A Qualitative Investigation of the Impact of the Sars-Cov-2 Pandemic on Goal Attainment Scaling in a Clinical Research Setting

Objectives: Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) quantifies the effect of interventions on individuals' personal goals. Goals that are meaningful to individual patients are set by GAS interviewers (physicians/academics, experienced in clinical research/trials) in collaboration with patients and/or their caregivers. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic presented a major challenge to health care worldwide. We investigated how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic affected the use and implementation of GAS in clinical/research settings. Method(s): Eleven GAS interviewers in Canada, the US, UK and Australia with current/past experience working with patient-caregivers to identify goals and build scales to measure goal attainment as an outcome were interviewed using a semi-structured approach. They described how the pandemic affected GAS use in clinical/research settings. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, then themes were identified and coded in Nvivo 12. Result(s): Most GAS interviews were moved to the virtual environment during the pandemic (9/11). GAS interviewers identified few negative impacts. Some goals required modification (e.g. going to the gym or shops). Pandemic stress impacted both interviewers and interviewees. Even so, most GAS interviewers (8/11) emphasized positive impacts of the pandemic. These were: 1) the virtual environment meant patients were more readily available as they did not need to travel;2) because interviewers did not have to travel, patient recruitment could be expanded into more remote geographical areas;3) researchers could recruit and retain more participants and collect data more quickly;and 4) interviewers commented they became more open to technology because of the pandemic (9/11). Conclusion(s): Despite the challenges of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic for health care, most GAS interviewers found that the impacts were largely positive for using GAS in clinical/research settings. The ability to deploy GAS through a virtual platform could facilitate the uptake of GAS as a patient-centric outcome measure.Copyright © 2023

Altmetric Scores in Conservation Science have Gender and Regional Biases

There is a growing view in conservation science that traditional ways to evaluate publications, researchers, and projects are too slow. This has led to a rise in the use of altmetrics, which are metrics based on social media data, news pieces, blogs, and more. Here we examine altmetric data linked to nearly 10,000 papers published in 23 conservation journals, exploring five issues that represent some of the challenges associated with using social media data in evaluating conservation. We discuss whether social media activity reflects meaningful engagement, and how easily individuals can manipulate scores by using bots or simply through active personal networks or institutional promotion services. Our analysis shows a highly skewed distribution of altmetric scores where most papers have such low scores that the scores likely convey little meaningful information. Examining scores that would be considered meritorious, we find that papers where the first author was male have higher scores than papers led by a woman, suggesting a gender bias in altmetric scores. Finally, this data set reveals regional differences that correspond with access to different social media platforms. Metrics, like altmetrics, may have a role to play when making rapid evaluations. However, such metrics should only be used after careful deliberation and should not be influenced by institutions looking for shortcuts, by companies looking to advance profits, or by individuals seeking to promote themselves, rather than generating meaningful engagement in scholarship and conservation action. Scholarly and conservation activities should be judged on the quality of their contributions, which will require the input of experts and direct contact with impacted communities.

Foundry compatible fabrication of Si3N4 microring resonators for 15-plex biosensing at 1310nm

The advent of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has rekindled the demand for inexpensive, point-of-care and at-home diagnostic systems that offer high degrees of scalability, sensitivity, and specificity. While several options of sensing modalities have been researched and subsequently commercialized, these sensing systems are yet to simultaneously satisfy the spiked demand for higher accuracy and scalable manufacturing. In this context, the prospect of integrated photonics-enabled biosensors has garnered immense attention from both scientific and business communities. However, realizing low group indices of the photonic structures required for higher bulk sensitivities at commonly used telecom operation wavelengths is typically achieved using design approaches incompatible with foundry process constraints. Siphox Inc., founded in 2020, developed an ensemble biosensing platform by merging the benefits of CMOS-friendly integrated photonic structures with proprietary biochemical assays to realize low-cost, highly sensitive, label and label-free, multiplexed diagnostic system. As a first demonstration, we present our results of 15-plex biosensing utilizing low-loss (<3.5dB/cm) Si3N4 strip-waveguide ring resonators fabricated using 248 nm deep UV (DUV) stepper lithography. We describe the design, simulation, and measurement results of bulk and surface sensitivities and detection limits for our TE-polarized waveguide resonator structures operating at O-band (1310 nm). We demonstrate a bulk sensitivity of >117 nm/RIU and an intrinsic limit of detection of 1.87x10(-4) RIU.

Academic Incentives Should Not Promote the "Extinction of Nature Experience"

Evidence suggests that a decline in people's exposure to nature corresponds to decreasing support for nature-a phenomenon we call extinction of nature experience. Here, we evaluate three current trends in conservation research and consider if they contribute to a decrease in exposure to nature. We suggest that while using sensors, algorithms, technocentric thinking, conducting meta-analyses, and taking more lab-based approaches all have significant potential to advance conservation goals, they lead to researchers spending less time in the field and an extinction of nature experience. A reduction of researcher field time will mean fewer local field assistants are hired and trained;lower engagement of researchers with ground realities;and a rift in conservation research, planning, and implementation. We suggest that the field of conservation science should balance how it allocates time and rewards to field versus non-field components. If we are not careful, we will select researchers that are distant from the biodiversity itself and the communities that are affecting it locally. Since the pandemic began many researchers were unable to go to their field sites and if care is not taken, the pressures that promote the extinction of nature experience may be promoted by institutions in a post-COVID-19 world.