Australian University Libraries Research Articles

Toward Redefining Library Research Support Services in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand: An Evidence-Based Practice Approach

An increasingly complex and demanding research landscape has seen university libraries rapidly evolve their services. While research data management, bibliometrics, and research impact services have predominantly featured in the literature to date, the full scope of support libraries are currently providing to their institutions is unknown. This paper aims to present an up-to-date view of the scope and extent of research support services by university libraries across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. A coding process analyzed content data from university library websites. Eleven research support areas were identified. Service delivery is split between synchronous and asynchronous modes. This paper describes a lived experience of an evidence-based library and information practice approach to improving research support services at two Australian university libraries, and while it highlights continued maturation of research support services, more research is needed to better understand influences on service development.

Doing our bit to save the planet: Identifying and abandoning low value surgery.

Doing our bit to save the planet: Identifying and abandoning low value surgery.

Diverse e-cigarette regulations in the Asia Pacific: A health economic perspective.

Diverse e-cigarette regulations in the Asia Pacific: A health economic perspective.

Treaties for "offshoring" hospital treatment of Asian patients from Christmas Island, 1963-1985: a racist chapter in the history of Australian medical care.

Treaties for "offshoring" hospital treatment of Asian patients from Christmas Island, 1963-1985: a racist chapter in the history of Australian medical care.

Disentangling the messiness of natural experiments to evaluate public policy.

Disentangling the messiness of natural experiments to evaluate public policy.

Commercial determinants of human rights: for-profit health care and housing.

Commercial determinants of human rights: for-profit health care and housing.

Approach to relapsed CLL including Richter Transformation

Approach to relapsed CLL including Richter Transformation

Quality indicators in surgery for cancer: not just the operation.

Quality indicators in surgery for cancer: not just the operation.

Advancing menopause care in Australia: barriers and opportunities.

Advancing menopause care in Australia: barriers and opportunities.

Cardiovascular risk management following gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a narrative review.

Cardiovascular risk management following gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a narrative review.

Artificial intelligence (AI) in the management of colorectal cancer: on the horizon?

In the era of personalized medicine, an ever increasing emphasis is being placed on prognostication and prediction of surgical outcomes and treatment responses in colorectal cancer (CRC).1 Recent advances in information technology have allowed AI integration into clinical practice. Machine learning (ML) is a subfield of AI in which algorithms iteratively ‘learn’ from data to make predictions based on discerned patterns, without being explicitly programmed to do so. Deep learning (DL) is a further subfield of ML, whereby artificial neural networks (ANN) loosely modelled on the human brain structure, are exposed to large or ‘deep’ datasets, deriving predictive capacity from learned patterns in the data.2 Computer vision (CV) refers to the training of computers to read and interpret images, a field closely involved in the last half-decade with DL approaches. Within Radiomics, AI is making an impact in CRC staging.1 DL platforms have demonstrated the ability to distinguish between T2 and T3 rectal cancer on MRI with 90% accuracy,3 and to detect lymph node disease with a higher accuracy than radiologists.4 The combination of histopathological outcomes with MRI and CT imaging shows promise. It allows models to predict a complete pathological response in rectal cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant therapy and the identification of systemic therapy responders with metastatic CRC.1 Colonoscopy is an area in which AI is already being used. AI algorithms designed to aid polyp detection have been shown to increase adenoma detection rates, even amongst experienced endoscopists,5 thus providing a cost effective method of reducing CRC during population screening.6 DL models can both detect and classify polyps with high sensitivity and specificity.7 The development of AI-assisted clinical tools that can provide decision support such as future endoscopic surveillance intervals are ongoing.5 Such tools can also enhance endoscopy training through improved polyp pattern recognition identification.5 Support systems which provide evidence-based clinical decision making tools for CRC are already available. The Watson for Oncology (WFO) program developed by IBM and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre has been trained to follow the U.S. National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines.8 Treatment recommendations suggested by the WFO have shown concordance rates of 80%–90% for CRC management compared to a multidisciplinary team (MDT).8, 9 Although not designed to supplant the MDT, AI tools can become an adjunct for clinicians to increase workload time efficiency, and decrease the risk of errors.8 Though still in its infancy, the utilization of AI tools is becoming increasingly relevant within colorectal surgery, through the intraoperative use of CV10 for operative precision and training. Using laparoscopic image data from multiple rectal resections, DL models have been able to recognize the correct phase of the operation, and also act as an intra-operative guide in the identification of complex anatomical structures, such as the total mesorectal excision plane of dissection.10, 11 A recent pilot study has demonstrated the utilization of DL-based software to automate the surgical skill assessment of various steps within a laparoscopic rectal resection, paving its way for future applications in surgical training.12 Despite these exciting developments, many limitations remain. Significant financial investment and creation of regulatory and legal frameworks will be required to integrate AI into existing healthcare systems.13 Furthermore, AI is constrained by the quality and quantity of available data used to train them. As the majority of relevant studies come from only a few geographical locations, AI models are susceptible to inherent biases related to differing patient cohorts.14 AI has the potential to revolutionize the management of CRC. However, there are many challenges to be addressed before AI programs can become embedded into routine care for CRC. Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Melbourne, as part of the Wiley - The University of Melbourne agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians. Matthew Y. K. Wei: Conceptualization; writing – original draft; writing – review and editing. Junyao Zhang: Writing – review and editing. Reuben Schmidt: Validation; writing – review and editing. Andrew S. Miller: Writing – review and editing. Justin M. C. Yeung: Supervision; validation; writing – review and editing.

