Meeting Report: The 24th Fungal Genetics Conference at Asilomar, California, USA

<正>The 24~(th) Fungal Genetics Conference was recently held at the Asilomar Conference Center in the coastal town of Pacific Grove,Monterey County,California,USA,between March 20~(th) and 25~(th),2007.At this conference,there were 750 participants representing 33 countries,with the number of participants reaching the maximum holding capacity of the conference center.About 200 people were on the waiting list and could not attend the meeting because of space limitations.     

Consent for participating in clinical trials ‐ Is it really informed?

The article explores the challenges of ensuring voluntary and informed consent which is obtained from potential research subjects in the north‐eastern part of Romania. This study is one of the first empirical papers of this nature in Romania. The study used a quantitative survey design using the adapted Quality of Informed Consent (QuIC) questionnaire. The target population consisted of 100 adult persons who voluntarily enrolled in clinical trials. The informed consent form must contain details regarding the potential risks and benefits, the aim of the clinical trial, study design, confidentiality, insurance and contact details in case of additional questions. Our study confirmed that although all required information was included in the ICF, few clinical trial participants truly understood it. We also found that the most important predictive factor for a good subjective and objective understanding of the clinical trial was the level of education. Our study suggests that researchers should consider putting more effort in order to help clinical trials participants achieve a better understanding of the informed consent. In this way they will ensure that participants’ decision‐making is meaningful and that their interests are protected.     

Latent variable models for harmonization of test scores: A case study on memory

Combining data from different studies has a long tradition within the scientific community. It requires that the same information is collected from each study to be able to pool individual data. When studies have implemented different methods or used different instruments (e.g., questionnaires) for measuring the same characteristics or constructs, the observed variables need to be harmonized in some way to obtain equivalent content information across studies. This paper formulates the main concepts for harmonizing test scores from different observational studies in terms of latent variable models. The concepts are formulated in terms of calibration, invariance, and exchangeability. Although similar ideas are present in measurement reliability and test equating, harmonization is different from measurement invariance and generalizes test equating. In addition, if a test score needs to be transformed to another test score, harmonization of variables is only possible under specific conditions. Observed test scores that connect all of the different studies, are necessary to be able to test the underlying assumptions of harmonization. The concepts of harmonization are illustrated on multiple memory test scores from three different Canadian studies.