scholarly journals Publishing and peer reviewing as indicators of the impact of COVID-19 on the productivity of the aquatic science community

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair J Hobday ◽  
Howard I Browman ◽  
Steven J Bograd
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review Process ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Manuscript Submission ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Geographic Patterns ◽  
Peer Reviewing ◽  
Aquatic Science ◽  
Science Community ◽  
Acceptance Rates ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Beginning in February 2020, COVID-19-related stay at home orders and workplace shutdowns worldwide have disrupted personal and professional lives, including those of aquatic scientists. Manuscript submission and peer reviewing data from journals may be indicators of productivity impacts among aquatic scientists. We tested four null hypotheses: the COVID-19 disruption has had no effect on (i) the number of submissions to journals, or (ii) the geographic region in which the corresponding author is based, nor on the peer review process in terms of (iii) acceptance rate of requests to review and (iv) time in review. We used data provided by seven leading aquatic science journals covering the period 2009–2020 and representing 32 756 submissions. Submission differences varied between journals and were lower than expected in March 2020, but due to increases in subsequent months, there was no overall change in the number of submissions during the COVID-19 disruption months of February–June 2020. Geographic patterns in the number of submissions varied more by journal than by region, with both higher and lower numbers of submissions relative to expected numbers. Acceptance rates of requests to review were ∼2% lower overall; however, time in review declined by an average of 5 days relative to earlier years, showing that those scientists undertaking reviews did them more quickly during the COVID-19 disruption. Collectively, these results show that the overall productivity of the aquatic science community, as measured by publications and reviewing rates and times, has thus far only been slightly disrupted, although the impacts will vary greatly among individuals depending on life circumstances. The breadth and longevity of this disruption are unprecedented, making it important to continue to assess the relative impacts across a wide demographic range of aquatic scientists and to consider approaches to allow those differentially affected to recover to pre-COVID-19 levels of productivity.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Pandemic and Research Publications; Necessity of Maintaining Scientific Integrity

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
D Qaiser
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Peer Review Process ◽  
High Standard ◽  
Scientific Integrity ◽  
Manuscript Submission ◽  
Scientific Debate ◽  
Root Cause ◽  
Peer Reviewing ◽  
Unique Approach ◽  
Sharing Responsibility

Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in China, scientists and health professionals have rushed to understand and mitigate the threat, however, its root cause, spreading characteristic, effective way to control as well as therapeutical approaches are still a mystery and matter of scientific debate. In an effort to fight against this disease scientists also rushed for a global collaborative approach by sharing their findings so that others can use known information. In view of such emergency scientific journals took steps to expedite the peer review process for coronavirus-related manuscripts which poses another challenge of scientific integrity. Community attention on integrity brought another concern where many authors argue against the idea of peer-review exception which compromises high standard for quality in the name of crisis situations. In the space of eight months, the research community’s response to COVID-19 gives rise to a large volume of paper submission which required rigorous reviewing and of course huge amount of time however, it’s also time which demands fastest publication of the latest finding. To balance in scientific integrity of scholarly journal as well as crisis demand to expedite dissemination of known knowledge, AIJR took a unique approach for COVID-19 related manuscript submission to Int. Ann. Sci. only through AIJR preprints invitation. In this approach author shall post COVID-19 related articles to AIJR Preprints and if it seems suitable for further peer-reviewing, author will get invited to submit to Int. Ann Sci. otherwise author will be advised to improve the article with an updated version. In this way the latest finding can get disseminated immediately as a preprint and after submission to the journal it can undergo standard reviewing process to maintain the scientific integrity. Although invitation through preprints serves both purpose of fastest dissemination and the journal can maintain scientific integrity, preprint may have its own risk for sharing non-reviewed version which may include dishonest findings. The only way to make preprints a great place for accelerated publishing and minimize associated risk of sharing non-reviewed findings is that the authors, readers, and most importantly media reporters act in a vigilant manner by following the sharing responsibility and guidelines adhering to the highest ethical standards.

scholarly journals Neuropsychiatric, cognitive and sexual impairment in mastocytosis patients

