Funding Agencies Research Articles

COVID-19 pandemic & neurosciences in India- the CoINstudy: Impact of the pandemic on research related to the neurosciences.

Background & objectives We aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19-related disruptions on ongoing and future projects related to neuroscience research and young researchers in India. Methods We conducted a countrywide online survey using a structured, self-administered questionnaire involving medical trainees, post-doctoral fellows, PhD students, early career faculty members and basic neuroscience researchers. The purpose was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the respondents' ongoing/planned research activities and capture their concerns related to future research. Results Five hundred and four valid responses were analyzed. More than three-fourths of the respondents were in their early careers - 64.1 per cent were resident doctors, and 19.8 per cent were early career consultants. Maximum responses were received from respondents working in neurology (228; 45.2%), followed by psychiatry (192; 38.1%) and neurosurgery (49; 9.7%). More than three-fourths [83.5%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.8-0.867] of the respondents reported that the pandemic had affected their research. About one-third of the respondents (171; 33.9%) reported delays in completing research studies. Respondents adapted to the pandemic's circumstances by making methodological changes in their research (155; 30.8%). Most respondents (301; 59.6%) reported being diverted from their traditional work settings to COVID-19-related clinical services. Respondents conducting prospective studies and randomized controlled trials and those diverted to COVID-related services were significantly more likely to report the adverse research impact. Interpretation & conclusions In our survey, an overwhelming majority of the respondents reported that the pandemic adversely impacted their study. This trend was independent of sex, designation, and research output of individual subjects. The serious impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on neurosciences research warrants the attention and concerted efforts of the research supervisors, institutional heads, funding agencies and other stakeholders.

Bibliometrics Analysis of Event Management in the Digital Era: Challenges and Opportunities for Event Planners

To remain competitive, event planners must stay current with the latest trends and technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and the Internet. This paper presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer software to provide insight into the intellectual structure of knowledge using citation and co-citation networks, as well as key concepts using a keyword co-occurrence network, on the topic of opportunities and challenges faced by event planners when managing events in the digital era. The investigation begins by examining the Scopus database for articles published with keywords relevant to the topic. VOSviewer software was used for science mapping and network analysis of extracted data. This systematic field mapping helps graphically illustrate the publication evolution between 2015 and 2024 and identify the current research interests and potential directions for future research. A total of 125 articles were included comprising 44 conference papers, 39 original articles, 9 book chapters, 5 books, and 2 reviews. The United States, United Kingdom and Germany were the principal countries of origin of publications. The most frequently appearing keywords were “information management” with 116 occurrences and “network security” with 68 occurrences. The top five keywords with the greatest total link strength were information management, network security, security information and event management, cybersecurity, and intrusion detection. It is imperative that stakeholders, including funding agencies, event management organizations, researchers, and event managers, collaborate to ensure that the volume of quality research in this area keeps pace with the rapid advancements transforming the industry.

Impact of vaccination against Japanese encephalitis in endemic countries.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable encephalitis and a significant cause of disability in Asia and the western Pacific. Many countries have introduced JE vaccination programs, including several low resource countries following WHO's prioritization of JE vaccination in 2006. We sought to characterize the public health impact of JE vaccination programs. JE case data and vaccination coverage rates, were requested from country health officials in 23 JE endemic countries and Chinese Taipei. Additional data were extracted from meeting presentations and published literature. JE incidence was compared before and after vaccination using a minimum three year period pre and post program introduction or expansion. Data suitable for analysis were available for 13 JE-endemic countries and Chinese Taipei, for either all age groups or for children aged under 15 years only. Five countries and Chinese Taipei introduced vaccine prior to 2006 and the all-age JE incidence was reduced by 73-100% in about 5-20 years following introduction. Six countries have introduced JE vaccine since 2006, and JE incidence in children aged younger than 15 years has been reduced by 14-79% as of 2015-2021. JE-specific data were unavailable before introduction in Thailand and Vietnam, but vaccination programs reduced acute encephalitis incidence by 80% and 74%, respectively. Even in the programs with greatest impact, it took several years to achieve their results. JE vaccination has greatly reduced JE in 13 JE-endemic countries and Chinese Taipei. Highest impact has been observed in countries that introduced prior to 2006, but it often took roughly two decades and substantial resources to achieve that level of success. For greatest possible impact, more recently introducing countries and funding agencies should commit to continuous improvements in delivery systems to sustain coverage after initial vaccine introduction.

