HPHY 212 - Midterm (all)

science is both a ________ and _________

body of knowledge and the process for building that knowledge

the process of science relies on the ___________

testing of ideas with evidence gathered from the natural world

what does it mean to think scientifically?

1) questioning and problem solving

2) learn through experimentation

3) subject your ideas and beliefs to testing

4) consider alternate explanations

5) be open to the idea that you are wrong

what does it mean to behave scientifically?

1) pay attention to what other people have already done

2) expose your ideas to testing

3) assimilate the evidence

4) openly communicate ideas and tests to others

5) play fair: act with scientific integrity

what is pseudoscience?

science not based on data or evidence

what are examples of pseudoscience?

phrenology, blood letting, subluxation, astrology, homeopathy

scientific method

1) Observations

2) Lead to Questions

3) Questions form Hypotheses

4) Hypotheses must be tested through experimentation

5) Analyze Data

6) Draw Conclusions

7) Share Results

the real process of science is ______, ________, and _____________

complex, iterative, and can take many different paths

hypothesis

a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence, a starting point for further investigation

a well-formed hypothesis is...

1) reasoned and informed

2) able to explain relationship between variables

3) directional

4) testable

a well-formed hypothesis is not...

1) a question, goal, or purpose

2) always supported by your data/findings

dependent variable

depends on IV, measured variable, output

independent variable

manipulated, has an effect on DV, input, can have levels

Identify the IV and DV:

- blood cholesterol level

- saturated fatty acid intake

- DV

- IV

Identify the IV and DV:

- body temperature

- regional vascular blood flow

- IV

- DV

Identify the IV and DV:

- body temperature

- environmental temperature

- DV

- IV

Hypothesis: deep brain stimulation (DBS) improves cortical function

The DV is:

cortical function

Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that genetic deletion of Robo4 protects against endothelial dysfunction associated with high fat diet.

a) endothelial dysfunction is IV, genetic deletion of Robo4 is DV

b) endothelial dysfunction is DV, genetic deletion of Robo4 is IV

c) both are IVs

d) both are DVs

b) endothelial dysfunction is DV, genetic deletion of Robo4 is IV

Hypothesis: maternal high fat diet creates fetal hypoxemia and increases utilization of amino acids for energy production and early activation of gluconeogenic pathways in the fetal liver.

the IV is:

a) maternal high fat diet

b) fetal hypoxemia

c) amino acids

d) gluconeogenic pathways

a) maternal high fat diet

Hypothesis: Interleukin-1 receptor activation after systemic inflammation undermines phrenic long-term facilitation, a model of respiratory motor plasticity.

The DV is:

a) interleukin-1 receptor activation

b) systemic inflammation

c) phrenic long-term facilitation

d) respiratory motor plasticity

c) phrenic long-term facilitation

writing a hypothesis:

1) relates your independent and dependent variables

2) is a prediction

3) should not include justification (in observation)

scientific theory

a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method and repeatedly tested and confirmed through observation and experimentation

hypothesis vs theory

- hypothesis deal with narrow set of phenomena

- theory applies to a wide range of phenomena

control groups

provide a baseline for comparison in a treatment intervention

controlled variables rule out ______ _______

alternate factors

historically, _______ were the decision makers

editors

the peer review process

1) author submits paper to journal editor

2) paper is sent to 3-5 experts in the field

3) they either accept, revise, or reject and send back

what's the point of peer review?

-new scientific knowledge is vetted by experts in a relevant field

-trusted form of scientific communication

what are advantages of peer review?

- international standardized process

- save time reviewing submissions

- vetted by experts

- level of quality and trust

what are disadvantages of peer review?

- no quantitative indicators of quality

- biases against findings/researchers

- different standards

- time

- reviewers are human

- reviewers are not blind to author

- doesn't mean science is correct

open access benefits

- more available

- public access research they fund

- access for smaller libraries and low-income economies

- makes use of modern technology

what is a retraction?

removal of a published article from a journal

what might lead to a retraction?

- errors in data analysis/methodology

- scientific misconduct: fraud of data, plagiarism, duplicate publishing

how do authors decide where to publish?

-research topic, field, discipline

-notoriety and prestige of journal

-novelty or quality of findings

-cost

-impact factor

-accessibility

what are pre-prints?

full draft version of a research manuscript shared in an open-access repository prior to the peer-review process

what are advantages of pre-prints?

- share research quickly

- open access

- early feedback

- visibility of research

- allows revisions

what are disadvantages of pre-prints?

- not peer-reviewed (credibility concerns and limited accountability)

- publication bias

- misinterpretation of pre-print vs peer-reviewed articles

should you cite a pre-print?

maybe, some journals say yes but some say no

can you cite a pre-print in a manuscript that will be submitted for peer review?

yes

will pre-prints appear in PubMed?

yes

what is Web of Science made of?

top science journals

what is PubMed made of?

core medical journals

what is google scholar made of?

Master's theses, Ph.D. dissertations, books, medical journals from other countries, other journals

MeSH

- a predefined set of terms to connect you to the information you need

- revised annually to reflect changes in the literature and research

what does MeSH do?

organizes articles by assigning specific words to describe content

what are the 3 major guiding principles of the Belmont report?

1) respect for persons

2) beneficence

3) justice

respect for persons

protecting the autonomy of people

autonomy

a person's ability to act on their own values and interests

beneficence

do no harm

justice

fair distribution of cost and benefit

what are the roles of the Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

- meet and review all research proposals

- make decisions regarding study

- follow up on studies

- implement policies, procedures and documentation for review and follow up

who sits on an IRB?

a) faculty

b) clinicians

c) community members

d) all of the above

d) faculty, clinicians, and community members

what are factors to consider of the IRB?

