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ObjectiveCommunication skills assessment (CSA) is essential for ensuring competency, guiding educational practices and safeguarding regulatory compliance in health professions education (HPE). However, there appears to be heterogeneity in the reporting of validity evidence from CSA methods across the health profession that complicates our interpretation of the quality of assessment methods. Our objective was to map reliability and validity evidence from scores of CSA methods that have been reported in HPE.DesignScoping review.Data sourcesMEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ERIC, CAB Abstracts and Scopus databases were searched up to March 2024.Eligibility criteriaWe included studies, available in English, that reported validity evidence (content-related, internal structure, relationship with other variables, response processes and consequences) for CSA methods in HPE. There were no restrictions related to date of publication.Data extraction and synthesisTwo independent reviewers completed data extraction and assessed study quality using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument. Data were reported using descriptive analysis (mean, median, range).ResultsA total of 146 eligible studies were identified, including 98 394 participants. Most studies were conducted in human medicine (124 studies) and participants were mostly undergraduate students (85 studies). Performance-based, simulated, inperson CSA was most prevalent, comprising 115 studies, of which 68 studies were objective structured clinical examination-based. Other types of methods that were reported were workplace-based assessment; asynchronous, video-based assessment; knowledge-based assessment and performance-based, simulated, virtual assessment. Included studies used a diverse range of communications skills frameworks, rating scales and raters. Internal structure was the most reported source of validity evidence (130 studies (90%), followed by content-related (108 studies (74%), relationships with other variables (86 studies (59%), response processes (15 studies (10%) and consequences (16 studies (11%).ConclusionsThis scoping review identified gaps in the sources of validity evidence related to assessment method that have been used to support the use of CSA methods. These gaps could be addressed by studies explicitly defining the communication skill construct(s) assessed, clarifying the validity source(s) reported and defining the intended purpose and use of the scores (ie, for learning and feedback, for decision making purposes). Our review provides a map where targeted CSA development and support are needed. Limitations of the evidence come from score interpretation being constrained by the heterogeneity of the definition of communication skills across the health professions and the reporting quality of the studies.

Since amphibian declines were first proposed as a global phenomenon over a quarter century ago, the conservation community has made little progress in halting or reversing these trends. The early search for a “smoking gun” was replaced with the expectation that declines are caused by multiple drivers. While field observations and experiments have identified factors leading to increased local extinction risk, evidence for effects of these drivers is lacking at large spatial scales. Here, we use observations of 389 time-series of 83 species and complexes from 61 study areas across North America to test the effects of 4 of the major hypothesized drivers of declines. While we find that local amphibian populations are being lost from metapopulations at an average rate of 3.79% per year, these declines are not related to any particular threat at the continental scale; likewise the effect of each stressor is variable at regional scales. This result - that exposure to threats varies spatially, and populations vary in their response - provides little generality in the development of conservation strategies. Greater emphasis on local solutions to this globally shared phenomenon is needed.

To mitigate human–wildlife conflict it is imperative to know where and when conflict occurs. However, standard methods used to predict the occurrence of human–wildlife conflict often fail to recognize how a species distribution likely limits where and when conflict may happen. As such, methods that predict human–wildlife conflict could be improved if they could identify where conflict will occur relative to species' underlying distribution. To this end, we used an integrated species distribution model that combined presence-only wildlife complaints with data from a systematic camera trapping survey throughout Chicago, Illinois. This model draws upon both data sources to estimate a latent distribution of species; in addition, the model can estimate where conflict is most likely to occur within that distribution. We modeled the occupancy and conflict potential of coyote (Canis latrans), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), and raccoon (Procyon lotor) as a function of urban intensity, per capita income, and home vacancy rates throughout Chicago. Overall, the distribution of each species constrained the spatiotemporal patterns of conflict throughout the city of Chicago. Within each species distribution, we found that human–wildlife conflict was most likely to occur where humans and wildlife habitat overlap (e.g., featuring higher-than-average canopy cover and housing density). Furthermore, human–wildlife conflict was most likely to occur in high-income neighborhoods for Virginia opossum and raccoon, despite the fact that those two species have higher occupancy in low-income neighborhoods. As such, knowing where species are distributed can inform guidelines on where wildlife management should be focused, especially if it overlaps with human habitats. Finally, because this integrated model can incorporate data that have already been collected by wildlife managers or city officials, this approach could be used to develop stronger collaborations with wildlife management agencies and conduct applied research that will inform landscape-scale wildlife management.

