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Digital informed consent may better inform individuals about health research and increase participation. In the United States and elsewhere, minorities and rural populations are underrepresented in health research and may benefit from well-designed electronic informed consent (eIC). Seven focus groups were conducted with 50 Caucasian, African American, and rural patients in the United States. Participants were asked their preferences for a paper versus electronic informed consent document. Participants found the e-version easier to use, more interesting, and better for understanding. Minority participants emphasized limited access, computer literacy, and trust barriers to eIC. Rural participants were concerned about accessibility, connectivity, privacy, and confidentiality. People see value in electronic consenting. Researchers should consider barriers to eIC among underrepresented populations before recruitment.

A Kuhnian approach to research assessment requires us to consider that the important scientific breakthroughs that drive scientific progress are infrequent and that the progress of science does not depend on normal research. Consequently, indicators of research performance based on the total number of papers do not accurately measure scientific progress. Similarly, those universities with the best reputations in terms of scientific progress differ widely from other universities in terms of the scale of investments made in research and in the higher concentrations of outstanding scientists present, but less so in terms of the total number of papers or citations. This study argues that indicators for the 1% high-citation tail of the citation distribution reveal the contribution of universities to the progress of science and provide quantifiable justification for the large investments in research made by elite research universities. In this tail, which follows a power low, the number of the less frequent and highly cited important breakthroughs can be predicted from the frequencies of papers in the upper part of the tail. This study quantifies the false impression of excellence produced by multinational papers, and by other types of papers that do not contribute to the progress of science. Many of these papers are concentrated in and dominate lists of highly cited papers, especially in lower-ranked universities. The h-index obscures the differences between higher- and lower-ranked universities because the proportion of h-core papers in the 1% high-citation tail is not proportional to the value of the h-index.

Compared with the more traditional sciences of nutrition, physiology, and reproduction, the acceptance of animal welfare science in its own right is still relatively new. Seven colleagues, who had an average of 10 yr experience with beef (n = 5), swine (n = 5), dairy (n = 2), poultry (n = 1), and sheep (n = 1) were asked several questions on the opportunities and challenges facing the field. The information collected was pooled for anonymity. General challenges identified by the group were (1) are we making progress and how can this be defined, (2) demand for information has outpaced the science, and (3) pressures from stakeholders. Solutions were (1) to continue providing sound science that has been validated, measured objectively, and is reliable; and (2) to continue to have animal science and veterinary medicine departments employ faculty trained in farm animal welfare. Highlights for the future were willingness for animal welfare scientists to work across disciplines and across departments, within the same institution, and enthusiastically across state lines, and expansion of new teaching models. In conclusion, new and innovative tools, personalities, and dedication to the field of animal welfare will continue to provide scientific information and direction for farm animal welfare science.

Forage-animal production agriculture is implementing infrastructure changes and management strategies to adjust to increased energy-related costs of fuel, feed grains, fertilizers, and seeds. The primary objectives of this position paper are to assess future research and extension scientific needs in forage utilization, financial support for the discipline, and changing status and number of scientists. A survey questionnaire returned from 25 land-grant universities in the eastern half of the United States rated the top 4 research needs as 1) pasture systems and efficiency of production; 2) interfacing with energy concerns; 3) forage cultivar evaluations and persistence; and 4) environment impacts. Plant-animal future research needs at 11 USDA-ARS regional locations are targeted at sustainable management and improved livestock performance, ecophysiology and ecology of grasslands, environment impacts, and improved technologies for nutritive value assessments. Extension scientists from 17 southern and northeastern states listed the top 3 needs as forage persistence, soil fertility and nutrient management, and pasture systems and efficiency of production. Grant funds currently provide more than 40% of land-grant university research and extension efforts in forage utilization, and scientists estimate that this support base will increase to 55 to 60% of the funding total by 2013. Reduced allocation of state and federal funding has contributed to a reduction in the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) scientists engaged in forage utilization research and extension activities. The current 25 state FTE conducting research number about 2.8 per state. This includes 10 states with >3, 11 states with <2, and 3 states with <1 FTE. Increased interest in cellulosic energy, climate change, and environmental impact may offer new opportunities for these FTE to participate in integrated cross-discipline research Extension programming, and technology transfer methods will change to accommodate reduced funding but with increasing numbers of novice, recreation-oriented landowners.

This commentary reports on the advances that have occurred over the 10-year period since the first National Workshop to Develop the Chiropractic Research Agenda was held and introduces the second set of white papers that were produced as a result of the 10th annual Research Agenda Conference. Four working groups were convened to update the original 5 white papers that represented the most significant results from the first workshop in 1996. Each group was to review the first report, examine the action steps and recommendations that were published in each report to see how much had been completed in the past decade, and develop new action steps and recommendations for the future. Four new articles were developed, each updating and adding significant amounts of new research to the original versions. New action steps and recommendations will help move the profession forward into the future. Chiropractic scientists have worked diligently over the past decade to address the recommendations noted in the first set of white papers. Despite significant advances in knowledge and scientific capacity, the chiropractic profession is still confronted with a large number of research challenges.