Revisiting sex as a biological variable in hypertension research.

Half of adults in the United States have hypertension as defined by clinical practice guidelines. Interestingly, women are generally more likely to be aware of their hypertension and have their blood pressure controlled with treatment compared with men, yet hypertension-related mortality is greater in women. This may reflect the fact that the female sex remains underrepresented in clinical and basic science studies investigating the effectiveness of therapies and the mechanisms controlling blood pressure. This Review provides an overview of the impact of the way hypertension research has explored sex as a biological variable (SABV). Emphasis is placed on epidemiological studies, hypertension clinical trials, the genetics of hypertension, sex differences in immunology and gut microbiota in hypertension, and the effect of sex on the central control of blood pressure. The goal is to offer historical perspective on SABV in hypertension, highlight recent studies that include SABV, and identify key gaps in SABV inclusion and questions that remain in the field. Through continued awareness campaigns and engagement/education at the level of funding agencies, individual investigators, and in the editorial peer review system, investigation of SABV in the field of hypertension research will ultimately lead to improved clinical outcomes.

Miliary TB in children and adolescents: a scoping review.

<sec><title>OBJECTIVE</title>To summarise the available literature regarding clinical presentation, immunological and microbiological diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of miliary TB in children and adolescents.</sec><sec><title>METHODS</title>Four databases were searched from 1 January 1950 to 31 January 2023. "Miliary" and "disseminated" TB were the main search concepts.</sec><sec><title>FINDINGS</title>Of 257 studies, 1,883 patients with miliary TB were included. Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination was confirmed in 223/549 (40.6%) children. Central nervous system (CNS) involvement was reported in 367/924 (39.7%) cases; many of them had no neurological symptoms despite also having abnormal brain imaging. Of 1,112 children with known outcomes, 341 (30.6%) died; mortality was higher in publications before 1995 (41.5%) and in children with CNS involvement (31.9%). TB microbiological confirmation (55.8%) and sensitivity of tuberculin skin test (46.9%) and QuantiFERON Gold (72.4%) were overall low.</sec><sec><title>CONCLUSIONS</title>Evidence is lacking to support best practices for paediatric miliary TB. Whether lumbar puncture (LP) and brain imaging should both be routinely done in miliary TB children, or a step-by-step approach based on initial LP findings, remains unclear. This study should inform policymakers and funding agencies about current significant gaps that need to be addressed by future high-quality studies.</sec>.

Clinical research self-efficacy in academic veterinary clinicians in the United States.

Clinical research is a growing part of the academic clinician's job, and documenting areas of low self-efficacy can inform training initiatives. 182 US academic veterinary clinicians. A survey of academic veterinary clinicians was distributed to 31 US institutions. Self-efficacy was assessed with a modified Clinical Research Appraisal Instrument-12. The relationship between research self-efficacy and completion of formal research training and years of experience was evaluated. Respondents were predominantly junior to midcareer faculty. The lowest reported confidence was in performing advanced statistical analyses (3; 0 to 10). Other low-confidence tasks included designing a qualitative methods study (4; 0 to 10), terminating a collaboration that isn't working (5; 0 to 10), describing a funding agency's review/award process (5; 0 to 10), establishing a timeline for a grant application (5; 0 to 10), establishing collaborator and consultant agreements (5; 0 to 10), and asking staff to leave the project team (5; 0 to 10). Completion of a formal research training program was significantly associated with improved self-efficacy in many tasks. Years of experience was also associated, especially in project management and interpersonal interactions. These results highlight the need for targeted training opportunities for academic veterinary clinicians in biostatistical support, qualitative study design methods, and aspects of communication and interpersonal skills that are important for developing and leading effective research teams. Range of confidence suggests that development opportunities in all domains will improve self-efficacy for some clinicians. Future studies should focus on the impact of formal training sessions on various domains of self-efficacy and on targeted mentoring in supporting confidence in more experiential learning domains.

