence than using Cochrane Library or PubMed for the pre-defined questions. For their own questions, this difference was not found. Overall, it took slightly less time to find a systematic review using PDQ-Evidence. Participants perceived that it took less time, and most participants perceived PDQ-Evidence to be slightly easier to use than the two other databases. However, there were conflicting views about the design of PDQ-Evidence. CONCLUSIONS: PDQ-Evidence is at least as efficient as other databases for finding health system evidence. However, using PDQ-Evidence is not intuitive for some people

INFLUENCE OF ANKLE PASSIVE RANGE OF MOTION ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE STAR EXCURSION BALANCE TEST

The purpose of this study was to measure the association between ankle passive range of motion (PROM) and the horizontal distance reached during the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT). Nineteen participants without any musculoskeletal and neurological injury performed the SEBT on eight directions proposed in the original protocol. The ankle PROM was measured with a manual goniometric device prior to the performance of the test. To determine the association between the distance reached during SEBT and the ankle PROM, we used the Pearson Correlation Coefficient Test (“r”). All directions of SEBT showed low correlation with the ankle PROM without significant differences for any variable. We concluded that the ankle PROM is not a confounding variable that should be monitored for use the SEBT for healthy individuals

Máxima tasa de oxidación de grasas en mujeres con comportamiento sedentario y porcentaje de grasa riesgoso para la salud

The purpose of this study was to examine how the maximal fat oxidation rate is affected in two groups of women with different fat mass percentages. Thirty-four women with sedentary behavior (aged 18–25 years) were divided into 2 groups according to their body fat percentage. (<32% of body fat was considered as a threshold following American College Sport Medicine [ACSM] indications). Body fat percentages were assessed by anthropometry, then subjects performed an adapted graded exercise test on a treadmill to determine maximal oxygen consumption and fat oxidation rates during exercise. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in maximal cardiorespiratory capacity (34.4±4.4 vs 30.4±10.4 mL x kg-1 x min-1) and maximal fat oxidation rates (0.39±0.05 vs 0.31±0.06 g x min-1) between the lower risk group when compared to the higher risk group. There was no correlation between body fat percentage (BF%) and fat oxidation rates in both groups. In conclusion, cardiorespiratory capacity and substrate oxidation are different when two groups of women divided by ACSM recommendations are considered and these results could help clinicians and trainers to prevent weight gain and/or promote body fat and body weight loss

Common variation near CDKN1A, POLD3 and SHROOM2 influences colorectal cancer risk

We performed a meta-analysis of five genome-wide association studies to identify common variants influencing colorectal cancer (CRC) risk comprising 8,682 cases and 9,649 controls. Replication analysis was performed in case-control sets totaling 21,096 cases and 19,555 controls. We identified three new CRC risk loci at 6p21 (rs1321311, near CDKN1A; P = 1.14 × 10(-10)), 11q13.4 (rs3824999, intronic to POLD3; P = 3.65 × 10(-10)) and Xp22.2 (rs5934683, near SHROOM2; P = 7.30 × 10(-10)) This brings the number of independent loci associated with CRC risk to 20 and provides further insight into the genetic architecture of inherited susceptibility to CRC.Swedish Research Council et al.Manuscrip

A atuação autônoma das organizações internacionais em relação aos seus Estados-membros

RESUMO Nas últimas décadas, as transformações na política mundial foram drásticas. De um Direito Internacional estatista surgiu a necessidade de cooperação, sendo assim criadas as Organizações Internacionais, inicialmente com o objetivo único de servir aos seus Estados-membros. Contudo o ambiente no qual as Organizações Internacionais atuam se modificou e estas adquiriram relativa autonomia de vontade em relação a seus criadores. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar os precedentes históricos e o âmbito de atuação das referidas organizações. Utilizou-se como opção metodológica a revisão bibliográfica de doutrinas e artigos dos principais autores que tratam do assunto, valendo-se da investigação de tratados e convenções internacionais. Conclui-se que as Organizações Internacionais adquiriram um nível elevado de independência em suas ações, o que alcança não apenas a definição de suas prioridades, mas que cria normas e conceitos no campo do Direito Internacional Contemporâneo. Palavras-chave: Organizações Internacionais. Sujeitos de Direito Internacional. Burocracia Internacional. THE AUTONOMOUS PERFORMANCE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN RELATION TO ITS STATES MEMBER ABSTRACT In recent decades, the changes in world politics were drastic. The need for cooperation arose within the state-centered international law system, and thus International Organizations were created, initially with the sole purpose to serve its Member States. But the environment in which International Organizations operate has changed and they acquired relative autonomy from its creators. The objective of this study is to analyze the historical precedents and the scope of activity of such organizations. The methodology used include literature review of doctrines and articles of the principal authors dealing with the subject, as well as the research of international treaties and conventions. The article concludes that International Organizations have acquired a high level of independence in their actions, which reaches not only the definition of its priorities, but that creates standards and concepts in International Law Contemporary sphere. Key-Words: International Organizations. International Law subjects. International Bureaucracy. Data de submissão: 28/08/2015 Data de aceitação: 11/01/201

