Bibliographic management tools have been widely used by researchers to store, organize, and manage their references for research papers, theses, dissertations, journal articles, and other publications. There are a number of reference management tools available. In order for users to decide which tool is best for their needs, it is important to know each tool's strengths and weaknesses. This article compares four reference management tools, one of which is licensed by University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey libraries and the other three are open source and freely available. They were chosen based on their functionality, ease of use, availability to library users, and popularity. These four tools are EndNote/EndNote Web, Zotero, Connotea, and Mendeley Desktop/Mendeley Web. Each tool is analyzed in terms of the following features: accessing, collecting, organizing, collaborating, and citing/formatting. A comparison table is included to summarize the key features of these tools.
NKT cells are CD1d-restricted innate-like T cells expressing both T cell receptor and NK cell markers. The major group of NKT cells in both human and mice is the invariant NKT (iNKT) cells and the best-known function of iNKT cells is their potent anti-tumor function in mice. Since its discovery 25 years ago, the prototype ligand of iNKT cells, α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer) has been used in over 30 anti-tumor clinical trials with mostly suboptimal outcomes. To realize its therapeutic potential, numerous preclinical models have been developed to optimize the scheme and strategies for α-GalCer-based cancer immunotherapies. Nevertheless, since there is no standard protocol for α-GalCer delivery, we reviewed the preclinical studies with a focus on B16 melanoma model in the goal of identifying the best treatment schemes for α-GalCer treatment. We then reviewed the current progress in developing more clinically relevant mouse models for these preclinical studies, most notably the generation of new mouse models with a humanized CD1d/iNKT cell system. With ever-emerging novel iNKT cell ligands, invention of novel α-GalCer delivery strategies and significantly improved preclinical models for optimizing these new strategies, one can be hopeful that the full potential of anti-tumor potential for α-GalCer will be realized in the not too distant future.
BackgroundWell-designed research trials are critical for determining the efficacy and effectiveness of nutrition education interventions. To determine whether behavioral and/or cognition changes can be attributed to an intervention, the experimental design must include a control or comparison condition against which outcomes from the experimental group can be compared. Despite the impact different types of control groups can have on study outcomes, the treatment provided to participants in the control condition has received limited attention in the literature.MethodsA systematic review of control groups in nutrition education interventions was conducted to better understand how control conditions are described in peer-reviewed journal articles compared with experimental conditions. To be included in the systematic review, articles had to be indexed in CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, WoS, and/or ERIC and report primary research findings of controlled nutrition education intervention trials conducted in the United States with free-living consumer populations and published in English between January 2005 and December 2015. Key elements extracted during data collection included treatment provided to the experimental and control groups (e.g., overall intervention content, tailoring methods, delivery mode, format, duration, setting, and session descriptions, and procedures for standardizing, fidelity of implementation, and blinding); rationale for control group type selected; sample size and attrition; and theoretical foundation.ResultsThe search yielded 43 publications; about one-third of these had an inactive control condition, which is considered a weak study design. Nearly two-thirds of reviewed studies had an active control condition considered a stronger research design; however, many failed to report one or more key elements of the intervention, especially for the control condition. None of the experimental and control group treatments were sufficiently detailed to permit replication of the nutrition education interventions studied.ConclusionsFindings advocate for improved intervention study design and more complete reporting of nutrition education interventions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-017-0546-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Placental abruption and cardiovascular disease (CVD) have common etiologic underpinnings and there is accumulating evidence that abruption may be associated with future CVD. We estimate associations between abruption and coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. The meta-analysis was based on the random-effects risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) as the effect measure. We conducted a bias analysis to account for abruption misclassification, selection bias and unmeasured confounding. We included 11 cohort studies comprised of 6,325,152 pregnancies, 69,759 abruptions and 49,265 CHD and stroke cases (1967 to 2016). Risks of the combined CVD morbidity-mortality among abruption and non-abruption groups were 16.7 and 9.3 per 1000 births, respectively (RR 1.76, 95% CI: 1.24, 2.50; I2=94%; τ2=0.22). Women who suffered abruption were at 2.65-fold (95% CI: 1.55, 4.54; I2=85%; τ2=0.36) higher risk for deaths related to CHD/stroke than non-fatal CHD/stroke complications (RR 1.32, 95% CI: 0.91, 1.92; I2=93%; τ2=0.15). Abruption was associated with higher mortality from CHD (RR 2.64, 95% CI: 1.57, 4.44; I2=76%; τ2=0.31) than stroke (RR 1.70, 95% CI: 1.19, 2.42; I2=40%; τ2=0.05). Corrections for the aforementioned biases increased these estimates. Women with pregnancies complicated by placental abruption may benefit from postpartum screening or therapeutic interventions to help mitigate CVD risks.
Objectives: This systematic review examines types of mobile devices implemented in health professions education, kinds of resources and tools accessed by health professions students via mobile devices, and reasons for using mobile devices to access the resources and tools. Methods:The review included studies published in English between January 2010 and April 2015 with empirical data retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and eight other databases..Data extracted included participants characteristics, study design, mobile devices used, mobile resources/apps accessed, outcome measures, outcomes, and advantages of and barriers to using mobile devices to access resources. Results:The authors identified 20 articles that satisfied the inclusion criteria. There was significant variability across the studies in terms of research methods, types of mobile programs implemented, resources accessed, and outcomes. The majority of the studies show higher acceptability and usability of mobile devices for activities pertaining to resources utilization, learning, and patient care. Conclusions:Beneficial effects of using mobile devices to access a wide range of knowledgebased resources and mobile apps were evidenced through the synthesis. The findings of the studies also reveal conspicuous challenges or barriers faced by students in using mobile devices. Implications:The findings suggest immediate implications for health sciences libraries and imply new opportunities for librarians to launch innovative initiatives to develop mobile programs to facilitate access to mobile resources and accelerate integration of mobile technologies into teaching, learning, and clinical practice. Funding:Research was performed with no external funding.2
IntroductionRadiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with parapharyngeal space (PPS) involvement may deliver high dose to the parotid gland. This study evaluated parotid gland changes during and up to 3 months after radiotherapy.MethodsKilovoltage computed tomography (CT) scans of head and neck region of 39 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with PPS involvement were performed at pre‐radiotherapy, 10th, 20th and 30th fractions and 3 months after treatment. The parotid glands were contoured in pre‐radiotherapy planning CT scan and in subsequent scans. Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), percentage volume change and centroid movement between the planning CT and the subsequent CTs were obtained from the contouring software. In addition, the distance between medial and lateral borders of parotid glands from the mid‐line at various time intervals were also measured.ResultsThe ipsilateral parotid gland received a mean dose of about 5 Gy higher than the contralateral side. The mean DSC and parotid volume decreased by more than 30% at 20th fraction and reached the minimum at 30th fraction. Partial recovery was observed at 3 months after treatment. The centroid displacement followed a similar pattern, which moved medially and superiorly by an average of 0.30 cm and 0.18 cm, respectively, at 30th fraction. The changes in ipsilateral gland were slightly greater than the contralateral side.ConclusionsSubstantial volume change and medial movement of parotid gland were observed with slightly greater magnitude in the ipsilateral side. Adaptive radiotherapy was suggested at around 15th to 20th fraction so as to optimise the original dose distribution of the plan.
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