Grouping research proposals with funding agency requirements: A contextualized language model and constrained K-means clustering approach

As the volume of research proposals increases and the interdisciplinary nature of research fields exacerbates the complexity of manual proposal grouping, the grouping of research proposals becomes increasingly vital in funding agencies’ evaluation procedures. Although previous ontology- and word embedding-based approaches have made valuable contributions to the advancement of research proposal grouping, their practical utility has been limited due to a lack of consideration of funding agencies’ requirements. This study proposes a systematic approach for grouping research proposals that aligns with three common requirements: size, cannot-link, and must-link constraints. The proposed approach utilizes KLUE-RoBERTa for proposal vectorization and constrained K-means clustering for proposal grouping with size constraints. We introduce a proposal pre-partitioning and a proposal vector centralization to simultaneously consider the cannot- and must-link constraints in grouping proposals. An empirical analysis of 3,665 proposals submitted to the National Research Foundation of Korea demonstrates the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed approach. Additionally, we conduct a comparative analysis of various combinations of methodological components to optimize this approach. The proposed approach is considered a valuable complementary tool for grouping proposals, enhancing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the proposal evaluation system.

Pharmacological and ethical comparisons of lung cancer medicine accessibility in Australia and New Zealand

Gaps in funded cancer medicines between New Zealand and Australia can have significant implications for patients and their families. Pharmac, the New Zealand pharmaceutical funding agency, has been criticised for...

Transformational Impact Rating System: a method to assess the impact potential of hospitals in low-resource settings

Background: Historically, many Christian mission hospitals were established by home churches from developed countries in their colonies. With countries gaining independence and missionary medical staff leaving these hospitals, the majority have closed. These hospitals provide critical assistance to communities that need their services the most, yet they often lack the financial and human resources needed to realize their full potential for community impact. Existing charity rating organizations rate few charities and lack transparency for donors, and limited resources exist to help volunteers find organizations that would benefit from their services the most. We propose a transparent Transformational Impact Rating System (TIRS) that can be used by funding agencies and volunteer directing agencies to assess the potential for transformational impact of any hospital anywhere in the world. Methods: Research to inform the rating system was conducted via a comprehensive review of existing charity rating organizations, in-depth interviews, and surveys. The rating system was developed by identifying, down-selecting, categorizing, and allocating weights to variables of importance. The rating system was then implemented via a custom-built website. Results: To receive a score, data is collected from the hospital and surveys of donors, volunteers, staff, patients, and the local community. Hospitals receive an overall score and scores in each of five categories: regional impact potential, financial health, operational performance, external relations, and volunteer experience. Conclusion: TIRS provides a proof-of-concept platform through which all hospitals in low-resource settings can make their impact potential visible to donors and volunteers. If TIRS (or modified similar tools) are used by those interested in helping mission hospitals, they will be more likely to adopt best practices, and invisible hospitals that are struggling in remote areas will be more likely to receive much-needed resources. The Christian community has a mandate to serve the poor and marginalized, resulting in a large number of Christian schools, colleges, and hospitals established across the globe. These establishments face increasing threats to their existence, and tools like TIRS can help direct declining funds and manpower to hospitals that have the highest potential for transformational impact.

Health research priorities in Pakistan: A Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) exercise.