Among patients with dry eye disease, those who were randomly assigned to receive oral supplements containing fish-derived n−3 eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids did not have significantly better outcomes at 1 year than those who received placebo.

Background: Exposure to stress levels of glucocorticoids produces physiological responses that are characteristic of type 2 diabetes, such as peripheral insulin resistance and impairment in insulin-stimulated trafficking of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) in muscle and fat. In the central nervous system, stress produces neuroanatomical and neurochemical changes in the hippocampus that are associated with cognitive impairments. Methods: In view of these observations, the current studies examined the effects of short-term (1 week) exposure of stress levels of glucocorticoids upon insulin receptor (IR) expression and signaling, including GLUT4 translocation, in the rat hippocampus. Results: One week of corticosterone (CORT) treatment produced insulin resistance in response to peripheral glucose challenge. In the hippocampus, IR expression was unchanged in CORT-treated rats as compared with vehicle-treated rats. However, insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of the IR, total Akt levels and total GLUT4 levels were reduced in CORT-treated rats when compared to controls. In addition, insulin-stimulated translocation of hippocampal GLUT4 to the plasma membrane was completely abolished in CORT-treated rats. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that in addition to eliciting peripheral insulin resistance, short-term CORT administration impairs insulin signaling in the rat hippocampus, effects that may contribute to the deleterious consequences of hypercortisolemic/hyperglycemic states observed in type 2 diabetes.

Background Patient engagement in research is important to ensure research questions address problems important to patients, that research is designed in a way that can effectively answer those questions, and that findings are applicable, relevant, and credible. Yet, patients are rarely involved in the dissemination stage of research. This study explored one way to engage patients in dissemination, through co-presenting research. Methods Semi-structured, one-on-one, audio-recorded interviews were conducted with researchers and patients who co-presented research at one patient conference (the 2022 Canadian National Scleroderma Conference) in Canada. A pragmatic orientation was adopted, and following verbatim transcription, data were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Results Of 8 researchers who were paired with 7 patients, 5 researchers (mean age = 28 years, SD = 3.6 years) and 5 patients (mean age = 45 years, SD = 14.2 years) participated. Researcher and patient perspectives about their experiences co-presenting and how to improve the experience were captured across 4 main categories: (1) Reasons for accepting the invitation to co-present; (2) Degree that co-presenting expectations were met; (3) The process of co-presenting; and (4) Lessons learned: recommendations for co-presenting. Conclusions Findings from this study suggest that the co-presenting experience was a rewarding and enjoyable way to tailor research dissemination to patients. We identified a patient-centred approach and meaningful and prolonged patient engagement as essential elements underlying co-presenting success. Plain English Summary Involving patients throughout the entire research process is important to ensure research effectively addresses problems important to patients and that findings are applicable, relevant, and credible. Yet, patients are rarely involved in the dissemination of research. We explored one way to engage patients in dissemination, through co-presenting research. We conducted one-on-one interviews with 5 researchers and 5 patients who co-presented research at a patient conference in Canada. Both researchers and patients indicated that the co-presenting experience was rewarding and enjoyable and a useful way to tailor dissemination to patients. We found that a patient-centred approach and meaningful and prolonged patient engagement were essential elements underlying co-presenting success.

Risk factors included hypoxic encephalopathy, head and neck infections, and prothrombotic disorders. Cerebral sinovenous thrombosis in children is a rare disorder but one that is increasingly diagnosed because of greater clinical awareness, sensitive neuroimaging techniques, and the survival of children with previously lethal diseases that confer a predisposition to sinovenous thrombosis. 1 – 3 The literature on sinovenous thrombosis in children consists only of case reports and analyses of small case series. 4 – 10 Extrapolating the results of studies of adults to children is of limited value because of large age-related differences in the hemostatic, vascular, and neurologic systems. An understanding of the epidemiology of sinovenous thrombosis in children is necessary to define critical clinical . . .