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Mind-Mapping Data Analysis with LLMs: From Vision to First Steps
Get PDFWe explore how large language models (LLMs) can support real-time visual mapping of data analysis workflows. Building on an earlier vision, we investigate if and how LLMs can decompose analytic dialogues into ''analysis maps'' that capture key semantic units such as questions, datasets, tasks, and findings. Using two exemplar analyses, we test both post-hoc and interactive strategies for generating these maps and experiment with prompting techniques for structuring and updating them. Results, documented in Observable notebooks, suggest that LLMs can scaffold analysis-as-network meaningfully-laying the groundwork for user-facing systems and moving beyond purely textual forms of LLM-mediated analysis
Transparent and Accountable Platforms with Open APIs
Get PDFThis article examines the data access policies implemented by Twitter that transformed the platform into an open resource for academic research. We revisit the many Application Programming Interfaces that Twitter offered to developers and researchers and their role in building trust with social media companies. This includes REST, Search, Streaming, Academic, and Compliance APIs in addition to databases curated by the company and shared with the research community before its contentious acquisition by Elon Musk in late 2022 and its ensuing rebranding as X in July 2023. We conclude by outlining the requirements for transparent and accountable social media platforms and discussing the opportunities afforded by the EU’s Digital Services Act to advance this agenda
Alternative Price Dynamics and Valuation of Flexible Strategies
Get PDFIn this article, we study the optimal operational strategy of production projects. We investigate different underlying price models and determine the optimal barriers of transition to suspension, recovery, or irreversible abandonment of productive activity. We compute probabilities of switching between alternative states and the time spent in each state. Our findings suggest that in moderately volatile markets, different model assumptions lead to minimal variations in project strategy. This insight underscores that tractable model approximations can be strategically sound under certain volatility conditions. Our work significantly advances in this direction by demonstrating when and how model simplifications can be made without sacrificing accuracy
Opinion: US Tariffs and the Reformation of World Trade
No full textThe Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 is the product of a project from the LawCommission for England and Wales for reform to allow for legal recognition of trade documents such as bills of lading and bills of exchange in electronic form. In the Act, the legal recognition can be achieved if a reliable system is used for exercising an exclusive control on electronic trade documents. The Act, however, leaves a degree of uncertainty of reliability. It adopts an equivalence approach but creates a new concept of exclusive control. It is argued that reliability, as a matter of fact, should not be a decisive factor for determining the legal effect of electronic trade documents. Furthermore, the exclusive control could be a choice of business but should not be a mandatory requirement
Is There Collaboration in Open Collaboration? The Role of Producers and Corporate Users in Open Source Software Development
Get PDFInnovation in open collaboration projects involves producers and users, both private and corporate, each engaging in and pairing problems with solutions. While the innovation literature has focused predominantly on motivations to contribute, we face a paucity of insights into how incentives shape the producers’ and users’ choice to design and contribute solutions for problems and needs expressed by others. We explore, in the case of Open Source software development, if and how different actor types and task complexity can be linked to such collaborative problem-solving, where one developer solves another’s problem instead of working independently. Patterns of problem-solution pairing in a large Open Source Software development project identify corporate users as ranking first in attracting solutions to their problems. We find that collaboration occurs systematically and actors’ perceived incentives are shaped inside and outside the open collaboration project, namely via options to sell complementary services to corporate users. In order to pair solutions with problems of corporate users, significant effort in understanding their needs is required from innovators, extending the viability of the open collaboration model into the domain of producer innovation that regularly incurs communication and coordination costs. Our findings advance theory on open collaboration as a unique form of organizing innovation. We discuss implications and insights for management and policy
Likelihood status and classification issues to be considered in familial research on communication disorders
Get PDFObjectives: Research investigating early identification of developmental conditions often uses an ‘increased likelihood’ methodology that recruits undiagnosed infants with affected family members. These studies are often cross-sectional or short-term follow-ups. Using grouping data from a wider longitudinal study of increased likelihood for developmental language disorder and autism, we aimed to investigate whether (i) likelihood status changes over time as family members acquire additional diagnoses and younger siblings are born (ii) Criteria used to determine likelihood affects status change and (iii) likelihood status in infancy associates with diagnostic outcome at 7 years.
Method: 67 infants categorised into 3 likelihood groups based on family history of communication difficulties: Average likelihood of communication difficulties (AL); increased likelihood of language impairment (ILLI); increased likelihood of social communication difficulties (ILSCD). Caregivers completed an interview about the presence of communication difficulties when infants were around 12 months old. At 7 years old likelihood status was re-assessed, along with diagnostic outcome information.
Results: At 7, 25.4% of children changed likelihood status based on newly available family information. Using stricter criteria to group children only reclassified 4 children but lowered this movement to 16.4%. Neither broad nor strict likelihood groups predicted diagnostic outcome at 7.