Safeguarding pollinators and their values to human well-being

Wild and managed pollinators provide a wide range of benefits to society in terms of contributions to food security, farmer and beekeeper livelihoods, social and cultural values, as well as the maintenance of wider biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Pollinators face numerous threats, including changes in land-use and management intensity, climate change, pesticides and genetically modified crops, pollinator management and pathogens, and invasive alien species. There are well-documented declines in some wild and managed pollinators in several regions of the world. However, many effective policy and management responses can be implemented to safeguard pollinators and sustain pollination services

Comprehensive and Integrated Genomic Characterization of Adult Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Summary Sarcomas are a broad family of mesenchymal malignancies exhibiting remarkable histologic diversity. We describe the multi-platform molecular landscape of 206 adult soft tissue sarcomas representing 6 major types. Along with novel insights into the biology of individual sarcoma types, we report three overarching findings: (1) unlike most epithelial malignancies, these sarcomas (excepting synovial sarcoma) are characterized predominantly by copy-number changes, with low mutational loads and only a few genes (TP53, ATRX, RB1) highly recurrently mutated across sarcoma types; (2) within sarcoma types, genomic and regulomic diversity of driver pathways defines molecular subtypes associated with patient outcome; and (3) the immune microenvironment, inferred from DNA methylation and mRNA profiles, associates with outcome and may inform clinical trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Overall, this large-scale analysis reveals previously unappreciated sarcoma-type-specific changes in copy number, methylation, RNA, and protein, providing insights into refining sarcoma therapy and relationships to other cancer types

Hypofibrinolysis in diabetes: a therapeutic target for the reduction of cardiovascular risk

An enhanced thrombotic environment and premature atherosclerosis are key factors for the increased cardiovascular risk in diabetes. The occlusive vascular thrombus, formed secondary to interactions between platelets and coagulation proteins, is composed of a skeleton of fibrin fibres with cellular elements embedded in this network. Diabetes is characterised by quantitative and qualitative changes in coagulation proteins, which collectively increase resistance to fibrinolysis, consequently augmenting thrombosis risk. Current long-term therapies to prevent arterial occlusion in diabetes are focussed on anti-platelet agents, a strategy that fails to address the contribution of coagulation proteins to the enhanced thrombotic milieu. Moreover, antiplatelet treatment is associated with bleeding complications, particularly with newer agents and more aggressive combination therapies, questioning the safety of this approach. Therefore, to safely control thrombosis risk in diabetes, an alternative approach is required with the fibrin network representing a credible therapeutic target. In the current review, we address diabetes-specific mechanistic pathways responsible for hypofibrinolysis including the role of clot structure, defects in the fibrinolytic system and increased incorporation of anti-fibrinolytic proteins into the clot. Future anti-thrombotic therapeutic options are discussed with special emphasis on the potential advantages of modulating incorporation of the anti-fibrinolytic proteins into fibrin networks. This latter approach carries theoretical advantages, including specificity for diabetes, ability to target a particular protein with a possible favourable risk of bleeding. The development of alternative treatment strategies to better control residual thrombosis risk in diabetes will help to reduce vascular events, which remain the main cause of mortality in this condition

Structured models of cell migration incorporating molecular binding processes

The dynamic interplay between collective cell movement and the various molecules involved in the accompanying cell signalling mechanisms plays a crucial role in many biological processes including normal tissue development and pathological scenarios such as wound healing and cancer. Information about the various structures embedded within these processes allows a detailed exploration of the binding of molecular species to cell-surface receptors within the evolving cell population. In this paper we establish a general spatio-temporal-structural framework that enables the description of molecular binding to cell membranes coupled with the cell population dynamics. We first provide a general theoretical description for this approach and then illustrate it with two examples arising from cancer invasion

Asociación entre motivación y rendimiento académico en los estudiantes del 1er ciclo de la carrera de Administración del Instituto de Educación Superior Tecnológico Privado Amazónico

El presente estudio tiene como objetivo Determinar la asociación que existe entre motivación y rendimiento académico en los estudiantes del 1er ciclo de la carrera de administración del Instituto de Educación Superior Tecnológico Privado Amazónico, de la ciudad de Tarapoto, Provincia y Región San Martín en el año 2014 y corresponde a un diseño de&nbsp; tipo&nbsp; descriptivo correlacional porque busca recoger información con la finalidad de describirla y Correlacional pues se busca establecer la asociación existente entre las variables motivación y rendimiento académico. El muestreo es de tipo población muestral, lo que indica el total de la población es la muestra. Consta de 30 estudiantes del primer ciclo del Instituto de Educación Superior Tecnológico Privado Amazónico. Los instrumentos utilizados fueron la Escala de motivación y los registros de la institución para recoger la información de rendimiento académico. Se concluye que existe asociación entre motivación y rendimiento académico en los estudiantes del primer ciclo del Instituto de Educación Superior Tecnológico Privado Amazónico, Tarapoto - 2014, obteniendo un X2 calculado el valor de 10,98 y con un margen de error de 0.10 y con 6 grados de libertad, dando como X2 tabular de 10,64. En relación a la motivación de mayor frecuencia es la orientación hacia el dominio y en la variable rendimiento académico es el regular