Including the Caribbean. A commentary on David Chandler and Jonathan Pugh's ‘Abyssal geography’.

Including the Caribbean. A commentary on David Chandler and Jonathan Pugh's ‘Abyssal geography’.

Is photographic surveillance in melanoma diagnosis dispensable?

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Melanoma diagnosis at a specialist dermatology practice without the use of photographic surveillance.1 In this study, the authors provide an interesting descriptive report on a private dermatology practice in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, practising without photographic surveillance. They calculate a single defined metric, melanoma in situ to invasive ratio, and compare it to the same metric in 11 other studies, nine of which involve practices which utilise photographic surveillance in the form of total body photography, serial digital dermatoscopic imaging or both. They then draw a conclusion that their method of practice produces a higher melanoma in situ to invasive ratio than the alternative studies. They add that the utility of dermatoscopy historically ‘…was demonstrated in studies’, and that similarly, only a ‘prospective, randomised and controlled trial’ can demonstrate whether practice using photographic technologies is superior. The authors present their conclusion in spite of admitting that the chosen metric is unsuitable for such comparisons, stating ‘Direct comparison between studies is problematic’ and conceding that confounding factors such as ‘sun exposure, public education and access to healthcare’ and ‘variable patient and clinician characteristics’ may affect the ratios.1 They also admit the impact of 43.4% of their Queensland, Australia-derived melanomas being lentigo maligna subtype, a subtype known to be predominantly in situ. The elephant in the room not mentioned is the impact of their patients being filtered through general practitioner (GP) referrals. Of relevance to this, in a recent study that reported 637 melanomas encountered by 27 Australasian GPs in 2013, GPs definitively managed 74.9% of them, referring 17.6% to surgeons and 0.3% to dermatologists, invasive melanomas preferentially being referred to general surgeons.2 It is true that there have been studies comparing naked eye examination and dermatoscopy in the clinical setting and the suggestion that a prospective, randomised and controlled trial to validate photographic surveillance is also necessary, might seem reasonable. However, there are ethical considerations in designing a study which according to currently published literature, would put patients in the control arm at increased risk.3 It would also be unlikely that patients would agree to such a trial when they were informed, in the mandatory patient information leaflet, that the control arm was receiving treatment contrary to current guidelines,4 with a stated risk of missing up to 10% of melanomas, which are featureless, even at the time of excision, only being detectable by side-by-side examination of images taken at different times.3, 5 The practice of excising ‘suspect lesions’ or ‘lesions considered suspicious’1 would not be expected to discover such lesions, a situation the authors have not addressed. As a descriptive report, this paper an interesting presentation of an alternative practice style which is resisting technological innovations. The conclusions are at best unsupported with the authors' recommendations likely to be ethically challenging. Cliff Rosendahl conceived and wrote the manuscript. None Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Queensland, as part of the Wiley - The University of Queensland agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.

