scholarly journals Statistical approaches in published ophthalmic clinical science papers: a comparison to statistical practice two decades ago

2018 ◽  
Vol 102 (9) ◽  
pp. 1188-1191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harrison G Zhang ◽  
Gui-shuang Ying

The aim of this study is to evaluate the current practice of statistical analysis of eye data in clinical science papers published in British Journal of Ophthalmology (BJO) and to determine whether the practice of statistical analysis has improved in the past two decades. All clinical science papers (n=125) published in BJO in January–June 2017 were reviewed for their statistical analysis approaches for analysing primary ocular measure. We compared our findings to the results from a previous paper that reviewed BJO papers in 1995. Of 112 papers eligible for analysis, half of the studies analysed the data at an individual level because of the nature of observation, 16 (14%) studies analysed data from one eye only, 36 (32%) studies analysed data from both eyes at ocular level, one study (1%) analysed the overall summary of ocular finding per individual and three (3%) studies used the paired comparison. Among studies with data available from both eyes, 50 (89%) of 56 papers in 2017 did not analyse data from both eyes or ignored the intereye correlation, as compared with in 60 (90%) of 67 papers in 1995 (P=0.96). Among studies that analysed data from both eyes at an ocular level, 33 (92%) of 36 studies completely ignored the intereye correlation in 2017, as compared with in 16 (89%) of 18 studies in 1995 (P=0.40). A majority of studies did not analyse the data properly when data from both eyes were available. The practice of statistical analysis did not improve in the past two decades. Collaborative efforts should be made in the vision research community to improve the practice of statistical analysis for ocular data.

Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Shannon Lange ◽  
Courtney Bagge ◽  
Charlotte Probst ◽  
Jürgen Rehm

Abstract. Background: In recent years, the rate of death by suicide has been increasing disproportionately among females and young adults in the United States. Presumably this trend has been mirrored by the proportion of individuals with suicidal ideation who attempted suicide. Aim: We aimed to investigate whether the proportion of individuals in the United States with suicidal ideation who attempted suicide differed by age and/or sex, and whether this proportion has increased over time. Method: Individual-level data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 2008–2017, were used to estimate the year-, age category-, and sex-specific proportion of individuals with past-year suicidal ideation who attempted suicide. We then determined whether this proportion differed by age category, sex, and across years using random-effects meta-regression. Overall, age category- and sex-specific proportions across survey years were estimated using random-effects meta-analyses. Results: Although the proportion was found to be significantly higher among females and those aged 18–25 years, it had not significantly increased over the past 10 years. Limitations: Data were self-reported and restricted to past-year suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Conclusion: The increase in the death by suicide rate in the United States over the past 10 years was not mirrored by the proportion of individuals with past-year suicidal ideation who attempted suicide during this period.


1973 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-188
Author(s):  
Rafiq Ahmad

Like nations and civilizations, sciences also pass through period of crises when established theories are overthrown by the unpredictable behaviour of events. Economics is passing through such a crisis. The challenge thrown by the Great Depression of early 1930s took a decade before Keynes re-established the supremacy of economics. But this supremacy has again been upset by the crisis of poverty in the vast under-developed world which attained political independence after the Second World War. Poverty had always existed but never before had it been of such concern to economists as during the past twenty five years or so. Economic literature dealing with this problem has piled up but so have the agonies of poverty. No plausible and well-integrated theory of economic development or under-development has emerged so far, though brilliant advances have been made in isolated directions.


Author(s):  
Rocco J. Rotello ◽  
Timothy D. Veenstra

: In the current omics-age of research, major developments have been made in technologies that attempt to survey the entire repertoire of genes, transcripts, proteins, and metabolites present within a cell. While genomics has led to a dramatic increase in our understanding of such things as disease morphology and how organisms respond to medications, it is critical to obtain information at the proteome level since proteins carry out most of the functions within the cell. The primary tool for obtaining proteome-wide information on proteins within the cell is mass spectrometry (MS). While it has historically been associated with the protein identification, developments over the past couple of decades have made MS a robust technology for protein quantitation as well. Identifying quantitative changes in proteomes is complicated by its dynamic nature and the inability of any technique to guarantee complete coverage of every protein within a proteome sample. Fortunately, the combined development of sample preparation and MS methods have made it capable to quantitatively compare many thousands of proteins obtained from cells and organisms.


