Accelerating the transition of clinical science to translational medicine

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has shown the importance of medical research in responding to the urgent prevention and health needs to combat the devastating disease, COVID-19, that this β-coronavirus unleashed. Equally, it has demonstrated the importance of interdisciplinary working to translate scientific discovery into public and patient benefit. As we come to adjust to live with this new virus, it is important to look back and see what lessons we have learnt in the way scientific medical discoveries can be more effectively and rapidly moved into public benefit. Clinical Science has had a long and distinguished history with this Journal bearing the same name and being an important contributor to the rapidly increasing use of human pathobiological data to gain mechanistic understanding of disease mechanisms leading to new diagnostic tests and treatments. The recognition that many complex diseases engage multiple causal pathways that may vary from patient to patient, and at different times across the lifecourse, has led to the emergence of stratified or precision medicine in which the right treatment is given to the right patient at the right time and, in doing so, minimise ‘non-responders’ and off-target side effects. Applications of omics technologies, the digitalisation of biology and the applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are accelerating disease insights at pace with translation of discoveries into new diagnostic tests and treatments. The future of clinical science, as it morphs into translational medicine, is now creating unique possibilities where even the most intractable diseases are now open to being conquered.

Incremental and Interactive Relations of Triarchic Psychopathy Measure Scales with Antisocial and Prosocial Correlates: A Pre-Registered Replication of Gatner et al. (2016)

Meanness (i.e., callousness/unemotionality, antagonism) and disinhibition (e.g., impulsivity, antisocial behavior) are the consensus traits which undergird psychopathy. Significant debate exists regarding a proposed third dimension of boldness or fearless dominance, characterized by particularly high levels of both extraversion and emotional stability. The present study is a pre-registered direct replication of the work of Gatner and colleagues (2016) regarding the importance of boldness in psychopathy. Specifically, in a large undergraduate sample (n = 1,015) which more than doubled the original study sample size, we examined whether boldness exhibited curvilinear relations to antisocial and prosocial outcomes, provided incremental predictive utility, and interacted with meanness and disinhibition. Consistent with Gatner and colleagues’ findings, neither incremental, interactive, nor curvilinear effects of boldness accounted for more than a small amount of variance in outcomes beyond the main effects of meanness and disinhibition. We discuss both process and results in the context of promoting a culture of reproducibility, as well as transparent and open practices in clinical science.

The science of science: Clinical Science launches a new translational meta-research collection

Clinical Science is proud to launch a new translational meta-research collection. Meta-research, or the science of science, applies the scientific method to study science itself. Meta-research is a powerful tool for identifying common problems in scientific papers, assessing their impact, and testing solutions to improve the transparency, rigor, trustworthiness, and usefulness of biomedical research. The collection welcomes science of science studies that link basic science to disease mechanisms, as well as meta-research articles highlighting opportunities to improve transparency, rigor, and reproducibility among the types of papers published in Clinical Science. Submissions might include science of science studies that explore factors linked to successful translation, or meta-research on experimental methods or study designs that are often used in translational research. We hope that this collection will encourage scientists to think critically about current practices and take advantage of opportunities to make their own research more transparent, rigorous, and reproducible.

The hidden influence of communities in collaborative funding of clinical science

Every year the National Institutes of Health allocates $10.7 billion (one-third of its funds) for clinical science research while the pharmaceutical companies spend $52.9 billion (90% of its annual budget). However, we know little about funder collaborations and the impact of collaboratively funded projects. As an initial effort towards this, we examine the co-funding network, where a funder represents a node and an edge signifies collaboration. Our core data include all papers that cite and receive citations by the Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews, a prominent clinical review journal. We find that 65% of clinical papers have multiple funders and discover communities of funders that are formed by national boundaries and funding objectives. To quantify success in funding, we use a g -index metric that indicates efficiency of funders in supporting clinically relevant research. After controlling for authorship, we find that funders generally achieve higher success when collaborating than when solo-funding. We also find that as a funder, seeking multiple, direct connections with various disconnected funders may be more beneficial than being part of a densely interconnected network of co-funders. The results of this paper indicate that collaborations can potentially accelerate innovation, not only among authors but also funders.