We must not sacrifice anaesthesia rotations as part of emergency medicine training.

We must not sacrifice anaesthesia rotations as part of emergency medicine training.

Do not let the ideal be the enemy of good enough regulation.

Research on the effectiveness and efficiency of different methods of regulating cannabis potency should be a high priority for public health research that will inform the design of cannabis regulations that minimize public health harms. Our article [1] was intended to alert the addictions field to the critical issue of increased cannabis potency as a public health concern, counter the cannabis industry argument that such regulation is unnecessary and canvas some regulatory options. We thank our commentators for their thoughtful responses, which reveal that regulating tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) potency is more complex than it seems at first sight. Freeman & Lorenzetti highlight consumers’ need for simpler advice on labels, much as standard drinks of alcohol [2]. They have led consensus projects to define standard doses of THC that could be used in this way. They also make the useful point that regulators need to consider setting minimum unit prices for cannabis, much as those that have been implemented to reduce heavy alcohol consumption in some countries. Pardal & Wadsworth highlight the fact that the US model of cannabis legalization—a commercialized for-profit market, with minimal regulation of potency and promotion—is not the only model on offer [3]. Uruguay has limited sales to herbal cannabis and capped the THC content of cannabis sold in pharmacies. The Canadian province of Quebec has banned sales of cannabis extracts, limited the sale of edibles and imposed a cap on the THC content of herbal cannabis. The effectiveness of these policies is well worth investigation. The major empirical question is whether the policies will succeed in the longer term, when neighbouring jurisdictions allow the sale of banned products that can be easily transported across borders. Caulkins points out the economic drivers of increasing cannabis potency in the United States; namely, cannabis producers’ need to make maximum use of whole cannabis plants to compete in a market in which cannabis prices are declining [4]. He argues that bans on the sale of high-potency cannabis products would be simpler and easier to implement than attempting to regulate the potency of the many different cannabis products in US legal cannabis markets. He cites evidence that bans need not generate large-scale illicit markets. We agree that banning high-potency products could be the most effective measure to protect public health in countries contemplating cannabis legalization. We doubt its feasibility, however, in mature US markets that already sell high-potency products and in which cannabis retailers will strenuously oppose the policy. Governments regulating these markets may also prefer the revenue from taxing cannabis products on the basis of their THC content. The regulation of cannabis potency is nowhere near as straightforward as regulating alcohol, but we should not allow the cannabis industry to use this as a reason for failing to regulate cannabis potency. In cannabis regulation, as in any area of public health, we should not allow the ideal to be the enemy of the good enough. Research on the effectiveness and efficiency of different methods of regulating cannabis potency should be a high priority for public health research that will inform the design of cannabis regulations which minimize public health harms. Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Queensland, as part of the Wiley - The University of Queensland agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians. None.

Saying goodbye to an unwelcome guest: Towards robust methods for controlling multi-sensory confounds in TMS-EEG research.

Saying goodbye to an unwelcome guest: Towards robust methods for controlling multi-sensory confounds in TMS-EEG research.

The anatomical distribution of lentiginous melanoma (lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma): Differences according to sex.

The anatomical distribution of lentiginous melanoma (lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma): Differences according to sex.

Why losing Australia's biodiversity matters for human health: insights from the latest State of the Environment assessment.

Why losing Australia's biodiversity matters for human health: insights from the latest State of the Environment assessment.

Past climates and plant migration – the significance of the fossil record

This article is a Commentary on Denk et al. (2023), 238: 2668–2684.

Registry randomized controlled trials: the future of surgical trials?

Registry randomized controlled trials: the future of surgical trials?