- scientific merit

- perceived competence of investigators

- who are the participants? are they vulnerable?

- risk: benefit

- how are subjects being informed?

elements of consent

- voluntarily given

- withdrawn any time

What is assent?

can be given by minors who are old enough to make decisions

animal ethics

describes human-animal relationships and how animals ought to be managed and treated

why do we use animals in research?

1) to advance scientific understanding

2) to develop solutions to medical problems

3) to protect the safety of people, animals, and the environment

what are the benefits to using animals?

most human diseases exist in at least one other species

why are there no unnecessary animal experiments?

- strict control over animal use

- expensive

- biomedical funds are limited

- irrelevant or repetitive work is not funded or permitted

3 Rs in animal research

Replace - replace animal studies with other methods

Reduce - as many trials as required, as few as possible

Refine - minimize stress of study animals

Causes of animal deaths

900 million killed for food, 100 million killed by pet cats, 3.87 million used in research

what types of animals are used in research?

95% mice/rats, 4% fruit flies/zebrafish, 1% dogs/cats

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

- review and approve/reject all proposals involving animals

- inspect every 6 months

- monitor and investigate

what do the levels of evidence do?

- provide guidelines when searching for information

- assigned to studies based on quality of design, validity, applicability to patient care

what are the 3 types of reviews?

meta-analysis, systematic review, review

what are the 3 types of scientific studies?

randomized control trial, cohort, case-control

meta-analysis

- uses scientific studies that meet criteria to conduct new statistical analysis

- a type of systematic review

systematic reviews

- summarize scientific studies that meet criteria

- integrates findings from many published studies

- reduces bias over traditional literature reviews

review

- summarizes scientific studies (no criteria)

- not systematic, chosen articles can have selection bias

What type of review is this?

Some studies found that there was a significant association

between asthma and the risk of lung cancer. However, the

results are inconclusive. We searched the electronic

databases for all relevant articles. Odds ratio (OR) with 95%

confidence interval (CI) were used to calculate the strength of

the association between asthma and lung cancer risk. In the

stratified analysis by asthma definition, significant

associations were found between asthma and lung cancer in

self-reported subgroup, questionnaire subgroup, and register

databases subgroup. However, no significant association was

observed in physician-diagnosed asthma subgroup. In

conclusion, this suggests that asthma might be significantly

associated with lung cancer risk.

Meta-analysis

randomized controlled trial (RCT)

- experimental, randomly assigned to treatment or control

- "gold standard" for reliable evidence testing

cohort study

- observational, cohort has shared characteristic

- divided into subsets for comparison

- can be prospective or retrospective

case-control study

- observational, compares affected group to control group

- usually retrospective (outcome already known)

case report (case study)

- observational, novel/unique characteristic

- very few participants

- no control

expert opinion study

one expert's opinion based on their knowledge

Hierarchy of Evidence

1) Meta-Analysis

2) Systematic Review

3) Review

4) Randomized control trial

5) Cohort study

6) Case-control study

7) Case report

8) Expert's opinion

What kind of study is the Wakefield et. al study?

- 12 children

- mean age 6 years, range 3-10 yrs

- 11 boys

- children referred to a pediatric gastroenterology unit with history of normal development followed by loss of acquired skills, including language, together with diarrhea and abdominal pain

a) randomly controlled trial

b) cohort

c) case-control

d) case-study

d) case-study

You read an article published in The Washington Post on autism. This article is written by someone with a PhD and refers to studies conducted at Harvard University and the CDC. This is an example of:

a) a scholarly article

b) a popular article

c) both scholarly and popular

d) depends on whether the author was paid to write the article

b) a popular article

Which of the following is considered to be the highest level of scientific evidence?​

a. randomized control trial​

b. literature review

​c. systematic review​

d. meta-analysis

d. meta-analysis

Which section of a scientific article contains a summary of the article?

a. methods

b. abstract

c. discussion

d. introduction

b. abstract

Abstract

Aspirin is one of the most commonly used medications. We report a patient who presented with severe weakness, altered mental status and complete heart block requiring temporary pacing. Despite the patient's family denying that the patient used aspirin, an arterial blood gas that revealed a respiratory alkalosis and metabolic acidosis suggested the diagnosis of salicylate toxicity. The salicylate level was extremely elevated and the patient was successfully treated with haemodialysis. Our case illustrates that salicylate toxicity should be considered in a patient with a combined metabolic acidosis and respiratory alkalosis. This is-also the first case of salicylate toxicity causing complete heart block in an adult The heart block resolved with treatment of the salicylate toxicity.

a. meta-analysis

b. randomized controlled trial

c. cohort study

d. case-control study

e. case report

e. case report

what are tables used for?

to present many numeric values

where does the caption for a table go?

above the table

what is a table legend?

further info below table

what are figures used for?

to show patterns, trends, and relationships

where does the caption for a figure go?

below the figure

a good figure legend includes:

1. title

2. materials and methods

3. results

4. definitions

statistics help us:

1. reduce and describe data

2. quantify relationships

3. determine if data sets are similar/different

3 objectives of data analysis

1. data reduction

2. establish relationships

3. inference

data reduction objective

- reduce measures to make more meaningful

-averages, stdev, figures

establish relationships objective

- describe relationships between two observations

- causal - did something cause the other

inference objective

infer outcome from sample to population

why use samples when doing research?

too expensive to sample everyone (random selection)

what are the measures of central tendency?

mean, median, mode

Mean

arithmetic average of all values

Median

middle value in distribution

Mode

most frequently occuring value

What are the measures of variability?

standard deviation, range, confidence interval

Standard Deviation

variation that exists around the sample mean

Range

difference between high and low values of dataset