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatma Jendoubi ◽  
Maella Severino-Freire ◽  
Mathilde Negretto ◽  
Christophe Arbus ◽  
Carle Paul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Diagnostic Delay ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Cutaneous Lesions ◽  
Kit Mutation ◽  
Sexual Symptoms ◽  
Organ Systems ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Mastocytosis is a rare disease characterised by the accumulation and/or proliferation of abnormal mast cells (MCs) in one or several organs. It may present with a number of different symptoms that involve various organ systems. The current study aims to assess the prevalence of MC mediator-related symptoms in a cohort of mastocytosis patients with a specific focus on neurological, psychiatric, cognitive and sexual symptoms. We also assessed the impact of the disease on patients’ professional lives. Patients were administered a validated multidimensional questionnaire to collect information on patients’ perception of the severity of their symptoms. From the questionnaires we extracted the neurological, cognitive, psychiatric and sexual symptoms and the impact of the disease on patients’ professional lives as well as their grading. The affective status was assessed using the 17-item version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Results We included 139 patients. Mastocytosis was classified as systemic in 113 patients and cutaneous in 26 patients. The prevalence of MC mediator-related systemic symptoms was as follows: cutaneous (71%), gastro-intestinal (48%), cardio-vascular (36%), musculoskeletal (26.6%), fatigue (24%), urinary (14.4%) and respiratory (10%). Headaches and vertigo were noted in respectively 55% and 32% of patients. Irritability, episodes of memory loss and difficulty concentrating were reported in 54%, 52% and 40% of cases, respectively. Sexual impairment was noted in 24% of patients. No associations were found between neuropsychiatric/cognitive impairment and age, gender, diagnostic delay, disease form, the presence of cutaneous lesions, the level of serum and bone marrow tryptase and the presence of KIT mutation in bone marrow and/or skin. Depression was noted in 49% of patients. One in four patients reported a negative impact of the disease on their professional lives. Conclusion This current study provides some insights regarding symptoms related to mastocytosis and their impact on patients’ professional lives.

scholarly journals Providing care under extreme adversity: The impact of the Yemen conflict on the personal and professional lives of health workers

2021 ◽  
Vol 272 ◽  
pp. 113751
Author(s):  
Shatha Elnakib ◽  
Sarah Elaraby ◽  
Fouad Othman ◽  
Huda BaSaleem ◽  
Nagiba A. Abdulghani AlShawafi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Workers ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
The Impact

Restoration of floral diversity through plantations on abandoned agricultural land

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 1218-1235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven G Newmaster ◽  
F Wayne Bell ◽  
Christopher R Roosenboom ◽  
Heather A Cole ◽  
William D Towill
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Community Interactions ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Floral Diversity ◽  
The Impact

Plantations have been claimed to be "monocultures", or "biological deserts". We investigated these claims in the context of a long-term study on plant diversity within plantations with different indigenous tree species, spacings, and soil types that were compared with 410 native stands. Soil type had no influence on plantation species diversity or abundance, and wider spacing resulted in higher richness, lower woody plant abundance, slightly higher cover of herbaceous plants, and large increases in cryptogam cover. We also found a canopy species × spacing interaction effect, where the impact of increased spacing on understory vegetation was more pronounced in spruce than in pine plantations. The dynamic community interactions among species of feathermoss appear to be in response to the physical impediment from varying amounts of needle rain from the different tree species. High light interception and needle fall were negatively correlated with understory plant diversity, as was lack of structural diversity. This study indicates that through afforestation efforts agricultural lands can be restored to productive forests that can harbour nearly one-half of the plant species found in equivalent natural forests within the same geographic region in as little as 50 years. We recommend applying afforestation using indigenous conifer species as a first step towards rehabilitating conifer forests that have been converted to agriculture and subsequently abandoned.

Abstract P164: The Impact of the Expanded EVT Window on Acute Stroke Services: A Large Northwest Telestroke Network Experience

Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore Lowenkopf ◽  
Leslie Corless ◽  
Elizabeth Baraban
Keyword(s):  
Acute Stroke ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Treatment Time ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Anterior Circulation ◽  
Stroke Subtypes ◽  
The Impact

