Research priorities in the domain of disability - correlation between health and social characteristics. A Polish example.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: In each society there functions a group of the disabled who need assistance. The number and character of dysfunctional consequences determine the types of support, characteristics of health, medical and social problems, where a part of them are interdependent. The interdependence of these needs determine the consistency of rehabilitation actions, which result in the improvement of quality of life of disabled persons in their living environment, especially among rural inhabitants. REVIEW METHODS: The scientific medical, and sociological literature, as well as binding legal Acts from 1978-2021 were reviewed. Materials from Polish and English databases were analysed. Key words related to disability, its definition, models of disability, disability discrimination, inequalities in medical and social care, health and social needs, maps of needs, satisfaction with medical and social care, and quality of life were used. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGE: Despite the fact that disability is a medical-social phenomenon, many reports concern only the treatment of the consequences of diseases, injuries, genetic/congenital or environmental defects. Disability is frequently identified with disease, which is inappropriate. Many researchers dealing with disability focus - quite rightly - on studies concerning social consequences, because they decide about the level of functioning of these persons in society and level of participation. SUMMARY: Disability is not only a medical and social problem. Treatment does not end the essence of disability. Only interdisciplinary studies can change the life of these persons regarding great possibilities for their participation.

MLExchange: A web-based platform enabling exchangeable machine learning workflows for scientific studies.

Machine learning (ML) algorithms are showing a growing trend in helping the scientific communities across different disciplines and institutions to address large and diverse data problems. However, many available ML tools are programmatically demanding and computationally costly. The MLExchange project aims to build a collaborative platform equipped with enabling tools that allow scientists and facility users who do not have a profound ML background to use ML and computational resources in scientific discovery. At the high level, we are targeting a full user experience where managing and exchanging ML algorithms, workflows, and data are readily available through web applications. Since each component is an independent container, the whole platform or its individual service(s) can be easily deployed at servers of different scales, ranging from a personal device (laptop, smart phone, etc.) to high performance clusters (HPC) accessed (simultaneously) by many users. Thus, MLExchange renders flexible using scenarios-users could either access the services and resources from a remote server or run the whole platform or its individual service(s) within their local network.

Pleiotropic Effects of Metformin on Cancer.

Metformin (MTF) is a natural compound derived from the legume Galega officinalis. It is the first line antidiabetic drug for type 2 diabetes (T2D) treatment. One of its main antidiabetic effects results from the reduction of hepatic glucose release. First scientific evidence for the anticancer effects of MTF was found in animal research, published in 2001, and some years later a retrospective observational study provided evidence that linked MTF to reduced cancer risk in T2D patients. Its pleiotropic anticancer effects were studied in numerous in vitro and in vivo studies at the molecular and cellular level. Although the majority of these studies demonstrated that MTF is associated with certain anticancer properties, clinical studies and trials provided a mixed view on its beneficial anticancer effects. This review emphasizes the pleiotropic effects of MTF and recent progress made in MTF applications in basic, preclinical, and clinical cancer research.

Characterization of scientific studies usually cited as evidence of adverse effects of GM food/feed.

GM crops are the most studied crops in history. Approximately 5% of the safety studies on them show adverse effects that are a cause for concern and tend to be featured in media reports. Although these reports are based on just a handful of GM events, they are used to cast doubt on all GM crops. Furthermore, they tend to come from just a few laboratories and are published in less important journals. Importantly, a close examination of these reports invariably shows methodological flaws that invalidate any conclusions of adverse effects. Twenty years after commercial cultivation of GM crops began, a bona fide report of an adverse health effect due to a commercialized modification in a crop has yet to be reported.

Conflicto de interés o intereses en conflicto, transparencia en la obtención y análisis de datos científicos / Conflict of Interest or interest in trouble, transparency in scientific data gathering and its analysis

La transparencia en la obtención de datos para análisis científicos es crucial, debido al gran impacto que los resultados de los estudios científicos pueden tener en las diferentes áreas del quehacer social. La confianza en la neutralidad de las investigaciones es un elemento fundamental a la hora de establecer los términos de una relación de trabajo entre quien financia el estudio y quien lo ejecuta. Es así como los estudios apoyados por la industria de alimentos y bebidas sobre el estado nutricional de una población, o un estudio acerca del efecto de una droga sobre una enfermedad financiado por una compañía farmacéutica, deben de manera explícita desplegar los posibles conflictos de interés y establecer los límites que garantizan una investigación independiente. Menos estudiado están los referidos, a organizaciones gubernamentales, agencias internacionales de cooperación y otros organismos internacionales, pues se asume que estos tienen el deber de velar por el bienestar de la población. El objetivo es investigar acerca de instituciones que hayan definido una postura en la independencia de las investigaciones y la transparencia de los datos. En la experiencia venezolana se plantea, el reconocimiento de la FAO en repetidas oportunidades al gobierno, aun cuando la situación alimentaria y nutricional que experimentan los venezolanos dista mucho de merecer un reconocimiento internacional. Se intenta colocar sobre la mesa de discusión el hecho que las relaciones entre gobiernos, agencias internacionales y otras instituciones deben ser revisadas y actualizadas para evitar los conflictos de interés inter-institucionales que puedan afectar de manera importante a la población(AU)

Transparency in obtaining data for scientific analysis is crucial due to the large impact that the results of scientific studies may have in different areas of social life. The trust in the neutrality of a research is a key element in setting the terms of a working relationship between those who sponsored the study and the team who runs it. Thus, studies supported by the industry of food and beverages on the nutritional status of a population, or a study on the effect of a drug on a disease funded by a pharmaceutical company must explicitly deploy potential conflicts of interest and set limits to ensure an independent investigation. Less studied are potential conflicts of interest among government organizations and international cooperation agencies, since it is assumed that these agencies have a duty to ensure the welfare of the population. The aim of this work is to investigate about institutions that have defined a position on the independence of research and transparency of data. The Venezuelan case of the repeatedly recognition by the FAO to the Venezuelan government, even when the food and nutrition situation experienced by Venezuelans is far from deserving and international recognition is brought for discussion. It tries to put on the table for discussion the fact that relations between governments, international agencies and other institutions should be reviewed and updated to avoid potential conflicts of inter-institutional interest that may negatively affect the wellbeing of the population studied(AU)

Framing of scientific knowledge as a new category of health care research.

RATIONALE: The new area of health system research requires a revision of the taxonomy of scientific knowledge that may facilitate a better understanding and representation of complex health phenomena in research discovery, corroboration and implementation. METHOD: A position paper by an expert group following and iterative approach. RESULTS: 'Scientific evidence' should be differentiated from 'elicited knowledge' of experts and users, and this latter typology should be described beyond the traditional qualitative framework. Within this context 'framing of scientific knowledge' (FSK) is defined as a group of studies of prior expert knowledge specifically aimed at generating formal scientific frames. To be distinguished from other unstructured frames, FSK must be explicit, standardized, based on the available evidence, agreed by a group of experts and subdued to the principles of commensurability, transparency for corroboration and transferability that characterize scientific research. A preliminary typology of scientific framing studies is presented. This typology includes, among others, health declarations, position papers, expert-based clinical guides, conceptual maps, classifications, expert-driven health atlases and expert-driven studies of costs and burden of illness. CONCLUSIONS: This grouping of expert-based studies constitutes a different kind of scientific knowledge and should be clearly differentiated from 'evidence' gathered from experimental and observational studies in health system research.