Author(s):  
John Hunsley ◽  
Eric J. Mash

Evidence-based assessment relies on research and theory to inform the selection of constructs to be assessed for a specific assessment purpose, the methods and measures to be used in the assessment, and the manner in which the assessment process unfolds. An evidence-based approach to clinical assessment necessitates the recognition that, even when evidence-based instruments are used, the assessment process is a decision-making task in which hypotheses must be iteratively formulated and tested. In this chapter, we review (a) the progress that has been made in developing an evidence-based approach to clinical assessment in the past decade and (b) the many challenges that lie ahead if clinical assessment is to be truly evidence-based.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088506662199232
Author(s):  
Xiaojuan Zhang ◽  
Xin Li

Septic shock with multiple organ failure is a devastating situation in clinical settings. Through the past decades, much progress has been made in the management of sepsis and its underlying pathogenesis, but a highly effective therapeutic has not been developed. Recently, macromolecules such as histones have been targeted in the treatment of sepsis. Histones primarily function as chromosomal organizers to pack DNA and regulate its transcription through epigenetic mechanisms. However, a growing body of research has shown that histone family members can also exert cellular toxicity once they relocate from the nucleus into the extracellular space. Heparin, a commonly used anti-coagulant, has been shown to possess life-saving capabilities for septic patients, but the potential interplay between heparin and extracellular histones has not been investigated. In this review, we summarize the pathogenic roles of extracellular histones and the therapeutic roles of heparin in the development and management of sepsis and septic shock.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-645
Author(s):  
Cornel Samoilă ◽  
Doru Ursuţiu ◽  
Vlad Jinga

Abstract MOOC appearance has produced, in a first phase, more discussions than contributions. Despite pessimistic opinions or those catastrophic foreseeing the end of the classic education by accepting MOOC, the authors consider that, as it is happening in all situations when a field is reformed, instead of criticism or catastrophic predictions, an assessment should be simply made. MOOC will not be better or worse if it is discussed and dissected but can be tested in action, perfected by results, or abandoned if it has no prospects. Without testing, no decision is valid. A similarity between the MOOC appearance and the appearance of the idea of flying machines heavier than air can be made. In the flight case, the first reaction was a strong negation (including at Academies level) and only performing the first independent flight with an apparatus heavier than air has shifted orientation from denial to contributions. So, practical tests clarified the battle between ideas. The authors of this article encourage the idea of testing–assessment and, therefore, imagined and proposed one software for quickly assess whether MOOC produces changes in knowledge, by simply transferring courses from ‘face-to-face’ environment into the virtual one. Among the methods of statistical analysis for student behavioral changes was chosen the Keppel method. It underpins the assessment method of this work being approached using both the version with one variable and also with three variables. It is intended that this attempts to pave the way for other series of rapid assessment regarding MOOC effects (using other statistical methods). We believe, that this is the only approach that can lead either to improve the system or to renunciation.


1939 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Fenwick

Numerous attempts have been made in the past to induce the eggs of Ascaris suum to hatch outside the body of the host. Extra-corporeal hatching has been observed under a variety of conditions by different workers. Kondo (1920, 1922), Asada (1921) and others record hatching in water, charcoal and sand cultures. Wharton (1915) states that hatching will occur in alkaline digestive juices, while Martin (1913) records a similar phenomenon in pancreatic fluid. Many different explanations have been offered to explain this hatching. Wharton suggested that the interaction of algae and sand might have some effect. Ohba (1923), who found that hatching would occur in 0·2% hydrochloric acid and 0·2% sodium carbonate believed that extra-corporeal hatching was limited to very old cultures of eggs. Many workers are of the opinion that some stimulus normally present in the digestive tract is necessary for hatching.


2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1681) ◽  
pp. 20140267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J. Ferraro ◽  
Merlin M. Hanauer

To develop effective protected area policies, scholars and practitioners must better understand the mechanisms through which protected areas affect social and environmental outcomes. With strong evidence about mechanisms, the key elements of success can be strengthened, and the key elements of failure can be eliminated or repaired. Unfortunately, empirical evidence about these mechanisms is limited, and little guidance for quantifying them exists. This essay assesses what mechanisms have been hypothesized, what empirical evidence exists for their relative contributions and what advances have been made in the past decade for estimating mechanism causal effects from non-experimental data. The essay concludes with a proposed agenda for building an evidence base about protected area mechanisms.


1995 ◽  
Vol 347 (1319) ◽  
pp. 21-25 ◽  

Over the past three or four years, great strides have been made in our understanding of the proteins involved in recombination and the mechanisms by which recombinant molecules are formed. This review summarizes our current understanding of the process by focusing on recent studies of proteins involved in the later steps of recombination in bacteria. In particular, biochemical investigation of the in vitro properties of the E. coli RuvA, RuvB and RuvC proteins have provided our first insight into the novel molecular mechanisms by which Holliday junctions are moved along DNA and then resolved by endonucleolytic cleavage.


2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 901-910
Author(s):  
Robert E. Goodin ◽  
James Mahmud Rice

Judging from Gallup Polls in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, opinion often changes during an election campaign. Come election day itself, however, opinion often reverts back nearer to where it was before the campaign began. That that happens even in Australia, where voting is compulsory and turnout is near-universal, suggests that differential turnout among those who have and have not been influenced by the campaign is not the whole story. Inspection of individual-level panel data from 1987 and 2005 British General Elections confirms that between 3 and 5 percent of voters switch voting intentions during the campaign, only to switch back toward their original intentions on election day. One explanation, we suggest, is that people become more responsible when stepping into the poll booth: when voting they reflect back on the government's whole time in office, rather than just responding (as when talking to pollsters) to the noise of the past few days' campaigning. Inspection of Gallup Polls for UK snap elections suggests that this effect is even stronger in elections that were in that sense unanticipated.


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