The National Health Vision of Pakistan 2016-2025 is to provide affordable health services through a resilient and responsive health system for achieving health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and universal health coverage (UHC) targets. Through this study, we wanted to identify the research priorities at the national level that would help to provide the necessary evidence for achieving this vision through essential package of health services (EPHS). We followed World Health Organization (WHO) guidance for undertaking research priority-setting exercises and the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methodology in conducting this national exercise. The proposed research options for the next three to five years were identified in five thematic research areas: communicable diseases; non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries; reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH); mental health; and health systems and services. We assessed these research options against five priority-setting criteria: feasibility, public health importance, sustainability, equity, and community involvement. Forty-three experts proposed 272 research ideas, which were consolidated into a list of 155 research options and sent back to the experts for scoring. The top 10 research priorities in each of the five research areas were identified based on the weighted research priority scores (wRPS) rankings. Tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance; NCD screening and prevention; maternal and neonatal mortality; mental health of children, adolescents, and youth; and human resource management were the issues that were most frequently reflected in the list of research priorities. Most research priorities aimed to identify barriers to the implementation of interventions. Through this exercise, we identified the top 50 national health research priorities, which also have a strong correlation with EPHS interventions. To realise the findings of this exercise, funding agencies should establish funding mechanisms to support the undertaking of the identified research priorities, and academic researchers should actually utilise them in future studies. Such activities could hopefully contribute to achieving the national health goals.

Exploring the landscape of machine learning-aided research in biofuels and biodiesel: A bibliometric analysis

This bibliometric analysis explores machine learning applications in biofuels and biodiesel research using Elsevier's Scopus database from 2013 to 2023. The research employs co-authorship, co-occurrence, citation, and co-citation analyses with fractional counting. Results indicate a significant rise in publications. Prominent funding agencies along this field include the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Brazil's Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico and the U.S. Department of Energy. Co-authorship analysis reveals contributions from 268 authors across 951 organizations in 71 countries, with strong collaboration in Asia. Citation analysis shows that 95% of articles have received at least one citation, with China and the United States leading in citation counts. This study highlights the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of machine learning research in biofuels and biodiesel, driven by substantial contributions from key funding bodies and researchers worldwide.

Capacity and capability of remote sensing to inform invasive plant species management in the Pacific Islands region.

The Pacific Islands region is home to several of the world's biodiversity hotspots, yet its unique flora and fauna are under threat because of biological invasions. These invasions are likely to proliferate as human activity increases and large-scale natural disturbances unfold, exacerbated by climate change. Remote sensing data and techniques provide a feasible method to map and monitor invasive plant species and inform invasive plant species management across the Pacific Islands region. We used case studies taken from literature retrieved from Google Scholar, 3 regional agencies' digital libraries, and 2 online catalogs on invasive plant species management to examine the uptake and challenges faced in the implementation of remote sensing technology in the Pacific region. We synthesized remote sensing techniques and outlined their potential to detect and map invasive plant species based on species phenology, structural characteristics, and image texture algorithms. The application of remote sensing methods to detect invasive plant species was heavily reliant on species ecology, extent of invasion, and available geospatial and remotely sensed image data. However, current mechanisms that support invasive plant species management, including policy frameworks and geospatial data infrastructure, operated in isolation, leading to duplication of efforts and creating unsustainable solutions for the region. For remote sensing to support invasive plant species management in the region, key stakeholders including conservation managers, researchers, and practitioners; funding agencies; and regional organizations must invest, where possible, in the broader geospatial and environmental sector, integrate, and streamline policies and improve capacity and technology access.

Practice-based research in dentistry: Exploring methodologies, benefits, and challenges.

Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) studies typically assess the effectiveness of clinical interventions in settings that match real-world conditions. Dental PBRNs have the capacity to amass, identify, and analyze vast amounts of data from patient populations that include diverse racial, ethnic, socio-economic, and geographic backgrounds. These dental studies encompass a broad spectrum of healthcare aspects, including prevention, diagnosis, symptom and disease treatment, quality enhancement, and care coordination. An extensive range of research methodologies can be employed within dental PBRNs to investigate these topics, including randomized controlled trials. Dental PBRNs have evolved from primarily focusing on case observations to leveraging advanced network infrastructure and collaborating across multiple regional and national sites. In addition to producing numerous high-impact peer-reviewed publications, study results have led to improved clinical care. However, PBRNs encounter challenges, such as the sustainability of research capacity (relying heavily on ongoing support from funding agencies), diverse research cultures, and an imperative to design studies that are both feasible and relevant to everyday clinical practice. Recognizing the pivotal role of real-world evidence, it is important to have sustained investment in dental PBRN infrastructure and feasible opportunities for practitioners to participate in network activities nationwide. Practice-Based Research Network studies capitalize on an important research context within which to investigate a range of clinical topics that can employ multiple research methodologies. However, sustaining productive networks requires strategic effort, ongoing financial support, and customized organizational skills.

Graduate student perspectives on training and clinical experiences with antagonism treatment.

The objective of this preregistered study was to gather evidence on training and clinical experiences offered by clinical psychology doctoral programs on the treatment of antagonism-a construct from the personality and psychopathology literature that captures individual differences in aggressiveness, callousness, grandiosity, domineering, and manipulativeness. We surveyed current graduate students (N = 376) in APA-accredited clinical psychology doctoral programs (Mage = 28.4; 83.2% female; 65.2% White) about their experiences in training and treatment of antagonistic patients (ANT-patients) as well as experiences with patients with predominant negative affect (NA; e.g., anxious and depressed). Students reported significantly less training to treat antagonism compared to NA (|ds| = 0.43-2.88), as well as lower rates of direct clinical experience, generally poorer treatment experiences, and stronger countertransference reactions (|ds| = 0.53-1.40). These discrepancies were especially large for adult-focused students compared to child/adolescent-focused students. In fact, adult-focused students reported a mean competency rating of M = 1.71, between the scalar points not competent at all (1) and a little bit competent (2). Overall, these results indicate a lack of training and competence to treat antagonism among current graduate students, especially adult-focused students. We believe the crux of this issue is a field-wide lack of robust empirical work on antagonism treatments (for adults). Moving forward, we implore researchers and funding agencies to help address this substantial gap, which is both an ethical and practical imperative. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Interactive Triangular Global Model (ITGM) to Bridge Knowledge of Parents Towards Their Special Needs Children to Mitigate Communication Gap

With the ageing of population, the rate of disability is increasing. Its types are many including ‘hard of hearing’. In majority of the countries, they are considered as social liability by their own family on one hand, and by the society on the other. Now-a-days particularly in the developing countries, it is challenging for them to get suitable education and employment opportunities due to various reasons including social stigma, lack of facilities and lack of awareness, particularly among parents. In modern era, technology has played an important role in improving their quality of life. In this regard, parent knowledge and support play crucial role. Systematic literature review is adopted for this study. Based on findings and expertise of researcher, ITGM model is suggested. Findings suggest that due to lack of knowledge of their parents towards sign language and lack of awareness towards their needs. Further, there is no standard sign language system on global platform. In addition, expressions lack in sign language due to missing gap of grammar. Researchers suggest a global model, and recommend Higher Education Institutions, Educationists, NGOs, and Parents alongside policy makers to establish training courses for parents. With special regard to sign language, a global model suggested by the researchers should be further strengthened by funding agencies.

