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- Ekhtiari, Hamed, et al.
(author)
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A methodological checklist for fMRI drug cue reactivity studies : development and expert consensus
- 2022
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In: Nature Protocols. - : Nature Portfolio. - 1754-2189 .- 1750-2799. ; 17:3, s. 567-595
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cue reactivity measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging is used in studies of substance-use disorders. This Consensus Statement is the result of a Delphi process to arrive at parameters that should be reported in describing these studies. Cue reactivity is one of the most frequently used paradigms in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of substance use disorders (SUDs). Although there have been promising results elucidating the neurocognitive mechanisms of SUDs and SUD treatments, the interpretability and reproducibility of these studies is limited by incomplete reporting of participants characteristics, task design, craving assessment, scanning preparation and analysis decisions in fMRI drug cue reactivity (FDCR) experiments. This hampers clinical translation, not least because systematic review and meta-analysis of published work are difficult. This consensus paper and Delphi study aims to outline the important methodological aspects of FDCR research, present structured recommendations for more comprehensive methods reporting and review the FDCR literature to assess the reporting of items that are deemed important. Forty-five FDCR scientists from around the world participated in this study. First, an initial checklist of items deemed important in FDCR studies was developed by several members of the Enhanced NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analyses (ENIGMA) Addiction working group on the basis of a systematic review. Using a modified Delphi consensus method, all experts were asked to comment on, revise or add items to the initial checklist, and then to rate the importance of each item in subsequent rounds. The reporting status of the items in the final checklist was investigated in 108 recently published FDCR studies identified through a systematic review. By the final round, 38 items reached the consensus threshold and were classified under seven major categories: Participants Characteristics, General fMRI Information, General Task Information, Cue Information, Craving Assessment Inside Scanner, Craving Assessment Outside Scanner and Pre- and Post-Scanning Considerations. The review of the 108 FDCR papers revealed significant gaps in the reporting of the items considered important by the experts. For instance, whereas items in the General fMRI Information category were reported in 90.5% of the reviewed papers, items in the Pre- and Post-Scanning Considerations category were reported by only 44.7% of reviewed FDCR studies. Considering the notable and sometimes unexpected gaps in the reporting of items deemed to be important by experts in any FDCR study, the protocols could benefit from the adoption of reporting standards. This checklist, a living document to be updated as the field and its methods advance, can help improve experimental design, reporting and the widespread understanding of the FDCR protocols. This checklist can also provide a sample for developing consensus statements for protocols in other areas of task-based fMRI.
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| 2. |
- Griessler, Erich, et al.
(author)
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Xenotransplantation as policy problem : Comparing public debate and policies in an international perspective
- 2012
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In: Xenotransplantation. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0908-665X .- 1399-3089. ; 19:1, s. 15-15
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Xenotransplantation research had a hype in the late 1990s and early 2000s and was by then considered a therapeutic option with huge financial potential which was to become clinical standard practice in the near future. Driven by these economic hopes and by the expectation that xenotransplantation might alleviate the so-called organ shortage, governmental actors in different countries but also international organizations (WHO, OECD, Council of Europe) and EU institutions started to think about the implications of xenotransplantation and how to regulate this potential new technology.Xenotransplantation, however, for several reasons was not an uncontroversial technology. In the aftermath of food crises, the GMO conflict and blood scandals connected to HIV and hepatitis, xenotransplantation not only raised serious risk problems – connected to xenozoonosis – there were also basic human rights and animal welfare at stake. These were hotly discussed not only within science but also by different NGOs.In this situation many countries and international organizations carried out Technology Assessment (TA) and participatory Technology Assessment (pTA) procedures which should inform policy-makers about what to do.In my presentation I will compare attempts of TA and pTA on xenotransplantation in different countries and international organization (Austria, Canada, Denmark, Latvia, Netherlands, Sweden, UK, Switzerland OECD, and the European Commission). The paper addresses the following questions: How was xenotransplantation framed as a topic in these countries and institutions? In which settings of TA and pTA was xenotransplantation discussed? Who was included and excluded in policy making? In what way? What was the impact of TA and PTA on policy-making? What can we learn from these examples for negotiating techno-scientific futures in complex societies?The paper draws on an international comparative research project about the impact of citizen participation in knowledge-intensive policy fields (CIT-PART) financed by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Programme (Project Number: SSH-CT-2008-225327). For this research, document analysis of literature and media reports has been carried out. One main source, however, were interviews with people involved in pTA and TA either as participants, researchers, civil servants, politicians, stakeholders and practitioners of TA and pTA. For preliminary results see www.cit-art.at.
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| 3. |
- Klintman, Mikael, et al.
(author)
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Political Consumerism and the Transition Towards a More Sustainable Food Regime Looking Behind and Beyond the Organic Shelf
- 2011
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In: Food Practices in Transition: Changing Food Consumption, Retail and Production in the Age of Reflexive Modernity.
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Abstract in Undetermined In media, policymaking and research, increasing attention is drawn to the phenomenon of ‘green political consumerism’, referring to consumerrelated practices that are based on concerns beyond the traditional criteria of product quality and price. Political consumerism is about expressing non-economic values, that is, values beyond the direct, economic self-interest of consumers. Such values may concern social conditions of farmers producing our food or the welfare of animals used in food production. Green political consumerism is a concept that highlights a concern for environmental conditions, although these concerns often overlap with social and animal-related ones (Boström & Klintman 2008). Micheletti (2003) has defi ned political consumerism as consumers’ ‘individualistic collective action’, practiced, for instance, through boycotting or buycotting certain products and services. For the purpose of this chapter, it is important to mention that there is a need to keep the defi nition of political consumerism subject to continuous discussion and debate. A main claim in this chapter is that it is particularly important not to equal green political consumption merely with purchases of eco-labeled products and services. To follow such principles of consumption or to have small ecological footprints due to smaller economic resources, for example, are two very diff erent things, which should both be of interest in debates about political consumerism.
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