Conclusions: Longer-term follow-up revealed issues with increased likelihood methods that need considering when conducting this type of research. An early assessment-based approach is likely to lead to greater progress in establishing successful prediction of later diagnosis and support for children with communication difficulties
Latent tuberculosis infection screening of adult close contacts: a cost–utility analysis
Get PDFBackground
The 2016 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines recommended the tuberculin skin test (TST), at a 5-mm induration size cut-off, for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among adult close contacts of active tuberculosis (TB) cases. This study analysed a well-characterised cohort of adult close contacts in London and assessed the cost-effectiveness of LTBI screening strategies with combinations of TST and interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) in a decision-analytic model.
Methods
Close contacts of pulmonary TB cases who were tested with TST and IGRA between January 2008 and December 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. Using an NHS perspective and lifetime horizon, a decision-analytic Markov model was used to compare costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) associated with five screening strategies followed by LTBI treatment: 1) TST alone; 2) QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT) alone; 3) T-SPOT.TB (T-SPOT) alone; 4) TST positive followed by QFT; 5) TST positive followed by T-SPOT.
Results
This study included 381 asymptomatic close contacts aged 18 to 65 years (mean±sd35.2±11.3). 75.3% had received BCG vaccination. Among the five strategies, for a willingness-to-pay threshold of GBP 25 000 and using incremental net monetary benefit (INMB) with TST as comparator, the IGRA-alone strategies were the most cost-effective, marginally QFT over T-SPOT (QFT: GBP 214; T-SPOT: GBP 199).
Conclusion
Single-step IGRA, particularly QuantiFERON, is preferable for LTBI screening of adult close contacts of pulmonary TB cases
Barriers and Facilitators of Healthcare Access for Autistic Children in the UK: A Survey of Parents and Healthcare Professionals
Get PDFPurpose: Access to healthcare services for autistic children remains a significant challenge with barriers affecting autistic children, parents and healthcare practitioners. This study investigates the difficulties by examining the perspectives of parents and Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) on healthcare access for autistic children in the UK. It builds on a previously published systematic review (Babalola et al., 2024) and uses the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to identify key barriers, facilitators and potential solutions in primary care settings, specifically General Practitioner (GP), dental and Accident and Emergency (A&E).
Methods: Two online surveys were conducted targeting healthcare practitioners and parents of autistic children, exploring facilitators, interventions and strategies to improve healthcare access. In total, 43 parents and 41 HCPs participated. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, independent t-tests and correlation analyses were used to compare responses and identify key patterns.
Results: Findings indicated that autistic children faced many healthcare access barriers related to limited autism-specific knowledge among HCPs, reasonable adjustments, sensory sensitivities, communication challenges, and system level barriers. HCPs acknowledged systemic limitations, including high workloads and insufficient resources. Discrepancies were observed between parental and HCP perspectives.
Conclusions: The study highlights the urgent need for systemic improvement to healthcare access for autistic children. Improved autism training for healthcare professionals, structured pre-appointment communication, and sensory friendly environments are crucial steps to equity of care. Given the complexity and diversity of autistic children’s needs, a flexible and individualised approach is needed to address healthcare inequality in this group
Validation of the City Birth Trauma Scale in Italian: addressing childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder
No full textBackground and aim: It is estimated that 19% of women experience childbirth as traumatic, and around 4% develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result. The City Birth Trauma Scale was developed specifically to assess childbirth-related trauma according to recognised diagnostic criteria. This study aimed to translate and validate the City Birth Trauma Scale in Italian (City BiTS-IT) and investigate its psychometric properties to enhance early detection and intervention.
Methods: The sample consisted of 255 postpartum women aged 18–38 years. Participants completed the INTERSECT Survey which includes the City Birth Trauma Scale (City BiTS). The bi-factor model was applied to assess the latent structure of the scale, and convergent and divergent validity were evaluated.
Results: The City BiTS-IT demonstrated good fit to the data, with high internal consistency (ω = 0.93) and reliability (ECV = 51%). Subscales of Birth-related symptoms and General symptoms showed good reliability (ω = 0.90, ω = 0.89, respectively). Convergent validity analyses revealed strong correlations between City BiTS-IT and depression (EPDS; r = 0.59). Birth-related symptoms correlated more strongly with birth satisfaction scores (BSS-R; r = -0.68), highlighting the impact of traumatic birth experiences on maternal satisfaction. The prevalence of childbirth-related PTSD was 2.4%.
Conclusion: The validation of the City BiTS-IT provides a valuable tool for healthcare professionals in Italy to identify and intervene early in cases of CB-PTSD. Future research should focus on longitudinal studies to understand the progression of CB-PTSD symptoms and develop tailored interventions for at-risk populations
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