scholarly journals Doping prevalence in competitive sport: Evidence synthesis with “best practice” recommendations and reporting guidelines from the WADA Working Group on Doping Prevalence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Gleaves ◽  
Andrea Petroczi ◽  
Dirk Folkerts ◽  
Olivier de Hon ◽  
Emmanuel Macedo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Reporting Guidelines ◽  
Assessment Criteria ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Competitive Sport ◽  
Practice Recommendations ◽  
Doping Behavior ◽  
Meta Analyses

The primary aim of this subject- wide systematic review was to collate and synthesize evidence on doping prevalence from published scientific papers. Secondary aims involved reviewing the reporting accuracy and data quality as evidence for doping behavior to (1) develop quality and bias assessment criteria to facilitate future systematic reviews; and (2) establish recommendations for reporting future research on doping behavior in competitive sports to facilitate better meta-analyses of doping behavior. Using PRISMA guidelines, 105 studies, published between 1975 and 2019, were included. To determine prevalence, the majority (89/205 studies) used self-reported surveys. Doping prevalence rates in competitive sport ranged from 0% to 73% for doping behavior with most falling under 5%. Inconsistencies in data reporting prevented meta-analysis for sport, gender, region, or competition level. Qualitative syntheses were possible and provided for study type, gender, and geographical region. Current knowledge about doping prevalence in competitive sport relies upon weak and disparate evidence. To address this, we offer a comprehensive set of assessment criteria for studies examining doping behavior data as evidence for doping prevalence. To facilitate future evidence syntheses and meta-analyses, we also put forward “best practice” recommendations and reporting guidelines that will improve evidence quality.

scholarly journals Molecular Mechanisms of Insulin Resistance in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Unraveling the Conundrum in Skeletal Muscle?

2019 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 5372-5381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel K Stepto ◽  
Alba Moreno-Asso ◽  
Luke C McIlvenna ◽  
Kirsty A Walters ◽  
Raymond J Rodgers
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Resistance ◽  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Polycystic Ovary ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ovary Syndrome

Abstract Context Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine condition affecting 8% to 13% of women across the lifespan. PCOS affects reproductive, metabolic, and mental health, generating a considerable health burden. Advances in treatment of women with PCOS has been hampered by evolving diagnostic criteria and poor recognition by clinicians. This has resulted in limited clinical and basic research. In this study, we provide insights into the current and future research on the metabolic features of PCOS, specifically as they relate to PCOS-specific insulin resistance (IR), that may affect the most metabolically active tissue, skeletal muscle. Current Knowledge PCOS is a highly heritable condition, yet it is phenotypically heterogeneous in both reproductive and metabolic features. Human studies thus far have not identified molecular mechanisms of PCOS-specific IR in skeletal muscle. However, recent research has provided new insights that implicate energy-sensing pathways regulated via epigenomic and resultant transcriptomic changes. Animal models, while in existence, have been underused in exploring molecular mechanisms of IR in PCOS and specifically in skeletal muscle. Future Directions Based on the latest evidence synthesis and technologies, researchers exploring molecular mechanisms of IR in PCOS, specifically in muscle, will likely need to generate new hypothesis to be tested in human and animal studies. Conclusion Investigations to elucidate the molecular mechanisms driving IR in PCOS are in their early stages, yet remarkable advances have been made in skeletal muscle. Overall, investigations have thus far created more questions than answers, which provide new opportunities to study complex endocrine conditions.

Voluntary disclosures practices of family firms in Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-294
Author(s):  
Judy Louie ◽  
Kamran Ahmed ◽  
Xu-Dong Ji
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Voluntary Disclosures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practice Recommendations ◽  
Good Corporate Governance

Purpose This paper aims to examine the voluntary disclosure practices of family and non-family listed firms and whether family firms have improved their disclosure practices following the introduction of the Principles of Good Corporate Governance and Best Practice Recommendations in 2003 in Australia. Design/methodology/approach Voluntary disclosures are measured by constructing an index specifically for this study. Such indexes consist of corporate governance disclosure, strategic disclosure and future disclosures. They are then regressed on firm-specific variables while controlling for family and non-family firms. A total of 60 family firms and 60 non-family firms in Australia are randomly chosen from 2001 to 2006 for examining their disclosure practices. Findings The research findings show that family firms disclose information voluntarily to signal to the market regarding their growth potentials and abide by government regulations to improve their reputation. Despite the fact that compliance with the Principles of Good Corporate Governance and Best Practice Recommendations was not compulsory, this paper finds that the recommendation encouraged family and non-family firms to disclose more corporate governance information. Practical implications The findings from this research will help investors and regulators make more strategic decisions on investments and regulations respectively in family firms. Originality/value There has been limited empirical evidence on the disclosure practices and their determinants of family firms in Australia. The study will thus significantly contribute to the current knowledge in this regard.

scholarly journals Network meta-analyses in reproductive medicine: challenges and opportunities

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 1723-1731
Author(s):  
Rui Wang ◽  
Anna Lene Seidler ◽  
Lisa Askie ◽  
Robert J Norman ◽  
Siladitya Bhattacharya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Medicine ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Recent Addition ◽  
Simultaneous Comparisons ◽  
Multiple Treatments ◽  
Meta Analyses

