Openness and transparency in the research process are a prerequisite to the production of high quality research outputs. Efforts to maximise these features have substantially accelerated in recent years, placing open and transparent research practices at the forefront of funding and related priorities, and encouraging investment in resources and infrastructure to enable such practices. Despite these efforts, there has been no systematic documentation of current practices, infrastructure, or training and resources that support open and transparent research in the UK.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: It is well established that can incorporate exogenous straight-chain unsaturated fatty acids (SCUFAs) into membrane phospho- and glyco-lipids from various sources in supplemented culture media and when growing during infection. Given the enhancement of membrane fluidity when oleic acid (C18:1Δ9) is incorporated into lipids, we were prompted to examine the effect of medium supplementation with C18:1Δ9 on growth at low temperatures. C18:1Δ9 supported the growth of a cold-sensitive, branched-chain fatty acid (BCFA)-deficient mutant at 12°C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRheumatol Adv Pract
February 2024
The last British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) guideline on PMR was published in 2009. The guideline needs to be updated to provide a summary of the current evidence for pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of adults with PMR. This guideline is aimed at healthcare professionals in the UK who directly care for people with PMR, including general practitioners, rheumatologists, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, psychologists and other health professionals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIt is well established that can incorporate exogenous straight-chain unsaturated fatty acids (SCUFAs) into membrane phospho- and glyco-lipids from various sources in supplemented culture media, and when growing in an infection. Given the enhancement of membrane fluidity when oleic acid (C18:1Δ9) is incorporated into lipids, we were prompted to examine the effect of medium supplementation with C18:1Δ9 on growth at low temperatures. C18:1Δ9 supported the growth of a cold-sensitive, branched-chain fatty acid (BCFA)-deficient mutant at 12°C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAuthors rely on a range of devices and techniques to attract and maintain the interest of readers, and to convince them of the merits of the author's point of view. However, when writing a scientific article, authors must use these 'persuasive communication devices' carefully. In particular, they must be explicit about the limitations of their work, avoid obfuscation, and resist the temptation to oversell their results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) are atmospherically mobile by-products of anthropogenic, high-temperature fossil fuel combustion. Since they are preserved in many geologic archives across the globe, SCPs have been identified as a potential marker for the onset of the Anthropocene. Our ability to reliably model the atmospheric dispersal of SCPs remains limited to coarse spatial scales (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe last decade has seen renewed concern within the scientific community over the reproducibility and transparency of research findings. This paper outlines some of the various responsibilities of stakeholders in addressing the systemic issues that contribute to this concern. In particular, this paper asserts that a united, joined-up approach is needed, in which all stakeholders, including researchers, universities, funders, publishers, and governments, work together to set standards of research integrity and engender scientific progress and innovation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeople believe information more if they have encountered it before, a finding known as the illusory truth effect. But what is the evidence for the generality and pervasiveness of the illusory truth effect? Our preregistered systematic map describes the existing knowledge base and objectively assesses the quality, completeness and interpretability of the evidence provided by empirical studies in the literature. A systematic search of 16 bibliographic and grey literature databases identified 93 reports with a total of 181 eligible studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe PD-1/PD-L1 pathway is a key immune checkpoint that regulates T cell activation. There is strong rationale to develop PD-1 agonists as therapeutics against autoimmunity, but progress in this area has been limited. Here, we generated T cell receptor (TCR) targeting, PD-1 agonist bispecifics called ImmTAAI molecules that mimic the ability of PD-L1 to facilitate the colocalization of PD-1 with the TCR complex at the target cell-T cell interface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRepeated statements are rated as subjectively truer than comparable new statements, even though repetition alone provides no new, probative information (the . Contrary to some theoretical predictions, the illusory truth effect seems to be similar in magnitude for repetitions occurring after minutes or weeks. This Registered Report describes a longitudinal investigation of the illusory truth effect ( = 608, = 567 analysed) in which we systematically manipulated intersession interval (immediately, one day, one week, and one month) in order to test whether the illusory truth effect is immune to time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Unnecessary treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria is a concern. Hutt Valley District Health Board sought to reduce clinically inappropriate urine culture requests through removal of urine dipsticks from wards and education of staff using Choosing Wisely principles. The purpose of this research is to quantitatively evaluate the success of these initiatives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Research on inpatient psychiatric care has paid little attention to the built environment of psychiatric wards. This study described the built environment in a sample of inpatient psychiatric wards in England and investigated relationships between staff satisfaction with the built environment of the ward and objective design features of the environment.
Methods: Trained researchers completed a checklist of built-environment characteristics of 98 inpatient wards in England in 2007-2009.
Background: Walking cadence has shown promise for estimating walking intensity in healthy adults. Auditory cues have been shown to improve gait symmetry in populations with movement disorders. We investigated the walking cadence-energy expenditure relationship in unilateral transtibial amputees (TTAs), and the potential of music cues for regulating walking cadence and improving gait symmetry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrescribing in pregnancy often causes uncertainty and anxiety for the clinician and may lead to the omission of necessary treatment. Many drugs have inadequate data to assure safety, and therefore the clinician is left with a dilemma as to where the balance of risks and benefits lie with respect to the mother and her fetus. Understanding under what circumstances women can be prescribed medication and using principles of prescribing in pregnancy to further clarify the potential risks will aid good clinical decision-making.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethylphenidate treatment is used for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and can improve learning and memory. Previously, improvements were considered a by-product of increased attention; however, we hypothesize that methylphenidate directly alters mechanisms underlying learning and memory, and therefore examined its effects on hippocampal long-term potentiation and long-term depression. Methylphenidate enhanced both mechanisms in the absence of presynaptic changes and in a noradrenalin beta-receptor-dependent manner.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevious studies suggest that visual enumeration is spared in normal aging but impaired in abnormal aging (late stage Alzheimer's disease, AD), raising the task's potential as a marker of dementia. Experiment 1 compared speeded enumeration of 1-9 random dots in early stage AD, vascular dementia (VAD), depression, and age-matched controls. Previous deficits were replicated but they were not specific to AD, with the rate of counting larger numerosities similarly slowed relative to controls by both AD and VAD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To examine the relationship between primary care prescribed antibiotics and the development of antibiotic resistance in perineal flora contaminating unselected urinary isolates from a large sample of asymptomatic adults representative of the general community.
Patients And Methods: Escherichia coli isolates contaminating urine samples were obtained from asymptomatic adults aged >16 years registered with general practices in the former Avon and Gloucestershire health authority areas. Data on antibiotic exposure during the 12 months prior to providing the urine samples were collected from the primary care electronic and paper medical records.
Objectives: To explore the attitudes of students to reflection in the form of significant event analysis (SEA), to categorise the factors influencing these attitudes and to develop a conceptual framework from the data to help ensure future students have a positive experience of this method of learning.
Context: In May 1999, SEA, based on the critical incident technique, was introduced as part of coursework within a 3-week general practice clinical rotation for fourth year students at the School of Medicine, Imperial College, London.
Method: Four focus groups of fourth year students were conducted.
The facilitation of reflection and development of reflective abilities are increasingly considered to be an important component of professional development (Eraut, 1994). It is known that students find the process of reflection difficult and that it does not come naturally to all, requiring a safe trusting environment in which students can develop with staff support (Woodward, 1998). The structured and deliberate review of significant events has been advocated as a useful way to encourage reflection (Brookfield, 1990).
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