Exploring the Barrier Property of High-Performance Polyurethane-Silica-Lignin Coatings on Carbon Steel

The use of lignin in anticorrosive coatings has provided efficient corrosion protection to metallic alloys.1,2 We have combined lignin-based polyurethane (PU) with silica to produce eco-friendly anticorrosive coatings with high anticorrosive performance, mechanical strength and bactericidal action.3 The PU was synthesized from methyl diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), glycerol and lignin; the PU pre-polymer was functionalized with APTES to later form a hybrid with the polysilanol network from TEOS. The reference coating4 was prepared using 100% glycerol (PU-Si-0Lig) as the polyol source, while the other two specimens contain glycerol and 0.2 g (Pu-Si-0.2Lig) or 0.4 g (Pu-Si-0.4Lig) of lignin, keeping the predetermined proportion NCO:OH = 1.16. The incorporation of lignin into the polymer matrix led to an increase in the thermal stability (295 to 304 °C), smoothness of the coating surface (4.3 to 1.7 nm) and improvement of the coating mechanical properties, such as coating hardness (362 to 376 MPa). In addition, the lignin-containing coatings present bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli. The corrosion protection of the PU-Si-Lignin hybrid coatings deposited on carbon steel was analyzed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 3.5 wt.% NaCl at room temperature. The tests were conducted in a three-electrode cell, consisting of the coated carbon steel substrate as the working electrode, a platinum mesh as a counter electrode, and an Ag|AgCl|KClsat as the reference electrode. PU-Si-0Lig and PU-Si-0.2Lig present fair corrosion protection with low-frequency impedance |Zlf| values around 106 Ω.cm2 after immersion for up to 14 days. Conversely, PU-Si-0.4Lig presents |Zlf| ~ 1010 Ω.cm2, phase angle near -90 ° over seven frequency decades, and a lifespan of 100 days immersed in seawater. The equivalent electric circuit (EEC) used to fit the PU-Si-0.4Lig revealed that the EIS data of the initial 14 days can be represented by a model containing only one time constant. This means the coating has a highly capacitive behavior with insignificant water uptake in the first two weeks. Altogether, these results demonstrated the potential of PU-Si-Lig coating to be applied as an efficient anticorrosive barrier with enhanced mechanical and antibacterial properties.Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Brazilian funding agencies CNPq, FAPESP, CAPES and PROPe UNESP.Keywords: Renewable feedstock, green coating, PU-silica, lignin, corrosion protection.(1) Harb, S. V.; Cerrutti, B. M.; Pulcinelli, S. H.; Santilli, C. V.; Hammer, P. Siloxane–PMMA Hybrid Anti-Corrosion Coatings Reinforced by Lignin. Surf Coat Technol 2015, 275, 9–16. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2015.05.002.(2) Cao, Y.; Liu, Z.; Zheng, B.; Ou, R.; Fan, Q.; Li, L.; Guo, C.; Liu, T.; Wang, Q. Synthesis of Lignin-Based Polyols via Thiol-Ene Chemistry for High-Performance Polyurethane Anticorrosive Coating. Compos B Eng 2020, 200, 108295. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2020.108295.(3) Alinejad, M.; Henry, C.; Nikafshar, S.; Gondaliya, A.; Bagheri, S.; Chen, N.; Singh, S. K.; Hodge, D. B.; Nejad, M. Lignin-Based Polyurethanes: Opportunities for Bio-Based Foams, Elastomers, Coatings and Adhesives. Polymers (Basel) 2019, 11 (7). https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11071202.(4) Braz, Á. G.; Pochapski, D. J.; Pulcinelli, S. H.; Santilli, C. V. Effects of Curing Temperature and Silica Content on the Structure and Properties of a Sol–Gel PU-Silica Hybrid Coating for Corrosion Protection. ACS Applied Engineering Materials 2023, 1 (7), 1739–1751. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaenm.3c00148.

Quantity over quality of publications: Are we using the right metrics to judge author's productivity and impact in biomedical research?