Abstract Network meta-analysis allows researchers to synthesise both direct and indirect evidence, thus enabling simultaneous comparisons of multiple treatments. A relatively recent addition to evidence synthesis in reproductive medicine, this approach has become increasingly popular. Yet, the underlying assumptions of network meta-analyses, which drive the validity of their findings, have been frequently ignored. In this article, we discuss the strengths and limitations of network meta-analyses. In addition, we present an overview of published network meta-analyses in reproductive medicine, summarize their challenges and provide insights into future research opportunities.

scholarly journals Improving the transparency of meta-analyses with interactive web applications

2020 ◽  
pp. bmjebm-2019-111308
Author(s):  
Thomas P Ahern ◽  
Richard F MacLehose ◽  
Laura Haines ◽  
Deirdre P Cronin-Fenton ◽  
Per Damkier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assessment ◽  
Web Applications ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Cancer Recurrence ◽  
Quality Criteria ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Summary Estimate ◽  
Specific Association ◽  
Meta Analyses

Increased transparency in study design and analysis is one proposed solution to the perceived reproducibility crisis facing science. Systematic review and meta-analysis—through which individual studies on a specific association are ascertained, assessed for quality and quantitatively combined—is a critical process for building consensus in medical research. However, the conventional publication model creates static evidence summaries that force the quality assessment criteria and analytical choices of a small number of authors onto all stakeholders, some of whom will have different views on the quality assessment and key features of the analysis. This leads to discordant inferences from meta-analysis results and delayed arrival at consensus. We propose a shift to interactive meta-analysis, through which stakeholders can take control of the evidence synthesis using their own quality criteria and preferred analytic approach—including the option to incorporate prior information on the association in question—to reveal how their summary estimate differs from that reported by the original analysts. We demonstrate this concept using a web-based meta-analysis of the association between genetic variation in a key tamoxifen-metabolising enzyme and breast cancer recurrence in tamoxifen-treated women. We argue that interactive meta-analyses would speed consensus-building to the degree that they reveal invariance of inferences to different study selection and analysis criteria. On the other hand, when inferences are found to differ substantially as a function of these choices, the disparities highlight where future research resources should be invested to resolve lingering sources of disagreement.

scholarly journals Choice experiments in health: the good, the bad, the ugly and toward a brighter future

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
JORDAN J. LOUVIERE ◽  
EMILY LANCSAR
Keyword(s):  
Health Economics ◽  
Discrete Choice ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Choice Experiments ◽  
Discrete Choice Experiments ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Moving Target ◽  
History Of ◽  
Brighter Future

Abstract:Compared to many applied areas of economics, health economics has a strong tradition in eliciting and using stated preferences (SP) in policy analysis. Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are one SP method increasingly used in this area. Literature on DCEs in health and more generally has grown rapidly since the mid-1990s. Applications of DCEs in health have come a long way, but to date few have been ‘best practice’, in part because ‘best practice’ has been somewhat of a moving target. The purpose of this paper is to briefly survey the history of DCEs and the state of current knowledge, identify and discuss knowledge gaps, and suggest potentially fruitful areas for future research to fill such gaps with the aim of moving the application of DCEs in health economics closer to best practice.

A Stepwise Approach to Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses of Endovascular Interventions

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 805-817
Author(s):  
George A. Antoniou ◽  
Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai ◽  
Francesco Versaci ◽  
Stavros A. Antoniou
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Specific Topic ◽  
Stepwise Approach ◽  
Endovascular Interventions ◽  
Statistical Precision ◽  
Meta Analyses

The accrual of clinical studies poses important challenges to researchers and practitioners, especially in the field of endovascular therapy, where patient, lesion, technique, and device subtleties abound. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses may prove particularly fruitful in such settings by increasing statistical precision and bolstering external validity if the evidence base on a specific topic is consistent or by highlighting important discrepancies in the opposite scenario. However, mastering the correct approach to systematic review and meta-analysis is challenging for careful readers or for those interested in conducting such an evidence synthesis exercise. The present article highlights a stepwise approach to systematic reviews and meta-analyses, focusing on endovascular interventions, which will prove useful to anyone reading or wishing to synthesize the evidence base on endovascular topics to optimize decision making or shape future research efforts.

scholarly journals Semantic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia: Practical Recommendations for Treatment from 20 Years of Behavioural Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1552
Author(s):  
Aida Suárez-González ◽  
Sharon A. Savage ◽  
Nathalie Bier ◽  
Maya L. Henry ◽  
Regina Jokel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Primary Progressive Aphasia ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Progressive Aphasia ◽  
Primary Progressive ◽  
Semantic Variant

People with semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) present with a characteristic progressive breakdown of semantic knowledge. There are currently no pharmacological interventions to cure or slow svPPA, but promising behavioural approaches are increasingly reported. This article offers an overview of the last two decades of research into interventions to support language in people with svPPA including recommendations for clinical practice and future research based on the best available evidence. We offer a lay summary in English, Spanish and French for education and dissemination purposes. This paper discusses the implications of right- versus left-predominant atrophy in svPPA, which naming therapies offer the best outcomes and how to capitalise on preserved long-term memory systems. Current knowledge regarding the maintenance and generalisation of language therapy gains is described in detail along with the development of compensatory approaches and educational and support group programmes. It is concluded that there is evidence to support an integrative framework of treatment and care as best practice for svPPA. Such an approach should combine rehabilitation interventions addressing the language impairment, compensatory approaches to support activities of daily living and provision of education and support within the context of dementia.

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