How did UK policymaking in the COVID-19 response use science? Evidence from scientific advisers

Background: Responses to COVID-19 have invested heavily in science. How this science was used is therefore important. Our work extends existing knowledge on the use of science in the pandemic by capturing scientific advisers’ experiences in real time.Aims and objectives: Our aim was to present generalisable messages on key qualifications or difficulties involved in speaking of ‘following the science’.Methods: Ninety-three interviews with UK scientific advisors and government officials captured their activities and perceptions during the pandemic in real time. We also examined Parliamentary Select Committee transcripts and government documents. This material was analysed for thematic content.Findings and discussion: (1) Many scientists sought guidance from policymakers about their goals, yet the COVID-19 response demonstrated the absence of a clear steer, and a tendency to change course quickly; (2) many scientists did not want to offer policy advice, but rather to provide evidence; and (3) a range of knowledge informed the UK’s pandemic response: we examine which kinds were privileged, and demonstrate the absence of clarity on how government synthesised the different forms of evidence being used.Conclusions: Understanding the reasons for a lack of clarity about policy goals would help us better understand the use of science in policy. Realisation that policy goals sometimes alter rapidly would help us better understand the logistics of scientific advice. Many scientists want their evidence to inform policy rather than determine the options selected. Since the process by which evidence leads to decisions is obscure, policy cannot be said to be evidence-based.<br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>Scientific advisors need to know policy goals, but these can be obscure and changeable.</li><br /><li>Many scientists want their evidence to inform policy rather than determine the policy selected.</li><br /><li>Evidence feeds into decisions in obscure ways, so policy cannot be said to be evidence-based.</li><br /><li>‘Evidence-informed’ policy is a more feasible aim than ‘evidence-based’ policy.</li></ul>

Effects of Copyrights on Science: Evidence from the WWII Book Republication Program

Copyrights, which establish intellectual property in music, science, and other creative goods, are intended to encourage creativity. Yet, copyrights also raise the cost of accessing existing work—potentially discouraging future innovation. This paper uses an exogenous shift toward weak copyrights (and low access costs) during World War II to examine the potentially adverse effects of copyrights on science. Using two alternative identification strategies, we show that weaker copyrights encouraged the creation of follow-on science, measured by citations. This change is driven by a reduction in access costs, allowing scientists at less affluent institutions to use existing knowledge in new follow-on research. (JEL I23, K11, L82, N42, O34, Z11)

Crisis and the Trajectory of Science: Evidence from the 2014 Ebola Outbreak

When crises such as disease outbreaks occur in low-income countries, the global response can inuence the output of researchers in the most affected locations. This paper investigates the impact of the 2014 West African Ebola epidemic on publication outcomes of endemic country scientists. Driven by collaborations with high-income country scientists in Ebola publications, endemic country scientists with relevant experience increase their publication output. However, the productivity of scientists without relevant experience falls, driving a reduction in non-Ebola publications. Any benefits arising from increased visibility during the epidemic doesn't appear to spillover to non-Ebola or Africa-led research in the long run.

Pendidikan Kesehatan tentang Terapi Komplementer dalam Kehamilan

Complementary therapy in health care is a non-conventional treatment aimed at increasing the degree of public health. The terpi includes promotional, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative efforts that have proven their quality of safety, and effectiveness based on research and science (Evidence Based Medicine). In complementary therapy, the therapist treats various diseases or complaints using traditional techniques and is not done by surgery and drugs or pharmaceutical products, but by utilizing various types of therapy and herbs.The use of complementary therapies in the field of midwifery must be proven safe by research. Pregnant women are a group that is recommended to take advantage of complementary therapy or medicine in dealing with perceived complaints, because complementary therapy can avoid the side effects of conventional medicine and have great control over their own health. Although traditional / complementary medicine is relatively safer, it does not mean that it does not pose a risk, therefore pregnant women must have adequate knowledge about the use of safe complementary therapies during pregnancy.Health education on complementary therapies in pregnancy is provided by extension methods when pregnant women carry out motherhood classes in the working area of Puskesmas Putri Ayu, Jambi City. This activity was carried out in conjunction with the clinical practice of students of D III Midwifery Stikes Baiturrahim Jambi.

Progress for Immunotherapy in Inflammatory Breast Cancer and Emerging Barriers to Therapeutic Efficacy

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare and aggressive subtype of breast cancer that carries a particularly poor prognosis. Despite the efficacy of immunotherapy in other difficult to treat forms of breast cancer, progress for immunotherapy in IBC has been difficult. Though immunotherapy has been under clinical investigation in IBC since the 1970s, few approaches have shown significant therapeutic efficacy, and no immunotherapy regimens are currently used in the treatment of IBC. Here, we provide a comprehensive summary of what is known about the immune composition of IBC tumors, clinical and basic science evidence describing the role for immune checkpoints such as PD-L1 in IBC pathobiology, as well as past and present attempts to advance ICIs in the treatment of IBC.