Lectures

Question 1

What is peer review

Answer 1

Critical assessment of manuscripts submitted to journals by experts who are not part of the editorial staff

Question 2

List the degrees of crystallisation

Answer 2

-informal conversation between two people
-discussion at a lab meeting
-public discussion at a conference
-scientific blog entry
-conference presentation
-peer reviewed paper

Question 3

Types of journal articles

Answer 3

Research article
Clinical trial
Review article

Question 4

Sources of information

Answer 4

Journal articles
Textbooks
Government documents
Ethics applications
Research funding applications

Question 5

Purpose of peer review

Answer 5

• Selection of quality articles for publication
• Scientificmethodology
• Relevance of article to journal readership
• Interest to reader
• Presentationofmanuscript
• Improve the manuscript
• Check against cheating…
• Provide advice to editors on whether manuscript meets criteria for their journal

Question 6

Equation for journal quality and ranking

Answer 6

=total number of Times the article were cited during the two previous years/total number of citadel articles in the journal during those 2 years

Question 7

What are reviewers looking for

Answer 7

• Title – clear and reflects the content of the paper
• Abstract – concise with enough detail
• Introduction – sets the scene of current literature with hypothesis and aims
• Methods – clear with enough detail to repeat work, good experimental design
• Results - well presented with appropriate analysis
• Discussion and conclusions – in the context of
published work and limitations

Question 8

What is not scientific evidence

Answer 8

-opinion and hearsay
-wipikedia
-newspapers and magazines
-social media

Question 9

Why do we need a hierarchy of evidence

Answer 9

Not all research designs are equal!
Results are prone to different risk of error and levels of bias What is Bias?
Unfair inclination or prejudice for or against one result Hierarchies of evidence first popularised in 1979
The quality of a studies design determines the validity and applicability of the data

Question 10

Hierarchy of research(bottom to top)

Answer 10

-animal and in vitro studies
-editorials and expert opinion
-cross sectional studies
-case control studies
-cohort studies
-randomised control trails
-meta analysis ans systematic reviews

Question 11

Animal and in vitro studies

Answer 11

-tests initial studies
-paves the way for further research
-allows development of therapies and diagnostic tools

Question 12

In vitro studies

Answer 12

-lab based studies using tissues and cells from humans or animals
-experimental versus in Vivo conditions
-use of physiological conditions to avoid bias such as experimental solutions or temperature
-some laboratory techniques are more open to bias

Question 13

What is immunohistochemistry(IHC) staining

Answer 13

-determines presence of a protein
-produces an immunoreactive score
% of cells stained + intensity

Question 14

How can you remove bias in in vitro studies

Answer 14

• blind studies
  -agreement from multiple researchers
  -computational image analysis

Question 15

Qualitative data

Answer 15

-descriptive data
- an example Method is the western blot procedure(bio-rad)which can indicate the presence or absence of a protein

Question 16

Quantitative data

Answer 16

-numeric data
-less dependent on interpretation
-quantitative above qualitative methodologies in the hierarchy
-an example method is densitometry which can determine the relative amount of protein

Question 17

Animal studies

Answer 17

-higher in hierarchy than laboratory studies
- but are findings in animal studies always representative of human condition ?
-uses comparative physiology research in order to :
>determine hoe species differ
>helps to identify which animal models are most physiologically relevant in a study

Question 18

An example of a comparative physiology

Answer 18

-research question:how is calcium handling In Heart muscle cells effected by inflammation
-you cannot obtain liber heart muscle cells from humans
-the method would involve calcium removal from cytoplasm which is facilitated by an ATPase puma and an exchanger
-picking an animal which has similar conditions eg Heart rate

Question 19

Editorials and expert opinion(2 from the bottom)

Answer 19

-expert opinion from authorities/expert committees
-evidence based on physiology or laboratory research such as:
>committee reports
>textbooks
>narrative reviews
-it is a good convenient summary of background information,provides a foundation to develop understanding
-it is very basic level
-takes several years to be published

Question 20

Observational studies examples

Answer 20

-case studies
-surveys
-cross sectional studies
-case control studies
-Cohort studies

Question 21

Case study

Answer 21

Studies an individual

Question 22

Case series

Answer 22

-Studies a group of individuals
-lacks a control group

Question 23

Case studies and series

Answer 23

-provide a good insight inti conditions or interventions in specific populations
-too simplistic though
-doesn’t account for other populations.