A Different Way for Detecting Anaemia Disease using Bioelectronics Circuit

All in all, clinical science characterizes anaemia disease as less tally of a red platelet. This illness is exceptionally successive in India and a few pieces of the entire world. This isn't straightforwardly influencing illness however the maker and initiator of numerous other blood-related issues. Biomedical has effectively built up a testing technique for the recognizable proof of such infection and sorted out the strategy for computing the quantity of check or scope of red platelets in human bodies. In view of a correlation of such information with ordinary human blood attributes specialists can distinguish the level of the pallor and its connected stage. This requires time like conventional blood revealing just as the precision of testing philosophy. With the help of this article, another method of recognizing similar information inside a brief timeframe is introduced. By processing the ordinary human platelet check with anaemia influenced blood through the bioelectronics circuit, it will be useful to sort out the presence of the illness. Rather than utilizing genuine blood, a substance blend comparable to human blood serum has been thought of and for sickness, synthetic creation has been modified. This may change results for genuine human blood however then circuit changes may assist us with improving the outcomes. The sugar meter and heart meter are as of now utilized in everyday life by normal individuals without the assistance of specialists. These commonsense outcomes may lead such instrument makers for building up the gadget for sickliness identification.

Active Learning: Basic Science Workshops, Clinical Science Cases, and Medical Role-Playing in an Undergraduate Biology Course

Effective undergraduate courses increasingly blend elements of active learning with a more traditional lecture format. Designing and implementing active learning sessions that engage, educate, and are challenging and workable in a group setting are essential for student learners. In addition, active learning sessions take concepts of fundamental knowledge and apply them to a more relevant and real-world environment. Thus, effective active learning lesson plans enable students to thrive in their educational experience, and this potentially enhances material retention. Presented here are examples of the critical components of active learning engagement in an undergraduate biology course. First, basic science workshops let students apply basic scientific principles to biomedical science scenarios. Second, clinical science case studies help students understand the interplay between basic and clinical sciences in a patient-based medical case format. Finally, medical role-playing allows student teams to understand the complexity of medical care, moving from the patient’s presenting symptoms to formulating a diagnosis and treatment plan. These exercises strengthen several aspects of active learning, especially those related to student-team-based collaboration, conversation, coordination, and compilation.

The challenge of Burnout in Public Medical Teachers in Pakistan: A mixed methods study

Background and Objectives: Burnout is common in healthcare workers and affects multiple domains of functioning. The objective of this study was to assess burnout in medical teachers in a large public medical university in Lahore, Pakistan and explore the factors behind it. Methods: Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, we first sent out the abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory (aMBI) to all teaching faculty of basic and clinical science at King Edward Medical University (KEMU) Lahore. Descriptive analysis was performed on the 203 respondents who returned the survey. Of those who scored higher on the aMBI, 10 respondents (8 clinical science faculty and two basic science faculty) were selected for detailed semi-structured interviews exploring possible reasons for burnout. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was performed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Triangulation and member checking was used for validation. Results: About 38.9% of respondents scored high on the Emotional Exhaustion subscale and 31.5% scored high on the Depersonalization subscale. There were statistically significant differences on the mean Emotional Exhaustion scores (p <0.001) between Basic and Clinical Sciences Departments with respondents from the Clinical Departments having higher scores (7.84 ± 4.32). Four main themes and multiple sub-themes emerged around burnout after qualitative analysis of the data. These included 1. Work-related factors 2. Family and social factors including challenges related specifically to women 3. Feelings and emotions and 4. Personal Qualities. Conclusion: A significant proportion of medical faculty experiences burnout related to their professional and personal responsibilities. The reasons are varied. Policy planners and University/College administrators must acknowledge the negative effects of burnout on medical teachers and take steps to ameliorate it in the interests of improving medical education and training. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.5.4429 How to cite this:Hashmi AM. The challenge of Burnout in Public Medical Teachers in Pakistan: A mixed methods study. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(5):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.5.4429 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Sepsis-associated acute kidney damage is a disease that affects the patient's quality of life. It should be a target for gene therapy

Sepsis-associated acute kidney damage is a disease that affects the patient's quality of life as well as their chances of dying. While supportive care can be useful for helping patients live longer if their health improves, there are no therapies that are directed at modifying the underlying pathophysiology. More recent studies show that changes in gene expression, protein abundance, and metabolism can alter kidney function in sepsis, which further demonstrates how far we've come in the past decade when it comes to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of sickness. While significant progress has been made, the opportunity provided by current omic technologies to illuminate these paths has yet to be realized.To help us provide better healthcare for our sickest patients, we're recommending future research go along the following lines: First, conduct in-depth research on recent advancements in both fundamental and clinical science to take advantage of new imaging technologies that have been developed in the last several years. Next, exploit recent breakthroughs in fundamental and clinical science to use new imaging technologies that have been established over the last several years.