The "publish and flourish" culture in the biomedical field has led to an increase in the number of publications worldwide, creating pressure on researchers to publish frequently. However, this focus on quantity over quality has resulted in an inflation of the number of authors listed in articles, leading to authorship issues and the rise of fraudulent or predatory scientific and medical journals. To maintain the credibility of scientific research, it is necessary to reform the publication metrics and explore innovative ways of evaluating an author's contributions. Traditional metrics, such as publication counts, fail to capture the research's quality, significance, and impact. As a result, this viewpoint explores and highlights different metrics and novel methods by which an author's productivity and impact can be assessed beyond traditional metrics, such as the H index, i10 index, FWCI, HCP, ALEF, AIF, AAS, JIF, CNA, awards/honors, citation percentile, n-index, and ACI. By using multiple metrics, one can determine the true impact and productivity of an author, and other measures such as awards and honors, research collaborations, research output diversity, and journal impact factors can further aid in serving the purpose. Accurately assessing an author's productivity and impact has significant implications on their academic career, institution, and the broader scientific community. It can also help funding agencies make informed decisions, improve resource allocation, and enhance public trust in scientific research. Therefore, it is crucial to address these issues and continue the ongoing discussion on best method to evaluate and recognize the contributions of authors in today's rapidly changing academic landscape.

Promoting Data Sharing: The Moral Obligations of Public Funding Agencies

Sharing research data has great potential to benefit science and society. However, data sharing is still not common practice. Since public research funding agencies have a particular impact on research and researchers, the question arises: Are public funding agencies morally obligated to promote data sharing? We argue from a research ethics perspective that public funding agencies have several pro tanto obligations requiring them to promote data sharing. However, there are also pro tanto obligations that speak against promoting data sharing in general as well as with regard to particular instruments of such promotion. We examine and weigh these obligations and conclude that all things considered funders ought to promote the sharing of data. Even the instrument of mandatory data sharing policies can be justified under certain conditions.

Factors influencing public attitudes toward criminal justice system funding

This study explores the relationship between demographic factors and attitudes toward criminal justice funding in the United States. Specifically, we explore responses from two years of data from the United States General Social Survey, both prior to and after the dramatic events of 2020, during which reformers called for a reduction in funding for law enforcement agencies as a response to high-profile incidents of police violence. We find that while certain demographic traits align with previous understandings of public attitudes toward police funding, the relationship between gender and these attitudes presents a notable exception; race appears less predictive than expected. Additionally, the impact of racially prejudiced views on opinions about law enforcement funding has grown more pronounced over time.

Setting the international research agenda for sarcomas with patients and carers: results of phase II of the Sarcoma Patient Advocacy Global Network (SPAGN) priority setting partnership

BackgroundTypically, researchers and clinicians determine the agenda in sarcoma research. However, patient involvement can have a meaningful impact on research. Therefore, the Patient-Powered Research Network (PPRN) of the Sarcoma Patient Advocacy Global Network (SPAGN) set up a Priority Setting Partnership (PSP). The primary objective of this partnership is to identify priorities for research and patient advocacy topics.MethodsIn the first phase of this PSP, including 264 sarcoma patients and carers from all over the world, 23 research topics regarding sarcomas and 15 patient advocacy topics were identified using an online survey. In the second phase, participants were asked to fill in a top five and a top three of research and patient advocacy topics, respectively. Additionally, sociodemographic characteristics and sarcoma characteristics were collected. Social media channels, local national patient advocacy groups and the SPAGN website were used to distribute the survey.ResultsIn total, 671 patients (75%) and carers (25%) participated in this survey. The five highest ranked research topics were related to causes of sarcoma (43%), prognosis and risk of recurrence (40%), specific subtypes of sarcoma (33%), the role of immunotherapy, targeted therapy and combined therapy (30%), and hereditary aspects (30%). The three highest ranked patient advocacy topics were improving the diagnostic process of sarcoma (39%), access to tumor DNA analysis (37%) and establishing an international sarcoma registry (37%).ConclusionsThis sarcoma PSP has identified priorities for research and patient advocacy, offering guidance for researchers, assisting funding agencies with assessing project relevance and empowering patient advocates to represent the needs of patients and carers.