Question 24

Surveys

Answer 24

+ Potentially very representative of the population
(with a large cohort)
- Limited detail
- Based on recollection
- Participants may lie

Question 25

Cross sectional studies

Answer 25

-takes a snapshot of the satiation
-compares different groups at a specific point in time
-groups can be chosen based on exposure/outcome or neither
-it directly compares between Groups however does not consider how this may change over time

Question 26

Case control studies

Answer 26

-retrospective study
-assessing risk factors in cohort already of interest
-more robust than a case series
-analytical as opposed to descriptive

+ Direct comparisons between groups
+ Can evaluate multiple risk factors simultaneously
+ Useful for investigating latent outcomes of risk factors
- Potential for recall and selection bias
- Cannot determine incidence of outcome - Inefficient at identifying rare risk factors

Question 27

Cohort studies

Answer 27

-Prospective and Longitudinal study
-Exposed cohort observed for outcomes
-Prospective above retrospective in hierarchy
-it’s simple and straight forward as well as it provides accurate results from large populations
-however it is too simplistic
-doesn’t account for other populations and type of intervention a well as it also largely dependent on size of cohort

Question 28

Cross over studies

Answer 28

A type of longitudinal cohort study Intervention and control group switch over Widely used in physiology and medical trials
↓ Experimental bias if randomised or placebo-controlled
+ Allows within participant comparison between the intervention and control states. + Limits inter-subject variability
+ Fewer participants required
- Effects can carry over to the next period
- Participants may drop-out before second period - Not suitable for all situations

Question 29

Correlation

Answer 29

Observational studies can only demonstrate a correlation between different events

Question 30

Causation

Answer 30

Randomised control trials can demonstrate causation

Question 31

Randomised control trials

Answer 31

-Prospective Cohort studies
-With randomised allocation of participants
-outcome measured from both intervention and control group

Question 32

Randomised control trails

Answer 32

-Heavily used in physiology and medical trials
-+ Randomisation eliminates the influence of other variables + Can determine causality
- Ethical restrictions
- Selection criteria for study sample may cause it not to be representative

Question 33

Factors that affect the quality of randomised control trails

Answer 33

Placebo controlled? Blinded?
Cohort size? Confidence interval size?

Question 34

What are unfiltered studies

Answer 34

-primary research
-collection of primary data
-original evidence through experimentation or initial observations

Question 35

Examples of unfiltered studies

Answer 35

Randomised control trials Cohort studies Case-control studies Cross-sectional studies

Question 36

Filtered information

Answer 36

-secondary research which has passed through an evaluation process
-collates already published data
-it can provide the basis for official clinical practice guideliness

Question 37

Examples of filtered data

Answer 37

Meta-analysis Systematic reviews Critically-appraised topics/articles

Question 38

Systematic reviews

Answer 38

A form of literature review
Key terms and strict inclusion and exclusion criteria
A systematic search for all of the literature on a specific topic
Information is then reviewed and summarised
+ A good overview and summary of work in an area of research + Thorough and accurate review of current literature
Author is normally highly regarded in that area Sometimes written by a research group

Question 39

Meta-analysis

Answer 39

A systematic review that uses quantitative methods to summarize the results
Based on previously published data All data collated and analysed RevMan Software
+ Very large sample sizes
+ A good indication of current thought development in the field
Ideally based on > 3 RCT’s More studies = More reliable

Question 40

Relevance of hierarchy

Answer 40

This hierarchy of research is now widely accepted
However,
The study designs or techniques lower in the hierarchy are not unnecessary!
There are some situations where some studies may be
more relevant
(regardless of rank)

Question 41

Journals

Answer 41

Journals – Dissemination of results/findings from research studies (original articles, reviews, case studies etc).
Research – The advancement of knowledge within a specific field/expertise/discipline.