Medical Ethics:使用Twitter在人群层面监测抑郁症

As social media platforms become increasingly popular and part of our day-to-day lives, most users give little thought to the amount of data generated that can be utilized by researchers. The data can be analyzed to gain insight into public opinion, attitudes and behaviors, but it can also be used to assess complex issues such as mental health. While there has been much discussion regarding the ethical guidelines for research on internet discussion forums, research utilizing the ‘big-data’ generated from Twitter and other social media platforms has its own set of ethical issues. A paper published inBMC医学伦理used focus groups to gauge the current attitudes of the general public to the use of this data in research. They found wide ranging attitudes from acceptance through to opposition, but were able to identify key new perspectives particularly with respect to consent, privacy and oversight.

Public Health:Are teenagers getting less alcohol from their parents?

Alcohol use and misuse in teenagers is very common, despite the age restrictions on its purchase (18 years of age in the UK and Australia). With 74% of 14 year olds in Australia having consumed alcohol at some point, it is clear that that this is being obtained from other sources and a significant amount is thought to come from parents. This study inBMC公共卫生已经分析了15年来对澳大利亚青少年进行调查的数据，以寻找父母的酒精供应趋势。作者发现在2004年至2013年之间有很大的减少，这可能导致青少年饮酒水平的总体降低。

本月的形象

Psychology:性别刻板印象会影响成年人对婴儿哭泣的反应

从出生开始，我们的孩子就会采用性别刻板印象 - 例如，服装的选择，鼓励的活动以及对不同挑战的期望。但是，某些刻板印象并不是那么明显地检测到。本文在BMC心理学显示,尽管婴儿的哭声没有varying in pitch between genders, adults were more likely to identify higher pitch cries as baby girls and lower pitch cries as boys. Further to this, lower pitch boys were perceived as more masculine and higher pitch girls as more feminine. As the authors note, such biases may have implications on the child’s immediate welfare as well as the development of their gender identity.

姑息治疗：姑息治疗中系统评价的问题和建议

发表在BMC Palliative Care本月解决了与研究方法相关的一些核心问题。为了确保系统审查的一致性和可用性，需要一个约定的术语。两个国际研究小组，为评估专业姑息治疗的有效性的系统评价准备协议，以确保在评论之间确保高度的方法论共识和清晰度。本文的目的是提出讨论，以便其他研究小组可以轻松地识别潜在的陷阱和方法论必需品，这也可以帮助指导未来的临床试验设计。

进化生物学：How does the past evolution of bacteria affect its further adaptions?

发表在BMC进化生物学本月旨在调查细菌群的历史偶然性是否对遗传或表型水平的进一步适应有影响。通过在四种不同的环境中种植祖先的人群，然后最终将其转移到一个环境中，可以在四个历史环境中寻找对人群之间最终环境的适应性差异。尽管在基因组水平上没有观察到任何变化，但在表型水平上观察到差异，这突出了复杂的基因型 - 表型图。

传染性疾病：运动对艾滋病毒的成年人有益吗？

获得抗逆转录病毒疗法的联合疗法已将HIV诊断转化为可以有效管理的慢性疾病。预后变化的结果是，患者的寿命更长，并经历了更多与健康相关的艾滋病毒后果，治疗的不良影响和多种多人。发表的系统评论BMC传染病本月试图检查运动对艾滋病毒患者整体健康的安全性和有效性。该研究报告说，每周进行三次有氧运动至少五周既安全又有益于健康，这一发现可用于为可以改善受艾滋病毒受影响的人的生活质量的指南提供信息。