Evidence and gap maps: Using maps to support evidence-based development

Evidence mapping began in the early 2000s and has taken off in the last ten years, notably with the innovation of an online interactive visual Evidence and Gap Map by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and the different types of maps produced by the Campbell Collaboration. In the CEDIL Methods brief, ‘Evidence and gap maps: Using maps to support evidence-based development’, Howard White, Research Director, CEDIL, describes what evidence and gap maps are, what sort of evidence is being mapped, and the various ways in which these maps are being used and how you can commission one.

Odyssey 'Round the World and Homer in Croatia

A comparison of Homer in translation in Croatia (only one translation, by Tomo Maretić, is available for 140 years) with the international initiative Odyssey 'Round the World (a 2020 24-hours performance of 'rhapsodies' of the Odyssey published on YouTube.

International initiative for a curated SDHB variant database improving the diagnosis of hereditary paraganglioma and pheochromocytoma

BackgroundSDHB is one of the major genes predisposing to paraganglioma/pheochromocytoma (PPGL). Identifying pathogenic SDHB variants in patients with PPGL is essential to the management of patients and relatives due to the increased risk of recurrences, metastases and the emergence of non-PPGL tumours. In this context, the ‘NGS and PPGL (NGSnPPGL) Study Group’ initiated an international effort to collect, annotate and classify SDHB variants and to provide an accurate, expert-curated and freely available SDHB variant database.MethodsA total of 223 distinct SDHB variants from 737 patients were collected worldwide. Using multiple criteria, each variant was first classified according to a 5-tier grouping based on American College of Medical Genetics and NGSnPPGL standardised recommendations and was then manually reviewed by a panel of experts in the field.ResultsThis multistep process resulted in 23 benign/likely benign, 149 pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants and 51 variants of unknown significance (VUS). Expert curation reduced by half the number of variants initially classified as VUS. Variant classifications are publicly accessible via the Leiden Open Variation Database system (https://databases.lovd.nl/shared/genes/SDHB).ConclusionThis international initiative by a panel of experts allowed us to establish a consensus classification for 223 SDHB variants that should be used as a routine tool by geneticists in charge of PPGL laboratory diagnosis. This accurate classification of SDHB genetic variants will help to clarify the diagnosis of hereditary PPGL and to improve the clinical care of patients and relatives with PPGL.

Alliances of maritime liner container carriers: the essence of this phenomenon and its practical significance

Alliances are a key element of modern liner shipping. This article introduces alliances as a new form of consolidation of container lines and offers general information about their activity. The authors examined numerous reliable sources to evaluate different factors which influence the results of shipping lines' participation in global alliances. The authors offer their appraisal of alliances based on research as well as their own experience in shipping. They consider the liner market as an oligopoly of a few companies, which are closely intertwined with the world’s largest corporations and where international law has been substituted with a control by regulators from some of the most powerful countries in the liner trade. This system allows the business of some customers to be protected, while applying limitations on others. Undoubtedly, the alliances have an influence on Russian foreign trade. In summary, the authors believe that the Russian authorities should carefully investigate and control the service of global carriers and alliances. The chief aim of effective control is the free participation of Russian companies in foreign trade, which is not possible without due support of maritime transport. The alliances are truly global entities. They combine both traditional and new methods, including cutting-edge capabilities of information and digital technologies. To prevent a negative influence of the oligopoly, a new international initiative to regulate the alliances as was done with shipping conferences is highly welcomed by the authors.

Safe havens for archives at risk: a new international initiative

Over the years, internationally-minded archivists have had to consider the possibility of taking custody of archives from another country because the archives are at risk in their country of origin. The risks may take many forms, but archives in war-zones and other disaster areas, and archives at environmental risk (including risks of climate change) provide striking examples. The removal of archives from one country to another is always likely to be controversial, however, and even well-intentioned attempts at “archival rescue” in the past have been strongly criticized. It has been clear for a long time that international standards are needed. The “Guiding Principles for Safe Havens’” for Archives at Risk are a set of principles providing guidance on archival and ethical factors to be taken into account when planning the transfer of analogue or digital archives (or copies) to another institution for safekeeping. The principles have been drawn up by a group of experts in meetings held in Berne, Amsterdam, Geneva, and virtually, over the past four years, and have been endorsed and approved by various international organizations, including several ICA Sections. Past bilateral agreements between sending institutions and hosting institutions governing “safe haven” solutions have often failed to address fundamental questions, such as data protection, access, succession solutions, obligations to return or the often asymmetrical relationship between the sending institution and the hosting institution. The need for new and definitive principles is outlined in this essay, and the “Guiding Principles” themselves are then described, explained and justified.

Dating historical droughts from religious ceremonies, the international pro pluvia rogation database

Climate proxy data are required for improved understanding of climate variability and change in the pre-instrumental period. We present the first international initiative to compile and share information on pro pluvia rogation ceremonies, which is a well-studied proxy of agricultural drought. Currently, the database has more than 3500 dates of celebration of rogation ceremonies, providing information for 153 locations across 11 countries spanning the period from 1333 to 1949. This product provides data for better understanding of the pre-instrumental drought variability, validating natural proxies and model simulations, and multi-proxy rainfall reconstructions, amongst other climatic exercises. The database is freely available and can be easily accessed and visualized via http://inpro.unizar.es/.

Regulating News and Disinformation on Digital Platforms

In February 2021 two initiatives for regulating digital platforms in Australia were implemented. The News Media Bargaining Code (“News Code”) attracted international attention as a legislative means of forcing platforms to pay for news content, while the Australian Voluntary Disinformation and Misinformation Code (“Disinformation Code”) was modelled on an international initiative. Both were developed to meet Government policy formulated in response to Australia’s Digital Platforms Inquiry. Whereas the Inquiry recommended the use of co-regulation, Government policy switched to voluntary codes for both, then to a legislative scheme for the News Code. This article examines the schemes and critiques the policy on which they are based. It applies a conceptual framework to assess the optimum conditions for the use of co-regulation and self-regulation. It finds that a self-regulatory scheme of voluntary codes was never a suitable approach for the News Code, and that the close involvement of the regulator on the Disinformation Code — without a suitable remit or enforcement powers — distorts the self-regulatory model. This can in part be explained by the failure to address well-recognised flaws in the co-regulatory framework for telecommunications and broadcasting, the consequences of which are now being seen in attempts to regulate digital platforms.

Applications and Limitations of Neuro-Monitoring in Paediatric Anaesthesia and Intravenous Anaesthesia: A Narrative Review

Safe management of anaesthesia in children has been one of the top areas of research over the last decade. After the large volume of articles which focused on the putative neurotoxic effect of anaesthetic agents on the developing brain, the attention and research efforts shifted toward prevention and treatment of critical events and the importance of peri-anaesthetic haemodynamic stability to prevent negative neurological outcomes. Safetots.org is an international initiative aiming at raising the attention on the relevance of a high-quality anaesthesia in children undergoing surgical and non-surgical procedures to guarantee a favourable outcome. Children might experience hemodynamic instability for many reasons, and how the range of normality within brain autoregulation is maintained is still unknown. Neuro-monitoring can guide anaesthesia providers in delivering optimal anaesthetic drugs dosages and also correcting underling conditions that can negatively affect the neurological outcome. In particular, it is referred to EEG-based monitoring and monitoring for brain oxygenation.