Background: Telestroke has led the technological revolution in providing acute medical services to rural areas in the United States since the beginning of this century. In January 2018 the American Stroke Association made a level IA recommendation to expand the treatment time window for endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) from 6 to 24 hours for anterior circulation stroke based on perfusion imaging. Our study is the first to our knowledge to report the effect of the expanded time window on acute stroke consult and treatment volumes in a large rural supporting telestroke network. Methods: Stroke registry data from two tertiary care facilities from a 22 hospital telestroke network supporting a large (> 78,000 mi 2 ) primarily rural Northwest geographic region were used. Data included stroke patients arriving within 24 hours of last known well (LKW) between January 2017 and March 2019. Patients arriving January 2017 to December 2017 were grouped into the PRE-expanded time window and those arriving April 2018 to March 2019 into the POST-expanded time window. Stroke subtypes, transfers, telestroke consults (via phone or video), and EVT treatments were compared across time periods. Analyses were performed using Pearson’s chi square test, corrected for multiple comparisons. Results: A total of 1117 patients arrived with stroke symptoms within 24 hours of LKW, 567 (50.8%) in PRE and 550 (49.2%) in POST-window. The percentage of all stroke subtypes were not significantly different in the PRE and POST patient groups (p=.720). However, the percent of telestroke consults increased by 12.1% from 62.3% to 74.4% (p<.001) but the percent of video consults remained similar (25.9% vs 25.8%). The total number of transfers (142 vs 141) and percentage of transfers among AIS patients (25.0% vs 25.6%) from partner to hub did not change. The percentage of thrombectomies among transfers rose by 8.7% with the expanded time window, but was not statistically significant [p=0.118]. Conclusions: In a large Northwest telestroke rural network the expanded EVT treatment time window led to a marked increase in all telestroke consults but did not impact video consults, transfer, or percentage of patients treated.

scholarly journals The impact of suicide on community mental health teams: findings and recommendations

2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Linke ◽  
Jenny Wojciak ◽  
Samantha Day
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Patient Suicide ◽  
Personal Impact ◽  
Sources Of Support ◽  
Team Functioning ◽  
The Impact

Aims and MethodThe study investigated the personal impact of patient suicides on the members of community mental health teams and the sources of support utilised for coping with adverse effects.ResultsForty-four questionnaires were returned. Eighty-six per cent of staff reported having had at least one patient suicide, with an average of 4.2 suicides. The majority of staff reported that patient suicides had significant adverse effects on their personal and professional lives. Some of the effects were long-lasting (greater than 1 month). Staff found that peer support, reviews, dedicated staff meetings and support from senior colleagues were of most value.Clinical ImplicationsStaff require skilled and dedicated support following a patient suicide in order to minimise its detrimental effects on personal, professional and team functioning.

scholarly journals Do All Eagles Fly High? The Generic Overgeneralization Effect: The Impact of Fillers in Truth Value Judgment Tasks

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edyta Wajda ◽  
Daniel Karczewski
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Neutral Condition ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Value Judgment ◽  
Negative Condition ◽  
Truth Value ◽  
Acceptance Rates ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe generic overgeneralization effect is an attested tendency to accept false universal generalizations such as “all eagles fly” or “all snakes lay eggs” as true. In this paper, we discuss the generic overgeneralization effect demonstrated by Polish adult speakers. We asked 313 native speakers of Polish to evaluate universal quantified generalizations such as “all eagles fly” or “all snakes lay eggs” as true or false. The control group of 107 respondents provided data on the acceptance rates of the corresponding generic generalizations such as “eagles fly” or “snakes lay eggs”. By determining the impact of test fillers on the participants’ acceptance rates, the study aimed to identify the scope of the generic overgeneralization effect. We manipulated four conditions: the universal negative, positive, neutral, and generic control conditions. The results showed significant differences between the first two conditions, but neither the negative nor the positive condition differed from the neutral one. The overall acceptance rates of universal statements were 63% for the negative condition, 49% for the positive condition, 55% for the neutral condition, and 90% for the control group. Overall, the participants accepted universal quantified statements at high rates even when they were prompted to reject them. The results may be interpreted as another piece of evidence in support of the generic overgeneralization effect.

scholarly journals Geographic patterns of human allele frequency variation: a variant-centric perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjun Biddanda ◽  
Daniel P. Rice ◽  
John Novembre
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Gene Flow ◽  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Allele Frequency ◽  
Human Genetics ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Frequency Variation ◽  
Human Genetic Variation ◽  
Alternative Representation ◽  
Geographic Patterns

AbstractA key challenge in human genetics is to describe and understand the distribution of human genetic variation. Often genetic variation is described by showing relationships among populations or individuals, in each case drawing inferences over a large number of variants. Here, we present an alternative representation of human genetic variation that reveals the relative abundance of different allele frequency patterns across populations. This approach allows viewers to easily see several features of human genetic structure: (1) most variants are rare and geographically localized, (2) variants that are common in a single geographic region are more likely to be shared across the globe than to be private to that region, and (3) where two individuals differ, it is most often due to variants that are common globally, regardless of whether the individuals are from the same region or different regions. To guide interpretation of the results, we also apply the visualization to contrasting theoretical scenarios with varying levels of divergence and gene flow. Our variant-centric visualization clarifies the major geographic patterns of human variation and can be used to help correct potential misconceptions about the extent and nature of genetic differentiation among populations.

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