Purpose: To retrospectively characterize the extent and nature of financial relationships with industry that are disclosed in the abstracts of scientific papers presented at the 2003 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting and to retrospectively assess whether the presence of relationships between researchers and industry was associated with a discussion on the use of products or devices that are not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)., Materials and Methods: Printed abstracts of scientific papers published in the 2003 Radiological Society of North America Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting Program were classified according to the number and type of financial relationships disclosed. Also recorded was whether the abstracts discussed non-FDA-approved use of a product. Abstracts with and those without disclosures were then compared by using the Fisher exact test with respect to the percentage of abstracts that reported non-FDA-approved use., Results: Of the 1549 published abstracts, 271 (17%) disclosed at least one author with financial ties to a company whose products or services were reported. The most common disclosures were for authors who were employees (39%), corporate grant recipients (34%), corporate consultants (23%), or shareholders (18%) of the corporation whose product was studied. A total of 87 (32%) of 271 abstracts with disclosed corporate relationships discussed non-FDA-approved use of a commercial product compared with 197 (15%) of 1278 abstracts with no disclosed tie to industry (P<.001)., Conclusion: RSNA abstracts in which authors disclosed corporate financial relationships were twice as likely as those without such disclosures to discuss non-FDA-approved use of a commercial product. This raises the possibility that corporate relationships may influence radiology research., (Copyright (c) RSNA, 2006.)

The third Biomedical Imaging Research Opportunities Workshop (BIROW III) was held on March 11-12, 2005, in Bethesda, MD. The workshop addressed four areas of imaging that present opportunities for research and development: Multimodality Image-Guided Therapy, Imaging Informatics, Imaging Cell Trafficking, and Technology Improvement and Commercialization. The first three areas were individually addressed in their own plenary sessions, followed by audience discussions that explored research opportunities and challenges. This paper synthesizes these discussions into a strategy for future research directions in biomedical imaging.

Objective: To describe a systematic review of breast cancer health services research that was conducted to guide a Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative workshop., Design: A literature review of major citation databases was conducted. The National Cancer Institute of Canada Framework for Cancer Control was adopted to classify articles by theme area and by type of health services research., Results: The majority of the studies focused on screening for breast cancer and were descriptive studies on accessibility. Relatively few studies examined quality and outcomes of breast cancer services or interventions to improve such services. Furthermore, few health services research studies examined the areas of supportive care or palliation., Conclusions: The results help to identify the gaps in the Canadian and international research in this area. The material from the review was used as background for a workshop to support the work of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative Task Force on Health Services Research.

The article presents a study about the use of use polarized light reflectometry technique in analyzing a wide-scale of coated papers from pulp mills in the U.S. The polarized light reflectometry technique measures roughness and refractive index of the surface which can help in examining the surface porosity properties. The study aims to show how the technique can provide information about surface porosity, composition, and structure. The study reveals that the technique is useful for investigating of the coating structure and explains the source of gloss. However, the technique needs further applications and materials to be studied to examine its consistency.

Purpose. To provide a bibliographical-historical perspective and main interest in the field of myopia. Methods. In this bibliographic study, the Web of Science Database was searched from 1999 to 2018. Recorded parameters included journal name, impact factor, year and language, number of authors, type and origin, methodology, number of subjects, funding, and topics. Results. Epidemiological assessments were the leading type of article (28%), and half of the papers were prospective studies. The number of citations for multicenter studies was significantly higher (P = 0.034). The articles were published in 27 journals, with the majority in Investigative Ophthalmology, Vision Sciences (28%), and Ophthalmology (26%). Etiology, signs and symptoms, and treatment equally encompassed the topics. Papers addressing etiology, specifically genetic and environmental factors (P = 0.029), signs and symptoms (P = 0.001), and prevention, specifically public awareness (47%, P = 0.005), received significantly more citations. Treatment to decrease myopia progression was a much more common topic (68%) than refractive surgery (32%). Optical treatment was the most popular modality (39%). Half of the publications came from 3 countries: the United States (US), Australia, and Singapore. The highest ranked and cited papers came from the US (P = 0.028) and Singapore (P = 0.028). Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the top-cited articles on myopia. There is a predominance of epidemiological assessments and multicenter studies originating from the US, Australia, and Singapore, assessing etiology, signs and symptoms, and prevention. These are more frequently cited, emphasizing the great interest in mapping the increase in the incidence of myopia in different countries, public health awareness, and myopia control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this review study was to conduct a thematic exploration of prior studies related to the transition between primary and secondary school. The aim of the paper was to discover (1) the extent of earlier research, (2) how earlier research thematises social and emotional issues, and (3) suggestions of those studies concerning how to improve schools. Searches were conducted across four international databases of peer-reviewed research to identify articles published in the last decade on the topic 'transition between primary and secondary school'. Articles related to social and emotional issues were further selected, and thematic analysis was conducted on the selected 29 articles to identify the topical focus. This review study draws attention to the importance of understanding challenges related to the transition between primary and secondary school. Overall, the analysed studies indicate that this is an important focus for educational research. Key issues related to support and wellbeing/bullying have emerged, which clarify the importance of further research in this field. The present study may also contribute to increasing awareness among policy makers and school leaders of the challenges related to the transition between primary and secondary school.

Given the intense politicisation of education, many teacher educators are caught in the cross-hairs of government's reform agendas, university expectations and student teacher needs. This paper reports on a study of 28 literacy teacher educators in four countries (Canada, US, Australia and England). This paper reports on the broad question: How is politics affecting literacy teacher educators? Three specific aspects are considered: their pedagogies, identity and well-being. It describes how their pedagogy (goals and teaching strategies) has narrowed because of mandated curriculum and exit exams. It shows how their identity as academics is being complicated because they often do not have time for their research. And their well-being is compromised because of excessive external inspections and as their community in the university splinters.